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Cover Reveal: Umbra: Sentient Stars – Amber Toro

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We’re thrilled to present the cover of Amber Toro’s spring release, Umbra: Sentient Stars!

1 COVER ONLY LARGE IMAGE

Umbra: Sentient Stars

Expected Publication Date: April 24, 2024

Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy/ Space Opera

✨Enemies-to-Lovers

✨Found Family

✨Multiple POVs

✨Intergalactic Adventure

✨Slow Burn

✨Militaristic Society

✨Fully Sentient Starships

Earth That Was has faded into myth. After millenia spent wandering, humans are no longer nomads. Twelve tribes stand allied under the United Tribal Axis; but there is a signal in the darkness that threatens to destroy everything.

All Skyla wanted after leaving the Navy was to be left alone. Just her ship, the stars, and a new adventure. But when a strange virus disables her ship, she is thrown into the middle of a conflict she doesn’t understand, forcing her to take on responsibilities she swore she never would again.

Hinata always followed the rules, honor above all else. He always won, until he didn’t. Sentenced to exile for his failures, he is determined to prove himself, until a mysterious woman arrives on his station and chaos threatens to break already fragile alliances.

Freyja was always angry, an outcast, playing the part of admiral and black ops operative. But she is tired of being a pawn in the Empress’ games and when she’s stranded on the wrong side of enemy lines after a vengeful battle, she’s forced to ally with her adversaries to clear her name.

A Rogue.

A Commander.

And an Admiral.

Brought together by circumstance, held together by duty.

Can they find a way to work together to save humanity?

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About the Author

Amber Toro is the director of data science at a machine learning startup working to make the world a better place with AI. She is a big believer in using tech for good.

Always dreaming Amber writes epic sci-fi and fantasy.

Amber grew up in Seattle with a great love of the outdoors. She now calls Utah her home and when she is not writing or coding you can find her biking, hiking, and camping in the mountains with her amazing partner and two tiny humans, or curled up with a good sci-fi/fantasy book.

Discover more at ambertoro.com

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Blog Tour: A Deadly Promise- Rachel Amphlett

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When a woman’s mutilated body is discovered in a remote countryside property, Detective Kay Hunter is faced with one of the most challenging investigations of her career.

There is nothing in the victim’s past to explain her brutal slaying and no clues as to how her killer got away.

Then a second body is found in a run-down storage facility, the man’s remains covered in horrific injuries that bear the hallmarks of prolonged torture.

With two families demanding justice, Kay is under pressure from her superiors to deliver a swift result – but there is no evidence to connect the two victims.

When a third victim is found just a short distance from her own incident room, Kay realises that the killer has no intention of stopping – and they already have their next victim in their sights…

A Deadly Promise is the 13th book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett, and perfect for readers who love fast-paced crime thrillers.

Before turning to writing, USA Today bestselling crime author Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as an editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction with over 30 novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins.

Rachel’s stories are available in eBook, print and audiobook formats from libraries and retailers as well as her own shop on this website.

A keen traveller and accidental private investigator, Rachel has both Australian and British citizenship.

She loves hearing from readers and personally replies to every email.

Email: info@rachelamphlett.com
Website: http://www.rachelamphlett.com

My thoughts: a dark and compelling crime thriller from Rachel Amphlett, who writes some very gripping stuff.

The shocking murder of a young woman in the bathroom of the house she cleans leads the police to more horrific deaths, all of people who turn out to be in debt to some seriously nasty people  – loan sharks, but sharks don’t torture their food, these people do.

As the cost of living crisis, rising unemployment and stagnant benefits force desperate people to take money from dubious sources, the police are racing against time to stop the killers and save lives. A chance comment in lock up could hold the key to who these genuinely awful people are.

Gripping, intelligent crime fiction.

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

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Cover Reveal: Bottle Service: A Bomb-Ass Genie Vacation Story – Brindi Quinn

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We’re thrilled to present the illustrated Cover of Bottle Service: A Bomb-Ass Genie Vacation Story by Brindi Quinn!

Bottle Service Cover

Bottle Service: A Bomb-Ass Genie Vacation Story

Publication Date: Summer 2024

Publisher: Evermore Books (@neverandeverbooks)

Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romcom

The first time, she found it in a thrift store. The second, it washed up on a shore.

Unofficial newlywed Dolly Jones deserves a bomb-ass genie honeymoon.

So it would be really nice if none of her new brothers-in-law would upset the fantasyland flora and sparkling waves of her perfect magical vacation, orchestrated by her perfect magical boyfriend. But for the new laird and his lady, a peaceful island getaway may be nothing more than wishful thinking, when a familiar bottle appears washed up on the beach in relentless pursuit of Dolly as its master—who, by all accounts, already has a genie and a soulmate.

While Velis works to strengthen the cloaking magic over their beach rental in hopes of hiding them from his meddlesome family, Dolly begins to experience strange occurrences around the island that may or may not be charm magic at work. Is that feeling of fate tugging at her all in her head? And in the aftermath of a crumbling family, who will have to sacrifice what in order to live their happily ever after?

BOTTLE SERVICE: A BOMB-ASS GENIE VACATION STORY is the romantic, fantastic second-coming-of-age story of five flawed twenty-somethings from different realms, battling their inner demons and each other, one wish at a time.

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Blog Tour: A Sign of Her Own – Sarah Marsh

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Ellen Lark is on the verge of marriage when she and her fiancé receive an unexpected visit from Alexander Graham Bell.

Ellen knows immediately what Bell really wants from her. Ellen is deaf, and for a time was Bell’s student in a technique called Visible Speech. As he instructed her in speaking, Bell also confided in her about his dream of producing a device which would transmit the human voice along a wire: the telephone. Now, on the cusp of wealth and renown, Bell wants Ellen to speak up in support of his claim to the patent to the telephone, which is being challenged by rivals.

But Ellen has a different story to tell: that of how Bell betrayed her, and other deaf pupils, in pursuit of ambition and personal gain, and cut Ellen off from a community in which she had come to feel truly at home. It is a story no one around Ellen seems to want to hear – but there may never be a more important time for her to tell it.

Sarah Marsh was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish prize in 2019 and selected for the London Library Emerging Writers programme in 2020. A Sign of Her Own is her first novel, inspired by her experiences of growing up deaf and her family’s history of deafness. She lives in London.

My thoughts: I knew of Alexander Graham Bell as the Scottish born inventor of the telephone, as I’m sure many people do, but not that he worked with D/deaf people and taught something called Visible Speech – essentially getting his students to speak by teaching them the shapes of letters and words in the mouth  – but they still couldn’t understand another person. 

I used some of his techniques as an ESL teacher, teaching English, when it comes to voiced and invoiced letters – B and P – for example. Ellen compiles lists of homophenes, words that appear the same when lipreading, which are harder to parse, for Bell, and writes an essay he never publishes as promised, on the subject. It’s an early sign of his reluctance to really engage with the deaf community.

Sign language is a valid and completely legitimate way of communicating, but it wasn’t always so. Deaf students were banned from using their hands in schools and expected to learn to speak, and lip read the responses. Through the characters of Ellen and Frank, both of whom attended these Oral Schools, the story of how sign language was oppressed is told.

Much like any language, it has its own rules, grammar and syntax  – and varies both nationally and even regionally. BSL (British Sign Language) is not the same as ASL or AusLan (American Sign Language and Australian Sign Language), nor is it the same as spoken English, much as American or Australian English varies from British English, despite being nominally the same.

Ellen speaks both ASL and BSL. Her mother is British, and while she grows up in America, she moves to Britain and learns the signs. She is lucky to be exposed to other members of the deaf community and to have a supportive and loving mother, who understands when she quits her lessons with Bell. Visible Speech, which gives him the idea for the telephone, feels to Ellen in the end, a betrayal of the deaf community and sign language.

This is a really fascinating look at the history of the deaf community more than it is a book about Bell, and I really liked Ellen and her story. Bell is apparently quite a controversial figure in deaf history, with his insistence on speech and dislike of sign language, even after working with deaf people and being married to a deaf woman. Ellen may be the fictional character but she was much more appealing and likeable than the real life one, who doesn’t come across well at all.

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

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Blog Tour: Token – Beverley Kendall

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Kennedy Mitchell is brilliant, beautiful and tired of being the only Black woman in the room.

Two years ago, she was plucked from reception for a seat at the boardroom table in the name of “representation”. Rather than play along, she and her best friend founded Token, a boutique PR agency that helps diversity-challenged companies and celebrities. With famous people getting into reputation-damaging controversies, Token is in high demand and business is booming, but when her ex shows up needing help repairing his reputation, things get even more complicated and soon Kennedy finds herself drawn into a PR scandal of her own.

My thoughts: this was a really interesting, thought provoking and enjoyable read. It’s part romance, part looking at issues in modern life, specifically around race and gender.

Kennedy is hastily thrust into a job in order to secure some diversity points and instead of just letting herself be steam-rollered, she siezes the opportunity to take being the token woman, the token black person, and turn it into a business that helps companies recruit a more diverse and proportional workforce, educating the dinosaurs as best she can along the way.

She’s also falling hard for her best friend/business partner’s brother Nate. They had a very brief thing years before, and despite starting out sniping at each other, it’s pretty clear that they’re meant to be. And Aurora (the bestie) is thrilled.

However an email hack of several companies, including some of Kennedy’s clients, threatens to ruin it all when Kennedy gets dragged into a scandal and has to find a way to salvage her business and her sanity. Navigating the mess left behind by her two-faced clients takes a lot of energy and it causes some stress with Nate. Can Kennedy save her business and her relationship?

I found it really interesting to read a book that blends discussion of these serious issues – racism, sexism, in a romance novel, mixing serious issues with something light and frothy. Readers can be both – a lot of writers have inserted serious things into their books, but not necessarily as explicitly as this. Putting it front and centre in the form of Kennedy’s experiences.

Kennedy is a strong and smart woman, she’s fully aware that she’s exploiting the stupidity and full on ignorance of the white executives of these companies, and why not. Turn the tables on them, show them what they’re missing by being close minded and plain wrong.

This is intended to be the first in a series starring these characters, and it will be interesting to see what Beverley Kendall does next.

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

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Cover Reveal: Unless It’s You – Chrissy Hopewell

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How adorable is this cover?! Unless It’s You comes out this spring! Pre-order your copy now!

Unless It's You cover

Unless It’s You: An Enemies-to-Lovers London Romance (The Hart Sisters Book 2)

Genre: Sports Romance/ Enemies-to-Lovers/ Interconnected Standalone

Expected Publication Date: April 15, 2024

💮Enemies to Lovers

💮Second Chance

💮Bucket List

💮English Ex-Pro Rugby Player

💮American FMC in Her 30s

💮Hot Man w/ a Kitten

💮Light Sports Romance

💮Open door/ Medium Spice

ONE MONTH. TWO ENEMIES. SOMEONE ELSE’S BUCKET LIST.

Stella Hart, an American advertising executive living in London, is reeling from the death of her beloved aunt. But Stella learns her aunt included a stipulation in the will: a bucket list Stella must complete within a month, or the estate—meant for her and her sisters—goes to charity. The entire list is unreasonable, especially the final item, where she needs to Find the One that Got Away. The last thing she wants to do is face her ex.

Ethan Fraser is not Stella’s ex-boyfriend—that title belongs to his best friend, who got him through a traumatizing childhood. Ethan’s a grumpy, bearded, ex-professional rugby player who can’t bring himself to enter the flat of his late troubled mother.

When they’re forced to collaborate on a work project, both find themselves remembering the night they kissed, days before she started dating his best friend. Ethan wants to hate her for choosing someone else, just like his mother always did, but he can’t fight his attraction to Stella. So when she needs an advisor for the list, he offers to help, and the time spent together re-ignites their chemistry. But Ethan’s fierce loyalty to his best friend stands between them.

With a looming deadline for their project and the bucket list, soon everything bringing Stella and Ethan together will disappear… unless Stella figures out what that final item—and the whole list—really means.

Unless It’s You is an interconnected standalone romance novel for fans of Meghan Quinn, Tessa Bailey, and Christina Lauren. It’s the second book in the Hart Sisters trilogy, which can be read in any order.

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About the Author

Chrissy Hopewell author photo

Chrissy Hopewell started sneaking her mom’s spicy romance novels in middle school. She has spent varying amounts of time overseas, including working at a pub in Dublin, waitressing at a hotel in the Scottish Borders, and studying and living in London for five years. Because of these experiences, international flair and accents often show up in her stories. Chrissy now lives in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio with her family, where she quite openly reads delightful contemporary romances.

Find Chrissy on TikTok (@chrissyhopewellbooks), Instagram (@chrissyhopewell), or Facebook (facebook.com/chrissyhopewellauthor). Sign up for her newsletter for a free novella at www.ChrissyHopewell.com.

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BBNYA Blog Tour: Sorrow’s Forest – Kaitlin Corvus

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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.

Sorrow’s Forest teems with beasts, some ugly, some beautiful, all unnatural. A ban restricts travel beneath her branches, existing for as long as Lakeview Township has, and most who disobey do not return.

To win a bet, twelve-year-old Mackie King enters the forest, and in its depths, he discovers a boy-like devil. Then he steals him from the trees.

In as little as an hour, the devil names himself Blue and fits seamlessly into the Kings’ life. No one seems to remember he wasn’t always there. Only Mackie knows the truth.

Now, Mackie and Blue are grown, Queen Sorrow has awakened, and she wants her devil back. She’s willing to tear the town apart to reclaim him. Mackie has always been resourceful, but it will take every bit of ingenuity he and Blue possess to thwart Queen Sorrow and her minions, save the town, and free themselves from the shadow of the bittering forest.

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Kaitlin Corvus is from Ontario, Canada. The north holds the best part of her. She writes about nobodies, monsters, and gutter glitter, loves the stars, the deep dark sea, and a good horror mystery.

My thoughts: when Mackie steals a forest devil, Blue, from Sorrow’s Forest, she doesn’t forget and eventually she wants to claim back what’s hers. The forest consumes the missing, and never gives them back.

But Mackie is afraid, afraid of the forest and increasingly of Blue. He is exhibiting strange power over people and events, and keeps spending time with his school bully, in what Mackie thinks is an abusive situation. Blue has always been openly gay, and the relationship between him and Mackie is shifting into something different, something more.

As the forest attempts to assert its power and draw Blue back to it, Mackie fights harder to keep his brother/friend/lover with him. Meanwhile his father is dying and more people are being swallowed up by the forest.

An intense bond and a story that draws you into it, as the forest does the two young men. What will become of them if the forest succeeds or indeed, if it doesn’t?

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

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Blog Tour: The Summer of Lies – Louise Douglas

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The summer is the hottest yet in the Brittany coastal town of Morranez, but when a new case lands on the desk of the Toussaints detective agency, there can be no time to relax.

As wild fires bear down on the town, the alert goes out for a missing girl. Nineteen-year-old Briony Moorcroft has seemingly been taken from her sleepy Welsh village and brought to France. Her parents are baffled and scared – Briony needs her life-saving medicine or this case will become even more sinister, and with the police dragging their heels, the Moorcrofts are relying on Mila Shephard and Carter Jackson’s sleuthing skills.

Meanwhile there are mysteries troubling Mila’s life too. Two years after the accident that swept her sister Sophie and brother-in-law Charlie away and left their daughter Ani in Mila’s care, new evidence resurfaces that makes Mila doubt everything. Can Carter and Mila find Briony before it’s too late? And is the truth about Sophie and Charlie finally about to be revealed…

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Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author and an RNA award winner.TheSecrets Between Uswas a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country.

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My thoughts: Mila and Carter are tracking down two young women, one critically ill, who have run off to Brittany. But all is not as it seems there.

There’s also the possible sighting of the boat Mila’s stepsister Sophie and her husband Charlie were sailing when they went missing, or at least the remains of it. How will Mila’s niece, Ani, cope with hearing her father’s boat and maybe his remains have been found?

As thunderstorms threaten and wild fires destroy the Breton countryside, Mila must juggle her worries for Ani with the time crucial case, and discovers secrets hidden behind an every day facade.

Intelligent, gripping writing that brings the beautiful but threatened Brittany coastline and villages to life, with a cast of fascinating characters and stories. Sophie and Charlie had secrets too, will finding the boat bring them to the surface and what of Mila’s long distance relationship with fiancé Luke, back home in Bristol? Everything feels very delicate and tense, a delightful and enjoyable read. 

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

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Blog Tour: Murder at the Leaning Tower – T.A. Williams

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An instalment in bestselling author T. A. Williams’ Armstrong and Oscar cosy mystery series!

A cosy crime series set in gorgeous Tuscany…

It’s murder in paradise!

A secluded villa…

When Dan Armstrong is asked to provide security at a private villa on the outskirts of Pisa, he’s prettysure it will be an easy job. Villa Gregory is remote; the gathered guests are rich – what could possiblygo wrong?A glittering gathering…

Inside the high walls of the palatial villa, Dan discovers the gathered guests are some of the most powerful tycoons in the media world, with plans for world domination. With so much at stake, Danredoubles his efforts to keep everyone safe.A detective under pressure?But when one of the group is found murdered, Dan’s heart sinks – especially considering Anna’s owndaughter is in the frame! When the police arrive, Dan meets formidable Inspector Adolfo Vinci, a man whose main talent seems to be for getting things wrong. It all goes from bad to worse for Dan as the man from the Leaning Tower starts leaning on him. It’s another case for Dan and Oscar to solve, and this one won’t be easy!

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T A Williams is the author of over twenty bestselling romances for HQ and Canelo and is now turning his hand to cosy crime, set in his beloved Italy, for Boldwood. The series will introduce us to retired DCI Armstrong and his labrador Oscar, and the first book, entitled Murder in Tuscany, was published in October 2022. Trevor lives in Devon with his Italian wife.

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My thoughts: I really like this series, Dan and Oscar are a delightful man & dog detective duo, like some of my favourite TV and book series, Oscar often sniffs out the perp and saves the day. As he does here.

I went to Pisa years ago with my family, and as with much of Tuscany, it’s incredibly beautiful, and the Tower is fascinating. Thankfully I didn’t witness any crimes though, while Dan seems to attract them. He’s playing security guard at a private villa where a top level meeting is taking place and they want privacy.

Until one of the guests is killed, and the police descend. Did someone break in, despite Dan’s patrols or was it one of the other guests? The deceased is not a popular man and has done some properly nasty things both professionally and personally and some of the other guests have reasons to dislike him, but to kill him?

When Anna’s daughter, who happens to be the victim’s assistant, is arrested, Dan is sure they’ve got the wrong person and despite the deeply unpleasant Inspector warning him off, decides to keep digging.

Thankfully the ever vigilant Oscar is by his side as Dan makes himself a target to catch the killer. Otherwise this could have been the last in the series!

I really had fun with this one, and the descriptions of food made me so hungry! Can’t wait for the next adventure for Dan and Co under the gorgeous Tuscan sun.

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

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Blog Tour: Death at St Jude’s – Mary Grand

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The Isle of Wight has always felt like a safe place to live for keen dog-walker and reluctant sleuth Susan. But after being involved in the investigation of a troubling crime near her old home, Susan decides to move to the peaceful village of Bishopstone.
Susan loves the sense of community and immediately throws herself into village life, volunteering at the local primary school and joining the choir of St Jude’s. So, when there is an altercation at the
meeting of the choir committee, followed by a shocking accident involving head teacher Lawrence, Susan is dismayed to realise her powers of deduction may be needed again.
There is a dangerous criminal hiding in plain sight and with the police reluctant to help, Susan must put together the pieces of the fiendish puzzle to flush out a killer before they strike again.
A brand new cosy mystery from the author of the bestselling The House Party. Perfect for fans of Frances Evesham, Faith Martin and LJ Ross.

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Mary Grand writes gripping, page-turning suspense novels, with a dark and often murderous underside. She grew up in Wales, was for many years a teacher of deaf children and now lives on the Isle of Wight.

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My thoughts: a man falls from the church roof, the keys in his pocket, the doors locked. A tragic accident or murder?

Lawrence was the local school’s headmaster, a popular local figure and head of the church’s choir committee. He and his wife Hazel have lived in the village for years. While some of his recent decisions had caused some upset, was it enough to drive someone to kill him?

Susan doesn’t think so, but Hazel asks her to dig into the events and people around them to see if anyone, the choir director, his deputy head, the vicar, had it in for him. Lots of people seem to have secrets of their own, and Susan has to reveal them to see if a murderer is hidden in the village.

Clever and entertaining, this is an enjoyable whodunnit with a nice little twist in the tale.

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