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Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Darkness Falls by James L’Etoile

DARKNESS FALLS

by James L’Etoile

September 7 – October 2, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DARKNESS FALLS (A Detective Nathan Parker Novel Book #5) by James L’Etoile on this Partners In Crime Virtual Blog Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!

Book Description

Not all darkness flows into the Valley of the Sun from our southern borders.

Detective Nathan Parker discovers a double murder in a Phoenix drug lab, and all the evidence points at a connection to his son, Miguel. Was his adopted son swept up in a drug rip-off and murder? Did he play a role in the distribution of illicit designer drugs in the valley? As authorities close in on Miguel, Parker discovers a border militia group rushing to control the drug flow. The Night Watch militia leaves of trail of violence in their wake and local politicians use the shadow of the scourge of drug violence to influence an upcoming election. Who stands to gain while Parker and his family are caught in the crossfire? Who will betray them?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256806921-darkness-falls?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=jPKPGNqqsM&rank=1

Darkness Falls

Genre: Thriller / Police Procedural
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: August 25, 2026
Number of Pages: 350
ISBN: 978-889203313
Series: A Detective Nathan Parker Novel

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DARKNESS FALLS (A Detective Nathan Parker Novel Book #5) by James L’Etoile is another edge-of-your-seat police procedural/crime thriller featuring Detective Nathan Parker with the Maricopa Sheriff’s Department. While each book in this series centers around a new criminal investigation, this series has main characters that I feel are as significant as the plot and continue to evolve in each book. I suggest reading the series in order of publication.

When Detective Nathan Parker is called to the scene of a double homicide in an isolated trailer, at first glance it appears to be a tragic but not uncommon drug related murder. As he and his partner search the trailer, a familiar backpack is discovered. It belongs to his adopted son, Miguel. Now it is personal and Nathan must discover if everything he believes about his son’s life is true, even as he believes Miguel is not telling him the whole truth.

Miguel becomes a suspect in the murder investigation with DEA and ICE involved which could lead to Miguel losing everything. Nathan must deal with rogue DEA agents, crooked members in his sheriff’s department, white supremist biker gangs, and anti-government militias to fight to not only save Miguel but his pregnant wife, too.

This story has a fast pace and tension level that will keep you reading well into the night. Mr. L’Etoile never shies away from controversial and/or difficult topics that are related to our southern border and immigration. Money, power, and corruption, and all the alphabet agencies give this plot plenty of twists and surprises along the way with an ever-increasing sense of apprehension. Nathan needs the assistance of all his friends to solve this case and protect his family even as he faces a betrayal too close to home.

I highly recommend this thrilling addition to the Nathan Parker series and cannot wait for more!

***

Excerpt

Chapter One

Sucking stale air through a respirator, John Thomas Mitchell finally found his niche. He dropped out of high school because it wasn’t his thing. The teachers said he wasn’t being challenged. Truth was, John Thomas left because he’d learned what he needed to make it on his own.

Most of the people he interacted with only knew him as the Birdman. If you wanted the best high, the Birdman was the source. He wasn’t a drug dealer; he was a connoisseur—a brand ambassador of pills.

“J.T., I got another five hundred bagged and ready,” a reedy voice said through his respirator.

John Thomas pulled the lever on his manual pressing machine, one of his own design, and twenty white, perfectly pressed pills dropped out, each embossed with his own logo—a Blackbird in flight.

“We need another thousand for the college this weekend. It’s pledge week, Cal.”

John Thomas tapped the plastic container, shaking loose the snow-colored powder residue from the sides, and monitored the loose material as it flowed onto the dimpled steel plate where it would be formed and pressed into the coveted Blackbird doses. The perfect blend of Ecstasy and opiate.

A hard knock on the trailer’s thick metal door reverberated through the old single-wide.

John Thomas and Cal exchanged a glance through drug powder dusted goggles.

“Cops?” Cal said.

John Thomas glanced at his watch. “Cops don’t knock. Must be our boy coming to pick up. He’s early. Get it would ya? I’m in the middle of setting up the next press.”

Cal scooted back from the workbench and placed the plastic-wrapped bundle of pills on the cheap folding table set up in the middle of the stripped-down trailer.

The knock at the door sounded again. This time, it came harder and rattled the heavy doorframe.

“All right, all right, I’m coming, dammit,” Cal said as he slid the two bolts that secured the door.

The moment he threw the door aside, a thundering blast echoed in the small space. Cal flew back against the far wall, a crimson blossom leaching through his t-shirt.

John Thomas fell out of his chair, and two gunmen, both dressed in black, wearing full-face respirators, stepped into the trailer. John Thomas crabbed backwards on the floor trying to distance himself from the gun-toting pair.

The closer of the two leveled a black shotgun at him.

John Thomas blanched. He looked away from the gunman. “Take it. Take what you want.” He held his hands up—submissive and cowering.

The gunman tipped his head to his partner, who stepped over Cal’s body and stuffed the bags of finished pills into a black nylon zippered duffle.

When the pills were tucked away in the duffel, the man backed away. The gunman didn’t lower the shotgun.

“You got what you came for. I won’t tell nothing,” John Thomas said. His voice thin and quivering.

Over his pounding heartbeat, John Thomas heard the gunman’s reply.

“I know you won’t.”

A flash from the muzzle and an ear-splitting roar filled the trailer. John Thomas lay sprawled on the floor. The gunman slung the shotgun over his shoulder and stepped around what was left of John Thomas’s head and grabbed the heavy pill press, dumping the powder that hadn’t been compressed on the floor.

He backed through the door and took a last look inside before his partner tossed in a plain blue backpack. They closed the metal door and jogged to where they’d parked their dark blue Ford F-150 pickup.

The pill-laden duffel went into a hardcover case. The gunman took less than a minute to strip down the pill press and remove the plates that formed the pills with their unique Blackbird signature logo. The two steel plates tucked into another hard case, and the mechanical parts of the press were tossed into a thick copse of creosote brush.

After the cases were secured in the back seat, the men got in, started the truck and backed away.

The gunman pulled his respirator off and tossed it into the back seat. His blue eyes fell on his cell phone he’d stashed on the console. He scanned it while driving on the rutted, washboard dirt road and dialed 911.

“911, what’s your emergency,” a voice sounded over the cellphone.

“Hey, I just spotted a pack of illegals busting into a trailer out near Vulture Mountain west of Wickenburg.”

“How do you know they were undocumented?”

“You can tell, and I heard gunshots.”

“What’s your name?”

The gunman hung up and handed the phone to the passenger, who slipped out the SIM card, snapped it in half and tossed the bits out the window.

“How long you figure it’ll take them to find the place?” the passenger said.

“Not long.”

The gunman pressed down on the accelerator toward Phoenix.

***

Author Bio

James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an influence in his award-winning novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s state parole system. His novels have been shortlisted or awarded the Lefty, Anthony, Silver Falchion, Macavity, and the Public Safety Writers Award. Illusion of Truth, Sins of the Father, and Darkness Falls are his most recent novels. James also serves as the Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America.

Social Media Links

JamesLEtoile.com
Prison to the Page Newsletter
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @crimewriter
Instagram – @authorjamesletoile
Threads – @authorjamesletoile
Facebook – @AuthorJamesLetoile
BlueSky – @jamesletoile.bsky.social

Purchase Links

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PICT GIVEAWAY

https://pictbooks.tours/csuLGYZV

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Avalon Moon by Michael Amos Cody

AVALON MOON

by Michael Amos Cody

August 24 – September 18, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for AVALON MOON by Michael Amos Cody on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

In Avalon Moon, a local man has gone missing and then is soon found dead in a highland meadow, side-by-side with an unknown woman. When another man and woman go missing and a female deputy is found murdered, Gabriel Tanner, editor of Runion’s weekly newspaper, and Plumer Reeves, a reclusive local hawkshaw working for the niece of the first dead man, suspect a monster is hunting in their western North Carolina mountains. Two extraordinary young women, the Avalon community’s Ariel Anderson and Lonesome Mountain’s Livvy Goforth, join Tanner and Reeves to lead the attempt to discover and stop the killer.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/251091623-avalon-moon?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=DnDS1ED4zy&rank=1

Avalon Moon

Genre: Psychological Horror, Thriller
Published by: Madville Publishing
Publication Date: May 19, 2026
Number of Pages: 340
ISBN: 9781963695670 (ISBN10: 1963695674)

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

AVALON MOON by Michael Amos Cody is an atmospheric Southern Gothic genre mash-up that seamlessly blends horror, mystery, suspense, and crime thriller into a book that captivates and engages.

Gabriel Tanner owns, edits, and writes for the local paper in Runion, North Carolina. As he is putting information about a missing woman in the paper, he is called to photograph a crime scene. What he discovers at the scene are the remains of a man and a woman. At about the same time, a young mountain woman, Livvy Goforth, has asked Plumer Reeves, a local hawkshaw, who finds missing things, including people, to find her uncle, who she knows is dead. More people disappear and the community begins to realize they have an unknow killer in their mountains and everyone must work together before more end up dead, including themselves.

Set in the mountains of Madison County in western North Carolina and featuring a mix of social class protagonists, this author’s writing pulled me right into the intensifying suspense, and beauty of the location. Paranormal elements and folklore traditions are woven throughout the plot, but do not overtake the plausibility of the crime plot.

I am very glad to have joined this book tour, because I probably would not have been aware of this book otherwise and that would have been a terrible shame. I highly recommend this Southern Gothic mash-up genre book and hope many more people discover it!

***

Excerpt

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

ONE

Gabriel Tanner

“Editor of and chief contributor to a country weekly” never made my top ten list of things I wanted to be when I grew up. For the longest time, I had only one item on that list—Rock Star! I toyed with adding a second item, maybe being just a hit-making songwriter, but the songwriting I did throughout the 1980s was so closely bound up with the Rock Star! idea that I couldn’t pull the two apart. If I didn’t become the next Bruce Springsteen, which I didn’t, I was unlikely to become the next Bob McDill—ditto on the didn’t.

So, with the Rock Star! phase of my life gone grumbling into my dreams, I left Nashville in the hot gut of August 1990, retreated, tail between legs, to Runion, my hometown in the North Carolina mountains, and the following January entered Runion State University, where I double-majored in English and Journalism. I took a part-time job as student reporter and all-around grunt for Sheldon Dean’s Runion Recorder. A couple years after I graduated, Sheldon decided he was tired of writing and offered me a full-time position as editor, keeping only the title of “General Manager” for himself. I accepted.

And so it came to pass that on a cold evening in early March, on the darker side of twilight, I drove toward the Lonesome Mountain end of Genesis Road, planning to swing around the back way into Runion. On regular mornings going to work, or any other time I was in a hurry, I drove down to the French Broad end of Genesis and took the river road up a short hill and onto Main Street, but I was dreading two hours minimum of sitting in a meeting at the Madison County Cooperative Extension Office complex, housed in the recently renovated Old Mill on Mill Street, and taking notes for a regular report to appear in next week’s paper. The room would be stuffy with heat and humanity, and to be honest, I was lollygagging.

This year’s March was looking like a lion-lamb version—in like a lion, out like a lamb. We expected to wake up the next morning to some serious snow and ice courtesy of Winter Storm Ulysses. The fields on my left and the woods on my right seemed to hold their breath in anticipation.

I rolled to a stop at the T-intersection where Genesis Road dead-ends at Jewel Hill Road, with Lonesome Mountain ahead and to my left, dark against the sky. My new Honda hybrid sat quietly, and still not used to its workings, I thought it might have died but relaxed when no warning lights appeared. Even though the temperature was in the upper thirties, I opened my windows and—with no other traveler sitting at my bumper and politely honking, as our mountain folk do—sat at the intersection with my eyes closed and my skin alive to the chilly air. I heard a few of last summer’s still-tethered leaves shivering in the boughs overhead and something scurrying through the underbrush in the woods off to my right. I think I could’ve engaged the emergency brake and gone to sleep, but I opened my eyes, suddenly uneasy and unsure why.

The headlights shown across Jewel Hill Road and lit the lower part of a hillside pasture beyond. A few head of cattle midway up the slope stood at the edge of the light and grazed on pale grass.

Not one to be unnerved by a bovine presence in the twilight, I strained my senses to catch and identify what raised hairs along my forearms and around the back of my neck.

To my left, a field rolled away in successive swells toward a wooded ridge standing blackly against the sky. Runion lay on the other side of that ridge, but somewhere between the town and me, yips and cries rose from the gathering dark. These joined together into an eerie howl of various voices that twisted around one another, broke apart, and swelled together again.

Coyotes.

When I was growing up in these mountains, coyotes existed only in old TV westerns. But they were voice-over actors only, strictly behind-the-scenes. They were soundtrack features. Technicians of ambiance. Nothing said a cowboy was alone in the darkening wilderness like the distant howl of a coyote. The cowboy would raise his eyes from the campfire and sit still and listen for a moment, alert to the wild. But it was never the coyote itself that frightened him. Maybe the coyote’s cry was a reminder of his loneliness and vulnerability—that if such a critter could be out there in the dark, then anything could be out there.

But in recent years, coyotes had loped out of the faded glory of Hollywood’s western and into our world, maybe crossing the Mississippi around Memphis and moving steadily east across Tennessee until they reached Appalachia and Runion. They were seen trotting along the edges of regional four-lanes or lying dead on twisting mountain highways. They stole cats and small dogs just beyond the lights of back porches. That evening at the stop sign, they yipped and yapped and cried somewhere out on the verge of a Runion farmer’s field.

Still, I thought, at least they aren’t wolves. Wolves, of course, were a different story. Send up the howl of a wolf into the night, and the cowboy would become focused on the beast, not on loneliness or vulnerability. The wolf’s howl menaced, threatened. Eyes might shine at the edge of the campfire’s light, followed by snarling close-ups. Then enter the legend of the wolf mixed with a man, and the beast achieved cinematic glory, jumping genres from westerns to horror, something coyotes could never quite pull off.

When I pressed the accelerator, the Honda whispered to life, and I turned left toward town. If I sat there much longer, I would be late for the extension meeting, during which one item on the agenda just happened to be related to the beasts of my T-intersection musing. . . .

***

Author Bio

Michael Amos Cody is author of the 2017 novel GABRIEL’S SONGBOOK and the 2021 collection A TWILIGHT REEL, winner of the Short Story category in the Feathered Quill Book Awards 2022. His 2025 literary suspense novel STREETS OF NASHVILLE won the Thriller category in the 2026 Independent Press Awards. His new novel, released in May 2026, is the psychological thriller AVALON MOON. Cody lives with wife Leesa in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and teaches early American literature and creative writing in the Department of Literature and Language at East Tennessee State University.

Social Media Links

MichaelAmosCody.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
Instagram – @michaelamoscody
Threads – @michaelamoscody
Facebook – @MacOde77  
Facebook –  @michaelamoscody
BlueSky – @michaelamoscody.bsky.social

Purchase Links

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PICT Tours Giveaway

https://pictbooks.tours/9jRugcXi

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Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Buried on the Island by Stewart Giles

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BURIED ON THE ISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #17) by Stewart Giles on this blog 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

Secrets never stay buried forever.

An exciting home renovation project becomes the stuff of nightmares when the remains of three people are unearthed while digging the hole for the swimming pool. The bones are old, and nobody seems to know who they belonged to.

Detective Inspector O’Reilly is brought in to investigate, and during a further excavation of the scene, another body is found. And this one was killed and buried recently.

As he digs deeper, he soon suspects that the bodies were meant to be found. They were buried there for a reason and when that reason becomes apparent it’s going send shockwaves around the island.

This is a case that’s going to cause O’Reilly to wonder if some things would be better off buried for good.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252808622-buried-on-the-island?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=NlNPQjK5rh&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BURIED ON THE ISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mystery Book #17) by Stewart Giles is a wonderfully twisted and gruesome addition to this crime mystery/police procedural thriller series. While each book is a complete standalone mystery, the characters continue to grow and evolve in their interactions, and I have enjoyed getting to know and care about them all in order of publication.

Detective Inspector Liam O’Reilly is called to the excavation for a pool, where they discover three skeletal bodies that appear to be decades old. When he decides to wait to see if this is even a crime scene, he is immediately called back when the fresh body of a young girl is also discovered with the same gruesome apparent cause of death.

As O’Reilly and his team investigate, another dead girl is discovered while the person in the process of burying her gets away. O’Reilly follows the clues that lead the team to a rich and powerful group on the island that are determined to keep their secrets buried.

I always enjoy the fascinating twists and surprises in this series and while the method of murders in this one is a little stomach-turning, it is still fascinating to follow where Mr. Giles leads. I rarely guess the identity of the murderer before O’Reilly’s reveal and this book was no different. In the personal lives of the story, I loved the future changes to come in O’Reilly’s family life and will be interested to see what changes are supposed to be happening in the Guernsey police department with two new heads of the department.

I highly recommend this addition to this crime mystery series and look forward to many more to come!

***

Author Bio

After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.

In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later. 3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series. The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.

I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018. After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor. The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.

The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.

Social Media Links

Website: www.stewartgiles.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Hunt You Down by Roger Stelljes

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for HUNT YOU DOWN (Agent Tori Hunter Book #9) by Roger Stelljes on this Books-On-Tour Bookouture tour.

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

***

Book Description

The girls walk arm-in-arm, laughing through the quiet late-night streets of Manchester Bay, celebrating their homecoming weekend. But arriving home, the laughter dies. Their best friend Cami lies still on the floor, hair splayed on the carpet, and rope marks all around her throat…

When university student Cami Margot is found murdered, Agent Tori Hunter and Detective Will Braddock are among the first on the scene. For Tori, the image of this smart young woman with her whole life ahead of her being hunted down is instantly seared in her mind. The team quickly realizes the murder weapon—a purple, gray and black nylon rope—is an exact match of that used in the murder of another student.

Tori teaches Criminal Justice at the university. Knowing the students trust her implicitly, Tori asks questions all over campus and soon learns that both girls were members of Lake Frat. The group plan secret parties at each other’s lakeside homes, away from prying eyes… and when the rope is linked to a boat from one of the parties, it’s clear the girls were killed by one of their own.

Does a psychopath walk amongst the university students, attend their classes, join in their parties, cheer at their sporting events all while plotting their next kill? The students ask Tori: could they be next? Someone has been hunting these girls. But Tori is a hunter, too… even if the prey is closer to home than she ever thought possible.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1247737.Roger_Stelljes

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0GYDXW4TBsocial

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HUNT YOU DOWN (Agent Tori Hunter Book #9) by Roger Stelljes is a diabolically twisted addition to the Agent Tori Hunter series that reminds me once again why I love these books. While each book continues to follow the lives and relationships of all the main characters and citizens of Manchester Bay, Minnesota, the author does an excellent job of encapsulating their stories and the criminal case in each, so they can each be easily read as a standalone crime thriller/police procedural.

Agent Tori Hunt is teaching Criminal Justice full-time now at the university, but when her partner Detective Sergeant Will Braddock gets an early morning call, he asks her to accompany him when he is told there is another murder of a university student. As the investigation heats up, Tori and Braddock discover the two dead girls were members of Lake Frat. The group consists of wealthy college students who use their family homes on the lakes for exclusive private parties, and they believe their killer is a member.

When a sting is set up for a probable suspect, it all goes awry. Tori is in a foot chase to capture the suspected killer and when he goes to trial, the case blows up in embarrassment for Tori and the prosecution in court when a third girl is killed in the same manner. Tori and Braddock know they are being manipulated but proving it beyond a reasonable doubt is the problem.

This is an excellent addition to this series! There are so many twists and red herrings in the criminal plot that I kept reading to the end. All the books in this series have had gripping criminal plots I have loved, but this is now my favorite. Tori and Braddock continue to be an intelligent pair of supportive and loving protagonists with the entire cast of secondary characters in the sheriff’s department giving the reader a strong police procedural. After these nine books, I feel like I am visiting old friends and cannot wait to return. This is a thriller series that checks all my boxes and leaves me wanting more.

I highly recommend this captivating criminal thriller/police procedural!

***

About the Author

Roger Stelljes is the acclaimed New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of pulse-pounding murder mystery and suspense novels, including the Tori Hunter and McRyan Mystery Series. Roger’s crime thrillers are noted for their fast-paced, yet intricate plots filled with layered and complex characters.

Roger started his first novel in July 2002 while on vacation in Minnesota’s Brainerd Lakes area and has been writing ever since. His debut book, The St. Paul Conspiracy, was nominated in genre fiction for the Minnesota Book Awards along with finalists Brian Freeman and William Kent Krueger. With his follow-up, Deadly Stillwater, where Vince Flynn hailed Roger as a “powerful new thriller voice”, he won the Midwest Independent Book Publishers award for commercial fiction.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Roger still lives there with his family. In addition to his work as an author, Roger is a partner in his law firm. Roger is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys spending time outdoors boating, attending hockey games, and honing his golf game.

Mailing List: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/roger-stelljes

Social Media Links

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

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

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/roger-stelljes

Book Review: The Old Girls’ Network by Judy Leigh

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE OLD GIRLS’ NETWORK by Judy Leigh is an emotional roller coaster of a women’s fiction story with romantic elements featuring a trio of septuagenarians; two very different sisters and the man they befriend after hitting him with their car. I enjoy reading these small village British stories to compare and contrast with small town American stories.

Barbara and Pauline are sisters in their seventies who have never been close in location or attitude. Barbara is strait-laced, opinionated, and bossy, while Pauline is a friendly, open-minded, and homey. After a health scare, Barbara tells her sister she is coming to convalesce at her home in the small village of Winsleigh Green. The two soon begin to have trouble with each other.

When Pauline accidentally knocks down an apparent vagrant, Bisto, with her car, she invites him into her home to recuperate. Now as the three get to know each other they learn to embrace each other, let go of the past, and possibly make the changes they need to embrace fresh starts and new loves.

This is a charming story with three protagonists that will make you laugh, cry, and want to hug them all. And while I loved the main characters, the village members were just as eclectic and fun to follow. To read the changes brought on by both pain and/or love in all the characters’ interactions made this heart wrenching, heartwarming and ultimately very satisfying. It was also nice to see these characters in their 70’s find their HEAs and demonstrate that is never too late to change and find happiness and love.

I recommend this delightful women’s fiction.

***

About the Author

I’m Judy Leigh. I’ve lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently I live in Somerset. After teaching theatre, writing lyrics for a punk band and setting up Shakespeare Festivals, I completed an MA in Professional Writing. Since then, I have been writing novels and having the time of my life doing it.

I write ‘golden’ stories that feature characters of all ages, but focus on the lives of older people.

These novels celebrate communities, fun and friendship, love and the power of laughter, the belief that everyone should have another chance at happiness.

I also write under the name of Elena Collins, who was my grandmother. These are dual timeline historical stories, slightly spooky. Writing in this genre gives me the opportunity to focus on history and the lives of women then and now. Please take a look at my Elena Collins author page. I love writing in this genre and I know you’ll enjoy the stories.

I also write cozy crime under the name of JR Leigh. The Morwenna Mutton ‘Seal Bay’ series is set in a beautiful coastal town in Cornwall, and Morwenna is a sixty-something sleuth who gets into mischief solving local crimes.

In my second series, set in beautiful rural France, DI Archie Darling and his trusty Dalmatian companion Juno set off in their camper van to explore the surrounings, but uncover more than they expect.

.Please check out these books – I know you’ll love them.

When I’m not writing, I’m often on the beach or on the moors, walking, doing yoga or travelling. I’m a Reiki healer, a vegan, an interpreter of dreams and an animal lover. I have three black cats and I enjoy sunshine, conversation, laughter, travelling, live music, theatre and football.

Social Media Links

Website: https://judyleigh.com/

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

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-old-girls-network-by-judy-leigh

Feature Post and Book Review: Love on Beach Avenue by Jennifer Probst

Book Description

Avery Sunshine might not have a soul mate of her own, but she still believes in happily ever after—for her clients. Making dreams come true is her business at Sunshine Bridal, which she runs with her two sisters. When her best friend announces her engagement, Avery is thrilled to take charge of the giddy bride-to-be’s big day. Less thrilling? Her best friend’s arrogant and demanding brother, who just so happens to be the man of honor.

Carter Ross’s first instinct: call 911. He promised to always take care of his impulsive little sister, and he honors that vow. Even if it means taking over her wedding, where he is sure Avery will fail. At best, Avery is unpredictable. At worst, if she’s anything like the spitfire of a college girl he remembers, the main event could run wild.

With Avery and Carter wrestling for control, tempers heat up. So does the spark of attraction they’re fighting with every kiss. As the wedding draws near, it’s time to reconcile a rocky past and make a decision that could change everyone’s lives. Because what they’re rebelling against looks a lot like love.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50160315-love-on-beach-avenue?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=7nkK8ZCahV&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

LOVE ON BEACH AVENUE (The Sunshine Sisters Book #1) by Jennifer Probst is the first contemporary romance in a trilogy featuring the Sunshine sisters who own and run the top Jersey Shore bridal planning business located in Cape May. This first book is an enemies-to-lovers romance with the eldest workaholic Avery always believing her forever love is out there somewhere. An emotional, fun, and sexy start to the trilogy.

Avery Sunshine is excited when her college BFF, Ally, calls with the news she is getting married and she and her fiancée hope Avery can fit them in with little notice for her dream beach wedding. Avery is constantly busy, but she is determined to give Ally the wedding of her dreams. What she does not plan on is Ally’s staid older brother being her man of honor.

Carter Ross has been Ally’s guardian since the death of their parents. He has always put her first and wants her to have the best wedding ever, but he believes hiring Avery is a mistake. Avery and Carter butted heads during her and Ally’s college years and he still sees her as an impulsive and unpredictable influence.

As Avery and Carter battle over every decision and control of the wedding, sparks begin to fly and they discover they want more than just Ally’s happiness.

This is a wonderful introduction to the very different Sunshine sisters. Avery steers the company with an optimistic personality, but her life has become more work than play. Carter knows just how to get her ire up and he becomes just what she needs, for a while, but he has an emotional wall that is difficult to bring down. It is a great back and forth over Ally’s wedding and all the emotional baggage in-between. The secondary characters are funny, supportive, and are a bit of a peek into what I hope are the future sister matchups. I absolutely adored Lucy, Carter’s pampered dog. The dialogue, especially the intense banter between Avery and Carter, is great. The sex scenes are explicit and smokin’ hot while believable to the romance.

I really enjoyed this enemies-to-lovers romance and am looking forward to following the other Sunshine sisters to their HEAs.

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About the Author

Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She holds a masters in English Literature and lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley in upstate New York. Her family keeps her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean. Her passions include horse racing, Scrabble, rescue dogs, Italian food, and wine—not necessarily in that order.

She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance fiction. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, spent 26 weeks on the New York Times. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies, and was dubbed a “romance phenom” by Kirkus Reviews. She has over fifty books published.

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