Month: June 2025

GENRE:  Nonfiction

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BLURB:

Is the exhilaration of entrepreneurship tainted with exhaustion? Discover more for your business and yourself.

Do you feel like your professional and personal lives are out of sync? Maxed out trying to juggle work and family? Are you unsure where you belong or how to create a roadmap to get there?

Global business consultant and passionate creative Jennifer Musser has spent decades helping high-functioning corporations solve complex puzzles, reduce risk, and increase profit. And now she’s here to show you how to refresh your perspective and fuel the future you want.

Align Your Business with the Real You: Connect with Yourself, Create What Matters Most, and Define Your Success is a groundbreaking paradigm shift for anyone interested in running a company.

Well aware of common concerns and struggles faced by every founder, Musser delves into finding your true goals with help from practical exercises, empathetic stories, and easy-to-apply insights.

And as you use her ego-free blueprint, you’ll delight in a bounty of unique takeaways that let you stay grounded no matter the situation.

In Align Your Business with the Real You, you’ll discover:

– Strategies for staying honest with yourself that keep you on the right track

– Tips for writing your own definition of success, so your personal and professional life is fulfilling

– Ways to healthily engage with your emotions and feel good about your everyday

– How to remember that you’re the boss and permit yourself to funnel time and money toward your ultimate objectives

– Tools that you can instantly put to use, ideas for renewing your commitment, and much, much more!

Align Your Business with the Real You is a fresh and candid guidebook for entrepreneurs. If you like relatable teachers, down-to-earth chats, and heartfelt advice, then you’ll adore Jennifer Musser’s straightforward approach.

Read Align Your Business with the Real You to start getting results right now!

Excerpt:

“Do you feel connected with yourself? Do you feel in sync with your business and your life?

Your ability to connect with yourself and others is an asset, and the most valuable connection you can make is with yourself. It is never too late to connect with yourself.

In Chapter 1, you’ll learn how connecting with yourself allows you to find where you belong in life and business.

In Chapter 2, you’ll discover how knowing where you belong positions you to connect with like-minded others and conquer the right opportunities. As worthwhile experiences flow, the clouds begin to part. You feel engaged and at peace. 

Let’s connect.”

About The Author:

JENNIFER MUSSER shines a light on the financial operations of businesses where it is needed most to raise profit, solidify processes, save time, optimize talent, reduce risk, and help business leaders achieve meaningful growth with results they can see—and feel. 

Jennifer knows how to lead businesses. She holds over twenty years of experience in global consulting, corporate finance, and entrepreneurship. Jennifer is the founder of JLM & Associates Consulting, LLC, where she applies her big company expertise to steer high-achieving business leaders with financial and operational tools and support for growth with less stress.

With a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Finance) from Villanova University, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, and multiple certifications in business strategy, Jennifer is committed to helping small businesses succeed. 

She loves life (and coffee) with her family and two dogs, Penny and Rockie, in New Jersey.

Website: JLMAConsulting.com

Blog: https://jlmaconsulting.com/enlightened-leadership-blog/

Instagram: @jlmaconsulting

LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/JenniferLMusser

Email: JenniferMusser@JLMAConsulting.com

Book Buy Links:

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/align-your-business-with-the-real-you-jennifer-musser/1146760437?ean=9798991544221

Amazon: https://a.co/d/a9jsCzf

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Giveaway:

Jennifer Musser will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f5164/

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better yourr chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2025/05/blurb-blitz-tour-align-your-business.html

FIVE 80’s air hostesses had dreams about their SOULMATES centuries before in a 747 crew rest at 36,000 feet. Awake, their forever-loves are gone for good. Decades later, ONE is a physic sleuth for the FBI.

She invites FOUR still-yearning ex-hosties for SIX days together for past life regressions to find those soulmates in THIS lifetime. BUT Time Flies…and ONE murderous bastard could be on the loose….

Timeless Beginnings 

Time Flies Book 1 

by Jill Wallace 

Genre: Time Travel Paranormal Romantic Mystery 

Avid dog lover, law enforcement psychic and former Air Baobab air hostess Lucky van Niekerk has a gift for sniffing out answers. From helping to solve cold cases to reliving past lives, she’s torn between worlds—the past and the present; the dead and the living.

She’s helping agents track a dangerous killer. But there are some things she can’t find. Her soulmate, for instance.

Determined to solve her own mystery, Lucky learns she must first help others to help herself. She’s sure she isn’t the only one whose life has been touched by the past, so she sends out a call to her former colleagues.

Four other air hostesses answer—and they’ve all experienced past-life dreams in the crew rest aboard the same 747 jumbo jet at 36,000 feet. Can Lucky help them solve the mysteries locked in their dreams, or will they be destined to make the same mistakes they made in a previous life?

Discover the power of uncorking past lives and start the journey with Lucky in this first book in the Time Flies women’s fiction series, as five virtual strangers are drawn together in their quest for fulfilment and love.

Author’s Note: If you’re drawn to time travel women’s fiction that seamlessly blends psychic mysteries, past-life explorations, and the adventurous world of aviation, Timeless Beginnings is a journey you won’t want to miss.

Fans of Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley will appreciate the intricate weaving of reincarnation, friendship, and self-discovery that propels this story across time and continents. Join Lucky van Niekerk and her companions as they unlock the secrets of their past lives to illuminate their present.

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DC4V4MN8

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/timeless-beginnings-time-flies-1-by-jill-wallace

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201143799-timeless-beginnings

Series Trailer:

Timeless Pirouette

Time Flies Book 2 

A vivid dream of the past. A desperate hope for the future.

My name is Brie Lenz.

In the hushed sanctuary of a Boeing 747’s crew rest in 1983, amidst the hum of engines and the dance of distant clouds, I lay my head down as a South African Airways air hostess.

I dream of a beguiling beggar, his eyes a mesmerizing shade of emerald, who ignites a flame in my soul. His ambitions for my ballet career in 1887, take me higher than I ever dreamed. He is my anchor, my guiding light, my inspiration, my love.

But as reality pierces through the veil of slumber at 36,000 feet, I am jolted awake, haunted by the echoes of Tchaikovsky and the lingering mystery of that enigmatic beggar. With the pulse of an odd drumbeat echoing in my ears and a shiver coursing through my veins, destiny delivers, this time, in real life. Is it too good to be true?

Fast-forward to the present, and though embers of that centuries-old connection still smolder within me with the man I adore, I cannot deny there is something missing and something amiss.

When an unexpected invitation to a transformative retreat arrives, I am torn between fear and fervor. And amongst women I barely know, I find myself in a magical odyssey of self-discovery and a crossroads filled with pitfalls and shrouded in guilt.

Can I reclaim the lost magic of 1877 and weave it into the fabric of my present, or will the past that lurks beyond that crew rest dream continue to cast its long shadow over my future?

With my heart suspended between two worlds, I brace myself for the ultimate reckoning.

Author’s Note: If you’re captivated by time travel romance novels that intertwine past-life memories, ballet, and the allure of aviation, Timeless Pirouette will transport you through a tapestry of love and destiny.

Fans of Susanna Kearsley and Diana Gabaldon will appreciate the seamless blend of historical depth and supernatural intrigue. Join Brie Lenz as she navigates the echoes of a bygone era, seeking to reclaim a love that transcends time itself.

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D67H54VG

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/timeless-pirouette-book-2-in-time-flies-series-by-jill-wallace

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214294630-timeless-pirouette

About the Author

Jill Wallace was born and bred (her mother would prefer ‘brought up’) in South Africa, and lived the second half of her life in America. She feels like the African baobab or “Upside Down Tree”, with roots that look like branches.

Like the confused baobab, she no longer knows where the South African ends and the American begins. She’s comfortable in her duality and hopes like hell it affords her some degree of complexity. A girl can always hope :o)

Sometimes, she loves dogs more than people, chocolate more than good sense, and Netflix binge-watching more than house cleaning (well… make the latter ALL the time!)

Jill’s addicted to writing. Expect her novels to have a South African flair, and no matter the century of her characters, she’ll strive to keep their situations relevant and their emotions real.

Wallace listens to the voices in her head which describe their dilemma and state of chaos. Then she waits, pen poised, to see what they’ll do about it. She records how they find the courage and strength to attain what they really want—be it friendship, peace, acceptance, or everlasting love. That’s the magic that keeps her heart pounding in her throat and her fingers flirting with keys.

Jill started her writing career as a screenwriter. Her first script was twice optioned by producers for movies. When disappointment flooded in and dreams collapsed, an author friend said, “To hell with them all. Write a book.” So, she did. It took her three years.

War Serenade is inspired by a true story about a bon vivant Italian opera star forced into WWII, who is shot down, captured by the allies and sent to a run-down POW camp in South Africa. Broken and longing for death, he sees a spunky red head through the barbed wire and when their eyes meet, she becomes his reason to live. But he is a prisoner, and she, his enemy…

War Serenade won a number of awards, the most recent are the Golden Quill Contest Winner Desert Rose RWA, Maggie and Rone Awards 2020, for best audio book. 

Zebra is Jill’s second novel and largely based on her husband’s experiences. Athol grew up in a remote resort in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa during the apartheid era and fought in the Bush Wars in the 60’s and 70’s.

This literary fiction/historical/action adventure/coming-of-age saga spans 4 decades. Though the times are incendiary, Zebra is not about politics but a divine, true bond of friendship. Zebra. Friends by Fate. Enemies by Destiny proudly wore the Amazon Banner for #1 New Release and is also a ***** Reader’s Favorite.

Time Flies is Jill’s first series. The common threads with her stand-alone books are the South African infusion, the dog-hero, friendship, impossible challenges and complex timelines.

Timeless Beginnings is Book 1 of the series has multiple and it’s the story of how five ex-air hostesses end up at the home of Lucky, now a FBI psychic, who’s keen to try -as a last resort – past life regression to find the soulmate she lost after she dreamed about him in the crew rest of a 747 in the 80’s. Four other ex-hosties are just as anxious to find their centuries-ago soulmates.

Timeless Pirouette is Book II and the story of Brie who dreams she was a beautiful ballerina who fell in love with a beggar in 1887. Though she believes she met and married the perfect man for her, she fights an incomprehensible guilt and can’t help yearning for her beggar. She is compelled to go back a century before she can go forward.

Jill is in the process of finishing up Athol’s companion novel to Zebra. Titled Leopard Crawl it’s the true-story-inspired missions of one man on a solitary spying sojourn in the heart of the Southern African Bush Wars.

Learn more about the author and her books at http://www.jillwallace.com

Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Author Links

Website:  https://jillwallace.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jwallaceauthor/

X:  https://x.com/jwallaceauthor

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jwallaceauthor/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jill-wallace

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jill-Wallace/author/B0DGW32NXB

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17742849.Jill_Wallace

Giveaway 

$20 Amazon 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://sdbook.promo/TimeFlies

Can you, for those who don’t know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author? 

I think I was destined to become an author from the moment I learned to write. When I first started school I would write short plays for my classmates to put on, and the ideas kept coming from then onwards. 

Over the years life got in the way and I drifted away from the dream, but the ideas were still there. One day when my kids were young I was telling them they could be anything they wanted to be when they grew up, and it struck me that I wasn’t being truthful to myself, because if that was true for them then it should be true for me. So I quit my job and dedicated myself to writing entertaining stories. 

Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write? 

I’m not a plotter, so I tend to write and see what happens. Although I know who the main characters are going to be, writing this way means there are sometimes surprises when characters pop up from nowhere as the story develops. 

What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book? 

As I said above I tend to write as I go rather than plotting, which means limited research before the story begins. Once I know what route the book is taking, that’s when research kicks in, usually around poisons, etc. 

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?

Can I cheat and say all of them? Because I’ve written stage plays before, and naturally include a lot of dialogue in my books, I can imagine all of them becoming movies, or TV series.

However if I had to pick one in particular, it would be Three Dogs, Two Murders, and a Cat.

The main character and her daughter were inspired by the Gilmore Girls television show, and features a lot of snappy, witty dialogue between them, and I think that, coupled with the mystery, would make for a great TV movie. 

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Three Dogs, Two Murders, and a Cat?

The main character is Nicolette Briggs, and in her own words, she doesn’t do humans. She’s a private investigator specializing in cases involving animals. She also has a very complicated family situation.

She’s a solo mother to a teenage daughter. Her step brother is a police detective who is constantly telling her to butt out of investigations, and her mother has been disappointed in her for most of her life.

The inspiration for Nicolette came from a friend, but the family dynamics came from watching Gilmore Girls when I was younger. 

Nicolette has three rescue dogs at home, Teddy, Nero, and Fig, the titular Three Dogs. 

How did you come up with the title of your first novel? 

Believe it or not, the title was very tricky. I brain stormed and threw out many different ideas before finally deciding to keep it simple and use three main plot points to title the book. 

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?

My characters definitely hijack the story, or at the very least are constantly trying to. Especially Nicolette.

Because she’s not a police officer she can get away with more things, but it’s important she doesn’t cross too many lines while trying to act on behalf of animals that are abused, or stolen.

I sometimes have to remember she has a teenage daughter at home and while she would never do anything intentionally to put herself in harms way, Nicolette is quite good at getting there unintentionally. 

What did you edit out of this book?

Spoilers!

No, but seriously, there is a minor mystery in the book that I edited out the ending too. It doesn’t impact the overall story, but is just a teaser for an ongoing mystery that will bubble away under surface in the next book. 

Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?’-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process of the book. 

I have an office set up at home, but I find I’m more productive in café’s. I mostly write at the one around the corner from where I live, and even though it can get quite noisy sometimes, I can actually get more done. I can sometimes knock off 1,000 words in an hour. 

Home has too many distractions, like housework, and cats. 

Do you believe in writer’s block?

Absolutely.

There are days that I have to struggle and curse and shake my fist at the screen just to get a hundred words out. Luckily I haven’t had too many days in a row like that.

I usually try and have a couple of writing projects on the go at a time, so if I’m really struggling on one, I switch to the other to see if that will shake anything loose.

Sometimes it works, and other days I just have to accept that no writing is going to be done, and go and cuddle a cat. 

Tell us something really interesting that’s happened to you! 

I’ve always had a love for animals. When I was nineteen I left New Zealand and travelled to the other side of the world to work in the Regent’s Park Zoo in London, England.

It was amazing getting to work with a whole range of animals, in particular three baby chimpanzees who would surprise me by hiding when I walked into the room, and jumping on me. And seeing a baby giraffe only an hour after it was born. 

The following year I traveled to Kenya and did a safari, sleeping in tents amongst the animals. That was incredible, although also a little nervewracking, when we camped by a lakeside and they said sometimes hippos would wander through and because they have poor eyesight they would trample tents. I’m almost convinced they were joking. 

To learn more about Rodney’s books and Giveaway click the link.

Nicolette Briggs doesn’t do humans. 

Three Dogs, Two Murders, and a Cat

Nicolette Briggs Mystery Book 1 

by Rodney Strong

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Nicolette Briggs doesn’t do humans.

As Wellington’s premier, and possibly only, animal detective, Nicolette mostly investigates missing pets and cases of animal cruelty. So when her latest client asks her to investigate a case of a poisoned cat, it seems right up her alley. Until a body shows up, then another, and suddenly despite her resolve to not get involved, Nicolette is right in the middle two murder investigations. Or is it just one killer?

When someone breaks into her house and one of her dogs is injured, Nicolette’s reluctance turns to determination to not only solve this thing before the police, but show up her stubborn police detective brother in the process.

Along the way she has to navigate a daughter about to turn 15, a dwindling bank account, and a dysfunctional family that seems determined to fix her. Not to mention a killer who’s turned their sights her way.

No wonder she doesn’t do humans.

Three Dogs, Two Murders, and a Cat is the first book in the clean, cozy mystery series. Gilmore Girls meets Nancy Drew, with a touch of dysfunctional families, a touch of humour, and a touch of caring.

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKQLWGMM

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/three-dogs-two-murders-and-a-cat-a-nicolette-briggs-mystery-nicolette-briggs-mysteries-book-1-by-rodney-strong

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220772885-three-dogs-two-murders-and-a-cat

Excerpt:

‘I don’t do humans.’ 

Nicolette waited for the inevitable questions, what do you mean you don’t do humans, who hurt you, you shouldn’t be afraid to let people in. It was ridiculous because Nicolette wasn’t afraid of anything – for herself. 

‘Fair enough,’ the woman responded. 

Nicolette couldn’t conceal her surprise. Perhaps this old lady was different from everyone else who looked at her in confusion when she made that statement, before deciding there was something wrong with her. Like she was a broken watch. But Nicolette wasn’t broken, she just told time differently. 

Nicolette looked down at the tabby cat lying on the charcoal-coloured carpet. Now, cats she did, and dogs, and occasionally farm animals (although there wasn’t much need for that in downtown Wellington city). 

She caught the woman watching her and returned the stare, which was rewarded with a grin. Alice Atkinson certainly seemed different than most elderly ladies Nicolette met.

‘I can’t imagine there are many others in your line of work,’ Alice said. 

Nicolette tensed for a second, then forced herself to relax. ‘I’m the only one that I’m aware of.’ 

‘Good,’ replied Alice. ‘Being unique is important.’

‘Wish it paid the bills more,’ Nicolette muttered, bending to scratch the cat behind the ear, immediately earning her a faint purr. She gauged the tabby to be about eight years old, lean but with an air of domestication. She was way too relaxed to be feral. 

‘She’s not mine,’ Alice said from her position on the couch. ‘Silvermoon has a no pet policy, but that doesn’t stop half the residents feeding her.’ 

Nicolette straightened up to look out the window of the second-floor apartment. Residents of the Silvermoon Retirement Village were walking and chatting, enjoying the sun, while others sat in the middle of a small rose garden opposite the apartment building. Past the fence line there were glimpses of the Wellington harbour lying below the suburb of Wadestown. It was like something out of a promotional video. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find that they were all paid actors. 

Nicolette eased herself onto the floor and leaned against the wall. ‘When did you first notice she wasn’t well?’ 

 Thin, small and wrinkled, Alice was easily the oldest person Nicolette had ever met, but she was no one’s vision of a friendly grandmother. 

Her eyes were steely as she replied, ‘Four days ago. She was all floppy. Vanessa insisted she be taken to a vet.’

‘Vanessa?’ Nicolette asked. 

‘She’s my… employee, I suppose you could say.’ 

‘What was the vet’s diagnosis?’ 

‘That Maddy had been poisoned. They kept her for a few days because… well.’

‘They weren’t sure she’d survive,’ Nicolette finished. 

‘But this morning they said she was doing better so Vanessa brought her home and now I’m playing nurse maid.’ 

The cat eyed Nicolette without lifting her head from the carpet. Her breathing was shallow but regular. Nicolette had completed a year of veterinary training before an incident involving a professor had forced her to leave. In a way it had been the best thing that might have happened to her. She was bright enough to be a vet, but her temper and lack of tact would have made her a public relations nightmare for any veterinary clinic. 

‘Why did you call me?’ 

‘It was my friend Freda’s suggestion. You did some work for her granddaughter and came highly recommended.’

Nicolette looked up at the tone in Alice’s words. ‘But you don’t see any merit in me being here.’ 

Alice held her gaze. ‘I didn’t. A detective who specialises in animal cases seems highly improbable.’

Nicolette shrugged. She’d heard it before. ‘You didn’t?’

Alice nodded and leaned forward in her chair. ‘That’s right. Because I do do humans. In fact, there have been several times when my life depended on my ability to read people. And I have a good feeling about you Nicolette Briggs.’

‘A good feeling,’ Nicolette repeated.

‘Alright then, more specifically, you’ve barely looked around since you entered. Your focus has been on Maddy. Your tone with me is brusque at best, but when you’re talking to the cat your voice is soft, even if your words aren’t. And when I said she’d been poisoned, you clenched your right hand, like you wanted to hit someone.’ 

Nicolette looked down and was surprised to find her hand was still curled in a fist. She forced her fingers to relax. 

‘Alright, my turn,’ said Nicolette. ‘You’re tough, but some of that bluster is to hide that you care about this cat. You say she isn’t yours, yet you agreed to look after her, despite telling me that half the residents feed her. Presumably, anyone could have done this, but here you are. That tells me that you’re used to getting your own way. You probably paid the vet bill as well.’

‘What if I told you I don’t care for her at all. I just don’t like seeing animals abused.’

‘I would point out that we’re on the second floor.’ 

Alice cocked her head to the side with a curious expression. 

Nicolette pointed to the front door of the apartment. ‘No cat flap.’ 

About the Author

Rodney Strong quit a 9-5 job in 2016 to finally pursue his life long dream of becoming a writer (he still has the very first play he wrote at age 6). He lives in Porirua, New Zealand, with his wife, two children, and two cats.

When he’s not writing he attempts to stay away from chocolate, runs (sometimes), reads, and enjoys spending time with his young children (who contribute a lot to the running and craving for chocolate).

He always has a couple of projects on the go, but for now is focusing on his series of cozy mysteries.

One of his cats likes to help with the process by sitting on the laptop, while the other likes nesting on his shoulders (which was cute when he was a kitten, but now the cat is 11 years old, is less so).

Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Author Links

Website:  https://www.rodneystrongauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodneystrongauthor

X:  https://x.com/RodneySwriter

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/rodneywritesbooks/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/rodney-strong

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rodney-Strong/author/B073488M1H

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5770853.Rodney_Strong

Giveaway

$20 Amazon 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://sdbook.promo/3Dogs2MurdersAndaCat