#WeekBlast: Live! Love! Rest! God's Plan by Karen Baker

 

The Perfect Person to Get Cancer

Biography/Memoir

Date Published: January 1, 2021

Karen Baker had the perfect life. She had a dashing husband, two beautiful daughters, and two incredible parents who set her up with firm financial foundations. At least, that was how it looked on the outside.

Beneath the surface, Karen’s marriage was in turmoil. To make matters worse, a series of seemingly freak accidents and medical diagnoses put her through trial after trial. Through it all, she took care of everyone around her. Her determination and grit were such that, when her final diagnosis came, a friend said something startling: “Karen, you’re the perfect person to get cancer. Because you’re going to beat it and use the experience to help others.”

Now Karen shares her remarkable story—how she cared for three generations of her family through illness and tragedy, and the lessons she learned along the way. She includes practical tips for financial well-being during life’s storms—and the final and most powerful lesson of all.

#BookReview: A Pack of Vows and Tears (The Boulder Wolves #2) by @OWildWrites

Synopsis: In the seductive follow-up to A Pack of Blood and Lies, Ness Clark’s heart and legitimacy are again put to the test. 

She thought the fight was over, but it was only just beginning. 

At the end of the trials, Ness Clark has earned her spot in her all-male pack and has won over her new Alpha, Liam Kolane. But her place amongst the Boulders and at Liam’s side is compromised. First when her cousin, who’s become enemy number one, claims Ness helped him elude his death sentence. And then, when August Watt, Ness’s childhood friend and confidant, comes home to Boulder, Colorado.

Although August’s plan was to pledge himself and return to active duty, he finds himself incapable of leaving. This becomes problematic for Liam and Ness, because a mating link has clicked into place between Ness and the ex-marine. If not consumed, the link will fade, but that’ll take months. How long and hard can two people fight a physical attraction that renders their bodies unreceptive to anyone’s but their mates?

Ness is tired of fighting, tired of having to prove herself worthy of her pack’s trust and of her Alpha’s affection. But when an enemy pack arrives and threatens the Boulders, she has two choices: step aside and let the wolves who have pushed her away fend for themselves, or step up and help them fight the newcomers.

Ness has never stepped aside…not for anyone.

Why would she start now?

** Not suitable for children under 14.

#BookReview: In the Forest of the Lost and Found by K.D. Van Brunt

Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Allyssa Baylor lives a sheltered life of privilege. Not anymore. Now she is lost in the wilderness below the arctic circle with little more than the clothes on her back. A battle is coming and if she’s going to survive it, she must lose who she was and discover who she is. 

Ever since her mother’s horrible death, Allie wants nothing to do with her family, particularly her sister, Grace, whom she blames for the loss of her mother. But Allie is persuaded to join her family on one last vacation, one last chance to heal the breaches among them before college. The group travels by float plane to a remote lake cabin in northern Canada located 150 miles from the nearest road. 

The vacation becomes a disaster when the plane never returns to retrieve them, and they have no way to call for help. Soon, the food runs out. More ominously, something prowls the woods around the cabin, and they dare not go outside after dark. Finally, desperate and with no other options, Allie resolves to do the impossible: hike through the Canadian wilderness back to civilization and evade whatever predator is waiting in the surrounding forest. 

With her younger sister and brother in tow, Allie sets off into the wild with few supplies and no survival skills. They are not alone. A monster begins relentlessly hunting them. After weeks of running and hiding, the end has come. Allie must overcome the raw fear inside her and make a stand against the beast alone, buying what time she can for her family to escape.

#BookBlitz: In Your Dreams by @jkentauthor @XpressoTours #Giveaway $25 winner’s choice gift card

In Your Dreams
Julia Kent
(Her Billionaires, Book 0 – Prequel)
Publication date: June 1st 2021
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

Sometimes your wildest dreams really do come true…

Laura Michaels sat up in her dark, lonely bedroom, heart slamming in her heated chest, the dream so real she could still taste his mouth against hers, feel hands pressed into her soft curves, sense fingers exploring where she wanted them most in the lush territory of her abandoned body. Yet her bed was empty, as always.

Except for the three cats who thought they owned it.

And the empty ice cream pint, spoon jutting out like it was identifying her in a line-up.

Heart racing, she tried. She really did. She should have calmed down. She should have been able to shake the reverie. She should have let it all fade.

What kept her heart beating so fast, though, was one undeniable fact.

There had been four hands on her in that dream…

This prequel takes Laura, Mike and Dylan from the New York Times bestselling series Her Billionaires and offers a glimpse into their yearning for what was meant to be…

The book you are about to read, In Your Dreams, is a newly-revised and expanded prequel to the New York Times bestselling series, Her Billionaires. It was originally published in 2014 under the title Before Her Billionaires, but now has more than double the words, is fully re-edited, and has more of the men  .

#BookBlitz: Darkness Within by @CyprusHart @RABTBookTours @BoroughsPubGrp @BookBuzznet

 

Light Divided, Book 1

Dark Fantasy Romance

Date Published: May 2021

Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group

SECOND SKIN

Aideen Duffy's job is hunting down the dark creatures who are trying to overthrow human society and bring the world back to how it used to be when vampires, werewolves, and their ilk were in charge.

The culmination of two years' work, she’s closing in on Costecu, the vampire responsible for the most deadly cell in her city. When the op goes sideways, instead capturing the elusive bastard, she ends up with second prize: his right-hand man, Druain Lindberg.

What happens next, she couldn’t have planned for in a thousand years.

Deep undercover, Drew is swimming in the blood of Costecu's treachery, but he'd do anything and everything to destroy the heinous vampire who'd ruined his life.

With the stink of evil ground into his pores, he's ordered to kidnap Aideen and bring her to Costecu, but this time following orders is not going to happen. The spirited selkie can't be cowed, and something in her calls to him.

When Drew risks long-held plans to save Aideen, everyone - good and evil - are after them. Keeping them hidden long enough to escape is not as big a problem as her letting him do what his heart compels him is essential - protecting her with his life.

#BookBlitz: No Gentle Giant by @Nicolesnowbooks @XpressoTours #Giveaway $10 Amazon gift card + signed copy of No Gentle Giant

No Gentle Giant
Nicole Snow
Publication date: June 5th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Nicole Snow returns with a steamy and electrifying standalone romance thriller where one ginormous protector goes all-in to win Miss Unlucky.

You know the drill. Big hands, big feet, humongous—
Yikes. We’re not going there for the thousandth time.
I’ve got small-town problems aplenty and zero time for Paxton “Alaska” Charter.
Crushing on smokeshow men with caveman vibes can’t end well.

Sure, he saved my little coffee shop from total ruin once.
Yes, my ovaries melt watching single dad of the century with his little boy.
Of course, I’d sleep like a baby if I let him work his former SEAL hero magic on my mess.
That’s not why I’m freaking out.

Nobody told me how devastatingly kind Alaska can be.
Or the fact that his stubborn heart’s even more guarded than mine.
If he comes barreling into my life, it’s certain doom.
And it’s all thrown to the wind the day his kiss claims me.

We have to say goodbye. Right now. Before it’s too late.
He can’t keep sheltering my body, stealing my heart, and igniting my soul.
I won’t drag this gentle giant down my abyss of ugly secrets.
But Alaska has other plans—and they scare me.
Because they all involve impossible happily ever afters, no matter the cost.

Full-length small-town standalone romance heaven. The butterflies come in force when one large and in-charge single dad steps in to rescue the girl who abandoned all hope and forgot how to love.

#BookReview: A Pack of Blood and Lies (The Boulder Wolves #1) by @OWildWrites

Synopsis: The primal rule of winning: don’t fall in love with the contender. 

Three months shy of her eighteenth birthday, Ness is forced to return to Colorado. Even though it’s been six years, and the wolves of her all-male pack don’t recognize her, she recognizes them. People who shun others because of their gender are hard to forget.

Especially Liam Kolane—son of Heath, the crudest and cruelest Alpha to have ruled the Boulder Pack. Liam is as handsome as he is infuriating, as kind as he is punishing, and he makes Ness’s traitorous heart race, which isn’t good. After all, he’s a Kolane. Like father like son, right?

When Heath dies, Liam vies to become the new Alpha and no one dares to challenge him. 

Except Ness. 

Thus begins a treacherous game. 

The rules: winner takes all…including loser’s life.

Fans of Kresley Cole and Cassandra Clare will devour A PACK OF BLOOD AND LIES. 

* Contains Alpha males.
* Not suitable for children under 15.

#BookReview: The Seekers of Genesis: Empyreal Roots by C.J. Walters

Synopsis: There are three possible fates for Seekers. Some successfully complete their trials and take their rightful place in Glanching society. Others fail and are banished for eternity. Those who break the Rules are annihilated.

This truth has never bothered resolute Villow Verchant.
Everyone knows he will become a Guide Seeker and successfully re-create an Original Species, destroyed eons ago in the War of the Fiends.

His reckless twin, Dameaon, barely thinks about it.
He’s too busy aimlessly living from day-to-day. Not that it matters. Their father has Dameaon’s life planned out; he will become a Soldier Seeker and fall into line.

But then everything changes on their sixteenth birthday.
During their Path Ceremony, Dameaon finagles his way into the Guide Class, shocking everyone. To avert disaster, Villow and Dameaon are assigned as co-Guides, with humankind as their Original Species. When the twins teleport to Earth, they struggle to find common ground, putting their success in jeopardy and leaving the humans caught in a tug-of-war for survival—or destruction.

#ChapterReveal for Small Town Pretender by @BrightonWalsh and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Small Town Pretender

Series: Havenbrook #5

Author: Brighton Walsh

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: June 24, 2021

BLURB

Asher McCoy can win over a crowd with a husky note and a strum of his guitar, but proving to a judge he’s responsible enough to gain custody of his niece and nephew? Not so easy. His big idea—a fake marriage. And who better to play his doting bride than his longtime best friend? He just needs to get her home first...

Natalie Haven couldn’t get away from her suffocating hometown fast enough. For years, she’s fluttered around the globe as a freelance photographer. And if that unconventional job pisses off her daddy? Well, all the better. But when her best friend sends out an SOS, she heads back to the one place she swore she’d never land.

Except a fake marriage means a not-so-fake living arrangement, including only one bed. Nat's witnessed enough women fall for Asher’s charms, but she refuses to be one of them. Because permanence isn’t in her blood. Not even for him.

#BookBlitz: A Young Man's Fancy Anthology @RABTBookTours

 

Contemporary M/M Romance, M/M Romance, New Adult M/M Romance

Date Published: May 2021

Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group

Five YA/NA stories about the lives and loves of incredible young men

David – M. Tasia

Dumped and depressed, David flees town to work on remodeling a lake house for the summer without telling his best friend, Jacob. But best friends don’t leave each other hanging, and Jacob’s been missing David. Uninvited, but welcome at the lake house, Jacob engineers a hat-trick of surprises that just might change both their futures.

No Bunny Like You – Susan Mac Nicol

Colin’s neighbor is so freakin’ delicious, he positions himself on his balcony to get a glimpse of Dashiell dancing in his room, his sexy body twisting and turning to the music. Which would’ve made Dash saving Colin from nearly drowning in a bunny suit mortifying in the extreme, except Dash seems to have been spying on Colin as much as he’s been checking out Dash.

Homecoming – Emily Mims

The new guy in Clay’s acting class had way more going from him than swoony singing techniques. Justin clocked Clay the minute he walked into the practice room, and knew they were going to be more than friends. Complicated family dynamics almost scuttle their plans to go to Homecoming, but both guys man up and learn whose people will stand by them no matter what.

Hold The Line - Kitty Bardot

A big defensive lineman in a town where high school football is everything, Terry is harboring a secret that’d ostracize him even more than he already is. His best friend Chris is his saving grace in all the ways that matter, and in ways Terry can’t share with anyone. But when push comes to more than a shove, Chris gives Terry the greatest gift of all.

Shake Me Down – Elle Wright

Everett’s senior year in a new school proves to yield more than he could’ve ever expected. The nerdy genius he’s been secretly crushing on asks him out and their chemistry is so combustible, they have to slow things down or they’ll never get to know each other. And Everett wants to know Zach, inside and out, like no one else ever will.

#SaleBlitz: No More Secrets by @joanneguidoccio @RABTBookTours #Giveaway

 

Women’s Fiction

Date Published: September 16, 2020

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Angelica Delfino takes a special interest in the lives of her three nieces, whom she affectionately calls the daughters of her heart. Sensing that each woman is harboring a troubling, possibly even toxic secret, Angelica decides to share her secrets—secrets she had planned to take to the grave. Spellbound, the nieces listen as Angelica travels back six decades to reveal an incredulous tale of forbidden love, tragic loss, and reinvention. It is the classic immigrant story upended: an Italian widow’s transformative journey amid the most unlikely of circumstances.

Inspired by Angelica’s example, the younger women share their “First World” problems and, in the process, set themselves free.

But one heartbreaking secret remains untold...

#BookBlitz: It’s Not PMS, It’s You by Rich Amooi @XpressoTours #Giveaway $25 Amazon gift card

It’s Not PMS, It’s You
Rich Amooi
Publication date: October 31st 2019
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Romance

“Romantic Comedy of the Year!”
“This novel is a Netflix movie waiting to happen.”
“I loved every second of this book!”
“Warning: This author causes book hangovers.”
“Oh my. Be still my heart.”
“Laugh out loud of epic proportions.”
“Loved it. Still laughing.”

Ruth “Ruthless” Harper is on the verge of becoming managing partner at her all-male consulting firm and she won’t let anything stand in her way. That includes men, relationships, and that dreaded F word, FEELINGS—distractions she eliminated long ago.

After the worst day ever (a near-death experience and a public wedgie, for starters), Ruth realizes she doesn’t want to live and die alone. She puts together a business plan to find the perfect man and dives head first into the murky online dating pool. All she wants is a high-powered executive who understands how important her career is. If only it were that easy.

Problem is most men are intimidated by Ruth’s confidence and shocked by her bluntness. The exception being her landscape designer, Nick, whose cool demeanor and unsolicited dating advice are driving her nuts. He’s the antithesis of the business-oriented man Ruth envisions for herself, so why do all signs keep pointing back to him?

A romantic comedy novel for the ages. Order now. Don’t delay. Operators are standing by.

#ReleaseBlitz: An Unwitting Trickster by @KaiStrand @RABTBookTours

 

Young Adult Fantasy / Mythology

Date Published: 06-08-2021

Immortal Trickster, Luke, is starting a fresh life in a new-to-him seventeen-year-old body. With yet another lifespan stretched out in front of him, he’s questioning what purpose his endless compulsion to play tricks serves.

Agnar, a Thor look-alike claiming to be his adoptive brother from the planet Asperian, appears to declare Luke has been away from home too long. One problem. Luke doesn’t remember Agnar or living on another planet.

With more questions than answers, Luke cautiously agrees to accompany his “brother” back to Asperian, but the travel portal rejects him, leaving him behind to continue his mundane life of trickery. When interplanetary soldiers show up intent on killing him, he’s forced into hiding and his list of unanswered questions grows.

Will Luke remain trapped on Earth forever, pulling meaningless pranks? Or will he finally figure out his true purpose?

#BookReview: The Other Side of Magic by Ester Manzini

Synopsis: A revolution is brewing.

Everyone within the realms of Epidalio and Zafiria is born with magic. However, it is also true that for every spell each and every magic-user casts, their innate abilities begin to slowly wane until their power is feeble and depleted. 

True, that is, for almost everyone. 

Princess Gaiane Asares of Zafiria is the result of a nearly perfect genetic union. Harnessing royal and magical lineage in her conception, the princess was born infinitely powerful and with no limits upon her magic. Sequestered in a lonesome tower as her strength is used against her will to conquer the land of Epidalio, she must find a way to fight against her captors.

Elsewhere within the realms, Leo—a commoner—was born with no magic at all. Except for her brain, wits, and her own anger, she must confront the circumstances thrown at her without the magical gifts that so many take for granted.

THE OTHER SIDE OF MAGIC is a diverse fantasy filled with action and adventure that is sure to pull you in and hold you fast through each twist and turn!

#TeaserTuesday: The Disposables by @gfjolle @RABTBookTours

 

The Obscurité de Floride Trilogy, Book 2

Suspense

Date Published: Jun 1, 2021

Publisher: Épouvantail Books, LLC

In the jungles of coastal Mexico, twelve-year-old Kazu Danser is on the run, his bloody past haunting and attempting to be his ruination. Hot on his heals is journalist Carson Staines, a deadly madman full of blood thirst and greed, determined to first chronicle Kazu’s criminal life – and then end it. Staines must nail him down, dead or alive; the boy being worth a huge payoff.

Making a perilous crossing of the border into the States, Kazu fights for his life, desperately heading east. Entering sunburnt Florida, he teams up with a gang of Floridian street urchins, known to the authorities as, “The disposables.”

With Staines not letting up on the chase, Kazu and the other youths go on the run, fighting for their lives.

Can the Disposables and Kazu survive?

What will they have to do to stop the murderous and resourceful monster mowing through them to get to his reward?

The second part of the book takes place in the shadows of Florida, where street urchins fights every day to survive, both bodily and in spirit. In contrast to the tropical beaches and teeming vacationers, the children will do anything necessary to keep their heads above the perilous deep waters.

#BookReview: Five Ways to Fall Out of Love by Emily Martin

Synopsis: This whip-smart rom-com explores the risks and rewards of letting love in, for fans of Jennifer E. Smith, Julie Buxbaum, and Sandhya Menon.

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways…

Aubrey Cash learned the hard way not to rely on love. After all, Webster Casey, the new boy next door she’d been falling for all summer, stood her up at homecoming in front of everyone with no explanation. Proving her theory that love never lasts seems easy when she’s faced with parents whose marriage is falling apart and a best friend who thinks every boy she dates is “the one.” But when sparks fly with a boy who turns out to be Webster’s cousin, and then Webster himself becomes her lab partner for the rest of senior year, Aubrey finds her theory—and her commitment to stay single—put to the test.

As she navigates the breakdown of her family, the consequences her cynicism has on her relationship with her best friend, and her own confusing but undeniable feelings for Webster, Aubrey has to ask herself: What really happened the night Webster stood her up? And if there are five ways to fall out of love…could there perhaps be even more ways to fall back in?

#ReleaseBlitz: The Diversity Playbook by @hephzipemberton @equalitygroupgl @authorparul @RABTBookTours #Giveaway

 

Transforming Business with Inclusion and Innovation

Non-fiction / Business / Leadership / Diversity and Inclusion

Date Published: June 8, 2021

Hephzi Pemberton’s first nonfiction, business book The Diversity Playbook provides an empowering and uplifting experience. It contains proven expertise, factual examples and practical tools to transform your business and leadership approach with inclusion and innovation as a central shared goal and priority.

Her book demonstrates with clarity, relevant case studies and the latest research, as well as an applicable exercise in each chapter, to show how leaders and firms who embrace and embed inclusion and diversity into their business will benefit. They will be the businesses that innovate and adapt more rapidly. They will have a workplace culture that the latest talent seeks out and stays with. They will reach a wider set of customers and clients who feel valued and understood. They know that to achieve these benefits and many others besides, leaders and businesses now and in the future will have to take inclusion and diversity seriously.

#ReleaseBlitz for Deadly Memories by @amanda_siegrist and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Deadly Memories

Series: Lucky Town #4

Author: Amanda Siegrist

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: June 8, 2021

BLURB

Love is scary…death is terrifying.

Deke Sumnter only has casual sex. Anything beyond that, he’s not interested. Until Charlotte. She’s smart, sexy, and something he’s always craved. But one time was all he could give her. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be enough. Now, she won’t even talk to him. He’d take just being friends over the silent treatment.

When trouble starts brewing again in their small town, this time targeting the woman he swears he doesn’t love, he won’t let anything stop him from protecting her, even if everything inside of him says he needs to stay as far away from her as possible.

#ReleaseBlitz for Of Light and Dark by Danah Logan @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Of Light and Dark

Series: The Dark Series #3

Author: Danah Logan

Genre: New Adult Contemporary

Romantic Suspense

Release Date: June 8, 2021

BLURB

My name is Lilly.

What is my last name, you ask?

I. Don’t. Know.

I lost track of who I am months ago. I thought I was a McGuire until my brother let me in on the secrets that drove a wedge between my family so many years ago.

Consumed with the need for answers, I made decisions others would’ve called reckless—and they’re probably right.

The feeling of betrayal sat too deep for me to see reason. I should’ve told my parents, informed the authorities, but trust is a fragile thing. Once it’s broken, is there really a chance of rebuilding it?

Then I met him.

He gave me answers, but he had questions of his own. The more time we spent together, the more we bonded…until the lines were blurred.

Home was no longer tied to a place but to two individuals.

Throughout our search for the truth, I almost lost the boy that means everything to me.

Hunted by the media, tormented by Rhys’s psychotic ex and her followers, I became a target, and my need to run put everyone at risk.

No one could’ve expected what actually happened over a decade ago. How one decision started a chain of events that led to me being the pawn in her game.

Find out what really happened ten years ago in this angst-filled, romantic-suspense story full Of Light and Dark.

**AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Dear Reader, Of Light and Dark is the THIRD book and CONCLUSION of Lilly and Rhys’s trilogy within The Dark Series. The first three books in the series are one continuous story, with In the Dark being the first book.

This book is intended for MATURE readers and features strong language, sexual scenes, and situations that may be considered TRIGGERS for some. Reader Discretion is advised.

#TeaserTuesday: Monet & Oscar (The Essence of Light) by @joembyrd @RABTBookTours

 

Historical Fiction

Date Published: March 11, 2021

Publisher: Giverny Books

A young WWI veteran searches for his French Impressionist father through encounters with Claude Monet and some of that movement’s key figures.