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Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense Books to Read | September 2021

Don't miss out on these exciting new mystery, thriller, and suspense books that are perfect to add to your reading list this fall! Check out these new books by bestselling authors Roslyn Reid, Marilyn Wright Dayton, Christian Blaha, Tessa Kelly, SE Reynolds, and Ann Cleeves. Enjoy your new mystery, thriller, and suspense books!

The Spiricom (An Early Mystery)

by Roslyn Reid

Release Date: September 21, 2021

A new suspenseful novel by Roslyn Reid...When a car crash kills his Dr. Spencer Py's bride and leaves him bound to a wheelchair. One fateful night he stumbles upon plans for the Spiricom on the internet, Thomas Edison's devise for communicating with the dead. Determined to be united with his beloved, he embarks on a journey to build the device, and unwittingly draws Detective James Early into the scariest case of his life.

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Murder On The Mesa

by Marilyn Wright Dayton

Release Date: July 27, 2021

Book 1 in the Hightower Mystery Series by Marilyn Wright Dayton... Weezie Hightower and Guy Davis, retired detective, head across the country to Arizona, and solve a murder mystery that has seven suspects. And it only takes them seven days to solve it. This is an edge-of-your-seat read, with engrossing characters!

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The Black Sofa

by Christian Blaha

Release Date: September 14, 2021

A new paranormal suspense by Christian Blaha...Sara must contend with the nightmarish visions she experiences every evening when she falls asleep on her office’s antique black sofa. These haunting apparitions seem increasingly, alarmingly real. And soon enough, they start slipping into her waking hours. Can Sara use the clues she receives in her dreams to solve these horrific, modern-day murders?

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A Lovely Kind of Murder

by Tessa Kelly

Release Date: June 4, 2021

A new book in the A Sandie James Cozy Mystery Series by Tessa Kelly...Sandie’s cop brother is suspected of killing not one but three young women. Now she's forced to show just how far she’ll go to prove his innocence. As she uncovers new clues, Sandie realizes someone close to Will may be framing him. Desperate to find the real killer, she enlists the help of her boyfriend and her trusty dog Marlowe. Unfortunately, time is not on their side.

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Enigma Rose

by SE Reynolds

Release Date: July 23, 2021

A new suspenseful novel by SE Reynolds...A small-town mayor’s perfect first lady confesses a disturbing secret on the eve of her death. Everything he thought he knew about her was a lie. Now, the mayor is desperate to find her replacement, a perfect voter-friendly angel. His search leads him into a toxic love triangle with two very different women. He chooses one, but is she the right choice, or is his judgment clouded by lies and an alluring ghost from his past?

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The Heron's Cry

by Ann Cleeves

Release Date: September 7, 2021

New York Times bestseller Ann Cleeves returns with the extraordinary follow-up to The Long Call...Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder--Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter's broken vases. Then another body is found killed in a similar way. Matthew soon finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.

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Romance Reads You'll Love | September 2021

In the mood for a new romance read this week? Check out our favorite new romance paranormal and romantic suspense books from bestselling authors LP Dover, Jessika Klide, Siobhan Davis, Stephanie Hudson, Natasha Knight, and Delta James. Enjoy your new romances!

Claimed by the Moon

by L.P. Dover

Release Date: September 28, 2021

Book 6 in the A Royal Shifters series by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author L.P. Dover...More than anything Zayne wants to charge in and protect the woman his heart aches for. But he has a secret, and it could cost him everything. Amelie is his fated mate. If his enemies were to discover this, they would know hurting her would be the key to destroying him. However, staying away from her is something he can't do.

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The Thief (Risqué Fairy Tales)

by Jessika Klide

Release Date: September 23, 2021

A new modern-day fairytale retelling mafia romance series by Amazon Bestselling Author Jessika Klide...He's a man on a mission to marry. He needs a wife so he steals my life. I only pray he doesn't steal my heart along the way. Prepare to have your heart stolen in this twisted, tangled retelling of the long-haired beauty.

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Forbidden to Love

by Siobhan Davis

Release Date: September 30, 2021

A new stand-alone dark mafia romance from USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Siobhan Davis...Natalia Mazzone has grown up knowing she is promised to a made man. As the only daughter of one of New York’s most powerful mafia dons, she knows she can’t refuse. It’s her duty, and she would never dishonor her beloved father. But the man she’s promised to is a monster.

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The HellBeast's Fight

by Stephanie Hudson

Release Date: September 30, 2021

From Bestselling Paranormal Romance author Stephanie Hudson comes Book 2 of The HellBeast King...It started the moment I woke up in the hospital, I naively believed I would find myself alone. I was wrong. Because the HellBeast King wasn’t done with me. Far from it in fact, as he told me he had made a vow. A vow to keep me safe. But as my fate started to unravel, revealing more and more pieces of him at the core, I couldn’t help but question: was his vow to keep me safe, or was it simply a HellBeast’s fight…to keep me?

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Stolen: Dante's Vow

by Natasha Knight

Release Date: September 30, 2021

USA Today Bestselling Author Natasha Knight, brings us a new suspenseful romance...Five years. That’s how long it took me to find her. Five years after my world shattered, leaving me a scarred and broken man. By then, the girl I knew was gone. In her place stood a woman. One who looked like an angel. An impossible, beautiful angel. I killed for her. Soaked my hands in the blood of those who hurt her and rescued her from hell. But hell has a way of following you. Becoming a part of you. Maybe the only part you recognize. I had every intention of bringing her home. Setting her free. I swear I did. But the men who stole her all those years ago weren’t done with her yet. They’d stop at nothing to get her back. And I’d kill any man who tried to take her from me. She calls me her avenging angel. But I know the truth. I’m no angel. Because even as I tell myself I’m protecting her I know one thing for sure. I am a monster, too. No better than them. Because just like them, I’ll never let her go.

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Strong (Ghost Cat Canyon)

by Delta James

Release Date: September 30, 2021

Book 5 in the Ghost Cat Canyon series by USA Today Bestselling Author Delta James...I will have to use all my intelligence training to solve the murder of my father and clear my brother’s name. My brother hired Kennedy Greyson, lawyer extraordinaire and my bonded spirit, to defend the family. We have a past neither wants to admit to, much less try to fix. I move in a shadowy world that frightens and repulses her. But she knows the core of the man she’s fallen in love with is honorable and worthy. As a human, she is unaware of the existence of shifters. She must work her way through the mire of small-town jurisprudence and her own feelings to solve not only the whodunit of Cyrus’s murder but the secrets that lie at the heart of Looking Glass Falls deceptions.

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New Literary Fiction Novels For Your Reading List | September 2021

Looking for a new literary fiction or historical fiction book to pick up this week? Check out these new novels by Suanne Laqueur, Jayne Allen, Colleen van Niekerk, Jeffrey Lewis, Leslie Hooton, and Michael Bailey. Enjoy your new novels!

A Small Hotel

by Suanne Laqueur

Release Date: September 28, 2021

A new historical literary fiction novel by award-winning author, Suanne Laqueur...Suanne Laqueur's eighth novel takes readers on a journey through World War II, and the events that shape an American family’s weakest moments and finest hours. A Small Hotel illuminates the experience of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and their once-in-a-generation camaraderie, courage, and resiliency.

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Black Girls Must Die Exhausted

by Jayne Allen

Release Date: September 28, 2021

The first novel in a captivating three-book series by Jayne Allen...Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is about modern womanhood, in which a young Black woman must rely on courage, laughter, and love—and the support of her two longtime friends—to overcome an unexpected setback that threatens the most precious thing she’s ever wanted.

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Land of Cockaigne

by Jeffrey Lewis

Release Date: September 20, 2021

A novel written by Jeffrey Lewis as a sharp parable of American society, addressing love, purpose, discrimination, and poverty...Written as a parable of contemporary American society, Land of Cockaigne is by turns furious, funny, subversive, tragic, and horrifying. Faced with the question of what to do amid disastrous times, Walter Rath offers a clue: Love is an action, not a feeling. Once you go down this path of faith, there is much to be done.

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A Conspiracy of Mothers

by Colleen van Niekerk

Release Date: October 1, 2021

From a bold new voice in literary fiction comes a compelling story of three mothers whose lives intersect during a generation-defining period in South Africa’s history...An evocative debut novel set during a defining period in history, A Conspiracy of Mothers tells a gripping story of love and betrayal from multiple perspectives while deftly balancing the painful legacy of apartheid with the trials of motherhood.

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Psychotropic Dragon

by Michael Bailey

Release Date: September 28, 2021

From the mind of Michael Bailey, author of Palindrome Hannah, Phoenix Rose, and various short fiction and poetry collections, Psychotropic Dragon brings all his work together...Part short novel, part novella, part novelette, with a few short stories and fables in between, Psychotropic Dragon is a mind-bending composite narrative about Julie Stipes and her experience with the street drug Drakein-5. The psychotropic eye drops blur reality, sending her through a horrific journey of self-discovery and recovery. Each act in this ensemble is further brought to life with illustrations by Daniele Serra, Glenn Chadbourne, L.A. Spooner, and Ty Scheuerman. An addictive, scary, and mind-bending experience.

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The Secret of Rainy Days

by Leslie Hooton

Release Date: September 28, 2021

Leslie Hooton, the author of Before Anyone Else, brings her signature wit and Southern charm to the page again in this triumphant coming-of-age story...Bit believes she can escape her grandmother’s controlling grip once and for all by moving somewhere where she is the only Nina Enloe listed: New York. Yet her world is turned upside down when an unexpected loss forces her to leave her new life in the city and return to Erob, where she must face everything—and everyone—she left behind. In the process, Bit discovers her true identity, learns the hard lessons of acceptance and forgiveness, finds herself falling in love in unexpected places, and finds comfort in the secrets of rainy days.

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Fantasy & Sci-Fi Must-Read Books | September 2021

Our picks for this week's fantasy and sci-fi books are perfect for action and suspense readers! Check out these adventurous new books by bestselling authors James Fox, Michael Alan Peck, John Hindmarsh, R.L. King, Sean Platt, David W. Wright, and Michael Robertson. Enjoy your new fantasy and sci-fi must-read books!

Retaliation

by James Fox

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Book 2 of The Sol Saga by Bestselling Author James Fox...After learning too late that he was supposed to take the fall for a political assassination and massacre, disgraced ex-general Keith Brennan finds himself given a slim chance at redemption. Retaliation is the next book in The Sol Saga trilogy, a dark and gritty sci-fi drama with relentless action and subterfuge that will leave you breathless and hungry for more!

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The Margins

by Michael Alan Peck

Release Date: September 30, 2021

Book 2 of The Commons Series by, Michael Alan Peck, an author that Publishers Weekly describes as, "an author to watch..."The Margins shouldn’t be—but is, thanks to Paul Reid. He won. But he played into the hands of an evil that anticipated his heroic act. Now the universe is collapsing, and those who created the danger must neutralize it. It won’t be easy. It might not be possible. But this is where the difficult and the impossible abound. This is The Commons.

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Violent Graduation

by John Hindmarsh

Release Date: September 30, 2021

Violent Graduation is the first book in a brand new series by Amazon Bestselling Author John Hindmarsh...It’s easy to ignore dangerous issues while you’re studying at the Royal Space Navy’s academy, until a sniper attempts to assassinate you. The scar across the side of Jack’s head is the visible price. The risk to his friends at the academy is the hidden price. His challenge is how to balance the risks. The final stage of his training is a shakedown cruise on an old minesweeper, barely able to achieve FTL entry and exit. Midway through their cruise, the minesweeper collides with an ancient alien wreck, ripping the sides off the starship. Jack’s team of bots help seal the combined wreck to prevent air loss. Ghost, a nanolife form from the alien wreck, provides assistance. Jack and his girlfriend, Sofia, are the only survivors, and air, food, and supplies are critical. The countdown of days to survive is ticking. No wonder the Royal Family are angry. And there’s still a price on Jack’s head.

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Winds of Change (Alastair Stone Chronicles)

by R.L. King

Release Date: September 12, 2021

The 27th installment of the Alastair Stone Chronicles by Amazon bestselling author R.L. King...sometimes the biggest events begin with the smallest incidents. This time, it’s another of Jason’s strange cases: a missing man a tracking spell can’t trace. It isn’t long before the man turns up. Except he’s…different. And he’s not the only one. A new magical affliction is creeping through the world, permanently altering people’s auras and changing their astral forms. As Alastair Stone and his friends struggle to understand it and trace its source, he soon finds he’s got another, far more personal, issue to deal with. A powerful foe is back with a proposal for Stone—and this time, he doesn’t seem willing to take no for an answer. The world of the Stone Chronicles is about to change irrevocably. You don’t want to miss this one.

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Tomorrow's Gone

by Sean Platt & David W. Wright

Release Date: September 14, 2021

The second book in Sean Platt and David W. Wright's tense new post-apocalyptic serialized thriller...The Ruins are growing, threatening the Slums with total devastation — if Slum Lord can’t find a way to stop the alien magic, he won’t have to worry about the impending revolution because there will be no one alive to revolt. While Slum Lord fights for the right to protect his city, Elijah Freeman is captured and thrown into General McTaggart’s mountain prison. Elijah must stop McTaggart from raising an Alt army, but how can he do it from this cell? Luckily for both of them, Boricio continues to battle the Darkness inside him as he travels into the heart of enemy territory, seeking an artifact that could help them destroy the Ancients: the Seed. Boricio finds more than he expected — but will it be enough to prevent a mass extinction?

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Divided

by Michael Robertson

Release Date: September 19, 2021

Divided is the 11th book in the thrilling post-apocalyptic Beyond These Walls saga by Amazon Bestselling Author Michael Robertson...They risked everything crossing the wall in search of a better life. Given a choice now, every one of them would go back. But they don’t have a choice. They’re a group divided. They crossed as a team, if they decide to go home again, it will be as a team. The only chance they have of reuniting their group is to venture deeper into this hostile new world. A world that might be the undoing of them all. But it's also a world that could provide answers to questions they’ve asked their entire lives. What’s south of the wall? Why has the diseased population never died out? What started the plague in the first place? To earn the right to ask their questions, first they must learn the rules for this new environment. Fail and they’ll die.

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Interview with Lindsay Buroker, Author of Mind Over Magic (A Witch in Wolf Wood Book 1)

What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Mind Over Magic?

I’ve always loved house hunting and exploring quirky old houses. Even as a kid, I got super excited whenever the family moved and we had to find a new place. I wanted to explore every house with my parents and find all the nooks and crannies (if only secret doors and hidden passageways had been more common). I also loved the idea of inheriting an old house…

Sadly, that’s never happened to me.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t let it happen to my characters and live vicariously through them. For Morgen Keller, inheriting her grandmother’s old farmhouse is how the story starts.

To Morgen’s surprise, it’s full of witch paraphernalia. It turns out Grandma was a witch and had a werewolf for a roommate. What can I say? These things happen.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Mind Over Magic, what would they be?

My werewolf is a dour, grouchy grump who’s lost his family and a lot of pack mates, so I’ll give him the nicely depressing Cold Missouri Waters by Cry Cry Cry.

Morgen falls for songs with animals in them (in the divorce, she let her husband have the house so that she could keep her best dog bud Lucky), so she’ll go for a song about dog romance. Blake Shelton’s Ol’ Red. (There might be people and something about a prison break in that song too, but she mostly remembers the dog romance.)

If you had to write a blurb for the last book you read, what would it say?

Uhm, the last book I read was Dividends Don’t Lie by Geraldine Weiss. It’s on investing, and I don’t think I can write a blurb that makes that subject sound super exciting. Or even vaguely exciting.

It is by a super successful female investor, so that’s pretty cool. She originally tried to get a job as a stockbroker or analyst but was turned away because obviously women couldn’t be successful in that field. She eventually started an investing newsletter, signed the letters as G. Weiss, and became well known because her subscribers followed her advice and did well in the markets. It was fifteen years before she appeared in a television interview, and her subscribers learned she was a woman. Surprise!

(It was easier to keep secrets like that in the 60s and 70s.)

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I like a lot of sub-genres of fantasy and science fiction. Sci-fi romance may be my favorite to read, especially the space opera kind of stuff like Star Wars and Firefly. I’ve written some sci-fi romance under a pen name, but they’re a little naughtier than my LB stuff, haha.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? Where did you write Mind Over Magic?

My Herman Miller Aeron chair is one of the more expensive pieces of furniture in my house, and I invested in it because it’s good for ergonomics. But… I tend to slump off to the side and sit in it with my leg draped over the armrest. So, uh, ergonomics fail.

I also write from bed, often with a dog draped over my lap (occasionally my laptop). Another ergonomics fail. But hey, that’s where most of Mind Over Magic happened.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

As all good career advice does, mine comes from a song:

“Yo, I don't rap so millions of people will like me;
I rap 'cause there's millions of people just like me.”

- Just Being Me by NF

Lindsay Buroker is the author of the new book Mind Over Magic (A Witch in Wolf Wood Book 1)

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Interview with Suanne Laqueur, Author of A Small Hotel

What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write A Small Hotel?

The protagonist of A Small Hotel, Kennet Fiskare, is the grandfather of Erik Fiskare, the protagonist in my Fish Tales series. After suffering severe trauma in his young adulthood, Erik’s childhood recollections are hazy, even entirely lost. Yet he retains consistent, vivid memories of his grandfather Kennet, a reserved and distant man who showed love in deeds rather than words—for example, he left Erik enough money in his will to go to college.

At the end of Fish Tales, Erik is starting to make contact with his extended family and learn more about his history. He realizes his life and Kennet’s life follow the same trajectory: both ordinary young men were thrown into extraordinary circumstances, both shaped by the traumas of war and violence, both estranged from their first loves yet given a second chance. I wanted to dive deeper into those themes and tell Kennet’s story as a standalone novel. The result is A Small Hotel.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of A Small Hotel, what would they be?

Any version of “A Small Hotel,” by Rodgers & Hart

Carmen Miranda’s “South American Way”

Dinah Shore’s version of “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To”

The “Colonel Bogey March” – either instrumental or with parody lyrics.

If you had to write a blurb for the last book you read, what would it say?

I only write blurbs under extreme duress! However, here’s what I wrote after finishing KJ Charles’ The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting:

“Can we declare KJ Charles a national treasure? A world treasure? She never fails. If you read a truly crappy book, go back to KJ Charles to restore your faith in literary humanity. If you read a truly magnificent book and think nothing can top it, go back to KJ Charles because she is consistently dependable to hit your reset button.”

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

My friend Camille and I are huge fans of what we like to call “Stiff Upper Lip Fiction”: works by 20th century British female authors about sensible British dames sorting out problems in their towns and villages, keeping calm and carrying on. Authors like Stella Gibbons, Margery Sharp, Rosamunde Pilcher, and Rumer Godden. We live for this. The closest I’ve come to writing it is the character Marta in A Small Hotel. She’s kind of a rough-edged Mary Poppins.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? Where did you write A Small Hotel?

My quirk is I write longhand in notebooks so yes, Small Hotel was written on couches, in coffee shops, at kitchen tables, on porches, in bed, and even in the car! I don’t recommend the last if you’re prone to motion sickness. I was green-faced while writing, but the idea was too good to let getaway.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

No question, Elizabeth Gilbert’s advice that “done is better than perfect” changed my life. She got it from her mother, and I love how it elevates accomplishment over impossible standards. Every time I near a book’s release and the urge to nitpick and polish and edit is overwhelming, I take a breath and remember, “It’s done. Let it be done. Done is better than perfect.”

Suanne Laqueur is the author of the new book A Small Hotel

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Interview with Roslyn Reid, Author of The Spiricom

What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Spiricom?

This came from an idea I had for a romance back in the Nineties. I never used it because I discovered I was pretty terrible at writing romance. However, a couple of years ago I came across it in some old documents I had, and I thought it would be a great fit for the Early Mysteries series. I actually have an audio recording of the original Spiricom. Creepy stuff.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Spiricom, what would they be?

Early – the theme from “Shaft.” It’s his ringtone!

Tikki – “Walk Like a Man.” He’s more of a man than many of the male characters in the series.

Chief Hal – the theme from “Peter Gunn.” It just seems to suit him.

If you had to write a blurb for the last book you read, what would it say?

The last book I read was Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump. My blurb would be: The story of a family who thought they knew the best way to raise children—and the horrifying results.

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Nonfiction. I was a nonfiction writer before I started writing fiction. I like to do research, so it is one of my favorite genres to write in.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? Where did you write The Spiricom?

I write in bed! Always have, ever since I started writing at the age of eight. I wrote in longhand back then, but now I use a computer.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

1. “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Robert J. Hanlon

2. An opinion is NOT a fact!

Roslyn Reid is the author of the new book The Spiricom

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Interview with L.P. Dover, Author of Claimed by the Moon (A Royal Shifters Novel)

What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Claimed by the Moon?

Claimed by the Moon is the 6th book in my Royal Shifters series. The main characters are Zayne and Amelie. You see them throughout the other books. Zayne is a complicated character and I kept putting off writing his story because of that. I didn’t know if I’d have the mind power to even do his story justice. As luck would have it, I found the courage to write his book. It turned out to be one of my favorites in the series. Basically, Claimed by the Moon is a second chance type of story. Zayne lost the woman he loved many years ago and he wasn’t there to protect her. That’s haunted him for decades. He hasn’t let himself love another since then. That is, until Amelie. And Amelie also has a daunting past. She was mated before to an evil alpha and almost didn’t survive him, but in the end, she killed him and freed herself. In Claimed by the Moon, I had to give them both a happy ending. They were due for one.

What's your favorite scene from your new release, Claimed by the Moon?

My favorite scene would have to be when Knox (Amelie’s past love and Zayne’s enemy) shows up at Amelie’s house. Zayne is there in the woods and you can feel the anger and tension. I love a good angsty love triangle.

If you had to write a blurb for the last book you read, what would it say?

The last book I read was Claimed by the Moon so I guess that doesn’t count. It’s been so long since I actually read something that I can’t remember what it was. If I’m not writing, I’m spending time with my family or binge-watching TV shows.

What romantic couple from literature makes you swoon? Which one is over-hyped?

My favorite series in the world is the Need series by Carrie Jones. So I’d have to say her characters Zara and Astley are who I swoon over. I’ve read those novels a gazillion times already. I think I’m due for another re-read … lol. As far as a romantic couple that’s overhyped, I can’t think of one. I’m a sucker for romance so any romantic couple is great.

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

My favorite genre to read is Fantasy/Paranormal and it’s also my favorite to write. It gives me a break from reality. When I write about magic, anything goes. I can make my own rules.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? Where did you write Claimed by the Moon?

I wrote Claimed by the Moon in my first ever office. We just moved to a new house and turned one of the bedrooms into my office. I’ve never had one before and it feels amazing to have my own space. I can shut the door and block everyone out. 🙂 As far as writing habits, I don’t think I have any quirky ones. The only thing I have to have is silence. I can’t write with music or with people talking all around me. I’m fascinated by those who can write in restaurants/cafes. I would be too busy people-watching instead of writing … lol. If my cat was still alive, she’d be on my lap and lying over my keyboard with her face on my hands, bobbing up and down as I type. I miss my writing buddy. However, now I have a goldendoodle who loves to put her toys on my lap and wait on me to throw them across the room so she can fetch them. When she does that, It’s hard not to stop writing and play. She’s a bad influence, but she’s also a cute one.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

Write what you want, not what’s on-trend. There was a time when I did write what was popular but I learned it’s best to write what your heart is in to.

L.P. Dover is the author of the new book Claimed by the Moon (A Royal Shifters Novel)

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Interview with Marilyn Wright Dayton, Author of Murder On The Mesa

What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Murder On The Mesa?

I love being in my 70's, retired from the business world (my marketing biz and tv show), and enjoy my hobby of reading and writing. My inspiration for the Hightower Mystery Series and Book 1 Murder on the Mesa was to write about 'older gals' who still have value, show how a retired PI (Weezie Hightower) can be pulled back into the crime scene to help solve mysteries. My inspiration is all other murder/mystery writers, especially Agatha Christie. The series came to me quickly and easily, as I thought of murder and what would Miss Marple/Hercule Poirot do to solve it?

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Murder On The Mesa, what would they be?

A theme song would need to be something upbeat, that says basically, "Got a problem? Don't worry." The song by Bobby McFerrin is fun and cute, like our Hightower Mystery gals. They may solve murders, but they are also fun.

If you had to write a blurb for the last book you read, what would it say?

I am a huge SciFi fan, and recently read the book The Peacemakers Code by Deepok Malhotra. It has it all - mystery, courage, and fear, keep you guessing until the end. Then wow!!

What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

My absolute favorite is what I write in - Murder/Mystery. SciFi is second, and I have written short stories in both genres.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? Where did you write Murder On The Mesa?

I have a desk downstairs in the lower level, where I hide away, and create. It is perfect for me. And since writing comes very easy for me, it is comfortable. Marketing is hard work, even though I am a trained marketer. It just seems like work, where writing doesn't work - it is fun, it is a blessing.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

Don't doubt yourself, when you begin to, put on some music, dance and get back at it. A hug from your pet helps too.

Marilyn Wright Dayton is the author of the new book Murder on the Mesa

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New Mystery and Thriller Books to Read | September 28

Hold on to the edge of your seat as we hunt for clues and solve the case with these exciting new mystery and thriller books for the week! There are so many bestselling authors with new novels for you to dive into this week including Tessa Kelly, Roslyn Reid, Marilyn Wright Dayton, and many more. Enjoy your new mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. Happy reading!

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