Author Archive

 

Hungry is the Night

by Robin Jeffrey

 

(The Night Series, #1)
Publication date: August 22nd 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

The werewolves of the world live in tight knit gangs, or “dens”, for protection from outsiders – and each other. Every major metropolis has one; to belong to a den is to have a family for eternity. However, Grace Holtz, next in line to lead the Seattle den called The Nameless, has had enough of living under the crushing weight of her den’s expectations. Having fled to a small, rural town in southeast Oregon, her goal is to blend in and be as “normal” as possible for the rest of her unnaturally long life.

But Marcus Bowen, a wolf from the UK-based Feóndulf den (and the closest thing Grace has ever had to a lover), has other plans. Reappearing thirty years after their affair came to an abrupt and bloody end, Marcus needs Grace. He needs her to return to Seattle and arrange an audience with Mama, the current leader of The Nameless and Grace’s estranged grandmother. The leader of the Feóndulf and his heir have both been brutally murdered, and Marcus suspects that Grace and Mama are next.

Teaming up to hunt for the killer in the Emerald City, the pair slowly begin to realize their romance may not be as dead as they thought. However, as it becomes clear that the person they’re looking for holds secrets about both their dens, Marcus and Grace must grapple with competing loyalties, conflicting desires, and ultimately decide what matters more: their dens or each other.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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Enjoy this peek inside:

The sensation of his lips against mine rippled through me like a shot of whiskey, warming and intoxicating, setting my blood dancing while at the same time making me shiver. When he reciprocated the gesture, when he reached out to hold my cheek with trembling fingers and shifted against my lips without withdrawing, the tight coil of control in my chest unraveled. I took a step forward, my body flush against his, and lifted my hands to grip at Marcus’ shoulders with a possessiveness I barely recognized.

Marcus mimicked my stance, but instead of pulling me closer, he took a step back, breaking the kiss with a small gasp. My eyes flickered open.

While he shook his head, Marcus’ eyes remained closed as he whispered, “Grace, we shouldn’t—”

“Marcus.” His eyes opened wide at the sound of his name. I gave a weak smile and lifted my hand to his face, trailing my thumb across his lower lip. “Don’t be so stupid as to make the same mistake twice.”

He blinked at me once, then twice. The corners of his mouth shot down into a frown and his hands dropped from my shoulders to my hips. He pulled me against his body while quietly whispering, “Ah, sod it, then,” before kissing me hard.

I answered in kind, my hands skittering unmoored across first his jaw, then his shoulders, then his sides, then his chest. I deepened the kiss with a flick of my tongue at his bottom lip, a teasing, tentative request that Marcus answered with unabashed eagerness, opening his mouth to my explorations.

Slowly at first, then in a progressively frantic tumble, I pulled Marcus back into my room toward the bed. I kicked off my shoes as I went, running the tip of my tongue along the top of his palate. He tried desperately to keep pace with me, capturing my lower lip between his teeth and biting down, not too hard, but just hard enough. Still, there was hesitation in his movements. No longer content with the skin available to my hands, I began easing his shirt up and over his body. Marcus tried to register a verbal protest, but it was lost in the crush of our mouths. It wasn’t until I relinquished his lips and began lavishing attention on his neck that he was able to say anything at all.

As soon as his mouth was free of mine, he breathed my name imploringly, caressing my back and shoulders through my thin sweatshirt. “Grace…”

“Don’t worry,” I answered, my words muffled as I pressed my lips against his carotid artery, my wandering hands pushing up under the hem of his T-shirt, fingers dancing over the newly exposed flesh at his side. “I’ll take care of you.”

 

About Author Robin Jeffrey:

When Robin Jeffrey isn’t checking out books to students at the academic library where she works, she can be found cranking out punchy flash fiction, lyrical essays, and world-rich romances. Her writing has been published in magazines across the country and around the world. She currently calls the Pacific Northwest of the United States home, where she lives happily with her husband and their out of control comic book collection. She currently resides in the rainy Pacific Northwest. More of her work can be found on her website, RobinJeffreyAuthor.com.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok

 

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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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Today Kelsey Josund and Rockstar Book Tours are revealing the cover for CINDERELLA’S CRIMES, her new Fantasy Fairy Tale Retelling book which releases October 31, 2023! Check out the awesome cover and

enter the giveaway!

 

On to the reveal!

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CINDERELLA’S CRIMES

Author: Kelsey Josund

Pub. Date: October 31, 2023

Publisher: Kelsey Josund

Formats:  Paperback, eBook

Pages: 248

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Find it: Goodreadshttps://books2read.com/CINDERELLAS-CRIMES 

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Cinna would kill for the throne.

For years, Cinna has been forced to serve her wealthy cousins rather than
attend society events alongside them. She has waited for the chance to prove
herself and exact revenge. When a ball at the castle is announced, promising to
bring many powerful people to town, she seizes the opportunity to strike.

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She bets her best friend, Johann, a small-time thief and con-man, that she can
land a greater score the night of the ball than he can. They embark on parallel
heists. But as their plots unfold, things begin to unravel: by the end of the
night, the castle’s on lock down, a duchess is dead, a mansion has burnt to the
ground – and Cinna hasn’t even stolen anything.

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Or has she captured something far more valuable than gold and jewels?

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About Kelsey Josund:

 

Kelsey Josund is a software engineer and author of scifi, fantasyand young adult  fiction, including a series of forthcoming feminist retellings of classic childhood fairytales.

Originally from Seattle, Kelsey loves getting outdoors and livingin places that allow her  to escape to the mountains on the weekends. She cares deeply about the ecosystems that humans impact and that impact them in return. Her writing
explores these themes through the prism of the traditional coming-of-age arcs of science fiction and fantasy. Kelsey is particularly interested in stories and characters that complicate the traditional and familiar, leading her to
rediscover old tales from new and unexpected angles.

With a passion for storytelling in all its forms, Kelsey approaches writing fiction
the same way she approaches writing code: she likes to know where it’s going,
but wants to figure out the details as she goes. She believes good software is
a lot like a good story—full of neat and clever solutions to tricky problems,
beautiful at a granular level but also from a distance.

Kelsey lives and works in Silicon Valley, California with her partner and their cat. She
holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from Stanford
University, and is currently plotting her return to the Pacific Northwest and
working on her next novel.

For more information, visit www.KelseyJosund.com.

Sign up for Kelsey’s newsletter!

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads | Amazon
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BookBub

 

 

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3 winners  will receive an eBook of CINDERELLA’S CRIMES, International.

Ends August 29th, midnight EST.

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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.

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for And The I Met You organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author MacKenzie Lee will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

And Then I Met You

by MacKenzie Lee

 

 

Genre: Memoir / Romance

Synopsis

Have you ever wondered whether your beloved watches over you from their heavenly post? Have you often had the feeling that your loved one has remained right by your side, even after the final goodbyes? And Then I Met You is the true story of a love so enduring and eternal, it transcends the barriers of time, space, and life itself.

In these pages, you will meet two people whose love is challenged at every turn. The countless barriers that stand between them and true togetherness seem endless. And then the unthinkable happens–and all the barriers vanish in the most unexpected and miraculous of ways.

This epic love story will linger in your thoughts long after the last page, and remain as a twinkle in the sky and a smile in your heart. Who knows? You may even look at life, love, and death in a whole new light.

 

Enjoy this peek inside:

In the weeks and months after finding out that he had passed, I could hardly function. I had so many hopes and dreams for us. When they went out the window, so did all my motivation.

I curled up in a ball and cried, day and night. I wailed aloud, overwhelmed by the vastness of the grief and the endless stream of tears. I shook all over, wrapped in a blanket, staring blankly at the T.V. I was adrift in an abyss, completely unmoored. I had a huge hole in my gut.

That was the first time in my life that I had experienced the physical side of grief. The weight of it made it hard to breathe. I was grateful that I didn’t have to go to work at the time. I don’t think I could have pulled it off. It was everything I could do to get out of bed in the mornings.

I let my grief over Mike impact my health for a while. I overate and stopped taking optimal care of myself. Now, I’m trying to bring myself back to life, and get out from under all the damage I did to my body. Little by little, in baby steps, I’m fighting my way back to my best self.

Mike had been my anchor, my rock, my heart, my right hand—my everything. I didn’t know what to hold onto anymore. Whether I was physically near him or not, I had always felt a physical pull in my heart whenever I thought of him. What was going to happen to me now that my rock was gone? How was I going to talk to him?

About Author MacKenzie Lee:

Mackenzie Lee is an aspiring author known for her ability to weave heartwarming tales that touch the soul. Her book, “And Then I Met You,” is a poignant and uplifting true story that explores the depths of enduring love and its ability to transcend the boundaries of time and space.

Amazon

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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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Deadly Manor: A World War II Mystery (Deadly Series)
by Kate Parker

 


Deadly Manor: A World War II Mystery (Deadly Series)
Historical Cozy Mystery
10th in Series
JDP Press (August 15, 2023)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 265 pages
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C7F2DT7D

Surrounded by war, stalked by murder, can she stay alive?

October 1940. Livvy Redmond is thrilled to receive an invitation to a country house party away from the Blitz. There she hopes to help her husband overcome his injuries from fighting in France. But excitement turns to horror when she stumbles across two members of the house party – murdered.

Indebted to her hostess, Livvy attempts to catch the killer. No one is who they seem, and the party goers leave her with more questions than answers.

Somewhere close, the killer waits in the shadows to stop her.

Deadly Manor is the exciting tenth book in the World War II mystery Deadly Series. If you like intrepid heroines, research-based history and clean reads, then you’ll love USA Today Bestselling Author Kate Parker’s page-turning mystery.

Uncover a murderer in Blitz-era England with Deadly Manor.

About Kate Parker

With her love of travel, Kate Parker sets her novels overseas. Once home from her research trips and armed with hot tea and chocolate, she can be found clicking away on her keyboard, hiking the hills of central North Carolina, and spoiling her 90 pound muse puppy. She’d tell you what she did before she retired, but then she’d have to use certain skills to eliminate you. She pens stories to entertain readers who enjoy action and murder in tales about plucky heroines, quirky characters, and difficult situations in a bygone era. Her stories are sweet, as in no graphic sex, violence, or language. Her heroines remain ladylike while chasing murderers and escaping danger. Well, as ladylike as scratching, punching, and kicking can be.

Author Links – Website – Facebook – BookBub – GoodReads

Purchase Links – Amazon  –  Kobo – B&N

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

August 15 – I’m All About Mystery Books – CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 15 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

August 16 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 16 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 17 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

August 18 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

August 19 – Baroness Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

August 19 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

August 20 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

August 21 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

August 21 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 22 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 22 – Bigreadersite – REVIEW

August 23 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT

August 23 – Indie Author Book Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 24 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – 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.

Reading, Read, Peaceful, Woman, Dusk, Outside, Outdoors

This is my own version of a weekly book haul and all things new on fuonlyknew.

Sunday Post

I’m also linking up with The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberly @Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

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Some chit chat.

All I did was blink and another week just flew by. No time to stop and smell the roses. Just work, work, work. Sigh….. But it’s all going to be worth it. I have a count down on my phone and in a little over two years I’ll be retiring. My friend and I have been saving for several years and are going to fly across the pond. First we’ll visit Paris. Then London. And wrap up the month long trip in Dublin. Until then, I’ll keep on keeping on!

I have some exciting reviews and giveaways to share. And some free books! Check it all below.

Looking forward to chatting with you and have a great new week!

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Book News.

What I just finished. I’ll be sharing my reviews soon..

  The Litter by [Kevin Doyle]   

What I’m reading now.

   

What I’ll be reading next.

   

 

Newly added to my pile of books.

   

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This week’s reviews.

Potter-Cover-Project-full-jpg-scaled

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Here are some FREEBIES for ya.

Click on the covers to get your copies. Remember to make sure they’re still free before you hit that buy button.

The Ghost Files 5 by [Apryl Baker]  Witch Myth Super Boxset: A Yew Hollow Cozy Mystery by [Alexandria Clarke]  The Van Helsing Paradox (The Clara Grey Adventures Book 1) by [Evelyn Chartres]

The Squeaky Clean Skeleton (The Haunted Housekeeping Series Book 1) by [R. A. Muth]  Brutally Kaled: A Breezy Spoon Diner Cozy Mystery (The Breezy Spoon Diner Mysteries Book 2) by [Tracey Quinn]  A One Course Open Slay: A Breezy Spoon Diner Cozy Murder Mystery (The Breezy Spoon Diner Mysteries Book 5) by [Tracey Quinn]

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Other posts on my blog this week.

Murder A La Mode ~ A Coffee And Cream Cafe Mystery by Lena Gregory

Peek Inside And Giveaway ~ War Of The Sea by Dana Claire

Slightest In The House by Barbara Casey ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Weeding Out Lies ~ A Texas Flower Farmer Cozy Mystery by Jackie Layton

A Long Dark Road by Joan Hall Hovey ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Peek Inside And Giveaway ~ The Devil Within by James L’Etoile

Cocktails & Casualties by Carly Wayne ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Death In Trastevere ~ A Roman Holiday Mystery by Jen Collins

The Island Of Zoe by Dino Hajiyorgi & Christos Sourligas ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Books From The Back Log #83 ~ Stolen Roads by Randy

Stilettos & Sniper Rifles by Gail Koger ~ Spotlight And Giveaway

My Review ~ Zipline by P. Anthony Michael

The Friday 56 #250 ~ The Shade Under The Mango Tree by Evy Journey

SWEETBITTER by Reginald Gibbons

The Body In The Back Garden ~ A Crescent Cove Mystery by Mark Waddell

Her Own Revolution ~ The Chateau de Verzat Series by Debra Borchert

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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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Her Own Revolution: Château de Verzat Series
by Debra Borchert

 


Her Own Revolution: Château de Verzat Series
Historical Romance
2nd in Series
Setting – Paris and a Loire Valley vineyard during the French Revolution
Le Vin Press (July 14, 2023)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 422 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0989454576
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0989454575
Digital Print length ‏ : ‎ 364 pages
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BYKFQGLG

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A Woman Forges a Treacherous Path to Save Hundreds from the Guillotine

If Geneviève Fouquier-Tinville had the same rights as a man, she wouldn’t have to dress like one, which she does to attend University—forbidden to women. By swearing her commitment to the revolution, she succeeds in convincing her father, the Public Prosecutor who condemns thousands to the guillotine, to hire her as a court clerk. But she intends to earn passage to join her lover, Henri, in America.

Tasked with copying lists of names scheduled for execution, she reads Louis LaGarde, a fallen noble whom she despises for having exposed her as a woman when they both attended University. Believing him innocent, she replaces his name with one already dead, saving his life. But she realizes that unless she forges a treacherous path, hundreds more will perish at her father’s hands.

When a Revolutionary hunts her down, she must accept LaGarde’s help, yet she denies her attraction to him out of loyalty to Henri. She fights for her life and the lives of those she’s come to love, but she must face the truth of her own heart.

 

About Debra Borchert 

Debra’s debut novel, Her Own Legacy, is the first in a series that follows headstrong and independent women and the four-hundred loyal families who protect a Loire Valley château and vineyard, and its legacy of producing the finest wines in France during the French Revolution. Her Own Revolution is the second book in the Château de Verzat series. A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she weaves her knowledge of textiles and clothing design throughout her historical French fiction. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and standard poodle who is named after a fine French Champagne.

Author Links: Website / Instagram / Facebook / Goodreads

Purchase Links – AmazonB&NKoboBookshop.org

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

August 14 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

August 15 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 15 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 16 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 16 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT

August 17 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

August 17 – The Mystery of Writing – AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 18 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

August 19 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 19 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

August 20 – Celticlady’s Reviews – RECIPE

August 20 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

August 21 – I’m Into Books – RECIPE

August 22 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 23 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT

August 23 – My Reading Journey – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

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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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The Body in the Back Garden (A Crescent Cove Mystery)
by Mark Waddell

 


The Body in the Back Garden (A Crescent Cove Mystery)
Queer Cozy (“Quozy”) Mystery
1st in Series 
Setting – The fictional town of Crescent Cove on Vancouver Island, Canada
Crooked Lane Books (August 22, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639104402
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639104406
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BN582M9W

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In this queer cozy series debut perfect for fans of Ellen Byron and Ellery Adams, Luke Tremblay is about to discover that Crescent Cove has more than its fair share of secrets…and some might be deadlier than others.

Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt’s sudden death, he’s inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can…but Crescent Cove isn’t done with him just yet.

When a stranger starts making wild claims about Luke’s aunt, Luke sends him packing. The next morning, though, Luke discovers that the stranger has returned, and now he’s lying dead in the back garden. To make matters worse, the officer leading the investigation is a handsome Mountie with a chip on his shoulder who seems convinced that Luke is the culprit. If he wants to prove his innocence and leave this town once and for all, Luke will have to use all his skills as a journalist to investigate the colorful locals while coming to terms with his own painful past.

There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever.

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Enjoy this peek inside The Body in the Back Garden:

The drive back to the cottage took no more than five minutes, and when I got there, I found a Jeep Wrangler with RCMP markings waiting for me. My heart sank. I really didn’t want a third encounter with the police today.

With some reluctance, I trudged around the side of the cottage and found Jack Munro waiting for me, brawny arms folded across his tactical vest as he gazed out at the sea. My heart sank even further, but also fluttered a little as well. I had no idea how to behave around him now that I knew he was my old friend.

As I approached, shoes crunching on the stone path, he turned to face me. I paused. Jack looked mad. His square jaw was clenched and his eyebrows were drawn downwards in a fierce glower.

Uh oh.

“We need to talk,” he informed me, and I nodded jerkily after a moment’s hesitation.

“Sure. Okay. Do you want to come inside?”

With a shake of his head, Jack then advanced towards me until he was close enough that I had to look up into his face. “I want to know why you lied to me.”

I had to work moisture back into my mouth before I could reply. “What do you mean?”

“I spoke with Aleesha Perkins.” At my blank stare, he added, “Her mom runs the greengrocers in town. She delivered some groceries here yesterday.”

Oh yeah. I nodded again, mutely.

“Aleesha claims that she witnessed you assault Joel Mackenzie and then threaten him.” Jack’s resonant baritone was tight with anger. “Is that true?”

“I wouldn’t say assault, exactly,” I hedged. “I did push him, that’s true.”

“She says you pushed him off the front porch and that he landed on his back on the ground.”

“Uh. Yes.” Jack’s eyes narrowed and I added hurriedly, “But he provoked me. He called my aunt a thief and said she got what was coming to her. I…I got upset and pushed him harder than I intended.”

“And then threatened him.”

“No!” I protested. “No, I just told him that if he came back here he’d regret it.” I paused. “Okay. That sounds bad, I admit. But I didn’t mean anything by it. It wasn’t a threat.”

Jack said nothing. His features, familiar and yet not, were completely blank.

On a rising tide of panic, I reached out involuntarily and grasped his forearm. “Jack, please. Please believe me. I did not kill Joel Mackenzie. I didn’t see him again until I found his body this morning. I know how this looks, but…”

Jack stepped back from me, breaking my hold on his arm. “You assaulted and threatened a man who later turned up dead on your property, Luke.” His voice was cool now, dispassionate. “And you have no alibi for last night. How this looks is extremely bad for you.”

My feeling of panic increased as I stared up at him. “But you know me. You know I would never—”

He cut me off with brutal finality. “I used to know you. I’m not sure I do anymore.”

I had no response to that. There was nothing left to say. My panic slowly subsided, leaving hurt and fear in its wake.

A deep silence fell between us. Waves crashed in the distance and gulls screeched overhead. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?” he finally asked. “Because if there is anything, you need to tell me now.”

I shook my head once. “There isn’t anything,” I said, barely able to speak through the tightness in my throat.

He nodded without taking his eyes off me. “I strongly advise you to stay put here at the cottage while we continue our investigation.”

I said nothing, and after a long pause Jack brushed past me as he headed back to his Jeep. I watched him go with something close to despair.

I was now the only suspect in a murder, and the person in charge of investigating that murder clearly disliked me. I wanted to trust that Jack would figure out who the killer was rather than pin this on me, but given our recent interactions, that seemed far from certain. If I didn’t want to end up in prison, there was only one option left.

I needed to solve this myself.

About Mark Waddell

Mark is originally from Calgary, Alberta, and grew up on the cold, windswept Prairies of western Canada. Fleeing southward, he earned a Ph.D. in the history of science, medicine, and technology from the Johns Hopkins University and then worked as a professor at Michigan State University for fifteen years. Finally, he persuaded his amazing husband to move to Vancouver Island, where they now live.
When he’s not writing stories about murderous Canadians, he plays the viola in the Civic Orchestra of Victoria, walks his dogs along the seashore, and thinks up interesting ways to kill people.

Author Links: Website / Twitter / Instagram
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Purchase Links:

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PenguinRandomHouse – U.S.    PenguinRandomHouse – Canada
(includes links for Amazon, Bookshop.org, etc.)
    B&N    Amazon

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

August 15 – Cozy Up WIth Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 16 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

August 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW  

August 18 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 19 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

August 20 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT

August 21 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

August 22 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW

August 23 – Rebecca M. Douglass, Author – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 24 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 24 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT

August 25 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews– AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 26 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT

August 27 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

August 28 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW

August 28 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW

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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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“This is an adventure story and a romance, but in Gibbons’ hands, it’s that and much more. Exquisitely rendered and deeply felt, this is as astute and absorbing as fiction gets.”

—Booklist

SWEETBITTER (Jackleg Press; Publication: August 1, 2023) takes place in east Texas in 1910 during the time of white rule―not by law but by lynch mob. Amid the suffocating racism and fear, half-Choctaw, half-white Reuben Sweetbitter and Martha Clarke, a white woman, fall in love.  This is an authentic, richly detailed novel with themes of sacrifice, fear and the loss of one’s identity inspired by Giddon’s family – who’s paternal grandfather half-Choktaw – and his experiences  growing up in  protestant evangelical Texas where racism and white supremacy was rampant.  Library Journal writes: “Atypical of love stories, this realistic work maintains a historical perspective in lending the couple short-lived happiness.”

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PROLOGUE

Many generations ago Aba, the great spirit above, created many men, all Chahtah, who spoke the language of the Chahtah, and under- stood one another. They came from the heart of the earth and were made of clay, and before them no men had ever lived.

One day they all gathered and looking upward wondered what the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds were made of. They determined to try to reach the sky by building a great mound. They piled up rocks to build a mound that would reach the sky but at night the wind blew from above so strongly that the rocks fell down. The second day, too, they worked, building the mound but again that night the wind came while they slept and it pushed down their work. On the third day they began yet again. But that night the wind blew so hard it hurled the rocks of the mound down upon the builders themselves.

They were not killed, but when daylight came and they crawled out from beneath the rocks that had fallen on them and they began to talk to one another, they discovered that they could no longer understand each other. They spoke many languages instead of one. Some of them spoke the original language, the Chahtah language. Others, who no longer spoke this language, began to fight with those who did. Finally they separated. The Chahtah remained, the original people, and lived near nanih waya, the mound they had not been able to complete. And the others went north and east and west and encountered more tribes.

In this way or some other, all the peoples of the earth were created, each from some substance and thus of different appearance, and at times struggling against each other. This is what the Chahtah told to a white missionary. But this was only a little of what the Chahtah knew. It was not for that man to know everything. And then he wrote mistaken things about them.

 

Excerpted from SWEETBITTER by Reginald Gibbons © 2023 by Reginald Gibbons, used with permission from JackLeg Press.

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About Author Reginald Gibbons

Reginald Gibbons

Reginald Gibbons’ works include An Orchard In The Street (BOA Editions), Creatures Of A Day ( a Finalist in poetry  for the National Book Award, LSU Press and his most recent book of poems Renditions (Four Way Books).

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MORE ABOUT REGINALD GIBBONS

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His translations include Selected Poems of Luis Cernuda (Sheep Meadow), Sophocles’ Selected Poems:
Odes and Fragments (Princeton University Press), and his co-translations include Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Bakkhai (both with the late Charles Segal, Oxford University Press).
Gibbons’ poems and short fiction have been published in Harper’s, The New York Times, The Atlantic,
The Paris, Review, Poetry, The Georgia Review, American Poetry Review, The Shanghai Review, Tikkun,
Ploughshares, Southern Review, Southwest Review, The Chicago Tribune, and many other magazines and periodicals. From 1981 to 1997, he was the editor of TriQuarterly magazine. His book about poetry, How Poems Think, is a gallery of aspects of poetry that combine feeling and poetic cognition
(University of Chicago Press). Gibbons has won fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the
Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Center for Hellenic
Studies. He has received several prizes, including the Folger Shakespeare Library’s O. B. Hardison,
Jr., Poetry Prize, and the Fuller Award for lifetime achievement from the Chicago Literary Hall of
Fame. Since 1981, he has taught creative writing at Northwestern University, where he is an
emeritus Frances Hooper Professor of Arts and Humanities. From the 1980s till the 2010s, he also
taught at more than twenty residencies of the Warren Wilson MFA for Writers.

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ADDITIONAL PRAISE | SWEETBITTER

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“Gibbons writes with a poet’s graceful attention to language, limning and then blending lovely details of the East Texas landscape, its denizens, its woods, seasons and storms, with Reuben’s half-remembered, bastardized versions of Choctaw myth and Martha’s dreamy, at-arm’s-length relationship to the white world she can’t live in yet can’t do without.” —Washington Post Book World

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“A stately, lyrical meditation on turn-of-the-century Texas… As much a meditation on the American
destruction of aboriginal civilization as it is a story about star-crossed romance.” —Texas Observer
“A sweeping yet intimate first novel that tells the story of the Choctaw Indians through the troubled life of one Reuben S. Sweetbitter, half Choctaw, half white… An absorbing story.” —Publishers Weekly
“The gripping story of illicit love… in prose not easily forgotten… [A] lovely and captivating novel.”
—The Nation

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“Surprising in every way… The novel’s ending is as strong as its beginning—terrifying and beautiful, a true tour de force.” —Chicago Tribune

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“A story of dreams, of memory, of a search for identity, or love and all the senseless obstacles it sometimes must face.” —Dallas Morning News

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“A fictional world of great vividness and detail… Gibbons’ prose can be… descriptive, evocative, even
picaresque, but he does not forget how to tell a story in straightforward sentences.”
—Review of Contemporary Fiction

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PUBLICITY CONTACT:
Jennifer Harris, JackLeg Press
ON SALE: August 15, 2023 jharris@jacklegpress.org
SWEETBITTER, Reginal Gibbons | JackLeg Press | On Sale: August 1, 2023
ISBN: 978-1737513421 | 6×9 Paperback | 19.00 US | 452 Pages

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LEARN MORE | ORDER

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Reginald Gibbons| Jackleg Press | #SWEETBITTER

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Retail: Ingram Content Group | Libraries: Libraries (ingramcontent.com)

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JackLeg Press | JackLeg employs an environmentally sustainable publishing model and a rigorous
editorial process to bring the best new and familiar voices into the literary world. At JackLeg, we
stress authenticity, collaboration, and bold thinking.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

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To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

 

This is a really fun meme!

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!

My 56 for this week is from

The Shade Under The Mango Tree

  by Evy Journey

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Genre:  Fiction / Coming Of Age

From page 56 in the paperback.

Wat amazing sensations I felt on the lawn that day.

For me, life is worth living for such moments alone, but too many people are too busy getting rich, caring only for material things.

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Synopsis

After two heartbreaking losses, Luna wants adventure. Something and somewhere very different from the affluent, sheltered home in California and Hawaii where she grew up. An adventure in which she can also make some difference. She travels to a foreign place where she gets more than she bargained for.

Lucien, a worldly, well-traveled young architect, finds a stranger’s journal at a café. He has qualms and pangs of guilt about reading it. But they don’t stop him. His decision to go on reading changes his life.

Months later, Luna and Lucien meet at a bookstore where Luna works and which Lucien frequents. Still hurting from her losses, Luna finds solace in Lucien’s company and his tales of world travel.

Inspired by Lucien, she goes to Cambodia. What she goes through in one of its rice-growing villages defies anything she could have imagined.

An epistolary tale of courage, love and loss, and the bonds that bring diverse people together.

Amazon

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You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

 

Welcome to the book tour for Zipline by P. Anthony Michael. Read on for my review!

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Zipline

Publication Date: June 2022

Genre: Thriller/ Suspense

If Gail knew Uncle Perkins’ stories were true, she wouldn’t have taken her friends up that mountain.

The plan was simple. Hike, camp, and ride the zipline back down the mountain. But Uncle Perkins’ stories are true, and the horrors are real. Now the simple plan is the only plan they have to get off that mountain or disappear, remaining there forever.

Zipline is an immediately gripping, fast-paced, unique story that will keep you entertained until the last sent

Available on Amazon

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MY REVIEW

I have a bucket list and taking a ride on a zipline is on the list. After reading this book, I’m sure I’ll be imaging what scary things I’m rushing past as I zip along above the tree canopy.

Coming in at just 82 pages in my paperback copy, Zipline packs an eerie punch. The author managed to flesh out his characters too, and that’s no mean feat with so few pages.

There’s something strange happening at Finch Mountain. Nicknamed BEASTLY, that tag and an old man’s warning should have been enough to deter Gail and her friends. That old saying, “Curiosity Killed The Cat” turns out to be oh so true as they venture into the dark forest. And the second part of that saying, “Satisfaction Brought Them Back” proves not so true.

The action begins almost immediately and the story “zips” along. Will they get off the mountain? Who survives? Anyone? My curiosity was answered and what fun it was finding out.

4 STARS

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About the Author

Michael received a creative writing certificate from the University of West Virginia in the late 90s. He’s been running a successful writer’s group called For The Love Of Words for almost two decades. When he has time, he teaches in the local library Story 101 – How to create a story. He has won in every category over a five-year period in a state-funded wordsmith competition in Poetry, Essay, Short Story, and One-Act Play.

P. Anthony Michael

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Button

R&R Book Tours

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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.