Thursday, January 9, 2025

Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours Present: A Perilous Premiere (Stone & Steele Mysteries) by Gail Meath

 



A Perilous Premiere (Stone & Steele Mysteries)
by Gail Meath

About A Perilous Premiere


A Perilous Premiere (Stone & Steele Mysteries)
Historical Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – California
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cranberry Pond Publishing (November 15, 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 182 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8227660671
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CZS3J93M
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Solving their own murders is the least of their problems…and the beginning of Stone & Steele, a reluctant yet surprisingly skilled investigative team.

The Golden Age of Hollywood, 1938Vivian Steele moved to California to start a new life. She opened a fashion boutique in Beverly Hills, befriended Carole Lombard, the actress, and married a successful banker. But when her husband is murdered, Vivian discovers she isn’t the only one hiding a few secrets.

An anonymous phone call lures Vivian to a plush hotel room where she stumbles upon the dead body of a beautiful young actress – her husband’s mistress. To add fuel to the fire, she’s not alone.

Preston Stone, her adversary and Hollywood’s notorious playboy, is standing beside her. Suspiciously, they part ways only to find themselves alone again at a movie premiere two days later, and the message becomes brutally clear. They’re both the next targets of a cold-blooded killer.

Together, Vivian and Preston are thrown into a deadly race to find a missing collection of valuable coins and stop a vicious killer before they become the next murder victims. But first, they need to stop pointing their fingers at each other.

A Perilous Premiere is the first book in this exciting new 1930s Stone & Steele mystery series starring a great cast of characters ranging from the rich and famous to Bella, a Boston Terrier, her new friend, Boris, a Saint Bernard, and a few other endearing folks. (A pretty clean read)

About Gail Meath

Gail Meath is the author of the multi-award-winning Jax Diamond Mysteries, the fun series about of a wise-cracking PI, his sweet German Shepherd partner, Ace, and his Broadway singing heartthrob, Laura, as they solve crazy crimes during the Roaring Twenties. She’s currently working on the first book in her exciting new 1930s mystery series, Stone & Steele Mysteries, takes place during the glamorous Golden Age of Hollywood. As always, she blends the most loveable characters with a good, solid mystery.

Gail also has a growing list of other award-winning historical romances, mysteries, westerns, and fictional biographies of true heroines. She lives in a small village in Upstate New York with her husband and their sweet, little Boston Terrier, and she spends loads of time with her grandchildren.

Author Links

Website:  https://www.gailmeath.com

Facebook:  https://facebook.com/gailmeathauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gailmeathauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220631482-a-perilous-premiere

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-perilous-premiere-by-gail-meath

Purchase Links – AmazonB&NKoboBookshop.org – 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

January 8 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT

January 8 – Frugal Freelancer – SPOTLIGHT

January 9 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT

January 9 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

January 10 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST

January 10 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW

January 11 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT

January 11 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT

January 12 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW

January 13 – Deal Sharing Aunt – SPOTLIGHT 

January 13 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 14 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT

January 14 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT

January 15 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 15 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT

January 16 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW

January 16 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

January 17 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

January 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

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Want to Book a Tour?
Click Here

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang

 

1800s China. Tightly bound feet, or "golden lilies," are the mark of an honorable woman, eclipsing beauty, a rich dowry and even bloodline in the marriage stakes. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant—a muizai—to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that one day her golden lilies will lead her out of slavery.

Not only does Little Flower have bound feet, uncommon for a 
muizai, but she is extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class of a lady. Resentful of her talents, Linjing does everything in her power to thwart Little Flower's escape.

But when scandal strikes the Fongs, both women are cast out to the Celibate Sisterhood, where Little Flower’s artistic prowess catches the eye of a nobleman. His attention threatens not only her improved status, but her life—the Sisterhood punishes disobedience with death. And if Linjing finds out, will she sabotage Little Flower to reclaim her power, or will she protect her?
 

Amazon

 

About The Author

 


Jane Yang’s family migrated from Vietnam to Australia when she was seven; she spent her childhood living in a Chinese-Vietnamese enclave. Due to her family’s limited means, extracurricular activities were not affordable; instead, Jane amused herself by binging Cantonese period dramas (rented from a video store that imported them from Hong Kong) and reading lots of historical fiction.

Although educated in pharmaceutical science, Jane still has one foot in the world of Chinese superstition: for luck, she keeps a minimum of five fish in her aquarium at all times.

'The Lotus Shoes,' her debut historical fiction, will be published in January 2025. 

 

My Review


 This book was such a compelling page turner, told from two points of view. First we have Little Flower, a young girl sold into slavery by her widowed mother. Then there is Linjing, she ends up owing Little Flower, a spoiled daughter of the First Wife.
This is the early 1800's life in China, and men of wealth seemed to have a number of wives, and the goal to have sons! While it seems like a male society, the oldest First Wife rules over the household!
We follow these girls, the same age when we meet them, 6, through there lives, and are with them with struggles, and life changing events.
I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it! There is a big theme of forgiveness here!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin Trade Publishing, and was not required to give a positive review.

Monday, January 6, 2025

Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours Presents: Deadly Performance: A World War II Mystery (Deadly Series) by Kate Parker

 

Deadly Performance: A World War II Mystery
(Deadly Series)
by Kate Parker

About Deadly Performance


Deadly Performance: A World War II Mystery (Deadly Series)
Historical Cozy Mystery
12th in Series
Setting -West End of London, Summer, 1941
Publisher ‏ : ‎ JDP Press (December 9, 2024)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 303 pages
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DNNQ23F4
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Behind the spotlights and glamour lurk secrets and murder.

Amid the grim realities of wartime Britain, inside during the blackout hidden from the tatters left by the Blitz, glitz and glamour live onstage in the West End. But at one theater, The Regent, a malevolent force is causing escalating problems. Sabotage, damage and injury feed mistrust among the cast and crew.

Then during opening night, the hated director drops dead from poison, and Olivia Redmond’s colorful, kindly editor is arrested for murder. Determined to investigate, Olivia finds secrets piling up among the bodies. But which secret leads to a crafty killer who won’t hesitate to remove anyone in their way, including Olivia.

About Kate Parker

Kate Parker has long wanted to build a time travel machine. However, after several false starts, she gave up and created time travel by going back in time inside her books. Since she’s fond of murder mysteries, it is probably best that all of her travel is inside books or police from various ages would be hunting her. When not recreating old time buildings and fashions, she can be found with a modern computer and modern air conditioning in North Carolina with her daughter and a 115 lb. puppy who could just crash through any time barrier.

Author Links
Website – http://www.kateparkerbooks.com

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/Author.Kate.Parker

Purchase Links – AmazonB&NAppleKobo 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

January 6 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

January 6 – Frugal Freelancer – AUTHOR GUEST POST

January 7 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT

January 7 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 8 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

January 9 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT

January 9 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – SPOTLIGHT

January 10 – Cozy Up WIth Kathy – REVIEW

January 10 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST

January 11 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT

January 11 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 12 –  FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

January 13 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

January 14 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 15 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST

Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?
Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today!
Want to Book a Tour?
Click Here

Thursday, January 2, 2025

Celebrate Lit Presents: Intentional Fires Epic Book Launch

 


 

Book: Intentional Fires

Author: Rebecca McLafferty

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

Release date: June 10, 2024

A widowed Christmas tree farm owner and her fiancé, a forest service special agent, deal with fires, thefts, and a 90-year family feud—stretching them to the snapping point.

 

After experiencing an attack, theft, and arson on the family Christmas tree farm, newly engaged Toni Stevens searches for those responsible, including disputed historic records. With two boys and a mother to support, the pressure is on her to increase profitability of the tree farm. Who is trying to ruin her? Can she put a stop to the generational feud?

 

Toni’s fiancé, U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Sam Duncan is hunting down a potential arsonist turned murderer. His rugged paths uncover Montana drug runners, feudal secrets—and a host of emotions that were buried alive.

 

 

Book Excerpt

Sam’s throat was so dry that he could barely swallow. He wiped sweat from his eyes. He moved ahead, searching for clues. Pine trees were becoming more prevalent, and he smelled sage, clean and sharp.

A thousand yards ahead, the mountain slope would increase. He had veered off the trail, but now another trail came into view. It might cross one of the main roads.

“Come on, Wesley,” he yelled. “I have an idea.”

Wesley looked up, surprised. He nodded eagerly and headed to the SUV, where Sam met him.

“Head northwest. Go slow.”

Fifteen minutes later, Sam pointed to a distinct trail to the left. “Turn there. It heads to the old Maxwell Cabin. The Forest Service abandoned it years ago.”

Wesley nodded and turned onto the trail.

When the wooden structure came into view, Sam motioned to Wesley to stop the ATV. They both exited and Wesley started to move forward.

“Hold on,” Sam instructed. “You’re carrying a gun for a reason.”

“But the suspect emptied his pistol.”

“Take my advice. Change to your lightweight gloves.”

Wesley begrudgingly changed his gloves and pulled his pistol. He took two quick steps forward.

“Freeze!” Sam pointed in front of Wesley’s boot. A trip wire crossed the path.

 

 

Missed Any Excerpts, Go Here

 

***Insert Links Here***

 

About the Author

 

 


 

Wisconsin resident Rebecca McLafferty began her writing career by co-creating a writers’ group and hosting writing conferences on her alpaca farm. Married for 51 years, mother of two, grandmother to five, and an Aussiedoodle mom, Rebecca cherishes writing, reading, and fellowshipping. Author of Intentional Fires, Intentional Heirs, and Devotions for Country Living: Prayer-Enriched Fields, she loves getting to know readers through https://www.mclaffertyenterprises.com/author-rebecca, on Facebook, and through personal speaking and teaching engagements.

 

Celebrate Lit Presents: Mabel and the Unholy Night (Mysteries of Medicine Spring Book Four) Author: Susan Kimmel Wright

 

About the Book

Book: Mabel and the Unholy Night (Mysteries of Medicine Spring Book Four)

Author: Susan Kimmel Wright

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Release date: November 5, 2024

Faithful dog Barnacle has run off into a snowstorm, disrupting Mabel’s fun outing at the Christmas tree farm. Things don’t improve much when he reappears…with a human skull.

Since Mabel moved into her late grandma’s house, the sleepy village of Medicine Spring has provided clean air, a close-knit community, and charming small-town shops. To her surprise, it’s also offered up several murders—and romance with a handsome private investigator. Now, Barnacle’s discovery plunges Mabel into the mystery surrounding a decades-old unsolved murder and the disappearance of her friend Nita’s great uncle.

Before Mabel, boyfriend John, and her friends can find answers and bring justice for Nita and her family, more complications develop. Incredibly, a sixty-year-old Christmas card arrives, bearing Mabel’s name and address and containing a plea for help. Are the mysteries related?

While Mabel tries to get to the bottom of these strange events, a second suspicious death casts suspicion on Nita. Can Mabel find the real killer in time? Or will her Christmas season end on an unholy night?

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Susan Kimmel Wright began her life of mystery in childhood, with reading. That led to writing kids’ mysteries and eventually to Medicine Spring with Mabel. A longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, Susan’s also a prolific writer of personal experience stories, many for Chicken Soup for the Soul. She shares an 1875 farmhouse in southwestern PA with her husband, several dogs and cats, and an allegedly excessive stockpile of coffee and tea mugs.

 

 

 

More from Susan

Does Christmas make you nostalgic? In Mabel & the Unholy Night, fifty-year-old Mabel is observing her first Christmas in her late grandma’s house. As she sets out each fragile, vintage ornament, she feels that same familiar lump in her throat.

What we treasure may have to do with when we grew up. I love mid-century glass tree ornaments from Woolworth’s, ceramic elves stamped “Made in Japan,” and Gurley candles shaped like carolers, some still bearing 29¢ stickers on the base.

Ever since childhood, I’ve loved the tiny cardboard village under our tree. Houses and churches sparkled with glitter in their landscape of cotton-batting snow and bushes of dried moss. A sheet of glass atop light-blue construction paper made a perfect pond for tiny skaters. As someone once pointed out, accuracy of scale is of no concern in the cardboard village. Reindeer may loom over the houses like the mutant product of scientific experimentation gone wrong in a “B” horror movie.

Cardboard villages, properly called “putz houses,” originated with Moravian immigrants. Once handmade, houses were later imported from Germany and Japan. While nowadays we’re more likely to buy a ceramic village we can light up, I’ll take the primitive charm of a putz village any day.

Maybe best of all, we can build our own putz villages to suit ourselves. A new tradition for child and parent or grandparent might be building a new house each year, to add to the tiny community. While kits are available, you can also find plans online, such as this free resource: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/make-traditional-glitter-houses-2365171

Perhaps our yearning for the things of the past is rooted in a longing for a more carefree time, when beloved faces, now gone, were still around us as we enjoyed the season together. When our slower-paced celebration centered on Christ’s birth, and family closeness. Building a putz house or church with loved ones might let us recapture just a bit of that old-fashioned Christmas spirit.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, December 20

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 21

A Reader’s Brain, December 22 (Author Interview)

Holly’s Book Corner, December 22

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 23

Fiction Book Lover, December 24 (Author Interview)

Guild Master, December 25 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 26

Texas Book-aholic, December 27

Back Porch Reads, December 28 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 28

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 29

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, December 30 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, December 31

Lily’s Corner, January 1

Vicky Sluiter, January 2 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Susan is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54124

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Celebrate Lit Presents: Dangerous Dalliance (Sisters in Peril Book One) Author: Valerie Massey Goree

 

About the Book

 

Book: Dangerous Dalliance (Sisters in Peril Book One)

Author: Valerie Massey Goree

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release date: July 25, 2023

amaJan’s fiancé, Bryan Buchanan, disappeared a year ago. She has no idea why he left or where he is. Since then, she’s had no interest in romance, but saving a little girl from a playground accident propels her into the world of possibilities.

Hatch, the child’s grateful father, has met many women since his wife’s passing. Jan is the first one to catch his attention, but his instinct to offer counseling to any woman he meets who seems depressed is a big turn-off for her.

Although Jan is flattered by Hatch’s attention, the rest of her life is turned upside down when she receives threatening phone calls, is nearly run off the road, and is shot at.

Can Hatch protect Jan as the men’s threats escalate? If Bryan returns to her life, will she forget about Hatch?

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Award winner Valerie Massey Goree resides in the beautiful Hill Country, northwest of San Antonio. After serving as missionaries in her home country of Zimbabwe and raising two children, Valerie and her husband, Glenn, moved to Texas, his home state. She worked in the public school system for many years, focusing on students with special needs.

Valerie began her writing career late in life and has now published 10 romantic suspense novels. Glenn wrote 12 non-fiction books which Valerie edited. Valerie retired from teaching and spends her time writing, traveling, and spoiling her grandchildren. She loves to hear from her readers.

 

More from Valerie

The Interesting “Task” of Choosing Character Names

I wrote the first rendition of Dangerous Dalliance many years ago. Obviously, it wasn’t published, so I put it aside and continued writing other novels. After publishing my ninth book, I decided to revise the story.

Choosing names for my characters, especially the hero and heroine, is a task I take seriously. I read through my lists and check online sites. I don’t go to that much trouble for my secondary characters, but I have a quirky way to choose their names.

I spent twenty-five years working in the public school system. Many students stand out in my memory for positive reasons. However, I remember a few kids or their parents less favorably. Any teacher will understand. Well, the names of those students or parents often play a role in my stories as secondary characters who don’t leave a positive impression.

The name of a major secondary character in my original Dangerous Dalliance was Brandon. From the first moment my student with that name entered my classroom as a four-year-old with severe allergies, a language delay, and behavioral issues until the day his family moved out of state, his behaviors and antics provided me with giggles and frustration.

Fast-forward several years. I live in a retirement community where we have 24/7 concierge services. When I moved here, the young man in charge was named Brandon. When I revised my original story, I frequently chatted with him. He was such a lovely person and treated us “older” folks with so much compassion.

Now, the name Brandon no longer conjured up images of my student but of the man I wanted to adopt as a grandson. (I found out many residents felt the same way.) I told him about my story and the reason I chose a different name for my guy.

Brandon left a few months later, and in a note he wrote me, he said, he would always remember that I changed the name of a character in my novel because of him, and he hoped he could live up to my high opinion of him.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, December 19

Stories By Gina, December 20 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, December 21

Simple Harvest Reads, December 22 (Author Interview)

Artistic Nobody, December 23 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 23

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 24

For Him and My Family, December 25

Fiction Book Lover, December 26 (Author Interview)

An Author’s Take, December 27

Guild Master, December 28 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 29

Back Porch Reads, December 30 (Author Interview)

Leslie’s Library Escape, December 30

For the Love of Literature, December 31 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 1

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Valerie is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54123


When the Avalanche Roared (A Day to Remember, #5) by Lauralee Bliss

 

 

Lillian Hartwick is in Wellington, Washington, caring for her cousin and assisting the postmaster when February snows bring all train traffic to a halt. Slow-witted but kind Griffin Jones, who works odd jobs while enduring taunts from rail workers, tries to gain Lillian's interest, but she is awaiting her fiancé's arrival from California. Predawn thunderstorms on Tuesday, March 1, 1910, trigger a devasting avalanche, sweeping two trains down Stevens Pass. Lillian and Griffin work together to help survivors, including Griffin's tormentors, and their feelings for each other grow. But is it enough when Lillian's fiancé finally arrives in the spring, ready to claim her as his own?

Amazon 

 

About The Author


 

Lauralee Bliss has always liked to dream big dreams. Since 1997 she's published over thirty books in historical, contemporary, and nonfiction. Lauralee desires that readers will come away with an entertaining story and a lesson that ministers to the heart.

Lauralee (also known as Blissful) is a noted long-distance hiker, completing the Appalachian Trail both north and south and chronicled in "Mountains, Madness, and Miracles - 4000 Miles Along the Appalachian Trail and The Florida Trail in "Gators, Guts and Glory - Adventures Along the Florida Trail" with a total 11,000 career miles. Lauralee continues to enjoy hiking, speaking, and traveling while looking for her next book to write. 


My Review


This is the 5th book in the Day To Remember Series, and this is Lillian Hartwick's story. She is a newly engaged woman, and rather bored, so decides to go to Wellington WA to stay with her cousin, whom is awaiting the birth of her first child, and is about to step into a new world for her. She has been born with the silver spoon, and now she is really about to rough it.

There are a lot of sad happening in this story, but then there are those whom come to faith, or have it renewed.

The avalanche really did happen, but the story and characters are fictional. The author does a good job of bringing the read alive.

There are a lot of life lessons that are given, and then the surprises!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Barbour, and was not required to give a positive review.

Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours Present: A Perilous Premiere (Stone & Steele Mysteries) by Gail Meath

  A Perilous Premiere (Stone & Steele Mysteries) by Gail Meath About A Perilous Premiere A Perilous Premiere (Stone ...