Two worlds. Two witches. One magical love. – #StPatricksDay #LGBTQ #Paranormal

Blurb

Mia's knack for growing magical clover has kept her safe but secluded since the demon occupation. Her only connection to her home world is through Zoe, a powerful warrior witch with a gift to travel between worlds.

Certain that Zoe could never return her romantic feelings, Mia hides her attraction to her. When Zoe barely makes it to Mia's cabin alive after a demon attack, the women reveal their feelings for each other.

Zoe is duty-bound to deliver Mia's magical clover in time for a St. Patrick's Day protection spell that means life or death for a group of captive werewolves. Will she make it back to her beloved after this final mission?

Note: Mia's Warrior Witch is a very short f/f paranormal romance with mild sensuality. It is part of the Pandemonium universe.

Purchase Links:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1KWNJG9

UBL:

https://books2read.com/u/b5GO9p

Excerpt – After a Water Fight

The water calmed and when she lowered her hands from her face, Zoe waded so close that Mia saw droplets of moisture clinging to her eyelashes. Those seductive blue eyes stared into Mia's, making her heart skip a beat.

"Let's dry off," Mia said, her voice a bit unsteady. It was all she could do to keep from launching herself into Zoe's arms.

They swam to shore and walked over the slippery stones onto the grass. Zoe's lean, water-slicked body glistened in the sunlight. The tops of her small, round breasts swelled above her utility-style bra. Her stomach was a sleek six-pack, her legs long and toned. She had several old scars on her arms and ribs and a new scar on her thigh from the previous night's attack.

"What?" Zoe asked, meeting Mia's gaze.

Swallowing hard, Mia shook her head. "Nothing."

Zoe's gaze swept her from head to toe in a way that made Mia flush, but it had to be her imagination. Zoe wasn't interested in Mia, or seemingly any relationship. A dedicated warrior witch, she was all about fighting demons. Right now, that was far more important than romance.

They gathered their clothes, and by the time they reached the house, they had mostly dried off. The day was too beautiful to waste, so they ate lunch outside. Afterward, Mia played her flute.

Zoe leaned against a tree trunk and gazed at her with an expression Mia didn't quite understand.

About Kate

Kate Hill is a vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies. When she's not working on her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out, watching horror movies, and researching vampires and Viking history. She runs the Compelling Beasts Blog that is dedicated to antagonists, antiheroes, and paranormal creatures. Kate also writes as Saloni Quinby.

Visit her online at kate-hill.com.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.kate-hill.com

Blog: https://kate-hill.com/blog/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katehillromance.bsky.social

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kate-hill

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16157.Kate_Hill

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/katehillromanceandmore/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateHillRomance

We’re going to rock their world! – #MFRWHooks #VegasBabes #99Cents

Happy Wednesday!

Once again, it’s time for our MFRW Book Hooks blog hop. Last week I posted a bit from my new release, Book 6 in the Vegas Babes series. Since that book hit the shelves on Monday the 10^th, I’ve seen interest pick up with regard to the other books in the series. So I thought that today I’d give you a bit from Hot Brides in Vegas, Vegas Babes Book 1. In this snippet, the bride and her friends have convinced the hotel to hire them a limo so they can go out on the town. Meanwhile, their stern chaperone has been seduced by the offer of a free massage and spa treatment. 

I went looking for a banner graphic for this book (which was published way back in 2017), but discovered that I only had the one above that advertised the book as being 99 cents. I couldn't find the source file for the generating banner. Anyway, I figured this was fate. So I've dropped the price for this first book of the series to only 99 cents, until the end of the month.

Now you have no excuse not to snag yourself a copy!

Blurb

Francesca Torelli’s tycoon father is throwing a lavish Las Vegas wedding for his only child. Her fiancé Jake and his buddies set out for a stag night, exploring the fleshpots of Sin City. Meanwhile, Fran and her bridesmaids Laura and Chantal are stuck at the resort under the watchful eye of her stern Aunt Giulia, who has promised her brother that Franny will come to the altar a virgin.

Frustrated and annoyed by these double standards, the young women hatch a plan to escape their chaperone and have some fun of their own. With the help of a susceptible concierge, a butch ex-cop limo driver and a scandalous French couturiere, they find their way to The Fox’s Den, the most exclusive—and outrageous—gentlemen’s club in the city. Owner Larry Archer and his crew of strippers, bouncers, voyeurs and sluts are more than happy to welcome the delectable trio as contestants performing at the club’s famous Amateur Night.

The gleeful permissiveness of the Den challenges the women’s assumptions and undermines their inhibitions. Complications ensue when Jake and his groomsmen arrive to find Fran in the midst of her strip act. Then Aunt Giulia crashes the party, determined to save her virgin niece, and things get really sticky—both figuratively and literally.

Will love triumph? Will Francesca be drawn over to the dark side? Is there a difference?

The Hook

The three friends watched through the back window as the concierge took Aunt Giulia’s arm and escorted her back into the hotel. The older woman was almost smiling.

“I can’t believe it!” Francesca shook her head in wonder. “How did you manage it, Laur?”

Her friend smiled like the cat that ate the canary. “I’ll tell you later. In private.”

The panel separating them from the driver slid open. Margaret grinned at them. “So, where to, ladies?”

“Um—I’m not sure. Do you have any suggestions?” Francesca had been so focused on getting free of their chaperone, she hadn’t really thought about what she’d do if she succeeded.

“I’ve got an idea,” said Chantal. She dug a folded sheet of paper from her purse. “I saw this on the activities bulletin board at the resort.”

“‘Amateur Night at The Fox’s Den’.” Laura peered over Chantal’s shoulder to read the poster. “What’s The Fox’s Den?”

“Classiest strip club in the city,” the driver answered. “Larry Archer—the proprietor—has turned the Den into a legend.”

“What do you mean, a legend?” asked Francesca.

“Well, they’ve got the most gorgeous girls, the most generous drinks, the best sound system and the most friendly atmosphere you’ll find anywhere,” said Margaret. “At the same time, you never know what’ll happen at Larry’s place. I’ve seen some wild things at the Den!”

“You’d visit a strip club? Do you go with your husband?” Francesca tried to get her mind around the notion that a former vice cop would enjoy a titty bar.

“No husband for me.” The driver’s smile grew broader. “I go to watch the ladies, just like everyone else.”

Francesca was silent, trying to digest this notion.

“So do you know anything about this Amateur Night thing?” Laura asked.

“Sure. Every couple of months, Larry opens the stage to anyone who wants to give stripping a try. It’s great fun, a huge turn on for everyone involved. Plus there are great prizes.”

“A thousand dollars for first place,” Chantal read. “Second and third are five hundred and three hundred respectively. That’s definitely generous.”

“Larry can afford it. Each contestant performs, then the audience chooses the winners,” said Margaret. She gave the women in the back seat a once-over. “I have to say, all three of you would be big hits at the Den.”

Something about Margaret’s frank admiration set up a tingling between Francesca’s thighs. She loved to dance, everything from swing to salsa. What would it be like to be up on stage, dancing for an audience of horny men? And horny women, she reminded herself. She squirmed on the leather seat of the limo, her sundress becoming distinctly damp. She’d never had any sexual experience with a woman, but she did occasionally have fantasies. Not that she’d ever shared that fact with anyone, not even her best friends.

“Let’s do it,” said Laura. “We may never get another chance!”

Francesca gripped one hand in the other. She wanted to do it, but she wasn’t sure she had the courage. “I don’t know... what would Jake say?”

“Screw Jake,” said Chantal. “He and his mates are off chasing pussy as we speak. We deserve a bit of fun.” She turned to Margaret. “Take us to The Fox’s Den, please. We’re going to rock their world.”

Find all the buy links here: https://books2read.com/u/mK5YYd

Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks!

---

1. "Yes, yes. Dont be tedious. " Kayelle Allen	2. "Nice to meet you. " - Aussie Romance - Iris Blobel
3. We're going to rock their world! (99 cents)-Lisabet Sarai	4. Meet the Characters: Duchess Isabella - Frances Brown
5. You Want Me to Fail (Maggie Blackbird)	6. The Dark Lady, the Unsung Heroine-Pat Garcia
7. Getting to Know You Once Again-Jana Richards

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Review Tuesday: Dark Hearts Aflame by Amber Daulton -- #DarkRomance #RomanticSuspense #ReviewTuesday

Dark Hearts Aflame by Amber Daulton

Daulton Publishing, 2025

Carmen Lozano has managed to escape from her savagely abusive husband and the drug-lord father who bartered her to that beast. Hiding out south of the border, she joins a home-grown resistance organization, protecting the populace from the local mob. For Carmen it’s a way to balance the scales, making amends for all the damage done by her cartel family.

After a decade as a Mafia capo, Bristol Rieger, aka the notorious Thorn, has blood on his hands and on his conscience. Guilt and self-disgust finally lead him to collaborate with the law, betraying the secrets of the Onyx organization in order to bring them to justice. Now he needs to disappear; if he’s found, his former associates will slaughter him without a thought, while the Feds aren’t likely to protect an inconvenient informer.

Chance brings Carmen and Bristol together in Mexico. Suspicious of one another at first, they soon surrender to a fierce attraction that burns all the brighter in the face of danger. Carmen’s vindictive ex will do anything to find her and punish her for spurning him. Before long, the pair are on the run, hoping against hope to find a place of peace. But how can two people whose histories are so burdened with cruelty and crime ever out-run their pasts?

Amber Daulton’s Dark Hearts Aflame is appropriately billed as a “dark romance”. The protagonists’ passion, hot enough to sear their souls, flares against the shadow of unrelenting threat. Violence rips the pages apart, violence perpetrated not only against Carmen and Bristol but by them as well. When Bristol first recognizes Carmen, she pulls her knife on him. Later in the book, Bristol, embodying his alter-ego Thorn, methodically undertakes the torture of several enemies. The author makes us see how these two individuals are forever marked by the horrors they’ve witnessed or inflicted.

Carmen is clever, resourceful, physically strong and astoundingly brave. Self-confident, even cocky, she knows how to excite desire. His reflexes honed by years of mob training, Bristol believes he’s always in control. He’s blind-sided by the need he feels for Carmen. I loved the complexity and contradictions in these characters. Although I have not ever (knowingly) met anyone from the Mafia, I found Carmen and Bristol surprisingly realistic. For much of the novel, they are at cross-purposes, and neither is likely to surrender. Still, each will fight to the death to protect the other.

“Mafia romance” is a popular sub-genre these days, one that I generally avoid. My perusal of blurbs and excerpts suggests that these books often glamorize or glorify mob life, as well as skirting the line when it comes to sexual consent. Given the destruction wrought by organized crime, I’m not very comfortable pretending it’s sexy.

Dark Hearts Aflame seems to offer a more realistic perspective on the alliances and compromises involved in cartel life. The Lozanos we meet are responsible for a lot of evil, but they’re not cardboard villains. Meanwhile, Carmen’s and Bristol’s struggles illustrate how difficult it is to extricate oneself from the clutches of this sort of organization.

Though the violence occasionally bothered me, overall I found Dark Hearts Aflame to be engaging and arousing. My one complaint was that I really could not follow the details of the different criminal organizations. Bristol apparently was part of Onyx, yet he was trained by Carmen’s brutal father, the head of the Lozano cartel. What was the relationship between the two? I never did figure this out. The fact that many of the mob characters have multiple names (Bristol versus Thorn, Jorge versus El Tren, Ruben versus Duque) didn’t help matters any. There were also unexplained references to events and characters who (I think) come from other novels.

This didn’t prevent me from savoring the love story, but I did find the confusion a bit distracting.

In fact I made similar comments about the last Amber Daulton book I reviewed. Perhaps the author might consider providing a list of the dramatic personae at the start of each book and/or a time line of past events that influence the current story. I think this would have helped me appreciate this book even more.

All and all, though, Dark Hearts Aflame delivers everything it promises: indestructible love and incandescent passion, dark regret and bright redemption.

 

Home Cooking and Homicide – #SupernaturalMystery #BlackCat #Giveaway

Blurb

Beluga Stein is taking a cooking class and it's a real killer. This time she's traded her signature loud muumuus for ill-fitting chef attire, including a toque the size of her ego.

A well-liked chef is found dead and it's up to Beluga and her feline familiar, Planchette, to investigate. There's no recipe to follow, only the hope that her erratic psychic ability will hit the spot. Is a supernatural entity stirring up trouble, or something far more dangerous?

Beluga and Planchette can't stand the heat, but there's no way out of this kitchen while murder is the main dish.

Excerpt

Beluga Stein’s Diary

The evil smell lingers.

Even with all the windows in the house open, the doors cracked a notch, the attic fan going full blast, and Planchette’s tail fanning his face like he was Egyptian royalty preparing for personal delivery of a peeled grape, the odor of exploded eggs clings to everything like a sock stuck to the back of a shirt by static cling.

Alas, there is no magic laundry cloth to separate one thing from another. So for now I’ll have to live with sulfuric fumes and pretend I like them. Or at least pretend they weren’t there even after the water long since boiled out of the pot and left the eggs all alone. My choices are severely limited.

Not that I didn’t consider Tanya’s suggestion to move into a hotel room for the night. I did. Briefly. But my reputation in this small town precedes me, so the various housing entrepreneurs said. In rather unkind tones, I should add.

So what if my reservation for three included a surly goat, a cat with an attitude, and myself? Emerson, while a gifted goat in many ways, has not yet mastered opening a mini bar. Planchette has little interest in watching expensive in-room movies unless there’s a female cat in the leading role, and I’ve been housebroken for months now. So why not take us for the night?

Honestly, people can be so rigid.

To: Food-Co

From: Culinary Program

Re: Weekly Purchase Order

—Wheat flour, 100 lbs.

—All purpose flour, 100 lbs.

—Sugar, 50 lbs.

—Butter, 50 lbs.

—Eggs, 4 cases

—Body bag, 1

About the Author

Wendy W Webb (aka one of the many Wendy Webbs) has published dark fantasy short stories and novels, co-edited anthologies, and has had productions of stage and radio plays. After a hiatus as a doctoral student of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomed the return to fiction with The Wild Rose Press writing the gothic Widow’s Walk, and two updated books in the Beluga Stein supernatural-humor-murder mystery series, Bee Movie and Mean Cuisine. Sunbury Press under the Milford House imprint published the paranormal, travel, “memoir,” Eye of the Gargoyle. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see anymore ghosts!

Barnes & Noble

Paperback

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mean-cuisine-wendy-w-webb/1007879485?ean=97815092592

eBook

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mean-cuisine-wendy-w-webb/1007879485?ean=2940184304267

Amazon

Paperback

https://www.amazon.com/Mean-Cuisine-Beluga-Stein-Mystery/dp/1509259279

eBook

https://www.amazon.com/Mean-Cuisine-Beluga-Stein-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0DM2NYQHZ

Wendy will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

One man’s righteous battle against impossible odds – #Memoir #Whistleblower #Giveaway

Blurb

This is the incredible true story of railroad worker and union official Mike Elliottt, targeted by his railroad employer, BNSF Railway Company, for his safety-related activities. As the union's state legislative board chair, Elliottt was the top safety official in the state, and the voice for over 900 rank & file locomotive engineers operating trains around the clock, every day of the year.

When his members reported a plethora of trackside signal malfunctions on the BNSF Seattle subdivision, Elliottt went to the railroad first, asking that they fix the problems. When the BNSF failed to act, he contacted the government's regulatory authority, the Federal Railroad Administration. That led to an FRA inspection of over 130 miles of the railroad's track and signal systems turning up hundreds of federal defects – all with potential to put workers and the public at risk.

What followed was a retaliation plot reminiscent of the Nineteenth Century Robber Barons: A management-staged conflict at work, police called in, arrest, jail, criminal charges, and termination from his job – not once but twice.

The wrath, influence and power of North America's largest freight railroad is unleasehd in full force and in an all-out attack on a whistleblower's life, liberties, and career. An amazing journey of one man's righteous battle against impossible odds and the nearly unlimited resources of a multi-billion-dollar corporation.

Excerpt

I began my railroad career in 1995 on the Burlington Northern Railroad. Within three years, I was certified in two railroad operating crafts: Conductor and Locomotive Engineer. Concurrently, I became involved with the local railroad unions, taking a keen interest in safety, especially crew fatigue. For several years, I held a division level safety position— Legislative Representative—working local safety issues in Pasco and Yakima, Washington. Concurrently, I headed a state-level union safety office, 1st Vice Chair to then-Chair Mark K. Ricci, PhD. But in 2007, I was moved up to Chair of the Washington State Legislative Board when, quite unexpectedly, Mark resigned mid-term. So began six of the most impactful years of my life. My chief responsibilities as Chair were to advocate for the safety and welfare of our 900 members—not only on the two Class I railroads, BNSF and Union Pacific, but also on Amtrak, Sounder commuter trains, and Tacoma Rail. I hoped my work would help improve workplace safety and, ultimately, prevent tragedies.

In the late spring and early summer of 2010, I received complaints about vegetation overgrowth blocking the view of signals on the tracks between Tacoma and Vancouver, Washington—about 133 miles of tracks. Interestingly, most of the complaints were from my Union Pacific membership whose jobs running trains co-exist with BNSF on that segment of railroad track. I knew it wasn’t that UP train crews just liked to complain or that BNSF train crews didn’t care. More likely, BNSF train crews had learned from bitter experience that management retaliation was the reward for those who dared to be the “squeaky wheel.”

When I use the word “complaints,” I’m not talking about petty gripes. Not at all. These were legitimate safety complaints about the signals controlling train movement along “double-track” territory known as the BNSF Seattle Subdivision, a segment of right-of-way where BNSF and UP share track in a joint-use arrangement. The complaints were a straight-up red-flag warning from professional train crews who worked the line on a regular basis. These warnings needed to be heard; their complaints needed to be heeded. And they required immediate action.

About the Author

Mike Elliottt was born and raised in Washington State. He enjoys the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, classic rock & roll music, vintage stereo gear, home cooked meals, and Seattle Mariners baseball. He lives in Tacoma, Washington.

https://amazon.com/dp/1779626037

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224714537-bad-order

 

Mike Elliott will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

 

I absolutely guarantee that you’ll enjoy it – #NewRelease #LGBTQ #MFRWHooks

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Come meet the Bluestocking Belles! – #HistoricalRomance #CooperativeWriting #FBParty

By Rue Allyn (Guest Blogger)

The Bluestocking Belles are celebrating ten years of cooperative writing. Everyone is invited. The event takes place on March 15, 2025 in the Belles Brigade, our FB group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1645454959073273/. We will be hosting dozens of authors with prizes and fun galore from 10AM to 10PM NYT. Please join us.

Who are the Bluestocking Belles? A group of authors who write historical romance, separately and together, and who help promote one another.
Roughly seven years ago, I was invited to join a group of authors calling themselves ‘the Bluestocking Belles.’ I’d never heard of the Bluestocking Belles—or the Belles as I call them—so I spent a few weeks looking them up online and reading one or two of their books. Boy am I ever glad I did.

What I learned during my research intrigued me enough to accept the invitation. I became the eight Belle. A change in membership had prompted my invitation. I never met the author who left the group, opening a spot for me, but to that author I am extremely grateful, as I am to all the Belles past and present.

One of the things about the Belles that intrigued me most was the collections they published—one per year at that time—we now frequently produce two collections per year. Many of those collections were not mere assemblies of unique stories on a theme—although we have a few of those. Belles’ collections are that and much more; the stories are inter-related. Characters, settings, circumstances from one story appear in another.

Once I joined the group, I learned that the process for creating this kind of intertwined collection involved a great deal of work. I won’t go into the process here. However, I will say that the work involved in creating and promoting the collections made me a much better writer. I’ve learned from each and every Belle, and each Belle is a master of her craft.

Our membership has changed over the years, but the current Belles are Jude Knight, Caroline Warfield, Cerise Duval, Susana Ellis, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Alina K. Field, Sherry Ewing and myself. Individually, we are VERY different authors—different time periods (though all of us write primarily historical romance), distinct voices, and varied preferences for character types and tropes.

All of my Belles colleagues understand the historical romance reading audience—we are readers first, after all. They recognize heroic behavior and enjoy creating conflict for fictional couples on their way to HEA. We LOVE variety. Yes, we like traditional Regency Romance settings and tropes, but you’ll find in our individual stories and our collections that our writing range extends well beyond London ballrooms and soirees.

One other thing unites us, besides the desire to bring great, emotionally intense stories to readers—our love of history. We love it so much that each of us often must force ourselves to stop researching in order to get the book written.

I have been blessed to be a part of this special group of authors. I hope, for all of you reading this, you may find for yourselves a group, a family, of friends who share interests, care deeply about each other’s well-being, work together for a common goal while maintaining their distinct individuality, and love to read 😊

PS: I forgot to mention that we do all of this on-line. We live all over the world, New Zealand, Australia, Central America, and the US. Location is no barrier to creativity. All that requires is a willingness to do the work.

Come hang out at our 10^th anniversary celebration, March 15^th. We’d love to get to know you.