Archive for the ‘Excerpt’ Category

Love All by Liza Malloy ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: January 30, 2023 in Contemporary Romance, Excerpt, giveaways
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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Love All organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Liza Malloy will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

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

Love All

by Liza Malloy

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Steamy

Synopsis

College students Nate and Olivia are a perfect match on the courts—and in the sheets. Everywhere else, they’re polar opposites and sworn enemies. But as the chemistry builds, a figure from Olivia’s past unexpectedly pops back into her life and the couple realizes they have more in common than they thought. Are these star-crossed lovers doomed to repeat their parents’ mistakes, or can they build a life together once the final set is played?

This book is a standalone, steamy, new adult/college, sports romance, 77k words. Tropes include enemies to lovers, he falls first, and billionaire.

 

Check out this peek inside:

God, she was enchanting. Even up close, even in this dim lighting, even after playing tennis… Olivia was pure perfection. Olivia licked her lips casually, drawing my eyes to her mouth. I needed to know if her lips were as soft as they looked, couldn’t help but wonder if she tasted as good as she smelled. But I didn’t dare try.

So instead, I just stared.

Olivia stared back at me with the same intensity. I hoped maybe she would make the first move and breach the six inches between us. Instead, she spoke.

“I’d love to know what you’re thinking right now.”

My heart beat faster. “I’m trying to guess if you’d slap me if I kissed you right now.”

Her perfect lips curved upwards into a grin she tried to hide. “What did you decide?”

I considered my next words, then spoke slowly. “I decided that you’ve had plenty of time to turn away.” I leaned forward, placed my hand on her cheek, and when she still didn’t move, I pressed my mouth to hers.

Before I could even panic that I’d done the wrong thing, she kissed me back. Her lips were velvety smooth against my own, and they parted willingly, welcoming my tongue into her warm mouth. She tasted sweet, like oranges and cinnamon.

Her hand brushed against my bicep, startling me at first, then egging me on as she pressed her fingers against me, practically squeezing the muscle. I reached to place my other hand around her arm, missing and inadvertently grazing the side of her breast before landing on her arm. Still, she didn’t slap me.

The kiss went on and on. Olivia sure didn’t kiss like the innocent girl she claimed to be, but I wasn’t about to complain, either. Her lips fit perfectly against mine, and I was positive that the rest of our bodies would fit just as well.

All of a sudden, all the court lights flashed on, flooding us in full light. We broke apart in an instant, leaving only our fingers entangled. We both gazed down, as though neither of us had realized we were holding hands, and then we each winced from the light.

About Author Liza Malloy:

Liza Malloy writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She’s a sucker for alpha males, bad boys, dimples, and muscles, and she can’t resist a man in uniform. Liza loves creating worlds where her heroine discovers her own strength and finds her Happily Ever After. When Liza isn’t reading or writing torrid love stories, she’s a practicing attorney. Her other passions include gummy bears, jelly beans, and the occasional marathon. She lives in the Midwest with her four daughters and her own Prince Charming.

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Doc Shomance by Zoe Forward ~ Excerpt And Giveaway

Posted: January 10, 2023 in Contemporary Romance, Excerpt, giveaways
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Doc Showmance

by Zoe Forward

Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomCom

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I would say Dr. Ian Todd is my archenemy.

But that would require us acknowledging each other which we haven’t done since we graduated veterinary school.

He’s famous. As the world’s “Sexiest Veterinarian Alive” with his own endangered wildlife TV series and string of glamorous girlfriends.

I’m in-famous. As the reality TV emergency veterinarian with the snark mouth, take-no-crap attitude, and zero dating life.

When asked to fake a romance with him on TV to boost my ER show’s ratings, I almost shout a no-way, but the extra money will pay off my brother’s loan shark debt.

Even though Ian broke my heart, playing his love interest shouldn’t be hard, especially if it means getting to watch him squirm.

Lines get blurred when the TV setups stop feeling fake. Can I chance this might be real love?

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He grinned. “It’s over. You don’t have to keep acting for the cameras.”

Be cool. Be tough. My emotional tank had hit empty an hour ago. All I had left was defensive grumpiness, which meant my mouth filter wouldn’t work. “I never peacock for the fucking cameras. I refuse. Actually, I can’t act. It’s why this, with you here and whatever the hell they plan to make us do, is a nightmare. I can’t pretend to like you.”

“You think pretending to like you is going to be a picnic for me?”

“Then go. Quit. Please. Let’s not do this.” I lowered my bag and glared. “Go back to what you’re good at in those set up wild animal scenarios.”

His smile fell. “You don’t think I can do this. You think I can’t do emergency medicine.”

Oh, good Lord. I’d forgotten if I pushed him by disagreeing, he’d dig his heels in and do whatever the hell it was simply to annoy me and prove he was better at it. “I’m sure you’re a great vet to dolphins and elephants. Won’t see a lot of those here. What you will see is a lot is life or death scenarios. If your medicine is rusty, those split-moment decisions might not be the right ones. Then your patient dies.”

Okay, not exactly the right thing to say to inspire him to leave.

His cheek muscle spasmed as he stalked close to me. He had a solid foot on me, not that I was intimidated. “You don’t hold the monopoly on good medicine, Amber.”

“Go prove you’re Mr. Super Sexy Smart Vet somewhere else. Anywhere that’s not here.”

He was in my space, and oh, God, he smelled good. Fresh and spicy aftershave. In a job rife with terrible odors, this was heavenly.

Not heavenly. Snap out of it. 

He cocked his head and scanned down my body. Softly, he said, “You think I’m sexy?”

Oh, my. The purr of his tone made my stomach clamp. I managed to tug my gaze off his. “I’m not doing this insanity of you picking apart every word I say. Not tonight.”

I marched out of the office, only to spin around and march back to grab my cell phone off the counter. Damn Ian for putting me off my game. This frazzled, scatterbrained behavior was about to become my new norm if he was in the vicinity.

Ian smiled a radiant expanse of white teeth. “You’re scared.”

I froze. I turned back to face him.

He chuckled low. “I get it. You’ve always been scared of me…of this.”

“I. Am. Not. Scared. Let’s get one thing straight. There’s no this.” I marched away without looking back.

Oh, it was on now. No one, and I mean no one, got to accuse me of being chicken.

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USA Today bestselling author, parent, wife, veterinarian, chocolate lover. Author of spicy paranormal and contemporary romances. Zoe Forward brings readers the perfect combination of action adventure, romance, humor and a bit of magic.

Her novels have won numerous awards including the Prism, Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence, Golden Quill, Carolyn Readers Choice Award, and the Booksellers’ Best Award.

You can find her residing in the South with a menagerie of four-legged beasts and two wild kids.

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Any Fin For Love by Petie McCarty ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: January 4, 2023 in Contemporary Romance, Excerpt, giveaways
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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Petie McCarty will be awarding an Autographed paperback copy of Cinderella Busted (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

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

Any Fin For Love

by Petie McCarty

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

She could almost hear the fish laughing at her . . .

Cody Ryan’s father never missed fishing the annual Loon Lake tournament until his unexpected passing. So this year, Cody packs up her how-to fishing videos and her dad’s old johnboat and gives him one final entry.

Gage Connor needs some R&R away from his coast guard deployment catching drug smugglers along the Louisiana coast, so he borrows a bass boat from his buddy and heads to Loon, Alabama to do some fishing.

When Gage and Cody meet at Loon Lake, their attraction is immediate and intense—until the two discover there is only one boat slip left on the lake and they both need it, and there’s only one vacant hotel room left in Loon and they both want it. Thus, their competition begins. Both vow to keep their distance from the other to fight the temptation, but fate has other plans. The tournament pairing party picks the two-man teams and chooses Gage as Cody’s partner.

For two days.
Alone on a boat.
Working as a team.

Good things come to those who bait . . .

Enjoy this peek inside:

Billy then addressed the audience. “There is a three-rod limit. Y’all will have to make do. Absolutely no live bait. The first flight of ten boats goes off at 7:00 a.m., so don’t be late. There will be ten minutes between flights. If both contestants on a team have boats, flip a coin to see whose boat you use the first day, and then use the other boat the second day.”

“What?” Gage thundered, suddenly coming to life.

Cody wanted a hole to open in the stage and swallow her up. She knew whoever got stuck with her as a partner would be mad about her johnboat. She just didn’t think the stickee would be Gage.

Billy smirked at Gage. “That’s right. You flip a coin to see which day you fish from her johnboat.”

“No way,” Gage bellyached.

A rumble of laughter swept through the tent, and Cody fought back tears. She swallowed three times to get the lump back down her throat until she caught sight of Lila’s ear-to-ear grin, and then her blood simmered to a boil.

“That’s the way it is,” Billy said, clearly as pleased as his daughter. He turned back to the crowd. “If there’s only one teammate with a boat . . .” His sideways smirk at Cody had her hands balling into fists. “Then you use the same boat both days.”

Great. Now Zeke and Alvin were grinning ear-to-ear, and Gage looked ready to explode. Big surprise there. The man had finally shown his true colors.

Billy hadn’t finished. “We start at seven both days. Y’all will have exactly eight hours to fish. I repeat, the first flight of ten boats leaves promptly at seven. The weigh-in each day will commence at three o’clock, and you’ll be given your weigh-in bags just before your flight in the morning. If your flight leaves at 7:10 a.m., then you must be back to weigh-in at 3:10 p.m. You will be docked one pound of fish for each minute you are late for your weigh-in. If you are more than fifteen minutes late, you will be disqualified.” He glanced around the tent to be sure all entrants paid attention. “Each boat must have a live well, and no more than five fish can be held in the live well at one time.”

He hesitated and then looked as though a light bulb flicked on. He spun around to face Cody. “Do you even have a live well?”

Every face in the tent focused on Cody.

“Yes, I do,” she said indignantly. “I wouldn’t have entered your tournament if I didn’t. I read the rules.”

“What is it? An Igloo cooler with an aquarium pump?” he taunted.

She gulped. “Yes.”

A rumble of laughter shot through the crowd.

Eyes narrowed, hands fisted at her sides, Cody stared them all down. She spotted the two rows of females smiling in the back, all giving her the universal thumbs up sign, and her chin notched up higher.

Billy couldn’t resist a final jab. “Well, Mr. Connor, it looks like you’ll spend one day in a johnboat.”

 Author Petie McCarty:

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—”The Most Magical Place on Earth”—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her “day” job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.

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Skull’s Vengeance by Linnea Tanner ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: January 3, 2023 in Excerpt, Fantasy, giveaways, Historical
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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Skull’s Vengeance organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Linnea Tanner will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

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

Skull’s Vengeance

by Linnea Tanner

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Synopsis

A Celtic warrior queen must do the impossible—defeat her sorcerer half-brother and claim the throne. But to do so, she must learn how to strike vengeance from her father’s skull.

 

AS FORETOLD BY HER FATHER in a vision, Catrin has become a battle-hardened warrior after her trials in the Roman legion and gladiatorial games. She must return to Britannia and pull the cursed dagger out of the serpent's stone to fulfill her destiny. Only then can she unleash the vengeance from the ancient druids to destroy her evil half-brother, the powerful sorcerer, King Marrock. Always two steps ahead and seemingly unstoppable, Marrock can summon destructive natural forces to crush any rival trying to stop him and has charged his deadliest assassin to bring back Catrin's head.

 

To have the slightest chance of beating Marrock, Catrin must forge alliances with former enemies, but she needs someone she can trust. Her only option is to seek military aid from Marcellus—her secret Roman husband. They rekindle their burning passion, but he is playing a deadly game in the political firestorm of the Julio-Claudian dynasty to support Catrin's cause.

 

Ultimately, in order to defeat Marrock, Catrin must align herself with a dark druidess and learn how to summon forces from skulls to exact vengeance. But can she and Marcellus outmaneuver political enemies from Rome and Britannia in their quest to vanquish Marrock?

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Enjoy this peek inside:

PROLOGUE

 

White Cliffs in Southeast Britannia,

Eve of Samhain, 31 October, 26 AD

 

Three human skulls hung over King Marrock’s stallion, dangling from a rope like ornaments. Feeling as invincible as a god, he rode to the precipice of the sheer cliffs and listened to the roar of the waves crashing below. Yet, the raven soaring overhead chilled him to the bone—an omen he was but mortal and could plunge to his death.

 

He embraced the warmth of Boudicca, his younger half sister, who sat astride his horse in front of him. A toddler full of mirth, she was a healer who could connect to the souls of the dead.

 

Whereas their mother accused him, also known as Blood Wolf, of being a soulless murderer.

 

On this eve of Samhain, Marrock knew the souls of the dead freely roamed among the living. He spotted his deadliest assassin, Gawain, searching for the wraith on the emerald hilltop. Gawain had a blue, triangular tattoo of a dagger’s blade on his forehead and deadly weapons underneath his black cloak—the royal insignia of the red dragon stitched to the front panel.

 

For Marrock, the Otherworldly dragon, with its leathery wings and fiery breath, symbolized perpetual power. It was said that where dragons trod, mystic energy flowed. The untamed beast guarded the portal into the Otherworld.

 

He yearned for the dragon’s mystic power—the power to summon forces from the earth’s molten underbelly to immolate his rivals.

 

Gawain pointed to a pile of rocks. “The sheepherder saw the wraith over there,” he said in his deep, gravelly voice.

 

Marrock handed Boudicca to him and then dismounted, pulling the rope of skulls off his horse and draping it over his shoulders. His family’s skulls served as a warning to anyone who threatened his sovereignty.

 

Until now, he had only been able to summon the deadly powers from the skulls of his stepmother and bastard sister; their souls were encased in the bone crowns. The soul of his father, King Amren, still eluded Marrock, even after he had sliced off his father’s head. If his father’s soul was indeed wandering the hilltop, he would imprison it in the largest empty skull he had.

 

Then, he would be able to unleash the collective forces from all three souls.

 

Glancing all around, he could not see his father’s ghostly figure in the thickening fog. Boudicca’s gleeful giggle roused his attention. He watched her waddle toward a mound of stones and place her tiny hands on the stacked rocks.

 

“Pa. Pa. Am,” she squealed with delight.

 

Marrock cast a glance at Gawain. “Did the sheepherder see the wraith disappear into those rocks?”

 

Gawain nodded. “Indeed, I believe so.”

 

Marrock transferred the roped skulls from his shoulders to the grassy ground and looked at Gawain. “Help me remove the rocks so I can see what is underneath.”

 

Gawain joined Marrock in the task of removing the white stones one by one. They inspected each rock for any defect before setting it aside.

 

Boudicca, mimicking the men, picked up flint pebbles and dropped them on the chalky ground.

 

After a while, they uncovered the gemstone handle of a dagger; its blade was embedded in a coil-shaped serpent stone. Marrock recognized the jewel-studded dagger as once belonging to his father. Intrigued, he gripped the handle with both hands and strained to pull it out, his muscles aching and his face dripping with sweat from the effort.

 

Suddenly, to his shock, the hilt turned sizzling hot. He jerked his hands away and inspected the blisters that had formed on his reddened palms. Hearing Boudicca’s gleeful babble, he looked down just as she gripped the dagger’s handle.

 

“Pa. Pa. Am,” she trilled.

 

To Marrock’s surprise, Boudicca’s hands did not burn.

 

A prickling sensation noosed around his neck as he recalled the original curse cast by his mother just before his father had executed her.

 

The gods demand that the scales be balanced for the life you take. If you deny my soul’s journey to the Otherworld by beheading me, I curse you to the same fate as mine. I prophesy your future queen will beget a daughter who will rise as a raven and join your son, Blood Wolf, and a mighty empire will overtake your kingdom and execute my curse.

 

King Amren had etched the words of the curse on the dagger’s blade using the Roman alphabet with the belief he could thwart the dark prophecy.

 

Marrock shuddered.

 

Does my father’s soul live in the dagger? Has he come back to exact vengeance on me?

~~~~~

About Author Linnea Tanner

Award-winning author, Linnea Tanner, weaves Celtic tales of love, magical adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. Since childhood, she has passionately read about ancient civilizations and mythology. Of particular interest are the enigmatic Celts, who were reputed as fierce warriors and mystical Druids.

 

Linnea has extensively researched ancient and medieval history, mythology, and archaeology and has traveled to sites described within each of her books in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series. Books released in her series include “Apollo’s Raven” (Book 1), “Dagger’s Destiny” (Book 2), “Amulet’s Rapture” (Book 3), and “Skull’s Vengeance” (Book 4). She has also released the historical fiction short story, “Two Faces of Janus.”

 

A Colorado native, Linnea attended the University of Colorado and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. She lives in Fort Collins with her husband and has two children and six grandchildren.

 

You can follow her on her website HERE.

 

Buy Link: Amazon

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Family Pride by Deborah A. Bailey ~ Excerpt And Giveaway

Posted: January 2, 2023 in Excerpt, giveaways, Romance
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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Family Pride organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Deborah A. Bailey will be awarding a $30 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

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

Family Pride

by Deborah A. Bailey

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Synopsis

Book two of the Family Pride Paranormal Romance Series

After claiming Zora Mason as his mate, and fighting off a threat to the MacKinnon pride, Mac is more than ready to get back to managing his coffee bar and settling into mated bliss. But just when it looks like things are quieting down, Mac and Zora find more challenges ahead.

Plans for Zora and Mac’s official introduction to the pride, and the opening of the new coffee bar may be derailed when, gripped by a mysterious blood fever lingering after the leadership challenge, Mac is driven to the edge of his endurance as he fights to keep his inner lion under control.

Juggling her responsibilities in the business and her position as the mate of the pride leader becomes even more challenging when Zora is forced to confront her fear that Mac is changing into someone she doesn’t recognize.

As the fever pushes Mac to the edge, the revelation of an old, painful family secret proves to be the key to saving Mac’s life. Zora and Mac come up with a plan to end the threat of the fever forever, but that same plan may destroy them both.

Is their love strong enough to defeat the blood fever, so they can live happily ever after as mates?

Enjoy this peek inside:

Mac rubbed his forehead. “Look, I can’t help everybody right now, okay? I’m up to my eyeballs.” He went over to the table and checked his phone.

“Mackenzie! I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you. You’ve never been like this before.”

Now Lena was the one calling him by his full name, and when she did it, she was one step away from going full lioness on his ass. “Grandma, just a month ago I was in a challenge, and I got mated. Now everybody wants me to do something for them. I’ve got a coffee bar to run and one to open!”

Instead of replying, she looked him up and down like she was appraising him. In lion form, she was a seasoned hunter and fighter. Though she was in her 70’s, age hadn’t slowed her down. In fact, her trim, toned body was the product of countless activities she busied herself with in both lion and human form.

“I see.” Lena came over to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. “What did you and Zora have a fight about? The business?”

“Me and Zora? What? I–how did you know? Did she call you?”

Lena chuckled. “She didn’t have to. You’re wound up. I’ve seen you under pressure before, and you’ve never been like this. Mackenzie, you’ve been a nomad for most of your adult life. I knew it would be…challenging to get mated.”

“Please don’t say, ‘challenging.’ Especially not after what I went through with Eldon.”

“You did the right thing to take the challenge for your father. But now that you’ve tasted blood, you’ll never be the same again.” Lena crossed her legs. “Perhaps that’s the problem.”

“Grandma, I could’ve killed Eldon. When we were fighting, I wanted to tear him apart. Especially after he threatened Zora.” Mac ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve never felt that before.”

“It’s time to accept the beast inside you. Don’t be ashamed of it,” Lena said.

About Author Deborah A. Bailey:

Deborah A Bailey’s Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal & Science Fiction Romance novels include suspense, a bit of mystery and a lot of romantic heat.

Her short stories have won awards from the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference and have been published in US1 Magazine and the Sun and are included in, Electric Dreams: Seven Futuristic Tales. She’s the author of non-fiction books, and articles for various online publications.

Visit her website for more information and subscribe to the newsletter so you’ll be the first to find out about giveaways, book launches and sneak peeks.

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Family Pride: Blood Fever and Family Pride: Love and Challenges will be on sale for 0.99 on Amazon, B&N, Apple & Kobo from 12/26/22 – 1/9/23

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One Hundred Dreams by Kelly Collins ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: December 31, 2022 in Contemporary Romance, Excerpt, giveaways
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One Hundred Dreams

by Kelly Collins

 

(An Aspen Cove Romance, #22)
Publication date: December 29th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

He’s a man trying to keep things under control.
She’s a woman yearning to break free.
Is this a disaster waiting to happen or a love story in the making?

Actress Cameron Madden is sick and tired of being tired. With her last movie failing at the box office and her career in question, she heads to Aspen Cove to lick her wounds. The small mountain town is the perfect place to escape the prying eyes of a critical public, the demands of her career, and the rules set by her team. Expecting a female bodyguard named Valery, she’s shocked to find the script has been flipped and Valery is a tall, dark, and annoying man who goes by Val. The first thing he does is hand her a set of rules—his rules. And she plans to break every one of them.

The last thing bodyguard Valery Armstrong wants to do is babysit an actress, but when the job comes in, he is the only one available. Saving the day and picking up the pieces is what he’s been doing since his father passed away. That single event ten years ago taught him one thing—prepare for every possibility. Before agreeing to take on Cameron, he asks himself how difficult could one woman be? When he arrives, he hands her the list, then watches as she gifts him with a heart-stopping smile—right before tearing the page to pieces. How difficult could one woman be? Cameron Madden is about to show him.

Aspen Cove, where rules are made to be broken…

Goodreads / Amazon

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Enjoy This peek inside:

He pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. “These are my rules.”

She seemed to sink in front of him, but it was a momentary muscle lapse before that invisible string pulled her back up. Only this time, it seemed to drag her forward to stand in front of him. She swiped the envelope from his hand and tore open the flap. Once she drew out the single page with his rules, she let the envelope fall to the floor.

He watched as her eyes moved across the page. Second by second, they grew until he was sure they’d pop from her skull.

She raised her head and stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“Why would I give you that if I wasn’t serious?”

“It’s a page with one rule. You said rules.”

He smiled. “I don’t need more than one.”

She glanced at the paper and lifted her head. “You make all the rules?” She stared at him like he’d sprouted a horn in the center of his forehead.

“That’s my one rule. Take it or leave it.”

Her jaw dropped, and she took a step back. “What are you going to do? Leave?” She tore the page in half and let the pieces fall to the marble floor next to the envelope. “You’re not the boss, and you don’t make the rules.”

“Wrong.” He turned around, walked back to the elevator, pushed the button, and waited.

“You’re seriously leaving? How am I supposed to get to Colorado?”

He took several cleansing breaths before he spun around to face her. “Nothing has changed. You have a flight waiting at Los Angeles International Airport. It will take you to Denver, where you’ll have to get a ride to Aspen Cove. Rent a car. It’s only a few hours’ drive from there to your destination.”

She seemed to wobble on her heels. “You’re abandoning me?”

He shook his head. “I’m not. I gave you my rules, and you dismissed them. You don’t get to be the top private security firm in the country if you break your own rules, and my only rule is I make the rules.” The elevator door opened, and he stepped inside. “I’ll give you ten minutes to decide. If you’re not down in the lobby by then, I’ll leave. It’s that simple.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but the doors closed before she could get a word out.

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Author Kelly Collins:

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International bestselling author of more than thirty novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.

Kelly has sold more than a quarter of a million books worldwide, and in 2021 she was awarded a Readers’ Favorite Award Gold Medal in the Contemporary Romance category for A Tablespoon of Temptation.

You can learn more about Kelly at www.authorkellycollins.com.

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The Phantom Glare Of Day by M. Laszlo ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: December 29, 2022 in Excerpt, giveaways, Historical, Novella
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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for The Phantom Glare Of Day organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author M. Laszlo will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

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

The Phantom Glare Of Day

by M. Laszlo

Genre: Historical (Metaphysical) Fiction / Coming of Age Fiction

Synopsis

In this trio of novellas, three game young ladies enter into dangerous liaisons that test each one’s limits and force them to confront the most heartrending issues facing society in the early twentieth century. The Phantom Glare of Day tells of Sophie, a young lady who has lived a sheltered life and consequently has no idea how cruel public-school bullying can be. When she meets Jarvis, a young man obsessed with avenging all those students who delight in his daily debasement, she resolves to intervene before tragedy unfolds. Mouvements Perpétuels tells of Cäcilia, a young lady shunned by her birth father. She longs for the approval of an older man, so when her ice-skating instructor attempts to take advantage of her, she cannot resist. Not a month later, she realizes that she is pregnant and must decide whether or not to get an abortion. Passion Bearer tells of Manon, a young lady who falls in love with a beautiful actress after taking a post as a script girl for a film company—and is subsequently confronted with the pettiest kinds of homophobia.

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Enjoy this peek inside:

London, 29 September, 1917.

 

Sophie paused beside a stock-brick building, and she listened for the unnerving rumble of an airship’s engine car. How long has it been since the last bombardment? Sometime before, as she had stood in this very spot, she had heard the Zeppelin clearly enough.

 

At that point, a Royal-Navy carbide flare had streaked heavenward. Then, from the neighboring rooftops, fifty or more pom-pom guns had opened fire–and the night air had filled with the odor of something like petroleum coke.

 

Yes, I remember. Now she braced herself for a salvo of fire.

 

No deafening tumult rang out. Neither did any sickening, stenchful fumes envelope her person.

 

No, it’s just my nerves. She glanced at the sky, and she whispered a simple prayer of thanksgiving.

 

From around the corner, an omnibus approached.

 

She climbed aboard and rode the way to Mayfair Tearoom.

 

The establishment had never looked so inviting as it did that night. By now, the proprietress had decorated the tables with Michaelmas daisies the color of amethyst, and she had adorned the china cabinet with ornamental cabbage. Moreover, how appetizing the scent of the fresh Eccles cakes.

 

The tearoom had attracted quite a crowd, too, the young ladies all decked out in silken gowns.

 

I wonder why. Sophie removed her coat, and she suddenly felt underdressed—for she had not worn anything too fancy that evening, just a puffed blouse and a fluted skirt. At once, she sat down at one of the last available dinette tables.

 

An eclipse of moths fluttered through the transom, meanwhile, and even they looked better than she did. What beauty the creatures’ wings—a fine royal purple.

 

Don’t look at them. Alas, when she turned her attention to the doorsill, a dull ache radiated up and down her left arm.

 

Not a moment later, a tall, gaunt lad, his eyes a shade of whiskey brown, entered the tearoom.

 

For a time, he glared at the patrons—as if at any moment he might remove a musketoon from beneath his frock coat and shoot everyone.

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Author M. Laszlo

  1. Laszlo is the pseudonym of a reclusive author living in Bath, Ohio. According to rumor, he based the pen name on the name of the Paul Henreid character in Casablanca, Victor Laszlo.
  2. Laszlo has lived and worked all over the world, and he has kept exhaustive journals and idea books corresponding to each location and post.

 

It is said that the maniacal habit began in childhood during summer vacations—when his family began renting out Robert Lowell’s family home in Castine, Maine.

 

The habit continued in 1985 when, as an adolescent, he spent the summer in London, England. In recent years, he revisited that journal/idea book and based his first work, The Phantom Glare of Day, on the characters, topics, and themes contained within the youthful writings. In crafting the narrative arcs, he decided to divide the work into three interrelated novellas and to set each one in the WW-I era so as to make the work as timeless as possible.

 

  1. Laszlo has lived and worked in New York City, East Jerusalem, and several other cities around the world. While living in the Middle East, he worked for Harvard University’s Semitic Museum. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio and an M.F.A. in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.

 

His next work is forthcoming from SparkPress in 2024. There are whispers that the work purports to be a genuine attempt at positing an explanation for the riddle of the universe and is based on journals and idea books made while completing his M.F.A at Sarah Lawrence College.

On Amazon

 

NOTE: THIS BOOK WILL BE $0.99 DURING THE TOUR.

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

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Cut From Stone by Brendan O’Meara ~ Peek Inside And Giveaway

Posted: December 29, 2022 in Dystopian, Excerpt, giveaways, YA
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18

 

Cut From Stone

by Brendan O’Meara

 

Publication date: September 29th 2022
Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult

The world is fresh from humanity splitting in half – the BlankZone in the East and the Federation in the West. As an inevitable attack from the BlankZone looms, the Federation makes swift, mysterious, and unexpected moves to prepare.

James, a 17-year-old living in the Federation, is drafted by the military. He learns he has been selected to join a group of skilled teens who will be transformed into elite human weapons. Follow James and his friends as they mature from teenagers to lethal warriors. Together, they will face life altering events as they navigate a new existence dedicated to protecting their friends, families, and humanity at all costs.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Enjoy this peek inside:

The screen was broken into multiple squares focused on Northern Africa. Instead of the differentiated plains of grass, earth, and water with settlements sprinkled throughout, there was a sprawling web of interconnected buildings, roads, and a brand-new infrastructure spanning the width of the continent and trailing off the screen to the south.

They completely took over.

They weren’t practice. They were their base, James thought in terror of the army that required an entire continent to operate.

As the images filtered in, the web of settlements grew throughout the landmass. There were entire squares filled with what looked like long, lean barracks neighboring full towns of armories, each covering the same square mileage as a major city.

Harbors along the coasts were filled with ships and docks, while airfields were strewn throughout the flatlands displaying gleaming rows of chrome weaponry perfectly arrayed, wing to wing.

“How the hell did they pull this off?” asked Stacie. “It’s just… wham, an entire continent disappeared and in its place… this.”

“We have no clue. We’re having trouble determining exactly when all of this happened, but it must have been months ago.” Months?! James’s mind was spinning, thinking of the physical demands and resources it would take to build infrastructure of this magnitude. They were looking at a decades long project at the least. If whoever ran the BlankZone accomplished all of this in a matter of months, what else were they capable of?

He kept scanning the area when he noticed clouds were blocking some of the images. He moved closer and realized they were moving in an odd pattern, flowing over the land, and petering out along the southwest coast. He looked around trying to find where they started, but the originator was offscreen.

Is that smoke? He wondered what source of fire could be so widespread it caused clouds on such a grand scale. His mind drifted to pictures of volcanos he studied in high school.

“How did we get these?” James asked, trying to wrap his mind around the enormous scale of the base.

“Same as before. A break in their satellite protection and constant attempts to hack through,” Croyton replied. “Different this time though.”

“How so?” asked Stacie from the other end of the line. “They meant us to see these shots.”
“A warning,” James said quietly.

“A threat,” Croyton replied stonily. “They want us to know what they’re capable of, how easily they can assert control without blinking an eye. The ships were a warning. This…” He shook his head, unblinking. “This tells us how ready they are.”

Author Brendan O’Meara:

Raised in White Plains, New York, Brendan O’Meara formed a love of stories and books from a young age. He has spent his free time over the last decade crafting his debut novel, Cut From Stone, book one in the Crafting Humanity series.

It began in Philadelphia where he attended college daydreaming about a dystopian reality. With a vivid imagination (as described by his middle school teachers) and a passion for adventure, Brendan’s novels will transport you to a different life and capture you from cover to cover.

Brendan lives in Washington, DC with his daughter, wife, and two dogs. You will find him on the weekends drinking a beer watching the Packers and Notre Dame football games. He is an avid reader with a specific interest in sci-fi, anything dystopian, fantasy, history, and all levels of fiction.

Brendan would love to hear from you, feel free to contact him any time at brendan.omeara@craftinghumanity.com.

Finally, visit craftinghumanity.com and sign up for our email lists for news, updates, and information on the rest of the Crafting Humanity series. We will not spam you!

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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.

Nine Bear Lodge by Keith A. Hamilton ~ Exclusive Excerpt And Giveaway

Posted: December 28, 2022 in Excerpt, fiction, giveaways
Tags: ,
21

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

Author Keith A. Hamilton will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

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

Nine Bear Lodge

by Keith A. Hamilton

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis

The beautiful Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia provides a dramatic backdrop in a story of two men who crossed paths years before, who meet again by chance. Taking his family on a bucket list vacation, a former smuggler confronts the former policeman who had arrested and tortured him many years before. The family enjoys the luxury setting and the variety of activities provided by the Nine Bear Lodge, while the two men come to grips with their shared past. Will one man take the ultimate revenge, or will they both find a path to redemption and reconciliation?

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Enjoy this exclusive excerpt:

…he heard the sound of a lock being opened, and someone approached through an opening door. He still couldn’t see much in the gloom, then suddenly all was white light. He hissed as the sudden brightness seared his eyes.

 

“Wolfgang Schnable,” said a voice he didn’t recognize.

 

“No one has called me that for a long time,” he replied, trying to keep his voice steady and trying to sound as calm as he was beginning to feel again.

 

“Yes, Wolfie, we know all about you. We’ve been watching you for some time.”

 

He let that go without a response. It had to be simple truth, and it told him quite a bit about who his adversary was. He tried a gambit.

 

“You’re not with a rival gang or I’d already be dead. You’re not with the Federal Police or I’d be in a different space, and my lawyer would be chewing out the ass of the arresting officer and his supervisor, following which I would get an apology from the local chief and a discount on my normal bribe rate. So that tells me there’s something bigger happening. Let me out of this ridiculous place and get me some dry clothing, a bottle of Reisling, and a cigarette. We should be comfortable when we start our negotiations.”

 

“Not so fast, I’m afraid, Wolfie old pal. We have enough on you to put you in a very uncomfortable place for a very long time. I don’t give a damn about you, and I’d be just as happy handing this thick file over to the local Bundesgrenzschutz. They would salivate at the prospect of getting you put away. And don’t think even your expensive lawyer and your extensive bribes would save your ass.”

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About Author Keith A. Hamilton

Since the early 1990s, Keith A. Hamilton has lived and worked in small remote Indigenous communities throughout Northern and Western Canada. He has made Bella Coola his home since 2016. He and his wife and their dog enjoy the beauty and serenity of the Central Coast region.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Chaos At Carnegie Hall ~ A Fiona Figg & Kitty Lane Mystery by Kelly Oliver

Posted: December 19, 2022 in Cozy Mystery, Excerpt, giveaways, Historical
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Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver Banner

Chaos at Carnegie Hall

by Kelly Oliver

 

 

December 5 – 30, 2022 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey in the Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane Mystery series opener.

Can Fiona catch a killer and find a decent cup of tea before her mustache wax melts?

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1917. New York. Notorious spy, Fredrick Fredricks, has invited Fiona to Carnegie Hall to hear a famous soprano. It’s an opportunity the War Office can’t turn down. Fiona and Clifford are soon on their way, but not before Fiona is saddled with chaperon duties for Captain Hall’s niece. Is Fiona a spy or a glorified babysitter? From the minute Fiona meets the soprano aboard the RMS Adriatic it’s treble on the high C’s. Fiona sees something—or someone—thrown overboard, and then she overhears a chemist plotting in German with one of her own countrymen! And the trouble doesn’t stop when they disembark. Soon Fiona is doing time with a group of suffragettes and investigating America’s most impressive inventor Thomas Edison. When her number one suspect turns up dead at the opera and Fredrick Fredricks is caught red-handed, it looks like it’s finally curtains for the notorious spy. But all the evidence points to his innocence. Will Fiona change her tune and clear her nemesis’ name? Or will she do her duty? And just what is she going to do with the pesky Kitty Lane? Not to mention swoon-worthy Archie Somersby… If Fiona’s going to come out on top, she’s going to have to make the most difficult decision of her life: the choice between her head and her heart.

 

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery

Published by: Boldwood Books Publication Date: November 2022 Number of Pages: 298 ISBN: 9781804831564 Series: The Fiona Figg Mysteries

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

* * * Inside, the cabin was the opposite of Hugo Schweitzer’s. Whereas the German’s room was disorderly and repulsive, this man’s berth was tidy and attractive. In fact, it hardly looked occupied. The bed was made in a neat military style. There wasn’t an article of clothing nor a personal item in sight. A faint scent of pine and citrus graced the room. Like a familiar embrace, the uniform order and pleasing smell put me at ease. Hugo Schweitzer’s disgusting mess had allowed clues to remain hidden in plain sight. This man’s neatness required clever hiding places. Where would I hide a secret document in this room? Under the mattress? In the wardrobe? Sewn inside an article of clothing? I crossed the room. Getting to the wardrobe was considerably easier than it had been in Schweitzer’s clutter. When I opened the wardrobe, a waft of pine and citrus caressed my nostrils again. I thought of Archie. When would I see him again? Concentrate, Fiona. Now was not the time to behave like a lovesick schoolgirl. Two neat suits hung on hangers, spaced apart like sentries guarding a gate. One was a uniform. A British uniform. Could this traitor be in the British army? The other was a black evening suit. Whatever the blackguard was wearing under that trench coat constituted his third and final outfit. There were no more. Standing to attention at the bottom of the wardrobe were two tall black boots. I bent down to get a closer look. Inside a boot would make a decent hiding place. “Looking for something?” a man’s voice boomed from behind me. I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut tight. If only I were wearing my maid’s costume—although what maid would be cleaning at this time of night? I should have changed into Harold the helpful bellboy. At least then I’d be dressed as a man. As it was, I was wearing a flimsy evening gown and as vulnerable as a lamb in a ship full of wolves. Did I dare turn around and face my accuser? “Did you find it?” The voice was closer now… and softer… and familiar. Good heavens. I whipped around and practically flew into his arms. “Archie.” He chuckled. “I should have known I’d find you breaking into my room.” He pulled me into an embrace. “Fiona. Dear Fiona.” He kissed the top of my head. I buried my head in his shoulder. Ahhh. The scent of pine and citrus… and those horrible Kenilworth cigarettes. The scent of Lieutenant Archie Somersby. My heart was racing. From being scared out of my wits, or from being in Archie’s embrace, I didn’t know. “What are you doing here?” “I could ask you the same.” He held me tighter. “You, first.” I inhaled his familiar presence. “I will tell you, but only because it’s necessary.” He pulled out of the embrace and held me out at arm’s length. “It’s crucial that you don’t expose me.” “Expose you?” I had to censor my imagination. His earnest green eyes framed by those dark lashes and that wild lock of chestnut hair falling across his forehead made it deuced difficult. “I’m on an important mission.” He fortified his countenance with a steely gaze. “You mustn’t let on that you know me. In fact, you should stay away from me.” He pulled a gold pocket watch out of his waistcoat pocket and glanced at it. I pulled my arm out of his grip. “Does your mission involve Hugo Schweitzer?” My tone was pained, but I couldn’t help it. I wished my feelings for him weren’t so strong. After all, I hardly knew him. Still, I knew he worked for British Intelligence, despite Fredrick Fredricks’s accusations to the contrary. Afterall, who was more trustworthy? A German spy or a British soldier, an especially attractive one too? Archie tilted his head and gave me a quizzical look. “How did you know?” “I saw you together earlier on deck.” Without a doubt, the trench coat and fedora Archie was wearing, along with his sleek silhouette and graceful gait, were identical to those of my mysterious compatriot and Hugo Schweitzer’s clandestine companion. He laughed. “I should have known that was you watching us.” He kissed me on the cheek. “Fiona, you’re an ace. I’ve never met a girl quite like you.” His eyes danced mischievously. The way he was laughing, I didn’t know whether to be insulted or flattered. Wait a blooming minute. “Did you forget something?” I’d seen that amused expression before. “Why did you return to your cabin?” “To catch you in the act, love.” Archie grinned. “So, you saw me in the corridor?” He raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Afraid so.” I punched his shoulder. “And instead of saying anything, you pulled this trick?” “I’m sorry.” He intercepted my hand and brought it to his lips. “Can you forgive me?” I pulled out of his grip. “Only if you can tell me about Mr. Schweitzer and the chemists’ war.” “You know I can’t do that.” He sighed. “It’s classified.” “What does the war have to do with aspirin, the headache remedy?” He led me to the bed, sat down, and patted the bedcover, inviting me to sit too. My cheeks flamed. It was only then that I realized I was alone in a gentleman’s room… after midnight, no less. Dilly Knox’s words echoed through my head. “Our Fiona will do anything for King and country, don’t you know.” That only strengthened my resolve. I was on official business and not a romantic getaway. I took a seat on the bed and tucked my gown tightly around my thighs. “You were going to tell me about aspirin?” “You’re nothing if not persistent.” Archie smiled and put his arm around my shoulders. I scooted to the head of the bed and out of his reach. “Aspirin?” He shook his head. “You really are quite a girl.” I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him. “Righto.” His smiled faded. “Aspirin is made from a chemical called phenol.” Phenol. I’d heard Hugo Schweitzer mention it. And phenol was in the letter from the Kaiser. The Kaiser’s letter. Should I tell Archie about the letter? Or report it to Captain Hall first? “What does phenol have to do with the war?” “We need phenol to make trinitrotoluene.” Archie gave me a knowing look. I gave him an ignorant stare in return. “What is trinitrotoluene?” “TNT.” “The explosive?” He nodded. “Golly.” Still, why did it matter if aspirin and TNT shared one element? How did that affect the war? Could aspirin be turned into an explosive? “Golly is right.” When he smiled, tiny dimples appeared at the corners of his mouth. I had to stop myself from reaching across the bed to touch that tempting lock of wavy hair… and those dimples. Stop it, Fiona. You’re on an espionage mission and not on holiday. A holiday with Archie… how divine. Stop! Just stop. “I’m sorry we can’t work together in the open.” He took my hand and kissed it. “But for now, I’m undercover and I have to stop Schweitzer at all costs.” “I have a confession.” I sat on my hands to keep from touching him. “I broke into Hugo Schweitzer’s cabin.” Archie sat up straighter. “Go on.” “He has a briefcase full of papers and letters… in German.” “Yes,” Archie said encouragingly. “One of the letters was from the Kaiser.” I glanced over at him. “I don’t suppose you can recount the letter verbatim?” He raised his eyebrows. He’d seen me do it before. “I don’t suppose you have a pencil and paper?” I released my hands from their bondage. Archie got up and went to the dressing table. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper and then withdrew a pencil from his breast pocket and held it up. I joined him and sat down at the table. He placed the paper on the table in front of me and handed me the pencil. “Work your magic, my love.” My pulse quickened. Did Archie just call me my love? My cheeks warmed. With a smile in my heart, I closed my eyes and let the words form before my mind like captions across a black screen. I didn’t know what they meant, but I could see them as clearly as if I were holding the letter in my hands. I opened my eyes and began setting to paper what I had seen. My hand was flying across the page. When I finished, I scanned my reproduction and then held it up to Archie. He’d been breathing over my shoulder as I wrote, which was deuced distracting. As he read, the grim look on his face spoke volumes. “Good God,” he gasped. “So that is what they’re up to. And the phenol plot goes all the way to the Kaiser himself.” He dropped the paper on the dressing table. “Schweitzer is siphoning off phenol from the allies on orders from the Kaiser himself.” Siphoning off phenol. The chemical needed to make explosives. So that was the phenol plot. The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. “Fiona, you’re a genius.” I couldn’t help but smile. His eyes hardened. “I’ve got to stop him.” Archie’s hand trembled as he ran it through his hair. “I’ve got to stop Schweitzer.” I gazed up at him with as much resolve as I could muster. “You mean we’ve got to stop him.” *** Excerpt from Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver. Copyright 2022 by Kelly Oliver. Reproduced with permission from Kelly Oliver. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Kelly Oliver:

Kelly Oliver

Kelly Oliver is the award-winning and bestselling author of three mystery series: the seven-book suspense series, The Jessica James Mysteries; the three-book middle grade series, Pet Detective Mysteries; and the four-book historical cozy series, The Fiona Figg Mysteries. Chaos at Carnegie Hall is the latest Fiona Figg mystery, and the first to feature sidekick, Kitty Lane. When she’s not writing novels, Kelly is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University.

To learn more about Kelly and her books, go to: www.KellyOliverBooks.com Goodreads BookBub – @KellyOliverBook Instagram – @KellyOliverBook Twitter – @KellyOliverBook Facebook – @KellyOliverAuthor

 

 

Tour Participants:

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GIVEAWAY:

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Kelly Oliver. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.
 

 

 

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

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