We’re thrilled to announce the release of cozy mystery, Waimea Whitewash by Christine Wellert!
Waimea Whitewash (Barefoot Sleuth Cozy Mysteries Book 5)
Release Date: August 14, 2026
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Tropical Setting
Slow Burn
Amateur Sleuth
Found Family
Murder
A poisoned drink. A dead developer. And a suspect who swears she’s innocent.
Running a private investigation business isn’t quite as glamorous as Summer imagined. Even after solving a murder that stunned the community, TS Jenkins Investigations is struggling to keep the lights on.
Then Lani’s Aunt Esther is accused of murder.
The victim, a ruthless real estate developer proposing a project that would block access to sacred land, left behind a trail of angry lovers, bitter rivals, and broken promises.
Determined to clear Esther, the team dives deep into the victim’s past, only to find that nearly everyone had a reason to want the developer gone—and someone is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the truth buried.
Introvert and self-described whodunnit enthusiast Viviane has never much believed in living life outside of the pages of a book. But when her interfering mother insists that Viviane needs some friends who aren’t fictional, she decides to head into the beautiful bustling streets of Porto in search of her community.
What better place to start than by reading her favourite mystery in the corner of a little-known café?
But when one, then two, and then outrageously six other people decide to join her silent book club Viviane realises that she is firmly out of her depth. There’s Thomas, a middle-aged man hiding his love for romance novels, Lucinda, a chic sixty-something with a penchant for Christie, and then there’s Tiago, the man of every romance novelist’s dreams.
But when one of these newfound friends disappears from the book club without a word, will the community come together to find their fellow lost soul, and will Viviane find love along the way…?
Rebecca Raisin is an internationally bestselling and RNA awards winning romance writer from Perth, Australia.
Her books are set in stunning locations around the world providing a touch of escapism for her readers and those who like to partake in a spot of armchair travel from the comfort of their own home. Rebecca writes quirky heroines who haven’t figured it all out yet but are perfectly relatable, flaws and all. You’ll find themes such as friendship, love, new beginnings, food, wine and travel. She’s known for writing books for book lovers.
My thoughts: I loved this, I happen to be going to Porto later this year so it was very nice to be taken there by book.
Viviane is lonely but won’t admit it, like many book lovers her friends are mostly found between the covers of her favourites, but as for real life ones – not so much. So when she accidentally founds a book club (or silent reading group) and finds herself genuinely liking her fellow readers, having outings, talking to them – outrageous!
But when Lucinda, one of the members of the group stops attending and Viviane worries something bad might have happened, like her favourite detective she has to investigate, with Tiago as her sidekick.
Will she find real human connection? Fall in love? Will it be sweet and funny and rather charming? Well, you’ll have to read it to learn the answers to the first two, but it’s a big yes to sweet, funny and charming.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Slow Burn is published this August and available in the usual places.
Rishi Tripathi has failed as an actor. When an important audition doesn’t go as planned, rage consumes him and he punches a mirror. But instead of getting hurt, he slips right through and arrives in the Mumbai of his dreams.
In this inverted city, Rishi is a superstar, a critically acclaimed darling. Success kisses his feet, and producers flock at his doors. But success, too, comes at a cost, and behind the twinkling arc lights of showbiz is chaos and a sinister scheme.
When this dark reality catches up with him, he wants to leave this new Mumbai right away. But is Rishi truly ready to go back to the life he left? Is he ready to go back to being a failure? And will fate stand in the way of his return?
About the Author
Amal Singh is a Sturgeon Award-nominated writer of science fiction and fantasy from Mumbai, India. His short fiction has appeared in venues such as Reactor, Clarkesworld, Asimov’s and Himal Southasian, among others. His debut novel, The Garden of Delights, was on the Locus Recommended Reading List for 2024.
My thoughts: This reminded me a little of Dostoevsky’s The Double, which I read years ago as a student. The concept of the doppelganger exists in many cultures, often as a fear, something that will take you over. The appearance of your double is usually a harbinger of death or disaster.
Here, aspiring actor Rishi Tripathi slips through a mirror, much like an Indian Alice, and finds himself in a different version of Mumbai, one where he’s a huge film star Rrish Kumar, a man adored by millions but with plenty of dark secrets.
As Rishi attempts to make sense of this new world, and the man he is in it, Rrish finds himself in Rishi’s Mumbai, unknown, poor and invisible. At first he struggles but then he embraces the opportunity to reinvent himself.
Rishi, however, soon tires of the new Mumbai and the life he is living, determined to return to his “real” world, he seeks out the mirror maker himself and asks for a way home.
The book is intelligent, well written and thought-provoking, as both versions of Rishi/Rrish come to terms with their new reality, and what they can make of it. But only one of them is unhappy in the end, and when you come face to face with your double, it always ends badly.
*While I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions remain my own.
Today sees the release of the cover for Richard Swan’s next book – The Anguished Earth.
It is winter in the Empire of the Wolf, and the town of Eisbrück burns with plague. Whilst physicians struggle to contain the pox, the atmosphere thickens with recrimination and rumour: talk of inauspicious constellations, and a demonic witch filling the streets with bodies and black magick. Amongst the chaos, Sir Konrad Vonvalt must recover a dangerous fugitive-a child murderer who has escaped from Blackmarsh Insane Asylum. But with winter’s bite closing and plague spreading like wildfire, finding the killer may be the least of his problems.
The book will be published October 19th 2026 by Grimdark Magazine.
Welcome to the tour for Dracula in Love by Karen Essex. It’s time for Mina Harker’s story!
Available in all formats
Dracula in Love
Release Date: February 2026
Genre: Gothic Romance
Dracula in Love is a lush, sensual reimagining of Bram Stoker’s classic, told through the eyes of Mina Harker. In Essex’s version, Mina is no passive maiden besieged by darkness, but a woman divided between the life Victorian society demands of her and the dangerous, erotic, supernatural truth awakening inside her.
As Mina is drawn into Dracula’s world, she discovers that desire, memory, and identity are far more complicated than the men around her will admit. The novel transforms the familiar tale of the vampire count into a story of female hunger, forbidden love, and the terrifying cost of self-discovery. At once gothic, romantic, and psychologically intimate, Dracula in Love asks whether the monster is truly the creature in the shadows, or the world that demands women
dampen their own power.
With the dark romance and gothic atmosphere of Anne Rice, the feminist revisionism of The Mists of Avalon, and the erotic, mythic charge of A Discovery of Witches and The Historian, Dracula in Love is perfect for readers who love seductive historical fantasy, dangerous love stories, and classic tales retold from the woman’s point of view.
For fans of Anne Rice, Deborah Harkness, Elizabeth Kostova, Madeline Miller, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and readers who believe Mina Harker deserved the last word.
Nightcats is a feral feminist vampire novel that explores the unbreakable bonds between women and their cats, and the price we pay for keeping our teeth sharp in a world that wants us defanged. Kristen’s debut adult horror novel will appeal to readers of Leigh Bardugo, Rachel Harrison, V.E. Schwab, and Anne Rice.
Itʼs carnival season in New Orleans, and Ricki James-Diaz and her friends from Bon Vee are dressing up for Mardi Gras. Theyʼve joined the notorious krewe of Chew to support Rickiʼs chef boyfriend, Virgil, who is to be crowned this yearʼs king. Itʼs all fun, throws, and over-the-top outfits until the kreweʼs captain is found strangled with his own medallion.
Step 2 – survive the festivities.
The prime suspect is Rickiʼs friend, the deceasedʼs wife who discovered he was cheating on her. It seems a straightforward case, but Ricki isnʼt so sure. The kreweʼs leader had many enemies including his mistress, his krewe co-founder who he ousted, and his college friend whose girlfriend he stole. One thingʼs clear, Rickiʼs at the center of yet another murder investigation. And if sheʼs not careful, her first Mardi Gras could also be her last . . .
Ellen Byron is an Anthony Award-nominated bestselling author and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico).
She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. Ellen was the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.
A native New Yorker, Ellen is a graduate of Tulane University and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups.
My thoughts: This was a really fun read, New Orleans is high on my list of places I’d like to visit one day, and the period of time leading up to Lent when all the carnival activities take place sounds quite something.
Ricki runs a shop attached to a museum, where she sells pre-loved cookbooks, and all sorts of other things. She enjoys what she does and has made some great friends, as well as having a lovely boyfriend with whom she shares two dogs and a kitten.
A relative newcomer to New Orleans, this is the first time she’s been involved with the Mardi Gras excitement and she’s a bit apprehensive. Then the carnival krewe she’s joined is hit by a shocking tragedy – their captain is murdered in the street outside their kick-off gathering.
The cops immediately decide it was his wife – after all the couple were seen arguing earlier that night. But Ricki’s friendly with the wife, Jessica, in question, and doesn’t agree. So she starts her own investigation. But when other things start happening – including someone literally throwing a bag of rocks at her head, it seems the killer might be more dangerous than she thought.
With the help of her friends, Ricki is determined to solve the case and catch a killer, but is something else going on in the carnival krewe and how far is someone willing to go to get what they want?
A really enjoyable, entertaining book with a fun cast of characters and a clever plot with plenty of twists.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the tour for Capicú Summer by Luna K. Wicked – Now Available!
Capicú Summer: A Summer Barrio Second Chance Romance
Release Date: August 8, 2026
Genre: Romance/Latino/Hispanic
Rivals to lovers
Return to hometown FMC
Family Feud
Love at first sight… again
Forced Proximity
Found Family
Love Triangle
At Altura, summer brings the heat… and the past you thought you left behind.
Five years after she swore she’d never come back, Adriana Santos returns to the block that raised her and to the man who never left it. Yael Cruz still carries the weight of one choice that shattered them both. But when her dying grandfather forces them to work together, old wounds resurface demanding to felt. What starts off as simmer turns into a fire leaving them exposed to their truth.
Porque donde hubo fuego, las cenizas siempre quedan.
And as the summer heat rises, so do the stakes, because the last game has just begun.
Welcome to the tour for Becky Jane Fox’s slowwww burn fantasy romance, Veins of Power!
Veins of Power (Threads of the Fifth Realm Book 1)
Release Date: January 2026
Genre: Epic Fantasy Romance
Slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers tension
Morally grey MMC
Forced proximity & dangerous bargains
Dragons in exile & forbidden magic
A fierce, flawed heroine who would rather set the world on fire than bow to it
Your Next Obsessive Slow-Burn Fantasy Romance: Dragons, Forbidden Magic, and Unbearable Tension!
Meet Lyra Bloom—a sharp-tongued redhead with a quick mind and a volatile vein of magic she can’t quite control.
Raised scraping by in the lawless Outerlands, survival meant learning to fight, lie, and rely on no one but herself until one fatal mistake changes everything.
Captured crossing the border into the Inner Lands, Lyra is dragged into the very world she’s spent her life resenting—and forced into service under the power she swore she’d never bow to.
Inside the walls of the Citadel, her magic grows stronger. Wilder. But so does something else: a rising lust and desire for something she doesn’t truly understand. Something shadowed. Something dangerous. Something that threatens to unravel her—and everything around her.
And as whispers of rebellion spread and dragons strike from exile, Lyra must decide whether she’ll be forged into the weapon the Citadel wants… or become the spark that burns it all down.
This novel is intended for adult readers (18+). It contains explicit sexual content, strong language, violence and peril, injury detail, psychological manipulation, and references to self-harm and suicide. It also includes implied off-page rape and on-page non-consensual sexual contact (kissing, touching). If you are sensitive to any of these themes, please take care while reading.
🐙 Monster Romance ❤️ Leviathan x Human 🐙 Sapphic ❤️ Plus Size FMC 🐙 Hurt/Comfort ❤️ Touch Her and Die 🐙 Tentacles ❤️ Insta-Love
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
The plans were perfect. Her dress was a froth of white lace. Her maid of honor had just finished pinning her veil in place. The buzz of excitement and fizz of champagne filled her ears. She just wanted to take a breath alone to soak it in before the emotion of the day blurred her mind. What she couldn’t have planned was the pain lying in wait on the other side of her hotel room door ready to topple it all.
When Georgia runs from the picture-perfect life she had meticulously built, taking her honeymoon trip alone, she prays the secluded seaside resort will wash away her shame. The private beach surrounding her villa offers her seclusion and peace, but the grief and betrayal threaten to drown her. And each night, the quiet cove tucked behind no trespassing signs whispers her name, calling for her to slip into the glittering blue water.
The creature had lived in this cove for centuries and never had she seen a human alone and with such an endless stream of tears. Styx watches the broken woman as she lounges on the sand and moves like a ghost around the small house just beyond the boundaries of her cove. Quietly, she calls to her, desperate to find out what stole her spirit. She wants nothing more than to hold the woman in the lull of the waves as she rips the source of her grief from the world. As obsession rises like the tide, Styx finds herself desperate to fix the fragile human.
But all vacations end, and as Georgia’s past comes hunting her down, the only way to survive may be to call to the storm beneath the surface and let its vengeance consume her entirely. She’ll have to stare into the depths and grapple with the fear that trusting a monster may be taunting the same fate that already burned her.
Love is an anchor that drags you into the deep…where even the tides have teeth.
ramblingmads 