Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C

Synopsis: Bobby Russo was born into a life of organized crime. A life of secrets and lies. As he gets older Bobby realizes that the most dangerous secrets of all are his own.

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Review

Beautiful and brilliant Dress Code written by Peter Panagos and directed by Joseph Pupello. follows Bobby Russo. Groomed from a young age to join the “family business” Only Bobby has a secret.

 In a flashback, we meet young Bobby (Nicholas Giordano), the son of a violent dad (Freddie Mass) and a verbally abused mother (Alex Di Trolio). Coming home to what seems to be a familiar situation of his parents arguing once again. Bobby finally frustrated, grabs his mother’s purse going into the bathroom. Instead of money, Bobby pulls out his mom’s lipstick soothed by its shape and smell he applies it. Caught by his dad who goes into a violent outburst Bobby is saved by his mother who is worried and wondering why her son is stealing her makeup and clothes. Taking him to a psychologist who offers a place to help “cure” Bobby of his affliction. Horrified at the thought they storm out, she promises she will be there for him always and gives him a secret bag with a lock on it filled with makeup and some of her clothes telling Bobby to be him but be discreet.

Transition to present-day adult Bobby( Gerard Garill) at his mother’s funeral. Bobby has a girlfriend now and they are expecting their first child. and Bobby has become a prominent member of the “Family business” thanks to his Uncle Rocco (Frank Osso) who has been more of a father figure to him in his life. When the head mobster dies and Rocco is promoted to head of the business Rocco gives Bobby control of an important location that ruffles feathers among the ranks especially with Allie Boy (played superbly by Edward John Scienski) and Bobby too. Is he cut out of this? When Bobby finally decides to embrace who he is by going to a transgender party we see Bobby at his happiest, and the music that plays is killer. It almost brings a tear to your eye. It also all comes crashing down on Bobby after.

Winner of Best Screenplay (Peter Panagos), Best 1st-time director (Joseph Pupello), and Best Actor (Gerard Garlli)  at the Oniros Film Festival in New York Dress Code blow mainstream mobster films out of the water with something that is refreshing and absolutely amazing. Just like getting drawn into a good book, Dress Code draws you in at the first screenshot. Completely engrossed in the storytelling the film flows smoothly keeping your attention the whole film through. 

Performance wise everyone’s performances were realistic and spot on. Frank Osso (Even the Score, Equal Standard) is charming, reminding me a bit of the late great Ray Liotta. Freddie Mass (Better Safe Than Sonny, Big Weekend) powerhouses to perfection as the perfect Italian American mob dad nightmare, and Gerard Garlli (Hard Laughter, Fratello) of course rises shining in his performance. More awards should be coming Dress Codes‘ way. 

My Rating is 10 out of 10

This cover is insanely delicious and made me instantly curious. So I am happy this Thursday to spotlight CURSED MEMORY by River Ash. This beautiful novella is part one of a duet. Let’s take a bite inside shall we?

Cursed Memory (Cursed Bloodlines #1)

Publication Date: January 17th, 2023

Genre: PNR/ Vampire Romance

Length: 65 pages

I remember the club. The pounding of the beat pulsing in my veins, the way my body moved with the music.

Then — nothing.

My memories are locked away in the dark corners of my mind, replaced by an insatiable hunger nothing can fill.

Until I found him.

I felt his presence before I saw him. My blood calls for this mysterious man whose darkness matches my own. Being near him sets my body on fire, making me ache for every touch… every taste.
It’s as if my soul recognizes him, loosening my trapped memories. Each time a new one breaks free, I wonder if he holds the key to what I’ve lost, what I can’t remember. But everything comes with a price. I’m beginning to fear the cost of remembering all that I’ve done might be more than I can bear. What if the monster of this story… is me?

Available on NOW Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

River Ash is a writer of paranormal romance novels. Her stories are filled with passion and fantasy and all have HEAs. Her latest book in the Cursed Bloodline world, “Cursed Memory” is out.

Her love for reading began when she was a young girl sneaking into the school library and grow into adulthood.

When River’s not reading, she is writing passionate fantasy with a romantic twist. Or else, she can be found solving sudoku puzzles. River loves traveling, is obsessed with energy drinks, and has several relationships with fictional characters.

Follow River and all things Cursed Memory at River Ash

It is publication week for author Rick Lenz. Teaming with R&R Book Tours I have joined the book tour for his release of A Town Called Why. Read on!

A Town Called Why

Publication Date: February 21, 2023

Genre: Mystery/ Suspense/ Private Detective

Simple justice or an eye for an eye? Half-Apache cop confronts pure evil.

Colleagues of Frank Gaines, a half-Apache, Arizona desert town police detective, know him as a courageous man. Gaines doubts that. He suspects he’s afraid of not behaving courageously. He goes into therapy. This creates a new problem: he is falling in love with his therapist, a striking, full-blooded Apache woman, Sunny Kacheenay, granddaughter of a great shaman, who has mystical gifts of her own.

A distant maternal relative of Gaines dies in a shotgun blast. Against her own best professional instincts, Sunny is forced to tell Gaines that by ancient, ancestral law, his sacred duty is to find, torture, and kill the murderer.

Jokingly, Gaines tells her it’s not the 1800s anymore.

Sunny doesn’t laugh.

In the process of trying to hunt down the most malignant villain Gaines has ever heard of, he begins to test his courage for real and to recognize his true feelings about life, love, and courage.

Purchase Now

Add to Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When Rick Lenz retired as a stage and film actor (playing opposite Ingrid Bergman, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Walter Matthau, Peter Sellers, etc.), his passion for drama refused to retire with him. Although he was an actor most of his life, he is also a seasoned writer. His plays have been produced Off-Broadway, on PBS television, and in regional theatres across the country. Rick’s memoir North of Hollywood was called “masterful” by Writer’s Digest. His first novel, The Alexandrite was named “one of the best books of the year” by Kirkus Reviews. Bret Easton Ellis called it “almost impossible to put down.” Rick’s books have won several awards, including, Readers Views (first place), the Chanticleer Somerset Grand Prize for Literary, Contemporary, and Mainstream Fiction, an IPPY Award, and a Foreword Book of the Year. Most recently, his time-travel love story Hello, Rest of My Life was a 2022 Silver Nautilus Book Award winner (fiction), and Eric Hoffer Award finalist (fiction). He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Linda and an ever-shifting array of animals.

Follow Rick @ Rick Lenz | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

The Winter of the Wicked is the HIGHLY ANTICIPATED second novel in J.L. Vampa’s The Sisters Solstice Series. Congratulations to J.L. Vampa read on for more and get yourself a copy of this beauty!

Winter of the Wicked (Sisters Solstice #2)

Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Publisher: Phantom House Press
Genre: Adult Fantasy/ Gothic Fantasy/ Dark Romantic Fantasy

Some witches cast spells. Others sacrifice everything.
A Sister forced to do the unthinkable. A kingdom on the brink. A quartet of witches intent on altering History. 
For centuries, Sister Winter’s life has been dictated by a Grimoire—the Book her Sister Autumn just destroyed. Despite the necessity of its destruction to end a vile shadow organization and the Sisters’ three hundred years of separation, Wendolyn is left adrift without its guidance.
As secrets from long ago begin to rise up around her, Sister Winter must face what haunts her, while the Prince of Mereville uses his abilities as Marchand de Mort to infiltrate The Order—the shadow regime that wants him dead.
Will the ghosts of the past keep Wendolyn from her Sisters? Will their differences spell the end for Midlerea? Or can they put aside what’s been to save the dark prince and the future of the realm?

Available on Amazon and Add to Goodreads

Don’t forget Autumn of the Grimoire (Sisters Solstice Series #1)

Publication Date: September 22, 2022

Genre: Gothic Fantasy/ Dark Fantasy Romance

Publisher: Phantom House Press

Some witches cast spells. Others slay kings.

A mysterious Grimoire. A marriage full of dark secrets. A History sculpted by a quartet of ancient Sister witches.

For three hundred years, Sister Autumn has incited wars, burnt villages, killed kings, and released plagues at the bidding of the Grimoire. Meanwhile, her Sister Winter, Sister Spring, and Sister Summer have brought forth only peace.

When an Order from the Grimoire sends Agatha to the Kingdom of Merveille, she already anticipates the worst. Unless she wants to face the wrath of the Goddess, Agatha must keep her head down and do as she’s commanded.

But when the Grimoire Orders her to marry a pompous prince and play the role of a peasant “accepted” by vicious aristocrats, she finds herself at the center of a war between the classes and an age-old prophecy.

Within the court, many players harbor dark secrets—including her new husband. With her newfound influence, Agatha joins forces with the city’s Blacklisted in order to blur the lines between the common man and the elite, unravel the mysteries in her marriage, and decide once and for all if she will defy the Grimoire and face the brutal consequences.

As secrets unfold, will Agatha continue to slay on behalf of the Grimoire, or forge an uncharted History with her unlikely allies?

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Lenore (J.L.) Vampa is a published author of Dark Fantasy and Victorian Gothic fiction. J.L. also owns a macabre-style bookish shop, Wicked Whimsy Boutique. She lives in Texas with her musician husband and their two littles who are just as peculiar as they are.

Find J.L. via JL Vampa |  Instagram | Twitter | Wicked Whimsy Boutique

Joining the book tour hosted by R&R Book Tours today I am happy to spotlight The Broken Darkness by Theresa Braun! Read on for more info about this gorgeous collection.

The Broken Darkness
Publication Date: January 26th, 2023
Genre: Dark Fiction/ Spec Fiction/ Short Story Collection
Publisher:  Gorgon Blood Press

In her debut collection, Theresa Braun explores the inner workings of the human heart and what it is we most desire—forgiveness, acceptance, love, fame, or merely to escape who we really are. Whether we are battling ghosts, demons, mythical monsters, the past, or other dimensions, we are really facing the deepest parts of ourselves. These thirteen tales of horror and dark fantasy may appear to be a matter of good versus evil, but they are all a reflection of the hidden corners of the soul that are often shades of broken darkness. The characters in these stories must face their inner and outer terrors, or else suffer the consequences.

Available on Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Theresa Braun has a Master’s degree in English literature and lives in South Florida where she has taught literature and writing for over 20 years. Traveling, ghost hunting and all things dark are her passions. In 2018 Unnerving released her horror novel Fountain Dead, a coming-of-age ghost story. Her short works have appeared in The Horror Zine, Sirens Call, Hardened Hearts, and Best Indie Speculative Fiction: November 2018, Double Barrel Horror (Volume 3) and Emporium of Superstition.

Follow Braun via Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

Pucker up your lips as this Thursday I am spotlighting along with Bursting Bookshelf Blog to spotlight Let Your Lips Twitch by R.A. Clarke!

Let Your Lips Twitch

Book Release: February 4, 2023

Synopsis

Comedy is everywhere if you allow yourself to see it—to feel it. It can be subtle or overt, dark or joyous, adorable or cheeky. Such ageless versatility is beyond compare. Curated with that in mind, author R.A. Clarke proudly presents sixteen humorous stories to the world.

Between these covers, you’ll find short fiction in several genres. Each tale is infused with unique characters and comical situations, some rooted in reality, others certainly not. Flip the page and join a jewel heist executed by bumbling thieves at a gastronomy party, meet a lowly soul gifted the fantastical chance to redo an all-consuming moment of regret, or sweat alongside a father as he realizes his daughter is growing up too fast. Turn another page, and you’ll enjoy clowning around while meeting Mr. Right, then zoom in on a perfectly focused meet cute, or feel Mother Nature’s wrath as a rebellious fishing excursion goes all kinds of wrong. There is something in this collection for everyone to enjoy, including eight never-before-seen stories.

Allow yourself to be entertained and whisked away. Let humour in all its glorious forms tempt your lips to move. Don’t fight the urge. Embrace it. Go ahead and let your lips twitch.

Buy Now on BookSirens and AMAZON

Listen to R.A. Clarke read an excerpt from Let Your Lips Twitch

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author and illustrator Rachael Clarke grew up in Brandon, Manitoba, but always felt like a country girl at heart. A lover of nature and animals, and all things creative, she grew up writing poetry and drawing everything she admired in the world around her. In her youth, she published a few poems and short stories and often created custom drawings for family and friends. Her favorite subject in school was art… no shock there.

Rachael’s multi-genre short fiction – written under the pseudonym, R.A. Clarke

Rachael Clarke is currently working on her first YA fantasy novel, an adult science fiction novel, a sequel to her children’s chapter book, The Big Ol’ Bike, and several picture books. Plans for future novels are constantly sloshing around in her brain, wreaking havoc. There’s simply too many ideas and not enough time!

Follow R.A. Clarke

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raclarkeauthor

Instagram: https://instagram.com/rachaelclarkewrites?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Twitter: @raclarkewrites

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19916621.Rachael_Clarke

Website: https://www.rachaelclarkewrites.com/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rachaelclarke9631

Newsletter Signup: http://eepurl.com/ih-3XH

​

A jovial Thursday to you all as I have joined the book tour hosted by R&R Book Tours for Shades of Night (Book one of The Night Order Series) Let’s dive in!

Shades of Night (The Night Order Series #1)
Publication Date: December 4th, 2022
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Eerie River Publishing

Fated for greatness; Destined for pain.
A prophecy of beauty, untold power and the strength to save them all.
They said I was destined to save every witch, my entire race, but life is never that cut-and-dried. I am Aramay Shenade, or Shade for short. After a demon attack left me scarred, the Night Order elders declared the prophecy was broken, discarded and my destiny along with it.
No longer tied to fate, my sister Dellena and I, chose our own path, cutting down every demon that crossed it. That was until the fateful day I pulled the demon-cursed Nora from the mud and the world around us began to unravel.
War is upon us and the demons are gathering. Now I must walk the path of a destiny I thought had abandoned me.
Will I be able to correct the tides of war before the demons destroy us all?
I can only hope those I hold dearest will not be sacrificed in the struggle.

Add it to GOODREADS AVAILABLE NOW ON Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachael Boucker doesn’t know how she got on this planet, but she sure doesn’t know how to get off it. She’s settled in the Forest of Dean UK, a hub for peculiar beings, with her human Richard (enslaved in a long-term relationship) and three hybrid semi-sentient miniatures. With a tentative connection to the hive mind, Rachael listens in on strange stories spanning multiple dimensions and passes these eavesdroppings off as fiction, mostly horror and fantasy. Sci-fi can be triggering, dredging up memories of the space-bound life she left behind, but she does occasionally indulge in this genre. Look out for her Night Order dark fantasy series published by Eerie River Publishing.

Visit Rachael Boucker at Rachael Boucker.

The Quiescence Trilogy is complete, but we are starting the trilogy back at book one with The Relics of Illayan!

The Relics of Illayan

Publication Date: November 2021

Genre: Fantasy/ Epic Fantasy

Publisher: Mad Endeavor

In the stillness, a power wakes

Caerlon is a kingdom where the power of Resonance has long been bound to a single bloodline, a single all-powerful ruler. Now, for the first time in centuries, the magic has been divided.

On the night of the new king’s coronation, something causes his magic to fracture, and Catanya, a young woman living on the outskirts of Caerlon discovers the long-kept secret of her connection to the throne.

Driven mad by his lust for power, King Cadyan sends his soldiers to hunt her down. He is determined to reclaim his birthright and uncover the truth about the legendary Relics of Illayan, which could hold the key to eternal power and immortality.

On the run, terrified and alone, Catanya must decide how—or even if—she can wield the magic of Caerlon to protect herself and save everyone she loves.

Add to Goodreads

Complete trilogy is available now

The Quiescence Trilogy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathryn Knowles is a composer, cellist, conductor, and writer currently based in Toronto, Ontario. She splits her time between writing, teaching, conducting, composing, and running Mad Endeavour.

In her spare time, Kathryn enjoys taking on new creative projects (i.e. filling up that “spare” time), spending time with friends and family, tending her ever-growing plant collection (obsession), and looking at pictures of puppies and dreaming of the day she can have one of her own.

Learn more about Kathryn Knowles below:

Kathryn Knowles | Mad EndeavorInstagram | Mad Endeavor IG | Goodreads | BookBub

Just because you don’t drink doesn’t mean you can’t ring in the new year in style. Have fun and flavor with Mocktail Club’s non-alcoholic can drinks! These are exotic and tastefully yummy alternatives to the sugary alternative because these drinks are low in calories and actually good for you! Non-GMO and Vegan- friendly. Read on for my full review of Mocktail Club Non-alcoholic can drinks.

https://vocal.media/proof/ring-in-the-new-year-2023-with-mocktail-club-canned-drinks

CHEERS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What better day to release your book than on your birthday! Happy birthday to author Whiney Dean! And happy book release day of A Kingdom of Frost and Fear read on!

A Kingdom of Frost and Fear (The Four Kingdoms #2)

Publication Date: December 6, 2022

Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Romance

Tropes: Arranged Marriage, Forced Proximity, Hidden Identity, Chosen Family, Dark Magic, Grumpy/Sunshine, Dual POV 

After years of wondering where she came from and what her story was, Raven received the answers she had been craving: she has a family and is the true heir to the throne of Seolia. But the answers she so hopelessly sought only bred more questions. As she digs deeper into her past, she wonders if maybe she should have stayed hidden in the shadows, safe from the pain and agony of knowing her happily ever after may not be so happy after all.

Zeke had been right all along: she hates him for what he’d hidden from her. Now, with Raven desperate to learn who she is, he’s desperate to win her back. But while still holding secrets of his own, doing so will come at a price he may not be able to pay.

And all the while, magic is slowly reawakening in the realm of The Four Kingdoms, and not a soul is prepared for the new black magic Raven is now in possession of.

This is book two of an epic dark fantasy adventure series and contains graphic and mature content scenes. Reader discretion is advised.

Now Available on Amazon

Also Available

A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdom #1)

Publication Date: May 26th, 2022

Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Dark Romance

At ten years old, Raven was mysteriously willed to be the next ruler of Seolia, a kingdom nestled within the realm of The Four Kingdoms. Orphaned as a baby, she has spent fifteen years ruling over a kingdom she believes she did not earn, all while hiding secrets: she possesses dark magic, and she thirsts for blood. Now at almost twenty-five years old and with a sudden addiction to stealing life, Raven must fight through her newly procured darkness to save her soul, but when a mysterious stranger arrives in her kingdom, she starts experiencing vivid dreams that detail who she truly is. As she slowly starts to unravel her story, what she uncovers at the end of the spool will change the course of her life and her kingdom forever.

Free for KU

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Whitney was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and raised in Allen, Texas. She resides in a quaint little town in Arkansas with her husband, two children, and her labradoodle, Simba.

Her love of reading came from the Harry Potter series when she was seven years old and frequent trips to the most magical place on earth. Because of it, the fantasy realm has taken up residence in her brain for a very long time.

While her writings include real-life pain and angst, she is a fan of happily-ever-afters and always strives to bring that forth in her stories.

Whitney Dean | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon