I’m happy to welcome award-winning author LS Delorme. Today, she shares her new release, Fanning Fireflies, Book 3 in the Limerent Series.

Blurb

There is something rotting in Harrisville.

It’s 1944 and Veronica works so she can afford to eat. Maybe one day she will save enough to own the home her family is living in, but for now, she doesn’t have time for fanciful thoughts, or much else. She doesn’t have time for the fire whispering to her, the ghosts trying to talk to her and the son of her boss, who can’t stop staring at her. She definitely doesn’t have time to think about Lazlo, the handsome black soldier that she processed at the draft office, but she can’t seem to stop herself. As her ability to ignore Lazlo evaporates, so does her self-imposed ignorance about her hometown.

There is, and always has been, something rotten in Harrisville. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. After all. Veronica works in the cigarette factory. where corpses hide in the tobacco with the roaches.

Excerpt

She knew that she shouldn’t be here, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave. This isn’t being brave, it’s being foolish, her brain told her. He will suffer more than you if they catch him…

Lazlo was now holding the paper wrapper—the biscuit was gone. Veronica took the last bite of hers. She didn’t want him to go. She didn’t want him to be in the war. She wanted to protect him.

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” she said, sticking out her hand. Women didn’t shake hands much, and almost never with a man, but she wanted any excuse to touch him.

He took her hand in his. He didn’t shake it; he just held it for a moment as his eyes met hers. His eyes were dark and open. Veronica wanted nothing more than to kiss him. He leaned forward a bit and she did the same. But then the sound of voices drifted over on the wind—male voices somewhere down the tracks.

“I should go,” he said softly.

Veronica nodded, as her heart spasmed in her chest.

Lazlo got up, jumped from the rock, and landed gracefully on the ground. He turned to her, smiled, and then started back down the train tracks.

“Lazlo!” Veronica called out.

He turned around quickly and took a few steps back in her direction.

“Why don’t you write me?” she said. “I would love to hear about what you see out there in the world.”

Even from this distance, she could see his eyes widen. But then he smiled and nodded before turning and running up the embankment and disappearing.

Author Bio and Links

Lexy Shaw Delorme (writing as LS Delorme) is the award-winning author of The Limerent Series, a genre-defying collection of emotionally resonant novels that blend supernatural mystery, psychological thriller, historical fiction, and romantic suspense. With a background as a lawyer, pop musician, and science writer, Lexy brings intellectual depth and lyrical prose to every story she tells. Now based in Paris, she lives with her French husband and two very cool sons. Her work explores themes of limerence, memory, identity, and the echoes of past lives—and she’s not afraid to push boundaries along the way.

The Limerent Series (Books 1–4)

• Caio — A supernatural romantic thriller about grief, justice, and forbidden connection. • Bright Midnights — A YA dream-thriller following a magnetic girl caught between dimensions. • Fanning Fireflies — A 1940s historical ghost story and romance centered around race, secrecy, and sacrifice. • Ghosting Academy — A high-stakes psychological thriller with VR technology, elite agents, and spiritual unraveling.

Each book is a standalone, yet interwoven through deeper cosmological themes and recurring characters.

Media Recognition & Reviews

• Kirkus Reviews praised Caio as “an entertaining fantasy with a dash of macabre eroticism.” • Bright Midnights received a coveted BookLife Editor’s Pick from Publishers Weekly, with critics calling it an “enthralling, character-rich narrative.” • Fanning Fireflies was IndieReader Approved (4.8/5), described as “an emotionally charged, thought-provoking read.” • The series has been celebrated across the book blogging world as genre-bending, hypnotic, and emotionally gripping.

Awards & Honors

• Bright Midnights won the Golden Wizard Book Prize (UK) in the YA Fantasy category. • Caio received a positive “Get It” verdict from Kirkus, signaling quality and appeal. • Fanning Fireflies was awarded near-perfect marks from IndieReader, achieving critical acclaim.

Media & Events

• Featured guest on BBC Radio 2 – The Gabby Roslin Show, discussing Fanning Fireflies and the mythic architecture of the series. • Interviewed on the What We Reading UK blog and spotlighted by the British Fantasy Society. • Frequent guest on virtual book tours hosted by LiterallyPR and Goddess Fish Promotions. • Upcoming panelist and moderator at C2E2 Comic Con 2025.

Reader Response

• Called “a cult classic in the making” by readers. • Described as having “characters who stay with you long after the last page.” • Celebrated for blending literary depth with page-turning suspense.

Follow LS Delorme

Website | Instagram | TikTok | Publisher Contact: LiterallyPR (London)

Giveaway

LS Delorme will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow the author on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Set in 1944 North Carolina, Fanning Fireflies is a beautifully crafted novel that seamlessly blends the supernatural with stark historical reality. Veronica Crane, a young woman who possesses the unique ability to communicate with ghosts, serves as a guide through a world marked by racism, poverty, and loss. But this is not a whimsical ghost story. Ms. Delorme does not sugarcoat, so be prepared for an unvarnished look at the struggles of Black Americans.

At the story’s heart is the quiet but powerful romance between Veronica and Lazlo, a Black soldier fighting for a country that denies his humanity. Their bond, tender and defiant, underscores the novel’s deeper message: Love and truth endure, even in the darkest times.

A haunting and heartfelt novel that will linger in consciousness.

I’m happy to welcome author Valeriya Goffe. Today, Valeriya shares her new release, The Dream Lives.

Blurb

As war rages in Ukraine, Viktor Yurchenko flees to the United States together with his three young kids and an elderly mother.

All he is looking for is a refuge for his family; falling in love is the last thing he expects on the other side of the Atlantic. What’s more, he would have never guessed that his journey could help his relatives connect the dots in a decades-old family mystery.

Teresa Jameson, a top executive in an international company, has lived for sixteen years in a seemingly happy marriage. Or maybe she just closed her eyes too often and refused to face the reality?

As ample cracks start to show, she needs to dig deep into her soul. Will she look away just one more time, or give the new relationship a chance to flourish?

Excerpt

“I’ll have to go back to Irpin’ one of these days.” Viktor looked at the streets they were passing by, but his thoughts were far, far away from here. “I need to look for Igor and Tamara. Maybe I’ll be able to find out what happened there.”

“But this is so dangerous!” Teresa caught herself taking her eyes off the road for a brief second. “You might get killed or injured there.”

“Would you be sad if I got killed?” Viktor checked, a light smile starting to shine on his lips. “The first day we met, you were right about to kill me yourself.”

Teresa snorted. “Hey, don’t even remind me about that horrible day! Of course, I’d be sad if something happened to you. Now. Well, even when we just met, I didn’t want to kill you. It was just a bad day, that’s all. I wasn’t myself. And you happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Well, nice to know that this is not your usual way of greeting strangers, especially refugees.” Viktor continued joking. “I must confess, I’d expected a slightly more hospitable host. But then again, I told the kids to be happy that we had a roof over our heads after just arriving in the States. Even if this were a wicked witch’s house.”

“Stop it! You’re lucky I’m driving and cannot throw something heavy at you.”

Teresa laughed. “I’m generally a very nice and friendly person, in case you have not noticed. Talk to anyone, they’ll tell you.”

“A nice and friendly person? This statement needs to be carefully verified,” Viktor shot back. “I am an economist, as you know. I need hard data to make a decision. Lots of data.”

Buy Links

Amazon | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Books | Rakuten Kobo | Universal Buy Link

Author Bio and Links

Valeriya Goffe was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine and spent most of her adult life in the USA. She resides in Washington DC together with her husband, Bill, and a nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. You can often find their family golfing, playing tennis or hiking at the Rock Creek Park. They are also frequent visitors at the Jekyll Island, one of the Georgia’s incredible Golden Isles.

Valeriya’s daytime job involves writing analytical reports and managing complex financial sector projects at a large international organization. Previously, she worked in financial services consulting, auditing and in academia. Valeriya holds a PhD degree in finance from the Kyiv National University of Economics in Ukraine and an MBA degree from Kogod School of Business, American University in Washington DC. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and a member of the Accounting Advisory Board at the Kogod School of Business. Valeriya enjoys learning foreign languages. She is trilingual in English, Russian, Ukrainian and also speaks French and Spanish.

While she finds her business career quite rewarding, Valeriya’s life would not be complete without creative writing. She writes a travel and family blog, and she published her debut fiction novel, Secrets We Keep, in 2024.

Valeriya’s writing is very closely intertwined with travel, from which she gets many of her plots and characters. Over the years, she has visited many countries in America, Africa, Middle East, Europe, and Asia. No matter where she goes, she manages to find some interesting stories which need to be shared with the readers. These stories eventually end up on her travel blog or in one of her books. Africa in particular has left a large imprint on Valeriya’s life and given her a lot of inspiration. She has also been quite lucky to explore the countries of Central Asia which are rich in historical heritage, natural beauty and also interesting personalities. Some of these adventures will be reflected in her future books.

Instagram | Bluesky | Website

Giveaway

Valeriya Goffe will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Valeriya on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Goffe’s debut novel, Secrets We Keep, I eagerly anticipated this sequel—and it did not disappoint. From beginning to end, I was captivated by the compelling journeys of Viktor Yurchenko and Teresa Jameson.

Viktor, a devoted single father, undertakes the immense challenge of relocating his mother and children from war-torn Ukraine to the United States. Meanwhile, Teresa grapples with life-altering news that shakes the foundation of her seemingly solid marriage. Thrown together under the most unexpected circumstances, Viktor and Teresa must navigate not only their individual trials but also the growing attraction between them.

The richly drawn secondary characters, both in Ukraine and the United States, add further depth as they face their own uncertain futures and daring new dreams.

I highly recommend this timely and thought-provoking novel. It is truly unputdownable!

I’m happy to welcome author Judith Works. Today, Judith shares interesting facts about her creative journey and new release, The Measure of Life.

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

I lived in Rome for ten years and after returning to the States wrote a memoir about the experience, titled Coins in the Fountain. But I wasn’t done writing about people in the expat community, some of whom didn’t live very happy lives. This interested me and I wanted to examine a life different from my own experience, and so The Measure of Life began a long gestation as a story began to take shape about a woman who struggles with disappointments and eventually finds happiness.

What is the best part of being an author? The worst?

The best part is shepherding a book to publication and holding a copy in my hands when it’s published. The worst is the struggle to write an interesting story that will actually result in publication.

Describe your writing space.

My writing space is my office. After living abroad and traveled extensively, the room is filled with memoires of places I’ve visited along with a bookcase holding books on the art and history of Italy. My desk holds dictionaries, a thesaurus, style manuals, and a new desktop computer along with the printer. Hanging above is a large replica of a map of 17th Century Rome with small paintings of Italy surrounding it.

Which authors have inspired you?

Frances Mayes, who writes so beautifully about Italy, comes easily to mind. Other authors whose books I enjoy are Colm Tóibín, Hillary Mantel, and Tan Twan Eng all of whom are geniuses at setting, plot, and character.

What is your favorite quote?

“Rome is a city of echoes, the city of illusions, the city of yearning.”
Giotto 1266 -1387

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

To bring peace to the world.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

I love to travel and have visited over one hundred countries on every continent except Antarctica. Italy is my favorite, but France and Japan are a close second. Some of the less traveled places such as Togo, Zanzibar, and Bali could easily draw me back. My most recent adventures have been to Alaska and Hawaii. When my suitcase is in resting mode, I volunteer for literary events such as a local writing conference.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

As the joke goes about how musicians get to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice. The same goes for writers: write, write, and write. But don’t forget to read, especially in your genre.

What are you working on next?

I’m working on a novel about a woman who inherits an old house and finds she has a family she never knew existed.

Blurb

A story of love and loss, lies and truth, begins in Rome when Nicole shares a cappuccino and cornetto with her Italian tutor. The meeting sets off a chain of events that upends the course of her life. While Rome also brings deep friendships and immersion into a sumptuous food scene there is no escape from acknowledging the consequences of her actions. In search of forgiveness and healing, she moves to an island near her childhood home in Seattle only to find the way to reunite the remnants of her family and discover her true path is to return to Rome and face the past.

Excerpt

I read about a new concept called blogging. Intrigued, I studied the process to launch my own blog. After a lot of false starts, I managed to post about the day I bought bread in the bakery Maggie recommended and ended up meeting the old man. I titled it FIAT PANIS (Let There be Bread):

Once upon a time I met an old man out of a fairy tale. He was tiny and perched in a gigantic carved chair where he presided over a treasure trove of books and antiques. And it was the same day I first savored the goodness of real Roman bread. The kind of bread that’s crispy brown on the outside and chewy inside. The kind baked in a wood-fired oven wafting a mouth-watering aroma out the door to compel you to follow the scent back to the bakery where fresh loaves await. I squeezed through the crowd toward the clerk to make my selection while imagining ancient Romans clustered at the baker’s stall—the baker pulling the rounds of whole wheat spiced with poppy and fennel seeds from the hot oven while his wife handed them to house slaves who gossiped about their owners, and matrons who gossiped about the neighbors as they handed over a few coins.

I included colorful photos of the bakery and a loaf of fresh bread on my kitchen table along with frescoes of loaves from the ruins of Pompeii.

Buy Links

Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google | iTunes

Author Bio and Links

After I earned a law degree in midlife, I had the chance to leave the Forest Service in Oregon and run away to the Circus (Maximus). In reality my husband and I moved to Rome where I worked for the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization for four years as a legal advisor to the director of human resources. I could see the Circus that had hosted chariot races during the Roman Empire from my office window.

My husband and I reluctantly returned to the US after four years. But we pined for the land of pasta, vino, art, and sunny piazzas. Then the gods smiled and offered a chance to return to Rome with the UN World Food Program. Six more years or food and frolic in the Eternal City passed much too quickly. The indelible experiences living in Italy and working for the UN were the genesis of my memoir Coins in the Fountain.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Threads | BlueSky

Giveaway

Judith Light will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Judith on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

I couldn’t put this book down and stayed up two nights in a row to finish it. Ms. Works is an expert storyteller with a keen eye for detail and a gift for creating a strong sense of place. She takes us on a transformative journey from sun-drenched Rome to the rain-soaked shores of Vashon Island in the Pacific Northwest. I immediately connected with Nicole, the protagonist, as she navigated the complexities of an unhappy marriage, an extramarital affair, and parenting three children.

If you enjoyed reading A Year in Tuscany, you will love this sweeping romantic saga.

I’m happy to welcome Wild Rose Press author Cindy Causey. Today, Cindy shares her new release, Sensible Shoes.

Blurb

At her fiftieth birthday party, Tess Thomason, a plain-Jane, divorced mother and decidedly unprepared women’s newspaper columnist, is blindsided by her well-meaning family with a stack of gift cards she interprets as meaning she’s fat, frumpy, and wrinkled. Facing a lonely future and failing career, Tess embarks on a journey of self-discovery, taking her readers along for the ride. But her resolve is nearly derailed by a hilarious season of family chaos that includes a surprise pregnancy, rushed wedding, and unexpected houseguests. In the midst of it all, Tess is drawn into a confusing new relationship with a man who is impossibly perfect for her. But if she can keep herself, her family, and her willpower firmly seated on the crazy roller coaster of her life, maybe Tess will find her own self-worth and a new love in the bargain.

Excerpt

“Tess, Tess, I’m not expecting you to write like Sylvia. I’m not even expecting you to write about fashion. What I have in mind is a column to women, for women, about women. Real women. Like one of those influencers on the Internet. You know…funny, wise, poignant, and… relevant.”

The creeping dread, now fully formed, tossed a grenade into my stomach. She might as well have asked me to write like Shakespeare. “You want me to be funny, wise, poignant, and…relevant? Are you insane?”

Okay, I may have stepped over the line with that last bit, because Ruth’s face twisted a little in the ominous way I had seen so often just before she pounded her fist on the desk. “Just write the damn thing, Tess. I don’t care if you’re funny, wise, poignant, or what was the other thing?”

“Relevant,” I murmured.

“Relevant, for God’s sake. Just do it. I need a column for the women’s page starting next week, and you’re it. Write about what you know. Family. Food. The laundry. You’ve got family. You’ve got laundry. It’ll be a cinch.”

“But—”

“No buts. Just do it. It’ll be good for you. You need to get out of your rut.” She turned her attention to her computer screen.

As if in a trance, I rose from the chair and turned to leave. “Oh, Tess?” she said without looking at me.

“Yes?” Maybe she’s changed her mind; she saw my outfit, and she changed her mind.

“Happy birthday.”

Author Bio and Links

Cindy Causey taught herself to type in the 8th grade because she couldn’t write in her diary fast enough in longhand. A degree and career in advertising were the result. A fifteen-year stint as a copy chief at JCPenney Catalog led to the position of Internet Marketing Manager for JCPenney.com.

After 20 years at JCPenney, Cindy retired in December, 2007, and began working full time with her husband Scott in their multi-media production company, Dallas Media Center. They specialized in audio/video production and editing, vintage media transfer to DVD and CD, as well as website design and hosting. Cindy shuttered the company in 2021, three years after Scott passed away.

After her first book, a non-fiction work called Cherish the Gift: A Congregational Guide to Earth Stewardship, was published, Cindy began writing fiction. She found her voice in romance, the stories of the struggles two people endure on the road to happily ever-after. Her debut novel, A Different Drum was published in May 2009 by The Wild Rose Press, followed by A Hot Time in Texas that same year.

In early 2025, her latest novel, Sensible Shoes, a humorous look at a woman struggling with life after 50, was published by The Wild Rose Press. It will be followed in late 2025 by a romantic suspense novel entitled Saving Samantha.

Cindy makes her home in Dallas, Texas. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her 5 grown children and 4 grandchildren. She would like to see the edges of the entire world from the deck of a cruise ship.

Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest

Giveaway

Cindy Causey will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Cindy on the rest of her Goddess Fish Tour here.

I couldn’t put this book down and stayed up two nights in a row to finish it. An expert storyteller, Ms. Causey writes with passion and skill, bringing the topsy-turvy world of the protagonist, Tess Thomason, to life. I found myself rooting for Tess as she embarked on a journey of self-discovery and transformation, all while navigating an avalanche of challenges—from a surprise pregnancy and a revolving door of houseguests to complicated romantic entanglements. All of this unfolds against the backdrop of Thanksgiving and a whirlwind wedding.

Even days after finishing, I’m still marveling at the twists and turns in Tess’s remarkable story. Sensible Shoes is beautifully written and a must-read for fans of women’s fiction.