Spotlight on One Kind Hand by Christine DePetrillo

ONE KIND HAND by Christine DePetrillo is out now! Check out the celebrity small town romance and be sure to get your copy today!

Excerpt & Giveaway: Return to Hummingbird Way by Reese Ryan

Publication date: April 25th, 2023

Purchase links: Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play *affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb:

In this heartwarming small‑town romance, can three months, two planning projects, and a meddling grandmother finally make two high school hate crushes see just how right they are for each other?

Ambitious real estate agent Sinclair Buchanan is ecstatic to be her best friend’s maid-of-honor—until she discovers the best man is Garrett Davenport. Sin and Rett’s mutual hate crush ignited when they were teens and hasn’t let up since . . . except for that one extremely hot (and extremely regrettable) night they shared five years ago.

Nothing gets Rett fired up like going toe-to-toe with Sinclair. She’s as infuriatingly stubborn, and as absolutely gorgeous, as when he fell for her back in high school. Working together to plan their best friends’ last-minute wedding is one thing, but when his matchmaking grandmother gets involved Rett knows he’s in deep. Attraction has always simmered between them, but this time, they’re both in danger of losing their hearts.

Review & Excerpt: A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas

Series: Lady Sherlock #7
Read As A Stand Alone: Not recommended
Publisher: Berkley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 14, 2023
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Charlotte Holmes’s brilliant mind and deductive skills are pulled into a dangerous investigation at sea in the new mystery in the bestselling Lady Sherlock series.

After feigning her own death in Cornwall to escape from Moriarty’s perilous attention, Charlotte Holmes goes into hiding. But then she receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking to recover, and she might be able to go back to a normal life.

Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence, sailing from Southampton for the eastern hemisphere. But on the night Charlotte makes her move to retrieve the dossier, in the midst of a terrifying storm in the Bay of Biscay, a brutal murder also takes place on the ship.

Instead of solving the crime, as she is accustomed to doing, Charlotte must take care not to be embroiled in this investigation, lest it become known to those who harbor ill intentions that Sherlock Holmes is abroad and still very much alive.

Review & Excerpt: Sleep No More by Jayne Ann Krentz

Series: Lost Night Files #1
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes
Publisher: Berkley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: January 3rd, 2023
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Seven months ago, Pallas Llewellyn, Talia March, and Amelia Rivers were strangers, until their fateful stay at the Lucent Springs Hotel. An earthquake and a fire partially destroyed the hotel, but the women have no memory of their time there. Now close friends, the three women co-host a podcast called the Lost Night Files, where they investigate cold cases and hope to connect with others who may have had a similar experience to theirs—an experience that has somehow enhanced the psychic abilities already present in each woman.

After receiving a tip for their podcast, Pallas travels to the small college town of Carnelian, California, to explore an abandoned asylum. Shaken by the dark energy she feels in the building, she is rushing out when she’s stopped by a dark figure—who turns out to be the women's mysterious tipster.

Ambrose Drake is certain he’s a witness to a murder, but without a body, everyone thinks he’s having delusions caused by extreme sleep deprivation. But Ambrose is positive something terrible happened at the Carnelian Sleep Institute the night he was there. Unable to find proof on his own, he approaches Pallas for help, only for her to realize that Ambrose, too, has a lost night that he can’t remember—one that may be connected to Pallas. Pallas and Ambrose conduct their investigation using the podcast as a cover, and while the townsfolk are eager to share what they know, it turns out there are others who are not so happy about their questions—and someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

Review & Giveaway of The Last Minute First Lady by Tinia Montford

Publisher: Emerald Press LLC
Source: pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: December 22, 2022
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

WHAT’S ONE ITSY, BITSY, LITTLE LIE? Cassian Anders will be the youngest governor in Illinois history... If he wins.

That’s all everyone seems to talk about these days. Jolie Coldwell isn’t one of them. As a journalist, her priorities comprise digging up dirt on crooked politicians and local cover-ups. When her latest exposé on a congressman lands her in hot water, her days are reduced to covering the senior center’s casino night.

Unexpectedly, news breaks: the on-air investigative segment needs a replacement. This promotion advance could her career.

She needs a breaking story. She needs it now.

The road to office is ruthless compared to the courtroom. Without warning, Cassian Anders’ popularity rating falls, threatening his position on the ballot. He will do whatever it means to secure votes. Now, not only is he engaged, but he’s getting married to his non-existent fiancée...

He’s never relied on luck, but when a convenient but unorthodox wife falls into his lap? He makes her a deal.

He needs a wife. He needs it now.

Will Jolie and Cassian be able to fool the public long enough? Can she handle the public poking around in her past, one she would rather keep under wraps... Above all, can she be a model first lady or are they destined to be a scandal?

The Last-Minute First Lady is a steamy marriage of convenience romance. Perfect for readers who love outrageous in-laws, honeymoons to Napa Valley, and crooked politicians. This novel contains cursing and sex scenes, and intended for audiences 18 years and older.

Bea and A Voracious Reader Review Mosaics and Magic by Nancy Warren

Series: Vampire Knitting Club #14
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes, but not recommended
Publisher: Ambleside Publishing 
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Release Date: September 28th, 2022
Buying Link: Amazon* 
* affiliate link; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through this link.

Blurb from goodreads:

Beware the crystal ball...

When Lucy and Rafe are given a crystal ball as a wedding present, she’s shocked when it foretells doom. For the newlyweds, this was supposed to be a time of joy and celebration. But when a terrible accident befalls one of their wedding guests, Lucy and Rafe must postpone their honeymoon. And as the evidence begins to unravel, it becomes clear this was no accident.

Lucy and her undead knitters must navigate punting on the Cherwell River in Oxford, complicated and contentious relationships among their guests, and clues that don’t make sense. It may have looked like a random tragedy, but as every knitter knows, when you place the separate strands in a certain light, there’s always a distinctive pattern.

This is book 14 in the Vampire Knitting Club series. There's no blood, gore, swearing or sex, just quirky characters, a compelling mystery and a lot of fun.

Grab your copy today and join the club.

Review & Excerpt: Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin

Publisher: Berkley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 25th, 2022
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When a cold case in Texas leads to a sinister string of disappearances, a newcomer to the small town helps the deputy sheriff to piece together the clues in this new romantic thriller from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.

Corporate lawyer Ava Burch has had enough of the big city and daily grind. She grew up with her father, who raised search-and-rescue dogs, in rural Texas, and has moved to the small town of Cuervo to spend time in the dry, rugged wilderness near Big Bend National Park. When she and her dog Huck discover an abandoned campsite on a volunteer search-and-rescue mission, she’s perplexed but she carefully photographs it all the same.

All Deputy Sheriff Grant Wycoff can see when he looks at Ava is a city slicker—with her designer jeans and expensive car— who has no business on a serious team made of seasoned outdoorsmen and retired cops. But when she tells him of her discovery on the trail, he sees there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Ava’s discovery reminds Grant of the unsolved case of a young woman who went missing two years ago. As they look into the campsite further, another woman disappears under odd circumstances. With time running out, Ava and Grant must work against the brutal heat from both the Texas sun and their own electric chemistry to solve the case.

Spotlight on DISSENT, A New Romance Charity Anthology Benefiting Reproductive Rights in the US.

                         

EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: One Kind Hero by Christine DePetrillo

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for One Kind Hero, a new romance by Christine DePetrillo. I've read one of her books and have two more, including this one, waiting on my Kindle. I also belong to her Small Town Hearts group on Facebook. After you read the excerpt, leave a comment with your thoughts, and remember to enter the giveaway!

Review: Cold in the Shadows by Toni Anderson

Series: Cold Justice #5
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes
Publisher: Toni Anderson Inc.
Source: pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: Nov. 24th, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon US* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

CIA Officer Patrick Killion needs to figure out if feisty frog biologist, Audrey Lockhart, is a deadly assassin or an innocent scapegoat. And the only way to do that is to gain her trust, and then betray it.

Attacked and left for dead, Audrey is forced to put her trust in an enigmatic stranger who saves her from certain death. Then Audrey discovers her rescue was actually an abduction, and the man she thought was her savior is her captor.

Killion is falling hard and fast for his target and suddenly he has his hands full, dealing with a smart, beautiful woman who is furious at his deception. Betrayal is everywhere and Killion doesn't know who to trust. The organization he works for? Or the woman he's falling in love with?

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Review & Excerpt: Lightning In A Mirror by Jayne Ann Krentz

Series: Fogg Lake #3
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes, but not recommended
Publisher: Berkley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: January 18th, 2022
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from publicist:

New York Times bestselling romantic thriller writer Jayne Ann Krentz returns this fall with the explosive final installment of her chilling Fogg Lake trilogy. Whispers of the elusive Vortex lab have erupted the paranormal underground into chaos, and it is up to psychics Olivia LeClair and Harlan Rancourt to find it before its immense power falls into the wrong hands in LIGHTNING IN A MIRROR.

Private Investigator Olivia LeClair wasn’t sure what to expect when she signed up for the Four Event Success Guaranteed speed dating package, but a run-in with a serial killer certainly wasn’t on the list. Thinking it couldn’t get much stranger than that, Olivia decides to give it another shot. Of course, when you’re a powerful aura reader from a mysterious town buried under government conspiracies, strange doesn’t even begin to cover it.

So, when Harlan Rancourt, a man long thought to be dead, shows up at the next round of speed dating, she takes it in stride. After years on the run from the Foundation, a shadowy organization that both protects and polices psychics, Harlan is sure he’s finally found a lead on the mysterious Vortex, which played a role in permanently altering the DNA of every resident in Fogg Lake. He’s convinced that Olivia, a direct descendent of powerful oracles in Fogg Lake, is the only one who can help him locate the lab.

Olivia isn’t convinced. She’s not an oracle, and though she has powerful psychic energy, so do plenty of others. She doesn’t even know if she can trust Harlan. Though he looks perfectly “average” on the surface, Olivia immediately sensed he was far more powerful than the Foundation knew—and there was a very real possibility that he only resurfaced to claim leadership of the Foundation for himself. But when Harlan tells Olivia that Vortex may be the key to uncovering her mother’s killer, she has no choice but to follow him into the depths of danger and secrecy before those hunting the lab—and the oracle at its center—catch up to them.

Review and Excerpt: Guild Boss by Jayne Castle

Series: Ghost Hunters #14
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes
Publisher: Berkley Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: Nov. 16th, 2021
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Welcome to Illusion Town on the colony world of Harmony—like Las Vegas on Earth, but way more weird.

Living in this new, alien world doesn’t stop the settlers from trying to re-create what they’ve left behind. Case in point—weddings are still the highlight of any social calendar. But it’s the after-party that turns disastrous for Lucy Bell. Kidnapped and drugged as she leaves the party, she manages to escape—only to find herself lost in the mysterious, alien underground maze of glowing green tunnels beneath Illusion Town. She’s been surviving on determination and cold pizza, scavenged for her by a special dust bunny, when help finally shows up.

Gabriel Jones is the Guild Hunter sent to rescue her, but escaping the underground ruins isn’t the end of her troubles—it’s only the beginning. With no rational reason for her abduction, and her sole witness gone on another assignment for the Guild, whispers start circulating that Lucy made it all up. Soon her life unravels until she has nothing left but her pride. The last thing she expects is for Gabriel Jones to come back to town for her.

The Lucy that Gabriel finds is not the same woman he rescued, the one who looked at him as if he were her hero. This Lucy is sharp, angry, and more than a little cynical—instead of awe, she treats him with extreme caution. But a killer is still hunting her, and there aren’t a lot of options when it comes to heroes. Despite her wariness, Gabriel is also the one person who believes Lucy—after all, he was there. He’s determined to help clear her reputation, no matter what it takes. And as the new Guild Boss, his word is law, even in the lawlessness of Illusion Town.

Bea Reviews The Demon Equilibrium by Cathy Pegau

Publisher: Bywater Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: Nov. 2nd, 2021

Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Bywater Books | iBooks* | Kobo
* associate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When the demonic Horde threatens to unleash Hell on Earth, two women must summon every bit of their shared power to save the world.

Grace Carter, a “source” of magic, has spent the last nine months searching for Maggie Mulvaney, her “catalyst.” The joy of reuniting with her partner—and her lover—is thwarted by her worst fear: Maggie doesn’t remember Grace or their life together. Grace blames the Order of Saint Teresa, the centuries-old organization that trained them to be the strongest demon-hunting duo in generations. But why has the Order done this?

As Maggie and Grace begin to piece their lives back together, they discover that their memories have been masked by someone within the Order. Should the Horde succeed in their plan, those who have committed their lives to slaying worldly demons will be relegated to little more than minions as humans are completely enslaved.

Now, Grace and Maggie must sacrifice everything, possibly even their lives, as they battle to save humanity.

Not of This World, or Why Author Cathy Pegau Writes Speculative Fiction

Please welcome Cathy Pegau back to the blog in celebration of her new release, The Demon Equilibrium. It's a steampunk adventure romance, and it's available now. Be sure to come back on Monday for my review. Spoiler - I liked it! 

Not sure about buying the book? If you are in the USA and have access to Hoopla, it's available there! CLICK TO READ.

Short and Sweet Review: The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon

Series: The Boyfriend Project #2
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes 
Publisher: Forever
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 17th, 2021
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When a personal trainer agrees to fake date her client, all rules are out the window in this delightful romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Boyfriend Project!

When it comes to personal training, Taylor Powell kicks serious butt. Unfortunately, her bills are piling up, rent is due, and the money situation is dire. Taylor needs more than the support of her new best friends, Samiah and London. She needs a miracle.

And Jamar Dixon might just be it. The oh-so-fine former footballer wants back into the NFL, and he wants Taylor to train him. There's just one catch -- no one can know what they're doing. But when they're accidentally outed as a couple, Taylor's game plan is turned completely upside down. Is Jamar just playing to win . . . or is he playing for keeps?

Review & Excerpt: The Setup by Carol Ericson

Series: A Kyra and Jake Investigation #1
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: Ebook April 1, 2021 / MMP March 30, 2021
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Harlequin | IndieBound | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from publisher:

With a serial killer on the loose… 

Secrets get you killed.

Detective Jake McAllister isn’t aware Kyra Chase is connected to a twenty-year-old unsolved murder. He sees his new case partner only as an unwelcome distraction. But with the body count rising, they’ll need to trust each other to help them catch a killer who seems to know more about Kyra than Jake does.

From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

For more action-packed stories, check out the other books in the A Kyra and Jake Investigation series by Carol Ericson:

Book 1: The Setup

Heartfelt or thrilling, passionate or uplifting—our romances have it all. Visit TryHarlequin.com to sample FREE books from among 12 different series. It’s just a taste of the new books published each month—every story a journey guaranteed to leave you with That Harlequin Feeling.

Review & Excerpt: Flight by Laura Griffin

Series: The Texas Murder Files #2
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes
Publisher: Berkley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 30th, 2021
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When former forensic photographer Miranda Rhoads moves to the seaside town of Lost Beach, she's decided to make her living as a wildlife photographer and put crime scenes behind her. But her plans are quickly upended when one morning, she comes across a couple sleeping in a canoe, entwined in an embrace. Looking closer, she realizes the man and woman aren't asleep – they've been murdered.

Detective Joel Breda sets out to find answers – not only about the unidentified victims in the marshy death scene, but also about the aloof and beautiful photographer who seems to know more about his investigation than he does.

As they begin to unravel the motivation of a merciless serial killer, Miranda and Joel must race against the clock to make an arrest before the killer can find them first.

Bea Reviews A Wild Legacy by Celeste de Blasis

Series: Wild Swan Trilogy
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes but not recommended
Publisher: Bookouture
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: Feb. 15th, 2021
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from Amazon:

Lexy Culhane follows in stunned silence as her father bundles her younger brothers onto the train in a midnight flight away from the only life they have ever known. It seems impossible to her that her gentle, loving mother could have shot a man.

Despite the shock, Lexy soon grows to love her new home at Wild Swan, the grand horse farm in Maryland run by her formidable grandmother, Alexandria Falconer. It is from Alex that Lexy has inherited her fiery and rebellious spirit, and which eventually leads her headlong into a career as a crusading reporter during the final days of the frontier wars.

When Lexy meets enigmatic fellow reporter Hawk MacKenna, she feels she has finally found her soulmate. But Hawk’s life is shadowed by a mistake from his youth, and still haunted by her mother’s actions, Lexy struggles to trust him. When her relentless curiosity about his hidden past comes between them, Hawk leaves for the battlefields in the West and Lexy accepts an invitation from distant relations in England. But when she is offered a chance to stay, she faces a test—can she choose between building a new life in this foreign land, or returning to face the pain, and the love, that she left behind?

A stunning, dramatic and heartfelt story by beloved storyteller Celeste De Blasis, set against the backdrop of the most turbulent age of American history. Perfect for readers who love Poldark, Outlander and Daphne du Maurier.

A Wild Legacy was originally published as A Season of Swans.

EXCERPT: Cold Cruel Kiss by Toni Anderson

Today we are celebrating the release of the newest romantic suspense title from New York Times Bestselling Author Toni Anderson by participating in the blog tour! COLD CRUEL KISS is a Cold Justice Crossfire novel and it is available now. Add it to Goodreads and join Toni's FB group for exclusive updates.

Check out my review of "Cold Cruel Kiss" here.