Friday, February 26, 2021

#Giveaway Showcase The Widow Catcher by Jonette Blake a Partners in Crime tour

Today I'm showcasing another wonderful offering from my favorite blog tour sponsors Partners in Crime, this one The Widow Catcher by Jonnette Blake is a thriller from Down Under. Don't forget to enter the #Giveaway!!
Enjoy!

THE WIDOW CATCHER Banner

 

The Widow Catcher

by Jonette Blake

February 1-28, 2021 Tour

Synopsis:

The Widow Catcher by Jonette Blake

Delia Frost loves her job at the bank. She loves her customers, most of whom are elderly. She doesn’t love the idea of quitting her job to travel around Australia in a motor home with her husband who is recovering from a heart attack. And she can’t bring herself to tell him that she doesn’t want to go.

Days before she quits her job, she is invited to a book club meeting, run by a local celebrity. This seems like a beacon of hope, one last chance to do something for herself before she leaves it all behind.

But this isn’t a random invitation.

Delia has been carefully selected by a serial killer to play her part in the murders of elderly widows.

​Finding herself caught in a web of blackmail and murder, Delia is now keen to leave this town behind. But the killer doesn’t want to let her go.

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller
Published by: Jonette Blake
Publication Date: August 27th 2020
Number of Pages: 260
ISBN: 9798675198726
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Review The Last Tiara Interview with author M.J. Rose

 Today on the blog I'm reviewing The Last Tiara by one of my most favorite authors, M.J. Rose and as a special treat M.J. sat down and chatted all about her new book. I know if you don't have it on your list after learning all about it you will.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-1952457098
Publisher: Blue Box Press
Release Date: 02-02-2021
Length: 437pp
Source: Netgalley/Publisher for review
Buy It: Amazon/B&N/IndieBound

Overview:

A provocative and moving story of a young female architect in post-World War II Manhattan who stumbles upon a hidden treasure and begins a journey to discovering her mother's life during the fall of the Romanovs.

Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother's secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother's effects — a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels.

Isobelle's research into the tiara's provenance draws her closer to her mother's past — including the story of what became of her father back in Russia, a man she has never known. The facts elude her until she meets a young jeweler who wants to help her but is conflicted by his loyalty to the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners.

Told in alternating points of view, the stories of the two young women unfurl as each struggles to find their way during two separate wars. In 1915, young Sofiya Petrovitch, favorite of the royal household and best friend of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, tends to wounded soldiers in a makeshift hospital within the grounds of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and finds the love of her life. In 1948 New York, Isobelle Moon works to break through the rampant sexism of the age as one of very few women working in a male-dominated profession and discovers far more about love and family than she ever hoped for.

In the two narratives, the secrets of Sofiya's early life are revealed incrementally, even as Isobelle herself works to solve the mystery of the historic Romanov tiara (which is based on an actual Romanov artifact that is, to this day, still missing) and how it is that her mother came to possess it. The two strands play off each other in finely-tuned counterpoint, building to a series of surprising and deeply satisfying revelations.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Sophia Rose Reviews Sprinkles and Sea Serpents by Danielle Garrett

Today once again I welcome Sophia Rose to the blog with her audio review of Sprinkles and Sea Serpents by Danielle Garrett, book #1 in her Sugar Shack Witch Mystery series.
Enjoy!

Sprinkles and Sea Serpents by Danielle Garrett

#1 Sugar Shack Witch Mystery

Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Published: 2.9.21

ASIN:  B08SR6XQ6X

Time:  8 hours

Rating: 3.5

Format: MP3

Source:  Tantor Audio

Sellers:  Amazon / Kobo

Add To: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

They say you can't go home again. . .oh, if only that were true.

Thanks to a series of unfortunate events - and one backstabbing frenemy - home is exactly where I'm headed. back to Winterspell Lake, the small community in Eastern Washington where magic runs rampant and humans are outlawed.

Faster than you can say hocus pocus I'm unpacking my bags and settling into the guest room of my parents' house, trying to ignore the creeping sensation that I'll never break free again.

The one thing Winterspell has going for it is the sweets shop in the center of town, a bakery filled with magical creations designed to enchant the taste buds and charm even the pickiest of connoisseurs. Luckily for me, I get the friends and family discount since my parents own the famous Sugar Shack. If I want room and board, I have to frost cupcakes and sling macaroons with the rest of the fam.

Unfortunately, things in Winterspell aren't all sugar cookies and rainbows. According to the local news, a dangerous sea serpent has claimed the lives to three missing girls. The journalist in me has to have a look for myself, and what I find is something far more deadly.

Something that makes me wish I'd stayed in the bakery.

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Review Bait and Witch by Angela M. Sanders book 1 in the Witch Way Librarian series Kensington Publishers

Today I'm so happy to be sharing Angela's latest novel, and first in a brand new, Witch Way Library, paranormal cozy series.
Enjoy!


ISBN-13:  9781496728746
Publisher: Kensington Publishers
Release Date: 12-29-2020
Length: 336pp
Source: Publisher for Review
Buy It: Publisher/Amazon/B&N/IndieBound

Overview:


Librarian Josie Way moved to small-town Oregon to lay low. Instead, thanks to newfound magic abilities—and a killer on the loose—she’s leapt out of the frying pan and into a cauldron of trouble . . .

Josie Way loved working among the Library of Congress’s leather-scented stacks—until she uncovered corruption and made herself a target. As Wilfred, Oregon’s new librarian, Josie can stay undercover until the case goes to court. But life in this little town isn’t as subdued as she expected. The library, housed in a a Victorian mansion, is slated to be bulldozed. Still digesting the news that her safe haven is about to become scrap lumber, Josie discovers a body in the woods . . .

Almost as shocking, Josie learns that she’s descended from a long line of witches—and her powers have suddenly sprung to life. With help from a spoiled alley cat who just may be her familiar, Josie’s thumbing through a catalog of suspects, hoping she can conjure a way to save her library—and her life. 

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

#AudibleReview Dark Prince’s Enigma -Dark Prince’s Dilemma- Dark Prince’s Agenda by I.T. Lucas

A few years ago a friend turned me onto The Children of the Gods paranormal romance series by I. T. Lucas and it has become one of my all time favorite series and it's impossible to review just one so here is the review for books 29-31.
Enjoy!


ASIN: B07VVMXWJG
Publisher: I.T. Lucas
Release Date: 08-05-2019
Length: 7hrs-47 mins
Source: Purchase Amazon/Audible


As the son of the most dangerous male on the planet, Lokan lives by three rules:
Don’t trust a soul.



ASIN: B07XVT2SV9
Publisher: I.T. Lucas
Release Date: 09-16-2019
Length: 7hrs-42mins
Source: Purchase Amazon/Audible


Would Kian decide that the benefits of trusting Lokan outweigh the risks? Would Lokan betray his father and brothers for the greater good of his people? Are Carol and Lokan truelove mates, or is one of them playing the other?

ASIN: B081BBP7KL
Publisher: I.T. Lucas
Release Date: 11-11-2019
Length: 8hrs-3mins
Source: Purchase Amazon/Audible

While Turner and Kian work out the details of Areana's rescue plan, Carol and Lokan's tumultuous relationship hits another snag. Is it a sign of things to come?






My Audible review(s):

Dark Prince’s Enigma
Dark Prince’s Dilemma
Dark Prince’s Agenda

 

This three book story is a game changer for this series when IT brings not just a doomer into the fold of the clan but one of Navuh’a sons and in true I.T. Lucas style fans will be forced to binge read them to find out how it all works out in the end. Readers will reconnect with old series friends and be privy to a very secret special ops assignment. They will also get up close and personal with Carol, the series bad girl turned bad-assed secret weapon and Lokan the Prince who fans love to hate. Readers will get non-stop action interspersed with Lokan and Carol’s love story and a rare look at Navah’s harem. Long time fans of the series may be able to skip around but new readers need to start with book one to get the whole story. And what a story it is.

The narration by Charles Lawrence remains the main reason I spend the extra cash to get this on audible. His deep, distinct clear baritone gives that something extra and is the absolute perfect choice for narrating these novels.

Carol has survived for centuries using her female wiles until she was abducted and tortured by an immortal sadist and after being rescued by the clan she’s determined to do her part for the clan by infiltrating the doomer’s island as a spy to finally bring them down. When the clan captures one of Navuh’s sons she’s prepared to use whatever it takes to get him to spill some doomer beans. What she didn’t expect was to find out that he was her true love mate, which just confirms that the fates have it in for her.

Lokan has had a lot to contemplate since his capture by the clan. He’s fallen for a beautiful immortal temptress who claims they’re fated mates, he knows he’s addicted to her but he doesn’t believe in the fates or fated mates. But when he meets the clan mother, the Goddess Annani who tells him she believes he’s the son of her sister Areana that he truly believes and knows he has no choice but to help Carol gain access to his father’s harem to rescue his mother.

 

About the author:
I.T. Lucas, the author of the Children of The Gods series, lives in Southern California with her five favorite guys. Ever since meeting the love of her life at a high-school party, she and her hubby have been doing everything together; from majoring in business and then starting and running their own, to raising four wonderful boys.

A voracious reader, her interests run the gamut from fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal romance, to forays into the mythologies and histories of ancient civilizations, philosophy, the nature of the universe – physical and metaphysical, and more.

Still, if not for her sons' insistence, she would've never thought of incorporating this fascinating trove of information into fiction. Of course, what they had in mind were not the smart yet steamy paranormal-romance novels she ended up writing… which they can't read… Their dad, naturally, reads everything, offers suggestions, and with the right incentives, proofreads.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Showcase The Mermaid and the Minotaur by Dorothy Dinnerstein with a new introduction by Gloria Steinem Other Press

Today I'm so so excited to be bringing my readers my feature on The Mermaid and the Minotaur by Dorothy Dinnerstein first published over forty years ago and is still so relevant today and in it's second reprint from my absolute fave indie publisher, Other Press.
My copy is high on my TBR shelf and I can't wait to read it and share my thoughts but until then delight in the showcase!

Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-1-63542-094-4
Publisher: Other Press
Release Date: 2-16-2021
Length: 336pp
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

Overview:


One of the most significant and enduring texts in psychology and gender studies, now with a new introduction by Gloria Steinem.

Since its publication in 1976, Dorothy Dinnerstein’s The Mermaid and the Minotaur has been recognized as one of the most significant contributions to modern feminist thought. The book, translated into at least seven languages, is widely used in women’s studies courses and is an influential text outside academia as well. On a level with Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, it has remained intensely relevant to a wide audience due to its pioneering message of equality. In this work, Dinnerstein challenges the ideology underlying the female monopoly of childcare and demonstrates the importance of men taking a similarly active role in parenting. A seminal feminist text, The Mermaid and the Minotaur brilliantly integrates feminist theory with Kleinian psychoanalytical theory.

Friday, February 12, 2021

Showcase - Comes The War by Ed Ruggero A Tor/Forge new release

 Today I'm showcasing #2 in Ed Ruggero's Eddie Hawkin's series, Comes The War. Ruggero takes readers back to WWII Britan where Lieutenant Harkins is tasked with investigating the murder of an OSS operative.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:  9781250312877
Publisher: Tor/Forge
Release Date: 02-09-2021
Length: 288pp
Eddie Harkins #2
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound


Overview:


Set against the heroism and heartbreak of WW II, former Army officer Ed Ruggero's Comes the War brilliantly captures the timeless stories of ordinary people swept up in extraordinary times

April 1944, the fifty-fifth month of the war in Europe. The entire island of Britain fairly buzzes with the coiled energy of a million men poised to leap the Channel to France, the first, riskiest step in the Allies’ long slog to the heart of Germany and the end of the war.

Lieutenant Eddie Harkins is tasked to investigate the murder of Helen Batcheller, an OSS analyst. Harkins is assigned a British driver, Private Pamela Lowell, to aid in his investigation. Lowell is smart, brave and resourceful; like Harkins, she is prone to speak her mind even when it doesn’t help her.

Soon a suspect is arrested and Harkins is ordered to stop digging. Suspicious, he continues his investigation only to find himself trapped in a web of Soviet secrets. As bombs fall, Harkins must solve the murder and reveal the spies before it is too late.


At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Showcase - Hit Me With Your Best Scot by Suzanne Enoch St. Martin's Press


Today I'm showcasing Suzanne Enoch's third and final in her Wild Wicked Highlander series, Hit Me With Your Best Scot. I just love her play on word titles and what's inside is even better.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:  9781250296429
Publisher: St. Martin Paperbacks
Release Date: 02-09-2021
Length: 336 pp
Wild Wicked Highlander #3
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

Add To: Goodreads


Overview:

The final book in the wickedly seductive new Scottish historical romance trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Enoch, Hit Me With Your Best Scot!

The MacTaggert brothers have one task:
Find English brides or lose their land!


Coll MacTaggert, Viscount Glendarril, is a big, brawny Highlander who doesn’t like being told what to do—not even by his exasperated English mother who is determined to see her eldest son wedded and bedded. However, when he comes to the rescue of an irresistibly beautiful woman, Coll discovers that he may have found his perfect match…

The challenge isn’t that Persephone Jones is famous, wealthy, independent, and smarter than anyone he knows.The problem is that she isn't interested in marrying any man—especially not a hot-headed Scot—even if he is the only man who seems to understand who she really is even when she’s not sure herself. When Coll learns that Persephone is actually a lady-in-hiding and someone is willing to kill her for what she stands to inherit…Well, Coll has never been one to turn down a fight. When hearts are involved, nothing comes between a Highlander and his lady.

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Showcase - Nuestra América My Family in the Vertigo of Translation by CLAUDIO LOMNITZ Other Press

Today I'm showcasing another riveting memoir from my favorite indie publishers, Other Press. This book follows eminent anthropologist and historian Claudio Lomnitz's family from Eastern Europe to South America.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:  978-1-63542-070-8
Publisher: Other Press
Release Date: 02-09-2021
Length: 464pp
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

Overview:


NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS

A riveting study of the intersections between Jewish and Latin American culture, this immigrant family memoir recounts history with psychological insight and the immediacy of a thriller.


In Nuestra América, eminent anthropologist and historian Claudio Lomnitz traces his grandparents’ exile from Eastern Europe to South America. At the same time, the book is a pretext to explain and analyze the worldview, culture, and spirit of countries such as Peru, Colombia, and Chile, from the perspective of educated Jewish emigrants imbued with the hope and determination typical of those who escaped Europe in the 1920s.

Lomnitz’s grandparents, who were both trained to defy ghetto life with the pioneering spirit of the early Zionist movement, became intensely involved in the Peruvian leftist intellectual milieu and its practice of connecting Peru’s indigenous past to an emancipatory internationalism that included Jewish culture and thought. After being thrown into prison supposedly for their socialist leanings, Lomnitz’s grandparents were exiled to Colombia, where they were subject to its scandals, its class system, its political life. Through this lens, Lomnitz explores the almost negligible attention and esteem that South America holds in US public opinion. The story then continues to Chile during World War II, Israel in the 1950s, and finally to Claudio’s youth, living with his parents in Berkeley, California, and Mexico City.

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Showcase - The Vineyard at Painted Moon by Susan Mallery Harlequin

I am so excited to be bringing you Susan Mallery's latest stand alone, The Vineyard at Painted Moon. A poignant story about starting over. I can't wait to read this and I know once you read about it you will too.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:9781335912794
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: 2-09-2021
Length: 400pp
Buy It: HQN/ Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

Overview:


"Mallery is an expert at writing about strong women, their friendships, and their romances."—Booklist on The Vineyard at Painted Moon

Step into the vineyard with Susan Mallery’s most irresistible novel yet, as one woman searches for the perfect blend of love, family and wine.


Mackenzie Dienes seems to have it all—a beautiful home, close friends and a successful career as an elite winemaker with the family winery. There’s just one problem—it’s not her family, it’s her husband’s. In fact, everything in her life is tied to him—his mother is the closest thing to a mom that she’s ever had, their home is on the family compound, his sister is her best friend. So when she and her husband admit their marriage is over, her pain goes beyond heartbreak. She’s on the brink of losing everything. Her job, her home, her friends and, worst of all, her family.

Staying is an option. She can continue to work at the winery, be friends with her mother-in-law, hug her nieces and nephews—but as an employee, nothing more. Or she can surrender every piece of her heart in order to build a legacy of her own. If she can dare to let go of the life she thought she wanted, she might discover something even more beautiful waiting for her beneath a painted moon.

Monday, February 8, 2021

Showcase- The Ruthless by David Putnam Oceanview Publishing

Today I'm showcasing David Putnam's latest in his series staring Sheriff Bruno Johnson, The Ruthless.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-1608094066
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Release Date: 02/02/2021
Length: 336pp
Bruno Johnson #8
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound


Overview:


Bruno Johnson, shaken to his core, but still a formidable force—an unrelenting focus on doing the right thing—unwilling to let anyone or anything stand in his way

Pushed to his emotional limit, Los Angeles County Sheriff Deputy Bruno Johnson struggles to hold his family together while immersed in his unrelenting career. His daughter, Olivia, is a teen mom to twin toddlers; her common-law husband, Derek Sams, is a thug; and one of their little boys has disappeared under his care.

The overwhelming intensity demanded of Bruno on this personal level is compounded by the brutal shotgun murder of a superior court judge and his wife, both friends of his. Bruno cannot ignore these violent crimes even though he’s supposedly off the law enforcement grid—undercover—working an illegal gun sting.

Tragedy strikes Bruno’s life on all fronts: family, friends, and professional—however, none of these colossal forces can match the unthinkable catastrophe that will forever dominate Bruno’s life.


Perfect for fans of Robert Crais and Michael Connelly

Friday, February 5, 2021

#GIVEAWAY #AudioBlitz Shattered Lies by Winter Paige Caffeinated PR



Today we are celebrating the release of Shattered Lies, the first audiobook in the Devastation Duet series by Winter Paige. You won’t to miss this romance narrated by Connor Crais and Eva Glade.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Showcase: Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb

There is no other author as prolific as J.D. Robb aka Nora Roberts and one reason is her Eve Dallas series and unbelievably Faithless in Death is #52 in this series. I have this on my shelf so check back later for my review too!
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 9781250272751
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: 2-09-2021
Length: 416pp
In Death #52
Pre-order: Amazon/B&N/IndieBound

Overview:


In the new Eve Dallas police thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling author J. D. Robb, what looked like a lover’s quarrel turned fatal has larger—and more terrifying—motives behind it…

The scene in the West Village studio appears to be classic crime-of-passion: two wineglasses by the bed, music playing, and a young sculptor named Ariel Byrd with the back of her head bashed in. But when Dallas tracks down the wealthy Upper East Side woman who called 911, the details don’t add up. Gwen Huffman is wealthy, elegant, comforted by her handsome fiancé as she sheds tears over the trauma of finding the body—but why did it take an hour to report it? And why is she lying about little things?

As Eve and her team look into Gwen, her past, and the people around her, they find that the lies are about more than murder. As with sculpture, they need to chip away at the layers of deception to find the shape within—and soon they’re getting the FBI involved in a case that involves a sinister, fanatical group and a stunning criminal conspiracy.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Sophia Rose Reviews: First Fate by Kendall Talbot

Today Sophia Rose is reviewing the first in a new post apocalyptic series, First Fate, Wave of Fate #1.
Enjoy!

First Fate by Kendall Talbot

#1 Wave of Fate

Post-Apocalyptic Adventure

Publisher:  Self

Published: 1.21.21

Pages:  372

ASIN:  B08HYDT1WC

Format: eARC

Source:  Author

Sellers:  Amazon



Tuesday, February 2, 2021

#MacmillanAudio review of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah narrated by Julia Whelan

Kristin Hannah has written some unforgettable novels but she may just have outdone herself with her latest historical masterpiece, The Four Winds. Devastation yet hope, humiliation yet determination is what the audience will find in this incredible novel set during yet another trying time in America, the dust bowl and the depression.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 9781250317247
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: 2-02-2021
Length: 15 hrs-2 mins
Source: from publisher for review
Buy It: Audible/Libro.fm

Overview:



Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.

By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.