Steal it All: Donovan Thief for Hire, Book Three by Chuck Bowie

 Blurb:

The third story in the series Donovan: Thief For Hire, begins with a brutal daylight murder of an English citizen in the Canadian embassy in London, England. The ambassador calls upon a combination of Scotland Yard and the RCMP.

Then there’s the ace up his sleeve. Sean Donovan, a thief for hire who doubles as a security consultant.

But Donovan isn’t nearby. He’s in Canada, learning about the business of winemaking and thinking about his new girl, and contemplating his recent exit from the business of theft.

Even as he inches away from a life of crime, an art collector he owes a favor to, approaches him: is he willing to do the tiniest of thefts? Would Donovan track down a missing piece of art? Can the collector, Gaia, be trusted? Of course not. Can Donovan resist? Of course not. Is there easy money to be made? Oh, yes.

Nothing is ever easy for him.

Donovan may be betting his life on this gig.

About the Author:

Chuck Bowie graduated from the University of New Brunswick in Canada with a bachelor degree in Science. He still lives in on the East Coast of Canada, an hour north or east of Maine. Growing up as an Air Force brat, his writing is influenced by the study of human nature and how people behave, habits he picked up as his family moved nineteen times in his first twenty-one years. Chuck loves food, wine, music and travel—and all play a role in his work.

His writing will often draw upon elements of these experiences to round out his characters and plotlines. Chuck is involved in the world of music, supporting local musicians—occasionally playing with them and always celebrating their successes. Because he enjoys venting as much as the next fellow, Chuck will at times share his thoughts with a brief essay, some of which can be found on his website. http://chuckbowie.ca

He is working through the fourth novel in the suspense-thriller series: Donovan: Thief For Hire. It is titled The Body On The Underwater Road, and is the first in the series with scenes from his home province.

Chuck is married with two adult musician sons. He and his wife, Lois, live in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Review:

In Steal it All, Book Three of the Donovan: Thief for Hire series, Sean Donovan has retired from his career as a security agent/master thief, and has been quietly working his way through the various at a family-owned Ontario winery having financial problems, with an eye toward buying the place and working side-by-side with the current owners to keep it running with the family feeling for the workers and quality the label has always represented. He neither wants to see the winery turned into a corporate factory, nor the family and workers ousted. Donavan could use a few more dollars to do so comfortably, however.

Enter the Canadian government. And his old nemesis, Gaia,—both of whom have jobs for him. The government wants him to travel to England to join a task force investigating the murder of an Embassy employee that took place in his office, and the suicide of his murderer. The case isn’t as open/shut as it appears, as no one, not even Scotland Yard, can identify the murderer. Gaia’s little art theft seems quite simple in comparison. But then, when is anything ever simple?

I confess—I’m a fan of Sean Donovan. I’ve read the entire series, and so far, the quality remains high. Each book is a stand-alone. Mr. Bowie relies on the page-burning twisty plots and the character-driven high quality of his writing to keep fans coming back to his books, rather than cliff-hanger endings. It’s fun trying to guess who the bad guys are and why they do what they do. Mr. Bowie is an author who manages to stump me, at least partly. I highly recommend Steal it All, and all of the Donovan: Thief for Hire books. You don’t necessarily have to read them in order, but I like to do so with series.

Author Website:  http://www.chuckbowie.ca/

Heat Rating:  PG-13

Length:  254 Pages

Digital Price:  $5.99

Buy Link:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/new-releases/series/steal-it-all-detail

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.

Download the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.). That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to replace all of my books. If you have a Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so buying directly from the publisher can save you money.

Moving the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to Documents/Books directory on your e-reader. You can move the file by highlighting it and dragging it to the documents directory in you Kindle you want to move it to. Or right click on it, and then left click copy or move. Or hit Control/C for copy, Control/X for cut, and Control/V for paste.

Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting.

False Pretences by Rosemary Morris

Blurb:

Five-year-old Annabelle arrived at boarding school fluent in French and English. Separated from her nurse, a dismal shadow blights Annabelle’s life because she does not know who her parents are.

Although high-spirited, Annabelle is financially dependent on her unknown guardian. She refuses to marry a French baron more than twice her age.

Her life in danger, Annabelle is saved by a gentleman, who says he will help her to discover her identity. Yet, from then on nothing is as it seems, and she is forced to run away for the second time to protect her rescuer.

Even more determined to discover her parents’ identity, in spite of many false pretences, Annabelle must learn who to trust. Her attempts to unravel the mystery of her birth, lead to further danger, despair, unbearable heartache and even more false pretences until the only person who has ever wanted to cherish her reveals the startling truth, and all’s well that ends well.

About the Author:

Rosemary Morris was born in 1940 in Sidcup Kent. As a child, when she was not making up stories, her head was “always in a book.”

While working in a travel agency, Rosemary met her Indian husband. He encouraged her to continue her education at Westminster College. In 1961 Rosemary and her husband, now a barrister, moved to his birthplace, Kenya, where she lived from 1961 until 1982. After an attempted coup d’état, she and four of her children lived in an ashram in France.

Back in England, Rosemary wrote historical fiction. She is now a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Historical Novel Society and Cassio Writers.

Apart from writing, Rosemary enjoys classical Indian literature, reading, visiting places of historical interest, vegetarian cooking, growing organic fruit, herbs and vegetables and creative crafts.

Time spent with her five children and their families, most of whom live near her, is precious.

Review by Rochelle:

Anyone who follows Roses & Thorns knows I shy away from historical romance because I absolutely hate anomalies—things like the use of modern jargon in period pieces. But this book was a Christmas gift, and I’m familiar with Ms. Morris, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m so glad I did. As you can see, I found no anomalies and no modern jargon.

Annabelle is eighteen when she runs away from school on the eve of her wedding to a much older man. A handsome stranger named Roland rescues her from highwaymen and identifies himself as her fiancé. When they spend the night in separate rooms at an inn, she’s so innocent, she doesn’t understand why he wants the innkeeper’s daughter to sleep in her room as a chaperone. Not having a mother to talk with her on the night before her wedding, she has no clue what sex is, and she remains innocent until her wedding night. The next morning they encounter a truly odious man whom she dubs “The Toad.” She later learns he is really her fiancé.

Annabelle also worries that her status as an orphan may compromise Roland’s social standing. She’s heard the girls at school speculate that she may have been born “on the wrong side of the blanket.” And then she learns from the woman Roland hired as her ladies’ maid that there are kidnapping charges pending and a reward posted as a result of her disappearance from school. The maid tries to blackmail her, but Annabelle runs away hoping to find out who her birth parents are, who her guardian is, and why they wanted her to marry “The Toad.” She also hopes to persuade them to allow her to stay married to Roland, the man she loves.

Again, I found no glitches in this tale. The characters were well-drawn, and I rooted for them from beginning to end. Even when Roland lied to Annabelle, I always knew he did so to protect her, not to deceive. It was a page-burning mystery that I had difficulty putting down, and a truly delightful read.

Author Website:  http://www.rosemarymorris.co.uk/

Heat Rating: PG-13

Length: 218 Pages

Price: $5.95

Buy Link: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/now-available-in-ebook/false-pretences-detail

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher. Editors and cover artists  receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.

Download the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.). That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to replace all of my books. If you have a Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so buying directly from the publisher can save you money.

Moving the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to Documents/Books directory on your e-reader. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Donna, Julie, & Rochelle