Cover Reveal: DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY by Tammie Painter

 

Death needed a vacation.

What he got was a murder, a demon, and a 73-year-old detective with no time to kill.

Death Takes a Holiday

The Mortimer & Mrs Morris Trilogy Book 1

by Tammie Painter

Genre: Humorous Dark Paranormal Mystery 

Death is bored. Immortality will do that to you.

** A hilarious new series from the author of The Cassie Black Trilogy! **

After an eternity of escorting souls to the afterlife, Death — who really prefers you call him Mortimer — is bored. There's been departmental divisions, technical developments, and fitness crazes that mean people just aren't dying like they used to.

What's worse… He's running low on romance novels to keep himself occupied.

His solution: a working holiday to Top World, where he expects room service, infinity-high thread counts, and an easy solution to get business booming again.

What he doesn't expect is Mrs Morris, a seventy-three-year-old detective with a tightly packed schedule that leaves no room for an immortal assistant.

But Mortimer refuses to go away. After all, detectives find murderers, and having his very own killer would be the perfect way to nudge up those mortality rates.

Luckily, someone's just been murdered — and Mrs Morris has been hired to find the culprit. The only trouble? The victim reeks of demons, turning Mortimer's perfect opportunity into a great deal of trouble that could end his career. Oh, and the human race.

Death Takes a Holiday is a humorous fantasy novel about the most inconvenient partnership in the history of the afterlife, where a pair of unlikely allies are thrown together by broken bones, murder mysteries, pesky demons, and the deadliest cup of coffee in Portland.

Like Terry Pratchett joining the Thursday Murder Club, Death Takes a Holiday is perfect for fans of wry humor, paranormal mystery, and unforgettable characters forming reluctant bonds.

 

**Releases August 18, 2026 – PreOrder Now!**

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Author of humorous fantasy whodunits full of mythical misfits and magical mishaps

Many moons ago I was a scientist in a neuroscience lab where I got to play with brains and illegal drugs. Now, I take wickedly strong tea and turn it into comic fantasy whodunits full of mythical misfits and magical mishaps that I hope give you a giggle. 
My tales run the gamut from the ever-expanding Cassie Black Trilogy with its wryly humorous paranormal mysteries to the comical fantasy whodunits in The Circus of Unusual Creatures, and from light-hearted novellas celebrating my love of books to short fiction in which I really flex my myth-loving and humor-craving muscles!

When I’m not creating worlds or killing off characters, I can be found gardening, planning my next travel adventure, concocting some sort of mess in the kitchen, or working as an unpaid servant to one very spoiled cat and some very demanding squirrels.

 

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Blog Tour: SLAPSHOT SUMMER by G.K. Brady

A jilted bride.

A wrecked goalie.

An unexpected kiss that changes everything.

Slapshot Summer

A The Playmakers Series Novella

by G.K. Brady

Genre: Steamy Fake Dating Hockey Romance

A jilted bride. A wrecked goalie. An unexpected kiss that changes everything.

I came here to reset.

After a season that pushed me to my limits, I needed sun, quiet, and space—somewhere I could shut out the noise and get my head back under control.

Then Lexi Campbell sat beside me at the bar and asked for my help flirting with another guy.

I said yes because it was supposed to be fake. A distraction. Something with clear lines and no consequences. I’m good with pressure. I know how to stay focused, how to hold my ground when everything’s coming at me fast.

What I didn’t expect was how easy it felt to want her.

One kiss blows past every boundary I set. Suddenly, I’m not playing defense anymore—I’m all in, and I don’t know how to pull back. Lexi’s on a honeymoon she’s taking alone, guarding a broken heart she pretends doesn’t still hurt. I’m standing at my own crossroads, unsure where my future leads or if I’m ready to risk wanting something real again.

It was supposed to be a fling. But wanting her is the one thing I can’t seem to control.

For fans of fake dating, opposites attract, and swoony NHL players who actually like to dance, Slapshot Summer is a heartwarming romance with plenty of spice … and, of course, a guaranteed HEA.

**PLEASE NOTE: This story was originally published as Sunsets, Stick Saves, and a Honeymoon in the Love in Destiny Series. The content has not changed. If you’ve read that version, then you've read this one as well.**

 

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Since childhood, all sorts of stories and characters have lived in G.K. Brady’s imagination, elbowing one another for attention, so she’s finally giving them their voice on the written page.

 An award-winning writer of contemporary romance, she loves telling tales of the less-than-perfect hero or heroine who transforms with each turn of a page. She also writes historical fiction under the pen name Griffin Brady.

 G.K. is a wife and the proud mom of three grown sons. When she’s not writing, she might be reading, traveling, drinking wine, listening to music, or gardening—sometimes all at once! She currently resides in Colorado with her very patient husband.

  

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Spotlight: SAVING HAMPTON GRACE by B.W. Alan

Some wounds bleed beneath the skin. Some desires burn in the dark. Hampton Grace has spent her life teetering on the edge of oblivion, drowning in shadows only she can see. In a world where failure feels inevitable, she hides behind ink and paper, pouring her torment into stories no one will ever read. Then there's Walker—effortlessly charismatic, dangerously perceptive, and haunted in ways he refuses to admit. He sees the cracks in Hampton's carefully constructed walls and senses the weight of the darkness she carries. And he isn't afraid to step into it. Drawn into his world of quiet control and whispered surrender, Hampton finds an unexpected solace in his touch—where pain becomes catharsis, trust is given freely, and pleasure and suffering blur into something she never expected to crave. But the deeper she falls, the more the lines between salvation and destruction begin to blur. Walker vowed to pull her from the abyss. But in doing so, he may have tethered himself to it. Raw, provocative, and unflinchingly honest, Saving Hampton Grace is a darkly seductive tale of love, longing, and the demons that refuse to be silenced.

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Hampton-Grace-B-Alan-ebook/dp/B0GQGB7XLW/

Blog Tour: WHERE DRAGONS ARE CAPTURED by Fran Zuid

 

How much would you wager to save a dragon?

Your safety, your friends, your people?

How about your life?

Where Dragons Are Captured

Where Dragons Are Book 1

by Fran Zuid

Genre: Epic Grimdark Dragon Fantasy Adventure

How much would you wager to save a dragon? Your safety, your friends, your people? How about your life?

Skye, an alitur—elf as the small-minded humans would degrade her—is a gambler hiding in the skin of her enemy to escape capture, her past and her true identity.

However, her fragile safety shatters when she's caught cheating. Thrown into the corrupt world of gambling, where animals and creatures are pitted against one another for sport, Skye witnesses something she thought long extinct: dragons.

Determined to save and connect with the dragons, Skye is drawn into a web of deceit, loyalty, and love, impelling her to face her past and reclaim her heritage.

With unlikely allies, Skye must confront the soul-devouring priestesses and their ruthless general, One-Eye-Nic, before the last dragons—and her own soul—are lost forever.

This is an enthralling tale of lies, rebellion, and the price of freedom…

**NEW RELEASE!**

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The girl showed up with their tankards and a jug of homebrew. The man’s attention went straight to her cleavage. The hairy man pinched her behind for good measure before tipping her. Skye used the distraction to nick a card from the pack, a prince, hiding it in her coat sleeve. She waited for the girl to leave before dealing. The cards were soft, faded, and stained from nights of gambling.

Skye watched the three players as they scrutinized their cards. ‘Stupid’ smiled, Sid’s left eye twitched. The hairy man downed his tankard of homebrew.

Skye looked at her cards, she had two of pawns and a prince. On the table were a five and a seven of shields, a castle, and a three of pawns. Skye wasn’t sure what ‘Stupid’ thought he had, but Skye was pretty sure Sid had a castle, giving him the highest pair from the table.

Skye’s attention turned to the hairy man. The more she watched him, the more he seemed a ‘Stupid’ and in that case, no threat to Skye. He was only lucky with the previous hand.

Skye had the winning hand if she switched her two of pawns for the prince in her sleeve. ‘Stupid’ started the bets, throwing half his coin in, four silvers. Sid saw the bet and the hairy man added a silver.

She didn’t want to chase away Sid, so she also raised with only a silver coin. Keep it modest, keep it moving.

As the bets evened out around the table, Skye shifted her weight slightly and slid one hand under the edge of her sleeve. A quiet motion, a simple flick. She switched her cards—replacing a dud with a prince. Now she had two.

But just as her fingertips closed over the edge of the second card, a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

Steel. Not touch. Not pressure. Just steel.

“That is enough. We know what you are,” a male voice said. “Good call, Jim, you will get your reward. And you,” the man’s grip tightened slightly, “Finn Skylar, just won yourself a meeting with the gambler’s guild.”

Her heart jumped. Breath caught halfway up her throat. The hairy man had a smug cat-smile. He’d caught his mouse.

Her gut twisted. A setup. She should’ve seen it. Should’ve felt it. No wonder he was unreadable—he wasn’t here to play. He was here for her. Cold flooded her limbs.

What did they know? That she was a cheater? A woman? An alitur?

Or all three?

She relaxed her face into neutrality, but her mind raced. Could she run? No. Not yet. Too many eyes, too close to the table. No one had drawn steel, which meant they still wanted her alive—questioned, not killed. Yet.

“What? You have nothing to say?” the hairy man–Jim–said. He leaned over and took Skye’s tankard of homebrew and downed it. “Cheers.”

Skye didn’t answer. She reached down, slow and measured, and picked her tricorne up off the floor. Her hat was just fabric—but it made her feel armed. Steady. Like herself.

She rose to her feet.

“I don’t know what this guy told you,” Skye gestured towards Jim, “but I didn’t cheat. I haven’t seen him before in my life.” She truly hoped that was the only reason they were confronting her.

The house-muscle behind Skye chuckled, or that was what she assumed the rumbling noise was.

“We have been watching, and you have an appointment with the gambling guild.”

“No one told me,” Skye said with a shrug.

“I did. Just now.”

Skye looked over her shoulder at the house-muscle looming over her. Tall. Broad shoulders. A scar cut down his right temple, hugging the cheekbone like a crack in old stone. His stance was heavy, but not rooted. A bit off balance. Good.

The short one would be slower, maybe better in a brawl, but easy to outmaneuver. The tall one could be clumsy. The real problem was her coat—it would get in the way if she had to move fast. If she had to fight.

But—

She ran through options. Surrender. Fight. Flee. None was good. She shifted her weight, breath held shallow in her chest.

“Where is this meeting?” Skye asked.

“At the boss’s office, at the pits,” the tall one answered.

Skye scanned the room. No escape. Everyone watched. Waited. Sid had crushed his cards in his hands. Only Jim kept drinking, he found his entertainment for the night.

“I don’t go to the pits,” Skye said.

The tall one rumbled again from behind, “I don’t care, you are going.”

The room inhaled.

Jim smirked at Skye and lifted his tankard off the table. With a flick and a flash of her hand, a knife plunged into Jim’s eye.

Gasps.

The cup fell, and Jim followed. 

Fran Zuid lives in a village on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, with two dogs and four parrots (her personal dragons, without the fire-breathing part—which is a bonus). If she is not submerged in a creative fantasy world, or playing old games, she is fiddling in her garden, sipping wine at a vineyard or conquering a hiking trail somewhere—that is, if her “dragons” allow it.

Where Dragons Are Captured is her debut novel.

 

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Blog Tour: LOVE ON THE LINE by Kirsten Fullmer

Andrea takes a job building a pipeline through the mountains of West Virginia. 

Cold, mud, family drama, and an all-male crew, are only a few of the problems she encounters.

Love On the Line 1

Women At Work Series Book 1

by Kirsten Fullmer

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Coming of Age, Small Town Romance

Her dad always said A little dirt never hurt anybody. He was wrong.

Andrea’s excitement about her first job engineering a pipeline through the mountains of West Virginia turns to disaster when she faces grueling work, harsh weather, and crushing homesickness. If she can’t pull herself together and keep up, she’ll be sent home.

When she dropped out of grad school to work on the line with Grandpa Buck, her parents were disappointed, widening a bitter family divide. If she goes home now, she’ll miss the opportunity to know Buck and lose his respect as well.

There's one worker, a foreman, who might offer comfort and support, but when Andrea finally trusts him, things get even more complicated.

Fans of In Five Years, Reminders of Him, and Regretting You, are devouring Kirsten Fullmer’s imaginative, gritty, coming-of-age romance.

One-Click Love on the Line to start the uniquely engaging journey today!

 

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 Nick and Rooster’s conversation lagged as they both paused to watch Andy and Buck approach. The afternoon had grown warm, the hottest so far, and the men waved at dust and bugs that crawled and bit, making them miserable.

            Buck stopped and bobbed a nod at the two foremen. “Men.”

            “Sir,” both mumbled in reply.

Buck grunted, then headed on past the men with Andy at his heels. As she hustled pass Rooster, her eyes met his and she couldn’t help but notice the intensity there.

She tripped over a rut and ran several steps ahead to regain her balance. Stopping to readjust the stake bag on her shoulder, she waved away a sweat bee. “Go ahead, Andy, trip and fall at his feet,” she muttered under her breath.

Two steps later she lurched to a halt and dropped the bag to clutch at her underarm where something, more than likely the sweat bee, stung her with a vengeance.

Shouting curses, she danced and twisted in a circle, yanking at her safety vest and shirt and grabbing at her sports bra in an attempt the stop the burning sting. Finally, she ripped one arm out of her shirt and vest. Shoving her fingers up under the tight sweaty bra, she scooped out the bee and jumped back as its body fell to the dirt.

She stomped on the bee and kinked her neck, trying to examine her armpit area, but then she remembered where she was. She froze with one hand still up the side of her bra. Her head came up, only to find every man on the right-of-way, numbering well over thirty, staring at her in amazement.

“Need a hand?” Nick called out with a grin.

“It was a bee—” she started, then with a snort of disgust, she yanked her hand from her bra. Hefting the heavy bag, she realized her shirt and safety vest were still bunched up around one side of her neck, leaving her arm and her stomach half exposed. Three more cuss words escaped as she dropped the bag and fumbled back into her clothing, with all eyes watching her every move.

The sting continued to burn as she grabbed the stake bag and stomped past Buck, with her cheeks red and hot.

“What was that all about?” the old man asked as she passed.

Ignoring him, Andy continued up the right-of-way.

***

            Rooster smoothed his fingers down his beard trying to hide a laugh as he watched Andy and Buck retreat. Nick hooted by his side, cackling with the other hands as they regaled Andy tearing off her shirt. Rooster’s hand dropped and he frowned, wondering how bad the sting was. He’d had a sweat bee trapped in his pants once, and it was a pain he still remembered.

Love on the Line 2

Women at Work Book 2

Andy could only stare, wide-eyed, at the keys in her hand. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Only foremen got a company truck.

Andy is pleased to work with Grandpa Buck again, even though the long hours limit her time with Rooster. But her contentment is cut short when a serious on-the-job accident tips the scale of leadership, throwing Rooster and Andy into conflict.

Rooster must prove he is unbiased toward Andy and her work, or lose his promotion. When her parents show up, Andy has to deal with Rooster, her mother’s interference, and her own insecurities to keep the job going. If she can’t cope she’ll lose her job, and worse yet, she’ll let down Buck.

If Andy and Rooster can’t find a way to work together and complete the pipeline, their relationship is over.

Fans of In Five Years, Reminders of Him, and Regretting You, are devouring Kirsten Fullmer’s imaginative, gritty, coming-of-age pipeline books.

One-Click Love on the Line 2 to continue Andy’s exceptional journey today!

 

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Rooster forked a pork chop onto his plate and dug in, cutting off a big bite. He popped it in his mouth and watched Andy as he chewed.

She tried not to squirm, but he could see her discomfort. One of his brows quirked up.

Andy dished a helping of salad onto her plate, careful not to look up at him.

He cut another bite off his chop. Silence filled the room, tense and palpable, like the room was too small. Reaching for his glass, he caught her sneaking a peak at him.

After several gulps of water, he settled his glass back on the table, took his fork in one hand and his knife in the other, and waited. She was only demure when she knew she was in the wrong.

When she realized he wasn’t eating, her eyes met his. “What’s wrong?” she asked innocently. “Is the pork okay?”

“Why do you want to go to some gas station on the only night we don’t have to go to sleep at eight o-clock? You usually want to…” He intentionally let the sentence drop and waggled his eyebrows to make her blush. She was so cute when she was timid.

“We won’t need to stay late,” she backpedaled, “I was talking to Nick about it and—”

“Oh, here we go,” he interrupted. “This is about Nick isn’t it?”

She put her fork on the table. “What’s your problem with Nick?”

He shook his head. “You told him you’d invite that new coating girl, didn’t you?” He wasn’t asking, it was a statement.

Andy’s chin came up. “She happens to be the coating foreman.”

“Whatever,” he snorted, and went back to cutting his meat.

Andy grinned wickedly. “She could demand that you all address her as foreperson, you know.”

Rooster snorted at her dilutional comment.

Andy pursed her lips, knowing full well that the pipeline was still in the 1950s when it came to women’s rights. But she adjusted her train of thought and continued. “Why do you think this has anything to do with me talking to Nick?”

His chewing stopped and he gave her an oh please, look.

She cleared her throat and looked away, poking a bite of salad onto her fork. “Okay, her name may have come up.”

Rooster took another long drink of water.

“Would it kill us to be social?” Andy retorted. “We never go anywhere but work.”

 “We work eighty hours a week!”

“That’s beside the point,” she huffed, sticking the forkful of salad in her mouth.

“Is it?”

She chewed and swallowed. “You just don’t want to bother,” she said with a flounce.

“This is overcooked,” he muttered, sawing away at his pork chop. It was dry and chewy, he’d done a poor job of it.

Dinner continued in silence with both parties casting glances at the other, but neither one spoke. When they finished eating, they stood and carried their dishes to the sink. Rooster ran hot, soapy water as Andy scraped their scraps into the trash and returned to the table for the rest of the dishes.

Silence reigned, leaving only the sound of plates clinking and water running as Rooster washed and rinsed the dishes, and Andy dried. When the dishes were washed, he drained the water and watched as Andy put the last plate in the specially designed drawer. When she turned back to him, he took up the end of her dishtowel, pulling her to him. His hands circled her waist. “If you’d like me to take you out Saturday night, just say so.”

Andy didn’t meet his eye.

But Rooster knew her well, and still very much enjoyed her attitudes. He tilted her head up with an index finger under her chin. “You’re something else, you know that?”

Losing all track of thought, Andy fell under his spell. Her pupils dilated and her lips parted. She didn’t need to say anything, he knew he had her.

Leaning down, he teased kisses along her jaw, causing a moan to slip from her lips. Her arms came up to circle his neck and his kisses wandered to her cheek, then her mouth.

Eagerly, she kissed him back, deepening both the kiss and his desire. He scooped her up and carried her toward the bedroom.

Andy leaned into his shoulder, filled with anticipation. She nibbled at his neck, ran her fingers through his hair, and a dreamy smile settled over her face.

He placed her on the bed, certain that somewhere in that woman’s brain of hers, she was already wondering what she’d wear on their Saturday night date to the gas station.  

Kirsten is a writer with a love of art and design. She worked in the engineering field, taught college, and consulted free lance. Due to health problems, she retired in 2012 to travel with her husband. They live and work full time in a 40' travel trailer with their little dog Bingo. Besides writing romance novels, she enjoys selling art on Etsy and spoiling their four grandchildren.

As a writer, Kirsten's goal is to create strong female characters who face challenging, painful, and sometimes comical situations. She believes that the best way to deal with struggle, is through friendship and women helping women. She knows good stories are based on interesting and relatable characters.

 

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