Giveaway – The Killer’ s Wife by Susan Furlong @partnersincr1me @Furlong_Sue

The Killer’s Wife by Susan Furlong Banner

The Killer’s Wife

by Susan Furlong

July 3 – August 11, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

MY REVIEW

It is easy for a great cover to lure me into grabbing a book and the title for The KIller’s Wife made me curious. Why would I care about her? I do watch a lot of true crime shows and The Killer’s Wife has ‘show’ chapters that, to me, share a lot of the problems with the mishandling of the investigation into the serial killer, Lucas, and his wife who was accused of being an accessory, Kerry Grey.

I had all kinds of thoughts running through my mind, but Susan Furlong was not going to make this easy and nothing was as it seemed. I did have my suspicions early on and some of them came to fruition. Things seemed too cut and dried and we can’t have that. LOL In a small town, it is easy for the residents…and the police…to make the accused fit the facts.

I wondered about Nash. There was something off about him, but things with him didn’t play out the way I thought they would. I love it. Wyatt always seems to be hanging around and gives me the creeps. An old boyfriend hanging around while Kerry marries Lucas and has a child by him and after her serving four years in prison he still wants her? Could we label him obsessive?

How could Kerry Grey not know her husband was a serial killer? More than one wife, in real life, has been asked that very question. Their son is steadfast in his belief that his father is no killer. Could they have it wrong?

Kerry decides to find out the answers for herself. I knew it was coming, but the way things went down was not what I expected. Susan Furlong has a vivid imagination and she let it loose in The Killer’s Wife. I love endings that can earn that extra praise from me, that shock me, surprise me and make the familiar unfamiliar. Well done, Susan.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Killer’s Wife by Susan Furlong.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

Synopsis:

A serial killer, a woman on the run, and an obsessive parole officer tangle in a psychological net of death and secrets. . .

When a severed finger was found in her car four years ago, Kerry Grey was arrested as an accomplice to the brutal slayings of three young women. Unbeknownst to Kerry, her husband Lucas was not only missing, but a deranged serial killer. Finally out on parole, she is ready to start anew and reunite with her young son. However, when a vigilante group inflamed by fear and motivated by reward money sparks a fevered hunt for Lucas, the nightmares of her past return.

Only one person can help Kerry evade the hysteria of the media—her parole officer, Adam Nash. But can she trust him? Was his move to the backwoods town of Joy, Montana coincidental or does Nash have his own obsessive hidden agenda involving the Hatchet Killer mystery, her husband and sweet justice?

It is not long before Kerry’s new life turns dark when she discovers that Lucas has been secretly giving their son carvings made of bone. And when a freshly dismembered victim is uncovered in the forest, the law is after her once again. Left with nowhere else to run, Kerry escapes up a mountainous trail to find Lucas and, one way or another, put an end to the real-life nightmare.

In a final twist of lies and betrayal, Kerry finds Lucas and the truth that will change everything.

Praise for The Killer’s Wife:

“Susan Furlong is a master at keeping the reader on the edge of her seat. With a twisty plot, a vivid mountainous setting, and layered and intriguing characters, you won’t want to put down The Killer’s Wife. Then the twists and turns will make you want to read it all again. You’ll devour The Killer’s Wife late into the night, but you might want to keep the lights on.”
~ Paige Shelton, New York Times Bestselling Author

The Killer’s Wife “will have you rooting for a very unlikely hero. And… be prepared for a mind blowing twist at the end that you won’t see coming! Expertly written! If you read only one book this year – make it this one.”
~ Wall-to-Wall Books

The Killer’s Wife is a psychological thriller that takes you along for a ride as an armchair detective. As the pieces begin to morph into a final showdown, Furlong gives us a huge twist – one that you won’t see coming.”
~ Lynchburg Mama

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Suspense
Published by: Seventh Street
Publication Date: July 2023
Number of Pages: 334
ISBN: 9781645060574 (ISBN10: 1645060578)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | SimonAndSchuster.com

Read an excerpt:

It’s Monday morning and still dark outside when I slip from bed and creep away from my sleeping wife to hide in the attic and watch, for the umpteenth time, my favorite episode of Strange Murders.

Lucas Yates, “the Hatchet Killer.” Three bloody murders, all in one summer. The year was 2014, and back then the story was a blip on my radar, news lost amidst bigger headlines: ISIS, Robin Williams’s suicide, the Ebola outbreak . . . a dreary year in the news, but I paid little attention to any of it. At twenty-two, I lived a self-absorbed life thousands of miles away in Chicago, on break from my college classes, partying, and hanging with Miranda, my then girlfriend, now wife. What did Lucas Yates and the women he murdered in Joy, Montana, have to do with me?

Nothing. Until the story became an episode on Strange Murders.

***

Excerpt from The Killer’s Wife by Susan Furlong. Copyright 2023 by Susan Furlong. Reproduced with permission from Susan Furlong. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Susan Furlong

Susan Furlong is the author of several mysteries including the acclaimed Bone Gap Travellers series, and SHATTERED JUSTICE, a New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. She also contributes, under a penname, to the New York Times bestselling Novel Idea series. Her latest novel is the THE KILLER’S WIFE. She resides in Illinois with her family.

Catch Up With Susan:
SusanFurlong.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @SusanFurlongAuthor
Instagram – @SusanFurlong
Twitter – @Furlong_Sue
Facebook – @SusanFurlongAuthor

 

 

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Giveaway – The Worst Darcy by Robyn Gynne @XpressoTours

The Worst Darcy
Robyn Gynne
Publication date: August 15th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Brodie Bishop is the worst.

Vivian Trent is desperate. Her family doesn’t approve of her life as a single mom and the small town of Austen still won’t accept her as one of their own four years later. Playing Elizabeth Bennet at the annual Jane Austen Festival is the perfect way to win over the locals and prove that she’s thriving. But when Austen’s favourite festival hero is replaced by his tattooed, metalhead brother, how is she supposed to achieve perfection with such a bad boy playing Mr. Darcy? He’s never read the book. He’s brash and unpolished. He’s… blond?!

You must allow me to tell you how ardently I dislike you.

Brodie’s used to being the town disappointment, so when Vivian turns her nose up at him, he’s not surprised. Hot librarian or not, she’s way too uptight. But once the festival gets underway, they see new sides of each other. When he finds out her dark secret, suddenly she’s much more endearing. She’s vulnerable, but strong. And the way she looks in that gown only blurs the lines between playing the part and falling for her for real.

But when her goal is within reach, can Vivian go off-book and choose Brodie, if it means risking everything she thought she wanted?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play

EXCERPT:

Cuppabeans was the only cafe in town, a cute little corner shop with a mint green and white striped awning out front, knotty pine framing inside, and a constant, thick miasma of warm, rich Arabica beans in the air.

Inhaling deeply as I stood in line, I tapped my foot and checked the time. It was fine. I still had a good cushion to get this done before I had to be at the library. I reached the front and ordered the largest size they had.

“Name?” the perky teenage server called over the morning din.

“Vivian,” I said.

“Lydia?” she asked.

I emphasized each syllable so she could at least read my lips. “Vivian.”

She nodded in a way that made my hopes plummet. I crossed my arms and stepped to the side to let the next person up. I blinked as I saw the man who’d stood behind me. He wore black head to toe, including a thick pair of leather cuffs at his wrists, the dark shade contrasting with his fair skin. The only hint of colour on him popped from the tattoos covering his forearms and the wheat blond of his overlong hair. He left his black aviators on as he put in his order and came to stand beside me, crossing one long leg over the other as he leaned back against the wall.

I watched him in the mirror on the opposite side of the cafe. He crossed his arms and appeared generally standoffish, the sharp line of his jaw ticking as he clenched it. I watched the muscle move as discreetly as I could. By the look of him, he was hardly a Prince Charming candidate, but I could still appreciate a nice jawline. I was only human, after all.

But then a smirk kicked up one corner of his mouth and he tipped his sunglasses down, revealing that his eyes were locked on mine in the mirror. My heart squeezed in surprise. Not only from the frantic feeling of being caught staring, but the shock of how incongruously dark brown his eyes were against that hair, stark in his only slightly sun-kissed face. They tilted up slightly at the outer corners, reminding me of a cat. He nudged the shades off his face and turned to me with a matching feline languor.

I flicked my eyes to the ground, face flaring with heat.

“Don’t like tattoos?” he asked, his voice a slightly gravelly tenor. By that grungy, heavy metal look, he’d probably spent his life screaming into a microphone.

“I wasn’t looking at your tattoos,” I said with a sharp shake of my head. Hopefully, my neck wasn’t going blotchy with embarrassment.

“Yeah?” he asked. In my periphery, I saw him lean closer. “What were you lookin’ at?”

I threw a desperate glance at the server and she held a cup up with a nod. Relief flooded me as I grabbed it and pivoted on my heel to escape this awkward encounter. But as I passed the man, I faltered, frowning down at the cup. It read Vanilla. “Oh, come on,” I grumbled under my breath.

A snort drew my eyes back up to the man. His dark eyes sparked with a mocking amusement. “Hey, at least she got the V right.”

I rolled my eyes and marched past him, ignoring the snicker that followed me out the door.


Author Bio:

Robyn writes spicy contemporary romances about resilient women and memorable men. Having self-published numerous short romances over the years under different pen names, she is pleased to present her first full-length novel, THE WORST DARCY. When she’s not writing, you can find her catching up on her TBR pile, watching spooky movies, and woodburning crafts. She lives in the Greater Toronto Area with her husband and son.

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Review – Sketching Rebellion by Felicia Ketcheson @booksirens

I want to thank Book Sirens and Lava Lake Books for the opportunity to read and review Sketching Rebellion by Felicia Ketchseon.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I grabbed Sketching Rebellion by Felicia Ketcheson not realizing it was going to be a series. It seems like most of the books I read any more are series. It’s okay, as long as I get to find out the final result, beginning to end, but that doesn’t always happen. Anyways I did enjoy Sketching Rebellion. I was on a binge of apocalyptic/dystopian reading and got a little click happy, grabbing willy nilly.

Sketching Rebellion’s target audience is teen and young adult. I do enjoy a good coming of age story and Breel was a fascinating character. Normally, I like a little more brutality and depth of despair in my apocalyptic reading, but the blurb states that Breel is seventeen years old, so that is a clue for the target group.

As usual, those in power wield a heavy sword to keep everyone in line, using the threat of execution for the slightest infraction, like sketching/drawing, when she is forbidden to do so. How far can you push someone, no matter the age, before they push back? And what happens when they do?

One of the scariest things is…there is no punishment for those who report other citizens. In fact, they are rewarded for it. Who can you trust? You can never be sure what is going on in someone’s mind. Family turning in family, friends turning in friends, coworkers…Instead of ‘lock her up’, it’s take her out.

Some of the most unlikely people will be those who support taking action against the regime. Some will fall, and the ending….I was saddened, afraid for the ones who chose to reshape their world into something better. BUT, that is for another day. I am hooked and I look forward to finding out what comes next. I rated Sketching Rebellion with the target audience in mind.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Sketching Rebellion by Felicia Ketcheson.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Conformity is mandatory. But seventeen-year-old artist Breel rebels anyway.

In the city of Lexum, personal choice is nonexistent, and defiance is severely punished. Breel is alone in seeing the injustices in her world. Isolated due to her beliefs and haunted by the disappearance of her uncle, she finds solace in the forbidden act of drawing. Creating art is a rebellion against an oppressive regime that stifles self-expression.

When a glimmer of hope emerges in the form of a resistance group, Breel faces a decision. Will she risk execution to join their fight for a society which would celebrate rather than condemn her artistic skills? Or will she continue hiding her non-conformity?

The outcome of her choice will not only define her own fate but may also set in motion a revolution that could reshape her world forever.

2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Award finalist (Juvenile/YA) .

  • Genre: Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Fiction, Science Fiction, Suspense, Technothriller, Thriller, Young Adult
    [ Previously published as Intercludae.]
  • 320 pages, Paperback
  • Published July 1, 2023

ABOUT FELICIA KETCHESON

Felicia Ketcheson is the author of Intercludae, which was a 2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Award finalist (Juvenile/YA category). At age seven, she wrote her first book about a dog, cat, and bee. Four years later, she randomly started writing a short novel, catapulting her into the world of series writing. When she’s not devising ways to destroy the lives of her fictional characters, she works as a medical researcher and database developer. Database developing is a passion she simultaneously loves and hates. She lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

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Cover Reveal – Dirty Daddies 2023 Anniversary Anthology #dirtydaddies #anthology

Dirty Daddies 2023 Anniversary Anthology
Publication date: October 17th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Another year, another round of smoking hot daddies and sassy brats giving them a run for their money.

Packed with stories from your favorite names and rising stars in the Daddy genre, this anthology has something for all the Daddy lovers out there! Whether it’s a strict Dom who loves to be called Daddy as he lavishes his partner with pleasure, or a Daddy looking for a Little one to rely on him for all their most private, personal needs, there’s a story for everyone in these pages!

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Giveaway – Blindsided Justice by Daniel Romanello @partnersincr1me @TheDanRomanello

Blindsided Justice

by Daniel Romanello

July 31 – September 8, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

DYLAN TOMASSI RETURNS IN THIS PROVOCATIVE THRILLER

Dylan Tomassi returns in this sequel to the original coming of age thriller, PAPERBOY. Having grown up poor, Dylan is now a successful private investor, wealthy beyond his wildest dreams and living an idyllic lifestyle on Florida’s gulf coast. Cognizant of his humble beginnings, he is committed to paying it forward as he prepares for the opening of his charitable foundation’s crown jewel.

But crime is raging out of control following the election of an opportunistic carpetbagger and Dylan and those closest to him become victims of a broken system that places them in grave danger. He utilizes his considerable resources to protect those he holds dear, but everyone and everything are not what they appear to be.

An exhilarating action thriller, BLINDSIDED JUSTICE drops you in the middle of an epic battle between justice and subversion.

Book Details:

Genre: Contemporary Thriller
Published by: Sanitas Publishing
Publication Date: August 2023
Number of Pages: 304
ISBN: 979-8-9863151-2-6
Series: Dylan Tomassi Novels, Book 2
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

PROLOGUE

A seventy-two-year-old Hispanic man living alone in an old bungalow-style house in Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood awoke in a cold sweat and turned toward the digital clock on the nightstand. It read 2:38 a.m. He had been depressingly lonely and experiencing trouble sleeping since his wife of forty-eight years passed away six months ago. Deciding to get dressed and take a stroll, he left his house, alone in his thoughts, and began walking in the direction of Nebraska Avenue. Half a block from the main thoroughfare, he was suddenly rushed by a pack of young people, ages fifteen to twenty-two, dressed in dark clothes and hoodies. They knocked the old man to the ground and took turns punching and kicking him until he lay motionless on the side of the road.

After a few moments of laughing and taunting his inert body, the youngest hoodlum sifted through the man’s pockets. “Nothing,” she exclaimed as she took a couple steps back and simulated a football placekicker attempting a game-winning field goal. Her right black army boot connected solidly with his skull, and his head bounced off the curb and struck the pavement with a loud thud before blood began pooling beneath him. The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance as the group scattered, running in different directions.

***

Seven years ago, a civil rights lawyer had run for district attorney in Philadelphia. The attorney, Calvin Radner, ran on a platform of prosecutorial criminal justice reform. The tenants of the platform included a no cash bail policy, a reduction in the prison population with a review of prior convictions and sentences, and a mandate to aggressively prosecute all allegations of police misconduct. Dark money organizations were a major contributor to Radner’s campaign.

Shortly after being elected, Radner fired most of the long-term career prosecutors, including the entire homicide division, and replaced them with attorneys who had backgrounds in the public defender’s office and civil rights litigation. At his first press conference, he announced that his office would no longer prosecute theft or other property crimes where the amount at issue was less than a thousand dollars. Additionally, all drug use was decriminalized. Radner was instrumental in establishing safe injection sites around the city where drug users could obtain free heroin and sterile needles. Drugs were injected under the supervision of nurses or other medical professionals.

To carry out his policies, Radner established a new division known as the Conviction Integrity Unit. The division was the largest in the office in terms of budget, number of lawyers, and support staff. He hired Troy Eads, a former defense attorney, to run the CIU, making him the highest paid assistant DA in the office.

Violent crime, including homicide, increased in Philadelphia in each of Radner’s first four years in office. Two years ago, when he sought reelection, a well-respected criminal defense lawyer ran an ostensibly effective campaign against him, highlighted by television commercials featuring family members whose loved ones were homicide victims under Radner’s policies. Notwithstanding, Radner won reelection with 68 percent of the vote. Last year, Philadelphia set a record with 524 homicides, 30 percent more than New York City, which has three times the population. A disproportionate majority of the victims were Black.

After three years on the job, Troy Eads had advised Radner that his elderly mother, who lived in Tampa, was in poor health and he needed to relocate to assist her. Eads explained his desire to run for the top prosecutor job in Tampa with the goal of duplicating Radner’s policies. Radner had agreed to introduce him to the money machine that financed his campaigns.

Eads settled in Tampa, and one year later ran for office. The position was known officially as the State Attorney for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit and covered Hillsborough County, which included the city of Tampa.

Despite being a newcomer, Eads had run a well-financed, well-organized campaign against the sitting state attorney who had historically shunned publicity. He was a quiet, unassuming man with little name recognition. The incumbent prosecutor had been completely blindsided by the outsider from Philadelphia and was outspent by a margin of fifty to one. The state attorney race was held in an election off-year and the crime rate had been relatively low at the time. Consequently, it did not generate much attention. With just a 23 percent voter turnout, Troy Eads was elected state attorney by a six percent margin.

Eads had instituted policies similar to those of his former boss in Philadelphia. As his first order of business, he fired most of the career prosecutors and hired lawyers committed to his criminal justice reform agenda. He formed his own Conviction Integrity Unit to review past convictions and sentences. Duty prosecutors were instructed to request release on recognizance with no cash bail for most arrestees, and Eads announced a new firm policy of declining to pursue the death penalty regardless of circumstances.

Shortly after taking office, Eads had advised the Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office that his office would no longer prosecute property crimes where no gun violence was involved. After two years, crime surged in Hillsborough County, particularly in Tampa. Homicides increased from twenty-one the year prior to Eads taking office, to forty-two last year and fifty-four so far this year. Further, violent crime, including muggings, robberies, carjackings, and burglaries, had increased by 150 percent. Hours earlier, an elderly Ybor City resident had been the most recent murder victim.

Last year, Tampa police had responded to a domestic call. The female complainant advised the 9-1-1 operator that a man with a restraining order against him was trying to break into her house and threatened to kill her. When police arrived, the man was pounding on the front door and screaming that he was going “to gut her like a pig.” The man ignored the officers’ commands and turned his fury toward them. A scuffle ensued, and after the man brandished a hunting knife and stabbed one of the officers, his partner shot and killed the assailant. The entire incident was captured on a doorbell camera.

Pursuant to Florida law, police-involved shootings were investigated by an independent outside office. In this case, the task had been assigned to Grant Adams, the longtime law-and-order state attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which included Saint Petersburg and Pinellas County. Adams had completed his investigation and found that the police shooting was justified. Following the decision, several days of riots and looting ensued in Tampa and Saint Petersburg. The Florida governor, Michelle Chen, suspended Adams and cited her authority under the Florida constitution, which allowed her to suspend state officials for reasons of malfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence. Governor Chen appointed Tampa prosecutor, Roland Beeks, to serve as state attorney in Adams’s place. Beeks was the chief assistant to Troy Eads.

Although Adams was appealing his suspension, Beeks’s appointment had caused a mass exodus of career prosecutors from the office after he announced the institution of policies that mirrored those in Tampa. In the past several months, violent crime in Pinellas County was on the rise.

***

Excerpt from Blindsided Justice by Daniel Romanello. Copyright 2023 by Daniel Romanello. Reproduced with permission from Daniel Romanello. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Daniel Romanello

Dan Romanello worked in the newspaper industry before attending law school at the University of Florida. After serving as an assistant state attorney, he spent more than 20 years as a partner in a boutique firm, running the trial practice group. An accomplished trial lawyer, he has litigated cases in courtrooms throughout the state of Florida. After retiring from the active practice of law, he wrote the first book in the Dylan Tomassi series, PAPERBOY. He resides on Florida’s gulf coast.

Catch Up With Daniel Romanello:
AuthorDanRomanello.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @authordanromanello
Twitter – @TheDanRomanello
Facebook – @thedanromanello

 

 

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ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN BLINDSIDED JUSTICE:

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Daniel Romanello. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.

 

 

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Giveaway – The Case Of The Llama Raising Librarian by Debbie De Louise @dollycas @Deblibrarian


The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian (A Buttercup Bend Mystery)
by Debbie De Louise

About The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian


The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian (A Buttercup Bend Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – New York
Next Chapter (July 5, 2023)
Number of Pages 275
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CB81ZKYX

After solving two murders in the “peaceful” town of Buttercup Bend, Cathy Carter needs a rest. She also needs time to consider the marriage proposals she received over the holidays. But when the town’s librarian asks her to go undercover to solve the suspected murder of a co-worker who retired to a llama farm, Cathy leaves her kittens with her grandmother and her friends without an explanation.

The only person at Oaks Landing Farm who knows the true reason Cathy and Mildred have come there is Danielle, the murder victim’s daughter, who is having trouble convincing relatives and the police that her mother Doris was killed and didn’t suffer the heart attack that was termed her cause of death.

When it’s proved that Danielle’s suspicions are correct, the guests who attended the dinner at which Doris died are invited back for a reenactment of that night. These included the gardener, veterinarian, and farmhand who all had motives to murder Doris, as well as Doris’ sister and her ex-husband. When the dinner is staged, the only clue Cathy receives is given by Danielle’s grandmother who has dementia. Will this unreliable tip help Cathy deduce who murdered the llama raising librarian?

About Debbie De Louise

Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a retired reference librarian. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Cat Writers’ Association. She writes two cozy mystery series, the Cobble Cove Mysteries and Buttercup Bend Mysteries. She’s also written a paranormal romance, three standalone mysteries, a time-travel novel, and a collection of cat poems. Her stories and poetry appear in over a dozen anthologies. Debbie also writes articles for cat magazines. She lives on Long Island with her husband, daughter, and two cats. Learn more about Debbie and her books by visiting her website at https://debbiedelouise.com.

Author Links

Website/Blog/Newsletter Sign-Up: https://debbiedelouise.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbie.delouise.author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Deblibrarian
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2750133.Debbie_De_Louise
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2bIHdaQ
All Author: https://allauthor.com/author/debbiedelouise/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbie_writer/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiedelouise/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/debbie-de-louise
Debbie’s Character’s Chat Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/748912598599469/\
Sneaky the Library Cat’s blog: https://Sneakylibrarycat.wordpress.com

Purchase Links 
AMAZON –  APPLE STORE    BARNES & NOBLE     GOOGLE PLAY      KOBO    UNIVERSAL LINK  

Purchase Links for BUTTERCUP BEND MYSTERIES – Books 1-3
AMAZON    APPLE STORE    BARNES & NOBLE     GOOGLE PLAY    KOBO  UNIVERSAL LINK 

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Tackling The TBR 7.29 – 8.4.23 #tacklingthetbr

I got the idea and the motivation to start doing Tackling The TBR from All The Book Blog Names Are Taken. I love showcasing the books on Goodreads, my ereader and my bookshelves.

COME ON….JOIN IN.

Previous Total: 1995

Currently Reading

Books Read

Books Added

Books DNF-ed: 0

Books Deleted: 0

Duplicates Removed: 0

New TBR Total: 1995

I am working really hard to finish my currently reading list, which is mostly review books, or books I have recently won, so I can move on to some that have been sitting on my TBR for a long, long time. I’m thinking of going back to the oldest book, added on 5.13.12.

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Giveaway – Rogues and Redeemers: A Zasra Press Anthology @XpressoTours

Rogues And Redeemers: A Zasra Press Anthology
Publication date: August 8th 2023
Genres: Adult, Fantasy

It would take such a selfless act, to reverse what you have done… from “Turning A New Leaf”

I didn’t become the frog. The frog became me… from “A Frog Among Princes”

Justice served with a dash of poison was justice served well… from “Path Of The Righteous”

Descend into the darkness or rise up to the light as you explore eight original stories themed ‘Corruption’ and ‘Redemption’. You’ll find something for everyone, from dark magic, covert ambition, and war to ghosts, royalty, and beasts!

~

A. M. Dilsaver — The Devil In The Ashes

Born of lust and fueled by hatred, Aschelle is determined to make her stepmother pay for the cruelties of her childhood. With the prince throwing a ball to seek a wife, victory is only a wish away…

Barend Nieuwstraten III — Turning A New Leaf

When a plan to summon and trap a demon to gain power goes fatally wrong, a bargain must be struck to ensure the summoner does not leave the exchange empty handed.

Christiana Matthews — The Bequest

Gemma doesn’t believe in ghosts–until she meets her dead grandfather, Jock, and uncovers a family secret. In order to move forward with her life, she must persuade Jock to move on as well.

Christiana Matthews — A Frog Among Princes

When Prince Robert refuses to marry a magician’s daughter, he’s turned into a frog in retaliation. Years later, he must seek out the mage in order to save a friend.

Eleanor Owen — The 205th

As a marionette soldier, Faith-7 is given a chance to redeem the condemned soul inside of her by fighting against a heretical empire.

Emma O’Connell — Happy Ending

Waking in a sea of dead bodies, Jacob realises that he has no idea what happened to him. But can he really trust the girl who says she can help?

Ine Gausel — Remnants Of Light

Silencer Osvalt Fell is haunted by his past. To move on, he must learn to let go, even if it breaks his heart.

S. K. Sayari — Path Of The Righteous

Tanith, Imperial Official by day, covert vigilante by night, believes in justice—no matter the means. She must outwit those who suspect her before she loses everything.

Illustrations appear in the print version only.

Goodreads / Amazon

SNEAK PEEKS:

PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS — S. K. SAYARI

Justice served with a dash of poison was justice served well.

Tanith spooned the reddish powder into her ring’s cavity, making sure the poison wasn’t packed too tightly. She slid the dull purple jewel back in place with a click, then slipped the ring on her finger.

It was time to get to work.

Although, could she really call this work? Or was it more of a hobby? A business, perhaps? Now that Tanith’s bitterness had faded in the years since her sister Narys was murdered, she didn’t consider it vengeance anymore. It was second nature and felt right.

As she mused, she sifted through the piles of clothing, hairpieces she’d used before she’d honed her magic, and heavens knew what else strewn about her tiny, ramshackle apartment in the slums of Karkhaz. After selecting a green tunic and brown trousers, the colours of those who toiled in the fields, she pulled them on. To complete her persona, she sucked in a breath and allowed her magic to wash over her like a waterfall.

Her bound auburn hair deepened to brown, and her skin darkened a shade. She stepped up to the mirror to complete the finer touches—high cheekbones, a button nose, and thin lips. The Allure wouldn’t mask her voice or height, but she wasn’t worried about what would happen if someone saw past it.

After all, who would suspect the Keeper of Order of breaking the law?

No one had thus far. Well, no one except him. Since his marriage to the Empress, Rosario Bregan had been intent on finding the “Nighthawk,” as nobles called the elusive assassin targeting the unrighteous within Karkhaz.

As the new Emperor, Rosario had taken the wellbeing of Zehanna’s capital into his own hands. He had introduced new policies for trade with neighbouring countries, bolstered the Empire’s coffers, and created several lesser laws to deal with crime. He’d even interviewed the Keepers, including Tanith. Despite his efforts, the Nighthawk still eluded him.

The name fit her well.

THE 205TH — ELEANOR OWEN

The first thing she knew was the mortar blast.

Shrapnel tore through her right shoulder and stabbed deep into her chest, and it was like waking from a dream. The explosion slammed her into her body, into that skin that was not skin, flesh that was not flesh, and left her, awake and aware, standing in the middle of a mist-shrouded battlefield.

She had existed before that moment. She remembered that existence, too, but it was hazy. A life—or something half resembling it—belonging to someone else.

Somewhere ahead, cannons flared through the smoke. Sound crashed dizzyingly around her. Men—boys, really, she thought as she looked into the glazed eyes of the fallen—were dying on that mad rush towards the waiting walls of Mardall. She’d dropped her rifle and made to reach for it, but her limp fingers flopped uselessly against the stock as the last motion in her arm died. The knuckles clicked against each other like dice in a cup.

“Faith-7, report,” a voice shouted behind her.

Clumsily, she turned. Smoke and fog hung heavy around the speaker, but she recognized the silhouette of Patience’s greatcoat. It was almost like an officer’s. Fitting, as he was almost like an officer.

“Functional,” she replied, because she knew that was what she was meant to say.

Broken light fell across the porcelain mask that passed for Patience’s face.

“Raise your arm,” he ordered through unmoving lips.

A pause. She couldn’t, of course. He could see that.

“Fall back, Faith-7,” Patience said. “Report to the carpenter.”

“Yes, sir.”

Patience nodded sharply and vanished into the fog.

Faith—she decided she didn’t need the number—watched him go. If she’d had a heart, she was sure it would have been racing. Indeed, she felt the echo of it, a distant half-memory of when her body had been blood and sinew. But there was silence in her chest, from the glowing green gem that peeked through the cracked porcelain beneath her uniform.

The shrapnel scratched against it. It almost itched.

The Devil In The Ashes — A. M. Dilsaver

They called her Elle.

Girl.

Because her father had wanted a quick affair in the kitchen, and what he’d gotten was her—a scrawny, wrinkled child with ruddy skin and hair black as ash. A wild, wispy thing, more witch than human, more spirit than child. Her mother’s in every way, save for the eyes. No matter how he tried to deny the rumors, to separate Elle from his real daughters, people would shake their heads and say those are Bonheur eyes. A deep, unfathomable blue. Not the azure of a clear day, or the twinkling cerulean of a lakeside picnic. Dark and haunted, a deep violet, like the terrifying absence of the sun right after it sets but before the darkness has taken over.

She was not expected to survive.

She did anyway.

And so did her mother, for a time. They lived a quiet life in the servants’ quarter of the manor, sweeping the kitchen and preparing food for the man who refused to acknowledge them, for the family who denied their existence. To keep her busy, her mother would drop lentils into the fireplace, let Elle pick them out one by one, and then laugh and draw symbols in the ash that coated the girl’s skin.

“Aschelle,” her mother would say. “My little ash girl.”

Killing her mother was his first mistake.



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Giveaway – The Control by M W Layne @XpressoTours

The Control
M.W. Layne
Publication date: June 5th 2023
Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller

I didn’t kill my professor. But someone did…
It’s the dead of night when I regain consciousness in my psychology professor’s office. I don’t know what I’m doing here or why my favorite teacher is slumped over, dead at his computer with his head caved in.

When I stumble over to him on shaking legs, I bury my face in my sleeve to mute the smell of death. But as I lean in to see what he was working on when he was killed, the psych profile on his screen is what makes me wretch. The assessment is about one of his students–someone he describes as mentally ill, losing control, and capable of extreme violence. I scroll to the top of the document, and when I get there my stomach freezes because the name I see is my own.

Jim Straub.

I stagger away from my professor’s cold body, eyes filled with tears. He was my teacher and trying to help me. There’s no way I was the one who murdered him. But if it wasn’t me, who was it? And more importantly, why did the killer let me live?

The Control is a psychological thriller–a dark story of nightmares, deception, and love that will keep you guessing until its unforgettable, twisted ending.

Goodreads / Amazon

Get it FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

EXCERPT:

With two fingers, I lift Mooken’s icy hand from the keyboard, treating it like a disgusting bug I have to touch. I’ve watched enough television shows and read enough mysteries to know better than to disturb a dead body. But I need the letters on his screen to stop.

They remind me too much of how Mooken used to make his awkward hmmm sounds in the middle of his lectures when pondering a point his students weren’t getting.

Being this close to a dead person, my body revolts at the heavy cocktail of copper, feces, and urine in the room—a combination I’ve never encountered before.

Well, once before. But that was so long ago I sometimes wonder if it wasn’t another one of my nightmares.

But my stomach tells me the scene in front of me is real. My guts convulse and threaten to spew everything from inside of me, and I swallow hard, choking back my sickness…barely.

I bury my nose in my sleeve, breathing through my mouth. Other than the shallow in-and-out of my air, the room is quiet.

Inside my head, however, things are very loud.

Along with the loud buzzing, my father is telling me to run.

Leave now and save yourself, boy. Before they blame you for all of this.

I ignore him and stare down at Mooken.

After five minutes, his screen starts to fade to black, but I move the mouse, and the screen returns to full brightness.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I lean over my professor’s body like I’m showing a dead man something he might find interesting. I hold the mouse lightly in my hand and scroll up. There are so many pages of mmmms that the document appears to stand still as I scroll. I climb through a hundred pages of that single, lonely letter before I make it to the substance of the file and slow down to skim its contents. I scan blocks of Mooken’s text, reading snippets from the bottom up.

classic signs…

early schizophrenia…

chronic sleep deprivation…

acute depression…

disruptions in personal affairs…

My head throbs as I continue further up the document.

delusions…

romantic interest…

auditory and visual hallucinations…

sleep paralysis…

irrational anger and suspicion toward therapist…

potential for extreme violence…

formal evaluation recommended…

I speed to the very top of the document to see who Mooken was evaluating, and my stomach freezes when I read my name.

Jim Straub.

But this can’t be. I didn’t kill the professor. I know this for certain.

Professor Mooken was my teacher and trying to help me. That must be why I came here tonight—to get his help.

Not to kill him.

The delete key stares at me, cooing, tempting me to erase my name—to fix this.

But I can’t do that—not yet, at least.

I disable Mooken’s screen saver, stagger to the other side of his desk, and sink back into the leather chair.

When I check the clock on the wall, fifteen minutes have passed.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and on reflex, I check it. As happens so often lately, it’s a missed call from my father, who suffers from dementia and calls and texts daily.

I love and miss my dad, but I can’t deal with him and his altered, severe personality right now.

My present situation is too dire, although there are still a few hours before other professors and students begin entering the building to start their days.

I squeeze my eyes shut to help me remember the events that led me here, but when I do, I hear my father giving me advice again, yelling at me, ordering me.

Leave.

“Not yet,” I say through clenched teeth. “I need to remember what happened first.”

Author Bio:

When Mike writes twisted psychological thrillers, urban fantasy, or stories with a darker bent, he publishes it under the pen name “M.W. Layne” to differentiate it from his other books written as Michael W. Layne. Both Michael and M.W. apologize for any confusion this may cause readers, but this makes it easier to decide which set of books you can let your kids read. Michael W. Layne, yes! Great for any age. M.W. Layne, maybe not until they’re in their teens…

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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Giveaway – In The Shadow Of The Bull by Eleanor Kuhns @partnersincr1me @EleanorKuhns

In the Shadow of the Bull by Eleanor Kuhns Banner

In the Shadow of the Bull

by Eleanor Kuhns

July 17 – August 11, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Ancient Crete, 1450 BC. In a world of Goddess worship, sacred snakes and sacrifice, human jealousy, resentment, and betrayal still run wild . . .

When her sister Arge drops to the floor in convulsions and dies at her wedding, fifteen-year-old Martis, a young poet and bull leaper in training, is certain she was murdered. The prime suspect is the groom, Saurus, from the Greek mainland, but when Arge’s shade visits Martis, swearing Saurus is not the murderer, Martis vows to uncover the truth.

As Martis begins asking questions, she discovers that while Arge may have had no secrets, many of the people around her certainly do.

Praise for In the Shadow of the Bull:

“This complex, character-driven mystery is loaded with fascinating historical details”
~ Kirkus Reviews

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: July 2023
Number of Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781448310869 (ISBN10: 1448310865)
Series: An Ancient Crete Mystery (#1)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Severn House

Read an excerpt:

Saurus was clad, not in a colorful loincloth, nor in the robe Cretan men wore for certain rituals, but in his leather armor. His wavy black hair spilled over his shoulders, un-oiled. And he carried his weapons, long knives in their scabbards, at his waist. His one attendant, his friend Kabya, stood behind him, dressed in like manner. Gasps of condemnation sounded through the crowd.

‘Does he think he’s going to fight someone,’ Mother said in angry disapproval.

Saurus looked around at the crowd, his eyes narrowed, and then he lifted his chin defiantly. Although I didn’t like him, I recognized his uncertainty. He knew we despised him and his barbarous ways.

When Saurus had first come to the palace, I’d been prepared to accept him. He knew my mother’s brother and had come with news of him. Like my uncle, Saurus was also a trader. At least he said he was, and we welcomed him into the house.

My dislike dated from that first day, before I knew he would take Arge from us. He examined me and my sisters with careless lechery. I’d just come from acrobatics and wore a boy’s loincloth. As his gaze swept over me, I shuddered with a strange prickly hot feeling. And then he dismissed me with a quick, indifferent turn of his head. Then the flush that burned through me was one of anger.

Despite my feelings, and his awkward broken Cretan, he’d quickly charmed all my sisters. And although Mother frequently eyed him with reserve, I saw them laughing together more than once.

At first, he’d spread his easy compliments among all my sisters – though I was invisible to him – but soon he paid more and more attention to Arge. A knot of worry formed on my mother’s forehead.

Several months after Saurus’s arrival, Arge announced she planned to marry him.

There was Arge now, in front of the mound of ash left by previous sacrifices. Against the deep purple of her jacket, her skin looked deathly pale. She’d pressed her mouth into a long thin line. Was she regretting her decision now? I looked up at the sky, so dark the stars spangled the expanse with flecks of silver, and sent another fervent prayer heavenward – ‘Please, Lady of the Animals and of Childbirth, stop this marriage. I will offer you all the honey from my bees.’

The High Priestess with her nine attendants suddenly appeared from the shadows, stepping through the trees into the torchlight. Their eyes sparkled and one of the attendants stumbled. They were drunk on the sacred liquor, a mixture of beer, wine, fermented honey and herbs. The priestesses wore the sacral knot tied at the nape of their necks, above the tight jackets. to show they were in service to Her who gave us life. Some of them wore doves on their heads, live doves tied to the headdress by the feet, for love. Three of the women carried baskets.

Instead of a dove, the High Priestess carried snakes in her headdress, living snakes that coiled as high as they could from the bindings, flicking their tongues and hissing. Snakes to promote fertility in this new marriage.

As the High Priestess approached the altar, a soft moan of anticipation whispered from the crowd. The goats began struggling even harder against their bonds as they caught the scent of the snakes. The Priestess, who did not seem to notice the throng of people standing on the other side of the altar of ash and bone, turned to the first attendant. She took away the lid and removed the large heavy snake from the basket to coil it around her waist. The remaining two baskets yielded additional snakes. Chanting sonorously, she allowed the snakes to twine up her arms.

I could not repress a tremor of remembered fear and my mother glanced at me. Only nine at Opis’s wedding, I’d been so terrified by the snakes that Arge had had to carry me from the ceremony. I looked at Arge now. Her expression was fixed in a grimace of pain.

Suddenly she fell to the floor, writhing in convulsions and spilling bloody vomit from her mouth.

For several seconds no one moved. The Priestess’s chant continued, then lurched to a stop mid-syllable. Pandemonium erupted. Screaming, Mother ran to her daughter and fell to her knees beside her. After a moment of frozen disbelief, Opis and Nuia followed at a run. I couldn’t move. I stared in horror at Arge’s body lying on the stones. What had I done? I’d pleaded with the Goddess to halt the wedding and She had. But why this way? Why kill Arge, the sweetest and most unassuming of all women? Raising my face to the sky, I began to sob. The stars in the sky blurred together into streaks of silver. ‘Why?’ I asked the Goddess. ‘Why?’

This was my fault: the Goddess had answered my prayers.

***

Excerpt from In the Shadow of the Bull by Eleanor Kuhns. Copyright 2023 by Eleanor Kuhns. Reproduced with permission from Eleanor Kuhns. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Eleanor Kuhns

Eleanor Kuhns is the 2011 winner of the Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America first mystery prize for A Simple Murder. That was the first in the Will Rees series. She went on to write ten more.
In the Shadow of the Bull is the first in the Ancient Crete Mystery series.

Catch Up With Eleanor Kuhns:
www.Eleanor-Kuhns.com
Goodreads
BookBub
Instagram – @edl0829
Twitter – @EleanorKuhns
Facebook – @writerkuhns

 

 

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