I’m happy to welcome Canadian novelist Pauline J. Grabia. Today, Pauline shares her new release, What Remains After.

Blurb

SOME STORIES DO NOT END WHEN THE DANGER PASSES.

Beth Clark has not returned to her hometown in decades, since the childhood she survived there nearly destroyed her.

When her estranged mother dies, Beth comes back to rural Alberta for a funeral that feels carefully rewritten. The eulogies are tidy. The past is sanitized. But inside the abandoned bungalow where she and her brother once lived, Beth finds objects that shatter the illusion—and awaken memories of abuse, neglect, and the systems that failed to protect her.

When Beth’s younger brother is critically injured in a sudden accident, the present collides with the past. Keeping vigil at his hospital bedside, Beth is drawn back into the summer that changed everything: the violence in their home, the silence of those who should have intervened, and the foster family whose quiet faith offered the first real safety either child had known.

Told across dual timelines, What Remains After is a literary psychological suspense novel about trauma and memory, belief and betrayal, and the long, unfinished work of survival. It asks what it truly means to forgive—and what remains when the truth is finally spoken.

Excerpt

Coverville Baptist Church smelled musty and old, like the memories trying to escape the recesses of Beth’s mind. That’s all that remained now of her mother. Like her life, nothing at the church had changed in over forty years. It had simply aged, with splintered oak pews and grubby carpets that had been there when she was growing up.

It was unnaturally quiet in the church, which she remembered used to almost roar after a service with the lively voices of congregants discussing the sermon or what was coming up in their week. Children used to run around, shrieking and squealing in both joy and frustration. Now, it was still. Eerily so.

Beth ignored the stares from the other mourners who had arrived early for the service. When she tried to meet their gazes to say hello, they looked briefly, with pity, before looking away. She stopped looking at people. She had only arrived when she had to so she could find Otto and talk to him before it started. He wasn’t in the lobby. Maybe he was in the sanctuary.

She waited in line at the guest registry, attended to by one of the funeral directors. When it was Beth’s turn, her hand trembled as she picked up the ridiculous feathered pen and hesitated before writing down her name. Should she use her married name or her maiden name? Her ex would have a conniption if she wrote down his, and she was changing her name back anyway, so she entered “Elizabeth Clark.”

When Beth had seen her mother’s obituary on Facebook, she’d realized that, despite her hesitation, she would go to the funeral. The only other attendees were townsfolk—mostly members of Virgie’s church—and family. She suspected that most came out of curiosity rather than grief. Beth’s reasons were less clear. Her hatred for her mother had lessened over the years, but had never completely gone; still, she felt an odd urge, almost a duty, to attend. She told herself it was just an excuse to see her brother, Otto, not the urn.

Author Bio and Links

Pauline J. Grabia is a Canadian novelist whose work explores trauma, memory, faith, and the moral consequences of silence. Writing under the Stories of Consequence banner, she is drawn to stories that face difficult truths without spectacle and seek light without sentimentality. What Remains After is a literary psychological suspense novel rooted in rural Alberta and shaped by questions of survival, forgiveness, and what endures.

Website | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

Pauline J. Grabia will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Beth Ford. Today, Beth shares her new release, Love Across Time.

Blurb

Ashley and Thomas, a medieval knight, are in 1377 England, escaping from present-day immigration authorities intent on capturing Thomas. Having fled to the past to ensure their togetherness, Ashley is faced with adapting to fourteenth-century life, while Thomas, new to his title as Baron after his older brother’s death, is called to Parliament, encountering enemies there and at court as he struggles to build his own alliances.

Ashley’s work at a monastic hospital is deemed “miraculous” but draws unwanted attention as potential witchcraft. Meanwhile, becoming embroiled in a political movement, she realizes too late it’s a plot against the King.

How can Ashley conform to social expectations, counter the plot, and still keep her relationship with Thomas, in all the turmoil?

Excerpt

He watched the stable yard from behind a stone column. Here the scene was also chaotic, with horses being pulled from every which way and saddles being thrown on them haphazardly. He didn’t see the King or anyone else who might recognize him as a prisoner. He took a deep breath and strode quickly across the courtyard and down the row of guest stalls until he found his horse. He could tell the animal was nervous with all the activity, but Thomas’s presence calmed him. Thomas quickly saddled him while still in the stall, then mounted and rode out straight from there so no one could stop him.

Once out of the stable yard, he turned toward the London road. Shouts and clangs came from the river. The King’s men must also be preparing a boat to sail up the Thames to enter the city from a water gate. With a two-pronged attack, they were more likely to succeed and overwhelm de Landys’s forces.

A mere few months ago, he had been desperate to prove himself as a knight. Who could have known he would have to prove himself not on a battlefield in France but here at home, in the capital. He may be at a disadvantage, but he would do whatever it took to save Ashley. She was only in this time because of him, and he couldn’t let anything happen to her. With the possibility of losing her suddenly so real, he knew in his bones that she was his soulmate. It was the only explanation for how they had been brought together across time, theological answers be damned.

The roadway opened up, and he spurred his horse to a gallop.

Author Bio and Links

Beth Ford writes historical and time travel stories that transport you in time. She is the author of the novels In the Times of Spirits, Love Between Times, Love Across, Time, and After the Spirits Come: A Continuation of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. She also writes the Cassie Woods, Reporter historical mystery romance novella series. Her work has also appeared in a variety of literary journals. She lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Website | X | BlueSky

Giveaway

Beth Ford will award a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly selected winner. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome Australian author La Kayshal. Today, she shares her new release, The Flames of Soulflare.

Blurb

Dragons fear prophecy, and love may be the final weapon in this dark, multi-POV Romantasy perfect for fans of Fourth Wing and From Blood and Ash.

Feared as the harbinger of doom, Everin Haydon is stolen, broken, and reforged by magic into a living weapon bound to a Dragon Council that calls its tyranny justice.

Across the realms, Lord Tynan, the Demon of Darkness and Chaos, returns. His awakening marks the coming of the three days of darkness, and he tears through realms to reclaim what fate binds to him, the Hell’s Fire Dragon.

But one question remains. If the demon rises, where is the immortal meant to stop him?

As the dragon world waits for divine intervention, Everin must decide whether she remains a weapon or becomes the fate of the realms.

Excerpt

The moon hung quietly above Helldreth Fort, its pale glow spilling through the tall windows and brushing the chamber with soft silver. A cool breeze drifted in and stirred the white curtains, their edges sweeping lightly across Everin’s skin. She pulled her silk gown closer, grateful for the warmth of the room. It felt comforting, far more so than the terrible, dark place she had left behind.

Her steps carried her to the mirror in the corner. The reflection staring back looked thinner, as if her body had been carved down to something she hardly recognized. The neckline of her nightie dipped too low to her liking, drawing her eye to the faint scars across her chest. The lamp light traced their uneven lines, pale and unsettling.

She touched them gently. Everin barely remembered how or when she got the scars. She pulled the outer robe around her until it covered more of her chest. At least the scars were low enough to stay hidden unless she wore something too revealing.

A sound of footsteps behind her made her turn.

Tariel Fenwick, her first love, stood at the doorway.

Everin froze for a moment. He looked different—stronger, more defined, more man than the boy she remembered. His dark hair rested just above his shoulders with two thin braids at the sides of his head, framing a face sharpened by a faint stubble. His amber eyes, once so warm, now carried a deeper, shadowed intensity. His shirt hung open across his chest, revealing sculpted muscle that rose with each slow breath, and a leather gauntlet, more like an open finger glove, hugged his left hand like a seamless extension of his skin.

Her gaze lingered longer than she meant it to. He saw that. A slow, knowing smirk touched his lips.

She straightened quickly. “We need to talk, Tariel.”

“Yes,” he replied, approaching her, “but not now.”

“There is a lot I want to understand,” she said quietly. “So much I don’t remember.”

“Later.” He reached her, lowering his voice. “I’ve long waited for this moment with you.”

He stepped closer.

She stepped back.

“You waited for me?” she whispered, searching his face.

“I did,” he said. “More than you know.”

He brushed a fingertip along her arm. She stiffened but felt a flicker of the old pull toward him, a warm memory trying to surface. Her eyes drifted briefly to his lips, those that she had kissed in the past, before she forced herself to look away.

His smirk deepened. “Are we shy now, Everin?” he murmured, amusement warm in his voice.

Author Bio and Links

La Kayshal is an Australian writer of romance, YA, and children’s fantasy novels. She lives with her husband, daughter, and a playful Malshi puppy in the coastal plains of the Sunny State.

Her debut novel, The Lost Crown, is an adventure romance set in the exotic landscapes of India. She also created the much-loved Sylph Series, a whimsical children’s collection that introduces readers to the amazing world of Sylphs, with each book carrying a gentle moral lesson.

A lifelong fan of wizards, magic, dragons, swords, and elementals, she poured all these passions into her YA fantasy Ariston Baker in the Weird Picture Book, a fast-paced journey filled with realms, riddles, action, and adventure.

Her latest project is the Hell’s Fire Dragon duology, a romantasy series filled with dragons, magic, and high-stakes conflict. Book 1, The Flames of Darkness, begins the story, followed by Book 2, The Flames of Soulflare.

Website | TikTok | Instagram | YouTube | Threads | Facebook | X

Giveaway

La Kayshal will be awarding $10 PayPal gift to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome psychotherapist and author S. T. Ashman. Today, she shares her new release, Her Silence.

Blurb

She survived the night. The truth didn’t.

Nicole gets the call at 4 a.m. Her daughter Lacey was found in the woods beside her friend’s dead husband. He was stabbed forty-four times. Lacey is barely alive. Covered in his blood. And completely mute.

She hasn’t said a word since. Not to the police. Not to her husband. Not even to Nicole.

Nicole had Lacey at seventeen and swore her daughter would have a good life. Now Lacey is sitting in a cell, and Nicole’s three grandchildren are left behind with a father who is losing it.

But Nicole knows her daughter. She isn’t a cold-blooded murderer. Guilt didn’t silence her. Fear did. Whatever happened in those woods scared Lacey more than prison.

So Nicole starts digging. But some secrets don’t save people. They destroy them.

Excerpt

I strode past carts and nurses, straight down the hall, and yanked open the door to room 12.

But I wasn’t ready for what was waiting inside. My body jerked back as my hand shot up to my neck. “Dear God.”

Lacey sat upright on the bed, wearing a hospital gown. A doctor stood over her, shining a light into her eyes. Two nurses flanked him.

I almost didn’t recognize her.

Her hair was soaked in dried blood. Matted. Tangled with dirt and leaves. Thick blood streaks ran down her neck and across her temple like Viking war paint. Her face and arms looked like someone had tried to wipe her clean with a wet napkin and given up halfway. Just smears of pink and red everywhere.

The bandage on her forehead was already smudged with red too.

Her eyes met mine. Brown, blank, dull. Nothing behind them.

“Sweetheart!” My voice fell apart. Tears burst out of me as I crossed the room in two desperate strides and grabbed her. Held her. Pressed her to my chest so tight nothing could tear her away again.

Not even the nurse who latched onto my arm.

“Ma’am, you can’t be in here right now.” Her voice was sharp and demanding.

I didn’t move.

The other nurse came at me from the side. Hands on my other arm.

“You need to wait outside,” she said, yanking at me.

“Get off me,” I growled.

Author Bio and Links

S. T. Ashman is an American-German author who calls the beautiful U.S. Seacoast home. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she spent years working as a psychotherapist in the criminal justice system. The work gave her a rare window into the human mind, both the beautiful and the deeply shadowed. It’s no wonder readers often say her characters feel real enough to step off the page.

When she’s not crafting her next twisty tale, you’ll find her chasing after her kids, nose-deep in a book, or curled up late at night with a horror movie and a husband who always falls asleep on the couch before the scary parts.

Website | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Link to ARC on NetGalley

Giveaway

S.T. Ashman will be awarding a $20 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.

I’m happy to welcome author Kate Ellington. Today, Kate shares her new release, The Secret Cottage.

Blurb

Isabel Tate yearns for the simple pleasures she took for granted before scandal rocked her family two years ago. On May Day, she’s determined to forget her troubles and enjoy herself at the Claremont family’s annual festival. Meanwhile, Robert Claremont steels himself to begin courting the haughty heiress next door, but his bashfulness is only one obstacle to winning her hand. Despite a deep sense of family obligation, he dreams of choosing his own bride. Captivated by each other from the moment they meet, Robert and Isabel are kept apart by a misunderstanding until a chance encounter leads to friendship and more. With opposition on all sides, they must overcome inconceivable odds to claim happiness.

Excerpt

Isabel turned her horse into the woods, directing him to a gurgling stream under a canopy of trees. The forest was quiet but for the splashing of the water, bird songs and the rustle of branches. They hadn’t been there long when Isabel heard a new sound. Hoofbeats and muffled voices. She urged her horse closer to the road, and easily heard the riders’ conversation.

“What makes you think she came this way?” a man asked.

A deeper voice answered, “Merely a guess. It seemed as good a place as any to look, but I’m thwarted again.”

“Let’s turn back, we can look for her tomorrow.”

“I’m sitting for the portrait tomorrow.”

Isabel’s pulse quickened as she recognized the deeper voice. Robert Claremont. So he’d been looking for her. Why hadn’t he come to the house? She started back toward the stream, but suddenly reason left her and she guided her horse through the trees, emerging just as Robert and his companion rounded the bend going in the opposite direction. They hadn’t seen her.

Isabel paused for a moment, thinking what to do. Go back home and hope he came to the house soon? Or seek him out for herself? Her reckless side won. Spurring her horse to a gallop, she chased after them. Robert turned in his saddle and Isabel was delighted with the look of shock on his face as she sped past him and who she could now see was Mr. Kensington.

Author Bio and Links

Kate Ellington grew up in a woodsy New England town where summer days at the lake seemed to last forever. She read her first historical romance at age eleven when a teacher challenged her to find a book in the library written by an author she’d never heard of. Thus began a life-long love of love stories.

After graduating from college with an art degree she settled in the Pacific Northwest, where she currently resides with her family.

Goodreads | Bluesky | Website | Facebook | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

Kate Ellington will award a $20 Amazon gift card to a randomly selected winner. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author p.m. Terrell. Today, she shares her creative journey and new release, Padlocked.

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

I hadn’t intended to write a book set in Poland or against the backdrop of World War II, but I dreamed this story from beginning to end in one night. When I awoke the next morning and pondered the thousands of details that had come to me overnight, I knew it was meant for me to write this book. I immersed myself in Polish history, particularly the Nazi invasion in 1939, and the subsequent years leading to the defeat of Nazi Germany.

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

The best part of being an author is the entire creative process. I love everything from the outline and character development to the first draft and all the editing passes afterward. There is something magical about bringing something so complex to life, seemingly from out of thin air.

The worst part is the income. We hear about famous authors who have sustained an entire lifetime from one book (looking at you, Harper Lee and Margaret Mitchell) or those who the largest publishers embrace anything they write, but the reality is different for those of us below that exalted level.

Describe your writing space.

I have a dedicated office. My writing desk faces a window so I can view the changing of seasons, and my dogs enjoy doggie beds scattered around the perimeter. I listen to gentle instrumental music coupled with birdsong. Perhaps the quirkiest part of my office is my underdesk bicycle, which I pedal about twenty miles a day.

Which authors have inspired you?

The authors who inspire me have grown over the years, as my career has evolved. It all began with Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, a nonfiction book that unfolded like a thriller. The first book I ever read in one sitting, then turned back to the first page and read again, was Richard Matheson’s What Dreams May Come. He taught me how to end each chapter with a cliffhanger. Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) and Jon Krakauer (Into Thin Air) taught me that history could be suspenseful and that everything depends on whose eyes we look through.

What is your favorite quote?

“At its lowest ebb, the tide turns.” I read that more than fifty years ago in Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking. It has stayed with me all this time.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

If I had a superpower, I would like to see into the future. There are times when I just need to know that everything is going to be alright.

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

I have aquariums, and my favorite fish are freshwater angels. I used to breed them and had nine tanks at one time. I love the way the parents take care of the eggs and then the babies (fry). I used to sell the fry to a local pet shop when they were about two months old.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Learn as much as you can about the publishing industry and work constantly to hone your craft. Write the very best book you can write, and don’t expect anything to happen overnight—although I hope it does for you!

What are you working on next?

My next book is another work of literary fiction set against the backdrop of the 1920s and the rise of capitalism in the industrial age. It has surprising commonalities with our present time. Of course, there will be murder and romance, along with interesting twists.

Blurb

Padlocked is an epic historical and visionary novel that follows the lives of a group of ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary, life-altering circumstances as Nazi Germany invades Poland in 1939.

Two foreign photojournalists, an American and a Spaniard, are trapped between armies at Festungsfront Oder-Warthe-Bogen, along Poland’s western border with Germany. It is Hank’s last overseas assignment, and he’s been counting the days until he can go home to North Carolina to be with his family. Rafe fled Spain after the dictator, Francisco Franco, targeted his family. The experience changed him, and he now sees the rise of fascism in Europe as a battle between good and evil. They will find themselves embedded with the Polish, Nazi, and Soviet forces at varying times, forcing them to face moral and ethical decisions in their struggles to survive.

A young woman is separated from her sister in Warsaw as the Nazis encircle it. Agata made a vow that she would return to take Elsa to safety, but soldiers and barbed wire prevent her from entering the newly established Jewish sector. She is consumed with guilt over their separation, and when she discovers her sister was taken by train to a work camp near Krakow, she navigates her dangerous, war-torn country in search of her. Her quest will force her to confront a Hell on Earth to find her.

A young man joins the Jungdeutsche Partei, or the Young German Party. Once bullied as a child, Max’s new affiliations promote him to a position where he can dictate life or death and settle scores. In order to thrive under Nazi occupation, he makes daily choices that legitimize brutality and erode humanitarian principles and scruples.

While they don’t know one another at the start of their journeys, each will make decisions that have the power to transform them and place them on paths that ultimately converge on January 27, 1945, as the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates to Auschwitz-Birkenau for all the world to witness.

This is ultimately a story about the strength of love, courage, faith, and resilience in the face of unimaginable hatred and obsession with power, and how every decision we make places us further along specific paths.

Excerpt

Hank watched the interaction with the same guilt he felt every time. Before the war, Pervitin was a commonly available over-the-counter medicine, much like aspirin in the United States. Unlike aspirin, which targeted pain, Pervitin made a person more alert. It could be used by students studying all night, long-distance drivers, shift workers, or even doctors performing lengthy operations. It was so popular and reliable that it soon caught the attention of top military brass.

The problem with soldiers was that they needed rest. A man could only march so far before his body grew tired, and even forced marches required breaks to keep the men from passing out. They also needed sleep. And when a soldier was sleeping, it meant he wasn’t marching.

All that could—and did—change with Pervitin and a similar product, Isophan. Both made soldiers so alert that their minds failed to register the need for breaks or sleep. As a result, they could advance deep into enemy territory without the need to sleep for as much as seven days. The pills ensured Blitzkrieg, a rapid advance by air, vehicles, and infantry, could overwhelm the enemy forces with such speed that the enemy was woefully unprepared for the advance. It created the myth that the Nazi army was filled with a superior Aryan race of superhumans.

One pill could cause alertness. Several taken over time could create feelings of superiority and grandiosity. As the soldiers continued to take them, it resulted in escalating forms of aggression.

The problem, Hank quickly observed, is that some soldiers became addicts because the active ingredients in Pervitin and Isophan were methamphetamines.

And no matter how quickly the factories churned out the pills, they could not keep up with demand. The chemical factory in Będzin’s Jewish quarter had been a possible solution; by converting the original purpose from processing metals to generating pills, the transportation issues from Berlin, which often resulted in lag times and shortages, were resolved through manufacturing on-site. Every day, thousands of the little pills were manufactured and boxed in the facility that Hank had just left, but the vast majority of those pills did not remain in Będzin but were disbursed throughout the immediate area.

As Otto barreled through Będzin and citizens scattered in advance of his careening vehicle, Hank tried not to think about the drug supply chain he and Rafe had created. Each week, they bribed the commissary staff with drugs to get alcohol and food, which they brought to the factory in exchange for more drugs. They then bribed the guards at the gate, Otto, and numerous others for access to areas officially deemed off-limits, to process film in clandestine locations, and to convey the real, unaltered stories to the Allies through underground networks.

Author Bio and Links

My full name is Patricia McClelland Terrell, and I have been writing under the pen name p.m.terrell ever since a publisher presented me with my first fiction book cover. The graphic designer had also entered my name in lower-case letters; my editor hated it, and I loved it. It’s been p.m.terrell ever since.

I began writing when I was nine years old, inspired by a schoolteacher and elementary school principal. Scott-Foresman published my first book, a computer instructional for universities, in 1984. Scott-Foresman, Dow-Jones (Richard D. Irwin branch), Palari Publishing, Paralee Press, and Drake Valley Press have published 27 books to date.

Before embarking on a full-time writing career, I founded McClelland Enterprises, Inc., in the Washington, D.C., area in 1984, specializing in workplace computer instruction. I opened another business, Continental Software Development Corporation, in 1994, which focused on custom application development, programming, website design and development, and cybersecurity.

I was honored to be the first female President of the Chesterfield County/Colonial Heights Crime Solvers. Since moving to North Carolina, I served on the boards of the Robeson County Friends of the Library and the Robeson County Arts Council.

I launched The Book ‘Em Foundation with Waynesboro, Virginia, Police Officer Mark Kearney, and assisted in Virginia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina events before establishing the Annual Book ‘Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, chairing it for several years before turning it over to Robeson Community College in Lumberton, NC.

Website | Facebook | Apple | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Kobo | In France | In Germany | All Other eBook Formats

Padlocked is available in all eBook formats, trade paperback, hardcover, and large print editions.

Giveaway

p.m. terrell will be awarding a $25 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.

I’m happy to welcome back award-winning, best-selling author Patricia Leavy. Today, Patricia shares her new release, Twinkle of Doubt.

Blurb

For fans of Colleen Hoover, this inspirational follow-up to Shooting Stars Above continues the love story between internationally best-selling novelist Tess and counterterrorism agent Jack as they both fight to overcome their deepest fears.

Tess Lee is a wildly successful and world-famous novelist whose inspirational books explore our innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Jack Miller is a federal agent who has spent decades working in counterterrorism—a violent world that has left an inevitable residue on his psyche. Two years into their marriage, as Tess and Jack both heal from past trauma, their epic love, fostered by their ability to truly see one another, has brought them profound happiness. When an anonymous threat is made against Tess’s life, however, everything changes. Will they learn to lean on each other, or will they fall apart into the darkness?

In Twinkle of Doubt, the second Celestial Bodies Romance, Tess, Jack, and their chosen family explore the nature of doubt and the struggle to feel worthy of love.

Excerpt

The next morning, Tess and Jack were snuggling in bed. Jack was playing with Tess’s hair and teasing her. “I’m serious. You’d look good in a tiara; maybe you should have gone for that royal.”

“First of all, everyone looks good in a tiara.”

“That’s your first of all?” he said, tickling her mercilessly.

She giggled uncontrollably until he stopped.

“Okay, I should have said, ‘In no particular order.’ But my other points were that royalty is absurd, and that man was dull and uptight. And furthermore, Omar is out of his mind. He wasn’t in love with me.”

“Well, that’s where you lose all credibility. I trust Omar on this one. It’s impossible not to fall for you.”

She slid her hand behind her head, pulled out her pillow, and walloped him in the face.

“You did not just do that,” he said through laughter.

“That’s what you get for saying such silly things,” she said, now lying flat on the bed.

“Hey, I’m just grateful you’d give up a crown and palace for a guy like me,” he said.

“Jack, there are no guys like you. There’s only you.”

He leaned over, caressed her face, and kissed her.

“Give me my pillow,” she said.

“Oh, now you want it back?” he teased, holding it in his hand as far away from her as he could stretch. “You’re gonna have to come and get it.”

She started to crawl over him when his cell phone rang. “Ah, you’re in luck,” he said, handing her the pillow. “It’s Bobby.”

“See if they want to go to the movies with us later,” Tess said, propping herself up against her pillow. “If Gina’s there, we can persuade you two to see a romantic comedy and not one of those killing spree monstrosities.”

Jack laughed and answered the phone. “Hey, Bobby. What are you guys up to later? Save me from a chick flick.”

Buy Links

Amazon | She Writes Press | Simon & Schuster | The Celestial Bodies Romances

Author Bio and Links

Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She is also the publisher and CEO of Paper Stars Press. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book awards. Her novel Shooting Stars Above was featured on People “10 Romance Books to Read After Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry” and was the 2025 Firebird Book Award First Place Winner in Contemporary Novel, Romance, and Summer Beach Read. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” In 2024 the London Arts-Based Research Centre established “The Patricia Leavy Award for Arts-Based Research.” Patricia lives in Maine. In addition to writing, she enjoys art, reading, and travel.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | X/Twitter

Giveaway

Patricia Leavy will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author Jessica Rakus. Today, Jessica shares her creative journey and her new release, Haven Strong.

Here’s Jessica!

What was your inspiration for this book?

The book started as a personal reaction to the Humboldt Broncos hockey team bus crash in April of 2018. As a hockey fan, the next several months contained frequent reminders, and every time, I’d feel a strangely deep pain. I was still crying months later. Eventually, I decided to write something down, to try to take my emotions and give them to someone else.

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

The best part has definitely been getting feedback now that my debut novel is out in the world. Probably because the feedback has been positive (haha), but also just because there’s something about it being a book I can hold in my hands that means I’m a “real writer” (whatever that means). The hardest part is finishing! I have so many projects sitting at 75% ready for publication, and getting to that 100% mark feels impossible some days. I know I need to (and not just because I’m getting asked when my next book is coming out).

Describe your writing space.

I mostly work at a desk in my living room, a room that has also become my home office since I started working remotely a couple years ago. It’s scattered and messy, because my brain and my life are scattered and messy. I do have a separate desk and computer for writing and for work, so I can at least keep the two separate.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Healing powers! I’ve always thought that would be incredible, being able to lay hands and fix everything. I’d imagine that’s something I do by writing – I can fix the things that are hurting these people, even if they’re pretend.

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

I’m an avid scrapbooker (hence the scattered and messy desk!), and currently my daughter and I are learning to crochet together.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

My advice would be to read everything you can get your hands on, write constantly, and write what you love. Don’t stress about market trends and how it’s “supposed” to be done. Sure, learn the craft, but if you love writing about werewolves, just write about werewolves (or whatever they’re saying is “out”).

What are you working on next?

Almost certainly by the end of 2026, I’ll have a new book out, title TBD, about a newly widowed woman navigating her grief and finding love in a surprising place (sound familiar, readers?).

Blurb

Josephine Grant lives a charmed life – a husband, three perfect children, strong bonds with family and friends in the small town where she’s lived her entire life. She’s the helper, the hostess, the one who always shows up. The person who can do it all.

Then the bus carrying her son’s basketball team crashes, and Jo’s husband and son are among the lives lost. Now she has a new identity. Widow. Single mother. Woman who lost everything. Grief begins to tear apart the place that’s always been her home. Infighting among friends. Gossip and rumors. Wounds that may never heal and bonds that just might.

Now Jo has to rebuild her life, but as the person who thinks of herself as the helper, asking others to help hold her together is impossible. Jo must learn to lean on others as she learns to stand on her own.

Excerpt

I handed my husband his sneakers, shoes he should have been able to keep better track of, given how often he wore them. At least he didn’t leave them where I’d trip on them, like the kids did.

“Thanks, Jo, you’re a lifesaver.” He cupped my face with his free hand. My shoulders relaxed and I melted against him, forgetting all the things on my to do list. My eyes drifted shut as he kissed me, the lingering kiss we were rarely allowed, with three kids running around the house. Our daughters were spending a few hours with their grandparents, and our son was upstairs ignoring us. And even without the kids interrupting us, Steve’s cell phone pulled us apart, ringing incessantly from his pocket.

“Ignore it, Steve,” I murmured against his lips.

“It’s Reston, and we have to leave anyway.” He stepped away from me and answered the phone call before sitting down to tug on the sneakers, grubby with constant wear. “We’re on our way, I swear. Walking out the door as we speak.”

A lie. Despite multiple reminders we needed to leave, Matt was still in his room. Matt and Steve were due at school in ten minutes to catch the bus to this evening’s basketball game. And if the head coach was calling, we had to leave the house now.

Author Bio and Links

Jessica Rakus is a debut novelist, after many, many years of writing practice. She currently lives in Louisiana, after living briefly in seven other states.

Website | Amazon Buy Link | Barnes & Noble Buy Link

Giveaway

Jessica Rakus will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author C.P. Silver. Today, she shares her creative journey and new release, Whispers of the Elixir.

Interview

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

For me, the best part about being an author is getting to do what I love. During all the years I practiced law, writing was always my dream job, and it has lived up to my expectations. Even the frustrations of having to scrap something and start over, or facing writer’s block, don’t take the joy out of it for me.

The worst part then, isn’t about the writing itself, but what happens after: marketing. Getting your book into the hands of the people it was written for isn’t always straightforward, and sometimes feels like an uphill battle.

Which authors have inspired you?

Various authors have inspired me in different ways. In terms of world-building, definitely J. R. R. Tolkien and Jin Yong, with their layered cultures and sweeping epic settings.

But in terms of my writing journey, it would have to be Michael J. Sullivan. He was so open about how he learned to write, which was in part by studying authors he admired. Since I love his books, I was inspired to do the same, and learned so much in the process.

What is your favorite quote?

This changes depending on the season of my life. Right now, I’d say it’s one from The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

This feels so poignant right now, with all that’s happening in the world. Because, while we can’t control everything, we do have the power to determine what we say and do and accomplish in our own lives.

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

I’d have to say painting is the main one. Creating a scene with a paintbrush gives me that same magical feeling as when I’m creating one with words, like anything is possible. And those rare moments when I manage to transmit the picture in my head onto the canvas always leave me with a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Keep improving through practice. Even the greats (or perhaps especially the greats) say they’re still striving for improvement.

Also, avail yourself of writing craft books and training videos, and really study them. There are a thousand good ones.

But above all, keep going.
When work, or sickness, or family commitments make you drop your writing for weeks on end, pick it up again.

When you have to delete entire chapters because you took a wrong turn somewhere, just start over.

When others read your work, and their feedback crushes your soul, don’t give up.

I’ll borrow a quote used by many people in different contexts: If you keep on writing and don’t give up, finishing your book is “not only possible, it’s inevitable.”

What are you working on next?

I have a number of irons in the fire right now.

The one that will be released the soonest is the prequel to my series. It’s a short story that follows the journey of my protagonist’s mother—who also happens to be the main antagonist of Whispers of the Elixir.

Then there are other short stories that I work on whenever I can, which I find is a wonderful way to vary my writing practice.

Finally, I’ve got the first drafts of books 2, 3, and 4 of the Order of the Ember series in the works. I’m writing these simultaneously to ensure consistency across the series. Needless to say, this is a fairly big project, but I’m loving every moment of it.

Blurb

A matriarchal empire. A princess with forbidden magic. A mother who would kill to protect her own legacy.

As heir to the Min empire, Tori has spent her life under the iron will of her mother, Empress Zinchen—a sovereign determined to shape the world in her own image. But Tori has been hiding a dangerous secret: a forbidden elemental power tied to the world’s mythic past. If Zinchen discovers the truth, it will cost Tori her life.

Haunted by this threat, Tori flees into the hidden lands—an ancient realm of ghost-flowers, sentient forests, and immortals from a half-remembered age. But magic here is neither blessing nor curse—it is a reflection, a test, a force that shapes as much as it destroys. And as her trials progress, Tori is stripped of certainty and pride. To survive her mother’s ambition, she must use what she learns to suppress the power that could doom her—but in doing so, she risks losing the very future she was born to inherit.

Whispers of the Elixir begins the Order of the Ember series—a character-driven epic of legacy, sacrifice, and the strength of a princess destined to rise from the shadows and claim her place in legend.

In Whispers of the Elixir, you will find the political intrigue of Andrea Stewart, the mythic worldbuilding of Ken Liu, and the emotional resonance of M.L. Wang.

Excerpt

A cool, fluid resistance hit her head, flowed down her spine, and clung to her clothes, as though she were walking through a curtain of water. Sounds muffled, apart from the tinkle of trickling droplets, and the earth felt slick beneath her feet.

A moment later, the sensation ended, and she checked her body, finding it dry. All that remained was a feeling of pleasant freshness. Master Banfay stood a few steps ahead, poking idly at the ground, and at the sight of him, relief flooded her—she was in!

She looked around and gaped—the forest burst with color. It was as though she had been viewing the world until now through a dull, gray-tinted pane, and had finally stepped into the open. The air, too, had a purity she had never imagined possible, and everything felt alive in a way that didn’t seem rational.

Elnora popped into sight, looking pale, and Master Banfay finally looked up from the ground.

“Welcome to the Veil of Ayenashi,” he said. “Be happy. Very few mortals ever set foot here.”

From then on, swaying trees bordered their path, along with bubbling fountains where birds bathed, splashing merrily. Lomi filled the place, shimmering and dancing, flashing and swooping, spinning feverishly inside shafts of sunlight.

Author Bio and Links

C.P. Silver writes fantasy set in a world where matriarchy is absolute, with immersive worldbuilding, evocative prose, and emotionally complex characters. A former lawyer who also briefly studied Chinese medicine, her experiences shape the nuance and depth of her debut novel, Whispers of the Elixir, a slow-burn epic centered on legacy, inheritance, and the dangerous cost of power.

Raised in the Cayman Islands, she now lives in Europe. When not writing, she’s usually reading in a quiet nook or walking somewhere green, listening for the next story.

Author Website | Goodreads | BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon Buy Link | All Other Retailers

Giveaway

C.P. Silver will be awarding a $25 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.