Book Available For Review

Category: Book Available For Review

Books For Review – Week of August 19th

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Scott Free
By Nkosi Ife Bandele
Publisher: Crimson Cloak Publishing
Published: June 2019
ISBN: 978-1681605340 (pb)
ISBN: 978-1681605333 (ebook)
Pages: 136
Genre: Literary Fiction

Scott Free chronicles the life of a near thirty New York City filmmaker, ironically stuck working the concession stand at an upscale movie theater,, trying to negotiate his dead end relationships, too. He hops a “Greyhound $99 Special” en route to Hollywood, but in failing to reach the stars he lands on his knees, down and out in the San Francisco cleaning toilets and realizing that his life West resembles his life East as there’s really no escaping oneself.

Because of You
Drake Isle, Book 1
By Allie Boniface
Publisher: DFM Publishing
Release Date: October 15, 2019
ASIN: B07VN8LMK5
Pages: 250
Genre: Romance

Ten years ago, Piper Townsend fell to her death from the top of a fraternity house, and no one on Drake Isle has ever been the same. Blake Carter’s fraternity was scandalized. Misterion College closed down altogether. And Blake’s girlfriend, Emerson Doyle, fled the island after her best friend died and never looked behind her.

Now they’re back.

Blake’s the CEO of a multi-million dollar tech firm looking to relocate to the island. Emerson owns a yoga studio in the building he wants to buy. They haven’t spoken in ten years. They’re on opposite sides of the bargaining table.

But old flames die hard.

And the more Blake and Emerson fight both the past and each other, the more they realize that coming to terms with tragedy is their only chance of finding love again…

Tides of Time
(The Legacy Series #1)
by Luna Joya
City Owl Press
Release Date: August 20, 2019

A witchy good girl hiding secrets from her family…

Cami yearns for a regular, ho hum, average life. Or at least as normal as she can get in a family of witches. But she can’t tell her sisters about her violent ex. Or that she broke the first rule of magic to “harm none.” Yet, when her youngest sister asks for help unraveling the death of a 1930’s star abused by loved ones, Cami can’t refuse.

A reformed bad boy who doesn’t know his family’s hidden secrets…

Sam lives for his restaurant and the intrigue of digging into Hollywood history. He avoids the entanglements of relationships since even his own parents didn’t want him. But when the enchanting Cami needs his help to crack an unsolved mystery, he can’t resist. The closer they come to finding the killer, the more they crave each other. But someone is determined to stop them.

Can they solve the mystery before history repeats itself?

Books For Review – Week of August 12th

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MARI, Why I Needed to Return from the Future
By Winfried Sedhoff
Publisher: Senraan Publishing
Published: June 2019
ISBN: 978-0994609120
ASIN: B07T2WXH3B
Pages: 220
Genre: Time Travel Sci-fi Romance

What if you discovered your greatest potential for self-realization and happiness was tied to a woman living over a hundred years before you were born?

Earth, 2184 AD. Ben Ecclestone is an advanced arbitrator, trained to keep the peace and to assist others in fulfilling their most heartfelt desires. Offered the opportunity to be Earth’s new ambassador in an enlightened and distant world, Ben embarks on his first interworld mission.

Disaster strikes and his ship crashes through time and space to Brisbane, 2020 AD. Stranded in a city of skyscrapers, digitally-connected loneliness, and rampant dissatisfaction, Ben doesn’t expect to meet a woman like Mari. She is young, vibrant and passionate—with a mysterious past. He is a confirmed celibate. Together they discover a depth of connection and intrigue beyond his wildest imaginings.

Abducted back to his own era by the History Rescue Unit, Ben grasps one desperate chance to persuade another arbitrator to permit the fulfilment of his dreams. But his return to the past could unravel the time thread and threaten the lives and wellbeing of billions.

What is the secret of Mari’s true identity and origin? And will Ben bow to the greater good or reclaim a love beyond compare?

Two Journeys
By Clemens P. Suter
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 978-1468122787 (pb)
ISBN: 978-1452323633 (ebook)
ASIN: B00531REC8
Pages: 550
Genre: Adventure, Thriller

A man left alone on earth.

Alan is visiting Japan on business. After the outbreak of a pandemic, he finds himself to be the single survivor. The viral disease has wiped away his past life: he must fear injury, loneliness and hunger. Yet, Alan decides to travel back to his family in Berlin, straight across Asia. An exciting, thought-provoking book, impossible to put down.

Praise for Two Journeys:
“Move over, Cormac McCarthy, another survivor is traveling the Armageddon road. Clemens P. Suter’s apocalyptic thriller grabs you in the first couple of pages and never lets go. The reader feels real empathy for the main character’s plight as he begins a seemingly impossible 9,000-mile trip to learn his family’s fate. The cause of the calamity is mysterious but clues are uncovered along the way causing tension to build until we reach the shattering climax. Two Journeys is not to be missed.” – G. Dedrick Robinson, author of Blood Scourge

Murder in the Corn Maze
by G. A. McKevett
Kensington Books
Release Date: September 24, 2019

The roots of the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency reach back to the 1980s in the little town of McGill, Georgia—where Stella Reid and her seven grandkids enjoy some spooky Halloween fun and stumble into murder . . .

It doesn’t take cash, just some good old-fashioned creativity, to turn a pillowcase into a ghost costume or a trashcan into a suit of armor. So even if she has to stick to a budget, Stella Reid always makes holidays like Halloween memorable for twelve-year-old Savannah and the rest of her grandchildren.

After joining the other townspeople for trick-or-treating and the annual parade down Main Street, Granny Reid and the kids head to Judge Patterson’s antebellum mansion, where a corn maze awaits. Most of the youngsters are too terrified to make it all the way to the middle. It’s lucky for them, because when Savannah and Granny get there, it proves to be even scarier than they expected—half buried in the mud at the center of the maze lies a human skull.

The grisly discovery uncovers a mystery that stretches back decades—and seems to be related to the long-unsolved murder of Granny Reid’s own part-Cherokee mother. After all this time, the culprit may be long gone . . . or still hiding among them. It’ll be up to Granny to dig into this Southern town’s history and a mess of old family secrets . . .

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!

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.

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…

Books For Review – Week of June 24th

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Jake: A Southern Crime Family Novel
By Carla Swafford
Carla Swafford
Published: May 21, 2019
Romantic Suspense

Forget the Hatfields and McCoys, in a small Southern town, the Whitfields and Tallys are the real family feud. So for some unholy reason, Jake Whitfield’s old man and Angel Tally’s grandfather wrote codicils to their wills the night before they died in a suspicious fire. The codicils require Jake and Angel to marry or lose their inheritances.

Jake feels like a man with two faces. One he presents to his brothers and the public: the criminal willing to step on anyone for a buck while mercilessly protecting the business. The other: the lonely man wanting a better life for himself and his family and working with an FBI agent to make it happen.

To Jake, marrying Angel makes sense. With her family’s help, he can fight the new criminal organization that’s moving into his town. Immersed in the criminal world, there is no hope for Angel, but her brother is still young. She will do anything to protect him from that way of life and whoever killed their grandfather, even marry a despised Whitfield. And Angel never forgot about the sexy incident with Jake in high school ten years earlier.And if she has to go along with a Whitfield-Tally marriage, she wants a replay.

Debt Cleanse
How To Settle Your Unaffordable Debts for Pennies on the Dollar (And Not Pay Some At All)
By Jorge P. Newbery
Publisher: Community Books
Self-Help

Jorge Newbery erased his debts without filing bankruptcy. Now you can, too.

Like many Americans, Newbery struggled with debt. But unlike most people, he owed more than $26 million. Creditors swarmed after a natural disaster devastated his multi-million dollar business. The stress was crushing. He needed a way out — and what he discovered will amaze you.

His breakthrough came practically by accident. One of his creditors made a sloppy legal mistake, and he battled the creditor all the way to the Missouri Court of Appeals. The court ruled that the entire debt — nearly $6 million — was “inadvertently extinguished.” It didn’t have to be paid. It was completely eliminated.

Newbery applied the powerful techniques he had learned to all his other debts. The results were astonishing. One after another, his debts were either settled or gone forever.

Now, Newbery reveals his proven debt-cleansing methods. In simple, step-by-step instructions, you’ll learn how to…

– Assert your rights and defend yourself against creditors.

– Stop making payments — and turn that to your advantage.

– End harassing collection calls.

– Dispute your debts to stack the odds in your favor.

– Uncover deficiencies that can put money in your pocket.

– Protect your assets from creditors (100% legally).

– Negotiate the best possible settlements.

– Be debt-free for life.

Debt Cleanse shows you how to gain leverage over your creditors. You can settle your unaffordable debts for pennies on the dollar – and not pay some at all.

Don’t let your debt burden you one more day. This book will set you free.

Island of Last Resorts
by Mary Ellis
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Mystery & Thrillers

Kate Weller’s boss, Nate Price, has some exciting news: Julian Frazier, a friend of one of the agency’s wealthy clients, has invited the Nate Price Investigations team and their partners on a trip of a lifetime to his home on Elysian Island, an exclusive retreat off the Georgian coast. But there’s a catch. Frazier has written his own murder mystery script, and the PIs must work out whodunnit. As they’re about to discover, though, the murder Frazier wants them to solve is a real cold case, and there’s a killer twist that isn’t in the script . . . Unable to reach Elysian Island and her co-workers, Kate is sure that someone wants her to stay away. Can she stop a ruthless killer and uncover the truth behind a deadly game?

Books For Review – Week of June 17th

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Slaved
Last Chance Series, Book 2
By A.L. Long
Published: June 2019
ASIN: B07SK9B414
Pages: 80
Genre: Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense

“I could feel her heart beat
even though we were miles away”

Rescued from the only life she had ever known, Alannah Jackson learns what it means to be loved and not controlled. Finally able to let go of her past she begins a new life with the man who has shown her what love is. Faced with the truth, Alannah finds she can never escape her past or who she is. She will never love, only serve.

Roman’s love for Alannah is tested when he finds that she has been slaved by a man just as ruthless as Winston Nelson. Against his better judgement, he accepts Martin Holland’s offer to help retrain Alannah and he begins to question the love they shared. After Martin Holland makes it clear of his intentions, Roman stops at nothing to get her back. There is no room for another man in her life.

Contains adult content 18+

Vivi’s Leading Man
Durango Street Theatre, Book 1
By Emily Mims
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Published: April 2019
ISBN: 978-1948029902 (pb)
ISBN: 978-1948029896 (ebook)
ASIN: B07QWRLNMP
Pages: 237
Genre: Contemporary Romance

EXES AND OHS

The marriage was one of convenience. She had status and he had money. But… there was something there, and both of them felt it. After three years of him working long hours and her spending too much time at the Durango Street Theatre, Miguel Abonce and Vivienne Heiser called it quits. One year later, they are forced to work together to save or sell the theater. In the process they discover things they never knew about each other and they learn there’s more between them than burning up the sheets. They might really love each other after all.

Salvation Lost
by Peter F. Hamilton
Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine
Sci Fi & Fantasy
Release Date: October 29, 2019

All the best in humanity rises to meet a powerful alien threat in the sequel to Salvation—part of an all-new trilogy from “the owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction” (Ken Follett).

The comparative utopia of twenty-third-century Earth is about to go dreadfully awry when a seemingly benign alien race is abruptly revealed to be one of the worst threats humanity has ever faced. Driven by an intense religious extremism, the Olyix are determined to bring everyone to their version of God as they see it. But they may have met their match in humanity, who are not about to go gently into that good night or spend the rest of their days cowering in hiding. As human ingenuity and determination rise to the challenge, collective humanity has only one goal—to wipe this apparently undefeatable enemy from the face of creation. Even if it means playing a ridiculously long game indeed.

But in a chaotic universe, it is hard to plan for every eventuality, and it is always darkest before the dawn.