Monday, June 29, 2015

Interview with Rebecca Marie, author One Month Week Day Hour Minute Second



Title: One Month Week Day Hour Minute Second
Author: Rebecca Marie
Publisher: iUniverse
Pages: 113
Genre: Self Help/Personal Growth
Format: Ebook
 Purchase at AMAZON 

Abuse knows no boundaries. It doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, old or young. It can enter your life at any time and stay as long as you let it. In One Month Week Day Hour Minute Second, author Rebecca Marie discusses that the key is to release the secrets, talk about the abuse, and take the power away from the abusers. In this memoir, she shares her personal journey surviving sexual and physical abuse, describing how abusive patterns started at a young age, how negative self-esteem continued to grow, and how it ended in her falling in love with a psychopath. One Month Week Day Hour Minute Second narrates how Marie was victimized and lived in daily fear and despair, but discusses how she chose not to remain a victim and took power over her own life. Hoping to break the cycle of domestic abuse one victim at a time, Marie tells her emotional story to call attention to the problem of domestic violence. Her story shows there is hope for others.   amazon  


Question1- What part of the writing process is the easiest/hardest for you? My mind kept organizing how the book needed to be written.

Answer: Once I set a goal and a timeline the writing became the easiest part. I had my story in my head for years and it was like my brain was organizing what the words needed to be all along. The hardest and most time consuming part was the editing and then marketing the book to get the message out there. This is an ongoing process.

Question2- If you could pick one thing from your book that you want people to
take away from it, what would it be?

Answer: We all need to be advocates to put an end to abuse and domestic violence. There is always hope and no one needs to go through this journey of recovery alone.

Question3- Where did the idea for your book come from?

Answer: My personal life as this is a memoir, I lived the story.

Question4-Was there a lot of research involved in writing your book?

Answer: No research, however there was a great deal of soul searching and reliving the past traumatic life events.

Question5- Do you listen to music while you write (if so, do you have a playlist I
can share?), or do you prefer quie


Answer: No.



Rebecca Marie enjoys being a mentor and her goal in sharing her story is to help others see there is hope.

The Compass by Christopher T. Rand, author of Silver Diaspora


Title: Silver Diaspora
Author: Christopher T. Rand
Publisher: iUniverse
Pages: 320
Genre: Historical Memoir
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Purchase at AMAZON

 At the outset, the members of author Christopher T. Rand’s family lived in a world of great wealth. They were among the richest people in the United States. But they then faced a dilemma: compelled to choose between staying on in their ancestral world or keeping up with the times in the nation around them and integrating themselves into the American mainstream. With each generation, the pressure on these individuals to choose between escape or immersion into the society became more and more intense. In Silver Diaspora, Rand examines his family’s roots in the northeastern United States and chronicles his journey through these times, against the backdrop of the family history. Embarking on a search of a better new world, Rand’s parents leave the East Coast and land in California. From here, this memoir follows Rand through college at Berkeley, travels abroad, work in the petroleum industry and his experiences as a writer. Describing the people, places and experiences that impacted Rand’s life, Silver Diaspora provides one man’s insight into the world in the latter two-thirds of the last century.   amazon  


The Compass.
I always wanted to be a writer, from childhood.


Rand portrays the growth and evolution of the privileged, highly affluent world in which he grew up. Among the richest people in America, the members of his family formed a broad panorama of figures in equal measure sarcastic, long-suffering, glamorous, blindly superstitious and randomly frustrated -- comedians of the erratic. However, as their generations succeeded one another, they wrestled with the dilemma of staying on in their ancestral world or integrating themselves into the American mainstream. Through a historical and social narrative that covers the growth of the nation from colonial times to the present, Rand’s work, from the perspective of their lives, up through his parents and closest relatives, gives personality and life to a broad range of striking figures and major political and social developments in the history of our nation.

Christopher T. Rand has worked as a writer, consultant, and translator. He is the author of Making Democracy Safe for Oil and has worked on litigation with the Federal Trade Commission and the state of California. Rand lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has two children.  

Aeromancist by Charmaine Pauls (Book Cover Reveal)




About The Book



Title:  Aeromancist
Book 3: Seven Forbidden Arts Series
Author: Charmaine Pauls
Genre: Paranormal Erotic Romance
Publisher:  Mélange Books
Publication Date: July 6, 2015


Preorder Book Buy Links: 
Amazon:   http://www.amazon.com/Aeromancist-Seven-Forbidden-Arts-Book-ebook/dp/B010766W5S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1435450290&sr=1-1&keywords=aeromancist



Book Description:

Passion always comes with a price.

All he could offer was thirty days of passion.

He condemned her to a terrible fate instead.

Now he’ll do everything in his power to save her.

He is known as the Weatherman. Lann Dréan is the last of his kind. A price on his head, chased for a power he should not possess, he can’t promise any woman forever. All he can offer Katherine White is thirty days of passion. But his uncontainable desire comes with an unforeseen price. Lann’s lust will cost Kat everything. Now he’ll do anything to save her from the fate he has brought upon her.

* This book contains adult content with explicit language and frequent, consummated love scenes, including light bondage, sex toys and breath play. Reader discretion is advised.

 

About The Author


Charmaine Pauls was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. She obtained a degree in Communication at the University of Potchestroom, and followed a diverse career path in journalism, public relations, advertising, communications, photography, graphic design, and brand marketing. Her writing has always been an integral part of her professions.

After relocating to France with her French husband, she fulfilled her passion to write creatively full-time. Charmaine has published six novels since 2011, as well as several short stories and articles.

When she is not writing, she likes to travel, read, and rescue cats. Charmaine currently lives in Chile with her husband and children. Their household is a linguistic mélange of Afrikaans, English, French and Spanish.

Read more about Charmaine’s romance novels and psychological short stories here on www.charmainepauls.com.


Contact Charmaine at:

Website: www.charmainepauls.com 
Blog: www.charmainepauls.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Charmaine-Pauls/175738829145132 Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharmainePauls Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AuthorCharmainePauls

 

Book Cover Reveal Event Page




Thursday, June 25, 2015

Poetically Baring My Soul by Jerald Brown Book Blast!



Title: Poetically Baring My Soul
Author: Jerald Brown
Publisher: Jerald Brown
Genre: Poetry
Format: Paperback

 Poetically Baring My Soul is a poetry book that offers a honest inscription of trials, feelings, thoughts, and revelations. It creates a visual image from personal accounts within the expressions of the writings. Poetically Baring My Soul invites all those who have an acceptance of faith, a honesty and even accountability of self, and a vivid appreciation of metaphors and wordplay, to embrace the poems inside.

  ORDER INFORMATION Poetically Baring My Soul is available for purchase at  
amazonBN

  I was born and raised in Danville, Il, a small town about 2 hours outside of Chicago. My parents, J.W. and Dizer Brown instilled values and principles of life in me at an early age. I enlisted into the Army 10 days after graduating high school and the discipline I received added to my upbringing, shaping me into the man I am today. My love for poetry began through hip hop. I had aspired to become the greatest rapper of all time! Alongside the music, I would write little poems about anything from my surroundings, to my feelings, to my experiences. Eventually, those "little poems" turned into pieces of my life. Poetically Baring My Soul is my very first book. It provides a testimony to the trials and tribulations I've faced, my growth into manhood, and expressions of my spirit, soul, and body. I wrote this book to honor God with this gift, glorify Him, and to connect with others who may share in my walk through life. I am a man of faith. I am confident that my poems will explain my purpose, provide insight, and give readers a honest look into my heart.

For More Information

Visit Jerald’s website.
Facebook
Twitter

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Breaking the Silence: A Novel of Spain's Civil War by Maria J. Nieto Book Blast - Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

496861_Personalized-Banner-Ad-with-ebook_L1

Breaking the Silence Title: Breaking the Silence
Author: Maria Nieto
Publisher: iUniverse
Pages: 202
Genre: Historical Thriller
Format: Kindle/Paperback

 On a sweltering summer day, the streets of Old Madrid that once resonated with the laughter of children playing are empty and silent. But inside the apartment buildings there is life as families faithfully wait for updates about an army uprising in Spanish Morocco. Before long, their greatest fears come true. As rebel troops storm Madrid and chaos fills the streets, six-year-old Mari wonders why she cannot go outside to play. Unfortunately, she has no idea she is about to be trapped inside the abyss of what is rapidly becoming a ruthless civil war.

Already emotionally wounded by the absence of her mother, Mari attempts to go about her fear-filled days living with her father’s family, which includes a grandfather who lovingly teaches her about the history leading up to the conflict. As she embarks on a coming-of-age journey submerged in the darkness of war, Mari somehow stays alive despite the decisions of an intimidating, ruthless dictator, starvation, and brainwashing by the new Fascist regime. But when circumstances lead her to inadvertently commit the ultimate betrayal, Mari must face the horrifying consequences of her actions. Breaking the Silence shares the compelling tale of a little girl’s experiences as she attempts to survive amid the horror and death surrounding the Spanish Civil War.

The author spent her childhood in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and the post war years that followed the war under a brutal dictatorship. As an adult, and after four years in the US Navy, Maria graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia with degrees in nursing and nursing education followed by graduate and post graduate degrees in mental health education and counseling psychology. After teaching psychiatric nursing in Philadelphia, the author moved to New Mexico where she worked in mental health services for the Indian Health Service, and later worked for the University of New Mexico in the department of Emergency Psychiatry. Now retired, Maria still lives in New Mexico with her horse. 
 

Maria is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 
Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
  • This giveaway begins June 15 and ends on June 26.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on June 27.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

From New York To The Smokies by Wayne Zurl




Title: From New York To The Smokies 
Author: Wayne Zurl 
Series: 5 Book Anthology Collection from the Sam Jenkins Mystery Series 
Publisher: Melange Books, LLC 
Publication Date: April 16, 2015 
Format: Paperback - 163 pages / eBook  / PDF 
ISBN: 978-1680460780 
Genre: Mystery / Police Procedural   


Buy The Anthology Collection:

Book Description: 

Author Wayne Zurl is back with his popular Sam Jenkins Mysteries SeriesFrom New York To The Smokies is a 5 book anthology collection from the Sam Jenkins Mysteries Series!    


THE BOAT TO PRISON 

Seventeen-year-old Sam Jenkins is busy fishing and falling in love with a girl named Kate. But with a father involved with the union and a divorced mother, Sam often finds himself acting like the adult of the family. During a fishing trip off Long Island, Sam overhears a conversation involving dangerous plans that can land his dad in jail. To keep his father out of prison, Sam teams up with detectives from the county’s rackets bureau and enlists the help of two friends to pull off an operation far beyond their usual high school curriculum.   

FAVORS 

Police community Service Aide Liz Lopez should be in fine spirits—she’s in line for a promotion to police officer and a raise. But her sullen demeanor tells her boss, Lieutenant Sam Jenkins, that Liz is anything but happy. Jenkins begins an unofficial investigation to find out what’s going on. The detective learns of a bizarre home life and a dark secret Liz keeps under wraps. FAVORS is a story of how the police take care of their own—in an honest and compassionate way.   

ANGEL OF THE LORD 

A killer is on the loose in Prospect, Tennessee. He strikes repeatedly, each time leaving a cryptic message for the police to find. By the time a fifth body turns up, Police Chief Sam Jenkins is under pressure—either solve the murders or bring in outside help. But the chief’s ego won’t allow others to work his cases. And at the eleventh hour he tracks down a prime suspect, but death is only seconds away for the next victim.   

MASSACRE AT BIG BEAR CREEK 

A misunderstanding between hunters rapidly escalates into a battle not seen in Southern Appalachia since the Hatfield and McCoy feud. As bodies pile up faster than evidence, Sam Jenkins and the officers of Prospect PD scour the remote hills and valleys of East Tennessee and North Carolina to solve a case that reads more like an old west adventure than a modern police drama.   

ODE TO WILLIE JOE 

Prospect, Tennessee Police Chief Sam Jenkins receives two reports of UFO sightings in three days. The gritty ex-New York detective doesn’t believe in coincidence…or space aliens, but he can’t find anything to explain a glowing spaceship and little green men—until he sends Sergeant Stan Rose and Officer Junior Huskey to Campbell’s Woods. They call in a startling discovery, and the investigation begins.


  
    


Book Excerpt:

     From ANGEL OF THE LORD

The rain never stopped. From early June through late August, it poured or drizzled almost every day. I thought if I stood still too long I might begin to mold. It reminded me of the monsoons in Southeast Asia.
Drops of rain falling from the brim of my cap were exceeded only by the young woman’s tears.
“When did you see the boy last?” I asked.
“Right after breakfast. He went into the living room to watch TV, and I started doing laundry in the basement.”
“And when you came upstairs he was gone?”
More tears rolled over her cheeks as she stood there, wringing her hands. “Yes.”
“Was your door locked?”
“Lord have mercy, no.”
“Is your son’s rain jacket here?”
She shrugged and cried a little more.
“Let’s look,” I suggested.
We walked to the mud room off the kitchen. A small hooded jacket hung on one of the five pegs over an antique wooden chair not six feet from the back door. A small pair of bright blue rubber Wellingtons sat on the floor.
“You call for him outside?”
“Of course. I ran all around.”
Without the puffy eyes and fear scarring her face, Emily Suttles would have been an attractive brunette.
“And then you called 9-1-1?”
“Yes.”
“What was he watching?”
“I don’t know. He knows how to work the TV.”
“You turn it off?”
“One of the policemen did.”
“Let’s take a look.”
She stared at me as if I had two heads. “Why?”
“Indulge me.”
Back in the living room, Emily picked up the remote control and turned on a flat screen about the size of a stretch van. The American Movie Classics channel came on playing a scene from Halloween 4.
“Did you or the cops look through the house?” I asked.
“Yes, of course.”
“All over?”
“Every room.”
“Slowly or quick?”
“Quick. I was frantic.”
“Let’s try again. Where’s Elijah’s room?”
“Upstairs.” Emily began to look impatient. “I know he’s not there.”
We walked upstairs anyway. I looked under the bed. Nothing. The boy’s mother called his name. More nothing. I opened the closet. Huddled in the left corner, leaning against the wall, four-year-old Elijah Suttles slept peacefully, a small flashlight in his right hand. I shook his knee.
“Hey, partner, you doing okay in here?”
He opened his eyes, blinked rapidly, and looked frightened.
“Take it easy, son. I’m a policeman. Your mom couldn’t find you and asked for some help.”
“Jesus have mercy, Elijah,” his mother said, “you ‘bout scared me half ta death. You come out here right now, young man.”
“Go slow, Mrs. Suttles. He probably had a good reason to hide in here. Didn’t you, son?”
The little boy nodded, but still looked scared.
“Something happen on the TV?”
Another nod.
“Ready to come out now?”
The boy stuck out a hand, and I pulled. Once on his feet, he scrambled to his mother and locked onto her leg, mumbling an apology.
“Some of these slasher movies scare me, too,” I said. “He just ran from the killer on the screen. Wasn’t a bad idea.”
Emily Suttles hugged her son, looked at me, and said, “Thank you.”
“I’ll call the three officers and let them know your son’s safe.”

I switched on the ignition in my unmarked Crown Victoria and keyed the microphone. “Prospect-one to headquarters and all units. The missing child has been found. Resume patrol. Five-twelve, close out the call at 1015 hours.”
PO Johnny Rutledge acknowledged. “10-4, Prospect-one.”
“Five-oh-nine, I copy that,” Billy Puckett said.
After a long moment of silence, Sergeant Bettye Lambert, our desk officer, broke in. “Unit 513, five-one-three, do you copy?”
No answer.
“Anyone know 513’s 10-35?” I asked.
“Joey was goin’ house ta house, east end o’ the street,” Puckett said.
“I’m probably the closest,” I said. “I’ll check.”
Just as I shifted into reverse, PO Joey Gillespie spoke on the radio.
“513 ta Prospect-one. Boss, ya gonna need ta see this. 1175 Benny Stillwell Road, obvious 10-5.”
10-5 is our brevity code for a homicide.
* * * *
Two men lay face down on the kitchen floor. One with a shaved head made it easy to see the small caliber bullet hole at the base of his skull—a .25 perhaps or more likely a .22. Blood trickled from the wound down past his right ear, over a thick neck, and onto the Mexican tile floor. The other victim’s blood oozed to his left. Funny, the little details you notice at the scene of a murder.
“You call crime scene and the ME?” I asked.
“Yessir, had Miss Bettye do it right after I called ya.”
I nodded and looked around the kitchen of a relatively new and expensive home. “Big house.”
Joey Gillespie nodded.
“At least 4,000 square feet,” I guessed. “And quality. These guys had bucks.”
He nodded again and looked a little queasy.
“The air hasn’t come on recently. In this humidity blood tends to stink quicker. Smell bother you?”
“Yessir, I ain’t used ta this.”
“Nobody gets used to it, kid. You just learn to ignore it.”
“I guess.”
“You search the rest of the house?”
“Jest looked on the first floor ta see if there was anybody here.”
“Basement?”
“Nosir. On a slab.”
“Let’s go upstairs.”
I drew my old Smith & Wesson from the holster on my right hip, and Joey pulled out his .40 caliber Glock.
“Look around, and pay attention. Don’t watch me. There’s probably no one here, but we’ll do this by the numbers.”
“Yessir. I’m right behind ya.”
We made a quick sweep of the first floor, opening all the closets before ascending the stairs. The landing above left us in a hallway with what looked like four bedrooms, two baths and two closet doors. We found nothing in the guest johns or closets. A lack of personal property in three of the bedrooms led me to believe they were set also aside for guests. We looked further in the master suite and discovered two closets holding clothing for two different people.
“I guess the two guys slept t’gether,” Joey said.
“Yep.”
“Strange, huh?”
“Not strange, just a minority.”
“Uh-huh.”
Two car doors slammed out front.
“Let’s see who’s here,” I suggested.
Jackie Shuman and David Sparks, crime scene investigators from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, had arrived and stood in the foyer holding cameras and forensic kits. Moments later, Deputy Medical Examiner Morris Rappaport and his assistant Earl Ogle pulled up in the morgue wagon.

“How’d ya find these two?” Jackie asked of no one in particular.
“I’s checkin’ the neighborhood for a missin’ child,” Joey said. “Got no answer here, but there was two cars in the driveway and the garage was closed. Figgered someone’s home, so I walked ‘round back and seen them layin’ here on the floor.”
“Nice wheels out there,” David said.
“Audi S7 and an F-Type Jag,” I said. “Pushing a hundred grand apiece.”
“And they’re relatively new, right?” Morris asked.
“The Jag’s new, and the Audi’s not far behind.”
“With these two sporty drivers, why do you suppose there’s an oil spot on the concrete driveway?”
“Good question, Mo,” I said. “Something for our ace evidence technicians to explore.”
“We’ll git’er done,” Jackie said.
“And take pictures of this table top. Someone ruined a nice antique.”
Jackie looked closer at the numbers someone crudely scratched into the mellow wood finish.
“Thirteen thirteen,” he said. “Wonder what that means?”
“Two unlucky numbers,” Morris said.
“Two unlucky guys,” I said. “Has to mean something. Finding out will keep me from playing in the traffic.”


 
Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE



About The Author

       
       


Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara. 

Twenty (20) of his Sam Jenkins mysteries have been published as eBooks and many produced as audio books. Zurl has won Eric Hoffer and Indie Book Awards, and was named a finalist for a Montaigne Medal and First Horizon Book Award.

His full-length novels are: A NEW PROSPECT, A LEPRECHAUN’S LAMENT, HEROES & LOVERS, and PIGEON RIVER BLUES

The all new FROM NEW YORK TO THE SMOKIES, an anthology of five Sam Jenkins mysteries is available in print and eBook, published by Melange Books, LLC. 

For more information on Wayne’s Sam Jenkins mystery series see www.waynezurlbooks.net. You may read excerpts, reviews and endorsements, interviews, coming events, and see photos of the area where the stories take place.   

Connect with Wayne Zurl: 


Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Going Home, Gambling on a Dream, The Look of Love and Bachelorette for Sale

Going Home, Gambling on a Dream et al


Going Home FINAL_shineTitle: Going Home
Author: Stacy Finz
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle 

 The small mountain town of Nugget, California, has a strange way of giving people unexpected reasons to start over—and find the most irresistible chances to fall in love…

 Maddy Breyer needs to prove she can make her own life after betrayal blew up her previous happily-ever-after. Staying totally focused on renovating a decrepit mansion into a bed-and-breakfast might help her—and this recession-hit town—finally turn things around. But the mysterious new sheriff is the kind of lawbreaking temptation that’s an even bigger challenge to resist…

 Detective Rhys Shepard is only back in Nugget long enough to care for his ailing father. He’s got a big-city promotion far away from this place that never accepted him. He does not need a sudden crime wave to solve. Or one leggy case of heartbreak stirring up all kinds of trouble and challenging his rules. Which might explain why he’s suddenly finding it hard to leave…

  PRE-ORDER INFORMATION Going Home is available for pre-order 

at  Amazon, B&N,  Kobo and Google Play

Stacy Finz   Stacy Finz is an award-winning journalist. After more than seventeen years covering notorious serial killers, naked-tractor-driving farmers, fanatical foodies, aging rock stars and weird Western towns for the San Francisco Chronicle, she figured she finally had enough material to launch a career writingfiction. In 2012 she won the Daphne du Maurier Award for unpublished single-title mystery/suspense. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband.

  For More Information

Visit Stacy’s website.
Connect with Stacy on Facebook  and Twitter.    





GamblingOnADream_shineTitle: Gambling on a Dream
Author: Sara Walter Ellwood
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle

With Everything At Stake….

 It’s been years since Sheriff Dawn Madison said goodbye to Texas Ranger Wyatt McPherson. She’s closed the door on the heartache of her past. But when the sleepy town of Colton, Texas, is rocked by a series of shocking murders, Dawn has no choice but to trust the man who broke her heart if she wants to protect the ones she loves…

  All Bets Are Off

 Four years have passed. But Wyatt hasn’t forgotten the bold, Native American beauty who stole his heart . . . and broke it. Losing her and the life they had hoped to share left him an empty shell of himself. But if he wants to stop the deranged killer terrorizing the innocent kids of Colton, he’ll have to let Dawn back into his life. It’s a risk he’s willing to take, even if heartache is all he takes home…

  PRE-ORDER INFORMATION Gambling on a Dream is available for pre-order at  Amazon,  B&N,  Kobo and Google Play

sara-walter-ellwood-7 Although Sara Walter Ellwood has long ago left the farm for the glamour of the big town, she draws on her experiences growing up on a small hobby farm in West Central Pennsylvania to write her contemporary westerns. She’s been married to her college sweetheart for over 20 years, and they have two teenagers and one very spoiled rescue cat named Penny. She longs to visit the places she writes about and jokes she’s a cowgirl at heart stuck in Pennsylvania suburbia. Sara Walter Ellwood is a multi-published and international Amazon bestselling author of the anthology set Cowboy Up. She also publishes paranormal romantic suspense under the pen name Cera duBois. She also writes paranormal romantic suspense under the pen name of Cera duBois.

For More Information

Visit Sara’s website. Connect with Sara onFacebook Twitter and Goodreads

Look of Love _hires jpg_shineTitle: The Look of Love
Author: Crystal B. Bright
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle

  You can’t fight love…

 There’s only one thing MMA fighter Gunnar Wells is more devoted to than his career, and that’s his mother, “Queen” Elizabeth. An elegant African American woman who adopted Gunnar and his two white brothers, Elizabeth was there when they needed her, and they’ll do anything for her. For Gunnar, that means running her hair salon when she suddenly falls ill. And if that’s not awkward enough for the champion fighter, he’ll have to work alongside Eboni Danielson, the other love of his life. The one he left behind to pursue his dream. The one he’s never forgotten…

 Between the salon and her volunteer work, Eboni keeps busy to keep her mind off the man who broke her heart. So when Gunnar shows up again, she does her best to stay cool—on the outside. But the more she watches Gunnar step up and help out, the less she can deny her feelings. Soon Gunnar is doing everything he can to convince Eboni to give him a fighting chance. Can she trust him again—even when old secrets and new dangers come between them once more?

  PRE-ORDER INFORMATION

The Look of Love is available for pre-order at  Amazon, B&N,  Kobo and Google Play

 I started writing very young. My first story was a young adult romance called 'Trudy'. I wish I could find it so I can see how far I've come from then to now. Hopefully it's a grand leap! After only one year at ODU I dropped out to 'live life'. Little did I know, life is expensive and it doesn't suffer fools lightly. So after working 3 jobs at one time just to make ends meet, I decided to go back to school. With any school, you have to meet with an advisor before registering for classes. So my advisor asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I proudly answered that I wanted to be a novelist. She smiled, nodded and said, "That's nice. Now what will you do for money?" Ouch! So I hopped from journalism to professional writing to literature but my heart always brought me back to creative writing. I figured if I'm going to spend my money for my education then I should enjoy it. So I stuck to creative writing and was pleased to find a non-residency Master's program for Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University. It's the first in the country and invaluable. I learned so much and made great contacts.

For More Information

Visit Crystal’s website. Connect with Crystal on Facebook  and  Twitter.

Bachelorette for Sale-highres_shine Title: Bachelorette for Sale
Author: Gail Chianese
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle

 “This book will make your heart smile.” —Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author

This sparkling debut dives right in to everything funny, flirty, and fiery about modern dating with the tale of a sexy singles auction that comes with the prize of a lifetime…

 As far as Cherry Ryan is concerned, the bright lights of Hollywood are nothing but glare after her heart is broken on a reality show for millions to see. Instead she’s throwing herself into fundraising for the local community center that was a priceless lifeline to her as a kid. But when a volunteer for the singles auction bails at the last minute, Cherry finds herself on the block—and sold to Jason Valentine, a handsome contractor with a gorgeous body—and a really bad attitude about her days in the limelight… 

Cherry soon finds that Jason’s more than eye candy, and not entirely sweet—especially his quest to win the bid for the center’s renovation. Mixing business with pleasure doesn’t seem like such a good idea—until Jason has a chance to reveal the big heart beneath his surly exterior. Cherry’s falling for him hard, but trust isn’t easy when you’ve been burned. To conquer her fears will take a giant leap of faith—straight into the spotlight again…

 “A charming, warm-hearted story.” —Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author

 “Gail Chianese is a spunky, spirited, and sassy new voice in contemporary romance with a series destined for the keeper shelf!” —Roxanne St. Claire, New York Times bestselling author

 “The West Side Romance series is like the perfect pick-me-up latte—hot and steamy, with a layer of frothy fun on the top!” --Jessica Andersen, New York Times bestselling author

  PRE-ORDER INFORMATION
  Bachelorette for Sale is available for pre-order at  Amazon, B&N,  Kobo and Google Play

 I Currently Live in Beautiful Connecticut, but originally hail from sunny California. I am the mom of three amazing kids, the wife of a 25+ year Naval officer and the rescuer of three fur babies. In my spare time, I like to ghost hunt with my hubby, geocache with my family and lock myself away with a great book. I am a proud member of Connecticut Romance Writers of America. I love to connect with my readers on my social media accounts and website!

  For More Information

  Visit Gail's website. Connect with Gail on Facebook   , Twitter and Pinterest

Monday, June 22, 2015

Book Review: Guilt Free Motherhood: A 5-Step Guide to Reclaiming Your Time, Health & Well-Being by Amber Khan



Title: Guilt Free Motherhood: A 5-Step Guide to Reclaiming Your Time, Health &Well-Being
Author: Amber Khan
Publisher: Rethink Press
Pages: 156
Genre: Nonfiction/Parenting/Motherhood
Format: Paperback/Kindle

Own your happiness. Reclaim your well-being. Make a guilt-free lifestyle, your choice of living!
·             Do you think being a 'super mum' is your only option?
·             Do you neglect your own health while caring for others?
·             Do you struggle to maintain a happy work/life balance?
·             Do you often feel stressed and burnt-out? Then you may be suffering from 'Mummy Guilt'.

Guilt Free Motherhood will guide you to:
·             Ignite your passion to bring balance to your life;
·             Take practical steps towards self-care;
·             De-clutter your space, schedules and relationships;
·             Let go of the 'super mum' and the 'control freak' inside of you;
·             Practical ways of recharging your batteries.

A mother's journey should not be, and need not be, a GUILT trip. Guilt Free Motherhood gives you the tools you need to start living a more contented, healthy and energised lifestyle today - right in the midst of motherhood.”

My Review:
If you are a mother like myself, I’m sure you will agree that we’re always bombarded by the guilt trip.  If we try to squeeze in a little time for ourselves, how many of us are consciously thinking about the kids, what they’re doing at home and why you aren’t there with them to make sure they aren’t killing themselves or lighting the cat on fire.  We know we need time away but how do we do it without feeling the guilt trip?
There’s help for us finally in a new book called Guilt Free Motherhood: A 5-Step Guide to Reclaiming Your Time, Health and Well-Being by Amber Khan.  I thoroughly loved this book.
Khan shows us how we can get rid of the ‘mummy guilt’ as she puts it by first explaining what will happen to you if you don’t get some quality time to yourself.  She asks you to ask yourself what exactly do you feel guilty about?  If your kids are with someone trustworthy and they are safe, why do you still feel guilty?  She helped me tremendously with this.
Guilt Free Motherhood is a pep up talk for mothers no matter how old they are.  What I liked about this book is that sometimes even mothers need tough love.  Show me the consequences of feeling the guilt trip and you’ve got me at the get go.  Your children need a healthy mother.  These tips that will help relieve yourself of the ‘mummy guilt trip’ are unique and they work.
I give this book 5 book trees. 

Two Princes: The Biker and The Billionaire by Victoria Danann (Book Blast)


  
Title:  Two Princes: The Biker and The Billionaire 
Author: Victoria Danann 
Series: Book 1 - Sons of Sanctuary MC 
Publisher:  dba7th House Publishing, Imprint of Andromeda LLC 
Publication Date: June 16, 2015 
Format: eBook - 49 pages 
ASIN: B00UY477QC 
Genre: Contemporary Romance   


Preorder Book Buy Links: 







Book Description:

Two brothers, one a player, one a playboy, are on a collision course with destiny and a woman who thought she won a prize when she was allowed a look inside the Sons of Sanctuary MC.

Brigid Roan is a graduate student at the University of Texas. She had no trouble getting her thesis approved, but finding a Hill Country motorcycle club willing to give her access to their lifestyle was looking impossible. Then she got a lead. A friend of a friend had a cousin with family ties to The Sons of Sanctuary. What Brigid wanted was information to prove a proposition. The last thing she had in mind was falling for one of the members of the club. Especially since she was a feminist academic out to prove that motorcycle clubs are organized according to the same structure as primitive tribal society.

Brash Fornight was standing in line at the H.E.B. Market when his world tipped on its axis. While waiting his turn to check out, his gaze had wandered to the magazine display and settled on the new issue of “NOW”. The image on the cover, although GQ’d up in an insanely urbane way, was… him. After reading the article, Brash threw some stuff in a duffle and left his only home, a room at The Sons of Sanctuary clubhouse, with a vague explanation about needing a couple of days away. He left his truck at the Austin airport and caught a plane for New York, on a mission to find a mysterious guy walking around with his face.


Book Excerpt:

“Sir?” Brash Fornight gradually became aware that someone behind him in the grocery checkout line was trying to get his attention. “Sir?” He refocused and glanced behind him. The woman leaning on a cart overflowing with chip bags and cookie boxes nodded toward the cashier indicating that it was his turn to move forward. Brash looked her in the eye and had to give her props. Most people wouldn’t have the balls to try to herd a guy wearing Sons of Sanctuary MC leather.

The club employed a woman who cooked and did grocery shopping several times a week as part of her job description, but Brash didn’t like to explain his relentless craving for peanuts and he liked being teased about it even less. He didn’t know whether it was the Vitamin B or the fat or just because he liked the taste, but he couldn’t imagine going a day without them.

That’s how he came to be standing statue still In the grocery checkout line, being prompted by some woman with more nerve than sense. While he was waiting, his eyes drifted over the magazine display and settled on the cover of “NOW”, on the Most Eligible Bachelor edition no less. The debonair figure staring back was wearing Brash’s own face and body. He looked different with short hair and a four thousand dollar suit with the shirt fashionably open at the neckline, but the similarity was inescapable.

On impulse he grabbed the magazine and tossed it onto the conveyor belt with his week’s stash of peanuts.

He stuffed the bags into the saddlebags of his bike and roared toward home, nervously tapping his fingers on handlebars at red lights, riding on shoulders to keep from slowing down. He was anxious to get to the privacy of his own room and read about Branach St. Germaine.

Two beers, one jar of peanuts, and one “NOW” article later, Brash was sitting on the edge of his bed looking at the wall, seeing nothing but his own heavy thoughts. He pulled out his phone, looked up a website, and waited on hold for ten minutes to hear the time of the next flight from Austin to New York.

There was a flight to Newark in a little over three hours. He looked at his watch and calculated the time it would take to drive from Dripping Springs at that time of day. As he booked the flight, he stood up, walked to the small closet, grabbed a duffel bag, and began shoving stuff into it. Ten minutes later, he closed his door and locked it, threw the duffel over his shoulder, and headed straight for the office downstairs. He dropped the duffel on the hallway floor beside the closed door and knocked.

“Yeah?” Brash looked inside, glad that his dad was by himself, and stepped in. “What’s up?”

“I’m takin’ personal time, Pop. Gonna be gone for a couple of days.”

“What the hell is ‘personal time’?”

The gruffness made Brash smile. “It means I’m not gonna be here if you call and I’m not tellin’ you why.”

The Sons of Sanctuary President looked up at Brash, over the top of his readers, and narrowed his eyes. “You got a secret?”

“Everybody’s got secrets.”

Brandon Fornight studied his son for a minute. “True enough. Is it the kind of secret that could affect this club?”

Brash shook his head. “Don’t see how.” 

“Well, then. See you… When did you say you’d be back?”

“I didn’t.”

“Bein’ purposefully vague, are you?”

Brash grinned. “That’s why they call it personal time. But I expect to be back Friday.”

“You gonna have your phone with you?” When Brash nodded, Bran looked back down at his ledger in a deliberately dismissive gesture. “Well, get outta here then.”

Brash parked his bike in the airplane hangar. The structure had already been on the property when the club had bought it and turned it into a compound twenty years earlier. They used part of it for vehicle maintenance and repair and part for parking.

Some of the guys who were working looked over and shot curious glances his way when Brash threw his duffel into his pickup and started it up, but it wasn’t their way to ask questions. The Sons figured that if somebody wanted you to know something, they’d tell you.

Brash took a cab to a midtown hotel, wondering all the way why human beings would choose to live in such a place. As he slid his credit card across the hotel counter to the agent on duty, he glanced at the name, Brandon Fornight. It seemed unlikely that it was a coincidence that that the mysterious look-alike’s first name began with the same four letters. He ordered room service and pulled out his laptop.

Getting intel on the guy didn’t take advanced ops. Within an hour Brash knew where Brannach St. Germaine worked, what kind of car he drove, what kind of women he dated, who his tailor was, and where he liked to dine. There was no shortage of photos online, but the one that grabbed his attention wasn’t one of the many with starlets or debutantes on his arm. It was the one taken with his arm around his mother as they were arriving together for some red carpet fundraiser. Brash had an almost irresistible compulsion to reach up and touch her face on the screen in front of him.

The knock on the door signaled that room service had arrived. It cost a fortune, but looked and tasted like shit. So he closed the computer and went out for a walk to clear his head and find something edible.


About The Author



Victoria Danann is the USA TODAY Bestselling Author of The Knights of Black Swan, which has won BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES TWO YEARS IN A ROW (2013, 2014). Reviewers Choice Awards, The Paranormal Romance Guild.

Victoria writes cross-genre with uniquely fresh perspectives on paranormal creatures, characters, and themes. She is making her debut into contemporary romance with publication of the SUMMER FIRE ultimate romance collection anthology. It contains a novella intro to the Sons of Sanctuary MC series. The first full novel of the series will be released June 16, 2015. 

Contact Victoria at:

Website: http://victoriadanann.me/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorvictoriadanann
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vdanann
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/vdanann  


Book Watch: Let's Talk About Tickling by Veronica Frances #bookwatch




Title: Let’s Talk About Tickling
Author: Veronica Frances
Publisher: Blue Note Books
Pages: 240
Genre: Non-fiction/Erotic Literature/Self Improvement
Format: Kindle

Let’s Talk About Tickling is an honest, straightforward discussion about tickling. Discover the many different aspects of tickling—the fantasies, the realities, the many paradoxes of the tickling fetish and how to come to terms with ones own sensuality.

A refreshing and very welcome find, Let’s Talk About Tickling is for anyone who wishes to expand their awareness of tickling and other related fetishes. This book will be of great interest to anyone who wants to get in touch with their sensual self, whether they have a tickling fetish or not.

Author Veronica Frances offers her readers the chance to improve their relationships in and out of the bedroom by shining a light on the powerful significance of tickling. She reminds us that tickling is not merely the whisper of a feather on the flesh. It is an echo that calls us from deep within, beckoning us to listen and respond.

For More Information

  • Let’s Talk About Tickling is available at Amazon.
  • Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
  • Pick up your copy at iApple Bookstore.
  • Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
  • Visit the book’s Facebook page.
  • Read excerpt here.
Book Excerpt:

Now let’s face it, tickling can be the conduit for many things.
It can make us surrender, whether we want to or not. It can be held against us if we are being interrogated by people who choose to use it to get us to talk. It can be used to reprimand us and put us back in line. It can be an unpleasant form of torture, even to the point of bringing us some slight pain. It can make us scream for mercy, buck up and down, laugh until we pee in our pants. It can humiliate us, yet make us continue laughing while in the midst of our own humiliation. It can demoralize us by forcing us to laugh and twitch against our will.
It can also make us wet in our most hidden erogenous zones. It can arouse us nearly to death. It can lead to many things and is the gateway to one of the most intimate journeys known to man.
Tickling is the magic bridge that hovers above our rivers of sexuality. Tickling is most definitely the gateway to sex.
Sometimes you won’t even know that tickling is leading you down its slippery erotic slope until you are in somebody’s arms and feeling that ticklish little poke at your libido.