About the Book
Grieving her father's sudden death, Lady Ada Whitworth's childhood stutter resurfaces. She seeks solace in her charcoal sketches secretly published in London's Thames & Times newspaper. Her brother's sharp tongue and quick temper shame Lady Ada into complete silence but not before she overhears his traitorous plot to kill the queen at the upcoming International Ball.
Mute and heartbroken, Lady Ada's private pain is mistaken for arrogance, earning the ire of society. The Duke of Girard is tasked with sniffing out the elusive French spy called Tailor while an anonymous artist pokes fun at the duke's failed pursuit, taunting him every step of the way. With the upcoming International Ball just weeks away, the Duke will stop at nothing to bring stability back to his beloved Britain-including finding the artist behind the sketches.
When Lady Ada's accused brother disappears, she becomes the target of the Duke's wrath, assuming her silence is from guilt, not grief. To loosen her tongue, the Duke demands Lady Ada be interrogated at his estate, a home hidden in the wild Welsh countryside. She sweeps the chimney, launders her clothes and helps the cook-she will do anything but speak to the Duke.
Lady Ada's quiet service softens the Duke, his mind often turning to thoughts of her. But can he earn Lady Ada's trust in time to save the queen?
A Victorian Twist on Beauty And The Beast
Bold and brilliant, Georgiana has a gift for fixing machines—from clocks to carriages—while her father has a penchant for finding trouble. In an accidental fire, Georgiana and her father scar the once handsome face of Lord Pichon, cousin to the queen.
Rumors of Georgiana’s gift raise her family’s status. Her incomparable beauty captures the eye of many gentlemen and the wrath of Lord Pichon. Abandoned by his peers and alone in his cold castle, Lord Pichon is determined to enact revenge.
When Georgiana’s father makes a terrible mistake, she sacrifices herself to pay his debt—as a lowly maid in Lord Pichon’s castle.
Her wit and warmth begin to thaw Lord Pichon’s estate, making him question his version of the past. Will her kindness break the beastly lord or will he hold her family hostage forever?
My Thoughts
Clarissa Kae is a preeminent voice whose professional career began as a freelance editor in 2007. She's the former president of her local California Writers Club after spending several years as the Critique Director.
Since her first novel, she's explored different writing genres and created a loyal group of fans who eagerly await her upcoming release. With numerous awards to her name, Clarissa continues to honor the role of storyteller.
Aside from the writing community, she and her daughters founded Kind Girls Make Strong Women to help undervalued nonprofit organizations—from reuniting children with families to giving Junior Olympic athletes their shot at success.
She lives in the agricultural belly of California with her family and farm of horses, chickens, dogs and kittens aplenty.
Five winners will receive one of the author’s backlisted titles: Once And Future Wife, Pieces To Mend, Taming Christmas, Of Ink And Sea, or A Dark Beauty
Ends October 6, 2021
About the Book
Author: Sara Davison
Genre: Speculative Romantic Suspense
Release Date: March 2021
Someone or something is watching Kathryn Ellison.
Kathryn thought she had buried memories of That Night for good—until Nick Lawson returns, reigniting her long-suppressed feelings for him. Seeing Nick has always reminded her too much of the horrible night that changed her life. As much as she wants to be with him, she wants even more to forget. When Nick unexpectedly shows up at her family ranch, Kathryn knows it is finally time to let go of the traumatic past that has held her captive for so long.
David Henley is a captive too—of the dark secret involving Kathryn, a secret he’s kept even from his wife. Now the truth is about to be revealed. And when it is, he could be stripped of everything in his life that matters to him.
A storm is brewing in the spiritual realm, and its effects reverberate through the natural world, summoning otherworldly Beings to the ranch. While Kathryn confronts the memories of That Night and struggles to let them go, she is not as alone in her home as she thinks.
As spiritual and temporal forces collide, Kathryn—and everyone she loves—is about to be caught in the crossfire.
Click here to get your copy!
My Thoughts
About the Author
Sara Davison is the author of three romantic suspense series—The Seven Trilogy, The Night Guardians, and The Rose Tattoo Trilogy, as well as the standalone, The Watcher. She has been a finalist for more than a dozen national writing awards, including Best New Canadian Christian author, a Carol, two Selahs, a Holt Medallion, and three Daphne du Maurier Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a Word and Cascade Award winner. She currently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their three children. The words on the mug she uses every morning pretty much sum up her life—I just want to sleep, drink coffee, and make stuff up. Get to know Sara better at www.saradavison.org and @sarajdavison.
More from Sara
The Watcher has taken me on an incredible journey over the last decade. After obtaining my degree in English literature, I longed to write a book. However, I found the idea of sitting down and actually writing one extremely daunting. So, I took every creative writing course, read every book on the subject, and attended every writing conference and seminar I could fine—basically doing everything except writing. Then one Easter Sunday morning, in church, the idea for an entire book—beginning, middle, ending, characters—came to me. Over the next five years, I wrote, rewrote, edited, polished, and got feedback on the book, until I felt it was nearly ready to submit to a publishing contest.
I say nearly because, while the feedback I had received was largely positive, it was still clear that something was missing. A month before the deadline to submit to the publishing contest, it occurred to me what that something was—the timeline. The novel read a bit like a sweeping epic novel that took place over twenty years. While that might work in some genres, it doesn’t play well in romantic suspense.
I had always been intrigued by the idea of a non-human narrator, and it occurred to me that could work with this book. That led me to the idea of using The Watcher, an unseen being in the spiritual realm, as my narrator. When I added in that being and numerous other beings, I was able to shorten the timeline of the book from twenty years to six days.
Of course, this required a major overhaul of the book. I closeted myself in my office for a month, only completing the story the day before the deadline for the contest. That meant I didn’t have an opportunity to show it to anyone or get feedback, so I had no idea whether the idea worked or if the story even made sense anymore.
The Watcher ended up winning the contest and was published in 2011. A decade and eight other published novels later, I got back the rights to my debut novel, polished it up, added several more chapters, and re-released it through Mountain Brook Ink in 2021.
As my first novel, my only (so-far) standalone, and the sole novel I have released that is speculative romantic suspense as opposed to contemporary romantic suspense, The Watcher holds a special place in my heart. As with all my books, my hope and prayer is that it will touch readers’ hearts and draw them closer to the God who has promised to never leave them or forsake them.
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, September 16
Locks, Hooks and Books, September 17
Blogging With Carol, September 17
By the Book, September 17
Inklings and notions, September 18
Texas Book-aholic, September 19
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, September 20
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 21
For Him and My Family, September 21
deb’s Book Review, September 22
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 23
The Meanderings of a Bookworm, September 24
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 25
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 26
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, September 27
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, September 28
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, September 29
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Sara is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a paperback copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/119f3/the-watcher-celebration-tour-giveaway
About the Book
Author: Britney Ruby Miller
Genre: Self-Help, Inspirational
Release Date: August 20, 2021
Britney Ruby Miller has faced overwhelming obstacles in her life—extreme challenges to her faith, her family, her marriage, and her business. Each of these challenges alone might have caused her to give up and shut down, closing herself off to all of her hopes and dreams. Instead, she fought back hard, engaging in a faithful fight to attain a 5-star life.
Are you allowing your negative life experiences to transform you—or to undermine you? No matter what obstacles you face, you can learn ways to fight back, “striving for 5” to reach a 5-star life.
Now the CEO of a chain of nationally ranked, high-end steakhouses, Britney has fought the battles of rejection, feelings of low self-esteem, family tragedy, infidelity, infertility, and the global pandemic that threatened not only to close her family’s business but also to decimate the entire restaurant industry. “I am so thankful that God helped me stretch, heal, learn, and grow from my journey so far,” says Britney. “There is absolutely no way I would have been able to function at such a high level at work, balancing so many plates at once, and be full of God’s love and peace even in the hardest of times, without having been transformed through a lifetime of experiences. God used all of my negative experiences to make my life more rich and full of joy and purpose.”
Britney’s ingredients for a 5-star life include:
* Partnering with God to live the life you were meant to live
* Working together for a strong family life
* Cultivating a unified, loving marriage
* Pursuing excellence at your job or business
* Giving back to others in your community and the world
With captivating stories and reflections to take you deeper into principles for success, this book will show you how to keep your faith and hope in the midst of challenges, setbacks, and even tragedy as you persevere with tenacity to attain your 5-star life of excellence.
Click here to get your copy!
My Thoughts
About the Author
Cent (JRCE), headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, which manages a portfolio of high-end steakhouses widely regarded as among the best in the nation. She directs the company’s seven steakhouses in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, leading a team of hundreds of employees.
“When your father is a steakhouse baron, you don’t just show up and take over the family business when you come of age,” she says. Britney started working in one of the family restaurants at age fifteen and subsequently gained experience in all areas of the business, and she also attended culinary school. Britney was studying in the Lindner College of Business when 9/11 hit, prompting her to switch her major and earn a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from the University of Cincinnati before returning to the family business and eventually joining JRCE’s corporate team. She is currently pursuing an MBA from Xavier University.
In her corporate role, Britney’s leadership led to eight years of consecutive same-store sales growth, expanding the company while enhancing the key element on which its success depends: delivering absolutely incomparable total dining experiences in each market. When the economic effects of Covid-19 threatened not only her own business but also the entire restaurant industry and food supply chain nationwide, Britney became an energetic advocate for the restaurant industry and related industries on both state and federal levels.
Britney also helped to develop and launch one of her family’s main charitable endeavors, The Jeff Ruby Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to remove Cincinnati from the “Top 5 Childhood Poverty” lists by providing homes for foster children and lowering the number of kids in the county foster system. Brittney has been named to the “40 Under 40″ lists of the Cincinnati Business Courier and Cincinnati’s Venue magazine, and she is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from restaurant management to marketing to women in business. She serves as a board member of both The Jeff Ruby Foundation and the Cincinnati State Foundation, and she is a member of the Young Presidents Organization.
Britney is a dedicated wife and mother. She is married to Caleb Miller, a former linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals, and they have four children. Committed to putting family first, Britney continually strives to balance family life and work demands, enriching both realms of her life.
More from Britney
How to keep going in the midst of challenges, setbacks, and even tragedy to attain a 5-star life of excellence.
Blog Stops
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 16
deb’s Book Review, September 16
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 17
Mary Hake, September 17
An Author’s Take, September 18
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 19
Texas Book-aholic, September 20
Inklings and notions, September 21
For Him and My Family, September 22
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, September 23
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, September 24
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, September 25
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 26
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, September 27
Locks, Hooks and Books, September 28
The Meanderings of a Bookworm, September 29
The Space for Grace, September 29
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Brittney is giving away the grand prize package of a $20 Starbucks gift card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/119f1/5-star-life-celebration-tour-giveaway
About the Book
Author: Marji Laine
Genre: Christian Historical Mystery, Fairytale retelling
Release Date: August 3, 2021
Would you like a shot of… death with that, sir?
Josephine Jacobs was just doing her job, serving at an exclusive party, so why is she now being accused of shooting TG Taggert?
At a party full of suspects in the murder of Taggert, Josie served the food giant everything but an eternally “parting shot.” Who really killed TG Taggert? His wife? His son, Jack? What about Harper Davis? Rumor has it, she was having an affair with him—motive for her or Taggert’s wife! The list of those who seemed to hate him keeps growing, including a chemist and a chef!
With her long-time friend, Office Porter O’Brien, Josie sets out to find out who really killed “the giant,” and clear her name.
Find out in this next book in the Ever After Mysteries, combining beloved fairy tales and mysteries. A Giant Murder offers a retelling of “Jack and the Beanstalk” with enough clues and suspects to keep you looking over your shoulder. We’d recommend Kevlar… but it hasn’t been invented yet!
Click here to get your copy! Also available through Kindle Unlimited.
My Thoughts
About the Author
More from Marji
I so enjoyed researching the history of downtown Dallas as I crafted my story, A GIANT MURDER. The house that I chose for Josie and her mom is actually still there on Haskell Avenue. The photo with the wrought iron is about twenty years old, but the house was built circa 1914. The photo with the wooden fence is from last year, after a big remodel. This house was also the setting of another of my books. It and the field that used to be next to it was an after-school child care center in AIN’T MISBEHAVING.
Thinking about what life might have been like in this house in the twenties, I can’t
help but think about my grandparents. They were teenagers at the time of my story – 1926 – and while my grandfather grew up in, what was then, a little farming town called Paris, Texas, my grandmother grew up in Oak Cliff, just across the bridge over the Trinity River from this house in downtown Dallas.
Makes the research that I did on this era even that much more special. Having come through COVID, I realize that my great-grandparents had to nurture their preteens and teenagers through the Spanish Flu that devastated whole communities. The more things change, the more they stay the same?
All of this reminiscing sent me to an old recipe book that had been a wedding present for me from my mom almost thirty-five years ago. In the dessert section near the back, I found a precious recipe for Date Candy that had come by way of my great-grandmother, Carrie Ethel Leatherwood Morin. I never met her, but I do remember hearing from my mom that she was a woman of faith, and I have a poem she wrote late in life, about growing up in the country.
I would say this is a 1920s recipe, but who could tell? She was a middle-aged mom at that point, so it’s a good bet.
Date Candy
1 box – light brown sugar
4 T – corn syrup
½ pt – whipping cream
1 cup – dates
1 cup – pecans
1 t – vanilla
Mix sugar, syrup, and cream. Cook until almost a hard ball. Just before removing from pan, put in dates and stir until they melt. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Beat until almost hard – then add pecans. Wet a cup towel. Pour mixture onto cup towel and roll into a roll. Let it cool – firm – then slice.
Let me know if you decide to make my great-grandmother’s candy. I’d love to find out how it turned out!
Blog Stops
Texas Book-aholic, September 17
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, September 17
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 18
For the Love of Literature, September 18
Inklings and notions, September 19
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, September 19 (Author Interview)
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, September 20
For Him and My Family, September 20
deb’s Book Review, September 21
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 21
Locks, Hooks and Books, September 22
A Reader’s Brain, September 23
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, September 23
Connie’s History Classroom, September 24
Simple Harvest Reads, September 24 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 25
Mary Hake, September 25
Rebecca Tews, September 26
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, September 26
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 27
Connect in Fiction, September 28
Bigreadersite, September 28
Through the fire blogs, September 29
Blogging With Carol, September 30
Back Porch Reads, September 30
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Marji is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/119f5/a-giant-murder-celebration-tour-giveaway
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