New Women's Fiction Release: Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler

From the screenwriter of the Netflix Original viral hit, A Christmas Prince, comes another heartwarming holiday story about a beautiful Grinch who’s determined to get her dream job even if it means spending a week at a Christmas Camp where she discovers an unexpected love.

Haley Hanson’s idea of the perfect Christmas is escaping to the Caribbean to work so she can avoid all the traditional Christmas distractions. Over the years, she’s sacrificed her personal life to climb the corporate ladder at a prestigious Boston advertising agency. Now she just needs to land a coveted Christmas toy company account to make partner. But first, her boss, Larry, thinks she needs a holiday attitude adjustment, so he ships her off to a Christmas Camp at Holly Peak Inn to help her find her Christmas spirit.

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 16, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062883690
ISBN-13: 978-0062883698

Purchase here!

New Release: Wyoming Christmas Quadruplets by Jill Kemerer (Link to Giveaway)

A nanny at Christmastime...

Will she find love in this Wyoming Cowboys novel?

Six weeks on a ranch caring for quadruplets--aspiring nurse Ainsley Draper's prepared for a busy Christmas. When the children's handsome uncle opens the door, her task gets extra complicated. Marshall Graham is upholding his promise to look after his twin sister, the babies' mom. But as family loyalty clashes with new love, will the perfect present include a future with Ainsley?

Visit Jill's website to enter the giveaway!

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New Release: The Child by Sarah Cass

Velli knows things are too good to be true. She finally has almost everything. A mate that’s soon to be her husband, children, her best friend Reed, and a good relationship with her parents. Only one thing is missing—her daughter, Morgan.

Kane is ready to finally have Velli as his partner in every way. He knows how skittish she gets though, and is on edge as a series of events predict disaster in the most superstitious of ways.

When Velli goes missing minutes before the wedding, the race is on to find her. They find her easily but no one, not even Velli, can explain what happened to her during that time. They push through with the wedding anyway, but sinister forces are working to rip their family apart.

Forces much closer than any of them realize.

Published by Divine Roses Ink
Published: July 18, 2018
ISBN: 9781945030222

Purchase here!


Don't miss the other books in the series!

Guest Post: Bembridge House, A well-preserved Queen Anne Victorian by Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Co-Author of Slick Deal

On the eve of the New Year, 1956, oil tycoon, Oliver Wright dies suspiciously at a swanky Hollywood New Years Eve party. Some think it was suicide.

His death is soon followed by threats against the rest of his family.

Private Investigator Skylar Drake and his partner Casey Dolan are hired by an L.A. gangster to protect the family and solve Oliver’s mysterious death.

Clues lead them to Avalon, on Santa Catalina Island, a Hollywood movie star playground.

A high profile scandal, mysterious women, treason and more deaths complicate matters, putting Drake and his partner in danger.

Twenty-three miles may not seem far away but false identity and corruption on this island could squash their efforts to answer the question—How in the world can a dead man commit suicide?

Bembridge House,

A well-preserved Queen Anne Victorian

My husband, Will Zeilinger and I co-write the Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series, a hardboiled series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our new book, SLICK DEAL, begins News Year's Eve 1956 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The first murder and clues lead to Avalon, Catalina.

It was vital that we find the right house for the Wright Family, a long time resident of Long Beach, and Pasadena with a summer house in Avalon. Their wealth affords them mansion type homes in the three cities. The Wright "summer cottage" as they call it, is a three story mansion situated in the heart of Avalon. Since their house rivals the Wrigley Manor on the hills overlooking Avalon, we had to find something to go by. We searched for Victorian mansions and found the perfect place, Bembridge House in Long Beach. While researching the house, we discovered the last owner and last of the family line was murdered on the property. How apropos!

We took a tour of the house during the holiday season. The house had a parlor, sitting room, formal dining room, morning room and a music room. Perfect for various scenes in the book. And...a carriage house, perfect for intrigue.

The house was built in 1906 by Stephen and Josephine Green. He was one of the founders of City National Bank, a wealthy businessman who came to Long Beach from Seattle. Green planted exotic shrubs and flowers around the house, he also built an aviary for his collection of foreign birds and a barn where he kept Shetland ponies.

Thomas Rankin purchased the house in 1918 following Green's death. The house remained in the Rankin family for more than 80 years. After the death of Thomas Rankin, the house was inherited by his children, Dorothy Bembridge and Neil Rankin.

Dorothy Bembridge was a musician and a Long Beach school teacher until her retirement in 1968.

Bembridge lived in the house starting in 1918. In 1969, the house was threatened with demolition when the City of Long Beach sought to expand the adjacent Drake Park. Historical preservationists lobbied to save the structure, and eventually won. The Long Beach Cultural Heritage Committee designated Bembridge House as a Long Beach Historic Landmark in 1981.

In 1999, at age 89, Bembridge was strangled at the house. Her body was found in the backyard. Daniel William Borunda, a 51-year-old man who had done odd jobs for Bembridge and had spent time in prison for burglarizing her home in 1990. He was convicted of Bembridge's murder and sentenced to 60-years-to-life in prison. Borunda was released from prison in October 1999, a few weeks before the murder. Police asserted that the motive was burglary and revenge.

We of course used our literary license and moved the Bembridge House to Catalina Island for the story.

Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn www.janetlynnauthor.com
Website: Will Zeilinger www.willzeilingerauthor.com

Go to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Slick-Deal-Sklyar-Drake-Mystery/dp/198641728X

Published authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Lynn write individually until they got together and created the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1955. Janet has published seven mystery novels and Will has three plus a couple of short stories. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.

The next Skylar Drake Mystery, fourth in the series, SLICK DEAL will be available April 16, 2018 and yes...we are still married!

Book Review: Welcome to Moonlight Harbor by Sheila Roberts

Welcome to Moonlight Harbor by Sheila Roberts is a story of second chances and not giving up.

Jenna Jones celebrates her fortieth birthday by getting divorced from her deadbeat artist husband Damien. Even better, the court awards him spousal support. What will she and her teenage daughter do?

When a letter arrives from Aunt Edie asking for Jenna to stay in Moonlight Harbor to help run the Driftwood Inn, it sounds like an answer to a prayer. That is until she and her daughter arrive and find the inn in need of major renovations there is no money to pay for. With determination and the help of friends, Jenna plans to give this second chance her best shot.

I've loved Roberts' books since I read On Strike for Christmas. With this new series, she continues her trademark of masterfully written dramatic women's fiction with a touch of humor and romance. Any wife or mother can relate to the issues Jenna is facing in this novel. This book pulls at the heartstrings, bringing with it moments of laughter and times of heartbreak as the reader witnesses Jenna's story unfold. Roberts also has a knack for great endings. This one was definitely worth reading every page.

I'm excited to see what the future holds in store for the residents of Moonlight Harbor.

Series: A Moonlight Harbor Novel (Book 1)

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: MIRA (April 17, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 077836805X
ISBN-13: 978-0778368052

About the Book:

Title: WELCOME TO MOONLIGHT HARBOR

Author: Sheila Roberts

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Pages: 400

Genre: Women’s Fiction

BOOK BLURB:

Once-happily married Jenna Jones is about to turn forty, and this year for her birthday – lucky her – she’s getting a divorce. She’s barely able to support herself and her teenage daughter, but now her deadbeat artist ex is hitting her up for spousal support…and then spending it on his “other” woman.

Still, Jenna is determined to follow her mother’s philosophy – every storm brings a rainbow. And when she gets a very unexpected gift from her great Aunt Edie, things seem to be taking a turn for the better. Aging aunt Edie is finding it difficult to keep up her business running The Driftwood Inn, so she invites Jenna to come live with her and run the place. It looks like Jenna's financial problems are solved!

Or not. The town is a little more run-down than Jenna remembered, but that's nothing compared to the ramshackle state of The Driftwood Inn. Aunt Edie is confident they can return it to its former glory, though Jenna feels like she’s jumped from the proverbial frying pan into the beach fire.

But who knows? With the help of her new friends and a couple of handsome citizens, perhaps that rainbow is on the horizon after all. Because, no matter what, life is always good at the beach.

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I received a paperback copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

New Historical Fiction: The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam

The unforgettable story of Alexander Pushkin’s beautiful wife, Natalya, a woman much admired at Court, and how she became reviled as the villain of St. Petersburg.

At the beguiling age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly beautiful and intellectually curious. At her first public ball during the Christmas of 1828, she attracts the romantic attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin. Finding herself deeply attracted to Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya is swept up in a courtship and then a marriage full of passion but also destructive jealousies. When vicious court gossip leads Alexander to defend his honor as well as Natalya’s in a duel, he tragically succumbs to his injuries. Natalya finds herself reviled for her perceived role in his death. In her striking new novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, Jennifer Laam helps bring Natalya’s side of the story to life with vivid imagination―the compelling tale of her inner struggle to create a fulfilling life despite the dangerous intrigues of a glamorous imperial Court and that of her greatest love.


EXCERPT

From The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam. Copyright © 2017 by the author and reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Press, LLC.
________

A man says he will die for you. A woman is taught to lower her gaze and blush before hiding once more behind a silken fan. Men are given to self-aggrandizement, while women flatter egos and keep men tied to this earth. Such is the way of the world, or so I was taught in the days before I gained a reputation as the villain of St. Petersburg.

I know better now.

When a man declares he will die for you, sometimes a woman must take him at his word. For to allow one’s husband to perish on the field of honor is a shameful affair, worse even, than murdering him by your own hand.

The solemn men who gather at our flat fall silent as my husband draws his final breath. A prickly chill, like the first wave of a fever, washes over me as I realize my husband is gone. The sorrow tightens my chest and clamps down, squeezing until I think my body will snap in two. I sway on my feet and believe I will faint. Only the invisible force of my will keeps me upright. Dark blood still seeps from his abdomen and a sharp metallic scent clings to the air.

For two days my husband had been one of the waking dead, suffering a cruel and lingering death. Though I was not present at the duel where he fought to defend my honor, the image of Alexander collapsing, his blood staining the snow crimson, haunts my every thought. I have slid into despair, veering between hysteria and hopelessness, while Alexander’s wound festered and his once vibrant face distorted with agony.

His friends stand in a semicircle around his body, backs erect, mouths set in stern lines, and expressions stoic even as their eyes dampen with tears.

“What a waste,” I hear one of them mutter. “A genius lost over a woman.”

The words echo in my head. I was the wife of a distinguished man of letters, the greatest in our land, and I let his life slip through my fingers. These men suppose I care only for material comforts and romantic diversions and don’t believe I possess the wits about me to appreciate my husband’s talent. Rumormongers have convinced them I love the empty-headed Georges d’Anthès or have fallen prey to the advances of our iron-jawed tsar. They consider my behavior traitorous, as terrible in its own way as if I had joined the ranks of the Napoleonic soldiers who once threatened our very heartland.

I will confess to basking too long in the attention of Georges and even the tsar himself, yet I am no Jezebel, merely human, as vulnerable to flattery as any other creature. Much as I may wish to do so, I cannot change the past. The damage is done. A fresh wave of tears threatens and subsides, as though nothing remains inside me to expel. I wonder how long I will live with the torment of my guilt and the censure of those who claim to love my husband.

Order here!

JENNIFER LAAM is the author of The Secret Daughter of the Tsar and The Tsarina’s Legacy. She earned her master’s degree in History from Oakland University in Michigan and her bachelor’s degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. She has lived in Los Angeles and the suburbs of Detroit, traveled in Russia and Europe, and worked in education and non-profit development. She currently resides in Northern California.


Website: https://jenniferlaam.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferlaam.writer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenlaam

Discussion Guide: https://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/discusion-guides/9781250121882DG.pdf

Book Review: Lethal in Old Lace by Duffy Brown

Wedding planning, a dead body or two, a plethora of suspects, and a whole lot of southern food and charm are to be found in Lethal in Old Lace by Duffy Brown.

All Reagan Summerside wants to do is put her history of finding dead bodies behind her and focus on her upcoming wedding to Walker Boone. Alas, dead bodies seem to get in her way. When the body of a resident from Pines Retirement Center is found in the Abbot sisters' pink Caddy and another recently deceased resident of the Pines may have swindled the sisters out of some money, they quickly become primary suspects. It will be up to Reagan, Boone, Auntie Kiki, Bruce Willis and their good friends to uncover the truth.

This series keeps getting better and better. Brown really outdid herself with this latest Consignment Shop mystery. Some of these things could only happen to Reagan Summerside! The great thing is that this masterful storyteller keeps it fresh while making the reader feel right at home with so many familiar faces. She develops her characters well and you learn a little bit more about each of them as the series progresses. Reagan's mother is becoming my favorite.

I'm still jealous that Brown can keep me guessing all the way to the end. Oh, how I wish I could write a mystery like that. There are so many twists and turns. People are on the suspect list. They are off the list. New people are added to the list. I rarely guess the culprit until it's revealed.

Lethal in Old Lace is another perfect and fun cozy mystery by Duffy Brown.

Highly recommended!


Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (March 13, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1683315359
ISBN-13: 978-1683315353


I received a digital copy from the author through Netgalley. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.