Release Day Blitz: Holiday Heir [Cartwright Family 04] by Maggie Cole!

He needs her to save his racehorses. She needs him to never find out about their daughter. But some second chances come wrapped in cowboy boots and mistletoe. Hot. Relentless. Impossible to undo.

Small-town gossip never cost me a thing. Until it convinced the best night of my life that I was somebody else's fiancé.

When a family emergency drags me away before sunrise, I do something I never do. I leave the gorgeous redhead a note on the back of a receipt. But when I return, she's gone.

No explanation. No phone number. No last name. No goodbye.

For eleven months, I search for her. Then, without realizing who she is, I hire her to save my family's racehorses.

Only Lainey's been hiding something far bigger than her phone number.

My daughter.

She thought disappearing was the only way to protect us both. Too bad the town gossip that sent her running was nothing but a lie.

Now I'll do whatever it takes to prove she belongs exactly where she always should have been.

With me.

On the Cartwright ranch.

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Author bio:

Maggie Cole is committed to bringing her readers alphalicious book boyfriends and fiercely strong heroines.

She’s been called the literary master of steamy romance. Her books are full of raw emotion, suspense, and will always keep you wanting more. She is a masterful storyteller of contemporary romance and loves writing about broken people who rise above the ashes. Her books can often be found hanging out in the top 100, even years after publication.

Maggie lives in Florida with her son. She loves tennis, yoga, paddleboarding, boating, other water activities, and everything naughty.

Her current series were written in the order below:
All In (Stand alones with entwined characters)
It's Complicated (Stand alones with entwined characters)
Brooks Family Saga (Read in order)
Behind Closed Doors (Read in order)
Mafia Wars (Stand alones with interconnecting plot and entwined characters)
Mafia Wars New York (Stand alones with interconnecting plot and entwined characters)
Club Indulgence Duet
Mafia Wars Ireland
Wilted Kingdom Duet
Holiday Hoax (Standalone)
Holiday Hire (Standalone)
The Underworld Series
Beautiful Delusions Duet

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Book Blitz & Giveaway: Sweet Harmony [A Blue Spruce Hills Novella] by Ellie Noor!

Excerpt!

   Most of my regulars aren’t rolling in money, but they’re willing to pay for coffee and baked goods from a third generation baker.

   It’s their way of making sure I don’t sell out to a chain.

   The hardware store went first; shortly after the Harvest Welcome festival in October. Mr. B knew whose pipes would freeze the second temperatures dropped below twenty degrees and whose drive would form black ice first. Lots of teenagers got their first job there. You’d walk in needing one hex nut bolt and leave forty minutes later fully updated on weather patterns, his wife’s health, and whose nephew was dating whom.

   The pharmacy hurt in different ways. Bo, a sweet man who communicated primarily through nods, knew everyone’s allergies and didn’t need software to flag medication interactions. More importantly, he kept an unofficial eye on our seniors. If someone failed to pick up a prescription on time, he noticed.

   Rationally, I understand that businesses change hands all the time. People retire or die, their kids don’t want to take over the business, buildings get sold. But when you lose enough places like Mr. B’s, the pharmacy, and now the music shop, the town you grew up in only looks the same. The pieces that made it feel like home are gone.

   My thoughts veer toward the dark side again: what will happen to this place if I go? Mrs. Wallace raised my rent two years ago, too. Is there a conversation happening somewhere that I’m not aware of? Has she had an offer on the building?

   These are utterly unhelpful thoughts. Thanks, brain.

   I press the heel of my hand up against my chin. There’s nothing I can do about hypothetical situations and conversations. What I can do something about, however, is the fact that Albi Drechsler has been sitting next door for far too long without a cup of coffee and something to eat.

   Which is, technically, a perfectly reasonable neighborly concern.

   Not me avoiding my problems.

   Not a keen interest in him, either. Although I’m less certain about that one.

   I should stay here and finish inventory, or obsess about dog treats, but kindness is doing a lot of heavy lifting right now.

   The decision is made before I can second-guess myself into changing my mind. I pack up the leftover savory muffins I was going to have for dinner, pour the last of the day’s coffee into a takeout cup, and head to the music shop.

   Because that’s what people do in towns like ours.

   They look in on each other.

Who knew placing second in national baking competition would flood your inbox with opportunities?

Not Clara Whitman.

A third-generation baker, Clara knows that businesses like hers are entrusted, not merely handed over. But with options beyond Blue Spruce Hills suddenly in the mix alongside a looming rent increase, she’s at a crossroads. She can afford to keep the bakery going, but not while pursuing something new.

In a small town where beloved establishments are slowly disappearing, however, even the idea of leaving feels traitorous.

When an up-and-coming violinist comes to town to settle the estate of his estranged grandfather and sell the music shop, he is both a distraction and a reminder that sometimes the real challenge in life is deciding how much of it you’re willing to change.

Sweet Harmony is a spirited celebration of a woman who believes every problem has a solution—set against a backdrop of small-town loyalties, beloved holiday traditions, and the romance that sneaks up on her.

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Stacking the Shelves [135]!

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality where we show what books we got recently. I do this post once a month.

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you’re adding to your shelves, be it buying or borrowing. From ‘real’ books you’ve purchased, a book you’ve borrowed, a book you’ve been given or an e-book, they can all be shared!

Purchased (Ebooks):

Notes of Attraction [Good Grades, Bad Decisions 01] by Lola Lockhart

Take Me Home [Honey Badger Creek 01] by Leah Brunner

Knowing Amelia [Amelia Sequential Duology 01] by Jen Atkinson

Fill In My Blanks [Corvin Creek 01] by Jessica S. Taylor

Who the Heart Chooses [Garnet Valley 01] by Harlow James

Smash by Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland

Rain or Shine [Ironside Ridge 01] by Eva Simmons

Ember Rising [Blue Arrow Island 03] by Brenda Rothert

Carved in the Shadows [Crimson Crows 02] by A.L. Jackson

Purchased (Paperbacks/hardbacks):

If I Have to Be Haunted by Miranda Sun

(Fairyloot edition. Bought from Vinted)

I Did Something Bad by Pyae Moe Thet War

(Afterlight edition. Bought from Vinted)

Gifted from Authors/Publishers:

I, unfortunately, didn't receive any paperbacks or hardbacks this month.

For Review from Author/Netgalley/Edelweiss:

I, unfortunately, didn't receive any review copies this month.

Currently Reading:

What Remains [Sickness 03] by Isla R. Quinn

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Dead Man’s Trigger [Max Maguire Vampire 01] by Kat Huddleston

Excerpt!

   Max had discovered it was great fun to play with his food. He was hunting with George when he ran across a former gang banger turned hit man who liked to call himself Jack King. Max remembered him from his time on the streets and killing King seemed like a really good idea once the hunger set in. Max’s conscience found the game appalling, but the hunger driving him just ate it up.
   He saw King coming out of a restaurant and recognized him right away. He was wearing a trench coat, making him look like a Black mobster. King was headed down the street, probably to his car. Max started shadowing him, while George hung back a bit to let Max do his thing. King spotted his tail almost instantly. He was a pro and he knew he was in trouble. The area was too populated for Max to take him right there, but a good chase would add some spice to the game.
   King dropped his keys and Max knew he was checking him out, sizing up the situation. His gun was probably out, waiting. Max had never been shot before, but hey, why not? It wasn’t like it was going to kill him.
   King stood and walked between the cars lined up along the street. Max followed him. King wasn’t afraid yet. He still felt he had control of the situation. He turned toward a car, as if to open the door, but Max saw the gun in his hand. He was about ten feet away when King turned and pointed the weapon at him. It was a .45 and had a silencer on it. Max was glad of that. It wouldn’t do to wake the neighbors.
   “Do you want something from me?” King asked, ready for a fight.
   Max smiled and walked a little closer. He held his hands out to show he wasn’t holding a weapon.
   “Yes, I do. Are you going to shoot me? I don’t have a gun.”
   “That depends on what you want. Who sent you?”
   “Jimmie Large. I thought we might have a little chat.” Max leaned up against the trunk of a car.
   “Jimmie’s dead.”
   “I know.”
   “He died of a heart attack.”
   “Really? I thought I killed him,” Max said. King looked surprised. He caught sight of George lurking
in the dark, and took a long breath.
   “No loss, either way.”
   “No, it wasn’t,” Max said.
   “What do you want?”
   “A little conversation. Maybe a bite later.”
   “I just ate.”
   Max turned to face him and smiled. He brought his fangs out. “Funny, I haven’t.”
   King looked horrified. He was expecting a hit, not a horror movie. He raised his gun and pulled the
trigger three times. The bullets hit Max in the chest and tore through his body. Max heard them hit the
pavement behind him. It hurt like hell for a moment and Max staggered back a bit. He looked down and
watched the bullet wounds heal. He touched one of the holes in his shirt.
   “Ouch, that hurt... You ruined a perfectly good shirt.”
   “It’s a vest. It’s got to be a vest.”
   King took aim at his head, but Max wasn’t ready to let his brain be turned into Swiss cheese, even if it
would probably heal. He focused on King and he suddenly had him by the throat. He took King’s gun and put it in his pocket, and then released him.

   “I’d hate to have you mess up my hair,” Max said.
   King fell back, terrified. The hunger inside Max was so happy. The man scrambled back. “What are
you?”
   “You know what I am.” Max saw him reach for his ankle, no doubt headed for another weapon. “You
shoot me again and I’m really going to get pissed off... You don’t want that.”

Who Knew Immortality Could Be So Short?

When high school history teacher Max Maguire begins to suspect one of his brightest students is in trouble, he ends up walking down the wrong alley. Suddenly, he’s staring down the fangs of a beautiful, powerful, and utterly merciless vampire named Jade.

As Max’s life takes a dark turn he’s forced to learn how to survive in Jade’s twisted world. But if Jade thinks her hostage is going to play nice, she really should have read his resume. This former Special Forces sniper might just have to dust off some very lethal muscle memory.

While Max plots exactly how to kill the most dangerous predator on the planet, he discovers there’s another group of vampires that have their own plans for Jade. Before he knows it, Max is caught in the crosshairs of a vampire war that neither side can afford to lose.

And there’s one thing neither side knows… Max has a secret of his own.

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Author bio:

Kat Huddleston has never met a perfectly ordinary day she couldn't improve with a vampire, a monster, or an alien invasion.

The result is Dead Man’s Trigger, the first book in her Max Maguire Vampire series, about a former Special Forces sniper turned high school history teacher turned vampire. He has military training, a talent for sarcasm, and a complicated relationship with being dead. Or is it undead?

Kat likes her supernatural creatures intelligent, her heroes complex, and her humor dark. Her vampires don't sparkle.

A Chicago-based writer, teacher, and award-winning artist, Kat spent a couple of decades writing about sci-fi TV and movies for the Syfy Channel’s website and Sci Fi Magazine. She's also written short stories and screenplays, taught fused glass, and created artwork that can be found in several galleries. Occasionally, she pretends she can concentrate on one thing at a time.

When she's not writing, painting, or melting glass in the name of art, Kat lives with her two cats, Jax and Nicky. They provide moral support, quality control, and unsolicited keyboard supervision. So far, neither has offered to help with marketing.

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Cover Reveal: Safe Haven [Fury Verse 03] by Hazel St. Lewis!

He knows my name.

He knows I loved Blackwood.

But he still knows nothing at all.

For ten years, I’ve hunted the monsters who destroyed my life. For ten years, I was the Ghost men feared in the dark. But now my world is caving in. Because if Severin didn’t betray me, then everything I thought I knew is a lie.

I am unraveling. Piece by piece. But I will not break.

⸻

She’s alive.

My little dandelion. Moy oduvanchik.

She’s alive.

And I betrayed her.

I slept with another woman. I’m engaged to that woman. But worst of all, I never came for her. I never rescued her.

And that is my biggest sin.

So now, I will hunt down every last man who ever laid a hand on her. I will destroy them all.

I lost her once, but I will never lose her again.

Author bio:

Hazel St. Lewis is a Romantasy author. Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, she struggled to read and write, but fantasy stories inspired her to start storytelling. Unfortunately, now, she is a little too obsessed with morally gray characters. When she isn’t writing, she can be found playing with her hoard of cats (too many to count…it’s a problem), singing songs to said cats, or painting.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway: Finding Zaide by Kim Deister!

Excerpt!

   I found the new photographer wandering around the top floor, occasionally lifting her hands and moving them around in what looked like a rather lame fight with a ghost. My own skills in photography started and ended with my phone’s camera, but I’d been doing this job long enough to know exactly what she was doing and that I shouldn’t interrupt. She was framing shots in her mind’s eye to find interesting plays of light, good angles, unique backgrounds.

   A stepstool stood nearby, so I sat on it to wait for her, watching her as she moved around the open space. She’s younger than I expected. Even though I’d known when I hired her that she was younger than the more established photographers we usually used, I’d still somehow had it in my head that she’d be older than she clearly was. But now that I saw her in person, I realized that she had to be about my age, give or take a year or two.

   Young or not, however, she looked the part of a creative type. Her chocolate brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun, skewered into place by three jewel-toned chopsticks. The sunlight filtering through the dirty windows glittered off the one ear I could see from where I sat, the cartilage armored by a stack of tiny silver hoops, a bigger one threaded through her nostril. She wore a pair of olive green Army-esque cargo pants with a black camisole left loose over them. On her feet were a pair of purple Chucks that had probably seen better days. More silver encircled her fingers, her wrists, her neck. Tattoos encircled both arms from wrist to shoulder. Another tattoo, a peacock, nestled its head just beneath her ear, the rest of it disappearing beneath her top. What I could see of it was beautiful. Then she turned toward me, and I realized she was beautiful.

   My mouth went dry as our eyes met. The world instantly dropped away, and I forgot how to breathe. Then she smiled brightly, and the world settled back into its rightful place. My breath stuttered, and I fervently hoped she hadn’t noticed the effect she’d had on me. What the hell is wrong with you, Mara? Get your shit together. She crossed the room toward me, dust motes flying up in her wake. When she stopped in front of me, I almost lost my ability to breathe all over again.

   Zaide Rossi was even more beautiful up close.

Life had gotten comfortable for Amara Addison, maybe too comfortable. Fabulous job, great friends, even an amazing ex-boyfriend who was her ride or die for life. Then Zaide Rossi sauntered into her life and suddenly everything changed. But no matter how crazy life became, finding Zaide made every last moment of chaos worth it.

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Author bio:

My name is Kim and my last name, Deister, is pronounced “Die-ster.” I always tell my husband I should have kept my married name, Ingram. So much easier to to pronounce!

I am a writer thoroughly in love with words. Reading them, writing them… I love that words can take you outside of your world and let the unimaginable become imaginable. I love them so much that I decided I needed to create some worlds and stories of my own!

Besides being a writer, I am an Army veteran (and Army wife) and a mom to four sons. I grew up in northern New York in a tiny college town called Potsdam. Over the years, our Army life has taken us all over the place and I have been lucky enough to work and live in some pretty amazing places. Right now we live in Hawaii on the island of O’ahu, minutes from the North Shore.

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Release Day Blitz: Babygirl by Lucy Lennox!

They say I’m Demere University’s Golden Boy.

The Senator’s perfect son and heir.

The kicker who never misses.

The man who doesn’t make mistakes…

Until I do, and my fall from grace lands me in a dorm room with Elliot Vaughn.

Vaughn is reckless and rough.

Solid muscle wrapped in ink.

He runs an illegal fight ring.

He breaks rules like it’s his job.

And since he hates my guts, Vaughn’s decided to break me.

He brings people home—men, women.

Locks eyes with me across the room while he ruins them.

Whispers teasing words that burrow into my brain.

Calls me names no straight man should respond to.

He steals my focus. Annihilates my control.

Makes me want things I can’t afford to want.

Like those rough hands on my skin.

Like giving up everything they say I am for a future that’s all my own.

Like choosing to be his babygirl, even if it destroys us both.

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Author bio:

Lucy Lennox is the USA Today bestselling author of over fifty gay romance titles including the GoodReads Hall of Fame winner Wilde Love. Born and raised in the southeast USA, she is finally putting good use to that English Lit degree she earned before the turn of the century. Lucy enjoys naps, pizza, and procrastinating. She stays up way too late each night reading romance because it’s simply the best.

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