I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Alix Nichols. Today, Alix shares her creative journey and new release, A Duchess with a Secret.

Here’s Alix!

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

The best part is having permission to make things up—and actually getting paid for it! I get to create entire worlds, develop larger-than-life characters, and shape their destinies however I want. It’s pure creative freedom, and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of typing “The End” on a story that only existed in my head a few months earlier.

The worst part? It’s a solitary occupation. While I genuinely enjoy the quiet focus, there are days when the silence feels a little too loud. That’s when I miss the casual chat of a busy office or the energy of working alongside other people. It can get lonely every once in a while, which is probably why I’ve developed such a strong café habit!

Describe your writing space.

I usually write in cafés. Given that I live in France, my writing space is therefore a typical French bistro, with its wicker chairs, marble-topped tables, and the gentle clink of coffee cups. I love the comforting aroma of fresh espresso and buttery croissants, the soft murmur of conversations around me, and the occasional chorus of two or three snoring dogs (pooches are welcome in most French cafés). There’s just the right amount of background energy—enough to feel connected to the world, but not so much that it distracts me. The waiters are charmingly efficient, and I’ve come to think of my favorite corner table as my unofficial office.

What is your favorite quote?

“Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear” by George Addair. I love this quote so much that I wrote an entire book around it. Titled “The Devil’s Own Chloe,” it’s part of the Bistro La Bohème series. The idea that fear is often the only thing standing between us and the life (or love) we want really resonates with me. It’s a message I return to again and again, both in my writing and in my own life.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I would thrive on just four hours of sleep a night. Why not zero, you might ask? Because I’d get bored being awake while everyone else is asleep. Four hours feels like the perfect compromise.

What are you working on next?

I’m currently working on the next book in the Montevor Royals series. I haven’t decided on the final title yet, but I can tell fans of the series that this one will feature an exciting key chase that takes the characters to some interesting places. It’s shaping up to be full of adventure, secrets, and plenty of royal romance!

Blurb

For sixteen years, they’ve hated each other…
and craved each other.

Widowed and betrayed, Eva Castellane will do anything to protect her daughter’s inheritance.
Standing in her way?
Alex Castellane—her late husband’s steely, magnetic half brother.
The man poised to take it all.
Her worst enemy.
Her forbidden temptation.

Stuck together in the family castle, their legal fight spirals into war…
until a common threat forces a reluctant alliance.
Desire blurs the lines.
Chemistry sizzles.
Rules get broken.

But as the verdict nears, one slip could unravel Eva’s explosive secret…

A Duchess with a Secret stands alone within the Montevor Royals Saga. It is a spicy contemporary enemies-to-lovers romance with forced proximity, family secrets, and a hard-won HEA.

Excerpt

Eva

“He’s here,” Millie whispers.

I don’t look. I don’t need to.

The man she’s warning me about radiates a chill so palpable I can sense which door he entered through. The air in Fort Vauclairt’s reception hall, warmed by hundreds of flickering candles and the breath of mourners grows colder by the second.

Of course, Alex would show up! Nothing like a funeral to size up how much of the estate he can have, just because he happens to share the same father as Geoffroy.

I’m being unfair, I know.

After all, Alex is the old duke’s second son. In neighboring France, the math prodigy would’ve inherited half of the duchy when Rodolphe passed.

Then again, there are no dukes or duchies in the Republic of France, nor are we subject to its laws. We’re old school in Mount Evor. Here, the principles of primogeniture and representation still reign supreme. The firstborn takes it all. The child comes before the sibling. With both Geoffroy and Julian gone, Millie’s birthright ensures that she inherits everything.

The only way Alex Castellane gets a chunk of the estate is if Geoffroy named him in his will. Which I know he didn’t. My late husband and his younger half brother had been estranged long before I met and married Geoffroy Castellane, a dashing widower twice my age.

Alex will get nothing or next to nothing. And Millie will be the next Duchess of Rohinn.

He knows this, of course he does. Yet he carries his tall, infuriatingly well-proportioned form with confidence, which lends an air of legitimacy to his potential claims.

Author Bio and Links

Alix Nichols is a caffeine addict, a longtime fan of Mr. Darcy. She pens sexy romantic comedies and romantasy. Her books have been described as “pure pleasure” (Kirkus Reviews) that “keep fans of romance hanging off the edge of their seat” (Romantic Times).

At the age of six, she released her first book. It featured highly creative spelling on a dozen pages stitched together and bound in velvet paper.

Decades later, she lives in France and still writes. Her spelling has improved (somewhat), she has become a Kindle Scout winner, Chanticleer First Place winner, USA Today bestseller, Book Riot’s Top 100 Must-Read International Romance author, and Amazon All-Star for being one of the 100 most-read authors in Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon Author Page | Website | Goodreads) | Facebook | BookBub |
Newsletter Signup (and a free bundle)

Giveaway

Alix Nichols will be awarding a digital box set of her bestselling series The Darcy Brothers to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Hawk MacKinney. Today, Hawk shares his new release, Moccasin Trace.

Blurb

…it was about the land.

It is July of 1859, a month of sweltering dog days and feverish emotional bombast. Life is good for widower Rundell Ingram and his hazel-eyed, roan-haired son, Hamilton. Between the two of them, they take care of Moccasin Hollow, their sprawling ancestral plantation home in the rolling farming country outside Queensborough Towne in east Georgia. Adjoining Ingram lands is Wisteria Bend, the vast slave-holding plantation of Andrew and Corinthia Greer, their daughter Sarah, and son Benjamin. Both families share generations of long-accepted traditions, and childhood playmates are no longer children. The rangy, even-tempered Norman-Scottish young Hamilton is smitten with Sarah, who has become an enticing capricious beauty—the young lovers more in love with each passing day, and only pleasant times ahead of them.

…but a blood tide of war is sweeping across the South, a tide that will forever change everyone and everything.

Excerpt

Ben paced back and forth on the porch with worried glances in the direction of the corduroy Milledgeville Road. At first the sound was faint, the muffled clank and rattle of harness and teams breaking the heavy stillness. Shuffling ones and twos were the first to appear, then slogging lines emerged through the murk, followed by sleek prancing mounts, bulging saddlebags, silver candlesticks poking out of more than a few. Behind them were the creaking wagons, clanking artillery and ammunition caissons pulled by well-fed hefty teams. Teamsters on ordnance wagons, confiscated farm wagons filled with pillaged spoils, war booty for a wife, a sweetheart, sold or bartered for ready poker ante or whorehouse favors. The more they stole, the more they wanted, locust scouring across fields, lanes, roads. Tents set up here and there, cooking fires fed with fences, sidings from barns and outbuildings, fruit trees, hundred-year-old oaks and elms…part of the old order going up in smoke, part left in the ashes.

Author Bio and Links

With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. His professional writing includes articles on chordate neuroembryology, and aerospace research on muscle metabolic behavior in multi-orbital environments.

In addition, Hawk has authored several works of fiction including a historical romance Moccasin Trace which was nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. His Cairns of Sainctuarie Science Fiction Series and his Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series have received national and international attention. He is currently working on a series of horror/suspense novels.

Website | Amazon

Giveaway

Hawk MacKinney will award a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly selected winner. Find out more here.

Follow Hawk on the rest of his Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Lynn Crandall. Today, Lynn shares her new release, Move Me.

Blurb

An Aeon by birth, Diane Butler knew when she walked away from her fellow Aeons that she wanted certain things: wealth, power, acceptance. But she’d come to realize she didn’t belong with Dark Sides and joined in the battle to save Auralia from darkness. But when her past comes after her, she understand that she can’t escape it with a simple name change.

A surprise encounter that turns ugly pits lone Emmett Forrest against thugs determined to hurt Cassie. With each threat out cold on the ground, he believes he’s done. But when the men report the incident to the Auralia Police Department, he can’t avoid the drama or the intrigue surrounding her.

Excerpt

“Anyone else bored as sin? We stopped the Irish mob and Dark Sides from taking over Auralia in December. January and February, we took some time to recover from Dark Sides’ Project Reckoning. I know you all have been tending to your personal lives, your relationships, and your careers, but for me, those two months were the epitome of boredom. Now March is almost over, and still boredom reigns.”

“Diane—” Braden started.

“Cassie,” she interrupted. “Try to remember, Braden. I’ve told you so many times that I’m using my middle name now. I’m not Diane anymore.” She pouted her lips.
Braden nodded. “Yes, sorry. You’re Cassandra Butler now, not Diane Butler.”

“Cassie. I told you, Cassie for short.” She swept her gaze around the living room at Braden and Payson’s house and flung her hands up. “I swear, it’s not that hard to remember my name. I made a change, I’m not Diane. I’m not that woman any more. I’m aligned with light and love. I’m Cassie. Cassie. Cassie Butler. Gauzy, gossamer, and open, not rigid, harsh, or angry Cassie.” The rock lodged in her gut weighed her down. Was she different? Truly? She’d been putting in the work with her counselor, Claire Eve Kelly, to make the change permanent. But with the chaos of the past not far behind, she ached for the excitement of the life she had. The parties, the conniving to get what she wanted. It had all been so mesmerizing.

Author Bio and Links

After cutting her writing teeth as a feature writer for commercial and trade magazines, a reporter for newspapers and radio, and an executive editor for a communications company, award-winning author Lynn Crandall tuned her voracious appetite for stories to writing contemporary and paranormal romance, women’s fiction, and romantic suspense. In her books, she enjoys taking readers on emotional journeys with relatable characters who refuse to back down, and face challenges and tribulations with heart and soul. She believes every love has a story, and hers is with one handsome husband and a large, beautiful circle of family, including her cat Winter.

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | TikTok | Amazon

Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Pamela Gibson. Today, Pamela shares her new release, Unmasking the Marquess.

Blurb

He was a licentious rogue, or was he?

Aubrey St. Clair, Marquess of Leisterbridge, a notorious rake and society fribble, abandons his bride on their wedding night to spite his father, the man who coerced him into the marriage. When his intrepid bride turns up at his personal estate to quash the scandal, they call a truce and finally get to know each other.

Lady Catherine Sturbridge considered ending her betrothal. But a threatening letter sent to her by a convicted criminal whom she chanced upon in London, changed her mind. Marrying the powerful Duke of Gresham’s heir would keep her loved ones safe, even if she must tie herself to a frivolous rogue.

When, despite her silence, her enemy abducts her godchild, Catherine is forced to confide in her husband who agrees to help her. But can she trust him to know what to do when a child’s life is at stake and they’ve been warned not to go to go the authorities?

As they work closely together, they succumb to the passionate side of their marriage. But Catherine is wary, despite finding a different man under the guise of a society dandy, and when Aubrey reveals a long-held secret, she must protect her heart because betrayal is the enemy of trust and their fragile, new-found love is about to shatter.

Excerpt

Why would a stranger in the village be asking about his lady wife? When they spoke of it before, Catherine had said she didn’t have any unrequited suitors. Would she tell him if she did? Perhaps he should ask her again.

Aubrey hurried back to his study and found Catherine still seated in front of his bookshelf.

“Remember our conversation about a lovelorn swain who may have followed you here?”

“Yes. Why are you bringing this to my attention again? I told you, there are none.”

“What other reason could there be for someone to be looking for you? Apparently the man is still here and has been staying in the village somewhere. If I knew his whereabouts, I would ask him myself.”

She stilled and peered directly into his eyes. He caught a flicker of fear before she masked her expression. “I cannot imagine anyone following me here for any reason.” She rose. “I didn’t even know I would be traveling here until I discovered you had…”

“Abandoned you on our wedding night?”

“Yes.” She lowered her eyes. “Am I such a—? No need to respond. I believe I shall read in my bedchamber and take a dinner tray there later.” She hurried out of the room.

Aubrey, who’d told many falsehoods in his lifetime, knew exactly when someone was not being truthful.

My dear lady wife is afraid of something, and I am going to find out who or what it is.

Author Bio and Links

Author of eight books on California history and twenty-three romance novels, Pamela Gibson is a former City Manager who lives in Southern Nevada. Having spent several years messing about in boats, a hobby that included a five-thousand-mile trip in a 32-foot Nordic Tug, she now spends most of her time indoors happily reading, writing, cooking and keeping up with the antics of her latest rescue cat, Lady Diana, a dignified senior. She loves red wine, all kinds of chocolate, old Jimmy Buffett sailing songs, and curling up with a good book.

Thank you for reading. If you are so inclined, we would love for you to leave a review or rating.

Website | BookBub | Facebook | Threads | Goodreads | Amazon

Giveaway

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

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

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.

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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.