Release Day Blitz: Red Wine Lover [Tales from the Chocolate Lab Café 02] by Kristin Jeffries!

Their dogs tricked them into one bed, but will their secrets kick them out?

Lauren escaped to Dogwood to start over, taking her Papillon dog, Baby, and her secrets with her. Running from her toxic ex and those who said she was too poor, too weak, too good-girl to make it at her age.

She’s ready to stand on her own two feet—well, her own two red, high heel, De Luxe Chucks. And she found the perfect place to launch her dream French bakery just down the street from her bestie’s café.

Unexpected distraction…or attraction? A certain tatted, black-bearded, sooty-eyed Frenchman, whose dimples don’t quite make up for his over-the-top watchful ways.

Wine seller Jean-Luc was struck by a coup de foudre—thunderbolt of love—the stormy night they met. He promised to return to his family wine estate, yet he can’t get the stunning and sassy Lauren out of his head.

Sure, Lauren parked Jean-Luc in the friendzone—she needs friends more than flings right now. But why is the recovering bad boy so hot to protect her at any cost? And why does he hide from thunderstorms just like his rescue Bernese Mountain Dog, Cabernet?

When instant BFFs, Baby and Cab, force the couple into sharing one bed, the stakes just get higher. Will they unleash their deepest desires? Or will they fall prey to their regrets and run from forever love?

Can Lauren and Jean-Luc trust each other with their hearts…and ALL their secrets?

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

 
Kristin Jeffries writes about her favorite escapes—romcoms and dogs—from her home in Portland, Oregon. After years in health care marketing, she decided to prescribe a dose of healthy escape from daily stress for romance readers like her. Kristin draws her inspiration from her family’s past Chocolate Lab Café in a small Midwest town. Plus, she’s married to the original red hot roaster who advises her on all things coffee. And she injects her affection for a long line of smouchy pups, including an IRL Pirate, into her tales.

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Book Blitz & Giveaway: His Beautiful Game [Lanark Soccer Club 01] by Peyton Lux!

Excerpt!

   Fuckadoodledoo, he's gorgeous.

   “So much so that I can only blink up at him.”

   “Sorry,” he says, easing me fully upright, then carefully letting go, like he's checking I actually want him to. “Didn't mean to startle you. You good?”

   “I’m— yes. Thank you.”

   He smiles, and my brain immediately stops working like a responsible adult’s.

   “Donovan Reid. I'm starting with the team today—was told to swing by medical first for the intake stuff before training.”

   “Tess. PT.”

   He gives me an easy, unhurried handshake. “Don't apologize. Best part of my morning so far.”

   Then, as if the universe is committed to chaos, Rafe appears on the field with that look—the one that says he’s noticed absolutely everything and hates at least one of those things already.

   “Montgomery.” Rafe’s raspy voice comes from right behind me, and my heart leaps in my chest. I spin around to face him; he's looking down at me, eyes burning. “We’ve got that session.”

   I swallow. “Session?”

   “That routine check-up, you know.”

   “Oh, right.” I glance at the time on my tablet. “That’s not scheduled for another forty minutes.”

   “Coach moved some things around. Figured we'd get ahead of it.” His voice is easy and breezy, but his gaze is telling a very different story. He looks from me to Donovan, and a muscle flutters in his jaw. Is he... jealous?

   I look from Rafe to Donovan and realize they are staring each other down, gazes locked, lips in matching thin smiles.

   I am standing on a training field while two hot AF soccer stars glare at one another over my head in a blatantly territorial way. My brain is already twenty steps ahead of itself. One of them is steady, easy, and uncomplicated. One of them is reckless and electric and has already gotten hard for me twice in two days.

   What would it even be like, that traitorous part of my brain wants to know, to just—

   No.

   “Sure,” I say, a little unsteady. “Let’s get ahead of it.”

   Donovan looks between us, easy and unbothered. “Go ahead. I should find out where they're putting my cleats anyway.”

   Rafe looks like he could spit fire. “Wasn’t aware luck was required.”

   “It’s always required. Some of us just hide it better than others.”

   Then Donovan jogs off, and I am left standing with a very angry-looking Rafe Calder.

My childhood crush is my injured captain… and I’m the physio secretly keeping him on the pitch.

Rafe Calder is everything I learned not to want: flashy, reckless, adored, and far too beautiful. He is also hurt, lying about it, and somehow mine to fix.

I catch the limp no one else sees, then make the dumbest deal of my life. Private rehab, locked rooms, my hands on him daily, and one rule I keep pretending still matters.

At first, he pushes because he hates being handled. Then he listens when pain scares him, lets me see the lonely man under the captain’s armband, and looks ready to break when Donovan Reid makes me smile.

Somewhere between treatment lights, late-night checkups, and one reckless after-hours mistake that turns into more, I fall. Not for the fantasy I used to worship, but for the man who finally stops performing.

Then his injury truth explodes, and protecting him could cost me everything.

Worst of all, loving him might end his career.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

Trading boardrooms for bedrooms (of the fictional kind!), Peyton Lux is now fully dedicated to writing steamy workplace romance that leaves readers utterly satisfied.

Her former life in marketing taught her how to craft compelling narratives – a skill she now devotes entirely to her steamy workplace romance novels.

Peyton lives and breathes romance, infusing her stories with undeniable heat and fiercely earned happily-ever-afters.

Facebook

Goodreads

Newsletter

Giveaway!

His Beautiful Game Blitz

Release Day Blitz: Main Event [No Safe Corner 03] by A.D. Justice!

The only thing more dangerous than a hidden enemy… is one who steps into the light. She knows the name now.

When the architect of everything finally walked through Andi’s door wearing the face of a solution, Andi smiled and offered coffee.

Now the machine is cornered. Cornered machines don't retreat. They escalate."

The rules have changed. Witnesses disappear. People close to them are targeted — not as warnings, but as eliminations. The threat no longer stays hidden. It reaches into the places they once believed were safe. The gym. The house. The refuge Andi built for kids who had nowhere else to go.

She’s been afraid before. She knows how to do afraid.

But the truth buried in Andi's past will change the fight entirely — because it didn't start where she thought it did.

Luke Woods has one fight left before the title.

Andi Morgan has one chance to burn the machine down.

Survival isn't the goal. It's the bait.

Finish it.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

A.D. Justice is the award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of several series and stand-alone romance novels in various romance genres, including romantic suspense, contemporary, and paranormal.

When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with her alpha male husband in the Northwest Georgia mountains. They’re living out their own HEA, frequently on horseback with a dog in tow.

She is also an avid reader of romance novels, a master of procrastination, a chocolate sommelier, a twister of words, and speaks fluent sarcasm. An avid animal lover, she has two horses, three cats, and two very spoiled dogs.

She loves chatting with her readers. You’re welcome to stalk her across all social media!

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Newsletter

Release Day Blitz: The Fall Affair by Vi Keeland!

She’s counting down the days until she leaves Tuscany. He’s counting on making her stay.

Some people go to Tuscany to find themselves.

I went to escape—New York, my ex’s new relationship, and a career that derailed the moment I was passed over for partner.

My plan was simple: settle my eccentric Italian grandmother’s estate, sell whatever wasn’t nailed down, and return to the life I’d worked too hard to lose.

Instead, I walked into a mess—a crumbling antique shop, two hundred acres of leased vineyard land, and one infuriating clause in the will: Live and work in the shop for three months, or inherit nothing.

Then there’s the neighbor I clash with instantly. Matteo Lucchese is the infuriatingly handsome winemaker who leases my family’s land and refuses to be impressed by my credentials—or my attitude. He’s rugged and stubborn, stuck living in a time that has long passed us by, and the word rush isn’t part of his vocabulary. Basically, we’re exact opposites.

But as the days stretch into weeks, Tuscany chips away at the armor I didn’t realize I was wearing, and Matteo shows me the appeal of slowing down, of staying rooted, of wanting something other than climbing the corporate ladder.

I came to Tuscany to escape.

But now that the countdown to going home was on, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to leave. And the life I was falling for came with a looming expiration date.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, Israel, and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

Website

Facebook

Facebook Group

Twitter

Goodreads

Review: Better Than Revenge by E.J. Blaise!

Publication date: 25th August 2026
Paperback edition: -
Source: Kindle
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis: Daniela Williams is furious.

A nasty break up after being cheated on is a crappy way to start the year.

What's worse? Her ex and his new girlfriend are on Daniela's swim team.

If she wasn't so against showing she cares about anything, she'd drown him in the pool. This is what she gets for dating teammates.

But Daniela never admits defeat in anything - both in and out of the pool.

Enter Heath Belfort; a captivating and stupidly handsome local surfer. . . and her ex's biggest swimming rival. Heath smiles through her ex's jabs and beats him in every race. So, what better way to get revenge than to fake date the one person her ex hates most?

Heath's up for the challenge . . . on one Daniela agrees to tutor him so he can pass his history class.

Private lessons and staged kisses are just fine with her, but can anyone make it out of a fake relationship unscathed?

This book was my first read from this author! I had heard a few things about some of her other books and I had been looking to read a book from her! I was intrigued by the synopsis of this one and I’d already pre-ordered a signed paperback, so I requested an ARC! After reading, I can say that I enjoyed this book! I loved the direction the plot went in and it only took me a few sittings to read! There was a lot of romance in the plot and I loved the way it developed because it was very much opposites attract and the male character had golden retriever energy and the female character was snarky! I felt like the two of them balanced each other well and taught each other a lot! There was also a little big of action in the plot, but the romance aspect was definitely the main focus! The characters were amazing and made this book even better! Daniela “Dani” was the main character, and in this book she had just broken up with her cheating boyfriend and she wanted revenge! Dani was snarky, focused and I loved her! Did she sometimes say the wrong thing at the wrong time? Yes, but she also felt like everyone was against her and she didn't deserve to be loved! I felt like Dani came a long way in this book and she learned how to have fun and realised that swimming wasn't everything! Heath was the love interest of Dani! I loved Heath! He was very funny and straight with Dani! He also didn’t rise to her snarkiness and he taught her that she shouldn’t have to change herself to be accepted and that she deserved to be around people that genuinely cared about her! Heath was also a lovely guy and cared a lot about those around him! This book was only written from Dani’s point of view, which made sense because it was her story! The synopsis also gives the impression that it was going to be written this way! I did enjoy it only being written through Dani’s eyes, but I would have loved to have went inside Heath’s head and see Dani through his eyes because he had always had feelings for her! I was still able to connect with the other characters that I needed to and it helped me fully connect with Dani and understand her more! I can also completely understand why this book is a standalone! Everything in the plot was wrapped up and the questions answered! The ending was also left at the perfect place for the characters and showed how far they had both come! I now can’t wait to check out this author’s other books! They sound intriguing so I can't wait to give them a read soon and check out her future releases! The cover for this book is also stunning! It's what initially drew me to the book and made me check out the synopsis! I love it a lot and how well it suits the book and characters of Dani and Heath!

Book Blitz & Giveaway: The Art of Keeping Dangerous Books [The Apothecary’s Secret 01] by R.J. Blain!

Excerpt!

   While most tomes lacked sentience, three of my volumes could, when they wish, offer commentary on my work. The three I had had all been bound with human flesh, tanned into a thin leather which had been stretched over a layer of cow to offer it strength and longevity.

   According to one of the tomes, the smallest of the three, he still lived out there somewhere, and a bastard of a tyrant had skinned his back several times to make the volume. He’d gone as far as to tell me precisely which incantations within his covers worked, which brought misfortune to the unwary, and the ones which did nothing at all.

   Dav tended to wake up on Tuesdays, and I took care to offer him a few hours of evening conversation, mostly about the modern world, to keep him from losing what remained of his mind. Once, he’d given me a little knowledge of his past, a teaser of what he knew.

   Once upon a time, he’d beheld Michelangelo carve David, and from time to time during those storied years, he’d even posed for the artist so that he might get every muscle correct. Standing with his arm straight and his hand slightly angled, all so that a tiny muscle of the elbow might be better seen, had been quite arduous on him. A quick search online had revealed Dav to be a nickname for David, and that my tome preferred it over the other options, which irritated his delicate ears.

   His words, not mine.

   Alas, it was not Tuesday, so I doubted Dav would come even if I called.

To master the art of keeping dangerous books, one must learn the golden rule: some knowledge should never be shared.

Bookshop owner by day, restorer of rare and dangerous books by night, Kita James is thrilled to acquire a new poisonous book from the Victorian era. From the swirling patterns on the cover to its unusual leather binding, IN SEARCH OF LIFE is truly a unique find. However, testing of the vibrant tome reveals its darker nature: the leather is that of a human along with an extinct animal from the ice age. To further complicate matters, a new radioactive element is discovered lurking within its pages.

The deeper she delves into the toxic text, the less she likes about what she learns. From the dawn of humanity, people had searched for the secrets of eternal life and resurrection. And if Lugalbanda-Alad, the author of the mysterious volume, was to be believed, he had found it.

Joining forces with Dav, a rather vocal book in her collection, Kita works to unveil the apothecary’s secret. With the right magic and a strong enough will, the forbidden lore might be able to set Dav free along with the other sentient books confined within her shelves.

But all knowledge comes at a price: if IN SEARCH OF LIFE were to fall into the wrong hands, it could usher in the destruction of all Kita holds dear and the enslavement of all mankind.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Kobo

Author bio:

RJ Blain suffers from a Moleskine journal obsession, a pen fixation, and a terrible tendency to pun without warning.

In her spare time, she daydreams about being a spy. Her contingency plan involves tying her best of enemies to spinning wheels and quoting James Bond villains until satisfied.

AI is never used in the creation of RJ's novels.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Giveaway!

The Art of Keeping Dangerous Books Blitz

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Reed Lavender Series by Ashley Capes!

Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned [Reed Lavender 01]

He can speak to the dead. But will giving them justice get him killed?

Reed Lavender lives two lives—one as a detective and another as a reaper. Hearing the last words of the dead is a handy skill in his line of work, but magic can’t solve all his problems. While investigating the case of a teen runaway, he learns his cousin is missing. Racing against the clock, Reed soon finds himself trapped in a vast conspiracy.

A cult is capturing reapers to siphon their powers and his current case is somehow connected. But the deeper he digs, the more dangerous and convoluted the trail becomes. As his two lives get tangled, Reed realizes if he can’t solve the case and save his cousin, the man who listens to the dead will end up joining them.

Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned is the first thrilling urban fantasy novel in the Reed Lavender series. If you love snarky heroes, twisty mysteries and plenty of magic, delve into Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned!

Check it out on Goodreads!

Grab your free copy here

The Radiant King [Reed Lavender 02]

Things aren’t exactly getting easier for Reed Lavender.

Old obligations and new cases are piling up but in the aftermath of Feronia’s defeat, answers are still too thin on the ground. But one clue – his father’s knucklebone – might just lead to something big.

To learn the truth about his parents’ disappearance, Reed will have to take the fight to whoever is behind the growing turmoil in his city. And if the rising number of Spirit-Worms, needy Gods, vindictive lawmen and only somewhat-helpful cousins don’t stop Reed, then his sense of duty might do what the others cannot.

Because Reed now finds himself caught between two goals – solving the murder of Elise or chasing down whoever stole the Goddess’ hand, an unfathomable thief who might hold answers about his parents…

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy here

Summer in the City [Reed Lavender 03]

Reed is about to snap – and this time, nothing is going to stand in his way when it comes to getting answers for Elise, not even a supposedly long-vanished Sumerian God.

Or so Reed thinks.

But summer in the city isn’t going to be like the others. The city itself isn’t quite the same either, and even if you’re lucky (or cursed) enough to count the children of Gods among your friends, nothing is ever simple…

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy here

Author bio:

Ashley is a poet, novelist and ex-teacher living in Australia.

He taught English, Media and Music Production, he ‘sang’ in a metal band, worked in an art gallery and for a few years, slaved away at music retail. (For a few years, he was also a legal secretary).

Aside from reading and writing, Ashley loves (indoor) volleyball, Studio Ghibli and Magnum PI.

Website
X
Goodreads

Giveaway!

Enter the Reed Lavender Series Giveaway Here

Book Blitz & Giveaway: The Art of Almost Losing It [The Richmond Brothers 03] by Alina Jacobs!

Excerpt!

   “Dani!” I unlock the door.

   “Damn, he really did kidnap her—she’s locked up in here and everything,” Connor stage-whispers.

   “Dani!” I bellow, throwing the door open.

   “Oh my god, finally.” She waves. There’s an empty bottle of wine on the coffee table in the seating area and a half-empty one beside her on the nightstand. “Gimme,” she says drunkenly, rolling over on the bed.

   “How did you order pizza?” I rage at her. “How? I took her phone from her.”

   Finn silently points to the cell phone beside her on the bed.

   “God, you suck at kidnapping, dude.”

   “That’s what I’ve been telling him.” Dani peers drunkenly at us. “Ooh, is this a gang-bang situation?”

   “No—I told you, we are not having sex.”

   “Then why did you even kidnap her, dude?”

   “You fucking—” Grayson hisses at Spencer.

   “That”—Dani lists to the side and almost falls off the bed—“is what I wanna know. Inquiring minds wanna… inquire.”

   “How much have you drunk?” I demand.

   “Not enough. Need greasy carbs. Get me a towel,” she orders one of my brothers. “I don’t want grease on the bedspread. Pizza smells so good, and it’s still nice and hot.”

   “You had a phone on you this whole time?” I scream at her as Finn comes back with a bath towel. “That’s my good towel.” I snatch it from him.

   “You can’t be acting like that at the engagement party,” Dani warns me as she pulls a slice of pizza out of the box.

   “Why didn’t you call the cops?” I yell at her. “You see?” I tell Grayson, gesturing to Dani. “She’s crazy. This is not my fault.”

   “You kidnapped her. It is, in fact, your fucking fault.”

   “Yeah. This one’s on you.”

   Ding-dong!

   “I hope that’s my Chinese food.” Dani stuffs a slice of pizza in her mouth.

There comes a time in every almost-thirty-year-old woman’s life when getting kidnapped off the street is preferable to admitting that the hot, rich boyfriend you’ve been bragging about for months does not, in fact, exist.

Yes, it’s terrifying being stuffed in the trunk of a Mercedes, but I would rather be locked in a stranger’s penthouse than sleeping on the floor of my parents’ apartment like the loser daughter I am.

Honestly?

It’s nice to get some alone time. And my own bathroom.

He bribes me with money not to call the police.

I scream at him for forcing me to go to brunch as his prisoner at the hottest restaurant in New York.

Now everyone in my parents’ aggressively posh Manhattan neighborhood thinks we’re dating.

Buckle up, buddy.

I have a full wedding itinerary to attend, and congratulations—you’re my fake boyfriend.

Unfortunately, my kidnapper is the worst fake boyfriend in the history of fake boyfriends.

He’s mean.

Aloof.

Emotionally unavailable.

And deeply offended by how much time I spend on my phone.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to ignore how yummy he smells, all muscular and tall as he fumes next to me in bed, furious because I asked him when the sexy portion of the kidnapping is going to happen.

It’s a fair question, though, right?!? I thought kidnapping came with benefits!

Guess my kidnapper didn’t want me that much after all.

Men lying about their desire for a relationship. Story of my life.

Now I’m trapped.

He’s miserable.

And somehow, this is starting to feel dangerously like a relationship.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

I write the kind of books I love—romantic comedies featuring snarly guys with hearts of gold,kick-ass heroines, and a swoon-worthy happily ever after! Also wine. And cupcakes.

When I’m not writing I can be found drinking tea, surrounded by my massive to-be-read pile!So many books...

You can connect with me on social media or find information on my books at mywebsite.

Sign up for my newsletter so that you can get information about new releases, giveaways, and more!

http://alinajacobs.com/mailinglist.html

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Newsletter

Giveaway!

The Art of Almost Losing It Blitz

Cover Reveal: Love Next Door: A ‘90s Anthem Duet by Eve Kasey & Melanie A. Smith!

One volume, two steamy interconnected romances set in 1995 Seattle

Come to My Window

Hazel Bell has lost everything — her job, her apartment, and her future in Seattle. Now her whole world is a thrift-store wardrobe, a family of houseplants, and a stranger in the opposite window who knows exactly what to say.

They exchange notes instead of names. Confessions instead of introductions. And somehow, the man she’s never met becomes the one person she can’t live without.

Gideon Sarkis knows the truth would end them before they ever begin.

He knows exactly who Hazel is. But she doesn’t know him — or how badly he once hurt her. The more notes they write, the harder he falls. But with his obligations pressing in and her options disappearing, their time is running out.

Some windows are meant to be opened.

But some secrets can shatter everything.

Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

Ben Pedersen is a ghostwriter stuck crafting someone else’s thrillers when a misdelivered package introduces him to the mystery of unit 203 — and its elusive occupant, Heaven Lee.

Lee is a software engineer burning the candle at every possible end, helping build one of the first online bookstores. She doesn’t have time for nosy neighbors. She barely has time for sleep. But the guy upstairs keeps getting her mail, and he’s funny, patient, and her dog likes him more than the UPS guy. So maybe one coffee not-date won’t kill her.

The neighborly arrangement that follows becomes something neither of them planned. But Lee won’t admit what’s in the misdelivered packages, and Ben’s writer brain won’t let a mystery rest. When curiosity crosses a line, both must decide what matters more: protecting their secrets or fighting for what they’ve found.

Love Next Door is two warm, witty nostalgic love stories about the secrets we keep, the walls we build, and the people worth tearing them down for.

Add it to your TBR list on Goodreads!

Pre-order your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

Melanie A. Smith is an award-winning, international best-selling author of steamy romance with smart, self-sufficient heroines and strong, swoony book boyfriends with hearts of gold. A former engineer turned stay-at-home mom and author, when Melanie is not lost in the world of books you’ll find her spending time with her husband and son, crafting, or cross-stitching.

Eve Kasey writes for a design firm by day and reads (and writes!) indie romance novels by night. Her contemporary romances balance swoon and steam while aiming to teach readers something new. She loves romance for the hope the genre conveys as well as the amplification of the simple truth that everyone everywhere deserves a happily ever after - however that looks to them. Eve lives in and loves the Pacific Northwest.

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Torment Becomes Them [The American Oz Maker 01] by Warwick Gleeson!

Excerpt!

   AS SHE KNELT AT THE CATHEDRAL ALTAR in the year 1762 for her royal coronation as Czarina of All the Russias, Catherine Romanova felt like starting a new war. She’d already endured two hours of a five-hour ceremony while wearing twenty pounds of silk and nine pounds of Imperial Crown; and to increase the burden even further, the droning excess of pomp and boredom had drained her of patience, not to mention goodness.

   Wishing to distract herself from the seemingly endless prattle of the Russian Orthodox Patriarch as he recited Old Testament scripture, as well as the oven of suffocating heat created by a hoop dress big enough to hide twenty dwarves, Catherine lifted the curtain on theater. She replayed to herself Earth’s most important war to date—the ultimate conflict to define the fate of human nature itself. Her old violin-playing mentor, Niccolo Paganini, had dubbed it “The Utopia War.”

   While the aged Patriarch stumbled over a droll reading of Malachi, her musing inevitably took her back to the time just before the war, to another world at age fifteen when she lived in the Castle Bärenthoren and had been known to all of Europe as the famous and unruly Princess Fredericke von Anhalt (aka “Freddie”)—the name born by her proudly until her terribly boring coronation now underway.

   Dear God, help me survive this day. My destiny is Catherine, but my soul is Fredericke.

   Even though her every breath and eye blink was being carefully watched and measured by the gaseous Moscow nobles who filled the pews of Assumption Cathedral, her first memory began with a sound. A barely audible titter, like distant footsteps on decayed leaves. She’d considered the scraping sound of a mouse to be the origin, or some other invading creature, for every now and then a cat bird or a dove flew into the study and fell to the floor, finally tiring itself out with fearful flutters.

   So truly, it could have been any number of things.

   Nonetheless, Freddie vowed to ignore the disturbance and return to her prior task: recreating the Greek mathematics of Eratosthenes to determine Earth’s circumference while imagining herself the gallant Sir Francis Drake sailing the Azores in search of Spanish gold.

   Putting quill to paper, she sketched the hull of Drake’s ship, The Golden Hind, before jotting down a few notes on the logic of Eratosthenes, and just as she measured the miles between the two cities in his equation, Syene and Alexandria, the strange tittering repeated. But louder this time. Enough to make her hand slip, the point of quill jaggedly defacing her work.

   What in Beelzebub’s name? she asked herself.

   The disturbance had become too curious to allow any further progress on the circumference of Earth, and though Freddie hated breaking personal vows, she rose from her writing desk, determined to learn the truth.

The War for Utopia Begins

Inspired by a mad vision of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a centuries-old time war is being fought to determine the destiny of the human race. As the conflict rages between the early 18th century and the battlefields of World War I, Czarina Sorceress Catherine Romanova joins forces with her younger self, Princess Von Anhalt, magician Zolo Bold, and World Maker Niccolo Paganini, to face a gamut of powerful and implacable foes. The most dangerous and ruthlessly brilliant of them all, the immortal E. G. Godfellow–once known to ancient Greece as the “Scourge of the Gods”–intends to stop Catherine and her allies from rewriting the history of the 20th century.

Their bold plan, to prevent the 80 million deaths of WW II and inaugurate a new utopian vision for humankind in the 21st century, interferes with Godfellow’s plan to maintain the status quo and thereby usher in his own utopian vision of “One Earth—One Master.” Only one vision will dominate, and either way, the cost will be terrible.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

Warwick Gleeson has lived in both LA, NYC, and D.C. He has worked many different jobs, everything from brick mason to Federal bureaucrat to small business owner. His agent is currently shopping a futuristic thriller to New York, and a screenplay or two are making the Hollywood rounds. His short fiction and poetry has appeared in many journals such as North American Review, Conjunctions, and Quarterly West. He has two grown children in their forties and is married to a most wonderful woman who is an author of historical murder mysteries and a former writer for National Lampoon magazine.

Website

Goodreads

Giveaway!

Torment Becomes Them Blitz

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Obscura Nights [Obscura Nights 01] by Warren Wynn!

Excerpt!

   Little by little, we awkwardly stumbled and sashayed toward the cluster of monsters. A littler further and we slipped into their group. Mere feet separated us from the graceful corpses.

   A stench of boiled tar and kerosene swam over us. The air curdled with heat. We watched the burdeneds’ faces as we moved. No longer paying attention to us. Their shoulders, arms and chests were relaxed. Caring and glossy white eyes stared back at their deceased partners.

   A small pressure pushed against my chest. Rena leaned her head against it, and I realized that she’d been shivering.

   “God. I wonder when they died.” She mumbled so softly I barely heard her. “Wonder if they knew they were dyin’. What they felt when they turned into monsters.”

   I shook my head since it was too risky to speak. Little by little, I moved us to the back of the room. Need to go slow so we don’t alert the burdened.

   Rena looked up at me, her face mere inches from my own. “All their feelings…what happened to them when they died?” Her skin was so bruised and cut up. The dark circles beneath her eyes contrasted her increasingly pale complexion. “Their names? Their memories? Where did they go?”

   My whole body ached. I swallowed. When I tried to comfort her, my mouth opened, but nothing came out.

   Her hand squeezed my shoulder without a lick of strength. “I don’t wanna become like that, Farris. God almighty, I don’t wanna end up being just a memory.”

   I tried to speak but again failed. Realizing my limitations, I instead pulled her even closer. Her breath felt hot against my neck. Her tears chilled my skin.

   Rena gritted her teeth. Her chest shook from deep, silent sobs. “I don’t wanna die, Farris. I don’t…”

   My back stung, muscles ached. Ribs throbbed and head pounded. I looked at the bandages over her eye. Around her ankle. The stains of blood on her cargos, her vest.

   Nameless music played behind us. Forgotten dead danced around us. Filthy ground creaked below us.

Seventeen-year-old Farris Aldan didn’t join the Sentinels to save the world.

He joined to escape insanity.

In Obscura City, contracting the whisperis means shedding your skin and becoming a monster. As a newly trained Sentinel, Farris hunts the infected, hoping vengeance will silence the guilt over his best friend Calla’s death.

Then he’s assigned his first solo mission. Track down Rena, a whisperis-infected punk rocker evading quarantine. From her black hair and beet-red eyes, she’s the spitting image of Calla. Farris can’t bring himself to arrest her. Not with that face, not with that voice.

Choosing Rena brands him a traitor. Now hunted by the Sentinels he idolized, including his adoptive father, Farris learns Rena’s connection to the whisperis runs deeper than anyone imagined. Visions of a cure guide her toward the Hollow, a hidden valley of darkness beyond the city. Only an ancient vantashade named Krieger knows the truth, but it offers a global cure for a terrible price: her life. To save Rena, Farris must risk everything–his future, his family, even the cure itself. And it still might not be enough.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon

Author bio:

Warren Wynnfield is an American author writing young adult science fiction about parallel worlds, bizarre creatures, and mind-blowing twists. His passions in a previous life doing graphic and video game design heavily inspire his stories and characters. His previous novel, ‘Break the Moon,’ was published by Lost Boys Press on March 28th, 2024.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from West Virginia University, Mike left behind the mountains for the beaches of Palm Coast, Florida. If he isn’t kayaking or hiking, he’s earning grey hairs writing through the moonlight hours.

TikTok

Instagram

Giveaway!

Obscura Nights Blitz

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Bad Decisions & Back Roads [Southern Veterinary 02] by Zoe Forward!

Excerpt!

   “Yesterday…I wrecked you?” She gave me a look I remembered. Her green eyes flared. I was about to lose this fight in a way I’d never recover from.

   She slowly unzipped her coveralls. My brain immediately abandoned ship. Not helped by the fact that traitorous memory chose this exact moment to replay yesterday’s rainstorm in vivid detail.

   Meanwhile, in real time, she peeled the coveralls down and somehow stepped out of them while keeping her socks from touching the ground—a feat of female sorcery I could neither explain nor stop watching.

   Underneath was a tight white shirt that clung in ways that should probably require a warning label, a permit, and possibly a pastor on standby.

   My eyes briefly closed. Opened. She was still there.

   Beside me, Cody made a small choking noise.

   I cut him a glare.

   He didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed.

   Then—because she enjoyed cruelty—she lifted both arms and twisted her hair into a messy bun. Which did things. Terrible, magnificent things to her chest.

   Her mouth curved like she knew exactly what she’d done. She pulled a scrub top out of the duffle and pulled it down over the tight shirt. Without a word, she packed the supplies into her duffel, casually picked up the dart rifle from the ground, and started walking up the hill like she hadn’t just detonated every functioning brain cell in a fifty-yard radius.

   Then she tossed over her shoulder—

   “I’m back, Timothy Hurst. End of story.” A few steps later she said, “You’re welcome…for dealing with your dangerous llama.”

The problem with bad decisions is you never stop wanting them.

I used to be the rebellious girl from the wrong side of the fenceline. He was the local hellraiser nobody could tame. While our families carried on a feud older than indoor plumbing, we fell for each other.

Then my vicious father found out. To save Timothy’s life, I broke his heart and disappeared.

Now over a decade later, I’m back as a large-animal veterinarian, working at his brother’s clinic and treating everything from prize dairy cows to Timothy’s homicidal llama. Avoiding him should be easy.

It isn’t.

He’s a single dad running two businesses, still infuriatingly irresistible, and determined to make me pay for every year he spent hating me.

The problem? I never stopped loving him. But if he learns why I really left, I could lose him forever.

Check it out on Goodreads!

Buy your copy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo or Apple Books

Author bio:

USA Today bestselling author Zoe Forward is a parent, wife, veterinarian, and unapologetic chocolate lover. She writes spicy paranormal and contemporary romances that blend action, adventure, humor, and a touch of magic.

Zoe lives in the South with a lively menagerie of four-legged beasts and two slightly wild kids.

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Newsletter

Giveaway!

Bad Decisions & Back Roads Blitz