Synopsis

Amelia Moore, the founder of the Moore Detective Agency, specializes in missing persons. With the help of Rick Bonito, her new partner, her business is flourishing. When Amelia is hired to search for her client’s grandparents, the case takes them to Ireland. Kate must learn about her heritage. Who are her grandparents and could they still be alive after all these years? Why did her parents leave Ireland suddenly and move to America? Is there more to this case than meets the eye?

Review

One day I’d like to visit Ireland just for some of the towns and sights mentioned in this book! The author paints a picture of the country (or at least the parts mentioned) which allowed me to imagine the people and towns in my mind. I liked how many of the homes/businesses were painted brighter colors – or at least a couple that Amelia and Rick visited.

In the first book (Bali Mystery), Amelia and Rick have discovered they are interested in each other. However, Amelia has a firm rule about not being involved with anyone she works with because it could get dicey if things went south. That changes a little bit in this book as a relationship grows and it forces Amelia into reconsidering her working relationship with Rick.

This mystery has her looking for relatives of a young woman, Kate, that discovers she was adopted. There are a few other surprises at the end, but one you can probably figure out as it gets closer and Amelia is tightlipped about what might be more than they expected when first taking the case. There is a little bit of danger to Amelia during her search for Kate’s family, but nothing that she and Rick can’t handle.

I do wish that Amelia wouldn’t have kept Rick in the dark about what she thought the bigger mystery was, after all, they are working more as partners than employer/employee. Perhaps she will be more forthcoming in future books.

We give this 4 paws up

 

About the Author

I was raised on a farm surrounded by the rolling hills of southern Idaho and have made my home in southern Utah among the beautiful red mountains and desert heat. I have been happily married for 42 years and am the mother of six daughters and have five wonderful grandchildren.

After my family began to leave the nest, I decided it was time to finish what I had started long ago. I decided to go back to college and get a degree. It had been 30 years since I had been to college and it was one of the most frightening things I had ever done. I had to learn how to study and take tests all over again. The first day of college, I was a nervous wreck and wondered if I could do this, but with the support of my husband and children, I was able to graduate. I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre and Music at Southern Utah University and received the Outstanding Non-Traditional Student Award for the College of Performing Arts in 2002. During the meantime, I cut a CD named “Romantic Love Songs of Sigmund Romberg and Victor Herbert.”

I have enjoyed writing short stories and novels for several years but it took a lot of courage to begin submitting them. After “Melinda and the Wild West” was published, I entered it in the Reader Views Literary Contest and my book was chosen as a Semi-Finalist in the “Reviewers Choice Awards 2007.” It was one of the top ten out of hundreds of other entries.

I have traveled throughout the United States, teaching people to write their family history and autobiography. I have traveled to seventeen states and given over 500 workshops. I am the author of six historical sweet romances, four mystery adventure novels, a children’s book, and a new cozy mystery series. All of my books are family friendly.

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Synopsis

Life is meant to be savored, but that’s not easy with no family, limited prospects and a past you’d rather not talk about. Still, Callie Smith doesn’t know how to feel when she discovers she has a brother and a sister–Malcolm, who grew up with affection, wealth and privilege, and Keira, a streetwise twelve-year-old.

Callie doesn’t love being alone, but at least it’s safe. Despite her trepidation, she moves into the grand family home with her siblings and grandfather on the shores of Lake Washington, hoping just maybe this will be the start of a whole new life.

But starting over can be messy. Callie and Keira fit in with each other, but not with their posh new lifestyle, leaving Malcolm feeling like the odd man out in his own home. He was clever enough to turn a sleepy Seattle mail-order food catalog into an online gourmet powerhouse, yet he can’t figure out how to help his new sisters feel secure. Becoming a family will take patience, humor, a little bit of wine and a whole lot of love.

But love isn’t Malcolm’s strong suit… until a beautiful barista teaches him that an open heart, like the family table, can always make room for more.

In this emotional, funny and heartfelt story, Susan Mallery masterfully explores the definition of a modern family–blended by surprise, not by choice–and how those complicated relationships can add unexpected richness to life.

Review

Another book by this author I could not put down! I loved the family dynamics in each family represented because they all felt like either my family or some I have known. Plus many characters had baggage they had to overcome to get where they needed to be by the end of the book.

The romance portion was entertaining at times as personalities clashed, but as in any good book, it all works itself out.

We give this book 5 paws up!

About the Author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming and humorous novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship, romance. She’s best known for putting nuanced characters into emotionally complex, real-life situations with twists that surprise readers to laughter. Because Susan is passionate about animal welfare, pets play a big role in her books. Beloved by millions of readers worldwide, her books have been translated into 28 languages.

Susan lives in Washington state with her husband, two ragdoll cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur.

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Promised Lies

A Detective Blanchette Mystery Book 1

by Marguerite Ashton

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis

Detective Lily Blanchette has a lot on her plate…

Her sister Celine has recently been murdered and her parents are on the brink of divorce. Now she’s lead on a multiple murder investigation.

Six months after Lily’s sister’s death, the bodies of two young women are discovered. One look at the way the bodies have been posed and Lily knows her sister’s killer is back.

And she’s determined to get him.

When Lily visits the family of victim Tanya O’Neal, she learns the woman had arranged to meet a man going by the handle CtryGeek23 on the social networking site Scatter.

Lily thinks finding the man behind the account is key to solving the case.

But CtryGeek23 is very clever, and Lily has her work cut out for her. As she digs around, clues point her to a local brewery where she discovers the body of another young woman.

The more Lily digs, the more she thinks there is more than one murderer at work, and CtryGeek23 is the mastermind.

But who is he?

And how will they catch him?

As the investigation comes to life, death hits closer to home, and Lily discovers she may not be who she thinks she is at all.

Filled with plot turns, suspense and mystery, Promised Lies will leave you wondering how well anybody knows anyone…

$0.99 right now!  Check pricing to make sure nothing has changed before buying

Trailer

Synopsis

Speaking second-hand truths can be deadly …

Detective Lily Blanchette will stop at nothing to solve a murder. Her current case involves the killing of an undercover cop working to bring down the mob for prostitution and drugs.

But Lily’s usual laser-like focus on the case has been disrupted.

Two weeks earlier, she learned she was pregnant by her murderous husband whom she’d killed in self-defense. Unsure whether to keep her baby or place the child of this cruel man up for adoption, Lily keeps the pregnancy a secret from her colleagues.

Under mounting pressure to solve the case, Lily arranges a sit-down with a local mob boss only to find out her suspect is also wanted by them. But before Lily can warn her team, she and her new partner, Jeremiah, are shot at, and another body is found.

When she discovers Jeremiah has a connection with the underworld, she is pulled into a conflict that swirls around the boss’s son who’s hell-bent on revenge.

To add to the complexity of the situation, Lily learns that her victim might still be alive if it wasn’t for opportunistic Assistant District Attorney, Ibee Walters, who has a twisted vision of justice.

As Lily gets closer to finding the killer, she unravels ugly secrets that point to Ibee and Jeremiah – placing Lily’s life and her unborn child in danger.

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Trailer

About the Author

When Marguerite Ashton was in her twenties, she took up acting but realized she preferred to work behind the camera, writing crime fiction. A few years later, she married an IT Geek and settled down with her role as wife, mom, and writer. Five kids later, she founded the Crime Writer’s Panel and began working with former law enforcement investigators to create; Criminal Lines Blog, an online library for crime writers who need help with their book research.

She’s a workaholic who hides in her writer’s attic, plotting out her next book and stalking Pinterest for the next avocado recipe.

A member of Sisters in Crime, Marguerite grew up in Colorado, but is now happily living in Wisconsin and playing as much golf as possible. She can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

 

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Giveaway

$25 Amazon

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts, and a giveaway!

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Synopsis

There was no question in Margo’s heart of hearts that she loved George. She really did want to marry him–scratch that–she really did want to be married to him.

There was a difference.

She hoped to heaven that the teeny-tiny distinction wouldn’t be their undoing…

The stage is set for the wedding of the year in New York City featuring poor sweet beautiful Margo marrying the most eligible (read that: handsome and wealthy) bachelor, Regal Stores heir and CEO, George Regal, III. The Regal family has long presided over the social and fashion scene in Manhattan and they have embraced the marriage with enough enthusiasm to create a circus.
That could be why Margo feels like she’s in the center ring and about to be swallowed by a lion.

But the best things about George, the strong powerful CEO, are the ones he’s not known for, like his small thoughtful gifts, the crystal angel Christmas tree ornament he’d given her, the way he holds her hand at odd moments, the way he bear-hugs his grandma whenever he sees her and the way he speaks with misty eyes about his late mother.

Of course, Margo wants to spend the rest of her life with him… if she could just get past the family’s ‘enthusiasm’ and THE WEDDING.

Warning: Once you open this book you’ll get heart-warming romance, smiles, laughs & fun, but also an adult-sized portion of steamy love scenes. And of course, most important of all, a very satisfying Happily-Ever-After.

Review

 

About the Author

Stephanie Queen is the USA Today bestselling author of the romantic detective series, Beachcomber Investigations. She lives in the stunning state of New Hampshire with her family, her cat, Kitty and her fun-loving friends. Besides going to the gym sporadically, Stephanie cooks and crochets and loves chocolate covered potato chips (yes, she should go to the gym more often).

She used to be a 9 to fiver working in downtown Boston, but has thrown her stylish suits and fancy heels in a closet and now hangs out in UConn t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. “If I could come back in another life as anything I wanted, I’d be a regency era heroine.” (Not surprisingly) Regency romances are her favorite secret reads.

 

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Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!

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Synopsis

Using our creative skills to make money and make an impact – while staying sane – can be hard as heck…

…If you don’t know what you’re doing.

A lot has been done to help creatives and artists find success, but much of it doesn’t apply to people with ‘arty’ skills. It can be hard to understand, and some of it is downright unhelpful.

With over a decade working for himself as an illustrator, writer and coach, Alex Mathers is intimately familiar with how we can hold ourselves back.

The common thread he’s discovered in his approach to success is the need to feel alive.

Every idea in this book addresses this very human need, distilled into a handy A-Z guide.

Though none of us is perfect, the way we think consistently will move us in the right direction.

Whether you’re an artist, a designer or a writer, working for yourself or with a team, the right mindset is the difference between giving up and thriving.

These 26 concepts will help you join the dots, seeing with greater clarity what it takes to be a successful creative.

Success is in your hands.

About the Author

I write and make pictures about many things, including how to make the most of your creative potential, being motivated, and being free. I have worked with clients including the BBC, Mars, Dots Games, Saatchi & Saatchi, Wired Magazine, and Google.

British, but born in Copenhagen in 1984, now living in Thailand.

I’m a self-taught illustrator and writer and have written over six books, though I studied Geography and Real Estate.

I’m a big fan of monkeys, sharks, and gorillas.

Mathers is pronounced ‘May’thers with a hard ‘th’.

I’ve lived in ten countries, including Barbados, Austria, Japan, England, Jamaica, Sweden, Iran, Vietnam, and Denmark.

I founded the blogs Red Lemon Club and Ape on the Moon, both in 2009, reaching millions of people over the years.

I was once a security guard at Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

I was smacked across the arm in Indonesia by a huge monitor lizard while trying to feed it rice.

I’m working right now on my dream of building and living in a big wooden house with a view of the mountains.

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Bamboozled (The Mah Jongg Mysteries)
Cozy Mysteries
2nd in Series
Self Published (April 3, 2018)
Paperback: 272 pages

Synopsis

Essential oils distributor Dorcas Wiley is the boss everyone loves to hate. So when she turns up dead, killed by her own trophy, disgruntled saleswoman Cathy Broderick is the obvious suspect in her murder. Despite opportunity, motive and incriminating evidence, Cathy declares her innocence and enlists her mah jongg pals—Sydney Bonner and her cronies Marianne, Micki and Kat—to help save her from the death penalty.

Hot off a recent and nearly deadly investigation, the women are cautious about putting themselves in peril again. Syd’s spouse isn’t thrilled about another mystery in their lives, either, but he can’t resist the plea of Cathy’s husband. Soon, Syd is leading the way as they tangle with grumpy salespeople, the victim’s estranged husband and boyfriend, a mysterious housekeeper, a litigious customer, an annoyed sheriff and Cathy’s own arrogant lawyer.

The women have their own issues to deal with in their central Florida town of Serendipity Springs. Kat faces a health challenge, Micki fields a mysterious inquiry from her ex, Marianne has a chaotic anniversary and Syd wrestles with her husband over who’s really in charge. But nothing puts everyday life into perspective like the moment when their investigation brings them face to face with danger.

Guest Post

Cruises

Living in Florida part of the year, it’s natural that I might be familiar with ocean cruises. I’ve been on four in the western Caribbean and one around four of the Hawaiian islands. My husband and I will be taking another cruise this summer, through the internal passages of Alaska. These experiences served as my basis of information as Trip Bonner, spouse of one my main characters in Bamboozled, the second book in my Mah Jongg Mystery series, plans an Atlantic repositioning cruise.

A repositioning cruise occurs when a cruise line moves a ship that has been operating on one side of the Atlantic, like the Caribbean, to Europe for the next season or vice versa. These trans-Atlantic cruises tend to be cheaper, because the cruise line wants to fill as many beds as possible while moving the liner. Friends who have taken one of these cruises rave about them. Several days at sea offer plenty down time for reading, relaxing and getting to know the other passengers. Thus far, I’ve resisted, not sure how I would react to so much time without land in sight. But there’s one on my bucket list.

Trip has had a difficult time adjusting to his own retirement. To cope, he has taken on various projects, often without thinking through the commitment until he must turn to his wife, Sydney, for help. In the first book, Craks in a Marriage, he organizes a community follies event. Though she does her best to remain on the sidelines, in the end, due to circumstances beyond her control, she finds herself in the limelight. In this book, his golf buddies convince him to plan this cruise, assuring him that he can get all or some of his fare free if he signs up enough travelers. The Bonners could easily afford to pay full fare for such a voyage; it’s the challenge of getting a group together that appeals to Trip’s need for validation.

Like most of his projects begin, the details seem pretty straightforward to Trip. All he has to do is tell his friends about this golden opportunity and sit back while they sign up. What he hasn’t planned on is human nature. Everyone has their own idea when this cruise should take place, where it should go and with which line. Even when okay with those items, some have roommate issues or worry about a spouse traveling alone without them.

From necessity but also as a temporary means of escape, the cruise planning takes a back seat when Trip agrees to help his wife and her friends investigate a local murder to help clear the name of one of their mah jongg buddies. But that doesn’t prevent potential cruisers from emailing him their views, second-guessing his decisions and even tracking him down at the grocery store, when all he wanted was find his favorite brands of chips and dip.

How about you? Have you ever taken an ocean cruise? If not, what has prevented you? Time? Finances? Fear?

 

About the Author

Barbara Barrett started reading mysteries when she was pregnant with her first child to keep her mind off things like her changing body and food cravings. When she’d devoured as many Agatha Christies as she could find, she branched out to English village cozies and Ellery Queen.

Later, to avoid a midlife crisis, she began writing fiction at night when she wasn’t at her day job as a human resources analyst for Iowa State Government. After releasing eleven full-length romance novels and one novella, she has returned to the cozy mystery genre, using one of her retirement pastimes, the game of mah jongg, as her inspiration. Not only has it been a great social outlet, it has also helped keep her mind active when not writing.

Bamboozled, the second book in her “Mah Jongg Mystery” series, features four friends who play mah jongg together and share otherwise in each other’s lives. None of the four is based on an actual person. Each is an amalgamation of several mah jongg friends with a lot of Barbara’s imagination thrown in for good measure. The four will continue to appear in future books in the series.

Anticipating the day when she would write her first mystery, she has been a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America for over a decade. She credits them with helping her hone her craft.

Barbara is married to a man she met her senior year of college. They have two grown children and eight grandchildren.

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Check out the other blogs on this tour, some have giveaways!

June 28 –  Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 28 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY

June 29 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

June 29 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

June 30 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 30 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY

June 30 – The Book Diva’s Reads – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY

July 1 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 1 – cherylbbookblog – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY

July 1 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

July 2 – Ruff Drafts – GUEST POST

July 2 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

July 3 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – CHARACTER GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY

July 3 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

July 4 – Varietats – REVIEW, GUEST POST

July 5 – Mysteries with Character – GUEST POST

July 5 – Island Confidential – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST

July 6 – Fiction Obsession – REVIEW

July 6 – Christa Reads and Writes – SPOTLIGHT

July 7 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY

July 7 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers – SPOTLIGHT

July 8 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

July 8 – Lisa Ks Book Review – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

 

Book Title: Liberty Landing by Gail Vida Hamburg
Category: Adut Fiction, 344 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Mirare Press
Release date: March 2018

​Synopsis

Liberty Landing — a 2016 Finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction — narrates the American Experience of the 21st century through the lives of a polycultural cast of natives, immigrants, and refugees in Azyl Park–a town in the Midwest.

After Angeline Lalande, a journalist and historian, unearths the real meaning of the name, “Azyl,” conferred on the town in the 1800s by immigrant-hating politicians, the town elders begin the act of renaming it. During the course of the renaming, we meet the intriguing denizens of the town–survivors, strugglers, and strivers of every race and nationality, see the intersection of their lives, and the ways they find home, heaven, and haven in each other. We learn about the singular journeys that brought them to Azyl Park–a place that both transforms them and is transformed by them.

The larger story of the American Experiment is told through the personal story of Alexander Hamilton, the essential immigrant among the Founding Fathers, as Angeline writes a book about him. By the end of the novel, after Azyl Park is renamed, each of the characters has lost or found something essential.

Liberty Landing is about the personal and the political, family and loss, memory and migration, finding new love and a new home, and about history and the American Experiment. Seminal moments of the American Experience figure in this literary and historical fiction. Inspired by John Dos Passos’ USA Trilogy about early 20th century Americans, Liberty Landing is a sweeping, lush, layered saga, set in a vibrant community, with a cast of Americans marked by neuroses, flaws, secrets, unspeakable pasts, humor, warmth, vulnerability, and humanity.

Liberty Landing is Gail Vida Hamburg’s love letter to the American Experiment–the first in a trilogy. ​

Audible

Trailer

Interview

Where did you get the inspiration for the novel?

I knew I wanted to write a novel about the American Experiment and Experience, but the plot and characters eluded me for a long time. Steven King said that stories are found objects. JK Rowling said the inspiration for Harry Potter was a flash of an image of a train leaving a station. While I was mulling over my novel, I’d take daily walks on the beach where I live. One scene I kept seeing everyday was an image of the neighborhood with the iconic image of the Chicago skyline in the distance. The title, Liberty Landing, came to me as I stared at this scene, both as the name of the place and as an idea of America as a place of freedom.

The book has characters of different nationalities. Was it hard to write so many diverse characters?

I’ve lived in multiple cities on three continents, and my family and community are cross-cultural, bi-racial, polycultural, and multiracial. I am comfortable writing characters who are from backgrounds other than my own.

If you could put yourself as a character in your book, who would you be?


I believe most characters in a novel are aspects and fragments of a writer and her psyche. In Liberty Landing, I recognize myself in the workaholism, ambition, and white-knuckled ferocity and striving of Gabriel Khoury, the protagonist; in the anxiety and historical memory  of Angeline LaLande, the writer; and in the traumatic past of Bruce Halliday.

What genre do you write and why?

I write literary fiction shot through with politics. Liberty Landing was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. I guess it’s fiction about real life, straight up with no chaser. I’m concerned about many political issues at home and abroad and I view fiction as a way to talk about these issues. It’s easier to understand a serious issue like torture through the life of a fictional character and her story, than through a white paper or a news report.

What’s the most important thing you learned about writing a novel from this book?

While writing my first novel, The Edge of the World, I was like an explorer in the Amazon rainforest, hacking away at tree branches until I got to the center of my story. It was a wonderful creative journey but it took forever because I’d go off on false leads and tangents. With this book, once I knew what the story was going to be, I drew a chart with all the characters and a little about their roles in the story. It changed over time of course, but not very much. Having that blueprint allowed me to enter the story without going off into the unknown—it was controlled creativity.

Do you edit a lot?

Yes, like a maniac. Backspace/delete is the most overused key on my keyboard. I was a journalist earlier in my career and knew that to avoid writer’s block, I had to dump everything on the page. Once I was able to do that, I knew I could go back in and chisel and sculpt the copy. Writer’s block only happens when you expect perfection in the first draft. Hemingway said, the first draft of anything is shit, and he was right. Everything happens in revision.

If there is one thing you want readers to remember about you, what would it be?

I’d like people to think of me as a writer who demythologizes the mysterious other and serious political issues through graceful storytelling, and spins a good yarn.

 

About the Author

Gail Vida Hamburg is an award-winning American journalist, author, and museum storyist. She is the author of The Edge of the World (Mirare Press, 2007), a novel about the impact of American foreign policy on individual lives. A nominee for the 2008 James Fenimore Cooper Prize, it is a frequent text in undergraduate post- colonial studies, war studies, and creative writing programs. Born in Malaysia, she spent her teens and twenties in England before migrating to the United States. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Literature and Creative Writing from Bennington Writers Seminars at Bennington College, Vermont. Liberty Landing, the first volume in her trilogy about the American Experience, is her love letter to the great American Experiment.

She lives in Chicago—the setting for Liberty Landing, a finalist for the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.

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Giveaway

Win one of 3 prizes: a copy of Liberty Landing by Gail Vida Hamburg or an audiobook copy of Liberty Landing or a $25 Amazon GC (open to USA & CANADA – 3 winner)

(ends July 28, 2018)

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TO CATCH A TEXAS STAR

Texas Heroes, Book 3

by

Linda Broday

  Genre: Western / Historical / Romance

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Date of Publication: July 3, 2018

Number of Pages: 352

Scroll down for Giveaway!

On her way to town early one morning, Marley Rose McClain finds a man unconscious and bleeding at the side of the road. She loads him in the wagon and takes him to her family ranch.

Drifter Roan Penny fights for his life, his one goal eating at him—to find the ones who murdered his best friend. As he recovers, he finds himself falling in love with Marley. She’s everything he wants and dreams of making her his wife even as he knows it’s impossible.

A terrifying stranger appears and a long-kept secret shakes Marley to the core. Roan helps her through very frightening times and they pledge their love for each other.

As Roan hunts down the hooded men who killed his friend and grows closer to learning the truth of the stranger’s identity, he finds both himself and Marley being stalked.

Shocking events unfold, secrets come to light, and a love refuses to be denied in this cat and mouse game where danger lurks around every corner. Will Roan and Marley survive to see the future they plan?

Praise

“Fans of the previous books will enjoy returning to the McClain clan, and new readers will appreciate the story’s layered mysteries, emotional depth, and believable scenes of attraction.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“I loved the twists and turns that this story takes. It is pretty interesting seeing this romance blossom and how much their relationship strengthens as they face danger and the truth together.” — Addicted to Romance

“Marley Rose has one of the most gentle and winsome souls; her affection and compassion for others and delightful creativity pour off the pages and you can’t help but adore her.” — Michelle (Goodreads)

I’m so happy to be here, sharing my new release To Catch a Texas Star! This brings the Texas Heroes series to an exciting conclusion. It’s been a long time coming. After I wrote the first two books in the series – Knight on the Texas Plains and The Cowboy Who Came Calling – the publisher folded, and I never got to complete the series … until now. This is the book of my heart that I always wanted to write.

We met Marley Rose McClain as a baby in Knight on the Texas Plains and now she’s all grown up and looking for love. But there are secrets. Why does she look so different from her parents? What is the secret they’re keeping?

She discovers Roan Penny lying severely injured at the side of the road one frosty morning and takes him to her family ranch. As he recovers, their attraction grows stronger and stronger and Marley knows he’s the one for her. He calls her his Texas Star, and she sees undeniable love in his eyes even as danger surrounds them at every turn.

Much of Marley’s time is helping to care for all the children her parents take in and in this story, the McClain’s have twelve of them.

People ask why I write orphans into almost every story and here’s why.

The 1800s were overrun with orphans. New York City alone had 30,000 in 1850. Immigrants arrived, and a good many died of disease and starvation, leaving their children with no place to go. The orphanages bulged at the seams, and there were still so many living on the streets.

In an effort to curb the situation, they began shipping children out on orphan trains and offering them to anyone willing to give them a home. From 1854 to 1929, a quarter of a million orphans rode on those trains. Yet, with no oversight, a good many faced horrible abuse.

Things weren’t much better out west. People were dying in cholera epidemics, yellow fever, small pox, etc. Then you add in the numbers of the women dying in childbirth, and it’s staggering. Then came the Civil War that left even more children without parents. On the American frontier, there were Indian uprisings in addition to everything else. It was a horrible time of upheaval and children bore the brunt.

Characters like Marley’s mother and father can’t turn a blind eye so do whatever they can to help.

I think adding children to stories makes them richer. Children bring a greater level of emotion that isn’t there otherwise.

I hope you’ll try To Catch a Texas Star and see what I’m talking about. I have a brand-new series beginning in January. It’s called Outlaw Mail Order Brides. Maybe you’ll look for it.

Linda is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of full length historical western romance novels and novellas. She’s published over twenty books and short stories and resides in the Texas Panhandle on land the American Indian and Comancheros once roamed. On a quiet day, she can often hear their voices whispering in the wind.

The love of this state and its people runs bone deep and she instills that into each book she writes. She sets all her stories in Texas because of the rich history and interesting people.

A mother, grandmother, and soon to be a great-grandmother, Linda finds research fascinating and always looks for little known tidbits to add realism to her stories. When she’s not writing, she collects old coins and confesses to being a rock hound in addition to making herself a nuisance at museums, libraries, and historical places which inspire her.

 

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Grand Prize: Signed Copies of Full Texas Heroes Series

Five Runners-Up: Signed Copies of To Catch a Texas Star

(US ONLY)

  July 3-12, 2018

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Check out the other blogs on this tour

7/3/18	Excerpt	That’s What She’s Reading
7/3/18	Bonus Series Spotlight	Hall Ways Blog
7/4/18	Review	Chapter Break Book Blog
7/5/18	Guest Post	StoreyBook Reviews
7/6/18	Review	Carpe Diem Chronicles
7/7/18	Character Interview	The Librarian Talks
7/8/18	Review	Reading by Moonlight
7/9/18	Playlist	Tangled in Text
7/10/18	Review	Books and Broomsticks
7/11/18	Author Interview	Dressed to Read
7/12/18	Review	Margie’s Must Reads

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Title: Small Town Rumors
Author: Carolyn Brown
Release Date: July 3, 2018
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Everyone is talking about Jennie Sue Baker and the mess she made of her life in New York. The former high school queen bee—and wealthy darling of Bloom, Texas—has returned home after all these years, riding on a common bus and bearing two bounced alimony checks. In a town that thrives on gossip, Jennie’s fall from grace has shamed her mother, set the town buzzing, and caused old, jealous enemies to whisper in delight. They say she’s taken a job as a housekeeper, gotten a garage apartment, and might be crushing on Rick Lawson, a simple farmer with modest dreams.

As romance starts to bud, Jennie relishes what it means to follow her heart, find real new friends, and finally be herself—regardless of all the lying town chatter. But fate has another twist in store. Rumor has it that Jennie now stands to lose what matters most . . . unless she can convince Rick of one true thing—and that’s love.

Top 5 Biggest Scandals in Bloom, Texas by Carolyn Brown

Welcome to Bloom, Texas, where the gossip is hotter’n than the peppers in Rick’s garden. Bloom is located just north of Sweetwater where the land is so flat that you can see all the way to where the earth curves. Well, maybe not that far but it goes out there for miles until it finally meets the sky. It always reminds me of a child’s drawing. He/she makes a line on their paper. Above it is sky with fluffy clouds. Below it is grass with wild flowers. The streets are wide and the bus comes through on the way to Sweetwater once a day.

If you want to hear the local gossip, just stop by the Main Street Café. You’ll love the burger baskets and sweet tea, but if you listen closely, you can learn who didn’t come to church on Sunday and why, who died, who had a baby and whether or not she was married. The list goes on and on, so don’t bypass the café as you wander up and down Main Street. Oh, and ask Elaine, the owner, to fix you up with a large sweet tea to go when you leave.

A couple of doors down, you’ll see a used book store. Go right on in and Amos will tell you the whole history of Bloom. If you have a seat on the sofa inside the front door, he’ll entertain you until all that sweet tea is gone with stories about the folks in town. Don’t be shy, now. He loves company.

As a stranger, you probably won’t be invited to one of the Sweetwater Belle’s club meetings, but even their exclusive meetings aren’t so secret in Bloom. After all everyone knows everything about everyone. They know what they did with whom, where it happened and what time they got home afterwards. Then they read The Bloom Daily News to see who got caught!

After all, gossip is the life blood of the community. It’s what drives the people to get out in the blistering hot sun and go to town. It’s what sets the phone lines to smoking, and why there’s more than one cell tower pretty close to the town.

There were, have been, are will be many scandals in Bloom. But five come to mind. First is the fact that Jennie Sue’s dad has been having affairs for years and every year the mistress gets younger and younger. He has his reasons but Jennie Sue doesn’t know them until she comes home. Second would be the fact that she arrives in town, right there on Main Street on a bus. Not in a rented car from an airport. Not even in her own little fancy sports vehicle, but a bus! That alone will put a strain on the phone company. Third is that she intends to be independent and since her father won’t give her a job in the oil company, she agrees to clean houses for two elderly sisters, Lettie and Nadine, who are the biggest gossips in Bloom, Texas. Fourth is that she’s seen with Rick, a local farmer, and even worse that she’s working on his farm for no money but for vegetables as pay. And number five that she has a baby buried in an unmarked grave at the Bloom cemetery. Now when that last one hits the gossip vine, it really will be hotter’n the peppers in Rick’s garden!

Excerpt

“Well, well, well! Are you leaving us already? You only got here yesterday.” Lettie shoved the suitcase over and sat down across the table from Jennie Sue. Short, as round as Mabel, and sporting a kinky hairdo that had gone out of style years ago, Lettie hadn’t changed since Jennie Sue was a little girl.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jennie Sue answered. “How have you been, Miz Lettie?”

“Elaine, I’ll have a big stack of pancakes and two orders of bacon,” Lettie called out across the café.

“Got it,” Elaine yelled.

“So where are you going?” Lettie turned back to Jennie Sue.

“To find a job,” she answered.

“What kind of skills and experience do you have?”

Elaine crossed the floor and set Jennie Sue’s breakfast in front of her. “Millie will bring out your order shortly, Miz Lettie.”

“No rush. Just send me a cup of coffee, and I’ll be happy until it gets here.” Lettie waved her away with a flick of the wrist and turned back to Jennie Sue. “Now, you were about to tell me about your work experience.”

Jennie Sue picked up the saltshaker and applied an unhealthy dose to her eggs. “I have no experience, but I do have a business degree. The only thing I’m good at is keeping a clean house and organizing fund-raisers and parties.”

“Hmm.” Lettie pursed her lips. “So why didn’t you have a housekeeper up there in New York?”

“Percy was never pleased with the way they cleaned.”

“Was?” Lettie asked.

“Been divorced for over a year.”

“Oh, really?” Lettie cocked her head to one side.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Me and my sister, Nadine, lost our housekeeper a couple of weeks ago. The lady that worked for us cleaned for me on Friday and Nadine on Thursday. You interested?”

Charlotte would probably go into cardiac arrest if Jennie Sue became nothing more than a maid for her archenemies. But hey, it was a job, and Jennie Sue damn sure knew how to clean a house so well that it would pass judgment in the courts of heaven.

“I might be interested if you could point me in the direction of an apartment or a rental house of some kind that wouldn’t be too expensive,” Jennie Sue answered.

“I got an apartment over my garage. It’s pretty small, but it’ll work for a single person. I’d be willing to rent it to you furnished. You’ll clean for me on Friday each week, but the last week in the month, you won’t get paid. That’ll be your rent,” Lettie said.

Jennie Sue could imagine Charlotte throwing whatever she could get her hands on at the wall when one of the Belles called her with that bit of news. Even if she was angry with her mother over trying to mold her into another Wilshire woman, she couldn’t do that to her mother—or could she? How else would she be independent?

She picked up a piece of crisp bacon with her fingers and took a bite while she thought about the offer. It was a job that she could do. It was a place for her to live. She didn’t have to live in a shelter or sleep on a park bench. However, her mother would never speak to her again, and the rumors would be so hot that they might burn down the whole town of Bloom.

Review

This is a perfect summer read…well really a perfect anytime read! Especially since it is set in a small Texas town where rumors and gossip abound. The book has funky characters, some tension between the “haves” and the “have-nots”, and family drama that will keep you entertained from beginning to the end. It is also a love story and knowing what you want and don’t want to ensure a happy life going forward.

If you enjoy romance, laughter, and small town charm, you’ll enjoy this book!  We give it 5 paws up.

 

About the Author

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist with more than ninety published books, which include women’s fiction and historical, contemporary, and cowboys-and-country-music romance. She and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma—where everyone knows everyone else and knows what they’re doing and when—and they read the local newspaper on Wednesday to see who got caught. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.

Website * Facebook

Giveaway

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Book Title: Through a Broken Heart: Finding Hope and Healing After a Breakup
Author: Colleen Meissner
Category: Adult Non-Fiction, 144 pages
Genre: Christian non-fiction, self-help, devotional
Publisher: A Book’s Mind
Release date: April 19, 2018

Synopsis

Dear Broken Heart ~

You must be hurting deeply. Perhaps you’re also feeling overwhelmed and completely alone in this place of emptiness and grief. I’ve been where you are and my heart aches with yours. I want you to know there is someone who sees and someone who cares. His name is Jesus. The journey right now is dark and painful, but if you will travel with me using God’s word as our guide, it will eventually lead to a place of hope and restoration. A destination where God’s love ushers you into wholeness. Where His healing hand won’t just repair your shattered soul, but will establish you in the truth that you are deeply loved and understood. In contrast to your current sorrow, this may seem too good to be true. I get that, I’ve been there. At this point, I’m only asking you to trust that He is able. I invite you to spend these next six weeks at the feet of Jesus and allow Him to enter into your wounded heart through this very place of brokenness. Will you give Him permission to transform you in a way that far exceeds your own expectations?

~ Colleen Meissner Married for the first time at 42. Colleen knows firsthand the pain of heartbreak, being single longer than expected, and the battle against fear and insecurity. She holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology and has spent over 10 years sharing her own experience and knowledge as a coach and mentor. She now has a vision to share the wisdom she’s been given with you.

Interview

Today we welcome Colleen to StoreyBook Reviews.  She was gracious enough to answer some questions for us about herself.

Favorite travel spot?

I honestly don’t travel too often, my work and an elderly dog limit me a bit these days, but when I do travel I want to be at a beach, lake or river. I always say, “give me a sandy beach and a fruity cocktail over history and architecture.” I know how shallow that may sound, but it’s more about the fact that the beach, specifically the ocean is one of the few places where I am able to fully exhale and relax.

Favorite dessert?

My favorite dessert will always be ice cream. Some of my best memories of my dad and I are when we were laughing and being “indulgent” eating two (!) bowls of ice cream. He and I didn’t’ agree on much when I was younger – but we could always come together over a bowl (or two!) of Neapolitan ice cream – he loved the chocolate and me the strawberry; the vanilla was divided between us equally; it was a perfect balance. I lost my father this year, so these memories are especially sweet (pun intended! ☺).

If you were stuck on a deserted island, which 3 books would you want with you?

My Bible of course, that’s a no brainer. Bob Goff’s “Love Does” would be the second one – even if I’m alone, I’d want to remember to be kind and loving to myself, plus the book just makes me laugh –  that man cracks me up and his life is an amazing testimony of what it’s like to live and love fearlessly.

I’m not sure which I would bring for my third one, but for certain some type of reference book. I am a book hoarder, I still have books from college that I won’t give up just in case I may need to reference them at some point.

What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?

This is an easy answer – this (publishing Through a Broken Heart) is the most courageous thing I’ve ever done, without a doubt. I am really shy and have a slight social phobia – so to step out of the shadows and to share my heart and lessons learned are really scary to me and way outside of my comfort zone.

But… I would rather do this and fail (or be criticized) then not do it at all. Perhaps that’s even scarier – getting to the end of life and wishing I had taken more risks. I’m at a point now where I’d rather go for it and fail then not take the risk at all.

Name a quirky thing you like to do.

The quirkiest thing I do isn’t actually quirky to me at all, but apparently it is to others. I can’t eat ice cream (the normal kind, not soft serve) without smashing it up in my bowl until the consistency becomes like a frosty. My favorite ice cream to do this with is plain old Neapolitan ice cream, with mostly strawberry and vanilla. I can tell if there’s too much chocolate if the “mush” is browner then pink. Is that really that weird?

As for hobbies, my passion work (mentoring, coaching and writing) take most of my free time, but love just hanging out with my husband, brothers and my girlfriends, put us all on the beach together and you have perfection, at least to me. The last time (and maybe the first) this happened was my wedding day in 2013, we married at the beach and only invited our closest family and friends – it was perfection.

About the Author

I earned a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Azusa Pacific University in 2010 and have been mentoring women for over a decade. The most common area of counsel I provide is to single women not ashamed to admit they want to be married and have someone to share their life with. These women often without realizing it, are battling soul wounds (emotional and heart wounds) from their past that are preventing them from fulfilling this deeply held desire of marriage and family.

I consider there to be no greater privilege than to have women trust me with their deepest struggles and fears and to travel along side of them on their journey from a place of being held in bondage by lies (“I am fat, ugly, a loser, unlovable…”) to a place of freedom and victory. I know this journey well, I have traveled it; it is hard and it is long, and you cannot do it alone. There are seemingly impossible hills to climb, valleys to crawl out of and side-roads leading to nowhere. Perhaps more than a mentor, I am a tour-guide, leading you as you navigate your way to healing and overcoming those things that have kept you from embracing the fullness of life that the Lord came to give you (John 10:10).

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Giveaway

Win an ebook copy of Through a Broken Heart (open to USA & Canada – 2 winners)

(ends July 21, 2018)

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