Spotlight: Wildflowers & Whiskey by Sara McClaflin

Release Date: November 1

AVAILABLE IN KINDLE UNLIMITED

The first thing you need to know about Beckett Harrington? Trouble in a three thousand dollar suit.

The next? He’s my new boss.

I run The Dutch Wall—Onyx Hotel’s most exclusive bar. My bar. My rules. I’ve kept it perfect without a Harrington anywhere near it.

Then he walked back into Vegas, and suddenly I was twenty-one again—blurting out how much I loved him, and breaking when he turned me down.

I swore I’d never make that mistake twice.

One night, too much tequila, and a wedding chapel later… Beckett Harrington isn’t just the man who rejected me. He’s my husband.

I want out. He doesn’t.

Now I work for him, wear his ring, and pretend none of it matters. But every time he’s close, the line between hating him and wanting him disappears.

But Beckett Harrington has always been a bad idea and unfortunately…I’ve never been good at saying no to those.

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Meet Sara McClaflin

Sara McClaflin, a dedicated author of romance, crafts tales that are not only heart-melting but also delve into the delicate facets of humanity. Having spent the past few years as an avid reader, Sara transitioned from writing book reviews to creating her own narratives. Her passion for romance, in all its diverse forms, shines through as she weaves stories that resonate with readers.

Residing on the vibrant west coast with her husband and beloved dog, Sara McClaflin is surrounded by the inspiration of nature and the love of her family. In her world, there is no such thing as too many books or an overfilled "want to read" list, as each story unfolds new possibilities and adventures.

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For more information on Sara McClaflin and her books visit: https://linktr.ee/saramcclaflin

Connect with Sara McClaflin: hello@authorsaramcclaflin.com

Spotlight: The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry

A woman must confront the evil that has been terrorizing her street since she was a child in this gripping haunted house novel from the national bestselling author of The House That Horror Built and Good Girls Don’t Die.

On an otherwise ordinary street in Chicago, there is a house. An abandoned house where, once upon a time, terrible things happened. The children who live on this block are told by their parents to stay away from that house. But of course, children don’t listen. Children think it’s fun to be scared, to dare each other to go inside.

Jessie Campanelli did what many older sisters do and dared her little brother Paul. But unlike all the other kids who went inside that abandoned house, Paul didn’t return. His two friends, Jake and Richie, said that the house ate Paul. Of course adults didn’t believe that. Adults never believe what kids say. They thought someone kidnapped Paul, or otherwise hurt him. They thought Paul had disappeared in a way that was ordinary, explainable.

The disappearance of her little brother broke Jessie’s family apart in ways that would never be repaired. Jessie grew up, had a child of her own, kept living on the same street where the house that ate her brother sat, crouched and waiting. And darkness seemed to spread out from that house, a darkness that was alive—alive and hungry.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audible | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Christina Henry is a horror and dark fantasy author whose works include The House That Horror Built, Good Girls Don’t Die, Horseman, Near the Bone, The Ghost Tree, The Girl in Red, The Mermaid, Lost Boy, The Chronicles of Alice series (Alice, Red Queen and Looking Glass) and the seven-book urban fantasy Black Wings series. 

Her short stories have been featured in the anthologies Elemental Forces, Cursed, Twice Cursed, Giving the Devil His Due and Kicking It.

She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

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IG: @authorchristinahenry 

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Spotlight: The Silence of Deceit by Jillian Eagan

Genre: YA High Fantasy 

The nation of Seity.
Four ruling families.
One merciless tyrant.

When Eldon Durane executes a noble family and extinguishes all magic, he ignites a war that spans generations.

Two decades later, Lady Rosalie Yorke and her best friend, Silence, are uprooted from their comfortable lives to escape the spreading war. But Rosalie's world shatters when ruthless raiders kidnap her—only for her fate to collide with Crowe, the notorious pirate captain of the Deceit.

Crowe wants nothing to do with Seity’s political turmoil, but the thirst for revenge leads him to Rosalie. Hoping to change his luck, he decides to extort Rosalie’s father for a ransom.

Rosalie refuses to be anyone’s pawn, and Crowe has no patience for nobility. As the two bicker and dodge danger, Seity’s long-buried secrets begin to emerge from the shadows.

With Eldon's deadly plan looming, Rosalie and Crowe must set aside their differences. Should they fail, Rosalie may lose everything.

Perfect for fans of Adrienne Young's Fable and Amie Kaufman's The Isles of the GodsThe Silence of Deceit is a seafaring tale of betrayal, friendship, and survival. A must-read for fans of pirate fantasy, enemies-to-lovers tension, and sweeping adventures filled with magic and rebellion.

Excerpt

“You left your book lying around.” She picked it up and held it out to him. “Don’t want to lose one of your precious first editions.”

“I didn’t—I left that for you to read.” He didn’t move from the doorway to take it from her.

“You said—”

“I know what I said. But that’s not a first edition, and I was being generous. Don’t get used to it,” he said, and backed out of the cabin.

Rosalie lowered the book but didn’t release her grip.

“Every time I think I have him figured out,” she muttered.

Silence didn’t seem to hear her as she stifled a yawn. “I was up all night, so I’m going to take a nap.”

“Thank you for keeping me safe.” All the doubt in the world couldn’t put a wedge between her and Silence. “I wish I could do something for you in return.”

“I don’t need anything in return because I know you’d do the same for me.” She squeezed Rosalie’s shoulder before heading over to the pile of furs.

Rosalie’s legs were shaky as she stood and left the cabin. After a night of suffering a fever, the ocean air felt incredible on her skin. She found Crowe watching Danny spar with another crew member. She stood next to the captain and pressed the book to her chest.

They watched the duel side by side without saying a word. It was fun to watch two experienced fighters without the threat of harm. It almost looked like a dance—an art of quick steps and clever maneuvers. Out of nowhere, she felt a burning passion to wield a blade. The thought had never crossed her mind before. Before, she had only wanted to take

on the role of a lady who didn’t need any weapons aside from wit and charm.

But seeing the sabers glint in the sunlight sparked a deep desire. Maybe she’d spent too much time among pirates.

“Can I help you?” Crowe broke her fixation.

“What’s the book about?”

“I suppose the point of reading books is to find out what

they’re about,” he replied without looking at her.

“What changed your mind?”

“Nothing changed my mind. It’s an act of grace; savor it, because that’s the only book you’re getting.” 

Although he was back to acting prickly, the gesture of giving her a book said more than his words did. “Why did you pick this one? Is it your least favorite?”

“On the contrary,” he said, still avoiding eye contact. “It’s my favorite, so I’d prefer nothing happen to it.”

She made a noise of interest but didn’t say anything else. The captain had lent her a book—not just any book, but his favorite one. It was hard to unravel, but in a way, she felt like she had won at least one round of bickering.

In her victory, she threw Crowe a smirk. But it faded when she saw the late morning sun beaming down on him. His eye color warmed, and the wave of his dark hair caught every ray and rustled a bit in the wind.

At the worst possible moment, he looked her way. When their eyes met, he looked… nervous? “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Huh?” she blurted with too much gusto. “Why are you looking at me?” When his eyebrow quirked up, she shuffled backward. “Thanks for the book.” She ducked her head and made a quick escape to hide her blush.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Jillian Eagan is an indie author from Massachusetts. She received her BA in Creative Writing from Emmanuel College. Currently, she lives in Cape Cod, where she reads and writes on the beach. Her new book, The Silence of Deceit, is the first of her Young Adult fantasy series.

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Spotlight: Death By Mistake by Abigail Keam

(A Josiah Reynolds Mystery, #22)

Publication date: October 13th 2025

Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

In a world of oak-cured bourbon, antebellum mansions, and Thoroughbred farms, secrets buried in the deep earth are never hidden long.

Josiah has resigned herself to being alone. Her boyfriend, Hunter left her for an old flame, and Josiah vows not to interfere in his life. She cares for the man and wants him to be happy. So, it comes as a shock when Detective Drake informs her that Hunter has been arrested for the murder of his wife, Kathy Wickliffe. Josiah simply can’t believe Hunter would harm another human being. She must uncover the truth—and fast. There’s the law, and there is Josiah’s justice!

Excerpt

1

Hunter Wickliffe woke up.  Something had sounded in the night and awakened him.  Getting out of bed, he went over to the large double-hung sash window, catching sight of a car racing away around the curve of the driveway to Wickliffe Manor.  He could hear the car screech to a stop and then turn onto Old Frankfort Pike.  He looked at his watch.  It was two twenty-three in the morning. 

Donning trousers and flip-flops, Hunter trudged down the hallway and opened the door to his wife’s son, Palley’s bedroom. The bed was messy, but no Palley.  He then slogged to Kathy’s room, gently knocked, and opened the bedroom door. 

 The bed was made, showing no one had slept in it.  Odd.  His wife usually went to bed around midnight.

After checking the upstairs bathrooms and finding them unoccupied, Hunter went down the grand staircase and searched throughout the entire first floor of his 19th-century home.  He couldn’t find either Kathy or Palley.  

Hunter checked the decorative ceramic bowl by the open back door and saw Kathy’s keys were there.  Stepping into the velvet night, he shouted Kathy’s name.  

No one returned his call.  

Thinking it strange Kathy was not in the house, Hunter went outside to look for her.  Discovering Kathy’s Lexus parked in the driveway, he placed his hand on the hood.  Hunter found it cold to the touch, so she had to be on the grounds somewhere.  He headed to the stables as he heard the boarded horses acting up.  That was always a bad sign.

As he walked down the dark gravel path to the horse barn, a Great Horned Owl hooted in the distance, Black Angus cattle snorted in their pasture, and the crunch-crunch of his flip-flops on the gravel were the only sounds to be heard.  The otherwise eerie quiet unnerved Hunter.  He made a mental note to get some dogs.  Dogs were good indicators of people and things not being in place.  They were always aware of the unusual.  A dog walking beside him in the dark would give him confidence.

Was he frightened?

Hunter was certainly wary.

Something was definitely off.  

He picked up a thick fallen branch from a walnut tree and carried it with him.  Closer to the barn, he distinctly heard the horses kicking their stalls and neighing occasionally.  Not a good sign.  Perhaps a coyote had been sniffing around the stable. 

Dropping the branch, Hunter stepped through the side door.  Searching for the light switch, he found it and turned on the overhead barn lights.  The horses immediately quieted down.  He first noticed the pedestal fans, which were supposed to circulate the air on warm nights, were turned off.  He looked at his watch again.  It was two forty-five.  As the night cooled, the fans were programmed to switch off at three. 

He stepped to the nearest fan and touched the housing.  The metal felt wet.  Now what would cause water on the fans?  Hunter looked up.  The roof wasn’t leaking.  Besides, it hadn’t rained.

“What’s going on, ladies?” Hunter asked as he opened the stall doors and checked several horses close to the west entrance until he noticed bales of hay lying in disarray on the floor of the barn’s central aisle.  Someone or something had also overturned the sweet feed buckets near the storage closet.  A sense of dread filled him.

“Kathy?  Kathy, are you here?” Hunter called out.

The only responses were horses nickering.  Hunter strained to hear his wife’s response or maybe a faint cry for help.  Perhaps she went to check on the horses and fell.  He wanted to hear something—anything resembling a human voice.

Certain that something was amiss, Hunter went into the first five stalls and opened the back stall doors to a large paddock, letting the pregnant Thoroughbred mares out.  He brought them in only at night to keep coyotes and wandering dogs away from them.  Free, the horses ambled over to a water trough for a quick sip of cool water. 

The last four stalls contained pleasure horses boarded at the Wickliffe Farm.  Hunter slid open the stall door and grabbed the skittish Arabian horse by the halter.  “Whoa, girl.  Whoa.  That’s a good girl.”  He opened the back exterior door of the stall and pulled the horse toward the outside.  She happily joined the other horses now grazing hay left out for them. 

Hunter went to the next stall to check on a Quarter horse when he noticed shiny splotches of a dark substance on the center aisle’s rubber mat.  He squatted down and swiped the dark substance with his finger.  The substance was gooey, and as he raised his hand to inspect it, the overhead light illuminated the unmistakable red color.  Hunter smelled the red substance and rubbed it between his fingers.  As a forensic psychiatrist, he had seen enough dead bodies to know this was coagulated blood!

He jumped up and frantically searched the last stalls.  “Kathy!  Kathy!”  There were two remaining horses, which he quickly pulled into the paddock.  It wasn’t until Hunter came to the remaining stall that he discovered Kathy lying on her back with unblinking eyes staring at the ceiling.  He quickly checked for a pulse, and when he didn’t discover one, Hunter slid down the wall of the stall in disbelief.  Shocked, he sat beside his dead wife and put his head between his hands, moaned, “Oh, Kathy.  What did you do?  What did you do?”

Buy on Amazon | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Abigail Keam is an award-winning and best-selling author who writes the Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series about a Southern female beekeeper turned amateur sleuth living in the glamorous world of oak-cured bourbon, antebellum mansions, and Thoroughbred farms.

Besides loving history, Kentucky bourbon and chocolate, Abigail loves honeybees and for many years made her living by selling honey at a farmers’ market like her protagonist, Josiah Reynolds. She is an award-winning beekeeper who has won many honey awards at the Kentucky State Fair including the Barbara Horn Award, which is given to beekeepers who rate a perfect 100 in a honey competition.

Miss Abigail has taken her knowledge of beekeeping to create a fictional beekeeping protagonist, Josiah Reynolds, who solves murder mysteries in the Bluegrass. While Miss Abigail’s novels are for enjoyment, she discusses the importance of a local sustainable food economy and land management for honeybees and other creatures. 

She currently lives on the Kentucky River in a metal house with her husband and various critters. 

Connect:

Official Site: http://www.abigailkeam.com/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.abigailkeam/

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abigailkeam/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Abigail-Keam/e/B0045PEGUQ 

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/abigailkeam.bsky.social

Cover Reveal: Alice Adrift by Susan Bacon

Publication date: November 4th 2025

Genres: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction

Alice Adrift is an intimate human drama about loss and recovery, coupling and uncoupling, and a child caught in the turmoil.

It’s the 1990s. The Fishers—Alice, David and their two sons, Tobias and Jeremiah—live in the upper Northwest quadrant of Washington DC, home to an urbane mix of journalists, academics and professionals. Alice is a composer and music professor. Her husband is an architect of some note. The economy is booming. Life is good. But their seemingly perfect existence is shattered when Jeremiah, their youngest, dies suddenly of an unidentifiable illness.

In the years that follow, Alice and David seem to lose their bearings. When Toby appears to be struggling, they move him to an alternative school with a baffling curriculum (“They don’t even teach reading, Mom”) and a peculiar set of rules (“Absolutely no television!”). Alice doesn’t seem to fit in, but David is drawn to everything about the place including, Alice eventually realizes, one of Toby’s teachers, the striking woman with the long, tangled red hair.

Not long after David moves out of the house, a group of young men move in next door, ingratiating themselves to Alice. She finds herself attracted to one of them, which sets her further off-kilter. How will she find her way back? How will Toby emerge from all this disruption? And what on earth will happen to David?

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About the Author

Susan is best-known for her award-winning mysteries — THE HISTORY TEACHER and its sequel THE ART COLLECTOR. Her latest novel, ALICE ADRIFT, is a bit of a departure. An intimate human drama about loss and recovery, coupling and uncoupling, and a child caught in the turmoil, it is slated for release on November 4, 2025. 

A graduate of Barnard College with a degree in history, Susan is a former journalist, copywriter and ghostwriter whose credits include an international best seller. She grew up in Wilmington, Delaware and has lived in New York City, Washington, DC, and Memphis, Tennessee, all of which serve as settings for her novels.

Connect:

https://www.facebook.com/PorterStreetPress

https://www.instagram.com/susanbacon.author/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19505092.Susan_Bacon

https://www.susanbacon.com/

Spotlight: Hooking Up With a Rockstar by Kitt Henley

(Soulmates, #2)

Publication date: October 28th 2025

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

An opposites-attract friends-to-lovers romance featuring a charming, swoon-worthy rockstar hero who falls first, a fiercely independent club-manager heroine, a hometown show, a secret song, and one very compromising position.

I told him it was just a hookup. I don’t think he bought it.

JUNE: Anthony’s always been a wild good time, but even before his band got famous, I knew better than to let myself bask in the glow of that 1,000-watt smile.

He makes me feel things I don’t ever want to feel. For anyone.

So when his band went on tour halfway across the world, forgetting him was the goal, but his postcards from the road didn’t make it any easier.

And now he’s back. Playing my club, looking every inch the rock god, and reminding me what it feels like to be with him.

Under him.

But I have a club to run, a boss breathing down my neck, and no room for distractions. This is my chance to prove myself, and unlike my mother, I’m not about to let some guy derail my life.

Three nights.
That’s all I have to survive without letting my guard down.
Without losing myself.
Without wanting him.


Soulmates: Two bands. Three shows. Four happily ever afters.
Hooking Up With a Rockstar is a complete romance novella with no cliffhanger. This story can be enjoyed as a standalone or read as the second book in the Soulmates interwoven rockstar romance series.

Excerpt

“How are you doing on your part of the list so far?” I ask, situating myself on the barstool directly across from June.

“Doing good.” Her eyelashes flutter a little. She’s working hard to keep her attention on the bottles she’s probably pretending to count, but her eyes keep darting in my direction. “Everything’s ready to go for ticketing and admission, and the staff are all confirmed for tonight.”

“OK, fabulous. Sounds like the perfect time for the two of us to grab a bite to eat.”

“Oh. Thanks, but I’ll get something later.” She angles her body away even further.

She’s adorable.

June’s making me work for it, that’s for sure. She’s a tough nut to crack, so I wasn’t expecting her to toss her panties at me or anything, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping she’d be a little more receptive. But that’s OK. We’ve got three whole days together, and this time I’m playing the long game.

“My treat.” I slide over one stool and inch myself back into her line of sight. “How about a quick sandwich?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” She finally turns to face me, looking skeptical.

“Come on, Chicago,” I tease, lowering my voice. “What. Are you afraid I’m gonna put the moves on you?”

She rolls her eyes. “I freaking know you will.”

“No. This is a professional lunch outing.”

“Uh-huh. Sure it is.” She shakes her head, smiling. “Yeah, all right. But just a quick bite.”

“Absolutely.”

She reaches for her coat and we step outside. I swear it’s even colder than it was this morning, and it takes my eyes a minute to adjust to the bright sun after spending all day in the club.

“We could grab barbecue sandwiches at that place around the corner,” June says.

“Actually, I heard there’s this great place a couple of blocks down. Follow me.”

The truth is I know exactly where we’re headed. It’s the diner where June and I used to go sometimes after closing up the bar.

The first time she asked if I wanted to get a bite to eat after work, I thought she was asking me out on a real date. We were sitting at that diner, facing each other across the table, when she first started telling me about all the different bands she was into. Eclectic stuff. She could appreciate things in the music that most people never even notice. That was when I realized she was someone special.

As we make our way down the sidewalk, I can’t help but feel giddy. It’s good to be walking through the city side by side with June again.

We round the corner and I slow down as we approach the restaurant.

“Oh, I see what you did here,” she says. “A trip down memory lane, huh? I recall being promised a quick sandwich.”

“But if you’ll remember, June, the service here is incredibly speedy,” I reassure her with a wink, and she rolls her eyes.

We score our usual cozy table by the window and put our sandwich orders in right away to speed things up.

June leans toward me, resting both hands at the edge of the table and giving me a little scowl as the server pours us each a cup of coffee.

“I can’t believe you brought me back here,” she says, shaking her head. “You’re hilarious. You know that?”

“It’s one of the things you love most about me.” I grin.

“That’s debatable.” She’s giving me one of those feisty June expressions that I’ve missed so much. 

“Well, you guys sure have been getting around this past year.”

“Oh, you’ve been paying attention?” I wink.

“I did receive thirty-eight postcards.” She gives me a sideways glare, and my heart does a flip-flop. She actually read my cards.

“Ahh, but who’s counting?” I tease.

“Right.” She nods slowly, but her cheeks flush pink.

I pause, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “You know, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this past year.”

“Yeah? About what?” She takes a sip of her coffee.

“About us, actually,” I say softly.

That must’ve caught her off guard because those dark eyes lock right on mine, and her cheeks flush a deep shade of pink.

“Oh.”

“Sorry. Is that weird?”

“No, I mean, it’s fine,” she says, dropping her voice a little. “It’s just—I’m worried we got our wires crossed somewhere.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last year—when we hooked up—I didn’t mean for it to be anything more than one night.” She’s watching my eyes closely now.

“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” I say.

“I know. I really fucked that up. I should have been clear about what I was looking for from the start. That wasn’t fair to you.”

I shrug. “Nah, you’re OK. We didn’t make any promises that night.”

She gives me a little smile. “Well, thanks for saying that. But I shouldn’t have ghosted you. We’ve been friends a long time, and you deserve better.”

“OK. But I get it. It was intense, what happened between us.”

She stops mid-sip, almost choking on her coffee. “Err, umm—hmm? What do you mean?”

“The two of us. We’re something else together. I know you felt it too.”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Her pupils dilate and her lips part a bit, the way they do when she’s turned on.

“It wasn’t just a hookup, June.” I let my tone drop down low, just the way she likes it. “No matter what you want to tell yourself.”

“Um, no, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was,” she tries, but her voice is breathless, and her hands are trembling. “Just…a hookup.”

“If you say so, Chicago,” I tease, giving her a wide smile.

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About the Author

Kitt Henley writes short, spicy contemporary romance with relatable characters, a touch of humor, and tons of heart. Never one to make it through a good romance (or cookie commercial) with dry eyes, Kitt's heartstrings are easy to pull on. When she played in rock bands and crunched numbers in the Seattle tech world, those waterworks weren't an asset, but after a friend suggested she try writing romance, everything clicked into place. From the moment she sat down to write her first novel, she knew she'd found her calling.

When she's not wrangling words in her tiny bedroom office, Kitt loves to spend time with her high school best friend (a.k.a. her rockstar husband) and their two ridiculously funny boys. She's still holding out hope for that family band someday, but in the meantime she'll happily settle for camping trips, board games, long walks with friends, and watching lots and lots of thrillers.

Connect:

https://kitthenley.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kitthenleyauthor/

https://www.facebook.com/kitthenleybooks/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kitt-henley

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/57470312.Kitt_Henley