Blitz | Rebel One by J.S. Christine

Rebel One
J.S. Christine
(Melkin Series, #1)
Publication date: May 13th 2022
Genres: New Adult, Romance

Lacey Carson dreams of experiencing the world outside of the mundane town her father limits her to. “Go big or go home”? Lacey is already wrapped up in her comforter before that question can be finished. Her fight or flight instinct falls hard in one direction only.

Insert Travis Miller. He’s a little too loud, a little too violent, a little too focused on Lacey. He only knows how to go big.

When the opportunity presents itself for more adventure, Lacey jumps in head first before Travis can say no. It may be a little more than she bargained for as she learns about the ups and downs of independence, her own strength, and the crime world she quickly becomes immersed into.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

I looked behind us. There was a large van with guns poking out of it.

“Oh my God,” I cried, clasping a hand to my mouth. I turned back facing forward and slouched down to keep out of the way if they shot the back window.

“Don’t go that way. Keep away from our new place,” Cameron ordered Travis as he flew past cars. He took a sharp turn, pulling up the emergency brake to make the turn before releasing it and continuing down with no regard towards the speed limit.

“What new place?” Travis shot back.

“Left. Don’t go straight. I said left,” Cameron said, pointing with his hand that had a gun in it.

I swallowed. I had no idea what they were talking about but I didn’t care. I was not going to live much longer anyway. I held my head in my hands, massaging my temple with my fingertips.

“I don’t know where I’m going,” Travis shouted as we skidded around a sharp turn.

My body rammed against the side of Finn’s from the force.

“Let me drive,” Ben said from next to me in the backseat at the same time Cameron yelled for them to switch.

I racked my brain for how that was going to happen. We were going more than a safe amount above the speed limit. Stopping to switch would only slow us down and even though I was a firm believer in speed limits, that option wasn’t looking too great right now.

“Take it, Cam,” Travis said as he moved back from the steering wheel.

Cameron scooted over slightly. He put one hand on the wheel and I watched in horror as he moved one leg down to where the gas pedal would be. From the speed, it felt like it was being floored. My eyes bulged.

Ben hopped in front of me at the same time Travis flicked a switch underneath his seat, causing it to move back as far as it would go. The two boys fit in the seat awkwardly as they moved around each other; Ben taking Travis’ seat and Travis crouching to climb back.

“Hey gorgeous,” Travis said as he faced me while in between the drivers and passenger’s seat. He flashed a cheeky smile before climbing to where Ben was previously seated next to me.

The whole exchange happened in the span of maybe seven seconds. I blinked. There was no way I was living to see the age of eighteen at this rate.

Ben made the seat go to the right distance away from the pedals and Cameron moved back over to his seat. The speed, if anything, went faster now that Ben was driving. Cameron started talking to him about something but I couldn’t pick it out.

Travis came into my line of view as he fumbled through the duffel bag at my feet before pulling out a large gun. He pushed himself out of the window so he was leaning out of it with his chest facing the car. Finn was doing the same, only Travis seemed to be sitting on the arm rest on the side of the door, not putting him out of the car as much as Finn, who was literally sitting on the window edge.

“Lacey!” Finn yelled. He slumped quickly back into the car. “Hold my legs for me.”

Without giving me a chance to say yes or no, and without second guessing the trust he put in the girl he kidnapped hours ago, he forced himself back out the window. I crawled over to where he was and held onto the top of his legs. I sat on my knees, putting them directly on his feet to try to put more weight on him to keep him from falling out of the car.

“Next time, don’t make such a grand entrance,” Cameron yelled in the direction of where Travis’ body was. Cameron’s window was rolled down as well, but I don’t know how much he was actually doing since I felt like Finn was blocking most of his view with his body.

“Excuse me?” Travis shot back. I could barely hear him but he must have moved his head in slightly as he spoke. Otherwise, I think the wind and bullets would have carried his voice away.

“Let’s lay on the horn and tear up the roads as we come home to get everyone’s attention, what an idea!” Cameron scolded.

“Sorry, you’re going to have to yell louder if you want me to hear you over the squealing tires and bullets being shot at me,” Travis demanded.


Author Bio:

J.S. Christine has been writing novels since 2011 and graduated with a degree in Creative Writing. She strives to give readers worlds they can relax in with characters they can call their friends. Her novels typically travel down the obstacle-ridden roads of self-discovery with music blasting in the car’s speakers and the occasional explosion off to the side. Her first novel, Sparked, was self-published in 2016. When she isn’t writing, she can be found binge reading books, burning cookies, attempting to run, or teaching her three cats how great popcorn is.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Twitter


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Blitz | Hellbound Hearts Series by Daniela Romero

Wicked Wolves and Tangled Truths
Daniela Romero
(Hellbound Hearts, #1)
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Isabella is a shapeshifter without a Pack.

Torn from her home and forced to live with her human father, Isa has become the one thing every shifter dreads.

A lone wolf in an unknown territory.

If she wants to survive the year, she’ll need to keep her head down.

Which is easier said than done when, on her first day in town, she catches the attention of Rafael Castillo—Hellbound High’s Alpha Heir. He’s hot as hell but runs cold as ice. And more important, he’s determined to make Isa’s life hell.

But if she thought the local wolves were all she needed to worry about, she’s in for a rude awakening when she realizes being a lone wolf doesn’t just make her an outcast.

It makes her fair game.

—-
This full-length novel is a standalone dark and gritty, enemies to lovers, paranormal romance. It contains no cheating, no cliffhanger, and your happily ever after is guaranteed!
—-
“WOW!!! This was by far top reads of 2020….. absolutely freakin fantastic.” ★★★★★ — Kindle Reader

“This book is captivating. I started reading and could not stop.” ★★★★★ —Kindle Reader
—-
**Wicked Wolves and Tangled Truths was originally published as a contemporary romance novel and has been re-imaged at the request of Daniela’s paranormal readers.**

The complete series:


Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

She doesn’t look at me the rest of the weekend. I should have expected this. Calculated the risk. I know she’s not some meek little submissive wolf, no matter that she sometimes pretends to be. She’s punishing me for leaving her hanging and it’s fucking working. What was supposed to be a punishment for her, a reminder of who the fuck was in charge here, ended up backfiring on me and now I’m watching her like some lovesick dog without his bone.

I keep forgetting she isn’t like the rest of the girls here at Hellbound High. She doesn’t give two shits who I am and she’s making that abundantly clear. She sticks close to Liu all day Saturday, leaving me little room to swoop in and take her. Not unless I want to make a big show of it, and yeah, that’s not happening. So, I’m left to stew as she laughs with the motherfucker, drinks with him, lets him touch her. It’s not romantic. At least I don’t think it is for her. But every time that asshole throws an arm around her shoulders, my wolf rakes his claws beneath my skin and I want to pummel his face in.

Isa Romero is mine. Mine to fuck. Mine to hurt. Mine to soothe, should I decide to. I’m itching to touch her and it’s doing things to my head I don’t like. My wolf is agitated and I’ve never been so close to losing control of him the way I am now.

“Rafe, what’s your deal, man?” Des asks as I brood on the cabin porch sipping on a glass of water. “I figured you’d fuck the girl out of your system and walk away. What gives?”

I grunt. “Maybe I just want a few more fucks before I move along.”

Before I finish the sentence, he’s already shaking his head. “Nah. I’ve seen you with girls. This one is different. I get the whole mind-games shit you like to pull with chicks, but even that’s different with her. You cooked last night, and don’t try and bullshit me into believing that was for me or Jordy. You did that for her. Why?”

Jordy interrupts, stepping outside, still rocking that stupid bright-ass bikini over his sweatpants. “I like Isa. Can we keep her?”

Des and I both jerk our heads toward him. “What?” I ask, surprise coloring my voice.

“I said, can we keep her?”

“She’s not a puppy,” Des chides, but his brows furrow like he’s wondering the same thing.

“Why?” I ask again.

Jordy rolls his eyes. “Hello, I just said because I like her. She’s a badass she-wolf. Are you even paying attention? What is up with you today, man?”

I turn to Des but all he does is shrug and raise a brow as if to say, don’t ask me. Some help he is. I don’t get this side of Jordy. Sure, the guy’s nice to pretty much everyone, but only at face value. He doesn’t actually like people. I don’t even think he cares for Des or I all that much and we’re his best fucking friends.

“What happened to you two fuckers saying I needed to focus on Pack business?”

“I changed my mind. I wanna keep her. If you’re not into her anymore now that you’ve had your fun just say the word. I don’t mind sloppy seconds. Based on the sounds I heard coming from your room last night, that girl is well worth the trouble.”

I stand and take a menacing step toward my best friend, my skin ripples with the urge to shift and I’m two seconds from nailing the asshole in the face with my fist when Des steps between us. “What are you planning here?”

“To wipe that smug look off his face.” I point my water bottle right at Jordy and the fucker smiles at me.

Des shakes his head. “Not with numb nuts over there. What are you planning with Isa?”

My jaw tightens and I glare at him. “I don’t have any plans,” I bite out, “Why the fuck are you two down my throat about her all of a sudden?”

“She’s not like other girls,” he says. “She’s a wolf. She’s one of us.”

“I’m aware she isn’t like other chicks. But no, she isn’t one of us. If she was, she’d be over here kissing my boots instead of playing around with Liu all goddamn day. What do you want from me?”

Jordy shoves himself between the two of us and flicks his gaze back and forth. “He wants you to lay out your intentions, Rafe. We both do.” And for once the dude has a serious expression on his face.

I glower. “Why the hell are you two so goddamn interested in who I fuck all of a sudden?”

Des grunts. “Because Jordy is right. We like her. Neither of us wants you to fuck things up for us.”

My mouth drops open. “For us?”

Jordy nods and smacks me in the chest light-heartedly. “Yeah, fucker. For us. Like I said, we like her. She fits in with our crew. She doesn’t see a path to power when she looks at any of us like every other chick in this town. We could use a feminine touch up in here. Too much testosterone with you two jackasses all the time if you ask me, and your dick is going to fuck that up so this is us telling you not to do that. Lo entiendes?” Do you understand? Was he fucking with me right now? “Say whatever you need to say to her. You fucked something up this morning or she wouldn’t be hanging with that ass wipe and you wouldn’t be over here brooding.”

My jaw clenches. “This isn’t how things roll with us.” There’s a bite in my tone I usually reserve for everyone but the two people beside me. Desmond and Jordy are like brothers. They’re family. But I don’t take orders from anyone except my Alpha and I don’t have to explain myself to them.

Jordy meets my stare and his eyes narrow, sparking with something I’m not used to seeing in his gaze. “She’s the relationship type.”

I work my jaw harder. “And this matters to you because…”

“You’re not.”

“Never claimed I was,” I remind him. And then I add in for good measure, “She laid her cards out first. She wants fun. No strings. Don’t jump down my throat for giving the girl exactly what she asked for.”

Both their expressions consider me for a moment, searching for any deception. Then Des asks, “She really said that?” He doesn’t sound convinced and his nostrils flare, trying to catch me in a lie.

“Yeah, fucker. She did. So calm down.”

“Fine, let’s assume we buy that. What’d you do to piss her off?”

My shoulders sag and I grit my teeth.

“Come on, fucker. Spill.” Jordy says, all but bouncing beside me. The guy is wired this morning. I need to remember to hide the coffee from him. He must have consumed a full pot.

“I fucked her.”

“And…?”

I huff out a breath. “And I withheld her orgasm when she refused to beg for it.”

Desmond whistles and Jordy whoops, then says, “I always knew you were a shady asshole with control issues but fuck, man, that’s cold. And let me guess, you still got yours?”

I nod grinding my teeth together. “My wolf wants her submission.”

Jordy cackles, covering his mouth as he folds over at the waist before he straightens. There are tears of laughter shining in his eyes. “And your human self was too far gone to deny it. Idiot. If you want inside that pussy anytime soon, expect to do some groveling.”

Not. Fucking. Happening.

Author Bio:

Daniela Romero is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She enjoys writing steamy, new-adult and paranormal romance that delivers an emotional roller coaster sure to take your breath away.

Her books feature a diverse cast of characters with rich and vibrant cultures in an effort to effectively portray the world we all live in. One that is so beautifully colorful.

Daniela is a Bay Area native though she currently lives in Washington State with her sarcastic husband and their three tiny terrors.

In her free time, Daniela enjoys frequent naps, binge reading her favorite romance books, and is known to crochet while watching television because her ADHD brain can never do just one thing at a time.

Stop by her website to find all the fun and unique ways you can stalk her. And while you’re there you can check out some free bonus scenes from your favorite books, learn about her Patreon, order signed copies of her books, and swoon over her gorgeous alternative cover editions.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub


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Blitz | Love & Other Vows: For Better or Worse… by Lyndsey Gallagher

Love & Other Vows: For better or worse…
Lyndsey Gallagher
(Professional Players, #5)
Publication date: June 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Shelly Williams is loving life. She’s been offered a place on the newest, sexiest, celebrity reality television show, and her husband has just retired from his position as captain of the Irish rugby team, meaning he’s around more to help raise their children, leaving her free to pursue a few of her own ambitions. Ambitions Marcus knows nothing about.

Marcus Williams is struggling to find a purpose following his recent retirement as captain of the Irish rugby team. There’s only so many holidays, horse riding trips and happy hours one man can endure. When his wife is paired up with his old sporting rival in front of the entire country, Marcus begins to realise he stands to lose a lot more than just his career.

With ten weeks of watching Shelly slide, shake and shimmy against the one man that has the potential to destroy everything, Marcus must act if he wants to save their relationship.

They vowed to stay together through sickness and health.
But what about fame and wealth?

Love & Other Vows is a steamy, love conquers all stand-alone romcom with guaranteed HEA.

Goodreads / Amazon

TEASERS:

“Marcus.’ It’s a plead and a pant rolled into one. Recognising the desperation in my tone, he doesn’t make me wait. With his face pressed firmly between my thighs, his tongue traces the length of me in the exact repetition that causes my quads to flex and tighten across his stubble, building into a climax which is only enhanced by the possibility of getting caught under the blazing Portuguese sun.”

“I honestly don’t know, Shelly. Women threw themselves at all of us. He had ample opportunity. I’m not saying he took advantage of that, only that I don’t know either way. I heard the rumours over the years, but he’d be a fucking fool to cheat on you.” A wistful look fills his ice blue eyes. “If you were mine…”


Author Bio:

Lyndsey Gallagher is the kindle bestselling author of six contemporary romance novels, with many more on the way! An unashamed romantic, forever in search of the next happy ever after, her debut novel The Seven Year Itch was inspired by the weekend she met her husband. Lyndsey lives in the West of Ireland overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. She enjoys long walks, deep talks and the occasional G & T!

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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Can’t Wait Wednesday | 6/1

Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine. In this weekly post people share a book that they’re excited about being released.

Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being—and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy. Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.

However, Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful—and more irresistible—than she ever dared imagine.

Happy reading!

Blitz | Serenade by Morgan Shamy

Serenade
Morgan Shamy
(The Dark Nocturne, #1)
Publication date: May 31st 2022
Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Young Adult

St. Paul’s Academy of the Arts isn’t your usual boarding school…

When November Huntington is sent away to live with her long-lost family, she’s forced to attend a music school for the gifted—which wouldn’t be a problem if November were musical. She’s an athlete through and through, and hates being different.

The kids at the school don’t welcome her, they’re wary of her presence, especially Vincent, a brooding teenage boy involved with dark spirits, who can make time stop when he plays his piano. In fact, all her classmates are all obsessed with playing their instruments. And odd things happen when the do.

But something is off about the school. Deaths have occurred through the years, students showing up dead the same way November’s parents were killed—with their throats ripped out.

A killer is on the loose… November must figure out a way to stop whoever it is, balance her feelings for Vincent, and solve her parents’ past before she, too, is numbered among the dead.

The first in a Paranormal Fantasy Saga by debut author Morgan Shamy.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

She started forward once more, silently cursing, when a soft melody drifted from the woods. The sound jarred her to a stop, and her heart suddenly spiked. She wasn’t alone. Someone was out here. The music drew closer, heightening. It was slow and haunting, tinkling, like a music box. It didn’t sound like music from a radio or phone. It moved through the trees, wrapping around the bushes, spreading out toward her. She could feel it all around her, soaking into her.

“Hello?” she asked, backing up a step. She squinted into the trees. “Hello?”

No one answered.

The music continued, and she wrapped her arms around herself, backing up further.

“Hello?”

Deep into the forest, a bright light appeared, small at first until it burst outward. The light seared her eyes, large and white, and she ripped her gaze away. A voice in the back of her mind screamed at her to run. The music continued to play on the air, soaring toward her. It was getting closer, becoming thicker, heavier.

This couldn’t be happening. She was having hallucinations. She needed to get out of here. She needed to find stability. Ground herself.

She pushed herself faster, her feet pounding on the forest floor. But the music slithered after her, brushing along her back, carrying with her as she ran.

“Stop!” she yelled. “Stop!” She continued to race, until she dropped to her knees. She covered her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut. “Stop!”

In a blink, the music halted, and the light dissipated, but the music still echoed inside her head, hanging on the air. She stretched her eyes wide, her gaze darting side to side. She stayed frozen, her knees on the dusty ground. Her heart beat loud as the breeze picked up and tickled the hair off her face. Birds chirped, and the forest came alive again. She slowly lowered her hands.

Everything was normal. Everything was fine. She had been hallucinating.

She huffed out a frustrated breath and headed back down the trail, shaking out her arms. She was stupid to think someone had been after her, or to think she’d heard music or seen such a bright light, but the sweet melodic sound wouldn’t leave her alone. The melody lingered inside her head, weaving through her memory. Maybe someone had been there, and maybe she had been its target.

Author Bio:

Morgan Shamy is an ex-ballerina turned YA writer. She has been immersed in the arts since the young age of 4, where she performed various roles alongside a professional ballet company for over seven years, and has danced on prestigious stages like soloing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has taught hundreds of girls in her fifteen years of teaching, where some of her students have received full-ride scholarships to schools like School of American Ballet, the Harid Conservatory, Kirov Academy of Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, to name a few.

Morgan discovered writing when her three-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer. It was through that experience which instilled the need to share art and magic with children through words on the page.

Morgan is also an accomplished concert pianist. She was the first girl in Utah to receive the 75 pt. Gold Cup in the Utah Federation of Music in piano solo/concerto competition. Morgan currently lives with her X-Games gold-medalist husband and four children in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub


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Cover Reveal | Revel In You by Scarlett Se Leva

Revel In You
Scarlett Se Leva
(Determined, #3)
Publication date: June 30th 2022
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Simone Goodman.
The only girl I’ve loved.
Until she ripped my heart out.

It’s been five years since I’ve laid eyes on her.
Five years since she was mine.

I told myself never again.
But truth be told I still yearn to indulge in her.
To get lost in her touch.

I plan to own the one thing she’s denied me.
Her heart.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

Pre-order for only 99 cents!


Author Bio:

Scarlett Se Leva writes unexpected, steamy, suspenseful romance.

When Scar isn’t busy penning her next book, you can find her with her family watching movies, drinking wine, curled up in a corner with a book or running after her three daughters.

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Review | Quizzes for Rebel Girls

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a . . . Rebel Girl! Are you:
A. Flying high in the sky like adventurous pilot Amelia Earhart?
B. Catching air like Olympic skateboarder Sky Brown?
C. Climbing your way into the clouds like mountaineer Junko Tabei?Quizzes for Rebel Girls is packed with 50+ quizzes guiding girls to discover the traits, strengths, and habits that make them unique. The quirky questions in this book will help curious readers explore their personalities, forecast their futures, and find common ground with extraordinary women who’ve come before. Colorful illustrations bring this book to life and make it extra fun to share with friends and family! 

This book is filled with playful quizzes like: 

  • Lights, Camera, or Action? 
  • What’s Your STEM Style?
  • Are You a Team Player? 
  • How Do You Use the Power of the Pen?
  • Hometown Hero or World Traveler? 
  • What Is Your Super Power? 

Quizzes for Rebel Girls is brought to you by the team behind the New York Times best-selling series Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. It can be perfectly paired with Questions for Rebel Girls, filled with silly, serious, and thought-provoking questions that introduce readers to extraordinary women throughout history and ask them to imagine themselves in similar scenarios. Girls love to explore their feelings, uncover their personality, and decode the world around them. Get exploring with Rebel Girls! 

Rating: 5 out of 5.

As soon as I started reading this one I immediately thought of the quizzes in teen magazines and it immediately made the style of the book more fun. The quizzes run a pretty good range of subjects including different careers, personality types and some really fun ones thrown in like what kind of party you should throw. The usual bright and colorful scheme really lends itself to this installment, keeping things upbeat and fun, plus it wouldn’t be a Rebel Girls book without a healthy sprinkling of tidbits and facts about notable and inspiring figures tied into the quizzes.

Happy reading!

Blitz | Dark Blue Waves by Kimberly Sullivan

Dark Blue Waves
Kimberly Sullivan
Publication date: May 27th 2022
Genres: Adult, Historical, Romance, Time-Travel, Women’s Fiction

When you wake up in Bath, England two hundred years in the past, how far can a love of Jane Austen get you?

Janet Roberts dreams of an academic career in literature, so she can hardly believe her good fortune when she’s accepted into a Jane Austen graduate seminar in Bath, England. Settled in Georgian splendor among her seminar colleagues, Janet and her classmates live, eat and breathe Jane Austen.

An accident interrupts this idyll when Janet regains consciousness in her own room—back in Regency England. For a scholar of nineteenth-century literature, this should be a dream come true.

But Janet quickly learns there’s a world of difference between scholarly knowledge of the written page and maneuvering real life as a reluctant time traveler.

Her burgeoning friendship with Emma Huntington eases her entrée into nineteenth-century society. However, Emma’s brother, the handsome, proud and frustratingly magnetic Sir Edward, is far less welcoming.

While desperately attempting to make sense of her dilemma, Janet treads a thin line between trying to blend into her new world and not being unmasked as the imposter she is. Can she discover the way to return to her twenty-first century life? After working so hard to create a rewarding nineteenth-century life for herself and opening her hart to friendship and love, does she even want to?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Only 99¢ for a limited time!

EXCERPT:

Janet marveled at her reflection in the mirror. Her light brown hair with its sunny highlights looked elegant swept up; her neck appeared long and delicate. Her green eyes sparkled. She looked older, more sophisticated with her nineteenth-century toilette. She was certainly too suntanned to be fashionable among the creamy-skinned young women of Bath. Her form was perhaps too muscular for nineteenth-century tastes, but sport-sculpted shoulders and legs would be well-covered by the fashions of the day.

It did not require an extreme stretch of the imagination to believe that she might have just stepped out of the Bennet household. If only she could learn the manners and banish anachronisms from her discourse, she might actually get away with it.

“Why, Jane! Don’t you look lovely! What a miraculous recovery.” Emma glided into the room, all smiles and good cheer. “Doctor Perry has given me an excellent report. We are to take a short walk, but I have strict instructions to rest frequently. I have brought my sketching pad and pencils so that we shall have every excuse to sit and rest. Doctor Perry assures me you are strong, and he is confident you should soon be back to your old self.”

Janet smiled at her new friend. How kind they were being to her. She followed Emma out of the room, and then out the front door into the glorious, sunny June day.

June 17, 1813.

She could hardly believe it. She, Janet Roberts, writing her master’s thesis on nineteenth-century English social customs and manners and how they were reflected in the literature of the period, was now walking around Bath on June 17, 1813. This was a dream come true. How her fellow students and scholars would envy her, if only they knew.

But would they ever know? Would she ever return to her twenty-first-century life to complete that half-finished thesis, the one she needed to finalize by next May? Would she return to finish her Austen seminar? She’d agonized endlessly over her father controlling every aspect of her life—her studies, her career, her choice of a husband—yet here she was, a few days later, and her life was one giant question mark.

Emma slipped her arm through Janet’s, and the two women walked along the green of The Crescent, then continued the short distance to The Circus. This was the very same route Janet jogged with Siobhan only a few days earlier, on the morning of the accident that changed her life.

The streets were a riot of sights, sounds, and color. Women in their elegant dresses, servant girls in their coarse, functional smocks and aprons. In Janet’s world, it was not always easy to distinguish the classes by fashion. A twenty-first-century internet billionaire might work daily in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, just like the worker cleaning the streets. But here, in this new world, class and privilege were prominently displayed in one’s dress and carriage. There were no blurred lines. No room for ambiguity.

Children wandered the streets, carrying heavy parcels and buckets in their delicate, tiny hands. Janet longed to relieve them of their loads. How on earth could such young creatures be working so hard, carrying burdens that must weigh as much as they? Surely they should be in school, or enjoying their brief childhood, or accompanied by an observant adult, someone to ensure that they were vigilant and would not risk being run over and killed by a passing horse and carriage in a careless moment of childish distraction. Goodness, her modern sensibilities found this far too difficult to digest.

As she and Emma promenaded, elegant men stepped aside to allow them to pass. The men smiled and tipped their hats to the passing ladies.

The smell of horse manure was overwhelming. It hung so thickly in the air that Janet felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She saw a few men braving oncoming traffic, shovels in hand, attempting to clear the streets, only able to eliminate a small portion of the mountains of accumulated horse droppings.

Hadn’t the automobile been touted as the ideal solution to eliminate pollution? Janet, alongside her middle school classmates, had laughed smugly at the absurdity of that premise. How easy to have been smug in her clean and hygienic modern world. But now that she was actually living in the time period and breathing in the overwhelming odor that must have permeated every major city, she felt more sympathy for those who had welcomed the technology as a possible liberation from the nauseating stench that blanketed cities and towns.

Janet tried in vain to compose her face, but she couldn’t help but stare at the sights and sounds all around her.

Emma laughed at her friend. “You must remember to close your mouth and not gape at your surroundings. It looks as if you are out in the world for the first time, my dear Jane. Surely, you have not forgotten in this brief time what the world looks like beyond the confines of the sick bed.”

You would be surprised, Emma.


Author Bio:

Kimberly grew up in the suburbs of Boston and in Saratoga Springs, New York, although she now calls the Harlem neighborhood of New York City home when she’s back in the US. She studied political science and history at Cornell University and earned her MBA, with a concentration in strategy and marketing, from Bocconi University in Milan.

Afflicted with a severe case of Wanderlust, she worked in journalism and government in the US, Czech Republic and Austria, before settling down in Rome, where she works in international development, and writes fiction any chance she gets.

She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and The Historical Novel Society and has published several short stories and two novels: Three Coins and Dark Blue Waves.

After years spent living in Italy with her Italian husband and sons, she’s fluent in speaking with her hands, and she loves setting her stories in her beautiful, adoptive country.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub


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Review | Galatea by Madeline Miller

In Ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece – the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen – the gift of life. Now his wife, Galatea is expected to be obedience and humility personified, but it is not long before she learns to use her beauty as a form of manipulation. In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, she is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost…

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is my first foray into Madeline Miller’s writing and really the first of her works that I really wanted to pick up. I enjoyed her writing style overall and definitely was intrigued by her take on the Pygmalion story. I thought the personality and story she gave to Galatea was a great take and liked the story as a whole. I thought it was the perfect length for what it was and would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a new spin on Greek myths and stories.

Happy reading!

Blitz | Dead Wrong by Annie Anderson

Dead Wrong
Annie Anderson
(Grave Talker, #6)
Publication date: May 24th 2022
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Never make a deal with a demon.

There are two things Darby Adler wants more than anything: to take a vacation, and to find who is responsible for the rash of witch abductions in Knoxville.

With an ancient vampire in town and a slew of fugitives on the loose, her suspect pool is vast. But Darby has a sneaking suspicion she knows the culprit all too well.

And if she can’t catch him on her own, she might just have to resort to more creative measures to get the job done.

Here’s hoping she doesn’t lose her soul in the process.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

Hooking a finger in the bridge of my sunglasses, I pinned him with a cold glare. “Tell me, is it fibbies in general, my gender, or me in particular you don’t like, Preston? Because this is the second time in a matter of days that you have skirted around another agent to tell me to get off a crime scene, and I gotta say, it’s pissing me off.”

A sneer curled his lip as he planted his feet, leaning forward just a touch too close for my comfort. “Maybe I don’t like your kind, Warden,” he growled, cutting through any and all levels of pretense. “Maybe I don’t like trying to clean up arcane fuck shit on my only day off. Maybe I—”

I caught sight of his KPD brethren stopping to stare, and cut him off.

“Shut. Up,” I growled, fighting off the urge to cover his mouth with my hand. The absolute last thing I needed was a cranky beat cop exposing the arcane world to all a fucking sundry. “If you know who I am and even an inkling of what’s good for you, you will keep your fucking mouth shut until I tell you to open it.”

Snatching my cell from my back pocket, I dialed Tobin’s number.

“Yeah, boss?” he answered, the timid waver to his voice gone now that he was alone in the house and couldn’t see my face. Tobin didn’t like direct contact of any kind, but on the phone? In front of a computer? He was an absolute powerhouse.

“I need everything you have on an Officer N. Preston.” I squinted at the shield pinned to his chest. “Badge number 745632. And I need it yesterday, if you please.”

Tobin paused briefly, a faint snicker rattling down the line. Tobin loved it when other people were in trouble. His keyboard clacking like machine gun fire was music to my ears. “On it. Give me five.”

Without so much as a nod to polite phone etiquette, the line disconnected, and I stuffed the cell back in my pocket. I’d have to talk to him about that.

Staring at the prick whose face had turned an unhealthy shade of puce in the short time I was on the phone, I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes.

“Now that’s done, what were you saying about my kind, again? Not that you know what my kind even is or what I’m capable of.” The subtle buzz around the guy had a solid human flavor to it, but I’d been wrong before.

I’d been wrong about a lot of things.

Author Bio:

Annie Anderson is a military wife and United States Air Force veteran. Originally from Dallas, Texas, she is a southern girl at heart, but has lived all over the US and abroad. As soon as the military stops moving her family around, she’ll settle on a state, but for now she enjoys being a nomad with her husband, two daughters, an old man of a dog, and a young pup that makes life… interesting.

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