Read my review of The Love Equation by Meg Benjamin #Romance #ContemporaryRomance @GoddessFish

The Love Equation

By Meg Benjamin

They’re both unlucky in love. Can they find the equation for the perfect mate?

Celine Murphy has had it. Her current boyfriend has broken up with her by text. That makes three boyfriends who’ve turned out to be losers, including one who left for Antarctica. She’s decided to go for an online matchmaking service, but as a mathematician, she wants to minimize her own faulty choices and let an algorithm make the selection.

At the same time, musician Delaney Boone has come to Austin to mentor “the kid,” a popular actor turned musician. He’s also escaping a broken heart from a failed relationship, and he’s hoping Austin will provide some new possibilities. With those new possibilities in mind, he goes for an online dating service.

Fate—or math—matches these two unlikely lovers. But can they overcome their own doubts to accept another chance at romance? Maybe with the help of an unlikely cupid in the form of Celine’s grandfather, The Judge, and the matchmaking skills of some familiar faces in Konigsburg. And an unexpected dose of cedar fever. It’s Texas y’all.

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 248

Amazon UK • Amazon US

MY THOUGHTS

Boyfriends are not Celine Murphy’s strong point – that is, choosing them isn’t her strong point. The last three boyfriends she has had have turned out to not be the guy of her dreams that she was hoping for. Falling into the world of online dating, she decides to take matters out of her hands. As a mathematician, numbers and algorithms are her life – why not let them pick out the guy of her dreams?

Country music is Delaney Boone’s life, but he has come to Austin to escape his life for a while. A broken heart has driven him away from his hometown, and his life has become monotonous, helping to mentor a popular actor he has nicknamed ‘the kid’ as he attempts to create an album full of songs he may or may not be able to sing. What better way of moving on and finding himself again than putting himself out there, going on a dating app, and meeting some new people?

Whether their meeting was intended by the stars, or if it was configured by algorithms and luck, Celine and Delaney find themselves meeting, taking turns to plan where to take the other next time, and begin to enjoy spending time together. But with Celine’s previous bad luck in love, and Delaney’s inability to fully trust after his previous girlfriend broke his heart, they have a lot of differences and issues to work through before they can truly feel comfortable with each other.

Delaney and Celine introduce each other to new worlds - Delaney introduces Celine to the music scene, and Celine makes sure Delaney has actually seen the sights in the place he has moved to. I loved how they take turns in planning the next date, always ensuring there was something else planned, something else to look forward to, and another chance to see each other again. Their relationship simmers with heat from their first meeting, as if they have met each other and their very souls have realised that they belong together. The heat increases drastically as they become closer, with some very spicy scenes that accentuate how well they work together – they bring sanity to the other, bringing out fun and joy that they have both been lacking for a long while. I loved both Celine and Delaney, perhaps Delaney a little more, as he is such an incredibly loveable character, I almost would like him for myself…! 

One of my favourite character additions was The Judge – Celine’s imposing and intimidating grandfather, who makes a mean bloody Mary and won’t take any nonsense from anyone. He is a man with an intimidating aura, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a soft and gooey centre. When he needs to be, he is kind and caring. The rest of the time, though, he finds great enjoyment in trying to catch Delaney out with various country artists, and insinuate to Celine that he quite likes this guy, and that she should keep him around!

This is the kind of romance book that you get through really quickly, because you don’t want to stop reading it. It is a nice easy read, but also one that draws you in through the characters, and makes you love them so much you don’t want to step away. If you are after a romance wherein the characters have some issues to work through, where the spice level has a little bit of a kick to it, and with a loveable cast to boot, this is certainly the book for you! 

Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Her Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Meg’s indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England  Romance Writers, the Carly Crown Jewel of Books from the Mid-America Romance Authors, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers. 

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Read my review of A Plethora of Phantoms (Spirited Encounters Book 2) by Penny Hampson #SupernaturalFiction #SlowBurnRomance #BookReview #YardeBookPromotions @penny_hampson @maryanneyarde

A Plethora of Phantoms 

(Spirited Encounters Book 2)

By Penny Hampson

Whose footsteps in the dark?

He is heir to the earldom of Batheaston and lives in an elegant, stately home, but handsome twenty-something Freddie Lanyon is not a happy man. Not only is he gay and dreading coming out to his family, but he’s also troubled by ghosts that nobody else can see.

When Freddie’s impulsive purchase of an antique dressing case triggers even more ghostly happenings with potentially catastrophic consequences, he has to take action.

Freddie contacts charismatic psychic Marcus Spender for help and feels an immediate attraction to this handsome antique dealer –– a feeling that is mutual. But the pair’s investigations unearth shocking, long-buried secrets, which prove a major challenge to their task of laying unhappy spirits to rest and to their blossoming relationship.

Being brave isn’t one of Freddie’s standout qualities, but he’ll need all the courage he can muster to rid himself of wayward phantoms and get his life on track.

A Plethora of Phantoms is an uplifting ghostly tale about love, friendship, and acceptance.

Genres: Paranormal Ghost Romance / Gay Romance

Pages: 259

Grab a copy HERE!

This novel is free to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.

MY THOUGHTS

Strange things are happening at Lanyon Park. Could it be a ghost?

I thought this book was utterly wonderful. The story is told from the perspective of Freddie Lanyon who has come home to help his father run the estate. But things are never simple at Lanyon and there is a ghostly presence that Freddie cannot ignore, especially when it keeps tidying up after him. There is also a restless, malevolent spirit in the long corridor, a place where Freddie hates to venture, but has to to make sure the house is secure.

When Freddie meets Marcus, he is at first cautious. Marcus is charismatic and good-looking and they share an interest in antiques. But Freddie is slightly cautious for his parents do not know that he is actually gay and he is scared of rocking the boat. But soon Freddie and Marcus are thrown together as they try to discover what this ghostly spirit wants with Freddie.

Marcus is a much more confident character than Freddie and he too has his own ghost - his likes to shut the door in peoples faces if he does not like them! Their relationship is at first cautious, but it soon turns passionate, although Hampson keeps sensual scenes closed behind doors.

Together they begin to try and figure out what the ghosts want from them, and this leads them to some unexpected discoveries. What they find is something that resonates with both of them greatly, especially Freddie who has yet to come out to his parents. Although, when they do find out it is a bit of a anti-climax for Freddie as they just except him for who he is - he need not of worried afterall!

This story is a lot of fun and it is a gripping read and one I throughly enjoyed. If you love ghostly fiction with believable characters and a fast-paced plot then this book is certainly worth a read.

Penny Hampson writes mysteries, and because she has a passion for history, you’ll find her stories also reflect that. A Gentleman’s Promise, a traditional Regency romance, was Penny’s debut novel and the first of her Gentlemen Series. There are now four novels in the series, with the latest, An Adventurer’s Contract, released in November 2024. Penny also enjoys writing contemporary mysteries with a hint of the paranormal, because where do ghosts come from but the past? The Unquiet Spirit, a spooky mystery/romance set in Cornwall, is the first in the Spirited Encounters Series. Look out for A Plethora of Phantoms coming soon.

Penny lives with her family in Oxfordshire, and when she is not writing, she enjoys reading, walking, swimming, and the odd gin and tonic (not all at the same time).

If you’ve enjoyed any of Penny’s books please leave a review on Amazon, Bookbub, or Goodreads, and let other readers know!

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Take a look at To Die For by Audrey Steidl #YoungAdult #Thriller @Books_by_Audrey @RABTBookTours

To Die For

By Audrey Steidl

To Die For is a harrowing look into the life of a narcissist who refuses to take accountability for the damage she inflicts.

High school senior Dei Fields appears completely harmless, but she has a keen instinct for manipulation. When she first sets eyes on hot star athlete Mika St. John, she’s determined to have him … and Dei always gets what she wants. There are only three obstacles: Mika’s friends, his family, and his girlfriend. But Dei isn’t afraid to destroy relationships to satisfy her fantasies.

In a matter of weeks, she love-bombs Mika into thinking he has found his soulmate, but when Dei’s plans go awry, everything changes—including her identity. Will Dei get what she wants this time? Or will she finally get what she deserves?

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 309

Amazon UK • Amazon US

The Villian You Love to Hate

By Audrey Steidl

What makes a villain someone that you love to hate?  Like all characters on the page, a villain is only believable if they have moments of hesitation or even clarity about their own motives – when they realize that what they are planning might be wrong but choose to do it anyway.

It starts with the choices that they make and their worldview, which is centered entirely on their desires, their emotions, their goals. 

Take money. Most people don’t do bad things strictly for the money or because some other bad guy tells them to take something that doesn’t belong to them. Nor do they scam someone just for the money – it’s much deeper than that.

For the villain, money is usually about significance or power -- or about how others will perceive them if they don’t have it. A villain isn’t motivated by security or by the need to put a roof over their head or bread on the table. They want more than what they need. And what they want is power. 

Most villains want to control someone -- or everyone -- around them. At its extreme, their weapon of choice may be guns, sexual violence or a rope. Capturing someone is always about containment and control.  

But sometimes their most effective weapon is manipulation and gaslighting: a lie told over and over again until it becomes the truth – at least in the mind of the villain and the victim.

In a seduction scenario, a villain may use charm, love-bombing, extravagant gifts, displays of jealousy, giving or withholding attention, or refusing to let the victim out of their sight. They will demand to know who their partner has been with, why they are late, where they are going…. These are all manipulative tools. And typically, they are the tools of the covert or malignant narcissist.

The most important thing to understand is that villains don’t see themselves as villains. In their own minds, they believe that they are smarter, more talented, and more deserving of being the one with the power, the money, the control…. 

Yet perversely, they can also think of themselves as the victim when thwarted of their desires. They might even enlist the reader’s sympathy in this role. But only for a time. Ultimately – however charming or talented they may seem or how much we may love to hate them -- we do want them to see them defeated! 

 

 

 Audrey Steidl is the award-winning author of the romantic thriller The Fallen. Her passion for storytelling began at an early age when she wrote scripts and performed them with her neighborhood friends in full costume and makeup. This love blossomed into a career as an actress and as a producer for cable television.

Now, when she’s not writing page-turners, Audrey is a hotel travel executive, a pilates fiend, and a lover of travel and art. A long-time San Diego resident, she shares her home with her husband Jamie and their mischievous Pomeranian Loki. Her latest novel, To Die For, is inspired by those who have the courage to walk away from narcissists and emotionally abusive relationships.

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Read about life in ancient Egypt with N. L. Holmes, author of A Taste of Evil #AncientHistoricalFiction #AncientEgyptianMystery #CozyHistorical @nlholmesbooks @cathiedunn

A Taste of Evil 

By N.L. Holmes

In Tutankhamen's Egypt, the vizier's head cook dies suspiciously, and it looks like murder to Neferet and Bener-ib. Only, who would want to kill a cook, a man admired by all?

Perhaps he has professional rivals or a jealous wife. But she is the longtime cook of Neferet's family, a dear retainer above reproach. Was her husband the good man he seemed to be, or did he have the shady past our two sleuths begin to suspect?

They'd better find out soon before the waters of foreign conspiracy rise around Neferet and her diplomat father. If they can't find the killer, it could mean war with Egypt's enemy, Kheta -- and someone else could die. Maybe one of our nosy sleuths...  

Pages: 247

Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery

Grab a copy HERE!

What would it be like to live in the ancient Egypt of Neferet’s time?

By N. L. Holmes

First of all, if one had to drop down into the Late Bronze Age, Egypt would be the best place to drop. In terms of health care and women’s rights, for example, they were far ahead of their contemporaries, but life would still seem primitive in the extreme, unless one was lucky enough to be an aristocrat. Let’s look at some of the differences between our times and Neferet’s that would immediately strike a time traveler.

One is the hierarchical nature of society, so different from our own democracy. The king was unimaginably rich and powerful. King Tut’s tomb contained goods that would have cost a thousand years of an ordinary workman’s salary!

High nobles lived in luxury in spacious houses with big gardens, had indoor baths and toilets (flushed by servants with buckets), ate meat-rich food off exquisite plates, and enjoyed well-fed, sedentary, secure lives. 

The working class huddled with their average of ten children into poorly lit little houses, worked hard from sunrise to sunset, and could hardly afford to buy furniture. But they did at least have “weekends” off every ten days and plenty of festivals to supplement their bread-and-beer basic diet. People were very conscious of their class, but it wasn’t unheard of for the dissatisfied to stand up to their betters. Royal workmen sometimes went on strike, and every village had a council of citizens—including women—that ran their local affairs in a democratic way. 

Nobody had money. Business was carried out by barter, sometimes using bronze or silver, but there was no coinage. Taxes were paid in labor or foodstuffs, and wealth was reckoned mostly in grain and cattle, hence land. Marriage consisted of the simple decision to live together, with both partners bringing to the marriage what they could. The Egyptians seemed to marry monogamously for love (they had some red-hot love songs!) and to be devoted family folks, but divorce was easy if things went bad. If a man’s wife was childless, he could take a concubine to give him heirs. 

Women had essentially equal legal rights with men, could testify in court, leave and receive inheritances, run businesses, and even give orders to men subordinates. Yet people still sometimes took advantage of widows and orphans, and the very poor might have to sell themselves into temporary indentured servitude to pay debts. 

Egyptian medicine was highly advanced for its day, with doctors consulting casebooks that showed what had worked against symptoms in the past. They were good at surgery, and medicines varied from solid “folk” remedies like willow bark for fever (it contains salicylic acid like aspirin) or honey as an antiseptic to strange magical procedures. Nowhere near as good as modern healthcare, but way better than that of the Middle Ages! 

Still, it would strike our time traveler that Egypt was, as it is today, a tropical country with lots of diseases and a slew of horrible parasites carried by the river. If you were working class, you strained your body so hard that it showed up in the bones. If you were rich and sedentary, you might suffer from cardiovascular problems. The life expectancy was about 35 for ordinary people, but there were individuals who lived to be seventy, eighty, even ninety years old.—although there wasn’t much anyone could do for their cataracts or arthritis. As far as dentistry goes, the only thing to do about a rotten tooth was to pull it out if you could grab it. If you were rich enough, you could fill in the gap with a bridge attached with gold wires. 

One thing that would strike a modern immediately was how slow life was and how much physical effort everything required except for the fortunate few who had servants. Most travel was by boat at five miles per hour, or by foot at three. Donkeys went no faster. It took days to get anywhere!

People like Neferet’s father, who traveled frequently to foreign parts, spent much of their lives in transit. Messages had to be sent by runners or horseback couriers—no phone calls or texts. Calculations and writing were done laboriously by hand in a system so complex that only 1% of the population had the luxury of mastering it, and it was literacy that gave a person status. 

There was no running water; it had to be raised from wells. Light was provided by dim oil lamps, and “air conditioning” was just a vent in the ceiling, maybe with some servants to fan up a breeze. Even the king, the most powerful man on the planet, lived a life of far less comfort than an ordinary person today, although he had prettier jewelry. And for the ordinary man, every giant block of stone or heavy beam had to be cut without any power tools. Manpower was the secret of Egypt’s greatness. There was no unemployment, but life was pretty disposable. 

In short, the Egyptians lived in a society of contrasts. While they seemed to have been free of racism, there were sharp social divides. Their engineering and craftsmanship have never been equalled, yet everyday life for most people was primitive. Their science was far more sophisticated than almost anything else around, yet little of that got translated into labor-saving gadgets. I would love to visit their world, but I sure wouldn’t want to live there permanently!

N.L. Holmes is the pen name of a professional archaeologist. She has excavated in Greece and in Israel and taught ancient history and humanities at the university level for many years. She has always had a passion for books, and in childhood, she and her cousin used to write stories for fun.

These days she lives in France with her husband, two cats, geese, and chickens, where she gardens, weaves, dances, and plays the violin.

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Have a look at Forest Legend: The Tale of Ol' Split Toe by Dan Ellens #YoungAdult #Nature #SciFi #TimeTravel @RABTBookTours

Forest Legend:

The Tale of Ol' Split Toe

By Dan Ellens

Mother Nature struggles to maintain equilibrium in a changing world while fire, disease, logging, human displacement, and war repeatedly destroy forests of centuries-old trees. Split Toe, a deer chosen at birth for a unique education, travels through time to understand the interconnected workings of a Michigan forest. He meets humans along the way: Ice Age hunters who trap and kill a mastodon; Mukwoh, a young Ojibwe hunter who stalks Split Toe through swamp and forest; loggers clearcutting Michigan’s white pines; Edra, a woman advocating for the trees; Angus and Grace, pioneers who become a first generation of family farmers; scientists from the future studying the impact of nuclear radiation.

Split Toe witnesses two hundred years of conflict building between modern humans -- who fight to control the natural world -- and Mother Nature, who repeatedly reaches for balance. He wonders whether human ways will ultimately overpower Mother Nature, until he meets a boy who changes everything.

Genres: YA Fiction/Science & Nature/Environment Science Fiction/Time Travel Literature & Fiction/Action & Adventure

Pages: 282

Grab a copy HERE!

 

 Dan Ellens is an outdoor enthusiast who is passionate about connecting people with nature. He spends nearly half of each year in an isolated, electricity-free treehouse on Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary with woodstove heat, handpump water, and oil lamp lighting.

Dan has written four nonfiction books intended to inspire adventure, promote self-sufficient lifestyles, and connect people with nature.

While not in the wilds, Dan and his wife live in the small community of Salem, Michigan.

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Read an excerpt from The Twisted Road by A.B. Michaels #MurderMystery #HistoricalThriller #TheCoffeePotBookClub #BlogTour @ABMichaelsBooks @cathiedunn

The Twisted Road

By A.B. Michaels

1907 

Rising from the devastation of a massive earthquake and fire, San Francisco is once again on the move. But a strike by streetcar drivers threatens to halt the Golden City in its tracks. Protests turn to violence and violence leads to death. Soon a young guard is convicted of willfully killing a protester and the public is out for blood. 

Jonathan Perris, an immigrant attorney from England, has opened a law firm with an eye toward righting wrongs, and the guard’s conviction may fall into that category.  But the talented barrister soon finds his newfound career shaken by a tragic event: the gruesome murder of the beautiful and mysterious Lena Mendelssohn—a woman he’s been squiring around town. It’s difficult to run a law firm when you’ve been arrested for murder.

Pages: 308

Genre: historical mystery

Grab a copy HERE!

EXCERPT

“A Painful Interruption”

Secure in the knowledge that the boys would stay away, Dove’s strategy was to meet Nora at the car barn and talk her out of her foolhardy action by playing her against her compatriots. He’d explain that Simon and Oscar had not only thrown in the towel but were ready to tell what happened on Bloody Tuesday under oath. She was an intelligent young woman with a lot to offer the world; was she willing to go down for destruction of private property, as well as assault? Faced with such a choice, she would be crazy not to cooperate.

He’d gone over his plan with Jonathan, who’d agreed with his reasoning, and with Cordelia, who hadn’t.

“She’s not going to bend, even to you, Dovey; she is one tough cookie.”

“If all else fails, I’m bigger,” he replied with a grin, but Cordie wasn’t impressed.

“We’ll see,” she’d said.

At ten o’clock on the night of the exhibit, with carpet bag in hand, Dove made his way to the meeting point in front of the car barn. It was quiet as a churchyard. The strike between the carmen’s union and United Railroads had been going on for more than two months, and fatigue had set in on both sides. The daily pickets still showed up, and streetcars were often sabotaged on the road with greased tracks or cut trees blocking their path, but by and large, everyone went to their respective corners at night. The barbed wire that had originally protected the yard and its resident scabs was nearly all gone, a simple chain link fence taking its place. As Nora predicted, even the guard shack was unoccupied. No doubt the shift started near midnight to save a little money. 

There was a crescent moon, so in between the street lamps, the light was scarce. A man stood in the shadows by the gate, talking to a young kid before pointing across the street and shooing him away. As he drew closer, Dove realized it wasn’t a man at all, but Nora. She was dressed in men’s clothing, covered by a workman’s jacket, her hair tucked under a cap. She carried what looked like a newsboy’s canvas bag, probably filled with the tools with which to commit her crimes. On some level she hadn’t believed he would bring what she needed.

“Where is everybody else?” he asked innocently.

“I don’t know. I figured most of them would back out anyway.” She pointed to his bag. “But if you’ve brought what I asked for, you and I can do what needs to be done.”

“Here you go,” he said, handing it over.

Nora opened it and looked inside. It was empty. “What is this, some kind of a joke?”

Knowing she couldn’t clearly see his face, Dove used his tone of voice to convey his message. “You know it’s not a joke, and neither is what you’re planning.” He reached out to her in the darkness. “Nora, this is wrong and, in your heart, you know it’s wrong.”

“I know nothing of the kind,” she hissed, shrugging him off and backing away. She’d reached the dim pool of light given off by the nearest lamp and he could see her fury. “Are you playing a game with all this, or are you just a coward?”

“I am someone who knows the law and the penalty for breaking it. You stepped over the line on Bloody Tuesday when you assaulted that guard with a brick, and if you go through with what you had in mind tonight, you’ll be in far worse trouble. If you just—”

“Just what?” she shot back acidly. “Stay on the sidelines? Go to meetings and listen to more theories about the ideal state of the working man? Let the men make the decisions and take the action? I don’t think so.” She was pacing as she vented, but abruptly stopped, apparently putting two and two together. “How stupid am I? You don’t just know someone in the law firm—you work for them, don’t you? My God, you probably work directly with that Cordelia what’s her name—”

“Hammersmith,” Dove said. “And yes, I do. We are trying to save the life of an innocent man, and you can help us do that.”

Despite the shadows, Dove could see how disappointed she was in him. Her face was pinched with bitterness. “I told her that I wouldn’t help her then, and I’m telling you the same thing now, so go to hell, Mr. ‘I just want to learn more about the revolution.’ You make me sick.”

Dove didn’t typically cajole a perp into giving himself up; his style was to simply get the job done. But Nora was different, so he tried again. “I don’t blame you for being angry,” he said patiently, “and I’m sorry for misleading you. But the stakes are very high here and I’m just trying to get you to see reason.” He gestured to her satchel. “I can’t just walk away and let you go through with it.” He reached for the bag, but she deftly stepped away, pulling a knife from her pocket and brandishing it.

“But you’re going to have to. Walk away, that is, unless you want to get hurt.”

My God, Nora’s really going for it.  Dove sensed for the first time that Cordelia was right about the young woman’s stubbornness. In fact, she’s gone round the bend. 

He began the process of disorienting her, talking to her in a constant patter as he slowly began to circle her, bobbing and weaving, leaning in and retreating. Nora lunged at him in turn, and it crossed his mind that anyone watching them from afar might think they were performing some strange ritual or maybe a dance of the macabre. He’d turned her around several times and at last saw her begin to falter. That’s my girl. He stepped in to disarm her when someone shrieked from over his left shoulder. He turned to see Lucy—sweet, quiet Lucy—pointing a gun straight at him, her arm shaking, no doubt out of fear.

That wasn’t the worst of it, of course.

The worst was that Nora took the opportunity to sink her knife deep into Dove’s chest.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Lucy cried as Dove staggered back. “Nora, what have you done?!”

A native of California, A.B. Michaels holds masters’degrees in history (UCLA) and broadcasting (San Francisco State University).  After working for many years as a promotional writer and editor, she turned to writing the kind of page-turning fiction she loves to read.  She writes historical fiction (“The Golden City” series), historical mystery (the “Barrister Perris” series) and contemporary romantic suspense (“Sinner’s Grove Suspense.”). All three series are character-linked and all are stand-alone reads.

Michaels lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and elderly wiener dog, Teddy, who cannot see or hear, but sniffs his way from one comfortable spot to another.  In addition to writing and dog-snuggling, Michaels is an avid reader, traveller, quilter and bocce player, as well as a mediocre but enthusiastic golfer.

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Have a look at Boy Altered by J.S. Pavoggi #RABTBookTours #BoyAltared #JSPavoggi #HistoricalFiction @RABTBookTours

Boy Altered

By J.S. Pavoggi

Amid the vibrant landscape of San Francisco in the late 1960s, eleven-year-old Jamie steps into the confines of a dark confessional booth. With promises of confidentiality, Father Nelson uncovers a chilling secret buried deep within the young boy’s subconscious.

Intrigued by his grave past, Father Nelson brings him into the church as an altar boy under the mentorship of Harry, an older acolyte. The priest quickly gains control over Jamie, using the boy’s complicated history and his own undisputed authority to initiate a dark turn in their relationship. Jamie falls deeper into the world of religion, and his blooming friendship with Harry becomes a needed distraction from the somber realities of the church.

Shaped by major cultural events, from the Manson murders to the moon landing, to Woodstock and the Civil Rights Movement, Jamie’s life unfolds as he navigates religion, power, and loss of innocence. A haunting coming of age story, Boy Altared explores a seismic shift into adulthood during one of the most turbulent decades in history.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Date Published: April 1, 2026

Grab a copy HERE!

 

 

 J.S. Pavoggi was born in 1957 and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the sixth of eight children in a devout Catholic family. He attended parochial school, served as an altar boy, and came of age during the turbulence of the Vietnam War era and the cultural upheaval that followed.

After a 40-year career in public service with the United States Postal Service—where he also served as a union representative—Pavoggi experienced a life-altering heart procedure that changed the way he saw the world. What began as an impulse to write a better streaming series evolved into a powerful, fictionalized account of survival and healing.

His debut novel, Boy Altared, is a deeply personal work of historical fiction rooted in memory, silence, and resilience. Pavoggi lives in Arizona with his wife of 38 years. They have three children and four grandchildren.

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