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Friday, August 14, 2026
Release Blitz for Second Edition by Cleo White
Book Review for Wild Card #13 by Kristen Hope Mazzola
He was her first bad decision.
He never stopped wanting to be her last.
Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Hope Mazzola returns to the ice with the next installment in her Shots on Goal: MN Frosthawks series—where chemistry is dangerous, and some lines were never meant to be crossed.
Ty “Buzz” Burns was never supposed to come back into Lucy Thomas’s life.
Not after high school.
Not after the mistake that ended everything.
Because Lucy didn’t just move on—she rebuilt.
A life where reckless boys like Buzz don’t belong.
Except now he does.
Buzz plays for the Minnesota Frosthawks.
The team her father owns.
The team she works for.
The one place she can’t avoid him.
He’s still chaos on the ice—fast, loud, impossible to ignore.
But this version of him doesn’t disappear when things get hard.
He shows up.
He stays.
And the more they’re forced into the same space, the harder it becomes to ignore the truth—
This isn’t over. It never was.
Lucy has everything to lose—her career, her father’s trust, the life she’s built.
Buzz has one chance to prove he’s not the boy who broke her.
But wanting each other has never been the problem.
Walking away is.
Wild Card #13 was supposed to stay in the past.
This time, it might be the one mistake they can’t walk away from.
My Thoughts:
Ty and Lucy’s story is a second-chance romance full of emotions. I could not put it down as I became attached
to the characters and their story quickly.
About the Author:
http://www.kristenhopemazzola.com
https://www.facebook.com/khmazz.author
https://www.instagram.com/khmazz/
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Book Blitz for The Art of Almost Losing It by Alina Jacobs with a GIVEAWAY
The Art of Almost Losing It
Alina Jacobs
(The Richmond Brothers, #3)
Publication date: August 4th 2026
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
There comes a time in every almost-thirty-year-old woman’s life when getting kidnapped off the street is preferable to admitting that the hot, rich boyfriend you’ve been bragging about for months does not, in fact, exist.
Yes, it’s terrifying being stuffed in the trunk of a Mercedes, but I would rather be locked in a stranger’s penthouse than sleeping on the floor of my parents’ apartment like the loser daughter I am.
Honestly?
It’s nice to get some alone time. And my own bathroom.He bribes me with money not to call the police.
I scream at him for forcing me to go to brunch as his prisoner at the hottest restaurant in New York.
Now everyone in my parents’ aggressively posh Manhattan neighborhood thinks we’re dating.
Buckle up, buddy.
I have a full wedding itinerary to attend, and congratulations—you’re my fake boyfriend.
Unfortunately, my kidnapper is the worst fake boyfriend in the history of fake boyfriends.
He’s mean.
Aloof.
Emotionally unavailable.
And deeply offended by how much time I spend on my phone.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to ignore how yummy he smells, all muscular and tall as he fumes next to me in bed, furious because I asked him when the sexy portion of the kidnapping is going to happen.
It’s a fair question, though, right?!? I thought kidnapping came with benefits!
Guess my kidnapper didn’t want me that much after all.
Men lying about their desire for a relationship. Story of my life.
Now I’m trapped.
He’s miserable.And somehow, this is starting to feel dangerously like a relationship.
—
EXCERPT:
The one time a hot guy shows interest in me… and he’s a violent kidnapper.
My screams cut off as he tosses in my laptop case. It lands on my ribs, knocking the breath out of me. He shoves my legs fully into the trunk, then tosses in the barking Lulu, then slams the door.
I assume it’s a mistake.
The expensive German car. The bespoke suit. The cologne that smells like money and expensive scotch—Men like him don’t grab women like me.
So why did he just shove me, in all my pizza-sauce-stained, Costco-clothes glory, into the trunk?
I needed a boyfriend, sure, but I did not expect him to arrive via a felony crime.
The engine purrs.
Wait.
Am I really being kidnapped?
Like… for real?
Sleet rattles against the roof as the realization hits.
Oh.
Oh no.
I’m trapped in the trunk of a stranger’s car. A dangerous man. Being driven God knows where.
Sure, he’s attractive—but that is deeply unhelpful information right now.
I’ll never see my family again. Never eat a dollar slice of pizza again—
Wait.
I squint.
Window.
This isn’t a sedan. This is an SUV.
I’m not trapped.
I haul myself up and pop my head over the back seat.
“You’re a crappy kidnapper!” I scream.
“Shit!” he yells—and nearly plows into a parked truck. “You—!”
The car jerks to a stop at a stop sign. He throws it into park and starts climbing over the seats toward me.
“You can’t kidnap me,” I say, panic creeping in. “You don’t want me. I’m not a girl anyone kidnaps.”
My dog barks.
Emerald-green eyes catch the light.
“Sit down,” he commands.
“My mom is going to be really upset if I don’t come home tonight,” I blurt. “Let me go.”
The doors lock.
I fumble in my purse. Find my pepper spray.
“Yes!” I whisper. “I’m a strong, independent —”
I spray… myself.
“Water,” I gasp, coughing, wheezing, blind.
I suck in a lungful of peppery air and yank at the door handle, begging it to open.
Too late.
“Stupid fucking girl,” he snarls, grabbing my jacket and dragging me forward.
“You didn’t even handcuff me!” I wheeze.
He pauses. “You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?”
He loosens his tie.
I gulp.
“I cannot believe,” he sneers, “that I kidnapped the most unattractive woman in Manhattan.”
Oh.
So… not the future love of my life after all.
Author Bio:
I write the kind of books I love—romantic comedies featuring snarly guys with hearts of gold, kick-ass heroines, and a swoon-worthy happily ever after! Also wine. And cupcakes.
When I’m not writing I can be found drinking tea, surrounded by my massive to-be-read pile! So many books...
You can connect with me on social media or find information on my books at my website.
Sign up for my newsletter so that you can get information about new releases, giveaways, and more!
http://alinajacobs.com/mailinglist.html
GIVEAWAY!
The Art of Almost Losing It Blitz
—
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Bok Blitz for The Art of Keeping Dangerous Books by R.J. Blain with a GIVEAWAY
The Art of Keeping Dangerous Books
R.J. Blain
(The Apothecary’s Secret, #1)
Publication date: July 6th 2027
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
To master the art of keeping dangerous books, one must learn the golden rule: some knowledge should never be shared.
Bookshop owner by day, restorer of rare and dangerous books by night, Kita James is thrilled to acquire a new poisonous book from the Victorian era. From the swirling patterns on the cover to its unusual leather binding, IN SEARCH OF LIFE is truly a unique find. However, testing of the vibrant tome reveals its darker nature: the leather is that of a human along with an extinct animal from the ice age. To further complicate matters, a new radioactive element is discovered lurking within its pages.
The deeper she delves into the toxic text, the less she likes about what she learns. From the dawn of humanity, people had searched for the secrets of eternal life and resurrection. And if Lugalbanda-Alad, the author of the mysterious volume, was to be believed, he had found it.
Joining forces with Dav, a rather vocal book in her collection, Kita works to unveil the apothecary’s secret. With the right magic and a strong enough will, the forbidden lore might be able to set Dav free along with the other sentient books confined within her shelves.
But all knowledge comes at a price: if IN SEARCH OF LIFE were to fall into the wrong hands, it could usher in the destruction of all Kita holds dear and the enslavement of all mankind.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo
—
EXCERPT:
Copper, when mixed with arsenite or its equally toxic cousin acetoarsenite, created a vibrant green. Some dubbed it Paris green. Some preferred the name emerald green. No matter what one called the pigment, it remained a silent killer of those foolish enough to handle it for long.
It had come as no surprise to me, when I first began learning the art of keeping dangerous books, that nobody knew for certain how many had died to the beautifully lethal covers and the pages they contained. One confirmed mortality from the pigment had involved a floral arranger specialized in artificial blooms by the name of Matilda Scheure, and she had breathed in the substance on a daily basis while going about her work.
The Victorians had adored brilliant shades, and they had unwittingly sickened themselves with color. Mercury, in the form of the vibrant vermilion pigment, could bring about madness among other things. Lead, offering shades from pristine white to fiery reds and oranges, sickened in a myriad of ways. Then there was cadmium red, which had limited toxicity unless handled often.
I marveled over how the Victorians had managed to discover so many shades of toxic pigmentation.
Within the walls of my personal library, tucked behind a secret door in the back of my bookshop, I owned books of every hue from every era I could get my greedy hands on. I’d outgrown my single shelf of emerald hue years ago, and the toxic volumes now consumed an entire wall. Each color of the rainbow offered some new and interesting way for someone to perish should they fail to handle my collection with care.
To the few who knew of my art, I offered a glimpse into a dark past decorated with a glorious veneer, one willing and able to kill at a single mistake.
I charged a reasonable amount for access to specific volumes of my archive, making use of a different room on the other side of the bookstore for those sessions. I required waivers, and I even had an agreement with an insurance company so I held no liabilities should they be sickened from the inappropriate handling of any one of my pieces.
The waivers eliminated my personal risk, as I refused to hold responsibility for the stupidity of others.
But the colors I held in safekeeping were not, by far, the most dangerous of the volumes.
Knowledge had become power, and I safeguarded all from the deepest of darkness and the brightest of light, for both, when used inappropriate and to their extreme, caused equal harm.
A little after midnight, after closing my cash, locking the doors, cleaning up the self-serve coffee machine, and otherwise preparing for yet another grind in the morning, I retreated to my sanctuary. Most of my work—and all of the magic—took place in the ten by ten closet with a ventilation fan installed, which piped through a series of specialty filters to keep any fumes or residue from making it outside. Those filters would cost me my sanity one day.
They needed to be cleaned or replaced every three weeks, and failure to do so ran the risk of making me the next victim of my collection.
The latest tome to be tamed waited within a glass box on my desk, and it was a marvel of toxicity, magic, and lore, most of which society would deem forbidden if they knew it existed. Thus far, nobody had unlocked the secrets of raising the dead, but the author of the volume had gotten uncomfortably close.
With the right materials, skills, and incantations, the dead could walk again, puppets for the book’s owner to control.
On the outside, it seemed harmless enough for those who lacked knowledge of dangerous books. Swirls of bright reds, oranges, and white decorated the spine with stamps of vibrant emerald green declaring the book to be titled In Search of Life. Everything within had been penned with a careful hand, and a date on the first page declared it to have been from the year 1725, over a hundred years before the popularization of the toxic tomes made famous in the Victorian era.
In 1725, magic had not yet been acknowledged, although society had always told tales of witches and arcane arts in hushed whispers.
In Search of Life, should I be able to authenticate it, would once again change the timeline on humanity’s introduction into practical magics and the role of superstitions in protecting from malevolent incantations. But as was the nature of my work, if all went well, only I would know.
The knowledge held within the pages, which defied time and refused to turn brittle, was best kept a secret.
Author Bio:
RJ Blain suffers from a Moleskine journal obsession, a pen fixation, and a terrible tendency to pun without warning.
In her spare time, she daydreams about being a spy. Her contingency plan involves tying her best of enemies to spinning wheels and quoting James Bond villains until satisfied.
AI is never used in the creation of RJ's novels.
GIVEAWAY!
The Art of Keeping Dangerous Books Blitz
—
Book Review for The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane
The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane
Published: August 11,
2026 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary
Romance, Friends to Lovers, Small Town Romance
Julia Schaeffer might run the most romantic little bed-and-breakfast in Upstate
New York, but as far as that infuriating Ethan Duchamp is concerned, this
older, wiser Julia has a strict “no vacancy” policy. Sure, she’s teetering on
the edge of a financial cliff, and his half-baked plan to pair up his celebrity
clients at her inn will undoubtedly be good for business…but how much forced
proximity with the man who abandoned her is she supposed to take?
Ethan needs this to work. The dreamy, autumnal—and blissfully secluded—cottage
from his childhood summers is the ideal setting for playing matchmaker to
Hollywood’s next power couple. It’s the only way to save his PR career from the
tabloid toilet. He knew that the inn and Julia’s warm,
comforting homemade touch would inspire real feelings—he just didn’t expect
them to be his. Again.
But as old wounds reopen, and their connection rekindles, Julia and Ethan are
forced to confront the truths they’ve both tried to bury. In a town where
nothing stays hidden for long, they’ll have to decide if they can rebuild what
was lost—or if their second chance will be derailed by scars that have yet to
heal.
My Thoughts: Second-chance
romance set in a small town is right up my alley. I love these two genres and together they
make a must-read story. Ethan is a man
looking to redeem his reputation while Julia just wants a successful
bed-and-breakfast. They must work
together to reach both of their goals.
I enjoyed that Ethan and Julia have a history. Of course, that history has two sides and
both parties involved were hurt. It was
interesting to learn little by little what had happened, how it was perceived
by each other, and how they would figure their way through it. The fact that they were back in the
small-town where that history took place added to the story and let secondary
characters become part of the story.
Their were a few twists and turns that I did not see
coming. They added fun to the story and
made the connection even better.
Thank you Berkley for a copy of the book in exchange for my
honest review.
Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads
Purchase your own copy on Amazon
Meet the Author: Kat Sloane has been writing stories for as long as she can remember, with a particular knack for dreaming up new ways to get her characters to kiss. These days, as a middle school teacher she also channels her English literature and fine arts degree into other outlets. When she’s not teaching, she’s spending time with her family in the suburbs of Toronto. Most of her writing takes place late at night, during her coveted revenge bedtime procrastination hours.
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Spotlight for IN WHAT WORLD by Bridget Morrissey
IN WHAT WORLD by Bridget Morrissey
Berkley Trade Paperback Original; August 11, 2026
Genre: Contemporary
Romance; LGBTQ+; Romantic Comedy
Total opposites, Marlowe Jenkins and Priscilla
Covington-French hated each other in high school. Now in their thirties,
Marlowe is barely scraping by while Priscilla is wildly successful. Their
rivalry should be long dead, yet both women remain connected through their
mutual mentor, drama teacher Dallas Winthrop. Their unending tension has
nothing to do with the fact that they’ve kissed. More than once.
When Dallas goes missing, each woman believes she can figure
out where he is. Except this is no ordinary disappearance. Dallas has found a
way to explore alternate versions of reality. While trying to follow him,
Marlowe and Priscilla find other versions of themselves instead, surprised to
learn not all Marlowes and Priscillas are fueled by hate. In fact, some
Marlowes and Priscillas have very different strong feelings for one another. .
.
The more Marlowe and Priscilla are forced to rely on each
other, the harder it becomes to ignore their simmering attraction. But with
every alternate reality they search, they only get further from their real life
and responsibilities. Do they play it safe and hide behind their rivalry, or
take a chance on each other that could permanently change the world as they
know it?
Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads
Purchase your own copy on Amazon
Author Bio: Bridget Morrissey lives
in Los Angeles, California, but hails from Oak Forest, Illinois. When she’s not
writing, she can be found coaching gymnastics or headlining concerts in her
living room.
Monday, August 10, 2026
Book Tour for Eternal Craving by Vanessa Fewings
Immortality was my rebirth. Eternity may become my damnation.I crossed Spain and England hunting the men who destroyed my life and left me hollow with grief and rage. Then she found me. Sunaria was darkness and temptation wrapped in immortal beauty, a woman with ancient secrets and the power to transform me into something terrifying. Reborn as a creature of blood, hunger, and ruthless power, I now walk a brutal hidden world where vengeance is survival and love is the most dangerous weakness of all.
Revenge brought me back from death. It may cost me what little humanity I have left.
Known for creating compelling characters and emotionally rich stories, Vanessa has also seen two of her novels optioned for film.
She lives in California with her rescue foxhound, Sherlock.
