Dark and Lovely Mermaids by Julie Catherine blitz with giveaway
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Dark and Lovely Mermaids
Julie Catherine
(Broken Mermaids, #2)
Publication date: June 11th 2024
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Mermen. Monsters. And a lot of Manipulation. An at-odds prisoner (merman) and warden (mermaid) are about to set off to cross the deep ocean and end up running for their lives. Dive into the twisted waters of Dark and Lovely Mermaids, a forced proximity, enemies to lovers paranormal romance where the love is deep and the ocean is wild.
Ellara Merme made a bad deal. To save her friends and human sweetheart, she agreed to become a sea-slave, the lowest class in the mermaid world. It’s hell on earth, at the bottom of the ocean. A terrible choice. The only decision that’s worse, is the choice she’s about to make.
The leader of the mermaids has offered her an out: Deliver the merman prisoner to Neptune’s army and all will be forgiven. No problem. Should be an easy mission. Except…
… the deep ocean is full of sea monsters itching to make the mermaid their next meal.
… plus she might be catching feelings for the merman she’s supposed to be delivering. Could he possibly be so charming? Or are there other manipulations at play?
With danger crashing with every wave, Ellara has to decide: should she stick to the plan and save herself from sea-slavery? Or dive headfirst into the waters of romance? Can she outsmart the ocean and resist the merman’s charms? Or will she end up making an even worse bargain to survive?
Dark and Lovely Mermaids is a thrilling, loyalty-testing, romantic underwater adventure full of monsters, natural disasters and an army of mermen—an underwater story so enchanting you won’t want to come up for air!
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EXCERPT:
“Who should go? Among us, there is a mermaid brave enough, wise enough, and strong enough to do this task? To journey alone. To finish what must be done. To save our kingdom from Poseidon’s spy work. Ellara Merme.”
Petra thrust me forward and lifted the hand she still held in a victorious pose.
All of Merme erupted in whoops and cries.
I plastered a foolish smile upon my cheeks.
All this adoration was for me? What a joke.
I was a hoax standing here, paraded out to the town, in my new silver hair. They were acting like I was some sort of savior, but in reality I was just a jerk they could blackmail into completing the task. So desperate to become a Fert, I’d risk my life.
“Smile,” Petra hissed.
“I am smiling.”
“Bigger.”
A hollow grin pushed up the corners of my lips. I tried to hide the terror behind my eyes. Petra swooped me forward ’til I was side-by-side with Quinn. The leader held up my other arm. I tried not to faint.
“Ellara Merme is our courageous warrior, our mighty Merme.” Quinn said. “She brought the terrible merman’s presence to the attention of the Pause. Ellara brought him down in the fight during the storm. She has killed a Portrayan Kingfisher Crab, manipulated human women into becoming her friends, and she has bedded hundreds of men.”
How about one. The day after my transition was over.
I wanted to vomit in my own mouth.
At best, these claims were a wild twisting of the truth. At worst, the city of Merme had just been pacified with lies. And promises that couldn’t come true. Somewhere in the crowd, I imagined Blonde craning her neck, rolling her eyes. Quinn was making me out to be some sort of super woman. It couldn’t have been farther from the truth. But the women of Merme didn’t care. They just wanted to be safe.
“Ellara Merme was blessed by Abigailya, the sea witch. In fact, the sorceress bestowed on her the magical third eye.”
Which I still didn’t know how to use.
“She defeated a clever water nymph. All by herself.”
I couldn’t stand it anymore. My eyes searched for Blonde. I started to shake my head, no. Petra’s fingernails dug into my palm.
“Play along,” the rainbow-woman hissed. I tightened my smile.
“Ellara Merme is the perfect woman for this mission. A vital soldier. A master mermaid. A linchpin in the success of Neptune’s war. And we will win.” A less experienced orator might have shouted that from the rafters and beaches, but Quinn knew better than that. “We will win,” she whispered, it came out like a shiver. An ear-worm in the brain of every young mermaid. “We will win.” She repeated. Then, finally, she brought the mighty point home. “We. Will. Win!”
Author Bio:
Julie Catherine is an author, screenwriter and playwright.
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The Hubble by Cindy Kehagiaras blitz with giveaway
**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**
The Hubble
Cindy Kehagiaras
(Tennent Surf, #3)
Publication date: June 26th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Kelly, aka Katia, and more alias ’is ready to leave her job as the cyber specialist for an international clandestine group of “fixers” and return to her hometown in Orange County, California, and her first love, Brad Tennent. She’d only met him once eight years ago; her hacking experience allowed her to follow Brad over the years and learn exactly what kind of girls he liked. Blonde, flirty and ditzy. And that’s exactly who she will become. She needn’t have bothered with the dye job, spray tan, and dumb act. He was smitten at their first meeting with the weird goth girl, her bossy opinions, and her stunning lips and cheekbones. He’d compared every woman to her for eight years. Brad, known as the pretty boy heir to The Tennent Surf Company, lets everyone in his life make decisions for him. He spent his days surfing, dating many women, and partying. But meeting the strange, judgmental girl years before and her insistence that he could do anything he put his mind to made him question his entire life.
“The Hubble” is the third book in The “Tennent Surf” series, PREQUEL to “The Perpetual” and “The Dasher”.
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Author Bio:
“The Perpetual,” my over 40-second chance romance, has won the coveted “Stiletto Award” by Contemporary Romance Writers in the Mid-length Contemporary Romance category.
BIO: My writing journey began after my 50th birthday, and the pandemic lockdown allowed me to write. Some of my stories have haunted my dreams for decades. When the characters shouted day and night, I knew I had to write about them. These days I love to read and write stories about second chances with GenX characters in over 40, later in life, and mature steamy romances.
My previous lives have been in advertising, fashion, and small business owner. I’ve made it my life’s ambition to push through the challenges of dyslexia to consume novels, poetry, and articles and tell my stories.
A proud native Californian, I live in Hermosa Beach, CA, with my husband of 17 years, two beautiful kids, and two spunky-rescue kitties.
Please find me on all social media platforms.
GIVEAWAY!
Cindy is giving away a copy of The Hubble on Goodreads!
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Every Scar Tells a Story by Rayna York blitz with giveaway
**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**
Every Scar Tells a Story
Rayna York
Publication date: June 15th 2024
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
They say time heals all wounds, but they never mention the scars left behind.
Serena McNeal, outgoing and ambitious, is ready to escape her small town as soon as she graduates high school. Knox prefers to live in the shadows, finding comfort in his anonymity. As their worlds collide and the ghosts of Knox’s troubled past resurface, more than their newly-created bond will be tested. Because now, every decision made could be the difference between sharing a future together or facing a reality where neither one survives.
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EXCERPT:
Summer… I can’t help but smile. This one will be like no other. High school will be over, and I’ll be heading off to college in the fall. I’m so ready to leave this small town behind.
It’s not a bad place to live, but I’m psyched to move to an actual city where the downtown is larger than a four-block radius. And I’m eager to get my career started. Working probably isn’t what gets most eighteen-year-olds jacked up, but I know the direction I want to go, and I’m motivated to get there.
Hayden walks ahead of me without a backward glance, unlocking his early graduation gift—a shiny, new black Mustang. The jackass is sulking.
Reaching for the handle, I happen to look left and catch sight of a herculean figure walking on the sidewalk toward me. His head is down, face mysteriously shadowed by a hooded sweatshirt pulled low over his eyes. Somehow, he must sense me staring because he stops and snaps his head up, then looks around like I’m blocking his path and isn’t sure what to do about it.
“Are you coming?” Hayden says over the roof of his car with a tinge of annoyance.
“Yeah, sorry.” After opening my door, I glance back. The stranger is walking at a brisk pace across the street.
After we’re both seated in the car, he says, “Do you know that guy?”
“No, but I think I startled him.” I pull the seatbelt across my chest and secure it.
“Well, it seems like you did.” He starts the car with a vroom. “Is there something I should know about?”
“No.” My heart races at the aggressive sound of the engine. “I’ve never seen him before.” I’m still plagued with nightmares and struggle with other people driving, all because of the accident I was in with my father when I was thirteen. Hayden knows this.
The drive to my house is silent, and I wonder about the sudden awareness I had back at the restaurant. Am I really going to break up with him? I doubt he’s ever been dumped before. The guy is high school royalty. And it’s going to mess up our friend group, not to mention our plans for prom in two months. Maybe I’m being too hasty this time. I mean, aside from occasional insensitivity, the escalating moodiness, and the increase in his drinking, what’s really wrong with him?
Yeah, aside from all that, my brain shouts back at me.
Author Bio:
Rayna York grew up with hippie parents who liked to adventure. Where change was the norm, books were her constant—a way to escape. As an adult, many careers came and went, but writing has always been her passion. Her contemporary, coming-of-age love stories are often inspired by dreams, which she captures in her notebook with barely an eye open. When she’s not hidden away in her writing shack, Rayna enjoys playing pickleball, losing herself in a good book, or watching a movie.
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Feeding My Addiction…
**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**
This week is a so-so behaving week with five new titles to add to my TBR and tempt others with. Not too many but not great restraint either but I’ll take it since I haven’t had a total loss of control in almost a year now!
As always clicking the covers will take you to the book on Amazon!**
New additions from Netgalley June 9th – June 16th
#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts continues the hauntingly spectacular Lost Bride Trilogy with book two, The Mirror.
When Sonya MacTavish inherits the huge Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine, she has no idea that the house is haunted. The footsteps she hears at night, the doors slamming, the music playing, are not figments of her imagination. In her dreams she sees glimpses of the past. In the present she finds portraits of brides. And when she has visions of an antique mirror, she is drawn to it, sensing it holds dark family secrets.
Then one night the mirror appears and Sonya glides through this looking glass, into the past—and sees a bride murdered on her wedding day, the circle of gold torn from her finger. It is a scene that will play out again and again—a centuries-old curse that must be broken—and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking the curse.
From the acclaimed author of The Rosewood Hunt comes a thrilling new mystery about a high-stakes competition packed with shocking twists, second chances, and deadly deceit, where allies—and enemies—are the people you’d least expect.
Chloe Gatti will do whatever it takes to win her elite boarding school’s annual competition, the Wilde Trials. In the two weeks leading up to graduation from Wilde Academy, a dozen seniors are chosen to compete in a series of seven ultimate physical and mental tests, and the winner will take home over half a million dollars—money that Chloe needs to help her sick sister.
But the competition is fierce and includes her brooding ex-boyfriend, Hayes Stratford, whose brother was the only student to die during the trials a few years ago. When someone starts blackmailing Chloe during the competition, she’s forced to strike a deal with Hayes—if he helps her discover who is sabotaging her, she’ll help him solve the mystery his brother left behind.
Following clues from Hayes’s brother, the unlikely allies discover that something isn’t right about the Wilde Trials. With a life-changing prize looming over her head and her buried feelings for Hayes rising to the surface, Chloe will have to decide what’s really worth fighting for, and if the cost of competing outweighs the potential consequences, even if that includes ending up like Hayes’s brother—dead.
Fans of Jessica Goodman and Maureen Johnson will love this dark academia thriller with a romantic twist!
R.L. Stine meets Urban Legend in the next twisty horror novel by New York Times bestselling author Vincent Ralph.
“Ready or not. Whatever you do. The Hiding Boy is coming for you.”
Sixteen-year-old Nate Campbell grew up in the shadow of Murder Road – a street cursed by the vengeful spirit of the Hiding Boy.
Every few years, for nearly six decades, a different house on that street has been the scene of a tragedy.
Nate and his family move to a new town as they try to outrun the curse once and for all. But, when he is pulled into his new friends’ urban legend club, new ghost stories merge with old until there is nowhere left to run.
Yellowjackets meets Girl, Interrupted when a group of troubled teens in a wilderness therapy program find themselves stranded in a forest full of monsters eager to take their place.
Devin Green wakes in the middle of the night to find two men in her bedroom. No stranger to a fight, she calls to her foster parents for help, but it soon becomes clear this is a planned abduction—one everyone but Devin signed up for. She’s shoved in a van and driven deep into the Idaho woods, where she’s dropped off with a cohort of equally confused teens. Finally, two camp counselors inform them that they’ve all been enrolled in an experimental therapy program. If the campers can learn to change their self-destructive ways—and survive a fifty-days hike through the wilderness—they’ll come out the other side as better versions of themselves. Or so the counselors say.
Devin is immediately determined to escape. She’s also determined to ignore Sheridan, the cruel-mouthed, lavender-haired bully who mocks every group exercise. But there’s something strange about these woods—inhuman faces appearing between the trees, visions of people who shouldn’t be there flashing in the leaves—and when the campers wake up to find both counselors missing, therapy becomes the least of their problems. Stranded and left to fend for themselves, the teens quickly realize they’ll have to trust each other if they want to survive. But what lies in the woods may not be as dangerous as what the campers are hiding from each other—and if the monsters have their way, no one will leave the woods alive.
Atmospheric and sharp, What the Woods Took is a poignant story of transformation that explores the price of becoming someone—or something—new.
“Unsettling, raw, and absolutely terrifying. Gould tears open the tender, angry heart of teenage friendship and what happens when our loved ones fail us.” -Trang Thanh Tran, New York Times bestselling author of She is a Haunting
Lou Thatcher is haunted by ghosts–friendly ghosts–but when she finds herself involved in a murder investigation, she’s in for the fright of a lifetime in this new cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Ellen Byron.
Tallulah “Lou” Thatcher has a gift: she can see dead people. But in New Orleans, Louisiana, this is not a drawback. On the contrary, her ability to see ghosts helps her host viral ghost tours through the historic Garden District. When rival tour guide Adam Brandt–who accused her of faking her encounters to undercut his business–is found murdered, Lou is the only one who can see him . . . his ghost, that is.
It’s no secret Adam and Lou were feuding and with the absence of a suspect, she’s the only one with a clear motive. After detective Dylan Finch, Lou’s longtime crush, reveals the murder weapon was a ceremonial dagger from Lou’s shop, she’s officially declared the prime suspect. Determined to prove her innocence, Lou starts investigating right away.
Weaving her way through Adam’s business partnerships, friendships, and kinships, Lou must uncover who wished to see him dead before the killer tries to silence her forever.
Against the Run of Play by Kiru Taye blitz with giveaway
**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**
Against the Run of Play
Kiru Taye
(Viva City FC Books, #2)
Publication date: May 28th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Sports
Step into the thrilling world of professional footballers in the Viva City FC Books series!
Soccer player and reformed bad boy, Asher Uzodimma, is struggling through a challenging season. Due to a string of injuries, he finds himself relegated to the bench during crucial games as his team battles for promotion into the league’s top division. Frustrated, he falls back on some old habits and escapes to find solace where he encounters the vibrant Vivi. She has zero interest in celebrities. Yet, spending only two days with her brings a sense of calm and stability back into his life. She possesses all the qualities he never realised he desired in a woman, and his yearning to be in her presence grows stronger with each passing day. Nevertheless, when he finally learns her full identity, she quickly becomes the last woman anyone wants for him.
Vivacious and fun-loving Vivi Osondu is currently in seclusion after the highly publicised end to her turbulent relationship. She needs a break to reevaluate her life and dedicate time to self-reflection. Meeting Asher brings back her laughter, which had been missing for months, and each time she lays eyes on him, her stomach fills with a delightful sense of excitement. However, he’s part of the famous crowd, and she’s made a conscious decision to steer clear of that world, so she chooses to walk away. But Asher is determined to turn the game around both on and off the pitch, against the run of play.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo
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EXCERPT:
I see a flash of colour—fuchsia—and turn instinctively towards it. But I lose it in the crowd.
My heart is racing, my skin hot. Could it be her? Vivi. Is she here?
“Mum, I think I spotted someone I need to speak to. Do you mind?” I say.
“No. It’s okay. I need to use the ladies anyway. I’ll meet you back at the table.”
“Okay.” I direct her towards the signs for the ladies and keep glancing around. But I can’t see anyone wearing the bright purple/red colour I spotted earlier. Then I head down the corridor leading to the foyer, thinking she might have gone outside.
My heart stops as I halt. Then it slams into my chest.
A Black woman stands in the foyer talking on her phone. Her back is to me but I recognised her figure, her voice.
Vivi is here. I don’t know how it’s possible. I mean, I know she lives in London and she works as a sportswriter. But to be here at this very moment feels like serendipity. Like destiny.
My senses heighten and my vision clarifies. I was buzzing when I arrived. But now it feels like I’ve been struck by lightning as I feel an energy surge. It feels like that first night I saw her in the sports bar. I zoom in on her.
She is in an off-shoulder ruffle collar boho maxi dress that shows off the glowing skin of her shoulders and arms and skims her curves. It’s sexy without being vulgar. Her strappy stilettos match her purse tucked under her arm.
Her hair is different. In Zanzibar, her hair had loose curls and streaks of colour. This looks too dark, long, and straight and almost to her butt. Perhaps a wig or weave, just like my sisters wear sometimes.
Her voice is a melody that draws me closer and I can’t resist the pull. I walk past the people around me as if they are obstacles and challenges I must conquer to reach my goal—Vivi. Adrenaline charges over me. I’m on the field in a crucial match and I’m running toward the goal line to score before the final whistle.
As if she senses me, she swivels and I know I’m not dreaming because her face lights up with a beautiful smile. Warmth and ecstasy spreads through me. I want to touch her smooth skin, to kiss her full lips a shade darker than her dress. Her irises are a mesmerising bronze. There are layers of colours on her eyelids and cheeks, contouring her face. It’s more makeup than she had on the island.
But I recognise the woman underneath. I remember the natural tone of her skin first thing in the morning. The softness of her curves against me. Every cell in my body wants to be connected to her.
Author Bio:
Kiru is the award winning author of His Treasure. She writes sensual and passionate multicultural romance stories set mostly in Africa. When she’s not writing you can find her either immersed in a good book or catching up with friends and family. She currently lives in the South of England with her husband and three children.
Subscribe to her newsletter for book news and giveaways: http://www.kirutaye.com
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