Tag: #authorsocialmedia

Feature Post and Book Review: Vanished by Anna J. Stewart

Book Description

She’ll risk everything to expose the truth.

Since her twin sister Sylvie’s disappearance seven years ago, single mother Mabel Reynolds has turned grief into action and become a strong voice for victims of violence and abuse.

When new revelations shed light on what may have happened not only to Sylvie, but dozens of other women, Mabel’s hope for answers is reignited. But the new oh-so-charming DA overseeing the investigation seems more interested in a quick rather than an accurate resolution.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/110185788-vanished?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=XtZuMnFFIi&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

VANISHED (Circle of the Red Lily Book #2) by Anna J. Stewart is a thrilling romantic suspense and the second book in the Circle of the Red Lily series. This book features Mabel Reynolds’ continuing search for answers and justice for her missing twin sister. While the romance, investigation, and capture of the criminal perpetrator are a complete story, the continuation of the overarching Circle of the Red Lily conspiracy suspense plot leads me to recommend the reading of this series of books in order.

Single mom Mabel Reynolds has been searching for answers regarding her missing twin, Sylvie, for eight years. While doing bookkeeping and taxes from home to support herself and her eight-year-old daughter, Keeley, she also volunteers with a local abuse shelter as a way to support others as she waits for word of her twin. As she is assisting a new abuse victim, events occur that follow the same pattern as what happened to her twin. It all begins to once again lead back to the Red Lily secret organization.

A special case District Attorney Paul Flynn is assigned to investigate the disappearance of the women tied to a mysterious historical mansion where all their pictures were discovered. Mabel shows up on his first day to find out if he truly wants answers or is like the rest of the DA ‘s office and just wants the case to go away. Paul discovers that not only does Mabel have information he needs, but that he has a personal attraction to her that he finds surprising.

As the danger around Mabel and Paul’s discoveries increases, so does their relationship. With threats coming from every direction, can Mabel and Paul, with help from the other inhabitants of Temple House, discover answers to where Sylvie is and who is involved in this 100-year-old Tinseltown criminal conspiracy?

This book had me captivated right away and I read it all in one sitting. Mabel is very strong and sympathetic, determined to raise her daughter in a loving home and find answers to the disappearance of her twin. Paul has a tragic back story of abuse, neglect, and loss which makes him determined to be the success he is but also makes him believe he cannot be more personally. The two of them together was a great demonstration of showing love and possibilities. I loved Keeley, Mabel’s daughter, she is a sweet and mature character for her age, and she has the right amount of emotional interaction between Mabel and Paul to move them forward. I also enjoyed Sylvie’s dream and spectral interactions with Mabel and Keeley. The overarching conspiracy plot from book #1, Exposed, continues and while some things were discovered, there are still many questions left for future books featuring the other inhabitants of Temple House.

I highly recommend this romantic suspense in the Circle of the Red Lily series and am looking forward to discovering more answers and following more romances with the others in Temple House!

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About the Author

Award-winning, USA Today and national bestselling author Anna J Stewart writes sweet to sexy romances for Harlequin and ARC Manor’s CAEZIK (Kay-Zehk) Romance. Her sweet Harlequin Heartwarming books include the Butterfly Harbor series as well as the ongoing Blackwell continuity series. She also writes the Honor Bound series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense and has contributed to the bestselling Coltons. Her Circle of the Red Lily romantic suspense series, published by CAEZIK, will launch with EXPOSED in November of 2022.

A Holt Medallion winner (BRIDE ON THE RUN), as well as a Golden Heart, Daphne DuMaurier, and National Reader’s Choice finalist, Anna loves writing big community stories where family found is always the theme. Since her first published novella with Harlequin in 2014, Anna has released more than fifty novels and novellas and hopes to branch out even more (horror romance, anyone?). Anna lives in Northern California where (at the best times) she loves going to the movies, attending fan conventions, and heading to Disneyland, her favorite place on earth. When she’s not writing, she is usually binge-watching her newest TV addiction, re-watching her all-time favorite show, Supernatural, and wrangling two monstrous cats named Rosie and Sherlock.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.authorannastewart.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAnnaJStewart

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/annajwriter.bsky.social

BookBub:https://www.bookbub.com/books/vanished-circle-of-the-red-lily-book-2-by-anna-j-stewart

ARC Feature Post and Book Review: The Last Assignment by Erika Robuck

Book Description

Manhattan, 1954.

Since her arrest for disobeying orders and going ashore at Iwo Jima almost a decade earlier, combat correspondent Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle has been unmoored. Her military accreditation revoked, her marriage failing, and her savings dwindling, Dickey jumps at the next opportunity. In the aftermath of a an assignment gone wrong, a flame is lit deep inside Dickey—to survive in order to be the world’s witness to war from the front lines.

Never content to report on battles unless her own boots are on the ground, Dickey and her camera journey with American and international soldiers from frozen wastelands to raging seas to luscious jungles, revealing one woman’s extraordinary courage and tenacity in the face of discrimination and danger. And it’s along the way, in Dickey’s desire to save the world, she realizes she might also be saving herself.

At a time when a woman’s heroic spirit often gave way to homeland reality, Dickey blazed a trail for the revolutionary hearts inside us all.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220481308-the-last-assignment?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=hOS3HkDeXo&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE LAST ASSIGNMENT by Erika Robuck is a historical biographical fiction story featuring the later portion of photojournalist Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle’s life. Ms. Robuck does a wonderful job of bringing her to life not only writing about her achievements, but also her impetuosity which could get her into dangerous and terrible situations. This standalone story is a look at an impressive woman in history that I knew nothing about.

Dickey Chapelle led an awe-inspiring life photographing and writing about her favorite men, the Marines, on Iwo Jima during WWII, Europe’s reconstruction, Hungary’s revolution, dictators, refugees, and strife in foreign countries, all the way up to once again being with her Marines during the Vietnam War until her death in country. Her photography and stories were featured in many major magazines, and she received many awards, but that was never her goal. She always wanted to take that one picture that would end all wars. While her family and friends always worried about her, she could never sit still on the sidelines when she believed her photography could shine a light on injustice.

This is an intensive look into this female photojournalist’s later life. She always wanted to be first on the ground to uncover the truth. She was interested in the Civil Rights Movement, and it would have been safer for her to stay home in the states, but she needed and preferred to be out in the world and covering international conflicts. Dickey was by no means perfect and got in trouble, even imprisonment in Hungary for her actions, but it was always because she truly cared about the people she was covering.

This historical biography is brought to life through Dickey and with the obvious extensive research of Ms. Robuck. It is interesting to follow Dickey through this period and remember how the stories she covered were portrayed at that time and then the changes, or not, in perspective, as it became history to be analyzed and studied.

I highly recommend this engaging historical biographical fiction story, and I am very glad to be able to go back myself and see the important work Dickey left for the world.

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About the Author

Erika Robuck is the national bestselling author of historical fiction including SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and HEMINGWAY’S GIRL. Her articles have appeared in Writer Unboxed, Crime Reads, and Writer’s Digest, and she has been named a Maryland Writer’s Association Notable Writer of 2024. A boating enthusiast, amateur historian, and teacher, she resides in Annapolis with her husband and three sons.

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.erikarobuck.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErikaRobuck

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erobuckauthor/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-last-assignment-by-erika-robuck

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Skylark by Megan Michelle

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SKYLARK (The SEAL Saga Book #1) by Megan Michelle on this blog 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

Being the first female Navy SEAL is no easy job, but someone’s got to dismantle the patriarchy. Rachel Ryker, call sign ‘Skylark,’ can out run and out gun just about anybody, and with her second in command, Christopher Williams, by her side, she’s practically unstoppable. Christopher would follow Rachel to hell and back… or maybe just to the Middle East. When a top-secret malware code is stolen from the CIA, Rachel and Christopher lead their SEAL team through the Middle East in an attempt to recover it.

They both have their own reasons for fighting, but as the team gets closer to finding the stolen malware, Rachel discovers that the man they’re looking for may be closer to her than she thinks. Will Rachel’s obsession with completing their mission override her common sense and causes her to lose sight of what is really important- keeping women and children safe from the oppressive patriarchy they are all living in?

With secrets, pride, and a strict no fraternization policy keeping them apart, falling in love would mean sacrificing everything Rachel and Christopher have worked for. But when Rachel gets injured in combat, everything changes. Now Rachel will have to choose: does her devotion to the Navy outweigh her love for Christopher?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220574683-skylark?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=dkmbpqUD7t&rank=1

PUBLISHER: Bound Books LLC

ASIN: B0DKB5QGB3

ISBN-10: 8988886129

ISBN-13  979-8988886129

Print Length: 459 pages

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My Book Review

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

SKYLARK (The SEAL Saga Book #1) by Megan Michelle is a Special Units Navy SEAL action war thriller/romance mash-up featuring the first female SEAL and her team. This is the first book in the proposed series, and I was surprised that it is this author’s debut book.

Navy Commander Rachel Ryker and her ten-man team are exceptional at their jobs and every man on her team respects their female leader. She is especially close with her second in command Lt. Commander Christopher Williams who attended BUDs with her ten years previously, and while there is plenty of sexual tension and chemistry, neither is willing to break the regulation against fraternization.

Rachel and her SEAL team are assigned an undercover mission in Afghanistan to recover a USB with top secret malware in the possession of an Al Qaeda leader. Rachel always hates returning to Afghanistan due to her hatred of the extreme patriarchal system under the Taliban, but to find her quarry, she must blend in and befriend the women of the local mosque. What Rachel does not know is that there is more going on regarding their mission, and they are about to uncover an international plot that could get them all killed.

This is an exciting, fast-paced military action story that kept me turning the pages as Rachel and her team fight their way through terrorists in the Middle East and at home. The descriptions of operations and combat were well plotted and contained vivid descriptions. Rachel’s steadfast belief in women’s rights and equality was front and center in this story. Her family life was sad, and it made it even more important for her to have her chosen family in her team and to help others in bad situations. The slow burn romance between Rachel and Christopher was believable and hot. There are plenty of twists, turns, and surprises throughout.

I highly recommend this gripping genre mash-up and look forward to the next book in the series!

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About the Author

Megan Michelle writes dark romance for the fearless women who are ready to reclaim their power and confront the shadows of their past. Her stories blend the raw emotions of military life, the strength of feminism, and the passion of forbidden love, all while guiding readers on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Through dark romance, she explores the complexity of love, power, and identity. Her stories invite you to dive deep into the hearts of women who don’t just survive—they thrive, reclaiming their power and rewriting their stories on their own terms.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.megan-michelle.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megan_michelle_storytelling/

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Bookshop.org

Feature Post and Book Review: Shadow at the Morgue by Cara Devlin

Book Description

An acquaintance with death

Haunted by her family’s unsolved murder sixteen years ago, Leonora Spencer is familiar with death. As an assistant in her elderly uncle’s London morgue, she uses her photographic memory to catalogue details for his coroner reports. She also isn’t opposed to helping during postmortems, when his skilled hands begin to shake. After a thief breaks into the morgue and steals a locket from a corpse, Leo is determined to understand why, even if it means going against Detective Inspector Jasper Reid’s express orders to keep her nose out of it.

A closely guarded past

Born and bred in the East End slums, Jasper Reid’s recent promotion to the detective’s branch at Scotland Yard is a long step up from his murky past…a past he can’t afford to reveal to anyone. The last thing he needs is a muddled case connecting to the criminals he once associated with—and to the well-known eccentric Leo Spencer. Her stubborn resolve to undermine Jasper’s investigation tests his patience and the complicated history they share.

A murderer closing in

When the missing locket and a handful of suspicious deaths point to a mysterious buried object, Jasper grudgingly accepts Leo’s help to locate it. But someone is watching, and the more they uncover about a deadly blackmail plot, the closer Leo and Jasper get to becoming the killer’s next targets.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214391012-shadow-at-the-morgue?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=yUf4UJCjxC&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

SHADOW AT THE MORGUE (Spencer & Reid Mysteries Book #1) by Cara Devlin is an exciting start to a new historical mystery series set in Victorian London in the 1880’s and featuring a young woman who does not conform to society’s rules and a newly promoted Detective Inspector. This is a story that starts off strong and continually kept me turning the pages with each new clue and twist in the case.

Fifteen years ago, Leonora ‘Leo’ Spenser was the sole surviving member of her family who were all brutally murdered. Now living with her uncle and aunt, she is an unofficial assistant to her uncle in a London morgue. With her photographic memory and her curiosity, she catalogues details for his coroner’s reports. Her best friend is a young female matron in the women and children’s side of the city jail while all others find her work in the morgue strange and unladylike.

Leo’s uncle is called away one evening and a man with a knife threatens Leo and locks her in a back room and then leaves after stealing a dead man’s case. Detective Inspector Jasper Reid is called and discovers Leo in the back room. While Jasper is wondering what was so important in the case, with Leo’s memory she knows nothing important was in it, but a dead woman in the morgue is missing a locket.

As Leo and Jasper follow the clues, more dead bodies are discovered and tied to the case. Then they uncover a blackmail plot that ties all the missing pieces together, but it also places them in the killer’s path and makes them disposable.

This is a great introduction to these new protagonists, and the mystery plot was full of red herrings and twists that continually surprised me. I love intelligent characters like Leo who buck convention and are ahead of the times they live in, but she also has a mystery in her past that can play out in future books. Jasper also has a past that was only touched on and I am sure will play into future stories. The dialogue between the two is snappy and while it can seem as if they are fighting like siblings, their feelings are a little more involved than that. The emotional ties between Leo and Jasper will be interesting to follow and see how they progress in future books. The author does an excellent job with her descriptions of atmosphere and historical depictions of London.

I highly recommend this new historical mystery and am looking forward to reading many more in this series!

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About the Author

Cara is an author, reader, and history lover. She reads and writes across genres, but her heart is reserved for romantic historical fiction and mystery. Her Bow Street Duchess books are fast-paced historical mysteries featuring a slow-burn romance taking place in Regency London. The series begins with Murder at the Seven Dials. Cara lives in rural New England with her family, where she is at work on her next series, the Spencer & Reid Mysteries.

Social Media Links

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caradevlinbooks/?hl=en

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/shadow-at-the-morgue-a-spencer-reid-mystery-spencer-reid-mysteries-book-1-by-cara-devlin

Fantastic Fiction:https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/cara-devlin/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTK5MGR6/?bestFormat=true&k=shadow%20at%20the%20morgue&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-bk-ww_k0_1_20_de&crid=4MBVRIZXP2RH&sprefix=shadow%20at%20the%20morgue

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: NeverEnd by Blake Rudman

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for NEVEREND by Blake Rudman on this Black Tide Book Tour.

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

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Book Description

Inexplicably, huge locust swarms of Biblical proportions plague Austin, Texas: a sinister portent of terrifying things to come?

Dr. Jon Edom, hero surgeon, loving father, finds himself unwittingly drawn into the dark conspiracies surrounding the sinister Church of the Resurrected, which has uncomfortably close family ties to his wife, Rochelle.

Rochelle Edom, daughter of the Church’s founder, genius creator of the worldwide hit video game, NeverEnd, has left her coding days behind to focus on family life. She laments that the repetitive, highly-addictive game she designed shows an alarming increase in ill effects among its players: they emulate the characters’ violent actions with increasingly brutal consequences – which her husband witnesses first hand.

When Rochelle unexpectedly goes missing, along with her and Jon’s two young children, the doctor all too quickly becomes a suspect once old infidelities are exposed.

As Jon fights to clear his name under seemingly impossible, tragic circumstances, aided by his close friend, Rabbi Max, he becomes inexorably embroiled in the evil undercurrent of the Church of the Resurrected’s association with the enigmatic Coppersmith, who has a nefarious agenda all of his own…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231838995-neverend?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Ny4K0gn3zI&rank=1

Universal link for the book on Amazon

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

NEVEREND by Blake Rudman is an intense dark noir thriller with philosophical and religious elements as well as a criminal investigation and trial. The unsettling atmosphere, fully developed characters, and multitude of questions with every plot twist kept me turning the pages in a race to the end…which ended in a cliffhanger! UGH!!

Rochelle Edom is a brilliant software engineer and creator of the highly addictive video game, NeverEnd. She is also the oldest daughter of the founder of The Church of the Resurrected. Having worked through the childhood of her twins, she decided to retire and focus on her and Jon’s two younger sons. She has had problems in her marriage with Jon working long hours and her bipolar disease, so when Jon goes away to a conference, she gathers her two sons and disappears.

Dr. Jon Edom is a dedicated surgeon, but evidence begins to point to Jon as having hurt his wife and sons, he finds himself accused of the murder. Yes, they were having problems, but he loved them and cannot understand why the detective investigating his case is so sure of his guilt.

Besides Jon’s trial with startling revelations, there are swarms of locust plaguing Texas, a video game that has people killing each other, a hurricane bearing down, and questionable religious leaders and sects out to destroy each other all intertwined into a world that is completely unstable and psychologically disturbing.

This is the second book I have read by this author and once again I read it completely in one sitting. The world-building and psychological tension kept me off balance and questioning my assumptions throughout. It is a dark thriller with the criminal investigation and trial, but there are also moments of what some may call karma, or others will say divine intervention. The pacing is intense throughout. My one pet peeve as always, although it did not change my rating, is that the book ends in a cliffhanger. I hate them and will usually not pick up the next book for that reason, but I will definitely be waiting for this follow-up. Mr. Rudman has hooked me again!

I highly recommend this powerful dark noir thriller!

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About the Author

Blake Rudman enjoyed a former, successful career in executive management, building his own companies from the ground up.

Success or not, Blake’s heart has always been in the written word, and the myriad ideas he spent much of his spare time jotting down in notebooks, Post-Its, and scraps of paper whenever the inspiration hit him.

Now a breakout author of six noir thriller novels, Blake’s destiny of becoming a writer of some renown is well under way.

When he’s not working diligently on his next novel, Blake spends quality time with his daughter and reading.

Social Media Links

Website:https://blakerudman.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091948818990

Bluesky – HellBound Books: https://bsky.app/profile/hellboundbooks.bsky.social

Feature Post and Book Review: Beach View Lane by Jan Moran

Book Description

April Raines is facing the end of her long-term marriage after her husband begins another family. Eager for a fresh start, she returns home with her grown daughters to Crown Island, just off the coast of Southern California.

When Ryan Kingston acquires the historical Majestic Hotel, he is determined to bring the vintage Victorian beach resort back to life. But it could come at a steep cost to him and his carefully guarded privacy.

Especially when April Raines, head of the new Crown Island Historical Society, captures his attention. Will they both get a second chance at life?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/126824210-beach-view-lane?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=dCVWIJ60hz&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BEACH VIEW LANE (Crown Island Book #1) by Jan Moran is an emotional and enjoyable beginning to a women’s fiction/family saga/romance mash-up series. It introduces us to the families and multiple characters of Crown Island which is just off the Californian coast. This first story in the series features the return of an island daughter after the end of a long-term marriage.

April Raines has done everything to support her husband as he climbed the higher education academic ladder. While there were problems, they always seemed to work them out, until this time. He has started another family with a much younger woman while April has been on Crown Island nursing her mother back to health after a bad case of pneumonia.

April is determined to start a new life of her own with her background in historical education on the island she has always loved with her mother, daughter, and best friend as the new head of the Crown Island Historical Society. Her love of the historical Majestic Hotel and its new owner have her intrigued to learn more about the planned renovations, but their first meeting does not go well.

Ryan Kingston has bought his financial partner out and is determined to restore the Majestic Hotel to its formal glory. What many on the island do not realize is that the new extremely private owner has a secret on the island that only very few know about, and he is worried if it is revealed, it will affect his ability to carry out his plans.

This is a wonderful, emotion filled start to a genre mash-up series. The island descriptions make me want to visit and hopefully meet all the island inhabitants. The characters were fully developed even in this first book and very relatable. I lived in a town like this island, where there were vast social dichotomies and I had empathy for Ryan’s dilemma and thought it was handled beautifully. There are no sex scenes in this book, it more family drama and the beginning of a romantic relationship. I am looking forward to reading more books in this series to follow not only April’s friend, Deb, but also April’s daughters.

I highly recommend this genre mash-up book and cannot wait to read more books in this new series.

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About the Author

Jan Moran is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of heartfelt women’s fiction series, beach reads, family sagas, and romantic 20th-century historical novels. Jan dreams up her popular, small-town contemporary beach books on sunny shores in Southern California. Don’t miss out on new releases and special offers – join Jan’s Readers Club on her website for all her news.

Pour a cup of tea or a glass of wine, open one of her books, and find yourself transported with characters you’ll soon be rooting for as friends. Jan is an avid traveler, so you’ll find her books infused with authentic locales and things she loves to research—from chocolate, wine, and food to history, fashion, and more. Readers often say that along with a heartwarming story, they also learn many fascinating details.

As a native of Texas who lived on the East Coast and worked in Paris, Hong Kong, and Canada, Jan brings a wealth of experience to every book she writes. She welcomes you to her wonderful world of storytelling.

Social Media Links

Website: https://janmoran.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janmoranbooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janmoranbooks/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/janmoran.bsky.social

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/beach-view-lane-crown-island-1-by-jan-moran