Sunday, November 6, 2022

The Holy Terror by John R. Dougherty

 THE HOLY TERROR by John R. Dougherty

​
Book Details:

​Book Title:  Holy Terror by John R. Dougherty
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+),  275 pages
Genre: Supernatural Mystery
Publisher:  Self-Published
Release date:  September 2022
Formats Available for Review: print-softback (USA & Canada), and ebook (PDF)
Tour dates: Oct 31 to Nov 18, 2022
Content Rating:  PG-13 +M - There is very little mild bad language, but there is a lot of somewhat graphic violence depicted.
Book Description:

The Miami police force is utterly baffled by the horrific crime scenes they are finding. The victims are being executed in unimaginable ways, and unlike most crimes perpetrated against humanity, these victims do not fit the usual murder victim profile. These victims are themselves criminals. In fact, some are very well-known criminals. But this scenario is not unique to Miami. Locales worldwide are seeing the same kind of maniacal homicides.

Who is responsible for carrying out these crimes, and how can they be stopped?

Two of Miami PD’s finest, Detectives Ian Jelani and Lane Madigan, are on the prowl, trying to solve these mysterious crimes. But they are being drawn into something far beyond their imaginations, something more than they have ever bargained for. These men may think they have seen it all, but that is quite the understatement. They are on a collision course with the most terrifying vigilante they have ever encountered. When their families become embroiled, the gloves come off, no holds are barred, and the rage of the vigilante spills onto them as well.

The forces of good and evil have waged war since long before Creation. Angels of heaven, both good and evil, have struggled to expand the borders of their kingdoms, and humankind has long been caught in the middle of that raging turf war. Men and women have faced the choices of good and evil since the Garden of Eden, and everyone knows where that original choice landed the rest of us. But humans are not the only ones tempted by the wares of evil. Angels have stared those same choices in the face too. Some have fallen away from the Creator, while some have remained faithful to Him. What of an angel caught betwixt good and evil, an angel who thinks he is serving his Master, but he is actually teetering on the edge of his own fall? What if that angel was the greatest warrior angel of all time, and decided to take it upon himself to rid the Earth of evil people? What might happen to those evil people who are trying to exert their malevolent power and intentions upon their fellow humans if such an angel was to go after them?

In Holy Terror, Thumos, the greatest warrior of the Creator’s angelic army, the fiercest of all heavenly soldiers, has had enough of what he perceives to be a pattern of deference. He decides to take matters into his own hands. But the path he starts down is a path that other angels have traversed before. And many of them have ended up in the camp of the Evil One, the most destructive force the universe has ever known. Thumos comes face to face with Satan himself, and he have even more decisions to make.

Author John R. Dougherty
Meet the Author:

John has spent his professional career working in information technology by day and dabbling in a variety of other diversions by nights and weekends, including a few decades of serving in lay ministry. While serving in this capacity he preached hundreds of sermons, taught countless Bible study classes, and wrote dozens of inspirational articles.

He enjoys golf, guitars, grandchildren, and all things Kansas City – the Chiefs, the Royals, Sporting KC, KC Symphony, and KC Broadway, to name a few. He thinks (if not for his long-lost metabolism of youth) he could eat the famous Kansas City barbecue every day…maybe not for breakfast, but lunch and dinner for sure!

Now he is enjoying bringing to life his angelic hero, Thumos, and a host of other characters that he hopes you will find both entertaining as well as either inspiring or repulsive (after all, there are both good guys and bad guys in this story). This is the first book of a series, featuring detectives Lane Madigan and Ian Jelani, whose experience with Thumos will yield life changing results. And if you happen to be interested in such things, happy Bible Easter Egg hunting while you read, since many are planted throughout the book.

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

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Hidden Buddha: Lama Rinzen in the Hungry Ghost Realm by Jim Ringel Book

 HIDDEN BUDDHA by Jim Ringel

HIDDEN BUDDHA by Jim Ringel
​
Book Details:

​Book Title:  Hidden Buddha: Lama Rinzen in the Hungry Ghost Realm by Jim Ringel
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+),  298 pages
Genre: Mystery, Literary 
Publisher:  Black Bee Publishing 
Release date:  October 2022
Formats Available for Review: print-softback (USA & Canada), and ebook (PDF)
Tour dates: Oct 18 to Nov 7, 2022
Content Rating:  PG+M due a section focusing on a woman's miscarriage of her fetus.
Book Description:

In Hidden Buddha Lama Rinzen finds herself reborn as a doctor into the Hungry Ghost Realm in a haunted hospital on Colorado’s eastern plains.

It’s an unfriendly place. The patients do not respect her, the staff ignores her, and there’s rumors of ghosts in the hospital.

Rinzen is afraid of ghosts. She is not even sure they truly exist. Instead she focuses on learning the Hungry Ghost Realm’s lesson about what the Buddha means when he talks about emptiness. If she can only learn that she will escape the hospital and progress along her path to enlightenment.

But nine-year-old patient Claudia says the ghosts are real, and that they are here to trap Rinzen so she might never learn and never escape the hospital. Not in this lifetime, and not in any future lifetimes either.

How can the lama learn without seeing the things she denies?

​Maybe that’s what the Buddha means when he talks about emptiness. These little bits of ourselves we keep suppressed and hidden and never admit to? 
BUY THE BOOK:
(scheduled for release October 2022)
Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble
and indie bookstores everywhere
​add to goodreads

Author Jim Ringel
Meet the Author:

Jim Ringel is an unconventional Buddhist who writes the Lama Rinzen mysteries as part of his own spiritual path.

Each book in the series finds the lama reborn into one of the six Buddhist Realms on a search for deeper understanding along the path toward Nirvana.

Jim practices Zen, skis, hikes, bikes, and visits brew pubs throughout Colorado seeking the Buddha in everyday life.

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

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

FOR LOVE AND MERCY by C. Ingrid Deringer

 

Picture

Book Details:

​Book Title:  FOR LOVE AND MERCY: A Novel by C. Ingrid Deringer
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+),  195 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction 
Publisher:  FRIESEN PRESS
Release date:  August 2022
Formats Available for Review: print-softback (USA and Canada), ebook (EPUB, PDF)
Tour dates: Oct 24 to Nov 11, 2022
Content Rating:  PG-13. There is a death, near-death experience, some swearing, no explicit sex scenes.  
Book Description:

“Suddenly angelic beings of light appeared. They said I was at a crossroad, and it was here where I had to make a choice . . .”

In 2022, forty-two-year-old Dr. Stormy Hera, a music professor at the University of Victoria, is serving a manslaughter sentence at Sunnydale Forensic Hospital in British Columbia.

Although she can’t recall committing the crime, she feels strongly that she did the right thing. In the hopes of jogging her memory and healing her soul, Stormy is tasked with writing her autobiography as part of her rehabilitation.

​Spanning the 1940s to 2026, and set in the Saskatchewan prairies, Olympia, Greece, and Canada’s West Coast, For Love and Mercy follows the lives of free-spirited Evangeline, and Stormy herself—including a near-death experience that changes everything. 

BUY THE BOOK:
Amazon ~ B&N
BookBub
add to goodreads
Author C. Ingrid Deringer
Meet the Author:

Charlotte Ingrid Deringer was born into a large family in Saskatchewan, Canada and has lived all across the country, on the east coast, west coast and everywhere in between. 

Her family’s love of music, dance and practical jokes left a tremendous impression on her, but it was her voracious appetite for adventure that has driven her to experience life to the fullest. She was in her 50s when her creative passions ignited, fueling her desire to write fiction. 

Ingrid holds a BA in Psychology, an MA in Women’s Studies and is also an Acupuncturist, Shiatsu Therapist, a Life Cycle Celebrant and a Meditation Teacher.  She has worked in the health and wellness field, specializing in the treatment of chronic pain and chronic illness for over 25 years. 

Now semi-retired, Ingrid loves to hang out with her grandchildren and spend winters in warm climates with her feet in the sand where she can write to her heart’s content. 

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

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!
Picture
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.