15 May 2016

The Firefighter's Refrain by Loree Lough Book Tour!

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.
Book Tour Grand Finale for
The Firefighter's Refrain
By Loree Lough

 We hope you enjoyed the reviews, guest posts, and excerpt!
If you missed any of the stops, go back and check them out now...

Launch - Welcome to the Tour!

And in The Firefighter’s Refrain, we introduce Sam, making ends meet as an academy instructor while waiting for his dreams of becoming a Nashville recording artist to come true.

Finn Leary has been more or less on her own from the age of 12, when she started waiting tables to help care for her younger sister and problems-riddled parents...

So while Finn likes and admires Sam, she doesn’t want to, because it means putting her heart in someone else’s hands, someone who—like her parents—will eventually let her down.
underneath the covers - Sam Marshall

Sam Marshall was born into a big, loving, tight-knit family out west, and doesn’t understand anything about Finn.

The challenge, he realizes, is bridging the gap between himself and Finn…without doing or saying something that will put him in the Finn Castoffs boat with every other guy who has tried and failed to woo her.
Christy's Cozy Corners - Favorite Recipes from Finn Leary’s The Right Note Café

The Right Note Café Apple Pie & Sweet Tea…the Right Note Way
"The ending was so cute! I definitely recommend this book, and series, to anyone who enjoys clean contemporary fiction."
"I really enjoyed the way the story flows. There's a sweet gentleness to it and the way the characters are developed and interact with each other just warms my soul. Lessons of love, forgiveness, patience, overcoming fears, and independent strength are predominate feelings woven throughout these words."


Ciara scooped crushed ice into identical red-plastic glasses. “You know, I think, I think that Sam guy likes you.”

 “All of my customers like me,” Finn teased.

 “Yeah, but he’s the only one who stares at you that way.”

 “What way?” Finn looked across the diner, straight into the big blue eyes of Sam Marshall, whose dimple appeared at the same time as his charming, slanted smile. It didn’t appear rehearsed, like the flirtations of so many other star-hopefuls that frequented her Right Note Café.
"This book was good. I felt like the plot swirled in the same place at times without a lot of forward movement so for me, it was the characters that made this book shine."

Becky on Books - Review
"A sweet romance–third in the series, but worked just fine as a standalone....I finished the book with a smile…"
I Am A Reader - Nashville Setting
Some scenes in The Firefighter’s Refrain take place in Finn’s diner, The Right Note. Others happen in Sam’s classroom and on-site as Sam instructs soon-to-be firefighters.

Nashville is a unique blend of old and new, and pulses with the hopes and dreams of would-be stars who put all they have into every performance delivered from the stages of a hundred old-fashioned pubs, entertain tourists from all over the world. They don’t call it Music City for nothin’!
Wishful Endings - Being a Country Singer
As someone who spent a few years singing for my supper, I know a little about what it takes to ‘make it’ in the competitive music industry. (Suffice it to say I didn’t possess all of these traits, or I might have a few album covers hanging on my walls, instead of books on the shelves!)...
LibriAmoriMiei - Review
"This is a well-written novel that grabbed and held me from page one. Good plot, lovable characters and a sweet ending. I could only put it down with great difficulty.

If you love clean and romantic stories this book is perfect for you."
Teatime and Books - 10 all-time favorite Country songs & 10 Ways to Sing a Love Song
There’s something genuine and gritty about good old-fashioned Country music. Whether toe-tapping or tear-inducing, each song manages—in the span of a few stanzas—to reach deep into our souls, to make us laugh, or cry, or remember the good times…and the bad…
"A couple of loners with huge hearts connect and enjoy getting to know each other!...

When Sam meets Finn at her cafe, he’s instantly drawn to her. When he hears she’s not up on musicians, he tries to keep his distance, but he can’t help but like her and her adorable kid sis."

We hope you enjoyed meeting the last of the Marshall boys, Sam, and the gal he's interested in, Finn, who both have their own dreams and struggles. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below...
The Firefighter's Refrain (Those Marshall Boys, #3)
The Firefighter's Refrain
(Those Marshal Boys, #3)
by Loree Lough
Adult Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 368 pages (large print)
May 1st 2016 by Harlequin Heartwarming

 He's a man who wants it all…if only he could have it....

 Dreams of stardom took musician and firefighter Sam Marshall far from his Colorado roots. Starting fresh in Nashville hasn't been easy, especially after an injury on the job, but he's working his way to the Grand Ole Opry one open mike at a time, teaching at the fire station to make ends meet. Yet Sam's intentions are shaken when he meets the lovely owner of a local café. Suddenly, Sam's dreams are filled with her. Too bad that as the daughter of country-music wannabes, Finn Leary's been there, done that. She'll never choose a musician. So how can Sam possibly get the girl and keep the guitar?


 Other Books in the Series

 Once a MarineOnce a Marine
(Those Marshal Boys, #1)
by Loree Lough
Adult Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 377 pages (large print)
February 1st 2015 by Harlequin Heartwarming

Does she even need a hero?

Summer Lane is no damsel in distress. For the past two years, she's been battling her way back from her worst nightmare, all by herself. So she doesn't need the fabulous former Marine Zach Marshall swooping in to save her.

But she needn't worry. Zach has hung up his shining armor. His instinct to rescue has only brought him heartache, and he's not about to risk it all again--even though everything about Summer makes him yearn to help.

Will she accept his challenge to step up and conquer her fears on her own--even her deepest fears, like trust...and love?
Sweet Mountain Rancher (Those Marshall Boys, #2)Sweet Mountain Rancher
(Those Marshal Boys, #2)
by Loree Lough
Adult Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 385 pages (large print)
September 1st 2015 by Harlequin Heartwarming

He can say no to everyone but her...

Nate Marshall used to be a yes-man... until being so agreeable cost him dearly. But Eden Quinn has a way of getting him to reconsider his "just say no" policy. Which is how a bunch of troubled teens end up at his ranch for the weekend. Nate can't help but be attracted to the woman who keeps them in line.

This cowboy knows Eden's no damsel in distress, yet hers isn't a one-woman job. If she must do everything on her own, how can he help her... let alone get her to fall for him?


Bestselling author Loree Lough once sang for her supper, performing across the U.S. and Canada. Now and then, she blows the dust from her 6-string to croon a tune or two, but mostly, she writes novels that have earned hundreds of industry and "Readers' Choice" awards, 4- and 5-star reviews, and 7 book-to-movie options. Her 105th book, Sweet Mountain Rancher, #2 in “Those Marshall Boys” series for Harlequin Heartwarming, released in August, 2015. Also new on the Latest Release list, Guardians of the Heart, (#2 “Secrets on Sterling Street historical series from Whitaker House). Next up, Healing of the Heart, #3 in the “Secrets” series…and a brand new 3-book series for Harlequin Heartwarming, releasing between 2016 and 2017. Stay tuned for more in 2016 and beyond!

Tour Giveaway

 ONE WINNER will receive a $25 Amazon gift card and The Firefighter's Refrain (signed print if US, ebook if outside US)

 ONE WINNER will receive Those Marshall Boys Series, Once a Marine, Sweet Mountain Rancher, and The Firefighter's Refrain (signed print if US, ebook if outside US)

 ONE WINNER will receive The Firefighter's Refrain (signed print if US, ebook if outside US)
Ends May 20th
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My Last Love Story by Falguni Kothari Release Day Blitz! @b00kr3vi3ws @F2tweet


About the Book:
Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes’s, Me Before You, My Last Love Story is a heartbreakingly romantic tale about the complexities of trauma and whether love can right a wrong.

I, Simeen Desai, am tired of making lemonade with the lemons life has handed me.

Love is meant to heal wounds.
Love was meant to make my world sparkle and spin.
Love has ripped my life apart and shattered my soul. 

I love my husband, and he loves me.
But Nirvaan is dying.
I love my husband. I want to make him happy.
But he is asking for the impossible. 

I don’t want a baby.
I don’t want to make nice with Zayaan.
I don’t want another chance at another love story. 

Book Links:

Conversation with Simeen Desai from My Last Love Story.


Introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello! I’m Simeen Desai née Batliwala but I’m mostly known as Simi. I’m from Surat, India, but I now live with my husband in California. We’ve recently moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea from LA to indulge my husband, Nirvaan. He’s terminal, you see, and its part of his bucket list.

That’s a…difficult situation to be in. Are you up to this game then?

Simi: Yes, of course.

So, it’ll go like this. I’ll ask five random questions and you answer them as truthfully as you can. Okay?

Simi: Okay.

First question: Who would you like to trade places with for one month?

Simi: Marie Antoinette. I’ve been reading a book about her and I want to know if she was as frivolous as historians make her out to be.

Have you ever had an experience that led you to believe in angels or ghosts?

Simi: Yes. I believe my parents are angels and they look after me from heaven. I believe Nirvaan when he tells me that I shouldn’t fear his dying as he’s going to come back and haunt me forever. I’m looking forward to it.

If you could have any view from your back porch, what would it be?

Simi: I have it already. I have Carmel Beach rolled out in front of me. My inner beach bunny is very happy that Nirvaan decided to move here.

Who’s the funniest person alive?

Simi: My brother’s best friend, Zeus. He’s a big grizzly bear of a bawaji and he absolutely cracks me up even while saying the most innocuous things.

Which of your features would you like to change?

Simi: My insult of a large nose. It’s too big for my face and bumpy.

That’s it, Simi. You did good! I’m sure our 



Advance Praise:

At once heartbreaking, delightful and completely unexpected. A must read! 
~ Sonali Dev, author of The Bollywood Affair

In My Last Love Story, Kothari examines love and loss, desire and desolation, with a deft, wry touch that kept me reading late into the night and moved me to tears. 
~ Julia Tagan, author of Stages of Desire

About the Author:


Falguni Kothari is an internationally bestselling hybrid author and an amateur Latin and Ballroom dance silver medalist with a background in Indian Classical dance. She writes in a variety of genres sewn together by the colorful threads of her South Asian heritage and expat experiences. When not writing or dancing, she fools around on all manner of social media, and loves to connect with her readers. My Last Love Story is her fourth novel.



Giveaway
1 Copy of My Last Love Story by Falguni Kothari
Paperback Copy if the Winner is US or Indian Resident / eBook for other International Winner.
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Queen of My heart by Nikki Lynn Barrett Pre-Order Blast! @nikkilynnbarret @MoBPromos


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Need to Find You by Joseph Souza Spotlight! @josephsouza3



Yasmine 'Yaz' Weeks would prefer to forget her troubled past and the vile crimes committed against her, but when she discovers a hidden memoir in a kidnapped girl's cell phone, Yaz finds herself on the run with an opportunity for retribution. She soon learns that the memoir has the potential to ruin both the reputation of its late great author, Robert Cornish, as well as the reputations of many influential people.

Whip Billings, an ex-cop, unwittingly becomes entangled in the mystery of the missing phone. Realizing that this newfound memoir could significantly hurt the sales of Cornish's classic novel, Force of Will, he begins to search for Yaz. But why are the cops, and a mysterious drug kingpin known only as The Viking, also looking for her?

In his quest to find Yaz, Whip uncovers a vast network of political corruption, long hidden family secrets, and a series of reprehensible crimes. As the bodies in town begin to pile up, Whip knows that he must track down Yaz before she also turns up dead.

Joseph Souza worked on the South Boston docks during Whitey Bulger’s criminal reign. He has a degree from Northeastern University and once worked in the Organized Crime division of the DEA. His award winning short fiction and essays have published in various literary journals throughout the country. In 2004 he was awarded the Andre Dubus Award in short fiction from the University of Southern Maine for his short story “Loss Prevention.” His most recent short story, “The Devil’s Dumping Ground” was published in Quarry; Crime Stories by New England Writers. In 2010 Joseph Souza won Honorable Mention for the Al Blanchard Award for his short crime story”The Stone Walls of Lebanon”. Joseph lives in Portland, Maine with his wife and two children.

 http://www.josephsouza.net/

 Goodreads
Amazon
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Best Served Cold by Martha D Jones Spotlight!



The Tudor Court, a vibrant testosterone-fuelled maze of manners, duty, politics and sex. To be a woman in such an environment requires guile, luck and loyal friends - a princess needs these even more.
To her father she was a disappointment, a bastard, a whore, to her sister a threat and to her stepmother she was Beth. The girl who became Elizabeth I, the woman with the heart of a lion, her heart beat like a woman's nonetheless and her desires were no different.
Martha D. Jones's Best Served Cold dips into the secret world of Elizabeth I, the indiscretions she witnesses, the confessions she must make as a result and the cruel justice visited on those who threaten the crown. Though Elizabeth will become a powerful woman her desires are simple and it is through these desires that she will hide the greatest secret of them all.

 Read an Excerpt
http://www.austinmacauley.com/book/best-served-cold

Martha D Jones

The author lives in the historic North Pembrokeshire market town of Fishguard with her husband, two teenage children and the latest addition to the family, Edward, a ginger Tom cat named not in honour of eight British kings but after Ed Sheeran whose album Multiply was constantly playing as Best Served Cold was being written.
Amazon
Goodreads








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13 May 2016

Portrait of Conspiracy by Donna Russo Morin Review! #PortraitofaConspiracy #DonnaRussoMorin #Historical #Fiction #Mystery #DaVinci @hfvbt @DonnaRussoMorin @DiversionBooks



One murder ignites the powder keg that threatens to consume the Medici's Florence. Amidst the chaos, five women and one legendary artist weave together a plot that could bring peace, or get them all killed. Seeking to wrest power from the Medici family in 15th Century Florence, members of the Pazzi family drew their blades in a church and slew Giuliano. But Lorenzo de Medici survives, and seeks revenge on everyone involved, plunging the city into a murderous chaos that takes dozens of lives. Bodies are dragged through the streets, and no one is safe. Five women steal away to a church to ply their craft in secret. Viviana, Fiammetta, Isabetta, Natasia, and Mattea are painters, not allowed to be public with their skill, but freed from the restrictions in their lives by their art. When a sixth member of their group, Lapaccia, goes missing and is rumored to have stolen a much sought after painting as she vanished, the women must venture out into the dangerous streets to find their friend and see her safe. They will have help from one of the most renowned painters of their era the peaceful and kind Leonardo Da Vinci. It is under his tutelage that they will flourish as artists, and with his access that they will infiltrate some of the highest, most secretive places in Florence, unraveling one conspiracy as they build another in its place. Historical fiction at its finest, Donna Russo Morin begins a series of Da Vinci s disciples with a novel both vibrant and absorbing, perfect for the readers of Sarah Dunant."



 Donna Russo Morin is the award winning of author of historical fiction. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, she lives near the shore with her partner, Carl. Her two sons, Devon and Dylan--an opera singer and chef--are still her greatest works in progress.

Donna enjoys meeting with book groups in person and via Skype chat. Visit her website at www.donnarussomorin.com; 
friend her on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/Donna.Russo.M...
follow her on Twitter @DonnaRussoMorin.

 My Thoughts

 A plot is afoot to murder the Medici's, members of the Pazzi (a banking family) family plot a conspiracy  to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano to oust the Medici family as rulers of Florence. One of the Medici's survives and exacts revenge on the Pazzi family. Lorenzo survives and is out for revenge. Most of the conspirators were soon caught and executed; five, including Francesco de' Pazzi, were hanged from the windows of the Palazzo della Signoria.

 Five women, all friends, and artists, have to paint in secret and when one of the women disappears, supposedly also stealing a picture, they need to figure out what happened to her. They find out that the picture that is missing is a painting of the conspiracy and who was involved. To protect their friend, they set out to paint another painting like the first one. They all have sketches and with the help of Leonardo da Vinci, they create this painting. The women have to paint in secret as it is against the law for a woman to paint. 

 Renaissance Florence is a conflicted place to live as the Medici's are large and in charge. As Portrait of Conspiracy continues the reader learns more about each of the women and how the strength of all of them, bring the men involved in the conspiracy to justice, all without the Medici's knowledge. A passage at the end of the book caught my eye and it is "Together, there is not a greater power than the strength of women bound to each other." A very true statement and one that these women firmly believe. 

 I enjoy this time period in history in Europe, a time when women's worth depended on their dowry and whether they can give their husband's heirs. I love a story with a strong woman as the protagonist, but in this historical novel, there were five. Plus it was interesting learning about Leonardo da Vinci who played a big part also. 

 This novel was very well researched and told about an actual conspiracy that took place in Medici's Florence.

 I received a copy of this book for review and my honest thoughts.
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Juliana (Volume I, 1941-1944) by Vanda Book Tour with #JulianaBlogTour #HistoricalFiction #NewYorkCity #LGBT @hfvbt @VandaWriter


Juliana (Volume I, 1941-1944)
by Vanda

Publication Date: February 14, 2016
Booktrope Editions
eBook & Paperback; 375 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction/Contemporary Woman/LGBT
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JULIANA is the story of dreams, the dreams of two women who randomly, inevitably cross paths, of stage stardom and soulful songs amid the deceptions required in a prewar 1941 New York City, where love was presumed to be straight, and destiny was supposed to be written in the stars.
It’s 1941 and Alice “Al” Huffman comes from the potato fields of Long Island with her beau, her best girlfriend and her girlfriend’s beau to make it on the Broadway stage only to find she has no talent. On the kids’ first day in New York City, they meet Maxwell P. Hartwell III, a failed nightclub owner and Broadway producer, who, according to Al, looks a little like Clark Gable. He invites them to a nightclub where Al hears Juliana, the glamorous, perpetually-on-the-brink-of stardom singer, for the first time. Al is instantly drawn to her and seeks her out. Juliana is a sexual risk-taker who easily reels in the mesmerized Al.
Al is increasingly pulled into a secret gay underworld of men who wear dresses and women who smoke cigars, while her childhood friends continue in their “normal” lives. Al glides easily between the two worlds until these worlds begin to collide.
Cameo appearances are made by Walter Liverace, Ethel Merman, Tallulah Bankhead and others.

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback) | Barnes & Noble

Praise

“… captures the fear, excitement, and eroticism of a young lesbian’s awakening in the the 1940s.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Vanda creates a historical novel about a time period in which we know very little about queerness—WWII… Vanda’s narratives, prowess of timely language and setting and character development lend a poignant message: to be queer was to be anti-American.— July Westhale, Lambda Literary Review
“Juliana is the opening act in a series of stories that will cover, discover and recover LGBT history…. Vanda’s clean-shave style in Juliana amplifies the creative ways in which lesbians and gays in the 1940s compartmentalized their identities like meals at an automat…..I can’t wait for the next edition of yestergays’ news to come out” — Alison Fradkin, Curve Magazine
“Spell-binding, entrancing. A gay underworld with the sights and sounds of a lost New York.” — Lisa E. Davis, author of Under the Mink


About the Author

Vanda’s novel, Juliana (Vol. 1, 1941-1944) to be released in February by Booktrope Editions is about LGBT life in 1940s New York City. This novel is the first of a series of novels about the same characters living through successive decades of LGBT history.
As a playwright Vanda has received numerous honors, among them an Edward Albee Fellowship. Her play, Vile Affections, published by Original Works was a finalist for a National Lambda Award. Her play, Patient HM, which later became The Forgetting Curve, won the Pride Stage and Screen’s Women’s Playwriting Award and another play, Why’d Ya Make Me Wear This, Joe, won Celebration Theater’s (where Naked Boys Singing originated) Best New LGBT Play. Vile Affections played at the New York International Fringe Festival to sell-out audiences and was published by Original Works in 2008. The Forgetting Curve was produced in Boston in September 2014 and the producer has plans to bring it to New York.
Vanda’s non-fiction story, “Jack,” was published in Prairie Schooner in Summer 2011 and another non-fiction piece, “Roger: Lost Between Philosophies,” which appears Pentimento was selected by New Millennium Writings for Honorable Mention from a submission pool of 1,300. Other short prose pieces have been or will be published in Sinister Wisdom, The Outrider Review and The Grub Street On-Line Journal.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, May 2
Kick Off & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
Wednesday, May 4
Spotlight & Excerpt at I Heart Reading
Tuesday, May 10
Review at Book Nerd
Thursday, May 12
Review at With Her Nose Stuck In A Book
Friday, May 13
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Monday, May 16
Interview at Flashlight Commentary
Monday, May 30
Review at SJ2B House of Books
Tuesday, May 31
Blog Tour Wrap Up at Passages to the Past

Giveaway

To enter to win a paperback copy of Juliana by Vanda please enter the giveaway via the GLEAM form below. Two copies are up for grabs!
Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on May 31st. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.


Juliana
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A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly Book Blitz with Guest Post and #Giveaway! @leeykelly @XpressoReads


A Criminal Magic
Lee Kelly
Publication date: February 2nd 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult
THE NIGHT CIRCUS meets THE PEAKY BLINDERS in Lee Kelly’s new crossover fantasy novel.
 A Criminal Magic is powerful, dangerous and addictive – and after passage of the 18th Amendment, it is finally illegal.
It’s 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city’s magic underworld is booming. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters’ crime sprees. Smugglers funnel magic contraband in from overseas. Gangs have established secret performance venues where patrons can lose themselves in magic, and take a mind-bending, intoxicating elixir known as the sorcerer’s shine.
Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from Norfolk County, Virginia accepts an offer to work for DC’s most notorious crime syndicate, the Shaw Gang, when her family’s home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, a first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws.

Through different paths, Joan and Alex tread deep into the violent, dangerous world of criminal magic – and when their paths cross at the Shaws’ performance venue, despite their orders, and despite themselves, Joan and Alex become enchanted with one another. But when gang alliances begin to shift, the two sorcerers are forced to question their ultimate allegiances and motivations. And soon, Joan and Alex find themselves pitted against each other in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.
 A CRIMINAL MAGIC casts a spell of magic, high stakes and intrigue against the backdrop of a very different Roaring Twenties.
—
GUEST POST by LEE KELLY:
GANGSTERS!
Real-Life Gangsters that Inspired the Tough Guys in A CRIMINAL MAGIC
The pitch for my latest book, A CRIMINAL MAGIC, is THE NIGHT CIRCUS meets THE PEAKY BLINDERS, and for anyone who’s seen that twisty, violent BBC drama, you’ll know this means there’s some pretty hardened criminals in this one. My story takes place during an alternative Prohibition-era America, but instead of alcohol, magic has been prohibited. And just like during real Prohibition, gangsters have created an extensive, lucrative underworld to make sure people still get what they want, despite the letter of the law.
Because the magic in this novel is tricky and dangerous by nature, I knew I needed gangsters that weren’t just ruthless – these wise guys had to be clever, driven, and one step ahead of the sorcerers they employ in all aspects of their illegal trade. For inspiration and ideas, I naturally turned to history. Here are some of the notorious, hardnosed gangsters that most inspired me while writing A CRIMINAL MAGIC:

Owen “Owney” Madden was a New York gangster nicknamed “the Killer,” and aptly so as he was known for his very public executions. Madden more than once gunned down his rival gang members in the streets, and he allegedly shot a man on a trolley for flirting with his date. Despite being a hothead, he was also a shrewd businessman, and ran The Cotton Club (as well as some other swanky speakeasies) in New York City. In my novel, Erwin McEvoy, the boss of the Irish Shaw Gang, is loosely based on Madden (with a little Boo Boo Hoff thrown in there too. Boo Boo’s up next).

I have to admit, I was first attracted to Max “Boo Boo” Hoff because of his name, but the more I read about this Philly-based crime boss, the more fascinated I became. Hoff was a boxer turned gangster, and his bootlegging operation was so successful during Prohibition, it’s claimed he had an office of operations with 175 phones and a weekly payroll of $30,000 (in the 1920s)! Also known for his partying and extravagant lifestyle, Hoff frequently rubbed shoulders with celebrity types at his lavish affairs.

Also intriguing was Guiseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria, the head of the New York Italian-American mafia – the city’s powerful crime alliance known as the Five Families – during the later years of Prohibition. But Masseria was a bit of an underworld dictator: he even required monetary tributes from other Families as testaments of their loyalty. His reign naturally didn’t last: several families declared war on Masseria, which broke up the crime dynasty and led to his execution. I loosely based my novel’s Italian-American gang, the D Street Outfit, on Masseria’s New York operation.

And of course, no list of Prohibition-era gangsters would be complete without Al Capone. Though my novel’s young gangster-on-the-rise, Harrison Gunn, is actually nothing like media-hungry Capone was, I couldn’t believe that Capone was at the height of his power and became a Chicago crime boss in his mid-twenties. So I made Gunn younger (originally he was going to be middle-aged), to help rev up the tension between him and my female protagonist, Joan.


Author Bio:
Lee Kelly has wanted to write since she was old enough to hold a pencil, but it wasn’t until she began studying for the California Bar Exam that she conveniently started putting pen to paper. An entertainment lawyer by trade, Lee has practiced law in Los Angeles and New York. She lives with her husband and children in Millburn, New Jersey, though after a decade in Manhattan, she can’t help but still call herself a New Yorker. She is the author of A Criminal Magic and City of Savages. Visit her at www.NewWriteCity.com.

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The Rebel Within By Lance Erlick Book Tour!



The Rebel Within
By Lance Erlick
Genre: YA science fiction
Sixteen-year-old Annabelle Scott lives under the iron rule of a female-dominated régime that forces males to fight to the death to train the military elite. When pressed into service as a mechanized warrior to capture escaped boys, Annabelle stays true to herself by helping some escape. Her defiance endangers everyone she loves and thrusts her to a place of impossible life and death decisions.
Author Bio
Lance Erlick writes action-packed, science fiction thrillers. In the Rebel series, Annabelle Scott faces a crisis of conscience when she is forced to become a warrior to enforce laws she believes are wrong. The Regina Shen series takes place after abrupt climate change leads to Collapse and a new society under the World Federation. As an outcast, Regina must fight to stay alive and help her family while she avoids being captured.




The author is hosting an ebook giveaway during his book blitz!
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