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BBNYA Semi-finalists: The Beckoning Void – Patrick LeClerc

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 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. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Emelia DuMond is an actress, climbing from her humble beginnings to success on the stage of Victorian London. And to the attention of the Ghost Society, a secret organization who seek to defend the world from threats of the paranormal. After centuries of seeking, the sinister Disciples of the Void seek an arcane book of great power. A power that could tear the veil between dimensions and plunge the world into a dark, unspeakable future.

Now she has recruited an aging soldier of fortune burdened by a conscience, the sword wielding daughter of an Afghan brigand and an airship whose captain escaped slavery during the Civil War by stealing a Confederate vessel.

Can Emelia and her band of plucky outcasts save the world from a cult of fanatics intent on unleashing an ancient horror?

“The Beckoning Void” is a tale of cunning plots, flashing swords, skillful piloting, witty repartee and eldritch dread.

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Patrick LeClerc makes good use of his history degree by working as a paramedic for an ever- changing parade of ambulance companies in the Northern suburbs of Boston. When not writing he enjoys cooking, fencing and making witty, insightful remarks with career-limiting candor.

In the lulls between runs on the ambulance –and sometimes the lulls between employment at various ambulance companies– he writes fiction.

His work can be found at inkandbourbon.com 

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Blog Tour: The Canterbury Tails – Trudie Pabor

Carol Flynn and Jack Wallis are living and working in the same square mile, eighty years apart. In the twenty-first century, Carol is afraid of potential dangers lurking in the outside world and locks herself away safely at home. Longing to improve her mental health she keeps a diary and rehomes a dog to help her go outside and meet other people.

When out walking Biddy, her Bichon Frise, she sees a poster protesting the closure of the local social club and unwillingly finds herself co-opted onto the committee to save it.

In the twentieth century, Jack is on the home front as the first line of defence for the aeroplane factory, fighting the dangers that invade his world. He has made a special human connection and wants to explore it before time runs out.

When Covid 19 threatens the closure of the social club on their housing estate, saving it could acknowledge Jack’s affections and provide the community Carol is trying to find.

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Trudie Pabor lives on the outskirts of Coventry. Having worked as a secondary school teacher in various schools for twenty-four years, she now helps university students to achieve their goals. Whilst obtaining a master’s in creative writing, she made several contributions to a university anthology and has continued to write since.

Trudie enjoys cycling to work and takes inspiration from the world around her. ‘You never know what you are going to see that will spark your imagination!’ A background in secondary education shaped her first novel ‘The Malady of Miss Maybely’, and her experiences of living in Coventry have heavily influenced her second novel ‘The Canterbury Tails.’

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My thoughts: so a book with lots of dogs was always going to appeal to me, and I love history too, which added to the appeal of this book with its dual timelines.

Carol is a recovering agoraphobe (with good reason) who gets a dog, Biddy, to help her go outside and even meet people. And she does; Arthur, who is almost 100 years old and his dog George, Jackie and her excitable pup too. These people are her first friends, and they help her come out of her shell and get involved with saving the local social club. Until the pandemic forces them to cancel their plans.

Jack is living through WW2, working in an aeroplane factory and drinking a quick pint at the pub before catching his train home to Rugby. That’s where he meets Billy. Drawn to one another, they become friends, sharing a shift as night watchmen on the factory roof, and a meal in the pub.

As lockdown lifts, Carol starts looking into the area’s history, drawn into Jack and Billy’s story by a chance discovery. Jackie does some digging too, and Arthur offers up his memories of the war years. Can they piece together the story?

A sweet and charming story of friendship and community at challenging times in recent and not so recent history.

Please click on the link to follow 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.

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BBNYA Semi-finalists: The Anarchist’s Wife – Margo Laurie

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 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. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

In 1920, anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were accused of a robbery and double murder at a factory in Massachusetts. The case became one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice of the twentieth century.

The Anarchist’s Wife is a poignant historical fiction novella which reimagines this American tragedy from the perspective of Rosa Sacco. Her husband was likely innocent of the crime he was accused of, but his possible involvement in anarchist violence was a murkier question.

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Margo Laurie studied history at university and is a member of the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme. She is the author of the Christmas ghost story New York Miracle and the historical fiction novella The Anarchist’s Wife about the 1920s Sacco-Vanzetti case. She lives in the North West.

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Blog Tour: Sedona – Kerry Fryar Freeman

Sedona copy

Welcome to the launch tour for Sedona by Kerry Fryar Freeman! Read on for more details!

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Sedona

Publication Date: November 15, 2023

Genre: Mystery/ Small Town Mystery

Sedona, AZ is a tourist town that lures people from around the world who believe there is more beyond the veil of reality. They come for the whispering pines, Hopi legends, vortices, magic crystals, and healing springs. Enter Cal Novak, a spunky editor from Atlanta, Georgia, who gives up the city life because she is searching for more: more time, more adventure, more meaning. The magic of her new hometown does not disappoint. Behind the curtain of every window there are secrets waiting to be uncovered. For those searching for more, there’s no place like Sedona.

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This is about legacy; this is about the legacy that was left before us. It’s about the land, the trees, the water, the buttes, the canyons, the tribes, the people…you can’t just appear and understand it all. Once you’re rooted, it flows through you; it speaks to you; it lives in you. You will never get that because you’re not part of that. You work up there on that butte with someone who couldn’t care less about what we are, who we are, and you think you have it all figured out. I feel bad for you, Cal, tumbleweeding along. You’re just dry roots, rot, dust in the wind. We don’t need you anymore. Get out!” Tommy yelled.

The bar was silent, every face turned toward Tommy and Cal. He could see Cal’s eyes starting to water, red flushing her cheeks, a slight shake of her hands as she removed them from her glass. Noise returned to the bar, but Tommy’s eyes were once again unmoving.

“If it’s really more than that,” Cal said, her voice quivering, “then you deal with your own mess. I’m out.” Cal stood up and walked away.

“Hey, Cal!” Des shouted. “Wait up.”

The words fell hard on Tommy, much harder than he anticipated. There was a weight that he hadn’t felt in a long time: responsibility. It was time to take matters into his own hands.

About the Author

A native of North Carolina, Kerry Fryar Freeman crafts fiction as if it were a new puzzle. The settings are real and well researched, the details are rich and layered, and the stories absorb and propel readers one piece at a time. Kerry’s debut novel, SEDONA, was long-listed for the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Award and is set for publication with the Wild Rose Press. In addition to fiction, Kerry writes in academic and professional settings. She worked as an editor for N2 publishing. Currently, she writes English Language Arts curriculum for the North Carolina Virtual Academy serving high school students across the state of North Carolina. She also writes a blog called “Books and Bevies” where she features an array of authors from New York Times and Amazon bestsellers to debut Indie gems. Books and Bevies can be found on her website KerryFryarFreeman.com or by following her on Twitter @KerryFFreeman and Instagram @Books_and_Bevies.

Kerry Fryar Freeman

My thoughts: at first I struggled to like Cal, she seemed to be letting life pass her by. Yes, she was taking care of her grandmother, but all she seemed to do was go to the bar in town and drink, then microwave a meal.

Thankfully once she got a job at the new tourist attraction Belle Butte (pronounced “beaut”), things got a lot more interesting. Something is getting the locals stirred up – the new business has only hired out of towners, or recent incomers like Cal. And in a tourist reliant area, that’s not helpful, plus the boss isn’t building links with other businesses, and he seems to be keeping secrets.

Jack, Cal’s journalist pal, asks her to have a look around, maybe write something he can pass on to the big newspapers in Phoenix. So she does. But it’s a whole lot more complicated, and dangerous, than she thought.

Clever and with some lovely dark humour, this is an enjoyable small town thriller, with more dodgy dealings and villains (some of whom have redeeming qualities) than you might expect.

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

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Blog Tour: The Door-to-Door Bookstore – Carsten Henn, translated by Melody Shaw


There’s a book written for every one of us…
Carl may be 72 years old, but he’s young at heart. Every night he goes door-to-door delivering books by hand to his loyal customers. He knows their every desire and preference, carefully selecting the
perfect story for each person.
One evening as he makes his rounds, nine-year-old Schascha appears. Loud and precocious, she insists on accompanying him – and even tries to teach him a thing or two about books.
When Carl’s job at the bookstore is threatened, will the old man and the girl in the yellow raincoat be able to restore Carl’s way of life, and return the joy of reading to his little European town?

THE DOOR-TO-DOOR BOOKSTORE is a heart-warming tale of the value of friendship, the magic of reading, and the power of books to unite us all.

Translated by Melody Shaw


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Author Bio – Carsten Henn has worked as a radio presenter, wine and restaurant critic, and has published a number of successful novels. He lives in Germany.

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My thoughts: this was delightful and adorable and all about the magic of books!

I love the idea of Carl hand delivering the books every evening, and making up literary nicknames and back stories for each of his customers. I felt terrible for him when his friend, the bookshop’s owner, died and he lost his job. Thankfully his other friend, Schascha, has a plan to help him. And it involves books!

Sweet and charming, this is a wonderful story for book lovers everywhere.

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

blog tour, books

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Straight River – Chris Norbury

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 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. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

STRAIGHT RIVER is a fast-paced, tension-building story set against the backdrop of a farm crisis in America’s heartland.

Two mysterious deaths compel Matt Lanier, a professional musician by trade, into a search for the killer. With no superhero skills other than his brilliant musical mind and razor-sharp hearing, Lanier quickly uncovers a land-grab conspiracy that could mean financial ruin or death for thousands of farmers . . . and for himself.

If you’re a fan of unique characters who defy all odds and stand up against powerful, ruthless foes, then you’ll love this story of a musician/hero who marches to the beat of a different drummer.

Buy STRAIGHT RIVER–the first book in the Matt Lanier mystery-thriller series–and start your music-laced thrill ride today.

2019 Kindle Book Review (KBR) Awards Semifinalist, Mystery/Thriller

2019 Chanticleer Book Review CLUE Awards Finalist, Suspense & Thriller Fiction.

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Chris Norbury is the award-winning author of the mystery-thrillers Straight River, Castle Danger, and Dangerous Straits. The stories feature a farm-kid-turned-professional-musician whose middle-class life is turned upside down when he uncovers a violent conspiracy headed by a ruthless real-estate magnate. His new middle-grade adventure novel, Little Mountain, Big Trouble, was published in 2023. Chris donates a portion of all his book sales to his local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

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Blog Tour: Blood on Shakespeare’s Typewriter  – Mark Eklid

When Dan Khan buys a unique piece of cultural history for £50 from a man in the pub, he thinks all his troubles are over.

He is told it’s the actual typewriter William Shakespeare used when he wrote all his plays.

Dan and his girlfriend Shannon reckon it must be worth millions!

But they don’t realise the vintage machine was stolen from the city’s most notorious crime boss.

And he will stop at nothing to get back the sinister secret it contains…

My thoughts: I do worry about the state of the education system when someone genuinely believes Shakespeare used a typewriter. But that’s why Dan Khan bought one off a dodgy bloke in the pub for £50 and gets himself and girlfriend Shannon embroiled in utter chaos as a result.

There’s some wonderful black humour running through this book as two people with no idea what they’re doing go on the run with a furious criminal and his goons on their heels.

Thankfully they’re being followed by a police detective with a brain, and protected (sort of) by a computer genius who doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt. Between them everything might just get sorted out, although there’s a kidnapping and being held hostage to get through first!

Funny, clever and highly enjoyable. Wouldn’t mind seeing this become a series, with Em reluctantly helping the police with her hacker skills.

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

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BBNYA Semi-finalists: Storm of War – Bryan R. Saye

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 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. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Constantinople, 1097.

As an insignificant thief in the underbelly of Constantinople, Daniel wants to matter, to be known. After a botched job forces him to flee the city, he is swept up among the thousands of crusaders as they depart for the Holy Land on their mission to retake Jerusalem.

Their first obstacle: Nicaea, an impenetrable city of stone walls and high towers, impervious to assault and immune to siege.

Now a fledgling servant to a gruff Scottish knight, Daniel struggles to fit in among Saracens and Crusaders, princes and priests. Will he find his worth as he learns to live in this new world of blood and death, or will he succumb to the storm of war?

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Bryan lives in Idaho with his wife and two kids. He’s a happy follower of Jesus and an often-disappointed yet always dedicated fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars (This is our year!). He started writing later in life, because his little buggers wanted to eat every day and have health insurance.

To learn more, head to www.bryanrsaye.com 

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Cover Reveal: Empire of Shadows – Jacquelyn Benson

Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.

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Empire of Shadows (Raiders of the Arcana Book 1)

Expected Publication Date: April 2, 2024

Genre: Historical Fantasy/ Gaslamp Fantasy

Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.

One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it’s only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.

When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There’s just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.

To race him to the ruins—and avoid being violently disposed of—she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can’t seem to keep his dratted shirt on.

But there’s more than Ellie’s scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren’t just looters. They’re after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.

Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?

Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson’s smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. Read it now and dive into a rip-roaring historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Romancing the Stone and The Mummy.

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Blog Tour: After the Fall – D.M. Simmons

AftertheFall copy

We’re going back to the beginning when the first angels fell…

This special omnibus includes both books in the After The Fall duet—the story of Dante and Diablo, fallen angels, bound since The Fall—as well as bonus content previously unreleased. A fresh, new taken on fallen angels unlike any out there, readers call it “super-hot with all the tingles,” a “fascinating enemies to lovers tale, “a story that is “as swoony as it is steamy,” and “a whirlwind, with twists that come at you!”

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After the Fall: The Duet of Dante & Diablo

Genre: Spicy Fantasy Romance

❤️‍🔥Spicy Fantasy Romance
❤️‍🔥Fallen Angels
❤️‍🔥Enemies to Lovers
❤️‍🔥Found Family
❤️‍🔥Soul Mates

Dante

What courses through me, if not the need for desire and corruption?
It is after all, what I am.
Daemon. The worst of The Fallen.
And my job is clear.
Secure fealty from the Undecided to whom we are bound.
Diablo has not wavered in five thousand years.
And I not only wanted her on our side. I will stop at nothing to make it happen.

Diablo

What will I become if I swear my fealty and surrender to the dark?
It is not who I once was.
I may no longer be an angel, but I will be Undecided until the end of time.
Dante doesn’t intimidate me. Not anymore.
The fire that drives him, is now alive in me.
I’ve been paying since The Fall. And I’m done paying in blood and tears.
I will break myself from our bond. And will stop at nothing to make it happen.

Get it on Amazon or Order the Special Gift After the Fall Gift Box

About the Author

D.M. Simmons is an award-winning author of adult and new adult fiction. She is passionate about creating atmospheric worlds and telling captivating stories that take readers on an adventure. Fascinated by the indelible power of love, romance is usually at the heart of her stories, along with the narrator’s journey. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, sons and crazy cats.

D.M. Simmons

My thoughts: this was an interesting (and spicy) take on the story of angels turned demons after the Fall from Heaven. Dante and Diablo are in a way two sides of the same coin, both somewhat tormented and trapped together, unable to break free and be themselves. Dante is essentially meant to get Diablo to swear allegiance to the dark side, their fight is centuries old and both are driven to a sort of despair by it but at the same time drawn towards one another.

This special edition brings both books together with additional materials and it is rather beautiful (I was only sent an ebook but I went and had a look at the gift set – see link above) and if you enjoy reading this and want something to treasure, then I say go for it!

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