Archives for August 2023

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: The Wishing Tree: Love, Lies, and Spies on Chincoteague Island by M. S. Spencer

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Will the wind whip her token from the Wishing Tree and make her wish come true?

Addison Steele dreams of the day her husband—lost at sea—returns to her. Instead, she meets Nick Savage, whose every word may be a lie. She is soon embroiled in mystery, all related to the top secret science station at Wallops Island, Virginia.

After a Belarusian scientist at Wallops is murdered, the questions multiply. Was it because he caught the person stealing classified documents or because he wanted to defect? Is Nick the spy—or is it his brother? How can she trust the man who is slowly claiming her heart when his story keeps shifting?

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Mystery/Suspense Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, M. S. Spencer

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Hidden Obsession by Susan Vaughan

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Freelance writer Sheridan Harte reluctantly returns to her Maine hometown to ghostwrite a memoir. Sheri just wants to do her job and avoid revisiting her tragic past. But after a brutal murder and more attacks, she resolves to stay. She then finds herself in the arms of a determined and tempting blue-eyed detective. And in the crosshairs of a killer.

As Detective Justin Wylde investigates the murders, he encounters more suspects with secrets than boulders on the rockbound coast. The puzzling case endangers Sheri’s life, but also keeps Justin from protecting this beautiful woman whose caring heart and sexy laugh make him long for more than a fling.

Passion and trust grow between Sheri and Justin. When her secret is revealed, Justin must face hard truths in his own past. Can he solve the case before the killer carries out a special plan for Sheri?

Buy the book: https://mybook.to/HiddenObsession

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Romance Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, Susan Vaughan

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Howl (Sin City Wolf) by January Bain

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Never get between a wolf and his mate.

Billionaire. Casino owner. Tall, dark and deadly. Cristaldo Luceres is a potent force and a dangerous wolf to cross. Head of the House of Luceres, he’s used to fighting—literally—off any threat from rival houses. Wealth and women are his, but the one thing missing from his life is his mate.

Cristaldo’s on full alert when trouble comes to town in the beautiful shape of one Miss Everly Affini. The talented musician won a shot to play at the coveted Nero’s in Cristaldo’s Glittering Palace…and she could be the one, Cristaldo’s Forever Mate.

One problem is that she doesn’t think so—and isn’t shy about telling him—and another is that Rocco, an enforcer for the House of Ribelle, the Luceres’ sworn enemies, thinks she’s destined for him. Oh, and it’s the most powerful Super Blood Wolf Moon of the century, meaning chaos is unleashed.

Too bad. Once Cristaldo has the scent of his Forever Mate, he’ll fight for her…to the death if necessary. Everly doesn’t stand a chance.

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Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Guest Blogs Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, January Bain

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: All the Furs and Feathers by Eileen O’Finlan

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Smokey, an architect employed by Fluffington ArCATecture, lands the account of her dreams — designing the first ever cat park in Faunaburg. Her boss, Abigail Fluffington, says that if Smokey is successful, she’ll become a partner and inherit the business.

A dream come true? There’s one problem. The proposed park is adjacent to Rodent Way. Activist Jerome J. Ratley, quickly forms R.A.T. (Rodent Action Taskforce) and stages a protest.

Meanwhile, Smokey’s lovable but quirky sister and cooking savant, Autumn Amelia, is busy dishing up meals too delicious for any fur or feather to resist. And wandering uninvited into the kitchens of local restaurants to improve their recipes.

Together with their furred and feathered friends, Smokey and Autumn Amelia must find a way to make the proposed park a reality. But how to abolish the long-standing animosity between felines and rodents?

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, Eileen O'Finlan

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Death’s Dance by Crymsyn Hart

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Being a psychic, you would think talking to the dead was a walk in the park. However, it’s not always that simple. The hooded specter haunting me is one I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid. One day, he appeared in my bedroom mirror. Good? Evil? I don’t know what his true intentions are.

Enter Jackson, ghost hunting show host extraordinaire – and my ex – to save me from the big bad ghost.

From there…well…it’s been a world wind of complications. My house burnt down. I’m being stalked by an ancient evil and gotten myself back into the world of being a ghost hunting psychic. Jackson dragged me, along with a few other psychics, to a ghost town wiped off the map called Death’s Dance.

From there things went from bad to worse.

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Horror Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, Crymsyn Hart

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: The Viscount and The Orphan by Rosemary Morris

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

This classic historical romance erupts in 1703 England.

Gabriel, Viscount Cavanagh is bankrupt, his fortune wasted on mistresses, extravagance, and gambling. Orphaned, emotionally neglected, deprived of his inheritance and his own person by his grandfather, Adam Maynard, his only option to avoid disaster is acceptance of an arranged marriage proposed by Adam, a ruthless merchant prince.

Adam summons his sixteen-year-old ward, wealthy Dorinda Davenport, from boarding school to be Gabriel’s bride. An orphan, she yearns for love. Well-educated, but naïve, she clings to her fantasy of a happy-ever-after marriage to a gentleman as handsome, and charming as her favourite fictional hero. Gabriel is the romantic hero of her dreams, but bitter disillusionment follows the wedding.

A connoisseur of beautiful women, Gabriel conceals his distaste when he meets dumpy, sallow-skinned, socially inept Dorinda. Nevertheless, he soon appreciates her innocence, intelligence, and kind heart.

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Romance Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, Rosemary Morris

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: A Child to Cry Over by Vanessa C. Hawkins

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Maddy Bell was just eight years old when she was sent away for the murder of a two-year-old boy living in the rural town of St. George, New Brunswick. Growing up in the church-run community with a life-hardened mother, Maddy has always been an outcast in the wake of her father’s homosexuality. She keeps to herself until authorities discover Sonny’s body on the railroad, but was his death just a terrible accident, or is little Madeline Bell to blame?

The media and the community of St. George are quick to condemn her, and ten years later, when Madeline is released from juvenile detention with a new identity, can she hide her past, forget her roots, and finally be a normal girl in the midst of a media manhunt?

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Mainstream Fiction Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, Vanessa C. Hawkins

Buried In Secret by Viveca Sten

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Buried In Secret by Viveca Sten
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When two cold case disappearances are reopened, a decade of deadly secrets is unearthed on Sandhamn Island in the #1 bestselling thriller by Viveca Sten, author of In Bad Company.

A woman’s skeletal remains are excavated on an uninhabited island in Sandhamn’s archipelago, and Thomas Andreasson is called to officially investigate. But his best friend, Nora Linde, can’t help but get involved.

On leave after her last case took a dark turn, Nora is tortured by depression, nightmares, and guilt. Her marriage fractured, her pride chipped away, Nora could find redemption in this investigation. Then evidence suggests two possible cold cases linked to the grim discovery: two women who have been missing for ten years. Now Nora feels compelled to unearth a mystery someone has gone to great pains to bury. What could have happened to require such a cover-up?

As the cold case vanishings converge, Nora follows a twisting trail of revenge, blackmail, and betrayal. She’s also inviting the watchful eye of someone determined to stop her. To free herself from the damaging grip of the past—and the reach of a relentless killer—Nora is going to have to brave the darkness one more time.

Summer is drawing to a close and it’s been a very difficult one for Nora Linde. On extended medical leave after her last case left dark marks on her emotions, Nora is struggling to return to regular life again. When her best friend, Thomas, is drawn into the skeletal remains of a woman found buried deep on an isolated Nora is devastated to learn she likely knew the poor young victim. Thomas also is investigating the death, but there were two missing women from that long time ago. Could the cases be connected somehow?

This book picks up fairly quickly after the last one finishes. Often in this series there is quite a lag between books – even numerous years sometimes – but the previous book finished with a bit of a twist and so I was pleased only a few short months have passed between then and this book. Nora is struggling with quite heavy feelings of guilt and depression. This means in some ways her character is quite different to the comfortable and strongly confident Nora I’ve become used to reading about. While I did enjoy the fact this Nora felt a lot more relatable and human, it also came across quite strangely to me that this Nora was so different to the woman I’ve read about in all the previous books.

I did very much enjoy the police procedural aspects to this book. Thomas has always been a very up and down character – sometimes strong and confidant, sometimes depressed or moody, so his character felt very normal and consistent to me with the previous books. I very much liked the methodical puzzle solving of the murder mystery and trying to figure out who the victim was and what had occurred more than a decade ago. I feel readers who enjoy Scandinavian crime and mystery should likely enjoy this book and probably enjoy the entirety of this series. These books tend to be a little darker and grittier than many other popular fiction writers, but personally I’ve grown quite a taste for them and find them highly enjoyable and strongly relatable.

I found this to be an excellent addition to the series and hope there might be more from this author to come in the future. Recommended.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: Contemporary, Fern, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Self Published, Three Stars

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Looking for Snowflakes by Eden Monroe

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews Leave a Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

Two days before Christmas the unthinkable happens when Snowflakes, the adorable toy poodle, is stolen from Cole Donahue’s pick-up truck in a supermarket parking lot.

Dog sitting for his soon to be ex-wife, Elsa Randolph, when the theft took place, Cole and Elsa temporarily set their differences aside and immediately begin their search with a poster and social media blitz.

Meanwhile, Snowflakes, forced to rely on the kindness of strangers, experiences her fair share of holiday season adventures. She even makes friends with Mr. Christmas himself.

Working together to find the missing poodle, will Cole and Elsa rekindle their love despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges that caused their break up? Will Snowflakes be reunited with her family in time for Christmas?

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Mystery/Suspense, Romance Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, Eden Monroe

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Germy Johnson’s Stolen Skateboard by Alison Lohans

August 22, 2023 By Long and Short Reviews 1 Comment

Thanks for joining us on our 16th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC (along with other prizes). Follow and visit authors’ social media pages on the second Rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC (along with other prizes)!

J.J.’s skateboard is missing!

J.J., Derek and Tanya have practiced hard for the Slick Wheels Contest. Now their chance of winning the nine-and-under prize is gone! Unless they can find J.J.’s Devastator in time…

Then a strange older boy is seen with the skateboard. Can J.J. find a way to get it back?
And can he outsmart the neighborhood bully, too?

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: 2023 Anniversary, Alison Lohans

1 Star – We currently do not post a review of any story with a 1 star rating. If it’s DNF or a “wall-banger” we decline to review.

2 Stars — Disappointing. There may be some minor editing glitches but not enough to stop you reading. Not a wall-banger, but nothing you’d re-read. This is a book you might borrow from the library--never buy--and never check out again. There's a small chance you might recommend it to a friend with a mention of the glitches, knowing that something in the plot or story would still appeal to them regardless.

3 Stars — Okay. You made it through and didn’t consider it a waste of time. The story was strong enough, so even when the book faltered, it was able to draw you back in and keep you. There’s a chance you’ll recommend it to a friend, but it wouldn’t go on your keeper shelf, you wouldn't buy it, and you wouldn't re-read it.

4 Stars — Good. You’re glad you were the one who got to review the book. You would probably buy it and would very likely recommend it to your friends. You liked the characters and the plot. The writing style was good and the editing clean. You would read more books by this author.

5 Stars — Excellent! You would definitely buy this book. You would definitely recommend it to your friends. You really loved the characters and the plot and would consider looking for the author's back list or making her an autobuy. The writing and editing were superb.

LASR Best Book – For a book or story that is truly exceptional. You think about it when you’re not reading it. You wonder what happens to the characters when you finish. You would absolutely buy everything else this author had to offer. The highest praise – and reserved for only a few.