Month: June 2020

Danger in Plain Sight by Burt Weissbourd

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Partners In Crime Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Danger in Plain Sight by Burt Weissbourd was an interesting book.  This is the first book that I have read in a while where right from the start I didn’t like the main character, Callie.  I couldn’t tell you why I didn’t like her but as the book went on and on I found that I liked her less and less.  I know part of it was the choices that she made regarding her ex-husband.  I understand why she made those choices but if I had been her I would have let them kill him and then move on with my life.  This is a shorter book and I was able to get through the book pretty quickly.  I did force myself to read this book just so that I could be done with it and move on to another book.  I didn’t find that this book was super suspenseful.  I was able to figure out what was going to happen next in the book but that didn’t bother me too much.  If you like books that aren’t super suspenseful I would pick this one up and give it a read.

About The Book

Genre: Thriller
Published by: Blue City Press
Publication Date: September 8th, 2020
Number of Pages: 224
ISBN: 1733438211 (ISBN13: 9781733438216)
Series: A Callie James Thriller, 1

t took fourteen years to construct a safe world for her and her son–and only one night for her ex to unravel it.

Celebrated Seattle restaurateur Callie James is more than a little thrown when her ex-husband, French investigative reporter Daniel Odile-Grand, shows up after fourteen years asking for her help. Even more disturbing: as she throws him out, Daniel is deliberately hit by a car, hurled through the front window of her restaurant–broken, bloody and unconscious. He flees from the hospital and breaks into Callie’s apartment, where he passes out. Reluctantly, Callie hides him. When she gets back to her restaurant, two assassins walk in, insisting that she find Daniel for them by tonight or pay the consequences.

Overwhelmed and hopelessly out of her depth, Callie hires the only man she knows who can help her: Cash Logan, her former bartender, a man she had arrested for smuggling ivory through her restaurant two years earlier, and who still hasn’t forgiven her.

The assassins blow up her restaurant. It’s Callie’s nightmare. And the worst is yet to come as she and her unlikely, incompatible ally discover that the most perilous dangers are far closer to home than they’d imagined.

About The Author

Burt Weissbourd is a novelist and former screenwriter and producer of feature films. He was born in 1949 and graduated cum laude from Yale University, with honors in psychology. His book, Danger in Plain Sight, published on May 15th 2020, is the first book in his new Callie James thriller series. His earlier books include Inside Passage, Teaser, Minos, and In Velvet, all of which will be reissued in Fall 2020.

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Cherish by Evelyn Sola

He wasn’t Alexandra’s destiny as he didn’t fit her plan. She was too sassy to see Jason coming. Evelyn Sola is back with CHERISH, the second installment in The Clark Family series. Readers who love the unlucky in love trope will enjoy this diverse, light, and steamy romance.

Alexandra
I thought I finally had my life figured out. Fate? Destiny? I know mine. But one afternoon questioned everything I thought I knew.
Then it happened. Dr. Jason Dupree crashed into my life.
His eyes linger on me longer than they should in polite company. You see, there is nothing polite about him.
He’s arrogant and overconfident. His touch? It’s my undoing.
I let him know in no uncertain terms that he is not the man for me.
He is not my destiny.
And his reaction? Totally unexpected.

Jason
The things in my life that matter to me? It’s a short list. My career, a handful of family and friends. To call myself unlucky in love would be a gross understatement. Hence my list. It’s how I keep it all figured out.
Then one morning, that safe little list collides with my future.
Her eyes follow me everywhere, and they see through me like a soul x-ray. But it’s her touch that nearly brings me to my knees.
She doesn’t see it, though.

She’s full of denial and sass, and her stares are indignant. She’s a liar too. Telling me she’s interested in another man.
My reaction? Let’s just say she never saw it coming.

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Copyright 2020 @ Evelyn Sola

“Please, stop staring at me,” she says, her voice strained. She takes another sip of her drink and puts the cup against her neck.
I should look away. I can see the color creeping from her neck up to her face. I can see her pulse at the base of her neck. I can practically hear her heart beating in her chest.
“Get over yourself. Why don’t you stop looking at me?” I say, finally finding my voice.
“I’m not looking at you.” She angrily shoves two pickle slices into her mouth.
“Then how do you know I’m looking at you?” I challenge.
“Very mature. How old are you? Nine?” She rolls her eyes at me, but she doesn’t look away.
Her nostrils flare at the same time she pushes her food away. I don’t bother looking away. I look into her gray eyes before looking down at her mouth. I moan and lick my bottom lip at the sight of her breasts, pressed together underneath a shirt with sunflowers. I bite my bottom lip as I envision sucking one nipple after another.
“I’m not interested in you that way.” She says the words while looking straight ahead.
“I’m just sitting here waiting on my sister.”
“Arrogant,” she throws back at me.

 

About Evelyn Sola

A Boston native, wife, mother, and wine enthusiast. If she’s not writing, thinking about writing, you will find her with a book in her hands. While a new publisher, she’s been writing for years, and she will continue to write for many years to come.

Evelyn is obsessed with assertive and confident men who will stop at nothing to get their woman. Her stories are filled with love, passion, and humor.

She currently lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two daughters.

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The Shadow of the Tudor Rose by Wendy Leighton-Porter

 
A graduate of Exeter University in the early 1980s, I spent 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, before a change of career led me to writing children’s fiction. Currently residing in Abu Dhabi, I live with my husband and our beautiful Tonkinese cat.
 
The Shadow of Atlantis is the first in a series of time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a rather special cat called Max. I’m now working on the 17th book, The Shadow of the Great Fire. The series also includes several novellas that feature Max the talking Tonkinese cat undertaking solo adventures. As I take my young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, I’m hoping that my love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too.
In 1588, a plot to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth the First is about to unfold. At this crucial moment in English history, four visitors from the future arrive in Elizabethan London. 
 
Twins Joe and Jemima Lancelot, together with their friend Charlie and their talking cat Max, embark upon their next journey into the past as they continue the search for their missing parents who are lost somewhere in the mists of time.
 
Finding themselves at the heart of a web of conspiracy, can the young time-travellers solve the mystery of the Tudor Rose?
 
 
 

 

Snippet:
My young time-travellers discover that it’s not a good idea to try using modern currency to buy something in Tudor England:
 
‘Fie! What’s this?’ The man stared at the coins that Joe had given him, his eyes narrowing with suspicion as he bit cautiously down on the edge of one of the pennies. His lips curled back instantly. ‘That doth not taste right. What hast thou given me, sirrah?’  He glared at Joe, before turning the coin over in his hands to study the reverse side. ‘And who is this supposed to be?’ He pointed at the face on the back of the penny piece.
Joe’s face looked innocent as he answered. ‘It’s the Queen… um, Queen Elizabeth.’
‘Nay, ’tis not Queen Elizabeth.’ The man’s voice grew louder. ‘She doth not look anything like that. Thou must think my brains are addled, young trickster.’
‘But it is… er, it’s Queen Elizabeth the Second.’
‘Eh? The Second? There is no Queen Elizabeth the Second, turnip. Our Queen Elizabeth is the only one there is.’
 The enraged pie seller grabbed Joe by the scruff of the neck and began to shake him. ‘I’ll call for the watch – they know how to deal with knaves like you. Trying to pass counterfeit coins is a hanging offence, and you’ve stolen five of my best pies too.’
Joe’s face went white, as he tried to twist free from the man’s grasp. ‘That’s not true. It’s not fake, that’s real money, it…’

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The King’s Ransom, Young Knights of the Round Table by Cheryl Carpinello

 


I’m a retired high school English teacher. A devourer of books growing up, my profession introduced me to writings and authors from times long past. Through my studies and teaching, I fell in love with the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Now, I hope to inspire young readers and those Young-at-Heart to read more through my Tales and Legends for Reluctant Readers set in these worlds—Ancient Egypt, Medieval Wales, and coming soon, a hair-raising adventure through ancient worlds in search of 5 rare Phoenix Feathers.


All of my books come with Free study guides and/or extensive Back-of-the-Book materials.


My husband and I love to travel. In 2008, we spent three weeks in Egypt traveling by local train from one end of the country to the other; in 2014, we spent three weeks in the UK driving over 1700 miles through England, Wales, and Scotland; and in 2016, we spent a week in Iceland. We’ve also traveled to Mexico, Jamaica, and Aruba. Our next big adventure will be to Greece and Italy.


When I’m not writing or traveling, our 4 grandkids keep us busy.

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Three Friends
Three Quests
Three Mysterious Predictions
 
Gavin, Philip, and Bryan bravely vow to clear their friend of murder by taking the Knight’s Oath and embarking on individual quests to save The Wild Man. In the end, each one faces their fears and even death in their determination not to fail.
And one will have to disclose the biggest secret of all.
Join Gavin, Phillip, and Bryan on their quests and share the adventures that await them in the land of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

 

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Snippet:
“They brought in the Wild Man, tied to his horse. I saw him when they arrived back at the castle,” Gavin said.
Bryan’s heart pounded. “Why?”
“They think he killed Aldred and stole the King’s Ransom,” Philip added.
“Bu-Bu-But…”
“They had a knife with dried blood still on it. It looked like the one the Wild Man always carries,” Gavin finished.
Bryan said nothing, stunned at the idea that the Wild Man could be a murderer and a thief. But what did he know about the Wild Man? What did any of them know about the Wild Man? He just showed up one day asking for work in exchange for a place to stay. James had turned him away, but not before directing the wanderer to the church.
“Do you think he could have done it?” Bryan whispered.
“What?” Gavin said.
“He’s been here nearly two years.”
“How could…?”
“What do we know about him before he came here? Nothing,” Bryan said. “We need to think about the possibility, especially since Gavin said it looked like the Wild Man’s knife.”
Gavin started to speak and then stopped. Even Philip was silent.

 

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Mail Order Roslyn by Zina Abbott

 

 

My name is Robyn Echols. Zina Abbott is the pen name I use for my American historical romance novels. I’m a member of Women Writing the West and Western Writers of America, and American Night Writers Association. I currently live with my husband in California’s central valley near the “Gateway to Yosemite.”
I love to read, quilt, work with digital images on my photo editing program, and work on my own family history.
I am a blogger. In addition to my own blog, I blog for several group blogs including the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog, which I started and administer.

 

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Roslyn Welsh is sent by stagecoach to Junction City to marry a man with whom her aunt and guardian, without Roslyn’s knowledge, had been corresponding. His requirements for a wife were that she must be at least twenty-one years of age with a family Bible for proof, and she must have no children. Only, Roslyn is not quite twenty-one, she has a baby, and her aunt has no intention of sending the family Bible with her. The marriage prospect turns into a disaster. Stuck in a strange town with no money, she is told there is no work for a decent woman with a baby. To allow herself time to figure what to do with her future, Roslyn accepts an offer to ride the stagecoach to the Ellsworth B.O.D. Stagecoach station to help the stationmaster’s wife.
        Elam Stewart survived the American Civil War, but his left leg from above the knee down did not. With no home to return to and realizing there are very few people willing to hire a man with only one good leg, he’s convinced he has no future. While working as a day laborer in the local Junction City livery, he becomes intrigued by a visitor named Ross who is anxious to spend time with the horses. Elam discovers Ross’s secret. Then he learns where Ross intends to seek work. Even though he does not have a future, he does have a Spencer repeating rifle. He can have a purpose.
        Roslyn and Elam ride the same stagecoach to the Ellsworth Station on the Kansas frontier. Between resentments among the stock tenders, difficulties with animals that pass through the station, and the threat of attacks by the Cheyenne Native Americans, is there a future for Roslyn and Elam at the station? Or will their future take them on another stagecoach ride away from Ellsworth?
        Please look for my other two books in the Widows, Brides & Secret Babies series, Mail Order Lorena and Mail Order Penelope, that will be published this summer. The three stories are related and part or all of them involve  the stagecoaches and stations on the Kansas frontier in the late 1860s.

 

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Snippet:
The words caught in her throat and her eyes widened as she heard the sound of a baby’s cry. Emmy? No, it could not be her baby, but her body did not know the difference. She could feel the milk in her breasts let down.
Roslyn spun a quarter turn to face the street. Interlacing her fingers, she clasped her hands together as she brought them to her lips, hoping the movement hid her real purpose which was to press her forearms against her nipples to stop the flow of milk.
Roslyn turned her head to the right to look in the direction from which the sound of the baby’s cries came.
On the boardwalk the next block over, a woman dressed in black from the top of her bonnet to the bottom hem of her skirt approached with a quick walk.
Roslyn would know that silhouette anywhere. In her arms, Penelope, five months pregnant with her own child, held an infant wrapped in a familiar-looking, white knit blanket. What are they doing here? Panic surged up within her. Penelope is going to ruin everything. Without concern for what any of the men standing in front of the hotel saw or thought, Roslyn bounded off the side of the boardwalk into the cross-street as she ran toward her cousin and daughter.

 

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Sea So Blue by Nichole Giles

 

 

Nichole Giles, author of the Descendant trilogy, and the Water So Deep series, has lived in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Texas. 


She is a fan of all things paranormal and magical, and her dreams include raising a garden full of fairies, riding a unicorn, and taming the pet dragon she adopted at a local Convention. 


She loves to spend time with her grown children and two grand-babies, travel to tropical and exotic destinations, drive with her convertible top down—even when it rains—and play music at full volume so she can sing along.

 

Caspian is looking for his mother. Snatched from the beach as a child and raised as a half-breed Mer-Prince in the long-lost city of Atlantis, his turn to rule is coming fast. Caspian learns that the Mer in Oceania have found a method to visit land—a practice forbidden in Atlantis—and later return to the sea. Unfortunately, the “magic” method involves poison so potent that only half-breeds with undamaged lungs can survive it. When his Sea King father forces Caspian’s engagement to a mermaid he can’t stand, Caspian decides it’s time to go in search of his human roots, and the woman who gave him life.
Elise has nothing left to lose, except the house she grew up in and a beat-up classic car her father had intended to restore. While her friends leave home for college and abroad, she’s stuck waitressing at The Sea Turtle, begging for enough hours to pay her power bill, and using her lunch breaks to place flowers on her parents’ graves. Not only is she not looking for love—she’s not even looking for friendship. Loss is something she knows too much of, and she can’t survive any more. But when she finds a mysterious stranger wandering the cemetery, she takes pity on the pathetic soul and brings him to her work where she can feed him a solid meal.
The innocent meeting turns into an unbreakable bond, and sets off a chain of events that leaves them both questioning their place in the world—be it land or sea—and discovering just how essential love and family can be.  

 

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Snippet:
“What is fire? How does it change a fish?” Maia planted herself on a stool near Emma’s dressing table, riveted by details of another way of life. “Will you tell me all about the land? Tell me where you’ve come from and the ways of human people, and I will show you where you belong and the ways of the Mer.”
Thoughts of James and her family engulfed Emma, stealing her ability to talk, and move, and exist underwater. Everything here was different, even language. The Mer would never understand what she’d lost, because they didn’t understand emotions the way she did, and some feelings couldn’t be explained. But maybe if she told someone, unloaded some of the burden, she would at least find the strength to go on.
She rolled onto her side and faced Maia over the edge of her hammock. “Fire is like holding captive a slice of the sun.”
“But the sun is dangerous, my Princess, as is the air.” 
Emma remembered the warmth on her shoulders, the brightness in her eyes and the breeze in her hair as she drove her convertible up the coast. How it felt to breathe, to recognize scents and feel the difference in altitude whenever she went anywhere far. The sweltering heat of dry sand beneath her feet, grass under her fingers, the cool, rough stones in her cove that lacked formations and moss. She remembered the fear of her past, the pain of fists connecting with her face and body, the stabbing wounds inflicted every time judging eyes trailed her in the halls at school, and finally understood that what had happened then was part of another lifetime. 
That was before. Before James had come into her life and forced her to feel again. Made her proud to be who she was, regardless of what that meant. Her past had no bearing on her future, and only as little or as much meaning to her true self as she allowed. 
“The sun is a wonder, Maia.” She rose from her hammock and used the mini-spear—intended for opening clams—to draw a round sun on the sandy floor. “Glorious and warm. A bright orange ball in the sky that forces people outside, urges plants to grow, and heats the surface of land.” 
A memory James flashed in her mind—the fervor in his eyes, the security of his embrace, and the ferocity with which he’d defended her and Keith, despite her initial resistance to his advances. “The sun and its fire can transform water into air. It burns with the zap of an eel, and squeezes as the tentacles of an octopus around your middle. It can turn white skin red, and then make it fall off, leaving behind pale, new layers.”
Maia shifted, but her attention remained riveted on the circular pattern Emma carved into the sand. “I don’t believe I would like fire.” 
“Fire dwells inside me,” Emma told her, entranced by her own hypnotic drawing. “Fire. Not water. I have to find a way to go home.”

 

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