romance – So Many Books

Book Tour–Family Gathering at Promise Lodge

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Charlotte Hubbard will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

In the year since he lost his wife in a tragic accident, Lester Lehman has found healing and purpose—helping construct Dale Kraybill’s new bulk store, enjoying the Kuhn sisters’ hearty meals, and settling in a tiny, built-for-one lakeside house. Falling in love again is surely not on Lester’s mind. Yet despite his firm “no,” two available ladies have set their kapps on the handsome widower—in a boisterous rivalry that weaves mayhem among Gloria’s wedding festivities.

A welcome escape comes from a fresh-faced newcomer. Marlene Fisher disarms Lester with her witty quips on his romantic predicament, while her sparkling eyes inspire surprising thoughts of a shared future. But the heartbreak that brought Marlene to Promise Lodge runs deep, and the pretty maidel believes she’s not meant to marry. In a season of vows to love and honor, scripture holds the key to building their happiness together: love is kind, and above all patient.

Read an Excerpt

Fully awake now, Lester swung his feet to the dock. When he could get a word in edgewise, he needed to deflate Agnes’s high-flying hopes in a hurry, because in her vivid imagination, she was already standing before the bishop with him, repeating her wedding vows. As he opened his mouth to speak, however, another urgent female voice hailed him.

“Lester! Lester Lehman, it’s me—your Elverta! I read about Gloria’s wedding in the paper, so it seemed like the perfect reason to come and see you!”

Lester moaned. His sense of freedom, peace, and unencumbered living had just hit another serious snag.

As the national newspaper for Plain communities, the Budget was a wonderful way to keep track of far-flung friends and kin, but he suddenly wished that Gloria—and Rosetta Wickey, their community’s original scribe—hadn’t been quite so descriptive in detailing the Lehman family’s relocation. The tiny town of Promise, Missouri was out in the middle of nowhere, yet Agnes and Elverta had apparently followed every line of the newspaper’s weekly reports right to his doorstep.

As Elverta Horst, dressed in deep green, strode toward his dock, her tall, skinny, ramrod-straight body reminded Lester of a string bean. He knew better than to express that opinion, of course, because the woman he’d broken up with to begin courting his Delores had never been known for her sense of humor.

“Wh-who’s this?” Agnes asked him under her breath.

Never one to beat around the bush, Elverta stopped a few yards from the dock. She glanced at Lester before focusing on the flustered woman beside him. “And who might you be?” she demanded with a raised eyebrow.

Lester answered as indirectly as possible, because he knew these women would soon find out every little thing about one another. “Elverta, this is Delores’s best friend, Agnes Plank. She lives down the road from our former home in Sugarcreek,” he explained hastily. “And Agnes, this is Elverta Horst—”

“And I was engaged to Lester before he took up with Delores,” Elverta put in purposefully. “First loves are often the strongest, ain’t so? The flame may flicker through the years, but it never really goes out.”

About the Author:

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Narrated by: Susan Boyce

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Book Tour–The Order of the Fallen

Fantasy/Romance

Date Published: Jan. 24, 2022

Publisher: Jan-Carol Publishing, Inc.

Achaiah knew the dangers of falling to earth for the love of his human, Nev. When Nev falls for her guardian angel, Achaiah, she is unaware of the danger that their love puts her in. That’s why fallen angels have one rule: Never fall in love with a human.

About the Author

Jacqueline Marinaro began her career as a therapist and college educator. Graduate school couldn’t stamp out her love of creative writing, however. Much to the chagrin of her husband, graduate school also only furthered her ability to constantly ask, “how does that make you feel?” Jacqueline lives in Florida with her wonderful husband and sweet little boy, where she enjoys the beach, reading, writing, and of course delving into the feelings of everyone she meets.

Contact Link

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Book Blitz–Unshattered

Silver Cliff #1

Romance, Contemporary Romance

Date Published: February 2022

After Anna James loses nearly everyone she loves and is betrayed by those she trusted, she sets out in search of a place that would bring her peace. She knew she had found it when she arrived in a sleepy little town called Silver Cliff and she vows to never trust anyone with her heart again, especially a man she fears would not only break her heart, he’d incinerate it.

Nathan Kent has dealt with his own heartache and demons from getting off the path he was meant to be on. He decides to return to his home town to rebuild his life and the last thing he needs is to fall in love with a snarky girl who keeps her past under lock and key. He realizes quickly, though, that she is girl worth risking it all for and vows to make her his.

Their pull was undeniable, like fireworks on top of flaming bonfires. But Anna can’t help wonder if she and Nathan are strong enough to survive a past that keeps resurfacing or if fate will keep shattering the world around her.

About the Author

Elena Kincaid is an award-winning and best-selling author. She writes Paranormal and Contemporary Romances with alpha males who stop at nothing to protect their women, heroines who are anything but damsels in distress, and stories where the only love worth fighting for is the forever kind of love.

She was born in Ukraine and raised in New York, where she currently lives with her daughter. Her desk is constantly cluttered with journals, sticky notes, and torn-out pieces of paper full of ideas. When not working, Elena loves to spend time with her family, travel the globe, curl up with a good book, and catch up on her soaps.

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Blurb Blitz-Promising Love

A Bit About the Book:

When a glamorous spa owner seduces the grumpy neighborhood bartender, passion smolders…

Ruby Naylor, confident, successful proprietor of Spa La La, has been crushing on Lachlan MacGregory for ages and finally throws herself at the grumpy bartender as he’s helping her tipsy butt home to her apartment above his pub.

Ruby is the only woman Lachlan has ever loved—from afar. When she makes a pass, he finally admits he’s wanted her for a long time. He leaves her that night with three promises—a kiss, a special connection between them and an epic tomorrow.

Unfortunately, when tomorrow arrives and Lachlan is smacked with the knowledge that she’s already in a relationship with two men, he feels he has nothing to offer her.

His day gets worse when his addict father is on his doorstep again, demanding money. The thought that he could end up sick and miserable like his father eats at Lachlan, making him focus on what has never let him down, his successful pub in the burgeoning Corvallis neighborhood.

Learning that Ruby is not taken, Lachlan finally goes all out to win her back. With his heartfelt apology, it’s easy for Ruby to forgive him—she believes in joy, in romance, in happy ever after. What she never expected was how vulnerable Lachlan could make her feel.

Can their love withstand life-shattering events to lead them into a beautiful future?

Another Taste for you to enjoy

Beautiful, I want that.” His voice was rough with need and it gave her a shiver to know she did that to him. “But not on Detective Naylor’s couch.”

Stunned for only a second at the last words she expected to come out of his mouth, Ruby burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. Lachlan rocked them together.

“Love that sound.”

“Oh my goodness, are we sixteen just waiting to get caught?”

“You think this is funny?”

“Uhm, hilarious. I’ve been waiting a lifetime for you to kiss me and do all the other amazing things. And we’re adults, but we’re getting blocked by my dad who isn’t even here.” The laughter poured out of her. Her energy needed an outlet and apparently it wasn’t going to happen how she imagined it right this minute.

“A lifetime, huh?” Lachlan’s deep, soft voice was a stroke against her skin.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“I’ve been waiting too.” He brushed his fingers through her hair, following their path with his eyes. Pensive eyes. Tired eyes. Ruby noticed the little details. “I can keep waiting.”

“Me too,” she said, resigned but still in a happy place, lost in him.

“Waiting sucks,” he said. And his pout was so darn cute.

“Yeah.” Ruby chuckled again. “But this sure is nice.”

“Mmm. Maybe you could do that thing to my head again with your hands. Felt damn good.”

Her smile was automatic. It felt amazing taking care of this man. Ruby ran her hands through his hair and kneaded his scalp with her fingers, stroking once in a while with her nails. Soothing, deepening, then soothing again. It was only a few minutes before his breathing changed and his weight settled. Her hottie was asleep. Oh, you precious man.

“Best kiss ever,” she whispered as he slept beside her.

Now more about the author

Puget Sound based writer, Sara Ohlin is a mom, wannabe photographer, obsessive reader, ridiculous foodie, and the author of the contemporary romance novels, Handling the Rancher, Salvaging Love, Seducing the Dragonfly, Igniting Love, Flirting with Forever and Promising Love.

She has over sixteen years of creative non-fiction and memoir writing experience, and you can find her essays at Anderbo.com, Feminine Collective, Mothers Always Write, Her View from Home, Under the Gum Tree, and in anthologies such as Are We Feeling Better Yet? Women Speak about Healthcare in America, Take Care: Tales, Tips, & Love from Women Caregivers, and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Although she’s the author of many essays about life, grief, motherhood and the connections we make through delicious food and shared meals, Sara loves creating imaginary worlds with tight-knit communities in her romance novels. She credits her mother, Mary, Nora Roberts and Rosamunde Pilcher for her love of romance.

If she’s not reading or writing, you will most likely find her in the kitchen creating scrumptious meals with her two kids and amazing husband, or perhaps cooking up her next love story. She once met a person who both “didn’t read books” and wasn’t “that into food” and it nearly broke her heart.

Website: https://saraohlin.com

Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/saraohlinwriter/

Twitter https://twitter.com/SaraOhlin222

Instagram = http://www.instagram.com/saraohlinauthor

Pinterest = http://www.pinterest.com/saraohlin/

BookBub = https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sara-ohlin

Goodreads = https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19491440.Sara_Ohlin

Promising Love Buy Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G3G4GRT/

B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/promising-love-sara-ohlin/1140164912

Totally Bound https://www.totallybound.com/book/promising-love

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/promising-love-2

GooglePlay https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sara_Ohlin_Promising_Love?id=GBFDEAAAQBAJ

Oh, yes, and their is a giveaway.

Enter to win a $30 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway

And there is more post to read also. Check them all out by clicking the link.

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2021/10/blurb-blitz-promising-love-by-sara-ohlin.html

Book Tour–Never Enough

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nancy Fraser will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When Amanda Thorne arrives on San Bella Island, she’s tired and in bad need of a vacation. She’s just finished paying off her late husband’s many debts by selling their home and belongings. On her way to Dallas for a new job in a medical research lab, she’s taking one week to recoup before beginning her new life.

Nicholas Holloway is recovering from a 2-year stint undercover for the U.S. Marshal Service. Ordered to take a vacation to clear his head, he ends up on San Bella at the same time.

Will these two battle-scared souls find peace in the other’s arms? And, will they be able to walk away at the end of their one-week fling?

Caution: This book contains love scenes and language some may find offensive. Or hot!

Read an Excerpt

Montauk, Long Island
Saturday Morning
Amanda Thorne turned full circle in the three-story entryway, her sensible two-inch heels clicking against the expensive slate flooring. Sparing one last, longing glance at the great room to her right, she engaged the alarm, closed the door behind her, and dropped her keys in the realtor’s lock box.

The past eight years of her life—the last vestige of her inheritance—gone.

Right on time, the taxi pulled into the long, winding driveway, stopping just inches from where she waited. The driver, a short, stocky man who reminded her of her maternal grandfather, took her single suitcase and placed it in the trunk.

“Where to, Miss?” he asked.

“LaGuardia, please. Domestic terminal.”

He held the door open and waited for her to settle into the seat before slipping behind the steering wheel and shifting his weight to get comfy.

“Going to visit family?” he asked, casually starting up a conversation.

“No,” she said softly. “I’m relocating.”

He shot her a quick glance over his shoulder before pulling the car into gear and starting out across the inlaid brick drive. “You’re moving away from Long Island?”

His question sent a sharp pain through her chest. After all, who in their right mind would leave Long Island, especially the beautiful area of Montauk?

It’s not like you had a choice, now did you?

Amanda bit back an angry curse, willing her conscience back into its allotted corner of her mind. Suddenly remembering the man’s question, she told him, “I’m taking a job out of state. As much as I’ll miss parts of New York, I won’t miss the winters.”

“Ah,” he said, chuckling. “You’re relocating somewhere warm.” He paused, then asked, “Were those your three moving vans I passed on the way from the highway?”

Three vans? Not hardly.

The single small load truck she’d hired had held everything she owned, save for what she’d packed for her trip. So, if there was a caravan of trucks, it wasn’t hers.

“No, not mine,” she acknowledged finally.

He turned the taxi onto the highway leading to the airport. “Good luck to you, wherever you’re headed.”

“Thank you.”

Sliding her fingertips over the screen of her cell, Amanda pulled up her reservation– the short vacation a gift from the real estate agent who’d benefited greatly from the sale of her home.

Diamond Key Resort, San Bella Island. An island paradise, or so the brochure claimed. All she wanted was time to recoup, a handful of days to reset her emotional clock and prepare herself for her new life.

A week alone… away from the cloying pity of her so-called friends and family.

With any luck, she’d come out of her short stay no worse for the wear.

About the Author:

NANCY FRASER—Jumping Across Romance Genres with Gleeful Abandon—is an Amazon Top 100 and Award-Winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all.

Nancy has published over forty books in full-length, novella, and short format. When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

Website: http://www.nancyfraser.ca
Blog: https://notesfromaromanticsheart.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nancyfraserauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nfraserauthor
Bookbub: http://bookbub.com/profile/nancy-fraser
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Fraser/e/B004AOL61Y/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7206382.Nancy_Fraser
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3gC68iMStwKCr4v_S6fMIA
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Purchase Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096MXVM4Y/
Apple: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/never-enough/id1570899435
B&N (Nook): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/never-enough-nancy-fraser/1139637631
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/never-enough-50
Universal: http://books2read.com/u/bzeNJ2

And there is a giveaway

Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to follow the entire tour? Click on the link.

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2021/08/book-blast-never-enough-by-nancy-fraser.html

Book Tour–The Romanov Legacy

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Marilyn Baron will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Two women, centuries apart, and the secrets that bind them

Melody, a young single mother, discovers she’s descended from the last Tsar, Nicholas II. She becomes the best hope of a secret global society, Guardians of the Romanov Legacy, dedicated to restoring a Romanov to the throne of a New Russia. A diary and an heirloom necklace inherited from her murdered grandmother hold the key to her identity and to the location of the Tsar’s lost shipment of gold.

She must accept the sacrifices her birth demands and trust the machinations of the estranged father of her child. To refuse means turning her back on her heritage, her daughter’s legacy, and the long line of her family’s women who were keepers of the secret. Will her longing for true love have world-changing consequences?

Read an Excerpt

Maria Tatyana took a heavy breath, read over the document, and signed, ever conscious of the soldiers, their rifles at the ready. Did it make a difference that she signed the document under duress? So did Tsar Nicholas. What choice did she have?

She realized the full import of what Miss Cormier was saying. The nanny intended to execute her and document it for all the world to see. She had a sudden flash to a page on the Internet, the wallpaper in the basement of Ipatiev House, riddled with pockmarks, bullets, gouges in the floor. Screams fairly echoed off the screen. Nicholas and Alexandra must have turned to each other suddenly, reaching to shield their son. The four daughters, including Anastasia, would have hugged each other once they realized their fate in those final moments of chaos and agony. In contrast, she was totally alone. No one would be coming to save her either. What would they do with her body? Would anyone ever find her remains? She wished she didn’t know what horrors awaited her. She hoped the end would be quick and painless. She would give her crown to return to Downingtown, Pennsylvania, to an anonymous life as ordinary Melody Segal.

About the Author:

Marilyn decided to become a writer when she read Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her first short story was The Gold Lace Dress. She wrote her first book, East West Island, in grade school. It featured all of the children in her third-grade class and her teacher read it to the students in installments during class every day. She wrote and directed her first play at age 13, starring her brother and sisters and some of the neighborhood kids. The show raised money for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Marilyn is a public relations consultant in Atlanta, a PAN member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Georgia Romance Writers (GRW) and winner of the GRW 2009 Chapter Service Award. She is also a member of Atlanta Writers Club. Marilyn was past chair of the Roswell Reads steering committee and serves on the Atlanta Authors committee. She writes in a variety of genres from humorous women’s fiction, historical romantic thrillers, romantic suspense and paranormal/fantasy. She loves to travel and often sets books in places she’s visited.

She was born in Miami, Florida, and graduated from The University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism (Public Relations) and a Minor in English (Creative Writing). Go Gators! She lives in Roswell, Georgia, with her husband, and she spends a lot of time hovering over her two wonderful daughters.

Website: http://www.marilynbaron.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marilyn-Baron-286807714666748/
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/marilyn-baron
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Baron/e/B008PJFQPC%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B092TXL3QT/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

And the author is giving away on $25 GC (either Amazon or BN to one lucky winner. Just go to the Rafflecopter.

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You also don’t want to miss the rest of her tour.

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2021/06/book-blast-romanov-legacy-by-marilyn.html

Excerpt Tour–Morning Star

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Charlotte Hubbard will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When four maidels join forces to turn an abandoned barn into an Amish marketplace, the unmarried women have community in mind. But their fledgling enterprise promises to reap surprising rewards for each in turn, including the gift of unexpected love . . .

For Regina Miller, the new Morning Star Marketplace is a chance to share her secret work with the world—without revealing herself. Old Order Amish forbid the creation of art without purpose, but without a husband, Regina has been free to explore the joy of painting in her attic. Yet when Gabe Flaud’s curiosity leads him to speculate that Regina herself is the painter, the full weight of their community’s judgement falls on her shoulders. When Gabe stands up to defend Regina, questioning the Order’s restrictions, he reveals his own guilty secret and is shunned along with her. Forced to turn to each other for companionship, the young couple must learn to balance their own needs with their deep faith … and a love that will show them all things are possible.

Read an Excerpt

April had painted the Missouri countryside with a palette of vibrant greens and gentle pastels only God Himself could create. The pastures were lush with new grass, and the dogwood and redbud trees added splashes of pink, cream, and fuchsia to the untamed landscape. Jo Fussner and her four maidel friends were on their afternoon walk, soaking up the midday sunshine. An occasional car passed, but otherwise, Morning Star seemed to be nodding off for its Sunday nap.

As they reached the edge of town, Jo gazed at a dilapidated white stable that sat back from the road. The plank fence around it was also in a sorry state of disrepair. The harsh winter hadn’t done the stable any favors, and Jo thought the place looked sadder than usual as the breeze riffled some of its loose shingles.

The wooden sign posted on the fence alongside the gate startled her. “Did you know this place was for sale?” Jo blurted. “I haven’t seen this sign before.”

“Me neither,” Molly Helfing replied. She glanced at her rail-thin twin sister, Marietta, who was recovering from chemo treatments. “Last I knew, the Clementi fellow who owned this property died in the nursing home—”

An idea was spinning in Jo’s head—an adventurous, totally impractical idea—as she gazed at the long white stable with its peeling paint and missing boards. Her longtime friends would think she was ferhoodled, yet her imagination was running wild with possibilities.

“The Clementi kids must’ve decided to sell the place rather than keep it in the family,” redheaded Regina Miller remarked. “I can’t think it’ll bring much, though, run-down as it is.”

“Anybody who bought it would have to invest a lot of money to make it usable as a stable again,” Lydianne Christner said with a shake of her head.

“But wouldn’t it make a great place for some shops?” Jo blurted out. “You Helfings could sell your homemade noodles, and Mamm and I would have more space to display our bakery stuff and our summer produce—and we could get other local folks to rent spaces, and—and it’s on the main highway! Think of how much more business we’d attract here than we do at the roadside stands in our yards.”

Her friends stared at her as though she’d sprouted a second head.

About the Author:

In 1983, Charlotte Hubbard sold her first story to True Story. She wrote around 70 of those confession stories, and she’s sold more than 50 books to traditional or online publishers. A longtime resident of Missouri, she’s currently writing Amish romances set in imaginary Missouri towns for Kensington. She now lives in Omaha, NE with her husband of 40+ years and their Border collie, Vera.

Website http://www.charlottehubbard.com
Facebook http://www.Facebook.com/Charlotte.Hubbard1

Order Ebook

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZPKX5SQ
Kindle UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZPKX5SQ/
Kindle Canada http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07ZPKX5SQ/
Kindle Australia http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07ZPKX5SQ/
Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/morning-star/id1507818638
Apple Books UK https://books.apple.com/gb/book/morning-star/id1507818638
Apple Books Canada https://books.apple.com/ca/book/morning-star/id1507818638
Apple Books Australia https://books.apple.com/au/book/morning-star/id1507818638
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/morning-star-charlotte-hubbard/1134434813?ean=9781420145151oks New Zealand Apple: https://books.apple.com/nz/book/morning-star/id1507818638
Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/morning-star-charlotte-hubbard/1134434813
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/morning-star-60
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Charlotte_Hubbard_Morning_Star?id=goq5DwAAQBAJ

Order Print
Zebra Books
July 28, 2020
ISBN-13: 9781420145120
ISBN-10: 1420145126

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1420145126/
Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ISBN=1420145126
Amazon Canada http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ISBN=1420145126
Barnes & Noble http://barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9781420145120
Books-A-Million http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9781420145120
Chapters Indigo http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/a/9781420145120-item.html
IndieBound http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781420145120
The Book Depository http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781420145120

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Book Tour–Beyond The Surface

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Trisha Ridinger McKee will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other tours on the stop.

Ella is a middle-aged woman with a stagnant career, an exasperated teenage daughter, and a husband that has left to make a new life with another woman. Her first attempt at dating is a disaster, and in an attempt to refocus her life and rediscover her joy, Ella goes fishing. It is here that she meets Dennis, the older, captivating man that ends up saving her life and stealing her heart. But Dennis has a history, and Ella might just be in for the biggest heartbreak of her life if she can not get her emotions under control and face the demons from her own past.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Ella noticed he kept a distance, his gaze flitting around the room. She felt huge and plain in a cotton dress that made it easy to move around the still, humid air.

“You okay?” He was close again, his lips near her cheek, and she stepped away, unable to keep it all straight.

“Forget it.”

“El-”

“This was a stupid dress to wear!” she cried out.

Slowly, Dennis nodded. “Such a stupid dress to wear.” And he was right behind her, his hands drawing her against him. Leaning down, he whispered, “Because I can’t think straight seeing you in that dress. You look young and beautiful, the color brings out the green in your eyes. The fabric is thin enough that all I can think of is how very little is between us when I am against you like this. And when the sun hits you just right… the dress… El, the dress is a little see-through.”

She spun around, colliding into him, her large eyes seeking his in a panic. “What? Dennis, I was out running errands -”

“I know.” His lips teased the tip of her ear, stifling her words. “And I bet all the men that crossed your path are still trying to recover. So, when I suddenly get quiet and move away, it’s because I’m doing my best, El, to be a gentleman. Because something about you drives me crazy, and I forget myself. I forget how to be a civilized male, a proper adult.” His lips were suddenly on her neck, and her knees buckled.

About the Author:

Trisha Ridinger McKee resides in a small town in Pennsylvania where there is not much to do … except write. When she is not twisting words into stories, she enjoys fishing, reading, binge-watching true crime or cheesy horror, hanging out with her bulldogs, and finding new hobbies. She shares her world with a patient hubby and an amazing daughter. She finally gained enough courage to send out her writing in April 2019. Since then, her work has appeared or is forthcoming in over 50 publications, including Tablet Magazine, The Oddville Press, Crab Fat Magazine, Kzine, Commuterlit, J.J. Outre Review, ParABnormal Magazine, 4Star Stories, Black Hare Press, Thirteen Press, and more. She won Story of the Month from 50-Word Stories. Her short story Where We Meet has been nominated for Best of the Net Anthology 2019. Her debut novel Beyond the Surface is now available on Amazon.

Website: http://www.trishamckee.com

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/trishamckee

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wordromancer/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authortrishamckee/

To Purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Surface-Trisha-Ridinger-McKee/dp/B088N45M8M/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

Click here to try for the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And here to read more excerpts (and getting more chances to win)

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Author Blog–What it mean to grow up?

What does it mean to grow up?

I’m interested in the lasting effects of trauma, especially those suffered in our youth. How do negative incidents – ranging from everyday kinds of hurts, for example always being picked last for softball, to bonafide tragedies – affect us in later life? Why do some of us shrug things off and thrive while others crumble?

This interest led me to Toby Wong, the main character in my latest mystery Divorce Is Murder. In her early thirties, Toby moves back to her sleepy hometown where she was bullied as a young teen. It’s not long before Toby’s chief-bully is found murdered. The prime suspect is Toby’s attractive client – whom, as a kid, Toby had a hopeless crush on.

Everywhere she turns, Toby runs into people she’d rather forget. She grows increasingly convinced that one of the kids who tormented her way back when has grown up to be a murderer. As Toby solves the modern-day killing, another long-ago mystery is revealed: what traumatized Toby as a teenager? Before Toby can find love, she’s forced to confront her old insecurities – something we all need to do.

None of us grows up without some negative self-beliefs – ideas that might once have been true but no longer are. Ideas that limit us. We get cast or cast ourselves into roles – the short one, the shy one, the klutzy one… As Toby discovers, moving away from home is not enough to set you free. You have to recognize what’s holding you back and dismantle it.

In this book, as well as writing a romantic murder mystery I wrote a book about growing up, and how, sooner or later, we can shed our outdated fears. Growing up doesn’t end when you hit eighteen or twenty-one. It’s something we need to do our whole life. Fiction helps this process. By expanding our understanding of human nature – and ourselves – stories make us to grow.

TourBanner_Divorce is MurderNBTM

First, the blurb–

As teens, they bullied her. Twenty years on, she’s not scared of them. Except she should be…

After returning to her quiet hometown to care for her ailing mom, divorce lawyer Toby Wong is hired by Josh Barton, a guy who broke her heart as a teen at summer camp. Now a wealthy entrepreneur, Josh wants to divorce Tonya, the mean girl who tormented Toby all those years ago. When Tonya is found murdered, Josh is the prime suspect.

Together with her fortune-teller mom and her pregnant best friend, Toby sets out to clear Josh, whom she still has a guilty crush on. As she delves deeper into Tonya’s murder, Toby keeps running into catty ex-campers she’d rather forget. Are her old insecurities making her paranoid? Only too late does she realize she’s in danger.

The first entry in an addictive new series, Divorce is Murder introduces fans of mystery and romance to an irresistibly smart and sarcastic new heroine – Chinese Canadian divorce lawyer Toby Wong.

And a little taste of the story.

Colin peers into the empty parcel, then sticks two fingers inside. He pulls out an envelope-sized slip of paper and lays it onto the table. Although the words are facing the wrong way, I have no trouble reading it. Fashioned from letters cut out of newspaper, the note reads: LEAVE VICTORIA, BITCH.

Tonya had received a similar note with her red-paint-flecked Barbie doll.

A muscle in Colin’s jaw jumps. He looks angry. “Who could have sent this?” he asks. “Do you have any bitter ex-boyfriends? Guys you might have rejected? Anyone who came on too strong?”

I shake my head. I’d rather not tell Colin that it’s been nineteen months since my last date, with a guy I met in a Toronto doctor’s office who spent our entire date describing—in vivid detail—his recent hernia surgery.

“How about social media?” asks Colin. “Are you active on dating sites? Have you gotten any similar sorts of messages. Anyone seem obsessive? This kind of stuff can start online and then escalate.”

Again, I say no. My few attempts at internet dating were so lame I swore never again. The real world is weird enough. “There’s nothing like that.” I survey the bra, wishing the label weren’t sticking out, those double AAs on full display. “But it’s my bra,” I admit. I explain how, just last night, it vanished from my building’s communal laundry room.

Colin’s frown deepens. “Last night? That means whoever sent this was in your building.” He tugs at his collar, clearly agitated. “This isn’t good, Toby.”

So who wrote Divorce by Murder?

Stories that don’t let go

Elka Ray writes fast-paced romantic mysteries and scary thrillers – a dichotomy that AuthorPicture reveals her belief in Yin and Yang, or the balance of opposites. A great lover of scientific facts, she may be found clutching crystals for good luck; reads highbrow journals and tabloid trash; and refuses to watch romcoms yet moved in with her now-husband on their first date.

Elka is the author of three novels – the romantic mysteries DIVORCE IS MURDER and HANOI JANE – and the noir thriller SAIGON DARK. She also has a collection of short crime and ghost stories set in Southeast Asia – WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW. Elka lives with her family near Hoi An, Vietnam. She is represented by Folio Literary Management. – link to http://foliolit.com/agency#f.About

http://www.instagram.com/elka.ray/

http://www.facebook.com/elkaraybooks/

twitter.com/elkaray?lang=en

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5027427.Elka_Ray

Buy Link:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Divorce-Murder-Toby-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/1633885429/ref=sr_1_1

Barnes & Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/divorce-is-murder-elka-ray/1130721019?ean=9781633885424#/

And, yes, there is a giveaway.

Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to follow her entire tour?

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2019/09/nbtm-divorce-is-murder-by-elka-ray.html

Virtual Book Tours–Finally Home

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. L. Simpson will be awarding $10 Boroughs Bucks to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

HEART AND SOUL

Ben McTavish is besotted when he sees a vixen in striped leggings own a cringe-worthy moment and turn it into a hilarious bit. He can’t stop thinking about her even though he puts his foot in his mouth every time he tries to get to know her. Ben would love to spend some time with this woman who has captivated him, but he needs to get his farm established before the bank takes back the land.

Kate Bloomington is all about whipping her life into shape, including getting to know her grandmother who she is now caring for. When she meets Ben, also known as Saint McT since he helps all comers, she pushes him away. Somehow, he shows up at every inopportune moment, mortifying her and enticing her at the same time. She learns that he needs help as much as she does, and together they create a love that is unbreakable.

Read an Excerpt

“What’s on your mind?” he asked after I’d been standing at the kettle long after it had boiled.

“Ah…” I muttered, caught off guard and not able to come up with a ready answer. Sensing my indecision, he turned me around then lifted me onto the kitchen bench, coming to stand between my legs. In this position, I was at his height, and I appreciated how handsome he was at this angle. His hair was even more mussed than usual, and I remembered I’d had my hands in it, holding him close as he’d made me come. His eyes looked into mine, and they were open and appreciative with a hint of a smile. He wasn’t laughing at me, but I sensed he knew the direction of my thoughts.

“Tell me what you want, Kate,” he said quietly as his gaze dropped to my lips.

“You. I want you. And I want you to stay, but I don’t know what to do about it.” The words fell out of my mouth as I looked at his lips that were now giving me a sexy smile.

“Why don’t you know what to do? Ask me.”

“You might think I’m easy.”

“Never.”

“You might think I’m going to put out, and I want to but I… maybe… don’t know what I’m doing. And I think you do,” I said. I didn’t see the point in lying. He could be trusted with the truth.

“Well, what happens if I say yes? Do you think I’m easy and will put out?” he murmured as he rubbed my thighs.

“Of course not,” I answered.

“And how do you know I know what I’m doing?”

“Because I’m on fire when you look at me, and when you touch me, I’m only seconds away from coming apart.”

As I said this, he sucked in a breath, like what I said hit a target he didn’t know he had.

“Will you stay with me?” I whispered right before I kissed him. It started slow and sweet, until his tongue slipped into my mouth, and tangled with mine. Then he increased the intensity. Before long I was clinging to him, needing more, desperate for contact.
About the Author: As a girl growing up in Australia, Laura was lost in the world of Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. During high school, volleyball dominated her life. There had to be something positive about being 6’1” with red hair. Representing Australia from a young age she eventually took a scholarship at the University of Iowa. Living in America and being a full time athlete in a college town was an eye-opening experience and lots of fun (from what she can remember). #gohawkeyes

Returning from the States, her career took a different turn as she started working at the Red Cross and completed her Masters of Law in Human Rights. As one of the few non-lawyers in the class, her essays were far more floral than the rest, something that caused the discerning professors to shake their heads. Through working and studying, she realised there are other ways to win hearts and minds.

While she’s spent the last 14 years as an advocate against poverty and homelessness, the desire to change the world through storytelling has only got stronger. She now lives in the Alpine Valleys of North East Victoria, Australia with her husband, daughter, son, two dogs and seven chooks. When she’s not doing the whole mum thing, working at a homelessness agency, renovating her farmhouse, or trying to do laundry bleary-eyed at midnight, she is writing.

Say G’day to Laura:

website: http://www.lsimpsonauthor.com

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/l.simpson.romance

twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lsimpsonauthor

instagram: http://www.instagram.com/lsimpsonauthor

linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-simpson-47278971

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Finally-Home-Alpine-Valleys-Simpson/dp/1951055020/ref=sr_1_1