Straight Browsing from the Library: Me, Mom & the Monster by Corinne Brown

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Corinne Brown will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Corinne Brown will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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"The results of your predictive testing are here, and they show that you did inherit the gene for Huntington's disease."

Those words, delivered by the neurologist to 57-year-old Mae Brown, forever changed her life and the lives of her family. Me, Mom & the Monster is a soul-stirring memoir that follows the path of this farming wife, businesswoman, mother and grandmother who lived a life with a monster of a disease. Interwoven with Mae's story is that of her third child, Corinne, whose life is intrinsically connected to her mother's diagnosis. Told from alternating voices of Corinne and her mother, this is a candid account of the harrowing effects of living with a fatal, genetic disease. Me, Mom & the Monster captures the authenticity and vulnerability of a mother and daughter who find themselves entwined in a long dance with a neurodegenerative disease.

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MOM

I remember hearing stories of distant aunts and uncles who were afflicted with the Devil’s Dance—a colloquialism used in some circles to refer to those who were afflicted with HD. They were said to have the Devil’s Dance because of the chorea—a movement disorder causing involuntary spasmodic movements—that looked like an awkward, uncontrolled dance. Chorea is a primary symptom of HD. The Devil’s Dance was whispered about because of the shame, stigma and fear of this disease no one knew much about.

Times were different back then. There was no genetic testing or genetic counselling. Families just waited to see if symptoms would appear in them or in loved ones. Not much was known about the genetics of this disease or what the probabilities were of being affected if a parent had the disease. All I knew was what I heard about family members being sheltered and, in some instances, locked up so they wouldn’t harm themselves. They were deemed to have the Devil’s Dance, and not everyone behaved the same way. There was shame among afflicted families. There was also incredible fear.

This was in the early to mid-1900s in a remote community in northeast Newfoundland, where not many people talked about HD. Partly because there wasn’t much known about it, and no one in these small towns knew what to do anyway, especially if the afflicted person had rage tendencies and dramatic outbursts. My aunt Edna, who, along with my aunt Marg, helped in raising me after my own mother died, often became quite violent and would hit her husband, and hit him hard. She was sent away periodically for shock therapy because that was the preferred “treatment” of a disease that no one knew much about. I had an uncle who took his own life after he started exhibiting symptoms.

I suppose they call it the Devil’s Dance because those who are afflicted can’t keep still, legs going, feet going, torso bending. And the devil part? Well, that probably doesn’t need much explanation or observation. Only the devil could conjure such a tragic infliction. Some days I do feel like I’m in hell, to be honest. Fitting, I suppose. Not like I have a choice to dance with anyone else except with this devil of a disease.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Corinne was 10-years old when she told her teacher that when she grew up, she was going to be an author. A few decades may have passed since then, but the author dream was realized with the publication of her debut novel, Me, Mom & the Monster in the summer of 2026.

Corinne, a native Newfoundlander, grew up surrounded by books, newspapers and magazines. Her environment must have had some impact since she graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts and then went on to pursue a Journalism diploma at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta.

Although her initial intention was to write fiction, Corinne says the story of Me, Mom & the Monster needed to be told first. She says sharing the intimate story of being part of a Huntington’s disease family opened the space for other ideas.

When she isn’t creating characters, and envisioning scenes and scenarios, she finds comfort in being outside. She lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada where she is continuously adding to her To Be Read stack and where she is currently writing her second book.

Website: https://corinnebrown.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corinneiswritingabook
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590646317904
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/71361751.Corinne_Brown

Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/Me-Mom-Monster-Through-Huntingtons-ebook/dp/B0H3NWHCJS/ref=sr_1_10

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Straight Browsing from the Library: Titan Mage Havoc and the Frigid Flame by Edie Skye

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Edie Skye will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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IT'S INDIANA JONES WITH MORE ASS (and GIANT ROBOTS!)

Titan Mage Orion “Rion” Havoc has a reputation to match his name—and that’s exactly what the captain of the airship Indigo Gryphon is looking for.

The world of Haven is an adventurer’s paradise, brimming with mysterious ruins, ancient artifacts, and dangerous secret powers the Arcane Index’s combat archaeologists just can’t help but unleash. Fortunately, the Index has a protocol for that, and it involves giant mechs called titans—and their pilots, the titan mages.

***

When mousy archaeologist Mery Arkady hires the Indy for an expedition to the lost city of Aeterna, Rion fully expects danger and derring-do. He even expects her to have more secrets than she’s letting on.

What he doesn’t expect is to be joined by Sanja Grimes—a rough and tumble titan mage, a vigorous partner in rank and in bed … and the one who got away.

Nor did he expect their shared academy rival Nepherik Damian Oldershaw to show up, suspiciously interested in Mery’s expedition and as vicious as he is vindictive.

Even in an adventure that takes them through monster-infested ruins, sky pirate territories, untamed jungles, and lost cities, their greatest threat might be from their own pasts.

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with Amazon bestselling author Edie Skye in this brand-new action-adventure fantasy series. If you’ve ever said “I like the Indiana Jones movies but I wish they had more ass,” this just might be the story you’ve been waiting for.

WARNING: Titan Mage Havoc is a fun mecha fantasy adventure where the hero saves the day and gets all the girls. (So don’t read it and then complain about the spice. Y’all know exactly what you’re getting into.)

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“Your chief’s here!” Nova said brightly.

“My chief?” The woman startled again. “What time is it? Gouda usually barks when—”

She half-stepped, half-stumbled down the ladder, which was when Sevas noticed the bed positioned beside it, and the loaf-shaped white and fawn dog snoring next to a chewed-up wooden bat. The dog wore a leather eyepatch over an eye marred by an X-shaped scar and clenched an inert alarm clock in its teeth. Also chewed up.

“Gods dammit, how’d she even reach it—” the young woman muttered, then swung to face the hatch. Her eyes landed on her visitors right before she would have crashed into Sevas. She jerked to a halt with a disconcerted “Eep!” and her face froze as she re-processed the situation.

He shook the thought of his previous view from his mind—even as he noticed her bare, slim midriff, and shook that from mind, too. Gods, why was he noticing such things? He was about to fill the pause with a reprimand about the state of the workshop, but then her brain restarted, and the thing it chose to blurt was: “Gods, you’re gorgeous!”

It seemed he wasn’t the only person on this ship with a mouth faster than his brain. The young woman clapped her hands to her face, as if to shove her words back in, and Sevas glanced back to Rion and sighed.

“Yes, it’s a known issue.”

MEET THE AUTHOR

Edie Skye wrote Titan Mage as a joke and, in doing so, discovered that while she really likes writing smart stuff, she also likes writing smut. Pretty spicy smut, too, ‘cause if you’re gonna do it, you might as well do it hard. Specifically, she likes to spin fun (and funny) adventure fantasies about badass women and the equally badass dudes who want to do them. Vigorously. There’s action and monster-punching galore, sometimes with airships and mech upgrades, sometimes with monster girl gamers, but always with a substantial side of harem and fun-for-all-involved graphic spice. (Which is to say, it’s super NSFW. Unless your workplace is, like, really cool.)

Website: https://edieskye.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edieskyeauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edieskyeauthor/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@edieskyeauthor
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/edieskyeauthor
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@edieskyeauthor
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/edieskyeauthor

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Mage-Havoc-Frigid-Flame-ebook/dp/B0H3LTT8L5
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Titan-Mage-Havoc-and-the-Frigid-Flame-Audiobook/B0H9ZYZ4CW
Signed Books at the author's Direct Shop: https://store.holowriting.com/pages/titan-mage-havoc

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Unladylike by Regina Louise

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Regina Louise will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on a tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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Unladylike: A Mythopoetic Reclamation of Love is a lyrical collection of poetry and prose exploring love, survival, embodiment, and the journey of returning to the self. Blending literary poetry with personal reflection, Regina Louise examines relationships, identity, trauma, healing, and the process of reclaiming one's voice after loss and betrayal.

Through intimate poems and essays, Unladylike maps the emotional terrain between heartbreak and self-discovery, inviting readers into a deeply human exploration of resilience, self-love, and personal transformation. Her work speaks to readers interested in emotional healing, spiritual growth, women's voices, and the reclamation of dignity through storytelling and creative expression.

Rooted in mythopoetic inquiry and lived experience, this collection moves through memory, desire, grief, and repair, offering language for those navigating change, recovery, and the search for meaning. Unladylike is both an artistic work and an invitation-to witness oneself honestly and to return to what was always there.

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Say Her Name, Yours, and Mine
for Celie, for the girl on the 24 Divisadero, for all of us

Who taught her to bankrupt herself
back into her own disremembering—
to shrink inside the sound of her own name?

But I call her by her name. Celie.
Not by what Mister said.
Not by the nothing she thought she was.

I call her holy.

I recognize her as my own emulate,
mama,
sister,
auntie,
grandmother,
Jezebel,
and Sapphire,

The forgotten-about ones.

Because, like all of them (us),
she wrote letters to a God
she wasn’t sure existed.

Because she kept speaking,
even when no one answered.
Kept showing up,
and up,
and up—

Until that sacred day she stood and said,
“I may be poor, Black, I may even be ugly—
but dear God, I’m here,”

the day every woman who had been erased
stood up inside her.

The day I stood up.
My smallest exiled self—commanding like Moses—
until her spine / mine / all our spines
reached a Heaven of our own creating.

Miss Celie
touched her own face,
and I touched mine
on the 24 Divisadero bus heading away from Haight,
and we found ourselves beautiful.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Regina Louise is a poet, writer, teacher, speaker, executive coach, whose work explores the intersection of memory, belonging, identity, and emotional liberation. The author of three books—two of which have been adapted for film: Somebody’s Someone, Someone Has Led This Child to Believe and Permission Granted: Kick Ass Strategies to Bootstrap your Way to Unconditional Self-Love—she has spent more than three decades helping people transform adversity into authorship through story, self-inquiry, and radical compassion.

A senior teacher with the Hoffman Process, Regina is known for guiding profound conversations about restoring dignity, resilience, attachment, and the art of becoming fully oneself. Whether on stage, in classrooms, behind a microphone, or in intimate workshop settings, she invites audiences to reimagine the stories that have shaped their lives and discover the freedom that awaits beyond them.

Her forthcoming collection, Unladylike: A Mythopoetic Reclamation of Love (September 2026), marks her debut poetry collection. Blending poetry, lyrical prose, and aphoristic reflections, it is a fearless meditation on love, loss, self-possession, and the sacred work of returning home to oneself.

Regina Louise lives in California, where she continues to write, teach, and create work that honors the transformative power of language to restore dignity, deepen connection, and reclaim what has always belonged to us.

Website: http://www.therealreginalouise.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealreginalouise
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regina.louise.5/
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/unladylike-a-mythopoetic-reclamation-of-love-regina-louise/b4379cc65cf1293b
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IQXN7M

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Straight from the Library: Cold Hands by Daniela Alibrandi

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Daniela Alibrandi will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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In Rome, the past never stays buried for long. When a dangerous man, Cold Hands, is released from psychiatric detention and quietly returns to the city, Commissioner Rosco and his team are drawn into a shadowy investigation where old crimes, hidden grudges, and new threats begin to intertwine. Beneath the surface of ordinary lives, secrets fester in hospital wards, along the Tiber, and in the darkest corners of the capital. Seemingly unrelated crimes gradually intertwine within a hypnotic, subterranean world of hidden Rome, mysterious lakes and ancient legends, revealing a larger pattern that is difficult to recognize. As tensions rise, Rosco must protect the fragile happiness he has finally found while facing a menace that knows how to wait, watch, and strike. Atmospheric, gripping, and rich in psychological tension, Cold Hands is a suspense novel set in a Rome of buried memories and lurking danger.

***

Who will read the novel will discover the unbelievable seductive settings, on the shores of Rome’s underground lakes, in which a disturbed mind stalks its prey. They will enjoy this important step in the overall journey of the work, which intertwines serial crimes with murders of a different nature, even with the ancient legends that abound in the Eternal City.

Through the MultiDimensionCrime approach, the novel invites readers to enter a world where atmosphere, emotions, and events become almost tangible, entering the mind of the killer, the desperation of the victims, while investigating with the squad in increasing twists and suspense. The novel, set in the Eighties, is also published as an Extended Book, an innovative publishing format experienced by Morellini Editore, that enhances the reading experience. By scanning the QR code printed on the back cover, readers can explore the locations featured in the story, immerse themselves in its atmospheric world, and listen to a curated soundtrack of 1980s music that brings the novel’s setting to life. A journey that doesn’t end with the last page!

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Rome in early spring—there’s nothing more enchanting, even for Rosco, who slid behind the wheel, still heavy with sleep, having skipped breakfast yet again. Another night spent with the little one waking up over and over, until he’d earned his rightful place in the big bed. And yet, for Rosco, there was nothing sweeter than feeling that warm little body pressed close, so bossy and so tender—a tiny tyrant to whom he gladly surrendered.

But by morning, Marilena had reached her limit. With gentle hands, she’d scooped up the boy and, for the umpteenth time, tucked him back into his crib. Then she’d slipped back under the covers—a mistake, as it turned out, because now Rosco could smell her, and it had been ages since he’d been this close to her. The child was sleeping soundly now, dawn’s timid light beginning to seep through the shutters, and Rosco could make out the outline of Marilena’s body as she breathed deeply, on the verge of drifting off again. He couldn’t resist the urge to caress her hips, and when she turned toward him, he kissed her lips, then her neck, and finally began to suckle her nipple. She wasn’t nursing anymore, and the scent of her skin had returned to what it once was, before— a whiff of stale caciotta cheese, during those endless months of round-the-clock feedings.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Straight Chatting from the Library: Jon Ketzner

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jon Ketzner will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. 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?

My favorite book as a child was an abridged edition of Henry Fielding’s “Tom Jones.” As a smartass 14-year-old, I was amazed to realize that smartassery has been around forever and still funny. I also read the Hardy Boys and on my senior page in my high school yearbook identified F. W. Dixon as one of my favorite.

What is your favorite book today?

As an adult, I have a real weak spot for “Florida man fiction” …Carl, Hiasson, Dave Barry, Tim Dorsey, Elmore Leonard, etc. similarly, I enjoy Joseph Heller and Christopher Buckley. “Heller’s post “Catch-22” novels, especially “Something Happen” come closest to the kind of novels I wish I could write. Early John Irving, Gore Vidal, Doctorow and Vonnegut are also favorites. Probably others who skip my mind.

Tell us about your current book in 10 words.

A snarky supplement to the JFK assassination historical record

What are you reading right now?

I am currently reading Robert Craig’s “The Big Empty” Craig, Robert Parker and Stephen Hunter are also favorite authors

What books do you have on hold at the library?

I have nothing on hold at the library…I buy any book I intend to read

Do you have any bad book habits?

I do buy books that I never get around to reading…not just abandon after starting, but just stick on a table and never open. I’m not sure if that’s a bad habit or just wasteful

E-Reader or print? and why?

I only read print copies…I just never got into e-books and it’s far too late to change my ways now. The only audio books I listen to are of books I’ve already read and want to re-enjoy while I’m on a road trip.

One book at a time or multiples?

I only read one book at a time…I am a serial monagareader

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

I use both book marks and dog-earring shamelessly

Favorite book you’ve read this year?

I haven’t read it yet but I know it will be the feather book “Theo of Golden.” I’ll dislike it out of jealousy and because my wife keeps nagging me to read it.

Favorite time to read?

I generally read during the evening or at the beach

Favorite place to read?

My favorite place to read is in an Adirondack chair on our patio

Favorite Genre

My favorite genre is humor-based detective, action and political fiction…the humor is most important, especially witty dialogue and crazy plot twists

Do you loan your books?

I have nothing problem loaning books…I always write my name on page 100 first…just in case

Favorite book to recommend?

I have no trouble recommending anything by Christopher Buckley or Joseph Heller. I often recommend “Ragtime” to folks as an example of an approach to storytelling that I enjoy.

How do you keep your books organized?

My read books go into whatever of our several bookshelves has available space. My wife, who is more of a reader than I, cycles books out the door using some algorithm that is in her head and inscrutable to me

Re-read or not?

I do not re-read and get annoyed with myself when I realize 100 pages in that I am re-reading something. As noted, the only audio books I listen to are of books I have already ready conventionally.

What makes you not finish a book?

If I abandon a book, and I have, it’s generally early in the story and I realize the tale holds no interest to me.

Keep books or give them away?

I used to stubbornly keep any book I had read…like a trophy. Eventually, the number of books my family consumed over the years was too much. My wife now periodically purges the collection. I am fine with that.

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On the eve of President John F. Kennedy's final trip to Dallas, an irreverent narrator from the Ether begins to reveal the hidden chain of events that history never recorded. Spanning decades and weaving together Hollywood legends, political dynasties, secret affairs, and forgotten tragedies, Coincidence imagines how seemingly unrelated lives become entangled in the most infamous assassination of the twentieth century. From Joseph P. Kennedy and Gloria Swanson to Jackie Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and the young Lee Harvey Oswald, every choice, passion, and betrayal sends ripples through time. Behind every headline lies another story, and every story hides a secret long buried. As the strands converge on November 22, 1963, the line between fate and accident begins to blur. Rich in historical detail and provocative speculation, Coincidence asks: was it really coincidence at all?

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Jackie rarely consulted him about her clothing. Her sense of style, if not her sense of humor, was notorious.

“The pink.”

She seemed surprised. “Why the pink?”

“Texas. All those tired cowgirls raising their brat kids to be Miss America. They adore pink in Texas.”

The First Lady eyed the pink at arm’s length. She shrugged. “Okay. The pink.”

“But the hat,” POTUS said, “could you do without the hat. I hate those things.”

Jackie shook her head.

“I’ll need the hat. Without the bubble top on, my hair would be a mess.”

The president leaned back against the pillows on his rock-hard bed, supine in his boxers and the argyles Bobby had given him which bore the presidential seal. He grinned.

“Remember the times when we would drift down the Potomac, standing by the rail, the wind blowing wildly through your hair, and there on the river in the middle of the city you would sink sexily to your knees…”

“Drop dead, Mr. President.” Words Jackie would soon want back.

The door to Suite 850 opened and George Lapp entered to help The President dress. He nodded at Jackie. He had seen her naked many times and was indifferent to the marital scenario into which he had strolled. Jackie smiled curtly and sidled toward her own room to don the pink Chanel, including its matching hat.

Before she left, the President grinned and said to his valet. “I might need the back brace today, George, had a strenuous night.”

MEET THE AUTHOR

Jon Ketzner was born in Cumberland, Maryland in the lovely Appalachian foothills. He grew up in Baltimore then graduated from Towson University with a degree in mathematics and went on to a long career as a consulting actuary. For many years, Jon and his family lived in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania before moving back to Cumberland in 1990.

As a recovering actuary and inspired by the Maryland Writers Association’s “Notable Authors” monthly challenges, Jon decided to try his hand at writing and give his left-brain side a rest. He cites as influences: Henry Fielding, Joseph Heller, Gregory McDonald, and Tim Dorsey.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/34506564.Jon_Ketzner

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Straight Browsing from the Library: Crimes and Crevices of the Heart by Beth Ford

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Beth Ford will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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Cassie Woods yearns to be a real journalist. But in 1880s New York City, her only assignments are women's interest stories. Until, that is, a cookbook author she's meant to interview goes missing and Cassie finds herself in the midst of a police investigation involving one of the city's major crime families. Surly but handsome Detective O'Neill threatens repercussions to her career if she continues to interfere. Will Cassie get in over her head or will she save the day and solve the mystery?

This collection contains seven connected stories, each centered on an exciting new case for Cassie to solve while navigating the highs and lows of her relationship with Detective O'Neill.

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“A lady reporter?” the policeman at the front desk asked her. “Are you serious?”

“Quite serious, I assure you.” She pointed at the card he held in his hand.

“Anyone could have these printed.”

“Are you going to let me talk to the detective who’s investigating her case or not?”

The man scowled, making his bushy blond eyebrows meet in the middle. Without a word, he walked through a door and out of sight. He returned a few minutes later followed by a fortyish man with strong cheekbones and striking green eyes. The first policeman returned to his duties at the front desk while his handsome superior continued into the lobby. Cassie turned her most charming smile on him.

“Are you the detective?”

“I can’t have reporters interfering in my case.” He spoke in a rough Irish brogue.

Her face fell. Clearly this man was not one to be charmed. “I’m merely asking for information.”

“What does the News Desk want with this story anyway? And why send you?”

“I’m the women’s editor—”

“Women are reading missing persons cases now, are they?”

“I’m simply trying to ascertain where the investigation currently stands. Mr. Walker’s lawyer—”

“What lawyer has he got?”

“Mr. Greene—”

The detective harrumphed. “No good swindler, that one.”

“I’m sure such a description applies to many lawyers you encounter, Mr.…”

The man glared at her. “O’Neill.”

MEET THE AUTHOR

Beth Ford writes historical and time travel stories that transport you in time. She is the author of the novels In the Times of Spirits, Love Between Times, Love Across Time, and After the Spirits Come: A Continuation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol. She also writes the Cassie Woods, Reporter historical mystery romance novella series. Her work has also appeared in a variety of literary journals. She lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Website: http://bethfordauthor.com
X: https://x.com/BethFordAuthor
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bethfordauthor.bsky.social
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crimes-Crevices-Heart-Complete-Reporter-ebook/dp/B0H3811ZPM/

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Straight Browsing from the Library: Duke du Jour by Petie McCarty

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Petie McCarty will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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She’s waiting in the past . . . He belongs in the future.

Jared Langley, present-day Duke of Reston, tumbles into an abandoned fountain on his ducal estate and is pelted back in time to the year 1816. There, Reston servants and local villagers think him a dead ringer for his namesake and rakehell ancestor—the seventh Duke of Reston, gone missing at the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, Seven got mixed up with French spies out to assassinate the Duke of Wellington, and an unwary Jared ends up in their crosshairs.

Lady Ariana Hart has loved Jared Langley, the seventh Duke of Reston, since she was twelve years old, until the night the rogue broke her heart. Given up for dead, her rakish neighbor makes a miraculous return from Waterloo. Only Jared shows up a changed man and reignites all the feelings Ariana had long ago buried.

Jared is in a race against time.
His tasks?

Waylay the suspicions of his quirky servants and neighbors
Get to Wellington before the French spies do
Fix his fountain–before Seven shows up–so Jared has a way home
And definitely do not fall in love with the irresistible Lady Ariana . . .

Second Edition


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Jared winced when the not-doctor swiped two fingers over the lump. “How long will my memory lapse?” he asked, for good measure.

“No more than a week or two,” Dr. Padwick proclaimed confidently.

Pompous ass. The quack had no idea. Small wonder anyone survived in this century.

A young boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, suddenly burst into the room. “She’s coming up the lane!” he exclaimed.

The present occupants all stared. The poor boy shifted from one foot to the other. “She’s coming,” he repeated and gave Curricle Man a pointed look that was obviously supposed to mean something.

Jared glanced at Curricle Man, and then he raised his brows at Heddy.

“That is Bullen,” she said.

Curricle Man gaped. “You didn’t know me?”

“Not your name until this moment, no.”

“Memory loss,” Padwick added peremptorily.

“Oh,” Bullen said, making the word into several phonetic syllables.

Jared suppressed yet another eye roll. He would make his head ache worse if he did not cease. “And who is coming?”

Bullen’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “Lady Ariana,” he wheezed, like someone was choking him.

Jared’s gaze shot to Heddy, and Bullen clapped a palm to his forehead.

“Lady Ariana Hart, the Earl of Wakefield’s daughter,” she said primly and added, “Yer playmate as a child though ye were a might older.”

Bullen groaned. “It is too late to run now. She’s probably pulled up to the steps already.”

Jared threw his legs over the side of the bed. “Surely, you did not expect me to run.”

Heddy leaned in and whispered, “I’m Heddy. Shirley’s the upstairs maid.”

Jared blinked at her, considered explaining his adverb use, and thought better of it.

“Remember, I told ye?” Heddy repeated slowly.

“Right. So, why would I run?”

Bullen and Heddy exchanged glances, and both gave a minuscule nod toward Padwick, who watched the exchange with interest.

Jared caught on. “If you are through, Dr. Padwick, you may go. I will send word if I further require your services,” he said dismissively.

The doctor gave one imperious sniff, snatched up his black bag of medicinal anomalies, and stalked for the door.

The moment the door shut behind him, Jared turned to Bullen. “Now, why would I not want to see Lady Ariana if she was my childhood playmate?”

Bullen swallowed hard and shot a worried glance at Heddy.

“Do not look at her. Answer me.”

“Well,” Bullen said slowly, keeping his eyes on the counterpane on Jared’s bed, “because of the way you had gotten to be those last couple of years before you left for the continent.”

Jared narrowed his gaze. “And how is that?”

Bullen swallowed hard a second time. “You know . . . dissolute.”

Jared stared in shock. Mostly because Bullen knew the word. Nineteenth-century servants were not all that well educated. He also felt insulted, though common sense told him no, since he wasn’t really the seventh Duke of Reston. He thought of the smirk on Seven’s face in Jared’s portrait gallery.

“Terribly dissolute?”

Bullen blinked. “Pretty much.”

“Ye’re a rake and a drunk,” Heddy added helpfully.

He glowered at her.

“Well, ye are. Gossip is ye’ve slept wi’ half the married ladies in London and all the widows. Not yer fault though. Ye’ve a face like an angel,” she offered indulgently, “so the ladies flock to ye.”

Bullen nodded. “You’re a looker, and you know it.” The man finally made eye contact and looked sad about his divulgence.

Bloody hell. I am an arrogant, lecherous drunk, and I have only just arrived.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said goodbye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time.

These days, Petie spends her time writing new tales for her Cinderella series, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her Regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones, along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who makes a cameo appearance in Christmas Watch, Book 2 of The Watchers series.

Visit Petie at her website, www.petiemccarty.com, to get to know her, learn about her current projects, and discover her other published works.

Website: http://www.petiemccarty.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty
Twitter: https://x.com/authorpetie
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094579.Petie_McCarty
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/petie-mccarty
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/petiemccarty

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Duke-Du-Jour-Petie-McCarty-ebook/dp/B0H99Y9Z2Z.

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