JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder

Watch Your Back by Stacy Claflin (Ariana Jones, #1) Publication date: May 22nd 2022 Genres: Adult, Thriller Even perfect neighborhoods have deadly secrets. Ariana and Damon moved to the gated neighborhood of Rosy Hills to leave behind their traumatic pasts. Now they have their dream jobs and are part of a tight group of friends. All of that crumbles when their neighbor Rita disappears without a trace. Now it looks like one of their own could be a killer. Ariana and Damon must figure out who it is, or they risk never finding Rita alive. If they don’t reach her in time, they could all end up dead… Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play EXCERPT: “Rita, where are you?” he called. She readied herself to run again. His footsteps sounded close. “Ready or not, here I come.” She held her breath. Waited. Had to get the shoes off. “Rita…” A shiver shot down her spine. “You can’t hide forever,” he said, now sounding farther away. Stomach lurching, she peeked a...

The Rose of Florence by Angela M. Sims Publication date: March 23rd 2023 Genres: Adult, Historical, Romance Prologue (1460): Gianetta is born in a farmhouse in Fiesole. Her mother dies in childbirth. The unnamed father is distraught but leaves her in the care of her grandmother and returns home. The Story (1478): Gianetta grows up and moves to Florence, where she is in service to a wealthy family of textile merchants – the Rosini. They are friends to and supporters of the powerful Medici clan. In the small, tight-knit group of staff, we meet Eleonora (cook), Luigi (Signor Francesco Rosini’s private assistant), Antonio and Lucia and our hero, Matteo. Gianetta and Matteo are in love and have a happy, peaceful life with the kind and generous Rosini family. They enjoy entertaining at Palazzo Rosini, where the Medici and Botticelli are frequent visitors. Following the suspected poisoning of Lorenzo de’ Medici and near death of Giuliano de’ Medici, both within the Rosini family home, the...

  Epic Fantasy Date Published: July 20, 2023 Invisible boundaries have isolated Cor's village for centuries. He accidentally finds a way out. What he finds outside is a violent and blighted world in decline. He learns that the entire world has been fragmented by similar boundaries, which are leeching their power from life itself. Unless something is done about the boundaries, what's left of life will come to an end. That heavy task falls on Cor's shoulders. Fortunately, he soon finds friends and fellow wanderers willing to share the load. Together, they venture across their small, fragmented world into the vast unknown beyond the boundaries. What they find there threatens their world ... but also just might save it. This epic fantasy is Book One of The Wanderers Cycle.   Praise for The Yawning Gap "Starred Review ... The Yawning Gap is simply splendid. Readers will savor every word. Highly re...

Take the Honey and Run by Jennie Marts (A Bee Keeping Mystery, #1) Publication date: July 18th 2023 Genres: Adult, Comedy, Mystery The town is all abuzz when a murder occurs in Jennie Marts’ debut cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Amanda Flower. As a successful mystery author, Bailey Briggs writes about murder, but nothing prepares her for actually discovering the dead body of the founder of her hometown of Humble Hills, Colorado. Bailey grew up at Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch and was raised by her beekeeping grandmother, Blossom Briggs, aka Granny Bee, and her two eccentric sisters, Aster and Marigold—which is why she drops everything to come home and help Granny Bee after a bad fall. A broken foot doesn’t stop her grandmother from ruling The Hive, her granny’s book club, or continuing to prepare and package her bee-inspired products. But when Bailey’s grandmother’s infamous “Honey I’m Home” hot spiced honey turns out to “bee” the murder weapon and her granny is now th...

Death’s Reckoning Mortal Aspects  Book One by Quinn Thomas Genre: Epic Fantasy Publisher: Ebbing Neptune Publishing  Date of Publication: July 18, 2023 ISBN: 979-8390605110 ASIN: B0BRWW31XH Number of pages: 419 Word Count: ~125k The power of the dead gods is held by mere mortals. When the Aspect of Death, thought to be the last neutral force in the world, joins the struggle, he promises to bring an end to their wars by any means necessary. The battle for power is fierce in a world where mortals wield the strength of dead gods in this first book of a high-stakes epic fantasy series from Quinn Thomas. A thousand years ago, the immortals were slain, their power passed down to a chosen few known as aspects. The competition between noble families for control of these aspects has plunged the land into a never-ending cycle of war and bloodshed. The Tevulun family has been driven to the brink of extinction by the most recent war. When Tarana Tevulun, who possesses the abilities of Cal...

  Henbane and Halibut The Seaglass Cove Mysteries  Book 1 by E. R. Blackwell and Cass Blackwell Genre: Cozy Mystery Date of Publication: July 3, 2023 Number of pages: 91 Word Count: 28,471 Cover Artist: Kimi Schaller Magic in every corner Experience the captivating world of Wyllow Kincade with the first book of The Seaglass Cove Mysteries. When Wyllow Kincaid returns to her quaint hometown with her daughter little does she know that their lives are about to take a thrilling turn. During a routine dog walk, Wyllow stumbles onto a horrifying discovery —a lifeless body, clutching a box from her mother's renowned herb farm. Soon, chaos ensues as Wyllow's mother finds herself unjustly accused and detained. Determined to prove her mother's innocence, Wyllow embarks on an intricate quest to unravel the truth. As she delves deeper into the investigation, the charming town's residents become potential suspects, leaving Wyllow uncertain about whom to trust. Amidst the twists and ...

The Book of Alys by Alan Gold Publication date: May 31st 2023 Genres: Adult, Historical Romance King Henry II, exhausted from everlasting conflict with France and the bad habit of his sons rebelling against their father finds love, solace, and passion after falling for the youthful beauty of Alys and makes her his mistress. Alys’ father, King Louis VII of France was a man in desperate need of an heir. Alys was his fourth daughter from two wives. After divorcing Eleanor, he married Alys’ mother Constance. The desperate need for a son meant that King Louis was striding down the aisle just five weeks after Constance’s death (not to say that he wasn’t grieving, it was said he was deeply affected by his loss), this time with Adele of Champagne who was twenty years his junior. Alys was finally joined by the longed-for brother when she was five years old, and then another sister named Agnes. Long before Alys came on to the scene her father had been at war, on and off, with Henry II of Engla...