Welcome to the tour for The Legend of Gasparilla by S.T. Fernandez, a gorgeous historical fantasy full or romance and pirates!
The Legend of Gasparilla: A Historical Pirate Romance
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
Genre: Historical Fantasy Romance/ Pirates
Bridgerton meets Pirates of the Caribbean in a story many argue is not a myth but a legend.
Admiral José Gaspar of the Spanish Royal Navy had it all: the love of his life, Joséfa de Mayorga; the confidence of the King; and a plan to become one of the most successful merchants in all of Spain. But when a jilted former lover accuses him of stealing the crown jewels, he escapes Sevilla only to realize he’s duped into piracy, further staining his legacy. Gaspar continues down an immoral path he works relentlessly to resist. The dream life he yearned for with Joséfa slowly slips away, his reputation far too ruined to be worthy of her honor.
After having her beloved ripped from her life, Joséfa and Gaspar’s friends work tirelessly to clear his name to no avail. When fate finally hands her a chance, she sets sail to find José, but fate is both friend and foe. Joséfa discovers the man she lost is different from the viscous pirate she rescues from certain death.
When infamous pirate hunter Lieutenant Kearny of the USS Enterprise sets his sights on the new pirate, Gaspar must decide between a dark and perilous addiction to piracy or living a subdued life in the shadows. His darker inhibitions may take his soul hostage, and Joséfa’s love may not be enough to save him.
S.T. Fernandez, known as Stephanie, is originally from Orlando, Florida, and was born to two parents from La Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico. She now resides in the beautiful small beach town of Ventura, California with her husband and their two wiener puppies.
Stephanie is an avid reader of all levels of spicy, steamy romance—mostly in fantasy, historical, or paranormal genres. Just as much as she enjoys disappearing into a good book, creating a story that readers can disappear into brings her immense joy.
She is currently working on her second book in the fantasy romance genre, full of wonderfully diverse characters and themes. S.T. Fernandez’s fantasy romance intertwines Puerto Rico’s Taino indigenous culture’s beautiful themes and language into a fantasy world. She is thrilled and excited to present it to readers when completed.
My thoughts: I love pirates, always have since I learnt about Edward Teach aka Blackbeard aged 5. So this was right up my gangplank.
A well respected Admiral in the Spanish Navy and advisor to the King, Josè Gaspard is horrified when an ex-lover and her new fiancé accuse him of stealing from the king and he is arrested. Escaping from prison and smuggled aboard a ship, which turns out to be captained by an English pirate. Forced to join the crew and separated from his love, Josefa, Gaspard becomes what he most dreads.
Back home Josefa has kept faith and petitioned the new king, son of the man who imprisoned Josè, for a pardon. But neither she nor the king know that he has become a pirate and killed Spanish sailors.
Josè’s story is related by the descendants of a crew mate and his own family years later, while living in Florida, still a wanted man.
There’s lots of swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, but it is Josefa’s love and devotion to him that holds this story together, whatever he has done she forgives.
A spine-chilling winter ghost story set in the months after the Great War. Perfect for lovers of MR James and Susan Hill
The War is over, but for petty criminal Charlie his darkest days are only just beginning.
Charlie Briggs is never off-duty, even when a botched job means he’s forced to lay low in a sleepy Hampshire town for the holiday season. Always searching for his next unwitting victim, or a shiny trinket he can pilfer, he can’t believe his luck when he happens upon a rare book so valuable it will set him up for life. All he needs to do is sit tight until Boxing Day. But there’s a desperate story that bleeds beyond the pages; something far more dangerous than London’s mobsters is lurking in the shadows.
Could the book be cursed? Why is he haunted by the horrors of war? Can he put things right before he’s suffocated by his own greed?
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
Thank you Victoria for this lovely book parcel
My thoughts: this slim little volume contains a creepy ghost story perfect for this time of year. Thief Charlie steals a rare French translation of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, but the book is haunted. Its former owner died from mustard gas exposure on the battlefields of WW1 France, while an obliging doctor wrote Charlie a false sick note.
Now the ghost of Arthur and the terrible death he suffered is haunting Charlie. He can’t sleep and it pursues him everywhere demanding “Remember me”.
He tries to return the book but can’t and in the end the scent of poppies and gas seem to drive him mad. A short but powerful tale of greed and guilt.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Saddle up for this first class historical mystery, perfect for fans of Helena Dixon and Verity Bright.
London, 1918 Fiona Figg finds herself back in Old Blighty saddled with shuffling papers for the war office. Then a mysterious card arrives, inviting her to a fancy house party at Mentmore Castle. This year’s Ascot- themed do will play host to a stable of animal defense advocates, and Fiona is tasked with infiltrating the activists and uncovering possible anti-war activity. Disguised as the Lady Tabitha Kenworthy, Fiona is more than ready for the “mane” event, but the odds are against her when both her arch nemesis, dark-horse Fredrick Fredricks, and would-be fiancé Lieutenant Archie Somersby arrive unexpectedly and “stirrup” her plans. And when a horse doctor thuds to the floor in the next guest room, Fiona finds herself investigating a mysterious poisoning with some very hairy clues. Can Fiona overcome the hurdles and solve both cases, or will she be pipped to the post and put out to pasture by the killer? Purchase
Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is bringing new titles in the Fiona Figg series to Boldwood, the first of which, Chaos in Carnegie Hall, will be published in November 2022.
My thoughts: released from the dreaded filing, Fiona Figg is finally given a case of her own and actually encouraged to don her collection of costumes with the War Office footing the bill!
She’s undercover at Porton Down – the MOD’s chemical warfare research facility, and also at a fancy Ascot themed country house party – what could possibly go wrong?
Obviously there’s a murder – it’s the perfect setting for one, and Fiona is on the case. Escorted as ever by Clifford, and with the arrival of Archie, Fredericks and Kitty (with Poppy on a lead) the gang’s all there to help solve, or possibly hinder, the investigation. As well as the murdered scientist, there’s some missing race horses, an anti-vivesectionist group to infiltrate and someone is leaking secrets from the research lab. It’s all go.
Tremendous fun as always, with Fiona never entirely sure where she stands but happy to have an official case to investigate. Her relationships with Archie and Fredericks continue to be more complicated than she’d like and Kitty is still a bit of a nuisance, but at least she brought her forensics kit along.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Set in Sydney, Australia, Courting Samira is a charming and frothy romantic comedy about a twentyseven-year-old Palestinian woman who finds herself in an unexpected love triangle—a sparkling ode to meddling best friends, traditional courtship, The Princess Bride, and, of course, the possibility of love.
Coming from a moderately traditional Muslim family, twenty-seven-year-old Samira Abdel-Aziz has endured her fair share of arranged matches—first dates she calls “doorknock appeals,” where she and her possible suitors eat snacks in her living room in the company of both sets of parents. Her general rule: no shoes with tassels, no cheesy leather jackets, no mustaches. A girl has to have some standards, right? The truth is, Samira is already experiencing enough wedding drama as an assistant at Bridal Bazaar magazine and as a gofer for her soon-to-be-married cousin and nemesis Zahra. She’s not sure she needs to add any of her own.
When she meets the charismatic Menem at a work retreat, Samira finds herself intrigued. But her best friend Lara insists Menem isn’t right for her, and now her childhood friend Hakeem has begun behaving oddly. Adding to the confusion, Samira is seeking a promotion at work, yet isn’t sure it’s the job of her dreams. Suddenly, her life is full of drama and complications, and she realizes that part of growing up is making difficult choices about what—and whom—she really wants.
Amal Awad is a journalist, author, and screenwriter. She has written for Elle, The Guardian, and other publications and held senior editorial roles at a number of trade media publications. She has spoken at schools, universities, and writers’ festivals around Australia, and she facilitates workshops on diversity, multiculturalism, women’s issues, and pop culture. Amal is the author of eight books, including four novels— Courting Samira, This is How You Get Better, The Things We See in the Light, and Bitter & Sweet—and the nonfiction books The Incidental Muslim, Beyond Veiled Clichés, Fridays With My Folks, and In My Past Life I was Cleopatra. Courting Samira is the first of her books to be published in America.
My thoughts: Samira reminded me of some of my friends and their sisters, bound by tradition and family. She’s a 21st century woman determined to make more of her life than just as a wife and mother. She thinks she wants to be a journalist or perhaps a photographer. But she does also want to find the one – it’s just not so easy when you’re Muslim.
After a string of “door knock” disasters – hello Manga Boy – she’s fed up. Then she meets Menem at work and suddenly there’s a possibility. His brother is getting married to her bitchy cousin Zahra – which means lots of rushing around but also the potential for more meetings. If she can get best friend (and another cousin) Lara onside.
When Samira decides what she wants, from her career, from love, there’s nothing that can stop her. A funny, charming and delightful read with an equally entertaining protagonist.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
‘No one likes death. It just happens to be our business.’
Nobody who meets Dr Jack Cuthbert forgets him. Tall, urbane, brilliant but damaged, this Scottish pathologist who works with Scotland Yard is the best the new DCI has seen. But Cuthbert is a man who lives with secrets, and he still battles demons brought back from the trenches. When not one but two corpses are discovered in a London park in 1929, Cuthbert must use every tool at his disposal to solve the mystery of their deaths. In the end, the horrifying truth is more shocking than even he could have imagined. As he works the case, Cuthbert realises that history rarely stays in the past. And even in the final moments, there is still one last revelation that leaves him reeling.
Allan Gaw is a Scot who lives and works near Glasgow. He studied medicine and is a pathologist by training but a writer by inclination. Having worked in the NHS and universities in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and the US, he now devotes his time to writing. Most of his published work to date is non-fiction. These include textbooks and regular magazine articles on topics as diverse as the thalidomide story, the medical challenges of space travel and the medico-legal consequences of the Hillsborough disaster. More recently, he has been writing short stories, novels and poetry. He has won the UK Classical Association Creative Writing Competition, the International Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, the International Globe Soup 7-day Writing Challenge and was runner-up in the Glencairn Glass/Bloody Scotland Short Crime Fiction Competition. He has also had prose published in the literary journal, From Glasgow to Saturn and anthologies from the Edinburgh Literary Salon and Clan Destine Press in Australia. His poetry has been published by Dreich, Soor Ploom Press and Black Bough Poetry. His debut poetry collection, Love & Other Diseases, was published in 2023 by Seahorse Publications. The Silent House of Sleep is his debut novel and is the first in the Dr Jack Cuthbert Mystery series. You can read more about him and his work at his website
My thoughts: this was really good, slightly creepy – the method of murder was very and the killer was too.
Haunted by his experiences in WW1, Dr Cuthbert was an interesting protagonist. He’s a brilliant doctor, up on all the latest forensic technology (bearing in mind what they knew was very new – and years before DNA sequencing etc), with an inquisitive mind and helpfully for this case, a working knowledge of Latin.
I won’t reveal the ghoulish method of murder, but it is pretty nasty. So much so that it leaves DI Mowbray and his team completely at sea. Thankfully Cuthbert can provide a little information and that sets the police on the right path. But the doctor wants to see this one through – and it turns out that there is a connection to him, one that adds to his trauma.
I hope that this becomes a series, with Cuthbert and Mowbray becoming better friends and colleagues, and Cuthbert finding some happiness in his life, even if it is by solving gruesome killings.
*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 Legends of Astrea: Cupid’s Arrow by Sophia Alessandrini. Read on for more details and visit one of our Bookstagram hosts for a chance to win a book box!
Ailie, a gutsy girl who possesses a sharp wit and a playful, irreverent voice that pairs well with that of her best friend’s, a werewolf; embarks on a quest for revenge with the help of her psychotic, warmongering, and good-hearted legal guardian. She alone can open the gates of hell just like Pandora did when she opened the jar that contained all evils.
And evil wants those doors open.
Fallen Angels conspire to help her with Cupid’s Golden Arrow.
She finds herself in a whimsical world of myths, legends, glittering gowns, priceless jewels, life threatening enemies, and eccentric immortals that call themselves Strzyga.
However, there are side effects to the arrow. What’s not to like about a gorgeous, two-hundred-year old Strzyga prince who is totally and completely head over heels for her?
But things never go as planned, do they?
Will Ailie manage to save the world, or will she accidentally open the gates of hell?
Find out in the exciting pages of this whimsical, legend-filled fantasy romance.
Sophia Alessandrini is a cum laude BS graduate in Mathematical Physics and a degree in International Relations. She studied and traveled all over Europe, always fantasizing about the middle ages, dragons, ghosts, and fairies. For fun she wrote short stories to read to her sister and young cousins during Christmas family gatherings. When she returned to America and discovered cooking, she became a Chef. However, stories were always popping in her head all the time, making her realize that her first love was writing.
She resides in sunny Southern California and enjoys walks on the beach at sunrise, collecting seashells and beach glass, always wondering about mermaids. She loves anything cute with little four legs, including frogs, and iguanas (although she avoids the kissing part), that she names after green food items when they show up at her doorstep.
When she escapes into the magic of the California forests, Sophia ponders about the existence of elementals, fairies, werewolves, and Big Foot. A geek at heart with an odd fascination for Chinese Kung Fu movies, Star Wars, and Vampire TV shows, plotting a way to time travel to the middle ages, meet dragons, talk to ghosts, and perhaps become a Ninja with pink hair like a forest fairy.
Her books keep her readers on their toes with her adrenaline-fueled adventures, suspense-filled cliffhangers, and romantic whimsical scenes. You will find her sitting down with a book in hand, hiding in corner of the nearest coffee shop when she isn’t writing.
My thoughts: Ailie has had a difficult childhood, orphaned and raised by nuns, bullied by her classmates and mistreated by the Sisters, some of whom think she’s possessed.
But as her sixteenth birthday arrives, it’s finally time to learn about who she really is and why she’s so important. In a war between two races hiding among humans, she’s vital to the survival of her people, as long as she doesn’t open the gates to Hell first.
This was an interesting take on angels and demons, vampires and werewolves. Centered around a teenage girl who doesn’t know anything about this hidden world of ancient beings, cursed and at war.
I liked Ailie and felt for her, her confusion and mine matched at times, she was inundated with new information and struggled with understanding it all, and then trying to reconcile all of that with what she does know.
Michelle Alger flees when her secretly recorded tryst winds up on the internet. She has no option but to hide. Her one-night stand—the son of a powerful US senator—was murdered. Learning she’s the prime suspect is traumatizing. Already a member of witness protection thanks to a Colombian drug lord kidnapping her in college, she now has to run from the senator and law enforcement. To make matters worse, the drug lord finally knows her location and is hot on her trail. There’s only one man she trusts. He saved her once, can he do it again six years later?
Captain Jeremy Malone no longer wears a Green Beret. He’s traded in his fatigues for a new life leading Delta Squad, a covert unit within SweetBriar Group. His latest orders from the senator: find the unknown woman and bring her to me. But Jeremy knows her identity. He once rescued her from a Colombian cartel, and has never forgotten her. He assigns his squad a new mission: find Michelle first and learn the real story.
Michelle and Jeremy can’t deny their explosive chemistry. But, with every new piece of evidence, Jeremy’s faith in Michelle’s innocence is questioned. Is her plea for help a ruse…or a trap set by a beautiful woman determined to expose Jeremy’s own secrets…
This is the second book in the SweetBriar Group (SBG) series and can be read as a standalone.
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Author Bio:
P. A. DePaul is a Publishers Weekly Bestselling and award-winning author.Her books are full of action, suspense, and romance.
As a hybrid author, she has books traditionally and independently published. Her traditional publishers include Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint, and Harlequin Books.
A Key Element of Romantic Suspense That Keeps the Pages Turning
I absolutely love it when a book has me sitting on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding and pages turning so fast, I risk a papercut or dead battery. As a reader, I get to enjoy the ride, as an author it’s my job to transport someone else into that adrenaline space. Oh, excuse me, I should introduce myself. My name is P.A. DePaul and I write Romantic Suspense. I’ve had books traditionally published with Penguin and Harlequin, and I’ve indie published a romantic suspense series.
Writing Romantic Suspense is a lot of fun, but like any genre it has rules. Since no one wants me to go on forever, I’ll talk about one of my favorite components with examples from my latest release, Shadow of Doubt.
Golden Rule: Increase suspense through the use of High Action. This is the fun stuff. The heart-pounding, pulse-racing, page-turning situations the hero and heroine have to accomplish/escape/evade/stop/hurdle before something really bad happens. But, as the story progresses the stakes must rise or the story falls flat.
In Shadow of Doubt, the heroine finds out someone filmed her drunken escapade with a senator’s son and posted it on YouTube. Normally that’d be embarrassing but nothing noteworthy. But when you pair that film with the next day’s headlines that the son was found dead in his hotel room, now you’ve got an attention getting opening. Now, I need to raise the stakes. So, add in her being wanted by the FBI, getting kicked out of Witness Protection which puts her back into a drug cartel’s sights, and I’ve raised the stakes. But we can’t stop there. We need the hero involved and he can’t just be a boy scout. Let’s make him wonder if she truly did murder the senator’s son and what he has to do about it in his investigation. Hopefully the readers’ heartbeats are thumping as they are turning the pages.
In each High Action sequence, (think washed out smuggled plane rides, daring escapes, and cat-and-mouse with a villain just to name a few) I consistently increase the suspense. The risk-level of the outcomes affect the group if the hero/heroine fails. Putting more and more at stake in each action sequence keeps readers hooked until the very end.
Are you hooked? I’m hoping you’re at least curious. You can pick up a digital or paperback copy of Shadow of Doubt, at your favorite retailer.
Extract from Chapter One
Cappy was going to hell.
The sight of Michelle’s perfect ass disappearing out the window was now permanently burned into his brain. He was such a bastard for avidly watching it wiggle as she forced her body through the tight opening.
Every nerve ending north of his toes still vibrated from touching her. Though he had sounded like a bumbling idiot earlier, he’d meant it when he’d blurted how amazing she looked, so healthy and whole. The antithesis of the bloody, broken woman damaged by the Osvaldo Cartel in that shithole room six years ago. This beautiful, vibrant, sexy woman surged his blood and overloaded his fantasies. God built her body for a man like him. Built her for deep, hard sex, be it up against a wall or bent over a chair . . . Goddammit.
Straight. To. Hell.
Remember the mission. He couldn’t think of her in any terms other than professional. For Christ’s sake, he had to find out if she killed the senator’s son. Not have her starring in his latest mental porno.
He pulled a disposable phone from his leg pocket and dropped it inside her overlarge bag. Once he zipped the thing closed, he called, “Heads up. Purse coming through.”
He gave it a little nudge over the sill, hearing it thud into her hands before he yanked the battery out of the back of her cell phone. Now no one could trace her from the GPS in the device—which had been his plan if she hadn’t called him.
He dropped the pieces into his leg pocket for later disposal. Putting on his sunglasses, he ensured his gun holster wouldn’t knock into the frame’s edges, and slid soundlessly through the small opening, then closed the window. Turning, he half expected to find her gone, but she stood just to the left, chewing on her lip with fear lacing through her irises.
“This way,” he whispered, grabbing her hand and motioning toward a grungy building next door.
The electricity from the contact instantly had him hard. He grunted and urged her forward. He pulled her around the back corner of a convenience store and stopped, shifting his hips to relieve the pressure.
“Cutting it too close, Cappy,” Talon admonished softly. Michelle jumped, squealed, then slapped a hand over her mouth.
Yeah. Talon had that effect on people. He was so damn good at blending into the background, he caught most by surprise.
Cappy seized Michelle’s hand to stop her from inching backward. “Relax.”
Her eyes were as large as her face, and she didn’t seem able to look away from his teammate. A sudden shot of jealousy spiked through his veins. Stow that shit. He had no time for the destructive emotion, and it was wrong on so many levels.
“Where’s the car?” he barked, jolting them all. Christ.
Engines raced into the parking lot next door and instantly shut off. Car doors opened, then slammed shut.
Cappy didn’t need to see his teammate’s eyes to know they were both thinking about how they had just barely made it. Michelle trembled underneath his palm.
“Car’s on the other side of the dry cleaners, as commanded.” Talon pointed to a building that had seen better days adjacent to the convenience store.
* * *
Dear God, who is this guy? Michelle couldn’t stop staring at the wicked knife with the onyx blade still protruding from SCK’s [Stone Cold Killer’s] fist.
She shivered.
A male voice yelled from the hotel’s parking lot, “You two cover the back. White, start peering in windows. I’ll talk to the desk clerk.”
“Our signal to move,” Jeremy whispered, jerking her arm as he pulled her forward.
She ran as fast as possible but knew she wasn’t close to the speed both men wanted. Tough darts. She didn’t live in a gym like them.
Had she done the right thing, calling Jeremy? She trailed behind the two men, still rattled by his apparent connection to the FBI’s investigation. He saved you before. Yeah, he did. Was he doing that now? Every TV show, movie, and book she’d ever read clearly pointed out how only those closely connected to a case were privy to details like a raid on a hotel room. Did that mean Jeremy saw the YouTube video?
Talon glanced over his shoulder. His dark shades had slid down and the cold light in his eyes sent fear racing down her spine. No. No! She pulled against Jeremy’s grip, her mind plunging back into Colombia without warning. Cold steel bit into her skin while the man with a pair of emotionless yet fanatical eyes stared at her. “You going to talk now, puta?”
“Michelle,” Jeremey snapped. “Stay with me.”
She blinked away the vision, disoriented at being ripped back into the present so fast. Jeremy tightened his grip and dragged her against his side. For a brief moment, she allowed her head to fall against his meaty shoulder. She inhaled his addictive scent and instantly felt better.
“Eyes front, Talon.” Jeremy flattened her body against the side of the dry cleaners. “We clear to make a break for the car on the other side?”
From beyond the hotel and as far as Michelle could glimpse in the other direction, the backs of the buildings were relatively flush with each other. Some had blacktop as if for additional parking while others had large dumpsters filling the space.
“O Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?” Talon crooned softly.
What the heck?
Jeremy flashed SCK a grin and placed his lips next to her earlobe. She shivered at the faint breath and almost missed his command. “Keep low but run as fast as you can. Don’t stop or slow down. Once you clear the corner, wait for us.” Her mind turned to mush at his whispered words. “We’ll use our bodies to block the view if someone should glance this way.”
It took everything she had not to giggle and lift her shoulder. Get it together, Michelle. This is serious.
He placed a large hand at the small of her back. “Go.” He gave her a little push.
My thoughts: want an action packed, thrill filled read with sexy secret agents, a damsel in distress and plots galore? Here you go!
Michelle went through hell aged 19 after being kidnapped and tortured by a Colombian cartel. She was rescued but left with more than physical scars. When she’s set up to look like the killer of a senator’s son, she calls the one person she thinks can help her.
Cappy – once Captain Jeremy Malone, is now the leader of a black ops squad, and he and his team leap into action. The senator is technically their boss, so it’s in their best interests to solve the case before any law enforcement anyway. Their former employer is in prison and out for revenge. As is an old friend of Cappy’s.
As all hell breaks loose and they hunt the killer, Michelle is also being stalked by a man with a grudge over what happened in the Colombian jungle. Can the team stop all these dangerous figures in their tracks and save the day? Can Cappy and Michelle out their mutual attraction to one side so they can survive long enough?
The team still find time to crack jokes (the ongoing hat gag had me smiling) and tease each other, the code names are amusing, and it’s easy to warm to them, even grumpy Talon. Highly enjoyable and entertaining, like an episode of your favourite cop/spy show.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
After sixteen-year-old Harriet Flynn trips over an ancient gravestone etched with strange markings in a seventeenth-century holiday village and reads the inscription, she and her friends are alarmed to wake up with supernatural powers.
Having magical abilities is fun at first, but when a series of accidents cause the group to become frightened, Harriet becomes determined to find out what’s going on.
While investigating the history of the gravestone they came across that night, Harriet realises she has unwittingly awakened a centuries-old, deadly curse and she is the only one who can put an end to it – and she has less than a day.
With time running out, Harriet must find the true magic key, to save herself and the ones she loves.
Lisa Wakely is a writer, performer and radio presenter from Essex born to an Anglo-Indian mother and Anglo-Burmese father. She has been writing since she was twelve years old, after spending most of her evenings reading stories from the school library. Lisa lives in Colchester with her husband, dog and a cat.
She enjoys engaging in heart-pumping activities such as skydiving and abseiling, all in the pursuit of charity. Her passion for writing and teaching performing arts is matched only by her boundless energy and unwavering determination. Her time working as a Guest Host at Madame Tussauds London really gave her a taste of what life at an entertainment attraction was like.
Very much how it comes across in Hexed – minus the magic and 17th century madness!
My thoughts: as a teenager my friends and I did occasionally wander through the various local church yards and cemeteries, but luckily never woke anything up! Harriet accidentally seems to have stirred up the ghost of a 17th Century woman executed as a witch. And she might actually have been one!
Passing on her powers and a warning to Harriet, she sets the teenager and her friends on a mission, but time is of the essence and there isn’t much of it.
Only by helping each other and working together can Harriet and her friends break the curse and stop Silas from destroying everything.
It’s a twisted, creepy story with lots of action and adventure, all in costume as they recreate the 17th Century village for a Halloween festival.
Click the image for more on the tour
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Someone on board has a deadly destination in mind… can Cressida stop them before it’s too late?
After an eventful trip to the Scottish Highlands, Cressida Fawcett is looking forward to being back among her society friends in London. Enjoying an ice-cold martini in the lounge car of the express train, loyal pug Ruby on her lap, she’s ready to blow off some steam!
But Cressida’s hopes for a relaxing journey are dashed when a gunshot resounds through the carriages. Industrial tycoon Lewis Warriner has been shot dead in his cabin. And as this train has been racing through the countryside, the culprit must be among Cressy’s fellow passengers…
Teaming up with Detective Andrews of Scotland Yard, also on his way back to London, they work their way through the suspects. Did Warriner’s mistress, a famous dancer, see his death as her ticket on to the silver screen? Or was it the mysterious man who can’t take his eyes off Lewis’s close companion?
When the murder weapon is found in the compartment Mr Warriner’s wife occupies alone, she becomes the chief suspect. Until there’s another gunshot. When Cressida finds out that Andrews is hit, panic sets in, but she must try to stay calm.
But with her friend and co-investigator out of action, can Cressida get the journey, and the investigation, back on track? And will she catch the murderer before they reach their final destination?
Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss will absolutely love this addictive Golden Age cosy mystery.
Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.
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My thoughts: returning from their last (mis) adventure, Cressida, Dotty, Alfred, Ruby and Detective Inspector Armstrong are hoping for a peaceful night’s train ride back to London, but unfortunately it’s not to be.
A shot rings out and a man is dead, the obvious suspect is his wife, who’s followed him onto the train, catching him with another woman. But is it a setup? There seem to be other passengers with connections to the dead man – a wealthy industrialist with a history of shady behaviour.
As the night goes on, and more people are shot, Cressida and her friends begin to look into their fellow travellers and the deceased. Can they crack the case and identify the real killer before they reach London?
This might be my favourite one yet, it’s a bit Murder on the Orient Express with Cressida as Poirot, but funnier and with a pug as sidekick, and a sticky fingered (literally) nine year old Lord to help her out. Lots of fun and plenty of red herrings, dodgy suspects and clues to keep them all guessing.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
When Ingrid flees a violent husband to become a housekeeper in the Scottish Highlands, she discovers the family she works for has a much darker history than her own. Who haunts Strathbairn? Why are the adult McCleod children at each other’s throats? And why does the youngest sneak off at night? As Ingrid searches for answers, she grows ever more fearful that her husband will track her down. Set in late 19th century Scottish Highlands, WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ABBEY is a gothic mystery brimming with intrigue, ghostly drama, and family secrets.
Isobel Blackthorn is a prolific novelist of unique and engaging fiction. She writes across a range of genres, including gripping mysteries and dark psychological thrillers. The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey received an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Reader’s Favorite book awards. A Prison in the Sun was shortlisted in the LGBTQ category of the 2021 International Book Awards and the 2020 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards. Her short story ‘Nothing to Declare’ was shortlisted for the Ada Cambridge Prose Prize 2019. Her dark thriller A Legacy of Old Gran Parks won a Raven Award in 2019. The Cabin Sessions was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award 2018 and the Ditmar Awards 2018. Isobel holds a PhD in Western Esotericism from the University of Western Sydney for her ground-breaking study of the texts of Theosophist Alice A. Bailey. Her engagement with Alice Bailey’s life and works has culminated in the biographical novel The Unlikely Occultist and the full biography Alice A. Bailey: Life and Legacy. Isobel carries a lifelong passion for the Canary Islands, Spain, her former home. Six of her novels are set on the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. These standalone mystery novels are setting rich and fall into the broad genre of travel fiction. Isobel has led a rich and interesting life and her stories are as diverse as her experiences, the highs and lows, and the dramas. A life-long campaigner for social justice, Isobel has written, protested and leant her weight to a range of issues including asylum seekers and family violence. A Londoner originally, Isobel currently lives in the Canary Islands, Spain.
My thoughts: remote Scottish houses are strange places, every book I’ve read set in one ends badly. This is no exception.
Ingrid flees north to escape an abusive husband, with her young daughter Susan. Hired as the new housekeeper McCleod home, Strathbairn, she finds a place full of tension and secrets. The cook hates the McCleod daughter, Geraldine, the children (now supposedly grown up) spend all their time bickering and the patriarch is a drunk who avoids his own family.
When Hamish is hired to do some repairs on the house, he and Ingrid spend time together, picnicking in the grounds of the ruined Abbey on the hill above the house. But the ancient building is hiding dark secrets and when Ingrid discovers some of them, she is terrified and unsure what to do. But there’s more to come and her life will never be the same.
Sinister and full of menace, Strathbairn is a dark place with a dark past and it drags the residents in to its history, where the sins of the past will come to light.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 