Q: What themes can be found in your latest release, Second Chance Christmas? As the title suggests, the main theme is second chances, but there’s also a strong theme of redemption running throughout the book. Q: How would you describe the heroine?Quirky Jana is tough as nails but has a heart of gold that she’s afraid to… Continue Reading →</a
Category Archives: Urban Book Reviews
Guest Post from Author Karen Schaler
Writer of Netflix Hit A Christmas Prince Karen Schaler shares her holiday survival tipsinspired by her latest Hallmark Christmas movie Christmas Camp and her new novelFinding Christmas. Ready or not, Christmas movie marathons are starting up earlier than ever this year, evenbefore Halloween. The same thing is happening in stores across the country where Halloweencostumes… Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Karen Schaler
How did you get your nickname “Christmas Karen?” After I wrote my first movie, the Netflix original ‘A Christmas Prince’ that became an instant holiday hit with two sequels, I went on to write three more Christmas movies for Hallmark and Lifetime, and three Christmas books for HarperCollins Publishers in 18 months. I also trademarked… Continue Reading →</a
Review: Depths of Deceit by Laura Oles
Depths of Deceit by Laura Oles July 25 – August 19, 2022 Virtual Book Tour Synopsis: Two sisters. One deadly secret. No time to lose. PI Jamie Rush has her hands full with small-time skip-tracing and surveillance jobs in Port Alene, Texas. The work is steady, though she still struggles to make ends meet. But… Continue Reading →</a
Review: Oware Mosaic
Synopsis: Decades after a cataclysmic nuclear war, Ghanaian scientists develop technology that store consciousness onto data orbs called retcons. Seventeen-year-old forensic specialist, Feeni Xo, is a Enhuman (a radiation-enhanced metabolic human) that, similar to a vampire, need blood for sustenance. Through a game called the House of Oware, Feeni discovers that the virtual construct is… Continue Reading →</a
Review: Yappy Hour by Diana Orgain
Synopsis: Someone’s been barking up the wrong barstool in this uncannily enjoyable new canine mystery series from USA Today Bestselling author Diana Orgain! Every Friday night in the idyllic seaside town of Pacific Cove, California, the Roundup Crew, a group of dog-friendly folks, have a spirited meet-up at their local wine bar. But when the… Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane
Q: When did you decide to write novels? Around turning 30, I was working at the local newspaper and starting to itch for a bigger challenge, but I knew that national journalism didn’t really interest me either. After playing around with a Bridget Jones spoof for an advertising supplement, something clicked, and I realized I wanted… Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Leslie Gadallah
Q: When did you begin writing The Legend of Sarah Press? About 1986 or 7, when my son was still in high school. Q: What inspired you to write the novel? I could see that there were two distinct groups in the school, the “nerds”, and everybody else, and the two groups didn’t interact very… Continue Reading →</a
Review: Blacklash by Rachel Dylan
Synopsis: CIA analyst Layla Karam is thrust into a dangerous DEA field operation against a cartel that puts a target on her back. Though Layla never wanted to be a field agent, Langley had other ideas. After one of her team members is murdered because of fallout from the op, Layla is left scrambling to… Continue Reading →</a
Book Review: Fault Tolerance by Valerie Valdes
Synopsis: From the author of the critically acclaimed Prime Deceptions and Chilling Effect, the hilarious new novel about the adventures of Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra. Nothing wrecks Captain Eva Innocente’s vacation plans quite like an anonymous threat to vaporize billions of people. Hundreds of monoliths have suddenly materialized in space, broadcasting the same… Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Valerie Valdes
Q: When did you first begin writing stories?I wrote my first story when I was in first grade, at the ripe old age of 6. It was about aliens trying to steal the character’s skin, and she outwitted them by giving them a piece of colored paper instead. My mom still has it somewhere. For… Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Mona Shroff
Q: When did you first begin writing stories?I wrote my first story for a Young Author’s contest in the fourth grade, at age nine. It wascalled ‘Every Step of the Way’ and dealt with the loss of a pet. But I started for realabout 11 years ago. Q: What was the name of your first… Continue Reading →</a
Review: Edge of Dusk by Colleen Coble
Synopsis: Even though secrets lie off the coast of Rock Harbor, the truth will set Annie Pederson free—if it doesn’t kill her first. Nine-year-old Annie Pederson’s life changed the night her sister was kidnapped. The two had been outside playing on a dock, and Annie never forgave herself for her role in her sister’s disappearance…. Continue Reading →</a
Review: The Lost and Found Girl by Maisey Yates
Synopsis: “Yates packs an emotional punch with this masterful, multilayered contemporary…pitch-perfect plotting and carefully crafted characters make for a story that’s sure to linger in readers’ minds.” —Publishers Weekly New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates dazzles with this powerful novel of sisterhood, secrets and how far you’d go to protect someone you love… Ruby McKee… Continue Reading →</a
Review: A Palm Beach Scandal
Synopsis: From Susannah Marren, author of A Palm Beach Wife, comes her next book set in the exclusive, glamorous world of Palm Beach. Marren follows two sisters as one offers the ultimate selfless act to the other, proving the very meaning of family, in this novel of artifice and intrigue. Veronica and Simon Cutler and their… Continue Reading →</a
Review: I Take You by Eliza Kennedy
Synopsis: Meet Lily Wilder: New Yorker, lawyer extraordinaire, blushing bride. And totally incapable of being faithful to one man. Lily’s fiancé Will is a brilliant, handsome archaeologist. Lily is sassy, impulsive, fond of a good drink (or five) and has no business getting married. Lily likes Will, but does she love him? Will loves Lily,… Continue Reading →</a
Review: Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
Synopsis: When odd, supernatural events plague the town of Comtosook, a ghost hunter is hired by the developer to help convince the residents that there’s nothing spiritual about the property. An intricate tale of love, haunting memories, and renewal. (An interview about the book is included below the reading guide). “Sometimes I wonder….Can a ghost… Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Takiyah Smith
Q: When did you begin writing your book? June 2018 Q:How did your careers help shape your writing? Writing is a gift. Creating poetry was my first love. I have enjoyed writing since a young child. I can’t say that my careers have particularly assisted in my writing career, it’s just something I have always been fond of. … Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Carrie Carter
Q: When did you begin to write your first story?I was a big Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew fan in elementary school so in third grade, I started writing short story adventures about a girl being where she shouldn’t be and getting into trouble, just like my book idols. The stories weren’t very good, but… Continue Reading →</a
Meet This Author: Ashley M. Coleman
Q: When did you first begin writing stories?Almost as early as I can remember holding a pen. I remember storytelling being a thing for me extremely early on. My mom was always an avid reader, so we read a lot of books. She would buy me journals and that was where I would start writing… Continue Reading →</a