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Friday, August 31, 2018

Blog Tour: Excerpt #10 of When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica


We are so excited to be a part of a 2-part tour for the release of best selling author Mary Kubica’s new psychological thriller, When the Lights Go Out!

Follow along the excerpt tour beginning in August, with long excerpts in consecutive order at each tour stop, followed by an Instagram tour and review tour beginning in September! Links can be found below.

Author: Mary Kubica
Publisher: Park Row
Date of publication: September 4, 2018

Jessie Sloane is on the path to rebuilding her life after years of caring for her ailing mother. She rents a new apartment and applies for college. But when the college informs her that her social security number has raised a red flag, Jessie discovers a shocking detail that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known.

Finding herself suddenly at the center of a bizarre mystery, Jessie tumbles down a rabbit hole, which is only exacerbated by grief and a relentless lack of sleep. As days pass and the insomnia worsens, it plays with Jessie’s mind. Her judgment is blurred, her thoughts are hampered by fatigue. Jessie begins to see things until she can no longer tell the difference between what’s real and what she’s only imagined.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier and two hundred and fifty miles away, another woman’s split-second decision may hold the key to Jessie’s secret past. Has Jessie’s whole life been a lie or have her delusions gotten the best of her?

“Kubica brilliantly unravels the lives of two women in this tense and haunting tale of identity and deceit. WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT will keep you questioning everything-and everyone-until the riveting conclusion. A twisty, captivating, edge-of-your-seat read.” –Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of ALL THE MISSING GIRLS

Excerpt #10:

 “What do you think?” Lily asks over the noise of the hair dryer and I can’t help myself. 

“I hate it,” I say, for the eighth or ninth time in a row, one for as many apartments as we’ve seen.  Insomnia does that too.  It keeps us honest because we don’t have the energy to manufacture a lie. 
“How come?” she asks, and I tell her about the hair dryer next door.  How it’s loud.
Lily keeps composed, though inside her patience with me must be wearing thin.  “Then we keep looking,” she says as I follow her out the door.  I’d love to believe that she wants me to be happy, that she wants me to find the perfect place to live.  But ultimately it comes down to one thing: my signature on a dotted line.  What a lease agreement means for Lily is that an afternoon with me isn’t a complete waste of time. 
“I have one more to show you,” she says, promising something different from the last umpteen apartments we’ve seen.  We return to the Kia and I buckle up in the back seat, behind the purse that’s already riding shotgun.  We drive.  Minutes later the car pulls to a sluggish stop before a greystone on Cornelia, gliding easily into a parking spot.  The street is residential, lacking completely in communal living structures.  No apartments.  No condominiums.  No high rises with elevators that overlook crappy convenient marts.  No strangers milling around on street corners. 
The house is easily a hundred years old, beautiful and yet overwhelming for its grandeur.  It’s three stories tall and steep, wide steps that lead to a front porch.  A bank of windows on each floor.  A flat-as-a-pancake roof.  Beneath the first floor there’s a garden apartment, peeking up from beneath concrete.
“This is a three flat?” I ask as we step from the car, envisioning stacks of independent units filling the home, all united by a common front door.  I expect Lily to say yes.
But instead she laughs at me, saying, “No, this is a private residential home.  It’s not for sale, not that you could afford it if it was.  Easily a million and a half,” she says.  “Dollars, that is,” and I pause beneath a tree to ask what we’re doing here.  The day is warm, one of those September days that holds autumn at bay.  What we want is do climb into sweaters and jeans, sip cocoa, wrap ourselves in blankets and watch the falling leaves.  But instead we drip with sweat.  The nights grow cold, but the days are hot, thirty degree variants from morning to night.  It won’t last long.  According to the weatherman, a change is coming, and it’s coming soon.  But for now, I stand in shorts and a t-shirt, a sweatshirt wrapped around my waist.  When the sun goes down, the temperature will too. 
“This way,” Lily says with a slight nod of the head.  I hurry along after her, but before we round the side of the greystone, something catches my eye.  A woman walking down the sidewalk in our direction.  She’s a good thirty feet away, but moving closer to us.  I don’t see her face at first because of the force of the wind pushing her dark hair forward and into her eyes.  But it doesn’t matter.  It’s the posture that does it for me.  That and the tiny feet as they shuffle along.  It’s the unassuming way she holds herself upright, curved at the shoulders just so.  It’s her shape, the height and width of it.  The shade and texture of a periwinkle coat, a parka, mid-thigh length with a drawstring waist and a hood, though it’s much too warm for a coat with a hood. 
The coat is the same one as Mom had.
I feel my heart start to beat.  My mouth opens and a single word forms there on my lips.  Mom.  Because that’s exactly who it is.  It’s her; it’s Mom.  She’s here, alive, in the flesh, coming to see me.  My arm lifts involuntarily and I start to wave, but with the hair in her eyes, she can’t see me standing there on the sidewalk six feet away, waving.
Mom doesn’t look at me as she passes by.  She doesn’t see me.  She thinks I’m someone else.  I call to her, my voice catching as the word comes out, so that it doesn’t come out.  Instead it gets trapped somewhere in my throat.  Tears pool in my eyes and I think that I’m going to lose her, that she’s going to keep walking by.  And so my hand reaches out and latches on to her arm.  A knee-jerk reaction.  To stop her from walking past.  To prevent her from leaving. 
My hand grabs a hold of her forearm, clamping down.  But just as it does, the woman frees her face of the hair and casts a glance at me.  And I see then what I failed to see before, that this woman is barely thirty years old, much too young to be my mother.  And that her face is covered in an enormity of makeup, unlike Mom who wore her face bare. 
Her coat is not periwinkle at all but darker, more like eggplant or wine.  And it has no hood.  As she nears, I see more clearly.  It isn’t a coat after all, but a dress.
She looks nothing like Mom.
For a second I feel like I can’t breathe, the wind knocked out of me.  The woman tugs her arm free.  She gives me a dirty look, scooting past me as I slip from the sidewalk, my feet falling on grass.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as she skirts eye contact, avoids my stare.  She moves to the far edge of the sidewalk where she’ll be two feet away, where I can’t reach her.  “I thought you were someone else,” I breathe as my eyes turn to find Lily with her arms folded, trying to pretend that this didn’t just happen.   
Of course it’s not Mom, I tell myself as I watch the woman in the eggplant dress move on – faster now, no longer shuffling along but now walking at a clipped pace to get away from me. 
Of course it’s not Mom, because Mom is dead.


Purchase Links


About Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL and PRETTY BABY.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter.

Connect with Mary

Excerpt Tour:
Monday, August 20th: Palmer’s Page Turners
Tuesday, August 21st: Books and Cats and Coffee
Wednesday, August 22nd: Mystery Suspense Reviews
Thursday, August 23rd: Book Reviews and More by Kathy
Friday, August 24th: A Bookworm’s World
Monday, August 27th: Novel Gossip
Tuesday, August 28th: Books & Spoons
Wednesday, August 29th: Read Love Blog
Thursday, August 30th: That’s What She Read
Friday, August 31st: From the TBR Pile

Instagram Tour:
Monday, September 3rd: @brookesbooksandbrews
Tuesday, September 4th: @chapter_break
Tuesday, September 4th: @girlandherbooks
Wednesday, September 5th: @kate.olson.reads
Thursday, September 6th: @jennblogsbooks
Friday, September 7th: @bookishconnoisseur
Saturday, September 8th: @pnwbookworm
Sunday, September 8th: @girlsinbooks

Review Tour:
Tuesday, September 4th: Literary Quicksand
Wednesday, September 5th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Thursday, September 6th: Books & Bindings
Thursday, September 6th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy
Friday, September 7th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Monday, September 10th: Booktimistic and @booktimistic
Monday, September 10th: The Book Diva’s Reads
Tuesday, September 11th: Thoughts on This ‘n That
Wednesday, September 12th: Books and Cats and Coffee
Thursday, September 13th: Thoughts from a Highly Caffeinated Mind
Friday, September 14th: Becky on Books
Friday, September 14th: From the TBR Pile
Monday, September 17th: Moonlight Rendezvous
Monday, September 17th: Staircase Wit
Tuesday, September 18th: @booknerdnative
Wednesday, September 19th: Palmer’s Page Turners
Thursday, September 20th: Mystery Suspense Reviews
Friday, September 21st: Girl Who Reads
Monday, September 24th: Novel Gossip and @novelgossip
Tuesday, September 25th: Bewitched Bookworms
Tuesday, September 25th: Why Girls are Weird
Wednesday, September 26th: @hollyslittlebookreviews
Thursday, September 27th: Mama Reads Blog
Thursday, September 27th: Jathan & Heather
Friday, September 28th: Kritter’s Ramblings

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Blog Tour: Review of Pieces of Her by Karen Slaughter

Author: Karen Slaughter
Publisher: William Morrow
Date of publication: August 2018

What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all . . . ?
Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?

But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . . .

Pieces of Her is the latest stand alone novel from this author. This happens to be the first book of hers that I have ever read. It opens with a mother and daughter having lunch. When an armed gunman enters the diner and starts shooting, everything Andy thought she knew about her mother changes in the blink of an eye.  The book waffles between the present, as Andy tries to find out the truth about her mother, and events that took place in the late 80s. 

I have to admit that I almost didn't finish this book.  I found the beginning a bit slow and disjointed. I also didn't like Andrea at first.  Her shock and wishy-washy attitude were grating after a while.  However, I am glad I stuck with it because after the story switched to events in 1986, the story really got going. Andy ended up being quite street smart and a pretty good amateur detective. I liked her a lot.   There are a few twists that kept me on my toes.  Overall, it was a good mystery that asks the question, "How much do we really know about our parents' past?".  I do recommend this book and I think fans of hers will love it.

Purchase Links


About Karin Slaughter
Photo by Alison Rosa

Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her eighteen novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated Cop Townand the instant New York Times bestselling novels Pretty Girls and The Good Daughter. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, Karin Slaughter lives in Atlanta. Her standalone novels The Good Daughter and Cop Town are in development for film and television.

Find out more about Karin at her website and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Instagram Features
Tuesday, August 21st: Instagram: @jackiereadsbooks
Wednesday, August 22nd: Instagram: @withniki
Friday, August 24th: Instagram: @thepagesinbetween
Saturday, August 25th: Instagram: @hollyslittlebookreviews
Sunday, August 26th: Instagram: @read.write.coffee
Monday, August 27th: Instagram: @givemeallthebooks

Review Stops
Tuesday, August 21st: Jathan & Heather
Wednesday, August 22nd: Kahakai Kitchen
Monday, August 27th: Wining Wife
Tuesday, August 28th: Instagram: @Novelmombooks
Wednesday, August 29th: Jessicamap Reviews
Thursday, August 30th: From the TBR Pile
Monday, September 3rd: Instagram: @writersdream
Tuesday, September 4th: Instagram: @shereadswithcats
Wednesday, September 5th: Instagram: @absorbedinpages
Thursday, September 6th: Bibliotica


Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Books I Didn't Finish - August Edition



Orchard Grove: I only made it about 20% of the way in and had to stop.  I was not interested in reading about the married man who apparently doesn't bathe, ever, try to seduce the killer next door.   This book made me feel icky.  It wasn't what I thought it would be.

Twisted FateI was so confused as to what was going on in this book. There were multiple names for one character. I think I re-read a couple of passages a few times to figure out what was happening.  I had to stop after 50%.  I have read mixed reviews for this one, so maybe it's just me.

What She Left: I know I am in the minority with this one.  But I was bored to tears reading it.  I even tried the audiobook, but I couldn't get past the first 30%.  I didn't like the format for the professor's viewpoint.  It just didn't work for me.

Scream All Night:  I was expecting a YA horror story with a creepy old house and potential ghost story.  Instead, I got a lack luster and un-amusing  coming of age story that had me rolling my eyes.  I DNf'd it at about 50%.


Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Blog Tour: Review of Truth or Dare by Anne Conley


Author: Anne Conley
Date of publication: August 2018

When a child’s game goes delightfully wrong, Jude finds himself rethinking his current status quo.  Jude finds himself strangely looking to Annette to make sense of his own life.

Annette is trying not to get distracted by the sexy firefighter, but when her artistic retreat begins in disaster, Jude’s playing the hero she can’t ignore.  Suddenly, her artwork is completely changed with Jude’s exquisite lines transforming her landscapes.

Up until now, their life was like a notebook full of doodles, but it’s turning into a full-fledged art showing, and neither of them know how to deal with the embers of desire when they ignite into flames.

Truth or Dare is the first book in the 'Playing with Fire" series.  This is Jude and Annette's story.  I loved the "truth or dare" part of the story.  It started out as a game, but it ended up being a way for Jude and Annette to get to know each other.  They had great chemistry. Even though the "I love yous" came fast, I felt like they did get to know each other fairly well.  I really liked the characters, especially Annette.  I admired her determination to follow her dream and try to make it as an artist.  The description of her painting style made me really wish I could see one of them in real life.  I look forward to reading the next one in the series. 



Buy links:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:


Anne has written her entire life and has the boxes of angst-filled journals and poetry to prove it. She’s been writing for public consumption for the past several years. She lives in rural East Texas with her husband and children in her own private oasis, where she prides herself in her complete lack of social skills, choosing instead to live with the people inside her head.

Currently, she has five romance series.  Playing with Fire explores the trials and tribulations of a small team of fire fighters in the fictional mountain town of Pamona Gulch. In Pierce Securities, she gives us Ryan, Evan, Miriam, Zack, Quinten, Jordan, Hollerman, and Simon. Her favorite series, Book B!tches, is all about a group of women in Mystic, Texas who get into all sorts of shenanigans. In Stories of Serendipity, she explores real people living real lives in small town Texas in a contemporary romance setting. In The Four Winds, she chronicles God’s four closest archangels, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, falling in love and becoming human.


Connect with Anne:



Monday, August 27, 2018

Blog Tour: Review of Strictly Confidential by Lynda Aicher

Author: Lynda Aicher
Publisher: Carina Press
Date of publication:  August 28, 2018


From Lynda Aicher, author of the bestselling Wicked Play books, comes an exclusive invitation to the Boardroom—where working late has its rewards.

Life is about power—who has it, who doesn’t.
Anyone who says otherwise hasn’t spent time in Kennedy Keller’s business-casual two-point-five-inch heels. A woman in a world very much run by men, Kennedy does whatever it takes to keep her power, in the office and outside of it.

Until she lets her guard down and decides to submit to a man for just one night. He’s everything she doesn’t usually let herself have: sexy, strong…dominant.

Matt Hamilton said goodbye to the Dom life years ago—power games and the delectable push/pull of dominance and submission might start in the bedroom, but it never stays there.

Reunited in the Boardroom, Matt and Kennedy test their desires and boundaries…and learn that one night is never just one night.



Strictly Confidential is the third book in the "Boardroom" series.  I did read the novella that started things out, Done Deal. So I understood the basic premise of "The Boardroom".  Basically, it's private club of people who like to explore their kink side in a safe and private environment.  The name comes from them using boardrooms of the members after hours.  Scenarios are set up ahead of time and rules are set into place.  This book features Kennedy and Matt.  They have a semi anonymous one night stand and days later they end up in The Boardroom by coincidence. They find out their one night stand wasn't enough for them.

This book kind of confused me on a few levels.  I didn't mind the club idea too much because it was all consensual.  If that is your thing , then go for it.  But I was confused by Kennedy and Matt in regards to what they wanted in their relationship.  He was a dom, but didn't want a sub and she liked to give up control but wasn't a sub?  The back and forth of all of that ended up being a bit too confusing.  While I liked them together and as individual characters, the insta-love was too quick for me.  What I loved most about the book was Matt's relationship with his kids and mother.  I loved those moments in the book.

In the end, this was just an OK read for me.  I may pick up the next one. What I really want is to know what is up with Trevor and Dani.  That is the story I want!

Purchase Links



About Lynda Aicher

Lynda Aicher has always loved to read. After years of weekly travel implementing computer software into global companies, she ended her nomadic lifestyle to raise her two children. Now her imagination is her only limitation on where she can go and her writing lets her escape from the daily duties as a mom, wife, chauffeur, scheduler, cook, teacher, volunteer, cleaner and mediator.

Connect with Lynda

Instagram Tour:
Monday, August 27th: @booknerdingout
Tuesday, August 28th: @novelgrounds
Wednesday, August 29th: @omg.kacie.reads
Thursday, August 30th: @jennbairos
Thursday, August 30th: @suey_library
Friday, August 31st: @sarahandherbookshelves
Saturday, September 1st: @biblio_files
Sunday, September 2nd: @jesssiereads

Review Tour:

Monday, August 27th: From the TBR Pile
Tuesday, August 28th: A Chick Who Reads
Tuesday, August 28th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – excerpt
Wednesday, August 29th: omg.kacie.reads
Thursday, August 30th: Suey Library – review and excerpt
Friday, August 31st: Romancing the Book
Tuesday, September 4th: Stranded in Chaos
Wednesday, September 5th: Books and Blends
Thursday, September 6th: Why Girls Are Weird
Friday, September 7th: The Sassy Bookster – excerpt
Monday, September 10th: Moonlight Rendezvous
Wednesday, September 12th: Cheryl’s Book Nook
Wednesday, September 12th: Under the Covers Book Blog – excerpt

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Review: Night School by C.J. Daugherty

Author: C.J. Daugherty
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 
Date of publication: May 2013

Allie's world is falling apart...


She hates her school. Her brother has run away. And she's just been arrested.

Again.

Now her parents are sending her away to a boarding school where she doesn't know a soul.

But instead of hating her new school, Allie finds she's happy there. She's making friends. And then there's Sylvain, a suave French student who openly flirts with her. And Carter, the brooding loner who seems to have her back.

Soon, though, Allie discovers Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Nothing there is as it seems. And her new friends are hiding dangerous secrets.

I have had Night School on my TBR for eons it seems.  I think I started this one a few times and I finally made it through on this last try.  This is the first book in the Night School series.  Allie's parents have had enough of her partying.  They send her to an obscure boarding school.  The school has its mysteries, namely a group of kids who belong to something called Night school.  Weird things start to happen around the school  and Allie isn't sure who to trust.

I thought this was a fairly enjoyable YA mystery once I got past the first couple of chapters.  The book doesn't end with a lot of resolution, so I'm assuming that there is more as the series progresses.  The characters were a bit cliche, but that didn't bother me too much. I did like Allie though.  The mystery of what Night School was ended up being a bit of a let down. I was hoping it would go in a different direction.  There was the potential for a love triangle but it didn't drag on.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't keep going throughout the rest of the series.  I'm definitely team Carter! I think most YA readers would enjoy this one.


Saturday, August 25, 2018

2 in 1 novellas: Touch Wood by Jenika Snow & The Boy Next Door by Stevie J. Cole

Author: Jenika Snow
Publisher: Carina Press
Date of publication:June 2018

I’ve been celibate for years, by choice. No woman has held my interest long enough to be worth sacrificing time spent at Ash Lumber, energy spent building the family business.

All that changed when a feisty redhead walked into our job-site trailer.

Andra.

Her skirts drive me crazy and her trying so hard to flat-out ignore me does the rest. Her flushed cheeks when we flirt are enough to send me to bed for a week.

Andra might be supervising this development deal, but there’s no way we’re going to be able to keep things professional around here. My celibate streak is over, and I owe it all to her. 


Touch Wood is the final book in the trilogy featuring the Ash Brothers. Out of the three, I liked this one the least. There had been hints of the tension between Andra and Liam in the other novellas. While their chemistry was good, there was too much time spent in the short story telling the reader they want each other. I never thought I would say this about a novella, but it actually dragged a bit. I also thought the I love yous came too fast.


Author: Stevie J. Cole
Publisher: Carina Press
Date of publication: September 10, 2018 

That part is real. But nothing else they say about me is true. 

The way she looks at me from across the room, how she makes my old T-shirts look good, how perfect she feels when she’s in my arms. That’s what I want to picture when I think about Emma. Not a crazy auction where she gives it up to some random creep. 

I can’t let it happen. I won’t let it happen.

Despite the tattoos, despite the rumors, despite my reputation as a class-A player—there’s never been anyone else. In my bed or in my heart.

It’s always been Emma.


I love friends to lovers stories, so I knew The Boy Next Door was going to be fun.  And it was ...to a point.  I loved Emma and Evan's relationship.  I could understand the reluctance to admit their feelings for each other.  The chemistry was off the charts.  Despite being a novella, there was a cute epilogue.  What I didn't care for was the virginity auction.  I found it pretty callus and disturbing.  I didn't like that scenario, so that made me take a point off.


Friday, August 24, 2018

Blog Tour: Review of Between the Lies by Cynthia A. Graham


Author: Cynthia A. Graham
Publisher: Blank Slate PRess
Date of publication: March 2018

When the corrupt sheriff of Broken Creek, Arkansas detains a young black boy on charges of accidental homicide, his sister asks Hick Blackburn, Sheriff of Cherokee Crossing, to investigate. Hick is reluctant at first. Not only is Broken Creek out of his jurisdiction, but Hick and Sheriff Brewster have a history, and Hick knows Brewster won’t look kindly on his interference. But Hick quickly realizes the boy couldn’t have committed the crime. With the aid of a New York attorney trying to make a name for herself and a shy new deputy who knows the boy’s family, Hick uncovers a conspiracy that goes to the heart of local corruption, nepotism, and racism. But while Hick is working to free an innocent child in Broken Creek, his beloved Maggie, pregnant with their third child, faces challenges of her own back home. This time, will Hick’s dedication to justice extract too high a price?

The first book in this series, Beneath Still Waters, was in my top ten for 2016.  So when I saw this one, I was eager to read it.  Somehow, I missed the second book, but I will remedy that one soon! Between the Lies did very well as a stand alone.  I was able to catch up with the characters and fell right into the story.  

Hick is one of my favorite cop characters.  In this book, he has really grown into his leadership role and is determined to do the right hing.  I was rooting for him to save the day for young Thaddeus.  The story may be hard for some to read since it is a reminder of racial attitudes in country, especially the south,  in the fifties.  Attitudes, some would argue, are still as strong today.  

I enjoyed the book.  However, I was not prepared for the ending.  I'm not a fan of endings like that  because it turned a hopeful book into something incredibly sad. I don't like being blindsided. I'm not quite sure what the reasoning was behind it and I'm still not sure how it will affect my wanting to continue on with the series.



Purchase Links

About Cynthia A. Graham

Cynthia A. Graham was born in St. Louis, Missouri. As a child she spent every weekend and vacation in the cotton belt of Missouri where she grew to love the mystery and beauty of the stark, Delta Plain. Cynthia graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Missouri – St. Louis with a B.A. in English. She has won several awards for her short stories and has been published in a number of anthologies. Between the Lies follows the first two books in her historical mystery series featuring Sheriff Hick Blackburn, Beneath Still Water and Behind Every Door, which both won IPPY and MIPA awards.

Connect with Cynthia
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Cynthia A. Graham’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, August 6th: Thoughts on This ‘n That
Monday, August 13th: Kahakai Kitchen
Wednesday, August 15th: Broken Teepee
Friday, August 17th: Write Read Life
Monday, August 20th: Prose and Palate and @prose_and_palate
Wednesday, August 22nd: Patricia’s Wisdom
Thursday, August 23rd: SJ2B House of Books
Friday, August 24th: From the TBR Pile


Thursday, August 23, 2018

Blog Tour: Review of Under a Dark Sky by Lori Rader-Day


Author: Lori Rader-Day
Publisher: William Morrow Paperback 
Date of publication: August 2018

Only in the dark can she find the truth . . .

Since her husband died, Eden Wallace’s life has diminished down to a tiny pinprick, like a far-off star in the night sky. She doesn’t work, has given up on her love of photography, and is so plagued by night terrors that she can’t sleep without the lights on. Everyone, including her family, has grown weary of her grief. So when she finds paperwork in her husband’s effects indicating that he reserved a week at a dark sky park, she goes. She’s ready to shed her fear and return to the living, even if it means facing her paralyzing phobia of the dark.

But when she arrives at the park, the guest suite she thought was a private retreat is teeming with a group of twenty-somethings, all stuck in the orbit of their old college friendships. Horrified that her get-away has been taken over, Eden decides to head home the next day. But then a scream wakes the house in the middle of the night. One of the friends has been murdered. Now everyone—including Eden—is a suspect.

Everyone is keeping secrets, but only one is a murderer. As mishaps continue to befall the group, Eden must make sense of the chaos and lies to evade a ruthless killer—and she’ll have to do it before dark falls…

It seems I'm still on the hunt for a truly "thrilling" psychological thriller.  Unfortunately, Under a Dark Sky just didn't measure up.  It takes place at a dark sky park (Who knew there was such a thing?).  Eden finds the reservation in her dead husbands papers and goes there for a get away to mourn their next anniversary.  She meets six strangers and when one of them is murdered, she becomes a suspect.

It wasn't a bad book.  There was an actual mystery to be solved.  That part of it was fairly good.  But for me, the book suffered from a lack of likable characters and pacing.  The characters were not very interesting.  Even the main character, Eden, was fairly forgettable.  The pacing was so slow. The book took way too long to get to the point.  I was never sucked into the story and found easy to put the book down and go onto other things.  I did like the ending and how things wrapped up for Eden.  It isn't a bad book, it just wasn't as thrilling as I had hoped.


Purchase Links

About Lori Rader-Day
Photo by Iden Ford


Lori Rader-Day is the author of Under a Dark SkyThe Day I DiedLittle Pretty Things, and The Black Hour. She is a three-time Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee, winning the award in 2016. Lori lives in Chicago.

Find out more about Lori at her website, and connect with her on InstagramFacebook, and Twitter.

Instagram Features
Tuesday, August 7th: Instagram: @_ebl_inc_
Wednesday, August 8th: Instagram: @read.write.coffee
Thursday, August 9th: Instagram: @brookesbooksandbrews
Saturday, August 11th: Instagram: @jenabrownwrites
Monday, August 13th: Instagram: @notthepathtonarnia
Friday, August 24th: Instagram: @strandedinbooks

Review Stops
Wednesday, August 8th: Wall-to-Wall Books
Thursday, August 9th: As I turn the pages
Friday, August 10th: A Bookish Way of Life
Thursday, August 16th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Friday, August 17th: 5 Minutes For Books
Tuesday, August 21st: Instagram: @shereadswithcats
Wednesday, August 22nd: Jessicamap Reviews
Wednesday, August 22nd: Into the Hall of Books
Thursday, August 23rd: From the TBR Pile
Friday, August 24th: Instagram: @wherethereadergrows


Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Blog Tour: Spotlight of Tiffany Blues by M.J. Rose

Author: M.J. Rose
Publisher: Atria Books
Date of publication: August 2018

“A lush, romantic historical mystery…a heroine to root for.” —Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale

“Fascinating…an enchanting glimpse of Jazz Age New York.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and A Piece of the World

The New York Times bestselling author of The Library of Light and Shadow crafts a dazzling Jazz Age jewel—a novel of ambition, betrayal, and passion about a young painter whose traumatic past threatens to derail her career at a prestigious summer artists’ colony run by Louis Comfort Tiffany of Tiffany & Co. fame. “[M.J. Rose] transports the reader into the past better than a time machine could accomplish” (The Associated Press).

New York, 1924. Twenty four year old Jenny Bell is one of a dozen burgeoning artists invited to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s prestigious artists’ colony. Gifted and determined, Jenny vows to avoid distractions and romantic entanglements and take full advantage of the many wonders to be found at Laurelton Hall.

But Jenny’s past has followed her to Long Island. Images of her beloved mother, her hard-hearted stepfather, waterfalls, and murder, and the dank hallways of Canada’s notorious Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women overwhelm Jenny’s thoughts, even as she is inextricably drawn to Oliver, Tiffany’s charismatic grandson.

As the summer shimmers on, and the competition between the artists grows fierce as they vie for a spot at Tiffany’s New York gallery, a series of suspicious and disturbing occurrences suggest someone knows enough about Jenny’s childhood trauma to expose her.

Supported by her closest friend Minx Deering, a seemingly carefree socialite yet dedicated sculptor, and Oliver, Jenny pushes her demons aside. Between stolen kisses and stolen jewels, the champagne flows and the jazz plays on until one moonless night when Jenny’s past and present are thrown together in a desperate moment, that will threaten her promising future, her love, her friendships, and her very life.

Purchase Links

About M. J. Rose

New York Times bestselling author M. J. Rose grew up in New York City exploring the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum and the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park. She is the author of more than a dozen novels, a founding board member of International Thriller Writers, and the founder of the first marketing company for authors, AuthorBuzz.com. She lives in Connecticut. Visit her online at MJRose.com.

Connect with M. J. Rose

TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS for TIFFANY BLUES:

Wednesday, August 8th: Midwest Ladies Who Lit
Thursday, August 9th: Book Dilettante
Friday, August 10th: Read Love Blog
Monday, August 13th: Reading Reality
Monday, August 13th: @girlandherbooks
Tuesday, August 14th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Tuesday, August 14th: Jathan & Heather
Thursday, August 16th: A Holland Reads
Friday, August 17th: Literary Quicksand
Monday, August 20th: Patricia’s Wisdom
Tuesday, August 21st: Books & Bindings
Wednesday, August 22nd: From the TBR Pile
Thursday, August 23rd: Laura’s Reviews
Thursday, August 23rd: Kritter’s Ramblings
Friday, August 24th – Moonlight Rendezvous
Monday, August 27th: Cheryl’s Book Nook
Wednesday, August 29th: Savvy Verse and Wit
Date TBD: (8/7): Of Pens and Pages