Tag Archives: Janine Amesta

Start the New Year Off Right! Check out our January 2024 Releases (Plus Giveaway!) Now!

January 1, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Read more about our new releases for January!

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the January releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

A Little Highland Magic
by Gerri Russell (Muse)

Release Date: January 9, 2024
Guardians of the Isles, Book 5

To have a future, she must face her past…

Half human, half fairy, Aria traveled to the human realm seeking safety with her family, the powerful MacLeods, where she is welcomed and accepted as a warrior. But her happiness will be short-lived if they discover her inadvertent role in their beloved mother’s death and the kidnapping of their infant brother, Kieran, by the cruel fairy king. Still, Aria plans to right the wrong by rescuing Kieren, but traveling to the fairy realm is dangerous and potentially a betrayal, for she must use the legendary Fairy Flag and its one last miracle to barter Kieran’s release.

Graeme Duff and his ancestors have served as flag bearer and protectors of Clan MacLeod for centuries. It’s his duty to guard the Fairy Flag, and when the beautiful, fierce, and intriguing Aria proposes using the flag to negotiate Kieran’s freedom, Graeme suspects treachery. He determines to accompany her, vowing to ignore the passion she evokes.

Can two independent warriors learn to trust? Or are they risking the destruction of everything they know and love?

Killer Close to Home
by Carol Light (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 11, 2024
Cluttered Crime Mysteries, Book 3

Not all clutter is visible to the human eye…

Professional organizer Crystal Ward’s latest client, her neighbor Roscoe Tremaine, is changing his will, an announcement that sets off an explosive reaction within his family. That same night, a gas leak ignites, destroying his house, killing him, and rocking the Ward family at its foundation.

Her husband, Rick, is injured in the blast, so Crys hires Roscoe’s former caregiver, Wink Keller, to help him recover after surgery. But trouble is just beginning. Both Crys and Wink are beneficiaries in Roscoe’s will, and their alliance sends accusations flying from the Tremaines’ side of the fence.

Crys has her hands full dealing with her client’s not-so-grieving relatives, a teenaged girl stalking Wink, and a suspicious fire inspector. But when threatening “gifts” left on the Wards’ doorstep escalate, Crys is forced to sort through a tangled web of relationships, including her own, to keep her family safe.

Was Roscoe’s death just an accident, or is there a killer close to home?

When the Viscount Wanted Me
by Lydia Lloyd (Muse)

Release Date: January 16, 2024
The Rake Chronicles, Book 2

Her reputation is at risk. He vows to help…but soon finds resisting her the greatest challenge of all.

When Lord Hugh Aldershot, the Viscount of Tremberley, overhears the drunken Earl of Hartley claiming to have bedded Lady Henrietta Breminster, his best friend’s little sister, he is livid. He drags the passed-out earl to Breminster House to face punishment for his blathering, only to find himself face-to-face with Lady Henrietta in a sexy night dress and little else.

When Lady Henrietta Breminster sees the Viscount of Tremberley dragging the unconscious Earl of Hartley to her doorstep, she panics. Not only was she indiscreet with the earl, but she has long nursed a flaming tendre for her brother’s best friend. Now she must ask Tremberley to help her keep her biggest mistake from the gossips of the ton.

Drawn closer by their efforts to subdue the jealous earl, Trem and Henrietta soon discover their own forbidden attraction. But even as Henrietta discovers true passion with Trem, she knows she could never marry for anything less than love.

Lucky Strike
by Janine Amesta (American Heart)

Release Date: January 23, 2024
Love in El Dorado, Book 3

Is finding an unexpected gem a lucky strike?

After getting a late jumpstart in life, Luna Lanza isn’t afraid to get what she wants, including the place of her dreams. When she loses out on the perfect duplex and settles for a standard apartment, she’s disappointed. But Luna remains determined to make it work, even if it sparks a contentious relationship with her new landlord– the same guy she accidentally kissed in an impromptu photo shoot.

Still grieving the sudden death of his brother, reformed bad boy Sam Sunderland feels trapped managing his father’s rundown apartment building. When the spunky beauty, who unexpectedly kissed him, moves in full of ideas, he can’t help being intrigued– that is until she starts changing things behind his back, endangering his position and the relationship with his father.

Sam and Luna wrangle over rules and misunderstandings while fighting against the undeniable attraction between them. It’s a hard lesson to learn that ‘perfect’ can take many different forms. But will the renovations they do together lay a foundation to something more?

A Stolen Shadow
by H L Marsay (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 25, 2024
Chief Inspector Shadow, Book 7

This winter, the York pantomime opens as a farce but closes as a murder scene…

Chief Inspector John Shadow returns from a rare holiday to Italy but before he can unpack, he’s investigating the theft of an antique sabre. Everyone involved assumes it’s a prank, however later that evening, a reluctant Shadow attends the local pantomime—his least favorite form of entertainment—with his star struck sergeant. They watch stunned as Prince Charming dies on stage. Shadow suspects poison and launches an investigation. When he discovers the missing sabre backstage, Shadow realises the theft was no joke and the entire cast and crew are murder suspects. Then another body is found….

John Shadow is a man of contradictions. A solitary figure who shuns company but is a keen observer of all he meets. A lover of good food, but whose fridge is almost always empty. He prefers to work alone but is assisted by the eager Sergeant Jimmy Chang. Together, the two men must work through an ever increasing list of jealous husbands, angry fathers and spurned lovers to discover the identity of the killer.

Someone Rotten Riding the Rails
by Kris Bock (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 30, 2024
The Accidental Detective, Book 6

Kate Tessler and her crew of misfits set out to blow the whistle on two feuding crime families . . .

Former war correspondent Kate Tessler has solved multiple murders since returning to her Arizona hometown, to the grudging appreciation of the local police. Now Detective Padilla and the FBI approach Kate with a proposal. Two Russian crime families have rented a private historic train to the Grand Canyon for their children’s wedding. The route is scenic and remote. No cell phones. The FBI needs to surveil, but anyone infiltrating the train must be above suspicion.

Kate poses as herself, sent by the newspaper to cover the society wedding, while her sister Jen is the photographer. Their multi-generational and eccentric crew pose as train staff. The goal is to observe, but that quickly derails when the groom disappears, and a search for him turns up a dead body. Everyone’s a suspect and trapped on the train.

The mob families won’t contact the police, so it’s up to Kate and friends to uncover the truth before their whole mission goes off the tracks.

A POINSETTIA PARADISE CHRISTMAS – Release Day Blog Post by Author Janine Amesta!

October 30, 2023 · Posted by Tule Publishing

I’ve always had a very complicated relationship with Christmas. Of course, as a kid, I would get excited at the prospect of waking up to gifts. But it was fairly common for my parents to tell my sister and I to adjust our expectations because there was never a lot of money. One year, my mom and I stopped at a small Christmas tree stand in order to “just look.” If we bought a tree, it was always the type my mom referred to as the Charlie Brown variety, meaning we’d find the smallest, saddest tree on the lot that was hopefully within our budget. There was an older woman working there and soon after walking in, she complimented my mother on her coat, a thrift store wool garment she’d cleaned until it looked brand new. This particular coat was a beautiful shade of emerald green, it wasn’t surprising it had caught the woman’s eye. Ten minutes later, we were walking out with a beautiful Christmas tree and without my mom’s emerald green wool coat because she had traded it for the tree. I often think about that wool coat and whether it was worth it for a small bit of Christmas tree magic.

If one were to ask Natalie, the main character in my book A Poinsettia Paradise Christmas, she would say definitely not. After a few weeks, the tree would be dead and then you’d have no tree and no wool coat. She’s a character who’s been shaped by my realist, cynical side, a person who doesn’t understand the point of being sentimental about things. It’s unfortunate then to find herself working in a sentimental town like Placerville, a place that holds tightly onto its historical roots, and surrounded by the most sentimental of all people. Perhaps some people would agree with her. Many things feel so fleeting that you sometimes wonder what’s the whole point. It’s easy to get sucked into a hopeless rut, where you’re struggling to find something that lasts.

But maybe that’s the whole point of being sentimental, especially during the holidays. We grab and hold onto things because familiarity brings comfort. And even if we predictably make sugar cookies every holiday season, it’s something we look forward to because it reminds us of all the times we’ve made sugar cookies before and the memories connected to it. It’s not about the cookies themselves but the comfort the task brings to us in its familiarity, giving us something we can depend on.

These are the lessons Natalie learns. Christmas and trees and ornaments may not be important to her, but the association to certain people, like to her love interest Mason, is what creates happiness and significance for her. This is a type of sentimentality she can live with. It’s not about the exciting parts of the holiday that we build up in our head, but rather the smaller things and memories with the people we love. This is what makes the season special.

All these years later, I have no idea what gifts I found under that beautiful Christmas tree that year, but I do remember going to that lot with my mother, her sacrifice, and that bright green wool coat—all to bring us a little bit of Christmas magic.

About the Author.

Janine Amesta is a California girl who now lives in the high desert of Oregon with her husband and their cat, Hitchcock. She studied screenwriting in college, but her moody thrillers always had way too much flirty banter. She’s a master at jigsaw puzzles, skilled at embroidery, and critiques bad movies on Twitter.

Fall Into Our October 2023 Releases! (Plus Enter the Giveaway!)

October 1, 2023 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Read more about our new releases for October!

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the October releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

Someone Murderous at the Midnight Motel by Kris Bock
(Tule Mystery)

Release Date: October 2, 2023
The Accidental Detective, Book 5

She didn’t anticipate a career change at fifty…

Forced to leave her celebrated career as an international war correspondent after an injury, Kate Tessler now dabbles in detective work in her Arizona hometown. She and her sister, Jen, need to take any job offered if they want to become true PIs. When Jen’s college friend asks them to investigate suspicious activity at a motel he inherited, it sounds like a free vacation with a little surveillance thrown in.

But when Kate’s hot flashes wake her in the middle of the night, she wanders outside to cool off and stumbles over a dead body. Soon they’re caught up in their toughest—and most dangerous—case yet. Kate and Jen can’t trust anyone at the motel or the local police force they suspect of corruption. Good thing they have their eclectic senior sidekicks to share the undercover work.

The lies pile up, the villains multiply, and the motel is hiding more secrets than they ever imagined. When they finally get a break in the case, Kate needs to ensure she and Jen aren’t collateral damage.

The Texas Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by Debra Holt
(Texas Born)

Release Date: October 10, 2023
Texas Heritage, Book 4

All they need for Christmas is a second chance nudge…

Sixteen years ago, MacKenna Davidson was a runaway bride, and she never found the courage to face her jilted fiancé and family back in Burkitt, Texas. Then her sister’s nuptials set off the very chain of events she’s feared: a sense of homecoming she can’t untangle.

Matteo Montez survived MacKenna once, and he refuses to fall for her again. But he has no choice except to team up with her when a fellow attorney informs them that a mutual friend has passed and named Matteo and Mackenna as her children’s guardians. How can he crush these little angels’ hopes for a family, especially at Christmas?

Mackenna is willing to work with Burkitt’s hottest bachelor to build a picture-perfect holiday, as long as her heart doesn’t get involved. Because she, too, has secrets that prevent her from picking up her past. But Christmas is a season of surprises and even a miracle or two—especially when Mackenna and Matteo have a guardian angel rooting for their happiness.

The Body in Seven Dials by H L Marsay
(Tule Mystery)

Release Date: October 11, 2023
The Lady in Blue Mysteries, Book 1

Inspired by the remarkable life of Dorothy Peto, the Metropolitan Police’s first female superintendent.

In 1914, the idea of a female police officer is dismissed as absurd, but to a small group of determined women, not impossible.

With men departing to fight for king and country, women have new opportunities at home. Dorothy Peto and her fellow suffragettes propose forming the Women’s Police Volunteers to assist police keep order. At first, the suggestion is derided, yet the force is stretched thin. As Dorothy and her friends train and organise to help refugees fleeing the war and guide terrorised Londoners to shelter during the Zeppelin raids, the ‘ladies in blue’ gain a grudging acceptance.

During one nightly bombing raid, Dorothy discovers the body of a beautiful, Belgian refugee in Seven Dials. Convinced the woman was murdered before the bombs fell, Dorothy’s determined to investigate even though the battle-scarred Scotland Yard Inspector remains skeptical of her ideas and enthusiasm. As the list of suspects grows—a British aristocrat, a Belgian gangster and a wealthy German industrialist—Dorothy must outwit the killer, and even some within the WPV.

Clued In Christmas by Mia Heintzelman
(American Heart)

Release Date: October 12, 2023
Love & Games, Book 3

Nadia Sikes usually loves the holidays—cozy game nights, snowy mountain girls’ trips, hours decking the halls at Love & Games. But when her two best friends and co-owners find love, all she wants is to tuck away her heart and make it through the season.

Quietly handsome bookstore owner and single dad Micah Hamilton is determined to a) build lasting Christmas memories with his little girl and b) avoid Nadia. When his daughter asks to attend the holiday festivities at Love & Games, though, Micah is forced to introduce the woman who broke his heart, to his child she never knew existed.

The scene would drive anyone to plot their romantic reunion…and someone does. Between turkey dinners, tree decorating, and mistletoe kisses, mysterious notes begin showing up at the game store. As Nadia strings together clues, motives, and suspects for this twisty whodunit, she and Micah are blindsided by the return of their desire.

Is it a mistake to lose themselves in each other again? Or will a Christmas miracle bring them back to where they belong?

Merry Christmas, Montana by Elsa Winckler
(Montana Born)

Release Date: October 16, 2023
The Millers of Marietta, Book 3

She doesn’t believe in miracles, but maybe this holiday her son’s Christmas wish will change her mind.

Single mom Riley O’Sullivan isn’t one to complain, but with her closest family members now settled in Marietta, Montana, while she still calls Portland home, finding good help isn’t as easy as it used to be. With Christmas approaching, Riley and her young son Dylan are excited to be in Marietta with family for the holidays; but she certainly doesn’t need maddening Mitch Miller coming to her rescue, awakening her senses, or making Dylan ask questions about what dads do.

Mitch Miller left his successful financial career behind him when he moved to Marietta with his two sisters. He’s not looking for love, but Riley captivates him like no other woman ever has. She thinks he’s an overprotective grinch–with good cause–but it’s clear to everyone Riley and Dylan could use a little Christmas magic and he’s willing to help. It’s not as if he’s offering his heart.

Perhaps all it will take to bring them together is the Christmas wish from one special little boy.

Once Upon a Christmas Beauty by Kyra Jacobs
(American Heart)

Release Date: October 17, 2023
Bourbon Falls, Book 2

This Christmas will be one for the books if they can open their eyes to the possibilities…

Mia Brooks-French threw everything she had into her marriage…until she walked in on her husband and his assistant. Now she’s shifted her focus to being the best mom possible to her sixteen-year-old daughter, her classroom of third graders, and her family’s struggling bookstore. Even Christmas is shaping up to be a challenge this year.

Unfortunately, businessman and bestselling author Alex Wellingham didn’t get the memo. This Christmas, he’s decided it’s finally time to go after the girl he’d firmly locked away in his memories. But Mia isn’t ready to let college bygones be bygones or risk her heart a second time.

His surprise trip to Brooks Books in flames, Alex accepts help from Mia’s sister, Delaney. The duo concocts a tale guaranteed to buy Alex time with Mia and the bookstore a featured guest for an upcoming charity event. But when snowflakes begin to fly and the fibs snowball, can Alex and Mia wake up and decide if this second-chance romance is the real gift of the season?

A Match by Christmas, by Jami Rogers
(American Heart)

Release Date: October 19, 2023
The Evergreen Brothers, Book 3

It’s going to be a merry Christmas—but only if they survive the wedding first.

Tuck Evergreen’s annual holiday plans are uncomplicated: return to Melody, Wyoming, for a few weeks, catch up with his family, then fly home to New York City. After all, Tuck promised his late father that he’d always honor his dreams of living in the Big Apple. But this year, he’s the best man in his brother’s wedding—which means he must tangle with the maid of honor, social media influencer Elle Morrison, daily.

Elle hasn’t enjoyed being around Tuck since he dissed her on Christmas three years ago. She’s done a great job of ignoring him since. But when the wedding couple falls ill just days before their I dos, it’s up to Elle and Tuck to finish pulling the event together.

Tuck despises public attention while Elle has made a career out of it. Thankfully, their rocky start quickly turns into a smooth friendship. Can they move past their differences to find their happily ever after, even as the secrets surrounding them begin to crumble?

Christmas in River’s Edge by Nan Reinhardt
(American Heart)

Release Date: October 23, 2023
The Weaver Sisters, Book 3

You can go home again…

After a painful divorce from her high school sweetheart, triplet Jenny Weaver returns to River’s Edge with her young son. While happy to be reunited with her sisters and working at the family’s marina, she has no intention of jumping into the dating pool, especially going into the holidays. Then Gabe Dawson, once a shy nerd who tutored her in history classes, arrives home transformed into a handsome hunk who makes her pulse race.

Archeologist and history professor Gabe Dawson thought he’d long ago outgrown his teen crush on Jenny. Back in town for a few months to help his mom post surgery, he can’t resist reaching out to Jenny. She’s as beautiful, warm, and funny as he remembered and soon Gabe is reconsidering his future.

Gabe is determined to seize this second chance, but can he convince a very wary Jenny that a globe-trotter is ready to come home for good this Christmas?

Christmas in Crickley Creek by Laurie Beach
(Southern Born)

Release Date: October 24, 2023
Crickley Creek, Book 3

She doesn’t need gifts under the tree this holiday season. What she longs for is a second chance.

Emma Shea Abernathy is fully aware of her social role: marry well, live extravagantly, and, most of all, exhibit perfection. And it started with saying “I do” to future governor Trent Broadway.

With her carefully crafted life in full swing, she knows she’s made a big mistake. Leaving it all behind, she hides out at her great-grandmother’s beach house in Crickley Creek. There, she discovers a secret room containing a well-preserved 1920s Prohibition speakeasy–and some surprising information about the women in her family. This leads to a new plan: to become a woman who acts contrary to what is expected. In other words, a Firefly Girl.

The problem is, no one else embraces her change of heart, especially her first love, Scruggs Willingham III. He still refuses to forgive her for marrying someone else. Despite the olive branches she extends throughout Crickley Creek, it appears she’ll spend Christmas alone.

Until a rare Christmas snow brings the one miracle she needs: the freedom to accept herself.

Her Cowboy Christmas Hero by Jeannie Watt
(Montana Born)

Release Date: October 26, 2023
Return to Keller Ranch, Book 4

She’s never had a true family Christmas….

As a child, Alex Woodson appeared to have it all, yet her life was an illusion. Now independent, Alex returns to the one place she was briefly happy—Marietta, Montana and starts an interior painting business. Her first client is the Keller Ranch. When Cade Keller unexpectedly arrives home, Alex promises herself she can ignore her former high school crush, who barely knew she existed. But the handsome cowboy is up in her business, flirting and tempting her with holiday activities she’s always dreamed of.

After leaving his job as an oil rig operator, Cade heads home to the family ranch for Christmas and to re-think his career. Seeing the former Woodson princess painting his family’s home is a distracting mystery he intends to solve. But the more time he spends with Alex, the more he’s intrigued.

Cade tells himself he’s just being neighborly by inviting Alex to join his family for their holiday traditions, but he’s lying. He’s falling hard—unfair with his uncertain future. Alex is wary, knowing life is never a fairytale.

A Poinsettia Paradise Christmas by Janine Amesta
(American Heart)

Release Date: October 30, 2023
Love in El Dorado, Book 2

This Christmas a lump of coal might just turn into a diamond….

Natalie Gonzalez-Torres has never been a fan of Christmas. As the manager of her family’s coffee shop, she avoids all the holiday kitch. But this year, her uncle assigns her to run a coffee cart at Poinsettia Paradise tree farm to prove she’s ready to become a full partner. The assignment feels like a lump of coal in her non-existent stocking, until a Christmas tree farmer helps uncover her inner elf. Too bad she’s already given up on finding love.

Mason Lavigne bursts with expansion and improvement ideas for his family’s Christmas Tree Farm, but his dad still still sees him as a kid. This Christmas, Mason’s determined to prove his worth, especially after his dad mentions he’s thinking of selling. With his stress off the charts, helping Natalie is a bright light this holiday season as long as Mason’s not distracted from his mission by her sparkling eyes and quick wit. They both have something to prove but doing it together might be more than they can resist.

STRIKING GOLD – Release Day Blog Post by Author Janine Amesta!

August 24, 2023 · Posted by Tule Publishing

When my agent sent me an email, letting me know that Tule was interested in publishing my manuscript of what was to become STRIKING GOLD, I was eating lunch. That’s about all I remember of that day. It just goes to show that you can be minding your own business, doing nothing more than one more mundane task in your day, and then your life suddenly changes and heads in the most unexpected of all places.

This particular theme, of life surprising you and taking you on a detour, is something I’ve always enjoyed writing about. This is never more true than in my debut romance, STRIKING GOLD. In it, Mia, a former overachiever, most-likely-to-succeed student, has always had a steady plan, knowing exactly where she wanted to go in life to achieve what she sees as success. This makes it more devastating for her, when life hits a bump and she finds herself back in her hometown, trying to find a temp job that’s far removed from what she ever imagined herself doing. The feeling of shame and embarrassment is magnified when she runs into the guy she used to tutor in school and realizes that, while he was a person who clearly struggled in his education, he’s now doing better than her. Their situation has flipped.

Mia’s journey in the book changes her perspective on not only what success looks like but also learning that “going backwards” doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. The best thing to happen to her is reconnecting with Ross, who is a man stuck on his own “failures” from the past. Together they discover the ebb and flow of success and failure, happiness and despair. These are the things that make life interesting and it’s better to be shared by someone you trust, someone who can share both the good things and the hard. This is more valuable than gold.

When I was drafting this story, I had a very strong sense of Mia from the start. Much of our personal background, and tough life lessons, are ones that are very familiar to me. As a biracial Latina, I too have felt that awkwardness of standing between groups, not really belonging completely. This awkwardness is especially true when you’re an overachiever, people-pleaser, a person who wants to be all things for everyone and hates disappointing anyone. We’re more willing to sacrifice self-identity in order to make those around us happier.

The hardest lesson of all to learn is that no matter what choice we end up making, there’s always going to be someone who’s disappointed in us. Unfortunately, in trying to do our best to avoid conflicts, because it seems easier, we can end up becoming stuck and unhappy. While it’s easy to say, “who cares what anyone else thinks?”, personal growth really happens when you switch your thinking to “What can I do to make sure I’m not disappointed? What’s going to make me happy?” Because if someone is always going to be disappointed no matter what, it’s better if that one person isn’t you.

Mia making that choice, deciding to choose what her life looks like and who she wants to be as a person, was a very rewarding journey to write, one that brought a lot of tears. Instead of standing awkwardly between worlds, not quite knowing where she fits in, she makes her own world, one she could be proud of and find love.

About the author.

Tule Publishing August 2023 Releases (and Giveaway!)

August 1, 2023 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Read more about our new releases for August!

August New Releases Graphic with Watercolor background

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the August releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

The Cowboy’s Redemption by Paula Altenburg (Montana Born)

Release Date: August 1, 2023

The Endeavour Ranch of Grand, Montana, Book 5

She’s done with cowboys for good…

Cowboy Levi Harrington oversees the innovative breeding program at the Endeavour Ranch. He knows how to read aggression, personality, and mood in bulls and horses better than anyone in Grand, Montana. When he sees the fiancée of his best friend, who died during a rodeo several years ago, struggling to control her horse, he wants to help. He’s loved Dana from afar for years, but she’s always been off-limits—even now.

Barrel racer Dana Barrett’s relationship with a popular bull rider killed in the arena was complicated, messy, and not at all the fairy tale love story rodeo fans chose to see. She’s ready to step out of the tragedy’s limelight and move on, starting with taking her career to the next level. That’s hard to do when everyone still sees her as a tragic heroine and when her beloved champion horse is at the end of her career.

Dana needs a fresh start, starting with a new horse. When a twist of fate throws Levi and Dana together again, can they move beyond the past and forge a future together?

Dial M for Mud Cake by Kaz Delaney (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: August 3, 2023

Hart of Texas Murder Mysteries, Book 6

This wrong number is turning out to be deadly…

As summer settles over Airlie Falls, Texas, baker Rosie Hart is gearing up for the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations. Orders are coming in fast, but when someone calls in an order for a mud cake, Rosie feels uneasy. After a series of confusing phone calls, she comes to the chilling conclusion that the term ‘mud cake’ is in fact code for a ‘hit’—someone is ordering a murder!

As the dough for her Apple Custard Brioche Bread rises, so does Rosie’s anxiety. This isn’t like any of the cases she’s solved before. This time she has to save someone, but first she has to discover exactly who she’s supposed to be saving—and more importantly, who wants that person dead.

With her commitment to the town’s week-long festivities, trying to control her nonagenarian friends who’ve just discovered the home shopping network, determining if a long-lost child has indeed resurfaced, and not to mention an Elvis impersonator on every corner, Rosie’s wondering if she can really unmask the person with murderous intent before they take matters into their own hands.

A Baby for the Billionaire Cowboy by Kris Bock (Texas Born)

Release Date: August 8, 2023

The Accidental Billionaire Cowboys, Book 4

This runaway bride needs a fresh start.

After falling unexpectedly pregnant, Daisy Taylor barely had a moment to think. The baby’s father proposed, her parents rushed the wedding, and Daisy fled the altar. She runs away to Last Stand, Texas, to stay with her aunt and arrives in time for a fundraising ball—where her wedding dress blends in—and dances with a handsome stranger. He seems sweet and kind, and when Daisy later secures employment as an assistant at a nearby ranch, she’s pleased to see the man again. But she’s humiliated that he doesn’t recognize her.

The youngest of his siblings, Xander Tomlinson is still uncomfortable with his family’s unexpected lottery win. He prefers a quiet and peaceful life on the ranch caring for creatures in need. When his mother hires an office assistant, Xander is immediately protective of Daisy and her ever-growing belly.

Daisy won’t take charity and Xander struggles to fight his attraction to Daisy who, as an employee, is off-limits. As their friendship teeters on the edge of becoming more and the baby’s father starts making demands, will Xander learn that some things are worth fighting for?

Once Upon a Beast by Kyra Jacobs (American Heart)

Release Date: August 10, 2023

Bourbon Falls, Book 1

It’s a fairy tale as old as time…

Everyone in Bourbon Falls knows Delaney Brooks doesn’t need a man—including Delaney. So when a storm sends her niece’s car hydroplaning into the town hermit’s bushes, it’s nothing Del can’t handle herself. But the winds also cause costly damage to the roof of her family’s beloved bookstore, and Del accepts it’s time to seek help.

Isaac Manning never intended to be the bad guy. But a slanderous post went viral, and he’s forced to take cover in Bourbon Falls, Indiana, hiding to protect his tech company until the online storm blows over. The strategy goes smoothly until a teenage girl destroys his lawn. Now two locals have seen his face, and one is tugging at his heartstrings.

Del’s fundraiser can save her family’s bookstore but she’ll need an amazing website built to draw the crowds in. Isaac, wanting a break from his loneliness, is happy to trade his skills for Del’s landscape panache. But can the two truly work together to support the town’s biggest event of the year without jeopardizing their hearts and reputations too?

Love and Order by Stella Holt (American Heart)

Release Date: August 14, 2023

Legacy of the Maguires, Book 4

She’s keeping secrets—and he has the answers she doesn’t know she needs.

Finn Maguire may be the baby of his close-knit family, but this former Navy SEAL has never shied away from a challenge. Now a lawyer with a plan to practice business law, he’s ready for a normal life. The coveted junior partner position is his next goal—but he’s pitted against the enigmatic woman he’s spent two years admiring from afar, and he can’t resist his desire to learn more.

Hailey Adams grew up in foster care, where she learned how to avoid danger. Her intense self-discipline and vow to never let anyone make her feel vulnerable again have landed her one case away from the security of partnership at a prestigious D.C. firm. But teaming with the charming Finn tests her well-honed ability to keep people at a distance.

Finn finally breaks through Hailey’s walls just in time for her to find out he kept the biggest secret of all. Will this be a case Finn loses, or can Hailey learn to trust the first person who’s made her feel safe?

The Remarkable Rise of Amanda Appleby by Trish Morey (Holiday)

Release Date: August 15, 2023

With Love, Cornwall, Book 2

Before Amanda Appleby’s rise comes the fall…

When Amanda Appleby catches her husband messing with the belly dancer hired for his fiftieth birthday party, her once-perfectly curated life crashes down. With her marriage in ruins and little money from the property settlement, Amanda finds herself fifty, divorced, and broke.

Amanda retreats to her family’s charming cottage in Cornwall to regroup and hits on a way to make money. She writes a book about how to renovate and sell a house. Peppered with cynical tips from Amanda’s own failed marriage, the book goes viral. Hailed as the “Marie Kondo for the Unhappily Married Woman,” Amanda is thrust into stardom. Invited as a contestant on a dating show, she meets Jack Walker, the show’s crabby—but surprisingly kind-hearted—scriptwriter and Amanda discovers that maybe romance isn’t dead after all.

But when she’s enlisted as the public face of a man-hating site, suddenly Amanda’s success turns toxic, threatening to derail both her career and her newfound relationship. But Amanda is no longer the dutiful wife she once was. Can the woman Amanda has become find it in herself to keep her star rising?

Meet Me in River’s Edge by Nan Reinhardt (American Heart)

Release Date: August 17, 2023

The Weaver Sisters, Book 2

He ticks every one of her “never again” boxes…

Jo Weaver loves her job as a boat mechanic for her family’s marina in River’s Edge, Indiana. But when she’s pulled away from her high school reunion with her sisters to fix a stranded yacht, she can’t restrain her irritation. Jo doesn’t like wealthy men who think they can have whatever they want, and she has no intention of falling for rich and charming again.

Born into the international Briggs Hotels empire, Alex Briggs has never felt comfortable with his life of privilege. Abandoning his family’s business to pursue medical research, he’s far more at home in his lab. When the yacht he restored himself breaks down on the way to an important conference, Alex begrudgingly goes in search of a boat mechanic and falls, literally, into Jo Weaver’s arms. The fireworks he feels are impossible to ignore.

Jo does her best to keep Alex in the business zone, but he keeps slipping into something more. Can she trust her fragile heart, especially when Alex and his life-altering research are so far from River’s Edge?

Striking Gold by Janine Amesta (American Heart)

Release Date: August 24, 2023

Love in El Dorado, Book 1

Not all that glitters is gold…especially in love.

Mia Russo is well aware that being voted “most likely to succeed” in high school doesn’t guarantee anything, especially after her political career crashes and burns. Without a plan for the first time in her life, Mia moves back home with her dad. After being rejected by the handsome local jewelry store owner who seems way too familiar, she takes a barista job while she determines her next steps.

Orphaned at a young age, Ross Manasse finally finds peace when he inherits his grandfather’s jewelry store. It’s been a tough road, and Ross is looking for quietness and stability. When his former high school tutor—someone Ross once thought of as a friend—barges into his shop looking for a job and doesn’t recognize him, his safest option is keeping her at arm’s length.

Mia’s determined to make something in her life work, but in rekindling a relationship with the grumpy jeweler, she digs up more about their shared history than they expect. Mia and Ross will need to decide what’s more important: finding success or true happiness?

When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd (Muse)

Release Date: August 28, 2023

The Rake Chronicles, Book 1

They are both pretending to be someone else for the night…

When Catherine Forster asks a handsome stranger to lead her out of the ballroom and into the Tremberley gardens, she hopes to glimpse its renowned Roman ruins…and maybe steal a kiss. But when she and her delectable escort are discovered in a scandalous embrace, Catherine is horrified to learn that she has been kissing John Breminster, heir to the man who ruined her family.

Given that the Forsters are his sworn enemies, John had no choice but to walk away from Catherine that night. But he has never been able to forget their close encounter—and, even years later, still longs for her touch. Worse, when his father dies, John, now the Duke of Edington, finds himself with a problem that only Catherine can help him solve.

Catherine agrees to aid him in his quest…for a price. On their journey, they soon begin to give into temptation, even as they uncover troubling revelations about the past. Will John and Catherine overcome this shared history? Or will its secrets tear them apart forever?

A Wasp in the Woods by Geri Krotow (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: August 29, 2023

Shop ‘Round the World, Book 3

Retired Navy Pilot Angel Warren’s sleuthing days are behind her. At least, that’s what she tells herself after finding two dead bodies during her first year back in Stonebridge, Pennsylvania. Murders make customers wary and Angel’s sales are suffering. With her daughters back in college and the cases behind her, Angel focuses on attracting more customers into her novelty shop.

Hoping to boost local tourism, Angel researches how to create a walking history tour. During a dry run for her inaugural walk, her brother’s Pomeranian leads her through the woods and to her third body, the apparent victim of multiple stings from a nearby wasp nest. Angel recognizes the deceased as her sister’s cherished employee who was days away from being married.

The scene doesn’t sit right with Angel’s best friend, Detective Trinity Colson, however, who suspects foul play. When the autopsy reveals a different cause of death, Angel dives into her most dangerous case yet. Soon Angel, along with her eclectic crew featuring two dogs and a feisty parrot, are once again on the hunt for a murderer. But is Angel also being hunted?

The Cowboy’s Lost Family by Roxanne Snopek (Montana Born)

Release Date: August 31, 2023

The Malones of Grand, Montana, Book 1

He’s looking for the one thing she’s done with: family.

Brade Oliver arrives in Grand, Montana, looking for blood—and answers. Genetic tests reveal that his biological family may reside in the small, western town, and he’s on a mission to finally discover the one thing his adoptive family couldn’t give him: the truth.

Kendall McKinley craves a normal life, free of the demands, drama, and constraints of her dysfunctional family. Despite being focused on building her career and working on a restoration project, Kendall can’t help herself from noticing a handsome stranger the first night he arrives. But when Brade starts asking uncomfortable questions around town, Kendall is determined to protect her community and friends. The harder she tries to steer Brade away from the answers he seeks, the more he pushes back…and the more irresistible he becomes.

Brade is determined to uncover the truth no matter what, and Kendall finds herself torn between keeping the secrets of people she cares for and finding answers for the man she loves.

Someone Murderous at the Midnight Motel by Kris Bock (Tule Mystery)

The Texas Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by Debra Holt (Texas Born)

The Body in Seven Dials by H L Marsay (Tule Mystery)

Clued In Christmas by Mia Heintzelman (American Heart)

Merry Christmas, Montana by Elsa Winckler (Montana Born)

Once Upon a Christmas Beauty by Kyra Jacobs (American Heart)

A Match by Christmas, by Jami Rogers (American Heart)

Christmas in River’s Edge by Nan Reinhardt (American Heart)

Christmas in Crickley Creek by Laurie Beach (Southern Born)

Her Cowboy Christmas Hero by Jeannie Watt (Montana Born)

A Poinsettia Paradise Christmas by Janine Amesta (American Heart)