Keys to the Troubled Soul: A self guide to daily struggles by Dr OLADAPO OSUNTOKUN

In life, we must be prepared for the worst and pray for the best.It’s essential to avoid being caught off guard and overwhelmed when faced with difficulties. Our objective should be to develop a mindset prepared to handle challenges as they arise. Always think positively, the next adversity may contain the path to your success.

It’s crucial to maintain a positive outlook and mindset. Sometimes, the obstacles we face can pave the way to success. Challenges can bring about unexpected opportunities for personal development.

Download Keys to the Troubled Soul while it’s on sale on Amazon July 24 – 27.

A Conjuring of Ravens: A Magepunk Progression Fantasy (A Practical Guide to Sorcery Book 1) by Azalea Ellis

For once, Siobhan felt grateful that the average person was such an imbecile. The coppers were no exception, even in a big city like Gilbratha. Shivering in the dark, she took another peek out of the alley behind the inn, tugging down the hood of her ratty, stolen cloak. She had to be sure the ambush they’d set couldn’t snap shut around her. The coppers were positioned at both street corners, and she guessed they were waiting in the inn’s common room, and probably outside her door as well.

The coppers had the right idea, staking out the room her father had rented for them.

Siobhan would have preferred not to return to the inn, but she had no choice. Her belongings, including her grimoire, were there. She couldn’t afford to lose what little she had. Lucky for her, the coppers had apparently failed to consider the fact that she wasn’t a blazing idiot. She wouldn’t simply walk, oblivious, through the front door.

As far as Siobhan knew, the room was still undisturbed, probably because they’d noticed the rudimentary alarm ward she’d set on the doorframe. Tripping it would have alerted her to the manhunt’s progress and kept her from walking into their trap.

Either that or they’d subverted the ward and were waiting for her in the unlit room, the more obvious guards only serving as decoys, encouraging her to discard her vigilance.

Siobhan grimaced, looking up at the dark, many-paned window on the second floor. She would just have to be careful. ‘Climbing a building can’t be so hard, can it? It’s not as if I have a choice, after all.’ With a nervous breath and a very careful twisting of her thoughts away from the possibility of falling, she crossed the alley. Her hands reached for the wooden slats, and she began to climb, fitting fingers and the tips of her boots wherever she could.

The wood was faintly damp, and in more than a few places it had bred a slimy film. When she reached the second floor, her right hand slipped, but she managed not to cry out, despite breaking most of the nails on her left hand as she dug her fingers even harder into the crevasse. ‘And it took so much effort to grow those stupid nails,’ she thought wryly. ‘I guess I really never will fit into high society.’ She shuffled sideways till she reached the window of the room she’d left that morning, a time that now seemed a lifetime away, full of innocence and hope.

Bracing the toes of her boots between the wooden siding panels, she peeked in, moving her head slowly to avoid drawing notice. Her fingers trembled on the edge of the sill with the pressure she placed on them, and she was excruciatingly conscious of how close she was to falling backward. She saw no one within, no inky shadows that looked more suspicious than any other.

Siobhan had placed the alarm ward over the window as well, but that didn’t matter, unless they were very much cleverer than she was giving them credit for. If they were that clever, she would simply have to run, again.

No, the bigger problem was her lack of formal training or experience with breaking and entering. The latch was locked from the inside. She was sure there were spells that could reach through a barrier and undo a simple latch-lock. However, she didn’t know any of them.

That would have posed a problem, if not for the versatile nature of sorcery.

‘I can’t let something this trivial stop me,’ she thought, glaring at the wood-bordered glass panes. ‘I need my grimoire.’ She made sure her feet were stable, then released one hand’s death grip on the windowsill. Her cold, clumsy fingers fumbled in one of the pockets of the ratty jacket she wore under the even more ratty cloak. She pulled out a soft wax crayon and carefully drew a small Circle on the glass, completely enclosing one of the hand-sized panes. That was where the magic would take effect.

There could be no gaps in the Circle. Mistakes could be deadly.

Download A Conjuring of Ravens while it’s on sale on Amazon July 23 – 29.

Boss Next Door: An Enemies to Lovers Romance by Poppy Richardson

My hands were full, and with my brush tucked under my armpit, I tried to stick my key into my lock. It didn’t fit, and after raising it to examine it, I realised it was the wrong key. For fuck’s sake.

My hair was all over the place— I’d woken up late and did not have the time to style it, I wanted to do that in the elevator. It got in my eyes, and I huffed loudly, everything was difficult, extremely difficult. I was pretty sure I looked like a hot mess, struggling to hold onto my bag while examining the rest of my keys. It was at that exact moment that my mysterious neighbor walked out, carrying with him, an air of importance. I knew nothing about him, but I could bet he was an authoritative figure wherever it was he worked.

“Good morning,” I said, smiling at him, already knowing fully well how it would end. Not a word, only an imperceptible nod. Today, however, there was a new addition— he judged me with his look, nodded, and walked into the elevator.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Please keep it open for me, I’ll be there in a sec,” I called out to him before I took out another key chain and turned my lock. He didn’t keep it open for me, and I had to stop the elevator doors from closing at the very last minute. I laughed out of nervousness and stepped in beside him.

“Big day today,” I said, sparing him a glance.

It was a big day yet I’d spent the better part of the night binge-watching my favorite show, a show that I had watched over five times already. A show I could probably recite and act word for word, scene by scene.

It’s better than stalking your ex and feeling sorry for yourself.

Download Boss Next Door while it’s on sale on Amazon July 18 – 31.

INTERVENTION: Life Lessons From My Frangipani Tree On Helping People by Richardson George

Do you ever feel like giving up or have you already given up? Do you know someone close to you who is thinking about giving up or has already done so by backsliding or committing suicide? This is a practical and inspirational non-fiction Christian motivational book on helping fallen people which at the same time encourages the reader in his own life’s journey.

The book presents valuable life lessons from a simple and seemingly insignificant experience with my frangipani tree. In fact, the basic premise of the book is found in this direct quote which says, “No fall should be considered final regardless of how devastating or humiliating it might be.” One blessed reader said, “This book was like a thermometer, exposing the temperature of my walk and relationship with the Lord.” Check it out for yourself.

Download INTERVENTION by Richardson George while it’s on sale on Amazon 7/17 – 7/23.

Convenient Mafia Wife: Mafia Romance Series Prequel (Syndicate Rules Book 1) by Lucy Monroe

“I assure you. I am the best in my field. My success rate is higher than any other fertility specialist in the Western United States.”

I just bet he hates having to qualify that claim with a geographical designation. This guy just oozes condescending arrogance.

“And I assure you, this is unnecessary.” I put my hand up when he opens his mouth to say something else. “I have an IUD. I had it inserted the day after my son’s birth.”

It was either that or wait eight weeks. And the one area in which Raff does not and has never disappointed me is our sex life. I knew we’d be having intercourse as soon as I got the go ahead after my six-week check-up.

Dr. Hewitt’s eyes widen. “Mr. Mancini will be relieved to hear that, I am sure.” Judgement for me not telling Raff about the birth control laces his already supercilious voice.

I manage to hold back my angry retort. Dr. Hewitt is annoying, but he’s not the person I’m most furious with. That would be my husband.

If Raff wanted to know why I hadn’t gotten pregnant, why didn’t he talk to me about it? Instead, he’d made an appointment for me with a fertility specialist without consulting me.
I’m used to my husband being high handed. He’s a mafia underboss after all. But this is beyond ridiculous. This is insulting and hurtful.

My mind goes to the gun in a specially designed, concealed outer pocket of my handbag. All of my purses have them, regardless of designer. It makes it easy for me to access my gun quickly and discreetly without opening my purse.

If my husband was here right now, I’d shoot him with it. In the arm, or something. I’d want it to hurt him, but not leave him permanently incapacitated.

I bet my father-in-law has something to do with this, too. Now, him? I would like to kneecap. He’s always banging on about us having more children, but I’m not having another baby until I’m ready.

Ironically, I have an appointment with the OB/GYN who inserted the IUD to remove it when I visit my family in New York next month. I’m seriously tempted to cancel that appointment.
The doctor washes his hands and then puts on a pair of sterile gloves. “I need you to remove your shoes and lay back on the table.”

“Why?” I already explained I don’t need an examination.

“To remove the IUD.” He frowns.

“I was not expecting this additional procedure.”
The nurse comes back into the room carrying a tray with some sealed hypodermics and empty vials for blood sample collection. She sets it down on a portable table near me.

“I need forceps,” the doctor tells her. “After I remove the IUD, I will still do the exam Mr. Mancini requested to make sure there are no complications.”

What is this guy’s damage? I am the patient. Not my husband, and sure as hell not the nurse.
“She’s on birth control?” The nurse glares at me reprovingly.
I don’t wait for him to answer her. “You are not touching me,” I tell them both firmly.
The nurse ignores me and reaches for my shoes. I was raised by my mother to be a lady, but my dad taught me to defend myself.

So, I kick my leg out just missing her because she jumps backward. She’s surprisingly fast.
“Get away from me. I am leaving.” I jump down from the exam table. “You both need to get out of here so I can get dressed.”

Dr. Hewitt opens the door and calls out for someone. Neither he, nor the now scowling nurse leave the room like I told them to do.
A couple of seconds later a man wearing scrubs comes in.
“Mrs. Mancini needs some help calming down. Prepare a sedative,” Dr. Hewitt says to the woman. “Dolph, help her back onto the exam table.”

Oh, heck, no.
Dolph reaches for me and it’s my turn to jump back. I grab my handbag and quickly pull out my Glock 19, training it on the big man. “Step back.”

“Put that away,” the doctor barks, not sounding worried at all.

Does he think I won’t shoot?
The female nurse approaches me with the hypodermic.
I let my gun’s barrel shift slightly so it’s pointing at her and I snarl. “Stay away from me.”

Download Convenient Mafia Wife while it’s on sale on Amazon July 15 – 31.