New Release

New Release: Dark Hearts Aflame by Amber Daulton

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’m really excited to welcome Amber Daulton back to the blog today. Her latest book, Dark Hearts Aflame, is available right now. Check out Amber’s journey to giving life to a side character’s story.

Dark Hearts Aflame follows Bristol Rieger and Carmen Lozano as they go off the grid to escape the criminals hunting them. Bristol himself is a retired drug lord who’s trying to go straight. Carmen is a cartel princess who has forsaken her crown and now lives under an assumed name while working as a medic with an anti-cartel resistance group. After her enemies discover her secret, Bristol gets roped into her problems. Danger, violence, and hot romance follows.

Originally, Dark Hearts Aflame was the final book in my romantic suspense series, Arresting Onyx, but it didn’t quite fit. Since it was so much darker than the Onyx books, I decided to create a spin-off series, the Lozano Cartel, and fully immerse myself in the dark romance genre. As for what inspired this story, I’m not sure. Bristol was a minor character in the Arresting Onyx series and quickly became one of my favorites. I knew from early on that I wanted to give him his own book, so when I sat down to plot out his story, the ideas just flowed out of me. I wrote the first draft back in 2018 and kept revising it off and on over the years while I multi-tasked in writing, editing, and publishing other books.

I’m a plotter, though I’ve been known to hand over the reins to my characters when they want to change something. I like to outline each scene either on paper or on my laptop, so I can see what works or move ideas around when needed. Sometimes, I get story ideas from my dreams; other times, I have to think about it for days on end. I never know when my muse will fire up, so I usually keep a pad of paper and a pen around for when I need them. I typically write every day, usually when I wake up in the morning until dinner time with a few short breaks in between. After dinner, I either relax or keep writing if my muse is fired up. I don’t have a day job at the moment, so I’m writing more often than not.

Outside of writing, I enjoy binge-watching TV shows, playing with my cats, hiking in the woods behind my house, and cultivating my herb beds. This year, my hubby and I have planted onions and potatoes in our garden, so that upkeep is going to keep me busy throughout the summer and fall.

Dark Hearts Aflame is now available at all online retailers. I’m currently revising book 2, Lost in His Spiderwebs, which will be released in October 2025. The Lozano Cartel series will span several novels and novellas, all of which are standalone stories, so please subscribe to my newsletter or follow my social media to keep tabs on when these books will be out. Enjoy the ride!

Amber Daulton is the author of the Lozano Cartel, the Arresting Onyx, and the Ramseys in Time series, as well as several standalone novellas. Her books are published through Daulton Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.

Follow Amber: https://linktr.ee/AmberDaulton
Check out her website (Daulton Publishing): https://amberdaulton.com
Sign up for her Exclusive Newsletter (free ebook to new subscribers):
https://amberdaulton.com/newsletter-signup/

He gets more than he bargained for with his runaway cartel princess.

A drug lord on the run. A cartel princess in hiding. All it takes is a spark to set their world ablaze.

Bristol Rieger left his criminal life behind for a fresh start in Mexico. Flying under the radar of the government and the cartels alike, his best-laid plans go awry when a woman from his narco days discovers his whereabouts. Carmen Lozano, however, is no longer the innocent girl he remembers.

Carmen escaped the chains of her tiara and her abusive marriage to join a group of resistance fighters. The last thing she expected was the now-retired capo setting out to seduce her with his wicked touch. Embracing the blood on his hands is easy, but his secrets wear on her patience.

When their enemies close in, Bristol will have to summon his inner monster to protect her. But can that monster be tamed again?

– Book one is an Interracial (Hispanic woman/white man) dark romance novel in the Lozano Cartel series. All the books can be read as a standalone, but are part of an interconnected series.

– Scenes featuring torture/violence, kidnapping, attempted assault, infertility issues, child abuse (discussed), and suicide (discussed) may be uncomfortable for some readers.

– No cheating and HEA guaranteed!

My Top 5 Reads of 2024

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

On Goodreads I read 38 books in 2024. But when I count the 16 books not registered on Goodreads and the 4 unpublished books I beta read, I read 58 books in 2024. Regardless, I didn’t meet my Goodreads goal of 76 books. But that’s okay. My Goodreads goal is always one more than I read the previous year. So, that means my 2025 goal will be 39 books. 

Of those 58 books, here are my favorites: 

The Dragon Prince’s Obsession by Ninally is the sequel to The Dragon King’s Obsession. Both books are about dragon shifters falling in love with the enemy: humans. In this series world building, dragon shifters live high up in the mountains. Human hunters down the mountain hunt them, and have hunted female dragons almost to extinction. In the first book, dragons capture the daughter of the leader of the hunters, and the king of the dragons falls in love with her while she is their captive. Of course there’s lots of drama, witches get involved, and the final battle is epic. And then the sequel begins. 

New couple. New story. One of the best enemies-to-lovers I’ve ever read. Adela is a human servant in the king’s palace. She serves the king’s sister, Princess Lucille, and the queen, Mystique. Prince Mikhail is the king’s brother. Mikhail was one of the villains of the first book. He kidnapped Mystique and tried to kill her.

Adela stumbles across Mikhail being imprisoned by witches while she is on an unwilling adventure with the spoiled Lucille. In Lucille’s inability to see anyone other than herself, she returns to the palace safe and sound without Adela. Mikhail and Adela fight their way out, and Mikhail takes Adela to his palace. Because she saved his life, his dragon now owes her. Mikhail begrudgingly takes care of her as he fights his dragon’s attraction to her. He hates humans, but he also opens Adela’s eyes to how she is treated back at the main palace. Adela is “friends” with the royal women, but yet still has to serve them and sleep in cramped quarters with the other human servants. Adela also thinks she’s in love with the king’s right hand man, Blaze. Lucille and Blaze are secretly in love and having a secret affair. The problem, is that in order to keep her secret, Lucille encourages Adela’s crush on Blaze to hide her own feelings, knowing Blaze will never look at Adela like that. So, she’s setting Adela up for romantic failure for her own selfish agenda.

When Mikhail cracks everything open for Adela, she refuses to return to the king’s palace. Mikhail keeps her in his, where she is not a servant, but an equal resident. They grow closer and have one of the most delicious slow burns I’ve ever read. During her time there, Adela also discovers she is not truly human. Her mother was human, but her father was something else (which I’m not going to give away – read the book!). Her newfound abilities call evil witches to them, and she and Mikhail will have to literally fight for their survival and love.

It’s beautiful. It’s spicy. I LOVE this story.     

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore is a biography of Elizabeth Packard, whose story takes place in the 1860s in Illinois. Elizabeth held different religious and political beliefs from her husband, who was a preacher. She vocalized them in public, and her husband responded by getting corrupted doctors to certify Elizabeth as insane, and locked her in an asylum. Kate’s research of Elizabeth’s experience teaches four main historical facts:

1. What was considered “insane” in the 1800s – Women could be diagnosed with insanity if they disagreed with their husbands, disobeyed their husbands, or stopped loving their husbands. Elizabeth was guilty of all three.

2. How deep male ownership of women was –  Several doctors who “diagnosed” Elizabeth with insanity never saw her in person. They listened to her husband’s description of her, and wrote a certificate of insanity! Also, Elizabeth couldn’t divorce her husband because he would automatically get their six children if she did.

3. Treatment of patients in asylums – Elizabeth women with less money and social status than her slapped, starved, choked, and drowned. When Elizabeth disobeyed her doctor, he took her possessions and moved her from her private room into a shared room. While the employees didn’t physically abuse Elizabeth, they allowed the more violent patients to do so instead.

4. The amount of research and lobbying needed to change the law – When Elizabeth was released from the asylum, she went to work to change the law so that some of the friends she’d made could also be released, and future women didn’t go through the same thing. It took her a decade, which included a nationally followed legal battle against her husband and doctor. She was successful in getting the laws changed across the state, which would end up saving her daughter in the future when she also suffered mental health problems in her adult years. 

Elizabeth Packard’s story is one that needs remembering for both mental health laws and feminist ideology. I have always enjoyed biographies about strong and powerful women, and Elizabeth makes it on that list. 

Bound Across Time by Annie R. McEwan was my first experience where an author reached out to me and offered me a free copy of their book to read and review. And it was amazing. Of course, Ms. McEwan got the royal treatment: an unboxing video, a blog post, and a YouTube review. 

Bound Across Time is the first of a paranormal time-travel romance series. Patrick O’Loinsigh died in the 1700s in Wales. His ghost as been stuck in the castle he perished in. In modern days, the first living person, Cece Gowdy can see him. She’s a witch and they embark on a passionate love affair. But loving a ghost comes with risk and danger. Cece is not made for Patrick’s limbo world, and Patrick isn’t made for Cece’s living world. They are going to have to rely on the help of other witches to fight against the magic of time that is separating them.

I always find magic system world building interesting, and the rules of magic for this world were really cool. This was also the first ghost-human relationship that followed the rules of the romance genre. The sequel, Bound to Happen will be released early this year!

The Haunted Purse by Kimberly Baer is my tried and true “don’t judge a book by its cover.” I thought the title sounded juvenile and the cover didn’t pull me in. Then it ended up being the book of the month for the book club I was in. I inhaled it.

Libby is a 15-year-old high school student who lives on her own while her mom dates around, pretending she doesn’t have a daughter. Libby purchases an old purse from the secondhand store. The purse makes things disappear, and provides extra things to the purse. As Libby gets used to her purse’s abilities, she notices a connection with some of the objects that appear. They are all connected to a 20-year-old cold case. Convinced that the purse holds the ghost of the missing girl, Libby puts on her detective hat and works to solve the case.

In addition to the murder mystery plot, there are three other themes that provide great lessons for young adult readers:

  1. How educational professionals treat each student is important – Libby’s math teacher bullies her, and her counselor looks down on her for being poor.
  2. See something, say something – A big part of what keeps the plot moving is teenagers keeping secrets. Obviously, the secrets need to exist for a great story, but in real life, keeping secrets like these are dangerous.
  3. Honesty really is the best policy – This connects with number 2. Teenage characters lying to adults helps the plot, but in real life, telling a trusted adult the truth can always help. 

The Haunted Purse is the best YA story I’ve read in a while.

Dark Love by Aura Rose is the second in a fated mates romance trilogy. Each book features a different couple. The first book is called The Last Alpha. To be honest, I didn’t much care for the first one. Some authors who write fated mates stories use the mate bond in their plot to have a – what I call – justified cheating subplot. That is in The Last Alpha, and left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the book. Luckily, the end of the first book lets the reader know who the couple will be for Dark Love, and I was fully on board for their love story.

Madeline is a werewolf, Arius is a witch-vampire hybrid. Arius is not supposed to exist per the council’s rules, and they’ve been trying to kill him since he was born. Arius is also the son of the vampire king who tried to kill Madeline’s pack in the first book. So, she and Arius get a very steamy enemies-to-lovers and forbidden love arc – which, in my opinion, is the best combination of romance tropes. Trigger warning: Arius does kidnap Madeline at the beginning of the book, but he doesn’t torture or SA her.

Once Madeline and Arius accept the mate bond, they combine forces to take down the bigoted council so they can live in peace. Arius is my favorite book boyfriend. 

It ends on a pretty dramatic cliff-hanger. I’m about a third of the way through the third book, His Lost Tribrid. It’s also really good. Unfortunately, the platform it’s on (Dreame) has tripled their prices over the past year. So, I won’t be able to finish it there. So, I’ve subscribed to Aura Rose’s Amazon page, and as soon as it’s available on Amazon, I’ll buy it there and finish it. 

What notable books did you read in 2024? Share them in the comments!

New Release: Air & Darkness by AK Nevermore

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I am honored to introduce AK Nevermore to you. She has three series to her name: The Price of Talent, The Maw of Mayhem, and The Dae Diaries. The second book in The Dae Diaries releases TODAY. And AK Nevermore is here to tell you all about it.

Hey all! AK Nevermore here. I write seat-of-your-pants urban fantasy, paranormal, and steamy dystopian romance. What do I mean by seat-of-your-pants? Whelp, I’m a total pantser and my books are fast-paced with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. They will definitely keep you guessing, so you’re gonna want to buckle in for the ride! And today, I am super excited to be sharing my latest release from The Wild Rose Press, Air & Darkness, with you.

Air & Darknessis the second installment in the Dae Diaries, but don’t let that stop you from taking it for a spin. You can absolutely jump right into this seriously quirky urban fantasy with a sassy take-no-prisoners heroine. The story follows Envy, a half-daemon who accidentally ends up becoming a goddess, much to everyone’s chagrin—including her own. Being a deity is definitely not all it’s cracked up to be, and in Air & Darkness, neither is motherhood. It’s all about baby-daddy drama going to Hell. Check it out:

A week past her due date and not in the mood for anything other than chocolate, the last thing Envy wants to deal with is some fairy demanding she chose a consort. Unfortunately, she can’t exactly tell the Gwinth to piss off without him releasing the wild hunt on humanity, and she’s in enough trouble after the whole sealing-the-veil-and-frying-portions-of-the-planet-thing.

It’s bad enough she’s not exactly on speaking terms with Kyle, Berk, and Morgana. Brennan’s way different since she released his fiend. So is she. Assimilating Lilith’s memories and powers are throwing her for a loop, and her own messy feelings on motherhood aren’t helping. Then, Brennan disappears after a devastating scandal surfaces, and everything Envy thought she knew comes crashing down…

When I wrote Air & Darkness, I definitely pulled on my personal experience and absolute bewilderment as a new mom. Things that were terrifying at the time are pretty funny in retrospect, and I tried to craft the story to highlight their absurdity. 

I hope you’ll check it out, but if you need some more convincing, you can hang out with Envy out in One Night in Bliss, the free prequel. Not for nothin’ but it’s been reviewed as a “Hilarious, seriously f’d up good read…” and I kind of have to agree with them.

Then, if you want more Nevermore, stop by my website at: https://aknevermore.com/ There’s always something going on!

AK Nevermore writes Sci-fi & dark romantasy with spice. She enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year. A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef, restores antiques, and dabbles in beekeeping when she’s not reading voraciously or running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.

Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes full time around a nest full of ravens. Her books explore dark worlds, perversely irreverent and profound, and always entertaining. AK belongs to a bunch of industry associations, volunteers for far too many committees, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.

I absolutely love hearing about personal stories and experiences that influence writers. I love that Ms. Nevermore used something as vulnerable as motherhood to craft her newest book. What personal experiences would you like turned into a book or a movie? Let us know in the comments!

New Release: Pieces of Blue by Liz Flaherty

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

At the beginning of this month, USA Today’s best selling author Liz Flaherty released Pieces of Blue. Normally a romance author, Liz has dipped her toes into women’s fiction with her latest release, and is here to share her thoughts on her recent writing and publishing journey.

Hi, everybody. Chelsey, thank you so much for having me here today. 

I’m not sure when the term women’s fiction entered my consciousness. I don’t recall whose I read first or even if I liked it. The words Woman’s Journey had been bandied about most of the years I’d been writing romance, and I thought that’s what we should do with romance and women’s fiction—just make them into one huge glorious genre known as The Woman’s Journey. 

The idea didn’t catch on. 

But I read CurtissAnn Matlock’s Lost Highways and Robyn Carr’s Deep in the Valley and Cheryl Reavis’s Blackberry Winter and Elisabeth Ogilvie’s Bennett’s Island series. I kept thinking yes, this! They’re all women’s fiction, but they’re all love stories, too. They’re all women’s journeys and I’ve read most of them more than once. While I love the relationship that grows between the heroine and hero, I also enjoy the ones between girlfriends, between sisters, between work friends who are there for each other. The romance is important, but it’s not always most important. 

Because it’s the story that’s important. The journey. How you feel when you finish reading. To a lesser degree, as a writer, how I feel when I finish writing is important, too. 

Of course, none of that was in my mind at all when I got a two-word start that wouldn’t get off my mind and stay there. Then I had a trip back a skinny, curvy road to a small lake I’d never known existed but made me type Chapter One above those initial two words. Later still, Maggie North invited me on her journey. It took her a while, and writing it took me a while, but…gosh, I loved Maggie. And Sam. And her adoptive parents. And Pastor Cari Newland. Oh, and Ellie and the dachshund named Chloe, too. 

Pieces of Blue has some romance, a setting I never wanted to leave, and, most of all, it has friends and family and community. Their dialogue was so much fun to write. The house—the Burl—is a character unto itself. 

How did I feel when I finished writing it? Oh, good. Sorry it was over and slapping back thoughts that maybe it wasn’t over…maybe there was another story at Harper Loch. Or two.

We’ll see. In the meantime, it’s a story from the “huge glorious genre” I mentioned above. I hope you like it.

For all of her adult life, loner Maggie North has worked for bestselling author Trilby Winterroad, first as his typist, then as his assistant, and finally as his ghost writer. Throughout her first marriage, widowhood, remarriage, and divorce from an abusive husband, Trilby was the constant in her life.

When he dies, she inherits not only his dachshund, Chloe, but a house she didn’t know existed on a lake she’d never heard of. On her first visit, she falls in love with both the house and the lake. Within a few weeks, she’s met most of the 85 inhabitants of Harper Loch and surprisingly, become a part of the tiny community. Her life expands as does a new kind of relationship with her friend Sam Eldridge. She finally feels not only at home, but safe.

Until her ex-husband is released from prison. The fragile threads of her new life begin to fray, and that feeling of safety is about to shatter into a thousand pieces.

The drive took me farther into the country than I’d ever been—at least that I could remember. While the temperature didn’t drop, the wind did increase, blowing snow from the roadsides across in front of me in gusty swirls of white. I was surprised that Gladys, the elegant voice of my GPS, didn’t sound either confused or disdainful even when it took me three tries to see the little green sign that indicated Harper Loch Road.

Canopied by naked February trees and lined with animal-tracked snowbanks, the road was one and a half lanes wide. I hoped it would be wider when there was no snow, but I wouldn’t bet on it. It was hilly, with serpentine curves that reminded me of a Chutes and Ladders game board minus the ladders. Gladys didn’t enlighten me as to how far it was to the lake itself, and two miles in, I was starting to wonder if it was all a bad joke. 

Trilby had been the master of bad jokes.

A barnwood sign at the side of the road encouraged me to Keep Right! I inched over, flinching when the snowbank brushed the side of my car, my pride and joy. Chloe looked my way, wide eyed.

Apparently, it was a popular meeting spot on the road, because I met a pickup immediately, going at least twice as fast as I was. The driver waved cheerfully and missed me by what I was certain was the hair’s breadth Trilby used to insist was purple prose if used in a book. I would have waved back, but my hands, white knuckled, didn’t want to let go of the steering wheel.

“Trilby,” I said, “what in the hell were you thinking?”

Pieces of Blue is available everywhere books are sold online:

https://books2read.com/FlahertyBlue

https://a.co/d/eyEjPDA

Liz Flaherty has spent the past several years enjoying not working a day job, making terrible crafts, and writing stories in which the people aren’t young, brilliant, or even beautiful. She’s decided (and has to re-decide most every day) that the definition of success is having a good time. Along with her husband of lo, these many years, kids, grands, friends, and the occasional cat, she’s doing just that.

She’d love to hear from you at lizkflaherty@gmail.com or please come and see her at  https://linktr.ee/LizFlaherty 

Mean Girls in the Paranormal: Out of Body

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’m excited to review another ARC (Advance Reader Copy – I get to read it before the official release date).

Out of Body by Kimberly Baer (which publishes TODAY) is a YA Paranormal-SciFi adventure about a 15 year-old girl named Abby who discovers she has the ability to leave her body during sleep time – or travel on the astral plane. Her cousin, and best friend, Logan has the same ability. This is so exciting for Abby because Logan moved away six months ago and she misses him terribly. 

At first, Abby’s out of body experiences (OBE) allow her to help others: finding a lost pet, helping a neighbor call 9-1-1. Then she learns things she would rather not: her parents’ marriage is on the rocks, and the mean girls at school wrote nasty things about her in their yearbook. (I LOVED the Burn Book vibes in that scene.) 

Abby is an introvert, and it turns out her social life was because of Logan. Once he moved away, her “friends” disappeared. Both her and Logan having OBEs gives her hope that she’ll get her best friend back. But Logan has been traveling on the astral plane longer, and already has other friends and adventure plans that don’t involve her. 

She’s mostly fine being alone, but her mother is not okay with a socially inept daughter. Feeling pressure from her mom, Abby uses her OBEs to make drastic and dangerous decisions. These decisions blow up in her face, and the lessons she learned had a very Disney Channel feel that was nostalgic for me.   

As both cousins make youthful mistakes, Abby will have to accept that her reality has some cracks, and she’ll need to trust the two people she (thinks) she hates the most.

Kimberly Baer has such a great imagination for the fantastical elements to this story. The dilemma Logan finds himself in really makes the reader question outside intervention in environmental factors such as evolution, species survival, and the food chain. Overall, a great read for teenagers and fans of YA literature.

And like some of my other reviews, Kimberly Baer agreed to an interview! Check it out below:

I think it’s amazing that you have published in multiple genres. Most writers I have conversed with feel it’s safer to stick with one genre. What has your experience been like?

I agree that it’s safer to stick with one genre; otherwise it’s hard to establish a target audience. My problem is that all of my story ideas come to me out of the blue, and they’re not all in the same genre. When an idea resonates with me, I feel compelled to write that story, regardless of the genre. But most of my recent ideas have fallen within the young adult genre, so that might be the one I “settle down” with.

I know what an out of body experience is, but I haven’t read any fiction involving it. Was there any trope or world building expectations already in place that you felt compelled to follow or not follow?

Nope. Before I started writing Out of Body, I’d never read a book about astral projection, either fiction or nonfiction. I did some research as I was writing, but the world-building comes primarily from my imagination. Assuming astral projection is a real thing, I probably stretched the limits of possibility—but, hey, that’s what fiction is all about, right?

Is this a standalone novel, or do Abby and Logan have more adventures in the works?

I’m not ruling out a sequel. Astral projection is a fascinating subject with endless plot possibilities, so there just might be at least one sequel.

What’s next for your writing career?

I have more story ideas than time to write them, so I’ll just keep tackling them one at a time!


As mentioned above, Out of Body released today. You can follow Kimberly and purchase her books here: https://www.kimberlybaer.com/

New Release: Fireflies at Dusk by Mike Torreano

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’ve always been a fan of history, and the Civil War in particular, so when I first decided to write a novel, I picked one of my favorite CW personalities to focus on-George McClellan.

So in thinking about how to showcase McClellan, I decided to create a character to see McClellan through, hence Jonathan Gray, a young lieutenant on McClellan’s staff. To fill Jonathan out, I created his childhood, and that’s where the story really took off in a different direction.

Jonathan was raised in a pacifist family in Ohio, part of the Underground Railroad. When slavers took a runaway family away from the Quaker meeting house, Jonathan was crestfallen that no one tried to stop them. He rejected his father’s pacifism, which started a thread of conflict between them that ran the length of the novel.

Finally away from the family farm at college, Jonathan’s youthful arrogance led him far astray from the solid values he was raised with. He behaved with reckless abandon, further distancing him from his family, his childhood sweetheart, and his faith.

With great disdain, joins the Union Army when the War breaks out. At first an entitled junior officer on McClellan’s staff, he’s later sent west to join General Sherman’s army. His commander’s ‘welcome to the fightin’ side of the Army, son’ sends him on his way.

There, he joins a Company of combat-hardened veterans who’ve gotten wind of Jonathan’s prideful attitude. Forced to lead battle-hardened men who would just as soon see him dead, he must decide whether or not to undertake what promises to be a grueling journey to regain his self-respect amid continual harsh fighting.

Bottom line-While I started out thinking I’d be writing about McClellan, Jonathan pushed him clearly into the background, which was an interesting twist for me as a new writer years ago.

Back in 2014, I shotgunned this manuscript out to agents and editors with no luck. I did get one rejection which gave chapter and verse about what it needed. The editor was right, Fireflies wasn’t ready then. Months later I emailed the same editor and asked if anyone wanted to see the western mystery I was writing at the time. She said, ‘Send it to me when it’s ready.’ I polished and polished The Reckoning, and it became my first contract with The Wild Rose Press.

I now have five books with them, the latest being Fireflies at Dusk, which I decided to finally pivot back to last fall. After much revision and polish, I sent it in to TWRP and got my latest contract. So a rejection led to my first contract, and then years later, to this, my latest one.

As for my writing process, I’m not one other writers should emulate. I’m a total pantser, and I only write when I feel like it, which isn’t daily which also means I don’t have an organized schedule. I oftentimes get stuck in a scene and then take some time to percolate on things. Sometimes days.

While it’s not a method I’d recommend it seems to work for me. What also seems most important is that a writer discover how they best work. There’s no one right way, ultimately just what works.

This latest novel, Fireflies, has taken an unusually lengthy path to publication, but most of my novels take about a year and a half.

Mike Torreano is an award-winning author of traditional western mysteries set in Colorado and New Mexico Territories. In the fifth grade he read his first Zane Grey novel and has been hooked on the Old West ever since.

His debut western mystery, The Reckoning, was released in 2016 by The Wild Rose Press and the sequel, The Renewal, was released in 2018. Both are set in South Park, just west of the Rampart Range. He’s now finishing up the third in the South Park series, The Return.

An interest in the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail inspired his first stand-alone western, A Score To Settle, which was set on that trail and came out in 2020. A friend’s suggestion prompted Mike to write his latest western mystery, White Sands Gold, which was released in September 2022. It has received four literary awards.

His first historical novel, Fireflies at Dusk, is due out this month and is a coming-of age tale about a young man torn between his pacifist family and his urge to fight against slavery with the Union Army as the Civil War breaks out.

Mike also speaks at clubs and organizations about the timeless values of the Old West and The Code of the West, and how those values are still relevant today.

He can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Bookbub, and Goodreads, and his website: https://miketorreano.com/

As the Civil War looms, a young Ohio farm boy comes face to face with the injustice of slavery—an evil that tears at his very soul. In his callow youth, he rejects his family’s pacifism after runaways are cruelly seized from his Quaker meeting house. His anger causes him to turn his back on everyone who ever loved him. When the War breaks out, Jonathan joins the Union Army, making this rift complete. Will he ever turn back to his family, his sweetheart and his faith? Or has Jonathan drifted so far away that he can’t find his way back?

Check out the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKVlj4InOMo&t=7s

Holiday Highlight: Mistletoe in the City by Amber Daulton

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

It’s Christmas and holiday cheer is in the air, but Krista Hartley and Derek Weston from my steamy New Adult romance, Mistletoe in the City, are too stressed to care. She needs a breather from her overbearing parents, so she’s out apartment hunting and spending the weekends at a craft fair to make some extra money. Derek is super busy as the groundskeeper and handyman at his mom’s apartment complex to even worry about decorating his own place. When Krista winds up as his new tenant, he’s determined to right the wrongs from his and Krista’s shared past, but will they find a happily ever after this snowy holiday season?

Hi, everyone. I’m Amber Daulton, the author of Mistletoe in the City. Christmas is my second favorite holiday, right behind Halloween, so I was thrilled to write this hot holiday novella. Actually, I wrote it several years ago as part of a Christmas anthology with my former publisher, but the rights have reverted to me, so I’m re-releasing it with a fresh edit, blurb, and cover. Also, it’s twice as long as it used to be and now clocks in at about 35,000 words with new scenes, subplots, and revised characterizations.

Krista and Derek are your average young twenty-somethings struggling to make their way in an uncertain world. From overprotective parents and peer pressure from some not-so-good friends, they have their work cut out for them in trying to build a real relationship. With Christmas right around the corner, they’re each trying to live up to their family’s expectations and still be true to who they are. That’s not always so easy, and I’m sure readers can relate to feeling stressed and wishing the holiday season would fly by sooner rather than later.

For good or bad, Christmas is here again. Let’s hunker down and brave the wintery chill as best we can, hopefully with a new book to keep us grounded and relaxed in our off-time. Thanks for reading!

Amber Daulton is the author of the romantic-suspense series Arresting Onyx and several standalone novellas. Her books are published through Daulton Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats. Follow and connect with Amber at her website: https://amberdaulton.com/

Derek’s world is about to change forever—again.
After his father’s stroke, Derek Weston dropped out of college and returned home to help his parents
with the family business, Oak Landing Apartments. Now living on the premises as the groundskeeper
and handyman, he never expected the girl he’d secretly crushed on in high school to move into a unit
right before Christmas or stir up desires he thought long gone.
Krista Hartley needs a fresh start away from her overbearing parents, but falling for the tattooed hottie
who ignored her back in school wasn’t in the plans. Despite old hurts, Derek’s hot kisses and strong
arms offer the shelter she craves.
When another woman sets her sight on Derek and drives a wedge between him and Krista, they’ll have
to decide if their relationship is real, or just a winter fling.

Add to Goodreads – https://bit.ly/MistletoeInTheCityGoodreads
Check it out on BookBub – https://bit.ly/MistletoeInTheCityBookbub

New Release: Cruel Lessons by Randy Overbeck

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Cruel Lesson is an atmospheric, amateur sleuth mystery, the first in a new series set in schools called “Lessons in Peril.” The story involves a rogue, hallucinogenic drug being pushed in a middle school and, after it results in the death of four students, the rush to stop the drug pusher before more children die. The narrative takes place in a small Midwest town during October, 1995. All of these literary choices—the year at the height of the “Just Say No” Anti- Drug campaign and right in the middle of time for the D.A.R.E. program, the anonymous Midwest setting and the school as the battle ground—are deliberate and carefully chosen.

This novel is a work of honor and recognition as well as a work of art. As a long-time educator, I saw the ravages of student drug abuse and addiction up close. Over more than three decades as a teacher and school leader, I witnessed kids’ lives shattered and ended from their abuse of drugs, both legal and illegal. I crafted this story—while completely fictional and about an imaginary drug—as an homage to those educators who battle this very real problem everyday in our schools. Though set in the recent past, the scourge of student drug abuse today is frighteningly similar to my tale, only with a new generation and new drugs. In addition to being a pulse-pounding thriller, I wanted the narrative to honor the children we’ve lost to drugs in the almost thirty years as well as those educators committed to doing everything they can to rescue kids at risk.

I don’t want to give the wrong impression. This novel is hardly didactic. According to early reviews, Cruel Lessons is “Brilliant from start to finish…Impressive storytelling left me with a racing heart and shivers. One of the best thrillers I’ve ever read.” ★★★★★+++—N.N. Light’s Bookheaven.

ReaderViews called the novel “a thrilling murder mystery…with an immersive plot, steady pace and stellar character development…one of the best mysteries of 2023.” ★★★★★

Literary Titan wrote “Cruel Lessons is “masterfully written…Each new revelation adds to the suspense and keeps the reader on edge, eagerly anticipating what further secrets the story holds…a gripping crime thriller and amateur sleuth mystery.”

Wow! I am thrilled and humbled by these incredible reviews. Still, I hope the message about saving children will come through loud and clear. To help amplify this message, I’ve decided to use the novel to partner with NaturalHigh.org, a national drug prevention program for youth. This non-profit provides evidence-based resources for parents and children to use in talking with students about the dangers of experimenting with drugs and at no cost. I’m so committed to this cause, I’m donating a portion of the profit from the sale of every copy of Cruel Lessons to Natural High.

Check out Cruel Lessons yourself. You’ll not only get a great read. You’ll be helping to provide parents and teachers with resources they need to talk with children about drugs.

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades and has turned that experience into captivating fiction, authoring the bestselling series, the Haunted Shores Mysteries, winner of nine national awards. This fall, the Wild Rose Press will release his newest work, an atmospheric amateur sleuth mystery, CRUEL LESSONS, the first installment in a new series set in schools, “Lessons in Peril.” He is the host of the popular podcast, “Great Stories about Great Storytellers,” which reveals the unusual and sometimes strange backstories of famous authors, directors and poets. He is also a speaker in much demand, sharing his multi-media presentations, “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” “A Few Favorite Haunts,” and “Everything You Wanted to Know About Publishing” with audiences all over the USA. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. Follow and connect with Randy at his website: https://www.authorrandyoverbeck.com/.

Four kids dead. Can Assistant Superintendent Ken Parks unmask the drug dealer poisoning his students before more kids die?

On a school camping trip, fifth graders experiment with a dangerous new hallucinogen and die in a horrific accident, their deaths shattering the quiet town. Assistant Superintendent Ken Parks, hoping to redeem a fatal mistake from his past, grasps the opportunity to conduct the district investigation of how students are getting the drugs. Almost before he begins, the cops make a stunning arrest. But Parks battles on, convinced the real pusher is still out there, poisoning more kids until he receives an anonymous threat: if he continues, those close to him will pay. Is Parks willing to risk those he loves for a chance at redemption?

Cruel Lessons can be purchased here:

https://www.amazon.com/Cruel-Lessons-Peril-Book-ebook/dp/B0CDJ6GL5W
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1143862801?ean=9781509252138
https://www.bookbub.com/books/cruel-lessons-by-randy-overbeck

New Release: Lost in Her Depths by Tabitha Emberose

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Lost in Her Depths is a Portal Fantasy Romance novel. It’s my debut and introduces readers to the planet of Sundara (although most of the book takes place on Earth 😁). It’s one of six known planets all interconnected by portals. These planets are known as the Torlana Lanak. 

There are four races that call Sundara home, and you will get to meet three of them in Lost. First we have the Takaryns (Ta-Karen-s). They’re a race of people who look like angels to us mere mortals with their white wings. They view Earth and the mortals who reside there as primitive, but this doesn’t prevent the small sect of Takaryns known as Kelaryn’s Guardians from protecting them. 

The next race is my Lamarans (La-mar-ans). They’re my wolf shapeshifters. Imagine a wolf twice its normal size approaching you through an open field. When they’re in their humanoid form, they stand at least seven feet tall and have a ripped body similar to the Rock or Jason Momoa. 

Our next shapeshifters are my Droskels (Dros-Kels). They appear no different than any other fantasy dragon we all know and love. What makes them unique is when in their humanoid form their skin isn’t smooth like ours. From a distance, they look human, but once you get closer you can see the main difference between them and us. Their skin is actually made up of interlocking scales similar to a snake, but these scales are strong enough to protect them from almost anything. 

And finally we have our Mer People. They look no different than any other mermaid with one exception. Unlike the mermaids we all know and love, the Mer People of Sundara have gills hidden on the back of their necks. No one ever sees them, because they’re covered up by the mermaid or merman’s hair. 

Lost came about after I wrote Guardian Against the Darkness. This will be book one of my Guardian Saga coming out sometime in 2024. I wanted to write a small series of novellas as an introduction to my fantasy world. I wrote Lost in a month after plotting it out. It’s gone through several beta reads and three drafts. It has expanded from the first draft, and is no longer a novella. I work a full time job, so I don’t have as much time as I’d like to dedicate to my writing. But I make due with what I have.

That being said, hello my name is Tabitha Emberose, and I live in a small gulf town in the Florida Panhandle. I’m the mom to my 15 year old fur baby Saphira (Yes, I named her after the dragon in Eragon 🤣). I’ve been a writer since a very young age. It didn’t matter how long or short the road trip was, I had to take my notebook and pen with me wherever I went. As I grew up, I turned away from writing original stories full time. Instead, I wrote fan fiction stories for over a decade while sprinkling in original stories that sadly I never finished.

It wasn’t until several years ago I got the writing bug to once again write original stories full time. Lost is the product of that dedication. My publisher is Mystic Phoenix Books which is my LLC business I created specifically for my author career.

Follow Tabitha at her Amazon Author page and pre-order Lost in Her Depths, available November 8, 2023.

He’s a Takaryn trapped in the mortal world. She’s a witch struggling to master her power.

But will their forbidden love survive in the end?

Artur is almost a Guardian who’ll be tasked with the protection of all the worlds of Torlana. When he learns of traitors on Sundara, he takes it upon himself to hunt for the guilty. He’s soon captured, tortured, and banished to the mortal world where he finds himself lost in the sky blue eyes and fiery spirit of a mortal female. But it’s her touch that sets his heart aflame. He knows if she stays with him her life will be in danger…

Twenty-two year old Ella Masterson has a secret. She’s a witch with the power over water, except she has yet to master her ability to its full potential. When she sees what looks like a warrior angel falling from the sky she dives in head first. Pulling the angel onshore, she soon finds herself drowning in his gold flecked eyes and musky scent. No matter how much he tries to push her away she’s determined to help him, knowing he’ll be taking her heart with him when he leaves…

Lost in Her Depths