Tuesday 29 September 2020

Book Release Day Review: All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne


They are a dangerous duke, a fierce lord, and an infamous earl—dark, bold, brave men who know exactly what they want. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees...

He is first and foremost—at everything. A man who's made his own way in the world through ruthless cunning and sheer force of will. A strong and imposing Scot who can turn on the charm but does not suffer fools. His title: Lord Chief Justice of the High Court. His name: Cassius Gerard Ramsay. His mission: To investigate the goings-on at London's most notorious gaming hell, owned and operated by one of the most intriguing and desirable women he's ever met.

IN THIS GAME OF LOVE, THE RULES DO NOT APPLY

Cecelia Teague was an orphan facing a rather dire future—until a secret benefactor from her mother's scandalous past swept into her life. Sent to prestigious boarding school and later to university, Cecelia believed high society was at her fingertips...Then, from out of nowhere, she became the inheritor of a gambling establishment. Now Cecelia must live two lives: one as a proper lady who finds herself undeniably drawn to Lord Ramsay and the other as a savvy gaming hell owner trying to save her business from the very same man. He has no idea she is both women...and Cecelia would like to keep it that way. But what happens when consuming passion and escalating danger threaten to reveal the truth?


AMAZON US          AMAZON UK

Kerrigan Byrne's second book in the Devil You Know series and my first book by the author and an introduction to the Red Rogues. 


I appreciate the author has chosen to write a character like Cecelia as the heroine. She's a woman who is refreshing in mind, body, and soul; articulate, intelligent and charming. As an orphan, she benefited from a stellar education, paid for my her mysterious benefactor. As an adult, she's thrown into an unknown world and encounters Cassius Ramsay, yet he's her enemy for reasons she's yet to discover.  

Cassius Gerald Ramsay, also known as The Lord Chief Justice of the High Court isn't someone you want to cross and neither does he want to be crossed. That's until he meets Cecelia Teague, a woman unlike any he has met before. However, she's a person of interest in his current investigation into a gaming establishment, which conflicts with his carnal desires for this young woman. Yet, when she needs to escape from danger, he's the one to offer her shelter, revealing his true persona, hidden under his steely reserve.  

This was a slow burn read for me as neither of the protagonists caught my attention when we're introduced to them. However, as their personalities and backgrounds are revealed, I warmed to them as individuals because I'm someone who champions an underdog and Cecelia and Cassius are two such people who have had to forge their way in life after challenging childhoods. As a couple, their attraction and then lust for each was more complicated. Ultimately it works but not before drama conflicts with mixed feelings and desires. 

I jumped into the series full of expectations due to reader recommendations. Admittedly, it took time to settle into this intriguing narrative, but the more I read, the more I became absorbed into these characters. There's a lot going on and as someone unfamiliar with the series, I might have fared better had I read book one first.  

Overall, it's an action-packed historical romance leaving me with a desire to read the whole series to fully appreciate the connection between the three women known as The Red Rogues.  

***arc generously received courtesy of St. Martin's Paperbacks via NetGalley***






Monday 28 September 2020

New Book Release Spotlight with an Extract: Reformed Dreamer by Deborah King


Reformed Dreamer by Deborah King

She’s wreaked havoc in everyone’s lives. Can she find forgiveness… even from within?

Former drug addict Melinda desperately wants to make amends for years of misguided aggression. Fresh out of rehab and in control of her type of bipolar disorder, she’s grateful to have a secure job and a safe homestead for her long road to recovery. Welcomed by a glorious cliffside sunset and her handsome rancher host, she’s surprised by their instant attraction.

Determined to excel at her work, Melinda does her utmost to display kindness and forges a healthy connection with the horses. And when her dedication warms the heart of the steeds’ drop-dead gorgeous owner, she starts to believe in the possibility of unexpected love and a new future.

Can Melinda truly conquer the demons of her past to find redemption?

Reformed Dreamer is the fourth and final book in the sweet Inspiration in Cologne women’s fiction series. If you like hard-won second chances, surprising romance, and rising above mental health hurdles, then you’ll love Deborah King’s touching story.

US Kindle – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JJ8K16G/.

UK Kindle - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08JJ8K16G/

UK Paperback – https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/1733588841/

US Paperback- https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1733588841/

Reformed Dreamer will be .99 c /p until 4th October.  

In this brief extract from Reformed Dreamer, we learn about Melinda, the protagonist, and the last few months of her life and what lies ahead. *No Spoiler Alert Zone*.

Today is the first day of my reformed life, my future existence. At least I hope it is. I’m not in the position to control my medications, which stabilize my mood.

I’ve been pacing St. John’s Rehabilitation Facility’s reception area for an hour. My heart drums in my chest incessantly, and my entire body trembles in fear of the unknown.

I packed my two duffel bags earlier this morning. They sit on the floor off to the side of the automated entrance doors.

Heather, my therapist, and I have discussed this day for two weeks. Here I am, though, acting like an anxious child on her way to meet her foster parent.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom how my so-called friends convinced a complete stranger to me, and me to him, to be my warden for a long arduous year. What possessed me to agree to this situation? Oh, yes, I remember. It was my idea and Heather agreed, wholeheartedly. I would also rather not be responsible for my own death at this point in time.

Not only will I live in my jailor’s house, I will also work alongside him. All. Day. Long. But when I considered my other options, Darius’s offer is actually perfect—peace and quiet—twenty-four hours a day, caring for horses. Animals don’t have the ability to gossip about me.

Luckily for me, my caretaker was in search of an additional employee, and Heather has told me he has a kind heart. I also know my caretaker and boss happens to be an introvert and keeps to himself on most occasions.

I should have accepted Heather’s offer to live with her best friend and taken the job waiting tables at a high-scale restaurant in Kansas City, but Cologne and Krause County are imprinted in my mind, heart, and soul. How could I, Melinda Moore, born and raised in a picturesque, unique, rural area in Missouri, live and survive in a sterile, concrete, big-city environment? Not possible, in my mind.

I’ve been at the rehab facility three months longer than need be, waiting patiently for someone and something else to come along in my hometown. When it did, I instantly agreed to the conditions of my next incarceration.

I could have lived with my mom, but I no longer trust her. She has lied to me ever since I was a young girl about my dad’s death and his and my mental disorder. No, thank you.

You see, my dad had bipolar disorder, refused financial help from his father, and basically ignored his diagnosis. In the end, my dad let his mental illness fool him into taking his own life.

I, on the other hand, have cyclothymic disorder—a relatively milder form of bipolar disorder. I also allowed a despicable man to entice me with drugs to ease my emotional outbursts and high and low moments, sometimes morphing into days. What a devastating mistake on my part. If I would have known what the true culprit behind my behavior was, I would have sought help. Instead, I ended up here, close to death.

The residents in my small town will gossip about my drug abuse, but at least they’re in the dark about my mental disorder. It has been kept a secret by a few of my previous friends and their loved ones who say they accept and forgive my past indiscretions.

Do they? Or, are they placating me? Only time will tell.

Deborah King is a spirited woman who was inspired to pursue her dreams due to her mother’s death from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. She has the unique ability to read people and tackle life’s hardships.

Deborah is an acclaimed, distinctive new voice in romantic women’s fiction. After raising two children, working with a not-for-profit wildlife rescue organization, and reading too many books to count, she retired from her personal training and weight management business to follow her dream of writing.

She is extremely grateful for having the opportunity to work with many different people sharing and teaching what inspires her, which you’ll catch glimpses of in her books.

Deborah’s lived in several diverse areas in her city as well as three years in a rural setting. She lives in Missouri with her supportive husband, two rescue cats, who believe they’re dogs, her mini fitness store, and her eclectic collection of books

https://www.facebook.com/DeborahKingAuthor

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Deborah.King.Inside.Scoop/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18846301.Deborah_King

https://mobile.twitter.com/dkingnovels



Sunday 27 September 2020

Book Blog Tour Stop: Tipping Point by Michelle Cook


Tipping Point by Michelle Cook

A tale of loss, manipulation, and the search for the truth

What would you risk to turn back the tide?


Essie Glass might have been a typical eighteen-year-old – had life not dealt her an early blow.
Struggling to come to terms with the loss of her family in a terrorist attack, and left with nothing, Essie’s not kidding herself about her world. She wants change, and she’ll be honest about it, whatever the cost. From behind her keyboard, that is…

After all, this is England, 2035. Earth’s climate continues its accelerating collapse. A powerful elite controls the disaster-weary population with propaganda, intimidation, and constant surveillance.

By all appearances, Alex Langford is a respected local businessman – until Essie discovers that he’s a murderous conspirator who’d see the planet die for his fortune.

When their paths collide, Essie must decide: how much is she really willing to pay for her honesty?

Her choices, and the events she sets in motion, pit her against both enemies and supposed friends as she risks more than just her life to thwart them.

Will she succeed in revealing the truth? And will she survive?

 http://mybook.to/tippingpoint

Michelle lives in Worcestershire, UK, with her husband Daniel, their two young children, and a cat called Lyra Belacqua. By day, she works for the NHS, a job which she has almost as much passion for as fiction.

Her first joyful steps into creative writing were at the age of ten, when the teacher read out her short story in class. A slapstick tale of two talking kangaroos breaking out of a zoo, the work was sadly lost to history. Still, Michelle never forgot the buzz of others enjoying her words.

More recently, she has had several flash pieces published, was long-listed for the Cambridge 2020 prize for flash fiction, and placed first in the February 2020 Writers’ Forum competition with her short story The Truth About Cherry House. Tipping Point is her debut novel.

https://linktr.ee/michellecookwriter



Thursday 24 September 2020

Book Blog Tour Stop: The Summer of Madness by Alexander Raphael



The Summer of Madness

In the summer of love, or rather of madness, a whole set of stories are emerging. But there is one that has got everyone talking. When Kurt Vannes decides to win back his ex-girlfriend with the help of a literary classic, he sets off a string of events that will build to a dramatic finale.







  Amazon US           Amazon UK


Half-Welsh, half-Mexican and growing up in London, Alex Raphael was surrounded by different influences and interests. But it was always books that spoke to him most and had the greatest impact.

He started writing when at college, where his love of reading evolved into a desire to write, in particular focusing on poetry and short stories. Studying English and American Literature at university meant he took a break from writing, as well as giving him the chance to see more of Mexico on his travels. He concentrated on his journalistic career while working on different writing projects, but his favourite genre of literature has always been short stories as they are what first inspired him to write.

That’s why his first book was The Summer of Madness, a romantic short story that tells of a guy who goes out to try to win his ex-girlfriend back. Will you be rooting for Kurt and his big public gesture or is it more complicated than that and you don’t want her to date him again? Either way you’ll get to know a memorable set of characters along for the ride.

His second book Illusions, Delusions reflects Raphael’s love of alternative short stories from the writers of his childhood and challenges the idea of the narrative. Will your favourite be the story in the form of a questionnaire, a poem or a set of jokes, among the seven very different styles?

Alex Raphael is currently working on his third collection of short stories, which will provide a wide blend of genres and an assortment of very original premises and distinctive character, with his trademark imagination, humour and memorable dialogue.

http://www.alexanderraphaelwriter.com/

https://alexraphael.wordpress.com/



Wednesday 23 September 2020

Cover Reveal: Christmas in Cockleberry Bay by Nicola May



Christmas in Cockleberry Bay


Meet old and new characters in the Bay for Christmas fun and frolics.

With both the Corner Shop and Cockleberry Café in safe hands, Rosa turns her attention to Ned’s Gift, the charity set up in memory of the great-grandfather whose legacy turned her life around.

Over at the Ship Hotel, Lucas has his work cut out with his devious new girlfriend and the mystery poisoning of an anonymous hotel inspector. Will the hotel still get its 3-star Seaside Rosette?

Will Mary find true love at last? Can Titch cope with the demands of the shop and being heavily pregnant. And can Rosa, with a baby of her own, pull off the Cockleberry Bay Charity Christmas Concert in time?

Christmas in Cockleberry Bay is a festive delight for fans of Rosa and her cheeky mini dachshund Hot, delivering a feast of unpredictable events and surprises.

Kindle – UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08JHJKLQF/

Kindle - .com - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JHJKLQF/

Paperback - http://eye-books.com/books/christmas-in-cocklberry-bay

Publication Date – 4th December

Nicola May is a rom-com superstar. She is the author of eleven romantic comedies, all of which have appeared in the Kindle bestseller charts. Two of them won awards at the Festival of Romance, and another was named ebook of the week in The SunThe Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay became the best-selling Kindle book in the UK, across all genres, in January 2019, and was Amazon’s third-bestselling novel in that year.

She lives near Ascot racecourse with her black-and-white rescue cat, Stan.

Website - www.nicolamay.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NicolaMayAuthor

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nicolamay1

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/author_nicola/



Monday 21 September 2020

One Day Book Blitz and Extract: A Stargazy Night Sky by Laura Briggs



A Stargazy Night Sky by Laura Briggs

Starry autumn nights are bringing a rare celestial event and exciting new guests to the shores of the sleepy hotel Penmarrow.

Maisie is happy to be back among its staff, even with the question of its future ownership still in the air and the fate of her unpublished manuscript soon to be in the hands of London acquisitions editors. More than anything else, she’s happy to finally be in a relationship with Sidney Daniels, the sparks between them no longer denied. She’s excited for the future and things couldn’t be better with regards to romance … except for those lingering little questions about Sidney’s uncertain past, that is.

Meanwhile, the staff at the Penmarrow is tasked with hosting a special celestial conference where stargazers are gathering for a glimpse of the much-anticipated comet. The ever-timid maid Molly is flustered by the return of charming astronomer George and seems to need a little advice on how to rekindle the spark they shared last autumn. Hotel porters Gomez and Riley vie for the attentions of a mysterious female guest, the eccentric ‘Megs’ Buntly pays another visit, and a dramatic revelation about someone on staff will leave Maisie and everyone else reeling from the unexpected news. Is this the moment for the revelation Maisie has been waiting for since her Cornish journey began?

Brimming with humor, romance, and the kind of surprises its fans have come to expect, the seventh book in the series brings a twist at the end that’s sure to leave readers excited — and anxious — for the conclusion of Maisie’s original gorgeous Cornish adventure.

Thank you to Ellesea for the chance to give her readers a glimpse of my feel-good romance read A Stargazy Night Sky. The seventh installment in my series ‘A Little Hotel in Cornwall’, it finds aspiring author Maisie still working at the seaside hotel—and finally in a relationship with the charming and semi-mysterious Sidney Daniels. The short extract below finds Maisie and Sidney sharing a lighthearted exchange about their romantic connection.

"Who would we be as a couple?" he asked me.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"The dynamics of who we are. Two different people are the parts behind the working whole, so we each play a part in it — the yin to each other's yang," he explained. "Theoretically, we should have opposite traits that compliment each other."

"You're impulsive, reckless, and heedless, and so am I," I pointed out.

"True," he said. "And we're both stubborn, unless I don't know you as well as I think."

"You're the more stubborn of the two of us," I pointed out.

"One of us should be a responsible type, the mature realist of the two," Sidney mused. "I hope it's you, because I would be rather rotten at it."

He grinned and dodged as I tried to give his shoulder a hard push. "Certainly you're the most wicked of the two of us," I answered.

"And you're the most trusting of us," said Sidney. "I'm much better at being suspicious. But that trust is quite beautiful and remarkable, especially to a rotten rogue like myself."

I liked that smile, which was one of the gentle, true smiles that comes when Sidney is at his most honest. It laid his feelings open like a book for all to read, but for me in particular, to prove that not all of this conversation was a joking one. What we shared meant as much to him as to me, even if we didn't know just yet how 'we' would take shape. I didn't have the words for this moment and didn't need them, if he could read my response in my eyes.

"Since we can't both be unrealistic dreamers all the time, I suppose we'll have to take turns being responsible," he said. He glanced at me with this conclusion.

We exchanged smiles, and walked on without breaking the hold between us. Our fingers laced, and I leaned against Sidney's shoulder as the bicycle rustled through the stray leaves across the road.

 https://smarturl.it/stargazynight


Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller 'A Wedding in Cornwall'. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.

Twitter: http://bit.ly/1ME9ivJ

Author Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1JjeMoI


Book Blog Tour Stop: Coming Back To You by Lily Hayden



Coming Back To You by Lily Hayden

Some loves last for just a short time, but ours lasted a lifetime.

From the moment that Emma met Ryan, she knew he was the one for her, but he leaves her heartbroken when he betrays her and disappears from her life, only to return and shatter her heart for a second time.

We were never meant to be, we just happened against the odds.

It feels like fate when life throws them back together as adults, but Emma has moved on now and she can’t throw everything away for the man who left her heartbroken twice.

Emma is living a charmed life with a beautiful family and her art career beginning to take off, but she can’t help feeling like her heart is pulling her back to her first love.

I keep on coming back to you.

One chance encounter with Ryan, so unexpected that it feels like it was written in the stars, throws them back together and she can’t deny the connection between them is stronger than ever. Emma learns that Ryan has been keeping a secret from her, and she has to decide whether to turn away from him forever or keep fighting for their love against all odds.

Amazon UK          Amazon US 

All 2020 royalties from this book will be going to Huntington’s Disease Association (https://www.hda.org.uk/)

Lily Hayden writes chick lit with a kick.

Modern day women want modern day heroines and Lily's characters want sizzling romance, rewarding careers and equal partnerships, but like all of us, they face many challenges and it isn't always easy.

A mother to four children, Lily graduated with a degree in Business in her hometown in South Wales and enjoyed a successful career in Financial Services before fulfilling a lifelong ambition to write books.

Her debut novel Butterflies, a heartwarming alternative to the traditional boy-meets-girl story, was released in 2018, reaching readers all over the world and she is the author of five books, including a Young Adult Dystopian novel Project Terra under the alias SJ Woods (because who doesn't love a bit of action and defeating bad guys every now and again).

Follow Lily on social media for the latest releases, promotions and occasional photos of her dogs.

https://twitter.com/hwoods_creative

https://www.facebook.com/haydenwoodscreative

https://www.instagram.com/hwoods_creative/