In Possession of a Good Fortune by Shanae Johnson Book Blitz! #InPossessionofaGoodFortune #ShanaeJohnson #XpressoTours @XpressoTours⁣

 

In Possession of a Good Fortune
Shanae Johnson

(Pemberley Ranch, #3)
Publication date: October 25th 2022Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Women’s Fiction

When Lydia Bennett runs off and gets engaged to Mr. Wrong, she’ll have no idea it’ll be for all the right reasons.

Chatterbox Lydia Bennett has always felt like the stepchild in her redheaded family. To get out from the shadows of her successful older sisters, she starts a gossip blog fueled by info from her best friend, and heiress Emma. When Lydia gets the chance to write a story for the city paper, she’ll need to expose one of the bull riders in town for the annual Pemberley Rodeo. And one rodeo star in particular is all too eager to give her a wild ride.

Bull rider George Wickham is in over his head—in debt that is. After repeated injuries, Wick’s bull riding days are nearly up. With his career at an end, he’ll have no way to pay off the money he owes to the rodeo organizers. But when Wick learns about a young heiress in attendance at the rodeo, a plan forms to sweep her off her feet to get access to her wallet.

Unfortunately, Wick mistakes Lydia for her bestie and the two hit it off, falling hard and fast and getting engaged in record time. But when this case of mistaken identity is revealed, they both will be faced with impossible choices. Lydia will have to decide between the career she’s always wanted and the secrets of the man she’s in love with. Wick will have to choose whether or not to ride in an event that might cost his livelihood and possibly his life to prove his love for the right woman?

Get swept off your feet by this clean and wholesome, laugh out loud romantic comedy filled with sweet and swoony situations and a heartwarming happily-ever-after. In Possession of a Good Fortune is the third in a series of modern day Jane Austen retellings—set on a ranch!

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

SNEAK PEEK:

His smile was slow. It didn’t spread across his face. He looked amused and slightly terrified. It was the same way her father had always looked at her mother. It was the way Carlos looked at Jane. It was the way Darcy looked at Eliza—that is, when he didn’t think anyone was watching.

Wick had said he didn’t believe in love. But his gaze was telling Lydia something different. It was telling her that she might be different. Isn’t that what every girl wanted? For a guy to think she was different. That she was special. That’s how he was looking at her.

This was it. Lydia hadn’t believed it would happen to her. But she was standing in the moment where the reality of it was going down. A guy was totally falling for her.

“Are you going to kiss me, Mr. Wickham?” Lydia spoke softly in the dark. Not that anyone was around to hear her. But the moment felt sacred, holy even.

“Yes,” he whispered back. “Yes, I am.”

His thumb rubbed back and forth across her low back in a windshield-wiping motion. His chest pressed against hers, so much so that she could feel his heart beating in time with hers. His gaze was on her mouth, but he didn’t descend to capture her lips.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well, what?”

“Are you going to kiss me or not?”

“I said I would.”

And then he stepped away from her. If he hadn’t kept hold of her hand, Lydia would’ve stumbled. Wick tucked her into his side and walked with her away from the pen.

Lydia was so rattled from having been in a haze of desire and then yanked back down to earth that she was silent for a time.

“You know what I think?” she said after a time. “I think you’re a player.”

They were walking away from the light posts along the drive, so she couldn’t see his features, but she sensed a change in him. A stiffening.

“But I don’t think that’s the full story,” she continued.

Wick turned to her. She saw the whites of his eyes, but she still couldn’t read his expression. Some of the stiffness left his body as he walked on in silence.

“One thing I’ve learned is that there’s always a kernel of truth to gossip. But there’s almost always more to the story.” She leaned into him. “Tell me.”

“You want me to tell you all my secrets?”

“I do.”

“Well, I won’t. I’m still trying to impress you.”

She laughed. When she did, the corners of Wick’s eyes widened as he watched her. His smile was back in place. He pulled her more firmly to his side as they walked on.

Shanae Johnson was raised by Saturday Morning cartoons and After School Specials. She still doesn’t understand why there isn’t a life lesson that ties the issues of the day together just before bedtime. While she’s still waiting for the meaning of it all, she writes stories to try and figure it all out. Her books are wholesome and sweet, but her heroes are hot and her heroines are full of sass!

And by the way, the E elongates the A. So it’s pronounced Shan-aaaaaaaa. Perfect for a hero to call out across the moors, or up to a balcony, or to blare outside her window on a boombox. If you hear him calling her name, please send him her way!

Website / Goodreads / Facebook

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

—

It's News to Me by R.G. Belsky Book Tour and Giveaway!

 October 3-31, 2022 Virtual Book Tour

Dashed dreams: she wanted to run for president one day, now she's dead at 20

When Riley Hunt—a beautiful, smart, popular student at Easton College in Manhattan—is brutally murdered, it becomes a big story for TV newswoman Clare Carlson.

After days of intense media coverage, a suspect is caught: a troubled Afghanistan war veteran with a history of violent and unstable behavior. The suspect's mother, however, comes to Clare with new evidence that might prove her son's innocence.

As Clare digs deeper into the puzzling case, she learns new information: Riley had complained about being stalked in the days before her murder, she was romantically involved with two different men—the son of a top police official and the son of a prominent underworld boss—and she had posted her picture on an escort service's website offering paid dates with wealthy men.

Soon, Clare becomes convinced that Riley Hunt's death is more than just a simple murder case—and that more lives, including her own, are now in danger until she uncovers the true story.

Praise for It's News to Me:

"[It's News to Me is] witty, clever and engaging. Clare Carlson’s irreverent comments and dogged reporter’s instincts make for a propulsive ride as she races from the chaos of a newsroom’s inner sanctum to the dangers of a murder victim’s deepest secrets. Once you start, you won’t put it down."

Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times best-selling author

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: October 4th 2022
Number of Pages: 352
ISBN: 1608094561 (ISBN13: 9781608094561)
Series: Clare Carlson #5 (each is a stand alone work)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Chapter 1

I met Brendan Kaiser, the owner of my TV station Channel 10 and about a zillion other properties, for lunch on a sunny spring day at a restaurant called Tri-Bar in lower Manhattan.

Tri-Bar is what’s known in New York as a celebrity restaurant. In other words, whenever you read the gossip columns, there’ll be an item about how “so and so said such and such over dinner last night at Tri-Bar . . .”

Robert DeNiro sometimes ate there. So did Jimmy Fallon and Alec Baldwin and Julia Roberts when she was in town.

I’d been to trendy hotspots like this a few times to see if I could spot someone famous. Mostly all I ever saw were a lot of other people like me hoping to see if they could recognize anyone. The closest I ever came to a celebrity was when I ran into Sally Struthers once in the ladies’ room of a restaurant on the Upper East Side. It had been a long time since Sally was a big star on All in the Family. My last memory of her had been doing those late-night infomercials about world hunger, and she sure didn’t look much like Gloria Bunker anymore. I decided not to ask for her autograph.

There was some kind of a maître d’ standing at the entrance to Tri-Bar. He wore a black tuxedo like outfit, highly shined shoes, and white gloves. I had on a pair of tan Calvin Klein jeans, a chocolate-colored silk blouse, and beige sandals. I thought my outfit was pretty swell, but he looked me over coolly.

“Is there something I can do for you, ma’am?”

“I’m looking for Brendan Kaiser. My name is Clare Carlson.”

“And?”

“I’m the news editor of Channel 10 News.”

He still didn’t seem too impressed.

Maybe he didn't like my color coordination.

“And what might your business be with Mr. Kaiser?”

“Well, I might be here to pick up his dry cleaning, but I’m not. How about I discuss my business with him?”

He scowled and picked up a phone to check with someone inside.

The truth was I wasn’t sure why Brendan Kaiser wanted to meet me here. I’d had a few dealings with him in the past on big stories in my job as the news director for Channel 10—but he’d never invited me to lunch. Maybe he was going to give me a raise. Maybe he was going to tell me I’d been named Employee of the Month. All I knew is that when the big boss asks you to go to lunch with him, you go to lunch.

The maître d’ still looked unhappy when he got off the phone, but he eventually directed me to a table inside. Brendan Kaiser was already there. Kaiser was in his 50s, with thick gray hair. Not a bad-looking guy, but he did have a bit of a paunch. I noticed it when he stood up to greet me. Probably from eating too many lunches at a place like Tri-Bar.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Clare,” he said. His office had just arranged the meeting with me a few hours earlier. “I hope I didn’t interfere with any other lunch plans you had for today.”

“Well, until I got your call, my lunch plan had been to go for a Big Mac at McDonald’s. That special sauce they put on it is to die for.”

He smiled.

We made small talk for a few minutes, and then a waiter came over and took our orders. Kaiser was having some kind of duck dish with orange sauce and shoestring potatoes. I went for the tortellini with a salad. According to the menu I’d scanned, this meal was going to cost a lot of money. What the hell—he was paying, not me. Whatever happened next, maybe I’d at least get a good meal out of it.

“So do you want to tell me what this whole lunch deal between me and you is all about?” I said after a bit more conversation.

“You do get to the point, don’t you?”

“I’m a journalist. I used to be a newspaper reporter. I like to get to the lead of the story as quickly as I can.”

He nodded.

“The reason I asked to see you like this was to discuss a situation we need to deal with, Clare.”

“What kind of situation?”

“A situation involving Channel 10 News.”

“I didn’t know we had a situation.”

I took a drink of some iced tea I’d ordered with my meal. I wished now it was something stronger.

“Look, I think that everyone at Channel 10 news is doing a really terrific job,” Kaiser said.

“Glad to hear it.”

“Especially you as news director.”

“Glad to hear that too.”

“And you’re a star, besides being the news director. You’ve broken some big stories for us, gotten a lot of publicity and notice in the media world. The Charles Hollister murder case. The serial killer you helped catch. I appreciate that from you, Clare. I appreciate all of your success and all your hard work. I really do.”

“But?”

“Excuse me?”

“There is a ‘but’ coming here, right?”

“Yes, there is,” Kaiser sighed. “Despite all your hard work, the ratings—and, as a result, the advertising revenue—isn’t quite at the level we need at Kaiser Media to run a profitable news operation. I want to do better. I think we can do better.”

The waiter brought our food. We both ate in silence for a few minutes. I waited to see what Brendan Kaiser would say next. I didn’t really have anything to say. So I stuck my fork into the tortellini and bit into a piece. Pretty tasty. Good cream sauce too. Almost as good as the sauce on a Big Mac.

“I’ve decided to make some changes at Channel 10 News,” Kaiser said finally, nibbling on a shoestring potato.

“What kind of changes?”

“Changes at the top.”

“Wait a minute—are you firing me?”

“No, of course not.”

“Demoting me? Is that the reason for this lunch?”

“You’re still going to be the news editor.”

“But you said you were making changes at the top so . . .”

That’s when it hit me.

“Jack Faron?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Jack Faron was the executive producer at Channel 10 News. My boss.

“I’m replacing Faron. Jack’s done a good job, but he’s more old school than we need right now. I’d like to put someone in the job with more drive, more energy, more new ideas. So I’ve hired a new executive producer. Jack will still be with us at Channel 10 News. But moving forward, he’s going to be in a more . . . uh, advisory role.”

“Does Jack know about this?”

“Not yet. I know you’re close to him, so I wanted to make sure you were the first to hear about this.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Jack Faron had been my mentor at Channel 10 News. The one who had hired me when the newspaper I worked for went out of business. The one that stood by me when my early on-air appearances as a TV reporter bombed. The one who promoted me to news editor and had backed me on every story and crisis since then.

And now he was not going to be there for me.

At least not in the same way.

I asked Kaiser the obvious question.

“Who’s replacing him as executive producer?”

“Susan Endicott,” he said. “Do you know her?”

“Not really.”

“I think you two will get along really well. That’s why I wanted to have this conversation with you. I want you to accept this. I want you to understand the reason for it. I want you to be happy. I want you to help make Susan Endicott feel welcome here. Are you good with all that, Clare?”

“Hey, you know me—I’m a team player.”

“No, you’re not.”

I sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, I’m not.”

“Let’s try to make this work, huh?”

I wasn’t sure what to say next, but it turned out I didn’t have to. I got a break. My phone rang, and—when I looked down at it—saw it was from Maggie Lang, my top editor at Channel 10 News.

“Where are you?” Maggie said.

“At lunch.”

I hadn’t told anyone who I was having lunch with.

“We’ve got a big story breaking. A murder. Female college student found murdered near Washington Square Park.”

“Who is she?”

“Her name’s Riley Hunt. She came here from Ohio to go to school at Easton College, not far from the park. Family has money, it sounds like. Her father’s a doctor back in Ohio, her mother a lawyer.”

“All hands-on-deck for this one,” I said.

“Already done. We’re gonna lead the newscast with it at 6.”

After I hung up with Maggie, I told Kaiser what was happening. I said I needed to get back to the station right away to direct the news coverage. That wasn’t totally true, Maggie could have handled it on her own. But I wanted to get out of here, and this seemed to be the perfect excuse. I didn’t like what was happening to Jack Faron. I didn’t like the fact I knew about it before him. And I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like Susan Endicott, even though I’d never met her.

And so I did what I do anytime I can’t deal with problems in my life. I threw myself into a big story. And this murder sounded like a big story.

I said goodbye to Kaiser, walked through Tri-Bar and out the front door to catch a cab back to the Channel 10 newsroom.

The maître d’ didn’t bother to say goodbye.

Excerpt from It's News to Me by R.G. Belsky. Copyright 2022 by R.G. Belsky. Reproduced with permission from R.G. Belsky. All rights reserved.

 

R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His new mystery, It’s News to Me, will be published on October 4 by Oceanview. It is the fifth in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. Belsky has published 19 novels—all set in the New York city media world where he has had a long career as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry. He lives in New York City and is a contributing writer to The Big Thrill magazine.

Catch Up With R.G. Belsky:
www.RGBelsky.com
Goodreads
BookBub - @dickb79983
Instagram - @dickbelsky
Twitter - @DickBel
Facebook - @RGBelsky

 Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaway entries!

 

 

GIVEAWAY:

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for R.G. Belsky. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.

 

 

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours

 

Chaos and Cranberries by @joannkeder_author Book Blitz! #JoannKeder #ChaosandCranberries #XpressoTours @XpressoTours⁣

 

Chaos and Cranberries
Joann Keder

Publication date: November 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

Paranormal investigator, Feather Jones and her boyfriend, Tug have arrived in picturesque Piney Falls for their Christmas getaway. To their dismay, they learn that their suite isn’t available because the last guest, author Dash Vixen, never checked out.

Dash was murdered when a copy of his own horror Christmas anthology was used to beat him to death.

Coming to their rescue is local sleuth, Lanie Anders, who invites them to spend the holiday with her and her husband. Unbeknownst to all of them, the murderer has bigger plans. Soon Lanie, Feather and their respective other halves are embroiled in a mystery that will stretch them both to their crime-solving limits!

This is a crossover book: Feather is a sleuth from the Charming Mysteries series and Lanie is a sleuth in the Piney Falls Mysteries.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

—

SNEAK PEEK:

Vem stood uncomfortably close and read aloud:

Ivy Merrilee Globe was a prolific author, completing seventy-nine books in her twenty-six years of life. Her most recent, Snowily Severed, was a short story featured in the massively popular Christmas horror anthology, Strung by the Fire.

She recently signed a contract with Brain Gravy Pictures to turn her short story into a movie.

Driving home from physical therapy, she stopped for children crossing three blocks from her home, when her neighbor’s sleigh ornament slid off the roof of their home and through her car windshield, impaling her. Ivy herself couldn’t have written such a dramatic end.

Ivy leaves behind three brothers and a cat named Ice.

“She didn’t die on the twenty-second like the other two. Find the date of the Frosty attack, Lanie,” Vem urged.

I typed in the information and when the page came up, our mood was somber. “Ivy was attacked on the twenty-second by the Frosty wannabe. They intended to kill her that day, and when it didn’t work, they came back to finish the job.”

“Poor Ivy,” Vem lamented.

My phone rang and I jumped up to answer. Even though we’d been together for several years, I was always expecting his call.

“Babe?”

“Mrs. Hill? This is the Tucson police department.”

USA TODAY bestselling author, Joann Keder spent most of her years in the Midwest, growing up and raising a family on the Great Plains of Nebraska. She worked for sixteen years as a piano teacher before returning to school to receive a master's degree in creative writing. A mid-life move to the Pacific Northwest led her to re-examine her priorities. She now creates stories about life and relationships in small towns while her ever-patient husband encourages her on.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

—

All The Dark Places by Terri Parlato Book Review! #AlltheDarkPlaces #NetGalley

 

For fans of Megan Miranda and Shari Lapena, this stylish debut thriller from a skillful new voice in suspense, Terri Parlato, introduces seasoned Boston detective Rita Myers investigating the murder of a seemingly perfect husband. Filled with unexpected twists and well-drawn characters, this modern whodunit is set against the picturesque backdrop of a Massachusetts winter, as a woman with a traumatic past tries to uncover who among her friends is a killer.

A savage murder rocks a quiet Boston suburb, revealing the dark secrets at the center of a group of friends in this clever, propulsive debut from new master of suspense, Terri Parlato . . .

Snow falls softly outside Molly Bradley’s home on a frigid January night. Inside, half a dozen close friends are gathered to celebrate the fortieth birthday of Molly’s psychologist husband, Jay. Candlelight gleams against dark wood, wine flows, and the house rings with laughter. Everybody loves Jay, Molly most of all. Yet next morning, Molly discovers Jay dead on the floor of his office, his throat brutally slashed.

After decades working with the Boston PD, Detective Rita Myers has grown accustomed to the banality of evil—the murders that make no sense beyond bad luck or a tragic brush with the worst of humanity. But Jay Bradley’s murder isn’t random, or a mere crime of opportunity. Rita is convinced that someone in the couple’s small circle killed him. Someone who was celebrating with them that night.

Devastated, Molly tries to make sense of her husband’s death. Jay was her rock, the only person who really understood the nightmare she lived through long ago. He knew the horrors she’s kept hidden even from her friends. But shocking revelations are making her question if Jay was all he seemed to be—and whether someone else knows her past too. And until Molly figures out who she can really trust, she won’t be able to stop herself becoming the next target . . .

All the Dark Places author Terri Parlato was born and raised in upstate New York. She currently lives in a small north Georgia town with her husband and their dog, Lucy. She spends her time writing, reading, and visiting craft breweries with her husband.

Inspired by the small towns of New England, All the Dark Places is set in the fictional town of Graybridge, Massachusetts. Terri is a die-hard history nerd and loves exploring Boston and the surrounding areas. She has even located the grave of her six times great-grandfather in a small cemetery in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where generations of her family lived before moving to upstate New York.

Terri holds a BA in English Education from the State University of New York at Albany and an MS in Technical Writing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. While she has always been a writer, Terri spent most of her professional career as a high school English teacher. She and her husband have three children. Terri is an animal lover, baseball fan and a rock music enthusiast.

https://terriparlato.com/bio/

My Thoughts 

"SOMETIMES I WANT TO CAPTURE HAPPY A MOMENT TO KEEP FOREVER."

"Not like a picture or a video, but a feeling. A feeling that I want to relive for the rest of my life. (Why is it that nightmares insist on the same treatment?) I shudder and move away from the dark hallway in the the light of the living room, where my husband stands in front of the blazing fireplace while he relates a funny story to our friends. They've gathered for his birthday celebration and laugh with honest mirth. Everyone loves Jay. No one more than me."

Thus starts All The Dark Places by Terri Parlatto. By the next morning, Jay will be dead. Murdered in his office. Who would do such a thing to the man that everyone loves and respects. Jay is a psychologist. Molly is devasted to say the least. 

Rita is a detective with the Boston P.D. and is the lead detective on the case. It is up to her to interview and determine who if anyone of the group of friends of Jay and Molly is to the murderer. It is unearthed that Molly has a dark past. It comes out in bits and pieces during the investigation. 

Someone starts calling Molly leaving ominous messages for her about her past and that the person knows who she is and will be coming after her. Molly gets herself a service dog to protect her. All of her friends are interviewed but still no one knows who murdered her husband.

Another body is unearthed, literally on the mountain property and is owned by Jay and Molly. Now Jay becomes a suspect. Why would he murder this woman? Rita and her partner Chase Fuller must figure this out. Soon the FBI is brought in to assist with the case.

This is a police procedural, that is deeply character driven, each alternating chapter is told in Molly's Rita's viewpoint respectively. Each chapter drives the story to it's conclusion. 

I love a good murder mystery and this one is very good. The plot is addictive, and it is written in such a way that keeps the reader moving through the book. Even though there are a lot of characters, that does not detract from the story. The storyline flows right along. I kind of knew or thought I knew who the murderer was but was surprised to find I was wrong.

I give this book 5 stars.

I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.

The Prince and The Runaway Bride by Alisha Kay Book Tour! #DevgarhRoyals @BookReviewTours @alishakayauthor@b00kr3vi3ws @alishakayauthor

 

Faced with a loveless marriage, Ananya Rajput does what she always does when faced with a tough situation - she runs away!

Except, this time she runs right into the arms of the man she’s dreamed about for years - okay, fantasised about, to be completely honest.
His Highness Yashvardhan Rathore, Yuvarajkumar of Bannor, is so going to burn in hell.
Not only did he help his dead friend’s sister run away from her wedding mandap, he now has terribly inappropriate feelings for her.
All his life he’s lived by one truth - no one has ever loved him enough to stay. And he doesn’t think a known flight risk like Ananya will be the first.
As her restless feet get calmer, the walls around his heart get higher.
Will Yash ever come to trust in love?
And will Ananya let her reluctant Prince Charming claim a runaway bride?

To find out read the third book in the Devgarh Royal series.

Book Links:
Amazon.com | Amazon.in

Read an Excerpt from The Prince and the Runaway Bride

I braced myself for the explosion that was sure to follow once Ananya caught sight of my plane. She got out of the vehicle and stared around her in confusion.

      “Where’s your aircraft?”

      I pointed to the plane in question.

      “That one, right there.”

      She took one look at it and rolled her eyes.

      “Oh, please! That rust bucket is not a jet,” she pointed out.

      “I’m going to ignore the slur on my beautiful plane, and just point out that I never said I had a private jet. I said ‘plane’, and you assumed it was a jet. That’s not my fault.”

      “Yashvardhan Rathore, do you seriously expect me to believe that you fly all over the world in that little tinpot? It looks like it will fall apart if you sneeze too loudly!”

      “First of all, my plane is a she, not it. Secondly, can you please stop calling her names? She’s very sensitive,” I snapped.

      “Fine! But she looks like she’s made of Lego and is held together with duct tape, and if you think I’m risking my neck in that toy plane, you’re crazier than I thought,” Ananya snapped back.

      “Stop calling her names! She’s not a tinpot or a rust bucket. She’s a piece of art!”

      She was. My Cessna 162 was in mint condition, with nary a scratch or dent. I couldn’t see why Ananya was calling her such nasty names.

      She stomped up to the plane and walked around her slowly.

      “Umm, Yash… There are only two seats.”

      I sighed. I knew this was going to be a problem.

      “I know.”

      “Where do you propose to stow me? In the cargo hold?”

      “That’s very tempting right now, but you will sit next to me.”

      “And where will the pilot sit?”

      “In the pilot’s lounge, back there,” I said, pointing to the building that we had just exited.

      Ananya stared at me, denial and fear clouding her big brown eyes. A man could drown in those expressive eyes, I thought. Not right now, though. Any attempt to dive into those beauties would burn me to a crisp because her glare was hot enough to set me on fire.”

  “Don’t fuck with me, Your Highness. If the pilot sits in the lounge, who’s going to fly the bloody plane?” she asked through gritted teeth.

      It was so much fun to mess with her. I wondered if she’d spit at me when she found out.

      “That would be me.”

      “What?”

      “I’m going to fly the plane,” I clarified, and she turned white.”

About the Author:
Alisha Kay writes funny, exciting and steamy stories, with spunky heroines who can rescue themselves, and hot, woke heroes who find such independence irresistible.
The first book in The Devgarh Royals series, The Maharaja’s Fake Fiancée, won the grand prize at the Amazon KDP Pen to Publish Contest 2020.

Alisha on the Web:
Instagram * Twitter 

The Nine: Zane by @ellearroyoauthor Book Blitz! #ellearroyo #TheNine #Zane #XpressoTours @XpressoTours

 

The Nine: Zane
Elle Arroyo

Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Publication date: January 25th 2023
Genres: Adult, LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance

Zane is Anunnaki, one of the nine immortals subjugated to walk the earth for eternity while tasked with protecting humankind from the malice. He must bind himself to an heir before the demons secured within his vessel burst free. Except that Zane is not interested in the female chosen for him. Instead, his desire lies in the man he met five years ago and shared an innocent, heartfelt night with. Eric Diaz had left Zane wanting.

Before they force Zane to bind himself with the female, he seeks Eric and shares one night of passion, hoping to satisfy his hunger for the man. But it doesn’t work, and Zane does everything in his power to keep Eric by his side, even risking the human realm and unleashing hell on earth.

Add to Goodreads

Elle is the author of Dark Fantasy MM Romance. She writes about alpha males fighting their demons, saving the world, and falling in love. And not necessarily in that order.

Website / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

—

Son of the Salt Chaser by @as_thornton Book Blitz! #asthornton #SonoftheSaltChaser #XpressoTours @XpressoTours⁣

 

Son of the Salt Chaser
A.S. Thornton

(Salt Chasers, #2)
Publication date: November 8th 2022
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

The gift of magic may be a curse.

After her desert-transforming wish, Emel follows Saalim to Madinat Almulihi to reclaim all she has lost. But the seaside city is not what she expected. When she is tasked with assisting the palace healer, she is faced daily with the reminder that Saalim—focused only on seeking the revenge of those who killed his family—does not remember her at all.

Cursing the magic that destroyed her love and brought her to an unwelcoming city, Emel regrets her decision to leave her settlement. That is, until she meets Kas. Though inscrutable, he is the first person to help her forget her past, and the pull of finding happiness with him tempts her from the life she wished for with Saalim.

But darkness waits in the desert, and not all people in Madinat Almulihi are what they seem. When Emel understands she is entangled in the fate of the city—and of Saalim—she is faced with the realization that magic may be the most powerful card in her hand. It might be the only way to save all that she loves, but if she plays her hand wrong, it could destroy everything.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play

—

SNEAK PEEK:

Leaning back onto my hands, I pushed my feet into the cool water. My raw, blistered skin welcomed the relief.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Firoz asked, nudging me with his own submerged foot.

Soldiers from Madinat Almulihi stood across the large pool. I would have assumed they were cooling themselves, too, but the longer I watched, the more I saw that there was a pattern—almost a rhythm—to the way they dipped their hands into the water and pressed it to their brows, wrists, and necks.

“Praying,” a voice said from behind me. A voice so achingly familiar it took all of my strength not to jump from the ground and rush to him.

Slowly, I turned to Saalim.

In our few days of travel, I had come to understand that he and his men behaved differently from my father and his court. It still surprised me that their king—my king—could appear so unlike a royal. His dark sirwal was rolled at his calves, his feet bare. He wore no weapons, and the black tunic across his chest was dust-covered and almost tattered at the edges; the guthra that loosely wrapped his face, equally worn. Had Saalim himself not told me tales of the wealth and allure of Madinat Almulihi, I would not believe that it was a city worth seeing at all.

“Eiqab will strain to hear,” Firoz said.

Saalim looked away from his soldiers down to Firoz. “We worship the giver, not the punisher.”

“Wahir,” I said. How strange it was to see someone praying to the lesser god. How wrong.

Saalim’s gaze met mine.

A rush of cold and hot, longing and desperation, and . . . Sons, how didn’t he feel it? Couldn’t he see me as I saw him? I felt as I had the first time he looked at me after he became human again, when he had killed my father and his eyes locked on mine. I stared back, willing him to feel, to remember as I did . . . the set of his jaw hard beneath my fingers, his lips against my own, his breath warm as I pulled it into my lungs. His hands so careful against my skin, his heart beating against my breast, the tremor of his voice as he said my name.

“Emel, isn’t it?” he asked.

The memories scattered. I bent my head to the ground, not wanting him to see my grimace. He felt nothing, remembered nothing. Sons, he did not know me at all.

Masira was a devious goddess, giving so much but taking as much in return. Damn her magic that she unfurled like a woven rug! Something beautiful to cover all of the ugly scars and secrets, to distract from them. But that was all the magic did, wasn’t it? What it tried to remove, it did so sloppily. Everything still lay underneath the threads.

“Yes, she is Emel,” Firoz said loudly.

I looked back to Saalim, brushing away my thoughts like sand on my palms.

Saalim continued. “Today, you and . . .”

“Firoz,” he said.

Saalim paused at the name, his brow pulling together slightly before he continued.

“Firoz. I am still learning. You both will help with the cook-fires.” Then he turned from us and continued around the water’s edge.

“Well, I at least know food is cooked on a fire. What do you know about cooking?” Firoz chuckled. His mother always cooked for his family, and I had had no business working in the palace kitchens as an ahira.

I forced a laugh as I watched Saalim walk away.

“What bothers you?” Firoz asked.

I shook my head.

“He’s just a king, Emel. Same heart that can be pierced by blade.” He stabbed the air with an invisible blade.

A. S. Thornton is the author of award-winning Daughter of the Salt King (CamCat Books, 2021), the first book in the Salt Chasers duology. She has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. She lives with her family in Northern California. When not writing, she’s taking care of dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though. Those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

—

Book of Jobs: A Collection of Helen Wu and Amy Dresden by M.L. Grider Book Tour and Giveaway!

Book of Jobs: A Collection of Helen Wu and Amy Dresden by M.L. Grider

Publisher:  Thursday Night Press, an imprint of DX Varos Publishing (October 18, 2022)
Category: Crime drama, LGBT subgenre, Short Story Collection
Tour Dates October, 2022
ISBN: 978-1955065542
Available in Print and ebook, 292 pages

 

Description Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider

In this prequel to Bitter Vintage, M.L. Grider explores events in the lives of Helen Wu and Amy Dresden prior to their adventure in 1995. While these incidents may seem at first glance unrelated, they all contribute to what makes Amy and Helen who they are.

Some are funny, others tragic, but that all adds up to why Helen quit the LAPD in favor of a gun shop, and Amy gave up her dream of acting to become an antique 

Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider Guest Review by Laura

'Book of Jobs: A Collection of Helen Wu and Amy Dresden,' by H.L. Grider is a wholly unexpected joy ride for me! 

As a prequel to the writer's other book, 'Bitter Vintage,' this book gives short stories from both Helen Wu and Amy Dresden's lives from before that book takes place. So, for instance, many of the stories in this book are from when Helen was just starting out in the LAPD. 

As a rookie cop with a lot to prove, (considering she was an Asian woman who was only 4'11) Helen goes through many strange cases at the beginning of her career. 

From a shootout that ends with her being praised by the entire department, to an investigation in the home of a former Hollywood starlet that turns deadly, Helen has a lot on her hands in this book—and receives a lot of on-the-job training that she might not have expected. 

Meanwhile, elsewhere in L.A., Amy begins working as a model—and finds herself dealing with a photo shoot location that seems to be inhabited by the spirit of a murdered gangster. 

I have to say, I got a real kick out of this book. There was something really cool about reading stories from the lives of these two kickass ladies and seeing what makes them tick. I loved the juxtaposition of Helen's tough, serious personality against Amy's more relaxed valley girl style. I can see why these two characters would be really cute together, and how they would complete each other in a way. 

I liked this book so much that I really didn't put it down once, so I took special note of how all of the stories fit together to create a full picture. I'd love more stories about Helen and Amy in the future, and I hope Grider intends on writing some! I know I will be adding him to my must-read list from now on! 

Excerpt Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider

While the tape was rewinding, Helen went to the kitchen for a snack. She pulled out the two bottom drawers by the kitchen sink and used them as steps to reach the bag of Milano mint cookies her mother had hidden on the top shelf. Just as her fingertips reached her prize there was a soft tapping against the den window glass. Helen froze. There is no way Lynn didn’t hear that. Lynn would be down in an instant and her evening would be ruined. She held her breath and waited to be busted. But Lynn never came. Gradually, curiosity began to overtake the fear of getting caught. What was that tapping anyway?

 

Helen climbed down from the counter and dashed back into the den. In the silhouette of shadows on the drapes she was sure she saw a person climbing the tree outside. She dropped her precious mint cookies on the soft carpet, rushed to the window, and tore the drapes open.

 

A Topsider sticking out of stone-washed jeans was disappearing above the top of the window. Helen dropped down to her knees for a better angle and looked up at a big white guy climbing the old oak. The thick branches bowed under his weight. This guy is huge.

 

Helen’s mind instantly started calculating. From years of playing tag and hide-n-seek with her siblings she knew that that tree went straight up to Lynn’s bedroom window. Helen had used that route many times herself to elude being made “it” by bigger, stronger siblings. There could be only one thing on that ape’s mind, only one purpose to make him climb that tree, only one thing he could possibly be after. He was coming to tag Lynn... and then her.

 

Helen jumped to her feet and ran to the phone to call the police. But as soon as her hand was on the cradle her mind began to race again, weighing all the possible outcomes.

 

If she called the police, it would take them half an hour or more to show up. By that time, The Great White Ape out there could have already played me Tarzan, you Jane with Lynn and moved on to making Helen into Cheetah. The arrival of the police would only further enrage him and make him kill them both on the spot if he hadn’t already. Or it could make him try to use one of them as a hostage, like a human shield. He might even try and kidnap one of them. After a shootout with the inept cops the brigand would drag her on an interstate killing spree like Charlie Starkweather did with Caril Ann Fugate back in the fifties in one of her true crime books.

 

If she called the police, all they would do is tell her to hide until they could find time to get around to her. Could Helen hide somewhere while a burglar ravished her helpless sister? Would she be able to live with herself after letting her sister get mauled and defiled. How could she ever be able to look Lynn in the eye knowing she had cowered under her bed like Cora Amurao while Richard Speck—another true crime story—tortured, raped, and murdered eight student nurses one by one in the next room? No, she had to take matters into her own hands and save Lynn.

 

She reasoned that if she called the police then went to help Lynn, it would complicate things for her later. It showed premeditation. If she called the cops first then dispatched the intruder herself she could end up facing a trial. Manslaughter or even murder. With the courts as ass backward as they were in L.A. she would most likely end up in jail for saving her sister from getting raped by some psycho. Besides, Tarzan had probably already cut the phone lines. That was the first thing Tex Watson did at the Tate and LaBianca houses. She would call after she had dealt with the intruder herself. Now she had to move fast.

 

Helen streaked through the living room with her robe trailing behind her like a superhero’s cape. That was how she saw herself, rushing to her sister’s aid in the nick of time. Beyond the formal living room was Daddy’s home office, and in the closet of Daddy’s office was Daddy’s safe. That’s what Helen needed now.

The safe was about the size of a steamer trunk. Afraid to risk a light, she crouched on her knees in the darkness and felt the engraved numbers on the dial. Daddy didn’t know that she had figured out the combination a long time ago. It was so simple to guess. Start at 62, the year Garrett was born, then turn to the left past zero back to 66, the year Lynn was born, then right to 68 her own birthday. Daddy was too sentimental for his own good.

 

There was a soft click and the door popped open. The safe was cluttered with important family documents. Tax returns, Mom and Daddy’s marriage license, the birth certificates of her and her siblings, the mortgage papers on the house, insurance papers, all the usual documents of the typical middle class suburban family. But there were also Daddy’s guns. 

(c) M.L. Grider, The Book Of Jobs

About M.L. Grider

The Book of Jobs is the second published novel to escape the twisted mind of M.L. Grider. In addition to writing, Grider is a professional photographer. He is busy at work on the next adventure in the Helen Wu series among other wild and warped stories. 

Website: https://www.dxvaros.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DXVaros
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DXVaros.Publishing

Pre-order Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider

Amazon
DX Varos Publishing

Giveaway Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider

This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 18, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Oct 18 Kickoff & Interview

Gud Reader Goodreads Oct 19 Review

Laura Lee Celticlady’s Reviews Oct 25 Review and Excerpt

Bookgirl Amazon Oct 27 Review

Suzie My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews Oct 28 Review & Excerpt

Smitty Goodreads Oct 31 Review

Sal Bound 4 Escape Nov 1 Review

Am Goodreads Nov 3 Review

Bee Book Pleasures Nov 8 review & Interview

Mike Goodreads Nov 10 Review

Mark Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 15 Review

Leslie Storeybook Reviews Nov 17 Review & Excerpt

A Terror Triptych by @writ_fallon Book Blitz! #KaseyFallon #ATerrorTriptych #XpressoTours @XpressoTours

 

A Terror Triptych
Kasey Fallon

Publication date: January 2023
Genres: Adult, Horror

Three stories. One island. No hope.

A triptych ~ three parts of one whole, reflecting your worst fears.

The new boy in school is finally making friends. On an island with centuries-old secrets, the numerous missing persons flyers are the least of Ryley’s problems as vengeance blurs the lines between then and now in The Sleepover.

A sister goes to an insane asylum, caring for her sister after a disastrous incident. But strange moments lead to terror inside the ward as she realizes she might not be able to get back out. Can she escape being The Visitor forever?

Tai and his group of friends are on the perfect vacation; blue skies, perfect waves, and a beautiful island. The brochures didn’t mention how many people died or went missing there every year, but the locals know to never go into The Copse; a grove of trees where people vanish. When Tai is forced to enter the forest he’ll do anything to survive what’s coming for them.

Add to Goodreads

I have always been - and likely always will be - a writer.
I have led a very long life in a less-than-imagined amount of years.
From childhood abuse to earning my blackbelt; from living in my car to living at the Four Seasons; from having 4 jobs at once to being unemployed with two college degrees; to losing my loved ones and winning my life.
​
One of Life's greatest joys for me is my dog (or any dog really). My beast's name is Asher and he's a gorgeous 100lb lap dog.

Website / Instagram

Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

—