Cover Reveal: A Criminal’s Game by Daria White

(A Bianca Wallace Mystery, #5)

Publication date: August 5th 2025

Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

Synopsis:

Love is just a swipe away… until it turns deadly.

Bianca Wallace has finally found her rhythm—her business is booming, her daughter is back home, and Detective Lamar Sims might just be ready to take the next step. But when the police receive a chilling set of photos—images of a murdered woman—her sense of security vanishes. The victim? Alana Rivera, a former college friend Bianca never expected to see again… especially not like this.

The investigation leads straight to SoulSync, the hottest dating app, promising love but delivering something far more sinister. As Detective Sims peels back layers of deception, Bianca is drawn deeper into a deadly web of secrets, lies, and betrayal. Someone is watching. Someone is waiting. And if Bianca gets too close to the truth—she’ll be next.

Murder isn’t a game, but someone is playing to win. If you love gripping cozy mysteries with twists that keep you guessing, A Criminal’s Game is your next must-read. Perfect for fans of small-town secrets and amateur sleuths!

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About the Author

Daria has lived in Texas for most of her life. She never liked reading as a kid. In fact, she almost hated it. However, as she grew up that all changed. Though she received her degree in healthcare management, Daria kept her writing as a hobby. She meant it to be private and her own way of expressing herself. It never crossed her mind to publish until she was in college. So, she took a chance and self published. It worked! Starting off as a sweet romance writer first, Daria branched out in 2020 with books in cozy mystery and Christian fiction. She even has nonfiction titles in the works, reflecting her Christian faith and work in ministry. She currently lives in New York with her husband. 

Connect:

https://www.dariawhite.com/

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7751720.Daria_White

Spotlight: All the Afters by J.H. Croix

A brand new, swoony small town firefighter series from USA Today Bestselling Author J.H. Croix!

I’m falling in love with a firefighter, and I’m pregnant.

Big problem: It’s not his baby.

When I met Griffin Cannon, I fainted. He saved me from face-planting into the gravel. He’s the rescue-y, protective type, which fits seeing as he’s a hotshot firefighter. 

I didn’t think I’d ever see him after that. Until he saves me again. Just when I think maybe fate is trying to throw me into his arms, my life skids sideways in a big way. I’m pregnant. The guy who should step up skips town instead.

Scrambling, I accept a new job and move. I figure Griffin is in my rear-view mirror, yet fate brings him back into my life. I’m working for his brother and Griffin’s the newest smokin’ hot firefighter in town. He can have any woman he wants, while I’m busy learning how to live without sleep and win awards for the most-frumpy single mom ever. 

And yet, Griffin wants to cook me dinner. From changing diapers to so much more, he’s there as I stumble through the stress-fest of my life. I don’t even believe in love. But when a firefighter with a heart of gold does the dishes, it’s near impossible to resist.

Griffin & Tish’s story is perfect for readers who love: protective firefighters, slow burn, he falls first, workplace romance, boss’s brother, small town gossip, emotional romance with a dash of angst, oodles of steam and swoon, and a golden retriever hero who takes protecting the woman he loves as the most important job in his life.

*A full-length, standalone romance.

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Meet J.H. CroixUSA Today Bestselling Author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. She writes swoony contemporary romance with sassy women and alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. When she’s not writing, you can find her cooking, counting the turtles in her backyard pond, and running with her dogs, which is when her best plotting happens. 

Keep up with J.H. Croix and subscribe to her newsletter: https://jhcroixauthor.com/subscribe/

To learn more about J.H. Croix & her books, visit here!

Connect with J.H. Croix: https://jhcroixauthor.com/connect/

Spotlight: When People Leave by Leslie A. Rasmussen

A heartbreaking loss. A life-changing secret. Will the truth bring three daughters closer together or tear them apart? Morgan, Charlotte, and Abby Weiss are filled with mixed emotions. After their beloved mother took her own life without leaving a note, the siblings go through the motions of a funeral while grappling with grief and anger at their parents’ actions.

Leaning into their close connection and taking a break from their lives, their men, and their personal issues, they move into their mother’s house in search of answers. As they unearth clues about a mysterious stranger, the Weiss sisters travel to Las Vegas, hoping to find closure. However, they only encounter more questions and confusion as they follow the trail onward to New York… and their mother’s hidden past.

Can Morgan, Charlotte, and Abby survive a revelation that changes everything they hold to be true? When People Leave is a captivating contemporary novel that explores familial relationships, grief, anger, and resolutions.

Buy on Amazon | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Leslie A. Rasmussen was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. She went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, The Wild Thornberrys, and Sweet Valley High. After leaving the business to raise her boys, Leslie obtained a master’s degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Leslie has been published in the Huffington Post over twenty times and speaks on panels discussing female empowerment. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America, Women in Film, and the UCLA Alumni Association. Her debut novel, After Happily Ever After, has won over fifteen awards, and her second novel, The Stories We Cannot Tell, has won eleven awards. Leslie’s newest novel, When People Leave, was released in May 2025. She has appeared in numerous media outlets and been interviewed by the likes of NPR and XM Radio.

When Leslie isn’t writing, she loves reading, exercising, and spending time with friends. Leslie lives in Southern California with her husband and two sons.

Spotlight: Counting Backwards by Jacqueline Friedland

Perfect for readers drawn to social justice, legal thrillers, and historical fiction based on real events, this novel from USA Today bestselling author, Jackie Friedland, asks: Who gets to decide what happens to a woman’s body? And how far will you go to reclaim that power?

New York, 2022. Jessa Gidney is trying to have it all–a high-powered legal career, a meaningful marriage, and hopefully, one day, a child. But when her professional ambitions come up short and Jessa finds herself at a turning point, she leans into her family’s history of activism by taking on pro bono work at a nearby detention center. There she meets Isobel Perez–a young mother fighting to stay with her daughter–but as she gets to know Isobel, an unsettling revelation about Isobel’s health leads Jessa to uncover a horrifying pattern of medical malpractice within the detention facility. One that shockingly has ties to her own family.

Virginia, 1927. Carrie Buck is an ordinary young woman in the center of an extraordinary legal battle at the forefront of the American eugenics conversation. From a poor family, she was only six years old when she first became a ward of the state. Uneducated and without any support, she spends her youth dreaming about a different future–one separate from her exploitative foster family–unknowing of the ripples her small country life will have on an entire nation.

As Jessa works to assemble a case against the prison and the crimes she believes are being committed there, she discovers the landmark Supreme Court case involving Carrie Buck with shockingly similar implications to the one before her now. Her connection to the case, however, is deeper and much more personal than she ever knew–sending her down new paths that will leave her forever changed and determined to fight for these women, no matter the cost.

Buy on Amazon | Bookshop.org

About the Author

USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of Counting Backwards, He Gets That From Me, That’s Not a Thing, and Trouble the Water.

Jacqueline Friedland graduated Magna Cum Laude from both the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School. She practiced as a commercial litigator at the New York law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP. After determining that office life did not suit her, Jacqueline began teaching Legal Writing and Lawyering Skills at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan and working on her first book in her limited spare time. Finally, after deciding to embrace her passion and pursue writing full time, Jacqueline returned to school to earn her Master of Fine Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, graduating in 2016.

When not writing, Jacqueline is an avid reader of all things fiction. She loves to exercise, watch movies with her family, listen to music, make lists, and dream about exotic vacations. She lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband, four children, and two very bossy canines.

Spotlight: Tiny Vices by Linda Dahl

For fans of Anne Tyler and Jojo Moyes, this is a tartly compassionate and contemporary tale of sibling love and conflict, marital challenges, and what personal fulfillment looks like—or doesn’t—in middle age.

Mid-life: Its obligations and demands, its petty foibles and evasions. And sometimes, its crises. Dreams are deferred, shortcomings rationalized. Like favorite old clothes, petty misdemeanors may feel comfortable, but they’re not a good look.

The Talley siblings are planning a family beach vacation—all four of them together for the first time in years. They suspect it will be their last. And God knows they all need a vacation. But wait, is it really such a good idea? Corina, with her recently diagnosed Alzheimer’s, can hardly manage to get through a day without a debacle. Pete is a just-barely-walking catalog of medical calamities stemming from his longtime addictions. Becca is reeling from her teenage son’s latest misadventure. And then there is Kathy, the eldest. After firmly avoiding going back to Rincón Bay, the beach town just a few hours south of the Arizona–Mexico border that has haunted her since a college spring break trip three decades ago, she’s determined to go back and face her ghosts—though she might be better off facing the fact that her marriage is in serious trouble.

When the Talley siblings and their entourage (two spouses, added on at the last minute, and Corina’s Mexican housekeeper/caregiver) finally land in Rincón Bay, they all encounter unexpected consequences from the wounds inflicted by careless loving—but maybe, too, the seeds of healing and hope.

Buy on Amazon | Bookshop.org

About the Author

LINDA DAHL began writing as a freelancer about two passions, jazz and Latin America, before turning to fiction. She has written ten published books, including the novels Tiny Vices, An Upside-Down Sky, Gringa in a Strange Land, and The Bad Dream Notebook, and the nonfiction works Stormy Weather and Morning Glory. Her books have consistently garnered awards and praise, including a Notable Book of the Year nod from The New York Times Book Review for Morning Glory in 2000 and an IBPA Ben Franklin Awards Finalist in Popular Fiction for The Bad Dream Notebook in 2017. Linda loves reading, swimming, music, and doing volunteer work in her community. She lives in Riverdale, New York. Find her online at lindadahlbooks.com

Spotlight: The Heartbeats of Aloha by Brooke Gilbert

(Under the Hawaiian Stars)

Publication date: July 1st 2025

Genres: Action, Comedy, Romance

Separated by tragedy, reunited by fate. Will these childhood sweethearts risk their hearts again?

Reef has been in love with Luna since they were kids. As a secret romance novelist, he pours his unrequited feelings into his books, reliving their love on the page. But when Luna’s uncle proposes a fake relationship to thwart a stunt her PR wants to pull, Reef’s wildest dreams and worst fears are about to collide.

Luna never stopped loving Reef, even when she broke his heart to protect him. Music became her refuge, but fame brought unexpected complications. Now, fate has brought them back together, but the demons of their past threaten to consume them both.

As Reef and Luna navigate their rekindled feelings amidst a whirlwind of secrets, heartache, and desire, they’ll discover that sometimes reality is even more extraordinary than fiction. When their truths come to light, will their love survive, or will they wish they’d left the past buried in the sands of time?

The Heartbeats of Aloha is a poignant, swoon-worthy standalone in the International Soulmate series. Immerse yourself in:

• A heart-melting second chance romance

• The lush, tropical beauty of Hawaii

• A fake relationship that feels all too real

• Deep, nuanced portrayals of mental health and disability

• Unforgettable characters, including an adorable canine companion

If you love emotional journeys filled with tender moments, sizzling chemistry, and the healing power of love, then Brooke Gilbert’s moving story is a must-read.

Let the rhythm of the islands guide you to your next great romance. Grab The Heartbeats of Aloha today and lose yourself in Reef and Luna’s unforgettable love story!

Content note: This book contains discussions of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.

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About the Author

Brooke Gilbert is a Tennessee native, a microbiology graduate of the University of Tennessee, and a border collie mom. She is, as you may have already guessed, a hopeless romantic and a lover of Jane Austen. When she isn’t writing, she works as a jewelry designer, an audiobook narrator, and a graphic designer. Her writing features characters with autoimmune disorders, something she deals with herself. She believes it is important for these types of characters to be seen in modern literature and started writing so she could see someone like herself in literature. She is considered a medical mystery and has several rare autoimmune disorders. These disorders caused her to withdraw from Physician Assistant School, but she is happy to be pursuing her dreams of designing, creating, and writing. She thanks God for leading her heart on this new path and recites “perhaps this is the moment for which you were created” in times of doubt (Esther 4:14).

She loves watching classic films (thrillers and romantic comedies, too), reading, playing the ukulele, painting, dancing, Pilates, and spending time with her dog, family, and friends. One of her favorite quotes is from Flashdance: “When you give up on your dreams, you die.” She believes that if you’re waiting to pursue your dreams, stop waiting and start doing. Your time is now. And may you never stop being a hopeless romantic. Contrary to popular belief, it’s a very good quality. She’s still looking for her Mr. Darcy. Visit brookegilbertauthor.com to connect and stay updated on her latest projects.

Connect:

https://www.brookegilbertauthor.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@brookegilbertauthor

https://www.facebook.com/enchantingbrookevoiceover

https://x.com/brookeGauthor

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23026582.Brooke_Gilbert

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