Always Reading

Thursday, January 1, 2026

End of the Year Wrap Up: 2025

Let's recap this year:

Happy Reading!!

Melissa

New Releases: Week 1 January

Here are this week's New Releases for January 4-10:

Releases January 5:
1.

Releases January 6:

Releases January 7:

1. Only Forever by Charity Ferrell

2. Hollywood Glitz and Glamour by Ariella Talix

Releases January 8:

1. Red Zone by Lisa Suzanne

2. Hard Feelings by Jennifer Millikin

Releases January 9:

1. NR by Vi Keeland

Happy Reading!!
Melissa

End of the Month Wrap Up: December

Here is the wrap-up of the month. of December

Happy Reading!!

Melissa

Reading Challenges 2026

Happy New Year!! Who is ready for the new year?

I have 2 different reading challenges. A Bingo Card and an Alphabet reading challenge. I also have a chart to write down your favorite read for each month of 2026.

Right-click to save on your laptop or phone. You can print it if you want or edit the image itself. When you have Bingo, post your image on my Facebook page or Instagram page and tag it #alwaysreadingauthorbingo, or you can comment here with your bingo card. You can post the other ones!!

Happy New Year & Happy Reading!!
Melissa

Blurb Blitz: Resort, Two Murder by Joanna Campbell Slan

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Joanna Campbell Slan will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Kiki Lowenstein heads to Florida for sand, sunshine, and family time—until a shocking death pulls her into a mystery simmering beneath the resort’s perfect surface. With craftiness and heart, she dives into a dangerous tangle of lies that only she can unravel.

Read an Excerpt

The scream ripped through the dawn and straight into my spine. I didn’t breathe until I reached the balcony.

Seven floors below, a housekeeper stood frozen at the pool’s edge, hands over her mouth. The turquoise water rippled around hair the color of fire.

Copper hair.

Floating.

Still.

My blood turned to ice.

“Mom?” Sixteen-year-old Anya whispered behind me. Pale. Too pale. “What happened?”

“I don’t know yet. Stay back. Keep your brothers inside.” My voice didn’t tremble, but everything inside me did.

I yanked the curtains closed, but not before my mind captured every detail: the purple satin gown billowing under the water, the bare feet, the drifting red hair like a drowning sunrise.

Then Brawny — my fierce, loyal Scot nanny — sprinted into the courtyard and dove in, shoes and all. She flipped the girl over, started mouth-to-mouth, refusing to accept what the water already knew.

Could this be real?

Sirens wailed in the distance. And I stood frozen on the balcony, one hand pressed to my heart, silently begging for a miracle.

It didn’t come.

The red-haired model from last night’s fashion show was gone.

About the Author:

Joanna Campbell Slan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling author known for her engaging women's fiction and mystery novels. With nearly 80 books to her credit, including contributions to the original Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Joanna specializes in stories featuring strong female protagonists and the power of women's friendships. Her tagline, "Creating a better world one story at a time” perfectly captures the spirit of her work, as she has a keen interest in presenting all sides of social issues. Joanna is best known for her Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series, which spans 19 books and 42 short works, chronicling the growth of a widowed mother who finds new purpose through crafting and sleuthing.

Living on a nearly deserted island off the coast of Florida, Joanna draws inspiration from her surroundings and her love for various crafts, including Zentangle®, crochet, and upcycling. Her accomplishments include winning the Daphne du Maurier Award for Literary Excellence for her continuation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Contact her at JCSlan@JoannaSlan.com

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Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Release Blitz: Artemis by D. Williams

Title: Artemis

Series: MorningStar MC, New Orleans Chapter Book Eight

Author: D. Williams

Genre: MC Romance

Release Date: December 31, 2025

Prodigy and Legacy are two massive words to live up to. Growing up in the club was never as simple for me as it was for the other kids. They all knew that they’d one day have a role to play. They would always belong.

I was special.

The surprise child my parents never thought they could have—my father’s little miracle. I inherited my parents’ gifts and then some. I can hit a perfect C7 note and a target from over three hundred meters with an arrow.

With a rifle? I’m even deadlier.

For all the talent and achievements in my short life, the only thing I haven’t been able to target is love. It keeps slipping through my fingers, which is ironic when the only man I want has never fumbled a football in his life.

When we both end up on the Summer Olympic circuit, where our opponents are being picked off, our paths cross by necessity. But the feelings we’ve both been hiding seem to take center stage as we work to keep our teams breathing.

I'm a retired 45-year-old Puerto Rican wife and mother of 3 plus 1 bonus daughter. Originally from NYC, now living a quiet life in the south suburbs of Chicago. I enjoy reading and writing romance and erotic fiction. I'm addicted to coffee, sci-fi, and all things Marvel and Harry Potter.

I was a teen mom with a whole world of statistics against me. Every time I was told I couldn't do something, I did it, took pictures, and smiled with my son on my hip for everyone who ever doubted me.

Now, after finding the love of my life in my thirties, we married in the great 2020 pandemic, which shall not be named. We have a house full of teenagers who don't need mommy anymore, and the hubs is a traveling ER nurse, SO I have found myself with a lot of downtime.

After years of having this story taking space in my head, I decided to share it with the world. Gotta say, this writing gig is HARD. But with some time and grace, I'll get it right.