I’m happy to welcome author Cynthia Flowers. Today, Cynthia shares her new release, Only in September.

Blurb

When Jacqueline follows her trusty Labrador Bailey down a hidden path to the beach, she’s unaware that her vacation plans on a small island off the New England coast has already taken her life in a new direction. Running into an unassuming local beach comber stirs new thoughts, desires, and a self-determination she never knew she possessed. Jacqueline will need to trust her instincts and make the most of what fate has in store if she wants the future that, until now, she has only dared to dream of.

Excerpt

The ferry was taking its sweet time making its way to Block Island.

Time is the ultimate dictator. Where did I hear that? I couldn’t have just come up with that one on my own.

Jacqueline French grabbed one of the last outside seats on the Block Island Ferry. It had only left Point Judith, RI, ten minutes ago, but for her, it seemed like ten hours ago. This would be her fourth September visiting this tiny tear drop-shaped island nestled between the south coast of Rhode Island and Montauk Point, located at the eastern tip of the south fork of Long Island, New York.

She always preferred visiting Block Island this time of year, after many of the Labor Day vacation stragglers dispersed and the kids were back at school. Although there were still a fair number of visitors, the din of racing mopeds was confined mostly to the weekends. Thanks to Michael, who she met on her first trip to Block Island, she came to know virtually every back road and trail on this seven-mile-long by three-mile-wide island. Beyond its beauty, Jacqueline’s deeper connection with the island was its shape. She shed many tears lately over the fate of her marriage and the direction her life had taken.

She always brought Bailey, her chocolate Labrador retriever, on her September sojourns to Block Island. Bailey enjoyed seeing the seals every year, and they seemed curious about her. But Bailey had become too arthritic to make the trip this year.

Author Bio and Links

Cynthia Flowers, a recently retired advertising professional, now grant writer, resides with her husband and four-year old Labrador named Eddie, at their “sanctuary” in Upstate New York, Although previously published, this is Cynthia’s first book of fiction. Early on in grade school, Cynthia looked forward to creative writing class and enjoyed reading her stories aloud to her eager classmates.

Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome author Mariah Stillbrook. Today, Mariah shares her new release, Hall of Shadows.

Blurb

In the quiet life of Tess Moreau lies a remarkable power-her touch revives ashes, defying nature’s laws. When she uncovers a mysterious book linked to her grandmother and a witch’s coven, her journey begins. Guided by a cursed deck of oracle cards, Tess delves into The Hall of Shadows, a realm crafted by her ancestors. With each dimension traversed, she uncovers her true lineage-a descendant of mythical beings. As Tess’s humanity wanes, her destiny beckons. At journey’s end, she faces a choice: preserve or destroy the hall. In a tale of magic and identity, Tess’s odyssey may end, but her legacy is just beginning-a testament to the power within us all.

Excerpt

The woman didn’t seem to breathe or blink as she faced me, and as I took one hesitant step and then another towards the front of the stage, it became clear that this entity wasn’t going to budge an inch.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“You already know that.” In fact, I did. She held out a long, pale hand before her and inspected her nails. “I am the goddess of the witches, and I would assume that if someone summoned me, they very well might understand who they were calling on.” She lifted her eyes to match my somewhat terrified gaze. “However, this is a unique transaction.”

Transaction?

The goddess’s attention shifted to the part of the stage occupying the oracle cards. “You’re on a journey.”

My voice cracked as I replied, “I think I am.”

“You are.” She leaned down into a chair, then folded her hands together and sat them over her lap. “I am here to answer your question; in exchange, I have been given permission to take whatever I want from you.”

I inhaled sharply.

The goddess seemed to be speculating over my entire existence. “You have the eyes of someone kissed by the ghost of a recently deceased star.”

What?

She smiled, but not in the way adults usually smile at kids my age. This was more of a sneer laced with enough sugar to coax her prey into believing she could be trusted.

My spine was rigid—I could tell she was about to pounce, to give me an answer then suck the marrow from my bones as payment. “Wait!” She tilted her head to the side, and I slowly came down from where I’d been balancing over the tips of my toes. “What exactly are you going to require of me after this?”

“I’m afraid I don’t offer previews.”

Author Bio and Links

Mariah Stillbrook is the witchy author of In the Pines, Hall of Shadows, and The Lost Erwain. Originally from Iowa, she lives in Colorado with her white German shepherd, husband, and little girl. She spends most of her days writing, reading, and enjoying the occasional hike. In her late twenties she realized that her writing was missing something, magic. She now focuses her writing on urban fantasy and horror in both adult and young adult genres.

Website | Twitter | Bluesky | Threads | TikTok | Facebook | Instagram | Linktree | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome author Naomi Laeuchli. Today, Naomi shares her creative journey and new release, The Schoolmaster’s Daughter.

Here’s Naomi!

What was your inspiration for this book?

I love historical romances, but I also love stories that are centered around deception: people lying about themselves and forced into absurd situations due to the stories they have told. The deeper the hole they dig, the happier I am!

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

The best part is the stories. You can never be bored so long as you have stories in your head.

The worst part: the sense of failure you can feel when you realize you haven’t written anything on your main project in over a month.

Describe your writing space.

My main writing space is my bedroom. My computer is set up by my window with a lovely view out towards a hill that you’ll occasionally see horses or deer crossing. My keyboard is my favorite part of my writing setup: it was a Christmas gift from my sister and brother-in-law and features rabbits on the keys as well as a 3D rabbit as the escape key.

Which authors have inspired you?

Georgette Heyer! Her historical romances are sheer delight. If I can make just one person as happy reading my book as hers have made me, then all the words I’ve used up writing over all the years will be well worth it.

What is your favorite quote?

I’m going to cheat and select two.

“Have courage and be kind.”

And:

“Agnes Repplier, an astute observer of life and writer of elegant essays, once observed that whereas the dark and unpleasant side of this world is often portrayed as the profound one, it really is just the obvious one. The individual who can look into the world and find the lovely, the beautiful and the joyful is the one who has looked into life deeply, truly and well. Discovering happiness and sharing it with others is a gift.”

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I have three siblings living on three different continents, and dozens of places I’d love to visit. So, the answer is easy: teleportation.

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

I love riding my horse Peshitta (even when she’s not so sure about the whole endeavor), hiking (I hiked 270 miles of the Florida trail this past January), and caving (caves are secret gardens underground).

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Loving writing for writing. Be it for the story or the characters or the very process of writing. Even if no one ever reads another word you write, you need to be able to still find joy in it, or else writing will likely only make you unhappy.

What are you working on next?

I am writing a murder mystery thriller (which is a bit of a pivot from historical romance, but I love all the genres!).

Blurb

Deep in debt and desperate for a solution, Julius Claydon knows that marrying a wealthy woman is his only hope. When he meets the beautiful and rich Clara Haughton in Bath, he believes she could be his salvation, but there’s one obstacle in his path: Lydia Cray, Clara’s sharp-witted and penniless companion.

When Lydia quickly sees through his fortune-hunting motives, Julius proposes an alliance. He will help secure her future if she helps him secure Clara’s heart.

But Lydia is not all she appears to be, and she has a plan of her own: to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget. But her scheming soon leads to unforeseen consequences for them both.

Can love spring from deception?

Excerpt

He had reached them now and was smiling down at her. “Miss Cray. You look lovely tonight.”

“Thank you.”

She was dimly aware that he was bowing to Clara and greeting her as well. But while he must, in the interests of politeness, have looked away from herself at some point, it didn’t feel like it. It felt as if his eyes never truly left hers. Which made it unmistakable who he was addressing when he asked, “Might I have the pleasure of this dance?”

Later that night she would look back and think it strange that he had asked her to dance before Clara, that he had barely paid Clara more attention than what was demanded by common civility. But now she simply held out her hand to him, beaming at him and nodded, finding words curiously difficult to form.

The music had changed to a waltz as he led her out onto the dance floor. She felt a curious sensation somewhere north of her stomach as his arm wrapped around her waist and he began to lead her.

He truly was graceful, as he smiled down at her and the pair twirled through the steps and the music.

This close, she could see the individual flecks of grey hairs in amongst the dark, which she found strangely endearing. The lines on his face seemed a little deeper under the candlelight and she felt a strange impulse to reach up and run her fingers across them.

His eyes, though, were a clear deep blue, and she suspected they held the exact same youthfulness and brightness that they had had on the day he was born. In some mysterious way, her instincts told her they always would. Those same eyes were smiling down warmly into her own, and she blushed a little but held the gaze steady.

Author Bio and Links

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Naomi Laeuchli has lived overseas in nine different countries on three different continents where her family was posted with the American Foreign Service. In November 2012 she moved from the Democratic Republic of the Congo back to the states and currently lives in Arizona with five horses. She works as a freelance writer and part time at the local library. She has written several interactive stories for Choice of Games, Tales, and Dorian.

Website | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome author Jess Ames. Today, Jess shares her new release, Everything You’ve Ever Wanted.

Blurb

Jenna Mitchell has spent her adult life under the control of her husband, her dreams of owning her own bakery pushed aside. But at twenty-eight, she’s finally ready to reclaim her life and pursue her passion. Well… almost.

With the unwavering support of the Sensational Six—her close-knit group of friends—Jenna can finally envision a day where she is in charge of her own destiny, a big step forward for her. As she works at her friend’s café, Jenna begins to discover the strength and courage she needs to break free from her past and begin focusing on her future.

But can she quiet the echoes that keep finding their way back to her? Will the doubts they’ve created make it impossible for her to see—and trust—the path forward before her chance at a better life slips through her flour-dusted fingers?

Fans of Rachel Hanna will enjoy this warm and uplifting story about self-discovery, finding the courage to start anew, and the unbreakable bonds of chosen family.

Excerpt

I’d prepared for this moment in therapy. We had role-played and rehearsed for weeks, and as I tilted the phone away from my ear in preparation of what I knew was coming next, I sent up a silent prayer that I could speak with the same resolve I’d finally achieved in my sessions.

“I’m just not so sure about that anymore, Craig. That’s not our home anymore, and for the record, I like it here.”

My therapist’s voice floated through my head. “Good. Very good. Keep going, Jenna. You’ve got this.” I focused on the tension in my shoulders and let them drop from somewhere near my earlobes.

“Oh, I’m sure you do like it there, living it up and doing whatever the hell you want, but you have to know it’ll never last, Jenna. You need me. You’ll never survive on your own. So, go down to the bank and get the money and get me the hell out of here,” he volleyed back. I could almost see his confident sneer as he waited for his words to take shape in my soft, pliable mind.

But what Craig didn’t know, and what I was finally learning, was that my mind could bend to my will, too.

I let the silence stretch long enough to gather up the scraps of my newly found strength, breathe in slowly through my nose, and look around to ground myself in the new life I was willing into existence, one bright white and navy throw pillow at a time. “Craig, I don’t think it’s a great idea for me to come bail you out right now,” I began with all the confidence I could muster, “but I’m sure your attorney will be able to work something out.”

“I don’t have an attorney, Jenna. I have a public defender,” he spit out.

“I know, Craig. But I —”

“Jenna, you’re being ridiculous. Come down here right—”

Taking a page from his own book, I cut him off. Hung up the phone. For the first time, I didn’t feel compelled to listen to him go on and on about all the ways I’d failed him, and all the ways he’d saved me. I no longer needed my subscription to his misguided savior program. It had become painfully clear who had been saving whom in our relationship, and I was no longer compelled to rescue him after what he’d done to land himself in jail. It was embarrassing enough to know that he had destroyed my friend’s home, just as I was starting to get my feet under me and maybe forge my own path to a little bit of independence. I can’t even imagine how Paige had felt to come home and find her kitchen and bedroom destroyed. And then to find out it was my husband who had done it out of anger and jealousy that she was offering me a chance to bake for her retreats—an opportunity to gain some independence (God forbid)… I’d been lucky that Paige was such an understanding friend and didn’t hold Craig’s actions against me.

Author Bio and Links

Jess Ames is knocking on the door of fifty, but has the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old and the body of a fifty-four-year-old (according to her fitness app).

She is “mama” to nine, “mimi” to four, “friend” to all, an adequate wife, and living the dream of the little girl who wanted to be a writer when she grew up.

They are both still waiting for that moment, so she’s writing in the meantime.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Ebook | Paperback | Signed Paperback

Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Wendy W. Webb. Today, Wendy shares her new release, Mean Cuisine.

Blurb

Beluga Stein is taking a cooking class and it’s a real killer. This time she’s traded her signature loud muumuus for ill-fitting chef attire, including a toque the size of her ego.

A well-liked chef is found dead and it’s up to Beluga and her feline familiar, Planchette, to investigate. There’s no recipe to follow, only the hope that her erratic psychic ability will hit the spot. Is a supernatural entity stirring up trouble, or something far more dangerous?

Beluga and Planchette can’t stand the heat, but there’s no way out of this kitchen while murder is the main dish.

Excerpt

Beluga Stein’s Diary

Such a day.

And while Chef Pernod tried mightily to restore order with an impromptu lecture on the differences between Grande, Classic and Nouvelle cuisines, I’m afraid the distinctions were lost when the frozen body was wheeled past us to the waiting ambulance.

The sight of such a spectacle took a toll on the chef as well, I should add. Fortunately for me there was no mention of Planchette in the kitchen, but for the rest of us the chef’s well-practiced lecture took a sudden nosedive into a stream-of-consciousness series of French words. I think I heard her say that a traditional kitchen brigade had positions with names sounding something like “poisoner,” which is rather ominous if you ask me, and “chefs who party,” which might warrant further investigation if things start to get dull. Or one finds herself in immediate need of hors d’oeuvres and a tropical cocktail.

Author Bio and Links

Wendy W Webb (aka one of the many Wendy Webbs) has published dark fantasy short stories and novels, co-edited anthologies, and has had productions of stage and radio plays. After a hiatus as a doctoral student of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomed the return to fiction with The Wild Rose Press writing the gothic Widow’s Walk, and two updated books in the Beluga Stein supernatural-humor-murder mystery series, Bee Movie and Mean Cuisine. Sunbury Press under the Milford House imprint published the paranormal, travel, “memoir,” Eye of the Gargoyle. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see any more ghosts!

Barnes & Noble Paperback | Barnes & Noble eBook | Amazon Paperback | Amazon eBook

Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome author Susan Calder. Today, Susan shares her new release, A Killer Whisky.

Blurb

The 1918 influenza pandemic strikes Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Great War rages overseas. While her husband fights in Europe, Katharine works in a doctor’s office to support her children and her brother, a wounded veteran. One night their neighbour suddenly takes sick and dies. The attending doctor concludes the man died from influenza, but Katharine suspects someone laced his whisky with a drug that mimics the deadly flu’s symptoms.

Katharine convinces the police to investigate. Worried about her brother’s involvement with a suspect, she delves into his secrets and comes to fear he’s connected to the murder. She grows disturbingly attracted to the investigating detective who returns her affections. He’s convinced her brother or someone else close to her is a killer and risks his career to pursue the crime. Katharine must discover the truth so she can move forward in a world that has changed forever.

Excerpt

Detective Bertram Tanner strode into Calgary Police Headquarters, his steps lighter than they’d been this morning.

“How was your walk?” Julia, the receptionist, asked.

“Reflective.”

“I often think while walking too.”

It was too soon to tell his colleagues he might be leaving the police force. “How was your lunch hour?”

“Busy,” she said. “I tracked down balloons for my son’s birthday celebration tonight.”

“Which son?”

“The oldest. He’s ten years old. We decided to limit the party to family due to the flu. He’s disappointed his friends can’t come, but it will be lively with all of us there.”

Julia, a war widow with three children, lived with her parents—the police chief and his wife.

“I phoned my mother after lunch,” Julia said. “She went to every confectionary in town and managed to find all the children’s favourite sweets despite the sugar shortage.”

The chief’s wife was a ball of energy. A leader in the local suffragette and Prohibition movements, she claimed personal credit for Alberta women gaining the vote and the province going dry in 1916.

Bertram went into his office, closed the door, and draped his coat and hat on the coat tree. What work could he do this afternoon? Reports of the Spanish flu’s arrival on a train from Eastern Canada were keeping people away from the pool rooms and dance halls. Calgary hadn’t had a brawl or knifing in a week. Even the criminals seemed to be staying home.

He took out an old file, a robbery scheduled for trial next week. A man broke into a house in the Sunalta neighbourhood and stole $2.75. Disturbed by a noise, he fled through a window but foolishly returned an hour later. Caught red-handed by three residents, the robber could be sentenced to up to a year of hard labour. Bertram tried to organize his trial notes, but his thoughts kept shifting to his plan to leave the police force when the war ended and soldiers came home to replace him on the job. After fifteen minutes, he set the robbery file aside and decided to take a methodical approach to his lunch hour reflections about leaving.

He took out a clean sheet of paper, drew a vertical line down the middle, and titled each side “pro” and “con.”

Author Bio and Links

Susan Calder lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is the author of five novels published by BWL Publishing Inc. A Deadly Fall, Ten Days in Summer, Winter’s Rage and Spring Into Danger are part of her Paula Savard Mystery Series. The books follow the adventures of Paula, a Calgary insurance adjuster who works with the police to solve insurance-related crimes. Susan’s standalone suspense novel, To Catch a Fox takes a troubled Calgary woman to Southern California on a quest to find her missing mother. In December 2024, BWL will release Susan’s first historical novel, A Killer Whisky. The story is set in 1918 Calgary and will be the 12th and final book of the BWL Canadian Historical Mystery Series. Susan has also published non-fiction articles. Her short stories and poems have won contests and appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta.

Website | Facebook | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

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

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