Cinematic Destinies by Patricia Leavy – FREE BOOK and giveaway

July 3, 2025 By Leave a Comment

Patricia Leavy is giving away copies of CINEMATIC DESTINIES, her upcoming romance from She Writes Press. How to get yours? It’s easy… just complete the Rafflecopter below and you’ll receive one from the author! Plus, one lucky entrant will receive a $150 Amazon gift card!

So, what’s the book about? Here’s the info:

For fans of Tessa Bailey and Hannah Grace, Cinematic Destinies is a feel-good, contemporary romance about a trio of adult children searching for love and beauty in the shadow of their parents’ legendary Hollywood fairy-tale romance.

Legendary actor Finn Forrester and his wife philosopher Ella Sinclair Forrester met on the location shoot for Jean Mercier’s film Celebration. The world has been captivated by their fairy-tale romance since Finn famously proposed on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. As the couple now prepares to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary, they wonder if their children will ever find love.

Eldest daughter Betty is excelling in a medical residency program in New York City—and has convinced herself that distancing herself from emotions is the path to success. Youngest son Albert, a recent college graduate, is trying to find his footing in Boston as he struggles with his identity. Free-spirited Georgia, her mother’s spitting image and an actress following in her father’s footsteps, has been cast in Jean Mercier’s final film, mysteriously titled Beauty. When she arrives on set in Iceland and meets her costar, sparks fly. Is history repeating itself? How has growing up in the shadow of the world’s most iconic love story affected each of the Forrester children?

Reviews

“If you’re a romantic with a brain and a heart, this is your jam . . . I closed the book with a full heart and a goofy grin.” Literary Titan, 5-star review

“Cinematic Destinies is a stunning and poignant celebration of romance, the magic of movies, and life itself. The exotic Icelandic film set, well-drawn characters, and smart writing make this book impossible to put down . . . This is a gorgeous novel.” —Laurel Richardson, author of Lone Twin

“Overall, the writing, the characters, the little nods of sizzle, and the brilliant family dynamic make this book a winner. Very highly recommended.”—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

“Leavy’s latest must-read novel features a trio of romantic storylines about the quest for love and identity in the shadow of a Hollywood fairy tale . . . Cinematic Destinies is a spellbinding ode to love, art, and what it means to live.” —Mary E. Weems, author of Blackeyed

About the Author:

Patricia Leavy is an award-winning, best-selling author. Formerly Associate Professor of Sociology 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. Her most recent novel, Shooting Stars Above, was featured on People “10 Romance Books to Read After Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry.” She has also received career awards from the National Art Education Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, and other organizations. 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.” In 2024 the London Arts-Based Research Centre established “The Patricia Leavy Award for Arts-Based Research.” Patricia lives in Maine. In addition to writing, she enjoys art, reading, and travel.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cinematic-Destinies-Novel-Carpet-Romance-ebook/dp/B0DWNGNM1Z/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0

Patricia Leavy will award a free digital copy of her upcoming book CINEMATIC DESTINIES to the first 7500 people who enter the Rafflecopter and one lucky entrant will receive a $150 Amazon gift card.

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How I Obtained the Edmund Dulac American Weekly Collection by Albert Seligman – Guest Post and Giveaway

July 1, 2025 By 9 Comments

Long and Short Reviews is very happy to welcome Albert Seligman who is visiting with us to tell us about Edmund Dulac and his American Weekly Collection. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

How I Obtained the Edmund Dulac American Weekly Collection
Edmund Dulac is remembered today as one of the founding fathers of the Golden Age of Illustration, roughly from 1875-1925. His luxurious ‘gift books’ of the early 20th century were covered in vellum and issued in signed limited editions with tipped-in color plates. Many were also published in American trade editions. But after the First World War, the gift book market evaporated and Dulac, like many other artists and illustrators, was financially challenged.

In November 1923, Ray Long, one of the editors for the W R Hearst Sunday supplement The American Weekly, offered Dulac a commission to paint an annual series, from eight to twelve illustrations, on a mutually agreed upon theme. The first series, Bible Scenes and Heroes, was to appear next year in Autumn of 1924.

Dulac’s contract lasted for 28 years. He painted thirteen series and 106 covers for the Sunday supplement. In 1951 The American Weekly ceased using paintings for their covers, and started using photography.

My own involvement with The American Weekly covers was through a fortunate meeting with Ann C. Hughey, who published the complete Dulac bibliography of his nearly 100 books. At the time, I was an avid collector of Golden Age illustrators, and Dulac was my specialty. Ann wrote the American Weekly checklist for Colin White’s Edmund Dulac biography with all thirteen series and each issue by title and date. I was able to contact her through an East Coast book dealer, and she invited me to spend the weekend and see her collection. When I asked her to show me the American Weekly covers, she replied that they were never republished since they first appeared. We thought it would be a worthwhile project to find and publish all the covers in one volume, for the benefit of fellow Dulac collectors and dealers.

Of course, we didn’t know where to find the original covers, as most of the newspapers from the 1920’s through the 50’s were long gone. I was living in San Francisco and much of my book collection was provided by Bud Plant and Jim Vadeboncoeur (Jim contributed The American Weekly article for Wikipedia). Jim recommended I call Bill Blackbeard, who owned and operated The San Francisco Academy of Comic Art. Bill had the largest collection of comic art in the whole country, although I didn’t realize it at the time. He had all the Dulac American Weekly’s lying flat in his garage. Bill allowed us to remove the covers and have them professionally photographed. After he died in 2011, his entire seven-ton collection was removed to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at The Ohio State University.

Watch a video about Bill Blackbeard’s collection.
Ann Hughey self-published her bibliography two years later in 1995 and was starting on her second book, the Dulac magazine illustrations. We planned The American Weekly Covers to be her third book, and she wrote the introduction.
The photographers provided us with transparencies to use in making the printing plates for a full-color publication. We made many submissions to art and comic publishers, but no one wanted to risk the money for such a large color run. This was long before the digital process revolutionized printing, and 10,000 book runs were the minimum for profitability. Reluctantly, we shelved the project, and it never went any further. Ann passed away in 2014.
Only recently I had the transparencies digitalized, and I now have high resolution digital images, suitable for web or print publishing. My first project was an eBook of the 106 The American Weekly Covers, with only a short introduction. The goal was to have something of reference for the collectors and the public to enjoy, and that fit the bill. I discovered with such high-resolution images there were more printing flaws than I first realized. The newspaper covers were all over seventy years old when we photographed them, and were not a high-quality printing job to begin with. So, I have slowly restored the images, one series at a time, and published them individually in a series of short books.

The entire collection Edmund Dulac-His American Weekly Collection, is due on July 4, 2025, after nearly 35 years. This edition includes the Introduction written by Ann Hughey, all thirteen American Weekly series fully restored, with the original newspaper captions. The magazine illustrations from his American contributions, as well as several original watercolors from Ann’s personal collection add context and enhance the collection. These illustrations represent the largest single body of watercolors in Edmund Dulac’s long career.

Watch a video about Edmund Dulac’s art.

In 1923, “Edmund Dulac, the Distinguished English Artist,”as he was billed on the front covers, was contracted by the Hearst organization to paint watercolors for The American Weekly magazine, the Sunday supplement for the newspapers. The contract lasted nearly 30 years. Dulac painted 106 watercolors from 1924-1951 for thirteen different series for The American Weekly. This is Dulac’s largest body of work, and has never before been assembled or published.

This collection includes all full color illustrations used for the front covers and several that were never published. All the images have been restored and printed with high quality inks.

Ann Conolly Hughey was Dulac’s bibliographer, and published her edition of his nearly 100 books in 1995. She wrote his history of publishing in America for inclusion in this volume. She was also a collector of Dulac’s books, paintings, drawings, stamps and correspondence, and has one of the most complete collections in the world.

About the Author: I am a lifelong fan of illustrated books and magazines and passed many pleasant hours collecting books and sharing information and images with fellow collectors and dealers. I was especially interested in the “Golden Age of Illustration” between 1875-1925. I was a strong collector of Edmund Dulac illustrated books, and was able to photograph the complete collection of his American Weekly illustrations from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art owned by Bill Blackbeard. The collection is now housed at Ohio State University in the Billy Ireland Comic Art Museum.

The publishing business has changed considerably over the last 30 years and by taking advantage of digital technology I hope to publish many of his famous and lesser known illustrations in the coming months.

If you have suggestions for future Dulac titles or own original artwork you would like to have included in future editions please contact me. I am looking forward to working with other Dulac fans and collectors.

If anyone is wondering if I am the same author of The Sport Band System, indeed I am. Unfortunately, the Sport Bands are no longer being produced. After writing this instruction manual I spent my last years in the training profession at UCSF in the Dept. of Neurology. There I had the privilege of working with medical professionals and patients developing physical training rehabilitation programs for MS, stroke, PD, SCI and other neurological related maladies. I retired in 2008 and now I am enjoying my “Golden Years” working with the Dulac eBooks project.

Just so you know I’m not a ‘one trick pony’, I have a nice Arabian Nights non-Dulac survey that was released in December. There are around 50 English language illustrated editions from 1800-1950 of the 1001 tales and their Golden Age illustrators.

Alamy Portfolio Page
Buy Arabian Nights Illustrated and The American Weekly Covers of Edmund Dulac at Amazon. The hardcopy version of the book is now available at Amazon.

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My Bully, My Aunt, and her Final Gift by Harold Phifer – Spotlight and Giveaway

June 24, 2025 By 9 Comments

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

Welcome to Long and Short Reviews. Can you share an excerpt from My Bully, My Aunt, and Her Final Gift?

Next, the secretary advised me to take a seat while she notified the headmaster of my arrival. During those dreadful moments, I did everything I could to remain calm. Nervously, I kept patting my foot on the floor and heard each and every tap. Suddenly, shouts of extreme havoc rang out just like the other times! “Oh God no! Jesus, please help me, Lawd! I got you, Sir, I got you,” were screams filling the airwaves. The door opened, and a battered female raced right past me with her hands covering her face. She kept mumbling phrases that shouldn’t be repeated by innocent lips. I couldn’t believe those disgusting words coming out of her baby-sized mouth.

Then damn, another nightmare was possibly moments away. I needed an out and fast. Fearing for my life, I formulated my plan of action. Right before Principal Shellshock steadies his paddle, I was going to blow out all the gas I reserved in my little butt. I was never a fan of the fart game, but I was scheming like a veteran. That’s all I had, and it was my “A game.” I intended to rip a good, hard one that opens my belt, ruffles my pants, and sends my new shoes flying across the room. Then all options would be left to the principal. He could chance tearing into me and losing a lung or take cover and let me go. Punishing me will become a hazard to his health.

For the moment, I felt really good about that notion. I didn’t have much else to cling to, but I was dangerously packing breakfast from Aunt Kathy. Yes, I was sure my stink bomb defense would win that day. According to past reports, I would be the first and only kid at Mitchell Memorial to get on the scoreboard against the headmaster. Make that, Hal “1” and Principal Shell Shock “0.”

What characters or part of the book was the most fun to write? Which part was the hardest?

“Two Of A Kind” was the most fun! However, the opening was hard to write because I felt a lot of guilt for appearing to celebrate her death. After all, Aunt Kathy was a relative and all the lineage I had left.

Are you a punster, planner, or someone in between?

I’m definitely in between. I love little puns just for the laugh or shock value. Like: “When I get you, you’ll know you have been got!” But, I do plan out a lot of “gotchas or cliches just for the fun of it. Many of my characters are from my past experiences. Some, I do drum up to fit the situation.

Where do you get character inspiration?

Many of my characters are from my past experiences. Some, I do drum up to fit the situation.

Aunt Kathy made his childhood miserable—now her funeral might just set him free.

In this wickedly funny and deeply honest memoir, Harold Phifer revisits the chaos of growing up under the thumb of a domineering aunt who ruled with twisted wisdom and unpredictable wrath. As he plans her awkward memorial, Hal finds healing in the most unexpected place: her absence. My Bully, My Aunt, and Her Final Gift is a heartfelt journey through trauma, truth, and the strange gifts we inherit from those who hurt us most.

About the Author: Harold Phifer was born in the rebellious South of Columbus, Mississippi. As a kid, he worked the streets, hustled the neighbors, and bused tables at bars he didn’t belong in. After graduating from Caldwell High School, he went on to earn degrees from Mississippi State and Jackson State Universities. He became an Air Traffic Controller in Memphis, Tennessee, but after 23 years, he sought purpose elsewhere—working as an international contractor alongside soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. After narrowly escaping the Taliban takeover in 2021, he took refuge at Guantanamo Bay and resumed his writing while continuing his work as a controller. In 2024, he returned to the Middle East, where he continues to write about life, love, and the human spirit.

Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Rise and Read

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A Whisper in the Trees by Susan Dalessandro – Spotlight and Giveaway

June 23, 2025 By 10 Comments

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

For Gabby Patterson, a dedicated, but sometimes obsessive, cross-country runner, junior year is her time to shine. She has to start thinking about tomorrow: the future college recruiters and scholarship offers. But today means beating her impossibly skinny rivals any way she can.

Then eerie encounters in the woods and a cute secretive guy with the same quirky musical tastes interfere in Gabby’s plans. Sweet CJ is connected to the forest mystery… and to what’s happening to Gabby. But hard truths aren’t that easy to run from…

Enjoy an Excerpt

My stomach groans and I brace my hand on the trunk of a small tree, a sudden bout of dizziness overwhelming me.

I can’t stand here all day, so I proceed into the woods, beneath the canopy of tall, sturdy oaks and sheltering pine trees. Fallen leaves crunch underfoot as I follow the dirt path, narrowing as it skirts the edge of the cliff. Hurrying, I push deeper into the heart of the forest before I steel myself and take the plunge into the clearing, the place that’s caused me such angst these last few weeks.

I pause as a breeze splays loose strands of my ponytail across my face. The cool air refreshes as it passes through my nose and my mouth, filling my lungs. Okay, this isn’t so bad. But as I shuffle to the other side, a fog descends upon me like damp, heavy drapes. Dizziness slams me and I lose my balance, my vision blurring. I slump to the ground, fatigue sinking into my bones. That’s when the music cues and the song streams through me. An ache throbs in my head. My empty stomach groans as I rise off the grass and brush myself off. Just leave me alone.

About the Author: I’m a lifelong lover of books and storytelling and hold an M.A. In Applied Math, a subject which finds its way into many of my stories.

I live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with my husband, two sons and two dogs. I gather story ideas as I run in the early mornings with my dogs. Running is the perfect environment for me to think and create.

My debut novel, Complex Solutions, a YA coming of age thriller, released March 16, 2021. Strong Enough, a YA novel, part of the Play Like A Girl series, came out on August 8, 2023. My latest novel, A Whisper In The Trees, a YA romance with paranormal elements, releases on June 30, 2025 with The Wild Rose Press.

Instagram | Bluesky

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As an Author, What Scares Me the Most by Shelly Campbell – Guest Blog and Giveaway

June 20, 2025 By 9 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Shelly Campbell 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.

As an Author, What Scares Me the Most
As an author, what scares me most is writing.

It’s okay. Feel free to laugh it up. Honestly though, that imposter syndrome, it’s a tricky beast. Every single time I start penning a first draft, my brain chugs to a stop and insists quite loudly that actually I don’t know how to write books anymore. What’s more I never knew how to do it. Somehow, the last bunch of times I wrote and published books, I fooled everyone into believing I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t, and even if I did, I’ll never be able to do it again.

Ridiculous, I know. But it’s also ridiculously convincing.

I don’t think us creatives ever quite shake that imposter syndrome. It comes with the territory of simultaneously pouring your soul into your work while maintaining some awfully thick skin because rejection is part of the business of writing and publishing. And no matter how we try to not take the rejection of our art personally, it always feels a bit personal because there are pieces of us in our creations. That kind of thing feeds imposter syndrome, I think.

The good news is, that doubtful little voice in my head can go suck it because it’s wrong.

I can write.

There are readers out there who take time to tell me that they really enjoy my work—which is incredibly uplifting to hear. I enjoy writing. Once I get going, it’s damned addictive. I get to make up whole worlds that other people get to re-imagine in their heads. I get to make readers cry—Is it wrong that I’m happy when readers tell me my books make them cry? I get to meet other creatives who inspire me on a daily basis. I get to hold beautiful books in my hands and know that myself and my beta readers, publisher, editor, formatter, and book cover designer worked hard to bring those books to completion. It’s an incredibly cool feeling.

First though, I have to stare at a blank page in a Word document and push myself to write said book. And it’s scary each and every time.

But, man alive, it’s the best kind of scary.

Thanks so much for having me on the blog as a guest. Really appreciate it!

Glitching between dimensions wasn’t supposed to be my life, but sometimes you have to dance with the darkness.

I should be dead. Shot twice through the chest. But the Embassy saved me because I’m a one-of-a-kind freak who blips to worlds they can’t reach. Now I’m their personal mule, raiding collapsing planets to fatten their coffers. Lucky me.

And things have gone from bad to worse. My old team is being held hostage, my family’s in danger, and the darkness hunts me across realities. My one shot to end this living hell? Take down the Embassy, save Charlie, and torch the whole rotten system. Simple, right? One misstep though, and we’re toast. Alien breach. Apocalypse. End scene.

If I fail, the darkness won’t stop until it swallows us whole.

Enjoy an Excerpt

I used to be David.

David had a big family. Wanted to join the army. Always got stuck cleaning out the soft serve machine at his after-school job because everyone else despised the chore. But now he’s gone and I’m all that’s left. A dead animal under glass, gutted and hastily stitched together—you know the kind where the taxidermist didn’t get the eyes quite right? That’s me. Sad display in an Embassy trophy case.

But I’m not just for show. My captors use me well.

About the Author: At a young age, Shelly Campbell wanted to be an air show pilot or a pirate, possibly a dragon and definitely a writer and artist. She’s piloted a Cessna 172 through spins and stalls, and sailed up the east coast on a tall ship barque—mostly without projectile vomiting. In the end, Shelly found writing and drawing dragons to be so much easier on the stomach. Shelly writes speculative fiction ranging from grimdark fantasy, to sci-fi and horror. She’d love to hear from you.

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How I Handled Research for this Book by B.T. Polcari – Guest Blog and Giveaway

June 18, 2025 By 13 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. B.T. Polcari 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.

How I Handled Research for this Book
I will start this post with stating my greatest fear about writing books. I mean, by far, my absolutely biggest, baddest, most terrifying, fear. And it has nothing to do with getting a bad review. Although, gotta admit, that’s right up there. But it isn’t my biggest fear. What gives me nightmares and leaves me in a cold sweat after one of my books is released?

Someone coming up to me or leaving a comment that something I wrote isn’t correct or possible or even remotely feasible.

Terrifying.

So, prior to writing a story, as part of my very involved plotting process, I research everything. And I mean—everything. No detail is too small. As an example, in my last book, Fire and Ice, I even researched pre-1600s Atlantic hurricane seasons.

I know.

It’s bad.

Now that I’ve bared my author’s soul, I’ll give a little insight into the painstaking amount of research I conducted before ever writing the first words of Lucky Secrets. Speaking of which, as a little reward for reading this post, here is the first sentence of the book:

“I recently overheard my golf-crazy dad go on and on about some of his golfing buddies insisting on taking something he disparagingly called a “mulligan” when they hit a crappy shot.”

How’s that for a hook, pun intended. I could go on and explain what a hook is in golf, but there is an adage to trust the reader, so I won’t.

And no, the story has nothing to do with golf. Go figure.

Back to my book research psychosis. When I begin the plotting process for a book, I create a “Research” folder for all the articles, photos, scans, and similar that I come across as I build the plot out in a document I call my “blueprint.” A typical blueprint for one of my books runs around fifty pages. For Lucky Secrets, my research folder contains 169MB of data (97 files) plus there is a second folder containing 60MB of photos I used to help visualize and build out various rooms of the El Sueño mansion where the story is set.

Keeping in mind that a lot of what I research never makes it into the plot, I thought it would be fun to list some of the subjects and articles I researched for Lucky Secrets. Just remember, this is not even close to being the full list of topics, and what I have listed below might not have been woven into the plot. But this will give a taste of where I’ve been during the plotting of the story, and where Lucky Secrets might go.

• Best Instant Cameras
• Cook Islands Trusts and How to Use Them Properly
• The Cook Islands
• The Best Offshore Trust Jurisdictions for Asset Protection
• The Count of St. Germain
• The Man Who Will Not Die
• Casanova and The Marquise D’Urfe
• The First National of Chicago Robbery
• The Bangladesh National Bank Robbery
• The 2014 Moldovan Bank Fraud Scandal
• How to Steal $1 Billion in Three Days
• Chopin’s Etude, Opus 10 Number 4
• Stan Swamy
• The Theft of Caravaggio’s Nativity
• How Dogs Can Smell Deception and Sense Lying
• Professor Khaw Kim Sun
• Italian Olive Oil and the Mafia
• Eddie Tipton
• Swimming Pool Maintenance
• Numerology
• Truly Random Numbers
• Numbers in Egyptian Mythology
• License Plates
• Fortune Cookies
• Mortgage Fraud Schemes
• Insider Trading
• Arbitrage
• Plane Autopilot Basics
• Money Laundering Through Casino Gambling
• The Dark Web
• The Bhima-Koregaon Case
• The Steve Fossett Plane Crash

If you can figure out the Lucky Secrets plot from the above list, then you shouldn’t be reading this post but instead be writing mysteries!

A big thank you to Long and Short Reviews and Goddess Fish Promotions for letting me share my book and give a little insight into my author psyche (yikes) and the types of topics I research as I prepare to write a book. Which is pretty much everything, as is evident from the above.

And if anybody finds something in Lucky Secrets that is inaccurate—keep it to yourself. Wink.

College student Sara Donovan is in the homestretch of graduating when a mysterious package arrives with an invitation to an exclusive contest. One that will drastically change the winner’s life. Included are unsettling photographs from forgettable chapters in her life and a threatening note strongly suggesting she participate.

With no good options, Sara enters the contest and finds herself at a fabulous mansion up against eight formidable opponents, each with a dark secret and all racing to solve seven levels of riddles and puzzles.

After a contestant’s body is discovered, Sara contemplates dropping out when another package arrives, its chilling contents making clear she’s at the center of a dangerous game with deadly consequences if she quits. But what it doesn’t say is—what happens if she wins?

Enjoy an Excerpt

I spent the first two hours of every workday by myself while Finn was off with Bertie drinking his lunch, presumably trying to forget his ex-wife. On my first day way back on the fifth of August, I enthusiastically reported to work. I was stoked, ready to assist the unrenowned yet Majelski-recommended, and sorta sober, Melvin “Finn” Finnegan, with taking down perps, crooks, and degenerates. Instead, I spent that day and most of the last seven months digging up dirt on two-timing husbands, boyfriends, and insurance fraudsters, and tracking down the last location on the Internet for delinquent debtors and the occasional bond jumper. Truth be told, the only time I spent out of the office was walking from my car to the dang building and then back again for the trip home to Sketchville. But working the streets on a high-profile case? Any case?

Not a chance.

A typical weekday for me consisted of business and criminology classes in the morning, then grabbing a quick lunch of fifty-cent noodles and a cola before jumping in my traumatized hatchback more the color of gray primer than its original black and flying up I-59 to one of the more questionable areas of Birmingham for a scintillating five hours as a part-time receptionist and researcher for Finn. And if that wasn’t enough to light up my life each and every fricking day, my drive home was a daily battle-royale with crazed Birmingham commuters reminding this soon-to-be college graduate, hopefully, that I was no match for their unparalleled skill at breaking every traffic law in the book while exhibiting quite the fluency in sign language.

About the Author: B.T. Polcari is a graduate of Rutgers College of Rutgers University, an award-winning mystery author, and a proud father of two wonderful children. He’s a champion of rescue pups (Mauzzy is a rescue), craves watching football and basketball, and, of course, loves reading mysteries. Among his favorite authors are Richard Osman, D.P. Lyle, Frederick Forsyth, and Michael Connelly. He is also an unapologetic fantasy football addict. He lives with his wife in scenic Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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Align Your Business with the Real You by Jennifer Musser – Spotlight and Giveaway

June 17, 2025 By 2 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jennifer Musser 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.

Is the exhilaration of entrepreneurship tainted with exhaustion? Discover more for your business and yourself.

Do you feel like your professional and personal lives are out of sync? Maxed out trying to juggle work and family? Are you unsure where you belong or how to create a roadmap to get there? Global business consultant and passionate creative Jennifer Musser has spent decades helping high-functioning corporations solve complex puzzles, reduce risk, and increase profit. And now she’s here to show you how to refresh your perspective and fuel the future you want.

Align Your Business with the Real You: Connect with Yourself, Create What Matters Most, and Define Your Success is a groundbreaking paradigm shift for anyone interested in running a company. Well aware of common concerns and struggles faced by every founder, Musser delves into finding your true goals with help from practical exercises, empathetic stories, and easy-to-apply insights. And as you use her ego-free blueprint, you’ll delight in a bounty of unique takeaways that let you stay grounded no matter the situation.

In Align Your Business with the Real You, you’ll discover:
– Strategies for staying honest with yourself that keep you on the right track
– Tips for writing your own definition of success, so your personal and professional life is fulfilling
– Ways to healthily engage with your emotions and feel good about your everyday
– How to remember that you’re the boss and permit yourself to funnel time and money toward your ultimate objectives
– Tools that you can instantly put to use, ideas for renewing your commitment, and much, much more!

Align Your Business with the Real You is a fresh and candid guidebook for entrepreneurs. If you like relatable teachers, down-to-earth chats, and heartfelt advice, then you’ll adore Jennifer Musser’s straightforward approach.

Read Align Your Business with the Real You to start getting results right now!

Enjoy an Excerpt

“Do you feel connected with yourself? Do you feel in sync with your business and your life?

Your ability to connect with yourself and others is an asset, and the most valuable connection you can make is with yourself. It is never too late to connect with yourself. In Chapter 1, you’ll learn how connecting with yourself allows you to find where you belong in life and business. In Chapter 2, you’ll discover how knowing where you belong positions you to connect with like-minded others and conquer the right opportunities. As worthwhile experiences flow, the clouds begin to part. You feel engaged and at peace.

Let’s connect.”

About the Author: JENNIFER MUSSER shines a light on the financial operations of businesses where it is needed most to raise profit, solidify processes, save time, optimize talent, reduce risk, and help business leaders achieve meaningful growth with results they can see—and feel.

Jennifer knows how to lead businesses. She holds over twenty years of experience in global consulting, corporate finance, and entrepreneurship. Jennifer is the founder of JLM & Associates Consulting, LLC, where she applies her big company expertise to steer high-achieving business leaders with financial and operational tools and support for growth with less stress.

With a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Finance) from Villanova University, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, and multiple certifications in business strategy, Jennifer is committed to helping small businesses succeed.

She loves life (and coffee) with her family and two dogs, Penny and Rockie, in New Jersey.

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Among Us by V.G. Harrison – Spotlight and Giveaway

June 16, 2025 By 6 Comments

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. V.G. Harrison 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.

She’s in the most dangerous place in the world.

Prof. Meridia Vail, a member of the Bridgeway Space Station, has escaped the government stronghold and is on a mission among the human population of this “new” Earth. She needs to find scientists, engineers, researchers, anyone who can help her and her crew get back to their derelict space station that has crossed over into a different dimension. The sooner the better, too. The Bridgeway is in a decaying orbit and has the potential to kill millions, if it crash lands on the planet.

Trusting anyone in this New Earth is going to be hard to come by. The authorities have branded her as a maniac who has escaped from a mental hospital. For the past five years, multiple countries have colluded in declaring no survivors from the Bridgeway Space Station incident. When Meridia’s finally able to convince a university professor, Dr. Dana Haden, of who she is, Prof. Vail realizes she’s not home-free yet. She has to convince the entire world who she is and expose the lies nations have been telling their citizens. Will governments be forced to free her crew so they can work the problem…or will they take their chances and nuke the station from orbit to bury their secrets?

Read an Excerpt

“Wait! Stop!” Dr. Haden grabbed the chair, but wasn’t able to yank it from my grip. She placed herself between me and the window. “What are you doing? Put this thing down.”

“He threatened you,” I replied. “I can break the glass with this and we can make it out on the ledge. I might be able to even carry you in my arms and we jump–”

“Oh my God, no.” She shook her head before smiling and motioning for me to lower the chair. “It’s okay. I swear. He’s a friend. Put the chair down; he won’t hurt us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She eased the chair out of my hands and placed it back on the floor. A sigh released the tension from her face and shoulders. “You would’ve seriously thrown that thing and tossed me across your shoulder before jumping three stories to your death?”

“Of course. I don’t know if I would’ve come away unscathed, but I would’ve taken the chance, as you’re my only chance to get back to my space station right now.”

“Wow. That’s some friendship.”

“You’re welcome…I think.” I half-smiled.

“I’m not even sure my husband would’ve gone to those depths.” A chuckle seemed to calm her more as she made her way to the door. Her hand motioned for me to relax. “It’s just my colleague, Professor Carlin.”

She opened the door and motioned for him to enter.

About the Author:Amazon best-selling author, V.G. Harrison enjoys creating smart heroines who are more comfortable dealing with things like Fine-structure constant and quantum entanglement than the fallout from their conflict. She loves to write stories that leave her audience so engaged they can’t sleep at night, thinking about the possibilities.

V.G. holds a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering and a Masters in Information Technology. When she’s not writing, she’s an IT manager for software company.

Her ever-growing list of hobbies include astronomy, attending comic cons, keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency and stock markets, hydroponics gardening, hiking, and connecting with her daughter on a cool level. Building Lego sets at night with milk and cookies on the side come in handy for that.

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Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone – Q&A + Giveaway

June 12, 2025 By Leave a Comment

We are happy to welcome Georgia Stone. Ask the author a question or leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of the book.

How long have you been writing?

One of the earliest stories I remember writing was a modern-day Cinderella retelling when I was probably about eight – written entirely in a bright pink notebook with a pink fluffy pen, of course.

As a teenager, I dabbled in fanfiction, but I had a habit of starting a fic and then getting distracted by a new idea and starting that instead. I think in the end, I only completed two stories – at the time, they felt like huge literary masterpieces, but looking back, I’m pretty sure they weren’t even a quarter of the length of my novels today.

I was a copywriter in my early and mid-twenties, and I thought I’d reached my peak with that – I was writing for a living! Over time, though, I became more and more aware that I wasn’t writing anything I was passionate about, so in 2022 I started writing The Friendship Fling.

So I guess, to summarise, in terms of novel writing, I’m still a baby, but I’ve been dipping in and out of writing my whole life. Eight-year-old me with her fluffy pink pen would be buzzing to see me now.

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?

Try to enjoy the experience of writing your first book, because you’ll never get another experience like it again. You get to move at your own pace, it’s very much focused on figuring out if you even can write a book, and it’s overall so much fun just to let the story take you where it needs to without a deadline on your shoulders.

Also, don’t put too much stock in advice that speaks in absolutes. Never do this! Always do this! If you don’t do this, you’ll fail! A lot of advice out there is treated as if it’s universal, when really it should be situation specific. Know that you’re smart enough to figure out what works for you, your books, and your lifestyle.

What comes first, the plot or characters?

Definitely the characters. Sometimes they’re super clear right from the start, other times I just know their general vibes, but I usually end up building the plot around who the characters are. And as a romance author, one of the first things I decide is what kind of dynamic the two main characters will have, because that will inform how the romantic arc unfolds.
I always wish I could come up with super cool, fresh hooks and marketable ideas for the plot and then build my story and characters around that, but that’s just not how it works for me.

Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.

A big part of my main character Ava’s arc revolves around her relationship with her twin brother Max. He shows up in the book a few times and is one of my favourite characters (mostly because he’s a bit of a menace, and unfortunately that is extremely hot to me).

No one would ever call Ava Monroe a people person, which isn’t ideal for a barista in a busy London coffee shop. She’s sarcastic, blunt, and cynical, and her relationships are strictly no strings attached. With her best friend Josie soon leaving for a year, Ava knows she’ll be all alone unless she shakes up her routine. But she can’t risk bringing chance back into her carefully controlled life.

Then insufferably cheerful, country-hopping, undeniably gorgeous Finn O’Callaghan rolls into her coffee shop with a horrifying proposal —a strictly friends-only summer fling. Finn needs a local to help him complete his London bucket list, and Ava needs to reassure Josie she won’t be on her own. And it’s only for a few months.

To Ava’s surprise, their mismatched friendship of convenience becomes oddly tolerable, and as they work their way through Finn’s list and around the sun-drenched city, from rooftops and floating bars to nights at the museum, their adventures—and Finn’s company—start to feel . . . nice. Incredibly, terrifyingly, dangerously nice.

Still, rules are rules—Ava has good reasons for them—and as the days get shorter, Finn’s departure gets closer. Because that’s the thing about summer: it always ends. Right?

About the AuthorGeorgia Stone is a romance author based in London. She writes love stories filled with heart, heat, and slightly ridiculous humor. Outside of writing novels, she’s usually swooning over other people’s stories, copywriting and proofreading for work, or doing a piece of entirely unnecessary DIY in her extremely colourful flat.

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Between the Living and the Dead by Sophie Jupillat Posey – Spotlight and Giveaway

June 12, 2025 By 2 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sophie Jupillat Posey 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.

The dead won’t leave her alone. For Cavilla, it’s one case after another…

Cavilla Ramirez is an average Peruvian teen, tethered to the 1990s rhythm of clarinet rehearsals, dog-eared Agatha Christie novels, and low-stakes schoolyard mysteries. But when a hit-and-run claims her two best friends, her world implodes—and then restructures itself in a seemingly impossible and unnerving way. Her friends aren’t gone. Their ghosts linger, needing her help in solving their murder so that they can cross over. And it’s not just them. Ghosts are everywhere, and somehow, she’s the only one who can see them.

With a protector in the form of a god-turned-cat, Cavilla becomes a reluctant guide between Peru’s realms of the living and the dead. Solving murders and helping the dead find closure becomes her new normal. But every answer she uncovers tugs loose something else: long-buried secrets about her own heritage, secrets her aunt Tia Luz would rather keep six feet under.

And as Cavilla finds out, not all ghosts need guidance. One presence stands apart, watching her… waiting.

And he isn’t asking for help. He wants her – or something she has.

Enjoy an Excerpt

I knew something was wrong when dusk wasn’t followed by night. It was happening again; my third time this year. The sun just set over the hills, but the light froze, as if a greedy hand had seized it and squeezed it. The motes of ashen light trickled through the violet clouds into my bedroom window. I passed my hand through the dull sunbeam, my brown color paling as it mingled with the dusk. Even my gold leaf bracelet lost its luster and glow. The hoarse calling of Tia Luz Marina for dinner time quieted and softened until her always angry-sounding voice was nothing but a hush.

That time, I held still and breathed slowly, slitting my eyes until my vision doubled. Focus on the intangible, I coaxed myself. The withered light impregnated every corner, every detail of my messy room. It turned into ghosts the coloring books, the woolen dolls, the half-empty bottles of acrylic paint. When it fell on the spirits of my deceased friends, Niko, and Angelica, sitting on the floor by my bed, it brought them further into focus.

The queer dusk light slipped into my short bathroom hallway and vanished. I stared at that dark entryway, convinced there was something more there. For years, I’d been telling Tia Luz Marina
that there were ghosts in the bathroom, but she tossed the notion aside. She said believing in ghosts was a gringa thing. Yet, when I pressed her on ghosts and gods from stories of our Peruvian culture, she shied away.

About the Author: Sophie Jupillat Posey has an enriched passion for writing and music that allows her to captivate audiences with her unique style in poetry, novellas and novels. As she lives her life around the beauty and art and the inspiration from others, Sophie manages to create worlds that her readers will find themselves immersed in. With her passion for the arts, she has also studied music and writing at Rollins College, which can be found as guiding pieces in her works. She is the author of several pieces, including the YA fantasy “The Four Suitors”, the short story sci-fi collection “The Inside Out Worlds: Visions of Strange,” several bilingual children’s books and a poetry chapbook. Having lived in the US for many years, Sophie now calls France her home, bringing more of her passion for the arts in her books.

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