Spotlight: By the Book by Sheritta Bitikofer

By the Book

by Sheritta Bitikofer

Genre: Contemporary Cowboy Romance with an Urban Fantasy Twist

When Tara Christiano slid the pretty romance novel down from the shelf at the local bookstore, she never suspected that her life would be turned upside down. It isn't just any ordinary book. It can predict the future. Specifically, Tara's. And when her future becomes intertwined with a handsome new face in town, she anxiously awaits each new page that is revealed, hoping Beau will become her love interest. 

Beau Bremor came back to Brooksdale, Texas to help his brother get back on his feet after the loss of his wife. Helping on Daniel's ranch is one thing, but the well-being of his little niece, Dixie, is in the forefront of his mind. She needs a mother and Daniel needs a wife. When Beau reunites with his former high school crush, a scheme formulates. But, can he keep his objective in mind while he's falling head-over-heels again for the beautiful and witty Tara, whom he is trying to set up with his brother?

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A paranormal author of eclectic tastes, Sheritta Bitikofer has a passion for storytelling. Her goal with each book is to rebel against shallow intimacy and inspire courage through the power of love and soulful passion. Her biggest thrill comes when she presents love in a genuine light, where the protagonists not only feel a physical attraction to one another, but a deep emotional (and dare we say spiritual?) connection that fuels their relationship forward into something that will endure much longer than the last pages of their novel. A devoted wife and fur-mama to two shelter rescue dogs, Sheritta’s life is never dull. When she’s not writing her next novel, she can be found binge-watching her favorite shows on Netflix, being creative with her husband, playing with her shelter rescue dogs, or painting at a medieval reenactment event. 

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Cover Reveal: Gabe's Reckoning by E.M Gayle

Gabe’s Reckoning

by E.M. Gayle Publication Date: April 8, 2018 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

New Release Alert

A lie. It’s all been a lie. Now she has to run. Screw that. Gabe has staked his claim and hell if he’s going to let that go. She. Is. His. She can run, but she sure as hell can’t hide. If she’s gone, then so is he. Purgatory can go to…well, hell. Nina should have read the prenup they signed a little closer. He made it clear he didn’t want her money, but he also made it crystal that she belonged to him in ways she hasn’t even thought of yet. And who their parents are doesn’t change one damned thing. Neither does murder. If she’s got blood on her hands he DOES NOT care. But the lies DO have to stop. One way or another this family has to come clean. Even if it costs them everything.

About E.M. Gayle

E.M. Gayle is the pen name for NY Times bestselling paranormal romance author Eliza Gayle, who finds it impossible to stick with one genre when there are so many more to explore. As E.M. she writes steamy, breath taking and often darkly emotional romance. She is best known for her Purgatory Club series, which is inspired by a goth and fetish show she used to attend when living in North Carolina. When not writing, she spends most of her free time reading, watching way too much HGTV, riding her Vespa, or sitting in a dark theater watching the latest action packed or funny movies. You can connect with Eliza on Facebook at facebook.com/AuthorEMGayle or on twitter @emgayle. You can also visit her website, emgayle.com, to sign up for emails about new releases, contests and book recommendations.

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Spotlight: From Little Houses to Little Women by Nancy McCabe

Nancy McCabe, who grew up in Kansas just a few hours from the Ingalls family’s home in Little House on the Prairie, always felt a deep connection with Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House series. McCabe read Little House on the Prairie during her childhood and visited Wilder sites around the Midwest with her aunt when she was thirteen. But then she didn’t read the series again until she decided to revisit in adulthood the books that had so influenced her childhood. It was this decision that ultimately sparked her desire to visit the places that inspired many of her childhood favorites, taking her on a journey that included stops in the Missouri of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Minnesota of Maud Hart Lovelace, the Massachusetts of Louisa May Alcott, and even the Canada of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

From Little Houses to Little Women reveals McCabe’s powerful connection to the characters and authors who inspired many generations of readers. Traveling with McCabe as she rediscovers the books that shaped her and ultimately helped her to forge her own path, readers will enjoy revisiting their own childhood favorites as well.

Excerpt

From the Prologue:

When my daughter was still a toddler and I was overwhelmed by the chores and errands and tasks of a single parent with a full-time job, I found myself reminiscing fondly about the books I’d read when I was young. Having a child made me miss my own childhood—not the miseries of forgotten homework or lost retainers or shifting friendships, but the joys of the uninterrupted hours that I spent reading.  

Back then I’d floated across seamless surfaces of prose, absorbed in books without an eye on the clock or an ever-present guilt about neglected duties. Now, my job required heavy reading, but that was work, more like swimming: I had to be aware of each stroke, of the tricky rhythms of breath. I was tired of being tightly scheduled and hyper-organized.  I was tired of being too busy to while away at least an occasional afternoon with a book. I just wanted to plop down and read for hours and hours.

From the Prologue:

When I started rereading children’s books, when I re-entered the lives in particular of favorite heroines, I found myself yearning to travel to the settings of those books.  It was as if the tourist sites that had sprung up might be living manifestations of stories that I once loved, of stories that had once themselves seemed like physical locations, places to which I could escape. They were, for me, as real as real life. As with my original impulse to reread books, maybe my initial motivation for embarking on these travels had something to do with nostalgia.  Maybe I was seeking to make literal the metaphorical experience of being lost in stories, of meeting again characters who had seemed three-dimensional, flesh and blood, like old, good friends, like a part of me.

From Chapter Four

The healing powers of girls’ book heroines, the dazzling competence of Pa Ingalls, combined anew in the character of Nancy Drew.  Nothing fazed her. If someone at a neighboring table choked on raw steak, she paused from tracing clues to administer the Heimlich, add a delicious marinade to the meat, and fire up her portable grill to ensure that it was fully cooked.  If Nancy’s boyfriend Ned discovered a message in Hieroglyphics, Nancy darted over to translate it—into French by way of Swahili. If her car overheated, Nancy purchased a new thermostat and installed it herself, substituting roadside sticks and rocks for more conventional tools.  If Nancy’s slacks ripped while she was camping on a mountainside, she whipped out her sewing kit and stitched up a pair of new pants from tent cloth. So maybe these are exaggerations of Nancy’s prowess—but not by much.

Nancy was the original Barbie, thin and stylish and endlessly versatile, capable of assuming a new role with each new outfit, a short cultural leap to Newborn Baby Doctor Barbie, Aerospace Engineer Barbie, Sea World Trainer Barbie, and Beach Party Barbie. . . .[Nancy] was  effortlessly attractive, kind, and skillful, and we were repeatedly told how modest she was, even though she was always introducing herself by saying things like, “I’m Nancy Drew. My father is Carson Drew, the attorney.” Those words smacked to me of privilege and entitlement, an expectation that everyone should have heard of and been impressed by her father.

Sharing her first name called attention to all that I could not live up to.  In contrast to the young sleuth, I was shy and awkward, and my world felt out of my control.  In real life, modesty and shyness came down to the same thing, rendering me invisible. Nancy got away with so much; it wasn’t fair.  She observed the faint sound of crickets on a pirated recording and concluded that it had been made at Pudding Stone Lodge because you could hear crickets there at night.  I railed at this ludicrous deduction: where couldn’t you hear crickets at night?

My concept of how the world worked, with God in his heaven, the righteous vindicated, and truth and justice prevailing, was beginning to erode.

From Chapter 11

“I can’t even count how many times I’ve read Little Women,” Aunt Shirley had said one day during our Laura Ingalls Wilder tour.  We’d been sitting at a Formica table in a diner in De Smet, SD. A fan whirred in the window while I ate my usual grilled cheese sandwich and rippled potato chip lunch out of a red basket.

“Me neither,” Jody said, sipping her unsweetened ice tea, smugly, I thought. Jody was special.  She had been named Jo after Jo March, which made me extremely jealous. Not only that, but she was once diagnosed with scarlet fever, such a cool, literary disease, the one that had led to the stroke that blinded Mary Ingalls and triggered the rheumatic fever that resulted in congestive heart failure in the case of Lizzie Alcott, the model for Little Women’s Beth.  Of course, by the late twentieth century, Jody could just feel all literary, take some antibiotics, and be done with it.

. . . .Maybe it was wise that, that day in South Dakota, I kept quiet about my mixed feelings toward Little Women. As Aunt Shirley and Jody talked about it, I became exceptionally absorbed in peeling off the part of my bread that, placed too close to the pickle, was now stained green.

“Have you even read it?” Aunt Shirley turned her attention to me.

“Yes,” I answered in the most indignant tone I could muster.

“You didn’t like it, though.” Aunt Shirley dismissed me.

“I did, too,” I protested, but she and Jody shook their heads as if they had seen right through me.  

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About the Author

Nancy McCabe is the author of four memoirs about travel, books, parenting, and adoption as well as the novel Following Disasters. Her work has appeared in Newsweek, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Prairie Schooner, Fourth Genre, and many other magazines and anthologies, including In Fact Books’ Oh Baby! True Stories about Conception, Adoption, Surrogacy, Pregnancy, Labor, and Love and McPherson and Company’s Every Father’s Daughter: Twenty-Four Women Writers Remember their Fathers. Her work has received a Pushcart and been recognized on Notable lists in Best American anthologies six times.

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Spotlight: Promises to Keep by Claire Yezbek Fadden

 

Promises to Keep

by Claire Yezbeck Fadden Publication Date: March 23, 2018 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense

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Love, Secrets, and Lies… Kate Jameson married the man of her dreams. Her real-life hero. A man who wouldn’t abandon her the way her father had. Or so she thought. Weeks after their son’s birth, her husband is suddenly pulled away for a business trip that takes him out of the country. But something isn’t right. His truths aren’t adding up. Kate digs into his past, determined to learn what he’s hiding. But unraveling this endless mystery draws her into a maze of lies, family secrets and deadly consequences. For twenty years, undercover CIA agent Eric Wiley lived for one reason—to avenge his parents’ brutal deaths. Until he marries Kate. Eric promises her a life of love and commitment, but competing promises constantly collide, offering him little chance of keeping either. When an informant lures him to Mexico, Eric thinks his goal of apprehending an elusive killer will be realized. Leaving his family for a few short days, weeks at the most, would be worth the prize. Can this final mission bring closure and allow Eric to be the husband Kate deserves and the father he yearns to be? Or will their destiny remain mired in the secrets of his past, leaving them powerless to embrace their present?

About Clair Yezbek Fadden

When she’s not playing with her grandchildren, Pennsylvania native Claire Yezbak Fadden is writing contemporary women’s fiction. Her books feature strong women who overcome life’s challenges, always putting their families first. She loves butterflies, ladybugs and holds a special affinity for carousel horses – quite possibly the result of watching “Mary Poppins” 13 times as a young girl. The mother of three lives in Orange County, California with her husband, Nick and three spoiled dogs, Bandit, Jersey Girl and Bowie. Claire’s work as an award-winning journalist, humor columnist and editor has appeared in 100 publications across the United States, Canada and Australia. Follow her @claireflaire, email her at claire@clairefadden.com or visit her at clairefadden.com.

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Spotlight: Happy Endings Book Club by Kylie Gilmore

Happy Endings Book Club Boxed Set Books 1-3
Kylie Gilmore
Publication date: January 10th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Book 1: Hidden Hollywood
She’s on top…

When superstar actress Claire Jordan researched her role for the Fierce Trilogy movies, she never expected the bond she feels with the author and her romance book club aka The Happy Endings Book Club. Soon Claire finds herself confessing her secret longing for a regular guy—no more egocentric wealthy players—and the book club is all too ready to help. In disguise as a regular girl, she’s all set for a date with book-club-approved Josh Campbell.

He’s on top…

Billionaire tech CEO Jake Campbell is weary of gold-digging women, especially the glamorous superficial types. So when his identical twin, Josh, calls in a favor, asking Jake to step in as him on a date, Jake figures one of Josh’s cute girl-next-door types might be just what he needs. One night of passion with the sweet girl next door leaves Jake wanting more, except she seems to have vanished.

Sometimes a Happy Ending is just the beginning.

Book 2: Inviting Trouble
Madison Campbell has worshipped her older brother’s best friend, Parker Shaw, for as long as she can remember. So the night before he leaves for the Air Force, she decides he’s leaving town with her virginity. All she has to do is transform her tomboy self into a sexy woman with a bit of borrowed makeup and some creative fashion choices. The results? One drunken kiss that Park doesn’t even remember.

Ten years later, no man has ever gotten close to her heart the way Park did. And now that he’s back, the very unfeminine Madison refuses to blow her second chance. But when her bold attempts to snag his attention (“Oops! Dropped my towel.”) fail miserably, she does something completely insane—she caves to a makeover from the meddling matchmaker in charge of The Happy Endings Book Club. Hey, Park, you want some of this? Madison is about to find out.

Book 3: So Revealing
The last thing Charlotte Vega needs is a cocky HOT stuntman like Ty Campbell in her life. But when he pulls the ultimate stunt—a sexy romantic gesture that ends with a charming invitation to a sunset dinner cruise—she finds him impossible to resist. Cue disaster.

Their rocky first date goes from bad to worse when his yacht (okay, it’s actually borrowed) gets stranded in deep mud. Turns out there’s nothing Ty can do but wait hours and hours for high tide with no power, no way to cook dinner, and a hangry sexy-as-hell woman.

But Ty is determined to salvage the date so he starts a game to pass the time. Only what Ty learns makes him realize he may have just botched a date with the perfect woman. How will he ever win her now?

The Happy Endings Book Club series continues with Book 4, Formal Arrangement, plus more!

Happy Endings Book Club Series
Book 1: Hidden Hollywood
Book 2: Inviting Trouble
Book 3: So Revealing
Book 4: Formal Arrangement
Book 5: Bad Boy Done Wrong
Book 6: Mess With Me
Book 7: Resisting Fate

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EXCERPT:

Hidden Hollywood Excerpt
© 2016 Kylie Gilmore

Claire bit her lower lip. “Dammit. This is why I can’t have real relationships. I can’t trust anyone.”

“You can trust me.”

She sighed. “I don’t even know you.”

“Get to know me.”

“Jake…” She looked away.

“One date, the real deal. Jake and Claire.”

She was tempted. He could tell. She didn’t give him a no right away and now she was searching his face, looking for the truth. He leaned forward, brushing his lips against hers, coaxing. He pulled back and met her eyes, fully prepared to do this all night if he had to. Coaxing, charming, easing his way in. He’d thought coaxing would be too difficult with the way he wanted her, but having her pull away was much harder.

She spoke quietly. “You don’t want that kind of spotlight on you. It’s not pretty.”

It wasn’t a no.

“I want you, and whatever comes with it, I don’t care.” He cradled her face with both hands. “I want Claire.”

She closed her eyes, and he dropped his hands to her shoulders, sliding them down the satiny smooth skin of her arms to her hands. He took her hands from behind her and pulled them forward, just holding them. She didn’t pull away. He sensed she was leaning toward letting him in.

Finally she spoke, the words filling him with elation. “We’d have to keep it quiet.”

Not that he wanted to keep it quiet. He just wanted to be with her so much he was willing to play the game her way. For now. He kissed her softly and spoke against her lips. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes.” She shoved him away. “Now stop kissing me. One date. Jake and Claire.”

“Why do I have to stop kissing you?”

“Because you want to get to know me, remember?”

“I can get to know your body first. Get reacquainted.”

She laughed. “Yeah. I’ve heard that one before.”

He figured she probably did. Everyone wanted the sexiest woman alive. He’d seen the magazine giving her that honor and her bikini body splashed everywhere. He knew that kind of attention didn’t always bring out the best in people, and he realized he had to stand out from the pack.

He stepped back and helped her off the table.

“Such a gentleman,” she teased.

“It’s all an illusion,” he replied, not bothering to hide the edge of unsatisfied lust in his voice.

“Story of my life,” she said breezily. “I’ll text Hailey to let you know when I’m free.”

“At least give me your number now that we’ve established how much you lust for me.” She laughed, and he grinned. “I’d like to stop going through other people.” He pulled his cell from his pocket, punched in the code, and handed it over.

She typed her number in while saying, “I never give this number to anyone. Only a handful of people have it on a need-to-know basis. Can you handle that kind of responsibility?”

“What do you think?” It was an honor and, hell, he’d earned it with all his restraint.

She met his eyes, fire back in hers. “I hope so. I swear I will hunt you down—”

He cut her off with a kiss. Not a gentle one. The kind that said he’d be taking what he wanted and she’d damn well like it. She sagged against him.

When he was good and ready, he broke the kiss and snagged his cell from her limp hand. “Later, Claire Jordan.”

She fought back a smile and then beamed a big one at him, stunningly beautiful in her well-kissed, hot-for-him state. “Later, Jake Campbell.”

He grinned and headed out the door. Now that was more like it.

Author Bio:

Kylie Gilmore is the USA Today bestselling author of the Clover Park series, the Clover Park STUDS series, and the brand new Happy Endings Book Club series. She writes humorous romance that makes you laugh, cry, and reach for a cold glass of water.

Kylie lives in New York with her family, two cats, and a nutso dog. When she's not writing, wrangling kids, or dutifully taking notes at writing conferences, you can find her flexing her muscles all the way to the high cabinet for her secret chocolate stash.

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Spotlight: Looking for Dei by David A. Willson

Looking for Dei
David A. Willson
Publication date: March 23rd 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Fifteen-year-old Nara Dall has never liked secrets. Yet it seems that her life has been filled with them, from the ugly scar on her back to the strange powers she possesses. Her mysterious father refuses to say anything about her origins, and soon, she and her best friend must attend the announcement ceremony, in which youths are tested for a magical gift.

A gifted youth has not been announced in the poor village of Dimmitt for decades. When Nara uncovers the reason, she uses her own powers to make things right. The decision sets her on a path of danger, discovery, and a search for the divine. In the process, she learns the truth about herself and uncovers the biggest secret of all: the power of broken people.

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EXCERPT:

PROLOGUE

Southside Orphanage

Fairmont – Capital of the Great Land 652PB (Post-Breshi)

The toddler blew at the dandelion bloom until its seeds broke free and floated away on a breeze that gusted past the man watching her from the bushes. His breath hitched as his burdens were lifted and briefly forgotten.

It had taken ten years to locate her. A life of study, prayer, and service to Dei in a monastery had not prepared him for so many years on the run, hiding under false names while he searched for the one he feared he might never find. His grizzled, greying goatee and unkempt hair might have labeled him a beggar or a desperate criminal, but the hope in his eyes told a different story.

Oblivious to the nearby threat, the girl dropped the crumpled dandelion stem and stumbled clumsily near a pile of stones. No more than two years old, she waddled across the overgrown orphanage courtyard, her cloth diaper askew. She plucked more flowers, her red hair dancing as she hopped after the seeds. She seemed to favor the world as her playmate, ignoring the twenty other children in the courtyard. She bumped into a small boy, fell down, and hopped back up with a baby-tooth grin before trotting off.

When she fell, a glimpse of her back jolted the man to his task. It was the blemish that beckoned him here—an ugly red scar stretching from upper back to waist, announcing her identity as the prophetic treasure he had sought for so long. The weight of the manuscript in his backpack grounded his thoughts, and he glanced around the area. There were no fences, plenty of bushes for cover, and a single matron leisurely surveying the yard. The woman sat on the aging building’s back steps, watching the little ones as they ran about. She wore a dress and would be unable to chase him. How long would it take for her to alert the authorities?

As he surveyed the grounds to plan his escape, the girl waggled her hand at a passing butterfly and giggled as it flew away. Fortune favored his plans when she ran to a group of dandelions just a few feet from his hiding place. Squatting, she grabbed several stems, preparing to blow and release the seeds.

The man looked over to the matron, who had turned away to manage a quarrel between two other children. Knowing this might be his only chance, he burst forward and scooped the babe up in one arm, then raced back through the bushes behind the orphanage. He ran as fast as he could, unable to avoid jostling the child in his arms. She began to cry at the shock of her abduction, still gripping the dandelion stems in one tiny fist.

Back at the orphanage, the matron in the dress looked toward the back of the yard. The only evidence of a disturbance was a cloud of dandelion seeds that drifted upon the air, scattering in the light breeze. She turned to the many children she cared for, oblivious to the crime that had just been perpetrated under her watch.

Author Bio:

David A. Willson has worked as a restauranteur, peace officer, and now, author. Taught by his mother to read at a young age, he spent his childhood exploring magic, spaceships, and other dimensions. In his writing, he strives to bring those worlds to his readers.
Much of his material is inspired by the “Great Land” of Alaska, which he has called home for over 30 years. He lives there with his wife, five children, and 2 dogs. He is passionate about technology, faith, and fiction—not necessarily in that order.

Looking for Dei is Willson’s debut novel, set in a land where many more adventures will take place. Stay up to date with his ongoing efforts through the Looking for Dei Facebook page or visiting the website at davidawillson.com.

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