Blog Tour: UNLADYLIKE by Regina Louise

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Regina Louise will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on a tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Unladylike: A Mythopoetic Reclamation of Love is a lyrical collection of poetry and prose exploring love, survival, embodiment, and the journey of returning to the self. Blending literary poetry with personal reflection, Regina Louise examines relationships, identity, trauma, healing, and the process of reclaiming one's voice after loss and betrayal.

Through intimate poems and essays, Unladylike maps the emotional terrain between heartbreak and self-discovery, inviting readers into a deeply human exploration of resilience, self-love, and personal transformation. Her work speaks to readers interested in emotional healing, spiritual growth, women's voices, and the reclamation of dignity through storytelling and creative expression.

Rooted in mythopoetic inquiry and lived experience, this collection moves through memory, desire, grief, and repair, offering language for those navigating change, recovery, and the search for meaning. Unladylike is both an artistic work and an invitation-to witness oneself honestly and to return to what was always there.

Read an Excerpt

Teeth Jewelry

I didn’t take it lying down—
my legs spread eagle, leaking,
like a broke-back Aphrodite,
or Erzulie Freda dispossessed of her longing.

The way you uninvited me
to the wedding—
I’d planned for two months to attend.

Fresh out of a group home,
I was certain I would arrive.
I showed up at your front door.
My hair set in Jada curls—
edges swooped in,
baby hairs laid down—
two hours under a hot-ass dryer
to get them right.

Your brother answered,
fraudulence jutting from his eyes,
said you weren’t home. Yet.
What about the black and champagne
Bentley in your driveway?
Your hubcapped feet, your only wheels.
It belonged to the girl from Baldwin Hills.
Eyes same color as mine.
Her daddy was a doctor.
Yours ran a dojo.

I took my financial aid money,
got myself a crepe de chine
Norma Kamali mini dress—
on sale, sale, sale at I. Magnin.
Fishnet pantyhose.

My first manicure—
to dig desolation from beneath
my dirty fingernails,
just to look respectable.

In pointed-toe flats,

I kicked and scratched my way
through the door,
two stairs at a time.

I followed my knowing into your lair.
My right hook, a javelin.
I threw a punch at your face—
a black belt trophy, barely missed.
You were fifth degree.

My jaw dislocated instantly
from the butt of your palm.

She ran for her life.
I ran into your fury.
And then—
my skin tore
you bit my face,
my arms,
the tops of my hands,
my wrists
my neck,
my bicep,

my shoulders,
the soles of my hands.

Clad in a blusa campesina,
a peasant shirt, off-the-shoulder,
in technicolor—my flesh on parade
fresh with the imprint of your
Central, lateral incisors.
Canines.

I returned to my social work theory seminar.

I wore your teeth jewelry
like a queen.

A gypsy skirt sashayed my hips.

I wore ankle bracelets
with fake gold coins
and fabricated seashells.

Everyone heard me coming.

I returned from Spring Break
baptized in a pain so exquisite,
one might mistake it
or all of who I was.

No matter.

I got my licks in, too.
Not just for me—
but for Tina Turner.
And all the rest of us
who stayed—
wired to do so.

About the Author:

Regina Louise is a poet, writer, teacher, speaker, executive coach, whose work explores the intersection of memory, belonging, identity, and emotional liberation. The author of three books—two of which have been adapted for film: Somebody’s Someone, Someone Has Led This Child to Believe and Permission Granted: Kick Ass Strategies to Bootstrap your Way to Unconditional Self-Love—she has spent more than three decades helping people transform adversity into authorship through story, self-inquiry, and radical compassion.

A senior teacher with the Hoffman Process, Regina is known for guiding profound conversations about restoring dignity, resilience, attachment, and the art of becoming fully oneself. Whether on stage, in classrooms, behind a microphone, or in intimate workshop settings, she invites audiences to reimagine the stories that have shaped their lives and discover the freedom that awaits beyond them.

Her forthcoming collection, Unladylike: A Mythopoetic Reclamation of Love (September 2026), marks her debut poetry collection. Blending poetry, lyrical prose, and aphoristic reflections, it is a fearless meditation on love, loss, self-possession, and the sacred work of returning home to oneself.

Regina Louise lives in California, where she continues to write, teach, and create work that honors the transformative power of language to restore dignity, deepen connection, and reclaim what has always belonged to us.

Website: http://www.therealreginalouise.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealreginalouise
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regina.louise.5/
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/unladylike-a-mythopoetic-reclamation-of-love-regina-louise/b4379cc65cf1293b
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IQXN7M

Blog Tour: DUKE DU JOUR by Petie McCarty

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Petie McCarty will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

She’s waiting in the past . . . He belongs in the future.

Jared Langley, present-day Duke of Reston, tumbles into an abandoned fountain on his ducal estate and is pelted back in time to the year 1816. There, Reston servants and local villagers think him a dead ringer for his namesake and rakehell ancestor—the seventh Duke of Reston, gone missing at the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, Seven got mixed up with French spies out to assassinate the Duke of Wellington, and an unwary Jared ends up in their crosshairs.

Lady Ariana Hart has loved Jared Langley, the seventh Duke of Reston, since she was twelve years old, until the night the rogue broke her heart. Given up for dead, her rakish neighbor makes a miraculous return from Waterloo. Only Jared shows up a changed man and reignites all the feelings Ariana had long ago buried.

Jared is in a race against time.
His tasks?

Waylay the suspicions of his quirky servants and neighbors
Get to Wellington before the French spies do
Fix his fountain–before Seven shows up–so Jared has a way home
And definitely do not fall in love with the irresistible Lady Ariana . . .

Second Edition

Read an Excerpt

The sound of hoofbeats and wheels churning came from the path to the old stone stable. Seconds later, what looked to be a perfectly restored nineteenth-century curricle pulled up with a magnificent pair of spirited blacks in harness. The young man driving tied off the reins and jumped down, and Jared could only stare in stunned disbelief.

Curricle Man matched Jared’s height and build and wore scuffed knee-high boots, what appeared to be knickers, and a woolen waistcoat over a loose, long-sleeved white shirt with a linen scarf stuffed in the collar. A wave of dizziness struck Jared again. Curricle Man strode over and bowed.

Bowed?


“Chappy said you were back, Master Jared. So I took the liberty of bringing round your curricle, so you could take straight off to see Lady Wilder.”

This tableau had quickly turned into a nightmare.

“I do this often,” Jared said. The words came out sounding like a question, and he received two incredulous looks.

“As soon as you arrive, Mast—uh, Your Grace. At least, you did on the last few visits before you left for the continent,” Curricle Man offered. “I only thought―”

“Well, do not think. Maybe this visit I choose to be different. I can change.”

Jared got the you-must-be-daft look again. Truth be told, he felt a bit daft since he had not known he owned a curricle and had no intention of driving this one until he learned how. Harness-racing sulkies he knew.

Restored curricles, not at all.

“Begging your pardon, Your Grace,” Curricle Man persisted, “but you always said if you did not go there, Lady Wilder would come here. And you hate that.” The man gave him a wary stare. “Of course, that was more than two years ago.”

Jared’s head pounded in earnest, and he fought off a wave of nausea brought on by the accompanying dizziness. He did not know these people, he had no idea what or whom they were talking about, and he feared a climactic ending to this delusional scene.

“Yes, but this year is—” He had meant to say different, but Cook—who had been strangely silent throughout their discourse—beat him to the punch.

“—Eighteen sixteen, of course,” she said, looking worried. “Are ye sure ye didn’t hit yer head back at the fountain, Master Jared?”

“Eighteen sixteen?” he asked weakly.

“Right,” the two strangers agreed in unison.

Oh, dear Lord in heaven! I am not just named after Jared Langley. I am Jared Langley, seventh Duke of Reston.

Then everything went black.

About the Author:

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said goodbye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time.

These days, Petie spends her time writing new tales for her Cinderella series, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her Regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones, along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who makes a cameo appearance in Christmas Watch, Book 2 of The Watchers series.

Visit Petie at her website, www.petiemccarty.com, to get to know her, learn about her current projects, and discover her other published works.

Website: http://www.petiemccarty.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty
Twitter: https://x.com/authorpetie
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094579.Petie_McCarty
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/petie-mccarty
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/petiemccarty

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Duke-Du-Jour-Petie-McCarty-ebook/dp/B0H99Y9Z2Z.

Review: SWEET VALLEY TWINS: BEST FRIENDS by Nicole Adelfinger and Claudia Aguirre

It would seem the twin sisters have separate interests after all, which were pulling them apart. Loved the illustrations! Some of the text was a little hard to read, so you really had to go on the pictures if the text wasn’t big enough on the Kindle. Some of the scenes can be pretty funny especially when one of the girls starts playing pranks. How far would you go to fit in with a group? What happens when one twin all of a sudden wants to be different? Some of the art work was just dazzling. When one really wants to be different, she really means it. One of them really wants to be a Unicorn, but the other girls won’t let her unless she pulls a mean prank. Is it really worth it to be one of the Mean Girls? What happens when a prank goes too far and the wrong twin gets blamed?

 

This story definitely relays the true trials of trying to fit in. These girls were like Tia and Tamera—one was the party girl and the other was the smart girl. Like any siblings, sometimes a little space is necessary. Goes to show that nothing can tear twins apart. A sweet and funny story!

 

Rating: 4 stars

Review: CONDITIONER AND A CORPSE by Cindy Bell

Bekki’s old friend has just arrived in town and has just been stabbed to death. Bekki would find out who did this if it’s the last thing she did. But, of course, she grew reluctant about getting involved when she found out about the criminals her friend might’ve been involved with. Suddenly, Bekki has a target on her back and she was very anxious. But she wouldn’t stop looking. I kind of figured where the mystery spot would be in this. A good mystery!

 

Rating: 4 stars

Review: BIRTHDAYS CAN BE DEADLY by Cindy Bell

 

An old man drops dead at his birthday party at a retirement community. A retired detective thinks it might’ve been murder. With the help of a retired journalist, the two begin an investigation.

I liked the quirky cast of senior characters here. They even get the help of a retired thief. Eddy was certainly your typical gruff and grouchy cop. Fortunately, he had Samantha to soften his hard edge.

 

The question was: who could’ve benefited from the old man’s death? Was it a greedy and estranged son?

 

This series about senior sleuths is certainly interesting and I will definitely continue reading it.

 

 

Rating: 4 stars