Confessions of A Helicopter Mummy by Catherine Bruton / #Interview #BookTour @zooloosBT @CatherineBruton @SpellBoundBks

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Fun-loving, intelligent, sexy journalist and single mum… seeks companionship (ideally), love (possibly), sex (definitely maybe!); laughter (compulsory)…. with like-minded, clever, cute middle-aged single man (no ‘still-married-but-my-wife-doesn’t-get-me’s need apply) Ideally based in the SW…

Parenting journalist Anni is 46 and mum to teenage daughter, Cassie. It’s two years since her philandering first (and only) love Joel walked out taking the last of her self-confidence with him and she has remained resolutely single ever since. Her friends decide it’s high time she was back in the dating game; they set up a Tinder profile to encourage her to venture out of her slippers and into her Louboutains. But Anni is woefully unprepared for the virtual world of romance and trying to learn the protocols of social media might just be a Bitmoji too far…

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Q&A

When and where do you prefer to write?

As a working mum, juggling two jobs and two teens, I write wherever and whenever I can. I like to write in bed in the early mornings, but I also love a coffee shop with writer pals, or sitting in the waiting room at gymnastics, or on a touchline at rugby. I can write in the car, whilst in a boring work meeting (sorry!) I write dialogue in my head while I’m running and have to race home to get it on the page.

Do you need peace and quiet when you are wrting?

See above. Peace and quiet often seem so improbable that I’ve largely given up expecting either. I do put my headphones on and drown everything out with a bit of ‘One Direction’ or Tay-Tay!

If you had the chance to co-write a book. Whom would it be with?

Helen Fielding (author of Bridget Jones) or perhaps Phoebe Waller Bridge.

Say someone asks if they can use your name in a book. Would you rather be the ‘good one’ or the ‘bad one’?

OMG, totally the bad one. I’ve spent my life being the good girl, the one who handed her homework in on time and got straight As and gold stars and Blue Peter Badgers. It’s turned me into an adult who is a tortured people-pleaser who can’t say no. So I should love to vicariously experience the rush of out and out dastardly villainy! Who knows what it might bring out in in me!

Who would you like/have liked to interview?

I was lucky enough to meet Nelson Mandela many years ago. We had a little dance and I wish I’d asked more questions. Nowadays I’d like to interview Taylor Swift. Love that girl and I think there would be so much juicy goss to spill.

Where can I find you when you are reading?

Ideally, I am in bed with a nice scented candle and my heated blanket. But I do take my Kindle everywhere with me cos when I am engrossed in a book I cannot put it down. I read whilst walking along the street, in the bath, I’ll switch between Kindle and Audible if I’m driving or running. When I’m hooked on a book, I’m hooked!

Where can I find you wen you are not writing/reading?

Hopefully in a coffee shop having brunch or in a cocktail bar sipping Porn Star Martinis with my gals! But possibly doing the ironing!

What goes through your mind when you hold your new book in your hands for the first time?

‘Oh god – what if people hate it!’ And with this one, ‘Oh god, I’m a teacher and I’ve written a Rom-Com. That’s OK – right? There’s no smut, but still …’

How do you come up with a title for your book?

I very rarely do! I am obviously rubbish at titles because the ones I come up with are routinely (but politely!) rejected by publishers in favour of much cleverer ones!

How do you pick a cover for your book?

I don’t usually get much say with covers but for this one I was very clear the aesthetic I was going for: the cartoon ‘Tik-Tok Made me Buy It!’ vibe of books like ‘The Love Hypothesis’, ‘The Spanish Love Deception’, ‘The Kiss Quotient’ anything by Tessa Bailey or Beth O’Leary. What the brilliant designer Nikki East and the team at Spellbound came up with made me laugh out loud and grin from ear to ear! It’s funky, funny, sassy and cool! I love it!

Thank you, Cqtherine Bruton and Zooloo’s Book Tours

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About the author

Catherine Bruton studied English Literature at Oxford and has been juggling life as an award-winning children’s author, teacher and mum ever since. Her novels for young people, including the multi-award winning ‘No Ballet Shoes in Syria’ have earned national and international acclaim, but it turns out that writing for and teaching young people are far easier than raising them! Her debut rom-com novel was written during Lockdown and is a tribute to the trials and tribulations of parenthood and dating in the digital era, the amazing mum friends you meet along the way and the joy of raising teens! She lives in a village outside Bath with her husband and two children, who are the best thing that ever happened to her.

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Author Links

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/catherinebruton

Website : http://www.catherinebruton.com/

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Book Links

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Helicopter-Mummy-TikTok-generation-ebook/dp/B09SBD7ZR4

Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Helicopter-Mummy-TikTok-generation-ebook/dp/B09SBD7ZR4

Advertentie

The Feathered Nest by Ellen Read / #SpotlightPost #BlogTour @maryanneyarde @ellenreadauthor

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The Thornton Mysteries #4

Murder comes to Norfolk Island, but is the killer after Alexandra Archer’s Tahitian black pearl or a lost illustration of the rare Green Parrot?

The Thorntons, along with a small team of people, mount an expedition to Norfolk Island, a small island in the South Pacific, to study the Green Parrot and set up research programmes to help protect it and other endangered birds.

As a birthday surprise, Alexandra’s father tells her she is to be the official photographer for the expedition. Her father gives her a black pearl brooch that Alexandra’s great-grandfather had bought off a merchant in Hong Kong in the 1850s. The pearls are Tahitian black pearls.

Before they depart Melbourne, they learn that Norfolk Island has had its first murder. It sends ripples of unease through Alexandra. She hoped she could escape murder on this small island paradise.

Alexandra is astonished to learn that the main inhabitants of Norfolk Island are descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian wives. Once on the island, she wonders if this is why her Tahitian black pearl brooch causes such interest.

A chain of events is set in motion, commencing with a threat on the life of one of their expedition members, followed by intrigue surrounding bird smuggling and a lost illustration of the Green Parrot. Then two of their team are murdered.

Alexandra is determined to find the answers and nearly loses her life in the process.

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Spotlight Post

Thank you, Ellen Read and The Coffee Pot Book Club

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About the Author 

Ellen Read is the author of The Dragon Sleeps, The Inca’s Curse and The Amber Trap—historical murder mystery romance novels.

Ellen was born in Queensland, Australia.

She loves to read fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. She particularly loves history and stories of ancient myths and legends. Authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, and Victoria Holt, the latter of whom wrote gothic mystery/romances, have influenced her own work.

Other interests include photography, painting, music and musical theatre, and dance. Ellen was a ballroom dancing teacher for many years and has also worked in Performing Arts administration.

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Author Links

Website: ellenread.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ellenreadauthor

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EllenReadWriter

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-read-3143727b/

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ellenread1/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ellen-read

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Ellen-Read/e/B014LUWPNO

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14250944.Ellen_Read

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Book Links

Available on #KindleUnlimited

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/4XDMyv

Tunnel of Mirrors by Ferne Arfin / #SpotlightPost #BlogTour @RRBookTours1 @Ferne_Travels

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Rachel Isaacson, spirited, otherworldly and haunted, is born into a rigidly Old World family in New York’s Lower East Side. Hungry for independence, Rachel enters a marriage of convenience with violent consequences.

Across the Atlantic, storyteller, fiddler and cliff climber Ciaran McMurrough is raised in pastoral innocence on Rathlin off the coast of Ulster. His upbringing in a tight-knit, isolated community leaves him unprepared for the subtle political passions following the Irish Civil War.

Outcasts-one by choice, one by chance-Rachel and Ciaran meet on the docks of lower Manhattan in 1928. Drawn to each other in this lyrical story, must they repeat a doomed cycle as eternal lovers?

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Spotlight Post

Thank you, Ferne Arfin and R&R Book Tours

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About the author

London-based American writer Ferne Arfin has worked as a journalist, copywriter, actress and travel writer. Her short stories have been anthologised by Virago and Travellers’ Tales. Tunnel of Mirrors is her first published novel.

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Author Links

Website: https://theviewfromchelsea.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FerneArfinAuthor

https://www.instagram.com/tunnel_of_mirrors/

https://www.tiktok.com/@tunnel_of_mirrors

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Book Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tunnel-Mirrors-Ferne-Arfin/dp/1802270647/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tunnel-of-mirrors-ferne-arfin/1140811678?ean=9781802270648

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Giveaway

Tunnel of Mirrors (Hardcover Edition) & Signed Bookplate (UK & North America Only)

Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0e7c6a8f350/?

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Murder on Oxford Lane by Tony Bassett / #GuestPost #BlogTour @rararesources @tonybassett1

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The peace of a Midlands village is upset when local businessman Harry Bowers doesn’t return from choir practice. More concerned than the man’s own wife, it would seem, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy becomes convinced he has met a sinister end.
There is no trace of the man – just a litany of evidence of an ailing marriage and a nose-diving business venture.
In charge of her first serious case, DS Roy will struggle to win the respect of her colleagues – in particular, her Brummie boss, DCI Gavin Roscoe. All that whilst fighting off the attentions of an increasingly desperate suitor.

Who had it in for the chorister? And is Roy tough enough to break down the defences and prejudices of Middle England?  MURDER ON OXFORD LANE is the first book in a series of crime fiction titles by Tony Bassett. 

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Guest Post

Before turning my hand to writing novels, I was a journalist for more than forty years.

        Some of my happiest years in the profession occurred towards the start – when I was a general news reporter on an evening newspaper in Worcester.

        So when I launched into my second career as an author, I knew at once the region of England where I wanted to set my storylines. In and around Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

        There was never any uncertainty about the path the rest of my life would follow after journalism. I had always dreamt of writing crime fiction.

        So, after bringing my journalistic career to an end in 2015,  I sat down and began planning the book that would eventually become Murder On Oxford Lane.

        A variety of thoughts passed through my head.  The decision about the book’s setting was an easy one. I never forgot the happy times I spent in Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

        This beautiful region of England was known to me. It experienced its fair share of rural crime and, being close to Birmingham and the Black Country, its fair share of urban crime.

        So many crime novels are set in London and the South East that I thought the area in and around the UK’s second city would make the perfect location.

        But what would be the storylines? And who would feature in the book?

        Finding plots or storylines proved easy for me. I’ve always had a vivid imagination and my long experience working for newspapers – at times covering major UK news events – has provided real-life experiences which, with some tweaking, have been developed into fictional narrative.

        But my biggest problem was in the choice of characters.  I originally planned for two male detectives and wrote the first draft of Murder On Oxford Lane around two such people. Publishers were not impressed when I submitted that first draft. The world had moved on.  White, male detectives investigating crime in a peaceful country village was no longer part of the publisher’s agenda.  I had to make my characters more up to date.

        As a result, I created DS Sunita Roy, the twenty-five-year-old law graduate who comes from an Asian background.  And, as a counter balance, I decided to introduce as her boss DCI Gavin Roscoe, a harassed, middle aged detective with far more experience of CID work.

        After that change of characters, I’m pleased to say the London publisher The Book Folks took an interest in my manuscript and, last August, signed me up for a whole series of book based on them.

        The second book in this Midlands crime series is called The Crossbow Stalker. It was published in February this year – four weeks after Murder On Oxford Lane.

        In this book, detectives Roscoe and Roy visit a troubled part-time actor, Oliver Bufton, at his secluded cottage and try to reassure him that police are investigating a hate campaign being directed at him.  He’s been attacked in the nearby town centre and had acid thrown on his car.

     But just six days later, Oliver is found murdered outside his cottage with a crossbow bolt in the heart and a handkerchief embroidered with the letter ‘C’ wedged in his mouth. This sets them on the trail of a serial killer who is striking fear into the community.

                I’m particularly pleased Murder On Oxford Lane has finally appeared because it’s the first book I ever sat down to write. The whole book has been totally written THREE TIMES. And, over the years, the opening chapter has appeared in at least four different formats!

        Two other novels by me, which are set in Kent, have been published previously. Smile Of The Stowaway (2018) tells of a couple who harbour an asylum seeker found beneath their motorhome and then fight to clear him of a murder charge.

        The Lazarus Charter (2020) sees the same Kent couple encountering Russian agents.  This book was endorsed by Marina Litvinenko, whose husband was poisoned in 2006, and the parents of Dawn Sturgess, the 44-year-old British mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, who died in Salisbury in 2018. The book is dedicated to Marina’s husband Alexander and to Dawn.

Thank you, Tony Bassett and Rachel’s Random Resources.

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About the author

Tony Bassett, a former Fleet Street journalist, has written a gripping series of crime novels set in the Midlands.

The first book in the series is called Murder on Oxford Lane. Published by The Book Folks, it concerns the disappearance of a property tycoon from a sleepy Warwickshire village.

Middle-aged DCI Gavin Roscoe and his relatively inexperienced sergeant, DS Sunita Roy, are confronted by suspicious deaths as they struggle to uncover what has happened to the businessman.

The second book in this Midlands crime series, The Crossbow Stalker, will be released shortly.

Tony decided to set this string of novels in Warwickshire and Worcestershire after spending many happy years working as a newspaper reporter in Worcester.

He first developed a love of writing at the age of nine when he and a friend produced a magazine called the Globe at their junior school in Sevenoaks, Kent.

At Hull University, Tony was named student journalist of the year in 1971 in a competition run by Time-Life magazine and went onto become a national newspaper journalist, mainly working for the Sunday People in both its newsroom and investigations department.

His very first book to be published, the crime novel Smile Of The Stowaway, was released in December 2018. It concerns a Kent couple who harbour a stowaway and then battle to clear his name when he is charged with murder.

Then, in March 2020, the spy novel The Lazarus Charter, was released. It involves foreign agents operating in the UK. The book has kindly been endorsed by Marina Litvinenko, widow of the murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, and by Stan and Caroline Sturgess, parents of the innocent mother-of-three poisoned with novichok in Salisbury in 2018.

Tony, who has written at least four other novels which are as yet unpublished, has five grown-up children. He is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin.

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Author Links 

www.tonybassettauthor.com

www.twitter.com/tonybassett1

www.facebook.com/tony.bassett.92505

www.instagram.com/tonyba1

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Book Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-OXFORD-LANE-gripping-suspense-ebook/dp/B09Q3L5YFT/

https://www.amazon.com/MURDER-OXFORD-LANE-gripping-suspense-ebook/dp/B09Q3L5YFT/

The Crash by Catherine Miller / #SpotlightPost #PublicationDay @bookouture @katylittlelady

A split-second decision can change everything…

At the edge of a forest, a husband and wife are driving through the winding lanes. When a song comes on the radio, the song that brought the high-school sweethearts together on a dancefloor forty years ago, they turn to each other. That split second – a stolen glance as memories wash over them – is one of their last. Moments later, their car crashes.

Yet from tragedy, comes hope…

Two strangers lie in hospital, their lives hanging in the balance. After a near-fatal accident, it’s a miracle that Zach survived. And with a life-long heart condition, Chloe didn’t think she would make it past her twenties.

But that day, Chloe and Zach’s lives are saved when they each receive a heart. Gifted a rare second chance, it’s up to them not to waste it – to make the most of every moment.

They don’t know it, but they are inextricably linked. And until Chloe and Zach find one another – two hearts searching for their missing part – their new lives can never begin… Will they be able to find each other before it’s too late?

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Spotlight Post

Thank you, Catherine Miller and Bookouture

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About the author

When Catherine Miller became a mum to twins, she decided her hands weren’t full enough so wrote a novel with every spare moment she managed to find. By the time the twins were two, Catherine had a two-book deal with Carina UK. Her debut novel, Waiting For You, came out in March 2016. Catherine was a NHS physiotherapist, but for health reasons she retired early from this career. As she loved her physiotherapy job, she decided if she couldn’t do that she would pursue her writing dream. It took a few years and a couple of babies, but in 2015 she won the Katie Fforde bursary, was a finalist in the London Book Fair Write Stuff Competition and highly commended in Woman magazine’s writing competition. Since then she’s had four novels published. 

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Author Links

https://katylittlelady.com/

@katylittlelady

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Book Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crash-absolutely-unputdownable-heartbreaking-page-turner-ebook/dp/B09PNSGPYN/

The Secrets Left Behind by Antoinette Tyrrell / #Interview #BookTour #InternationalWomensDayFestival2.0 @zooloosBT @AntoinetteTyrr @SpellBoundBks

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Hungry for scandal, the villagers of Rathmichael congregate in the grand Hatchwood House.

Before the night is over, the elusive Kate Millington will lie dead at the bottom of the Hatchwood stairs – her death opening a disturbing window into the past for three women.

Alice, Kate’s daughter, is faced with her grief for a mother who was forever distant. As the circumstances of Kate’s death, and her state of mind, are drawn into question, Alice struggles to understand the appalling truth about her mother’s past.

In New York, a death bed secret brings Faith Cranston to Ireland, where news of a shocking accident in a rural community leads her to a distressing discovery.

Nancy Canning has only seen Kate from afar. Ashamed of her past, an overwhelming fear of human relationships drives Nancy. As the news of Kate’s death spreads through the village, she is forced to overcome her fear of connection, and come to terms with the fact that the shame she feels may not be hers alone.

Over the course of a harsh Irish winter, the women battle misogyny and impediment as they struggle to reveal the secrets about Kate’s past. But will they ever be able to make peace with the devastating truth they’re about to uncover?

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Q&A

When and where do you prefer to write?

In my sunroom at home, I have a spectacular mountain view but even when I was writing my first book and didn’t have a nice view, I need to be somewhere that is soothing and if I can have some fresh air, that’s an invaluable added bonus.

Do you need peace and quiet when you are writing?

Definitely, total silence. I love being on my own, I can’t write when there are any distractions. I need stillness and calm.

If you had the chance to co-write a book. Whom would it be with?

Dolly Alderton, her take on life for young women now is searingly honest, I’d think we could do a fab younger/older woman take on life.

Say someone asks if they can use your name in a book. Would you rather be the ‘good one’ or the ‘bad one’?

The bad one, everyone thinks I’d be the good one, so it’d be fun to shock people. I’ve learned to use peoples’ habit of underestimating me as my secret superpower – I’m really not that nice at all.

Who would you like/have liked to interview?

Samantha Power, I am a huge fan. She is the Irish woman who was a senior advisor to Barack Obama and now serves as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. I’ve seen her interviewed and I would love to talk to her. She strikes me as one of those people who just gets things done. She’s a doer, not a talker – I admire that greatly.

Where can I find you when you are reading?

Curled up on a comfy chair with my dog at my feet and telling my partner that I am only going to read for 5 more minutes.

Where can I find you when you are not writing/reading?

Outside, walking, gardening, anything at all that involves being outside and in nature – for me it is the best thing I can do to keep myself sane.

What goes through your mind when you hold your new book in your hands for the first time?

Christ on a bike, I can’t believe someone published me for a second time.

How do you come up with a title for your book?

At the end of writing it. For my first book, it came very naturally, but for The Secrets Left Behind, it took quite a bit of work, playing with words, seeing what fit best.

How do you pick a cover for your book?

With a lot of help from my publisher.’

Thank you, Antoinette Tyrrell and Zooloo’s Book Tours

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About the author

Antoinette’s dream in life is to be paid to read books but as a close second, she’s happy to write them instead. She studied English and History at NUI Maynooth, followed by a career in public relations. Her debut novel, Home to Cavendish, was published by Poolbeg Press in 2019, the same year that Antoinette decided she’d had enough of 9 to 5 life and endless commuting.

Her decision to set up her own writing consultancy coincided neatly with the start of a global health pandemic but despite some setbacks, she has established herself as a successful business and ghost-writer. She recently moved to the Costa Blanca with her partner Ahmed. True to her Irish roots she spends most of her days convinced that it is going to start raining, any minute now.

The Secrets Left Behind, her second novel, is a multi-layered tale of the savage severing of maternal ties, a crumbling marriage built on conjecture, and the devastating impact on the next generation of women. It is set against the backdrop of the patriarchal regime once imposed by the Catholic Church in Ireland and spans the period from 1952 to 1981.

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Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/antoinettemtyrrell

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AntoinetteTyrr

Website: https://www.antoinettetyrrell.ie/

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Book Links

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Left-Behind-emotional-evocative-ebook/dp/B09SRG6G2H

Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Left-Behind-emotional-evocative-ebook/dp/B09SRG6G2H

The Ventifact Colossus by Dorian Hart / #SpotlightPost #BookTour @The_WriteReads @WriteReadsTours @DorianHart

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The Heroes of Spira #1

Banished to an otherworldly prison for centuries, the monstrous Emperor Naradawk is about to break free and wreak havoc upon the world of Spira. The archmage Abernathy can no longer keep the monster at bay, and has summoned a collection of would-be heroes to help set things right. Surely he made a mistake. These can’t be the right people. Dranko is priest-turned-pickpocket, expelled from his church for his antics. Kibilhathur is a painfully shy craftsman who speaks to stones. Aravia is a wizard’s apprentice whose intellect is eclipsed only by her arrogance. Ernest is a terrified baker’s son. Morningstar is a priestess forbidden from daylight. Tor is a young nobleman with attention issues. Ysabel is an elderly farm woman. Grey Wolf is a hard-bitten mercenary. None of them are qualified to save the world, but they’ll have to do. Even Abernathy himself seems uncertain as to why he chose them. What starts with a simple scouting mission soon spirals into something more far-reaching and sinister. The heroes will contest with dream warriors, evil cultists, sentient gemstones, and a devious yet infuriatingly polite gentleman with a perfect mustache, on their way to a desperate encounter with the unstoppable: The Ventifact Colossus.

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Spotlight Post

Thank you, Dorian Hart and Write Reads Tours 

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About the author

Dorian Hart graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in creative writing. This led
circuitously to a 20-year career as a video game designer, where he contributed to many award-
winning titles including Thief, System Shock, System Shock 2 and BioShock. He is also the
author of the interactive novella Choice of the Star Captain.
Dorian now lives in the Boston area with his fantastic wife and two clever daughters. When not
serving as house chef and chauffeur, he works on the kinds of novels he’s been itching to write
since he was ten years old.

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Author Link

Website: dorianhart.com

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Book Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0692609520/

Give In To Me by Mia Ryder / #Extract #BookTour #InternationalWomensDayFestival2.0 @zooloosBT @RyderMiaAuthor @SpellBoundBks

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Nick is called back from his downtime to HQ by his stressed-out superior, Abe. It seems someone has made it to the underworld could potentially trouble for both of them – Jess, the young woman who caused Nick’s downfall in Little Deaths! Jess is less than enamoured to find herself in Hell, but then she did sell her soul to the devil … literally. Quick-minded and pragmatic, Jess deduces this might be the place for her IF she can hoodwink Nick and his colleagues all over again. It won’t be easy. Abe and Nick are still stung by Jess’ antics the last time they saw her. When Abe suggests they both get their own back on the helpless Jess in Satan’s dungeons, Nick doesn’t need much persuading. He’s been dreaming about getting even with Jess for what she put him through. Abe too needs payback. There’s one issue: any twisted ‘revenge’ the pair of demons have in mind is exactly what Jess wants …

GIVE IN TO ME is an explicit tale with sexy doms and strong women. PLEASE NOTE: This story is for adults only and contains highly sexual content, depictions of BDSM, threesomes, torture, dubious consent, horror, religious iconography, as well as commentary on sexism, abuse and revenge.

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Extract

Nick didn’t like being summoned. Having to trek all the way back to HQ from the mortal world only to get shouted at was not his idea of fun. His superior Abe had sounded stressed on the phone, which never did bode well.

‘What’s the matter?’ Nick wanted to know what he was walking into. That way he could prepare himself for whatever Abe’s problem was now.

‘Just get back here.’ Abe said in a curt voice, hanging up.

Sighing, Nick appeared from the tube station into the night air. Music burst from pubs and clubs as their doors swung open and shut. Lights from takeaways created spotlights as pedestrians walked by before disappearing into the shadows. He could smell the scent of traffic fumes, greasy cooked food and cigarette smoke wafting over him.

More than that: the pheromones. Mortal women and men drifted past him, unaware of how close they were to a sex demon. Nick could see and sense their darkest desires. Thoughts and feelings clamoured inside his brain, a never-ending litany of longing.

I want you.

Use me.

Do this for me.

Let me do this for you.

Take me.

As a red bus passed him, Nick spotted his human form in its side mirror. Between leaving the tube and scaling the escalator back to civilisation, he’d remade himself several times: he’d started off as an intimidating biker, striding through crowds who’d separated and rejoined around him, like a trail of ants. As he’d turned a corner, he’d become a skinny short teen in a hoody. His beady eyes and jumpy demeanour sent a similar ripple of alarm through anyone roaming near him. As well as getting down and dirty with humans, Nick liked to fuck with them whenever he could.

Now he was a middle-aged, blonde woman with a large bosom and chandelier earrings, complete with twin set and pearls. This was one of Nick’s favourite mortal forms: humans were so enraptured by youth and poisoned by misogyny they never noticed older women. He’d heard many of them lament they ‘might as well be invisible’. In Nick’s experience, this was true. He had discovered he could do whatever he liked in such a disguise.

Nick took two steps towards a large drain outside the tube station. He inhaled deeply, allowing his mortal form to dissolve. For a microsecond, his true self was on lurid display, swirling in patterns all around him like snowflakes or mist: black scales, red teeth and claws, horns and tail. Then the whole lot fell down the drain at speed.

Blink and you’d miss it.

Thank you, Mia Ryder and Zooloo’s Book Tours

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About the author

Mia Ryder writes bitesize filth to devour before bed as part of the SEX. DIE. REPEAT series.

Contains sexual content, swearing, crime, religious iconography & commentary on relationships & mental illness. DO NOT follow if of a delicate disposition!!

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Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiaRyderAuthor

Twitter : https://twitter.com/Bang2write

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Book Links

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09TLCH2VT

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09TLCH2VT

The Better Brother by Simon Gravatt / #SpotlightPost #BlogTour @RandomTTours @SimonGravatt @RedDoorBooks

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Michael Merriweather’s carefully planned life is blown off course when he receives a call to tell him that his father has cremated himself. 

Michael then learns from a small-town lawyer that he stands to inherit a small fortune he previously knew nothing about, but only if he sacrifices his accountancy career to take over the family funeral business with his brother, Jack, whom he despises. 

Sucked back into the small provincial world and the family funeral firm he has rejected, Michael can no longer avoid his loathsome sibling. 

Jack Merriweather has no idea what he’s done to deserve his brother’s hostility, but he’s about to suffer the consequences. 

Then, when his patience finally breaks, he will exact delicious revenge. 

The Better Brother is a darkly comic tale of sibling rivalry laced with the power, passion, revenge and everyday friction of family business. 

It explores what happens when two warring brothers are forced to work together. 

Will Michael and Jack learn to love and respect each other? 

Or will their acrimony escalate? 

If so, who will come out on top? Who is the better brother?

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Spotlight Post

Thank you, Simon Gravatt and Random Things Tours

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About the author

Simon Gravatt is a first-time novelist who lives in South London. He’s drawn from
personal experience as a brother and business owner to write his tale of sibling rivalry and
the combustibility of small business. Simon is married with two adult children.

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Author Link

simongravatt.net

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Book Link

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Better-Brother-Simon-Gravatt-ebook/dp/B09JGSLN7M/

Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander / #Extract #BlogTour @digitalreadspr @ellielovesbooks

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Book editor Emily Bryant finds herself unexpectedly in the charming town of Cascata on California’s Lost Coast, holding the keys to her grandmother’s rambling Victorian mansion. While sorting through her grandmother’s things, Emily learns that she must edit old manuscripts to inherit the estate. It’s a strange request from a family member who was basically a stranger.

Emily quickly realizes that there’s something different about these manuscripts. Any changes she makes come true. At first, she embraces the gift. She has a chance to help characters find true love or chart a new course for their future. But then things go terribly wrong. Her edits have the opposite effect. The sweet and funky seaside community of Cascata is reeling from the chaos Emily has created. Everything she thought she believed about her family and her past is in jeopardy, and no amount of editing can fix the damage she’s done.

Then she finds one last manuscript. If Emily can get this edit right, maybe she’ll have a chance to create a new narrative for herself and everyone around her.

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Extract

I unlocked The Ballad’s front door and took a slow, steady breath before stepping inside. The foyer was dark. I fumbled around for a light switch. When my hand finally connected with the switch light flooded into the room revealing exquisitely restored walnut hardwood floors. Stained glass windows in the curved entryway reflected twinkling butterscotch, plum, and sapphire beams onto the far wall. Two rooms adjoined the entrance hall. To my left was a parlor painted in muted beach tones with a built-in fireplace and bookcases filled with spines arranged by height and held together with chunky driftwood bookends.

Books. Oh my God, so many books. I let out an audible gasp, unable to tear my gaze from the parlor where an abundance of titles that rivaled that of any small library called to me. I could spend an entire day admiring Grandma Gertrude’s enchanting collection of books. Books are my addictive craze. Forget about ice cream, chocolate, pot, your drug of preference. Give me a stack of books anyway.

I felt like an over-enthusiastic puppy let outside for the first time.

Bone.

Squirrel.

Fire hydrant.

Books. Books. Books.

They aren’t going anywhere Emily, and you have a five-thousand square foot mansion to explore. I tugged my attention away from the captivating shelves for the moment.

An intricately carved circular staircase sat in front of me. The ceiling stretched at least twelve feet above me. Period details were evident in the weighty carved moldings and brass hardware. A sign hanging from the newel post at the base of the steps read: PRIVATE.

Odd. The upstairs was private?

A cream-colored hallway lined with framed watercolor paintings and floral geometric handwoven area rugs led to the back of the mansion. The entire house had a cohesive natural ocean color palette in milky greens, harbor blues, and soft grays and creams.

But it was the room to my right that caught my eye. The hand-carved door was shut. Another sign hung from it: LOST COAST LITERARY.

Lost Coast Literary, I repeated out loud. There was something oddly familiar about the name. Was it a memory? Something else?

I turned the handle, but the door was locked. Maybe one of the keys would open it. I tried the basic house key first with no success. The antique key didn’t work either.

There must be a key somewhere else, I thought as I ventured upstairs. The serene, soft lighting and gleaming redwood accents continued on the second floor. Ornate millwork, jeweled windows, and knotted spindles gave the space a spellbinding aura. I was completely caught up in its trance.

The house creaked and sighed as if readying itself for sleep as I wandered into a study with yet another fireplace and a bathroom with patterned tile floors and an attached sitting room. Farther down the hall there were five spacious bedrooms with carved oak fireplaces and three more bathrooms.

I fought back cloudy memories of running through the long hallway and pretending to put on lipstick in front of the antique mirror. Were they real or was I grasping?

Thank you, Ellie Alexander and Digital Reads Blog Tours

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About the Author

Ellie Alexander is a voracious storyteller and a lover of words and all things bookish. She believes that stories have the ability to transport and transform us. With over twenty-six published novels and counting, her goal is to tell stories that provide points of connection, escape, and understanding.

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Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliealexanderauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ellielovesbooks

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

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elliealexanderauthor

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwd80ruKbz98VZQGT2I23-Q

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ellie-alexander

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Book Links

Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/3ueEmMB

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3L6H8ul

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lost-coast-literary-ellie-alexander/1140835273

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/books/lost-coast-literary/9781737391524

Order direct: https://elliealexander.co/lost-coast-literary