Courting Miss Emma ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Book Trailer, Notable Quotable, & Giveaway!

 

COURTING MISS EMMA

The Hangman’s Daughters, Book 2

by

Linda Broday

Western / Clean & Wholesome / Sweet Romance / Historical Fiction

Publisher: Severn House

Date of Publication: November 7, 2023

Number of Pages: 203 pages 

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Texas, 1868. Emma Taggart has finally found a place to belong – setting up Heaven's Door orphanage with her sister Maura was a new beginning for her – and one she will do anything to protect.

When guarded ex-army man Stone Landry buys the neighboring land and moves in - camels and all - Emma's world changes forever. He is an infuriating man who instantly gets under her skin - in ways she never dreamed possible, and despite herself, Emma starts to wonder if, just maybe, he is man enough to take on a Hangman's daughter . . . But their newfound connection is quickly tested by violent night raids, kidnappings, and underhand tricks by powerful rancher Zeke Parker, who is intent on running them out of town and taking the land he deems to be his. Can Emma find enough courage to trust in Stone to give her the life, the family, she's always dreamed of?

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I'm a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of western romance novels and short stories. Watching TV westerns during my youth fed my love of cowboys and the old West and they still do. On a still day, I can often hear the voices of American Indians, Comancheros, and early cowboys whispering in the breeze here on the high West Texas plains. We refer to this land as “cowboy” country and men here still ride the range just as cowboys of old. My stories focus on family life and almost all have children.

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FOUR WINNERS:

1st $25 Amazon gift card; 

2nd autographed hardcover copy of WINNING MAURA’S HEART;

3rd eBook copy of COURTING MISS EMMA;

4th audiobook of ONE SHOT AT LOVE.

(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 11/17/23)

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Finding Comfort ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Spotlight & Giveaway!

 

FINDING COMFORT

Comfort and Joy Trilogy, Book 2

by

Kimberly Fish

Women’s Fiction / Contemporary / Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Fish Tales Publishing

Date of Publication: September 1, 2023

Number of Pages: 312 pages 

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Even with all her experience, Gloria Bachman, retired banker and candy entrepreneur, didn’t see this coming.

Sweeties, the beloved Comfort chocolate shop, was ready for its cameo in advertising extraordinaire Jazzy Mezcal’s famous travel and food show! Comfort town folks had worked hard all summer to get their shops Hallmark-movie ready. On the eve of the TV crews overtaking the town, Gloria’s Chamber of Commerce welcome party gets drenched in a wicked rainstorm. Locals call it a “blue norther,” and a dreaded agent of change. Flooding seems like the worst of their problems until the celebrity TV host turns up dead.

In shock, Gloria’s friends turn to her to figure out who could be responsible for such a disaster. With the TV crew and guests in town for the 8th Street Market’s annual shopping event, suspects are endless. Reluctant to get involved, Gloria would much rather focus on the delicious romance with Mason Lassiter. And she would if a frenemy from Kerrville didn’t haunt her every step. Now as Gardner Rogers treads on her turf, everything feels suspicious.

With all eyes on Gloria to find the truth behind Jazzy Mezcal’s untimely death, she indulges her curiosity for problem solving while trying to disguise how unsure she is about the future with her boyfriend. Disruption in Mason’s world, mayhem in Comfort, and one epic chocolate disaster rouse Gloria to action and make her decide what’s worth fighting for. All she can say for sure, is that no one is finding any comfort in Comfort.

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Kimberly Fish has been a professional writer in marketing and media for over thirty years, with regular contributions to area newspapers and magazines. As an accidental historian, she wrote two novels, The Big Inch and Harmon General, both based on factual events in Longview, Texas, that changed world history. Kimberly also offers a set of contemporary women’s fiction novels and novellas, based in the Texas Hill Country, that reveal her fascination with characters discovering their grit and sweet, second chances; all four of the novels have won distinguished awards. Finding Comfort is her latest novel, the second book in the Comfort and Joy Trilogy.

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YouTube ◆ Goodreads ◆ Amazon ◆ BookBub

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TWO WINNERS:

Signed copy of FINDING COMFORT + surprise bonus gift!

(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 11/3/23)

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Fancy ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Spotlight & Giveaway!

 

FANCY

Love Train Multi-Author Series, #10

by

LINDA BRODAY

 Western Romance /Sweet Romance/ American Historical Romance

Pages:          190 pages

Publisher:      Kindle Unlimited

Publication Date:     August 15, 2022

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A stolen baby

An orphan child

A bargain struck

Told her baby died in childbirth, Fancy Dalton grieves for her son. But in the midst of a raging storm, a shadowy figure appears and tells her that he’s alive and well! He was stolen! Now she has an address and a name. From despair comes hope.

One thought drives her—finding and getting him back. Selling everything she owns, Fancy buys a one-way train ticket to Denver. Nothing and no one will stop her. In a mad dash to board the train, she collides with Jack Coltrain. As fate would have it, the rugged cowboy, on a mission of his own, sits next to her. Experience has taught her to be wary of men. But when her bag is stolen, he gets it back and earns a small piece of her trust.

As the iron wheels roll, taking her closer to her two-year-old son, Fancy and Jack discover an orphan girl who needs their help and open their arms to her. Ten hours from their goal, Fancy and Jack strike a deal—her help for his. Desperate times for both call for creative solutions…but marriage, even in name only? However, nothing is off the table. She’ll do whatever she must to save the orphan and get her child back. Still, giving Jack her heart…that’s not part of the bargain.

Click to purchase!

| Website | Amazon |

PRAISE FOR FANCY:

"I have loved every Linda Broday book I have read, but I must say this one touched my heart." Cricket (Goodreads)

"Linda Broday waved her magic wand when her turn came and gave us one of her most profound heroines she’s ever written. Fancy wrapped her tragic story around my heart and transported me into the late 1800s." Tonya (Goodreads)

"Linda Broday has always been able to weave her characters together like a mix-match patch quilt, but the end results are amazing." Rose Ann (Goodreads)

"...Her ability to convey the goodness of their souls will leave the reader wanting more." Sally (Goodreads

I'm a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thirty historical western romance novels and short stories. I reside in the Texas Panhandle on land the American Indian and early cowboys once roamed, and at times if the breeze is just right, I can hear their voices whispering in the wind. Texas’s rich history is one reason I set all my stories here where cowboys still remain caretakers of the land. I’m inspired every day by their immense dedication and love for the wide-open spaces. I combine those men with the love of family in all my stories and hope to continue to give readers books that entertain and fulfill.

| Website | Facebook | Twitter |

| Goodreads | Pinterest | BookBub |

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FOUR WINNERS!

One winner:

$25 Amazon gift card plus Kindle copy of Fancy

Three winners:

Kindle copies of Fancy

(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 8/19/2022.)

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CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE

FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY,

or visit the blogs directly:

8/9/22	Excerpt	Forgotten Winds
8/9/22	BONUS Promo	Hall Ways
8/10/22	Review	Librariel Book Adventures
8/10/22	BONUS Promo	LSBBT Blog
8/11/22	Character Spotlight	Chapter Break Book Blog
8/12/22	Review	StoreyBook Reviews
8/13/22	Notable Quotables	Shelf Life Blog
8/14/22	Character Interview	All the Ups and Downs
8/15/22	Review	Carpe Diem Chronicles
8/16/22	Sneak Peek	Stories Under Starlight
8/17/22	Review	Boys' Mom Reads
8/18/22	Review	Writing and Music

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Elephant Dreams ~ ~ Blog Tour, Review, & Giveaway!

ELEPHANT DREAMS

by

MARTHA DEERINGER

  Genre: Young Adult / Historical Fiction / Sweet Romance

Publisher: Melange Books Fire and Ice Young Adult Books

Date of Publication: September 2, 2017

Number of Pages: 224

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Desperate to escape her squalid life on the streets of New York City, sixteen-year-old Fiona Finn seeks help at the magnificent Church of the Ascension where Charles Loring Brace, a social reformer horrified by the plight of New York City’s street children, arranges for her to go west aboard an Orphan Train.

Fiona’s homeless, alcoholic father has other plans, however.  He wants Fiona to “work” the streets to support his drinking and pursues her across the midwest until she is forced to abandon the train in Houston to avoid a sheriff bent on returning her to her father.

Alone in the dark on the Texas prairie, Fiona’s terrifying experience with a circus elephant, Bolivar, sets the stage for a future she could never have imagined.

PRAISE FOR ELEPHANT DREAMS:

Elephant Dreams will be featured in the January, 2018 issue of the Historical Novel Society magazine.

“What a story! With scenes to be likened to any Charles Dickens novel, the author, Martha Deeringer, carries the reader on a breathtaking journey through despair and hope that changes as often as the wind changes direction. Great characters, a believable story, an insight into another world, and an empathy for a character that a reader would have to have a heart of stone not to sympathise with. Although billed as a young adult story, this will readily appeal to an adult reader. Very visual writing and the makings of a classic.” -- Jane Finch for Readers’ Favorite

“I absolutely adored this novel; I couldn't find a single thing to dislike about it, other than of course the characters we are meant to dislike. The secondary characters were just as well rounded as the primary characters, leaving the reader with a feeling of contentment at the end of the novel. Each character brought his or her own three-dimensional personality to the novel, giving me a reason to either love or hate them passionately.” -- Acwoolet for Online Book Club

“I thoroughly enjoyed Elephant Dreams. It is a captivating story with a spunky heroine who is determined to turn her life around. I loved the unique settings that covered New York City slums, an orphan train and a Texas Circus. I would recommend it for teens through adults.” – 5 Stars, Kindle Edition | Verified Purchase

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HALL WAYS REVIEW: ✪✪✪✪✪ From the first few pages of Elephant Dreams, readers are pulled into the grim, bleak setting of 1860s New York City. Author Martha Deeringer places us right there, wide-eyed, scared, and dreaming of something better. Yet even in the darkness of poverty and hordes of street children, there is a spark of hope in sixteen-year-old Fiona Finn.

“Her early life disappears into the past with each 

revolution of the train’s wheels…”

It is that spark of hope and the gumption of young Fiona that kept me fascinated with Elephant Dreams and turning the pages (read it cover-to-cover in one sitting – I’ll be sending the author a bill for my neck ache!). Fiona is intelligent, and thanks to her Mam, educated. Fiona’s beautiful journal entries, eloquently written, show insight and talent in assessing the character of people she meets.  And there are plenty of characters with character!

“Do you think we’ll go to hell for lyin’?” Fiona asked.

“Not for that particular lie,” Aunt Mollie said.

Of course, with a story centered around the circus life, readers expect vibrant descriptions and unique and interesting characters. They will not be disappointed and are treated to a cast of diverse people within and outside of the circus. Readers not only get a clear image of the physical presence of each character, but the depth and quirks of each as well. The goodness shines through in the good, but there are also the deeply flawed and their flaws aren’t sugar-coated. There was much ugliness in this period of history, and it’s presented appropriately for the audience and puts the lives of the characters in context. The historical element of Elephant Dreams is terrific.

Not only was the character of Mollie A. Bailey based on a real person and her circus, the story included numerous historical elements, naturally woven into the story: the orphan trains, the Texas Rangers and Major John B. Jones, the plains buffalo slaughters, the Civil War, segregation, the Comanche War Chief Buffalo Hump…any or all of which may pique the young reader’s interest and encourage further investigation.

One aspect that I enjoy in Elephant Dreams is the underlying and repeated message of the positive impact of church and people of faith on the lives of the less fortunate. When Fiona decided to save herself and change her path, she started by going to a church to ask for help, and that was the catalyst for saving her life. Deeringer keeps the message in the background, which makes it more powerful.

Elephant Dreams arouses a wide range of emotions that keeps readers engaged. Be prepared to worry, rage, delight, and even wipe a tear or two from your eye. The book is beautifully written and immaculately edited -- THANK YOU! I highly recommend it to readers young and old, though parents and younger readers need to be aware that there are tough topics addressed and alluded to including prostitution, rape, and alcoholism. Though nothing is graphic, lines of communication need to be open.

Thank you to Lone Star Book Blog Tours and the author for providing me a beautiful print copy in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

Martha Deeringer lives with her husband and their large, extended family on a central Texas cattle ranch. She writes magazine articles, often about history, for children and adults and is a frequent contributor to regional and national magazines. 

Martha also writes Young Adult fiction, occasionally inspired by her teaching experiences or the antics of her children and grandchildren. She loves ranch life and sometimes abandons her writing to cope with assorted issues involving kids, dogs, cats, horses, orphan calves, and occasionally armadillos, coyotes and rattlesnakes. 

 ║ Website ║ Facebook ║ 
║ Amazon Author Page ║ Goodreads ║

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THREE SIGNED COPIES!
JANUARY 15-24, 2018

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VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

1/15/18 Excerpt Tangled in Text 1/15/18 Bonus Promo Post Story Schmoozing Book Reviews 1/16/18 Review Books in the Garden 1/17/18 Guest Post Texas Book Lover 1/18/18 Author Interview A Page Before Bedtime 1/19/18 Review The Page Unbound 1/20/18 Promo Texan Girl Reads 1/21/18 Excerpt Books and Broomsticks 1/22/18 Review Hall Ways Blog 1/23/18 Scrapbook Page The Clueless Gent 1/24/18 Review Syd Savvy 1/25/18 Bonus Notable Quotable Reading by Moonlight

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