Review of The Bridgerton Collection Volume 1 by Julia Quinn

 

An enchanting collection containing the first three novels in New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn’s beloved Bridgerton series set in Regency England—The Duke and I, The Viscount Who Loved Me, and An Offer from a Gentleman—now a series created by Shondaland for Netflix.


The Duke and I
When Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, agree to a fake courtship, they think they’ve found the perfect solution to their problems. Romantically associated with one of London’s most desirable catches, Daphne’s prospects among the ton will soar. For avowed bachelor Simon, an attachment to Daphne will deter would-be brides and their ambitious mamas. Their plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule. . .

The Viscount Who Loved Me
London's most elusive bachelor, Anthony Bridgerton is determined to wed. But one obstacle stands in his way—his intended's older sister, Kate Sheffield, who is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal. Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands, and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. She’s determined to protect her sister—even as she fears she may not be able to resist the reprehensible and oh so desirable rake herself . . .

An Offer from a Gentleman
Sophie Beckett never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball—or that she would be spinning in the arms of her "Prince Charming"—the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton. But when the clock strikes midnight, Sophie’s enchanting evening ends. Since that night Benedict has been able to think of nothing but the bewitching young woman, and he’s sworn to find and wed his mystery miss. Yet will another unexpectedly steal his heart—and his chance for a fairy tale love?

Santa Cruz (Tales of the Derry Plague: Two) by Ray Anselmo

 

Dr. Eric Bayo thought he’d just be finishing a summer class that August. Now, he’s expected to save a whole city.

Half-Irish half-Senegalese Dr. Bayo is teaching a class at the University of California, Santa Cruz when his students start dropping like flies – one falling dead right in front of him. A mysterious plague is spreading rapidly and wiping out most of humanity. With emergency services stretched beyond capacity and disappearing as well, there’s nowhere to go for assistance, no way to reach his family, no one whose lead he can follow.

In fact, the few survivors start looking to him for leadership! Eric doesn’t feel qualified to lead anyone, but … well, someone has to step up. Soon, he’s doing his best to fumble through crisis after crisis: where will food come from, how to keep the electricity and water flowing, what to do as the crowd of people depending on him grows, and grows, and grows. And not everyone likes what he’s doing or how he’s doing it – or is willing to go along.

As he seeks out help, puts people to work, feeds and houses them, and tries to build community out of chaos, all under the shadow of countless deaths, can Eric bring safety and civilization back to SANTA CRUZ?

Available on Amazon

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Ray Anselmo is a California native currently living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. SANTA CRUZ is his 29th book and fifth post-apocalyptic story.

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ray.anselmo
https://www.facebook.com/Million.Dreams.Press

I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post. I only share those books that I feel will be of interest to my readers.

Big Shot by Kirsten Weiss

 

Kirsten Weiss is back with one of her fun cozy mysteries! Check out an excerpt from Big Shot and then follow the tour for more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

Small Town. Big Murder.

The number one secret to my success as a bodyguard? Staying under the radar. But when a wildly public disaster and a dead client blew up my career and reputation, it turned my perfect, solo life upside down.

I thought my tiny hometown of Nowhere would be the ideal out-of-the-way refuge to wait out the media storm.

It wasn’t.

My little brother had moved into a treehouse. The obscure mountain town had decided to attract tourists with the world’s largest collection of big things... Yes, Nowhere now has the world’s largest pizza cutter. And lawn flamingo. And ball of yarn...

And then I stumbled over a dead body.

All the evidence points to my brother being the bad guy. I may have been out of his life for a while—okay, five years—but I know he’s no killer. Can I clear my brother before he becomes Nowhere’s next Big Fatality?

A fast-paced and funny cozy mystery series, buy Big Shot now to take advantage of the special pre-order price of .99 cents.

Murder mystery game included in the back of the book!

Read an excerpt:

I crossed to the oversized corkscrew and passed what had to be the world’s tiniest apothecary shop. At the giant coffee pot, I crossed the street to the park where I’d once played. I made a game of racing around the enormous, metal mushrooms.

Jogging across Main Street to the cannery, I slowed at the world’s biggest can of peas. My thudding heartbeat turned heavy.

A man in a simple gray wool coat lay sprawled against the giant green-and-white can, and my heart turned leaden. So Nowhere had homeless people too.

I hesitated before walking toward him. The temp had dropped pretty low last night. And he had no blanket. I didn’t want to wake a sleeping man, especially one who might be under the influence. And he’d have to be on something to curl up against the can like a dragon around its treasure.

Then I saw the knife . I stopped short and sucked in my breath.

He wasn’t a homeless man.

He wasn’t sleeping.

He was dead.

Buy links:

Kindle * Apple Books * Nook * Google Play * Kobo  

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Kirsten Weiss writes laugh-out-loud, page-turning mysteries. Her heroines aren’t perfect, but they’re smart, they struggle, and they succeed. Kirsten writes in a house high on a hill in the Colorado woods and occasionally ventures out for wine and chocolate. Or for a visit to the local pie shop.

Kirsten is best known for her Wits’ End, Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, and Tea & Tarot cozy mystery books. So if you like funny, action-packed mysteries with complicated heroines, just turn the page…

Links:

Website: https://kirstenweiss.com

Pre-order Swag for Big Shot with FREE Mystery Role-Playing Game: https://www.kirstenweiss.com/big-shot-pre-order-extras

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirsten.weiss/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirstenweissauthor/

Kirsten Weiss will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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The Litter by Kevin R. Doyle

 

I just realized it's been a while since we've had a good horror book featured here! So please welcome back author Kevin R. Doyle and enjoy this excerpt from The Litter! And then follow the tour for more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

They kept to the shadows so no one would know they existed, and preyed on the nameless who no one would miss. Where did they come from, and who was protecting them? In a city that had seen every kind of savagery, they were something new, something more than murderous. And one woman, who had thought she had lost everything there was to lose in life, would soon find that nothing could possibly prepare her for what would come when she entered their world.

Read an excerpt:

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Pam said.

“Still think it was a dog?” her partner asked.

“What else could it have been? It doesn’t take the ME over there to know that this guy’s been all chewed up.”

“What I’m getting at is it may not have been a single animal.”

“Come again? Are you thinking of a pack or something?”

“Well,” Gonzales said, “just looking at it . . .” He waved his arm in the direction of the mess on the pavement.

“That’s insane, Enrico. Who the hell ever heard of a pack of dogs attacking people in the middle of a city?”

“You ever hear of one dog doing anything that even remotely looks like that?”

“What about rats?” she asked the older cop, fearful he would laugh in her face.

“I actually thought of that myself for a moment there. It’s not the most far-fetched of possibilities.”

“No?”

“Not at all. Once, I saw what was left of an old wino eaten by rats, back when I’d been on the force not much longer than you have. But that was a guy who’d crawled under the porch of a house, probably trying to escape the weather. Besides, long ago as it’s been, from what I remember, that body didn’t look anything like this.”

“No, huh?”

“Not really, no. It looked more like he’d been nibbled on till he was worn down to practically nothing.”

Pam pointed towards the corpse.

“That’s not a bunch of nibbles,” she said.

Buy Links

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On sale for $0.99! 

A high-school teacher, former college instructor, and fiction writer, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also written three crime thrillers, The Group, When You Have to Go There, and And the Devil Walks Away, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series, published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel. The second book, Heel Turn, was released in March of 2021, while the third in the series, Double Frame, came out in March of 2022. 

Links: 

Web site: kevindoylefiction.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevindoylefiction

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6473241.Kevin_R_Doyle

Kevin R. Doyle will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner, and a second drawing for a free e-Book copy of the book, via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Daughter of Light (Daughters of Myth #2) by Eileen Dreyer

 

It's a rerelease of a paranormal romance. Check out an excerpt from Daughter of Light by Eileen Dreyer! (This cover is gorgeous!) Be sure to check out the rest of the tour after you download your copy. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

He’s had enough…

Harry Wyatt, Earl of Hartley has enough problems trying to keep his estate solvent. What he does not need is yet another lost child showing up on his land looking for the Hartley Fairy Diamond made famous by a recent film. A fairy diamond that is no more than myth handed down by delusional ancestors and responsible for the perilous state of his finances. And yet there is something about this latest visitor, something beside her delicate beauty and troubling familiarity. Something that is compelling him to go against everything he believes to help her. To want her.


She’s on a quest…

Sorcha, daughter of Mab Queen of Fairies is on a quest. Dropped into a cold, alien world, it is her task to recover the great fairy stone that has been lost to the land of mortals, a stone whose absence has upended the balance of nature. If she doesn’t get the stone back, spring will not come. But there is a handsome mortal standing in her way. A mortal she is drawn to like no other man, fairy or mortal. A mortal who claims he doesn’t believe in her, but whose memories and fears say otherwise. A mortal with green fairy eyes. A mortal she could love, if only he weren’t mortal and she fairy.


Note: This title was previously published as Dark Seduction

Read an excerpt:

Somewhere in the town, a clock struck the hour, bonging dolefully. Harry felt each strike in his chest, counting down the time they had left. He saw the realization dawn in Sorcha’s eyes, as well. God, he wanted to keep talking, nestled together like an old married couple on a Saturday morning, unhurried and easy. He wanted to just keep holding her, here, where no one could find them. He wanted more time.

“We don’t have it, Harry,” she said, as if hearing him. “We had this, though. It will keep me, I promise. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect memory. A more gentle or considerate lover.”

“I didn’t have any violent thoughts,” he mused, surprised that he hadn’t even worried about it before now.

Sorcha didn’t move. “I’ll tell the bean tighe thank you for you.”

“That’s all it took? Some herbs?”

“A temporary measure, Harry. We have to think about getting the rest of this day done.”

For a second all he could do was hold her as tightly as he could. Damn, where had those tears come from again? Harry Wyatt never wept. Not when his parents died, not when he’d realized what kind of condition they’d left his world in. Not when his gran had lost her legs, or he’d lost his chance to spend his days wandering the moors and glens he loved so much.

“We’ll get the day done,” he said. “I have some food coming up first. You need some nourishment.”

She actually chuckled. “Sure, after the exercise I’ve just had, I should think so.”

“Will I ever see you again after this?”

She went very still. He kept his hold on her, wrapping himself around her so that he could stay skin to skin with her, as if that would imprint her on his memory any better.

“Do you think it wise?” she asked. “Since I can’t stay and you can’t go?”

He closed his eyes and pulled her head to his chest. And for a long while he just inhaled her, cinnamon and honey and wildflowers. He satisfied himself with the silk of her body in his arms. He pretended they had all the time in the world.

Buy on Amazon

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New York Times bestselling author and RWA Hall of Fame member Eileen Dreyer and her evil twin Kathleen Korbel have published over forty novels and novellas, and ten short stories in genres ranging from medical suspense to paranormal to romance. She is thrilled to have joined Oliver Heber Books to continue her Drake’s Rakes series about Regency aristocrats who are willing to sacrifice everything to keep their country safe, of which Ill Met by Moonlight is a near relative.

A former trauma nurse, Eileen lives in St. Louis with her husband, children and large and noisy Irish family, of which she is the reluctant matriarch. A seasoned conference speaker, Dreyer travels to research, and uses research as an excuse to travel. Oh, who's she kidding? She doesn't need an excuse. She has the Irish wanderlust and satisfies it as often as she can to the point that she has sung traditional Irish music on four continents. She also had the incredible chance to research Drake’s Rakes by attending the 200th anniversary of not only the Battle of Waterloo, but the Duchess of Richmond ball (in period attire). She has animals, but refuses to subject them to the limelight.

www.eileendreyer.com

https://www.facebook.com/EileenDreyer

Eileen Dreyer will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So Who's More American? by Esmond "Mundo" Morfaw

 

America, the great land of freedom and hope. For centuries this country has offered men and women from around the world a chance to start over and make a new life for themselves. Generations later, their children and grandchildren call America home, but does that make them true Americans? Is there even such a thing as a true American?

Author Esmond “Mundo” Morfaw explores the longstanding question of what defines an American and who is in true ownership of this bountiful nation. As a man of Cameroonian descent who was born in Italy and now calls the United States home, Mundo has a unique perspective of what it means to acclimate to living in this country.

From the first Americans to the newest citizens, Mundo explores controversial issues in relation to racial and cultural themes that have affected all immigrants, including himself.

Buy on Amazon

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Mundo was born on June 24th, 1988 in Rome, Italy. He is an Italian born American of Cameroonian origin. He lived in Rome for 7yrs and moved to Bamenda, Cameroon where he grew up for 14 years. During that time, he came to learn several core fundamental values and develop a great appreciation and critical understanding of the simple things that really mattered in life, being surrounded by an environment very different from the one he came up through, in Europe. His father was a UN Diplomat, and his mother a Philosophy Professor, both of whom greatly shaped him into being an independent thinker and critical observer. His early introduction into his mother’s huge personal library, that contained works by some of history’s greatest philosophers, would open his mind and deepen his perception of almost everything around him.

An actor, singer-songwriter and rapper himself, he grew up having to overcome immense adversity as the arts entertainment were regarded as inferior and were simply not very financially rewarding in the 90s and early 2000s in Africa. By 2008, not only had he already been in Law school for 2 years, he had already started an unending path towards being a self-taught psychologist and philosopher. In 2010 he moved to the U.S. where he would pursue an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. In 2017 he enlisted into the U.S. Army as an Infantryman where he served for three years, stationed in Fort Drum, New York with the 10th Mountain Division. He deployed with his unit in 2018 to the Middle East and upon return, he was incessantly dedicated to all aspects of his life, be it family, military service, music, film or writing. In August of 2021 he was honorably discharged from military service and he now resides in California where he's fully dedicated to the several aspects of the entertainment industry and Entrepreneurship.

I was compensated via Fiverr for sharing this post. I only share those books that I feel will be of interest to my readers.

Review of An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgertons #3) by Julia Quinn

 

BENEDICT’S STORY

Sophie Beckett never dreamed she’d be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton’s famed masquerade ball—or that “Prince Charming” would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.

Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other—except, perhaps, this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid’s garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers her his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy-tale love?

Goodreads * Amazon * BN

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**My thoughts**

I didn't like this one nearly as much as I liked the first two books. Benedict really disappointed me with his forceful insistence that Sophie be his mistress. This after such a magical first encounter! I mean, I knew it was going to take some time for true identities to be revealed. But his behavior was reprehensible no matter who he thought she was. Kind of a misfire on the intended Cinderella thing.

And yet I was still engrossed and zipped through it in one afternoon, looking for the redemption in Benedict that does eventually come. And it was fun seeing the other couples pop in. I still look forward to more from this family.