Thursday, July 28, 2022

I Read Book Tours

 July 29 – My Reading Journeys – books series spotlight / giveaway



Join us for this tour from July 5 to July 29, 2022!

Book Details:

Book Series:  The Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries
Category:  Adult fiction (18+ yrs)
Genre:  Cozy Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:  April 23, 2020
Content Rating: This cozy mystery book series is rated G. Suitable for everyone. 
"I love this cozy mystery! It is full of suspense, action-packed, fast pace with that small-town feeling. I love the characters, I have to admit, I fell in love with Elmo on the spot! I loved Nikki's spunk and determination. She keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire book! And I usually try to pick up all if the clues and figure out whodunnit but this story kept taking twists and turns that I was surprised. This is just type of cozy mysteries I love to read." - 5-Star review by Splashes of Joy

"An excellent blend of mystery and suspense with comic relief and romance.... Lauren has a great way of balancing this without taking away from the story. We have well-developed characters, that you can’t help but feel a connection to. I loved Nikki’s character but also her connections to her hometown, her family and her lost love." - review by Working Mommy Journal
 

Book Series Description:

Folks in the small town of Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, claim that where Nikki Bryant goes, trouble is not far behind. Her refusal to back down from a challenge has made Nikki Bryant a top investigative journalist.

After years of chasing mysteries around the globe, Nikki Bryant returns home to Pine Grove to take over managing WKPG-TV and reconnects with her first love, Ryan Spaulding, the chief of the state police crime lab.

It doesn't take long for Nikki and her family to realize that you can't keep this ace reporter and her boxer dog Elmo behind a desk--especially when a mystery is afoot.

Buy the Series:
Amazon.com

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Matters of the Heart by Heidi Gray McGill My Review

 

About the book 

She determines to champion the needs of others, no matter the fallout.

He’s determined to be his own man and make his own way.

Will stubbornness keep them from discovering God’s best?

Unconventional Katie empathizes with the widows and orphans of the Civil War who are searching for a place to call home in Shumard Oak Bend. But with no one to help her, she’ll need to do it secretly, a challenge she readily accepts. Katie’s taken charge before, and she’ll do it again, no matter whom she has to outwit to get the job done.

Hans vows to stop doing everyone else’s bidding. But he follows orders when a pair of emerald green eyes, blazing red hair, and freckles that dance on the bridge of a pert nose conscript him to duty. Be his own man. Who is he kidding? Skunks don’t change their stripes. They leave disasters in their wake wherever they go, just like him.

Overcoming personal obstacles and finding your true self doesn’t mean going it alone. Yet the answer isn’t always in the one you seek.

True Christian Fiction. Relatable Characters. Life-changing stories.

And I thought 

Historical Romance is not my 'Go To' choice for reading. 

I was offered a chance to read Matters of the Heart 

I am so glad I read this one and can say for several reasons this is the best book I have read this in year.  

I have to say it is also probably the best and we'll written Christian Romance I have ever read. 

Matters of the Heart is an excellent and well written love story.  But author Heidi Gray McGill also includes Christian values and principles that follow with the story. 

Each of the main characters are struggling with their own feelings and thoughts of God and how he is a part of their life and circumstances. 

I felt many emotions as I turned the pages. 

 There were times I giggled when Katie and Hans interacted.  There were times I laughed . . . when it was revealed later in the he book what the main dish was when Han's had just arrived.  

My heart was filled as I rode along

with Hans and the Reverand.  As an outsider peering into their conversations it was easy to see just what the Reverand be was 'up to'.  And how God had a plan for Hans. 

I loved my chance to begin this series and look forward to reading the previous books.  And the prequel offered on the authors website.  

I also found a blog post with the authors behind the scenes story of how she developed the main characters.  Click Here

Each book in the series is written as a standalone. 

Many thanks to author Heidi Gray McGill to allowing me the chance to read an advance copy.  

I will post a review on Amazon and Good Reads. 

Visit the authors website click Here

The series  

Each title is available on Amazon. 

Monday, July 25, 2022

Happy Rudolph Day and Christmas Books





Chose a few because I liked the covers.  I have not read any of these use you won't  find reviews here.  













New Releases

 


Something Fishy This Way Comes

 by Gabby Allan 

Since returning home from mainland California and finding her groove with the family tourism business, Whitney Dagner’s daily routine has become a wonderfully chaotic adventure. She and her nimble kitty, Whiskers, often find themselves at the center of the action on Catalina, from staged treasure hunts to gossipy birdwatchers. But before Whit can get too comfortable in the place where she grew up, a gift shop order leads to a stunning discovery—someone’s dead body . . . 

Available on Amazon

Click Here



Mint Chocolate Murder

by Meri Allen (Cozy)

When Udderly Delightful Ice Cream shop manager Riley Rhodes is summoned to Penniman’s Moy Mull Castle, it’s the cherry on top of a successful summer season. The gothic pile built by an eccentric New England Gilded Age millionaire has been transformed into a premiere arts colony by Maud Monaco, a reclusive former supermodel. As part of Moy Mull’s Fall Arts Festival, Maud is throwing a fantasy ice cream social and hires Riley to whip up unique treats to celebrate the opening of an exhibit by Adam Blasco, a photographer as obnoxious as he is talented. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here



Tone Death 

 by Christy Barritt 

Annie King, a popular social media personality, is being threatened and requests Camryn’s help. Before Camryn can uncover the truth about what’s going on, Annie nearly dies while filming her show. With Annie in the hospital, Camryn is compelled to do whatever she can to help.  

Available on 

 Click  Here



Red Flags 

by Lisa Black

When D.C. crime scene analyst Dr. Ellie Carr is called to investigate the heartrending case of a missing baby, she’s shocked to discover that the child’s mother is her own cousin. Close during their impoverished childhoods, Ellie and Rebecca eventually drifted apart. Rebecca is now half of a Washington power couple, and she and her wealthy lobbyist husband, Hunter, have been living a charmed life in an opulent mansion—until their infant son is taken. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


The Paper Caper 

 by Kate Carlisle 

Brooklyn is excited to be included in the Covington Library’s first annual Mark Twain Festival. She’ll rebind a rare first edition of The Prince and the Pauper before an enthusiastic audience of book nerds—her favorite people. The festival is the passion project of wealthy media mogul, book lover, and newspaper owner Joseph Cabot, who considers himself Twain’s biggest fan. Brooklyn’s hunky husband, Derek, and his security team once rescued Joseph from a corporate kidnapping attempt.  

Available on Amazon 

Click Here



Opera and Old Lace 

by Kathi Daley (Cozy) 

Shelby decides to clean out the second floor of the building which had been used by the previous owner as a storage area. While clearing out the large dusty space she finds a stack of boxes with so much dust on them that she is certain that they’d been there for decades. Shelby opens to boxes and finds items left behind from the owner of the garment factory that had utilized the space half a century ago. During the course of sifting through the old treasures, Shelby finds a journal that appeared to have been left behind by a man who lived in the area in the nineteen sixties and seventies. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here 



Murder Spills The Tea 

by Vicki Delany 

The country’s hottest TV cooking show is coming to Cape Cod. And against her better judgment, Lily Roberts is entering America Bakes! with her charming tearoom, Tea by the Sea! Filming is already proving disruptive, closing the tearoom during Lily’s busiest season. But tensions really bubble over when infamous bad-boy chef and celebrity judge, Tommy Greene, loses his temper with Lily’s staff, resulting in an on-camera blowout with Cheryl Wainwright.  

Click Here


Murder Through the English Post 

by Jessica Ellicott 

What began for two dear if very different friends—an American adventuress and a prim and proper Brit—as a creative response to the lean times following the Great War has evolved into a respectable private enquiry business. So much so that Constable Gibbs calls upon Beryl and Edwina to solve a curious campaign of character assassination. 

Available on Amazon 

Click Here


Murder at the Blueberry Festival 

by Darci Hannah 

After a career on Wall Street, Lindsey is making a different kind of dough in a pretty lakeside village, and the upcoming blueberry festival—including the pie-eating contest her bakery is hosting—is the highlight of the summer. But soon Beacon Harbor runs into a patch of trouble. A local real estate agent gets pranked. A parade float gets pelted with water balloons. 

Available on Amazon

Click Here 


Death by Haunted House

 by Lee Hollis 

Once upon a time, food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell used to be married to a man named Danny. They lived quite the cozy life together in rugged Maine. And for two years, their closest neighbor was an abandoned house that only seemed to add to their picture-perfect life. Even if the owner had died under mysterious circumstances. 

Available on Amazon

Click Here 


Death of an Ice Scream Scooper

 by Lee Hollis 

Food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell doesn’t know what to believe when Lydia Partridge, the put-together owner of gourmet Bar Harbor Ice Cream, suddenly reveals fears that her husband may be having an affair. There’s no other way to explain why Jamie, a respected professor, was spotted in a remote part of town with a much younger woman. But instead of learning the truth about the secret meeting, Lydia opens her freezer truck to find another surprise—the dead body of a summer employee . . . 

Available on Amazon

Click Here 





Death A Sketch

 by Cheryl Hollon 

Miranda’s business—combining Appalachian adventure tours with art and a bit of moonshine—is the perfect place for an outdoor sporting goods company to hold an employee retreat. It’ll be a challenge, but the money they’re paying will definitely help with building her new distillery.  

Available on Amazon

Click Here



Coached Red-Handed 

by Victoria Laurie 

With Gilley heartbroken over the collapse of his marriage, Cat has the perfect remedy—a three-week-long getaway to Italy. But before the duo can pack their bags and sip prosecco on the sunny riviera, they first must help a troubled client carve out a fresh start of her own. Wealthy Scarlet Rubi desperately seeks a greater purpose and immediate distance from her toxic descendants. The urgency of the situation isn’t quite so clear until Scarlet takes healthy steps towards progress, only to turn up dead . . . 

Available on Amazon

Click Here 



Haunted House Murder

 by Leslie Meier 

A woman with many hats, Lucy Stone is rarely on time, but she’s never too late to catch the important news in the Maine coastal town of Tinker’s Cove. Sometimes it might even make the front page of the Pennysaver, the town’s weekly paper. For example, the latest out of the basement town hall meeting is that the dilapidated house across the street from the elementary school will not be condemned. In fact, a local inspection has proved it’s structurally sound.   

Available on Amazon

Click Here 


No Parm No Foul 

by Linda Reilly 

After a long hot summer in Balsam Dell, Carly Hale is ready for crisp Vermont weather and gourmet grilled cheeses at her Grilled Cheese Eatery. And the upcoming Halloween food competition is the perfect way to impress the locals. But Ferris Menard, the owner of Sub-a-Dub-Sub, is nursing a serious grudge against Carly. Two days before the competition, one of Carly’s employees quit his part-time gig at Menard’s sub shop, sending Menard into a serious snit. 

Available on Amazon

Click Here 



Hallowed Out 

 by Barbara Ross 

With its history of hauntings and ghost sightings, Busman’s Harbor is the perfect setting for Halloween festivities. Despite her busy schedule, Julia agrees to help out with a haunted house tour to protect her mother from overwhelming herself. But when a reenactment of a Prohibition-era gangster’s murder ends with a literal bang and a dead actor from New Jersey, Julia Snowden must identify a killer before she ends up sleeping with the fishes. 

Available on Amazon

Click Here



The Creek

 by LJ Ross 

Kate Irving arrives at her grandfather’s cottage at Frenchman’s Creek in the dead of night with her young son, a small suitcase and little else. Its scattered community of fishermen, farmers, artists and jetsetters barely bat an eyelid, because theirs is a rarefied world, tucked beneath the lush forest that lines the banks of the Helford Estuary, deep in the heart of Cornwall, where life is slow and people generally mind their own business. Unless, of course, your grandfather happens to be a pillar of the local community. . . 

Available on Amazon

Click Here



Witch and Famous

 by Angela M. Sanders 

Josie and all of Wilfred are buzzing with excitement. A-list movie star Daphne Morris has chosen to interview Roz, assistant librarian and novelist, for her book club. But when the glamorous actress quickly charms both Roz’s long-time love and sheriff Sam, the object of Josie’s unrequited affection, Josie turns to the whispers from her beloved books for ideas on revising the plot. Yet soon there’s another twist . . .  

Available on Amazon

Click Here



No Love Lost 

by LynDee Walker 

The Rangers are running an active shooter simulation in an empty mall when they find a young woman’s body, wrapped in plastic in a mechanical closet. When the medical examiner discovers that this woman is missing several organs, it is Faith’s first clue that this is not your average murder.  

Available on Amazon

Click Here


The Three Dahlias

 by Katy Watson 

In attendance at Aldermere: the VIP fans, staying at house; the fan club president turned convention organiser; the team behind the newest movie adaptation of Davenport’s books; the Davenport family themselves; and the three  pee famous for portraying Dahlia Lively through the decades.  

Available on Amazon

Click Here



The Body in the Annex 

 by Diana Xarissa 

After months of planning, sisters Abigai and Amanda Clark have finally purchased a historic resort property in the Finger Lakes. Abigail has years of experience managing hotels and restaurants, so she’s sure she’s ready for this new challenge. She isn’t even bothered when her sister takes her dream job and decides not to move to Nightshade right away. 

Here



Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Read an Excerpt The Sign of the Calico Quartz by Jan Drexler

 July 21 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT






“This must be Thatcher.” I held the corgi’s smiling face between my hands and rubbed his ears. His tri-color markings included black lines around his eyes that made him look like he was wearing spectacles.


“That dog.” Humorous disgust filled Wil’s voice. “He got out of his crate again. I keep telling Rose that she needs to put a lock on that thing.”


“He’s just a smart puppy.” The dog’s eyes half-closed as I scratched his chest. “And the cutest thing.”


“Cutest brat, you mean.” Wil closed the door and picked up my suitcase. “As long as Rose is at home, he’s fine. But as soon as she walks out the door, he’s a holy terror.”


“He can’t be that bad.” I watched the dog approach the door of Tim’s cat carrier, caution in every step. “It looks like he and Tim might get along.”


“Tim?”


“My cat.” I indicated the crate. Thatcher’s nose was stuck through the wire door and his tail was wiggling.


“That dog doesn’t get along with anyone.”


His smile belied his gruff words. It was just a bit crooked. One a girl would die for. I grabbed Tim’s carrier and stood up again, dusting my knees with the other hand to avoid his gaze. Maybe some girls would fall for a grin like that, but it would be a long time before another guy caught my eye, cute as a teen heartthrob or not. 




Christian Sweet Clean New Releases

 



His Radiant Bride 
by Autumn Macarthur

She's sworn off love. He wants to give his daughter a loving home. Neither of them want to risk their heart. It should be a perfect marriage.

After her fiancĂ© dumped her just weeks before the wedding, elementary school teacher Rebecca “Rusty” Matthews vowed never to fall in love again. She’s completely happy with her life in small-town Sweetapple Falls, Oregon. If marriage and a family isn’t part of God’s plan for her life, she’s fine with that. She has her work, her faith, her friends, and chocolate. Who needs romance?

Reluctantly divorced mechanic Tom Davis suddenly becomes a full-time father again when his ex-wife leaves their ten-year-old daughter, Ava, with him. Tom wants to help his beloved child settle back into life in Sweetapple Falls, but it seems his ex-wife was right—he only understands machines, not emotions. Managing Ava’s moods and outbursts after her life is torn apart for the second time are beyond him. He turns to the one person his daughter trusts. Her Sunday school teacher, Rusty.

A marriage of convenience will give Ava the loving, stable home she needs. But will Tom lose them both when he falls in love with the woman he married, who could just be his ideal bride? 

Will the 4th of July fireworks light the way to love for Summer and Ace when they find themselves thrown together in Friday Harbor this summer? 

Available on Amazon

Click Here



Fireworks in Friday Harbour 

by Annee Jones

Seattle marketing specialist Summer Connelly welcomes the assignment to supervise the construction of a company float for the annual 4th of July parade in Friday Harbor, WA. Not only will it be a chance to prove her leadership skills to her boss, but an opportunity for a much-needed escape, especially since she hasn’t taken any time off since her divorce was finalized over a year ago.

Ace Lockhart is tired. He works himself to the bone at his Portland contracting company, but something in his life feels off. When doctors tell him his elderly father has taken a turn for the worse, he heads to Friday Harbor to be with the old man, simply because no one else in the family will even speak to him after what he did.

As fate would have it, Summer’s plans for the parade go up in smoke before any fireworks are even set off. Can Ace be the ticket to light at the end of the tunnel? Will their days together prior to the big show lead to fireworks in more ways than one?

Available on Amazon

Click Here


Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Deceived by Mary Keliikoa Great Escapes Tour

 July 20 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW



About the book

In the third thrilling book in the Kelly Pruett mystery series–Her world was falling into place. Then women started dropping off the map.

PI Kelly Pruett finally feels like she’s coming into her own. With her personal life well on track, a gig uncovering what drove a client’s granddaughter underground could be good for business. But after her undercover operation at the homeless shelter reveals rampant drug dealing, she’s suddenly kicked off the case… just as another girl goes missing.

Vowing to expose the truth even if it means pro-bono work, Kelly is taken aback when her half-sister helps her hunt down answers in a tent city brimming with distrust. When her investigation doesn’t move quickly enough to save a second woman from a vicious murder, Kelly doubles her efforts unwilling to accept defeat.


And I thought 

I signed up for the tour because I was intrigued with the cover. 

I jumped right in and was captivated from page 1. 

I did not realize I had read book 3 till I began writing this review. 

That is how well written this book is.  I was a little confused and curious about some of the back story and family dynamics between Kelly and her family but all that was in the background because the mystery had me turning the pages. 

Deceived was a great read.  

A very well written plot kept me interested and turning the pages. 

It was hard to put down to go to bed.  (That doesn't happen often) 

I will be watching for the next Kelly Pruitt Mystery. 

I received a complimentary copy as as part of the Great  Escapes Book Tour. 

My review will appear on Amazon and Good Reads.

Buy the book 


SIGNED COPIES ARE AVAILABLE THRU VINTAGE BOOKS 

Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org – Apple – Kobo –

Visit the tour 


Click Here


Sunday, July 17, 2022

New Releases

 



Peppermint Barked 

by Leslie Budewitz 

As the holiday season lights up Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, Pepper Reece’s beloved Spice Shop is brimming with cinnamon, nutmeg, and shoppers eager to stuff their stockings. Add to the mix a tasty staff competition—a peppermint bark-off—along with Victorian costumes for this year’s Dickensian Christmas theme, and Pepper almost forgets to be nervous about meeting her fisherman boyfriend’s brother for the first time. 

Available on Amazon

Click Here


A Medium Fate

 by Lynn Cahoon New Series

When Eddie Cayce turned home to New Orleans from her carefully built Seattle life, it’s not just for her grandmother’s funeral. She’s home to stay. More to the point, now that she’s broken it off with the almost fiancĂ© and quit her corporate junior designer position over one too many trainings on how to run a copier, she has no reason to return. 

Available on Amazon

Click Here


Death in the New Land 

by Kaye George

It’s clear the groups of other settlers in the area do not want more neighbors, and this is made even more evident when a male of Enga’s tribe is murdered, and a baby is kidnapped. The future of the tribe is immediately put into question. Can Enga and her people find the killer and rescue the baby? Or will the security and bright future the tribe has dreamed of fall to pieces?  

Available on Amazon

Click Here


The Wedding Plot

 by Paula Munier 

When Mercy’s grandmother Patience marries her longtime beau Claude Renault at the five-star Lady’s Slipper Inn, it promises to be the destination wedding of the year. Just as the four-day extravaganza is due to begin, the inn’s spa director Bodhi St. George disappears—and Mercy’s mother Grace sends Mercy and Elvis to find him. But what they discover instead is a stranger skewered by a pitchfork in the barn on the goat farm where St. George lived

Available on Amazon

Click Here