This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kim Baccellia will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
On the heels of Sammi’s grandmother’s whispered deathbed wish, a package of letters from Italy arrives at her post box. Reading them makes Sammi recall whispers she heard in childhood of her grandmother’s wartime involvement, a past that Sammi’s father and aunt would rather see remain closed. As if things couldn’t get any worse, her long-time boyfriend, Hunter, dumps her. However, an opportunity arises that sends her to Italy to defend her grandmother, even if the truth might shatter all she believes. In a helpful twist, Joseph, her best friend’s Italian cousin, offers to help her. Despite the obvious growing attraction between Joseph and her, she tries to suppress it as she embarks on her mission to vindicate the grandmother she loves.
Enjoy an Excerpt
Droplets of rain dripped down the coat sleeve, which protected my simple black skirt and white blouse. The oversized London Fog trench coat gave me strength. Too bad the weather didn’t get the memo. I should have worn a bigger hat, not the small black bowler.
As I stood by my grandmother’s gravesite with family and friends, I sniffed back tears that mingled with rain drops. I just wanted to get through the burial and grave site service without drowning in tears.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” I whispered, glancing over at Hunter. A skinny red tie broke the black monotone of his suit. Even in the rain, he looked good. I still couldn’t believe my luck; he wanted to be with me.
He held a large black umbrella over our heads. Oddly, he’d been quiet.
Clearing my throat, I waited for the usual trite words of condolence.
“Sorry for your loss,” Hunter finally said. Then he looked off into the distance.
I sighed.
Though we were standing close together, an invisible barrier divided us. His usual woodsy scent competed with the musty, damp smell of the burial site. I longed to nestle closer to him, but something felt off. He hadn’t brought up the reason behind the urgency of meeting at Crystal Cove. When I texted him the reason I couldn’t meet up? He’d expressed his sympathies, but nothing more. No reschedule. Nothing.
Color me confused.
About the Author:
Award-winning author Kim Baccellia is the author of five fantasy/paranormal young adult novels, Crossed Out, Crossed Fire, No More Goddesses, Goddesses Can Wait, and Earrings of Ixtumea.
Kim has had many jobs. She was a bilingual teacher; homeschooled her son; served on her local RWA charter board; a Cybil’s panelist; and even read the slush pile for an agency.
In her free time, Kim loves long walks, yoga, watching psychological horror movies, and reading lots of books that she loves to review for YA Books Central.
A member of Women’s Fiction Writer’s organization, Kim is currently putting the finishing touches on a historical set in 1943 Italy. She also is working on a historical with a Utah suffragette loosely based on her own ancestor Lucy Clark. Kim lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and cockatiel Damon.
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Willow Barton’s life crumbles at her husband’s arrest for fraud, forcing her to return to her Ohio hometown to rebuild. Running a small bookstore and helping her best friend care for her ailing father offers solace—until Zachary Hayes, her best friend’s brother and a charming country music star, shows up. Struggling to revive his career and reconnect with his estranged father, Zach sparks an undeniable yet unwelcome chemistry with Willow. As her estranged husband seeks forgiveness, and Zach battles his own demons, Willow must confront her painful past and decide if she’s willing to risk her heart again. Caught between heartbreak and hope, can they overcome their fears and build a future together?
Susan is a retired speech and language pathologist and full-time writer of romance books. She has three novels published with independent presses and her newest release is slotted for February 2026 with The Wild Rose Press entitled, Forever Kind of Love. In addition to being a Maggie Award finalist, Sweet Ridge Hearts, her last book, was also a Literary Titan gold award winner. She lives in Ohio where she relishes the four seasons, (well, maybe not winter), and loves yoga, jazz, golf and walking anywhere outdoors. Susan belongs to the Great Lakes Fiction Writers organization and to Romance Writers of America (RWA). She loves seeing new characters come to life and is a firm believer that dreams do come true.
I was sixteen when I found out not only am I an alien hybrid, but monsters called the Tai-Kok were getting ready to invade our world. Guess who gets to stop them? Me! How?
Rebel. Smuggler. Spy.
Amber Leigh Williams writes pulse-pounding romantic suspense, historical fiction, and contemporary romance. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling and being outdoors with her family and dogs. She is fluent in sarcasm and is known to hoard books like the book dragon she is. An advocate for literacy, she is an ardent supporter of libraries and the constitutional right to read.
The heart’s most extraordinary battle is the one fought for love.
Margaret Izard is a multi-award-winning author of historical fantasy and paranormal romance novels. She spent her early years through college to adulthood dedicated to dance, theater, and performing. Over the years, she developed a love for great storytelling in different mediums. She does not waste a good story, be it movement, the spoken, or the written word. She discovered historical romance novels in middle school, which combined her passion for romance, drama, and fantasy. She writes exciting plot lines, steamy love scenes and always falls for a strong male with a soft heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and adult triplets and loves to hear from readers.
TAMANRASSET is historical fiction set on the edge of the Sahara as the ancient world begins to fade and great empires collide. Four strangers—a mature Foreign Legionnaire, a Sharif’s wrathful son, an ambitious American archaeologist, and an abandoned Swedish widow—become adrift and isolated, but when their paths intersect, the fragile connections between them tell a story of survival and fate on the edge of the abyss. Blending the sweep of classic adventure with the horror of a great historical calamities, Edward Parr’s TAMANRASSET is a saga about the crossroads where nomads meet.
Edward (“Ted”) Parr studied playwriting at New York University in the 1980’s, worked with artists Robert Wilson, Anne Bogart, and the Bread and Puppet Theater, and staged his own plays Off-Off-Broadway, including Trask, Mythographia, Jason and Medea, Rising and an original translation of Oedipus Rex before pursuing a lengthy career in the law and public service. He published his Kingdoms Fall trilogy of World War One espionage adventure novels which were collectively awarded Best First Novel and Best Historical Fiction Novel by Literary Classics in 2016. He has always had a strong interest in expanding narrative forms, and in his novel writing, he explores older genres of fiction (like the pulp fiction French Foreign Legion adventures or early espionage fiction) as inspiration to examine historical periods of transformation. His main writing inspirations are Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bernard Cornwell, Georges Surdez, and Patrick O’Brien.
The Radical Realism of Jesus explores how Christ’s life and teachings confront the assumptions of our modern world. From rationalism and empiricism to pragmatism and nihilism, Jesus’ words intersect with philosophy, science, and contemporary culture—offering a lived, transformative faith that challenges, inspires, and equips readers to live fully in the 21st century.
Jeyran Main has spent years immersed in the world of books as an editor. She is the author of God’s Surprising Way: The Path to Lasting Joy, Healing, and Love and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Living in the Light of the Cross magazine. Through her platform, HeavenlyHarmonyHub.com, she shares resources that encourage thoughtful engagement with faith. Guided by a passion for seeking truth, Jeyran now turns to the radical teachings of Jesus, exploring how they confront cultural assumptions and invite us into a transformed way of living that endures beyond cultural trends.
Set in the foothills of the Appalachians, fourteen-year-old Caleb Austin and his friend Marlee (Mary Lee) Patterson face poverty and prejudice in their small rural town. Confronted with the “creek people” who live in the hollow and the wild child Annabelle Pruitt, their lives take an exciting turn.
Curt Richards is a retired public school teacher from Upstate South Carolina. He has taught various science courses for forty years, from middle school to college. He believes there is no higher calling than guiding young people and adults through their education. In his free time, Richards enjoys studying nature, gardening, hiking, reading, socializing with family and friends, and writing in multiple genres.
