books

Cover Reveal: Rum and Raisins – Ashley J. Vinson

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We’re thrilled to present the cover for Ashley J. Vinson’s next book, Rum and Roses!

Rum and Roses

Expected Release Date: June 6th

Genre: Dark Romance

Designer : @niro_ignius

🍓 Biker x ballerina
🍓 Cinnamon roll stalker
🍓 Consensual BDSM + dom/sub relationship
🍓 Forced proximity
🍓 He ☠️ every douchebag that hurts her
🍓 He kidnaps her to ‘protect’ her
🍓 They’re baristas together
🍓 He’s tatted, pierced & plays violin

Meet Silas: an ordinary man whose world spirals into darkness the moment he lays eyes on Rosalie. Her radiant smile, that infectious laugh, and carefree spirit ignite a burning fixation within him. What begins as innocent admiration quickly morphs into a twisted obsession. One where he lurks silently in the shadows of her life, convinced that their connection is fate.

When Silas kidnaps Rosalie to shield her from a world he believes threatens to tear them apart, a complex relationship takes shape within their hidden refuge. Fear gives way to understanding, and love begins to bloom in the unlikeliest of places. Rosalie, initially terrified, starts to see glimpses of Silas’s desire to love and be loved; no matter how dark the path may be.

As they navigate a maze of fear, passion, and obsession, their story challenges the very meaning of love, blurring the lines between devotion and danger.

Dark, seductive, and utterly unpredictable; this is a story where love knows no bounds, even if that love is deep rooted from obsession.

 

Triggers: Stockholm syndrome, kidnapping/locked up, murder, manipulation, BDSM aspects, Dom/sub themes, stalking, masked men, ownership, violence, blood/gore, orphan, psychotic men, brief mention of cheating ex, praise kink, possessive MMC, graphic sex, abandonment issues, bloodlust, anal, oral, bondage, gruesome violence obsession, graphic depictions of death, mention of child abuse (backstory), holding hostage, and abduction.

BDSM aspects, anal, double penetration, choking, use of sex toys, bondage, dom/sub relationship, oral, ball gag, bloodlust

The Chapters in the book that include sexual related activities are 16, 19, 21 and 24.

 

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books

Book Blitz: Beautiful Nightmare – L.C. Son

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We’re thrilled to announce the release of the Beautiful Nightmare deluxe digital edition boxset by L.C. Son!

This digital set comes fully loaded with:

  • All three books: Beautiful Nightmare, Awaken, Dawn of Descent
  • Two bonus stories: With Hearts Like Fire & With Clipped Wings of Butterflies
  • Bonus chapters & dialogue not included in standard retail editions
  • An exclusive immersive reader website to take you deeper into the universe- see QR code on receipt
  • Character guides

Beautiful Nightmare – Dark Paranormal Romance

Tropes: love triangle (leads to why choose), runaway bride, dark family secrets, vampires, wolf shifters, fated mates, she saves herself, touch me and d!e

Designer: @coversincolor


It all starts with love. Then it becomes a nightmare. But soon it becomes something quite beautiful.

Damina Nicaud, a beautiful, successful art buyer in Washington, D.C., has been plagued by hauntingly romantic dreams of a mystery man every night. While she knows she shouldn’t consider her dreams to be anything more than anxiety brought on by her upcoming nuptials, she can’t help but be lured into its entreat. Unbeknownst to her, the dreamscape that plagues her mind will be all that carries her through eventual heartbreak and learning the truth of her orphaned lineage.

She is more than human.

Escaping to New Orleans on the heels of her broken heart, she begins to unravel the mystery of her life while discovering a love powerful enough to unleash an ancient power residing within herself. Weaving through a world of artistic passion, vampires, wolves, and the supernatural, Damina Nicaud begins to take hold of her Beautiful Nightmare.

Purchase: https://payhip.com/b/EXkdQ

Tags:

@author_l.c.son @rrbooktours

#rrbooktours #bookbox #darkparanormalromance #beautifulnightmare #booktrilogy

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Love and Other Revenge Plots – Liliana Woodland

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We’re celebrating the newly released romance Love and Other Revenge Plots by Liliana Woodland this week with a tour!

Love and Other Revenge Plots (Love in Louisville)

Release Date: March 16, 2026

Genre: Contemporary Romance

  • Co-workers in a medical setting
  • Class differences
  • Reformed bully
  • Groveling
  • Hidden identity
  • Emotional authenticity
  • Feminine anger
  • Dual POV

I never wanted to see him again. How am I supposed to work with my worst enemy?

I’ve hated Grant Wyndham for as long as I can remember. Back in our hometown, he was my tormentor. The source of my worst angst.

So when he shows up at my clinic, it shakes my world. How can that awful man be a doctor now? And how can I make it through the next three months with him?

I can’t let him get to me. I’m no pushover, and I can make him regret his treatment of me.

Except—it seems like he’s changed, and it’s clear he wants me. There’s a part of me that wants him, too.

When things start to heat up between us, I have to ask myself some important questions. Can I ever forgive him? Has he really redeemed himself?

And when attraction turns into something deeper, I’m forced to confront the past. What happens when the man who hurt you so badly is the one who sees you most clearly?

I do know one thing—no matter how sexy he is, falling for my high school bully was never part of the plan.

A slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers redemption romance about choosing love despite old wounds.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

 

Trigger Warning:

  • Explicit sexual content and swearing
  • Bullying (only in prologue, otherwise off page)
  • Fatphobia (only in prologue)
  • Discussion of unintentional weight loss
  • Discussion of childbirth complications
  • Frank discussions about poverty and food insecurity
  • Some explicit detail involving surgical procedures
  • Parental abandonment

 

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

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blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: I Am You – Victoria Redel

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A mesmerising historical novel, I Am You is a meditation on gender, an ode to artistic creation, and an unforgettable love story that reimagines the life of renowned painter Maria van Oosterwijck during the Dutch Golden Age.

At eight years old, Gerta Pieters is forced to disguise herself as a boy and sent to work for a genteel family. When their daughter Maria sees through Gerta’s ruse, she insists Gerta accompany her to Amsterdam and help her enter the elite, maledominated art world.

While Maria rises in the ranks of society as a painting prodigy, Gerta makes herself invaluable in every way: confidante, muse, lover. But as Gerta steps into her own talents, their relationship fractures into a complex web of obsession and rivalry, until the secrets they keep threaten to unravel everything.

Victoria Redel is a first-generation American poet and novelist. Her work has been widely anthologized, awarded, and translated in ten languages. Her debut novel, Loverboy (2001) was adapted for feature film directed by Kevin Bacon. Redel’s short stories, poetry and essays have appeared in Granta, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Bomb, One Story, Salmagundi, O and NOON. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The National Endowment forthe Arts and the Fine Arts Work Center. Victoria is a professor in the graduate and undergraduate Creative Writing programs at Sarah Lawrence College.

My thoughts: I actually found this a very sad book in many ways, Gerta is often unhappy and mistreated by her mistress Maria, who mocks her in public and is hot and cold with her in private.

The two women live a strange life, Maria is feted by society for her artworks but the men of the art world are dismissive of her talent, because she’s not a man, while also hoping to make her their wife or mistress. 

She and Gerta become a couple, but must keep it secret from everyone. And as Gerta learns to paint and assist Maria, who suffers from what I think is Parkinson’s, unable to use her hands unless the tremors she suffers become apparent, their relationship changes.

Gerta narrates the story, and we see her pain and misery first hand. From being forced to dress and behave like a boy, to being raped by Maria’s horrible nephew. She finds little love in her life, often rejected by Maria, who toys with her and ultimately she is forced to make a decision that will affect them both.

Powerful, compelling and fascinating, this story of women in a man’s world, creative and cruel (Maria) and incredibly loving (Greta) is moving and intriguing, recreating a vanished world in Amsterdam.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Framed – Patricia Grayhall

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Welcome to the tour for Framed by Patricia Grayhall. Read on for more details!

Framed

Release Date: January 2026

Genre: Thriller

She’s taking on Big Oil. But when her star witness is arrested for bank robbery, the fight for justice becomes a battle for survival.

Environmental attorney Jo Turner is building the case of a lifetime, suing World Petrol, one of the country’s largest refineries, for toxic emissions linked to rising cancer rates along the Houston Ship Channel. Her crucial evidence comes from Dr. Tori Nelson, a respected physician and Jo’s college crush, whose research exposes devastating community health impacts.

But just as the lawsuit gains momentum, Tori is arrested for a shocking, high-profile bank robbery. Jo knows it’s a setup. Someone is trying to silence Tori to bury the findings that could bring World Petrol down.

As Jo races to prove Tori’s innocence, she uncovers a chilling conspiracy that reaches deeper than she imagined. With Tori’s freedom, career, and the lives of an entire community at stake, Jo has a choice: walk away or risk everything.

She’s never been good at walking away.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

 

BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

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Blog Tour: After Darcy – Joanna Nadin

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It is a truism, frequently invoked by the members of the Meryton Women’s Guild, that one is only ever as happy as one’s unhappiest child. So, with five daughters and four grandchildren, it was a miracle Mrs Hester Bennet ever raised a smile. At best, she was only ever tentatively pleased, and even then understood that her contentment rested on the edge of a gaping precipice into which she would inevitably tumble the second Kitty or Lydia (it was almost always those two) messaged in the clutches of yet another existential crisis…

Lydia, home from Paris on New Year’s Day in a welter of hangover and humiliation, finds herself swearing off drink, drugs and sex for the next 12 months. Through her unfamiliar sobriety, she’ll see a landmark year for all the Bennet sisters, including a disruptive 40th birthday, an engagement and a funeral: and, maybe, coming to terms with the results of a run-of-the-mill run-in with a jackknifed lorry on a wet stretch of the M1…

A sharply funny and unexpectedly tender modern sequel to Pride & Prejudice, this is a story of sisterhood, survival, and second chances. For fans of Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton, and anyone who’s ever wondered what the Bennet sisters would be like in the age of therapy, WhatsApp, and wellness trends gone rogue.

Joanna Nadin is a former broadcast journalist, political speechwriter and special adviser to the Prime Minister. Since leaving politics she has written numerous books for children and adults, including an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility for younger readers, the Carnegie Medal-nominated Joe All Alone, which is now a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC drama, andthe Flying Fergus series with Sir Chris Hoy. Originally from Essex, she now lives in Bath, and is Associate Professor in Creative Writing at University of Bristol.

My thoughts: this modern day update to the sisters of Pride & Prejudice is fantastic, funny, sad, thoughtful, entertaining and hugely enjoyable. The Bennet sisters are up to date with dating apps, WhatsApp chats and a very different take on the 18th Century.

Lizzy is a doctor with twins who never stop asking questions, juggling a demanding job with parenthood, Jane is contemplating her future and that of Netherfield, Mary is still figuring things out, Kitty might be about to wreck her love life and Lydia is, well, a total mess.

While Mr Bennet takes refuge in his newspaper, Mrs Bennet is still meddling in her daughters’ lives, some things never change.

As the sisters’ year begins, there’s heart break, misunderstandings, arguments, gossip and a trip to Paris which might derail the close knit bond between the five for good.

So much fun, very cleverly done and with real heart, this is a terrific book.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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BBNYA Blog Tour: Miss Bennet’s Dragon – M. Verant

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Miss Bennet’s Dragon is the 10th place BBNYA 2025 finalist!
About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 (17 in 2025) finalists and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official.

War threatens England, but Elizabeth Bennet’s battles are closer to home. She’s managing the family estate for her ailing father. Insufferable gentlemen keep bursting in to propose marriage. And most dangerous of all, she’s hiding a forbidden skill. Elizabeth can speak to draca, the small, fire-breathing dragons kept by gentry as frivolous status symbols.

When Napoleon’s spies attempt to steal draca, the distant war threatens even cozy Hertfordshire. Elizabeth seeks the aid of Mr. Darcy, the proud man whose proposal she once scorned. Amid the breathtaking halls of Pemberley, she discovers the truth: she is not the first woman to speak with draca. But with her secret revealed, the dark history of Pemberley tears her and Mr. Darcy apart.

One hope remains: her dangerous affinity to draca. But does she dare to trust legends and lost songs? And when a terrible betrayal threatens the man she loves, does she have a choice?

Miss Bennet’s Dragon is the first book in the award-winning Jane Austen Fantasy trilogy. For fans of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and of course Jane Austen.

Amazon Canada  USA  UK

Goodreads The Story Graph

M. Verant writes noblebright fantasy and sci-fi that’s exciting, romantic, and celebrates diversity and empowerment. His latest work is Emma’s Dragon, book 2 in the award-winning Jane Austen Fantasy series. Dragons of the Great Wyves, book 3 of the trilogy, is next, followed by Tiger Seed, a contemporary fantasy rooted in ancient Indus history. He collects Jane Austen paraphernalia and two-legged dragons while dodging wild turkeys in the San Francisco Bay Area. Follow him on Bluesky @mverant.com.

My thoughts: This was a lot of fun, it’s Pride & Prejudice & Dragons (not Zombies) and since I enjoy both the work of Miss Austen and dragons, right up my street, or should I say, in my library!

Lizzy Bennet discovers she can communicate with the small forms of draca that live in England, no true dragons exist, or so she believes (maybe St George put them off?) but married couples of her social class can bond with a variety of the smaller types, on their wedding night. A lot of the lore is shrouded in mystery, the church rather disapproves and not everyone can make it happen (like Mr Collins and poor Charlotte).

Mr & Mrs Bennet have a firedrake, a dog sized draca that Mrs B is somewhat afraid of, but Lizzy, and to some extent her sisters, are not. Which is handy when Lizzy starts to realise she can talk to them, and some of them talk back.

Most of the plot is familiar to fans of P&P but there are changes, the war against Napoleon is more important to this version than the original, and indeed a certain Arthur Wellesley shows up, turns out he and Darcy are old friends. There’s also a rather horrible change in one of the Bennet sisters, but Lizzy is still a remarkable, funny, intelligent heroine.

I really enjoyed this and now I’m off to read book two, which features a Miss Emma Woodhouse….

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

events, reviews

The Conversation; Hallie Rubenhold

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Last Tuesday I was kindly offered the opportunity to go and see historian and author Hallie Rubenhold talk about her work at the gorgeous St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

Truly a great setting to listen to one of my favourite authors talk about The Five, The Covent Garden Ladies, The Scandalous Lady W and her most recent, Story of a Murder.  

This was all part of a series of talks called The Conversation 2026 where different very interesting people are invited to talk about their life and work and you can be in the audience, either in person or via live stream from your sofa.

I took my mum, who hadn’t read any of Hallie’s books before but was very interested in how she reframes the cases she writes about so that the women, who are often the victim, are the main character, not the killer, who is usually a man.

In the case of Story of a Murder, the victim is Belle Elmore, a music hall performer, by her husband Dr Crippen, who buried her in the cellar of their London home and then took off with his mistress, Ethel.

Hallie brings their world to life in her book, creating a wonderful sense of time and place, exploring why the police were so reluctant to believe anything was wrong, despite how often Belle’s friends in The Music Hall Ladies’ Guild insisted it was. The Belle they knew wouldn’t just vanish to America without a word, as her husband claimed, she would have written. It is really shocking how long it took to get Scotland Yard to investigate, and it ended in a transatlantic race to catch Crippen and Ethel who were trying to escape to Canada.

It was really interesting hearing Hallie talk about how she goes about researching and learning about the cases, and how she reconstructs the events from often quite small comments in trial transcripts and newspaper reports. She never loses sight of the fact that these were real people and only quotes dialogue that is in the record.

Honestly I could have listened to her for hours, she was so fascinating, her work intriguing and important in re-centering women in history and not letting them end up sidelined in their own lives. Her most famous book, The Five, upset a lot of Ripperologists, because of the focus on his victims, and not who the killer might have been.

Both The Scandalous Lady W and The Covent Garden Ladies have been adapted for TV (the Ladies as Harlots) and you can see why, the books are clever and full of fascinating details.

If you’re interested in seeing any of the other conversations, visit the link above to check out the upcoming dates and book your tickets.

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Blog Tour: Don’t Look Back – JJ Burgess

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He saved her. Now he owns her.

Exhausted new mother Lucy is rushing her baby to hospital. Distracted by her sick
child, she loses control of the car, and hits Roger, her elderly neighbor.

Terrified of being sent to prison and separated from her infant son, she makes a split-second decision and flees the scene.
Her boyfriend Ian realizes what she has done and helps her cover it up. Lucy is
incredibly grateful, until she begins to understand that his kindness comes at a price.

Small favors become demands. Demands become threats.

The bargain she has made is clear. If Lucy doesn’t do everything Ian wants, he’ll go to
the police and she’ll go to jail, losing access to her child.

Meanwhile, Roger’s wife Mary is circling closer to the truth and the police start asking questions. Lucy’s world has become a suffocating prison with no hope of escape.

Unless… if something were to happen to Ian…

Goodreads
Purchase

JJ Burgess has a degree in Economics and lives in Bristol with his wife and two sons.
By day he is the Director of a greetings card company, by night he writes
psychological thrillers that ask questions about the world we live in. When he isn’t
writing, he is usually running through the woods around Bristol, thinking of new
characters and dark plots.

Instagram X

My thoughts: Lucy makes a split second, terrible decision with her baby son in the car. She can’t bear the thought of being separated from him ever. So she tells a lie and let’s her neighbour die on the side of the road. Unfortunately she confesses to her slimy boyfriend Ian, who turns out to be genuinely awful. He manipulates her, threatens her, abuses her and uses her fear against her.

But Mary, the kindly neighbour whose husband was Lucy’s victim, is asking questions and she doesn’t like Ian. She sees through him and wants to help Lucy. 

As the story twists and turns and Lucy’s life gets worse and worse, her plans to flee with her son going nowhere, a virtual prisoner in her home, can Mary do anything to help her? 

Clever, gripping and with a really unpleasant antagonist (ergh, Ian, so gross) you’re rooting for Lucy and Mary all the way through.  

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

books

Book Blitz: Ghost Curse – Brittany Arden

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We’re celebrating the release of the next book in the Blakewell Mages series, Ghost Curse by Brittany Arden!

Ghost Curse: Blakewell Mages Book Two

Release Date: March 20, 2026

Genre: Urban Romantasy

  • Morally Gray Love Interest
  • Obsessive / Possessive MMC
  • “Touch Her and D!e” Energy
  • He Fell First (and harder)
  • Love Triangle (Shifting Allegiances)
  • Slow Burn → To Spice
  • Secrets Within Secrets
  • Power Awakening
  • Urban Romantasy

Sonia never expected her Ghost Whisperer powers to unravel a conspiracy buried beneath the Blakewell Mages—or to bind the ancient being of Death himself to her soul. But the bloodline curse hunting her is accelerating, draining her magic and fraying her mortality thread by thread.

When the mist that shields Blakewell shatters and chaos erupts, Sonia is pulled into a deadly battle: Blakewell is beginning to fracture—its magic failing, its people turning desperate—Sonia uncovers secrets in her mother’s ledger that the Black House would kill to keep buried.

Her only allies are the two men she shouldn’t crave.
McDara, the detective who keeps choosing grief over his own heart.
And Death—the immortal who would raze worlds rather than lose her.
But Death’s price presses her closer to him than she’s ever dared—and surrendering to it might break her in ways even magic can’t fix.

As Sonia’s magic burns unstable and a faceless ghost stalks her every step, she discovers a haunting warning: something beneath Blakewell is waking—and it is hungry.

To survive her twenty-fifth birthday, Sonia must face a realm built of shadows, lies, and the dangers that come wrapped in trust… even if doing so costs her the memory of the one person she was never meant to forget.

A dark, addictive romantasy full of devastating choices, breathtaking magic, and a love that defies life and death.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

 

Triggers:

  • On page spice
  • Brief moments of blood or body horror (mild, not graphic. Think murder mystery moment. The crime scene is found but is not gory.)
  • Themes of death, sacrifice, and betrayal

 

BOOK BLITZ ORGANIZED BY:

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