Most Anticipated Releases.... and a Giveaway

 

We are excited to share 13 upcoming titles we’re raving about! Check out the beautiful upcoming titles and be sure to enter the giveaway

Pre-Order and Enter the Giveaway!

 

Legacy of Lies by Jen Talty - June 8th

The Wicked Aftermath by Melissa Foster - June 9th

Becoming Wilde by HK Jacobs - June 13th

Secret Enemy by Katie Reus - June 15th

Since You’ve Been Gone by Samantha Chase - June 29th

Hot Summer School Nights by Ivy Smoak - June 29th

Assigned by Paris Wynters - July 22nd

Rob Starr by JA Howard - August

Broken Love by Cassia Leo - September 21st

By Chance by Sigal Ehrlich - September 30th

Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley - October 1st

Hard Ball by S.A. Clayton - Out Now!

Saving Tess by J. Lynn Bailey - Out Now!

Legacy of Lies by Jen Talty - June 8th

What if the mother you thought had died, was alive and well and living fifty miles away?Katie Bateman’s mother died years ago, or so she thought. That all changed the day a stranger came into her office asking her to find his missing wife, who looks an awful lot like her late mother. Katie, a little spooked by the resemblance, goes to her FBI friend, Jacob Donovan, whose father had been close friends with her mother and her uncle. Jacob chalks it up to someone who just looks like her mother. How could it be anyway? She was dead. Besides, Jacob is pre-occupied with a case where young girls are going missing and now turning up dead.Katie starts to uncover some inconsistencies in her new client's missing wife’s case. As she digs deeper, she finds a picture of Edward’s wife and it’s the exact same picture, the only picture, that Katie has of her late mother.The closer Katie gets to finding Edward’s wife, her mother, the closer she comes to the final game. Edwards game.

The Wicked Aftermath by Melissa Foster - June 9th

THE WICKED AFTERMATH is an emotionally gripping story of love, loss, and hope, with a rich and entrancing happily ever after. All Wicked novels may be enjoyed as standalone romances.   When the person you blame for your grief is the only one who can save you from the pain... Tank Wicked lost his sister and has since vowed to save everyone else in his path. He lives by the creed of the Dark Knights motorcycle club, sworn to protect and respect his community. He selflessly saves lives as a volunteer firefighter and treats the men and women who work for him at his tattoo shop like family. But life isn’t a balance scale where good deeds negate bad things to come, and one foggy night life guts Tank once again. When a car careens over the side of a bridge and into a river, Tank springs into action, plunging into the water to rescue the passengers. Four people go into the river, but only three come out alive.   Leah Yates is just trying to make it through each day. When the man she blames for her grief becomes the only one who can pull her from the depths of despair, she discovers that even hope comes at a price. Maybe this time she won't have to face it alone.

Becoming Wilde by HK Jacobs - June 13th

Is this the beginning of our epic love story?   Alexandra Wilde's life is beyond her wildest dreams. After a tumultuous year, she has returned to Botswana as a full-fledged pediatric ICU doctor and reignites a consuming romance with Ian Devall, the privileged philanthropist who has captured her heart. Her new position at the hospital is fraught with challenges as saving lives pushes her resourcefulness to the brink. Meanwhile, her connection with Ian deepens, and she realizes that forging a commitment with him will require a sacrifice she isn't ready to make. As she teeters on the precipice of decision, tragedy strikes and sends her into a spiral of grief where she must find hope in adversity...or risk losing everything she has become. 

  

Secret Enemy by Katie Reus - June 15th

Return to the USA Today bestselling Red Stone Security series! He thinks she’s out of his league. Lyosha Vasiliev met Mila by chance, and now she’s all he thinks about. But the two couldn’t be more different, so Lyosha won’t go there. As a security expert, he skirts the law on the regular. Unlike Mila, the newest employee at Red Stone Security, who spends her free time volunteering at an animal shelter. Despite his determination to stay away from her, when it becomes clear his past has come back to haunt him—and poses a threat to her—Lyosha immediately steps in. And he’ll cross any line to keep her safe. But he can’t seem to walk away. Mila met Lyosha when he brought in a half-starved stray cat to the shelter she volunteers at. He tries to act tough—and okay, he is. He should be the last man she wants, but she loves his sexy tattoos, gruff demeanor, and that he has a marshmallow inside that only she gets to see. When someone threatens her, he’s convinced it’s linked to his past. He’s made it clear that he’ll protect her with his life—but he won’t give her his heart. Not when he blames himself for bringing danger to her doorstep. Except Mila isn’t the kind of woman who walks away from what she wants. And Lyosha finds himself unwilling to let her go without a fight.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Samantha Chase - June 29th

Emmaline Ryan has always been the smart, shy girl who plays it safe. But all that’s gotten her is a divorce and a mountain of debt to pay off courtesy of her ex-husband. Needless to say, she’s stopped believing in miracles and fairy tales a long time ago. Except now she’s in desperate need of one those miracles if she wants to save her family’s animal rescue. Emmaline knows just where to go for help, but that means putting her faith in the hands of the man who once broke her heart without even realizing it.   Garrett Coleman met the girl of his dreams when he was just eight years old – only, he never told her. But that was years ago. Now, Garrett has become a reluctant social media star – the shirtless #HotDoc and #SexyVet who saves scared and helpless animals. Sure, it’s been great for business, but he’d give anything for people to see the real him, preferably with a shirt on. When a visit home to Magnolia Sound has him running into the shy girl he left behind, he sees his chance at the future he never thought he deserved. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one back in town, and wooing Emmaline just became a lot more complicated.   A lot has changed since he’s been gone and Garrett is going to have to prove that he’s up to the challenge. Emmaline might still be the sweet and quiet girl he left behind, but he’s not sure she willing to wait.

Hot Summer School Nights by Ivy Smoak - June 29th

All new and exclusive enemies to lovers and bully romance short stories and previews.

Assigned by Paris Wynters - July 22nd

How can she become a new version of herself when she’s married to her past?   After two of his buddies found love through the military's matchmaking program, Lucas Craiger decides to give it a shot. He’s not necessarily looking for love, just companionship and a kind, reliable stepmom for his young son. When he’s assigned to his high school sweetheart who shattered his heart, his plan for an uncomplicated relationship becomes acutely complicated.   Riley Thompson signed up for the matchmaking program because she needs a fresh start—and the health insurance. She desperately wants to build a life with a man where her autoimmune disease doesn’t define her and she can prove herself. But being matched with Lucas isn’t the new beginning she wanted. He’s the love of her life she let go when she was first diagnosed.   Lucas is determined to make the most of this second chance with Riley, but when his custody battle heats up, his new marriage isn't the only relationship in jeopardy.

Rob Starr by JA Howard - August

How far would you go to get the guy everyone wants? Rob Starr (sigh) was out of Mia Morgan's league. Of course, she had a crush on him. Everyone did. But in her case, it would just be way too weird to admit that. For starters, their moms were best friends and Mia had known Rob since she was five. But while Mia was now a demi-geek with relentlessly frizzy hair, Rob had become a demi-god and Ellsworth High's basketball superstar. Besides, he’d been going out with the totally perfect Chloe Olsen since, like, forever.   But one October afternoon, a terrible accident changes everything. Suddenly, Mia and Rob are living in the same house and spending a lot of time alone together.   Soon, Mia’s world was different in ways she never thought possible: new clothes, new friends, and an incredibly hot boyfriend. But was any of it real? Would any of it last? And did getting everything she thought she ever wanted mean giving up who she really was?

Broken Love by Cassia Leo - September 21st

Broken Love is an intensely emotional romance in the Love Like This series from New York Times bestselling author Cassia Leo. Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone.

By Chance by Sigal Ehrlich - September 30th

A sizzling romance under wraps – what do you do when the sparks are too bright to hide?   There’s so much going on in Vicky’s life. A demanding job as the only female VP at a male-dominated company, good times with her tight-knit group of best ladies, and of course, her fabulous dating life. A committed relationship is somewhere near the bottom of Vicky’s list of life goals. A massive fan of new beginnings and the thrill of being swooned off her feet, Vicky has the perfect formula: date, for a limited period, and never exclusively. Not many people go to sleep anonymous and wake up the next morning a worldwide sensation. With a voice that melts hearts, and a dangerously lethal smile, Ricky’s overnight fame means he can have anyone he wants, but the one he wants isn’t into a serious relationship. To make matters worse, pursuing her goes against his record contract stipulation to remain single. Opposites don’t simply attract – they detonate. When a forbidden sizzling affair sparks between the music industry’s newest heartthrob and an ambitious corporate world prodigy, it brings along an ageless question – would you give up your dreams for a chance with The One?

Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley - October 1st

From award-winning author Cathy Yardley comes Love, Comment, Subscribe, a fun, feisty romance about high school frenemies turned unlikely collaborators. Back in high school, Lily Wang wanted to be popular, but she considered herself lucky to be part of a tight group of oddballs and honors students called the Nerd Herd. Now, at twenty-eight, she feels like she’s finally on the cusp of succeeding as a beauty influencer—if she can hit five million subscribers, brands will take notice and she could get her own makeup line. Fellow Nerd Herd alum Tobin Bui has had a lot of success as a YouTube gamer. But the road to online stardom has been rocky. First, he disappointed his parents by dropping out of college, and now, after years of pranks, skits, and playthroughs, he’s struggling to come up with new content to satisfy his ever-growing fan base. His agents say he needs cross-audience appeal, a new twist. When Nerd Herd frenemy Lily approaches Tobin about teaming up to do a video to bolster her brand and reinvigorate his, he agrees. But when their first collab video goes viral, their relationship heats up too. With the whole internet watching, will these two former misfits finally realize they’re perfect together?

Hard Ball by S.A. Clayton - Out Now!

Hardball- Noun: A forceful uncompromising method employed to gain an end. Meeting Harper Stevens was never my plan. She crashed into my life and knocked me on my ass. The only problem? She wants nothing to do with me. Josh Anderson is everything I didn’t want in my life. He was persistent, cocky and ever worse? The star third baseman for the Hawks. After my fathers death I swore I’d never be a part of that world again. And yet here I am thinking about a man who lives and breathes baseball. I can’t seem to shake him or the memory the way his hands felt on my skin. Can I set aside my fears or will my past ruin everything?

Saving Tess by J. Lynn Bailey - Out Now!

HIM Casey Atwood, a top contender in this year’s World Finals for the Professional Bull Riders, would rather leave Dillon Creek in his rearview mirror. He wants the past in the past with each eight-second ride. He’s not into the fame or the money of it all, he’s addicted to the adrenaline that allows him to forget. But when Casey receives a letter from a local attorney that would put him, and the only woman that’s ever owned his heart, in the same place for an extended period, he’s not so sure about his future with the PBR, about his heart, especially with their fragile past. HER Tess Morgan is scheduled, regimented. A first-grade teacher, proficient in organization and list management, she finds solace with her students and has loved teaching since she started the profession. But when Tess loses her job, everything starts to unravel, including her history with Casey Atwood.When she receives a letter from a local attorney, tying her past to her future, she takes the opportunity—that is until Casey Atwood appears at the door, rugged, sexy, and unpredictable. Yet the secret that ties them together leaves them both grasping for anything to help mend their hearts.Eventually, the madness and chaos of that night all those years ago return and they can’t seem to stop the heartbreak they’re both headed for.Will Casey and Tess have the ability to face their demons, or will they both break before the healing begins?  

Enter the Giveaway:

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Guest Post from Addie Woolridge, Author of The Checklist and a Giveaway

Guest Post: Checklists, Broken Hearts, & James Brown with Author Addie Woolridge

 

Hi, I’m Addie Woolridge, author of The Checklist. A bit about me—I am a classically trained opera singer with a deep devotion to glitter, coffee, Beyoncé, and The Rock. In my free time, I am also a marathon runner who is desperate to finish up the seven continents marathon challenge so that I can retire and go on vacations where running is not a requirement (just two races left, Sydney and Antarctica). I was born and raised outside of Seattle, WA, and although I now call Northern California my home, a piece of my heart will always be soggy in Seattle. That’s why I set my debut novel, The Checklist there!

 

The Checklist is a multicultural, contemporary rom-com that centers around Dylan Delacroix, a type-A, corporate consultant with a plan for her life. That plan includes making partner at her firm and purchasing a condo in Texas with her boyfriend. It does not include dealing with her bohemian family and their longstanding feud with their straight-laced neighbors. However, that plan is derailed when she accidentally upstages her temperamental boss. Banished by her boss, she is forced to return to Seattle on a career-killing assignment to try and revive a struggling tech company. Once she is home, she is immediately sent to negotiate a peace with the neighbors. Between her client, her fizzling relationship, and her family, it is hard enough for Dylan to stay on track, but when she finds herself falling for the neighbors’ son, Mike, sticking to the plan becomes near impossible. As pressure mounts, Dylan has to decide if she wants to keep checking things off of her list, or if she needs a new plan entirely.

 

I love Dylan so much, even when she is messy and uptight! While coming up with her, I was inspired by the idea of a fish out of water. I think a lot of people are expected to grow up to be like Dylan—responsible, competent, and predictable. I wanted to play with the idea that what many of us are told is “normal” behavior could be absolutely bizarre to someone else.

 

To write Dylan, I borrowed a few things from my life (take that terrible exes!). Like Dylan, I do make lists anytime I feel like things are getting a little chaotic, although I love colored markers and glitter, and Dylan would never sully a list with glitter. Both of us are Janet Jackson devotees—seriously, do not get me started on how much credit I think she deserves for normalizing female sexuality or we could be here all day. Also, both of us have perfected the OMG-this-is-bad smile. At this stage, my coworkers can spot “the smile” a mile away and know to ask what is wrong (or, maybe they know to hide from me?).

 

Unlike Dylan, I’m not named for a 60s folk singer (I actually have a family name and I love it). Nor do I have an awesome corporate wardrobe (I’m a skirts and dresses with pockets kind of girl). Similarly, none of our family dogs were as well behaved as Milo, who is not well behaved so that is saying something. Our family once had a German Shepherd who chewed up three couches when we weren’t home. Feathers were everywhere. That dog was so naughty and we loved her like she was made of gold.

 

The biggest thing that we have in common is that both of us have loving, albeit quirky families. My family is not composed of visual artists (with the exception of my Aunt Bob), but we are creative. Like Dylan’s family, my parents gave us a lot of freedom. We had one real rule, you had to be kind. Other than that, the rules were kind of a hodgepodge of different parenting philosophies. One of my favorite childhood “rules” came from the James Brown song, Hot Pants. My parents would frequently quote the lyric, “Never let anyone tell you how to wear your pants.” To them, it meant that no one in the family could tell you how to dress. It also meant that I wore overalls and Doc Martens at least three days a week throughout high school. Thanks, mom and dad.

 

To wrap it up, I hope that readers see a little bit of themselves and the people they love in this book. I also hope that readers get a break from the real world and fall in love with the Delacroix family, Mike, and Dylan—lists and all.

The Checklist Excerpt

“Dear God. Are they trying to signal someone in outer space?” Setting her book down, Dylan unpretzeled herself from the armchair she’d been installed in. Quietly she opened her bedroom door to survey the rest of the house’s response to the neighbor’s giant motion light. 

“I told you so! Now, do what you must.” Bernice’s mocking voice floated up three stories. Dylan marveled at her hearing the bedroom door open over her dad’s experimental Ghanaian drum-circle music. 

“I’m on it,” Dylan called back before slinking down the stairs and grabbing her heels from over by the door. “‘Do what you must.’ Who says that?” she mumbled as she reached for the handle, already regretting how quickly she’d caved. What had she said to her mother? Something about her age and independence? Obviously, that wasn’t true. 

Cursing herself, she closed her parents’ door and began the slog to the Robinsons’ house. Although modestly painted and well landscaped, the house wasn’t entirely dissimilar to her parents’ home. However, it was scientifically impossible for the family living inside of the house to have less in common with her own. Linda and Patricia Robinson were both tech-industry big shots in their own right. Linda was a patent attorney and the recent recipient of the Latina Bar Association’s Trailblazer Award, a fact she never failed to mention. Patricia was an accomplished programmer and volunteer youth-cheerleading coach who’d even made the cover of American Cheerleader magazine when her all-Black squad had pulled a real-life Bring It On–style competition victory. Both had come through the tech boom when the industry had still employed few women, and they took absolutely no shit from anyone—including Dylan’s parents. Dylan believed her parents objected more to the Robinson women’s love of golf than their jobs. As far as Bernice was concerned, golf was like standing for hours in a glorified front lawn.

The Robinsons had two boys around Dylan’s age, and she had been jealous of the entire family growing up. They’d gone to church and played organized sports, their clothes had always matched, and their mothers had joined the PTA. Dylan’s dad had endured a short stint with the PTA, but the Delacroix didn’t do organized anything. If Dylan had left the house wearing something that matched, it was by accident. 

Distracted by the past, Dylan had stopped paying attention to where she was walking until her foot sank into the divot near a storm drain, filling her heel with water. She cursed, her heart thwapping in her chest. Visions of her father toilet papering the neighbors’ house ran unchecked through her head. As did the memory of her mother nailing the police citation to the Robinsons’ door when it had arrived in the mail a week later. Dylan thought this was a tame response where Bernice was concerned, but it led to the Robinsons sending boxes of craft-store glitter to the house. The Robinsons had lost that round, and the joke was on them, because her mother loved glitter. It had appeared in several of her most lauded collages that year, which she’d named for Linda and Patricia Robinson when she’d taken out an ad in the Seattle Times to feature the work.

Ignoring the panic sweat forming on her palms, Dylan knocked on the door, then frowned, looking down at her soaked woolen pant leg. If she didn’t dry-clean those ASAP, they were going to reek. 

“One minute.” She had barely registered a man’s voice when the door swung open. “Hello.” 

“Uh. Hi.” Dylan’s voice cracked. 

Mike was, if possible, better looking than the last time she had seen him. His thick hair had been cut short, highlighting his high cheekbones and the ambient glow of his golden-brown skin. Time had turned him into the sort of made-for-TV manly pretty that seemed unfair for one person to achieve. The vaguely chiseled features and broad-shouldered Latino archetype that beer commercials aspired to. 

Aware that she needed to state her purpose, Dylan said the first thing she thought—“You still live here?”—and instantly regretted her decision. 

“No, I’m visiting. Do you still live here?” Mike asked with an incredulous laugh. The Robinsons’ younger son filled up what felt like the entire doorframe, with one arm on the handle and the other resting comfortably on the jamb, as if being the J.Crew catalog guy were no big deal. 

“I’m staying with my parents while I’m here for a work assignment. How are you?” Dylan smoothed a hand over the hem of her blouse and collected herself. 

“Great. I live in Capitol Hill. I’m finishing my PhD at the U-Dub. I basically come here to bum dinner off my parents.” He smiled, and Dylan wished he still had braces. Braces had made him just above-average looking in high school. Now, hazel eyes and straight teeth made him uncomfortable to be around. Or maybe that was the vast amount of water in her shoe. 

“I’m sorry. My dad’s drum circle carries all the way over here. I forgot how loud it is.” Dylan gestured around the front door with a nervous laugh. 

“We’ve gotten used to it. Do you want to come in?” He stopped leaning on the frame and took a step back to let her in. 

“Thank you. I . . .” Dylan nodded, then paused as her shoe squelched. Panic left the little corner of her brain and seeped all the way to its outer edges as she tried to find a graceful retreat. If she walked in, she would track muddy water into the Robinsons’ otherwise spotless home, further cementing her place in the Worst Neighbor Hall of Fame. “Actually, I really shouldn’t.” 

Mike must have sensed her guilt, because his face relaxed into an easy smile. “No worries; I wouldn’t want to be seen entering the home of the enemy either.” 

“Oh no. It’s not that.” Dylan rushed to explain herself before she was firmly entrenched in Camp Dreadful Delacroix. “It’s just, my shoe is full of storm drain water, and your house is always spotless, and I don’t want to track it in.” She pointed erratically at her heel, which seemed more absurd now that she was drawing attention to it. What kind of Seattleite wore expensive shoes in this weather? “I promise I’m still significantly less strange than the rest of my family. Shoe thing aside.” She let her hands drop helplessly to her thighs. 

To her horror, Mike started laughing, his face cracking into a lopsided grin. “Why don’t you dump your shoe out and come in? My parents are picking up dinner, so we don’t have to tell them about the averted carpet disaster.” 

“That is probably the most reasonable option,” she admitted, adopting a woman-as-flamingo pose as she tried to take off one heel while still wearing the other. 

Wobbling precariously close to a fall, Dylan threw her hand out to catch the front of the house, but instead she caught the lean muscle of Mike’s bicep as he grabbed her forearm to keep her from toppling over. Appreciating the feel of muscle under the cotton dress shirt he wore, Dylan grabbed her heel and pulled. He likes the gym, she thought, smiling. Those don’t just happen overnight… 

***

About the Book

Title: The Checklist

Author: Addie Woolridge

Release Date: June 1, 2021

Publisher: Montlake

Summary

 

Killing it at work? Check. Gorgeous boyfriend? Check. Ambitions derailed by an insecure boss? Sigh—check.

 

Things were going a little too well for Dylan Delacroix. After upstaging her boss on a big account, she gets dispatched to the last place she wants to be: her hometown, Seattle. There, she must use her superstar corporate-consulting skills to curb the worst impulses of an impossibly eccentric tech CEO—if she doesn’t, she’s fired.

 

The fun doesn’t stop there: Dylan must also negotiate a ceasefire in the endless war between her bohemian parents and the straitlaced neighbors. Adding to the chaos is a wilting relationship with her boyfriend and a blossoming attraction to the neighbors’ smoking-hot son.

 

Suddenly Dylan has a million checklists, each a mile long. As personal and professional pressures mount, she finds it harder and harder to stay on track. Having always relied on her ability to manage the world around her, Dylan’s going to need a new plan. She may be down, but she’s definitely not out.

About the Author

Born and raised outside Seattle, Washington, Addie Woolridge is a classically trained opera singer with a degree in music from the University of Southern California, and she holds a master’s degree in public administration from Indiana University. Woolridge’s well-developed characters are a result of her love for diverse people, cultures, and experiences.

Woolridge currently lives in Northern California. When she isn’t writing or singing, Woolridge can be found baking; training for her sixth race in the Seven Continents Marathon Challenge; or taking advantage of the region’s signature beverage, wine.

Social Media Links

Website: https://addiewoolridge.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/addiewrites 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/addiewoolridge 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20788059.Addie_Woolridge 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/07c2363f267 

New Release for Francesca Penn & King Ellie, Authors of Hanlon's Play & Hale's Pawn

 

Titles: Hanlon's Play & Hale's Pawn 

Duet: The Alternate Duet 

Authors: Francesca Penn & King Ellie 

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Multicultural Romance

Release Date: June 4, 2021

An arranged marriage doesn’t tie you to one person. You could’ve been arranged to anyone... but how much more different or the same would things be?

An alternate Reality or for better understanding , a parallel universe. We’re still us but not in the way you think we are.

“I’ll embed myself into your system and destroy you from the inside. You’ll lose track of time and won’t know who you f*cking are without me moving inside of you. Don’t test me... Karessa Hanlon.”

- Jagger Hanlon

An arranged marriage doesn’t tie you to one person. You could’ve been arranged to anyone... but how much more different or the same would things be?

An alternate Reality or for better understanding , a parallel universe. We’re still us but not in the way you think we are.

“You chose me and here I am showing you just what you wanted. You’re in my world now, Mrs. Ainslee Hale, I make the rules. Deal with it.”

~Oran Hale~

=

Francesca Penn lives in Texas with her husband and son. While obtaining her Technical Writing degree, a creative writing course and playwriting elective reawakened her desire to create stories. Her brain lives in fiction; even the songs she listens to become music videos in her head.

When she is not writing, she can be found hounding her loved ones with multiple “What-if” scenarios. As a true closet romantic, she is prone to filling up her DVR with Hallmark movies. A friend once told her that she’d trained the whole 20 plus years she’d known her to write romance since her nose was always in a love story.

Francesca believes that love is colorblind and plans to provide a mix of couples of different races and ethnicities because – to her – men are like Skittles, and we all know their motto.

King Ellie discovered her love for dark romance through reading and as she read more and more of them, she discovered that this was the genre she wanted to write it. The antiheroes and what others would classify as villains, she sees them as an opportunity to show what a hurt, heartbroken male who is seen as anything but can love harder. The heroines get a chance to be loved deeply and only by the antiheroes. Love isn't always just black and white... it's a spectrum of color.

HOSTED BY:

Spotlight for Spin by Peter Zheutlin

 On June 25th, 1894, Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a young Jewish mother of three small children, stood before a crowd of 500 friends, family, suffragists and curious onlookers at the Massachusetts State House. She then climbed onto a 42- pound Columbia bicycle and, according to the Boston Evening Transcript, “sailed away like a kite down Beacon Street.” Fifteen months later, the New York World declared Annie’s round-the-world bicycle trip, “the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman.” 

In SPIN: A Novel Based on a (Mostly) True Story author Peter Zheutlin, the great grandnephew of Annie, reimagines the life of this extraordinary woman. Reportedly set in motion by a wager between two wealthy Boston merchants, the bet required Annie not only to circle the earth by bicycle in 15 months, but to earn $5,000 en route, as well. This was no mere test of a woman’s physical endurance and mental fortitude; it was a test of a woman’s ability to fend for herself in the world. 

Traveling with only a change of clothes and a pearl-handled revolver, Annie was outlandish, brash, and charismatic – a master of public relations, a consummate self-promoter, and a skillful creator of her own myth. In SPIN, this remarkable heroine and her marvelous, stranger-than-fiction story is vividly brought to life for a new generation. 

About the Author: Peter Zheutlin is the author of the New York Times bestseller Rescue Road: One Man, Thirty Thousand Dogs and a Million Miles on the Lost Hope Highway and The Dog Went Over the Mountain: Travels with Albie – An American Journey (also available from Pegasus Books), a Lowell Thomas/Society of American Travel Writers Award winner. Peter lives in Massachusetts with his wife, author Judy Gelman.

 “An icon at the dawn of women’s cycling, Annie Londonderry was part athlete, part adventurer, and part scoundrel. In SPIN, Peter Zheutlin takes inspiration from her real-life story to present a rollicking account of her bicycle trip around the world and explore the personal costs of forging ahead as an ambitious New Woman in the 1890s.” – Sue Macy, author of Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom

Cover Reveal for You May Kiss the Groomsman by Samantha Chase

 

New York Times bestselling author Samantha Chase has one more round of wedding shenanigans in store for you! Check out the cover for YOU MAY KISS THE GROOMSMAN and pre-order your copy today!

About YOU MAY KISS THE GROOMSMAN

It seemed like a good idea at the time…

When Josie Sullivan agrees to marry her friend Tyler, it’s just so he’ll get a promotion at work. That’s what friends do, right? But what should have been a quick, quiet affair starts to look like the real thing when his family shows up in the middle of the “proposal.” Now, it’s no longer a quick stop at the courthouse during a lunch break, but a full-blown wedding and there’s nothing Josie can do to stop it.

There was no way he could hold his peace…

Daniel Alexander hasn’t been home in years. After fifteen years as a Navy SEAL, he’s more than ready to return to civilian life. Being away for so long, he’s missed a lot of his younger brother’s life and it seems like he’s back just in time to stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life. No matter how he breaks it down, something’s just not adding up about this wedding and he’s determined to figure out why. And he’s not just trying to stop it from happening because he’s finding himself wildly attracted to the bride-to-be.

Or because they can’t stop kissing each other.

Josie had given up on finding her own happily ever after and as her attraction to Daniel keeps growing, she’s suddenly regretting her decision to help out a friend. Now she just needs to decide if she wants to kiss the groom…or the groomsman.

Add YOU MAY KISS THE GROOMSMAN to your TBR!

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About SAMANTHA CHASE

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Review for The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar

 

The Librarian of Saint-Malo by  Mario Escobar

Hardcover, 384 pages

Publication: June 1st 2021 by Thomas Nelson

Genre:  Historical Fiction, WWII, Books about Books, France

 

From Goodreads…Through letters with a famous author, one French librarian tells her love story and describes the brutal Nazi occupation of her small coastal village.

Saint-Malo, France: August 1938. Jocelyn and Antoine are childhood sweethearts, but just after they marry and are hoping for a child, Antoine is called up to fight against Germany. As the war rages, Jocelyn focuses on comforting and encouraging the local population by recommending books from her beloved library in Saint-Malo. She herself finds hope in her letters to a famous author.

After the French capitulation, the Nazis occupy the town and turn it into a fortress to control the north of French Brittany. Residents try passive resistance, but the German commander ruthlessly purges part of the city's libraries to destroy any potentially subversive writings. At great risk to herself, Jocelyn manages to hide some of the books while waiting to receive news from Antoine, who has been taken to a German prison camp.

What unfolds in her letters is Jocelyn’s description of her mission: to protect the people of Saint-Malo and the books they hold so dear. With prose both sweeping and romantic, Mario Escobar brings to life the occupied city and re-creates the history of those who sacrificed all to care for the people they loved.

 

My Thoughts…As an avid reader I love libraries.   I had not given much thought to the libraries during WWII and how that war would affect them.   The idea that the Nazi’s would burn books just to push their propaganda is horrible.  I cannot imagine the number of amazing books lost during the war.  Jocelyn’s strength in protecting her library while also working with the resistance to do her part in fighting the Nazi’s was amazing.   She was a hero, understated, but appreciated by the people of Saint-Malo. 

 

WWII was a horrible time in France.   Jocelyn worked to save the library but in the process she also writes letter to Mario Escobar in hopes that her story would not die with her.   She knew that the risks she took could cause her death at any time.   There was always the risk of being caught and prosecuted for going against the Germans.  I enjoyed each letter she wrote and the depth that it gave her story.   She wrote of the happenings but also of her feelings and fears.   I felt for all that she had to live through but was in constant awe of the strength she showed in standing up to those against her, working with those who needed her, and never giving up hope that her library would still be standing when the war was over.  

There are many books written about WWII and even more historical fiction but this book was unique in its letter format and the focus on the library.   I loved it, I could not stop reading, and I recommend it.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

 

 

Meet Mario Escobar…Mario Escobar Golderos (Madrid, Spain) has a degree in History, with an advanced studies diploma in Modern History. He has written numerous books and articles about the Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, and religious sects. He is the directs the magazine Nueva historia para el debate, in addition to being a contributing columnist in various publications. Passionate about history and its mysteries, Escobar has delved into the depths of church history, the different sectarian groups that have struggled therein, and the discovery and colonization of the Americas. He specializes in the lives of unorthodox Spaniards and Americans. Books.