Today is the Day
November 11th, 2022
Today is the day to tell veterans just how much they are appreciated for the sacrifices they’ve made for us.
Hear that Colonel Jer?
The Amish Author’s Christmas
November 9th, 2022
What will happen when an undercover author stays in an Amish home to do research for her next novel—but doesn’t tell her new Amish friends she’s writing about them?
On the outside, Ivy Everwood seems to have it all—money, fame, and a seemingly successful author career. Truthfully, she’s alone and unhappy, and her career is actually about to fall apart. What Ivy needs is inspiration and a new perspective.
After seeing a brochure for Isaiah’s Amish Buggy Rides in Unity, Maine, Ivy knows instantly that’s where she wants to set her next romance novel. Ivy calls to inquire about staying with an Amish family, and she’s stunned when Isaiah Miller invites her to stay with his family.
The Millers have no idea Ivy’s agent wants her to write a novel about them. When Ivy shows up at Isaiah’s house, she doesn’t expect his parents and sisters to welcome her, treat her like family, and ask her to spend Christmas with them since she has no family of her own. As she grows closer to the family–especially Isaiah–guilt eats at her.
She doesn’t expect to feel at home for the first time in her life…or to fall in love.
Will Ivy have the courage to reveal the truth before it gets out on its own?
The Amish Author’s Christmas is a new standalone novella with its own happily ever after.
ISLAND BREEZES
What starts as a “simple” deception turns into an uncomfortable bunch of lies. You know how one lie can lead to another and multiply.
It was a great idea to jump start her flagging career. Stay with an Amish family for a couple weeks so she could write a novel about them.
There’s a problem with that. The longer she’s with the Miller family the more she begins to care about them. And the guilt grows even as she sends a few chapters to her agent.
Ivy knows she needs to tell the Millers the truth but doesn’t know how to begin. She’s especially concerned that the family will be upset and send her packing.
***Book received from the author at no charge.***
Visit www.AshleyEmmaAuthor.com to download free eBooks by Ashley Emma!
Ashley Emma wrote her first novel at age 12 and published it at 16. She was home schooled and knew since she was a child that she wanted to be a novelist. She’s now an award-winning USA Today bestselling author of over 20 Amish fiction books.
Ashley has a deep respect and love for the Amish and wanted to make sure her Amish books were genuine. When she was 20, she stayed with three Amish families in a community in Maine where she made many friends and did her research for her Amish books. To read about what it was like to live among the Amish, check out her book Amish for a Week (a true story).
Ashley’s novel Amish Alias was a Gold Medal Winner in the Global Book Awards 2021. Her bestselling book Undercover Amish received 26 out of 27 points as a finalist in the Maine Romance Writers Strut Your Stuff novel writing competition in 2015. Its sequel Amish Under Fire was a semi-finalist in Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write novel writing competition also in 2015. Two of her short stories have been published online in writing contests and she co-wrote an article for ProofreadAnywhere.com in 2016. She judged the Fifth Anniversary Writing Contest for Becoming Writer in the summer of 2016.
Ashley owns Fearless Publishing House in Maine where she lives with her husband and four children. She is passionate about helping her clients self-publish their own books so they can build their businesses or achieve their dream of becoming an author.
Download some of Ashley’s free Amish books at www.AshleyEmmaAuthor.com.
Concrete Evidence
November 8th, 2022Concrete Evidence
by DiAnn Mills
October 31 – November 25, 2022 Virtual Book Tour
Synopsis:
On the family’s Brazos River Ranch in Texas, Avery Elliott helps run her grandfather’s commercial construction business. Raised by Senator Elliott, Avery has never doubted her grandfather is the man of integrity and faith she’s always believed him to be . . . until the day she finds him standing with a gun over the body of a dead man. To make matters worse, Avery’s just discovered a billing discrepancy for materials supposedly purchased for construction of the Lago de Cobre Dam.
Desperate for answers, Avery contacts FBI Special Agent Marc Wilkins for help. As Marc works to identify the dead man Avery saw, threats toward Avery create a fresh sense of urgency to pinpoint why someone wants to silence her. With a hurricane approaching the Texas coast and the structural integrity of the Lago de Cobre Dam called into question, time is running out to get to the bottom of a sinister plot that could be endangering the lives of not only Avery and her loved ones but the entire community.
Praise for Concrete Evidence:
“VERDICT Mills … delivers another action-packed novel that offers intrigue and an adventurous ride. Recommend to fans of Dani Pettrey, Lynette Eason, and Carrie Stuart Parks.”
Shondra Brown for Library Journal
“The confident plotting keeps the mysteries coming, and red herrings will have readers guessing the culprit through to the satisfying conclusion. Fans of Colleen Coble and Susan Sleeman will savor this thrilling standalone.”
Concrete Evidence Trailer:
Book Details:
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Published by: Tyndale House Publishers
Publication Date: October 2022
Number of Pages: 416
ISBN: 9781496451897 (ISBN10: 1496451899)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Tyndale
ISLAND BREEZES
Relationships. Don’t let the title fool you. It’s a lot about relationships and how they can sometimes be for the better. Sometimes not.
It’s also about integrity and what lack of it can sometimes do to one’s self and others.
It’s also about lives lost and the potential for more lives to be lost.
Let’s not forget the dam evidence. Yes, I spelled that word correctly.
If you’re like me, you’ll be all over the place trying to figure out who the bad guys are. I can usually figure that out somewhere along the line. Not so with this book.
Thank you, Ms Mills, for keeping me guessing. This book certainly held my attention.
***Book received from PICT without charge.***
Read an excerpt:
Chapter 1
Texas Hill Country
AVERY ELLIOTT SPURRED HER HORSE across one of the thirty-five thousand rolling acres of the Brazos River Ranch in the blazing heat. The sultry August wind blew through her hair, bathing her damp face and shoving aside her pensive mood. Granddad had told her once that if he could lasso the wind, he’d ride that bronc to eternity. She’d framed the saying and placed it in the reception area of their office.
Granddad had left at dawn to ride fence and enjoy some solitude and think time. His work habits overruled his stomach, which meant he wouldn’t stop to eat until he’d inspected a recently repaired stretch. Then the Internet had gone down ending her morning’s work. A good excuse for her to get away from the office and spend special time with him.
She lightly grasped the reins of the most wonderful quarter horse on the planet and the perfect cure-all for the morning’s frustration. Closing her eyes, Avery allowed Darcy’s rhythmic gallop to soothe her.
Avery slowed the mare to a walk and twisted her phone from her jeans pocket. Pressing on Granddad’s name in Favorites, she breathed in the sweltering heat and envisioned him fumbling for his phone.
“Mornin’, sweet girl.”
“Can I treat you to a five-star restaurant for lunch?” He chuckled. “You’ll have to fly in the prime rib.”
“I’ve packed us a picnic, and I’m on my way to meet you. Just say where.”
“Drivin’ or ridin’?”
“You’ve hurt Darcy’s feelings.”
“Give her my apologies. I’m west of the river about a mile from the family cemetery. Should be a nice breeze there this morning. We could talk and have lunch with your grandma.”
“Good. I’d planned to stop at her grave while I was out.” The oaks bordering the family plots would offer relief from the hundred-degree temps. With the abundance of summer rain, the area brimmed with green and vibrant wildflowers. “I’ll make sure she has flowers on her grave.”
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. Guess I’m a sentimental old man who never got over his first love.”
Someday Avery wanted the same kind of love. She remembered the woman with warm brown eyes and a loving touch who fell prey to a stroke nearly fifteen years ago and never recovered. “You’re not a sentimental old man but one who misses his wife and best friend.”
“I see her in you.” He sighed. “You have a spirit of strength deep in your heart. Others think you’re quiet—until you’re riled. Then you’d give the devil a run for his money.”
“I hope I can always live up to that strength.”
“You already have. One day you’ll make the right man proud.” “Haven’t found him yet.”
“Time’s just not right. So when will you get here?”
Avery studied the familiar landmarks—thoroughbred horses grazing to the south and cattle taking advantage of the Brazos River. Why anyone would choose to live away from nature’s beauty made little sense to her. “About thirty minutes.”
“You didn’t bring tofu and carrot sticks? Mia’s new diet is killing me. The doctor doesn’t need to worry about my cholesterol or weight because she’s starving me.”
Avery laughed. “No. I packed ham and cheese, jalapeño-bacon potato salad, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and apple pie. You can eat light this evening.”
“I have a political dinner at six o’clock and a deacon meeting at seven thirty. Hey, how did you get the forbidden food past Mia?”
“She was upstairs while I hurried in the kitchen.” Their housekeeper and cook had entered the back side of her sixties and refused to slow down, but Granddad and Avery kept trying. Both knew better than to tell Mia to cut back on her pace unless they were looking to be chased down the road with buckshot in their rears. Granddad had no room to talk. He faced the big seven-oh in October, and he’d made no plans to ease back.
She slipped the phone back into her jeans pocket and hurried Darcy on. Avery wanted to arrive at the picnic site well before Granddad and have lunch set out for him.
Her thoughts crept back to the accounting issue from this morning. A work problem had made another moment at the ranch office torture, and getting away from the computer served as the perfect antidote. In examining Elliott Commercial Construction’s records before the auditors arrived next week, she’d found a discrepancy. A paid bill for materials was much lower than it should have been. Why hadn’t she seen this weeks ago at the completion of the Lago de Cobre Dam? The original bid for the project included the cost to supply additional rock and expand the footprint, footers, and other foundational elements to compensate for the soft ground. Those materials were ordered, canceled, and still the specs showed the work had been completed per the contract.
She’d contacted the material’s supply company, and the accounting manager confirmed they’d invoiced what they supplied. Yet Avery’s files didn’t reflect a different supplier for the required foundation, as though Granddad had substituted inferior materials or hadn’t followed the specs. He’d never sacrifice safety. Even the idea scraped raw against her conscience.
A call had gone to Craig, the foreman, but only voice mail greeted her. The accounting mess would drive her nuts until she resolved it, but she’d have to wait. Granddad would laugh at her fears about the dam’s potentially faulty construction and explain the discrepancy. Accurate details ruled her thoughts, and perfectionism had a way of eating at her logic. A lot of good her Ivy League education accomplished when the numbers didn’t add up.
Granddad said Avery shared his insight and discernment. The ability took practice, prayer, and purpose—his favorite three p’s as though he’d outlined a sermon. But Granddad was wrong. She must have made a mistake, and the error warred within her.
Avery rode the path to the family cemetery. Elliotts had owned this property and been buried there before Texas became a state. Irish, English, and Scottish heritage—hard workers and fighters for faith, family, and freedom. Which had a lot to do with Granddad’s name, Dad’s, and hers—Avery Quinn Elliott, respectively Senior, Junior, and whatever that made her. Fortunately, Granddad went by Quinn or Senator, Dad went by Buddy, and she was simply Avery. Proud family and heritage, although Dad and Mom slipped in applying all three traits of being an Elliott.
Not going there today. After spending time with Granddad and finding out the source of her accounting problem, she—
A shot rang out from the direction of the cemetery.
She dug her heels into Darcy’s side and bolted ahead. Had Granddad met up with a wild pig, a rattler, or even a two-legged varmint? The latter caused her to slow the mare and circle a grove of trees. If she needed her Sig, the firearm rested in a saddlebag beside the packed lunch. Granddad wasn’t in sight. Only his stallion.
She dismounted and grabbed her gun. Tying Darcy to a slender oak, Avery moved closer to the iron gate of the cemetery entrance and prayed he hadn’t been hurt. How had he been a mile west of here when she called him?
Hesitant to call out for him and draw the shooter’s attention to her, she hid behind an oak. A riderless motorcycle—a shiny, blue Yamaha Tracer 9 GT—had parked in the shadow of more trees outside the far edge of the iron fence, a few yards from a worn path leading to the main road.
On the opposite side of the cemetery, Granddad bent over a man, whose blood stained his chest and pooled on the ground. He felt for a pulse and lifted his head to the cloudless sky. In Granddad’s gloved right hand rested a gun. He shoved the weapon into his front belt and lifted his phone to his ear.
“He’s dead. This has to end.” Granddad scanned the area, no doubt searching for someone. “I want Avery kept out of this, but I’m expecting her in the next twenty minutes.” He kicked the dirt with the toe of his boot. “He parked on the road and walked back. She isn’t to know about any of it. I’ll handle the situation on my end. . . . Yes, I’ll be careful and not let the authorities know what happened. Look, I need to move his body out of sight. He was a friend, one of the best. I despise where this has gone.” Granddad waved his hand. “I told you Avery won’t be a problem.”
***
Excerpt from Concrete Evidence by DiAnn Mills. Copyright 2022 by DiAnn Mills. Reproduced with permission from DiAnn Mills. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn believes every breath of life is someone’s story, so why not capture those moments and create a thrilling adventure? Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards, the Golden Scroll, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, an active member of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. DiAnn continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.
DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on:
diannmills.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @DiAnnMills
Instagram – @diannmillsauthor
Twitter – @DiAnnMills
Facebook – @DiAnnMills
YouTube – @DiAnnMills
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She’s Buried Deep
November 7th, 2022
A homecoming baptized in bones…
Artemis Blythe has returned to her old stomping grounds, this time as an official consultant of the FBI.
And this new case will be like none other. A mass grave is found in the mountains. The bones of long forgotten victims hidden in a mineshaft.
The mountains outside Pinelake are combed for more victims. And then another mass grave is found. And another.
And while Artemis sets out with Agents Grant, Forester and Wade to solve the old cases, she’s faced with a spine-chilling thought. What if some of these bones belong to her sister?
Helen disappeared around the same time as these graves were formed.
In a twist, Artemis is forced to confront old fears in a race against the clock to find the most prolific serial killer she’s ever heard of.
And through it all… she can only hope her sister Helen isn’t identified among the slain.
ISLAND BREEZES
Artemis is finally starting her official position with the FBI. Once again there’s echos of the Ghost Killer. Will she ever be free of that?
After a forest burn she stumbles across a mass grave of murder victims, but it’s in an old mine tunnel that she finds a survivor.
That was just the beginning of the serial killer’s game. She has to race to find other survivors as he continues to taunt her.
I enjoy the Artemis Blythe books. I also like the interaction of the Wade/Forester team.
***Book received from the publisher without charge.***
Georgia Wagner worked as a ghost writer for many, many years before finally taking the plunge into self-publishing. Location and character are two big factors for Georgia, and getting those right allows the story to flow seamlessly onto the page. And flow it does, because Georgia is so prolific a new term is required to describe the rate at which nerve-tingling stories find their way into print.
When not found attached to a laptop, Georgia likes spending time in local arboretums, among the trees and ponds. An avid cultivator of orchids, begonias, and all things floral, Georgia also has a strong penchant for art, paintings, and sculptures. A many-decades long passion for mystery novels and years of chess tournament experience makes Georgia the perfect person to pen the Artemis Blythe series.
Rumble in Rio
November 6th, 2022
When a single shot rings out to shatter the quiet at a prominent museum, it signals the start of a new mystery Patricia Fisher cannot avoid investigating.
An apparent suicide, a missing woman, a sunken treasure ship worth billions, and suspicious behaviour from almost everyone she meets … well, that might be a lot to take for some people.
For Patricia Fisher, it’s just Thursday.
She’s in Rio on the trail of an altogether different mystery, however it’s not long before Patricia questions if the two cases might not be intertwined.
What did happen to Professor Noriega?
Was his death a terrible accident?
If so, why was there a man onboard the Aurelia pretending to be the professor?
With faithful companions at her side, our English sleuth will have to roll the dice and take some chances for she only has two days to uncover the truth.
ISLAND BREEZES
This book’s title made me think of the rumble between the Jets and Sharks in “West Side Story.” It was really just the word rather than rival gangs fighting in Rio.
As always, Patricia manages to find dead bodies. Or do they find her?
You already know she’s going to drag Jermaine, Barbie and Sam in on the action. As well as the rest of the ship’s security team.
It’s a mad chase for sunken treasure of gold and jewels.
I hope this lady continues her adventures for many more books. Thank you, Mr Higgs, for creating this lady and her friends.
***Book received from author at no charge.***
When Steve Higgs wrote his debut novel, Paranormal Nonsense, he was a captain in the British Army. He would like to pretend that he had one of those careers that must be blacked out and generally denied by the government, and that he has to change his name and move constantly because he is still on the watch list in several countries. In truth, though, he started out as a mechanic – not like Jason Statham in the film by that name, sneaking around as a hitman, but more like one of those sleazy guys who charges a fortune and keeps your car for a week even though the only thing you went in for was a squeaky door hinge.
At school, he was largely disinterested in all subjects except creative writing, for which he won his first prize at the age of ten. However, calling it the first prize he won suggests that there were other prizes, which is not the case. Awards may yet come, but in the meantime, he enjoys writing mystery and thriller novels and claims to have more than a hundred books forming a restless queue in his mind because they are desperate to be written.
Now retired from the military, he lives in southeast England with a duo of lazy sausage dogs. Surrounded by rolling hills, brooding castles, and vineyards, he doubts he’ll ever leave, the beer is just too good.
Seemingly Seamless
November 6th, 2022
Sunday Seems has taken a nosedive. Especially since I returned from the hurricane evacuation. I didn’t take my beloved machine with me. I had Consumer Man put it up on a high shelve in my closet and haven’t asked him to bring it back out for me. Short person here can’t do it on her own.
Big MAC really does work, but only if I actually work it. Is it too early to make a New Year’s resolution? I know. I know. I’ll call it a goal.
Never Changing
November 5th, 2022
Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace — not by foods that have not benefited those occupied by them.
Hebrews 13:8-9 TLV
Yeshua – Hebrew for Jesus
The Water Castle
October 30th, 2022
What if you discover that the man of your dreams lived 400 years ago?
Fourteen-year-old Gina Martin is a straight-A student and a bit of an introvert, with no real interest in boys or a social life outside of a few close friends… until the tenth anniversary of the mysterious death of her father, when she is drawn to the eerie old park where he used to take her, and its scary, crumbling old tower.
Inside, she accidentally discovers a portal that delivers her to the 1700’s, where she eventually meets Philip, a young Noble who has been tasked with settling Spain’s “La Florida” territory. Fascinated by the world she has found, Gina begins to skip school and visit La Florida more and more – much to the ire of Prince Philip’s mysterious counselor, Cero.
Falling for her prince, Gina ignores unfriendly natives, her mother, and the obvious discrepancies of a new friend Gina finds in the old world – an elusive and ethereal woman named Summer. But when Gina sees that Florida’s history, in her present-day school textbook, changes to reflect her actions the old world, she knows she can rewrite the fate of her prince and set the modern world on a different path.
As a warring tribe attacks the Spanish settlement, Gina makes a risky escape, only to discover that the water tower housing the portal is slated for demolition. Now young Gina must choose between her life in the modern world, or her new life in the past – but the mysterious Cero’s hidden books contain secrets that could change everything.
ISLAND BREEZES
This book is different from the other Dan Alatorre books I’ve read. It’s different, but good.
I enjoy time travel books. This one takes some young teens back to old Florida. One in particular, Gina, is hooked on that place. Especially because of her interest in the young prince, Philip.
The teens are definitely brave as they continue to travel to a fearsome time in Florida’s history. They might get a little of your adrenaline going.
This didn’t end the way I wanted, but the way it had to.
This is a good book for teens and young adults. The rest of us, too. Thank you, Mr Alatorre, for giving us a look at your various writing skills.
***Book received from author without charge.***
USA Today bestselling author Dan Alatorre has published more than 40 titles and is read in over a dozen languages around the world. His fast-paced novels have gripped readers all over the globe, from the suspenseful murder mystery Double Blind to the intense medical thriller The Gamma Sequence. Readers can’t put his books down. Dan resides in the Tampa area with his wife and daughter. You can see all his titles on his Amazon Author Page.
A Free Lifestyle
October 29th, 2022
Keep your lifestyle free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you,”
so that with confidence we say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What will man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6 TLV
Hope Creek
October 26th, 2022
For Kit Teague, the island of Hope Creek, South Carolina, is filled with joyful memories of being out on the water with her beloved father. But her small hometown is also the place where her mother battled mental illness—and lost. Returning home to put her mother to final rest, Kit discovers a family divided by grief—and wounds so deep her twin sister has turned against their father—and Kit. Not only has Viv moved up the creek to join a rival fishing business, she’s barricaded herself behind Beau Sutton, the boy Kit once loved from afar. The man who stirs something deep within Kit even now . . .
Amid old-fashioned oyster roasts, starlit outings on the creek, and sun-drenched fishing expeditions, Kit finds hope for a new life and renewed love. Neither the whispered scandals of the past nor the rift between their families will keep her from discovering the joy she and Beau can share . . .
ISLAND BREEZES
I thought my family might have been a bit dysfunctional. That is until I met the Teague family.
Kit returns to a family divided by rival business interests and loyalties. Plus, her twin sister wants nothing to do with her.
She first spruces up the family home as well as her brother and father. Then she joins them in their family business.
Meanwhile, her sister Viv lives with and works for the rival Suttons.
Getting the family back together appears to be impossible now. Will Kit even try?
Thank you, Ms Dailey, for this great read. I had difficulty putting this book down. I’m hoping you’ll write a follow-up book with some of these characters.
***Book received as a Goodreads giveaway winner.***
Janet Dailey’s first book was published in 1976. Since then she has written more than 100 novels and become one of the top-selling female authors in the world, with 300 million copies of her books sold in nineteen languages in ninety-eight countries. She is known for her strong, decisive characters, her extraordinary ability to recreate a time and a place, and her unerring courage to confront important, controversial issues in her stories. You can learn more about Janet at www.JanetDailey.com.