#BookReview: Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by @ruthmariehogan

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things and The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes - a novel of mothers and daughters, families and secrets and the astonishing power of friendship.

Tilly was a bright, outgoing little girl who liked playing with ghosts and matches. She loved fizzy drinks, swear words, fish fingers and Catholic churches, but most of all she loved living in Brighton in Queenie Malone's Magnificent Paradise Hotel with its endearing and loving family of misfits - staff and guests alike.

But Tilly's childhood was shattered when her mother sent her away from the only home she'd ever loved to boarding school with little explanation and no warning. Now, Tilda has grown into an independent woman still damaged by her mother's unaccountable cruelty. Wary of people, her only friend is her dog, Eli. But when her mother dies, Tilda goes back to Brighton and with the help of her beloved Queenie sets about unraveling the mystery of her exile from The Paradise Hotel and discovers that her mother was not the woman she thought she knew at all ... Mothers and daughters ... their story can be complicated ... it can also turn out to have a happy ending.

#BookReview: The Kidnap Years by David Stout

Synopsis: The astonishing true history of the kidnapping open-season that terrorized America

The Great Depression was a time of desperation in America--parents struggled to feed their children and unemployment was at a record high. Adding to the lawlessness of the decade, thugs with submachine guns and corrupt law-enforcement officers ran rampant. But amidst this panic, there was one sure-fire way to make money, one used by criminals and resourceful civilians alike: kidnapping.

Jump into this forgotten history with Edgar Award-winning author David Stout as he explores the reports of missing people that inundated newspapers at the time. Learn the horrifying details of these abduction cases, from the methods used and the investigative processes to the personal histories of the culprits and victims. All of this culminates with the most infamous kidnapping in American history, the one that targeted an international celebrity and changed legislation forever: the Lindbergh kidnapping.

The Kidnap Years is a gritty, visceral, thoughtfully reported page-turner that chronicles the sweep of abductions that afflicted all corners of the country as desperate people were pushed to do the unthinkable.

#BookReview: Perfect Distraction by @AllisonAuthor

Synopsis: Lauren Taylor isn't thinking about love, especially not with the impossibly attractive man she accidentally spilled coffee all over. He's out of her league and she's focused on finishing her oncology pharmacy residency. She's sworn off men who are too handsome for their own good, anyway.

Andrew Bishop can't stop thinking about the gorgeous redhead who crashed into him and then disappeared, even though he should have way more on his mind - like dealing with his Hodgkin Lymphoma diagnosis and finishing out his last year in law school. When Andrew and Lauren run into each other at the cancer center where she's working and he's being treated, they try to keep it professional. They can be friends, and nothing more.

But sometimes life has other plans…

#BookBlitz: Darkness by @lcmawson @XpressoTours #Giveaway $25 Amazon gift card

Darkness
L.C. Mawson
(Freya Snow, #15)
Publication date: March 27th 2020
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy
Freya thought her fight was over.
She was wrong.
After finally defeating Lord Uther, Freya fell into a holding pattern. With her husband and daughter gone, there was nothing for her to do except wait for change.
But when her girlfriend lights a rescue beacon, it becomes apparent that all is not as quiet as Freya thought.
And saving those she cares about might mean facing the darkness that has always plagued her…
DARKNESS is the fifteenth and final book in the Freya Snow urban fantasy series, which starts out as YA and follows Freya’s magical adventures through to university and into adulthood. If you like kick-ass, sarcastic heroines, immersive magical worlds beneath our own, and love that crosses the lines of magical feuds, then you’ll be instantly hooked on L.C. Mawson’s fast-paced urban fantasy series.

#BookReview: The Water Year by Max Howard

Synopsis: Sophie lives on the border between the United States and Mexico. She spends most of her time taking care of her little sister and working at the family restaurant, hoping to catch the eye of Ruben, the Mexican boy who delivers baked goods. Her father and uncle spend their free time scouring the desert as part of a civilian militia, hoping to stop undocumented immigrants from entering the United States. When Sophie becomes involved with an immigrant-aid organization called Water Is Life, it challenges everything she's ever known. Suddenly, Sophie is stuck at the borderline of family and justice.

#BookReview: Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marillier

Synopsis: Juliet Marillier brings us a beautifully re-imagined version of the Six Swans myth in Daughter of the Forest.

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift--by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.

When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all... 

#BookBlitz: Jane’s Team by @janiemarie1617 @XpressoTours #Giveaway $20 Amazon gift card

Jane’s Team: A High School Reverse Harem Romance
Janie Marie
(Bizarro Universe Books, #1)
Publication date: April 2nd 2020
Genres: Romance, Sports, Young Adult
When you’re in love with your best friend, life is complicated.
When he’s also your stepbrother, it’s a nightmare.
Jane’s apparently a magnet for chaos.
Because now she’s agreed to tutor her stepbrother’s enemy, and that sexy bad boy might have a thing for her. She might also love that a tingle surrounds her soul whenever he’s close.
Throw his two brothers into the mix, dangerous rivals looking to destroy every one of them, and parents controlling her love life. It’s safe to say she’s wandered into the apocalypse.
At least being torn between four hot guys isn’t the end of the world.
Just kidding. It totally is.
But they’ll all realize something.
Jane’s the ruler of her life. No one else.
Long live the queen . . . and her kings.
JANE’S TEAM 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗺 High School Romance and Alternate reality for the Gods & Monsters trilogy.
*strong language, sexual assault, sex, stepbrother romance, reverse harem romance. Guaranteed HEA. No Cliffhanger*

#BookReview: Dream Maker (Dream #1) by Kristen Ashley

Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of the Dream Man and Rock Chick series comes a brand new story about love, friendship, and the bonds of sisterhood. 

Evie is a bonafide nerd and a hyper-intelligent chick who has worked her whole life to get what she wants. Growing up, she had no support from her family and has only ever been able to rely on herself. So when Evie decides she wants to earn her engineering degree, she realizes she needs to take an alternative path to get there. She takes a job dancing at Smithie's club thinking this would be a quick side gig, where she can make the money she needs. But with her lack of dancing skills and an alpha bad boy who becomes overly protective, Evie realizes this might not be as easy as she thought.

Daniel "Mag" Magnusson knows a thing or two about pain, but the mask he wears is excellent. No one can tell that this good-looking, quick-witted, and roguish guy has deep-seated issues. Mag puts on a funny-guy routine so he can hide his broken heart and PTSD. But when Evie dances her way into Mag's life, he realizes that he needs to come face-to-face with the demons of his past if he wants a future with her.

#BookBlitz: Reverend of Silence by @pamsparkman @XpressoTours #Giveaway $25 Amazon gift card

Reverend of Silence
Pamela Sparkman
Publication date: January 14th 2020
Genres: Coming of Age, Historical, Young Adult
A coming of age story about faith, love, and overcoming society’s prejudices during the American Antebellum period.
In 1810, Lucy Hallison suffered from a severe illness at the age of three, and later recovered, a deaf-mute. Unable to relate to the world in which she lives, she’s often ignored and sometimes treated with cruelty. Until a boy, Samuel Burke, steps into her life at the tender age of seven, coloring her world and showing her what it means to be seen, to not be invisible, to be understood.
The two become inseparable childhood friends, and as they grow and mature, there is the promise and hope of something more that also grows between them. But the hope of something more is put on hold so she can attend The American Asylum at Hartford for the Deaf and Dumb, the first of its kind, requiring her to leave the only home she’s ever known and the only boy she’s ever loved.
But while she is away, tragedy strikes, and Samuel is now the one unable to relate to the world in which he lives, unable to find his own voice, and withdrawing from everyone and everything he’s ever known.
When Lucy returns home from school, she has one goal in mind—to put color back into his world the way he had once put color into hers.
Because Samuel Burke had been her voice when she had needed him most.
Now, she is determined to be his.
Note: Inspired by real people and true historical accounts.

#BookBlitz: Voices & Visions by @LashellCollins @XpressoTours #Giveaway $25 Amazon gift card

Voices & Visions
Lashell Collins
(Touched, #1)
Publication date: March 27th 2020
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense
A psychic so powerful his abilities come at a cost. A woman so special she alone has the power to touch him.
Detective Isaac Taylor is a broken man. Isolated by his strange abilities and what others perceive as weird behavior, he keeps his head down and excels at his job. But he hears the whispers of his colleagues and family members, and he feels like a freak among them. Then one wrong number phone call changes everything.
Sidney Fairchild is no stranger to danger. She’s a woman on the run, in hiding and existing below the radar. Despite her efforts to stay invisible, she witnesses a crime she knows could get her killed. Then she answers a wrong number phone call that changes her life.
Bound by their undeniable connection, Isaac and Sidney forge a bond stronger than anything either has ever known. But will his psychic abilities save her or lead to their mutual destruction?
Voices & Visions is book 1 in Touched, a new romantic suspense series. If you like compelling characters, realistic dialogue, and heartwarming bromances, then you’ll love this new thought-provoking series from Lashell Collins.