Book Showcase: The Fixer: The Last Romanov by Jill Amy Rosenblatt

Synopsis:

"My name is Katerina Mills. Make sure I disappear."

Katerina Mills is getting out . . .

Desperate to escape a psychotic former client, a vengeful mobster, and a dirty DEA agent, professional "fixer" Kat Mills is ready to drop out and disappear.

She doesn't trust her employer, the shadowy MJM Consulting, but Katerina can't say no to one last job for the biggest score yet, enough money to get lost for good... until the client asks the impossible...

Dmitry Zilinsky claims he is a direct descendant of Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II, and he demands Katerina steal the item that will prove it.

Kat must get the job done or she can't make her escape. But when professional thief Alexander Winter reappears in her life, Katerina Mills faces a new choice: go it alone or risk everything to be with the one person she doesn't want to live without?

Book Details:

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Published by: Jill Amy Rosenblatt

Publication Date: October 22, 2019

Number of Pages: 692

ISBN: 978-1-7332560-0-1

Series: The Fixer #3

Purchase Links: Amazon, Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

CHAPTER 1

Katerina Mills sat in the silver Honda Civic, peering through the lenses of the binoculars. The factory parking lot loomed larger as she watched the first shift employees filing out, heads bowing to brace against the frigid Vermont winds, and dashing to their cars.

Katerina knew every inch of the toy factory her father had managed. In high school, she had helped out after classes, typing, filing, and bookkeeping. Following graduation and while caring for William Mills through his bout of cancer, Kat worked a few hours a day and carried paperwork back and forth to her father at home.

Can you keep an eye on things for your old man?

Bullshit, Kat thought. It was time to find out the truth.

Kat snapped out of her thoughts as Richie Calico emerged. She watched him turn up the collar of his jacket as he hustled toward a shiny, red Dodge Durango. Kat knew Richie as a third-generation, blue-collar working stiff, always looking for an angle and an easy buck.

That looks new, Kat thought as she sharpened the binoculars on the Durango.

Richie’s head swiveled back and forth as he hurried to the SUV.

That’s not the confident man I remember strolling up to my desk with a singsong “Kat-a-reeena.”

As if we shared a secret.

Richie slid into the Durango, revved the engine, and took off, speeding out of the lot.

Time to spill your secrets, Richie.

Kat put the Civic in gear.

***

Katerina watched Richie pull into a strip mall, park in front of a run-down pub, and get out. She followed, parking in the back of the lot and cutting the engine.

Leaning forward, Kat wrapped her arms around the wheel. I have to go in. I need him to fill in the blanks. How do I get in and out without being noticed? Steal in and out. Like a thief.

She sighed. It had been a little more than two months since her first B and E. Alexander Winter, “Bob,” and “Professor,” to Kat, a good man and an expert thief, had walked her through it and brought her out. He would know what to do. She closed her eyes, the familiar ache of missing him threatening to overwhelm her.

Not now, Katerina thought, opening her eyes and forcing herself to return to the business at hand. There’s a reason Richie is looking over his shoulder. Remember what Winter taught you, she thought. Once you go in, you give yourself five minutes. Every minute you linger, your risk of getting caught rises.

Scanning the lot one more time, she flipped the fur lined hood over her chestnut hair, opened the door, and got out.

***

Slipping in through the back door, Katerina stepped into the shrouded gloom of the deserted dive bar. She came up behind Richie as he slouched in a booth, drinking alone.

Suddenly, Richie’s eyes shot up from his Coors and he jolted at the presence of a person looming over him. Shifting to face him, Kat brushed her hood back and watched his eyes grow wide. He gaped at her as she slid into the booth.

“Katerina,” Richie said, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. “Uh . . . Merry Christmas, Happy New Year . . . when did you get home?”

“Hi Richie,” Kat said. “How’s the heroin business?”

***

Excerpt from The Last Romanov by Jill Amy Rosenblatt. Copyright 2019 by Jill Amy Rosenblatt. Reproduced with permission from Jill Amy Rosenblatt. All rights reserved.

Author Bio:



Jill Amy Rosenblatt is the author of The Fixer (Katerina Mills) series. The Last Romanov is the third book in the series. Book 2, The Killing Kind, was the 2017 Beverly Hills Book Award Winner for Suspense. She previously published Project Jennifer and For Better or Worse through Kensington Press. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Literature and her Masters Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Burlington College in Vermont. She lives on Long Island and is currently at work on book four of The Fixer series, The Good Criminal.

Catch Up With Jill Amy Rosenblatt On:


jillamyrosenblatt.com, Goodreads, BookBub, Twitter, & Facebook!

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!















Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jill Amy Rosenblatt. There will be 3 winners. One (1) winner will receive an Amazon.com Gift Card and Two (2) winners will receive The Fixer: The Last Romanov by Jill Amy Rosenblatt (eBook). The giveaway begins on October 21, 2019, and runs through November 25, 2019. Void where prohibited.

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Book Spotlight: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the centre of it.

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press; recorded book edition (May 29, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1501156217
ISBN-13: 978-1501156212

Order here!

Book Review: Strong As Steel by Jon Land

Caitlin Strong is back with another suspenseful adventure that brings to light secrets from a long ago case that ties into the massacre that claimed the lives of all the workers at a private intelligence company while she is helping to serve a search warrant.

In 1994, Texas Ranger Jim Strong investigated the murder of three men on a freight train where the cargo mysteriously disappeared and for which no record exists.

In present day, Texas, Caitlin finds herself serving a search warrant at a private intelligence company that ends up with everyone else dead. She and lover Cort Wesley are now drawn into this bloody tide that has been rising for centuries.

Things aren't going to well for their pal Guillermo Paz either. He has returned to Venezuela for his mother's funeral and ends up in a spot of trouble.

How will Jon Land tie this all together? You'll have to read Strong As Steel to find out.

Oh, how I have missed this series! Every time I think Land has outdone himself, he amazes me once again. While I haven't read the previous few installments--though now I really want to go back and catch up--Strong As Steel reminded me what a creative and talented author Land is.

It's hard not to like Caitlin Strong. She is a fifth generation Texas Ranger--no pressure there--and, true to her name, she proves she has earned her reputation. Filled with recurring characters and newbies, Strong As Steel ties numerous events together into a phenomenal, action-packed story that readers of this genre will enjoy. Another reviewer has said this, but I must concur the Caitlin Strong series is ripe to be turned into a TV series. Maybe Chuck Norris can have a cameo.

One of my favorite aspects of the series is the variety of quotes and article excerpts from real life Texas Rangers featured throughout the different parts of the stories.  I look forward to reading those as much as the story itself.

If you want action; if you want adventure; and if you want a female character that is strong despite her flaws, then pick up Strong As Steel and be impressed.


Series: Caitlin Strong Novels (Book 10)
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Forge Books (April 23, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765384671
ISBN-13: 978-0765384676

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

What I Read in 2018

Here are some of the books I've read this year:

What are some books you've read this year? 

Book Spotlight: The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Kyle Broder has achieved his lifelong dream and is an editor at a major publishing house.

When Kyle is contacted by his favorite college professor, William Lansing, Kyle couldn’t be happier. Kyle has his mentor over for dinner to catch up and introduce him to his girlfriend, Jamie, and the three have a great time. When William mentions that he’s been writing a novel, Kyle is overjoyed. He would love to read the opus his mentor has toiled over.

Until the novel turns out to be not only horribly written, but the most depraved story Kyle has read.
After Kyle politely rejects the novel, William becomes obsessed, causing trouble between Kyle and Jamie, threatening Kyle’s career, and even his life. As Kyle delves into more of this psychopath’s work, it begins to resemble a cold case from his college town, when a girl went missing. William’s work is looking increasingly like a true crime confession.

Lee Matthew Goldberg’s The Mentor is a twisty, nail-biting thriller that explores how the love of words can lead to a deadly obsession with the fate of all those connected and hanging in the balance.

Order here!

Coming Soon: House of Spies by Daniel Silva

Four months after the deadliest attack on the American homeland since 9/11, terrorists leave a trail of carnage through London’s glittering West End. The attack is a brilliant feat of planning and secrecy, but with one loose thread.

The thread leads Gabriel Allon and his team of operatives to the south of France and to the gilded doorstep of Jean-Luc Martel and Olivia Watson. A beautiful former British fashion model, Olivia pretends not to know that the true source of Martel’s enormous wealth is drugs. And Martel, likewise, turns a blind eye to the fact he is doing business with a man whose objective is the very destruction of the West. Together, under Gabriel’s skilled hand, they will become an unlikely pair of heroes in the global war on terrorism.

Written in seductive and elegant prose, the story moves swiftly from the glamour of Saint-Tropez to the grit of Casablanca and, finally, to an electrifying climax that will leave readers breathless long after they turn the final page.

Series: Gabriel Allon
Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Harper (July 11, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062354345
ISBN-13: 978-0062354341

Pre-order here!

Book Spotlight: Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles

The endgame is at hand for Penn Cage, his family, and the enemies bent on destroying them in this revelatory volume in the epic trilogy set in modern-day Natchez, Mississippi—Greg Iles’s epic tale of love and honor, hatred and revenge that explores how the sins of the past continue to haunt the present.

Shattered by grief and dreaming of vengeance, Penn Cage sees his family and his world collapsing around him. The woman he loves is gone, his principles have been irrevocably compromised, and his father, once a paragon of the community that Penn leads as mayor, is about to be tried for the murder of a former lover. Most terrifying of all, Dr. Cage seems bent on self-destruction. Despite Penn's experience as a prosecutor in major murder trials, his father has frozen him out of the trial preparations--preferring to risk dying in prison to revealing the truth of the crime to his son.

During forty years practicing medicine, Tom Cage made himself the most respected and beloved physician in Natchez, Mississippi. But this revered Southern figure has secrets known only to himself and a handful of others. Among them, Tom has a second son, the product of an 1960s affair with his devoted African American nurse, Viola Turner. It is Viola who has been murdered, and her bitter son--Penn's half-brother--who sets in motion the murder case against his father. The resulting investigation exhumes dangerous ghosts from Mississippi's violent past. In some way that Penn cannot fathom, Viola Turner was a nexus point between his father and the Double Eagles, a savage splinter cell of the KKK. More troubling still, the long-buried secrets shared by Dr. Cage and the former Klansmen may hold the key to the most devastating assassinations of the 1960s. The surviving Double Eagles will stop at nothing to keep their past crimes buried, and with the help of some of the most influential men in the state, they seek to ensure that Dr. Cage either takes the fall for them, or takes his secrets to an early grave.

Tom Cage's murder trial sets a terrible clock in motion, and unless Penn can pierce the veil of the past and exonerate his father, his family will be destroyed. Unable to trust anyone around him--not even his own mother--Penn joins forces with Serenity Butler, a famous young black author who has come to Natchez to write about his father's case. Together, Penn and Serenity--a former soldier--battle to crack the Double Eagles and discover the secret history of the Cage family and the South itself, a desperate move that risks the only thing they have left to gamble: their lives.

Mississippi Blood is the enthralling conclusion to a breathtaking trilogy seven years in the making--one that has kept readers on the edge of their seats. With piercing insight, narrative prowess, and a masterful ability to blend history and imagination, New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles illuminates the brutal history of the American South in a highly atmospheric and suspenseful novel that delivers the shocking resolution his fans have eagerly awaited.

Series: Penn Cage Novels (Book 6)
Hardcover: 704 pages
Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition/First Printing edition (March 21, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062311158
ISBN-13: 978-0062311153

Purchase here!

Book Spotlight and Giveaway: Sealed Up: The Course of Fate: Book One by Steve Dunn Hanson

Hot off the press! SEALED UP: THE COURSE OF FATE: BOOK ONE by Steve Dunn Hanson is
available now! Steve will be on a virtual book tour January 3 - March 31 and will be giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card PLUS an autographed copy of his book!  Follow his tour, leave comments and share this page in social networks for extra entries!

Title:
Sealed Up

Author: Steve Dunn Hanson

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 402

Genre: Action/Adventure/Suspense 

The Da Vinci Code unsettles. SEALED UP shakes to the core!

UCLA anthropologist Nathan Hill, in a funk since his young wife’s death, learns of staggering millennia-old chronicles sealed up somewhere in a Mesoamerica cliff. This bombshell rocks him out of his gloom, and he leads a clandestine expedition to uncover them. What are they? Who put them there? No one knows. But, self-absorbed televangelist Brother Luke, who funds the expedition, thinks he does. If he’s right, his power-hunger will have off-the-charts gratification.

Striking Audra Chang joins Nathan in his pursuit and brings her own shocking secret. As they struggle through a literal jungle of puzzles and dead ends, she finds herself falling in love with Nathan. Her secret, though, may make that a non-starter.

When a shaman with a thirst for human sacrifice, and a murderous Mexican drug lord with a mysterious connection to Brother Luke emerge, the expedition appears doomed. Yet Nathan is convinced that fate—or something—demands these inscrutable chronicles be unearthed. And if they are . . . what shattering disruption will they unleash?

Intricately layered and remarkably researched, this enthralling suspense-driven and thought provoking tour de force begs a startling question: Could it happen?

Amazon

Book Excerpt:

“How much farther?” Paul’s shirt was soaked from sweat.

Itzel looked at him and laughed. “Just like Torrance, huh?” Paul rolled his eyes.

“The cenote.”
Ichika pointed to a three-foot-wide path that was recently cut through
the brush. They followed it as it turned to the left then sharply to the
right. The sinkhole loomed in front of them. The water, a huge blue
sapphire, sparkled 15 feet below. Thick emerald-green growth reached
down the sinkhole’s sides, but where they were standing, the vegetation
had been cleared all the way to the water’s surface.

Paul stood at the cenote’s edge and stared down into the bowl. “You slipped here, you’d go all the way in.”

Itzel shuddered and pulled back; thoughts of her father overwhelming her. Was this what it was like where he fell? She trembled and turned away from the cenote. “Let’s leave.”

Paul
looked at her and understood. He almost said something about his
stupidity, but decided one foot in his mouth was enough. He motioned for
Ichika to take them back the way they came. He put his arm around
Itzel, and she leaned her head against him.

“Where are the ruins?”
Paul asked. Ichika didn’t say anything, just pointed ahead. The brush
and ferns that surrounded them were head high and prevented their seeing
anything except along the trail. As they turned to go to where they
first entered the path, Kish’s men stood waiting. Ikan, Muluc, and Yochi
had machetes, and Gukumatz held a tranquilizer gun.

Paul and
Itzel stopped. Ichika, her eyes fastened on the ground, kept going until
she stood on the other side of the men. She turned back toward Itzel
but wouldn’t look at her. “What’s going on?” Paul demanded in Spanish as
he stepped in front of Itzel. Gukumatz raised his gun and shot a dart
into Paul’s stomach. Paul flinched at the pain and looked down at his
stomach. “What the ....” Paul yanked the dart out and threw it on the
ground. A small circle of blood soaked through his shirt. He lunged at
Gukumatz and swung his forearm around catching him on the bridge of his
nose. Blood spurted from Gukumatz’s nostrils as he fell to the ground; a
gash flaring open on top of his nose. Ikan and Yochi dropped their
machetes and jumped Paul.

“What are you doing?” Itzel yelled in
Lacandón. “Where is Kish?” Muluc grabbed her and threw his arm around
her neck, holding her from behind.

“Don’t you hurt her!” Ichika
screamed, as she advanced on him. Gukumatz stood up and wiped his nose
with his sleeve; blood soaking through his shirt to his skin. His stare
at Paul was chilling, and he swore at him in Spanish. Paul tried to get
up to come at him. It was all the two men could do to keep him down even
though his strength was ebbing. Gukumatz turned away from Paul and
pulled a cartridge and a dart from the bag on his shoulder and loaded
them into his gun. He walked to Itzel and shoved Ichika aside. He
lowered the gun and shot the dart into Itzel’s stomach. She flinched at
the pain and stared at Gukumatz. “You pig!” she spat.

Within a few
minutes Paul and Itzel were unconscious. Gukumatz pulled the GPS
trackers from their belts, turned them off, and slammed them against a
rock. He grunted as he picked up Itzel and slung her across his
shoulder. The other three men lifted Paul. They headed to the platform
ruins.

The place of sacrifice.

About the Author

I've lived in places that grew me . . . from a small Idaho farm town, a run-down neighborhood in St. Louis, and a middle-class southern California community, to Sydney, Australia, and Bucharest, Romania. My experiences are as varied as the places I've lived. I have a hopper full of "reality" including being a volunteer jail chaplain and flying with a U.S. presidential candidate in his small plane when an engine conked out. And all of this is fodder for my writing.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Steve Dunn Hanson is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card PLUS an autographed copy of his book, Sealed Up!

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive both prizes.
• This giveaway ends midnight March 31.
• Winner will be contacted via email on April 1.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Brass Compass by Ellen Butler Book Blast

__________________________________________________

We invite you to Ellen Butler's THE BRASS COMPASS Cover Reveal! Please leave a comment to let Ellen know you stopped by and don't forget to order your copy!

 ___________________________________________________

Title:
THE BRASS COMPASS

Author: Ellen Butler

Publisher: Power to the Pen

Pages: 362

Genre: Historical Thriller/Suspense

A beautiful American spy flees into the night. On her own, she must live by her wits to evade capture and make it to the safety of the Allied forces.
Lily Saint James grew up traveling the European continent, learning languages as she went. In 1938, her mother’s abrupt death brings her back home to Washington, D.C., and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Lily comes to the attention of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Her knowledge of German, French, and Italian makes her the perfect OSS Agent, and her quick thinking places her as a nanny in the household of an important German Army Colonel, where she is able to gather intelligence for the Allies. After her marketplace contact goes missing, she makes a late-night trip to her secondary contact only to find him under interrogation by the SS. After he commits suicide, she flees into the frigid winter night carrying false identification papers that are now dangerous and a mini film cartridge with vital strategic information. In order to survive, Lily must make it out of Germany, into the hands of Allied-controlled France, through a path fraught with peril.

Pre-order Links:

To Be Notified for Pre-Orders
Follow Ellen on Facebook, Twitter, or Join her Newsletter:

https://www.facebook.com/EllenButlerBooks/

http://www.ellenbutler.net/contact-ellen/

https://twitter.com/EButlerBooks

Book Excerpt:

Chapter One

Into the Night

February 1945

Germany

“Was ist sein Name?” What is his name? The SS officer’s backlit
shadow loomed over his victim as he yelled into the face of the shrinking man
on the third-story balcony. “We know you’ve been passing messages. Tell us, who
is your contact?” he continued in German.

Lenz’s gray-haired head shook like
a frightened mouse. With his back to me, I was too far away to hear the mumbled
response or the Nazi’s next question. I pulled my dark wool coat tighter and
sank deeper into the shadow of the apartment building’s doorway across the
street from where my contact underwent interrogation. The pounding of my heart
pulsated in my ears, and I held my breath as I strained to listen to the
conversation. In front of Lenz’s building stood a black Mercedes-Benz with its
running lights aglow, no doubt the vehicle that brought the SS troops. None of
the neighboring buildings showed any light, as residents cowered behind locked doors
praying the SS wouldn’t come knocking. This was a working-class neighborhood,
and everyone knew it was best to keep your mouth shut and not stick your nose
in the business of the Schutzstaffel.

Their presence at Lenz’s home
explained why my contact at the bakery was absent from our assignation earlier
today. I dreaded to imagine what they had done to Otto for him to give up
Lenz’s name … or worse, mine. Even though I’d never told Otto my name, a
description of me could easily lead the SS to their target.

“Lügner!” Liar!

I flinched as the officer’s ringing
accusation bounced off the brick buildings. A young SS Stormtrooper stepped out
onto the balcony and requested his superior look at something in his hand. I
should have taken their distraction to slip away into the darkness and run;
instead I stayed, anxiously listening, to hear if Lenz would break under the SS
grilling and reveal my identity. Clearly, they suspected he was involved in
spying and would take him away. They probably also knew he had information to
spill and would eventually torture it out of him, which was the only reason he
hadn’t been shot on sight. It was only a matter of time before he gave me away.
My friends in the French Resistance had been directed to hold out for two days
before releasing names to allow the spies to disband and disappear. I wasn’t
sure if the German network applied the same rules, so I remained to see if he
would break before they took him.

“Where did you find this?” the
officer asked.

The trooper indicated inside the
apartment.

“Zeig es mir.” Show me. He followed his subordinate through the
doorway into the building.

Lenz turned and braced himself
against the balcony. I watched in horror as he climbed atop the railing.

“Halt!” a bellow from inside rang out.

Lenz didn’t hesitate, and I averted
my eyes, biting down hard on my cold knuckles, as he took his final moments out
of the hands of the Nazis. Sounds of shattering glass and buckling metal ripped
through the darkness as his body slammed into the SS vehicle. In my periphery,
a neighboring blackout curtain shifted.

“Scheisse!” the SS officer swore as he and his subordinate leaned
over the railing to see Lenz’s body sprawled across their car. “Search the
apartment. Tear it apart!”

The moment they crossed the threshold,
I sprinted into the night.

My breath puffed out in small
plumes of smoke as I dodged through alleys, in and out of darkened doorways,
moving on the balls of my feet. Silently, I cursed the cloudless sky as the
moonlight bounced off the cobblestones, its brightness clear enough to land a
plane. Unless waiting at midnight at a
drop zone for needed supplies, a spy preferred the inky blackness of cloudy
skies. Especially when escaping the enemy.

A few kilometers from Lenz’s
apartment, I paused behind the brick rubble of a bombed-out building. My gaze
searched the area for any sign of movement. Standing alert, I held my breath,
attuning my senses to the nighttime sounds, and listened for the whisper of
cloth, the click of a boot heel, or heaven forbid, the cock of a gun. The
thundering of my heartbeat slowed, and I balled my fists to stop my shaking
hands. All seemed quiet … for the moment.

My fingers curled around the tiny
film cartridge, filled with information vital to the Allied cause, nestled in my
coat pocket. Dropping down to one knee, I slipped the heel of my right boot
aside and tucked it into the hidden cavity. The coded message I’d planned to
pass to Lenz would have to be burned, but I couldn’t take the chance of
lighting a fire right now. It would have to wait until morning.

<!--[if !mso]>

About the Author

Ellen Butler is a novelist writing critically acclaimed suspense thrillers, and award winning romance. The Brass Compass was inspired by the brave women who served in the OSS, British Special Operations Executive and French Resistance. Ellen is a member of The OSS Society and her fascination with WWII history originally piqued when her grandfather revealed his role as a cryptographer during the war. Ellen holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Policy, and her history includes a long list of writing for dry, but illuminating, professional newsletters and windy papers on public policy. She lives in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

WEBSITE and SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE
| TWITTER | FACEBOOK

Released Today! Devil's Spring E-Book by Aaron Paul Lazar Only 99 Cents

Bittersweet Hollow series:

1) Devil's Lake
2) Devil's Creek
3) Devil's Spring

Devil's Spring:

How far would you go for your family?

Financial struggles have forced Grace Rockwell, along with her husband and their baby daughter, back to the family homestead. Luckily, the move to the Morgan Horse Farm isn’t all bad. Her sister Portia is there with her toddler son, and Grace soon finds a way to improve their finances—by entering riding competitions with her family’s gorgeous horses.

But the homecoming takes a horrific turn when the babies are abducted, sending both new mothers on a frantic search with few leads.

Lollie Belvedere didn’t plan to kill her husband. Nor did she know her adopted children would turn out to be kidnapping victims. But something in her snaps the day she’s forced to return the babies to their mothers—and now she’ll do whatever it takes to get them back.

***
Warning! For adults only. Some sexual content.

File Size: 710 KB
Print Length: 306 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publication Date: January 1, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B01N3PGKI1

Available for a limited time for only 99 cents! Click here to purchase.

From My TBR Pile: Strong Light of Day by Jon Land

Texas ranger Caitlin Strong is involved in an international plot rooted in secrets from the Cold War in this seventh installment of the New York Times bestselling series

Afghanistan, 2003: During a mountain raid, a team of Navy SEALs discovers plans for a new and ingenious attack on the United States.

The Present: Fifth-generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong is summoned when thirty high school kids from a Houston prep school vanish during a field trip, including the son of her lover, Cort Wesley Masters. As if that wasn’t enough, Caitlin also has to deal with a crazed rancher whose entire herd of cattle has been picked clean to the bone.

The link between these two inexplicable events dates back to the contents of that Afghan cave raided by the SEALs, and a plot by forces within Russia to a win a war they never stopped fighting. At the center of that plot are billionaire Calum Dane and his multinational conglomerate, currently embroiled in controversy over a genetically engineered pesticide that has the potential to eradicate hunger across the world. Dane doesn’t know that this pesticide has spawned a new and deadly enemy capable of destroying the very fabric of American life.

Caitlin’s race to save the country weaves through the present and the past, confronting her with the most powerful and dangerous foes she’s ever faced. The Cold War hasn’t just heated up; it’s boiling over under the spill of a strong light only Caitlin can shut off before it’s too late.

First Sentence:

San Antonio, Texas; 1983

Jim Strong entered the Menger Bar via the street entrance, the Texas Ranger badge pinned to the lapel of his shirt struggling to glisten in the dull light.

Series: Caitlin Strong Novels (Book 7)
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (October 13, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765335123
ISBN-13: 978-0765335128

Purchase here

Book Excerpt: Pigeon-Blood Red by Ed Duncan

Pigeon-Blood Red is a fast-paced and suspenseful crime thriller by Ed Duncan. It was released in March 2016, published by Zharmae and is available for sale on Amazon.

Duncan says, “It’s always been said that you should write what you know. I am a lawyer - as is a pivotal character in the novel who is being pursued by a hit man - and I'm excited to be able to use my legal training creatively as well as professionally.”

For underworld enforcer Richard "Rico" Sanders, it seemed like an ordinary job. Retrieve his gangster boss's priceless pigeon-blood red ruby necklace and teach the double-dealing cheat who stole it a lesson. A job like a hundred before it. But the chase quickly goes sideways and takes Rico from the mean streets of Chicago to sunny Honolulu, where the hardened hit man finds himself in uncharted territory when a couple of innocent bystanders are accidentally embroiled in the crime.

As Rico pursues his new targets, the hunter and his prey develop an unlikely respect for one another and Rico is faced with a momentous decision: follow his orders to kill the couple whose courage and character have won his admiration, or refuse and endanger the life of the woman he loves?

EXCERPT

Excerpt from Chapter 1


When Rico knocked on Jean’s door he was happy to hear the sound of footsteps. At least she was there. Maybe it was a good omen. Jean, a stunning redhead with a figure that made the heart leap, looked through the peephole, opened the door, and greeted him wrapped in a towel. She was even more tantalizing than she’d been in the car earlier that day. She wasn’t completely dry, and here and there tiny droplets of water glistened on her arms and shoulders. Rico inhaled the subtle fragrance of her shower gel, but before it could distract him, a voice in his head reminded him, “Point one percent.”

“I wasn’t expecting you back so soon,” she began, a playful, sultry smile on her face.

From the doorway Rico scanned the living room and saw nothing amiss. He walked in and closed the door behind him. Too bad. He only knew how to do this one way. “Jean, how long have you known me?” he asked stoically.

She was baffled. “You know as well as I do. What kind of a question is that?”

“I never tried to hide from you how I make my living, true?” They stood face to face, inches apart, before she took a few halting steps backward. “So you know what happens to people who don’t tell me what I want to know, don’t you?”

“Rico,” she stammered, her voice trembling, “you aren’t making any sense. What’s this all about? I don’t know what you’re accusing me of, but I haven’t done anything, I swear.”

He took a straight razor from his coat pocket and opened it. As he walked toward her, she covered her face with her hands. He stepped behind her, thrust his left arm through the triangle formed by her hands pressing against her face, and grabbed her right shoulder. With his right hand he held the blunt side of the open razor against her right cheek.

“Where is it?”

“Please, Rico,” she sobbed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pressed harder and tightened his grip on her shoulder. “Please, please!”

“I don’t believe you.” He turned the sharp side to her cheek.

“Rico, not my face, please! I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her tears puddled where the razor met her skin.
“Sorry, baby.”

As Jean cried out he let the razor fall from his hand and, in one uninterrupted motion, expertly muzzled her scream with the same hand before the razor hit the floor. She fainted.

When she came to, she was lying on the couch where Rico had carried her. He stood with his back to her, talking to Jerry on the phone. Jerry hadn’t been able to get past lobby security in Robert’s building.

“He palmed it, right?” Jerry asked.

Rico glanced over his shoulder at Jean. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He hung up. “I had to be sure,” he said unapologetically.

She shivered in her towel and glared at him, anger roiling in her eyes. He went to the bedroom and returned with a blanket, which she allowed him to drape around her shoulders.

“Sorry, baby. It was just business.”

Still too furious to speak, she defiantly turned her back to him and silently dared him to say anything about it. A small victory but it was something. Ignoring the gesture, Rico walked out and closed the door softly behind him.

She was enraged, as much at herself as at him, because she knew that the next time he called she would answer. She tried to justify her emotions by telling herself that he’d stopped short of actually harming her and that he never would have. But who was she kidding? She could hope but she could never know for sure.

When the cab pulled up in front of Robert’s building, Jerry was standing outside smoking a cigarette. It was an expensive high rise on the city’s Gold Coast along Lake Michigan’s north shore, with a security guard on duty twenty- four hours a day. There was no way around it; if they wanted to get into Robert’s apartment, one way or another they’d have to deal with him. This was admittedly a minor detail, more of an annoyance than anything else.

Jerry knew Rico hated cigarette smoke. An icy stare from him whenever Jerry lit up was as effective a deterrent as a punch in the gut, so he put the fag out as Rico left the cab. Rico kept his body rock solid by lifting weights at a neighborhood gym, jogging regularly, and minimizing his intake of junk food. He didn’t like the idea of second-hand smoke undoing any of his hard work.
“So what happened?” Jerry asked.


“She didn’t have it.”


“I could’ve told you that. She’s good people.”


“Don’t start with me.”


“But—”


“But nothing. Anybody can cross the line.”


“Including me?” Jerry hoped Rico might exempt him
but didn’t expect it.


“Yeah, including you.” The two men stared at each
other for a long moment before Rico smiled. “No, not including you.” The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared and his eyes narrowed. “You know better.”

The comment stung and Jerry hung his head a little, but it was true and he knew it. It wasn’t easy to get close to Rico and not many people did. He was loyal to a fault, yet distant and brooding. Deadly as a cobra but with a dry, sometimes biting sense of humor. Brutally honest, he lacked guile. Hated hypocrisy. Loathed arrogance. If you were in a fight for your life against hopeless odds and could pick just one person to help even them out, he would be your choice every time. But if you needed a shoulder to cry on or even a pat on the back, you’d have to think long and hard before you settled on Rico.

“Now, about this guy...” Rico said, ignoring Jerry’s reaction.

Jerry snapped out of it. “You have to tell the security guard who you want to see. He rings the apartment. If the person answers, the guard buzzes you in.”

“High-class joint.”


“No wonder he’s always out of money.”


“How much traffic in and out?”


“Not too bad so far.”

Taking in as many details as his eyes could process in one sweep of the area, Rico slowly turned in a circle, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything that counseled against getting on with the business at hand. Outside, there were pedestrians and cars passing everywhere, but it was a busy street, so there was nothing unusual about that. Inside, the foyer was empty except for the security guard. Nothing looked menacing. Nothing looked out of place. He nodded. “Okay?” Jerry nodded back. “Let’s go and talk to the man.”

They walked briskly to the entrance, donning sunglasses almost in unison, then glanced behind them one last time before opening the door. Rico nodded to a spot inside. Jerry planted himself there. Without slowing, Rico continued toward an oak-paneled counter facing the door, behind which sat an unarmed security guard casually reading a newspaper. He was about forty, with a gaunt face and stringy hair reaching below his collar. He was the kind of guy who went through life trying to keep from stepping on anyone’s toes and hoping everyone would try to avoid stepping on his. He looked up in time to see Rico, advancing quickly in his direction, throw open his coat and jerk a .45 out of a powder-blue shoulder holster. He leaped to his feet and raised his hands above his head. Rico slammed the gun on the counter.

“Put ’em down,” Rico said. Eyes bulging and hands shaking, the guard complied and his face took on the look of a condemned man who had just received word of a reprieve. “That’s right. Relax,” Rico said. “Now buzz Robert McDuffie’s apartment.” There was no answer. “Try again.” Still no answer. “Get the key and take me up there,” he ordered, then nodded in the direction of the .45 resting on the counter under his hand. “This’ll be pointed at the back of your head on the way. Any questions?” The guard shook his head. “Then let’s go.”

Praise for Pigeon-Blood Red

“Pigeon Blood Red has a dramatic and satisfying conclusion, leaving the reader nodding his head with approval." - Readers' Favorite

“In a novel with as much action as love, it is sure to be a story that will fulfill the desires of readers of all ages, genders, and areas of interest.” – Red City Review

"This charming, classically-told crime thriller is a must for noir fans...refreshingly old-school pulp, inhabited by a familiar cast of gamblers, con men and hustlers found in Dennis Lehane and Elmore Leonard novels” – Best Thrillers

Ed Duncan is a graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University Law School. He was a partner at a national law firm in Cleveland, Ohio for many years. He currently lives outside of Cleveland, OH and is at work on the second installment in the Pigeon-Blood Red trilogy. To learn more, go to http://eduncan.net/

Readers can connect with Ed on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Cover Reveal: Games of Lies by Amanda K. Byrne

Inside the Book:

Title: Game of Lies

Author: Amanda K. Byrne

Publisher: Lyrical Underground

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Format: Ecopy 

The ties that bind, the vengeance that severs…



 Cass Turner, promising UCLA student, is gone. All that remains now is Cass the rogue assassin. Her target: all those who’ve sworn their loyalty to Isaiah, a man so ruthless Cass won’t find peace until he’s destroyed. Yet Cass’s brazen killing spree has driven a wedge between her and the man she loves. As a lieutenant in LA’s largest crime family, Nick Kosta has his own reasons for wanting Isaiah dead. But if Cass continues to play by her own rules, she'll have to choose between Nick and getting even.


When her one chance at the ultimate revenge is snatched away, Cass's world begins to fall apart. Now they’re going to play by Nick’s rules—even if it means betraying her trust. Because the danger to their lives, and their future, is far from over. But with the body count rising, and a target on Nick’s back, Cass will have to find a way to unearth the lies that surround the Kostas and find the killer in their midst...before it’s too late.

Meet the Author

When she’s not plotting ways to sneak her latest shoe purchase past her partner, Amanda writes sexy, snarky romance and urban fantasy. She likes her heroines smart and unafraid to make mistakes, and her heroes strong enough to take them on.



If she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking hot chocolate, and trying not to destroy her house with her newest DIY project. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and no, it really doesn’t rain that much.

For More Information

Visit Amanda’s website.

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Coming in September: Home by Harlan Coben

Ten years after the high-profile kidnapping of two young boys, only one returns home in Harlan Coben’s gripping thriller.

A decade ago, kidnappers grabbed two boys from wealthy families and demanded ransom, then went silent. No trace of the boys ever surfaced. For ten years their families have been left with nothing but painful memories and a quiet desperation for the day that has finally, miraculously arrived: Myron Bolitar and his friend Win believe they have located one of the boys, now a teenager. Where has he been for ten years, and what does he know about the day, more than half a life ago, when he was taken? And most critically: What can he tell Myron and Win about the fate of his missing friend? Drawing on his singular talent, Harlan Coben delivers an explosive and deeply moving thriller about friendship, family, and the meaning of home.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Dutton (September 20, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525955100
ISBN-13: 978-0525955108


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New Paperback Release: Never Go Back by Lee Child

Former military cop Jack Reacher makes it all the way from snowbound South Dakota to his destination in northeastern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. The old stone building is the closest thing to a home he ever had.

Reacher is there to meet—in person—the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone.

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When threatened, you can run or fight.

Reacher fights, aiming to find Turner and clear his name, barely a step ahead of the army, and the FBI, and the D.C. Metro police, and four unidentified thugs.

Combining an intricate puzzle of a plot and an exciting chase for truth and justice, Lee Child puts Reacher through his paces—and makes him question who he is, what he’s done, and the very future of his untethered life on the open road.

Series: Jack Reacher (Book 18)
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Bantam; Reprint edition (May 24, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 039959325X
ISBN-13: 978-0399593253

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When former FBI agent William Harrison begins receiving mysterious postcards with the signature "Echo Tango," he's alerted to a deadly government cover-up beyond anything he ever thought possible.

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Bargain Kindle Book: The Lily-White Boys by Anthea Fraser

When a disreputable van is dumped outside her house, Monica Tovey is unnerved.

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