#BookReview: Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

Synopsis: Ellerie Downing lives in the quiet town of Amity Falls in the Blackspire Mountain range--five narrow peaks stretching into the sky like a grasping hand, bordered by a nearly impenetrable forest from which the early townsfolk fought off the devils in the woods. To this day, visitors are few and rare. But when a supply party goes missing, some worry that the monsters that once stalked the region have returned.

As fall turns to winter, more strange activities plague the town. They point to a tribe of devilish and mystical creatures who promise to fulfill the residents' deepest desires, however grand and impossible, for just a small favor. But their true intentions are much more sinister, and Ellerie finds herself in a race against time before all of Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves go up in flames. 

#BookReview: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by @veschwab

Synopsis:  A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name. 

This title will be released on October 6, 2020. 

#CoverReveal: The Stolen Husband by Loretta Lost @XpressoTours

The Stolen Husband
Loretta Lost
Publication date: July 2021
Genres: Adult, Thriller

My husband was stolen. While I was in a coma.

But I’m okay. I swear. Am I a little salty? Sure.
Have I fantasized about revenge? Absolutely. Made plans to get him back? Naturally. Have I stabbed a voodoo doll while crying my eyes out? Just a little bit.

But I am a strong, independent badass, and I am choosing to let go and move on. I got attached to my new guy a little too fast to soothe my wounds, but Lukas is amazing. Younger, hotter, obsessed with the gym, and his body shows it. He’s all I need to forget about my stupid ex-husband.

But when I start getting cryptic messages on social media to stay away from him… and creepy letters shoved under my front door? Cars following me late at night? I am starting to regret diving in so fast…

I may have bitten off more than I can chew. But I would rather be the predator than the prey…

#BookBlitz: The Moon Shadow by @krea_author @XpressoTours #Giveaway $15 Amazon gift card

The Moon Shadow
K. Rea
(The Wolfrik Trilogy, #1)
Publication date: February 3rd 2021
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy

AN EXILED WOLF.
A VAMPIRE PRINCE.
A LOVE THAT WILL BRING A COURT TO ITS KNEES.
——————————————-

When Evelyn Wolfrik, an exiled wolf-shifter, walked into a Court of Shadows nightclub she had one plan — find the vampire that executed her parents, put a dagger in his heart, and get out.

Being caught by Aiden Kensley, the dark vampire prince, before she could exact justice wasn’t part of the plan. Now that the little wolf is in his hands, Aiden refuses to let her go….

With a wolf rebellion rising, if Evelyn makes one wrong move the Court of Shadows, her people, and her heart could be lost forever.

#BookReview: Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera

Synopsis: Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas—humans who capture and control criaturas—consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime.

When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back. To get into Devil’s Alley, though, she’ll have to become a bruja herself—while hiding her quest from her parents, her town, and the other brujas. Thankfully, the legendary criatura Coyote has a soft spot for humans and agrees to help her on her journey.

With him at her side, Cece sets out to reunite her family—and maybe even change what it means to be a bruja along the way.

#BookReview: All the Beautiful Lies by @peterswanson3

Synopsis: Harry Ackerson has always considered his step-mother Alice to be sexy and beautiful, in an “other worldly” way. She has always been kind and attentive, if a little aloof in the last few years.

Days before his college graduation, Alice calls with shocking news. His father is dead and the police think it’s suicide. Devastated, he returns to his father’s home in Maine. There, he and Alice will help one another pick up of the pieces of their lives and uncover what happened to his father.

Shortly after he arrives, Harry meets a mysterious young woman named Grace McGowan. Though she claims to be new to the area, Harry begins to suspect that Grace may not be a complete stranger to his family. But she isn’t the only attractive woman taking an interest in Harry. The sensual Alice is also growing closer, coming on to him in an enticing, clearly sexual way.

Mesmerized by these two women, Harry finds himself falling deeper under their spell. Yet the closer he gets to them, the more isolated he feels, disoriented by a growing fear that both women are hiding dangerous—even deadly—secrets . . . and that neither one is telling the truth. 

#NerdBlast: UNFORGOTTEN by @anitasilvey @JeanBookNerd #Giveaway

Explore the fascinating life and legacy of groundbreaking primatologist and conservationist Dian Fossey, who made it her life's mission to study and protect mountain gorillas, in this powerful biography from award-winning author Anita Silvey.

In 1963, young American Dian Fossey spent all her savings and took out a loan to realize her dream--to go to Africa. It soon became her life's mission to study and protect the few mountain gorillas left on Earth. Fossey had no experience or formal scientific training, but she was smart, passionate, and strong-willed--and she just happened to meet paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, who helped her pursue her goal of studying animals in the wild. Fossey set up a research camp and threw herself into tracking and observing mountain gorillas. Over the next 18 years, Fossey got closer to gorillas than any human ever had before. As she learned to mimic their behavior and became accepted by them, Fossey's studies grew into a labor of love and a mission to protect her beloved gorillas from poachers and other threats--no matter what the cost.

Sadly, Fossey was murdered at her camp in 1985, and to this day, her death remains a mystery. But her legacy lives on through the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund: In 1973 Fossey recorded only 275 gorillas living in Volcanoes National Park; there are about twice that many today. Fossey's story is one of tragedy, but also passion, science, and preservation. As Jane Goodall, once said, "If Dian had not been there, there might be no mountain gorillas in Rwanda today." Unforgotten is the dramatic conclusion to Silvey's trilogy of biographies on Leakey's "Trimates." With unparalleled storytelling, sidebars, maps, and an award-winning design, Unforgotten will inspire the next generation of budding scientists and conservationists.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ National Geographic Kids (June 29, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1426371853
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1426371851

Praise for UNFORGOTTEN

Silvey deals honestly with Fossey’s internal battles, including alcohol reliance and emotional trauma, and her murder in 1985, but largely elides the myriad repercussions of her anti-poaching efforts. Employing lush, full-color photographs of gorillas and rainforest-covered mountains, and informative sidebars on related themes (e.g., the history of San Francisco, the Leakey family) this is a visually compelling, though limited, treatment of its subject. Includes a foreword by Ellen DeGeneres, extensive notes, maps, and suggested resources for further study. —Publishers Weekly

#BookBlitz: Backup Offer by @LizCroweAuthor @XpressoTours #Giveaway $25 Amazon gift card

Backup Offer
Liz Crowe
(Stewart Realty, #9)
Publication date: July 13th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

An ex-boyfriend, his massive dog, her house, and no hotel room in sight. What could go wrong?

After Blair ended things with Brandis, she was determined to get away–and stay away from him for good. She put family, friends, and the life she knew in Michigan in her rear view mirror and started over. As owner and head chef of her own place in Louisville, she stays plenty busy, especially since “Blair’s Kitchen” is the darling of the restaurant scene. She’s managed to avoid Michigan for almost a decade, but when her best friend needs her help, she drops everything and heads home.

Brandis has spent the last ten years coming to terms with addiction, personal tragedy, and the loss of the woman he loved. He’s now the third generation to run his family’s construction business, and he’s managed to reconstruct tattered relationships with his family. He’s even adopted a dog, thanks to some donated renovation time spent at an animal shelter. He’s got everything he needs—except a for one thing.

When the contractor she paid to build her restaurant’s expansion vanishes, leaving her with a giant mess, Blair only hesitates a moment before calling Brandis for help. But when he rushes to her side to evaluate the crisis, there isn’t an available room in a twenty mile radius. So they settle in to a routine—her, her one-time boyfriend, and his giant, slobbering dog in her small house. It doesn’t take long for the temptation of close proximity to give way, and while Blair tries to keep it all physical, Brandis has other ideas.

The end of the Stewart Realty saga brings the second generation full-circle in ways many never expected, but no one regrets.

#BookTour: The Freedom Race (The Dreambird Chronicles #1) by @LRoyAuthor @JeanBookNerd #Giveaway

The Freedom Race, Lucinda Roy’s explosive first foray into speculative fiction, is a poignant blend of subjugation, resistance, and hope.

In the aftermath of a cataclysmic civil war known as the Sequel, ideological divisions among the states have hardened. In the Homestead Territories, an alliance of plantation-inspired holdings, Black labor is imported from the Cradle, and Biracial “Muleseeds” are bred.

Raised in captivity on Planting 437, kitchen-seed Jellybean “Ji-ji” Lottermule knows there is only one way to escape. She must enter the annual Freedom Race as a runner.

Ji-ji and her friends must exhume a survival story rooted in the collective memory of a kidnapped people and conjure the voices of the dead to light their way home.

#BookTour: Sidewinders (The Fire Sacraments #2) by Robert V.S. Redick @JeanBookNerd #Giveaway

Two brothers flee an army of fanatics across a vast and magical desert in this white-knuckle sequel to Master Assassins from Robert V.S. Redick, author of The Red Wolf Conspiracy.

The worst of rivals, the closest of friends, the two most wanted men in a war-torn world: Kandri and Mektu Hinjuman have cheated death so often it’s begun to feel like a way of life. But nothing has prepared them for the danger and enchantment of the Ravenous Lands. This sprawling, lethal desert is the brothers’ last hope, for they have killed the favorite son of Her Radiance the Prophet, and her death-priests and magical servants are hunting them day and night.

But there are dangers even within their caravan. Some of their fellow travelers worship the Prophet in secret. Others, including Mektu, have become obsessed with a bejeweled dagger that seems to afflict its owners with madness or death.

At stake is far more than the lives of two runaway soldiers. Kandri is carrying an encoded cure for the World Plague, a disease that has raged for centuries—while far from the desert, certain criminals have learned just how lucrative a plague can be. Are they using the Prophet, or being used by her? Who, in this game of shadows, can Kandri trust?

He knows one thing, however: they must reach Kasralys, great and beautiful fortress-city of the east. Only there can the precious cure be deciphered. Only there can Kandri seek word of the lover who vanished one night without a trace.

But Kasralys, never conquered in 3,000 years, is about to face its greatest siege in history.

#BookBlitz: Everybody Has A Story These Are Ours by @audreynlewis1 @RABTBookTours #Giveaway

 

Fiction/Short Stories

Date Published: May 23, 2015

Publisher: Pressing On Press, Inc

This amazing collection pulls together seven independent stories, weaving them into a compelling, thought-provoking collection. Family relationships and friendships. Finding out place. This series of narratives explores events, experiences and memories. While focusing on the women (mother, sister, daughter and wife) — the men in the stories (father, brother, son and husband) provide intriguing counterpoints.

Lexi’s mom struggles to understand her daughter. Abigail, now grown, remembers her nanny Chamele and the life lessons she shared. Claire, the empty-nester and her “girls night out” group has an unusual twist. Then Megan – lost but not forgotten. In each story, you will find, nothing is exactly as it seems.

#BookReview: The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms #1) by @tashadrinkstea

Synopsis: Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess's traitor brother.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

#BookReview: The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam

Synopsis: Many years ago, in the kingdom of Fenwood Reach, there was a powerful Windwitch who wove the seasons, keeping the land bountiful and the people happy. But then a dark magic drove her from the realm, and the world fell into chaos.

Brida is content in her small village of Oak Hollow. There, she’s plenty occupied trying to convince her fickle magic to actually do what it’s meant to in her work as a hedgewitch’s apprentice—until she accidentally catches the attention of the wicked queen.

On the run from the queen’s huntsman and her all-seeing Crow spies, Brida discovers the truth about her family, her magic, and who she is destined to be—and that she may hold the power to defeating the wicked queen and setting the kingdom right again.

#ReleaseBlitz for Merciless Union by Faith Summers @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Merciless Union

Series: Blood and Thorns Duet #2

Author: Faith Summers

Genre: Dark Mafia Romance

Release Date: July 18, 2021

BLURB

Skeletons fall out of the closet as I get my memories back.

Everything changed overnight.

Truth became my enemy, and the sting of betrayal dragged me into a web of lies.

I’m damned if I fight to live and damned if I die.

The dark secrets I remember might tear my marriage apart.

Love is a myth we shouldn’t have explored.

My husband was always my enemy.

Love just made me forget and blinded me.

The cruel hand of death is the only answer when doom takes over.

I don’t know if I’ll survive.

Or if death will bury me along with the sins of my father.

Merciless Union is a dark mafia arranged marriage romance. It contains dubious situations, mature content, and graphic violence some readers might find offensive and/or triggering.

This is the last part of a duet and is not standalone.

#ExcerptReveal for Her Noble Protector by @CaitlynOLearyNA and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Her Noble Protector

Series: Night Storm #7

Author: Caitlyn O'Leary

Genre: Romantic Military Suspense

Release Date: July 31, 2021

BLURB

Her worst nightmare had come true—somehow she had been kidnapped and forced to kill her captor to get away.

Finally home in Arizona, Lisa Garcia was scared all the time. She jumped at every sound and shadow, too scared to even leave her home. How could someone who used to ride the rapids and trek the wilds of Alaska be reduced to this?

Navy SEAL Raiden Sato had forgotten more missions than he could remember. But this last one would stick in his mind forever. Lisa Garcia. How could he ever forget her? Tough, strong, compassionate, beautiful, the woman was a force of nature. But Raiden couldn’t help remembering how she’d been when they’d parted. She’d seemed broken. He needed to know how she was now.

When Raiden took leave to check on Lisa in Arizona, he was shocked at the woman he found. The kick-ass wilderness guide was gone, replaced by a woman still mired in trauma. She was positive that someone was out to get her. Determined to help her, Raiden was positive that he could heal her with time, patience, and perhaps even love.

But what happens when Lisa is right, and somebody really is out to get her?

This is an action, adventure, romantic, stand-alone novel.

#ReleaseBoost for Before He Was Her Headmaster by Chloe Maine @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Before He Was Her Headmaster

Author: Chloe Maine
Genre: Forbidden Romance

Release Date: July 13, 2021

BLURB

My one night stand? He’s sitting behind the headmaster’s desk.

We met at a truck stop. The chemistry was immediate, and we both did something out of character: one night, no explanations. The next day, I arrive at my new private school to redo my senior year. Now I’m the off-limits temptation Sebastian Craig can’t forget, and we both try our best to behave. It works for a few weeks… until our secret cravings come tumbling out in the library after hours. How will we keep our private connection hidden until the end of the term? I want to be his sweet girl forever, but the age gap and responsibility of his job might be too much to overcome.…

#BookBlitz: It Must Be Fate by Sinclair Kelly @XpressoTours #Giveaway

It Must Be Fate
Sinclair Kelly
(The Ghost Girl, #3)
Publication date: July 16th 2021
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

He’s gone…

This ghost girl just can’t catch a break. There’s fury in my soul and pain in my heart as I try to come to terms with the latest shitstorm the universe has thrown in the way of our unlife’s happy ending. But during the uncertainty following the abduction, we discover we’re not alone. We have the love and support of those closest to us, even if we barely remember them. With their help, it’s time to start tackling our growing to-do list

Like having Asher fix the guys’ souls. Or asking Nate to help me save Macklin…er…Thad. Whatever…that’s hella confusing (we’re working on a cheat sheet). Anyways, once we’re all together again, we’ll stop my sister and save the world. No big deal, right?

After all that, maybe we’ll finally get to live happily ever after…that is, if we don’t die first.

It Must Be Fate is the final book in a medium-burn, why choose trilogy. It’s highly recommended that you read A Fate Unknown & Twist of Fate first.

#BookReview: Better Together by Christine Riccio

Synopsis: Jamie’s an aspiring standup comic in Los Angeles with a growing case of stage anxiety.

Siri’s a stunning ballerina from New Jersey nursing a career-changing injury.

They’ve both signed up for the same session at an off the grid Re-Discover Yourself Retreat in Colorado. When they run into each other, their worlds turn upside down.

Jamie and Siri are sisters, torn apart at a young age by their parent's volatile divorce. They’ve grown up living completely separate lives: Jamie with their Dad and Siri with their Mom. Now, reunited after over a decade apart, they hatch a plot to switch places. It’s time they get to know and confront each of their estranged parents.

With an accidental assist from some fortuitous magic, Jamie arrives in New Jersey, looking to all the world like Siri, and Siri steps off her flight sporting a Jamie glamour.

The sisters unexpectedly find themselves stuck living in each other's shoes. Soon Siri's crushing on Jamie's best friend Dawn. Jamie's falling for the handsome New Yorker she keeps running into, Zarar. Alongside a parade of hijinks and budding romance, both girls work to navigate their broken family life and the stresses of impending adulthood.

Freaky Friday meets The Parent Trap in New York Times bestselling author Christine Riccio's Better Together, a sparkling and heartfelt story about sisters, second chances, finding romance, and finding yourself. 

#BookBlitz: Of Gilded Flesh by @gordongravley @XpressoTours #Giveaway Signed copy of Of Gilded Flesh

Of Gilded Flesh
Gordon Gravley
Publication date: June 22nd 2021
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Clockmaker Josef Kronecker makes more than just clocks.

In his study in Salzburg, he crafts lifesaving clockwork appendages for clients, including a famous pianist, a count who loves to dance, and his very own assistant, Anna, who suffered a harrowing attack before coming to work at Kronecker’s Timepieces.

When Josef meets Klara, a beautiful party attendee, he’s entranced and soon becomes unknowingly entrapped in a web of lies. His infatuation positions him as the victim of a royal bully, who presents an impossible challenge and requests an unthinkable sacrifice should Josef run out of time.

While Josef falls for Klara and is held to a deadline he can’t possibly make, Anna keeps the shop afloat as she faces her past trauma, proving that the number of limbs does not make a person whole, but rather the will to live.

Sustaining life is Josef’s calling, but now it’s his life on the line. As the clock ticks down, he realizes that while infatuation is a powerful thing, love is deeper and sometimes goes unseen, and it seems adopting Anna’s unwavering will to live is the way to survive.

Honest, inventive, and both heartbreaking and heartwarming, OF GILDED FLESH is a captivating story about resilience and how much we have to live for.

#ReleaseBlitz for Tasty Mango by JJ Knight @GiveMeBooksPR and use #TastyMango #Giveaway (Mango Book Box + a $50 Amazon gift card)

Title: Tasty Mango

Author: JJ Knight

Genre: Standalone Romantic Comedy

Release Date: July 19, 2021

BLURB

Ladies, you’ve never had a first date quite like this.

He’s a billionaire.

Desperately handsome

Wildly charismatic.

In fact, a certain article of clothing of mine has gotten quite damp.

Except…

It’s not the good kind of damp.

Actually, I’m suddenly very, very wet.

Oh no.

I’ve left out something important.

I’m nine months pregnant.

Don’t ask about the father.

I’d rather forget.

But I’m sitting in the fanciest restaurant you can imagine.

Opposite the man of my dreams.

It’s our first time alone together.

The start of something spectacular.

And…

My water just broke.

___

Tasty Mango is a standalone romantic comedy about going into labor on a first date with a billionaire, the ensuing hilarity (and pushing) in a very expensive limo, and trying to manage a new relationship with the world’s most eligible bachelor while cleaning spit up out of your hair.