Release Tour ~ The Book Boyfriend - A Wrong Side of the Tracks Romance by Kate Stacy

 

In THE BOOK BOYFRIEND by Kate Stacy, Mila Cross never expected to find love, but when bad boy Crossland Parker comes into her life and sweeps her off her feet, suddenly she’s falling hard for the man from the wrong side of the tracks. But when a secret from his past is exposed, will its revelation destroy everything? Fans of small-town, opposites attract romances will enjoy this must-read wrong-side-of-the-tracks romance from the Meet Cute Book Club Series.

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Escape with the Meet Cute Book Club, where meet cutes don't happen only between the pages of romance novels, and one by one, all the members find their own happily ever afters. Mila I never thought I’d have a real-life meet cute, but the minute Crossland Parker walks into my life, it starts feeling like I’m living in the pages of a romance novel. He sweeps me off my feet, and I find myself falling fast and hard for the rough around the edges mechanic. He’s a troubled bad boy with a heart of gold. Cross fits into my life effortlessly, even sharing my love of books. He’s everything I didn’t know I wanted in a man. Attentive, sweet, a little bit possessive. He’s also my biggest source of support when I decide I want to buy the building next door so I can expand my business. So what if he has a criminal record? No one is perfect. Unless you ask my stepfather. He expects nothing less than perfection, but not even I could ever come close. Cross After spending too many years wandering when I was released from prison, I came back to Abbott Ridge to start over. I wasn’t expecting Mila Santos to fall into my arms, but I’m irrevocably drawn to the curvy little beauty who owns the bookstore. She’s a good girl, too good for a guy like me. Our relationship develops faster than most, but I spent too many years of my life locked up. Now that I’m out, I refuse to waste a single second. I’m still not sure I deserve someone as sweet as Mila, but if she accepts me and all my faults, there’s no way I’m letting her go. Only a fucking fool would do that. My past is no secret, and I knew the day would come when someone would try to use it against me. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Is happily ever after possible when a good girl falls for the guy from the wrong side of the tracks? The Book Boyfriend is a standalone, wrong side of the tracks romance that is part of the Meet Cute Book Club multi-author series. Add to Goodreads!

Excerpt

Copyright 2022 @ Kate Stacy

She’s fucking adorable. Mila is still standing in the spot where I left her when I pass by the bookstore’s front window. Grinning, I toss her a wink and keep walking, picturing the beautiful blush that stains her skin when she’s flustered. I love how affected she is by me. I knew Mila was gorgeous when I saw her from across the street yesterday, but up close… damn. She’s a stunner. Easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And I get to see her again on Friday. I came to the bookstore today hoping to see her even though I knew there was a good chance that she wasn’t available, but I had to shoot my shot. I’m fucking relieved she isn’t with somebody. It would have sucked if I put myself out there only to find out I didn’t stand a chance. I’ll admit, part of me can’t believe she agreed to go out with me, but I’m happy she did. Halfway back to the garage, reality sets in. What was I even thinking going in there? Mila is sweet as hell, far too good for a roughneck like me. I’m a felon for fuck’s sake. No. Fuck that. My criminal record doesn’t define me. I have to stop letting my past rule my life. I’m more than some guy who got locked up for trying to defend someone who didn’t deserve it. I paid the price for my mistakes. I did my time and now I need to move on. I deserve happiness as much as anyone else. As long as I’m honest and don’t try to hide it, Mila doesn’t seem like the type that would hold my past against me. I’ll be up front with her about it and let the chips fall where they may. I’ve got a good feeling about her. “Who’s the girl?” Bishop asks as I walk into the garage. My brows dip low in confusion and I look around the bay, not seeing anyone. “What girl?” “The girl that put that goofy ass smile on your face,” he says with a knowing look. “Only a woman can make a man smile like that.” I hadn’t realized I was smiling when I came in, but I feel one stretch across my face now. “Her name is Mila.” “From the bookstore?” “You know her?” I ask, closing the distance between us. “I know of her.” At my look of surprise, Bishop rolls his eyes. “You said it yourself yesterday, Cross. Abbott Ridge is a small town.” He turns his attention back to the engine he’s working on. “Pass me that wrench.” Knowing which one he wants without asking, I grab it and hand it over. “The real question is…” He pauses to look at me. “How do you know her?” Reaching behind me, I pull the book out of my back pocket. Chuckling, Bishop shakes his head. “Should have known. Can’t believe you read that girly shit.” “Don’t hate,” I tell him. “This girly shit just got me a date with perfection on Friday night.” He eyes the book. “Well, hell. Maybe I need to pick up a new hobby. Mila’s a pretty girl.” “Find your own pretty girl, Bish,” I say, popping him on the back of the head with the book. “Mila is mine.” Fucker laughs. “It’s like that?” “Damn right it’s like that.” I drop the book on top of the tool cabinet and grab a beer from the fridge. “I saw her yesterday when I was leaving the tattoo shop.” “No doubt a gorgeous girl like that grabbed your attention.” “Hell yeah. Would have talked to her yesterday, but she was on her way out. Almost got discouraged when I watched her drop into the passenger seat of a sweet ass ride, but decided to take a chance anyway.” “Black Chevelle?” he asks, glancing up. “Yeah.” He nods. “Her younger brother, Mateo.” “Damn, Bish,” I say, dropping my ass onto a stool. “You really do know everyone in this town. Bet you got all the good gossip.” Bishop snorts. “I ain’t got shit. Mateo spent a lot of time here. Rented one of the bays so he could restore that beauty of his. He had the know-how, but needed somewhere to do the work.” “I’d love to get my hands on that car.” “Good luck with that. He won’t let anyone else work on it. Not even me.” That makes me chuckle. “I respect that. Nothing more important to a man than his car.” “And his girl,” he says, no so subtly turning the conversation back to Mila. “Where are you taking her?”

About Kate Stacy

Author of emotionally-gripping, contemporary romance, Kate Stacy’s novels feature sassy heroines, swoony heroes, life, love, friendship, and all the angst. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family and friends in small-town North Carolina, Kate can most likely be found nose deep in her Kindle. She stays up too late, swears too much, and loves too hard.

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About The Meet Cute Book Club Series

Escape with the Meet Cute Book Club where meet-cutes don't only happen between the pages of romance novels and members find their own happily ever afters. Eight single women bound by their love of books take a monthly break from real life to lose themselves in the chapters of romantic fiction. From friends to lovers to fake relationships and more, each story features a brand new couple and their journey to find love from an amazing lineup of authors including Louise Lennox, Tracy Broemmer, A.M. Williams, Mel Walker, RJ Gray, Rebecca Wilder, Julie Archer, and Kate Stacy. These eight standalone romances are packed with meet-cutes, heat, and of course a happily ever after!

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Book Blitz ~ Magic and Mayhem - Arcane Souls World: The Wrong Witch by Annie Anderson

 

Magic and Mayhem
Annie Anderson
(The Wrong Witch, #2)
Publication date: September 27th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

All it took was one bite.

A week ago, I was the perpetual screw up of the Bannister coven and a probationary agent for the Arcane Bureau of Investigation. Somehow, I’ve managed to get myself mated to an Acosta Alpha, pissed off my family, and gotten on the radar of a dark Fae.

As much as I’d like to bury my head in the sand, I have a badge to secure—and with a new case on my proverbial desk—a job to do. Because I’m not the first witch that the Fae has tried to steal, but I will definitely be the last.

Just as soon as I get this curse under control…

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

A knock came at the bathroom door. “Wren, honey? You all right?”

I whipped that door open so fast an avalanche of steam billowed out of the bathroom to smack Fiona in the face. I hadn’t seen her since Serreno hauled me to Nico’s cabin for questioning. She appeared far better than the last time I’d seen her, all healed up by the med clinic and in fresh clothes.

Wrapping her in a hug, I was glad I’d managed to get dressed before her knock. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“And let you take that fool test by yourself? Please.”

Shoving her away, I gripped her shoulders with a little too much gusto. “What? No. Please don’t tell me Serreno is making you test out, too.”

Fiona frowned before giving me a winning smile. “If I want the charges against Girard to stick and a real investigation to be had into this place, then the both of us need to be agents, Wren. It just makes sense for us to do it now. Plus, it’ll be a snap.” She waved a hand as if it was so simple as she plopped onto the edge of the couch. “Hannah told me you blew them out of the water during your practical.”

But Fiona was forgetting a particularly important facet of that event—not that she was around for it, but whatever. Namely, the null ward I wore around my neck like my own personal good luck charm. It kept me from fucking up—kept everyone safe.

And to save us, I’d tossed it away. To save her.

How was Nico going to get me a new one? He didn’t have time to trek down to Savannah and back. How was I going to pass this damn thing? Luck and blind optimism? I hadn’t been lucky a day in my life.

“What about when Nico saved you?” Fiona replied to the thoughts I must have said aloud. “That seems pretty lucky to me. Of all the people to pull you from the burning wreckage of Azalea Apothecary, you got the super-hot shifter dreamboat with the giant dick and an unrelenting urge to keep you safe. If that ain’t luck, I don’t know what is.”

“Whoa, who told you he had a giant dick?” Yes, that was what I latched onto, and yes, that sentence actually came out of my mouth.

Fi speared me with a sharp glare. “No one had to tell me that boy is packing a damn cannon in those pants. He just walks like he’s got a monster in there. Like I told you before, I’ve got eyes, don’t I?”

She wasn’t wrong.

Author Bio:

Annie Anderson is a military wife and United States Air Force veteran. Originally from Dallas, Texas, she is a southern girl at heart, but has lived all over the US and abroad. As soon as the military stops moving her family around, she'll settle on a state, but for now she enjoys being a nomad with her husband, two daughters, an old man of a dog, and a young pup that makes life... interesting.

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Book Blitz ~ Call To A Nightmare - A Dr. Gabriel and Miss Bishop Thriller by Jim Lester

 

 

Mystery, Thriller

Published Date: August, 2022

 

 

It was the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, the era of Model T Fords, bootleggers and G-men. Spiritualism was all the rage. Everyone wanted to talk to the dead. Except Dr. Alex Gabriel, who thought talking to the dead was ridiculous. Until he met Savannah Bishop, the country's most unique medium. Using Savannah's contacts with the World Beyond, Dr. Gabriel and Miss Bishop set out to solve a series of brutal murders that range from the glitz of Hollywood to the backwoods of Arkansas and eventually to the bohemian Left Bank of Paris and finally to pre-Nazi Berlin.

About the Author

Jim Lester holds a PhD in history an dis the author of the historical novel, The Blind Boxer and a successful mystery novel called Deadline: New York about the early years of the paperback book industry. He is also the author of four young adult novels and a non-fiction book entitled Hoop Crazy: College Basketball in the 1950s.

 

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Cover Reveal ~ ClickMate by Tia Kelly

 

ClickMate
Tia Kelly
Publication date: January 24th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Sports

After a public and very messy divorce nearly drained his bank account, Cole Howard is too focused on trying to save his basketball career to even think about shooting his shot outside of the arena, especially with women like his uptight neighbor, Bella Barnes. Despite being beautiful and intelligent, she’s no stranger to drama, one thing he’s desperate to avoid.

His only escape is an online culinary covert persona he uses to share his passion for all things food with a stranger who’s only interested in what he can do in the kitchen and not on the court.

After having a problematic entanglement with a very famous and still married celebrity aired out on a nationally syndicated radio show, being unceremoniously fired, and moving in with her sister, Bellamy Barnes is too focused on trying to get her life back together to even think about getting herself entangled with another emotionally unavailable man. This especially includes men like her sister’s annoying neighbor, Cole Howard.

Despite being gorgeous and charming– though she wishes he would stop calling her Bella because he knows she hates it—he’s exactly the kind of rich, thinks-he’s-God’s-gift to women player (on and off the court) she’d spent her entire life avoiding.

Her only refuge is visually indulging in the culinary masterpieces cooked up by her online crush and confidante.

Cole and Bellamy have sworn off love IRL but on Beyoncé’s internet, cupid plays by a different set of rules.

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Author Bio:

Tia Kelly is the author of contemporary and women's fiction. She is known for her candid way of capturing life, love and relationships… one story at a time.

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Book Blitz ~ Stripped Bare - An Age Gap Novella by Aila Glass

 

Stripped Bare
Aila Glass
Publication date: September 23rd 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

A grumpy construction worker. An exotic dancer. And a night that leaves them wanting more.

Daphne
As a broke college student, I’m putting myself through school as an exotic dancer. Dozens of men come to watch me perform every night, and I’ve never been tempted by any of my clients…until him.
Mack with his smouldering gaze and sexy smirk. He knows exactly what to do with my body and how to ignite me with just a touch. Now this grumpy, possessive construction worker is telling me I’m his. But he’s so much older than me. Can we make it work despite the age gap?

Mack
I’m big, grumpy, and I don’t care much for the club scene. The only reason I’m here is to get my coworkers off my back. But the second I spot Daphne on stage, something feral is awakened within me.
She’s a younger woman but that won’t stop me from claiming her. I’m counting down the days until she’ll be tied to me forever. Soon, she’ll learn that possessive is my middle name and from now on, she’ll spend every night screaming it.

If you’re looking for an older man that quickly claims his younger woman, then you’ll love meeting Mack in Stripped Bare.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

The lights on the outside of the White Onyx are white and pink. It doesn’t look like a strip club. It looks like a regular nightclub, which I guess has as much sex appeal as a strip club. I park in the back and head to the door.

I see Tyler, Jason, and Peter outside. Tyler waves his hand to get my attention. As I pass by, a group of women turn my way and I can feel their eyes eating me alive. They’re three young ladies, all with lust in their eyes. I can feel their stare as I walk away.

“You came,” Tyler says and hands the bouncer some money.

“You sound surprised,” I say as I hand the bouncer some money as well.

“Yeah, well…” Tyler says as we walk in. He turns to face me, “I thought you’d change your mind when you realized that you don’t want to come, but since you’re here…”

I shake my head, then look around the club when I walk in. It’s pink and blue but dark, with the smell of cheap alcohol and even cheaper perfume. Men and women are dancing on poles throughout the room as men and women watch them.

We head to the bar and order some drinks. I take a whiskey on the rocks, Jason orders the same, and Tyler and Peter order a beer.

“Well,” Tyler shouts over the booming music, “have fun!” He heads toward a table with a small dark-haired woman dancing on it and takes a seat. Then I see Jason and Peter go their separate ways. It’s then I realize that we may be close but not I’ll-stand-next-to-you-while-looking-at-a-stripper close.

I walk to the corner stage where a tall woman with dirty blonde or brown hair dances on the pole. There are a couple of men already there, but I sit down anyway.

The woman is mesmerizing. She dances to Sam Tinnesz’s Play With Fire and wears a small black bra that shows a lot of her breasts and an even smaller black panties with lace on the back. She swings her hips around and her hands play with her hair. Then she sinks down and crawls toward me. My cock grows fast in my pants.

It wants her. I want her.

She crawls around the table and when she faces the other way, her ass is on full display and I groan. She looks back at me and smiles, telling me she heard me. Turning around, she crawls back to me and is now a foot away from my face. She gracefully slides onto her back and stills, looking at me as she spreads her legs and moves them around like she’s riding an invisible bike.

It takes all my strength not to grab her from the stage, take her to a secluded corner and fuck the shit out of her. As she stands up and dances around the pole, I take a breath and think about what’s happening to me. No woman has ever induced such an intense need in me. The need to take. The need to fill this gorgeous blonde with my cum. To tie her to my bed and fuck her six ways to Sunday.

Holy fuck.

I take a big sip of my whiskey. When I put it down, she’s come back to me and the other men have left.

“You want a private dance, baby?” she asks.

Author Bio:

The Dirty Romantic

Aila Glass is a Canadian romance author and a hopeful romantic. She loves to write forbidden romances with some dirty talk and dirty alphas. When she's not writing she is reading romance books or listening to music. Preferably classic rock or country.

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Book Tour ~ Out of Performance Into Identity by Angela Yarborough

 

Self-Help/Spiritual

Date Published: 8.28.2022

Publisher: Help from 100X Publishing

 

 

This is my story of how I went from fighting for the love, belonging, and acceptance my heart yearned for in finding my place in this world, to laying down my sword and allowing God’s love to find me.

 

 

 Introduction

 

Writing a book was never an item on my bucket list. I began this book-writing journey out of obedience to God after He spoke to me in a dream one night. Initially, I dug my heels in as I reminded Him that I was not a writer and had no intentions of ever being one. He lovingly brought me to the idea as He started sending women into my life who needed to hear my story of redemption.

As I prayed for God to show me how to teach these women to fall completely in love with Him, He told me, “Just tell your story.” So, this book was born. I went from performing for love, attention, and needing to be seen and heard by others to find validation to finding my identity in who He had created me to be.

In addition to writing this book as an act of obedience to help others, it has been a healing journey for me. I wrestled with what I saw as an impossible task of putting this many words into written form. It brought up beliefs I had formed about myself over the years that had become an identity for me. Only intelligent, intellectual people write books. I am average. People want to read interesting books. I have no story to tell. For a book to sell, you must be someone famous. I am not that important.

All these beliefs had been previously addressed in my life. I thought I had moved forward with dismissing them. What I found was interesting. As you will see in my story between the pages of this book, I have experienced phenomenal growth. There was a lot of transformation over my journey of healing, yet there was more He wanted to do. Going from “I am not smart, to I am average” was not good enough. Telling myself that I was better at supporting others as they built their dreams and told their story was no longer a place for me to hide from letting my story be told. Believing that I had nothing within myself to offer, therefore, it was better to remain in the background was playing small.

I had formed a solid belief that my purpose was to cheer others on and support them as they pursued their calling in life. Not only being good at this but thoroughly enjoying seeing others rise above, I never questioned my beliefs in this identity. I could have stayed there and never known any different.

Yet, those deep desires of my heart kept surfacing. This is how great our God is. He will never let you settle for less.

If you are open to growth, He will take you to the height of your potential and show you who you were created to be. It will be the most amazing gift of discovery as you yield to His love and find total freedom from your past.

This book is my love story. I went from fighting to prove who I was and performing for the love I deeply desired, to laying down my sword and allowing Him to show me a love so deep, that I never thought existed. In the middle of fighting for the love I desperately wanted, His love found me. It was there all along, I just could not see it through my brokenness.

Unlike the love I was seeking that would never satisfy, His love was not one that needed to be fought for. It only required a heart of surrender. His love has drastically changed how I look at everything. I no longer fight for love and acceptance created through others’ opinions, job titles, or accomplishments. I live from a heart of freedom overflowing with passion for Him.

As I have stretched myself through this writing journey, I had no clue about the potential that was lying dormant inside me. Many days, I look at myself in the mirror and question, “Who is this girl? I flippin’ love her!”

I am no longer the same person that I was. Jesus has totally and completely wrecked me for His good. He has helped me gather all the missing pieces of my heart that have been stolen and put them back together in the most beautiful way. It has been a process with lots of learning, growing, and healing along the way. Praise God, I have walked it out and received the gift of His unfailing, never-ending love on the other side. His love will make every fairy tale you have ever dreamed of fall short.

As I have put my love story into words over these past months, I have been praying that you would find your own love story as we journey together through this adventure. I have prayed that God would meet you in the pages, and you would find the love that He has been waiting to give you as He heals up those broken places. I know that it is possible, no matter where you find yourself today, because I have seen it happen repeatedly. I also prayed that your heart would be tender and your ears open to hear how much He truly cherishes a love relationship with you. You are special. You are seen. You are loved beyond measure. You were created for a great purpose; a purpose that only you can fulfill.

This is my story of how I overcame and found my identity and purpose. I love you, friend. As we embark on this journey of helping you discover who you are created to be, I will be your biggest cheerleader.

Welcome to my love story.

About the Author

Angela Yarborough has a passion to see women set free from the lies of their pasts and begin living in the love and freedom of Christ. Having accomplished this in her own life, she regularly speaks to women and gives them hope for a love story of their own.

Combining her business knowledge, creative gifting, and love for the women she is called to serve, Angela has built an online jewelry business that employs women coming from the prison system or sex trade industry. AmadeaDesigns.com equips women with the skills they need to obtain a long-term job that fits their God-given talents.

Living in a small town in North Louisiana with her husband, Jerry, along with their last 2 kids at home, daily adventures in nature bring a smile to her face. Picnics by the lake, kayaking on the river, and playing with her pet goats and sassy chickens are just a few things you might find Angela doing when she is not designing jewelry, writing books, or ministering to women.

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Release Blitz ~ Stunner - Whiskey Dolls Series by Jessica Prince

 

 

Title: Stunner
Series: Whiskey Dolls
Author: Jessica Prince

Contemporary Romance; Small Town Romance; RomCom; Best Friend’s Ex

Never in a million years did I think I’d be jilted on my wedding day.

Around the time Asher Rose was supposed to say “I do”, she was bellied up to a bar full of bikers, three sheets to the wind and feeling sorry for herself. The last person she expected to come to her rescue was Owen Shields.

He was tattooed, broody, and her ex-fiancé’s best friend. The arrogant jerk who was supposed to be the best man at her wedding was never supposed to be her knight in shining armor.

Falling for Owen was never part of the plan, but when the gorgeous town vet throws everything he has her way, including his adorable dog and angelic niece, Asher is in for the fight of her life.

**Whiskey Dolls is a series of interconnected, standalone, small town romances.**

Goodreads

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“Hi,” he said, low and gravelly.

I turned on him, making sure to narrow my eyes into slits, determined to gain my anger back after meeting the lovely Hazel, because I’d be damned if I let him get away with the silent treatment he’d been subjecting me to.

It wasn’t easy, especially not with the contrition swimming in those green eyes, but I held firm. “‘Hi’? Seriously? You’ve been ghosting me for three days and that’s how you’re going to start?”

He stepped in closer, his delicious smell making my head all fuzzy. “You look beautiful.”

Oh, he was good. Damn it! Stay strong, Asher! I silently scolded. I blew past the compliment like I hadn’t heard it, even while flutters erupted in my chest.

Meet the Whiskey Dolls
a series of interconnected, standalone, small town romances

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Amazon US | Amazon Worldwide

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Born and raised around Houston Texas, Jessica spent most of her life complaining about the heat, humidity, and all around pain in the ass weather. It was only as an adult that she quickly realized the cost of living in Houston made up for not being able to breathe when she stepped outside. That’s why God created central air, after all.

Jessica is the mother of a perfect little boy–she refuses to accept that he inherited her attitude and sarcastic nature no matter what her husband says.

In addition to being a wife and mom, she’s also a wino, a coffee addict, and an avid lover of all types of books–romances still being her all time favs. Her husband likes to claim that reading is her obsession but she just says it’s a passion…there’s a difference. Not that she’d expect a boy to understand.

Jessica has been writing since she was a little girl, but thankfully grew out of drawing her own pictures for her stories before ever publishing her first book. Because an artist she is not.

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Teaser ~ Bod Behaviors - Journey to Nourishment and Self-Love by Isabel Chiara

 

Personal Transformation, Self Help, Body Image

Date Published: 06-21-2022

 

 

A book where readers delight in both an “infectious storyline” and simultaneously a unique venture into their own personal development… including handfuls of interviews and excerpts featuring significantly impactful teachers, mentors and healing, therapeutic guides.

 

Excerpt

 

 

Chocolate, I know you sound clichéd. For years you’ve been associated with making up for love lost, poetically punctuating rom-com breakup scenes or presented as a prop in illicit affairs: a declarative symbol of substitution. Forgive me, my beloved, where words might fail me; I’ve picked up a drugstore satiny-red box of liquor-filled chocolate for you.  Chocolate has a history through the ages, long before Hershey’s confectionary affair gained speed at the end of the 1800s.

Anthropologists deem we’ve associated the chocolate bean with love for more than five thousand years, which means that chocolate might be, to speak in broad sweeps, our longest romanticized relationship.

Our chocolate devotion, however, is definitely not just fluff; it certainly stands scientifically solid, whether in the formation of a solid dark or a solid milk flavor. Ancient cultures prescribed raw chocolate medicinally as a means to activate powerful heart-opening energy, and today, the latest laboratory research reveals that the ingredients in chocolate possess properties that support heart health.

Of course, I would never dismiss any elements considered divine in sacred ceremonies, and I will absolutely agree that chocolate, in its purest form, is a potent substance. But what I’m investigating here when it comes to craving  is surely not about gorging on bags of raw, unsweetened, hard, whole cacao beans from the Theobroma tree of the flowering Malvaceae plant family. I’m talking about teeth-sinkable, caramel-centered, sugar-laden, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, candy-corporate chocolate—the kind that is first and foremostly a globbity-glunk of vegetable fat and high-fructose corn syrup, factory designed to dissolve within two to five seconds of making contact with your tongue. I’m talking about the kind of chocolate you can rake up in your top teeth, scraping the northmost side of a covered brick of vanilla wafer, which dissolves just moments after the chocolate-like topping evaporates into that savory-sweet pocket of the mouth just near the back molars. What I’m describing is the type of chocolate bar you can accidentally pack into your oversized purse, wrapped in bright packaging, which comes conveniently in countable squares; one square, two, five, ten—all fractional justifications of one wholly complete serving. Finger-licking chocolate, shirt-collar, car-seat, luggage-staining chocolate; the kind of chocolate that, just like it fills every commercial, can fill in all the gaps in our regularly programmed schedules.

Wake up, get to work, chocolate, meeting, chocolate, drive home, chocolate, dinner, After Eight chocolate. And, most of all, my favorite kind of chocolate: chocolate that makes us forget what we might have started to long for. Nostalgic peanut-butter cups, fudge- flavored toffee, the sticky sweetness of candies kept from my sticky fingers with just one thin wax paper: oh, how I’ve known you. Mint- thin chocolate layers to support my own tendency to hide out in layers, in a cool refuge away from the hot, grilling mess of intensity that is the rest of the racket-filled world: how you momentarily silence mayhem.

And while I, too, have romanticized you, chocolate, leaving scandalous trails of wrappers from freezer to carpet-covered basement staircase, I have no clue why the heck I’ve gone through such war fighting against you while simultaneously keeping the intensity of your ammunition alive. Twinkle, twinkle little bar (of chocolate), how I wonder what you are (or what you stand for). Up above my fridge, so high, (to ignore that cupboard how I’ll try—yet, next at market, again I buy).  Yes, it’s a nursery rhyme for the girl who’s lived a life lassoed again and again by foods that trap her in a self-deserting scene, forever deploying dessert as distraction from despair. Oh, chocolate, what do you mean to me?

Here’s the truth: while I’d explored a multitude of modalities in the past to heal my affliction—my damaged relationship to my body and self-nourishment—when it came to developing a healthier relationship to eating, I’d actually never sought the most obvious type of specialist: a certified and registered dietician. I wasn’t sure exactly why I’d avoided someone who might make me stare in a cognizant fashion right down at the nose of my fork. Why would I be turned off by someone like a dietician, who might expect that I actually put in the time, make the conscious effort during my living daylight hours to positively review and shift my eating habits—to be truly self- accountable?

When it came to dietary choices, I’d lived under a spell that supposed I was a victim of compulsive eating, like an innocent Giana character going about my day when I was suddenly seized by a tumultuous weather pattern, teleported to the eye of a tornado, for example. I felt that this storm pattern rendered me incapable of any option other than heading, frayed and frenzied, into a food-consumptive hell that, really, I had nothing to do with. I believed I was bullied by an energy, and I’d share this condition with any genre of specialist except those who would mandate that I take the role as my own healer. I chose to go through hypnotisms, rebirths, clearings, cleansings, ceremonies, and cosmic voyages, rather than decide I had the power to sort my patterns out. I’d prefer to have crystals, energetic hands or tarot cards read my energy, but that was my history—and I didn’t have to repeat it. I could believe in myself to liberate my fortune and fate.

I’d been ready for the last months, and was even more ready now, to look at my relationship to nourishment head-on. I wasn’t just craving chocolate, in fact, when I reached for something that felt opulent and alluring; I was reaching to recognize qualities about myself that possessed such prowess.

Perhaps I was ready to seek a well-schooled yet holistically informed nutritionist specializing in complex, disorganized or disordered eating styles. After all, these were the experts specifically geared up to help people gain clarity about nourishment itself. I’d seek the wisdom to help me reach within to access inner wealth, rather than reach deeper into a decadent box of Pepperidge Farm chocolate-chunk cookies.

I determined that, to get to the crux of how behaviors are changed around something as substantial, universal, and essential as eating, I’d go into hard-core research mode. I’d put on more than a thinking cap, darn it—I’d put on a hard hat, because I had to be willing to go deep underground to find how behavioral transformation can successfully take place. I hoped I’d discover some epiphanies in my research, not only for myself but for all the people I encounter who, like me, have struggled with the behavioral ABCs of eating.

I’d read the stats: the US diet and weight-loss industry was worth 71 billion dollars, with the alternative-therapies industry coming in at around the same and the addiction-behavior therapy industry raking in 40 billion. Obviously, I wasn’t alone: all this rigmarole constituted a whole culture crying out for ways to get a grip on its food behaviors. I wanted to understand, from the leaders who’d been able to impactfully support healing in this area, what the process of remediating self- sabotaging behaviors might look like, and what someone who is truly ready for transformation in this capacity can expect.

About the Author

Isabel Chiara, creator of “The Life Actualization Process,” has been a guide, mentor, and leader throughout her entire life. Over the last thirty years, she has honed her expertise in extensive studies and practices of transformational energy modalities. As a professional intuitive guide, Isabel activates unlimited potential for her clients, helping them to ignite their most liberated, passionate and empowered life path, full of prosperity, miracles, and magic. For more information about Isabel’s “Life Actualization” processes, as well as her previous top-selling book, Eat Your Words, visit her website below!

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Release Blitz & Giveaway ~ Laugh Cry Rewind - A Memoir by Judy Haveson

 

 

Nonfiction/Memoir

To Be Published: September 28, 2022

Publisher: J Press Books

Growing up in 1970s and 80s suburban Houston, Judy Haveson is funny, sarcastic, and fiercely loyal, especially to her family, friends, and big sister, Celia. When she suffers a series of unimaginable traumatic events, her seemingly idyllic childhood comes to a halt, changing her life forever.

In Laugh Cry Rewind, Judy takes readers on her journey of self-discovery, sharing funny, touching, and heartbreaking stories from her childhood all the way to the birth of her son. Her experiences serve as a reminder that while life is not always fair, ultimately, the choice to surrender or keep on living is ours. Her message to others who have experienced loss or tragedy is this: stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. Let life go on, and good things will be waiting for you on the other side of the pain.

About the Author

Judy Haveson is a proud Texan who will never lose her southern charm or accent and uses both when the situation absolutely calls for it. Her one-time dream of becoming a journalist was shattered when a professor suggested she pick a new major due to her penchant for obsessive conversation. He claimed she’d be an editor’s nightmare because she wrote as she spoke and never stopped talking. This led her to a career in public relations. Judy’s fixation with reading books and stories about other people’s lives inspired her to write her debut memoir. She currently lives in The Hamptons with her husband, Adam, son, Jack, and beloved Yorkie, Toby.

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