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Friday, May 31, 2019

Books I DNF'd in May


Inspection:  I think it is time to sever ties with Josh Malerman.  I absolutely loved Bird Box.  But I have had a hard time connecting with anything else that he has written since.  I was so disappointed with Inspection. I gave it about 100 pages, then gave up.  It was confusing, boring and just not a good premise.  Skip this one. It's not good.

My Lovely Wife:  I tried with this one.  But I was so bored. For a couple of serial killers, they lived very dull lives.  There was too much time spent in the past.  It just wasn't for me.  I know other people loved this one, but it wasn't for me.

Mine:  I was all in with this one until the girlfriend showed up.  Then it just went off the rails for me.  I thought this book would go in a different direction.  I couldn't get behind what the main character chose to do, so I gave up.

The Ghost Bride:  I found this book confusing. It was over written and too flowery. The whole ghost bride thing was weird and not what I was expecting.  I made it to the part where the main character entered the ghost realm, then I couldn't listen any more.  Definitely not for me.

Breed:  This book was just wrong and disturbing.  I love horror, but this just was too gross and over the top for me.  I lasted about 50% of the way through and I couldn't take it any more. 

The Last:  I am pretty picky about what type of post-apocalyptic books I read.  I do like survival stories and watching a group of people try to make it after a major world event.  However, I don't like reading about people within that group continually taking their lives.  While I'm sure it would happen in real life out of despair, I don't want it in my fiction.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Review: The Dark Game by Jonathan Janz

Author: Jonathan Janz
Publisher: Flame Tree Press
Date of publication: April 2019

Ten writers are selected for a summer-long writing retreat with the most celebrated and reclusive author in the world. Their host is the legendary Roderick Wells. Handsome, enigmatic, and fiendishly talented, Wells promises to teach his pupils about writing, about magic, about the untapped potential that each of them possesses. Most of all, he plans to teach them about the darkness in their hearts. The writers think they are signing up for a chance at riches and literary prestige. But they are really entering the twisted imagination of a deranged genius, a lethal contest pitting them against one another in a struggle for their sanity and their lives. They have entered into Roderick Wells's most brilliant and horrible creation. The Dark Game.

The Dark Game is the latest book by this author.  As you know, I love haunted house stories, so I was excited to give this one a try.  The presume sounded great.  Ten authors are invited to a house for a retreat.  All is well until the contest turns deadly.  Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

I did enjoy my reading time, but I didn't love it.  I thought the gory scenes were done well.  This author is a master at writing them well enough to make you just a bit uncomfortable, but not extremely grossed out.  I also liked the ending.  It was a nice classic horror twist.  What disappointed me were the characters.  There were just too many of them.  It was hard to keep them straight.  None of them were very likable, so I didn't know who to root for.  This story is very similar to Kill Creek by Scott Thomas (my review).  I liked that one a bit more.  Despite my disappointments, this is still a good and enjoyable horror story and I would recommend it.


Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Blog Tour: Excerpt and Giveaway of Million Dollar Devil by Katy Evans



Author: Katy Evans
Release Date: May 28, 2019
Publisher: Montlake Romance

Summary

Heir apparent to her father’s company, Lizzy Banks needs a man. The perfect man. But when the rich “fundbabies” she usually rubs shoulders with prove impossible to hire, she takes a chance on a raw beast of a man salvaged from the wreckage of a bar brawl.

James Rowan earns a modest income as a YouTube daredevil, but he can’t refuse Lizzy’s million dollar deal. As she polishes his rough edges, creating a sophisticated gentleman fit for the highest circles of society, not only does she bring out the perfect man—it’s like she’s making the man of her dreams. How can she resist?

Though Lizzy loves seeing James in his clothes—and out of them—he isn’t the kind of man you bring home to Daddy. Her father’s disapproval and the pressure of the campaign have her eyeing the straight and narrow, but Lizzy’s finding it awfully hard to resist the devil on her shoulder


Enjoy this excerpt!

There’s a long, almost-empty bar and a couple of customers having nachos and chips and salsa at the tables.

But as I walk across the tilting cement floor, every single one of those eyes is on me.

What am I doing here, again?

Oh, right. Probably trying to get myself mugged.

Summoning my courage, I take a middle stool at the bar and tell the bartender, who’s busy watching something on his phone, “Tequila, the finest you have—straight up,” in a gruff voice that I hope makes me sound like I can hold my own, in case someone is eyeing up my purse.

He doesn’t look up, merely smiles down at whatever he’s watching as he pours me something from a bottle called Montezuma and serves with his free hand. What the hell is Montezuma?

Great service. “Um. I said the best you have.”

He looks up at me, finally seeing me for the first time. A frown of annoyance on his lips. “This is the best, princess. Also the only.”

I probably don’t want to upset him, seeing how he has arms the size of tree trunks, covered in tattoos.

I take my shot and guzzle it down. It’s awful, like paint thinner, squeezing tears from my eyes. Whatever. I tap the bar for another. When my curiosity gets the best of me, I ask, “What are you watching?”

“Jimmy.”

“Jimmy what?”

“Jimmy Rowan. The stunt guy on YouTube? He’s going to get killed one day.”

“Hopefully not today.” I frown and peer at the screen as he shows me. “What kind of stunts does he do anyway? That’s so dangerous.”

He tilts his phone in my direction. A guy in a helmet and nylon jumpsuit is throwing himself off an airplane. He’s speaking into the camera saying, “So I was dared to pull the strings fifteen seconds after any sane, normal human being would. So, let’s count down from right about … now.”

My eyes widen, and my insides clutch in concern for the idiot behind the camera.

Fourteen…

The static from the wind makes his voice sound shattered, strained.

“Thirteen.” The bartender is counting.

I watch the idiot continue his free fall as land grows closer beneath him.

“What an idiot,” I mumble, but I’m still unable to take my eyes off the video.

“Five!” the bartender says. I look away.

“Just tell me he lived.”

“Oh, he lives.” He shows me the camera when the guy finally pulls the cord on his chute, and a few seconds later, crashes into the ground. The guy growls, “Ouch,” then starts laughing, a low, rumbly laugh. I can’t help but smile and shake my head.

“And he did this all because…”

“They dared him to. Five hundred bucks.”

“He did all of that? For five hundred bucks?”

“He gets more from the video views. A man’s got to put food on the table.” He eyes me up and down. “Specially when he doesn’t have a trust fund coming to him.”

Shaking my head, I push my empty glass forward. “Bartender. Another drink. Please.”

I’m on my third.

He pours it for me. “Classy guy, that Jimmy.”

“In what dictionary?”

He frowns as he sets his phone back into his pocket and polishes a glass. “Huh?”

“What dictionary would define him as classy?”

His eyes widen as if I’ve just murmured something blasphemous. “Well, maybe not your class. He doesn’t own a Rolls. But around here, he’s royalty. Jimmy hangs out here all the time.” He nods at a dark corner booth situated to the right of the bar. “His office is right over there.”

I see the cluttered tabletop and wonder what kind of man leaves a tripod, camera, and old laptop set up in a bar. He must trust the people who patronize this place. Either that or the patrons fear him.

“Jimmy Rowan will do anything for a dare—he’s a man of honor.”

“If he’d do that for five hundred, what would he do for half a million or more?” I grumble, smiling and shaking my head at the thought. At least I can still smile.

“He’d do anything. What? You offering?” He eyes me with new interest, in kind of a smarmy way, as if he thinks I’m asking to buy his services. Who the heck does he think I am? “Ladies go for him.”

Oh god, he does think that.

No, thank you very much,” I mutter. “Ladies or women? I don’t think a lot of ladies would go for someone that foolish.”

He raises his gaze past my shoulders. Silence falls over the room, and then the bartender murmurs, “Speak of the devil…”

There’s a loud crash, followed by a ruckus.

“What’s that?” I glance around at the commotion.

The bartender smiles. “Jimmy Rowan.”

I turn my gaze to the door, and my heart skips a beat. The tall, raw-looking sex machine the bartender refers to doesn’t look anything like a Jimmy. The guy is too tall and eye catching and too … well, hot.

*** 

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Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Blog Tour: Guest post from Anna Belfrage, author of A Torch in His Heart

Author: Anna Belfrage
Publisher:Troubador Publishing
Date of publication: September 2018

In the long lost ancient past, two men fought over the girl with eyes like the Bosporus under a summer sky. It ended badly. She died. They died.
Since then, they have all tumbled through time, reborn over and over again. Now they are all here, in the same place, the same time and what began so long ago must finally come to an end.
Ask Helle Madsen what she thinks about reincarnation and she’ll laugh in your face. Besides, Helle has other stuff to handle, what with her new, exciting job in London and her drop-dead but seriously sinister boss, Sam Woolf. And then one day Jason Morris walks into her life and despite never having clapped eyes on him before, she recognises him immediately. Very weird. Even more weird is the fact that Sam and Jason clearly hate each other’s guts. Helle’s life is about to become extremely complicated and far too exciting…
Enjoy this guest post from the author!

One of the major upsides of being an author is that one can write about stuff that is totally fascinating but probably not entirely possible. Take reincarnation, for example: most people would probably laugh it off as impossible—especially in our Western world conversations about things like wandering souls tend to make us shuffle our feet while looking desperately for an escape.
I have always been fascinated by reincarnation and time travelling. As a child, I spent a lot of time fantasizing about both of these concepts. At some point, I tried to convince my father that I was really a born-again medieval knight, but that unfortunately something had gone wrong gender-wise. He laughed – rather nicely – and told me he didn’t think souls had a gender, but then he didn’t think souls could be reborn either.
“But I feel it, here!” I said, slapping my as yet un-budding chest. “Sometimes, I feel as if I remember stuff, fights and blood and defending my king and…”
“That is called imagination,” my father told me drily. “God knows you have plenty of that.” He had a point, and as it was less than a week ago since my imagination had caused my sister and I to end up in a  somewhat precarious situation from which I emerged unscathed but my poor sister ended up with a severe concussion, I decided not to push.
My fascination with medieval knights and ladies in distress have resulted in a four-book series called The King’s Greatest Enemy. My male protagonist, Adam de Guirande, does a lot of saving and defending, but it is his wife who rescues him when things get hairy. I am a firm believer in girl-power through the ages, i.e. I believe strong personalities, whether male or female, have rarely been restricted by their gender when the situation called for action.
As to the time travelling, well, I have done so aplenty with my alter ego Alex Lind, heroine of my 17th century series set in Scotland and the US. Now Alex would tell you time travelling is impossible—until it happens to her. That is more or less the same attitude Helle Madsen, female lead in A Torch in His Heart, has. “Reincarnation? Give me a break!” And then the poor woman finds out she has been cast as the protagonist in an epic love story spanning three millennia. Let’s just say it comes as a bit of a shock…
What I find so intriguing about reincarnation as a concept is the why. Why would we be reborn? Now, I realise many people chuckle at the notion of our lives having any sort of ulterior motive. They do not believe in immortal souls, they believe we are but a biological construction with a best before date. Obviously, those peeps roll over laughing at the notion of multiple lives, so they find the “Why?” irrelevant.
Me, I have problems reconciling the complexity of people with a “biological construction”. People are so much more than the sum total of bones, muscle, tissue, skin and all those amino acids, proteins etc. that bubble through our bodies. To me, the obvious explanation is that there is a soul, a collection of memories, experiences and wisdom that somehow just doesn’t go “poof” and disappear the day we die. But hey, that might be wishful thinking…
From believing in a soul, the step to considering reincarnation as a possibility is relatively short. “Short?” Helle squeaks (Sheesh, she should have gotten used to the concept by now, but she has days when she is in serious denial) “Short? Let me tell you there is nothing short or easy about this reincarnation stuff, okay? Some sort of extended punishment, that is what it is, and how COULD you do that to my Jason?” She glowers, sparks shooting from her eyes. I smile inside, liking her use of possessive pronoun when it comes to Jason, male protagonist of A Torch in His Heart. So does he, stretching to his full length in a corner of my brain and giving the love of his life…err, lives…a proud look.
Anyway: Helle is right. I my book, reincarnation is very much about atonement, about desperately moving forward hoping for an opportunity to make right what was once made wrong. That is what drives Jason. In life after life, he looks for Helle, the woman he loved and lost in his first life. Jason was not exactly your loyal, honourable hero the first time round: he was an angry, badly hurt young man who lashed out and thereby indirectly caused Helle’s death. Jason remembers that. Helle doesn’t – at least not to begin with. In fact, Jason remembers ALL his lives. Helle remembers nothing, something she is eternally grateful for as she can’t quite comprehend how someone can handle memories from fifty odd lives without becoming a basket case. I must hasten to add that Jason is not a basket case: intense, yes. Somewhat obsessed with Helle, yes. But crazy? No. Let’s just say all those lives have distilled Jason, refined his good qualities—because basically he was a good person the first time round.
When it comes to Jason’s (and Helle’s) constant antagonist, Sam Woolf, all those lives have had the reverse effect, eradicating what little was good in him. Why? Because Sam has not aspired to atone or to develop spiritually. He has been driven by hate and a deep-seated desire for revenge, and such dark feelings have a corroding effect on our immortal souls. Well, at least that’s my take on things. Jason and I are in total agreement on this: ancient souls as tainted with darkness as Sam’s are best eradicated – but how on Earth does one do that? I guess that is what Jason and Helle have to find out, because if they don’t, that long-desired Happily Ever After will probably never become more than a dream of riding off into the setting sun!

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble


About Anna Belfrage

Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a professional time-traveller. As such a profession does not exist, she settled for second best and became a financial professional with two absorbing interests, namely history and writing. These days, Anna combines an exciting day-job with a large family and her writing endeavours. Plus she always finds the time to try out new recipes, chase down obscure rose bushes and initiate a home renovation scheme or two.
Her most recent release, A Torch in His Heart, is a step out of her comfort zone. Having previously published historical fiction & historical romance, with this first book about Jason and Helle Anna offers a dark and titillating contemporary romance, complete with a time-slip angle and hot & steamy scenes.

Connect with Anna

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram tour:

Monday, May 13th: @thecityofdarkclockwork
Tuesday, May 14th: @_ebl_inc_
Wednesday, May 15th: @novelgrounds
Friday, May 17th: @nsiabblog
Saturday, May 18th: @sarahandherbookshelves
Saturday, May 18th: @book_hangover88
Date TBD: Thursday, May 16th: @mixed_matched_socks
Date TBD: Sunday, May 19th: @4_the_love_of_books

Review tour:

Thursday, May 16th: Sincerely Karen Jo
Friday, May 17th: Treestand Book Reviews
Monday, May 20th: Stranded in Chaos
Tuesday, May 21st: Becky on Books
Wednesday, May 22nd: The Romance Dish – author guest post
Wednesday, May 22nd: Bewitched Bookworms
Thursday, May 23rd: Lori’s Reading Corner – author guest post
Friday, May 24th: Openly Bookish
Tuesday, May 28th: From the TBR Pile – author guest post
Wednesday, May 29th: Reading a Page Turner
Thursday, May 30th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – author guest post
Monday, June 3rd: Cheryl’s Book Nook
Date TBD – Wednesday, May 15th: A Fortress of Books

Monday, May 27, 2019

2 in 1: The Hero and The Protector by Donna Grant

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Date of publication: December 2016

Owen Loughman is a highly-decorated Navy SEAL who has a thirst for action. But there’s one thing he hasn’t been able to forget – his high school sweetheart, Natalie. After over a decade away, Owen is returned home to the ranch in Texas for a dangerous new mission that puts him face-to-face with Natalie and an outside menace that threatens everything he holds dear. He’ll risk it all to keep Natalie safe – and win her heart. . . .

Natalie Dixon has had a lifetime of heartache since Owen was deployed. Fourteen years and one bad marriage later, she finds herself mixed up with the Loughman’s again. With her life on the line against an enemy she can’t fight alone, it’s Owen’s strong shoulders, smoldering eyes, and sensuous smile that she turns to. When danger closes in, she holds close to the only man she’s ever loved…



The Hero is he first book in the Sons of Texas series.  This fist book sets up a main story arc that spreads across this and the next two books in the series.  Owen and his brothers, Cullen and Wyatt, are all called out of the field when their father goes missing and their aunt and uncle are murdered.  It seems their ex-military father stole a bio-weapon from the Russian government.  Now he is missing and Owen and his brothers must keep three women safe.    This one is Owen and Natalie's story.,

I liked this one.  Owen and Natalie have a history.  As much as they resist, the attraction is still there.  Owen was very proactive in making Natalie realize they have been given a second chance and need to be together. Along with the romance, the action scenes were intense and exciting. There was a good balance between the action and romance.   The couple does find out a few things about what happened to Owen's father.  However, there is no real resolution to the case.  I do recommend this one.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Date of publication: January 2017

When Marine Force Recon captain Cullen Loughman learns that his father’s been kidnapped, he will do whatever it takes to find him. In order to achieve his mission, Cullen will need to team up with the best of the best—someone who just happens to be the most stunning woman he’s ever laid eyes on…

This isn’t the first rodeo for ex—Air Force pilot Mia Carter. Still, Cullen’s bad-boy good looks and charm are distracting her from duty. . .and it appears that the feeling is mutual. As Mia and Cullen make their descent into a dark, dangerous world, their attraction reaches the boiling point. But is their desire worth the risk when a ruthless enemy is waiting in the wings—or will their Lone Star love conquer all?

The Protector takes place at pretty much the same time as The Hero.  Throughout The Hero, Owen and his brother, Wyatt, are not able to get in touch with Cullen.  He has been sent to protect Mia, the pilot who flew their father on his mission to Russia.   I will warn, that this book does not hold up well as a stand alone.  It assumes you have read the first one. so you may find yourself lost if you haven't.  

That being said, I didn't enjoy this one.  While I did like finding out more about what was going on with their father, I thought it was overall kind of boring.  Nothing really happens. I never got the real sense that either of Mia or Cullen were in danger.  I didn't like Cullen and Mia together.  There was no chemistry between them.  The author had to constantly remind  me that they found each other attractive.  The "I Love Yous" in the end actually made me giggle.  It was just kind of cheesy.  I also laughed when I found out what the bio weapon is supposed to do.  When it comes to something like that, I need to at least have it be remotely believable.  It just wasn't and I couldn't suspend my disbelief.     I will be continuing. I want to read Callie and Wyatt's story and to hopefully see the storyline finally wrap up... because it needs to in the next one.  It has dragged on way too long.

Sunday, May 26, 2019

May Mini Musings



Mary Rose:  While I did think this was a haunted and spooky story.  I also found it kind of confusing.  The ending made no sense to me and left me with more questions than answers.    I'm not sure I really understood the folklore behind the island.  It was a quick audiobook, but not one I would really recommend

Under the Northern Lights:  I thought this was a sweet adventure  romance.  I liked that it took place over a few months of isolation. It allowed me to buy into the couple's growing attraction and eventual love affair.  My only complaint was that I found some of the dialogue a little cheesy.  Still this is a couple you will root for and a story I do recommend.

Make Me Need: This is the fourth novella in the Make Me series.  While I enjoyed it, I think it was the least favorite of the four that I have read.  I didn't really feel the attraction between the main characters.  It just felt a bit forced and too fast for me.  The angst toward the end was a bit over the top and could have been avoided with a conversation.  Still, I do recommend it along with the rest of the series.

Silver Thaw:  This book was reminded me of Baby Love, which is one of my all-time favorite love stories.  It has a handsome man who rescues a woman and her child and they fall in love. The characters were fun, especially Jeb's family. I did ultimately enjoy it, but the ending was a bit far fetched. I do look forward to checking out the rest of the series.


Saturday, May 25, 2019

Review: The Things She's Seen by Ambelin & Ezikiel Kwaymullina

Author:  Ambelin & Ezikiel Kwaymullina
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers 
Date of publication: May 2019

Nothing's been the same for Beth Teller since the day she died.

Her dad is drowning in grief. He's also the only one who has been able to see and hear her since the accident. But now she's got a mystery to solve, a mystery that will hopefully remind her detective father that he is still alive, that there is a life after Beth that is still worth living.

Who is Isobel Catching, and why is she able to see Beth, too? What is her connection to the crime Beth's father has been sent to investigate--a gruesome fire at a home for troubled youth that left an unidentifiable body behind? What happened to the people who haven't been seen since the fire?

As Beth and her father unravel the mystery, they find a shocking and heartbreaking story lurking beneath the surface of a small town, and a friendship that lasts beyond one life and into another...


The Things She's Seen is the story about Beth who was killed in a car accident.  She has not moved on and has stuck around to help her father.  Her father happens to be a police detective. She helps him solve his latest case in the hopes that it will spark his will to live again.   As they investigate, they meet another teenager who can see Beth as well. 

I'll start by saying that I do not know any Aboriginal folklore or history.  Had I known some of it before hand, this book might have impacted me a bit more in the way that the authors were intending it to. Because of my lack of knowledge, the book ended up being just OK for me.  While I did enjoy the mystery part of the story and the twist, I didn't enjoy parts where Isobel was telling her story.  I could guess at what she was talking about in her tale, but I just didn't like the metaphorical way it was told. The characters were a bit flat for me.  Beth was supposed to be 15 when she died, but she came across as much younger than that. Her father was kind of boring.   It's a short book and does have some beautiful writing.  I think it just ultimately wasn't for me.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Blog Tour: Review of The Haunting of Hillwood Farm by Kathryn Knight




Author: Kathryn Knight
Narrator: Kristin James
Length: 5 hours 18 minutes
Publisher: Kathryn Knight⎮2019
Genre: Paranormal Romance; Suspense
Release date: Apr. 15, 2019

Synopsis: After tragedy strikes, Callie Sinclair is left with a gift she never wanted - the ability to communicate with ghosts. But when a desperate widow begs for her help, she reluctantly agrees to investigate the strange occurrences at Hillwood Farm. She quickly realizes she’s dealing with a dangerous presence beyond anything she’s ever experienced, and something else becomes equally clear - the only other living person in the house, Mrs. Turner’s handsome grandson, thinks she’s a scam artist. While she’d prefer to just ignore him, her heart beats a little faster every time he’s nearby.

Buy Links: Amazon     Audible

 In The Haunting of Hillwood, Callie, an unlikely medium, is asked by Mrs. Turner to investigate a ghost on her farm.  The ghost has some violent tendencies and once Callie shows up, the ghost seems to set its sights on her.  Finally, I have found a  book with some great spooky scenes in it.  This was a lot of fun to listen to.  It's a quick audiobook, so I won't give away any of the plot.  I will say that there was one scene that had me on the edge of my seat and kind of freaked me out.  This book would actually, if done right, make for a great horror movie.  There is also a nice romance added into the mix.  I enjoyed the characters and the twist in the end.  The audiobook was done very well.  I enjoyed the narrator's voices and the way she was able to draw me into the story.  I definitely recommend giving this one a try!


 Play


Enter the Giveaway:




About the Author: Kathryn Knight

Kathryn Knight spends a great deal of time in her fictional world, where mundane chores don’t exist and daily life involves steamy romance, dangerous secrets, and spooky suspense.  Kathryn writes contemporary romance spiked with mysterious hauntings as well as YA paranormal romance filled with forbidden love. Her novels are award-winning #1 Amazon and Barnes & Noble Bestsellers and RomCon Reader-Rated picks.  When she’s not reading or writing, Kathryn spends her time catching up on those mundane chores, driving kids around, and teaching fitness classes. She lives on beautiful Cape Cod with her husband, their two sons, and a number of rescued pets.


About the Narrator: Kristin James

Kristin “KJ” James was born and raised in the Nashville, TN area. Acting has always been a passion of hers. Starting on the stage as early as preschool, KJ pursued her passion into college where she received a BA in Communication with a double emphasis in Theatre and Public Relations from Mississippi State University. After college she found herself more and more drawn to voice overs. Several classes, coaching sessions, seminars, research, and a closet-turned-studio later, and she now records and produces audiobooks on a regular basis. She has also done several radio commercials for clients such as Advance Financial, TriStar Health, and GAC. Her ultimate dream is to work in video games and animation, so hopefully in the not-too-distant future you'll hear her in an RPG or cartoon. When she’s not in her booth, you can find her crocheting, playing video games, or running agility with her dog, Phoenix.



Thursday, May 23, 2019

Spotlight: Bury by John W. Mefford


NEW RELEASE....

Air pumps into the dark night sky.

The blade of the shovel digs deeper and deeper.

And the cries from below are slowly devoured by the howl of a coyote. 

Willow Ball and Cooper Chain are tied at the hip -- on some days that's a fantasy, other days a curse.

But there's one thing they agree on: if they hope to outsmart a ruthless crime boss, luck will have to fall their way.

But that's only part of their perilous imbroglio. Life slips off the rails in a hurry . . . and the implications could be deadly.

A shallow grave is uncovered… and it's the unthinkable. With little evidence, authorities have no suspects. But could this be connected to a similar incident more than two decades earlier?

When another girl goes missing, their world stops down. How is Cooper's daughter caught up in the web?

Every path seems blocked, because every person wants something buried. Does that include what Willow and Cooper feel for each other?

Cops are gunned down, friends are framed and murdered -- how can Willow and Cooper make sense of it all to finally end the mayhem?

But when one more person goes missing, it shreds Cooper's heart.

What will Cooper and Willow sacrifice to save his daughter?

Get BURY now! 

You will devour this book if you're a fan of the Fox & O'Hare novels by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, Michael Connelly's Ballard and Bosch, David Baldacci's King and Maxwell, Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles, or the TV show "Castle."

Available to buy from....
Amazon.com   Amazon.co.uk    Paperback

Don't miss MERCY (The Ball & Chain Thrillers Book 1)
The torment builds and builds and builds…. 

He can't deny it. 


But in what form will the pressure erupt? 


Cooper Chain isn't just down on his luck -- he's almost down for the count. The mob wants a piece of him, and he sees no way out.

It's a special week for Willow Ball, a woman who's survived her own tribulations to reach this milestone in her life.

Through fate -- or a temporary misalignment of the stars -- Willow and Cooper cross paths for the first time since college. Will an unexpected spark re-ignite the flame?

A shattering discovery changes everything for Willow and Cooper. The murder is unlike any other. But what will the cops do about it?

Attacks ensure, chaos ruptures a family . . . Through it all, how can Willow and Cooper find the killer?

But it's not over. As the bodies pile up, a pattern develops and it rocks Willow and Cooper to the core.

And then someone emerges after a three-decade disappearance. Could he be connected to this string of murders?

The past might provide the breadcrumbs to end this nightmare. But Willow and Cooper may not live long enough to see it through.

Will mercy save a life or end many?

Available to buy from....
Amazon.com   Amazon.co.uk    Paperback

Don't miss FEAR (The Ball & Chain Thrillers Book 2)
Her death has haunted him for over thirty years. 

And he's hell-bent on making someone pay. 

A father goes missing. Not just any father. But a person once worshipped for his world-class talent.

Enter the most unconventional team around: Willow Ball and Cooper Chain.

As a nurse at the community clinic, Willow has seen the painful effects of heroin addiction. But now she's compelled to help a grieving wife and mother.

Dodging the mob at every turn, Cooper has a plan to bring them down while getting traction on his upstart career. Is he marching into a trap?

With their relationship bordering the "friends with benefits" stage, Willow and Cooper team up to find the missing person. But it's not that simple. Nothing with them is ever simple.

The hunt corkscrews into an impossible maze of events -- their lives threatened by a swarm of twisted deviants and social misfits.

Emotions run rampant, stoking one savage response after another. A spark ignites the hate, but what is the real fuel for this wave of brutal crimes?

Ultimately, can Willow and Cooper save a family from the torment before it's too late?

Only if they can overcome their own…fear.

Available to buy from....
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About the Author
Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, #2 bestselling author on Barnes and Noble, and a Readers' Favorite Gold Medal winner.

John W. Mefford has been writing his debut novel since he first entered the work force almost thirty years ago, although he never put words on paper until 2009. Once he started writing, however, he couldn't stop. Many readers ask John from where he gets his ideas. Well, he's a veteran of the corporate rat-race, a former journalist, and he's always been an astute observer of human and social behavior. On top of that, he's really good at embellishing.

A member of International Thriller Writers, John writes novels full of electrifying suspense -- the same types of books he has loved to read since before he could shave.

When he’s not writing, he chases his youth on bike or a basketball court, all while making mental
notes of people and societies across the land.

Find the author on the following sites...
 Website   Facebook   Twitter   Google+   Goodreads   Bookbub   Amazon Author Page

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