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Books For Review – Week of July 22nd

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Death By C*ck
Fetish Alley, Book 2
By Susan Mac Nicol
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Published: June 2019
Genre: M/M Romantic Suspense

CRIMES OF PASSION

Somehow, after solving one particularly squirrelly case, Clay Mortimer and Tate Williams of M&W Investigations have been deemed experts in all things Fetish Alley. Tate’s taken an undercover assignment for the London police, and solves it with his usual flair. When a brutal and particularly sensitive murder send the shop owners and patrons of Fetish Alley up in arms, once again the police department calls upon Tate and Clay to take the lead in solving the grisly crime. Meanwhile their lives are being redefined in ways neither of them expected, and even though change can be scary, these brave men make certain that love guides them on every road they travel.

Now You See Her
By Mark R. Harris
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
ISBN: 978-1684330287 (pb)
ISBN: 978-1386320241 (ebook)
ASIN: B07CHT8X11
Pages: 219
Genre: Coming of Age Romance, Coming of Age Fiction

Sequel to Fire in the Bones, Mark Harris’s Now You See Her—about nothing less than living with our dreams and the iconoclasm of reality—is an unmitigated joy to read. Once again he enchants readers with a poignant and charming coming-of-age yarn about the power of the stories we tell ourselves.

Hungry for permanent love and a hope that doesn’t disappoint, the precocious protagonist searches for signs while navigating early 1970s America, culling insights from sermons and songs, from comic books to classical movies. With a fertile mind and incredible imagination, he scans the cultural landscape for role models of masculinity and virtue: from Columbo to John Dean, from Wolfman Jack to Bob Newhart, reminding readers in the process of an earlier time Harris is so adept at resurrecting. Negotiating the deep mysteries of young love and the opposite sex, Luke’s riveting pilgrimage and fascinating psychological journey ultimately tells the tale of the beauty of reciprocity and the power of unconditional love. Growing up, like waking up, reminds us of the infinite value of what’s real and the courage it takes to risk vulnerability to experience it to the full.

A Fatal Secret
by Faith Martin
HQ Digital
Release Date: September 6, 2019
Mystery & Thrillers

Don’t miss the new gripping Ryder and Loveday mystery from global bestseller Faith Martin!

Oxford, 1961

A family day out at Briar’s Hall ends in tragedy when a young boy goes missing – and his body is found at the bottom of a disused well in the orchard.

It looks like a simple case of an eleven-year-old exploring where he shouldn’t: a tragic accident. But Coroner Clement Ryder and Probationary WPC Trudy Loveday aren’t convinced. If Eddie had been climbing and fallen, why were there no cuts or dirt on his hands? Why would a boy terrified of heights be around a well at all?

Clement and Trudy are determined to get to the truth, but the more they dig into Briar’s Hall and the mysterious de Lacey family who live there, the murkier things become.

Could it be that poor Eddie’s death was murder? There are rumours of blackmail in the village, and Ryder and Loveday have a horrible feeling that Eddie stumbled on a secret that someone was willing to kill for…

Fans of Betty Rowlands, Agatha Christie and Faith Martin’s DI Hillary Greene series will not want to miss this!

Urban Fantasy – Wishful Thinking by Helen Harper

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Muddled magic. Missing faeries. She’s having one spell of a day at work…

Saffron Sawyer aspires to rise from the magical world’s bottom rung. But when her wish to join the renowned Office of Faery Godmothers is granted, bullies make her first day on the job unbearable. And to add to her misery, she discovers that someone is abducting her coworkers one-by-one.

Desperate to prevent another kidnapping, she scrambles to piece together the clues. After teaming up with the handsome and powerful Devil’s Advocate, she uncovers a strange connection between the disappearances and her lowly former gig. But when Saffron learns her promotion was only a ploy, she vows to ruin the devious plan.

Can Saffron muster enough magic to trap the villain before she’s sacked or stolen?

Wishful Thinking is the first book in the refreshingly original How To Be The Best Damn Faery Godmother in the World (or Die Trying) urban fantasy series. If you like determined heroines, enchanting spins on old tales, and clever twists and turns, then you’ll love Helen Harper’s captivating story.

Buy Wishful Thinking to watch a spunky sprite strut her stuff!

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About the Author:

After teaching English literature in the UK, Japan and Malaysia, Helen Harper left behind the world of education following the worldwide success of her Blood Destiny series of books. She is a professional member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and writes full time, thanking her lucky stars every day that’s she lucky enough to do so!

Helen has always been a book lover, devouring science fiction and fantasy tales when she was a child growing up in Scotland.

She currently lives in Devon in the UK with far too many cats – not to mention the dragons, fairies, demons, wizards and vampires that seem to keep appearing from nowhere.

Find Judith Online:

Books For Review – Week of July 15th

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The Nanny Rules
by Melynda Price
Publisher: Entangled: Brazen
Release Date: August 12, 2019
Romance

Don’t touch the nanny. It’s one rule I’m most certainly going to break.

Since becoming a single father, I have two things that keep me sane—my daughter Lily and playing football for the NFL. But when my meddling sister hires a nanny without my knowledge, I’m not thrilled to come home and find the woman has taken over my house. Our instant attraction is one more complication I don’t need in my life.

But my daughter loves Amelia, and I will do anything for that tiny munchkin. Even if it means walking around with blue balls most of the time. Why does the nanny have to be so sweet—and drop dead gorgeous? She’s driving me crazy. Never in my life have I wanted a woman more.

I just need to make it through this season. I can do that. Hands free, of course. But then there’s that moment, and I know she’s thinking what I’m thinking and, well, yeah. Screw the rules…

Wishful Thinking
How To Be The Best Damn Faery Godmother In The World (Or Die Trying), Book 1
By Helen Harper
Publisher: Harperfire
Release Date: August 26, 2019
Sci Fi & Fantasy

Muddled magic. Missing faeries. She’s having one spell of a day at work…

Can Saffron muster enough magic to trap the villain before she’s sacked or stolen?

The Night Caller
A Detective Carrie Flynn Crime Thriller Book 1
by J.M. Hewitt
Publisher: Bookouture
Release Date: August 15, 2019
Mystery & Thrillers

Detective Carrie Flynn has spent twenty years searching for her little sister, who was kidnapped and never found. The worst part for Carrie is that she was with Hattie on that hot summer day. Carrie saw her sister’s abductor, but she was just a little girl herself, and remembers nothing. She will never forgive herself for letting Hattie down.

When the chance came to join the police force, Carrie didn’t hesitate. She would solve missing person cases and fight for justice – no more families stuck in limbo, no more grieving mothers, no more sisters growing up alone… But now a serial killer is stalking Carrie’s hometown of Manchester: late at night, people are going missing down at the canal. Six years, a dozen disappearances.

When another victim is taken, Carrie is sure the family is hiding something and she’s determined to find out the secret behind their silence. Why does the mother not want to answer Carrie’s questions? Who is the mysterious girl next door? Carrie knows that to track down the killer, she must find out everything she possibly can about the innocents they have chosen to hunt.

Carrie holds on to one fact: last year, standing by the water, she caught a glimpse of the killer, and the distinctive tattoo on his arm. He slipped through her fingers, but she won’t let it happen again. She’ll never stop searching, for the grieving families, for her belief in justice, and her hope that, one day, something she finds will lead her back to her lost little sister.

Can she finally solve the case that has cast a long shadow over her career and will the demons in her own past help her to catch this deadly killer?

If you love Val McDermid, Robert Dugoni or Angela Marsons you won’t be able to put down this dark and twisty thriller. J.M. Hewitt will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Stories I Can’t Show My Mother

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Stories I Can’t Show My Mother
By Ann Tinkham
Publisher: Napili Press
Published: March 2019
ISBN: 978-0999015711 (pb)
ISBN: 978-0999015742 (ebook)
ASIN: B07RSQQZ3C
Pages: 235
Genre: Literature, Fiction, Short Stories

In Stories I Can’t Show My Mother, bat girl receives love voodoo from Needle Man, a woman finagles a direct deposit at a sperm bank, a modern-day Lady Godiva triggers a hot police investigation into a cold case, an astronaut plots to kidnap her former lover’s girlfriend, an escort’s famous client falls for her, and a woman recovering from a breakup has a mile-high quickie with a stranger. These flirty, playful stories explore sexuality and sensuality, taking you to places your mother never wanted you to discover.

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About the Author:

Ann Tinkham is a writer based in Boulder, Colorado. She is an anti-social butterfly, pop-culturalist, virtual philosopher, ecstatic dancer, political and java junkie. When she’s not tinkering with words, she’s seeking adventures. Ann has talked her way out of an abduction and talked her way into the halls of the United Nations. She hitchhiked up a mountain in Switzerland and worked her way down the corporate ladder. Ann has flown on a trapeze and traded on the black market in Russia. She cycles up steep canyons, hikes to glacial lakes and mountain peaks, and blazes her own ski trails. As soon as she amasses a fortune, she plans to buy an island and hopes she won’t be voted off her own island.

Her fiction and essays have appeared in All Things Girl, Apt, Denver Syntax, Edifice Wrecked, Foliate Oak, Hiss Quarterly, Lily Literary Review, Short Story Library, Slow Trains, Stone Table Review, Synchronized Chaos, The Adirondack Review, The Battered Suitcase, The Citron Review, The Literary Review, Toasted Cheese, Wild Violet, Word Riot, and others. Ann’s essay, “The Tree of Hearts” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and her story, “Afraid of the Rain” was nominated for Sundress’s Best of the Net Anthology.

Find Ann Online:

Books For Review – Week of July 8th

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Leadership by Storytelling
The Best Way to Learn Good Leadership Skills
By Dr. Tom DePaoli
Published: May 2019
Business & Investing

Can you become a great leader by storytelling? Unequivocally! Dr. Tom DePaoli wrote a book to prove it. With his book Leadership by Storytelling: The Best Way to Learn Good Leadership Principles, he reveals some authentic principles of great leadership. The principles are demonstrated with compelling leadership stories that support the beliefs. Dr. Tom provides twenty-six principles of successful leadership. He notes that the oldest methods of passing down knowledge was storytelling. A tribe storyteller would be the keeper of the stories and then pass them down to other tribe members. He recommends the storytelling method for leaders. The stories are original from his and others careers. Each principle has a story to help illuminate the principle. The book has cogent and humorous illustrations for the stories. He urges the reader to gather and share their leadership stories. He believes the growth in leadership abilities will be stronger and quicker via the use of leadership storytelling.

The naughty Naughty Chair
By Connie Jessop
Publisher: Wordzworth
Published: April 2019
Children’s Fiction

One day Robert was very bold and his mother sent him to the naughty chair.

Robert hated the naughty chair. He wished that he could get rid of it. Suddenly the naughty chair lifted into the air. Robert was still sitting on it. Was his wish coming true and if so, how would he get off?

The Marked Prince
by M.A. Grant
HARLEQUIN – Carina Press
Release Date: August 5, 2019
Sci Fi & Fantasy Romance

The Summer Court is nothing like Sebastian remembers. The oppressed lower classes are drained of their magick, and around every corner political intrigues threaten an already unstable regime. Sebastian’s only hope of surviving the Court and bringing home Prince Lyne’s traitorous brother lies with Duine, a magickless Unseelie servant desperate to win his freedom. A servant for whom Sebastian, an estranged Seelie royal himself, is developing a dangerous and deepening affection.

But behind the mask Duine wears are secrets as dangerous as what’s smoldering between them. And the more Duine helps Sebastian navigate Court life, the more it becomes clear the servant is not who he appears to be. How he came to be the whipping boy of one of the most powerful and corrupt faeries in the Summer Court is a truth Sebastian is determined to uncover, even if it puts him at odds with the very people who can lead him to the missing Unseelie prince.

When a powerful enemy steps from the shadows, it could spell the end not just for the Unseelie, but for both faerie Courts. Sebastian must choose: complete the mission and earn his place among the Unseelie who took him in, or risk his very life to ensure freedom for the man he loves.

Coming Soon – The Nanny Rules by Melynda Price

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Don’t touch the nanny. It’s one rule I’m most certainly going to break.

But my daughter loves Amelia, and I will do anything for that tiny munchkin. Even if it means walking around with blue balls most of the time. Why does the nanny have to be so sweet—and drop dead gorgeous? She’s driving me crazy. Never in my life have I wanted a woman more.

I just need to make it through this season. I can do that. Hands free, of course. But then there’s that moment, and I know she’s thinking what I’m thinking and, well, yeah. Screw the rules…

Buy Links:

About the Author:

Melynda Price is a bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary romance. Her Against the Cage series has finaled in many awards such as the RONE, USA Today BBA, Golden Quill, National Readers’ Choice, and New England Readers’ Choice.

What Price enjoys most about writing is the chance to make her readers fall in love, over and over again. She cites the greatest challenge of writing is making the unbelievable believable, while taking her characters to the limit with stories full of passion and unique twists and turns. Salting stories with undertones of history whenever possible, Price adds immeasurable depth to her well-crafted books. She currently lives in Northern Minnesota with her husband and two children where she has plenty of snow-filled days to curl up in front of the fireplace with her Chihuahua and a hot cup of coffee to write.

Find Melynda Online:

Books For Review – Week of July 1st

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Villa of Sun and Secrets
An escapist summer read that will keep you guessing
by Jennifer Bohnet
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Release Date: August 8, 2019
Romance, Women’s Fiction

Unputdownable, a heart-warming story of love, family and friendship in the glorious south of France. What’s not to love!’ Lucy Coleman

It’s never too late to live the dream…

Carla Sullivan’s 50th birthday is fast approaching when her whole world is turned upside down. Discovering her feckless husband is having yet another affair and following her mother’s death, she is in need of an escape. Finding an envelope addressed to her mother’s estranged sister Josette in the South of France gives Carla the perfect plan.

Seizing the moment, she packs her bags and heads to Antibes to seek out the enigma known as Tante Josette. But as the two women begin to forge a tentative relationship, family secrets start to unravel, forcing Carla to question her life as she has always known it.

A heart-warming tale on the beautiful French Riviera, which will keep you guessing. From the bestselling author of Summer at Coastguard Cottages, The Little Kiosk by the Sea and Rosie’s Little Cafe on the Riviera. Perfect for the fans of Jill Mansell and Fern Britton.

What readers are saying about Villa of Sun and Secrets:

‘This was the first Jennifer Bohnet book I’ve read, but it definitely won’t be the last. A beautifully written and heart-warming tale of family and friendship, I was completely transported to the south of France and that stunning villa. When can I move in?’ Jessica Redland

Praise for Jennifer Bohnet:

‘A great holiday read to chase away the winter blues.’ Lesley Newton (Good Housekeeping)

‘A beautiful book, a perfect read for when you need a little bit of sunshine to help you through your day.’ Book Worm Mummy

‘Jennifer Bohnet took me away into a sunny world full of surprises! I read the entire book in one sitting.’ Urban Book Reviews

Return To White Catcliff
By Inna Val Helm
Publisher: IVX Books
Published: January 2019
General Fiction (Adult), Sci Fi & Fantasy

Return to White Catcliff is Inna Val Helm’s debut novel presented by an unforgettable cast of characters. Fantasy and reality merge amid elements of anthropomorphism, eternal life, and dimensional existence. It tells the story of thirtysomething Nick Taylor and his black Lab, BD, who stumble upon a convenience store robbery in a suburb of present-day Chicago and are left for dead. They awaken to find themselves in the tranquil village of White Catcliff, where inhabitants faced certain death immediately prior to arrival. The antagonist is VEIL (Volunteer Eleemosynary Institute and League), which presents as a humanitarian organization, but its true agenda is steeped in pillage and plunder. Nick’s mission is to stop its proliferation. This means he must not only leave his new home, but of greater consequence, he must travel alone, leaving his best friend behind.

Someone Else’s Baby
A gripping, twisty psychological thriller
by Ruby Speechley
Publisher: Hera Books
Release Date: July 25, 2019
Mystery & Thrillers , Women’s Fiction

She gave away her children. Now she wants them back.

Charlotte Morgan knows how it feels to desperately want a baby. As a child, seeing her mum devastated by losing her longed-for babies, Charlotte wished another woman could give her mother what she so craved.

Now Charlotte’s a mum herself, and knowing how much love her daughter, Alice, brings into her life, she vows to help others achieve their dreams of becoming a parent.

When she meets Malcolm and Brenda on a surrogacy website, it seems that she has found the perfect couple. In their late forties, they’ve spent their life building a successful business and travelling the world, but there’s just one thing missing – a child of their own.

When Charlotte falls pregnant with twins, the pair are overjoyed. And while Charlotte’s heart breaks as she hands them over, her reward is knowing how much happiness the two tiny babies are going to bring into their life.

But are Malcolm and Brenda all they seem? As secrets become unravelled, Charlotte is forced to face that she has handed her babies over to virtual strangers. And when Malcolm and Brenda disappear without a trace, Charlotte is plunged into a frantic search for the babies she carried – before it’s too late…