A.L. Hawke is here to tell us about Hawthorne University Witch, Prequel Series, dark fantasy, paranormal romance, and romantasy.
There's also a great giveaway.
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Cursed the moment I fell in love with her.
Walpurgis
The Hawthorne University Witch Prequel Series Book 3
by A.L. Hawke
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Romantasy
Burn the Witch.
Allie and I were meant to have a future together—one built on love, not fear.
But here in Hawthorne, shadows lengthen, and whispers drift through the woods
like curses. So when Alondra falls mysteriously ill, I know exactly who’s
behind it.
Desperation drags me into the darkest corners of my magic—places where I no
longer fear the spells I once vowed never to cast. Even joining a coven of the
wicked no longer feels like betrayal. The deeper I descend, the more I uncover
about the witch who haunts me… and the shadow that may not belong to her alone.
Walpurgis Night approaches—the night witches burn. But what happens when it’s
the warlock who strikes the match… willing to burn everything—my heart, my
soul—to save the one I love?
**New Release! On Sale for Only $2.99 until 10/31!**
The Hawthorne University Witch Prequel Series Book 2
Cursed the moment I
fell in love with her.
While home in Raleigh for semester break, I didn’t expect my girlfriend,
Alondra, to ask me for a favor: present my Book of Shadows to the leader of a
satanic cult. She was looking for a new male witch for her coven. Of course,
she knew it wouldn’t be me.
But when a curse took hold of our college campus—and the spirits I thought I’d
left behind came back—I realized I couldn’t keep the book closed much longer.
Now something dark surrounds me. Is it the work of the wizard with the devilish
goatee? Or is it a little girl possessed by something far worse?
I lit a dark shadow, and now I feel only confusion. Whatever this darkness is,
it’s coming for Alondra, our family, and every witch in Hawthorne.
The Hawthorne University Witch Prequel Series Book 1
I fell in love with a
goth, but she’s a witch.
Starting school at Hawthorne University was not going well, until I met my
classmate Alondra. Allie was different. She was goth. But she was also
mysterious, confident and fun. I was into that. My name’s Liam. My friends call
me Lee.
Things got weird after I accompanied her to her haunts. Poltergeists and demons
attacked little girls. I watched Alondra help exorcise these ghosts, but some
of their evil stuck to me.
Well, being attracted to a witch was one thing; dating one was quite another.
It seemed the closer I got to Allie, the more her witchcraft endangered my
friends. And my soul. You decide. I chronicled everything here in her book.
A.L. Hawke is the author of the bestselling Hawthorne
University Witch series. The author lives in Southern California torching the
midnight candle over lovers against a backdrop of machines, nymphs, magic,
spice & mayhem.
Whitney Dineen is here to tell us about her contemporary romantic comedy Pity Please, Pity Series #7.
There's also a great giveaway.
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Pity Please
Whitney Dineen
(Pity Series, #7)
Publication date: October 25th 2025
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
She had a foolproof plan. He thought his future was sealed. Neither of them imagined life would take them down a different path …
Allie
I never planned to live in Elk Lake again, but here I am. I was going to get married, have a great family and career, and then I’d get my happily-ever-after stamped on the passport of my life.
But Brett cheated and got his mistress pregnant with quadruplets. Karma was my consolation and believe me when I tell you, I couldn’t have been more satisfied by the outcome.
Just as I was busy with my fresh start, Noah Riley walked back into my life. I’ve always worshipped my best friend’s older brother, but he never noticed me.
Until that one day …
Noah
What coach gets demoted after taking their high school basketball team all the way to third in the state? Me, that’s who.
I could have gotten any other job in Chicago, but my anger and hurt pride caused me to accept a position at my alma mater. That’s right, I’m the new basketball coach of the Elk Lake Crappies. Don’t think the irony is lost on me.
My goal is to make a splash with my new team, and then have my old school beg to hire me back. Of course, I won’t accept until there’s an appropriate amount of groveling, along with a substantial pay raise.
When I moved to Elk Lake, I never expected to run into my sister’s best friend from childhood.
Who knew Allie Rogers would make me reconsider my dream?
Instead of agreeing that I should be the captain of my own ship, my mother laments, “I always thought your life would turn out like one of those delightful romcoms from the nineteen nineties. You know, single girl meets the love of her life in a quirky, yet totally believable way …”
I’m not sure which movie she’s thinking of as I’ve grown up watching them all with her. On repeat.
“Which Julia Roberts character did you envision me being? If it’s Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman, I’ll have to move to LA and become a sex worker first.” My mom pushes out of my arms and stares at me in horror.
Instead of letting the subject drop, I feel a burst of indignant steam start to build. “If you want me to be like Anna Scott in Knotting Hill, I’ll also have to move to LA, but this time I’ll have to figure out how to become a movie star. Then I’ll need to find an abusive boyfriend so I can cheat on him with a bookstore owner in London.” How does she find these to be believable scenarios?
Hurt tinges her voice as she responds, “What about Jules Potter in My Best Friend’s Wedding?”
“She didn’t even wind up with the guy!” I shout.
“How about the Runaway Bride?” This woman is relentless.
“I would have to get engaged three times so I could dump three men before my true love showed up to write an article about my chaotic life,” I remind her.
My mom’s face screws up in an agonizing expression like she’s painfully wracking her brain. “Maybe not a Julia Roberts movie then. What about Sandra Bullock? Her romcoms were more girl-next-door, which is exactly what you are.”
Raising my hand into the air, I start ticking off fingers. “While You Were Sleeping would involve nearly killing someone in a train accident so I could lie to the victim’s family and fall for his brother. In Miss Congeniality, I’d have to be an FBI agent masquerading as Miss New Jersey. Hope Floats would get me that husband and child you so badly want me to have but said husband would have to dump me on national television before running off with my best friend. Do you want me to go on?” I demand.
Confusion riddles my mom’s features resulting in my feeling an unexpected wave of compassion for her. “I don’t want any of that for you. I just want you to have a beautiful and happy ending to your story.”
“My story is a long way from being over, Mom.” I’m not going to tell her that my vision of the future is nothing like what she’s hoping for. As in, I’m pretty sure I’ll never let myself be vulnerable enough to give love a second chance. I know for certain I will never have my own children. Three lost pregnancies are enough for me to take the hint.
My mother inhales deeply before telling me, “I’m not good at leaving things in the hands of fate.”
“No, you’re not. You’re the worst control freak I know, but that doesn’t mean you’ve been appointed God and get to make all the decisions for my life.”
“I don’t want to make all the decisions. I just want you to start living again!”
“I’m enough on my own, Mom. I don’t have to be a wife to have value.” I can tell I’ve hurt her feelings again, but what else can I do? It’s like we’re two different species with zero understanding of how the other works.
With hands on hips, she demands, “What’s your five-year plan?”
“To still be breathing,” I tell her honestly.
“Do you ever want to get back into publishing?”
I offer a brief shrug. “Can’t say.”
“Do you plan on working at Rosemary’s for the rest of your life?”
“Would there be anything wrong with that? Would you not be able to love me anymore if I don’t get the Hollywood ending you’ve always imagined for me?”
My mom’s face turns bright red, which is a sure indicator she’s about to lose her cool. But instead of screaming at me, she merely turns around and strides out of the dining room like she’s on her way to execute a military coup. Napoleon had nothing on this woman.
I take her reaction to my question to mean that her love is dependent on my capitulation to her vision. Well, too freaking bad, Margaret. I’m not going to try to make you happy when I don’t even know what will make me happy.
My phone pings before I can stand up and clear the remnants of my uneaten breakfast. Picking it up, I click on the message notification and read a text from Lorelai.
Lorelai: Noah is driving me crazy! I’ve been asking him to put my navy-blue cashmere sweater in the mail for a week, and he hasn’t done it. Would you mind going over to my parents’ house and sending it? The key is under the mat.
My nervous system responds by causing me to break out into a cold sweat. I do not want to see Noah Riley. To be honest, I hate that he’s moved back to Elk Lake. There is no place in my life for my childhood crush. He’s part of my past and I will not go out of my way to run into him again.
Having said that, Lorelai is my best friend, and she never asks for anything. Shoot! I’m going to have to do it. I’ll just have to make sure to go when Noah isn’t there.
Author Bio:
Whitney loves to laugh, play with her kids, bake, and eat french fries -- not always in that order.
Whitney is a multi-award-winning author of romcoms, non-fiction humor, and middle reader fiction. Basically, she writes whatever the voices in her head tell her to.
She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, Jimmy, where they raise children, chickens, and organic vegetables.
Gold Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2017.
Silver medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2015, 2016.
The authors of Toil and Trouble, a romantic horror Halloween anthology are here to tell you about their tales.
There's also a great giveaway.
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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The authors will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
The brew is hot and bubbling over with romance and terror in this twistedly beautiful anthology that welcomes the darkness of horror and the temptation of love's veiled promises. Six remarkable tales from six incredible authors fill this book of dark shadows and ancient whispers.
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble - by Jennifer Patricia O'Keeffe: Enchanted pastries and spell-brewed coffee make Esmerelda's sugar-dusted counter the city's most coveted haunt—until a dangerously charming newcomer slips into her shop, immune to her magic and unraveling her carefully guarded world. As his witch-hunter heritage threatens to burn her legacy to ash, Esmerelda finds herself torn between the threat of revenge from the witch hunter's ancestors and the intoxicating truth of the connection that they share.
Silverwood - by Lynn Hubbard: A lonely rancher's daughter finds her isolated Wyoming homestead upended when an amber-eyed stranger ignites a mud-splattered passion that defies reason—until his supernatural secret and the vengeful ranch hands hunting her force her to choose between the man who saves her and the monster who might destroy her. Torn between fierce protectors and forbidden desire, she must trust the very darkness that could shatter her world to survive the wild frontier's deadliest threats.
Ivy, Lichens and Wallflowers - by James Ryan: Marketing executive Hilda finds solace from her stifling corporate life and overbearing past in the quiet companionship of Miriam, a mysterious 19th-century marble statue in a city micro-park, only to discover their connection transcends stone when Miriam begins answering her handwritten notes through cryptic poetry left in return. As their forbidden connection deepens into an intoxicating dream-bound romance, Hilda uncovers Miriam's supernatural secret: she's a cursed thaumaturge sustained by stolen life force, forcing Hilda to confront whether love can survive the devastating cost of keeping her alive.
Flight 1031: Cosmic Turbulence - by Julian Christian: Diplomatic courier Sarah Martinez boards Flight 1031 expecting routine turbulence, not a Halloween dimensional rift that strands her at Germania International Airport—where the Greater German Reich has ruled since 1943 and perfected technology to harvest souls from parallel realities through consciousness-scanning machinery that pulses with seventeen-beat rhythms. Now trapped in a terminal that breathes like a living organism, Sarah must navigate a world where every passenger hides a secret and her resistance could either save her timeline or doom infinite versions of humanity to eternal enslavement in a Reich that spans all dimensions.
Dream a Little Dream - by Jae El Foster: After a near-death car crash rewires her brain, Sarah's nightmares bleed into reality: sugar on the counter forms glyphs, bats appear out of nowhere in broad daylight, and her own hands betray her—while the velvet-eyed stranger from her dreams appears in her waking hours, his urgency growing as Halloween's veil thins. Now, with her reality twisting into something surreal and an ancient language hijacking her voice, she must confront a dark truth: her soul isn't hers to keep, and the man who saved her in death is the very entity hunting her in life.
Read an Excerpt From ‘A Mirror to Die For’ by Cindy Lewis Smith
In fact, I don't know where he could be. The last time I saw him we argued, but that was the way it was for us. I'd forgive him and we would go on as if nothing happened. This chair is uncomfortable. The seat is worn out and the softness of the padding has long gone. I have to keep squirming and readjusting my body just to be able to endure the sitting.
I noticed the clock on the wall directly in front of me. It's one of those large heavy clocks, probably weighing fifty pounds or more. There's a picture of the Eiffel Tower in the face of the clock. The word Paris is written in a pretty script over the tower. I doubt anyone in this place has ever been to Paris. It's on my bucket list. John Henry and I may honeymoon in Paris once we're married, although he's been talking about going back to Georgia instead.
To distract my thoughts in the silence of this morbidly uncomfortable room, I envision the clock falling and crashing to the floor, leaving a giant hole in the wall where the nail would be. I imagine that the glass in the clock has broken into thousands of tiny pieces. Sharp pointy shards of glass are scattered throughout the room, glittering like diamonds on velvet. Aren't they so pretty?
"I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought."
"Go on," he said, "Tell me more about what happened to John Henry"
I love talking about John Henry. My story, it's all true, you know. Every single word. I wouldn't have believed it myself if it didn't happen to me.
I readjusted myself one more time in the chair and continued.
"It all started the day I purchased the mirror," I explained.
"You see, I hadn't slept but maybe four or five restless hours the entire previous week. My life had become mundane and boring. The excitement was gone between me and John Henry. His demeanor had changed. He said it wasn't him, it was me who had changed. But, I knew he was lying."
He never told me any truths. Not anything about his past or what he did when he left me. Sometimes, I felt like he was only using me. Like I was a mysterious link or something between what he used to be and what he wanted to be now. It's hard to explain, it was probably nothing more than my imagination.
John Henry was just so ruggedly handsome, I couldn't help myself, so I forgave him often when we argued. Maybe because of our fighting and torrent relationship, the headaches were coming more and more frequently. And, more intense.
I refused to take the prescription medication I was given. Those pills... those little pink and red pills! NO! No, not those pills again. I couldn't take it anymore. I tossed the prescription bottle into the trash can and grabbed the keys to my car on my way out the door. I heard the door slam behind me and I didn't look back. I was not going to think about John Henry, if only for one day.
"My old Chevy was stuttering and in need of some repairs, but it didn't stop me from driving wherever I wanted to go. And that day, I wanted to go across the border. It was a warm day in late September, with barely a breeze moving through the dry air. I was wearing a big straw hat, the same kind the Chiquita Banana woman wears on the TV commercials, a pair of dark sunglasses and shoes that flipped back and forth on my feet."
I was getting low on gas so I coasted into an old, mostly deserted town in southern Arizona. It was just a few miles or so, maybe thirty or forty minutes across the border. I didn't want to take a chance on stalling out the car. Service stations out there are few and far between. I parked my car on a dust covered side street and strolled to the downtown area of this dusty little town.
Some old-timers were outside sitting on benches that lined the wooden sidewalks of the streets. Their wrinkled cheeks were swollen on one side from a wad of chewing tobacco. A dirty brass spittoon was centered on the sidewalk between them. I could feel them staring at me. You know that kind of stare implying that I didn't belong there, that I'm out of place.
Laury A. Egan is here to tell us about Jenny Kidd, thriller - romantic suspense.
There's also a great giveaway.
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Enter a world of glittering facades that cloak sexual
perversion, art forgery & murder
Jenny Kidd
by Laury A. Egan
Genre: Thriller, Romantic Suspense
“A twisted and sinister affaire macabre.”—R.D. Hartwell
While spending autumn in Venice, a young American artist, Jenny Kidd, hopes to
create a portfolio of paintings to launch her career and establish her
independence from her tyrannical father. At the Guggenheim Collection, she
encounters Randi, a colorful British woman, who invites her to a masked ball at
the Palazzo Barbon. There, she meets the seductive Caterina Barbon and her
brother, Sebastiano, who entice Jenny into a world of glittering façades that
cloak sexual perversion, art forgery, and murder. As Jenny struggles between
her attraction to Caterina and her growing awareness that she is in danger,
Jenny discovers an inner strength and spirit worthy of her infamous pirate
ancestor.
“A little gem...a top-notch thriller…Jenny Kidd spins its web as languidly as
an afternoon by the canals. Egan’s descriptions of the food, the art, and the
general atmosphere are as purposeful as they are evocative. Her prose is
full-bodied and elegant, and she makes prosecco and prosciutto as sumptuous as
the work of Titian and Tintoretto. As delicious as Egan’s writing is when it
comes to describing masked balls, four-course lunches, and miniatures painted
in pastels, she also knows how to propel a mean action scene. The last twenty
pages or so are a breathless rush of dark passageways, tense interrogations,
and perfectly executed gore that leave you gasping and satisfied.”
—Jerry L. Wheeler, Out in Print
“A very compelling suspense novel, rife with stunning imagery and shocking plot
beats. An eerie, glittering world.”
—Jennica Dotson, author of “A Reaper’s Folly”
“The plot becomes…dizzying in its twists and turns. Not only does this book
offer a riveting story, but her sentences have a cadence that will carry you
along. Once I had reached the half-way point in the book, I found it impossible
to put it down.”
—Martha Miller, G & L Review
Laury A. Egan is
the author of fifteen books of fiction: Jenny Kidd (revised
edition); Fair Haven; Jack & I; The Black
Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers; The Psychologist’s
Shadow; The Firefly; Once, Upon an Island; Wave
in D Minor; Doublecrossed; Turnabout; The
Swimmer; The Ungodly Hour; A Bittersweet Tale; Fabulous!
An Opera Buffa; and The Outcast Oracle. Two collections have
been published; Contrary: Stories and a Play and Fog
and Other Stories. Her short fiction and poems have appeared in 90
literary journals and in multiple anthologies. Two full-length poetry
volumes, Snow, Shadow, a Stranger and Beneath the
Lion's Paw, were issued in limited editions, as were two chapbooks, Presence
& Absence and The Sea & Beyond. Laury is also a
fine arts photographer, instructor, and former book designer. She lives on the
northern coast of New Jersey.
The authors of The Ghosts of Border House are here to tell us about their paranormal romances.
There's also a great giveaway.
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Experience centuries of Scottish hospitality—whether you're
breathing or not.
Series Intro:
Border House has stood on the River Tweed since 1100,
witnessing centuries of Scottish history and accumulating many permanent
residents along the way. This ancient fortified manor, once a hunting lodge and
defensive tower, now serves as both a charming hotel and an unintentional
retirement home for spirits who can’t or won’t move on to the next realm.
The house is home to a medieval king, a turncoat scribe, a lonesome English
soldier, two Victorian ladies, one unhappy go-go girl, a Scottish Brewmaster,
and more. Each ghost brings their own quirks, complaints, and centuries-old
drama to daily life at Border House. Whether you’re a living guest checking in
for the weekend or a long-dead resident who’s been here for ages, everyone has
a story to tell.
Welcome to Border House—where checkout time is optional, and some guests have
been extending their stay for centuries.
This series features standalone paranormal romances written by various authors.
Love Lost & Found
The Ghosts of Border House Book 1
by Vanessa Victoria Kilmer
Genre: Paranormal Romance
When a love haunts
every lifetime, you have to grab it and hold on.
In 1566, Thomas Kincaid is murdered at Border House by
agents of the Scottish King. Thinking himself betrayed by his soulmate, Sara
Mae Stuart, Thomas curses her to a life of reincarnation with his dying breath.
When Sara Mae dies of a broken heart, she is reborn again
and again.
Fifty-five years of longing, and a love that transcends
death.
After
fifty-five years, Nova Guthrie has returned to Scotland for the annual
Halloween Ball at Border House. Or that is her excuse to return to the home of
her youth and bid farewell to memories of her lost lover.
What
she doesn’t know is that Donnal Stuart still haunts the grand mansion, along
with a few other ghostly characters—one of whom will do everything she can to
keep them apart.
This
story is about true love and secret ghost powers bundled up in a haunting tale
of second chances.
Vanessa Victoria Kilmer
told her first story to an angel who visited her when she was locked in
a dark, medieval attic at the age of four.
She grew up in the Salzburg region of Austria, surrounded by
fortified castles, primal salt mines, and the drama of ancient places.
Her fiction teems with murder, magic, and madness. She
explores the abuse inflicted by those closest to us and the various ways people
deal with the damage.
She currently lives in northern Florida with her daughter,
son-in-law, grandson and two black cats. Between writing novels, she paints,
takes pictures with her white camera named Traitor and embroiders tapestries.
Please visit her website at vanessavictoriakilmer.com and
sign up for her newsletter to get updates on current work in progress and new
release information.
Leah Miles
writes romance and paranormal fiction from her small-town in South Georgia,
where she lives with her husband and cocker spaniel while running an insurance
agency and Airbnb business.
After a dozen years in news production at CNN, Leah Miles
now manages an insurance agency and an Airbnb business in rural Georgia, while
writing romantic suspense and paranormal romance featuring take-charge heroes
and fierce heroines.
Verity Rose is here to tell us about First Light - Tales of the Vanguard: Rune Saga Book 1, an epic fantasy.
There's also a great giveaway.
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A promise filled with hope in a world not meant for dreamers
First Light
Tales of the Vanguard: Rune Saga Book 1
by Verity Rose
Genre: Epic Fantasy
In a world struggling with political and religious
differences, eighteen-year-old Arkrune—"Rune" to his friends—dreams
of something greater than the quiet life in his small village of Locke. Trained
by his stern but loving father, a renowned blacksmith and former warrior, Rune
sets his sights on joining the famous monster fighting guild known as the
Vanguard.
When Rune embarks on his journey to the city of Hilden to pursue his destiny,
he carries with him more than just a finely crafted sword—but also a mystery
tied to his bloodline and the dormant power within him. Along the way, Rune
forms bonds with battle-hardened warriors, fends off deadly attacks by monsters
and men alike, and begins to uncover the hidden strengths he didn’t know he
possessed.
Verity Rose grew up in a blink and you’ll miss it Indiana
town where the school library doubled as an escape hatch. She wrote her first
fantasy scenes at thirteen, lost the thread for a while, wrestling with
undiagnosed ADHD and mental health potholes. She rediscovered her voice after
becoming a mom and stumbling into a gaggle of online book nerds who egged her
on. Armed with a social work degree from Ball State and a lifelong conviction
that characters are as real as the hands on the keyboard, she now pours that
people first empathy into stories that refuse to stay quiet.
When she isn’t tormenting her characters, Verity is probably
reverse engineering a Korean street food recipe, sourcing single origin coffee
beans from ethical roasters, or hoarding trash in Dragon Age or Skyrim. Her
literary inspiration is equal parts Rick Riordan’s mythic swagger, Suzanne
Collins’ high stakes heart, and John Flanagan’s cozy camaraderie.
Verity was raising her family (and her caffeine tolerance)
amid Indiana cornfields and now adventures in the Pacific Northwest with them.
She’s always down to swap book recs, coffee tips, or preferred RPG builds.
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