Book Blitz with Excerpt + Teasers + Giveaway: You Had Me at Meow by Gracie James @XpressoTours

You Had Me at Meow by Gracie James

Publication date: July 7th, 2026

Synopsis:

Some girls get fairy godmothers. Abby Thompson gets a talking cat with a British accent and absolutely zero chill.

After her latest blind date--arranged by her loving (but relentless) mother--ends in a concussion, a wine-soaked dress, and enough humiliation to power Manhattan, Abby decides she's done with dating. Forever.

Too bad her cat, Mr. Whiskers, has other ideas. And he's suddenly sharing them. Out loud.

"Honestly, Abby, your taste in men is almost as concerning as your taste in sweaters."

His mission? Fix her train-wreck love life and help her land her dream job. His qualifications? None. He's a cat. His methods? Questionable at best.

But somewhere between the disastrous first dates, ruthless office politics, and the unexpectedly charming veterinarian who might actually be worth shaving her legs for, Abby starts to wonder...

Is Mr. Whiskers a miracle? Or a catastrophe with whiskers?

Either way, her opinionated feline isn't backing down. And if Abby wants her dream life, she might have to trust the one life coach she never asked for. Her cat.

You Had Me at Meow is a sweet, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about finding your voice, risking your heart, and one very determined cat who refuses to let his human settle for anything less than purr-fection.

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Before I even reach the fridge, Mr. Whiskers has settled into his favorite spot on the couch while I gather the essentials of a proper pity party: a pint of mint chocolate chip, my largest spoon, and one of Dottie's cosmic brownies. Ahhh, perfect.

Curling up next to my furry little roommate, I pull our softest blanket over my legs and queue up one of our favorite movies. Maybe watching someone else's embarrassing moments will make me feel better about my own.

As the opening credits roll, I crumble Dottie's brownie over my ice cream, letting out a contented sigh. At least dessert never disappoints.

"Why can't I find love in the movies, huh, buddy?" I ask, running my fingers through his soft fur. "You know, the kind where tripping in front of your dream guy leads to true love instead of a concussion."

Mr. Whiskers blinks up at me, his eyes reflecting the TV's flickering light.

"I mean, look at tonight," I continue, digging into my brownie-ice-cream creation and regretting nothing. Well... except maybe going out in the first place. "Mom sets me up with someone who's supposedly perfect for me, and he turns out to be a complete jerk. And then when I finally meet a genuinely nice guy, he's my cat's veterinarian and he's already taken."

I scratch under Mr. Whiskers' chin, earning a faint purr.

"Maybe I should just give up on dating altogether," I muse. "I mean, who needs romance when I have you, anyway? We could be two crazy cat ladies together. Well, one crazy cat lady and one crazy cat, but you know what I mean. No more terrible blind dates, no more falling head over heels, literally, for the wrong guys. Just us, some yummy snacks, and the sweet escape of a good movie night. What do you think, huh, buddy? Sound good?"

"Darling, that sounds like the best idea I've heard all night."

GRACIE JAMES lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their sweet rescue cat, Pinky, and absolutely loves the rain. When she's not writing swoony, laugh-out-loud rom-coms sprinkled with a touch of magic, she's usually hiking up a mountain or eating chocolate like it's a personality trait. Her creative peak occurs somewhere between "I should go to bed" and "well, it's basically morning now," and she considers sunrise more of a suggestion than a deadline.

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Book Blitz with Excerpt + Giveaway: Children of Eternity by Macaulay Christian @XpressoTours

Children of Eternity by Macaulay Christian

Publication date: March 10th, 2026

Synopsis:

Thirty years ago, an impossible transmission pierced the cosmos. Hidden within it were instructions for a device no one fully understood--an extragalactic Telegraph built to answer the call. 

On a distant world in neutral space, humanity and its former enemies resolved to build the device, a rare moment of unity and a calculated gamble that shared purpose might overcome politics.

The answer is not what anyone expected.

The colony is devastated. Reality fractures. Technology fails. People vanish without a trace--among them soldiers, citizens, and voices no civilization can afford to lose. Aboard the warship Banterra, Captain Heron Agathon is dispatched into the unknown to search for survivors and the truth behind the signal.

Beyond the galaxy's edge, something older than civilization is observing humanity's first steps into the uncharted--measuring what it will become when fear, power, and principle collide. The answers lie in the dark between stars. And the truth behind the signal is older--and nearer--than anyone suspects. There is no going back.

The human adventure is about to begin.

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At the urging of the Arx and Anchorage One, President Rein has rejected a proposal made by the Drazenbor head of state to permit a Drazenbor and Sarii Olgan expeditionary force to deploy with the Republican fleet. In a statement released by opposition leader Benjamin Riskaar, Riskaar praised the president's commitment to defending Republican national security interests. President Rein is permitting a small number of Drazenbor and Sarii Olgan advisors to travel with the fleet. -- The Daily Martian

Three minutes later.

A rapidly spinning ball of plasma made full contact with the bridge and splashed against the shields the way a wave does on a rock. Lights shattered, spitting shards of glass like shrapnel. Sparks rained down, conduits sputtering. The domed light directly above Agathon and Commander Coden groaned seconds before it fell, forcing the two men to leap from their seats. Consoles overloaded. Some screens erupted in gibberish; others faded to black. A girder came loose, swinging down. I flung Lieutenant Kyo to the floor, and his face pressed hard into the grated deck plating.

When the shaking stopped and the fires extinguished, the bridge lay in shambles. Wires, cords, and bundles of cables dropped down, hanging in massive, tangled streams pooling on the floor. With the air filtration system inoperative, the smoke had nowhere to go, choking all but Vidya, burning their lungs ad scorching their eyes. Every face and hand had a scratch on it. Blood trickling from nastier wounds. Uniforms were blackened, burned, and frayed at the seams.

Pushing himself off the floor, Captain Agathon brushed his wavy hair out of his face. Swishing saliva around in his mouth, he tasted blood. Glancing down, he saw dozens of tiny burning holes on the right sleeve of his jacket.

"Medical team to the bridge," he said somberly, extending over the wrecked dome light to reach the headset.

Vidya alone looked to be untouched by the damage. "Initializing emergency lights. Dorsal shields at 20 percent."

Commander Coden got up, dusting the metal shavings out of his hair, then tried to pry open a door and vent the smoke strangling them. Lieutenant Colby was slumped over the navigation console, arms draped over the front, a substantial piece of glass jutting out of her side, likely piercing a kidney. Kyo lay on the floor motionless, his head cocked at an impossible angle.

The Morpheus and Hope had been destroyed the instant they exited the wormhole. Agathon couldn't imagine there was anything left. Captain Haakon and the Challenger were listing and without power; a number of hull breaches had ejected most of the crew into space. The frigate Buran was a tough, old ship and still in the fight despite the gaping hole that had punched clean through. Captain Hale and the Apollo were lining up with the nearest attacker, bow trained on what they assumed to be the command-and-control center.

"What is she doing?" Agathon muttered, winching as he noticed the pain shooting up his arm.

His wrist was broken.

"Hale! Hale, what are you doing?" he shouted into the receiver.

Vidya's commentary was crucial: "Captain, Apollo's reactor is critical! They're losing containment!"

Agathon looked past Vidya. An arc of fire ripped through the Apollo's hull from the inside out. Another and another lacerated the ship, the metal rippling as secondary explosions sent bubbles of fire into the vacuum.

"I'm detecting lifeboat transponders," Vidya said. "They're abandoning ship."

"Captain Hale, please respond!"

His pleas were met only with static. Then the Apollo accelerated, hurling itself into the alien ship. The ensuing supernova obliterated both vessels.

Hull panels were streaking off the Solitude like comets, cones of fire and smoke trailing behind. Silver Arrow fighters vaporized by beams shot from the attacker's central sphere, several at a time, reduced to ash. Slicing through space, the gimbaled wing spun around as the alien ship made its attack run, lobbing miniature suns at the Solitude. The keel arched high upon impact.

"Her back... it's broken," Agathon gaped.

The Buran jockeyed alongside the Banterra, firing forward missiles and gun batteries. The Albatross was long since gone. Under orders from Ekwueme, the supply ship that had followed them made for interstellar space. Whether they had been pursued, Agathon did not know.

The color in Vidya's face drained. "Oh no," she bemoaned and heaved the bulk of the ship hard to port.

One of the Buran's warp coil nacelles was hewn clean off and tumbling toward them. Striking the starboard ventral section, and the Banterra lurched forward. Spinning, about its axis, and no one saw the flames engulfing the frigate as it broke apart. Knocked off his feet, Agathon soared, slamming into the consoles at the base of the observation window. A siren blared, red lights flashing, the centrifugal forces plastering the crew against bulkheads. Stretching out her arms, Vidya looked like she was trying to brace herself, as if she too were bound to fly about the bridge. Firing the maneuvering thrusters, she slowed the ship and brought them about.

MACAULAY CHRISTIAN is a graduate of the University of Arizona where he received his bachelor's degree in political science with an emphasis in American government and international relations as well as a minor in classical (Greco-Roman) history. He is also an alumnus of the fraternity Phi Delta Theta, where he served in a variety of leadership positions, including two terms as president. Macaulay received a master's of legal studies from Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law before beginning a career in the commercial construction industry. He has worked on a variety of projects, from airports to data centers. Macaulay lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife and their two dogs. In March 2025, Macaulay released the science fiction novel "Holindrian & The Human Revolution". He is currently pursuing a doctorate in public administration where he is researching the impacts of public education and policy shifts on the industry and investigating recommendations to rectify the on-going skilled labor shortage across the country.

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Book Blitz with Excerpt + Teasers + Giveaway: Lady Petra and the Wolf by Anna Valleria @XpressoTours

Lady Petra and the Wolf by Anna Valleria

Series: Lords Fall First #2

Publication date: July 2nd, 2026

Synopsis:

In Victorian London, Lady Petra, the daughter of the powerful and manipulative Earl of Kemberley, has spent her life as a silent pawn in her father's political games. While the ton sees a perfectly poised debutante, Petra is secretly a woman of industry who runs a sanctuary for abused servants in a derelict London theatre.

Julian, the Viscount Wolfridge, known to the world as Wolf, is a cynical rake with a secret heart of gold and a childhood spent on the Bristol docks. When he proposes a fake courtship to Petra to stir her indifferent betrothed into action, he doesn't realize he is stepping into a web of secrets far deeper than his own. As Petra's world of mystery and Wolf's path of redemption collide, they must decide if a marriage born of a trap can ever survive the truth.

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"I have to kiss you, Petra. You have from ten to tell me to stop. To tell me you do not want this. Ten."

"My lord?" A flush rose from her delectable decolletage, blooming up her neck.

"Nine. Julian, you mean. Or Jules."

"Is this to do with our pretend courtship?"

"Eight. Hang the pretense. There will be nothing pretend in this kiss."

If possible, Petra's eyes grew even wider in the dim firelight as she backed up against the wall adjacent to the fireplace.

"You wish to make it real." She said in a very controlled voice.

"Seven. I want you. That is what I wish. Six."

"I admit I do not know what I want. But I should like to find out." She said quietly.

"Five. Does me kissing you achieve this goal?" He had no desire to crowd her, yet it was as though his physical frame was magnetically tethered to her proximity. He braced an arm against the wainscotted wall above her, leaning toward her with slow deliberation.

"It could be particularly illuminating." She breathed, her face assuming a distinctly dazed expression.

"Four. There is one thing." Wolf paused his countdown as something hot and possessive shot through his blood. "If I kiss you, you will be thinking of me. John is the best of friends, but I cannot have you thinking of him with my lips upon you."

Petra drew in a shaky breath before she responded. "You are wholly unique. I do not believe I would ever consider thinking of anyone or anything else if I found myself in a carnal embrace with you, my lord. Three."

Drawing back to search her features. Wolf scanned her face with a singular intensity. It was patently clear that her continuation of the count served as a definitive assent, a silent surrender to the mounting tension between them. The unmistakable spark of curiosity and unmasked desire dancing within those mahogany depths providing the final, exhilarating confirmation he required.

And then she kissed him.

Before his mind could catch up with the explosions reverberating through his chest, Petra broke away briefly and utterly a soft, breathless plea. "Forgive me, Jules. I was never very patient for something I want."

ANNA VALLERIA is an award-winning historical romance author who believes that everyone deserves to see themselves on the page. Her mission is to write steamy Regency and Victorian stories featuring socially active heroines and devoted heroes that reflect windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors for all readers, including characters of different sizes, backgrounds, abilities, and neurodiversities. Her novel The Baron Takes a Wife was the 2025 winner of the Hearts Through History Romance Through the Ages Contest in the published Georgian/Victorian category.

Currently residing in a beautiful, historic city in the southeastern U.S. with her family and a rescue pup. If she's not writing, she's likely in a coffee shop, walking with her son or dog, or trivia with her team, Stone Cold Jane Austen.

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Lady Petra and the Wolf Blitz

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