$20 GC & Review – Silver Bells by Sandy Lender @goddessfish @sandylender

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SILVER BELLS: A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY

Sandy Lender

GENRE:  Horror

MY REVIEW

Such a great cover that hides the horror inside.

Ivy Light is visiting her best friend for Christmas. She will get more than she bargained, both good and bad.

The Harris’ have a security guard by the name of John Knightley, after the husband receives a threat. He will regret allowing the rest of his team to have the holidays off.

A fire next door leads to a full house, when they open their doors to the homeless family.

The spirits have a beef against those who built their houses on sacred ground. We all know what happens when the spirits take offense. They fight back.

Silver Bells by Sandy Lender is a quick read with enough horror to keep me curious, having to know how the story will end. So, if you are looking for something wicked for the holidays, you might want to take a looksee.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Star

BLURB

There’s more than the Christmas Spirit hovering around Reindeer Creek this holiday
season. An eerie backdrop to her dearest friend’s new home disturbs Ivy Light, but the Harris family’s personal security detail—the debonair John Knightley—intrigues her greatly. The handsome gentleman has his hands full with his client being stalked by more than unethical business moguls. There are hybrid wolf-bear creatures and a manipulative side chick to worry about, after all. It’ll take extra Christmas cheer for Ivy to bring comfort and joy back to her best friend amid the tragedies and paranormal threats this year. 

Join in the festivities at Reindeer Creek! And help the families at the Harris house divine what’s reality, who’s a foe, and how to thwart the evil side of a spiritual war.

EXCERPT

She clearly heard the click of the coat closet door as Harry finished depositing Professor Thackery’s outerwear and listened for their footsteps to join them. John would have a fit if he could see this. Each one of us lined up here at the window, exactly where he told me not to have us. Of course, John hadn’t indicated he was prone to fits of anger when his orders were balked. He rolled with the punches nicely. He’d probably smirk at her with that way too sexy mouth.

Enough of that thinking.

The snowman-gnome worker had made it half-way up the ladder and stopped. Because her attention was focused on Mr. Heggs, his plastic-looking hair, and the diminutive chainsaw he now fired up with a whine-and-whir, she lost track of his partner. Would that fellow try to approach the front door next? Try to breach the stronghold?

She wanted to move everyone to an interior room. “Maybe we should all—”

Lexie shrieked as a blur of gray wintery mix slammed into the worker outside. Both ladder and chunky gnome crashed over in a fast-motion slam to the ground.

Snow exploded along the footprint of the falling ladder. And as stark red sprayed up from the chainsaw’s grinding whir-and-scream against bone and metal, Ivy grabbed Lexie and spun her away from the gore. She buried the child’s face in her shoulder, away from the horrifying thrashing that ended long before the crimson shower.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Sandy Lender is an international best-selling poet and award-winning author of fantasy, literary fiction, poetry, and short story work. She’s a construction magazine editor by day and author of #GirlPower fantasy novels by night, living in Florida to help with sea turtle conservation and parrot rescue. You can follow her author page on Amazon, check her website at SandyLenderInk.com, or subscribe to her newsletter at https://bit.ly/SSReNews.

With a four-year degree in English and thirty-year career in publishing, Sandy’s successes include traditionally and self-published novels, hundreds of magazine articles, multiple short stories in competitive anthologies, a handful of technical writing awards, a handful of creative writing awards, and the 2023 Michael Knost Wings award. Sandy’s been writing stories since she was knee-high to a grasshopper when her great-grandmother shared her odd little tales of squeaky ghost-spiders around an apartment complex in Southern Illinois. The stories have developed to include strong young ladies working with dragons to save worlds from terrible fates, but those pesky spiders still show up from time to time.

There’s always something brewing at Sandy Lender Ink headquarters where some days, you just want the dragon to win.

  • Visit SandyLenderInk: www.SandyLenderInk.com
  • Subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter at bit.ly/SSReNews
  • Follow Sandy Lender on Amazon: amazon.com/author/SandyLender
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  • Grab the ebook of Silver Bells: https://books2read.com/u/4Nlap6

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

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$15 GC – Trophy Wife by Kiru Taye @xpressotours @KiruTaye

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Trophy Wife
Kiru Taye
(Yadili, #6)
Publication date: September 30th 2024
Genres: Adult, Romance

He needs her to elevate his status.
But she will be his downfall.

Finally, Ifeoma is ready to fully embrace the freedom of singlehood. Her ex-husband has moved on and remarried, and her son has flown the nest. With the intention of self-discovery, she embarks on a worldwide adventure, determined to fulfil three items on her wish-list: to experience pure joy, to find laughter in every corner, and to revel in her own sensuality.

Then she meets Nero, a mysterious Black Italian whose charm captivates her instantly. And for twenty-four hours he fulfils every item on her wish-list. But he wants more, more than she’s willing to give. So, she ends it and goes home.

Months later, Nero turns up in Nigeria, more detached and ruthless than the man she remembers, intent on destroying her family business and legacy. And only one thing will quench his bloody feud—Ifeoma as his trophy wife.

Still Ifeoma is a titled woman who isn’t easy to control, if she can keep Nero out of her bed—the one place his passion burns hotter than a forge at dawn, consuming her restraint.

Trophy Wife is book 6 in the Yadili series. In this enemies-to-lovers romance, the air crackles with tension and the chemistry between the characters is scorching hot, creating a story that will leave you breathless. Themes include unrequited love, touch her and die, forced proximity, and the intoxicating darkness of a mafia romance. A full-length novel. No cliffhanger.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Apple / Kobo / Google / Selar

—

EXCERPT:

Nero sat immobilised as he watched Ifeoma approach him. Today she was in a V-neck knee-length multi-print wraparound dress with ties around the side. She’d worn it with a grey blazer which now hung over the chair she’d been sitting on.

Walking away from a woman had never been difficult for him. And it shouldn’t be with Ifeoma. Yet a heavy weight had crushed his chest when he’d told her he was no longer interested in marrying her.

She leaned her hips against the table beside him and caught his wrist in her soft hand.

His flesh burned at the contact, sparks shooting down his arm. It annoyed him.

This unwavering attraction he held for her had to be because it had been months since he fucked any woman. Months since he fucked her. She was the last woman he’d touched intimately.

She’d run away after their night together, blocked him from contacting her. Yet here he was burning from her simple touch.

“Don’t.” The one word was filled with the emotions she roused. A growl rumbled from his chest as he pulled his hand away from her.


Author Bio:

Kiru is the award winning author of His Treasure. She writes sensual and passionate multicultural romance stories set mostly in Africa. When she’s not writing you can find her either immersed in a good book or catching up with friends and family. She currently lives in the South of England with her husband and three children.

Subscribe to her newsletter for book news and giveaways: http://www.kirutaye.com

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / Twitter


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Review – I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong #netgalley #illbewaiting

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Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I’ll Be Waiting is one of the best Kelley Armstrong novels I have read in some time.

“I’ll Be Waiting”, were some of Anton’s last words. Nicola had thought their short time together would be because of her illness, Cystic Fibrosis. She cannot accept that he is gone, so she hops from one seance to another.

Don’t we all know, don’t go in the basement. Yet, she does.

I didn’t trust the right person and did trust the wrong person. That’s some great writing. Sucked me right in.

I love that Kelley Armstrong had my head spinning. I couldn’t figure out if Nicola was being played or if it was true. I do love a convoluted ghost story. One that I am not able to figure out for myself. I was fooled and when I found the truth, I loved the book all the more. It’s nice to be surprised. I couldn’t figure out who to trust and was sucked into the ghostly mystery.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood…

Nicola Laughton never expected to see adulthood, being diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Then medical advances let her live into her thirties and she met Anton, who taught her to dream of a future… together. Months after they married, Anton died in a horrible car, but lived long enough to utter five words to her, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

That final private moment became public when someone from the crash scene took it to the press—the terminally ill woman holding her dying husband as he promised to wait for her on the other side. Worse, that person claimed it wasn’t Anton who said the words but his ghost, hovering over his body.

Since their story went public, Nicola has been hounded by spiritualists promising closure. In the hopes of stopping her downward spiral, friends and family find a reputable medium—a professor of parapsychology. For the séance, they rent the Lake Erie beach house that Anton’s family once owned.

The medium barely has time to begin his work before things start happening. Locked doors mysteriously open. Clouds of insects engulf the house. Nicola hears footsteps and voices and the creak of an old dumbwaiter…in an empty shaft. Throughout it all she’s haunted by nightmares of her past. Because, unbeknownst to the others, this isn’t her first time contacting the dead. And Nicola isn’t her real name.

That’s when she finds the first body….

In this atmospheric, thrilling new ghost story, Kelley Armstrong’s full talents are on display to thrill, chill and leave the reader guessing how Nicola escapes with her life–if she can.

  • Genre: Ghosts, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
  • 336 pages, Hardcover
  • Expected publication October 1, 2024 by St Martin’s Press

ABOUT KELLEY ARMSTRONG

Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Tumbler

MY KELLEY ARMSTRONG REVIEWS

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Giveaway – Lifeblood by River Starr @xpressotours

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Lifeblood
River Starr
(Wife of the Demon Kings, #1)
Publication date: June 29rd 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

I WAS CHOSEN AS THEIR WIFE. BUT I DIDN’T CHOOSE THEM.

The Demon Courts reign in darkness over half the world, threatening our very existence. We in the Humanlands send them wives via lottery once a year to appease them, women to ravage and ruin in a lust-filled dance as their darkest desires are fulfilled.

IT’S NEVER ENOUGH.

The women never return. The four cursed demon kings are never satisfied. When my best friend is chosen as one of their next wives, I can’t leave her to that fate. I alone can end our suffering—but I’ve been hiding, terrified of death.

BECAUSE I AM A LIFEBLOOD.

I’m one of the last true children of the divine. My celestial blood is the key to the kings’ continued immortality and, if prophecy is to be believed, the cure to their curses. As soon as I meet the four achingly sexy monarchs, I can’t deny the intense and immediate attraction—and the pull my magic has on them.

Each of the gorgeous kings will try to take me as his wife. I hope they’re ready to fight for it… and that I survive the claiming.

Goodreads / Amazon

Only 99 cents for a limited time!

—

EXCERPT:

“There is nothing complicated about this,” Gareth spat as he swiped through the air. Veins bulged along the sides of his neck and his ears were turning red. More telling, though, were the wisps of smoke starting to billow from his nose. “She’s my mate.”

He said it as if that explained everything. As if it were simply fact, and that because of it, I was his and nothing else about this situation mattered.

Except that it was a lie.

“Hollow mate, you mean,” I dared to say. If these men were going to argue about me as though I wasn’t even here, I’d say what I wanted, decorum be damned. These were demon kings and the very enemy of my kind. They didn’t care about me, just my blood. “This bond between us is hollow. I know you know that.”

It was missing pieces. But I wasn’t sure he’d let me clarify that part we’d both felt, too, last night in front of his friends. Friends who were all staring at me a little too closely right now. My brow knit together even tighter as I tried to breathe through the raw, demonic power hitting me every few moments. And I was a lifeblood. How did the human women handle these demon kings for any length of time?

They didn’t. Not all four at once. Maybe not even one for long.

Gareth glanced over his shoulder at me, and the cold, angry look in his eyes cut through everything else in the room. “I should’ve killed you.”

“It probably would’ve worked out better for me.” I hated him. I hated all of them. But those words hurt, and I hated that they did. That this demon king had any intimate power over me at all.

Mordred charged forward another step at Gareth’s words, but then paused when Gareth didn’t follow through.

“Mordred,” Lance warned, a smirk still playing on his full lips. Did he really find this funny?

Mordred’s jaw locked hard. “We agreed on civil. No more threats. From anyone.”

Silence fell upon the room, but it was their demonic power that continued to fill it. Thick and tense, full of a dark rawness I’d never felt before. Except last night with Gareth.

There’d been so many new feelings last night with Gareth. A pull I felt even now, still hollow between him and me, as I stood behind him. Only, unlike last night, my anger was holding the submissive parts of me at bay. Because there was no chance in hell I’d get on my knees and submit to him in front of these demon kings.

I wouldn’t submit to any of them.

Lance’s grin grew as we stood there. “Oh… Oh! Is she the one who broke into your hotel room last night and nearly escaped with all of your little draconic treasures?” His tone was mirthful, teasing, but there was a slight tightness to his jaw that suggested—to me, at least—he wasn’t sure if this was going too far. “Clever, clever girl.”

“Lifeblood,” I corrected him. “Another woman for you four to ravage and ruin.”

“Mate,” Gareth chimed in. “She’s my mate. My lifeblood. And she’s leaving here with me.”

Mordred’s jaw finally unlocked, but only to say, “She just said the connection’s hollow. What if it’s not a real mate bond?”

It’s not, I wanted to say. But I kept my mouth shut.

It seemed clear to Gareth as well as to me that something was wrong with our mate bond. But the possessive, draconic part of him was winning out over any and all logic, and I was starting to get the sense that my time was indeed running short. He’d kill me after all. Someone this not in control wouldn’t have the patience to bleed me slowly over years.

Tristan stepped forward finally, although the look of concentration on his forehead hadn’t lessened. If anything, his brow had creased deeper above his chestnut-brown eyes. “I’m more interested in where you’ve been for the last nearly two hundred years. Lifebloods are supposed to be extinct.”

I raised my chin. They could easily surmise why I’d hidden myself if they thought about it for more than half a second. “I was a child when your Demon Courts killed the rest of my kind. I was hidden away and then orphaned. I stayed hidden out of fear.”

Of death. Of torture. Children were too young to have fears like that. But I’d survived.

“You abandoned your duty,” Gareth snapped.

Lance’s eyebrows lifted and he chuckled a little. “You really don’t like her, do you?”

“It’s mutual,” I said.

At this, Gareth turned to affix his burning gaze on me. His eyes were a dark red that seemed to have actual fires burning within them. “You don’t need to like me. You just need to accept the mate bond.”

“So you can take my blood and body without consent?” I volleyed back. “Or do I not have that anymore, either?” I lifted my bound wrists so I could tap my chin with a silver-painted nail. “I suppose not, considering how many women have likely died at your hands after you’re done using them. That’s why I hid. All of that death.”

Author Bio:

River Starr writes books that help you escape, especially fantasy romance full of magic and supernaturals. Favorite things: coffee, wine, chocolate, and a heavy dose of books to chase away the dark… or invite delicious darkness in.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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$25 GC – Rabbit Moon by Jan D Payne @xpressotours

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Rabbit Moon
Jan D. Payne
Publication date: September 17th 2024
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

They say you can’t go back home, but Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula, doesn’t expect her life to be in danger when she answers a mysterious plea for help from a long-ago friend and returns to Dinetah, the Navajo Nation. Her past there holds memories she is reluctant to confront, but what about her life then would make someone want to kill her?

Navajo Nation Police Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes shares a connection with Marin from the past, and he has a few questions of his own when Marin disappears―such as why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agents investigating the abandoned uranium mines on the reservation and how Marin is connected.

Marin needs to survive to find any answers, and to do so she is forced to run, going off the grid on her own in the Lukachukai mountains with unknown killers close behind.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

The Bilagaana woman’s eyes were wide and staring, and even if she wasn’t a ghost-witch Haastiin Sani thought maybe she was crazy. Only someone crazy would have been out here alone in the dark and the rain. Crazy people must be treated with care, and the same for ghost-witches. It didn’t help to make them angry.

He looked at the woman, considering.

She was trembling now, as if cold, but witches and crazy people both were known to be clever. The sooner he saw her off the better, and he jerked his chin toward the direction of his camp and motioned the woman to follow. He would show her every hospitality and then gently nudge her on her way.

She looked somewhat better when he gave her a cup of hot coffee and offered the frybread his daughter had left for him, inviting her with a nod to take it, and tears came into her eyes as her lips and chin began to tremble.

Very much like a normal person, but it could be a ruse to cause him to relax his vigilance so she could blow corpse dust over him. He busied himself with the fire and wished fervently to be rid of this evil.

Marin knew she made this man very uncomfortable, and she thought she even knew why, considering where and how he had found her, but she didn’t know how to relieve his fears without making things worse.

“Thank you,” Marin murmured to the old man. “Ahéhee’,” she repeated.

She studied the man on the other side of the fire. His face was seamed and wrinkled, his frame was tall and spare beneath the loose shirt of red cotton tied with a woven sash. His gray hair was worn long, and there was a turquoise bead woven into a strand of hair near one temple.

A hogan was built higher up the slope, a blanket hanging across the eastern door, and an empty sheep pen was tucked into a rocky cliff a short way from it. A handsome bay horse wearing a rope halter stood nearby, sheltering under overhanging boards propped between a few corral poles and the cliff.

She looked around for the sheep she knew must be somewhere close by, and the dogs, but they weren’t in sight. She didn’t see any sort of vehicle either, or any other person besides the old man, watching her surreptitiously.

The old man cleared his throat suddenly, and she flinched, startled, but instead of speaking, the old man rose to his feet and walked toward the corral.

She stood as well, thinking he meant for her to follow, but he gave no sign, and she paused.

Passing Marin without word or look, he ducked under the hogan’s blanket door, emerging a moment later with an ancient-looking saddle, a bridle, and a thick saddle blanket woven in red and black yarns.

Silently, he began to saddle the horse, smoothing the blanket across the horse’s back and throwing the saddle over, pulling the cinch tight. He put the bridle on last, settling the bit into the horse’s mouth before reaching to adjust the braided ear straps. Without looking at her, he walked back, thrust the reins towards Marin, and spoke for the first time.

“You go now,” he said, and pursed his lips, pushing his chin toward the east.

Marin opened her mouth to object to taking his horse and slowly closed it again. The old man was giving her a way to get down the mountain, and she had no wish to bring trouble to him if Tolliver managed to follow her here.

She took the reins.

Haastiin Sanii grunted and stepped away toward the fire, and Marin tied her jacket to the saddle, surprised when he returned and pushed the remainder of the frybread into her hands.

“Over there,” he said, pointing again with his chin, “is a good way down.”

She waited for any more words the man might offer, for he seemed to be listening and thinking carefully, but he said nothing. He slapped the horse on the rump and stepped away.

“You go now,” he repeated.

Marin mounted, then turned in the saddle. “I’ll leave the horse at a trading post below,” she said.

Haastiin Sanii shrugged, relieved, as he watched her ride away. She was someone in a lot of trouble or someone bringing a lot of trouble, but he had done the best he could.

He looked down at his sash and fingered the gun he had found beside the spring, then looked down the trail at the woman on his grandson’s horse. He wondered if she knew a flashflood was coming and if she knew enough to stay out of the canyon.

He shrugged again, figured a ghost-witch would know and a crazy person wouldn’t care.

Author Bio:

Drawing from her years in the Southwest and the Navajo Nation, Jan Payne writes on themes of courage, regret, hope, and restoration in a world of created kinships. Through her characters’ lives and shared dangers—Marin Sinclair, end-of-life doula; Sergeant Justin Blue Eyes of the Navajo Nation Police; Cullen MacPherson, agent for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Garret Washburn, teenaged ward of Marin’s, and Lewis George, Raven spirit-guide-cum-trickster—she takes readers on a journey through the complex interactions of cultural backgrounds and personal histories, highlighting the way kinships forged in crisis have the power to reshape our lives.

Jan Payne lived on the Dineh (Navajo) reservation in Sanostee, on the New Mexico side of the Lukachukai mountain range, where she spent summers climbing mesas, taking camping trips on horseback, exploring ghost towns in the mountains of Colorado, or working with her dad breaking and training horses in Sanostee. Her two most memorable summer jobs were at a Durango, Colorado dude ranch working with pack mule trains and a brief stint as a camp cook at a uranium mining site.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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Review – Poppy and Marigold by Meg Welch Dendler @MegWelchDendler

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Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

My first introduction to Meg Welch Dendler’s writing was when I met Bianca. She is one of those authors that quickly added to my must read list. I am excited to be back with Poppy And Marigold, two young girls that come from two totally different worlds.

Poppy is a twelve year old Blue. All her life she was taught that Blue is superior to all the other colors. When she meets Marigold, a tangerine colored girl and her family, her world is turned upside down. She found she isn’t superior in their world. In fact, she is the ignorant one. Her eyes are opened. How can she return and obey the 50 Rules governing her world after all she has learned? If she is found out, she will be sent to the Detention Center, but how can she go back and pretend nothing has happened?

When Red attacks them the answer presents itself.

Poppy And Marigold is written for ages six to eighteen, but it is so thought provoking, for me, that I think it is a book for all ages. Anything that gets my mind spinning is a good thing, and Poppy and Marigold did just that, in a fantastic and wonderful way. I think it sends a message in an easy to understand way. Just because we’re different doesn’t mean we’re better…or worse.

I can see how there can more books in the making, as we discover how the other colors live and how they are closer than Poppy could possibly know.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Blue citizens are absolutely superior to all others, especially ignorant, uncivilized Orange. Poppy has been taught this relentlessly for twelve years. But when she accidentally crosses the forbidden border and is befriended by Marigold—a tangerine-skinned girl—and her kind-but-quirky family, Poppy is forced to rethink everything. Questioning that Blue is Best or the rest of the 50 Rules governing Poppy’s world would get her sent to a dangerous Detention Center. Or worse. But how can she return to her blindly obedient, anti-Orange life now that she knows the truth?

  • Genre: Childrens, Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult
  • 218 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Expected publication October 1, 2024 by Serenity Mountain Publishing

ABOUT MEG WELCH DENDLER

Meg Dendler has considered herself a writer since she was honored in a picture book contest in 5th grade. Beginning serious work as a freelancer in the ’90s while teaching elementary and middle school, Meg has over one hundred articles in print, including interviews with Kirk Douglas, Sylvester Stallone, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. She has won contests with her short stories and poetry, along with multiple awards for her best-selling Cats in the Mirror alien rescue cat children’s book series. “Bianca: The Brave Frail and Delicate Princess” was honored as Best Juvenile Book of 2018 by the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, and “Snickerdoodle’s Shenanigans” won that same honor in 2024. Now a retired teacher, Meg holds a BA in Journalism/Public Relations, an MA in Early Childhood Education, and has been teacher certified in three states. Meg is also an editor/proofreader for independent and self-publishing authors, with over 80 books completed since 2015.

Meg and her family live in NW Arkansas. Visit her at www.megdendler.com for more information about upcoming books and events and all of Meg’s social media links.

MY MEG DENDLER REVIEWS

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$10 GC – First Line Of Defense by Peter Bert @partnersincr1me

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First Line of Defense by Peter Berk Banner

FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

by Peter Berk

October 1, 2024 Book Blast

Synopsis:

First Line of Defense by Peter Berk

Will the President risk it all to save his son?

When college student Ben Porter is murdered in his apartment near the University of Maryland, all evidence points straight to his best friend and roommate, Brian Blaine—the son of Jackson Blaine, the President of the United States. Despite Brian’s estranged relationship with his father, Brian has no choice but to await trial in the house that was never a home—1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. These staggering events exacerbate the young man’s rocky relationship with his demanding father and might very well end his budding romance with a beautiful pre-med student. To the shock of the entire nation, President Jackson Blaine, a former defense lawyer, does the unthinkable—he decides to represent his son in court.

Will Brian and his father discover the truth about Ben’s murder before it’s too late?

Praise for award-winning author Peter Berk’s TimeLock series:

“A deftly crafted dystopian style science fiction suspense thriller of a novel, ‘TimeLock’ by the team of Howard and Peter Berk is a compulsive page turner of a read from cover to cover and unreservedly recommended . . .”
~ Midwest Book Review

“Rating 8 out of 10! TimeLock is a high-octane action thriller with a classic feel, reminiscent of Michael Crichton or Tom Clancy. It’s familiar, but in all the right ways.”
~ FanFiAddict

“5-Stars. Whoa!! Okay so this was awesome and I have to say first off- I hope like hell someone picks this up to make a movie or a show out of it!! This was a super interesting premise so I was hooked. It moved at a great pace and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.”
~ Book Blogger @gryffindorbookishnerd

“5-Stars. I vastly enjoyed this quick read . . . The writing was keenly honed and smartly detailed . . . In sum, was a well-plotted and shrewdly paced action-packed thriller featuring slightly frayed characters and storylines that were cleverly laced together with wry humor and witty snark.”
~ Empress DJ/Honolulubelle, Books and Binding Book Reviews

Book Details:

Genre: Political Thriller
Published by: IngramElliott Publishing
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Number of Pages: 242
ISBN: 9781952961281 (ISBN10: 1952961289)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | BookShop.org | Goodreads | IngramElliott Publishing

Read an excerpt:

Prologue

The early evening light in the sparse room was growing dim as the weathered photo was gently placed on top of a desk near the window. The left half of the image had been cut out of a newspaper and was then ripped in two down the middle; the shot depicted an angelic fourteen-year-old girl in a snowy setting, a pink wool cap on her head. The torn caption read: Teenaged Skiing Champ…

A few seconds later, a different image of the same girl was also set down on the desk and then another. In less than a minute, more than a dozen photos were methodically laid out—some in color, some in black and white—all of the same sweet girl, smiling, innocent, happy.

After several more minutes, the photos were organized in a symmetrical order that only had meaning to the person placing them there. The occupant of the room stared at the photos, lost in memory, consumed by anguish, anticipating the retribution about to be delivered. Though trying to subdue the rage inside, the fury soon grew too intense, and the owner of the photographs suddenly smashed both hands down on the desk and began tearing up each of the images over and over until every precious photo was sent flying to the ground in pieces, lost forever.

Just like her.

Chapter One

What I wouldn’t give to be having one of my usual nightmares instead of the real-life nightmare I’m living through now. Maybe the one where I’m only eight years old, waiting in front of my elementary school for my father to pick me up but he just keeps driving past me over and over. Or maybe the one when it’s three years ago, I’ve just graduated high school, and I pose for a cell phone photograph with my famous father and then see I’m somehow not in the image at all.

Detecting a recurring theme here? Unfortunately, for reasons too horrific for me to even begin wrapping my head around, my daddy issues are utterly unimportant now because all that matters is finding out what happened last night and why I’ve lost my best friend forever.

Not that I care what they must be saying about me, but I can only imagine the joy my family’s detractors must be feeling at this very moment. To everyone across America, my name is infamous at worst and privileged at best. Brian Blaine, the twenty-one-year-old junior at the University of Maryland who—despite his so-called genius-level IQ—has yet to choose a major, minors in ditching class, and seems mainly interested in serving as some kind of spoiler in his own family’s legacy.

And that was before last night.

Truth is I can’t blame them because I am rather a mass of contradictions. Confident one minute, deeply uncertain the next. Yearning for intimacy yet brimming with cynicism about the human animal. Pensive to the point of withdrawal at times yet surprisingly sociable when the mood strikes me at other times. Desperately wanting to love and be loved yet forever unsure whom to trust with that love.

Then there’s the little matter of my longstanding impatience with people who practice the infuriating art of “political speak”—talking in paper-thin little sound bites instead of actually saying what’s on their mind. Which makes me a card-carrying hypocrite, I suppose. Because for someone who extols straight talk, I realize at this worst moment in all of our lives that I’ve avoided just that my entire adult life.

After all, I’ve spent all this time in the public eye but rarely let anyone really see me. I’ve recited “heartfelt” speeches but never truly spoken from the heart. I’ve told my father what I’m doing, where I’m going, and who I’m seeing, but I’ve never told him who I really am. And, unfortunately, I don’t remember the last time he asked.

And now I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance.

Well, I think I’ve covered “me” as much as I can at this point. College. Drifting. Straight talk. Loneliness. Or didn’t I mention that last one?

Anyway, I guess that’s about it for now. Oh, yeah. Two other minor points.

My father is President of the United States, and I’ve just been arrested for murder.

Chapter Two

My new residence—jail—makes my just-off-campus apartment seem like Versailles by comparison. How I miss that crappy, wonderful, little place with its peeling paint, ugly carpet, and useless heater. How I miss my roommate and best friend, Ben Porter.

In deference to my father and security concerns, I’m mercifully being held in a cell by myself, thereby happily denying some tattooed bunkie named Moose lifelong bragging rights about boinking the president’s son. Nevertheless, my relief over being alone in this miserable place is more than overshadowed by my boundless grief and my ever-growing fear.

How could this have happened? How could someone—me?—have shot Ben in the head? How could I have been found apparently drunk or drugged and unconscious on Ben’s bedroom floor with my hand beside the gun that killed him? How could I not remember Ben’s murder when I was, according to everyone who saw me that night—Secret Service included—alone in the apartment with him at the time?

Yet all these unanswered questions take a distant backseat to the one question that’s dominated my every thought since this nightmare began: How am I going to ever come to grips with the loss of my closest friend? The one person I could trust and confide in completely. The one person who could see the real me and not the character I play for the press and the public. No wonder that despite my desperate attempt to maintain a veneer of stoic resolve as I wait here in this cold, dark cell, I can’t help but curl up in the corner and silently cry as I realize for the millionth time that Ben is really and truly gone forever.

Forcing myself to take my mind off my late friend for a moment, I pace the small cell and consider the reality that the court of public opinion has almost certainly already pronounced me guilty. I can almost hear them now: “Such a mercurial young man…so quiet and aloof…so impulsive…Not at all his father’s son…”

My father. Good God. I can only imagine how this is going to affect his job approval ratings, not to mention his re-election chances in November. He and I may have drifted apart the last few years, but whatever I think of him as a father, I’ve never doubted for a second how lucky I am—we all are—to have him as a president.

***

Excerpt from First Line of Defense by Peter Berk. Copyright 2024 by Peter Berk. Reproduced with permission from Peter Berk. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Peter Berk

Peter Berk has written six novels, three TV pilots and a dozen screenplays, including several with his father which became the basis for the TimeLock series of novels. The original TimeLock novel is a Finalist in the 2023 Chanticleer International Book Awards for Science Fiction, Mystery, and Global Thrillers. TimeLock was also named as a Distinguished Favorite in the TechnoThriller category of the 2024 Independent Press Award. TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy was published in 2023 and the third book in the series will be published by IngramElliott. Peter and his family live in Southern California.

Catch Up With Peter Berk:
IngramElliott Publishing Author Page
Goodreads
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Instagram – @peterberk_author
Facebook – @Peter Berk Author

 

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Tackling The TBR – 9.1 – 9.30.24 #tacklingthetbr

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I got the idea and the motivation to start doing Tackling The TBR from All The Blog Names Are Taken. I love showcasing the books on Goodreads, my ereader and my bookshelves. The more exposure for authors and their books, the better….RIGHT?

COME ON….JOIN IN.

Previous Total: 1988

I haven’t knocked any off my TBR in a while. I am still playing catch up from being ill and I took in too many review books. I have been finding so many new authors and great review books, that I can’t stop myself from taking in more. I am trying to put blinders on so I can wrap up things for 2024.

Currently Reading

 

Books Read

     

Books Added

Books DNF-ed: 0

Books Deleted: 0

Duplicates Removed: 0

New TBR Total: 1987

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$10 GC – The White Wolf’s Wrath by Shea Hulse @xpressotours @Heyshea13

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The White Wolf’s Wrath
Shea Hulse
(Dragon Fire and Druids, #1)
Published by: Hot Tree Publishing
Publication date: September 26th 2024
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Step into a world where betrayal cuts deeper than a knife, and vengeance burns hotter than wildfire.

My life took a sharp turn when the White Wolf unleashed his fury upon my family’s once-glorious estate, shattering everything I held dear.

But from the rubble, I emerged with a fierce determination. Disguised as a humble servant in the Wolf’s inner circle, I tread carefully, balancing on the edge of survival and discovery.

In my quest for payback, I unearth truths that rock my world. The man I swore to hate reveals surprising depths, stirring emotions I never thought possible. Caught between seeking revenge and a budding attraction, I’m trapped in a whirlwind of conflicting feelings.

With the help of the mysterious Amergin, I navigate the dangerous territory of enemies and secrets. War looms on the horizon, and betrayal lurks in every shadow. I must summon all my courage to follow my heart’s uncertain path in this turbulent journey of love and revenge.

The White Wolf’s Wrath is the first book in the intense Dragon Fire and Druids romantasy series.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—


Author Bio:

Shea is a bestselling author on Amazon, with her books falling under the genre of inspirational, steamy, and fantasy romance. Her award-winning works are filled with elements of magic, mystery, and sarcasm. During her free time, Shea loves to travel with her family.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub


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Sherry’s Shelves 9.22 – 9.28.24 #weeklyupdate

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Hi Everyone. Another easy week. I did a lot of reading. Thank goodness the hurricane missed us. I am in no mood to be putting up shutters. Thinking of those that were in its path.

LAST WEEK ON fundinmental

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  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • $10 GC – The White Wolf’s Wrath by Shea Hulse
  • $10 GC – First Line Of Defense by Peter Bert
  • Review – Poppy And Marigold by Meg Dendler
  • $25 GC – Rabbit Moon by Jan D Payne
  • Review – I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong
  • $20 GC – Silver Bells by Sandy Lender
  • $10 GC – Bearly Evident by Lois Schmitt
  • $25 GC – Bell Books And Corpses by T C LoTiempo
  • Tackling The TBR
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  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
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