Friday, February 27, 2015

#FREE #BOOK: Romancing Redemption by Bonnie R Paulson

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Facing a life of prostitution or homelessness, Rosie Scott must make a choice centered on keeping her and her sister safe in the wilds of an unforgiving Montana land. With their background, the two girls need a fresh start.In Colby, Montana opportunities are as thick as needles on a pine tree. Savvy and independent, Rosie decides to take a chance and start a business, earning her the respect of many town residents.She catches the eye of two men. One interested in exploiting her past and one interested in redeeming her heart. But Rosie’s secrets and who she really is shadow her hopes for happiness. Can a man love her most when her past refuses to leave?

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RR2Front Desperate to find her place in the world, Sara Beth dreams of applying for the Miss Wrangler Montana competition that tours with the rodeo circuit. Riding horses has become her anchor until a near fatal accident takes more from her than she’d ever willingly sacrifice. Determined to prove his business training, Johnny seeks out the Rourke family to call in an old favor. When he embroils himself in Sara Beth’s life, he has to prove they’re nothing more than friends. Seeking independence, both Sara Beth and Johnny lean on each other more and more, until love threatens their friendship. Will they seek out each other or be confused by their dreams? Can either of them leave their past and embrace their future?  

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resistingredemption With her heart at war with her mind, Lisa’s need to chase dangerous fun over boring responsibilities tugs at her emotions. Love is the last thing she expects to find, especially with her past revolting against her future. The only love Ryan’s heart has room for is for his motherless son. But, when he finds himself yearning for Lisa, Ryan has to convince himself and her that he’s all the thrill she’ll ever need. Will Lisa’s past destroy their future before either of them can accept the true meaning of love?  

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BonnieBonnie R. Paulson mixes her science and medical background with reality and possibilities to make even myths seem likely and give every romance the genetic strength to survive. Bonnie has discovered a dark and twisty turn in her writing that she hopes you enjoy as much as she has enjoyed uncovering it. Dirt biking with her family in the Northwest keeps her sane. Follow on:

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Thursday, February 26, 2015

#REVIEW: Dictating Death by Bonnie R Paulson

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This book is not light reading. There are graphic scenes and there is not HEA. NOT intended for teens or young adults. Again, this is not light reading. Violence and craziness. You've been warned.***
Samantha wants to love him.Maria wants to kill him. Dr. Luke Lawson has no idea that the girl he’s dating has split personalities fighting to control her body. Samantha must keep Luke safe at all costs. If Samantha wins, Maria will die and disappear forever – taking Samantha with her. If Maria wins, Dr. Lawson will die and she and Samantha will move on to the next doctor – the next kill. But Luke is special. He could save Samantha from herself… but only if Samantha can save him.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is unlike any book I have read that has a character with Multiple Personality Disorder. This is hard reading. The warning is there for a reason but I will reiterate it: This book is not light reading. There are graphic scenes and there is not HEA. NOT intended for teens or young adults. Again, this is not light reading. Violence and craziness. You've been warned.
Yep, violence and craziness abound in this book about as prolifically as the snow in Boston right now, and just like the snow in Boston too, it's cold and dirty and not going away any time soon. But! This book is amazing. The author has done such an incredible job of getting into the minds and personalities of Maria and Samantha, their likes and dislikes, making them roommates who just so happen to occupy the same mind and body.
Is this true of a person with MPD? I have no clue, but it's a wonderfully gruesome portrayal. It delves into the whys and hows of the existence of Samantha and Maria, and how they struggle with their existence as two completely different people. This book is heartbreaking in that you root for all the characters....Maria for her vengeance, Samantha for her need of a normal life, and Luke, who just wants to find someone to share his life with.

  Visit at www.BonnieRPaulson.net Join Bonnie R Paulson's Survivor Newsletter Enter to win a Lifeline 26-Piece Ultralight Survival Kit. Open to 18+ US addresses. Contest ends Feb 27 @ 11:59PM EST Lifeline 26-Piece Ultralight Survival Kit a Rafflecopter giveaway

#COVER REVEAL: Say Something by TA Roth




Releasing - March 26
Chemistry
What most girls search a lifetime for…
I felt it the minute he set those whiskey colored eyes on me.
Magnetism
We had it in spades…
My body was drawn to hers the moment she set foot into the room.
What happens when you both have pasts that threaten the future?
Do you do nothing?
Or
Do you Say Something?

Synopsis
22 year old Ari Munoz is used to keeping men at arms’ length.  So when her best friend Vonne guilts her into going to a frat party, she couldn't think of a worse way to spend a Thursday night.  That's until she sparks the interest of love’m and leave’m Ben Rodriguez. The electricity she feels when they lock eyes is something she's never felt before.

22 year old Ben Rodriguez has it all.  He's a football star, president of his fraternity, and well known ladies’ man. His endless pick of beauties, makes him the envy of all of his fraternity brothers.  So why are a pair of long legs and hazel eyes making him want to throw out all of his rules?
"This is hard."  She waves her hand between us.  I grab her hand, kiss the inside of her palm, and place it over my heart.  "It doesn't have to be.  I'm exactly where I want to be, and you’re the only person I want to be with. I just need you to trust me." – Ari & Ben

What happens when you both have pasts that threaten the future?
Say Something...
*This novel deals with adult themes and language.  18+ please.  
This is book 1 in a series and contains a cliffhanger.
Watch the amazing Trailer by clicking Here




Meet the author
I am a wife, and mother of two funny and crazy kids.  I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.  When I’m not beautifying my clients as a stylist/makeup-artist at my day job you can find me reading, fangirling my favorite authors, or singing along to the radio.  A year ago, I got the opportunity to read the debut novel of a then client, now friend, and something clicked.  My “what the hell” attitude kicked in and a year later, here I am.  
Say Something… is my debut novel in the Speak Series.





#BLITZ and #GIVEAWAY: Time Winders by Blog Glatnek

 
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Title:   Time Winders
Author:   Blog Glatnek
Published:  March 17th, 2014
Publisher:   Stonetree Entertainment
Genre:  Sci-Fi
Content Warning:  Minor violence and sexual references
Recommended Age:  16+
Synopsis:  Tanya is a beautiful young Time Cop chasing criminals through Time. James is an 82-year old widower. How did these two get stuck together, tracking down a rogue agent? Is someone manipulating the outcome from the future? And what’s with the tea?
Find out how love, loyalty, and friendship can change everything you thought you knew about destiny, in Time Winders.
Excerpt:
“Uh, Tanya? Do you ever, I don’t know, run into yourself? In Time?” 
“Don’t be silly. There’s only one of me.”
 “But, that doesn’t make sense.”
 “The way it was explained to us was, there are multiple iterations of Time, but you are a singularity.” And that was that. But it was only half the equation.
 “Look, that brings up something. I get that you travel through Time (he thought of Time as an entity, now, something he could almost touch), but how do you travel through space? How did we go from California at midnight, to Flanders at noon?” She nodded. “I had to take a course in advanced temporal-fluidics, and it was still difficult to understand. It’s even harder to explain, but … let me use the analogy my professor used. “When we travel through Time, think of our toes as leaving the surface of the Earth. In fact, that’s why it was so easy for me to carry you along when you were struggling; Time itself pulls us along. Then, as we step, the Earth rotates beneath us. I choose when and where to touch down.” James sort of got it. He knew the Earth was roughly 24,000 miles around, so with 24 hours in a day you’re moving about 1,000 miles an hour. If you could theoretically float above the surface (without being flung at 1,000 miles an hour when you left), the planet would rotate beneath you. It would be like traveling at 1,000 miles an hour.

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About the Author:
Tanya, writing under pseudonym of Blog, is a female, living in Southern California. A biologist, writer and medical illustrator. Married.
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
  • A $25 Amazon Gift Card
Giveaway is International.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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#BLAST and #GIVEAWAY: The Resistance by Alicia Michaels

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 photo The-Resistance.jpg Title:  The Resistance
Series: The Bionics, Book 2
Author:  Alicia Michaels
Published:  March 10th, 2015
Publisher:  Crimson Tree Publishing
Genre:  NA Paranormal Romance
Content Warning:  Coarse language, mild sexual innuendo
Recommended Age:  16+
Synopsis:
All it takes is a spark…
Blythe Sol never would have thought she would become the face of the Restoration Resistance. Yet, that is just what has happened now that the battle lines have been drawn. With the movement sweeping the United States, the stakes are higher than ever as President Drummond continues to prove his dedication to the destruction of the Bionics and all who stand with them.
The flame has been ignited…
As anger and frustration among the American people reaches the boiling point, citizens begin to fight back, many showing their support for the Bionics… despite the personal costs to themselves. As protests turn violent, and people who once cowered in silence begin to fight back, the government continues its practices that fly in the face of the very principles the nation was founded upon.
The time has come to revolt …
Despite the many losses it has sustained, the Resistance stands strong, leading America into revolution and onward toward change. With an unlikely, ragtag family of misfits at its forefront, the Resistance stands, while a girl who lost everything continues to fight for a future that was once impossible, but may now be within her reach.
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EXCERPT from The Resistance by Alicia Michaels

The morning air is crisp and cool, the grass springy and damp beneath my feet. Droplets of water are refreshing against my bare calves as I run. My high ponytail swishes side to side, tickling the back of my neck. My chest rises and falls as I concentrate on breathing, filling my lungs with the cleansing autumn morning air. Dog lopes along beside me at a steady trot, his paws padding softly on the ground.
I have spent every morning of the last six weeks running from one end of Resistance Headquarters to the other. It spans exactly four miles. I appreciate watching the changing of the seasons each day, even if it is just a computer program. It’s nice to feel—in some ways—like we are still part of the world. When I’m on my morning run, just Dog and me, I can pretend that nothing has changed. I can almost imagine my Atlanta neighborhood with a park very similar to the one I’m running in, ringed in pine trees. I can imagine the crunching of dry pine needles beneath my feet, and smell their fragrance in my nostrils. There is no Resistance, no Restoration, and no evil president. The M.P.s have no cause to suspect a young girl out on a run with a dog, and they don’t spare her a second glance.
There is no Dax, confusing me with feelings of friendship intermixed with lust, longing, and love. There is no Jenica, staring distantly with dead eyes, quietly mourning the loss of her baby, aborted out of necessity because of the cruel nature of our society. There is no Olivia, whose night terrors now rival mine, and whose rapidly thinning frame reminds me every day of how we failed her. There is no Gage…
Actually, even in reality, there is no Gage because he’s gone. He’s gone because I cast the deciding vote. Make no mistake—I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Reality is crueler than my fantasy. In reality, the Restoration is very much alive and in counterpoint, so is the Resistance. The M.P.s will never see me as just a girl. They fear me, what I am, and what I have the potential to become. In reality, Dax is here daily, a continuous reminder of my flaws and inability to love anyone completely, the way they deserve. In the real world, Olivia and Jenica are shells of their former selves. The former has sunk into herself and retreated from the world; the other lashes out at it with all the venom and malice she possesses.
No matter how much I want to try to imagine an alternate reality where things happened differently, I am always snatched back to the present. No matter how fast or hard I run, I cannot outrun Gage. His absence is more tortuous than his presence, when I’d thought it would be the other way around. I thought that by sending him away, I would finally be able to put my turbulent feelings behind me. Foolishly, I assumed that without having to look into those gorgeous blue eyes of his, I would no longer be a slave to my emotions when it comes to him. By cutting him out of my life, I could stop feeling so damned much. I liked it better when I was numb, when nothing fazed me because I’d built my walls and fortified myself against it all.

But then Dax kissed me and told me he loved me, and Gage made me feel like a normal person again. Together, they made me forget. But I don’t intend to forget again. I want to remember the pain that caused me to go numb, why I avoid these kinds of complications, and why I’m better off alone. At least, in my love life… I will always remember.

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About the Author:
Ever since she first read books like Chronicles of Narnia or Goosebumps, Alicia has been a lover of mind-bending fiction. Wherever imagination takes her, she is more than happy to call that place her home. The mother of two and wife to an Army sergeant loves chocolate, coffee, and of course good books. When not writing, you can usually find her with her nose in a book, shopping for shoes and fabulous jewelry, or spending time with her loving family.
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Crimson Tree Publishing Links:
(an adult division of Clean Teen)
Website  |  Facebook   |  Twitter
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
  • A bookmark swag pack, winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook, and a $15 Amazon gift card.
Giveaway is International.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

#REVIEW: The Franciscan by WR Park


Title: The Franciscan
Series: The Franciscan Trilogy #1
Author:  WR Park
Published Date: October 23, 2014
Publisher: Create Space
Format: paperback
Pages: 348
ISBN: 978-1500610067
Genre: fiction
Add to: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon

Rating: 2 stars

Synopsis: “The pope is not infallible.” When the newly elected Pope Francis utters this bold and unprecedented statement, he captures the attention of the world’s population. His reforms leave no corner untouched as he strips away the mask so long held before the face of the papacy. Bringing with him and open-minded candor rarely seen by public figures – he’s an inspiration to his followers – and a threat to those who oppose him.

“When I penned this novel about a fictitious Pope Francis fourteen years ago, I never envisioned that a future pope would select the name, Pope Francis I. This novel’s Pope Francis is a bold and courageous pope whose sweeping reforms reversing ancient
Vatican edicts place his life in grave danger. The world can only hope and pray that today’s Pope Francis, as bold as he is, will be fruitful in his endeavors and have a lengthy and healthy reign,” said WR.PARK.

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Let’s start from the outside and work our way in. It is rare for me to say anything about the cover, but as soon as I got the book, it pleaded with me to say something. The entire cover needs to be redone. Get rid of all the quotes on the front cover, clean it up and it would look much better, keep it simple. Putting quotes on the front cover about how good the book is, doesn’t make it better. Keep it to the inside jacket cover, please, if you absolutely need them.
Let’s move onto the storyline. This is actually pretty good, and it is a similar plot to Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code , meaning, there’s an archeologist, a pope and lots of intrigue running around Vatican City. At that point, the similarities end, entirely. The storyline action took probably up till perhaps a little past the halfway point in the book to really pick up in intensity and hook me to where I didn’t focus on the problem I will underline below.
The problem that I have with the book is a very basic one: the author’s writing style. All of the action, the entire plot is through the conversations. This leads to very two dimensional characters that seem to know everything and everybody, and very chatty scenes. This is definitely not my favorite method of getting the storyline across. This also leads to the fact that the storyline is in Vatican City, in the heart of Rome, and I still don’t know what it looks like.

Overall, a rather frustrating read for me.

#BLAST and #GIVEAWAY: Adventures in Mother-Sitting by Doreen Cox

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Title:  Adventures in Mother-Sitting
Author:   Doreen Cox
Published:  January 2015
Publisher:  Whistling Duck Books
Genre:  Memoir
Recommended Age:  16+
Synopsis:
For a daughter, at age 61, being called “mommy” by her own mother was a heart-wrenching experience. This happened to Dody during the course of a three-year adventure as the full-time caregiver to her mother, much loved yet caught up in a downward spiral of physical, mental, and developmentally regressed disabilities.
Each day was an adventure, because when dementia is present, the typical actions involved with her mother’s daily care habits became unpredictable. The experience is also termed an adventure because of the surprising twists and turns of emotion that arose in Dody, compelling her to recognize and face deep-seated fears and unwanted emotional reactions when her performance was not in accord with the spiritual vision that she had of herself. Moments of comic relief saved Dody from the depths of despair during pill-taking and messy hygienic episodes, and during her mother’s nighttime delusions. The mantra that kept her going was an echo of her mother’s life-long response to any calamitous event: you can do what you have to do.
ADVENTURES IN MOTHER-SITTING is not just a chronicle about the dementia-induced antics of an independent, spirited mother as she approaches the time of her death. The book is also about Dody’s journey through a rollercoaster passage of grief that gets intermixed with surprisingly sweet instances of joyful connections with her childlike mother, but also with her innermost self. Throughout the book, Dody portrays the ways in which the physical and mental needs of her mother and her own emotional, spiritual needs lovingly served each other and how dementia served them both.
The memoir depicts the role changes that occur in the relationship between Dody and her beloved mother, but more so, it portrays the more compassionate relationship that she gains with herself as she learns to walk more honestly and gently with her fears, worries, and shortcomings.
Excerpt from Adventures in Mother-Sitting by Doreen Cox:
As had become her usual habit, Mother fell asleep shortly after her dinner, around 7:30 p.m. After cleaning up the kitchen, I watched some TV then started working on a jigsaw puzzle in order to stay awake until midnight. If Mother didn’t wake up before midnight, there was a good chance that she would sleep until morning. By 10:30 p.m., however, I couldn’t keep my eyes open so gave up the puzzle and crawled into bed. About to drift off, I groaned when I heard noises coming from her room, sounds that portended the smooth flow was about to change. It was a few minutes before 11:00 p.m. when I heard Mother babbling loudly in conversation with what I assumed to be was her cast of invisible nightly visitors.
I stayed in bed at first, annoyed that her medications were not doing their job in managing the delusions. She wasn’t jangling the bedrails for all she was worth, so I did not feel an urgency to get to her room. However, when the word “catheter” zoomed into my foggy brain, I jumped out of bed and hustled down the hall, slowing as I got to her door. Mother was touching the bedrails a little when I peeked into her room, but she did not need me at all. She was having a pretend conversation with the three stuffed animals that shared her bed. Mother was trying to place the little bunny-eared duck onto the bedrail after having successfully propped her larger otter and tiger onto the rail. Now with a brain set at toddler age, Mother was talking and playing with her stuffed animal friends. In the midst of my recent musings about why humans hang onto life when any quality left in living seems almost nonexistent, an unexpected answer had come my way.
My annoyance disappeared immediately and was replaced with a feeling I had never felt so strongly before: fierce belly-warming surges of love and protectiveness. This must be what mothers feel when they watch their toddlers at play, I thought while gazing with moist eyes at Mother. If I had stepped into her room at this moment, I am sure that she would have given me one of her toothless grins and tried to say, “Look, Mommy!” But I didn’t step into the room. I’m sure my heart would have burst if I had heard those words. Love and tenderness had enveloped me so completely—it was hard to contain this unexpected sense of motherhood.
I stood and watched until she had drifted off to sleep then went in, picked the duck off the floor, and tucked Mother in once more. After getting back into my own bed, I lay awake for a while and thought about toddler-age children. Most are unable yet to totally understand the onslaught of images, words, objects, and noises that come and go at them throughout their day. Make believe conversations and playacting with small dolls, stuffed animals, and toys engages them completely; to them, their play is real. So, too, was having make-believe conversations with stuffed animals and imagined people so real to Mother. During delusions, her hand gestures became flamboyant, her face animated, and even her sentences were understandable instead of garbled.
This particular incident made me consider a poignant question even more seriously: is it possible that, on some level, dementia can be viewed as a blessing for those who have it and are at the end of their life? For people with dementia, make believe seems to be as much a part of end-of-life experience as it was when they began life as a child. A wave of melancholy hit me strongly then as sadness over the loss of Mother’s adult personality and her motherly presence in my life moved through me. After this wave passed, a feeling of gratefulness lightened my grief. Mother was having her own experience of delightful fun, so real to her. The dementia that had caused her brain to regress back to the age of a toddler served a greater purpose than I had ever imagined. It was me that had to adjust and discern the benefit to her.
The pictures I took of Mother lying in bed surrounded by her animal friends are priceless to me. She loved each one and handled them differently. She was constantly putting on and taking off beaded bracelets from around the neck of her bunny-eared duck. Toward the end of her life, a bunny rabbit propped up Mother’s head when it weakened and began to droop. After her death, each of us took one of her animal friends into our homes. They are our reminders that Mother did experience her own brand of end-of-life joy.


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About the Author:
Born with a sense of wanderlust, Doreen (Dody) Cox had a somewhat convoluted career path, working in various business-related and mental health occupations. When dementia began to debilitate her mother, Dody resigned from her job as group counselor at an alternative school in order to take on an unforeseen endeavor: become her mother’s care bear. It was after her mother’s death that Dody’s path took another unexpected turn. She chose to honor her mother’s long-held wish: for her to write a book. ADVENTURES IN MOTHER-SITTING is Dody’s first publication, a memoir that emerged from the pages of her journal. Writing was a steadying outlet throughout the three years that dementia took her and her mother on an unpredictably tumultuous, yet heartwarming adventure.
Currently, Dody lives in her native Florida and works part-time, teaching a GED class comprised of multicultural adults in one of her favorite places: a library. She continues to write and has recently published A SACRED JOURNEY, a fictional short story with themes relating to nature, spirituality, hope, and dignity in death.
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
  • A $15 Amazon Gift Card & ebook copy of A Sacred Journey
Giveaway is International.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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#RELEASE DAY BLITZ: Bitter Sweet Deception by Tara Oakes



WARNING*** This novella is intended for those 18+ of age and contains strong language, sexual content, and adult situations. The Kingsmen M.C's saga continues in this newest installment of Tara Oakes' tantalizing new series. In the first three novella's you've come to know and love the characters within the club. Jay and Lil's have had their epic love story play out over the pages of "A Lil' Less Broken", followed by "A Lil' Less Lost" and finally, "A Lil' Less Hopeless". While their fairytale is far from over, the next arc in the series concentrates on some of the other intriguing characters that have been woven throughout Jay and Lil's storyline. The question on everyone's mind is.... WHO IS CHARLIE? And what is she hiding? Planting herself deep within the club's inner circle, Charlie came to Chisolm with one goal in mind... to destroy the Kingsmen, M.C., no matter the personal cost. An unknown hatred fuels her mission to take them down. Pairing herself up with one of the club's bad boy's, the M.C.'s enforcer, Clink, seemed like just the ticket to get her in the door. Once inside the club she had been eyeing from afar, she comes to realizes things are very different from what she had imagined them to be. Villainizing the group as a whole for an injustice that was done to her many years earlier no longer seemed to fit with growing attachments and relationships she was forming. And then there's Clink. He may very well be the wild card thrown into the mix that derailed Charlie's plans from the get go. Originally, serving as nothing but a way in to the club, and a body to warm her sheets at night, Clink has thrown Charlie for a loop. Determined from an early age to never need a man, Charlie can't help but find herself drawn to him in a carnal and ethereal way. She's tried to fight it, to deny it, but it was in vain. He calls her sugar... but, she's anything but sweet. A chance twist of luck placed Charlie right in the middle of club politics, where she was able to help free the club's Vice President, Jay, from serving time for murder he did not commit, but willingly confessed to in Book 2. Her risk earned her the hard earned respect and admiration that is hard to come by in the world of the M.C. Now that she finally has a place of her own in life, a place where she belongs and is wanted... is she willing to give it up? Give Him up? Willing to let it all slip through her fingers? Find out in Book 4 of Tara Oakes' Kingsmen M.C. series, "Bitter Sweet Deception"
Buy on Amazon And don’t forget to join the Release Event! There will be a few giveaways and several takeovers! You can join here: https://www.facebook.com/events/710559499063030/

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More About Tara Oakes
Tara is a thirty something newbie author from Long Island, New York. She's a voracious reader, a passionate writer and obsessive junk T.V. aficionado. When she's not doing one of those three things she is attempting to garden, hanging with her hubby or partaking in some retail therapy. She enjoys connecting with her readers and is having a blast entering into this new world of publishing.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lil_Oakes Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Oakes/e/B00N71SH18/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Oakes/1468537190061965?ref=hl Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8390968.Tara_Oakes Website: https://www.authortaraoakes.com Newsletter Sign-Up: http://www.authortaraoakes.com/contact.html

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                                                                     Pre-Order on Amazon US

Monday, February 23, 2015

#BLAST and #GIVEAWAY: Unseen by Stephanie Erickson

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Unseen - EbookMackenzie Day constantly struggles to silence the voices in her head. The inner thoughts of those around her intrude upon every aspect of her life, threatening to turn it into chaos. All her life, she thought she was alone as a mind reader--a freak. Then a member of a secret organization called The Unseen suddenly introduces himself, and she's immersed in a world she never knew existed. They teach her to hone her skills as a reader, but to what end? Secrets surround her, humming just out of reach, filling her with questions. Who are they? What do they do with their mind-reading abilities? In the end, just how far will Mackenzie go to be part of The Unseen?

Buy on Amazon | Apple | Kobo | B&N | Google Play

 

About the author:

Stephanie - unseenStephanie Erickson has always had a passion for the written word. She pursued her love of literature at Flagler College, in St. Augustine, FL, where she graduated with a BA in English. She has received several honors in her writing career, including recognition in the 72nd Annual Writer's Digest Competition. After graduation, she married and followed her husband in pursuit of his dream. The Cure and The Blackout were written to reignite Stephanie's passion, when she found the time. Now that he is settled in his career, it's her turn to devote more time and energy into writing. Stephanie currently has 3 projects planned for 2015. Her upcoming release is well underway and is slated for a March 2015 publication date. Stephanie, of course, loves to read and write. She also enjoys living on the beach on the Florida's Treasure Coast. Most of all, she and her husband are in love with their baby girl.
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Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter/Website | Literary Addicts
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Friday, February 20, 2015

#REVIEW: NIV Proclamation Bible



 Title: NIV Proclamation Bible
Series: none
Author:  miscellaneous
Published Date:  March 10, 2015
Publisher: Zondervan
Format: hardback
Pages: 1568
ISBN: 9780310437956
Genre: Bibles
Purchase: Amazon | Zondervan

Rating: 3 ½ stars

Synopsis: “The NIV Proclamation Bible is remarkable for how well it puts the highest quality biblical scholarship at the Bible student’s fingertips in such a clear, penetrating and accessible form. There are many study Bibles on the market right now, but none better.” – Tim Keller
The NIV Proclamation Bible offers a valuable resource for those who teach from the Bible regularly and anyone who enjoys studying Scripture in greater depth.  This edition, developed by Lee Gatiss in collaboration with the Proclamation Trust, includes a wealth of additional material from leading theologians, pastors, and Bible teachers to enhance your study of the word. The Bible features ten introductory essays on theology, doctrine and the application and interpretation of Scripture, as well as detailed overviews of each literary genre in the Bible--from the historical narratives to the apocalyptic literature. It also features introductions to every Bible book.
Sixty-five expert Bible teachers have contributed to the NIV Proclamation Bible including Christopher Ash, Graham Beynon, Gerald Bray, Simon Gathercole, David Jackman, Karen Jobes, Dick Lucas, Douglas Moo, Peter O'Brien, Vaughan Roberts, William Taylor, and Chris Wright. Many of these individuals are also members of the NIV translation team, which takes into account the latest developments in biblical scholarship and language usage when working with the NIV translation. Setting the highest standards of reliability and readability, the New International Version is ideal for personal reading, public teaching and group study.

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is not a study bible as much as it says it is. The only thing it has is articles on how to teach the Bible, and really nice introductions to each book as well as articles on how to teach the Bible. The contributors are all insanely intelligent; most of them are professors and thusly write at a sometimes doctoral level. I personally like the articles before the Bible, some may not like them because they are written at a level that people who have not gone to college may find difficult to understand.
Some of these contributors are Anglican (versus a more evangelical, charismatic branch of Christianity), which I appreciate simply because I am a quiet, reserved Episcopalian.
The Bible itself is no different from any other Bible. Its format is a three column page, with Scripture on the two outer columns, with cross-referenced verses in the middle. The pages aren’t super-thin, so it makes to be a hefty Bible, weighing in at 3.1 pounds.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

#REVIEW and #GIVEAWAY: The Adelheid Series by Mia Darien


Titles: Cameron's Law / When Forever Died / Voracious / Written All Over Her / Disposable People
Series: Welcome to Adelheid
Author: Mia Darien
Genre: Paranormal Suspense

Synopsis

Cameron's Law

Vampires are people, too.

Cameron's Law has made all supernatural creatures legal citizens, and the boy next door has suddenly become the werewolf next door. With Sadie Stanton, vampire and one of the public faces of the legislation, calling the little town of Adelheid, Connecticut home, it can't help but be a focal point for these once mythical beings.

But when vampires start attacking werewolves without provocation, Adelheid draws the attention of those that would seek to have Cameron's Law repealed and would send the preternaturals back into the shadows they used to hide in, but without the safety of their anonymity and their law.

Can Sadie keep the city's two biggest species from descending into chaos and war before it brings all of them to harm? And can she do it when she herself gets thrust into the spotlight?


RATING: 4 stars

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The author has created a world very similar to ours where preternatural creatures, such as vampires, shifters, and fae, have come out of the closet, so to speak and have fought successfully for their rights. A year after the law has been created giving them their rights, Sadie, a vampire, is not only dealing with the grief she has over the death of her lover, Cameron, the one whom the law is named after, but she is trying to create a business that helps both the human and preternatural groups.
As to be expected, as we've seen in history, some humans are not so happy about the preternaturals getting rights equal to humans. Those people are bent on making Sadie's life very difficult and getting the law revoked.
I really enjoyed Sadie as a character. She's not happy about being in the spotlight for the entire preternatural group, and she struggles as she finds herself having to be the bridge and peacemaker between the Vampires and shifters. This makes her very relatable as a leader because the best leaders are those who struggle, where it doesn't come easily but they still come out on top and do what is best for everyone involved.
Overall, the writing was good. The action was well-paced to a point where it kept the story line going. There weren't any hiccups in the action, so no real lulls.

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When Forever Died

Forever is a long time.

The life of a hunter is a lonely one. Perhaps more for Dakota than others in her line of work. Not only is she better than anyone else at chasing down the things that go bump in the night, but her past chases her with the same tenacity.

She's built walls around her solitary existence and that's the way she likes it, but the past never sleeps. When she's hired to hunt an ex-lover for murder, it's just the first in a string of memories that will bring Dakota's past, present and future into a collision course.

And when she agrees to take on a second case and hunt down an Ancient, a vampire over one thousand years old, it unleashes circumstances onto that collision that will shake the foundation of everything she's built and force her, for the first time in a long while, to look to others.

Can she survive it, like she's survived these past four centuries? Or will the weight of it all finally crush her?

RATING: 3 1/2 stars

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
We first meet Dakota, a very mysterious character, in the first book of the series, Cameron's Law. She's prickly and a loner and I love her. I think I like her so much because she is so mysterious.
This book is kind of a standalone. There are scenes in it that you won't really get unless you read the first book, but it is possible to read it as a standalone.
In this book, you really get to see a very relatable, human side to Dakota, past all the walls and thorns she puts up around her. This is my favorite part of the book. In the story, you get to see her past, put into flashbacks and dreams. The German part really threw me, as it's not a language I would prefer to know, and it was difficult to understand.
The pacing of the book is just as good as the first book of the series, and it pulls you in from the beginning.


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Voracious

Sometimes, life doesn’t begin until after you’re dead.

Days stretch out in a series of predictable steps. A to B to C to A. Work. Friends. Life. But for some people, it’s not enough. It’s not enough for D. Possessed of a ravenous hunger for more, he’s at a loss for how to find it.

Until he meets Cielle. She’s everything he’s looking for: new and exciting.

And a vampire, which he’s less crazy about.

But when “new and exciting” Turns him, D is forced into an undead life he never anticipated. Trying to adjust to this new existence is hard enough, but he’s about to get more than he ever bargained for.

Will it be enough to sate his hunger?

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Written All Over Her
One word can change the story of your life forever.

Abduction. Torture. Surrender.

Eleven months from her adolescence have framed thirty-one years of Detective Nykk Marlowe’s life. Despite the trauma of her past, and the unique physical scars it left her with, she’s built a career as a detective for the Adelheid Police Department.

Her personal life might only consist of caring for her sister and a pet rabbit, but she accepts that.

She accepts that she’ll never be able to be like “normal” people, even the supernatural ones. As long as she can keep the past where it belongs, she’s okay.

But when the body of a teenage girl shows up with the same scars that Nykk sees in the mirror every day, her “okay” life gets turned upside down and she’s forced to confront the past she’s been looking away from for sixteen years.

And when it turns out there’s already more than one victim, the pressure’s on to stop the killer before any more girls are tortured, mutilated, and murdered.

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Author Bio
Born a Connecticut Yankee in nobody's court, Mia Darien grew up to brave snow and talk fast. She started reading when she was three and never looked back, soon frequently falling asleep with a book under her cheek. (Something she still does, though these days it's her Nook as often as a paperback.)

At eleven, she discovered "Night Mare" by Piers Anthony and entered the world of grown-up fantasy fiction and it was all over from there. She started writing at fourteen, then met vampires as a teenager and the concept for what would become Adelheid was soon born. Epic fantasy remains her first love, but she enjoys writing whatever stories come to mind in any genre.

Now she loves both writing and helping her indie community with her freelancing. A geek till the end, she enjoys role-play by email games and World of Warcraft when she has the time. Married to her very own Named Man of the North, she lives with him, their mini-tank (also known as their son) and pets, who usually act more childish than the child.


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Giveaway: There is a giveaway for this tour. A $10 Amazon or B&N giftcard or credit at the Book Depository. Ends 2/27. The code for the Rafflecopter is provided below.

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