There is something about returning to a favorite book. Tangled in Tennessee introduced us to the boy band, Dear Juliet and Mackenzie Tanner who was dragged into their fast paced world. In Tangled on Tour, we see what has been going on since the last book. Now they are touring and things are heating up! 

Blurb:
Mackenzie Tanner was living the dream.
 
At least that’s what she thought.
 
When Mackenzie Tanner met world-famous boy band Dear Juliet while songwriting in Nashville, Tennessee, she never imagined it would lead to being the opening act on their worldwide tour, or the broken heart which would follow.

As they play to sold-out audiences across the globe, Mackenzie realizes her dream may not be what she thought it was. Singing with the boy she loves and the boy she's supposed to love leads to a tangled mess.
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But Nashville is on the horizon...

About the Author:
Alexandra Holden is a writer from Calgary, Alberta. She is married to her best friend Jon, raising two stubborn bunnies and one cuddly puppy, and can likely be found wandering the aisles of a Michaels Craft Supply store or quoting The Office. Alexandra recently graduated with her bachelor’s degree in English Literature and is represented by the Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency. She had her first novel, Tangled In Tennessee, published in 2015 and hosts the Mrs. Feminist Podcast.
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Website: www.alexandralydia.com
Instagram: alexandraalydia
Facebook: Alexandra Lydia

A fun and magical movie for the whole family. You can see my whole review here: Movie Reviews

I always check out the magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store. This week, Megan, the new British princess was on one cover as well as an article about the life of Burt Reynolds who passed away last week. While I don't watch television, I do like to know about the celebrities mentioned. 

It's this compulsion which serves as a backdrop for Celia Mulder's latest release, Celebrity Spin Doctor. Her main character works to keep the juicy nuggets of gossip out of the headlines and spins any leaks to benefit her clients. Pregnant? It's a love child! Public breakup? Just an innocent break! Now you can get a behind the scenes look at a heroine who not only puts her job on the line but her love life as well! Hilarity ensues!

Blurb:
Remember when country star, Christy-Anne, had the leaked sex tape?

No one else does either. All thanks to Lucille Anton, undercover PR agent for troublesome celebrities. They screw up, she covers up. Business is good and Lucille’s good at it. But all that changes when international superstar Michel Polce approaches her with the toughest case of her career—his fiancée is trying to kill him and he doesn’t want anyone to know. 

Brett Jacobs is at rock bottom of, well, everything. But he pulls himself out of his grimy apartment to attend a party with his former best friend, Michel Polce. Little does he know he’s about to be introduced to the most fascinating, unattainable woman he’s ever met in his life. And the only way to get close to her is to convince her, and himself, to help Michel.
​
The mission is clear—find the fiancée, tell her to stop trying to kill Michel, and make sure no one knows. But with an ex-boyfriend popping up at inconvenient moments, a fugitive uncle who can’t stay away, and some ill-timed sexacapades, this ordeal is more than any of them bargained for. 

EXCERPT:
Lucille had her arms crossed over her black blouse, forcing open the unbuttoned top and revealing a glimpse of black lace. She looked him up and down while he stared at her face. He could feel her eyes on his skin, scraping across every inch of his being with slow, deliberate judgment. As in the hotel suite, he felt gloriously naked. He was sure it was meant to make him feel insignificant and tiny, but whether it was from his years of neuroses and self-deprecation or some latent desire in her gaze, he shivered with pleasure at the scrutiny.

“I see you own other clothes.” Her tone was clipped and cold.

“Are you checking me out?” Brett had meant to joke, but it came out husky.

Lucille laughed, one brief, humorless bark that said “you wish.” She pushed past him and into the tomb of the mansion beyond. She paused in the foyer, taking in the empty stillness.

“I don’t know how to say this, but—” Brett began.

“Sylvia’s been kidnapped.” Lucille cut him off. “And what I’d really like to know is why the hell you didn’t call me about it. You’ve clearly been here long enough to make yourself at home.”

Brett frowned. “What does Sylvia’s kidnapping have to do with you? Aren’t you Michel’s publicist?”

Lucille turned on her scary, pointy-heeled boots and glared at him, her arched eyebrows knit together. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Then you’re not his publicist.” Brett already knew this, of course, but he was annoyed and sick of her, and wildly attracted to her and now a bit pissed off.
​
“No. I’m not. We both know I’m not, so we can drop the charade. I need to see Michel.” She turned and walked away, her heels ringing against the stone.

About the Author:
Celia Mulder hails from the lovely, yet unpredictable northern Michigan. She is a librarian, a former wedding planner, and an avid appreciator of all things campy and ridiculous. Friends-to-lovers plots are her catnip. She believes in three things— the superiority of Aquaman, the healing power of romance novels, and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer.
 
Website: www.celiamulder.com
Instragram: celiamulder
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celia.mulder.7
Twitter: @celiamulder
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12829781-celia

∞
Troubles & Crimes to be solved
Xavier’s dead great-grandmother wants Vic to solve a crime
A Despicable Crime
(The Attempted Abduction of Xavier’s Mother)
A Painful Conclusion
The Improvement of Crime Lords
A Gift Returned
​

Family contacts that Xavier Thorn has long ago hidden from his life suddenly return. His beloved great-grandmother, which his father had declared dead when Xavier was six, turns out to be alive and annoyed that his father is stealing money from her bank account and the bank won’t stop him.

As matters escalate from theft to murder to a most despicable crime, Xavier learns more about his father who has hated him all his life and discovers some good news. However, first, he must secure his great-grandmother and his mother, since the connection between the two ladies and Xavier has become known to several Crime Lords. As the man responsible for keeping all Crime Lords in line, the two ladies are now in danger of becoming hostages.

It’s a hard month for Vic. Due to saying too much while teaching the Scotland Yard officers on how to stop forgeries, Vic believes she has lost Xavier’s love. Also, her crazy sister Claire burns down the house Claire lives in simply because it cannot be put into her name. Then she arrives at Xavier and Vic’s house with the intention of killing them all.
​
Family can be so difficult!

Excerpt
Xavier sat and listened to the old woman, seated on the other side of his desk, drone on and on. Honestly, he had no idea why she was here. Worse yet, she seemed to be telling her story backwards, or at least he suspected as much. Every time he took the effort to listen, she was talking about something that happened further in the past.

If she had been a man, he would have tossed her out long before now, but she was almost the spitting image of his great grandmother whom he had truly loved. Now that he gave the matter more thought, his great-grandmother often told him stories in reverse, insisting a person could learn more by going back.

“We all know where we are, but the past we know is often nothing but nonsense.” She would then give him a hard glare. “I expect better of you, young man. You are like me. We remember the truth, not some made up magpie, pretending to be a sparrow.”

Yes, this woman sounded a great deal like his dead great-grandmother. She also made statements that truly made no sense.
 
Book 9
A Despicable Crime
Free for KU Readers
 
Need to catch up?
Book 1
The Troublesome Apprentice
Book 2
The Missing Partner
Book 2.5
A Right to Love
Book 3
The Mesmerist
Book 4
Well Kept Secrets
Book 5
Pack of Trouble
Book 6
The Darkest Days
Book 7
The CrimeLords’ War
Book 8
Toxic Diamonds
 
All Xavier & Vic books are Free with Amazon Unlimited

Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved nicely. But all those bad behaviors has given her lots of fodder for her humorous books. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.

You have been warned.
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The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Sleuth series: (Late Victorian/Mystery/Romance)
The Troublesome Apprentice — The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man who turns out to be a young woman.
The Missing Partner — Opps! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing, leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants. Not to mention an eviscerating cat. Yes, let’s not mention the cat.
A Right to Love — A romantic detour for Jacko. Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic save an old woman from Bedlam?
The Mesmerist — The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell.
Well Kept Secrets — The problems with secrets is that they always come to light, no matter how you wish to silence them.
Pack of Trouble — Changes are a part of life, but these changes almost kill Vic.
The Darkest Days — Muddled cases make Vic very grumpy.
The CrimeLords’ War — Vic is almost killed twice as she tries to prevent a CrimeLords’ War, stop a female Russian spy, and locate Xavier.
Toxic Diamonds -- The Queen’s Diamonds have been stolen, Director Stone of Scotland Yard is missing, and there is a toxic gas that may kill hundreds of Londoners.
A Despicable Crime — Just when you think Crime Lords cannot behave worse, they step up their game, and I’m sorry to report that Xavier’s father caused this debacle.

When Xavier's great grandmother returns, her life as well as the life of Xavier's mother become in jeopardy. It's up to Vic and Xavier to save them as well as find out all the other strange things going on with Scotland Yard.

Like all the rest of the Adventures with Xavier and Vic, there are twisted and convoluted events which bring about a happy ending--at least for some of the people! I really enjoy the wild ride to arrive at the ending!

Vic and Xavier have become some of my favorite characters as Ms. O'Connor shows their interesting thinking and deduction skills,  in addition to how they operated in Victorian Times. Their amazing friends also come along for the ride and help with the mysteries. However, if you picking this book up first, you don't need to have read the previous ones, but you will want to. 

While Xavier will be disappointed in my saying so, but if people love mysteries like Sherlock Holmes, you will also love these books where thinking and actions bring about the solutions.

I love returning to some of my favorite characters. They feel like home and when a new book comes out, it's a one click for me. Finn and Lara are just like that. I got to know them in Country Roads and saw them face some tough choices in life. Now they are back....in Take Me Home...

Blurb:
Sometimes you have to take the long, bumpy road to get home.

Finn and Lara Murphy thought they finally had it all. He had a chart-topping country music career, they were happily married, and their first child was due in a few months. Until… that fateful afternoon when all was lost.

Is it possible to rebuild the foundation of your life when your heart is crumbling?
TAKE ME HOME is an emotional journey down the roads you must take to reconcile with your past, begin to heal, and find out what home is truly all about.

What's been your favorite Finn and Lara moment so far??

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
There really wasn’t any other path. Grea Warner knew from a young age that she wanted to write. She was born to write. First it was in diaries with little metal keys and in written tales that she slipped to friends in study hall. School newspapers, a college television drama, and internships in the soap opera world were next. After producing and writing a local show, she decided to delve into the world of the novelist. When her fingers aren’t tapping out her latest book filled with angst and romance, Grea can be found hiking the trails or jamming to her favorite country artists on the radio.
 
Website: greawarner.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grea.warner.7
Twitter:@grea_warner
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17230140.Grea_Warner
 

Jennifer Gardner is back and badder than ever. I loved her before but lately she's only been "the mom". However, Peppermint (the movie) showcases her new buff body and revenge driven lifestyle! Women will love this action movie where a female kicks butt!

​Read my review here: Melissa's Morning After Movie Reviews

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? I asked this of people on my page about a month ago and many people had definite answers. Some were planning trips to Scotland and Europe while others wanted a more tropical clime- as in Bahamas or Australia. If you could go anywhere, money is no object, where would it be?

In My African Craving, our heroine doesn't have a choice. She's off to Africa for a business trip. But while she's there, she finds danger and love. 

Blurb:
The Nights are Hotter in Africa…
When Erica Knight arrives in Lebombo Game Reserve for her first African safari she has no idea that her life is about to be changed forever. As an executive for a mining company she believes that negotiating the mining rights for the Lebombo Reserve will be a slam-dunk, but she didn’t count on locking horns with the reserve’s enigmatic owner, Jean-Luc de Graaf.

In the heart of a wild African landscape full of beauty and danger, Erica and Jean-Luc both stubborn and passionate find themselves on opposite sides of an escalating conflict. With the Reserve threatened by vicious poachers and runaway fires, they are thrown together unable to contain the scorching attraction between them.

Far away from the rat race of New York Erica feels the stirring of a different drum, ancient and irresistible. But surrendering to the wild would mean she would have to submit to the powerful attraction to Jean-Luc and she isn’t ready to give up control just yet…

EXCERPT:
A slight breeze stirred, and despite the fires, Erica found herself shivering in her thin sweater.

“I think I’ll just go back to my room and grab a jacket.”

She stood up, and so did Jean-Luc.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll just grab my rifle.”

Erica had forgotten that because out past the dining area, the camp was unfenced, guests were forbidden to walk around alone after dark and had to be accompanied by an armed ranger. She picked up her backpack while Jean-Luc took his rifle out of its case.

“This way.” He ushered her out of the boma and onto the path toward her room.

She shuddered slightly as his hand touched the sensitive area of her upper arm. “Wait, what is that noise?” she asked.

They both paused mid-route. Across the still night, they stood motionless, and listened to a strange, throaty growling sound, followed by a kind of deep bark.

“Lions,” said Jean-Luc casually. “Sounds like they’re mating.”
“Really?” asked Erica. “I thought lions hunted at night.”

“Actually, during mating season, they will have sex for three days. For all of that time, they don’t hunt, or even sleep.

Don’t worry—they are actually quite far off. When lions are near, I can smell them. You are perfectly safe.”
​
Erica felt safe from the lions, with a six-foot-four armed ranger at her side. But was she safe from the ranger? Or more to the point, was she safe from the desire she felt building in her at every second? 

About the Author:
As a rock singer Audrey has toured with the likes of Bryan Adams and Roxette. As a magazine writer she penned columns for ELLE magazine and Cosmopolitan and published a best-selling memoir. She has had a lifelong love affair with spicy romances and classic whodunits. Based in the turbulent city of Johannesburg she shares her home with her highly -strung husband and two ridiculously awesome kids.

Since moving from Canada to South Africa as a child she has been entranced with the people and landscapes of this magnificent part of the world. Serving up steamy African themed romances is far more exciting than the school run and Audrey is happiest on safari, at sunset with a Gin & Tonic in hand.

Audrey loves interacting with readers via Facebook and Instagram. She doesn’t mind being contacted as Audrey Flynn or as she is also known; Nadine Raal.
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You can find her at: safari_romance (Instagram) and audreyflynnbooks.com (Website)