Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Shopping for a Highlander’s Baby by Julia Kent @jkentauthor @XpressoTours

Shopping for a Highlander’s Baby
Julia Kent
(Shopping for a Highlander, #4)
Publication date: March 30th 2026
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

The best early strike o’ ma life wasna on the pitch. It was in bed with Amy on our honeymoon.

Dinna ken how we turned our elopement, honeymoon, and conception into a hat trick, but there ye go.

One minute we’re swimming in champagne and red satin sheets, the next we’re staring at a due date that lands right when I’m supposed ta start my big sportscasting gig in London.

Amy’s glowing. She’s also got that fire in her — the kind that makes her tell my billionaire uncle exactly where ta shove his branding campaign, quit her job at eight months pregnant, and rearrange our entire life plan on a Tuesday.

The grandmums are suspiciously quiet, which is more terrifying than when they’re at each other’s throats.

Then it happens. The wee one decides ta make an entrance four weeks early — while I’m three thousand miles away, live on air, with a producer who willna let me leave.

So I do what any McCormick would do.

I coach ma wife through labor in one ear, commentate the match in the other, and let a billion people watch me choose my family over my career on live television.

It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s pure chaos.

It’s the match of our lives.

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EXCERPT:

Amy

Ceramic tile is hard and very cold.

I find that out when my toes turn into icicles as I stand holding a plastic wand that says PREGNANT, like the world’s bossiest fortune cookie.

PREGNANT

The condo holds the aroma of last night’s roasted garlic pizza, which felt like a good option at nine p.m. Now? Not so much. A breath of ocean air wafts in through the cracked-open window.

Boston hums outside.

Inside, I am a statue with messy sex hair and a pee stick screaming my future and… oh, my God.

The word grandmonsters rings through my head like Quasimodo clanging the Notre Dame cathedral bell. Our mothers ruined our wedding, crashed our elopement, and now here we stand, five weeks later, married and—

PREGNANT

I breathe in, out, forgetting the rhythm as my distracted brain tries to fill a whiteboard. An Airtable. Every Kanban board. All the Excel spreadsheets, every last one of them.

Hamish wraps around me from behind, lifting me before my feet realize it. He is warm and tall and smells like soap and sleep, and his forearms around my ribcage are so solid, so sure of where they belong, that my body gives up its panic and leans back into him before my brain can file an objection.

Beware the boundless optimism of a man who once insisted a vibrating bed should be on our wedding gift registry.

And that guests should throw quarters instead of rice.

“I canna believe it,” he says into my ear, voice hushed. “We’re havin’ a wee bairn.”

“Hi,” I say to my husband of five weeks, who hit the bullseye with the first married shot, dammit. “Yes. Apparently.”

Years ago, back when I hated him, I called Hamish “sex on a stick.”

Now I’m holding the sex stick, all right. I just never thought it would be white plastic and determine my fate.

Hamish lets go, walks away, and comes back into the bathroom carrying a chilled bottle of Champagne. It’s the bottle we brought back from our honeymoon in Love You, Maine, from the heart-shaped-everything suite. He holds it up, eyes shining.

“Breakfast o’ champions?”

“No, love.” I put my hand on his. “I can’t drink that now.”

A microsecond of confusion crosses his face, then he executes a pivot that would impress his old coach.

“Aye. Well then, coffee it is.” His auburn brows drop. “Unless ye canna have coffee?”

“I will always have coffee.”

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. Since 2013, she has sold more than 2 million books, with 4 New York Times bestsellers and more than 21 appearances on the USA Today bestseller list. Her books have been translated into French, German, and Italian, with more titles releasing in the future.

From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire she met in a romantic comedy).

She lives in New England with her husband and three children where she is the only person in the household with the gene required to change empty toilet paper rolls.

She loves to hear from her readers by email at julia@jkentauthor.com, on Twitter @jkentauthor, on Facebook at @jkentauthor, and on Instagram @jkentauthor. Visit her at http://jkentauthor.com

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GIVEAWAY!

Shopping for a Highlander’s Baby Blitz

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Blog Tour: Stinky Sardines and Roses by Natalina Reis @TichaB @HotTreePromos @hottreepubs

 Title: Stinky Sardines and Roses

Author: Natalina Reis

Genre: Gay Paranormal Romance

Release Date: April 9, 2026

Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing

Cover Designer: BookSmith Design

Available now!

Amazon: https://readerlinks.com/l/5134137

All Links: http://books2read.com/stinkysardines

Blue only wanted to clear his name, not hook a brooding detective, but when sparks fly hotter than a Portuguese summer, resisting temptation becomes the hardest puzzle to solve of all.

Blue just wants to sell fish, flirt with the locals, and live a chill life by the sea. Sure, he’s a merman, but these days, no one cares about a little tail in their ancestry. That is, until a snobby millionaire drops dead after eating one of Blue’s sardines, and suddenly everyone’s looking at him like he’s serving murder on ice.

Enter Rose: detective for the Portuguese Paranormal Police, a man who hasn’t smiled for two decades and has no patience for seafood puns—or for Blue’s sunshine-in-a-bottle personality. He’s here to solve a murder, not babysit a charming fishmonger with big eyes and a bigger mouth.

But Blue is determined to clear his name, even if that means sticking to Rose like seaweed on a boat hull. As the investigation twists through ancient secrets, magical oddities, and supernatural politics, the two men are drawn together by more than just the mystery. Add in a ghostly white dog, a handful of eccentric locals, and a whole lot of unexpected chemistry, and you’ve got a case that just might end in love.

Magic, murder, and mermen collide in this charming paranormal romance set on the cobbled streets of Portugal.

Available now!

Amazon: https://readerlinks.com/l/5134137

All Links: http://books2read.com/stinkysardines

“Want to go for a swim before dinner gets here?” he asked the other man.

For a moment, Rose blinked and stared at him as if not sure what to say or do, but in seconds his face was back to the icy threatening glare he normally sported.

“Swim? It’s getting dark,” he said, his eyes roaming to the window again. He seemed fascinated by the view as if something out there was calling to him.

“The waters are pretty warm this far south even at night,” Angel explained. “I’m going for a swim and recharge. Are you coming?”

Rose shook his head. “I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” he said.

Angel turned around and disappeared through the open doorway to the foyer, only to show up a couple minutes later with a piece of colorful cloth in his hand.

“I got you covered,” he announced with a smile. “There are always extra swim shorts in the closet.” He threw the trunks at Rose. “Get changed and meet me by the water.”

Without waiting for Rose’s response, Angel opened the glass door, stepped into the back porch, and took off running over the sand. His bare feet welcomed the warmth of the sun-kissed sand as he sprinted toward the ocean.

The sea was calm, the waves lapping at the sand as gentle as a caress. He buried his toes in the wet sand and groaned in pleasure. Nothing like it.

“Where’s your bathing suit?” The cop had changed and stood beside him now in comically bright shorts.

Angel’s gut clenched. The man was well-put together with strong shoulders, iron biceps, and—God have mercy—a hot six-pack that vanished into the low waist of the absurd swimming trunks.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram

Author of We Will Always Have the Closet, Desert Jewel, and Loved You Always, Natalina wrote her first romance in collaboration with her best friend at the age of 13. Since then she has ventured into other genres, but romance is first and foremost in almost everything she writes.

After earning a degree in tourism and foreign languages, she worked as a tourist guide in her native Portugal for a short time before moving to the United States. She lived in three continents and a few islands, and her knack for languages and linguistics led her to a master’s degree in education. She lives in Virginia where she has taught English as a Second Language to elementary school children for more years than she cares to admit.

Natalina doesn’t believe you can have too many books or too much coffee. Art and dance make her happy and she is pretty sure she could survive on lobster and bananas alone. When she is not writing or stressing over lesson plans, she shares her life with her husband and two adult sons.

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Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: Haven Strong by Jessica Rakus @GoddessFish

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jessica Rakus will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Blurb: 

Josephine Grant lives a charmed life - a husband, three perfect children, strong bonds with family and friends in the small town where she's lived her entire life. She's the helper, the hostess, the one who always shows up. The person who can do it all.

Then the bus carrying her son's basketball team crashes, and Jo's husband and son are among the lives lost. Now she has a new identity. Widow. Single mother. Woman who lost everything. Grief begins to tear apart the place that's always been her home. Infighting among friends. Gossip and rumors. Wounds that may never heal and bonds that just might.

Now Jo has to rebuild her life, but as the person who thinks of herself as the helper, asking others to help hold her together is impossible. Jo must learn to lean on others as she learns to stand on her own. 

Purchase HAVEN STRONG on Amazon and Barnes and Noble

 

Read an Excerpt

I handed my husband his sneakers, shoes he should have been able to keep better track of, given how often he wore them. At least he didn’t leave them where I’d trip on them, like the kids did.

“Thanks, Jo, you're a lifesaver.” He cupped my face with his free hand. My shoulders relaxed and I melted against him, forgetting all the things on my to do list. My eyes drifted shut as he kissed me, the lingering kiss we were rarely allowed, with three kids running around the house. Our daughters were spending a few hours with their grandparents, and our son was upstairs ignoring us. And even without the kids interrupting us, Steve’s cell phone pulled us apart, ringing incessantly from his pocket.

“Ignore it, Steve,” I murmured against his lips.

“It's Reston, and we have to leave anyway.” He stepped away from me and answered the phone call before sitting down to tug on the sneakers, grubby with constant wear. “We're on our way, I swear. Walking out the door as we speak.”

A lie. Despite multiple reminders we needed to leave, Matt was still in his room. Matt and Steve were due at school in ten minutes to catch the bus to this evening's basketball game. And if the head coach was calling, we had to leave the house now.

Interview with Jessica Rakus

Could you tell us about any research trips you took for this story? Which places did you visit, and what made them essential to your writing?

Unfortunately, no research trips have been necessary. Maybe I need to set a book somewhere fun, like Greece or Australia, and then I’ll have to travel.

What's the strangest thing you've ever had to research online for your book?

For this book, I did a lot of low-key medical research, as well as looking up high school syllabi, so I’d know what my characters were teaching.

What research (history, mythology, science) goes into your world-building?

I don’t do a ton of research on my settings. This book is set in a make-believe town, and as I realized my characters needed a specific resource, I’d just toss it into the town. I like to make my worlds as “normal” as possible, so I can put my energy into the story, rather than the research.

Have any of the people you've known, past or present, left a lasting impression on your writing journey? If so, we'd love to hear about a memorable experience that stands out to you.

Once I stopped being scared of feedback, joining a critique group was the best thing I’ve ever done for my writing. I’ve been part of three groups, thanks to moving: a great group in New York City that sprung out of NaNoWriMo, a group in West Virginia where I got the first feedback on this book, and an online group that I’m still working with today. Getting and giving critiques has made me a better writer, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Do you write in the same genre all the time?

I do! It feels very “write what you know” to write book club fiction - my characters are like me and they’ve faced similar issues.

If so, have you ever consider writing in another one?

I’ve considered writing more straight up romance. I love writing those moments between two people as they negotiate feelings and attraction. I struggle with things like dual POV and third person narration, because that’s never been how I write, so it’s a learning curve I’m not sure I’m in the mood for at this point.

Which character, supernatural or human, do you enjoy writing the most and why?

For this book, I loved writing Jo and Reston, as well as Jo’s older daughter Addy. I’ve kicked around ideas for sequels, and I always come back to having Reston and Addy narrate their own books. I’m not sure what’s drawing me to them, beyond that they have interesting stories to tell, but that’s true (I hope) about most/all of my characters. Maybe it’s a sign that I need to make those other characters more interesting/three dimensional. I guess we’ll find out if sequels happen!

About the Author:

Jessica Rakus is a debut novelist, after many, many years of writing practice. She currently lives in Louisiana, after living briefly in seven other states.

Connect with Jessica Rakus

More information available at Jessica Rakus Books

Giveaway:

$25 Amazon/BN GC

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

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