Archives for August 2023

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Gold Digger Among Us by Eden Monroe

August 25, 2023 By 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)!

Rancher Dade Tanner and his old flame, Kerrah, have some serious unfinished business between them – a five-year love affair that came to an abrupt halt one terrible night. Now it’s ten years later and she’s back – but the rules have changed, dramatically. She is not welcome on the ranch, accused of an ulterior motive to return since the family patriarch, Buck Tanner’s bout with ill health. Nevertheless she fights to stay in the one place that has ever felt like home.

However the Tanners have locked horns in a power play, and Dade’s older brother, Virgil, is a sinister force that threatens not only Kerrah, but the very future of the JW Tanner Ranch. Who will survive Virgil’s private game of greed and vengeance?

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Mystery/Suspense, Romance Tagged With: ,

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: The Light at Corriveau Crossing by Amber Cross

August 25, 2023 By 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)!

For Levi Turner, home is a four letter word. Returning after thirteen years, he’ll stay only long enough for his father to recover from surgery.

Carissa Michaud loves everything about the unincorporated patch of forest where she grew up. She can’t imagine living anywhere else and never plans to leave.

This is a deep woods, remote rural story about a man coming to terms with family, the past, and one nosy, opinionated neighbor determined to show him the light.

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Romance Tagged With: ,

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Hidden Gem – the Secret of St. Augustine by M. S. Spencer

August 25, 2023 By 2 Comments

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)!

Barnaby and Philo’s story begins with very bad chili and a dead body. Barnaby is in St. Augustine, Florida, to teach a college seminar, and plans to use The Secret—a treasure hunt book—as a framework for his class. He enlists Philo Brice, owner of an antique map store, to aid him in seeking clues in the historic sites of the ancient city.

Together they face murderers, thieves, thugs, and fanatics, heightening their already strong attraction to each other. Can they solve the puzzle and unearth the treasure before the villains do? Philo and Barnaby pursue several twisting paths and false leads before arriving at a startling conclusion.

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LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Heart of Stone (Sin City Kilts) by January Bain

August 25, 2023 By 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)!

Only one wild heart can claim another.
Esme Luceres, poor relation and outsider with the House of Luceres, devotes her free time to exposing fake psychics and charlatans who dupe and exploit a credulous public.

She’ll never be anyone’s fool. And she certainly won’t make one of herself over the kilt-wearing, bare-chested Lachlan of the Highland Heathens Clan, even if he does looks like a plundering Viking right out of the mists of history with his magnificent body on proud display. No, she’ll expose his secrets…

Lachlan Creig certainly has a few of those. An illusionist and mind-defying hypnotist, he’s also a wolf shifter. In Vegas to perform at a prestigious venue on the Strip, he’s not above using his were heritage to his advantage. But the Scot has even darker, deeper secrets than most alpha billionaire weres…one which are about to surface.

When ‘ghostly’ events kill a tourist at the Haunted Museum where Esme conducts midnight tours, the feisty blonde and proud Scot are forced to put their heated differences aside and forge an unlikely alliance.
Can they find their way past their deep mistrust issues to solve the murder? If they can’t, Esme might lose her freedom, Lachlan all he holds dear…and both of them their fated mate…

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Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Guest Blogs Tagged With: ,

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Fatal Witness by Michelle Godard-Richer

August 25, 2023 By 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)!

Jessica opens her bedroom window in the middle of the night to catch a breeze, but instead, she witnesses something that will change the course of her life forever-her neighbor, David, loading his wife’s body onto the back of his truck. She soon learns David knows what she saw and will stop at nothing to eliminate the only witness to his crime.

With her young son Bryce in tow, Jessica flees across the border to Montana. She discovers her first love, Jon Kent, is back in town after an early retirement from the FBI. But he isn’t the only one in town. David surfaces to unleash hell on Jessica and everyone she loves.

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LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Forest of Bones by Crymsyn Hart

August 25, 2023 By 2 Comments

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)!

Kaya is the only one of her kind: a hybrid vampire and magician. A demon from days past is trying to free its banished brethren from the dark realms by an ancient sun god. Kaya is the key to freeing them.

Valik, her vampire protector, must help her contain the demon. Stavros, the mortal king, will kill any vampire he comes across because they caused the death of his wife and son. Begrudgingly, he takes Kaya as his fiancé. To stop a war, Stavros must join forces with the very thing he hates and keep the demon at bay.

Old ghosts are stirred up. Magic is growing wild. Mysteries from ages past resurface revealing more questions about Kaya’s heritage and how she’s entwined with the demon. Can she reconcile the past?

Or will the demon claim everything she holds dear, including her soul?

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Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: ,

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Yvonne, Lady of Cassio by Rosemary Morris

August 25, 2023 By 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)!


When Yvonne and Elizabeth, daughters of ruthless Simon Lovage, Earl of Cassio, are born under the same star to different mothers, no one could have foretold their lives would be irrevocably entangled.

Against the background of Edward II’s turbulent reign in the thirteenth century, Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, contains imaginary and historical characters.

It is said the past is a foreign country in which things were done differently. Nevertheless, although that is true of attitudes, such as those towards women and children, our ancestors were also prompted by ambition, anger, greed, jealousy, humanity, duty, loyalty, unselfishness and love.

From early childhood, despite those who love her and want to protect her, Yvonne is forced to face difficult economic, personal and political circumstances, during a long, often bitter struggle.

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Double Murder at the Grand Hotel Miramare by Elena Martignoni and Michela Martignoni

August 25, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Double Murder at the Grand Hotel Miramare by Elena Martignoni and Michela Martignoni
Publisher: Kazabo Publishing
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Ever since his punitive transfer to Lungariva, the sleepy village has quickly become the Cabot Cove of the Italian Riviera…

This time, Deputy Assistant Chief of Police Luigi Berté has to investigate a double murder in the Grand Hotel Miramare, Lungariva’s historic luxury hotel, playground for old nobility, international business tycoons, and polo players. But one of the guests is not what they seem and Berté has to work quickly before his suspects scatter to the four corners of the earth – with deadly results.

Set in the very real Grand Hotel Miramare in the village of Santa Margherita Ligure, this novel features Luigi Berté, one of the best-known characters in modern Italian fiction.

Appearing in a dozen murder mysteries and counting, Berté, a truly unique Italian creation, is beloved for his quirky approach to solving crimes, his kibitzing conscience, and his love for good food.

Small towns aren’t always quiet, safe places to live.

One of the things I enjoyed the most while I read this was comparing the small towns I grew up in with Lungariva. On the surface, they were all sleepy, peaceful communities, but first impressions aren’t always accurate. I smiled and nodded along as I realized how complicated some of the relationships there were. Living alongside the same core group of people for years on end can add all sorts of layers to how people are connected to one another. A relative might also be an employer, and a neighbor might be a friend one year and an enemy the next. The author captured these complexities nicely, so pay close attention if you have any experience at all living in rural areas.

This book had a large cast of characters that I struggled to keep up with even though I made a list of everyone who was introduced and how they were connected to the protagonist. There were simply so many characters that most of them didn’t get much time to express things like quirky personality traits or unusual interests that would have jogged my memory when I was trying to figure out who they were. As interested as I was in the mystery itself, this did prompt me to go for a three-star rating.

The pacing was strong and steady. What made this even better was that a lot of the plot development happened through various conversations Luigi Berté had with hotel staff, guests, and other people who spent a lot of time near the deceased. This is not an easy thing to pull off, so I wanted to make note of the author’s accomplishment here. He did a good job with what can sometimes be a tricky method of revealing new information to the readers.

Double Murder at the Grand Hotel Miramare kept me guessing.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Erin’s Children by Eileen O’Finlan

August 25, 2023 By 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)!


In 1851 Irish Famine survivor, Meg O’Connor, buys passage to America for her younger sister, Kathleen, and arranges employment for her as a maid. Kathleen’s feisty spirit soon puts her at odds with her employers, the bigoted and predatory Pratts. Driven from their home, Kathleen ends up on a wild adventure taking her to places she could never have imagined.As a domestic servant in the Worcester, Massachusetts home of the kindly Claprood family, Meg enjoys a life beyond her wildest imaginings. Yet she must keep her marriage to Rory Quinn a secret. Rory, still in Ireland, eagerly awaits the day he will join her. But as the only jobs open to Irish men pay poorly, Rory’s imminent arrival threatens to plunge her back into dire poverty.On the eve of the Civil War, while America is being rent asunder by the fight over slavery, Irish Catholics wage their own war with the growing anti-immigrant Know Nothing party. Through grave doubts, dangers, and turmoil, Meg and Kathleen must rely on their faith and the resilient bonds of sisterhood to survive and claim their destinies in a new and often hostile land.

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Serenade of Solitude by Asif Hossain

August 25, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Serenade of Solitude by Asif Hossain
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In the idyllic coastal town of Portofino, Italy, where azure waters meet picturesque landscapes, an introverted post-teen named Firo found solace in solitude. The enchanting harmony of nature and the tranquility of his own company were all he ever desired. At the tender age of 19, Firo had become well acquainted with loneliness, drifting through life with a longing for connection he couldn’t quite fulfill. His life takes an unexpected turn as he encounters a captivating young woman named Anna on a rainy evening.

Love can sneak up on a person at any age.

The descriptions in this novella were vivid and beautiful. Sometimes reading it felt like watching a movie because of how effortless it was for me to imagine everything that was happening, from little moments like a character stepping outside into a clean, glittering world just after a rainstorm ended to scenes that changed the course of the plot forever. There clearly had been a lot of effort put into these passages, and they paid off nicely.

With that being said, I struggled with the slow storyline. So much attention was paid to describing the settings that there wasn’t as much space left over for plot development as I would have liked to see. Sometimes this made it hard for me to remain as interested in the characters as I was in the beginning.

Firo was an interesting and self-aware protagonist. I appreciated the fact that he knew what his flaws were and tried to correct them. That’s a difficult thing for anyone to do, especially someone who is nineteen years old and sometimes acts younger than his chronological age. I found myself wishing I could speed ahead in his life by a few decades to see how much insight he gained about his strengths and weaknesses when he was middle aged or even older than that. There was a lot of potential for growth with him, although I was satisfied with what the author shared at this point in this character’s life as well.

Serenade of Solitude was peaceful.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,
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