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Dear Reader, Love Susan Berry

Dear Reader…

Every time I sit at my computer, it’s you I’m thinking of as I start writing a new book. With my characters by my side, I begin to tell their romantic story to you. And whether they live on a small strawberry farm in the Pacific Northwest, a vineyard in California, or a logging camp during WWII, just like you and I, matters of the heart are their biggest challenges in life. Unsure of their ability to successfully navigate a relationship, they second guess themselves every step of the way. But with a bit of wrangling, a dash of self confidence, and a hopeful heart, they finally find their way to happiness. My fondest wish as I close this letter is that you also find your heart's desire, and my books inspire you to take a leap into your own happily ever after.

With much love,

Susan

Since Susan Berry was a young girl, she loved to write. Her imagination was filled with stories that she couldn’t write down fast enough. But it wasn’t until her grandmother had given her a Harlequin romance novel to occupy her time on a long, boring car ride, that she fell in love with reading romance. The excitement of the characters first meeting, and the dance of the heart that followed, left Susan frantically turning pages. From that day on, Susan spent her free time with her beloved grandmother, reading the latest novels they’d retrieved from a used book store, or the local second hand shop. That reading eventually turned into the writing of her own romance novels. Novels filled with characters who have not yet found love, but eventually find a way to overcome romantic troubles with humor, wit, and the consumption of lots and lots of chocolate.

Susan’s latest book is the clean romance suspense, Promise of the Heart.

You can visit her website at https://www.SusanBerryauthor.com or connect with her on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

After a distasteful first meeting, and a rocky start to their romance, Maggie Kinsley has been happily married to Desmond for the last eleven months. And although she was often alone when he traveled for business, she rather enjoyed how he passionately greeted her when returning home.

So when he received a letter naming him as executor of a property that belonged to a deceased family friend and had to leave for a few weeks, Maggie should have been content as she kissed him goodbye. But there was something about the whole thing that made her uneasy. Why was Desmond so evasive with her when she asked him about the previous owner. And why had he insisted she not tell anyone of his plans to stay on the property. Maggie soon found the answers to her questions were more than just a woman’s intuition, but rather something that not even her wildest, darkest fears could have foreseen.

“I so enjoyed the long awaited final book to the trilogy the author so lovingly created. Maggie’s story has a wonderful ending and she’ll be in my heart and mind for a long time.” – Amazon

Book Information

Release Date: February 21, 2022

Publisher: Independent

Soft Cover: ISBN: 979-8420398647; 203 pages; $6.99; E-Book, $1.99

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wk29M8

💌 Dear Reader, Love Paul Donsbach

Dear Reader,

If you like adventure-romance fiction based on a true story of discovery, be sure to check out our novel, The Bronze Scroll. My name is Sam Romero, and they say I’m the lead character in the book. But really my love interest, Rebecca Schreiber, steals the show. She’s just gorgeous and so spiritual in a new-age sort of way.

The co-authors, Alia Sina and Paul Donsbach, thought it would be clever to base their plot on an unsolvable mystery known as the Copper Scroll. It was found in a Dead Sea cave almost 70 years ago. It’s an ancient treasure map listing 60 sites where gold and silver and other treasures of the Jerusalem Temple were hidden at the outbreak of a revolt against the Romans in AD 66. Scholars have dismissed it as an impossible mystery, since the treasure site descriptions seem so vague and metaphorical.

The authors never expected me and my friends to actually solve this mystery, but that’s what we did. It was actually pretty simple. My friends Jason and Steve and I got the e-book version of the ancient historian Flavius Josephus’ writings about the revolt and ran word searches using the terms in the Copper Scroll’s treasure site descriptions. As my friends and I began figuring out all of the treasure sites, Alia and Paul had to rewrite the plot. Maybe there’s no such thing as an impossible mystery after all.

But the biggest surprise that we found on the Copper Scroll was the location of the legendary lost Ark. Well, actually, it’s listed on the scroll twice—once for a site in Jerusalem and again for a site on the Samaritans’ sacred mountain, Mount Gerizim. It turns out that the first century Temple administrators in Judea and Samaria each had their own version of the lost Ark story. When the revolt started, the high priest who was in charge of the inventory had to list both versions, in an effort to maintain unity between the Judeans and Samaritans in trying to negotiate peace with the Romans.

The authors thought it was pretty impressive that my friends and I found the locations for both of these lost Arks. It’s not what you expect when you write a story about a supposedly impossible mystery. But really the most interesting parts of our book are about Rebecca and my friends and our adventures with a rogue corporate executive trying to get his hands on the lost Ark—well, one of them anyway.

As one of the metaphors we deciphered in the Copper Scroll explains, life isn’t really about gold, silver, or material things. It turns out that this artifact is a message of peace, written as a series of metaphors across the treasure sites. It teaches that the real treasures in life are unity, peace, and love. Made at a time of war almost 2,000 years ago, it seems this message of peace speaks to our times as well. If characters in a novel can decipher can unsolvable mystery, maybe anything’s possible after all.

Let’s hope so because the authors are busy writing the next novel in our series, Knights of the Lost Temple. In this next book, The Last Pharaoh, I’ll be meeting up with Rebecca again, this time while working on some mysteries in Greece and Egypt. We’ll be looking for lost treasure in some ancient tombs, and this time it might not be so easy deciphering the clues that we’ll need to survive. Let’s just hope there aren’t any snakes in those tombs.

Co-author Paul Donsbach is a Texas native and a lawyer. Raised in an era when those working for social progress were rooted in religious faith, he believes that many of today’s problems likewise require a renewed commitment to spiritual ideals.

Co-author Alia Sina was born and educated in the greater San Francisco Bay area. She was raised in a first-generation, close-knit Afghan American family. Some of her formative experiences involved her interactions with people who embrace cultural diversity, as well as those who are hostile to families from a different background.

For More Information:

Book website: https://www.knightsofthelosttemple.com/

Rebecca’s blog (under pen name): https://veilsofdesire.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Knights-of-the-Lost-Temple-105963305136800

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knightsofthelosttemple/

The authors of The Bronze Scroll are excited to announce the publication of their first book in the Knights of the Lost Temple adventure-romance series. This groundbreaking novel, co-authored by Paul Donsbach and Alia Sina, tells the story of Sam Romero, an investigative attorney who has uncovered and solved hundreds of high-profile corporate crimes and scandals. But nothing has prepared Sam for the mysteries of his latest investigation—an ancient treasure map stolen by corporate thieves, an Israeli land-permitting official murdered, and a local reporter kidnapped

and held hostage by a rogue executive, Roy Griffin III. Racing against the clock to rescue the beautiful reporter, Rebecca Schreiber, Sam has only hours to prove that he can solve the mysteries of an ancient bronze scroll and find the Temple treasures hidden during a time of war.

“We want to surprise our readers with stories of making the ‘impossible’ become real,” said co-author Mr. Donsbach. “The world is truly ours to remake with a vision of unity, diversity, and inclusion. Through our fictional characters, we will work to show that “ordinary” people can accomplish seemingly miraculous feats through friendship, inspiration, and love. In fact, history teaches that this is the only way that positive change happens. “

Remarked co-author Alia Sina on creating their book: “While on our own separate journeys, we found ourselves working on a story that flowed with ease given each of our strengths that complimented one another in the world of fiction. We each were working on our own novel and, at the suggestion of our moderator for our writers' workshop, we began working with each other. What was intended to simply be an "experiment/project/let’s see what happens" turned into a commitment we both developed to the characters and their story. As a fan of supernatural suspense novels, and now as an author, it never ceases to amaze me how real the characters could become. Having written my first novel with Paul, I feel the characters waiting to continue their story.”

A New-Age Journey of Discovery: For their first novel in the Knights of the Lost Temple series, co-authors Paul and Alia chose the so-called Copper Scroll (which is actually made of bronze) as a central element in the characters’ story. One of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in a desert cave in the 1950s, this artifact is a treasure map listing tons of gold and silver hidden at vaguely described locations that scholars had given up on deciphering. As a supposedly “unsolvable” mystery, the Copper Scroll would serve a symbol of the discontents of modern life, in which the great, achievable dreams seem to have already been accomplished.

There was just one problem. The Copper Scroll wasn’t unsolvable after all. As Sam and his friends work to decipher this ancient treasure map, its mysteries unravel one by one. By searching for the listed treasure descriptions in the e-book version of the ancient historian Flavius Josephus’ writings, Sam and his friends discover that most of the treasure sites involve metaphors or legends important to the leaders of the Judean provisional government at the outbreak of the Great Revolt in 66 CE. They realize that this treasure map must have been made for a peace speech before the Bronze Gate to the Jerusalem Temple in May of that year, in which one of the leaders (probably the chief high priest) urged negotiations with the Romans to end the revolt.

The high priest’s speech would have begun with treasure site 1—seventeen talents (about 900 pounds) of gold and silver hidden in the Valley of Achor. This matches the seventeen talents of gold and silver that Josephus recorded as being stolen from the Temple by the Roman governor, triggering the revolt. As the high priest would explain to his audience, the Valley of Achor was a biblical location where a thief was executed for stealing gold and silver from the Temple. Having condemned the Roman governor in this manner at the beginning of his speech, the high priest would move on to the other metaphors in the treasure sites listed on the Copper Scroll, including the 900 talents (sites 3, 56 and 58) that Josephus identified as the annual taxes paid to Rome by Judea and the other Jewish client states, and the 300 talents of gold (site 47) that Josephus described as being allocated by King David for his son Solomon’s use in building and furnishing the inner sanctuary of the Temple.

A Sacred Relic of the Exodus from Egypt: As they decipher this ancient treasure map, Sam and his friends realize that the 300 talents of gold that site 47 says were hidden underground on the west side of the Pool of Siloam match another legend of hidden Temple treasures being recorded on a bronze scroll. They learn of a legendary account in the so-called Treatise of the Vessels of a bronze scroll being made during a time of crisis, as a permanent record of King Hezekiah, or one of the other listed leaders, hiding the Ark and the gold from Solomon’s Temple in an underground cistern near the Gihon Spring (the water source adjoining the Pool of Siloam), to be revealed at the time of the Messiah, son of David.

But, the characters wonder, is this what treasure site 60 means when it says that the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) is the “deciphering scroll” explaining each of the hidden treasures? After all, its famously enigmatic epilogue (chapter 12) cryptically refers to the Exodus story (almond blossoms and locusts), the Tabernacle (a silver cord and a golden pitcher), a spring and a cistern, and “every hidden thing,” to be revealed at the time of judgment. Could this be a secret biblical code recording that the lost Ark and the gold from Solomon’s Temple were hidden in a underground cistern by the Pool of Siloam near the Gihon Spring?

A Time for Peace: As the adventurous Bronze Scroll novel moves toward its surprise ending, the characters decipher more of the Copper Scroll’s metaphorical treasure descriptions (including the cursed son of King David at site 48, the Samaritans’ version of the lost Ark legend at site 57, and the bronze sacrificial altar at site 59). Using mysterious spiritual powers that he has long resisted, and the protection of a secret knighthood that he discovers, Sam must learn the scroll’s remaining mysteries before Roy makes good on his threats. He must learn the explosive truth needed to save Rebecca and, in the process, uncover the true spiritual meaning of this ancient bronze scroll.

But what could that be? Is it Kohelet’s message about a “time for peace”? Or does an ancient scroll found soon after modern Israel’s independence tell us something about the time of judgment? As the Knights of the Lost Temple series begins with this first novel, Sam and his friends start an exciting journey of discovery in search of this hidden truth.

The authors of this new adventure-romance series invite you to join them on this voyage. Currently working on the second book in the series, the authors believe that the world’s diverse spiritual traditions hold answers for our troubled times. Paul, who identifies as “spiritual but not religious,” and Alia, a “new-age Muslim” from an Afghan American family (writing under her pen name), believe that greater understanding among the world’s different faiths and beliefs is essential to solving the world’s current problems. Recognizing that even the smallest miracles—like an ancient treasure map found in a desert cave—can make a big difference, the authors welcome you to share this journey together.

For More Information:

Publication date: August 11, 2021, 291 pages; an independent publication of Knights of the Lost Temple, LLC.

E-book: $9.99; 978-1-7373978-0-9

Paperback: $19.99; 978-1-7373978-1-6

Hardback: $29.99; 978-1-7373978-2-3

Book website: https://www.knightsofthelosttemple.com/

Rebecca’s blog (under pen name): https://veilsofdesire.com/

Amazon Selling Page: https://amzn.to/3BcelQr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Knights-of-the-Lost-Temple-105963305136800

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knightsofthelosttemple/

Dear Reader, Love David Armstrong

Dear Reader…

First of all, thank you for deciding to read my debut novel, The Rising Place. I sincerely hope you enjoy it and that it touches your heart. This was my real intent in writing this book—to positively affect other people’s lives for good. Yes, I’m a dreamer, but aren’t we all, at least to some degree?

Though The Rising Place is my debut novel, it actually is my second novel. I never found a publisher for my first novel, but I kept on writing, always believing that I would eventually be a published author. It was, and still is, a totally absorbing quest for me. And I’m pleased to report that I’ve also written a third novel, The Third Gift, which will be released later this summer.

The Rising Place is based on an intriguing premise: What if you found a hidden box of letters that were written by a reclusive, old maid during World War II—would you read them? And what if you did and discovered an amazing story about unrequited love, betrayal, and murder that happened over seventy years ago in a small, southern town?

When a young attorney moves down south to Hamilton, Mississippi to practice law, one of his first assignments is to draft a will for Emily Hodge, a seventy-five-year- old spinster who has been shunned by Hamilton society. Her lawyer is fascinated with “Miss Emily,” though, and he can’t comprehend how or why this lovely lady seems to have lived such a solitary and seemingly forgotten life. After Emily dies, the lawyer goes to her hospital room to retrieve her few few possessions and bequeath them as she directed, and he finds an old sewing box full of letters in the back of of one of her nightstand drawers. He takes the box of letters back to his law office and starts reading them, and he soon learns why Emily Hodge died alone, though definitely not forgotten.

At first glance, The Rising Place is a romance story about the pain of unrequited love, but it’s much more than that. The Rising Place is also a story about grief and grace, faith and forgiveness, hope and healing, resilience and redemption, and the indefatigable human spirit. I believe it will take you back to an age of innocence—a time in history, prior to, during, and after the Second World War, when life moved more slowly, and more emphasis was put on values such as true friendship and love.

There’s one more thing I’d like to tell you, dear readers, about The Rising Place. It has already been made into a film and is available on DVD. I sold the film rights to the story before I was able to sell the rights to the book, and that’s a story, in and of itself.

Thanks so much for wanting to read The Rising Place!

About the Author:

David Armstrong was born and raised in Natchez, Mississippi. He is an attorney, former mayor, and former candidate for the U.S. Congress. Currently, he serves as the Chief Operating Officer for the city of Columbus, Mississippi. David received both an undergraduate and a master’s degree in political science from Mississippi State University, before going on to receive a law degree from the University of Mississippi.

The Rising Place Place, David’s second novel, was made into a feature film by Flatland Pictures before it was published by The Wild Rose Press. His third novel, The Third Gift, will be released by The Wild Rose Press this summer. He has also written four screenplays.

David is the father of two grown sons, William and Canon, and lives in one of the oldest and most haunted antebellum homes in Columbus with a snarky old cat named Butch.

dmatyro@outlook.com

Website: therisingplace.com

Link to book: The Rising Place by David Armstrong

Dear Reader, Love James D. Bell

Dear Reader…

Do you have a passion for justice? Do you enjoy white-knuckled adventure, mystery, courtroom drama, true love and belly laughs? If so, then join lawyers Brooks and Bradley in the legal thriller, Maximilian’s Treasure, a dramatization of a real-life experience I had forty years ago.

A grizzled old Choctaw man told my friend and me that he believed that Civil War gold was on his farm in Mississippi. He believed that Maximilian, the Emperor of Mexico, sent gold to support the South’s war effort, and that none other than Jesse James, then a member of the Confederate Cavalry, was in charge of the shipment. The war ended when the gold was near his farm and was hidden there. He asked us to help him look for the treasure. This was too far-fetched to believe, but my friend and I said, “Why not?” We travelled with him to his farm and had a great day listening to his stories while we searched with him. You might think this unusual. It’s not. It’s just another day of law practice in Mississippi, where the unusual and outlandish is an everyday occurrence.

This was one of many stories from over forty years of law practice that I am desperate to tell. I have a passion to write great adventures inspired by these experiences. My best friend and I were young lawyers defending citizens charged with crimes in Mississippi. We attracted a bit of attention because we kept winning cases. Jack was a loyal friend, an intrepid investigator, and a great researcher. Together we regularly accomplished what at first seemed impossible. Jack died twenty years ago; too young; too soon. I miss him. I brought him back to life in my novels, Maximilian’s Treasure and Vampire Defense.

In Maximilian’s Treasure rumors of hidden gold fuel a battle over possession of a Choctaw family farm. Two young lawyers, John Brooks and Jackson Bradley, agree to help the family keep their farm. Early legal success prompts the drive-by murder of the patriarch of the family. The grandson chases the suspects whose bodies are found on the farm, scalped. At the same time, clues to a vast treasure are found on the farm. Jackson, pursued by fortune seekers, adventurers, an exotic beauty and a homicidal maniac follows the clues to a Caribbean reef and then to the Chiapas jungle. John stays behind to defend the grandson and continue the fight for the farm. His efforts are complicated by arson, murder, race riots, and the realization that he lost his one true love. The adventures of John and Jackson rush toward an intertwined triple climax that could shake the world.

I have many great stories to tell, but for decades I lacked the proper motivation to write. Every book and every movie used to have a purpose, a “moral to the story.” I feel that we have lost that purpose with some of today’s entertainment. I am motivated to bring back the moral to the story. That is why I write. Maximilian’s Treasure is packed with hidden treasures to be discovered.

So, if you love mystery, adventure, romance, justice, belly laughs and hidden treasures, it’s all waiting for you in Maximilian’s Treasure. You’ve got to read it!

Love,

James D. Bell

www.judgebell.com; www.vampiredefense.com; www.maximilianstreasure.com

Dear Reader, Love A.S. Fenichel

Dear Reader…

Thank you for putting A Lady’s Virtue on your reading list. It means the world to me when avid readers enjoy my books. As a reading addict myself, I know how valuable space on your TBR is. So many, many thanks.

The Everton Domestic Society was born out of rejection. The acquisitions editor said there wasn’t enough to hold my ladies together. That’s when I decided they needed an organization to legitimize what they were doing. Let’s face it, in the early nineteenth century, ladies didn’t have many options and propriety was everything. Creating EDS meant I had all the tools I needed to give my Everton ladies a safe haven.

Sylvia and Tony both first appear in Tainted Bride. She is a quirky twin with a naughty sense of humor and he is Sophia’s brother. It’s important to me to empower my heroines. Sylvia finds the man she’s supposed to marry during the course of Tainted Bride, but when he dumps her, she is ruined. That’s why she seeks shelter and employment at EDS. Did you know that if a lady broke off the engagement, it was acceptable, but if a man ended the contract, the lady was ruined? Crazy! Still, that’s the way it was for ladies of the haute ton.

In A Lady’s Virtue Sylvia is hired to help Tony with decorating his home and hosting his parties. Of course, his mother or sister must be the official hostess, but he can’t ask them to do the work, since Mother is pushing for marriage. My husband and I just built our dream house, and I was deep in the process while writing this book. (You can see tons of pictures on my Instagram @asfenichel) I had to share some of that work with poor Sylvia, and she did a magnificent job.

I hope you love A Lady’s Virtue or start at the beginning and read A Lady’s Honor, book one in the Everton Domestic Society. Drop me a line and tell me what you think.

Much Love,

Andie.

A.S. Fenichel

About the Author

A.S. Fenichel gave up a successful career in New York City to follow her husband to Texas and pursue her lifelong dream of being a professional writer. She’s never looked back.

A.S. adores writing stories filled with love, passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure. Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into one and staying up all night to finish a good story.

Multi-published in historical, paranormal, erotic and contemporary romance, A.S. is the author of The Forever Brides series, the Everton Domestic Society series, and more. With several books currently contracted, A.S. will be bringing you her brand of edgy romance for years to come.

Originally from New York, she grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in the Southern Missouri with her real-life hero, her wonderful husband. When not reading or writing she enjoys cooking, travel, history, puttering in her garden and spoiling her fussy cat.

Website Link: http://asfenichel.com
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/asfenichel
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/A.S.Fenichel

Click below to sign up for her newsletter!

http://asfenichel.com/

About the Book:

Title: A LADY’S VIRTUE
Author: A.S. Fenichel
Publisher: Lyrical Press/Kensington Books
Pages: 225
Genre: Regency Romance

BOOK BLURB:

Can a broken engagement ignite the spark of true love?

Sylvia Dowder had almost made it to the altar when her fiancé unexpectedly became a viscount, and dropped her like a stale crumpet to make a more “suitable” match. Though Sylvia’s heart has been crushed, her spirit has not. She puts her wits and social savvy to use as a secret gossip columnist—and as the Everton Domestic Society’s party planner to the ton. Luckily, she’s not in danger of ever falling for an aristocrat again…

Especially not one like Anthony Braighton, Earl of Grafton. Raised in America, Anthony sees no reason to marry when he can enjoy all the perks of being an eligible earl. Determined to convince his family he doesn’t need a wife, he hires Sylvia to act as hostess and decorator for upcoming parties. Yet Sylvia is as adept at captivating his interest as she is at beautifying his home. And despite this Everton lady’s aversion to titled men, some attractions can’t be denied—and love rarely does go where it’s told . . .