Today I’m part of the Inkyard Press YA blog tour (a division of Harper-Collins) for Killing Time by Brenna Ehrlich. This was a suspenseful story of two murders, one now and one in the past, with a central protagonist of a girl in high school who loves true crime and has her own podcast, even though her mother hates her passion with a passion!

Here’s the overview:

Killing Time  

Brenna Ehrlich

On Sale Date: March 8, 2022

9781335418678

Hardcover

$18.99 USD

336 pages

About the Book:

Killing Time follows a true-crime obsessed teenage girl who sets out to uncover a killer when her favorite teacher is murdered. With a dual POV that sends the reader back twenty years, this engrossing and twisty thriller is perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Karen McManus.

Summer in Ferry, Connecticut has always meant long, lazy days at the beach and wild nights partying in the abandoned mansions on the edge of town. Until now, that is.

Natalie Temple’s favorite teacher has been murdered, and there’s no way this true-crime obsessed girl is going to sit back and let the rumor mill churn out lie after lie. Not if she has anything to say about it – even if she has to hide her investigation from her disapproving mom and team up with a new boy in town with a mysterious smile and a talent for making fake IDs.

But the more Natalie uncovers, the more she realizes some secrets were never meant to be told.

With two interwoven mysteries, Killing Time is a deathly warning to a generation of murderinos: what happens when the stories we’re chasing finally catch up with us?

About the Author:

Brenna Ehrlich is a journalist, YA author, and editor who has worked everywhere from MTV News to Rolling Stone. She resides in New Jersey with her husband Morgan and their two cats, Nimbus and Hazel. She enjoys horror movies and romcoms in equal measure.

Social Links:

Author website: https://www.brennaehrlich.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrennaEhrlich

IG: https://www.instagram.com/brennaehrlich/

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/killing-time-9781335418678/9781335418678 

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/killing-time-brenna-ehrlich/1139262919;jsessionid=77463C2A28F769B395869EB9A2D55A2B.prodny_store02-atgap11?ean=9781335418678&st=AFF&2sid=HarperCollins%20Publishers%20LLC_7310909_NA&sourceId=AFFHarperCollins%20Publishers%20LLC 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1335418679?tag=harpercollinsus-20 

Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781335418678?AID=10747236&PID=7310909&cjevent=7996a3e08f9311ec82814d540a82b824 

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335418678 

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Killing_Time?id=8JEpEAAAQBAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US 

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/killing-time-87 

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/ch/book/killing-time/id1563212004 

I’ll be getting this one for my daughter for her birthday! Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!

I loved this title, which I grabbed off Net Galley, about three sisters who reunite after their mother’s death to investigate why they’ve been left a house in Italy. Their mother’s early life, told in alternating chapters, provides a depth to her life before them, as they work to iron out the divisions among their own relationships. I love Italy and family stories and stories about sisters, so this was a great read for me! Thank you for my galley!

Here’s the overview:

Description

A secret romance sends three estranged sisters to the Amalfi Coast to follow clues about their mother’s past, and challenges them to a whole new future, in this emotional novel from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.

Priscilla, Devon, and Bailey haven’t been close in years, but when the sisters are forced to come together to settle their mother’s estate, they discover a secret.  In an old trunk, they happen upon ownership papers for a house on the Amalfi Coast, along with a love letter to their mother from an anonymous man, promising to meet her in Italy during the summer of her sixty-fifth birthday.

Now they’re questioning everything they knew about her history. In order to get answers about the woman they thought they knew, they’ll have to go back to where it all started. The sisters embark on a trip to the stunning cliffside village of Positano, Italy, to track down the mysterious ex-lover, and figure out who their mother really was.

As Priscilla, Devon, and Bailey unearth the truth, they also experience the magic of Italy, the power of sisterly love, a little unexpected romance, and newfound hope for the future.

If you know me, you know I love historical fiction. This novel was the story of the Romanovs. I’ve read a lot of books about this family’s tragic circumstances and each time I read, it’s always so sad because I know what is coming.

Book Summary:

This sweeping new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Woman Before Wallis takes readers behind palace walls to see the end of Imperial Russia through the eyes of Olga Romanov, the first daughter of the last Tsar.

Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for the great dynasties of Europe. But even as unrest simmers in the capital, Olga is content to live within the confines of the sheltered life her parents have built for and her three sisters: hiding from the world on account of their mother’s ill health, their brother Alexei’s secret affliction, and rising controversy over Father Grigori Rasputin, the priest on whom the Tsarina has come to rely. Olga’s only escape from the seclusion of Alexander Palace comes from her aunt, who takes pity on her and her sister Tatiana, inviting them to grand tea parties amid the shadow court of Saint Petersburg. Finally, she glimpses a world beyond her mother’s Victorian sensibilities—a world of opulent ballrooms, scandalous flirtation, and whispered conversation.

But as war approaches, the palaces of Russia are transformed. Olga and her sisters trade their gowns for nursing habits, assisting in surgeries and tending to the wounded bodies and minds of Russia’s military officers. As troubling rumors about her parents trickle in from the Front, Olga dares to hope that a budding romance might survive whatever the future may hold. But when tensions run high and supplies run low, the controversy over Rasputin grows into fiery protest, and calls for revolution threaten to end 300 years of Romanov rule.

This was the first time I read this story from the viewpoint of Olga, and this makes it stand out from other novels and non-fiction reads. I think that those who know this story will appreciate Turnbull’s attention to historical detail and creation of Olga’s “voice”. Thank you for my opportunity to read and be part of the tour!

Author Bio: 

Bryn Turnbull is the bestselling author of The Woman Before Wallis. Equipped with a master’s of letters in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews, a master’s of professional communication from Ryerson University and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from McGill University, Bryn focuses on finding stories of women lost within the cracks of the historical record. She lives in Toronto.

THE LAST GRAND DUCHESS: A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and Revolution

Author: Bryn Turnbull

ISBN: 9780778311706

Publication Date: February 8, 2022 

Publisher: MIRA Books

Buy Links: (Not affiliated with BBNB)

BookShop.org

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s 

Social Links:

Author Website

Instagram: @brynturnbullwrites

Twitter: @brynturnbull

Facebook: @brynturnbullwrites  

Goodreads

I loved Brenda Janowitz’ The Grace Kelly Dress so I was excited to get her new novel: The Liz Taylor Ring, which is a story of a family, a ring, and the ties that bind them together.

Book Summary:

Three siblings. A priceless family ring. One legendary love story.

In 1978, Lizzie Morgan and Ritchie Schneider embark on a whirlwind romance on the bright beaches and glamorous yachts of Long Island. Over the years, their relationship has its share of ups and downs, including a nine-month hiatus that ends with a stunning eleven-carat ring—one that looks just like the diamond Richard Burton gifted Liz Taylor after their own separation. Like the famous couple, despite the drama that would unfold throughout the Schneiders’ marriage, the ring would be there as a symbol of their love…until it wasn’t.

Decades later, when the lost ring unexpectedly resurfaces, the Schneiders’ three children gather under one roof for the first time in years, eager to get their hands on this beloved, expensive reminder of their departed parents. But determining the fate of the heirloom is no simple task, unearthing old wounds and heartaches the siblings can’t ignore. And when the ring reveals a secret that challenges everything they thought they knew about their parents’ epic love story, they’ll have to decide whether to move forward as a family or let the ring break them once and for all.

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!

The Liz Taylor Ring

Author: Brenda Janowitz

ISBN: 9781525806476

Publication Date: February 1, 2022

Publisher: Graydon House

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

BookShop.org

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

Social Links:

Author Website

Twitter: @BrendaJanowitzr

Facebook: @BrendaJanowitz

Instagram: @brendajanowitzwriter

Goodreads

Author Bio: 

Brenda is the author of seven novels, including THE GRACE KELLY DRESS and the upcoming THE LIZ TAYLOR RING, which will be published by Harper Collins/ Graydon House on February 1, 2022. She is the former Books Correspondent for PopSugar. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Real Simple, The Sunday Times (UK), Salon, Redbook, USA Today, Bustle, The Forward, the New York Post, Publisher’s Weekly, Hello Giggles, Writer’s Digest Magazine, WritersDigest.com, and xojane. 

Brenda attended Cornell University and Hofstra Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review. Upon graduation from Hofstra, worked for the law firm Kaye Scholer, LLP, and did a federal clerkship with the Honorable Marilyn Dolan Go, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

Here’s the scoop:

HAPPY. MARRIED. MISSING.

Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmum to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband Mark says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She simply went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.

Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman, Daan, vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamourous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.

DC Clements knows that people disappear all the time – far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run towards, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds, their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the DC believes they might be.

How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.

Every time I thought I had everything figured out, it shifted and I was wrong. And that ending!

Definitely this is not one to miss if you enjoy this genre.

Author Bio: 

Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North-East England. Her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000 and since then she’s had 20 international bestsellers, translated into twenty-six languages. She’s been an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband, teenage son and cat.

Thank you for my review copy and for letting me be part of the tour!

WOMAN LAST SEEN

Author: Adele Parks

ISBN: 9780778312048

Publication Date: February 1, 2022

Publisher: MIRA Books

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

BookShop.org

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s 

Social Links:

Author Website

Instagram: @adele_parks

Twitter: @adeleparks

Facebook: @OfficialAdeleParks

Goodreads

I love Heather Gudenkauf’s books, so I was excited to join the tour for her latest: The Overnight Guest. This is a suspenseful, twisty mystery that kept me up past my bedtime!

Here’s the overview:

If you love a good thrilling read, don’t miss this one!

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!

THE OVERNIGHT GUEST

Author: Heather Gudenkauf

ISBN: 9780778311935

Publication Date: January 25, 2022

Publisher: Park Row Books

Buy Links: (NOT affiliated with BBNB)

BookShop.org

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s 

Social Links:

Author Website

Instagram: @heathergudenkauf

Twitter: @hgudenkauf

Facebook: @HeatherGudenkaufAuthor

Goodreads

I had heard several people say “Hamnet was such a great book!” so of course right away I avoided it. I never seem to like what everyone likes. However, I got it on audio and I LOVED this story. I loved the writing. I loved the characters. I don’t even know why I loved it so much, but it’s truly so beautifully written and exquisitely narrated that it’s destined to be one of my top reads this year.

Here’s the overview:

A New York Times best seller

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

“Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare’s life…here is a novel…so gorgeously written that it transports you.” (The Boston Globe)

In 1580s England, during the Black Plague, a young Latin tutor falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman in this “exceptional historical novel” (The New Yorker) and best-selling winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.

A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, and whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to pause – a magnificent leap forward from one of our most gifted novelists.

I got mine with an Audible credit – and I’m so glad I did!

Don’t miss this one!

Recently I was contacted by Mr. Clements’ publicist at Pegasus Books to see if I was interested in reading his new book. This is book 5 in a series, but a stand-alone title. I love mysteries and WWII novels, so I said yes, and I am so glad I did! This was a really engaging and well-written story of espionage and WWII that was easy to read and kept me guessing! Here’s the overview:

A Cambridge spy must unravel a dangerous mystery that goes all the way to the heart of the Third Reich—and the British Monarchy—in this vivid new spy thriller from a London Times bestselling author.

Two old friends meeting in a remote castle in Sweden. They are cousins.

One is Prince George, brother of the king of England, and the other Prince Philipp von Hesse, a close friend of Adolf Hitler and a committed Nazi. Days later Prince George is killed in a plane crash and the country weeps, but not everyone believes that it was an accident.

When FDR, who happens to be a good friend of the prince, hears the tragic news, he wants to find out exactly what happened. The American OSS doesn’t believe the story that MI5 are pedalling. The situation is delicate. Professor Tom Wilde, Cambridge don, is called in to uncover the truth—but what he discovers is far more than he bargained for. 

While reading I kept thinking about how much my father (who fought in WWII) would have enjoyed this book if he was still with us. He loved a good mystery!

Thank you for my mobi copy to read and review!

As I posted earlier, I’ve joined with Harlequin to bring you some romances throughout the year. Right now I’m part of the Investigator tour (mystery with some romance) and the Believer tour (faith and romance). I have to say that these are my cozy reads. Growing up I never would have thought that I would enjoy Harlequin romances, but when the world is crazy and life is stressful and I’m feeling down, I like to read about people who hold onto their faith and love others and have things work out. It’s that simple.

Here’s how Harlequin explains them:

Out of this group of stories, I read Her Hometown Hero which dealt with a young man returning from war and his healing process. I felt it had a good message about the challenges of PTSD and getting help for those struggling with it. Here’s the overview:

HER HOMETOWN HERO by Jacquelin Thomas (on-sale Jan.25, Harlequin Heartwarming):

Can a wounded hero let go of the past? Wounded marine Trey Rothchild has returned to Polk Island. People call him a hero, but will he ever feel that way after losing his team? Reuniting with high school crush Gia Harris buoys his spirits. Though she’s focused on making her physical therapy clinic a success—and avoiding romance with patients—Gia can’t bear watching the former athlete sit on the sidelines of life. Could helping Trey recover include loving him fearlessly?

About JACQUELIN THOMAS: Jacquelin Thomas’ books have garnered several awards, including
two EMMA awards, the Romance In Color Reviewers Award, Readers Choice Award, and the
Atlanta Choice Award in the Religious & Spiritual category. She was nominated for a 2008
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction in the Young Adult category. Jacquelin has
published in the romance, inspirational fiction and young adult genres.

Buy links with NO affilitation to my blog:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Her-Hometown-Hero-Clean-
Romance/dp/1335426582/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=HER+HOMETOWN+HERO+by+Jacquelin+Thomas&qid=
1637073833&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-hometown-hero-jacquelin-
thomas/1139574485?ean=9780369714619

Harlequin.com: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335426581_her-hometown-hero.html

If you know me, you know I enjoy historical mysteries. It’s rare for me to find really engaging and readable ones from before the 1700’s, so I was thrilled when Mike Ward asked me to read his novel Rags of Time, the first in a series. It was well-written and plotted, but what I love about historical mysteries is all the tiny details used to create the era and to give the story realistic depth. Mr. Ward has certainly done his research!

Here’s the overview:

‘A satisfying, brooding mystery set in Stuart England anticipating the coming Civil War.’ Paul Walker, author of State of Treason

London.

1639.

Thomas Tallant, a young and ambitious Spice Merchant, returns from India to find his city in turmoil.

A bitter struggle is brewing between King Charles I and Parliament, as England slides into civil war. The capital is simmering with dissent. The conflict is ready to boil over.

But Thomas soon has other troubles to contend with. A wealthy merchant, Sir Joseph Venell, is savagely killed; then his partner Sir Hugh Swofford plunges to his death, in the Tallant household.

Suspicion falls on Thomas, who is sucked into a mire of treachery and rumour within the City of London. As the merchant struggles to clear his name, he becomes captivated by the enigmatic Elizabeth Seymour, whose passion for astronomy and mathematics is matched only by her addiction to the gaming tables.

Pursued by the authorities, Thomas races to unmask the real killer who claims a third victim to implicate him further, toying with his future in a deadly cat and mouse game.

In a desperate race against time, Elizabeth applies her powers of logic and deduction to unearth the clues that will point to the killer, but her way is barred by a secret message from the grave.

Can she crack its code before Thomas, now a wounded and exhausted fugitive, succumbs to the chase?

And, if she succeeds, has Thomas the strength to face his tormentor and win his life and reputation back?

Rags of Time is the first book in an engaging and entertaining new historical crime series, set during the upheaval of the 17th Century. Recommended for fans of Andrew Taylor, CJ Sansom and SJ Parris.

Praise for Michael Ward:

‘I loved it; a wickedly dark murder mystery set in Stuart London.’ Jemahl Evans, author of The Last Roundhead

Michael Ward is a former journalist and academic. He now runs his own consultancy providing content services and training to a wide range of British companies and public sector organisations.

While Mr. Ward sent me a PDF, I never was able to get it converted properly, so I purchased my kindle copy. Today (1/16/22) I see there is a limited time sale of 99 cents for the kindle version on Amazon. It’s a steal!

Thank you, Mike, for reaching out to me!