Thursday, May 14, 2026

Book Blitz: A Fragile Utopia by Nick Hanson

Escaping the Elaborate Facade of Alcoholic Bliss

Self-Help

For most of Nick's life, drinking was an integral part of family, friendships, and even professional success. Alcohol was celebrated among his elder millennial peers. Abstinence was not. However, there were breadcrumbs scattered across several decades that a lifestyle in alcoholic bliss was not sustainable. Reckless behavior, relationship woes, declining health, personal tragedy, and dreams unrealized began to fester. Eventually, a life in sobriety became the only option if Nick was to live a life full of meaning and love.

A Fragile Utopia is a turbulent and honest journey into the depths of alcoholism and the path to finding hope and purpose in recovery. The good news is, when we look inward, there is light. If we own our flaws, there can be redemption.

This memoir is a playbook for navigating early sobriety: how it will feel, obstacles encountered, how loved ones will react, insight into treatment, how AA and other fellowship recovery programs work, and examples of how most people fail in early attempts at sobriety.

About the Author

Nick Hanson is a passionate recovery enthusiast and advocate for people who are suffering from substance abuse and addiction. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and three children. He enjoys the outdoors, pop culture, reading, music, sports, fitness, cooking and is always up for learning something new.

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Teaser and Giveaway: Navigate Cancer by Teresa Ferreiro-Vilarino

Coaching for Resilience

Leadership / Self-Help / Health / Business

Date Published: April 29. 2026

Publisher: Serapis Bey Publishing, Arizona, USA

This empowering book launches the new Cancer Compass; an essential self-leadership resource for people facing cancer. It extends its reach to caregivers, healthcare professionals, and organisations committed to offering meaningful support to anyone in their workforce dealing with cancer. It encourages us to see cancer not solely as a medical challenge, but as a profound moment to honour the resilience of our human spirit, embrace growth, and reclaim control of our lives for a brighter future.

Teresa Ferreiro-Vilariño challenges her readers to shift their perspective, prioritising personal empowerment, connection and purposeful living. Her insights about resilience coaching and each person’s human potential are uplifting. Her book is deeply rooted in practical application, including thoughtful exercises and tools that prompt us to access our inner resources, engage in self-discovery and cultivate our secure bases. These unique gifts guide us to align our decisions with our values and goals, helping us chart a path forward with choice, clarity and confidence.

Excerpt

Navigate Cancer – Coaching for Resilience is an essential self-leadership resource for people facing cancer. Its reach extends to caregivers, healthcare professionals, and organisations committed to offering meaningful support to anyone in their workforce living with cancer.

The book invites us to see cancer beyond a purely medical challenge—to honour the resilience of the human spirit, embrace growth, and reclaim a sense of control, shaping the cancer experience from a place of agency and choice.

The Cancer Compass, which the book introduces, offers orientation: a way to move forward without denying fear, to reclaim agency without resisting reality, and to live—not just survive—while walking through illness. Teresa Ferreiro-Vilariño challenges readers to shift their perspective, prioritising personal empowerment, meaningful connection, and purposeful living.

Grounded in resilience coaching and a deep belief in human potential, the book is both inspiring and practical. It includes thoughtful exercises and tools that invite self-discovery, strengthen inner resources, and cultivate secure bases. These elements guide readers to align their decisions with their values and goals, helping them chart a path forward with choice, clarity, and confidence.

About the Author

Teresa Ferreiro-Vilariño is the Founder and CEO of Kimberlite (https://www.kimberlite.es), an innovative organisation dedicated to providing comprehensive support to people navigating cancer—particularly within corporate settings—through professional coaching. A Master Certified Coach (MCC) accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Teresa brings more than 20 years of experience working with leaders and organisations worldwide.

At the age of 36, a breast cancer diagnosis marked a turning point in her life, redirecting her focus toward empowering people living with cancer. In the years that followed, she authored her first book, I Have Breast Cancer–What Now?, recognised for its inspirational and practical guidance, embraced motherhood, and founded a charitable initiative supporting young women navigating motherhood after cancer. She later earned a PhD focused on applying professional coaching methodologies to the specific needs of people facing serious health challenges. In recognition of her commitment to patient advocacy, she was honoured with the European Patient Champion Award by EyeforPharma in 2019.

Teresa is also an executive coach and coaches across multiple programs at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, including the flagship High-Performance Leadership (HPL) Program, supporting leaders in developing resilience, clarity, and sustainable performance.

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New Releases: Week 3 May

Here are this week's New Releases for May 17-23:

Releases May 19:

1. Risk the Play by Kaylee Ryan

2. Forever Yours by Joselyn Westbrook

3. Fever Dream by Elsie Silver

Releases May 20:

1. Accidentally in Love by Stacy Travis

2. Sprag by Summer Winters

Releases May 21:

1. Savage Rancher by Dakota James

Releases May 22:

1. The Doctor Will See You Now by Susan Horsnell

Happy Reading!!
Melissa

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Blog Tour: Bound by Lies by Lylah James

BOUND BY LIES by Lylah James Release Date: May 13th Genre/Tropes: Dark Romance / Mafia Romance / Arranged-Marriage / enemies to lovers / forced-proximity / age-gap

SERIES: Fatal Alliances BOUND BY LIES by Lylah James is NOW LIVE!

Make sure to grab this all-new dark mafia arranged marriage romance TODAY!!

READ TODAY FOR ONLY 99¢!

Amazon: https://mybook.to/boundbylieslylahjames

BLURB From Amazon bestselling author Lylah James comes a new dark, arranged-marriage romance about a mafia princess and the cruel man who did everything to ruin her in an effort to make her…his. For the longest time, I had been a pawn between two empires built on blood. I had been promised to Matteo, who was supposed to be my future. But it was his brother who ruined me. Adrian Salvatore—reckless, merciless, carved from sin and evil. The brother no one dared to control. The one who looked at me like I was always meant to be…his. He stole my first kiss beneath the moonlight, right there at my engagement party. And he never stopped. Not when I begged. Not when I threatened. Until one night… One mistake. One unforgivable moment that shattered everything I was raised to protect. My modesty, my virtue, my family’s honor. Somehow I found myself bound to Adrian in ways I never wanted. But he didn’t believe in love. Everything he had ever done was driven by vengeance. Adrian wasn’t going to protect me. Instead, he had promised to break me. Somewhere between the hate and fear became a reckless obsession. And with that obsession came more destruction. We were both damned, but only one of us would survive the monster we’d become.

BOUND BY LIES is book one in the dark and twisted FATAL ALLIANCES series.

About the Author: Lylah James is an Amazon Best-Selling author, who writes emotionally intense romance featuring powerful, irresistible alpha heroes and strong yet tender heroines. Her stories are known for taking readers on a rollercoaster of emotion: heartbreak, longing, rage, and ultimately, love. Often referred to by readers as the “queen of cliffhangers,” she loves breaking your hearts and putting them back together again. She is the author of The Mafia and His Angel series and A Vow of Hate. When she isn’t writing, Lylah can be found with her nose buried in a good romance book, enjoying nature and baking.

Connect w/Lylah:

Website: http://authorlylahjames.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLy.James/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1738794629699569/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorlylahjames

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorly_james

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlylahjames/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/lylahjames

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045951.Lylah_James

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lylah-james

Rebrand Reveal: Suspicious Hearts Series by Taylor Sullivan

══. • REBRAND COVER REVEAL •. ══

Suspicious Hearts Series

Home to You: Book 1

Waiting for Wednesday: Book 2

by Taylor Sullivan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆—𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕.

1-Click on Amazon

Home to You

Waiting for Wednesday

Series Link

#KindleUnlimited

Blurb from Book 1:

Welcome to the Suspicious Hearts series—where every story stands on its own, but the connections run deeper than you think. Each book follows a different couple with a complete, happily-ever-after.

I didn’t plan to fall in love with Jake Johnson.

He was my brother’s best friend. The man who stole my heart. The one person I was never supposed to want.

But hearts don’t listen. And sometimes they choose the exact wrong moment to show their vulnerable head.

The night we first kissed was the night I finally understood what I’d been afraid to admit—he was never going to see me as anything more than his best friend’s little sister. And once you know that, there’s no going back. So I did the only thing I knew how to do.

I ran.

Three years later, a betrayal I never saw coming sends me back to the city I thought I’d left for good—and straight back to Jake.

Back to the one person who’s seen me at my best and my worst. The one who knows my family, my history, and all the pieces I try to keep hidden. Being near him feels familiar in a way nothing else does—like coming home to the one place that ever really felt safe… and realizing my heart had never actually left in the first place.

We try to pretend we’re different now.

We’re not.

But this time, there’s something else standing between us. Something unspoken. Something that makes every look linger and every almost-touch feel heavier than it should. Time didn’t erase what we were—it just taught us how much we had to lose.

They say time heals. Maybe it doesn’t.

Maybe it just hands you a second chance—and asks if you’re brave enough to take it.

This Beautiful Lie: Book 3

Preorder on Amazon

Coming June 11

ARC Signup:

HERE

For more information on Taylor and her books:

HERE

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Book Tour: If Jesus Was a Project Manager by Shawna Calhoun

Faith-based Leadership in a Results-driven World

Religion / Christian Living / Nonfiction

Date Published: November 4, 2025

Publisher: Lucid Books Publishing

If Jesus was a Project Manager: Faith-based Leadership in a Results-driven World launches a groundbreaking seven-book "Faith at Work" series that bridges biblical principles with modern workplace excellence.

What makes it unique:

This series provides the first comprehensive, role-specific integration of Christ's leadership model with proven professional methodologies. Unlike generic "faith in business" books, each volume tackles specific roles—Project Manager, Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Business Analyst—showing exactly how biblical principles translate to daily responsibilities.

The series masterfully connects timeless spiritual truths with secular frameworks, such as Covey's Seven Habits, creating practical tools that work in any organizational culture. It goes beyond inspiration to provide concrete frameworks and actionable behaviors for immediate implementation, while maintaining professional credibility.

Key differentiators include character-driven performance that produces excellent results, crisis leadership integration addressing layoffs and entrepreneurship scenarios, and practical frameworks that help team members discover their God-given purpose.

The complete series creates transformed lives, stronger teams, and workplace cultures that reflect kingdom values through excellence, integrity, and genuine care for others' development. It culminates in the On-the-Job-Sword-Training (OJST) devotional workbook, which reinforces daily spiritual disciplines alongside workplace excellence.

About the Author

Shawna Calhoun is a seasoned project management professional with over 20 years of experience across healthcare, biotech, education, and a brief venture into oil and gas. Currently serving in a remote leadership role for a major healthcare organization, she blends technical expertise with spiritual insight to lead with clarity and purpose. Holding a bachelor’s in IT, an MBA in Project Management, PMP certification, and multiple Agile credentials, Shawna is also a respected instructor, consultant, speaker, and mentor. She volunteers with PMI, contributes to university advisory boards, and is pursuing her DBA in Project Management. Born again in 2019, Shawna’s testimony is one of perseverance—overcoming personal trials including trauma, divorce, job loss, and profound betrayal. She’s gifted in “connecting the dots,” often drawing connections between Scripture and professional principles, such as those found in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Her leadership encourages others to live a fruitful faith-forward life with wisdom and grace in Christ.

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Book Tour: Meat Cove by Janice Weber

SAGATHRILLER

Meat Cove combines saga and thriller via Fundy's lurid diary, which appears between each chapter, forming a tale within a tale. As Fundy's grim memories slowly come back to life, her past and present collide in a riveting conclusion worthy of the first sagathriller.

Date Published: January 22, 2026

Publisher: Seacoast Press

Constable Fundy Sutherland is a buff, gruff Mountie with a price on her head and a veritable ossuary of skeletons in her closet. A former JTF-2 sniper, Fundy is quietly raising daughter Skye in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia when three events upend her careful obscurity: Skye brings home a DNA ancestry kit; the doppelgänger of Fundy's runaway mother settles in tiny White Point; and an erratic Venezuelan ship passes through the Cabot Strait.

As local disturbances and international tensions escalate around a NATO conference in Halifax, Fundy must leave her safe lane and resurrect an implacable past. Generational love story meets geopolitical suspense in a SAGA THRILLER barreling across the North Atlantic.

Author Interview

Introduce yourself and tell me about what you do.

JW: I am a concert pianist who has written 9 novels. Or I am a novelist who plays piano concerts all over the world. I grew up Ridgewood, NJ, near NYC, and was considered a child prodigy, performing my orchestral debut at New York Town Hall when I was about ten. Over the course of my musical career, I have performed at the White House and Carnegie Hall, have appeared with the Boston Pops and leading American orchestras, have made ten recordings featuring esoteric virtuosic repertoire, and was a member of the piano faculty at Boston Conservatory before leaving to devote more time to writing.

I must usually drop the writing when I've got a lot of concerts, which is why I can only lay one literary egg every three or so years. Fortunately, that is accelerating as I dial down the performing (been there, done that) and ramp up the writing (ten more books yet to write).

I currently divide my time between two fishing villages in Massachusetts and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Tell me more about your journey as an author, including the writing process.

JW: My first literary endeavors were school plays and short stories. Three disastrous years at a conservatory begat my first novel, an 800-page satiric fantasy about life at a conservatory (duh). Fate channeled that tome to a brilliant agent, Nicholas Ellison, whose eyes must have glazed over after twenty pages, but who kindly suggested I write something more accessible to the average human.

I responded with The Secret Life of Eva Hathaway, a wisecracking, torrid novel about a lusty composer of hymns. Eva became a Book of the Month Club selection and has been optioned three times for film.

Six books followed: Customs Violation, a sendup of the early days of women's lib; Frost the Fiddler, a thriller with a concert violinist moonlighting as spy; Devil's Food, a dark tale of marital distrust; Hot Ticket, second novel in the Frost series; School of Fortune, which I co-authored with Amanda Brown, creator of Legally Blonde; and Swing Set a literary bagatelle about...swinging.

My writing has been praised for its verbal virtuosity, wry wit, and emotional intensity. I could send specific reviews if you would like.

Writing process?

JW: Start early, stop when brain fries. That could be supper time. The first draft is always the hardest. I try to build on an outline driven by the story arc and finally realize that producing one lousy paragraph means I've had a good day. Books simply accrete.

About the Author

Janice Weber grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey and graduated summa cum laude from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

At the time of her Carnegie Recital Hall debut at age nine, she was writing her first short stories. She has continued both pursuits, with her novels providing counterpoint to the staid world of a concert pianist, or perhaps with her recitals offsetting the staid world of a writer.

Janice’s novels have a worldwide following. Her debut, The Secret Life of Eva Hathaway, enjoys near cult status and is widely recognized as iconic Chick Lit – though appearing years before the genre was invented. Its colorful characters, verbal virtuosity, wit, and sensuality established the hallmarks of a style that has earned Weber comparison with Mark Twain, Fran Liebowitz, Harold Pinter, and Robert Ludlum (if such a hybrid can be imagined).

Janice’s novels happen between (and occasionally during) concerts. Music on some level infiltrates almost every book: Eva Hathaway writes hymns between trysts, Floyd Beck met the love of his life at Carnegie Hall, Leslie Frost is a concert violinist, and Ross Major listens to Beethoven when the going gets rough. Characters without music in their lives fill the void with swinging, murder, and treason, activities musicians tend to eschew since this would detract from practice time.

Janice divides her time between fishing villages in Massachusetts and Cape Breton.

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