Q&A with Brittainy C. Cherry of The Wreckage of Us + #Giveaway

The Wreckage of Us takes place in the inauspicious town of Eres, Nebraska. Not exactly a place where happily-ever-afters are made. What made you choose this setting?

I wanted to tell a story about a small town that was overlooked by the world as a whole. Most people would overlook a town like Eres, Nebraska, but there are still people who are living, who are loving, and who are struggling in these small towns. I wanted to show their stories, and how even though the rest of the world may not see them, that they still matter. They deserve their happily ever afters just as much as the rest of the world.


Hazel, your heroine, is newly eighteen when her criminal step-father throws her out of the house. She literally has nothing when the story begins—not even her mother’s support. What choices does Hazel make? Do you agree with them?

#Giveaway of The Best Part of Us: A Novel by Sally Cole-Misch

The Best Part of Us: A Novel
by Sally Cole-Misch
paperback
Expected publication: September 8th 2020
ISBN163152741X

Beth cherished her childhood summers on a pristine northern Canadian lake, where she reveled in the sweet smell of dew on early morning hikes, the loons’ evening trills across the lake’s many bays, every brush stroke of her brother’s paintings celebrating their cherished place, and their grandfather’s laughter as he welcomed neighbors to their annual Welsh harvest celebration. Theirs was an unshakeable bond with nature, family, and friends, renewed every summer on their island of granite and pines.

But that bond was threatened and then torn apart, first as rights to their island were questioned and then by nature itself, and the family was forced to leave. Fourteen years later, Beth has created a new life in urban Chicago. There, she’s erected a solid barrier between the past and present, no matter how much it costs―until her grandfather asks her to return to the island to determine its fate. Will she choose to preserve who she has become, or risk everything to discover if what was lost still remains?

The Best Part of Us will immerse readers in a breathtaking natural world, a fresh perspective on loyalty, and an exquisite ode to the essential roles that family, nature, and place hold in all of our lives.

AMAZON | B&N 

🍷🍷.5 #Review of What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Title: What You Wish For
Author: Katherine Center
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Published: July 14th 2020 by St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250219361
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: Kimberly

Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living. But she wasn’t always that way.

Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen. But he wasn’t always that way.

And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before—at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him—but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. But when Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there, it feels like the best thing that could possibly happen to the school—and the worst thing that could possibly happen to Sam. Until the opposite turns out to be true. The lovable Duncan she’d known is now a suit-and-tie wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hell-bent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.

As the school community spirals into chaos, and danger from all corners looms large, Sam and Duncan must find their way to who they really are, what it means to be brave, and how to take a chance on love—which is the riskiest move of all.

With Katherine Center’s sparkling dialogue, unforgettable characters, heart, hope, and humanity, What You Wish For is the author at her most compelling best.

Kimberly's Thoughts: 
After uprooting her life because of a going nowhere crush, Samantha finally feels like her life is on track. When tragedy strikes and fate brings her crush back into her life, her flight or fight instinct takes over. Her crush is completely different though and now they're enemies, maybe. Sam thought she had it all figured out but even though her wardrobe now is full of color, she still is emotionally hiding in the corners.

🍷🍷 #Review of Lethal Redemption by April Hunt

Title:  Lethal Redemption
Series:  Steele OPs #2
Author: April Hunt
Format: Paperback/eBook, 689 pages
Publication: Nov. 26, 2019 by Forever
ASIN:    B07P9Q6RND   
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: Publisher
Reviewer: Kimberly
Rating: 2 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Top FBI profiler Grace Steele was just a girl when she escaped the Order of the New Dawn, and she’s spent the last seventeen years trying to forget her time there. But when private security firm Steele Ops needs her help extracting a young woman from the secretive cult’s clutches, she’s all in. Even though the mission requires posing as the fiancée of the only man who’s ever broken her heart.

It’s been nine years since Cade Wright turned his back on his childhood sweetheart, and he’s never stopped regretting it. Now that they’re forced to work together, he knows this is his opportunity to show Grace how much he’s changed. But the deeper they get pulled into New Dawn, the clearer it becomes that the demons still haunting Grace are very real, and Cade will have to risk everything to keep her safe . . . including his own life.

Kimberly's Thoughts:
Grace's job as a FBI profiler has pitted her up against some of the most dangerous people. When the Vice President of the United States asks for her help in rescuing his daughter she can't say no, even if it involves going back to the cult she escaped seventeen years ago.
Cade will never stop loving his bestfriends' cousin Grace, even if he felt he had to walk away from her nine years ago. When she has to put herself in danger for the mission, he's going to be right there beside her.
Grace and Cade may have their second chance at love but they'll have to stop the murderous rage of a cult first.

#Spotlight on A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
(Blood and Ash #2)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Kindle Edition, 496 pages
Published September 1st 2020 by Blue Box Press
ASINB08BZ61HDF

A Betrayal…

Everything Poppy has ever believed in is a lie, including the man she was falling in love with. Thrust among those who see her as a symbol of a monstrous kingdom, she barely knows who she is without the veil of the Maiden. But what she does know is that nothing is as dangerous to her as him. The Dark One. The Prince of Atlantia. He wants her to fight him, and that’s one order she’s more than happy to obey. He may have taken her, but he will never have her.

A Choice...

Casteel Da’Neer is known by many names and many faces. His lies are as seductive as his touch. His truths as sensual as his bite. Poppy knows better than to trust him. He needs her alive, healthy, and whole to achieve his goals. But he’s the only way for her to get what she wants—to find her brother Ian and see for herself if he has become a soulless Ascended. Working with Casteel instead of against him presents its own risks. He still tempts her with every breath, offering up all she’s ever wanted. Casteel has plans for her. Ones that could expose her to unimaginable pleasure and unfathomable pain. Plans that will force her to look beyond everything she thought she knew about herself—about him. Plans that could bind their lives together in unexpected ways that neither kingdom is prepared for. And she’s far too reckless, too hungry, to resist the temptation.

A Secret…

But unrest has grown in Atlantia as they await the return of their Prince. Whispers of war have become stronger, and Poppy is at the very heart of it all. The King wants to use her to send a message. The Descenters want her dead. The wolven are growing more unpredictable. And as her abilities to feel pain and emotion begin to grow and strengthen, the Atlantians start to fear her. Dark secrets are at play, ones steeped in the blood-drenched sins of two kingdoms that would do anything to keep the truth hidden. But when the earth begins to shake, and the skies start to bleed, it may already be too late. 

AMAZON | B&N 

#Interview with Juliette Cross of Don't Hex and Drive

We're excited to help Juliette Cross celebrate her upcoming release of Don't Hex and Drive, the second book in the Stay a Spell series. Be sure to pick up your copy next Tuesday, September 8th on Amazon! 

Linda: You have created such a fun paranormal romance world with the Stay a Spell series, where do you draw your ideas from?

Juliette: For this series, I was inspired by all of the romcoms I’ve read over the past two years for our podcast Smart Women Read Romance. I wanted to see if I could write a lighter, more fun but still steamy PNR. So that’s where it started. My ideas come from everywhere honestly. Art, movies, music, places, people. There’s no one place. But I knew the lower Garden District, which feels kind of like a small town within the bustling city of New Orleans with its cool pubs and cafes, would be the ideal setting for this witchy new PNR world.


Linda: We all need a hero, and strong heroines rock! Was there a real-life inspiration behind Devraj and Isadora? Who would you envision playing these characters if this story made it to screen?