Thursday, July 10, 2025

~ FRIDAY FICTION FEATURE 'FIRE MOUNTAIN' ~

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~ FRIDAY FICTION FEATURE ~
-- 'FIRE MOUNTAIN'  --
AUTHOR DANA MENTINK  
 
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Fire Mountain JustRead Takeover Blitz

Welcome to the Takeover Blitz for Fire Mountain by Dana Mentink hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

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About the Book

 

Fire Mountain 
 
Title:  Fire Mountain 
Series:  Elements of Danger #1 
Author:  Dana Mentink 
Publisher:  Revell 
Release Date:  July 1, 2025 
Genre:  Mystery & Romantic Suspense
 

Fire rains from above as they fight to discover the truth and stay alive.

In the shadow of a threatening volcano, long-haul trucker Kit Garrido wakes up in her crashed big rig, unable to recall what happened or why she's suddenly in possession of someone's baby. Fiercely independent, she has to admit that perhaps this time she could use a little help. 

 As the threat of eruption grows, former cop Cullen Landry refuses to leave his cabin in the evacuation area, which is why he's the only one left who can help Kit escape the crumpled cab of her truck. He doesn't want to get tangled up in the mystery of the beautiful woman with an abandoned infant, but when he sees the bullet hole in the windshield and the bloody handprint on the interior, he realizes that he's in this thing, like it or not. 

When two armed men with ill intent approach, the race is on to stay alive, discover the truth, and find the baby's missing mother--all while a deadly mountain rains fire from above.
 
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EXCERPT:

COLD AND ICE-PICK PAIN bored into Kit Garrido’s temples. Her limbs were leaden, her body a dead weight in the driver’s seat of her big rig. Grit coated her tongue and teeth. She tasted blood. Try as she might, she couldn’t reach out to unbuckle her seatbelt. Panic bubbled up inside her.

She felt movement. Someone yanked hard on the passenger door, unleashing pulses of pain.

“Ma’am?”A low baritone, rough.

A big hand skimmed her temple, calloused fingers hard like talons. Through her slitted eyelids, a male torso materialized, a large man in a heavy jacket. Warm ash drifted from his baseball cap and settled on her cheek, feather light.

“What...happened?” Her voice was a croak.

“You crashed.” His voice held the trace of a Southern accent. “Volcano’s unsettled everything. Not safe to stay here.”

Not safe? Crashed? Why wouldn’t her mouth work fast enough to spit out the questions? Fear lapped at her insides as he fumbled for her seat belt.

“You’ve got to wake up. Now.”

She forced her eyes farther open, grabbed the wheel.

Cold wind raked her cheek. Wind? She lurched into full consciousness so fast her brain rocked in her skull. Green. Everywhere green mixed with brown, the trees of northern Washington all around, the rattling pine needles oddly muted by their coating of volcanic ash. A pinecone dropped on her lap through the gaping hole in the windshield. It left a sooty stain on her knee before it bounced off. She stared at it.

How...

He was talking, but she couldn’t follow.

She touched her brown ski cap, then the flannel of her favorite long-haul driving jacket, the feel of the fabrics proving to herself she was alive. Somehow. A hiss of escaping steam commanded her to acknowledge what she desperately didn’t want to see.

Her beautiful Freightliner truck was wedged cab first, jammed in a crevice between two crooked trees. In the side-view mirror she observed an enormous trench of gouged earth that marked her journey from the road above to the place of impact. The shiny yellow cab with its cozy sleeping unit, her home for three-hundred-plus days a year, was squashed like the face of a Pekinese.

The pristine white trailer she’d washed that morning was no doubt damaged as well. She closed her eyes and pictured the bold font she’d painstakingly chosen for the Garrido Trucking logo. How absurdly proud she’d felt the day the lettering was applied. Her truck. Her business. Her life. Finally.

Muscles in her throat tightened, and tears started down her face.

Crashed. She’d crashed. Everything she’d worked for, gone. The pain in her head intensified. She stared around wildly. “But what happened? How did I wreck?”

The man shrugged. “Dunno. I’m not sure why you’d even be on Pine Hollow Road in the first place. Pretty ridiculous, considering.”

Ridiculous? She bridled as the location sank in. Pine Hollow? Why there? Deep breaths. One, two, three, then she unbuckled and levered herself from the driver’s seat. Pain lanced her left wrist. Broken or sprained? Her shirt was splattered with blood, though she couldn’t feel any cuts.

“Easy,” the man said, arms outstretched as if to catch her.

Why couldn’t she remember what happened? She must have rolled out of her small office solo that morning, like she always did before picking up her load, the last load she dared haul out of a region under an evacuation advisory.

She wouldn’t have chosen Pine Hollow, a twisty route that would take her nearer the volatile Mount Ember. Everything she’d learned, the geologic facts she’d devoured, left her itching to escape. Had she lost control? Maybe she’d been knocked out by a falling boulder. Had the noxious gasses venting from the volcano’s bulging side overwhelmed her? But why here?

Dana Mentink, Fire Mountain

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, ©2025. Used by permission

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PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Revell | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop


About the Author

Dana Mentink 

 

Dana Mentink is a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author. She's written more than 50 mystery and suspense novels for Love Inspired Suspense, Harvest House, and Poisoned Pen Press. Winner of two ACFW Carol Awards, a Holt Medallion Award, and a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, Dana lives in Northern California with her husband.

Connect with Dana by visiting DanaMentink.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.


Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a copy of Fire Mountain and a $20 Amazon gift card!

Fire Mountain JustRead Takeover Blitz Giveaway

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight July 9, 2025 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on July 16, 2025. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

Enter Giveaway


Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

JustRead Publicity Tours
 
 
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Tuesday, July 8, 2025

~ WEDNESDAY COZY MYSTERY FEATURE ROCKY ROAD TO MURDER ~

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~ WEDNESDAY COZY MYSTERY FEATURE ~
  --  'ROCKY ROAD TO MURDER'  -- 
AUTHOR LENA GREGORY  

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Rocky Road to Murder (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) by Lena Gregory

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About Rocky Road to Murder

 

Cozy Mystery 6th in Series Setting - New York 
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gemma Halliday Publishing (July 1, 2025) 
Number of Pages - 220 Digital 
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0F7MV3JW5 

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From author Lena Gregory comes a tasty summer murder mystery...

Danika Delaney is thrilled that her old fashioned malt shop, the Coffee & Cream Café, has gotten a catering contract for the biggest party of the season, the Rutherford Manor Fourth of July gala. She’ll be providing desserts for the party as well as attending the exclusive event on Eastern Long Island.

However her path to the gala quickly becomes a rocky road...

Dani arrives at the event, only to find the gala's hostess, Cressida Rutherford, dead! What's worse, one of Dani's signature parfaits sits next to the dead woman, with what looks like peanuts in it—a food Cressida is severely allergic to. Amid the melted ice cream mess, Dani initially blames herself, thinking she made a mistake while rushing with the desserts. However she quickly learns that what appeared to be an accident was actually foul play, and suddenly Dani has to spring into action proving that she isn't the perpetrator. Along with her friends, Dani uncovers a string of people in Cressida's life who might have wanted the socialite dead. Can she prove her innocence and make sure the killer gets their just desserts?   

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 Author Guest Post 

'My Small Town'

By

Lena Gregory 

I lived most of my life in a small town on the south shore of Eastern Long Island, along with four generations of my family. My grandfather owned a deli in town, where I started working stocking shelves and sweeping floors when I was twelve years old. When I was a little older, I started working the breakfast shift, the inspiration for the All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery series.

I’ve always loved the small-town feel, the way everyone knows everyone, especially the families who lived there for generation after generation as mine had. When I married a man from the neighboring town, it seemed natural to settle down where we’d grown up and start our family.

Then my husband got a job offer in Florida, and he accepted. We moved down right after my daughter finished kindergarten. I had only ever been to Florida once, when my daughter was three and we spent three days in Disney World, so I had no clue what to expect.

I was used to deer crossing signs, since Long Island is home to a large deer population, but the first time I drove my daughter to school and saw a bear crossing sign, I actually turned around and went back to see it again. I thought I was mistaken, but nope, it was a bear crossing sign. Until that moment, I had no clue there were bears in Florida.

Then there were the love bugs, and they were everywhere. And lizards, which I’d never even seen in real life before I moved, and snakes, sometimes poisonous ones.

Aside from the critters, the weather brought a few surprises as well. On the rare occasions Long Island gets tornadoes, they are small F-1s that do very little damage. One night, about six months after we moved to Florida, I had just gotten into bed and turned on the TV, and the weather report came on. A line of damaging storms were coming through. The reporter said if you live on my road, “take cover now,” and I freaked out, to put it mildly, woke my daughter and stuffed her and my dog into the tub, even tried to wrestle a mattress into the tiny bathroom. (That was so not happening.)

Whenever I got homesick, I spent a lot of time checking off the positives and negatives of living in Florida and New York.

Because there were also amazing things about living in Florida. The natural springs, with their crystal-clear water, gorgeous blue skies—even in the winter when the skies in New York are permanently gray. And who could complain when everyone in New York was shoveling out from under a foot of snow, and I was laying by the pool?

In the end, my decision was made for me when my husband and I both got job opportunities in New York. We ended up moving back to New York and visiting Florida every year, because we missed it so much.

While I loved moving back to our small town and raising two of our children there, we eventually did move back to Florida. This time, though, we found a small town outside of the more touristy areas, with a beautiful downtown area that reminds me some of the town I came from. Now, when I reminisce about the past, I realize things have changed in New York. My once small town grew until I no longer knew everyone, most of my family no longer lives there, and the cost of living skyrocketed. Thankfully, I still get to revisit my hometown in my Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries, since the fictional town of Watchogue is based on my childhood home.

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About Lena Gregory

Lena Gregory is the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, which take place on a small island between the north and south forks of Long Island, New York, the All-Day Breakfast Café Mysteries, which are set on the outskirts of Florida’s Ocala National Forest, the Mini-Meadows Mysteries, set in a community of tiny homes in Central Florida, and the Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries, which take place in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, New York.

Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

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Author Links:

Purchase Links - Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Kobo 

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS:
July 1 – Jody's Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT  
July 2 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT  
July 2 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST  
July 3 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT  
July 3 – Frugal Freelancer – SPOTLIGHT  
July 4 – OFF  
July 5 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW  
July 5 – Eskimo Princess Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT  
July 6 – Salty Inspirations – CHARACTER INTERVIEW  
July 6 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW , CHARACTER GUEST POST  
July 7 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW  
July 7 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT  
July 7 – Baroness' Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW  
July 8 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW  
July 8 – Sarah Can't Stop Reading Books – REVIEW  
July 9 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – AUTHOR GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY 
July 9 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT  
July 10 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY  
July 10 – Angel's Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT  
July 11 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW  
July 11 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 12 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW  
July 13 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – REVIEW  
July 14 – Rebecca M. Douglass, Author – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW  
  

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THIS TOUR IS OFFERING 2 GIVEAWAYS!
YOU MUST COMPLETE EACH OF THE BELOW 
 
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IN BOTH GIVEAWAYS:
 
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INDIVIDUAL BLOG STOP GIVEAWAY: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

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Tuesday, June 24, 2025

~ WEDNESDAY CHILDREN'S EARLY READER OAKWOOD SERIES ~

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 ~ WEDNESDAY CHILDREN'S EARLY
READER CHAPTER BOOKS FEATURE ~
--  'OAKWOOD SERIES'  -- 
AUTHOR KATHY J. PERRY 

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Oakwoods Series JustRead Blog Tour

Welcome to the Blog Tour for the Oakwoods Series by Kathy J. Perry, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

 

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About the Series

 

Pip O'Possum (Work Then Play)
Sally Skunkskin (Grumbles to Grateful)
Benjamin Bat (Humility)
Nuts (Sharing is Caring)
Jeremy Jay (Resilience) 
Author:
Kathy J. Perry 
Publisher:
Chickadee Words 
Release Date:
April 4, 2025 
Genre:
Early Reader Chapter Books (ages 5-8)

These warm stories invite readers into a woodland world that feels very classic and fun. Kids will like meeting the animals in the Oakwoods series. As they read about the animals' adventures, friendships, and foibles, they'll also discover timeless lessons that feel authentic to the characters and the Oakwoods world—and also applicable to our daily lives.

Teachers and parents of young readers transitioning from picture books will appreciate the easy-to-read font, a glossary, “What If?” discussion questions about the story & application to real life, and a “Did You Know?” section with surprising facts about the real animal. (i.e. blue jays aren’t really blue!) 

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EXCERPTS: 

 

PIP O’POSSUM:

“That’s a lot to think about. I guess it’s about time I grow up. Will I still have time for fun?”

“Sure! There’s time for both work and play. But if you don’t do the hard labor—and I mean to the very best of your ability—you won’t succeed in life. You might end up as one of my meals. That would be unfortunate for you, wouldn’t it? Would you rather live—and live well—or be my breakfast?”

Boon covered his eyes with his goggles and blinked.

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SALLY SKUNKSKIN: (ending)

Over time, Sally made several friends:  a skunk named Samson, the entire O’Possum family, and the raccoon who didn’t trust her. The raccoon even apologized for being unfriendly. But Amos became her best friend.

He and Sally talked whenever she stopped by his dam for a drink, her beautiful tail held high.

Sally and her new friends helped one another in good times and bad. Her grumbles were buried in her past. At last, Sally Skunkskin’s heart was grateful for everything:  her home, food to eat, and most of all, her close friends.

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BENJAMIN BAT:

I’ll show her some tricks she can’t do.

“Watch this now,” he said as he fluttered away. Benjamin zipped and zapped all over the ravine. He sailed over trees and between narrow branches, giving a grand performance for the flycatcher.

Curious, Benjamin glanced toward JoJo for a split- second. His mistake cost him.

A barred owl was in hot pursuit!

Instantly realizing his error, Benjamin turned sharply to avoid capture, but one of the owl’s talons pierced his wing! For a few seconds, Benjamin was helpless.

The owl carried him upward, but his wing’s skin tore, freeing Benjamin.

Without full support from both wings, he nose-dived, slapping flat against a large boulder in the gulch. He rolled down hill through broken rocks and tangled roots.

“Ow! Ow!” he cried with each bump and bounce. The barred owl, whose sharp eyes never lost sight of Benjamin, dove down to finish him off.

JoJo sprang into action.

Shocked and angry, she tackled the much larger bird, pecking at its back over and over until it moved on to find an easier meal. Worried for her new friend, she swooped down to Benjamin’s rescue. “Are you okay?”

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NUTS:

Poppy’s stomach grumbled, so she scurried down her tree to dig up a nut—but another squirrel was already there. With her paws on her hips, she stood up and said, “Wait a minute, Hickory. This is MY walnut. Mine! I hid this one, along with many others. I’m sure of it.”

Hickory crossed his arms over his chest. “No, Poppy. I buried this one.”

Neither hoarder would give the nut to the other. They were far too hungry to share but not too hungry to argue. For several minutes, they ignored the exposed treasure.

Andy, another gray squirrel, sneaked between them, snatched the prize for himself, and scrambled up to his nest.

Andy’s movements were so quick that neither Poppy nor Hickory saw him grab it. Poppy only noticed it was missing when she bent down to grab it herself.

“Now see what you’ve done?” Poppy said. “It’s gone.”

“Well, I didn’t take it,” said Hickory, still not unfolding his arms.

The two of them searched the ground but couldn’t find the nut. At least not until Poppy heard “nibble, nibble” coming from above.

She pointed up to the branches. “I think Andy’s got it.”

Hickory’s mouth fell open. “Well, I’ll be...”

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JEREMY JAY:

“Hmm.”

Jeremy picked up his claw and stared at it. His talons lay flat and twisted.

“Hard to imagine how this could ever be useful, though. It’s not like it makes my other leg better. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Boon puffed out his chest. He didn’t like animals putting themselves down. There was no feeling bad for yourself on his watch.“

No one’s perfect. No one, nowhere.

“I’ve always strived for perfection, even with this.”

Jeremy turned his head to the side. Isn’t perfection the goal?

“Do the best you can with what you have, bub. That’s it. When you do, you’ve won. But it takes practice and hard work.”

Jeremy held his foot out for Boon to study. If they were going to talk about it, then this huge bird should see it all, so that he could know it all. “How can this ever be useful?”

“Open your mind, boy. Start imaginin’ it as a tool for nest-buildin’. Start thinkin’ of how you can use it. You might surprise yourself by what you can do.”

“Thanks, Boon.”

“You’re welcome. Just remember, nobody’s perfect.”

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PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | KathyJPerry.com | Amazon | Barnes & Noble


About the Author

Kathy J Perry

Of the many jobs I’ve held in the past, including thirty-five years of designing and constructing stained glass windows part-time, teaching was one of the most enjoyable for me because investing in kids is so important. To this end, I continue to encourage good character with clean, moral stories kids and teens love to read. Good books make such an impact.

Writing is hard work, but there’s nothing like a good story to run off with your imagination. When things are flowing, it’s like a vacation. Sometimes the best ideas come in the middle of the night. 

When not writing, you’ll find me painting with watercolor, doing school visits, writing a blog, interviewing other writers, designing websites, working as an administrative assistant part-time, and renovating houses. 

Is this retirement? Apparently so! I’m loving every minute of it with my husband of 43 years.

Connect with Kathy J. Perry by visiting kathyjperry.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email updates.


Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a 5-book signed softcover bundle of the Oakwoods Series, bookmarks, and a $50 Amazon digital gift card!

Oakwoods Series blog tour giveaway JustRead Tours

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight June 24, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on July 1, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway


Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

JustRead Publicity Tours

 

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