I’m happy to welcome author C. M. Sage. Today, she shares her new release, Lost and Found, Book 1 in the Chronicles of Antecede Fantasy Adventure Trilogy.

Blurb

Sometimes things are lost for a very long time…and then they are found.

Take Gracie for example, a woman who lost everything, her life, her family, even her name, but now she is a Cathalian warrior of Antecede blessed with powers, which aren’t yet fully realized. Her elder and nemesis, Donavan, finally granted the former professor an opportunity to train a new warrior. Her joy turns to shock when she meets her great, great, great, great grandson, Henry, accompanied by his wisecracking best friend, Milo. Henry recognizes his long dead ancestor right away, and it doesn’t take the Cathalians long to realize that this meeting was no accident.

Gracie and the warriors of Antecede soon discover that they aren’t the only ones laying a claim on their new charges. Menacing enemies from the South and their hired mercenary assassin, Revilan, the Bowman, have also taken an interest. Come along with Gracie, Donavan, and their fellow warriors on a perilous quest to protect all that is good and right from the evil that threatens it, and along the way discover what else was lost.

Excerpt

Gracie tapped his shoulder, “Milo, did you notice anything unusual before I arrived to meet you? Did you see anyone on the shore, even from a far distance?” Milo reached down to ruffle Rosie’s ears before he answered, which was fortunate because at that exact moment a vicious arrow barely missed grazing his ear before flying by into the tall grass.

Gracie heard a sound like a muffled curse far off in the distance. The language wasn’t one she recognized. She knocked Milo flat to the ground, so that he was no longer a target and signaled for her little ones to stay down. Several more arrows flew in quick succession from the same direction. Gracie managed to pull a long dagger from under her coat before she also went down. Blue fell onto her back next to Gracie, a knife in each hand. Gracie looked at Obi, who knew what to do. He crawled away to search for and retrieve an arrow.

In the interim Blue and Gracie rose to their knees, keeping their heads down, and signaling for Milo to stay down. He nodded, and muttered in a shaky voice, “You don’t have to tell me twice. I may never get up!”

Author Bio and Links

Lost and Found is author C.M. Sage’s first book in the Chronicles of Antecede fantasy adventure trilogy. She loves writing, reading, and traveling. Most of all she loves spending time with her beloved family and friends…and yes, that includes her furry friends. Life would have been much less sunny without them.

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon Author Page | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

One randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author Carol Nickles. Today, Carol shares five of her most embarrassing moments and her new release, Thumb Fire Desire.

Here’s Carol!

Oh Boy! This may be painful.

Episode 1: Color Day

From first grade through sophomore year in college, I attended parochial schools. An established dress code was consistently enforced.

In seventh grade, I was a new and enthusiastic sewist. As Color Day—the one day of the month students could wear civilian clothes approached; I strategized an outfit of my own creation. My mother suggested an easy sewing hack for a sleeveless A-line dress. If I made it out of felt, I could dispense with seam finishes, neckline and armhole facings, and a turned hem.

Embellishment choice and application were my opportunities to stand out. A popular pattern company designed a whimsical guide to sewing round characters they called Gonks. Gonks were the precursor of the smiley face, except gonks had long skinny arms and legs and a generous head of hair. Wouldn’t it be fun? I thought, to applique a gonk to my plain white jumper? I gathered the materials—pink felt for the face, flesh color felt for the appendages and thick, black rug yarn for the hair. And wouldn’t it be more fun to position the gonk upside down?

I completed the jumper before bedtime and drifted off to sleep with sweet dreams of the big reveal. Among a jovial, colorful cast of fellow students jockeying their way into our middle school classroom the next morning, I slipped off my winter coat.

A chorus of gasps followed by unchoreographed mouth claps met my Ta-Da moment. Hiccupy giggles and finger-pointing ensued.

A softhearted friend led me by the hand to the girl’s room. There, in front of the mirror, the upside-down gonk smiled, its bushy head of black rug yarn placed dead center over my crotch.

Episode 2: Office Blackout

It was a regular summer day in the office until the power went out. A bank of windows allowed natural light, so work continued. But utilizing the windowless restroom presented a challenge. With a familiar feel, I found the seat and the lever to flush the toilet. On my return to the office, I passed the receptionist.

“Carol, check your skirt!” Bonnie whispered.

Gah. The bank of windows allowed enough light for my colleagues to see my lightweight, flowy skirt tucked into the back of my pantyhose waistband.

Episode 3: Lake Huron Regatta

“Prepare to capsize!” Our ten-year-old captain screamed. As part of a four-man crew on a Summer School sailboat, I scrambled to unleash the ropes, slip into Lake Huron, and keep my head above water.

I knew the retrieval routine. This was not my first capsize. I swam to the side still atop the water and reached to grip the gunwale.

Whoosh. My home-sewn bathing suit bottom slipped off my waist, down my legs, and wafted to the sandy Lake Huron floor. Lesson learned: Use waterproof elastic constructing bathing suits.

Episode 4: Paranoia on Parade

I have hatbox phobia. This paranoia stems from my first-grade Halloween costume.

My mother repurposed a Bloomingdale hatbox into a paper cephalopod—squid cousin—an invertebrate animal with eight tentacles—an octopus. The tentacles were fashioned out of you guessed it—her supply of black rug yarn. She wove wire throughout the yarn braids and tied pink satin ribbons on the ends. Out of black card stock, she cut large black ovals. On the short top edge, Mother slashed long thin strips and rolled them in tight curlicues over a number two lead pencil. The resulting eyelashes were as dramatic as Madame Bovary’s.

Mother placed the upside-down hatbox on my head.

With a shrill whistle from Sister Mary Josetta, the school Halloween parade began.

The octopus tentacles bobbed.

The hatbox eclipsed my knees, narrowed my vision to a patch of sidewalk encompassing my feet, and restricted my stride to tentative baby steps.

I bounced blindly off of classmates like a driverless bumper car. In the privacy of my cephalopod-inspired hatbox costume, my cheeks burned hot with embarrassment.

Episode 5: The Grand Finale

Following the felt jumper hack, my sewing skills progressed to managing one hundred percent cotton that required seam finishes. At the end of my seventh-grade year, I made a sleeveless straight shift from a cotton fabric printed with varying blue hues——cornflower, navy, cobalt of stylistic apples. The construction of that dress marked my sewing introduction to interfaced armhole facings, a front neckline facing, a back neck facing, and a center-back zipper. Successful completion of those steps fostered a bubble of confidence. I marked and pressed the hem. I applied a hem tape impregnated with glue. Easy peasy! A no-sew hem!

The last Color Day of the year would be remembered as my triumphant exoneration of the gonk fiasco. And Sister Mary Verda had promised an outdoor parade to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. How perfect! I could conquer my first-grade parade paranoia as well.

The sun shone on my brightly dressed classmates as they queued in line.

With our hands folded in prayer, the solemn procession began across the parish perimeters.

Parents lined the walkways.

Cameras clicked.

Stepping into the grassy trail leading to the stone shrine of the pious Madonna, I felt a faint touch on the back of one leg—like the swipe of a sable paintbrush. Trailing down my leg and through the trailing crowd, a length of failed-glue hem tape obliterated my exoneration.

Blurb

In the Spring of 1881, indigent seamstress Ginny Dahlke arrives in one of the earliest Polish American settlements-Parisville, Michigan. Deemed charmless and awkward by her mean-spirited sister-in-law, Ginny disparages her chance of securing love. But sought-after widowed farmer Peter Nickles is enamored by Ginny’s perseverance, her pioneer spirit and, her inclusive acceptance of the indigenous peoples of Michigan. The seductiveness of a buxom heiress, a twisted story of an old-country betrothal, and the largest natural disaster in Michigan’s history-The Great Thumb Fire of September 5, 1881, challenge their fledgling attraction and ultimate committal.

Excerpt

“Watch your step. Watch your step, please,” the steward beckoned from his place on the platform, offering his arm to leave-taking passengers. Ginny stepped down. The heel of her kid leather pump caught in the juncture of the aisle floor and the train ladder’s top step. The blankets in her arms dropped onto the backs of the descending nuns. Her valise—weighted with a treasured book collection, conveyed from her father’s study, and two pounds of beef jerky wrapped in butcher’s paper—whacked the starched veil of the woman who spoke on her behalf. The target’s knees buckled. The nun tumbled face down on the back of her traveling sister.

Ginny toppled next. Mark Twain’s bestseller, the Dahlke family Bible, and a cracked leather-bound copy of Aesop’s Fables fluttered open and sailed into the congregation of the fallen.

From behind them, platform-roosting farmers rushed to retrieve the books, the butcher paper, and the integrity of three ladies.

A man resembling her father’s daguerreotype tugged Ginny by the shoulders and plucked her from the rubble. She clasped his neck and crushed her bonnet against his cheek. “Joseph,” she whispered, kissing a prickly cheek and whiffing aromatic cedar. She sneezed.

“Ginny, so glad you made it safely, even though the very last step of the journey is a sure-as-hell chance you’re going to Purgatory.” Her brother laughed, claiming her. “I mean, Ginny, you almost killed some nuns—nuns, for God’s sake,” he whispered as he tipped his hat to the black-and-white-clad women scurrying to a waiting wagon.

Author Bio and Links

Carol Nickles is the sixth generation of a German textile aficionado family. In 1881, her great-great-great-grandfather founded Yale Woolen Mill—the longest-lasting of Michigan’s once twenty-nine woolen mills. Carol earned a Master’s degree in Historic Clothing & Textiles at Michigan State University. Her thesis is a narrative of the Yale Woolen Mill. She held faculty positions at both Utah and Michigan State universities. She lives in West Michigan and enjoys spinning a tale, weaving a story, and threading a luring hook.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Email

Giveaway

Carol Nickles will be awarding a $50 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome back Wild Rose Press author Jana Richards. Today, Jana shares her new release, Strong Enough, Book 4 in the Masonville Series.

Here’s Jana!

Five Things You Need to Know About the Masonville Series

1. This small-town series is set in the fictional town of Masonville, North Dakota. I’ve given the town a population of about 6,000 because I once lived in a town of that size. It’s big enough to have a lot of services, like restaurants, lawyers’ offices, and a veterinary clinic, but small enough that everyone knows your business! Despite being hotbeds of gossip, good things can happen in small towns, too. Small town romance is all about falling in love with your community, while at the same time falling in love with someone special.

2. In each of the books, the characters have a past trauma or unhappiness or hurt they must work through before they can be whole again. And before they can accept love into their lives.

3. There are four books in the series. Several of heroes and/or heroines of the books work at the town’s veterinary clinic. Several of the main characters come from two families in the town, the Saunders and the Greysons.

4. This is the fourth romance series I’ve written. I think I’m getting the hang of this thing! Each book in the series will be a stand-alone story, but as with every series, I think the reading experience is enhanced when read in order.

5. Animals play a huge role in the series. As I said several of the main characters work in veterinary health care. All the couples have at least one pet, and a couple of the heroines are deeply involved in animal rescue. In book four, STRONG ENOUGH, the characters unite to take on their biggest challenge, rescuing both people and animals!

Tagline

Love can make you stronger, if you let it.

Blurb

Charlotte Saunders has a full life—a rewarding career as a nurse, meaningful volunteer work at a dog shelter, and family, friends and pets she adores. But no matter how hard she tries; she can’t forget the horrible event that’s haunted her for ten years.

A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Damon Greyson now helps others who have suffered trauma. His experience and intuition alert him to trouble in Charlotte’s past, and he wants to help her, if only she’d let him.

As they work together to help veterans suffering from PTSD and neglected dogs needing loving homes, their feelings for each other deepen. But when the trauma from Charlotte’s past roars back to life, both are forced to confront their painful histories—or die trying.

Excerpt

She looked away. “I’m sorry. I hate women who use tears to get what they want. It’s just that yesterday the shelter had to put down some dogs. There was this one old dog, Shep….” She shook her head, unable to finish.

He squeezed her elbow before letting her go. “I’m sorry, Charlotte.”

She nodded and again Damon sensed her vulnerability. Charlotte tried to give off an aura of strength. She was the caregiving nurse, the person others looked to for help. But who helped Charlotte?

After a few breaths, she straightened her shoulders and faced him, her composure once more back in place. “How long do you think it will be?”

“You mean until the retreat is up and running?” When she nodded, he blew out a breath. “I don’t know. My building’s in worse shape than I first thought.”

“If there’s anything I can do to speed up the process, let me know.”
“You know anything about unplugging sewer lines?”

She made a face. “You’re on your own, Greyson.”

Don’t I know it. “Hey, you asked. From now on I’ll only request your help when it comes to dogs.”

She chuckled. “Good plan.”

This time Charlotte’s smile was genuine, and for a moment Damon couldn’t breathe. He found himself wondering what it would be like to have the full force of her smile directed at him on a regular basis, and to know there was real affection for him behind the smile. The longing he experienced at that thought shocked him.

Better not to allow such thoughts to take root. Despite all the work he’d done over the years to overcome the harm done to him in the past, he still had questions. Would it ever be possible for him to have a normal, loving, long-term relationship with a woman? So far, the longest relationship he’d had lasted only six months.

Maybe he’d always be damaged goods.

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | ibooks | Barnes & Noble

Author Bio

When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then, she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal. Her paranormal romantic suspense “Seeing Things” was a 2008 EPPIE finalist.

In her life away from writing, Jana is an accountant/admin assistant, a mother to two grown daughters, and a wife to her husband Warren. She enjoys golf, yoga, movies, concerts, travel and reading, not necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Winnipeg, Canada. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at http://www.janarichards.com

Social Media Links

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter Sign-up | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon Author Page | Amazon UK Author Page

I’m happen to welcome multi-published author J. R. Lindermuth. Today, John shares his latest release, By Strangers Mourned.

Sylvester Tilghman, the third of his family to serve as sheriff of rural Arahpot, Jordan County, Pennsylvania, would love to marry his longtime sweetheart Lydia Longlow. But Lydia has constantly turned down his proposals in the previous three novels in the Sheriff Tilghman historical mystery series set in the waning days of the 19th Century.

Lydia professes to love Syl. But she’s a busy and independent young woman. In addition to running a general store and caring for her elderly parents, she’s also postmistress, head of the Women’s Temperance League, a Sunday School teacher, sings in the choir and is substitute pianist for the Methodist Church.

Now in the spring of 1899, Syl is hopeful preparations for the wedding of his deputy Cyrus Gutshall and Emma, younger daughter of his neighbor and friend Doctor Hiram Mariner, will put his sweetheart in a marital mood.

Alas, crime in his small community has always had a way of interfering with Sylvester’s plans.

A woman is found drowned in a local creek and Doc Mariner’s autopsy reveals her death was the result of foul play. The sheriff’s investigation soon puts him on the trail of a mysterious man named Bauer and a gang preying on young immigrant women.

Sylvester Tilghman will need all his detecting skills and the help of his friends to unravel the many skeins of this case before he can dream again of marriage.

….

As noted above, By Strangers Mourned is the fourth novel in the Sheriff Syl series. The first two, Fallen From Grace and Sooner Than Gold, were originally published by Oak Tree Press. After the death of Billie Johnson, publisher, rights were returned to me. Lawrence Knorr, who had published The Bartered Body, third in the series, agreed to reissue them and publish By Strangers Mourned in the Milford House imprint of Sunbury Press.

Bio and Social Links

J. R. Lindermuth lives and writes in central Pennsylvania. A retired newspaper editor, he currently serves as librarian of his county historical society where he assists patrons with genealogy and research. He’s the author of 18 novels and two regional histories. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and is a past vice president of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

In addition to Amazon, By Strangers Mourned is available from the publisher Sunbury Press and other quality booksellers.

I’m happy to welcome veterinarian and author S E Davis. Today, she shares her new release, They Had Eyes of Silver.

Blurb

A secret lineage. A family cursed. A forbidden love that can’t be denied.

Veterinarian Reina Kirke is exhausted. So, when her best friend suggests a European vacation, she doesn’t hesitate. A much-needed break and a chance to investigate her mysterious family tree sound perfect. Too bad she’s in no way prepared for what she finds. The fairytale town in Belgium hides family secrets grounded in the supernatural. Legends of werewolves and witches surround her, and a taboo love affair threatens to pull her into a danger she might not be able to handle.

What seems like a chance encounter with Blaise Woodward, a brooding hunk with his own secrets, sets up a sequence of events that could unravel both of their families as they realize their deep connection to each other is generations old. But only one thing is certain.

Their lives will never be the same…

Excerpt

Night belongs to nocturnal creatures. And sneaks.

Later that night, a large brawny wolf, black as midnight with eyes glinting with starlight, prowled within the shadows of the sleepy town. Darkness kissed the beast’s thick coat. His ears picked up soft laughter and conversations that drifted around him in the cool night from the nearby pub.

Her laughter.

Reina.

The wolf, Blaise, licked his lips, tasting the faint, achingly familiar scent of her on the night breeze.

A heavy weight crashed into him, and he rolled across the alley. Blaise found his feet and lunged at the shadowed figure that sat on his haunches, mere steps away, pink tongue lolling. The other wolf’s eyes glinted silver in the sliver of light slicing down from the streetlight.

Alek, Blaise thought, and snapped viciously at his cousin. He missed connecting with flesh on the other wolf on purpose.

In a fluid motion, fur and hide morphed into smooth skin, wolf into man. Alek shifted from the buttery tan wolf and into his human form, crouching naked against the brick building.

Following Alek’s lead, Blaise shifted quickly into his human shape and moved back into darkness’s cover, hunched over his knees, one hand reaching the ground. They could speak freely now. Their wolf forms possessed a limited form of mental communication. Intricate discussions were impossible without verbal speech, and so shifting into human form was necessary.

“Holt has fallen under the witch’s spell,” Alek said, his words jovial. He had never taken anything too serious.

Blaise growled, “She isn’t a witch, Alek.”

“I know. I know. No such thing as witches, ya right?” The blond man huffed, probably because a werewolf said witches didn’t exist.

Author Bio and Links

S E Davis is a veterinarian and advocate for werewolf health. She lives on the North Dakota prairie with her family and a Weimaraner who understands shifting into human form is not necessary for being part of the pack.

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Bookbub |
Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

S E Davis will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author Lane Stone. Today, Lane shares her recent release, The Collector, Book 1 of The Big Picture Trilogy.

Blurb

Art expert Emma Kelly arrives at the Metropolitan Museum to meet with disgraced philanthropist Boyle York only to learn he has been murdered. His body and a nearby masterpiece are splattered with blue paint. In the following days, works of art around the world are attacked with the same paint, which Emma believes has something to do with the Virgin Mary. Emma’s husband, Elliott Baldwin, the Assistant Director in charge of the FBI’s New York City field office, isn’t convinced but appreciates her expertise.

Following a lead, Emma travels to her other home in Bath, England, and continues her search for one of the most famous Nazi-looted paintings. When a diver hired to explore a sunken Nazi submarine is murdered with the same weapon used to kill Boyle York, Emma wonders if the art crimes on three different continents are actually an attempt to trip her up.

Emma races against the clock to countries with Virgin Mary apparition sites in an attempt to save the world’s most beloved artwork. Can she convince the Vatican to disavow the perpetrators and stop the attacks and bring justice to the mastermind behind them before it’s too late?

Excerpt

I would hate him forever for making me afraid. My hands trembled and I was as white as the sink I leaned against. I looked how you would expect someone who had just made a deal with the devil to look. How was I going to sit with Ali and Victoria? He’s a killer. The phrase repeated over and over in my head.

I splashed water on my face and returned to the table, knowing that not a single one of the brilliant comebacks I now thought of, guaranteed to reduce Ali to a sobbing lump, could be used in front of Valerie. As I turned the corner a waiter poured a martini from a shaker into a fresh glass and took away her empty. Ali wasn’t there. Valerie was lubed up and looked past caring about anything.

I sat and the waiter shook out my re-folded napkin and held it out to me. “Your friend isn’t staying for lunch?”

She shook her head.

“Would you care to order, Madame?”

Valerie looked at the drink. “I’m not hungry.” A text came in and she picked up her phone.

“I’ll have my salad now, please.” That ‘please’ was a signal that I intended to over tip to make up for our party of three table ordering only one meal, that wasn’t liquid. His nod was as understated as the vermouth in the Tavern on the Green’s martinis. If only interactions like what had taken place between us, and between Tabitha and her chauffeur, counted as a second language I would be bi-lingual.

Author Bio and Links

Lane Stone lives in Alexandria, Virginia and Lewes, Delaware with her husband, Larry Korb, and their Standard Schnauzer, Cordy. She’s the author of THE COLLECTOR, an art thriller, which is the first book in The Big Picture trilogy. The first book in the Old Town Antiques Mystery series, DEAD MEN DON’T DECORATE, will be published in November 2022, and will be written as Cordy Abbott. She is the author of the Pet Palace Mysteries and the Tiara Investigation Mystery series.

When not writing she enjoys characteristic baby boomer pursuits: being a dog Mom, traveling and volunteering for good causes, like AAUW and the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation. She serves on several boards.

She has a post-graduate certificate in Antiquities Theft and Art Crime.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Buy Link – The Collector |
Buy Link – Dead Men Don’t Decorate

She is represented by Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

Giveaway

Lane Stone will be awarding $10 Starbucks gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome USA Today bestselling author Nan Reinhardt. Today, Nan shares interesting facts about River’s Edge, the fictional town in her new release, Falling for the Doctor.

1. It is based on the real town of Madison, Indiana, down on the Ohio River.

2. Mayor Megan Mackenzie Flaherty was River’s Edge’s first female mayor and the old boy’s network in town isn’t at all sure they’re into a woman mayor, however, she is turning River’s Edge into a tourist destination and businesses are thriving.

3. The Cotton Mill Inn used to be an old nineteenth-century cotton mill that was abandoned and became an eyesore, so Mayor Meg brought in a hotelier who turned the historic building into a much-needed hotel.

4. The Rive Walk is the place to be, especially on weekends when you’re likely to find both townsfolk and tourists strolling or even jogging along the river.

5. In spring, the Redbud Festival brings booths, arts, and music to the River Walk for three days of fun. Other events include Jazz on the Square, October Arts Festival, Summer Paddle Days, Halloween Hoopla, and the Christmas Candlelight Walk.

6. Mac’s Riverside Diner is the only diner in southern Indiana where you can get authentic French cuisine in a fifties retro-style restaurant. Chef Graham (Mac) Mackenzie is a Cordon-Bleu-trained chef who treats the town to baguettes and truffle butter and other amazing dishes.

7. Four Irish Brothers Winery is the place to be on Saturday evenings in the summer for wine and pizza night! There’s live music, laughter, and Mario Morelli provides the pizza.

8. Southern Falls State Park, just north of town, is known for its beautiful inn, great hiking trails, gorgeous waterfalls, and a pretty nice golf course.

9. St. Mark’s Hospital has just built a new full-service Heart Center where they can do all kinds of heart procedures and surgeries, including heart by-pass, so no more driving to Louisville or Cincinnati for heart care.

10. Hutchin’s House Tavern is the oldest continuously run tavern in the state, having opened as a tavern/hotel in 1832. The old walnut bar is original to the tavern as are many of the tables and chairs. Barkeep Hugh has a wide variety of IPAs, lagers, and stouts on tap and in bottles.

Blurb

They were in it for the fun, but never expected the storm…

Life for hometown ER physician Dr. Max Lange has always been sweet. He loves his job and is dialed in socially with his family, friends, and community. But lately, something feels like it’s missing. When a visiting doctor pulls him in for a hot kiss and asks him to play along in order to avoid unwanted attention from a hospital administrator, Max knows exactly what he wants and needs—the lovely Dr. Mitchell.

After a tragic error shakes her confidence beyond repair, Dr. Lauren Mitchell has abandoned her career in cardiothoracic surgery and instead works as a lead medical consultant for a top cardiovascular technology company. She enjoys her simple life on the road—hotel rooms, room service, and no emotional entanglements.

When a violent storm throws her into service at St. Mark’s hospital, Max has only a few days to prove to Lauren that they belong together, while she must reevaluate her career…and her life. Will Max’s love be enough to make River’s Edge and Max her home?

Excerpt

The kiss was…extraordinary. Max’s brain kept repeating that word—extraordinary—even as his heart raced and his knees went weak. She was extraordinary. He kept the touch light, in spite of his mad desire to simply pull her against him and explore the wine-sweet taste of her.

She gripped his shirt, slowly tilted her head, slipped one arm around his neck, and thrust her fingers into the hair hanging over his collar. Then shock of all shocks, she touched the seam of his lips with her tongue, inviting him in, welcoming him.

Max’s heart nearly pounded out of his chest as their tongues met and played, and he slid his hand around to hold the back of her head. Her red-blond hair was as silky as he’d imagined, and her curves fit against him as if they’d been made for each other.

When she pulled away, her eyes were huge, reflecting the wonder in his own dazed thoughts. This, whatever this was, had shaken him to his very core and she appeared to be equally affected. Her hand trembled as she took her arm away from around his neck and for a moment, she simply rested her forehead against his chest.

“Wow,” she whispered, finally looking up. “Wow.”

Max touched her nose with one finger. It was a great nose, small but not snub, narrow but not patrician. A great nose. He dropped a quick kiss on it. Then he kissed each rosy cheek before putting his lips next to her ear. “Wow, indeed.” His voice quavered. He tucked one finger under her chin and when he saw yes in her eyes, pressed his mouth to hers again.

“I’d tell you two to get a room, but I’m fairly sure one of you already has one.” Tracy’s voice was like a splash of icy water.

Lauren stepped back, her cheeks turning even pinker as heat rose up Max’s neck. They’d attracted a small audience—Logan and two other servers had joined the desk clerk and ML in the lobby, offering up a round of applause when he and Lauren broke apart. Blushing furiously, she reached around him and pushed the UP button on the wall between the two elevators.

Max gave the group a fake scowl. “Don’t you all have someplace you need to be? Or a life maybe?”

Logan laughed. “Yours is looking way more interesting than mine right now, Doc.”

Buy Links

Amazon | B & N Nook | Kobo | Apple Books

Author Bio and Links

Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet romantic fiction for Tule Publishing. Her day job is working as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader; however, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten and is still writing, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled woman in her prime. Nan lives in the Midwest with her husband of 49 years, where they split their time between a house in the city and a cottage on a lake.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Tule Publishing | BookBub | Goodreads | Email

I’m happy to welcome author C. W. Allen. Today, she shares her creative journey and her new release, The Secret Benefits of Invisibility.

What’s the best part of being an author? The worst?

There’s something really magical that happens when writing fiction—I’ve heard other authors talk about this experience too—where once in a while, your characters take on a life of their own and do or say things that take you completely by surprise. I’ve been in the middle of a writing session and had a character tell a joke that made me laugh out loud because I didn’t see it coming. I also love being able to share the worlds and people I construct in my head with my readers, and hearing about their favorite parts of the story.

The flip side, of course, is that writing can’t be that effortless all the time. I have to make myself sit down and write whether or not I’m feeling particularly inspired and motivated that day. There are lots of days I end up staring at a blank document, or writing pages and pages I know aren’t working and I’ll end up deleting later. Feeling like there’s a story trying to get out of you and you just can’t make it work the way it does in your head is incredibly frustrating. Authors also have to deal with lots of rejection and criticism, both from publishing professionals and book reviewers, so it requires perseverance and a thick skin.

Describe your writing space.

My writing space isn’t terribly glamorous, I’m afraid! I have young children at home, so I need a writing space where I can close a door and get some quiet, uninterrupted work done. All the office-type spaces in my home with a real desk are out in the open, so that won’t work. I usually write in my bedroom. I use a laptop computer while sitting up in bed. I can’t work effectively in a messy environment though, so it’s a good incentive to keep my bedroom tidy!

Which authors have inspired you?

My favorite middle grade authors from my childhood were Ellen Raskin (The Westing Game), E.L. Konigsburg (The View From Saturday), and Barbara Robinson (the Herdmans series). I love how all three captured a perspective and writing voice that felt so true to being a kid. Reading these stories made me feel respected, understood, and seen. All their characters carried on without needing adults to save the day or walk them through tough decisions.

My favorite authors still publishing new books are probably Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society), Garth Nix (Frogkisser!), R.A. Spratt (Nanny Piggins), and Kate Milford (Greenglass House). I love the way Stewart and Milford celebrate the unique perspective children have that allow them to succeed—not in spite of being young, but because of it. They notice clues and think of solutions that adults would simply overlook. I love how Nix and Spratt embrace humor, even absurdity, while still moving on with a plot that feels vitally important. The reader gets to laugh along with the characters, not at them.

What is your favorite quote?

It’s tough to pick just one! Most of my favorites are more like mantras or idioms, rather than a quote from a famous person.

“Kindness is powerful.”

“The ax forgets, but the tree remembers.”

“The only way out is through.”

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

I enjoy cooking, especially trying out unusual flavor combinations or looking for ways to simplify a complicated process. I also do a lot of hiking with my family when the weather is nice.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

I always wanted to be a writer, but for some reason I grew up thinking that authors were magical people who were naturally good at writing, and that the stories they told would just come out on the page perfectly formed when they sat down to write. I knew that didn’t happen to me, so I didn’t think I could make it as an author. I didn’t realize how much time and work went into writing a book. Once I learned that even my favorite writers had to study and struggle and go through lots of drafts to work their way to a finished book, the process felt more attainable for me. I realized I didn’t need some magical, perfect talent—just an idea and the willingness to work with it. It didn’t matter how long it took, or how rough it looked in the beginning.

Now that I have some writing years under my belt, here’s what I would have told myself when I was starting out:

– Read a LOT, especially books published in your preferred genre in the last five years.

– Join a professional writing organization or a critique group.

– Set a writing goal (a certain number of words per week, for example). Stick with it, even when you don’t feel inspired or motivated.

– Write and edit like it’s the most important thing in the world, but submit for publication like you don’t care what happens. So much of publishing success depends on luck, timing, and others’ personal taste. Don’t stress about the parts of the process you have no control over.

– Don’t give up! Writing is an investment that takes years to pay dividends. Give it the time it needs.

What are you working on next?

The Secret Benefits of Invisibility is the second book in the Falinnheim Chronicles series. I’m hard at work right now on the third book in the series, Tales of the Forgotten Founders, which is scheduled for publication in 2023. I also have a humorous science fiction story coming out in an anthology later this year (probably November) and I will be teaching classes for writers at the Quills Conference in August. https://www.leagueofutahwriters.com/quills-conference

I have several more middle grade novels in the works, but I’m not able to give details about them yet. Sometimes publishing likes to keep its secrets! I keep my website updated with links to all my publicly-announced work: https://www.cwallenbooks.com/books and I make all announcements about new projects in my newsletter: https://www.cwallenbooks.com/contact , so those are the best ways to keep up with my writing news.

Blurb

For Zed and Tuesday, adjusting to life in modern-meets-medieval Falinnheim means normal is relative. Lots of kids deal with moving, starting new schools, and doing chores. But normally, those schools aren’t in underground bunkers full of secret agents, and the chore list doesn’t involve herding dodos. The one thing that hasn’t changed: all the adults treat them like they’re invisible.

When a security breach interrupts a school field trip, the siblings find themselves locked out of the Resistance base. With the adults trapped inside, it’s up to Tuesday, Zed, and their friends to save the day. And for once, being ignored and underestimated is coming in handy. After all, who would suspect a bunch of kids are capable of taking down the intruders that captured their families, let alone the murderous dictator that put them into hiding in the first place?

Turns out invisibility might just have its benefits.

Excerpt

Fariq lifted the latch and stepped back to let the doors swing slowly open. An avalanche of dodos poured out, brushing past them like a flock of short, grumpy businessmen in dusty grey suits, impatiently bustling around a train station on their way somewhere more important.

Zed jumped out of the way and whipped out his notebook and pencil. Tuesday jumped too, but more in alarm than amazement.

“Augh!” she yelled. “Why are they so big?” She flinched away as one of the dodos brushed past her leg. Its bald, leathery face came all the way up to her hip.

Zed was too busy sketching to look up. “What were you expecting?”

“I don’t know!” Tuesday blathered. “Smaller, I guess! Slower. Dumber. More like chickens!”

It would have taken a Leaning Tower of Chickens stacked three high to see eye to eye with a dodo. They looked like gigantic turkeys with their tail feathers plucked and stunted wings tucked in by their sides, with bulbous bike horns for heads. It was like someone cobbled together a Frankenbird out of spare parts as a prank.

“It’s okay,” said Fariq in his customary monotone. “Bird phobias are really common. I don’t like spiders much, myself.”

“I’m not afraid of them,” Tuesday protested. “Just…surprised.”

Celia brushed past them with her rake, dropping a derisive chuckle as she passed. “Honestly, it’s like you’ve never seen a common dodo before. You panic about worms in the garden wing too? Or is Her Highness too important to get her hands dirty with the commoners?”

Author Bio and Links

C.W. Allen is a Nebraskan by birth, a Texan by experience, a Hoosier by marriage, and a Utahn by geography. She knew she wanted to be a writer the moment she read The Westing Game at age twelve, but took a few detours along the way as a veterinary nurse, an appliance repair secretary, and a homeschool parent.

She recently settled in the high desert of rural Utah with her husband, their three children, and a noisy flock of orphaned ideas. Someday she will create literary homes for all of them. (The ideas, not her family.)

Relatively Normal Secrets (Cinnabar Moth Publishing, Fall 2021) is her debut novel. She writes fantasy novels for tweens, picture books for children, and short stories and poems for former children. Her work will appear in numerous anthologies in 2021. She is also a frequent guest presenter at writing conferences and club meetings, which helps her procrastinate knuckling down to any actual writing.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Booktopia |Twitter | Website

Giveaway

C. W. Allen will be awarding $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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