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Book Reviews, Horror

ONCE BITTEN

ONCE BITTEN
SARA REINKE
ISBN# 9781301404056
Bloodhorse Press/Smashwords
www.smashwords.com
E-book
$2.99
241 pages
Horror, Crime, Fiction
Rating: 3 Cups

John is a private investigator, ex-cop, who is afraid of guns. When he is asked to find the missing daughter of a weeping mother who hands over a $5000 check, he takes the money and the job.

Sandy, whose real name is Maureen, is John’s secretary, has a psychic mother and a fiancé with a fear of cameras. Sandy is a happy-go-lucky girl who is more than capable of looking after both her and John.

John quickly finds the missing daughter, who promptly bites him and escapes. It is then a race against time to find where she is and who has done what to her, before it is too late for both her and John.

John is a typical PI who has seen everything and knows even more; not admitting he could be wrong until there is no other option available to him, except of course, death. While I enjoyed watching this alpha male learn there is more in this world than he knows of, it was not enough to be the focus of the story. This paranormal story is a parody of the noir genre, set on a group of small islands in Florida. A setting that all but makes up for any lack of plot.

Hollie
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

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Open post by ctrstaffer with ID 17899106382091659
Insta-Coffee SHEAR MURDER, my wedding mystery, was inspired by a visit to Harry P. Leu Gardens in Winter Park, Florida. This lovely nature park hosts many weddings, so the sight of a bride being photographed among the trees is a common one Its fifty acres includes a camellia collection, a formal rose garden, a historical house dating from the 1880's, a tropical rainforest, a vegetable garden, plus palm, bamboo and cycad sections, and even a cemetery. The main building has a coffee shop and reception rooms. For my story, I transformed the gardens into an imaginary nature park relocated in Miami. Welcome to the fictional Orchid Isle, where Marla Shore, my intrepid sleuth and hairdresser, is a bridesmaid at her friend Jill’s wedding prior to her own nuptials. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned and disaster ensues. I had to learn a bit about orchids for this story. Anytime I get one as a gift, I care for it to the best of my ability, but it soon dies. I’m afraid I don’t have a knack for growing plants. But if you’re a gardening enthusiast, you can pick up a seedling at a local orchid show or buy a blooming plant at a farmer’s market. From what I’ve read, initially you’ll need fertilizer to feed the plant. Additional supplies may include insecticide, fungicide, stakes and clips, and potting materials. What are the types of orchids for you to grow? Cattleyas are corsage orchids, probably the most familiar variety. Phalenopsis have pretty, delicate blooms, while Dendrobiums have long spikes of smaller flowers. Or Vandas, which are the most common, might appeal to you. If you really get into it, you can attend orchid shows and join orchid societies. How can you tell a rare variety? Nancy J. Cohen ##mystery ##cozy #@nancyjcohen https://coffeetimeromance.com/?p=281213

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Open post by ctrstaffer with ID 18301595491175289
Insta-Coffee Welcome, and today I’m talking with Ilana Long who is here on Coffee Time Romance to tell us about her Romantic Comedy, Pickleballers. But Ilana is not only a writer. She’s also a stand up comedian, a singer, an actor, a teacher, a sportswoman and passionate pickleballer, so take it away, Ilana. Tell us more. Let’s begin with Pickleballers: what makes this sport something you’d like to share with romance readers? Pickleball is loaded with humor and friendship. I’ve met so many friends I would never have met under other circumstances. The sport is so fun and low-pressure that many people are making pickleball a first date and also meeting people on the courts. I hear that story from players all the time. How did you make the leap from stand up comedy to writing? I love having control over writing. Stand-up can be stressful—getting gigs, practicing, memorizing. I’ve always enjoyed writing comedy—since high school and college, where I wrote humorous articles, and when my twins were born, I wrote a yet-to-be-published funny “momoir.” Writing PICKLEBALLERS and PICKLE PERFECT (coming October 2025) was a natural progression. Is writing comedy easier or more difficult than writing comedy for a live audience? In what way is it different? It’s both easier and harder (how’s that for hedging my bets?) Easier in that there isn’t the stress of needing the laugh to know it’s funny, and harder because you don’t hear the laugh to validate that it’s funny. Working in front of a live audience is both a frightening and heady experience. Do you get the same kick from writing, or do you appreciate the lack of stress? J. Arlene Culiner #@IlanaLong ##Romance ##contemporary https://coffeetimeromance.com/ilana-long/

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Open post by ctrstaffer with ID 18068922901953945
Insta-Coffee http://coffeetimeromance.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/wildcardbyangelaknight.mp4 Passion’s the pot when Rowan Kerr draws the Wildcard. Though she lives in a world of Beyonce and iPhones, Indra Fox thinks she may be an alien. She’s too strong, too fast, and heals too quickly to be merely human. But she doesn’t know for sure, because her parents refused to tell her. Nor would they explain why she -- and her equally superhuman best friend, Diana Newman -- were raised to be warriors. When their families are murdered, Indra and Diana seek revenge on their killers, Satan’s Horsemen. Then Diana is kidnapped, and Indra goes undercover at a strip club the gang owns to discover where her friend has been taken. But when Rowan Kerr walks into the club, Indra realizes he’s even more powerful than she is. Rowan says he knows who she really is and what she was created to do, but she must go with him to learn the truth. Indra will do anything to save Diana. Including embracing her destiny as something more than human. Rowan thinks Indra could be the teammate -- and lover -- he dreams of. But she’s mad as hell about being kept in ignorance, and she’s convinced that she’s been betrayed by the woman he works for. What’s worse, she’s not wrong. Can he convince her to take a chance on him? And can Indra and Rowan defeat the very real aliens who are behind Diana’s abduction? They’d better, or humanity will pay the price for their failure. Amazon https://coffeetimeromance.com/angela-knight-november-2024/ https://coffeetimeromance.com/wildcard-by-angela-knight/ Coffee Time Romance & More #@angelaknight ##Romance ##scifi https://coffeetimeromance.com/wildcard-by-angela-knight-3/

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Open post by ctrstaffer with ID 18055718570259256
Insta-Coffee Heart of a Devil is a standalone dark Mafia, best friend's dad, age gap romance with very dark themes, please check your triggers before reading. You can’t outrun your past—or so they tell me. It doesn’t stop me from trying though, and that’s how I end up here in London, a far cry from the Los Angeles sunshine and the weight of my family’s name. And hopefully far enough away from my past that it can only haunt me in dreams. Things are going well so far. My life is pretty normal, and normal—a little calm after the chaos—is exactly what I need right now. Enter Sebastian Donovan. All easy charm and Daddy Dom energy, with a smile that could melt panties at twenty paces. It’s a pity he’s off-limits—not because he’s a serial womanizer with a trail of broken hearts all over London, but because he’s my best friend’s dad. That’s too messy, and I like to avoid mess. I’ll stick to my no-strings arrangements, no matter how unfulfilling they’ve been lately. But what if we could have just one night? One debauched, filthy encounter that will still make me smile when I’m eighty? That can’t hurt, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong. Sebastian Donovan isn’t the kind of man I can just up and walk away from the next morning. He unlocks something deep inside me, something I buried a long time ago. If my tastes run a little on the dark side, Sebastian’s run darker. He’s the first man who’s ever managed to tap into exactly what I want, and he’s not afraid to give it to me. But those demons I’m running from— They’re about to catch up with me, and now I don’t know who I can trust. The one thing I need to be certain of is whether I can trust him. Coffee Time Romance & More ##contemporary #@sadiekincaid ##agegap #alpha https://coffeetimeromance.com/heart-of-a-devil-by-sadie-kincaid/

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Insta-Coffee May 27, 2025

Book 2

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The drakkons have joined the battle, but do they have the power to help win the war?

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Open post by ctrstaffer with ID 18069895831975014
Insta-Coffee May 27, 2025 Book 2 The Drakkon Kin Trilogy Book 2 The drakkons have joined the battle, but do they have the power to help win the war? Princess Bryn Silva is a Strega witch, gifted with the ability to raise fire and mind speak to animals. It is a gift that helped her win the trust of Kaia—a drakkon queen in the prime of her life. But the drakkons’ only weapons are tooth and claws, and they are useless against an enemy mounted on armored birds, and who possess weapons capable of eating through scale and stone with equal ease. After an aerie is attacked, the drakkons agree to a desperate alliance and the drakkon kin—a force of Strega witches mounted on drakkon back—is formed. Despite initial success, Bryn quickly realizes that a handful of kin will never defeat the sheer number of gilded riders amassing off Arleeon’s shores. The drakkons needed a weapon. They needed fire… But the gilded riders were not the only danger closing in on Esan, the fortress protecting the eastern gateway into Arleeon. The Mareritt, a warrior race and an ancient enemy, also move on them, armed with weapons eerily similar to those the gilded riders use. Weapons capable of destroying Esan’s mighty walls. But the biggest threat of all could be the dangerous secrets being held by Bryn’s husband, Damon Velez, heir to the throne of Zephrine and a man she hadn’t wanted to marry but might well be falling in love with. A man whose magic could give the drakkons fire, or utterly destroy them all. More Posts https://coffeetimeromance.com/the-drakkons-are-coming-keri-arthur/ http://coffeetimeromance.com/of-steele-and-scale-by-keri-arthur/ Coffee Time Romance & More ##fantasy ##keriarthur ##Romance #dragons ##DrakkonKin https://coffeetimeromance.com/of-scale-and-blood-by-keri-arthur-is-here/

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