Spotlight: Initial Condition by Ian Domowitz

Pub Date: September 2025

Genre: Supernatural/Fantasy

Publisher: Casa Muerte Press

“He condemned the living for the crime of existence.”

A twelfth century vision of artificial intelligence foreshadows a sixteenth century recipe to produce it. A nineteenth century prison nurtures it. A twenty-first century golem befriends it. And a boy without a century stands at the intersection of real and virtual, moments into the future. They call him The Mechanic.

A kidnapping leads Hanzi Boss to a sanctuary community where religious law forbids speech by the artificially intelligent. For beings like him, the penalty for existing is death and his true nature must remain secret. But the community has its own secrets. An ancient immigrant hides there, a monster made not born, a being who can know Hanzi for what he really is. When the price of life is death, who survives—infinite strength steeped in the silence of the past, or intelligence guided by lived experience?

This is a story of arcane knowledge, alchemy, and strange philosophies. It is the story of a being not created by God, who does not know what he is and searches for something more. Initial Condition is the third book in The Mechanic’s Diary series following Wake the Whirlwind and Neurojuggler.

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About the Author

Ian Domowitz is a veteran of the military, academia, and Wall Street. He splits his time between Manhattan and the woods of Pennsylvania, where he spends an excessive amount of time conversing with his two English setters. Despite holding 12 patents in financial technology, he promises no use of generative AI in his written work. He can be contacted through www.iandomowitz.com.

Spotlight: Just Breaking the Rules by Lauren Blakely

Everyone knows the golden rule of business—don’t bang your business partner.

Especially if he’s your brother’s hot-as-sin, hockey-star best friend.

But when the sexy single dad athlete saves me from a cake contest catastrophe—and shows me how good he is with his hands—I blurt out the world’s worst business pitch: Want to invest in my bakery?

With no loan or backup plan, this is my last shot at proving I’m more than my past mistakes, and shockingly, he says yes.

We set one rule: don’t mix business with pleasure.
Except Corbin Knight’s impossible to resist.

When he’s not scoring goals, he’s staying up late with me to test tempting recipes.
Braiding my hair before we bake like it’s foreplay.
Giving me his jersey to wear to games.

I try to keep a professional distance from the bossy, possessive and dangerously flirty hockey player, but soon we’re testing the limits of the kitchen counter.

This bakery is my chance to finally get my life right, so I fight the messy feelings.
Until one night, he shows up after closing and admits he can’t stop thinking about me.

Suddenly I’m ready to break every rule—no matter the cost to our dreams.

And breaking the rules has never tasted so good.

Excerpt

Corbin

Those last two words echo like a warning—working together. 

We are definitely working very closely together, and this—kissing, touching, f*&king—is a recipe for failure.

But when she looks at me like that, lips wet, eyes dark, I can’t bring myself to care about consequences. Not when she’s right here in my arms and I need her so damn badly.

I make quick work of the apron strings, undoing them at her neck as I crush her lips with mine.

Her mouth feels so good, soft and pliant. She moves with me, our tongues skating together. Our moans mingling.

 “It feels like forever since I kissed you,” I mutter as I briefly break the kiss, frantically tugging down the apron, exposing the collar of the dress that I bought her.

“A day is a long time,” she teases.

“I didn’t kiss you yesterday.”

She seems to think about that for a few seconds. “You should keep making up for that.”

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org

About the Author

A #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and #1 Audible Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s sexy, feel-good and witty. Her books have been featured in US Weekly and People. Lauren likes dogs, cake and show tunes and she is the vegetarian at your dinner party. 

Connect w/ Lauren:

Website: laurenblakely.com 

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Spotlight: When Time Flies by Jennifer Moreno

Publication date: February 3rd 2026

Genres: Adult, Comedy, Romance, Time-Travel

She was just a flight attendant…until she landed in her past.

Indy Kash is a corporate flight attendant, jet-setting with the rich and famous in a world most only glimpse through glossy magazine covers. But beneath the polished service and designer luggage lies a past she’s spent years trying to forget. When a mysterious time-slip yanks her mid- flight into the trauma that derailed her life thirteen years ago, Indy is forced to face the crime that destroyed her future—and the man who made sure she took the fall.

Back in the present, he’s suddenly on board her jet, and Indy’s thrown into a battle across time to stop him from destroying the world. With a reluctant spirit guide, a crash course in time travel, and a love she never saw coming, Indy must untangle the past to rewrite her future.

Can she finally clear her name, save the world, and discover if time really does heal all wounds?

Excerpt

The old rage from my liver rose, and my intestines churned like an electric whisk on the lowest speed. I was a cliché of both Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. The fact that my shame, anger, and fear culminated into Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) really made me textbook. As the spiritual experts would say: You keep holding onto old crap.

I’d tried everything to let go of the past. I talked about my feelings to numerous therapists—some good, some not. I even attempted the “woo-woo” including:

 Inner child work.

A soul retrieval from a Native American shaman (Apparently my soul couldn’t be retrieved).

Good ole fashioned journaling.

Cry therapy.

Ayahuasca in the Amazon jungle (The result? Shitting and vomiting at the same time).

Exploring my “shadow side.”

Breath work while a didgeridoo played in the background (One word: painful).

Shrooms.

Trauma workshops.

Belief coding.

Vision boarding (I was desperate).

Transcendental Meditation.

Ketamine.

Visits to psychics, mediums, astrologers, and tarot readers, who all agreed…

I was pretty fucked.

Then I returned to the Western approach and did a one-week stint each with Lexapro and Zoloft, which only gave me migraines. I freakin’ loved the I-can’t-even-get-anxious-if-I-wanted-to feeling of Xanax…but alas, it wasn’t enough.

Nothing worked.

I let out a sigh from my belly, as a multitude of yoga teachers had taught me. As I expelled the air, I felt strange…odd…not dizzy, not nauseous, but weird. I checked the monitor that displayed the airshow. Time To Destination, or TTD, was three hours to go until we landed in Teterboro, New Jersey.

The words and numbers on the monitor blurred into an astigmatism. 

I rounded the corner into the crew rest and then plopped onto the club seat. Exhaustion crawled through my veins like slow lightning. My vision pulsed. The feeling was jetlag times infinity. I tried to stay centered and think through what was happening. I had been flying, almost nonstop to save money to buy a house. Crossing all those time zones and the constant fatigue combined with the IBD did not make for a healthy lifestyle.

I’d let myself get that run down. Damn.

My body felt weightless. It was like the moment before a fall, that breathless pause—only it never ended. A newfound hum in my ears grew until it swallowed my every thought. My eyes darted over my lap to the khaki fabric wall and finally to the window. The sky brightened to an angelic white, nearly blinding me. I wasn’t dizzy. I had the urge to stare straight ahead, yet I could not focus.

Am I vaporizing?

I stretched out my fingers. They were disappearing! I felt so airy, as if I could levitate off the seat. I grasped the armrests until…

I couldn’t grasp them anymore.

The outline of my body began to blur. I lost the solidity of flesh. Tiny sparks of light flickered along my arms, breaking apart into floating specks, like dust in the sun. These particles—that were once me—scattered outward. Where I had sat, I was now only a swirl of luminous dust, leaving me somewhere between confused and terrified.

The world spun ahead of me, leaving no room for panic, no room to understand. In an instant, purple lightning hummed and sounded like the constant static of a bug zapper. The spinning intensified, yet I wasn’t queasy.

What the fuck is going on? 

I realized I was spinning through blackness, as if I was on an otherworldly plane. Then the particles of my body snapped back together and returned it to its human shape. I kept rotating and twirling until, out of nowhere, I smelled old wood and cleaning solution. And then…

There I was, sitting on a chair in a—was it a courtroom?

My mouth was so dry it felt like sand had settled on my tongue. A dull ache pulsed behind my temples, the kind that usually came from waking too early and too thirsty. My eyes darted across the courtroom, desperate to anchor on something steady, but every face seemed sharpened against me, a blur of judgement I couldn’t decipher. My chest tightened, heavy as stone, and though I begged my body to move, shift, or raise even a finger, nothing obeyed. It was as if my body had betrayed me; every molecule refused to budge. Before I could get one thought together, I heard:

“Indy, doodoo, what’s wrong?”

Mom.

Where am I?

About the Author

Jennifer Moreno has a master’s degree in creative writing from New York University. She was a corporate flight attendant for six years and is the host of the Corporate Flight Attendant podcast.

She is deeply involved in metaphysical practices, including obtaining certificates in trance and advanced mediumship; medical intuition; and psychic detection. She is also a reiki master and hosted a metaphysical podcast called Two Inches Off the Ground.

In her personal life, Jennifer is a proud Colombian adoptee. As a Colombian American, she enjoys improving her Spanish and exploring her roots in her native Colombia. “Jennifer” is her adopted American name, and “Moreno” is her original Colombian surname, thus combining these different…yet magical cultures.

Spotlight: His in the Fire by Willow Winters

Release Date: February 3

From USA Today Bestselling Author Willow Winters comes the second part in the sizzling Hades & Persephone Duet.

Ripped away from Olympus to the Underworld was a hell of its own making, but so is returning.

Leaving behind Hades and my rightful place as Queen of the Underworld caused an agony I’ve never known before.

What’s worse is that the war has not come to an end and my place in Olympus is questioned by all because of Hades’ demands. My mother will stop at nothing to have me safe with her and neither will Hades.

I’m left torn between life, Olympus, my mother and the throne I was always meant to have beside my lover, the King of the Dead.
I miss him dearly, I crave his touch and I need the love I felt so strongly in his presence.

What brings me the most fear though, is my own thoughts and my own power. The threat of losing what I had is enough to make me question my sanity. My mother would starve the world for me, Hades would burn it. But myself… What I’m willing to do as the suffering intensifies is blasphemy and terrifies me to my core.
There’s no going back and in this place I must find peace and balance before it’s too late.

I know one thing for certain: after dark, there will always be light. If that wasn’t true, the dark would not have a name…
And I crave both.

Please note: His in the Dark must be read first.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Meet Willow Winters

I started writing after having my little girl, Evie, December of 2015. All during my pregnancy with her I read. I only wanted to read romance novels and I read everything I could get my hands on. I would read a book a day — sometimes two. In January I was staying up late with her and just thinking of all these stories. They came to me constantly. I finally sat down and just started writing. I always wanted to do it so I figured, why not?

I never thought I would reach this point of success to be honest. It’s insane to me that I have connected with so many readers.

And I love each and every one of them for all of their support. I’ll be honest, some days are HARD. I have my littles during the day and I write at night. Some days are just simply exhausting and then I hear from a reader and it motivates me to push through and keep writing.  I couldn’t be more grateful for this wonderful career. For more information, visit https://www.willowwinterswrites.com/

Keep up with Willow Winters and receive your FREE copy of one of her books when you subscribe to her newsletter: 

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Connect with Willow Winters: wwinters@willowwinterswrites.com

Spotlight: Had Me At Howdy by Mary Karlik

(A Hillside * Spring Creek Novel)

Publication date: November 22nd 2025

Genres: Comedy, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Platinum credit card? Deactivated. New car? Sold. Best life ever? Canceled.

Thanks to my dad losing his job, we’ve ditched Chicago for Fumbuck, Texas—population: redneck. Now I’m living on a rundown farm, scrubbing dishes, and driving a rusty pickup. Worst of all? I’m stuck working alongside a cowboy.

But this Cinderella isn’t giving up. I’ll claw my way back to the luxe life I left behind—and no one, not even infuriatingly chill, stupidly handsome Austin McCoy is going to stop me. Even if he does make feeding the chickens weirdly… enjoyable.

She thinks she’s just passing through. I’m hoping she stays.
I kind of feel for the Quinn sisters. City girls don’t belong in Spring Creek—but Kelsey? There’s more to her than designer labels and eye rolls. When she forgets to be angry, I see it—like the way her eyes light up when she feeds the chickens.

Now all I have to do is convince her the guy she really wants is me, not some rich dude taking her to a ball in Chicago.

Content Warning: This work contains a subplot involving death, grief, and an off-page instance of date rape. While these events are not depicted directly, they are referenced and may be distressing to some readers.

Excerpt

The universe had completely crapped on Kelsey Quinn’s life.

She dabbed at her eyes, blew her nose, and wadded up the tissue before dropping it to the pile on the seat next to her. Pressing her forehead against the car window, she watched the scenery fly by at seventy miles per hour. They passed Bob’s Stay and Go combination gas station—fast food restaurant—hotel, followed by some weird concrete starship-shaped pizza parlor. Next, three-foot fluorescent letters screamed about redemption across a junkyard fence surrounding rusted pieces of mangled metal. The few words of scripture painted there weren’t going change her fate. Her dad was in the driver’s seat and they were heading straight for the armpit of Texas.

With a sigh she slumped against the seat and tried not to think about the boyfriend who’d been ripped from her life, or the best friend she’d been forced to leave behind. But it wasn’t just her forced exile from Drew and Zoe. She’d lost her identity. At St. Monica’s, she knew who she was and where she fit in. It was her senior year, the year she’d looked forward to for as long as she was in school. They had taken it away with less thought than the car they’d sold one afternoon while she and Zoe were shopping. None of it was her fault. She was a victim of her dad’s incompetence on one hand and her sister’s immorality on the other.

Her dad exited onto a two-lane highway where they were greeted by a faded, Welcome to Hillside Texas, Population 5000, sign. They slowed to a crawl as they entered the town. At a four-way stop her mom screeched, “Oh my God Tom, look at the cute little diner. We’re all starving, let’s stop before we go to the house.”

“Sounds good to me. Jack’s not expecting us for another couple of hours anyway.” Dad angled the Infinity between two pickup trucks and turned off the engine.

The diner was nestled in the center of a row of dilapidated two story buildings. Early Bird Café was painted in bright blue letters across the glass. Kelsey pulled her compact mirror from her purse and studied her reflection. She’d been crying for two days, no amount of makeup magic would fix her swollen red eyes. It didn’t matter. She didn’t care about this place or these people. She sure as heck didn’t care what they thought about her. She shoved the mirror back into her purse.

Her younger sister, Ryan, looked all wide-eyed and curious. And worse, she actually looked excited to investigate this hick little town. Why not? It was her fault they were in this mess in the first place. Her parents would have been justified to ship Ryan off to some kind of school for troubled kids. But no—Quinns don’t give up on their own. Everybody had to suffer because Ryan couldn’t say no to drugs or boys.

Mackenzie, Kelsey’s youngest sister, flipped her compact gymnast’s body from the third seat to the back seat nailing Ryan in the shoulder with her foot.

“Watch it!” Ryan drew her fist back, but before she could get the hit off Mackenzie flashed a cherub smile and released a powder sugar apology. Yeah. That wasn’t an accident. Kelsey almost smiled when she saw foot impact with shoulder. Mackenzie had been fairly silent about the ruin Ryan’s exploits had done to her life. Apparently, she had her limits too.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Join Mary's newsletter: https://maryjwilson.com/contact/

Mary Karlik (also writing as Mary J. Wilson) combines her Texas roots with her Scottish heritage to write happily-ever-afters from Texas to Scotland. 

Mary has five indie-published contemporary young adult romance novels and two fantasy novels.

Mary earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, has a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and is currently studying Scottish Gaelic at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye, Scotland. She is also a certified, professional ski instructor and a Registered Nurse. 

Mary is an active member of Contemporary Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Dallas Area Romance Authors. Married to a Scott, Mary lives in both and Scotland and Texas.

Connect:

https://x.com/marykarlik

https://maryjwilson.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MaryJWilsonAuthorPage

https://www.instagram.com/marykarlik/

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/mary-karlik

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13725528.Mary_Karlik

Spotlight: Winter's Season by R.J. Koreto

Captain Winter stands at the center of Winter’s Season by R.J. Koreto, defined as much by restraint as by experience. His work requires him to balance loyalty, memory, and survival in situations where no clear authority exists.

Set in the years following the Napoleonic Wars, the story unfolds in a city without formal mechanisms of justice. Captain Winter serves as Whitehall’s unofficial emissary, navigating both elite society and dangerous streets. When a young woman is murdered, his investigation exposes how deeply fear and privilege shape accountability.

Winter’s progress depends on fragile alliances. A nobleman connected to his past offers influence, while a wise Jewish physician provides clarity grounded in observation. The return of Barbara Lightwood, a former lover with intelligence and social reach, alters the course of the investigation. Her selective cooperation reopens unresolved history and clouds Winter’s judgment.

As the truth sharpens, Winter must confront the limits of his moral code.

Excerpt

The captain said goodbye to his colonel and a few other officers, and the butler saw him out. He walked to the nearest stand and engaged a hackney cab to Bow Street Court. A few heads turned as he entered the building, but no one accosted him. A clerk gave him the barest nod but said nothing as he entered a room. 

A few minutes later, the captain came out. He was no longer in his regimentals, but in rather shabby outfit, almost rural, with a slouch hat. Down the hall, he entered another room, where a squad of Bow Street Runners awaited—constables, employed by the local court at Bow Street, to keep order and seize felons. Winter suppressed a grimace. They were poorly trained and poorly paid, but it was pretty much all London had for law enforcement. Many still thought the idea of a formal professional constabulary too much government interference—too un-English. So, the Runners would have to do. At least they were willing and obedient. 

“We have already gone over where you should be standing,” said the captain. “You know how important it is you aren’t seen.” There was more than instruction in his voice—there was menace. 

“Yes, sir,” said the most senior constable present. 

“Then take your places. I’ll be along shortly.” 

Moving quickly, he left the building and walked along dark streets that became progressively dirtier and more dangerous. He saw men hiding in the shadows, those who preyed on the weak and unaware, but nothing happened to him. 

Eventually he came to a building that was well-lit, at least by the neighborhood standards. It was certainly the noisiest venue in the street. The cracked and faded sign marked it as The Three Bells. 

The Captain entered—a few were eating off dirty plates, and almost everyone was drinking beer, or something stronger. Slatternly women laughed and tried to slip away from the half-drunk men who loudly pursued them. Some allowed them- selves to be caught, and there was more laughter and then a talk of money. The whole room smelled of smoke and grease, and the floor was sticky from weeks of spilled ale. 

Few paid attention to the captain, but a fat man walked up to him surprisingly quickly for someone of his bulk. 

“Oh captain, I am so pleased, do you think—” 

“Shut up. Where’s Sally? She was suitable last night, and she’ll be suitable tonight.” 

“Sally—oh there she is.” He pointed to a tallish girl wearing more makeup than an actress. A large man in worker’s clothes, probably a stevedore, thought the cap- tain, had grabbed her and placed her on his lap. She didn’t seem to mind. 

The captain strode over, grabbed the woman by her wrist, and pulled her off the man’s lap. 

“Come, my girl, we have an appointment as you well know.” 

She yelped with surprise, then gave a shrug and followed. The large man stood up. 

“See here—I saw her first,” he said. His accent wasn’t London, which explained everything.

“Good for you,” said the Captain, and pulled the girl across the room. The big man started to follow, but two of his friends grabbed him. 

“Now Jake, no need to cause trouble,” said the first, who was clearly local. 

“Cause trouble? I’ll flatten him—” “No, you won’t. You don’t know, you’re new here. For God’s sake, that’s the Captain, a soldier, they say he was, and you don’t want to start something with him—I’ve seen what happens to those who do—” 

“That’s right,” chimed in the other friend, also a Londoner. “Remember Big Nick—used to be here, no one stood up to him, but he challenged the Captain...” he shuddered. 

“And what happened?” asked a skeptical Jake. Both men look their heads. 

“We never saw him again. He wasn’t arrested. They didn’t find his body—he was just...gone. So just stop thinking about it. There are plenty of other girls.” 

But Jake still felt he had to make a show of standing up for himself. “So, you’re telling me it would be a mistake to call him out?” 

“Your last mistake,” said the first man. Then very softly, as if he was afraid of his words, he said, “He’s called Winter. If you’re thinking of staying in this part of London, you would do well to remember that name.” 

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback

About the Author

R.J. Koreto has been a merchant seaman, book editor, journalist and novelist. He was born and raised in New York City and decided to be a writer after reading “The Naked and the Dead.” He and his wife have two grown daughters and divide their time between Rockland County, N.Y., and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Visit R.J. at his website and on Facebook and Instagram.