Category: Books

Guest Book Review: V.B’s Take on Rosemary’s Beach House by Linda Heavner Gerald

6/9/2023

Please welcome our guest reviewer today! Let’s see what she has to say. Take it away, Virginia…

Thank you! ♥

Rosemary's Beach House
by Linda Heavner Gerald

https://books2read.com/u/4EEd6o

I wish I knew what work this book was based on or mimics. I would classify it as suspense or romantic suspense. Rosemary grew on me over time, and Malcom was a charmer. Lucy and Josh are notable characters as well. I enjoyed watching Rosemary and Malcom’s romance grow while the mystery and tension grew.

The first three-quarters of the book are about Rosemary’s life and then her life with Malcom. The last quarter covers her devastation after Malcom’s death. The suspense starts when she and Malcom marry, and the danger is only revealed when the “intruder” finally comes to finish Rosemary off.

The mystery is solid. Bountiful clues and foreshadowing keep you guessing. The characters feel real and play their parts well. Also, there was a lot of referring to God, and a thread of Him keeping Rosemary safe by “closing her mouth,” but I wouldn’t call this an inspirational mystery. I recommend reading this book for the story—just to see how it turns out in the end.

The writing was a bit tedious for me to read. The MC tells us the whole thing. Only the dialogue feels natural. The rest is a narration. The one POV we never get is Malcom’s. We get his words and actions, but I’m not really sure he loved Rosemary. I think he did, and she “said” he did, but we get none of his thoughts. This could be my bias. I was so busy looking for clues in the mystery that I became suspicious of the love story.

Finally, I’m tired of vilifying mental illness by making the murderer “crazy.” Anger, betrayal, and jealousy are all good enough reasons to kill. That said…I know that plenty of “craziness” causes death, but using a diagnosis to explain “why” cheapens the worth of those diagnosed as such.

NOTE: I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 3 stars because the MC survived awful events with her soul intact, and supported those around her.

Image by Masadepan on Freepik.

Book Blurb:
Rosemary Lewis divorced her husband after she discovered him with another woman. Suffering from depression at her loss, the young woman threw herself into work as a registered nurse. Then, she met Malcolm Beach who represented her dream. Together, they did enjoy a perfect life. Devotion from her new husband thrilled her as they traveled all over the world. Sailing became their pastime until the sudden death of her love. Once again, Rosemary found herself devastated and alone.

Suddenly, an unknown foe threatened her very life. Why did this begin after the death of her husband? Slowly gleaning bits of information, she discovers that Malcolm's previous lover was insane. Is this the one who makes her life hell? Now, a wealthy widow, Rosemary must fight to survive in the beautiful home named 'Rosemary's Beach House'.

Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/4EEd6o

Here’s an excerpt from the book…

Although I attempted to appear as confident as I looked, my hands shook. Before Malcolm arrived, I cut fresh flowers to display on the foyer table. They were beautiful. My problem was I forgot to lay the scissors down, so I held them in my left hand.
Just as I opened the door with my right hand, my left one tried to hug Malcolm. Instead, the scissors became entwined in the strap of my dress. Panic overcame me. Spastically, I pressed the blades of the scissors together cutting the strap of my new dress. It was slightly large on me. The entire right side of the stunning dress fell exposing my nakedness. I didn’t wear a bra. Since the outfit was strapless, my breast glowed innocently at Malcolm from my red doorway.
My prince looked from my face to my right boob in shock. Moments passed as we stared at each other unsure of the correct response.
“Oh, well, I say, RM, you have a welcoming way about you. Never, in my life did I receive this sort of welcome! It is the best! Way to go, RM! I have to say that your boob, which you seem proud to display, looks as succulent as my gift to you. This was a joke, my bag of onions, but your boob outdoes my meager attempt at humor. I mean, I guess this is supposed to be funny, right?” Gently, he smiled while thrusting a huge bag of Vidalia Onions in my face.
I knew that I should have closed the door and let this relationship melt away. We weren’t meant to be.
Instead, I threw both arms around the good doctor’s neck. Malcolm smelled faintly of intoxicating cologne. Staggering into him with the scissors still in hand, I jabbed them into his right temple. Not very far, mind you, but enough to nick the skin. Now, his beautiful white shirt displayed pinpoints of bright red blood.
Will he still smile at me? Dumb as this sounds, that was my thought. I pulled from Malcolm’s embrace to see him hesitate.
Oh, no, this is it. My dream is going to walk away.
Not knowing what else to do, I cried.
This brilliant man was not only famous and accomplished, but he was kind. “Now, now, RM, these things happen. Don’t cry. Someday, we will laugh at all the drama.”
Did he say someday? Do we still have a future? I promise not to make another mistake.

BOOK INFO:

AUTHOR: Linda Heavner Gerald
TITLE: Rosemary’s Beach House
GENRE: Mystery/Suspense
RELEASE DATE: January 9, 2019
PUBLISHER: Lime Pie Publishers
ISBN/ASIN: B07MM67SCH
OUR RATING: 3 Stars
REVIEWED BY: V.B. “Can Do Indie Author”

Guest Blogger/Reviewer Bio:

VB is an indie author who writes romance and Sci Fi and voraciously reads anything (with some limits). When she’s not reading and writing, she’s working a day job to pay for her truck habit and puttering around her house.

Awesome. Thanks for this, V.B., and for stopping by the blog! :)

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age blog post here.

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Guest Book Review: Jamie’s Take on the Miscreants, Murderers, and Thieves anthology

6/2/2023

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Please welcome our guest reviewer today! Let’s see what she has to say. Take it away, Jamie…

Thank you! ♥

Miscreants, Murderers, and Thieves anthology - organized by Samuel W. Reed

https://books2read.com/u/boqXR1

A little suspense, a little tiny bit of romance, a lot of plot twists, a little sci-Fi maybe. This anthology has a little bit of everything for everyone. Lots of didn't-see-that-coming moments too. Quick short stories.

I did feel as if some of the stories left out some important details and may have been rushed to "finish".

NOTE: I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 4 stars.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay.

Book Blurb:

Take a tour through the minds of thirteen of today's most talented independent authors in a crime anthology like no other. Miscreants, Murderers, and Thieves hosts a cross-section of indie writers from all across America in a unique compilation of diverse voices set to take you on a journey beyond your wildest imagination. From aging detectives trapped in a magic house of hell, to a doctor with a fascination for the macabre, to New Century City, where superheroes and supervillains battle it out for supremacy, this is a genre-bending short story collection guaranteed to thrill. Featuring contributions from award-winning authors, screenwriters, and wordsmiths such as Don Bapst, David Beeler, Shawn D. Brink, Dori Ann Dupre, Gabriel DiDomenico, Dane G. Kroll, Ethel Lung, Casey Mensing, Suzanne Crain Miller, Samuel W. Reed, Katherine Tomlinson, Will Wallace & Nicholas Zeman, with illustrations by Jared Sloger.

Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/boqXR1

Here’s an excerpt from the book…

With a last look around, Jonathan exhaled a sigh and trudged back up the walkway to the front door. He was mildly surprised to find it wouldn’t open. One of the first things he’d done when he and Kaye had moved into the house was change the lock so it would shut but not latch unless turned with a key.

Probably it’s just frozen in the cold, Jonathan decided. It’s an old house.

But after he jiggled the handle and pulled and tugged, it became clear that the door was, in fact, locked. Jonathan was irritated, but not yet concerned. They kept a spare key to the front door beneath a fake rock hidden in the rose bushes that bracketed the front porch like a pair of parentheses. It took him a while to find the fake rock and he scratched himself on the thorny branches of the winterized rose bushes in the process. When he reached down to pick up the phony stone one of the thick, hard thorns embedded itself in his forearm, drawing a single tear of blood, which he ignored as he stared below at the cold, bare dirt. He was puzzled at first, but that soon gave way to a feeling that he identified as … panic.

He patted the pockets of his robe, unconsciously searching for a phantom key but finding only a random cough drop wrapped in sticky paper.

“Fuck,” he said out loud, closing his robe a little tighter. He considered lobbing the fake rock at his bedroom window but knew Kaye would never hear it. She was a heavy sleeper and she’d been snoring when he left their bedroom.

Jonathan climbed the steps back onto the porch and considered his options. The house was at the end of a cul-de-sac, small enough that he and Kaye knew all their neighbors. But the housing crisis had taken its toll on the neighborhood and only two of the houses were occupied. Their nearest neighbors had gone to visit their children for the holidays and the man who lived in the house across the street worked the night shift. Jonathan sighed. The windows on the first floor of his house were all covered by iron security grates. Even if he managed to break the glass, it wouldn’t do him any good; the openings were too small to wriggle through.

He walked around the house toward the garage, wondering if he could pry the roll-down door open wide enough to crawl under it. He knelt on the damp, cold concrete to get some traction on the door handle but couldn’t budge it more than an inch.

Fuck, he thought again, and then, it’s getting cold. In fact, it wasn’t actually getting colder, but the wind had picked up significantly, making it feel like it had.

Jonathan stamped his feet to warm them up, and then tried jumping jacks to get the blood flowing in the rest of his body. The exercise didn’t help. He began to shiver, at first imperceptibly and then so violently that his teeth began to rattle.

He started next door with the vague notion of breaking into the neighbor’s house, but halfway across the lawn he tripped on one of the pop-up sprinklers that kept their grass green in summer. He fell heavily and by the time he’d gathered himself, he’d forgotten his plan and returned to the house. He was beginning to have a hard time thinking straight. A few minutes later, it seemed like a good idea to shuck his robe and kick off the slippers, which were now loose on his cold, shrunken feet. By the time he stepped out of his boxers, he was feeling light-headed and calm. He didn’t even see the shadow lingering in the window.

***
Inside the house, which she kept heated to 78 degrees against the Minnesota winter, Kaye watched as her husband peeled of his boxers in what she had learned was known as “paradoxical undressing.” It was a sign that the body and mind were starting to shut down in the cold, a symptom of extreme systemic distress. It was 23 degrees outside and the forecast called for sleet and possibly snow before the night was over. The wind was from the north, sweeping down from Canada and dropping the perceived temperature to somewhere around minus 15. That was cold, but not spectacularly cold.

Kaye had read that in parts of Siberia empty plastic bags would freeze within minutes in the frigid temperatures; freeze and then crack like glass. She’d seen movies where people were flash-frozen by liquid nitrogen and then shattered like fine china. She’d have liked to have seen Jonathan break into a million frozen shards. But that might have looked suspicious to the police. Better to keep it simple. A lot of people simply freeze to death every winter. She’d looked it up. There’d be no reason for the police to question her story that she’d found him dead on the front lawn after he’d inexplicably wandered out into the cold.

They’d find the 25-year-old scotch in his belly in the autopsy and nod knowingly. Most cold-related deaths involved alcohol, Kaye had read. Jonathan always had a drink or two before bed. She knew it was the only way he could stomach lying so close to her night after night. The police probably wouldn’t check his cell phone but if they did, it would be a bonus.

The text had come from a burner phone Kaye had picked up the day after their last anniversary, the anniversary where he’d gotten her a $50 gift certificate to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It had been easy enough to schedule the text to arrive in the middle of the night. The number wouldn’t track back to Lila, of course, but Kaye had attached one of the nude pictures she’d found in Jonathan’s computer. Lila’s skanky face had been clearly visible. It wouldn’t take the police long to find her and to ask her why she’d enticed her lover out of the house on such a cold night.

Kaye had watched a lot of Forensics Files. The police wouldn’t find the photo on Jonathan’s computer. Kaye had replaced his hard drive after duplicating everything on the system except for the pictures and the incriminating emails. It had taken her close to a month, but she was nothing if not patient. Kaye really didn’t bear her rival any ill will, but if Lila was implicated in Jonathan’s death, well, it’d be gravy.

At the thought of gravy, Kaye's stomach growled. Maybe I’ll make some ham and red-eye gravy, she thought. Once all the commotion dies down. Maybe some biscuits, too. Something that’ll stick to my ribs on such a cold morning.

Kaye smiled as she turned back to her cozy cotton bed. She had always loved the cold.

BOOK INFO:

AUTHOR: Samuel W. Reed (editor, organizer)
TITLE: Miscreants, Murderers, and Thieves
GENRE: Crime Fiction Anthology
RELEASE DATE: January 25, 2020
PUBLISHER: Reed Press
ISBN/ASIN: ‎ B0846Y2J51
OUR RATING: 4 Stars
REVIEWED BY: Jamie M.

Guest Blogger/Reviewer Bio:

My name is Jamie Manous. I am a single mom with two adult kids, both in college. I also have three fur babies, two dogs, and one cat. When I am not working or caring for my family, I spend my downtime reading and writing reviews for books and products I like. I like reading because it allows me to escape the world for a couple of hours and destress. I have done countless reviews for Amazon, and I have reviewed many authors including Michelle Major, Jo McNalley, Eva Moore, and E.M Shue. Most of the authors I review write Romance/Harlequin. But I enjoy reading genres like Romance/Harlequin, Murder Mystery, True Crime, Historical Nonfiction, and Historical Fiction. On very rare occasions, I read Fantasy Literature like Harry Potter or Twilight.

I have reviewed for many years and still prefer a good ole paperback any day and own a personal library with about 7,000 books.

Awesome. Thanks for this, Jamie, and for stopping by the blog! :)

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age blog post here

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Guest Book Review: V.B’s Take on The Me Too Girl by Lance and James Morcan

5/29/2023

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Please welcome our guest reviewer today! Let’s see what she has to say. Take it away, Virginia…

Thank you! ♥

The Me Too Girl by Lance and James Morcan

https://books2read.com/u/b5WWp6

This is an intense and short read that reflects the #MeToo moment. I recommend it to those who need to better understand those affected by sexual abuse or for those who are suffering or have suffered sexual abuse. It’s especially helpful to help those not abused to better understand some victims’ issues dealing with abusers who have almost omnipotent power over them.

Too many victims have no hope or alternative of something else outside or beyond their abusive situation. It was awesome to experience how Suzie found some other way than giving in. There should always be a way out, an alternative, a “something better than this.” Unfortunately, this is not always possible. But Suzie found a way, even using new allies.

Though it would have been nice for this to be a true story, this book had to be fiction, because few victims achieve the freedom and peace that Suzie did. This story should remind us all to notice better those around us, to reach out and actually assist those who have no advocate, and to stop abusers whenever they are found.

I’m fine with the story being short. Too long or more detail could traumatize readers, especially ones who have lived a life like Suzie’s. The only downside of this book for me was that I wondered whether the authors were trying to advocate for victims or were trying to capitalize on a hot topic at the time.

NOTE: I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 4 stars because the MC overcame abuses and addictions that destroy more humans than not.

Ranking Vectors by Vecteezy.

Book Blurb:

Young Los Angeles public relations exec Suzie Fox is being blackmailed for sex by a bad cop, a senior officer of the LAPD no less. Suzie fights back the only way she knows how, and, in the process, unwittingly becomes a beacon, a shining light, for America's Me Too movement and for abused women everywhere. But will justice be served?

Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/b5WWp6

Here’s an excerpt from the book…

The first I became aware he was waiting for me was when I crossed the street. I was about to enter the building when the patrol car’s passenger door opened and the passenger stepped out, blocking my path. I recognized him immediately despite the fact last time I saw him he wore the uniform of a police officer.

Holy shit!

Hector Williams, or Heck to his associates, was the LAPD’s Deputy Chief of Police. He was also kind of hard to forget. A hulking specimen, the forty-nine-year-old Williams stood six foot six and towered over all but a rare few of the passersby currently using the sidewalk outside my apartment.

That wasn’t the main reason I remembered Deputy Chief Williams, however. We had a history of sorts. A history I’d rather forget.

Williams smiled at me as he ran his eyes over my body and made no attempt to hide the fact he liked what he saw. His was a cruel smile and there was no affection in those cold, gray eyes. Glancing at the security camera above the building’s entrance, he smiled again as he flashed his ID card and, turning his face away from the camera, he said, “Hey little Suzie, remember me? I’m now Deputy Chief Hector Williams.”

I shuddered involuntarily. I remember you alright. “What the hell do you want?” “Now, is that any way to greet ol’ Heck?”

Williams took me gently but firmly by the arm and escorted me a little way along the sidewalk. Whether it was because of the presence of the security camera or the close proximity of his fellow officer in the nearby patrol car I wasn’t sure. Knowing him, it was probably because of both of those things.

As we walked, my mind was racing. When I’d last seen Williams I’d been using another name and residing elsewhere in this city – in Venice, to be precise. That was three or four years ago now. Since then, I’d adopted a complete change of lifestyle, reverted to using my real name and relocated to new premises at least three times. In doing so, I believed I’d never see the man again. At least I prayed I’d never see him again.

How in God’s name did you find me, Hector?

BOOK INFO:

AUTHOR: Lance and James Morcan
TITLE: The Me Too Girl
GENRE: Crime Drama
RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2019
PUBLISHER: Sterling Gate Books
ISBN/ASIN: ‎B08137BDGH
OUR RATING: 4 Stars
REVIEWED BY: V.B. “Can Do Indie Author”

Guest Blogger/Reviewer Bio:

Awesome. Thanks for this, V.B., and for stopping by the blog! :)

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age blog post here.

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Guest Book Review: Ginny’s Take on Raising Kane by Susan Lynn Solomon

5/9/2023

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Please welcome our guest reviewer today! Let’s see what she has to say. Take it away, Ginny…

Thank you! ♥

Raising Kane by Susan Lynn Solomon

https://books2read.com/u/bPLJNz

We start our story with reporter Libby Bridgeman going to interview a one-time star Alicia Kane, who has been in seclusion for many years. Her boss wants her to fly out to do an interview in person. However, Libby does not want to go. She would rather do the interview over the phone and get it over with.

She gets ahold of a friend who does some digging into Alicia’s background and finds out that she was arrested during a student riot during the 60s. So, she thought that she had enough information, and she could just fill in the gaps with a phone call.

When she arrived at the house, she was greeted by a very happy to see her older woman whom she was not expecting, but she was ready to get the interview over with so she could be on her way.

Alicia wasn’t interested in talking about the one topic that Libby was ready to start with and it made her feel uneasy. She was there to do a job and Alicia was not making it easy on her. She got her interview back on track and they continued.

After she had returned home, she was sitting on her bed getting all her interview notes in order when she got a message to call the Niagara Falls Police Department. She was not prepared for what she was about to hear on the other end of the phone conversation. The detective that she spoke with gave the news of Mrs. Alicia Lawrence’s death and how they did not expect foul play.

Though Libby was warned by several people – including her family – to let this investigation go, she kept researching it and was set back by what she had learned of this mysterious woman, whom she had met once.

I was able to finish this book in one day, it was a great, easy read that held my attention the entire time. I recommend this book without a doubt.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay.

Book Blurb:

Libby Bridgeman, a stringer for the Village Voice, balks when Max Howard, her editor, insists she interview Alicia Kane. Though, campus rebel, a rock superstar and an icon in the 1970s, Kane hasn’t been heard of in forty years. A Brooklyn court case involving a Black Lives Matter protest seems far more relevant. But you don’t say no to Max Howard.

While writing the article about the interview after meeting Kane, Libby receives a call from a detective—Alicia Kane is dead. Accident or suicide, the detective tells her, but Libby believes she was murdered. When Max insists that she drop the story, she’s certain he knows more than he’ll tell her.

In Greenwich Village, Chicago, Niagara Falls, a Manhattan recording studio, Libby interviews people who’d known Kane. Like Max, each seems to hide something. A connection to her family? Then, one tumultuous night she learns Alicia Kane’s complete story, and this flips her world.

Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/bPLJNz

Here’s an excerpt from the book…

“A lioness of the 60s and 70s,” I said with a sardonic laugh as I sat before my make-up mirror.

I have a habit of thinking out loud. In fact, some- times words fall from my mouth before I realize they’re in my brain. This can be embarrassing—not lady-like, my mother often told me. While in my mind, I listened to my mother chastise me for this untoward trait, I had another idea. “Ira!”

I picked up my phone and punched in the number of a friend who worked at a collection agency. Phone, gas, electric bills, charge accounts, speeding tickets, arrests, even most birth records—every bit of a person’s life seemed to be logged in some computer’s database. My friend had access to those. After a few minutes on hold, listening to Latin music, he came on the line.

“Ira?” I said.

“What do you want now?”

“Do I have to want something to call an old high school pal?”

“You always want something,” he said. “I give, you take, and I don’t hear from you again until you want something else.”

I sighed. This was definitely not one of my better days handling men. No surprise. I’ve never handled them very well. I tried again. “I just thought maybe you could find me a little background on―”

“Giving you a little background could get me fired.”

“Ira, don’t be this way,” I said in the most helpless voice I could muster. “I don’t need anything as deep as last time. No bank records. I’m really stuck for a place to start on my new assignment. You’re the only one I can turn to.”

BOOK INFO:

AUTHOR: Susan L Solomon
TITLE: Raising Kane
GENRE: Mystery/Suspense
RELEASE DATE: January 18, 2022
PUBLISHER: Solstice Publishing
ISBN/ASIN: ‎ISBN: 979-8404780031/ AISN: B09QQ9YCJK
OUR RATING: 5 Big Amazing Stars
REVIEWED BY: Virginia (Ginny) Frick

Guest Blogger/Reviewer Bio:

I am a military wife, a mom, and a Gigi. All of which I would never change. I have a deep love for reading, and if I was given the opportunity, I truly believe I could do it all day. I decided to start reviewing books one day while I was reading some posts and thought, I can do that. So I commented on a few posts and next thing I know, I am reading some pretty amazing books. My cousin and I started a review blog (www.cuzweread.wordpress.com) and a bookstagram (@cuz.weread.books).

Awesome. Thanks for this, Ginny, and for stopping by the blog! :)

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age blog post here.

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A List of Worthy Rom Coms for Valentine Week

2/12/2023

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A List of Worthy Rom Coms for Valentine's Week

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d take a moment to do a romantic post…

I must admit, I have a weakness for good love stories. Girl meets boy, and then romance ensues. Or girl-girl, boy-boy, et cetera. Maybe even a bit of reverse harem. Who really cares, as long as you’re happy? Recently, I perused the top new releases in Romance on Amazon. Then, I couldn’t decide which subgenre I should focus on. Yet, what could be better, more uplifting and such, than a decent rom com? Steamy or clean romance, I’ve included both types and a few different themes. You decide which works better for you. I’m adding them below. Enjoy!

Romance Books to Discover

https://books2read.com/u/bW0pQG

https://books2read.com/u/bMNzY7

https://books2read.com/u/mV0DRA

https://books2read.com/u/mqeNwe

https://books2read.com/u/mvyNW6

https://books2read.com/u/bxrNQP

https://books2read.com/u/bzKnZ9

https://books2read.com/u/3nDN2o

https://books2read.com/u/bzKnZE

https://www.amazon.com/Valentines-Day-Proposal-Alpha-Billionaire-ebook/dp/B0BSLC36YC/

https://www.amazon.com/When-Farmer-Met-City-Girl-ebook/dp/B0BSP37YR7/

https://www.amazon.com/Snows-Prince-Silver-Spoon-Underworld-ebook/dp/B0B27JFLJG/

https://www.amazon.com/Serving-CEO-Him-Book-ebook/dp/B0BSF5C2TG/

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Chance-Alpha-Billionaire-ebook/dp/B0BRHZ2JL8/

https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Devil-single-romance-Nashville-ebook/dp/B09V3FB1SF/

https://www.amazon.com/Icebreaker-Novel-1-Maple-Hills/dp/1668026031/

https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Island-Paradise-Castaway-Couples-ebook/dp/B0BT5VHZ5L/

https://www.amazon.com/Until-Saw-You-Dianna-Roman-ebook/dp/B0BNPRNZ1Z/

https://www.amazon.com/Turnabout-Regency-inspired-Sydney-Salier-ebook/dp/B0BSCGKX9N/

https://www.amazon.com/Malones-Heart-Haven-Texas-Book-ebook/dp/B0BMJPP9KP/

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Mess-Wedding-Accidental-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BTTQJT7L/

https://www.amazon.com/Scandalous-Secret-Spinsters-Charm ing-Rogues-ebook/dp/B09S9XJ7H5/

https://www.amazon.com/Xaviers-Kitten-Curvy-Girl-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BFJZ77J4/

https://www.amazon.com/First-Fall-Romantic-Comedy-Bookshop-ebook/dp/B0BN4TV5ZR/

https://www.amazon.com/Rocked-Bayou-Badges-bodyguard-rockstar-ebook/dp/B09ZH1GYDJ/

https://www.amazon.com/Crushes-Confections-Holiday-Hollow-Jarica-ebook/dp/B0BKTTKLWY/

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Rescheduled-Jennifer-Peel-ebook/dp/B0BSKB24JL/

https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Grumpy-Billionaire-Surprise-Pregnancy-ebook/dp/B0BSYSV1V2/

https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Bed-Wayward-Woodvilles-Book-ebook/dp/B09MZF69M6/

https://www.amazon.com/Audible-A-Long-Time-Coming/dp/B0BR62F8XV/

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Worth-Living-Monica-McCallan-ebook/dp/B0BT56M3Z2/

https://www.amazon.com/Husband-Hoax-Accidental-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B0BKZJLTXX/

https://www.amazon.com/Stripe-Left-Paranormal-Dating-Agency-ebook/dp/B0BR2QQF6S/

https://www.amazon.com/Love-We-Make-Harper-Bliss-ebook/dp/B0BRL9PBLN/

https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Fox-Boss-Daddy-Billionaire-ebook/dp/B0BTP7BC2J/

https://www.amazon.com/Wood-You-Mine-Lumberjack-Lumberjacks-ebook/dp/B0BP2W9F8H/

https://www.amazon.com/Stay-You-Whisper-Lake-Brot hers-ebook/dp/B0BSSHY563/

https://www.amazon.com/Strictly-Pleasure-romantic-Salinger-Brothers-ebook/dp/B0B5JJFFKJ/

https://www.amazon.com/Right-Move-Windy-City-Book/dp/B0BTRSXLMZ/

https://www.amazon.com/Shootout-Steam-Warriors-Hockey-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BP7XKHZ2/

https://www.amazon.com/Not-Resume-Age-Gap-Lesbian-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSGLTRX6/

https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Everything-Daddys-Friend-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSNZGJVQ/

https://www.amazon.com/Georgie-All-Along-Kate-Clayborn-ebook/dp/B0B17NP4N7/

https://www.amazon.com/Display-Me-MM-Romance-Bears-4-U-ebook/dp/B0BM6T1FRY/

https://www.amazon.com/Chick-Magnet-Emma-Barry-ebook/dp/B09Y5HHZ6G/

https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Coronation-Contemporary-Romance-Entanglement-ebook/dp/B0BJCL3Q8T/

https://www.amazon.com/Change-My-Ticket-Non-Famous-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BTHWZVNH/

https://www.amazon.com/Bosses-Benefits-Reverse-Harem-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BTZ4ZMSQ/

https://www.amazon.com/Double-Love-Drama-Bisexual-Collection-ebook/dp/B0BTJCFHSB/

https://www.amazon.com/Between-Them-Bisexual-Reverse-Collection-ebook/dp/B0BTW38ZH5/

https://www.amazon.com/Our-Ride-Forever-Honeywood-Book-ebook/dp/B0BMFHTRW3/

https://www.amazon.com/Cupid-Can-Suck-Relationship-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0BJGJFB43/

https://www.amazon.com/Landing-One-Enemies-Lovers-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0BQB84XK8/

https://www.amazon.com/My-Secret-Valentine-Friends-Teacher-ebook/dp/B0BVCL8WPB

https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Hate-Enemies-Lovers-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0B9CKYJ61/

https://www.amazon.com/Grumpy-Boss-Enemy-Enemies-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BT689DGC/

https://www.amazon.com/Breath-Magic-Lennox-Book-ebook/dp/B0BSC81RQD/

https://www.amazon.com/Tuppeny-Dreadfuls-Professor-Ballantyne-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0BSCSV8JW/

https://www.amazon.com/Pick-Right-Valentines-Novella-Shared-ebook/dp/B0BLP76KYB/

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Place-Mine-enemies-lovers-ebook/dp/B0BGGP3T6F/

https://www.amazon.com/Fake-Fianc%C3%A9-Next-Door-Billionaire-ebook/dp/B0BSHF8C75/

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Dixie-second-chance-romantic-ebook/dp/B0BSTLZSLY/

https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Tea-Second-Chances-Inspirational-ebook/dp/B0BSTTK6SK/

https://www.amazon.com/Taking-You-Down-Enemies-Lovers-ebook/dp/B0BRCGQSRV/

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Heart-Makeover-friendships-heartwarming-ebook/dp/B0B37VW3PP/

https://www.amazon.com/Off-Limits-Cowboy-Sweet-Small-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSNX8QF7/

https://www.amazon.com/Larsson-Sibling-Omnibus-Contemporary-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0BSRLK165/

https://www.amazon.com/Only-Girl-Rockstar-Romantic-trilogy-ebook/dp/B0BP3PSKK4/

https://www.amazon.com/Falling-My-Roommate-Friends-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BBS8KB8D/

https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Hate-Love-Enemies-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0BSS7768H/

https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Star-Cupid-Valentines-Rockstar-ebook/dp/B0B9WRXFH8/

https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Wolfman-Paranormal-Romantic-Monsters-ebook/dp/B0B9MN1623/

https://www.amazon.com/Wilder-Last-Steamy-Romantic-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0B3QRLD43/

https://www.amazon.com/Rockstar-Bosshole-Enemies-Surprise-Pregnancy-ebook/dp/B0BT1ZHNC6/

https://www.amazon.com/Drained-Vampire-Plumber-Romantic-Romances-ebook/dp/B0BSRCNCH6/

https://www.amazon.com/Fixing-Flirt-Small-Town-Romantic-Blossom-ebook/dp/B0BKYKTLD9/

https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Dare-friends-benefits-romantic-ebook/dp/B0BQF2G1V4/

https://www.amazon.com/Nanny-Lion-Daddy-Shifter-Needs-ebook/dp/B0BJZ22PFR/

https://www.amazon.com/My-Gingerbread-Ever-After-Fantas y-ebook/dp/B0BTQXPD3P/

https://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Billionaires-Secret-Baby-Cats-ebook/dp/B0BQ2DPNLL/

https://www.amazon.com/Top-Key-Romantic-Comedy-Alabaster-ebook/dp/B0B7GR48R4/

https://www.amazon.com/41st-Disaster-Sweet-Romantic-Comedy-ebook/dp/B0BSFXN8TX/

Well, that’s about it. Now, this list isn't an exhaustive list. It doesn’t encompass all of the new releases in romantic comedy on Amazon or any other bookseller. That would be impossible. I only included some. Feel free to look over the aforementioned titles or find one that suits you.

The point here is to enjoy Valentine’s week with a good romantic read. Pull up a chair, get comfy, and fall into the fiction world.

Amanda Vick, Unsplash.

As always, happy reading! ♥

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age blog post here.

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Blog Tour Feature: LOVE AND OTHER SINS by Emilia Ares

10/22/2021

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Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a spotlight on a book by Emilia Ares, a talented author!

Emilia, an author I met on my journey, has a blog tour running right now.

Let's check out the details, shall we?

THE NEXT BIG COMING-OF-AGE DRAMA SWEEPS READERS UP IN AN EMOTIONAL TALE OF LOVE, FAMILY, AND VIOLENCE IN CONTEMPORARY L.A.

Mina’s life is going according to plan, she’s acing AP Calc and is perfectly content with her non-existent social life.

Oliver is ready to burn down his old life and start from scratch – complete with a new name and emancipation papers – in L.A.

When the two are thrown together through circumstance and develop an unexpected connection, they discover how hard it is to keep the past in the past in Love and Other Sins by Emilia Ares.

Title: Love and Other Sins
Author: Emilia Ares
Release Date: October 19, 2021
Publisher: SERA Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 326

BLURB:

Mina's life is going according to plan; she's acing AP Calc and is perfectly content with her nonexistent social life. Though only a high school junior, Mina knows time is an investment, and she's putting all her capital into academics. Oliver, a child abuse survivor who grew up in the foster care system, is ready to burn down his old life and start from scratch-complete with a new name and emancipation papers-in L.A. When the two are thrown together through circumstance and develop an unexpected connection, they discover how hard it is to keep the past in the past.

Love and Other Sins is an emotional coming-of-age YA drama about family, love, violence, and the residue of abuse set against the backdrop of contemporary Los Angeles. When Mina meets Oliver, you'll remember your own first love and just how fast it swept you under.

What were the bonds that bound us?

Was it purely physical attraction?

Circumstance?

Or perhaps it was a mutual gravitation toward inevitable pain.

Love and Other Sins is a moving story about what it means to be young and vulnerable in today's society. This young adult romance will make you laugh and cry and give you hope for tomorrow because there are people like Mina and Oliver who refuse to let themselves be defined by their pasts or circumstances. If you love reading books like Looking for Alaska or Thirteen Reasons Why, then this is definitely for you.

Content warning: sexual assault, recollections of child abuse, discussions of suicidal thoughts, and mention of miscarriage.

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59049008-love-and-other-sins
BookBub:
https://www.bookbub.com/books/love-and-other-sins-by-emilia-ares

Purchase links:
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Other-Sins-Emilia-Ares-ebook/dp/B09F1HD3GJ/
Universal Reader Link: https://books2read.com/u/m0BnQ7

More about the book...

Oliver and Mina develop a strong bond as the threads of their old lives begin to unravel and they are forced to reckon with family history that violently refuses to remain in the past.

“I wanted to tell the story of a first-generation Russian immigrant girl and a street-wise foster care system boy who find love,” says Ares, known as an actress for roles in American Horror Story and Bosch.“ Love and Other Sins discusses the nuanced experience of growing up in America with immigrant parents as well as the critical flaws of the foster care system.”

Intriguing!

Let's chat with the author for a bit...

Emilia, nice to have you here on Writing in the Modern Age! Glad you could stop by!

Marie Lavender (host): You've been a working actress for many years. How has writing fit into your life, or how did you transition to writing?

Emilia Ares: Funnily enough, I began writing while on one of my sets. I was doing a film and sometimes we have to wait for hours in between takes. In those situations, it’s best to do something to take your mind off the scene in order to keep the acting fresh and the reactions surprising. Reading is a great go-to, but there had been this story and these characters – Oliver and Mina – who were living in my head and nagging at my brain. I just had to get them on paper, so to speak. I wrote a chapter of their story into my notes on my iPhone and I also jotted down what else would probably happen later on in the story. When I got back to town, I wanted to show it to my younger sister, Sofia, who was reading a lot of YA at the time and ended up becoming an English major. She’s the one who encouraged me to keep writing and turn it into a book. She said she loved it and couldn’t wait for more. I don’t think Love and Other Sins would have existed without her encouragement.

Marie: What have you learned **about storytelling from TV projects you've acted in like American Horror Story and Bosch?**

Emilia: I’ve learned a ton about storytelling from the TV and film projects I’ve acted in, especially the importance of a strong emotional connection with my characters. Creating a backstory for my characters on and off the screen was vital. More times than not, my character’s backstory was not provided to me either because the project was high profile and the full script was kept under wraps or because I was playing a guest star whose history was not explicitly discussed or mentioned in the script itself. So, I’d have to invent the backstory.

That process is very similar to writing characters in a book. I used my knowledge of how the character was described in the breakdown that was provided during the casting process including any traits, qualities, strengths, weaknesses, quirks. I would then make an educated guess about what this person ultimately wants/needs from life, taking into consideration the character arc in the scene/overall story to create a reasonable history for them. In the case of American Horror Story, I would ask myself where does Princess Anastasia Romanova come from? What makes her tick? What life events shaped her? Empowered her? Scarred her? What are her secrets? And how do those things effect how she walks, talks, speaks, et cetera? The backstory is usually never discussed, but always exists in the thoughts of these characters, which ultimately informs their actions. The more specific the backstory, the richer, what actor’s call 'the life' of the character is.

This was great practice for when it came time to create Oliver and Mina’s backstories. I would just pretend they were characters I was going to play. I entered their minds the way I would when I played my characters on set. This might be a different approach than most traditional writers and it’s most likely why I wrote in first person. I was documenting the moments as if they were happening to me in real time. Later, I rewrote the novel into past tense to give the storytelling and pacing more flexibility.

Marie: Why was it important for you to write young people who are independent and self-reliant, not dependent on parental support to go after their goals?

Emilia: I honestly didn’t set out with the goal to write independent and self-reliant characters. I just wanted them to be interesting and, as it turns out, self-reliant people interest me. But I’m glad Oliver and Mina developed into the people they became because there are plenty of teenagers out there who are on their own and could use someone like Oliver to identify with.

Mina is actually very reliant on her mother for moral support when we first meet her. However, this novel begins during the part of her life when she starts to break free from that support and she ventures off to discover who she is and what she wants. She will have many hardships ahead. We get to follow her down that tumultuous road and witness her slay the dragons or succumb. Oliver, on the other hand, built himself up from the most terrible circumstances and found his own silver lining. He doesn’t have any family. He’s alone, therefore he’s independent out of necessity, not choice. I hope his story is inspirational to the youth who feel hopeless.

Marie: How did your own young adulthood prepare you to write this book?

Emilia: My time as a teenager was as dramatic and angsty as anyone else’s. Everyday there was drama, rumors, gossip, bullying. No matter how hard I tried to keep my head down, it felt as though it was inescapable. When I talked to my adult friends about their high school experiences, I came to understand that we all felt that way. You know, it’s funny ... as trivial as everything seems now, in the grand scheme of things some of those moments really did matter and did shape me into who I am today. The most painful moments became my biggest life lessons. I knew what I had to do to never feel that way again. I learned who I had to stay away from and who I had to gravitate toward. It wasn’t all bad, though; I had some great friends to get me through the tough parts. Those were the parts that were most similar to my life. Nyah was written based on a combination of a few of my friends and my sister. Lily was inspired by my mom.

Marie: What books and authors inspired you in your writing?

**Emilia: The Stranger by Albert Camus because it challenged everything I ever knew or thought I knew about the hero of a story and made me feel so uncomfortable reading it.**

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, not only for the revelation this novel brought to literature but also for the story behind writing it. Dostoevsky didn't write it because he wanted to, he wrote it out of necessity. He wrote what he knew, the conditions and ramifications of a sick, drunk, impoverished Russia.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because by the time 2008 rolled around, so much had already been written and said about a potential post-apocalyptic nation but somehow, Collins was able to put forth a fresh take on dystopia. I admire that very much. There is always more room for your voice, your perspective, your story.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe because, again, it was very critically controversial. People didn't know how to feel about it. On the one hand, Achebe ended up writing it in English, the language of colonialism which caused disagreement amongst many African critics in regards to the ultimate message of the novel. On the other hand, this was a novel that went against most of what was written about African culture at the time. It showed European colonialism from a different perspective portraying Igbo life from the point of view of an African man, a rich and sophisticated culture with a deep history, language, and beliefs.

But some of the first books and authors who inspired my love for storytelling were The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.

Marie: Great! It was such a pleasure to have you here today.

Emilia: For myself as well. Thank you for inviting me!

Marie: Of course!

Hope to see you back here sometime...

(Waves goodbye to her guest.)

Readers, how about a look inside Emilia's new release with a couple short teasers?

Excerpt 1
There was something about her - her eyes. Well, not so much her eyes, physically, but more like what they said about her: she had this look - a kind of restless intensity.

Excerpt 2
It was intimate . . . a strange and beautiful feeling. We were breathing life into each other.

Your book sounds so compelling!

Readers, you'll have to check out this read! Or, add it to your Goodreads bookshelf or save it to your BookBub wishlist!

Looks awesome to me! :)

Thanks so much, Emilia!

Let's also give kudos to Emilia's sponsor:

Grab a copy of this one!

Thank you for letting us know all about your YA fiction novel. It sounds like quite a read!

Emilia Ares is an American film and television actress. Love and Other Sins is her debut novel. She graduated UCLA with a BA in Economics, and a minor in Russian. Literature and storytelling have always been her true passion.

Author links:
http://www.EmiliaAres.com/
https://twitter.com/emiliaares
https://www.facebook.com/emiliaareszoryan/
https://www.instagram.com/EmiliaAres/
https://www.tiktok.com/@emiliaares?
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21617409.Emilia_Ares
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/emilia-ares
Other links: https://linktr.ee/Emiliaares

Thanks for stopping by to let us know about your new release, Emilia! ♥

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age guest article here.

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Blog Tour Feature: Ivy Nelson’s FOREVER, plus a giveaway!

10/1/2021

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Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a spotlight on a book by Ivy Nelson, a talented author!

Ivy, an author I met on my journey, has a blog tour running right now.

Let's check out the details, shall we?

Title: Forever (A Diamond Doms Novel)
Author: Ivy Nelson
Release Date: September 28, 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Some Suspense, BDSM elements

BLURB:
Russel Adler has one job while Elijah Barrett is away. Keep Holly Barrett and her best friend Gemma Livingston safe from those out to collapse Club Solitaire. There’s just one problem, Gemma is pain in the ass. A gorgeous, irresistible, pain in the ass determined to make his job impossible. She makes the Dom in him twitch, but he knows he can’t lose focus or people might die.

Forever is the long-awaited conclusion to the Diamond Doms series.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57509293-forever

Purchase links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/39A5Zpr
Universal Reader Link: https://books2read.com/u/bOJw60

So, what are readers saying about this book?

☆☆☆☆☆
"Hot! I really recommend reading this series from the beginning, to get the full information package of character introductions, as well as the bridging ‘mystery’ that spans the series, and the other intriguing details that I am sure would enhance your reading experience even more.
This is a contemporary romance with a sexy and erotic storyline that set my kindle on fire. The story is not for the faint of heart though- as it has some reallly intense BDSM scenes that may be too much for some readers. But, there is more to the story than just the sizzle and steam- there is mystery, tension, suspense, danger, adventure, action, and plenty of dramatic developments that had me flipping the pages to find out what happens next. I couldn’t put it down, reading the entire book in one session…… what a ride!" -- Angela Hayes, Amazon
"I can’t believe it’s all wrapped up!! Ivy Nelson has made the last addition of the Diamond Doms a whopper!!! If you know anything about BDSM, the main mantra is Safe, Sane & Consensual. In this tale, the alpha male Russell is a Sadist and the leading lady Gemma is a Masochist. So their limits and kinks go well together. But, WOW!! my eyes were opened a bit wider with this one. But in books, as in real life, it takes all kinds. The best thing about this type of relationship is the absolute trust needed in each other for it to work. Limits and safe words are there for a reason. The storylines got all sewn up with a bow! This HEA was absolutely so awesome! Great reading! If you like intrigue, danger, excitement and villains then start this series ASAP. You will be blown away!!" -- Anne Young-Cronister, Amazon
"Great story, great series. ***This story contains depictions of BDSM, with some extreme kink. It may not be suitable for some readers.*** The final chapter. You will finally learn who has it out for the members of Solitaire. It is well written and includes most of the characters from the previous books. This whole series is addictive, and definitely worth your time." -- Deborah McClellan, Amazon
"A truly incredible series. This book can be read as a stand-alone although I urge you to ready this series in order. I honestly think you will get so much more enjoyment out of it if you do.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved the characters in this book. They were absolutely perfect for each other and had undeniable chemistry. It literally poured from every single page. There was so much going on with this book as well. The story is so well developed. It is built up and really keeps you on your toes. I think the author has done an amazing job of rounding out all the storylines and keeping everything straight. This is a brilliant book." -- Kerry Baker, Amazon
"Satisfying, steamy, spunky dialogue- The perfect book to end a series." -- Linda Foley, Amazon

Intriguing! How about a look inside?

Excerpt 1

Russell slipped some fresh produce and meat into the cart, but Gemma wrinkled her nose. “I don’t really know how to cook.”
Her response didn’t faze him, and he added a bag of spinach. “I’ll get someone to prep some things for you, and I happen to know the guard who works the late shift is an excellent cook. I know chocolate and ice cream are good foods for crying into, but you have to give your body at least some nutrition.”
“I believe your role is to protect me, not monitor my eating habits.”
“I’m protecting you from yourself, love.”
“Don’t call me that. And I’m perfectly capable of feeding myself.”
He just hummed and added a loaf of whole grain bread to the cart.
“Let me guess, you don’t put sugar in your coffee either.”
“I don’t. No cream either.”
“Healthy people are boring,” she muttered under her breath as she went down one aisle and then another.
A moment later, he heard her curse under her breath.
“What’s wrong?” He pushed the cart up next to her and waited while she stared at the shelf. Her shoulders shook, and he realized she was crying.
“Christ, Gemma. Come here.” He turned her around and pulled her against his chest.
While she cried, he kept one arm tightly around her and used his free hand to fish out his cellphone to text the driver of the car that had followed them.
Less than a minute later, the drivers of both cars approached.
“Pay for this and bring it back to the house. I’m taking Gemma home now.”
She lifted her head and wiped at her eyes. At first, he thought she might argue, but she nodded and let him lead her out of the store.
In the car, he handed her his phone. “Text that number what you need added to the list.”
She took it and sent the message.
“Sorry I’m a mess.”
He took his phone and squeezed her hand. “Don’t be. If anyone has a good excuse to be a mess right now, it’s you. I’m here, though.”
“Why?”
He blinked and looked at her as he pulled out of the grocery store parking lot.
“Because you’re part of the family. Because I’m a bastard.”
Gemma blinked hard and jerked her head back. “How are you a bastard?”
“Because I can’t keep you out of my head. You just lost your husband and all I can think about is how good it felt to have my arms around you. Pretty sure that makes me a bastard.”
“It’s not like you’re being inappropriate. If your thoughts move beyond that into actions, then you might be a bastard, but so far, you’ve just let me cry on your shoulder and bought me food. I don’t think either of those things makes you a monster. That role is reserved for me.”
♦♦♦♦
At first, Russell didn’t respond. Just reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. Gemma hated herself for breaking down in the shop. It was so embarrassing, especially at the point that he called in reinforcements to finish her shopping for her. And now he was being so sweet her heart almost couldn’t stand it.
“You’re not a monster. Let’s get you home where you can relax.”
She shuddered. “Don’t call it that. I am grateful for the safe place to stay, but we both know that isn’t home.”
He squeezed her hand again.
“I’m not saying this safe house will ever be home, but you can rest assured that you have people in your corner. We’re going to get you through this. And on the other side, when it’s safe for you to be on your own again, you can decide if you want to stick around a while or go back to the place you currently call home.”
When they got to the house, Russell opened the front door for her and let her in. Then he walked to the bedroom and into the bathroom where he turned the bathtub on and pushed the stopper down.
“You take a bath, try to relax. I’ll get your groceries put away and see what I can do to make this place a little more comfortable for you.”
“How long do you think I’ll have to stay here?”
He shook his head. “It’s impossible to say right now.”
“Can’t I stay with one of you? What about Holly or Dakota? I like them. It would at least give me some company.”
He picked up her hand and pulled her closer to the tub.
“Right now, we have to assess the danger and figure out who else might be in harm’s way. Once we’ve done that, we can talk about moving you somewhere else. Now, do I need to undress you and put you in the tub, or can I leave you to it?”
She smacked his shoulder. “Get out of here. I’m fine.”
He chuckled and headed for the door.
“Russell.”
He turned to face her again.
“Thank you.”
“Just doing my job, love.”

Excerpt 2

Gemma’s heart raced as she followed Russell up the stairs. She’d almost lost her sister. That thought wouldn’t stop repeating in her mind. The amount of danger that seemed to follow her these days made her nauseous.
None of it made sense to Gemma, but Kendall was genuinely shaken by the things she saw, and it had set everyone on high alert. Elijah was now on his way to London for a business deal that had been in the works for a long time and couldn’t be put on hold, so Russell was stepping up security and running the entire operation in person. Now he wanted to ask her some questions. After weeks of avoiding her, they were going to be alone in a room together and she didn’t know how to handle it other than to be a smart ass.
“What did you want to ask me?” She dropped into the chair in front of the desk and waited for Russell to speak.
“I need to hear everything you can tell me about Jonathan Niel and his family.”
Gemma whistled. “Everything? That could take a while. How about you narrow it down for me a bit?”
He scowled, bringing his eyebrows together. “Did Niel know you were about to divorce Matthew?”
Gemma wrinkled her nose. “God, I hope not. But I suppose it’s possible that something leaked. He has an excellent PR team that monitors several issues that are important to him.”
“And what is important to him?”
She laughed. “Money. Power. The ability to snap his fingers and have a woman launch herself at his feet. He’s a total prick. Are you ever going to give in and flirt with me?”
He frowned. “You’re still married and now I’m in charge of your protection detail.”
She shook her head. “You’ve been in charge of it since I arrived in town, and we both know it. That didn’t stop you from kissing me the other night when my safe house was compromised.”
“I’ve already apologized for that. Now focus on my questions, please.”
“I’m so tired of being interrogated by people towering over me assuming I’m some weak little rich girl.”
He rolled his eyes but slid off the desk and sat in the chair beside her. “I’m not interrogating you. I’m asking questions that will aid in getting everyone back to a normal life.”
She folded her arms across her chest to hide the fact that her nipples had hardened under his dominant stare.
“I really don’t know how I can help. I haven’t actually spoken to Jonathan in over a year when he came to my office to talk about a business deal he wanted to push through.”
“Do you have access to a copy of that information?”
“Why is this important? He’s probably part of a murderous cult. Shouldn’t that be what we’re focused on.”
“I told you. Every detail, Gemma. This is an organization that does a lot of expensive work. We have to scrutinize any business deal made or attempted so that we can understand how they tick and see if we can find patterns that lead us to how they’re funding the organization.”
Gemma nodded. “Fair enough. I don’t know if I can access the information. I suppose since we’ve decided I’m not dead or missing anymore, it wouldn’t hurt to reach out to my assistant and get her to send me everything she can.”
Russell nodded. “Please do. And when you get done with that, you me and Holly are going to sit down and discuss safety protocols.”
“Oh, that ought to be fun.”
“Rule number one is no sass from either of you.”
She huffed. “You think because we both identify as submissive, you get to pull out the Dom card?”
He chuckled. “No lip, no sass, no bratty behavior. Are we clear, Gemma? Lives are at stake here.”
She waved him away. “Quit with the raised eyebrows and stern tone. I’m going to be good, but I’m a smart ass, and I won’t stop being a smart ass because you say so.”
“Then your smart ass may become a sore ass.”
“You say that like it’s a threat.”
He laughed and leaned closer to her. “Believe me, sweetheart. It is. Now go make your phone calls. We’ll talk again later.”
She gave him a salute followed by a middle-fingered wave as she backed out of the room. He tapped the buckle on his belt. Was he threatening to use it on her? The man didn’t have a clue.

Your book sounds so compelling!

Readers, you'll have to check out this read! Or, add it to your Goodreads bookshelf or save it to your BookBub wishlist!

How about some more teasers? ;)

Note: All the spicier excerpts have been edited out of this post, to comply with the blog's guidelines. For more information, visit our blog policy.

Looks sizzling...plus, a chance for a $20 Amazon gift card!

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Awesome! Thanks so much, Ivy!

Let's also give kudos to Ivy's sponsor:

Grab a copy of this one! And don't forget to participate in the cool giveaway!

Discover the rest of the book tour here...

Thank you, Ivy, for letting us know all about your contemporary, erotic romance novel with some suspense. It sounds like quite a sexy, romantic tale!

Ivy Nelson is an emerging contemporary romance author, hopeful romantic, and passionate advocate who is versed in all things steamy, sultry, and sensual. It all started back when she read her first steamy romance novel at the age of fourteen. From that point forward, it became her favorite genre--one she wanted to write in herself someday. Sylvia Day's writing style cemented that passion, and gave her just the inspiration she needed to be an author herself. In December of 2018, Ivy published her debut novel, Power Desired, at the age of 32.

Most recently, Ivy completed the "D.C. Power Games" series and the prequel to her forthcoming "Diamond Doms series", titled Hard (currently available for pre-order). In a not-so-distant past, she was a student affairs professional at a university and earned her political science degree, which explains her politically-driven romance debut.

When she isn't penning steamy scenes or attending writing conferences, you can find this contest-winning karaoke singer and bookworm passionately supporting human rights or growing her Sims 4 empire. She is also a wine aficionado and certified whiskey taster (no, really, she has the certificate to prove it). All that aside, Ivy loves spending quality time with her amazing son and husband of three years at their home in Houston, Texas.

Author links:
https://twitter.com/ivy_nelson_
https://www.ivynelsonbooks.com/
https://www.facebook.com/IvyNelsonBooks
https://www.instagram.com/ivynelsonbooks/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18650771.Ivy_Nelson

Thanks for stopping by to let us know about your new release, as well as your full series, Ivy! ♥

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age guest article here.

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New Release Feature: Francis H. Powell’s anthology TOGETHER BEHIND FOUR WALLS

9/20/2021

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Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a new release by Francis H. Powell, a talented author!

Congratulations on your latest book!

Let's check out the details, shall we?

Together Behind Four Walls

With the sudden arrival of Covid 19 and the introduction of a lockdown, many people might have wondered how they would spend their time.

Writers, poets and artists decided to express their feelings in words and pictures during this turbulent period. From humour to deep thoughts Together Behind Four Walls captures the many facets of the human spirit during the pandemic.

Proceeds from the book will go to Marie Curie nurses who continued their great work during this crisis. The book, indeed will give all funds raised to palliative care charity Marie Curie.

The book was the idea of writer and teacher Francis H. Powell.

As the world first went into lockdown in March 2020, father-of-one Mr. Powell turned to poetry, writing short stories and doing drawings to help “process what was happening”.

This, he says, sparked the idea for creating an anthology of Covid-inspired writing which would explore the collective concept of confinement and the “many facets of the human spirit during the pandemic”.

The book includes some well-known contributors, including:

Wendy Cope

Wendy Cope: among other accolades, the author of five collections of adult poetry, a judge of the 2007 Man Booker Prize, and was voted the listeners’ choice in a BBC Radio 4 poll to succeed Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate in 1998.
Roger Robinson: a celebrated writer, musician, and performer, who has won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Ondaatje Prize.
Peter Finch: an author, historian, poet, and former Chief Executive of First Academi, the Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency and Society of Writers.

John Hegley

John Hegley: a performance poet, comedian musician and songwriter, who was the presenter of the Border Television series “Word of Mouth”, and has appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Arthur Smith

Arthur Smith: an alternative comedian, presenter and writer, who famously turned down a lifetime achievement award in 2005 from the Perrier Award organizers and won the Panel Prize at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007.
Neal Zetter: a comedy performance poet, children’s author, and entertainer. He has nearly 30 years of experience performing in locations such as West End comedy clubs and the Royal Festival Hall. He uses the writing and/or performing of poetry to develop literacy, self-expression, confidence, creativity and presentation skills.
Sally Kindberg: award winning Swedish born artist.

The book also includes other contributors from around the world.

Release Date: September 2021
Genre: Memoir, Creative Self-Help, Inspirational Anthology

Sounds like quite a read here!

Purchase Link:
https://www.goldcrestbooks.com/together-behind-four-walls/

Here is an excerpt...

Excerpt 2:
‘The Garden Wall’
by Francis H Powell

The garden wall loomed tall and bushes were full with leaves. Her garden was rugged, some might say it needed attention. However it brought her joy, it was her possession, nobody else’s. At the far end of the garden was a cherry tree, which for a short period was covered in white frothy blossoms. It was to her mind the jewel of the garden, despite the fact it did not provide her with many cherries, which for the most part were devoured by greedy birds. There was a rope hanging from one branch, and in summer she could laze in an hammock chair, sheltered from the sun, either reading or just passing the time away.
Surrounding the tree was long grass and some wildflowers, including columbines, harebells, cornflowers, fox-gloves, and, depending on the time of year, wild daffodils. The lawn was shaggy and unkempt, with moss creeping and spreading like an uncontrolled fire. There was an inundation of ivy. She brought some decorations for the garden, ceramic pots and urns, as well as small ethnic sculptures - nothing of any value, but to her they added some character. Both sides of the lawn were lined with an incongruous assortment of flowers and a spindly rose bush that produced orange flame roses. She had a wooden wine barrel full of kale, swiss chard and mustard greens. She brought some rustic garden furniture and would eat outside when the weather permitted.
She’d bought the house to live with her partner at the time, but as they were about to move in together, he’d walked out on her. She had wondered, from time to time when they were together, if he was really the type who would manage the toils of a committed relationship. Of course, he was great fun, amusing, pleasant to be with, but not the type to have to deal with the practical side of life, the humdrum things everybody has to do, part of the daily grind.
Once their relationship got too serious, it was time for him move on; he’d got cold feet, the fun of the relationship died down when too many elements of practicality crept in. He had left her a handwritten note. In truth, it hadn’t amounted to much. At first the overall feeling was sadness, but then anger had set in. Once she read it a few times to take the words in, she screwed it up in her hand and hurled it at her bin in disgust. Then she sat down and wept.

Please support the book by following it on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/togetherbehindfourwalls
or Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/togetherbehindfourwall/

About Marie Curie Nurses

Marie Curie nurses in our communities and hospices provide hands on nursing care to patients at the end of their lives. Throughout the Corona Virus Pandemic, our nurses have been at the frontline of care, looking after patients with all terminal illnesses, including caring for people with the virus.
The need for our work has never been greater. At the time when our nurses are in such demand, we have also faced a devastating loss in our income.
When living with a terminal illness it is vital that you can access crucial support, care and information.
Your support in buying this book, is enabling our frontline staff to continue to provide that expert care along with the vital bereavement advice and guidance we also provide to carers and families having to deal with loss and grief.

About author Francis H. Powell

Born in 1961, in Reading, England, Francis H Powell attended Art Schools, receiving a degree in painting and an MA in printmaking. In 1995, Powell moved to Austria, teaching English as a foreign language while pursuing his varied artistic interests, adding music and writing.
He currently lives in Brittany, France, writing both prose and poetry. Powell has published short stories in the magazine, “Rat Mort” and other works on the internet site “Multi-dimensions.” His two published books are Flight of Destiny and Adventures of Death, Reincarnation and Annihilation.

Buy the Book
https://www.goldcrestbooks.com/together-behind-four-walls/

Wow, this looks fantastic!

Thanks for stopping by to tell us about your new release, Francis. Get your copy of this anthology which is dedicated to the human condition today, readers!

https://www.goldcrestbooks.com/together-behind-four-walls/

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age guest article here.

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Book Feature: A Look at YA Fantasy Novel FAIREST by Sophia Zaccaria

9/13/2021

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Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a spotlight on a book by Sophia Zaccaria, quite a talented author!

We wish you lots of success on your young adult fantasy novel!

Let's check out the details, shall we?

About the Book

**Here is the book blurb for Fairest.**

Flirting with evil will be the ruination of her soul.

Goodness is much easier to corrupt than it is to hold on to. And for Natasha, a woman reeling from the pain of losing a loved one, evil is all the more tempting. Luck or misfortune spirits Natasha away to the foreign Court of Velaris in a quest for a suitor but instead secures her a place among Velarian royalty. Craving revenge, Natasha makes use of this opportunity to enact her plans as she navigates the lush court where aristocracy is a double-edged blade. But when she befriends her soon-to-be husband Mikhail, the Beloved Prince, Natasha makes a deadly mistake. She captures the attention of the debonair Darkling Prince; a villainous man meant to ascend the Velarian throne.

Enamored, the Darkling Prince charms Natasha, and soon the two feel a forbidden emotion captivate their stoic, scabrous hearts. But with the existence of a violent rebel group capable of cataclysmic damage, there is little time for love. With war brewing amidst the enigmatic kingdom, the royals must become all the more cunning and devious if they wish to triumph over their adversaries. What draws the insidious line between right and wrong when it comes to a battle of survival? For Natasha, nothing is too far, too light, too bloody, too evil.

Soon, the only reflection Natasha sees in her mirror's beveled glass is that of an Evil Queen. Often, the cost of survival is more frightening than the beasts of death. But that's what gives the Queen of Shadow's beauty an edge: she wears her darkness adorned about her throat like the grandest of all diamonds, ebony, and bloodred in shade.

Release Date: July 18, 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy, Some Romance Elements

Sounds like an intriguing read here!

Purchase Links:

Goodreads Amazon

Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/4Xreo9

Sophia is also giving us a peek at this book today!

Readers, here’s an excerpt...

Danilo’s blood drips mockingly from his mouth, a terrifying scarlet smile. “I think you know just how this has to end, my scarlet queen.”

Crimson blood slid down my alabaster skin as I innocently said, “With your heart on a platter for me to feast upon?” I tilted my head in consideration. “Or shall you prefer I maul your heart first, bathe in your blood, then feast upon your heart like the delicacy it is not?”

In a pique of rage, he snarls and lashes forward, his sword slicing into my left arm, reopening an old wound.

Attack. Attack!

In urgent, coaxing shouts like whispers and tears had become lovers and found their voices together, the alluring phantom’s voice said, Evil is to show mercy when death is inevitable. Instantly enraged with some ancient chaotic fervor, the adrenaline of the brawl masked my pain, and I lunged forward. Kill! Like before, I listened to the enigmatic voice. And now, I became a predator—lethality incarnate bent on only one goal: to kill.

I’d been depriving myself of revenge. I would do so no longer.

Ice exploded through my veins, heralding the darkness.

Drawing on a modicum of power, I summoned my darkness and turned the air around me to shadows of obsidian. Danilo deserves no mercy. At this thought, the shadows around me grew until I felt its edges touch the netherworld itself. My magic surged forward, and I twisted it into an imitation of the Velarian dungeons. Horrified, Danilo watched in morbid fascination as shadows reminiscent of a cell’s smothering walls surrounded him. “Don’t.” His voice was sharp with emotion, and a slow smile lifted my mouth.

“Don’t what? I mean you no harm.” No physical harm. The shadows merely created a mirage, a general impression of shades from dull greys to dried-out reds turned burgundy. Paired with chains and imposing spiked bars that seemed to asphyxiate its prisoner, my mirage was perfect. But not inescapable. If he had enough sense of mind, he could swipe his hand through the shadows, and the nightmare would disappear. But fear is the mind’s warden, and now it is Danilo’s prison. Danilo’s face contorted in a grave expression of pain. “S—stop.” I laughed caustically in the wake of his fear, remembering that a few hours ago, Danilo had stabbed me.

“Stop?” I parroted a moment later, stalking close enough to notice the tiny hairs on his neck standing straight while he trembled. “That word meant nothing to you then. It meant nothing when I begged. Nothing when I pleaded with you to show mercy.” I curled my fingers, analyzing his reaction to the prison encircling him. “Why should it matter to me now?” A mutinous smile of antipathy curled his mouth.

“I awoke you. Without me, you would still be the obedient Darkling Queen, nothing more than an antinome. I unleashed your darkness, and I will never leave you, even if I am gone.” No, it’s a lie, but . . . Danilo’s analysis is all the more poignant when I take into account the scene: Danilo, the victim, and me, the aggressor and villain. Embittered by this, I mocked, “Well, I want to know who we are without each other! I want to know if I’ll recover that broken piece of innocence you STOLE!” Collecting my magic for a finishing blow, I reared my arms back, aiming . . . Wait, whispered the feminine phantom. Against my better judgment, I did, reining in my power until it swirled in inky clouds and fulminated against the restraint. Keep him alive. Trust me, you’d rather make a wicked deal now than kill.

Intrigued by the suggestion, I scrutinized Danilo thoughtfully, my already opalescent complexion turning entirely statuesque as I stared down my enemy. Finally, I spoke, “I wish to have my curiosity satiated. To know what my temperament will be without you whispering evils in my ear.”

Intriguing!

So, what are other readers saying about this book?

☆☆☆☆☆

"Great dark fairytale!! I have a soft spot for villains. I always wonder what their backstories are and what caused them to become the bad guy. So, when I read the blurb for Fairest, I knew that I needed to read it. It is not very often where the origins of the Evil Queen from Snow White are explored!! I am glad that I did because this book had me glued to the pages.

Fairest tells the story of Alina (aka Natasha) and her rise/eventual metamorphosis to the Evil Queen. It was a sad but fascinating tale. A fantastic read." – Read with Me Blog, Amazon

Wow, it sounds like quite a read!

Get your copy of this YA fantasy novel today, readers! Or, add it to your Goodreads bookshelf or BookBub!

Thanks for letting us know all about this book, Sophia! :)

About the Author:

Sophia Zaccaria is the author of her debut novel, Fairest, a retelling of Snow White, and is a massive fan of the classic Grimm fairy tales. As a young Canadian writer, Sophia is always looking to weave mystical and magical things into her stories. Sophia enjoys kickboxing, jogging, and visiting eighteenth-century Gothic scenes to appease her muse's darker side when she is not writing. You can discover her linguistic adventures by following her on Instagram @thesophiazaccaria and Inkitt.

Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a new release by Michael Aronovitz, a talented author!

Congratulations on your latest book!

Let's check out the details, shall we?

Here is the book blurb for The Sculptor.

At age seven, Michael Leonard Robinson commits his first murder, turning tragedy into an aesthetic. By the time he turns eighteen, he has become an expert with computers, gaming systems, and the art of video imaging. And now in his forties, fully realized, he has long erased his digital footprint. He is thirty years ahead of our most advanced scientists, military ops tacticians, and elite information tech specialists. He is a master of disguise. He can invent projected realities.

Of course, Michael Leonard Robinson could work his dark vision on a global scale, yet he doesn’t need “the world” for a fetishistic thrill, just a police captain, his receptionist, a detective, a rookie junior officer, his sister and mother, and a lot of dark theater.

Robinson appears to these characters in disguise, film clips, and flashes as he torments them. Their multiple viewpoints are puzzle pieces.

When they fuse to finish the puzzle, the final sculpture becomes clear.

Release Date: E-book - September 7, 2021 /Paperback - October 12, 2011

Genre: Serial Killer Mystery

Publisher Link: https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781949102543/the-sculptor/

Universal Reader Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdDdAw

Here is an excerpt...

Chapter 24 Beauty in the Eye of the Ripper’s Beholder

Captain Canfield ran into the storm. Cold stingers to the face, the front lawn was muddy, his clothing lay on him like lead. It was dark, the wind shaping the rain in what looked like the billowing cloak of some massive dark horseman, with intermittent moonlight coming through the road foliage and cemetery border trees.

Canfield took a position in the grass, gun leveled. He didn’t have a clear shot, not as a sniper would have had with a rifle with a scope.

Across the street on the sidewalk was the huge figure. He was smiling. His feet were spread, his left arm clamped around Erika’s waist, his right palm pressed to her mouth. She was straining hard, arms pinned to her sides, feet kicking insane bicycle pedals against his thick legs. Her T-shirt had ridden up; you could see the shape of her waist. Her ponytail had come loose, and wet strands were plastered to her forehead and jawline like skull-fissures.

The big man spoke. His hat pushed a shadow across his forehead, but below that his skin looked bad—spoiled and cracked like a leper’s. It was the caked-on makeup. The moisture out here had begun to erode it.

“Captain,” he called. “Advantage perp. You can’t risk discharging your firearm. And your prerogative is clear. As the first officer on the scene, you are to look after the safety of the victim before securing the arrest. And if the citizen endures physical harm at the crime scene, you are obligated to care for the injured before arresting the offender.” His grin became monstrous.

“Officer,” he said, “I’d like to report an injury.”

He took the hand covering her mouth and groped it up the side of her face. She squirmed, kicking harder, and he pawed at her, fingering. She jerked her head, and he smeared the cat’s eye makeup in a hash-mark up her left temple. He pulled back across, and she let loose a gargled scream, kicking like a frenzied horsefly held by the wings. He mashed his hand-heel into the other side of her face, slipping down along the bone like wet marble, and this time he streaked thick mascara onto her cheek, hooking down like an athlete’s smeared eye-black. He made an adjustment, and with the base of his thumb, his ring finger, and pinkie he cupped her chin, holding her still. He had to work it like the old Spock Vulcan “live-long-and-prosper” sign, but he spread his middle and index fingers back across the bridge of her nose, then started spider-crawling them up toward her right eye.

Canfield screamed “No!”

The monster’s two fingers were poised like a claw, uneven tongs.

He pushed in, over the eyeball, deep into the socket. Blood squirted up over his middle knuckles. She screamed herself raw, her kicking went nuclear. He let go of her mouth so he could work in the thumb, forming a pincer-grip. For a bare moment it cleared the horrific sightline; he dug in his fingers, and Canfield could see Erika’s eyeball slip from one side of the socket to the other as the monster worked in deep, trying to get to the back of it. Blood wept down his wrist, but the rain washed it away, making the effect seem ghostlike and illusory. He yanked, her head jerked forward, give, but no climax. He couldn’t pull it home, stubborn muscles and nerve fibers proving their elasticity, and he re-angled his elbow, bunched, set, and ripped that eye straight out of its socket.

She stopped kicking.

Thick blood welled in the dark crater and poured down her cheek. The rain doused and diluted it, ebbing down her face with the beat of her heart, tendrils and threads gyrating there on her cheekbone like algae floating off coral in a current. She was twitching, hanging there in his arms. He slapped her cheek and she jolted awake, shrieking incoherently, body in spasm, the broken doll, the lunatic stage-puppet.

He set her on her feet in front of him, bending his knees so she was still mostly blocking the line of fire. Both big hands moved to her hips to steady her, and he walked her back to an oak tree.

He whispered something in her ear. It took a moment. Then he smacked her hard on the ass and barked:

“Go!”

He ducked behind the wide tree and she ran, faster than one would have ever expected, moaning and crying, lumbering desperately away toward Sproul Road.

Canfield pounded after her, grass to driveway. Cutting across the corner of the neighbor’s lawn, he noticed quite academically that they had been gardening, planting shrubs. Passing through the line of them at the perimeter, he stepped on a trowel. It hurt, fucked his rhythm, and his ankles banged together; he went down. He hit the street, skinned an elbow, quick-rolled, and somehow managed to cradle the gun without having it blow a hole in his stomach. He didn’t allow himself time to recover. He sprang up and broke into a straight sprint, thinking, “Knees high, push hard, strong kick, arms in sync,” and by the time he caught up, she was almost to the streetlamp. She stumbled and collapsed, trying to grab hold on her way down, and he caught her from behind just in time to save her from falling onto her face. He went to the ground with her, held her, turned her so he could look at her.

She’d been truly violated, disfigured, it was real, no illusions. She had two faces now, the left profile all sleek cuts and angles, the makeup bird-winged up off her left eye giving her a futuristic look like a runway model, yet turned to the right, her profile was that of a ghost-witch, her long skull and jawline accented by the rough crater peering at you with blank recognition. She looked very much like the kind of thing you bought in an island hut, stuck on a voodoo stick with beads hanging off of the fist-guard. She was sobbing, still convulsing.

Canfield wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know the words. He wanted to give her some kind of gentlemanly reassurance, but he didn’t know that song either. What came out was mechanical, almost programmed.

“What did he say to you?” he said softly, flatly. He felt terribly about it, but he was who he was.

“What?” she said. “What? When, Bill, what?”

“Easy,” he said. “What did he say to you in your ear? Just now. I’ll catch him, but I need all the data.”

She started weeping again and buried her face in Bill Canfield’s chest, shoulders shaking.

“He told me,” she said, voice muffled, “that I had to run hard, I had to run like the wind, toward Sproul Road. He said that I had to run straight into traffic. He said he was going to flush my right eye down a toilet, and if I didn’t run as fast as I could he’d hunt me down, find me at the hospital, at work, in the parking lot, the grocery store, my apartment.”

She pulled back and looked up at Canfield with her left eye.

“He promised he would give me round two,” she said. “He promised he’d rip out the other one.”

So, what are readers saying about this book?

★★★★★ “The Sculptor is one of the most grimly terrifying serial killers in recent literature.” - Horror scholar and editor ST Joshi

Whoa...what a disturbing teaser!

Get your copy of this serial killer mystery today, readers!

About the Author:

Michael Aronovitz is a college professor, rock critic, and author of dark fiction. His published novels include Alice Walks, The Witch of the Wood, and Phantom Effect, his collections – Seven Deadly Pleasures and The Voices in Our Heads. Aronovitz has published more than forty short stories, and has appeared in magazines and anthologies such as Weird Tales, Searchers After Horror, and Apostles of the Weird. His short story titled “How Bria Died” was featured in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, 2011, Prime Books, and currently, Aronovitz has much of the above-mentioned work being translated into German and re-released by Firma Edition Barenklau. His lifetime collection of novellas and short stories, titled Dancing with Tombstones, will be published by Cemetery Dance Publications in the fall of 2021, and his fourth novel titled The Sculptor will be released by Night Shade / Skyhorse in the fall of 2021.

Author Links:

Website: michaelaronovitz.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.aronovitz

Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelaronovi2

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2yprVlr

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/551323.Michael_Aronovitz

FictionDB: https://www.fictiondb.com/author/michael-aronovitz~99909.htm

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age guest article here.

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Writing in the Modern Age

Writing & Guest Author Blog

A List of Worthy Rom Coms for Valentine's Week

Romance Books to Discover

Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a spotlight on a book by Emilia Ares, a talented author! Emilia, an author I met on my journey, has a blog tour running right now. Let's check out the details, shall we?

Marie Lavender (host): You've been a working actress for many years. How has writing fit into your life, or how did you transition to writing?

Marie: What have you learned about storytelling from TV projects you've acted in like American Horror Story and Bosch?

Marie: Why was it important for you to write young people who are independent and self-reliant, not dependent on parental support to go after their goals?

Marie: How did your own young adulthood prepare you to write this book?

Marie: What books and authors inspired you in your writing?

Emilia: The Stranger by Albert Camus because it challenged everything I ever knew or thought I knew about the hero of a story and made me feel so uncomfortable reading it.

But some of the first books and authors who inspired my love for storytelling were The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.

Marie: Great! It was such a pleasure to have you here today.

Emilia: For myself as well. Thank you for inviting me!

Marie: Of course!

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age guest article here.

Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a spotlight on a book by Ivy Nelson, a talented author! Ivy, an author I met on my journey, has a blog tour running right now. Let's check out the details, shall we?

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age guest article here.

Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a new release by Francis H. Powell, a talented author! Congratulations on your latest book! Let's check out the details, shall we?

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age guest article here.

Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a spotlight on a book by Sophia Zaccaria, quite a talented author! We wish you lots of success on your young adult fantasy novel! Let's check out the details, shall we?

About the Book

Here is the book blurb for Fairest.

Flirting with evil will be the ruination of her soul.

Release Date: July 18, 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy, Some Romance Elements

Sounds like an intriguing read here!

Purchase Links:

Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/4Xreo9

Sophia is also giving us a peek at this book today!

Readers, here’s an excerpt...

Danilo’s blood drips mockingly from his mouth, a terrifying scarlet smile. “I think you know just how this has to end, my scarlet queen.”

Crimson blood slid down my alabaster skin as I innocently said, “With your heart on a platter for me to feast upon?” I tilted my head in consideration. “Or shall you prefer I maul your heart first, bathe in your blood, then feast upon your heart like the delicacy it is not?”

In a pique of rage, he snarls and lashes forward, his sword slicing into my left arm, reopening an old wound.

Attack. Attack!

I’d been depriving myself of revenge. I would do so no longer.

Ice exploded through my veins, heralding the darkness.

Intrigued by the suggestion, I scrutinized Danilo thoughtfully, my already opalescent complexion turning entirely statuesque as I stared down my enemy. Finally, I spoke, “I wish to have my curiosity satiated. To know what my temperament will be without you whispering evils in my ear.”

Intriguing!

So, what are other readers saying about this book?

☆☆☆☆☆

Wow, it sounds like quite a read!

Get your copy of this YA fantasy novel today, readers! Or, add it to your Goodreads bookshelf or BookBub!

Thanks for letting us know all about this book, Sophia! :)

About the Author:

Author Links:

Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a new release by Michael Aronovitz, a talented author! Congratulations on your latest book! Let's check out the details, shall we?

Here is the book blurb for The Sculptor.

Of course, Michael Leonard Robinson could work his dark vision on a global scale, yet he doesn’t need “the world” for a fetishistic thrill, just a police captain, his receptionist, a detective, a rookie junior officer, his sister and mother, and a lot of dark theater.

Robinson appears to these characters in disguise, film clips, and flashes as he torments them. Their multiple viewpoints are puzzle pieces.

When they fuse to finish the puzzle, the final sculpture becomes clear.

Release Date: E-book - September 7, 2021 /Paperback - October 12, 2011

Genre: Serial Killer Mystery

Publisher Link: https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781949102543/the-sculptor/

Universal Reader Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdDdAw

Here is an excerpt...

Chapter 24

Beauty in the Eye of the Ripper’s Beholder

Canfield took a position in the grass, gun leveled. He didn’t have a clear shot, not as a sniper would have had with a rifle with a scope.

The big man spoke. His hat pushed a shadow across his forehead, but below that his skin looked bad—spoiled and cracked like a leper’s. It was the caked-on makeup. The moisture out here had begun to erode it.

“Officer,” he said, “I’d like to report an injury.”

Canfield screamed “No!”

The monster’s two fingers were poised like a claw, uneven tongs.

She stopped kicking.

He set her on her feet in front of him, bending his knees so she was still mostly blocking the line of fire. Both big hands moved to her hips to steady her, and he walked her back to an oak tree.

He whispered something in her ear. It took a moment. Then he smacked her hard on the ass and barked:

“Go!”

He ducked behind the wide tree and she ran, faster than one would have ever expected, moaning and crying, lumbering desperately away toward Sproul Road.

Canfield wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know the words. He wanted to give her some kind of gentlemanly reassurance, but he didn’t know that song either. What came out was mechanical, almost programmed.

“What did he say to you?” he said softly, flatly. He felt terribly about it, but he was who he was.

“What?” she said. “What? When, Bill, what?”

“Easy,” he said. “What did he say to you in your ear? Just now. I’ll catch him, but I need all the data.”

She started weeping again and buried her face in Bill Canfield’s chest, shoulders shaking.

She pulled back and looked up at Canfield with her left eye.

“He promised he would give me round two,” she said. “He promised he’d rip out the other one.”

So, what are readers saying about this book? ★★★★★ “The Sculptor is one of the most grimly terrifying serial killers in recent literature.” - Horror scholar and editor ST Joshi

Whoa...what a disturbing teaser!

Get your copy of this serial killer mystery today, readers!

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Emilia, an author I met on my journey, has a blog tour running right now.

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Marie: What have you learned **about storytelling from TV projects you've acted in like American Horror Story and Bosch?**

**Emilia: The Stranger by Albert Camus because it challenged everything I ever knew or thought I knew about the hero of a story and made me feel so uncomfortable reading it.**

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**Here is the book blurb for Fairest.**

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Congratulations on your latest book!

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So, what are readers saying about this book?

★★★★★ “The Sculptor is one of the most grimly terrifying serial killers in recent literature.” - Horror scholar and editor ST Joshi