SPOTLIGHT - ROM-COM - WILL THERE BE WINE & LOVE by Whitney Cubbison

If you love European settings, wine, romance, female friendships, laughter, heartbreak, redemption, and a bit of spice, these are the books for you!

Will There Be Wine?
by Whitney Cubbison
Genre: Romantic Comedy

Austen Keller was living her dream. She landed a career-defining job which moved her and her husband to Paris. Swoon! Shortly thereafter, she was divorced. Thud. This wasn’t the plan. Yet there she was—pushing 40 and starting over.

A decade after she’d last been single, Austen enters the dating scene playing by a new set of rules in a different language, culture, and lingerie standards. She experiences every type of miserable first date imaginable and lives to tell the tales of Pierre the Mansplainer, Simon the Snoozer, Emile the Over-Sharer, Guillaume of the Gym Shorts, and many more. On most dates, she struggles to get past one glass of Bordeaux without wanting to bolt. Even worse, no one chases after her when she runs. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that whoever said French men were romantic deserves a swift kick in the pants.

A rewarding and high-powered career. Check!

Fabulous female friendships. Nailed it!

True love. Umm?

Austen continues to ask herself: Is “having it all” too much to ask?

A genuine and tragically hilarious novel about an ex-pat woman's journey of self-discovery through a string of disastrous dates, relationships forged in a deep cultural divide, world travels, and wine. A lot of wine.

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Will There Be Love?
by Whitney Cubbison
Genre: Romantic Drama

A propulsive exploration of romantic and platonic love, commitment, shared history, betrayal and personal reckoning.

To celebrate her fortieth birthday, Ophelia and her husband Gianluca gather an unlikely group of eight friends and lovers – some old, some new, some false, some true – for a long weekend in Ibiza. However, the idyllic villa setting may be the only thing holding together a complicated tangle of friendship, love, and betrayal.

Among the guests is Ophelia’s old university flame, Matt, and his new girlfriend, Austen. While Matt finds himself falling in love, Austen is holding back, carefully protecting her heart.

Ophelia knows she loves her husband, but “love” is a word she never learned to say, a silence rooted in a childhood tragedy. What she doesn’t know is that Gianluca has been whispering it to someone else. And when his mistress crashes the party along with her own boyfriend, she brings a revelation that could unravel everything.

Across Rome, Paris and Ibiza, the party guests navigate the tangled paths that bring people together and push them apart, exploring where love begins, where it falters, and the courage it takes to hold on—or to let go.

Will There Be Love? is the sequel to Whitney Cubbison’s debut novel, Will There Be Wine?, however it can be read as a stand-alone.

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

Whitney Cubbison is a dual American & French citizen living in Paris since 2009. She grew up in Texas and California and graduated from UCLA with a degree in French. She started her career in Communications working for high-tech PR agencies in San Francisco and eventually joined Microsoft where she worked for sixteen years, thirteen of which from the Paris office. During that time, she held various international roles that encompassed public relations, employee communications, executive speechwriting, and social media.

She earned her French citizenship in early 2022 and left Microsoft that summer to focus on completing her first novel, Will There Be Wine?, which came out in January 2023. The story, while fiction, was deeply inspired by Whitney’s own experiences as an ex-pat divorcée living in Paris and trying to navigate the cultural minefield of dating in a foreign country. A sequel called Will There Be Love? will be out on April 29, 2025.

When she’s not writing, Whitney can be found sitting in Parisian cafés and restaurants with her friends, drinking wine.

Website * Facebook * Instagram * Bluesky * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

 

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SPOPTLIGHT w/INTERVIEW - PARANORMAL MYSTERY - SKINWALKER MEDIUM (Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mystery) by GG Collins

Skinwalker Medium

A Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mystery , #5

by GG Collins

Date of Publication:  March 19th 2025 

Publisher: Chamisa Canyon Publishing

Cover Artist:  Tatiana Vila, Vila Design

Genre:  Indigenous Paranormal Thriller

ISBN: 978-1735428246   

ASIN: B0F1ZGSYJK

Number of pages:  259

Word Count: 66,235

 

Tagline:  It’s the season of the witch. Are you ready?

BLURB

Rachel’s interview subjects are turning up dead, but only those linked to a certain story: the Santa Fe Penitentiary riot of 1980. 

It’s beginning to look like something malevolent is involved and it’s threatening everyone connected with the story. 

Rachel, the Reluctant Medium, must learn the Navajo ways to prevent another horrific skinwalker death – maybe even her own.

Amazon

 

Reviewed by Publisher's Weekly

Nominated for the New Mexico Book Award

The Strand Magazine Reading List.

Fellowship & Award-Winning Writer

SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) Awards

Excerpt:
A stroll along the river usually calmed her. Still, Albuquerque’s crime rate had made national headlines so she tried to be alert to any threats.
After a few minutes, Olivia could tell her pulse had evened out and she was beginning to notice the birds and trees instead of her bothersome feelings. But something else concerned her. There was a fetid odor in this area. She dismissed it as a dead animal but it disturbed her enough that she dug in her coat pocket for her pollen and arrowhead. They weren’t there! Hadn’t she placed them in her pocket while talking with the reporter? When Blackstone cautioned about the others she had interviewed who had died or been scared, she remembered taking the bag out and showing her the contents. She checked the other pocket that held her fob and cell. Olivia could feel the panic rising in her throat, so she took out the phone. It made her more confident. Help was a phone call away.
She quickly turned. Behind her was nothing but an empty trail and the beginnings of another spectacular sunset. Ahead, a biker disappeared around a corner. The Rio Grande flowed to her left and there was no one exploring the banks or kayaking on the river. That left the treed area to her right. A few trees still held onto their autumn leaves, but most had turned brown and fallen to the ground. There was nothing apparent, but the feeling of trepidation would not go away. How could she have left her amulet and bag of pollen? And where did she leave them? It didn’t matter now. The only thing that mattered: something was stalking her and she couldn’t yet see it. She held her phone tightly.
A hawk flew overhead as she looked upward. The hawk didn’t worry her. These birds of prey were only a threat to a small mammal, with the occasional insect or lizard for variety.
It circled languidly. This time, it swooped down at her as a bird parent might defend a fledgling against a passing cat. The intent was obvious: to bully her. It was working. Olivia wanted to go. She no longer wanted to be outside and felt vulnerable, was vulnerable. Retracing her steps to the parking lot, she heard a sound behind her.
She kept walking, hoping it would go away. But the fear in her chest was fierce. It was difficult to breathe. She tried to control the shivering and her pounding heart. Her options had run out. Olivia knew she was no longer in charge of the situation. She had to turn around and face whatever was there.
After casually glancing about to appear unafraid, she came face to face with an evil witch. Its eyes held her, and she couldn’t look away. The elders always cautioned against staring directly at the eyes so the witch could not control thoughts. But it was too late. The red and glowing eyes allowed her to see only the beast.
It was sans clothing with fur covering its body and the neck heavy with jewelry. Its face and arms were grey. For a moment she thought it might be female, but never had she known of a female witch becoming malevolent. She knew this was imminent danger of the fatal kind. Without her arrowhead, she didn’t know how to defend herself. It could run faster, jump higher and climb better than she could. Her chances of harming it were slim. The body of a skinwalker was tough, maybe impenetrable. With only the useless cell in her hand she stood silently, because who could she call to intervene?

Author Info

G.G. Collins loves the American Southwest where many of her stories are located. She can be found hiking through ruins of the ancient ones and enjoying New Mexican cuisine. When not traipsing about, she makes up stories with great friendships, quirky characters and, oh yeah, dead bodies. She has worked for a book publisher and as a journalist; publishing is in her blood. In real life she shares her time with a man, several neurotic – and psychic – cats and the ongoing struggle to grow a garden.

 

The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with . . . GG Collins . . . 

LIGHTNING ROUND

What genre do you read? 

Mystery and nonfiction (for research).

What genre do you write? 

Cozy mysteries and paranormal mystery thrillers.

What was the first book you fell in love with? 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. At 13, the ending blew me away.

What was a book you said you would never pick up again? 

Gone With the Wind. Great, but once was enough.

Which fictional character do you love? 

Lia Matera’s attorney Willa Jansson.

Which fiction character do you love to hate? 

J.R. Ewing of the Dallas TV series. I watch a rerun now and then and still love to hate him.

Which fictional character do you hate? 

Cigarette Smoking Man from X-Files. Every time he appeared on screen I wanted to throw something.

What beverage do you drink while reading? 

Tea: iced, hot, real or instant.

What do you snack on while reading? 

I enjoy Kind bars and those pretzel squares with the peanut butter inside. Yum.

Have you always enjoyed reading? 

Yes. I kept our local library busy. My fave book growing up was A Horse of Your Own. I now own a copy.

Thank you GG Collins for participating in Lightning Round. Your work is appreciated.

Website: https://reluctantmediumatlarge.wordpress.com/
X: https://twitter.com/GGCollins1
BlueSky:  https://bsky.app/profile/ggcollins.bsky.social
BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/g-g-collins
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6427518.G_G_Collins

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BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - YA HISTORICAL - THE FORGED EMPIRE (The Kingdom Within, #3) by Samantha Gillespie

The Forged Empire

The Kingdom Within, #3

by Samantha Gillespie

Publication date: July 15th 2025

Genres: Historical Romance, Young Adult

BLURB

She married a prince. She loved a soldier.
Now she must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to save them all.

As the specter of war looms, Meredith Ethan, and Connor are thrust into a final, desperate struggle for freedom. With Stonefall reclaimed and the plague’s grip finally broken, they must now race to forge new alliances before Theros-the ruthless King of Talos-brings his twisted vision of an empire to life.

But Theros’s ambitions run deeper than conquest-and Meredith is at the heart of his plans.

As betrayals mount and loyalties are tested, she finds herself caught between the prince she married and the soldier she never forgot.

And beneath the weight of destiny, Meredith must decide who she truly is:
a queen who must learn to believe in her own strength… or a pawn in a game she can no longer control.

In a war where survival means sacrifice, the price of freedom may be everything.

The final battle is here. And only one legacy will endure.

Goodreads

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EXCERPT

A tremor starts in my hands again, subtle but insistent. I clench my fists, willing it to stop.

“My lady?” Anabella appears near the foot of the staircase, her wide eyes fixed on me, worry plain in her gaze.

My pulse pounds harder in my ears, and the air feels thick, suffocating. A bead of sweat traces a line down my temple, and I lift a trembling hand to brush it away. The motion betrays me. My uncle’s eyes narrow, alarm darkening his expression.

“You’re quite pale,” he remarks, his voice softer now but no less authoritative. “Sit down before you fall.”

“I’m fine,” I say, gritting my teeth. “It’s just a dizzy spell—”

The room wavers, and a sharp pain lances through my temple. I dig my nails into the carved wood of a nearby table, struggling to stay upright. Voices fade into a muffled roar behind the pounding in my ears. My legs threaten to buckle, yet I take a step forward . . . feeling as if the crown itself is dragging me down.

“Meredith!” Anabella cries out, her fear breaking through decorum. She rushes forward, but someone stops her—a hand grabbing her arm, likely my uncle’s.

“No one is to approach her!” The command explodes from my uncle’s throat like a war cry, freezing everyone mid-step. “She was inoculated this morning—she could be infected!”

Infected.

Understanding dawns like poison spreading through my veins. They think the inoculation failed. They think I’m a walking plague, a vector of death.

Am I?

My knees buckle as the implications cascade through my mind. The room warps and tilts, faces stretching into grotesque masks of fear and revulsion.

“Please, let me help her!” Anabella’s voice cracks with desperation, cutting through the growing pandemonium. “She’s fainting—she needs—”

My uncle stops her. “Stay where you are, woman, or I’ll have you restrained!”

I struggle to form reassurances, denials, anything. But my tongue lies thick and useless in my mouth. The marble floor begins its inexorable rise to meet me, my legs folding like paper beneath my weight. Colors bleed together, the world smearing into an impressionist nightmare.

“Get the physician! Now!” My uncle’s bellow seems to come from very far away, echoing down a tunnel of gathering darkness.

I’m falling—but suddenly strong arms encircle me, crushing me against a chest that thunders with someone else’s racing heartbeat. The scent of leather and pine fills my fading senses, achingly familiar.

“Get away from her!” the duke roars. “You fool—you’re putting yourself at risk! Guards, pull him back!”

“Try it.” Connor’s voice is a low growl. “See what happens.”

The threat hangs in the air, electric with promise. Even through my fading consciousness, I feel the tension ratchet higher, guards hesitating at the challenge in his tone.

Through the narrow slits of my barely-open eyes, I see Connor’s face swimming above me, those midnight-blue eyes fierce with determination. His jaw is set in stone, daring anyone to test him. His lips move urgently, forming words that reach me only as distant whispers, lost in the roaring tide of unconsciousness.

The last thing I register is his arms tightening around me, unyielding as iron, before the darkness swallows me whole.

 

Author Info

Samantha Gillespie writes the kind of romantasy novels she loves to read: stories packed with forbidden love, slow-burn tension, and just enough angst to keep you up way past your bedtime.

She lives in Houston with her husband and their ever-expanding menagerie—cats who've crowned themselves royalty, a dog with strong opinions about the weather, and chickens whose sole mission is acquiring treats and destroying the yard. When she's not breaking hearts through fiction, she thrives on copious amounts of coffee, sharp wit, and the delicious tears of her devoted readers.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram

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BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - ROM-COM LGBTQ+ - HOW TO DATE A PRINCE by Hayden Stone

How to Date a Prince

by Hayden Stone

Publication date: July 15th 2025

Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

BLURB

What happens when the British Crown Prince falls in love with an American man who opposes the monarchy?

Prince Auggie swears he’s no kind of dashing prince: daydreamer, private—and also secretly very gay. He’s instantly horrified when his father, reality TV addict King James, signs Auggie up for a reality TV show to promote the monarchy, where the man with the most talents wins—and to help find Auggie a bride, the very last thing Auggie wants. But duty calls.

When Auggie finds out his co-star is irritatingly gorgeous Thomas Golden, the charismatic dual American-English heir to the Golden hotel fortune, it’s another step too far. There’s at least one problem: Prince Auggie’s already recently crossed paths with Thomas Golden one disastrous night in a London club. Plus, there’s that whole second not-so-small, not-so-secret problem—the Golden family wants to get rid of the monarchy.

Once Auggie and Thomas arrive on set in the English countryside, it’s already unapologetically hate at first sight. It’s going to be a very long summer of filming…until sparks fly behind the scenes, leading them to make a searing heatwave all their own. But soon, real reality strikes, and Auggie must choose between the life he’s destined for as the future king—or dare risk everything for love.

An enemies-to-lovers, opposites-attract, feel-good gay royal rom-com.

For fans of Red, White & Royal Blue, Boyfriend Material, and The Unlikely Heir.

Goodreads

Amazon

EXCERPT

In my next life, I’ll be reborn as Harry Styles. Or maybe as the reincarnation of Taylor Swift. I’ll still be famous if I must, but I’ll be famous due to my talent instead of my chance birth as a royal. I’m quite sure I’m a negative ten on the talent-o-meter.

Everything else is just genetics. And training.

It’s Friday night in London, and Mayfair glitters. When I step out of the black SUV, straightening to my full height, I pause in the drizzle for the cameras on the red carpet at the charity ball. Snapping shutters echo, and a familiar blinding flash dazzles my eyes.

I give my best public smile and stop in a flattering pose, then strike another pose for my best angles like the Danish prince once taught me during a secret fling. Work it, babe, Prince Theodor coached me then as we drank spicy margaritas, which incidentally led to more spice.

More confidence, more sultry. Hand on my hip and a three-quarter turn to the cameras.

The crowd cheers their approval as I’m blinded by the lights. I wave, smile broadly, and carry on, mindful of not tripping over my own feet.

“Prince Auggie! Over here!”

“Prince Auggie—where’s Katie? I’ll be your date!”

“Prince Auggie, come back!”

Tonight, I’m shamelessly selling the image of charming Prince Auggie, future British monarch. I’d like to meet him too, to be honest, because he’s great in the press. Cool guy. From the outside, he has it together. The media and public are fascinated, so somehow, I must be doing something right. Or quite possibly, I’m doing something wrong enough that the media sticks to me waiting for my next mistake.

I’m all kitted up in an edgy mohair tux that an up-and-coming London designer sent over to me. I’m at least looking the part of the dashing prince, even if I can’t get over the idea that the dashing prince is supposed to be me.

To be fair, I do look good enough, taking after my mum—see genetics above—though I wish I loved crowds like she had. The looks balance out the panic, my friend Gav told me. He said it’s heaps of fun not knowing what I might blurt out next. For him, maybe. Meanwhile, I try to keep my mouth shut as a preventative measure in case something messy accidentally spills out.

“Prince Auggie, is it true you’re still single?”

“Prince Auggie, would you take a photo with me? It’s my birthday!”

I pause and go to the young woman at the barrier for a photo taken by her friend. The paparazzi goes wild. We both grin, and for a moment, I pretend I’m carefree. “Happy birthday,” I say, on my best behavior as she gives a small curtsy. “How do you do.”

She blushes, too tongue-tied to speak.

My father, the King, told me not to be too extra tonight, as if he can sniff out rising rebellion like the dawn breaks each day. I’m kind of horrified that he knows what being extra means. And that he’s applied being extra to me, specifically. Nothing good can come of that. Especially when I’ve been on my best behavior the last few months.

Which is why I asked the stylist at the earlier magazine shoot I’m coming from to give me a smoky-eye look for evening, after we bonded over our favorite makeup. She tousled my medium-length, light reddish-brown—blond if you’re generous during the summer—hair with product. Plus, a touch of contouring never hurt anyone. Use those cheekbones for the good of the kingdom, she told me, because it’s your royal duty to the people.

 

Author Info

More animal than mineral, Hayden Stone is a writer of fun queer fiction, especially with kissing. He currently lives in Victoria, Canada, and has previously lived in Vancouver, Canada and London, UK. He likes strong coffee and is owned by two cats. You can find out his latest news on Twitter or Instagram, or at his website: haydenstonebooks.com

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok

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RELEASE BLITZ - CONTEMPORARY - BABY BLUE (Small Town Southern Boys) by Deanndra Hall

Baby Blue
Small Town Southern Boys
by Deanndra Hall 
Release Date: July 15th 2025
Genre: Small Town Romance 

Luckless. If ever there was a word that describes Brent “Blue” Wallace, that’s it. Abandoned by drug-addicted parents as a toddler. Abused and mistreated in foster homes. Runaway teen. Working for a man who treats him like garbage and pays him next to nothing. Blue’s only joy is playing in a little cover band in rundown watering holes outside Macon, Georgia, on the weekends and writing the occasional song. Oh, and finding a woman at the bar to spend a night with. His boss hates him. His neighbors hate him and his crappy little house with the overgrown yard and beer cans lying about. Nobody hates him more than he does.

But when an unexpected “gift” turns up on his doorstep, it spins his world upside down. In his eyes, Indigo Darling Wallace is a blue-eyed, shrieking alien life form who leaks from every orifice in her body and terrifies him. He doesn’t want a baby; he can’t take care of one. It feels best to offer her to the neighbor who wears scrubs and already has two kids, until she explains to him that if he doesn’t keep her, she’ll go into the foster system.

Over Blue Wallace’s dead body.

In a six-month time span, Blue learns a lot about life and about himself. And just when he thinks things are finally going right for him, a demon from the bowels of Hell comes knocking to rip his world apart. It’s the challenge of Blue’s lifetime. If he wins, he takes it all. But if he loses, the chance at a happy life with a good woman and three precious kids slips away forever. So, fight or run? It’s time for Blue Wallace to make his own luck. And for the first time ever, he won’t be fighting alone.

The Small Town Southern Boys series is a collection of independent novels, each set in a different southern state with its own flavor and designed so you can jump in anywhere. Discover a world of hunky home-town sexiness that just won’t quit and see for yourself why the temperature’s always hellahot when there’s a drawl coming from between those lips with a slow, charming smile.

AMAZON

Deanndra Hall is a working author living in the far western end of the beautiful Bluegrass State with her husband of over 35 years and small menagerie of weird little dogs. When she’s not writing, she’s editing. When she’s doing neither of those two things, she’s having dinner with friends, spending time with family, kayaking, eating chocolate, drinking beer or moonshine, or looking for something that she put in the wrong place and can’t seem to find (which is pretty much everything she owns).

AMAZON

 

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