Dream Hunter
Are you ready for author Maya Tyler's upcoming paranormal romance novella, Dream Hunter? Gabe Hunter is a Guardian who’s been watching over
Cynthia for years, but when the forbidden keeps tempting them both, will it put
Cynthia in danger?
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Cynthia’s dreams are so real,
they are actually coming true – complete with the prerequisite dream guy. But
things are not as they seem.
Who said dreams are sweet?
Chicago businesswoman Cynthia
Courtland is completely focused on her career when a sensual, reoccurring dream
disrupts her orderly life. Then a threat against her workplace forces her to
take time off. She is lost with nowhere to go--only her empty apartment.
Work is Gabe’s life too; he takes
it very seriously and will do whatever it takes to succeed. He's been watching
over Cynthia for a long time and he has her best interests at heart, but can he
protect her from the danger she is blind to? When Cynthia insists on
investigating the threat so she can get back to work, it makes Gabe's job all
the more difficult.
When things settle, will there be
more for them than a life filled with work? Will she give her dreams a chance
to come true?
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Maya Tyler is a romance author, blogger,
wife, and mother. She has a degree in Commerce and her day job is in Finance.
Over the past few years, she decided to unleash her creative streak and get
serious about writing. So far, she has published a short story “Just for
Tonight” in an anthology titled With Love from Val and Tyne, and has written a few books. Writing
mostly paranormal romances, all of her books have a common theme–happily ever
after. Dream Hunter is her debut novella. When she’s not
writing, you can find her playing with Lego and watching superhero movies with
her husband and sons. You can visit her anytime on Facebook or sample her quirky
writing style on her blog.
You can find Maya on the web at the following locations:
Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog
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Excerpt:
The air in her lungs rushed to escape and time stood still.
She was aware of only him. Beyond her control, her head tilted and her whole
body leaned toward him; her inner core pulsed and buzzed. He drew her in like a
magnet, a moth to flame; she was helpless to resist his siren call. He emulated
danger, looked like evil incarnate—black and dangerous, seductive and
forbidden—and she wanted him.
When he grabbed her harshly by both shoulders, she snapped
out of her lust-induced trance. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
“We must get out of here.” His words were calm, but his eyes
stared right through her.
Cynthia opened her mouth to object.
“There is no time,” he announced as he tugged on her arm.
“Let go of me!” She tried to pull away. “I don’t know you.”
Holding her arm still, he stared into her eyes without saying
a word.
Okay, he seems a little familiar. She gulped. “How do I know you?”
Giving her a penetrating look, he replied, “You know me.
Quit wasting time.”
She opened her mouth to protest again.
“We must leave now.”
Should I go with him? She tilted her head and looked up at
him. His gaze was strong and steady and made her feel safe. This is not the time to be indecisive.
She thought about the threat at work and shivered despite the heat.
You will be safe with me. There is no
time. We must leave now. His
voice entered her thoughts like a caress in her mind and didn’t alarm her.
He was right. There was no time to analyze her options and
run through various scenarios. For all she knew, every scenario without him
could mean danger for her. Her body wanted to follow him, she admitted with
reluctance, even if her mind resisted. Yes, she would go, she decided, even as
she felt herself following him down the street.
Power resonated from his muscular build. He kept a hand in a
firm but gentle hold on her elbow as they hurried down the sidewalk. Unmindful
of their destination, Cynthia had ample time to study her new “friend.” He
towered over her by at least a foot, wearing a black leather jacket despite the
warm day, and dark jeans that showcased his narrow waist. Every beefy inch of
him screamed passion and strength—his
tight clothing doing nothing to disguise the sinewy muscles rippling in his
legs as he moved—but
she wasn’t frightened of him. She hesitated for a minute. Should I be afraid? No, she decided. She felt eerily calm, like all
her life had been leading her up to this moment in time, and she was exactly
where she was supposed to be. The reason she let a perfect stranger lead her to
God-knew-where.
She shifted her thick hair over her
shoulder as sweat soaked at the base of her neck. The day’s temperature had yet
to peak, but it was already warm enough to be uncomfortable and practically
running in office attire didn’t help matters.
“I need a moment,” she said.
They made an abrupt stop. The man
offered her an unopened bottle of water. After casting an assessing look at him
she accepted the bottle, and took a long, welcome drink.
“Thank you.”
The man dismissed her thanks with a
casual shrug.
Cynthia shot him a questioning look.
“Later,” he replied in a brisk voice.
“We need to go.”
“Where?”
“We need to go,” he repeated, ignoring
her question.
They had covered several blocks and, as
they moved further from her office, the sights became less familiar and a
tremor of fear shook through her body. Where
did this guy come from? Why does he think I know him? Because I do know him.
The realization hit her hard in the stomach. It’s him.
“I need—”
“We need to keep going,” he insisted
without further explanation.
“No!” She planted her hands on her hips
and her feet in the firmest stance she could manage as she wobbled on the
uneven sidewalk. Then she looked down at her feet and a strange sense of déjà
vu washed over her as she stared at the cobblestone path. Her mouth gaped, her
breathing quickened. With dread she looked up at the buildings on the street.
Her vision blurred. Everything around her spun and faded away as she collapsed
into strong arms. She had a vague awareness of him lifting her. As he adjusted
his hold, she bounced against his solid chest. She must be dreaming. That was
the only explanation that made sense. Nothing like this ever happened in her
boring, ordinary life. It’s just a dream.
Swallowing her disappointment, she glanced up at the determined expression on
his face. He carried her effortlessly, like she weighed nothing. When she
rested her head on his chest, she could feel his heart beating steadily. She
ran her hand lightly across his defined bicep. Wow. He wasn’t real, but she might as well make the most of it;
from experience she knew her dream wouldn’t last forever.
My Writing Journey: The Precursor
to Dream Hunter by Maya Tyler
"Life is a journey, not a
destination."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Once upon a time there was a little girl with a big
dream. She wanted to become a writer. As the little girl grew up, her plans for
the future grew up too. Instead of writing, she went to university and earned a
business degree in accounting. She worked a Monday-to-Friday, nine-to-five job
day in and day out, always wondering in the back of her mind "if
only".
Life changed. She got married, bought a house,
bought another house, bought a puppy, had a baby. Then her husband got sick and
all priorities changed. She picked up writing again, had another baby. Life was
short and she learned you never knew what lay just around the corner. In a
responsible way, they adopted a "you only live once" policy. They
started seriously saving for the future, paying down the mortgage, and taking
their kids on trips.
She realized that life passes all of us by in the
blink of an eye and she didn't want any more regret. So she got serious about
writing again, juggling the day job with the husband and kids. She acknowledged
her dream was still to become a writer.
Writing is a process, a journey. When you read a
book, it doesn't seem that hard to string letters together to make words, words
together to make sentences, etc. But it is. Everything seems simple until you
try it for yourself. :) But everything worth having is worth working for.
How did I get here? Everything that happened in my
life had brought me to this moment in time, shaped the person I am. My husband
doesn't like being sick, but he maintains that his disability has made him a
better person. Maybe it's made me a better person too? It certainly was a
wake-up call. Life is fragile, precious, and fleeting. Whether I have five
years or fifty left on this Earth, I want to make the most of it.
My hopes and dreams for the future are simple. I
want to take care of my family, be the best person I can be, and make the world
a better place for my kids. Our needs are simple too. Modest roof over our
heads, healthy food in our stomachs. And I want to live life without regret.
It's difficult to focus on the future without first
examining the past. I imagine that most people have some regret. Something they
wish they could do over. The choices I've made shape the person I've become. If
I changed everything in my life I regret, then I wouldn't be me. Instead I will
take those experiences and incorporate them into my writing framework.
I have a very overactive imagination; it's probably
what makes me conjure up such fantastic story ideas. Plus I have some crazy
dreams (see above about story ideas). I love telling a story. I always wrote
when I was a kid and, now, I enjoy making up stories for my kids (or re-telling
the classics in a not so classic way). This love of story-telling has propelled
me into achieving a lifelong dream of writing a book.
My first publication is a novella called Dream Hunter, a story I wrote inspired
by a dream I had.
Cynthia’s dreams are so real, they are actually coming true –
complete with the prerequisite dream guy. But things are not as they seem.
Who said dreams are sweet?
Chicago businesswoman Cynthia Courtland is completely focused on
her career when a sensual, reoccurring dream disrupts her orderly life. Then a
threat against her workplace forces her to take time off. She is lost with
nowhere to go - only her empty apartment.
Work is Gabe’s life too; he takes it very seriously and will do
whatever it takes to succeed. He is watching over Cynthia and he has her best
interests at heart, but he isn’t who he seems.
Cynthia insists on investigating the threat so she can get back
to work. When things settle, will there be more for them than a life filled
with work? Will she give her dreams a chance to come true?
Cynthia's dream come to life was the existence of
her hero, Gabe. My dream brings them both to life within the pages of Dream Hunter.
I am inspired to tell a story. I have many stories
left to tell. My dream to write is not complete with the publication of one
novella. The end of Dream Hunter is
not the end, but merely signifies the start of a new beginning, a new chapter
of my life, the start of my writing journey. And it all starts on December 30th
with the release of…
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Thanks for
reading and come visit me anytime.
E-mail mayatylerauthor@gmail.com
Website www.mayatylerauthor.com
Thanks, Raven, for hosting me!
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