Sunday, October 30, 2022

The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber A. Logan

 The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber A. Logan

THE SECRET GARDEN OF YANAGI INN by Amber A. Logan

Book Details:

​Book Title:  The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber A. Logan
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+),  336 pages
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Publisher:  CamCat Books
Release date:  Nov 15, 2022
Formats Available for Review: print-softback (USA only), audiobook (Book Funnel download), ebook (EPUB, PDF, Book Funnel download)
Tour dates: Oct 25 to Nov 14, 2022
Content Rating:  PG. The book is clean, without excessive swearing, no sexual content or graphic violent scenes, etc.  
Book Description:

Cracked doesn’t always mean broken.

Grieving her mother’s death, Mari Lennox travels to Kyoto, Japan to take photographs of Yanagi Inn for a client. As she explores the inn and its grounds, her camera captures striking images, uncovering layers of mystery shrouding the old resort—including an overgrown, secret garden on a forbidden island. But then eerie weeping no one else in the inn seems to hear starts keeping her awake at night.

​Despite the warnings of the staff, Mari searches the deep recesses of the old building to discover the source of the ghostly sound, only to realize that her own family’s history is tied to the inn, its mysterious, forlorn garden . . . and the secrets it holds.
BUY THE BOOK:
CamCat Books
Amazon ~ B&N ~ IndieBound ~ Bookshop
add to goodreads
Author Amber A. Logan
Meet the Author:

Amber A. Logan is a university instructor, freelance editor, and author of speculative fiction living in Kansas with her husband and two children—Fox and Willow. In addition to her degrees in Psychology, Liberal Arts, and International Relations, Amber holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ facebook instagram goodreads


Thursday, October 27, 2022

TWOFER MURDER

 Lauren’s best-selling standalone novel (released in 2017) contains the main characters from her three successful series: Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose mysteries. ​ 

TWOFER MURDER by Lauren Carr
Book Details:

Book Title:  Twofer Murder by Lauren Carr
Category:  Adult fiction (18+)
Narrated by Mike Alger, Anita Alger
Length: 13 hours, 20 minutes
Genre:  Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:  November 17, 2017
Available for review in:  audiobook (audible download code), ebook (mobi, ePub, PDF)  
Tour dates:  Oct 3 to Oct 28, 2022
Content Rating:  PG-13: While there are murders committed in this murder mystery, there is profanity (a hell or a damn few and very far between). No F-bombs. No explicit sex or graphic violence. ​


The book is intense, compelling, as readers follow the story lines for two different books. Yet the humor, family interactions, and loving relationships in Carr's books keeps reading both entertaining and fun... Carr gets better and better in her humorous scenes, as well as snappy dialogue that comes only from within close-knit friends and family... If you aren't reading this author, you are missing much more than an average mystery writer. - review by Glenda Bixler, Book Readers Heaven

Book Description:

Twofer murder? What’s a twofer murder?

Twofer Murder is a treat for fans of best-selling author Lauren Carr’s fast-paced mysteries! Lauren’s latest novel contains the main characters from her three successful series: Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose mysteries.

​The guys go away for a fishing weekend only to get caught up in the murder of a journalist investigating fraud at a timber company.

Meanwhile, the ladies are spending the weekend in the presidential suite at a posh resort where Jessica Faraday is to accept a lifetime achievement award for her late grandmother at a murder mystery writers conference. But before they have time to get their facials, they get wrapped up in their own real mystery when an up and coming author ends up dead!

Lauren Carr’s Twofer Murder is a 2-for-1—making it a must-read for any mystery fan!
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Audiobook Narrator Anita Alger
Meet the Audiobook Production Team:

Narrator:
A relative newcomer to audiobook narration, Anita Alger is a producer and composer of dozens of musical themes for audiobooks. Working with veteran narrator (and husband) Mike Alger, they’ve teamed up to produce over 30 full length audiobooks. While her musical skills are usually at the forefront, she has also narrated three audiobooks herself, including the new Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery Series written by Lauren Carr.
 
When not expressing herself in the arts, Anita is also a Senior Medical Laboratory Scientist working in microbiology, and therefor knows two dozen ways to kill you while making it look like natural causes.


Audiobook Producer Mike Alger
Producer:

​A broadcast veteran of over 35 years, Mike Alger is best known as the award-winning Chief Meteorologist for KTVN-TV in Reno, NV. Narrator and producer of over 30 audiobook novels, he is also a successful author, having penned the Mystery-Thriller novel Snow Storm, and is the narrator of the audiobook of the same name. He collaborates with his wife of 40 years, Anita Alger, who writes and produces the musical themes for his productions.


Author Lauren Carr and Muse
Meet the Author:

Selling over half a million books worldwide, Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Thorny Rose, Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries, and Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries—thirty titles across five fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor. 

The owner of Acorn Book Services and iRead Book Tours, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, and virtual book tour coordinator for independent authors.  

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. 

She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV. 

connect with the author: website ~ blog ~ facebook instagram ~ twitter pinterest
My Review
Twofer Murder by Lauren Carr was another wonderful Lauren Carr mystery book. If anything I would say that this one is the best one so far as it combines all my favorite mystery elements and characters in one book. I always love it when TV shows, movies, or books bring different characters together and Lauren did a wonderful job with bringing all of my favorites together without making the book feel forced or fake! The audio narration was top notch too!

DOUBLE DOG DARE (The Owl's Nest Mysteries)

 DOUBLE DOG DARE (AN OWL'S NEST MYSTERY) by C.S. McDonald

DOUBLE DOG DARE (an Owl's Nest Mystery) by C.S. McDonald

Book Details:

Book Title:  DOUBLE DOG DARE (The Owl's Nest Mysteries) 
Author:  C.S. McDonald
Category:  Adult Fiction, 274 pages
Genre:  Cozy Mystery
Publisher:  McWriter Books
Release date:  May 2022
Tour dates:  Oct 3 to Oct 28
Content Rating:  G. C.S. McDonald's books are appropriate for YA readers as well as adults--no bad language or sexual content.
Book Description:

That ornery, but oh, so handsome, charming, and somewhat, wayward angel, Detective Bobby Starr, has returned. This time, he’s back to fulfill his third and, hopefully, his final requirement to get into Saint Peter's prestigious Guardian Angel Squad. This time, the usually reluctant time traveler, Alexa Owl, is ready to go back to the 1960's to assist in solving one more long-ago murder. Why? Because if all goes well, she'll be rid of the menacing angel once and for all. Except, an emergency jerks Alexa back to her own time, and to complicate matters, she’s got a tag-along. Can Bobby solve this last case without Alexa’s help? After all, she’s got her hands full with a life-or-death mystery in the twenty-first century!
Buy the Book:
Amazon 
Audible (coming soon!)
add to goodreads

Author C.S. McDonald

Meet the Author:

For twenty-six years C.S. McDonald’s life whirled around a song and a dance. Classically trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, and many others, she became a professional dancer and choreographer. During that time, she choreographed many musicals and an opera for the Pittsburgh Savoyards. In 2011 she retired from her dance career to write. Under her real name, Cindy McDonald, she writes murder-suspense and romantic suspense novels. In 2014 she added the pen name, C.S. McDonald, to write children’s books for her grandchildren. In 2016 she added the Fiona Quinn Mysteries to that expansion. She decided to write the cozy mystery series that everyone, including teens and tweens, can read and enjoy. Presently, the Fiona Quinn Mysteries includes nine books with a tenth slated for 2021. The books are also available on audio, narrated by Maren Swenson Waxenberg.

Cindy’s newest venture is The Owl’s Nest Mysteries. Once again, she has set her cozy mystery in Pittsburgh and the female protagonist, Alexa Owl, is much different from Fiona Quinn. The Owl’s Nest Mysteries has a little grit, a little time travel, a little romance, and a whole lot of cozy!

Ms. McDonald resides on her Thoroughbred farm known as Fly by Night Stables near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Bill, and her poorly behaved Cocker Spaniel, Allister. 

Connect with the author:  Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook

My Review
DOUBLE DOG DARE (The Owl's Nest Mysteries) was a great addition to the Owl's Nest Mysteries and I loved the narration! I have come to really like both Detective Bobby Starr and Alexa Owl. I really liked the way there was more than one mystery and more than one time period involved in this book it really kept me on the edge of my seat!

BROTHERHOOD BY FIRE by Lindy Bell

 BROTHERHOOD BY FIRE by Lindy Bell

BROTHERHOOD BY FIRE by Lindy Bell

Book Details:

​Book Title:  Brotherhood By Fire by Lindy Bell
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+),  445 pages
Genre: General Fiction
Publisher:  Day Agency
Release date:  August 2022
Formats Available for Review: print-softback (USA), and ebook (GIFTED KINDLE, MOBI FILE (FOR KINDLE), EPUB)
Tour dates: Oct 25 to Nov 5, 2022
Content Rating:  PG. There is one use of "hell" and one "oh my god." There are also several instances of kissing and one reference to "they loved each other with abandon" and one reference to "The bed where they'd loved each other so gloriously and so happily."
Book Description:

While passionately in love with his wife Katie, Andy also loves being a firefighter and when he is diagnosed with cancer, his whole world is turned upside down. What seemed so certain only days before, is now an unknown. Andy tries to protect Katie by not telling her, but her fears, and his increasing pain and moodiness only succeed in fueling a growing divide between them.

The fire station and its comradery are Andy’s refuge, but station officer Lt. Mike Bentley wages a vendetta against Andy, only making Andy more determined not to reveal weakness of any kind. In spite of Bentley, the C shift crew rallies to support Andy until events take a downward turn.

Firefighters face a myriad of dangers but invisible dangers can pose the greatest threat of all. Will courage, duty and even love be enough to save Andy from this unseen threat? If the worst should happen, would his greatest legacy be the love of the fire service or his love for his wife? Time can only tell because in the end, the unforeseen might have the greatest impact of all.   
BUY THE BOOK:
Amazon ~ B&N
add to goodreads
Author Lindy Bell
Meet the Author:

A project ten years in the making, Brotherhood By Fire is Lindy Bell’s debut novel and avidly reflects her admiration and love of the fire service. Thoroughly researched, the quest for accuracy for the book led Lindy to participate in the Plano Citizens Fire Academy, attend classes and accompany firefighters on ride outs. With a retired fire chief and a current paramedic/firefighter in the family, Lindy has witnessed firsthand the dedication and humbleness of first responders which fueled the impetus to convey the importance of the legendary fire service brotherhood and create cancer awareness and its growing effect on the fire service.

Lindy’s first book, Jane Austen Celebrates~Holidays & Occasions Regency Style, is a showcase Regency Era holidays and their impact on modern holiday celebration traditions. A member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Lindy has spoken to a variety of groups and taught Continuing and Adult Professional Education courses at Southern Methodist University (SMU). A graduate of Abilene Christian University, Lindy currently lives in Plano, TX and works from home for a governmental executive recruitment and training firm. As hobbies, Lindy enjoys supporting Plano Fire Rescue by volunteering with the Plano Fire Rescue Association, writing, reading an engaging novel and cross stitching.

connect with the author: website ~  twitter ~ facebook ~ pinterest ~ instagram ~ goodreads ~ bookbub

My Review

BROTHERHOOD BY FIRE by Lindy Bell was a very well-written fiction book that I had a great time reading. This book was different from any book I had ever read before as not only was the main character a firefighter it focused on the firefighter as a person and not as a part of a crime drama or a murder mystery. I really felt for Andy as he struggled with both his cancer and his choice to keep it a secret from both his wife and his fire station crew. My sympathy and interest in Andy kept me turning page after page as I had to find out how Andy's battle with cancer and his relationships with those close to him would end. It was quite simply an amazing book that I am so very glad I decided to read.  


Note: I would like to apologize to anyone who was left waiting for my review. I had set it to automatically publish as I was away during my review date and it did not publish like it was supposed to. I am very sorry that this happened.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

The Wrong Side of Murder (A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery) by Lauren Carr

 THE WRONG SIDE OF MURDER (A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery) by Lauren Carr


Book Details:

Book Title:  The Wrong Side of Murder (A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery) by Lauren Carr
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +)
Narrated by Anita Alger
Length: 7.8 hours
Genre:  Mystery/Cozy Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:   July 21, 2022
Format available for review:  audiobook (audible download code), ebook (MOBI for Kindle, EPUB, PDF)
Tour datesOct 3 to Oct 28, 2022
Content Rating: This cozy mystery is rated G for everyone! 

The Wrong Side of Murder is another wonderful cozy mystery by author Lauren Carr. It has all the elements that draw me in - an intelligent female lead, an equally smart boyfriend who partners to help her, a complicated plot where clues are slowly revealed, people who aren't what they seem to be, comedic moments to balance the darker ones, and several quirky pets full of personality.  

It's a wonderful book to escape into at the end of the day. And get ready to read into the wee hours as, if you're like me, you won't be able to stop reading until the mystery is revealed.  
-review by Marilyn R. Wilson, Olio by Marilyn

Nikki's an intense individual who makes the perfect investigative journalist. She wants answers yesterday and she is willing to dig in to get them. She might get it wrong at the beginning but with the help of her family and close friends, she'll get the answers she wants and needs. – review by Blooming with Books

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Book Description:

Nikki Bryant’s Next Case Takes Her to the Wrong Side of Murder

One spring morning, Jodi Gibbons got up and went to school as she did every day. Her young life went sideways though when the police found that her mother had been brutally killed during the night.

Twenty years later, many in Pine Grove believe Jodi got away with murder. After all, how could she have possibly slept through her mother’s violent death in the very next room?
After decades of silence, Jodi accepts investigative journalist Nikki Bryant’s invitation to tell her side of the story. However, before the interview can take place, someone silences Jodi permanently.

Now it is up to Nikki Bryant and her friends to uncover the secret that Jodi Gibbons has been protecting—a secret someone believes it is worth killing to keep from being revealed.
Buy the Book:
Audible ~
 Amazon
BookBub 
add to goodreads
My Review
The Wrong Side of Murder (A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery) by Lauren Carr was a great audiobook. The narration quality was amazing and served to really pull me into the story. I liked the way the author kept the book a clean read/listen. I really loved Nikki Bryant as she was a strong female character that was easy to admire.

Friday, October 21, 2022

MILES AND THE SOLDIER (An Acre Story, Book 2) by G.J. Kemp

 MILES AND THE SOLDIER (An Acre Story, Book 2) by G.J. Kemp


Book Details:

Book Series Title: MILES AND THE SOLDIER (An Acre Story, Book 2) by G.J. Kemp
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +), 474 pages
Genre:  Epic Fantasy
Publisher:  TB5 Publishing
Release date:   June 2022
Formats Available for Review: print - softback (USA and Canada), e-book (Gifted Kindle, MOBI FILE (FOR KINDLE), EPUB, PDF, Book Funnel Download, NetGalley Download
Tour dates: Sep 6 to Oct 17, 2022
Content Rating:  PG for a few fight scenes.  
Book Description:

The front door swung open. The icy blast of air hit Miles full in the face. For the first time in months, a smile played across his lips. Freedom.

Miles knows his life changed when the Lady’s sword cut deep into his back. He knows he’ll never achieve his lifelong dream.

Then a stab of joyous pain slices down his leg. With renewed hope, Miles leaves behind the shackles of Dr Viktor’s house and travels east, to the training grounds of the Queen’s Guard.

Will Miles get the chance to compete for a place? And will they accept him in the warrior’s holy ground of Battleacre?

​The Acre Story follows Miles’s journey through the eastern lands as our epic fantasy continues.

Author G.J. Kemp
Meet the Author:

A nomad at heart, GJ has lived in nine countries across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. His career has included working as a Divemaster in The Red Sea, a zookeeper in Israel, and a proofreader in Sweden.

Born with cerebral palsy, GJ has spent a lifetime trying to tie his shoelaces while standing up in the hope of not falling over. It is a constant challenge, but sometimes he occasionally succeeds.

​Finding the love for writing later in life, GJ spends most of his free time going for walks and dreaming of story ideas. He hopes to one day have a small place on the oceanfront where he can walk his dogs on the beach.

connect with the author: website facebook instagram ~ twitter ~ tiktok goodreads ~ bookbub
My Review
MILES AND THE SOLDIER (An Acre Story, Book 2) by G.J. Kemp was a great second book to the An Acre Story series! I really liked seeing Miles in this I enjoyed watching him develop as a warrior and as a character and I would love it if the author chose to write some more novellas for the series!

Thursday, October 20, 2022

The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon by Marcy McCreary

 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TRUDY SOLOMON by Marcy McCreary



Book Details:

Book Title:  The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon by Marcy McCreary
CategoryAdult Fiction (18+), 400 pages
GenreMystery
Publisher: CamCat Books
Publication Date: September 2022.
Tour dates: Oct 3 to Oct 21
Content Rating: PG 
Book Description:

In a family like that, you won’t need enemies.

In the waning days of the Catskills hotel era, Stanley and Rachel Roth, the owners of the Cuttman Hotel, were practically dynasty—third generation proprietors of a sprawling resort with a grand reputation. The glamorous and gregarious matriarch, Rachel. The cunning and successful businessman, Stan. Four beautiful children. A perfect family deserving of respect and loyalty. Or so it seemed.

​Fast forward forty years. The Roths have lost their clout. When skeletal remains are found on the side of the road, the disappearance of Trudy Solomon, a coffee shop waitress at the Cuttman in 1978, is reopened. Each member of the Roth family holds a clue to the case, but getting them to admit what they know will force Detective Susan Ford to face a family she’d hoped never to see again.
Author Marcy McCreary
Meet the Authors:

​Marcy McCreary worked for several years as a marketing and sales executive at various magazine publishing companies and content marketing agencies before turning to fiction writing. She is the author of The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon (CamCat Books). With two daughters and two step-daughters living in four different cities (Brooklyn, Nashville, Madison, Seattle), she spends a lot of time on airplanes crisscrossing the country. She lives in the beautiful coastal towns of Hull, MA and Nantucket, MA with her husband and black lab.

connect with the author: website facebook instagram ~ twitter bookbub ~ goodreads

Maxed Out The Owl's Nest Mysteries, Book 2 By: C.S. McDonald Narrated by: Maren Swenson Waxenberg

Tomboy: A Jane Benjamin Novel by Shelley Blanton-Stroud

 TOM BOY (a Jane Benjamin Novel) by Shelley Blankton-Stoud

TOM BOY (A Jane Benjamin Novel) by Shelley Blankton-Stroud

BOOK DETAILS:
Series Title Tomboy: A Jane Benjamin Novel by Shelley Blanton-Stroud
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+), 308 pages
Genre Historical Thriller
Publisher She Writes Press
Release dates:   June 2022
Format available for review:  print - softback (USA only), e-book (GIFTED KINDLE, MOBI FILE (FOR KINDLE), EPUB, PDF, Book Funnel download, NetGalley download), audiobook
Will send print books out:  USA 
Tour dates: Oct 3 to Oct 21
Content Rating:
 PG-13 + M. The F word appears exactly once in the book. There is a completely non-explicit sex scene. There is a suicide.​
Book Description:

It’s 1939. Jane Benjamon’s got five days at sea to solve the murder of a Wimbledon champion’s coach and submit a gossip column that tells the truth. If not the facts.

On the brink of World War II, Jane wants to have it all. By day she hustles as a scruffy, tomboy cub reporter. By night she secretly struggles to raise her toddler sister, Elsie, and protect her from their mother.

But Jane’s got a plan: she’ll become the San Francisco Prospect’s first gossip columnist and make enough money to care for Elsie.

Jane finagles her way to the women’s championship at Wimbledon, starring her hometown’s tennis phenom and cover girl Tommie O’Rourke. Jane plans to write her first column there. But then she witnesses Edith “Coach” Carlson, Tommie’s closest companion, drop dead in the stands of apparent heart attack, and her plan is blown.

​Sailing home on the RMS Queen Mary, Jane veers between competing instincts: Should she write a social bombshell column, personally damaging her new friend Tommie’s persona and career? Or should she work to uncover the truth of Coach’s death and its connection to a larger conspiracy involving US participation in the coming war?

Putting away her menswear and donning first-class ballgowns, Jane discovers what upper-class status hides, protects, and destroys. Ultimately—like nations around the globe in 1939—she must choose what she’ll give up in order to do what’s right.
Author Shelley Blankton-Stroud
Meet the Author:

Shelley grew up in California’s Central Valley, the daughter of Dust Bowl immigrants who made good on their ambition to get out of the field. She recently retired from teaching writing at Sacramento State University and still consults with writers in the energy industry. She co-directs Stories on Stage Sacramento, where actors perform the stories of established and emerging authors, and serves on the advisory board of 916 Ink, an arts-based creative writing nonprofit for children, as well as on the board of the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies at Claremont McKenna College. Copy Boy is her first Jane Benjamin Novel. Tomboy is her second. The third, Working Girl, will come out in November 2023. Her writing has been a finalist in the Sarton Book Awards, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards, Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Award, the American Fiction Awards, and the National Indie Excellence Awards. She and her husband live in Sacramento with many photos of their out-of-town sons and their wonderful partners. 

Connect with the author:   website  ~  twitter  ~  facebook  ~ instagram ~ bookbub ~ goodreads
My Review
Tomboy: A Jane Benjamin Novel by Shelley Blanton-Stroud was a very well-written and well-narrated Historical Thriller. I really enjoyed the narration as it allowed me to close my eyes and create a picture of the characters and story in my head while I listened. I really liked Jane Benjamon and I felt for her dilemma in deciding if she should write a social bombshell column, personally damaging her new friend Tommie’s persona and career, or uncover the truth of Coach’s death.