Title: THE ANCESTOR

Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg

Publisher: All Due Respect

Genre: Thriller / Mystery

 

 

Synopsis

 

A man wakes up in present-day Alaskan wilderness with no idea who he is, nothing on him save an empty journal with the date 1898 and a mirror. He sees another man hunting nearby, astounded that they look exactly alike. After following this other man home, he witnesses a wife and child that brings forth a rush of memories of his own wife and child, except he’s certain they do not exist in modern times—but from his life in the late 1800s. After recalling his name is Wyatt, he worms his way into his doppelganger Travis Barlow’s life. Memories become unearthed the more time he spends, making him believe that he’d been frozen after coming to Alaska during the Gold Rush and that Travis is his great-great grandson. Wyatt is certain gold still exists in the area and finding it with Travis will ingratiate himself to the family, especially with Travis’s wife Callie, once Wyatt falls in love. This turns into a dangerous obsession affecting the Barlows and everyone in their small town, since Wyatt can’t be tamed until he also discovers the meaning of why he was able to be preserved on ice for over a century.

 

A meditation on love lost and unfulfilled dreams, The Ancestor is a thrilling page-turner in present day Alaska and a historical adventure about the perilous Gold Rush expeditions where prospectors left behind their lives for the promise of hope and a better future. The question remains whether it was all worth the sacrifice….

 

 

 

 

Down & Out Books

 

Praise

 

“Lee Matthew Goldberg is an animal—there is no other way to say it. His prose is heavyweight ambitious, as visceral as a sweaty-toothed dog at your throat. He evokes Robert Louis Stevenson as much as he does a modern thriller novelist. And I’ll be honest: I expected a crime novel, but I got a spell-binding epic, an epistolary revelation, a tale as rich as a paying gold mine. The Ancestor is more than a novel. It’s an ode to the rich tradition of adventure storytelling…seasoned with ample spice of love and violence and greed.” —Matt Phillips, author of Countdown and Know Me from Smoke

“In The Ancestor, Lee Matthew Goldberg masterfully weaves together a story involving family and violence set against the backdrop of an unforgiving Alaska of both past and present.” —Andrew Davie, author of Pavement and Ouroboros

“From the icy opening battle of man vs. wolf, you feel yourself in the hands of a master storyteller and that feeling never lets up.” —SJ Rozan, bestselling author of Paper Son

“This thrilling novel is rich in descriptions of the vast, snowy, and deadly wilderness of Alaska; it ably captures the type of person who chases gold.” —Foreword Reviews

“A story that blends the familiar and the supernatural in a manner that calls Stephen King’s work to mind. That said, Goldberg’s book possesses a flavor all its own—a distinctive mélange of the sincere and the strange.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Beautifully written, and capturing the unforgiving grit of Gold Rush Alaska, Lee Matthew Goldberg’s The Ancestor is a thrilling page-turner with an ache in its heart. I’m a huge fan.” —Roz Nay, author of Hurry Home and Our Little Secret

“A suspenseful historical thriller.” —Indie Reader

“One of the year’s best thrillers. Blake Crouch fans will love Goldberg’s Alaskan opus.” —BestThrillers

 

 

Review

 

I enjoy a good time travel novel but usually the ones I have read go from the present to the past. This book is the opposite and Wyatt finds himself transported 120+ years into the future. What a surprise that had to be for him. He manages to adapt better than I expected he would, but perhaps that is because they are in a small town in Alaska, and while there is some newer technology, the bulk of the town seems to be working class and sometimes struggling to get by.

The story focuses on Wyatt and Travis, two men that seem to look a lot alike and that could be because Wyatt is Travis’ great great grandfather. Or so we are told. Wyatt struggles with what he has lost including his wife and son and to find his ancestors is probably mind-boggling for him to grasp. But once he does, he wants to know everything he can about his family and what happened to them. He is able to discover some information which I think helps him accept what has happened to him. I found his interactions with Aylen interesting. I think they are both searching for more to hold on to in their lives.

Travis has dreams of his own and wants to be more for himself and his family. I think he wrestles with the memory of his brother and how that impacted his family. But he has a wife that adores him and a son that is a hoot. I love that he calls Caribu, boo. Travis’ father, Stu, has issues as well and I felt like he was obsessed with discovering what happened to his son that died.

While the book really revolves around the men, the women in their lives are strong competent characters. They don’t take any flack and will stand up for their family. I like that about Callie, Cora, and Lorinda. While they may realize that options are limited in their town, they don’t let that hold them back or down.

This story moved along at a pretty steady pace with some peaks of excitement. I liked the journal entries that shared more of Wyatt’s journey to Alaska. It gives us a better insight into the man.

This was an enjoyable book and we give it 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpt

 

Chapter 1

 

One eye open, the other frozen shut. He knows what an eye is, but that other “I” remains a mystery. Mind scooped out and left in ice. Words are hunted, slowly return. Blue sky, that’s what he sees. The sun twinkling like a diamond. Tundra, there’s another recalled word. Packed snow on all sides as if the world succumbed to white. The air a powerful whistle. A breeze blows, not a friend but a penance. It passes right through and chills to the core, this enemy wind. Limbs atrophied, no idea when they last moved. Boil of a sun thaws and prickles. Tiny spiders swinging from leg hairs, biting into flesh. He cries out but there is no sound. For it feels like he hasn’t spoken in centuries.

Back of throat tastes of metal. Blood trapped in phlegm. A cough sends a splatter of red against the stark land, a streak in the form of a smile. When was the last time he ate? His stomach growls in agony, a good sign. Organs working, or at least attempting to work. His one eye scans to the left and the right, no sign of anyone, not even an animal. No chance for a savior or sustenance.

He gums his jaw, the first inkling of movement. Aware of his scraggily beard coated in frost. Crystals spiral from his chin, collect in his lap. Now he sees his hands, luckily in gloves except they are a thin brown leather, rather useless. Bones crack as he maneuvers to remove the gloves. Fingers tremble once hit with fresh air and numbness subsides. Massages his legs, gets the blood flowing, an injection of life. The spiders accelerate and then relent, toes wiggle, and he sits up. Around his neck rests a notebook and a fountain pen, the tip crusted in flakes. He feels an object in a front pocket and pulls out a silver compact mirror, the back embroidered with floral patterns, ladylike. This is not my mirror, he decides, but then has a more important realization. Who am I? With trembling hands, he brings the mirror up to his face for a glance.

The reflection of a stranger. All beard save for some features that emerge. A bulbous but authoritative nose, green eye flecked with gold, a mane of dark hair cascading to his shoulders. Handsome in a grizzled way. Shades of a bear in the roundness of his cheeks and a wolf in his stare.

“I am…,” his lips try to say, but there is no answer. Often one can wake from a dream and the dream seems real for a moment, but a sense of self never vanishes. Whoever he was has been long gone, unlikely to return anytime soon. At least while he remains freezing in the wilderness.

I must make it out of here.

It’s relieving that he thinks of himself as an “I”. Whoever he is, he is someone. A mother birthed and fed him from her breast. A father taught him.…taught him what exactly? Survival skills? How to hunt? If he had a father worth his while, he’d know how to do this.

And then, a caterwauling from the depths of his soul, a fawn-in-distress call that plants a trap for curious predators. He knows this sound well, meaning he’s lured prey before. His daddy schooled him like a good man should.

The waiting game. Another call erupts, a coyote’s howl this time. He can recognize the difference. Then it comes to him that he needs to know what to do should an animal appear. He pats down his pockets, no weapon but his fists. And then, the clinking of sharp nails against the ice sheet. A majestic wolf, eyes like the sky, shimmering coat the color of clouds. Its charcoal nose twitches; the blood he hacked up in plain sight. He and the wolf lock into a dueling stare, neither wanting to be the first to flinch. A vision of death with baring teeth, or the start of his new life if victorious. The wolf doesn’t give him a chance to contemplate, lunging with a mouth full of saliva. He catches it in a brutal embrace and becomes knocked off his heels, slamming his back against the hard ground. They skitter down a slick snowcap, snapping at one another like angry lovers. The wolf is relentless, a worthy opponent, a test of wills. He gets the beast in a headlock, trying to crack its neck, but the wolf is too slippery. Breath fumes from other kills circle into his nostrils—this wolf has never lost a battle before. Blood splashes, no clue which of them has been wounded. They spin in the snow like a tornado. He makes a fist, jams it in the wolf’s mouth. Teeth marks scrape against his knuckles as he rams his fist farther down the wolf’s throat. The wolf heaves, chokes, attempting to chew off his hand but its strategy is futile. It has only come across other animals, never a human mind that can think steps ahead.

Now he attempts a headlock again with his left arm, squeezing off circulation. The wolf lets out a whimper that reverberates through his wrist. They lock into a dueling stare again, except this time he does not see the many kills of the wolf through its gaze. He visualizes its sadness, its inevitable end. And then, the sound of a heavy branch snapping, the wolf’s neck broken, his blood-soaked fist removed from the back of its throat. Its dead tongue lolling out of its mouth against the icy bed. He pets its beautiful coat, this formidable foe, now a present wrapped with a bow. Delectable to quench his all-consuming hunger.

He needs the clearest block of ice he can find. Using the wolf’s teeth to carve a fine translucent round piece, he creates a magnifying glass. He rubs the dirt away and keeps rubbing until enough moisture flecks off. There’s a bed of whittled grass at the slope he and wolf ended up in, and he holds the ice over the dry grass, propping it against two logs until a brilliant rainbow prism shoots through and ignites a fire. He rips off all the breakable branches he can locate to stoke the flames. While it continues to spread, he procures a rock to blunt out the wolf’s teeth, then uses them for the painstaking task of skinning the fur. He does it carefully so a semblance of a coat remains, which he dips into a nearby brook to wash away any lingering blood and sinew. The sun has mostly dipped behind the mountains and he wears the wolf’s coat to mask the chill, then roasts its carcass over the roaring fire, breaking off legs and gnawing while the true flesh still cooks.

The meat is a godsend to his empty stomach and also an immediate poison that his body rejects by throwing up. But he sucks on some ice and the queasiness diminishes. By the time it’s fully cooked, darkness reigns and he feels more like a shell than anyone has before. Except with each chew, this lessens and soon he becomes human again. But the loneliness isn’t as easy to fight off. There are souls that feel lonely, he assumes, but at least they have themselves for company. They can rely on memories to help them through cold nights. He searches his mind for a wisp of the past, any nugget, wading through a never-ending sea. The horizon seemingly attainable, but with every stroke just as far away. He’d cry but the tears are frozen in his ducts, and his one eye still sealed shut.

When enough of the wolf has been eaten so his belly distends like a newly pregnant woman, he feeds the fire with more broken limbs and curls up to its warmth, his only confident in this harsh wilderness, possibly his only companion forever—a lifetime of attempting to be caressed by flames and nothing more. He wraps himself tightly in the wolf’s fur, hoping that when he wakes again he’ll know who he is. The nightmare vanished along with the sun rising like a bride’s pretty little hand on his grizzled cheek.

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels THE DESIRE CARD, THE MENTOR, and SLOW DOWN. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. The second book in the Desire Card series, PREY NO MORE, is forthcoming, along with his Alaskan Gold Rush novel THE ANCESTOR. He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Fringe, dedicated to publishing fiction that’s outside-of-the-box. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Cagibi, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press, Monologging and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

A shocking murder in an affluent Helsinki suburb has ties to the occult in this thrilling US debut from Finnish author Max Seeck.

A bestselling author’s wife has been found dead in a gorgeous black evening gown, sitting at the head of a formally set dinner table. Her most chilling feature—her face is frozen in a ghastly smile.

At first it seems as though a deranged psychopath is reenacting the gruesome murders from The Witch Hunter, the bestseller written by the victim’s husband. But investigator Jessica Niemi soon realizes she’s not looking for a single killer but rather for dozens of believers in a sinister form of witchcraft.

They know her every move and are always one step ahead. As the bodies start piling up, Jessica knows they won’t stop until they get what they want. And when her dark past comes to light, Jessica finds herself battling her own demons while desperately trying to catch a coven of killers before they claim their next victim.

 

 

Amazon * B&N

 

 

About the Author

 

Max Seeck devotes his time to writing professionally. An avid reader of Nordic noir for personal pleasure, he listens to film scores as he writes. His accolades include the Finnish Whodunit Society’s Debut Thriller of the Year Award 2016. Max Seeck has a background in sales and marketing and loves to promote his works, and is fluent in English and German.

 

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

 

 

 

 

NORTH TO ALASKA

 

The Memoirs of H. H. Lomax, #6

 

by

 

PRESTON LEWIS

 

Genre: Historical Fiction / Western / Humor

Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing

Date of Publication: August 5, 2020

Number of Pages: 414

 

 

Scroll down for the giveaway!

 

 

 

 

WEALTH AND FAME IN THE WILD WEST ARE WHAT LOMAX SEEKS . . . HIS OWN BAD LUCK IS WHAT STANDS IN HIS WAY.

 

Swindled out of a mining fortune in Colorado and blamed for an ensuing murder, H. H. Lomax two decades later must finally face up to his past in Skagway, Alaska. Along the way, he encounters legendary madam Mattie Silks, suffragist Susan B. Anthony, novelist Jack London, and a talking dog.

 

To survive his previous missteps and avoid a prison sentence for theft, Lomax must outshoot infamous Western conman Soapy Smith, outwit an unrelenting Wells Fargo investigator, and outrun Shotgun Jake Townsend, the greatest frontier assassin who never was.

 

 

 

 

Amazon    B&N    Bookshop.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. In May of 1898, flamboyant western conman Jefferson “Soapy” Smith set up his “business” inside this vacated bank building, which became the center of his fleecing operations for the ensuing three months of his life. The building was purchased in 1935 by a Skagway tourism promoter and served as a local attraction. The building was donated to the National Park Service in 2008 and refurbished.

 

2. After his death, Skagway citizens refused to allow Soapy Smith to be buried in the city cemetery. Instead, he was interred just outside the graveyard’s boundaries. His grave and that of his purported killer, Frank H. Reid, remain major Skagway tourist attractions to this day.

 

3. Unlike Soapy’s simple tombstone, which has been replaced several times, an imposing monument marks the grave of his purported killer, Frank H. Reid. Current research raises doubts whether Reid was the actual killer, but Skagway’s citizens of the time credited him with the death and showed their appreciation with this monument inscribed: “He gave his life for the honor of Skagway.”

 

4. The Skagway Centennial Statue commemorates the hundred-year anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush and its impact on Skagway. The statue represents a Tlingit packer guiding a prospector or stampeder up the White Pass Trail. Skagway’s name is a variation of the Tlingit word “Skagua” for “windy place.”

 

5. Near White Pass Summit, Alaska, a “Trail of 98” sign marks the treacherous trail that prospectors traveling from Skagway to the Yukon had to navigate with some two thousand pounds of supplies and equipment. Thousands of “stampeders”, as they were called, made the difficult trek in hopes of finding gold in the Klondike.

 

6. Remnants of the White Pass trail through the rugged Alaskan territory are still visible today from the White Pass and Yukon railroad that parallels the original route into Canada. The route from Skagway to the chain of lakes at the headwaters of the Yukon River in British Columbia was so difficult that it was sometimes called “Dead Horse Trail” for all the animals that died along the route.

 

7. Showgirls dangle their wares outside the second-floor windows of a local theater, recalling Skagway’s lawless past and promoting the “The Days of ’98 Show” that relives the tumultuous days of Soapy Smith, Alaska’s most notorious conman, since 1923. The vaudevillian musical explores his felonious life and dramatic demise on a pier in early Skagway.

 

8. Tourism is the major industry in contemporary Skagway, drawing thousands of visitors each summer to enjoy the town’s lawless history during the Klondike Gold Rush. Here visitors and yellow tour buses advance down Broadway, the town’s major street.

 

9. An abandoned railroad bridge along the original White Pass and Yukon railway spans the rugged territory between Skagway and British Columbia. Construction on the railroad began in 1898 for the route that served the transportation and mining needs of the region for nine decades, until it was abandoned in 1982. The line was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994.

 

10. What were once the mudflats on Skagway’s shoreline have been dredged and replaced by piers that draw cruise ships and thousands of tourists to the region each summer to enjoy the Alaskan cool and the colorful history of Skagway during the Klondike Gold Rush.

 

 

 

 

 

Preston Lewis is the Spur Award-winning author of thirty novels. In addition to his two Western Writers of America Spurs, he received the 2018 Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Western Humor for Bluster’s Last Stand, the fourth volume in his comic western series, The Memoirs of H. H. Lomax. Two other books in that series were Spur finalists. His comic western The Fleecing of Fort Griffin received the Elmer Kelton Award from the West Texas Historical Association for best creative work on the region.

 

 

Website ║ Facebook ║ Goodreads

 

║Amazon Author Page║

 

 

———————–

 

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

 

TWO WINNERS: 1ST PRIZE: Signed copies of North to Alaska and First Herd to Abilene; 

 

2ND PRIZE: Signed Copy of North to Alaska.

 

OCTOBER 20-30, 2020

 

(US ONLY)

 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

 

 

Visit the Lone Star Literary LIfe Tour Page

For direct links to each post on this tour, updated daily.

Or, visit the blogs directly:

 

10/20/20	Excerpt	Texas Book Lover
10/20/20	BONUS Post	Hall Ways Blog
10/21/20	Review	Max Knight
10/22/20	Character Interview	The Adventures of a Travelers Wife
10/23/20	Review	Forgotten Winds
10/24/20	Series Spotlight	All the Ups and Downs
10/25/20	Author Interview	Reading by Moonlight
10/26/20	Review	Book Bustle
10/27/20	Review	It’s Not All Gravy
10/28/20	Scrapbook Page	StoreyBook Reviews
10/29/20	Review	The Clueless Gent

 

 

 

 

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Synopsis

 

In the United States, a majority of students graduate below proficiency in all academic subjects. Parents of struggling students feel overwhelmed and confused about how to help their children simply survive school, let alone succeed. Various school reform efforts have been tried and all have failed. But all hope is not lost. A science exists that allows children to learn as individuals even though at school they are educated in groups. One that avoids senseless labels that sentence children to lifetimes of failure and mediocrity.

Dr. Kimberly Berens and a team of scientists have spent the last 20 years perfecting a powerful system of instruction based on the learning, behavioral, and cognitive sciences that they call Fit Learning. This method of teaching has been proven to markedly improve how students understand and achieve, even for children who have been told they have learning disabilities or other disorders that interfere with their ability to learn.

Blind Spots reveals the history of our broken education system and shows that by using this teaching system in the classroom, we can unlock the vast potential hidden within every child.

 

 

 

 

Read a review from Kirkus

 

 

Excerpt

 

Page 33

 

“Education is as ineffective and inefficient today as it was a century ago. Although developed countries around the world continue to value and invest in education, this investment is largely wasted on a profoundly ineffective and inefficient system guided by ideology rather than science”

 

Page 93

 

“Educational traditions arise from blind spots regarding how learning actually occurs. Let’s be clear from the start that these traditions don’t exist because they work. They exist because people believe in them and, more important, because it’s just how we’ve always done things.”

 

Page 184

 

“What I am asking you to consider is the possibility that sometimes our beliefs get in the way.  Sometimes our beliefs prevent us from making progress, from being effective, from solving problems that really need to be solved for the betterment, not only of our own lives, but of all humanity.   Is it possible to hold on to your beliefs but be willing to let go when doing so might make a difference?  I think it is possible and I think pragmatism is what makes it possible.”

 

 

About the Author

 

Kimberly Nix Berens, Ph.D., is a scientist-educator and Founder of Fit Learning. She co-created a powerful system of instruction based on behavioral science and the Technology of Teaching, which has transformed the learning abilities of thousands of children worldwide, including those who are struggling, average, gifted, or learning disabled. For more than 20 years, her system of instruction has produced one year’s worth of academic growth in only 40 hours of training. Her learning programs effectively target such essential areas as early learning skills, basic classroom readiness, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, comprehension, inferential language, basic and advanced mathematics, logical problem solving, grammar, and expressive writing. From her early beginnings in a broom closet at the University of Nevada – Reno, Dr. Berens has helped grow Fit Learning to an organization with more than 30 locations worldwide. She currently lives in Long Island with her husband and two children, where she oversees Fit Learning locations in Long Island, New York City, and Connecticut.

Blind Spots: Why students fail and the science that can save them is her first book.

 

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Slightly Murderous Intent: A Southern California Mystery
Traditional Mystery
4th in Series
Publisher: Level Best Books (October 20, 2020)
Print Length: 323 pages

 

Synopsis

 

There’s a shooter on the loose who keeps missing his target. But that doesn’t stop him from trying again…and again. It’s up to Corrie Locke, rookie lawyer and spunky sleuth, to find the gunman before he hits his mark, Assistant Deputy D.A. James Zachary, Corrie’s hunky and complicated frenemy.

When Corrie is stuck with more questions than answers, she enlists a team with various strengths, from weapons to cooking skills, to help her find the shooter. Her computer whiz boyfriend Michael is onboard. So is former security guard Veera. Toss in an over-the-hill informant and a couple of feuding celebrity chefs and Corrie’s got her very own A-Team. Okay, maybe it’s more like a B-Team.

Can Team Corrie hunt down the shooter before he scores a bulls-eye?

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Post

 

Cliff Hanging

 

I’ve been told that I have a knack for cliffhanging. Not literally, of course, although I might if I tried. I’m talking about ending chapters with a cliffhanger…what’s going to happen next? I have a very good reason for ending the chapters that way, which I’ll explain in a bit.

If you’ve been around the writing world, you’ve likely heard of plotters vs. pantsers. Plotters outline and consider the stages and steps of the book. Pantsers just go for it, compass be damned. They hope to somehow reach those two coveted words, “The End” with a story that makes sense. You’d have to be out of your mind to be a pantser, unless you enjoy torture and confusion. That would be me because I’m a pantser. I fly by the seat of my pants and I enjoy every moment of it…afterward.

When Book #2 in my Southern California Mysteries came along, I sat up and told myself serious writers plot. So I wrote an outline.  It was pretty good. Then I started  writing the book, following the outline. I promptly tossed out the outline…after Chapter One. It took out the excitement of writing. I didn’t want to know what happened next. I wanted the story to unfold beneath my pounding fingers.

I start out nearly every chapter by putting my heroine, Corrie Locke, in a situation that’s shaky and unstable. I end each chapter by putting Corrie on the spot and possibly in danger. Will she or won’t she? That’s where the cliffhanger comes in.

For instance, in my latest installment of my Southern California Mystery series, SLIGHTLY MURDEROUS INTENT, the chapter opens with Corrie attending a celebratory dinner where everyone at her table is served dinner, but her. That pushes Corrie over the edge and she does what many famished diners would do: she hunts down the server. She never does get her meal; she’s served crime a la mode instead, which ignites the first of many action scenes in the novel.  Corrie’s not your average young female attorney. She’s the daughter of a well-known PI, and together they’d cracked a few high profile cases. Even without Dad, she’s become quite the crime-cracker and has the notches (and the weapons) to prove it. Back to the cliffhangers.

When I end each chapter with a cliffhanger, it provides momentum for me to continue writing. Like my readers, I want to know what’s going to happen next. And, as I write, I insert the usual characters: Corrie’s sidekicks who play co-starring roles in helping solve the crime, and in helping me create the cliffhangers. At this stage in my writing life, I don’t know how NOT to end a chapter without a cliffhanger, except for the very last chapter where I need to wrap things up. If I ended with a cliffhanger there, I wouldn’t know where to stop. Which would make me the author of one extra long novel!

 

 

About the Author

 

Lida Sideris is an author, lawyer, and all-around book enthusiast. She writes soft-boiled mysteries and was a recipient of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America scholarship award. Slightly Murderous Intent is #4 in her Southern California Mystery series, published by Level Best Books. Lida lives in the northern tip of SoCal with her family, rescue dogs, and a flock of uppity chickens.

 

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Giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

For the last three years, I have been fortunate enough to be chosen as a blogger for Abrams Books and their dinner party. It brings together bloggers, instagrammers, and others to spread the word about new cookbooks and the like from this publisher.

I’ve had a slow start this year in sharing the books, but am hoping to rectify that over the next week. Let’s just say 2020 hasn’t been the best year for anyone.

We received this journal in our first box. I will admit I’m not a big journaling fan, but I can see the potential for this journal especially if it is used with someone young or old. I can envision answering the questions with a young child and then perhaps bringing it back out years later and see how the answer change. For our older generation, I can see using this as a tool to create dialogue regarding the changes in food preparation, meals, and the like. It could be a great resource for future generations.

While reading through this book, there are some questions that a child couldn’t answer, such as bars where the bartender knows me. A senior may not be able to answer that one either BUT they might have some interesting stories to tell about their youth. I think, in either case, this journal should be used as a starting point and let your imagination run wild from there.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful and complement the topic. I had to check out the website to see what other works have been created. I discovered that she lives in the Netherlands and does work for a lot of larger companies. Annalies has some serious talent.

 

I am giving away a copy of this book to one follower in the US (shipping costs). Many ways to enter, so don’t delay!

 

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THE KISSING TREE

 

Four Novellas Rooted in Timeless Love

 

by Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings,

 

Amanda Dykes, and Nicole Deese

 

 

Genre: Christian / Romance / Anthology

Publisher: Bethany House

Date of Publication: October 13, 2020

Number of Pages: 400

 

 

Scroll down for the giveaway!

 

 

 

 

In this Texas-sized romance novella collection, courting couples, decades apart, leave a permanent mark of their love by carving their initials into the same oak’s bark.

 

Regina Jennings: “Broken Limbs, Mended Hearts”

 

When a young man from her past returns and upends their small town with a new invention, schoolteacher Bella Eden is reminded of the heartbreak she suffered years ago under the old oak tree. When her job is on the line, can she trust the man who disrupted her life to help her fight for a brighter future?

 

Karen Witemeyer: “Inn for a Surprise”

 

Determined to keep love alive for others, Phoebe Woodward builds an inn that caters to couples. When her father sends a property manager to help make it a success, she finds her whimsical vision thwarted by his stodgy practicality. Finding the right blend of romance and reality is a challenge, and her spinster heart may be in for a surprise.

 

Amanda Dykes: “From Roots to Sky”

 

WWII airman Luke Hampstead found comfort in letters from the sister of a lost compatriot. When he visits Texas to thank her, he discovers her constructing a project with surprising ties to his letters . . . and that she herself is even more surprising. While a promising opportunity awaits him elsewhere, will what they’ve shared be enough to give their future flight?

 

Nicole Deese: “Heartwood”

 

Abby Brookshire’s world is turned upside down when the historic tree she’s strived to preserve as the head groundskeeper at the Kissing Tree Inn is put in danger of removal. Making matters worse, the only way to protect its legacy is to partner with the man she’s been ignoring since he left town years ago. Will she have the courage to move on from the past and start a new beginning?

 

 

Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Baker Publishing Group

 

 

 

 

 

These four novellas travel through time in Oak Springs, Texas, and weave together love stories surrounding the Kissing Tree. While each story is independent of the other, there are a few ties that bring them all together besides the tree. The main characters in the first story, “Broken Limbs, Mended Hearts”, Bella and Adam, make an appearance in “Inn for a Surprise”. The Kissing Tree Inn is constructed in “Inn for a Surprise” but is still around in the last two stories and it is a descendent from the story “From Roots to Sky” that ties the fourth story into the book. Each story brings together two souls that thought they couldn’t find love and they couldn’t be more wrong.

I don’t think I can pick a favorite out of these four stories. Each has a unique tale to tell and I fell in love with all of the characters and the situations that they endured to get to the apex of finding their true love.

 

“The magic found in Oak Springs had less to do with a romantic inn and everything to do with the nature surrounding it.”

 

Broken Limbs, Mended Hearts features Bella and Adam. You could say there were not bosom buddies while in their last year of school, in fact, a situation occurred that had Bella changing her chosen profession. I don’t think she ever forgave Adam for that incident until he arrives back in town several years later and realizes she is the one that he wants as his wife. I liked how Adam realized he had a couple of hurdles to cross to win her affection and he is quite creative in helping get past those barriers. I enjoyed this line because progress happens no matter the time and this reminded me of that. Adam says this line to Bella – “I came to Oak Springs to bring our town up to date. It’s the 1870s. Progress needs to happen.”

Inn for a Surprise is the story of Phoebe and Barnabus. This story had me in stitches because Barnabus thinks that this inn is a lost cause when it comes to marketing and has, in his mind, renamed the inn with several alliterations, including the Inn of Pecking Pulp Providers. When Phoebe stumbles across this information, I think it causes her to see Barnabus in a new light. They work well together as a team and it shouldn’t be too surprising that they fall in love. What did surprise me was her father’s reaction. You’ll have to read the story to discover that answer.

From Roots to Sky is Hannah and Luke’s journey. Luke came to Oak Springs out of a sense of obligation to Hannah’s brother that died during WWII. He had taken on the task of writing to Hannah and he included drawings of what he saw in Europe, much like her brother had done for her before he died. Hannah is endearing and scattered all at the same time. I’m sure many are not sure how to handle her proclivity to keep moving and not wait for anyone to help her do anything. I admired her determination to forge her own path and not a traditional path that might be expected of a woman in the 1940s.

Heartwood is the last novella and brings together Abby and Griffin. Abby is a descendent of a character mentioned in “From Roots to Sky”, Arnie, and the cottage built in that story by Hannah and Luke is another tie to all of the stories. I enjoyed watching these two lovebirds (when they finally admit it) reconnect even though it takes some time to get there since Griffin is there to assess the Kissing Tree and this riles Abby up to no end.  Abby and Griffin know each other well and both love nature and the outdoors. In fact, I liked this line that Abby says to Griffin – “You’ll always smell like trees no matter what you squirt on your shirt. Nature’s in your DNA.”

 

No matter what sort of story you might like, each novella in this book will appeal to you in one way or another, from the characters to the setting.

We give this book 5 paws ups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Voted #1 Reader’s Favorite Christian Romance Author of 2019 by Family Fiction Magazine, bestselling author  Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. She makes her home in Abilene, Texas, with her husband and three children.

 

 

Website ║ Karen’s Posse Reader Facebook Group

 

 

 

Regina Jennings is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, with a degree in English and a minor in history. She’s the winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award, a two-time Golden Quill finalist, and a finalist for the Oklahoma Book of the Year Award. Regina has worked at the Mustang News and at First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She lives outside of Oklahoma City with her husband and four children.

Website ║ Facebook

 

 

Amanda Dykes is a drinker of tea, dweller of redemption, and spinner of hope-filled tales who spends most days chasing wonder and words with her family. She’s a former English teacher and the author of Whose Waves These Are, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten Romance debut, as well as three novellas.

 

Website ║ Instagram

 

 

 

 

Nicole Deese’s eight humorous, heartfelt, and hope-filled novels include the 2017 Carol Award-winning A Season to Love. Her 2018 release, A New Shade of Summer, was a finalist in the RITA Awards, Carol Awards, and INSPY Awards. Both of these books are from her bestselling Love in Lenox series. When she’s not working on her next contemporary romance, she can usually be found reading one by a window overlooking the inspiring beauty of the Pacific Northwest. She lives in small-town Idaho with her happily-ever-after hubby, two rambunctious sons, and princess daughter with the heart of a warrior.

 

Website ║ Facebook

 

 

 

————————————-

 

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

 

SIX WINNERS! Grand prize: print copy of The Kissing Tree plus custom, 18” x 3.5” wooden sign;

 

five other winners: print copy of The Kissing Tree.

 October 20-30, 2020

 

(U.S. Only)

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

 

Visit the Lone Star Literary LIfe Tour Page

For direct links to each post on this tour, updated daily.

Or, visit the blogs directly:

 

10/22/20	BONUS Promo	Hall Ways Blog
10/22/20	Review	Chapter Break Book Blog
10/22/20	Review	Missus Gonzo
10/23/20	Review	Carpe Diem Chronicles
10/23/20	Review	Book Fidelity
10/24/20	Review	Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
10/24/20	Review	Librariel Book Adventures
10/25/20	Review	StoreyBook Reviews
10/25/20	Review	That’s What She’s Reading
10/26/20	BONUS Promo	All the Ups and Downs
10/26/20	Review	The Adventures of a Travelers Wife
10/26/20	Review	Reading by Moonlight

 

 

 

 

blog tour services provided by

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

I am NOT!

When enough of the world comes at you, telling you you’re nothing, you believe. You become what you believe. You become until the pain of becoming is too great to bear. You constantly ask yourself: What if I don’t know the answer? What if I’m wrong? What if they know I’m wrong? What if they laugh? What if fearing failure makes you fail? You’re faced with a choice. To stay. Or to change. Or to end. If you’re lucky, enough love begins seeping through, lighting a path to change.

This is the story of I Am NOT!, a memoir of triumph over verbal and emotional abuse, bullying, disordered eating, and societal norms. A journey of self-deprecation and the promise of continued growth. An anecdotal warning of the challenges kids, teens, and adults still face today.

 

 

Amazon * B&N * Chapter Indigo

 

 

 

Praise

 

Brutally honest, beautifully empowering, and haunting in how many of our own lives’ bits and pieces we can see in Rachel’s journey. – Kristen Caldwell, High School Library Media Specialist

I Am Not is more than a memoir. It’s a mirror for all of us. Rachel’s reflections of who she was, is, and strives to be, resonate with all of us. Her recollections vividly transport the reader from our most vulnerable to our most victorious and serve as a reminder that we are all growing, learning, and becoming our best selves. ~ Marla Zack, Entrepreneur

With each vignette, we feel the impact of the heartbreaking reality of a society that unapologetically tells us that we are ‘not good enough’. Yet through Rachel Boehm’s deeply human and emotionally vulnerable story, we are reminded of the beauty in resilience and are inspired to begin our own journey toward unconditional self-love. ~ Alison Morogiello, National Certified Counselor

 

 

About the Author

 

Rachel Boehm is an award-winning journalist, turned workplace wellness organizer and advocate. Her experiences with school and workplace bullying, fat shaming, disordered eating, perfectionism, and verbal and emotional abuse began at a young age and continued into her late-twenties.

Embracing a survivor’s mindset, Boehm now views her journey as a calling to transform the way individuals and organizations view well-being, the beauty of the human body, metrics of success, and the fragility of time.

Boehm was raised in Austin, Texas. A love for the fine arts, film and television took her to Southern California for undergraduate studies and to pursue a career in the industry.

A quarter-life crisis fueled by the tumultuous nature of the industry and a realization of society’s flawed definitions of beauty and success, sent her on a multi-year soul-searching quest. She traveled back to Austin, then on to the UAE, Syria, Jordan, Europe, and New York City, before accepting a graduate studies scholarship with American University in Journalism and Public Affairs. Following commencement, she moved to Northern Virginia.

This journey is detailed in her memoir I Am NOT, which in many ways provides the backstory for her 2018 self-published collection of quips and lessons learned, Tripping in Public.

Today, Boehm works at an individual and organizational level to change the dialogue around the workplace well-being experience. She shares her story and works to help others: redefine success and beauty; develop mindfulness and self-compassion; and embrace the art of the “always something” mindset.

Through her many endeavors (day job, side hustle, and private practice), Boehm seeks to help everyone bring their best selves to work and life, and to truly love the skin they’re in. You can learn more about Boehm and her work at YesYou.Co, and connect with her directly via Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. You can join her YesYou Community on Facebook.

 

Facebook * LinkedIn * Twitter * Instagram

 

 

 

 

Paws for Concern (A Canine Confections Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Donelson Press (August 22, 2020)
Paperback: 264 pages

 

Synopsis

 

 

Life is good for Samantha Armstrong. She left her cheating boyfriend, settled into her cozy cottage on her Aunt Mary’s Palm Beach estate and is finally opening Canine Confections, her dream dog bakery on the ritzy Worth Avenue.

But Samantha’s happy new life goes doggone crazy when Palm Beach resident and pastry shop owner Whitney Goodwin is found dead on Canine Confections’ floor, whisking Samantha into the middle of a murder investigation. The only bright spot is that she finds herself adopting Whitney’s loveable dog Sweet Pea.

As the killer strikes again, it’s obvious that the shopkeepers on Worth Avenue are the target. Samantha’s impatience won’t let sleeping dogs lie. She takes it upon herself to move things along by padding around town with Sweet Pea and sniffing out clues to clear her name and Canine Confections’ reputation—before it is too late …

 

Includes a recipe from Chef Sarah Deters at the test kitchen of Three Dog Bakery, the original bakery for dogs!

 

 

 

Amazon – B&N

 

 

Recipe

 

If you have a dog (or dogs), you probably have run into them wanting everything that you eat. At least that was the case with my two while they were here. If they were still here I would try this recipe for them, I’m sure they would love it!  We would just have to be careful of where they ate it because I imagine it might leave a little bit of a mess on the carpet.

 

 

FROZEN PUP TREATS

by Amy Hueston

 

Ingredients:

*Cooked Marrow Bones

Nonfat Plain Yogurt

Peanut Butter

 

1. Fill cooked marrow bones with the yogurt and peanut butter.
2. Put on a small plate in freezer for at least an hour.
3. Give to your dogs and watch their tails wag.

 

Extra toppings:

Have fun and keep your dog healthy and happy with the creative variations you come up with – try adding a couple of drops of honey or a spoonful of blueberry preserves. Search for other options of foods that are good for dogs and foods to definitely stay away from (no chocolate of course, and no grapes, either).

 

*Cooked marrow bones: Boil the marrow bones for 5 minutes. Give to your dog and keep the bone after to use for the above recipe.

Tube marrow bones fill easier but the small, “sliced” can work too. Microwave for 10 seconds if freezing makes them stick to plate.

Never give your dog bones that can splinter and even with marrow bones, never leave your dog alone with them.

 

 

About the Author

 

Author Amy Hueston writes mini-mysteries for Woman’s World when she isn’t writing mysteries and suspense books. Paws for Concern is the first book in A Canine Confections Mystery series.

Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Website * Goodreads

 

 

 

Giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

She Hates Him But She’s In Debt To Her Millionaire Foe

Releasing on 25th October

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

When the songbird owes the business tycoon…

Former gangster, Devansh Thackeray has finally managed to carve the life he’s always aspired to.

Building a chain of seven-star hotels all over the world, a reputation for being an honest businessman…and all the women he could ask for.

Ansh’s life is perfect. Or so he thinks.

Because he is about to hit by a lightning bolt from the past that’ll make him question everything he’s worked so hard for.

And her name is Kahini Palekar.

Kahini’s life is a nightmare.

She works three jobs to pay off the loan sharks circling her.

But, Kahini doesn’t mind because she also gets to do the only thing she’s always wanted to do.

Sing.

Even if it is at a shady nightclub in the backstreets of Goa, the beach paradise of India.

Kahini’s day of reckoning arrives when Ansh arrives back in her life, right when she’s almost assaulted by the manager of the nightclub.

Ansh offers both salvation from her debt and a chance to sing at the most exclusive wedding of the decade.

But there’s just one catch.

Kahini hates Ansh’s living guts and blames him for the destruction of her life.

Even though he was the boy she once recklessly gave her heart to.

Can Ansh get to the bottom of the problems plaguing Kahini or will this songbird fly away again after repaying her debt to him?

Meet the Millionaire Foes – rising from ruin through ruthless ambition, these self-made tycoons have everything. Except, the heart of the one woman who means everything.

 

The Millionaire Foe Quartet series contains four steamy romances set around the world, each of which can be read as a standalone. 

 

 

 

Amazon – IN * Amazon – US

 

 

Excerpt

 

Ansh entered the bar when the lights had dimmed, already in a foul mood from the altercation he’d had outside Grungy’s.

The term “bar” was a loose translation for what the seedy confines really were. It was set in a shady part of Calangute Beach, where the locals lived. It was not the area the posh, firang tourists frequented. The air here smelled of brine and fish and cheap liquor.

The smell of the ocean was everywhere.

It was, after all, Goa the beach paradise of India.

And to everyone who came here, it promised nothing but a good time.

The patrons of Grungy’s, the small-time bar that operated till four in the morning during season, had that look about them. They were local men, embittered and looking for cheap thrills. And some willing victim to provide that for them.

Ansh knew the type. They resented the tourists for showing up and flinging their foreign currency around and expecting their silly demands of room temperature water and late-night cruises to be catered to.

And they really resented needing the silly tourists and their foreign currency too.

A classic catch-22.

But, tonight, these patrons, and that was a loose term too for what the customers of Grungy’s were, were not looking for foreign currency or cheap thrills.

They were all gathered on the rickety tables that the bar owner had graciously provided and murmuring amongst themselves while the poorly-named stage was being set up.

She was the main act tonight.

Ansh frowned and sank deeper into his chair while the bar-back set him up with a glass of the local feni – a local toddy made from fermented coconut water and rum. He frowned deeper when he saw the lipstick mark around the edge of the shot glass and gingerly cleaned the lip with his monogrammed handkerchief.

Places like these reminded Devansh Thackeray of his squalid past.

He couldn’t stand them anymore.

Then, the spotlight hit the stage. The band struck a chord and a woman in black walked up to the mike.

Ansh sat up straighter.

Was she going to start stripping or something? He hadn’t heard the best things about these places on the wharf and this one didn’t have a stellar reputation either.

And, what the hell was she doing here anyway?

He’d sent her plenty of funds seven years ago, deposited in the account her brother had set up for both of them when he had turned eighteen.

Kahini had enough money to keep her in style, because he’d instructed the company’s bankers to always replenish the funds in that account should the need ever arise. The need had never risen, to the best of his knowledge. Even though he knew the money would never bring back her dead brother.

So, was she doing this for kicks?

Some poor little rich kid slumming it thing that all the society madams were doing these days?

He honestly had no idea. And that ate at his insides, like the strength of the feni he’d gingerly taken a sip out of.

Ansh had come here to find out what the hell she’d been up to the last seven years. Since the last time he’d seen her and she’d flung bitter, accusing words at him.

 

 

About the Author

 

Hi, I’m Aarti V Raman aka Writer Gal. I have been a former journalist, editor, and even a sometime-teacher before I plunged into my dream job. That of being a full-time writer.

In fact, my three favorite words are ‘happily ever after.’

This comes in handy as I primarily write bestselling contemporary romantic women’s fiction, which is all about living happily, after going through some hard times.

My more notable works include the Geeks of Caltech and Royals of Stellangård series, Something Old, Something New, More Than You Want, and The Perfect Fake among others. My chicklit family drama, The Worst Daughter Ever, has been picked up for screen adaptation.

I always love to hang with you, my dear reader friend. I’ve created Writer Gal’s Reader Pals on Facebook for this reason and I hope to see you there.

If not, I’m there on all social media as @aartivraman but I’m most active on Instagram.

 

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