#TeaserTuesday: Mise En Place by Marisa Mangani @RABTBookTours @MarisaMingo77

 

Memoir

Date Published: August 16, 2022

Publisher: River Grove Books

Marisa’s comfort zone is deep inside the restaurant kitchen alongside its dysfunctional characters and the abundance of booze and drugs.

But in the nineteen-seventies, girls baked or made salads. The heat and machismo of the hot line was not a place for a girl with a passion for food and the drive to be the best.

From Hawaii, to Portland and New Orleans, she struggles  with her own shyness and the limited expectations for the only female in the kitchen. She finally becomes Chef, successfully managing high-volume restaurants at three World’s Fairs, but something is missing.

Still searching, as a burnt-out chef, she embarks on another male-dominated career.

Mise en Place —Memoir of a Girl Chef is a story about the determination to succeed in the face of personal handicaps and cultural norms.

“Mangani charts a deep dive through the roots of our modern American food obsession with a highly personal tale of memory, character, flavor, and place.” —Ian McNulty, Food Writer, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate

 

#BookReview: The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1) by @laurieannforest

Synopsis: A new Black Witch will rise…her powers vast beyond imagining.

Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War. But while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.

When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But she soon realizes that the university, which admits all manner of people—including the fire-wielding, winged Icarals, the sworn enemies of all Gardnerians—is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.

As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, everything Elloren thought she knew will be challenged and torn away. Her best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of rebels…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to fear. 

#CoverReveal: Finding True North by Dianne Beck @RABTBookTours @PublishingAcorn

 

Young Adult Fiction

Date Published: January 31st, 2023

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

North Carolina Simon hates her name. As a fourteen-year-old girl growing up in the 1970s, she has a lot of challenges. People not only make fun of her name, but also scoff at her eccentric family. Dad’s a hoarder, Mom’s an unpredictable artist, and her older sister lives with an autism diagnosis. After a humiliating middle school event shatters her confidence as a singer, North determines to break free from the stigma surrounding her family.

As she starts high school, North tells people to call her Carol. Armed with a new name, she updates her appearance, befriends a popular boy in hopes of joining his band, distances herself from her two longtime friends, and avoids being seen with her adoring and dependent sister. Everything seems to be going according to plan until her sister suddenly disappears. Carol is forced to face reality. Should she continue to focus all her time and energy on fitting in or should she surrender to God’s calling on her life?

Finding True North is a prequel to Sticks and Stones, but each can be read as stand-alone novels.

#BookReview: Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo

Synopsis: Fans of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will love diving into the mysterious and witchy world of award-nominated creator Sweeney Boo. Enchanting full-color illustrations will be sure to charm readers as they explore the halls of Younwity's Institute of Magic and the forbidden forest that lies beyond.

In the days leading up to Samhain, the veil between the world of the dead and the living is at its thinnest.

One day, everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. And the next, the closest thing Abby ever had to a sister, Noreen, was just... gone.

Distracted by the annual preparations for the Samhain festival, Abby's classmates are quick to put Noreen's disappearance aside. The Coven will find her, Abby's friends say. They have it under control.

But Abby can't let it go. Soon a search for answers leads her down a rabbit hole that uncovers more secrets than Abby can handle. As mounting evidence steers her toward the off-limits woods that surround the academy, she begins to see that Noreen's disappearance mysteriously has a lot in common with another girl who went missing all those years ago...

This title will be released on August 30, 2022.

#BookBlitz: The Acadian Secret by Tammy Lowe @XpressoTours

The Acadian Secret
Tammy Lowe
(The Acadian Secret, #1)
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Publication date: August 10th 2022
Genres: Action, Adventure, Time-Travel, Young Adult

Nova Scotia has kept an incredible secret for centuries. In 1795, sixteen-year-old John Smith, convinced he’s found buried treasure, digs down into a mysterious pit on a small island.

​In present day Nova Scotia, twelve-year-old Elisabeth London knows there’s no such thing as magic, but when she finds herself in 17th century Scotland, she no longer knows what to think. While under the guardianship of a kind-hearted Highlander, Elisabeth discovers his ancestral home holds a mystery of its own.

​As John continues to dig the strange pit, he inadvertently begins the longest running, most expensive, and deadliest treasure hunt in history. Now, Elisabeth London and John Smith each try to unravel the secrets consuming them, unaware that a tormented young man holds the string weaving all of their lives together.

​For Elisabeth, the adventure is just beginning. Unless her parents discover she’s time-travelling. Then…she is so grounded.

#ReleaseBlitz: The Power of Food Prep by Amy Lawrence @RABTBookTours @gourmetdoneskin

 

Take the Stress Out of Meal Planning with the Gourmet Done Skinny Method

Nonfiction / Weight-Loss / Meal Prep / Cooking

Date Published: Aug 9, 2022

Publisher: Elite Online Publishing

 

Who has time to cook everyday? And who wants to?

If you’re like most busy people who often resort to ordering out or paying too much at restaurants when you’re too exhausted to cook, there’s a better way. With meal planning and prep, you can have healthy, gourmet, home-cooked meals everyday by cooking only a few days a week. You don’t have to be a “Type A” person and have every meal planned out on the calendar for this to work for you. You don’t have to spend a fortune on kitchen gadgets or spend hours on the weekend cooking for the week.

The Gourmet Done Skinny Meal Method is the best solution for busy foodies to save time, save money, and cut calories. So, roll up your sleeves, put on your apron, grab a notebook, and get ready to learn the power of food prep with the Gourmet Done Skinny Meal Method.

#CoverReveal: CHRIS by Nancy Brown @XpressoTours

CHRIS
Nancy Brown
(Cross Security, #3)
Publication date: September 9th 2022
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

This will be a job from hell…
I knew that from the moment I laid eyes on her.

Ex- MI6 agent Chris Winters lives by the rules. The most important rule of all: no messing around with a client. It works for him. Until it doesn’t. His newest job for Cross Security should be simple. Poppy Jones, the hottest swimwear and lingerie model on the planet, has a stalker… a ghost from her past who is coming to collect what he believes is his. Chris is to protect her and find out who is issuing the threats.

Simple. Cut and Dry.

Until it’s not.

Their chemistry is off the charts. But even as Chris fights his attraction to Poppy and discovers there is more to her than meets the eye, the real threat comes not from her stalker, but from the growing connection between them.

If he puts everything on the line, including his heart, will Chris still be able to keep her safe? Or will the ghost from Poppy’s past succeed in taking what he believes is his?

It’s a dangerous game to play. Who will succeed and who will fail?