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Blog Tour: The Gauntlet & the Fist Beneath – Ian Green*

Fight the Storm.

The endless rotstorm rages over the ruins of the Ferron Empire. Floré would never let the slavers of the Empire rise again. As a warrior of the Stormguard Commandos, she wrought horrors in the rotstorm to protect her people. She did her duty and left the bloodshed behind.

Fight for your family.

Floré’s peace is shattered when blazing orbs of light cut through the night sky and descend on her village. Her daughter is abducted and Floré is forced into a chase across a land of twisted monsters and ancient gods. She must pursue the mysterious orbs, whose presence could herald the return of the Empire she spent her entire life fighting.

Destroy your enemies.

Now, Floré must take up the role she had sworn to put aside and become the weapon the Stormguard trained her to be, to save not only her daughter, but her people…

Ian Green is a writer from Northern Scotland with a PhD in epigenetics. His fiction has been widely broadcast and performed, including winning the BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines competition and winning the Futurebook Future Fiction prize. His short fiction has been published by Londnr, Almond Press, OpenPen, Meanjin, Transportation Press, The Pigeonhole, No Alibi Press, Minor Lits, and more. Twitter Website

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book, I liked Florè a lot – she’s determined, dedicated and tough, but I liked her two cadets, Cuss and Yselda, even more. They’re completely out of their depths but going on regardless because it’s what their captain would want. Fighting goblins and crow-men, meeting species’ they’ve only heard stories about; their mission will take them a long way from the quiet village they grew up in.

The concept was really interesting too – the endless rot storm caused by a battle between gods and the judgment of the final one standing. The way the rot changes people, the insistence that there is “no trial for rot-folk”. The long history of enmity and a fallen empire that once enslaved so many.

The magic system was entirely new – the idea of a pattern behind the universe felt familiar but the way it’s wielded as a weapon – to create fire, and interestingly salt, was clever. The fact that the whitestaffs see it in a different light – studying it and following it rather than applying it directly, was good too – setting up a conflict perhaps in books to come. The twists as the book ends – I need to know what that final scene means!

*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: Clinch – Nicole Disney

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Welcome to the blog tour for The Clinch by Nicole Disney. Read on for more info and a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card!

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The Clinch

Publication Date: January 12, 2021

Genre: LGTBQ+ Romance/ Women

TWO WOMEN COMPETE IN A MEN’S WORLD FOR RECOGNITION & LOVE

Eden Bauer grew up in a rough part of New York with an unsafe home life and took refuge in the neighborhood Taekwondo dojang. When the master of the dojang offered to train Eden as a live-in student, he started her on a journey that would eventually lead her to become the UFC featherweight champion of the world.

Eden loves competing and coaching the underprivileged kids of her community, but just as she’s getting comfortable with her champion title, a new martial artist from a legendary family comes roaring onto the scene with a dynasty on her shoulders. Brooklyn Shaw is a loud, cocky, aggressive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu genius who’s also unfortunately pretty dreamy.

Brooklyn and Eden’s rivalry attracts worldwide attention, but as they spend time together, Eden sees past Brooklyn’s showmanship to who she really is. They ought to be perfect for one another, but can either really fall in love with the person standing in the way of her dreams?

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About the Author

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THE CLINCH brings together Nicole’s two lifelong passions: writing and martial arts. She has been a student and teacher of martial arts most of her life. She won the 18th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition for Beneath the Cracks. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Nicole Disney | Facebook | Instagram

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Book Blitz: Heal the Hurt – Dr Michael McGee

Check out this upcoming release by Dr. Michael McGee! Heal the Hurt will be available September 28th, 2021!

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Heal the Hurt: 20 Ways to Ease Emotional Suffering

Expected Publication Date: September 28th, 2021

Genre: Self-Help/ Spiritual and Emotional Healing/ Non-Fiction

Heal the Hurt gives guidance for healing from the trauma, hurts and heartbreaks of life. Dr. McGee lays out a simple but profound three-step practice for navigating life’s struggles, along with twenty concise and practical lessons for healing emotional pain and minimizing future heartache. Heal the Hurt will not only ease your pain, it will help you embrace and process your pain in ways that will make you stronger and wiser because of your pain. Incredibly, Heal the Hurt will leave you feeling grateful for the spiritual gifts life’s inevitable hardships provide. The key to a long and happy life is skillful emotional pain management, Heal the Hurt is your roadmap to get there.

Excerpt

Are you hurting? If so, you’re not alone. In ways large and small, everyone is having a hard time.

Emotional pain comes in many forms—from the loss of important relationships, physical and emotional trauma, rejection, and humiliation. No doubt you have experienced one or more of these.

If you’re grieving a loss, know that everyone suffers loss. Roughly 5 percent of older adults experience grief at any given time. About 40-50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce.

If you’re lonely, you’re also not alone (no pun intended). Nearly half of Americans suffer from loneliness according to one study.

Has someone you loved betrayed you? This is very common, too. An estimated 15-25 percent of married Americans have betrayed their partners. Even more unmarried people have suffered betrayal and heartbreak.

Do you ever suffer from guilt, remorse, or regret? This is another common source of emotional pain.[v] When we hurt others, we also hurt ourselves.

Trauma is a very common source of emotional pain. Up to 60 percent of children experience significant emotional, physical, or sexual abuse or neglect. Almost all of us experience at least one significant traumatic event in our lifetime, and 5-12 percent of people suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sometime in their lives.

The commonality of all of these experiences in no way diminishes their impact on us. The legacy of trauma and loss is great in the form of depression, anxiety, addiction, loneliness, medical illnesses, and impairment in functioning. While it’s difficult to know the exact prevalence of these issues, many people suffer from low self-esteem or even self-hatred because of their trauma and neglect. The pain of feeling unlovable translates into difficulties in loving ourselves and loving others.

To some degree, all of us suffer from what I call a “Love Wound”—even the most fortunate among us. The only differences between us are the specifics and degree of our individual trauma. This is a wounding of our sense of our goodness, our interconnectedness to others, and our sense of living in a loving Universe that has our back. It’s also a wounding of our capacity to love ourselves and others. This Love Wound is the source of tremendous suffering in the world, and only through healing it can we ease our emotional pain. As I will point out in the pages that follow, love heals our wounds and eases our pain. In many ways, this is a book about love.

Coming Soon!

About the Author

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After graduating from Stanford University with distinction with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Dr. McGee received his M.D. from Stanford University. He completed his residency in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, spending his last year serving as Chief Resident of Inpatient Psychiatry at The Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Dr. McGee has directed several treatment programs, conducted government-funded outcomes research, and has published in the areas of spirituality, clinical treatment, performance management, care management and health information technology. Dr. McGee is Board Certified in General Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Psychosomatic Medicine. He has extensive experience in addictions treatment, consultation liaison psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and general adult psychiatry. Dr. McGee has a private practice in San Luis Obispo, CA where he practices a combination of psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. His approach is eclectic. He blends science with spirituality to provide truly comprehensive, evidence-based, integrated care. Dr. McGee writes about spirituality, healing, and recovery on his weekly blog at http://www.drmichaelmcgee.com.

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Blog Tour: Cave Diver – Jake Avila*

Acclaimed explorer Rob Nash has lost his way. Grieving the loss of his wife, and blaming himself for her death, he sees no reason to carry on. But when his ‘Uncle’ Frank Douglas offers him the chance to lead a cave diving expedition in the jungles of Papua, Nash can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

But the expedition might not be what it seems. With a decades old Japanese submarine buried deep in a cavern, and a team hell-bent on unleashing the treasures it hides, Nash finds himself on a ship heading for danger. With a lethal band of criminals on board, who will stop at nothing to get the gold, Nash is fighting for his life. Whilst battling his own demons, can he forgive himself for the wrongs of the past – and survive the perils that lie below the surface?

My thoughts: this was a slow start that then gathered up pace as Nash, Douglas and Mia are taken along the river and into the jungle on a boat of terror. In the interior, things go from bad to worse as Sura and Jaap become fixated on getting their treasure at any cost.

I liked the characters, they were interesting – I wanted more of Uncle Frank’s stories, and Nash’s. Both men had had a lot of adventures before this more harrowing one. I did get a bit bored of the whole “Nazi gold” angle, there cannot still be so much undiscovered. But the way it was done was good, and since I suffer from claustrophobia, I wouldn’t have coped well with the underwater caves and tunnels. Rather have my adventures safely on my sofa – through books like this.

*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: Pretty Broken Dolls – Jennifer Chase*

Read my reviews of other Detective Katie Scott books – Last Girls Alive and The Fragile Ones

In the thin light of the moon, the woman’s limp body hangs from the iron fence amongst the redwoods. Looped over the railings is the little gold locket her mother gave her when she turned sixteen. The picture of the girl inside smiles out at a future she’ll never see…

As day breaks over the fairground, Detective Katie Scott forces herself to take in another disturbing scene in front of her. A woman, the same age as her, found slumped in the carriage of the Ferris wheel, red lipstick dragged across her lips, her throat cut.

Katie doesn’t want to believe that the serial killer picking off women across the state has found their way to the small town of Pine Valley, California, but when her team finds a gold engagement ring hanging nearby, it’s a terrifying, but undeniable fact.

With a twisted killer on her doorstep, Katie knows if she doesn’t act fast, she’ll find more women left out in the cold like broken dolls. Her team hit dead end after dead end, but only she can see the vital link between the victims: a connection with Katie herself.

Katie has spent years pushing traumatic memories of her years in the military far out of reach, but she must confront them now or more innocent women will die. But as the killer circles closer and closer to Katie, what if the only answer is to give him what he wants? There must be another way…

Warning – This absolutely unputdownable thriller will keep you up all night! Fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh better hold on tight for a nail-biting rollercoaster ride!

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Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and best-selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells.

In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling. She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists, and member of the International Thriller Writers.

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My thoughts: this was excellent, another really enjoyable and twisted thriller starring former Army K9 handler turned detective, Katie Scott. This time her past career puts her in the killer’s crosshairs, as the FBI ask for her help. Partner Deputy McGaven and her tracker dog Cisco are on hand to help solve a string of brutal killings.

Katie has really grown on me over the course of reading the last few books and I really like her as a character, each time we learn a bit more about her, and what makes her so good at her job and so determined to solve these crimes.

While not strictly cold case, this is pretty grim and the FBI agent seems to be intentionally messing with her, not giving her all the info, following her and generally being a bit shady – are they a suspect?

*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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Cover Reveal: The Awakening of Artemis – John Calla

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It’s time to reveal the cover for upcoming release, The Awakening of Artemis by John Calia! Read on for more info!

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The Awakening of Artemis

Expected Publication Date: Fall 2021

Genre: Science Fiction/ Speculative Fiction

Orphaned by war and disillusioned about her life, Diana Gutierrez-Adams is on a routine military assignment when she and her team are kidnapped by a domestic militia.  She learns from her captors that her cryogenically-frozen grandfather is at the center of a high-stakes plan to steal technology that will change the world for greed and great fortune.  

Challenged by the conspiracy and pulled by emotions she doesn’t fully understand, Diana’s rescue mission will change her life.  What happens to her is unexpected, perhaps miraculous – an adventure that embraces all her hopes for finding her true self and her place in a world dominated by powerful elites and even more powerful artificial intelligence.  

Coming Soon!

Diana knew that everyone who lived in the pods as well as anyone officially connected to the government had an embedded chip that enabled monitoring technology to identify where every individual was at any time.  The chips also measured the secretion of enzymes and hormones.  Algorithms had been developed to predict everyone’s wants and needs based upon those secretions.  Over time, the algorithms learned from human response and adjusted their predictions accordingly – without human intervention.

– Excerpt from The Awakening of Artemis

About the Author

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A Brooklyn-born, second generation American and the eldest of three boys, writing is his third career and the one about which he is most passionate.  Following graduation from the US Naval Academy and active duty in the Navy, he embarked on a career in business.  He began writing his blog “Who Will Lead?” in 2010 attracting over 115,000 readers.  It inspired him to write his first book, an Amazon five-star rated business fable titled “The Reluctant CEO.”  Currently he makes his home in Fairport, NY, a village on the Erie Canal.

John Calia | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Blog Tour: One Lucky Summer – Jenny Oliver

The best kept secrets are waiting to be found…

With an air of faded splendour, Willoughby Hall was an idyllic childhood home to Ruben de Lacy. Gazing at it now, decades later, the memories are flooding back, and not all of them are welcome…

In a tumbledown cottage in Willoughby’s grounds, Dolly and Olive King lived with their eccentric explorer father. One of the last things he did was to lay a treasure hunt before he died, but when events took an unexpected turn, Dolly and Olive left Willoughby for good, never to complete it.

But when Ruben uncovers a secret message, hidden for decades, he knows he needs Olive and Dolly’s help. Can the three of them solve the treasure hunt, and will piecing together the clues help them understand what happened to their families that summer, all those years ago?

A glorious summer read with a delightful cast of characters from the bestselling author of The Summer We Ran Away.

My thoughts: this was a lovely read, with a wonderful cast of characters; sisters Olive and Dolly, who need to talk more, mad Aunt Marge, Ruben and his daughter Zadie – in need of getting to know one another better, and Dolly’s work partner, Fox, who she finds incredibly annoying.

Back when Ruben, Olive and Dolly were kids, the girls father, a treasure hunter, left them a mysterious treasure hunt across the vast de Lacy estate. Now Ruben’s hoping to sell up and they decide to solve this final set of clues. Tragedy forced them apart, and forced them to grow up fast. Can they find their way back to who they used to be?

Warm, fun, funny and enjoyable, this is peak summer holiday reading. Even if your summer holiday isn’t really happening.

*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 Beach Reads Book Club – Kathryn Freeman*

Welcome to the Beach Reads Book Club…where love is just a page away…
When Lottie Watt is unceremoniously booted out of her uptight book club for not following the rules, she decides to throw the rulebook out the window and start her own club – one where conversation, gin and cake take precedent over actually having read the book!
The Beach Reads Book Club soon finds a home for its meetings at Books by the Bay, a charming bookshop and café owned by gorgeous, brooding Matthew Steele, and as the book club picks heat up, so too does the attraction between Matt and Lottie.
If there’s anything Lottie has learned from the romances she’s been reading, it’s that the greatest loves are the ones hardest earned.
A love letter to chicklit, romance, romcoms, whatever you want to call them!

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A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a sexy hero.
With a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.

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My thoughts: I loved this, as a former member of various book clubs I totally agree with Lottie – the best ones are where you read fun books and have a laugh. Yes, literary fiction is great but sometimes you just want something light and enjoyable – much like this book itself! There’s romance, snogging and more! I loved the book club members – Audrey and her gin especially made me laugh, and I really wished I had some delicious cake to eat while reading this.

*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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Publication Day Blitz: Twilight’s Temptation – Shilpa Suraj

 The ace photographer and the supermodel, they should have been a match made in heaven. Instead, they fought like the demons of hell. 

Complicated, surly, and sexy, Manav Apte was probably the only photographer who resented his muse. From the day he’d seen her, there had been no other. Unfortunately, she was the one woman he could never have.
Passionate, talented, and gorgeous, Diana Severes refused to give the temperamental ass behind the camera the satisfaction of knowing he got under her skin. It was, however, impossible not to notice him or his glowering disapproval that trailed her everywhere she went.
Their dislike and distrust of each other is legendary in the fashion industry and yet, the sparks that fly when they come together for work are enough to light the sets on fire.
Will the Golden Girl of India’s fashion scene be able to see beyond his hatred to the love he’s desperately trying to mask? And will the country’s most talented photographer realise that his true talent lies not in what he views through his lens but what he sees through the filter of his heart?

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Read an Excerpt from Twilight’s Temptation

We walked along the beach. Me in my shorts and black t-shirt, Diana in a glamorous white beach dress with lace trim. If there was ever a contrast competition, we’d win it hands down.

“Are you okay?” I asked her. 

Diana shrugged. “I guess. That was unpleasant but necessary. I’ll get next steps in place as soon as we get back to Mumbai.” 

“Will your family be okay with this?” 

“My parents don’t get a say in my career decisions. My dad is ex-army and my mom is a teacher. They don’t understand how this world works anyway.” She sidestepped some dog shit on the beach, moving a little closer to me. 

I itched to wrap an arm around her, pull her in for a hug and kiss her. Instead, I clenched my hands in my pockets, Adil’s words still echoing in my head. 

“My brother, who is a typical tech nerd, wouldn’t bother to venture an opinion either. The only other person who would have understood was Andrew, the brother who died. He was the one who encouraged me to get into modelling and pursue my dreams.” Tears glimmered in her eyes, a stray one streaking across one golden hued cheek. 

“And this was your dream? To be a model?” 

She stared back towards the resort in the distance, her mind somewhere I couldn’t follow. 

“I wanted the fame, the glamour and the money. I wanted to be independent. I wanted to be someone. Modeling gave me all of that and when my time ends, and it will end, we all know that, I have a backup plan in place for that too.”

I stared at her, seeing her, truly seeing her for the first time since I’d met her two years ago. She was so much more than that gorgeous face and bubbly personality that people mistook to be the entirety of her.

“I wanted to be a wildlife photographer,” I blurted out with all the finesse of a horny sixteen year old. 

“You can still be one,” she smiled. “Just in addition to what you already do.”

“I work nonstop. I’d never be able to find the time,” I muttered. 

“We can always find the time if it’s important enough to us. We make time when we want to.” She cupped my cheek and pressed a light kiss on to it. 

She was right. We made time and space for what we wanted, for what was important to us. And in that moment, I knew… Diana was desperately important to me. 

“Everything he said was true, you know,” I told her, shoving my hands deeper into my pockets to keep them from reaching for her. 

“Everything I said was true too, Manav,” she smiled, sadly. “But what is your truth?” 

What was my truth? It was buried under so many years of misery, pain, and heartache, would I recognize it even if I found it?

About the Author:

Shilpa Suraj wears many hats – corporate drone, homemaker, mother to a fabulous toddler and author.

An avid reader with an overactive imagination, Shilpa has weaved stories in her head since she was a child. Her previous stints at Google, in an ad agency and as an entrepreneur provide colour to her present day stories, both fiction and non-fiction.

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Blog Tour: Wicked Little Deeds – Kat Ellis*

From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well – since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she’s been plagued by nightmares.

But when her school nemesis is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.

Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there’s a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns…

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Kat Ellis is a young adult author whose novels include Wicked Little Deeds/Burden Falls (August 2021), Harrow Lake (July 2020), Purge (September 2016), Breaker (May 2016), and Blackfin Sky (May 2014). She is a fan of all things horror and sci-fi, and a keen explorer of ruins, castles and cemeteries – all of which are plentiful in North Wales, where Kat lives with her husband.

You can find out more about Kat at http://www.katelliswrites.com or connect with her on social media. 

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My thoughts: this was an interesting read with murders, ghosts, family curses and social media (which is its own kind of curse). Ava has to move out of her beloved ancestral home – only to find out the man she blames for her parents’ deaths has bought it.

She’s convinced Dead-Eyed Sadie is haunting her – a family ghost story says that Thorns see Sadie before they die. Then people start dying, first the girl who now lives in her house – and who she can’t stand.

As things get worse and Ava gets close to Dominic – the dead girl’s brother – Ava becomes convinced something terrible is about to happen and that Sadie is coming for her.

Twisted and tragic, this is a clever and fun horror, as Ava struggles to come to terms with her family’s change in fortunes and wants to stop being one of the “Bloody Thorns” and step out from the sinister stories surrounding her family.

The ending is shocking but ultimately redemptive, as Ava gets answers, even if they aren’t necessarily the ones she wanted.

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