Archive for April 27, 2022

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Ella organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Fraser will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

You can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Ella

by Nancy Fraser

Ella: Prairie Roses Collection - Book 12 by [Nancy Fraser]

Genre: Sweet/Inspirational Western Historical Romance

Synsopsis

To get away from her late husband’s questionable deeds, Ella Winslow takes her three children and heads west to the unsettled Washington Territory to claim land she believes she’s inherited from her father.

Tucker McAlister was fired from his position as deputy marshal for arresting the mayor’s brother-in-law for spousal abuse. His mentor has found him another job, first escorting the wagon train going west, and then as the new marshal in the growing town of Tacoma, Washington Territory.

The trail is long and hard, yet Ella is more than up to the task. Still, Tuck feels the need to watch over her and her children, whether she wants him to or not. It isn’t until they arrive in Washington that he realizes his protection will now need to extend even further than the wagon train itself.

Will Ella’s faith allow her to trust again and make a safe home for her family, while welcoming Tuck into her heart?

Enjoy this peek inside:

Over the course of the next five days, both she and Thomas took turns working with Connor to learn the most efficient way of harnessing the four large Percheron horses to the wagon. Then, right on schedule, they pulled the oversized, custom-made, wagon out into the yard behind the farmhouse.

Connor had attached the canvas cover at the last minute, the enclosure making the huge prairie-schooner all the more impressive. Her father had truly outdone himself with the vessel they’d christened Miller’s Folly.

“It’s time to finish loading everything so we can get on the road,” Ella announced, her words sending all three children scurrying toward their rooms in search of their belongings.

“I’ve loaded the food stores into the bottom bins so you won’t have to lift them down. You can just open the lid and scoop out what you need,” Connor reminded her. “Your sewing supplies are in the smaller bin right above your treadle machine.”

“You’ve anchored it to the side of the wagon?”

“As tight as I could. You’ll still need to be careful because it’s heavy. Make sure you check the ropes every day to see that the knot is taut.”

“I will. I promise.” The very last thing she wanted was to damage the one thing she’d need in order to earn money for her family once they’d reached their new home.

“I’ve stored the horses’ supplemental feed in the compartments father built along the outside of the wagon, and placed an extra set of tack in the compartment under the wagon bed next to the water barrels.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with my selling the horses once we’ve reached our destination? After all, they were left to you too.”

Connor slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. “I got the farm as my part of our inheritance. You wanted the deed, the wagon, and the horses, so they’re yours. I’d bet you’ll get a pretty penny for them—and the wagon—once you no longer need them anymore.”

“I’d like to hang onto the wagon, if I can,” she admitted. “As a memento of sorts, I suppose.”

“Whatever you decide is up to you. Heaven knows there’s enough hardwood in that thing to heat a small hearth for months.”

She swatted at his arm. “I’ll not be burning it either, no matter what.”

By half-past eight, with everything loaded, and hugs given to their aunt, Jacob and Callie held out their arms for Connor to boost them into the back of the wagon before he closed and tied down the flaps. Thomas took his seat at the front, next to his mother.

“If it feels like the horses are getting away from you, pull them up as best as you can,” Connor instructed. “Are you sure I can’t ride in the wagon with you?”

“I need to know I can do this myself, without you there to grab the reins away from me.”

Connor’s deep chuckle was his first show of humor in days. “Fine, but I’ll be right behind you.”

“You really don’t have to follow us all the way to St. Joseph,” she reminded him. “It’s only a day’s ride. We’ll be there by nightfall.”

“I’m not doing this for you,” he clarified. “It’s for me. I’d worry myself to an early grave if I let you go off not knowing for sure you could handle the team.”

“Well then, mount up, because I’m pulling out.” Ella snapped the reins, and the horses surged forward. The wagon shuddered, then settled, the big wheels rolling smoothly over the dirt.

About Author Nancy Fraser:

Nancy Fraser is a best-selling and award-winning author who happily jumps across multiple romance genres with gleeful abandon.

She’s also the granddaughter of a Methodist minister known for his fire-and-brimstone approach to his faith. Nancy has brought some of his spirit into her Christian romances. And, her own off-beat sense of humor to her clean & wholesome books.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

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Knit Or Dye Trying 

A Riverbank Knitting Mystery

by Allie Pleiter

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Knit or Dye Trying (A Riverbank Knitting Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Maryland
Berkley (April 5, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593201809
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593201800
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B093YRVK42

Business is booming for Libby Beckett and her fabulous Maryland shop, aptly named Y.A.R.N., but when a town festival brings a fatality with it, Libby gets all tangled up in murder.

As spring comes to Collinstown, the village launches a food festival to draw a new group of tourists. Libby, the proud owner of Y.A.R.N., has planned a yarn event to provide an alternative option to a foodie weekend. Artisan fiber dyer Julie Wilson—known for her work with animal-friendly, plant-based knitting fibers such as bamboo and hemp as well as her brilliant use of color—will hopefully draw a crowd with a special dyeing workshop.

The festival begins, but it draws more than crowds. First, a flock of sheep parades down the street, herded by farmers protesting Julie’s antiwool stance. Then Julie’s celebrity chef sister appears, and the siblings resume a long-standing rivalry. Despite all this, Julie’s workshop has sold out. Libby is thrilled, and they’re preparing for a full house. But the night before the event, Julie is found alone in the warehouse event space—dead. The witty “Watch Julie Wilson Dye” workshop title now has a terrible new meaning—and it’s up to Libby to catch a crafty killer.

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Enjoy this peek inside:

I held up the handbag in question, a very beautiful, very functional satchel bag in a spring-beckoning mint green.

“The day after Gavin announced his festival,” I went on, “I was staring at this in a DC department store. I bought it just because I liked it, but the store clerk asked me if I was buying it because it was vegan. Some people don’t like the idea of buying leather things, so things that aren’t made from leather or another animal product can be considered vegan. In fact, the tag on the bag touted it as a vegan product.”

Margo stared at the bag. She’d complimented me on it twice since I bought it. A superb handbag is one of life’s great pleasures.

She nodded. “Makes sense. But I confess, I never thought about it that way.”

“Neither had I, but it got me thinking. People don’t realize yarn can be vegan, too. Sure, everyone’s first thought is sheep wool or alpaca or Angora rabbits. And those are great fibers with all kinds of good qualities. But there is so much more out there. Loads of really interesting, beautiful fibers that aren’t made from animal products.”

“So they might come in for the wool but discover all the other stuff while they’re in the shop.”

“Exactly,” I replied. “By the time I turned off the highway, I had the idea for a Wield More Than Wool weekend to go along with See More Than Seafood.”

Always the kind of friend who is happy for anyone’s success, Margo smiled and sat back in her chair. “Brilliant. I have a brilliant best friend.”

I have often thought the same of Margo. “After that,” I replied, “there was only one person to call. I had Julie Wilson on the phone within the hour.”

Julie Wilson has been an outspoken advocate for animal-friendly, plant-based knitting fibers for the past two years. She designs patterns and imports plant-based fiber, but she is most known and loved for her gorgeous dyeing of yarn. Nobody, but nobody, creates the incredible colors she does. I’d been reading an article about her just the day before I bought that handbag. Granted, Julie treads the oh‑so‑thin line between aggressive and abrasive, but her work is extraordinary. Besides, I admire someone with that much passion for their message.

“And you booked her, smart you. But didn’t you say she was . . . feisty?”

That was a gracious term for Julie’s difficult personality. “She is.”

Margo scowled. “Okay, but who needs difficult and feisty? Why would someone as nice as you bring in someone like her?”

I reached over to the counter behind me and picked up a shimmering, luxuriously drapey shawl in an indigo blue so rich, it would make most knitters weep.

“Oh.” Margo fingered the luscious fiber in the same way I’d just fawned over her dessert. “That looks as good as my pie. I think I get it now.”

I’d had that exact reaction when first seeing the yarn, and it only intensified once I started knitting it into the shawl Margo was now touching.

“It’s a silk blend made by a Mumbai yarn company,” I explained. “Their whole process is specially designed not to harm a single silkworm.”

“That color. Wow.”

“ ‘Wow’ is right. I already sold out the first shipment before Julie even got here.”

Not that I make a habit of putting cash over courtesy, but I was hanging on to the notion that somewhere under that prickly exterior was a nice woman just waiting to come out. Really, how else could all the creative beauty flow out of that mind?

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About Allie Pleiter

An avid knitter, coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four novels at a time.  The bestselling author of over fifty books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-year career with over 1.5 million books sold.  In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers.

Author Links : Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter / Pinterest 

Goodreads / Bookbub / Amazon / Newsletter

Purchase Links

Link on my webpage    Amazon (including Kindle and Audible)      Barnes & Noble (including Nook)      Apple Books     Google Play     Kobo     IndieBound

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

April 25 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

April 25 – Maureen Musings – SPOTLIGHT 

April 25 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT

April 26 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

April 26 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

April 26 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

April 27 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – GUEST POST

April 27 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT

April 27 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT

April 28 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

April 28 – Diane Reviews Books – GUEST POST

April 28 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT

April 29 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

April 29 – I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

April 29 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

April 30 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW  

April 30 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT

April 30 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW

May 1 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW

May 1 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

May 1 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT

May 1 – Girl with Pen – SPOTLIGHT

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.