Alesha Dykema is a thirty-something-year-old author of thriller novels.
She lives in the dreadful Midwest with her strange husband, head-banging toddler son, a neurotic dog, and warden cat.
Besides writing, Alesha loves to read (like every other author in the world). Alesha is also a health and fitness junkie and a dabbler in furniture refinishing. She is extremely anti-social and wishes she lived off-grid in the middle of the woods, but her husband hates good ideas and happiness and won’t allow this to happen.
Even though she’s pretty anti-social, she still likes to make new friends and have casual chats about people’s childhood traumas.
My thoughts: With a controlling father who won’t let anyone make their own decisions – he even decided who his children should marry, it’s not surprising you might just reach the end of your rope. But there are secrets, things that a man who has to manipulate everyone, will go to great lengths to protect.
The narrator is one of this man’s children, a woman who will do anything to protect her daughter from ending up like her, controlled and manipulated by a bully. When she makes a new friend, things don’t add up, and when she learns the truth, it’s a shock and only adds fuel to the fire of her determination to put an end to her father.
This is a dark story about a family completely under the control of the patriarch that only murder seems to be the solution. I enjoyed it, if you can say that about a book narrated by a murderer!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
We’re thrilled to announce the release of Bound by the Sky by Megan G. Elisabeth! Be sure to get your copy today!
Bound by the Sky (Aether & Industry Book 1)
Release Date: January 28, 2026
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Sky pirate romantasy
Steampunk world
Found family
Morally grey MMC
Touch her and die
Dual POV
Forbidden romance
Treasure Planet vibes
The sky brought them together.
The storm could tear them apart.
While pirate ships and floating cities soar overhead, Amaya Sinclair’s feet are planted on the ground. But when a violent tragedy results in her abduction by a villainous Sky Lord, her once-clear path vanishes underfoot. In its place, she finds a beautiful, unforgiving world that challenges everything she believes about herself and her future.
William Lexington has spent over a decade carving out a space for himself among the clouds, at the cost of his identity and ideals. When a twist of fate lands Amaya on his airship, he writes her off as a pretty inconvenience—until he realizes she’s the only thing standing between his monstrous former mentor and a brutal new era.
Caught in a fight to live on their own terms, Amaya and Will’s growing connection calls every priority into question. As the enemy’s looming shadow darkens, their race to control forces best left untouched reveals that much more than their lives are at stake.
Welcome aboard the Maelstrom. Enjoy the view—and don’t get killed.
Treasure Planet meets Final Fantasy in this fast-paced romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Rebecca Yarros.
A murdered beauty influencer. A buried secret waiting to surface. A killer who’s already one step ahead.
In the picturesque Warwickshire town of Queensbridge, a retired nurse escapes to her hotel room looking for peace from the chaos of her great-nephew’s rowdy thirtieth birthday party. But to her horror she witnesses a brutal crime from her balcony — a young woman strangled in the room opposite.
Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy — staying at the same hotel after attending a nearby wedding — is first on the scene, and quickly realises this isn’t a random attack. The victim, glamorous beauty influencer Candy Goodhope, was living a double life — and everyone close to her has something to hide.
Roy’s boss, DCI Gavin Roscoe, takes charge of the investigation, and as the pair follow the trail, another brutal killing tears through the town. Roy is sure there’s a link between both murders, but Roscoe isn’t convinced.
But as Roy digs deeper, she closes in on a secret so dangerous someone will kill to protect it. Because in this town, the past never stays buried — and even the dead still have a voice.
Tony Bassett is a former journalist who worked on regional and national newspapers in Britain for more than 40 years. He mainly reported on crime, show business, human interest and consumer topics. Now retired, he writes crime fiction. Tony is best known for his series of novels set in the West Midlands featuring Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Roscoe, an experienced detective and family man, and his sergeant, law graduate and resourceful problem-solver Sunita Roy.
His latest novel, VOICES FROM THE DEAD (Book 8) begins in the picturesque Warwickshire town of Queensbridge where a retired nurse escapes to her hotel room from a rowdy birthday party, looking for peace. But to her horror, through a window, she witnesses a brutal crime — a young woman being strangled in the new wing of the building. Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy —attending a wedding in the same hotel — is first on the scene, and quickly realises this isn’t a random attack. The victim, glamorous beauty influencer Candy Goodhope, was living a double life — and everyone close to her has something to hide.
The fifth book in the series, HEIR TO MURDER, was judged first in the Mystery and Suspense (Police Procedurals) category in the American Fiction Awards in June 2024. The full list of books in the series (in order) are: MURDER ON OXFORD LANE; THE CROSSBOW STALKER; MURDER OF A DOCTOR; OUT FOR REVENGE; HEIR TO MURDER; IT NEVER RAINS; NOT MY VALENTINE; and VOICES FROM THE DEAD.
A collection of the first seven books was published in October 2025 under the title DETECTIVES ROY & ROSCOE MYSTERIES 1 – 7. The whole series has been released by London publishers The Book Folks, now part of Joffe Books.
Tony has also written a stand-alone thriller, SEAT 97, about a man shot dead at a London concert hall (published by The Book Folks) while two further works (the crime novel Smile Of The Stowaway and the spy novel The Lazarus Charter) were published by The Conrad Press.
Tony first developed a love of writing at the age of nine when he produced a junior school magazine. A few years later, his local vicar in Tunbridge Wells staged his play about Naboth’s Vineyard. At Hull University, Tony was judged Time-Life Magazine student journalist of the year in 1971.
Tony, who has five grown-up children, is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin.
My thoughts: Witnessing a murder through her hotel window is a shock, but the witness, a retired nurse, has the presence of mind to call for help. Luckily DS Roy, Sunita, is at a wedding in the same hotel and is first on the scene. A young woman has been strangled.
She’s a local hairdresser and influencer, last seen very drunk in the hotel bar earlier that day. The police find DNA linked to a supposedly dead man at the scene, which sends them in the wrong direction, but they quickly get back on track.
Why would anyone want to kill Candy? She might not have appealed to everyone, but she wasn’t a terrible person. Her two friends/employees are at a loss. Her husband and her boyfriend have alibis, and her husband would more likely do away with his rival than his wife.
It must be someone in her circle. Could it date back all the way to her school days?
When a retired teacher from the same school is found murdered in her home with a nail gun, the police wonder if there is a link between the two killings. It seems slim, but as they dig into the past, certain things come to light that suggest someone with plenty to hide.
A satisfying ending, with twists and turns along the way for the team of detectives. The motives are dark and the means rather ad hoc but they get their man in the end. Very enjoyable.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re thrilled to announce the release of the final book in The Prophecy of Sorin trilogy, To Rise & Rebel!
To Rise & Rebel (The Prophecy of Sorin #3)
Release Date: Jan 31, 2026
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
6-POVs
Fated Mates
Fantasy Mystery
Political Intrigue
Forbidden Romance
Second Chance Romance
Meddling Gods
War is Coming
Prophecy
Rebel against the fear and lies, For deep inside, the truth must rise.
Newly stripped of her powers, Evelyn has been branded a traitor — but so has Kade, plagued by foreboding nightmares and wrestling with a magic he fears. All the while, the Blood Goddess is tightening her hold on the north, as division and chaos rise in Sorin.
When a brutal attack forces them on the run, Kade and Evelyn go in search of a way to recover her magic. But even if they can, their enemies have a head start…and unless Kade can master his own power, evil threatens to swallow him whole.
Still bound by a prophecy they feel ill-equipped to fulfil, the pair venture to the depths of truth in their increasingly desperate quest. And as the darkness presses at every door, there is only one path forward: rebellion.
Trigger Warning/Author’s Note (this encompasses all 3 books):
This series contains material that may be upsetting to some readers, including violence, murder, mature language, death of a loved one (mentioned and depicted), suicide (mentioned), anxiety, explicit sexual content, imprisonment, captivity, and war. It is intended for adult audiences and not recommended for readers under the age of eighteen.
The only thing more dangerous than the truth is the lie she told to hide it.
After years of struggle, Raven Kendrick is giving up on her dream of a theater career in New York. Returning to her hometown, she moves back in with her parents and resigns herself to a quiet life.
But that humble dream is shattered when her tyrannical father is murdered. Even worse, Raven is convinced her beloved mother killed him while sleepwalking. So instead of calling the police, she decides to cover up the crime.
But as detectives close in, Raven’s carefully constructed lies begin to crumble. Her alibi isn’t holding up and her father’s business partner is asking way too many questions. And she’s pretty sure her mother knows more than she’s saying.
With the police circling, Raven is shocked to find that she herself has become suspect number one. She needs to get to the truth of what happened that night—and fast.
But as she digs, Raven uncovers a tangled web of buried resentments and festering revenge.
And behind that web, a horrifying secret that will change her life forever.
Brian R. O’Rourke has been writing stories since he was eight years old. A lifelong, avid reader, Brian believes that fiction has the power to change the world. He enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, playing the violin, and golfing.
My thoughts: Raven is desperate to learn the truth about her controlling father’s death, but she also wants to protect her mother – who she thinks killed him while sleepwalking.
The police are circling, neither Raven or her mother has a very convincing story and the evidence doesn’t add up. It doesn’t help that Raven is trying to cover up what she thinks her mum did.
She’s not exactly a criminal mastermind, and her own investigation isn’t really going anywhere. Moving back to her hometown and reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend really isn’t going too well.
I liked Raven, she’s just trying to protect her mum, her dad was a controlling bully and didn’t treat her mum very well, and the murder while sleepwalking is a clever idea, although in the end the truth is more than Raven could imagine.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re thrilled to present the cover of Red’s Hood, an upcoming paranormal romance by Esmerelda F!
Red’s Hood
Expected Release Date: March 24, 2026
Genre: PNR/ Red Riding Hood Inspired
Forced proximity
One bed
Small town
Werewolves
Who did this to you?
What if instead of heeding the warnings, Red Riding Hood learned to run with the wolves?
RED’S HOOD is a modern-day paranormal romance inspired by Red Riding Hood. With its sizzling chemistry, playful banter, and gut-wrenching plot, you won’t want to miss it.
Hoping to provide a better life for her family, Roan Brown took a loan from the wrong crew. When they come to collect and she’s short, the thing she cares about most is taken as collateral. Desperate and willing to do whatever it takes to get it back, she turns to Obol Reed—the town’s newest resident.
Little does she know, he has an agenda of his own.
Obol Reed is traveling the country, on a mission to cut loose ends from his past. It’s no coincidence his journey includes only small-towns with one thing in common—werewolves. During his latest stop, rather than unearth the answers he seeks, he finds a new mystery in Roan Brown—beautiful, sassy, and in over her head.
To save Roan from herself, Obol will make a choice that’ll change their lives forever.
In a town where secrets have claws and ignorance is deadly, can a cynic who believes magic is “ridiculous” and an outcast with a dark secret—or two—trust each other enough to survive? As stakes rise, revelations will threaten to shatter everything they know about themselves.
We’re celebrating the release of The Unknown Daemon by MM Parks this week!
The Unknown Daemon (Omnis Book 2)
Release Date: January 25, 2026
Genre: Dark Romantasy
✨️ Witches & Daemons
✨️ Forbidden love
✨️ Morally grey MMC
✨️ Touch her and die
✨️ Good girl goes bad
✨️ Found family + Non-binary rep
✨️ Mysterious Gods
A new path…
After Ena’s bold decision to join Ty in the Underworld, she must navigate her status as the only witch in a society of daemons. Charged with posing as his witch-slave for her own safety, she learns to embrace her dark side, all while grappling with the guilt of her decision to leave her sister and Coven behind.
A growing love…
After waiting for nine years, Ty finally has what he’s always wanted—Ena. As their trust and bond grows, Ty must grapple with his many conflicting responsibilities to his people, to Ena, and to himself. Can he have everything he wants or is hope for the future only a delusion?
An unknown future…
As Ena and Ty work together with daemon and witch allies alike, they must find a way to break the bond to Iblis, setting right that which the witches broke centuries ago. But as they uncover more about the amulet, the ritual, and the very Gods they worship, they find that everything is not as simple as it once seemed. Together, can they forge a new future, for their peoples and themselves, or will their differences forever keep them apart?
Three dead bodies. Two murders. One missing Bonfire Night effigy.
With Bonfire Night looming, Aldermaston, the Eighth Marquess of Mortiforde, is feeling the heat.
Not only has someone stolen Mortiforde Millie—the town’s beloved fifteen-foot Bonfire Night effigy—just days before the town’s annual firework celebrations, but developer Rupert Rinde wants to torch Mortiforde’s heritage by building a waste incinerator on the historic Mortiforde Meadows.
The locals are outraged, as is Rupert’s father, Sir Hugo, who owns the meadows. So when Sir Hugo is found dead, skewered by a medieval dagger, his widow begs Aldermaston to investigate.
Meanwhile, Sir Hugo had promised Aldermaston’s wife and her Ladies’ Legion the meadows for their new eco-friendly burial scheme. Now they’re desperate to plant their first body in the ground before the deal goes up in smoke.
So, when Aldermaston uncovers who stole Mortiforde Millie and why, he realises the waste incinerator project is designed to ignite some explosive repercussions.
Can Aldermaston unmask a killer and save the Mortiforde Meadows before Bonfire Night erupts into chaos? Will the Ladies’ Legion bury a body before their dreams go up in flames? And can Aldermaston rescue Mortiforde Millie’s hidden secret before the fireworks begin?
Simon Whaley lives in rural Shropshire, having escaped from Greater London in the late 1990s. His first published piece was a word search puzzle, aged 17, and he’s since written over 1000 articles in publications as varied as BBC Countryfile, Country Walking, Cheshire Life, The People’s Friend, The Daily Express, The Observer, Outdoor Photography, Coast, The Simple Things and Writing Magazine.
His first book, One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in September 2003, and spent three weeks on the UK’s Top Ten Non-Fiction paperback bestseller lists. (Lifetime sales now exceed over a quarter of a million copies.) He became a full-time writer in January 2004. He’s since written over a dozen non-fiction books, and recently published the third novel in his Marquess of Mortiforde cosy crime series.
My thoughts: This was a fun and funny mystery, there’s all sorts of chaos going on. The Mortiforde Meadows are the best site for a massive incinerator, according to some, the Ladies’ Legion have been told they can have them for their green burial site, and this leads to murder. But whodunnit? And why?
There’s also a giant effigy to find, someone leaves a tank in front of the gates, and BANG, a protest group, are getting a bit out of hand. There’s one very stupid policeman but thankfully Aldermaston, the Marquess, is on hand to sort it all out, and find his missing brother as well.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re thrilled to announce the release of In the Name of Pride! We’re also gifting a lucky reader a PR box!
In the Name of Pride (Vows & Valor #2)
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Genre: Adult Fantasy w/ Romance
Mental health rep
Wounded MMC
Princess/knight slow burn
Mild spice
Mr. Darcy hand flex
Fueled by spite
Unsexy forced proximity
Chaotic cousins
Genderfluid rep
Quid pro quo coercion
Sinister magic
What happens when the Happily Ever After comes with consequences?
After a lifetime of separation, Kaleela now reconnects with her elven family inside the Sun’Din Forest as a beloved member of the royal family. But not everyone supports a greater union between the elven and human lands, and a fission enters the great forest.
Dimitar now serves as a knight in the city of Blackburn, his life’s dream come true. Everyone he cares about thrives, yet his life darkens with the weight of failure. All he wants is Kaleela’s nearness, their growing love a beacon in his shadows.
When extremist exiles overtake the elven kingdom, Kaleela doesn’t hesitate to return to the forest. She must ensure her family’s safety, and Dimitar insists on protecting her. An unthinkable threat rises from within, and an exile sets his special attention on Kaleela. Dimitar must overcome his inner demons and find a way to reach Kaleela before her greatest wish becomes their worst nightmare.
IN THE NAME OF PRIDE is the highly anticipated sequel in the award-winning Vows & Valor adult fantasy trilogy. What happens when the Happily Ever After comes with consequences? Intense yearning, a battle of the wills, the most hate-able villain, and an unhealthy amount of stakes await readers in this page-turning, emotionally devastating sequel to IN THE NAME OF HONOR.
The note on the envelope was addressed to a man who had been officially dead three years earlier. It read: “To Ed Constance. If you’ve come this far, that is your name.”
He had another name only yesterday… He had a wallet with credit cards, a driver’s license and a social security car to prove it. He had a photograph of a woman who, only last night, he could not remember. But now he did: Sarah, his wife.’
In the early hours of a summer night, seven drugged children are found dumped beside a highway in northern Maine. There’s no record of their disappearance. No therapy or hypnosis can release them from their amnesia. They are the Apostles, created by a sinister organisation with one terrifying endgame in mind.
Ed is one of those abandoned children, locked away for years and then set free on an unsuspecting world. As his college days approach and with only fragments of memory left, his life implodes when an old adversary calls upon him. Suddenly the true purpose of his whole existence is revealed. He does the only thing he can. He runs…
Special plans have been devised for Ed Constance, but he isn’t like the others. He knows what his pursuers want. Will he have the strength to deny them their ultimate goal?
Oliver Johnson’s expertly-paced, high-concept thriller grips from its opening pages to its spectacular finale.
OLIVER JOHNSON is an editor of commercial fiction and non-fiction and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including John Grisham, Iain Banks and Michael Crichton. He is the author of several fantasy novels and children’s books. He spends his time between London and a writing bolthole in East Sussex. Caller Unknown is his first thriller.
My thoughts: This is a strange and at times bewildering book taking in the supposed CIA MKUltra experiments, terrorism, brain washing and mind control. It all moves at an incredible pace.
Ed was one of seven children found abandoned by the side of the road, he was maybe nine years old, and could recall nothing of his life before that moment. Adopted by a couple in Boston, he’s exceptionally bright and capable, excelling at school. But he has no friends beyond the owner of the bait and tackle shop by Lake Tranquility in Maine, where his adoptive parents have a house.
When things from his past start to enter into his present on his first day at college, he runs, assuming a new identity and moving to Florida, as far as he can go.
Building an entirely new life for himself as a successful lawyer, marrying and believing himself safe from the mysterious organisation that had him as a child, he manages to live quietly for some years. Then things take another strange turn and he must turn to his only friend, Vietnam vet Jerry Dove once more for help.
There are so many twists and turns, so many threads in this rather brilliantly written book, I was completely hooked and could not put it down. And the ending! Oh, so intriguing.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 