Vampire Dante Allegretti hates his sucky life. Born into a family of energy siphoners, he’s desperate to reinvent himself as a fun-loving normal guy rather than a crowdsourcing parasite. To stop the draining urges, Dante resorts to grinding alternative meds in an ancient Mortar & Pestle, not knowing it contains magical properties.
Enter wisecracking thirty-year-old Sophie Arley, who lives with her clingy parents. Working three jobs and craving independence, she’s come back strong after a breakdown crashed her cozy world. So when the weird, hot guy she just met-cute asks Sophie to the movies, she agrees.
Sophie won’t spoil their magical connection by mentioning her heartbreak. And Dante dreads telling Sophie about his dark side. Will the power from the Mortar & Pestle guide them to their happily ever after despite the secrets and lies?
Featured Book: Never Retreat by Bonnie McCune
A feisty single mom clashes with an ex-military, macho corporate star at a business retreat in the wild Colorado mountains, where only one can win a huge prize. But when a massive flood imperils their love and survival, they learn the meaning of true partnership.
Years ago, Ramona (‘Raye”) Soto faced harsh reality when a roving con man knocked her up. Now at thirty-something she’s concentrating on her career in a major telecommunications firm and funding college for her teenaged son. Enter Desmond Emmett—a fast talker and smooth operator. New to the office, the ex-serviceman possesses every negative quality for a guy Raye should avoid.
Thrown together at a corporate retreat in the wilderness, the reluctant duo struggles to complete management’s extreme mental and physical tests for a huge reward. But only one can win the prize, and Des needs the money to underwrite medical treatments for his adored younger sister.
See-sawing between attraction and antagonism, the mismatched couple, Raye and Des, face their biggest challenge: learning the meaning of true partnership. When a massive flash flood sweeps down the rocky canyon and threatens their love and survival, they must put aside their difference to rescue their colleagues—and their future as a couple.
Bonnie McCune’s Website
Follow Bonnie McCune on Facebook
Follow Bonnie McCune on Twitter
Bonnie McCune’s GoodReads Profile
The Necklace by Linda S Rice
If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling back in time to meet someone you’ve fantasized about, you will love this book series. It will sweep you away and allow you to live your fantasy for hours on end; you will feel as if you’re actually there and never want to leave. Susan in “The Necklace” series travels 50 years back in time in her 17-year-old body to meet James, age 20, the man of her dreams. James, however, does not turn out to be the paragon she envisioned and although he falls in love with her, their relationship is stormy and tempestuous. Susan’s independent and stubborn nature is in direct conflict with James’s arrogance and bossiness. Susan struggles to cope in an era pre women’s lib. Their fiery passion for each other, however, overrides all conflict. When it’s time for Susan to return to the present, she gives James a parting gift of her silver necklace not knowing that it contains magic that will bind them together for life. And because of this, she continues to return to the past in multiple journeys fraught with suspense and heartache in an attempt to be with him forever.
My Journey to the Ocean by Lena Mikado
My Journey to the Ocean by Lena Mikado
What if you woke up one day only to find out that everything has changed forever?
Elena knows what she wants from life, she has her whole world charted out and is engaged to be married to Alex, but when she takes a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to the beautiful southern charm of Saint Simons Island, Georgia, her whole world is rocked and rolled when she meets handsome Chris. No one told her she may have to make a choice, but now, faced with the inevitable reality, she realizes that her final destination is not nearly as important as her endless Journey to the Ocean.
Never Is A Very Long Time by Donna McDonald
Never Is A Very Long Time by Donna McDonald
Cupid she’s not—but she’s pretty darn close.
Nothing in the world feels better than finding her clients the perfect date. Finding one for herself might be nice, but creative bill paying is not for accomplished doctors in their forties. Satisfied customers keep the electricity on.
Everything in her life was fine until she quit her celebrity radio job to start a dating business. Two years, a cheating ex, and a very ugly divorce later, she’s back to living with her mother. Not that her mom isn’t great, but come on.
With her cop ex-husband doing everything he can to ruin her business, she’s at her wit’s end. Throw in another cop who makes her want to believe in love at first sight again and life is a mess. Another sexy bad boy cop is the last thing she needs.
[Read more…] about Never Is A Very Long Time by Donna McDonald
Beautiful Monsters by Brian Anthony and Bill Walker
Beautiful Monsters by Brian Anthony and Bill Walker
Beautiful Monsters, a novel by Brian Anthony & Bill Walker, with illustrations by Rick Geary
In London, in the year 1916, an ailing Sherlock Holmes is attended by his old friend and colleague Dr. John Watson. Sensing that time is short, Holmes relays one final, remarkable story to his biographer, that of Holmes’s own mentor, Professor Harry Nelson Beadle.
In 1874 thirty-year-old Professor Beadle, laureate at Cambridge University with degrees in biology, anthropology, and sociology, is widely respected by faculty and students alike. But the Professor’s obsession with his theories concerning the cross-evolution of humans and insects–beautiful monsters—proves to be his undoing. Based on a spurious piece of evidence, the Professor spends years researching and writing a tome, which is eventually published to some acclaim. But the price is high; his obsession costs the Professor his position at the University, his wife, and his young daughter.
Jim Beam, an American, a former student, and an unwitting participant in the deceit, belatedly reveals the terrible truth to the Professor: that the empirical evidence was fake! Thus, begins a forty-year odyssey in which Professor Beadle, aided and abetted by his former student, searches the world for the thousand printed copies of his book, Beautiful Monsters—buying, begging, and sometimes stealing them, with the goal of eventually destroying every last copy.
Early in their journey, Beam meets a lovely young woman, Mabel, and the couple wed. Mabel is initially sympathetic to the Professor’s plight, but as the obsession with tracking down the book grows and takes hold of her husband, their marriage begins to suffer. The impending tragedy is completely lost on Beam, but not on the Professor, who sees an eerie similarity to his own failed marriage. Could the book—with its terrible invocation of insect-men—be cursed?
In his quest to erase “this published monument to my own stupidity,” the Professor and Beam cross paths with an odd assortment of characters, including Thomas Edison, a giant, George Méliès, and on the final leg of their bizarre journey, Sherlock Holmes himself.
Cursed indeed!
[Read more…] about Beautiful Monsters by Brian Anthony and Bill Walker
The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True by Rebecca Forster
The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True by Rebecca Forster
Oh no! Bailey Devlin is looking for love in all the wrong places. When her horoscope promises the man of her dreams is coming to her door, Bailey is ready. But what she finds on the other side makes proves that the stars didn’t align, they went haywire. Even if he’s not the man she wants, he certainly is the man she needs.
[Read more…] about The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True by Rebecca Forster
Romance Author Interview – Roxanne Snopek
About Roxanne Snopek:
USA Today bestselling author Roxanne Snopek writes emotional contemporary romance and women's fiction with themes of healing and triumph over adversity. She gives them a lot of adversity! She also gives them dogs, great food and beautiful scenery, which helps. She's mother of three wild-women heroines, caretaker of numerous animal-muses and lives in British Columbia with her soul-mate hero of 30+ years and a view of the mountains. She knows how lucky she is.
What inspires you to write?
I've written since I was a child: stories, poems, diaries. I wanted to be Harriet the Spy, actually. Now, I'm inspired by ordinary people who do extraordinary things because don't we all dream of being more than we are? Of being bigger than life?
Tell us about your writing process.
I do a lot of noodling and doodling, initially. I come up with character names, backstories, a title hopefully (it always helps if I have a title first), the core conflict. I try to map out a few main beats, but I'm really not an outliner. Which can be a problem. So, I use Scrivener, and I've built myself a template to keep me on track so that I actually do have a beginning, middle and end. Once I begin the book, I am strict about keeping to a schedule of writing to meet daily and weekly wordcount goals so that I can meet my deadlines – or at least come close.
How do you develop your characters?
I like to use things like archetypes to build my characters. If I'm writing a wounded hero (which most of mine are) I know he'll have to face the exact thing he's most afraid of at around the 90% mark. A free spirit will have to discover her serious side. A warrior will have to face defeat. A teacher will have to become humble and learn something. Their strengths will become their weaknesses throughout the story, but they will always emerge stronger at the end.
Who are your favorite authors?
I'll begin with the Barbaras, as I call them: Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Rogan, Barbara Kingsolver, and move on to Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Anne Lamott (her amazing non-fiction), Rick Mofina, Nora Roberts, C.J. Carmichael, Margaret Atwood (the Oryx and Crake trilogy, OMG!!), Naomi Alderman (The Power, read it, it's amazing!!) … I could go on. Ask me again tomorrow.
What genres do you write?: Women's fiction, mystery and contemporary romance
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Audiobook
Where to find out more about the author
Website(s)
Roxanne Snopek Home Page Link
Link To Roxanne Snopek Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
Waking Up in Vegas: A Romantic Comedy by Gabrielle Dorian
Waking Up in Vegas: A Romantic Comedy by Gabrielle Dorian
Risk averse attorney Mallory Moore is assigned the one case she would rather die than work on–a bizarre divorce for one of the law firm’s wealthiest clients. Her love-struck paralegal, Amanda, wants to expedite the process so she can date the client, but the client does not want the divorce. Mallory must settle the case before it gets out of hand while fending off romantic advances from opposing counsel and keeping his mother, who happens to be his client, out of jail. Filing a simple quickie divorce has never been more difficult.
[Read more…] about Waking Up in Vegas: A Romantic Comedy by Gabrielle Dorian
Time Is Irreverent by Marty Essen
Time Is Irreverent by Marty Essen
AN IRREVERENT, LIBERAL, TWISTY, TIME TRAVEL COMEDY!
What if you could make a change to history that would eliminate the Spanish Inquisition, American slavery, World War II, global warming, and an egomaniacal US president who thought he was smart enough to drop nuclear bombs here and there without negative consequences? What if that change also made the United States and 5 billion people poof from existence? Would you do it?
When alien time travel specialists, the Krichards, learn of President Handley’s game of dodge the mushroom cloud, they race to Earth to investigate. For them, the question of whether it’s worth it to change history is easy to answer, but they will only proceed if the human they deem best qualified to represent Earth agrees to make the change. Erasing Handley’s nuclear annihilation would require a quick jump to AD 31 to make a simple correction to the past. If the Krichards had selected a brilliant scientist or an elite athlete for the task, Earth might be in good hands. Instead they selected Marty Mann, a mildly successful travel writer, whose only superpower is not taking life too seriously. What could possibly go wrong?
Spanning from the Cretaceous period to 2056, Time is Irreverent is a hilarious, thought-provoking satire, with unpredictable twists, colorful aliens, huge dinosaurs, a smokin’ hot lesbian from the future, and a cameo from Jesus Christ himself!
