About the Book
Book: Mesmerize
Author: Darlene Corbett
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 18, 2026
Set against the backdrop of Las Vegas, Boston, and Dubai, a dazzling romance comes to life.
Can a storyteller win back the love of her life through tales sprinkled with faith and love.
Boston-based Delphina Tulasi, a therapeutic storyteller, has shunned men.
A year after a major betrayal, she accompanies her mother Lucia, a matchmaker, to Las Vegas to help her run an exclusive speed-dating event.
Alexander O’Hara, a CFO with secrets of his own, accepts Lucia’s invitation to attend. He meets Delphina and becomes mesmerized. They go out on a date in Las Vegas and return to Boston, where their love blossoms.
All goes well until Alex goes on a long business trip to Dubai. A visit from someone in her past confuses Delphina and lures her back to a previous relationship, prompting her to break up with Alex.
After a few dates with her ex, Delphina recognizes the mistake she’s made and becomes determined to win Alex back. She uses her creativity, spins stories based on truth, and sends them in videos across the internet.
Will it work?
Click here to get your copy!My Review:
This happens to be a really beautiful story. Delphina is a lovely, creative, and wounded person. She's an amazing character, and she has so much to give and so much to offer. Alex and Delphina have a great relationship, even though she wasn't looking for one. Then Alex goes on a trip, way off, to another country. While he's gone, she's dealing with an ex-boyfriend. Will she fall for him, or hasn't she really broken up with him for Alex, or will she lose Alex because she broke up with him! This is a complex and very beautifully told story. I was captivated by it, and I didn't expect that. It's a clean read, and I am now very interested in what else this author has written. The settings are so realistic, and this story completely took me by surprise.
5 Big Stars
About the Author
Darlene Corbett has been serving others as a licensed psychotherapist for over thirty years.
With her wealth of experience in human behavior, she decided to write down her thoughts to inspire a larger audience. This set the stage for her book, Stop Depriving The World of You, published by Sound Wisdom in 2018.
She continued writing nonfiction until she heard God whisper again. And his call prompted her to take a risk and dip her toes into fiction. Visible, a women’s fiction about second chances, was published by WordCrafts Press in the spring of 2024, and in August, she won the 2024 Storytrade Book Awards for Christian Fiction in the Contemporary category.
And right now?
Her contemporary romance, Mesmerize, will be published in February of 2026 which has themes of a modern-day, Christian Scheherazade story.
Her writing continues with two romantic suspense novels. Enthralled, which takes place in Mykenos, has been completed but needs editing. A Midnight Call, located in a small fictional town in central Massachusetts, has almost reached the finishing line.
When not writing or seeing clients, Darlene immerses herself in a variety of novels and tries to support other authors of faith.
In addition, she loves animals with dogs being number one. Taking care of her beloved Shih Tzu, Stevie, puts a smile on her face.
Being a life-long learner, she’s attempting a second language and remains a nerd at heart. Staying fit, traveling, and connecting with her inner circle also take priority.
Darlene belongs to many organizations, including the ACFW, FHL-CW, and WFWA.
She lives in Central Massachusetts with Stevie, and remains excited about the next chapter of her life.
More from Darlene
For all my life, I’ve been in love with the oral and written word.
And I imagine the same for you.
How many people do not enjoy reading or hearing a good tale?
And doesn’t it make sense?
Each of us has a story, our own book of life. How it unfold lays between God and us.
Although every novel involves a story, I decided to highlight a therapeutic storyteller.
Why therapeutic?
Because I’m a therapist and have listened to stories throughout my life. Also, I remember the story of Scheherazade, and with faith and modernity, I wove it into my novel. The protagonist spins tales to… Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out.
I hope you become mesmerized by Mesmerize.
Blog Stops
Cover Lover Book Review, May 30
Simple Harvest Reads, May 31 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, June 1 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, June 1
Guild Master, June 2 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 3
Fiction Book Lover, June 4 (Author Interview)
History, Hope & Happily Ever After, June 5 (Author Interview)
Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, June 6 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, June 7
For the Love of Literature, June 8 (Author Interview)
Tell Tale Book Reviews, June 9 (Author Interview)
Pause for Tales, June 9
Blossoms and Blessings, June 10 (Author Interview)
Blogging With Carol, June 11
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, June 12 (Author Interview)
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Darlene is giving away the grand prize of a $75 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://gleam.io/Ap5Fn/mesmerize-celebration-tour-giveaway
An adopted daughter. A vanished teenager. A secret that must stay hidden.
S.F. Baumgartner crafts fast-paced Christian suspense thrillers, weaving tales of complex characters, secretive operatives, and relentless agents. Her gripping storytelling has earned acclaim, with Living Secrets andForgotten Secret—Books 1 & 2 of her Mirror Estate series—named Top Picks in the thriller & suspense categories, respectively, at Killer Nashville, and Tangled Secrets—Book 3 of Mirror Estate series—won couple of awards in the Christian Indie Awards and the Incipere Awards. When she’s not plotting her next twist, she’s binge-watching crime TV shows, like NCIS or playing with her cats. Fans of James Patterson’s style, especially those who appreciate short, punchy chapters, will find much to love in her work. And as always, her books are all clean.
On the glittering waters of the Caribbean, a yacht captain’s fight for survival forces her to rely on a man she swore she’d never trust. 
Robin Patchen is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of Christian romantic suspense. She grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, the setting of her Coventry Saga books, and then headed to Boston to earn a journalism degree. Working in marketing, she discovered how much she loathed the nine-to-five ball and chain. After relocating to the Southwest, she started writing her first novel while homeschooling her three children. The novel was dreadful, but her passion for storytelling didn’t wane. Thankfully, as her children grew, so did her writing ability. Now that her kids are adults, she has more time to play with the lives of fictional heroes and heroines, wreaking havoc and working magic to give her characters happy endings. When she’s not writing, she’s editing or reading, proving that most of her life revolves around the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.