Book Extract: The Amalfi Secret by Dean and Catherine Reineking
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Dean and Catherine Reineking to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for their book, The Amalfi Secret.
For readers who love thrillers grounded in human emotion and history, The Amalfi Secret by Dean and Catherine Reineking delivers a captivating blend of mystery, betrayal, and courage.
When Gabe Roslo’s long-awaited reunion with his grandparents in Amalfi turns to tragedy, he’s left with more questions than answers. A cryptic diary, hidden codes, and whispered secrets soon point to something far greater than a family mystery—an international web of power and deceit with roots in history itself. With Anna, a quick-witted Roman local, Gabe dives into a dangerous pursuit that tests every instinct and challenges his idea of truth. From the cobbled streets of Amalfi to the political undercurrents of Rome, their search exposes the cost of uncovering secrets others will do anything to keep buried.
Dean and Catherine have shared an extract from The Amalfi Secret with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
1
Post-September 11, 2001
The lone fisherman realized the time was approaching. It was nearly eleven o’clock. Pulling his woolen cap down against the chill of the autumn night, he chuckled as he mused about the interesting character who’d approached him at the docks that afternoon.
Who am I to ask questions? he thought. After all, he’d been pulling in only small catches lately. Seemed like an awfully simple, if mildly inconvenient, task for the amount of cash the stranger had offered.
As he maneuvered his small, wooden rig along the coastline, the lights of the Amalfi Hotel emerged from the blackness. He guided his boat into position and scanned his surroundings. No one else was fishing the waters below the hotel. He was alone.
When he cut the engine, he could see a party in progress on one of the balconies. It appeared to be in full swing with loud, raucous voices. He unfolded his fishing net and hoped they’d be too drunk to notice him.
He checked his watch again and surveyed the rest of the hotel. Many of the windows were already dark. A lone person was standing on the balcony one floor above the party. He was leaning on the banister and watching the boisterous activity below.
by 
Book Review: Saving Starlight Hall by Debbie Viggiano
I’m very excited to be welcoming Debbie Viggiano to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Saving Starlight Hall.
Nestled deep in the countryside lies Starlight Croft – population small, gossip levels high, and secrets harder to hide than a cow in a phone box.
Jen Armstrong thought she had life more or less under control – marriage ticking along, teenagers on the right side of the law – until hubby Peter unexpectedly demises leaving Jen suddenly single, hugging a secret, and trying very hard not to fall apart in front of the entire village.
Just when things couldn’t get messier a For Sale sign appears. The community centre – the only place big enough to host Pilates and the local psychic’s séance nights – goes up for sale.
Cue The Starlight Society: a mismatched crew of locals with hearts of gold, questionable strategies and Jen reluctantly roped in to assist. Their mission? Raise the cash to save the hall before a charming-but-infuriating property developer named Liam Lancaster possibly turns it into a boutique hotel with mood lighting and tufty towels.
Can they pull it off? Will the hall survive? Might a secret be unwittingly revealed? And can Jen resist throttling an enemy who has the most annoyingly twinkly eyes?
A feel-good romantic comedy where love, lies, and livestock collide.
*****
After losing her husband, Jen is wanting to move on and get away from bad memories. She just isn’t quite sure how. When there is an announcement that the local community hub is to be sold to developers, Jen joins the efforts to save it. Is it possible that she finds more along the way than she bargained for?
First, I want to share my love for this cover. It’s ‘chef’s kiss’.
Having been a big fan of the first novel in the Starlight series, Starting Over At Starlight Cottage, I was eager to start the next book, Saving Starlight Hall. If you’ve not read book one, don’t fear, this can be read as a standalone. I didn’t feel like any key information was missing from this latest instalment. I recommend book one though. It’s ace.
by Book Review: Escape to the Northern Lights by Carrie Walker
I’m pleased to be welcoming Carrie Walker to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Escape to the Northern Lights.
Packed with humour, romance and a love affair with nature, Escape to the Northern Lights is a story of transformation, second chances and finding home in the most unexpected places.
High-powered lawyer Sara thought she had life figured out – until her whirlwind marriage ends in divorce, her dream promotion slips away and a burnout diagnosis forces her to take a break.
Desperate for a reset, she books a four-week spa retreat in Norway, imagining a luxurious escape. Instead, she finds herself in the rugged wilderness of Firefly Forest, knee-deep in reindeer droppings and stuck with an annoyingly bohemian – and ridiculously attractive – outdoorsman, Henrik.
What starts as a nightmare turns into a journey of self-discovery as Sara swaps designer heels for bare feet, legal briefs for tree-hugging, and fleeting flings for something far deeper…
*****
When Sara misses out on a promotion and has a health scare, she is forced to take time off work. She finds herself booking a spa escape in Norway. If could be fun – a place of luxury, rest, and relaxation. If it was good enough for celebrities, it was good enough for her. Things don’t go as planned but in being somewhere she wasn’t intending to be, could she find something she wasn’t aware she was looking for?
I have a bit of a love affair with the Northern Lights, so I jumped at the chance to read Escape To The Northern Lights by Carrie Walker. Going to see the lights has been on my bucket list for such a long time. I know we had the chance to see them in the UK a while back, but there’s something romantic about seeing them in a beautiful country like Norway. With this novel, I had a chance to see them vicariously through Sara’s story.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Halloween
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing flash fiction prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Don’t edit, just write. Once you’re done, you’re welcome to share in the comments but there’s no obligation.
Today’s prompt: Halloween
Your character wakes up on the morning of Halloween and suddenly finds themselves surrounded by their fears.
It could be that they are afraid of clowns? Spiders? Vampires? Fire? A room full of strangers?
Write a piece chronicling a part of their day and how they rid themselves of the problem?
Have fun and Happy Halloween.
by Book Extract: Abracadabra by Evanne Hardin Gray
I’m very excited to be welcoming Evanne Hardin Gray to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for Abracadabra.
In the spirit of Practical Magic and First Frost, a modern-day magic folk tale weaves a fantasy of love, secrets, spellbooks, and family bonds into evocative prose ….
It’s common knowledge in Duran Hill that some women in the Kinley family have certain gifts … and certain curses … running through their bloodlines. But for three sisters in all but name — Rachel, Juliette, and their cousin Sylvia — the ties that bind them close as ivy throughout their childhood are pulled apart in adolescence when both the gift and curse of that power is revealed between them.
Since that fateful incident, sensible Juliette has tailored a perfect and perfectly-ordinary life which unravels after she marries — and loses — the love of her life. Sylvia, drawn to the dark side, sets up a shop that caters to all the mystical powers the latter generations of the Kinley family shunned. And Rachel, the wild child, in whom its magic seems to create a charmed life, is a carefree wanderer who finds herself suddenly drawn home again.
Her arrival will stir old rivalries and test forgotten bonds in the brief span of a few weeks. But when an old friend in desperate trouble seeks her out, she will impulsively unleash the dangerous secret behind their power: one which has lain forgotten in the Kinley house for two generations.
From the Siren’s song of a dead man’s violin to a jar full of harmless-looking buttons, nothing under the shadow of the family’s roof is what it seems — nothing in their bloodline is safe from the dangerous past.
For Juliette, it brings a test of whether love that has withered can bloom again. For Sylvia, a question of whether a dangerous mistake can only be endured until it destroys you. And for Rachel, the choice is the price between the future of the souls she loves most in life and a powerful force that both makes her the enigma she is — and makes to destroy her like embers caught in a firewind.
Against the backdrop of Southern charm, Scottish superstitions, and bewitching romance, ABRACADABRA casts a spell which cannot be undone, from the ache of lost love to the familial links between souls which go as deep as blood and bone.
Evanne Hardin Gray has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Thank you so much for this chance to share an extract from my novel Abracdabra with all the readers at Novel Kicks. It’s a spooky new read perfect for fans of Practical Magic. In the following scene, sisters Rachel and Juliette find themselves reluctantly consulting a medium over a haunting in their old family home.
They end up in the parlor, which Rachel thought of as “the purple room” as a child, a name inspired by the heavy wine-colored drapes, and the various maroon and plum shades of velvet covering the furniture. It is the nearest seating area to the formal dining room, which Rachel was glad is not the scene of this seance.
by Book Club
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