BLIND DATE by Debbie Ioanna is a new romcom by a new to me author that kept surprising me and making me laugh out loud even in public. This is a lighthearted delight of a story for a short and easy-to-read escape especially in these difficult times.
Jenny is thirty years old and has everything a girl could want. She owns her home has a good job and the best BF ever, Sarah. She even at time likes her rescue cat, Bing Clawsby, who makes it his life’s duty to destroy and surprise.
But Jenny can never find “The One”. Sarah sets her up on a disastrous blind date and then encourages Jenny to try a dating app. Delete. Her mother even attempts to play matchmaker. Escape. Jenny is even finding her sometimes hook-up buddy, not really working out.
Jenny wants the perfect man from work, Zach. When the stars align and Zach finally asks Jenny out, not once, but twice the dates are aborted. Will Jenny get the man of her dreams, or is she destined to be single for the rest of her life?
I did not want this book to end! Jenny is relatable, realistic and I would love to be her friend. Ms. Ioanna has created a lovable main character and a fun set of secondary characters that completely whisked me away from my own life and had me laughing, unlady like snorting and completely entertained.
I highly recommend this romcon and dare you not to laugh!
***
About the Author
Debbie is a multi-genre indie author and blogger who was born in Bradford and lives there with her husband, two-year-old daughter and anti-social cat Cleo. When she isn’t busy being a Mum, working for her local council or studying towards her Open University degree, she is busy focusing on her writing career.
Debbie doesn’t write to just one genre as she likes to write about anything. She is currently working on a romantic-comedy series but who knows what she will be working on in the future. As well as writing novels, short stories and blogs for her website, she is also reviewing other works by indie authors. She is passionate about helping other indie authors as she knows it is a hard world to master and getting reviews is a challenge on its own.
Debbie has been a regular attending author at the UK Indie Lit Fest in Bradford for the last few years and will be returning in 2020, as well as attending events in Shipley and Liverpool for the first time.
Debbie began studying with the Open University in 2015, aiming towards a BA Honours in Humanities, focusing on History and Creative Writing which are her two greatest passions. It is a part-time course, due to end in 2021 which Debbie is hoping means she will have more time to write.
I am excited to share my Feature Post and Book Review for the fourth book in this Harlequin Intrigue multi-author series – RUNNING OUT OF TIME (Tactical Crime Division Book #4) by Cindi Myers.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section with book purchase links. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
Welcome to the Tactical Crime Division, a rapid-deployment joint team of FBI agents specializing in hostage negotiation, missing persons, IT, profiling, shootings and terrorism, with Director Jill Pembrook at the head.
When a terrorist is on the loose, the Tactical Crime Division is on the case.
To find out who poisoned medications, two of TCD’s agents are tapped to go undercover posing as a married couple and infiltrate the company. But as soon as Jace Cantrell and Laura Smith arrive at Stroud Pharmaceuticals, someone ups the ante by planting explosives in their midst. Turns out that the small-town family business is hiding a million secrets. Could they unknowingly be protecting a vengeful killer?
RUNNING OUT OF TIME (Tactical Crime Division Book #4) by Cindi Myers is the fourth book in this Harlequin Intrigue multi-author series featuring members of the FBIs Tactical Crime Division. This is a specialized unit of the FBI formed to handle the toughest cases at a moment’s notice anywhere in the country.
Family owned Stroud Pharmaceuticals is the major employer in the small town of Mayville. The TCD is called in to discover who tampered with the company’s best-selling herbal Stomach Soothers. The tampered bottles contained ricin and have so far killed six.
Jace Cantrell and Laura Smith are partnered undercover to portray a married couple working in the plant. The easy-going, rule-bending Jace is not sure how well this will work with the by-the-rules, uptight Laura. As they work to find the killer, they soon have even more to unravel as a bomb explodes by a plant door and kills an employee. They soon uncover that there were more bombs made.
The couple now needs to figure out if they have one killer or two and what is the motive before more people are killed. As the tension and suspense build to solve this case, so does the heat in their undercover marriage.
I enjoyed this addition to the series. It is a romantic suspense with a well written balance between the romance and the suspense. The ‘opposites attract’ romance is paced believably and both characters are fully fleshed for this shorter book. The sex scenes are short and just barely explicit. The suspense plot kept me guessing, not so much regarding who was guilty, but who was responsible for which criminal activity. I felt the romance was predictable, but I enjoyed the characters and the suspense kept me engrossed and turning the pages right up to ‘The End’.
I enjoyed this romantic suspense addition to the TCD series!
***
Excerpt
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Special Agent Laura “Smitty” Smith – A disciplined agent who never breaks the rules, Laura must go undercover as a newlywed to find the person responsible for a rash of poisonings and bombings in a small West Virginia town.
Special Agent Jace Cantrell – the military veteran and special ops expert has a reputation as a rebel and a rule breaker – exactly the kind of man to clash with Laura, yet the two must pose as husband and wife to solve a case that brings death to their very doorstep.
Donna Stroud – The head of Stroud Pharmaceuticals intends to keep her company going and her family together in the face of tragedy, but how far will she go to do so?
Parker Stroud – Donna’s son chafes at his parents’ unwillingness to put him in charge of the family business.
Merry Winger – Parker’s girlfriend has big plans to marry Parker, despite his parents’ disapproval of their relationship and Parker’s own reluctance to make their relationship public.
Leo Elgin – His mother was poisoned by tainted medication manufactured by Stroud. He holds a grudge against the Stroud family.
Tactical Crime Division – Rapid-deployment joint team of FBI agents specializing in hostage negotiation, missing persons, IT, profiling, shootings and terrorism with director Jill Pembrook at the head.
###
“We’ve got another tough case on our hands.” Jill Pembroke, director of the FBI’s tactical crime division, surveyed her team from the head of the conference table in the Bureau’s Knoxville headquarters. “One that re-quires a great deal of discretion.”
Something in the director’s tone made Agent Laura Smith sharpen her focus. Pembroke, with her well-cut silver hair and feminine suit, might be mistaken for a high society grandmother, but she was as hard-nosed as they came, and not prone to exaggeration. That she reminded her team of the need for discretion pointed to something out of the ordinary.
The door to the conference room opened and a man slipped in. Tall and rangy, Agent Jace Cantrell moved with the grace of an athlete. He nodded to the director and eased into the empty seat next to Laura. No apology for being late. Typical. Laura slid her chair over a couple of inches. Cantrell was one of those men who always seemed to take up more than his share of the available space.
“We’re going to be investigating product tampering at Stroud Pharmaceuticals in Mayville, West Virginia.”
Director Pembroke stepped aside to reveal a slide showing a squat factory building set well back on landscaped grounds.
“The antacid poisonings.” Agent Ana Ramirez spoke from her seat directly across from Laura. She tucked a strand of dark hair into the twist at the nape of her neck, polished nails glinting in the overhead light. “That story has been all over the news.”
“Do the locals not want the FBI horning in?” Agent Davis Rogers—the only member of the team not wearing the regulation suit—sat back in his chair beside Ramirez, looking every bit the army ranger he had once been. “Is that why the extra discretion?”
“No, the local police are happy to turn this over to us,” Pembroke said. She advanced to the next slide, a listing of the deaths—six so far, with two additional people hospitalized—attributed to Stroud’s Stomach Soothers, a natural, organic remedy that claimed a significant share of the market as an alternative to traditional antacids. “This hasn’t been released to the public, but the poison in the contaminated tablets was ricin.”
Laura would have sworn the temperature in the air-conditioned room dropped five degrees. “Any suggestion of a link to terrorism?” Hostage negotiator Evan Duran, bearded and brooding, spoke from the end of the table. “Anybody claiming credit for the deaths?”
Pembroke shook her head. “At this point, we aren’t assuming anything. Obviously, we want to avoid panicking the public.”
“The public is already panicked,” Rowan Cooper, the team’s local liaison, said. “People have been organizing boycotts of all Stroud products.” She absently twisted a lock of her jet-black hair, brow furrowed. “We’ll need a strategy for managing the public’s response.”
“The facility where the Stomach Soothers were manufactured has been closed for the time being and the product is being pulled from store shelves,” Pembroke said. “But another facility in town, which manufactures other items, remains open, and the company has reduced hours and reassigned as many employees as possible to the single plant. The company, the town, even the state officials, are very anxious to downplay this tragedy and get Stroud up and running full-speed as soon as possible.”
“Why do that?” Kane Bradshaw, Agent-at-Large, said. Laura hadn’t noticed him until now, seated as he was behind her and apart from the rest, almost in the shadows. Kane always looked as if he’d just rushed in from an overnight surveillance, all wind-blown hair and shadowed eyes. The fact that he was here spoke to the gravity of this case. While always on hand when the team needed him, he wasn’t much on office decorum.
“Jobs.” Cantrell’s voice, deep and a little rough, like a man who smoked two packs a day, sent a shiver through Laura. He didn’t smoke, but maybe he once had. “Stroud Pharmaceuticals is one of the biggest employers in Boone County,” he continued. “The coal mines are shutting down, and there isn’t a lot of other industry. Stroud has been a savior to the community. They—and the officials they elected—are going to do everything in their power to keep the company running and redeem its reputation.”
“Even covering up murder?” Laura asked.
Cantrell turned to her, his gaze cool. “I doubt they want to cover it up, but they’ll definitely downplay it and keep it quiet.”
“They want us to help, but they don’t want us to be obvious.” The youngest member of the team, computer specialist Hendrick Maynard, jiggled his knee as he spoke. A genius who looked younger than his twenty-six years, Maynard never sat still.
“Precisely.” Director Pembroke advanced to another slide of a small town—tree-shaded streets lined with modest homes, some worse for wear. A water tower in the distance displayed the word Mayville in faded green paint. “Agents Smith and Cantrell, you are to pose as a married couple and take jobs at the Stroud factory. Investigations so far point to the poisonings having originated from within the plant itself, so your job is to identify possible suspects and investigate. Agent Rogers, you’ll be in town as well…”
Laura didn’t hear the rest of the director’s assignments. She was focused on trying to breathe and holding back her cry of protest. She and Cantrell? As a couple? The idea was ridiculous. He was rough, undisciplined, arrogant, scornful…
“You look like you just ate a bug.” Cantrell leaned to-ward her, bringing with him the disconcerting aroma of cinnamon. His gravelly voice abraded her nerves. “Don’t think I’m any more excited about this than you are.”
***
About the Author
Cindy Myers became one of the most popular people in eighth grade when she and her best friend wrote a torrid historical romance and passed the manuscript around among friends. Fame was short-lived, alas; the English teacher confiscated the manuscript. Since then, Cindy has written more than 50 published novels. Her historical and contemporary romances and women’s fiction have garnered praise from reviewers and readers alike.
THE BANTY HOUSE by Carolyn Brown is a sweet, feel-good, poignant story that drops you into the lives of three elderly sisters in small town Texas who are about to have their lives changed forever.
Ginger Andrews has aged out of the system, has a baby on the way and no where to go. She dreams of seeing the ocean in California, but her bus ticket only goes as far as Hondo, Texas. As she is sitting on the bench outside of the hair salon, an elderly woman sits beside her. She is offered room and board for the weekend, but she is soon to find herself wrapped in the love and lives of the Carson sisters of the Banty house.
The Banty House was a long-ago brothel run by the sister’s mother, Belle. For more than seventy-five years, Kate, Betsy and Connie Carson have lived in and cared for their mama’s home. They have big hearts and each has her own passion.
Ginger is not only a breath of fresh air to the sisters, but she also intrigues their handyman, Sloan Baker. Sloan came home from the Army broken and swore to never get close to anyone ever again. Ginger’s past may not be the same, but it is just as broken. Slowly, the two discover they may just be what the other needs to heal.
The Banty House is once again to be the safe place where healing happens and hopes and dreams never fade.
I felt like I was wrapped in the love and acceptance of the three sisters as I read this story. They are wonderful characters who always lived their lives on their own terms, but also followed the moral upbringing of their mama. They are just what Ginger needed, even as it took awhile for her to accept that. Ginger was just what Sloan needed, but I was disappointed by how often she kept thinking about leaving. The romance that grew between Ginger and Sloan was a cozy romance, but never overshadowed the main themes of love, healing and acceptance overall. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it, but it was not my favorite by this author.
You are going to love the Carson sisters of Banty House.
***
Author Biography
Carolyn
Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Publisher’s
Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a
RITA finalist with more than ninety published books. Her genres include
romance, history, cowboys and country music, and contemporary mass-market
paperbacks. She and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma,
where everyone knows everyone else, knows what they are doing and when . . .
and reads the local newspaper every Wednesday to see who got caught. They have
three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. Visit Carolyn
at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for Nichole Severn’s new Harlequin Intrigue – MIDNIGHT ABDUCTION (Tactical Crime Division Book #3).
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section with book purchase links. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
Welcome to the Tactical Crime Division, a rapid-deployment joint team of FBI agents specializing in hostage negotiation, missing persons, IT, profiling, shootings and terrorism, with Director Jill Pembrook at the head.
For the Tactical Crime Division, no case is left cold.
When Benning Reeves’s twins are kidnapped, the frantic father knows who can help: the Tactical Crime Division and Ana Ramirez. Even though Ana once shattered Benning’s heart, the special agent is the only one he can trust. But Ana is still tormented by the unresolved case that brought them together years before—a case somehow entangled with Benning’s children. It’s up to the TCD and Ana to discover why…before it’s too late.
MIDNIGHT ABDUCTION (Tactical Crime Division Book #3) by Nichole Severn is the third book in the Harlequin Intrigue multi-author series featuring members of the FBIs Tactical Crime Division. This is a specialized unit of the FBI formed to handle the toughest cases at a moment’s notice anywhere in the country.
Benning Reeves is a structural inspector who discovers a skull hidden behind drywall on his current inspection site. He hides it at his home, which leads to the kidnapping of his six-year-old twins. His daughter escapes from the vehicle, but his son is now a bargaining chip in exchange for the skull.
Ava Rameriez is told by her supervisor that she has been specifically requested by Benning to work the case to find and save his son. Seven years ago, the two parted when the case she was working ended tragically. She blamed herself and vowed to never become emotionally involved again, but she cannot turn down Benning’s request.
Ava and Benning find it difficult to fight the feelings that have been dormant during their seven year separation, but they are working against the clock to save Benning’s son and discover why the skull is so important to the mysterious kidnapper.
I loved both Ava and Benning’s backstories and how the author brought their feelings for each other out again during this case and the resolution. Olivia was adorable with her love of mysteries and crime solving. There is only peripheral involvement with other members of the TCD team, so while it is still tied into the series, it is easily read as a standalone. The sex scenes are not described even as you follow them into the shower and bedroom. Though the sex is behind closed doors, the violence is not. There are several scenes of Ava and Benning being stabbed, shot and beaten to a pulp.
The plot was very fast-paced, but because of all the physical damage taken by the H/h and they just kept going, the realism and believability become strained. It was like I was reading about an action hero and not a romantic suspense. The resolution to the kidnapping and mystery also felt rushed with a character that surprised me, but who also popped up out of the blue.
I did love the H/h and the crime story and can recommend it for a fast-paced suspense addition to this series.
***
Excerpt
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Ana Sofia Ramirez—She’s out for redemption. Recruited by the Tactical Crime Division’s director from the Bureau’s missing-persons’ division after her last case ended with a dead victim, she’s more determined than ever to recover Benning Reeves’s son.
Benning Reeves—Single father and small-town building inspector who’s come across evidence of a murder hidden on one of his construction sites; the cost of discovery has led to the kidnapping of his six-year-old twins.
Olivia and Owen Reeves—Benning’s six-year-old twins.
Evan Duran—Tactical Crime Division’s hostage negotiator, who’s fully invested in recovering Benning Reeves’s son due to his own dark past of losing his sister as a child.
JC Cantrell—Tactical Crime Division’s tactical-operations specialist, who’s good at planting bugs, leading surveillance ops or coming up with a ruse to distract someone.
###
“Well, maybe I can give her a tour of TCD head-quarters in Knoxville one day. You know, give her a chance to see what federal agents really do on the job.”Ana stilled, the weight of her attention pressurizing the air in his chest, but he didn’t miss the assumption there would be a one day for them. That she wouldn’t disappear from their lives after Owen came home, and his blood pressure spiked. She cleared her throat as though she’d caught herself making promises she might not be able to keep. Just as she had with Samantha Perry’s family. “You must be proud. She’s going to make a hell of an agent one day.”
“That’s her plan, and probably why she opened up to you the way she did. I can tell she admires you, what you do.”Benning straightened, echoes of their earlier conversation replaying in his head on a nonstop loop. He tossed the paper towel he’d used to clean his foot in the trash beside the island. “So do I, to be honest. The work you and your team do saves lives. I know I already said thank you, but I meant it.”
“Like I said, you don’t have to thank me.” She dropped that mesmerizing gaze to the counter, sweeping the spread of flour into the sink set into the island with one hand and swiped beneath her nose with the other. Toughing her face had always been a nervous habit. “All part of the job.”
“Is that what this is for you, Ana? Just another job? Because this case is definitely a lot more personal to me.” Benning maneuvered around the counter, his bare chest nearly pressed against the exposed skin of her arm. He set his hand over hers on the granite, her quick gasp searing through him. Her warmth penetrated past skin and muscle, deep into his bones. “After what you told me about the Samantha Perry case, I realize now how hard it must’ve been for you to come back here, and you’re standing there as if none of it affects you. But is that how you really feel?”
He wanted—no, needed—to know. Was this going to play out exactly as it had between them the last time? Had he made a mistake requesting her to work this case?
Her mouth parted. “I…”
Skimming his fingers along the back of her hand, he trailed a path up her arm to her jaw, and all of his thoughts burned away. There was only the two of them. The softness of her flawless skin and hardness in her invisible guard. After everything that’d happened, after everything they’d already been through in the short span of time she’d walked back into his life, he’d struggled to keep the uncertainty, the rage, the fear, at bay so he could stay strong for Olivia. To prove that he could protect her from any threat, be the father she and her brother deserved. But Ana…stripped him of all of that. With her, Benning felt raw, exposed, bare. She was real. She was here. Not a memory—a fantasy—anymore, and it took every-thing inside him to pull himself away from her. “You had some cookie dough on your chin.”
She’d left because she believed her emotions clouded her judgment on the Samantha Perry case, and he wasn’t about to complicate anything else be- tween them. Not when it was his son’s life at risk this time. Ana turned her gaze up to his, a small tremor crossing her shoulders, and an invisible anchor set-tled inside his chest in the dark, watery landscape of this case. No matter what happened, Ana would bring his son home alive. He had to believe that. He had to believe in her. Otherwise, he’d have nothing left. “Thanks.”
A soft trill broke the silence spreading between them, but she didn’t move.
“I think your phone is ringing.” He cleared his throat, trying to drown the surge of awareness burning through him, and stepped away. It was for the best. Because anything that happened between them would only take away from their focus on finding his son, and that wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.
***
About Nichole Severn
Nichole Severn writes romantic suspense with strong heroines, heroes who dare challenge them, and a hell of a lot of guns. When she’s not writing, she’s injuring herself running and practicing yoga.
FORKING AROUND (Hot Cakes Book #2) by Erin Nicholas is a heartfelt contemporary Cinderella romance and the second book in this scrumptious series. I will never be able to look at a strawberry pie again without thinking of Jane and Dax.
Jane survives her life day by day. She has a terminally ill father in a nursing home and a wicked stepmother who continually pits her daughter against Jane’s younger sister. As she struggles to keep the peace between her relatives, she also is the go-to person at work who is willing to take on problems to help her coworkers out. She does not have time for her fun loving and charming new boss.
Dax lives to prove that you can be successful even as you are having a good time. With his yellow office, beanbag chairs and jars of gummy bears, he works at making ideas come true. He has never met a problem he cannot use his charm and his money to solve while also making everyone happy.
Jane does not believe in happily ever after and she does not believe Dax will stay. Dax wants to make Jane happy, but he needs to quit forking around and prove to her that he is in her life for all the good and the bad happily ever after.
This is such a fun story! Dax is wonderful with his attitude of fun and it is always used to make someone else happy. With his love of all things Frank Sinatra and gummy bears, you cannot help but fall for him. Jane so deserved to have someone like Dax walk into her life and it is the sweetest of Cinderella stories with plenty of strawberry bakery goods thrown in. The dialogue is witty and full of double entendre. The sex scenes are fun and hot, but not gratuitous. This book can be read as a standalone, but you are going to want to read how all the friends from FLUKE, Inc. fall.
I recommend this new addition to the Hot Cakes series and cannot wait for the next!
***
About Erin
Nicholas
New
York Times and USA
Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as
long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy,
contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,”
“steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and
happily ever afters.
Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her
husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who
will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who
claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).
Today I am very excited to be included on this Release Blitz for Freya Barker’s second book in the PASS series. This is My Feature Post and Book Review for LIFE & LIMB (PASS Book #2) by Freya Barker.
Below you will find a book description, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Growing up a military brat and spending eight years overseas with the Army Medical Corps, clinical social worker, Willa Smith, has had enough of rules and regulations. Still able to work with veterans as she did at the VA Hospital, she is much happier at the new and far more relaxed South Avenue Shelter, until one of its residents is implicated in a murder.
Former military turned security operative, Dimas Mazur, has worked for PASS security, his brother’s company, since he returned stateside after a disabling injury. The job keeps him busy, but when a homeless veteran he knows runs into trouble with the law, he doesn’t hesitate to jump in. The strong-headed counselor at the shelter where his friend stayed is an unexpected bonus.
Until she puts herself square in the sights of the man he’s trying to take down.
LIFE & LIMB (PASS Book #2) by Freya Barker is a romantic suspense that has the perfect balance of wonderfully realistic mature characters and a suspense plot line that keeps you turning the pages. Freya Barker’s romantic suspense books never disappoint.
Willa Smith is a clinical social worker who dedicated eight years of her life in the Army Medical Corps in Germany, came home and worked five more years in the local VA hospital working with veterans before getting her current job in the new South Avenue Shelter. Willa grew up an Army brat in a home with very strict, traditional role models that she refuses to follow and prefers her single life.
Dimas “Dimi” Mazur spent two tours in Iraq in the Special forces until he lost part of his leg to an IED. Now, he works for his brother’s company, PASS security. While home between jobs, Dimas gets an urgent call from a veteran brother who lives at the South Avenue Shelter that he is accused of a murder of a fellow shelter resident. With the help of the outspoken, feisty counselor at the shelter Dimi works to exonerate his friend.
As Dimi and Willa grow closer as a couple and work to find the true killer, Willa places herself directly in the crosshairs of the man they are trying to find.
I always love getting my hands on a new Freya Barker romantic suspense. Willa and Dimi and all the characters from the first book who make a return appearance are friends you want to continue to revisit continually. Willa and Dimi are mature with realistic emotions and lives. I enjoy Ms. Barker’s emphasis on older H/h’s that are never perfect, but do not play immature, emotional games. The romantic conflict is solved with communication, understanding and love. The suspense plot is fast paced, believable and intertwined with the romance perfectly. The sex scenes are explicit, but never gratuitous. Even though this is the second book in this series, it can easily be read as a standalone.
I highly recommend this new romantic suspense and all of Ms. Barker’s books for wonderful characters and exciting suspense!
***
About Freya
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
