Showing posts with label cover love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cover love. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Winter's Season: A Regency Mystery ~ Partners in Crime Tours Book Trailer & Giveaway!

WINTER'S SEASON
A Regency Mystery  
by R.J. Koreto

Thriller, Historical, Romance, Political, Crime
Published by: Histria Books
Publication Date: February 17, 2026
Number of Pages: 300

Scroll Down for a Giveaway! 

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Synopsis:

Winter's Season by R.J. Koreto

In 1817 London, before the police, there was Captain Winter.

London, 1817. A city teeming with life, yet lacking a professional police force. When a wealthy young woman is brutally murdered in an alley frequented by prostitutes, a shadowy government bureau in Whitehall dispatches its "special emissary"―Captain Winter. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and a gentleman forged by chance and conflict, Winter is uniquely equipped to navigate the treacherous currents of London society, from aristocratic drawing rooms to the city's grimmest taverns.

Without an army of officers or the aid of forensic science, Winter must rely on his wits and a network of unconventional allies. His childhood friend, a nobleman, opens doors in high society, while a wise Jewish physician uncovers secrets the dead cannot hide.

But Winter's most intriguing, and potentially dangerous, asset is Barbara Lightwood. Shrewd, beautiful, and operating as a discreet intermediary among the elite, Barbara shares a past with Winter from the war years. Their rekindled affair is fraught with wariness; she offers intimate information crucial to his investigation but guards her own secrets fiercely. Like Winter, she is both cunning and capable of danger.

From grand houses to dimly lit streets, death stalks Captain Winter. He must tread carefully to unmask a killer, navigate a web of secrets and lies, and perhaps, in the process, save his own soul.

BUY THE BOOK

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CHECK OUT THE BOOK TRAILER
for Winter's Season!

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About the Author:

R.J. Koreto

R.J. Koreto is the author of the Historic Home mystery series, set in modern New York City; the Lady Frances Ffolkes mystery series, set in Edwardian England; and the Alice Roosevelt mystery series, set in turn-of-the-century New York. His short stories have been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, as well as various anthologies.

Most recently, he is the author of Winter's Season which takes place on the dark streets and glittering ballrooms of Regency-era London.

In his day job, he works as a business and financial journalist. Over the years, he’s been a magazine writer and editor, website manager, PR consultant, book author, and seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Like his heroine, Lady Frances Ffolkes, he’s a graduate of Vassar College.

He and his wife have two grown daughters and divide their time between Paris and Martha’s Vineyard.

Catch Up With R.J. Koreto:

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Win Big! Enter Now for Your Chance to
Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card!
(US only; ends 2/22/26)
This giveaway is hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for R.J. Koreto. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited. 
Winter’s Season by R.J. Koreto | Gift Card

Can't see the giveaway? Click Here!

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Tour Participants:

Click to visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and opportunities to WIN in the giveaway!

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours



Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Lone Star Book Blog Tours 2017 Bloggers' Choice Awards ~ ~ ~ ~ Best Cover & Most Engaged Author



The Lone Star Book Blog Tours team has voted, and the results are in!  From Best Fiction to Most Engaged Author, we have seventeen awards to hand out to the awesome Texas books and authors featured on Lone Star Book Blog Tours in 2017.

From February 15-23, 2018, please join us as we hop around the LSBBT blogs and share the winners, runners-up, and shortlisted titles. Don’t miss it!


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MY TWO CENTS: Well this was just a lot of fun! Since I've read some of these, one thing that I always appreciate is when a cover matches the story -- and I am pretty sure all of these do. Notice the final two covers of the Sawbones series are here -- nothing purdier than the whole dang set sitting side-by-side. I remember when I first read The Grave Tender, I kept waiting to figure out where the cover fit in with the story. It was a real ah-ha moment. I know that the sassy cover to The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck was a perfect complement to that story -- I could tell by reading all those awesome special features we had on the tour. And I remember everyone falling in love with the dog in Sandpiper Cove, so this winner is not a surprise. 

Click to learn more about:

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MY TWO CENTS: When I say that I love my job, I mean it. Over the span of six or eight weeks - about how long it takes to build one of our fabulous blog tours - I have the privilege of getting to know many of the amazing authors that go on tour with LSBBT. We put a lot of work in beforehand, but the best of the best also put in considerable work during their tours to interact with the bloggers and the readers so that their tours are taken to the next level. I really admire these four people for their commitment to their craft -- and for just being all-around excellent humans. I've only met one of them in person -- DiAnn was kind enough to schmooze for pictures with me at the 2017 TLA Conference after we toured Deep Extraction, but when we finally meet, Ben has promised to hike in Big Bend with me, Melissa has promised to drink an adult beverage (or several) with me, and Linda and I are probably going to hug, burst into tears, and watch a coffee date turn into a lunch date turn into a dinner date -- and then we'll just repeat the next day! LOVE them all. (And a whole lotta others.) Aww, shucks. Now I'm having all the feels.

Click to learn more about:
Linda Broday
DiAnn Mills
Ben English




CLICK BELOW TO SEE ALL OF THE AWARDS

Thank you for following along! If you are a Texas author or have a Texas book you'd like to take on tour with Lone Star Book Blog Tours, just fill out the contact form (bottom of the blog page) and I'll hook you up!  Want to be a part of the LSBBT blogger team? Click the "Texas Blogger" tab on this blog and then fill out the contact form if you think you are a good fit for the group! 

We love our Texas books, Texas authors, and Texas bloggers!




Monday, January 2, 2017

January 2017 #InkRipples ~ ~ ~ Hall Ways Talks Book Covers!

#InkRipples is a themed meme hosted by Mary Waibel, Katie L. Carroll, and Kai Strand posting on the first Monday of every month. To participate compose your own post regarding the theme of the month, and link back to the three host blogs. Feel free to post whenever you want during the month, but be sure to include #inkripples when you promote so readers can find you. The idea is that we toss a word or idea into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There is no wrong interpretation.

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HALL WAYS TALKS BOOK COVERS
It's no accident that I use #coverlove and #booklove a whole lot. When I was in graduate school in 2011, I went on a kick of exploring all the covers I could find for books I was about to read. I would find multiple covers of the book, along with the tag-lines, and discuss. When it suited me, I chose which cover drew me in the most beforehand and then which one most fit the book afterwards. Or, I would just write snarky commentary about the messages I thought the covers conveyed. Or I just showed multiple covers. This was loads of fun for me because, well, I'm me. 

I have been mislead by covers, and I have been mislead by cover blurbs (both of these issues are fodder for a post all their own). I have loved covers so much that I had to have a place to keep them, so I created a Pinterest "Beautiful Book Covers" board. But guess what -- there are books there that I haven't even read. And there are books there that I read and didn't really like. The point is that book covers are a source of entertainment and eye-candy for me as much as the stories themselves. I can't imagine life without book cover art -- but I sort of can.

On my recent excursion to Deep Vellum Books in Dallas, there was a set of books whose spines and covers all looked remarkably similar. There was no cover art, with the books differing only in the solid color used and of course the titles. Not sure what they were about and maybe they were all by the same author? I guess that makes my point. I wasn't interested enough to even stop and look. (side note -- this book set aside, I DIG DEEP VELLUM BOOK STORE. Go there.)

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri suggests in her book, The Clothing of Books, that perhaps covers should be approached like school uniforms, so that all books can be represented equally on the shelf. I haven't read her book (which is about this very topic, and just 80 pages so I may), but in an interview it seems she says this tongue in cheek . . . but hmmm.  What if? What if there were neat red covers for fiction, blue covers for non-fiction, and we readers had to be sold on the title? Or the promotional blurb alone (for surely, the pitch must be allowed in this scenario)? Can you imagine how much time it would take to choose a book? As Sweet Brown said, "Ain't nobody got time for that."



I have always said that I cannot imagine what it must be like to not only have a story to tell, but to have the ability to write it down and the bravery to release it into the world to be poked and prodded by strangers. I hadn't really realized that covers can sometimes be just as personal to an author as the stories held within them. 

What a joy it is to be on the receiving end of the wonderfully creative gifts of words and images given by storytellers. To #booklove and #coverlove, I add #authorlove. 

Monday, July 20, 2015

Witches Protection Program


Cash, M.P. (2015). Witches Protection Program. Self-published.
Adult / Sci-Fi / Fantasy 
I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars

In Witches Protection Program by Michael Phillip Cash, we meet Agent Wes Rockville who, after a failed assignment that resulted in an escaped prisoner, is given nothing more than a name and an address to report to for his reassignment.  He soon meets partner Alastair Verne, who introduces Wes to his new position: Witch Protector in the long secret Witches Protection Program. Wes quickly goes from denial to belief as he's drawn into the world of witches, Morgan, whom he has to protect, and Bernadette, who has turned from good witch to bad and has an evil scheme that could have worldwide consequences. Alastair and Wes team up with the eccentric witch Junie to try and stop the witch Bernadette and her plan, but is their power enough to succeed against pure evil? 

Witches Protection Program takes the premise that witches exist in our society, but the public isn't aware of them. The Davinas are the witches who do good in the world and report on the evil doings of the bad witches, the Willas.  As agents of the WPP, Wes's and Alastair's job is to protect the Davinas and investigate the Willas, all while keeping the general citizens ignorant of witches and magic in their midst. Though the secrecy has been maintained for hundreds of years, the Willas boldly use witchcraft in public, flying on brooms and conjuring spells, with scores of witnesses reporting it on social media and the news.  Readers are never really shown the aftermath of this big witch reveal, which left the story a little unfinished in that respect. 

With witchcraft being an anchor of the plot, if there's a witch around, spells (which in this book all rhyme and are a bit cheesy -- think of Samantha's spells in Bewitched episodes) can be used to resolve any situation and overcome any hurdle. At times, the device is used a little too conveniently, but for the most part, it works fine. There is a budding romance, but it is secondary to the main plot line, and there are definitely hints that would allow for more stories to come with this cast of characters.

The book does need another pass with editing to tighten the story and correct the typos, misspelled words, and dropped words that corrected, would take the book up a notch. Author Michael Phillip Cash uses humor, suspense, and action packed scenes to keep readers engaged and turning the pages, and I recommend Witches Protection Program for a clean, quick, and light fantasy read.

Thank you to Reader Views for providing me a print copy in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give. This review was first posted on Blogcritics online magazine and is re-posted here by permission from Readers View.

A FUN BIT ABOUT THE COVER>>> I mentioned to my son how much I liked the cover for this book, and he said, "Mom, it's a Nerf Maverick." A Nerf gun? I didn't believe him, so I used the Google, and sure enough, there are all kinds of Nerf gun mods out there. Nerf, you've come a long way, baby.  

VIEW THE BOOK TRAILER!

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael Phillip Cash is an award winning and best selling author of horror, paranormal, and science fiction novels. Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island, The Hanging Tree, and Schism: The Battle for Darracia have all been named to Foreward Reviews, Book of the Year Awards.
Born and raised on Long Island, Michael has always had a fascination with horror writing and found footage films. He wanted to incorporate both with his debut novel, Brood X. Earning a degree in English and an MBA, he has worked various jobs before settling into being a full-time author. He currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children. 

Learn more about Michael and his books on 
his WEBSITE, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK.