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Category Archives: Womens Fiction

Release Blitz: Sylvie Denied by Deborah Clark Vance

21 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by ehmusings in Release Event, Womens Fiction

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Women’s Fiction

Date Published: February 21, 2021

Publisher: Flower Press



Deborah Clark Vance’s first novel, Sylvie Denied, offers an intimate portrait of a woman who refuses to be silenced.

As she enters adulthood in the turbulent 1970s, Sylvie thinks the way to change a violent world is to become a peaceful person. Yet she slowly sees how a childhood trauma thwarts her peaceful intentions and leads her to men with a dark side – including Enzo, the man she marries. Even as his behavior becomes increasingly volatile, she believes she can make things better with love and understanding. But finally, living in terror, Sylvie must find a way to escape with her daughter and claim her place in the world.


Praise for Sylvie Denied

“Women’s fiction and literature readers will find Sylvie Denied a hard-hitting, familiar-feeling story of growth and new directions.”– Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

“Sylvie is a resilient free spirit open to the world but struggling to find a lasting relationship worthy of her decency and altruism. Rich in emotional and geographic detail, it is genuinely rewarding to read.” — Jonathan Slade, Producer of 8 Emmy-winning documentaries including “The Electric Road Trip,”

“In Sylvie Denied, Deborah Clark Vance gives a riveting picture of the sixties and seventies, as her strong-willed heroine searches for a meaningful life.” -Madeena Spray Nolan, author of “The Gift” and “The Burning Ground.”



About The Author


After leaving her family home and respectable birthplace, Deborah Clark Vance set out to find what made the world tick. Inspired by Thoreau’s advice to simplify, she explored self-sufficient living. Deborah learned to identify and forage for edible plants and medicinal herbs, gaining confidence that she could survive in the wild as long as there were woods, and the weather wasn’t too cold. She attended the University of Life where she came to cherish those who prefer truth. She raised four children and cobbled together a living by selling paintings and freelance articles, copyediting and translating Italian, selling plants and designing gardens, working on radio documentaries and a kids’ educational TV series, teaching piano lessons, college students and adults with emotional and mental illnesses. . . and eventually earned a PhD in Intercultural Communication from Howard University and taught at a small liberal arts college. Her family and friends near and far live with her in her heart. Sylvie Denied is her first novel.


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Book Blitz: Cuttle by Chelsea Britain

16 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by ehmusings in Book Blitz, Womens Fiction

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Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction

Published: September 2020

Publisher: Bleau Press



Nora Novak knows cuttlefish.

Actually, Nora knows a lot of species. She can name every shark, whale, eel, and Ohioian turtle (among others).

She’s not as committed with humans.

But she’s only been in her lab for a little over a decade. How much could she have missed?

As she’s wrapping up her postdoc, Nora’s carefully-balanced ecosystem is in crisis. Her maze-navigating cuttlefish are retiring. Polyester shorts are no longer “in.” Somewhere along the line, she forgot to learn how to date.

So she does what any self-actualizing biologist in her early thirties would. Nora Novak embraces the #FOMO.


Praise for Cuttle:

“Insanely good” -Literary Titan

“You won’t want to miss a single sentence.” -Independent Book Review

“Cuttle glows with interest and graceful writing.” -Foreword Reviews

“Hilariously astute…brimming with heart” -Indies Today

“Quirky and clever…perfectly in tune” -Reader’s Favorite

“Poetic, captivating…a romance steeped in a vibrant personality’s introspective genius.” -Midwest Book Review

“Britain’s writing is both assured and full of heart…a rollicking fun read.” -The Praries


About The Author


Chelsea Britain loves critters of all kinds. She hopes to meet a representative of each of the living shark species one day…but some of them aren’t very cooperative, and she can’t really swim. Cuttle is her first novel. Visit her at chelseabritainauthor.com.


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Book Blitz and Giveaway: Please… Tell Me More by Patti Gaustad Procopi

11 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Book Blitz, giveaway, Womens Fiction

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Contemporary Women’s Fiction

Date Published: November 20, 2020

Publisher: Blue Fortune Enterprises, Lavender Press



This heartfelt story about sisters, family and the tenuous connections we forge in life will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Rose was a child when the worst possible thing happened-her sister Lily drowned. While Rose was supposed to be watching her. From that moment, Rose knew it was all her fault. After all, that’s what her mother told her. But life must go on, no matter what, and Rose and her sister, Ivy, grow up in a family without their little sister. In a family where alcoholism and arguing defines their parents. In a family that personifies dysfunction. In a family where anger forces their brother away. Was it any wonder that Rose was so excited to get to college? Was it any wonder she sometimes had a date with Mr. Merlot, the wine bottle she hid to help her get through life’s tougher moments?

At times whimsical, always genuine, this story looks at the bonds of sisters and how family can become our foundation even when we don’t expect it.


Excerpt

I am a fraud.

My sister thinks I’m brilliant. My patients, since they keep coming back, must think I am at least minimally competent.

I listen to my patients, day in and day out, year in and year out, until I want to scream, “What the hell is the matter with you? What is the point of coming to see me if you won’t take any of my advice and try to change? I have said to you a million times: let go, move on! The past is the past, and you can’t change it. No matter how many times you talk about it, nothing is going to change. You have vented. Now get over it. You have to learn from your mistakes, live what’s left of your life, and hope you don’t make the same mistakes again.”

But I don’t scream at them. I don’t even tell them what to do. I make suggestions. I nod and make comforting sounds and occasionally say, “Tell me more.” Or I ask, “And how did that make you feel?” and nod again while they answer.

They are not fixable. Maybe none of us are fixable. I laugh, because I can’t even take my own advice.

Let go.

Move on.

The past is the past.

I say these words each day, still I’m unable to apply them to myself. I am stuck just as much as they are. I studied psychology with some hope of helping myself. It hasn’t worked. I have accepted I will never be “fixed.”

I’m not sure why no one in my family has ever noticed how messed up I am. I guess because, like all of us, they have their own problems and I seem so “together” in comparison. Also, they are totally self-absorbed and call me to talk about themselves and their problems, not to ask about mine.

When I say they, I am really only talking about my sister Ivy. She’s the only family member I really talk to. Other than my Mom, the rest of the family is gone now. I call my Mom weekly out of a sense of duty, which is crap because she never seemed to feel a sense of duty to me. And we talk about the weather or Ivy. She doesn’t seem to think there is anything interesting in my life to talk about. Which is true.

Unlike Ivy, with her numerous relationships, I haven’t had any apparent emotional upheavals in my life. I haven’t had any breakdowns or screaming fits or even numerous failed relationships. Did they not ever wonder why there were no failed relationships? Actually, no relationships at all? Does my lack of a love life not raise any questions?

I assume it’s because they think I am married to my work. I am not married to my work. As I said, I became a therapist for the sole purpose of fixing myself, which has not worked as planned. I haven’t been able to take my own basic advice, which is move on. The past is the past. It can’t be changed. Let it go.

My life pretty much ended, or at least failed to progress, when I was six years old. That was when my little baby sister, Lily, drowned. She drowned because none of us were paying any attention to her.


About the Author

Patti is a former army brat who lived all over the world before settling in the rural community of Gloucester, Virginia with her husband, Greg. There they raised three daughters and numerous cats and dogs.

After retiring from working at two area history museums Patti finally had time to do the things she always wanted to, including writing. Moving constantly made it difficult to make friends and form lasting relationships. Her writing is about emotional connections, friendship and family.

In addition to writing, Patti fills her days with rescuing raptors and other birds, and researching her family’s past on Ancestry. She and Greg also love to travel and have been busy checking off their bucket list.


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Book Blitz and Giveaway: Journey to Hope by June Converse

09 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Book Blitz, giveaway, Womens Fiction

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J

 

Book 2 of The Hope Trilogy

Women’s Fiction

Date Published: August 22, 2020

Publisher: Heart Ally Books



When you lose everyone and everything you love, can you ever live again? Or love again?

An unimaginable trauma. A future that seems impossible. When your world shatters, how do you put it back together?

When Matt Nelson found Kathleen on the beach, she’d been hiding behind a scarf and sunglasses for three years. She couldn’t hide her loneliness, and he couldn’t turn away. But when her flashbacks start, they’re both unprepared for the repercussions and the depth of her emotional suffering.

Kathleen agrees to return to intensive trauma recovery at The Charlotte Center, where the sounds and the smells and the images from that terrible night await her, demanding she confront her demons.

The world of PTSD recovery is fraught with terror and pain for both Kathleen and Matt. Will their love prove strong enough to survive the agonizing and arduous journey? Can Kathleen move beyond her anger and learn to live again?


Catch up with the first book in the series


Published: May 2018


An unimaginable trauma. A future that seems impossible. When your world shatters, how do you put it back together?

For 950 days, Kathleen Conners has struggled with that choice. Behind a scarf and sunglasses, she hides from the world, from herself, from The Event, from any future with anyone.

After receiving a box of letters from his deceased mother, Matt Nelson is shoved from his predictable, controlled life to a secluded beach in North Carolina. While trying to understand his mother’s intent, he discovers Kathleen. Matt must choose whether to follow the path his mother orchestrated or rescue the woman who has captured his heart.

When the only person Kathleen blames more than herself reappears, can Matt be the strength Kathleen needs to create a new life, or will he be forced to walk away if she decides the climb is too great?


Excerpt

Matt stroked her jaw. “You are many things. Strong, Courageous. Beautiful. But you’ve had one thousand four hundred thirty-one days without peace.”

She shifted out of his embrace. Turning to one of the larger plants, she jerked the plant out by its roots, scattering dirt across the table. “I’m scared.”

“Me, too. But it’s not a question of wanting to do this. No one would want to do this. The question is, are we willing to do this? Are we willing to see this through?”

She turned to glare at him. “You act like we walk down a path and come out on the other side. I will never be through this. Do you expect me to stop missing them? Do you expect me to be normal? That’s not even the goal. If that’s what you expect, I’ll head back to the beach right now.”


About the Author

June happily resides in Sandy Springs, Georgia, with her husband, Dave, and their dog, Sodapop. They have two wonderful adult children and two grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic exerciser and an accomplished cook. She and her husband enjoy hiking with Sodapop, traveling, scuba diving, trying new restaurants, concerts, and whatever other adventures they can find. Reading and a constant desire to learn keeps her busy too.

A trauma survivor who struggles with mental illness, June is continuously reaching for hope like the characters in her books. She openly discusses her personal struggles on her blog, JuneConverse.com

Decide to Hope is her first novel and relies a great deal on her own experience with trauma, choices, recovery and hope. If you’d like to discuss trauma, coping and recovery, contact her at JuneConverse.com or DecideToHope.com


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Book Tour & Giveaway: One Woman’s Journey from Sicily to America by Carmela Cattuti

13 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Book Tour, giveaway, Historical, Womens Fiction

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Between the Cracks
One Woman’s Journey From Sicily to America Book 1
by Carmela Cattuti
Genre: Historical Women’s Fiction
Join Angela Lanza as she experiences the tumultuous world of early 20th century Sicily and New York. Orphaned by the earthquake and powerful eruption of Mt. Etna in 1908, Angela is raised in the strict confines of an Italian convent. Through various twists of fate, she is married to a young Italian man whom she barely knows, then together with her spouse, immigrates to the U.S. This novel is an invitation to accompany the young Angela as she confronts the ephemeral nature of life on this planet and navigates the wide cultural gaps between pre-World War II Italy and the booming prosperity of dynamic young America.
Author, artist, and teacher Carmela Cattuti created Between the Cracks as an homage to her great-aunt, who survived the earthquake and eruption of Mt. Etna and bravely left Sicily to start a new life in America.
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The Ascent
One Woman’s Journey From Sicily to America Book 2
The sequel to Carmela Cattuti’s first novel, Between the Cracks,, this story invites the reader to accompany Angela Lanza as she builds her life in America during the first half of the 20th century. A Sicilian immigrant, she manages to assimilate into the social life of a small town outside of New York City. Through the horrors of war, domestic tragedy, and raising her sister-in-law’s children, hers is a successful immigrant experience. Angela seeks to transcend organized religion and develop her spirituality. She influenced three generations of Americans through her artistic sensibility and a sharpened intuition. The book parallels America’s growth with Angela’s growing sense of who she is in the world.
Goodreads * Amazon
Carmela Cattuti started her writing career as a journalist for the Somerville News in Boston, MA. After she finished her graduate work in English Literature from Boston College she began to write creatively and taught a journal writing course at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education As fate would have it, she felt compelled to write her great aunt’s story. “Between the Cracks” has gone through several incarnations and will now become a trilogy. The second book is “The Ascent.”
The third book will be released in early 2021.
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Book Tour & Giveaway: No Halo Required by Travis Casey

06 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Book Tour, giveaway, Suspense, Womens Fiction

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No Halo Required
by Travis Casey
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Suspense
Isaiah Hightower has everything a forty-nine-year-old man could want: respect as a high school principal; admiration as a leader in the black community; and a wife who would do anything for him.
Despite his shining public image, Isaiah has a dangerous dark side. When his indiscretions threaten to unravel his life’s accomplishments, he has no choice but to silence the source by any means necessary.
When his wife witnesses her husband’s greatest sin, her life is about to change forever. But it doesn’t have to. One lie will keep her life the same and save her husband’s reputation.
**Pre-Order for only .99 cents!! **
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Travis was brought up in Midwest America before embarking on a nine year Navy career that allowed him to travel the world and learn about life. He has ping-ponged across oceans moving from mainland United States to Hawaii, to Scotland, to Seattle, to England, to Minnesota, back to England, and back to Minnesota where he currently resides … for now
He writes easy-reading, light-hearted fiction and “You couldn’t make it up” true stories about his own experiences. Relax by the beach or curl up on the couch on a rainy day while Travis takes you on fun-filled adventures that let you forget about life for a while and have a laugh.
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Book Blitz: Keep Walking by Rhona Beech

19 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Book Blitz, Womens Fiction

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Keep Walking, Rhona Beech
Kate Tough
Publication date: April 4th 2019
Genres: Women’s Fiction

Incredibly insightful, funny and poignant’ Helen Sedgwick
‘A warm and ferociously witty story. Truth rings from every page of this assured, engrossing debut’ Zoe Strachan

When Rhona’s story comes to an end you will miss her. Her candid, raw, messy journey will make you laugh, cry and remember. Not a typical break-up book, it’s much more profound. Nothing has turned out quite how Rhona imagined: she’s been casually swapping one job for another while getting comfy in a long relationship which ends abruptly, and her efforts to adjust to that change are thrown by some unwelcome news…

Flawed, relatable Rhona Beech narrates this beautifully written, pacey satire about female friendship, heartbreak, career change, conceiving and illness, which will appeal to fans of Fleabag. Join her on a laugh (and cry) out loud search for meaning amongst the bars, offices and clinics of Glasgow.

Will her friendships survive the changes and challenges? Will SHE survive? At once funny and tender, Keep Walking, Rhona Beech is a clear-sighted look at a generation of women that was told they could have it all.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

I am a patient. My job is to lie in this bed. I do my job well. Who I would be at home is less clear. And nobody would be there, beside themselves with relief that I am back.

I’d have to do things, necessary things – plus other things I would have to do just to be seen to be doing something.

Doing things makes me tired.

Doing things leads to other things, and things have a habit of changing when you’d got used to them being a certain way.

My heart broke. My body broke.

The bailiffs came for a cone-shaped piece. What exactly do you people want from me?

*

I didn’t have obsessive compulsive disorder when I came in but might well have it by the time I leave (an okay trade?). There is precious little to do but notice things and how often they occur.

Times per hour I assess how my wound site is feeling: about seven.

Times per day I remember to visualise a healthy wound site: maybe one.

Number of days with a Tupperware lid of cloud cover outside: six.

(The sheets, the walls, the sky – all the colour of bone.

Am I that colour too? I have no mirror to tell otherwise.

Maybe everyone who goes under anaesthetic wakes up in this world of bone, while their previous lives continue somewhere else.)

Minutes per day the nurses listen to a facile breakfast DJ: 120.

Minutes per day I am now able to breathe behind the radio and tune it out: 40.

Times per day I imagine being outdoors for hours on end: one, but it lasts awhile.

Times per day I notice that my left foot sits higher under the sheet than my right: about a dozen.

Times per day I speak: zero.

Times per day I make eye contact with the parent who has come to visit: on arrival only. (I will not cry in a room with a half glass wall, with a person who has to leave afterwards.)

Times per hour I remember what other people have to cope with in life: one, if I make myself.

Times per day I imagine a year from now, when things could be very different: zero, initially, now up to two or three.

Times per hour the perma-grin nurse sings out to the woman opposite, ‘Feeling okay, Nancy?’: too many. (I am waiting for Nancy to be discharged or die.)


Author Bio:

Kate Tough worked for the Scottish Parliament for six years before returning to her home city, gaining a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. She writes poetry and fiction rooted in realism, humour and sometimes difficult truths.

She creates astute observational detail in fiction, and explores painful moments, that readers could recognise as themselves or their friends.

Her novel, Keep Walking, Rhona Beech, is the revised 2nd edition of Head for the Edge, Keep Walking. Her short fiction and poetry appear in journals such as, The Brooklyn Review, The Texas Review and The Found Poetry Review. Kate’s poetry pamphlet, tilt-shift, was Runner Up in the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award, 2017.

Kate’s been a literacy volunteer and creative writing tutor in many community settings.

Website / Goodreads


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Pre-Order Blitz: Christmas Wishes by Tammy L Grace

02 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Pre-Order, Womens Fiction

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Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge, Book 3

Romance, Holiday Romance, Women’s Fiction

Release Date: October 8, 2020

Publisher: Lone Mountain Press


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Random circumstances brought them together. Love made them family.

With Jo O’Malley’s busy career as a lawyer in Chicago, she rarely gets home to Idaho, but this year is different. Her little sister is getting married on Christmas Eve and she has two whole weeks to spend in the snow-covered mountains, with the three foster sisters she loves and Maddie, the woman who made them a family fifteen years ago.

Things get off to a rough start when the wedding is canceled, but Maddie asks them to enjoy their holidays together at the festive lodge as planned, in order to console their sister. It’s straight forward enough until Jo, through a chance encounter with a gorgeous golden retriever, runs into Luke, a boy she knew from her early childhood when she spent all her time at the local library.

Jo’s not sure how to handle the unexpected attraction and her new feelings for Luke, who is all grown up now, handsome, and as kind as ever. He’s set on staying close to his family in Granite Ridge and she has a plane ticket back to her life in Chicago after the new year. Are the sparks between them merely due to the nostalgia of the season, or will Luke open Jo’s heart to the prospect of passion for something beyond her career?

If you’re a fan of small towns, heartwarming holiday stories, and second chances, along with a few furry friends, you’ll fall in love with Jo and her soul sisters in CHRISTMAS WISHES, Book 3 of Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge, from USA Today bestselling author, Tammy L. Grace.

 

✓ Don’t miss a Soul Sisters book – download them all today!


 

Book 1: Christmas Sisters – perma-FREE prologue book

Book 2: Christmas Kisses by Judith Keim

Book 3: Christmas Wishes by Tammy L. Grace

Book 4: Christmas Hope by Violet Howe

Book 5: Christmas Dreams by Ev Bishop

Book 6: Christmas Rings by Tess Thompson



About the Author

 Tammy L. Grace is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author who entertains readers with perfect escapes in women’s fiction and clever whodunit mysteries. Her works in women’s fiction include her best-selling Hometown Harbor Series set in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and Beach Haven, the first in her new Glass Beach Cottage Series, set in coastal Washington. She also writes the Cooper Harrington Detective Series, featuring a quirky private detective and his faithful golden retriever. Her heartwarming Christmas in Silver Falls novellas are perfect for readers who enjoy Hallmark Christmas Movies

She is a fan of dogs and includes furry companions in all of her books and has published two dog-centric novels for Bookouture, under her pen name, Casey Wilson.

Born and raised in Nevada, Tammy L. Grace loved reading at a young age. With the help of her middle school teacher, she discovered the joy of writing. When Tammy isn’t working on ideas for a novel, she’s spending time with family and friends or supporting her addiction to books and chocolate. She and her husband have one grown son and a new golden retriever puppy.

 

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Release Blitz: Christmas Kisses by Judith Keim

01 Thursday Oct 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Holiday Romance, Release Event, romance, Womens Fiction

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Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge, Book Two

Romance, Holiday Romance, Women’s Fiction

Release Date: October 1, 2020

Publisher: Wild Quail Publishing


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Random circumstances brought them together. Love made them family.

Hailey Kirby plans to spend a wonderful Christmas holiday at the Cedar Mountain Lodge with her family, celebrating her sister’s wedding as Maid of Honor. Things go awry when the wedding is called off. Hoping to comfort her sister, her mother and three sisters decide to go ahead with their winter vacation plans at the Lodge.

Hailey works in town as the children’s librarian, and under the pen name of Lee Merriweather is secretly the author and illustrator of picture books. Young children adore the stories of Charlie and his dog, Zeke, including Regan, the niece of Nick Hensley, a rock star musician who’s recently moved back to Granite Ridge. When he reaches out to the author to seek permission to write songs to go with the stories, Hailey is forced to confess who she is and the painful reason why she’s been hiding behind a pseudonym.

As Hailey and Nick put their creative minds together, they form a friendship that quickly grows to much more. Hailey learns to trust and discovers some chances in life are worth taking.


 


Find more books in the Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge series on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CF38PH1

 

 

The entire Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge series includes:


Christmas Sisters by Tess Thompson, Tammy L. Grace, Ev Bishop, Violet Howe, Judith Keim

Christmas Kisses by Judith Keim

Christmas Wishes by Tammy L. Grace

Christmas Hope by Violet Howe

Christmas Dreams by Ev Bishop

Christmas Rings by Tess Thompson

 


 

About the Author

 Judith Keim enjoyed her childhood and young-adult years in Elmira, New York, and now makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and their two dachshunds, Winston and Wally, and other members of her family.

While growing up, she was drawn to the idea of writing stories from a young age. Books were always present, being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. All in her family shared information from the books in general conversation, giving them a wealth of knowledge and vivid imaginations.

A hybrid author who both has a publisher and self-publishes, Ms. Keim writes heart-warming novels about women who face unexpected challenges, meet them with strength, and find love and happiness along the way. Her best-selling books are based, in part, on many of the places she’s lived or visited and on the interesting people she’s met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many loyal readers love. Ms. Keim loves to hear from her readers and appreciates their enthusiasm for her stories.

 

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Release Blitz and Giveaway: Marybeth Hollister and Jane by Vera Jane Cook

28 Monday Sep 2020

Posted by ehmusings in Cozy Mystery, giveaway, Release Event, Womens Fiction

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Woman’s Fiction, Cozy Mystery

Date Published: 9/28/20


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Some secrets draw people closer………after they tear them apart.

Marybeth and Hollister moved to rural New York to escape—both the city life and a checkered past. Their lives were unassuming, until they bought a grandfather clock. They just wanted something to fill the space under their stairs, but they got much more than they bargained for. What secrets could the clock possibly hold?

Jane was sent to Callicoon to find the Eagle diamond, which was stolen from the Museum of Natural History in the ‘60s and never recovered. Convinced she won’t find what she’s looking for, she grudgingly takes the assignment. When she arrives, things aren’t what they seem and Jane finds more than she ever expected.


Excerpt

    Brenda Loring was far too small for the overstuffed capacious couch. She appeared uncomfortably absorbed by the cushions, hardly consoled. At first glance, she looked swallowed by the plush off-white arms. It could be assumed that her body had found a semblance of solace, but the truth was, there really weren’t any sacred places to turn for comfort; the fluffed-up cotton squares were far too affectionate and they consumed her behind their good intentions, providing only a pretense of succor.

     Brenda sat up straight and reached for her glass; next was the cigarette. Comfort was better found in a nicotine binge and a scotch devoid of ice or water.

     Brock was still not sure if he should believe her, even though she’d been insisting for months. “I’m not hallucinating,” she kept repeating. “I know what the hell I’m talking about. It’s all going to hell.”

     His thoughts raced ahead as he watched her light the tip of her cigarette with a lit butt from an old dish with more ash than a crematory.

     Brenda was birdlike but hardly unattractive, just sticky and twiggy, unlike his wife, who was a full hug, an eye level kiss. Brenda took a deep drag and looked at him through smoke.

     “What a fuck,” she said. “Both of them. They are both fucks. I’m telling you, Devon has bought Glen off, paid him well to screw us over, though I don’t know why he would, disloyal asshole.” 

     He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s hard to believe, can’t wrap my head around it, that’s all.”

     Brenda leaned forward and crossed her tiny legs, shapely but thin. Her fingers seemed long as arms, her elbows stuck out like wayward bones.

     “Peter has lost control of his people. He’s too old to run the organization. That’s what I think. I have my spies, you know, people who hate Devon and will tell me the truth when I ask for it. You think he’s above screwing his brother?

     “Why let the organization go to shit now?”

     “Why not now? I heard Peter was sick; maybe that’s why he’s losing control. Maybe it’s serious. Maybe Devon doesn’t want anything going to Peter’s idiot wife if he should die. Imagine Delilah in charge of the LVAJ? Ha!”

     “I don’t think Delilah would want it. Advising Peter in business is not quite the same as running the entire organization. That’s a mammoth job.”

     “Ha!” Brenda took a sip of scotch. “I wouldn’t underestimate her, Brock. She has a degree in art, after all. You sound like a misogynist, just because she’s blonde and beautiful. She’s far from stupid.”

     “I didn’t say she was stupid.”

     “Didn’t say she wasn’t either.”

     “Look, you think we ought to go to Peter with this?” he asked, “he should know about our suspicions.”

     “No, I don’t think we should go to Peter.”

     Brock took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, you’re saying the Prince was a phony, but what if he wasn’t?”

     Brenda threw back her head and laughed loudly. He noticed that her hair didn’t move, so stiff it seemed to stand at attention. Her hair is obedient, he thought.

     “Oh, come on,” she said. “The whole thing was a scam. I’ll bet my ass that the Yellow Diamond is sitting behind some asshole’s velvet pull in Saudi Arabia and nowhere near that little turd that calls himself ‘Prince Vizueta.’ She drew out the syllables of the prince’s name and made a face. “Prince of bullshit.”

     Brock thought for a moment. “So, if the Yellow Diamond buy was a scam, what’s next?”

     Brenda did all three things at once. It was quite impressive. She laughed and took a drag off her cigarette as she put the scotch glass to her lips and drank.

     “I wish I knew.”

     Brock stood up and looked at his watch. He hadn’t called home. It was after ten p.m. in San Francisco. Jane would be angry. One should make a point of calling home when one is suspected of having an affair.

     “It’s getting late,” he said.

     He’d spent months on the phone with Brenda, ever since she first uncovered what she believed to be a conspiracy. He wasn’t quite so sure. He thought she was a bit hysterical over nothing. Besides, he was cautious. He liked absolute proof. But with their constant phone calls, he couldn’t blame his wife for suspecting him of infidelity. Once Brenda got to Philadelphia for the Yellow Diamond Buy, she called him several times a day so she could give him the scenario of treachery; so she could share her anxiety as she nervously sucked on her cigarette and drew him into her fears like the nightmare fairy.

     “Why don’t we wait for Devon’s next move, see where he’s going with this,” Brock said, putting Jane out of his thoughts, he’d deal with it in his own way. “No sense making a big deal out of something that could just be gossip,” he added. “Or paranoia.” He stared at her.

     “Well, it’s been months since this phony prince put out a bid on the Yellow Diamond and went back to his phony country with it.”

     “Right, and there hasn’t been anything since, no bids out on any precious stones at all.”

     “But it doesn’t mean there won’t be,” she said. “I sense it in my bones that we’re being screwed with.”

     “Look, if someone out there really has the Yellow Diamond other than the Prince, wouldn’t they have contacted Peter and told him he was being made an ass of, that you can’t purchase what someone else owns?”

     “Why should they say anything? Anonymity is what matters to us, not friendship, you know that.”

     Brenda stood up tall but barely reached his chest. She went to a wall of windows and looked out from her thirty-second-floor Manhattan condominium. The night was dark, but the city shone against the sky. It seemed like a false movie set, almost too perfect to be real.

     She turned to face him. “Let’s confront Glen, find out what the hell is going on. If he knows we’re aware he’s a turncoat, he’ll tell us everything. When it comes right down to it, he’s a wimp and he’ll play both sides. Glen has no loyalty. “

     Brock raised his eyebrow. “And you think Glen is going to admit he has his own agenda?” he said. “Just like that?”

     “Where is it going to leave us if Devon takes over the American operation?”

     “Under Devon’s employ, that’s where.” He realized Brenda was being too emotional; one of them had to be rational.

     Brenda sat and puffed; taking deep drags and pushed the smoke out through her teeth.

     Brock paced a bit around the room. “So, according to you, Devon paid the commission out of his own pocket? To make it all look legit?”

     Brenda moved her head, barely a nod but he knew that’s what she’d intended.

     “Right. He has a plan,” she said. “I just don’t know what it is. I mean, a phony bid? A phony buy? I don’t get it.”

     Brock sat on the arm of a chair so thin it hurt his backside and he moved quickly onto the couch with false substance.

     “It has to have something to do with discrediting Peter, that’s what I would guess. What else could it be? Devon has finally gotten sick and tired of sharing his customers.”

     Brenda squashed her cigarette out. He was relived she didn’t relight. His throat felt raw from her smoke, and the nicotine stunk.

     “Devon has thought this whole thing up, a fake prince, a ludicrous bid ─ and he sent it all to Peter on a silver platter. I watched Glen go through the motions of recovering the Yellow Diamond; it was clear bullshit.” She looked back out at her seven-million-dollar view. “I never saw the diamond with my own eyes; I never watched any money exchange hands. He had me answering the phone and reporting back to Peter all day while he said he was doing business.”

     Brock wet his lips with his tongue. “Why would Devon approach Glen and not me, or not you, for that matter, if he’s plotting against Peter? I mean, why Glen?”

     Brenda rocked her body just a bit. She was flirting, which was always her way, her constant affectation around men. Brock smiled, but only to himself. He’d never wanted any other woman but Jane from the moment they’d met. It was absurd that she now thought he did, especially Brenda, whose scantily fleshed out body reminded him of an adolescent boy. He wanted to flip open his cell phone and call his wife, just to tell her that her father was a bastard and the only thing he wanted from Brenda was assurance. If all this were real, it changed everything.

     “Because you’re married to Jane and Peter was always more of a father to his daughter than he was. Jane would never let you betray Peter. And me?” Brenda winked at him. “My few one-night stands with Peter could be interpreted as loyalty, though God knows, I have none.”

     Brock stood up. He towered over her and nearly reached her eight-foot ceiling.

     “Listen, if what you’re saying is true, I want a takeover. I want no part of this war between Peter and Devon. Let them chew each other up. You and I together have enough contacts to go on our own.”

     He stared at her. He was surprised at his own words, but he meant it. If he had wanted to work with Devon, he would have stayed in England. Devon was a mean bastard. He was also greedy; his split had been an absurd five percent.

     “I was hoping you’d say that.” Brenda lit another cigarette without leaving his gaze.”

     “That would make us partners,” he said, “just you and me, I’m not opening this up to anyone else.”

     “I’m yours,” she said, sending him smoke rings. “Peter is getting too old for this and Devon is a creep; we can’t trust him. This idiot ploy of his is going to splinter the whole operation, so let’s take our contacts and run.”

     Brock slipped on his jacket. “Let me think this through,” he said. “I’ll be back in touch. Id this is real we’re bound to hear of another false buy very soon. If this is Devon’s plan, to discredit Peter, he won’t wait very long to send him more bullshit about a precious stone that’s surfaced.”

     “Maybe art this time, who knows? What about Jane, will you tell her?” she asked.

     “Of course, I tell her everything,” he said and paused at the door. “Not right away though, she might not like it.”

 

About the Author

I am an award-winning hybrid author of southern and women’s Fiction, including Dancing Backward in Paradise, The Story of Sassy Sweetwater, Where the Wildflowers Grow, Pleasant Day, Marybeth, Hollister & Jane and Lies a River Deep. As my alter ego, Olivia Hardy Ray my books include Annabel Horton, Lost Witch of Salem, Annabel Horton and the Black Witch of Pau, and Pharaoh’s Star. The first novel I ever wrote, Dancing Backward In Paradise, won an Eric Hoffer Award for publishing excellence and an Indie Excellence Award for notable new fiction, 2007. The Story of Sassy Sweetwater and Dancing Backward in Paradise received 5 Star ForeWord Clarion Reviews and The Story of Sassy Sweetwater has been named a finalist for the ForeWord Book of the Year Awards. I have published in ESL Magazine, Christopher Street Magazine and I have also written early childhood curriculum for Weekly Reader and McGraw Hill.

 

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