Posted in #BookTours

A Hidden Fate

A hidden past. An uncertain future. An impossible choice.

A Hidden Fate

by Carol Efron

Genre: Women’s Fiction

A poignant novel of love under fire about a woman who must find the courage to face an uncertain future—and an impossible choice.

Baltimore, 1986. Julia and Matt are newlyweds, in love and eager to begin graduate school. Julia longs to leave behind haunting memories of her mother’s devastating decline in Maryland, but she unexpectedly learns the truth her father has hidden: Her mother died of a fatal genetic illness. Julia now faces a 50 percent chance of inheriting the same fate, and every child she longs to have will carry the same risk.

When an unplanned pregnancy rocks their careful plans, Julia and Matt face agonizing uncertainty and impossible choices. Desires and convictions pull them toward starkly different paths, each possibly leading to misery.

As the couple struggles to protect the fragile, fierce love that first bound them together, they face the cost of secrets and the ache of betrayal—but they also discover the hope of forgiveness.

What readers are saying:

“…the richly drawn characters and the emotional depth of Julia’s journey make for a deeply affecting novel whose moral questions linger long after the story’s end.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This moving novel will appeal to fans of intimate, issue-driven fiction about women’s choices, inherited trauma, and the hidden costs of love. Great for fans of: Lisa Genova’s Inside the O’Briens, Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water” —Publisher’s Weekly Booklife Review

“Family secrets, the rights of parents, maternal love and the importance of living one’s life to the fullest all come into play as Julia, the protagonist in Carol Efron’s intriguing novel, faces an excruciating and fateful decision.” —Jerry Burger PhD  author of Shadows of 1915: A Novel

Bookbub * Goodreads

About the Author

Carol earned her MD from Johns Hopkins, served on the faculty at Stanford and John Hopkins, and built a thriving private practice in Silicon Valley. Working on the front lines of genetic testing, she felt an urgent need to write this book, and she would love to talk to you about how these real-world experiences inspired her debut novel, along with the broader implications of genetic testing.

Website * Substack * Facebook * X * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads

Author Links

Website: https://carolefron.com/

Substack: https://substack.com/@carolefronauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolEfron

X: https://x.com/AuthorCEfron

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/authorcarolefron

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Carol-Efron/author/B0GR226J5C

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/68739565.Carol_Efron

Giveaway

$10 Amazon or Paypal

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Posted in #BookTours

When Harry Met Charlie


Can two men who clash over everything ever agree on love?


When Harry Met Charlie

by Donna Costa

Genre: MM Romantic Comedy


Harry is a number-cruncher. Charlie is a people-person. One is bubbly and optimistic, the other serious and pessimistic. With an endless stream of verbal sparring and heated debates filling the car on their road trip from Vancouver to Toronto, they arrive at the conclusion they are complete opposites and go their separate ways.

When they meet years later – older, wiser, and love-worn – will their sparring become a prelude to romance? An exciting turn on? Will they be there for each other when it’s needed most?

Boys’ Love + Nora Ephron Fan Fiction = When Harry Met Charlie

 

“Fun, funny and wonderfully delightful! Reminds you of experiencing your first crush – I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!” – Leeanne Whitehouse, Pure Country Morning Host

 

Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords * Bookbub * Goodreads




Chapter 1

    It’s 1977. Harry Burns has just graduated from law school on the West Coast and is standing at the window of his third-story dorm watching for the arrival of his ride to Toronto. He crosses his arms and drums his fingers impatiently.

Behind him, Harry’s friend and dorm mate Rufus is vigorously kissing his girlfriend, Sally. They’re sighing and murmuring to each other. Oh, I’m going to miss you so much. I love you. Will we ever see each other again? Kiss me again. Harry rolls his eyes.

Out the window, Harry spots a VW Beetle pulling up to the curb across the campus green. Rays from the rising sun glint off the car roof. He pushes his glasses up his nose and shouts, “Ride’s here, Rufus.”

Harry slings his backpack over one shoulder and wedges a heavy box of textbooks under his arm, then grabs his suitcase with his other hand. Why couldn’t someone invent luggage with wheels? Struggling to carry all his gear, Harry loses patience with the couple’s sloppy sweet-nothings and shoves Rufus’ arm none too gently, dislodging him from the embrace. “C’mon. Let’s go!”

“Bye, sweet-ums!” Rufus gives Sally one last smooch. “I’ll call as soon as I get there.” He stares longingly into her eyes and blows her a kiss, then snatches up his duffel and follows Harry down the stairs.

Harry stops as they reach the VW, taking in the vomit-green color, which reminds him of the nauseating flight he took from Toronto when he moved west to start university. He’s in no hurry to repeat that experience. A two-day nonstop road trip is the lesser of two evils.

He eyes the car’s thick rust and immediately wonders if the car will make it all the way across the country. With two unknowns—the driver he’s never met and the state of the car—his anxiety increases. Why hadn’t he been more prepared, done more research? Am I going to regret this?

A young man gets out of the VW, and Rufus, the common denominator, makes the introductions.

“Charlie, this is Harry, my roommate here in Vancouver and my pal growing up in small-town Ontario. Harry, meet Charlie, my friend from karaoke. That’s where Charlie told me he was headed to Toronto, like you, and why I suggested you ride together.”

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it isn’t this. Shouldn’t a future flight attendant be clean-cut and well groomed? Instead, Charlie has the appearance of a furry teddy bear. Even his forearms, visible below the short sleeves of his Oscar Wilde T-shirt, are bushy. His faded bellbottoms are a little too tight. Is that the start of a pot belly? Don’t flight attendants have weight restrictions? He extends his hand to Charlie for a handshake.

As Charlie settles behind the wheel of the Beetle, Harry places his suitcase and textbooks on the back floor behind the passenger seat. A Coleman thermos and small picnic cooler already take up the floor space on the driver’s side. Harry folds his long frame onto the rear seat beside Charlie’s nineteen-inch Electrohome TV, complete with rabbit ears. The only place for his feet is atop the box of his books. He squeezes his knees together and holds his backpack on his lap. It’s only a short drive to the airport. I can manage.

Rufus jumps into the front passenger seat. The bud vase on the dash holding a single daisy catches his attention, and he flashes a peace sign at Charlie. “Cool!”

“I knew you’d like it,” Charlie says, beaming a hundred-watt smile. He grabs an imaginary microphone. “Good morning, ladies, ahem, gentlemen. Welcome aboard Flight 2B with service from Vancouver to Toronto, with a short layover at the airport. We expect to be on the road for approximately forty-eight hours. Please fasten your seatbelts and stow your baggage. Please note there are two exits.” Charlie points at the car doors, then adds, “Thank you for choosing Charlie’s VW Air.”

Harry rolls his eyes and wonders if he’ll have to put up with aviation demonstrations every time Charlie takes the wheel.

Maybe flying would have been a better option?

Too late now.





Donna Costa draws on her love of romance, both novels and movies, plus her years in the aviation industry for When Harry Met Charlie. She writes in a variety of genres including YA, memoir, romance, and historical fiction. She lives in London, Ontario.

 

Website * Newsletter * Facebook * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads

 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!


Posted in #BookTours

Loving Her Enemy


Loving Her Enemy

by Sharon C. Cooper

Genre: Billionaire Fake Dating Romance


A billionaire businessman. 

A heartbroken, unemployed chemist. 

A marriage agreement that can benefit them both.



Billionaire businessman Sloane Davidson needs a wife—fast. And although Halayna Tanaka is ten years younger than him, and an enticing temptation he managed to resist years ago, she’s perfect for the role. But she thinks he’s some gold-plated scumbag and wants nothing to do with him.

After a devastating string of bad luck, Halayna is struggling to stay afloat in a world that keeps knocking her down. So when Sloane, her best friend’s brother, offers a marriage of convenience as a solution to both their problems, she’s tempted. The thing is she can’t stand him. He may be the sexiest man on the planet, but he’s also arrogant, infuriating, and overbearing. She shouldn’t want him. Shouldn’t even give him the time of day. Yet, her body ignites with desire whenever he’s around.

Is selling out to a billionaire worth it? Especially if he tempts her beyond her control. Or is this marriage of convenience the path to the love she always dreamed of?

 

Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords * Bookbub * Goodreads

 




Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod.

Running as if her ass was on fire, Halayna took the steps two at a time and burst into her bedroom suite, slamming the door behind her. Struggling to get air into her lungs, she paced the length of the room a couple of times before collapsing face first onto the king size bed.

What the heck had just happened?

One minute, she and Sloane were talking, laughing, and eating, and in the next minute, they were hugged up together kissing.

“Oh my God!” Halayna groaned into the mattress as the full weight of what they’d done hit her. He was her best friend’s brother. A man who was so far out of her league, it was laughable. Yet, he had kissed her, and it hadn’t been just any kiss, but a kiss that had her questioning her sanity.

Sloane kissed me… and I liked it… a lot.

Oh man, she more than liked it. She wanted a repeat. A repeat of his full, demanding mouth taking what he wanted from her. A repeat of the way he held her close to his big, hard, muscular body, and she wanted a repeat of how good it felt being held in his strong, unyielding arms.

For those few minutes, with their tongues tangling, all Halayna’s thoughts and worries had fallen away, and in their place had been a peace she hadn’t felt in months or maybe even years. Sloane had somehow made her feel more cherished than she’d ever felt by a man. Which was saying a lot since she’d been engaged to be married and supposedly crazy in love with Owen.

She snorted at the thought. Talk about her picker being off when it came to choosing men. It was a good thing her relationship with Owen had imploded. Marrying him would’ve been a huge mistake because kissing and being with him had felt nothing like what she had just experienced.

Kissing Sloane had felt like a dream. Like something straight out of a sexy fairy tale, an X-rated fairy tale. But this wasn’t a fantasy. His kiss and the way he’d held her had been very real. She still felt his lips covering hers and the taste of him lingered on her tongue.

How was that possible when it had been just one kiss? One soul-stirring, passionate kiss.

It was clear she and Owen hadn’t had a strong connection. Not like what she had felt a short while ago with Sloane, and that realization had her shook. She almost married a man she was sure she’d been in love with. Yet, she never felt the intense desire and passion swirling inside of her. Never felt that I-can’t-live-without-you vibe.

How was that even possible?

Halayna flipped onto her back, and as her heart rate slowly went back to normal, she stared at the ceiling, her mind reeling at these new realizations. The most shocking one was Sloane wanting her to agree to a marriage of convenience… with him.

She shook her head. Sloane Davidson, the wealthiest man she’d ever known, had asked her to marry him. He wanted her to be his fake wife. No, not fake. Just convenient. Wait. Not convenient. He wanted a marriage of convenience. But what the hell did that even mean?



USA Today bestselling author Sharon C. Cooper loves anything involving romance with a happily-ever-after, whether in books, movies, or real life. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, as well as romantic comedy. She enjoys rainy days, carpet picnics, and family game night. Her stories have won numerous awards, including The Rochelle Alers Best Series award for her Atlanta’s Finest Series (2022) and The Beverly Jenkins Author of the Year award (2021). When she isn’t writing, Sharon loves hanging out with her amazing husband, doing volunteer work, or reading a good book (a romance of course). To read more about Sharon and her novels, or to sign up to be notified of her latest releases, visit www.sharoncooper.net

 

Website * Newsletter * Facebook * Instagram * Bluesky * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads



Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!


Posted in #BookTours

Three Shades Called Horace


Three ghosts.

One psychic.

Zero patience for corporate greed.

A hilarious, fast-paced romp through the supernatural underbelly of the Isle of Man!


Three Shades Called Horace

Witchery, Trickery, Love & Serendipity

by Jinx James

Genre: Humorous Paranormal Thriller

 

“delightfully twisted…offbeat supernatural romp” Amazon Review ★★★★★


“A unique and hilarious story with a lot of twists and awesome revenge. I loved the ending!” Amazon Review ★★★★★


They have the magic, the visions, and the afterlife on their side. But will it be enough to stop an ROI Reaper of the airwaves from hostilely taking over their dream?

Their “Super Moon Show” is the viral hit of the year. Too bad the stars are all dead.

Pansy Peonie is a psychic with a problem. Actually, three problems, and they’re all called Horace. As the host of the world’s craziest paranormal livestream, she spends her nights herding her team of opinionated ghosts and her days trying to keep her witch mother from accidentally summoning something worse.

But when you’re the top-rated supernatural show on the internet, you don’t just attract spirits—you attract sharks.

Enter Rollo Mansell: a ruthless media mogul who doesn’t care about the afterlife unless he can monetise it. He wants the show. He wants the ghosts. And he’s not above using a little corporate necromancy to get what he wants.

Now, Pansy is caught in a high-stakes tug-of-war between the living and the dead. To save her show—and her skin—she’ll have to outmanoeuvre a billionaire, survive a voodoo conspiracy, and figure out if Rollo’s assistant, Max, is actually on her side.

Featuring a new cover and a tighter, more suspenseful edit, this revised edition of Three Shades Called Horace will keep you on the edge of your seat, while laughing uncontrollably.

If you love fast-paced paranormal suspense with sharp wit, mysterious secrets, and un

forgettable characters, dive into the newly polished edition of Three Shades Called Horace ]

 

**Celebrate the relaunch and get it FREE until Oct 3rd!!**

Amazon * Books2Read * Bookbub * Goodreads

 





    Over on the ever-lovely Isle of Man, it’s turned out to be the most sensational evening. The Three Shades, Horace Flaccus, Horace Walpole and Horace Silver are already there, hovering in the twilight, when PP and Fenella finally arrive on Pansy’s motorbike. They’re late as usual, but The Three Shades don’t seem to mind. After all, they do have all the time in the world, don’t they?

The team is getting together at dusk, at an ancient place where they like to meet when the weather’s nice. It’s in the middle of the most beautiful circle of prehistoric standing stones on the island’s southwest. This mystical place is situated on a remote hillside, one side of which looks across to the mountains and the other down towards the sea.

Hearing the vroom of a hot, racing motorbike heading up the hill towards them, the three ghosts turn their heads expectantly. Pansy, aka PP, parks behind the largest of the enormous stones.

She appears first, walking briskly towards the Three Shades, unbuckling, lifting her helmet off and shaking out her hair. Behind her, Fenella, her older, White witch partner, picks her way over the rough ground.

‘We just have to tell all you Horaces straight away!’ says Pansy, getting excited now. ‘Barrett says the ratings for the last show were amazing!’ she gushes, adding, ‘he even told us they were “Earth-shattering!” she grins.

‘Er, would it be possible for you to explain to us what exactly that means, Ma’am?’ asks the ever-polite Walpole.

 ‘What it means, gentlemen,’ says PP, grinning, ‘is that not only are we already getting a huge worldwide audience, but it’s growing bigger and bigger with every show!’

‘And after the last one,’ Fenella butts in excitedly, ‘we’ve had so many people trying to sign up that Barrett has been overwhelmed. His computers and the social media department can’t cope. He’s having to put on more people every day to handle it!’

‘Yes, but, um, what precisely does all of this mean, Ms Pansy?’ asks Flaccus.

‘Look, I’m sure we explained it to you before, Horace. Don’t you remember? The viewers of our Supermoon show all over the world are also a part of the show, right? They’re active participants with their “Cozmics”, says Pansy.

‘Well, yes, my dear, you certainly did,’ said Flaccus, with that lovely smile of his. ‘But I’m afraid that was the part I could never quite understand,’ confesses the Roman Horace. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he adds, looking seriously embarrassed now.

‘Not to worry at all, Horace,’ says Pansy gently. Flaccus has always been her favourite, even though she always enjoys teasing him.

‘Did you know that on the next show,’ she says, ‘the Supermoon is going to be the closest it’s been to the Earth for sixty-nine years! Yes! And that means that if we can add the viewers’ Cozmics together with all of that extra Moon energy,’ she tells them excitedly, making a fingers-crossed sign.

At that point, Pansy pauses, grins, and says, ‘Well, just try to imagine the power involved!’

‘The technical guys even think we might have enough energy,’ says Fenella, ‘to maybe bring you back in full colour… and all of you at the same time!’

‘All of us in colour…  and at the same time?’ says Horace Walpole, getting really excited himself now.

‘Are you sure?’ says Horace Silver, ‘In full colour?’

‘Absolutely!’ says the by-now almost gushing Fenella! ‘Bye-bye to all that fuzzy black and white stuff, eh?’

They can all feel the excitement rippling the air between them. The psychic, the witch, and the three Horaces gathered in the magic circle of prehistoric standing stones.

‘It’s called “collective mental focus”,’ says PP. ‘And that means that if it all works out, you three guys will materialise as psychic energy through me!’

‘And that’d be sooo cool, baby! Right?’ smiles jazzman Horace Silver.

Fenella grins again and nods; ‘But, how about this? If we can get enough Cozmics from the global audience, all three of you Shades may even seem to fully come back to life for a while!’

This time, all three of them just stand there, totally gobsmacked!

‘Now, nobody is certain exactly what will happen,’ says Fel, ‘but whaddya reckon, gentlemen? Let’s give it a go, eh?’ she gushes.

By now, they’re all totally in love with the idea… and it shows.

‘I’m afraid I still don’t quite understand it,’ Flaccus says to her, almost flapping his toga with excitement, ‘but wouldn’t it be wonderful if it did actually happen? Especially for me after two thousand years in the shade!’

‘Hey, you could even really “Seize the day!” says Pansy!

 

* * *

“It is charming to totter into vogue.”

Horace Walpole

1717-1797

 ⚛︎ ⚛︎ ⚛




**FREEBIE ALERT!!**

To celebrate the relaunch of Three Shades Called Horace, the author is having an exclusive giveaway of the supernatural short story The House on Via Magliocco!

The House on Via Magliocco

by Jinx James

Genre: Supernatural Dark Fantasy

 

To be beautiful forever. Would you turn down that offer?

 

A mesmerizing one-hour dark fantasy short read.

Silvia is a top fashion model who lives for the spotlight, but the camera’s love is fleeting. When she’s offered a mysterious assignment at the secluded House on Via Magliocco, it feels like the ultimate canvas for her creativity and passion for dance.

But inspiration quickly twists into a feverish obsession.

As the mansion’s haunting music bleeds from her dreams into her waking life, Silvia realizes she hasn’t just accepted a job—she has stepped into a beautiful trap. The house demands a performance, the wealthy owner demands perfection, and the price of eternal beauty might just be her soul.

Get this exclusive supernatural short story delivered directly to your inbox.

 

Get it FREE Here!





Bestselling dark humor fiction author Jinx James was born in the UK and lives in Australia. He has worked in music and advertising, and has always been fascinated by charisma, satire, and what makes people laugh He used to write comedy sketches for a well-known Australian TV and film star, but that was after he was in the music game, as a performer. Later came writing and producing music for advertising, and for big events like the Sydney Olympics. All that time he was trying his hand at writing fiction, mostly humorous. Eventually it became his new way of living while having fun. He writes under two author names. As Jinx James his dark humor draws on his life in show business. As dog lover Kit James, his Mutt to Megastar series features Elliott, a rescue dog who becomes a TV star.

 

Website * Website * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads


Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!




Posted in #BookTours

Tempus Unbound


This hero of legend will encounter a challenge he has never faced before . . . 

present-day New York City.


Tempus Unbound

Sacred Band Series Book 6

by Janet & Chris Morris

Genre: Dark Epic Fantasy Adventure, Mythology

Is this the Lemuria of antiquity, or of times to come? Once you’ve ridden the storm clouds of heaven from the edge of time, anything is possible. Demonic hordes threaten to destroy the very fabric of time itself. The fate of all humanity rests on the shoulders of Tempus the Black, Favorite of the Storm God. But even this hero of legend will encounter a challenge he has never faced before . . . present-day New York City.

 

Amazon * B&N * Bookbub * Goodreads




Not one of the hundred pillows in Chiara’s bedroom remained on her bed when the god finally had had enough of the woman who ruled here as Lemuria’s Evening Star. She lay belly down on marble tiles in a slick of oil and wine and surrounded by candles he was quenching, one by one, with his fingers.

His short sword gleamed from the midst of the mess, hair from her body and her head on its blade. He hadn’t done a protracted ritual for the god in a very long time, and Lemuria’s rites rang as ancient and primal as Enlil’s name.

Their tryst had included moments when fear glazed her round, brown eyes, and moments when he felt certain the god overestimated what Tempus’ human flesh could give and hers could accept.

Still, he’d never killed a woman unintentionally, and although she might hurt when passion fled, now she merely lazed, intoxicated, malleable, sated and unresisting in the middle of the floor.

Once he’d snuffed the last candle, she reached for a pillow and propped her chin upon it so she could watch him more easily.

The big bed might have been easier on her, but she and the god had done things by the book. Still on her belly with the pillow under her jaw, she said, “You’ll really go with Rath and Mano into their horrid world tomorrow?”

“You tell me.” He was hunting for his leathers among her pillows.

“Stay here. With me. We could recast the lot. You could be free of your god forever, here. Stay, and you’ll learn of pleasures you never dreamed . . .”

“I’m a fighter, a soldier, a simple mercenary who had the bad luck to fall in with an insatiable god. It’s been so long, I wouldn’t know how to do anything else.”

“You could be the first not to succumb to Lemuria’s legerdemain. Don’t cast a lot, and you’re safe here until you do. We have strife close at hand, should you crave excitement: all the strife of many lands. From here you can help all of humanity — ”

“You must have mistaken me for a politician or a would-be king. I’m not the one to chart any soul’s course. Not after what I did with mine.”

“What do you want, then?”

And Faun’s words came back to him: “Survival, that’s the thing.”




Don’t miss the rest of the Sacred Band Series!


The Sacred Band of Stepsons series is Homeric and heroic fiction following the exploits of an ancient cavalry unit modeled on the Sacred Band of Thebes. Deftly mixing history, myth, and fantasy, Morris’ Sacred Band of Stepsons live and die in a world where gods are real and magic works — sometimes.

Morris’ accursed cavalry commander, Tempus, first appeared Sacred Band first appeared in the million-selling Thieves’ world shared-universe in 1981. Subsequently, Janet Morris, first alone and subsequently with her husband Chris Morris, take the Sacred Band into their own series of novels, set in the fourth century BCE. Passionate, gritty, lyrical prose and unforgettable characters make this series. Perseid Press Sacred Band novels includes the “Author’s Cut” of the Beyond Sanctuary Trilogy and Tempus, as well as the epic novel The Sacred Band, and The Fish the Fighters and the Song-girl.

 

Find them at Perseid Press



Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others. Most of her fiction work was in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she also wrote historical and other novels. Morris either wrote, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national security topics.

 

Christopher Crosby Morris (born 1946) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He is married to author Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, but occasionally uses pseudonyms.

 

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Bookbub

 Amazon * Amazon *  Goodreads * Goodreads