Day: April 16, 2020

#BookBlitz “Frank Vaughn, Killed by His Mom” by D. Krauss

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coverFamily Saga
Publisher: DOA Enterprises
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A dark version of The Wonder Years, Frank Vaughn Killed by his Mom is The Great Santini written by Homer, careening through a coarse world of racism, adultery, abandonment, and even the occasional hope.
It’s summer, 1965. School’s out and Butch’s birthday is in a few weeks. Perfect; three months of freeze tag, hide and seek and riding his bike way past dark. Well, maybe not completely perfect — Frank Vaughn, a classmate, is beaten to death by his crazy mother for leaving a report card at school. On top of that, Dad is touchier than ever and Mom sadder, so best to hide out next door with his best friend Tommy reading X-Men and hoping for that birthday GI Joe.
But in one night, Butch’s summer explodes and he’s now riding across a turbulent and changing Dixie in a white Rambler station wagon, at the mercy of a manic depressive and wildly violent Dad. Like a crewman on Ulysses’ ship, Butch encounters a one-eyed evil grandfather, a 12-year-old Siren, the lotus-eaters of Alabama…and Frank Vaughn. If Butch ever sees his beloved sister, Cindy, again, it’ll be a miracle. If he’s alive at the end of the summer, it’ll be a bigger one.

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Excerpt
Chapter 1
Butch sat on the porch watching the girls skip rope:
“Frank Vaughn, killed by his mom
Lying in bed alooone,
She picked up a bat
And gave him a whack
And broke his head to the booone
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…”
…and so on.
Cindy reached the twenties before snagging a toe, but Frank’s mom couldn’t have hit him that many times. A lot, but not that many.
Immortalized in skip rhyme. Amazing. It had been what, only a week? Frank was still on TV. Pat Jarrod, the Channel 7 news anchor, was all grim last night while narrating the film of Frank’s dad escorting Frank’s mom, very pretty in a silk dress and beehive hairdo, into the Lawton Court House. Mr. Vaughn was wearing his class-A uniform and dark glasses and looked like the President of Vietnam, and his wife looked like Mrs. President of Vietnam.
“They’re Filipino,” dad said.
Could’ve been a state visit, except no one was happy.
Butch had been surprised when Frank’s dad helped Mrs. Frank up the courthouse stairs.
Odd. He should be really mad at her, but there he was, being nice. The girls weren’t being nice; they were making fun of Frank, which wasn’t right. Wasn’t like it was Frank’s fault or anything.
Cindy was in again and the others—Lynn and Debbie, Carlafromdownthestreet, Maria and Joseph (who might as well be a girl), and some random passersby—were doing their best to trip her up while staying on the Frank call. You’d think they’d get tired of it, go on to “Spank” or “Battleship,” but no. Butch should go over and tell them to stop, but that would invoke the deadly kid “Ewww!” response and its follow-up, “Go away, you big baby, we’ll do what we want!” and even Cindy would join in because this was the herd, although she’d be gentle. He’d be humiliated and might get his suit, the same one he wore to Frank’s funeral, dirty, which meant a beating and not going to Dale’s graduation.
Best to stay here.
Graduation. Sure making a big deal. All of them dressed up, even Art, with some put-together shirt and skinny tie that wasn’t a suit at all, something Butch, with great delight, repeatedly pointed out. Cindy had on a flowered dress with a yellow silk belt and mom had brushed her red-blonde hair until it was full and fluffy and floated like a cloud, as it did now inside the rope…twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six. She wouldn’t get dirty.
Never did. Even when they had mud ball fights and slid head first, screaming and laughing, down the crap hills piled up by the bulldozer guys building apartments near the ball fields, only Butch came back with twenty or thirty layers of dirt hiding his identity. She was untouched. She was perfect.
She was beautiful.
Butch watched her, and his heart soared and knew he was lucky to be her brother…okay, adopted brother. All the boys wanted to cut the string on her finger but she wouldn’t let them, and all the girls wanted to play with her, just her, but she played with them all, no favorites, her laughter ringing up and down the hallways of B.C. Swinney Elementary.
Because of Cindy, the bullies more or less left Butch alone and the other kids tolerated his goofiness. In any other family, that’d be enough. But she favored him, him, over the smart, handsome boys who pursued her on the playground and the sophisticated girls who called her on the phone. Butch was her sole companion when she ran through the alley and over the crap hills. They rolled down the slopes together until they were so dizzy that earth and sky blurred and then they lay on their backs and made things out of clouds and said their secrets and never, ever, told on each other. She didn’t call him stupid or spaz or any of the other names everyone including dad did; she covered for him, even made him look better than he was to the other kids. Even now, somehow she’d disentangle him if he went over there and screamed at the girls for making fun of Frank. Without her, he’d be dead.
Just like Frank.
Tommy walked up the mile-high steps onto the porch and scooted Cha Cha, who lay next to Butch, out of the way. The dog smiled good-naturedly as Tommy sat down and handed Butch a Journey Into Mystery, “To Kill a Thunder God”! Good cover with the Destroyer on it and Butch flipped to “The Crimson Hand,” one of the Tales of Asgard. He’d already read it, but he liked to re-read things he liked, and the Norse myths fascinated him. Tommy had X-Men #12, “The Origin of Professor X”! and Butch glanced over. His copy was in the house. He and Tommy had bought probably the last two left at Carl’s Drug Store, thank God, before someone else got them. Good issue, but he wasn’t sure which origin story, Professor X’s or Juggernaut’s, was the more compelling. Juggernaut was magic, not a mutant. That made him hard to defeat.
“You wanna read this one?” Tommy had caught his glance and shook the X-Men at him.
Yes, but Asgard first.
Butch finger-waved it away, already back on the Hand. Tommy grunted and turned to the page showing Juggernaut at Professor X’s feet, helmet off, surprised by a Professor X-guided Angel attack. Butch abandoned Asgard for Juggernaut’s terrified face. There’s always a weakness. Just had to find it.
“Why you all dressed up?” Tommy asked.
“Dale’s graduation.”
“Oh,” Tommy nodded and looked at the girls. Tommy was in sixth grade now but, next year, moved on to middle school. Next week Butch turned ten, double-digits at last, teenagery mere scattered months beyond, a birthday of grand implications heralded with cupcakes and ice cream and singing and presents and maybe, please God, that longed-for GI Joe. Butch looked forward to it with all the twittery anticipation of a Christmas morning. But their mutual promotions might have a dangerous effect on their friendship.
Tommy lived right next door, very convenient for a best friend, and there were hardly two hours straight in the day that Butch wasn’t at Tommy’s or the other way around. They played army, with Tommy the Americans and Butch the Germans, or Civil War, with Tommy the North and Butch the Rebs, or Marvel, with Tommy as Dr. Strange or Reed Richards and Butch as Dormammu or Doctor Doom. Occasionally, Chuckie from two doors down joined them when he wasn’t in trouble, or Dale (funny that he had Butch’s sister’s name) from across the street when he was visiting his aunt. But those were interludes Butch really didn’t like because, invariably, Chuckie or Dale teased Butch about something stupid he did or said and Tommy let them continue until Butch cried and went home.
The best times were right now, side by side, reading Marvel. Tommy got him started a few years ago, dragged Butch and his weekly quarter off to Carl’s. “Don’t buy baseball cards, jerko, lookee here!”
Tommy had spun the magazine rack to a slot containing a Fantastic Four #1 with that big green thing coming out of the street.
Wow.
Butch liked Batman, and Sergeant Rock and the tank haunted by the ghost of General Stuart in GI Combat, but this! He bought the FF and a Two-Gun Kid and still had one cent left over for bubblegum with a Luis Tiant and Tug McGraw inside to trade later.
So who’s the jerko, jerko?
They had raced to Tommy’s back porch and Tommy read the comics aloud because Butch couldn’t read yet. First grade was still months away, and he hadn’t gone to kindergarten like Cindy and Art. If it hadn’t been for those comic books and Green Eggs and Ham, Butch wouldn’t have had a clue what a letter was, much less whole words, when he walked into Miss MacDonald’s first-grade class that fall.
Now, look at him. He read as well as Tommy, maybe better. Butch had read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer five times already, loving each pass-through. Miss Hale, the most beautiful second-grade teacher in the world, had read it to them during story time. Enthralled, Butch had pestered her to do so again, and she asked, “Would you like to read it for yourself?”
Would he!
“Maybe a little advanced, Butch, but if you think you can do it …”
He sure did think he could do it. Hadn’t he blasted through the SRAs, didn’t he swap Happy Hollisters with the third graders and wasn’t he a Marvel True Believer? She lent him her copy and he finished it in a week, and Miss Hale was so astonished she gave it to him when school ended. He could read anything now, couldn’t he?
Call me a bookworm, dad, I don’t care.
But all that was in jeopardy. If there was one group of kids with which middle schoolers had no truck, it was elementaries … like Butch. Butch wouldn’t ascend to seventh grade until Tommy was already in ninth, one year away from high school, and ninth graders had even less truck with seventh graders. Their friendship was aging out. It was more than likely that this summer was the very last time that he and Tommy could, or would, remain the best of friends.
That prospect gave Butch the chills, and he glanced apprehensively at his very best friend in the entire universe and, oh my God, look at this, Tommy was still on the girls. Butch frowned. Tommy had the narrowed eyes that dad got whenever he looked at bent-over girls or girls walking by in their bathing suits. Butch always looked away feeling guilty, even though he didn’t understand why. Dad, though, stayed on them; smiled, too.
Wait. Wrong word—’leered,’ yeah, that’s it. An ugly word. But appropriate.

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About the Author

D. Krauss resides in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. He has been, at various times: a cottonpicker, a sodbuster, a librarian, a surgical orderly, the guy who paints the little white line down the middle of the road, a weatherman, a door-kickin’ shove-gun-in-face lawman, a hunter of terrorists, and a school bus driver (and a layabout, don’t forget that). He’s been married for over 40 years, and has a wildman bass guitarist for a son.

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#CoverReveal “The Dating Series (Books 1-6)” by Heidi McLaughlin and LP Dover

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Title: The Dating Series
Author: Heidi McLaughlin & LP Dover
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Dates: A Date for Midnight – April 28
A Date with an Admirer – May 19
A Date for Good Luck – June 9
A Date for the Hunt – June 30
A Date for the Derby – July 21
A Date to Play Fore – August 11
Cover Designer: MadHat Studios
Hosted by: Buoni Amici Press, LLC.

Tweet: It's #CoverReveal Day for @HeidiJoVT & @LPDover's Six Book Series Called The Dating Series #PreOrder https://ctt.ec/dbEbf+ #KindleUnlimited #ContemporaryRomance #BAPpr #ReadingList2020

Book 1:

AMAZON

Blurb:

It’s New Year’s Eve and Natalie has a rare night off from her shifts at the hospital. Determined to have fun with friends, she stops at a local store for provisions.
There, amongst the craft beer and pork rinds, she comes face to face with her high school boyfriend, Brennan McLean. He’s a rockstar. She’s a nurse. To say life led them in different directions would be putting it mildly. Still, time hasn’t lessened the electric chemistry between them. By the end of the night more was dropping than just the ball.
Convincing herself she could have fun without getting attached, Natalie treats herself to a weekend tangled in the sheets with him. But that lie she told herself pops faster than champagne bubbles.
With media rumors swirling around Brennan, can the pair find a way to make their unlikely relationship work? Or will Natalie’s resolution not to get her heart broken meet a painful end?

Book 2:


AMAZON

Blurb:

February is the month of love, but not for Sophie. One week before Valentine’s Day, she learns her boyfriend of two years has been cheating on her with one of his dental hygienists.
As much as she wants to erase any trace of him from her life, she has no choice but to face him and his new squeeze at a huge Valentine’s Day bash that has fast become the social event of the season. No way is she going alone. What she needs is a beautiful hunk of arm candy… STAT.
Sophie’s best friend, Ellie, proposes the perfect solution to her dilemma. Her brother Tanner, the smokin’ hot surfer, just got back into town and is more than happy to help Sophie prove she’s over her scumbag ex.
What starts as an act between Sophie and Tanner quickly swells into more. It doesn’t take long before Sophie finds herself wanting to ride more than just waves with the toned and tanned hottie. But when passion crashes over the pair, Sophie fears she’s putting her friendship with Ellie at risk.
Can Tanner convince her to give their love a chance? Or will the bonds of friendship repel Cupid’s arrow?

Book 3:

AMAZON

Blurb:

Kiss the Blarney Stone, Hope Dunn is going to need some good ole fashion Irish luck! In the chaos of tax season the Arizona accountant is pulled away to stand in her cousin’s wedding. All it takes is one step back in the Big Apple, and she regrets making the trip. True to character, her mother uses their time together to hound Hope about getting married and settling down.
Still, Hope fulfills her bridesmaid obligations by joining the bridal party for a shamrock wearing, pint chugging St. Paddy’s day blow out. There she runs into best man—and smokin’ hot ginger—Kellan Townsend. Far too much green beer later, she finds out exactly what that fine Irish lad keeps under his kilt.
Afterwards, Hope wants nothing more than to walk of shame her way into a dark room and nurse her hangover. Unfortunately, wedding demands won’t allow it. As if facing Kellan isn’t awkward enough, her mother picks that moment to launch into a fresh guilt-trip over her lack of grandbabies. Like a lucky little Leprechaun, Kellan cuts in with a magical offer.
A pretend romance, to get her mother off her back, seems like a wish granted. But Kellan has an agenda all his own. Can he use this opportunity to jig his way straight into Hope’s heart? Or will he need a four-leaf clover to get past this workaholics defenses?

Book 4:

AMAZON

Blurb:

Allison Wood is single and not looking to mingle. Unfortunately, her sister, Erin, doesn’t take no for an answer. As the producer of a new reality TV show, that turns a traditional Easter egg hunt into a dating show, Erin believes her sister would be a perfect contestant and secures her a spot.
Instead of cozying up at home and biting the ears off a chocolate bunny, Allison finds herself in Aruba hiding an egg while America watches. She could have been paired up with a slew of other guys. But who does fate match her with? Sexy fireman Hudson Bryant, who happens to be the same guy that made Allison’s high school years miserable.
Go on a dating show, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
When viewers learn of their history, the pair instantly become a fan favorite. Everyone is eager to see how their story will unfold. For the good of the show, Allison agrees to play nice with the former jock… for now.
Can Hudson make amends for the past and crack through Allison’s hard candy shell to her cream-filled center? Or will her time with him leave a bitter, black jelly bean taste in Allison’s mouth?

Book 5:

AMAZON

Blurb:

For Brielle Armstrong the pomp and circumstance of the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby are truly the most thrilling time of the year. Press junkets, designer gowns, everyone schmoozing her in hopes of getting in her daddy’s good graces. What’s not to love?
But this year, her heart is racing with anticipation to see Colby Hensley. As a former trainer of her family’s champion horses, his rugged sex appeal has always filled Brielle’s mind with naughty thoughts of a little barebacked fun.
Even though Colby walked away from their farm, her father, Butch, would never approve of him. But what daddy doesn’t know can’t hurt him. If their secret comes out, it could cost Brielle everything. Still, what fun is life if you don’t ride it at a gallop?
Grab your riding crop, and place your bets. It’s Derby Day!

Book 6:

AMAZON

Blurb:

Tee up for the long drive, it’s golf season!
After winning the U.S. Open, Greyson Jennings couldn’t help but take playful jabs at Bryan Nelson, his prime competition’s, expense. His snarky claims during the press junction may have burned off like fog on the green, if a week later they hadn’t found themselves at the same golf resort.
Hungry for a little payback, Bryan challenges Greyson to a grudge match: Grey and his best friend versus Bryan and his sister, Leah. Turns out, Leah is a ringer with a swing—and curves—that turn Greyson’s thoughts to a hole in one of another kind. Unfortunately, Leah’s opinion of him has been formed by the many stories Bryan has shared. That may hurt this golfer’s handicap, but he’s nowhere near ready to give up. It’s game on as Leah agrees to meet Greyson on the green and go head to head with the hole as the goal.
Can Greyson prove there’s more to him than an impressive club and a carefully crafted bad boy persona? Or will the sting of Leah’s rejection leave him in need of some alone time and a good ball washer?

About Heidi:

Heidi McLaughlin is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of The Beaumont Series, The Boys of Summer, and The Archers.
Originally, from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell, Buttercup and a Highland West/Mini Schnauzer, JiLL and her brother, Racicot.
When she’s isn’t writing one of the many stories planned for release, you’ll find her sitting court-side during either daughter’s basketball games.
Heidi’s first novel, Forever My Girl, has been adapted into a motion picture with LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, starring Alex Roe and Jessica Roth, in theaters January 19, 2018.

To stay connected with Heidi visit www.facebook.com/authorheidimclaughlin or heidimclaughlin.com

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GETHEIDISBOOKS to (833) 926-1009

About L.P. Dover:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author L. P. Dover is a southern belle living in North Carolina with her husband and two beautiful girls. Everything’s sweeter in the South has always been her mantra and she lives by it, whether it’s with her writing or in her everyday life. Maybe that’s why she’s seriously addicted to chocolate.

Dover has written countless novels in several different genres, including a children’s book with her daughter. Her favorite to write is romantic suspense, but she’s also found a passion in romantic comedy. She loves to make people laugh which is why you’ll never see her without a smile on her face.

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#NewRelease “Spring in Colorado (Colorado Crazy Book 8)” by Milan Watson

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Tansy is the heart and soul of the diner, but this spring her heart just might be stolen…

Scorned by love and promises made long ago, Tansy Bryant has learned not to count on anyone but herself. She runs the White Horse Diner with an iron fist and a heart the size of the Rocky Mountains, but at night she goes home alone.

It took a heart attack for John Miller to accept that his high flying career as a corporate lawyer was never his dream. Determined to slow down and to follow his own dreams he heads to White Horse Creek.

He didn’t expect a turf war over his new diner with a fiery redhead. He also didn’t expect her to be the first woman to capture his heart.

Can Tansy and John move past the challenges love brings to find happiness together?

Find out now. Spring in Colorado is book eight in the Colorado Crazy Series. Another ranch romance guaranteed to tease your senses and make you realize that small towns aren’t sleepy after all.

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Milan WatsonAbout the Author

Milan Watson is a fresh new voice in contemporary romance. Her stories are fun-loving, imaginative and humorous whilst at the same time touching day to day challenges all women face.

She is the mother of two little boys and wife to a supportive husband, who doesn’t mind doing the dishes when she finds herself lost in a story. She spends most of her days dreaming up new characters and bringing stories to life, surrounded by her family and her two dogs Wendy and Duke. She loves creating characters you can identify with and writing stories that will have you laugh, cry and smile at the same time.

For free give-aways and to join her mailing list you can visit her website at www.milanwatson.com

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#BookTour “Stumbling Toward God: A Prodigal’s Return” by Margaret D. McGee

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CoverA Prodigal’s Return, 2nd ed.
Spiritual/Religious
Date Published: March 11, 2020
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STUMBLING TOWARD GOD traces a woman’s spiritual search with an unusual twist – from an “atheist who prays” to unorthodox membership in two contrasting churches: Unitarian and Episcopal. In the second edition of her forthright memoir, McGee shares new adventures on her spiritual quest, culminating in personal encounters with a God of love. An honest, satisfying read for anyone questioning or seeking a spiritual path. First Place for Nonfiction Book in the PNWA Literary Competition. Includes Reading Group Guide.

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“An offbeat, engagingly written, appealingly uncertain spiritual memoir.” – Publishers Weekly

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About the Author
Margaret D. McGee writes books about being alive in the cosmos, paying attention, and making connections. Her parents were both preacher’s kids, and her father pursued a successful career in public education. These two themes—applied faith and applied intellect—returned in her middle years when she joined the Episcopal parish and Unitarian Universalist fellowship in her small town. She says, “Going back and forth, week on, week off, between the “prayer-book” Episcopalians and the free-thinking.
Unitarians provided an essential bridge in my spiritual path—a bridge that led me to a new place.” McGee has had a varied career, including a time at the Microsoft Corporation, where she was employed as a master writer. She now lives in the Olympic Peninsula with her husband, David. In addition to Stumbling Toward God, her books include Sacred Attention and Haiku – The Sacred Art, both published by Skylight Paths Publishing. Her liturgical prayers and skits have been used by faith communities across the United States, and can be found at her website, InTheCourtyard.com.
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