Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 49
January 17, 2025
Blog Tour: SCARS AND SECRETS by Thomas Grant Bruso
SCARS AND SECRETS
Thomas Grant Bruso
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: LGBT Mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
RalphAshton gets more than he bargained for when police question him about the deathof his ex-boyfriend Elijah Ray, whose body is discovered at the edge of theSaranac River.
Whenthe local police visit Ralph and ask him about a critical piece of caseevidence, Ralph becomes a prime suspect. He sets out to learn what happened toEli the night he left his apartment and is startled to learn about his formerboyfriend’s shady past.
AsRalph pursues a dangerous investigation, he discovers things about Eli he didnot know while they were together.
Ralph’slife starts to unravel when he loses more people close to him as his motherlies in a hospital bed dying of cancer. Is learning about the truth of Eli’sdeath worth jeopardizing his safety?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ExcerptThree:
The face of my mother flashes in my mind, and I think aboutrunning back to the hospital and staying by her side.
James uncrosses his leg from left to right and changespositions so the side of his face illuminates in a shaft of soft glow from thefloor lamp hanging over his shoulder. I want to tell him he looks fucking sexythat way, but I keep quiet. He holds his yellow writing pad, the tips of hisfingers turning white, and I dream about what he can do to me with those meatyhands. Touch me in my favorite place, I want to tell him. But I don’t.
I picture him holding my face in his sweaty palms as we lockgazes, staring haughtily into each other’s eyes. The stiffness of my erectionknocks against the fabric of my pants. I squirm in my chair.
“What do you mean?” he asks. “Deadness?”
I force myself to blink a few times, snap out of my hazydream, and look up at Dr. Matheson. His expression is alarming, unblinking. Hestares at me, bordering on the threshold of a stalker.
I find a way out of my rut, clawing, digging, and rummagingthrough a labyrinth of unfathomable responses. “All I want to do is listen toTwenty One Pilots or Nickelback and drink beer. Forget about life, people, andwork.”
Except for my mother. My ex-boyfriend, Eli, too.
I want to see him. It’s been a while since he walked out onme and never returned.
Dr. Matheson angles his head to the side, deciding whetherto ask his next set of questions. I hear him swallow, and it sounds like he hasa dry mouth or is uncomfortable asking me a question from the long list on hispad. He is overthinking, I notice. “How is your mother?” When I don’t answerimmediately, he adds, “How are the nightmares?” My reason for being here.
I sigh. I don’t want to talk about what keeps me awake atnight, although this past week—year—has been terrifying. “It’s been nonstop,” Isay.
“Have you been to the hospital?”
I nod. “Before I came here.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“It’s scary. Seeing my mother in that hospital bed makes mewant to die. I hate watching her wither away slowly.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review: Ralph was in a sad and pitifulplace with his boyfriend leaving him, his mother dying in the hospital, andsecretly enjoying sexual fantasies about his muscular therapist. Things getmore confusing and complicated when his ex-boyfriend shows up. It takes a whileto get through all the dilly-dally of two former lovers reconnecting. Whatfollows is a lot of slow, descriptive narrative. By chapter 9 or 10 is when wediscover Eli’s dead body, which starts to pick up the story a little.
Although the narrative was nice,it still read too slow. For a mystery thriller, I expected a faster and moreexciting read. Story seemed more focused on Ralph’s instability and mindsetduring this whole ordeal. Yes, there’s this small mystery about Eli’s death,but it didn’t feel like the focal point.
Overall, this was a fairly niceread, but I just wanted more excitement.
Rating:3 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
ThomasGrant Bruso knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He has been avoracious reader of genre fiction since childhood.
Hisliterary inspirations are Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, JimGrimsley, Karin Fossum, and Joyce Carol Oates.
Brusoloves animals, reading books, and writing fiction, and prefers Sudoku tocrossword puzzles.
Inanother life, he was a freelance writer and wrote for magazines and newspapers.In college, he won the Hermon H. Doh Sonnet Competition. Now, he writes andpublishes fiction and reviews books for his hometown newspaper, ThePress-Republican.
Helives in upstate New York.
Amazonbuy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPJH61CD/ref=sr_1_9
Barnes& Noble buy link:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scars-and-secrets-thomas-grant-bruso/1146630720
Publisher’swebsite buy link: https://ninestarpress.com/product/scars-and-secrets/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
ThomasGrant Bruso will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawnwinner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 14, 2025
Book Blast: SENSIBLE SHOES by Cindy Causey
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Cindy Causey will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
At her fiftieth birthday party, Tess Thomason, a plain-Jane, divorced mother and decidedly unprepared women’s newspaper columnist, is blindsided by her well-meaning family with a stack of gift cards she interprets as meaning she’s fat, frumpy, and wrinkled. Facing a lonely future and failing career, Tess embarks on a journey of self-discovery, taking her readers along for the ride. But her resolve is nearly derailed by a hilarious season of family chaos that includes a surprise pregnancy, rushed wedding, and unexpected houseguests. In the midst of it all, Tess is drawn into a confusing new relationship with a man who is impossibly perfect for her. But if she can keep herself, her family, and her willpower firmly seated on the crazy roller coaster of her life, maybe Tess will find her own self-worth and a new love in the bargain.
Read an Excerpt
“Tess, Tess, I’m not expecting you to write like Sylvia. I’m not even expecting you to write about fashion. What I have in mind is a column to women, for women, about women. Real women. Like one of those influencers on the Internet. You know…funny, wise, poignant, and… relevant.”
The creeping dread, now fully formed, tossed a grenade into my stomach. She might as well have asked me to write like Shakespeare. “You want me to be funny, wise, poignant, and…relevant? Are you insane?”
Okay, I may have stepped over the line with that last bit, because Ruth’s face twisted a little in the ominous way I had seen so often just before she pounded her fist on the desk. “Just write the damn thing, Tess. I don’t care if you’re funny, wise, poignant, or what was the other thing?”
“Relevant,” I murmured.
“Relevant, for God’s sake. Just do it. I need a column for the women’s page starting next week, and you’re it. Write about what you know. Family. Food. The laundry. You’ve got family. You’ve got laundry. It’ll be a cinch.”
“But—”
“No buts. Just do it. It’ll be good for you. You need to get out of your rut.” She turned her attention to her computer screen.
As if in a trance, I rose from the chair and turned to leave. “Oh, Tess?” she said without looking at me.
“Yes?” Maybe she’s changed her mind; she saw my outfit, and she changed her mind.
“Happy birthday.”
About the Author:
Cindy Causey taught herself to type in the 8th grade because she couldn't write in her diary fast enough in longhand. A degree and career in advertising were the result. A fifteen-year stint as a copy chief at JCPenney Catalog led to the position of Internet Marketing Manager for JCPenney.com.
After 20 years at JCPenney, Cindy retired in December, 2007, and began working full time with her husband Scott in their multi-media production company, Dallas Media Center. They specialized in audio/video production and editing, vintage media transfer to DVD and CD, as well as website design and hosting. Cindy shuttered the company in 2021, three years after Scott passed away.
After her first book, a non-fiction work called Cherish the Gift: a Congregational Guide to Earth Stewardship, was published, Cindy began writing fiction. She found her voice in romance, the stories of the struggles two people endure on the road to happily ever-after. Her debut novel, A Different Drum was published in May 2009 by The Wild Rose Press, followed by A Hot Time in Texas that same year.
In early 2025, her latest novel, Sensible Shoes, a humorous look at a woman struggling with life after 50, was published by The Wild Rose Press. It will be followed in late 2025 by a romantic suspense novel entitled Saving Samantha.
Cindy makes her home in Dallas, Texas. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her 5 grown children and 4 grandchildren. She would like to see the edges of the entire world from the deck of a cruise ship.
BLOG: https://thewidowwoman.com/
WEBSITE: https://cindycausey.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.ubbencausey
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/cindycausey2
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@cucausey
PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/causey3994/
a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 13, 2025
Blog Tour: THE OWLS OF WICKENDEN WOOD by Shauna Kramer Barnes
THE OWLS OF WICKENDEN WOOD
Shauna Kramer Barnes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Children's picture book
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Landingin a different reality, the hero of our story is challenged by wise andmysterious owls.
Willthe storyteller be able to face their doubts and fears?
Orwill they forever remain in the Wickenden Wood?
Aninspiring, rhythmic tale, encouraging readers to believe in themselves and totrust in their own innate talents and abilities.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review:
Meet the owls of Wickenden Wood!Story truly displays the wondrousawe of owls. The illustrations had a child-like, Crayola feel to them. It waslike I was look at drawings created by Crayon. The read felt more like poetrythan an actual story, but I admired the overall loveliness of the words. I wishthere would’ve been more contrast between the small, black text and thedrawings that lacked some color.
A nice, little read!
Rating:4 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Shauna Kramer Barnes lives in Deep Cove, BC, withher husband and daughter. Surrounded by mountains, forests, and the owls whoreside in the true Wickenden Wood, she was inspired to write this story andhopefully tell a tale that entertains.
Website: https://shaunakramerbarnes.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SHAUNAB303
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
ShaunaKramer Barnes will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawnwinner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 11, 2025
Review: CHILL FACTOR by Sandra Brown
The worst snow storm in historyand people were out in it…including a killer. Five women had gone missing andit had the whole town on edge.
The story mainly consisted ofseveral storylines by people in town—people in town that didn’t have everythingsquared away up there, ya know. The narrative was long and slow. It soundedpretty good at first with the man just having buried the latest of his victimsand was on the run, but it wasn’t too great if you already knew who it was fromthe beginning. I mean, the best part of a crime novel is figuring out who thekiller is. The story had a suitable setting of the blizzard, which was cold andeerie, but it was too overly descriptive. The overall read was rather mild andnot that exciting.
Rating: 3 stars
Review: SUNSTONE Vol. 1 by Stjepan Sejic
Although the art work was great,the story was confusing. So we had a struggling romance writer with writer’sblock. Somehow that led to an erotic sequence of F/F sub-dom scenes, which wereartfully done. The text was too much and too small to read. It would seem thegirls were in a secret relationship, but it was too confusing. The read wasokay based on the illustrations.
Rating:3 stars
Review: FULFILLED DESIRE (erotic manga)
A young man tells about his firstgirlfriend and his first sexual experience. Wowza! The sex scenes were hot. Thecouple’s journey relays how they met and their long-distance relationship.Sweet and sexy!
Rating:4 stars
Review: THE TABOO STEPMOM COLLECTION by Santa Marcum (erotic manga)
Little boy gets a hot, new mom anda new older sister that can kick a- -
His dad passes away and he goes tothe U.S., where he gets frisky. He meets a hot babe that looks like his mom.Was that sick…or hot? But was he doing it because he was in mourning? He wassleeping with someone else’s girlfriend here. And what happens in the end whenthe girl’s boyfriend finds out? Too good of a read!
Rating:4 stars
January 10, 2025
Blog Tour: SANCTUARY by Ginny Fite
SANCTURY
Ginny Fite
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: dystopian speculative fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Sometimeslosing your children is the only way to save them. The year is 2039. Chased bygovernment goons determined to quarantine her and a virus that might kill herat any time, Jean Bennett races a thousand miles to Canada to get her fivechildren to safety. On a journey unlike any they’ve ever taken, Jean learns whoshe is and what she must do to save her children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ExcerptThree:
Caro wipes sweat from her forehead with her wrist, keepingthe dirt-covered fingers of her glove pointed away from her face. She doesn’twant to streak her cheeks with mud.
“What about angels?” she asks, pulling off her gloves andadjusting her broad-brimmed sun hat.
“Angels?” I laugh. She hasn’t given up, only changed tacks.“What about them?”
“Do you believe in them?”
I look at her angular, still unlined face and wonder whyshe’s strug¬gling with this idea of deity today. “Why is this important now?”
“I saw something,” she says. “Hovering over the kidsyesterday when they were playing in the trees. Something I don’t know how toexplain.”
“Heat haze,” I guess. “Northern lights during the day.Electromag¬netic activity caused by sun flares. Auras.”
She lowers her eyes, a signal that she thinks I’m beingflippant. In the world of all possible answers, I haven’t stumbled upon theright one.
“It’s a portent.” She stares into my eyes as if to send me atelepathic message. “You know, like Mom said. Something we’re supposed tonotice.”
I tense. Our mother was not an oracle I would believe, butwhatever Caro saw has meaning to her. I should pay attention instead of makinglight of it, even though I can’t resist teasing her. She’s always so serious.
“Okay. What does it portend?”
“I did something you’re going to be angry about.”
I stretch my neck, close my eyes to shutter my annoyance,and wait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
GinnyFite is an award-winning journalist and author of nine traditionally publishednovels, three collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a bookof humorous essays on aging. A graduate of Rutgers University and Johns HopkinsUniversity, her 40-year career in communications included posts in newspapers,government, higher education, and a robotics R&D company. Pushcart Prizenominated, shortlisted for the 2019 SFWP prize, a finalist for the 2020 BakwinPrize, winner of the FAPA gold medal in fiction for the collaborative novelThoughts & Prayers, her stories have appeared in The Delmarva Review, WomenArts Quarterly Journal, Heartwood Literary Magazine, Coffin Bell, and theAnthology of Appalachian Writers. Writing about ordinary people who grapplewith extraordinary circumstances, her novels span the genres of mystery,thriller, adventure, speculative, and women’s fiction. Learn more atGinnyFite.com.
Publishednovels:
Sanctuary
LeaveEverything You Know Behind
ThePhysics of Things
Possession
BlueGirl on a Night Dream Sea
NoEnd of Bad
Lying,Cheating and Occasionally Murder
NoGood Deed Left Undone
Cromwell’sFolly
Thoughts& Prayers (co-author)
AuthorWebsite: https://ginnyfite.com
SocialMedia Handles:
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/GinnyFite
Twitter:http://www.twittere.com/unwrinkledbrain
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/ginnyfiteauthor
Threads:http://www.threads.com/ginnyfite
Buylinks:
Amazon:https://a.co/d/gdjKhEr
SunburyPress:https://www.sunburypress.com/collections/all-books/products/sanctuary?variant=42817556217949
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
Ginny Fite will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog Tour: A FABLE OF WOOD AND STRING by L.T. Getty
A FABLE OF WOOD AND STRING
L.T. Getty
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Young Adult High Fantasy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Wouldit hurt you to just do as you're told?
TheO'Connell siblings live in the shadow of their parent's past, held back byobligation to keep the people of Stagmil safe when their father has to lead thenon-hunters of their village to drive off a wyvern.
Lilydoesn't trust the stranger who calls herself Madeline when she staggers intothe pastoral lands. The puppeteer seems to take an interest in Lily's talentwith the family mandoline, and she teaches Lily new music. Lily's had songsstuck in her head before, but nothing like this.
TwinsSeth and Tiffany however can't wait for their father to return so they can geton with the shearing. Seth should at least be helping hunt the wyvern, andTiffany wants to take her best friend Molly and head to the nearest city andsee the world.
Thetwins and several other villagers are lured by song into the woods andtransformed into marionettes: Seth breaking free before he can be strung, andLily tainted in a way she doesn't understand. They have the skills to track thewoman down, but to restore Seth to his body, and rescue Tiffany and the others?
Trackingthe woman takes them far from the familiar woodlands they know, across the seato an enchanted castle, where in an effort to rescue their sister they'll learnsomething much more sinister than turning folk into puppets is going on.They'll get help, of course, but not from who they expected.
Afterall, last Seth checked, foxes are only supposed to have the one tail.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ExcerptTwo:
“Got any more kitsunes or other surprises?” Caleb asked,squatting down without spilling his buckets. “I’d like to hear the story youwere trying to tell me in the castle a little later. Right now it seems likeyou need help. I’ll take my sword back.”
Lily unbelted it, but Boscoe out of nowhere nabbed it fromLily, ran towards the lake, and pitched it in. Then he sat down, never breakingthe squire’s gaze, and scratched behind his ears.
“Why did you do that?” Caleb demanded. “That was myfather’s!” He tried to take his boots off, the lacing slowed him down.
“You’re cold, let me do it,” Lily said, sliding off heroverdress. She shot Boscoe a sour look, who simply beamed at her. Caleb on theother hand turned around and shielded his eyes.
“Could you not?” he asked.
“I know you can see me, stop pretending like you can’t orI’m indecent.” Her chemise and trousers were dark, chosen for adventuring thankyou very much; she’d learned what to wear to repel after a wayward ewe longago. She hung her overdress on a low branch and waded into the cold water.
“Do you have any idea how long it took me to get these on?”Caleb asked the kitsune, who went, Yip yip! “Fine. To your left,” he offered.Part of her spitefully wanted to disobey him, but figured his father’s swordwas important. “How’s the water?”
“Refreshing,” she called back, but paused when she got toabout her navel. She didn’t think it was that deep. “Tell me this lake doesn’thave an overabundance of leeches.”
“I’ll help you pick them off,” Caleb offered.
“You’re very kind,” she told him. The water was murky anddark, she couldn’t see his sword so she felt around with her feet and findingit, resigned herself to the dive. Thankfully, she got the sword on her firstattempt, and she brought it backup tip first.
Caleb had waded out anyway, but really had only gotten tohis knees. He also looked at her with wide eyes, kind of like an idiot for ahalf-second. “What?” she asked, wading towards him, offering him the sword. “Goon, take it—make sure I didn’t find someone else’s sword.”
Caleb hesitated, but upon grasping the handle unsheathed it,then cast a glare back at the kitsune, who put a paw to his nose and stuck outhis tongue. “You’re not a kitsune or a mermaid, are you?” he asked eventually.
Lily couldn’t stifle a guffaw. “You see a tail or scales?”she asked, brushing her hair behind her ears.
“Sounds like something a lake monster would say,” he saidwith just a hint of teasing.
She flicked water at him, but the way the way the water andsunlight reflected off the blade, she noticed engraving. “It’s got aninscription?”
He held it so she could read it. “Old language. Means ‘Donot unsheathe me without reason, do not wield me without valour.’ Hey, you gota little leech, right—” Caleb gestured to his own neck.
“Waaah!” Lily panicked and fell backwards, and upon gettingup, seeing him chuckling and realizing it was a ruse, reached for the sword.“Give me that! Boscoe didn’t get it in far enough.” He had longer strides soshe had to settle for splashing him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST
Please describe one of your favorite scenes in this book and why it's important.
(Excerpt #2)
“Got any more kitsunes or other surprises?” Caleb asked, squatting down without spilling his buckets. “I’d like to hear the story you were trying to tell me in the castle a little later. Right now it seems like you need help. I’ll take my sword back.”
Lily unbelted it, but Boscoe out of nowhere nabbed it from Lily, ran towards the lake, and pitched it in. Then he sat down, never breaking the squire’s gaze, and scratched behind his ears.
“Why did you do that?” Caleb demanded. “That was my father’s!” He tried to take his boots off, the lacing slowed him down.
“You’re cold, let me do it,” Lily said, sliding off her overdress. She shot Boscoe a sour look, who simply beamed at her. Caleb on the other hand turned around and shielded his eyes.
“Could you not?” he asked.
“I know you can see me, stop pretending like you can’t or I’m indecent.” Her chemise and trousers were dark, chosen for adventuring thank you very much; she’d learned what to wear to repel after a wayward ewe long ago. She hung her overdress on a low branch and waded into the cold water.
“Do you have any idea how long it took me to get these on?” Caleb asked the kitsune, who went, Yip yip! “Fine. To your left,” he offered. Part of her spitefully wanted to disobey him, but figured his father’s sword was important. “How’s the water?”
“Refreshing,” she called back, but paused when she got to about her navel. She didn’t think it was that deep. “Tell me this lake doesn’t have an overabundance of leeches.”
“I’ll help you pick them off,” Caleb offered.
“You’re very kind,” she told him. The water was murky and dark, she couldn’t see his sword so she felt around with her feet and finding it, resigned herself to the dive. Thankfully, she got the sword on her first attempt, and she brought it backup tip first.
Caleb had waded out anyway, but really had only gotten to his knees. He also looked at her with wide eyes, kind of like an idiot for a half-second. “What?” she asked, wading towards him, offering him the sword. “Go on, take it—make sure I didn’t find someone else’s sword.”
Caleb hesitated, but upon grasping the handle unsheathed it, then cast a glare back at the kitsune, who put a paw to his nose and stuck out his tongue. “You’re not a kitsune or a mermaid, are you?” he asked eventually.
Lily couldn’t stifle a guffaw. “You see a tail or scales?” she asked, brushing her hair behind her ears.
“Sounds like something a lake monster would say,” he said with just a hint of teasing.
She flicked water at him, but the way the way the water and sunlight reflected off the blade, she noticed engraving. “It’s got an inscription?”
He held it so she could read it. “Old language. Means ‘Do not unsheathe me without reason, do not wield me without valour.’ Hey, you got a little leech, right—” Caleb gestured to his own neck.
“Waaah!” Lily panicked and fell backwards, and upon getting up, seeing him chuckling and realizing it was a ruse, reached for the sword. “Give me that! Boscoe didn’t get it in far enough.” He had longer strides so she had to settle for splashing him.
TL:DR? Caleb just woke up human roughly an hour prior to this – he hasn’t been in a while. Unlike Seth and Lily from overseas, he’s a from the area, a squire among the captives in Mirador. He was among the first transformed into a marionette but given relative freedom inside the false world, acting as a knight but really working against the puppeteers in the limited capacity he has.
He’s since allied with Seth and Lily to help rescue Tiffany, but the plan was never for him to escape personally – Lily didn’t know that at the time, there was a real possibility that he was still poisoned upon becoming human again, so the plan was to rescue several others first, but as always things go sideways.
He’s human and outside, like he’s wanted but feels like a stranger in his own body. His rescuers aren’t who he epected, and he has no plan.
But, he’s going to make the best of it. Caleb’s no slouch, he can improvise.
Up until this part of the story, Lily and him have bonded and form a friendship that’s a little flirtatious but while they were in the castle it’s safe and going nowhere: they’re puppets, not a boy and a girl but two people in an enchanted form working towards a similar goal. The situation is serious and they both have people they want to rescue, so even if they could look into each other’s real eyes this isn’t the time for that. Lily has no idea what he’s been through and all of a sudden the squire is a real boy. Well, one who looks like he’s been training to use that sword his whole life.
They go from circumstantial friends to being awkward around one another – stiffly formal. They still have a major problem and there are lives at stake. This isn’t the time to flirt or goof around.
A sneaky two-tailed kitsune is having none of this, so he throws Caleb’s father’s sword into the moat. Caleb thinks he’s being messed around with (he is), so Lily descends to get the sword, Caleb insisting he can do it but she’s faster – she pops out of the water like the lady of the lake anointing a hero of legend, even though they’re relatively low in status in their respective walks of life and the only witness is the furry schemer who chucked the sword in the first place. It ends with them splashing each other and being friendly again – for a minute forgetting about the seriousness of the situation and being able to breathe and be human.
I’ve seen reviews comparing this book to The Pied Piper and Pinocchio, for me this cements was the first one where we’re getting the image of the Knight and the Lady, even though it’s the squire and the shepherdess, the exchange between the two is tender but at the same time playful – it’s meant to cement the relationship, but also make them realize that the grand and magical doesn’t have to come from a cursed castle but the ordinary and every day.
And yes, he almost kissed her with the leech comment.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
L.T.Getty is a Manitoba Paramedic. She received her degree in English in 2006 fromthe University of Winnipeg, and has gone on to write several novels. Her latesttitle, Titan’s Ascent, is a sword and sorcery forthcoming from Champagne Booksfor 2025.
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6479207.L_T_Getty
Twitter/X:http://www.twitter.com/getty_lt
Instagram:http://www.instagram.com/leiagetty
BuyLinks:
Amazon(US):https://www.amazon.com/Fable-Wood-String-Getty-ebook/dp/B0DDDQZ2LF?ref_=ast_author_dp
Amazon(Canada): https://www.amazon.ca/Fable-Wood-String-L-Getty/dp/1777698073
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/it/it/ebook/a-fable-of-wood-and-string
Barnesand Noble:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-fable-of-wood-and-string-l-t-getty/1145983492
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
L.T.Getty will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 9, 2025
Blog Tour: LETHAL IMPULSE by Steve Rush
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Steve Rush will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
He’s riddled with guilt. She’s annoyed with the status quo.
The death of a crime boss’s daughter forces Detective Neil Caldera to leave NYC. He seeks refuge in the tranquil embrace of a small town, where he finds himself entangled in the labyrinth of a teenage girl’s murder.
Tess Fleishman’s pale skin and extreme weight loss portrays a disease she wants others to see. While inside, a compulsion for Neil fuels her passion to have him or destroy him.
As Neil delves into the heart of the town's secrets, will truth deliver solace? Or will Tess prevail?
Read an Excerpt
Happenstance played no role in the display now before him. The artist’s rendition displayed evidence of a warped mind. Malevolence flaunted in the form of a portrait painted with blood.
Neil widened the beam of light with a left twist of the flashlight’s head. Shock jolted him. The likeness on the barn wall stared back at him with remarkable resemblance.
“Holy mother of Moses. I understand why you didn’t want to come back.”
Neil looked at the front and rear doors. Light from an approaching vehicle rose on the front of the barn. Gaps around the door allowed enough streaks of light through to make shadows look as if the light infused them with life. The vehicle continued onward. Every shadow around Neil returned to stationary ominous forms. He half-turned toward the front and listened. The whine of tires on pavement diminished. Silence again filled the barn.
The hinges squawked against Neil’s shove on the right-side door. Chad turned his head in Neil’s direction. He was sitting on the ground with his back to the weathered wood. Knees drawn up, arms wrapped around them and his right hand clamped on his left wrist.
“It’s you.” Chad shuddered, tilted his head toward the barn. “In there. The picture on the wall looks like you.”
Neil glanced inside. The image renewed in his mind. “Is that the reason you called me? To have me look at someone’s depravity smeared on a barn wall?”
Chad shook his head. “No, sir.”
“Then why?”
“I know what you did.”
About the Author:
Steve Rush is an award-winning author whose experience includes tenure as homicide detective and chief forensic investigator for a national consulting firm. He worked with the late Joseph L. Burton, M.D, under whom he mastered his skills, and investigated many deaths alongside Dr. Jan Garavaglia of Dr. G: Medical Examiner fame. His specialties include crime scene reconstruction, injury causation, blood spatter analysis, occupant kinematics, and recovery of human skeletal remains.
Steve’s book Kill Your Characters; Crime Scene Tips for Writers was named finalist in the 2023 Silver Falchion Award for Best Nonfiction and Honorable Mention in the 2023 Readers’ Favorite Awards. Lethal Impulse won the 2022 Public Safety Writing Association’s Writing Competition for an unpublished novel, longlisted in the 2022 Page Turner Awards and joint first prize in the 2020 Chillzee KiMo T-E-N Contest.
Publishing credits:
Kill Your Characters; Crime Scene Tips for Writers, Genius Books, June 2022
Blood Red Deceit, Wings ePress, (thriller) September 2023
After Her Deceit, Wings ePress, (thriller) October 2024
Lethal Impulse, The Wild Rose Press, (romantic suspense/crime thriller) October 2024
Upcoming 2025 releases:
The Shocking Truth (crime thriller) presale 02/15/25, and Deadline 4:59 (crime thriller), Wings ePress
Purchase links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCC8KC8Y/ref=sr_1_1
The Wild Rose Press: https://wildrosepress.com/product/lethal-impulse/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Lethal%20Impulse-
ITunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781509258130
BooksAMillion: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781509258123
Website and social media links:
Website: https://www.steverush.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-rush-a20302149/
Substack: https://steverush.substack.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5217876
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/steve_rush
a Rafflecopter giveaway
