31 January 2023

Canter with a Killer (A Horse Rescue Mystery) by Amber Camp Book Tour!

 

 

Canter with a Killer (A Horse Rescue Mystery)

Cozy Mystery 1st in Series 

Setting - Arkansas 

Crooked Lane Books (October 11, 2022) 

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages 

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639101802 

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639101801 

Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09S3G8PDD

Perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Mollie Cox Bryan, Amber Camp’s debut novel will have you galloping through the pages, as a horse rescue owner races to find a killer and clear her name.

  Mallory Martin left her marriage and her unfulfilling job to move back to her hometown of Hillspring, Arkansas, and start a horse rescue. It’s everything she’s been missing, with paddocks of happy horses and one very quirky donkey. But when her cantankerous neighbor and longtime critic, Albert Cunningham, is found murdered in his fancy show barn, Mallory becomes suspect number one. Since Sheriff Grady Sullivan is ignoring all good sense and focusing only on Mallory, she decides to take matters into her own hands.
 

Aided by her best friend, Lanie, and rescue volunteer Tanner, Mallory races headlong into the investigation in search of the real killer. But horses and murder aren’t the only thing on her mind when she meets Albert’s handsome son, Braydon. Sparks fly, and soon she’s got a new boyfriend. But there’s a case to be solved, and she redoubles her efforts to learn the truth.

 

The suspects mount quickly. There’s Albert’s girlfriend, Kathleen, who was on the farm when he was murdered; organic farmer Heather Rogers, who accused Albert of contaminating her creek; and Philip Atwood, who’d been trying for a right-of-way across Albert’s farm. None of the evidence is holding up though, and Mallory learns that she'll need to take the reins on this investigation if she's going to clear her own name.


Amber has lived in Northwest Arkansas for twenty+ years, working as an RN at a rural hospital in the area. She has a menagerie of animals that includes dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and what has been described as the Mule from Hell, which may or may not be a slight exaggeration. Writing has always been a focus in Amber's life, something she describes as "food for my soul." An avid reader since grade school, she enjoys multiple genres and is always looking for new authors to add to her favorites. Amber is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

  Website 
  Facebook 
  Twitter 
  Instagram 

 Purchase Links: 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

January 23 – Jane Reads – AUTHOR GUEST POST  

January 23 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT

January 24 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 24 – Mythical Books – SPOTLIGHT

January 25 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

January 25 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

January 26 – FUONLYKNEW – REVIEW

January 26 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – AUTHOR GUEST POST

January 27 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 27 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

January 28 – Lady Hawkeye – CHARACTER INTERVIEW  

January 28 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews -SPOTLIGHT

January 29 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 30 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 31 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

February 1 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW

February 2 – The Mystery Section – SPOTLIGHT

February 3 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW

February 4 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

February 5 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW

February 5 – I’m Into Books – SPOTLIGHT



An author signed copy of Canter with a Killer, a handmade (by me) bookmark, stickers, and a PopSocket featuring my book’s cover art.

Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? 


 

Mrs Bambi Knows Blog Tour!

 


Mrs Bambi Knows

In a small town in Oregon, everyone wants to kill the local advice columnist, Mrs Bambi. If only they knew who she was.

Mrs Bambi’s advice is so snarky that people have long since stopped asking for it. Instead, she eavesdrops on conversations and writes the letters herself. The readers would lynch her, but no one knows who she is.

In fact, Mrs. Bambi is not a woman. The column is written by Richard, a quiet widower with a young daughter.
The uneventful part of Richard's life is nearly over: he begins dating Pam, a well-known realtor and a sports addict. When people begin to learn the identity of Mrs. Bambi, Richard is threatened and humiliated in public. Despite the pleas of his editor, his friends, and Pam, he refuses to stop writing the column.
The only thing that can prevent disaster is for the town to finally learn the whole truth about Richard, which is much larger than the simple mystery of Mrs. Bambi.

Set in 1995, Chris Mason’s skillful storytelling brings a tale of humour and romance – and not a little peril - charmingly to life in the mind of the reader.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BG5CM8PJ

https://186publishing.co.uk/pick-of-the-best

Read an Extract

Richard is is a single father living in Oregon, whose daughter is Miriam. He has just asked a woman (Pam) out on a date for the first time since his wife died. Here he’s visiting with his best friend, A.M., in her weird clothing shop. Richard has met most of his friends through A.M., who is gay, so most of his friends are also gay.

“Coffee?” A.M. said.

“Sure.” It was the only thing Richard liked about her shop: she always had great coffee. She poured him a mug and another for herself. They tore open little paper packets of sweetener, sugar for him and Sweet ’n Low for her.

“What’s going on?” she said as she sat down across from him.

“You remember that woman we saw in Pig’s Wings Friday?”

“Sure. Pamela Castle. The one you wimped out with.” She looked at his face for a moment and burst out laughing. “Don’t tell me you asked her out!”

“Yes, I did.”

“What did she say? Please tell me she said she was gay. Please, please, please?” He folded his arms and glared at her. “Oh well,” A.M. said, “too bad for me. So what did she say?”

“What do you think she said?”

“I think she said, ‘Get away from me, you weirdo.’”

“Try again.” A.M. shook her head, refusing but smiling, and raised her coffee mug. He said, “We’re going out Friday night.”

“Yeah, right.”

“We are.”

“Really?” She looked impressed. “Well kiss my chilly crevasse. Where?”

“What do you mean, where?”

“This is a special occasion, bozo, your first date since... ever, I guess. You can’t just take her to MacDonald’s or the no-name Chinese place. Let’s see...”

“Will you get serious?”

“I am serious... I know. Take her to the Columbia Gorge Hotel.”

“Jesus! Way too expensive.”

“You’re right. It’s too much for a first date, she’ll expect you to fly her to Cancún next time. Okay, Vito’s maybe. No; the food’s mediocre and you never know what kind of service you’ll get. Well, maybe you should just take her to Portland. Hey, that’s a good idea, then you can pre-book a hotel room.”

“A.M., it’s just a first date. We’re not going to... you know.”

“Why not?”

He never really wanted to hear about her sex life, and he was definitely not going to talk about his own. Especially since he didn’t have one yet.

“I’m not looking for a one night stand, A.M. I’d be happy with someone who’d let me hold her hand in the movies.”

She studied his face for a moment. “You really like her.”

“Yes, I do. She’s pretty and she seems really nice. She smiles a lot.”

“Okay. I’ll see what I can dig up on her.”

“Thanks,” he said. He finished his coffee. “Miriam’s birthday is next month. Are you going to help me and Nadine plan her party?”

“How is Miriam?”

“She’s great. Looking forward to getting out of school.”

“Do you have anything special planned this summer?”

“Yeah, I thought we’d spend a couple of months in Italy. Sicily, Naples, Rome, Venice, Florence. Kind of eat our way up the boot.”

“You can start by licking my boot, funny boy. You’ve never been out of the country in your life.”

“Will you help with the party?”

“Sure,” she said. “I’ll call Nadine. By the way, you need to go up there.”

“Why?”

“She’s got a new accounting package and she wants you to install it for her.”

Richard sighed. “Why won’t she call me?”

“She won’t call anyone. You know that.”

“Then why does she bother having a phone?”

“So you can call her, stupid.”

That made a twisted kind of sense. “When does she want me?”

“She doesn’t want you—you’ve got the wrong equipment. Oh, you mean for her accounting stuff. Tomorrow or Wednesday, in the afternoon.”

“Okay.” He stood up and carried his mug to the little sink by the coffee maker. “I’ve got to go.”

“All right,” she pouted. “Go ahead. Leave me alone with my boring work and my empty shop.”

“I hate to say this A.M., but maybe the reason your shop is empty has something to do with the way you dress.”

“What’s wrong with the way I dress?” She stood up to give him a hug. He tried not to look down her vest, but he couldn’t help himself. It hung wide open.

“Well,” he said, “maybe you could actually wear some clothes. Then you might not scare off the customers.”

She laughed heartily. “What damned customers?”

 Born in Ohio, Chris has moved around too much for anyone's good, living in several places that might be considered tourist attractions. He mines those experiences for the settings of his books.

He lives in Florida with his wife, two dogs, two cats, and a smart-aleck macaw who has pets of her own.




A Notable Omission Blog Tour!

 


A Notable Omission

A 1970s debate on equality is overshadowed by a deadly secret...

Spring 1970. Sussex University is hosting a debate about equality for women. But when one of the debating group goes missing, attention turns away from social injustice to something more sinister.

It seems every one of the group has something to hide, and when a second tragedy occurs, two of the delegates – amateur sleuth Janie Juke, and reporter Libby Frobisher - are prepared to make themselves unpopular to flush out the truth. Who is lying and why?

Alongside the police investigation, Janie and Libby are determined to prise answers from the tight-lipped group, as they find themselves in a race against time to stop another victim being targeted.

In A Notable Omission we meet Janie at the start of a new decade. When we left Janie at the end of The Invisible Case she was enjoying her new found skills and success as an amateur sleuth. Here we meet her a few months later, stealing a few days away from being a wife and mother, attending a local conference on women's liberation to do some soul-searching...

Purchase Link

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Notable-Omission-Janie-Juke-mystery-ebook/dp/B0BQCLRYS6

US - https://www.amazon.com/Notable-Omission-Janie-Juke-mystery-ebook/dp/B0BQCLRYS6

Read an excerpt

News reporter, Libby Frobisher, is ambitious. Working for the Tidehaven Observer has been fun, but she has her sights set on bigger and brighter things. What’s more, over the last year or so she’s had the excitement of helping her friend, Janie Juke, solve a couple of mysteries and discovered she has quite a knack for teasing out the truth. So when she hears about a three-day conference on women’s rights, to be held at Sussex University, she’s grabs the chance to attend. Who knows what opportunities it might present?

But there’s one big problem. When she sits behind the wheel of her Mini, Libby is frozen with fear. And at this point in the story she is about to embark on a journey that turns her worst nightmare into a reality…

Libby stood outside Falmer House hoping the chilling breeze would cool her flushed cheeks. She had said more than she’d intended, passing judgement on people she barely knew. She felt particularly bad about her verbal attack on Will. He had chosen a different way of life, nothing wrong with that. In some ways Will made Libby think of her dad, who she had met for the first time when she was three years old. Later, when she was older, she discovered he had had what some might describe as a chequered past. He was in her life for a short time before heading off to Greece. Over the ensuing years she had the occasional letter from him, but knew very little about how he led his life out there. Perhaps he was in one of the communes that Will had described. More than anything Libby hoped he was happy. She still dreamed that one day she would turn up and surprise him. His little Primrose all grown up.

Now, feeling embarrassed about her outburst, she was grateful at the thought that the police would soon arrive to take control, leaving her and Janie to be nothing more than interested bystanders. The truth was that helping Janie to solve past mysteries had given Libby a taste for the intrigue, seeking clues, gathering evidence, analysing motives. Despite herself she reflected on what she had blurted out earlier. Of all of them it seemed Bryony was the most innocent. Yet she knew from experience it was often the quiet, seemingly innocent people who had the most to hide. Bryony had run out of the dining room. Perhaps this was the moment to follow her, catch her on her own and ask her a few pertinent questions to discover if she really was as shy and innocent as she appeared to be.

 She spotted Bryony in the distance on the far side of the car park. There was no mistaking her as she was still wearing the denim jacket she had worn since her arrival on campus. She had even worn it during last night's supper. Yes, the classroom was cold, but the refectory hardly warranted a coat to be worn. The evening before Bryony said she had seen John driving off. Could it be that having a cigarette wasn’t the only reason for her being out there?

As Libby walked towards the car park, she watched Bryony get into a pale blue Austin. Bryony had given the impression she had little money, and yet it seemed she had enough to own and run a car? Admittedly, the car had more rust on it than paintwork and was likely even older than Libby’s Mini, so it wasn’t such a stretch to think Bryony could afford it.

Libby watched Bryony pull away before slipping into her own car and setting off in pursuit. Bryony’s old Austin proceeded slowly enough, a relief to Libby who would never have been able to cope with a fast speed. She smiled to herself as she thought of what Janie would say. Something along the lines that Libby was the least likely driver to mount a car chase.

 


Isabella is never happier than when she is immersing herself in the sights, sounds and experiences of family life in southern England in past decades – specifically those years from the Second World War through to the early 1970s. Researching all aspects of life back then has formed the perfect launch pad for her works of fiction. It was during two happy years working on and completing her MA in Professional Writing when Isabella rekindled her love of writing fiction and since then she has gone on to publish seven novels, six novellas and two short story collections.

This latest novel, A Notable Omission, is the fourth book in her successful Sussex Crime Mystery series, featuring young librarian and amateur sleuth, Janie Juke. The early books in the series are set in the late 1960s in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, where we meet Janie, who looks after the mobile library. She is an avid lover of Agatha Christie stories – in particular Hercule Poirot. Janie uses all she has learned from the Queen of Crime to help solve crimes and mysteries. This latest novel in the series is set along the south coast in Brighton in early 1970, a time when young people were finding their voice and using it to rail against social injustice.

As well as four novels, there are six novellas in the series, set during the Second World War, exploring some of the back story to the Tamarisk Bay characters.

Isabella’s love of Italy shines through all her work and, as she is half-Italian, she has enjoyed bringing all her crime novels to an Italian audience with Italian translations, which are very well received.

Isabella has also written a second series of Sussex Crimes, set in the sixties, featuring retired Italian detective, Giuseppe Bianchi, who is escaping from tragedy in Rome, only to arrive in the quiet seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, to come face-to-face with it once more.

Isabella’s standalone novel, The Forgotten Children, deals with the emotive subject of the child migrants who were sent to Australia – again focusing on family life in the 1960s, when the child migrant policy was still in force.

Find out more about Isabella and her books by visiting her website at: www.isabellamuir.com

https://isabellamuir.com/

https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaMuirAuthor

https://twitter.com/SussexMysteries




30 January 2023

Bad Girl Gone Rogue by @andaleebwajid Book Release! #BadGirlGoneGood #BadGirlSeries @BookReviewTours @andaleebwajid @andaleebwajid @b00kr3vi3ws

 

When Inaya Khan is told she’s meeting a boy for marriage, the last thing she expects is for beetroot juice to play spoilsport. As CEO of Ixora Skincare, Inaya has achieved money, fame and power all at the age of twenty-seven. But to her mother, the only labels that apply to her are overweight and unmarried.

A CEO himself, but of a struggling startup, Ayaz Ahmed has no time or energy to even think of marriage. Until his mother shows him Inaya’s picture and he’s instantly smitten. Despite a disastrous start that included beetroot juice spewage, multiple suitors for Inaya’s hand and judgy onlookers, Inaya and Ayaz are instinctively drawn to each other.

Until Ayaz finds out that his company is being taken over by none other than his prospective bride-to-be. Ayaz may be smitten but he isn’t stupid. And he most certainly isn’t letting Inaya take his precious company from him.

Can love find a way to survive in the heart of business deals, mergers and acquisitions? Or will this bad girl have to go rogue to bring her own ‘Ranveer Singh’ home? 

Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com

Keeping my face as blank as possible, I sat down and tried my best not to sit too close to him. He sat down as well, a smile on his face, looking sheepish because my mother and his family were looking at us keenly.

‘Sameena, there’s someone I wanted you to meet,’ Ammi said to his mother and taking the hint, both his parents got up and walked away with Ammi, leaving the two of us alone at the table. We weren’t alone per se, because there were so many people around but I still felt my stomach tie up in knots.

Whenever I was in Bangalore, a part of me forgot that I was the CEO of a successful company and not just my parents’ daughter. I had spoken to thousands of men probably, men who worked for me, men whom I had interviewed for jobs at my company, vendors and marketers, and other CEOs. But here, all that was swept away as I became Naseem and Aftab Khan’s younger daughter. Their younger unmarried daughter.

Straightening my back, I turned to him, really hoping there wouldn’t be another disaster like the one that had nearly ruined my dress. I briefly wondered where Ayaz was. Maybe he’d been embarrassed enough to leave.

I put him out of my mind and turned to the man I was sitting with. He looked at me appraisingly, his eyes resting on my shoulders and then glancing down my bare arms. Women were wearing short, strapless dresses here at the party. This was nothing compared to that. I gritted my teeth, thinking that if he was going to shame me for my outfit, I was going to throw this…this…I picked up the glass of juice on the table and sniffed it slightly and then nearly gagged. It was beetroot juice.

Andaleeb Wajid is a hybrid author, having published 40 novels in the past 14 years. Andaleeb enjoys writing in a number of different genres such as young adult, romance, and horror. Andaleeb's recent novels All Drama No Queen and Mirror, Mirror were published by Penguin Random House and Duckbill respectively in 2021. Andaleeb's romance trilogy Jasmine Villa Series is being published by Westland in February 2023. She has an upcoming YA horror novel with Harper Collins later in 2023.



Release Blitz! Adoring Stacey and My Montana Valentine by Elsa Winckler!

 

Title: My Montana Valentine
Author: Elsa Winckler
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Small Town Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Matchmaker
Release date: January 30, 2023
Publisher: Tule Publishing

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DGzWEj
BN: https://bit.ly/3TZYbm2
Apple: https://apple.co/3Wfb6Tk
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3sEpE0Y

He doesn’t believe in happy endings…

Saddled with the impossible task of finding a feel-good story, journalist Aiden O’Sullivan reluctantly accepts his godmother’s invitation to visit Marietta, Montana, to experience the small town’s Valentine’s Day celebration. Upon his arrival, a minor ankle injury lands him in the ER of the local hospital when his godmother insists a doctor should examine it.

After her parents’ untimely deaths, Dr. Vivian Miller moved from Sacramento to Marietta with her siblings. Apart from the freezing cold and rampant gossiping, life in town is uneventful. Until a music teacher at the local high school brings her godson to the ER. Vivian has a soft spot for children and hurries to help, only to find the “godson” is an opinionated, rude journalist with no visible injury to his foot.

Vivian has no time for journalists, even the drop-dead gorgeous kind. Aiden isn’t in town for long, but he quickly becomes involved in the lovely doctor’s problems, something he’s sworn will never happen again.

Will these two strangers end up finding a home together at the foot of Copper Mountain?

He did a double-take. Dr. Vivian Miller was standing in front of him. He blinked, but when he opened his eyes, she was still there. She looked different, though. Still no makeup, but the tight bun was gone. Instead, golden-blond curls fell over her shoulders and down her back. Dressed in jeans and a soft, blue sweater, matching the blue of her eyes, she just about took his breath away.

“Doctor…” His voice was strangely husky; he had to clear his throat before he could continue to speak. “Doctor Miller?”

Fidgeting with her bag, she was noticeably uneasy. “Vivian, please. Look, I’m sorry about earlier. I was… I thought you were a little boy, and I was probably rude.”

So, the ice-cold Doctor Miller did have a heart somewhere. Enjoying her discomfort, he leaned against the door frame for a moment, ignoring the cold. “Probably?”

She lifted her chin. “May I come in, please? It’s bitterly cold, if you haven’t noticed. I’ve brought you some Tylenol and a gel that will help relieve the pain. And could you… would you mind…” Inhaling, she stomped into the house. “Please put on a damn shirt.”

Title: Adoring Stacey
Author: Elsa Winckler
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Small-town Romance, matchmaker, bachelor auction
Release Date: January 25, 2023
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing

Buy links:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66090934-adoring-stacey 

Begin the series:

Nook: http://bit.ly/3E9hHpM


Can he convince her that what’s between them is much more than just biology?

Stacey Lawrence is happily single even though the folks in Alisson, Montana seemed bent on getting her the last thing she wanted: a husband. And babies? The mere thought has her shuddering, and that is not because of the cold Montana winters. If she can now only stay away from the very sexy ex-FBI agent turned self-defense instructor, Jason Coleman until her dopamine and norepinephrine levels have settled, she’ll be able to continue her happy single life as the computer whizz in town. But when Eleanor Johnson needs Stacey’s help with the upcoming bachelor auction, avoiding Jason becomes a problem. Turns out, he’s going to be one of the bachelors.

Since the moment his eyes met Stacey Lawrence’s gorgeous blue ones in one of his self-defense classes, Jason knows she’s trouble. He likes women but he’s not interested in anything more permanent than a few dates. Avoiding her isn’t initially a problem. Turns out, the lady is also trying to avoid him. But when he’s roped in to take 

part in the ridiculous bachelor’s auction, he ends up spending more time with the elusive Stacey until he forgets why he wanted to avoid her in the first place.

Too old to play games, Jason suggests they spend time together but Stacey seems convinced that they’re attraction is just biology. Is she right or are his feelings for the redhead much more than a mere chemical reaction?

But he continued grinning. “See? We’re finally getting to know one another. I didn’t know you’d been a waitress before you moved to Alisson.”

She stopped in the middle of the bar and faced him. “I don’t know what your game is, but—”

But before she could finish her sentence, his hand reached out and warm fingers touched her face. Her mind froze. The angry words vanished.

It was just a fleeting gesture, but one she felt right down to the bottoms of her soles. I’m too old to play games, Stacey. You’re breathtakingly beautiful. I ache for you.” His eyes darkened, his voice turned gravelly. He dropped his hand. “But I get the message. You’re not interested. If you ever change your mind, though, let me know. We’ve tried avoiding each other…”

She opened her mouth to disagree, but he put a finger on her lips, effectively making it impossible to form thoughts, let alone say a single word.

“You’ve been avoiding me. And I’ve tried to stay out of your way. It’s not working. I still think about you all the damn time. Maybe we should try something different. I want you even more now than I did when I first laid eyes on you in the dojo. And don’t even try to tell me you don’t remember that moment. You reacted to me as well. I noticed. I notice everything about you.”

With a final touch to her arm, he walked away.


Elsa has been reading love stories for as long as she can remember and when she ‘met’ the classic authors like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James, the Brontë sisters, etc. during her Honors studies, she was hooked for life.

Although her three gown-up children rarely acknowledge the fact they have a romance-writing mom, her husband fortunately, is very proud of her, reads every word and is happy to make sure she gets the kissing scenes just right.

She likes the heroines in her stories to be beautiful, feisty, independent and headstrong.  And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity. They are of course, also gorgeous.  Her stories typically incorporate the family background of the characters to better understand where they come from and who they are when we meet them in the story.

Webpage: http://elsawinckler.com 

Personal Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/elsa.winckler

Author Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3Wc9V6L 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/elsawinckler @elsawinckler

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6557709.Elsa_Winckler

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/elsawinckler/

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/elsaw1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elsaw1/











View My Stats!

View My Stats

Pageviews past week

SNIPPET_HTML_V2.TXT
Tweet