Book Blitz and Giveaway: Walk the Line

Walk the Line
Natalie Parker, Paula Dombrowiak
(Blood & Bone Legacy, #1)
Publication date: April 22nd 2025
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

It was supposed to be simple: Film the tour. Build my portfolio. And for Heavens sake, keep it in my pants.

Then I met Felix Krasinski.

The captivating and infuriatingly cocky frontman of Velvet Drift commands attention everywhere he goes—including mine. Am I proud of it? No. I’m supposed to be filming their perfromance, not fantasizing about his perfect abs. I’m determined to be taken seriously, and hooking up with the ridiculously hot rockstar is the fastest way to tank my credibility.

Felix is always in control, and I’m an impulsive rule-breaker. We don’t make sense. But we can’t seem to stay away from each other.

Because, between his uptight habits and annoyingly perfect jawline, there’s more to Felix than his stage presence and legendary last name. He’s protective, vulnerable, and gets me in a way no one else does.

But my career depends on keeping things professional, and his future hinges on staying laser-focused on his band’s success.

Every heated argument, every stolen kiss, makes me want to throw caution—and professionalism—to the wind.

One thing’s certain—this summer tour is about to get a lot more complicated than I bargained for.

Walk the Line is the first book in the Blood & Bone and Turn it Up second generation series crossover. Grab this new adult, angsty, forced proximity, steamy contemporary rockstar romance. Walk the Line can be read as a standalone.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

“What the…?” My voice trails off as I take in the dark, angry bruise on my skin.

A hickey.

And not just any hickey—this is the mother of all hickeys.

It’s a masterpiece of malice, blooming in deep purples and reds, unapologetically high on my neck. No amount of foundation could hide this, and it’s far too conspicuous for even the highest collar. There was no fucking around when she decided to do this. She wanted me marked.

“Maggie!” I call, my voice bouncing off the walls as I step out of the bathroom. Her only response is the sound of sheets rustling and a half-asleep groan. I glance back at the mirror, rubbing at the bruise like it might magically fade. Who even gives hickeys anymore?

When I step out, I find her perched on the kitchen counter, one leg dangling lazily while the other’s tucked beneath her. She’s cradling a mug of coffee—my coffee—the steam curling up around her face. And she’s wearing my Henley, the fabric hanging loose on her but clinging just enough in places to make my brain short-circuit. The soft gray color makes her blue eyes pop, and they blink at me with an innocence that’s so utterly contrived, I almost laugh. Almost. And fuck, she made me temporarily forget about the hickey.

“What is this?” I demand, pointing to the bruise on my neck as I stride closer.

She tilts her head like she’s admiring a painting. She leans in, her lips so close I can feel the ghost of her breath. She presses a kiss to the bruise, and I swear my brain briefly loses all function.

“That,” she says, her voice honey-sweet, “is a hickey.”

“I know what it is, baby,” I snap, though the grin threatening to break free betrays me. “I have press with Ivy today.” My tone is exasperated, but she doesn’t look the least bit sorry.

“I know.” Her lips curve into a slow, self-satisfied smile, the kind that makes her look like a sexy as fuck brat. Lucky for her, I happen to like brats.

I grab her coffee mug, setting it down deliberately and grab her by the waist, pulling her flush against me. She lets out a surprised little gasp, her hands instinctively bracing against my chest.

“You fucking scare me sometimes, Sass,” I murmur before claiming her lips.

Author Bio:

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

For more ways to learn about Paula and her books, check out her website: @www.pauladombrowiak.com

Natalie Parker resides in the Seattle area with her husband and two rugrats, but is originally a Michigan girl.

She always enjoyed writing and noticed she had a knack for it while earning her Psychology degree and has always been an avid reader, but never thought of becoming an author until one day there seemed to be a story to tell.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, reading, reading to her kids, drinking coffee, reading, occasional yardwork, reading, listening to music, reading and writing.

Stay tuned for more to come for your favorite characters of the Turn it Up series!

GIVEAWAY!
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Tour Stop/Giveaway: Stone of Doubt by Margaret Izard

 

Check out Margaret Izard's Stone of Doubt today and make sure to enter the tour wide giveaway as Margaret Izard will be awarding a Stone of Doubt Book Swag Box to a randomly drawn winner. The tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions and you can find all the tour stops HERE. Make sure to comment on other tour stop posts as the more you comment, the more chances you have towards this great drawing.

Author Interview with Margaret Izard

Tell us about your latest book, who are the main character’s and what can we expect when we pick it up?

Stone of Doubt, book 5.  Evie’s story. (Colin and Bree’s daughter) A human with Fae powers finds herself fulfilling an old magic stone prophecy as her lost dream boy, now a man, must rescue her from the cruel grip of an evil monster and save the realms. 

She’s a human with Fae powers—and two men who want her. One dark and devilish, the other her long-lost love. Which path will Evie choose? 

Evie MacDougall, you met in book 3, Stone of Hope. She’s Breille and Colin MacDougall’s daughter with Fae powers who accidentally opened the Eye of Ra portal, which sucked her, her brother Ewan and their uncle, Dominic DeVolt, into Egypt of the 1930s. In that story, she meets her mysterious Fae boy, whom she falls hard for. When we met with her again, she had graduated college and had not seen her Fae crush since. She meets the handsome dark man, Manix, and they start a relationship only to have her Fae crush, Aodhán, return, begging him to take her to his Fae realm. 

Aodhán, saved Evie and her family at the end of Stone of Hope, book 3 Stones of Iona, only to be punished for showing his true love forbidden Fae spells. Now freed from his captivity, he’s free to visit Evie, his love. But she’s torn between two men, one dark and dangerous, and him, a prophesied future King of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Aodhán will do all in his power to fight for their love, even risk his own destiny. 

Manix Skene Evie admired from afar since he transferred to her college three months prior. He’s a drama major who prefers goth like her and carries a darkness about him that all the girls find irresistible. When Manix invites her to his estate for a masked ball, she becomes curious about the dark and handsome man every college student dreams of dating. Some say he held a temper as if another lived inside him, but for Evie, he was everything a girl desired, or was he?

Do you come up with the hook first, or do you create characters first and then dig through until you find a hook?

This is the same as asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. The hook is the story. I’m a plotter. When crafting my stories, I need to do a lot of planning, character profiles, etc. But at the start of the idea of the story, one must have the goal, motive, and conflict of the story and each of the main characters. The hook combines all these, so the discovery comes early on, but the order changes from each story I craft. For Stone of Doubt, the hook came first because it grew from the previous book in the series. Evie’s lost love was a Fae who helped her in the previous book. When we get to Stone of Doubt, he’s disappeared from her life for years, only to return when she least expects it.

Which of your own characters would you like to have lunch with?

I would have to say Dagda King of the Tuatha Dé Danann Fae. He holds most of the information of all the characters in the books.

Tell us about what you are reading at the moment or anticipate reading in the future? Any favorite authors you enjoy reading in your spare time?

I’m drafting a book now, so I won’t read anything else at this time. When I do read, I read a lot, so there are too many authors I enjoy to list.

Which of your own books would you like to live in?

Stone of Love, book 1, Stones of Iona, only because it’s the first book I wrote.

What do you do when you have free time?

My hobbies include travel, gardening, cooking, crafting, entertainment (TV/movies/live shows), and floating around my pool.

How do you approach character development in your stories? Do you have any specific techniques or methods that you find particularly effective?

I have character profiles I complete, but the mental image of them, how they act etc. I think through prior. My acting experiences lend to this as I approach each character as someone I’d have to portray.

What do you believe sets your writing apart from others in your genre, and why should readers choose to read your books?

What is said about my writing: Margaret Izard is renowned for crafting characters who are both flawed and fascinating. In her latest addition to the steamy time travel series, readers will meet individuals grappling with internal conflicts and external challenges, making their journeys resonate on a deeply human level.

 

What readers have said about this next release: The narrative keeps you guessing. Just when readers think they’ve figured it all out, unexpected turns will invite them to re-examine their assumptions—mirroring the book’s central theme of questioning certainty. Stone of Doubt isn’t just a story; it’s an exploration of how doubt and certainty shape our lives. As readers navigate the intertwined threads of romance, suspense, and self-discovery, they’ll find themselves reflecting on their own experiences and beliefs. 

Can you discuss any upcoming projects or books that you’re currently working on? What can readers expect from your future works?

Next in the series: 
Highlander’s Holly and Ivy, a Christmas companion book coming November 2025. Features Alex MacDougall, Mary and Roderick from Thistle in the Mistletoe son. A forbidden love between a Highlander and an English lady intertwines with magic, betrayal, and the fate of a nation as they fight to unite their worlds and reclaim Scotland’s legacy.

Stone of Faith, book 6 Ewan’s Story. (Evie’s twin brother) A cursed pirate captain and an enslaved siren defy a power-hungry madman—and fate itself—to claim a love that spans centuries as they save the human and Fae realms.

Stone of Destiny, book 7. Katerine MacArthur, Evie’s BFF love story. A woman torn between fate and forbidden love must defy a Fae prophecy and battle dark forces to reclaim her future—and the heart of the Fae warrior she can’t forget.

Evergreen Evermore, a Christmas companion book coming in 2026.

This series leads into another connected series, Dragons of Tantallon, a dragon-shapeshifter series revolving around the magic Iona Stones.

 

STONE OF DOUBT

Author: Margaret Izard

Paranormal Romance

In the absence of doubt, only faith is found. 

A human with Fae powers living like an oddball has its ups and downs until Evie MacDougall’s dream Fae boy pops back into her life after she thought another was “the one.” 

One dark and devilish, the other her long-lost love. Evil forces trap her for a magic Fae stone, but which man can she trust? As a teen prophesied to be Fae king, Aodhán viewed the girl of his dreams through an Eye of Ra. 

Once, he risked all to help Evie MacDougall find a magic Fae stone, only to end up imprisoned. Kept from his true love for years, he finds her at risk from an evil Fae hunting a magic stone. 

Is a single vow strong enough to save true love, to save the human and Fae realms?

  

Excerpt Two:

 

Her head shot up, and he stood before her. “Hello, Evie.”

 

Her hand lifted as she moved it toward him, expecting it to pass through. When she touched his warm chest, she jerked back.

 

He captured it in his hand. “Aye, I’m real, Evie.”

 

He brought her hand to his lips and brushed the back, kissing her. Tingles shot from her hand to her heart. Only one person affected her that way. Aodhán.

 

His grin grew as he lowered her hand. “I’ve been away, and for that, I am sorry. But I’m finally freed. Free to revisit the human realm.”

 

Tears gathered in her eyes as he gazed into her eyes, her heart. Her Fae love, Aodhán, stood before her and held her hand.

 

“Evie, please let me make up my absence to ye. Let me show ye new hope and erase all doubt about yer feelings for me.”

 

She whimpered as a tear fell. “Aodhán?”

 

His hand came up and caught her tear. He rotated his palm and held it open, presenting a clear gemstone shaped like a teardrop.

 

Handing it to her, he whispered, “I can only stay a moment, but tomorrow I shall come to ye. I’m glad ye kept the sphere. I heard yer call every time. No more tears, Evie.”

 

He brushed a kiss on her lips. “Look for me tomorrow night in yer dreams. Don’t lose hope.”

 

Aodhán faded from her view.

 

Evie blinked. She turned around once, scanning the area. No one was about.

 

She turned again, calling out, “Hello?”

 

No one appeared on the street.

 

She pulled her camera up and pressed the button. Aodhán’s smiling face and ethereal glow came into view. Proof he’d visited and she’d not seen a ghost.

 

Her fingers brushed her tingling lips at the promise of tomorrow night.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Margaret Izard is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and paranormal romance novels. Her latest awards are 2024 Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention for Stone of Love and 2024 Spring BookFest Silver Award for the same title. She spent her early years through college to adulthood dedicated to dance, theater, and performing. Over the years, she developed a love for great storytelling in different mediums. She does not waste a good story, be it movement, the spoken, or the written word. She discovered historical romance novels in middle school, which combined her desire for romance, drama, and fantasy. She writes exciting plot lines, steamy love scenes and always falls for a strong male with a soft heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and adult triplets.

 

http://www.margaretizardauthor.com

https://www.facebook.com/mizardauthor

https://linktr.ee/mizardauthor

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSGBDMRL

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223346303-stone-of-doubt

https://www.bookbub.com/books/stone-of-doubt-by-margaret-izard

 

Tour Stop and Giveaway: The Last Door, Ajar by Michael Holly Barrett

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michael Holly Barrett will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

It is 1945. The infamous Max Smartz, superspy; Eva Braun, wife of Adolf Hitler; Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister; and Otto Klugg, intelligence officer, do not die at the end of World War II, but trick the guards in the Fuhrerbunker tunnels, allowing them to make their escape. Their escape plan is to reach war-neutral Southern Ireland, where Maxwell Smartz has an established base and is familiar with rural south Kerry and its people. They evade capture and eventually reach France. Here, they meet with a good friend and colleague, an undercover agent called Maurice Le Blanc, who asks them to assist him in retrieving some stolen gold bars.

After finding the fortune, the friends attempt to retrieve it in an old Dutch van but are continually thwarted and risk losing everything. To complicate matters, they learn that Max's brother, Victor, has been incarcerated in the notorious Spandau prison and is being tried for Nazi war crimes. They hatch a plot to save him, but is it worth the danger of going back to Berlin and being caught?

Read an Excerpt

Just the week before, her own death rehearsal, the one she secretly vowed not to carry out. There will be no stage debut for this actress, she kept telling herself. Hitler returned to their sitting room in a fit of giggling uncontrollably, dribbling at the same time; she hadn’t seen him like that in a very, very long time. “What, pray tell, is the matter with you?” she wanted to know, and he tried to tell her between fits of coughing and laughing; the more he recalled the more he laughed at his own recollection of what just happened. “Sit down,” he ordered her. “That Goebbels, he is a dummy and a genius at the same time. Both in equal parts. I told him what I was about to do, using my own German Shepherd dog, Blondi.” Blondi was given to him by Martin Bormann in 1941, as a gift. “Joseph knows I loved Blondi, I told him I was testing the efficiency of the cyanide tablets given to me by Doctor Shultz. He understood, as I thought, because he turned to me and said, ‘I’ll take care of it for you, as I know of your fondness for Blondi. OK, Mein Fuhrer, just go, leave it to me’. I thanked him, I went for a walk upstairs to the Reich Chancellery, and sat down and took in some fresh air. It must have taken at least a half hour before I decided to return downstairs again, and who came charging out of the guest room — only Blondi jumping all over me, so glad to see me. Then Joseph must have heard the commotion and he came bounding out too, all smiling and happy with himself.

About the Author: My humble beginnings in a terrace house with an outdoor toilet and indoor rats. The drinking water was got from a public pump in the street. We were all sailing in the Titanic,Third Class, but we were not aware of anything better. We had so much fun, swimming in the river. As kids we had wonderful imaginations.The only luxuries we ever saw were in the Cinema, usually American films, people smoking and drinking alcohol.

Everyone in the town of County Cork, Ireland seemed to be in the same boat; we made the best of it until the swinging sixties came along and changed everything. In spite of our poverty, I managed to get a College education. But opportunities were as scarce as rich Uncles. The Christian Brothers were brutal, and handy with the cane, in National School. I was lucky like many fellows my own age to get an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic. Soon developed a taste for Alcohol, and got into trouble pretty soon, was lucky again to find A.A. and get my act together in 1978.

My hero died in 1977, Elvis Presley, the music stopped, the sixties was over, the Beatles were broken up, CCR, too. So getting sober was the best thing to do, under the miserable circumstances. I got a job as a Pipe Welder with ASME 1X certificate and began working around Europe, finally settling in warm Spain, Barcelona and met a Catalunya woman. Started writing for the first time, mostly comedies, Peter Sellers style, another hero of mine.

This is my second published book, I also self published earlier works Like ,'Gorilla Days in Ireland' by Michael Barrett, on Amazon. The Frankie Stein Enigma, and others, I paint oil and acrylic pictures, write mountains of poetry, sing and play the guitar.

' I do just about everything, that doesn't make any money for me.' But love doing what I do, writing poetry is mind stimulating, energising.

My favourite actors are William Holden, Warren Oates, Gregory Peck, and favourite detective the great Peter Falk in Columbo, a genius and Clouseau, Peter Sellers, and Peter Ustinov.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100045861996652
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-barrett-78b686103/

AMAZON.COM: https://amazon.com/dp/177962574X
AMAZON.CA: https://amazon.ca/dp/177962574X
BOOKTOPIA: https://www.booktopia.com.au/search.ep?keywords=9781779625748
ABEBOOKS: https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9781779625748
BETTERWORLD BOOKS: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/9781779625748

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Tour Stop/Giveaway: Shooting Stars Above by Patricia Leavy

 

Discover the latest book by Patricia Leavy, Shooting Stars Above, today and make sure to follow the tour as well as comment on posts for a chance to win from the author a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. The tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions and you can check out all the tour stops HERE.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Shooting Stars Above 

 

1. Shooting Stars Above came to me like a bolt. I wrote the entire first draft in only ten days. I barely slept, didn’t check email, and even kicked my husband out of the house for a few days. It was the most immersive and magical experience of my life.
2. There’s a saying that ‘hurt people hurt people.’ But sometimes that isn’t true. Sometimes people in pain are able to love others in extraordinary ways. That’s the inspiration behind this novel.
   
3. Tess Lee is my favorite protagonist. Love, love, love her. She’s an aspirational character and I admire her. Plus, I love writing about writers.
4. Tess and Jack are endlessly affectionate. This is deep, forever love. If there’s ever a time to trust instant love, it’s with these two.
5. I got the idea for Jack’s character after watching the series 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer. I wondered, what would happen if someone like Jack chose a woman instead. This novel is my answer.
6. By some incredible twist of fate, I was able to tell Kiefer Sutherland about the novel. I wrote him a letter. He called me and we chatted on the phone and have since texted several times. He’s so lovely and I was excited to thank him for the inspiration.
7. Tess’s best friend Omar is my favorite supporting character from any of my novels. He’s hysterical. I adore their relationship—the humor, the gentleness, and the steadfast love. And of course the way they toss pretzels at each other.
8. Omar calls Tess “Butterfly” for reasons revealed at the end of the novel. I have only one tattoo—a small butterfly above my bellybutton that I got when I was a teenager.
9. There are celebrity appearances—including the rock star “Mick” who was great fun to write.
10. I loved writing these characters so much that it became a series. Shooting Stars Above is the launch title in The Celestial Bodies Romances. There are six written so far. I truly love each one more than the last. We’ll be releasing one each spring. Each novel includes the first chapter of the next one. Look out for Twinkle of Doubt in spring 2026.

 

SHOOTING STARS ABOVE

AUTHOR: Patricia Leavy

GENRE:  Romance

Available at Amazon 

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For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.

Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

 

Excerpt One:

 

“So, what do you do?” she asked.

 

“I’m a federal agent with the Bureau—counterterrorism. I joined the military right out of high school, Special Forces. I was in the field, often deep undercover, until about a year ago, when I took a desk job as the head of my division.”

 

“Wow, you’re like the real-life Jack Bauer. You even look a little like him, with that whole rugged, handsome hero thing you have going on,” she said.

 

He blushed and ran his hand through his light brown hair. “I promise you I’m no Jack Bauer, even on my best day. People thought that character was so tragic, but the real tragedy is that Jack Bauer doesn’t exist, and you’re stuck with guys like me.”

 

She smiled. “What made you choose that line of work?”

 

“My parents raised me and my siblings to value community, to be patriotic. My father was in the military and then became a firefighter. The idea of service always seemed important. I wanted to serve my country, to protect people. It’s hard to explain, but when I see someone innocent being threatened, I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to protect them. I know it sounds cliché, but I feel like it’s my purpose in life.”

 

“That’s noble,” she remarked.

 

He shook his head. “The lived reality often isn’t. When you spend most of your life in the abyss, it gets pretty dark.”

 

“A residue remains, right?” she asked.

 

He looked at her intently, a little surprised. “Yes, exactly.”

 

“I understand. You convince yourself it’s all been for something that matters more than you do, that whatever part of yourself you sacrificed was worth it, because it simply has to be.”

 

He looked at her as if she had read his innermost thoughts. “Yes,” he said softly. “Tell me, what do you do?”

 

“I’m a novelist.”

 

“What are your books about?”

 

“That’s a difficult question to answer. I guess I wanted to write about everything: what it means to live a life, why it’s so hard, and how it could be easier. To walk people through the darkness, in a way. Perhaps my goals were too lofty, and in that respect, each book fails more spectacularly than the one before.”

 

The bartender smirked.

 

Tess wistfully said, “Maybe reality can never live up to our dreams.”

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Recently, her novel The Location Shoot was featured in Ms. Career Girl's “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and She Reads in “Novels to Read if You Love Classic Movies” and was the 2024 Best Book Awards First Place Winner in Women’s Fiction. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Patricia lives in Maine and serves on the board of the London Arts-Based Research Centre. In addition to writing, she enjoys movies, art, reading, and travel.

 

Website: https://patricialeavy.com/

Tour Stop/Giveaway: Only in September

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions to celebrate the release day of ONLY IN SEPTEMBER by Cynthia Flowers. Cynthia will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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

Read an Excerpt

Hours later, the sound of clanking wine bottles in Jacqueline’s beach bag announced her arrival. Michael turned to her with feigned surprise.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he teased.

She raised her beach bag. “Where should I put these ladies?”

“Under the deck next to the cooler should be fine,” he directed.

Everything seemed set up. A blanket laid with plates, flatware, wine glasses, and nearby a cooking fire pit.

“It looks like you’ve been here for a bit. Is our sumptuous gourmet meal in there?” She pointed to the soft-pack cooler tucked under the deck.

“Oh yes, our Michelin three-star gastronomic feast awaits!” he announced with a wink.

Little was spoken while they ate. Instead, they each emitted sounds of contentment with every other bite.

“Well, I can’t say that you outdid yourself because this is the first meal of yours that I’ve eaten. However, I can say that it outdoes anything I ever made for a picnic dinner.” She raised her empty glass of Sancerre.

He acknowledged the praise with a humble nod and reached to refill her glass.

She pulled her glass away before he could pour. “I think I’ve reached my limit. Even though it’s a small island and I know my way home, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Besides, where are the pooches?”

“Oh, they’re at the beach just below us.” He motioned as he helped Jacqueline up, so she could see.

“Wow, a full moon. Look, it’s lighting up the ocean all the way out to that small fishing boat.” She pointed. “I could sleep out here all night.”

“Funny you should mention it. I did bring two sleeping bags just in case. They’re stowed under the deck,” he said with a bashful grin.

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

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Only-September-Cynthia-Flowers-ebook/dp/B0DWT79L6N/ref=sr_1_1

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Blog Tour Stop/Giveaway: Tales of the Ocean City by Christopher Kaufman

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Christopher Kaufman will be awarding $45 worth of digital products from his website to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A young civilization is turning the corner into the future, but first they must face a terrible enemy from their deepest past - The Vorm..

The main characters are a young man named Harl’ut and his lifelong companion Vispushin - who is a perIanth, a kind of telepathic pegasus. Join them on this epic adventure as they lead a group of young warriors into the heart of the Vorm Hive.

Book One: Battle In The Sky is the first of five books which comprise the opening series of this epic tale. Here, Harl’ut and Vispushin and The Princess Bryn’lynn, engage in desperate battle over the southern plain with savage Vorm warriors. You will be uplifted by the passionate and thrilling conclusion of the first installment of this fantasy adventure.

Book Two: Descent Into The Abyss, Harl’ut recovers from his harrowing adventure from Book One: Battle In The Sky. He walks through the streets of The Ocean City, visits the Sculpture Garden and his friend, Elá, the bard, and engages in exciting training games with warrior/mentor, Calanctus. Then the story takes you down the throat of the vast volcano, Pla’than’taa, once worshipped as a god, where Harl’ut enacts a deadly initiation ritual, confronts the barbaric past of his people and battles a terrifying monster.

Read an Excerpt

Camouflaged in a small cloud, Vispushin tread the air with her wings. She awaited Harl’ut’s return to consciousness.

Harl’ut’s senses cleared. “What was that?” he rasped, “What’s happening?”

“We were stunned by some kind of psionic blast,” she replied. Her mental voice sounded coarse, she was furious with herself for being caught off guard. “Prepare for battle!” she urged.

Tension flowed through him as he gripped Vispushin’s flanks with his knees. Having no weapon, he removed his tunic and wrapped the ends in his fists.

Below, the Princess was in the midst of her impassioned yet ill-advised attack. Vispushin burst from their cover in the small cloud.

About the Author:

Christopher Kaufman is an author, composer, presenter, illustrative artist and performer. He started imaginative fantasy books with illustrative art at the age of nine. During high school years he found music and attended The New Orleans Center for The Creative Arts and went on to major in music composition in college. He finished his schooling - earning his DMA in music composition at Cornell University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize Winning composers who prize his abilities as a composer.

Christopher is the type of person who needs imaginative fantasy scenarios to get to sleep. Therefore, he emerged from Cornell, not only with his degrees in music, but with the full event structure for his classic epic fantasy series Tales Of The Ocean City in his mind.

He began writing the story down in the early 2000’s, but it did not really come to life until he developed his home music ‘laboratory’ and started creating the music and text at the same time. Thus books one and two of TOC came about simultaneously as both graphically illustrated pages and effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic epic symphonic music.

They exist now as physical books and audio albums (that go together) and the new Video Book version. He performs live tours with the music pouring through speakers, live narration and the colorful pages streaming on screen -a true immersive multi-media experience.

Home Page: http://www.soundartus.com
Author Page: http://talesoftheoceancity.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soundartus4807
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talesoftheoceancity

Christopher believes in the transformative power of imagination. “Live with imagination!” a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Stop/Giveaway: Earth's Passion by Emily Carrington

Title: Earth's Passion

Author: Emily Carrington

Publisher: Changeling Press

Cover Art: Angela Knight

Genres: Action Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, New Releases, Paranormal, Romance

Themes: Elves, Dragons & Magical Creatures, LGBTQ+ /Bisexual, Nonbinary, Transgender, Multicultural & Interracial, Shapeshifters, Werewolves & Wolf Shifters

Series: Dragon Lost (#2)

Multiverse: Searchlight Academy (#13)

Book Length: Novella

Page Count: 78

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Synopsis

As their need for each other grows, so does the danger.

Kailee and Tom are falling for each other, but their secrets continue to come between them. Kailee’s afraid to show her physical scars, while Tom dreads his lover will discover the power those he still calls Master and Mistress hold over him.

Dragon and werewolf must join together in every way to defeat those who would dominate Tom and kill Kailee.

Excerpt

Earth's Passion (Dragon Lost 2)

Emily Carrington

All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2025 Emily Carrington

Kailee had been lying next to Tom for close to twenty minutes. Her new dragon lover was fast asleep, and she knew she should be resting too. Instead, she was filled with joy and an incautious sense of promise that she hadn’t felt in years.

Tom rolled over, draping his arm over her waist. Kailee wriggled a little as the urge to pee made itself known. A deeper craving drew at her also.

“Are you okay?” Tom mumbled. Then he stiffened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” He pulled his arm off her.

She turned over, snuggling in close. “I like it when you touch me. I just… I need to get up and use the bathroom.” It was true, but her ulterior motive was to take so long that he fell back to sleep, and she could go outside.

“I’ll wait up for you,” he said, slurring his words a little.

Kailee kissed his temple. “Go to sleep. I’ll be back in a moment.”

His eyes were already closed. As she watched, he lost the tension in his limbs and the worry lines on his face smoothed out. He began to snore.

She waited another five minutes, to make sure he was well and truly under. He’d had a sucky, hard life and she thought he hadn’t probably slept well for large parts of it. Knowing he was safe here, that she would protect him, made her smile.

She got up, padding to the bathroom after putting on the clothes she’d worn before they made love. Once in the bathroom, she unzipped her jeans. As much as she felt one hundred percent female most of the time, she still enjoyed the simple pleasure of peeing while standing up.

When she was finished, she flushed, zipped up, and washed her hands. Then, moving silently, not wanting to wake anyone up because this pack already knew everyone else’s business as it was, she went to the mudroom, put on her boots, and made her way out of the back door into the gloriously dark night. It was a waxing crescent moon tonight, about four days from the first quarter, and with so little light coming from that celestial orb, the darkness was close as a passionate lover, full of kindness. Like Tom.

She wrapped her arms around her chest, which was flat without the boobs she usually wore. That felt a little awkward but for this one moment, she was able to dismiss the feeling. She’d needed to embrace herself for pure joy’s sake. She’d been so very alone for damn near half her life, relying on gentleness and understanding from those who were either hired professionals or simply much older than she was and thus not quite as in touch with their wolflinghood as she could have wished. Maybe it was foolish to assume someone closer to her own age would have “gotten it,” her experiences and suffering. Still, because Tom understood, and only after so short a time, she thought the idea had slight merit.

Wanting to make some sort of noise to express herself, she began to sing. It was a simple song in Werewelsh, her first language. She’d grown up surrounded by the language developed by werewolves for their own kind, and although other people spoke it now, it remained mostly shared among the ones who had to change at the full moon. Werewolves largely did, though, and she was, first and foremost, a wolf.

She translated in her head as she sang, loving the poetry even though it didn’t rhyme in English.

Moon of darkness, moon of light,

Moon of power and strength.

Moon of my heart, full and wise,

Be with me tonight.

Probably, she thought as her joy crested but didn’t recede, I’m being foolish. He hasn’t even said he loves me.

That was true but what made her heart sing was a simple truth, not complicated by whether Tom wanted to be her mate or not. “In all honesty,” she whispered to the night that seemed to be listening, “I never thought anyone could see past my scars and love me anyway.”

All right, so he hadn’t actually seen her physical scars, her dead name carved into her chest with a silver knife and made to stay because of silver powder. She hadn’t been quite that brave. Still, Tom knew she had a reputation, that she’d killed, and he hadn’t pulled away. Wasn’t that worthy of ecstasy?

She closed her eyes and resumed her singing. Now she sang a song of how the sky so loved the moon that he bid her to cross from one edge to the other so he might admire her beauty. The moon’s response Kailee sang too, reveling in the way the moon demanded something in return: to see the stars scattered before her like diamonds.

Once again, her joy crested until it filled her chest. She broke out in a light sweat. That was when she became aware that the exhilaration she felt wasn’t hers alone.

Wary because she’d been influenced by outsider forces before, although less directly or psychically, she mounted her defenses and scanned the area with her telepathy, seeking the source of the external, pushy force.

At first, she felt nothing and no one. Widening her circle of ability, she fumbled in the darkness of the in-between that existed in the psychic world. Reaching, reaching, she felt a half-familiar mind.

Purchase at Changeling Press

Meet the Author

Emily Carrington is a multipublished author of male/male and transgender women’s speculative fiction. Seeking a world made of equality, she created SearchLight to live out her dreams. But even SearchLight has its problems, and Emily is looking forward to working all of these out with a host of characters from dragons and genies to psychic vampires. And in the contemporary world she’s named “Sticks & Stones,” Emily has vowed to create small towns where prejudice is challenged by a passionate quest for equality. Find her on Facebook at Shapeshifter Central or on her website.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Shapeshifter Central

Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a $10.00 Changeling Press Gift Code! 

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