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Thursday, July 30, 2026

Cover Reveal: A Strange & Terrible Wonder by Nichole Louise

A Strange & Terrible Wonder
Nichole Louise
Publication date: August 18th 2026
Genres: Adult, Historical

Eleanor Dare, daughter of Roanoke’s Governor John White, has no choice but to accompany her overly ambitious husband Ananias and her idealist, yet inexperienced father to England’s new colony. Manteo of Croatoan wants nothing more than to cast off his association with the English and return home. Haunted by memories of an unexplainable event, he sets out to find the truth about what was brought to Roanoke by the English two years before as a weapon against the Spanish.

Based on real people who vanished from history, Eleanor and Manteo form a taboo friendship as they work against unseen forces to end the violent and otherworldly attacks upon the settlement. In the midst of this survival scenario, both Eleanor and Manteo—once powerless and marginalized in England, emerge as unlikely leaders of the ravaged colony.

Blending 16th century science, occult, and the impacts of early colonialism, A Strange and Terrible Wonder reimagines what became of the Lost Colony.

Author Bio:

Nichole Louise is a speculative historical fiction writer and book reviewer (NicholeLouise.com). Raven Rock (2023), a prequel to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was recognized by Writer’s Digest, the Historical Fiction Company, and the CIBAs. Her articles and book reviews have appeared in the Journal of the American Revolution. Her second title, A Strange and Terrible Wonder (2026) is a historical folk horror tale exploring the Lost Colony of Roanoke. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, gaming, and volunteering at Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram

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Cover Reveal: A Simple Regret by Lacey Black

Title: A Simple Regret

Series: Cooper Town Boys #4

Author: Lacey Black

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Neighbors to Lovers, Small Town Romance

Cover Design: Kristie Leigh, Vanilla Lily Designs

Photographer: Eric McKinney, 6:12 Photography

Model: Quinn B

Release Date: September 1, 2026

BLURB

Camden

The day she left town was the day I changed. Maren Holm walked away without so much as a glance back, taking my heart with her. Everything we had talked about, planned for, the life I thought we both wanted together, just vanished, leaving me alone and miserable. That’s when old Camden was replaced with the fun-loving, carefree guy I am today.

Then, out of the blue, she returned.

My new next-door neighbor and I have a past, and it’s one I don’t want to dredge up. The problem is she has a son. The cutest three-year-old boy, who pulls at the strings of my damaged heart and refuses to let go. Together, they make me want…more.

But I just don’t know if I’m capable of giving her my heart a second time.

Maren

Returning to Cooper Town was exactly what I needed. I wanted my son, Theo, to experience all the perks of small-town living. With the help of my dad, I found the perfect location to start over. Except, my new neighbor and I have a history. A very painful one, and even though I knew I’d likely run into him again, I never expected it to be in my own driveway.

Suddenly, my past is standing directly in front of me again.

He’s still angry, not that I blame him. I walked away from him, from the life we both wanted. It wasn’t easy or right, but I had my reasons. Now, being around him is stirring up old feelings, especially when I see him with my son. Their bond is instant, and before I know it, I’m being drawn right back in to the Camden I used to know and love.

Only this time, it’s not just my heart I’m risking, but Theo’s too.

GOODREADS

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AUTHOR BIO

USA Today Bestselling Author Lacey Black is a Midwestern girl with a passion for reading, writing, and shopping. She carries her e-reader with her everywhere she goes so she never misses an opportunity to read a few pages. Always looking for a happily ever after, Lacey is passionate about contemporary romance novels and enjoys it further when you mix in a little suspense. She resides in a small town in Illinois with her husband, two children, and three rowdy chickens.

AUTHOR LINKS

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NEWSLETTER

Release Blitz: Every Single Second by S.J. Chaynie

EVERY SINGLE SECOND

S.J. Chaynie

Release Date: July 30

Meet S.J. Chaynie:

S.J. Chaynie is a small-town Texas girl who has found a love for writing. She enjoys writing romance, with a sprinkle of suspense, and a little humor. If she is not busy writing her newest ideas, she is spending time with her husband and two beautiful daughters. She believes a good book and a lot of laughs is the best medicine. She brings suspense, love, angst, and sometimes the occasional heartbreak to her stories. Always a HEA, but every character and story she holds close to her heart and hopes they touch yours as well.

Connect with S.J. Chaynie:

https://www.instagram.com/authors.j.chaynie/

Blurb:

Every Single Second is a small town, single mom, second chance romance.

It only took one summer for Parker Stillwater to steal my heart. Then like the cocky cowboy he was, he never gave it back. Even when he left me in the dust, licking my wounds as I watched him live out our dream from afar. The one where I wasn't just the small town girl who politely smiled and never made a fuss. The one where he wasn't just some useless kid who wanted to be a champion. What we had was real. Until he ruined it. But now, the infamous bull rider is back in Mayson Ridge, still handsome as ever, and wearing a tempting smile that still makes my heart skip a beat. But when I find out that he's back after an injury, and I'm the one in charge of his rehab, my guard is stronger than ever. I'm not the same girl he fooled years ago. He may be the only man I've ever loved, but I still had my pride. And the last thing I was giving Parker Stillwater was another chance to break me. But the more time we're forced to spend together, and the more he reveals about the truth of the day he left, the harder it becomes to push him away. He's here for more than just a second chance. But just when we think we can begin to create a new future, life throws us another curveball. When the past comes knocking, I'm terrified that one of our hearts, if not both, will have to break again.

Every Single Second is book three in the Every Single Series. It can be read as a standalone. No cheating, and a guaranteed HEA.

Buy Link:

https://a.co/d/0fmN20qk

Available in KU

Release Blitz: Always Meant For You by Kristen Vail

ALWAYS MEANT FOR YOU

Kristen Vail

Release Date: July 30

About Kristen Vail:

Kristen Vail is the author of spicy sports romance featuring realistic characters and relationships with plenty of delicious tension. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, kids and rescue pup.

When she's not writing, you can find her cooking, listening to music and rewatching shows from the ‘90s.

Connect with Kristen Vail:

https://www.instagram.com/kristenvailbooks/

Blurb:

Cash Hartnell: Football star. World-class flirt. And my best friend’s brother.

Some girls might like the attention that comes with being the new face at Shafer University. Me? I prefer to fade into the background. I’m only here to handle my aunt’s estate and close the book on a long, painful chapter of my life.

I wasn't even thinking about men until Cash and I locked eyes across a crowded bar. I didn't care about football until I saw the way his tattooed body fills out a jersey. I never understood the meaning of 'temptation' until his strictly off-limits lips whispered into my ear.

His only flaws? Being my best friend's brother—and chasing me despite her strict warning.

Like when he offers to help renovate the house I just inherited, and I find myself working alongside his cut biceps in a big, empty house all winter long.

See, the thing about Cash?

He always wins.

Even if it means breaking the rules, passing secret notes in class, and crashing my date with another man just to make sure the world knows who I belong to.

And after one forbidden kiss? I'm ready to break some rules of my own.

Always Meant For You is an interconnected standalone romance and can be enjoyed even if you haven't read the other books in the Shafer U series!

Buy Link:

https://a.co/d/0fq8iQ6F

Available in KU

Book Blitz and Giveaway: Goodbye Demons by JJ Harrigan

Suspense, Historical Fiction

Date Published: 04-24-2026

Publisher: Salty Books Publishing Company, LLC

When injuries cut short the figure skating career of Angie Fernandez Parnell, she joins the Peace Corps. She is assigned to Tunis where she finds her soulmate, U.S. diplomat James Whitcomb. At the conclusion of their tours of duty, they marry, and within weeks of the wedding, he is taken captive in the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979-81.

James, held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, endures the same demons that afflicted the real-life hostages during the actual crisis 45 years ago. Deprivation, bad treatment, political manipulation, and above all the uncertainty of whether or when it would all end.

Angie, biting her nails at home, endures her own demons. How can she support him? Should she join efforts that pressure the president to negotiate a release? Or even a rescue? A take-charge person by nature, she follows a path that will reap huge benefits if it works. Or destroy her life if it fails.

Goodbye Demons is a visceral, emotionally charged exploration of resilience in the face of adversity. It is the story of a man and a woman struggling to overcome demons beyond their control.

Excerpt

This was the chance of a lifetime, and Angie swore she wouldn’t blow it. She did elaborate stretching exercises and weight training. She followed a dietician’s meal plan and skated five days a week under the guidance of her coach. Angie concocted a brilliant plan to capture the Gold at Nationals and guarantee her a slot on the Olympic team.

Her coach objected. “No woman has ever done a triple axel, and you’re not ready.”

“I did it in practice. You saw me.”

“You fell. A perfect double axel that you’re capable of doing trumps a triple axel that you screw up.”

Angie was determined to do the triple without falling. She doubled down on her training regime. Bruising falls came each day. It wasn’t until a week before the competitions that she completed a triple. She grinned triumphantly at her surprised coach. Then on the next try she took a nasty fall that left her limping when she rose from the ice. Her coach sped over to her. After making sure Angie had broken no bones, she again warned her to stop trying the triple axel.

“You’re not ready. It’s a riverboat gamble.”

“I have to take the gamble when I’ve got the chance.”

“You’ll have a chance next year. You’ll be stronger and more experienced. That’ll be the time to do it.”

“In the meantime, some other girl might do it first, and nobody will ever hear about me. Even if I do one the next day. Can you tell me who was the second woman to fly across the Atlantic?”

About the Author

Historical thriller author JJ Harrigan is a former US Service Officer and political science professor. He scribbles his tales of intrigue on the banks of the St. Croix River in Minnesota, where he lives with his wife, Sandy.

Contact Links

Purchase Link

New Releases: Week 1 August

Here are this week's New Releases for August 2-8:

Releases August 2:

1. Between Me, You, and the Fence Post by Hunter Snow

2. The Lies We Play by Claudia Burgoa

Releases August 3:

1. Heal Me, Love Me by Kimberly Knight & Rachel Lyn Adams

2. Bad Decisions & Back Roads by Zoe Forward

3. All For You by Jodi Brettkelly

Releases August 4:

1. Silver Sweet by Krista & Becca Ritchie

2. Lost & Found by Tarah Dewitt

3. Wicked Lord by Sienna Cross & Ember St. Vincent

4. Vengeance by K.L. Ramsey

5. Open Road by Kathleen Kelly

6. With Spite by Lani Lynn Vale

Releases August 5:

1. Eternal Craving by Vanessa Fewings

Releases August 6:

1. All's Fair in Love & Wrath by Jenn Plummer

2. Space Daddy and a Boy Called Twink by Devon McCormack

3. Tethered by Candice Wright

Releases August 7:

1. Creed by B. Sobjakken

2. Hunt Me by Cora Rosa & E.M. Lindsey

Happy Reading!!
Melissa

Review Tour: The Tundra Passage: After the Dark by K.A. Jarvis

THE TUNDRA PASSAGE

by K.A. Jarvis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Post-Apocalyptic

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BLURB:

A birth certificate hidden in a dead woman's closet. A father Grace Campbell was never supposed to find.

Grace is a veterinarian and a survivor of a Florida trailer park childhood. She has made self-reliance her religion. When a shoebox reveals the father she was told never existed, a climatologist in the Alaskan wilderness, she boards a bush plane to find the truth.

The journey doesn't just change her life. It nearly ends it.

As coordinated cyberattacks bring the nation to its knees, Grace's plane is shot from the sky over the Alaskan tundra. Suddenly, she is a thousand miles from home and responsible for the survivors: an eleven-year-old girl with a fierce heart, a researcher with dangerous secrets, a hiker whose smile feels like a warning, and a wolfdog who has lost everything.

A hundred miles of Arctic wilderness stand between them and safety. Between glacial river surges, a stalking grizzly, and starvation, Grace realizes the greatest threat isn't the environment.

It is the person standing next to her, someone whose mission has nothing to do with survival and everything to do with the crisis tearing the country apart.

To protect the people she never expected to love, Grace will have to do the one thing she swore she'd never do again: trust someone enough to let them stay.

Perfect for fans of: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, and Where the River Ends by Charles Martin.

__________________

A standalone novel in The After Collection: A series of survival thrillers about resilience, hope, and found family in the aftermath of catastrophe.

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EXCERPT:

The food was gone.

Grace split the last ration bar five ways at dawn. Four slivers for the humans, one crumbled into water for Siku, and watched each piece disappear in a single bite. From here on, they ate only what the land gave them.

These skills were no longer supplemental. They were now the difference between functioning and collapsing. The Labrador tea, the fireweed shoots, the Eskimo potato roots. The same plants Grace had been foraging for days to stretch their rations were now the entire menu, and the math was brutal. She could keep them hydrated and fill their stomachs enough to blunt the worst of the hunger pangs. But she couldn't keep them fueled. Foraged plants provided bulk and micronutrients, not the caloric density that five bodies needed to sustain a forced march across rough terrain.

She taught Addy to forage now. Real responsibility, not supervised lessons. She sent the girl ahead with a cloth bag to harvest fireweed shoots while Grace dug Eskimo potato roots from the boggy creek margins, doubling their collection rate.

"How many do you need?" Addy called back, her bag already half full.

"All of them," Grace said. "Every one you can find."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Review

Wow! Absolutely amazing book!!! I was on the adventure with Grace. Rooting for her to find her dad. To have that family she longed for. Could you do what Grace did? Going on a deadly adventure through the Tundra? Facing whatever is thrown at you? I'm not sure if the me of today could do that. The younger me I think I could do it.

CAWPILE: 10.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!

Pages

Thursday, July 30, 2026