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Prism Tour: Clean Romance for Christmas – Five Kisses by Rachael Anderson

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Five Kisses
By Rachael Anderson
Historical Romance
Paperback & ebook, 296 Pages
September 14, 2021 by HEA Publishing

The first kiss crumbles her world. The second mystifies. The third unbalances. The fourth sends her reeling. And the fifth –ah, the fifth . . . 

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Miss Sarah Meacham has always behaved circumspectly, until an emotional outburst directed at a well-deserved gentleman earns her the nickname of Miss Shrew. As a result, she vows to never trust—or love—again. But when her father decrees that her younger sister cannot marry the man of her dreams until Sarah has secured a suitor of her own, she is faced with a dilemma: Deny her sister marital bliss or feign an interest in the next gentleman to come along, at least until their father relents.

Mr. Ian Collum is no gentleman. A tradesman and newcomer to Brighton, he has been searching high and low for the perfect house. When he at last discovers Ivy Cottage, with its magnificent views, extensive lands, and a large oak tree reminiscent of his favorite childhood escape, he will do whatever it takes to obtain it. Trouble is, the owner of the property will only sell if Ian agrees to court the beautiful and infamous Miss Shrew—a woman as intent on eluding Ian as he is on pursuing her.

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Excerpt

The dark-haired man pushed away from the bookcase and pointed to the shelf above her head. “I’m guessing you used the stack of bibles as a stool to reach this shelf here.” He patted the place where Frankenstein once stood. “Is there a book I can get for you so you can climb down from your perch? People are beginning to stare, and I doubt the proprietress would appreciate seeing any book, especially a bible, being used as a stool.”

Knowing he was probably right, Sarah ignored his proffered hand and stepped down on her own. She glared at the few people she caught looking their way before returning her attention to the mysterious stranger.

Goodness, he was tall. The top of her head barely reached his shoulders.

His lips quirked into a half smile. “Feeling a wee less holy now?”

Blast his charming accent. “Perhaps. But I’m not sure if my decreased proximity to God is to blame or someone else.”

He chuckled, then folded his arms, still clutching the book, and propped a shoulder against the shelf once more. “You should probably try reading the bible instead of standing atop it,” he suggested. “In fact, there’s a story in Genesis—that’s the first book, you see—”

“I’ve heard of it,” she said testily.

“About a civilization who tried to build a tower to Heaven, as you have done, and had their languages confounded as a result.”

Sarah cocked her head. “Your point, sir?”

“’Tis a good thing we can still understand one another.”

“I might prefer it if we couldn’t.”

He grinned, not seeming the least bit put out. “In that case, you should have built a taller tower.”

Sarah eyed the book tucked under his arm, wondering if she dared to snatch it away and make a run for it. Surely, he wouldn’t make a scene by chasing after her. Though the scene she’d make would be something for the gossips.

“You keep eyeing this book, which leads us back to where we began. How can a story about a monster be, how did you put it? Incredibly dull?”

Sarah had to concede it hadn’t been the wisest thing to say. She should have said it was disturbing and caused the worst sorts of nightmares. That would have been more plausible.

“I haven’t the faintest notion. Perhaps the plot is tiresome and uninteresting.”

“Then I shall like it all the more. I prefer tales that play out at a more deliberate and leisurely pace, especially when monsters are involved. Now, is there a book I can procure for you, or were you really trying to gain some ground with God?”

Though he didn’t smile, his eyes gleamed, and his lips twitched in the most irritating manner. He was laughing at her. In fact, he’d probably been laughing the entire time. Argh. Had he seen her reach for that book and had taken it on purpose? The gleam in his eyes told her that could easily be the case.

Abominable man.

Sarah folded her arms, ready to be done with this silly charade. “If you must know, I have been on the hunt for that book for over a year now and was in the process of finally obtaining it when you stole it out from under me. Should you insist on borrowing it first, I would be most appreciative if you would tell me when you plan to return it so that I can borrow it next.”

He looked down at the book and examined it a moment. “Why didn’t you say as much to begin with? Had I known this was the book you were after, I would have done the gentlemanly thing and allowed you to have it first.”

She eyed the book, still in his hands, not quite trusting him or his handsome face. “Are you a gentleman, sir?”

“Nae,” he said with a grin. “Just a man who spied a bonnie lass and couldn’t resist teasing her a little. I hope you’ll forgive me, just as I hope you’ll sleep more soundly than I did after reading that book.”

He took hold of her hand, and his gaze locked on hers. Ever so slowly, he lifted her fingers to his lips and pressed a deliberate, almost seductive, kiss to her knuckles.

She inhaled sharply as the heat from his lips burned through her hand, igniting something within. A strange sort of fire sparked to life, surging through her body and evoking a myriad of sensations—both thrilling and terrifying.

Sarah had been kissed on her hand before, but never like this—or rather, it had never affected her like this. She stiffened, staring at him as though he were the devil himself. Perhaps he was. Come to taunt and tempt and wreak havoc on her senses.

Excerpted from Five Kisses by Rachael Anderson, Copyright © 2021 by Rachael Anderson. Published by HEA Publishing.


About the Author

A USA Today bestselling author, Rachael Anderson is the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can’t sing, doesn’t dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating. You can read more about her and her books online at rachaelreneeanderson.com.


Tour Schedule
(Posts go live on the day they’re scheduled.)

December 7th: Launch
December 8th: Nancy Campbell Allen – The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart
December 9th: Rachael Anderson – Five Kisses
December 10th: Sarah M. Eden – The Merchant and the Rogue
December 11th: Arlem Hawks – Georgana’s Secret
December 12th: Jess Heileman – The Nabob’s Daughter
December 13th: Krista Jensen – Miracle Creek Christmas
December 14th: Jen Geigle Johnson – A Christmas Kiss
December 15th: Josi S. Kilpack – Love and Lavender
December 16th: Carla Laureano – Discovered by Love series
December 17th: Sarah L. McConkie – Meet Me Under the Kissing Bough
December 18th: Carol Ross – His Hometown Yuletide Vow
December 19th: Nichole Van – Brotherhood of the Black Tartan series
December 20th: Anneka R. Walker – Brides and Brothers
December 21st: Camron Wright – Christmas by Accident
December 22nd: Julie Wright – A Captain for Caroline Gray
December 23rd: Grand Finale


Tour Giveaway


One winner will receive a $75 (USD) Amazon E-Gift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 29, 2021
Grab Our Button!

Prism Tour: Fantasy & Sci-Fi For Christmas Grand Finale

The Fantasy & Sci-Fi for Christmas Tour Continues till Dec 13th! Please note I cannot guarantee that all of the books are #cleanreads. Remember that you can also find out more by going to the previous tour posts.

 

 

On tour with Prism Book Tours

 
We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the stops, you can see snippets and the link to each full post, as well as the giveaway below…
 
November 28thLaunch
 

November 29th: Elayne Audrey Becker – Forestborn

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads Twitter Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | Book Depository
B&N | Target | IndieBound | BAM | Powells
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):
 
Finley’s eyes are glazing over, far too fast, the pupils dilating as if he’s concussed. He shakes his head, holds out a hand, clutches mine when I step close to steady him. “I think—”
 
“Finley!” I cry, catching him when his knees suddenly give way. I’m dismayed at how easy it is to support his weight, considering he’s only one year younger than me. Or two, or three. It’s all a guess, really. “Fin, talk to me,” I say, my heart flinging itself wildly against my ribcage as I watch his eyes lose focus once more. His hand loosens its grip on mine, and both of us sink to the forest floor.
 

November 30th: Michelle Diener – The Turncoat King

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads | BookBub | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | B&N | Book Depository
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):
 
The guard assigned to lead them to the Skäddar warrior paused to speak to someone in low tones. When he turned back to Luc and Dak, he was grinning.
 
“The Skäddar warrior is this way. He’s sparring with one of our best fighters and we’re hoping he wins.” His smile widened as he led the way.
 

December 1st: Jes Drew – Agents Adam and Eve

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads Pinterest
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | Book Depository
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):

 

I teleport the door toward the motorcycles, causing them to crash into each other and knocking off those still on them. Then I drop down and teleport myself to the nearest gunman and wrestle his weapon from his hand. I elbow him in the face and his grip loosens enough for me to take it and shoot at the engine of one of the motorcycles, making it blow up into an inferno that the men scurry to avoid.
 

December 2nd: Sharon Hinck – Windward Shore

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads | BookBub | Facebook Twitter Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | B&N | Book Depository | Christianbook
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):
 
Chapter One
 
Where could he be? I squinted toward the horizon, where stormy sky met turbulent sea. Brantley had planned to be back by midday, but the primary sun was already lowering beyond the churning waves. Not a good sign. Wind howled from the ocean, and the ground bobbed. A gust slapped into me, rippling my tunic and forcing me to lean forward to keep my footing. My toes dug into the tangleroot.
 

December 3rd: Kara Linaburg – The Broken Prince

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads Facebook Pinterest | Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | Book Depository
 
Snippet from the Author Interview (find the full post here):
 
Three words to describe your writing process of “The Broken Prince”?
 
Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. I wrote this book in a crazy place mentally back in high school, and the whole manuscript was just a mess starting out.
 

December 4th: Cathy McCrumb – Recorder

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads Facebook Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | B&N | Book Depository Christianbook
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):
 
The moon’s moon gleamed clear and bright, and I stood transfixed by the canopy of stars, their faint colors shining against the velvet vastness of space. Ceres hovered above the horizon, a pale, blue speck, while Thalassa’s lights flashed overhead, only a few degrees below the orange point of New Triton. My drone’s tendril gently twined about my shoulders, and my implant magnified the deep sounds of space. The stars’ dissonance rumbled underneath the team’s voices and my own pounding heart. I smiled at the beauty of it—
 

December 5th: Sandra Fernandez Rhoads – Realms of Light

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads Facebook | Twitter Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | B&N | Book Depository | Christianbook
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):
 
Chapter One – Uriel’s Sunbeam
 
I bounce my foot as Devon drives us deeper into the forest at a crawling pace. Maddox sits beside me, tapping a restless beat on his knee as the rumbling engine fills the growing silence. Autumn leaves blanket our path, and the bleak horizon blocks out the rising sun, but I know it’s there, hiding behind the clouds, waiting to break through.
 

December 6th: Chawna Schroeder – The Vault Between Spaces

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads | BookBub | Facebook
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | B&N | Book Depository | Christianbook
 
Snippet from the Guest Post (find the full post here):
 
It started with a dream.
 
Yes, I know how completely clichéd that sounds, but that’s the truth. I happened to dream vividly, and when my creative brain has had insufficient exercise, those dreams often take a story bent with lots of action and conflict. And since dreams don’t have to be particularly logical, my mind enjoys experimenting with some unique—and often bizarre—combinations.
 

December 7th: Melissa Wright – Beneath Stone and Sacrifice

 

 

 

Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads | BookBub Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Apple Books | Kobo
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):
 
Rhen leaned forward on the fireplace iron as if it were a cane. “Nimona, my dear, you do see that I have just saved you from certain peril, do you not?” He gestured vaguely toward Wes with his chin. “Though the boy might be able to prevent a direct attack by magic, he certainly has no power to keep a serpent from puncturing your precious skin.”
 

December 8th: Kristen Young – Elite

 

 

 

 
Follow the Author: Website | Goodreads | BookBub | Facebook | Twitter Instagram
Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | B&N | Book Depository | Christianbook
 
Snippet from the Excerpt (find the full post here):
 
My name is Kerr Flick. Or Cadence. Or . . . something. I don’t know. A month ago, if anyone told me that my Dorm Leader would be offering to break the law for me, I would have laughed. No—worse than that. I probably would have reported them for losing their minds.

Tour Giveaway

 

 

 

One winner will receive a $50 (USD) Amazon eGift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 13, 2021

ENTER HERE

 

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Prism Tour: Clean Romance for Christmas – The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart

By Nancy Campbell Allen
Historical Romance
Paperback, E-book & Audiobook, 313 Pages
September 7, 2021 by Shadow Mountain

Amelie Hampton is a hopeless romantic, which makes her the perfect columnist to answer lonely heart letters in The Marriage Gazette. When Amelie plays matchmaker with two anonymous lonely hearts, she also decides to secretly observe the couple’s blind date. To her surprise, the man who appears for the rendezvous is Harold Radcliffe—a grieving widower and a member of Amelie’s book club.

Police detective Michael Baker has been struggling ever since his best friend and brother-in-law dies in the line of fire. Because he knows the dangers of his job, he has vowed never to marry and subject a wife and family to the uncertainty of his profession. But when he meets Miss Hampton, he is captured by her innocence, beauty, and her quick mind.

When a woman’s body is pulled from the river, Michael suspects the woman’s husband—Harold Radcliffe—of foul play. Amelie refuses to believe that Harold is capable of such violence but agrees to help, imagining it will be like one of her favorite mystery novels. Her social connections and clever observations prove an asset to the case, and Amelie is determined to prove Mr. Radcliffe’s innocence. But the more time Amelie and Michael spend together, the more they trust each other, and the more they realize they are a good team, maybe the perfect match.

They also realize that Mr. Radcliffe is hiding more than one secret, and when his attention turns toward Amelie, Michael knows he must put an end to this case before the woman he loves comes to harm.

(Affiliate links included.)


Guest Post: Inspiration for The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart

I have my editor, Lisa Mangum, and the podcast “Lore,” by Aaron Mehnke, to thank for the inspiration for The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart. Lisa had been listening to Lore and mentioned an episode I’d also heard (because you can’t listen to only one Lore episode, you have to binge them all). The episode was about a gentleman whose wife died of a mysterious illness, and then his second wife tragically died…a string of sick and dying wives began to arouse suspicion among locals and law enforcement alike. One of the fun details we’d also discovered about the Victorian era was the popularity of personal ads in local papers and magazines. I combined the idea from the Lore episode with an imagined character who works for a newspaper, has an insatiable sense of curiosity, and is a voracious reader of mystery and romance novels. Et voila! A new Victorian series was born, featuring three cousins who live in London and are determined to become modern Women of Independent Means. My books almost always feature a healthy dose of mystery along with the romance, and I believe people who have enjoyed my work in the past will not be disappointed here!


About the Author

Nancy Campbell Allen is the award-winning author of 19 published novels and several novellas, which encompass a variety of genres ranging from contemporary romantic suspense to historical fiction. Her most recent books, which include Regency, Victorian, and steampunk romance, are published through Shadow Mountain’s Proper Romance line, and the What Happens in Venice novella series is part of the Timeless Romance Anthology collection published by Mirror Press.

Nancy loves to read, write, travel, and research, and enjoys spending time with family and friends. She nurtures a current obsession for true crime podcasts and is a news junkie. She and her husband have three children, and she lives in Ogden, Utah with her family, one very large Siberian Husky named Thor, and an obnoxious but endearing YorkiePoo named Freya.


Tour Schedule

(Posts go live on the day they’re scheduled.)

December 7th: Launch
December 8th: Nancy Campbell Allen – The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart
December 9th: Rachael Anderson – Five Kisses
December 10th: Sarah M. Eden – The Merchant and the Rogue
December 11th: Arlem Hawks – Georgana’s Secret
December 12th: Jess Heileman – The Nabob’s Daughter
December 13th: Krista Jensen – Miracle Creek Christmas
December 14th: Jen Geigle Johnson – A Christmas Kiss
December 15th: Josi S. Kilpack – Love and Lavender
December 16th: Carla Laureano – Discovered by Love series
December 17th: Sarah L. McConkie – Meet Me Under the Kissing Bough
December 18th: Carol Ross – His Hometown Yuletide Vow
December 19th: Nichole Van – Brotherhood of the Black Tartan series
December 20th: Anneka R. Walker – Brides and Brothers
December 21st: Camron Wright – Christmas by Accident
December 22nd: Julie Wright – A Captain for Caroline Gray
December 23rd: Grand Finale

Tour Giveaway


One winner will receive a $75 (USD) Amazon E-Gift Card

Open internationally
Ends December 29, 2021
Grab Our Button!