New Release: Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

 A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Black Sheep and So Thirsty. 

Play Nice
by Rachel Harrison
September 9, 2025
Genre: Horror
PLAY NICE centers on Clio, a successful stylist and influencer who’s just inherited her late mother’s home—the childhood home her mother Alexandra insisted was possessed and even turned the tale into a bestselling memoir. But Clio’s father and older sisters always dismissed it as the delusions of a destructive alcoholic, and Clio believed them.

While her sisters view the inheritance as a painful relic of their past trauma, Clio sees it as an opportunity to create captivating house-flipping content and reconnect with the last remaining memories of her mother.

As she moves in to prepare the house for sale, unsettling things begin to happen. And for the first time, Clio starts to question everything she thought she knew about her mother—and whether the real story has been buried all along.

Early praise for PLAY NICE
"Rachel Harrison once again gives us our best friends, our best enemies, our best crushes, and our worst nightmares. This time sexier, scarier, grittier than ever before."—CJ Leede, USA Today bestselling author of American Rapture

"Rachel Harrison is in a league of her own—maybe a genre of her own. Play Nice is the sexiest, scariest, most fun haunted house novel I’ve ever read, a Barbie Dreamhouse oozing blood, one of those perfect blends of horror, heart, and winking wit only she can pull off. This book is so gripping it performed its own possession; I physically couldn’t put it down. Harrison is my horror queen, and this book is her best yet."—Ashley Winstead, USA Today-bestselling author of Midnight is the Darkest Hour

"Play Nice packs a prickly punch by cleverly nesting its possession story within another kind of familial and familiar possession."—Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World

"Play Nice is as fun as a journey into darkness and family trauma can get. Rachel Harrison crafts a uniquely spirited haunting that’s both ruthlessly frightening and overflowing with heart."
—Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Lucky Day and Bury Your Gays

"I raced through Rachel Harrison's Play Nice, drawn in by the relatable protagonist and the irresistible blend of horror, mystery and family drama."—Tananarive Due, Bram Stoker Award winner, The Reformatory

Amazon

About the Author:
website-Instagram-Twitter
Rachel Harrison is the national bestselling author of BLACK SHEEP, SUCH SHARP TEETH, CACKLE and THE RETURN, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut story collection BAD DOLLS. She lives in western New York with her husband and their cat/overlord.

The Book Marketing Tips & Author Success Podcast

What kinds of authors are tuning in?
Honestly, authors in all stages of book publishing and promotion - and it’s actually really exciting (and sometimes surprising) to see who’s listening. We mostly get this info from our reviews and authors who write in with feedback. But we have authors who rely on our show while looking for agents and or publishers, authors who are finishing up their books and thinking ahead about releases, and then on the other end of the spectrum we have authors tuning in that feel stuck and don’t know what they’re doing wrong, or the opportunities they may be missing.

Is the show for marketing DIYers or for finding the right people to hire?
It’s applicable to both, and even authors that fall somewhere in between. Some authors seem to tune in assuming they’ll handle everything themselves, and then they realize they need more support, maybe in very specific areas. We get a lot of authors contacting us about a collaboration after listening to the show, but you’ll also see from our reviews that there are a lot of DIYers out there just looking to do all the right things.

What if I’m still writing my first book?
Take notes! There’s no such thing as being too prepared, and we’d encourage you to zero in on shows that are clearly about production choices, like editing, covers, publishing options, etc. And then the branding shows too, plan ahead for what your goals are as an author brand, because it will only lighten the load as you get closer to publishing that first book.

I’ve been publishing books for a while, can I still learn something?
Absolutely. We have plenty of shows for newbie authors, but things are constantly evolving in publishing and book marketing, and how to best connect with readers, that veteran authors need to stay on top of to ensure the upward momentum continues. We like to think our shows are also really great for authors who feel they’ve plateaued a bit and are looking for new ways to generate quality exposure.

How do you come up with ideas for the show?
We rely a lot on listener requests. We also pull a lot of ideas from the calls Penny does with prospective clients. And Amy likes to add in show topics based on the day-to-day challenges she knows AME clients are having. Publishing is complex, it’s very, very hard to know it all while also writing your next book, and working your everyday job, and giving much needed attention to family and friends, and other commitments, so we aim to be the insurance most authors need to check all the boxes along the way.

Do you ever do author interviews?
We don’t do author interviews, but we definitely encourage authors to send in show ideas, questions, and challenges they’re having. And please send in any successful promotions you’ve done, or let us know if you’re doing something super unique and exciting that’s working for your brand, because we’ve definitely mentioned authors that are doing positive things and will link to their Amazon Author pages in our show notes to give them some love and send traffic their way!

The Book Marketing Tips & Author Success Podcast is a game-changer for authors who want to thrive in today’s publishing landscape.

Penny Sansevieri and Amy Cornell blend practical advice with deep industry insights, offering something for both new and experienced authors. Authors can expect honest guidance—no gimmicks, no pipe dreams—just straightforward strategies you can actually use. And because this industry can be tough, we keep it light with a bit of humor along the way. If you’re ready to level up your author career, we’ve got you covered, no detail left unaddressed.

Our reviews to date speak for themselves, with a lot of authors raving about what they’re learning and encouraging others to get on board!

We believe in education, and creating a more savvy publishing industry – one episode at a time.

Listen to the podcast
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Author Marketing Experts:
X: @Bookgal
Instagram: @therealbookgal

Halloween/Days of the Dead tour- Author Gail Z. Martin talks Costumes, Candy, and Characters

Costumes, Candy, and Characters
By Gail Z. Martin

I love to see creative costumes at Halloween, especially the off-beat, homemade ones. A boy once came to our door wearing a table (completely with tablecloth) that had a big serving dish on top. When he lifted up the lid, his own head—with plenty of gory makeup so it looked severed—lay on a plate. He definitely got extra chocolate for that!

The most adventurous I ever got was dressing up as a Roaring Twenties flapper when I was in graduate school. At the time, the town had an amazing costume rental store!

That got me thinking about what the characters in my series would wear if they went trick-or-treating or to a costume ball.

For the medieval series (Chronicles of the Necromancer, Fallen Kings Cycle, Ascendant Kings Saga, Assassins of Landria), ‘costumes’ are usually disguises, used to help collect information or avoid being arrested. In peacetime, the characters might have attended a costume ball, but the stories are set during times of upheaval, so elegant events need to wait until order has been restored. The same is true of the characters in our Wasteland Marshals near-future, post-apocalyptic series. For Jake Desmet and his friends from our steampunk series, going to a costume party would probably mean dressing up like historical figures or characters from books.

In the modern-day stories (Deadly Curiosities, Night Vigil, Spells Salt and Steel, and Joe Mack), it’s fun to think about how the characters might approach Halloween and what costumes they might consider.

My Deadly Curiosities crew would have fun with the concept. They use magic and psychic skills to stop the things that go bump in the night, but they wouldn’t hesitate to decorate Trifles and Folly, Cassidy’s antique shop, for the season, or give out candy.

I can definitely imagine Cassidy, Teag and their friends dressing up on Halloween as the cast of Buffy, knowing that most people won’t get the in-joke that Cassidy and her team really do fight monsters.

Sorren, the nearly 600 year-old vampire who is Cassidy’s business partner, wouldn’t pick a Bela Lugosi costume. He’d be more likely to dress like the real European nobility he mingled with hundreds of years ago.

Travis and Brent from the Night Vigil might take the easy costume choice of dressing like the Winchesters from Supernatural, since they also fight demons. Or they could go as characters from The Walking Dead, because they’ve dealt with more than their share of zombies as well. If they felt particularly sarcastic, Travis still has his old suits and clerical collar shirts from when he was a priest, and Brent could do a dark suit and fedora as a private eye.

If Mark Wjocik from the Spells, Salt, and Steel series went to a bar that threw a Halloween bash, he could be a zombie hunter (since he hunts monsters in real life) and pay homage to Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead which were filmed not far from his corner of Pennsylvania.

Joe Mack, who is immortal after being brought back from the dead by a Slavic god in the late 1800s, could pick from any of the eras of his long life. I think he might favor dressing up like Eliot Ness from the 1920s.

One thing I’m sure of—they all like Halloween candy and would never turn down chocolate! 

Deadly Curiosities (6 books)

 

Night Vigil (2 books)

Jake Desmet Adventure (2 books)

Joe Mack Chronicles (4 books)

Spells, Salt and Steel (2 books)

Chronicles of the Necromancer (4 books)

The Darkhurst (3 books)

Assassins of Landria (6 books)

 

Wasteland Marshals (1 book)

 

 The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (4 books)

The Fallen Kings Cycle (2 book)

About the Author
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Follow me on Facebook in the Shadow Alliance reader group (www.Facebook.com/Groups/MartinShadowAlliance), X/Twitter, @MorganBriceAuthor on Instagram and @MorganBriceAuthor on TikTok!Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy, steampunk and more for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria.

Together with Larry N. Martin, she is the co-author of Iron & Blood, Storm & Fury (both Steampunk/alternate history), the Spells Salt and Steel comedic horror series, the Roaring Twenties monster hunter Joe Mack Shadow Council series, and the Wasteland Marshals near-future post-apocalyptic series. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance, with the Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow series. Gail is also a con-runner for ConTinual, the online, ongoing multi-genre convention that never ends.

New NA Fantasy Release: Illuminance (The Unraveled Fate Series Book 2) by Kara Douglas

Illuminance is now available and to celebrate the occasion, if you submit proof of purchase before March 24th, the author will gift you an unreleased art print! As if owning the book isn't enough!

 

*Visit the link in Kara Douglas' bio to submit proof of purchase

 

Illuminance (The Unraveled Fate Series Book 2)
by Kara Douglas
Publication Date: March 21, 2024 (Today)
Genre: NA Fantasy

✨Sassy Wyvern
✨Prophecies & High Stakes
✨Magic Training
✨Who did this to you
✨Slow burn
✨Found Family
A brewing war, and a prophecy to doom them all.

Lu’s life as she knows it is over. Her wishes of freedom have finally come to fruition, but at what cost? Her worst nightmares have become reality as monsters, fae, and dark magic corrupt the only home she’s ever known.

Old, broken memories come to light, and the war from long ago seems doomed to repeat itself, with Lu stuck in the middle. Torn between her prince and the man she once called her enemy, she’s left with questions she can’t answer. The scales threaten to tip when the Goddess of Vengeance puts Lu’s hard-won freedom more at risk than ever.

When an ancient prophecy offers a chance at peace, she must learn to control her magic before it’s too late. With all eyes on her, Lu will have to prove herself to her kingdom—or lose everything, and everyone, she loves.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON


X: @RRBookTours1 #RRBookTours

IG: @authorkaradouglas @rrbooktours

TikTok: @authorkaradouglas @shannon_of_rrbooktours

Tags:
#rrbooktours #rrbtilluminance #illuminance #lunaria #unraveledfatesseries #karadouglas #adultfantasyromance #fantasyromance #fantasyromancebooks #fantasybookseries #fantasybookstagram #nafantasy #newbookalert #publicationday #bookbirthday 

 

Blitz organized by @rrbooktours

Witchhunter (Witchhunter Book 1) by Quinn Blackbird + giveaway

Witchhunter (Witchhunter Book 1)
by Quinn Blackbird
April 26, 2022
Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance
DARK PARANORMAL ROMANCE.
FANS OF THALASSA AND HUTCHINS WILL DEVOUR THIS SERIES!

'I want to hurt people, those awful, unspectacular humans. But the Hunters ...? Oh, what I wouldn't give to tear them limb from limb.'

The land is divided into two, split by the dangerous mountains that cut us into two: Home of the Hunters and the home of the Witches, forever at war.

Once, I belonged to the lands where people and Hunters live -- until the Change came and my family whisked me away to the mountains, seeking safety for my rising witchery. They didn't make it beyond the mountains and the Hunters that lurk there, ready to slaughter my kind and anyone who helps us.
I made it, though.
And I promised on the very day that I was orphaned, I will dedicate my life to the utter destruction of all Hunters across the land, even if it costs me the last breath in my body.

...that final breath seems to be inching closer when a mission to save Witches before the Change goes so terribly wrong, and I wind up a prisoner of a Hunter so beautiful that his face is just asking to be torn apart.
I doubt I'll survive what wicked tortures he has in store for me. But he can bet his charming smile that when I go down, I'm taking him with me.
Even if it's the last thing I do.

*.*.*.*

WITCHHUNTER is available in ebook and paperback once the series is complete in rapid release KU mode. This series is a dark paranormal fantasy romance, so reader discretion is advised!

Nothing is sweet in the Blackbird worlds ...

Goodreads-Amazon

Magnifier(Witchhunter Book 2)

Goodreads-Amazon

Witchhunter Box Set (Full Collection)

Goodreads-Amazon

About the Author

Website-FB-Twitter

Instagram-Bookbub

Amazon-Goodreads

Quinn Blackbird loves an anti-hero.
All of her villains stay submerged in 'dark' so expect little redemption. She thinks them up over hot coffees and warm cups of tea on the porch.
When not writing, Quinn is either tackling a new face mask or snuggling with a book on the couch with her two pups.
After living in Scotland most of her life, Quinn then moved around the world writing for a few years, visiting distant family. Though she loved Australia the most--only in summer!--she has decided to put down some roots in Paris once everything has settled down.

Giveaway

$20 Amazon

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: 🩸 BLOOD! NOT JUST A VAMPIRE DRINK🥤 by Stacy McAnulty

I thought this cover was fun!

Stacy McAnulty has a bunch of cool informative books for kids. Check out her stuff :)

Plus there is a pre-order sale at B&N for her next two releases.

by Stacy McAnulty

🩸 BLOOD! NOT JUST A VAMPIRE DRINK🥤

Available: Aug 2022

Illustrated by: @shawnajctenney

Published by: @mackidsbooks

Agent: @lkliterary

Save the People!

Our Planet!

About the Author:

website-FB-Twitter

Instagram

In no particular order... I'm a wife, mother of 3 kids and 3 dogs, author, daughter, sister and stepsister, aunt, friend, Twitter addict, mechanical engineer (currently inactive), inconsistent blogger, Packers fan, two-finger typist, concerned citizen, book-buying enthusiast, reluctant volunteer, minivan driver, pancake flipper, snooze-button hitter, and coupon clipper.

The Vivian Contest

The Vivian recognizes excellence in romance writing and showcases author talent and creativity. We celebrate the power of the romance genre with its central message of hope--because happily ever afters are for everyone.

Romance Writers of America will announce the winners of the 2021 Vivian awards at a virtual Awards Ceremony on July 31st, 9pm EST. Caraway Carter will emcee the event, which will be streamed live at www.rwa.org.

The names of the winners will be posted as they’re announced on the RWA website, Twitter and Facebook pages (#RWAVivian).

Join us in the celebration!

Tune into the RWA website HERE!

Swing by Facebook HERE!

Stay updated on Twitter HERE!

Watch on Youtube HERE!

Book Throne Kindle Unlimited June Promo + giveaway

Win A 2-Year Kindle Unlimited Subscription + A $100 Amazon Gift Card.

START BINGE-READING - READ FOR FREE.

https://www.bookthrone.com/june-kindle-unlimited-promo

We're giving away a 2-Year Kindle Unlimited Subscription + a $100 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky Book Throne reader. Winner chooses when Kindle Unlimited Subscription starts.

For your chance to win, all you have to do is READ, READ, & READ. Read any of the books above. All available for free on Kindle Unlimited. The more you read the better. Our sponsoring authors would love every bit of support from you.

Winner will be chosen randomly.

Entries must be received by midnight July 23rd, 2021 BST.

The Winner will be contacted via email not more than 48hrs after the giveaway has ended.

(Beware of Scammers! Book Throne will never ask you to fill in a form or ask for any payment whatsoever when you win. We also DO NOT announce winners on Facebook or any social media platforms. Always refer to the giveaway page to check if you've won.)

This giveaway is sponsored by the following authors;

Quell T. Fox, Tarrah Anders, Ashton Abbott, Rosie Jarvis, Samantha Adair, Amy Martinsen, Libby Campbell, Debbie McQueen, Soraya Naomi, JR Wylder, D.L. Gardner, Barbara Russell, Adrienne Wilder, C.N. Marie, Ella Cooper, Nancy Yeager, Tatenda Creed, and Book Throne.