Tuesday, February 27, 2024

#BookReview: Every Gift a Curse (The Gifts #3) by Caroline O'Donoghue @WalkerBooksYA






Synopsis: A spellbinding supernatural teen drama and final book in the Gifts series from a New York Times bestselling author.

With the return of the Housekeeper on the cards, Maeve must find out everything she can about the vengeful tarot spirit in order to finally defeat her. Crossing over into a parallel dimension inside the old school building, she explores the history of the Housekeeper – and spends too long in a world and a mind not her own.

With the Children of Brigid closing in once more, and Maeve's friend group now fractured across Ireland, can they hope to ultimately save the town – and Maeve – from the grip of a power greater than they ever imagined?


#TeaserTuesday: Cressida's Betrayal by @ash_mikala @RABTBookTours




 

A Steam and Spells Steampunk Adventure

 

Empire of the Sky, Book 2


Steampunk Romance

Date Published: March 1, 2024

Publisher: Changeling Press LLC

 


Things are going well for Cressida. Egged on by Marjorie, the spirit who has taken shelter in her mind, Jacob proposes marriage as they flee the moon and its goblin king. However bigger things are at stake, and their mission to save all of humanity is jeopardized by mistrust and magical chicanery. Sexual energy flares as the danger to the empire overflows in an orgy of lust and violence. Can Jacob and Cressida’s love survive?

#BookReview: I'm Not Supposed to Be in the Dark by @RissMNeilson @HenryHolt






Synopsis: From the author of Deep in Providence comes a paranormal young adult romance that follows a teen convinced that her best friend–turned-enemy is possessed by a ghost, perfect for fans of White Smoke and Twilight.

Seventeen-year-old Aria Cayetano dreams of ghosts. She used to see them too, but thanks to a special tea brewed by her grandfather, Aria’s connection to the spirit world has been severed. Until a decades old rosebush suddenly dies across the street, convincing Aria that something supernatural is happening in her neighborhood.

She aches to investigate it, but the rosebush sits on her ex best friend Derek Johnson’s front lawn, and she can't question him because he hates her now. Aria doesn't know what drove them apart years ago, but she does know Derek's been acting strange for weeks, sneaking out in the dead of night to who knows where.

Then, days after the rosebush dies, Derek begins speaking to her again. At least Aria thinks it’s him. Until she discovers there’s a ghost inside of Derek that will take his life if it doesn’t find what it’s searching for. As Aria and Derek race to uncover the mystery, another kind of magic takes them by surprise: love. But Aria has to decide how far she’s willing to go to save Derek, especially when helping the ghost means tapping into whatever the tea has buried inside of her.

Bone-chilling and spellbinding, I’m Not Supposed to Be in the Dark is an alluring ghost story that’s about exorcising the past to find a future to believe in.


#TeaserTuesday: Ornery's Gambit by Cara Hartley @RABTBookTours @ReadersRoost




Ornery Owl's Poetry Collection


Poetry

Date Published: 02-15-2024

Publisher: Naughty Netherworld Press


 

The poems, story, and thoughts included in this brief volume were inspired by the independently produced album Wayward and Upward by Spinoza Gambit. The story Prodigal Moon and the poem 401 Rush were included in the Wayward and Upward anthology published by Off Topic Press.

I opted to publish this book on my 59th birthday. It would be a wonderful gift to learn that my work inspired you or led you to learn more about the Wayward and Upward album and anthology.

 

With love,

Ornery Owl 

Monday, February 26, 2024

#ReleaseBlitz for The Surrogate by @PenelopeAuthor and @GiveMeBooksPR







Title: The Surrogate
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Age Gap/Widower/Found Family
Forbidden/Enemies to Friends to Lovers
Release Date: February 26, 2024


BLURB

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new, STANDALONE novel…

ABBY:
I’m falling for the father of the baby I’m carrying.
The problem is: it’s not my baby.
And the broody widower is not looking for a long-term partner.
As a surrogate, the deal was that I’d only be in England long enough to give birth.
At first, the man seemed as pretentious as his name: Sigmund Benedictus.
He and I butted heads.
Sig challenged my intentions, accused me of just wanting to do this for the money.
Gradually, he learned to trust me.
He even became protective.
Over time, our heated animosity turned into fiery chemistry.
I was falling in love with him.
But my time here had a limit.
I needed to protect my heart from the devastatingly gorgeous older man who’d end up breaking it.
SIG:
When my in-laws told me they wanted to use my dead wife’s eggs to conceive a grandchild, I wasn’t immediately on board.
They swore that on her deathbed Britney told them it was what she wanted—but only if I fathered the baby. Her parents insisted they would be the ones to raise it.
Against my better judgment, I agreed.
I vowed to keep my heart out of it, though.
I’d continue to pretend it wasn’t happening and live the empty, single life I’d become accustomed to the past five years since Britney died.
And despite the fact that a certain younger American named Abby Knickerbocker had awakened things inside me that I thought were long dead…
I most certainly wouldn’t fall in love with the surrogate.

#BookReview: #BookReview: Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore, Elliott McLemore






Synopsis: Keep your enemy closer.

Cade McKenna is a transgender prince who’s doubling for his brother.
Valencia Palafox is a young dama attending the future queen of Eliana.
Gael Palma is the infamous boy assassin Cade has vowed to protect.
Patrick McKenna is the reluctant heir to a kingdom, and the prince Gael has vowed to destroy.

Cade doesn’t know that Gael and Valencia are the same person.
Valencia doesn’t know that every time she thinks she’s fighting Patrick, she’s fighting Cade.
And when Cade and Valencia blame each other for a devastating enchantment that takes both their families, neither of them realizes that they have far more dangerous enemies.

Cowritten by married writing team Anna-Marie and Elliott McLemore, this is a lush and powerful YA novel about owning your power and becoming who you really are - no matter the cost.


#ReviewTour: Frenemies & Lovers by Michelle McCraw #TheIndiePen

When Carly Rose, a recent divorcee, needs a date to her ex’s wedding, she agrees to a deal with a devilishly handsome younger man—her frenemy’s son, Andrew, who happens to be her one-night stand. What could possibly go wrong? Readers who love vacation romances with long standing crushes will fall hard for Frenemies and Lovers by Michelle McCraw, a steamy, fake dating, age gap, one-night stand romantic comedy.

Buy Now!
Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/4215fE9
Google Play → https://bit.ly/3O2cGp1
Other Retailers → https://bit.ly/3RTGs0g

Fake partnership, real attraction, and one hilariously haute disaster waiting to happen...buckle up for this age-gap rom-com.

Carly Rose, forty-five and fiercely independent, is rebuilding her life. Newly divorced, she's determined to make her stylist business blossom, even with the thorn in her side: Audrey, her frenemy with a tongue sharper than her designer stilettos. Enter Andrew, Audrey's son, a charming blend of geek energy and fierce loyalty. Who happens to be Carly’s completely off-limits secret one-night stand.

When a chance for Andrew's dream promotion hinges on a polished public image, he makes an unexpected proposition: a mutually beneficial charade. Carly, facing the gauntlet of her ex's destination wedding in Barcelona, agrees to become his pretend girlfriend. What starts as a carefully curated act evolves into stolen moments whispered over tapas, kisses in front of Gaudi fountains, and feelings as warm as a cashmere scarf on a crisp autumn day.

Caught between ambition and a forbidden yearning, Carly and Andrew navigate a minefield of sabotaged styling appointments; cringeworthy encounters with exes, bosses and disapproving mothers; plus the undeniable truth that attraction doesn't follow age brackets.

Swoon for this steamy standalone romantic comedy featuring fabulousness after forty, making friends with enemies, and finding love with a wildly inappropriate fake date.

(Shh, don't tell Audrey, but Andrew's dimples are definitely the hottest accessory this season.)