Book Blitz & Review for NEVER AFTER US by Claudia Burgoa

NEVER AFTER US

Claudia Burgoa

Release Date: June 10 

Meet Claudia Burgoa:

Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. 

She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breaths away. Her books are the perfect blend of steamy and heartfelt, filled with emotional characters and explosive chemistry. Her writing takes readers to new heights, providing a variety of tears, laughs, and shocking moments that leave fans on the edge of their seats.

She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, her youngest two children, and three fluffy dogs.

When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At nights, she likes to binge watches shows or movies with her equally geeky husband.

Connect with Claudia Burgoa:

https://claudiayburgoa.com/wp/links/

Blurb:

I came to Seattle to settle my late aunt’s estate.

Not to uncover a family secret that rewrites my entire life.

Definitely not to fall for the grumpy neighbor across the hall.

Alec Horvath is broody, intense, and completely incapable of minding his own business.

He acts like my daughter, and I are temporary inconveniences in his carefully controlled life.

Unfortunately for him, my daughter, Mila, decides he belongs to us almost immediately.

The problem?

I’m still grieving.

Still untangling decades of lies buried inside my family.

Still trying to understand why the woman I thought was my aunt was actually my mother.

Falling in love was never part of the plan. And maybe the scariest part is this:

I’m starting to want forever with him too.

But love requires trust.

And trust feels impossible when your entire life has been built around people leaving.

Alec keeps promising he’ll stay.

But can my heart believe that’s possible?

From USA Today bestselling author Claudia Burgoa comes a thrilling romance about family, legacy, and what it takes to start over.

Buy Link:

https://geni.us/NeverAfterUs

Available in KU

Alec and Mara’s story stands out as an exploration of love emerging from loss. This heartfelt novel crafts a tender journey for its characters, centering on Mara, a widow rebuilding her life, and Alec, a man emotionally guarded but gradually softened by the power of connection. What makes this book especially noteworthy is its patient pacing—it is, unquestionably, a slow burn, but one that rewards readers willing to savor the nuanced development of relationships and personal healing. Mara, her wit and bubbly nature are balanced with an authenticity that allows her vulnerabilities to shine through without diminishing her strength. As a mother, she embodies warmth and devotion, providing a relatable and inspiring. Alec initially comes across as a charmingly gruff, emotionally fragile man whose defenses slowly erode under Mara’s steady compassion and the infectious spirit of Mila, Mara’s precocious daughter. The way the author crafts Alec’s flustered moments—moments where he battles his own resistance to love—brings a genuine and endearing humanity to his character. Mila herself is more than a mere supporting character; her wise-beyond-her-years innocence and humor inject the story with lightness and hope. Watching her interact with Alec and Mara offers some of the most heartfelt and joyful moments in the book, demonstrating how family and love can mend even the deepest wounds. The plot excels in blending emotional depth with elements of angst, growth, and surprises, including family secrets that add complexity without overwhelming the core romance. The inclusion of beloved characters from other books in the series enriches the universe and gives longtime readers a satisfying sense of continuity. The letters read between Alec and Mara serve as powerful catalysts for intimacy, threaded with raw emotion and vulnerability that capture the bittersweet essence of their evolving relationship. While the deliberate pacing might feel slow for readers accustomed to more rapid plot progressions, it ultimately pays off by allowing a more immersive and emotionally resonant experience. The balance of heartbreak and hope is deftly maintained, with moments that elicit warm smiles alongside well-earned tears. The author’s skill at portraying slightly broken, deeply human characters navigating the messy terrain of grief and love feels fresh and authentic. The audiobook narration deserves special mention; the narrators deliver nuanced performances that enhance the emotional depth, making the listening experience a true complement to the storytelling. In conclusion, this novel is a beautifully crafted addition to the angsty, heartwarming romance genre. Readers who appreciate character-driven stories rich with emotional layers and authentic healing will find much to love here. Fans of slow burns, intricate family dynamics, and intimate love stories will especially resonate with this book. Its themes linger, inviting reflection on how unexpected bonds can give new meaning to life after loss. One can’t help but wonder: how often do we underestimate the quiet power of patience—not just in love but in truly understanding each other? We loved it!

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New Release for FROM THE SHADOWS by J.A. Owenby

FROM THE SHADOWS

J.A. Owenby 

Release Date: June 10 

Meet J.A. Owenby:

International bestselling author J.A. Owenby grew up in a small backwoods town in Arkansas where she learned how to swear like a sailor and spot water moccasins skimming across the lake.

She finally ditched the south and headed to Oregon. The first winter there, she was literally blown away a few times by ninety mile an hour winds and storms that rolled in off the ocean.

Eventually, she longed for quiet and headed up to snowier pastures. She now resides in Washington state with her hot nerdy husband and cat, Chloe (who frequently encourages her to drink). She spends her days coming up with ways to torture characters in a way that either makes you want to throw your book down a flight of stairs or sob hysterically into a pillow.

J.A. Owenby writes new adult and romantic thriller novels. Her books ooze with emotion, angst, and twists that will leave you breathless. Having battled her own demons, she’s not afraid to tackle the secrets women are forced to hide. After all, the road to love is paved in the dark.

Her friends describe her as delightfully twisted. She loves fan mail and wine. Please send her all the wine.

Connect with J.A. Owenby:

https://linktr.ee/JAOWENBY1

Blurb:

Some monsters come back from the dead. Some women were always meant for the dark. Welcome to the murder.

She spent a year chasing me.

A former detective with a cold case network.

Enough evidence to bury me twice.

She thought she was hunting a monster.

She never stopped to wonder if the monster liked the chase.

I took her because she knew too much. 

I kept her because her brother’s name was hidden in my past. 

The deeper I dug, the worse it got. 

The rabbit tattoo. 

The same evil that marked us both.

She should be a liability.

A mistake I should have cut loose before it cost me.

Instead, she gets under every wall I ever built.

Under the parts of me I buried so deep I forgot they existed.

I've spent my life being the thing people survive.

Yet, she's the first woman who makes destruction feel holy.

Makes ruin feel too close to worship.

Maybe I was always meant to be her dark heaven.

Little fox,

You built a cage for a monster.

You should have built it for two.

I've never let anything I wanted walk away.

I'm not about to start with you.

Buy Link:

https://amzn.to/4efkbFe

Available in KU

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Book Blitz & Giveaway fo Arcanum: Secrets of the Madonna by Kelly O’Hearn

Arcanum: Secrets of the Madonna

Kelly O’Hearn

(Arcanum, #3)

Publication date: June 9th, 2026

Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Sometimes happily ever after takes more than one two three lifetimes.

The anticipated third book in the Arcanum series, the only book series channeled through the tarot.

____________________________________

Sarah Fuller has it all—a fragrance empire, a terrace overlooking Central Park, the perfect life. Until a frightening episode shatters everything she thought she knew. Now her husband’s iPhone location is mysteriously off, and the charming widower Harry is impossible to forget.

Haunted by the tarot’s tales of past lives and ancient secrets, Sarah is drawn to Rome—to galleries where Renaissance masterpieces seem to know her name, to shadows of the Inquisition where forbidden love once bloomed, to a truth hidden within the Vatican’s darkest corners.

Who is the woman in those paintings, gazing out across centuries? And why does Sarah recognize herself in her eyes?

From the elite Hamptons to the pyramids of ancient Egypt, from medieval French castles to the dangerous splendor of a newly built Vatican, one woman must unravel the mystery of her soul—before history repeats its most devastating mistake.

This is the story of Arcanum.

In a world where love transcends time, some vows are meant to be broken.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Sensual, spiritually charged, and utterly unputdownable.”

Marisa Halstead

Founder and CEO of Seeded Sound

Advance Praise for Book Three in the Arcanum Series:

“Sarah’s journey reminds us that love does not vanish-it endures, waiting patiently for the moment we are ready to receive it again. This story left me with a deep sense of peace, wonder, and the quiet certainty that what is meant for us will always find its way home.”

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

JG Melon, June 13

“God, you look terrible.”

Max held Sarah at arm’s length, nose wrinkled, examining her as if she were Chinese takeout possibly left in the fridge too long.

She wrestled free and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Well…you look fabulous as always. Are those real glasses or just for effect? They’re…also fabulous.” She slid into a chair.

“They’re genuine tortoise shell. Vintage. Not cheap,” he said. “They’re for reading, but Lord, I’m going to have to take them off for this lunch. I don’t want to be able to see you this well. You need an Instagram filter or something.” He sat down, still eyeing her critically.

“Well, take them off then,” she said. “We certainly know the menu by heart. And I know, I’ve let myself go a little, missed a few waxing appointments and such. If this is what my eyebrows look like, you can only imagine the state of my—”

“Darling, we’re eating,” Max said. “Poor Carl, that’s all I can say. I bet he still looks polished as always.”

“Handsome as ever,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “Shall we order, seeing as I need to put on five pounds immediately?”

“And get to a salon this afternoon!” he said. “Nails, hair, Botox, the whole thing. You are the CEO of a luxury brand, for god’s sake. Thank goodness it’s summer and nearly everyone is out of town.” He waved over Charlie, their favorite waiter.

“The usual?” Charlie said.

“Yes, please, and stat! Sarah looks like she hasn’t eaten in weeks, doesn’t she, Charlie?”

“You two, always bickering like an old married couple,” Charlie said as he walked away, shaking his head.

Max turned to Sarah. “Now. Tell me about my godchild. How is she feeling?”

“Max, it’s incredible. Alex was in the ICU not six weeks ago, and she’s been fully cleared to go to sleepaway camp. The doctor told us that kids recover from her condition quickly, but if you’d asked me in the hospital whether she would make it to camp this year…I didn’t even know if she would make it home by now. It’s as if it never happened.”

“Sarah, that’s such great news,” Max said. “I called Alex the other day and all she could talk about was having gotten excused from the last two weeks of school. She was thrilled! Especially since having a sick twin sister didn’t get her brother the same dispensation.”

Sarah laughed. “Yes, Sam’s hoping for a dire illness, possibly in September.” She covered her face with her hands. “Actually, you know what, it’s too soon to joke about it.”

“Maybe this will help,” Max said as he filled her glass with red wine. They clinked glasses. “To health,” he said.

“To health.” They both took a sip.

“So let me get this straight,” Max said. “Alex has been back to normal for weeks. Carl has not a hair out of place. The camp bags are nearly packed. And you’re still a mess?”

Sarah covered her eyes again. “I knowwww. I just got so close to losing everything. It really rattled me, Max. Stuart and Sofia have basically been running the company for the past several weeks—and honestly everything is going fine. Gallica’s a hit, we had another great harvest of roses in France, my Arcanum core fragrances are doing well. Do you ever feel like your time has come and gone?”

“Sarah, you’re forty-one, even if you do look eighty right now.” Max patted her arm, then topped off her glass. “You’ve got a whole lotta living left to do. What happened to the Sarah who believed in past lives? The Sarah who slayed at that gorgeous launch party for Gallica? Who caught the eye of ‘Manhattan’s Hottest Bachelor’? He was obsessed with you.”

“Was obsessed?” Sarah said, blushing slightly. “I told you what happened in France? Our little tête-à-tête in the ancient forest?”

“And how you insisted that he go through with his engagement to Simone? Yes, you told me.” Max took a copy of the New York Post out of his tote and put his glasses back on. “Sweetie, he took your advice and ran with it. All the way to Harry Winston.”

Author Bio:

When Kelly O’Hearn first stepped off the train in the city of Florence, Italy, as a 20-year-old, she had the overwhelming instinct that she had been there before. In a place famous for its maze of medieval streets, O’Hearn navigated the city as if she had lived there for a lifetime. Born in New York City, O’Hearn first put her intuitive skills to work as a professional wine taster, instructor, and sommelier in the elite institutions of New York, Portugal, and Aspen. After raising her two children and enduring a personal health crisis, in 2012, she was drawn to begin reading the tarot cards, an ancient practice which does not presume to “predict the future” but offers a collection of stories, perspectives, and self-reflections that can guide one to become one’s most authentic self. O’Hearn is in high demand for her readings, with clients on every continent but Antartica. While most people were baking sourdough or riding their Pelotons during the Covid pandemic, O’Hearn used the tarot cards to channel her own past lives. Weeks of readings, all captured on video, yielded six storylines of herself as several powerful women over the millennia and around the globe: the same one soul, over time, persevering against all odds in the quest for happiness and the love of a soul mate. This time-bending saga inspired O’Hearn to conceive of a series of novels titled Arcanum. Book One: In the Temple Shadows is available now. Book Two: Whispers in the Forest will be released Spring of 2025.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway for Hott Hotter Hottest by Serena Bell

Hott Hotter Hottest

Serena Bell

(Hott Springs Eternal, #5)

Publication date: June 9th, 2026

Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

Real bodyguard. Fake boyfriend. Unexpected benefits. Trouble guaranteed.

Tucker: Autumn Sato is a happiness influencer. And I’m…well, let’s just say my brand is more big gray stormcloud. If life were going to plan, the closest I’d get to her would be scrolling past her posts as fast as my thumbs could fly.

But my sister needs help, so I agree to bodyguard Autumn at her sister’s wedding. One thing leads to another, and suddenly I’m pretending to be her new boyfriend in front of all her friends and family.

It’s a hot mess, made worse because I swore I’d never do this again. Never get close to someone I was guarding. Never fall for someone whose safety was in my hands. Never let distraction get in the way of my job.

Unfortunately, this entire week is nothing but distractions: trapped in a car with my smoking hot client, only one bed in our hotel room, only one tent on the wedding camping trip… all before the bachelor–bachelorette prom. Meanwhile, someone seems to have it out for Autumn… or my family… or both.

As things heat up between us, I’m left with one question: Can I keep my heart—and the people I care about—safe?

A spicy, small-town, bodyguard, fake relationship, grumpy-sunshine romantic comedy with a hint of danger and a lot of heart.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

There’s a knock on the door behind us, and it swings open, and—

Wow.

Yeah, this guy is not a blend-into-a-crowd type. He’s gotta be at least six five, and he fills up the doorway—weight-lifter muscles under a lovingly clinging tee, a torso that tapers from broad shoulders to a trim waist, and tree-trunk thighs beneath snug-fitting jeans. His jaw is a hard line to a well-defined chin; his eyes are flecks of pale blue ice; his nose is Roman-warrior-worthy, and his mouth is lush.

Did I say wow? Let me reiterate: Wow.

“Autumn, this is my brother, Tucker; Tucker, Autumn.”

I stand up. Giant White Guy grunts and extends a hand. Mine disappears into his, into heat and calluses and thick fingers that make me wonder—

Nope. Not wondering.

“Thanks so much for being willing to do this on short notice,” I say.

He grunts again.

Okay, so not a conversationalist. We’ll have to work on that because there is zero chance I would date a guy who isn’t a talker. My sister would never believe that.

“Anything you two need from me?” Hanna asks. “Or can you take it from here? I have to run a couple of errands.”

“That’s fine!” I say, hoping to warm him up a bit by being extra friendly, definitely one of my superpowers. “We’ll be great, right, Tucker?”

A grunt.

Not warm yet, but I can work on it.

She gives both of us a look that says she doubts we’ll be great, shoots Tucker another look that I interpret as Behave, and slips out the door.

“So!” I say brightly. “This is gonna be a cinch!”

He raises both eyebrows but doesn’t respond.

“Hanna told you about the discretion thing, right? That my sister can’t know that you’re a bodyguard, because she can’t know that my dad thinks there might be danger at her wedding?”

The grunts clearly have different meanings. I’m taking this one as a yes.

“But I don’t see that as a problem! Because”—I pause for effect—“you can pretend to be my date for the wedding week!”

Author Bio:

USA Today bestselling author Serena Bell writes contemporary romance with heat, heart, and humor. A former journalist, Serena has always believed that everyone has an amazing story to tell if you listen carefully, and you can often find her scribbling in her tiny garret office, mainlining chocolate and bringing to life the tales in her head.

Serena’s books have earned many honors, including an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, Apple Books Best Book of the Month, and Amazon Best Book of the Year for Romance.

When not writing, Serena loves to spend time with her college-sweetheart husband and two hilarious kiddos—all of whom are incredibly tolerant not just of Serena’s imaginary friends but also of how often she changes her hobbies and how passionately she embraces the new ones. These days, it’s stand-up paddle boarding, board-gaming, meditation, and long walks with good friends.

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