The Rebellious Countess by Helene Matheson – Spotlight and Giveaway

August 21, 2025 By 6 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Helene Matheson 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.

Society may be run by the men of the ton, but six scandalous sisters are determined to take it by storm one gentleman at a time.

Máira Blair married for love, her honeymoon trip with the Earl of Dorset is a dream come true—until reality turns it into a nightmare. Máira wakes up to discover her husband isn’t an earl, but the captain of a pirate ship and what was supposed to be her honeymoon, is a voyage bound for war-torn France. If that isn’t enough to disparage her husband’s character, he abandons her in the middle of a French port where she must find a way to survive as she defends her virtue and her life. Just when she’s convinced of what kind of rogue she married, the pirate transforms into a hero on a quest to save her and the missing Earl of Astley.

Sir Elias Drake married for convenience, he needed a Scottish bride to complete his mission. He can resist his desire for his beautiful wife, especially after she discovers his true identity. Except Máira Blair was more than he bargained for. He needs her skills, cherishes her compassion, and is tormented by her passion, which only makes him want her and the life their marriage represents more.

It will require both of their talents to rescue the Earl of Astley, and it will take more than a war to defeat their hard-won love—if they can escape.

Enjoy an Excerpt

He wanted to catalog her injuries and soothe her pain. While Jack wanted to douse the fire in her lovely eyes. For that look alone, Elias put his foot in front of the man and gave Jack a shove.

Máira stepped forward in a futile attempt to catch the bastard, but was too late to stop his fall. Jack twisted his body mid-air, in time to keep his nose from hitting the floor. The muffled grunt he released caused Máira to flinch and a few men in the bar to raise their glasses to toast the nasty bugger’s predicament.

She turned on him, eyes flashing as if she suffered the same brutality. “Do you think treating a member of your crew with violence will earn my trust?”

“You don’t understand what he wanted to do to you.”

“The same thing you wanted to do to me?”

He snorted. “Not even close. I was defending your honor.”

Máira looked down at her torn and soiled dress, then lifted a limp curl from her shoulder. “You do it well.”

His guileless bride didn’t understand Jack’s evil intent, nor did she appreciate Elias’s manner of defending her honor. He ground his teeth. She was sizing him up like she had never done before, and he had to school the anger seeping through the facade of polite concern he’d worn since the moment she’d walked into the bar and he’d seen her battered face. She knew the warm-hearted, polite Ellison Collins, Earl of Dorset, not Sir Elias Drake, ruthless killer, spy, and recovery agent for the Crown.

About the Author: Helene Matheson writes steamy regency historical romance novels with intelligent, unstoppable heroines who don’t require an alpha male to save them—having one in their bed is another story.

Helene moved south for fun in the sun after she retired from public service and began pursuing her life-long dream of writing. She wrote the Amazon best-selling mystery series The Book Barn Mysteries for Lyrical Press and has written multiple award-winning romantic suspense novels under Kym Roberts.

In her spare time she can be found woodcarving by the pool or blogging for The Cozy Corner on Fresh Fiction. To contact her on social media, you can find her under KymRoberts911 on FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Her books can also be found on her websites.

Helene Matheson website | Kym Roberts website

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Who Are We Now? by Beth Anderson – Spotlight and Giveaway

August 21, 2025 By 5 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Beth Anderson 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.

As dark secrets unravel around her, Skylar must follow her heart—and maybe find her once-in-a-lifetime love.

Skylar spent years trapped—in a dead-end relationship, in her mother’s cold shadow. But when her mother vanishes without a trace, Skylar is thrust into a mystery that upends everything she thought she knew. With her two best friends, Barrett and Levi, by her side, Skylar hunts for answers—and along the way, finds herself drawn to both men in ways she never expected. As secrets unravel and danger draws near, Skylar must find the courage to reclaim her future… and her heart.Enjoy an Excerpt

Chet’s smartwatch was wedged between the fabric. The screen lit up with another incoming message.

Someone’s been texting him. A lot. Like, blowing him up a lot.

Her stomach twisted. She knew she shouldn’t invade his privacy, even if he barely deserved that small consideration at this point.

But… was it really an invasion if he left it behind?

…

She hesitated for another moment before swiping up on the screen.
The messages flooded in.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The new messages were all in the same thread—one that was months old and labeled only “Side.” She didn’t have to guess what that meant, but still she scrolled to the top, where the conversation first began. The texts there were playful, flirty. Teasing remarks, inside jokes she didn’t understand. Then they turned suggestive—little hints, double meanings. And then, about a month ago, they changed completely.

SIDE: When are we seeing each other again?
SIDE: I miss you. Last time was amazing. You’re my stallion.
SIDE: You’re bad for me, you know that? If people knew.. lol

Her blood ran cold.
Oh my God.
…
It still felt like the floor had been yanked out from beneath her. She felt untethered, and worse—foolish.

Her breath came in short, shallow bursts. She scrolled back, reading the texts again even though she knew it would hurt.

And then something nagged at the back of her mind.

Something familiar.

About the Author:“Beth Anderson” is the joint penname of a veteran author of numerous novels of several different genres and a new author who loves romance novels. Who Are We Now? Is the 2nd romance novel from this team the first being a lower spice Hockey Romance “Pucked Over”

Bluesky | Goodreads | Blog | TikTok | Brandon Barrows website

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The Passenger by Joie Lesin – Spotlight and Giveaway

August 20, 2025 By 3 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Joie Lesin 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.

She’s a 1940s ghost whisperer.

Burdened with her empathic gift, Elizabeth Reilly wants to be free of it and fit in with normal people. Nevertheless, when the spirit of an old man asks for her help, she travels across the country to help him return home.

He’s the son of a ghost.

Gio Clemente is still angry with his father who abandoned him as a child. To help the father pass on, Elizabeth must persuade Gio to let go of his anger. Though he resents her intrusion, they are both stunned to find themselves fighting a profound attraction.

Elizabeth can accept his headstrong brand of love, but can Gio accept her gift—and believe in her?

The Passenger, a 1940s>njoy ghost story set in the California wine country, tells a tale of family connections, life-changing choices, and love—lost and found.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Elizabeth’s stomach churned in nervous knots. She squirmed on the cloth seat, and her foot twitched. If he heard her erratic heartbeat, he’d realize how frantic she was—and hot. Perspiration built up on her forehead. Grabbing the metal handle, she rolled down the squeaking window, and inhaled the pure air. The fragrances of the forest filled her senses—the resinous scent of pine, the earthiness of soil, and damp detritus of fallen branches and decaying leaves. The surrounding land was alive, vibrant, and something more she couldn’t quite identify. Somehow, the vehicle they drove in and the path it traveled seemed out of place.

Gravel on the uneven road crunched and ground under the truck’s tires. Elizabeth sat straight in her seat and stole stiff, awkward glimpses at Giovanni. A frown marked his lips. His lean, well-defined face held soulful eyes bringing to her mind images of the sad little boy he must have been.

A thin red scar stretched down his right cheek and she itched to run a finger along the faded edges. She’d caress his stubble-shadowed chin and tell him how terribly his father missed him.

Instead, she stared out the truck window.

About the Author:Award-winning, Minnesota-based author, Joie Lesin is a life-long fiction writer and poet. She is most recently the author of The Passenger (The Wild Rose Press, 2024) and her work is also featured in Scribeworth Magazine. She has long been fascinated by anything otherworldly including mermaids and ghosts. Joie writes character-driven, emotional, atmospheric tales about heartache and hope.

Website | Bluesky | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Goodreads

Buy the book at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, or Kobo.

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As an Author, What Scares Me the Most by Tom Haward – Guest Blog and Giveaway

August 14, 2025 By 6 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Tom Haward 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.

As an author, what scares me the most is…

The most contradictory fear as a writer is the fear no-one will read my books but also that everyone will read my books. I’m always scared about putting so much time, love and effort into these stories and then no-one ever reads them. I’ve learnt over the years not to care about what people think and not to be validated by other people. It’s taken a long time to get there but now I genuinely don’t care about how people view me. As long as I have integrity and stay consistent in that, then people liking or disliking me is their subjective thing. So, when it comes to writing I feel safe in myself and my own ability not to care if people don’t like my books. But there’s something different about people liking your books and actually reading your books!

And that’s my fear: having books no-one has read. But then then other fear I have is all of my local community reading my books. And it’s not because I worry if they will like it, but because I worry about them finding any grammatical mistakes and stopping me in the street to point then out.

Again, I’m not fearful of what people think; I’m fearful of realising my own mistakes via other people! It sounds silly but being a writer means most of our fears are probably contradictory and absurd! And on that note, I do hope all of you reading this pick up my books and give them a read.

With Grand Protector Faust missing and Caesar dead, Senator Frigus is trying to hold the fraying threads of the Empire together by keeping this information secret. The Empire is already fragile, and if the truth spills onto the streets of Rome and beyond, the Empire could crumble.

Faust is prisoner of the giant Bjorn Askå and his cellmate is the rebel leader, Boatman King. Abducted by Askå, they’re now part of his grand plan to rule the entire world, with the Empire his next target. Can Faust and Boatman forge an alliance or are their own ambitions stronger than any desire for a truce?

A continent away, Bella, Maverick and the other rebels have escaped to the RIA where they lick their wounds from the disaster of Faust and Askå’s attack on their underground headquarters. They believe they have covered their tracks and hope the 35, leaders of the RIA, will equip them to take the fight to Rome again, this time with the advantage of surprise.

Olivia King, though, she is tired of the fight. Traumatised from being tortured at the hands of Maximus Nero and conflicted about her husband’s relentless desire to crush Rome, she is unsure whether she has the energy to keep fighting those who have caused her so much pain.

With the world and its people in turmoil, one thing is for certain: chaos remains in a world needing redemption.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Southwark London 2030

Marcus flipped his eyepiece up and walked away from the vantage point he’d found for spying on what Maximus was doing. There were other crosses lining London Bridge, but in the cold January night, the bodies nailed to those crosses were quiet. If any were still alive, they were conserving energy, swapping between trying to breathe and trying to push themselves up on their nailed feet so their lungs were able to intake some life-saving oxygen. The orange glow of street lights showed the odd misty puff of breath feebly forming and then dispersing, like death swatting away the attempt at clinging on to life.

Indeed, the early morning, just before the arrival of dawn, was quiet. Quiet didn’t mean calm and he was feeling the pulse of adrenaline rushing through him. All the soldiers around him were because if they were guarding the son of Caesar then there was a good chance rebels would be appearing. It wasn’t guaranteed, but Maximus wanted to make a show of crucifying someone and he believed twenty-five soldiers as his protection was a necessary element to that.

When Marcus and his comrades were called up to be ready to go immediately, a few soldiers pulled out their phones and texted their loved ones saying they were going on a dangerous shift and to be prepared. Marcus scoffed at their fear and told them so. The response was that Marcus was new to this city and he should prepare himself for encountering Boatman King or The Beast, because that encounter would likely be his last on this earth.

About the Author: Tom was born in Essex and at 4 months old he and his identical twin were adopted into an oyster farming family. Tom now runs the business as generation eight of Haward oyster farmers. He has a fiancée, baby daughter and a cockapoo.

Tom has an MA in Creative Writing and has loved telling stories since he was a child, whether verbally or through prose.

The Path of Chaos was his debut novel. He is also working on a six episode comedy screenplay and tweets passionately about his family’s industry and the challenges it faces.

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Why Writing About a Famous Protagonist is So Much Fun by Patricia Leavy – Guest Blog and Giveaway

August 14, 2025 By 8 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Patricia Leavy 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.

Why Writing About a Famous Protagonist is So Much Fun
Tess Lee is a world-famous, wealthy novelist. She’s traveled the globe and has a long list of celebrity friends and admirers. She’s good friends with rock stars and has met royalty. This made her a really fun character to write. At the end of the day, in some ways she’s probably not like anyone you know—her life has been “surreal” as her best friend Omar always says. As a writer, penning an aspirational character that’s lived an extraordinary life allowed me to let my imagination take over in all kinds of ways. I was able to imagine all the people Tess has met over the years, the places she’s traveled, and the funny stories that have occurred. Here’s an excerpt:

As much as Tess and Jack loved being together more with each passing day, they also enjoyed spending time with their friends. They had become a close-knit group and spent many evenings together, laughing uproariously. One crisp autumn night at the bar, they were sharing their most embarrassing or entertaining stories. Bobby told them a hilarious story from his time in the academy. When they all settled down, Jack nudged Tess. “Your turn.”
“Hmm. I don’t know,” she replied.
“Oh, I do,” Omar said gleefully. “Jack, you’re going to love this. We were at a gala in London where Tess was being honored . . .”
“I know where this is going, and you’re not telling that story,” Tess interrupted, picking up a pretzel and flinging it at his head.
“Butterfly, I’ll wear that basket as a hat, but I am telling the story,” he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Fine, but I’m making two objections. First, I wasn’t embarrassed.”
“I know, but you should have been,” Omar said, chucking a pretzel back at her. “But that’s all right, I was embarrassed enough for the both of us.”
She shook her head. “Second, it’s not that funny.”
“If by ‘not that funny’ you mean it’s epically funny, then you’d be right,” he said with a chuckle. “In fact, it may be the funniest thing to ever happen to anyone.”
She tossed another pretzel at him, but he dodged it.
“This must be good,” Bobby said.
“Go on, Omar,” Joe urged.
“You’re all terrible,” Tess protested, looking to Jack for support.
“Don’t look at me, I want to hear it,” Jack said.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, but my objections stand.” She crossed her arms and put on an exaggerated pout.
“Duly noted, Butterfly. So, Tess was in London, receiving an award for her humanitarian efforts in the arts.”
“Such a ridiculous thing to receive an award for. People shouldn’t be praised simply for being decent,” Tess interjected.
“Nice attempt at deflection, Butterfly. You can give us a diatribe about the absurdity of awards another time,” Omar said.
Tess rolled her eyes.
“Another of the honorees was . . .”
“Don’t you say his name,” Tess warned.
“Let’s just say he was in the greatest band of all time.”
Bobby’s eyebrows arched sky high. “You don’t mean?”
“Yes, Paul himself,” Omar replied. “Anyway, after the award ceremony, Paul was hosting a little party at his place and invited us. He had just purchased a Picasso at auction for something crazy like $30 million and he wanted Tess’s opinion. You have to remember that she had just been honored as a literary genius and artistic visionary. So, Paul and all his guests stood around waiting to hear her profound words of wisdom. What does Tess do? She looks at the painting, cocks her head, and says, ‘Peekaboo, why so blue?’”
They all cracked up.
“You did not say that!” Jack said through fits of laughter.
“I did,” Tess said, turning red.
“Peekaboo, why so blue? What does that even mean?” Bobby asked.
Tess shrugged. “I have no idea; it’s just what came out. The whole situation was so absurd.”
“What did Paul do?” Joe asked.
“Well, that’s the best part of the story. At first, everyone just stood there in a state of shock. After a moment passed, Paul said, ‘Too right, Tess. Peekaboo, why so blue?’ as if she was some kind of genius. Everyone started clapping over this supposedly great insight,” Omar said.
Everyone laughed uncontrollably, practically falling off their chairs.
“I still don’t think it’s that funny,” Tess protested.
Try as he might, Jack was unable to stop laughing.
Omar finally composed himself. “Now, every time Paul wants to buy a piece of art, I mean even a bloody poster for his bathroom, he FaceTimes Tess to get her opinion.”
They all laughed so hard they were holding their stomachs.
“He FaceTimes you?” Jack asked when he could get the words out.
“Not often,” Tess replied.
“When was the last time?” Omar asked.
“About four months ago.”
Omar raised his eyebrows. “And what did he want?”
Tess looked down sheepishly. “He was trying to choose between two Tiffany lamps and he wanted my opinion.”
Everyone laughed so hysterically they could hardly breathe. Even Tess was laughing now.
“She’s like his art oracle,” Omar squealed.
Jack pulled Tess to him. “You’re supposed to be on my side,” she said. “It’s not that funny.”
“I’m always on your side, but sweetheart, it is that funny.”

For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.

Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

About the Author: Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Recently, her novel The Location Shoot was featured in Ms. Career Girl’s “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and She Reads in “Novels to Read if You Love Classic Movies” and was the 2024 Best Book Awards First Place Winner in Women’s Fiction. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Patricia lives in Maine and serves on the board of the London Arts-Based Research Centre. In addition to writing, she enjoys movies, art, reading, and travel.

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Father of One by Jani Anttola – Q&A and Giveaway

August 12, 2025 By 6 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author 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.

What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged with this work?

Let’s be clear, the genocide in Srebrenica was a monstrous, evil undertaking. The same goes for any of the bloody rampages in our collective history, whether it’s Bucha, My Lai, Rwanda, you name it. But while those who carry out or enable such atrocities should be held responsible, we sometimes forget that there are always perfectly rational and humane individuals within any national or ethnic group, too. It wasn’t explicitly my intention, but I hope Father of One evokes the idea that demonizing and stereotyping people based on their culture, religion or identity isn’t very constructive.

Did you include any hidden messages or Easter eggs in this book?

If I did, I wouldn’t advertise them. I don’t want to lead my readers by the hand, so it’s best they interpret everything through their own lens.

Do you work with editors? If so, what has your experience been with them?

When my first books got published in Finland, I was fortunate I could work with two very good editors. It was a major publisher and back then they had their own editors. A good one does far more than just fix grammar and typos, so it was like having someone in the literary trenches with me. My latest novel is through an indie publisher in the UK. This time I didn’t have the luxury of collaborating with a personal editor, but I commissioned a structural edit. It was also very helpful. Whether it’s been a full content edit or a light evaluation, every time working with an editor I’ve learned something, and I’ve come to enjoy the re-writing process. This is important for indie-published authors who, at the end of the day, must do most of the editing themselves.

What is your favorite television show?

I don’t have a TV or Netflix or such, so I wouldn’t know about any shows. I travel a lot, so I sometimes watch movies on airplanes. I usually go for anything that was filmed before the 2000s. I find the new CGI-riddled slop insufferable. It boils down to the same fundamentals as good literature: storytelling, dialogue and substance often suffer when a work relies too much on gimmicks meant to impress you.

Quote somebody from the top of your head.

“Don’t believe in anything they say – the day after yesterday is all it takes.” Buddha said so – take it from me.

Maka, a young Bosnian soldier, has survived three years under siege. When the enemy forces launch their final attack on his hometown, he must escape to the hills. But traversing the vast woods is a task against all odds: to stay alive, and to find his infant son and his wife, he is soon forced to make a desperate move.

Set against the harrowing background of raging guerrilla warfare and the genocide in Srebrenica, Father of One is, at heart, a story of deep humanity, compassion and love. It is the account of one man’s desire to reunite his family, separated by war, and of bonds unbroken by trauma, sustained by loyalty and tenacity. Writing in a voice that rings with clarity and authenticity, Jani Anttola lays open a dark moment in Europe’s recent history.

Enjoy an excerpt:


They walked up to the plaza where narrow streets led from the ancient town gate towards the centre of the promontory and the Saint George’s church and its cemetery gardens that overlooked the old fishing town. Most of the shops lining the plaza were shuttered. Turning up towards the rectory, they came to the café bar. A young, lean man in a dress shirt and round eyeglasses was sitting by the window with an espresso and listening to the radio that the waiter had placed on the counter. A newscast was on and a woman newsreader was talking in rapid, tense sentences about something.

“Good morning,” said the waiter. “Lovers up so early?” He was an acquaintance of the hotel owner, a smooth-mannered boy who came from the lavender country in Istria. The old man had recommended the place for their shop-roasted coffee.

“Good morning,” Maka said. Amelia dismissed the innuendo with a little laugh. “How are you?”

“I’m good as always.”

Maka, leaning to the counter and taking off his sun hat, looked at the radio. “What’s the news?”

“Their Teritorijalna Odbrana got the orders to start a counteroffensive.”

“No,” Amelia said, looking at the grave-faced waiter.

“When was that?” Maka asked.

“Last night. There’s armoured columns advancing towards Ljubljana. Six JNA brigades.”

“It’s happening too fast. They declared independence only three days ago.”

“Well, it’s happening, all right,” the waiter said. “Yesterday they shot down two helicopters. Now there’s fighting on the Italian border. The Slovenians have bogged the tanks down and are busting them.”

“But it’s insane,” Amelia said. “Everybody’s lost their mind.”

“The generals seem to think it makes perfect sense,” said the bespectacled man by the window. He lit a cigarette and blew smoke towards the ceiling, his head leaning back, then stared out to the street, where a group of loud young men was passing, waving Croatian flags.

Jani Anttola is a Finnish novelist and a medical doctor. In the 1990s he served in Rwanda with the French military and fought in Bosnia as a soldier of the Bosnian army. His works have been published in the UK and Finland. He has spent most of his adult life abroad, working in Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.

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The Spirit of Vanderlaan by Susan Harris Howell

August 6, 2025 By 8 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Susan Harris Howell 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.

When beloved professor, Samantha Hayes, learns that her favorite four students live in as many of her old dorm rooms, she wonders how it happened and for what purpose. As she and her student entourage explore the possibilities, they uncover a death years ago and what appears to be the ghost of the dearly departed. All of this stirs up Samantha’s long-held fear that she was responsible for that death, challenging all she thought she knew about herself and the work she holds dear. They must figure out what happened before Samantha gets fired for “dabbling in the paranormal.”

Enjoy an Excerpt

As she walked to her first class of the day, Samantha congratulated herself that for the first time this semester she would arrive at her own class on time. A glance at her watch revealed she even had five minutes to spare. With Douglas Hall in sight and her classroom on its main floor, she was sure to make it on time—

“Samantha!”

Grrr! So close. Although showing up late for class frustrated her, she was mostly annoyed by the person who was about to detain her. If I ignore him, maybe he’ll go away.

“Samantha!” This time he was more insistent.

Samantha released a breath of resignation. She should have known better. He wasn’t the kind to be ignored. Samantha turned to face him as she reached the door of the building. She hadn’t been at Vanderlaan long enough to flout someone who carried the weight around here that he did. “What can I do for you, Len?”

Dr. Len Titus stood before her, dressed as always, in a suit with a starched white shirt and tie which he would loosen by afternoon. His graying hair with a precise part on the side had become his hallmark, along with his hands-on-hips pose and gravelly voice. Levi’s imitation of each was spot on, although professional decorum required that Samantha refrain from the encouragement her laughter would ensure. Since Len Titus was of slight frame, someone unfamiliar with this man might assume passivity or weakness. Not Samantha.

“I see we’re both teaching in Douglas Hall this semester,” he said. “Hope I won’t be in your way.” He peered over his wire-rimmed glasses. “Or you in mine.”

Samantha took a breath, gritted her teeth, and walked through the door. She would use the back entrance next time.

About the AuthorI am a psychologist, speaker, and author of The Spirit of Vanderlaan, my debut novel released in December of 2024. This book is a fun, cozy, ghost story featuring a professor, Samantha Hayes, and her lively band of students who get caught up in solving a campus mystery. This book draws on my teaching career of over thirty years to capture the camaraderie and warmth between a professor and the assortment of personalities which inhabit her office.

I have also published extensively on equality between women and men. My first book, Buried Talents, explores the subtle ways women are discouraged from entering male-dominated occupations. Buried Talents was named a winner in InterVarsity Press’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.

My husband and I have two grown children, a daughter-in-law, one adorable grandson, and an incorrigible beagle named Doc. While Doc doesn’t understand a word I say, he fully supports my books and their content.

Website | Instagram | Blog | Facebook | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | BookBub
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Blood in the Shadows by Hawk MacKinney – Spotlight and Giveaway

August 5, 2025 By 5 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Hawk MacKinney 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.

When marine buddy, Gulfport, Mississippi Sheriff asks Craige Ingram for help, Ingram and Buckingham Parish patrolman ‘Badger’ Thomas Boback find themselves in the summertime dogdays of the humid Gulf Coast. With crowded beaches and an undermanned staff, a routine investigation soon becomes anything but routine when indescribable body parts start showing up along the surf, in beachfront cabins, half-buried in bayou wetlands, stashed under freeway bridges, and across county lines. Craige’s search for answers to identifying victims and killer among the crowds of tourists and skin-and-sun partygoers soon makes it obvious the victims have no connection with one another—until conflicting DNA results and haunting premonitions resembling the warnings Craige’s grannie often had become part of the investigation. The jigsaw of abandoned cross-kin offspring begin a horrifying Gordian Knot tangle that threatens anyone who approaches the shadowy ancient wreck of an old mansion – an asylum from a lost time.

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During the long haint-ridden nights the craving had become scalding, nearly uncontrollable. The green-yellow eyes withdrew into darker corners of windowless rooms, as flickers of Cajun Grandmère Nana’s weathered face swirled in the mist. Everybody around knew ageless Kreyòl Cajun Grandmère Nana. Some of them truly were believers. They knew what they had seen with their own eyes, and no one was going to convince them otherwise. They’d call to her by her dead half-sister’s spook-name, Momby Bocor. In the shadows of full-moon nights, they’d mumble in a breathless cadence, “Momby Bocor. Momby Bocor. Momby Bocor,” that became more chant than phantom witch-worker. Nana’s soft Acadia dialect in her New Orleans patois gave a pleasing lilt to the dapples of moonlight, her outline sauntering the back yard beneath the sprawling sheen of the swamp magnolia’s thick leaves. Not a hair was out of place in the golden red crown circled atop her head. Her frayed sweet gum twig swizzled back and forth in toothless twitches. Time-wrinkled eyes looked, mesmerized, toward the full silvery orb. She could almost see ancient Luna rising out of the gentle watery laps of the Gulf, reflected in the ripples and washing the sandy beaches. Nana often warned her gran’chil’ Ramona about the waxing madness that came from the blinding dazzle of the full moon. Lots of folks shrugged her off as a tiddly old crone passing her unnumbered days and nights inside her own world. Yet Nana’s houseplants never got frost burned, and her early flower beds and vegetable gardens were never planted before the last freeze. Ramona didn’t shrug off her Gran’mere Nana who was sharpened by the clean brisk air spilling among the haints and steamy haunts of bayous that would stay warm until spring. Then would come the days of warm Gulf air piling into big dark thunderheads, and the offshore waters would froth into elegant capped grey plumes. He could hardly wait. Sharp mangled grubby teeth chewed the lower lip pulling it raw. Blood oozed. The wet tongue did a quick taste, fed the perpetual lust. The craving hunger was always there. With the cloudy moon it would make for a cozy night to roam so long as Richard didn’t find out. It would make for good hunting.

About the Author: Hawk MacKinney has authored several award-winning works of fiction that include THE MOCCASIN HOLLOW MYSTERY SERIES and THE CAIRNS OF SAINCTUARIE SCIENCE FICTION SERIES. His historical romance MOCCASIN TRACE was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award.

Cross-genre character-driven plots reflect Hawk MacKinney’s southwest upbringing along the Texas and Oklahoma borders. With postgraduate faculty positions in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem.

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Would I Read This Book Based on the Blurb? by Michael DeStefano – Guest Post and Giveaway

August 4, 2025 By 11 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Night to Dawn Magazine & Books 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.

*****

Many years ago, an old friend—he was an English professor at the University of Pennsylvania—gave me sound advice. He told me, “The world doesn’t care that you wrote a book.”

Pretty blunt advice, huh? But it was damn good advice, because no matter the outcome, the world will celebrate holidays, attempt to consume its way to happiness, and protest wars. In other words, say what you came to say, say it from the heart, don’t spare any feelings, and don’t worry about results. And that’s the way I approach writing.

I cannot claim to be widely read, but those who have penetrated my pages have praised me for my use of irony and the ability to turn human dysfunction and disarray into poetry. Often, I have picked up a novel, read a page, and put it down. It wasn’t because the subject matter failed to interest me; it was a flat narrative voice that hastened my departure. I don’t care about subject matter: my concern is, can you tell a story? And by “story,” I don’t mean plot-driven concoctions but micro-level human interest stories about “everyday” people trapped in the causes and effects of a madding world. That’s where all the “good stuff” takes place.

I had never heard of John Irving until, on a whim, I grabbed his second novel, “The Water Method Man” from the shelf. The title was quirky. The story chronicled a man with a urinary tract infection. It doesn’t sound like much, and perhaps wouldn’t have been if in the hands of a less artistic writer. I read the first page and was hooked. And that’s when I realized what good writing was: turning the mundane into magic. So would I turn the pages of “American Odyssey” based on the blurb? My answer is a qualified “yes.” I hope you enjoy my quirky opus as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for the opportunity to write this post.

Kindest regards,
Michael DeStefano


Set in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s, American Odyssey chronicles the coming-of-age journey of Addison Caldwell, Cillian James, and Joey Brosco. In their quest for independence, our trio encounters the recently widowed Leila Bennett, a former prostitute turned farm owner. For Leila, a sultry summer blossoms into an odyssey of hope and healing; for the boys, work and awakening. Leila—a girl discarded and rescued—teaches the threesome that virtue does not lie in the struggle for independence or what one must sacrifice for its behalf but in love that reinforces enduring friendship.

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From Cyndy Pytlewski to Claire Caldwell, I went. Claire was waiting for me at the front door, or so it seemed, assuming her demeanor was any indication. Her mission was clear: to annoy me in a way only a mother can. She handed me a piece of paper known as “the dreaded checklist” and then proceeded to go over it one strenuous item at a time, and the list was longer than my goddamn arm! Next, Claire escorted me to my bedroom, where, waiting for me atop my bed was an open suitcase surrounded by an apothecary smorgasbord: eyedrops, nasal spray, mouthwash, nail clippers, sunscreen, ointment in case I forgot to use the sunscreen, aspirin, Band-Aids, talcum powder, and a dozen other items including what first captured my attention: a flat, rectangle-shaped yellow box containing anal suppositories. Able to follow my gaze, Claire defended this idiotic purchase by citing, “The water is sure to be different on a Western Pennsylvania farm, well water, most likely, and if you’re not used to well water, it’s liable to irritate your bowels and cause you to have some difficulty … down there.” Claire shilly-shallied with a schoolgirl’s embarrassment when pointing at my posterior; it was all very un-Claire-like. Then she unnecessarily added, as though somehow it could have slipped my mind: “Remember, you’re a city boy.”

I held my ground while wearing my game face; my expression was akin to Carlton glaring in at a nervous rookie. I rarely display such discipline. But had I let loose even a single utterance, the matter of the flat rectangle-shaped yellow box might have qualified as a conversation, and whatever misadventures that could potentially befall my hindquarters three hundred miles west of Philadelphia was not a subject I was willing to broach. Then, upon listening patiently to Claire’s rationale in support of her first aid just-in-cases and what-ifs, I handed her the checklist and escorted her from my bedroom. As I expected, she got all huffy and moaned, “Fine! I was only trying to be a good mother. But if you don’t want me to be a good mother, then hell with it!”

For a second, I felt a pang of guilt for having pooh-poohed Claire’s due diligence concerning motherhood, then called to her in the hallway while reexamining the smorgasbord, “What’s the matter; was the drugstore all sold out of Trojans?” If ever there was a just-in-case or what-if item meant to travel with a teen on his first summer away from home, it was a box of Trojans. Moreover, it was challenging to imagine Claire Caldwell too embarrassed to have condoms rung up at the local apothecary, which meant that she had every reason to suspect that I would begin and end the summer of ’77 a virgin.

“It’s not too late, Addie,” she called to me from the hallway, somewhat apologetic for the oversight. “I can still run out and get some if you think you’ll need them.”

“Never mind,” I sourly replied. I did not want condoms as much as I wanted Claire to believe I needed them.

About the Author: Michael DeStefano runs a hairstyling salon, where he has spent the past four decades beautifying the super people of Philadelphia. His past titles include the historical family saga The Gunslinger’s Companion, the comedy/tragedy Waiting for Grandfather, and The Bohemian. You can find these novels and other writings such as his love essays and perspective pieces at his blog site Michael’s Corner.

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The Grateful Green Dinosaur by Larissa Pemberton – Spotlight and Giveaway

July 29, 2025 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Larissa Pemberton 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.

Percy the green dinosaur explores practicing gratitude with the help of his friend Custard the unicorn, to turn his bad day around by turning his negative thoughts into positive ones.As a society, we often tend to focus on the negative. Teaching children to practice gratitude and shift their mindset toward the positive can lay the foundation for a happier, more fulfilling life.

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Percy the green dinosaur is having a sad day. He is letting the outside world determine his mood, and he is attracting one bad circumstance after another.

In the morning, he wakes up, gets out of bed, and stubs his toe. “Ouch!” This makes him frustrated. He thinks, what a bad way to start the day. Because he is dwelling on his day starting badly, his day continues to go badly. “Uh-oh.”

About the Author: Larissa is a devoted mother to three young boys. Her path of self-discovery, shaped by the challenges and joys of motherhood—led her to discovering and embracing the life changing practice of gratitude. By incorporating it into her daily routine, she experienced a profound shift in her mental health and overall happiness. Now, Larissa is passionate in sharing this practice with her sons and other children, believing that learning gratitude at a young age can set the foundation for a life guided by joy and emotional resilience.

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