Feature Post and Mini Book Review: A Cowboy This Christmas: A Sweet Romance Anthology

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Mini Book Review for A COWBOY THIS CHRISTMAS: A Sweet Romance Anthology which includes novellas by Roxy Boroughs, Victoria Chatham, Amy Jo Fleming, Raine Hughes, Lawna Mackie, Shawna Mumert, Jan O’Hara, A.M. Westerling, and Joanie Wilde.

Below you will find a book blurb, my mini book review, and the authors bios and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Blurb

At Christmas, even the loneliest cowboy can find true love, whether it arrives with the subtle fragrance of evergreen or the kick of a wild stallion. Celebrate the holiday season with these nine short, sweet, and heartwarming contemporary romances.

“The Cowboy’s Comeback Christmas” – by Jan O’Hara – USA Today Bestselling Author

The woman formerly known as Shrinking Violet is back, bearing a new no-nonsense attitude and a deadline for leaving town. Five Christmases ago, Russ broke both their hearts. Can he prove he’s a changed man and convince her to stay?

“Capturing the Christmas Cowboy” – by Roxy Boroughs, Amazon Bestselling Author

To secure her job with an advertising company, an L.A. photographer travels to the wilds of Montana, searching for a rugged cowboy to peddle cheap cologne. There she meets a down-on-his-luck, camera-shy rancher, who wants to give his little brother a homespun Christmas – just like the ones they knew before they lost their parents.

“A Rocking Horse Christmas” – by Raine Hughes. Amazon Bestselling Author

Recovering from a life-changing injury, a bronc buster drives across Canada with his young sons to work as a ranch foreman. Heart-sore owner, Sally, hides a wariness of being touched with a warm, hopeful smile. Will the miracle of Christmas help them find true healing love?

“Candy Cane Cowboy” – by A.M. Westerling – Amazon Bestselling Author

Mandy Robinson, a server in a country diner is puzzled when her encounters with the new short order chef, injured bull rider, Chay Burton, seem to mirror events as chronicled over a hundred years ago in her great grandmother’s diary. Romance blossoms as Christmas approaches but should she trust the journal that hints of eventual heartbreak or a cowboy who only has his love to offer?

“All I Want for Christmas” – by Victoria Chatham, Books We Love Bestselling Author

Rancher Luke Evans expects to spend Christmas alone. When a snowstorm strands Kate Cooper and her five-year-old daughter Alice, that changes. While the child’s smile warms his heart, will widowed emergency nurse Kate dare to love again? Could she and Alice become the family Luke always wanted?

“Come Home for Christmas, Cowboy” – by Amy Jo Fleming

Jolene, a young widow, needs to sell the ranch that she loves. It’s the only home her son Cody has ever known. There’s a catch. Her late husband’s cousin owns half the property. Devon will be home for the holidays and Jolene needs to convince him to sell before Christmas. Will those old feelings that Jolene and Devon once shared ruin her plans?

“Silver Belle’s Christmas Cowboy” – by Lawna Mackie

Being the caregiver to nine reindeer in Alaska has many challenges, including a promise Silver Belle Delaney intends to fulfill. Granted, there are a few hiccups. Steal her employer’s reindeer…oh, and his truck and trailer, drive through a blizzard, then hope and pray the handsome, wealthy rancher doesn’t throw her in jail on Christmas Eve.

“My Cowboy, Until Christmas” – by Shawna Mumert – Debut Author

Desperate to keep her ranch, Caroline Bailey, a young widow, hires Trace Morgan, a drifter, to help her until Christmas Eve, when the final ranch payment is due, but working together changes their dreams and their lives.

“A Heart Creek Christmas” – by Joanie Wilde – Debut Author

A kind-hearted equine osteopath lands her dream job – and possibly the love of her life in a broken-down cowboy. Can they move past their personal barriers to find love in time for Christmas?

This anthology is the work of nine independent-minded women who live in or near cattle country, Alberta.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198057288-a-cowboy-this-christmas

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My Mini Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

A COWBOY THIS CHRISTMAS: A Sweet Romance Anthology is a charming and heartwarming collection of nine sweet contemporary cowboy romances all set around finding true love and HEA around the Christmas holidays. These are the perfect lengths to pick up and read individually around a busy holiday schedule or to curl up with a hot drink and Christmas music in your favorite chair and get pulled into several romances in a row.

As with any anthology I found some novellas more compelling than others, but since they are short you can quickly move on to one you favor more. All the authors were new to me, so it was great to find which I preferred, and I plan on trying out their other published books. All the novellas are sweet contemporary romances so there are no sex scenes. The main characters in all the stories were believable and all the varying tropes were well written for the short length of each.

I recommend this enjoyable and varied Christmas collection of contemporary Cowboy romances.

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About the Author

Before launching her writing career, the multi-talented Roxy Boroughs was an accomplished stage and film actor who appeared in the TV series “Degrassi Junior High,” and top-rated movies such as “It Must Be Love,” starring Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.

Look for her romantic comedy “Crazy for Cowboy,” her suspense series “Psychic Heat,” featuring the award-winning novel “A Stranger’s Touch,” and the popular “Frost Family Christmas” series, marrying sweet romance with cozy mystery. Other holiday titles include “The Sprite Before Christmas,” published in the sweet romance anthology “Hugs, Kisses and Mistletoe Wishes” (An Amazon Bestseller), and “A Christmas Carole,” featured in “Christmas Romance Digest 2021: Home for the Holidays,” edited by Tracy Cooper-Posey. Watch for “A Cowboy This Christmas” coming in the fall of 2023.

Roxy is married to her first love, so she not only writes romance, she lives it! If she’s not typing away at her desk, she’s reading, quilting, playing her purple ukulele, whipping up a fabulous new recipe, or hiking around the Rocky Mountain village she calls home, where mule deer and bighorn sheep roam the streets.

Website: https://www.roxyboroughs.com/

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About the Author

Victoria was born in Clifton, one of the oldest areas in Bristol, England. As a small child she lived in various places in South Wales and England and now divides her time between Canada and visiting with her family in England.

Her very first attempts at writing, in crayon on a wall, were not appreciated but in everything she later came to write she tried to bring a sense of place, of putting her reader in the environment she created so they could see it and feel it.

Now retired, she has the luxury of writing full time. When she’s not at her keyboard she’ll have her nose in a book or her Kindle. She’ll read anything that catches her interest, from Regency and contemporary romance to thrillers. Victoria loves horses and dogs, daily walks and gentle yoga and especially loves being an author with Books We Love Ltd.

Website: https://victoriachatham.blogspot.com/

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About the Author

Amy Jo Fleming writes romantic suspense and she loves a story that leaves you wondering about the characters after you read the final page. Amy Jo has always been a writer. In university, she wrote poetry when she should have been studying. She loves to read a good mystery or legal thriller.

In another life, Amy Jo was a lawyer. Now she is a free-lance writer. Amy Jo loves to hike all over the world, from Calgary to Australia, and from Scotland to Spain. Her favorite place to hike is in the Rocky Mountains just a few miles up the road from her home.

She lives in Calgary with her husband David (an engineer) and their dog, Abbie.

Website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5766371.Amy_Jo_Fleming

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About the Author

Raine Hughes was born in central Canada, growing up on a dairy farm in a prairie province. She milked cows in the lands down under (Australia and New Zealand) as well as in Canada before settling down with her husband and assorted livestock and exotic birds. With a favorite TV show being the I Dream of Jeannie series, naturally Hughes thought of writing something similar and started her own Down to Earth Magical Romances in sub-genres including paranormal, fantasy and contemporary. She likes to write on the ‘sweeter’ side rather than ‘dark’ because the world needs more ways to lighten the mood. As a member of a Canadian chapter of the Romance Writers of America, as well as having membership in other writing groups, she enjoys reading most any romance along with books in a variety of the other genres. Now she’s part of a Christmas Anthology titled Hugs, Kisses, and Mistletoe Wishes, where she wrote a contemporary romance in the sweet mix of eight other authors, no genie’s involved (as has been her books published to date).

Website: https://www.rainehughes.com/

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About the Author

Lawna Mackie is a highly acclaimed fantasy and romance author known for expertly weaving together love, suspense, and fantasy in all of her captivating stories. Her skillfully developed characters and thought-provoking plots have earned her a devoted fan base around the world.

Born in Jasper, Alberta, Lawna is Canadian through and through and draws much inspiration from the stunning natural beauty of her home province. With a passion for animals, Lawna ensures that every one of her novels includes at least one of these beloved creatures.

She invites fans to connect with her and learn more about her writing journey on her website at www.lawnamackie.com. With a belief in the power of true love, Lawna writes various forms of romance, from contemporary and paranormal to fantasy and erotica.

Website: www.lawnamackie.ca

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About the Author

Shawna Mumert has lived most of her life in Southern Alberta then moved with her husband to a farm in Central Alberta. Now, instead of working as a training facilitator, she spends her summer days gardening with some of their five cats, four of whom were rescue kittens, and her winter days writing, reading, learning to paint and enjoying the snow.

Website: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Shawna-Mumert/author/B0CHR3LPS4?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

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About the Author

A former family physician and academic, Jan O’Hara left the world of medicine behind to follow her dreams of becoming a writer. These days she confines her healing tendencies to paper—after making her characters undergo a period of delicious torture, naturally.

She writes love stories (and biographies) that move from wackadoodle to heartfelt in six seconds flat.

Jan lives in Alberta, Canada. A columnist for the popular blog Writer Unboxed, she loves to hear from readers.

Join Jan’s mailing list for updates on her forthcoming books, exclusive content, and access to reader giveaways ➜ http://janohara.net/newsletter

Website: www.janohara.net

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About the Author

“From vikings to viscounts, join the adventure, live the romance.”

Living by the motto “You don’t know unless you try”, A.M. Westerling started writing historical romance because she couldn’t find the kinds of stories she enjoyed. After all, she thought, who doesn’t enjoy a tasty helping of dashing heroes and spunky heroines, seasoned with a liberal sprinkle of passion and adventure?

Westerling, a former engineer, is a member of the Romance Writers of America and active in her local chapter. As well as writing, she enjoys cooking, gardening, camping, yoga, and watching pro sports. She lives in Calgary, Canada.

Website: https://www.amwesterling.com/index.html

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About the Author

Joanie Wilde has dreamed about writing romance every since she read If This is Love by Anne Weale in 1972. Years went by and she fell in love with romance all over again watching Hallmark movies. She is finally ready to share her romance and cozy mystery stories. Her first romance novella A Heart Creek Christmas is included in the Calgary Association of Romance Writers of America (CaRWA) anthology A Cowboy for Christmas: A Sweet Romance Collection.

Website: https://joaniewildeauthor.com/

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Book Links

Universal Buying Link: https://tinyurl.com/yku925j2

Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/yayxfehw

FB Public Page: https://www.facebook.com/ACowboyThisChristmas

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend

Book Description

The dangers of Alaska aren’t limited to storms, starvation, and grizzly bears. Sometimes the most dangerous thing is the person you love.

It’s summer in Alaska and the light surrounding the shipping-container-turned-storage shed where Liv Russo is being held prisoner is fuzzy and gray. Around her is thick forest and jagged mountains. In front of her, across a clearing, is a low-slung cabin with a single window that spills a wash of yellow light onto bare ground. Illuminated in that light is the father of her child, a man she once loved. A man who is now her jailor. Liv vows to do anything to escape.  

Carrying her own secrets and a fierce need to protect her young son, Liv must navigate a new world where extreme weather, starvation, and dangerous wildlife are not the only threats she faces. With winter’s arrival imminent, she knows she must reckon with her past and the choices that brought her to the unforgiving Alaskan landscape if she is ever going to make it out alive.

A story of survival in the wilds of Alaska, The Beautiful and the Wild explores the question of whether we can ever truly know the person we love—or ourselves.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend is a riveting suspenseful mystery. There are secrets, the haunting terrain of Alaska, as well as hope.  It is a fight for survival by a mother who dearly loves her son.

Liv Russo thought she was happily married until one day she became a hero.  This opened knowledge of her past where she was shunned by all.  Then her husband leaves to supposedly go on an outing and never returns.  A detective informs Liv that her husband committed suicide.  But this was also not true when she finds clues that he was alive and living in Alaska. She travels to a compound there with her developmentally disabled seven-year-old son Xander. 

But her return is not a happy reunion.  Mark has been shacking up with a young woman, Angela, and another woman, Diana who had a son with him, Rudy, ten years ago. Liv feels betrayed and angry and threatens to leave and go to the police to tell them he faked his death.  Mark, her husband, locks her in a shipping container for weeks until she appears to acquiesce and agree to his lifestyle of an open relationship. But in truth she is biding her time until she can escape with her son. She must learn how to survive and navigate the Alaskan wilderness of extreme weather, possible starvation, and dangerous wildlife. 

This is an exciting book that might remind readers of a “lock room” story that takes place in the Alaskan wild. There are some twists and turns with each character having secrets revealed as the story progresses.

Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the story?

Peggy Townsend: I am a journalist and have written about secrets:  those who tried to conceal and those who tried to reveal. I was in our cabin and listening to a podcast about a guy who was a former Marine who stopped the assassination of Gerald Ford, someone in the “closet.” He was outted by the media with the result that his family shunned him. I thought how secrets can be so damaging.  It spurred me to think what if someone did something heroic and it caused the darkest secrets to be revealed.

EC: Why the Alaska setting?

PT:  I love Alaska.  My husband and I spent seven weeks in our van traveling in Alaska.  I was thinking how Alaska is the perfect place because it is so remote.  If someone was to hide secrets that is where they would go. Having spent a lot of time in the wilderness and the back country.  What I learned it to be in tune with nature and be aware of the surroundings. As the main character, Liv, develops she became more attuned with nature.

EC:  How would you describe Liv?

PT:  She is wounded and flawed.  Liv is determined, resourceful, and gritty.  All of this comes from her tough childhood. At times she felt humiliated, trapped, isolated, anxious, and yet was able to find her strength. Hardship was good for her because she discovered her true self. I was like that. 

EC:  How would you describe Mark?

PT:  He is based on someone I once met. Someone I did not like very much.  He was super handsome, charismatic, but had a hubris that brought him down.  Mark is very manipulative and has the women bend to his will. He is aggressive, dark, obsessed, a loner, selfish, uncaring, chauvinistic, cocky, paranoid, and conceited. Yet, he was such a good dad and very creative.

EC:  How would you describe the relationship between Liv and Mark?

PT:  She felt betrayal, anger, and thought of him as a liar and cheater. He berated her. He liked to make her jealous.  When they were first married, she was a follower.  She did love him. Although he was flawed, he did have some good qualities. She made excuses for him at first.  Later she saw how wrong she was. 

EC: Role of the fox?

PT:  I liked the idea that a vixen is used to describe a woman in unflattering terms, hard to manage.  A fox is a beautiful creature.  After Liv sees this fox, it gives her hope and inspiration.

EC:  Role of the prison?

PT: I wanted her to have been in prison because of what happened to her mom, inspired by a true story.  I wanted her to be able to survive being imprisoned in a container.  Having been in prison she learned the terrible lesson, but this enabled her to find ways to cope, make a routine, avoid confrontations, and to figure out how to escape.

EC:  Diana versus Angela?

PT: These two women and Liv are very different in how they approached the world. Angela is naïve, needy, young, and insecure.  Diana is very independent.  Liv is a caring mom. These women never became a sisterhood. I did a lot of research regarding open relationships. There was always a tension and jealousy underneath because of the open relationship.  Diana did not care, Liv felt betrayal and would not go along, and Angela would do anything to get Mark’s approval and love.

EC:  What about the book Mind, Self, Love by Kai Huang?

PT:  I made this book up but did do research and reading on self-help books. Mark manipulated the women to seek his pleasure.  He enjoyed having the power.

EC:  Next book?

PT:  It is also set in the wilderness.  A young runaway meets a female recluse in the woods.  Both are being hunted for different reasons. They are both trying to survive.  My working title is Nobody is Missing. It will be released next year some time.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Black Fox One by Elyse Hoffman

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BLACK FOX ONE (Project 613 Series Book #3) by Elyse Hoffman on this Black Coffee Book Tour.

Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Summary

Jonas Amsel and Avalina Keller, devoted Nazis and best friends, have a bright future in Hitler’s Third Reich. Ava, a talented gymnast, wants to serve Germany in the Olympics, and Jonas, who has loved Ava since they were children, wants nothing more than to marry her and start a family. When he is about to propose, however, Ava and her entire family vanish without a trace.

Jonas blames the Jews for Ava’s disappearance and throws himself into a career in the Nazi Party. He serves the Reich under the ruthless Chief of the Gestapo, Reinhard Heydrich. Jonas becomes particularly good at capturing members of the Black Foxes, an anti-Nazi resistance group, earning Heydrich’s respect and the moniker of “the Fox Hunter.”

Impressed by Jonas’ skills, Heydrich gives him his most difficult task yet: capture the elusive Black Fox One, the Black Foxes’ most deadly and mysterious operative. No Nazi who has pursued Black Fox One has returned alive, but Jonas is determined and confident. Capturing Black Fox One might bring him one step closer to finding Ava.

But while he is hunting Black Fox One, Jonas makes a shocking discovery, forcing him to make an agonizing decision. He must choose between his love for the Reich and his heart, torn between the lies he has been taught all his life and the new truth before him.

Black Fox One is a thrilling World War II story of lost love, bravery, and the hard road to redemption.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122572652-black-fox-one

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Check out the book on Amazon here.

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BLACK FOX ONE (Project 613 Series Book #3) by Elyse Hoffman is a historical fiction/romance in the Project 613 series which features diverse stories of intrigue, love, and redemption during WWII. This story features a romance between childhood best friends to lovers with several life altering twists of fate. I feel these books are best read in order due to carry over characters and underlying themes.

Jonas Amsel and Avalina “Ava” Keller have grown up from childhood best friends to lovers in a changing Germany. Hitler is in power, and both believe in his vision. As they become young adults, Ava is set to represent her country in the Olympics as a gymnast and Jonas is going to follow his father into the ranks of the SS. When Ava returns, Jonas is ready to propose and start a family with the love of his life, but when he goes to Ava’s house, her entire family has disappeared.

Jonas throws himself into his SS career and becomes “The Fox Hunter” who is dedicated to capturing all the Black Foxes, who are members of a resistance group. He is especially determined to capture Black Fox One who is the most mysterious and deadly of their group. When he comes face to face with Black Fox One, he must make agonizing decisions.

This is a unique WWII historical romance. Both protagonists, Jonas and Ava, go through life altering events and emotional upheaval throughout their lives that kept me turning the pages. Their choices and decisions are the powerful pivotal points of the story. I also found the author’s depiction of the SS officers’ choices they made regarding their families and their loyalty to the Party throughout this series disturbing. This entire series has been fascinating so far due to the author’s character depictions and their moral choices.

I highly recommend this unique historical fiction/romance and I am anxiously waiting for the next book in this series.

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About the Author

Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: the five books of The Barracks of the Holocaust and The Book of Uriel.

Social Media Links

Home Page

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20851312.Elyse_Hoffman

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elyse-hoffman

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Death in Dutch Harbor by D. MacNeill Parker

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEATH IN DUTCH HARBOR by D. MacNeill Parker on this Authors Marketing Experts Blog Tour.

Below you will find an author Q&A, a book synopsis, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!

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Author Q&A

How did you research your book?

Research was not required. Write what you know, right? As a longtime participant in the Alaska fishing industry, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use my experience as the backdrop to this book. What could be more intriguing than creating a world where commercial fishing and murder meet? However, I knew nothing about police dogs and so made an inquiry with the Seattle Police K9 Unit. They invited me to their training site. I was so appreciative, I named the dog in the book after the K9 Unit shepherd, CoCo.

Which was the hardest character to write?

The arch villain. It was difficult for me to navigate how to leave clues without giving away the identity of the culprit. The protagonist was a bit of a struggle, a learning experience really. Because the book is written in third person, I wrote many revisions trying out ways to best express what was inside her head.

Which was the easiest?

The police chief was the easiest character to write. I have no idea why.

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

Aside from my own experience at sea as a fisherman that included surviving a boat that sank off the coast of Kodiak, I’ve heard many sea stories, most far more interesting than my own. There’s something about living on the edge of civilization where your life is at the mercy of Mother Nature and your survival may depend on the skill of your crew mates that is made for drama.

There are many crime mystery books out there. What makes yours different?

As a former fisherman married to a fishing boat captain, and with a career as a journalist, fisheries specialist for the State of Alaska and a seafood company executive, I’ve got the credentials to pull off authenticity. And along the way, the reader will learn a lot about Alaska and commercial fishing.

In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like?

Because I am a debut author, it was like stumbling around in a hailstorm, knocking on the doors of strangers in hopes of finding shelter.

What authors inspired you to write?

There were many authors that inspired me to write like Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving, Craig Johnson, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Martin Cruz Smith, Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie and Dashell Hammett but the book that lit a writing fire under me as a teenager was John Barth’s book, The Sot-Weed Factor. It’s a wild ride of historical fiction that showed me there was no limit to using your imagination when crafting a yarn.

What is something you had to cut from your book that you wish you could have kept?

There was a scene between Dr. Mo and her pal, Patsy, in a restaurant that was painful to cut. Patsy, one of my favorite characters, used salt and pepper shakers, hot sauce and catsup bottles and a fork to make a point about the doc’s messed-up personal life. It was near the end of the book where the pace had escalated. The scene slowed things down and, gulp, had to go. I hope to find a place for it in the second book!

What’s your next project?

I’m currently writing the second book of the series. So if you like the characters that inhabit DEATH IN DUTCH HARBOR, you can revisit them.

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Book Synopsis

When two murders strain the police force of a remote Alaskan fishing port, veterinarian Maureen McMurtry is tapped by Dutch Harbor’s police chief for forensic assistance. The doctor’s got a past she’d rather not discuss, a gun in her closet, and a retired police dog that hasn’t lost her chops. All come in handy as she deciphers the cause and time of death of a local drug addict washed ashore with dead sea lions and an environmentalist found in a crab pot hauled from the sea in the net of a fishing vessel.

When her romantic relationship with a boat captain is swamped by mounting evidence that he’s the prime suspect in one of the murders, McMurtry struggles with her own doubts to prove his innocence. But can she? McMurtry’s pals, a manager of the Bering Sea crab fishery and another who tends Alaska’s most dangerous bar assist in unraveling the sinister truth.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198615907-death-in-dutch-harbor

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DEATH IN DUTCH HARBOR by D. MacNeill Parker is a captivating murder mystery featuring a female veterinarian in a remote Alaskan fishing port who gets pulled into a dangerous murder investigation by the local chief of police. I was surprised when I learned this is written by a debut author because it has everything I look for in a complex crime mystery and what I would expect from much more seasoned favorite authors.

Dr. Maureen “Mo” McMurtry loves the remote Alaskan town of Dutch Harbor where she and her retired police dog, Coco live, but she is looking for more in both her personal and professional lives now that her contract has ended. When a local frug addict and two endangered sea lions are found washed ashore dead on the beach, the chief of police asks for Mo’s help with basic forensics before the bodies are sent to the State Police in Anchorage. Then a second body is found in a crab pot caught in a fishing net and brought back to port.

The investigation involves Mo in the world of Alaskan fisherman and oil companies vs. environmentalists, illegal drugs, money, and lies. Mo may be the next corpse to wash up on shore if she and her friends cannot figure out who is willing to kill to hide their secrets.

I could not put this book down! Dr. Mo is the type of realistic protagonist I love to meet in a new book. She loves a harsh environment, I would hate, but she loves it and through her eyes you see the beauty of the environment and the strength of her friends and other inhabitants. They are all independent and hard-working on land and on the sea. You can feel through the author’s vivid descriptions of landscapes and the perils of commercial fishing her love of Alaska. The mystery plot is perfectly paced with twists that kept Mo on her toes and kept me guessing.

I highly recommend this murder mystery from this debut author! I am very happy that this will be a series and I will be able to visit Dr. Mo and her friends in Dutch Harbor again.

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Excerpt

Eric took the blanket he’d laid on the ice bench and draped it over the guy’s shoulders; just a kid, really. He folded the kid’s hands so they lay on his lap and packed ice at his sides so he would remain secure for the rough ride back to port. Reaching into the chest pocket of his own jacket, he removed a pack of cigarettes. His hand shook as he lit two.

“We smoke the same brand,” he said, bending to wedge one in Guy’s gray lips. He smoked the other cigarette, all the while talking to the kid as if his spirit lingered nearby. “What a bummer,” he said, “dying so young.” He told the kid he would be missed by someone and promised to get him home. Hearing his voice crack, Eric turned away as if he didn’t want Guy to see him that way. Then he closed the freezer door.

Guy sat in the bait locker, the cigarette still hanging from his lips. The freezing temperature caused the saltwater on his eyelashes and beard to crystallize. He looked as if he were climbing Mt. Everest instead of sitting propped-up, dead in a fishing boat bait locker headed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

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Author Bio

D. MacNeill Parkerand her family are long time participants in the Alaska fishing industry. In addition to fishing for halibut, salmon, crab, and cod, she’s been a journalist, a fisheries specialist for the State of Alaska, and a seafood company executive. She’s travelled to most ports in Alaska, trekked mountains in the Chugach range, rafted the Chulitna River, worked in hunting camps, and survived a boat that went down off the coast of Kodiak. Parker’s been to Dutch Harbor many times experiencing her share of white knuckler airplane landings and beer at the Elbow Room, famed as Alaska’s most dangerous bar. While the characters in this book leapt from her imagination, they thrive in this authentic setting. She loves Alaska, the sea, a good yarn and her amazing family.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.dmparkerauthor.com/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/46fPtGv

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198615907-death-in-dutch-harbor

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Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Murder Under the Mistletoe by Liz Fielding

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER UNDER THE MISTLETOE (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #2) by Liz Fielding on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Blurb

Abby Finch heads to the old church hall armed with mistletoe and holly ready to help decorate in time for the festive season. But she arrives in time to witness a horrifying sight. Edward Marsh reaches to test the antique star at the top of the tree. There’s a fizz and the lights go out.

Abby hears the sickening thud of a body hitting the ground. When the lights turn back on Edward is dead.

It soon becomes clear it was no accident.

The real victim should have been Gregory Tatton, a dapper silver fox, popular with the ladies of the seniors’ lunch club. And a known blackmailer . . .

Abby is desperate to know the truth, but putting herself in danger isn’t on her Christmas list. Who’s been naughty? Who’s been nice? Who’s hiding the fact they’re a murderer?

MEET THE DETECTIVE

Brilliant gardener and the busy mum of three, Abby Finch’s dreams of winning gold at Chelsea Flower Show were put on hold by an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. These days she’s kept on her toes looking after her beloved family, running her own business and dealing with her imminent divorce. In an effort to keep things cordial, she’s allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of his family home. Thankfully she’s surrounded herself with a great group of friends to lean on.

THE SETTING

Pretty Maybridge is a charming village set in the sheep-dotted Cotswolds hills, with a long history stretching back to Tudor times. It’s the type of place where everyone knows each other, but there’s a wonderful bookshop on the corner of the bridge, a popular riverside café and a bustling market at Christmastime. And with Bristol nearby and a big supermarket round the corner.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199527169-murder-under-the-mistletoe?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=7FSLDiMmLD&rank=1

A MAYBRIDGE MURDER MYSTERY

Book 1: MURDER AMONG THE ROSES

Book 2: MURDER UNDER THE MISTLETOE

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

MURDER UNDER THE MISTLETOE (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #2) by Liz Fielding is an entertaining trip back to the small English town of Maybridge for another murder mystery set at Christmas and once again featuring Abby Finch and all her friends. This second book in the series can be read as a standalone, but it is as wonderful as the first and I suggest reading both to get the introductions, interactions, and backgrounds of the main characters right from the start.

Abby Finch is asked to drop off some mistletoe and holly to decorate the church hall for the season. Abby is in time to reconnect with an old high school teacher before he climbs a ladder to place the star on the top of the tree, and with a pop, the lights go out. When the breaker is switched back on, Abby’s old teacher is dead on the floor.

Immediately after giving a statement to the police, Abby is confronted by another senior, Gregory Tatton. She feels threatened by him even though all the senior ladies seem to love him. Abby begins asking questions with the help of some close friends and discovers Tatton was blackmailing some members of the senior’s club as well as prospecting for a third wealthy wife. The electrocution was meant for him, but he does not get away. One of the ladies who cleans for him finds him dead in his home.

Abby is once again questioned by the police when they discover Tatton was killed with ricin from the seeds of the castor oil plants which she has in her garden . She is determined to find the real killer before she is implicated. The killer may have other plans though to eliminate Abby and any of her discoveries.

Even though this is only the second book in the series, I already feel at home in Maybridge and I love all the main characters. Abby is a wonderful protagonist and I love that she is so realistic as a businesswoman, single mother, and possibly on the verge of a new relationship with an old friend. The characters are fully drawn and believable and the descriptions of plants and gardens are vivid. The mystery itself has plenty of red herrings and plot twists that kept me guessing because even when I felt I knew the solution, I was wrong.

I highly recommend this cozy holiday murder mystery, the entire series, and this author.

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Author Bio

Award winning author Liz Fielding was born with itchy feet. She was working in Zambia before her twenty-first birthday and, gathering her own special hero and a couple of children on the way, has lived in Botswana, Kenya and the Middle East, all of which have provided rich inspiration for her writing.

She has written more than seventy books, several of which have won awards, and sold over 15 million copies. In 2019 she was honored with the Romantic Novelists’ Association Outstanding Career Award. She lives in West Sussex.

Social Media Links

Website: https://lizfieldingblog.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liz.fielding/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizfielding

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/liz-fielding

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Enemy Beside Me by Naomi Ragen

Book Description

Inspired by true events, Naomi Ragen’s The Enemy Beside Me is a powerful, provocative novel about two people fighting for reconciliation over unforgivable crimes of the past.

Taking over from her father and grandfather as the head of the Survivor’s Campaign, an organization whose purpose is to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, Milia Gottstein has dedicated her life to making sure the voices of Holocaust victims will never be silenced. It is an overwhelming and heartbreaking mission that has often usurped her time and energy being a wife to busy surgeon Julius, and a mother and grandmother. But now, just as she is finally ready to pass on her work to others, making time for her personal life, an unexpected phone call suddenly explodes all she thought she knew about her present and her future.

In the midst of this personal turmoil, Milia receives an invitation to be the keynote speaker at a Holocaust conference in Lithuania from Dr. Darius Vidas, the free spirited, rebellious conference head. Despite suspecting his motives—she is, after all, viewed as a ‘public enemy’ in that country for her efforts to have them try war criminals and admit their historic responsibility for annihilating almost their entire Jewish community, including her own family—she nevertheless accepts, having developed a secret agenda of her own. But as Milia and Darius begin their mission, shared experiences profoundly alter their relationship, replacing antagonism and suspicion with a growing intimacy. However, this only ramps up the hostile forces facing them, threatening their families, livelihoods, and reputations, and forcing them into shocking choices that will betray all they have achieved and all that has grown between them.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Enemy Beside Me by Naomi Ragen makes the Holocaust come alive again through the characters’ journeys. On the heels of the brutality of what Hamas did in Israel it is important to keep the Holocaust atrocities alive. Based on real facts, this book shows how some countries in Eastern Europe, specifically Lithuania, made their own horrible imprint on Holocaust history.  The Lithuanians brutally persecuted the Jews who were also their fellow citizens. 

The story begins with Milia, an Israeli Jew, whose organization’s purpose is bringing Nazi war criminals to judgement. Darius, a professor at a college in Lithuania invites Milia to speak at a conference in Lithuania. Her speech tells the story of families tortured, raped, and killed by their former neighbors. The Lithuanians had the audacity to claim that they were providing aid to the Jews, subsequently becoming heroes, a complete untruth.  

This book is a must read for those who need to remember what happened.  Ragan does a good job of showing through her characters the brutality.  But she also allows readers to understand the characters through their personal stories. As Milia and Darius begin their mission, shared experiences profoundly alter their relationship, replacing antagonism and suspicion with a growing intimacy.  

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: The idea for the story? 

Naomi Ragan: This story came to me when I was walking down a street in Jerusalem, minding my own business during Covid.  I ran into an old friend, the head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Israel, Efraim Zuroff.  He tells me about a story that flabbergasted me. He co-authored a book titled Our People with Lithuania’s famous author, Ruta Vanagaite. She invited him to be a keynote speaker in Lithuania about Nazi War Criminals.  This was the starting point for this story. I wrote a dialogue between the Nazi hunter, and the son of those living during World War II. This is a story about the here and now. 

EC: The book is based on facts? 

NR: Yes.  Ruta and Efraim traveled around Lithuania to gain eyewitness testimony.  Instead of her convincing him that Lithuania did not commit war crimes, the situation convinced her. They became very close on this trip and fell in love, just as in my book.  I never thought Ruta, a child of a preparator and Efraim, a Nazi hunter could get close. 

EC: There are many details about Lithuania and the Holocaust? 

NR: Lithuanians killed over 96% of the Jewish community.  It was neighbors, teachers, and doctors, self-appointed policemen who shot and murdered Jews. They killed as a percentage more of the Jewish community than any other country, including Germany. Today, they are one of the chief Holocaust distortionists. They are trying to falsify what happened to cover their tracks. They are attempting to use a Double Holocaust theory. They say everybody suffered, look at what Stalin did to us.  

EC: The Lithuanian executioners were brutal? 

NR: They killed with such sadism, ferocity, joy, and enthusiasm. They held public parties to give out the spoils after indiscriminately murdering men, women, and children. I based the facts from first person history and testimonies. 

EC: The story speaks of acknowledgement. Can you explain? 

NR: There can be reconciliation and forgiveness. But on what basis?  First, there must be a recognition of the truth. There must be respect for the mass graves that are being treated like garbage dumps. The mass graves have not been marked in any way. They must stop painting over Jewish cemeteries and building shopping malls. This story is not going away because there has not been any justice and a final meeting of minds. 

EC:  Everyone has sympathy for what is going on in Ukraine.  Do you agree many do not know how the cruel the Ukrainians were to the Jews during WWII?  

NR:  They joined mobile killing units. There were squads made up of Lithuanians and Ukrainians. I wrote the book now because people are being honored that were Holocaust perpetrators.  Just look at what just happened in Canada where they tried honoring a Ukrainian who was in the Waffen SS unit of Hitler.  

EC: How would you describe the hero, Dr. Darius Vidas? 

NR: Unpredictable, impulsive, organized, and a novelist. He is someone who wants to seek justice. He starts out thinking justice would clear the Lithuanians of the terrible things they were accused of doing. As time goes on, he realizes his country was involved in such savage brutality.  He becomes a true partner to the heroine, Milia, the Nazi hunter. He has guts as he became a true Lithuanian patriot. He has a lot to lose, everything he has accomplished, if he agrees with Milia. 

EC:  How would you describe the heroine, Milia Gottstein-Lasker? 

NR: She has a dark view of the world, a cynic, with an endless quest for justice.  She compartmentalizes because she is a Nazi hunter. She is based on my friend’s experiences, Efraim. She confronts the truth about what happened to her namesake.  To make her character whole I had her deal with a lot of things: a marriage breaking down and someone who questions her own self-worth as a woman.  She has a lot of insecurities and is losing her sense of purpose. She is trying to figure out where her life is going personally and professionally.  

EC:  How would describe their relationship? 

NR:  The two of them are in mid-life crisis. But more importantly, they are on a journey together. They want to accomplish something important in both their lives.  They start out as enemies because he wants to prove everything she has said about the Lithuanian atrocities is false. But then he realizes she is speaking the truth. They learned to respect each other and to have compassion.  They now trust each other.  Their relationship was a symbol for the rest of the world. Both are honest enough to accept the truth.  

EC: What do you want readers to get out of the book? 

NR: I want them to understand what must be done to honor the victims and to expose all these bogus distortions by countries like Lithuania. They are putting forward Holocaust distortions to erase, cover-up, and rewrite history and silence the voices. I wrote this book quote, “It was not the Jews gripping the past, it was the past gripping the Jews. It will never let them go until there is some kind of reckoning.” This is exactly how I think and feel. These countries in Europe must tell what happened and return the spoils they took. The quote in the acknowledgement summarizes my feelings, “Milia and Darius are both fictional characters.  Their spirits are real and live in all people whose histories have made them enemies.  It is up to us, the living, to make peace with one another.” As Milia says in her speech, there are five things that must be done: mainly Lithuanians need to stop lying about their past, stop honoring the perpetrators, tell the truth to their children, compensate the victims, and make Holocaust education important. 

EC: Next book? 

NR: One never knows. At this point, we will see what happens. 

THANK YOU!! 

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.