Today, I have a dramatic women's fiction novel to share in our book review spotlight. If you enjoy a complex family drama, Higher Love should be on your summer reading list! Learn about Higher Love and author Joanne Kukanza Easley, read my thoughts on the book, and be sure to enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.

​Joanne Kukanza Easley, a retired registered nurse who worked in the cold, stark environment of operating rooms and the highly charged setting of psychiatric facilities, now resides in the Texas Hill Country. There, she crafts fiction centered on complex women of the twentieth century. Her debut novel, Sweet Jane, garnered multiple accolades, including the adult fiction prize at the Texas Author Project, and was a finalist for prestigious honors like the Sarton Award and the Eric Hoffer Award, among others. Her second book, Just One Look, was selected as a May 2022 Pulpwood Queen Book Club Pick. Her third novel, I’ll Be Seeing You, revisits characters from Sweet Jane. Her fourth novel, Higher Love, a continuation of her third, is slated for release in Spring 2025. Easley’s award-winning short stories and poetry have been featured in various anthologies.

connect with the author:  website ~ X ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

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Enter the Giveaway 

Book Title:  THE PERFECT MOTHER by Desiree Moodie
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 
Genre: Thriller
Publisher:  Twisted Thoughts Publishing
Release date:  May 2025
Content Rating: PG-13 + M: The book has a few "f" words, one or two religious profanities and a few crude terms. There is no sex, but there is violence. Mature themes include pregnancy loss.

Desiree Moodie has been writing since before she could talk — seriously. As a kid, she spent weekends scribbling on notebook paper and stapling the pages together into makeshift books.

Now, she crafts dark, twisty stories featuring morally complex characters and impossible-to-put-down plots. Her writing is influenced by her travels, old-school noir films, and pro-wrestling (yes, still). She loves difficult women, villains who might just have a point, and snappy dialogue.

When she's not writing, Desiree is watching reruns of Perry Mason, working on her Lauren Bacall impression, or pulling Tarot cards. She’s got a soft spot for readers who love clever, gritty stories with a little bite — so don’t be shy. Drop her a line (just not in all caps).

connect with the author:  
website  ~  X/twitter  ~  facebook ~ instagram ~ pinterest ~ goodreads ~ bookbub

 

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Enter the Giveaway

THE PERFECT MOTHER by Desiree Moodie Book Tour Giveaway

This morning, I have the first book in a fiction series to share! Learn about Dangerous Times and author William Kinsolving in this book blitz spotlight. 

Fiction

Date Published: May 1, 2025

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

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This book's background is the prophetic but overlooked decade of American history, 1846 to 1856, from the Mexican War to the presidential election of James Buchanan. The decade was a foreshadowing of our national cataclysm. Underlying every social aspect was the nation's fatal flaw, slavery, that perverted the Constitution on which the Enlightenment ideals of a "United States" were based. And on every day, similarities to the distortions of the present decade are obvious.

I chose a Southern ethos, finding an unexpected woman to suffer and survive the decade; and three brothers, each of whom carves a unique path through it, one as a fugitive unjustly accused of murder and slave-stealing, one as an enigmatic operative across the jagged spectrum of antebellum party politics, and the eldest who inherits his family's storied tobacco plantation as its lands burn out.

The story is told chronologically, the fiction adhering to the history. Should a question arise as to which is which, any event of historical significance - no matter how bizarre or implausible -- did indeed happen.

The novel echoes ethnic truths as they were at the time. I write of intimacies as well as horrors found in historical records. Both public and private relations were often infused with their own destruction -- as were the expanding "United States" in that decade, and I fear in this one.

About the Author

After a questionable academic career at Stanford (I mean, how practical is a double major in Drama and Far Eastern Theology?), Kinsolving fled to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to play Richard II. He then attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art for polish. Returning to New York, he appeared as an actor under-, off- and on Broadway, as well as a saloon singer in foul Greenwich Village nightclubs. For creative diversion during these years, he acted and/or directed back in Oregon, at the Stratford (CT) Shakespeare Theater, Harvard, Dartmouth, Café La Mama, then went out and won the Best Actor of the Year award from the San Francisco Chronicle for performing at the Berkeley Rep.

Ineluctably transitioning to a second career, Kinsolving wrote a play with 84 speaking roles, was awarded a Ford Foundation Playwriting Grant, and had the play produced by the Stratford Ontario Shakespeare Festival. This led to the first of some 54 films on which he worked for every major studio (and several distinctly minor ones) in Los Angeles, London and Rome (ask him about Zeffirelli sometime) as screenwriter and script doctor. Suspecting that such a life was leading to the utter corruption of his soul (not to dare mention his body), he retreated to Carmel to write the first of five novels (a NY Times best-seller, a couple of Literary Guild Main Selections, he adds humbly, but only if asked).

While serving on the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of the Arts, he regressed happily to nightclub and fundraising performances, accompanied by the likes of Peter Duchin and Emmanuel Ax, singing at the Algonquin Hotel’s late lamented Oak Room and for one of the late Brooke Astor’s better birthday parties among many other less name-dropping venues.

Last year, he directed a musical for which he wrote the book and lyrics in the nave of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral about Johann Sebastian Bach and his family. Bach provided all the music, and proved to be very easy to work with. THAT WEEK WITH THE BACHS had the best voices in the Bay Area, including the ineffable Frederica von Stade.

He began work on the historical novel DANGEROUS TIMES between the diversions above. He knew the history, but even so, was startled by how constant the similarities are in that destructive time to what’s going on in this one.

Connect with the Author

Website

Buy the Book

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Today, I am excited to share an epic fantasy novel in our book blast spotlight! Learn about Ophia's Sister-Soul from the Parting the Veils series by author Seth Mullins!  Check out the book, learn about the author and be sure to enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!

Parting the Veils, Book One

Epic Fantasy / Visionary Fiction / Magical Realism

Date Published: 04-19-2025

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Colleen Addison fears that the messages she receives from a place called Ophia prove she’s losing her mind. As she grieves for her lost twin sister, Earth’s civilizations, divorced from magic and wonder, crumble.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Partition, Esperidi Mon-Sequana discovers she’s the last surviving Sophryne, a Wakeful Dreamer cast adrift as Ophia convulses beneath the weight of atrocities done to Her, spilling Her anguish in fire and floods.

With naught but dreams and waking omens to guide her, Esperidi ventures across a ravaged land where marauders are a law unto themselves, and the Shetain priesthood demands that Ophia’s children appease the Rupture with penance and blood.

Lost and bereaved, Colleen and Esperidi reach for hope and salvation beyond the camouflage Veils, unsuspecting of the ties that bind them across lifetimes and worlds…

About the Author

Throughout my life's myriad twists and turns, one desire has always stayed strong in me: to write epic tales that illuminate the inner world of our souls. I write fiction that depicts the journey of self-discovery in a dramatic and emotionally cathartic way. I'm inspired by methods of inner exploration like dream-work and shamanism, wherein one takes an inward plunge and then shares the fruits of that deep descent with the wider community. That, to me, is the essence of what any art form is really about.

I think the artistic impulse takes it for granted that the universe is forever unfinished; we all have unique gifts that bring something to Creation that would not otherwise ever exist.

My inspirations/influences include writers like Jane Roberts, L. Frank Baum, Barbara Marciniak, Stephen R. Donaldson, Frank Herbert, Lewis Carroll, Jack Kerouac, and Robert E. Howard.  Though I've enjoyed writing in many genres and styles, speculative fiction remains my biggest passion.

Connect with the Author

Website

Goodreads

Parting the Veils (YouTube channel)

Buy the Book

https://mybook.to/OphiasSisterSoul

Amazon

Enter the Giveaway

I love reading nonfiction biographies! Today, I am joining the book tour for Holocaust biography, The Life and Legacy of Rabbi Aryeh. Learn about this book and author Amrom Gottesman and be sure to add the novel to your Goodreads to-be-read list or buy the book today on Amazon!

Holocaust Biography

Date Published: December 10, 2024

Publisher: ‎Book Publishers USA

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This narrative gives us a detailed chronicle of the turbulent life of Rebbe Aryeh Leibish Gottesman Zt”l. Beginning from his childhood years, with the next chapters bringing alive the years of pain he endured in the most horrendous period of the holocaust. Following the highly interesting period detailing his formative years in America, that gives us a glimpse of the post-trauma that a war survivor lived with. His scars and pain and loss that accompanied him for the next seventy years.

When he was still but a child and a young bochur, little Leibish fought ferociously against life’s odds to learn Torah in times that antisemitism was common in the little town in Czech where he lived. After suffering all the horrors of Auschwitz, Dachau, and more, when he lost both his parents and family, except for one surviving brother. R’ Leibish threw upon himself again with happiness and fortitude to accept the yoke of learning Torah. First in the city of Serdaheli and then in the famed Nitra Yeshiva in America, where he became one of the most notable and close students of the renowned Torah giant and distinguished war activist Hagaon Hatzaddik Rebbe Michoel Ber Weissmandel ZT”L. He stood out in the front line of Talmudei Chachomim of the first generation after the war.

The next step in life was when with his diligence and persistence he grew to be a major Gaon that illuminated the path for many many students and breathed a life of Torah up to his final moment.

About the Author

My name is Emil Gottesman and I am 67 years old, married and blessed with a family of children and grandchildren. Owner of a medium size US Customs House Broker and Freight Forwarder company. In my community, I'm known by my Hebrew name Amrom Gottesman.

Born to my Parents R’ Leibish and Rickel Gottesman, both Holocaust survivors, raised and still live my life, with strong values of family, religion, and faith

Buy the Book

Amazon

This morning, I have a religious/spirituality book to share. Learn about Becoming One with Christ: The Lessons of King David and author David Richards. 

The Lessons of King David

Religion / Spirituality

Date Published: ‎ March 10, 2025

Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

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A lifetime journey. A test of faith. A calling to a deeper love. This is more than a book; it's a heartfelt testament to resilience, devotion, and discovering love's true meaning through the eyes of King David.

In Becoming One with Christ, I share my journey--a lifetime of seeking spiritual depth and strength, which was put to the ultimate test during the pandemic. During that turbulent time, I encountered profound revelations through David's trials, triumphs, and unwavering faith. Now I want to share these lessons with you in hopes they will inspire and embolden your own walk of faith.

About the Author

I’m David Richards!  I’m a high performance executive coach, and help clients overcome leadership challenges while equipping them with the tools to become an extraordinary speaker.

Connect with the Author

Website

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

 Buy the Book

Amazon

Publisher

This morning, I have a nonfiction, health and nutrition book in our book blitz spotlight! Learn about Why Your Diets Fail and the Science that Really Works by authors Myrna Garcia Haag, R.D., and John J. Macionis, PH.D.

Nonfiction / Nutrition / Health

Date Published: March 3, 2025

Publisher: ‎MindStir Media

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If you have struggled with food, we understand! We’ve been there! We know that diets don’t deliver long-term weight loss. We know that weight-loss drugs work for many people, but at high cost and with many side effects. And they only work as long as you take them.

Diets and drugs fall short because they do not address the root cause of obesity. But there is another way! Reaching your lean weight and optimal health depends on understanding that the root cause of obesity is a chemical imbalance in the body due to improper nutrition. The game-changer is learning some nutritional science that lets the body guide us toward lean weight and optimal health. This book explains the root cause of overeating and provides the nutritional guidelines that make all the difference. Myrna’s nutritional science provides the key that will free you from food addiction and change your life so you can live longer, healthier, and with enhanced athletic ability. This science actually works. It's simple. It's forever. And it's easy!

About the Authors

Myrna Garcia Haag, R.D.

After decades working in the fitness business, Myrna set out to learn the links between nutrition and optimal health. At age fifty-five, she returned to school, earned a degree in nutrition and accreditation as a Registered Dietitian. Myrna lives in Tampa, Florida, where she has built a clinical nutrition practice, treating patients with chronic illnesses.

Years of research and engaging with hundreds of patients led Myrna to develop nutrition balancing techniques that turn off the metabolic triggers that cause overeating. This science has helped patients approach their lean and healthy weight—without dieting. Myrna’s research has also produced guidelines that provide athletes with a competitive advantage.

Now, with this book, Myrna offers everyone simple science that puts us on the path to a lean and long life. She is devoting all her energy to positively changing people’s lives.

Website 

 John J. Macionis, Ph.D.

John spent much of his adult life as a college professor. He was Prentice Hall Distinguished Scholar at Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio. John is also a professional writer. For more than forty years, he has authored the best-selling college textbooks in several fields of social science, published by Pearson Education.

John promotes the appreciation of music, protection of the natural environment, and expanding historical literacy across the United States. He divides his time between Lake George, New York, and Vero Beach, Florida. John enjoys playing tennis, performing the blues and oldies rock and roll, and looking for ways—big and small—to make the world a better place.

Myrna’s science changed John’s life. Starting from obesity and being well on the road to diabetes and heart disease, John has reached his lean weight, and his health has improved dramatically. What he wants now is to share this message with others.

 Find his Books

Website

Buy the Book

Amazon