Release Tour and Book Spotlight: Must Love Coffee by Leigh Lennon

I am very happy to be part of the Release Tour for MUST LOVE COFFEE BY LEIGH LENNON!

Check out my Spotlight on Must Love Coffee below and look for my review soon!

The first book in the highly anticipated 425 Madison series is now live! Read MUST LOVE COFFEE by Leigh Lennon today.

Only on Amazon + Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon ➝ https://rebrand.ly/MLC_425Madison

Goodreads ➝ http://bit.ly/425Mad1MLC

Gwen
I was stripped of all my own desires and wants when I was married to my ex-husband. I now carry a list with me—a list that will help me choose a man that will put me first in life. Then the storm cloud of an entitled millionaire appears in my life and knocks me off my axis. This man sends so many mixed signals, my body either quakes with anger or passion when I’m around him.

I'm his son's teacher and his tenant, but I find myself wanting more.

Leo
My life is run with precision with little regard for others until a woman in crazy clothes challenges me to be a better father. She’s one of the few people that puts me in my place and maybe for this very reason—I want her more than I can articulate. With her failed marriage and list of requests she needs from her next partner, I know she’s my future. My life is less than perfect, and with it—baggage that follows me everywhere. Does she want my kind of crazy in her life?

I'm her landlord and an a**hole, but  I find myself wanting more.

Where to begin? For starters, you must love coffee...

After all, 425 Madison Avenue is the perfect place to fall in love.

*Each story is completely standalone.

Gwen:

Leo stands with so much force it pushes his chair over, bumping the table and knocking some of Teague’s test results to the floor.

“Mason, this teacher is clearly incompetent and I want her replaced—no, fuck that—I want her fired.”

I don’t give Mason much time to reply. I stand just as fast and, though he has a good six inches on me,  I’m in his face.

“Okay, Mr. Eastman, you want me fired so badly, answer me this. How much time do you spend with Teague each day on his homework? I’ve sent home small readers with questions to be answered each day, even if you have to write the responses for him. I’ve never gotten a completed form in return.” As I speak, the harsh teacher tone takes over and demands his attention. I don’t miss how his hands curl into fists when I continue. “I’ve sent him home with a phonetical set of flash cards and a completion sheet. After ten times, he gets a reward. I have yet to receive that back. The same goes for number recognition. So, you tell me I’m not doing my job. But, since turnabout is fair play, how are you doing on your end? It takes a village, Mr. Eastman. Let me know when you move in and we can talk.”

Leo:

How is it that a man who has access to countless hot women wakes on the morning of his kid’s playdate like it’s fucking Christmas? And with a jolly ripe boner at the thought of his son’s teacher. Yeah, this guy here. I’m not ashamed of it but is it appropriate to ask this woman out while we are essentially chaperoning our daughters? See, I haven’t always been a manwhore. With Dez, I was the most committed father and husband—I only had eyes for her. And maybe these new feelings make it obvious I’m ready to start over again.

With the first glance at my phone, I’m accosted with a shit-ton of texts from Donna. She invited me over last night but I’d told her I was taking my kids to the movies. This crazy, bleached-blonde tried to invite herself with us to see Venom. She had no idea it was a Marvel movie, in addition to being oblivious to the fact that I’d never let her get within arm’s reach of my kids. A good fuck she’s been but that’s all she ever could be. And now, after imagining the teacher as a person I want more than sex with, I’m on the offensive with today’s playdate. But don’t fucking get me wrong—I sure as fuck want to fill her up—but I want more than that. I can’t fucking believe that I, Leo Eastman, am admitting to this.  

Shit, shit, shit. But it’s true.

Leigh Lennon is a mother, veteran and a wife of a cancer survivor. Originally with a degree in education, she started writing as an outlet that has led to a deep passion. She lugs her computer with her as she crafts her next story. One could say she loves pretty nails, big earrings, and spiky hair. She can be found drinking coffee or wine, depending on the time of the day.

Website ➝ http://bit.ly/2UxaxnT

Facebook ➝ https://bit.ly/2DXBg48

Goodreads ➝ https://bit.ly/2zxFsce
Amazon ➝ https://amzn.to/2qXQ1yH
BookBub ➝ https://bit.ly/2oZJPp2

About the 425 Madison Series

Welcome to 425 Madison Ave the perfect place to fall in love. Nine delicious romances set in fast-paced & sexy NYC just waiting for you to read

The series features stories from some of your favorite romance authors: Leigh Lennon, MK Moore, Allie York, Aubree Valentine, Kay Gordon, Lauren Helms, Sylvia Kane, Katy Ames, and C. Lesbirel

Join these authors as they come together, each with a standalone romance for you to enjoy

Featuring some of readers' favorite tropes: second-chance romance, best friends sibling romance to a good ol' enemies to lovers romance. We've got you covered with a sports romance, a fake relationship and even an ugly duckling or two. Don't forget a brother's best friend and falling for your soul mate. Maybe a little love triangle as well. Each tale offers you something new, something different. After all, 425 Madison Avenue is the perfect place to fall in love

For more information, visit the series website ➝ www.425madisonseries.com

Follow the series on Facebook ➝ https://www.facebook.com/425MadisonSeries

Books two and three in the series are coming soon! Add them to your Goodreads shelf today! 

Let Me Love You by MK Moore, Book #2

A Best Friend’s Sibling Romance
Goodreads ➝ https://rebrand.ly/MLC_425Madison

Just Swipe Right by Allie York, Book #3 
A Love Triangle Romance
Goodreads ➝ https://rebrand.ly/JSR_425Madison


This release event is brought to you by Forever Write PR - Forever your source for all your writing needs.

Book Spotlight: Copycat by Hannah Jayne...Excerpt & Giveaway!

Hannah Jayne is one of my go-to authors when I’m in the mood for a good thriller and I am so pleased to be able to tell you about her latest release from Sourcebooks Fire, Copycat!

Title: Copycat

Author: Hannah Jayne

ISBN: 9781492647393

Release Date: July 3, 2018

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Praise for Copycat:

“A twisty rollercoaster ride that mixes fiction with reality and truth with misconceptions...lovers of mysteries will certainly enjoy this fast-paced page turner.” —Library Media Connection

Summary:

From the author of The Escape, Twisted, and Truly, Madly, Deadly comes a chilling new thriller that asks: what happens if your real life became stranger and deadlier than fiction?

Everyone is dying to read the latest book in the popular Gap Lake mystery series, and Addison is no exception. As the novels biggest fan, she’s thrilled when the infamously reclusive author, R.J. Rosen, contacts her, giving her inside information others would kill for.

Addison’s always dreamed of what it would be like if the books were real…. But then she finds the most popular girl in school dead. Murdered. And realizes that life imitating fiction is more dangerous that she could have imagined. As other terrifying events from the books start happening around her, Addison has to figure out how to write her own ending—and survive the story.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksAMillion | !ndigo | Indiebound

Hannah Jayne decided to be an author in the second grade. She couldn’t spell and had terrible ideas, but she kept at it. Many (many) years—and nearly twenty books—later, she gets to live her dream and mainly does it in her pajamas. She lives with her rock-star husband, baby daughter, and their three overweight cats in the San Francisco Bay area. She is always on the lookout for a juicy mystery, an exciting story, or a great adventure.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

One

There was something inordinately creepy about being at school after dark. The place was deserted—­the benches and picnic tables in the quad looked ominous and foreboding under the flickering yellow lights. Crystal Lanier shivered and pulled her jacket tighter against an imaginary chill. The weather was mild at Gap Lake in September; the days still sunbaked, the nights, like this one, a gentle mix of fading summer and impending fall. But the bare bones of the deserted campus had put a chill in the air, and shot a blast of cold right through Crystal.

“I’m creeping myself out,” she muttered shifting her books from one arm to the other.

A wisp of wind cut through the quad. Crystal was almost sure she heard someone laughing—­a weak, choked giggle, like someone was trying to swallow it down.

“Hello?”

She spun, her long black hair fanning over her shoulders. “Is someone there?” She knew she sounded like every horror movie victim ever, and her heart hammered in her throat as her skin prickled with beads of sweat.

This was Gap Lake, she reminded herself. It was a tiny town where everyone knew everyone else, and nothing bad ever happened. She was thinking that when the shadow approached. When he reached out for her long black hair. She was thinking what a nice, safe place Gap Lake was when he clamped a hand over her mouth. When he strangled her scream and drove the needle straight into her throat.

***

“Addison!”

Addison glanced up and blinked, feeling redness stain her cheeks and ears. She closed the book slowly, looking around at the two dozen sets of eyes staring back at her.

“I’m sorry.”

Mrs. Lea took two steps forward and held out her hand. Addison cleared her throat and shifted in her seat.

“The book, Addison.”

Reluctantly, Addison handed over the dog-­eared book.

“Can I get it back after class, please?” she asked, her voice meek.

***

Maya Garcia hiked her backpack over her shoulders and stepped into the junior hallway. “Okay, how many times has Mrs. Lea taken that thing from you?”

Addison shrugged, falling into step with her best friend. “Let’s see, I’ve read it about fifty-­seven times so…fifty-­six?”

“You are the biggest, nerdiest R. J. Rosen fan ever.”

“Hey, I’m president of his fan club. It’s mainly research.”

Maya shook her head sadly. “It’s borderline obsessive.”

“Who you calling borderline?” Addison flashed a wide grin. “It’s not entirely my fault. Rosen needs to write faster. If he could keep up with the public’s rabid love for the Gap Lake mysteries, I wouldn’t need to constantly reread—­”

“And reread and reread. And write massive amounts of fan fiction.”

Addison rolled her eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong, Adds. I love the books too, but you’re a teenager. You need a more destructive hobby to fit in.”

Addison nodded sagely. “I see where you’re coming from. What do you suggest?”

“Drinking, drugs, reckless driving.”

“First of all, to drive recklessly, I’d have to drive, which I will not. And as for the other stuff, what am I? A stereotype?”

Maya narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I feel like you’re not taking me seriously.”

Addison stopped at locker 221 and spun the lock, pulling open the metal door. “I like to read. So what?”

Maya yanked a handful of books out of Addison’s locker before dumping them back in again. “So, you should shelve a few hundred of these books and live in the here and now with the rest of us who have boyfriends who don’t live only on paper.”

“Number one, have you read the first Gap Lake book? Not only is Crystal’s boyfriend, Declan Levy, not a one-­dimensional paper product, he may or may not be responsible for her murder—­I vote not. But if that doesn’t make a rounded character, I don’t know what does.”

“Character,” Maya enunciated. “That’s the magic word. A character is not a real person.”

“And speaking of not real people, who’s this boyfriend of yours you seem to be referring to?”

A fierce blush crept across Maya’s olive cheeks. “I didn’t say that I had a boyfriend. But there are possibilities. Men in the wings. Plans afoot and so forth and…stuff.”

“‘Plans afoot’? ‘So forth and stuff’? Who are you?”

Maya put her hands on her hips. “I’m your best friend, Addie. Remember me? I’m not a mystery novel, but I’m pretty damn fantastic if I say so myself.”

Addie pulled the book back. She gave it a quick kiss, before stashing the book in her backpack.

Maya gaped. “Did you just kiss a book? Seriously?”

“It’s my lifeblood.”

Maya cocked an eyebrow and Addie shrugged.

“Okay, so it’s research.”

“Tell me you still want to be a writer and haven’t decided on serial killing as a career goal.”

“According to my father, the latter pays better.”

“How is the wolf of Wall Street?”

Addie blew out a sigh. “Buying low, selling high, still wishing his disappointing daughter had a penis or a power tie.”

“Well, I know what to get you for Christmas.” Maya stopped dead in her tracks. “Don’t look, but you’re being ogled. Possibly even being fantasized about in weird and uber-­sexual ways.”

Addie immediately crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Now I feel skeevy.”

“I’d pay a thousand bucks if Spencer Cohen was staring at me that way.”

Addie shrugged, trying to play it off like she didn’t care. “You need a life.”

Maya groaned and shook Addie’s arm. “And you need two feet in reality or you’re going to prom with a cardboard cutout.”

“If it’s a cardboard cutout of Declan Levy, sign me up.”

“So you are into serial killers.”

“Declan didn’t do it!”

Maya rolled her eyes. “Declan totally did it. He killed Crystal, then did Andy and Rhodes. It’s textbook. I know because I am the daughter of cops, times two.” She held up two fingers a half inch from Addie’s nose. “He had motive, opportunity—­all those other CSI words.”

“That’s what the author wants you to think. And you totally fell for it! You are so R. J. Rosen’s target audience!”

“And you’re his secret side chick.”

Addie snorted. “I prefer biggest fan.”

“Well, it seems like Spencer Cohen is your biggest fan, and he’s coming over here.”

“Hey, Addie.” Spencer grinned, one of those three-­point grins that hit his dark-brown eyes, chin dimple, and Crest-­white smile.

I’m not in love with Spencer, she told herself. Infatuation. Puppy love, maybe. He’s just so cute…

“Hey, Spencer.”

Maya stepped forward. “Addie was just telling me how much she loves water polo. And dancing.”

Addie blinked. “I was?”

“I play water polo.” Spencer brightened and Addie gritted her teeth. She had been to nearly every one of his matches. True, she was usually up on the last bleacher with her nose in a book, but she watched whenever Spencer was in the pool. He never even noticed her.

“Yeah,” she said with a slow nod. “I’ve seen. I mean I know. I know because I’ve seen you. Not in a weird way, like in a fan way. Not, like, a weird mega fan or anything but, like, a Hornets fan. You know.” Addie fisted her hand and punched at the air. “Go team!”

Maya threaded her arm though Addie’s and gave it a yank. “We have to go.”

“Why did you do that?” Addie hissed once they were out of earshot. “Spencer and I were having a conversation.”

“Have you ever heard the term dead in the water? Because that’s what you were. ‘Go team’?” She shook her head sadly.

“Did I sound that bad?”

“Yes, yes you did.”

Addie sighed. “See? That’s why I should stick to guys on paper.”

“Oh honey,” Maya slid an arm over Addie’s shoulders. “At this point I don’t even think your book boyfriend would talk to you.”

Prize: 2 Copies of Copycat

Runs July 3rd - 31st  (US & Canada only)

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Book Spotlight & Review: Alone by Cyn Balog...plus giveaway!

Thrilled to be able to tell you about Cyn Balog’s latest release…Alone.

Keep reading to learn more!

Alone

By Cyn Balog

Sourcebooks Fire

November 7, 2017

Advance Praise for Alone

“Even careful readers will be caught off guard by twists and unexpected but divine surprises. This first-rate thriller delivers everything a thriller should, and adds more. With a wink and a nod to Stephen King’s The Shining, Balog provides a shocker for the young adult crowd.” –VOYA Magazine, VOYA Perfect 10 Review

“This is the perfect premise for a chilling tale, and Balog fills every inch with classic horror references, red herrings, and uncertain motivations. As Balog gradually builds tension and paranoia, she manipulates reader expectations to set up several possible endings, yet still manages to end with a shocker. This is fantastically creepy psychological horror.” –Booklist

"A bloody, wonderfully creepy scare ride." –Kirkus Reviews

Add to Goodreads 

Book Info:

This must-read for lovers of Stephen King's The Shining will leave readers breathless as Seda and her family find themselves at the mercy of a murderer in an isolated and snowbound hotel. 

When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda's almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it's fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they're not going back to the city...or Seda's friends and school.

As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They're about to be cut off from the outside world, and she's not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.

Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality...

Amazon | B&N | BAM | !ndigo | IndieBound | Kindle |  Nook

Cyn Balog is the author of a number of young adult novels. She lives outside Allentown, Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters. Visit her online at www.cynbalog.com.

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Excerpt from Alone: 

      Sometimes I dream I am drowning.

Sometimes I dream of bloated faces, bobbing on the surface of misty waters.

And then I wake up, often screaming, heart racing, hands clenching fistfuls of my sheets.

I’m in my bed at the top of Bug House. The murky daylight casts dull prisms from my snow globes onto the attic floor. My mom started collecting those pretty winter scenes for me when I was a baby. I gaze at them, lined neatly on the shelf in front of my window. My first order of business every day is hoping they’ll give me a trace of the joy they did when I was a kid.

But either they don’t work that way anymore, or I don’t.

Who am I kidding? It’s definitely me.

I’m insane. Batshit. Nuttier than a fruitcake. Of course, that’s not an official diagnosis. The official word from Dr. Batton, whose swank Copley Square office I visited only once when I was ten, was that I was bright and intelligent and a wonderful young person. He said it’s normal for kids to have imaginary playmates.

But it gets a little sketchy when that young person grows up, and her imaginary friend decides to move in and make himself comfortable.

Not that anyone knows about that. No, these days, I’m good about keeping up appearances.

My second order of business each day is hoping that he won’t leak into my head. That maybe I can go back to being a normal sixteen--year--old girl.

But he always comes.

He’s a part of me, after all. And he’s been coming more and more, invading my thoughts. Of course I’m here, stupid.

Sawyer. His voice in my mind is so loud that it drowns out the moaning and creaking of the walls around me.

“Seda, honey?” my mother calls cheerily. She shifts her weight on the bottom step, making the house creak more. “Up and at ’em, buckaroo!”

I force my brother’s taunts away and call down the spiral staircase, “I am up.” My short temper is because of him, but it ends up directed at her.

She doesn’t notice though. My mother has only one mood now: ecstatically happy. She says it’s the air up here, which always has her taking big, deep, monster breaths as if she’s trying to inhale the entire world into her lungs. But maybe it’s because this is her element; after all, she made a profession out of her love for all things horror. Or maybe she really is better off without my dad, as she always claims she is.

I hear her whistling “My Darlin’ Clementine” as her slippered feet happily scuffle off toward the kitchen. I put on the first clothing I find in my drawer—-sweatpants and my mom’s old Boston College sweatshirt—-then scrape my hair into a ponytail on the top of my head as I look around the room. Mannequin body parts and other macabre props are stored up here. It’s been my bedroom for only a month. I slept in the nursery with the A and Z twins when we first got here because they were afraid of ghosts and our creepy old house. But maybe they—-like Mom—-are getting used to this place?

The thought makes me shudder. I like my attic room because of the privacy. Plus, it’s the only room that isn’t ice cold, since all the heat rises up to me. But I don’t like much else about this old prison of a mansion.

One of the props, Silly Sally, is sitting in the rocker by the door as I leave. She’d be perfect for the ladies’ department at Macy’s if it weren’t for the gaping chest wound in her frilly pink blouse. “I hate you,” I tell her, batting at the other mannequin body parts descending from the rafters like some odd canopy. She smiles as if the feeling is mutual. I give her a kick on the way out.

Despite the morbid stories about this place, I don’t ever worry about ghosts. After all, I have Sawyer, and he is worse.

As I climb down the stairs, listening to the kids chattering in the nursery, I notice the money, accompanied by a slip of paper, on the banister’s square newel post. The car keys sit atop the pile. Before I can ask, Mom calls, “I need you to go to the store for us. OK, Seda, my little kumquat?”

I blink, startled, and it’s not because of the stupid nickname. I don’t have a license, just a learner’s permit. My mom had me driving all over the place when we first came here, but that was back then. Back when this was a simple two--week jaunt to get an old house she’d inherited ready for sale. There wasn’t another car in sight, so she figured, why not? She’s all about giving us kids experiences, about making sure we aren’t slaves to our iPhones, like so many of my friends back home. My mother’s always marching to her own drummer, general consensus be damned, usually to my horror. But back then, I had that thrilling, invincible, first--days--of--summer--vacation feeling that made anything seemed possible. Too bad that was short lived.

We’ve been nestled at Bug House like hermits for months. Well, that’s not totally true. Mom has made weekly trips down the mountain, alone, to get the mail and a gallon of milk and make phone calls to civilization. We were supposed to go back to Boston before school started, but that time came and went, and there’s no way we’re getting off this mountain before the first snow.

Snow.

I peer out the window. The first dainty flakes are falling from the sky.

Snow. Oh God. Snow.

Set in a perfectly creepy and completely isolated old mansion, Cyn Balog’s Alone is a spooky and entertaining story filled with some of my favorite things about horror stories and movies.

Seda Helm’s mother has moved the entire family to a creepy mansion in the middle of nowhere that was once a murder mystery hotel but that has fallen into disrepair. While Seda’s mother dreams of selling the falling apart & strange home she inherited to someone who will again open it up as a mystery hotel, Seda dreams of returning to her former home in Boston where she had friends…and wifi…and her dad.

Now Seda spends her days looking after and entertaining her younger brothers and sisters as they slowly become accustomed to their unusual and isolated surroundings. When a blizzard strands a group of teenagers at the mansion with the Helm family, things start taking a strange and unexpected turn as the small group embarks on a murder mystery scavenger hunt of their own courtesy of Seda’s mom. But what starts out as a fun, spooky way to pass time and entertain Seda’s siblings soon turns to something a bit more sinister.

Alone is an entertaining and atmospheric horror story that reminded me of some of my favorite horror stories and movies.  Isolated location, spooky house, creepy kids, family secrets, unsuspecting guests...it's got all of the makings of a great horror story. And while it gets off to a bit of a slow start, things begin to pick up and the tension soon builds with each page. Seda, our narrator who is just the right amount of strange, seems to be keeping some secrets that aren't all obvious to readers, but you just know they are there. And you know something is going to happen, but you're not sure what or when, so you're constantly on edge waiting to see and wondering what Seda or the house will reveal. I forced myself not to skip ahead or read the ending first as I sometimes do and was so happy that I didn't. As events slowly unraveled and things took a deadly turn toward the unusual, the story became something I wasn't expecting, but I truly enjoyed it right down to the very last page. As I said, it was all reminiscent of some of my favorite classic horror films…but I don't want to say too much...even though I'm dying to (no pun intended).

But I will say that I absolutely love the idea of a murder mystery hotel. I love mysteries, scavenger hunts, and solving puzzles and it seems like such a fun idea. I really enjoyed how the author incorporated it into the plot allowing readers to explore the creepy and fascinating house that Seda’s family inhabits. The details, twists, and descriptions were such a treat, as were the characters and overall story. Although, Seda's murder mystery might have been a little too real for some.

And “Bug House,” as Seda calls it, it is almost a character itself.  Balog really brought it to life with her detailed descriptions. Seda’s great aunt and uncle set it up perfectly as a sort of haunted mansion from its spooky decor with scratched wallpaper and fake blood and body parts scattered throughout the place. There are even scary stories and legends associated with each room. You never know what is real and what is not when it comes to the estate's history. It sounds like an amazingly perfect and entertaining place to visit…briefly. Not sure I could live there. But Seda and her unusual family are fans of all things horror so it almost sounds like it was fate they ended up there.

Overall, Alone is the type of book perfect for fans of creepy YA horror stories set in spooky, isolated locales.

*I received a free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

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