Love or Deception Blog Tour! (+$50 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Love or Deception

Author: Morgan K Wyatt

Series: N/A

Pages: 266

Date Published: April 17th, 2014

Publisher: Secret Cravings

Format: Kindle

Genre:Romance/Mystery

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:

Amy awakes to find her husband Mark missing, along with her memories. Her recollections of Mark include a whirlwind courtship and a beach wedding. Amy is determined to uncover what happened to her husband. How could a man who loved her so intensely just walk away? 

The police have no interest in finding Mark. They reason he wasn’t ready for marriage and he walked. She wonders if his disappearance could be associated with her work. 

Ryan, a close friend and co-worker, assists her in piecing together her missing memories. As the pair work together, they find that Amy’s actual past reveals a scenario that is so horrifying that it forces them on the run, not knowing whom they can trust. Will Amy’s newly recalled memories prove fatal to both her and Ryan?

~Guest Post!~

My Favorite Type of Heroine by Morgan

When I started reading romances when I was twelve, the heroines were young, virginal and clueless. They had to have the man intervene and save their lives.  I come from a family of strong women and noticed immediately that the heroines didn’t even match up with my own family.

After reading hundreds of novels, I started firming up the traits I wanted in a protagonist.

1.       Intelligence. This doesn’t mean the main character needs any fancy degrees, but has common sense. She doesn’t decide to go in the basement alone once she hears a serial killer escaped from a nearby prison. Oh no, my girl jumps in her truck and drives to the nearest Holiday Inn.

2.       She has an interesting backstory. Too many of those earlier heroines were too young, too naïve to be much fun. More women want to be Scarlet O’Hara than the purer, more innocent Melanie Wilkes.

3.       Perseverance-This woman works toward her goals no matter how far away they are.

4.       Critical thinking skills.  This means when she gets in a bad spot she has to solve her own problems as opposed to running and screaming until some dude picks her up.

5.       Funny. I like women who can poke fun at themselves. It doesn’t hurt if they can score a few zingers off other characters too.

6.       Confident. My heroine may have insecurities, but she has confidence in some of her abilities. She could be a great lawyer who can’t cook or parallel park.

7.       Likable- This may be one of my favorites. It’s hard to feel for a chick who is a super model, world famous brain surgeon, and just won a Nobel Prize. It’s easier to root for the chick whose husband ran off with the younger sister.

8.       Believability- This is up there with likable. She should be someone you could have went to high school with or lives in the apartment beneath yours. She’s not one of those women who do everything perfectly, then pinned it on Pinterest. C’mon, it’s hard to identify with perfection. It’s also boring too. My girl would post own the Pinterest fail photos.

9.       Bad dates- I like bad date stories because it makes the good date so much better.

10.   The protagonists I liked best always reminded me a little bit of myself. Go figure.

One of my favorite writers, Amanda Quick, was always changing up how her heroines looked. One could be busty, the other short, another would be athletic. The point was heroines comes in all kinds of different packages. I agree, but no dim bulbs for me. It’s not believable.

~Try an Excerpt!~

“I love you,” Mark whispered into her hair as he slipped one long, muscular leg over hers.

Amy snuggled closer to him, nuzzling his neck. Ah, she loved this time, right after a rousing lovemaking session when they were both sated and drowsy, drunk on the idea that in a world of mismatched couples, somehow they found each other. Mark’s slight snore alerted her he’d dropped off to sleep. She should get up. There was so much to do before work. Instead, she stayed, breathing in the peace of the moment. 

Hard to believe she was a bride. Not that she had anything against marriage. She just hadn’t foreseen it happening to her. How could it? All she did was work at Theron under major security scrutiny. The only people she saw were other employees, with the majority being women. The confidentiality clause she’d signed forbade fraternization between employees. The company must have a reason for being so paranoid. Right now, she didn’t care. All she wanted was her husband to awaken.

“Honey, do you remember our wedding?” Using her index and middle fingers, she made slow circles across his wide shoulders and around his muscular arm. The barbed wire tattoos encircling his biceps always surprised her, not that they didn’t look good on his tanned skin. They did. No, it was that she never imagined herself as a woman with a big gorgeous husband who could easily be a male stripper or a porn star with his looks. Nope, she never expected to marry. Even if a part of her held out hope, she never expected anyone without a heavier eyeglass prescription than hers.

Mark held up one arm, stretched, and twisted it enough to make his bicep pop. He noticed her eyes following the play of his muscles. His deliberate wink made her giggle a little. Geesh, just another sign she was way out of her depth. Truth told she never dated much, period. School, then work consumed her every waking moment.

He rolled to his side, facing her, and yawned before answering. “I do remember our wedding since I was there. Plus it was only two weeks ago.”

“Yes.” All that was true, but it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. By mentioning the subject, he might tell her how wonderful it was or even describe it in detail. Did she expect him to gush about the meaningfulness of their vows? No way, she’d admit that she had issues bringing their wedding into focus. All she could see was a couple and minister on the beach with the sun setting in the background. With the shadows falling on them, it was hard to tell if the couple was even white, let alone if it was actually them. The sun was setting in the west, which worked since they married in Tahiti. Still, it had the same feeling of looking at a magazine ad for honeymoons.

The woman had on a short dress, and the groom was barefoot. That she could tell. They did have a whirlwind romance. Was it possible she was drunk when she married Mark? Was that why she couldn’t remember anything very well? Her hope was, by mentioning the wedding, he might also confess how wildly in love he was with her. It might ease her fears about the two of them being an odd couple.

Her Aunt Remy raised her with a healthy self-esteem. Being worthy of her handsome husband wasn’t an issue. It was more a case of like going with like. She’d heard enough comments when a couple showed with one partner being more attractive. When the woman was more beautiful, people assumed the man was rich and powerful. Charitable women might think he was charming and good in bed. Unfortunately, it never worked that way with the women. People seemed genuinely baffled and usually predicted a future break-up. Rather unfair if you asked her. Couldn’t the woman have some great trait? Maybe she was smart, interesting, and a decent conversationalist, even reasonably good looking with a slender build and short blonde hair. Her nose crinkled once she realized she’d just described herself.

The curve between his shoulder and neck beckoned her to nuzzle. The simple action reassured that they were actually married and together. Everything happened so fast. A slow roll of her body had Amy looking up at her husband who pinned her to the mattress. “I think I know what my own Dr. Death needs.” He wiggled his eyebrows and leered at her.

~Meet Morgan!~ 

Morgan K Wyatt believes in happy endings. When things don’t end well, she holds to the familiar Indian saying: If things don’t work out, then it’s not the end because everything works out in the end. She considers herself living proof after escaping an abusive marriage; she found and married her soul mate. While not every day is sunshine and roses, she writes about the possibility of flowers and chance meetings between strangers. 

Her reputation as a plant rescuer has people dropping sick and dying plants at her house, and then speeding off in the night. The magic ingredient that brings the plants back to life is love and Miracl-gro. Morgan would love to hear from you. If you have a name for a character, cute dog pics, or gardening info, even better.

Morgan will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour and a signed paperback copy of Love or Deception (international) to three randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter.

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