Monday, November 5, 2018

The Spinster and I - Spotlight Book Tour


Series: The Spinster Chronicles
Genre:  Adult, New Adult, Romance
Publisher: Phase Publishing
Publication date: November 1, 2018
Poor, unfortunate Spinster…
Prudence Westfall, spinster, has unexpectedly had the greatest misfortune of all: she has inherited a fortune, and is now an heiress. But as a Spinster, and a stammering shy one, nothing could be worse than having a bevy of suitors pay her attention. Opportunity strikes at a house party when the most unlikely person offers the perfect solution.
Camden Vale is no gentleman, and he’s not prone to saving anyone, but something about Prue changes all that. When his offer to befriend her extends beyond the house party, and his feelings extend beyond expectation, no one is more surprised than he. Except, perhaps, for the other Spinsters, and they have much to say on the subject.
Rebecca Connolly writes romances, both period and contemporary, because she absolutely loves a good love story. She has been creating stories since childhood, and there are home videos to prove it! She started writing them down in elementary school and has never looked back. She currently lives in the Midwest, spends every spare moment away from her day job absorbed in her writing, and is a hot cocoa addict.
1. Who are some of your favorite Regency authors? Do these authors inspire your own writing?
I love Jen Geigle Johnson, Sarah Eden, Jennifer Moore, Elizabeth Johns… And I am constantly meeting more lovely writers who love the same ears I do! I am inspired by so many authors, but in my time period and outside of it! The best inspiration of all, though, has to be Jane Austen.
2. If you could go to tea with one of your characters, who would you go with and why?
Oh, I think I would want to go to tea with Charlotte Wright. She doesn’t hold anything back, and I bet she has some fantastic stories!
3. What inspired the idea for The Spinster and I?
I had created a group of spinsters that had gotten to that point in their lives for different reasons. This particular story starred a girl who was painfully shy and wanted nothing more than to remain unnoticed by the world, and I wanted someone to notice her in a way that would actually work for her. He just so happens to be the most unlikely candidate, which makes it so deliciously fun!
4. What did you as an author take away from writing The Spinster and I?
I think the biggest thing I took away was that we need to look beneath the surface in everyone. There is so much more to a person than what we can see.
5. What is your current WIP?  What can you tell us about it?
My current WIP is part of the Spinster Chronicles series, and I can tell you that it is a VERY interesting pairing, and it is set at Christmas!
                                             Enter the giveaway HERE.
                                      Giveaway is subject to policies HERE.


Friday, November 2, 2018

First Line Fridays


I saw this book advertised the other day, so of course, I wanted to mention it for FLF this week.  :)  I know Hallmark has published books before, but I think they are typically based on the movies?  Yet the last couple of Hallmark books I have seen appear to be stand alone stories, which are not connected to the films.  I could be wrong about this though--let me know if you can unravel this mystery.  :)  Happy reading!

Grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line!

Today I am going to post a line from: 

  The Christmas Company 
by Alys Murray



And the first line is...

December 23

"Some may have called Kate Buckner biased, but she believed no one on planet Earth did Christmas better than the small town of Miller's Point, Texas."  

Happy reading and happy Friday!   

Let me know your first line in the comments & then head over to Hoarding Books  to see who else is participating! 








Saturday, October 27, 2018

The Monastery Murders - Spotlight Book Tour



Their lives are ones of quiet contemplation—and brutal murder.
Christmas Eve, 1176. Brother Maurice, monk of Fairmore Abbey, awaits the night prayer bell. But there is only silence. Cursing his fellow brother Cuthbert’s idleness, he seeks him out—and in the darkness, finds him brutally murdered.
Summoned from London to the isolated monastery on the Yorkshire Moors, Aelred Barling, clerk to the King’s justices, and his messenger Hugo Stanton, set about investigating the horrific crime. They quickly discover that this is far from a quiet monastic house. Instead, it seethes with bitter feuds, rivalries and resentments. But no sooner do they arrive than the killer strikes again—and again.
When Barling discovers a pattern to these atrocities, it becomes apparent that the murderer’s rampage is far from over. With everyone, including the investigators, now fearing for their lives, can Barling and Stanton unmask the culprit before more blood is spilled?

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | CHAPTERS | INDIEBOUND




E.M. Powell’s historical thriller Fifth Knight novels have been #1 Amazon and Bild bestsellers. The King’s Justice is the first novel in her new Stanton and Barling medieval murder mystery series. She is a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill magazine, blogs for English Historical Fiction Authors and is the social media manager for the Historical Novel Society.
Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State), she now lives in North-West England with her husband, daughter and a Facebook-friendly dog.
Find out more by visiting www.empowell.com. You can also find him on FacebookTwitter, and Goodreads.

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away 5 copies of Lady of a Thousand Treasures by Sandra Byrd! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below.
Giveaway Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on November 9th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.


The Monastery Murders






Friday, October 26, 2018

First Line Fridays


So I discovered this amazing bookstore last week!  It was one of those bookstores where you could spend hours and a lot of money.  :)  There were just so many treasures to discover and the people who worked there were very knowledgeable about the books in their store.  I know that seems like an odd statement, but for any family owned business, courteous and informed workers make all the difference!

I purchased a few books, which I will share in upcoming FLF, and a couple of them might have been mysteries.  :)  I hope everyone is having a lovely October and that it is not too chilly where you live.  Happy reading and happy Halloween friends!

Grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line!

Today I am going to post a line from: 

  Once Upon a Winter's Heart 
by Melody Carlson 



And the first line is...

"'Romance is officially dead,' Emma Burcelli proclaimed as she reached for the last empty crate."  

Happy reading and happy Friday!   

Let me know your first line in the comments & then head over to Hoarding Books  to see who else is participating! 









Thursday, October 25, 2018

Lady of a Thousand Treasures - Spotlight Book Tour



Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.
The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry—the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.
Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims.
With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust—who in her life is false or true, brass or gold—and what is meant to be treasured.

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | INDIEBOUND



Bestselling author Sandra Byrd has published more than fifty books over her editing and writing career. Her traditionally published books include titles by Tyndale House Publishers, Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, WaterBrook Press, a Penguin Random House imprint, and Bethany House. She’s also an independent author.
Sandra’s series of historically sound Gothic romances launched with the best-selling Mist of Midnight, which earned a coveted Editor’s Choice award from the Historical Novel Society. The second book, Bride of a Distant Isle, has been selected by Romantic Times as a Top Pick. The third in the series, A Lady in Disguise, published in 2017 and was named by the American Library Association’s Booklist as one of the Top Ten Inspirational Fiction books of the year.
Her contemporary adult fiction debut, Let Them Eat Cake, which was a Christy Award finalist, as was her first historical novel, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. To Die For was also named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2011, and The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr was named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2012.
Please visit www.sandrabyrd.com to learn more or to invite Sandra to your book club via Skype. You can also connect with Sandraon FacebookTwitterInstagramPinterest, and Goodreads.

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away 5 copies of Lady of a Thousand Treasures by Sandra Byrd! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below.
Giveaway Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on November 9th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.


Lady of a Thousand Treasures