Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Dominic by Marteeka Karland ~ @RABTBookTours #RABTBookTours #DominicGrimRoadMC #MarteekaKarland #MCRomance
Preorder Blitz ~ Head Over Heels by Gale Stanley ~ @RABTBookTours #RABTBookTours #HeadOverHeels #GaleStanley #SecondChane #Romance
Book Blitz ~ Trifold Mirror by Chidiebere Eze ~ @RABTBookTours #RABTBookTours #TrifoldMirror #ChidiebereEze #Poetry
Monday, December 23, 2024
The Storm Descends (Demon Storm, Book Seven) by Valerie Storm ~ Young Adult Fantasy #YAFantasy #YA #Fantasy @Valerie_Storm
Read an Excerpt:
Kari knelt in a field of dark grass beneath a dark cloud pouring dark rain. Ari lay limp in her arms, dead to the world. She bowed her head over his prone body, colder than death even without the rain to drench them. It pattered, loud against her flicking ears—the only sound all around.
“Wake up, Ari, please,” she whispered to his chest, clutching him tighter. “Please.” Her voice broke, and a wail wrenched free.
“Love makes you weak.”
Kari’s head shot up at the whisper, but there was no one around. There was only the rain, hissing now, each drop harder and sharper.“You are a plague.”
The whispers came from the rain, now searing pinpricks rather than drops of frozen water. Gritting her teeth, Kari lifted Ari, held him close to her chest, and ran.
“One day, you will wish for the power you forsake!”
Kari’s feet sloshed through thick, black puddles. She slipped and barely managed to roll onto her back before she and Ari fell. She grunted, struggled to get back up with his weight.
A beam of light broke the murky sky. Kari squinted at it; the sight filled her with an unexplainable, instinctual hope. She pushed off from the muddy ground—harder now with her and Ari both sopping wet—and ran for the light.
“PLEASE!” she screamed to the sky. “SAVE HIM!”
It was all she wanted; she would give anything—anything.
“You have a destiny.” This whisper was deeper, ancient—a voice so full of raw power, it grabbed Kari’s spine and forced her to straighten. “Vessels do not earn worldly attachments.”
Velthas. His pull was strong even now, even though she had not seen the Tree in weeks—months. Forced rigid, Kari dragged her eyes to the beam of light.
“Holy light,” she managed through a jaw clenched shut. She curled her fingers around Ari. “I forsake everything else to you.”
A ripple—the jarring snap of something breaking in her mind. Kari gasped and fell forward, barely catching herself on one hand before she collapsed on top of Ari.
The rain slowed, she thought; at least, she felt the pattering on her back less. She closed her eyes, hoping, wishing, praying.
Fingers touched her cheek. Her eyes flew open and found Ari’s eyes—green as the deepest forest. He lifted one corner of his mouth tiredly.
“You’ll carry my faith, won’t you?” he whispered. “My light?”
Friday, December 20, 2024
#BookReview ~ Jingles by D.F. Jones ~ Women's Short Stories/Women's Fiction ~ @Author_DFJones @pumpupyourbook #HolidayRomance #Romance #Christmas #SantaClaus #Santa
Winter Solstice By Nicola Solvinic, Author of The Hunter's Daughter ~ @NSolvinic ~ Supernatural Mystery, Serial Killer Thriller ~ Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza ~ #ExtravaganzaGive@way
Read an Excerpt:
“I didn’t mean for you to find out like this, Elena.”
A soft voice echoed from the other side of the house. I turned my gaze to a pile of rotted fallen beams. My dad sat there quietly in the dark, perched as he would in a tree stand in the forest. His hat was low over his head, and his rifle was slung over his shoulder.
“I didn’t mean for you to find out at all.”
I whimpered.
He sighed.
“Are you a monster?” I demanded. The word didn’t seem adequate. “Monster” sounded like a word for fairy tales. Not my beloved dad.
He looked at the bodies arranged around the room. “Maybe.”
He stretched his legs and slid down the pile. I backed up against the rusted stove. Liquid sloshed, and something cold and wet splashed down my side. I recognized the smell immediately: curdled blood. A metal bucket turned over and crashed on the floor, spilling the rest of the blood over my sneakers.
I was frozen. I saw the outline of the door, and I should’ve run. But I was rooted in place, as motionless and helpless as any of these women.
My dad loomed over me. His face was strange, his eyes too dark and still. This man who stood over me was not my dad. He was some changeling who had come to take him, leaving an evil shell in his place. A monster.
“What have you done with my dad?” I croaked.
He reached out to touch my cheek. I flinched.
“Your dad is gone.” His voice was a low hiss, like rain in a gutter.
And I knew then what I saw. It was my dad’s Forest God, the one he called Veles, dark and terrible and devouring everything under this roof. He wanted me. I didn’t know if he meant to consume me like those other women or if the Forest God was wanting to do to me as he was doing to my dad, wearing my skin like his own . . .
The door crashed open. The Forest God spun, reaching for his rifle, but he was tackled by a snarling dog. Percival.
An armed shadow stood in the doorway. Agent Parkes. “Freeze,” he ordered.
The Forest God had no intention of obeying anyone’s orders. He wrestled with the dog, and the rifle went off. A new hole was blown in the roof, and I was partially blinded by muzzle flash and deafened by a gunshot in a closed space.
“Drop it!” Parkes commanded. His voice was faint and tinny over the ringing in my ears.
The Forest God scrambled away from the dog, kicking Percival in the chest. He sighted his rifle on the dog.
I screamed.
The Forest God hesitated for an instant—only an instant.
It was enough.
More gunfire, muzzle flashes. The Forest God tumbled across the floor. Parkes advanced on him, shouting, his shoes slipping in the blood. Percival was growling, clamping my dad’s right hand in his jaws. The rifle spun out on the floor, the barrel skidding up against my sneakers. It was hot, and it singed the rubber of my shoe.
“Put it down!” Parkes yelled. The man who had once been my father had gotten his hunting knife loose from his belt and was slashing at Percival. He’d pulled himself up into a half crouch, dripping on the floor, snarling like a cornered animal.
“Put it down now!”
I knew Parkes was going to kill my dad.
Trembling, I reached down for the gun at my feet.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
#BookReviews ~ A Coastal Corpse and Washed Up With the Tide (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries) by Rebecca Douglass #CozyMystery #AmateurSleuth
A Coastal Corpse and Washed Up With the Tide (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries)
by Rebecca Douglass
A Coastal Corpse (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting - Maine
Publisher : Independently Published (August 31, 2023)
Paperback : 298 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8854581851
Digital ASIN : B0CGN9Z7ZD
Just what the doctor ordered: fresh salt air, a garden to tend… and a fresh corpse behind the dahlias?
Retired science teacher Seffi Wardwell has moved to coastal Maine looking for peace, fresh air, and an accepting community. So far, she’s enjoying the sea air.
When a corpse turns up in Seffi’s flower garden, she can’t help asking questions about the victim and his death. Police officer Miah Cox doesn’t want her assistance, but Seffi’s curiosity is what made her a scientist.
The more she learns about the dead man’s background, the more she wants to know. Estranged from his wealthy family, and a village pariah for something that happened years before, the dead man had plenty of enemies. At least one wanted to make him disappear forever, and they’re all eager to see this case wrapped up and forget about him.
The way Seffi sees it, somebody has to care about him, and as a fellow outsider, she’s it. But all of her poking around is stirring up trouble in the village. It’s up to Seffi and Miah to figure out whodunit before they strike again, and before the locals decide the handiest scapegoat is Seffi herself.
Washed Up With the Tide (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting - Maine
Publisher : Independently Published (November 18, 2024)
Print length : 270 pages
ASIN : B0DJPTJ7PM
Beautiful weather, bountiful baked goods, and… bodies on the beach?
Seffi’s pleasure in her long walks among the fall colors is more than a little marred when she encounters cantankerous fisherman Bob Hughes washed up on the shore—sodden, entangled in a net, and very definitely dead. Did the man drink too much and fall overboard in an unfortunate accident? Or was his death something more sinister? With an estranged wife, enemies in the fishing fleet, and ticked-off deckhands, there are plenty of people around Smelt Point who aren’t sorry he’s dead. But did any of them actually kill him? The scuttlebutt at the bakery raises more questions than it answers, and to top it off the fishermen gathering there have eaten Seffi’s favorite treats.
Once again Seffi needs all her reasoning and gossip-gathering talents to help village policeman Miah Cox get to the bottom of the mystery. But will Miah’s own secret tear the village apart?
My Review of Both Books:
A Coastal Corpse and Washed Up With the Tide are fantastic books in the new Seffi Wardwell Mystery series. I love that Seffi is a retired science teacher. I haven't read many cozies with the main character being a teacher, employed or retired.
In Book 1, Seffi has just relocated to Maine and gets caught up in a murder investigation after a body is found in her garden. Being curious by nature, Seffi finds herself turning amateur sleuth. All of her questions become draining on the police officer in charge of the investigation. She's also asking question of the townsfolk, uncovering secrets, and making waves.
Seffi is a strong, intelligent character. She's determined to assist with the investigation much to the chagrin of the local police. The author does a great job with the character development. Seffi isn't dumped on us all at one. We learn about her in the perfect amounts. The book is perfectly paced in the character development and unraveling of the murder mystery.
In Book 2, Seffi is settling in nicely in her new home. Autumn is here and Seffi finds herself out for a bird walk. When she notices atypical birds near the shoreline, she figures it must be a dolphin or seal caught in a fisherman's net and left to die. A tragic part of the fishing boat business. She's soon shocked to find it isn't a water mammal but a human. She dutifully calls in Officer Miah Cox and another murder mystery begins.
Another enjoyable book in the series. There are plenty of suspects in the death of the fisherman Seffi found tangled in a fishing net. All had the means and motive for the crime.
I enjoyed the author's writing style in both books. The character development is done well. I love the setting and world-building. Descriptive and vibrant but not overly so or distracting.
Nice series so far and I look forward to the next book.
I was provided a copy of both books.
My Rating:
About Rebecca M. Douglass:
Rebecca M. Douglass has lived and worked around the American West for more years than she’ll admit, while raising two children to adulthood and dreaming up interesting ways to bump people off. Thanks to good friends in Maine, she has also spent time on the other side of the country and has fallen in love with that coast. Since retiring from work at the library, the author of the Ninja Librarian series for younger readers and the Pismawallops PTA mystery series now lives in Seattle, where she is writing the Seffi Wardwell mysteries. She has also had short stories published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. When she isn't writing, Ms. Douglass likes to go hiking and backpacking or to travel to discover new places or revisit old favorites, including the Grand Canyon and of course Maine, where so many of the best cozy mysteries are found.
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