Babs Hightower's Blog, page 96
July 28, 2015
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE blog tour, review & giveaway
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Marty Wingate
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Potting Shed Mystery
(Potting Shed Mystery series Book 3)
Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Alibi (August 4, 2015)
Random House LLC
ASIN: B00PEPR70M
Synopsis
Perfect for fans of Laura Childs, Ellery Adams, and Jenn McKinlay, Marty Wingate’s enchanting Potting Shed Mystery series heads to Scotland as Pru Parke plans her wedding . . . all while a vengeful murderer is poised to strike again.
After her romantic idyll with the debonair Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse culminates in a marriage proposal, Pru Parke sets about arranging their nuptials while diving into a short-term gig at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. At hand is the authentication of a journal purportedly penned by eighteenth-century botanist and explorer Archibald Menzies. Compared to the chaos of wedding planning, studying the journal is an agreeable task . . . that is, until a search for a missing cat leads to the discovery of a dead body: One of Pru’s colleagues has been conked on the head with a rock and dumped from a bridge into the Water of Leith.
Pru can’t help wondering if the murder has something to do with the Menzies diary. Is the killer covering up a forgery? Among the police’s many suspects are a fallen aristocrat turned furniture maker, Pru’s overly solicitous assistant, even Pru herself. Now, in the midst of sheer torture by the likes of flamboyant wedding dress designers and eccentric church organists, Pru must also uncover the work of a sly murderer—unless this bride wants to walk down the aisle in handcuffs.
My thoughts: This is the 3rd book in the Potting Shed mysteries. Marty Wingate is a new to me author and I was not disappointed. I have not read the first 2 books but I did not feel like I was lost. The previous case was mentioned in this book and I felt like i was in good standing with the book as I read along.
Pru has been hired to authenticate a journal attributed to Archibald Menzies, the eighteenth-century botanist and explorer. She is butting heads with a colleague who thinks she should have had the job. When he is turned up dead after an argument with Pru, she is the logical suspect. Things start to get a bit complicated when a fold flame shows up and the wedding plans going to pot.
I loved the characters between the banter of Chris and Pru and the wedding plans being funny this series is great. The fact you are learning about gardening along the way is not bad either. If you enjoy cozies and gardening this is a great series for you. I will be checking out the other books.
About the Author
Marty Wingate is the author of two previous Potting Shed mysteries, The Garden Plot and The Red Book of Primrose House. Her new Birds of a Feather Mystery series debuted with The Rhyme of the Magpie. Wingate is a regular contributor toCountry Gardens and other magazines. She also leads gardening tours throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and North America. More Potting Shed and Birds of a Feather mysteries are planned.
Author Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martywingateauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/martywingate
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/453259.Marty_Wingate
Website: www.martywingate.com
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marthawingate/
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Marty-Wingate/e/B001JS1AIS
Purchase Links
Amazon Barnes and Noble Books a Million eBooks.com Google Play iBooks
The post BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE blog tour, review & giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
July 27, 2015
AND THEN FOREVER by Shirley Jump blog tour & giveaway

Enter to Win a
$75.00 Amazon eGift Card

AND THEN FOREVER
Fortune’s Island #1
Shirley Jump
Releasing July 28th, 2015
TKA Distribution

Welcome
to Fortune’s Island, where the only rule is to follow your heart.
Love is an extravagance Darcy
Williams can’t afford. She prefers the simple life, which includes waitressing
at The Love Shack and avoiding temptation. But when a forbidden part of her
past steps off the ferry, her safe, guarded existence is turned upside down.
Kincaid Foster has never gotten over
his first love. When he sees the wild, beautiful blonde again, dancing her way
around The Love Shack, the memories of Darcy’s soft skin, gentle touch, and
heated kisses come rushing back. As the privileged son of a wealthy family,
Kincaid was too young to stand up to his overbearing father when he and Darcy
were together. Now, he’s back on the island—free of the family shackles—and the
chiseled, big-time lawyer wants a second chance.
But, Darcy made a promise to keep a
secret from Kincaid—a secret that is now a six-year-old girl who looks just
like her daddy. If Kincaid finds out about their daughter, Darcy could lose
everything. But, she can’t resist the man who stole her heart all those years
ago. And it doesn’t take long before both of them realize that anything can
happen on a hot summer night.
BUY NOW
Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo
She knew she should stay away from him. Knew she should protect her heart. Knew that falling for him could have far-reaching consequences. But knowing all that and sticking to it when he was touching her were two entirely different things. “Why don’t you come by after I get home tonight?” she said, before she could think twice. “I’ll bring home some dessert, and we can share.”
Abby arched a brow and smiled at her brother. Kincaid’s gaze stayed on Darcy’s, those eyes a girl could lose herself in, as Darcy had, a hundred times before. “It’s a date.”
She nodded, as if this was no big deal, but as she turned away, a smile curved across her face and her heart stuttered, and her steps became lighter. She went through the rest of her shift with this giddy undertone to her every thought, like a song that carried on her breath.
Kincaid and Abby ate their desserts, then paid their bill and headed for the door. At the last second, Kincaid turned back, flashed Darcy one of his amazing smiles, and then mouthed see you soon. She blushed like a schoolgirl, and nearly dropped the drink order on her tray.
By the time the last song was sung at The Love Shack and the lights were turned off, Darcy was moving at a record pace. It was as if she couldn’t clean the tables or set the chairs up fast enough. Jillian and Grace just gave her a knowing smile, and shoved her out the door a little early.
Darcy walked home in the dark, quiet night, but this time her steps were quick, and her mind on her destination. She carried a bag with two pieces of cake, and wondered vaguely if she had enough time to shower before Kincaid arrived.
She rounded the corner to her house, saw the waiting light and Nona sitting in a chair inside. Darcy hurried up the stairs, rushed Nona out of there in a blip, then hopped in the shower and scrubbed off the worst of the work day. Five minutes later, she had changed into a sundress, brushed her stubborn curls into loose waves, and pulled a bottle of white wine out of the fridge.
There was a soft knock at her door, and her pulse skittered. Kincaid, her mind sang. Kincaid is here.
It was how she had felt every single day that summer, as if the world had suddenly turned right side up, just because he was near. She crossed the room, gave one last nervous pat to her hair, then pulled open the door. “Hi.”
His gaze roved over her. “Wow. You look…incredible.”
“Thanks.” She felt her cheeks heat again, and wondered who this new Darcy was. Before this, she never blushed, never got embarrassed. She had her shit together—until Kincaid came back in her life. Then she was eighteen again, and hopelessly in love. “Want to sit on the porch? It’s a small house and I don’t want to wake Emma.”
Truth be told, she was afraid that if she invited him in, she’d be all too aware of how few steps it was to her bedroom. How she could just take his hand and lead him in there, let the whole night stretch before them. So instead she grabbed the dessert, the bottle of wine and two glasses, and headed out to the two Adirondack chairs on her porch. She set a small table between them, then handed Kincaid a slice of cake and a fork. “It’s peanut butter chocolate. One of my favorites from that bakery.”
He took a bite and rolled his eyes. “Oh my God. That is good. Have you had this before?”
She nodded. “It’s one of my favorites.”
“Here, have a bite.” He forked off a morsel, then held it out to her.
Darcy leaned forward, her eyes on Kincaid’s, his on hers, thinking that sharing food was one of the sexiest things a couple could do. Her lips closed over the fork, and hunger flickered in Kincaid’s features. She chewed, swallowed, and moaned. “I think they put pheromones in those cakes. It’s almost…orgasmic.”
“Orgasmic, huh?” His gaze met hers, those hazel eyes dark and mysterious in the dim light on the porch. Heat unfurled in the small space between them. “Maybe we should compare the two. Purely for research.”
“Purely.”
“It could lead to the next scientific discovery.”
She swallowed hard, the dessert, the wine, forgotten. “So, it would be a contribution to science?”
“Might even win us a Nobel Prize.”
“Hmmm…that would be good on my resume.” She smiled at him, then decided there was no point in pretending she gave a damn about the cake or the wine, and got to her feet. “Suddenly I’m in a very scientific mood.”
“Me, too.” He took her hand, and they abandoned everything on the porch, and headed inside, across the front room and into her bedroom. She flicked on the bedside lamp, then stood beside her queen-sized bed and thought it looked both way too big and way too small.
Then Kincaid laid his hands on her waist and leaned down to kiss her, and she stopped caring about anything other than the taste of him in her mouth, and the way he touched her, and how very, very much she wanted him.



New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing
romance so she can avoid the towering stack of dirty dishes, eat copious
amounts of chocolate and reward herself with trips to the mall. Look for her
all-new novella in the anthology ASK ME WHY (with Marie Force, Virginia Kantra
and Jodi Thomas), as well as the Sweet and Savory Romance series, including the
USA Today bestselling book, THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE, on Amazon, and her
Sweetheart Sisters series, starting with THE SWEETHEART BARGAIN.
Visit her website at www.ShirleyJump.com for author news and a booklist, and follow her on
Facebook at www.Facebook.com/shirleyjump.author for giveaways
and deep discussions about important things like chocolate and shoes.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

The post AND THEN FOREVER by Shirley Jump blog tour & giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
July 24, 2015
She Dreamed of Dragons by Elizabeth J.M. Walker blog tour
Young Adult Fantasy Novel ~
She Dreamed of Dragons!!
Follow the tour to read exclusive excerpts, guest posts, reviews, and spotlights.

Could a dragon mage be the next ruler of the magical kingdom of Dorlith?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Title: She Dreamed of Dragons
Author Name: Elizabeth J.M. Walker
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: Approx. 234 pages
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9947490-6-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-9947490-5-5
Release Date: July 17, 2015
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing
This is a re-release tour. Book previously published through a different publishing company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About She Dreamed of Dragons:
Trina is a fifteen-year-old dragon mage in a kingdom ruled by witches and wizards – the same people who have brought dragons and other magical creatures near extinction. Trina can barely control her fire powers and is desperate for an apprenticeship, but finding a fellow dragon mage to be her teacher is proving more difficult than coming across an actual dragon.
Then there’s the Royal Tourney – a competition presented by the Queen to find a successor to the throne. Trina heads to the competition in the hopes of sparking some interest in the mage society and earning herself an apprenticeship.
She never intended to be a frontrunner in the competition.
She never meant to catch the attention of the evil witch trying to take over the throne.
She never expected to fall for a wizard.
Now Trina must face tough decisions about who she is and who she could become. Trina must ask herself: Can she really win the Royal Tourney?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read an Excerpt:
Trina Dallow, a dragon mage, stood outside a quaint cottage in the Whispering Woods, not too far from the Mage Academy. Under the guidance of Headmistress Ludella, she was on a search to find an apprenticeship with a senior dragon mage. There were no dragon mage teachers at the Mage Academy. Dragon mages were rare to begin with and most preferred questing over teaching at a school that was quickly turning into a dump. So far every dragon mage Ludella sent her to had turned her down. None of them wanted a lanky fifteen-year-old girl tagging along on their heroic adventures. An endless month of rejections had gone by, but Ludella kept pushing her on to the next possible mentor.
Trina nervously fiddled with the shoulder straps of her brown leather backpack before knocking. She heard footsteps in the cottage and she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. The door creaked open and there stood a tiny woman with short grey hair and gold-rimmed glasses.
“May I help you?” she asked pleasantly.
“Um…yes. I’m Trina. I mean, I’m Petrina Dallow. I’m here to see Archibald Pennywise, the um…great dragon mage,” Trina said.
“You’re here to see Archie?” the woman asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“Yes…”
“Oh, do come in,” the woman said. “I’m Mrs. Pennywise, Archie’s mother. He’s in the basement. He must have forgotten to tell me he was having a lady friend over.”
“Oh…okay,” Trina said hesitantly and stepped into the cottage. It smelled like blueberry muffins and the walls were covered in floral wallpaper. It felt very cozy and safe. Trina’s nerves waned.
“Come, come,” said Mrs. Pennywise and led Trina to a door in the hallway. She opened it and called down the long flight of steps, “Archie! There’s a girl here to see you!”
“What?” came a gruff voice.
“I said, there’s a girl here to see you!” Mrs. Pennywise called again.
“A what is here to see me?” Archie yelled back.
“There’s a girl! Here! To see you!” Mrs. Pennywise hollered and then sweetly smiled at Trina.
“Send her down!” Archie called.
“There you go, dear,” Mrs. Pennywise said and motioned for Trina to go down the stairs.
Trina nodded and placed a foot on the first squeaky step as Mrs. Pennywise gently shut the door behind her. It smelled more like old socks and paint than blueberry muffins in the basement. When she reached the last step, she saw the room brightly lit with many candles. A man with greasy black hair slicked back into a ponytail sat at a desk. He was deep in concentration as he painted a tiny dragon figurine. Blue plaid sheets trailed off the bed in the corner. An old rust-coloured sofa sat under a framed painting of a fire-breathing dragon and a gramophone with a pile of records sat next to it on the floor. Many bookshelves lined the walls of the room, overflowing with books, lit candles, and dragon figurines in various stages of being painted.
“Hello?” Trina said tentatively, fearing she’d break the man’s concentration and mess up his painting. “Are you Archibald Pennywise? The great dragon mage?”
He looked up, his eyes dark and beady. He studied her for a moment and then put his brush in a cup of water and put his paints away. Trina waited, nervously fiddling with her backpack straps again. If he really was a dragon mage, he seemed a bit different than the rest Ludella had sent her to see. The last one told her she was a sissy because she was afraid to go on a heroic horseback riding adventure with him. The one before that was a big brawny guy who was embarrassed to admit she was more powerful than he was. He had sent her packing, with a message to Ludella stating the exact opposite: she was too weak and unskilled to be his apprentice. Ludella had frowned and ripped up the letter in disgust.
“I’m here about the apprenticeship,” Trina told Archibald. “Ludella sent a letter?”
“I know,” Archibald said. “So, you think you’ve inherited magic gifted by a dragon then?”
“Pretty sure I’m a dragon mage, yeah,” Trina told him.
“What can you do?” Archibald asked as he busied himself organizing paper and paints on his desk.
“Generally, I set things on fire,” Trina told him. “Well, not always on purpose, though. The greenhouse and what’s-his-name were both accidents. And I wish I didn’t let my hair catch on fire so much—”
“You don’t sound very disciplined,” Archibald said.
“That’s why I need a teacher. There aren’t any at the Mage Academy, so Ludella has been sending me out and about, looking for a dragon mage who will take me as an apprentice. So I can learn stuff. And to prevent me from accidentally setting another building or person on fire.”
“Was the person you set on fire a wizard?” Archibald asked.
“No.”
“That’s a shame.”
Archibald was silent for a moment before blowing out a black candle that was sitting on his desk. He motioned for her to come closer. She took a few steps forward. She knew what was coming next; they all did the same thing.
“Light this candle,” he told her, the exact words she was expecting to hear.
Trina quickly felt for her fire within and her body instantly grew warmer. Before Archibald could blink, every unlit candle in the room burst into flame.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Purchase Links:
Amazon Kindle – US –
Amazon Paperback – US –
Mirror World Publishing –
http://mirror-world-publishing.myshopify.com/products/she-dreamed-of-dragons-e-book
Barnes & Noble –
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meet the Author:
Elizabeth J. M. Walker lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She has always loved books and writing. As a teen she discovered zines, which inspired her to publish her own litzine of odd fairy tales for over a decade.
She Dreamed of Dragons is her first novel.
Connect with her on her website: www.elizabethjmwalker.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow the Tour – Schedule Posted at the Following Link:
http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/tour-schedule-re-release-of-she-dreamed.html

The post She Dreamed of Dragons by Elizabeth J.M. Walker blog tour appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
July 23, 2015
DRAPE EXPECTATIONS by Karen Rose Smith blog tour, review & Giveaway
Drape Expectations
by Karen Rose Smith
Drape Expectations (A Caprice Deluca Mystery)
Series: A Caprice Deluca Mystery (Book 4)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington (July 28, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1617737701
E-Book ASIN: B00P53E0G2
Synopsis:
Caprice De Luca’s former client and now friend Ace Richland–an 80’s rock star–asks her for a favor. Can she quickly stage his girlfriend’s house to sell? Widow Alanna Goodwin, a transplanted Southern beauty, will be moving in with him! Immediately Caprice realizes Alanna’s southern charm can be turned on and off at will. Caprice agrees to stage Alanna’s Kismet antebellum-styled mansion for Ace’s sake. But she soon learns Alanna doesn’t have a genuine love for her cat Mirabelle and also uncovers a plot her new client is hatching to sabotage Ace’s comeback. However, before she can tell Ace, Alanna is murdered and Ace is the prime suspect.
As Caprice investigates, she learns Alanna had more secrets than pie safes. With her Cocker Spaniel Lady by her side, she tracks down clues and adopts Alanna’s cat. In the midst of some of her own family upheaval–her uncle has moved in with her parents–she finds herself with a dilemma. Grant Weatherford, her brother’s law partner, advises Ace and reveals more of his past to her. Seth Randolph, the doctor she dates, wants her to meet his family. She must choose between them.
Danger stalks Caprice. Will her refresher self-defense course save her life? Only if she keeps her wits about her and Lady by her side.
STAGED TO DEATH, Book 1
DEADLY DECOR, Book 2
GILT BY ASSOCIATION, Book 3 February 2015
DRAPE EXPECTATIONS, Book 4 August 2015
SILENCE OF THE LAMPS, Book 5 March 2016
Review: I love Karen’s books she knows how to write to keep the reader turing the pages. You will be kept on the edge of your set with book 4 of the A Caprice Deluca Mystery series.
Drape Expectations is the 4th installment in the Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mystery series. Caprice has been hired by her rock star friend Ace Richland to stage the home of his new girlfriend, Alanna Goodwin. Alanna is a Southern Belle but not as she seems. Ace is the main suspect when Alanna is killed and Caprice helps him out.
Caprice has taken in Alanna’s cat, Mirabelle. Dom, Caprice’s uncle has come home, causing issues in the family and Caprice has reached the point where she must decide between two suitors, Grant or Seth.
Funny at times and gripping what more could you ask for in this great read!
Award winning and best-selling author, Karen Rose Smith’s plots are all about emotion. She began writing in her early teens when she listened to music and created stories to accompany the songs. An only child, she spent a lot of time in her imagination and with books–Nancy Drew, Zane Gray, The Black Stallion and Anne of Green Gables. She dreamed of brothers and sisters and a big family like her mother and father came from. This is the root of her plotlines that include small communities and family relationships as part of everyday living. Residing in Pennsylvania with her husband and four rescued cats, she welcomes interaction with readers on social media.
Author Links:
Webpage: http://karenrosesmithmysteries.com/
Blog: http://karenrosesmith.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenRoseSmithBooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenrosesmith
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21863.Karen_Rose_Smith
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/karosm/
Purchase Links:
Amazon B&N
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The post DRAPE EXPECTATIONS by Karen Rose Smith blog tour, review & Giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
July 22, 2015
Cover reveal The Damnable Legacy by G. Elizabeth Kretchmer
Cover reveal day for The Damnable Legacy
The Damnable Legacy.
Lynn Van Swol still regrets the decision she made thirty years ago to place her daughter for adoption so she could climb the highest mountains of the world. Frankie Rizzoni is the troubled biological granddaughter Lynn has never known. And Beth Mahoney is a minister’s wife with terminal cancer and the only one who knows the relationship between the two. She designs a plan upon her deathbed to bring Lynn and Frankie together, but now, narrating from the afterlife, she must helplessly watches her legacy threatens to unravel. The Damnable Legacy is a story about both love and survival, exploring the importance of attachment, place, and faith, and asking how far we should go to achieve our goals⎯and at what cost.
Early Praise:
Ellen Waterston, founder/president of The Writing Ranch and author of A Woman of a Certain Age Walks the Camino, had this to say about the book:
“G. Elizabeth Kretchmer has skillfully and authoritatively woven an ambitious and complex telling, a multi-layered tale well worth the reading. This is clearly a story this writer came to tell. Hopefully there will be many more to follow.”
Release date is set for 7-28-15
ABOUT G. Elizabeth Kretchmer
G. Elizabeth Kretchmer holds an MFA in Writing from Pacific University. Her short fiction, essays, and freelance work have appeared in The New York Times, High Desert Journal, Silk Road Review, and other publications. When she’s not writing, she facilitates therapeutic and wellness writing workshops and spends time in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and three adopted sons. Visit her website at
www.gekretchmer.com
.
The post Cover reveal The Damnable Legacy by G. Elizabeth Kretchmer appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
THE BRIDE WORE DENIM by Lizbeth Selvig & Giveaway
Blurb
When Harper Lee Crockett returns home to Paradise Ranch, Wyoming, the last thing she expects is to fall head-over-heels in lust for Cole, childhood neighbor and her older sister’s long-time boyfriend. The spirited and artistic Crockett sister has finally learned to resist her craziest impulses, but this latest trip home and Cole’s rough-and-tough appeal might be too much for her fading self-control.
Cole Wainwright has long been fascinated by the sister who’s always stood out from the crowd. His relationship with Amelia, the eldest Crockett sister, isn’t as perfect as it seems, and with Harper back in town, he sees everything he’s been missing. Cole knows they have no future together—he’s tied to the land and she’s created a successful life in the big city—but neither of them can escape their growing attraction or inconvenient feelings.
As Harper struggles to come to grips with new family responsibilities and her forbidden feelings for Cole, she must decide whether to listen to her head or to give her heart what it wants.
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/06/the-bride-wore-denim-seven-brides-for.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24331549-the-bride-wore-denim?from_search=true&search_version=service_impr
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/147787-seven-brides-for-seven-cowboys
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bride-wore-denim-lizbeth-selvig/1121148058?ean=9780062413925
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-bride-wore-denim/id954591134?mt=11
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-bride-wore-denim
Author Info/Links
Lizbeth Selvig writes fun, heartwarming contemporary romantic fiction for Avon books. Her debut novel, The Rancher and the Rock Star, was released in 2012. Her second, Rescued By A Stranger is a 2014 RWA RITA® Award nominee. Liz lives in Minnesota with her best friend (aka her husband), a hyperactive border collie named Magic and a gray Arabian gelding named Jedi. After working as a newspaper journalist and magazine editor, and raising an equine veterinarian daughter and a talented musician son, Lizbeth entered Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® contest in 2010 with The Rancher and the Rock Star (then titled Songbird) and won the Single Title Contemporary category.
In her spare time, she loves being a brand new grandma to Evelyn Grace as well as to hike, quilt, read, horseback ride, and play with her four-legged grandchildren, of which there are nearly twenty, including a wallaby, an alpaca, a donkey, a pig, a sugar glider, and many dogs, cats and horses (pics of all appear on her website www.lizbethselvig.com). She loves connecting with readers—contact her any time!
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
Website: http://www.lizbethselvig.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LizbethSelvigAuthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lizbethselvig
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5730878.Lizbeth_Selvig
Rafflecopter Giveaway (10 (Ten) Digital Downloads of The Bride Wore Denim via Bluefire)
Excerpt:
“I never asked why you came out here in the first place.”
He gave a quick frown, an attractive wrinkle forming between his brows. He’d changed over the past decade. All signs of the cute-faced boy and young man he’d been had disappeared beneath the angles and planes of a stunning adult-male face.
“Oh yeah, I guess I did have an official mission,” he said. “Joely got back from the barn fifteen minutes ago and we wondered where you ended up. Your grandmother has called an all-hands meeting.”
“Grandma Sadie?” She shouldn’t have been surprised. Sadie Crockett had to be the only ninety-four-year-old who could still command her family like a naval admiral. “What’s our matriarch got under her bonnet now? Another private prayer meeting? A final eulogy? Can’t be about the will; that isn’t a secret.”
“I don’t know.” Cole said. “The only thing she told me was that attendance isn’t optional.”
“Crazy old lady,” Harper said fondly, feeling the mood start to slide.
Grandma Sadie wasn’t even a little crazy. She was still sharp as a pinprick, and if she wanted a meeting she had all the moral authority in the world. At ninety-four she had just buried a son.
As Harper and her sisters had buried a father.
As their mother had buried a husband.
And not one of them understood how Samuel Crockett could be dead. In the space of a finger snap, the hurricane that had been his big, intense life had gone aground and dissipated long before any expert had predicted or expected.
She tried to cling to the silliness of the chicken chase, but it was fully gone. A tear escaped, and she swiped it away before it could traverse her cheek. They’d all cried plenty in the past days. Wasn’t that enough of a tribute to the man who’d inspired awe, respect, sometimes even adulation, but never warm, schmaltzy emotion?
Cole’s arm came around her and he pulled her close. She felt his kiss on the top of her head.
“Look.” He pointed across the yard, past the working heart of Paradise Ranch with its barns, sheds, and cattle pens, to the view of Grand Teton National Park sixty miles away. In the deep purple sky over the mountains, one fat sunbeam had beaten back the rain clouds to create a brilliant rainbow. “I think that came out for you,” he said. “You’ve always known how to pull hope out of a rain cloud.”
How did he know to say something that would soothe her so perfectly?
“If only my father had shown me a fraction of that kind of insight. After all these years—that was really nice of you to say.”
“You weren’t big on letting us see your work when we were younger, but I still caught the gist of your talent. We all did. I know you still have it.”
The post THE BRIDE WORE DENIM by Lizbeth Selvig & Giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
July 21, 2015
Other Side of Beautiful release blitz

Title: Other Side of Beautiful
Author: Sarah Zolton Arthur
Publisher: Limitless Publishing

years ago, Elle Dinninger left home for college and never looked
back.
A
secret nervous breakdown and an awful family were all the incentive
she needed to distance herself from her past. Despite her mother’s
relentless efforts to drag her down, Elle has a set career path and
wonderful friends, including the sexy serial dater, Benton Hayes.
Ben
Hayes longs for the one thing he fears most…
Aware
of his reputation, which he cultivates to avoid serious
relationships, he’s seen how destructive—and even deadly—love
can be. But he’s been friends with Elle since freshman year, and
wants more from the beautiful, curvy co-ed, if he can find the
courage to tell her how he feels.
Elle’s
tormented history won’t lie quietly.
She
tries to move forward, but others pursue their own agendas at her
expense, leaving Elle vulnerable and unable to trust anyone…even
Ben, so she falls back into destructive habits.
Ben
fights to help Elle overcome her fears and insecurities, but when one
of her darkest secrets is revealed, he seems to pull away.
Elle
is shattered and decides the only thing left to do is to disappear…
Lost
in her own negative self-image and the reopening of old wounds, she
can only be saved by Ben’s unconditional love.
Can
Ben get past his jaded views in time to make Elle see how beautiful
she truly is?
Or
are the star-crossed lovers destined for tragedy?



About The Author:

Sarah lives in Michigan with her two sons, one IS a teenager and one ACTS like one, where she spends her days daydreaming about living somewhere that stays warm year round (when she’s not BUSY writing or reading).
In Sarah’s world all books have kissing and end in some form of HEA.
__________________________________________________________________________
HOSTED BY:

The post Other Side of Beautiful release blitz appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
BEYOND A DOUBT BOOK TOUR, Guest post & Giveaway
Beyond A Doubt
by Nancy Cole Silverman
Beyond a Doubt
(A Carol Childs Mystery Book 2)
Cozy Mystery
Paperback: 244 pages
Publisher: Henery Press (July 14, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1941962732h
E-Book ASIN: B00W5VI838
When reporter Carol Childs is called to the scene of a body dump she has no idea she’s about to uncover a connection to a string of missing girls. Young, attractive women drawn to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood via an internet promise of stardom and romance have been disappearing. A judge’s daughter leaves behind a clue and a trip down Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame reveals a connection to a high powered real estate mogul and to a cartel targeting girls for human trafficking.
Old Hollywood has its secrets, its impersonators and backdoor entrances to old speakeasies and clubs where only those with the proper credentials can go. And when Carol Childs gets too close, she finds herself politically at odds with powers that threaten to undue her career and like the very girls she’s seeking, disappear.
Books in the Carol Childs Mystery Series:
SHADOW OF DOUBT (#1)
BEYOND A DOUBT (#2)
WITHOUT A DOUBT (#3) January 2016
Guest Post
From Thirty-Seconds to Fiction
By Nancy Cole Silverman
When I first started working in broadcast news I was amazed how little time was allotted for an actual news story. Most people who get their news from radio and TV don’t realize the stories are little more than thirty-second blurbs, sandwiched in between more anemic mini-blurbs about shootings and car high-jacking and then punctuated with bookend commercials selling diet drugs and sexual enhancement products. The public gets more information in a Viagra commercial than they do in a broadcast news piece about a murder.
I suppose that’s one of the reasons why I’m having such fun with the Carol Childs Mystery Series with Henery Press. When I retired to write fiction, writing about what happened behind mic in a news room seemed as important as what went out on the air, and frequently more interesting. It was the most natural thing in the world for me to do. I simply switched from writing for the air to writing for the blank page, with one major difference. I no longer had a crazed editor standing over my shoulder with a sickle pointing to a clock telling me to stick to the facts and hurry it up.
No longer was I a prisoner to budgets cuts and time restrictions or station policy that dictated the appropriateness of certain stories. My days of dealing with management regimes that refused to cover stories they didn’t think fit the station’s demographic were over.
Now I could pick and choose the stories I wanted. I could make-up a blend of characters, some real and some as wild as I could imagine. I could write about those over-sized personalities, those self-proclaimed gurus who editorialized about people and places they didn’t know like they were God’s gift to the airwaves. I could share inside secrets about darkened studios, stained with the smell of stale pizza and cigarette smoke, or on-air psychologist who dished out love advice on the air, while falling apart during a station break. I could dish stories about those talkie-fans that hung around outside the studio doors at night, and who became as much a part of the broadcast as the shows they listened to.
In my latest book, Beyond A Doubt, KCHC reporter Carol Childs is called to the scene of a body dump at five in the morning. When Carol realizes the body being pulled from the canyon in front of her is an innocent young girl – not much older than her own daughter – she’s not about to let station policy dictate her investigation.
I like Carol because she’s feisty. She’s a middle-aged mom, in a start-over career with a half-pint boss who views her as the world’s oldest cub reporter, and she’s determined to make it or break it. She’s loyal to friends and thrust into positions that challenge her loyalty and what she believes to be true. Work and family are a constant balancing act and she won’t settle for less than having it all.
This was a fun book to write on many levels, both for the mystery of the nightclub scene, old Hollywood and the romance. But perhaps best of all was because I was able to find in Carol a dogged determination that I believe woman backed into a corner possess. Rather than meeting brawn with brawn, Carol, faces brute force head on, using her feminine strengths, her brains, beauty and ingenuity to defeat her enemies.
Giveaway
About This Author
Nancy Cole Silverman credits her twenty-five years in news and talk radio for helping her to develop an ear for storytelling. But it wasn’t until 2001 after she retired from news and copywriting that she was able to sit down and write fiction fulltime. Much of what Silverman writes about today she admits is pulled from events that were reported on from inside some of Los Angeles’ busiest newsrooms where she spent the bulk of her career. In the last ten years she has written numerous short stories and novelettes. Today Silverman lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Bruce and two standard poodles.
Author Links
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Cole-Silverman/314202208737024?ref=h
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4027978.Nancy_Cole_Silverman
Twitter: @NancyColeSilve1
Purchase Links
Amazon B&N
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
July 21 – Babs Book Bistro – Guest Post
July 22 – readalot – Review
July 23 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – Spotlight
July 24 – dru’s book musings – Guest Post
July 25 – Christa Reads and Writes – Review
July 26 – Frankie Bow – Interview
July 27 – Latte Da – Guest Post
July 28 – Musings and Ramblings – Guest Post
July 29 – Hobby Lady – Spotlight
July 29 – Lilac Reviews – Guest Post
July 30 – My Devotional Thoughts – Review
July 31 – LibriAmoriMiei – Review
August 1 – A Blue Million Books – Interview
August 2 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – Spotlight
August 3 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review
August 3 – Brooke Blogs – Guest Post
The post BEYOND A DOUBT BOOK TOUR, Guest post & Giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
Release Blast for RELEASE ME by Ann Marie Walker & Amy K. Rogers

Enter to Win
$50.00 Amazon eGift Card

RELEASE ME
Chasing Fire #2
Ann Marie Walker & Amy K. Rogers
Releasing July 21st, 2015
Berkley/Intermix

The second in the “seriously sexy and sinfully steamy”* Chasing Fire series, about a pain too deep to forgive and a passion too hot to forget…
Alessandra Sinclair knows that Hudson Chase is the last man she should want. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks has grown into a man who would do anything to get ahead, even if it means breaking Allie’s heart. But whenever she’s near him, the attraction between them is undeniable. And now that they’re working together, keeping her distance from Hudson is almost as impossible as keeping her feelings in check…
Hudson already lost Allie once and he refuses to lose her again. He’s determined to use their new business partnership to rekindle the spark he knows is still there. Only the closer he gets to winning her over, the clearer it becomes there are still secrets that could tear them apart for good…
Buy Now
Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | GooglePlay


As Allie watched the Chicago River flow into Lake Michigan, she thought about the last time she’d seen Hudson Chase. It was the morning she’d uncovered the truth about his plan to take control of Ingram Media. She stared unseeingly at the gray horizon and her thoughts began to drift back to that day. Hudson standing in his foyer, a towel slung low around his hips as water dripped onto the hardwood floor. He’d begged her to let him explain, but what explanation could have possibly justified his lies and betrayal? She’d refused to hear him out, and while in her heart she knew it had been the right decision, the look on his face as the elevator doors slid closed that morning had haunted her ever since.
Behind her the conference room door opened with a soft click and the low murmur of voices told her the other board members had begun to filter into the room. But instead of greeting them and engaging in the sort of sympathetic small talk that had consumed the past few days, she remained by the windows, enjoying the last moments of calm before the eventual storm.
There was a sudden flurry of activity outside the meeting room, and instinctively she knew he had arrived. A wave of anxiety rolled through the pit of her stomach, but she took a deep, calming breath. These board meetings, while infrequent, would be inevitable. The sooner she got used to seeing him in this setting, the better.
She turned around, and a moment later Hudson Chase strolled into the boardroom. The hum of quiet conversation ground to a halt and all heads turned as one to assess the corporate raider who’d quietly amassed the second largest percentage of Ingram shares right out from under their noses.
The sight of him nearly took her breath away. Wearing a charcoal suit, white shirt, and silver-gray tie, he looked every bit the powerful, in-control CEO. But Allie knew the passion that burned behind those eyes, and when she looked at his dark, unruly hair, she knew he’d run his fingers through it just before stepping into the room. He moved with measured grace, his muscles flexing beneath his perfectly tailored suit. Allie knew every inch of that body intimately, how it felt beneath her touch, how it moved over her . . . inside her. She knew the man, not the corporate myth. He was the one who she’d fallen for. He was the one who’d broken her heart.


Though thousands of miles apart, Ann
Marie Walker and Amy K. Rogers are in constant contact, plotting story lines
and chatting about their love of alpha males, lemon drop martinis and British
supermodel, David Gandy. You can find them on twitter as @AnnMarie_Walker and
@Amy_KRogers.

Amy K. Rogers
Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Ann Marie Walker
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Haven’t Joined the #HudsonChasers?

Buy Now
Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | GooglePlay

Pre-Order Now
Amazon | BAM | B&N | GooglePlay | iTunes | Kobo

The post Release Blast for RELEASE ME by Ann Marie Walker & Amy K. Rogers appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.
July 20, 2015
Red Hot Candy blog tour & giveaway

Ready to sweeten up your summer with something RED HOT?
RED HOT CANDY, a collection of 22 all-new sweet to spicy romances,
is available for pre-order now. Welcome to the pre-release party!
Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

ON SALE FOR A LIMITED TIME!
Over 2000 pages! 22 Books!

Stock up for your summer reading with one great box set! Twenty-two NYT, USA Today, and best-selling authors have banded together to bring you 22 all-new, delicious romance books about love, passion, and the best things in life!
These books are all brand new and are only available in this box set!
These bite-sized pieces of fun are just the thing for quick reads for sunning at the beach, lazing beside the pool, or lounging around on vacation. Some are sweet, some are succulent, and some are Red Hot!
Twenty-two new book boyfriends are here to woo you in this big box of books. Sit back, send the kids outside to play, and indulge in this sinfully delicious sampler of the best authors writing today. Dive into these decadent stories about naughty billionaires, broken stuntmen, cowboys, bear shifters, magic men, MMA fighters, bearded lumber-sexuals, bad boys, and shy guys who just need to be coaxed out their shells.

Click to pre-order this special box set before it’s gone forever!
Amazon
Barnes & Noble iTunes
Google Play
Kobo

The Things I Never Said by Jo Raven ~ It’s Micah and Evangeline’s first Summer together– so why is Micah acting strange? Evangeline would do anything to see him smile.
Perfectly Equipped by Lacey Silks ~ First impressions at a nudist resort are everything, but April never expected to meet the perfectly equipped man.
Kidnapped (A Billionaires in Disguise: Rae Epilogue) by Blair Babylon ~ Not even a billionaire’s private security can protect you from your family.
A FAN-TAB-ULOUS NIGHT by Olivia Rigal ~ Ryan doesn’t want to commit and Tab wants to play. They’re a perfect match.
Before Flesh by Sky Corgan ~ Every bad boy has an origin story.
Take It Easy by Daisy Prescott ~ When Diane and Hailey join John and Tom in the San Juans, it is not a typical camping trip for the former wingmen.
Pandora’s Box by Sarah M. Cradit ~ A peculiar heart meets its mate. Fate, though, has other plans.
Hot Hotel: Scorched Into Submission by Daizie Draper ~ When she’s stood up by her online sexter, Divine meets a hot Dom instead.
Braving Love by S.j Mayer ~ A scarred and broken stuntman looking for redemption . . . can he find it in the arms of a soft-spoken southern girl?
Always Enough by Molly McLain ~ They went straight from falling in love to raising a kid and working opposite shifts. Time for a lovers’ getaway!
Mine in Dreams (A Bend-Bite-Shift Prequel) by Olivia Hardin ~ Daeglan belongs to the faery realm and Meggie to the human one, a forbidden romance.
Like Home by Mira Bailee ~ A reunion isn’t complete without scandal. Betrayal, old love, new revelations… and the paparazzi.
Unshakable by J.C. Valentine ~ While Jami and Ally are preparing to bring a new life into the world, Don is forced to fight for his life.
Yearning to Yield by Pavarti K. Tyler ~ High school reunions are lame, unless your teenage crush has the same fetish as you. A Sugar House Story.
Mated in Bearfield by Jacqueline Sweet ~ Wedding day in Bearfield means naked in-laws, cubs eating your dessert, and a mating frenzy.
Le Moulin by JC Andrijeski ~ Spy. Assassin. Seer. Terian is all of those, but when he finds his first love a slave in war-torn Paris, he vows to save her.
Jesse’s Girl by Alison Foster ~ Jesse and Emma were the best of friends until the day she asked him to take her innocence, and he said no.
Dude by Gillian Cherry ~ What happens when a curvy city girl heads to a Texas dude ranch for her long-lost mother’s wedding?
The Billionaire Biker’s Bitch by Layla Wilcox ~ Graduate [X] Break up with boyfriend [X] Perfect summer job [X] One crazy night [ ]
Swaying Fate by Irma Geddon ~ Atropos, the Fate who ends lives, never expected to walk one night into Old Cupid’s bar and fall in love.
First Class Scoundrel by Liv Morris ~ A recently jilted bride meets a devilishly handsome scoundrel in this tropical Pride and Prejudice.
Gender Studies 101 by Dani Dundee ~ In a class of 100-odd women, there’s one guy, Thomas. I’m going to have a little fun.

Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card. Absolutely no purchase necessary to enter! But if you do buy the box set, you might as well get extra points for that. Just give order confirmation number. Thank you!
The post Red Hot Candy blog tour & giveaway appeared first on ~*~Babs Book Bistro~*~.