Tinia Montford is here to tell us about Lush, contemporary romantic suspense.
There's also a great giveaway.
_____________________
Lush
Tinia Montford
Publication date: March 31st 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense
Laurene King had it all: beauty, wealth, and a sexy secret affair with Reese Ashbourne— the brooding heir of her family’s sworn enemy.
But one reckless night shattered everything.
Tragedy struck. Laurene disappeared. And Reese was left with betrayal, unanswered questions, and scars he’ll never forget.
Now, Laurene is back, forced to return to the life she fled, but her homecoming comes with a cruel twist. Their families, teetering on the edge of ruin, have resurrected an old deal to save themselves: an Ashbourne and a King must marry—or lose everything.
Only this time, Reese is the groom. Not his brother.
Haunted by the past, Reese craves revenge as much as he still craves her. Trapped in a forced proximity neither can escape, their chemistry ignites—and so do their secrets.
But someone knows the truth about that night. The lies that tore them apart are unraveling, and the shadowy danger lurking in their luxurious world could destroy them both.
With their second chance at love and their families’ legacies hanging by a thread, Laurene and Reese must choose: bury the past or watch everything crumble to ashes.
The clock is ticking, and some truths are better left buried…
The laughter spilled from the main hall of the yacht club, bright and careless, tangled with the relentless thump of music. I should’ve been out there, smiling, toasting, pretending.
Instead, I’d been hiding in this bathroom for nearly twenty minutes, like it could stop the slow, sinking dread pooling in my chest.
Smile, Laurene! Smile!
Conrad’s great.
Really? my conscience said. He was great. Great for the family, great for appearances, great for everything except me.
The door opened and shut softly behind me.
“It’s over.”
I refused to look behind me. I couldn’t. If I did, I’d crack.
Instead, I focused on putting on my lipstick, the motion mechanical. I looked immaculate—perfect—the kind of woman my mother would smile at with pride. But I hated the color.
This fucking burgundy.
The same shade she shoved at me for every happy occasion, every moment she wanted to control. A color that screamed her. Everything she expected me to be. Everything I despised.
I met his gaze in the bathroom mirror.
He loomed there, his suit rumpled and tie slightly askew, his dark hair rebelliously unkempt. He looked the exact opposite of his brother—wild, unapologetic, dangerous. Everything I wasn’t supposed to want.
“Don’t look away.” Every word wrapped around me like a challenge, and that rebellious part of me strained beneath my skin. But he wasn’t asking. He was demanding.
And I obeyed.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
I wanted him here. I needed him. But I couldn’t have him.
“I could say the same to you.” In the dim light, his green eyes seemed almost black. “Shouldn’t you be outside? Smiling for the cameras? Pretending you don’t hate every second of this?”
“This”—I pointed between us—“ends now. Get out before somebody sees you.”
His eyes held mine, and the way he saw me, like he was stripping away every layer, every excuse, was almost too much.
I turned. “This isn’t a game, Reese. My mama would burn the entire town to the ground if she knew about us.”
“She doesn’t know.” He stepped closer. “I was careful. No one saw me. We still have the plan.”
“Please.” I had to get through this night without more tears. “Let’s…let’s just cut our losses. I—I don’t know if I can do it now.”
He was behind me before I knew it, his weight trapping me against the counter. I closed my eyes, my breath catching as his exhale grazed the sensitive skin of my neck, hot and tantalizing.
“Can we think of something else?” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “She always knows, Reese. You don’t understand—”
“What I understand,” he said, his voice sharp, “is that you’re miserable. You’re about to marry my brother, and you’re standing here trying to convince yourself it’s what you want. Believe in our plan or is that what you want, Laurene?”
Author Bio:
Tinia (TUH-NIA) Montford is a Pisces who’s a sap for romance, especially when there’s (tons of) kissing. Loves eighties sitcoms and will consume anything with chocolate. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in English and Graphic Design. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Fiction.
You can find Tinia at www.tiniamontford.com or on social media: @tiniawritesbooks
There was a time when Caroline would’ve done anything for her former sweetheart, Eric Martin. That’s why she agreed to marry him.
Six years ago, Caroline faced a dire ultimatum from Eric’s mother. Marry Eric, and Stacy—Eric’s conniving girlfriend—gets the life-saving operation she needs. Out of love, Caroline agreed, hoping that in time, she and Eric would be able to rekindle the spark they once shared.
But that hope was in vain. Since that fateful day, Eric has harbored nothing but brutal resentment for Caroline; the last six years of marriage have been a nightmare.
As their marriage descends deeper into emotional warfare, Caroline receives a shocking, tragic diagnosis of her own.
While Caroline quietly prepares for the end, an all-too-familiar face returns—with a devastating secret to reveal.
With time running out, the question remains: Will Eric finally see Stacy for who she is, or will everything fall apart before Caroline’s last breath?
PRAISE FOR LOVE ME AFTER MY DEATH
FIVE STARS - AMAZON
"WONDERFUL TEAR JERKER"
This one broke my heart in all the right ways. A great read.
- Carol J.
FIVE STARS - AMAZON
"FANTASTIC"
Read it all in one weekend! Loved entering their world on a deeper level. The ReelShort adaptations are the best.
There was a time when Caroline would’ve done anything
for her former sweetheart, Eric Martin. That’s why she agreed to marry him.
Six years ago,
Caroline faced a dire ultimatum from Eric’s mother. Marry Eric, and
Stacy—Eric’s conniving girlfriend—gets the life-saving operation she needs. Out
of love, Caroline agreed, hoping that in time, she and Eric would be able to
rekindle the spark they once shared.
But that hope was in vain. Since that fateful day, Eric has
harbored nothing but brutal resentment for Caroline; the last six years of
marriage have been a nightmare.
As their marriage
descends deeper into emotional warfare, Caroline receives a shocking,
tragic diagnosis of her own.
While Caroline quietly
prepares for the end, an all-too-familiar face returns—with a
devastating secret to reveal.
With time running out, the question remains: Will Eric
finally see Stacy for who she is, or will everything fall apart before
Caroline’s last breath?
PRAISE FOR LOVE ME AFTER MY DEATH
FIVE STARS - AMAZON
"WONDERFUL TEAR JERKER"
This
one broke my heart in all the right ways. A great read.
- Carol J.
FIVE STARS - AMAZON
"FANTASTIC"
Read
it all in one weekend! Loved entering their world on a deeper level. The
ReelShort adaptations are the best.
E.R. Zaugg is here to tell us about Innatraea, Novella One: Small Footsteps, Magic.
Read on for details...
_______________________
Small Footsteps
Fantasy
Date Published: January 16, 2025
Magic is in her blood...
The destiny of Innatraea is in her hands…
Can she rise to power, or will the forces against her prevail?
"Every legend begins with the small footsteps of ordinary
Innatraeans." -Tavid the Traveler
Rosalie Sharone, one of the strongest magic wielders ever born, has been
waiting and training for this moment all her life. Orphaned as a baby, the
child prodigy was raised in the small farm town of Aliselle Falls, away from
suspecting eyes. Now she is a young woman ready to fulfill her destiny by
traveling across Innatraea to become an initiate of The Weavers, an ancient
and powerful order on the island kingdom of Sceotan. In doing so, she must
leave her adoptive mother, her first love, and her friends behind. Yet
emotional trials are not the only challenge awaiting Rosalie and those
closest to her. Weavers especially attract danger, and Rosalie will face her
share as she makes her way to her destiny. This is only the beginning of her
story however. Once on Sceotan, her magic and intellect along with The
Weavers’ influence across all of Innatraea will either make her the
most powerful woman in history or completely destroy her.
Power, sacrifice, and destiny collide—get your copy today and dare to
walk the path with Rosalie as she begins the journey to her ultimate
fate.
__________________
Innatraea Novella Two: Am'ayim
Coming July 26, 2025
"Ele o aiga uma e toto. O nisi e fananau mai i Di Asin.
Not all families a blood. Som a dem born inna Di Saalt.
Not all families are blood. Some of them are born in the Salt."
-Am'ayim Saying
Rosalie has finally left the dangers of Aedonia behind in her quest to
reach Sceotan and the Weavers. She now embarks upon another leg of that long
journey aboard an Am'ayim vessel known as Di Ariela. Here, she will meet new
friends amongst the ship's crew and face new threats and challenges, all
while still grappling with the loss of her mother and parting ways with her
childhood friends. Rosalie must now find the strength to go on alone and
become the woman she's meant to be. But the twisting tides of destiny and
fate are tricky and may yet claim them all or unite them as her journey
across Innatraea continues. Destiny is no easy thing, though; fate may have
more in store for her than she ever imagined.
E.R. Zaugg has published several articles on being the parent of a
vulnerable child, won poetry contests, and been an avid reader and world
traveler for decades. His work is inspired by seeing the world and
encountering different religions, spiritual beliefs, and cultures in both
literature and actual journeys. These experiences have led to a body of
deeply poetic work that explores what it means to be human. The Innatraea
novella series highlights the value of vulnerable cultures, children, and
strong women, with the goal of imparting to its readers a greater
understanding and love of humanity.
Dr Greg Scorzo is here to tell us about Love Before Covid, a dark drama thriller.
Read on for details...
_______________________
Dark / Drama / Thriller
Date Published: July 28, 2023
Publisher: Troubadour Books
“Love before Covid - A raw, philosophical dive into love’s
messy reality—unflinching, dark, and unapologetically human. Unlike
typical romance novels, LOVE BEFORE COVID is a dialogue-driven exploration
of human flaws and ideologies, blending fiction with metaphysical inquiry.
It’s not about comfort; it’s about confrontation and
insight.”
Laced with dark humour, it is best described as traumatic (sur)realism.
Love Before Covid takes the reader on a journey through the mind of Joe
Pastorius - jazz fan, poet, and victim of horrendous sexual and emotional
abuse at the hands of his mother.
The real-time dialogues between the characters that emerge from Joe’s
unconscious come via arguably corrupted memories and dystopian dreams. They
tell us more about Joe than he could ever know, and perhaps more about our
world than you could ever imagine.
Dialogues entail an exploration of clashing perspectives and opinions, that
cause reflection. Today though, our world has been infiltrated by online
dialogues that tend to feel like wild unfiltered streams of human thought,
raw, chaotic and often polarising and devoid of much reflection. Arguably
that attitude, and lack of reflection is mirrored by the characters you will
encounter. The reflection comes from the reader as the situations unfold.
Your moral boundaries will without doubt be pushed to the limit.
You will meet an altruist who can’t stand up for himself, a charming
but violent public intellectual, a beautiful dancer who hates fat people, a
flirty and gregarious bartender who will do anything to get pregnant, a
traumatised art historian who never wants to be a mother, a successful
intellectual Mexican writer who is secretly disapproving of her childhood
friend’s career as a pornstar, the teenage genius son of that pornstar
who has sexual fantasises about his mother, a woman who is pressured into
cutting off her penis and a successful therapist who has a habit of ruining
people’s lives.
And yes, before you ask, some of the characters in this book eventually
catch Covid 19. However, there is always hope. For Joe Pastorious, that
comes in the form of the psychopath named Janet Waverley.
Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
Dear Reader,
This book is both a novel and a collection of dialogues.
The dialogues in this book are moving thought experiments. They portray
elaborate, unfolding situations which, at every turn, force the reader to
examine his or her philosophical intuitions about a range of topics,
situations and people.
These dialogues are not merely fiction told in dialogue form. Fiction is
drama that may (incidentally) comment upon or examine philosophical issues.
Drama normally involves scenes in which dialogue is used to set up and
advance a plot. In this book, plots are used to set up and advance the
dialogues of the characters.
The dialogues in this book are something like philosophy, because the
dramatic elements are merely a pretext to examine the philosophical issues
raised by the situations in which the characters talk to each other. The
dialogues happen in real time and are often deeply frustrating, as dialogues
are in real life. Reading this book, you may feel as though you are
listening in on a series of intensely private conversations.
If you heard any of these conversations in real life, you might feel as
though you were being privy to a rather juicy bit of gossip. Or you might
call the police. You might shed a tear. You might even masturbate (and then
read some more traditional philosophy).
Like any piece of philosophy, the writing in this book is sometimes
laborious. However, unlike traditional philosophy, the aim of this book is
to explore, rather than resolve, a set of philosophical concerns. There are
even issues raised in this book that many well-regarded philosophers find
quite silly – too silly to take seriously as philosophy.
Love Before Covid is thus an attempt to invoke the gadfly spirit of
Socrates in the 21st century, largely by abandoning the academic tradition
he inspired. This book is expected to irritate both lovers of philosophy, as
well as lovers of fiction. It may even irritate people from both sides of
the 21st century’s culture wars.
The plot concerns the love life of a man called Joe Pastorious. However,
this book does not tell you what to think of Joe, nor does it sing his
praises by showing how much he conforms to the most cherished values of our
time. Like many non-fictional people, Joe Pastorious is a complex human
being. You may love him or hate him. To call him imperfect would be an
understatement, but the degree to which he is likeable or loathsome is
thoroughly up to you.
There are other fictional people in this book who also dialogue, but they
only make appearances because of our protagonist. In some ways, they explain
Joe, much more than Joe explains himself.
Joe Pastorious met his wife Janet Waverley in the autumn of 1999. Joe and
Janet fell in love in a place called Leicester, which is a small city in the
middle of England. Many things have been said of Leicester, but one thing
that is not said enough is it is a fantastic place to fall in love. It was
the perfect place for Joe and Janet to fall in love. This is true, despite
the fact that Joe and Janet’s love is anything but perfect.
To truly understand the imperfect nature of this love, we must go back, not
to the beginning, but to an imaginary autumn of 2002. It’s not enough
to merely remember this autumn, from the vantage point of an imaginary
present. We instead must adopt this moment’s perspective, seeing its
events as though they were happening now.
When in the present, one can’t predict the future. Hence, the present
is the best place to understand imperfect people. When people are dead and
we know absolutely everything they have ever done, this creates an illusion
of certainty the present thankfully wipes away. You can’t trust a
corpse, because there is nothing about a corpse’s decisions that may
hurt or disappoint you.
A living, breathing person is not like this. They are only capable of being
truly understood, when they can be trusted. They can only be fully trusted
when their future is uncertain.
Love’s power resides in the romance of this uncertainty.
About the Author
During the pandemic Dr Greg Scorzo completed his first novel ‘LOVE
BEFORE COVID’ as well as producing an innovative radio play based on 6
chapters from that book, also called – LOVE BEFORE COVID. available on
our YouTube Channel. and via Audioboom with links to all major podcast
platforms.
Greg says, “I was interested in the challenge of writing a novel that
was formally experimental, while still being easy for a mass audience to
read and understand. I love the idea of a piece of philosophy that is
simultaneously a work of fiction, and a philosophical thought experiment
which can function like a great, twisty roller coaster of a story that asks
the reader many questions. Unlike traditional philosophy and many
fashionable works of literature, this book purposefully asks questions
without giving answers, encouraging readers to think (and emote) for
themselves.”
Since gaining his PhD in Philosophy in 2011, Greg Scorzo has aimed to find
creative and original ways to take philosophical thinking outside of
academia. By using modern accessible philosophical dialogue inpublic talks,
podcasts and his novel Love Before Covid, Greg explores clashing
perspectives and opinions that cause reflection. Based in Leicester, he was
a founding member of Culture on the Offensive and runs the podcast The
‘Art of Thinking’.
Dialogues entail an exploration of clashing perspectives and opinions that
cause reflection. Statements and declarations can close minds.
The ‘Art of Thinking’ with Greg Scorzo podcast is available on
YouTube where he does friendly philosophical interrogation of ideas
with many interesting thinkers. Also available via Audioboom linking to all
major podcast platforms.
His extended essays on Arts and Culture as well as Cultural Issues are
available on this platform www.gregscorzo.com
He has a passion and extensive knowledge of film and music.
From 2017 – 2020 Greg Scorzo was active in running over 60 engaging
voluntary community sessions, centred around ‘The Art of
Thinking’ The focussed on universal philosophical themes,
arts and culture and cultural issues. The ethos behind these events was to
encourage the use of EMPATHY, CLARITY and COURAGE in ensuing dialogues with
the audience. These were organised by COTO.
He also took up invitations to partner and run sessions at other events,
including the Battle of Ideas Festival at the Barbican London, the
Philosophy Now conference, Leicester Comedy Festival and DeMontfort
University’s Cultural Exchanges festival. He is always interested to
partner up with other like minded people.
