A Vampire’s Soul Marie-Claude Bourque (The Order of the Black Oak – Vampires, #3) Publication date: March 22nd 2022 Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
A VAMPIRE’S SOUL: A Friends to Lovers Slow-Burn Paranormal Romance
Meet the Order of the Black Oak: a powerful order of modern-day warriors fighting evil to protect the ones they love.
When Montreal vampire Emmeline Dubois regains her lost soul in a spell gone wrong, she embarks on an arduous journey toward her redemption.
But a zealous vampire hunter is hell-bent on killing her, and even the secret love of powerful Mount-Royal Immortal Professor Justinien St-Amand might not be enough to save her.
If you love loyal tough guys with hearts, satisfying slow-burn paranormal romance and safe Happily Ever Afters, the Black Oak World is for you.
Marie-Claude Bourque is a Montreal-born Seattle-based author of slow-burn paranormal romance and the winner of the American Title V award with her first novel ANCIENT WHISPERS.
Her writing features modern-day fantasy skillfully weaved into infinitely romantic supernatural stories between smart strong women and complex passionate heroes.
Zealot C. Vonzale Lewis (Blood and Sacrifice Chronicles, #2) Published by: Parliament House Publication date: March 22nd 2022 Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Nicole Fontane thought her demons were buried deep enough. She was wrong.
After barely escaping the blood bath of the Harvest ritual, Nicole and her vigilante compatriots learn that there are others practicing blood magick on Tulare Island.
Hired to rid the island of the remaining blood magick users, Nicole and her allies come face to face with The Better Day Church and the mysterious Young Family, whose nefarious behavior is well known on the island. The murky organization stirs old memories of a cult buried deep in the Louisiana bayou—flickers of Nicole’s traumatic past and the altar she barely escaped.
But when Nicole receives an invitation to the Young family’s private residence to attend a secret meeting with The Daughters of the Vine—an elusive sect of women led by Gavina Young—she knows there is no escaping her fraught history with cults.
The invite is clearly a trap, but it’s also an opportunity to take down the church. Nicole soon learns that the sickness lurking behind the walls of the Young family’s manor runs far deeper than the banal allure of blood magick. The church’s matriarch harbors a predatory interest in Nicole’s power—barely disguising her desire to harness it.
Nicole must unravel the mysteries of her newfound abilities, or her first job may be her last. Worst of all, she may end up on the altar again.
My name is Carla Vonzale Lewis and I like my martinis shaken… never stirred.
Carla was born in Georgia, but please don’t mistake her for a Georgia peach. She’s more like a prickly pear. Speaking of being born, someone asked her recently if she remembered her birth. And she had to say, “Yes, I do remember that handsy doctor pulling me out into the cold. Right Bastard!!!”
Despite being born in the South, she grew up in California. Every once in a great while she gets to experience all four seasons. But mostly, it’s just heat.
When not writing, Carla enjoys reading, binge watching shows on Netflix, and trying to convince her husband that getting a dog is a wonderful idea.
And one day, she will discover how many licks it actually takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for Bad Penny, an original romcom from London based author Michele Gorman.
Bad Penny
Penny’s life is one big, fat secret… and everyone is about to find out
Penny isn’t the girl she used to be, or the woman everyone thinks she is now. At 19, she bolted for London and never looked back. Nobody there knows who she was – not her care home colleagues, her boss, her clients or even her best friend and flat-mate. Auntie Mags is her only connection to her past, and she’s keeping schtum.
Oli can’t believe his luck. Not only is he about to fulfil his dream of really making a difference (assuming he wins his seat in the upcoming general election), now he’s met the perfect woman. Within a few dates he’s sure he wants to spend the rest of his life with Penny, and it’s all he can do not to shout it from the rooftops.
But Penny has hidden her secret by not shouting from any rooftops. In fact, the quieter, the better. So when Oli’s campaign swings into gear and the reporters start circling, it’s not only her future that’s about to come crashing down.
How can she find a happy ending with Oli when her past will definitely ruin his future, yet living with the lie will ruin their future together?
Then Penny’s past gets out of prison, and he’s about to turn up like a… bad penny.
Bad Penny is one of those books that is very difficult to review without spoilers. On one hand, if you’ve read the blurb carefully, you might already have an inkling what kind of predicament our sweet protagonist finds herself in, on the other hand, discussing the issues I had with Penny’s secret is definitely going to give the story away!
Thirty two year old Penny lives in London, shares her flat with her best friend Fi and adores her demanding, but very rewarding job of a carer for vulnerable elderly people. She doesn’t go out or post on social and doesn’t really have any friends apart from Fi and her work colleagues. Penny is extremely private and she has good reasons for keeping her life just that- private, because Penny has a secret in her past and is willing to go to great lengths to protect it.
Then she meets Oli Wright, an aspiring MP, and wins a dinner date with this adorable charity worker- well, it was really Fi’s client who won the date and played a bit of a matchmaker, because it is clear to everyone that Penny and Oli would make a fantastic couple. However much Penny would love to stay hidden, she can’t help falling in love with sweet, enthudiastic Oli. Oh, he has his own problems and issues stemming from his past experiences, including lack of confidence and trust issues caused by his absent father (get ready for a lot of drama!), bitter, interfering mother, and his double-timing ex. No wonder he doesn’t want to push Penny to open up when he senses her reluctance to talk about her past. But can their relationship survive the media scrutiny which often accompanies politicians, even aspiring ones, and, more generally speaking, can any long-term relationship thrive if it isn’t based on honesty and trust?
This is a double POV book and we get to know both protagonists quite well. Penny’s narrative also includes her memories from the past that help us discover her secrets, although getting the complete picture takes time. The secondary characters are distinct and memorable without taking away the spotlight from the protagonists and their story. They do add some very important touches to our understanding what Oli and Penny are like. My favourite supporting character has got to be Penny’s patient Major John.
If you like British rom-coms, you’ll love Penny and Oli’s banter and general goofiness of their relationship- they are indeed perfect for each other! There’s also complex family dynamics and not only on Oli’s side.. Penny’s Aunt Mag, as likeable and supportive as she is, couldn’t have been totally oblivious and perhaps could and should have done more, while Penny seems to have taken a bit too much responsibility not only for her own, but also other people’s actions.
In Bad Penny Michelle Gorman created interesting characters and kept a great balance of fun and witty oneliners and sad, poignant moments. I’d definitely like to read more from this author in future!
Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources, the publisher and the author for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
Author Bio – Michele writes comedies packed with lots of heart, best friends and girl power. She is both a Sunday Times and a USA Today bestselling author, raised in the US and living in London. Michele also writes cozy comedies under the pen-name Lilly Bartlett. Lilly’s books are full of warmth, quirky characters and guaranteed happily-ever-afters.
The Curse of a Kingdom by Abbey Fox (The Wicked Kingdom, #2) Publication date: March 22nd 2022 Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Synopsis:
HER SOULMATE IS IN DANGER.
When Arkimedes is kidnapped by The Dark Ones, Nava Forrest is forced to make a bargain with the devil. But when Nava comes face-to-face with her beloved, he has no memory of her, their soul bond or the past eleven years of his life.
Under the cover of a fake engagement, Nava must hide her soulmate bond, navigate the Copper Kingdom’s deadly court, and field off demon attacks in the nearby forest. All whilst attempting to trigger her soulmate’s memories and convince him to flee. But this new version of Arkimedes is cold, ruthless, and determined to solve the mystery of why he was abandoned as a child.
Yet the soulmate bond won’t be denied. Nava and Ark are drawn to each other, and her delicate web of secrets is threatening to unravel…
AUTHOR BIO:Abbey Fox has always loved storytelling. Ever since she was little, she used to create characters for fun, get immersed in their life stories, worlds and magic systems. This naturally progressed onto writing, her first story being a cringy teenage highschool Romance, which she wrote at the age of thirteen in a notebook that was half falling apart by the time she wrote ‘the end’.
As time has gone by she has dived into writing other genres, from YA Fantasy, to Mystery Romance, Sci-fi Apocalyptic YA and a plethora of short stories. Now she is focusing on her love for Adult Fiction, in the Fantasy Romance/ Paranormal Romance genres.
Her debut Novel, The Curse of the Crow is coming out later this year, a part one of an enthralling series set on a magical world where soulmates are real and kingdoms are corrupted by power.
When Abbey is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband and her four year old son, tending to her indoor tropical jungle and painting fun characters with watercolors.
Two high school BFFs reunite and endeavor to fix each other’s lives in this geeky romance from the author of Love, Comment, Subscribe.
Tam Doan dumped her boyfriend after he threw away her gourmet cheese. Sure, it’s a little more complicated than that, but the point is, he had it coming. Newly single and unemployed, Tam calls up her best friend from high school and utters the emergency code word—goldfish. Next thing she knows, she’s on a plane back home.
Josh O’Malley was a troubled, unconfident teenager. Now he’s the successful owner of a multimillion-dollar ghost kitchen. Tam, his high school BFF and fellow member of the Nerd Herd friend group, was instrumental in building his self-esteem. When she calls him out of the blue, he jumps at the chance to return the favor.
Josh and Tam immediately get to work fixing her life—but again, it’s complicated. Their close friendship was always a lifeline between them; a blooming romance might confuse things. Still, at least one thing is for certain: their chemistry is un-brie-lievable.
Cathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy, who has sold over 1.2 million copies of books for publishers like St. Martin’s, Avon, and Harlequin. She writes fun, geeky, and diverse characters who believe that underdogs can make good and sometimes being a little wrong is just right. She likes writing about quirky, crazy adventures, because she’s had plenty of her own: she had her own army in the Society of Creative Anachronism; she’s spent a New Year’s on a 3-day solitary vision quest in the Mojave Desert; she had VIP access to the Viper Room in Los Angeles. Now, she spends her time writing in the wilds of East Seattle, trying to prevent her son from learning the truth of any of said adventures, and riding herd on her two dogs (and one husband.)
My thoughts: Friends-to-lovers is hands down my favourite trope! There’s nothing more romantic than two people who know each other in and out and would do anything to make the other one happy.
Tam had a hell of a weekend at work and then caught her boyfriend cheating only to find out that he had thrown her super special, limited edition cheese. That’s it! Can you, should you continue sacrificing your own happiness and your own dreams for someone who doesn’t seem to know you at all ? goldfish, goldfish…Tam’s secret word with which she calls for help of her best friend Josh in California. Somehow she finds herself on a plane going back to people who care about Tam finally standing up for heself and chasing her own bliss.
Josh and Tam were such sweet characters! I loved the way he kept putting her well-being and her freedom to choose for herself first. First, I thought it was going to be a slow-burn love story, but then…well, sparks flew, the chemistry and tension were palpable and then fireworks went off to the joy of any reader who loves a hot, sizzling scene or two.
Whether your friends are super important to you and you see them on a daily basis or perhaps life has happened and you drifted apart a bit, you will relate to Tam and Josh’s Herd of Nerds and will admire their awesome support.
If you love your romance to be a bit on a geeky side with a touch of spicy and lots of cheesy puns, check this one out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
Last Resort Amelia Wilde (The Collector Trilogy, #3) Published by: Dangerous Press Publication date: March 22nd 2022 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Emerson LeBlanc lost more than an acquisition. He lost the woman he loves.
There’s no redemption for a man with his past. No future for a relationship built on stalking and kidnapping. At least that’s what he believes. When he meets Daphne again, she’s not a piece of art. She’s a woman determined to paint a new path. For herself. For him. Except the ocean holds more than shadows. It holds danger that could ruin them both.
Amelia Wilde is a USA TODAY bestselling author of steamy contemporary romance and loves it a little too much. She lives in Michigan with her husband and daughters. She spends most of her time typing furiously on an iPad and appreciating the natural splendor of her home state from where she likes it best: inside.
Amelia is a USA Today best selling author from northern Michigan. Be her friend!
Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for Poison at the Village Show, the first book in Catherine Coles’ brand new series of cozy mysteries featuring Martha Miller.
Poison at the Village Show
With the war finally over the residents of Westleham village are trying to reclaim a sense of normality and the upcoming village show is proving to be a popular event!
Newcomer, Martha Miller, has high hopes for the village show. Since her husband Stan left for work one day and never returned, some of the villagers have treated Martha with suspicion – why would a good man like Stan simply up and leave? Was it something Martha did?
All Martha knows is that she’s hoping that she can win people over and hopefully they’ll but her delicious homemade plum gin, too and she’ll be able to make ends meet.
But as glasses of Martha’s gin are passed around, disaster strikes. Alice Warren, Chairwoman of the village show slumps to the ground after taking a sip. It’s clear she’s been poisoned!
Martha is shocked, but not surprised, when fingers of suspicion once again point her way. Determined to prove her innocence, Martha sets about trying to find the real culprit. But who would kill Alice and why?
Ably helped by the new vicar, Luke Walker, Martha quickly tries to get to the bottom of this mystery. But with the villagers closing ranks it quickly becomes apparent that the only person with a motive is Martha herself….
Will Luke and Martha discover who is behind the poisoning before it’s too late?
My thoughts: Do you enjoy cozy mysteries with an Agatha Christie vibe? You’re going to love the new Martha Miller series from Catherine Coles. Set in post-war rural England, it has all the elements we love in a classic whodunnit: a likeable protagoinist/amateur sleuth, an endearing, open-minded sidekick and other fairly tradional secondary characters, the small village setting with its relentless rumour mill and a crime which requires a careful examination of underlying motives, based on human nature.
Martha Miller’s life isn’t easy. One day her husband Stan left for work in his London office and never came back. While Martha herself and the police are convinced he simply checked out of his loveless marriage in a cowardly way, the villagers have a different ideas. Some of them suspect Stan’s remains must be lying under Martha’s potato patch. Others simply maintain Martha must have done something wrong to drive her man away. At any rate Martha isn’t exactly welcome in Westleham, but the financial strain Stan’s abandonment left her under doesn’t permit her move away. In order to make the ends meet Martha had to take in a lodger. Luckily, it’s her sister Ruby. To supplement her income Martha started making plum gin and even donated a few bottles of it to the Village Show. Little did she know how much trouble this gesture of goodwill will get her into. When the show chairperson Alice Warren is poisoned with a glass of Martha’s gin, fingers point at Martha and she has no choice but start investigating the case to clear her name and possibly save her own life.
I really liked Martha and her character arc. She is independent and resourceful. Martha has a lot of love to give, although showing her feelings goes against the strict, emotionally stifling upringing Martha and Ruby got from their parents. One of the most satisfying developments in the book was Marta gradually opening up to Ruby. Martha also has a lot of soul searching to do in order to understand what exactly happened in her marriage. The dashing vicar Luke Walker aids her in her investigations and helps her see things from another angle, including trying to understand why some villagers may feel resentful of Martha.
The plot was well-balanced and logical. It isn’t one of those books where all the elements are there from the beginning and you just need to use your deductive powers to see the solution to the puzzle. Here we discover and analyse the significance of the clues step by step in a very engaging journey.
What I liked the most about the book is all the small and big details that set it in that particular period of time: the rationing of food and other consumer goods, the role and the position of women in society, clothes, relationships, even the crimes themselves. There’s also an adorable dog- you can only imagine how difficult it was to keep a pet at that time. If you prefer tea to other hot beverages, you’ll be pleased to discover how important it is to the villagers’ life and what a valuable source of information it can be to an inquisitive mind.
I really enjoyed this first book in this very promising new series and can’t wait to read the next installment!
Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources, Netgalley and Boldwood books for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
Author Bio – The daughter of a military father, Catherine was born in Germany and lived most of the first 14 years of her life abroad. She spent her school years devouring everything her school library had to offer! Catherine writes cosy mysteries that take place in the English countryside. Her extremely popular Tommy & Evelyn Christie mysteries are set in 1920s North Yorkshire. Catherine lives in northeast England with her two spoiled dogs who have no idea they are not human!
The Only Man by A.S. Kelly (From Connemara With Love, #4) Publication date: March 21st 2022 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
I was a different man, once. I was a man with only one woman on my mind – the only woman I wanted to hold in my arms. I was her man. But things change. Life changes you. Choices, mistakes, resentment: they all change you. So do unkept promises. We hurt each other. We loved each other, then hated each other, then missed each other, then grew apart. And then… One day, we found each other again. At the wrong time, in the wrong place. Because the two of us are wrong together – we’re too far apart, too incompatible. We’re the main characters of a story that doesn’t belong to us. But I still keep loving her, even though she hates me. And she keeps hating herself, because she can’t help but love me. And we keep searching for each other, even though we’re destined to lose each other.
I wish I could be a different man, just once. I wish I could be the kind of man who’s ready to give everything for the woman he loves. Someone who was ready to let her go. Because I want her to be happy more than I want her to be mine.
A. S. Kelly writes Rom-Com, Romantic Fiction and Family Saga. Avid reader, hopeless romantic, lover of yoga, knitting and home baking. She was born in Italy but lives in Ireland with her husband, two children and a cat named Oscar.
Happy Publication Day to Remember Me by Estelle Laure
From the Blurb:
A new young adult novel from the critically acclaimed author of This Raging Light and Mayhem
If you could erase all of your painful memories, would you?
Blue Owens wakes up one day with the strangest feeling that something is very wrong. Everyone’s acting weird and she’s found a note in her closet telling her to get on the Little Blue Bus at 7:45, which she does, meeting up with the exact person she was supposed to avoid: Adam Mendoza. Even though she has no idea who he is, something about him is so familiar.
When she confronts him, the truth is revealed—Blue has paid to have her memories removed, and Adam is one of those memories. As Blue struggles to piece together her history, she is torn between her desire to know why she would do something so drastic and her fear of what she will find.
Remember Me is the bold and beautiful story of a girl who must find the courage to face the demons of her past and reclaim her loved ones—even if it ruins her.
My thoughts: Have you seen The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a 2004 sci-fi romcom with Jim Carrie (one of his best roles ever), Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elija Wood? If you haven’t, I highly recommend you do- the cast is stellar and the story is one of the romantic ones I’ve ever seen in my life. So it’s no wonder I jumped at the chance to read Remember Me, the new YA novel from Estelle Laurie, and it didn’t disappoint. It had the sweetness of young love and passion which knows no boundaries, the bitterness of learning that some things cannot be undone no matter what, the sadness of a heartbreak and the awesomeness of a very clever book. The protagonist of Remember Me Blue Owens wakes up one day and find that everything around you feels a bit off and everyone is behaving strangely. She finds a note asking her to get on a bus where she meets Adam. It is clear from other people’s reactions they have history, but what is it and why can’t she remember any part of it? Blue finds out she underwent a special procedure designed to remove her painful memories. Gradually she manages to discover what happened and piece back together her fuzzy and fragmented world. This is obviously a concept-driven book (Would you erase your painful memories or are they and what we learnt from them an integral part of what we are?), but there is also an emotional punch. Make sure you check out the list of content warnings as some of the topics discussed in this book can be triggering. The characters are flawed as all humans are and quirky, which makes it all even more engaging.
Thought-provoking and touching, the book is well-written and is definitely worth reading. Can’t wait to read more from Estelle Laure!
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
Content warnings: grief, depression, suicide.
ESTELLE LAURE, the author of Mayhem and This Raging Light, believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world. Visit her at estellelaure.com and on Instagram at @estellelaurewrites.
Are you excited about this new release?
Have you read The Paris Apartment?
If yes, did you like it?How did it compare to Lucy Foley’s previous books?
It’s Monday! What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, a place to share and discuss what we’ve read in the past week and what we’re in the middle of or are planning to read this week.
What I read / listened to last week:
Third Spell’s the Charm (House of Magic#3) by Susanna Shore- I’m quite fond of this series of paranormal cozy mysteries set in London…
I Will Find You by Amanda and Sally Rigby
Love Blooms at Mermaids Point by Sarah Bennett
Gouda Friends (Ponto Beach Reunion #2) by Cathy Yardley-there’s nothing better than a good friends-to-lovers romcom!
What I am reading/listening to now:
A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft
Remember Me by Estelle Laure
What I’m reading /listening to next:
Poison at the Village Show (A Martha Miller Mystery#1) by Catherine Coles
Summer Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews- the newest instalment in one of my favourite cowboy series!
How did your last week go and what are you reading this week?
readingtonic 