Granny Loves to Read!

Heather Graham is The New York Times and USA Today best-selling author sold her first book, When Next We Love, in 1982 and since then, she has written over two hundred novels and novellas with about 60 million books in print in categories of romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. Graham earned high praise for her New York Confidential series, including a starred review from Library Journal which called it, “Intricate, fast-paced, and intense, this riveting thriller blends romance and suspense in perfect combination and keeps readers guessing and the tension taut until the very end.” For more information, visit her at TheOriginalHeatherGraham.com.

Book Summary:

Witness the thrilling conclusion to the beloved New York Confidential series, in THE FINAL DECEPTION (MIRA Books; March 31, 2020; $26.99). Kieran and Craig are about to take on their most chilling case yet as they hunt for a deranged serial killer who has escaped from prison to satisfy his need to kill again.

When criminal psychologist Kieran Finnegan was released from her responsibility of counseling the brutal serial killer known as The Fireman, once he was incarcerated, she was relieved to escape the tendrils of his twisted inner world. The chill she received from her sessions with him has stayed with her despite trying to leave him in the past. However, some demons refuse to remain behind bars. When her FBI agent boyfriend Craig is called to a gruesome crime scene that matches The Fireman’s MO, news begins to spread that he’s escaped from prison.

And he remembers Kieran...

Amid a citywide manhunt, Kieran and Craig need to untangle a web of deceit, privilege, and greed. They suspect that those closest to the killer have been drawn into his evil, or else someone is using another man’s madness and cruelty to disguise their crimes. When their investigation brings the danger right to the doorstep to the once safe haven of Finnegan’s Pub, Kieran and Craig will have to be smarter and bolder than ever before, because this time it’s personal, and they have everything to lose.

The Final Deception by Heather Graham (excerpt)

PROLOGUE

CRAIG FRASIER BREATHED IT IN BEFORE HE COULD STOP himself; the bloodcurdling scent of burning flesh.

Human flesh.

Flames still skittered over the body—an accelerant had been used. As he stood there in the small dark alley, he heard others rushing in: Mike Dalton, his partner, and patrol officers. He heard the sirens; the fire department was coming.

But there was no saving this victim.

Craig was already tamping the fire out; an extinguisher would make the work of the medical examiner more difficult.

But he knew what the medical examiner would find.

The victim had been strangled, then the tongue had been cut out. And then the eyes had been gouged out. Death had occurred, mercifully, before the fire had been set.

The corpses haunted his dreams. Burned shells, some flesh and soft tissue remaining, charred and clinging to the bones, mummy-like. The mouth in the blackened skull was agape, and those empty, soulless eye sockets seemed to be staring up, as if they could still see, as if they stared at him in reproach…

Why hadn’t they caught the killer sooner?

He heard a rustling sound. Looking across the alley, Craig saw a shadow moving. Leaving the corpse to others, he took off like a bullet. He pursued the moving shadow at a run…running and running for blocks. The city was a blur around him.

He reached apartments on Madison, with a coffee shop and a dress store on the first floor, just as the gate at the street entry to the residential units above was closing. He caught the gate, and he reached the elevator in time to see what floor it stopped on. He followed.

And again, as he arrived, a door was just closing; he didn’t let it close.

And there he was: the Fireman, still smelling faintly of gasoline, ready to sit down to a lovely dinner with his family. About to say a prayer before the meal…just a husband and a father, and a man who looked at Craig and calmly said, “So, my work is over. But I have obeyed the commandments given me, and I will go with you.”

Why did you take so long? The corpse again! In Craig’s dreams, the corpse was back, animated, flying at him like a ghostly banshee, issuing a silent scream.

Craig opened his eyes.

He didn’t awake screaming or startled—he didn’t jerk up. It was almost as if he always knew it was a dream, reliving the day the Fireman had gone down.

He’d had the dream several times before. But, now, it seemed as though it had been a long time. Weeks. He’d thought he’d ceased experiencing it altogether. He’d been doing all the right things: quietly seeing a Bureau shrink a few times, following their advice. He hadn’t told Kieran Finnegan, his fiancée, about his recurring nightmare, and while she was a criminal psychologist working with two of the city’s finest criminal psychiatrists, he’d made a point of not telling her or her bosses.

He’d thought he’d settled it on his own. It was a little strange and sometimes intimidating being in love with someone who studied the human psyche, and he hadn’t wanted Kieran worried about him or trying to analyze him.

Why the hell had the dream come back?

He felt Kieran shift against him. He pulled her into his arms and she rolled, crystal eyes opening wide when she realized that he was awake.

And aroused. Kieran’s tangle of auburn hair was a wild mass around her face, emphasizing her eyes and the quick smile that came to her lips.

“Ah!” she murmured, feeling his arousal against her.

“Your fault,” he accused.

“Well, thankfully. What time is it?” she asked with a soft whisper.

He laughed. “Quickie time, or time for a quickie,” he said.

Her smile deepened, and there was something so sensual about it that it never failed to increase whatever he had begun to feel.

In her arms, in the liquid burn of kisses here and there strategically placed, in the swift—and intense—blaze of arching and writhing and thrusting, all else faded.

After, Craig headed for the shower. He was an FBI agent in the Criminal Division of New York City’s branch of the FBI. He could be satisfied in having brought down several killers. But there would be more; a sad fact of the world and humanity. He was blessed to have his job, his vocation, and it was time to go to work.

He shoved the dream into the back of his mind.

Whatever his day held, he’d already seen the worst that this world could offer.

Little did he know.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

BOUND IN FLAME by Katherine Kayne

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS

Contact: Sarah Miniaci

856-489-8654 x329

Sarah.Miniaci@smithpublicity.com

Interview: Author of Fall 2019’s Must-Read Romantic Fantasy Debut on:

FEARLESS HEROINES, HAPPILY-EVER-AFTERS, AND THE

COMPLEX AND FASCINATING CULTURE & HISTORY OF HAWAII

A former CEO, cancer survivor, avid collector of vintage muumuus, and self-professed bad dancer (and helluva bartender), like most people, Katherine Kayne “adulted for more years than I could count.” But through it all, somewhere deep inside of her, the childhood voice – brimming with love for horses and poetry and magic and happily-ever-afters – remained.

Nowadays, in her “so-called retirement,” Kayne is reclaiming that voice and following the dream of her heart, culminating in the release of her debut novel Bound in Flame: Book One in the Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society series [Passionflower Press, October 28, 2019].

With the Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society, Kayne – who counts herself fortunate to live onHawaii Island part of each year, and otherwise resides on another magical island in Puget Sound – is writing the romances she only dreamed of reading as a girl. Her manifesto?

Hawaii makes every woman beautiful.

Strength is sexy.

You never outgrow a love for horses.

Flowers are for wearing.

Women don’t need to be saved.

Men should dance more. Especially hula.

Food is to be enjoyed.

There just might be magic still in the world.

The best dresses are long and flowing.

Our men are lucky to have us.

Happily-ever-after is always a possibility.

A little paper umbrella in your drink makes all things better.

Set in turn of the century Hawaii, Kayne’s literary debut is centered on the stories of the fearless horsewomen of the islands’ ranches (“Because who doesn’t love a suffragist on horseback? With a bullwhip? Wearing flowers?”) and sees her take great care with cultural sensitivity and bring a sharp eye to historical detail.

“By the turn of the twentieth century Hawaii was a study in contrasts,” she shares. “Cowboys and kahunas, wild pigs and steamships, hula dancers and rickshaws, land barons and mail-order brides made up the stuff and substance of the islands’ colorful history. The rise of the sugar industry gave great fortunes to a few and bypassed the many. Hawaiians today still fight to right the wrongs of that era. Yet despite it all, those times evoke a great nostalgia.”

“It is during these times that my stories begin,” Kayne continues. “Although these tales are pure fiction, I found inspiration in many wonderful pieces of Hawaiian history. Just as the colors are deeper, the smells sharper, and the sun brighter in Hawaii, the stories of the people carry richness beyond imagining.”

To promote the October 2019 release of Bound in Flame, Katherine Kayne – who will be attending the Romance Writers of America Conference in New York City from July 24-27 – has select availability for interviews, and can speak to a range of profound, inspiring, and incredibly fun topics, including but not limited to:

● Taking the leap in this “third chapter” of her life to follow her childhood dream of becoming an author

● The uniqueness, beauty, and complexity of Hawaii (which is so, so much more than just tiki drinks)

● Writing about Hawaiian culture and history as a white woman, and her experience in working with the Hawaiian community and a group of sensitivity readers, her “story trust”

● The suffragist movement in the early twentieth century (2020 will mark 100 years since women won the right to vote in the United States)

● The white-washing of history, and the end of the kingdom of Hawaii after it was annexed by the United States in 1898

● Self-acceptance as the key to power

● True love in all of its messiness and magic

● And much, much more!

Katherine Kayne writes the sort of romantic fantasy she has always wanted to read in her own beach chair. With horses and hula and magic and flowers and happily ever after… with heroines to cheer for and heroes strong enough to follow their heroine’s lead. Pure aloha. She lives in Seattle and counts herself fortunate to live in Hawaii a part of each year.

Find Katherine Kayne on Facebook (@katherinekayneauthor), Twitter (@k2writesbooks), Instagram (@k2writesbooks) and her website https://katherinekayne.com.

Bound in Flame: Book One in the Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society Series [Passionflower Press] will be available in paperback and ebook formats as of October 28, 2019.

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The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland

Description:

For fans of Josie Silver's One Day in December, The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is a wholly original, charismatic, and uplifting novel that no reader will soon forget.

Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. She’s only a few months past the heart transplant that—just in time—saved her life. Now, finally, she can be a normal twenty-eight-year-old. She can climb a mountain. Dance. Wait in line all day for tickets to Wimbledon.

But first, she has to put one foot in front of the other. So far, things are as bloody complicated as ever. Her relationship with her mother is at a breaking point and she wants to find her father. Then there's Lennox, whom Ailsa loved and lost. Will she ever find love again?

Her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it. From the hospital to her childhood home, on social media and IRL, Ailsa will embark on a journey about what it means to be, and feel, alive. How do we learn to be brave, to accept defeat, to dare to dream?

From Stephanie Butland, author of The Lost for Words Bookshop, The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae will warm you from the inside out.

Author Bio:

STEPHANIE BUTLAND lives with her family near the sea in the North East of England. She writes in a studio at the bottom of her garden, and when she's not writing, she trains people to think more creatively. For fun, she reads, knits, sews, bakes, and spins. She is an occasional performance poet and the author of The Lost for Words Bookshop.

Book-buy link: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250242174

Bound in Flame by Katherine Kayne

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sarah Miniaci

856-489-8654 ext. 329

sarah.miniaci@smithpublicity.com

Bound in Flame

The Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society Series, Book #1

By Katherine Kayne

For lovers of horses and hula and magic and fearless heroines and happy-ever-afters…

TAKE AN UNFORGETTABLE TRIP TO TURN OF THE CENTURY HAWAII IN THE MUST-READ ROMANTIC FANTASY DEBUT OF FALL 2019

Just as the colors are deeper, the smells sharper, and the sun brighter in Hawaii, the stories of its people carry richness beyond imagination.

An epic historical adventure meets sweep-you-off-your-feet romantic fantasy set in Hawaii at the turn of the twentieth century, it is with a bolt of inspiration from and deep roots in Hawaii’s wonderfully fascinating history that Bound in Flame [Passionflower Press] – the debut novel from Katherine Kayne, set for release on October 28, 2019 – sets off at a galloping pace.

The first book in Kayne’s Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society series, Bound in Flame centers on Letty Liliuokalani Lang, a suffragist of the most fearless kind with a bullwhip, big dreams, and ancient powers she doesn’t yet understand.

Banished to a San Francisco boarding school to tame her wild temper, the story begins with Letty returning home to Hawaii, bringing her devotion to animals with her. She’ll be among the first female veterinarians in history – remarkable in 1909 when women still cannot vote.

With one mad leap into the ocean to save a horse, Letty – a descendant of Hawaii’s aristocracy and goddaughter of Princess Kehokulani, the former heir to the throne – sets another destiny in motion. She is a mākāhā, a Gate to the healing fires of the land, her beloved ‘aina. Letty must learn to harness the ancient power that lives within her, fueled by her connection to the islands.

But the price is steep. Her inner flame burns hot – hot enough that her kisses can kill, a precarious inconvenience since the horse’s owner, Timothy Rowley, lights another kind of fire.

Can Letty learn to command her power in pursuit of her passion, or is the danger of love too great?

“By the turn of the twentieth century, Hawaii was a study in contrasts,” shares Kayne, who counts herself fortunate to live on Hawaii Island for part of each year. “Cowboys and kahunas, wild pigs and steamships, hula dancers and rickshaws, land barons and mail-order brides made up the stuff and substance of the islands’ colorful history.”

“Although Bound in Flame is pure fiction, I created the world of the Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society to tell the stories of the fearless horsewomen of the islands’ ranches,” she continues. “If you come along for the ride, be prepared for almost anything to happen. I can promise you fiery kisses, charming cowboys, women who ride like the rainbow to save the day, and that rarest of beasts: handsome men who like to dance.”

With great care to cultural sensitivity, a sharp handle on historical detail, and a cast of characters readers won’t be able to help but fall in love with, Bound in Flame is a must-read for anyone who loves horses, prefers the feisty heroine, craves hunky heroes with a sense of humor, and wants to believe there may yet be magic in this world.

Among the topics and themes Bound in Flame explores include:

● The uniqueness, beauty, and complexity of Hawaiian history

● The suffragist movement in the early twentieth century (2020 will mark 100 years since women won the right to vote in the United States)

● The white-washing of history, and the end of the kingdom of Hawaii after it was annexed by the United States in 1898

● Self-acceptance as the key to power

● True love in all of its messiness and magic

About the Author:

Katherine Kayne writes the sort of romantic fantasy she has always wanted to read in her own beach chair. With horses and hula and magic and flowers and happily ever after… with heroines to cheer for and heroes strong enough to follow their heroine’s lead. Pure aloha.She lives in Seattle and counts herself fortunate to live in Hawaii a part of each year.

Find Katherine Kayne on Facebook (@katherinekayneauthor), Twitter (@k2writesbooks), Instagram (@k2writesbooks) and her website https://katherin ekayne.com.

Bound in Flame: Book One in the Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society Series [Passionflower Press] will be available in paperback and ebook formats as of October 28, 2019.

ADVANCE REVIEW COPIES OF BOUND IN FLAME AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

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Monday, September 23, 2019

The Last Day of Winter by Shari Low

The Last Day of Winter – Shari Low

About the author

Shari Low is the No1 best-selling author of over 20 novels, including With Or Without You, Another Day In Winter, One Day In December, A Life Without You, This Is Me and The Story Of Our Life. And because she likes to over-share toe-curling moments and hapless disasters, she is also the shameless mother behind a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. Once upon a time she met a guy, got engaged after a week, and twenty-something years later she lives near Glasgow with her husband, a labradoodle, and two teenagers who think she's fairly embarrassing except when they need a lift.

Follow Shari

Website: www.sharilow.com

Twitter: @ShariLow

Facebook: @sharilowbooks

About the book

One December wedding. One runaway bride. One winter's day to bring everyone together again.

Today is the day Caro and Cammy are due to walk up the aisle. But Caro's too caught up in the trauma of her past to contemplate their happy ever after.

Stacey's decision to return from L.A. is fuelled by one thing – telling Cammy how she feels, before it's too late.

Wedding planner, Josie, needs to sort the whole mess out, but she's just been dealt some devastating news. Can she get through the day without spilling her secret?

On a chilly winter's day, they have twenty-four hours to prove that love can lead the way to a brighter future...

Perfect for fans of Isabelle Broom, Sarah Morgan and Amanda Prowse.

Buy links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2HWoiYA

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2Zq1KFD

iBooks: https://apple.co/2ZssftV

Google Play: https://bit.ly/2ZxvpMR

Follow Aria

Website: www.ariafiction.com

Twitter: @aria_fiction

Facebook: @ariafiction

Instagram: @ariafiction