#ReleaseBlitz for Grumpy Santa by @KatBaxter9 and @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Grumpy Santa

Author: Kat Baxter

Genre: Steamy Romantic Comedy

Tropes: Holiday Romance, Grumpy/Sunshine

Oops Pregnancy, Boss/Assistant

Release Date: December 13, 2023

BLURB

Audrey

I’ve been in love with big, brooding Jared Sawyer ever since he hired me to work in his hardware store. He scowls a lot and growls more than he talks, but there’s something about him that makes me feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be. After one explosive night in his arms, I’m even more certain we belong together. But then he never mentions the way he kissed and held me, or the naughty things he whispered in my ear.

How is it possible that what felt like forever was just a one and done?

Just when I’m sure that the only consequences of our night together are awkward silences at work, I find out Jared left me with more than a broken heart.

#BookReview: Once Upon A Sideshow by Brynn Chapman

Synopsis: The year is 1860, and an ancient Crone commands a traveling circus and sideshow, which rolls into St. Simon’s Isle each year.
Violet, obsessed with the sideshow, vows to run away with the circus—to escape her stepfather’s cruelty and his intention to marry her off to an octogenarian.
A dwarf in an offensive, flaming red suit meets her eye in a crowd, promising a new life.
But this year, there is an air of…evil in the sideshow. Its creatures eyes hold a piercing intelligence, their cries altered, eerily humanoid. Whispers float about town of an escaped rogue crocodile that has been consuming livestock, and perhaps a local child.
Violet's refuge, the swamp, sits between her land and the Sideshow. Ball Lightning inhabits the trail, and time there, like the Fae tales of her Celtic heritage, seems unstable.

For Violet, the sideshow embodied freedom…until she became its star.

#BookReview: Moonflower: Vampires of Los Angeles by Heather Ewen-Foster

Synopsis: Sonia, a 250-year-old Australian vampire, thought she had found peace in the quiet neighborhood of Whitley Heights, Hollywood. But when a mysterious creature starts slaughtering young vampires, Sonia is thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse.With her friend Sunny targeted by an ancient monster, Sonia must uncover the truth behind these brutal attacks. Desperate to save her friend and end the bloodshed, Sonia navigates the treacherous politics of the vampire world. Along the way, she finds herself torn between her irresistible attraction to Alex, the enigmatic human journalist helping in her investigation, and her deep bond with sexy and charismatic Sunny, Alpha Vampire extraordinaire.As the sinister plot unravels, Sonia's race against time becomes a pulse-pounding battle against an impossibly powerful foe. Will she uncover the truth before more lives are lost? And what sacrifices will she have to make to protect those she loves?Moon Flower is a spellbinding urban fantasy that will leave you breathless. Heather Ewen-Foster's suspenseful tale immerses you in a world of danger, romance, and mythical creatures. Get ready for an electrifying adventure that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.

#BookReview: Never Blow a Kiss (Secret Society of Governess Spies #1) by @LindsayLovise @readforeverpub

Synopsis: The utterly charming Emily Leverton has a dark past and is determined to leave it behind in her respectable new role as a governess. But when she is recruited by a secret network of governesses who spy on the  ton,  it may just be a way to redeem the dark secrets of her past.

Straddling the worlds of the  ton  and the working class, as an ex-solider turned railroad magnate, Zach hunts killers for the Metropolitan Police by day and dutifully attends balls at night. In neither world has he met a woman with the brazenness to mock him. So when a saucy governess blows him a kiss he is determined to catch her, never expecting that when he does he will find an intelligent, quirky woman hiding more than her true name. As Zach peels back the layers of Emily’s lies, he falls for the street-wise woman who handles a dagger like a pro and kisses like a mistress. But when his affair with Emily intertwines with his hunt for a killer, he discovers Emily is hiding an explosive secret—one that could destroy them both.

This title will be released on January 23, 2024.

#BookReview: Di Di Mau: A True Story About Tigers, Rock Apes, the Jungle, and War by Darren Walton , Michael J. Coffino

Synopsis: “A revealing, sometimes gut-wrenching war memoir that examines virtually every aspect of his tour of duty." —Marc Leepson, Arts Editor and Senior Writer, The VVA Veteran magazine. 

In 1969, Darren Walton, at the tender age of nineteen, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, trading life in idyllic Marin County in California for the chaos of a raging jungle war in Southeast Asia. In no time, he got pressed into service as a member of a Marine reconnaissance unit operating near Da Nang, Vietnam.

There were a few times when he basked in the breathtaking beauty of the triple canopy jungle, the contoured glistening mountain ridges, and the luscious green valleys. But there were many, many other times when he and his fellow Marines labored under the terror of the worst the jungle had to torrential monsoons, torturous humidity, rapacious insects, and enemy-placed punji traps springing from hell below.

Darren survived thanks to the unconditional loyalty and courage of his fellow Marines, men who risked their own lives to save his, men who demonstrated uncommon courage in the most desperate of circumstances. No questions asked. No conditions imposed. No social barriers erected. Semper Fidelis.Di Di Mau is Darren’s unabashed personal account of warfare, survival, and brotherhood—and the enduring reflections that followed. It is unlike any book about the Vietnam War.

#BookReview: Of Princes & Promises by Sandhya Menon

Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi comes the second installment in a brand-new series set an elite boarding school that’s a contemporary spin on fairy tales, this one a delightful, romantic twist on The Frog Prince.

Caterina LaValle is determined to show she’s still the queen of St. Rosetta’s Academy. Sure, her crown may be slightly askew after her ex-boyfriend, Alaric, cheated on her, but she’s a LaValle. She’ll find a way to march right back in there, her hands clutching the strings to the whole puppet show. This time, she’s going to be untouchable.

Rahul Chopra knows that moment he shared with Caterina LaValle at the winter formal meant something. Surely she feels it, too. He’s a little uncertain how someone like him (socially inept to a point way past “adorkable”) could fit into her world, but he’s loved Caterina for years. He knows they’ll find a way.

When Caterina finds out Alaric is taking a supermodel to the upcoming gala, she knows she cannot arrive without the perfect date. But the thought of taking another superficial St. R’s boy exhausts her. The solution? Sweet-but-clueless Rahul Chopra and a mysterious pot of hair gel with the power to alter the wearer into whatever his heart desires.

When Rahul tries it, he transforms instantly into RC—debonair, handsome, and charming. But transformation comes with a price: As Rahul enjoys his new social standing, the line between his two personas begins to blur. Will he give up everything, including Caterina, to remain RC? Or will this unlikely pair find their way back to each other?

#BookReview: Radiance (Wraith Kings #1) by @GraceDraven

Synopsis: The Prince of no value
Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

The noblewoman of no importance
Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.

Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.