INTRODUCTION:

Susie Black has written a series that sounds absolutely delightful. Death By Sample Size is Book 1 of the Holly Swimsuit Mystery series. I haven’t read them yet but, I already have this book in my possession and Susie Black was so generous that she also sent me a book for a giveaway! Check the bottom of this post for the details.

SYNOPSIS:

Everyone wanted her dead…but who actually killed her? The last thing swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik expected was to discover ruthless buying office big wig Bunny Frank’s corpse trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey with a bikini stuffed down her throat. When Holly’s colleague is arrested for Bunny’s murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to find the real killer. Nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she matches wits with a wily murderer hellbent for revenge.

EXCERPT:

Before the first inkling of dawn, I said good morning to the nosy crane I shared my slip with as I hoisted myself over my houseboat’s forward deck. The halyards tinkled a soft sonata on my neighbors’ masts as the leeward wind luffed their sails. Damp fingers of morning fog curled over the dock and gave the briny air a chewy texture as I made my way to the gangplank.    

I entered the parking structure and dropped the top on my sixty-five pink Mustang convertible. I settled into the worn bucket seat and cranked the heater to the blast furnace level. I hit the radio button for the oldies station and jammed the volume loud enough to wake the dead. I crossed Admiralty Way and glugged a fortifying gulp of unleaded commuter mug coffee strong enough to peel two coats of paint off my car.

It’s not like I’m even a morning person. But if you’re from LA, the one thing you can always count on is that you’re gonna be stuck in traffic on the 405 whether you’re driving at three in the morning or three in the afternoon. The reality is either you’re gonna be two hours late or two days early. That’s how it is for us LALA Land commuters. What are ya gonna do? I traversed the Marina Freeway and merged into the heavy traffic already bottlenecked on the northbound 405. I crept along at a turtle’s pace for three miles till I transitioned eastbound onto I-10 and crawled my way downtown.
                                               ****

I finally arrived at the California Apparel Mart minutes before being on the road long enough to become the butt of the old joke. I was a young woman when the day began. My footfalls echoed in the near-empty underground parking garage. I got to the elevator bank and pressed the button. When the elevator doors opened, I had to stop myself short not to step on her. There was Bunny Frank, the buying office bigshot, lying diagonally across the car. Her legs were splayed out, and her back was propped against the corner. Her sightless eyes were wide open, and her arms reached out in a come-to-me baby pose. She was trussed up with shipping tape like a dressed Thanksgiving turkey, ready for the oven with a bikini stuffed in her mouth. A Gotham Swimwear hangtag drooped off her lower lip like a toe tag gone lost. Naturally, I burst out laughing.    

Before you label me incredibly weird or stone-cold, let me say genetics aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. If you’re lucky, you inherit your Aunt Bertha’s sexy long legs or your father’s ability to add a bazillion-dollar order in his head and get the total correct to the last penny. Without even breaking into a sweat, it’s easy to spout at least a million fabulous traits inheritable by the luck of the draw. Did I get those sexy long legs or the ability to add more than two plus two without a calculator? Noooooooooo. Lucky me. I inherited my Nana’s fear of death we overcompensated for it with the nervous habit of laughing. A hysterical reaction? Think Bozo the clown eulogizing your favorite aunt.

I craned my neck like a tortoise and checked around. Then I clamped a fist over my mouth. Cripes, how could I possibly explain my guffaws with Bunny lying there? Disappointment was simultaneously mixed with relief when there was no one else in the parking lot. Where was security when you needed them?

I toed the elevator door open and bent over Bunny. I’d seen enough CSI episodes to know not to touch her. She was stiff as a board, and I attributed the bluish tinge of her skin to the bikini crammed down her throat. I was no doctor, but I didn’t need an MD after my name to make this diagnosis. Bunny Frank was dead as the proverbial doorknob.

This was my first time almost tripping over a corpse, so if there was one, the protocol wasn’t clear. Send Bunny to the lobby? As if. Since the lobby wasn’t an option, I pressed the stop button. Of course, every ten seconds, the darned elevator pinged loudly as though begging me to let it complete its journey.

I was pretty freaked out; there I was, babbling to the body. “I should go for help, but I don’t wanna leave you here alone.” Naturally, Bunny Frank remained mute. She was way beyond giving a crap what I did or didn’t do.

I leaned over and read the name on the hangtag out loud in case she was interested in which brand of bikini she had lodged in her mouth. “Gotham Swimwear, a sample size ten. I’m gonna take a wild guess the style didn’t make it to your retailers, gotta get it on your floor list?” For someone never at a loss for words, Bunny Frank was as mum as a cloistered nun. “With you, the problem is the style was probably a real dog, and it still made the must-buy list.”

My eyes had a mind of their own as they strayed over to Bunny. I’d swear she was staring disdainfully back at me as though, somehow, I’d let her down. As if. Inside my head, Bunny snickered, “Oh, get over yourself.”  And they say God doesn’t have a sense of humor. Ha. I am living proof God has a rather perverted one. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susie Black – Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries. 

She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector and sailor. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect. 

Looking for more? Contact Susie at:

Website: www.authorsusieblack.com

E-mail: mysteries.authorsusieblack@gmail.com

GIVEAWAY:

Susie Black is graciously giving one epub copy of Death By Sample Size. If you would like to sign up for the giveaway of an epub of Death By Sample Size, send an email to me with your email address. I will assign a number to all entries and use a random generator to choose the winner. Good Luck!

INTRODUCTION:

A sense of unease drives Fire Feud by Thomas Roehlk, where professional obligation, family history, and unresolved violence intersect. The story unfolds through methodical revelations rather than sudden answers.

Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, a crime was committed that would ripple quietly through generations. More than a century later, its consequences resurface when a skeleton is uncovered at a modern construction site. Attorney Mandy Doucette is assigned to handle the legal ramifications, only to learn that the remains are linked through DNA to her own company and her boyfriend’s family.
Reggie, Mandy’s twin and an FBI forensic pathologist, traces the forensic evidence back to the long-dormant feud between two powerful families. As the sisters investigate, they uncover layers of fraud, betrayal, and concealed violence. Their pursuit of the truth places them in direct conflict with influential figures who are determined to keep the past hidden—no matter the cost.

QUESTIONS &ANSWERS

What sets your book apart from others in your genre?
I consider my genre as thriller, with the sub-genre of legal thriller. I have much respect for women in the corporate law world, and I believe my work shines a light on this type of character in the crowded world of thrillers.

What’s your favorite compliment you’ve received as a writer?
My favorite was from a review I received on my first book, Red Deuce. It was “Red Deuce shows the author’s behind-the-scenes understanding of how corporations work, making it seem all too credible. The plot keeps you guessing until the very end. Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, he throws another curveball that leaves you eagerly flipping pages to uncover the truth.”

Why did you choose this setting/topic?
Choosing Chicago as a setting provides an amazing city with amazing history, and therefore amazing opportunities to build stories. My protagonist is a study in contrasts. She finds herself unable to poke the beast until it reveals its web of intrigue and illegality, and the story of intermingled crime and espionage allows the protagonist to push herself into solving the mystery.

Which author(s) most inspired you?
Michael Connelley, John Sandford and Steig Larsson.

Which three books would you bring to a desert island?
Caleb Carr’s The Alienist, Steig Larsson’s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and Erik Larson’s Devil In The White City.

INSPIRING MOMENT

Every now and then a moment surprises me as an author with the gift of a story’s beginning. Recently I visited the local library in my town in New York and found a wall-sized recreation of an 18th-century town map. Realizing what it was, I examined it to find the original farm where my house now sits. In that space was a small regular information tag containing the words “pirate attack 1783.” Having no idea that pirates were operating in Long Island Sound then, I decided I had to research the issue.

Luckily the librarian archivist was able (enthusiastically) to provide me with a 1939 newspaper article explaining that a local 17-year-old lad was murdered by a band of whaleboat pirates. Unfamiliar with the term I dug into local history for the Revolutionary War period and found a treasure trove of information. Whaleboat pirates were a common phenomenon in that era, as were privateers, and pirates were in their waning moments in the so-called Age of Sail. I had been toying for some time with the idea of writing a pirate story, and now I had been dealt my opening hand.

My dive into the rabbit hole of researching the whaleboat pirates revealed to me the world of privateering, the conflict between revolutionaries in colonial America and the loyalists who clung to King George III, and the incredible role played by the seagoing men of that period. Once I understood how nations and citizens interacted in this time period, I was able to fashion a protagonist and a story. He would spring from the end of the Seven Years War (America called it the French and Indian War) and play a central part in the story of the attack against a coastal family. The murder of the teenager would be the decisive conflict in my story and I could wrap it up with the final departure of the British Royal Navy from the then-occupied Long Island. This was at the sunset of the Revolutionary War.

Then I wondered why I should stop there. A second part of the continuing story could be to take my protagonist to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico and witness the end of the pirate era. That presented me with a promising volume two of my story, ending after the War of 1812.

Then I wondered why I should stop there. Further research taught me that, in the mid 19th-century, piracy continued in the American Great Lakes. I was able to find history that enabled me to fashion a third part of my story with ancestors of my earlier protagonists roaming those lake waters.

From an innocent visit to the library, my inspiration evolved into a three-volume story of pirates and privateers from the Revolutionary War era through to the Civil War era. Now I just have to write it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Thomas M. Roehlk is a retired corporate attorney from St. Charles, Illinois, whose career spans major international corporations in the defense sector, consumer products, transportation equipment, and financial services. He spent more than 20 years serving as general counsel and chief compliance officer for a public company, bringing deep real-world legal and corporate insight to his fiction. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and John Marshall Law School, Roehlk also holds a Master in Management degree from Northwestern University. A devoted endurance athlete, he has completed more than 100 marathons and ultramarathons worldwide, as well as ten Ironman triathlons. After 46 years in the Chicago metropolitan area, he and his wife now split their time between Florida and New York. Visit Thomas at his website.

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4rWQP4L

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243683449-fire-feud

SYNOPSIS:

When Bubby Welter is fifteen, his mother Carrie’s mental breakdown alters the course of their lives. Her illness creates emotional distance, leaving both mother and son isolated in different ways. As Carrie struggles internally, Bubby faces the external consequences of instability.

A failed robbery brings embarrassment, a close friendship teeters, and the realization that trust can be fragile takes hold. Searching for something solid, Bubby turns his attention to the father he never knew.

Take a Look at Me Now is a story about family disruption, emotional inertia, and the uncertain process of understanding who you are when the foundation beneath you begins to shift.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robert Crane is an American writer who writes literary fiction: short stories, novels, plays and poetry. He looks forward to putting out a novel which takes place in his adopted country of Norway. He wants his readers to be enlightened and moved by the stories. He feels good fiction seeks to expand a person’s perspective and engagement with the world.

REVIEW:

Wow! Don’t you just love it when an author you love writes a book in a new genre for them and knocks it out of the park? Especially when that genre is another of your favorites? Well, let me tell you that Ashley Farley wrote Dark Current Rising, the first book in the Sutherlin Files. It is a Crime Fiction and it was phenomenal! I think she did a fabulous job of creating the story line and the characters. There were a few twists in there that I did not see coming my way. I’m blown away that one of my favorite authors could veer off in another direction and make me love her books all the more.

Lane Sutherlin is a Detective and is headed to her hometown to look for her best friend Addie who has gone missing. Her father is a retired judge in the town and he is not quite himself these days. Lane had avoided telling anyone back home that she was recently divorced. I enjoyed meeting the new characters in this book. Some of them were those you would want as friends and some were part of the dark current that was under the surface of the town. 

In case you haven’t noticed by now or I’m new to you, I like a variety of genres and Crime, Mystery, Suspense and Thrillers are just a few. Ashley Farley writes a lot of Family Drama and Romance. I have to tell you that it was refreshing to see her voice in another genre that I love so much. 

If you are like me and like a variety of books to read, I think you should give this one a try. She certainly didn’t flop at her first try at Crime Fiction! I definitely will be looking forward to the next two books in this trilogy. So, pick up Dark Current Rising by Ashley Farley for your nightstand before the next book comes out. Until next time…Happy Reading!

Don’t forget to support the authors you read by leaving a review. Even a few words help.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. The opinions I have expressed are my own and I was not required to write a review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

SYNOPSIS:

A missing woman. A haunted detective. A town built on secrets.

When Detective Lane Sutherlin returns to Tidewell, Virginia, it isn’t by choice. She’s back in the small waterfront town she once called home to search for her childhood best friend, Addie, who’s vanished without a trace.

But coming home means more than chasing leads. Lane finds her father—the town’s respected former judge—slipping further into dementia. Old wounds with her brother flare, resentments deepen, and the house she grew up in feels less like a refuge and more like a reminder of everything she’s lost.

As Lane digs into Addie’s life, she uncovers more than she bargained for: a toxic marriage, whispered betrayals, and powerful men determined to protect their own. Every clue draws Lane closer to Tidewell’s polished elite—and to the rot lurking beneath their perfect façades. Soon she realizes Addie may not have been the only target.

In Tidewell, the past is never really past—and some secrets refuse to stay buried. Lane must untangle lies, face old enemies, and risk everything to bring the truth to light…even if it means becoming a target herself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amazon Charts and USA Today bestselling author

Ashley Farley writes Southern women’s fiction about love, loss, and the quiet courage it takes to start over. Her stories follow everyday women—mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends—as they navigate life’s hardest moments and find their way back to hope.

A South Carolina native, Ashley’s heart still belongs to the Lowcountry, where moss-draped oaks meet salty air and Southern charm runs deep. She now writes from her waterfront home on Virginia’s Northern Neck, where she shares her days with family and two strong-willed Labradors, Emmie and Willa.

I’m so excited to help launch Dark Current Rising by Ashley Farley. It’s a gripping new coastal mystery filled with secrets, family ties, and small-town tension. Perfect for readers who love small-town secrets, emotional depth, and a story that pulls you in from page one.

📆 Releasing Tuesday, January 6
📚 Available in Kindle Unlimited

Dark Current Rising
Small town. Deep secrets. Dangerous truths.
When a woman goes missing in Tidewell, Virginia, Detective Lane Sutherlin is forced to confront a past she thought she’d left behind—and a town that protects its own at all costs.

🎁 Enter now to win one of 20 copies

⏳ Giveaway ends soon

👉https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/428034-dark-current-rising

REVIEW:

Second Pairing is the second book in the Parent App series by Tess Thompson. I can’t tell you how enjoyable this series is. I really like it and after I read the prequel, I knew I was going to love the series. I wasn’t wrong. If you like good clean romances, you will like these books. I find myself seeking out books that take me away from the everyday stress of life. I want a book that makes me happy I read it and makes me think about it long after I turn the last page.

The premise of these books is that mothers are invited to coffee on the first morning their children start school for the first time. Six of the women there bond from the first meeting and essentially become family over the years. Some of them were single and some were married. They all eventually became single parents. They help each other out and have family dinners each Sunday evening.

The kids are all headed for high school in the fall and knowing they will be leaving their mothers when they go off to college, they cook up a plan to put their profiles on a dating app so they are not left alone. How cool is that? Well, the mom’s don’t think it is a good idea. They really don’t want any part of it. One by one they try the app. In this book it is Lila Morgan who meets Vance Prescott. Things don’t always go smoothly. This is one of those stories. You’ll have to read the book to see what happens.

The characters in these books are mostly the same. Each book has a few new ones for  that particular story. The core group remains the same and I like catching up with them and getting to know each one a bit more. They all have a good heart and watch out for each other.

If you need a break from all that is going on in the world. If you love a good love story. If you enjoy clean romance. If you just want to sit down and read a good book that will grab your attention and take you away to another world, then the Second Pairing by Tess Thompson is a good bet. Find a spot on your nightstand for these books. You won’t regret the good dreams they bring your way. Until next time…Happy Reading!

Don’t forget to support the authors you read by leaving a review. Just a few words help.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. The opinions I have expressed are my own and I was not required to write a review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

To follow my blog, click on the heading of any blog post. This will bring up just that blog and you will see a follow button on the bottom right hand corner. Thank you!

SYNOPSIS:

Her daughter set her up on a dating app.
Her first match turned into her first TV client.
Now the cameras—and her heart—are rolling.

After her husband’s betrayal, single mom Lila Morgan built a safe life in Willet Cove: raising her daughter, running her design studio, and keeping her heart off-limits. Love wasn’t part of the plan. But Mia and her friends have other ideas. With a secret profile on the Second Chance dating app, they match her with Vance Prescott—a worldly sommelier and charming wanderer back in town after years abroad.

Sparks fly on their first date in a way neither expected. But then Lila’s brand-new reality design show launches, and her very first client is Vance. Suddenly, her private world is on display, her heart is at risk, and the press is circling.
Vance is used to the spotlight. Lila is not. But between bright lights, nosy kids, and an opposites attract chemistry that won’t be ignored, they might just discover that love can bloom later in life.

Because in Willet Cove, happily-ever-after might just start with a second pairing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tess Thompson is the USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary and historical Romantic Women’s Fiction with over 50 published titles. Her books are emotional and heartwarming with themes of second chances, redemption and the power love has to change lives and create community.

She lives in the Pacific Northwest in a house on a small lake with her husband and kitties. Her four children are now young adults exploring their own paths and adventures, leaving an empty nest and a lot more time to write. She and her husband enjoy a quiet life, obsessed with birds and the other wildlife on their property, which makes them officially old. On any given day their yard could be visited by deer, bears, coyotes and squirrels.

Most days, she can be found curled up in her favorite chair reading or in her office writing while keeping an eye out for hummingbirds in the feeder outside of her office.