#NewRelease “Called to Battle: A Supernatural Thriller of Heart-Pounding Mystery & Suspense (A Christian Thriller Series Book 1)” by J. Henry Watson

Battle cover

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For fans of best selling mystery and suspense novels comes a supernatural thriller about a pastor, a lawyer and a police officer who are swept up into a battle between spiritual forces of good and evil.

When Jim Conwell answered the call to pastor a small community church, he never dreamed it would toss him into the fight of his life.

The unsuspecting town of Whittenville, nestled in the scenic mountains of New England, once had everything going for it. But now, the winds have changed; sin has become rampant and drug dealers rule.

Dark powers lurking in the shadows threaten to destroy anyone standing in the way of their plans. The evil hits its mark when the police discover Jim with a smoking gun in his hand and the body of a church member on the floor. Jim soon finds himself at the epicenter of a courtroom drama that is fought not only in the natural, but also in the spiritual realm.

The opposition is ruthless, but with Jim’s guidance and godly wisdom, a small team of ordinary people come together with only their faith and willingness to fight the good fight. Victory seems impossible, but with God’s power made accessible to them, they just might be able to reclaim the battlefield. But will it be enough to win the war?

This gripping murder mystery, inspired by real events in the author’s life, offers keen insight into spiritual warfare, the reality of evil, and the power of prayer. If you enjoy a great legal thriller or suspense novel from Christian fiction authors like Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti and Joel Rosenburg, don’t miss this heart-pounding novel from J. Henry Watson.

Kindle Unlimited

FREE for a limited time!

Amazon US

Amazon UK

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#Featured “Hopelessly Ever After (Once Upon a Baby #2)” by Angela Seals

Hopelessly Ever After cover

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Quinn wants a baby. Scratch that. Quinn is obsessed with getting pregnant. To her, wanting a child with her husband Paxton is the natural next step after marriage. However, Paxton isn’t ready for kids. He has his reasons and Quinn respects that. But what about her wishes? She didn’t come up with the next Best Friends Challenge to be sitting on the sidelines. Pax knew what he signed up for when he married Quinn. Therefore, she just needs to show him that life would be so much sweeter with a cute mini running around. With Pax not budging, it will take all the Cosmo quizzes in the world for Quinn to change his mind.

For the best reading experience, it is recommended that the series be read in order.

Once Upon a Baby Series: Embracing Ever After by Sheryl Lister (Book 1)

Hopelessly Ever After by Angela Seals (Book 2)

Beyond Ever After by Elle Wright (Book 3)

Yours Ever After by Sherelle Green (Book 4)

Kindle Unlimited

Amazon

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#BookTour “A Plague Among Us (A Chautauqua Murder Mystery)” by Deb Pines

September 1-30, 2021 Tour

Synopsis:

A Plague Among Us by Deb Pines

When Al Martin, the editor of a satiric newspaper in Chautauqua, N.Y., reportedly dies of COVID-19, the local consensus is: good riddance.

A sister suspects foul play. She wonders why Al was cremated in a hurry.

The police stay out of it.

So it takes reporter and relentless snoop Mimi Goldman to try to find which of Al’s haters— including an estranged wife, three bitter siblings, a secretive caregiver, old enemies and the many targets of Al’s poison-pen sarcasm—might be a ruthless killer.

The novel, No. 8 in a series called “an Agatha Christie for the text-message age,” once again offers page-turning suspense. Wit. And the unforgettable setting of Chautauqua, a quirky, churchy, lakeside, Victorian cottage-filled summer arts community that launched an adult-education movement Teddy Roosevelt called “the most American thing in America.”

Kirkus Reviews calls A Plague Among Us “an intriguing and engaging crime tale” and “enjoyable novel” with “captivating characters.”

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery

Published by: KDP

Publication Date: July 1, 2021

Number of Pages: 280

ISBN: 979-8525017368

Series: Mimi Goldman Chautauqua Mysteries, Book 8 | Each book can be read

as a Stand-Alone Mystery

Kindle Unlimited

Purchase Links: Amazon | Goodreads

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Read an excerpt:

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Mimi and Sylvia were on the road again, heading to the Tissue Donor Center in Jamestown to chase Winston Suarez.

The center wasn’t far from the Loves’ funeral home. But this time Google Maps was directing them to take the highway, not back roads.

They started out the same way, heading west on 394, passing the same early landmarks: the Institution’s empty parking lots, busy golf course and We Wan Chu Cottages.

“So what’s new?” Sylvia asked.

“Too much,” Mimi said. “It’s crazy how I keep learning stuff without seeing how any of it means anything.”

“Because the medical examiner still hasn’t called?”

“Uh-huh.”

Sylvia sighed heavily. “Maybe he’s just as difficult as his dad.”

Tom Love Sr., in Mimi’s opinion, wasn’t difficult. All he had done was stand up for his son before Sylvia picked a fight with him. But Mimi let it go.

“Well, one thing I’ll grant the older one,” Sylvia said.

“What?”

“He’s above average in the looks department.”

Mimi chuckled.

“What?”

“I thought you’re done with all of that nonsense.”

“I am.”

Sylvia moved to the left lane to take the ramp onto Route 17/Interstate-86 East and floored it.

“Whoa, hey,” Mimi said. “Mario Andretti, slow down.”

Okay, okay,” Sylvia said. “Just had to get us on the highway.”

Sylvia slowed down to fit into the slow lane, sticking behind a FedEx truck going a steady 70 miles an hour.

Mimi filled Sylvia in on what she had heard from Shannon about Liam and Patrick. Their denials of knowing anything about the pranks. Their claims the decisions to have no autopsy and a quick cremation were just expedient—so Patrick could get home.

“So what time does Winston Suarez get off work?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s 5.”

Mimi had reached Winston once, described why she was calling. He got quiet, then hung up. After that, she called Winston and never reached him—leaving something like five or six messages.

They stayed on the highway about ten miles before taking the Jamestown airport exit, then winding around a maze of city streets until signs with a big “H” led them to the UPMC Hospital campus.

“Hopefully,” Sylvia said, “we’re more irresistible in person.”

The Tissue Donor Center was one of many outbuildings with medical-sounding names surrounding the redbrick main hospital.

Some were done in their own architectural style. Most, like the Tissue Donor Center, imitated the low-slung, redbrick design of the hospital, down to having a white number (for their address) and a primary-colored letter on their sides.

The letters were explained on campus signs. Building A was the main hospital. Building B, the signs said, was Outpatient Svcs. C was the Sherman Medical Bldg. D was Imaging & Medical Bldg. E was Physical Therapy, Pharmacies. F was the Tissue Donor Cntr.

Sylvia zipped past the early letters of the alphabet, slowing at F, the Tissue Donor Cntr. The main door had its name above it, an intercom to the right. Near the curb, another sign said, “No Standing any time. Ambulance Lane.”

They didn’t see any ambulances, but Sylvia decided to wait for Mimi anyway in a parking lot across the street.

“Break a leg,” Sylvia yelled as Mimi got out.

Mimi laughed.

If she did break a leg, no question, this was the place to do it. Her limb could be X-rayed at the Imaging Bldg.(D) and then set at Outpatient Svcs. (B).

At the door of the Tissue Donor Center, Mimi knocked.

“Who is it?”

The woman’s voice, through the intercom, was familiar.

“My name is Mimi Goldman,” Mimi said. “And—”

“Let me guess? You’re looking for Winston?”

Mimi laughed. “I guess I’m pretty predictable. Is he here?”

“He is. This is Hannah, by the way. We keep speaking on the phone. Why don’t I see if he’ll come out?”

Mimi had high hopes. How hard would it be for Winston to take a few steps to walk outside and see her?

On the other hand, blowing her off might be easier.

When she heard a ping, Mimi examined her phone. Sylvia, after coaching from her grandkids, texted like a teenager.

Wassup?

I asked for WS and someone said they’d get him. Just waiting.

kk

Standing there, Mimi went through her email. Then she switched to her latest word game addiction: Spelling Bee in The New York Times.

Players have to make the most words, four letters or longer, from seven given letters, including one letter that had to be used in every word. The words that day had to be made from BLWCHAE, with all using an E.

Mimi started with the obvious ones: BLEACH, BLECH, BEACH, EACH, LEACH, LECH. She was moving on to trickier words when the center’s door swung open.

Out stepped a tall, handsome, dark-featured young man in a white surgical mask and blue scrubs with the name SUAREZ above his shirt pocket.

“I don’t know who you are,” he said. “I don’t know why you keep asking me about this case, but . . . I’m pleading with you to drop it and just go.”

Mimi had expected an asshole, too lazy or too self-important to talk. Not a frightened young man.

“Can you say why?” she asked. “I have no idea why this case is at all sensitive.”

Winston shook his head.

“How about off the record? You have my word that I’d never tell anyone you ever spoke to me.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I can’t risk losing my job.”

***

Excerpt from A Plague Among Us by Deb Pines. Copyright 2021 by Deb Pines. Reproduced with permission from Deb Pines. All rights reserved.

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Author Bio:

Deb Pines

Deb Pines, an award-winning headline writer for the New York Post, is the author of seven Mimi Goldman novels and one novelette all set in the Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York where they are top sellers.
A former reporter, Deb is also a lover of puns, show tunes and indoor cycling. She lives in New York City with her husband Dave.

 

Catch Up With Deb Pines:
DebPines.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @debpines
Instagram – @pinesdebbie
Twitter – @pinesdeb
Facebook – @deborah.pines.9

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Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

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ENTER TO WIN:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Deb Pines. There will be 2 winners who will each receive one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card (U.S. ONLY). The giveaway runs September 1 through October 3, 2021. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

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#ReleaseBlitz “The Girl Behind the Mask” by Sienna Grant

The Girl Behind the Mask by Sienna Grant

Genre: Romantic suspense

AVAILABLE NOW!

➜ 𝗔𝗗𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗕𝗥: https://bit.ly/3k4m63m

➜ 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗕 𝗜𝗧 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘: https://books2read.com/u/me9n5Z

FREE IN KU!

#newrelease #TheGirlBehindTheMask #SiennaGrant #newbook #masquerade #romanticsuspense

#preorder #Amazon #Goodreads #grabithere

 

 

Blurb

Quinn

A masquerade ball.

A chance meeting.

The girl in the mask that stole my breath as our eyes met across the room.

With only her name, and my number stored in her cell, she walked away. Now, she’s the only thing I can think about.

That is until fate offers a helping hand and she turns up in the one place I never expected her to … My Casino; interviewing for a job.

Phoebe

New York. New start. But it’s not a new me.

The darkness that almost ruined me still follows, hiding in plain sight and taunting my thoughts and actions. Always questioning, always second-guessing.

It’s clear that there’s still something lingering between us…

Can I throw caution to the wind?

Do I chase happiness or will I be stuck dancing with the shadows of my past?

 

 

 

Meet the Author

Sienna Grant is a British writer from the West Midlands in the UK, who decided to step into the world of writing and has since never looked back.

She started her journey with contemporary romance as she loves a happy ever after, but has since sampled different genres and has pushed every boundary she has set herself. From contemporary romance to suspense, teen and young adult but also stepping into the darker world of Mafia and women’s fiction.

When she’s not writing, she’s a wife and mother to three children, two of which are now grown up and starting their own lives.

Sienna loves to read most romance when she can, but always with a hint of realism.

#Excerpt “Burning Desire (The Psychopath and the Girl in Black Prada Shoes, Part I)” by M.L. Stark

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The Psychopath and the Girl in Black Prada Shoes, Part I

 

Fiction, Drama

 

Publisher: ‎Xlibris

Mary, is an established woman. Her lifespan is a petrifying mess. This is about dating a truly creepy sociopath, one who swindled himself through life. A self-absorbed, lying person using people.
He presents himself with a public persona of normalcy. She could not see what lay behind the dark shade of Drake Lucifer Bates. He was inappropriately flirting with her; he was a doctor and she was his patient. During a treatment session, he goes too far. Does he get hard when he treats patients? It was too late for her to escape. 

 Unintended she becomes captured in his mean spider web. Drake won her compassion with his enormous intellect and glimmering charm. Something vastly magical happened around him. She begins a passionate love affair with him. Their life seemed blissful on the outside. Behind his malicious plan, it was chilling. 

 Trusting him with her fragile life, she don’t see he is like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Believing him was fatal. Swindle wealthy patients, was his primary target. His manipulative behavior and scams, ends disastrous for Mary. She is a character in his horror movie. He sinks into his mania of deceives and lies. He is a predator! She don’t know anything about psychopaths. How does she figure out what she can expect from such people? Her life was never the same, but she learned from his evilness.

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EXCERPT

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Shady Lizard and the Woman

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

It’s more than difficult to get this all down on paper, because I want it to be authentic. I wish to rationally sense life as Mary experienced it with her ‘lounge room lizard’. All the names of the characters, the establishments, and the places have been changed. The story is fictional, but it contains ideas based on real events.

There is merely one problem! How to tell it in ten sentences? It can’t be told in a few words. Sorry, friends! However, ten sentences might be easy to read. So, let’s jump to it. A wise man once wrote, ‘Screw it.

Let’s do it.’1 So I did it! In my new process of life, I can add one more quote by the same man: ‘Do not be embarrassed by your failures. Learn from them and start again.’ Thank you for the push. It gave me a new beginning.

Living near the beach and walking it day and night, is my dream.

Falling peacefully asleep with the windows open to the gentle sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Letting the blue moonlight shine through the window and watching the glittering stars in the clear night sky, while relaxing in my bed. My decision to finish the story began when I moved into my new apartment, in the first row of homes facing the impressive sea of the English Channel. It provides a striking view from the vast balcony and is barely fifty metres from the dark blue sea and the golden sand, presenting its many small colourful typical British beach huts. Each hut has its own precise shade ranging from burnished orange to icy blue, to depict a ‘sunrise to sunset’ scheme.

The first night is wonderful peaceful and as I wake up to a warm August summer morning on the south coast of the United Kingdom.

The Sun is shining through my window as it awakens me at ten o’clock in the morning, while I’m still resting in my silky white sheets, warmly tucked around my naked body, and stretching my limbs as a lazy cat, because I have no desire to get up. After rubbing my eyes, I sit upon my bed to let the blood flow through all my veins, and I look around in the room in confusion. Oh, my goodness! Boxes in every corner. The balcony door is open, and I sense a pleasant fresh and cool sea breeze sneaks into the room, while I’m listening to the sound of the crashing waves reaching my inner ear with a pleasing calmness, and I think, Why not?

Leave the boxes and start writing a new book or finish the other ones I’m working on. I know my life is rather unreal, because I was heartbroken for a long time, and have not had the time or psyche to finish them. Being loved one day and completely upset the next turned my life drastically upside down. The man I love often tells me, ‘Trust me. I love only you. We are meant to be’ or ‘We will be together for the rest of our lives’. I’m devastated because it’s not as he promised. It’s all a lie! The many red flags slipped past my attention about him being a dangerous person. It’s difficult to imagine and comprehend if I’m going to have a life without him, because he is the best thing that I believe has happened to me. Too late, I figured out the meaning of the phrase

‘lounge room lizard’, but I believed him and trusted him with my life.

That could be the biggest mistake I ever made in my life, pondering if he behaves like this to every woman he meets on his path. What gruesome things will I eventually be able to reveal?

Why is it so important to use the expression ‘lounge room lizard’?

This expression is usually a reference to lounge musicians, but most often in a negative sense. Such a person has the character of a medieval, ordinary man, who looks charmingly good, and resembles a dehydrated, oppressed lizard, which romantically is involved with a wealthy woman.

He is typically shown as a well-dressed man and frequents surroundings where the rich and famous gather. He is the type of man who will seduce a wealthy woman with his flattery and deceptive charm. Oh, golly gosh! Do you believe it? He has so much charisma and is extremely convincing and pretends to be a first-class trustworthy charming person. I have never met any person so full of good ideas as his. It’s amazing how the chap can captivate people in front of an assembly, by being so enchanting with his skills and high energy.

Trust me!

Those were the main words during our time together. Later, various problems began to arise, with his many calculating plans, when his professional approach or his projects usually started to awaken a great deal of speculation—though often, it was too late to see through the disguise. So, did I do all my research too late? Was I excruciatingly conned, because I loved him blindly? A Russian proverb says, ‘Love is evil. You can fall in love with a goat.’ In other words, love is so blind, and the pretty headless chick becomes blinded.

The phrase ‘lizard’ presumably relates to the cold and insinuating quality of the reptile. It has sharp claws like an eagle, which is unscrupulous when snatching the next victim. It’s usually a distressed woman, whom he wants to lure into marriage, and maybe Mary was such a sorrowful pretty little doll. He eagerly tries at the early stage to seek some benefit from her, because he never married the previous one. Will he succeed? The woman usually has valuable possessions and money that the lizard man can profit from, and the more naive, unhappy, and helpless she is, the better for him. Then he strikes with his nasty sharp claws into her vulnerability and misuses her to the last drop, without any empathy or remorse. He chillingly torments her until she is severely wounded, like a helpless animal lying in the gutter, abandoned and helpless in its misery! Why does such a person so? Will she discover if he is a maliciously cunning narcissistic artist, an evil psychopath? A bloodsucking leech who sucks the last blood out of others. Has he done so through his entire life? Some say he is a person who completely lack of self-discipline and respect for obligations, rules, and social norms. Others say his speech patterns are repeated lies, with mood swings that are almost impossible to see through. Though, Mary trust this stunning man, even she sometimes sees that he has the flawless ability to bend the facts, and often he says it always someone else’s fault. That is his best play, so no matter what, that’s how it’s done.

It’s never his fault!

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Other books in the Burning Desire Series:


Burning Desire Fades

The Psychopath and the Girl in Black Prada Shoes – Part 2

Publisher: ‎Xlibris

Part 2 presents the continuation of the maliciously agenda of Doctor Bates and will leave you in a trance of shock with its vigorous narrative. A moment ago, it seemed, it was yesterday full of happiness. Tomorrow it is a matter of survival for Mary as her life is on the brink of insanity to her Knight in Shining Armor. Loving him was all she ever had.

As she meets Drake again she becomes a slave in the madness of love. Before Mary notice the dangerous life, she gets deeply trapped in Drake’s dodgy mesh. It’s too late for her to escape. Fraud, lies, dominance, torment and the complexity of an abusive relationship evolve, and will unexpectedly be a new part of Mary’s life. Drake’s sinister betrayal sneaks slowly in as he lures Mary like a ravenous wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Mary will experience love, hatred and deception; however, will she continue to be Drake’s victim in his mystiques and hefty deceptions he gets during the nights? On the outside, it seems Drake is loving and has a high IQ, above normal. On the inside, he is a devious psychopath. The story will drastically unfold to a complexity of a love drama, crime, fraud and Drake’s delusions of grandeur.

At a secluded area outside Hong Kong, the mafia attempt to kill Drake. We will follow the two sweethearts in how they try to escape from the difficulties with the Asian Mafia. With lightning speed, three creepy guys and the mafia boss run into the Hotel to search for Drake.

Not only once, but several times the two lovebirds are on the run in the shadowy darkness of the night, because Drake steal and frauds his business associates.

Amazon

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About the Author

M. L. Stark has been married for over 20 years and has adult children and grandchildren. She based certain elements of the story on real-life events. When Stark was middle-aged, she underwent a divorce and met a new man who mentally abused her. These experiences and her survival have empowered her to write stories about surviving cruelty and abuse.

“I am telling the story not of what I thought I was meant to be born into, but as the survivor I have become after abuse. I am also hoping to connect with people and deter them from facing a toxic relationship in their lives by sharing my own real-life events.” Stark says.

M. L. Stark dares to discuss what it is like to be in an abusive relationship, and shows the power in embracing the experience, prevailing and ultimately recovering from the abuse, escaping the psychopath and helping others tap into their empathy and prevail over similar hazards.

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