Happy Release Day Book Feature & #Review ~ Sell Low, Sweet Harriet (Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery, Book #8) by Sherry Harris ~ #CozyMystery

Book Details:

Print Length: 304 pages
Publisher: Kensington Books
Publication Date: December 31, 2019
ASIN: B07NX1WXLN

Amazon

About the Book:

ONE WOMAN'S TRASH . . .

Sarah Winston's garage sale business has a new client: the daughter of a couple who recently died in a tragic accident while away on a trip to Africa. Their house is full of exotic items from around the world that need to be sold off. When Sarah learns that the deceased were retired CIA agents, the job becomes more intriguing--but when an intruder breaks in and a hidden camera is found, it also becomes more dangerous. And Sarah has enough on her plate right now since she's investigating a murder on the side at the nearby Air Force base, where her status as a former military spouse gives her a special kind of access.

. . . IS ANOTHER WOMAN'S TROUBLE

With so much work piling up, Sarah decides to hire some help. But her assistant, Harriet--a former FBI hostage negotiator--has a rare talent for salesmanship. Which is good, because Sarah may have to haggle for her life with Harriet's assistance . . .

Read My Release Day Review Here:

https://reviewsbysaph.blogspot.com/2019/12/happy-release-day-book-review-sell-low.html

Happy Release Day & #Giveaway ~ Risk It All (Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters, Book 2) by Katie Ruggle ~ @KatieRuggle @SourcebooksCasa #RomanticSuspense

Risk It All
Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters Book 2

Katie Ruggle

Publication Date: 12/31/2019

About the Book:

When bounty hunter falls for bounty, they’ll risk it all to save the one they love.

Cara Pax never wanted to be a bounty hunter—she’s happy to leave chasing criminals to her more adventurous sisters. But if she wants her dream of escaping the family business to come true, she’s got one last job to finish.

Too bad she doesn’t think her latest bounty is actually guilty.

Henry Kavenski is a man with innocence to prove. But when his enemies target Cara in an attempt to force his hand, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Deep in the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by danger on all sides, Henry and Cara will have to learn to trust their unexpected partnership if they want to make it out together—and alive.

Meet the Author:

When she’s not writing, Katie Ruggle rides horses, trains her three dogs, and travels to warm places to scuba dive. A police academy graduate, Katie readily admits she’s a forensics nerd. Connect with Katie at http://katieruggle.com/, https://www.facebook.com/katierugglebooks, or on Twitter and Instagram @KatieRuggle.

Purchase Links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QoiCKi

B&N: http://bit.ly/2RpIAz1

Apple: https://apple.co/366ZGWM

Kobo: http://bit.ly/368oHk6

IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2PhbaQI

BAM: http://bit.ly/2sPbjmP

Read an Excerpt:

When the woman stopped the stroller next to the bus-stop bench and took a seat next to Kavenski, Cara knew something was up. For one, she would eat her phone if that woman would ever set foot on a public bus. Also, Kavenski, for all his hotness, was a big and intimidating guy. No one would casually plop themselves down next to a dangerous-looking stranger, especially with her baby right there.

With both Kavenski and the woman facing forward, it was impossible for Cara to see if they were talking. She was tempted to move closer to the pair to see if she could eavesdrop, but Kavenski had known she’d been following him earlier, and that made her hesitate. It was one thing for her to follow as he skulked around town, but this meeting seemed very shady and purposeful. He’d let her go once, but who knew what he’d do if she had incriminating information on him.

The woman turned her head toward Kavenski for just a few seconds, and Cara hurried to take a few pictures. With the oversize sunglasses, hat, and scarf, it was hard to get an idea of what the woman actually looked like, especially from a distance. The only things Cara was sure of were that she was white, tall, and fashion-conscious.

To Cara’s frustration, she saw that the woman’s lips were indeed moving. Once again resisting the urge to get close enough to listen to their conversation, Cara watched as the woman reached into the stroller and appeared to adjust the baby’s blanket. When she withdrew her hand, however, she was holding something white and rectangular.

Almost bursting with curiosity, even as her heart pounded from fear of discovery, Cara found herself leaning forward, straining to see what the woman had taken from the stroller. In just the split second it took her to pass the item to Kavenski, Cara was pretty sure it was a legal-sized envelope. Before she could see any other details or even take a few steps closer, he slipped the item into his jacket pocket.

The woman stood and pushed the stroller past Kavenski, and Cara realized that she would be passing right by. After a frozen second, she forced her gaze to her phone screen. Her hair fell in heavy curtains on either side of her face, hiding her profile from the woman’s view, and Cara was intensely grateful that she hadn’t pulled it back that morning.

The seconds seemed to tick by agonizingly slowly as the burr of stroller wheels and the sharp click of the woman’s bootheels drew closer. Cara didn’t breathe as the woman passed just five feet away, and her pounding heart was so loud it made it hard to hear if the footsteps were slowing.

When she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she dared a pseudo-casual glance and saw the back of the woman a half block away. Sucking in a much-needed breath, Cara returned her attention to Kavenski, just in time to see him rocket off the bench right into rush-hour traffic. The movement was so sudden and unexpected that Cara jerked back a step, startled.

“What is he doing?” Without considering the wisdom of what she was doing, Cara bolted toward him, her eyes locked on his big, surprisingly nimble form as he played a terrifying game of Frogger with oncoming cars. Brakes squealed and drivers laid on their horns as Kavenski shot across the road to the far lane. Turning to face the SUV heading toward him, he raised both hands, palms out, like a traffic cop.

He faced down the oncoming vehicle barreling toward him. The tires squealed as the wheels locked, and Cara instinctively reached toward him as if she could somehow snatch him to safety. His huge frame actually looked small as the five-thousand-pound vehicle bore down on him.

Cara reached the curb, a useless shout of warning building in her chest. Kavenski stared down the SUV, not even flinching as it rocketed closer. Just inches from Kavenski, the vehicle lurched to a halt, rocking back from the force of the stop. Cara’s breath escaped her in a rush. She stopped abruptly, realizing that she had been about to run right out into traffic. She’d been so focused on Kavenski’s near death that she hadn’t even thought about her own safety.

As the driver of the SUV rolled his window down and screamed invectives, Kavenski turned and strode over to a small dog huddled in the center of the lane. Scooping up the tiny furball, Kavenski stepped out of the street, waving casually at the still-yelling driver to continue on his way.

Cara gave a small gasping laugh at Kavenski’s nonchalance. He was acting as if risking his life to save a tiny dog was no big deal, while Cara’s heart was still trying to pound out of her chest and her hands shook with an overdose of adrenaline. As if he’d heard her slightly panicked laughter, Kavenski met her gaze across the four lanes of traffic. They stared at each other for an eternal moment before the corner of his mouth kicked up in more of a grimace than a smile.

***

Excerpted from Risk It All by Katie Ruggle. © 2019 by Katie Ruggle. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

**As Katie Ruggle is one of my favorite authors, a review of Risk It All will be coming soon!

Enter the Giveaway:

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Book Spotlight ~ The Lizard Queen Series - Abridged by H.L. Cherryholmes ~ #Fantasy

The Lizard Queen Series - Abridged

300 years ago, in a nameless world, a prophecy passed unfulfilled. A secret society that formed to prevent its occurrence believed it was their doing, while the secret society created to ensure that the prophecy came to pass wasn’t certain it had been stopped at all. Eventually, the prophecy of Lacáruna, a female from another realm and the only being who can read the Lizard Queen’s language, fell into legend.  What no one realizes, however, is that Amy Darlidale is just a tad late.

Amazon

The Lizard Queen Abridged

Book One

H.L. Cherryholmes

Genre: Fantasy

Date of Publication: 12/7/19

ISBN: 9781798589724

ASIN: B081593C32

Number of pages: 496

Word Count: 235,000

Cover Artist: Ryan Valle

About the Book:

Taking a break from a stressful workweek, Amy Darlidale, a recently divorced CEO, goes out for a morning jog, crosses paths with an orange lizard, and suddenly finds herself under a starless sky confronted by oddly marked and strangely colored people claiming she's there to rescue the world from evil’s grasp and expand it Along with the young companions who found her, Licha and Jandro, the swaggering Colonel Dack Sangcertigre—a member of the secret society sworn to protect her—leads Amy in search of a plan to fulfill the Promise of a New Morphósis, which will save them all.

Confronted with raving rulers, military machinations, and crafty clergy, Amy quickly realizes there is much more at stake than merely finding the prophecy. Fires rage, clans and townsfolk are massacred when leaders proclaim a great evil has returned. While Amy searches for and finds clues within the first of nine mythic journals regarding this world’s origins, she begins to see visions and receive messages from forces unknown.

Even as she tries to understand the extent of her power others have become aware of it as well. Soon a new group with its own mysterious agenda believes Amy may have another fated purpose and only she can save herself from their terrifying trap.

Amazon

Excerpt Book One:

 “I saw an orange lizard today.”

“Orange? That’s an unusual color for a lizard isn’t it? I’ve seen red ones.” 

Amy Darlidale looked at the wall just above her therapist’s head. She’d seen the family photo dozens of times but had never given it much attention. This was the first time she’d noticed the pendant his young daughter wore. Was it a circle within a circle? It was difficult to make out from a distance. “Maybe your red lizard mated with a yellow one and produced my orange lizard.”

John chuckled. “Maybe. Where did you see it?”

“That’s the interesting thing.” Amy stopped bouncing the leg she had crossed over the other. “I saw it in my office. It ran across my desk.”

“You’re kidding. How do you suppose a lizard—of any color—made it up to the twenty-seventh floor of your office building?” 

“Maybe it crawled through the pipes.” Amy glanced out the window and resumed bouncing her leg.

Pen in hand, John leaned back in his chair. “You seem rather distracted today.”

Amy’s gaze drifted across John’s desk. When he started seeing her alone, he’d moved from the couple’s area to the desk. She liked it better this way.

“That damned lizard. I saw it first thing this morning, and I can’t get it out of my head.” She uncrossed her legs. “I feel a bit silly for saying this, but it stopped and looked at me.”

“There’s nothing unusual about that. A deer-in-the-headlights response. Animals often momentarily freeze when they think they’ve been caught.”

“Probably.” Amy pictured the incident in her mind. “But that wasn’t what it seemed like at the time.”

“What did it seem like?”

She returned her focus to the pendant on the girl’s neck in the family portrait. It was a circle within a circle. “I swear it was looking at me.” She remembered how the small creature had scrambled up a pile of reports centered at the far edge of the desk and stopped there. “We sort of locked eyes for a moment. I had the oddest feeling she had been waiting for me to notice her.”

“She?”

Amy looked at the therapist. “What?”

“You said she not it.”

“I did?”

“Yes. Why would you assume it was female?”

“I don’t know.”

“Was there some sort of marking that gave away its gender?”

“No, there weren’t any markings. She was just orange. Bright orange like a…well, like an orange. Her underside was slightly more yellow.”

“Okay, so you and the lizard locked eyes. Then what?”

“Then she blinked a few times and ran off my desk. I shouted for my assistant and we looked in every corner and under every piece of furniture but never did find it.”

“So what was it about this incident that you can’t get out of your head? Not being able to find it?”

That he would assume what bothered her was the lizard’s disappearance didn’t surprise Amy in the least. John was a marriage counselor, which was why she’d started seeing him in the first place; unfortunately, despite the bi-weekly appointments for nearly a year, she and her husband, Peter, hadn’t been able to work out their problems and eventually divorced. Peter got the SUV and the boat; she got condo in Palm Springs and John. They sold the house in Brentwood. One issue that had brought the (then) couple to see a therapist was Amy’s inability to let things go. Her husband said it bordered on obsessive. Amy believed she was just determined. As it turned out, John tended to side with her husband on that particular topic and even after the divorce John still thought it was something Amy needed to work on. That’s when she started seeing him only once every other month.

“No, it wasn’t that I couldn’t find the lizard. Although, I will admit that was frustrating. I’m guessing I can’t get it out of my head because, for some reason, it made me think of my father.”

“What did it remind you of?”

He seemed anxious to hear her answer, which also came as no surprise; Amy seldom talked about her childhood. Something else that annoyed her ex-husband.

“I suppose it made me think about when he married my stepmother. A few months after their wedding I became very ill. My father said that he found me unconscious and rushed me to the hospital. I was in a coma for three days. The doctors never found out what was wrong with me.” She paused to clear her throat. Talking about her childhood always made her uncomfortable, mostly because she remembered so little of it. “But to get back to your question, the way that the lizard looked at me was exactly how my father was looking at me when I woke from that coma. I remember opening my eyes and seeing my dad watching me as if he were waiting for me to notice him. That’s what the lizard seemed to be doing.”

John tapped his pen on the notepad. “I find it interesting that the first thing you said it reminded you of was when your father married your stepmother and not that you were in a coma.”

Frowning, Amy asked why he found it interesting.

“Why don’t you tell me?” He smiled wryly.

Amy hated that smile; John only used it when he knew how she would respond. “Maybe it’s because I found my father marrying Alice more traumatic than being in a coma.” She laughed.

“All right. So seeing the orange lizard brought this all back to you. My question then is why do you see it as a distraction?”

As she adjusted her jacket, Amy wished she hadn’t brought up the lizard. She’d only done so because she hadn’t had anything else to talk about and didn’t want to waste a session. “I don’t really know. Seeing the lizard just brought out…a feeling, I suppose.”

“What feeling?”

“If I knew,” she said, mimicking his smile, “I’d be the therapist.”

The Lizard Queen Abridged

Book Two

H.L. Cherryholmes

Genre: Fantasy

Date of Publication: 12/7/19

ISBN: 9781798571132

ASIN: B08159BRTX

Number of pages: 594

Word Count: 279,000

Formats available: Paperback and Kindle

Cover Artist: Ryan Valle

Book Description:

It’s become increasingly clear that an all-out war is being waged by the Arañalianza, the alliance bent on making certain that the prophecy is never brought to pass, and their opposite, the Trotéjo, which is sworn to make certain it does. Although Amy Darlidale has passed tests of wits and endurance far beyond what she thought possible, she struggles for insight into the role she is presumably intended to play in this world.

Jolted by the sacrifices her protectors have had to make, she forges ahead while new relationships surface and new truths are revealed. Forced to rely on her own instincts, along with the limited knowledge she’s gained of this world in her quest, she must find a way to acquire the remaining Extiguos to piece together the prophecy.

Despite feeling constrained in her ability to combat otherworldly forces she cannot comprehend, she must now overcome a foe that poses an unimaginably sinister threat.

Amazon

Excerpt Book Two:

Amy had expected to be taken to some sort of a cell, as had happened too many times before, but instead Quoia and she were taken from the cliff tower into another part of the istanté enclave. Her mind continued to reel from the events that had occurred in the past hour. After having been abducted in Últimojo, right under the noses of her friends, and unceremoniously carted from one end of Rescatazo to another, she’d thought her ordeal was coming to an end when the clan’s spiritual leader revealed that she was a Trotéjo comrade. But no. Once again, the irony of not heeding the mysterious message sent by an unknown source while she had been out at sea wasn’t lost on her. You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you? Actually, she had. Silly her.

All of this had come about simply because she’d been curious as to what an adividria—an alleged diviner of fortunes and dreams—actually did. She had been called one, which had also occurred while she’d been out at sea on the Pen-Mai II, because someone had assumed only a quimera capable of evocasado, this world’s version of magic, would be able to read the Extiguos. Just outside of the Eyes of the Ultimate Cathedral in Últimojo was a long row of tents commonly referred to as Charlatan Shacks and she’d visited an adividria there. What followed led the adividria, Nayel, to believe Amy was something her Ojor Mountain clan in northern Rescatazo had been looking for. And because of that belief, Amy had been rendered unconscious, snatched up, and dragged unwillingly up the river and across the land only to learn that Nayel had been wrong and she wasn’t what the istanté clan was looking for after all.

Now, instead of becoming the clan’s newest spiritual leader, she was to be thrown to the wolves (in this instance, to something called a vueltó) that outsiders had never bested. Her only consolation was that her abductor and the current spiritual leader-cum-Trotéjo comrade’s son, Quoia, was being tossed into the ring along with her. The broad-shouldered, pale-skinned quimero hadn’t been very happy to learn his fate any more than she had. In fact, he probably had been even more stunned by the turn of events than she. Amy would have felt a bit of smug satisfaction over that, if not for the staggering sense of dread crawling up her legs.

The enormous, ugly istanté guards with the muscular hunched shoulders silently led Quoia and her to a room with a floor covered entirely in pillows except for a small path along the edges. Adorning the walls were more than a dozen swords of varying sizes. The room opened onto a large empty yard surrounded by high walls. The guards left them and closed the door, locking it from the outside. Quoia immediately scanned the weapons on the wall, as he circled the pillow-covered floor. Light from the flickering lanterns shined off the perspiration dotting the skin of his bald head. When Amy had first seen him—well, not the first time, the first time she’d only caught a glimpse of him before he covered her face with a rag soaked in something called cañart that had knocked her out—she’d noted that their pale-peach skin-coloring was very similar. With his square jaw and button nose, he could have passed for human, if not for the small curved horns just above his temples. The tall quimero was body-builder big with a neck as wide as his head. When he found a sword to his liking he removed it from the wall and held it out.

“Take this. It should be easy for you to handle.”

Amy stared at the sword in silence.

“We call it a cuchelgado. Ranjeros call it a sword.”

“I know what it is and I don’t care what it’s called. What I don’t understand is why we’re going to a circus. Actually, let me amend that. What I don’t understand is why any of this is happening.” 

The Lizard Queen Abridged

Book Three

H.L. Cherryholmes

Genre: Fantasy

Date of Publication: 12/7/19

ISBN: 9781798130117

ASIN: B08157XT4V

Number of pages: 657

Word Count: 309,000

Formats available: Paperback and Kindle

Cover Artist: Ryan Valle

Book Description:

With all of the Extiguos now in their possession, Amy Darlidale and her companions feel they are close to discovering the truth, but that they are also running out of time.

This world seems on the verge of shrinking much faster than anyone anticipated when the surrounding nations gather for war against Pliada. The Trotéjo and the Arañalianza also plan to assemble before the mountain upon which La Reina’s castle sits, and stakes have never been higher. The quest to learn how Amy must bring about the New Morphósis has brought her full circle and the truth about her destiny as Lacáruna finally seems within reach.

But much blood continues to be shed as all sides race toward the inevitable conclusion of the journey. Amy must summon forces from deep within if she is to save this world—or is it too late?

Amazon

Excerpt Book Three:

Amy looked at the blank pages and couldn’t believe her eyes. So she closed them. When she opened them again, however, nothing had changed. The final Extiguo was no longer visible to her.

“It’s gone.”

Dack was giving out instructions as to which direction the others should face while Amy read the last third of the Extiguo.

“It’s gone,” Amy repeated.

Dack stopped and looked at her. “What?”

“The words are gone.” She held up the book with the pages facing outward, even though she knew he wouldn’t see it as she did. To anyone native to this world, the symbols that were the written language of La Reina were still stamped upon the pages. “I can’t see any of the words.”

Dack, Licha, Jandro, and Madu scrambled to gather around her. Sitting as she was on the footboard of the carriage that had delivered goods to the hundreds of Trotéjo hiding in Naclaquí didn’t make this easy, so she stood up. Licha pulled at Amy’s arm until the book was low enough that she could see it.

“I don’t understand,” the quimera with the alabaster-white skin said. “I thought that the words didn’t disappear until you’ve read all of it.”

Flipping through the book to be certain the pages were blank, Amy said, “They haven’t until now.”

Madu peered over her shoulder. “Why now? Why would they disappear on you like that now?”

Amy removed the lupercas, the pince-nez reading glasses, from the bridge of her nose. No point in keeping them on when there was nothing to read. “I don’t know why. It’s never happened before.”

Jandro looked up at her. His eyes were wide and seemed to be floating in the black pools that were the ovals encircling them on his face. His blue-gray skin was almost silver in the glow of the moonlight. “You’ve never gone so far into one of the Extiguos and then stopped,” he said. “Could that be why?”

Frustrated, Amy threw the paluz to the ground. “I don’t care what caused it. All that matters is that I can no longer read it.” She looked at Dack. “What are we going to do?”

He stared at the green light of the paluz at his feet. “There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do.”

“But we don’t know how it ends.” Madu’s voice went up an octave.

“Yes we do,” Jandro said. “La Reina creates the—”

“Not that!” Madu said, his voice higher still. The tall, lanky quimero began to pace. “Not what’s in the Translation, but what’s in the actual Extiguo. None of you seem to comprehend that nearly all that Amy read so far is nowhere to be found in its translation. For all we know, the Winged-One really did create the Morphósis and La Reina became Lacáruna.”

“Control yourself, Madu,” Dack said. “Hysterics are never constructive.”

“And I can assure you I am not La Reina,” Amy added.

Madu closed his mouth and drew in several breaths through his long nose. He ran his hands through his thick, dark red hair a few times and slowly his shoulders relaxed. “I didn’t mean that literally. I’m only conjecturing that anything is possible.”

“We shouldn’t have left.” Licha looked up at Dack, whom she stood beside. “We should have remained in the building when you sent out the group disguised as us. Amy should have kept reading.”

Jandro came between them and, surprising everyone, shoved Licha back. “Stop being an idiot. We couldn’t have stayed. You heard what Dack said. Whoever caused the explosion could have sent someone to storm into Winfred’s room and what would we have done then?”

“Enough.” Amy put Winfred’s lupercas in a pocket and rubbed her eyes. “Instead of focusing on what we don’t know, how about focusing on what we do. I was more than halfway through the Extiguo. We have plenty of revelations to discuss and mull over.”

About the Author:

H.L. Cherryholmes, author of The Lizard Queen Series, The Reminisce, Come Back for Me, and A Slight Touch was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico but has spent most of his adult life in California. He has a BFA from University of New Mexico and a Master's degree in Playwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, he lives in SoCal with his husband.

https://www.hlcherryholmes.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HLCherryholmesBooks

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1398789.H_L_Cherryholmes

Book Blast & #Giveaways ~ Retaliation (The Oceanstone Initiative) by Haley Cavanagh ~ @haley_cavanagh ~ YA Dystopian SciFi Romance @GoddessFish

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Genre:

YA Dystopian Sci-Fi Romance

About the Book:

Sakota saved Astraeus and her friends from certain death, but in doing so, she gained the attention of the Oreck, who will stop at nothing to destroy everything in their path. With their ship severely damaged, Sakota and her crew land on a nearby planet and seek sanctuary while they make repairs to return home. But nothing on this perfect planet is as it appears, and Sakota soon learns they've traded one danger for another. Hunted and targeted, will Sakota be able to carry out her mission, or will everyone she cares about be destroyed?

Read an Excerpt

“No .”

Sakota bolted up in bed in the middle of the night.

Her dreams of blood and fear were monopolized with pointed teeth, cartilaginous faces, long, double-jointed arms and legs, and cruel, black alien eyes. The Oreck. They haunted her, perpetual alien God-ghosts with their eerie, electromagnetic glow beneath papery, gray skin.

Beside her, Astraeus slept, his arm flopped over the groove in the bed where she’d lain as he held her. He stirred, frowning. Was he having a nightmare too? She reached her hand out and searched with her emotions, as she’d learned to do.

He tossed, fitful, in the clutches of a nightmare to do with Upsilon’s destruction. She couldn’t remember what her nightmare had been about, but it had ended violently. Peace, she sent silently. Tranquility . Calm . Rest .

Astraeus sighed in his sleep, relaxed, and rolled over. She feathered hair out of his face. His existence had blown her away, and it still did. Astraeus’s genetic code far outstripped her own. He had defense mechanisms in place to protect him from climate extremities that she could never even dream of having. But more so, for the first time in her life, she’d fallen in love. It went against her pragmatic nature, but his comforting presence anchored her amid the wreckage.

She scrubbed her face with her hand in the darkness and swung her legs over the side of the levitating bed, careful of the bed’s height when she stood.

Humans were either a lot shorter than most of the visiting interplanetary delegates, or for some strange reason, they liked their beds high.

Her limbs ached, fatigue from the action of the last several days. She suspected healing from microgravity had something to do with it too, but she’d been through the wringer. The way she walked, the weight of her lips when she spoke, her arm and leg muscles seemed heavier and more visceral, like someone had injected them with a heavy drug. Ridiculous, of course. She was in the best shape of her life.

In the center of the room, she stretched and did some yoga until the tightness lessened. She rotated her neck. In a day or two, the slight dizziness and disoriented inertia would subside. As a physician, she knew the symptoms. She’d be fine. But telling a patient about them versus experiencing them were two different things.

She padded barefoot out onto the balcony, drew a silver cup from the shelves, and dipped it into the fountain. Distant light illuminated the Chuleron buildings along the skyline in the distance. She brought the brim of the cup to her lips and drank. Cool and refreshing, much cleaner than the sterilized water she’d had back on Earth. Tastier too. Earth water had to be purified at least five times before it could be considered healthy enough for consumption. Bacterial pathogens ran rampant in food and the polluted streams and springs back home, so sterilizing was essential. The delightful coolness soothed her throat.

She twisted her hair and pulled it over her right shoulder, taking in the strange, tantalizing city. Did her suspicions about this place come from her subconscious, because of the death and violence she’d experienced? Or was Hisoka right and something seemed off?

About the Author:

Haley Cavanagh is a military veteran, wife, and mother. She is an alumna of Columbia College, a musical theater nut, and she loves to dive into any book that crosses her path. Haley resides with her family in the United States and enjoys spending time with her husband and children when she’s not writing. She loves to hear from her readers, and encourages you to contact her via her website and social media.

Website: http://www.haleycavanaghbooks.com
Newsletter: https://haleycavanaghbooks.com/vip-readers-group/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/1769243778
Twitter: https://twitter.com/haley_cavanagh
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haleycavanaghbooks/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ambitioushales/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42207961-astraeus

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/360jpHN
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/retaliation-haley-cavanagh/1135488266
iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/retaliation/id1491106031
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/retaliation-20.

Enter the Giveaways:

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The author is also running a separate giveaway to celebrate the release of the book Enter here for a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card and Autographed Paperback/Swag Bundle (ends January 15):

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Book Feature & #Giveaway ~ Gorgon's Price (Redemption of the Gorgons, Book 1) by Claire Davon ~ @ClaireDavon ~ #PNR #ParanormalRomance

Gorgon's Price 

Redemption of the Gorgons Book 1 

by Claire Davon 

Genre: Paranormal Romance 

Print Length: 209 pages 

Publication Date: December 3, 2019

Euryale will never forget the day the gods turned her into a monster. After millennia, her heart beats faster at the idea of regaining her normal form. For the feel of skin and not scales, hair and not snakes. But the price could be too high.

Knowing full well the gods can’t be trusted, Euryale agrees to take on a reluctant partner to track down whoever is murdering a growing number of gods. A murderer no one cared about until the killings edged uncomfortably close to bigger and bigger pantheons. Tracking the murderers down is the price she has to pay for her newly restored form—and that of her two equally cursed sisters.

Asher’s unusual gift for eerily horrific sound effects make him a highly sought-after voiceover artist. While he keeps a low profile, there has always been a ticking time bomb in the form of the bargain between his banshee mother and his father, the god Ares. It’s time to pay up—or pay with his life.

As Euryale and Asher dance around their mutual mistrust, the friction ignites a fire of unexpected attraction. But love is almost as impossible as the dangerous task ahead. Because even if the murderers don’t stab them in the back, the fickle gods certainly will. 

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Claire can’t remember a time when writing wasn’t part of her life. Growing up, she used to write stories with her friends. As a teenager she started out reading fantasy and science fiction, but her diet quickly changed to romance and happily-ever-after’s. A native of Massachusetts and cold weather, she left all that behind to move to the sun and fun of California, but has always lived no more than twenty miles from the ocean. 

In college she studied acting with a minor in creative writing. In hindsight she should have flipped course studies. Before she was published, she sold books on eBay and discovered some of her favorite authors by sampling the goods, which was the perfect solution. Claire has many book-irons in the fire, most notably her urban fantasy series, The Elementals’ Challenge series, but writes contemporary and shifter romances as well as. 

While she’s not a movie mogul or actor, she does work in the film industry with her office firmly situated in the 90210 district of Hollywood. Prone to break out into song, she is quick on feet and just as quick with snappy dialogue. In addition to writing she does animal rescue, reads, and goes to movies. She loves to hear from fans, so feel free to drop her a line. 

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$50 Amazon – 1 winner, ebook of Gorgon's Price – 2 winners 

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Book Series Spotlight & #Giveaway ~ Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant Series, Book 1) by Deborah Garland ~ #PNR Paranormal Romance @deborah_garland @SDSXXTours

Drawing Bloodlines

The Princeton Allegiant Series

by Deborah Garland

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Drawing Bloodlines 

The Princeton Allegiant Series Book 1

by Deborah Garland 

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing, LLC

Publication Date: April 3, 2019

Award-Winning Author Deborah Garland presents a new paranormal series starting with Drawing Bloodlines about a vampire who takes a chance on love after a lonely century, only to be forcibly mated with a ruthless vamp from his dark past.

The TBR Pile said, it's "sure to heat your blood," and The Romance Reviews was "drawn into this new paranormal vampire world."

Dr. Alexander Manning's vampire allegiant demands loyalty and secrecy. Keeping their existence hidden from humans is the Prime Directive. So when he accidentally reveals himself to a woman, a beautiful woman he can't resist, he's forced to make a choice: report her to his commander or 'deal' with her himself.

Both Alex's loyalty and secrecy are tested.

Elizabeth should be afraid of tall, handsome, god-like Alexander, who she's figured out is a vampire. Knowing he'll come for her, she prepares for the worst and even considers sending her daughter away to live with her ex.

Alexander shows up, not to harm her though. To seduce her. Nights of unending pleasure however take a very serious turn, neither was expecting.

Until Alex's past catches up to him and threatens to destroy his precious secretive world with Elizabeth and loyalty to her and her adorable seven-year-old daughter.

Will Alex obey his allegiant commander and submit to a woman he hates, or fight?

Never force a vampire to mate...

The Princeton Allegiant Series features a recurring cast of hot and sexy vampires, but each book can be read as a stand-alone. No cheating. No cliffhanger. 

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Guarding Bloodlines 

The Princeton Allegiant Series, Book 2 

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing, LLC 

Publication Date: September 27, 2019

Never steal a vampire's mate.

What's the world's most dangerous vampire to do when the only woman he's ever loved is about to be abducted? He strikes a devil's bargain, but Loren Tagaris is done playing nice.

Loren's gifts for destruction have made him the most feared vampire on the planet. To bargain for his progeny's freedom, he's forced to bend the knee to the precious New York Vampire Lords and find their missing commander in thirty days. Or hand Julianna, who's part witch, over forever. 

Julianna's powers are more dangerous than Loren ever imaged. When their hunt for the missing commander unearths a buried secret that terrifies even Loren, all bets are off, and it's every vampire for himself. Suddenly the Lords abducting Julianna is the least of their problems.

Will Loren give up his own freedom once and for all to protect the allegiant world even if it means losing Julianna forever?

"Guarding Bloodlines and The Princeton Allegiant series is a refreshing twist on a vampire world which delivers on action-packed, deliciously sexy, fun reading that will have you turning the pages." - Jennifer Bray-Weber, Award-Winning Author 

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Matching Bloodlines 

The Princeton Allegiant Series Book 3 

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing, LLC 

Publication Date: December 4, 2019

VAMPIRES DON’T DATE. THEY POSSESS. 

Award-Winning Author Deborah Garland is back with an all new steamy vampire romance in Matching Bloodlines, an angst-fest about a vampire in search of a new mate and the matchmaker he hires who ignites decades of unmet needs and passion…only she’s off-limits. 

Never match a vampire with the wrong mate… 

Nothing could have prepared Francisco St. Claire for living as a single male after centuries of being mated. The serious and scary Commander of the Princeton Allegiant is now heartbroken and that makes him one dangerous vampire. Still, he has an allegiant to run and there is trouble on his borders. 

When the ruling lords demand he hire a matchmaker to find a new mate for himself as well as the other males who have sworn to him, the loyal commander follows orders but vows he’ll never love again. 

Princeton Matchmaker, Charlotte Kincaid is drowning in debt. She’s so desperate for cash, she agrees to work for a mysterious rich businessman requesting a ‘mate’, who just happens to be a vampire. If only this intoxicating Frenchman with the most sensuous lips she’s ever seen wasn’t her client. 

Since meeting Charlotte, Francisco’s emotions and senses have awoken, including his primal need for a woman’s body against his. But if he takes Charlotte to mate and turns her, she can’t find matches for the rest of his vampires. 

Will the Princeton Allegiant Commander show his strength by mating with the woman he craves or will he continue to follow orders? 

The Princeton Allegiant Series features a recurring cast of hot and sexy vampires, but each book can be read as a stand-alone. No cheating. No cliffhanger. 

Goodreads * Website

Deborah Garland is now an Award Winning Author! Must Be Crazy has won The Carolyn Readers' Choice Award. 

My newsletter followers get not only a good laugh each month, but also updates on new releases, sales and giveaways. Sign up now to get the new 2019 format: http://bit.ly/2HI3Mgc It’s a NO SPAM ZONE. Don’t forget to follow me here on Goodreads and BookBub: http://bit.ly/2jmpasE. 

Deborah’s childhood on Long Island, NY can be described as Cinderella meets Carrie. A latch-key kid, she spent her days after school, cooking, cleaning and looking after her younger brother to help out her very strict working parents. Those hours of nothingness sparked a wild imagination and a few invisible friends. 

After years of doing the whole corporate thing, it was finally Deborah’s turn to make the dream come true of being a published author. Her 2017 debut novel, Must Love Fashion, was a Golden Leaf finalist for Best Contemporary Romance. She writes strong and witty heroines and heroes that fall hard for them. Her novels have received words of praise from RT Book Reviews, Kirkus Reviews, InD’tale Magazine, Library Journal, and Uncaged Magazine. In addition to a great book, she loves pugs and chocolate ad eats her bacon cheeseburgers with a Grey Goose Cosmopolitan. 

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$25 Amazon 

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Book Feature & #Review ~ Let's Fake a Deal (Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery #7) by Sherry Harris #CozyMystery

Book Details:

Print Length: 304 pages

Publisher: Kensington Books

Publication Date: July 30, 2019

ASIN: B07K5ZMBZB

Purchase Link: Amazon

About the Book:

SHE’S GOT THE GOODS . . .

As a former military spouse, Sarah Winston’s learned a little about organizing, packing, and moving. Her latest project sounds promising: a couple of tech-industry hipsters, newly arrived in her Massachusetts town, who need to downsize. Unfortunately, when Sarah tries to sell their stuff, she discovers it’s all stolen—and she’s the unwitting fence. 

BUT SARAH’S PROBLEMS ARE JUST BEGINNING . . .

Michelle, an old friend of Sarah’s from the Air Force base, is in line for a promotion—but not everyone is happy about it, and she’s been hit with an anonymous discrimination complaint. When one of the men she suspects is behind the accusations turns up dead in Michelle’s car, Sarah needs to clear Michelle’s name—as well as her own for selling hot merchandise. And she’ll have to do it while also organizing a cat lady’s gigantic collection of feline memorabilia, or they’ll be making room for Sarah in a jail cell . . .

Read My Review Here: 

https://reviewsbysaph.blogspot.com/2019/12/book-review-lets-fake-deal-sarah.html