Pura Vida by Jim Utsler Book Blitz and Giveaway! #XpressoTours⁣⁣ @XpressoTours⁣⁣ #PuraVida #JimUtsler

 

Pura Vida
Jim Utsler

Publication date: April 26th 2022
Genres: Adult, Mystery

Detroit homicide detective Jacob Miller has been accused of many things, but being smart isn’t one of them. The murder of drug dealer Willy is proof enough, but not covering it up is even worse. So why would he think that stealing a fellow inmate’s hidden fortune is any wiser, especially when an ex-mafia family head is after the same thing?

But even the stupidest people have occasional flashes of brilliance, and Jacob is no exception. After being released from prison and moving to sunny Costa Rica, he solves an international murder mystery involving the usual suspects: love, lust, and murder.

Despite that mildly brainiac feather in his cap, he still has to deal with the beef between him, his fellow inmate, and the mob boss…and the violent fallout that ensues.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

—

EXCERPT:

We sat around a rec room table playing gin rummy as if we were in the country club after hitting a round of eighteen. Of course, there were no beers or whiskeys or fat cigars—and we had only shot nine holes—but the feeling was much the same as when I had once gone to my sister’s club.

Pusser was at the table, and everyone—excluding me—was ribbing one another and telling off-color jokes. We drank Cokes and Sprites and ate from tiny bags of chips from the vending machine. We bet nickels instead of dollars, mainly for my benefit. When I wasn’t there, hundreds of dollars were sometimes on the table.

“So your sister,” Pusser said to me, “she’s watching out for my wife, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to count the cards as they were played, but with little success. My mind wasn’t big enough to hold that type of voluminous information: too many cards, too many colors, too many numbers. I played by the seat of my pants—and it showed. My partner—whoever would have me—and I almost always lost. That’s why I was passed around, so everybody could feel the sting.

“She better,” Pusser, who today was my card-playing partner, said. “I’ll kill her and her little dog, too.” He was joking, of course, but he felt it necessary to tell me anyway: “No, no, no. I’m just kidding. I’ll just break her legs.”

Everyone at the table—except for me—laughed. Frank Miller, former Minnesota state senator, not guilty of taking bribes from a local window manufacturer, slapped me on the back. “As long as it ain’t the kneecaps,” he said.

“Those are the worst,” Miller’s card partner, Bobby Francone, former CIO of the window company Miller hadn’t taken bribes from, said. “I was jogging one day, tripped on a curb, and—wham!— down I went, right on my fucking knee. Not even a fracture, but it hurt like hell. Still gets stiff in the cold.”

“The end of your basketball career, huh?” Miller said.

“Yeah. Tell me about it. Fuck Michael Jordan, you know. I was known as ‘Bobby the Bomber.’ I could dunk it right over that black motherfucker’s head.” The racism wasn’t all that uncommon, and of course, they all laughed again. I just played my cards, a polite smile on my face.

“Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?” Pusser asked me.

“All the time,” I said.

“That’s good, though, right? You’re the kind of guy I’d want on my side. Don’t know nothin’, don’t say nothin’. Nowadays, everyone talks too much. Whistleblowers and such. Hell, your own employees. Your staff. They all turn on you.” Miller nodded and grunted. “Ain’t that the truth.”

And he should have known because it had been one of his staff members who had blown the whistle on him, with the state attorney general and the FBI eventually getting involved. But to my surprise, neither Miller nor Francone had turned on each other. Instead, they both stood trial, hoping their respective juries would be generous. They hadn’t.

“Of course, you did talk a little bit, didn’t you?” Pusser said.

“I suppose,” I responded.

“Not that I blame you. A lifetime in a maximum-security prison might make me sing a little tune too.”

Looking down at their cards, they all nodded. “Got that right,” one of them said.

“You know, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. You only get one shot at it, right? One life to live,” Pusser said. “You gotta look out for yourself. Dog eat dog and all that, you know what I mean?”

“You got that,” Francone said.

“Yeah,” Miller echoed.

Hence why they were here—why all of us were here. We had all been looking out for ourselves. Every last one of us. Everyone in the rec room, everyone in their bunks, reading books, or watching TV, playing two-on-two on the basketball court, hitting a long ball on the golf course, whiling away time in solitary cells, taking college courses at the educational center, or enjoying conjugal visits.

We had all been looking out for ourselves.

The only thing that mattered now was how big our stashes were.

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Darling Girl by Liz Michalski Review!

DARLING GIRL (Dutton; 352 pages; $26.00 Hardcover; ISBN 978-0593185636) by Liz Michalski

In this beautiful, grounded, and darkly magical modern-day reimagining of J. M. Barrie's classic, to save her daughter's life one woman must take on the infamous Peter Pan--who is not the innocent adventurer the fairy tales make him out to be . . .

Life is looking up for Holly Darling, granddaughter of Wendy--yes, that Wendy. She's running a successful skincare company; her son, Jack, is happy and healthy; and the tragedy of her past is well behind her . . . until she gets a call that her daughter, Eden, who has been in a coma for nearly a decade, has gone missing from the estate where she's been long tucked away. And, worst of all, Holly knows who must be responsible: Peter Pan, who is not only very real but more dangerous than anyone could imagine.

Eden's disappearance is a disaster for more reasons than one. She has a rare condition that causes her to age rapidly--ironic, considering her father is the boy who will never grow up--which also makes her blood incredibly valuable. It's a secret that Holly is desperate to protect, especially from Eden's half-brother, Jack, who knows nothing about his sister or the crucial role she plays in his life. Holly has no one to turn to--her mother is the only other person in the world who knows that Peter is more than a story, but she refuses to accept that he is not the hero she's always imagined. Desperate, Holly enlists the help of Christopher Cooke, a notorious ex-soldier, in the hopes of rescuing Eden before it's too late . . . or she may lose both her children.

Darling Girl brings all the magic of the classic Peter Pan story to the present, while also exploring the dark underpinnings of fairy tales, grief, aging, sacrifice, motherhood, and just how far we will go to protect those we love.

DARLING GIRL is the first novel to take Peter Pan’s story into the realm of woman’s fiction, exploring the dark underpinnings of fairy tales, grief, aging, sacrifice, motherhood, and just how far we will go to protect those we love.
This beautiful, grounded, and magical modern-day reimagining of J. M. Barrie’s classic is sure to appeal to readers of Circe by Madeline Miller, Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi, The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar, and   Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.

My Thoughts

Holly Darling is the granddaughter of Wendy Darling, yes that Darling as in Peter Pan. She is successful in her own right but has had a devasting past. She was happily married to Robert, but an accident takes the happiness away along with their son, twin to Jack. In another freak accident, or was it? Both her son Jack and daughter Eden fall out of a tree trying to fly. Jack is severely injured and Eden is in a coma. After 10 years, Eden disappears. How is that possible? No one knows but Holly is desperate to find her. 

In her search, she hires Christopher Cooke, an ex-soldier with his own baggage. 

When Jack goes missing also, Holly along with her mother Jane must do what they can to find the missing children. Eden is 13 but has a condition that makes her age prematurely and Jack has his own health issues. As Holly tries to find her children, she comes to the realization that Peter Pan is not who she thought he was, the stories handed down from her grandmother do not describe the Peter she has come to know. Did he take Eden and Jack? For what purpose? The ending will surprise you.

I knew of the story of Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinker Bell, and Neverland but this reimagination of the story is interesting, to say the least. You can't always believe what you are told as a child. Full of suspense, believable characters, and a storyline that can only be imagined. Can it?

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read it in a few sittings. A truly magical story!

I received a copy for review purposes only.

About Liz Michalski

Liz Michalski is the author of  Evenfall and a contributor to Writer Unboxed, dubbed a “best of the best” website for writers by Writer’s Digest.  DARLING GIRL is her second novel. Liz also contributed to Author in Progress, a manual for aspiring writers. A former reporter and editor, Liz now crafts articles on human interest, living, and health as a freelance writer. She lives with her family in Massachusetts, where she loves reading fairy tales and sometimes, writing them.

Visit Liz on her website and socials! 

Website:     lizmichalski.com 

Twitter:      @MichalskiLiz 

Instagram:    @lizmichalskiauthor 

Facebook:      @author.LizMichalski

Advance Praise for DARLING GIRL

“A fascinating contemporary drama which dives deeply into themes of aging, generational trauma, and the things parents are willing to do for—or to—their children...This dark, magical tale is sure to win fans.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A compelling and richly imagined twist on an old story, Liz Michalski’s     Darling Girl captured me on page one and hasn’t released me yet. An emotionally gripping demonstration that a mother’s love, when tested, can become a force of nature. I will never look at Neverland and its inhabitants the same way again.” 
—Brunonia Barry, New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader

"A dark and elegant look at a story we all know well. Liz Michalski takes Peter Pan where all the old stories go, where magic is never without a cost, and pixie dust might be more powerful than you imagine.  Fantastic!" 
—Barbara O’Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids 

"A captivating question quivers at the center of the engrossing novel,     Darling Girl: What if     Peter Pan isn't just a story? While meeting the Peter Pan you never knew, reading     Darling Girl is like falling under the enchanting spell of Liz Michalski's prose. As with all true magic, there must be both the seductive darkness and the illuminating light: Michalski masterfully gives us both.     Darling Girl introduces us to the Darling family decades away from Wendy and Peter, descendants who are grappling with secrets that protect family mythology, and a boy who will never grow up. With a young girl and her fiercely protective mother at the center of a spellbinding story,     Darling Girl is powerful and captivating. Neverland and the reader will never be the same again."  
— Patti Callahan, New York Times bestselling author

"A dark and dazzling tale. Liz Michalski has used her own magic wand to shed light on the lengths we go to in order to preserve the myth of beauty, the myth of youth, and even the myth of fairytales themselves.” 
—    Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author

"Darling Girl is a richly written story of what it means to live in the wake of a fairy tale, and the strength and courage it takes to step out of that shadow and find your own story. Full of heartache, sacrifice, and bravery, this is a book that will linger in a reader's thoughts." 
—   Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

The Irish Wanders by @ogoreads Book Blitz and Giveaway! #XpressoTours⁣⁣ @XpressoTours⁣ #ShannonOGorman #TheIrishWanders

The Irish Wanders
Shannon O’Gorman

(Rose Hawthorne, #2)
Publication date: March 16th 2022
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

Rose Hawthorne is a celebrity author in her early seventies, who dislikes the spotlight but has a penchant for Hermes scarfs, round violet sunglasses, and old colonial hotels.

One day, she receives a strange letter asking her to visit Newgrange, Ireland and look for something that has been hidden there for a thousand years.

She asks her granddaughter to accompany her, but she hadn’t expected Samantha to continually be posting photos of their progress on her Instagram account. An encounter with an old love and an unexpected discovery leads Rose further and further into the past, and she finds must make a hard decision about her future.

Don’t miss this second book in the Rose Hawthorne series!

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

She linked her arm around his as they walked, a natural move. She was allowed to do it. It felt right. Rose was drawn towards Bill. He was like a giant magnet pulling her and she couldn’t help but move closer to him.

They walked together, drunk and happy. She didn’t engage him in conversation. She knew the flow was right. He talked and she listened.

When they got to the next pub, he bought her another pint, and they sat down to listen to a lone fiddler. She sipped the Guinness. It was dark and warm, different from any other beer.

He’d leaned over her, and then—the kiss. The kiss came as a surprise to her. His soft lips were on hers. She could smell the beer on his breath.

After the kiss, he put his forehead against hers. They sat together, joined like that for a long time, letting the music wash over them, throbbing in time with their heartbeats.

At first, the music the fiddler played was lively, his fingers deftly danced across the strings, and a few couples got up to spin around the floor. Towards the end of his set, he played exquisite notes that washed over the pub, making the dust dance, and it rose in the air like magic. The cheering and conversation quieted down for his last song. It was a slow piece that most of them recognised. The fiddler hit the final note with such poignancy that it echoed throughout the pub. When the music stopped, the whole pub went quiet.They cleared their throats and blinked back tears, and then took a few last swallows from their pints.

“Nothing like a bit of Irish music to bring out the tears,” Bill admitted wiping an eye.

“It’s something so special,” Rose agreed with a small sniff.

And all around the pub, they raised their glasses to the fiddler and his music.

As people began to leave the pub, Rose realized that it was getting late and neither of them had eaten yet.

“Shall we eat something? Maybe grab some fish and chips?” Bill said, reading her mind.

“Perfect,” she replied in a low, quiet voice.

They bought some greasy fish and chips at a nearby takeaway. It was wrapped in brown paper and covered with the Dublin news.

Then, they walked the streets until they found a bench under the stars away from the shouts, laughter and the lights. Beside the river, they were alone. They unwrapped the greasy paper and ate the cod hungrily, stuffing the vinegar smeared fries quickly into their mouths.

“Do you want the last chip?” Bill had said softly, holding it up in his greasy fingers.

Rose raised her eyebrows and smiled. “I certainly do.”

Bill placed it gently in her mouth, looking deeply into her eyes. She kissed his fingers slowly.

Then he kissed her again. She’d clung to him and let him kiss her.

They were both tired. Bill took her hand and led her up a narrow laneway not far away.

Shannon is originally from Winnipeg, Canada but has had the great fortune to have traveled and lived in several countries. After graduating with a degree in English literature she focused on travelling for a few years and eventually found herself teaching English in Japan. After more than a decade in Japan, she returned to teach ESL in Canada and convinced her husband and daughter to join her. These days she lives in San Jose, California, and enjoys coaxing her dog to train for a Camino.

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The Love List @authorelanajohnson Book Blitz and Giveaway! #XpressoTours⁣ @XpressoTours⁣⁣ #elanajohnson #TheLoveList

 

The Love List
Elana Johnson

Publication date: May 17th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Beatrice Callahan loves lists. Sometimes she even makes a to-do list of things she’s already done, just to go check, check, check and feel accomplished. So it’s easy to understand why, when her divorce is finally final and her ex is all moved out, Bea takes a cool, close look at her life…and makes a list.

It’s not exactly a bucket list.

It’s a love list.

Bea loves the outdoors, so she puts visit 10 National Parks on the list.

She loves animals, and on goes get a puppy.

She loves the beach, and she adds take a dream vacation to the list, and decides to do that one first. After all she’s been through and all she’s lost, she needs time to relax, rest, and reset.

On the first day she arrives in Hilton Head Island, she meets Grant Turner, the man whose house she’s renting for her fabulous beach vacation. He’s just there to make sure she settles in properly and has enough towels.

But when Bea asks for recommendations around the island, Grant quickly becomes her tour guide and then a friend and then…more than friends.

Bea turns to her lists when things get confusing and her love list morphs once again… Can she add fall in love at age 45 to the list and check it off?

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

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EXCERPT:

Grant’s stomach rumbled as the line didn’t seem to dwindle at all. When he glanced at the clock, he dang near fell over. “I have to go,” he said, twisting to look at Cara like she was the boss and could dismiss him.

“No,” a woman said in a near-bark from the other side of the counter. “I need to put in my order.”

He turned and met a pair of dark blue eyes that reminded him of deeper waters off the shores of Hilton Head. The kind he’d fish in when he went out trawling with one of his friends who owed him for letting his mother stay in the best condo on the island for a weekend girls’ trip.

“Excuse me?”

“Did I hear you say I can’t get anything without a banana?” she asked, those eyes flying across the wall behind him. “They’re a really strong flavor profile.”

She wore her hair in a pixie cut, with fashionable bangs that hung in shaggy layers across the very tops of her eyebrows. In any other situation, Grant would classify her as beautiful, and if he held a drink in his hand instead of a blasted blue ballpoint pen, and if the music pumped through a tiki bar instead of wafted along the air conditioning currents in a smoothie shop, he might try to get her number.

“They’re what makes your smoothie smooth,” he said, irritation blipping through him.

“Fine,” the woman said with a sigh. She hitched her rustic, spotted-cow-purse higher on her shoulder. He did smile at that bag, wiping the gesture away quickly when she lifted her eyebrows and asked, “Are you ready to take my order?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said in true Southern-gentleman style.

“I’d like the Beach Sunrise, with half the banana.”

“No more raspberries,” Cara called just as Grant started writing. He froze and looked up at the woman.

“Uh,” he said.

“Let me guess,” she said. “I can’t have the Beach Sunrise.”

“It does have raspberries in it,” he said, and he congratulated himself that he didn’t even have to turn to look at the menu to know that. He’d enjoyed a fair few Beach Sunrises over the years, and he happened to like the raspberry, mango, and banana combination.

She emitted the sigh of the century, and Grant’s phone started buzzing at him. “Oliver,” he called down the line. “I have to go.”

Oliver burst out laughing with a customer down at the register, and Grant rolled his eyes.

“I’ll get him,” Cara said. She stopped making the smoothies and went down to Oliver. She said a couple of things, to which he leaned his head toward her, and then he looked down to Grant.

“I’ll have the Fake Sunset,” the woman with the cute hair and pretty eyes said.

Grant scratched out her order, flung the paper onto the slider, and dropped the pen. “I have to go,” he said to an approaching Oliver. “And I still don’t have my smoothie.”

“Ten minutes,” Oliver said. “I’ve got raspberries in the freezer. Can you do the register while I grab them?”

“The freezer” meant the grocery store half a mile away. Grant wasn’t stupid, nor was this the first time he’d helped Oliver in a pinch.

“How about I run and get the raspberries?” Grant asked. “Then when I get back, Cara will have my smoothie ready, and I can go.” He held his ground with the sandy-haired owner. Just because Oliver could charm scorpions didn’t mean Grant had to do his bidding. In fact, he had half a mind to leave for “the freezer” and never come back to The Mad Mango. It had certainly inspired some anger in him that afternoon—and he was in danger of being seriously late to meet his four o’clock check-in.

His phone hadn’t alerted him to her proximity, however, so he might be okay. Oliver didn’t need to know that, and Grant glared at his friend.

The woman who’d stood a foot or two down the counter listening stepped back toward them. She clearly wasn’t super happy. “Are you telling me I can have the Beach Sunrise?” she asked. “You just have to grab the raspberries out of the freezer?”

“Yes,” Oliver said at the same time Grant said, “No.”

Grant made an executive decision. “I’ll go grab the raspberries,” he said, walking in the wrong direction to get them from the freezer. “I can’t ring these people up.” He didn’t look back as he stepped away.

“If you can get raspberries,” the pixied woman said. “I want the Beach Sunrise.”

“Lady,” Grant said, cutting her a glare out of the corner of her eye. “I don’t work here. Let it go.”

A blender started making a horrible chugging noise, then metal on metal, all within a single second.

“Watch out,” Cara called from down where she’d just scooped frozen peaches into a blender cup.

“Watch out?” Grant swung his attention from the blonde woman with the stormy eyes to the counter that ran along the length of the back wall. The lid blew off the top of the blender in that moment, and all Grant had time to do was throw his hands up in front of his face and pray.

He entered some weird place where noise and feeling didn’t exist. He sensed them happening around him, but for some reason, they didn’t affect him. The weird sensation didn’t last long, and then everything came rushing at him at double-speed.

Cold seeped through his shirt and made his skin ripple with gooseflesh. More than one person shouted, and he could pick out Oliver’s voice saying to get some napkins and then for Cara to kill the power to the blenders.

The soul-wrenching sound of that metal on metal that said the blender bottle wasn’t seated with the motor rotor grated against his nerves, and then it blissfully ended.

“I’m so sorry,” Oliver said, but he wasn’t talking to Grant. He’d somehow gotten on the other side of the counter, and Grant wouldn’t put it past him to have vaulted the stupid thing, because the person he’d just apologized to?

The beautiful blonde…who now had Fake Sunrise dripping down the side of her neck.

USA Today bestseller Elana Johnson writes adult contemporary beach romance. She is the author of over 130 books across two names, and there's nothing better than sun, sand, and swoon-worthy kisses! Unless it's a sweet-and-sexy cowboy - read those under her pen name of Liz Isaacson. Learn more about her sweet beach romances at www.elanajohnson.com. Join her texting group by sending the word SAND to 474747 and get exclusive sales, freebies, and more.

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Guardians of the Sea by @evapohler Book Blitz and Giveaway! #XpressoTours @XpressoTours #evapohler #GuardiansoftheSea

 

Guardians of the Sea
Eva Pohler

(Vampires and Gods, #3)
Publication date: May 14th 2022
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

After enduring Delphine’s dangerous training regimen, the young gods and demigods embark on a mission to take down the corrupt shipping company once and for all, to liberate victimized communities up and down the Mediterranean and nearby seas. But unforeseen conflicts cause the young gods and demigods to question the nature of their mission, their purpose, and their relationships with one another.

In the face of impossible choices, how important are love, loyalty, and friendship? Moreover, how far should one go to defend those who can’t defend themselves? Should one sacrifice everything?

Read the surprising conclusion of The Vampires and Gods Series. For lovers of Greek mythology, paranormal romance, and action adventure stories.

Here’s what readers are saying about this series:

“Vampires and Greek Mythology combined in one fabulous adventure!”–Brie Strauss, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

“I absolutely cannot wait for more Adventures. I tried not to read so fast but honestly I couldn’t be patient. This book blew me away and I honestly just need more.”–Southernmermaid85, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

“Must read!! Anything this author writes is amazing to read. It’s what got me into loving anything about the greek gods! And her vampire series is so interesting as well! This book combines both and draws you in!!”–Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

“Everything I’ve come to love and expect from Eva’s book, was to be found in this latest episode, constant drama, intrigue and adventure, not forgetting the romance. Can’t wait for more!”–Traceyann, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

“I really liked the new characters that were introduced in this book. The story was interesting and had a lot of twists and turns.”–Kathy E, Amazon Reviewer ★★★★★

If you like enemies-to-lovers romance and heart-breaking love triangles combined with fast-paced, high-stakes action, then this series is for you.

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

—

EXCERPT:

Gertie stood in the foyer of the great hall on Mount Olympus, waiting for Hector to finish his tour with Hephaestus. Hector had invited her to join him to see the magical forge, but she’d wanted him to have this chance to be alone with his father. She hadn’t thought about her own comfort—or lack of it as she stood there with the Olympians on their thrones only a few yards away. Although she’d earned their respect in the battle with the old man of the sea and his entourage of monsters and was about to become a goddess herself, she didn’t dare presume that she was free to speak with them.

She pushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear and glanced nervously at the gods before averting her eyes to her boots. Her stomach hurt, and her heart wouldn’t slow down no matter how deeply she breathed. An eternity seemed to pass when Hector finally emerged with his father.

Just seeing Hector’s face again made her less nervous. Although people often mistook them for brother and sister because they both had blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, fortunately for them, they weren’t, even though they were both descended from gods.

“Are you ready for the council meeting?” Hephaestus asked her.

Gertie took a deep breath. “I think so.”

“Of course, she is,” Hector said. “She hasn’t stopped talking about it for days. Have you, Gertie?”

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Hephaestus asked again.

“Yes,” she said, this time without hesitation. “I’m just a little nervous about how it will feel and how I’ll adapt. There isn’t much written about apotheosis. I feel unprepared.”

Hephaestus laughed. “Preparation has its virtues, but surprises make life exciting.”

“I like that.” Hector beamed up at his dad.

Gertie would rather be prepared.

“Good luck,” Hephaestus said as he turned to walk away.

“Thanks again for showing me around, Father,” Hector said. “I hope I’ll have the chance to see you again soon.”

The god gave Hector a polite, if not distant, nod before taking a few strides to his throne, next to Apollo and across the white marble floor from Aphrodite.

“How did it go?” Gertie whispered to Hector, who hadn’t stopped smiling since he’d emerged from the forge.

“I’ve never felt happier,” he said, his blue eyes bright. “My father has finally acknowledged me publicly and has given me more than a moment of his time. It’s a dream come true.”

“Oh, Hector.” Gertie squeezed his hand. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks. Being here has made it easy for me to make a decision.”

Gertie tilted her head to one side. “What decision?”

“I want to be a god, and I’m ready to do whatever it takes to prove I’m worthy.”

Gertie’s mouth dropped open, and she felt like jumping up and down with joy. “What?”

“I know . . . I was against it before. I wanted a normal life, so I could give my kids a better childhood than the one I had. Now I know things don’t have to be the way they were with my mom—alienated from my father and from the other gods.” He circled his arm around Gertie’s waist. “We can be a part of this life here on Mount Olympus. We can be gods together.”

Gertie thew her arms around him. “Really?”

“Really.” He reached down and kissed her.

As much as Gertie enjoyed the kiss, she soon came to her senses and noticed that some of the Olympians were watching her. “I’ll make my acceptance conditional. If they want me to become the goddess of vampires, they’ll have to make you a god, too.”

Hector furrowed his brows. “What if they refuse?”

“They won’t, especially if your father speaks up for you.”

He kissed her once more, and, together, they made their way to his father’s side, to await the others.

Author Bio:

After earning her Ph.D. in English and teaching writing and literature for over twenty years, Eva Pohler became a USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels in multiple genres, including mysteries, thrillers, and young adult paranormal romance based on Greek mythology. Her books have been described as "addictive" and "sure to thrill"--Kirkus Reviews.

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Craved by a Wolf by @felicityheaton Book Blitz and Giveaway! #felicityheaton #CravedByAWolf #XpressoTours⁣⁣ @XpressoTours⁣⁣⁣

 

Craved by a Wolf
Felicity Heaton

Publication date: April 19th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Hella is one witch who is done with relationships. Having rid herself of a clingy nymph, she’s determined to stay single and savour everything her fae town in Geneva has to offer—with no strings attached. The trouble is, it turns out breaking up with a king isn’t as easy as she’d thought. Her ex just sent a legion to kidnap her and take her to the faerie realm of Lucia.

And he wants to make her his queen.

Grant MacKinnon is one wolf shifter who prefers a quiet life. His home in a glen in Scotland, his small wolf pack, and fine whisky is all he needs. The trouble is, a witch in the fae town in Fort William just cursed him to die if he doesn’t find his fated mate and bring her to her. Now he craves a female he’s never met, one he was convinced didn’t exist, and he refuses to believe she’s really his one true mate… until he sets eyes on the beautiful blue-haired lass.

And his wolf instincts howl that she was made for him.

And when he realises she’s in danger and another male wants her as his queen, MacKinnon will stop at nothing to protect her and claim her as his mate.

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—

EXCERPT:

She stormed to the chair in the corner of the room, picked up his jeans and turned on him. She glared at him as she threw the jeans, hitting him in the face. He dragged them down, a stupid dumbfounded look on his face.

One that told her he couldn’t see what he had done wrong.

And he couldn’t believe she wasn’t doing as he wanted.

“Get out,” she snapped and flung her arm towards the bedroom door. “And never come back here.”

He growled, “I cannae do that. If I leave, I die.”

Colour her curious.

He pulled down a breath and his lips flattened, and he looked as if he was fighting himself.

When he spoke again, his tone was softer, his brogue less pronounced.

“If you don’t give me release, I die, Hella. You must accept me.” He cast a glance at his hips and then lifted his gaze to lock with hers again. “I’ll be gentle with you, if that’s what you fear.”

Hella rolled her eyes. “I had lion twins splitting me in two the other day. I don’t need a gentle man.”

He growled again, flashing his fangs this time, and tensed as he fisted his clothing. “How many males have ye accepted into your wee body? It matters no’. You’ll bed no more.”

His accent seemed to be an emotional barometer. The more heated he got, the less understandable he became. She was tempted to roll her eyes at him again to see just how deep into his Scottish roots she could push him.

“I’ll do what I want and who I want, and if you try to stop me—” She hesitated as the way he had reacted to the shackles filled her mind. She didn’t want to torment him like that again. Maybe she could try something else.

If he wouldn’t leave, then she would make him.

She pivoted on her heel and swept away from him, her shoulders tipped back and her head held high, the perfect image of a witch one would be wise not to mess with. The wolf’s gaze scalded her back, tracking down to her bottom, and he loosed a low, sexy growl.

Hella refused to let it affect her.

The wolf was about to be shown the door and if he had any sense, he would take the hint and leave her alone. She had her own problems to deal with and every second she wasted on the wolf was a second Ethyrian drew closer to realising she had escaped Lucia.

She hurried down the stairs to her shop.

The wolf followed.

Still naked.

Hella huffed as she glanced at him and he leaned against the wall, folded his arms across his chest and crossed his ankles. Shameless male.

“Put some clothes on,” she snapped and tried to shut him out as she unlocked a case behind the counter and plucked a book from the shelves.

When she turned back towards the counter, her gaze collided with his.

He grinned salaciously at her, irritatingly sure of himself while she was flustered and unsteady, rattled by his presence. “You don’t want that. I can see in your eyes you want me, lass. I can smell that you need your male.”

Hella gagged. “Gross.”

And diligently kept her eyes off the impressive hard-on he was still sporting as he pushed away from the wall and stalked towards her.

He was far too big.

If she did accept him, as he kept putting it, he would split her in two.

She was just considering possible spells that would help her get around that when his knees gave out, he went down hard and clocked his jaw on the edge of the wooden counter.

Ruining his carefully affected image of confidence and swagger.

Hella resisted the urge to peer over the counter and check on him, and continued leafing through the book instead as she dryly said, “Have a nice trip? Send me a postcard next time.”

The wolf’s arm shot up from behind the counter, his hand slammed down onto it and he hauled himself up. He growled as he shook off the blow to his ego but he looked groggy, which worried her.

Was he telling her the truth about the curse?

Would he really die if she didn’t add him to the tally of notches on her bedpost?

She intended to find out the answer to both of those questions.

I'm a NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY and International Best-Selling Author writing passionate paranormal romance books and series for adults.

I love to create detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! All of them alpha as you would expect in paranormal romance, and every book with a guaranteed HAPPILY FOREVER AFTER!

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Dead Man's Leap by Tina deBellegarde Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway!

 

Dead Man's Leap

by Tina deBellegarde

May 1-31, 2022 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

DEAD MAN’S LEAP revisits Bianca St. Denis in Batavia-on-Hudson, New York

Rushing waters…dead bodies…secrets…

As Bianca St. Denis and her neighbors scour their attics for donations to the charity rummage sale, they unearth secrets as well as prized possessions. Leonard Marshall’s historic inn hosts the sale each year, but it is his basement that houses the key to his past. When an enigmatic antiques dealer arrives in town, he upends Leonard’s carefully reconstructed life with an impossible choice that harkens back to the past.

Meanwhile, when a storm forces the villagers of Batavia-on-Hudson to seek shelter, the river rises and so do tempers. Close quarters fuel simmering disputes, and Sheriff Mike Riley has his work cut out for him. When the floods wash up a corpse, Bianca once again finds herself teaming up with Sheriff Riley to solve a mystery. Are they investigating an accidental drowning or something more nefarious?

Dead Man’s Leap explores the burden of secrets, the relief of renunciation, and the danger of believing we can outpace our past.

Book Details:

Genre: Traditional Mystery
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: April 5, 2022
Number of Pages: 254
ISBN: 1685120849 (ISBN-13: 978-1685120849)
Series: A Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery, #2
Purchase Links: Amazon

Read an excerpt:

CHAPTER ONE

He inched toward the precipice, his toes gripping the stone ledge as if they had a will of their own. He lifted his head and squinted into the sunlight still streaming through the blackening clouds. He took in the expanse of rushing water below. In all his eighteen years, Trevor had never seen the creek roil so ferociously.

A clap of thunder startled him. His toes relaxed, and he felt as if the slightest wind could take him over the edge. Lightheaded for a second, he regained his footing and his purpose.

He had no choice if he wanted all this to stop.

He needed to do it.

And do it now.

The downpour would break again soon. But for now, all he could hear was the rushing of Horseshoe Falls beneath him, the roar drowning out the noise of his past.

Of his father.

Of his mother.

Yes, his mother. He had expected his father to be weak, and wasn’t surprised at all after he left. But his mother? A mother’s love is supposed to be unconditional. At least that’s what she had always said before she had turned their world upside down. It was bad enough when she had played at being the sexiest woman in town. At least when his friends teased him then, it was meant to be fun. But this was worse, far worse. Now they wanted nothing to do with him. Now they used him as a punching bag.

His gang no longer looked to him as their leader. They ridiculed him for what his mother had done. From the beginning, he knew those kids were bad news. What choice did he have? In grade school he’d been bullied. Well, he had put a stop to that in high school. Can’t be bullied if you’re the biggest bully.

His mother was gone. His father was gone. And now his posse. First, it was the cold shoulder, and a few snide remarks. Then he was cornered in the locker room after the game one day. That was the hardest. He hadn’t taken a beating like that since the fifth grade. But the tables had been turned on him so fast that he never saw it coming. Trevor realized now that they were never friends. They were just a group of trouble makers who hung out together. Good riddance to them. He didn’t need them anymore.

Another thunderclap reminded him where he was. On the edge. Right on the edge. He either had to do this properly or he would be going over anyway.

Trevor looked over his shoulder one last time and heard a faint commotion in the background. Once they rounded the path, he closed his eyes and jumped.

* * *

Bianca St. Denis stretched to grab the cord just out of reach above her head and yanked on it with all her force to bring down the attic staircase. She tilted her head to avoid being struck as it made its way down. She unfolded the retractable stairs and put one foot on the first rung. But there she stopped, not sure she could take the next few steps. At forty-two the issue wasn’t her physical ability to climb the steps, she was active, even fairly athletic. The old saying went “the mind was willing but the body was not.” Well, in her case “the body was willing but the mind was not.”

She had stayed out of the attic all these months since Richard’s death. She had made do without her ski parka this past winter, and used Richard’s barn jacket she’d found in the mudroom instead. She had made do without the spring curtains she would normally switch out in the living room each March. The winter ones still hung heavy and foreboding. And she made do without the patio cushions she had sewn two seasons ago. She simply sat on the raw wood when she wanted to read or eat in the backyard. She hadn’t realized the number of things she had been doing without by avoiding the attic, not until the town started buzzing about the rummage sale. She pretended it was because she hadn’t had time to search for the items, but she knew better.

She took her foot off the rung, bent and picked up the stairs again, refolded them, and let them float to the ceiling. The hatch closed with a neat click.

* * *

Once Trevor hit the water, his tension disappeared. He welcomed the release and let himself drop. Slowly he was pulled down into the chaos of the rushing water, but his mind had floated above it all. He didn’t feel a thing, he observed it instead. He watched as his body sank, as it swirled in the vortex of the overfull creek. He watched as his body escaped the current and floated peacefully in the murky water. And he watched as he gave in to full renunciation and allowed the water to decide what was to become of him.

His thoughts slowed, as muddy as the water surrounding him.

They slowed, but he could not make them disappear.

He had managed to avoid jumping off Dead Man’s Leap every summer, but this year he knew he couldn’t get away with it. They had already threatened to make sure he jumped this year. That was only part of what the summer had in store for him. Who could he turn to? His grandparents had no idea what he was going through. They always hid their heads in the sand anyway. There was nothing they could do for him. So, he had taken matters into his own hands.

He was shocked when his head broke the surface, and despite himself he gasped for air in enormous mouthfuls until he gagged. He bobbed there, undecided, until he finally attempted the few strides to reach the cove. It took him longer than he expected, like swimming in molasses. A cross between his fatigue, his indifference, and the strong current kept him from reaching the bank in the three strokes it would normally require. On his knees, he crawled out of the pull of rushing water and dropped on the shore.

* * *

Leonard Marshall picked up the package, the paper crinkling in his hand. He carefully unwrapped one layer, then another. Layer after layer until he held the smooth tiny statuette in his hand. He trembled, and smiled, attracted and repulsed at the same time. How could such a tiny thing hold so many emotions for him? So much power over him? It was so small he could cradle it in the palm of his hand. He closed his fingers around it. It disappeared. He opened them again, and there it was. With it came a flood of memories. Exhilarating. His heart raced with a quick pat, pat, pat.

The basement door creaked. He took in a breath.

Time slowed and his heart with it.

Thump……thump……thump.

The light clicked on.

Another creak. Above him a step, a pause, another step. The door ached on its hinges as it opened wider. The light flicked off. The door closed. The steps faded. He let out his breath.

* * *

Trevor had never experienced fatigue like this. He crawled onto shore in the shadow of the cliff and collapsed. He never expected to make it out of the water, and now that he had, he lay there drawing in large mouthfuls of air, as if his lungs would never get enough. He stayed there, staring up at the sky, watching the dark clouds shapeshift. The rain would be there any moment, and to his surprise, he welcomed it.

As his breathing relaxed, he realized that the pain he felt was a sharp object stabbing his back. He rolled over, removed it, and threw it off to the side. As he turned to lay back down, his blurry eyes focused on the object. It was a bone. A human bone? He scrambled onto his knees and slowly made his way over to it. He was repulsed and fascinated, but mostly he was frightened by the sight of a bone and what that could mean. What had happened here, right here in this cove?

In the distance, he heard their drunken voices again. He knelt and grabbed handfuls of dirt to cover the bone. He heard them approach the edge of the cliff.

“He came this way. I saw him jump.”

“He’s too chicken, he didn’t jump. But when I find him, he’ll jump alright. He’ll jump or I’ll send him flying.”

“He jumped, I tell ya. Leave him alone. You wanted him to jump, and he did. I saw him. Let it go, already.”

“Yeah, well if he jumped, where is he?”

“You think he’s still under? You think he hit his head like that kid a while back?”

“I’m telling you, he didn’t jump.”

“There’s nowhere else to go but down. Of course, he jumped.”

“I’m going in. If he did jump, we’ll find him down there. He’s probably hiding under the cliff.”

Trevor carefully picked his way out of the cove. Scraping up against the cliff as close as his body would allow, he followed the contours until he came out on the other side of the falls. With his last bit of strength, he climbed up the rocky trail alongside Horseshoe Falls.

***

Excerpt from Dead Man's Leap by Tina deBellegarde. Copyright 2022 by Tina deBellegarde. Reproduced with permission from Tina deBellegarde. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Tina deBellegarde has been called “the Louise Penny of the Catskills.” Winter Witness, the first book in her Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery series, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel, a Silver Falchion Award and a Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Award. Her story “Tokyo Stranger” which appears in the Mystery Writers of America anthology When a Stranger Comes to Town edited by Michael Koryta has been nominated for a Derringer Award. Tina’s short fiction also appears in The Best New England Crime Stories anthologies. She is the vice-president of the Upper Hudson Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a member of Mystery Writers of America and Writers in Kyoto. She lives in Catskill, New York, with her husband Denis and their cat Shelby where they tend to their beehives, harvest shiitake mushrooms, and cultivate their vegetable garden. She winters in Florida and travels to Japan regularly to visit her son Alessandro.

Catch Up With Tina deBellegarde:
tinadebellegarde.com
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BookBub - @tinadebellegarde
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Twitter - @tdbwrites
Facebook - @tinadebellegardeauthor

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The Price of Forgiveness (The Dutchmen MC, #2) by ML Nystrom Blog Tour!

Title: The Price of Forgiveness (The Dutchmen MC, #2) 

Author: ML Nystrom 

Genre: MC Romance 

Sub Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Release Date: April 22, 2022 

Hosted by: Buoni Amici Press, LLC. 

“God doesn’t have a place for sinners like me.”

When does sin become unforgivable? Find out in bestselling author ML Nystrom’s gritty The Dutchmen MC series, where you’ll meet a darker breed of bikers.

Rail has the impossible task of leading the Dutchmen MC through a long and chaotic transition. His life is spinning out of control, trying to live up to club expectations. Some want revenge for crimes against the club, some are ready to move on, and some want to continue their former lifestyle. It’s tearing Rail apart. The only family he’s ever known is his dying grandmother and it’s more than he can handle.

One night, he meets Gretchen, a deaf woman who reminds him of past sins. She brings back painful memories of where he came from and what he’s done in his life, but he can’t stay away from her. She is the light, he is the dark, and his former transgressions demand payment. Can he afford to pay the price?

 

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“You’re a writer?”

“Editor.”

“Never met an editor before.”

“I wish you weren’t meeting one now.”

Rail chuckled at the woman’s wit. Her hands were strong, with long tapered fingers and short nails. When she signed, her movements were fluid and precise. Dance-like. Her breasts swayed gently with each gesture and Rail could see the outline of darker nipples under the thin white cloth before she covered them again. Pink? Peach? Or a color in between? Her robe was close by and he could have snagged it for her, but chose not to.

He stood up to leave.

He glanced back at the woman and noticed the blush had faded. He leaned over her, bringing his face close to hers. Her eyes got big and her lips parted. Rail nearly laughed again at how fast the color came back. Nice to know he had some effect on her as she did on him. Maybe it was his scars that alarmed her, but if he got a chance to see her nipples again, he bet he would find them puckered up into little points. Deliberately taking his time, he reached behind her, bring his mouth inches from hers and picked up one of her business cards. If he could have gotten away with it, he would have released the clip to see how long those golden waves would fall. When he stood back up, she let out the breath she’d been holding in a short rush. One half of his mouth raised in male triumph. He looked at the card.

“Nice to meet you, Gretchen Davonsky. I’m Railroad.”

ML Nystrom had stories in her head since she was a child. All sorts of stories of fantasy, romance, mystery, and anything else that captured her interest. A voracious reader, she’s spent many hours devouring books; therefore, she found it only fitting she should write a few herself!

ML has spent most of her life as a performing musician and band instrument repair technician, but that doesn’t mean she’s pigeon-holed into one mold. She’s been a university professor, belly dancer, craftsperson, soap maker, singer, rock band artist, jewelry maker, lifeguard, swim coach, and whatever else she felt like exploring. As one of her students said to her once, "Life’s too short to ignore the opportunities." She has no intention of ever stopping... so welcome to her story world. She hopes you enjoy it!

 

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