FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Claudia Burgoa
Release Date March 11

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Hosted By:
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Claudia Burgoa
Release Date March 11
Alternate Cover
Hosted By:
Rome’s Last Noble Palace
Kimberly Sullivan
Publication date: December 6th 2023
Genres: Adult, Historical, Paranormal, Women’s Fiction
Two women. Two different centuries. One attic room
American Isabelle Field has been shipped off to Rome to live with her aunt, Princess Elizabeth Brancaccio. Isabelle’s aunt and mother share a common goal – replicating Elizabeth’s success by marrying Isabelle off to a European nobleman.
But Rome in 1896 is on the cusp of a new century and Isabelle longs for more than a titled husband. She secretly designs costumes for Rome’s burgeoning theatre environment and dreams of opening a fashion atelier. Can she gather the courage to forge a life for herself, even if it means going against expectations?
Over a century later, doctoral candidate Sophie Nouri can’t believe her good fortune when she is selected to intern in Rome’s Near Eastern Art Museum. Even better, the position includes an attic apartment in the spectacular museum property, the Palazzo Brancaccio.
Overseeing a major exhibition is stressful, but tension alone can’t explain the disturbing nighttime presence in the deserted hallways of the grand palace – especially one no one else can sense. Almost as if a spectral being is trying to communicate with Sophie directly. Or warn her.
—
EXCERPT:
Rome, 2018
SUNLIGHT STREAMED THROUGH the high windows, coaxing Sophie from her dreams. She cracked one eye open, groaning at the early hour on the travel alarm clock. How had she forgotten to close the shutters last night? Blame it on the jet lag of someone no longer used to international travel.
She turned her head to observe Matt’s sleeping form. His chest rose and fell in a calm, steady rhythm. A little sunlight seeping through the windows would never wake him this early. He was made of stronger stuff.
She turned back to the window, struck again by golden Roman light she’d forgotten after so many years away. Not at all like the diffused light back home. Sparrows swooped in graceful arcs across the cloudless, cerulean sky. As the sleepiness seeped from her eyes and her gaze sharpened, the bright, white blocks began to take shape. Her heart beat faster. The familiar but long-dormant sense of fear coursed through her body. She hadn’t been expecting to feel it so deeply after all these years away.
Closing her eyes, she took a calming breath and formed images of waking in her bedroom at home. The branch of the oak tree scraping the bedroom window, the twittering of the birds, the bold squirrel that peeked in her window most mornings, the creaks and groans of the old, converted farmhouse. Gradually, her heartbeat slowed, the fear seeped away. She inhaled deeply, counted to ten and exhaled.
She could do this.
She fixed a determined gaze on the grand palazzo, glittering white in the strong Mediterranean sunlight. Some of its brown shutters were open, others closed like sleepy eyes reluctant to yield to the morning light. She remembered all those useless afternoon battles against the Roman sunlight filtering heat and blinding rays into those great rooms.
At the palazzo’s upper edge, lithe young angels kneeled in rows, their flowing curls cascading down to their shoulders. Their pointed wings punctuated the cornice above, curving vines sprouted from their bodies in a riot of intricate swirls. The young angels were separated from one another by lush greenery, unrolling in a seemingly endless, elegant row. She’d always known the carving was there, but she’d never observed the details from this angle. Everything had been different from within. Despite the warmth of the early morning sun, she shivered.
Ignoring a mounting sense of dread, Sophie pushed herself up gently, careful not to rouse Matt. Sliding bare feet into beckoning slippers, she padded softly to the door, her back decisively turned to the noble home.
Author Bio:
Kimberly grew up in the suburbs of Boston and in Saratoga Springs, New York, although she now calls the Harlem neighborhood of New York City home when she’s back in the US. She studied political science and history at Cornell University and earned her MBA, with a concentration in strategy and marketing, from Bocconi University in Milan.
Afflicted with a severe case of Wanderlust, she worked in journalism and government in the US, Czech Republic and Austria, before settling down in Rome, where she works in international development, and writes fiction any chance she gets.
She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and The Historical Novel Society and has published several short stories and three novels: Three Coins, Dark Blue Waves and In The Shadow of The Apennines.
After years spent living in Italy with her Italian husband and sons, she’s fluent in speaking with her hands, and she loves setting her stories in her beautiful, adoptive country.
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A Murder in Ashwood: Scandals and Secrets in the Gilded Age
Robert Brighton
(The Avenging Angel Detective Agency™ Mysteries)
Publication date: June 27th 2023
Genres: Adult, Historical, Mystery
Named BookLife Reviews “Editor’s Pick” – “Setting this series apart from other historical mysteries is Brighton’s deft hand at capturing the dishy lives of long ago … has the feel of a great cocktail party… the tangled mysteries compel … a polished, rewarding page-turner …”
“Brighton spins a tale of murder and revenge… it’s hard to resist the detailed and authentic world [he] creates … time and place are fully realized in this murder story … a fascinating period piece … – Kirkus Reviews
A lush and immersive historical award-winning mystery inspired by a ‘true crime of the century’ that shocked the world.
New Year’s Day 1902 . . . Ashwood awakens to a foul murder . . .
Buffalo, New York . . . as the remains of the great Pan-American Exposition are swept away, and the bitter memories of William McKinley’s assassination begin to fade . . . the city reels again, at the sensational murder of successful businessman Edward Miller, bludgeoned to death in his cozy den, in one of the city’s most fashionable enclaves: Ashwood.
But for all its glitz and glamor, Ashwood guards the dark secrets of its fashionable residents . . . including those of Edward’s estranged wife Alicia, her lover Arthur Pendle, and would-be detective Sarah Payne. Soon, they will all face a hurricane of courtroom drama, public outrage, and the behind-the-scenes scheming of cold and corrupt District Attorney Terence Penrose.
Meanwhile, those caught up in the most scandalous crime of a new century have reputations to protect . . . skeletons best kept hidden away in the tidy closets of trendy Ashwood . . . and plenty of reasons to keep the motive behind Edward Miller’s murder from ever seeing the light of day – a motive that only the victim and his killer knew …
Can justice be done . . . and the truth uncovered by the Avenging Angel Detective Agency . . . before a killer strikes again?
Find out in award-winning A Murder in Ashwood . . . the second novel in the Avenging Angel Detective Agency™ Mysteries from Robert Brighton, acclaimed author of The Unsealing.
It’s as much a ‘whydunit’ as a ‘whodunit’ in a page-turning story that leaves readers wanting more.
Contains three original interior scratchboard illustrations by Mark Summers.
Discover the Avenging Angel Detective Agency Mysteries…
Get your copy today!
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—
EXCERPT:
Author Bio:
Award-winning author Robert Brighton is an authority on the Gilded Age, and a great believer that the Victorian era was anything but stuffy. In his Avenging Angel Detective Agency Mysteries, Brighton exposes the turbulence of the era - its passions, dreams, and disasters - against a backdrop of careful research on the places, sights, sounds, and smells of the time.
When he is not walking the streets in the footsteps of the Avenging Angels, sniffing out unsolved mysteries, Brighton is an adventurer. He has traveled in more than 50 countries around the world, personally throwing himself into every situation his characters will face - from underground ruins to opium dens - and (so far) living to tell about it.
A graduate of the Sorbonne, Paris, Brighton is an avid student of early 20th Century history and literature, an ardent and relentless investigator, and an admirer of Emily Dickinson and Jim Morrison. He lives in Virginia with his wife and their two cats.
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Love and Reservations
Dee Rollings
(The Pacifica Series, #2)
Publication date: May 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
He’s her enemy… and her roommate.
Blake Thomas has no patience for weddings. As the general manager of a popular Santa Barbara resort, she sees far too many love-struck couples pass through her doors. She’d rather curl up with a book or go geocaching than try to find “the one”.
After an underhanded trick leaves Blake virtually homeless, she’s forced to move in with the one man she’d rather keep firmly tucked away in her past.
Sal is a talented chef with a big bank balance and an even bigger ego. He promises to take Blake in while she navigates the real estate market – on one condition – she’s got to pretend to be his girlfriend to impress his estranged parents.
Caught up in a tumultuous fake relationship and determined to avoid reawakening painful memories, Blake decides to focus on everything else she’s balancing: renovations at work, her best friend’s wedding, and an offer for a major promotion.
But as long-buried sparks begin to ignite beneath the surface, Blake and Sal begin to realize that their scheme is becoming all too real. However, Sal is hiding more secrets than she ever imagined…
Can Blake heal from her past and find the courage to open her heart? Or will her cynicism and distrust keep her from taking a chance at true love?
The second novel in The Pacifica Series, Love and Reservations will have your heart fluttering from beginning to end.
Author Bio:
Dee Rollings was born and raised in the big city, but her heart lives in the forest. She does her best writing on the porch of her tiny house in the woods when she’s not wrangling her kid and her dogs or having one-sided conversations with chipmunks. She has a gorgeous husband who resembles Paul Bunyan, builds the best campfires, and makes all her dreams come true.
When All is Said and Done
Christy Hayes
Publication date: December 5th 2023
Genres: Women’s Fiction
A heartbreaking novel about the sacrifices we make for love.
After an unstable childhood, marriage isn’t just a promise to Dustin Carver, it’s his lifeline. He and Tegan grew up together, fell in love, and planned their perfect life. When the future they imagined gets derailed by her demanding law career, their marriage slowly slides off the rails.
Tegan can’t believe her husband took her threat of a separation seriously and walked away without a backward glance. Heartbroken and embarrassed, she covers for his absence with lies. Lies she tells herself about her career. Lies she tells her family about her marriage. And lies she’s yet to confess to her husband about a secret she kept while he was away. When Dustin finally returns, she’s running on fumes and her lies are about to be exposed.
Seven weeks in Key West licking his wounds and watching his best friend fall in love is enough to convince Dustin to come home and fight for his marriage. Saving their relationship means returning to therapy and facing a bitter truth neither wants to address. What if their childhood romance doesn’t have a happy-ever-after ending?
This emotional read told with brutal honesty begs the ultimate question for marriages far and wide. At the end of the day-at the end of our lives-what is worth fighting for, and when, if ever, should we walk away?
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EXCERPT:
Dustin’s POV
He heard a noise from the kitchen, and his pulse picked up the beat. Was that the side door closing or the echoed rumble from his rebellious stomach? He stilled the strings with his palm and recognized the familiar sound of Tegan hanging her keys on the hook and shucking her shoes by the door. His heart lurched into his throat.
Dustin cursed himself for getting lost in the music and not preparing for her return. He should have been rehearsing speeches in his head or making dinner instead of mowing the lawn, adding a couple of towels to her burgeoning laundry pile, and playing around on the guitar. He propped the instrument against the couch and stood on unsteady legs.
A surging swell of love, swift and savage, swept over him as he looked at her, sent his heart thrashing against his chest. There she is—my center, my orbit—in living, breathing color. Tegan had her back turned and was flipping through the mail on the counter. Her hair was longer than normal, a dark curtain falling well past her sagging shoulders.
“Hi.”
She gasped and spun, clutching her chest with both hands, her eyes blinking furiously. Frozen in that position like a still photograph captured on film, she looked thin—too thin—and fragile as blown glass. “Dusty.”
His name from her lips, soft and scratchy, scorched his eviscerated heart. “Sorry to startle you. I … I figured you’d see my car.”
She seemed confused, shaking her head, squinting her eyes. “Your car?”
“In the garage …” He tried and failed to keep the exasperation out of his voice. He’d been gone for weeks, and she hadn’t moved a muscle in his direction. Hadn’t flashed a smile or inclined her head or opened her arms to make him feel welcome. And after everything they had to say to one another, they were talking about his car?
“I parked in the driveway,” she said.
Her guilty tone and the way she tucked her chin to her chest were another lash to his pride. How many times had he begged her to park her car in the garage? They lived in a nice neighborhood, but why invite crime by leaving her car parked out in the open and alert everyone to her patterns of coming and going?
She read the look on his face and offered a muttered, “I was tired, and the garage door has been giving me fits. I think it needs grease or something.”
Stop talking about the stupid garage! He wanted to scream at her, grab her arms and shake her, invade the personal space she protected with her arms crossed tightly against her chest. He wanted to do something, anything, to get a rise out of her and stop the inane garage discussion.
The way she looked—the way she looked at him like a racoon caught pillaging the trash—kept his voice even and his feet rooted firmly in place. Even in the muted light, she appeared ready to drop. He longed to go to her, wrap her in his arms, let her lean on him the way she always had when life kicked her in the tail. But he couldn’t. Not now. Not with everything at stake.
Author Bio:
Christy Hayes writes romance and romantic women's fiction. She is the proud mother of two grown children and lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and rescue dogs.
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Homecoming Chaos
D.W. Brooks
Publication date: November 21st 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense
Jamie Scott’s life fell apart four years ago when she broke off her engagement, turned down a dream job, and went overseas to run away from her life. Now she’s back, but the reunion is not without problems. She arrives home just in time to attend the soiree her mother planned, but she’s not prepared for what she finds—a dead employee in the parking lot.
Detective Nick Marshall is assigned to the murder case at the forensics lab owned by Jamie’s family. He meets the headstrong Jamie, but he has a job to do. And his attraction to her… well, he’s a professional.
Jamie knows the stakes are high. She has to face the past and save her parents’ business while dealing with her family drama and an uncertain future. She also has to deal with Nick, who wants her out of the way of his investigation. But fate keeps throwing them in one another’s paths… and into chaos that they both want to avoid, but neither can seem to escape.
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EXCERPT:
Jamie strolled to the wide and stately staircase that led upstairs. The glossy wooden banister had always been a temptation to the teenaged Scott siblings.
During Jamie’s holiday visits home, there had been several banister races—one ending with Jillian needing stitches. The three swore to take the reason to the grave. Their mother would have killed them herself!
The house itself had changed little. Her mom had done some minimal redecorating, but the basic décor—classic contemporary—remained the same. As she reached the top step, she could see her brother heading out the front door to gather her bags. To her left was the “girls” wing, and to her right was Jon’s room and the guest rooms. Her parents bought this house while she was in New York, so she had never lived here full time, only during the holidays. Still, she had some fabulous memories from those times. It was nice to be home again.
The first door to the left was the room assigned to her. Jamie entered the simply appointed room decorated in blue, white, and seafoam green. The attached bathroom incorporated blue and white colors. Jamie sat on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. Since she never lived here, the room didn’t hold many personal touches, as did Jon’s and Jillian’s rooms. There were plenty of pillows, a complete set of cherry wood bedroom furniture, and a mid- sized flat-screen TV above the chest of drawers. It represented a fitting guest room since she was now a guest—a nervous guest at that. What if her mother verbally eviscerated her again? Could she deal? Jamie realized she was delaying her meeting with her mom for as long as possible. What else could she do to kill time?
She peeked in the closet to see if she had left any clothes behind from four years ago. Unfortunately, she found nothing that would be appropriate for what would be a formal event on Sunday night.
She went into the bathroom and removed her baseball cap to inspect the state of her hair in the mirror. I was fine for a quiet home visit, but not for a dressy affair. Jamie had let her relaxer grow out while she was out of the country. She typically flat-twisted her natural hair to emphasize the wave pattern. Before this trip, she had only washed, conditioned, and air-dried her hair, thinking that she would have some time after her arrival to moisturize and comb it. Now, it was just squashed down by her hat. Ugh. Since she wouldn’t be able to prep before talking to her mother, she would have to atone by looking her best for the party. For such a formal affair, she would have to visit a salon for a trim and style.
There was a knock on the bedroom door. “Come in!” Jamie yelled as she tucked her cap back onto her head and came out of the bathroom. Jon placed her bags inside her door. “Mother is waiting for you downstairs. I’m going to my room to avoid the tearful reunion.” He didn’t live there anymore but still called his childhood room “his room”.
Jamie sighed. Time to woman up. “OK. Let me wash my face, and I’ll be down. Where is she, exactly?” she inquired.
“Still in the study. Good luck.” He went down the hall.
Jamie dug around in her duffel bag and found her makeup bag. It contained the bare minimum of cosmetics. She returned to her bathroom, washed her face, and added mascara and a touch of mauve lip gloss. Jamie checked herself. Not too bad for a woman that had spent the last 24 hours on a plane or in an airport. Before she lost her nerve, she pushed herself out of the room and down the stairs, where she came face-to-face with her younger sister, Jillian, with two of her sons. Jillian was shorter than Jamie but had the same facial shape and skin color. You could tell they were sisters. Jillian stopped short.
“PJ! I didn’t know you were here. Give me a hug!” she joyously stretched out her arms. Quickly, she embraced Jamie while the 3-year-old and 1-year-old boys clung to her legs. The boys had never seen Jamie before because they were born while she was away. “You look sensational. Africa was good for you!” Jillian complimented.
“You look magnificent as well. I see you’re still calling me PJ.”
Perfect Jamie. Jillian smirked. “Well, it still fits, huh?”
Jamie ignored the snide comment and turned to her nephews. “Who are these little men? And where are the others?” Jamie stooped to their eye level.
Jillian stooped as well and disengaged the arms of the smallest boy. “This is Aaron.” Aaron hid his head on his mother’s shoulder. The other boy had moved behind his mother and peeked out from around her back. “This one behind me is Jacob. He’s three. Jacob, this is your Aunt Jamie. Go on, hug her.”
Jacob obediently came out and walked up to his aunt. “Hello,” he started. “Do you want to play with me?”
“Sure, Jacob. What do you want to play?” Jamie asked, smiling.
“Gamma plays Candy Land with me on the computer. Do you want to play, too?”
“I would love to, Jacob. You’re such a handsome and sweet young man. Do you help your momma take care of your brothers?”
“I help with Aaron. Ricky and Anthony don’t need help. They’re bigger than me,” he snickered. “You’re funny, Aunt ‘Amie. Where’s Gamma Scott? Let me get the game.” Jacob took off running, yelling, “Gamma! Gamma!”
Both Jamie and Jillian stood up, Jillian lifting Aaron onto her hip. Jamie marveled at how fit her younger sister was after giving birth to four children–-she hoped to have gotten that gene. “Rick and Anthony are at music lessons, so I dropped in with the boys to see Mother and Dad. Richard has been out of town for a case, but he’s returning today. I wish you had told me you were coming. We could have planned a dinner or something.”
“Jonathan knew. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you. I don’t need a fancy dinner because I’m coming home. Besides, there will be an epic to-do soon enough. How long has this been in the works?”
“Actually, not very long. We were going to take her out for dinner, but about ten days ago, she decided she wanted a large party. So, it’s been hectic.” She moved to the side to avoid two workers carrying a table. “It’s a cool coincidence that you will be here for it.”
“I don’t know if it was a coincidence.” Jamie winked at her sister and touched her nephew’s nose. Jamie had spoken to Jonathan almost two weeks ago and told him she was coming home. Coincidence, my ass. Jon had a lot to answer for. He must have blabbed to their mother that she was coming, and Margaret turned this into a gathering, a celebration of sorts. Perhaps this reunion would not be as miserable as she expected.
Jillian frowned. “So, Jon knew you were coming? And Mother did, too? So that’s what caused the change in plans.” No one had told her, and after four years away, Jamie still had a party. Perfect Jamie, indeed.
Oblivious to her sister’s change in mood, Jamie considered her options. “I guess I need to find Mother. By the way, Jon’s upstairs in his room.”
“You haven’t seen her yet? Oh, my. That should be interesting.” Jillian gave Jamie a sidelong glance. “I think I’ll take Aaron to see Jon. Good luck!” She and her son went up the stairs.
Jamie took a deep breath and headed toward the study. Damn, everyone keeps wishing me luck. I hope it’s not a bad sign.
Author Bio:
Author, Physician, and Kidney Transplant Survivor
Becoming an author was an early dream of mine but was pushed aside by practical considerations. A health crisis awakened the desire to write again. And with the ability to self-publish, I could see a path to getting my stories out of my head and into books that others could enjoy.
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Good Elf Gone Wrong
Alina Jacobs
Publication date: November 14th 2023
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
When you catch your fiancé cheating on you with your sister on Christmas Eve, the elf hat comes off.
I’ve always been the good girl—the anti Scrooge—the one who sacrifices for her guests, bakes cookies for her neighbors, and stays late after a party to clean up.
I don’t mind. I like being on the nice list.I kept smiling when I caught my fiancé coming down my sister’s chimney on Christmas Eve.
I gave polite congratulations when they got engaged on Christmas morning.
And I even offered to help decorate for their holiday wedding despite the fact that was supposed to be my dream wedding.But when my sister cuts up our great-grandmother’s one-hundred-year-old wedding dress and turns it into a skank show, even though that was the dress I was going to wear on my wedding day?
Well, this elf is torching down the North Pole.And what better way to get revenge than giving those cheaters a taste of their own medicine?
This good elf is bringing the bad boy home for Christmas.
Hudson is a six-foot-five, coldhearted, tattooed bad elf with a perpetual sneer and washboard abs.
He’s exactly my sister’s type.
And he’s going to help me nuke her wedding from orbit on the night before Christmas.What he is not supposed to do is grab my ass in the kitchen while I bake gingerbread.
Or crawl in my bed half naked.
And he’s definitely not supposed to smirk and tell me to commit to our fake relationship right before he goes down on me.Guess there’s a reason the good elves stay far away from the bad.
Good elves of Christmas unite! We’re ogling the tattooed chests of shirtless bad boys, baking massive amounts of cookies, drinking all the wine, and trying to survive recently divorced grandmothers who have a pathological obsession with our love lives. This standalone holiday romantic comedy has all the Christmas cheer you can fit in your stocking and a happily ever after, guaranteed!
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EXCERPT:
Knitting clutched in my hands, I turned to the bad boy sitting next to me.
“Do … um …” I cleared my throat. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
His finger paused on the page he was turning. He fixed those pale-silver eyes on me, a dusty gray like the winter sky.
“No. Why? Are you offering?”
“Sort of. See, I kind of need to break up my sister and her boyfriend. She’s dating my ex. He’s a jerk. It’s complicated. But I need you to be my boyfriend so I can ruin her wedding. I don’t know if you do that type of work?”
I smiled hopefully.
The book closed with a loud thud.
He looked angry.
“Er, never mind,” I squeaked and held up my knitting. “I’ll get started on those baby socks. Forget I said anything.”
But he didn’t go back to his book.
“So you want a fake boyfriend.”
“Um, yeah. I mean that was the plan. But plans change …”
Those ghostly eyes still locked on mine, he leaned over, his huge body crowding my space.
I scrunched against the window.
“You sure you can handle it?” he asked in a deep, gravelly voice. He smelled like leather and the winter wind.
No. No, I don’t think I can.
I swallowed. The empty Advent calendar was digging into my side.
“Yes,” I squawked.
“Prove it,” he said, his breath cool on my cheek.
He twisted out of his jacket, the ridges of muscle under the tight gray T-shirt flexing and rippling as he shrugged off the garment.
“Give me a hand job.” The baritone voice deepened. “I have my jacket on my lap. No one will know. Just go for it.”
My eyes were about as big and round as Pugnog’s and ready to pop out of my head.
“Unzip my fly,” he breathed against my mouth, “and stroke my cock.”
My stomach was flip-flopping. The air between us was supercharged, and my skin felt tight and prickly.
“I-I can’t,” I stammered.
He huffed out a laugh, smirked, and pulled his jacket back on, the leather creaking.
“Thought so.” He sat back in his seat and opened up his book. “You’re weak. You have an elaborate revenge plan all mapped out, yet you clearly can’t handle having a fake boyfriend.”
Author Bio:
If you like steamy romantic comedies with a creative streak, then I'm your girl!
Architect by day, writer by night, I love matcha green tea, chocolate, and books! So many books…
Sign up for my mailing list to get the free novella, AFTER HIS PEONIES, along with special bonus content, giveaways, and more!
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A Misfortune of Lake Monsters
Nicole M. Wolverton
Publication date: July 2nd 2024
Genres: Horror, Young Adult
When Legends Bite Back . . .
Lemon Ziegler wants to escape rural Devil’s Elbow, Pennsylvania to attend college–but that’s impossible now that she’s expected to impersonate the town’s lake monster for the rest of her life. Her family has been secretly keeping the legend of Old Lucy, the famed (and very fake) lake monster of Lake Lokakoma, alive for generations, all to keep the tourists coming. Without Lemon, the town dies, and she can’t disappoint her grandparents . . . or tell her best friends about any of it. That includes Troy Ramirez, who has been covertly in love with Lemon for years, afraid to ruin their friendship by confessing his feelings. When a very real and very hungry monster is discovered in the lake, secrets must fall by the wayside, though. Determined to stop the monster, Lemon and her best friends are the only thing standing between Devil’s Elbow and a monster out for blood.
Author Bio:
Nicole M. Wolverton is a Pushcart-nominated writer in the Philadelphia area. Her debut YA horror novel A MISFORTUNE OF LAKE MONSTERS is forthcoming in 2024 (CamCat Books), and she is the author of THE TRAJECTORY OF DREAMS (Bitingduck Press, 2013) and editor of BODIES FULL OF BURNING (Sliced Up Press, 2021). Her short stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in dozens publications as well.
Criminals Need Love Too
Isabel Jordan
(Adorable Psychos, #1)
Publication date: December 1st 2023
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
You know those love stories that start with adorable meet cutes? Yeah, that didn’t happen here…
Tenley Taylor needed a way out of town that didn’t leave a paper trail. After all, getting caught by the cops with her bag of stolen diamonds would totally suck.
Enter Knox Wilder.
He was the ideal mark. Fresh-out-of-prison. Easy to manipulate.
So, she was fairly surprised when he kidnapped her.
Or did she kidnap him? The way it all went down was kinda blurry.
Anyhoo, Knox needed a bride to claim his inheritance. And helping him—for a fee—seemed like a great idea.
Which is how she ended up in a fake relationship with a grumpy, rudely sexy ex-con who crossed all the boundaries partners in crime should have. Now, everything is messy, because somehow, she managed to break her golden rule.
She started to like her mark.
Unfortunately, he likes her, too. He says he wants to get to know the real Tenley. But that’d be bad, right?
Especially since she’s not even sure she knows who that is anymore…
Criminals Need Love Too is a fun, light, snarky romantic comedy full of witty banter, wacky hijinks, and spicy times. Download today and get ready to fall for a criminal.
Trope map
Morally grey heroine
Ex-con hero
Grumpy sunshine romance
Only one bed
Fake relationship
Forced proximity
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Author Bio:
The normal:
Isabel Jordan writes because it's the only profession that allows her to express her natural sarcasm and not be fired. She is a paranormal and contemporary romance author. Isabel lives in the U.S. with her husband, her son, a neurotic Shepherd mix, and a ginormous Great Dane mix named Jerkface. (Don't feel bad for Jerkface. He really is a jerk.)
The weird:
Now that the normal stuff is out of the way, here's some weird-but-true facts that would never come up in polite conversation. Isabel Jordan:
1. Is terrified of butterflies (don't judge...it's a real phobia called lepidopterophobia)
2. Is a lover of all things ironic (hence the butterfly on the original cover of Semi-Charmed)
3. Is obsessed with Supernatural, Game of Thrones, and Dog Whisperer.
4. Hates coffee. Drinks a Diet Mountain Dew every morning.
5. Will argue to the death that Pretty in Pink ended all wrong. (Seriously, she ends up with the guy who was embarrassed to be seen with her and not the nice guy who loved her all along? That would never fly in the world of romance novels.)
6. Would eat Mexican food every day, if given the choice.
7. Reads two books a week in varied genres.
8. Refers to her Kindle as "the precious".
9. Thinks puppy breath is one of the best smells in the world.
10. Is a social media idgit. (Her husband had to explain to her what the point of Twitter was. She's still a little fuzzy on what Instagram and Pinterest do.)
11. Kicks ass at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
12. Stole her tagline idea from her son. Her tagline idea was, "Never wrong, not quite right." She liked her son's idea better.
13. Breaks one vacuum cleaner a year because she ignores standard maintenance procedures (Really, you're supposed to empty the canister every time you vacuum? Does that seem excessive to anyone else?)
14. Is still mad at the WB network for cancelling Angel in 2004.
15. Can't find her way from her bed to her bathroom without her glasses, but refused eye surgery, even when someone else offered to pay. (They lost her at "eye flap". Seriously, look it up. Scary stuff.)
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