Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Read an Excerpt: S'mores Siren Song by Virginia Barlow #BookExcerpt #SmoresSirenSong @virgini35142126

 


Title: S'MORES SIREN SONG
Author: Virginia Barlow

Publisher: Wild Rose Press

Pages: 86

Genre: Paranormal Romance Fantasy

 

Addy Townsend runs an ice cream parlor in Mystic Cove, Maine. Cursed to spend her days human and her nights as a siren, she has until her twenty-fifth birthday to make her decision. Fighting against as corporate fishing company to preserve the lifestyle and well being of the locals, she asks for help and Commander Benjamin Yeates of the Coast Guard arrives to investigate her allegations. As a marine biologist, he is very interested in the rumors of a mermaid in the cove and wants to collect DNA for study. He falls hard and fast for Addy before he discovers there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Book Information

Release Date: July 6, 2022

Publisher:  Wild Rose Press

Kindle eBook: 86 pages; $3.99

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cASLNS

Book Excerpt:

The boat turned around and hummed away from shore.

Adysson sucked in a much-needed breath of relief. She’d deal with the rumors of a mermaid later. Right now, the importance of clothes outweighed anything else. She glanced at the beach and found it deserted.

Making a beeline for the chest holding her terry robe before any more prying eyes spied her, she stepped from the water, retrieved the garment, slipped her arms through the sleeves, and cinched the belt.

Relieved, she turned and walked right into a human wall adorned with black wavy hair and sultry blue eyes.

“Oh! I…uh…didn’t see you there.” Her voice quivered with tension. Damn! Damn! Damn!

“I would say it’s pretty obvious.” His dark gaze roamed over her too hot face to her bare toes and back up. “Nice, uh, robe you’ve got there.” He glanced up and down the beach. His gaze fell to the waterproof bin at their feet. “I didn’t realize Mystic Cove had a nudist beach.”

Her gaze shot up to his. “We don’t. This beach belongs to me. See the No Trespassing sign?”

She pointed at a sign next to them and waited for his reaction.

He stood a head taller and wore a navy shirt open at the neck and navy trousers. A grin crossed his face.

“What’s the penalty for skinny dipping here?” His amused expression did a once over her body before

gazing into her eyes.

Heat flamed her face. “A thousand bucks and up to six months jail time. Do you plan to turn me in?”

His gaze darkened and dropped to the V in her robe. “No.”

Adysson swallowed and shifted her feet. She’d never been this close to such an attractive man before.

“The fine varies up and down the coast.” He gazed at the water behind her head for a moment and then

returned to her face. His voice dropped to a sexy drawl.

“Since this is a private beach, I’ll let you off with a verbal warning.”

Confused, she frowned. “What?”

He took a leather billfold from his front shirt pocket and flipped a badge at her. “I’m Coast Guard

Commander Benjamin Yeates. My friends call me Ben.”

Adysson groaned. Her knight in shining armor arrived to slay Marshal International, and she stumbled into him naked. “Adysson Townsend. My friends call me Addy, but I don’t think we qualify as friends.”

He chuckled. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve seen more of you than most, I’m betting. So I’d say we were friends.”

She chose to ignore his comment. “Can you arrest me? I thought your authority ended at the shore.”

“I can go anywhere as long as it’s tied to my investigation.” A gleam entered his dark eyes. He leaned closer. “Do you want me to arrest you? I’ve got a set of cuffs in my truck, but I can think of a better use for them than taking you in.” His breath brushed across her cheek, and desire glittered in his eyes.

About the Author

 

 

Virginia Barlow has a great zest for life and loves her family. She likes to crochet, knit and quilt, and likes to make blankets for her grandchildren. She bakes a little and cooks when she has to. Roses are her passion and at one time she had over a hundred rose plants in her yard of various colors.Virginia has always been an avid reader and loves being an author. Seeing her stories in print are one of the finest things in her life, next to her family and friends.

Her latest book is the paranormal romance fantasy, S’mores Siren Song.

You can visit Virginia’s website at https://www.virginia-barlow.com or connect with her on TwitterGoodreads and Facebook.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Read an Excerpt: Later by Colette R. Harrell #BookExcerpt #Later @coletterharrell

 


Title: LATER
Author: Colette R. Harrell

Publisher: Intentional Entertainment LLC

Pages: 204

Genre: Historical / Interracial / Supernatural / Paranormal

 

In 1859, Junie Benson was a twelve-year-old genius and enslaved. His older sister, Sari, had her own difficulties, including being auctioned to the highest bidder. She was also beautiful, flighty, and had a repetitive dream about a hazel-eyed white stranger. 

Everybody with the good sense God had given them knew even her dream was forbidden. 

In the present, three things troubled ex-Special Forces Lt. Colonel Zachary Trumble . . . his new job as director of security for Burstein Labs, his loveless marriage, and the green-eyed siren who won’t let him sleep in peace. 

Then time’s fickle hand brewed a recipe for a miracle . . . Stir in three runaway slaves, an avalanche, one mad scientist, and an unhappy, in-love hero to create a dish for revenge best served . . . Later.

Book Information

Release Date: September 1, 2022

Publisher:  Intentional Entertainment LLC

Soft Cover: 204 pages

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3CarIUi 

Book Excerpt:

We’ve been here a long time, me and the other shacks. We started out long ago as log cabins. The occupants spoke prayers of hope over shallow grunts as they flexed hardened muscles to build us strong. Then after backbreaking days in the tobacco fields, they made our dirt floors and grass-mixed-mud walls. Our wooden chimneys and brick hearths were the heart of our homes. It was a one-size-fits-all room, where they nursed their aches and caressed their wounds.

It wasn’t all bad. We could sometimes smile as they made babies in a fevered pitch, good groans of satisfaction rolling through the air and out the window. Then we would rejoice, whispering up and down the quarters that it was a good night.

That’s how we used to talk to each other, back and forth through the howling of the winds or the gentle flow of a breeze. There were days we’d moan with the pain of our inhabitants, who were too tired from the grueling work to tend to our needs. Took us a while to decide what to call them . . . inhabitants, occupants, residents? We never could decide. Inconsistency was a malevolent characteristic we all endured. They never owned us. Just stayed a bit while they could. And, to be fair, they tried to keep us up. Oh, we got a hit and a lick of mud before the winter winds blew, but it was meager labor. Neglect was easy when profits were the owner’s goal, and the fields were a harsh partner.

Years later, our dilapidated wooden logs would be eaten, digested by termites with fat bellies. Laid out in a row like coffins after the war. No hero’s welcome for all we had endured. We whisper about it even now through broken windows that no longer hold our secrets. Others may think it’s the wind howling, but those are our screams, held captive for years while we watched, waited, and hungered for habitation. Hungered while generations of slaves and sharecroppers had nothing to share . . . No more to give. Watched as Big Mama, who carried large pots of water to an iron tub, whittled down to nothing but bones as she lay on my dirt floor every evening, moaning in pain . . . waiting for change.

At first, new folk moved in when others gave up. And each added their blood and mud to slather yawning cracks and holes to keep the walls standing. Our neglect could not be camouflaged, but the Missus, she’d hang little bits of cloth on the window and add dandelion flowers to a tin can, hoping to add a touch of pretty.

Just a mile away, majestically, stood the big house. Cruel in its taunting of us as it was painted and scrubbed and loved on—even by those who hated it. It defied the old man’s hands of time. Tick, tick, tick.

Every inch forward of its hand proclaimed a litany.

Poor folk got it bad. Poor folk got it bad. We chanted out of walls with exposed spaces.

We tried hard, this holding on of bones. We struggled when it rained; our roofs had few shingles, more wet than dry, more holes than substance. The hearth hungered. No remembered warmth dwelled here.

I saw the change when the doors fell, one by one. Then it was the disrespect—no knock—just folk walking inside without a “Come in and sit a spell” invite. No longer hardworking folk, slaves, sharecroppers, but now, drug-addled brains lighting up and dozing off. A few of us went up in flames while others watched and bled rusted nails.

One of us lost our balance, teetered . . . and fell over. Me and the other shacks yelled back and forth about it.

No reason to whisper now. No one to listen.

We were ready. Maybe some child could rumble through the wood and find a piece left good enough to make a kite and fly me down the street.

Free.

About the Author

 


Colette R. Harrell
 made her debut as an author with the book, The Devil Made Me Do It. As a published author, she has enjoyed meeting her readers; for her, it’s all surreal. She holds a master’s degree and worked as a director of social services, which allowed her a front-row seat to the conflict and struggles of everyday people. 

Her day is filled as an Author, Playwright, Story Editor, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and child of God. She wears many titles allowing twenty-four hours a day to meet the challenge. 

 Her goal in writing is to engage readers and provide them with golden nuggets of wisdom that feed and titillate. Her biggest lesson is that it takes a village to raise a dream. She loves and appreciates her village. 

She prays everything God has for you manifests in your life. And that you stretch and reach for it! 

Colette’s latest book is the historical/interracial/supernatural/paranormal Later.

You can visit her website at Coletteharrell.com  or connect with her on TwitterFacebookGoodreads or Instagram.

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Sunday, August 28, 2022

Read An Excerpt: The Portuguese Immigrant by Devin Meireles #BookExcerpt #ThePortugueseImmigrant

 



Weaving a wonderful tale of the struggles and triumphs as well as the rich Portuguese culture of their ancestry, the book follows the author’s grandfather, Vovô, who was the impetus for life in the New World…


By Devin Meireles


Title: The Portuguese Immigrant: Atlantic Heritage Story
Author: Devin Meireles
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 197
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction

The Portuguese Immigrant: Atlantic Heritage Story is a narrative non-fiction book about the author’s family history—particularly the lives of their paternal ancestors from Sao Miguel Island in Portugal. The story begins with their great-grandparents before shifting focus to their paternal grandparents and their unconditional love for each other. Their relationship overcame many obstacles of the time and they were physically separated for nearly three years after leaving the homeland. They became immigrants in Canada—a place where the author found themselves born and raised, being something that they are grateful for yet fascinated to reflect on the history of how it happened.

Weaving a wonderful tale of the struggles and triumphs as well as the rich Portuguese culture of their ancestry, the book follows their grandfather, Vovô, who was the impetus for life in the New World. Embarking on the journey of lifetime, they carried out a mission guided by true love to carve out a fighting chance for the future of his family.

The author speaks on various characteristics embodied and behavioural traits that have shaped their sense of self today while forging a deep connection with their ancestors. Understanding more about themselves than anticipated along the way to show that it really is all in the family. The history that behooves us has been set out for those with the privilege to continue down the path—a sentiment that the author draws out with great detail. Their descriptions of events set the scene to take the reader back in time.

Book Information

Release Date: January 18, 2022

Publisher:  Independent

Soft Cover: ISBN:  978-1777996611; 197 pages; $18.99; eBook $4.99; FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3IsJSSC 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NUhMAB





Sloshing over a damp, unpaved road through the village, each step in the mud brought her closer to him. She was donned in a black, hooded cape that covered her wholly from the misty rain. Her bright eyes glowed like a cat, reflecting off the sun that peaked through the overcast. Birds scattered for shelter, but the shifty weather could not deter her feelings. Flying parallel with the eagles that flew above the clouds, her heart soared just as high while her attentive gaze was focused ahead.

She was driven towards his warmth and kindness; he was the apple in her glittering eyes. When inhibition stood between, they denied their adoration for each other, fearing judgment from the townspeople. However, unbridled love saw no bounds and could not be withstood. Maria Angelina de Conceição Cabral, my bisavó (great-grandmother), defied taboo after falling in love with an older man. She encapsulated the earliest demonstration of nonconformity that I had uncovered. 

Situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, on a remote utopia, her freguesia (village) was of a few hundred people that typically adopted conventional lifestyles of the time. On São Miguel Island, the islanders seldomly challenged the status quo. Their homeland is one of nine volcanic islands that make up the Azores archipelago, west of mainland Portugal. At one time or another, it was speculated to be the site of the mythical Atlantis, the lost city where buried treasures lie underwater. In whatever way, I had brought to light the legacy of my bisavó while searching for my family heritage.

She grew up hearing jarring tales of folklore and overseas conquests that contributed to the mystique of island history. Walking the storied coastline, haunted by generations passed, her journey’s end was approaching. She headed for the local variety store that sold everyday goods, where he ran day-to-day operations. As proprietor of the business, he was an influential member of the community whom she adored. As she came of age after the turn of the century, her heart was set on the middle-aged man, Manuel de Lima Meireles, my bisavô (great-grandfather). He was more than twenty years her senior.

“Bom dia, querida!” he greeted her as she stepped into the shop, stomping her wet feet on an entrance mat.

“Hello, darling. How are you?” she scrunched her cloak for excess moisture before entering the aisle. It was completely soaked beyond a beaver’s hat, but she was unfazed by the dampness.

“Todo bem, querida,” he gleefully answered at the sight of her. They locked eyes in a gentle stare as she took off the hood of her capote, the traditional garment for women. Her immaculate facial features came to light; healthy cheeks, fine lips with a sharp jawline, and those beautiful, starry eyes. A petite figure complimented her long, dark hair while she carried herself elegantly. As if the rain only helped her to bloom like a hydrangea. She surely enchanted the single men of her generation, but her heart was spoken for.

 








Devin Meireles
 is a healthcare administrative worker from Toronto that moonlights as a freelance writer. Apart from creative writing, Devin enjoys films, history, genealogy, and stamps in his passport. He wrote a narrative nonfiction book about his grandfather’s immigration story and has published many articles in literary journals and cultural magazines.

His latest book is the narrative nonfiction, The Portuguese Immigrant: Atlantic Heritage Story.

You can connect with him at Instagram at www.instagram.com/lusoloonie







Sponsored By:

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Thursday, August 25, 2022

READ AN EXCERPT: DANGEROUS WATERS BY MIKE MARTIN #BOOKEXCERPT #DANGEROUSWATERS @MIKE54MARTIN



Title: DANGEROUS WATERS

Author: Mike Martin

Publisher: Ottawa Press and Publishing

Pages: 288

Genre: Mystery


Old habits die hard…

Sgt. Windflower tries his best to ease away from life as a Mountie, but the lure of an investigation is too hard to resist.

After a missing man turns up dead, Sgt. Windflower is pulled in to investigate. Meanwhile, the arrival of a group of unique foreign visitors during a snowstorm in Grand Bank offers up another mystery. Even with so much going on, Windflower can’t resist the enticement of a good meal and a trip to the island of Saint Pierre off the coast of Newfoundland.

But when things get rough, Windflower can always rely on Eddie Tizzard and the gang to have his back.

As always, Windflower’s wife Sheila and their daughters are beacons of love and support as he navigates dangerous waters.

Grand Bank beckons you to another great story in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series.

Book Information

Release Date: April 30, 2022

Publisher:  Ottawa Press and Publishing

Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1988437828; 288 pages; $16.95; eBook $4.99: FREE Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RczNNA 

Excerpt:

Eddie Tizzard looked down at the three files on his desk. Three men, all in their early sixties, reported missing from their homes and families in Grand Bank. One, Cedric Skinner, was found floating at the far end of Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s. The other two, Paddy Slaney and Leo Broderick, were still missing. 

He had just finished talking to Leo Broderick’s wife. She was doubly distraught, first by the unexplained absence of her husband, then by the death of Cedric Skinner and the disappearance of Paddy Slaney. “What’s going on?” she’d asked Tizzard. He had few answers for her or the other women in this small community on the southeast coast of Newfoundland. 

“We’ll do everything we can,” he told Leo Broderick’s wife. But truthfully, right now, there wasn’t much anything he or anybody else could do to bring her husband back. He only hoped that it wasn’t too late.

Tizzard leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. There was snow on the ground and more falling by the hour. Nothing unusual there. February in Newfoundland at the easternmost tip of Canada was cold, wet, and snowy. What was unusual was the fact that this wasn’t his chair, and it wasn’t his office. He looked down and saw something else that was new: corporal’s stripes on his uniform. Two chevrons, to be exact, and an Acting Corporal title to go along with them.

He was acting head of the Grand Bank detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Mounties. He had been a corporal before but was demoted when he had an altercation with a superior officer. But now they needed him, so they gave him back his stripes, at least on a temporary basis until they figured things out. What caused all of this to unfold was the sudden resignation of his old boss, Sergeant Winston Windflower. That’s whose chair Tizzard was sitting in as he looked out at the snowy morning in Grand Bank.

Winston Windflower wasn’t looking out the window, nor was he thinking about Tizzard or the Mounties this morning. He and his co-worker, Levi Parsons, were nearly done refinishing the hardwood floors at the beautiful old B&B that Windflower and his wife Sheila Hillier owned and co-managed. Levi was a shy and quiet young man who had somehow built a friendship with the much older Windflower, and under his tutelage, had been working at the B&B for a couple of years now. He was even taking hotel and hospitality classes to learn the management skills he needed to help run the B&B. 

But today the skills he needed were more of the manual labour type. They had already sanded and buffed the floors over the weekend, and now they were applying a new coat of stain. Tomorrow, they would start on the finish, and three coats of that later they would have perfect-looking hardwood floors to welcome their first dinner guests.

The B&B had been closed for over a year since the pandemic, and they were using this time, and Windflower had lots of it, to fix up the place before what they hoped would be a stellar tourist season. It had better be, thought Windflower. They would soon be without any steady income when his last few cheques from the RCMP dried up. Sheila had lots of business ideas cooking, but none were ready to provide them with the finances they would like to support their lifestyle and two small children. 

Levi went off to clean their brushes while Windflower poured himself a coffee in the kitchen and walked upstairs. He went to the small veranda on the second floor and opened the doors. The cool, fresh air flooded in, aided by the ever-present wind. He stared out, past the lighthouse and what was left of downtown Grand Bank, into the vastness of the ocean. It always calmed him to have this view, and today was no exception. He paused for a few moments, gave thanks for the view and the beautiful day, and went downstairs.

He went out the back door of the B&B so as not to disturb the good work they had done so far on the hardwood floors. He was going to head home when he saw a familiar face waving at him from across the street. Herb Stoodley was the co-owner of the Mug-Up café, the best and only diner in Grand Bank. Herb and his wife Moira were also self-adopted grandparents to Windflower’s two children. Stella was a bright and curious five-year-old and Amelia Louise was a two-and-half-year-old whirlwind. 

Herb and Windflower had hit it off from near the beginning when Windflower was first assigned to Grand Bank. They shared a love of the law, with Herb being a former Crown attorney, and under his tutelage Windflower was learning to share his love of classical music as well. The latest offering that Herb had provided was a version of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 recorded by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Windflower liked listening to classical music when he went on his weekly runs on Sunday morning with Amelia Louise on his back. This piece was perfect, thought Windflower as he thought about the swirling of the instruments and the haunting piano that pulled you back in.

Meet the Author

Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand.

He is the author of the award-winning Sgt. Windflower Mystery series set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 12 books in this light mystery series with the publication of Dangerous WatersA Tangled Web was shortlisted in 2017 for the best light mystery of the year, and Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award. Mike has also published Christmas in Newfoundland: Memories and Mysteries, a Sgt. Windflower Book of Christmas past and present.

Some Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks and the latest A Long Ways from Home was released as an audiobook in 2022. All audiobooks are available from Audible in Canada and around the world.

Mike is Past Chair of the Board of Crime Writers of Canada, a national organization promoting Canadian crime and mystery writers and a member of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild and Ottawa Independent Writers and Capital Crime Writers.

His latest book is the mystery, Dangerous Waters.

You can visit his website at https://SgtWindflowerMysteries.com/  or connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.

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Friday, August 19, 2022

RABT Book Tours & PR Announces the Release of a Collection of Reading Journals!

 

 

 

These are the perfect companion for any avid reader. The collection currently includes 3 different options to suit your style and needs, with more to come!

 

 

What's in the Journals?

 

Reading Log and Review Diary - $7.50

 


  • Rating System Page
  • Index for easy organization
  • Top Reads List
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Book Review pages numbered for easy indexing
  • +MORE

 

 

Romance Lover Reading Journal - $9.99

 


  • 75+ Reviews - Both Book Summary and Book Review Pages
  • 8.5 x11 inches - Great for those who need ample room for their thoughts.
  • Bookshelf - Write finished book titles on the spines
  • Top Reads List - Keep track of your top reads for the year
  • TBR LIST - List of books you want to read
  • +MORE

 

 

My Reading Tracker and Book Review Journal - $8.99

 

  • Reading Goals Page
  • Rating System
  • TBR List
  • Reading Tracker - Up to 200 Books
  • Bookshelf
  • +MORE

 

 

MAKE THEM YOUR OWN!

 

 

   

 

Get your hands on the perfect book review journal and/or reading tracker for your needs.


VIEW THE ENTIRE COLLECTION

 

Currently, 3 options are available. More options coming SOON including heavier duty pages (for those who like to color in) and space for more reviews with higher page counts.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

RABT Book Tours & PR
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Book Review - Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

















Title: Carrie Soto is Back
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Release Date: April 26, 2022 
Publisher: Graydon House
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Format: Ebook/Paperback/Hardcover/Audio
Source: Netgalley

Purchasing:





“I’m going to kill her. You’d better come if you want to save her.”
 
Lorraine—“Rainy”—lives at the top of Tiger Mountain. Remote, moody, cloistered in pine trees and fog, it’s a sanctuary, a new life. She can hide from the disturbing past she wants to forget.
 
If she’s allowed to.
 
When Rainy reluctantly agrees to a girls’ weekend in Vegas, she’s prepared for an exhausting parade of shots and slot machines. But after a wild night, her friend Braithe doesn’t come back to the hotel room.
 
And then Rainy gets the text message, sent from Braithe’s phone: someone has her. But Rainy is who they really want, and Rainy knows why.
 
What follows is a twisted, shocking journey on the knife-edge of life and death. If she wants to save Braithe—and herself—the only way is to step back into the past.
 
This seething, gut-punch of a thriller can only have sprung from the fiendish brain of Tarryn Fisher, one of the most cunning writers of our time.


I wasn't sure if this was going to be the book for me. While I did enjoy The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, tennis is not my favorite thing. But, I was willing to put that aside and see what this book was all about. 

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.  While Carrie's character wasn't really likeable, I did appreciate reading her plight as I feel that it may be true to how some athletes lives work, especially when they are athletes of that caliber.  And when her record is at stake she decides that she isn't too old to come back out of retirement to try and keep her crown. And that is when her world is turned upside down. 

Even though she was a hard character to associate with and like, you did see a little softness when it pertained to her Dad, Bowe (an ex-flame and great tennis player in his own right) and even Nicki, the one after her crown.

An interesting book, not a wow book but solid. 


Meet the Author:

Taylor Jenkins Reid is the New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as four other novels. Her newest novel, Malibu Rising, is out now. She lives in Los Angeles. You can follow her on Instagram @tjenkinsreid.







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