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March 1, 2022

Grace Among Thieves

Grace Among Thieves is the nail-biting third book in the Grace Michelle Mystery historical series. If you like bright-but-beset heroines, breathtaking twists and turns, and the glamor of a lost age, then you’ll adore Kari Bovée’s riveting tale.

About Grace Among Thieves

A priceless heirloom worth its weight in lives. Can she crack the case before she becomes a killer’s trophy?

Hollywood, 1924. Grace Michelle’s professional star has risen. Now a successful costumier for a major studio, the ambitious woman has just about everything she wants. But when the father she thought was dead reaches out to reconnect, the talented designer doesn’t know what to think… especially after his new wife is kidnapped.

Discovering her dad is mixed up with a stolen Russian artifact, Grace puts her sleuthing skills to work to rescue the abducted lady. But with a famous actress murdered in connection with the missing valuable and a man she put away stalking her for revenge, the frazzled amateur detective fears getting to the bottom of this crime will leave her six feet under.

Can she hunt down the treasure before it bankrupts the lives of everyone she loves?

Grace Among Thieves is the nail-biting third book in the Grace Michelle Mystery historical series. If you like bright-but-beset heroines, breathtaking twists and turns, and the glamor of a lost age, then you’ll adore Kari Bovée’s riveting tale.

My Thoughts

There is so much to love about this historical mystery that I could not put down. I love our characters, the unique plot and their development.

Grace is an amazing young woman who comes from a difficult background – losing her parents at a young age, becoming homeless and finding a way on their own on the streets. She is strong, calm and fiercely protective of her loved ones and those who are in her care. She is also empathetic and kind – she is the pillar in the storm in this book. She also has an ability to solve crimes and think fast on her feet. She not only helped solve her own sister’s murder, she now finds herself in the middle of another murder mystery. This time the stakes are even higher, when her Father (whom she longed believed dead) returns to look for her help. The mystery keeps evolving as the story unfolds and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I loved the plot and the twists in this story. You were never too sure what to expect next and that is my favourite part of a story. Solving the crimes and the mystery behind the valuable, historical item hits very close to home for Grace in this story but she keeps her cool about her through every step of the novel. There were a few times that my heart was sore for her character as she dealt with many emotions that having her Father back in the picture would resurface. But throughout all of this, her character was focused and some of that may have had to do with the calming, spiritual presence of her sister (yes – her sister who was murdered is still very much a part of this story). The ending was definitely not what I expected but made the story.

Grace Among Thieves is a fast paced, suspenseful novel that will have you on the edge of your seat as you dive into Grace’s Hollywood world.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

When she’s not on a horse riding along the beautiful cottonwood-laden acequias of Corrales, New Mexico; or basking on white sand beaches under the Big Island Hawaiian sun, Kari Bovée is escaping into the past—scheming murder and mayhem for her characters both real and imagined in her historical mystery novels.

Kari Bovée writes the award-winning Annie Oakley mystery series and the Grace Michelle mystery series. In 2020, she was honored with First Place in category for the Chanticleer International Clue Awards for her book Folly at the Fair. In 2019 she was awarded the NM/AZ Book Awards Hillerman Award for her novel Girl with a Gun. The novel also received First Place in the 2019 NM/AZ Book Awards in the Mystery/Crime category, and won First in Category in the International Chanticleer Murder & Mayhem Awards. It was also a finalist in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Awards. Her novel Grace in the Wings won First in Category for the 2019 International Chanticleer Chatelaine Awards. Peccadillo at the Palace won Grand Prize in the 2019 Goethe Awards, and was a finalist in the 2019 Best Book Awards Historical Fiction category.

Kari Bovée has worked as a technical writer for a Fortune 500 Company, has written non-fiction for magazines and newsletters, and has worked in the education field as a teacher and educational consultant.

You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

Enter to win a $35 PayPal gift card, autographed copy of GRACE AMONG THIEVES, and gift basket containing mouse pad, mug, and tote bag courtesy of the author of the Grace Michelle Mysteries! Enter here.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

February 2, 2022

Ashes to Ink: A Memoir

A story of heartache and the power of forgiveness, Ashes to Ink shines a light on the challenges of living true to who we are, especially for single parents.

About Ashes to Ink

Acceptance struggles to emerge from a cocoon of family secrets . . .

After her parents’ divorce in 1974, Lisa Lucca’s idyllic Midwestern childhood is shattered when she learns her father is gay. Sworn to secrecy, she begins carrying the emotions of her family like a cracked bucket, making a mess as she embarks on a life of rebellious choices.

Decades later, faced with the aftermath of her father’s death, Lisa revisits the complicated relationship she had with him, delving deeper into the stories she’s held about love, sexuality, and the family she comes from with a shimmering clarity that arises from her grief.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Indiebound, Target and Barnes & Noble.

About the Author

Lisa Lucca’s work has been published in several publications and anthologies, most recently in Crone Rising. She is the co-author of the epistolary memoir, You Are Loved, with her partner, Mark Mathias, a love story she will continue telling in her next book.

She shares a home with Mark in the high desert of southern New Mexico where she continues her work as a life coach, and hosts a weekly public radio show, Live True, bringing insightful and engaging interviews to her listeners. The show streams globally at lccommunityradio.org where the shows are available in the archives.

You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

Enter to win a signed copy of this book here.

Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

February 1, 2022

L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece Book Spotlight

L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece is the riveting odyssey of one of the world’s most scandalous works of art.

About L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece

In 1866, maverick French artist Gustave Courbet painted one of the most iconic images in the history of art: a sexually explicit portrait of a woman’s exposed genitals. Audaciously titled L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World), the scandalous painting was kept hidden for a century and a half. Today, it hangs in the world-renowned Orsay Museum in Paris, viewed by millions of visitors a year.

As the first artist authorized by the Orsay Museum to re-create Courbet’s The Origin of the World, author Lilianne Milgrom was thrust into the painting’s intimate orbit, spending six weeks replicating every fold, crevice, and pubic hair. The experience inspired her to share her story and the painting’s titillating, clandestine history. L’Origine is a tale of survival, replete with French revolutionaries, Turkish pashas and nefarious Nazi captains. Hold onto your berets for a riveting ride through history.

You can purchase this book on Amazon, B&N, Bookshop and Waterstone’s.

Book Trailer

About the Author

Paris-born Lilianne Milgrom is an internationally acclaimed artist and award-winning author residing in Washington DC. In 2011, she became the first authorized copyist of Gustave Courbet’s controversial painting L’Origine du Monde, which hangs in the Orsay Museum in Paris. Milgrom spent a decade researching and writing L’Origine: The Secret Life of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece. Her debut novel has been awarded six literary honors including the Publisher’s Weekly 2021 US Selfies Book Award for Best Adult Fiction.

You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Instagram.

The Giveaway!

Enter to win a signed copy of the book here.

Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 10, 2022

Gideon’s Grandchildren

In Gideon’s Grandchildren, author Bill Jaquette weaves his own thirty-plus years’ experience in public defense and provides readers with an intimate look at the day-to-day lives and struggles of public defense attorneys.

About Gideon’s Grandchildren

Steve Cole is a young public defense attorney with a long list of clients: Among them is Jeff Harris, who is facing a life sentence under a law that Steve believes is cruel and unfair. When Harris is presented with a plea bargain that would spare him a life sentence, Steve urges his client to accept. Steve is shocked when Harris turns down the plea bargain in favor of going to trial. Steve quickly finds himself in the most difficult case of his career, in addition to all his other clients. Nevertheless, Steve grows to respect Harris and the decision he made, compelling him to work tirelessly for a not-guilty verdict for Harris.

Throughout the novel, author Bill Jaquette weaves his own thirty-plus years’ experience in public defense and provides readers with an intimate look at the day-to-day lives and struggles of public defense attorneys. The result is a compassionate portrayal of some of the most critical figures in the American courts, their clients, and the arduous and complicated role of maintaining justice.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, BN and Book Depository.

About the Author

Bill Jaquette practiced law for over forty years. During that time, he served as a deputy prosecuting attorney and was also in private practice. A substantial part of his career, however, was as a public defender, including thirty years with the Snohomish County Public Defender Association, of which he was also director. In addition to his JD from the University of Washington, Bill holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Missouri and, prior to his career in law, served as a tenured member of the philosophy faculty at Southwest Missouri State University.

Gideon’s Grandchildren is his first novel.

You can connect with him on his website.

The Giveaway!

Enter to win an e-book of Gideon’s Grandchildren here.

Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 10, 2022

James Dreadful and the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets

James Dreadful’s Epic Adventure Continues in Book Two of the Dreadful Series, James Dreadful and the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets.

About James Dreadful and the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets

After narrowly escaping a contract with his father’s evil servant Rekenhowler, James reluctantly decides to return home to the Cades Isles to live out the rest of his youth training to become a sorcerer. The only problem: James and his companions are adrift on the boat Persephone in the Realm of Shadows without a crew.

When a stowaway aboard Persephone informs James that his father—the Dark Lord—might have been mind-slaved by the mysterious, evil Cowl, James is shocked. The only proof that he will accept is the soul of his father, which he learns is lodged deep in the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets. In confronting his father’s soul, James can learn the truth about the Dark Lord—and if he is destined to become one himself.

But before he can reach the Tomb, James must travel to Sarvelok, an island protected by raiders, to retrieve the key his uncle Oskar stole from him. Attacking the island would be suicide—but possible with the help of Rekenhowler. The price James will have to pay, however, is too high, but without it, will he ever learn the truth of his father—and his own fate?

You can purchase this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Alan Creed fell in love with storytelling after seeing Star Wars for the first time as a child. When he was ten years old, his tutor asked him to write sentences containing three words: Ocean, Desert and Jungle. Instead of sentences, Alan wrote a 103-page story entitled Journey through the Desert. That’s when he knew he wanted to be a writer. His 103-page story served as the source material for the Dreadful Series. Alan is currently working on the next installment in the James Dreadful series.

You can connect with Alan on his website.

The Giveaway!

Enter to win an e-book of James Dreadful and the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets here.

Disclosure: This is a spotlight tour, I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.