#BookReview: Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine

Synopsis: The Push meets The Silent Patient in a gripping thriller that follows a woman convinced a sinister figure is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens—while the men in her life refuse to believe a word she says.

Anna Alcott is desperate to be pregnant. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. And even when she finally manages to get pregnant, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone's playing a twisted game with her.

When the increasingly cryptic threats drive her out of her Brooklyn brownstone and into hiding in the cold, gray ghost town that is the Hamptons in the depths of winter, Anna is almost at the end of her rope.

Then her doctor tells her she's had a miscarriage—except Anna's convinced she's still pregnant, despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. Could it be that her mind is playing tricks on her? Or is something more sinister at play? As her symptoms become ever more horrifying and the sense of danger ever more present, Anna can't help but wonder what exactly she's carrying inside of her...and why no one will listen when she says something is horribly, painfully wrong.

#BookReview: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Fractalverse #1) by Christopher Paolini

Synopsis: Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she's awakened a nightmare. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. 

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope...

#ReleaseBlitz for Beautiful Sinners by @JennilynnWyer and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Beautiful Sinners

Series: Beautiful Sin #2

Author: Jennilynn Wyer

Genre: New Adult Romantic Suspense

Tropes: Reverse Harem/Why Choose/Opposites Attract

Release Date: December 5, 2023

BLURB

Beautiful Sinners is the highly anticipated second book of the Beautiful Sin Series.

Blurb contains spoilers from book 1, Beautiful Sin.

***

I went to Darlington Founders filled with hopes and dreams. What I found were three men from a past I didn’t want to remember. Tristan Amato, Hendrix Knight, and Constantine Ferreira. Three dark and possessive men who saw me as beautiful and not as the scarred, damaged, broken woman I had become.

After a decade of loneliness and feeling like I didn’t belong because of my scars, Tristan, Hendrix, and Constantine showed me what it was like to be desired. Wanted. Loved. They claimed me. Made me theirs. Protected me. And unknowingly thrust me back into the life I forced myself to forget ten years ago. A life filled with lies, manipulations, and betrayal.

But they weren’t the only ones keeping secrets.

As my past and my present collided, I was forced to make a difficult decision. One born from the fire and the knife that marked my body. One of vengeance for myself and for my parents.

Our enemies wanted Aoife Fitzpatrick? They got her. And they would regret ever bringing her back.

Beautiful Sinners is a full-length dark why choose romance. It is book two in the Beautiful Sin series and ends with a cliffhanger. Recommended for mature readers. Please check Reader’s Note in the front matter of the book for potential TWs.

Beautiful Sin Series

Book 1: Beautiful Sin

Book 2: Beautiful Sinners

Book 3: Beautiful Chaos

#TeaserTuesday: For the Love of Winter Anthology @RABTBookTours @ReadersRoost

 

Holiday Romance

Date Published: December 6, 2023

 

Bake your cookies, light some candles, trim your trees, and be enchanted with thirteen sweet-to-spicy Chanukah, Christmas, and New Year's novellas that will sweep you from colonial days to contemporary times—each bearing a gift of happily-ever-after grand finales. This joyous collection is... 

 

A Winter Mating by Lia Davis. He returns to Willow Glen with one goal, to claim his mate. Convincing her that she belongs to him will be his toughest challenge, but he's not above using seduction to get what he wants.

One Night at Christmas by Danica Winters. As the busy owner of a veterinary clinic, Emily Avery always has her hands full of puppies but empty of the one thing she really isn't sure she wants anyway—a man. When the kind-hearted Derek Night makes an emergency call to help his mom's naughty pup, they both must step outside of their shells and let the magic of Christmas and one mischievous pup bring them together.

The Christmas Crash by Tessa Lyons. Sparks fly when a relentless optimist and a grieving veterinarian are snowed in together at Christmas. Can they rediscover the magic of the season and find love in the most unexpected place?

His Christmas Date by Sara J. Walker. In this heartwarming story of seasoned romance, Dino Dudley and Hilde McQuire must navigate family drama and their own emotional baggage to find true love.

Jordyn's Christmas Gift by Marie Morton. Jordyn Billings, a busy marketing executive, is gifted a holiday getaway to Chateau D'Or by her family, where she discovers an unforgettable and life-changing Christmas gift.

Four Chanukahs and a Wedding by Merrie Angel. Widowed and alone in 1973, Millie explores a professional photographer's life, and stumbles upon Adam--an insatiable adventure seeker related to Jackie Kennedy. Will they find a way to ignite a flame that burns far beyond Millie's expectations and set ablaze their own festival of lights?

Recipe for Romance by Gloria Ferguson. Ashley McClain wants to win the Holiday Bake-Off with her late mom's cupcake recipe. Can she join forces with her friend and neighbor to claim the prize and a bit of romance just in time for Christmas?

Before the Rising Sun by V.L. Czerny. Their romance blighted at a colonial ball, Gertrude and Nicholas, forgetting their past acquaintance, are maneuvered by the Christmas spirit to set love loose and so refashion time's expected plans.

Unexpected Angels by C.L. Hart. Sometimes the best things come together when everything is falling apart.

Christmas Market Magic by Tessie Benton. Sydney Hawthorne hires an escort for a business date, but he's not what he appears to be, and their mutual deception sparks desire while careers hang in the balance.

A Merry White Christmas by Sally Murphy. Merry London, tasked with organizing an opulent Christmas ball for the McPhersons, faces an unexpected challenge in the form of Joel McPherson, whose fiery charm threatens to melt her icy exterior and unravel her meticulously laid plans.

Lavender and Love Restored by M.J. Gates. Chief architect Jess Carlson is restoring a haunted historic hotel and helping a friendly spirit while reclaiming her life and love before the hotel's grand reopening on New Year's Eve.

Marry Me by Midnight by Leah Miles. Navy SEAL Kendall Nelson can't manage a successful proposal, and single mom Luisa Sanchez has no time for romance.

#BookBlitz: Food Stamp Warrior by @brassknuxbooks @RABTBookTours

 

Memoir

Date Published: September 19, 2023

Publisher: ‎Brass Knuckle Books

 

JOHN DEATON'S RAW AND COMPELLING MEMOIR

 

From brass knuckle beatdowns on the schoolyard to showdowns with the SEC on the national news, every second of Deaton’s life has been a fight for survival. This book is the raw, wild John Deaton story, straight from the source. Born in one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit — the kind of place the city cordoned off with warning signs and growing up surrounded by hustlers, addicts, abusers, gang bangers, and the downtrodden, Deaton became a fighter, with violence becoming second nature.

Deep down however, all he wanted was to escape. Deaton’s escape would take him to law school, where he starved and battled cancer, while his peers lived off privilege. He became a marine, an attorney, a millionaire, a father — but the unexamined trauma from his past haunted and nearly broke him. This memoir is Deaton’s confession, his exorcism, his proclamation to fellow survivors: Don’t give up. Our birth is not our fate. We make our own fate.

#CoverReveal: Love and Reservations by Dee Rollings @XpressoTours

Love and Reservations
Dee Rollings
(The Pacifica Series, #2)
Publication date: May 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

He’s her enemy… and her roommate.

Blake Thomas has no patience for weddings. As the general manager of a popular Santa Barbara resort, she sees far too many love-struck couples pass through her doors. She’d rather curl up with a book or go geocaching than try to find “the one”.

After an underhanded trick leaves Blake virtually homeless, she’s forced to move in with the one man she’d rather keep firmly tucked away in her past.

Sal is a talented chef with a big bank balance and an even bigger ego. He promises to take Blake in while she navigates the real estate market – on one condition – she’s got to pretend to be his girlfriend to impress his estranged parents.

Caught up in a tumultuous fake relationship and determined to avoid reawakening painful memories, Blake decides to focus on everything else she’s balancing: renovations at work, her best friend’s wedding, and an offer for a major promotion.

But as long-buried sparks begin to ignite beneath the surface, Blake and Sal begin to realize that their scheme is becoming all too real. However, Sal is hiding more secrets than she ever imagined…

Can Blake heal from her past and find the courage to open her heart? Or will her cynicism and distrust keep her from taking a chance at true love?

The second novel in The Pacifica Series, Love and Reservations will have your heart fluttering from beginning to end.

#HappyReleaseDay: Yours for the Taking by @Gabrielle_Korn @StMartinsPress

Synopsis: The year is 2050. Ava and her girlfriend live in what's left of Brooklyn, and though they love each other, it's hard to find happiness while the effects of climate change rapidly eclipse their world. Soon, it won't be safe outside at all. The only people guaranteed survival are the ones whose applications are accepted to The Inside Project, a series of weather-safe, city-sized structures around the world.

Jacqueline Millender is a reclusive billionaire/women’s rights advocate, and thanks to a generous donation, she’s just become the director of the Inside being built on the bones of Manhattan. Her ideas are unorthodox, yet alluring—she's built a whole brand around rethinking the very concept of empowerment.

Shelby, a business major from a working-class family, is drawn to Jacqueline’s promises of power and impact. When she lands her dream job as Jacqueline’s personal assistant, she's instantly swept up into the glamourous world of corporatized feminism. Also drawn into Jacqueline's orbit is Olympia, who is finishing up medical school when Jacqueline recruits her to run the health department Inside. The more Olympia learns about the project, though, the more she realizes there's something much larger at play. As Ava, Olympia, and Shelby start to notice the cracks in Jacqueline's system, Jacqueline tightens her grip, becoming increasingly unhinged and dangerous in what she is willing to do—and who she is willing to sacrifice—to keep her dream alive.

At once a mesmerizing story of queer love, betrayal, and chosen family, and an unflinching indictment of cis, corporate feminism, Yours for the Taking holds a mirror to our own world, in all its beauty and horror.

This title will be released on December 5, 2023.