Straight Browsing from the Library: The Chasm by Branwn OShea

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Branwen OShea will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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They thought the biggest problem they faced was each other.

After Bleu, Rana, and their new friends narrowly prevent war between the star beings and humans, they hope the upcoming negotiation will secure the peace. Newly emerged from their subterranean haven, the Northern Haven humans are clearly not suited to Earth’s ice age, and require assistance from the enlightened star beings to survive long term on the Surface. But Commander Savas doesn’t trust the suspiciously kind star beings and their unexplainable abilities. When both sides reluctantly negotiate a joint mission to find the other Havens, Bleu must somehow cooperate with the manipulative commander to keep his friends safe.

As their team confronts unexpected dangers, Bleu and his teammates begin to suspect the star beings don’t know as much about the Surface as they claimed, while Rana is torn between remaining true to her nonviolent ways or becoming more human to survive. When an unnatural predator attacks, even the nearly all-knowing Kalakanya can’t explain it. Now the team must pull together or their new discovery will pull them apart, limb by limb.

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Neviah gaze narrowed. “You do know you’re doing a good job, right?”

He snorted. “So far, we’ve managed not to kill each other.”

“Considering Savas tried to nuke them a few weeks ago, that’s a huge accomplishment.”

He laughed, but she was right. It was amazing they hadn’t yet attacked each other. “Okay, let’s hope we can all continue to stay alive.” He turned to leave, then spun back. “Listen, if the choco doesn’t work to keep you awake while piloting, call back to me, and I’ll come entertain you. All right?”

Her smile was radiant. “Entertain me? Hmm. That sounds good. A whole lot better than stressing about flying across an ocean that hasn’t been crossed in centuries. Perhaps I should just give the choco back to Savas now?”

“Noooo. Choco is too amazing to lose.”

“Oh, so now we’re sharing it, eh?” She poked him with her stylus. “You want some of my choco?”

“Only a fool would say no to that.”

“Hmm. To the choco or to sharing it with me?” She lifted an eyebrow expectantly.

He shrugged and looked away, too riffled by her mood to answer properly. Her persistent flirting embarrassed him, and she always interpreted that to mean he liked her back. “I need to help pack up.” He left before she saw him blushing. Ugh.

MEET THE AUTHOR

As a young girl, Branwen wanted to become an ambassador for aliens. Since the aliens never hired her, she now writes about them.

Branwen OShea has a Bachelors in Biology from Colgate University, a Bachelors in Psychology, and a Masters in Social Work. She lives in Connecticut with her family and a menagerie of pets, and enjoys hiking, meditating, and star-gazing. Her published works include Silence of the Song Trees, The Calling, The Cords That Bind, and The Chasm.

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The Cords That Bind (Book 1.1) on Amazon
The Chasm (Book 2) on Amazon

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Straight Browsing from the Library: Loving Summer Rain by Megan Slayer

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Megan will award a randomly drawn winner a handcrafted necklace and bracelet. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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A match made in heaven? More like a match made in Norville and made to last.

Arthur Burton wants a lover and partner, but no man seems to want to be with the local insurance agent. He’s not the bland two-dimensional man on the billboards, but he hasn’t been given the chance to show his colors.

Summer Rain Davis embodies the bohemian lifestyle. He loves his arts and crafts. He’s always had a thing for the buttoned-up professional types and when he’s set up with Arthur, sparks fly.

Love is possible in a small town if Arthur and Summer Rain are willing to give their romance a try.

Can these two men, seemingly total opposites, find common ground and love to last a lifetime? Or will their differences keep them apart?

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James turned him around to face the mirror. “So, what are we doing?”

“A trim and polish. Just neaten me up.” His heart sank. He was too buttoned-up already and not getting out of his comfort zone wasn’t helping much.

James stared at him through the reflection in the mirror. “May I try something? It won’t be too drastic, but I want to try a slightly different look for you.”

James had the ability to style individuals to make their uniqueness shine. If he had an idea for Arthur, who was he to argue? “Okay.”

“Yeah?” James grinned. The piercing in his bottom lip sparkled. “You’re sure?”

“I am.” He needed something. This could be the small change required.

“Good.” James combed Arthur’s wet hair. “Why do you look so lonely and sad, doll? Not because of that review? Talk to me.”

He kept so much bottled up. If he couldn’t tell his stylist, who could he tell? “Because I am lonely.”

“Why? You’re handsome, have your own business, are smart…” James parted Arthur’s hair, then began trimming. “What’s not to like about you?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t give myself the chance to look for guys, that’s one thing.” He cringed. “That sounds doofy.”

“No, you sound scared and like you need a little help.” James continued cutting. “You need a matchmaker.”

“I do.” He shouldn’t have admitted that out loud, but oh well.

“What do you want in a guy?” James asked.

He sighed, buying himself some time to think. “I want a man who is kind, considerate, who will work with me and make me better. A partner. I want a guy who isn’t afraid to date an insurance agent. Someone who sees beyond the shell and won’t let me get complacent.”

“And looks?” James stared at their reflection. He narrowed his eyes, then resumed cutting. “You must have a type.”

“Not really. I like guys based on their attitude and ability to empathize. It’s about being drawn to the man,” Arthur said. “You know? If there’s a spark when we’re talking, then that’s the thing. If there isn’t, then I don’t bother.”

“I do.” James finished cutting, then combed Arthur’s hair. “Sometimes, you just know the guy is right.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Megan Slayer, aka Wendi Zwaduk, is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to LGBTQ and white hot themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been nominated at the LRC for Best Author, Best Contemporary, Best Ménage, Best BDSM and Best Anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon.com.

When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. She’s an active member of the Friends of the Keystone-LaGrange Public library.

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Straight Browsing from the Library: Pride of Lyon's by Jenna Jaxon

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jenna Jaxon will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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Enter the world of the most notorious gambling den in London, where matches are made... unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON'S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives... and loves.

What’s a young lady to do when a powerful lord tries to abscond with her and make her his mistress?

When you’re Miss Honoria Quinn, you leap from his carriage and run like the wind to find some place to hide. Trouble is, Honoria mistakenly chooses The Lyon’s Den, a disreputable gambling house as her sanctuary, a move that ends up with her having to make another choice at the hands of the Den’s match-making proprietor Mrs. Dove-Lyons: wed a complete stranger or become the lord’s mistress.

No good deed goes unpunished…

Thomas, Lord Braeton agrees to attend a wager at The Lyon’s Den only to keep his brother-in-law out of trouble. What he doesn’t count on is becoming embroiled in one of Mrs. Dove-Lyons’s schemes to marry him off. But when he tries to come to the aid of another peer, Thomas finds the only honorable thing he can do to save Miss Quinn’s reputation is put aside his hopes for a love match for himself and instead offer to marry her.

As Thomas and Honoria set out on a wary journey to matrimony, can they learn to live together and hope love will grow between them? Or are they doomed to a loveless marriage of convenience from which one or both will want to escape?

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His light amber eyes had turned dark again. Was it a trick of the light in this corridor that did that? It made him look so…hungry.

A shiver raced down her back.

“As today is our wedding day, Honoria…”

Every muscle in her body tensed. Would he go back on his word not to press her so soon? Her heart raced and her body heated. Did she want him to press her?

“Yes?” The single word was barely a breath.

“I wondered if you would allow me…”

She held her breath. Allow him…what?

“A kiss?”

Gasping, Honoria didn’t know whether to laugh or scowl at him. Thomas could be a rascal it seemed. “I believe that would be in order.” They had not even kissed after the ceremony. Papa had always frowned upon such public displays. “It is, as you say, our wedding day.”

“Yes, it is.” Suddenly he loomed so close to her all the air seemed to have been sucked out of the corridor. Gently, he raised her chin and lowered his head until her mouth was mere inches from his.

Unable to stare into those darkening eyes any longer, Honoria closed hers and waited breathlessly.

Suddenly his lips pressed against her, soft and warm. Everything about the man made her feel warm. He held her head in both hands and turned it ever so slightly, until their mouths seemed to merge into one. With that small change came an overawing feeling of rightness, as though this was the way a kiss was meant to be.

She shifted just a little toward him, drawn ever closer to his masculine presence.

In response, he pressed his lips against her harder, more insistent.

A thrill of longing shot through her. As though she wanted more of that.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenna Jaxon is a best-selling author of historical romance, writing in a variety of time periods because she believes that passion is timeless. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories.

She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets--including two vocal cats, one almost silent cat, two curious bunnies, and a Shar-pei mix named Frenchie.

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Straight Browsing from the Library: The Rise of the Last Beast Kingdom

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Loves GOD will be awarding a $75 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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Enslaved by a system of its own creation, humankind desperately seeks to free itself from the Beast. Lacking the knowledge, having refused the truth, all hope is gone…or is it?

Examining our history from creation to the present, this book provides insight as to why we are where we are today. Using the Hebrew Scriptures as its guide, we are taken from the cause of our plight to the ultimate ending. Although the Hebrew Scriptures are used, this is not a book supporting any major religion. There are only a few people in the world today who actually follow and obey the WORD of God – YeHoVaH. Most of the world follows man made religious practices. This book explains how this came about and how the present day systems evolved. This book provides a means for hope for the world, something surely needed now and especially in the coming days.

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The failure of man to trust and obey the Commands of YeHoVaH resulted in the first of mankind being corrupt and filled with violence. To end this corruption, YeHoVaH flooded the entire world.

Genesis 6:17-22 “Then I myself will bring the flood of
water over the earth to destroy from under heaven every
living thing that breathes; everything on earth will be
destroyed. But I will establish My covenant with you; you
will come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your
sons’ wives with you. “From everything living, from each
kind of living being, you are to bring two into the ark, to
keep them alive with you; they are to be male and
female. Of each kind of bird, each kind of livestock, and
each kind of animal creeping on the ground, two are to
come to you, so that they can be kept alive. Also take from
all the kinds of food that are eaten, and collect it for
yourself; it is to be food for you and for them.” This is what
Noah did; he did all that God ordered him to do.”

And after Noah obeyed YeHoVaH and built the Ark and the animals were on it, the Flood came.

MEET THE AUTHOR

As a child in elementary school, only attending church on Easter, the author did not feel strange when getting down on their knees and praying to GOD. Entering high school, the pull to understand GOD became greater and greater. A study of various religious books began - the Bible, Islam, eastern religions and thoughts were all examined. After reading the Hebrew Bible and particularly Isaiah 56:7 - “I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

The author determined that the GOD of the Hebrew Bible was in fact GOD. The author then began following the Hebrew traditions.

After earning an undergraduate degree from an Ivy League University and a law degree, the author began a successful law practice, joining the ranks of the millionaire’s club while living in Brentwood, CA near Beverly Hills. Life continued with marriage by a Rabbi and a family - until disaster hit. Business fell apart and bankruptcy left the author with nothing except faith in GOD which continued. A period of moving back and forth across the USA, 6 times in 8 years, finally resulted in settlement in the eastern USA. Upon finally deciding to stay in the east, one last trip was needed to the west by the author. During this trip, GOD brought an understanding to the author which changed everything and led to the writing of this book.

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Straight Browsing from the Library: The Collector by Lane Stone

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lane Stone will be awarding $10 Starbucks GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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Art expert Emma Kelly arrives at the Metropolitan Museum to meet with disgraced philanthropist Boyle York only to learn he has been murdered. His body and a nearby masterpiece are splattered with blue paint. In the following days, works of art around the world are attacked with the same paint, which Emma believes has something to do with the Virgin Mary. Emma’s husband, Elliott Baldwin, the Assistant Director in charge of the FBI’s New York City field office, isn’t convinced but appreciates her expertise.

Following a lead, Emma travels to her other home in Bath, England, and continues her search for one of the most famous Nazi-looted paintings. When a diver hired to explore a sunken Nazi submarine is murdered with the same weapon used to kill Boyle York, Emma wonders if the art crimes on three different continents are actually an attempt to trip her up.

Emma races against the clock to countries with Virgin Mary apparition sites in an attempt to save the world’s most beloved artwork. Can she convince the Vatican to disavow the perpetrators and stop the attacks and bring justice to the mastermind behind them before it’s too late?

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I would hate him forever for making me afraid. My hands trembled and I was as white as the sink I leaned against. I looked how you would expect someone who had just made a deal with the devil to look. How was I going to sit with Ali and Victoria? He’s a killer. The phrase repeated over and over in my head.

I splashed water on my face and returned to the table, knowing that not a single one of the brilliant comebacks I now thought of, guaranteed to reduce Ali to a sobbing lump, could be used in front of Valerie. As I turned the corner a waiter poured a martini from a shaker into a fresh glass and took away her empty. Ali wasn’t there. Valerie was lubed up and looked past caring about anything.

I sat and the waiter shook out my re-folded napkin and held it out to me. “Your friend isn’t staying for lunch?”

She shook her head.

“Would you care to order, Madame?”

Valerie looked at the drink. “I’m not hungry.” A text came in and she picked up her phone.

“I’ll have my salad now, please.” That ‘please’ was a signal that I intended to over tip to make up for our party of three table ordering only one meal, that wasn’t liquid. His nod was as understated as the vermouth in the Tavern on the Green’s martinis. If only interactions like what had taken place between us, and between Tabitha and her chauffer, counted as a second language I would be bi-lingual.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Lane Stone lives in Alexandria, Virginia and Lewes, Delaware with her husband, Larry Korb, and their Standard Schnauzer, Cordy. She’s the author of THE COLLECTOR, an art thriller, which is the first book in The Big Picture trilogy. The first book in the Old Town Antiques Mystery series, DEAD MEN DON’T DECORATE, will be published in November 2022, and will be written as Cordy Abbott. She is the author of the Pet Palace Mysteries and the Tiara Investigation Mystery series.

When not writing she enjoys characteristic baby boomer pursuits: being a dog Mom, traveling and volunteering for good causes, like AAUW and the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation. She serves on several boards.

She has a post-graduate certificate in Antiquities Theft and Art Crime.

Website: http://www.LaneStoneBooks.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/themenopausedog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaneStoneBooks

She is represented by Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

http://www.amazon.com/Collector-Big-Picture-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B09YZRQ1MX
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Dont-Decorate-Antique-Mystery/dp/163910125X/

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Straight Chatting from the Library: Rachel Kowert

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Dr. Rachel Kowert PhD will be awarding a $75 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC or 1 copy each of the 3 Cloud Canyon books (available in November) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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What is the favorite book you remember as a child?

I absolutely adored all of the Shel Silverstein poetry collections. I have read Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic so many times that I am pretty sure I could recite them from memory alone.

What is your favorite book today?

My favorite book of all time is the Illiad (I particularly enjoy the Stanley Lombardo translation). That book has it all - fantasy, mystery, heroes and heroines.

Tell us about your current book in 10 words.

Tales from Cloud Canyon celebrates the power of the everyday.

What are you reading right now?

I am currently working my way through The Witcher series of books and am loving them!

Do you have any bad book habits?

Much like my Steam library, my home library has far more books in it than I could ever read!

E-Reader or print? and why?

Print every time. Nothing is as satisfying as turning the physical page of a book and feeling the texture of the paper.

One book at a time or multiples?

One at a time.

Dog-ear or bookmark? (don't worry—Librarian Judith won't hold it against you—much)

Both! I tend to dog ear pages that has phrases or sections that I want to go back to/highlight or remember but use a bookmark to mark my actual progress.

Favorite book you've read this year?

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski.

When do you do most of your reading?

In waiting rooms! With three small children, it is hard to find the time.

Favorite genre?

Fantasy Fiction

Favorite book to recommend?

PT Barnum’s autobiography: The life of PT Barnum. Absolutely fascinating book

How do you keep your books organized?

By color, which I know drives some people mad but it works for me!

ABOUT THE BOOKS AND THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

THE STORIES

Tales from Cloud Canyon is a series of character driven, topical short stories celebrating the everyday child, doing everyday things, with their everyday abilities designed for children aged 3+. Developed by a research psychologist and mom of 3, these stories were developed to be entertaining, educational, and celebrate the power of the everyday within our the beautiful, diverse world.

This Kickstarter collection features three topical short stories from the Cloud Canyon Universe: Here, There, & Everywhere, The Secret to Success, and Invisible Friends. Each of these titles are fully illustrated from artist Randall Hampton and are about 25 pages long.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE WRITING

The fictional characters in childhood stories are some of our earliest teachers. We learn a range of things through the observation of these symbolic models, such as what is right and wrong, a desirable and undesirable behavior, gender roles, norms, stereotypes, and more. The role of models is particularly influential in childhood as it can have a long lasting impact on development.

Each story in this collection was developed to not only be entertaining but educational as well, with the stories' characters modeling a range of age-appropriate skills spanning four areas of human development: intellectual, social, emotional, and moral. The skills that are modeled within any particular story are displayed on the back cover of each book and explained in more detail on the last page of the book.

DIVERSITY, REPRESENTATION & INCLUSION

Tales from Cloud Canyon changes the narrative by reflecting and celebrating the beautiful and diverse reality of our world. The characters within the Cloud Canyon Universe were developed to represent a range of shapes, sizes, abilities and disabilities, and traditional and non-traditional families.

In the Cloud Canyon universe:

-More than half the characters are female
-More than half the characters come from an ethnic-minority background
-1 in 10 characters have a visible disability
-Characters come from traditional and non-traditional families
-Different body shapes are represented
-she/her, he/him, and they/them pronouns are represented

It was also equally important that these details were not the central theme of the stories themselves as our shape, level of ability, and what our family unit looks like are just some of the many parts of who we are and not necessarily the defining feature of our stories.

PRODUCTION AND RELEASE

All of the stories have been written and are currently being brought to life through the illustrative magic of Randall Hampton. The physical production of the books is expected to start in June 2022. Time from production to shipping is about 6 - 8 weeks (+/- 2-4 additional weeks due to COVID delays). Once Rachel receives the books, they will be shipped to backers. There is an expected arrival date of the books no later than November 2022.

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Invisible Friends tells the story of Winnie and Yuna. On a playdate, Winnie finds Yuna is talking to strangers online and sharing personal information. which I know is an ever-present discussion in many homes. This story discusses the how’s and why’s of navigating online stranger danger.

Excerpt:

After a while, Yuna softly said to her friend,
“I'm sorry about earlier, down in the den
I just thought it would be fun to meet someone new.
I didn't want to do something to upset you.”

Winnie smiled, “I know, it's just I've seen the headlines,
We stay safe by not talking to strangers online.
You can’t see them, you don’t know who they really are,
and they don't know you, it is all a bit bizarre.”

“It’s like when I venture off to play outside,
When I am online, all of the same rules apply.
I wouldn't walk into a stranger's house to chat,
Or invite the mailman inside to pet my cat.
If I don't really know someone, I stay aware,
Of all the risks - I was upset because I care.”

“I like to make new friends, too, really I promise,
But you can't tell if strangers are truly honest.
Online everyone's invisible, it's scary,
Because of that, it is best to remain wary.
With ‘invisible friends’ the risks are much greater.”
Winnie said she was a great de-escalator.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Dr. Rachel Kowert is a research psychologist, award-winning author and mom of three. In 2019, she launched her first Kickstarter project from the Cloud Canyon universe was a collection of female centered stories entitled Pragmatic Princess: 26 stories of self sufficiency and raised more than $25,000 in 30 days and won an INDIES award for educational children's picture book.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Randall Hampton is an author, illustrator, husband and father of 3. He is the Creator of "The Little Game Master" series of books and considers himself a story teller above all else. When he is not spending time with family and friends, Randall enjoys reading, video games, music, and table top games of all sorts.

Author's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Kowert/e/B00QU7NZUE
Kickstart Campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pragmaticprincess/tales-from-cloud-canyon
Book video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCTQ0ZgA14Q
Website: https://www.rkowert.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drkowert
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drrachelkowert
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/drrachelkowert
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Psychgeist
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkowert/

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Straight Browsing from the Library: The Accidental Detective Series by Kris Bock

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kris Bock will be awarding Ebook copies of the first four books in the Accidental Detective Series - Something Shady at Sunshine Haven and Something Deadly on Desert Drive (out now), plus early copies of books 3 and 4, Someone Cruel in Coyote Creek (not available publicly until September 29, 2022) and Someone Missing from Malapais Mountain (not available publicly until February 28, 2023) - to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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The Accidental Detective book 1: Something Shady at Sunshine Haven

Injured in a bombing, Kate returns to her hometown in Arizona with new scars, a limp, and pain meds that give her brain fog. For the first time in her life, she's starting to feel her age (49), even though she's living like a teenager again: staying with her father, trying to understand why her sister resents her so much, and running into old friends who still think of her as Kitty.

Seeing her mother in an Alzheimer's unit is the hardest part – until an old friend asks her to investigate suspicious deaths at that nursing home. Is a self-appointed "Angel of Mercy" killing patients to end their suffering? Are family members hastening their inheritance? Is an employee extorting money and killing the witnesses? Kate uses her journalism skills to track clues, but the puzzle pieces simply won't fit. If Kate can't uncover the truth, her mother could be next on the killer's list.

Kate has followed the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going home?

The Accidental Detective book 2: Something Deadly on Desert Drive

Starting over at fifty might be hard, but it shouldn’t be deadly…

Still recovering from an injury that might have permanently derailed her career as an international war correspondent, Kate Tessler is living in her childhood bedroom and pondering her second act when another case lands in her lap. Kate’s father and his coffee group are worried. Their friend Larry married a younger woman who now insists he has dementia and won’t let any of his friends visit. They’re convinced that Larry’s wife and her two adult, dead-beat kids are out to steal his money. Can Kate help?

Soon Kate and her unusual gang of sidekicks are unofficially, officially investigating. But before they can dig out the truth, a murder raises the stakes. Now they need to prove Larry is both mentally competent and not a killer. They’ll have to find the real murderer—without risking their own lives in the process.

Praise Something Deadly

“I had such a lovely day reading your story. I could barely put it down. I am still in awe of how you manage to wrangle these three generations of sleuths without every going over the top or relying on stereotypes or cliches, and of course watching Kate start to come to terms both with her disability and potential inability to ever fully heal as well as her new life, aging, being back home again and reconnecting with her family—all while solving two crimes—definite multi-tasker! The story was so engaging and quite clever.” – Sinclair Jayne, author

READ AN EXCERPT FROM SOMETHING DEADLY ON DESERT DRIVE

“Thanks for taking us seriously,” he said.

“Sure. You really think something is wrong?”

I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a ploy to keep me entertained. I was doing a lot better physically since the bombing that tore a chunk out of my left leg, but I wasn’t ready to return to world travel or tracking down warlords and might never be. Using my journalism skills to ferret out problems close to home kept life interesting, but I didn’t need Dad creating challenges purely for my benefit.

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Dad finally said. “But I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to Larry, and I’d ignored the problem. Too often, people dismiss complaints from old folks. It’s easy for a younger person, an adult child, even a lawyer put in charge of someone at a nursing home, to take advantage. If the old person complains, people assume they’re forgetful or paranoid or don’t understand the situation.”

That was a scary thought. Dad’s mind was as sharp as ever, but did people look at him and dismiss him? With my mother’s Alzheimer’s, we had to make decisions on her behalf. She had us looking out for her. But what about someone without that support? My research had turned up one case where lawyers appointed to administer a million-dollar estate blew through the money in under a year, and then the elderly patient had to go into a Medicaid home.

“We’ll find out what’s happening,” I promised.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Kris Bock writes novels of mystery, suspense, and romance, many with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for her newsletter. You’ll also get a free 30-page sweet romance set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café and a printable copy of the recipes mentioned in the cat café novels

Kris also writes a series with her brother, scriptwriter Douglas J Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Follow the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the movie. Sign up for our romantic comedy newsletter and get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s Cabin. Or find the books on Amazon US or All E-book retailers

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