⭐Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tour Kick Off⭐The House of Gold by Joni Parker #Fantasy

 

The gold wasn’t harvested by the Mentors as Alex believed—it was stolen by the Star Elves.

 

Title: THE HOUSE OF GOLD

Author: Joni Parker

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 359

Genre: Science Fantasy

Format: Paperback, Kindle, FREE with Kindle Unlimited

She’s done playing by the rules.

Lady Alexin Dumwalt—Alex to those who know better—just got booted from her mortal-world job. Her response? Return to Eledon, reclaim her title as Keeper of the Keys, and dive headfirst into a mission that reeks of politics and secrets.

Her task: escort Lord Quasar of the Star Elves to Nimbus. Her reality: arrested at Moonbase, locked up by a power-hungry Lord Governor, and caught in a prison break that exposes a gold-smuggling operation buried beneath the surface.

The gold? Stolen from Eledon. The ship? Not what it seems. The Fire Elves? Gone—taken by someone who wasn’t supposed to be watching.

Now Alex is under guard, headed to Nimbus, and neck-deep in a conspiracy that could shatter the fragile balance between Elf factions. She’s got questions, she’s got enemies, and she’s got zero patience for anyone standing in her way.

Magic. Betrayal. One Elf with nothing left to lose.

Read sample.

The House of Gold is available at Amazon.

Book Excerpt

I tried to get some sleep, but the impact of getting fired made me think back to my arrival in the mortal world from Eledon. I had joined a rescue effort at home when five military vessels crashed into the Elf Seas, leaving more than six hundred mortal sailors stranded. The only way for them to get home was to use a ship owned by the Wizard Ecstasy. He took me and the first hundred sailors to London. Vice Admiral Teller was one of the first mortals I met when I got here. Although he believed me when I told him I was part Elf, the other authorities thought I was delusional and dangerous. They shot me, arrested me, and put me in prison. When I used my magical abilities to heal myself, they didn’t believe that either.

After a hearing, the charges were dismissed, and I was free to leave, but I had no way to get home since the Wizard Ecstasy had abandoned me. Luckily, I used my magic to get in touch with Lord Arethus, an Elf friend, who told me the rest of the sailors would be returned through a portal at the Portsmouth Naval Base on the fall solstice. When I told Admiral Teller, he was the only one who believed me and took me to Portsmouth. When the portal appeared, the leader of the Rock Elves, Lord Fissure, came through and told me I had to remain in the mortal world, or he would kill my grandfather, Lord Odin. So, I stayed, and my exile began. And that’s why I needed a job.

– Excerpted from The House of Gold: Book 4 in the Golden Harvest Series by Joni Parker, Joni Parker, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Joni Parker’s story reads like a cross-continental odyssey with grit at every turn. Born in the heart of Chicago, she was just eight when her family uprooted to Japan so her father could chase a dream most wouldn’t dare—becoming a professional golfer. He made it. And when the dust settled, they landed in Phoenix, Arizona, where Joni carved her own path.

After high school, she didn’t just serve—she committed. Twenty-two years in the U.S. Navy, followed by seven more in federal civil service, Joni built a career on discipline, resilience, and a no-nonsense drive to get things done.

Now retired in Tucson, Arizona, she’s traded uniforms for imagination, channeling her fire into writing, devouring books, and catching the sunrise like it’s a daily ritual of renewal. Her stories reflect the same edge she’s lived with—bold, unflinching, and full of heart.

Her most recent book is the science fantasy, The House of Gold (Book 4 in the Golden Harvest Series).

Visit her website at http://www.joni-parker.com or connect with her on Facebook, Goodreads and  Bluesky.

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⭐Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tour Kick Off⭐The Voice I Couldn't Ignore by Johanna Frank #Memoir

God said he was taking my child. Seven years later, he did.

 

Title: THE VOICE I COULDN'T IGNORE

Author: Johanna Frank

Publisher: Marrow Publishing

Pages: 279

Genre: Christian Nonfiction/Memoir

Format: Paperback, Kindle

The Voice I Couldn’t Ignore—a work of creative nonfiction, a story when God forewarned, held and healed.

In a vision, God told Hanna he was taking her child. Seven years later, he did.

This story leads the reader through an ancestral prophecy, profound visions, and a mother’s journey through symbolisms in the Holy Land. It shares how she guided her teenage daughter through a devastating diagnosis while wrestling with God, and reveals her spiritual rebuilding of an unshakable house of faith in the aftermath of loss.

Read sample.

The Voice I Couldn’t Ignore is available at Amazon.

Book Excerpt

Descendant Hanna, Canada, 1982

“A heavy blade, it comes straight at me.”

I might as well have been naked. Afraid of judgment. All this explaining felt like a confession. But the air in my chest lightened up somewhat, so I urged myself to continue.

“Slices the air like it’s on some kind of mission. With some kind of wild purpose. Always a direct aim at my line of sight. The swoosh, I can’t hear it. The whole business… all silent and invisible.”

Imagined, all in my head? I could only wish.

“I duck and bury my face.” No reason to mention how badly my hands would shake or how my shoulders could jerk about to recover from the attack. “Then nothing. There’s like—nobody—just air.”

“And just how often does this ax-head attack you?” The counselor leaned his forehead my way.

Finally, someone believed me.

But when he arched bushy brows and hovered his pen atop a page full of doodles in the thick notebook balanced on his lap, I wasn’t so sure.

“Often enough. Sporadic,” I answered anyway. “Three or four times a week. Then a month will go by, nothing.” I shrugged and ogled the exit. This was a mistake.

“And just where do these plaguing manifestations happen?” He tucked his chin into his neck and fingered an ear.

Plaguing manifestations? Nope.

I gripped the armrests, squeezed their width as though they were stress balls. He thought I was making this up. He was getting paid, so shouldn’t he at least indulge me?

The counselor crossed his legs, displaying shoes only loser-like, middle-aged men should wear. “Er, occurrences,” he rectified.

All right, I’d play. But I had to think.

“Mostly when I’m just walking. Several times, I guess, when I’m on the bus coming home. And, once, when I was driving my mom’s car. Nearly went off the road.”

It was a good question, and the answer enlightened my curiosity. Kinda odd that I was always leaving one place and heading to another. The ghostly ax-head struck only when I was in transition. Did that mean anything? Why hadn’t I realized that before?

He nodded, his note scribbling and foot wiggling in sync. “In other words, might your mind have been free to wander when walking, busing it, driving, perhaps?”

“I suppose.” Good call. Point for him. Though the jury was still out. Was someone finally taking me seriously?

“Do you believe these are attacks to harm you?”

His gaze remained on his scrawling penmanship, ignorant of his probe’s unfitting casualness.

Of course, they are. Duh! Why else would someone swing an ax at my head?

I shifted, the oversized chair feeling more like a prison. Claustrophobia was setting in. And a burn spread from where I’d rubbed my palms on the armrests. I scooted back to compose with a deep breath. “Yes, I believe they are.” He’d catch on to my monotone voice. Still, he didn’t look up.

Ah, crap. He didn’t believe me. I could barely afford this appointment. If I called it quits now, would I get billed for less time?

“Are you disappointed in yourself, Hanna?” He paused and seemingly decided on a more direct line of inquiry. “Have you ever wanted to self-harm?”

Now he peered above his glasses? Self-harm! Nope again. He wasn’t getting it—at all. An invisible force of some kind, a someone I couldn’t see, was whacking me so hard I physically jolted. I was here because of these so-called occurrences—or whatever they were. My throat tightened and responded to a hard swallow. How to reply?

A deep stomach sigh. A few scratches at the back of my neck. Then I again eyed my coat hanging on the peg. My stocking feet planted themselves with an unmistakable firmness as I pushed away from ribbed corduroy material designed to relax its occupants.

“It’s not like that,” I snipped. Beads of sweat formed, thanks to the internal warmth now climbing clear to my forehead. Despite the man’s kind promptings to please sit down and stay until his billing hour was up, it was no use.

He didn’t get me. So much for this guy.

– Excerpted from The Voice I Couldn’t Ignore by Johanna Frank, Marrow Publishing, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Johanna Frank is a Canadian author based in Southern Ontario, where she lives with her husband, and delights in time with her children and grandchildren. Her award-winning A Lifeline Fantasy Series includes The Gatekeeper’s Descendants (Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Medalist), Jophiel’s Secret (Winner of the 2023 General Market Suspense Fiction Award and the Christian Speculative Fiction Award), and Here Lyeth (finalist for The Word Guild’s 2025 Christian Speculative Award). 

In addition, Johanna has introduced a creative memoir, a deeply personal work that explores God’s abundant mystery and healing. 

Known for her lyrical, imaginative style rich in symbolism and spiritual depth, she invites readers into otherworldly adventures and real-life reflections that illuminate belonging, faith, and the unseen.

“Frank, one of Canada’s emerging authors in spiritual fantasy, walks a fine line between general fantasy and faith-based fiction. Her work aims to innovate and transcend traditional boundaries, catering to a hungry market of curious readers who don’t want to be preached to but are open to exploring spiritual themes through fantasy.” – Sheri Hoyte, Reader Views

Her latest book is the powerful Christian nonfiction, The Voice I Couldn’t Ignore.

Connect with Johanna at Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram and BookBub. 

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⭐Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tour Kick Off⭐Soul Matters by Yolonda Tonette Sanders #ChristianFiction

 

Understanding that answers to our prayers may not look like we expect, but they are what we need…

 

Title: SOUL MATTERS

Author: Yolonda Tonette Sanders

Publisher: Yo Productions LLC

Pages: 360

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction

Format: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle

With a successful husband, a fulfilling teaching career, and a baby on the way, Wendy Phillips seems to have it all. She’s certain God is on her side. After all, the woman she’s become wouldn’t exist without the strength of her close-knit family or her own determination to be a model daughter, sister, and wife.

But one phone call shatters Wendy’s illusion of perfection, turning her carefully crafted life upside down. Suddenly, everything she believed about herself, her family, and her faith is called into question.

As her marriage crumbles and her faith wavers, Wendy finds herself needing more support than she ever imagined. Her journey to healing will require a sister’s unexpected strength, a mother’s surprising honesty, and a truth Wendy never saw coming.

Now only God’s grace can help her confront the pain she didn’t expect and discover the soul-deep freedom she never dreamed possible.

Soul Matters is available at Amazon and Walmart.

Book Excerpt

Shaking and short of breath, Wendy wiped her sweaty palms on her clothing and dialed the number. “Hi, this is Wendy Phillips,” she said, trying to hold back tears. “I’m returning a call to Dr. Korva. Will she be able to see me today? I can be there in about half an hour?” She altered her traveling time, hoping to increase her chance of being seen. 

“Oh,” she said solemnly when the receptionist said Dr. Korva was running behind schedule. Wendy couldn’t be seen until Monday morning. “Well, can you tell her I’m on the line? Maybe she can just tell me the results over the phone.” She crossed her fingers, praying that she would be transferred to the doctor. No such luck. Dr. Korva preferred to talk in person. “Okay, I’ll be there at nine on Monday,” she said, confirming the time of her appointment before hanging up the phone in despair. 

How am I going to make it until then? She dreaded going back to the office and arranging for a substitute through Ms. Burchett. Forget it. I’ll just call in, she opted. Sure, not submitting a request for a substitute beforehand was inconsiderate and unprofessional, but she didn’t care at this point. Her main concern was finding some way to make it through the weekend without losing her mind. 

– Excerpted from Soul Matters by Yolonda Tonette Sanders, Yo Productions LLC, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Yolonda Tonette Sanders, Ph.D., is a storyteller at heart with a passion for both words and people. She is the co-founder of the Faith and Fellowship Book Festival and the author of numerous works, including novels, poetry, short stories, and academic publications. Her writing blends authenticity, emotional depth, and spiritual insight, often drawing from her own journey of faith and resilience.

Yolonda earned her doctorate in organizational leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University and is certified in emotional intelligence. She enjoys teaching, mentoring, consulting, and helping others discover their own voices through writing. When she’s not creating or consulting, you’ll likely find her spending time with her husband or enjoying heartfelt moments with loved ones.

Her latest book is the contemporary Christian fiction, Soul Matters.

You can visit her website at www.yoproductions.net .

Watch her YouTube channel!

Connect with her at  X, Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads.

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⭐Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tour Kick Off⭐The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts #RomanticComedy

Trouble ensues when a mother and daughter spy on their hunky and mysterious new neighbor in this re-imagined telling of the classic movie Rear Window.

 

Title: THE MAN NEXT DOOR

Author: Sheila Roberts

Publisher: MIRA

Pages: 368

Genre: Fiction/Romance

Format: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook

Love in the Time of Serial Killers meets The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window in this delightful romp about a recently broke divorcee who moves in with her house-bound mother only to spend their days spying on her grumpy, mysterious, and sexy new neighbor.

Zona never thought her life was headed this way, but here she is, newly divorced and moving back in with her mom, Louise. After her gambling addicted ex-husband lost all of their savings, including their daughter’s college fund, she doesn’t really have a choice. She’s cutting every coupon she can and she’s going to help put her daughter through nursing school, even if it kills her. 

This wasn’t Louise’s plan, either, laid up at home with a broken leg after one unfortunate tumble on the senior singles cruise she’d been looking forward to for months. But if she’s going to spend all her time at home, at least she’s got her daughter there with her. And there’s some hot new eye candy next door to distract them both from their troubles. He appears to be single and just around Zona’s age. Could his arrival be the universe making amends for everything it’s put her through? 

Maybe the universe isn’t feeling as generous as Louise hoped. There’s something lurking under that mans surface charm, something…dangerous? And who’s the woman they can hear him in all-out shouting matches with on the other side of the fence? When the woman seems to disappear without a trace, imaginations run wild. Or at least, Zona hopes it’s just her mother’s imagination… 

The Man Next Door is available at Amazon.

Book Excerpt

  

The House

The house on Glenwood Avenue had taken on an air of darkness. Not simply because the previous owners had painted its adobe outside dark gray and trimmed it with black, although that hadn't helped. It was what had happened inside the house even before they moved in. 

Elder abuse. Louise Hartman, who lived next door, had been the first to spot it. The single man rarely let his grandmother out, and he never let anyone in, no matter how many cookies they came with. He was the only unsociable person on the whole street. Louise had known early on that he was hiding secrets.

But there are things you can’t hide from people who pay attention. And Louise paid attention. The curtains were always drawn, and the son rarely left the house. Neither did the old woman who had arrived with him, not even to care for the roses which were starting to wither from lack of attention. Lawn service had been stopped and weeds were popping up everywhere. Neglect! cried the house. Often old cars with nefarious looking drivers showed up after dark. Drugs, for sure. The place sent off keep away vibes and the neighbors all did. Including Louise. A woman living alone had to be careful.

One day the old woman in the house next door got out. Louise had been checking her mail and saw the poor soul. She was skinny as a wraith, wearing dirty women’s pajama bottoms and an equally dirty men’s t-shirt. Her hair hung in greasy, gray strands, and when Louise hurried over to say hello she saw the woman had bruises on her arms. Yes, older people had thin skin, and they tended to bruise easily, but this woman had too many to have just bumped against a counter. When Louise asked about them the woman had looked mildly puzzled for a moment, then replied that little Sammy was strong. 

Louise had seen little Sammy. He was a mammoth. And obviously brutal. Louise had called the authorities, and it wasn’t long before Sammy was no longer around, and neither was the old woman. According to the rumor mill, a relative had stepped in and moved her across the country and put the house up for sale. 

Then had come the middle-aged couple with the dog. Happily married, both working, but with time for a chat by the mailbox. One daughter, married, about to give birth to the first grandchild. Perfect. They would bring back the happiness that had lived in the house when Louise’s daughter Zona was growing up and laughing children had run back and forth between the two homes. 

But tragedy struck only a few months later. The wife died suddenly. No one knew quite how. The funeral was small and private, the wife cremated, and the man gone almost instantly. The house went on the market again. And sat, waiting, like the neighbors, to see what would happen next. People came and looked at it, but it remained empty. 

Louise didn’t blame them. A miasma enshrouded the place and she could almost feel … a presence hovering over there, peering over the property line, whenever she went up her own front walk. Her daughter insisted Louise was imagining things. A house was just a house. It didn’t have a life of its own. And no, Zona hadn’t felt any creepy vibes since she’d moved in with Louise. Of course, Zona was dealing with so much in her own life she probably wouldn’t recognize a creepy vibe even if it came up to her and rattled her bones. 

Could a house absorb the emotions of the people who lived in them? Did bad vibes linger long after those people had moved out? Once infected, did that house become a magnet for more of the same?

Louise hoped not. She watched as the realtor put a sold sign on the front lawn. Maybe the new owners would dispel the gloom. Maybe she wouldn’t shiver every time she walked past the place.

Or maybe this unsettled feeling she was getting was a premonition.

– Excerpted from The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts, MIRA, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Sheila Roberts is a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller – and a fan favorite. She has seen her novels turned into movies for the Lifetime, Hallmark, and Great American Family channels. Before settling into her writing career, Sheila owned a singing telegram company and played in a band. She is happily married, and when she’s not traveling, she splits her time between the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. You can visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044180452595 and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sheilarobertswriter/. 

Her latest book is the romantic comedy, The Man Next Door.

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⭐Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tour Kick Off⭐The Essence of Bliss by Emily Astillberry #paranormalromance #speculativefiction

A heartwarming, magical novel, which follows Isabel Bliss, a primary school teacher with an invisible power over emotional energy, as she discovers, explores and comes to terms with her ability and her potential.

 

Title: THE ESSENCE OF BLISS

Author: Emily Astillberry

Publisher: Blossom Spring Publishing

Pages: 615

Genre: Speculative Fiction/Romance

Format: Paperback, Kindle

Isabel Bliss is a reception class teacher. She experiences other people’s emotions and can influence how they feel but she doesn’t truly understand her gift and has been encouraged, by her mum, to hide it from others. She often feels lost and alone. 

When a child in her class experiences chronic distress that only she can perceive, Isabel uses her ability to relieve his suffering, but his situation continues to worsen. Eventually she is forced to take matters into her own hands, escorting him home where she finds horrific signs of abuse. She saves his mum’s life and his father is arrested for the brutal torture he has inflicted upon his family. 

A wealthy family moves to town and Isabel meets the two sons. She recoils from Daniel, who is hateful, rude and emotionally deficient but is inexorably drawn to Scott, who awakens something magical, deep inside her. They are like her. They are fluencers and have the ability to sense, read and willfully manipulate emotional energies. Isabel confronts her mum and uncovers hurtful lies and deceit within her own family. 

She falls deeply in love and ultimately discovers the untold potential of her gift and the passion and power that dwells within.

Read a sample here.

The Essence of Bliss is available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Book Excerpt

The next few moments occurred in painful slow motion. As I tugged my arm sharply out of Donna’s grasp, I was jostled by a stranger on the other side. I felt myself falling off balance and reached out to grab onto something, anything, to keep me upright. The something that I grabbed onto was a jacket slung over an arm and the owner of the jacket pulled back on it hard, tipping me further off balance and sending me sprawling to the floor on my knees. I let out a pained cry as my still bruised knee struck the hard floor.

I ended up on my knees in front of a strong, long set of masculine legs in blue denim. I didn’t know for certain to whom the legs belonged, but I could make an educated guess from the pitch of the gasp and giggle from Donna and the murmuring of the onlookers. I really didn’t want to look up, but I knew that it was inevitable. I couldn’t stay on the floor forever. My knee was painful, and I wasn’t even certain that I could get up by myself. Slowly, grudgingly, I raised my eyes to find Daniel Callahan looking down at me with distasteful recognition and an unpleasant, disdainful smile. I looked him in the eye with as much dignity as I could muster. He continued to stare rudely. He didn’t utter a word.

“Sorry,” I muttered, and my hand flew to my mouth in instant regret. Had I seriously just apologised to him, again, for falling over, again? I was a total idiot, and I was more embarrassed than ever. What was it about this man that made me fall at his feet and behave like a stuttering moron with an apology tic?

“It seems like you’re making a habit of falling on your knees in front of my brother. Here, let me help you.” 

In an instant, everything changed. My whole life turned upside down. Something inside me roared to life and I suddenly felt different, stronger, more alive. It came from the source of the humming, that place deep inside of me. Those simple words, that simple offer of a hand to my feet, the smooth, velvety voice. It was the sort of voice that could make a person weak at the knees with its deep resonance and gentle tone, but it was so much more than that. I didn’t just like the sound of his voice. Something about the owner of that voice had just changed something fundamental about me, and somehow I knew, in that fraction of a second, that nothing was ever going to be the same again.

I wasn’t sure if I could move or if I wanted to look into the face that belonged to those words, that voice. I was frightened about what I might find and what it might do to me, what I might become. However, I was still on the floor on my knees, so I put my hand out, took his and let him pull me to my feet. 

Our eyes met, and without warning, a multitude of sensations overwhelmed me. I saw him, I felt him, I sensed him. I experienced things that I couldn’t understand or explain, but it was like a fire had been lit in my soul, like fireworks exploding in the deepest recess of my mind. I couldn’t just feel his emotions in the way that I normally do. This experience went further, deeper. It felt like in that single second, he was actually inside my mind, or I was inside his. I wasn’t sure whether it was one or the other or if it were both. I couldn’t process what was happening to me. It was happening too fast and exercising too many of my senses. 

He looked at me with bewitching eyes that reached into my very core. Eyes a deep, rich brown, like swirling chocolate, shimmering with a layer of warmth. They glistened with a flame that matched the fire that had ignited inside me, as if his eyes understood and reflected the very essence of me. We saw each other in a way that I had never known before, a way that I had never even dreamed of, and as we looked into each other’s eyes, the flames in his eyes grew larger, hotter. I took everything in, every minute detail. The dark hair swept back from his face, the healthy tan to his skin, the perfect line of his nose leading to full, rich lips surrounded by laughter lines, indicating a happy man: a joyful, confident, beautiful, magical creature.

The intensity of the moment wasn’t limited to the visual. The way that he looked wasn’t what captivated and thrilled my senses. When I sensed a person through their emotions, I usually felt that they were happy or sad, angry or hurt, but this was something new. This was a cacophony of feelings so loud that I felt as if my head might burst with the joy of it. Emotions that lifted me into the sky, swirling around me and through me — through my mind, through my heart, through my body — until I felt dizzy with the power of it. All that I could see were those eyes, those lips. All that I could hear was that voice, and yet I could feel and see and hear everything all at once, like I was awake for the first time in my life, like I had found the answer to a question that I hadn’t known I’d been asking.

– Excerpted from The Essence of Bliss by Emily Astillberry, Blossom Spring Publishing, 2024. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

 

Emily Astillberry is an author and RSPCA Inspector from Norfolk, England. She has a degree in English Literature and Linguistics from York University and has been investigating animal cruelty and neglect and rescuing sick and injured animals for 20 years. In her day job, Emily deals with very difficult and often emotional situations and meets all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds. Her career provides some of the inspiration for themes and characters that can be found in her fictional work.

At home, in a very old cottage in the country, Emily has a husband, 5 children, a dog, a cat, an axolotl, 2 giant African land snails and a varying number of rescue hens, so finding time to write can be a challenge. She is happiest outdoors, growing fruit and vegetables in the garden, walking the dog and family holidays usually involve walking up mountains in summer, skiing down them in winter and sleeping in a tent whenever possible.

Emily loves spending time with her large, noisy, chaotic family, cooking meals for friends and playing board games. She always has at least one book on the go and has always dreamed of writing her own novel. She now dreams of writing more. 

Visit her website at https://emilyastillberry.com. 

You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

The Essence of Bliss is her latest book.

 

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