#BookReview: Defend the Dawn (Defy the Night #2) by @brigidkemmerer

To save their kingdom, they must embark on a dangerous journey...

The kingdom of Kandala narrowly avoided catastrophe, but the embers of revolution still simmer. While King Harristan seeks a new way to lead, Tessa and Prince Corrick attempt to foster unity between rebels and royals.

But the consuls who control the Moonflower will not back down, and Corrick realizes he must find a new source for the lifesaving Elixir.

When an emissary from the neighboring kingdom of Ostriary arrives with an intriguing offer, Tessa and Corrick set out on an uncertain journey as they attempt to mend their own fractured relationship.

This could be their only chance to keep the peace and bring relief to the people of Kandala, but danger strikes during the journey to Ostriary, and no one is who they seemed to be...

#BookReview: Direwood by Catherine Yu

In this velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, Aja encounters a charming vampire who wants to lure her into the woods—just like her missing sister.

No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things: a strange fog rolling through their idyllic suburban town, a brief moment when the sky seems to rain blood, and a host of parasitic caterpillars burrowing their way through the trees. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too.

Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear—she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him. Aja knows she shouldn’t trust him, but she’s barely able to resist his enthrallment. And following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. Though Aja plans to kill him before the week is out, Padraic has his own secrets as well.

In the misty woods, Aja finds that Padraic has made his nest with another vampire in a dilapidated church infested by blood-sucking butterflies. Within its walls, the vampires are waited on and entertained by other children they’ve enthralled, but there is no sign of Fiona. Before her bargain is up, Aja must find a way to turn her classmates against their captors, find her sister, and save them all—or be forced to join the very monsters she wants to destroy.

#TeaserTuesday: Eight Second Magic by WM Kirland @RABTBookTours @changelingpress @spicyebooks

 

LGBTQ+, Wild West Romance, Vampires

Date Published: March 14, 2025

 

When vampire Beau Hollings falls into rodeo clown Leon Lavoie’s arms as he comes off a bull, he’s more than grateful for the save.

Sparks fly when Beau meets the sexy vampire clown after the event for drinks, and a night of passion makes the night complete. But what should have been a one-night stand turns into something more when Leon reveals that they were matched by Cowboy Magic, a dating service for paranormal rodeo performers.

Wolf shifter Rhody Tallwood, one of the famous Tallwood brothers of bronc riding fame, put in a request with Cowboy Magic, then forgot -- until he’s told to watch the bull riding.

Now he’s got to juggle not one, but two vampire mates, as well as his brothers’ displeasure, because the three of them together are magic, and each of them wants their relationship to last a lot longer than eight seconds.

TRIGGER WARNING: Rodeo Clown, may be a trigger for those with clown phobia. Adult language and situations.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Each book in the Cowboy Magic series contains stories of queer cowboy/cowgirl/cowthey love across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

#ReleaseBlitz: The Seer by @raquellevittwrites @RABTBookTours #Giveaway

Historical Fiction/Paranormal Fiction

Date Published: March 11th, 2025

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

 

In 1890s Missouri, secrets are a matter of survival.

Clairvoyant Sarah Richardson screams as her older sister Katherine is forced into a straightjacket and thrust into a carriage bound for the St. Louis City Lunatic Asylum. She is devastated to learn Katherine has been blamed for her inadvertent role in an abused woman’s murder. Now, too frightened to speak up, she hides the truth that it should have been her in that carriage. 

Sarah’s mounting guilt becomes too much, and she heads to St. Louis, determined to regain her sister’s confidence and prove herself worthy of forgiveness.

While working to heal their relationship, Sarah meets a timid housewife who tries to hide her bruises. When troubling psychic visions of the woman begin to affect her, she sees an opportunity to atone for her past mistakes. Desperate to do whatever it takes to make things right, Sarah embarks on a perilous journey that may cost her everything—including her own life.

#ReleaseBlitz for You're All I Need by @laceyblackwrites @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: You're All I Need

Series: Burgers and Brew Crüe #10

Author: Lacey Black

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Small Town/Friends to Lovers/Sworn Off

Relationships/Surprise Pregnancy/Playboy Hero

Release Date: March 11, 2025

BLURB

Caden

I don’t do relationships. Ever. Life is too short, and love is too painful. I’m a live in the moment kind of guy with whichever woman wants to accompany me for a night or two, and I always make sure they know the score before we ever make it to second base. It’s the only way I operate.

That all changes the moment Adrienne takes me home with her.

I’m instantly addicted. The problem is she becomes more than just a friend. She’s everything I didn’t know I needed and the polar opposite of the woman who destroyed my heart.

Falling in love with her isn’t an option.

Adrienne

After picking up my life and moving to the small town of Stewart Grove, I’ve been able to put the hurt of my past behind me. My new motto is to live for today and enjoy the ride. I’ve got a great job at the popular local hotspot, new friends I adore, and am building a life I’m proud of. I have everything I need.

Then Caden saunters up with his rugged good looks, disarming smile, and an offer I can’t refuse.

I fight my attraction as long as I can. I have to. I’m not looking to get into another relationship, but life has a way of throwing you a curveball every now and again.

Mine comes in the form of two pink lines.

#BookTour: Übermensch by @dl_scarpe @RABTBookTours

Historical Fiction

Published: 1/15/2025

 

 

A murdered boy. Tortoiseshell eyeglasses. A letter written by a young man to another that reads like a lover's spat. One portable Underwood typewriter. Two confessions.

Will Babe and Manny live or die?

 

It's the early 1920s and arrogant teenagers Noah "Babe" Lieberman and Roman "Manny" Loewe have it all: money, brains, freedom. They reside in the same affluent Chicago neighborhood, come from successful, respectable families, and enjoy privileged lives. Both are intelligent prodigies who graduated high school early. But Roman, an extrovert, is handsome and popular whereas Noah is average-looking and spends most of his time with birds and books. After meeting, they embark on a wild journey of vandalism, burglary, and arson. Their personal relationship escalates, and their criminal acts morph into more sinister behavior as the two flout the laws of the "common" man and live their version of the Übermensch, or "superman" as defined by Friedrich Nietzsche.

One hundred years ago, the world was stunned to learn that Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two wealthy, brilliant university students, had confessed to kidnapping and murdering fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks. Why did Leopold and Loeb do it? For "pure love of excitement, or the imaginary love of thrills, doing something different," they said.

 

D.L. Scarpe's Übermensch fictionalizes the Leopold and Loeb case, focusing on the reason why the gifted teenagers' lives took such an unexpected turn, destroyed three families, and captivated the country in what was dubbed at the time as the "crime of the century."

#BookReview: Strike the Zither (Kingdom of Three, #1) by @joanhewrites

The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm has fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.

But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.

Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land and serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress is double-edged—while Ren’s honor draws Zephyr to her cause, it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.

An epic YA fantasy about found family, rivals, and identity, from New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, inspired by Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Classics of Chinese Literature.