VBT ~ Saving La Familia by Donna Del Oro

                                         

It's a virtual book tour and this week I'm featuring Saving La Familia by Donna Del Oro. You'll want to stick around for this great book and check out the excerpt below. There are also prizes to be won. Like? One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. How cool is that? Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2022/02/fs-vbt-saving-la-familia-by-donna-del.html

Saving La Familia
by Donna Del Oro

A romantic suspense comedy set in Silicon Valley, a young Latina teacher, Dina Salazar, is asked by her Mexican-born grandmother to rescue her cousins from a dangerous Mexican drug cartel. After all, her stern grandmother tells her, she is the “smart one” in the family. To do so, she has to recruit help from her hated ex-fiance. What’s a girl to do when “la familia” calls?


SAVING LA FAMILIA by Donna Del Oro, about a latina teacher who's recruited by her Mexican-born grandmother to save her cousins from a dangerous Mexican drug cartel. It's a romantic-suspense comedy with many "buen dichos"!


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Now for an Excerpt!! 


Grandma Gómez—”Life is like an artichoke. It takes a lot of peeling to get to the heart of things.”

How did I, in three short months, get to the heart of my Mexican-American family? It wasn’t easy, believe me. Especially since I was the family’s desgraciada. The disgraced one. Ever since I turned eighteen and had my legal name changed from Dolores—which means aches and pains in Spanish—to Dina. My namesake, Grandma Dolores Gómez, refused to speak to me or acknowledge my existence for about a year after the name change. Before that, I was simply the family brat and rebel. The know-it-all.

But you see, Grandma was the heart of the matter. And the big, dark secrets she kept closed up in her heart all got ex- posed in those tumultuous months. And before I could blink and realize what was happening, I was roped into a scheme to rescue cousins I never knew I had out of the deadly clutches of a Mexican drug cartel. Why was I chosen, you ask? Me, Dina Salazar, the desgraciada? A single schoolteacher with a long line of loser-boyfriends? How did I end up looking up the barrel of a cartel commando’s automatic weapon? Come along with me and I’ll tell you.

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About the Author:


Donna Del Oro lives in Northern California with her husband and three cats. She taught high school and community college English classes for 30+ years and is now happily retired. When not doing research, writing novels, or reading voraciously, she travels and sings with the medal winning Sacramento Valley Chorus.


Donna is a member of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime in addition to the Valleyrose chapter of the RWA. She has judged RITA entries and does developmental editing on the side. Two of her novels, Operation Familia and Born To Sing, have won national and international awards.


Contact me at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donna.wierzbowski.1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3152322.Donna_Del_Oro

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Donna-Del-Oro/e/B003AUDSCY

donna@donnadeloro.com

https://www.donnadelorobooks.com/


Buy Link: The book will be free during the tour.

https://www.extasybooks.com/Saving-La-Familia

https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Familia-Donna-Del-Oro-ebook/dp/B09PN7K2S8/ref=sr_1_1

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VBT The Woods of Hitchcock by Ann W. Jarvie

It's a virtual tour and this time it's for The Woods of Hitchcock by Ann W Jarvie. You'll want to stick around because there are great prizes to be won. Like? Ann W. Jarvie will be awarding a $75 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: 

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2022/01/vbt-woods-of-hitchcock-by-ann-w-jarvie.html

The Woods of Hitchcock

(The Henrietta Series)

by Ann W. Jarvie

    The Woods of Hitchcock by award-winning author Ann W. Jarvie is a thriller about a psychically gifted Chicago copywriter and victim of violence who returns to South Carolina's equestrian country to solve a riddle involving murder, the metaphysical and the secrets of her eccentric family.

    Suzanne Clayborn is a psychically gifted southerner working in her dream job in Chicago, which also conveniently takes her away from the ghosts of her past. But when she's nearly killed, she realizes all she wants is to return home to her eccentric family, her horse and the one place she feels safe: Hitchcock Woods, an enchanting equestrian forest in South Carolina.

    But instead of finding solace, Suzanne becomes entangled in a murder spree, while stumbling upon an old manuscript, written by her sage grandmother. As she explores it, Suzanne uncovers a tome of long-buried family haunts and ancient metaphysical secrets offering healing and inspiration. She also begins to understand her unwanted psychic abilities, especially after meeting a mysterious stranger in the Woods whose ominous riddle suggests others close to her will die within the week...

    Brimming with raw emotion and a trail of psychological twists, a story of hope and transformation begins to unfold. Yet with the riddle's deadline looming, Suzanne's present must ultimately collide with a violent past. Will she be able to solve her life's riddle and fulfill her destiny? Or will she die along with those she loves?

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Now for an excerpt: 

For Suzanne, the Woods possessed a special nurturing power, awesome and quiet, that was able to draw an assemblage of friends, neighbors and varied strangers, bonding them together at the level of heart, horse and hound like no other place on earth. Even the forest’s subcultures held her respect and fascination with their vast mini-universes, pulsating with life. The fuzzy caterpillars were already nesting in their massive weblike tree tents, as silent as seeds sprouting, dreaming of their aerial futures. Carolina lizards were guarding their stands of shrubs from the moist bunkers of leaf mold and fallen bracken. Honeybees worked on the pollen of azaleas under nutrient-rich pine needles, swaying and green. The staccato knocks of the pileated woodpecker mixed with the intermittent calls of cardinals and blue jays, while the lulling songs of warblers carried weightlessly on an ethereal stream of a humid wind.

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Now for a guest post from the author!!

Why did you decide to write about the equestrian country of SC for this book?

There are many reasons I chose a romantic equestrian setting for my new thriller, The Woods of Hitchcock. First, a lot of story ideas I’ve had over the years and many of my life themes, including a love of horses, converged to form the inspiration for it.

When I was growing up in South Carolina, and first heard about “Hitchcock Woods,” which is a real place, even as a young teen, I honestly thought it sounded more like a suspense novel than the enchanting equestrian forest preserve that it is. Perhaps I was seeing into my own future. While I was living in Chicago and started writing novels, I kept coming back “home” and to Hitchcock Woods, walking and riding horses in it with family and friends, eventually realizing it, as well as Chicago, would be the ideal settings for my protagonist, Suzanne Clayborn, and her suspenseful Hero’s Journey.

And then there’s the actual name of the equestrian forest itself: Hitchcock Woods. Although it has absolutely nothing to do with the filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock, I liked the immediate name/word association it had with the suspense I wanted to create for this novel. The name allowed me to not only feature my favorite equestrian locale as my primary setting, but also use a few subtle Hitchcockian film themes and literary plot devices in the story—for added fun, surprise and suspense. I even included something that might be likened to one of Alfred’s famous “cameo” appearances, and I challenge readers to find it! 

Thank you, Wendi, for the opportunity to talk about horses and The Woods of Hitchcock, a thriller that will hopefully make your heart race!

About the Author: 

                                                            

Ann W. Jarvie has a B.A. in journalism and twenty-five years’ experience as a writer in advertising and public relations agencies, in Chicago and South Carolina. Although it stands completely on its own, The Woods of Hitchcock is an indirect sequel to Jarvie’s award-winning debut novel, The Soul Retrieval, which received four literary awards, the highest score by Writer’s Digest e-Book Awards’ judges (5 out of 5 on all points) as well as myriad positive reviews. Jarvie currently lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona with her husband, their boxer dog and boxer mix rescue.

Website and Social Media:
ANNWJARVIE.COM
facebook.com/annwjarvie
instagram.com/annwjarvie
twitter.com/annwjarvie

The Woods of Hitchcock, A Thriller by Ann W. Jarvie, is available online everywhere, including:

 
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-woods-of-hitchcock-ann-w-jarvie/1139765258

 
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Woods-Hitchcock-Thriller-Henrietta/dp/0578932008/ref=sr_1_1

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Virtual Book Tour: Secrets of a River Swimmer by SS Turner

It's time for a virtual book tour. This one is for Secrets of a River Swimmer by SS Turner. You'll want to keep reading for the fantastic interview and the giveaway. What's being given away? One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. How cool is that? Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2022/01/fs-vbt-secrets-of-river-swimmer-by-ss.html

Secrets of a River Swimmer
by S.S. Turner

    As Freddy gazes at the majestic river gushing past him in the depths of a Scottish winter, he's ready to jump in and end his life. But what happens next is not what Freddy expects. From the moment he enters the river, Freddy starts a journey which is more beautiful, funny, and mysterious than he could have imagined. And through this journey Freddy's story becomes interweaved with a cast of unforgettable characters who are equally lost and in search of answers. Eventually they all unite in their quest for an answer to the biggest question of them all: will the river take them where they want to go?

    In the tradition of inspirational works of fiction like The Alchemist and Life of Pi, Secrets of a River Swimmer is at once a profound exploration into living with meaning and an affecting story of people on the cusp of change.

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Now Enjoy an Excerpt!

From Page 7

I dip my toe in.

It’s fucking freezing.

I sit and watch the majestically sinister Scottish river hurtle along below me. I’m not sure whether to be in awe or terrified, but that was always going to be the case today, my last day. The idea of jumping into the river reminds me of the feeling you experience when you arrive at the beach, and you’re thinking about jumping into the sea, but you know it’s going to cause you grievous bodily harm from your nether regions up. For some reason, your legs are the one part of your body which can handle intense cold without too much stress. But all body parts above your legs are a whole different story. My voice just rose an octave, and I’m not even talking.

So you sit and watch the sea while contemplating your next move, as if this thinking time will give you the required mental strength to leap into the cold blue water. However, this thinking time just gives the water an opportunity to look you in the eye with laughing menace, because the water knows the questions you are grappling with deep in your soul. The water understands it is strong and you are weak—the eternal power imbalance at play.

The waiting period only makes it worse, of course. All it does is allow you to hand more mental power over to the cold water than a short and simple jumping-in maneuver would have done. Why do we employ such counter-productive strategies in our lives?

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Here's a wonderful interview with the author!

What is something you’ve lied about?

I’m generally a truthful person so this one is hard! One thing I do white lie about is the real reason I decline social invitations. I was invited to a party recently and rather than saying “I’m just not that into you” to the host (which was the cold hard truth) I explained that I had alternative plans that day and would sadly miss the party. Aren’t we funny the way we avoid telling the truth when everyone knows the real subtext to what we’re saying anyway? We hide behind words to make ourselves feel better about the situation.

Who is the last person you hugged?

I just hugged my six-year old daughter Rosie when I dropped her off at school. I need to make the most of hugs with her as it will soon be uncool for her to hug her dad in public.

What are you reading now?

I’m currently reading The Guest List by Lucy Foley. It’s a murder mystery set on an island off the Irish coast. It’s solid idea for a novel, but I’m not feeling connected to the story because of the many different narrators. The moment I feel connected with one of the character’s stories, the story shifts across to another character. My brain is too simple to enjoy this multiple narrator style.

How do you come up with the titles to your books?

This is a hard but fun process! I tend to do a brain dump of all my best ideas and I then I run the list by Lou Aronica, my publisher. Lou is great at identifying the right title from a list of options and I trust his feedback. So it’s a team effort.

Share your dream cast for your book.

Freddy (main character and narrator): Jack Reynor

Willard: Jack Whitehall

Daphne: Keira Knightley

Alice: Julie Walters

Truin: Michael Sheen

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About the Author: 

S.S. Turner has been an avid reader, writer, and explorer of the natural world throughout his life which has been spent in England, Scotland and Australia. Just like Freddy in his first novel, Secrets of a River Swimmer, he worked in the global fund management sector for many years but realized it didn't align with his values. In recent years, he's been focused on inspiring positive change through his writing as well as trying not to laugh in unfortunate situations. He now lives in Australia with his wife, daughter, two dogs, two cats, and ten chickens.

https://www.thestoryplant.com/secrets-of-a-river-swimmer

Buy Links:
Amazon- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JWTK3WN/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

B&N- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secrets-of-a-river-swimmer-s-s-turner/1139673873

AppleBooks- https://books.apple.com/us/book/secrets-of-a-river-swimmer/id1591209788

Indigo- https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/secrets-of-a-river-swimmer/9781611883213-item.html

Kobo- https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/secrets-of-a-river-swimmer

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VBT Can't Think Straight by Isabel Scheck

It's a  virtual tour and you'll want to stick around. These poems are off the charts. Plus, there are prizes. Like? Isabel Scheck will be awarding 1 of 2 autographed books to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. How cool is that? Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2022/01/vbt-cant-think-straight-by-isabel-scheck.html

Can't Think Straight
by Isabel Scheck

A collection of 35 poems in which a poet thinks about women a little too much... (Sapphic poetry)

Now for an excerpt: 

Poem no. 30: She’s Captured My Heart

My feelings for her rattle in my heart and spill over into my ribcage like thunder in my chest.

Her laughter sounds soft;

like rose petals and scented candles.

When she glances my way the butterflies

shoot through my heart, puncturing my lungs. Her pretty eyes are all I look for in others.

My feelings for her climb in my heart like

ivy getting stuck in every crevice of my ribcage. Her tattoos have captured my attention

and so has her lovely personality.

******************

About the Author:

Isabel is a self-published author and artist who comes from England, but lives in Switzerland. She works with children, which she adores, but she also loves to write; especially in the genres of fantasy, poetry and romance. She uses experiences and images as inspiration to create words. Isabel also loves to express herself by drawing.

Instagram: Isabels_artwork
Tumblr: Hues-of-Purple
Twitter: IzzyS97
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePoeticQueen97/
Lulu spotlight for all of my books: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/isabelscheck
Link to Can’t Think Straight: https://www.lulu.com/en/gb/shop/isabel-scheck/cant-think-straight/paperback/product-mv998q.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Cant-Think-Straight-LGBTQ-poetry/dp/1387843052/

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Book Blast ~ Talk of Tokyo b y Heather Hallman

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Heather Hallman will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS

1897 Tokyo is no different than anywhere else in the world: men are exploiting women. Specifically, Western men are exploiting Japanese women, and Suki Malveaux holds no punches in her condemnation of their behavior in her weekly column in the Tokyo Daily News.

Suki knows firsthand when Western men arrive at Tokyo Bay there’s only one outcome for Japanese women: a child and new mother left behind as nothing more than discarded shrapnel from the heartless war on love.

Griffith Spenser is her latest target. He’s been seen with Natsu Watanabe, one of Tokyo’s esteemed war widows. Under full anonymity of the moniker “The Tokyo Tattler,” Suki makes sure Griffith knows exactly why his behavior with Natsu won’t be tolerated.

Away from her Japanese mask as a columnist, Suki never intended to meet the cad. When he seeks her out to hire as a tutor for his niece and nephew, she’s faced with seeing him day in and day out without him ever knowing who she really is.

Caught in her struggle for anonymity so she can keep battling for women’s rights, Suki’s about to learn the full impact of her words on the people behind the story, especially on Griff.

Read an Excerpt

Tokyo 1897

Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji

“The door is over here,” a man called from the house.

Had Emperor Mutsuhito been standing on the front porch, Suki wouldn’t have been more surprised. The irate gentleman she’d been expecting was looking at her with an expression of mild amusement. Up to now, she’d only caught glimpses of the incorrigible rake in passing. Closer examination revealed an angular jawline that an aspiring journalist might wish to trace with her finger and cheekbones ordinarily found on statues of world-conquering kings. Pillow-like lips, one touch of which would make a woman’s insides melt, were already having that very effect on her.

Griffith Spenser was downright handsome. But not in a way that made Suki swoon into the azalea bushes. A crease lined the middle of his chin, and his nose could be described as a bit wide, his brow as a bit too high. The caramel-colored hair atop his head hadn’t been set with a pomade but permitted its thick waves, adding a few inches of unruly height to the already tall, lean gentleman.

Given his reputation, she should have been prepared for a strong dose of masculine appeal. But her head felt light and airy, and her breath had all but disappeared. In its place, a bubbling sensation portended a spell of the giggles. Gripping her satchel, she took in enough air to restore her powers of reason. Unless she got to work, Spenser was going to be the instrument of her undoing. Fortunately, she knew his weakness. Like most foreign men who arrived on Japan’s shores, Spenser was enamored with the nation’s beauties. And although her chignon had loosened to lopsidedness, and her kimono bore the marks of a full day’s teaching, and she was, in fact, only half-Japanese, she could muster enough charm to make Spenser reconsider his plans.

About the Author:

Heather Hallman writes witty, sensual, contest-winning romances set in Meiji-era Japan (1868-1912). She is the author of the Tokyo Whispers series that includes Scandals of Tokyo and Talk of Tokyo.

She is fluent in Japanese language, history, and culture, and earned a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology based on fieldwork research in Japan. She lives in Tokyo with her professor husband and two young daughters. In her free time, she can be found translating ancient Japanese poetry and observing the passing of seasons while sipping green tea. Just kidding, she has no free time. But she does watch something that makes her laugh while she does the dishes.

Perennial obsessions include the weather forecast (she checks three different apps at least three times a day, as no single app can be trusted), Baltimore Ravens football (hometown obsession), and making smoothies that taste like candy bars.

Feel free to chat her up about any of her obsessions, or, even better, about historical Japan—any era is fine, she loves them all. She also enjoys exchanging book recommendations, discussions about the craft of romance writing, and stories about life in present-day Tokyo.

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Buy links for Talk of Tokyo:

Boroughs Publishing Group
Amazon
iBooks

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Book Blast ~ THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE PRIVATE MARKET by Carnie M Schneider, FGE

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Carine Schneider will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Facebook, Uber, Robinhood: all were private companies at some point. Historically, there has been no way for investors to easily buy and sell shares in private companies. With the introduction of blockchain technology, digital securities, and decentralized financial solutions, the ability to grow the private market is on the horizon. Regulators around the world are rushing to catch up and understand how to protect investors who want to participate in this market. This book reviews the regulatory, technical, and societal challenges to open this asset class to more investors in the future.

Read an Excerpt

Currently, US residents who want to invest in the private market need to have a certain net worth to participate. Under the cover of this exclusive private club is access to investment opportunities, supporting innovation, and extreme risk. As the private market has grown, the types of investment instruments and the complexity of the investment structure has increased significantly. Unlike investing in the public market, investing in private ventures can be complicated and requires an understanding of securities law, tax strategy, and, in many cases, future technology that can only be envisioned by innovative entrepreneurs. The key characteristics of the private market are: • Less company regulation • Limited public reporting requirements, especially for smaller companies • A lack of information symmetry • Only investment professionals, or the ultra-wealthy, can invest (accredited investors) With the changes in technology solutions, the advent of new financial solutions, and a change in the way some founders approach building their companies, these characteristics may change as the private market grows. Dan Gallagher, General Counsel of Robinhood and a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner, describes the private market as “a vibrant ecosystem.” Capital is key to growth in a private company, and it can come from various sources — professional individual investors (sometimes called “angel investors”), venture capital firms (VC firms), friends and family, and crowdfunding campaigns. Private equity (PE) is sometimes confused with private company investment. PE firms tend to acquire mature companies and recapitalize and re-organize their targets. PE firms generally aren’t looking to make individual investments alongside other investors. For the purposes of this book, we will mostly focus on non-PE owned companies, although we do discuss liquidity in PE funds. The private market is attractive because investors in privately held companies hope to quickly increase the company’s value, then sell their stakes later through a buyout, trade sale, recapitalization, or listing on a public market via initial public offerings (IPOs).

About the Author:

Carine Schneider, FGE (Fellow of Global Equity) is an experienced and well-connected leader in the private market and global compensation industry with deep experience working in consulting, technology, and financial services. She is the President of AST Private Company Solutions (AST PCS). She was named one of the 100 Influential Women in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and one of 17 “Women to Watch” in 2017 by Brown Brothers Harriman Center on Women and Wealth. Carine was formerly the President, Nasdaq Private Market and has been the founder and CEO of Global Shares, CEO of Certent, and Partner at PwC. She has also held senior level positions at Morgan Stanley and Willis Towers Watson. She was the founding Executive Director of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) and founded the nonprofit Global Equity Organization (GEO) where she is now Chair Emeritus, after serving as Chair for eighteen years. She 103 started her career as Manager of Shareholder Relations at Oracle Corporation where she assisted in the IPO. Ms. Schneider was born in The Netherlands and received her degree in psychology and sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is a frequent speaker at conferences around the world, including at President Obama’s 2016 Global Entrepreneurial Summit, and has authored various articles and chapters in industry publications. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Professional Business Women of California (PBWC). In 2019, she received the UK ProShare Award for Service to Employee Share Ownership.

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Amazon Author Page

Amazon

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Book Blast ~ Indecent by Darcy Burke

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Darcy Burke will be awarding an ebook copy of book 1 of the Phoenix Club series, IMPROPER, to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

If Bennet St. James, the Viscount Glastonbury, doesn’t find a bride with a sizeable dowry, he’ll be in the poorhouse along with his interminable number of female relatives—all of whom he loves but are a drain on the negative fortune his father left when he died of a broken pocketbook. Desperate, he hatches a scheme to snare an heiress only to be foiled by a most vexing and alluring—and unfortunately equally destitute—paid companion.

Lady’s companion Prudence Lancaster is single-minded about finding her mother and filling in the missing pieces of her life. But a villainous viscount interrupts her plans, and his surprising charm and understanding tempts her in the most indecent ways. Soon, she’s dreaming of the future instead of wallowing in the past.

But when Bennet shares a dark secret, her hopes are dashed. For he won’t break the promise he made to his family, even if it means losing the greatest love he’s ever known.

Read an Excerpt

Prudence sank down beside him on his injured side. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes.”

“Did you lose consciousness?” she asked. “You didn’t move for a moment.”

His brow furrowed, then he winced. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. Everything happened so fast. All I could see was that branch coming straight down toward you. If anything had happened to you…” He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together until they whitened.

“Nothing happened, save my sudden need for a bath.”

He laughed and winced again.

“No more laughing,” she admonished.

“Then stop being witty and charming.” He opened one eye. “If you can, which I daresay you can’t.”

“Nonsense. I’ll be ruthless in my care of you.”

His other eye opened, and he regarded her with a heat that shocked and thrilled her. “Promise?”

About the Author:

Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, emotional historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations.

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, artist daughter, and imaginative son who will almost certainly out-write her one day (that may be tomorrow).

They’re a crazy cat family with two Bengal cats, a small, fame-seeking cat named after a fruit, an older rescue Maine Coon with attitude to spare, and a collection of neighbor cats who hang out on the deck and occasionally venture inside. You can find Darcy at a winery, in her comfy writing chair, or binge-watching TV with the family.

Her happy places are Disneyland, Labor Day weekend at the Gorge, Denmark, and anywhere in the UK—so long as her family is there too.

Website
Reader Group Newsletter
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Darcy’s Duchesses Facebook Group
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BookBub
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Amazon.

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Book Blast ~ Scandals of Tokyo by Heather Hallman

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Heather Hallman will award a $25 Amaon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

ENJOY THIS PREQUEL TO THE TOKYO WHISPERS SERIES

In the Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan, Victorian England is alive and well. Manners and etiquette are as valuable as gossip and deceit. Men are more rakish than ever - so far from home, societal rules seem to be relaxed. But courting young women still requires a deft hand, a smart wit, and a man with something to offer.

INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL

Intent on being an international journalist of repute, Evelyn Prescott will do what it takes to make her mark.

It doesn’t hurt that her father has built a newspaper empire, but finding a scandal in Japan is no easy task.

As much as she hates to admit it, she is forced to meet with the owner of the Tokyo Daily News, Ned Taylor, also an Englishman.

Ned holds a deep-rooted dislike of Evelyn’s father’s approach to journalism, and Ned, a notorious rake, pushes her to see just how far Evelyn is prepared to go to get her story.

From Reedsy Discovery: "Written as a prequel novelette to her forthcoming Tokyo Whispers series, “Scandals of Tokyo” drops readers into the immigrant quarter of Meiji era Tokyo, with hints of all of the glitz, the temptation, and the salacious gossip one could wish. At just under 30 pages, Hallman has a lot of ground to cover, introducing characters and a world that will be expanded on in future novels, but if “Scandals” is just a taste of this series, then it’s going to be huge.

Lovingly researched and brilliantly detailed, Hallman knows the place and time she’s writing about and it shows! Turn of the century Tokyo is alive and well on her pages and in her characters, and it is certain to delight."

Read an Excerpt

Tokyo 1896
Foreign Quarter of Tsukiji

Several matrons strolled towards the balustrade, their chatter enveloped in the rustling of silk skirts and clattering of heels against the terrace flagstones. Aunt Prissy warbled an evening greeting to some of them, which they returned in kind. Over the course of their residence at the Hotel Metropolis, she’d become friendly with most of the guests. As the women walked away, Aunt Prissy offered another large yawn from behind her fan.

“Really, you should retire. I’ll stay a bit longer on the terrace. I’m too fidgety to join you.” Evelyn’s gratitude for her aunt’s permissiveness as chaperone had never been greater, but she was determined to speak with a certain charming gentleman this evening, and the conversation would proceed more smoothly if Aunt Prissy wasn’t taking part.

“I perfectly understand, dear Evie. Better you fidget on the terrace. It’s quite windy tonight. Do beware of catching a chill. Shall I bring you a wrap?” Even at the end of August, summer’s heat held Tokyo in its grip. Night brought a modicum of relief, but the breezes off Tokyo Bay remained sultry.

Evelyn declined the offer and kissed Aunt Prissy good night. As the swish of her aunt’s skirts faded, Evelyn contemplated her target.

Ned Taylor was her last hope.

She hadn’t wanted to use the letter she carried, but she’d been in Tokyo for over a month and still didn’t have a scandalous story she could send to Papa. Most of her time had been spent convalescing from a summer malady she’d picked up a few days after arriving and chasing a baroness through the countryside for a scandal-worthy headline. She’d inquired around the foreign quarter as to the reputations of its prominent residents, but all her efforts had amounted to was unsubstantiated rumours and trivial innuendo.

Evelyn had no choice but to present Mr Taylor with a request from her papa he couldn’t ignore.

About the Author:

Heather Hallman writes witty, sensual, contest-winning romances set in Meiji-era Japan (1868-1912). She is the author of the Tokyo Whispers series that includes Scandals of Tokyo and Talk of Tokyo.

She is fluent in Japanese language, history, and culture, and earned a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology based on fieldwork research in Japan. She lives in Tokyo with her professor husband and two young daughters. In her free time, she can be found translating ancient Japanese poetry and observing the passing of seasons while sipping green tea. Just kidding, she has no free time. But she does watch something that makes her laugh while she does the dishes.

Perennial obsessions include the weather forecast (she checks three different apps at least three times a day, as no single app can be trusted), Baltimore Ravens football (hometown obsession), and making smoothies that taste like candy bars.

Feel free to chat her up about any of her obsessions, or, even better, about historical Japan—any era is fine, she loves them all. She also enjoys exchanging book recommendations, discussions about the craft of romance writing, and stories about life in present-day Tokyo.

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Book Tour ~ Golden Shana: The Chase by A P von K'Ory

It's a tour and this book looks fantastic. Come check it out. You'll want to stick around for the interview and the prizes. Like? One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. So get to commenting and entering! Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2021/09/fs-nbtm-golden-shana-chase-by-by-p-von.html

Golden Shana: The Chase

by A P von K'Ory

An evening at the La Scala in Milan twirls the lives of five people into a web of rivalry, intrigues, heartaches, obsession, murder, loss, and revenge.

“… for those who love selective eroticism with substance. An exciting and sophisticated erotic thriller for the astute romance reader, woman or man.”

Love, a word Roman can hardly spell, hits him when he sees Shana one evening. She’s the first woman not dropping to her knees at his mere presence. Used to getting whatever he wants, he chases her. Only to discovers that she prefers the girls. Roman can’t let that deter him. But is he for once up against his own comeuppance? At any rate, he needs assistance, which comes in the form of Alyssa, Shana’s BFF. Trouble crops up when Alyssa is all too ready and willing to drop on her knees for him.

Roman can't get anywhere near Shana on his own. Would he start anything with Alyssa as long as this finally leads him to meet Shana in person?

Then there’s Marie, his current companion, who has a life-changing surprise for him.

Roman: I never chased after a woman. Then I caught a glimpse of the woman I would kneel for, but didn’t even know her name. Heck, I determined to find her if it took me the rest of my life.

Shana: He stood in the room with her. The frisson in the currents freaking between them knocked her senseless. The mutual force of predator and prey, blasting into her core ... her soul ... Danger. Keep far away from him

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for an interview!!

If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?

I think it would be my mother. In my young years, I blamed her for situations in my life that she had no control over. I failed to appreciate that she was a creature of her time and nurture. Unfortunately I lost her in a car accident when I was still too young to even entertain the concept of apologizing to anybody.

If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?

I’d simply love to keep the god Shiva as a pet. According to Hindu myth, this god is both the destroyer of the world and one of its creators. This powerful being fights demons and protects the world, but also walks with demons at his side and fights with other gods. Shiva is best known for his dancing, but again for very different reasons. One dance holds the universe together, the other completely destroys it.

How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?


One of the things that make my writing unique is that I tend to write what I would also love to read – as opposed to “writing to market”. I sprinkle some general knowledge into my writing where it’s appropriate. Some of my readers love me especially because of this. For example, in the fourth volume, Golden Shana: The Deception, when Shana shows Roman her rooms in the family home, he notices the frescos on her ceiling depicting the Battle of Thermopylae that Kind Leonidas of Sparta fought against King Xerxes I of Persia. I have Shana retell a bit of the battle and how her father used the story when he was teaching her to run her share of the Lindqvist Group of Companies and engage in corporate wars. I try never to confine my couple to sex, sex, and more sex please. I get them to work and live like everybody else in real life. You don’t get to be a gazillionaire but merely having fun and pleasure.

What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?

My personal one is “write to market”. If I did that, I’d be offering my readers something I wouldn’t pick up, pay for and read. I’d feel like cheating them. Besides, how can I write something well enough if I’m not wholeheartedly committed to and love what I’m creating?

Are the experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Yes, it is very much based on events in my own life and the lives of those near and dear to me. Even the ethnic diversity reflects my own family’s Babylonian composition!

Now for an excerpt!!

“Are you a bloody dyke or not, Shana?” I was ready to hit the fucking roof.

“It’s really none of your business. But Alyssa is—”

I strode purposefully to her, pulled her to me, raked one hand into her lustrous hair at the back of her neck, grabbed a handful of it firmly, and tilted her chin up with my other hand. I bent and kissed her hard on the eat-me-whole lips. Kissed her savagely, without trying to push my tongue into her mouth. I simply licked and sucked with force. She smelt of manmade scent and sultry womanhood.

She tasted like heaven and hell combined.

My penis announced its needs. I tipped her back further without breaking the kiss and pressed my London Stone against her. Voltages. Frenzied amps. She gave a short high-pitched squeal. Off the charts lust, boiling deep within her. I pressed her harder to my breast while I rubbed my London Stone against her lower belly.

As her lips began to yield, to slightly part, to surrender to me, to let me take full possession of her mouth, I stopped kissing her and pressing against her. I jerked her head away from me by my handful of hair and locked my eyes with hers again.

“Yes?” as imperiously as she had been. I saw her confusion.

She whispered, “Oh heavens,” and closed her eyes.

“Indeed. Look at me,” I ordered in a low dark voice, torn between a million shades of mad and frustrated.

She opened her eyes again in blinks. “Roman. Alyssa has fallen in love with you, one. She’s my best friend since childhood, two. And yes, she’s my lover too.”

My temples worked. But you’re a man’s woman! “Not any more, Shana. From now on, every single bit of you belongs to me. You’re. My. Woman.”

She shook her head, probably denying my statements, probably perplexed.

“You. Are.” I still held that bunch of hair at the back of her head in a firm fist.

“Roman, I don’t mind Alyssa having men in her life. But—”

“Time you had one too. Me.”

“Christ, Roman, men don’t work for me since—”

“One just did perfectly with no more than just a kiss, Dr Lindqvist.”

I released her. Turned away and walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author

A P von K’Ory writes the kind of books she herself would like to read and is passionate about, whether romance, psychological thriller or nonfiction. She is the winner of six awards from four continents, the last one being the Achievers Award for Writer of the Year 2013 in the Netherlands. The Selmere Integration Prize was awarded her in 2014 for her engagement in helping African Women in the Diaspora cope with a variety of domestic and social problems. The Proposal, a short story, won the Cook Communications first prize in 2010 and is published in an American anthology Africa 2012. In 2012, she won the Karl Ziegler Prize for her commitment to bring African culture to Western society in various papers, theses, and lectures. Again in 2012, her book Bound to Tradition: The Dream was nominated for the 2012 Caine Prize by the Author-me Group, Sanford, and in 2013 she was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize.

Von K'Ory is married to an aristocrat and politician of Franco-German descent, has a large extended  family. She lectures Economics and Sociology in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. She’s migratory and – weather willing – lives in Germany, France, Cyprus, and Greece.

She may be reached at any of the following: 

Visit My Website: http://Akinyi-princess.de

Sign up for Newsletter: https://akinyi-princess.de/contact

Sign up for news about me & the family, ARCs & Freebies:

Want to join up and receive ARCs from my next (or current) books? Please join the discerning readers at the link below: https://www.facebook.com/AkinyiReadersReviews/

It would be lovely if you could Like the book page and read the latest interviews and news about Shana and Roman on Facebook at: 

https://www.facebook.com/Goshanaliterotic 

It would be equally wonderful if you could Like my Author page and read more about Shana and Roman new releases, cover reveals and what I’m up to lately on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAPVonKOry

Follow in Twitter: @Apky11162

Sign-up Page: Exclusive Royal Club Books 

https://akinyi-princess.de/exclusive-royal-club-books-page/ 

English Book Trailer:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkGuFzsRgsM

Goodreads Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7063572.A_P_Von_K_Ory

BookBub:  

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/a-p-von-k-ory 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/APvonK'Ory

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Book Blast ~ Bossed Up by the Billionaire by VK Holt

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Bossed Up //informal//
to go after something/someone with determination. To put your entire soul into achieving a desired outcome.

Life had dealt me so many curveballs, Struggle became my middle name.
Wouldn’t it be nice for once not to have to fight for what I want?
Enter: Mr. Perfect Stranger.
He promised me a time to remember.
I can safely vouch he kept his promise. All. Night. Long.
Trouble is, his family bought the company I work for.
And his first order of business was to remind me that I left him...
Without saying goodbye.
But that’s not the worst of it.
He wants to pick up where we left off.
Last time, I barely escaped from falling. Who’s to say that this time, I’ll be the one asking him to stay?

Bossed Up by the Billionaire is a dual POV Contemporary Romance with no cliffhanger, no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA.

Read an Excerpt

From the chapter The Snare of a Web

And just like that, I’m in high school all over again. From the time I was born, I’ve been in the 75th height percentile. That means I’m a smidge over average. Royce Grayson towers over me. He was a big man when I met him two years ago, and he’s even bigger now.

He could do some serious damage.

And I sure as hell want him to.

"Royce, give me my phone."

His grin spells trouble. His words even more so. "That’s all I was waiting for, Sin. I wanted to hear my name come out of that damn sexy mouth of yours. I’ve been thinking about it all day." He places the phone in my palm and his slight touch lights a trail of fire up my arm.

I ignore the sensation and glance at my phone. Besides a thin crack on the left-hand side, close to the top, the screen now has a spider web of lines starting in the lower right corner and progressing to the middle in a wide arc.

Terrific. Fine. Whatever.

My annoyance with him and his kind comes out in the harshness of my tone. "Don’t call me 'Sin,'" I say, stuffing my phone in my bag. I’m going to the bar. To hell with this.

Whatever this is.

I loop my bag over my shoulder and take a step forward to brush past him.

He stands in my way. "We need to talk."

I ignore the hope blooming in my chest. It's not right. It's not right.

About the Author:

VK Holt has been creating stories since the age of six. An author of steamy contemporary and fantasy romance, she includes both humor and angst when writing about the strong men and the sassy women who come to love them.

If she isn’t baking, she is reading, writing or walking her Chihuahua. And drinking coffee, too. Can’t forget about that.

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