tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26662498686210374142024-03-13T11:27:33.252-07:00Daisy Row DiariesWhen love is in doubt, the job of a daisy is, Try and Find Out!
(Daisy-Head Mayzie by Dr Seuss) Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-52294659196401567062014-11-01T10:12:00.000-07:002014-11-01T10:12:49.500-07:00Merry Christmas Henry by Aubrey Wynne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONDPg5J0BKK_zYbVa-0_SVoS0TmcYtWeKqjkg91muPGRWCbQO-28ZkTjFuEUSLIRM7TixkTOvoF2cMtkBtHLBUdU0m9m31Gb9UXd-fxEu78dQu7A1rIE17izR6Pxnwgr9AQSsaH03WwEv/s1600/MCHenry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONDPg5J0BKK_zYbVa-0_SVoS0TmcYtWeKqjkg91muPGRWCbQO-28ZkTjFuEUSLIRM7TixkTOvoF2cMtkBtHLBUdU0m9m31Gb9UXd-fxEu78dQu7A1rIE17izR6Pxnwgr9AQSsaH03WwEv/s1600/MCHenry.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Thoughts</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Merry Christmas Henry by Aubrey Wynne, is a lovely short story that appeals to the artist in me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The story builds quite nicely, detailing the friendship between Henry and Melinda while also highlighting his ongoing fascination with a painting that had been donated to the Museum. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I enjoyed reading the story from Henry’s perspective and found myself yearning for him to achieve his dreams. He was such a peaceful gentle soul; he really did have that impact on you as the reader. When he began to tamper with the painting of his obsession, I will confess to being quite concerned for him; for his friendship with Melinda, his well-being, his future freedom and his sanity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To be honest I didn’t quite expect the ending and that was a nice surprise. It was a little reminiscent of Stephen King’s <i>Rose Madder</i>, not in the macabre sense, but in a paranormal one. I was relieved that Henry was okay in the end, but now feel that Melinda’s story needs to be told.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I will be reading more of Aubrey Wynne’s work. </span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Rating</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Disclaimer</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Summary:</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Henry, a shy and talented artist, moonlights as a security guard at a museum and loses his heart to a beautiful, melancholy woman in a painting. As his obsession grows, he finds a kindred soul who helps him in his search for happiness. On Christmas Eve, Henry dares to take a chance on love and fulfill his dream.</span></div>
<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-31843209965470989632014-10-02T23:35:00.002-07:002014-10-02T23:35:40.089-07:00The Immortal Series by Gene Doucette<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/immortal-edge-of-world-hi-res-cover.jpg"><img alt="Immortal-Edge-of-World-Hi-Res-Cover" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-5434" src="http://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/immortal-edge-of-world-hi-res-cover.jpg?w=627" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 16px;">Release Date: </span></strong><em><span style="font-size: 16px;">October 2</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> , 2014</span></em></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published by <a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/" target="_blank">The Writers Coffee Shop</a></span></strong></div>
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Genre: <strong>FICTION/Fantasy/General & Fantasy/Contemporary</strong></div>
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ISBN e-book: <strong> <b> 978-1-61213-276-1</b></strong></div>
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Available from: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Edge-World-Gene-Doucette-ebook/dp/B00NF2MC7E/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410476651&sr=1-1&keywords=immortal+at+the+edge+of+the+world" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/immortal-at-the-edge-of-the-world" target="_blank">Kobo</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/immortal-at-the-edge-of-the-world-gene-doucette/1120318153?ean=9781612132754" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a>, and <a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/authors/detail/34" target="_blank">TWCS PH</a>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>My Thoughts</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have just finished <i>The Immortal Series</i> by Gene Doucette, and I have to say I loved all three novels. Immortal the first instalment is by far the best the three books in the series, but the other two stories <i>Hellenic Immortal </i>and <i>Immortal at the Edge of the World</i> were also outstanding works. I was enthralled from the very first, the author’s ability to provide the back story in a light manner was outstanding. Adam is a phenomenal character; self-deprecating, brutally honest (especially about himself) with some profound…metaphors (?) to highlight his attitude to his longevity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The three books, I think, could be read as standalone novels. In <i>Immortal</i>, we are introduced to a wide variety of characters and creatures. Some of these you will have heard of before like vampires (though none of the sparkling variety, but not traditional either). Others like Jerry the Iffrit - you might never come across again. In any case, even though some of these people are included in the later tales the way Gene Doucette tells the story of the 60,000-year-old Adam entails a lot of flashbacks / reminiscing. So whatever details story are easily reconstituted to ensure a reader would get the full story regardless of where they start in the series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The big benefit of reading the entire series is the mystery surrounding Eve and Adam’s obsession with her. There are tidbits thrown in throughout that in hindsight are major clues. When all is revealed, and you think back through the entire saga, all the info is there. It is provided in such a way that don’t truly connect the dots until the finale. Plus that girl has some major abilities that are pretty cool!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All of this is related with a unique and humorous style of writing. It’s not laugh out loud humour, but it is seriously cool.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>My Ratings</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Immortal</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Hellenic Immortal</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Immortal at the Edge of the World </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀❀❀+</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Disclaimer</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Summary</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>“What I was currently doing with my time and money . . . didn’t really deserve anyone else’s attention. If I was feeling romantic about it, I’d call it a quest, but all I was really doing was trying to answer a question I’d been ignoring for a thousand years.”</i>
In his very long life, Adam had encountered only one person who seemed to share his longevity: the mysterious red-haired woman. She appeared throughout history, usually from a distance, nearly always vanishing before he could speak to her.
In his last encounter, she actually <i>did </i>vanish—into thin air, right in front of him. The question was how did she do it? To answer, Adam will have to complete a quest he gave up on a thousand years earlier, for an object that may no longer exist.
If he can find it, he might be able to do what the red-haired woman did, and if he can do <i>that</i>, maybe he can find her again and ask her who she is . . . and why she seems to hate him.
<i>“You are being watched. Move your loved ones to safety . . . trust nobody.”</i>
But Adam isn’t the only one who wants the red-haired woman. There are other forces at work, and after a warning from one of the few men he trusts, Adam realizes how much danger everyone is in. To save his friends and finish his quest he may be forced to bankrupt himself, call in every favor he can, and ultimately trade the one thing he’d never been able to give up before: his life.
From the author of <i>Immortal </i>and <i>Hellenic Immortal</i> comes <i>Immortal at the Edge of the World</i>, the breathtaking conclusion to the best-selling trilogy. Will Adam survive?</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9753.Gene_Doucette" target="_blank">Goodreads </a>* <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22046535-immortal-at-the-edge-of-the-world" target="_blank">Add to Want To Read List</a></span></strong><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/97884457" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/97884457">Immortal (Series Trailer) - Gene Doucette</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/azrielgroup">Azriel Group</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/gdoucette.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="gdoucette" class="alignleft wp-image-5436 size-full" src="http://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/gdoucette.jpg" height="200" width="160" /></a><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>About The Author</b></span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.15;">Gene Doucette is the acclaimed author of </span><i style="line-height: 1.15;">Immortal </i><span style="line-height: 1.15;">and </span><i style="line-height: 1.15;">Hellenic Immortal</i><span style="line-height: 1.15;">, the sci-fi thriller </span><i style="line-height: 1.15;">Fixer</i><span style="line-height: 1.15;">, and (as G Doucette) the erotic horror thriller </span><i style="line-height: 1.15;">Sapphire Blue</i><span style="line-height: 1.15;">. He is also the author of multiple short stories-- including </span><i style="line-height: 1.15;">The Immortal Chronicles</i><span style="line-height: 1.15;"> series-- is a prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, and a published humorist and essayist. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife and two children.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 27px;"><b><i>Connect with the Author</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://twitter.com/GeneDoucette" target="_blank">Twitter </a> * </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/gene.doucette" target="_blank">Facebook</a> * <a href="http://genedoucette.me/" target="_blank">Website</a> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="color: grey;"><strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Praise for</span></strong></span><em><span style="color: grey;"><strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Immortal at the Edge of the World</span></strong></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"Brilliant end to the trilogy, with much twistiness involved in tying up all the plotlines. Lots of humour and typical Adam-ness - but no spoilers from me. You'll just have to read it for yourself. I think this might be my favourite of the series.+ - Andrea <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/932924364?book_show_action=false&page=1" target="_blank">Goodreads Review</a></span></div>
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<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>OTHER BOOKS BY GENE DOUCETTE</strong></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong></strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Gene-Doucette-ebook/dp/B007IL8YZW/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410477636&sr=1-8&keywords=gene+doucette" target="_blank"><img alt="a74c3-immortal" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-4105" src="http://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/a74c3-immortal.jpg?w=198" height="300" width="198" /></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hellenic-Immortal-Gene-Doucette-ebook/dp/B007ZXKD5M/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410477636&sr=1-7&keywords=gene+doucette" target="_blank"><img alt="4d5e0-hellenic_immortal" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-4106" src="http://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/4d5e0-hellenic_immortal.jpg?w=198" height="300" width="198" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Blue-G-Doucette-ebook/dp/B00IOBIN06/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410477636&sr=1-12&keywords=gene+doucette" target="_blank"><img alt="1a359-sapphire_blue_low-res_cover2" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-4103" src="http://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/1a359-sapphire_blue_low-res_cover2.jpg?w=200" height="300" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fixer-Gene-Doucette-ebook/dp/B00BXVN4ZS/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410477636&sr=1-4&keywords=gene+doucette" target="_blank"><img alt="c308d-fixer" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4107" src="http://wyndydee.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/c308d-fixer.jpg" height="300" width="200" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-78807591055777039512014-08-03T17:14:00.000-07:002014-08-03T17:14:02.033-07:00Irresistible Enemy by Mary Costello<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzHd6824vjUEosj4g5qufZYshbhm-7R6tLPjrDLc6VBzUAEEXFiivTx22_f5aCY1o3j17xApzwUHv28YW11Dy_LvQz_ggKKucNRP36fsmovq7lhvoE4akpZl596-vB6wB_PqVLfgKt4Dd/s1600/I+Enemy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzHd6824vjUEosj4g5qufZYshbhm-7R6tLPjrDLc6VBzUAEEXFiivTx22_f5aCY1o3j17xApzwUHv28YW11Dy_LvQz_ggKKucNRP36fsmovq7lhvoE4akpZl596-vB6wB_PqVLfgKt4Dd/s1600/I+Enemy.png" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Thoughts</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s sad; the more I love a book, the harder it is to write a decent objective review.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I loved Irresistible Enemy by Mary Costello. For me, it was like coming home. There is something comforting and familiar about returning to beloved genre and finding a well-written book that also flows and strikes a genuine chord in all aspects; character, plot, pacing, romance, conflict, conflict resolution. Perfect.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Mary Costello’s characters were quirky and adorable. Initially, I found them to be a little “over the top”, but it wasn’t long before they found their place in the novel, and I came to accept and love them all. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The story centres around the conflict between environmentalist and developer, with all the clichéd elements one would expect in such a situation, especially when it is building towards romance. Yes, it was clichéd and yes it followed the traditional formulae for this genre - Don’t go reading this book expecting anything less… or more. There is no pre-tense here, which is also refreshing and honest.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">At one point, it seemed that the author had written herself into a corner. I became convinced that there would be no resolution, no “happily ever after” for Cassie and Hart. How was this possible? A cheerful little RomCom HAS to HAVE a “happily ever after”! Right? Well, this is where Mary Costello truly excelled… but you’ll have to read Irresistible Enemy to find out; there will be no spoilers here!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Rating</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 48px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀❀</span>❀+</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Summary</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cassie Bowtell adores her idyllic life in the bush and after a chance encounter by the roadside, even her love life is looking up. So when a housing estate is planned right next door to Cassie's beautiful rural property, she vows to fight it with everything she has.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wealthy businessman Hart Huntingdon can't stop thinking about the mystery woman he met in the country. And then he discovers Cassie is the one of the people responsible for holding up his plans and doing her best to turn the locals against him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With both of them firmly believing they are in the right, Cassie and Hart are soon locked into battle, a battle every bit as fierce and passionate as their growing obsession with each other. But sometimes love has a way of bringing happiness where it's least expected…</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lJmUZVxfm57oYHSusKiIMzhyphenhyphen2wZ4WLctxTKx-a7kh8nKpBnbvktGNYwYO2Rs_BpYaE4ZYB8RZdW7XSSC9bSe0JQOQ6TAKBHXj6vMjbYXTm206pR2RY9zIqSk92ZCWRRv6siyS1_-6GFb/s1600/Mary+Costello.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lJmUZVxfm57oYHSusKiIMzhyphenhyphen2wZ4WLctxTKx-a7kh8nKpBnbvktGNYwYO2Rs_BpYaE4ZYB8RZdW7XSSC9bSe0JQOQ6TAKBHXj6vMjbYXTm206pR2RY9zIqSk92ZCWRRv6siyS1_-6GFb/s1600/Mary+Costello.png" height="320" width="205" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About the Author</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i></i></b></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mary Costello is an Irish-Australian freelance writer, and despite living most of her life here, she hasn't lost her accent, or the sense of being somewhere exotic. She lives in Melbourne's bushburbs with her husband of many years, who, oddly, bears no resemblance whatsoever to a romantic hero. They live with a flock of recovering battery hens and their two daughters, for whom Mary aspires to arrange advantageous matches to men of large property.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mary's first book, Titanic Town, Memoirs of a Belfast Girlhood, was published twenty years ago, but she only recently turned her pen to Romance, inspired by the heroics of the men of Aussie Rules footy. Through the thrilling nexus of footy and love, she hopes to fulfil her romantic Destiny, and keep on writing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>Links</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/">Penguin Books</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.destinyromance.com/">Destiny Romance</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/contributors/7142/mary-costello">Author Page (Penguin Books)</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7048582.Mary_Costello">Author Page (Goodreads)</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20928093-irresistible-enemy"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Irresistible Enemy (Goodreads)</span></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-58346132920728492052014-07-20T17:19:00.000-07:002014-07-20T17:19:00.816-07:00Cover Reveal - The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIuRh3S4J0D8-eznBStF6dVnX5WFkH0w7_tmOqSsCZVZvuOGlJMc2R06gD_K2UG_LM7ZCqf4QW4VnPONpMrumPzAMQcgXvVsUVxYiqe_8JvSHPZtAysSM8lOM7_xRxBFZZyJ75DvroBk/s1600/The+RED+SHEET+Banner+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIuRh3S4J0D8-eznBStF6dVnX5WFkH0w7_tmOqSsCZVZvuOGlJMc2R06gD_K2UG_LM7ZCqf4QW4VnPONpMrumPzAMQcgXvVsUVxYiqe_8JvSHPZtAysSM8lOM7_xRxBFZZyJ75DvroBk/s1600/The+RED+SHEET+Banner+2.jpg" height="286" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsJFZNL_0Gy7bTPkDDYRmicbBqEFtPnAR95wKEYVX8GMJqeCzF8Qpc8RI1qo1DZu4SUW0OaBRD7CZPoJIYxRUTY5bm9V7xdanYkmv_-Ua1uy8CfF6PKfrks5Y914HvCnXZ9Bg-trgCwo/s1600/mia+Red+Sheet+award+Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsJFZNL_0Gy7bTPkDDYRmicbBqEFtPnAR95wKEYVX8GMJqeCzF8Qpc8RI1qo1DZu4SUW0OaBRD7CZPoJIYxRUTY5bm9V7xdanYkmv_-Ua1uy8CfF6PKfrks5Y914HvCnXZ9Bg-trgCwo/s1600/mia+Red+Sheet+award+Image.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">The Red Sheet</span><span style="color: red;"> </span>by </b><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Mia Kerick</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<b>Summary:</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
One October morning, high school junior Bryan Dennison wakes up a different person—helpful, generous, and chivalrous—a person whose new admirable qualities he doesn’t recognize. Stranger still is the urge to tie a red sheet around his neck like a cape.</div>
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Bryan soon realizes this compulsion to wear a red cape is accompanied by more unusual behavior. He can’t hold back from retrieving kittens from tall trees, helping little old ladies cross busy streets, and defending innocence anywhere he finds it.</div>
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Shockingly, at school, he realizes he used to be a bully. He’s attracted to the former victim of his bullying, Scott Beckett, though he has no memory of Scott from before “the change.” Where he’d been lazy in academics, overly aggressive in sports, and socially insecure, he’s a new person. And although he can recall behaving egotistically, he cannot remember his motivations.</div>
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Everyone, from his mother to his teachers to his “superjock” former pals, is shocked by his dramatic transformation. However, Scott Beckett is not impressed by Bryan’s newfound virtue. And convincing Scott he’s genuinely changed and improved, hopefully gaining Scott’s trust and maybe even his love, becomes Bryan’s obsession.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">My Thoughts:</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></div>
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This cover is cool in it's simplicity. Muted shades of what are mostly primary colours and a lone figure, half in shade, standing to the bottom left and looking to the distance. An ethereal cover that alludes to a deeper content.</div>
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I'm not sure what to make of the cape the boy is wearing, but from the book summary and the additional promotional materials supplied with the marketing collateral, I can only assume that there is a heroic aspect to the story, which based on the more tranquil elements of the cover should be a thought provoking read.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Excerpt:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I mean, I’d known there was tension between Brandon and me,
but at least five other guys, mainly the juniors, were involved in this
afternoon’s, well, I’ll call it an “expression of dissatisfaction” with yours
truly. It went something like this: My shots got blocked with more than a bit
too much in-your-face attitude for tryouts. I got elbowed on almost every drive
to the basket. I “accidentally” got tripped about six times. Nobody would pass
to me, the team’s best shooter, until the coach started screaming about it. But
I refused to let them intimidate me, as I recognized that basketball was a game
of mental toughness, and although I was different now, that didn’t mean I was
in any way weak. Before my change, I’d thought I was strong because I stood
with the crowd, right or wrong, as there was safety in numbers. Now, I knew for
a fact I was strong because I had the confidence that came from standing up for
what was right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I had no doubt that I would make the varsity basketball
team, and, because of my height and shooting ability, I’d start at center, or
power forward, as I had done sophomore year. I realized that Brandon would also
start on varsity thanks to his size and natural athleticism. But the other guys
had to be a little bit more careful about acting like total assholes in front
of Coach Morris, because their spots were not quite so secure. And these guys
included Jack Jackson, Kevin Broughton, and both the Mikes, O’Reilly and
Delgado. All my former best buds, until—in their minds, at least—I went all
Benedict Arnold on them and moved to the Social Justice League Table at lunch.
And started treating people with the respect they deserved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So, yeah, I was ready for it. After the coach said the teams
would be posted on the school website that night, we all hit the showers, aka
the place where all assholes thought men and boys could be separated. But
usually, that was only because there was safety in numbers, and in the showers,
whenever there was trouble, the big loudmouths were the ones the crowd usually
stood behind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Brandon was as big and loud as they come, but I was
definitely not his usual opponent, seeing as I was usually one of the guys
standing behind him. And the targets we chose were always in some way less than
us. I realized that we picked on those who were less tall, less strong, less
popular, and less socially adept. So when Brandon and Mike Delgado (big, yes,
and definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed, not to be mean or anything)
were the two who stepped forward—once I was bare-assed, of course—I wasn’t at
all surprised.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Where’s your pansy boyfriend?” Brandon, as could’ve been
predicted, slung his bullshit at me first.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Yeah, douche bag!” Delgado served as the echo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Good one, Delgado. I stepped under the spray of water. “What
do you guys want?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“We just wanna have a nice little chat with you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“So, go ahead and chat. I don’t see anybody stopping you.” I
closed my eyes to let the water flow over my face, but more importantly, to
show these assholes that I wasn’t afraid of them.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">When my eyes were shut, a few other guys came forward to
close the circle around me.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“We wanna know what’s goin’ on in your head, Dennison.
’Cause to us, it looks kinda like you’re losin’ your fuckin’ marbles.” Brandon
was so close I could feel the heat of his body beside me. In fact, I was sure
he was getting backsplashed by the water that bounced off my chest.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I opened my eyes and leveled them on him. “I didn’t lose my
mind. It’s actually just the opposite. I found it.” I proceeded to squirt some
shampoo from the wall dispenser into my hand, and then washed and rinsed my
hair right in front of my little audience.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Finally, Delgado pushed me against the wall. “Listen up,
Dennison. You gotta get your head back in the game—with us—where it fuckin’
belongs.”</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">All of my “friends” stared at me as I struggled to break out
of his grasp. “Get off me, Delgado!”</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Brandon added his hands to my chest, beside Delgado’s.
“We’re not lettin’ go ’til you tell us what we wanna hear. We want you back
with us guys at lunch, and back with us in classes, ’cause that’s the only way
we can be a real winning team… like we were before.”</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Then Mike O’Reilly made his move. “I’m sick of seeing you
and Gay Boy together all the time. It’s so fucked-up!” Before I had a chance to
twist away, his fist snuck into the narrow alley between Brandon and Delgado
and found my nose.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I didn’t even have time to turn around. “You’re gonna be the
asshole who brings our whole team down, shit-for-brains!” Kevin Broughton was
the next to take a swing. He got me square in my right eye.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">That’s when both of the Mikes grabbed an arm and held me to
the wall and Brandon let loose all of his frustrations on my gut. He kept
saying, “Think about it! Think about this!” as he punched me. When he decided
he’d made his point, he said, “Let him go.” And then my former best pal looked
away, very careful not to meet my eyes.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Not gonna look at me now, huh, Wilson?” I lifted my hand to
my nose to check for blood. Finding red, I stepped back into the spray of water
to rinse it off.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Nothin’ much to look at. Except an asshole who’s gonna
smarten up.”</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“Yeah, and change his ways.” Delgado looked at Brandon for
approval of his remark. He got it in the form of a quick nod.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I examined the pissed-off faces of the guys I’d played ball
with since I’d moved here when I was eight years old. And I realized that I
didn’t know them at all.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“See ya at lunch tomorrow, buddy.” Those were the final, and
very sarcastic, words Brandon tossed at me, before he turned and left with his
little army of bullies trailing behind him.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">With my face directed up at the nozzle, I stood under the
drizzle of warm water until I was calm enough to go back to the locker room,
get dressed, and then head home. But it took me a while to chill out. I was
actually shaking a bit, from fear or anger or… the simple knowledge that I had
just been pushed around. As I dressed, the locker room was close to silent, and
I could tell that the guys from the other grades were trying their hardest not
to stare. Because they couldn’t believe what they’d seen: popular jock Bryan
Dennison, high scorer in last year’s basketball season, even as a sophomore,
had just gotten knocked against the wall, threatened, and beat on like he was
nobody special.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bryan Dennison had been forced to stand alone. He’d just
been the targeted kid… the bullied one. And the rest of my teammates had all
literally watched in silence as my face had gotten pummeled on, and then, they
had figuratively been witnesses to my slide down to the very bottom of the
social status totem pole.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">
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</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">But in a fucked-up way I was thankful. I’d taken a few steps
in Scott’s shoes. I’d experienced a taste of what he’d lived through, probably
on a regular basis, and what had molded him into the person he was. No, it
hadn’t been fun, but it had been enlightening.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Enter to Win!</b><span class="s1"><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="p3">
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• (2) THE RED SHEET digital copy</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• (2) THE RED SHEET Swag Bag</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e4cb156381/" id="rc-e4cb156381" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a></u></b></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="p3">
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About the Author:</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zpmYjz_zDqXo4jrefn7J-lMqNCtpKxuwCQjYsdMVXxYshJSJuKy8CpqjBarroq8W5JOcebw-nuK1WHjhLRdXdIOCPS4jtCAtFSIOANGjNfnSkI2j1AFgDx2p_ytYeXPPmWx2uhKEd04/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zpmYjz_zDqXo4jrefn7J-lMqNCtpKxuwCQjYsdMVXxYshJSJuKy8CpqjBarroq8W5JOcebw-nuK1WHjhLRdXdIOCPS4jtCAtFSIOANGjNfnSkI2j1AFgDx2p_ytYeXPPmWx2uhKEd04/s1600/Untitled.png" width="176" /></span></a>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Mia Kerick is the mother of four
exceptional children—all named after saints—and five non-pedigreed cats—all
named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband
of twenty years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t
ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Mia focuses her stories on the
emotional growth of troubled men and their relationships, and she believes that
sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a
love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of
tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of
1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She
is thankful to Dreamspinner Press for providing her with an alternate place to
stash her stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Mia is proud of her involvement
with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every victory made in
the name of marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing
or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered
pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">My
themes I always write about:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Sweetness.
Unconventional love, tortured/damaged heroes - only love can save them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Author Links:</b><b style="color: #999999;"> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20619717-the-red-sheet?from_search=true">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mia.kerick">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mia-Kerick/e/B009KSTG9E/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1389575652&sr=1-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://miakerick.com/">Website</a></div>
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Buy Links:</b></div>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IJQS6KS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00IJQS6KS&linkCode=as2&tag=booknookrevi-20" target="_blank">Amazon</a> </b><b><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 33px;">● <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-red-sheet-mia-kerick/1118710756?ean=9781627987158" target="_blank">B&N</a></span></span></b><b><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 33px;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 33px;">● <a href="http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4725" target="_blank">Dreamspinner</a> </span></span></b><b><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 33px;"></span></span></b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tour Coordinator:</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><b><a href="http://bookienookiereviews.blogspot.com/"><img alt="I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews" src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/Cherra_2010/Blog/4c129495-5979-4790-a595-98380ebe0e13_zps51ab5ca8.jpg" height="150" width="150" /></a></b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><b>Please check out the other stops on this tour today:</b></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgko4PDY1EDh3yXst9wt_Q_807XSCUmxjLjZ03B1yF_EE6Jr11L899-ngcTqZl0iOs7ql4HiMeXvv39EDbOx7UNXKyH894JbqTp9J5NYJx9BcIWqfBpj5RGT8iJlbNuo5TyZQBeYYeRIn/s1600/The+Fever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgko4PDY1EDh3yXst9wt_Q_807XSCUmxjLjZ03B1yF_EE6Jr11L899-ngcTqZl0iOs7ql4HiMeXvv39EDbOx7UNXKyH894JbqTp9J5NYJx9BcIWqfBpj5RGT8iJlbNuo5TyZQBeYYeRIn/s1600/The+Fever.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>My Thoughts</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are great elements in this book, but ultimately it did not resonate with me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I guess I’ve just reached my teenage angst appreciation limit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also found the way social media is used to obliterate the souls of young people disturbing. From the moment the students began filming the girls as their little bodies writhed with seizures, I started projecting into their future and empathising with how violated they would be by those videos being placed on youtube. I can’t fault Megan Abbott for her portrayal of this; realistic, stark and as uncompromising as any teenager relishing the misfortune of others can be. I don’t understand why this bothers me so much? My childhood was fairly problem free and still I fret for kids today in this boundary-less multi-platformed world.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The writing though solid, tended towards some wordy and often weird turns of phrases… I’ll leave you to find them. I couldn’t decide if this was strategic; to add a supernatural depth to scenes involving the funky lake phenomena? Or perhaps in this regard the author tried too hard?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I valued the apparent awkwardness of the teenagers as they searched for answers, speculated on the illness, fearing they’d be next while going about their lives, self involved, exploring sex and dripping with their own gossipy venom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I enjoyed the the eerie moments that kept the pages turning. I felt both desperate and frustrated. Desperate to learn why the girls began succumbing to such mysterious symptoms and frustrated the time taken to get to the heart of the matter. Megan Abbott is quite adept at leaving the reader guessing through what I like to call trail confusing tidbits, but this was overdone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I would have preferred a different ending; something more satisfying and cohesive than the mundane explanation given. There are many unanswered questions, which should be addressed. </span></span></div>
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<b><i>My Rating</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">❀❀❀-</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective to the moment. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Summary</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A chilling story about guilt, family secrets and the lethal power of desire, THE FEVER affirms Megan Abbott's reputation as "one of the most exciting and original voices of her generation.”*</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Laura Lippman</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRrPki88pqlQI1hGEiU95SJGBtJdZ_KvbR1vtRkYkgYRUvtWKIhc_gWKjRlpRMwnFRlCcLaldB8CRNzocQUlG8DUICULfF0s8EC98CC5aeqQku-VrU6IvLSJNcUv3Nca5AvedlT9oxNoJ/s1600/Megan+Abbott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRrPki88pqlQI1hGEiU95SJGBtJdZ_KvbR1vtRkYkgYRUvtWKIhc_gWKjRlpRMwnFRlCcLaldB8CRNzocQUlG8DUICULfF0s8EC98CC5aeqQku-VrU6IvLSJNcUv3Nca5AvedlT9oxNoJ/s1600/Megan+Abbott.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>About Megan Abbott</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Megan Abbott is the Edgar® award-winning author of the novels The End of Everything Queenpin, The Song Is You, Die a Little, Bury Me Deep and her latest, Dare Me (July 2012).</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salon, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Believer, Los Angeles Review of Books, Detroit Noir, Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year, Storyglossia, Queens Noir and The Speed Chronicles. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Born in the Detroit area, she graduated from the University of Michigan and received her Ph.D. from New York University. She has taught at NYU, the State University of New York and the New School University.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She is also the author of a nonfiction book, The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir, and the editor of A Hell of a Woman, an anthology of female crime fiction. She has been nominated for many awards, including three Edgar® Awards, Hammett Prize, the Macavity, Anthony and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Pushcart Prize. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-36287339998306184752014-07-10T16:31:00.000-07:002014-07-10T16:31:38.902-07:00Three Books, One Author - Renee Novelle<link href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Parisienne" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link>
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<span style="font-size: 40px;">Three Books, One Author.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px;">Publication Date:</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px;"> June 6, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px;">Genre: </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px;">New Adult Romances</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 20px;">Amazon: <a href="http://amzn.to/1nu1A8T" target="_blank">Crushed</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/SHhvWg" target="_blank">Dance With Me</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1pchpnu" target="_blank">Latitudes</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 20px;">B&N: <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crushed-renee-novelle/1119711278?ean=2940045997331" target="_blank">Crushed</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dance-with-me-renee-novelle/1119711277?ean=2940045997324" target="_blank">Dance With Me</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/latitudes-renee-novelle/1119711280?ean=2940045997355" target="_blank">Latitudes</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 20px;">iTunes: <a href="http://bit.ly/1oTWK45" target="_blank">Crushed</a> | <a href="http://bit.ly/1l8mWUy" target="_blank">Dance With Me</a> | <a href="http://bit.ly/1s5v9CO" target="_blank">Latitudes</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Formerly a freelance journalist, Novelle has found </span><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="1207033d-3543-4d39-bc8c-259a8954a3ca" id="fff0b3df-922c-4cc7-b017-a221a7f7e437" style="font-family: inherit;">placement</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> of her pieces in both online and print publications since 2008. Additionally, she has written multiple screenplays, and contributed her writing </span><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="89e030af-d2e2-4bfc-b09e-4eac5d14ffc6" id="28e6f1fd-a408-463a-bb52-b5bc90dcf32f" style="font-family: inherit;">to</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> many non-profit and for profit organizations. She has launched several blogs over the years, which garnered international attention.</span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Though she received her Bachelor’s of Science in Communication,</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><i style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">summa cum laude</i><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">, she considers herself a constant student of the written word. She’s an avid reader, an enthusiastic quote poster, and rarely takes “no” as a final answer. She has an unhealthy obsession for theater, dance, music and art, and strongly believes that wine is simultaneously the beginning of, and <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d0338475-8611-4c77-924e-02034326082c" id="a068f27a-990e-404b-a5e0-c9acba33d17e">resolution</span> to, all of life’s problems. She believes in following dreams, and that in the end, you always end up where you’re meant to be.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.rsnovelle.com/" target="_blank">Website </a> |</span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/ReneeNovelle" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="color: black; text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="https://twitter.com/rs_novelle" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="color: black; text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/RSNovelle" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><span style="color: black; text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/reneedream/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> | <a href="http://www.instagram.com/rsnovelle" target="_blank">Instagram</a></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-10617521914691541422014-06-03T18:17:00.002-07:002014-06-03T18:17:37.695-07:00A Guest Post by Lee Geiger - "Why did you chose to focus on the world of transgenders for the thematic culture behind Pearls of Asia?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS45e3RQO6XBokiFVvo0fw2yUfX8rWDY-lEcQnlDY1JJN__amJx-r9XXjzauzEhUdNzNejle0Yf9NqROaocQ-CBAkVtFLXuwxN1VnithZ3dp0Sirf-tO2qx0beiKPLkkbryyY0EnSWgoU3/s1600/Pearls_of_Asia_Low-Res_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS45e3RQO6XBokiFVvo0fw2yUfX8rWDY-lEcQnlDY1JJN__amJx-r9XXjzauzEhUdNzNejle0Yf9NqROaocQ-CBAkVtFLXuwxN1VnithZ3dp0Sirf-tO2qx0beiKPLkkbryyY0EnSWgoU3/s1600/Pearls_of_Asia_Low-Res_Cover.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“PEARLS OF ASIA: A Love Story” is not a story about the transgender experience—it’s about finding the courage to take control of your own life.</span></div>
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Self-confidence is one of the underlying themes of the PEARLS OF ASIA. In my view, every personal journey requires a combination of courage and confidence; the courage to take the first step, followed by the confidence to take the next step. Life is chock-full of peaks and valleys, and only those who believe in themselves realize overcoming obstacles is a natural and crucial part of any journey. The transgender characters portrayed in the book learned this lesson early in their journeys to become the person they always wanted to be. All of them, through the power of their personalities, ultimately share this lesson with the book’s protagonist, San Francisco Homicide Inspector Mac Fleet. </div>
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Another theme from PEARLS OF ASIA is regardless of who you are, or where you come from, people are all the same. There are battles to fight, bills to pay, and families to be a part of. The five transgender characters in “PEARLS OF ASIA” are portrayed as a beauty queen (Sheyla), a godmother (Reyna), a diva (Diamond), a working girl (Nadia), and a prodigy (Ashley). I believe you’ll find the same personality types working at Google, attending classes at Harvard, or sharing wine with you at your local book club. Character, not gender, should judge a person.</div>
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Finally, everyone dreams of finding someone to love, and to be loved. To the end, Mac learns that being a man has nothing to do with machismo, and everything to do with being secure in whom he is an what he believes. Sheyla leads Mac to this realization not by her physical beauty but through the power of her feminine attitude. Ultimately, Sheyla convinces Mac she is the right woman for him. </div>
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Now if he can only keep her out of jail.</div>
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... Thanks Lee :D</div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-38173227628826587652014-05-28T18:32:00.000-07:002014-05-28T18:32:39.198-07:00Pearls of Asia by Lee Geiger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published by <a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/145">TWCS PH</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Release Date: 29th May 2014</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">“This is not a drag show, honey. There are no boys in skirts working here. All the beautiful ladies at Pearls of Asia are transsexuals. We also happen to be curvaceous, luscious, and all things deliciously glorious about being feminine. We’re Women 2.0—special girls with special equipment. That’s what makes us, as well as this place, unique. Pearls of Asia is more than just a restaurant; it’s about the quest for self-identity, about the right to own and control one’s body. We leave you questioning everything you think you know and see. If that’s not an outrageously fun night out, then I can’t help you, honey. Do you still want my phone number?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After beloved San Francisco anchorwoman Michelle Osher is found nearly decapitated in her palatial Nob Hill apartment, suspicion focuses immediately on her wealthy, arrogant husband, Paul. Inspector Mac Fleet and his partner are assigned the sensational case, and they quickly uncover an all-too-familiar pattern linking the widowed spouse to Sheyla Samonte, a part-time waitress enjoying a lavish lifestyle on Paul Osher’s dime. The pair of seasoned detectives assume she wanted a promotion from mistress to wife.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The investigation turns on its head when they discover Sheyla, a drop-dead gorgeous dancer born and raised in the Philippines, works at Pearls of Asia, a stylish restaurant featuring a cast of exotic transsexual performers who serve up flirtatious teasers along with delicious cocktails. Mac crawls down a rabbit hole and comes face to face with the restaurant’s uniquely captivating servers—Diamond, Reyna, Nadia, and Ashley—and unveils a fascinating lifestyle full of drama, humor, and high heels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Sheyla refuses to cooperate unless Inspector Fleet takes her to brunch, he agrees even though he knows it’s outside the lines of police protocol. Mac soon finds himself dealing with his own set of personal demons, unable to decide whether to arrest Sheyla or ask her on a date.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ensuing investigation reveals infidelities, betrayals, and a host of people who might want Michelle Osher dead. But as the case heats up, so does Mac’s romantic interest in Sheyla, whose stunning beauty and charming personality compel him to question her involvement, but not her courage, and to cross the line between his personal impulses and professional responsibilities. Convinced of Sheyla’s innocence, Mac devotes himself to finding the real killer. Ultimately, he is moved to take actions he never dreamed of to discover the truth about the case, Sheyla, and himself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Introducing Lee...</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Pearls of Asia</i> is Lee Geiger's debut novel. He is also the author of The Marginal Prophet (<a href="http://www.marginalprophet.com/">www.marginalprophet.com</a>), a popular newsletter that is part information, part inspiration, and all entertainment. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When he's not writing or trading stocks, Lee can be found wandering the streets of San Francisco in search of red wine and pasta, which he considers to be two of the four major food groups</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Connect with Lee</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pearls-of-Asia/225614370810302">FB - PoA</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LeeGeigerauthor"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">FB - Lee</span></a>, <a href="http://www.leegeiger.com/index.html"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Website</span></a>, <span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/832452.Lee_Geiger">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/LeeGeiger">Twitter</a></span></span></span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-70561456960229216622014-05-01T21:52:00.002-07:002014-05-01T21:52:49.089-07:00She Cries by Alexandra Allred<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Release Date: 8th May 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre: Romance/ Suspense </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published by: </span><a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Writers Coffee Shop</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Available from: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/She-Cries-Alexandra-Allred/dp/1612132103/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398822559&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=she+cries+alexander+allred">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/she-cries">Kobo</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/she-cries-alexandra-allred/1118952380?ean=9781612132105">Barnes and Noble</a>, and <a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/143">TWCS PH</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>My Thoughts</u></b></span><div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved this story. It was profoundly suspenseful and deeply disturbing. At times my concern for the heroine Kali and her daughters was overwhelming. They were really in a dangerous situation and had no real understanding of their circumstances thanks to the legal team of Jeremy Connors and their cover up the true character and violent nature of the sporting "hero" (I use inverted comma's to express my sarcasm at term hero used here - Jeremy Connors is no hero, sporting or otherwise).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Australia we have several sporting "hero's" who behave in a manner unbefitting the human race and rather than rant about society and it's acceptance of this from such people; I thought I'd interview the author</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do you love most about writing?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started writing as a young person as a way to express feelings and share stories when I lived in Moscow, Russia. There was no such thing as television, going to the movies, hanging at the mall or playing video games like most kids so writing was an escape. As an adult, it has become so much more. Even with fiction, I can tell stories that can help people. Beyond entertainment, it is immensely satisfying to know your work has made an impact on someone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What would you consider to be the ultimate success for an author? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Most recently, I learned from a school principal that a “fight” broke out on a school bus over my children’s book, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Crossing the Line</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">, as students were taking sides between the Palestinian and Israeli characters and I thought, “A fight? I love it!” That teenagers would be so impassioned to argue over this is amazing! That is the ultimate compliment for an author.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tell us a little about this <i>She Cries</i> - what was your favourite part about writing it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>She Cries</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> was written with another purpose. I am so absolutely tired of reading about famous athletes doing horrible things to young women and walking away because they are famous.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you a “horsey” person?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My horses brought me back in. I really did have a Star. In fact, at the time of the writing, I had three horses and have loved them my entire life. My Star was an old rodeo horse with a bum leg so as I wrote this book and Star gave himself to save Kali’s life, you better know I was bawling as I wrote. I still cry when I read that passage.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>She Cries</i> has some rather heavy scenes in them, one in particular is violent From where do you draw your inspiration when you’re writing those tough scenes? Do you have to put yourself in a dark place?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is the first time I have discussed how my past played into </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>She Cries</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. I don’t even know if my publishing house knows this … for this reason, this book was incredibly difficult and I walked away from it many times. But it was important to write, it was important for people to see how strong women are and it was important that the women in this book save the women of this book!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>She Cries </i>and the themes encompassed by the story have some strong parallels to today’s society (especially in Australia) was there a particular event that prompted you to write this. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger stood accused of raping multiple women, I was stunned after reading a Sport Illustrated article how many people covered for Ben’s behavior. That was my launching point but I have had some bad experiences in my life that I was able to draw from to make it all the more real.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's next for Alexandra Allred?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I have a few non-fiction pieces I want to get out. My roots are in sports so I tend to gravitate back toward great overcoming obstacle stories but I do also want to work on a new book about a young man who was murdered by his grandmother. It is a horrible, shocking story with twists and turns you can NOT make up! In the fiction world, TWCS will be releasing the third instalment of the Allie Lindell series, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>The Anniversary Killer</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> in August so I’m very excited about that!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective to the moment. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></span></div>
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<b><u>Summary:</u></b></div>
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Kali Jorgensen is the head instructor at Rainwash Ranch in Horse Canyon, Utah, leading cattle drives for celebrities and CEOs. Living and working alongside her three young daughters and her in-laws is as perfect as life can be since the death of her husband. She’s all about horses and family until a legal team from Houston, Texas, signs on with one problem athlete, his posse, and a world of trouble, and life on the ranch turns upside down.</div>
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The Jorgensens are unaware of just how deep the legal woes run with the pampered athlete and just how far the legal team will go to protect his image. Even more alarming is Kali’s unexplainable attraction to the lead attorney.</div>
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She Cries is a nail-biting, suspense novel that will leave you signing up for a cattle drive and falling in love with the most unlikely of heroes.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UV1CMs0cG13i0NlwsvE0RkJVqVKSG8HbT1noxbjbJHZmkPxW4FMdVgmftXXZHNQESDBf7M_TB5W5j3phyphenhyphenjISxcKXBmh0IRNLs411ZRmMt64vlXksv-Pa8NjEK_SLPy6mgUU7qhzhb1oo/s1600/aallred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UV1CMs0cG13i0NlwsvE0RkJVqVKSG8HbT1noxbjbJHZmkPxW4FMdVgmftXXZHNQESDBf7M_TB5W5j3phyphenhyphenjISxcKXBmh0IRNLs411ZRmMt64vlXksv-Pa8NjEK_SLPy6mgUU7qhzhb1oo/s1600/aallred.jpg" /></a><b style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Author Bio: </u></span></b></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Alexandra Allred is a former national and professional athlete turned adventure writer turned humorist and novelist. She’s often been called the next Erma Bombeck with a grudge. Her annual Christmas letters, which have frequently made the news, could make the Grinch weep with joy. For a taste of holiday glee, see </span><a href="http://www.allredgreetings.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Blog</a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">. </span></div>
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She Cries is a very personal novel for Allred as many of the horses featured in this book are based on horses she has known and loved, including her beloved Star.</div>
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Allred writes for Waxahachie Daily Light newspaper, continues to testify in Washington D.C. on behalf of children with asthma and our need for clean air, and she’s never too far from her gym in Midlothian, Texas. You can always drop her a note at her <a href="http://www.alexandratheauthor.com/">Email Address</a>.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.allred.3?fref=ts&ref=br_tf" style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook</a><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/alexandraallred" style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.allredgreetings.blogspot.com.au/">Blog</a><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21918088-she-cries?from_search=true" style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goodreads</a></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Also by Alexandra Allred:</u></b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFdz3qVJN6Gg-qlKLeroRrBSqVShb81eT8gAXxM0kfjeEg6K39Oa4EEmiL-8u-vmakOFSK1g4HehU0mlloA_WOsk9r-NFddXOrTxO15rve3XiFw5h9s0asK5xq3qiizG9j-kiKdjQ/s1600/The_Righteous_and_the_Wicked_Hi-Res_Front_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFdz3qVJN6Gg-qlKLeroRrBSqVShb81eT8gAXxM0kfjeEg6K39Oa4EEmiL-8u-vmakOFSK1g4HehU0mlloA_WOsk9r-NFddXOrTxO15rve3XiFw5h9s0asK5xq3qiizG9j-kiKdjQ/s1600/The_Righteous_and_the_Wicked_Hi-Res_Front_Cover.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></span></a></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Available April 10th from <a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books">The Writer's Coffee Shop</a></span></h2>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>My Thoughts:</i></b><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so here it is… my fangirl squee moment…</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>The Righteous and The Wicked</i> is my all-time favourite novel this year. April Emerson has been added to my “Must Read” list. Whenever she puts out a novel, I want to know about it. I am completely satisfied.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know some people have issues with head hopping, point of view changes; but not me. I love it. The different perspectives round out the story perfectly. You can feel the pain that both Emma and Eric are going through. When they have a misunderstanding, the POV changes put you right in the middle, simultaneously feeling their distress and rooting for both of them. In an instant, you are able to both understand and empathise with Eric (you know why he is the way he is) but you can also be terribly disappointed because he’s going to hurt Emma and he can’t seem to stop himself.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These characters are real. I think Eric could even be my first book boyfriend, except I love Emma too much and I would never compete with her that way. Oh but Eric is hot… and Emma’s voyeurism was a turn on… and how it made me feel when Stormy came out to play (yep, you read that right - this review is all about how this book made me feel). I’m a mess. A delicious mess. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s been a long time since I’ve been so emotionally invested in two characters and their romance and I have missed this feeling. I wish I was Emma.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>My Rating:</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀❀</span>❀❀</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. Normally I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change... but this book will forever be A five star book to me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>The Summary:</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Small moments can seem insignificant until they change the course of a life forever. The sound of a bulldozer. A chance meeting at a gas station. A gust of wind through a chime. Benign events become something more when viewed through the lens of fate.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Emma Santori is a prisoner of tragic memories. Locked in a spiral of depression, she leads a desolate and empty life, trapped in her decrepit home. Rooted in routine, she’s numb and vacant. As a lonely Catholic school teacher, her only joy comes from her young students. One Saturday morning, her isolation is infiltrated by a mysterious architect building a home beside hers.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That man is Eric Wilder and he’s keeping a secret that’s destroying his life. Filled with guilt and self-loathing, he’s forced to move often. He chooses the small northeastern town of Pine Lake as his latest refuge, and hopes to make a successful attempt at starting his life over. As always, he’s unable to make that happen.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That all changes when he meets Emma.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She finds herself drawn to Eric when she accidentally bumps into him, but Eric’s unfazed by their first meeting. When a gust of wind brings these two people together once again, Emma discovers Eric’s secret. She’s forced to battle between her Catholic faith and her desire for this stranger.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Their attraction is intense and they soon discover they’re each lonely and longing for what the other has to offer. As their friendship blossoms, Emma realizes her passion and lust for Eric are the remedy to her depression. Eric discovers his feelings for Emma are the only antidote to his secret burden. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">They begin an erotic journey, which leads these beautifully broken people to discover that love can be both righteous and wicked.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Introducing April Emerson</i></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSdDUObR3RTC0oh34Euf6O7ZuiDOn-yf5kZp3bLfq4FWA5cOpefs8OIGl_sg0QlxfvarcsuBP3aRTM1Q_mi_Z6B2G5tx0lA2uy6yPATbWPq5UeGhmbEqTyKYb7Z4nSpqAplazVEK5/s1600/A+Emerson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSdDUObR3RTC0oh34Euf6O7ZuiDOn-yf5kZp3bLfq4FWA5cOpefs8OIGl_sg0QlxfvarcsuBP3aRTM1Q_mi_Z6B2G5tx0lA2uy6yPATbWPq5UeGhmbEqTyKYb7Z4nSpqAplazVEK5/s1600/A+Emerson.jpg" height="200" width="170" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">April Emerson grew up in rural upstate New York, and moved to New York City after graduating from college with a degree in Literature. As a nature lover, living in the city was a culture shock, but she soon began to enjoy being surrounded by so much energy. Submerged in perpetual crowds, April developed a fondness for people-watching, which inspired her to start writing. Drawn to both the light and dark of humanity, she strives to tell sexy and romantic stories with exquisitely complex characters. When she isn’t writing, she loves listening to music or reading a good book, with a glass of wine.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>Connect with April on</i></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/april.emerson.31?fref=ts">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7768320.April_Emerson">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EmersonWrites">Twitter</a></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-89373672992317875362014-04-06T01:38:00.002-07:002014-04-06T01:38:53.395-07:00Obvious Child by Warren Cantrell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaSdFCLC3KNS4zRz3w7IVciG_LkEcfjiOzbsBYhExJUY6AKU3DOMuXTtGvi8ZyHenF5_HH25ZSyJS5iNWONYvi7m1XcXcxU8NFxKUPbJXVvSko6ICm_xXzkLRqQxehmOGrMGXNSvT/s1600/Obvious_Child_Low-Res_Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaSdFCLC3KNS4zRz3w7IVciG_LkEcfjiOzbsBYhExJUY6AKU3DOMuXTtGvi8ZyHenF5_HH25ZSyJS5iNWONYvi7m1XcXcxU8NFxKUPbJXVvSko6ICm_xXzkLRqQxehmOGrMGXNSvT/s1600/Obvious_Child_Low-Res_Cover.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Published By <a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books">The Writer's Coffee Shop</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Available from <a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/138">TWCS</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Obvious-Child-Warren-Cantrell/dp/161213226X">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/obvious-child-warren-cantrell/1118728675?ean=9781612132266">B&N</a>, iTunes and Kobo - April 3rd, 2014</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Thoughts:</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Obvious Child </i>by Warren Cantrell is a strange story to describe, it's part sci-fi, part modern culture, and part drama. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The sci-fi is easy to explore as the tale begins with the first successful time travel experiment being broadcast on YouTube. Of course YouTube is hardly a private medium, so it is not long before the discovery goes viral and the Government is forced to decide on the best use of the technology through a very public forum. Enter the modern culture aspect... Reality TV and the Global Financial Crisis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How do you chose the first suitable candidate to travel through time in today's society? More importantly in today's insecure financial climate, how do you fund such a project? Well... you invite applicants to submit an application along with an entry fee, you choose a select few to compete against each other and have the public vote. A simple enough premise with the obvious elevated drama that accompanies such programs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the real drama, the real depth to this novel centres around the main character Sam Grant, who goes from being a loveable larrikin to being a perfect scoundrel, before he finally chooses a more honourable path. I love stories where a character can grow and change, and come out a better person in the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My main criticism with this book is the author may have taken the degeneration of our Hero a little too far over to the dark side. It's a tricky to balance to maintain and in the end his redemption was proportionate, so I guess that the tension created by Sam's shenanigan's was justified. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Rating:</span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀❀</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Disclaimer</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Summary:</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sam Grant doesn’t want to be famous, but he doesn’t have much of a say in the matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the verge of graduating from college with his master’s in History, Sam and the rest of the world bear witness to the invention of time travel. Revealed via a YouTube broadcast, the brothers responsible for inventing time travel find their remarkable device coopted by the U.S. government. In a magnanimous gesture, the U.S. government holds a worldwide competition to decide who will be the first time traveler in history. This turns Sam’s world upside down after a half-baked joke application he sends in gets him accepted as a contestant for consideration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thrust into a political and media blender set to puree, Sam and his fellow contestants vie for the affections of a worldwide audience who will vote on the eventual winner. As the successive rounds of the contest pass by, and Sam tries everything from indifference to wild irreverence to get himself voted out of the competition, he finds that all his actions only serve to make him more popular.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the contest goes on, Sam and the time travel project become more of a referendum on our society’s fascination with celebrity disasters, and what they will do to make sure the entertainment doesn’t stop anytime soon. Unable to get out of the contest via logical means, Sam learns to embrace the perks sudden celebrity provides, yet also suffers some of its typical consequences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stuck between two worlds—one he can’t handle, and another he can’t control—Sam finds himself considering a third option, one that has him confronting a time traveling reality that terrifies him to his very core.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Author:</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Warren Cantrell is a film and music critic based out of Seattle, Washington. One of the few surviving journalists of the Gonzo school, Mr. Cantrell’s work has appeared in such publications as Lost in Reviews and Scene-Stealers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A classically trained scholar with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in History, Mr. Cantrell has spent the majority of his time since graduation writing novels and paying off his student loans. Working as a critic and an on-the-ground correspondent, Mr. Cantrell has covered the Seattle International and Sundance Film Festivals and has had the pleasure of interviewing people ranging from Sissy Spacek to Joss Whedon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As an established film and music critic, Mr. Cantrell finds that it is best to keep his political views private, except to say that he feels Greedo definitely did not shoot first and that The Misfits ceased to exist the moment Danzig left the band.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A life-long Arizona Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Phoenix Suns fan, Mr. Cantrell enjoys fast cars, Italian opera, Norwegian cinema, Kentucky bourbon, and Motörhead concerts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Meie Script', cursive; font-size: 45px;">Beauty must save the </span><span style="font-family: 'Trade Winds', cursive; font-size: 50px;">BEAST</span><span style="font-family: 'Meie Script', cursive; font-size: 50px;">...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 60px;">Honor Among Orcs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 40PX;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="02a088b7-940d-4bf3-b787-71dc6c2bb87b" id="b3346a37-e62b-44d6-acfd-eb185ff2f350">by</span> Amalia Dillin </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 25px;">Publication Date:</span><span style="font-size: 25px;"> April 1, 2014</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 25px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Available from:</span> <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/honor-among-orcs-amalia-dillin/1119005258?ean=2940149281817">Barnes & Noble</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Honor-Among-Orcs-Orc-Saga-ebook/dp/B00JBQ270U/">Amazon</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Series:</span> Orc Saga, Book One</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Genre: </span>New Adult Fantasy/ Romantic Fantasy </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Blast Page:</span> <a href="http://www.masqueradetours.com/2014/03/new-book-blast-sign-up-honor-among-orcs.html">Masquerade Tours</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After nearly a decade as the king’s whipping-girl, Princess Arianna has no intention of going quietly into marriage to some treasonous noble, or serving obediently as the king’s spy until her death is more convenient. When she discovers a handsome <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="60fbd2dd-a0ec-489d-ad26-81a6a48ad875" id="e2d96540-ff01-4247-90c3-5c2a151e0d86">orc</span>, chained and trapped inside a magic mirror, Arianna cannot help but see a lasting freedom from her father's abuse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Left to rot inside a mirror by the king, Bolthorn never imagined his prayers would be answered by a princess. Nor <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="f6f4ce88-ed51-4a7f-928f-33c5609480a8" id="6a5dff5b-8a69-4a74-9d21-5c695fdb2ca2">did he ever expect</span> to meet so worthy a woman after knowing her father’s cruelty. He needs her help to escape the mirror before the king marches against the <span class="GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark" ginger_software_uiphraseguid="d93eda19-c471-4085-98ce-6ab51a7adcb3" id="d1941d74-d52e-4cac-9f37-55fc9882fe14">orcs</span>, but all he can offer Arianna is ice and darkness in exchange for her aid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If Arianna can free the monster behind the glass, perhaps she might free herself, as well. But once they cross the mountain, there will be no return, and the deadly winter is the least of what threatens them on the other side. Romance blossoms in this gripping fantasy adventure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Meie Script', cursive; font-size: 45px;">About the Author</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amalia Dillin began as a Biology major before taking Latin and falling in love with old heroes and older gods. After that, she couldn't stop writing about them, with the occasional break for more contemporary subjects. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, and dreams of the day when she will own goats--to pull her chariot through the sky, of course. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amalia is the author of the Fate of the Gods trilogy from World Weaver Press, and the soon to be released Orc Saga, coming <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_306738443" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">April 1, 2014</span></span>. You can learn more about her work at <a href="http://www.amaliadillin.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.amaliadillin.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"WARNING: DARK THEMES, EXPLICIT CONTENT"</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Published by </i></b><a href="http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books" style="color: #0225a3;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books</i></b></span></a><b style="color: #0225a3;"><i> </i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>My Thoughts:</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wow... Sapphire Blue by G. Doucette certainly goes off on an unexpected tangent. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have you ever dreamed of a looming catastrophe, where you are just an ordinary bystander watching the drama unfold around you? Imagine a train comes careening, too fast around a corner; you see the engine derail, leaving the tracks speeding to a place no train should go. Transfixed you watch, knowing disaster is coming. Knowing you have no hope of stopping the carriages with your bare hands and your shrill, panicked voice. And knowing all this, you still you cry out a warning and reach out in vain with arms that even if close enough would be able to push the barreling locomotive back on its course.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sapphire Blue is like that. Argent is the train steadily loosing control; Mara is a passenger with no real inkling of her pending doom, and you the reader are the forever traumatised witness wishing desperately to push them both back on a course, towards something true and maybe a little safer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Poor, poor Mara. Her life was so well ordered before the advent of Argent. At first, like so many relationships where a good girl meets a bad boy, the sex is all heat, excitement and raw passion. However Argent isn’t the hero of this tale, he’s not going mend his ways and become the man of Mara’s dreams. He is a sick @$&* with some supernatural shit in his corner, and Mara is the catalyst... the conductive material for a sexual experiment.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This book crosses into dark themes and scenes and the reader should be prepared.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For myself, I enjoyed the story. Yes, even the darkness and the controversy - though it did make me uncomfortable. Possession as a means of sexual exploitation is not a new concept in fiction. Dean Koontz has delved near to this topic on at least two occasions, using hypnotherapy in False Memory and chemical mind control in Night Chills. I would love to discuss this in a bookclub group one day. It would be interesting to analyse / philosophise / debate the difference between the act of giving consent, and supernatural possession creating the illusion of consent. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Read this book and tell me who is the victim and who is the perpetrator, in all the many situations where you can find such identities. It won’t be as simple as you think. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">❀❀❀❀</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective to the moment. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Mara Cantor’s life is boring and uncomplicated, and she likes it that way. She has her internship at the museum—a job she shares with her roommate, Davis—and while it is low-paying and occasionally mind-numbing, it gives her all the free time she needs to finish her thesis. And that is just fine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But when Argent Leeds, the internationally famous playboy and raconteur, visits Mara’s museum, he brings with him the most exciting archeological discovery in decades: the Pazuzu gemstones. Long assumed to be nothing more than a myth by most scholars, the gemstones are rumored to possess mystical powers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Between Argent, his gemstones, and Davis, Mara’s boring life has suddenly gotten very complicated. Now she is caught up in a sexual adventure that is either the most exciting time of her life . . . or the most terrifying.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>About the Author:</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gene Doucette is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist, playwright, humorist, essayist, father, husband, cyclist, dog owner – and a few other things, too. He is, in other words, a writer. A graduate of Boston College, he lives in Cambridge, MA with his family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Sapphire Blue is Doucette’s first foray into the erotica genre, and will be available for purchase in both paperback and e-book formats on February 27, 2014.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Connect with G. Doucette:</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/gene.doucette">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9753.Gene_Doucette">Goodreads</a>, <span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://genedoucette.me/" style="text-decoration: underline;">Website</a>, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/GeneDoucette" style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://genedoucette.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Other books by Gene Doucette</i></b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-44731212007701585102014-02-18T10:57:00.001-08:002014-02-18T10:57:17.798-08:00Andromeda's Fall by Abigail Owen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Andromeda's Fall</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">by Abigail Owen </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Designed by: </span>Regina Wamba from <a href="http://www.maeidesign.com/" target="_blank">Mae I Design</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Publication Date:</span> February 25, 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Series:</span> Shadowcat Nation, Book One</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Genre: </span>Adult Paranormal Romance (18+)</span></div>
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Andie Reynolds is being hunted. After witnessing her mother's violent death at the hands of a pack of wolf shifters, Andie has devoted her life to protecting her community of cougar shifters from a similar fate. But now, a greater threat lies within her own dare, and she must run. If she stays, Kyle Carstairs will try to force their Mating, seeking the added power their union would provide.</div>
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Andie would rather chew off her own foot than end up with Kyle. Though, knowing him, she won't live long either way. Andie's only hope of survival is to Mate the Alpha of the Keller Dare with which she is seeking asylum. But before she can get to him, Andie must first go through A.J., one of the Alpha's Protectors. The incredibly frustrating shifter insists on challenging her story, her skills, her trust… and her heart.</div>
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Andie is running out of options and out of time. But risking the life of someone she loves - just to save herself - goes against every instinct she has.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">MY THOUGHTS</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">There is nothing better that good morphing artwork! The successful blending of the two </span>figures in the cover of <i>Andromeda's Fall </i>is nothing short of astounding. I also love the shadowed areas which serve two purposes; 1) to highlight the features of the main character 2) to hide the more personal areas of her body, giving the viewer a hint of her form without revealing anything… very sexy!</div>
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The red patterned border on the right side is unusual and creates a visual tension that is well executed, especially when offset by the minimalist inking in it's complimentary green on the left. About the only issue I have with this cover is the position of the arm and the bright white triangle of light it leaves against the ladies cheek… but otherwise its perfect.</div>
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Andie crouched low, obscured from view in the underbrush, and watched the compound with a quiet patience born of experience. If her calculations were correct, the next patrol of guards would pass by within the minute. Her posture and expression didn’t shift an inch when, moments later, she was proven correct. As soon as the patrol passed out of sight, Andie moved, swift and silent as a shadow. She sprinted across the well-cut lawn, ignoring the pain radiating throughout her body, and was up and over the wall, using her momentum and the corners formed by a turn in the wall surrounding the installation. She dropped to the ground on the other side with a barely audible thud.</div>
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Andie found herself on the back side of a well-manicured garden. She stayed completely still, crouched low to the ground once more, and took her time observing her location. Ahead, about the length of a football field, she could see light from the main building in the complex. The glow spilled from a pair of glass doors and across the trees and plants, creating patches of dark and light.</div>
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A plan in mind, Andie moved again, using the pools of darkness and groupings of plants for cover. She didn’t go for the doors. They were too obvious and were likely wired for the alarm system and required some kind of code to get in and out. But on the second floor, one of the windows was wide open, allowing the cool nighttime breeze in. With agile grace, Andie swung herself up into the branches of a large tree. She took care to only use her right arm, which slowed her down a bit. As quickly as she could without rustling the leaves, she made her way up to the branch closest to that open window. And she stopped again. And observed.</div>
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Andie didn’t move for close to thirty minutes as she watched. And then, without any warning, she leapt, putting all the power of her feline form into the action. She didn’t shift exactly - she was trying to avoid that right now since it would be seen as a direct threat - but she used the might of the beast inside her to clear the distance to the window. She sailed through the opening and immediately tucked and rolled as she hit the ground. She found her feet and returned to her crouch.</div>
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Using her cat’s hearing, she waited. Someone might have heard the sound of her landing. Her injured left arm was messing with her usual finesse. At the same time as she listened, she also turned in a slow circle, checking that room she was in was empty. Many minutes later, satisfied that she was alone and that no one was coming for her… yet… Andie moved to the door of the room she currently occupied. Cracking it open a hair, she looked down the hallway.</div>
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She tensed to open the door all the way and then froze in place when a deep, male voice sounded from directly behind her, “Stop where you are.”</div>
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<i>Dammit</i>, Andie thought.<i> How the hell did he find me?</i></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">About the Author</span><br />
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Award-winning author, Abigail Owen was born in Greeley, Colorado and raised in Austin, Texas. She now resides in Northern California with her husband and two adorable children who are the center of her universe. </div>
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Abigail grew up consuming books and exploring the world through her writing. A fourth generation graduate of Texas A&M University, she attempted to find a practical career related to her favorite pastime by obtaining a degree in English Rhetoric/Technical Writing. However, she swiftly discovered that writing without imagination is not nearly as fun as writing with it.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-30490519655257354882014-01-28T02:37:00.000-08:002014-01-28T02:37:19.881-08:00Norah by Cynthia G Neale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhy2EKWaqbWr7cWLkOdw5GnjNQ9XJAEGmW93F-2QwzYIMYrC2slwbZXfscmBDl9IsnRQvmVd0o1VL7xajyx-ehu07IRJTI0Nktd_tuerKMJr3oTJqzkRBrPapBA0YtSLKOVxbuESgT2TEt/s1600/Norah+Tour+Graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhy2EKWaqbWr7cWLkOdw5GnjNQ9XJAEGmW93F-2QwzYIMYrC2slwbZXfscmBDl9IsnRQvmVd0o1VL7xajyx-ehu07IRJTI0Nktd_tuerKMJr3oTJqzkRBrPapBA0YtSLKOVxbuESgT2TEt/s1600/Norah+Tour+Graphic.jpg" height="165" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.fireshippress.com/virtual_book_tours/norah.html">Fireship Press Virtual Tours</a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have to start by saying that this book and the author has great potential. For the most part the writing is sound and the flow of description is both easy and real.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Pros: A great Heroine, someone both timid and fearless... and a little bit fickle, but always a woman! Norah is not afraid to venture beyond the norm, e.g. she’s opens a dress shop by taking advantage of the various charitable ladies who try to help the painted ladies. Her scheme is diabolical, and could hardly be considered noble, but it is her first step in getting ahead</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Cons: The story takes a while to really get going. A lot happens, it’s not like it’s boring, but there is so much going on that I really felt it could have been streamlined, to get the pacing moving, at a much more page turning speed. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀❀</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I obtained an ARC with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Norah: The Making of an Irish-American Woman in 19</i></span><span style="font-size: 8px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><sup>th</sup></i></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>-Century New York</i> by Cynthia Neale</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once she was a child of hunger, but now Norah McCabe is a woman with courage, passion, and reckless dreams. Her story is one of survival, intrigue, and love. This Irish immigrant woman cannot be narrowly defined! She dons Paris fashion and opens a used-clothing store, is attacked by a vicious police commissioner, joins a movement to free Ireland, and attends a National Women's Rights Convention. And love comes to her slowly one night on a dark street, ensnared by the great Mr. Murray, essayist and gang leader extraordinaire. <i>Norah</i> is the story of a woman who confronts prejudice, violence, and greed in a city that mystifies and helps to mold her into becoming an Irish-American woman.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Author Bio of Cynthia Neale:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Cynthia Neale </b>is an American with Irish ancestry and a native of the Finger Lakes region in New York. She now resides in Hampstead, New Hampshire. She has long possessed a deep interest in the tragedies and triumphs of the Irish during the Potato Famine or “The Great Hunger.” She is a graduate of Vermont College in Montpelier, VT, with a B.A. degree in Literature and Creative Writing. <i>Norah </i>is her first historical novel for adult readers. She is also the author of two young adult novels, <i>The Irish Dresser, A Story of Hope during The Great Hunger (An Gorta Mor, 1845-1850) </i>and <i>Hope in New York City, The Continuing Story of The Irish Dresser. </i>Her forthcoming book, <i>Pavlova in a Hat Box, </i>is a collection of essays and dessert recipes. She is currently researching and writing a sequel to <i>Norah, </i>as well as a novel about Queen Catharine, a Native American of New York whose village was destroyed by General John Sullivan in 1779.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-42385477512830012482013-12-03T14:45:00.000-08:002013-12-03T14:55:23.993-08:00Goodbye Nothing by Beck Sherman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXXU7JaK-4rt5K1UZnAa_yOZAHeFL_MylCxBx6Dakll7Vg_zYedZ75ES88BpHxXfXS1x6ZolWDI_-XHUEMjsKviiX9jzX8UQmMxdsT9TS8EnZPMqYjcGc-TmgekY57PPItltjPPPxFOqG/s1600/18482898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXXU7JaK-4rt5K1UZnAa_yOZAHeFL_MylCxBx6Dakll7Vg_zYedZ75ES88BpHxXfXS1x6ZolWDI_-XHUEMjsKviiX9jzX8UQmMxdsT9TS8EnZPMqYjcGc-TmgekY57PPItltjPPPxFOqG/s320/18482898.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was one of those books that prove blog posts work. I honestly can’t remember what I was actually looking at the day I discovered <i>Goodbye Nothing </i>but I was researching a different book entirely when I came across a reviewer that had featured this novel as well as the one I was investigating.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The cover is simple, nothing exceptional, though it’s use of solid green blocking is rare. The image was dominated by a large font and the title is split into syllables not words. I guess when you’re describing <i>Nothing </i>then going minimalistic is probably the best course. Anyway, despite being nondescript, the cover grabbed my attention and I moved on to read the summary... and then the blogger’s review (I wish I tagged the page as it would be nice to give the blogger kudos).</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The summary reminded me of Dean Koontz and his style of stories, the review confirmed this aspect and I was sold. I bought the ebook... I wanted this book right away and I was going to read it. Once I started I couldn’t stop; which is awesome when you’ve got all the time in the world, but not so great when you have to work.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Goodbye Nothing </i>is almost like a supernatural disease, it details two people who are ensconced in their own feelings of emptiness (though they were not always this way) and they instigate violence as a way of obtaining a high. They become desiccated shells of the humans they were, they denounce their former lives and choose a path of menace, mayhem and destruction... and occasionally “it” spreads - whatever “it” is. (This is not an accurate description but it’s the best I can give you - read the book)</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m undecided as to whether the violence spawning internal void spreads as a result of contact with the perpetrator or due to the premature departure of a soul that freaks out and seeks a more viable host. But these questions do not detract from the story, they are more a philosophical debate after the fact. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A lot of the nastiness is described in an abstract way, so I think most people would be able to read this and cope with the heinous nature of the tale. There is however one event that will leave you gasping. I had to put the book down for awhile and walk away to breathe clean air and I guess to grieve a little bit. What is especially profound is the way Beck Sherman describes the transformation of Cain Emmerick. His commitment to the emptiness is sudden, complete, irreversible and oh so devastating.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">***Small tangent. I remember hearing about the Port Arthur Massacre and being unable to comprehend how anyone can kill 35 people including children in cold blood. Not long afterwards I was in a discussion with a church minister regarding the concept of redemption. The minister stated that redemption was more than being sorry, it was taking responsibility, owning your actions and bearing the weight of them. The conversation came about when we were analysing how we would feel if God was to forgive to such a person (in this case the Port Arthur Gunman). I said I was fine with that, because if that person truly wanted to atone for his crimes, he would have had to take on the burden of his actions. He would have to taste the fear they felt as they watched others die, he would have to smell the stick of their sheer terror, for himself. He would also have to should and embrace the grief of the families left beyond and the despair of an entire nation in mourning. Such ownership would surely not allow a person to forgive themselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> *** back to my review... <i>Goodbye Nothing </i>had the perfect ending. Forgiveness is the hardest to obtain from one’s own self. There is no forgiveness here, only the realisation of what has been done and the true understanding that there are somethings you can’t take it back, no matter how much you might want to.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Loved it, and the after taste.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">My Rating</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">❀❀❀</span>❀+</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This review is totally unsolicited. I bought the story and chose to review it. The opinions expressed are my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A New Adult Horror Novel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since the night of the accident, Cain Emmerick has felt different. Empty. What was important to him—family, friends, his job—doesn't matter anymore. His new life revolves around that Nothing inside of him and the extraordinary highs he gets from committing random acts of violence. </span></div>
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Seventeen-year-old Joey Morgan is blind, but that doesn't stop her from seeing. Something bad is about to happen. Something that could tear her world apart. For Joey, college life isn't quite turning out like she planned, because before good grades, fitting in, and love, comes survival</div>
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<b><i>Connect with the Author</i></b></div>
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<b><i>On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5807332.Beck_Sherman">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/BeckSherman">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.becksherman.com/">Website</a>, <a href="http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a1002686209/Beck-Sherman/">Shelfari</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/becksherman">Facebook</a></i></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-8795661307604708482013-12-01T23:55:00.000-08:002013-12-01T23:55:03.036-08:00Cover Reveal "Hero, Cursed" by Diantha Jones<link href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Waiting+for+the+Sunrise" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link>
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<span style="font-family: 'Waiting for the Sunrise', cursive; font-size: x-large;">Before he knew the Oracle...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Waiting for the Sunrise', cursive; font-size: x-large;">Before he knew the Quad...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Waiting for the Sunrise', cursive; font-size: x-large;">Before the Great Unknown threatened his world...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Waiting for the Sunrise', cursive; font-size: x-large;">He was a hero, cursed forever.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6667TqvONCCagQmbqpoaCDbEgZqPOl43JtDlICpNhEBC225hsKLapzXdHejJlqfTUUrICGcOFnTZoQWKSxX4AMPi7IMGDvbfW0egcxUxYqKEDchfWfCXAhgkzJrFl3eoTibea2-9mzNGJ/s1600/Hero+Cursed+Ebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6667TqvONCCagQmbqpoaCDbEgZqPOl43JtDlICpNhEBC225hsKLapzXdHejJlqfTUUrICGcOFnTZoQWKSxX4AMPi7IMGDvbfW0egcxUxYqKEDchfWfCXAhgkzJrFl3eoTibea2-9mzNGJ/s640/Hero+Cursed+Ebook.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Cover Designed by:</span> Colin F. Barnes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Publication Date:</span> March 18, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Genre:</span> YA Mythology</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Series:</span> Mythos: Stories from Olympus #2/Oracle of Delphi #3.5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>My Thoughts</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first thing that strikes me about this cover is the art work. I love it when a clever artist creates something interesting to look at. This cover is not your quick glance and move on type of cover. I am fascinated by the bird of prey and where it sits on the hero's torso, the curve of its head and neck taking the same line as the shoulder, the large part of its face perfectly ensconced in one beautifully defined pectoral muscle, its beak crossing the centre chest at just the right spot to add to its definition. Nothing about the bird detracts from the hero's form at all. Beautiful!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The font and the tones used are also suited to the cover and the images within. There is an element of heat alluded to in the golden glow of our hero and the rich browns of the bird. Earthy and Primal. The font though bendy and almost cursive has hard protruding edges that add to the rough and raw nature, whilst its crisp colour and outline give it prominence in the overall arrangement.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">*WARNING*</span> To be read <i>after Prophecy of Solstice's End (Oracle of Delphi #3)</i>. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Contains MAJOR spoilers!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shunned by a family that doesn't understand him, demigod Lenka Tahile aka "Swindle" is a complete loner and he likes it that way. Then he meets the <i>hero</i>, Ace Remedy, the brother of an infamous demigod Prince, and his life goes from bad to worse. Ace is loud, rude, and disruptive to his peaceful existence in every way. He's also hilarious and daring, and Swindle ends up finding a friend just when he thought he'd never have another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But little does he know, becoming friends with Ace was all part of the Fates' plan. Now his past is slowly coming back to haunt him and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Nothing but try <i>not</i> to bring to light the lost love, the failed hopes, and the cursed existence that he would <i>kill</i> to keep in the dark.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17150307-hero-cursed" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Five Facts about <i>Hero, Cursed</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Lenka Tahile is a South African name. The MC was born in South Africa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. "Swindle" is Lenka's <i>celestial</i> name. He is a son of Hermes. Figure it out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. The hawk on the cover is not a tattoo. His name is Bill and he's Swindle's <i>Fauna Morph</i>, an animal that morphs into a weapon on command.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Though it isn't showcased on the cover, Swindle has <i>extremely </i>curly hair. Out of control, I tell you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Just like <i>Solar, Defeated</i>, this novella switches back and forth between the present and the past, and reveals what life was like for Swindle before the Oracle of Delphi came along.</span></div>
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Mythos: Stories from Olympus #1<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Defeated-Oracle-Delphi-ebook/dp/B00BKQ5PBM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373918748&sr=8-3&keywords=diantha+jones" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/solar-defeated-diantha-jones/1114700741?ean=2940016203515" target="_blank">Barnes&Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16181289-solar-defeated" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Diantha Jones was born the day thousands of turkeys sacrificed their lives to fill millions of American bellies on November 22 which also happened to be Thanksgiving Day (Her mother says she owes her a turkey). She is a Journalism graduate who wants to be a career novelist (of books, not Facebook posts). When not writing or working, she is reading on her Nook, being hypnotized by Netflix or on a mission to procure french fries. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Oracle of Delphi fantasy series is her first series. She is also the author of Mythos: Stories from Olympus, a companion series, and there is another fantasy series in the works. She also writes (new) adult fantasy/paranormal romance under the name A. Star. Invasion (An Alien Romance) is her first title released under this pen name. Future releases under A. Star include, Mythos: Gods and Lovers series, the Love & Steampunk series, the Purr, Inc. stories, and more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.diantha-jones.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DianthaJones" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DianthaJones" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/DianthaJones" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://amzn.com/e/B008OHIEUY" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://pinterest.com/dianthajones/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> | <a href="http://www.djsbookcorner.com/" target="_blank">DJ's Book Corner</a></b></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-47533666566331137042013-11-28T22:14:00.002-08:002013-11-28T22:14:45.804-08:00Book Blast! Tearing the Shroud by J.M. Bray<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyxMpVFHQXkJz5QOonag_zx-nVTPW8-C3vlx_ZvtuqnGv1YxgbSpVpXGqj0fsJexKl3XY3jN_6JZYXp0JJOIW3GISNy_Etz9z0cZMM7O8aYIOrFlofQecx2PTQ_m1HTiYev9Hq1xsECOC/s1600/Tearing+The+Shroud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyxMpVFHQXkJz5QOonag_zx-nVTPW8-C3vlx_ZvtuqnGv1YxgbSpVpXGqj0fsJexKl3XY3jN_6JZYXp0JJOIW3GISNy_Etz9z0cZMM7O8aYIOrFlofQecx2PTQ_m1HTiYev9Hq1xsECOC/s320/Tearing+The+Shroud.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Genre: </b>Romantic Fantasy, Fantasy, New Adult</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Publisher: </b></span><span style="color: #053df5; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/">Escape Publishing (Harlequin AU)</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>The Summary</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fall in love, be possessed, hunt a sorcerer and save the world — and Vincent thought calculus was tough.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">1984 — Vincent expected college to be about freedom and girls, but then the nightmares of sorcery, monsters and other worlds began. Not even the surprising attention from his dream girl, Julie, could shake them.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Before he's even nailed his second date with Julie, he's possessed by Coleman, a warrior from another realm. Coleman is hell bent on defeating the monstrous Kafla who threatens to tear into Vincent's reality, changing both his and Coleman's worlds forever. They have one chance to stop them: Vincent must allow Coleman to share his body and wage war against the sorcerer.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now it's up to them, the women they love, and Vincent's rag-tag bunch of role- playing and gaming friends to save the world, or see 1984 descend into the apocalypse.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>About the Author</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">J.M. Bray lives in Southern California with his college sweetheart and their two dogs. After a lifetime together, they are happier than the moment they met.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When not writing or working his "day job", he loves to cook, play the guitar, and travel with his wife. Every chance he gets, he races an old Porsche named "Tuffy" at tracks in the southwest.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Connect With J.M. Bray Through</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><i><a href="https://twitter.com/JMBraybooks">Twitter,</a> <a href="http://www.jmbray.com/">Website,</a> <a href="http://blog.jmbray.com/">Blog,</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JMBray.books">Facebook Author Page</a> & <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003928607731">Facebook Connect Page</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Get Your Copy From</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12px; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?keywords=9780857990976&index=books&linkCode=qs&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20">Amazon</a>, </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/tearing-the-shroud/id712018114?mt=11">iTunes</a></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-83379206331808672032013-11-26T15:42:00.004-08:002013-11-28T22:17:05.450-08:00Jumping Ship by Janice Ross<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelNnS-r1IDtkj_F8qUBrFkXIPl_ic51H2Rp18N2WjNsG2SkPV8ZmkhYR4YmQ4ojZskVmNkvd-Rrd7-ygZwz0He9KJ06Dx8j6_rErAPDkzxFzlbAakMgyl2jsSW9hrDdQ17tf5WMr_6KY-/s1600/Jumping+Ship+Cover+-+reduced+size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelNnS-r1IDtkj_F8qUBrFkXIPl_ic51H2Rp18N2WjNsG2SkPV8ZmkhYR4YmQ4ojZskVmNkvd-Rrd7-ygZwz0He9KJ06Dx8j6_rErAPDkzxFzlbAakMgyl2jsSW9hrDdQ17tf5WMr_6KY-/s1600/Jumping+Ship+Cover+-+reduced+size.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A pre-release novella to the Island Hopping Series</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">66 pages</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>My Thoughts</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i></i></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Jumping Ship was an easy read, delivery exactly what the blurb described whilst alluding to a further mystery. What happened to Pet and Mikey? How did Sakkara come to be abondoned? Something disastrous must have happened in the three months since Pet and Mikey’s escape. Three short months to disaster... Book 2 will hopefully be much more revealing and I am looking forward to it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I think perhaps the summary gives too much of the story away, it could almost have been a synopsis. Nothing much happened beyond what was outlined. That’s not to say that <i>Jumping Ship </i> is not worth reading, it is. It details the plight of Pet and Mikey in a sweet, simple and profound manner. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I enjoyed Janice Ross’s writing style, she didn’t get bogged down in too much extraneous detail and delivered the story in a concise linear order. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>My Rating</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 48px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀❀+</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Disclaimer</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px; min-height: 12px; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
<br />
Rafflecopter <a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cc6f9457/" id="rc-cc6f9457" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>The Summary </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The year was nineteen seventy-five. Pregnant seamstress, Petrina Dugal, became a runaway at the age of twenty-six. She ran away from a brutish husband, Roger, and a well-loved South American home in Georgetown, Guyana; at the heart of her rebellion – an enigmatic lover named Michael Chen. Pet and Mikey allowed love to blossom in front of her police officer husband and an intrusive community. Were they not aware of the dangers? Or did the pursuit of love trump obligations?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pet and Mikey’s journey to their new life took them through a multitude of the Caribbean’s treasure trove of islands – Antigua, Martinique, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, and Saint Lucia. More than a month later their voyage landed them at JFK airport, in New York USA. And they disappeared, as though their existence was a myth. During this time, barren couple, Pearl and Edward Bailey stumbled upon a newborn baby girl. Her cries could only be heard by a true mother, which Pearl immediately became. Bundled up with their new child, they discovered a parcel of artifacts and a scribbled note that read: Sakkara.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sakkara Riley grew up with two loving parents – adoptive parents to be exact. She never knew the circumstances surrounding her discovery, until the age of sixteen. The personal artifacts that were handed over had haunted her from that point on. After eight more years, including much research and probing, she was given the opportunity to begin her journey of self-discovery. </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">“Jumping Ship” provides the introduction to Sakkara’s attempts to commune with her true heritage.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ep5mivXkWJr7sjcWCUyafC9ere_R2UNINZjoEC-p55cbT9wNx-6sUwUuuqjqklETKyB_LykOopOe6XL2nzcU1ukYhAh_1dasd_ST-9sdTmdNHsmcTfFjU3HNb3v9Sg47YwEvq6BN7Zfj/s1600/Promo+pic+of+JR+Jumping+Ship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ep5mivXkWJr7sjcWCUyafC9ere_R2UNINZjoEC-p55cbT9wNx-6sUwUuuqjqklETKyB_LykOopOe6XL2nzcU1ukYhAh_1dasd_ST-9sdTmdNHsmcTfFjU3HNb3v9Sg47YwEvq6BN7Zfj/s1600/Promo+pic+of+JR+Jumping+Ship.jpg" width="167" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>About The Author</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Janice was born in Guyana, South America and migrated to the USA in 1980. Although her citizenship certificate now reads the United States of America, she considers herself a citizen of the world. Sure she has not physically been around the world and back, she’s travelled in her mind and dreams.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Janice is an author. She enjoys writing about social issues and personal experiences. Her latest release, Jumping Ship is a dedication to her country of birth and an introductory novella to the Island Hopping Series – due out in 2014. It’s poised to be a colorful and emotional experience of life, love and family.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Janice enjoys reading. And is drawn to stories with distinct characters that she can love or hate - characters she can form alliances with or characters that she can swear off and despise. She is also weak for a good cultural tale, preferably in the form of historical fiction - whether present day or in the past. Janice love to be taken off guard by clever language or settings.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Janice is also a devout supporter and promoter of other authors through social media. She hosts a weekly show, Cultural Cocktails, on the largest social radio network, Blog Talk Radio.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><b>Links</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.culturalcocktails.com/CC/Welcome.html">Website</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cultural.Cocktails">Facebook</a></span></div>
<div style="color: #0363c1; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://twitter.com/JGRWriter">Twitter @JGRWriter</a></span></div>
<div style="color: #0363c1; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/culturalcocktails">Cultural Cocktails Blog Talk Radio</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eHWMxlDh0pZ3uGuHgGGpk2t9DMa4G9dXFVaiLj05bAHk748UUMu3W00UT90mAs39-Dj8YolRfXgl0j0tg9HDeEnpbF1QyxkJLRom_CIM7xCUGM2WT4TUNsfJ666OxFwS0qd4Ct5oYVCV/s1600/Fiction+Addiction.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eHWMxlDh0pZ3uGuHgGGpk2t9DMa4G9dXFVaiLj05bAHk748UUMu3W00UT90mAs39-Dj8YolRfXgl0j0tg9HDeEnpbF1QyxkJLRom_CIM7xCUGM2WT4TUNsfJ666OxFwS0qd4Ct5oYVCV/s1600/Fiction+Addiction.png" /></a></div>
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<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-71863620759782036472013-11-22T21:20:00.000-08:002013-11-22T21:20:18.180-08:00The Missings by Peg Brantley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCa0UKnfhqc_JkmH6oSHNhZH1_qpvsNaZHKJc4nZB3HKc-z2YMiFi8LFa8WYB_Io5zktQTFWqujUhGUNu__EOZZSi6PonPidQmjRzsa4kF8CmS5Yj1x0PvTDiETpRaaMkJOl-4w36K5Xu/s1600/16286808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCa0UKnfhqc_JkmH6oSHNhZH1_qpvsNaZHKJc4nZB3HKc-z2YMiFi8LFa8WYB_Io5zktQTFWqujUhGUNu__EOZZSi6PonPidQmjRzsa4kF8CmS5Yj1x0PvTDiETpRaaMkJOl-4w36K5Xu/s320/16286808.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>The Missings by Peg Brantley.</i></b> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This novel has been difficult to define. I did enjoy the story and at times I even found myself intrigued by the investigation into “The Missings”. The plot line should have been engaging enough to hold my attention, but I found myself struggling to get through it all. It is only now that I sit at my computer that I feel I am able to explain my response.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There was no mystery. Every piece of information was made available to the reader, early on. We all know someone with repetitive story syndrome... Reading this book, was exactly like that, your listening to a story you’ve heard before, you know what’s going to happen and you try to stifle a yawn so as not to appear rude.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“The Missings” read like a rather long synopsis. A body has been found, chest cavity open, internal organs removed; The detectives decide there are two likely scenarios. Option one is quickly discounted, option two is the path they follow. The culprit is decided upon and found easily. All that remained for the author to outline was the gathering of the evidence. 100 pages of detail.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ok, now that, made it sound worse than it was, and I don’t think it is quite fair. There was a lot involved, including some little diversions with individual characters along the way, that gave the story substance. In this instance not enough weight was given to the characters, their relationships and their motivations. I wanted to understand them, I needed to relate to them, their lives were so deep and complex. But I was just an onlooker listening to something akin to a news item. Distant, dry and impersonal.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>My Rating</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 48px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀+</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 16px; min-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Disclaimer</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px; min-height: 12px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>The Summary</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Aspen Falls, Colorado.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Secrets.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Secrets within a community.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Secrets within a family.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Detective Chase Waters finds himself working the most interesting case of his career—one that comes closer to home than he could ever imagine. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Are the mutilated bodies of young men and women the result of cult… or commerce?</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>The Author</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A Colorado native, Peg Brantley is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Sisters In Crime. She and her husband make their home southeast of Denver, and have shared it with the occasional pair of mallard ducks and their babies, snapping turtles, peacocks, assorted other birds, foxes, a deer named Cedric and a bichon named McKenzie.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Connect With The Author On</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://pegbrantley.com/">Website</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.suspensenovelist.blogspot.com.au/">Blog</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://twitter.com/PegBrantley">Twitter</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16286808-the-missings">Goodreads</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><a href="http://www.crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com.au/p/peg-brantley.html"><span style="color: black;">Crime Fiction Collective</span></a></i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-62013352144581960042013-11-19T22:42:00.002-08:002013-11-19T22:42:53.330-08:00The Lies You Wanted to Hear by James Whitfield Thomson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy20LLhje-KyE-R0zT9-uWzCTEtqcrGWwKDcWhsaGuWsHX5PRBq2kYxqG90t4sgbKE0kStT3r76c5ZDp-gVCDgBbB_RidcXaDfBOEEGJ_LrYraPuLMCUlQvjQkehgNkUKysYRdEzt3KAjH/s1600/Lies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy20LLhje-KyE-R0zT9-uWzCTEtqcrGWwKDcWhsaGuWsHX5PRBq2kYxqG90t4sgbKE0kStT3r76c5ZDp-gVCDgBbB_RidcXaDfBOEEGJ_LrYraPuLMCUlQvjQkehgNkUKysYRdEzt3KAjH/s320/Lies.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>Available from <a href="http://www.sourcebooks.com/book-club-favorites/lies-you-wanted-to-hear-james-whitfield-thomson.html">Sourcebooks</a></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>My Thoughts</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>The Lies You Wanted to Hear</i> spans decades in the lives of Matt and Lucy retelling the complexities of their relationship. The story details their introduction, growing affection, sacrifices, disappointments and betrayals... I came away from this book disturbed by the knowledge that people do crap things to those they are supposed to love. It was quite depressing really.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There was nothing wrong with the writing and there was really nothing wrong with the content. There was an allusion to danger, that the author portrayed quite vividly. I turned the pages dreading what was going to happen, the potential for serious escalation was there, but it just didn’t eventuate and I couldn’t decide whether to be relieved or disturbed by that.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>The Lies You Wanted to Hear</i> is actually a great discussion book. In fact there are topical questions to explore with your book club listed in the final pages, that are designed to encourage the reader to analyze their responses to what they have read - which is fantastic; if that’s what you’re after.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This book and I were just not a good match. I read for pleasure, to escape the everyday concerns and enjoy some light fantasy. If I want to wax poetic about moral versus ethical issues, I’ll attend a philosophy class. If I feel the need to debate the levels of sin, determine who’s lies/crimes are greater, I’ll visit my pastor. If I want something heavier, I’ll put myself in the head in a detective and maybe solve a crime. Want I don’t want; what I’ll never need; is to involve myself in the righteous misery that some people think they are justified to inflict on each other.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀+</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>The Summary </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A deeply moving, beautifully-written picture of how the smallest crack in a relationship slowly, over decades, becomes a canyon too wide to bridge.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When Lucy meets Matt on a blind date, Matt is instantly hooked; he sees Lucy as the fun, sexy, and wickedly smart girl of his dreams. Although she’s still getting over an old lover, Lucy is won over by Matt’s sweet, thoughtful nature. But 20 years later, alone in an empty house trying to imagine the lives of her two young children, Lucy comes to realize that the little lies you tell can create more damage than the truth you’re hiding.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"A gripping debut....a morally complex and thoroughly grown-up novel. " - Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"Hard to believe Thomson is a first time author, given the achievement of this novel. ... I'm still not entirely convinced that these characters are fictional; that's how much they lived and breathed on the page." - Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lone Wolf and The Storyteller</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"No spouse or parent who picks up this book will be able to put it down. Nor will anyone else." - Andre Dubus III, NYT bestselling author of Townie and House of Sand and Fog</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">James Whitfield Thomson grew up on the North Side of Pittsburgh and attended Harvard College on scholarship. After graduation he served three years in the Navy as navigator of a supply ship off the coast of Vietnam. Jim earned a Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, writing his dissertation on the detective novelist Raymond Chandler. Following a brief stint teaching literature in academia, he joined a start-up venture as a salesman. The company’s rapid success allowed him to retire early and devote himself to writing. He has published stories in a number of literary magazines including Agni and The Ledge and has been a Massachusetts Council for the Arts grant recipient. Jim and his wife, Elizabeth, live in a Victorian farmhouse outside of Boston and have five globe-trotting children. Lies You Wanted to Hear is his first published novel. You can find him on Facebook or at <a href="http://www.jameswhitfieldthomson.com/">www.jameswhitfieldthomson.com</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-70090727731628673152013-11-01T07:35:00.002-07:002013-11-01T07:45:38.553-07:00Cover Reveal; Waken by Angeka Fristoe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPh3Tc43PfjebW35wmKMGGxdTD1INS5daWgLiP5F8qsctDaZculaNSEE9JJOm65BH8utvILogvi9SaICRDtSnWF7TjxBcdnsJgHXk0gYsC-8Gqb2mMDakEIVVXVqgLDyuhwXgjHGD8cB4/s1600/Waken+cover+reveal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPh3Tc43PfjebW35wmKMGGxdTD1INS5daWgLiP5F8qsctDaZculaNSEE9JJOm65BH8utvILogvi9SaICRDtSnWF7TjxBcdnsJgHXk0gYsC-8Gqb2mMDakEIVVXVqgLDyuhwXgjHGD8cB4/s200/Waken+cover+reveal.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Check out this Cover - Half Human, Half Bird (?). Well blended and TOTALLY AWESOME!!</span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxGEWh4C837icZZxCLXSv3hadUwTTHZESWp8mAk9-_MCi1Zo1TM20XpLhXDF1fKwq62lQNEy49YTsT5GLKRj00p1bQ9wTHc2xbJ5g4H8kuByXBE3loL613xVi5TqdohGYwDWdVakpVEQ/s1600/Waken+by+Angela+Fristoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxGEWh4C837icZZxCLXSv3hadUwTTHZESWp8mAk9-_MCi1Zo1TM20XpLhXDF1fKwq62lQNEy49YTsT5GLKRj00p1bQ9wTHc2xbJ5g4H8kuByXBE3loL613xVi5TqdohGYwDWdVakpVEQ/s640/Waken+by+Angela+Fristoe.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">Waken (The Woods of Everod, #1)</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">by Angela Fristoe</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Expected Release</b>: January 2014</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Moving to her parents’ hometown of Everod is the last thing Janie Lyndon wants. After years of abuse and eventual abandonment, she’d rather forget they ever existed. Haunted by nightmares of her mother killing her, Janie just wants to be normal.
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The gorgeous Davin Andersen is out of her league, but for some reason he seems to actually like her. The emotions he draws from her are almost enough to make her ignore all of the weird things he says. Almost enough to ignore the way the entire town seems ready to pounce on her as if she were fresh meat.
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Almost, though, isn’t enough when Janie finally discovers what the town is hiding. The town of Everod has been waiting for Janie and if she hopes to survive, she’ll need to confront the truth of who and what she really is.</span>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">About the Author</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIB8spMauDoc5Sgf9jsKPiFiVkHo_qj9GbXCRGVSqpM_-Iu0LW5GBoiRDYEZprHvIo0H75XMjhyDXF5B2At9Z2ZStVYGv1xQ_Fj5zkTGdR4H_TQhIgG5RAXs1G8Gcwcrh9Uj9FmdBeOFM/s1600/author+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIB8spMauDoc5Sgf9jsKPiFiVkHo_qj9GbXCRGVSqpM_-Iu0LW5GBoiRDYEZprHvIo0H75XMjhyDXF5B2At9Z2ZStVYGv1xQ_Fj5zkTGdR4H_TQhIgG5RAXs1G8Gcwcrh9Uj9FmdBeOFM/s200/author+pic.jpg" width="171" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born in Northern Canada, Angela grew up on the Canadian prairies amid dreams of becoming the next Dian Fossey or a world famous flight attendant. Those, however, were never meant to be. Instead she moved to the United States where she divides her time between her family, writing, and her day job as an instruction coach.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Angela was the winner and double finalist in the Romance category of The Strongest Start Contest 2010 hosted by TheNextBigWriter.com. She currently has three young adult novels published through Little Prince Publishing and her fourth novel, <i>Waken</i>, has an anticipated release of January 2014.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.angelafristoe.com/" target="_blank">Website </a>/ <a href="http://www.angelafristoe.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blog </a>/ <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAngelaFristoe" target="_blank">Facebook </a>/ <a href="http://www.twitter.com/afristoe" target="_blank">Twitter</a><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Other Books by Angela Fristoe</span></span></b><br />
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<a href="http://amzn.to/15z27Oz"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCV3AMy-HF197pnc3IJ6bPWJbYeJlpliU47DiaT1myKq6dXqEabeYYMefZVqFYw540JclwKUoU_0JVvXojEoF4wjJ7X83rdFVSFEjFfKe2GD3Q-Pfv18X52l6z6SKhxDdADR2cKcSas_c/s200/Songbird+front+cover+2.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="http://amzn.to/185V8LY"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJOOhkDzIaZlaCQ_hKCDJriRkB0YChIOlDgNHogG8A4jRxAc6I2H_t03M9uyXcakU043bU8ffpbVSZvZUSIwXmyjqBw61un6R25gaj9vL8QkTWO76kV6QzTi8dcp99aR2Q7ecwhG48lg/s200/new+full+cover+ebook.jpg" width="129" /></a> <a href="http://amzn.to/16SiWDT"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivcEvTvAte6UIrHDYC4e0vILNFRXx-u-iayfPTEP8GknxzbRgZZecNQZJkGBYFNIhd0ANoUFYd_cM1Nw5z7w4R169nKCFSq8GqrvveKXPeW2RtKjtc4CZWJz9Syb8P4ZaDSjzvRhsgfSU/s200/final+ebook+cover.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-84692609587042827882013-10-29T21:19:00.000-07:002013-10-29T21:19:17.162-07:00Wild Child by Molly O'Keefe<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03Llf-BQgeSNseXVpuHfdqvLYvlzw20uiHPHLmN8i51V9SApyTwd9TVfPiBnoa7lA6QGPZa6Uq6ZaK4mF2P7LTHHEAglgUM6X0NiKWJGwFwEddoRZa5pdhTP2nXCE3kz5dQ1O0UleiX1B/s1600/Wild+Child+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh03Llf-BQgeSNseXVpuHfdqvLYvlzw20uiHPHLmN8i51V9SApyTwd9TVfPiBnoa7lA6QGPZa6Uq6ZaK4mF2P7LTHHEAglgUM6X0NiKWJGwFwEddoRZa5pdhTP2nXCE3kz5dQ1O0UleiX1B/s1600/Wild+Child+2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Wild Child</i> by Molly O’Keefe is the complete package. This is more than your simple romance novel, there is drama in a multitude of misunderstandings; deception in both internal (self deception) and external (deceiving others) forms; hope in the competition that could save the town; humour in many absurd situations and a rather comical looking dog; and complexity in all manner of relationships (familial, community and personal).</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The characters are complex and have emotional baggage. Their issues run deep and at times I wondered if Monica and Jackson (the main protagonists) would ever resolve a thing. I despaired they would ever get together. It appeared that Monica’s (heroine) hangups would derail their budding relationship, fortunately the author recognised this as “point of no return” and Monica found herself struggling to rein in her anxiety levels before demonstrating an element of personal bravery. Thus began her journey to recovery.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Jackson (our hero) was a walking contradiction. After years of selfless service; he put his life on hold, first for his sister and then for his home town Bishop - he plans a future without either of those things. His superficial goals are the reason most of his relationships are shallow, they are also the impetus behind some rather poor decisions. Fortunately he too, comes to appreciate the town and its inhabitants and begins to make better choices than before</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Without detracting from the main story, Molly O’Keefe introduces a series of secondary plot lines with characters who serve to enrich Monica and Jackson’s interactions and promote their personal development as they each begin to open up to themselves, each others and their friends. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A truly a well rounded book.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>My Rating</i></b></span></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 36px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">❀❀❀❀+</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Disclaimer</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher (via Netgalley) with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>The Summary</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i></i></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Monica Appleby is a woman with a reputation. Once she was America’s teenage “Wild Child,” with her own reality TV show. Now she’s a successful author coming home to Bishop, Arkansas, to pen the juicy follow-up to her tell-all autobiography. Problem is, the hottest man in town wants her gone. Mayor Jackson Davies is trying to convince a cookie giant to move its headquarters to his crumbling community, and Monica’s presence is just too . . . unwholesome for business. But the desire in his eyes sends a very different message: Stay, at least for a while.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Jackson needs this cookie deal to go through. His town is dying and this may be its last shot. Monica is a distraction proving too sweet, too inviting—and completely beyond his control. With every kiss he can taste her loneliness, her regrets, and her longing. Soon their uncontrollable attraction is causing all kinds of drama. But when two lost hearts take a surprise detour onto the bumpy road of unexpected love, it can only lead someplace wonderful.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIcMyDkBGgS3hWFGmUR5sD2Pd3G9Uj57DMHKlLChWuyqRxw6xMhpO_dki2eiy8mIikNv8BETr5HIeL7UWv3Fe3UGvMK2gGJtOM9ETjYrdSyd83DeJUupd3YV0S7HMtX5iJr4QFxA3VluA/s1600/MollyOKeefe1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIcMyDkBGgS3hWFGmUR5sD2Pd3G9Uj57DMHKlLChWuyqRxw6xMhpO_dki2eiy8mIikNv8BETr5HIeL7UWv3Fe3UGvMK2gGJtOM9ETjYrdSyd83DeJUupd3YV0S7HMtX5iJr4QFxA3VluA/s1600/MollyOKeefe1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>About The Author</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Molly O’Keefe has always known she wanted to be a writer (except when she wanted to be a florist or a chef and the brief period of time when she considered being a cowgirl). And once she got her hands on some romances, she knew exactly what she wanted to write.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She published her first Harlequin romance at age 25 and hasn’t looked back. She loves exploring every character’s road towards happily ever after.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Originally from a small town outside of Chicago, she went to university in St. Louis where she met and fell in love with the editor of her school newspaper. They followed each other around the world for several years and finally got married and settled down in Toronto, Ontario. They welcomed their son into their family in 2006, and their daughter in 2008. When she’s not at the park or cleaning up the toy room, Molly is working hard on her next novel, trying to exercise, stalking Tina Fey on the internet and dreaming of the day she can finish a cup of coffee without interruption.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Connect with the Author</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>On <a href="https://twitter.com/MollyOKwrites">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MollyOKeefeBooks">FaceBook</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/223845.Molly_O_Keefe">Goodreads</a> & Molly's <a href="http://www.molly-okeefe.com/">Website</a></i></b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-34989554797623305782013-10-22T03:13:00.000-07:002013-10-22T03:20:52.081-07:00Shadow Woman by Linda Howard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-iHL38lUuXMgd4LZHOFnDFyj-RrWjRQxkdUB_0Ov2D67vpNCSv4DDkCma3jGhGtutlFW88qu2w3BIe05WudPDCKSl7A5utXU-xSRDmuHIJrQH4ThDPOqGyEHf1sC5WHZNA87ThRdg5LH/s1600/9780345506931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-iHL38lUuXMgd4LZHOFnDFyj-RrWjRQxkdUB_0Ov2D67vpNCSv4DDkCma3jGhGtutlFW88qu2w3BIe05WudPDCKSl7A5utXU-xSRDmuHIJrQH4ThDPOqGyEHf1sC5WHZNA87ThRdg5LH/s1600/9780345506931.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>My Thoughts</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I actually loved Shadow Woman by Linda Howard - right up until the ending. The prologue intrigued me; I wondered what occurred to warrant Lizzie’s transformation and her isolation? How did she come to be under surveillance, watched 24/7 by two separate groups? I listened to this book in audio format, and those around me at the time were also interested. We had discussions about what happened to Lizzie; we speculated as to the link between her and X; we debated her association to the events outlined in the beginning?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where did the story go wrong? Linda Howard spent the bulk of the novel leading up to a massive climax. The reader is lured into thinking a fantastic shoot out is coming, and it doesn’t happen the way it should. In fact, the two main characters are barely involved in the conclusion at all. How is that even possible? If the book is about Lizzie and X, the finish should be theirs as well. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, as a reviewer of mostly romance novels, I’m also going to add something quite unusual for me... A profession of love could have been left out of the story all together. It was out of character and if genuinely delivered, the recipient should have been floored, but it was just ignored. Furthermore, I don’t think the declaration was necessary, I mean who stalks someone for several years, on their own dime, if not for love?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So... how do I rate a book that was awesome until the very end? 2+ seems too harsh and 3 feels too generous. I really am that disappointed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Rating</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">❀❀❀-</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I purchased an audio book for my own reading pleasure. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>Summary</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lizette Henry wakes up one morning and makes a terrifying discovery: She doesn’t recognize the face she sees in the mirror. She remembers what she looks like, but her reflection is someone else’s. To add to the shock, two years seem to have disappeared from her life. Someone has gone to great and inexplicable lengths to keep those missing years hidden forever. But the past always finds a way to return.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Strange memories soon begin to surface and, along with them, some unusual skills and talents that Lizette hasn’t a clue about acquiring. Sensing that she’s being monitored, Lizette suddenly knows how to search for bugs in her house and tracking devices in her car. What’s more, she can elude surveillance—like a trained agent.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enter a mysterious and seductive stranger named Xavier, who claims he wants to help—but who triggers disturbing images of an unspeakable crime of which Lizette may or may not be the perpetrator. With memories returning, she suddenly becomes a target of anonymous assassins. On the run with nowhere to hide, Lizette has no choice but to rely on Xavier, a strong and magnetic man she doesn’t trust, with a powerful attraction she cannot resist. As murky waters become clear, Lizette confronts a conspiracy that is treacherous and far-reaching and a truth that, once revealed, may silence her and Xavier once and for all</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NXGDkatZhqaDlCYiUBomorwh3zNsJQOEajxEjtyT7MXf2ej5SaNjRvVdoh3sL9SzgdMHoTxGWd2v8opsmxGoA_kRUXxQ7yd1PnxwHkBbkQHUr1gvQwKcS4AucEfLV-Vy5-90ym0yNTmX/s1600/Linda+Howard.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NXGDkatZhqaDlCYiUBomorwh3zNsJQOEajxEjtyT7MXf2ej5SaNjRvVdoh3sL9SzgdMHoTxGWd2v8opsmxGoA_kRUXxQ7yd1PnxwHkBbkQHUr1gvQwKcS4AucEfLV-Vy5-90ym0yNTmX/s1600/Linda+Howard.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<b><i>Connect with Linda Howard</i></b></div>
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<div style="color: #181818; font-family: Verdana; text-align: center;">
on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16961.Linda_Howard">Goodreads</a> </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555208771361650937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2666249868621037414.post-74143674260809448212013-10-20T04:09:00.004-07:002013-10-22T03:02:16.800-07:00The Countess's Groom by Emily Larkin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUImtUZfQuvT0xtRO2M2rx3h8vvmQ8YDb7t8GkAWwi_6f0G3vHn8e57aKUrrRQE2xJSUWUeVGb94DClsVJapW1LE3UrzN6Ke_lZFynCVmanULZAaGs-_HrKUgvwCOA0hYIOrFhYyclJ-Pb/s1600/18308603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUImtUZfQuvT0xtRO2M2rx3h8vvmQ8YDb7t8GkAWwi_6f0G3vHn8e57aKUrrRQE2xJSUWUeVGb94DClsVJapW1LE3UrzN6Ke_lZFynCVmanULZAaGs-_HrKUgvwCOA0hYIOrFhYyclJ-Pb/s320/18308603.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18308603-the-countess-s-groom">The Countess's Groom</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6943048.Emily_Larkin">Emily Larkin</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Published by <a href="http://www.entangledpublishing.com/the-countesss-groom/">Entangled Publishing</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><i>The Countess’s Groom by Emily Larkin</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I want to ask why is this a short story? It was a fantastic read, but it ended to soon. It was certainly over before I was ready for it to be done. It could have been longer and at times I felt that that story lines were cut too short. Information that the reader could have benefited from appeared to have been axed, quite brutally. Yes, this kept the plot moving, there were no lengthy descriptions waxing poetic at the scenery, but it also meant there was some depth missing to important event sequences. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I would like to see this extended into a full length novel.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Emily Larkin does a fantastic job at making the reader invest in her characters, even within the limited word count. She created a tale that was, well, a little bit nerve racking... I worried the Countess’s letters would be found and her affair would be exposed. I worried her vile husband would discover her duplicity and foil her plans of escape. I worried she would suffer more beatings. I worried the groom would be accused of theft, then I worried he wouldn’t return. My autocrit report is going to pull me up on how many times I used the word “worried” in the sentences above, but I think it’s important to let you know just how anxious I was.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Is a short story really supposed to illicit such strong concern? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>My Rating</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">❀❀❀❀-</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I would happily read more from Emily Larkin, especially something of a greater word count</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Disclaimer</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I obtained an ARC from the publisher with a view to providing an honest review. The thoughts expressed above, are entirely my own. I don’t really like the concept of rating novels as they are subjective and subject to change. A five star book today, may be re-evaluated when compared to future novels.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>The Summary</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rose, the Countess Malmstoke, is trapped in a marriage from hell. Escape seems impossible—until her horse groom Will Fenmore offers to help her find a way out.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Will has loved Rose since she was brought to Creed Hall as a new bride, but their relationship has only ever been that of mistress and servant. Born worlds apart, Will knows he could never be her husband, but maybe he can be her salvation.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">As they plan her escape to the American colonies, Rose learns to trust Will with her life and her heart, but trusting him with her body is another matter. Can she conquer her fear of the marriage bed? Is the future she dreams of—being Will’s wife—possible?</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About the Author</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Emily grew up in a house full of words and books -- her mother worked as a librarian and her father was a novelist – so perhaps it’s not surprising that she became a writer.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">She loves to travel and has lived in Sweden, backpacked in Europe, and journeyed overland in the Middle East, China, North Africa, and North America. She enjoys climbing hills, yoga workouts, and watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Emily writes fantasy novels (with strong elements of romance) as Emily Gee, and historical romance novels as Emily Larkin.</span><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div>
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