Sunday, September 30, 2018

Book Blitz and Giveaway: Blackbird Road by


Blackbird Road
James L. Weaver
(Jake Caldwell #3)
Published by: Lakewater Press
Publication date: September 25th 2018
Genres: Adult, Thriller
With his wedding day fast approaching and his PI boss heading out of town, ex-mob enforcer Jake Caldwell decides to take one more job before a much-needed vacation. But in a matter of days, his client is assassinated and her six-year-old son kidnapped.
With just a few clues, Jake calls on old friends to help track down the person responsible. Only this time his fiancée Maggie, desperate for Jake to leave his violent history behind, can’t guarantee she’ll be there when, or if, he comes home.
But Jake can’t turn his back on those who need him. It’s in his blood.
A perilous plot of lies and secrets unfolds, and Jake encounters criminals more brutal than ever. And when a threat to thousands of innocent lives is uncovered, Jake once again dives back into his past, requesting favors from some unexpected and unsavory contacts.
Jake needs to stay one step ahead of the bad guys if he’s to have any future at all.
The third book in the award-winning JAKE CALDWELL series is an intense, complex, and frantic race against time. Weaver has done it again in this raw and riveting read set in the Ozarks.
Dawson’s arm lashed out and backhanded the kid. The boy flew back and crashed to the gravel, hands covering his face. Dawson advanced on the crumpled figure, and Jake jammed his foot against the gas pedal.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Just gotta take care of something. I’ll call you back.”
He tossed the phone to the passenger seat as he maneuvered the truck toward the fork in the road. The heat crawled up his neck, flushing his face in a crimson hue, feeling the sting of the strike on his face as if Dawson struck him. Jake’s father was the master of the backhand slap, and Jake the recipient of it many times. The perfect balance of speed and stealth—you never saw it coming. As Jake wrung the life from the steering wheel and spun right at the fork in the road, he had to get his shit under control or it would be Dawson’s neck beneath his hands. That wouldn’t end well for anyone.
By the time Jake roared up the driveway, a woman made a feeble attempt to stand between Dawson and the boy. Another quick lash from Dawson’s hand sent her sprawling on the ground beside the kid. Jake slid to a stop in a cloud of dust and grabbed his pistol under the seat. Dawson jerked his head at the disturbance, a snarl rising on his stubbled face. Jake drew a deep breath of sanity through his nose and out his mouth, releasing the gun. It would be a horrible idea to bring it, and he wouldn’t need it anyway. If he couldn’t take care of a drunk wife beater, then he might as well give it all up and go work as a janitor somewhere.
Jake stomped from the truck, noting the blood trickling from the boy’s nose. Old, purple and yellow bruises lined the woman’s arm like a bad tattoo. The familiar scent of whiskey wafted from Dawson as Jake drew close, hurling him back to the house in Warsaw when he would lay on the floor after a beat down from his father, his mother shielding him from further blows.

James L Weaver is the Kansas City author of the Jake Caldwell series featuring IAN Thriller of the Year finalist Poor Boy Road, and the IAN Thriller of the Year finalist and New Apple Official Selection sequel Ares Road from Lakewater Press. He makes his home in Olathe, Kansas with his wife of 20 years and two children. His previous publishing credits include a six part story called "The Nuts" and his 5-star rated debut novel Jack & Diane which is available on Amazon.com. Author note: a handful of the raters are actually not related to him.
His limited free time is spent writing into the wee hours of the morning, playing parental taxi cab to his kids' sporting endeavors, and binge watching Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Current favorite TV shows: The Walking Dead, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Game of Thrones, The Resident and Shameless.
Current favorite music artists: Alter Bridge, Rush, Sara Bareilles, Halestorm
Last best book read: Twisted Prey by John Sandford
Favorite comedians: John Caparulo, Kathleen Madigan, Mike Birbiglia, John Mulaney
You can follow him on Twitter @jlweaverbooks.

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Saturday, September 29, 2018

Release Blitz and Review: Hidden Hearts by Lindsay Detwiler


Title: Hidden Hearts
Lines in the Sand Prequel Novella
Author: Lindsay Detwiler
Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
Genre: Contemporary/MM Romance
Release Date: September 29, 2018
Not all secrets can stay hidden when it comes to love.

“All along, Reed Wilder’s been this crazy rebel just waiting for me to let my guard down. And so, here we are, standing at the bar waiting to get the party started.”

Sexy entrepreneur Lysander Wyatt has always believed in happily-ever-after thanks to his picture-perfect family. Now orphaned, he’s made a family of his own at his popular beach bar, Midsummer Nights. There’s just one thing missing—the forever kind of love he’s been looking for.

Reed Wilder, a guarded corporate man from Philadelphia, is looking for himself when he moves to Ocean City, Maryland. However, a rocky childhood makes him afraid of commitment. When he walks into Midsummer Nights and meets the attractive bartender who owns it, he’ll have to decide if love might actually be worth the risk. Will Lysander and Reed get on the same page about commitment, or will they continue hiding the true desires and fears of their hearts?

This sweet m/m standalone 35,000-word novella is also a prequel to the popular Lines in the Sand series.
99c for a limited time
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Hidden Hearts by Lindsay Detwiler is the prequel to her Lines in the Sand series and features Lysander and Reed. Hidden Hearts does not end in a cliffhanger, but if you want more than this novella offers, they can be seen in the other books in the series.

Lysander is a hopeless romantic and he falls for the one guy that doesn't really believe in any of that stuff. The question was, would they be able to find the middle ground? I honestly loved these two men and liked that they were opposites in many ways. I don't want to get into their differences too much since that would give away some of the plot. That said, parts of the book were repetitive and other parts left me scratching my head and giving me whiplash. One minute Reed is saying he needs time and then the next minute (same night), he declares himself. Then he goes back to what he was when he runs into people he knows. The friends I get, but the other...it seemed a little abrupt to me given what he'd just said. I did love the couple and Jodie gave much needed comic relief to this story. She is what pushed many scenes along. The story was good and the plot intriguing.

I enjoyed the story overall, and I'm already downloading the other books in this series. 3.5 stars and I recommend you one click this story today.
An English teacher, an author, and a fan of anything pink and/or glittery, Lindsay's the English teacher cliché; she loves cats, reading, Shakespeare, and Poe.

She currently lives in her hometown with her husband, Chad (her junior high sweetheart); their cats, Arya, Amelia, Alice, Marjorie, and Bob; and their mastiff, Henry.

Lindsay's goal with her writing is to show the power of love and the beauty of life while also instilling a true sense of realism in her work. Some reviewers have noted that her books are not the “typical romance.” With her novels coming from a place of honesty, Lindsay examines the difficult questions, looks at the tough emotions, and paints the pictures that are sometimes difficult to look at. She wants her fiction to resonate with readers as realistic, poetic, and powerful. Lindsay wants women readers to be able to say, “I see myself in that novel.” She wants to speak to the modern woman’s experience while also bringing a twist of something new and exciting. Her aim is for readers to say, “That could happen,” or “I feel like the characters are real.” That’s how she knows she's done her job.

Lindsay's hope is that by becoming a published author, she can inspire some of her students and other aspiring writers to pursue their own passions. She wants them to see that any dream can be attained and publishing a novel isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
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Release Blitz and Giveaway: Because You're the Love of my Life by Sarah Kleck


Because You’re the Love of My Life
Sarah Kleck
Publication date: September 25th 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
How do you recognize the love of your life? Do you have butterflies in your stomach? Do you see showers of sparks and fireworks as soon as he steps into the room? Or, is your big love composed of something quieter?
Annie longs for nothing more in her life than someone to love her with his whole heart. With Holden, this wish seems fulfilled, and the two build their own world. But how much pain can happiness bear? When something utterly shocking happens, Annie’s life becomes unstable, and nothing is as it once was. Then, she unexpectedly bumps into her teenage love Seth, and her life is completely thrown off balance—especially when fate intends its own tragic story.
From the Editor:
Because You’re the Love of My Life is a story of love, heartbreak, and more love—romantic and otherwise. As a senior in high school, our protagonist, Annie, takes charge of her life, and she bravely separates herself from a difficult mother and home life, and from recent heartbreak. She moves across the country—without financial or familial support—to attend college at Harvard. “I felt at home in Boston in a way I never had . . . This was right for me,” Annie says.
And, it is true: she blossoms personally, academically, and, then, professionally. Though she fumbles at times in ways that seem utterly human and familiar, she forges friendships, commits to a relationship, and navigates through profound tragedy.
Annie narrates from a point well past when the events of the novel took place and with the perspective gained from that time. Yet, Sarah Kleck renders Annie’s narration so vividly that it seems as if these memories are unfolding in present time. Sarah Kleck’s devotion to Annie’s story shines through sharply written dialogue, authentic detail of culture and place, and a cast of richly rendered characters—among them Grace, Annie’s sassy best friend, and the various loves of Annie’s life.
Because You’re the Love of My Life made me wish I could accompany Annie beyond these pages, and it left me hungry for Sarah Kleck’s next novel.
– Rebecca Friedman, Editor
“Good evening, what can I do for you?” The pharmacist greeted me at the counter.
“I . . . um . . . need a laxative,” I said embarrassed. I would’ve preferred to pick one on my own, but I didn’t have a clue which was best, so I went straight to the pharmacist.
“How long have you been constipated?” she asked, unfazed.
“About three days.”
She nodded. “Are you drinking enough fluids? Do you exercise and eat a healthy diet?”
“Yes,” my voice was becoming stiff, “normally my digestion works just fine.” Couldn’t she just go and get the stuff? I didn’t feel like discussing my bowel movements with her. This was downright humiliating.
“Well, for acute constipation, the drugs for that should only be taken over a short—”
“Just give me something that’ll help me go to the bathroom by tomorrow morning.”
“Fine,” the pharmacist answered and went off to get my laxative. At that moment, I heard a strange clicking sound. I turned around. It was Holden, on crutches, and he had a big white cast on his left leg.
“Hi,” he said with a big smile. At least he seemed happy to see me.
“Hi,” I forced a smile. “How’s your leg? It looked pretty bad during the game last Saturday.”
“Clean break,” he said, gesturing toward his leg. “The good news is,” he continued with a sly grin while pulling a crumpled-up prescription from his jeans pocket, “my doctor prescribed the works for my pain.”
Just then the pharmacist returned with a box of Dulcolax in her hand.
“Have you used this before?”
Oh no . . .
“Yes,” I answered quickly, hoping she’d shut her damn trap and let me pay before Holden saw what I was buying. My wish was not granted.
“Just take one tablet this evening. That’ll soften your stool overnight. After six to eight hours, the constipation will have loosened up.”
Oh God! Take me now!
While I blushed beet red, I could see Holden looking at me from the corner of my eye—with the broadest grin you could imagine.
I’m gonna die!
“If this is a particularly bad case of constipation,” the pharmacist continued mercilessly, “you can take two tablets. Don’t take more or you’ll have diarrhea.”
What the fuck was wrong with this woman? She wasn’t a doctor, and this wasn’t a goddamn doctor’s appointment!
She packed the little box into a small plastic bag. I dared to hope it was finally over—but, no, she started right up again. “Your intestines will void completely after intake, so don’t expect another bowel movement for two to three days.”
What have I done to deserve this?
Since I couldn’t think of anything to say in the face of this humiliation—especially in front of him—I just nodded silently while my ears were burning.
The pharmacist rang me up and handed me the bag with a cheery “Have a good evening.” Then she turned to Holden. “What can I do for you?”
I didn’t dare look at him. I mumbled a goodbye, squeezed by him as quickly as I could, and headed for the door.
“Bye, we’ll get together sometime,” he replied, while clearly trying to suppress a grin. “Oh, Annie,” he called after me before I could complete my escape from this hell.
I stopped on the spot but didn’t turn around. “Yes?” my voice was trembling with shame. I shut my eyes.
“Good luck!”

Sarah Kleck was born in 1984 in Southern Germany. She studied education, psychology, and sociology at the University of Augsburg. Today, she lives with her husband and their daughters in Germany near Lake Constance.
Sarah caught the imagination of 120,000 readers worldwide with her first novel "The Concealed" and its sequel "The Revealed". After this successful fantasy series for young adults, she is now entering new territory with "Because You're the Love of My Life". Already a bestseller in Germany, this novel is now being published in English.

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Release Blitz and Giveaway: Blessed Fury by C.S. Wilde


Blessed Fury
C.S. Wilde
Publication date: September 21st 2018
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy
Once you face the devils, there’s no going back.
Guardian angel Ava Lightway has spent a century watching over her charges, whispering the words of the gods in their ears. But her peaceful existence ends when she’s assigned to Liam Striker, a supernatural detective with no memory of his past.
Liam might be Ava’s biggest challenge yet. Stubborn and dangerously captivating, he’ll stop at nothing to find the demon who murdered his father. Even if it costs him his life.
Keeping death away from her new partner is an impossible task. And even if their investigation doesn’t destroy Ava, succumbing to Liam’s smoldering touch just may.
—
Are you a book reviewer?


The stench of stale beer and sweat invaded Ava’s nostrils as she moved toward the bar. A football game played on the screen behind the counter, but none of the three men populating the pub paid any attention to it.
The air inside was musty, old, and it only worsened as she approached the end of the room.
She passed by the first man, who sat in a booth on the left. He stared at nothing in particular, with a cry stuck midway in his throat and a half-empty jug of beer clutched in his hand. The bad lighting drenched half of him in shadows, making it seem like darkness was swallowing him.
He didn’t notice Ava because she had masked her presence before entering. She wasn’t exactly invisible. Humans could see her if they focused hard enough, but they rarely did.
Ava made a mental note to check up on that poor soul if she had the chance, her Guardian instincts urging her to help. He was clearly suffering, but she was here for a reason, and the reason was not that man. So she went back to the task at hand.
The wooden floor creaked as she approached the bar. The bartender, an old man with white hair and a face marred by deep wrinkles, cleaned a dirty glass from behind the counter.
She wasn’t here for him, either.
The last man sat hunched at the edge of the counter. Well, he wasn’t exactly a man. According to his file, he was a Selfless, an angel whose memories had been wiped out so he could be reborn as a human—standard procedure, considering centuries of memories could overload a human brain.
She stopped by his side and sat on the red padded stool to his left. The seat’s ripped leather grazed the white fabric of her bodysuit, scratching her thighs.
The man was hunched over, so she couldn’t see much of him except for his strong build and dark hair. He took a long gulp of his drink and didn’t acknowledge her presence for a while.
So she waited.
“Archie isn’t dead yet,” he finally said, his voice rough like a cement wall.
“I do belie—”
“He’s not dead,” the man repeated, his attention solely on what was left of his whiskey.
She took a deep breath. “I know, Liam.” She used her Guardian voice, the calm, soothing tone to which she had grown accustomed. It was how she talked to her charges, how every guardian angel spoke, actually. Using the same serene tone.
Liam turned to Ava, his brow furrowed and his lips twisted, and for a moment too quick to count, she lost her breath. Ava had seen his photo on file, but the live version of him was brutally handsome. Liam was a cool wind on a summer morning and a thunder waiting to crack. His features were all sharp angles and fierce lines, but his eyes … Ava had never seen eyes like those. Rough emeralds cut with razor-sharp precision, almost like crystalline water, if water were green.
“Don’t call me by my name,” he spoke through gritted teeth. “You don’t know me.”
“You’re right, and I apologize.” She patted her thighs as if she were fixing the apron of an invisible dress. “I only read your file, but I’d like to get to know you, Liam.”
“You’re a Guardian,” he scoffed and took a sip of his drink.
“I am,” she said, ignoring the contempt in his tone. “However, the word the Messenger used when he assigned you as my charge was ‘temporary partner’.”
“You’re not my partner,” he barked through tight lips. “Archie is.”
“I’m not here to replace Archibald, Liam.”
He glared at her, certainly because she had used Archibald’s name and his. This seemed to be a sensitive matter to her new charge, so she calmly added, “I can’t replace your partner. No one can.” Ava extended her hand to him. “I’m Ava, by the way. And I’m here to help.”
C.S. Wilde wrote her first Fantasy novel when she was eight. That book was absolutely terrible, but her mother told her it was awesome, so she kept writing.

Now a grown-up (though many will beg to differ), C. S. Wilde writes about fantastic worlds, love stories larger than life and epic battles.
She also, quite obviously, sucks at writing an author bio. She finds it awkward that she must write this in the third person, and hopes you won't notice.

To be notified of upcoming releases, signup for the Kick-ass Team at www.cswilde.com

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Friday, September 28, 2018

Release Blitz and Giveaway: Change for You by Crystal Lacy

Release Date: September 28, 2018
Cover Design: Simply Defined Art
Silver fox Stephen Webb doesn’t mean to start a workplace fling with the cute new intern.

Stephen Webb has a pivotal tax season ahead of him and he doesn't have time for distractions. At least that's what he thinks—until Minoru "Max" Kamigawa walks into his life and disrupts all his plans.

Max secretly wants to follow his love of music, but family obligations keep him rooted in Hawaii. Tax supervisor Stephen Webb makes his spring internship a little sweeter, but the man's priorities don't seem to include Max. Is it only a fling or something worth staying for when his dreams come calling?

Stephen and Max must decide whether to stick to their goals or risk everything and change their course for love.

A May-December MM romance with a HEA and no cliffhangers set in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Available Now
Brave for You (Oahu Lovers Book 1)
Crystal Lacy lives with her loving family in Hawaii, where it is always either drizzling or sunny and never snows—which is a shame, because she prefers being cold to being damp and hot unless it’s for Very Good Reasons. She writes queer romance, mainly M/M, but also some F/F. She has aspirations to one day write a YA novel about cats.

Crystal is a long-time fangirl and writes slash fanfiction for the Harry Potter and NBC Hannibal fandoms under the name crystalusagi. She has a deep love for fandom culture, and can be frequently spotted on Twitter and Tumblr reblogging pretty fan art.
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Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/2x8vVVM
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Release Blitz: And the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Jahmella Robinson

40 encouragements to elevate the mind in the midst of a storm.
Based on real-life experiences.
Author: Jahmella Robinson
Title: And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: XLIBRIS
From an overcrowded council-owned flat in South East London to a self-employed homeowner in Kent with room to spare, And The Walls Came Tumbling Down follows the journey taken by author Jahmella Robinson as she tears down the seemingly impenetrable walls of her life to expose the twists and turns endured to make the transition. In a comical manner, readers will gain insight into her entertaining upbringing, unexpected health battles, unusual faith journey and her once-in-a-lifetime mission trip experience.

The tumbling of walls can only happen when one stops seeking the approval of others and lives in an authentic way that's when the Encourager was birthed. Are you in need of encouragement? Are you tired of putting on a brave face in the face of others? Have you jumped over hurdles, learnt significant lessons, but you feel shy to share? In this book, readers are provided with a refreshing perspective on owning but not accepting our imperfections, being honest with self and others, and relying on a personal relationship with God for transformation.
  
IG: @Jahm_ella_encourages

Jahmella Robinson is a British author who is relatively new to the field of writing books. While she has been writing short pieces for many years, ‘And the Walls Came Tumbling Down’ is her first published book. Drawing from scriptural wisdom, and personal experiences, she guides readers to look beyond the storms of life and instead to hold on to hope. She uses the analogy of walls tumbling down to unmask herself, stripping back the common well-polished façade. Jahmella has a degree in Economics from Sussex University, and while she has been working within financial services for almost a decade, her passion lies in sharing life lessons and insights to encourage and build up others.
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