29 May 2020

Original Sin by Lydia Michaels


Original Sin 
The Order of the Vampires Book 1 
by Lydia Michaels 
Genre: Paranormal Romance 


Adam Hartzler has always been an honorable immortal, but the fine line between right and wrong begins to blur when he is called to his true mate. If he does not find and claim her soon, he will lose his soul and humanity, transforming into a vile predator controlled by insatiable bloodlust, sentenced to a demonic and tortured eternity as a vampire.

Adam sets out on a quest to hunt his mate and claim her before it is too late. His salvation relies on his destined mate’s surrender, but when she refuses to cooperate, Adam must set aside his morals and do what is needed to survive. Time’s slipping away with his control, and his territorial instincts refuse to let her go.

Annalise Snow awakens on a primitive farm removed from modern civilization and in fear of her life. Her captor is determined to keep her prisoner and believes he is somehow entitled to her future. But she will not surrender easily. When Adam asks for the ultimate sacrifice, she must decide if he lives or dies.

Passion and emotion collide in an explosive meeting of destined souls, but love is never a guarantee, especially when eternity begins with betrayal. 

**Only .99 cents until May 19th !!** 




Book Trailer






Lydia Michaels is the award winning author of over 35 romance novels. She is an iBooks Bestsellers and her work has been featured in USA Today. She is the two-time winner of the Author of the Year Award from Happenings Media [2018 & 2019]. In 2015 she won The Best Author Award from The Courier Times. She is a five time nominee for the prestigious RONE Award. Her books are intellectual, emotional, haunting, always centered around love. 




Follow the tour HERE for special content and two giveaways! 

Giveaway #1 
$20 Amazon 


Giveaway #2 
Signed Copy of Original Sin


Tenth Stem by Mary Cook



I am so excited that TENTH STEM by Mary Cook is available now and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Mary Cook, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $10 Amazon GC courtesy of Rockstar Book Tours & Mary. So if you’d like a chance to win, check out the giveaway info below.

About The Book:
Title: TENTH STEM
Author: Mary Cook
Pub. Date: February 12, 2020
Publisher: Mary Cook
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 263
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon, Kindle

No longer is there a waiting list. Not when women can be created in a lab for the express purpose of supplying readily available organs that can be harvested within hours.

An international research corporation does the unthinkable. Taking stem cell research to new levels, they push the boundaries.

An innocent young life hangs in the balance. Because of the simple fact of one child too many, Tansy faces certain death. A baby thrust into her arms, then a kind guard whisks her away from all she has ever known. Lost and alone on the streets, Tansy finally finds sanctuary in an unlikely ally. Together the three work to stay one step ahead of the individuals who seek to cause them harm.

Her only desire is to find hope, love, and acceptance. She is faced with desperation, terror, and death. Now she must turn the tables and work to bring down those who would seek to destroy her new found happiness.

*warning: Graphic violence. LGBTQ.



Excerpt:
She looked down at the bundle in her arms, “If I sit here holding number 1, that means that the numbers are coming faster, and pretty soon mine will be up? Is that it, Mark? Is that the everything you wanted to talk to me about?”

Shoulders hunched, his head bowed in shame, he couldn’t meet her eyes. He sat, silent, as he drew circles in the cold hard dirt with his fingers. 

10 heard him sniffle and knew how hard it was for him.

Guilt for the way she had talked to him consumed her, as she put her hand on his arm in comfort. He was too kind. Sympathy rose for the man who had always tried to be more than what was required. She knew what this job could do to one such as him, she had seen it before. The caring souls who became cold and callous, so she decided to do what she could to give him a boost in the right direction.

“Mark, why are you doing this? Why are you here?” She lowered her voice to a whisper as she looked around, “Get out while you can.”

His head jerked up, the startled expression on his face; the tears he had been trying to hide, unsettled her like nothing before. She had never seen Mark like that. He was afraid. She had always known fear, that was what her world was all about. Never would she have considered one of the guards would also know the same fear she lived with every single day.

“Granny, I’m as stuck here as you are. Sure, I get to go home every day, but if I were to miss one shift—”

When he mentioned going home, she couldn’t help thinking back on the question 31 had posed earlier that day. She scooted a little closer, then looked over at the closed door before she asked the question that all of them wanted answered.

She trusted him, and so she leaned in, the question blurted out before she could stop it, “Is this it, Mark? Is there anything else out there? Is this what it’s like… I mean, for everyone?”

About Mary:

Mary Cook is a retired police detective that lives in a small town right outside a ring of fire, just on the other side of…no wait, that’s a different character.

Actually retired, with hours and hours to write the next great novel, oh wait…nope that’s me. Yes, totally retired. Worlds come alive in my head, characters stand over my shoulder, and sometimes they wake me up at night. All of them want to come alive, to have their stories written. No matter how I think the story should go, it goes according to how the character decides it should. An evil character finds redemption. A beloved character is massacred for no good reason. They all write their own stories.

The ideas come to me, the character develops a personality, and the result is a book. I sincerely hope that everyone will love my books, but what I write isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. (Is it Mary? You sure you don’t want me to take care of it?) (Get back in the book, Ann!) I love to write stories that make you think, maybe make you a little uncomfortable. I am actually a pretty boring person. Retired, live in a dungeon (my office), two birds and a dog. Every now and then my husband expects me to come out and interact with the world, and I do (begrudgingly). Writing is my hobby, I used to do other things with my hands, crochet, knit…but then I got old(er), and they just don’t work as good as they used to.

On a more personal note, I do have children. I have three grown children, and lots and lots of grandchildren, with a few great-grandchildren. It’s like they’re in a competition on who can produce the most. If any of you read the back of the book, you’ll know that there’s more. But, outside of that, nothing. Boring. So, I bring life and color into the world through the pages of my books. Every time someone buys a book, or gives a review, I’m delightfully surprised. My eternal gratitude to all of you, for reading what I have written, and allowing me to become a small part of your life.




Giveaway Details:
1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon GC, International.

Ends May 26, 2020. Midnight EST.

Rafflecopter embed code:

Rafflecopter link:

28 May 2020

Miranda and the D-Day Caper by Shelly Frome

Miranda and the D-Day Caper

by Shelly Frome

on Tour May 1-31 2020

Synopsis:

Miranda and the D-Day Caper by Shelly Frome

A modern day mystery with WWII tactics, old-time heroes and values, and the efforts of two amateur cousin sleuths from the Heartland.

On a sparkling spring morning in the Blue Ridge, small-town realtor Miranda Davis approached the tailgate market, intent on dealing with her whimsical cousin Skip’s unexpected arrival from New York. It turns out that Skip was on the run and, in his panic, grabbed his beloved tabby Duffy, recalling that Miranda had a recent part in solving a case down in Carolina. His predicament stemmed from intercepting code messages like “Countdown to D-Day,” playfully broadcasting the messages on his radio show over the nation-wide network, and subsequently forced to flee.

At first, Miranda tried to limit her old childhood companion’s conundrum to the sudden abduction of Duffy the cat. But the forces that be were hell-bent on keeping Skip under wraps by any means after he now stumbled close to the site of their master plan. Miranda’s subsequent efforts to decipher the conspiracy and somehow intervene placed both herself and her old playmate on a collision course with a white-nationalist perpetrator and the continuing machinations of the right-wing enterprise, with the lives of all those gathered for a diversity celebration in nearby Asheville and a crucial senatorial vote on homeland security hanging in the balance.

Book Details:

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Published by: BQB Publishing
Publication Date: March 1st 2020
Number of Pages: 338
ISBN: 1945448571 (ISBN13: 9781945448577)
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

“Okay, I get it,” said Miranda, assuming it was playtime as always. “We’re double agents. You keep reading the paper and light a cigarette. A minute later, you toss the cigarette and leave the book of matches on the table with the coded inscription Moscow rules. That’s when I take it and slip away awaiting further instructions.”
This was flippant Miranda. The one with the short bob, over thirty, just trying to set the tone on this glorious Saturday in the Blue Ridge and ease out of it. But at the moment, playful Skip seemed to have lost his way. His eyes were bloodshot, underscored by dark circles. And the signature mischievous smirk on that sliver of a face had been replaced by a worrisome twitch.
Folding the newspaper, with his cornflower blue eyes still gazing into the distance, Skip said, “I don’t know, kiddo. I tell you, I just don’t know.”
“Which makes two of us. So tell me why you couldn’t simply e-mail me?”
“Why? Am I holding you up or something?”
“No, you’re not holding me up. Look, what do you say we cut to the chase? Glancing around, taking his sweet time, making sure no one was within earshot, Skip said, “All right.”
“From the top.”
“Okay. Like I indicated, I was filling in, got a break on a prestige AM station.”
Getting more anxious by the second, his lanky body beginning to twitch, Skip said, “So, when opportunity knocks, you seize the day. Right?”
“Out with it. I am still waiting.”
Scrunching forward this time, Skip said, “One night I started to wing it. No more of this ‘Yup, it’s midnight, folks. Some of these homespun Indiana tales should ease you right off to sleep.’ I was antsy. I’d had it with Russ Mathews who’d signed off that night right before me, sounding more and more like some fear monger back in the day.”
“And what day was that?”
“World War Two.”
More glancing around on Skip’s part. More checking the flow of visitors coming and going.
Getting antsy as well, Miranda said, “Will you get on with it? Is there an upshot in our future? ”
“I’m coming to it,” Skip said, looking right at her this time. “Right after my kazoo rendition of I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash, I lean into the mic and say, ‘Guess what? Ole Russ Mathews must be on to something. I’m talking the plot against America. So I tell the insomniacs all over the Liberty Broadcasting system that, at first, I thought Duffy was pulling down on the blinds out of longing.”
“Duffy?”
“Just your average ginger house cat, left alone, separated from other felines on the prowl. But I come home to my sublet and notice he’s perched in the exact same spot, his green eyes staring across the street. So, over the airwaves, I said, ‘What if I told you night people something was up in a dilapidated rooming house in Hoboken? Right across the river from the Big Apple?’” “That does it,” Miranda said, getting to her feet. “How am I supposed to follow this? When you’re ready to get to the point, let me know.”
“Wait a minute. Don’t you see?” said Skip, getting to his feet as well. “I stumbled onto something. Before you know it, my ratings are starting to climb. But since the weather’s getting warmer, those guys across the street aren’t scurrying in and out of the cold. They’re loitering by the stoop, glancing across the shadows. Next thing I know, I’m getting negative call-ins. Listeners telling me to knock it off or else. Undaunted, I tell everyone in radio-land what’s going on out there may have far reaching consequences. Unless I intercept.”
“Oh, please,” said Miranda, walking away. “Listen to me.” Skip scurried over and held her arm. “I tell you, at the same time, those guys across the street were carting off concealed stuff.”
“I’m not listening anymore.”
“You’ve got to. You have obviously become a born tracker. Tracked down a poison pen perpetrator like the paper said.”
“Enough. Stop hyping everything up. Look at you. You’re coming down with full blown hysteria.”
“Exactly. Because it appears there’s no longer any line between entertainment and politics. While messing around, doing a take-off on Russ Mathews and boosting my ratings, I may have stumbled onto an actual plot utilizing WW II codes.”
***
Excerpt from Miranda and the D-Day Caper by Shelly Frome. Copyright 2020 by Shelly Frome. Reproduced with permission from Shelly Frome. All rights reserved.



Author Bio:

Shelly Frome
Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor, a writer of crime novels and books on theater and film. He is also a features writer for Gannett Media’s Black Mountain News. His fiction includes Sun Dance for Andy Horn, Lilac Moon, Twilight of the Drifter, Tinseltown Riff, Murder Run, Moon Games and The Secluded Village Murders. Among his works of non-fiction are The Actors Studio and texts on the art and craft of screenwriting and writing for the stage. Miranda and the D-Day Caper is his latest foray into the world of crime and the amateur sleuth. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Catch Up With Shelly Frome:
ShellyFrome.com, Goodreads, BookBub, Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook!




Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!






Giveaway!!:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Shelly Frome. There will be 2 winners of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card each. The giveaway begins on May 1, 2020 and runs through June 2, 2020. Void where prohibited.
a Rafflecopter giveaway




Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

27 May 2020

Star Spark by Day Leitao



I am so excited that STAR SPARK by Day Leitao is available now and that I get to share the news!
If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Day Leitao, be sure to check out all the details below.
This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $20 Amazon GC courtesy of Day & Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post.

Mandatory post info:
About the Book:
Title: STAR SPARK
Author: Day Leitao
Pub. Date: May 26, 2020
Publisher: Sparkly Wave
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 438

Everyone Saytera knows can conjure fire, but all she can do is create darkness.
In search for answers about her destiny and who she is, she leaves her island for the first time—and almost gets killed. On the run and with no way to return home, she finds refuge in a military academy. Problem is, she can't even fire a gun--they just don't work with her. No kidding, right? She's got an issue with fire. And nobody can know where she's from and what she can do. How can she find her place and her worth in this reality where none of her talents matter?
Dess lost everything when his entire family was killed many years ago. Hiding his identity and seen as a worthless orphan, he beat the odds and became the best cadet in his program. But that wasn't enough. Forced on a dangerous job, he'll go down to the planet and risk his life in the hopes of bringing peace to his moon.
But he can feel the starfire running through him. He knows there's more, there's magic, and there are Terens, legendary beings who can manipulate fire. And destiny might just make him meet one. Problem is, she's his enemy.

Excerpt:
Lying on her back, Saytera closed her eyes. There was no cabin, no task, no matterweaving, no upcoming celebration. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the darkness of her closed eyelids, her breath in and out, the soothing comfort of the soft earth on her back. Stars in the Universe, stars within; one body, one soul.
And then she was walking under the stars, heading to the Blue Beach, where there was a fire. Yansin, Kerely, and some other people were performing a passing ritual, celebrating a loved one’s release from the physical body. Kilmara was there. Yansin’s eyes were swollen from crying. Crying? What would make Saytera’s powerful, wise master so sad?
“Death was part of life and shouldn’t be mourned,” she always said. Her eyes and her expression told a different story, though. Kerely held Yansin’s arm and patted her back as if consoling her. This was so strange. Saytera got close to the scene when they were about to burn a cloth with the person’s name on it. Whoever had passed had lost their body, perhaps in the belly of a sea serpent or in the bottom of the sea. The cloth was a replacement.
There was an S in the beginning of the name. Saytera ran the names of masters and apprentices in her mind. A few started with S, but none of them important or close enough to Yansin. Her insides were starting to cool with a dreadful feeling. Then the cloth turned, allowing her to get a better look. Her breath got caught in her throat. The name was Saytera.
She gasped and sat up. What had that been? A vision? Everything was dark and she didn’t know where she was. Hang on. She remembered. And she had screwed up. All the lamps had been put out.

***

The heavy old-fashioned iron gate and fences did little to keep Dess out of the Staralloy mansion’s grounds. He knew that place better than anyone, having run through these trees for so many years, chasing dreams that had been as real to him as the artificial atmosphere he breathed. He also knew its security system, having once imagined that there were monsters chasing him. Good times. Now the monsters rarely left him—they were in his mind.

About Day:

Day Leitao is originally from Brazil and currently lives in Montreal, Canada. She loves the ocean and going to the beach, and hopes she can visit one again soon. A lot of her summer childhood spent by the sea and sometimes even on islands provided inspiration for some of the settings in Star Spark.








Giveaway Details:

1 winner will win a $20 Amazon gift card, International.

Ends June 3rd.





23 May 2020

Spider's Web by Shannon Condon



Thriller
Date Published: November 30, 2018
Publisher: Rowanvale Books

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Maggie has been in hiding in the Grid for over three years. Her restlessness convinces Shep to arrange a girls' weekend at the beach. Things go sideways quickly. In an instant her life is changed. Maggie finds herself across the world and away from her team. Unsure who to trust, she tries to navigate her new reality. Will she be able to choose her future, or will she remain trapped in the web of enemies she created.


Praise for Spider's Web:

"Shannon Condon is a talented writer who knows not only how to hold your interest but also how to turn up the heat." - Melinda Hills, Reader's Favorite


"Very strong, intelligent female lead character that would give James Bond a run for his money. Very fast paced drama, with lots of twists and double crossing..." - Suzanne Tibbo, Goodreads Reviewer




About the Author

Shannon Condon lives in North Carolina and is the mother of three boys. She is a graduate of the University of Florida School of Journalism and Communications. Writing has always been her dream.

Contact Links



Purchase Links



RABT Book Tours & PR

22 May 2020

A Rite of Hearts Undone by Lauren C. Sergeant



Children of the Glaring Dawn, Book 2
Young Adult Fantasy
Published Date: May 22, 2020
Publisher: INtense Publications LLC

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

As they journey into the land of the Jini, Ihva grapples with her divinely-appointed role and Jasper struggles to resolve the fearful nature of his existence. With things at home deteriorating and Gant on the brink of war, Ihva presents a solution, and Jasper must decide how far he’s willing to go to see his purpose through.

With the world upending and their feelings dividing them, can Ihva and Jasper find a way to reconcile their differences to overcome the Shadow's conquest?



About the Author

Lauren C. Sergeant, author of the Children of the Glaring Dawn series, adventures through life as a wife, mother, author, and assistant property manager. Having dabbled in over a dozen languages and taken more than a handful of international trips, she expresses her fascination with people in the novels she writes. The relationships of her characters with each other and with themselves draw readers into her keen attentiveness to what it means to be human. She spins epic tales of love, humor, and struggle, but in the end, she is just another individual on this quest called life.

Contact Links



Purchase Links



RABT Book Tours & PR

21 May 2020

Once in a Blood Moon by Dorothea Hubble Bonnean



Southern Historical
Date Published: June 11, 2020
Publisher: Acorn Publishing

Heaven Hill Plantation, upriver from Georgetown, South Carolina, 1807: Sixteen-year-old Alexandra Degambia is the daughter of a wealthy African American planter and a social-climbing mother who can pass for white. Balancing on the tightrope between girlhood and the complicated adult world of Low-Country society is a treacherous undertaking.


Early Reviews

Alexandra is a tenacious heroine who’s easy to root for, and the author elegantly articulates her precarious position between white and black society. Overall, this novel explores issues of equality and personal freedom in thought-provoking ways.

Sharp writing, an original plot, and a strong female protagonist make for an engrossing read.
-Kirkus Review

This tale of desperation, injustice and courage is a much needed addition to our grasp of our nation's history. A 5-star reading experience. Highly recommend!"
Laura Taylor – 6-Time Romantic Times Award Winner

Excerpt


Alexandra longs to impress Monsieur. She imagines dancing with him before bedazzled spectators. She panics. He’s an accomplished dancer. What if the orchestra does play a waltz? She’ll make a fool of herself.
“I guess I could go down and dance for a little while,” Alexandra says, rising from the porch swing.
Before the young women reach the bottom of the stairs, they see a stranger wearing the sheriff’s badge galloping toward them from the back road. Three of his deputies ride hard on his heels.
Callie leans close to Alexandra. “Let’s duck behind the snowball bush before they see us,” she says. She sets the quilt on the porch swing and hides the Dancing Masters behind the geranium planter.
But the men are coming too fast. The girls are only half way down the stairs when the men rein their lathered horses to a stop.
The new sheriff, who wears a top hat too small for his head, points at Alexandra.
“Girl! Git me some water.”
Alexandra edges toward Callie and reaches to take her hand. Callie moves away. Cold sweat drenches Alexandra.
“You deaf? Git me some water. Now!” The stocky man’s eyes graze over Alexandra’s body. He clucks his tongue and turns to Callie, “You’re too old to be dressing your slaves in your own clothes like they was dolls. I recommend you burn that fine dress to avoid being tainted by the sins of Hamm.”
“These are my clothes!” says Alexandra.
The sheriff and his deputies laugh.
“Tell him, Callie! These clothes are mine.”
“You let your girl speak to you in that tone?” The sheriff asks.
“I’m not her girl!”
Alexandra plants her feet. Callie backs toward the door.
“Callie! Tell him.”
Callie edges into the house and eases the door shut. Alexandra faces the sheriff. “My daddy will want a word with you,” Alexandra says, her fire rising.
When she sees a vein on the sheriff’s neck pump the venom that makes men crazy, the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She sighs with relief when Tante Isabelle glides out the back door like a cool breeze. Mother follows, arms akimbo, lips pressed tight.
“Where’s Sheriff Adams?” asks Tante Isabelle in her blue-velvet voice.
“Heart attack. He’ll recover more than likely, but he won’t be back to work for a long time, if ever. Traveling judge deputized me. I’m following up on a slave who escaped from the George­town jail. You seen a big, black buck with a crooked nose and a little finger missing on his left hand?”
“I haven’t made the acquaintance of such a man,” says Tante Isabelle. “How are Mary and Margaret getting along?”
“Who?” asks the sheriff.
“Sheriff Adam’s wife and daughter.”
“Don’t know ’em.”
“Y’all are new to the Georgetown area, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Surely, you’ve heard of Heaven Hill, the oldest plantation on the Santee,” continues Tante Isabelle.
“Yes, Ma’am,” says the sheriff.
Alexandra can tell he’s lying from the way he shifts in his saddle and looks to his men to provide him with the correct answer.
“Well then, I am pleased to present the mistress of that famous plantation, Miss Josephine Degambia.” Mother curls her lips into her Mona Lisa smile and nods.
The sheriff tips his hat.
“And her daughter, my niece, Alexandra Degambia,” Tante Isabelle continues.
The sheriff’s eyes bulge as Alexandra forces herself to curtsey.
“Carolina Gold, the most sought-after rice in the world, is shipped all over the world from Heaven Hill, but I’m sure you knew that, Sheriff. Where’d y’all say you’re from?” Tante Isabelle doesn’t wait for his answer. “Now, if all y’all are still thirsty, you and your men are welcome to use the well in back of the blacksmith’s shop. The water’s fresh and sweet, sure to cool you down on a hot day like this. When you’re done, be so kind as to show yourselves to the main road.”
The sheriff turns his horse and kicks it to a canter. When he and his deputies are specks on the horizon, Callie slips onto the porch from the back door followed by her mother. “Shall we stroll in the maze garden?” Callie asks Alexandra.


About the Author

Dorothea Hubble Bonneau is an award-winning novelist, produced playwright and optioned screenwriter. Inspired by a quest for justice, her work is informed by her love of family, nature, and the literary arts.

Dorothea is a member of Author’s Guild, Women in Film, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Aspen Summer Words Alumni, and Historical Writers of America.

Contact Links

Twitter: @DorotheaBonneau


RABT Book Tours & PR