Sunday 31 March 2019

Accidental Sleuth Series


Think Murder
Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth Book 1
By Cassidy Salem
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Good friends, wine and conversation… Great fun – until somebody turns up dead.


Adina Donati came to Washington D.C. to find excitement, not a dead body. When a friend is murdered, Adina is drawn into the middle of the police investigation. Tensions rise as the suspect list expands to include Adina, her friends, and colleagues at the prestigious think tank where she works. But every cloud has a silver lining. Between the nice detective, the hot new volunteer at the dog rescue center, and the newly available preppy ex-boyfriend, Adina’s dating dry spell appears near its end. That is, if she doesn’t become the next victim.





Dying For Data
Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth Book 2

A rival suitor and a deadly attack are enough to put a damper on any date.


A romantic evening with a hot guy goes downhill fast when dinner is interrupted by the scream of sirens and the arrival of Adina's favorite police detective.  Afraid her bartender boyfriend might be accused of murder, Adina's neighbor enlists her assistance, and in the process exposes her to the seamier side of illegal immigration and crime in the city. Hard as she tries to limit her involvement, the more Adina learns, the more she needs to know - until a case of mistaken identity lands her in hot water. Will she uncover the truth before it's too late?





Killer Reputation
Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth Book 3

Adina can’t resist snooping when someone she knows turns up dead. Again.


When a colleague at a prestigious think tank meets a violent death, Adina’s not convinced any of the obvious suspects disliked him enough to want him dead. Can the young research assistant, her quirky neighbor, and a lovable rescue pup help the police put together the pieces of the puzzle?

Killer Reputation is the third mystery in the Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth Series by Cassidy Salem. The books are standalone reads and can be read in any order.





Cassidy Salem has always been an avid reader. She is especially fond of mysteries (both cozy and traditional) and police procedurals. Over the years, her favorite mystery authors have included Agatha Christie, Kathy Reichs, Mary Higgins Clark, and John Grisham. When she's not reading, she enjoys music and spending time with family and friends, and travels with her husband and son whenever possible. Her travels have taken her to destinations throughout the United States, Europe, and Scandinavia.


Cassidy is the author of the Adina Donati Mystery Series, which includes Think Murder, Dying for Data, and Killer Reputation. Cassidy co-authors, together with Christa Nardi, a YA mystery series, which includes The Mysterious Package, Mrs. Tedesco's Missing Cookbook, The Misplaced Dog, and Malicious Mischief.





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Augur of Shadows Tour and Giveaway #KindleUnlimited


Augur of Shadows
The Destined Book 1
by Jacob Rundle
Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy

The story has always been told that the end of the world is the end of everything.
In AUGUR OF SHADOWS: BOOK 1 OF THE DESTINED SERIES, Seventeen year-old Henri and his two friends, Etlina and Siméon, are burdened with the responsibility to bring about a cataclysmic event in order to save the entirety of existence from the primordial evil.
Through the guidance of otherworldly beings, Henri and his friends venture on their paths to fulfill what is needed to ensure the survival of the universe.
With their intertwining endeavors, Henri and the others venture on exploits through lands of myth and mystery. In the process of fulfilling their obligations, they begin to form a much-needed bond, which helps propel them forward to do what is needed to guarantee existence in the future.


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Trish heard a faint whisper, “Abby.” She turned to see which one whispered Abby’s name, yet she found nothing. She examined the area for any indication of a new survivor. Trish only saw the same individuals that she had been with the entire time.
“What the hell?” She thought that she had started going crazy. Her felt that her fear started turning into extreme paranoia. She took another step, and she heard the same faint whisper, “Abby.” Trish braced herself for a fight, yet she was left standing against herself.
“Momma, what’s wrong?” Abby stared at her mother.
“Oh, nothing baby. Keep moving.” Trish felt horrible for lying to her, but she knew that she would make the situation worse had she mentioned hearing a ghostly voice.
“Abby,” the voice materialized within the somber mists. Trish about-faced to catch the culprit, and what she found left her speechless. She squinted her eyes to see if what she saw was real. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
She bored into the eyes of a mysterious boy. She was in disbelief. The boy didn’t look over the age of seventeen years old.
“Hello?” Trish tried to gain the boy’s attention, yet he didn’t respond. The boy’s face was inconclusive. Trish became relentless with finding out his identity, and his mysterious markings.
“Abby.” The boy mourned for Trish’s ears, which forced her to cease her pursuit. She stood face-to-face with the boy, and all she saw was his pajamas he was wearing. She saw glimmers of blue markings on the boy’s face, hands and arms.
“What are you?” She rushed over to the boy with the sight of a falling, burning bush.

“Watch out!” Trish lunged to rescue the boy, however; she passed through his corporeal-like body, and she crashed into the ground. She whipped around to see if the boy had survived, but there was no evidence of anyone being there. Trish became a firm believer that her mental instability and delusions have won, and she had officially lost her mind.





Jacob John Rundle was born on September 27, 1985, in Galesburg, IL. He attended Knox College, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Russian Language and Literature. He served eight years in the United States Navy as a Nuclear Mechanic.

After finishing his time with the Navy, he moved to New Orleans, and it is where he resides, pursuing his dream of being a writer.






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Jugend #Blitz


Historical Fiction
Release Date: March 31, 2019
Publisher: Unsugarcoated Media

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In 1933, after Hitler's rise to power, the paramilitary HitlerJugend, or Hitler Youth, became the only permitted youth organization in Germany, then known as The Third Reich.   

It’s 1937 now, and a fourteen-year-old German youth, Ernst, is part of a secret mission which will send a group of teen-aged boys to London under the pretense of a bicycle tour to spy for the Nazis. The cyclists’ objective: identify both geographical and human targets for subsequent elimination as Europe approaches a flashpoint that Hitler intends to exploit by waging all-out war.  Ernst’s mentor, Officer Müller, considers him the perfect fit for a special assignment—spy on a wealthy British Jewish family considered a threat to the Reich as they shelter Jewish refugees from Nazi oppression.

In a parallel story, a modern-day American teen-aged orphan, Clark, has fallen under the spell of white supremacy ideology after a series of family misfortunes.  Having lost his mother as a child to cancer and then his father a couple of years later to war in Iraq, he is in the hands of his unscrupulous guardian who manages to plant him as a child-agent in a Muslim household.  Clark’s purpose: prove that the randomly-chosen Muslim family must be terrorists.

Each youth approaches his assignment with a masked heart filled with hate and a deep misunderstanding of who his hosts are, roiling the boys in emotional conflict as events unfold, and forcing each to face what will be the hardest decision of his entire life—help destroy what his handlers fear or find the courage to think for himself and face the consequences.  







Excerpt

Foreword
By Ben Parris

    In the 1930’s, the world was sinking into an abyss of bigotry and imperialism, each flawed concept nudging the other to the brink of global conflict. Eventually, virtually every country in a world awash in propaganda would be drawn into the coda of the Great War that could come to be known as World War II.

    Jugend’s story is wrapped in a little-known, fascinating true story of Hitler Youth trained to spy on England and Scotland in advance of the war the Nazis intended to start, roaming the countryside on bicycles to identify both geographical and human targets for destruction and assassination.  In Jugend, a Jewish family becomes the focus of a shameless mission to plant a boy in a household to work an agenda that is far from clear to him.

    In an eerily parallel story, Jugend also explores modern-day white supremacists in the United States who plant their own child-agent in a Muslim household. Here there is no multi-country alliance and state machinery to support a full-scale assault on decency, but the victims are targeted and the danger is real nonetheless.

    It’s the story of children caught up in an age-old conflict and used as next-generation guided missiles to perpetuate the agenda of hate.  It’s about how far we’ve come and where we need to be.  It’s about two individual children out of many who are forced to face moral choices to carry out missions of hate or to break their brainwashing through first-hand observation of those they were expected to revile.

    As a writer of historical fiction, I am always impressed when the flavor and details of an age are captured in both mood and accuracy; as an educator, I would like to see this particular insightful work in our public schools. With first-class, cinematic workmanship, Jugend provides a magnificent depiction of a course of events in a narrative that never flags or falters.

    This work, however, not only provides a tale of literary worth, but also occupies a higher plane of value by tackling the most complex aspects of the enduring human condition with both clarity and dignity.

    Here we find the ugliness and beauty of human nature, and the power and variability of culture to harm or heal. Jugend does not try to address all issues of racism and prejudice, and it shouldn’t.

    The story is a straightforward one that goes to the core of human understanding where light, tragedy and redemption can be found.


About the Author

AALIA LANIUS, a California native and convert to Islam in 1999, hails from a multi-cultural background, both German and Mediterranean, giving her first-hand knowledge of the topics addressed in her public speaking and creative works.  Her debut novel, Tough Love, a biographical fiction novel, has sold in countries around the world.  Visit the author online at www.UnsugarcoatedMedia.com.  Stay connected on Instagram: @aalia_unsugarcoated


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Saturday 30 March 2019

Irrelevant #CoverReveal #Love



                             Irrelevant (The                               Relevance Series, #1)


Mallory's been hiding who she is for 18 years...

But now her terrible secret has been exposed.

Branded Irrelevant, Mallory is cut off from everything she knows. 

Irrelevants are criminals, banished to live in the old city. But in the wasteland between the new city and the old, she stumbles on Cristan.

He's bitter, paranoid, and possibly crazy...

He may also be right about everything.

To survive, Mallory must figure out who to trust, and embrace the behaviour she's been taught to deny. 

The answers may lie in a place even the most rebellious Irrelevants won't go.

For fans of The Hunger Games, The Gender Game and Divergent comes an action-packed love story celebrating Autism and Neuro Divergence that you won’t want to put down. 


Pick up a copy and fall in love with Mallory and Cristan today.

335 pages
Expected publication: June 30th 2019 by Double Edged Sword Publishing






Sarah Addison-Fox is a New Zealand-born misfit who writes action-packed fantasy with a smattering of punch ups, mega amounts of romance and a dash of family values. 


In truth and love

Sarah Addison-Fox

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​Facebook:          
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Website:              www.sarahaddisonfox.com
Twitter:               @Saddisonfox




Whom Shall I Kiss....An Earl, A Marquess, or a Duke? Tour and Giveaway #KindleUnlimited


Whom Shall I Kiss...An Earl, A Marquess, or a Duke?
Tricking the Scoundrels Book 1
By Laura A. Barnes
Genre: Historical Romance

What started as a research project soon became a scandal...


She wanted to prove a theory. He wanted to play a game. Can their schemes lead them towards a kiss of love?

Tired of watching her friends become ruined by the scoundrels of the ton, Sidney Hartridge devises an experiment to reveal their antics. Her plan is to lure three gentlemen to kiss her and see how they would protect her honor. When her research leads her into her own inappropriate scandal, her father agrees to a wedding offer from one of her subjects. As her fiancé blackmails her into a marriage she doesn’t desire, her research becomes exposed. Can Sidney avoid her own scandal with the one she most desires to kiss?

Noah Wildeburg started this season as any other by flirting with the sweet new debutantes. When he rescues a lady off the dance floor, he is unprepared for the emotions she stirs in his soul. As he pursues her, he realizes he must compete for her hand. As he charms her with tokens of affections and stolen kisses, he discovers she plays her own game. Will Noah win Sidney’s love or is she just another scandal to add to his list?

Whom Shall I Kiss… An Earl, A Marquess, or A Duke? is the first book in Laura A. Barnes new historical romance series. If you like lighthearted drama filled courtships set in Regency England, then you’ll love this new foray into the ton.

Buy Whom Shall I Kiss… An Earl, A Marquess, or A Duke? to read Laura’s new Tricking the Scoundrels series today.



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Scene with the Marquess

“Let me be of some assistance, you seem to be in a spot of trouble,” he said as he swooped in and transferred her into his arms.
The bloke stuttered a response which only became drowned out by the orchestra as he swept the young miss away across the dance floor. He glanced down to smile his accomplishment at the miss for her scowl to deepen.
“Who do you think you are, Sir, to interrupt my dance?” she scowled.
“Now is that any way to thank me for rescuing you from broken toes?”
“My toes are not broken, nor were they at any risk to become broken.”
“I disagree with you, my dear, from where I stood you were at a risk of an injury to your person. A very delightful person at that,” he drawled as his eyes took notice of her loveliness.
Sidney’s anger simmered below the surface as she listened to the arrogance of her new dance partner. Not only did he interrupt her experiment, he also had the audacity to expect her to thank him. In addition to his faults she could also add he devoured her with his eyes. His gaze traveled the length of her body up and down, then back again. With every glance they lingered near her breasts, when not there he stared into her eyes. He behaved as a scoundrel of the highest order. A rogue who wished one thing from her, in which she would never grant. Sidney recognized he would be a perfect specimen for her experiment, but her frustration towards him affected her train of thought.
It wasn’t only her frustration towards him which distracted her; it was the touch of his hands against her waist. While he acted as a gentleman, when he held her hand and gently placed his other hand at her hip, his touch heated her insides. The warmth spread from his fingertips as it seeped into her, which caused her to feel flustered. His touch was nothing compared to the smile lighting his eyes. They were devilish, full of humor which wrapped her in his charm. His eyes begged her to laugh with him of the situation she had found herself in. These emotions were new to
her, something she should explore but hesitant to respond to. She needed to be cautious for she was held in the arms of a gentleman who could break her heart if she allowed him. Sidney tamped down her reaction to him and let her analytical brain take over. She could play on these emotions in retrospect for her experiment, use the allure she felt towards him to apply to her theory.
Wilde became cautious as the chit’s expression changed from one of anger to one of flirtation. She coyly lifted her lips into a sensuous pout while her eyes darkened to a midnight blue. Did he glimpse desire in those depths? Caught unaware at her transformation he wasn’t prepared for the siren she became, and he stumbled as he stepped on her toes like the dance partner he rescued her from. No wonder the bloke behaved as a bumbling idiot towards her if she smiled at the chap like she smiled at him now. Her smile was nothing compared to the husky laugh floating between her kissable lips. Lips he desired to taste. Her laugh touched him deeply making him want to hear more. He never felt this instant attraction to any other lady. She wasn’t his usual flavor. He preferred the widows of the ton, not the silly debutantes. Wilde trifled with them from time to time if the attraction presented itself; who was he to refuse temptation? He avoided the parson’s noose like the plague and only fooled around with those who wouldn’t trap him. As delightful as this chit perceived to be, he needed to leave. It was either that or he would embarrass them both by kissing her endlessly on the ballroom dance floor.
“You are correct sir, please accept my apology for doubting your true intentions. You are a hero of the highest order,” Sidney cooed.

By then the orchestra finished playing the current set and prepared for a waltz. He dropped his hands from around her putting distance between them. She held her hands in front of her primly as she tilted her head studying him. He stepped back from her, and she took a small step towards him. Her gaze shifted behind his head and her eyes lit up even more if it were possible. She then took two more steps towards him and he panicked. He retreated only to smack into somebody standing at his back. A hand halted him from falling backwards.


I am the author of The Romancing the Spies Series. When I am not writing, I am spending time with my family. I love reading books on lazy afternoons, and late into the night. Anytime really. Married 28 years to the love of my life and we have three wonderful children and two sweet grandbabies. Besides writing, I have always wanted to travel. In the last few years we have gotten our passport stamped in England, Scotland, and Ireland. We are hoping to add Italy to the list soon. My debut novel is Rescued By the Captain.



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Native Companions #Blitz


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World Literature, Historical Fiction
Date Published: August 2018
Publisher: Xlibris

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The prologue is a death-bed scene, where Rex Graham and his parents say goodbye to his beloved, Aboriginal grandmother. The young man promises to fulfill Granelda Yaraan’s dying wish to complete his doctorate degree in anthropology. While on study location in the Central Australian desert, Rex discovers a small Aboriginal artefact lying in a dry creek-bed bearing the markings of his tribal totem, whose territory is located in the south-easterly region of the continent.

On his return home, he lays awake, tormented by a vision of Gran’s face, urging him to discover the lost tribal dreamtime legends. He is planning a walkabout to the neighbouring bushland at Yaraan Grove, where an ancient, sacred tree is located, the resting place of his grandmother’s ashes.

Keen to discover some ground-breaking information for his thesis, Rex suddenly remembers a collection of old paintings that his Gran had treasured, promising to preserve them for him, until he was able to interpret their true meanings.

Rex crept down to the library safe, carefully unwrapping the very old parchments and spreading them out on the floor. There were 24 in all, a couple of mythical characters: a bunyip and a birdman known as a keeng-keeng, a hand-sketched map, and a mountain journey. The artist was Gran’s great-grandfather, yet he could obviously read and write because he had labeled some of his works in English grammar.

After carefully re-packing the collection, Rex returned it to the safe and slept soundly till day-break, when he loaded his back-pack and waved to his folk before departing on his journey of discovery. Rex spent the day exploring the magnificent lakeside National Park, but by evening, he was disappointed that he had not uncovered any clues about his ancestors, who had occupied the territory, other than the old scar-tree where his grandmothers remains rest, where a carving of the Booran totem ear-marked a large rock. Rex envisages Gran’s face in the scar on the tree-trunk, caused by Aboriginal boat-crafting. Feeling intoxicated by the bush atmosphere, he spreads his swag and reclines under ‘Gran Yan’s’ canopy.

As Rex falls asleep, the bush comes to life and Gran Yan shares stories with the young trees about the adventures and Dreamtime legends of the Booran tribe, that she learned from ancient priests who shared the mythology at corroborees.

The book is separated into six parts, each containing a glossary of characters involved in the odysseys. The preface contains an overview of Australian indigenous society, their philosophy of living, cultural traditions spiritualism, and language.

An index of tribal connection, names and a glossary of mixed Aboriginal languages and meanings are included at the end of the book, including a bibliography.

24 hand-drawn illustrations created by myself, are peppered throughout the book to keep the reader visually connected to events and characters as they transpire.



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About the Author

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I grew up in South Australia where I received an excellent education before training as a nurse. After a fulfilling nursing career, I spent several years working in the Flinders Ranges at Wilpena Pound where I learned a wealth of knowledge about Aboriginal history in the district. After marrying a farmer, I was kept busy raising four children before returning to my nursing career. It was at that point that I decided that too many people are over medicated with prescription drugs, and the pharmaceutical industry is over embodied in the medical discipline that is supposed to ‘do no harm’.

I undertook studies in traditional medicine and graduated with a degree in Naturopathy and herbal medicine, and went on to study Traditional Chinese Medicine practices including acupuncture, with which I am still a practicing therapist. Having written this story some years previously I was given approval by an indigenous friend to publish the story while living on Bribie Island, where I did most of my research.

After rewriting the story, I first published a junior version in 2017, but revised and rewrote the book, releasing it as junior to adult fiction book in 2018. I have also written a sequel, that was released concurrently, and the third book in the Dreamtime mysteries trilogy, Return to Eternity is almost completed.


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