Blitz: Winter Light (A Blue Spruce Hills Novella) by Honey Winters with an excerpt and a giveaway

Winter Light

Series: A Blue Spruce Hills Novella

by Honey Winters

Release date: November 12th 2026

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/257536577-winter-light

Blurb:

For readers who enjoy clean women’s fiction about small towns, new chapters, and later-in-life romance.
***
A small-town librarian, a new neighbor from Colorado, and the brightest Christmas display in the Poconos.

Penny McLauchlin runs the library from a former bank building where the vault is now a reading room. She knows which cart squeaks, which patron wants company rather than a book, and which of the atrium plants needs turning toward the light. What she has stopped knowing is what she wants.

Then a colleague slides a listing for Regional Library Director across her desk — the kind Penny has scrolled past for years — and the thought arrives fully formed: I could.

She applies. And then the quiet season she thought lay ahead turns out to be anything but.

Her sister Jackie moves in. Her daughter is coming home for Christmas with a guest. And Nigel Blake, her new neighbor, has just plugged in a holiday display visible from Mars.

By December, Penny’s street is the brightest one — and the woman who never wanted anything to change has a job interview and is embroiled in a Christmas lights battle that has drawn spectators from across town.

This book is for every woman who has looked around a good life and still wondered whether this was all of it. Winter Light is about wanting things at 55, reaching without wrecking anything, and discovering that contentment isn’t the same as closing the door. Come to Blue Spruce Hills for warm friendships, a Pennsylvania mountain town under snow, a sister who arrives like weather, and a neighbor whose Christmas lights are an argument for joy.

Trope List
Finding yourself at 55
Midlife women’s fiction
Small-town Christmas
Widow opens heart to love again
Neighbors to something more
Sister returns home
Female friendship group
Clean
Low angst

What you can expect:

Heat: clean and wholesome
Tone: cozy women’s fiction, warm and lightly funny
Series: A Blue Spruce Hills Novella, interconnected standalone
POV: third person, past tense, single POV
Content Notes: reference to past spousal loss (off page, years earlier); no violence; no swearing
Comps: Debbie Macomber, Nancy Thayer, Sheila Roberts

Welcome to Blue Spruce Hills: A mountain town that reinvented itself once already and knows something about new chapters. Come for snow, tea, good friends, poetry night at the Tea House, and a holiday season worth remembering.

Purchase:

Amazon: https://link.amazon/B0ewJNShn

Excerpt: 

Two big candles sat square in the middle of the cake—a five and a five.

The lights dimmed, and Penny was treated to an unharmonious Happy Birthday. Then came a chant that the kids had done when they were young and the adults had continued. Luckily, they now counted by fives.

“Are you five? Are you ten? Are you fifteen?” Shannon, Wendy, and Jennifer chanted.

As they counted up, Penny’s mind focused on her “new chapter,” as Jennifer called it. What new chapter? She had no news to share. Shannon had a new gallery showing. Jennifer was trying a new hobby. Wendy was going on vacation to Thailand.

“Are you thirty?”

Penny was simply going about her life. Day after day after day.

“Are you thirty-five?”

It wasn’t that her life was empty.

“Are you forty?”

Nor was she lonely.

“Are you forty-five?”

Nothing was wrong, per se.

“Are you fifty?”

But three words began to form, not quite solid yet, but taking shape.

“Are you fifty-five?”

Is this it?

“Stop,” Penny said, and the women clapped.

“Okay, Pen, blow out the candles and make a wish,” Shannon said.

Penny closed her eyes and did exactly that.

***

After about five minutes of hugging, Penny finally left Shannon’s. Her hands were toasty in her new gloves. Her journal was in her tote bag, and her framed picture was tucked under her arm.

The night was quiet. Her feet crunched on the fall leaves, and she could hear a muffled TV. Penny had walked this walk so many times she knew where the sidewalk tilted because of tree roots and when to expect Mr. Phillip’s dog to start barking.

For the first time, she didn’t find that familiarity comforting. Nothing had changed from yesterday, but everything felt a little different. It was silly. Nothing more than the stress of a birthday.

But that feeling lingered.

GIVEAWAY

Blitz-wide giveaway (INT) ends November 19

• $25 Amazon gift card

https://gleam.io/vgS78/winter-light-blitz

AUTHOR BIO:

I love writing the kind of stories I want to curl up with—heartfelt, uplifting stories about women in midlife navigating life’s ups and downs. My books celebrate the bonds of friendship, the magic of second chances, and the belief that it’s never too late to fall in love.

Whether it’s a cozy lakeside summer, a small-town reunion, or an unexpected romance that catches you by surprise, I believe every chapter of life holds something sweet waiting to be discovered.

Author links:

https://honeywinters.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HoneyWintersAuthor/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/68308244.Honey_Winters

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/honey-winters

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17499025.Honey_Winters

 

Release: Valentines in the Presidential Suite (A Beach House Hotel Story) by Judith Keim

Valentines in the Presidental Suite

by Judith Keim

Romantic Women's Fiction

Date Published: August 25, 2026

When Morgan Riley meets Simon Weaver, an older man who’s just moved into her upstate New York town, she becomes a book review partner with him for the local bookstore owner. Coming from an unhappy childhood, Morgan treasures her relationship with Simon, who is like the grandfather she never had.

Brad Hamlin, an attractive widower, is hired as a new partner in the law firm where Morgan works. She is assigned to assist him, and they form a successful team. When Simon needs a lawyer to help him with a difficult situation with his very greedy daughter-in-law, Morgan suggests Brad. As friendship deepens between the three of them, neither has any idea what life has in store for them.

A special spin-off book in which characters have their own stories and end up at The Beach House Hotel in Florida with Ann and Rhonda. A chance to stay connected to the series in a different way.

 

About the Author

 

 Judith Keim, A USA Today Best-Selling Author, is a hybrid author who both has a publisher and self-publishes. Ms. Keim writes heart-warming novels about women who face unexpected challenges, meet them with strength, and find love and happiness along the way, stories with heart. Her best-selling books are based, in part, on many of the places she's lived or visited and on the interesting people she's met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many loyal readers love.

She enjoyed her childhood and young-adult years in Elmira, New York, and now makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and their adorable dachshunds, Wally and Kacy, and other members of her family.

While growing up, she loved the idea of writing stories from a young age. Books were always present, being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. All in her family shared information from the books in general conversation, giving them a wealth of knowledge and vivid imaginations.

Ms. Keim loves to hear from her readers and appreciates their enthusiasm for her stories.

 

Contact Links

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Teaser: Taken by the Alien (Taken #13) by Megan Slayer with an excerpt

(Taken, Book 13)

A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel

Date Published: May 8, 2026

Publisher: Changeling Press

She’s got magic she’s never tapped into. He’s from another galaxy. Together, they’re just right.

Lindsey Knepper-Lare just wants to belong. As far back as she can remember, she’s felt different. She’s convinced she’ll always been damaged goods. Then she’s abducted by an alien and spirited to a planet with a name she can’t even pronounce. Then Ronan walks into her life. He’s everything she wants, but has never had the courage to go after. Too bad he’ll never pay her any mind.

Ronan Miir wasn’t planning on visiting the diner on ERAEMA, but the second he spots Lindsey, he knows he has to save her. The metallic aliens on the planet want nothing good for to her. Not Ronan. He wants to kiss, touch, and protect her. Good thing he knows a thing or two about aliens, rescue, and getting back to Eerie. He’s ready to make their pairing into a forever romance… if she’ll give him a chance.

 

Excerpt

All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2026 Megan Slayer

She blinked back tears and her stomach lurched again. She’d been taken from her home against her will, was being used for something she never wanted to take part in, and had been dumped in a place she didn’t even know to work for a being who claimed to own her. And she had no idea how to get home.

Lovely.

“Oh, and if you try to rip the comm off your body, it will alert P482 and he’ll destroy you.” T181 threw a rag in her direction. “Get to cleaning. These tables won’t sanitize themselves.”

She held onto the rag, then wondered what she was supposed to clean with the rag. Instead of asking questions, she moved to the first table and wiped it down. Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to cry. If she’d been able to be strong so far, she could keep doing it. She had no choice.

She wasn’t about to let anyone see her crack. She’d dissociate from herself and pretend she wasn’t here. Again. She wasn’t anyone’s slave. She didn’t have to act like she was happy in her surroundings.

“A few rules. Don’t talk to the clients. You’re here to clean, not flirt. They won’t take you out of here, so don’t ask. Understood?” T181 asked. “If they want food, they’ll let you know, but you simply deliver. You clean, you keep your mouth shut, and you give in to P482 if you want freedom from here.”

A man walked into the diner and said something she couldn’t quite hear to T181. Lindsey moved to the second table and watched the man. So far, she’d only seen beings that resembled satellites, like T181 and P482. This was the first being she’d encountered, even at a glance, who sort of resembled a human.

She watched him and her heart ached. Not only because she missed her home, but because she missed being held. Missed being touched. Missed other humans. Hell, she wasn’t even sure anyone would want to look for her. No one probably missed her.

Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t drool over this being. She swept her gaze over him. Dark hair, a bit wavy and just long enough to need a little product. Icy blue eyes that seemed to pierce through her the longer she looked at him. He had a slight dimple when he smiled and dazzling white teeth. He even had nice hands. The suit fit tight to his body, like it was tailored precisely for him. He oozed sex. No, not just sex, but power and confidence as well.

Not that this man would ever look her way. Good gracious. She was like Cinderella, but on a whole different planet. Even back on Earth men like him didn’t pay her any mind. She faded into the background -- just like she would here.

T181 moved between her and the man. “He’s mine. He’s got money, he’s free to move about the planet, and won’t bed you.”

She almost asked, “Bed him?” She hadn’t even thought of that. “Sure.”

She glanced over at him while she cleaned the third table. He had nice lips. Just full enough for a good kiss. She’d bet he was skilled at kissing, too. Not that she’d ever know. She was stuck.

She’d been taken to breed and given a bullshit answer for how to get home. A lie. Her heart hurt. This was so silly. Impossible, really. This man, no matter how sexy he was, probably had obscene amounts of money or credits or whatever. She wasn’t even sure how he’d been able to come to the planet. Was he a prisoner, too?

 

About the Author

Megan Slayer, aka Wendi Zwaduk, is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to LGBTQ and white hot themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been nominated at the LRC for Best Author, Best Contemporary, Best Ménage, Best BDSM and Best Anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on various e-tailer sites.

When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. She’s an active member of the Friends of the Keystone-LaGrange Public library.

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Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @changelingpress

Save 15% off any order at ChangelingPress.com with code RABT15

Preorder Today

 

Book Tour: Strings by Jan Merritt with a giveaway and my review

Strings

by Jan Merritt

Contemporary Romance, Romantic Drama, Women’s Fiction

Date Published: 11-21-2025

With a national lockdown looming, a Southern journalist flees north, determined to jumpstart her career in the safety of a Minnesota wilderness, feisty and wary of entanglements, she piques the interest of a bored Native American rock star.

A pandemic is spreading across the globe. A national lockdown looms in the United States. A Southern journalist sees a chance to protect her health and jumpstart her career by escaping north to a Minnesota wilderness. Feisty and wary of entanglement, she piques the interest of a bored Native American rock star on his way home.

Robby Song’s career may be on hold, but Grace Wheeler is on a mission to build hers. To Robby, she’s an intriguing challenge. To Grace, he’s a distraction she’s not ready to handle. But the brutal Northwoods winter is coming. Grace flees back south . . . to soul-searching isolation and a puzzling middle-of-the-night call.

 

My Review - 4 of 5 stars - 

I enjoyed Grace and Robby from their accidental meeting at the airport through the many ups and downs of their relationship/friendship to the HEA. Both underwent changes as they processed what they had and what they wanted. The trust they should have had was hard fought for, though the chemistry was there with plenty of steamy scenes. Grace's past drove her to find herself and fight for herself, almost costing her everything. Robby was full of himself but liked the fact that Grace did not know about his fame. All the secondary characters kept the story moving along, giving support to this couple. The story was a bit dragged out for me, but overall, it was a good book.

About the Author

Jan Merritt is passionate about teaching both in the classroom and on horses, but brain cancer changed her life. Surgeries and treatments have left her with a new brain, one that does not have skills to teach middle school English or balance to ride horses . . . but loves to create stories.

Jan lives on the coast of South Carolina with strong ties to northern Minnesota. Growing up was filled with rich but conflicting narratives. Her dad told stories about his pioneering Minnesota family, egalitarian values, and the importance of self-reliance. They made annual trips to family cabins on a lake north of Duluth. But in her friends’ homes back in Charleston, she was immersed in plantation lore, tales of the Confederacy, and exclusive traditions of a social set that she was not born into. She is married to a musician who is also a mental health therapist. They have three children.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/STRINGSJanMerritt

Amazon

Release: Secrets of the Midwife by Ann Ormsby with an excerpt and a giveaway

Secrets of the Midwife

by Ann Ormsby

Release date: March 18th 2026

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Published by: Acorn Publishing

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249264816-secrets-of-the-midwife

Blurb:

Anabel Leigh has spent years pouring herself into her career, polishing her image, and protecting her fragile heart after too many losses. But everything changes when a stranger presses a baby into her arms in a crowded New York park and vanishes. The child’s golden hair and trusting eyes stir a deeply personal longing Anabel thought she’d buried forever.

What begins as a surreal moment unravels into a storm of headlines and police questions.

Savannah Maas knows the truth. She’s hiding on a farm in Georgia, living by a different code—one forged from secrets, desperation, and choices that blur the line between compassion and crime.

As the world closes in, each woman struggles to keep her dreams from crumbling. For one, receiving the baby is a miracle. For the other, the handoff is a devastating mistake.

Heart-stirring and suspenseful, Secrets of the Midwife is a story of hope, resilience, and the unexpected ways love finds us.

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uyCFYD

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secrets-of-the-midwife-ann-ormsby/1149619245?ean=2940196098758

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/gr/book/secrets-of-the-midwife/id6760085296

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/secrets-of-the-midwife

Excerpt: 

My big red barn with the pointed roof is situated about two hundred yards from the main house. After dinner, I always take Charlie, my Collie, for a long walk. My grandpa, Robert Maas, had built the barn and run his breeding stable for fifty years before my father took over and ran it into the ground. When my ma and pa died in a car accident a few years ago, I inherited ten acres of land, a dilapidated old farmhouse, and the barn all in Dubois, Georgia. An investor came and took all the horses as payment for the money he had given Pa.

Even though the horses are gone, I love the way the barn looks and have great memories of my grandpa teaching me how to ride and how to take care of the horses. I love the dusky, fragrant, slightly stale smell of the hay up in the hayloft that hasn’t been cleaned out since my parents ran off the road. Sometimes I come out here and read, lying in the pile of hay under the loft with my feet perched on the ladder leading up to the second floor. On the outside, one wall is covered with ivy and the other with moss. I know I should hire someone to clean it out, or do it myself, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Tonight, Charlie is very animated, running to and fro, and sniffing the ground.

“What’s up, boy?” I ask him, but then I hear it. A moan coming from the barn. Maybe some animal is trapped in one of the stalls. It’s a big barn with twelve stalls, six on each side of the central hall. I know that feral cats live in the nooks and crannies of the storage room, but as I pull open the weather-beaten door and take a step into the entrance, I hear it again, louder this time, and I can tell it’s a human sound. Because I’m a midwife, I know that a woman is in labor in one of the stalls. Teenagers sneak in here to fornicate and now one of them has probably come back at the other end of the process. A lot of girls could avoid this type of trouble if Georgia didn’t have such strict abortion laws. Six weeks isn’t long enough for most of them to figure out they’re pregnant, let alone make a decision and then a plan. 

After putting Charlie outside, I call out to the woman—my voice is deep and raspy. “Hello? Don’t worry. I can help you.”

Walking slowly down the center hall, I peer into each stall, listening for the moaning that will start with the next contraction.

“Where are you? I can help you. I’m a midwife,” I call again. I’m about halfway down the hall when I hear an urgent cry. Transition. It won’t be long. In the last stall on the left, I see a girl—maybe sixteen—squatting down, breathing hard.

GIVEAWAY

Blitz-wide giveaway (INT) ends March 26

Prize: ebook copy of Secrets of the Midwife

https://gleam.io/4Ehph/secrets-of-the-midwife-blitz

AUTHOR BIO:

"Ormsby has a wonderful eye for character and detail, as she fleshes out a keenly observed portrayal of small-town life." ~ Kirkus Review

 "The Recovery Room" was a winner at the 2014 Paris Book Festival.

 Ann Ormsby is a freelance writer with a master's degree in journalism from New York University. Her writings on reproductive freedom and other public policy issues have appeared in The Newark Star-Ledger, The Huffington Post, njspotlight.com The Westfield Leader and The Alternative Press. Her short stories have appeared in The Greenwich Village Literary Review, Every Day Fiction and hackwriters.com.

Author links:

https://annormsby.com/

https://annormsby.com/newsletter/

https://www.instagram.com/annormsby/

https://www.facebook.com/ann.ormsby.1/

https://x.com/ormsbywrites 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7578410.Ann_Ormsby 

Teaser: Strings by Jan Merritt with an excerpt and a giveaway

Strings

by Jan Merritt

Contemporary Romance, Romantic Drama, Women’s Fiction

Date Published: 11-21-2025

With a national lockdown looming, a Southern journalist flees north, determined to jumpstart her career in the safety of a Minnesota wilderness, feisty and wary of entanglements, she piques the interest of a bored Native American rock star.

A pandemic is spreading across the globe. A national lockdown looms in the United States. A Southern journalist sees a chance to protect her health and jumpstart her career by escaping north to a Minnesota wilderness. Feisty and wary of entanglement, she piques the interest of a bored Native American rock star on his way home.

Robby Song’s career may be on hold, but Grace Wheeler is on a mission to build hers. To Robby, she’s an intriguing challenge. To Grace, he’s a distraction she’s not ready to handle. But the brutal Northwoods winter is coming. Grace flees back south . . . to soul-searching isolation and a puzzling middle-of-the-night call.

Excerpt

“Interesting.” He looked out at the lake. “This is so different.”

“Different from what?”

“What I’m used to . . . when I come home. I’m not used to having conversations anymore with people I don’t know or who don’t know who I am. I’ve been away for sixteen years . . . living a totally different life. Normally, when I’m here, I have a sort of agenda. I know who I’m going to see — family and old friends. This time, I have no schedule, no pending dates, nothing to make me leave. I hadn’t realized I’ve been so isolated from dealing with people . . . with strangers . . . like you.” He leaned forward to get up and looked over at Grace. “And the women I’m around don’t treat me like you do. They’re much more agreeable.” He stood up. “I need food. You want to come or not?”

Grace looked up at him, pulling her hair back away from her face with her right hand. “I can imagine how the women you meet act, now that I know who you are. You’ve been living in a bubble, but who you are doesn’t mean a thing to me. And if you think I’m disagreeable, you’re in for a bad time if this pandemic lasts. In the real world, women have lives, and they’re not all focused on stroking . . . male . . . egos.” She stood up. “Not every woman is interested in being your groupie. The world has changed while you’ve been in your bubble.”

“Well, if you’re any indication, I should invest in a suit of armor.”

“Probably not a bad idea.”

 

About the Author

Jan Merritt is passionate about teaching both in the classroom and on horses, but brain cancer changed her life. Surgeries and treatments have left her with a new brain, one that does not have skills to teach middle school English or balance to ride horses . . . but loves to create stories.

Jan lives on the coast of South Carolina with strong ties to northern Minnesota. Growing up was filled with rich but conflicting narratives. Her dad told stories about his pioneering Minnesota family, egalitarian values, and the importance of self-reliance. They made annual trips to family cabins on a lake north of Duluth. But in her friends’ homes back in Charleston, she was immersed in plantation lore, tales of the Confederacy, and exclusive traditions of a social set that she was not born into. She is married to a musician who is also a mental health therapist. They have three children.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/STRINGSJanMerritt

Amazon

Blitz: Strings by Jan Merritt with a giveaway

Strings

by Jan Merritt

Contemporary Romance, Romantic Drama, Women’s Fiction

Date Published: 11-21-2025

With a national lockdown looming, a Southern journalist flees north, determined to jumpstart her career in the safety of a Minnesota wilderness, feisty and wary of entanglements, she piques the interest of a bored Native American rock star.

A pandemic is spreading across the globe. A national lockdown looms in the United States. A Southern journalist sees a chance to protect her health and jumpstart her career by escaping north to a Minnesota wilderness. Feisty and wary of entanglement, she piques the interest of a bored Native American rock star on his way home.

Robby Song’s career may be on hold, but Grace Wheeler is on a mission to build hers. To Robby, she’s an intriguing challenge. To Grace, he’s a distraction she’s not ready to handle. But the brutal Northwoods winter is coming. Grace flees back south . . . to soul-searching isolation and a puzzling middle-of-the-night call.

 

About the Author

Jan Merritt is passionate about teaching both in the classroom and on horses, but brain cancer changed her life. Surgeries and treatments have left her with a new brain, one that does not have skills to teach middle school English or balance to ride horses . . . but loves to create stories.

Jan lives on the coast of South Carolina with strong ties to northern Minnesota. Growing up was filled with rich but conflicting narratives. Her dad told stories about his pioneering Minnesota family, egalitarian values, and the importance of self-reliance. They made annual trips to family cabins on a lake north of Duluth. But in her friends’ homes back in Charleston, she was immersed in plantation lore, tales of the Confederacy, and exclusive traditions of a social set that she was not born into. She is married to a musician who is also a mental health therapist. They have three children.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/STRINGSJanMerritt

Amazon

Book Tour: Long Lost Midwife by Skye Smith with an excerpt

Long Lost Midwife

by Skye Smith

Historical Fiction | Race & Identity | Women’s Stories | 1930s America

Date Published: September 19, 2025

Publisher: MindStir Media

Set against the charged racial landscape of 1934 St. Louis, Long Lost Midwife is a gripping historical novel about identity, obsession, and the dangerous cost of defying social order.

Pamela appears to be a privileged young white socialite, newly married and expecting her first child. But beneath the polished surface lies a restless, unsettled woman struggling against the suffocating expectations placed upon her. As her pregnancy advances, Pamela becomes fixated on one thing: finding Miss Minnie, the Black midwife who delivered her at home in 1911.

Her request ignites fierce resistance. Both families condemn the idea, and Pamela’s husband, Frank, fearing scandal and loss of control, tightens his grip—bringing in relatives to monitor her movements and even hiring surveillance to ensure she never makes contact with the midwife. Determined and increasingly reckless, Pamela secretly pressures her Black maid to help locate Miss Minnie, setting in motion a chain of events neither family can contain.

What begins as a quiet domestic drama escalates into a volatile confrontation with race, power, and truth. As long-buried histories surface, the search for a midwife becomes a catalyst for racial tension, betrayal, and violence—raising the chilling question: will this birth end in life… or murder?

Long Lost Midwife starts with measured restraint and builds relentlessly toward a tempestuous, unforgettable conclusion. It is a haunting exploration of white blindness, Black resilience, and the fragile illusions that sustain privilege in early 20th-century America.

Perfect for readers who enjoy:

● Thought-provoking historical fiction

● Novels examining race, class, and gender

● Character-driven stories set in pre-Civil Rights America

● Books that begin quietly and end with devastating force

 

Excerpt: 

In St. Louis, Franklin and Pamela Dorset lived in a house of many rooms in the coveted Central West End neighborhood of the city. In 1932, at the time of their marriage, only wealthy white people owned homes there. Shortly after their honeymoon on the European continent, they moved into Fullerton’s Westminster Place, a tony subsection of the CWE. Grand and spacious, their home had three stories, six bedrooms and a prominent pointy-roofed turret.

Frank was twenty-six, his wife twenty-one. For their house, they paid a third of the cost. With only two years under his belt as an attorney in his father’s firm, Frank paid his and his wife’s third with the bulk of his wedding present. His parents paid a third as did hers. Née Lucas, Pamela put her wedding monies into escrow for future household expenses.

About the Author

Skye Smith is a historical fiction author and retired mechanical designer whose career spanned decades of designing complex machinery using advanced computer-aided design (CAD) systems. That background in precision and structure deeply informs Smith’s approach to storytelling—where narrative architecture, historical accuracy, and character motivation are carefully engineered.

During the final ten years of a professional career, Smith moderated the Plymouth Writers Group, a MeetUp-based genre writing collective composed of engineers, doctors, legal professionals, technical writers, and MFA graduates. Within this collaborative environment, Smith completed first drafts of three novels, with two additional works developed independently.

Smith holds a degree in History from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, an academic foundation that profoundly shapes the thematic and contextual grounding of the work. Historical setting, for Smith, is never decorative—it is the backbone of character behavior and moral conflict.

Another significant creative influence comes from many years singing in Sonomento, a Minneapolis-based operatic choir active until 2024. Immersion in opera introduced Smith to the disciplined exactness of musical phrasing and libretto, where text is fluid, expressive, and shaped by emotional register. That sense of linguistic “plasticity” carries directly into Smith’s prose style.

Long Lost Midwife reflects these influences in a novel that begins with restraint and builds toward controlled chaos—examining race, power, and identity in 1930s America with precision, tension, and historical depth.

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Release: Love's Match (A Lilac Lake Book) by Judith Keim

Love's Match

by Judith Keim

Women's Fiction with Romantic Elements

Date Published: February 10, 2026

It takes more than love to make a match...

After clashing with the principal of the middle-grade school where she teaches, Hazel Belmont is happy to accept the offer of a job at the town’s new sports center, owned by Ross Roberts and Mike Dawson, a tennis pro who’s semi-retired and teaches tennis at the center. When Hazel notices a young boy named Jed hanging around the tennis courts, she befriends him, and she and Mike learn that he has real talent. They speak with his foster mother and obtain her approval for Jed to continue with free lessons. Hazel is forced to lie to her mother about having a boyfriend, Mike, to keep from meeting a young man at home. Mike agrees to go along with the idea. She and Mike arrange to foster Jed when his family has to move out of state and discover what real love is all about.

A spinoff book from the Lilac Lake Inn series, a sweet second-chance, small-town romance. Another of Judith Keim’s books with strong women facing challenges and finding love and happiness along the way.

 

About the Author

 

 Judith Keim, A USA Today Best-Selling Author, is a hybrid author who both has a publisher and self-publishes. Ms. Keim writes heart-warming novels about women who face unexpected challenges, meet them with strength, and find love and happiness along the way, stories with heart. Her best-selling books are based, in part, on many of the places she's lived or visited and on the interesting people she's met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many loyal readers love.

She enjoyed her childhood and young-adult years in Elmira, New York, and now makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and their adorable dachshunds, Wally and Kacy, and other members of her family.

While growing up, she loved the idea of writing stories from a young age. Books were always present, being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. All in her family shared information from the books in general conversation, giving them a wealth of knowledge and vivid imaginations.

Ms. Keim loves to hear from her readers and appreciates their enthusiasm for her stories, including the eight children's book she has written under J.S. Keim

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Blitz: Until the Truth Comes Out by Melanie Summers with an excerpt and a giveaway

Until the Truth Comes Out: A Novel

by Melanie Summers

Release date: February 5th 2026

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246222060-until-the-truth-comes-out

Blurb:

A rockstar at the height of his fame.
A wife on the edge.
A secret that can’t stay hidden.
And a single night that will change everything.

In the spring of 1997, Zane McCreight and his wife, Sienna, appear to have it all—sold-out stadiums, magazine covers, and the perfect family. But behind the image, their marriage is fracturing, and a scandal is quietly spiraling out of control.

As Zane’s band prepares for a massive tribute concert in the desert—under the eerie glow of the Hale-Bopp comet—tensions rise. Lies are told. Loyalties are tested. And two women find themselves trapped between ambition, betrayal, and the impossible weight of motherhood.

Then, on the night of the show—while the world is watching the stage—the youngest two McCreight children vanish.

Emotionally complex and deeply character-driven, Until the Truth Comes Out is a gripping tale of fame, marriage, the devastating cost of keeping secrets—and the strength of the women left to carry it all.

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NTasLl

Excerpt: 

The temptress. The harlot. The brazen slut. The homewrecker. The horrible friend. The gold-digger. She knew exactly what she was doing. She trapped him on purpose. It was her plan all along, the bitch.

Over the years, she’d said all these things herself, she was sure of it. She distinctly remembered in the 8th grade when her best friend, Heather’s boyfriend, Trent, kissed Maureen R. behind the Circle K. With tongue. She threw every label at her. The ones she knew at the time, anyway. Claudia wasn’t exactly sophisticated back then. She still wasn’t. 

But she certainly didn’t intend to become any of these things, and only some of them were true. She was the worst sort of friend, but she didn’t trap him on purpose. But then again, maybe she did. Whether she was an actual homewrecker or not remained to be seen. 

She leaned her head against the white shabby chic sofa, her right arm sore from the weight of her newborn son’s head, and her eyes sore from hours in front of the TV. It was late evening and other than the flickering from the episode of Suddenly Susan playing, the only other light came from the arc floor lamp behind her sofa. The sound was turned down so low she could barely hear what Brooke Shields was saying. But the plot didn’t matter. Only picking up the phone when he called.

She’d find out any minute. Or maybe months from now, because it could take a long time for the dust to settle. It was all in Sienna’s hands now. Hers and Zane’s. Provided he had told her already. A twisted part of her kept playing out a fantasy that he wouldn’t call, but would show up on the doorstep of her cozy Spanish-style bungalow instead. He’d tell her his marriage was over, and Sienna’s actually happy about it because it turns out she fell out of love with him a long time ago, only she didn’t have the heart to say it. They were going to divorce amicably, and he was there to stay. For some reason in her fantasy, it was pouring rain and he was drenched (because it would be more dramatic that way). They’d open a bottle of wine, order Chinese food and watch Elliot sleep, marveling at the fact that everything was already sorted out and tied up with a neat, little bow. Isn’t it amazing? Yes. Clearly, it was meant to be. 

Glancing at the clock on the thick dark wood mantel, she saw it was quarter to ten, which meant it had been just over thirteen hours since she had gotten the results from Dean. Claudia already knew who the father was, but when you’re dealing with a man like Zane, nothing is done in isolation. There was a team of handlers in the background, keeping him going, clearing paths, protecting him.

GIVEAWAY

Blitz-wide giveaway (INT) ends February 12

Prize: Signed copy of Until the Truth Comes Out + $50 Amazon gift card

https://gleam.io/1eYcI/until-the-truth-comes-out-blitz

AUTHOR BIO:

Melanie Summers also writes steamy romance as MJ Summers.

Melanie made a name for herself with her debut novel, Break in Two, a contemporary romance that cracked the Top 10 Paid on Amazon in both the UK and Canada, and the top 50 Paid in the USA. Her highly acclaimed Full Hearts Series was picked up by both Piatkus Entice (a division of Hachette UK) and HarperCollins Canada. Her first three books have been translated into Czech and Slovak by EuroMedia. Since 2013, she has written and published three novellas, and eight novels (of which seven have been published). She has sold over a quarter of a million books around the globe.

In her previous life (i.e. before having children), Melanie got her Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta, then went on to work in the soul-sucking customer service industry for a large cellular network provider that shall remain nameless (unless you write her personally - then she'll dish). On her days off, she took courses and studied to become a Chartered Mediator. That designation landed her a job at the R.C.M.P. as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for 'K' Division. Having had enough of mediating arguments between gun-toting police officers, she decided it was much safer to have children so she could continue her study of conflict in a weapon-free environment (and one which doesn't require makeup and/or nylons).

Melanie resides in Edmonton with her husband, three young children, and their adorable but neurotic one-eyed dog. When she's not writing novels, Melanie loves reading (obviously), snuggling up on the couch with her family for movie night (which would not be complete without lots of popcorn and milkshakes), and long walks in the woods near her house. She also spends a lot more time thinking about doing yoga than actually doing yoga, which is why most of her photos are taken 'from above'. She also loves shutting down restaurants with her girlfriends. Well, not literally shutting them down, like calling the health inspector or something--more like just staying until they turn the lights off.

She is represented by Suzanne Brandreth of The Cooke Agency International. 

Author links: 

https://mjsummersbooks.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/mjsummersbooks

https://www.instagram.com/mj_summers_author/

https://www.facebook.com/MJSummersAuthorPage

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17105602.Melanie_Summers