A Proof of Love by Merida Johns

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A randomly drawn winner will receive a $25 Amazon/BN gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A fictional story with a memoir overlay as narrator Katie Blake reflects on life in small town America and the principles, influences, and big personalities she wants you to never forget.

It’s Memorial Day weekend, 2009, and the town gossips have their shorts in a twist about a mysterious newcomer who wears tie-dye, colorful headbands, clunky necklaces, and rings on every finger.“Who installs a ceiling fan on a Victorian porch?” cries Ned Boomer, Woodburg’s grumpiest man, and the town gossips concur, “She must be a hippie, witch, or maybe worse . . . a socialist.”

Hell-bent on preventing a neighborhood blow-up, precocious, nine-year-old Katie Blake launches a covert investigation to gather the truth about the enigmatic Rose. But when she discovers a decades-old secret binding her, Rose, and bad-tempered Ned Boomer, her world takes a turn.

Penning a memoir sixteen years later, Katie is forced to reconsider whether the real proof of love was in preventing a neighborhood war or finding friendship and comfort among three unlikely grief-stricken souls who should never be forgotten.

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Gram taught me to be independent, manage my anxieties, and have confidence in myself, showing me how to use my imagination to wiggle out of a jam or face the “grim crossroads” when confused or sad.

The first time I cried and lost it over a complicated computer problem, she said, “Be inventive, Katie! What can you do to calm down and think things through?”

We put our heads together to come up with ideas. Gram said she brewed herself a cup of tea when needing a break. Mom worked on crossword puzzles. Dad played solitaire. My one decadent delight was a FatBoy ice cream, and that’s how Gram and I hatched the plan of taking two ice cream sandwiches and hiding them under the frozen vegetables to create my private emergency stash.

“Close your eyes, breathe, take a bite, and replace the leftovers. No one will suspect anything. Our little secret. . .”

About the Author:

At heart, I am a storyteller who writes women’s fiction and stories of courage and discovery, showcasing the protagonist’s journey toward a more fulfilled self.

My passion is writing women’s fiction and exploring the human experience—how ordinary people tackle challenges, endure sorrow and betrayal, wrestle with doubt, and act on their aspirations to achieve flourishing lives. My insight into the power of fiction came during a conference call in late 2017 with a group of fellow life coaches. “What would it be like to help women and men achieve a flourishing life through storytelling?” I asked them.

After that phone call, I got started answering that question. The result was my debut novel titled Blackhorse Road, a compelling story of womanhood and the power of choice, gratitude, and forgiveness, published July 21, 2020, by Coffee Cup Press, followed by Flower Girl (2022), Flawless Witness (2023), and now A Proof of Love (2026)

Before embracing writing fiction, I was the author of health informatics and leadership textbooks. Later, I put my leadership experience to use as a leadership coach, focusing on supporting others to fulfill their leadership and economic potential. My range of nonfiction is available on my Amazon Author Page.

Substack: https://meridajohns.substack.com/
Facebook: https://meridajohns.substack.com/
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/MeridaJohns
Website: https://www.MeridaJohnsAuthor.com

A Duchess with a Secret by Alix Nichols

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Alix Nichols will be awarding a digital box set of her bestselling series The Darcy Brothers to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

For sixteen years, they’ve hated each other...
and craved each other.

Widowed and betrayed, Eva Castellane will do anything to protect her daughter’s inheritance.
Standing in her way?
Alex Castellane—her late husband’s steely, magnetic half brother.
The man poised to take it all.
Her worst enemy.
Her forbidden temptation.

Stuck together in the family castle, their legal fight spirals into war…
until a common threat forces a reluctant alliance.
Desire blurs the lines.
Chemistry sizzles.
Rules get broken.

But as the verdict nears, one slip could unravel Eva’s explosive secret…

A Duchess with a Secret stands alone within the Montevor Royals Saga. It is a spicy contemporary enemies-to-lovers romance with forced proximity, family secrets, and a hard-won HEA.

Read an Excerpt

Alex

The air outside the basement at Mount Evor Secret Service feels colder than it did inside. It isn’t exactly chilly; just crisp enough to bite, which I welcome wholeheartedly. It clears my head.

“I’m going to walk to the hotel,” Eva says. “I need air.”

“I was about to say the same.”

She shoots me a look. “Please don’t. I don’t want to start thinking we have things in common.”

“What about the duchy?” I taunt.

“Of all the things we don’t have in common,” she quips, “the duchy is the one we don’t have in common the most.”

I smile despite myself. The pretty shell has some humor.

“May I walk beside you?” I ask.

“If you must,” she says after a beat. “But don’t think I’m warming to you.”

“Understood.”

We fall into step, heading toward the hotel located in the city’s historic center. She keeps her arms folded tight across her chest like a shield.

“I want you to know I will fight you with everything I’ve got. Dirty. No-holds-barred,” she warns. “My lawyer, Pauline, is very good at her job.”

I glance over. “So, this is your idea of small talk?”

“If you’d prefer silence…”

“No, this is delightful.”

We keep walking. Pombrio glows in the late-September dusk. The limestone facades catch the last golden rays and appear to be lit from within. Lined with old trees starting to turn, cobbled streets stretch ahead, winding gently. Cafés hum with end-of-day energy, clinking glasses, and low laughter. A faint whiff of woodsmoke rides the breeze.

I’d enjoy this stroll more if Eva weren’t so close. Her presence is magnetic and annoying in equal measures. Her perfume doesn’t help. It has none of the sugary sweetness most ladies favor. Instead, it’s seductive in a sharp, provocative way that’s so much her.

About the Author:

Alix Nichols is a caffeine addict, a longtime fan of Mr. Darcy. She pens sexy romantic comedies and romantasy. Her books have been described as "pure pleasure" (Kirkus Reviews) that “keep fans of romance hanging off the edge of their seat” (Romantic Times).

At the age of six, she released her first book. It featured highly creative spelling on a dozen pages stitched together and bound in velvet paper.

Decades later, she lives in France and still writes. Her spelling has improved (somewhat), she has become a Kindle Scout winner, Chanticleer First Place winner, USA Today bestseller, Book Riot's Top 100 Must-Read International Romance author, and Amazon All-Star for being one of the 100 most-read authors in Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/author/alixnichols
Website: http://www.alixnichols.com
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/alixnichols
Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorAlixNichols
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/alix-nichols
Newsletter Signup (and a free bundle!): http://bit.ly/alix-freebook

The Engine in the Sky by V.G. Harrison

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. V.G. Harrison 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.

When Professor Meridia Vail’s space station is hurled across time and dimensions, she and the rest of the Bridgeway crew wake on an alternate Earth that's only five years into the future but looks like it's a century behind her technology. Their goal is to reclaim their crippled station, return to their dimension, and hope that a mysterious interdimensional illness doesn't kill her and her people first.

Stuck on a backwards version of her own planet, Meridia must deal with governments who want her technology and intelligence agencies who want control. Nobody trusts anyone, and the longer they delay, the closer the Bridgeway gets to a catastrophic reentry.

However, the greatest shock comes when Meridia meets her doppelganger, a brilliant mechanic with a loving family that leaves her heart aching for the life she could have had.

As time is running out for her crew and New Earth, Meridia faces an impossible mission: return to the station, save her crew, and prevent a global disaster. Duty first. Family second. When Meridia is thrust into a situation where the two become synonymous, she must decide how much she's willing to risk for a world she's sworn to save and a life she can never have.

Read an Excerpt

I followed her down the semi-busy hall until we arrived at a first grader’s room. Meridia peeked her head inside, smiled at the teacher, and motioned for a little girl to come into the hall. She beamed when she saw her mother and ran into her arms. When she saw me, she stopped, her dazzling light-brown eyes enlarged.

My heart swelled to the point that my gaze blurred with unshed tears. She was beautiful. She had olive skin and frizzy hair that barely stayed in place with two green barrettes to hold back the curly onslaught. Her smile was perfect, even with the one missing tooth in the front. I didn’t believe in instant love, but this little girl made me feel nothing less than that. Meridia—the other me—had a child. I mean, I knew she had a kid, but nothing prepared me for actually meeting her.

"Who’s that, Mommy?" she asked.

Meridia knelt. "Remember when I told you I had a twin sister who came from space and that’s why the reporters were at our house? Well, this is her. This is Astronaut Meridia. Meridia, this is my daughter Felicity."

The little girl let go of her mother before rushing to wrap her arms around my waist.

"I have two mommies now," she declared. "Best day ever!"

Oh. My. God. It took everything inside me not to cry happy tears. Her little arms spewing with love for someone she had just met was incredible. Who would ever deny this beautiful little girl?

  About the Author: Amazon best-selling author, V.G. Harrison enjoys creating smart heroines who are more comfortable dealing with things like Fine-structure constant and quantum entanglement than the fallout from their conflict. She loves to write stories that leave her audience so engaged they can't sleep at night, thinking about the possibilities.

V.G. holds a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering and a Masters in Information Technology. When she's not writing, she's an IT manager for a healthcare information systems company.

Her ever-growing list of hobbies include astronomy, attending comic cons, keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency and stock markets, hydroponics gardening, hiking, and connecting with her daughter, Collie, on a cool level.

Publisher: https://mochamemoirspress.com
Website: https://www.vgharrison.com/
Blog: https://www.vgharrison.com/blog-1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/booksbycoletteandharrison
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marciacolette

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Engine-Sky-Dyson-Bridge-Book-ebook/dp/B0H3LWYKRZ/ref=sr_1_1

The Deadly Tea by Rachel Dacus

This post is part of a virtual book organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rachel Dacus will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Most sleuths don’t have the advantage of talking to the murder victim for clues, but Saffron has a window into the afterlife. The problem is, she's not a detective and has no wish to be.

In the charming heart of London’s Notting Hill, Saffron juggles motherhood, running an animal welfare foundation, and counseling recently deceased spirits—the invisibles. But her peaceful routine is upended when a spirit insists she solve the mystery of his untimely death. Lucas Troy pops into her awareness claiming he was killed and demanding she figure out who did it. He wants justice before he'll agree to move on. But Saffron's role isn't to play detective, but to help each invisible plan for the next adventure in living. She asks Lucas if he suspects anyone in the circle at his aunt’s tea party where he died. He can’t imagine anyone wanting to kill him, but he persuades Saffron to interview them all.

She feels for Lucas, who had hardly begun his life, and she tries to persuade him that he can have a great future next lifetime, but finally she gives in and agrees to a little investigating. If she finds out something, perhaps he’ll agree to move forward. But the closer she gets to the possible killer, the more she’s in danger. Saffron has no wish to join Lucas in The Room Over There.

Settle in to a cozy mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the heartwarming chaos of family, and the charm of London’s Notting Hill. "Interesting characters, intriguing mystery."

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It was glorious to dawdle around the bohemian and vintage shops on Portobello Road, and the addition of rare April sunshine in London made it seem to Saffron like her spa day. Not that she ever got to have those, as most mothers of young children didn’t. But today, browsing and shopping, she indulged herself in a glorious solitude amid the crowds. This busy street was her paradise, and she needed just a few more things for the children’s Easter outfits, but hoping not to find them too quickly.

Traffic and people swirled around her, and she thrilled to the bright colors, food stalls, brushes of music wafting out of open doors. She would forever be a tourist in her adopted city of London. Notting Hill was so like her San Francisco Bay Area, but snootier. In many ways, more exciting.

Peering into windows, she thought about the perfect bow tie she wanted for Percy’s suit, so her seven-year-old son didn’t look like a tiny banker. Four-year-old Freida could use a flower pin for her pinafore dress. Focusing on these ideas was such a pleasure. Saffron tried to wipe the smile off her face, remembering that Londoners did not walk around smiling, though Californians often did.

A passerby jostled her, and as she stopped to check her bag, a low voice drifted down. “Hey! Anyone here?”

Hella damn. An invisible. Another drifting spirit.

“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m busy, as you can see. You can see me, right?”

“I see a lot of hair. Curly. Are you some kind of animal?”

Saffron huffed. “You’re looking at the top of my head. Come down lower, so you can see my face.”

Some might call it being haunted, but Saffron called it helping invisibles. She wasn’t often contacted by newly dead people, but occasionally one popped into her vicinity. They always needed orientation and comfort after the trauma of dying.

About the Author:

Rachel Dacus is the author of eight novels and five poetry collections. Her fiction features love and relationships, exotic locations and intrepid heroines, and emotional journeys of self-discovery, all with a touch of the supernatural. Her poetry, stories, and essays have appeared widely in print and online literary journals and anthologies. She enjoys life in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, with its coast and trails where she walks her tiny but mighty Silky Terrier with her architect husband.

Website: http://www.racheldacus.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelDacusAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rachel_Dacus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/racheldacusauthor/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Tea-cozy-mystery-Invisibles-ebook/dp/B0GPT7ZLFW

Move Me by Lynn Crandall

This post is part of a virtual book tour orgainzed by Goddess Fish Promotions.Lynn Crandall will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

An Aeon by birth, Diane Butler knew when she walked away from her fellow Aeons that she wanted certain things: wealth, power, acceptance. But she'd come to realize she didn't belong with Dark Sides and joined in the battle to save Auralia from darkness. But when her past comes after her, she understand that she can't escape it with a simple name change.

A surprise encounter that turns ugly pits lone Emmett Forrest against thugs determined to hurt Cassie. With each threat out cold on the ground, he believes he's done. But when the men report the incident to the Auralia Police Department, he can't avoid the drama or the intrigue surrounding her.

Read an Excerpt

“Anyone else bored as sin? We stopped the Irish mob and Dark Sides from taking over Auralia in December. January and February, we took some time to recover from Dark Sides’ Project Reckoning. I know you all have been tending to your personal lives, your relationships, and your careers, but for me, those two months were the epitome of boredom. Now March is almost over, and still boredom reigns.”

“Diane—” Braden started.

“Cassie,” she interrupted. “Try to remember, Braden. I’ve told you so many times that I’m using my middle name now. I’m not Diane anymore.” She pouted her lips.

Braden nodded. “Yes, sorry. You’re Cassandra Butler now, not Diane Butler.”

“Cassie. I told you, Cassie for short.” She swept her gaze around the living room at Braden and Payson’s house and flung her hands up. “I swear, it’s not that hard to remember my name. I made a change, I’m not Diane. I’m not that woman any more. I’m aligned with light and love. I’m Cassie. Cassie. Cassie Butler. Gauzy, gossamer, and open, not rigid, harsh, or angry Cassie.” The rock lodged in her gut weighed her down. Was she different? Truly? She’d been putting in the work with her counselor, Claire Eve Kelly, to make the change permanent. But with the chaos of the past not far behind, she ached for the excitement of the life she had. The parties, the conniving to get what she wanted. It had all been so mesmerizing.

About the Author After cutting her writing teeth as a feature writer for commercial and trade magazines, a reporter for newspapers and radio, and an executive editor for a communications company, award-winning author Lynn Crandall tuned her voracious appetite for stories to writing contemporary and paranormal romance, women’s fiction, and romantic suspense. In her books, she enjoys taking readers on emotional journeys with relatable characters who refuse to back down, and face challenges and tribulations with heart and soul. She believes every love has a story, and hers is with one handsome husband and a large, beautiful circle of family, including her cat Winter.

Website https://lynn-crandall.com
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lcrandall246
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LynnCrandallAuthor
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/lynncrandallwriter/
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@lynnkelynnwriter
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H2FMSG8H

Moccasin Trace by Hawk MacKinney

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Hawk MacKinney will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

…it was about the land.

It is July of 1859, a month of sweltering dog days and feverish emotional bombast. Life is good for widower Rundell Ingram and his hazel-eyed, roan-haired son, Hamilton. Between the two of them, they take care of Moccasin Hollow, their sprawling ancestral plantation home in the rolling farming country outside Queensborough Towne in east Georgia. Adjoining Ingram lands is Wisteria Bend, the vast slave-holding plantation of Andrew and Corinthia Greer, their daughter Sarah, and son Benjamin. Both families share generations of long-accepted traditions, and childhood playmates are no longer children. The rangy, even-tempered Norman-Scottish young Hamilton is smitten with Sarah, who has become an enticing capricious beauty—the young lovers more in love with each passing day, and only pleasant times ahead of them.

…but a blood tide of war is sweeping across the South, a tide that will forever change everyone and everything.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Things got tighter. The Horseman-of-Hunger ranging the land, shanty squatters and hollowed-eyed starving Rebs with broken dreams in towns and countryside, surviving on ash-pone, collard and polk greens. Drifters traipsing from nowhere to nowhere across a land where privilege once flourished. Deserters, draft-dodgers, the battered and displaced hunkering in shady tangles by creeks, under bridges, in abandoned barns and houses, begging at whatever back door didn't shoo 'em away. Skulkers and bummers made carrying weapons a given, nights less pleasant, small farms easy pickings. The Hollows and Bends didn't turn the hungry away, but they kept a watchful eye.

About the Author:

With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. His professional writing includes articles on chordate neuroembryology, and aerospace research on muscle metabolic behavior in multi-orbital environments.

In addition, Hawk has authored several works of fiction including a historical romance Moccasin Trace which was nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. His Cairns of Sainctuarie Science Fiction Series and his Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series have received national and international attention. He is currently working on a series of horror/suspense novels.

Website: http://www.hawkmackinneyauthor.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Moccasin-Trace-Hawk-Mackinney/dp/1595071482.

The Super Seeders by Miles Hillmann

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Miles Hillmann 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 Super Seeders is based on first-hand accounts from the scientists, breeders, and curators who have built the seven pillars of today's plant genetics revolution. It begins with the guardians of global gene banks, conserving the rare and diverse crop genes that form agriculture's safety net. From these collections, plant geneticists are now unlocking hidden traits with fast-moving genome technologies, transforming the possibilities of crop improvement.

International research centres and the groundbreaking Plant Treaty have opened the floodgates for the free exchange of genetic material, enabling a new wave of discovery. Crop breeders are translating these breakthroughs into reality, delivering drought-tolerant, disease-resistant, and higher-yielding varieties for farmers.

The book raises a pressing question: will this revolution reach the 70 percent of Africans who still depend on subsistence farming? The answer will shape not only the future of food in Africa, but the future of food security worldwide.

A story of ingenuity and urgency, The Super Seeders captures the hopes and challenges of the women and men driving a genetic transformation of agriculture—and the farmers whose lives depend on its success.

Read an Excerpt

In the cool, rolling hills of southern Ethiopia’s Wolaita Highlands, the sun crested the teff and barley fields and coloured the red soil with long shadows. Selam, widow and mother of four, wrapped her scarf around her tightly and came out into the morning light from her thatched tukul house, her hands clasped around a woven basket.

She headed for the community seed bank, a mud-brick hut just outside the school, amidst the eucalyptus trees. Inside the hut, the scent of dried grain and neem leaves filled the air. Wooden shelves ran around the room, where clay jars and gourd containers were labelled neatly in Amharic: Aba Dula wheat, Dabo barley, Red sorghum of Wando. Each had a history, some passed down from grandparents, others brought by farmers like her.

“Selam, good morning!” said Abebe, the seed bank coordinator and the village elder. His weathered face creased into a smile behind his grey beard. “We’ve just finished processing the new batch of the sorghum seed. Strong stalks. Early maturation. Your father preferred this variety.”

Selam smiled. She remembered sowing that very same red sorghum as a child alongside her parents. It had been gone for years only to reappear thanks to the gene bank.

About the Author: Miles Hillmann is a lifelong entrepreneur with a career that bridges scientific curiosity and hands-on innovation, from his early work at the Kabanyolo Agricultural Research Station in Uganda during Idi Amin's fall to experiencing food shortage and famine in the Ethiopian Central Highlands. His work encompassed everything from agricultural development to building flash flood irrigation food-for-work systems.

His first company developed processes for food industry materials. Concurrently he pioneered real-time organic material analysis. He then created one of the UK's major pollution control companies supplying specialist materials to companies in Europe, Nigeria and the Middle East. This led him to establish companies in e-commerce, accredited pollution control training and flood control.

This book is the story of the scientists, curators, and plant breeders leading this movement, told in their voices, through his lens.

Amazon: https://amazon.com/dp/1834188350
Articles: https://superseeders.co.uk/articles-insights/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/70074419.Miles_Hillmann