Wined and Died in New Orleans (A Vintage Cookbook) by Ellen Byron
About Wined and Died in New Orleans
Wined and Died in New Orleans (A Vintage Cookbook) Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Setting – Louisiana Berkley (February 7, 2023) Mass Market Paperback : 288 pages ISBN-10 : 0593437632 ISBN-13 : 978-0593437636 Digital ASIN : B09TZPW81C
The second in a fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.
It’s hurricane season in New Orleans and vintage cookbook fan Ricki James-Diaz is trying to shelve her weather-related fears and focus on her business, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop, housed in the magnificent Bon Vee Culinary House Museum.
Repairs on the property unearth crates of very old, very valuable French wine, buried by the home’s builder, Jean-Louis Charbonnet. Ricki, who’s been struggling to attract more customers to Miss Vee’s, is thrilled when her post about the discovery of this long-buried treasure goes viral. She’s less thrilled when the post brings distant Charbonnet family members out of the woodwork, all clamoring for a cut of the wine’s sale.
When a dead body turns up in Bon Vee’s cheery fall decorations, the NOPD zeroes in on Eugenia Charbonnet Felice as the prime suspect, figuring that as head of the Charbonnet family, she has the most to gain. Ricki is determined to uncover the real culprit, but she can’t help noticing that Eugenia is acting strangely. Ricki wonders what kind of secret her mentor has bottled up, and fears what might happen if she uncorks it.
In the second Vintage Cookbook Mystery, Ricki has to help solve a murder, untangle family secrets, and grow her business, all while living under the threat of a hurricane that could wipe out everything from her home to Bon Vee.
About Ellen Byron
Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Bayou Book Thief will be the first book in her new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. She also writes the Catering Hall Mystery series under the name Maria DiRico.
Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. An alum of New Orleans’ Tulane University, she blogs with Chicks on the Case, is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America and will be the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster. Please visit her at https://www.ellenbyron.com/
The fantastic cover for On The Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel made me think of twins or multiple personalities. It made me read the blurb and grab a copy. You can judge this book by the cover, because it tells of what is to come, psychological chills that made many emotions rise to the surface. Sorrow, disgust, happiness, wonder.
In the beginning, and throughout the book, we smell the stink of the papermill. Arcade and Daffodil, along with their mother and aunt, live on the wrong side of town and when it snows, it snows ash from the papermill. I worked at one in Alabama, so I know exactly what she is talking about, the indescribable stench and the car being covered in ash. It creates its own ecosystem.
I was confused, and I believe that was a good thing. It meant I wasn’t able to figure out what the hell was going on half the time. Getting lost in the mind of drug addicts I find unable to describe.
The family are drug addicts, and I think you can guess what everyone thought of them…disposable. When the first girl was found in the river, they rolled right by it. Add another, and another, and another….Who will find out what happens to the lost and the forgotten. Everyone deserves a life, for someone to care about them.
Arcade and Daffodil broke my heart. They pretty much raised themselves, with the help of a loving grandmother who painted a future full of dreams and imagination. Their father had died when they were six years old. Their mother and aunt were sex workers and drug addicts, so that doesn’t bode well for them and their friends. That doesn’t mean they don’t deserve being acknowledged as human beings.
Tiffany McDaniel paints pictures, some pretty and some ugly, but she does it with such panache the characters come to life. The evil oozes off the page as much as the sweetness of the girls and the love of their grandmother, who is the most positive person in their life.
Tiffany draws me in deeper and deeper. The more I read, the more involved I get. I cannot say enough about the writing, getting lost in the words. I am having difficulty describing all my thoughts and feelings. It’s wondrous and awful, disturbing and inspirational.
The sketches gave me the creepy crawlies, and that sure fits the story. Six young girls, living a horrible life but finding moments of brightness and love, breaking my heart and for those who preyed on them there is nothing bad enough. Sometimes I saw those spiders moving…my skin crawling and tears in my eyes.
Tiffany McDaniel had me surfing the internet, not only for The Chillicothe Six, but references to other things that made me curious.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel.
4 stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Six women—mothers, daughters, sisters–gone missing. When the first is found floating dead in the river, it reveals the disturbing truth of a small Ohio town. Inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, this harrowing and haunting novel tells the story of two sisters, both of whom could be the next victims, from the internationally-bestselling author of Betty.
Arcade and Daffodil are twin sisters born one minute apart. With their fiery red hair and thirst for an escape, they forge an unbreakable bond nurtured by both their grandmother’s stories and their imaginations. Together, they create a world where a patch of grass reveals an archaeologist’s dig, the smoke emerging from the local paper mill becomes the dust rising from wild horses galloping on the ground, and an abandoned 1950s convertible transforms into a time machine that can take them anywhere.
But the two sisters can’t escape the generational chaos that grips their family. Growing up in the shadow of the town, the sisters cling tight to one another. As an adult, Arcade wrestles with these memories of her life, just as a local woman is discovered drowned in the river. Soon, more bodies are found. While her friends disappear around her, Arcade is forced to reckon with the past while the killer circles ever closer. Arcade’s promise to keep herself and her sister safe becomes increasingly desperate while the powerful riptide of the savage side becomes more difficult to resist.
Drawing from the true story of women killed in her native Ohio, acclaimed novelist and poet Tiffany McDaniel has written a powerful literary testament and fearless elegy for missing women everywhere.
ABOUT TIFFANY MCDANIEL
TIFFANY MCDANIEL is an Ohio native whose writing is inspired by the rolling hills and woods of the land she knows. Drawing from her Cherokee heritage, she is a poet, a novelist, and a visual artist. Her debut novel, THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING, won the Guardian’s Not the Booker award and the Ohioana Reader’s Choice Award. She is the author of BETTY, an international bestseller and a Friends of American Writers Chicago, the Society of Midland Authors, Nautilus Book Award, and Ohioana Library Readers’ Choice Award winner. She lives with six cats and a dog surrounded by the trees and wildlife that she loves. When not writing, she may be found in the garden or walking in the woods.
Her third novel, ON THE SAVAGE SIDE, is forthcoming 2023.
Book Title: Two Floors Above Grief: A Memoir of Two Families in the Unique Place We Called Home by Kevin M. O’Connor Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 318 pages Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir Publisher: 18th Floor Publishing Release date: November 2022 Content Rating: PG for two languages use and use of F-word.
Book Description:
As a child in the 1950s, Kevin O’Connor knew his house was different than those of his friends. A stately, three-story, nineteenth century Victorian. His bed tucked next to a stage in a former ballroom. His uncle and aunt lived with their three daughters on the floor below. A large electric organ stood stately in a corner of the first-floor mortuary business. Stacked caskets and an embalming room filled the basement.
Nobody had a house like his.
Set from the 1920s to ‘80s, Two Floors Above Grief is full of fascinating details and anecdotes about his upbringing as a funeral home child, brought to vivid life through a compelling collection of letters written by various family members who lived and worked together at the O’Connor Funeral Home in Elgin, Illinois. Blending the twenty-four-hour business of death and its constantly ringing phone with joy experienced through music, radios, pets, backyard basketball games, co-parenting, faith, and celebrations, O’Connor offers a reflective tale affirming the love of family and embracing life.
Kevin O’Connor enjoys chronicling the stories of families and friends through tracing genealogical histories and writing. His prior writing includes a dissertation, personal letters, articles, anthologies, and presentations delivered at conferences, seminars, and webinars. He brings people together personally and professionally. Collaborating with friends and relatives, he plans family and class reunions.
He sings and performs in theaters and is active with SMART Ride, a bicycling group that rides annually from Miami to Key West, raising funds for HIV awareness, treatment, and education. Kevin was an elementary teacher, principal, professor, and curriculum coordinator in California, Illinois, and Florida from 1973 to 2020. He authored content and provided training in areas including support for substitute teachers, LGBTQ advocacy, and Sexual Health/Family Life.
Kevin resides in Ft. Lauderdale with his husband, Leon. Their family includes five sons and seven granddaughters.
I LOVE THE COVER! After reading the first book, River Of Ashes by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor, there was no way I was going to let the chance to read River Of Wrath go by. I enjoyed the illustrations inside too.
After the first few chapters, it all came back to me. That is a sign of a good book to me, that the author includes a recap to refresh our minds of what has happened in the past.
“Come not within the measure of my wrath.” William Shakespeare
Louisiana Sheriff Kent Davis…I can see him in his Stetson. Kent had moved to Tammany Parrish to get away from all the murders he had to deal with in New Orleans. Looks like they followed him. I am bracing myself for more horrific events, after what happened in River Of Ashes and I wasn’t disappointed. We start with receding flood waters and a dead body. There were already three unsolved murders.The deaths have all taken place around the river and St Benedict, a burned out abbey where the kids used to hang out.
A legend surrounds St Benedict of a lady in white and her wild dogs.
‘When the dogs appear, death is near.’
Leslie Moore’s sister, Dawn, had been murdered. A deal was struck…to make the murderer pay. But, be careful. When you make a deal with the devil, it can come with a very high cost. Would the cost be too much? Would the secrets come out regardless of those involved wanting them to stay hidden? Leslie can’t let it go. Her regrets and guilt haunt her. The murdered are gone, it’s the families that are left trying to cope, unable to move on with their lives, needing answers.
We meet a new character, Luke Cross. What’s up with him? I love when my spidey senses tingle, telling me to beware, to keep my eye on him. Sometimes they are good people, sometimes not. New people rarely come to town, so anyone that does deserves a look see.
One family, more or less, runs the town. The Devereauxs. Their history is cloudy and the entire town is affected by their past, present and future.
Does Leslie have some paranormal ability? Her dreams/nightmares show her the truth. Are they premonitions, or is it her intuition putting the pieces together. Leslie had always been the strong one. Now, she stumbles. She was lost when her other half, her twin Dawn, was murdered. She is growing stronger, preparing herself to face what is to come.
I almost need a playbook to track the players and their motivations.
River of Wrath has plenty of intrigue and suspense, with a gothic feel. Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Aster have some twists and turns to keep us on our toes. At times, my mind was spinning, trying to figure out who did what to who. If you are looking for ONE villain, you will have to look again.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of River Of Wrath by Alexandrea Weis.
4 Stars
Synopsis:
More secrets are about to be uncovered, beginning with the arrival of a handsome stranger, and the discovery of bones long buried beneath the river …
Leslie Moore is struggling to get through her last semester at St. Benedict High. Even her relationship with her boyfriend Derek is falling apart. But after receding floodwaters from the Bogue Falaya River expose the bones of a woman, Leslie becomes obsessed with tracking down the killer.
Sightings of an apparition haunting The Abbey send Leslie and her friends back to the scene of the horrors from last Halloween, but no one is prepared for what they find.
After a stranger—the handsome Luke Cross—arrives in town, another girl goes missing, and the sheriff suspects the newcomer is hiding something. Leslie believes the Devereaux family is connected to everything going wrong in St. Benedict. And she means to uncover the truth, no matter the cost.
Not all secrets can be kept silent. Some eventually find their way home.
Book Details:
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Horror Published by: Vesuvian Books Publication Date: January 2023 Number of Pages: 270 ISBN: 9781645480174 Series: St. Benedict series, Book 2 Book Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Vesuvian Media Group
Read an excerpt:
“Come not within the measure of my wrath.”
~William Shakespeare
CHAPTER ONE
Sweat gathered under the brim of Kent Davis’s Stetson as he walked the sandy beach along the Bogue Falaya River. He didn’t feel the brisk January breeze or pay attention to the mutterings of the forensic team. The unease burning in his gut shut out all distractions. He rested his hand on his belt, brushing against his Louisiana sheriff’s badge. The rub of metal reminded him of the oath he’d sworn to protect and serve, but on days like this, he hated his job.
Dispatch had initially deemed the early morning call from a frantic jogger a hoax. After an officer confirmed there was a body, Kent arrived at the scene to confront his worst nightmare—another murder. He already had three unsolved deaths weighing heavily on his department. Two high school students and a woman from out of town had died there in a matter of months. City leaders had been breathing down his neck for answers.
Kent studied the black body bag the technicians carried. This was only going to make his job harder.
His crew combed the beach, where receding floodwaters had exposed a young woman’s grave. From the looks of her bleached bones, partially covered in the remnants of a red dress, she’d been there for quite some time. He doubted they’d find anything admissible. There would be trace evidence, but no footprints, no debris, no blood, and no signs of struggle.
He climbed the steep hill from the beach to the parking area, scanning for any clues. Everywhere was a potential crime scene. After years of being in law enforcement, he doubted he could see the world in any other way.
“I don’t like this one bit, Bill,” Kent said, approaching the heavyset coroner waiting by the open doors of his van.
“What’s there to like. We got a dead girl who’s been buried here a long time.” Dr. Bill Broussard removed a pair of black-framed glasses from his egg-shaped head. “You might find a lead in old missing persons reports.”
“I’ll access the St. Tammany Parish database when I get to the station. Until then, she’s a Jane Doe.” Kent eyed the coroner’s van. “How long will it take to know something?”
Bill cleaned his glasses and moved out of the way while a technician slammed the doors closed. He waited until the man climbed into the driver’s side before responding. “You realize workin’ with old bones makes it harder to identify the cause of death. Let me get her to the lab, then we’ll see.”
“I got enough going on with Beau Devereaux, Dawn Moore, and Andrea Harrison.” Kent tipped back his hat. “This makes four bodies and no leads.”
“As soon as people catch wind of this, the gossip mill will run wild.” Bill motioned to the van. “We already got enough rumors flying around about serial killers and rapists on the loose.”
“But at least we know this isn’t a serial killer.”
“Do we?” Bill flipped through a few pictures on his phone and showed Kent the screen.
Kent looked at the bloody mess that had comprised the remains of Beau Devereaux. The golden boy of St. Benedict had been a football star and heir to the Devereaux fortune. The day Kent found his mutilated body along the river had been one of the worst of his career. Beau’s death, on the heels of the rape and grisly murder of Dawn Moore, had shattered his faith in their small town.
He squinted at the picture. “What am I missing?”
Bill pointed at Beau’s bruised and bloody neck. “Trachea isn’t midline. It’s in two pieces. In the autopsy, I discovered his neck had been broken.”
Kent thought of the murder cases that cluttered his desk. “Same as the Harrison girl. Her neck was broken. Any chance wild dogs could have done this?”
Bill’s meaty lips thinned into a line. “Harrison had no bite marks. Only Beau suffered extensive puncture wounds. For a dog to snap someone’s neck, it would have to be big and have impressive jaw strength. Until your men find me an animal like that, I’m leaving Beau’s death a homicide.” He wiped his damp brow. “What worries me is this woman’s bones show there might be a break in her neck, too. If that’s the case, someone around here could have a long history of murder.”
Kent grew irate. He’d left the turmoil of working for the New Orleans Police Department to get away from the steady dose of homicides. Ten years ago, St. Benedict had been the answer to a prayer for him, his wife, and their two boys. He didn’t want to think such horror could have remained hidden for so long in the idyllic town.
“Send me the preliminary results of the autopsy as soon as you get them.” Kent pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting off a headache. “I want it in my hand when I tell Gage Devereaux what we found. He might recall someone who went missing. He’s lived here all his life and is bound to have heard something.”
Bill swatted at a passing fly. “He won’t be happy to hear about another body. You know how protective he is of St. Benedict.”
“Yep. I expect this will piss him off.”
The patriarch and owner of the biggest employer, Benedict Brewery, Gage oversaw everything in the town. Some called him a control freak—a trait many had seen in his son, Beau—but to Kent, Gage was thorough, detail-oriented, and would have made a great detective if he hadn’t taken over the family business.
“He’s gonna ask you if this has anything to do with the investigation into Beau’s death.” Bill frowned. “What’re you gonna tell him?”
Kent clenched his jaw. “We don’t know if any of these deaths are related.”
“Yet,” Bill added. “Seems like an awfully big coincidence to me.”
Kent pulled keys from the front pocket of his jeans. “There’re too many coincidences going on around here, and they all seem to center on this damned river. When can you get me a DNA report?”
“Might take a while.” Bill scratched his head. “Budget constraints and the backlog of cases clogging the system have slowed everything down.”
“How long are we talking? A week?”
Bill snorted. “More like weeks. A long-dead Jane Doe isn’t exactly a priority. Otherwise, we could get a rush on it.”
“Then we’ll just have to wait and see what we get back,” Kent grumbled.
Bill went to the driver’s side of the van and spoke to the technician. He then waved at Kent before walking away.
The sheriff waited as the van slowly eased onto the main road, with Bill’s black SUV following close behind.
Alone, Kent removed his hat and gazed up at the tall pines rimming the parking lot. Cresting above the tallest of the trees was The Abbey’s single charred limestone spire—its twin lost in the fire.
The serene place had witnessed so many atrocities—suicide, fire, and Dawn Moore’s murder. Kent would never understand what the Benedictine monks who founded the seminary ever saw in that cursed land. Legends about the abandoned abbey and its wild dogs had floated around the community for as long as anyone could remember.
When the dogs appear, death is near.
He’d never believed any of the stories until now. Kent feared there might be some truth to the legend, after all.
And the worst was yet to come.
***
Excerpt from River of Wrath by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor. Copyright 2023 by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor. Reproduced with permission from Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor. All rights reserved.
Author Bios:
Alexandrea Weis:
Author Alexandrea Weis, RN-CS, PhD, is an award-winning author, advanced practice registered nurse, and wildlife rehabber who was born and raised in the French Quarter. She has taught at major universities and worked with victims of sexual assault, abuse, and mental illness in a clinical setting at many New Orleans area hospitals. She is a member of the International Thriller Writers Organization and Horror Writers Association.
Co-author Lucas Astor is an award-winning author and poet with a penchant for telling stories that delve into the dark side of the human psyche. He likes to explore the evil that exists, not just in the world, but next door behind a smiling face. Astor currently lives outside of Nashville, TN.
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Book Title: Once Upon a Times: Children’s Stories by Alan Hilfiker Category: Children’s Fiction (Ages 3-7), 58 pages Genre: Children’s Fiction Publisher: Mascot Kids Release date:February 7, 2023 Content Rating: G.
Book Description:
In this delightful and whimsical collection of short stories for children, Once Upon a Times seizes upon the classical tradition of the fairy tale and brings a fresh, new take to familiar themes. Filled with simple but stunning full-color illustrations that sync perfectly with the unique spin on fable tropes, this volume is sure to have a permanent place on any bookshelf.
Alan Hilfiker has three children and nine grandchildren. He has spent a lifetime creating all sorts of stories and poems. Early on, he was inspired by Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could and Holling Clancy Holling’s Paddle-to-the-Sea. Later, by his English courses at University of Rochester. In sharing these stories, he hopes children will be inspired to read, to write, and to create.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.
Beautiful women… JPEGS, recreational drugs… pharmaceuticals, and elite fraternities… websites – this isn’t the college scene that Victor Hastings expected.
Victor likes to admire the provocative pictures of the girls he’s dating. Meanwhile, these girls are posting more and more on Facebook and all the social sites. Now, all the men in his fraternity are competing for the attention of these online, amateur pinups.
Three women will make an impact on Victor. Erin Masters is an alluring yet naïve co-ed. Despite outward modesty, she has no reservations about letting friends plaster her provocative images across various websites. Emily Green-Portsmith, on the other hand, comes from wealth and is comparatively more aware of her effect on men.
The influence of these women does not sit well with the house mother of these fraternity boys. Affectionately known as Ma Red, this feisty former Vietnam correspondent from the old-school of etiquette and discipline is prepared to make a fight for her traditional values.
And throughout these discoveries, Victor wonders:
What kind of love is this?
… the wired kind.
Goodreads Ratings: 3.62 58 ratings 21 reviews
I addedGrowing Up Wired by David Wallace Fleming to my TBR on 2.27.13. It is one of those books that I normally would pass on, but seeing it seems to me to be so relevant to current events, I thought it could be a nice palate cleanser from the dark stories I gravitate to. We shall see….
Teach Me L. L. Ash Publication date: February 14th 2023 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
From the Bestselling Author of HIM.
Mia
I’ve been trying to get that TA job ever since my senior year at college. I’m in my last semester of my Master’s degree and finally got the job. Only problem is our new professor is a sexy, middle aged, brilliant writer and an even better teacher. He runs the English department and now he’s my boss, my professor, and the center of every last one of my fantasies. There’s no way I should want him this much, but it’s those dang glasses and that smile and that little dimple in his chin. I was swooning the moment I met Professor Harlo, but the moment he opened his mouth, I fell in love.
Owen
This is the last thing I wanted. I’m fresh off a divorce and with two kids and two demanding careers, I don’t have the time or energy for this. Except, this girl sticks inside my brain like ABC gum and I can’t shake her. Doesn’t help that we’re crammed in my office grading papers several days a week for hours at a time. The whole innocent thing she has going on kept me away, but she’s a writer too, and I made the mistake of reading her half finished romance book. Unfortunately for me, the things I love about this girl are her mind and spirit, and those are the two things I can’t say no to.
And I’m not joking about that. If I couldn’t write, I would be absolutely useless to society. Some people take antidepressants, or do yoga or hike, or eat really good chocolate ice cream. For me, I write. It’s my therapy, if you will.
So, to say that my creative writing class was my favorite my first year of college was a bit of an understatement. I mean, I’d taken it every year since I started college. When I became knowledgeable enough to become the class’s TA, oh my God, it was like a dream come true.
Sure, being a teaching assistant was mostly just correcting tests, reading papers and doing the grunt work that my professor didn’t have time to do, but I didn’t care. I was going to be learning from some of the best, and my writing was going to benefit. Hell, maybe I’d even try to publish!
Now, the big obstacle ahead of me was getting the job.
I stood outside my professor’s office door, waiting for time to tick by because I was ten minutes early.
“Goddamnit!” I heard from behind the office door and my eyes widened.
Professor Harlo was new, replacing my recently retired professor. A spike of worry shot through me, wondering if the man had a temper.
The door swung open and there Professor Harlo was, over six feet tall, in slacks and a white shirt, deft fingers ripping off his tie.
“Oh, shit,” he whispered, jumping a little when he saw me there outside his door. “You here for the TA job?”
I nodded dumbly, my head bobbing up and down while he dabbed at his shirt. The big brown coffee stain on the front of his shirt finally grabbed my attention.
“Are you ok?” I finally bumbled, grabbing the tissue out of his hand so I could vigorously rub at the stain. “Did it burn you?”
Professor Harlo raised an eyebrow at me and watched me make a bloody fool of myself while I cleaned off my professor.
Oh God…
I finally blinked, realizing what I was doing, and shoved the napkin back at him.
“Sorry, I don’t know what I was…”
“Know how to get this out?” he asked, pointing to the spot and interrupting my apology.
I nodded.
“Good,” he said, waving me into his office as he wandered back in himself.
Those fingers, long and dexterous, started unbuttoning his shirt, starting from the neck down. I watched slack-jawed while he didn’t even bother glancing at me.
“Consider this a trial run,” he said finally, sliding his shirt off his arms before he bunched it against his bare chest.
Uh, yes, bare chest. And what a chest it was! His skin was pale, but there were muscles there that many academic men never bothered to develop. A dusting of freckles sprinkled across his pecs, and a peppering of dark hair trailed down into the band of his slacks.
“Hey,” he called, making the ‘I’m watching you’ motion with his fingers and eyes. “Get this all cleaned up and you’ve got the job.”
I blinked, clearing my mind as he shoved the shirt at me and pulled on an old man cardigan that fit him so well; the horn rimmed glasses on his face accentuating his dark, carmel colored eyes.
“What’s your name, by the way?” he asked once he was dressed again.
I drew my eyes away from the little triangle of chest and neck I was staring at and looked him in the face.
“Mia,” I stammered. “Mia Miller.”
“That’s fun enunciation,” he said with a grunt. “Ok, Miss Mia Miller. I want that back by tomorrow. Can you handle it?”
I lifted my eyebrows and nodded.
“Good,” was all he said before grabbing his leather briefcase bag and moving past me through the door, locking it on the way out. “By lunch tomorrow!”
I watched him saunter off after locking his office door behind us, and felt like my entire world had just imploded in that tiny room.
Once he was gone though, it was easier to breathe, and when I got some oxygen into my brain, I was able to finally convince myself of how idiotic my little instant crush was. Not only was my professor likely ‘over the hill’ and in his forties, but he was going to be my boss. Because yeah, I was getting the darn job, and no amount of coffee stained shirts were going to get in my way.
Shutting off the blood flow to my little love button, I stuffed the shirt into my backpack and hurried to my next class. Math. Yuck.
Author Bio:
L.L. Ash is a Washington-born writer who has traveled and lived across the western coast of the US. Ash has been writing fiction since she was a pre-teen, and while her writing has improved since then, her love for literature has not changed.
Oftentimes you can find Ash reading an indie romance or enjoying a historical fiction. Dabbling in culinary arts and music, Ash has been an artist for decades but found her true love and passion in romances.
Jonah Ali Lucia Sky (Somnolence, #3) Publication date: February 14th 2023 Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance
The most heartbreaking truth is finding that you aren’t the master of your own destiny.
Lizzy Phillips is healing from an attack that she suffered at a Somnolence concert years ago, and struggling with facts that came to light during the last tour. Feeling like the odd girl out, she can’t find her footing in this world.
The only thing Jonah Creed has ever known is that Lizzy and he are Written in the Stars. They are destined to be, and knowing she’s his Tether only reaffirms that. Until she ran from his arms during the last tour.
Now he has her back, but she’s not what either of them expected and they both have hungers to feed.
Please be advised by the trigger warning inside the book.
It’s recommended that you read the series in order beginning with RAIDEN.
Listen, little one. I’m not going to tell you that I like the little shit, but I will tell you that you can’t continue avoiding your mate. It’s unnatural and unhealthy.” Nix tosses up a blade and catches it by its handle.
Harrison nods, not looking from the financial papers and contracts sent over from CypherSphere Records, the label that Somnolence and Grimm Fables are on. He hums. “Nix does have a point.”
“Really, Harrison? I hope you are talking about the one at the end of the knife he’s playing with.” My tone is surly but ever since I heard about this Tether nonsense, I’ve been grouchy. The way it sounds to me is, Jonah’s only with me because of some mystical mojo and not because he really and truly loves me. That’s a deal breaker. A real no-go for me, even though I yearn for him.
Harrison tsks. “I know Lilah explained Tethers to all of you. You needn’t have any more spelled out to you, do you?”
I snort like a child in response to Harrison’s comment. “I don’t believe in predestination.”
Nix smirks and laughs in a mocking way that makes me want to crawl over the table and fork him in the eye. He taps the blade on his bottom lip as he grins. “Well sure, not since it more or less was proved to exist to you. Why go with the flow when you can be a petulant child? Before all this, you were roses and hearts. ‘Jo says it’s written in the stars’ this and ‘Jo says we belong together’ that. Destiny was fine then. Now that it has meaning in the grand scheme of things… what?”
“It’s a trap, Nix,” I toss out brattily. “A great lie. A scam. We’re all just data in some part of a matrix program.”
“You watch too much Netflix,” Harrison says distractedly.
“It was on Hulu,” I correct.
Harrison slides half his grapefruit my way. “Go ahead, you clearly need some fruit, Elizabeth.”
Nix snickers.
Harrison’s phone chimes with a personal ringtone of “A Bushel and a Peck” by Doris Day announcing it’s Vivi’s mom, Leona, on the other end.
“Hello, dearest,” he answers, sounding like a lovelorn man from the past.
Nix puckers his lips blowing me a kiss and then mouthing hello dearest, before laughing.
I kick him in return. He narrows his eyes, holds up his knife and points it in my direction. It’s a KA-BAR Becker 1095 Black Harpoon Point. I got it for him as a thank you for being awesome. It would be ironic if he slipped now and cut off an appendage while acting like a fool.
I know he’d never really hurt me with it. He’s uncouth, difficult, and hates all humans except for me–he treats me like he would a priceless gift and family member.
I get up with a sigh and point his way, then do the universal sign for ‘I have eyes on you’ while heading to my room at Harrison’s. True love between adults is creepy, and I’m not hanging around to listen to the mushy gushy way Harrison talks to Leona.
Author Bio:
Ali Lucia Sky is the author of The Powers That Be and Somnolence series. She lives in Southern California with her husband and a house full of kitty cats, a yard full of crows, a backyard of ferals and a possum affectionately named Garcia.
She loves laughing, drinking good coffee, vegan food, and supporting animal rescues.
When she isn’t writing or dreaming of new stories, she can be found planning her next vacation because traveling is life.
If you encounter her in the wild, don’t be offended if she should run away. She’s timid with strangers, but can be plied with shiny things and pictures of your cat or dog.
As the leaves begin to change colors and the weather starts turning cooler in the historic city in the heart of Western Maryland, Parker City Police Detectives Ben Winters and Tommy Mason are called to Saint Paul’s where the recently installed Father Roland Taylor, who has become very popular in the community, has been found dead in his office at the church. By all appearances it seems to be a tragic case of a break-in gone wrong.
Only twenty-four hours later, the detectives find themselves at the home of the city’s well-known morning radio show DJ, Morning Mike Moran, who also seems to have been the victim of a robbery gone wrong. Coincidence?
Neither Ben nor Tommy believe in coincidences. But at first glance, it seems to be just that. Until they find that the victims shared a common interest and begin an investigation that leads them to uncover a secret Parker City has been hiding for over one hundred and twenty years.
Book Details:
Genre: Police Procedural Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: February 2023 Number of Pages: 330 Series: Parker City Mysteries, Book 3 | Each is a Stand Alone Book Links:Amazon
Read an excerpt:
The best laid plans, Ben thought to himself as he parked in front of Saint Paul’s Roman Catholic Church on Braddock Street. His hope of getting a few extra hours of sleep after spending the last several nights out late on a stakeout was shattered just a little after eight in the morning. The ringing of the telephone entwined seamlessly with his dream of being a concert violinist making his debut at Carnegie Hall. Something he could not in any way understand because he couldn’t play any instrument, let alone the violin. It wasn’t until the conductor in his dream started to tell him to leave his name and number after the beep that he realized he was hearing his own voice on the message answering machine.
With bleary eyes, he crossed out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, grabbing the telephone just as Shirley, one of the PCPD’s dispatchers, was about to hang up.
“Hello. Hello?” he answered, trying to shake away the mental cobwebs.
“Hey, sweetie,” Shirley said with her slight southern drawl. “Sorry to wake you.”
“I wasn’t…I mean, I…”
“It’s okay, sugar. I heard you and Tommy were out late. But you got ‘em, so it’s all good.”
“Yeah. We did. What’s going on?”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to catch up on your sleep some other time, dumplin’. You need to get over to Saint Paul’s. Patrol is reporting a break-in and Father Taylor was found D.O.A.”
That was all Ben needed to hear. The words were like a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. He showered, skipped shaving–not that anyone would be able to tell with his baby face–and headed out the door. Just as he was stepping out of the car in front of the church, Tommy’s Bronco pulled up next to him.
Rolling down the window, from behind a pair of what looked like extra dark sunglasses, Tommy asked, “Please tell me I didn’t hear Shirley right?”
“A break-in and possible homicide?”
“Yeah.”
“You heard her right.”
“Dammit.”
Tommy did a quick U-turn and parked across the street. Getting out of the truck, he fumbled around in the back seat, finally pulling out a rumpled corduroy sport coat. Pulling it on over his wrinkled shirt, he noticed his partner giving him the once over as he crossed the road to meet him on the sidewalk.
“This is the best you’re gonna’ get today,” Tommy said pulling his badge out of his pocket and clipping it to the lapel of his jacket. “Hell, you’re lucky I put pants on. But I know how much you like me to dress up for crime scenes.”
It was true, Ben was always wearing a suit. He thought it helped to project a certain amount of authority while working a case. Considering he only looked like he was barely in his twenties when he was now thirty, it also helped him to look a little older. Truth be told, Ben could be wearing ripped up jeans and a leather biker’s jacket and he would still look like the boy next door. He was the poster child for what a stand-up Boy Scout should look like.
Tommy, on the other hand, would love to wear a leather jacket and jeans every day. He preferred comfort when it came to his attire. The reverse of Ben was true for Tommy. Even if he would show up wearing an expensive three-piece suit from a fancy story on New York’s Fifth Avenue, he’d still come off as a bad boy. The kind of guy all the girls fell for but would never take home to meet their mother. Mostly out of fear that their mothers would also fall for him.
“Any other details?” Tommy asked as he checked his Tom Selleck-style mustache in the side mirror of Ben’s car.
“I just got here myself.”
“I thought we were going to be able to take it easy after we picked up that dipshit last night. I mean, come on. We can’t even get a few hours of sleep!”
“Our burden is heavy,” Ben said, wondering if his sarcasm got through.
“The only thing that could make this morning any worse…”
“You mean other than finding the dead body of a popular priest?”
“You know what I mean…” Tommy said putting his hands up in his defense, “…is if the responding officer is…dammit.”
Ben turned to see Officer Buck LuCoco lumber out of the door to the church offices. A very large man, neither Ben nor Tommy understood how LuCoco was still on patrol. The fact he’d been with the department since the ‘50s and never been promoted beyond a patrol officer didn’t surprise either of them. He was one of the PCPD’s old guard that did absolutely as little as possible, while doing just enough to not be fired for complete dereliction of duty. Tommy thought he was a lazy slob. Ben couldn’t argue. The only thing LuCoco had going for him was his institutional knowledge of the city. He’d been around long enough to know a little about everyone and everything.
“Be nice,” Ben said to his partner through gritted teeth as LuCoco waddled his way to them. “Good morning, Buck.”
The officer grunted a response as he wiped his face with a handkerchief, finally saying, “It’s not a good morning for Father Taylor.”
“There was a break-in?” Ben asked.
“Yeah. One of the secretaries got here about seven-forty-five. She found the front door unlocked and thought Taylor already opened up for the day. Then she found the door to the priest’s office smashed and him dead. Now, I’m no expert, but I’ve been around long enough to know what a robbery-gone-wrong looks like. Whoever broke in here musta gotten caught by Taylor then they offed him.”
“Not being an expert, what makes you think that?” Tommy asked, barely containing the mockery.
“Well, there’s a pretty good hole in the priest’s head that looks like it coulda been caused by the heavy candlestick with blood on it lying next to him, smartass.”
“Alright,” Ben said in a tone that let both men know they needed to cool it. “Where’s the secretary now?”
“She’s in with Thompson.”
Ben knew Tommy was thinking the same thing he was. If Thompson had also responded, he’d have secured the scene using the protocols they’d been trying to get all of the patrol officers to use. He was one of the officers in the department who understood the importance of the new techniques being employed at a crime scene, and therefore the need to preserve a scene’s integrity. Unlike LuCoco and the guys who’d complained when Ben and Tommy had been promoted who thought if you couldn’t see a clue with your bare eyes, it wasn’t there.
“We’re going to head in and take a look around. Buck, will you radio in and have them roll the Crime Scene Unit and let the coroner know they have a pick-up?”
“Your wish is my command, Detective.”
“Hey. That’s Detective-Sergeant, remember,” Tommy corrected. “Remember, he outranks you in this department.”
Watching LuCoco head for his squad car, Ben said, “You really don’t need to do that.”
“What?” Tommy asked innocently.
“Throw my rank around. Sometimes I think you care more about it than I do.”
“Well, he needs to respect your stripes,” Tommy said in his defense. “And…I just don’t like him. I’m always afraid he’s going to have a heart attack and drop dead right in front of us. Then we’ll have so much paperwork to fill out. Seriously? Do you think he even knows what a salad is?”
Sometimes Ben needed to play the role of a stern father. “Okay. I get it. You have very strong feelings about him. But that’s enough now. If someone really did kill Roland Taylor, we’ve already got a big problem on our hands. I don’t need you starting another one with LuCoco.”
“Fine,” Tommy said, doing his best impression of a petulant child. “I’ll behave myself. Your wish is my command, Detective-Sergeant.”
***
Excerpt from Fact & Fiction by Justin M. Kiska. Copyright 2023 by Justin M. Kiska. Reproduced with permission from Justin M. Kiska. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
When not sitting in his library devising new and clever ways to kill people (for his mysteries), Justin can usually be found at The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre, outside of Washington, DC, where he is one of the owners and producers. In addition to writing the Parker City Mysteries Series – which includes, NOW & THEN, VICE & VIRTUE, and FACT & FICTION – he is also the mastermind behind Marquee Mysteries, a series of interactive mystery events he has been writing and producing for over fifteen years. Justin and his wife, Jessica, live along Lake Linganore outside of Frederick, Maryland.
Alllllll right, another science fiction adventure with Carmen Webster Buxton and a meet and greet with Darius in The North Edge Of Nowhere. The cover tells a story of its own and makes me eager to find out about the who and the what of it.
We find Darius ‘not’ sailing the seas on his disabled ship, drinking brackish water and a piece of bread that is hard as a rock. They had been drifting for ten days, when land was sighted. Darius was raised as a prince, so what was in store for him will be life changing in every way.
In the beginning, Darius tries to hide his identity, with bright red hair and a face such as his, the secret won’t be kept for long, Brian, Lord of Castle Muir, easily recognizes him. The Oath demanded from Darius and the ‘cost’ of the repair to the boat are his first introduction of the new culture he will have to learn to live in.
Daniel the Wanderer is a fabulous character, so richly developed and vital to the story, as are several others. The details Carmen painted of the world make pictures in my head, seeing the ocean, woodlands and creatures we will see and interact with.
Sometimes, when I crack open one of Carmen Webster Buxton’s books, they seem to start out slow, but really, I think they are laying a foundation, introducing the characters, for what is to come. Her study of human actions and interactions are fascinating. We watch characters grow, learn, mature…a psychological, indepth study of humanity. The more I read, the more involved I become.
Now that I have finished The Northedge Of Nowhere, I am moving on to Oaths And Promises, The Nameless World, Book II, by Carmen Webster Buxton.
4 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
On the nameless world settled long ago by human colonists, humanity has spread out. Darius is seventeen and was born and lived all his life in a warm southern climate. Raised as a prince, he conceives the desire to see his maternal relations, who live in and rule a city-state a good distance north of his home. But when disaster strikes on the journey, Darius is forced to travel even farther north, where he discovers his very existence is a kind of riddle to which only a few people know the answer. As he struggles to cope with a new way of living, a man named Daniel the Wanderer befriends him, and a cousin he didn’t know he had teaches him that women are not always meek and well-behaved. All in all, life is very different in the North.
ABOUT CARMEN WEBSTER BUXTON
Carmen Webster Buxton spent her youth reading every book published by Ursula LeGuin, Robert Heinlein and Georgette Heyer. This combination of far-future worlds, alien cultures, and old-fashioned courting customs influenced her writing, especially in her ThreeCon series.
Carmen was born in Hawaii and experienced a peripatetic childhood, as her father was in the US Navy. Having raised two wonderful children, she now lives in Maryland with her husband Charlie, and a beagle named Cosmo. She writes science fiction (often including a romance, and mostly set in the far future), and the occasional fantasy.
Carmen has published many books:
WAKANREO SERIES Alien Bonds Alien Vows Alien Skies
HAVEN SERIES The Sixth Discipline No Safe Haven
THREECON SERIES (can be read in any order) The Nostalgia Gambit Saronna’s Gift Shades of Empire Tribes Worlds Apart
ALTERNATE HISTORY King of Trees
YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION Turnabout Drifters
FANTASY Where Magic Rules Bag of Tricks Hidden Magic
THE NAMELESS WORLD SAGA (coming in 2021) The North Edge of Nowhere Oaths and Promises
Carmen often blogs about ereaders, digital publishing, writing, and speculative fiction. Visit her blog to see what’s coming out next! To ask questions or to provide feedback on her books, send email to carmen.webster.buxton (at) gmail.com.
