#BookReview: The Corpse Queen by Heather Herrman

Synopsis: In this dark and twisty feminist historical thriller, a teenage girl starts a new life as a grave robber but quickly becomes entangled in a murderer's plans.

Soon after her best friend Kitty mysteriously dies, orphaned seventeen-year-old Molly Green is sent away to live with her "aunt." With no relations that she knows of, Molly assumes she has been sold as free domestic labor for the price of an extra donation in the church orphanage's coffers. Such a thing is not unheard of. There are only so many options for an unmarried girl in 1850s Philadelphia. Only, when Molly arrives, she discovers her aunt is very much real, exceedingly wealthy, and with secrets of her own. Secrets and wealth she intends to share--for a price.

Molly's estranged aunt Ava, has built her empire by robbing graves and selling the corpses to medical students who need bodies to practice surgical procedures. And she wants Molly to help her procure the corpses. As Molly learns her aunt's trade in the dead of night and explores the mansion by day, she is both horrified and deeply intrigued by the anatomy lessons held at the old church on her aunt's property. Enigmatic Doctor LaSalle's lessons are a heady mixture of knowledge and power and Molly has never wanted anything more than to join his male-only group of students. But the cost of inclusion is steep and with a murderer loose in the city, the pursuit of power and opportunity becomes a deadly dance.

#ReleaseBlitz: Tales from the Liminal by @PostmodrnPilgrm @RABTBookTours #Giveaway

 

Literary Fiction

Date Published: 10-12-2021

Publisher: Deuxmers Publishing

In this collection of fifteen curious and delightful short stories by S. K. Kruse, you never know who you’re going to meet or where you’re going to end up. You can be certain, however, that whether you follow Schrödinger’s cat into the zeroth dimension, or hang out with Bigfoot on a public beach, or have drinks with a woman who’s seen Gertrude Stein in the condensation on her window, you’ll find yourself smack dab in the middle of some befuddling predicament of existence.

Using humor and horror, satire and allegory, fabulism and realism, Tales From the Liminal takes you for an extraordinary ride, submerging you in spaces where anything is possible, especially transformation.

#BookReview: A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell

Synopsis: When her siblings start to go missing, a girl must confront the dark thing that lives in the forest—and the growing darkness in herself—in this debut YA contemporary fantasy for fans of Wilder Girls.

Derry and her eight siblings live in an isolated house by the lake, separated from the rest of the world by an eerie and menacing forest. Frank, the man who raised them after their families abandoned them, says it’s for their own good. After all, the world isn’t safe for people with magic. And Derry feels safe—most of the time.

Until the night her eldest sister disappears. Jane and Derry swore to each other that they’d never go into the forest, not after their last trip ended in blood, but Derry is sure she saw Jane walk into the trees. When another sibling goes missing and Frank’s true colors start to show, feeling safe is no longer an option. Derry will risk anything to protect the family she has left. Even if that means returning to the forest that has started calling to Derry in her missing siblings’ voices.

As Derry spends more time amidst the trees, her magic grows more powerful . . . and so does the darkness inside her, the viciousness she wants to pretend doesn’t exist. But saving her siblings from the forest and from Frank might mean embracing the darkness. And that just might be the most dangerous thing of all.

#BookReview: The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw

Synopsis: A diverse team of broken, diminished former criminals get back together to solve the mystery of their last, disastrous mission and to rescue a missing and much-changed comrade... but they’re not the only ones in pursuit of the secret at the heart of the planet Dimmuborgir. The highly-evolved AI of the universe have their own agenda and will do whatever it takes to keep humans from ever controlling the universe again. This band of dangerous women, half-clone and half-machine, must battle their own traumas and a universe of sapient ageships who want them dead, in order to settle their affairs once and for all. 

Cassandra Khaw’s debut novel is a page-turning exploration of humans and machines that is perfect for readers of Ann Leckie, Ursula Le Guin, and Kameron Hurley. 

#BookBlitz: Dirty Daddies: 2021 Anniversary Anthology @XpressoTours $50 Amazon gift card + a paperback copy of Dirty Daddies

Dirty Daddies: 2021 Anniversary Anthology
Publication date: September 28th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

A DADDY FOR EVERYONE…

Available for a limited time, this collection of twenty-five sexy-as-sin romances star Daddy Doms who demand obedience and require your total surrender.

Whether you like Cowboy Daddies, Dark Daddies, Doctor Daddies, Stern Daddies, Shifter Daddies, Alien Daddies, or LGTBQ Daddies, there is a Daddy waiting for you. This deliciously naughty collection of all-new stories, penned by some of the best authors in the genre, is bursting with HOT, raw Daddy Dom action that’s sure to leave you breathless.

Don’t Keep Your Daddy Waiting…

Featuring stories from USA TODAY and International Bestselling authors:
Renee Rose
Laylah Roberts
Pepper North
Brianna Hale
Livia Grant
Golden Angel
Sinistre Ange
Stella Moore
Emily Tilton
Maggie Ryan
Kara Kelly
J.M. Dabney
Shane Starrett
Kessily Lewel
Measha Stone
Raisa Greywood
Becca Jameson
Tess Summers
Layne Daniels
Paige Michaels
M.A. Innes
Jacki James
Susan Hawke
Nora Phoenix
Allysa Hart and Rayanna Jamison
Maren Smith

#CoverReveal: Magic Dark, Magic Divine by @maqueripe @XpressoTours

Magic Dark, Magic Divine
A.J. Locke
Published by: Entangled: Amara
Publication date: November 15th 2021
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Description TBA

#BookBlitz: Unveiled by Celsi Leigh @XpressoTours $30 Amazon gift card & Signed copy of Unveiled

Unveiled
Celsi Leigh
Publication date: May 28th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary

“That B****, Who Has it All!” The fans have spoken and Malika Samuels has been crowned the “IT” girl. To the world, she is fabulous, a well-known social media influencer and the wife of a five-time championship winning professional basketball player. To the streets, she is a crafty chick from the Bronx that made it out of the hood and to the top. Malika’s life is elite, filled with luxury, fame, success, fashion, popularity, and riches. She has everything a woman could ever dream of….

Or is it all a facade?

Under the veil, Malika Samuels is a confused woman living through her trauma. It appears that Malika is living a dream life, but in reality what appears to be a dream is Malika’s nightmare. Her life is a facade, pretending for the sake of keeping up appearances. Fed-up with the illusion of her life, Malika is now ready to live in her truth, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Unveiled takes readers on a journey of love, passion, drama, abuse, crime, and power. Malika uncovers the veil of the facade; underneath the wealth, fame, and glamour lies the ugly truth that the perfect life is not so perfect after all. There is a high price to pay to be “That B****, Who Has it All”…

#ReleaseBlitz for Until Love by @MayGordon2018 @boomfactorypub and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Until Love

A Happily Ever Alpha World Novel

Author: May Gordon

Publisher: Boom Factory Publishing, LLC

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: October 1, 2021

BLURB

Robert:

My life has been a rollercoaster ride, consisting of both wonderful and horrifying moments. I was a child when Nico found me, resulting in my adoption by a woman who raised me alongside the Mayson children. They became my best friends and life was good until tragedy struck and I ran off to join the military. When I came home, everyone welcomed me with open arms. I was at an all-time low, drowning in my dark thoughts, unsure how to go on, until love saved me.

Rose:

Being on the run with a small child hasn't been easy. I thought we’d finally discovered our safe haven in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. A relationship was the last thing on my mind, then I met Robert Kent, a wounded hero inside and out. While I tried to resist him, doing so was impossible, as if something greater than ourselves wanted us together. Our respective pasts made us kindred souls. When mine comes for me, I pray we're strong enough to survive it.

Until Love is part of the Aurora Rose Reynolds's Happily Ever Alpha World. If you loved Until Sage, then you will want to read Until Love.

#BookReview: Awakened by Ciara Duggan

Synopsis: For fans of L.J.Smith's The Vampire Diaries, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Tracy Wolff's Crave, and Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush.

After losing her parents in an accident only she survived, Hannah is desperate for answers. Haunted by the events of that tragic night, she struggles to move on, yearning for some deeper truth about her loss.

But when it comes time to turn a new page and move cross country for college, she vows to leave the past behind. After all, Bellcliff University is a thousand miles away from the ghosts nipping at her heels.

Yet when Hannah accidentally awakens a handsome witch from a hidden cave near campus, she realizes he isn’t the only thing stirring out of slumber. Hannah has roused all magic…including the devil herself.

As if spells, curses, and college jitters weren’t enough, this witch claims to know Hannah from four centuries prior—and their connection is more than casual.

Thrust into a world of sorcery and monsters, Hannah must fight to keep the magic she’d unleashed from claiming a price far too steep for her to pay. 

#ReleaseBlitz for Filthy Crown by @EleanorAldrick and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Filthy Crown

Series: Crown Brothers #1

Author: Eleanor Aldrick

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: October 1, 2021

BLURB

JACK

Tragedy strikes, again.

Four years after suffering the loss of our parents, our brother is murdered right alongside his beautiful wife, the devastation leaving their three children orphaned.

Not only have I lost my brother but now I’m forced to take on his two kids and seventeen-year-old stepdaughter, Penelope.

But Pen is far from the little girl I remember. No. She’s all woman, with soft curves and plush lips—all things I shouldn’t be noticing.

I have three months before she turns eighteen. Three months before she leaves for college. And three months to make sure whatever threat against her life has been thwarted.

Too bad for me, those three months will be nothing but torture laced with temptation, threatening to break my resolve.

Can I come out of this unscathed, or will this lust drag me into the pits of hell where I belong?

PENELOPE

Lies, deceit, and death. It’s all I’ve ever known.

And trusting someone? Out of the question.

Unfortunately, teenager me didn’t get the memo and I stupidly gave my crush-riddled heart to Jack Crown.

He was older, wiser, and apparently a manwhore.

I was his brother’s stepdaughter and way too young. Not on his radar, and justifiably so.

But that didn’t stop me from falling for the only man who’d ever shown me real affection. No. I stupidly let myself trust him, thinking he’d always be there. The one constant in my crappy life.

I was wrong.

Now, four years later, tragedy strikes again. By life’s irony I’ve landed on his doorstep with only one thing to prove.

I’m not the little girl he remembers, and I sure as f*ck don’t need him anymore.

#BookReview: Walking in a Witchy Wonderland (Stay a Spell, #3.5) by @Juliette__Cross

Synopsis: Getting hexy for the holidays!

Mischief and mayhem dominate the holiday season for the Savoie sisters of New Orleans. Five sexy stories set in the STAY A SPELL world you don’t want to miss. 

Bewitch You A Merry Christmas: Always the peacemaker, Evie conjures Christmas magic between a hexed hottie and his witchy neighbor, while Mateo and Alpha plan to do whatever it takes to get some alone time with their girl.

Rockin’ Around The Hexmas Tree: A Dirty Santa gift with a very special hex boosts Devraj and Isadora’s sex life from sizzling hot to scorching.

Jingle Bell Jock: On New Year’s Eve, a new man puts the moves on Charlie. Tired of pining for his best friend, he’s ready to move on. Fortunately, JJ’s jealousy is just the right ingredient to move them well out of the friend zone.

You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grim: Her first glimpse of grim reaper Gareth Blackwater evokes a major case of insta-hate in Lavinia. In that same moment, Gareth is hit with insta-lust. Fate is playing with them both, and neither one is happy about it.

Jingle Spells: Nico and Violet laugh their way through their first babysitting adventure. But laughter turns to lust when Nico’s “dad” vibes tug on Violet’s maternal heartstrings.

#ReleaseBlitz for Damaged Soul by @authoremmacreed and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Damaged Soul

Series: Dirty Souls MC #4

Author: Emma Creed
Genre: MC Romance

Release Date: October 1, 2021

BLURB

‘Bound not by blood but loyalty.

We live, we ride, and we die

by our own laws’

Becoming a Soul saved me from myself.

My compulsions are an asset to them, and a curse to me.

Doing my duty for the club provides me with the release I need,

But beneath the surface my demons still lurk.

Rogue’s fierce, strong and unpredictable,

and when she reaches out to the club

I’m the only one who can help her.

She can sense the monster inside me,

She also has the ability to summon it.

And now I’ll have to control them both in order to protect her.

#BookBlitz: White Ibis by @wendy_dalrymple @XpressoTours $20 Amazon gift card

White Ibis: A Horror Novella
Wendy Dalrymple
Publication date: October 1st 2021
Genres: Adult, Horror

Obsession. Lies. Greed.

Chelsea is thirty-two, vain and self-absorbed, driven in life only by want and her obsession with being the best. However, despite wanting to portray an outwardly perfect image, things at home are crumbling between her and her boyfriend, Brendan. Together they harbor a secret that has been slowly chipping away at their relationship, and now, things have come to a breaking point.

One day at yoga class, Chelsea meets a woman named Damaris who is exactly like her; beautiful, confident and reaching high to be her best self. Damaris and Chelesea become instant best friends and bond over healthy eating, fitness and their love of luxury items. As Chelsea’s heart hardens toward her boyfriend, her obsession with the enigmatic Damaris only blossoms.

As one bad decision turns into another, Chelsea begins to think she is being followed by a white bird. Her new best friend Damaris suggests a girls weekend in New Orleans to get away from it all and Chelsea readily agrees. Unfortunately for Chelsea, it soon becomes clear that she can’t run away from her problems and finds herself tumbling head-first into a downward spiral instead.

#ReleaseBlitz for Perfect Sinner by Maggie Cole @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Perfect Sinner

The O'Malley Family

Series: Mafia Wars #7

Author: Maggie Cole

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: October 1, 2021

BLURB

I’m the mafia princess Nolan O’Malley hates to love.

The moment we collide, he wants to destroy me.

He should. My blood is that of his arch enemy.

I’m unsure if the war raging inside him or me is stronger.

Instead of running away or ending me, he keeps me close.

He watches my every move, and monitors each threat my estranged family delivers to me.

The close quarters we share only get smaller until there is no more distance between us.

Yet I still am who I am.

Time and again he saves me from every dark demon.

When we think the one person who wants to ruin me is dead, she isn’t.

This time, she won’t win. I’m coming after her.

Except my actions have unintended consequences.

And I should have known he’d come after me.

After all, he’s my perfect sinner.

”Perfect Sinner” is the seventh jaw-dropping installment of the “Mafia Wars” series. It’s an enemies to lovers Dark Mafia romance, interconnecting stand-alone, and guaranteed to have an HEA.

#BookBlitz: City of the Dead by @Gfjolle @XpressoTours 5x $20 Amazon gift cards

City of the Dead
Greg Jolley
(The Obscurité de Floride Trilogy, #3)
Publication date: October 1st 2021
Genres: Adult, Suspense

Jayden has just seven nights to rescue her ownership of the Cimetière du Dernier Vol. cemetery in the backwaters of Northern Florida, by any means necessary, including murder.

Welcome to her world, where life among the dead goes on forever.

Jayden has the means, and certainly knows the ways. But the clock is ticking. On the seventh night, the annual Grand Soirée is to be held. If she can pull it off, her future is secure. The problem is the four chairs that she must fill as her part of the event, a planned money-making scheme involving a grim act of necromancy. Four messengers will be put to death and sent over to acquire lucrative market knowledge for the attending gullible investors.

Can anyone stop her?

Two escaped victims are trying. April Danser and her twelve-year-old criminal partner Kazu, both mangled and frightened, have only a few nights to derail Jayden’s deadly train of murder and madness. At times teaming up with other residents of the cemetery – a ghastly cast of recluses – April and Kazu are in the fight of their lives, not only to end Jayden’s deadly plans, but also to survive her repeated attacks.

Taking place during seven nights in the once famous cemetery, City of the Dead is a dance between good and evil with everything at risk, including life and sanity.

#CoverReveal: I'm Not Your Enemy by @CaraDeeWrites @XpressoTours

I’m Not Your Enemy
Cara Dee
Publication date: October 21st 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Family | Book 2 of 2 | Lovers to Enemies | Enemies to…
The line between love and hate has never been so thin, and Blake and Sebastian return in this sequel with bottled-up hurt that somehow just brings them even closer.

Sebastian was right. I was a coward. I ran my closeted tail all the way back to Georgia. Once I got there, I had no place left to hide. My life imploded. But when I was welcome nowhere, I still had to go somewhere.

I could barely look my sister in the eye, facing Sebastian didn’t even exist on my radar, and I was prepared for my brother-in-law’s protective hostility. I just didn’t have a choice. For once in my life, I wanted redemption. I wanted to belong somewhere, and I was ready to work for it.

Sebastian was the exception—hard no. I might have screwed up royally, but he wasn’t so damn innocent. He’d hurt me too, and he better not push me. In fact, it was best we avoided each other altogether.

So it didn’t make a lick of sense for me to seek him out to provoke a reaction.

#BookBlitz: Friends to the End by @cheriecolyer @XpressoTours #Giveaway

Friends to the End
C.L. Colyer
Publication date: September 27th 2021
Genres: Action, Adventure, Middle-Grade, Supernatural

Zach doesn’t believe in ghosts…but he should.

Twelve-year-old Zach is convinced he’ll never be happy without his best friend Jeremy by his side. But both of their lives changed with a bang five months ago, and as far as Zach’s concerned, it’s his fault Jeremy will never see his twelfth birthday.

When Zach moves with his family to a Chicago suburb, he quickly becomes friends with a group of thrill-seeking kids trying to find a disappearing haunted house. But Zach’s not worried. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he follows them into a wild, dangerous encounter that becomes a battle to decide what’s real and what’s not.

#BookReview: Small Town Monsters by @dianarwallach @GetUnderlined

Synopsis: The Conjuring meets The Vow! This terrifying paperback original tells the unputdownable story of a girl, a dark angel, and the cult hellbent on taking over her small, coastal town.

Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement.

Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more...sinister.

When Maxwell and Vera join forces, they come face to face with deeply disturbing true stories of cults, death worship, and the very nature that drives people to evil.

Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it. 

#BookReview: Spellbound (Embracing Darkness Collection) by Rebecca L. Garcia

Synopsis: A dark and twisted fantasy standalone romance, where hate and love collide in a world filled with snarky witches and vengeful gods. Perfect for fans of To Kill a Kingdom and Kingdom of the Wicked 

Grieving being torn from her beloved sister, who remained behind in the human kingdom, Elle makes it her life purpose to become a keeper in her cursekeeper coven.

But this calling won’t be an easy one.

The magic possessed by her small coven of four casts them as outsiders throughout the kingdom. Yet when witches are found murdered in the woods, the cursekeepers quickly become the town’s only hope.
Many believe the murders are the work of a god. An old one returned in search of vengeance. Elle, on the other hand, suspects Viktor, the new warlock to town, is somehow linked to the violent deaths. However, his agenda doesn’t stop there.

Infiltrating her coven.
Charming everyone around him.
Threatening her plans to become a keeper.
This rivalry quickly becomes personal.

When the truth behind the murders surfaces, Elle finds herself thrust into a dangerous new world, trapped between twisted hearts and terrifying beings. With the victims piling up, she must decide who to trust and who to protect before it’s too late.


Embraced by Darkness is a collection of standalone books set in the same world without an overarching plot, which means you can start with any books in the series and pick and choose which ones you want to read. This collection of novels follows different couples as they go from enemies to friends to lovers, while facing dangerous obstacles in a world split between humans, witches and gods, set in two kingdoms that separate them.

#ReleaseBlitz for Redlined by Cala Riley @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Redlined

Series: Shadow Crew #1

Author: Cala Riley

Genre: Sports Romance

Release Date: September 30, 2021

BLURB

Roxanne

Racing and Ross are the only two things I thought I could ever count on. That is, until one of them sends me far away, making me lose the other.

Now, stuck with a cousin I’m not sure even wants me here trying to pick up the scattered pieces of my life, all I want to do is find my own way.

Who cares if I’m slightly attracted to the asshole who seems to run these parts? Or that I’m starting to find his little tests exciting?

Who cares that the abandonment I felt from the people I thought were my family fades as I find a new group to grow close to.

It doesn’t mean anything. In the end, I’ll be gone, right?

Roman

I knew she was going to be trouble the minutes I got the call she was coming. I didn’t expect her to light my blood on fire, though.

Now, she’s slowly integrating herself into my life, one irritatingly yet sexy glare at a time.

It doesn’t matter that I think the fact that she knows her cars is a huge turn on. Or that I crave having her near me.

The fact that I’m itching to protect her has nothing to do with the way she makes me feel.

There’s no room in the inner circle for new blood. So why does she seem to fit right in?