tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43511812373305371242024-03-13T09:35:10.423-04:00The Review CrewJennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-69555134772955004222020-11-23T08:00:00.001-05:002020-11-23T08:00:01.693-05:00Blog Tour Showcase: Inside Passage<div style="text-align: center;">
<h2>Inside Passage</h2>
<h5>Book 1 of the Corey Logan Trilogy</h5>
<h3>by Burt Weissbourd</h3>
<h4>November 1-30, 2020 Tour</h4>
</div>
<h2>Synopsis:</h2>
<div style="float: left; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 5px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 10px; width: 210px;"><img alt="Inside Passage by Burt Weissbourd" border="0" height="319" src="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/pict/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/inside-passage-by-burt-weissbourd-cover-scaled.jpg" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 5px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px;" width="200" /></div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Corey Logan was set up. She knows Nick Season’s terrible secret. Coming home from prison, all Corey wants is to be with her son. To get him back, she needs to make a good impression on the psychiatrist evaluating her. Dr. Abe Stein doesn’t believe she was framed — until his well-heeled mother falls for the charming state attorney general candidate, Nick Season. As the dogs of war are unleashed, Corey and her son run for their lives — taking her boat up the Pacific Northwest’s remote <i>Inside Passage</i>.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">“A stunning, fast paced thriller that took me on an intense ride and kept me on the edge of myseat the entire way through … If you love beautifully executed thrillers that will play with your mind as well as your heart, this is the book for you.” ~ Midwest Book Review</p>
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<div style="float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 5px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 10px; width: 210px;"><img alt="Corey Logan Trilogy by Burt Weissbourd" border="0" height="276" src="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/pict/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Corey-Logan-Trilogy-box2.png" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px;" width="210" /></div>
<p><i>Inside Passage</i> is the first in Weissbourd’s haunting, heart-stirring Corey Logan Trilogy.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h4><a href="https://amzn.to/2R47kM4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Inside Passage</a></h4>
<h4><a href="https://amzn.to/3nv3A5g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Teaser</a></h4>
<h4><a href="https://amzn.to/2F7wiYB" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Minos</a></h4>
</div>
<p><a href="https://bit.ly/34H3pem" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here</a> to find out more about the Corey Logan Trilogy.</p>
</div>
<blockquote class="details">
<h3>Book Details:</h3>
<p><b>Genre:</b> Crime Thriller<br />
<b>Published by:</b> Blue City Press<br />
<b>Publication Date:</b> October 20th 2020<br />
<b>Number of Pages:</b> 290<br />
<b>ISBN:</b> 1733438246 (ISBN13: 9781733438247)<br />
<b>Series:</b>A Corey Logan Thriller, #1 || STAND ALONE MYSTERY<br />
<b>Purchase Links:</b> <a href="https://amzn.to/2R47kM4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/2R2EADl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/2GT8acs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IndieBound</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3i6m4G0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></p>
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<h3>Read an excerpt:</h3>
<div class="excerpt" style="border-color: 800000; border-style: groove; border-width: 3px; height: 250px; overflow: auto;">
<p>“Wouldn’t you like to get married in your own backyard?”</p>
<p>“Of course I would. You know that,” she snapped. “But I can’t.”</p>
<p>“Why not? Because Nick Season says you can’t. You have the right to live the life you want to live. Don’t give it up for that son of a bitch. Hell no. You don’t have to do that.” Abe leaned closer. There it was, those laser-like light blue eyes. “It won’t be easy, but together, we can figure out what to do. You and I can do this. We have to.”</p>
<p>“My God, what are you thinking? This isn’t like psycho-therapy.” She held his eyes. “We can’t ‘figure it out’ or ‘work on it.’ It’s not a head game. We have no evidence. Nothing. Nick’s a foolproof liar and a stone-cold killer. And he’s going to be Washington’s state attorney general.”</p>
<p>“And he has to be stopped.” Abe looked into their fire. “It’s not just about what you’d have to give up … think about what he’ll do if he ever finds out that you and Billy are alive. And though you might be okay for a year, or even two, eventually, he’ll start to wonder. And then to worry. It’s who he is. You’ve told me that. And then he’ll never stop checking. He’ll have me followed. Every year, he’ll run your prints, and Billy’s, through some Canadian database. And that’s just the beginning … unless we stop him.”</p>
<p>“And how do you propose to do that?”</p>
<p>Abe’s bushy brows furrowed in a “V” until they almost touched. “I understand the problem now.” They touched. Corey had never seen that. Very cool. He meant business. He turned to her, full face. “To begin, I’ll comb my hair and look this devil in his shiny black eyes.”</p>
<p>What? What was that? Corey was dumbstruck. Eventually, she softly mouthed, “What?” And louder, before he could answer, “Aren’t you afraid of him?”</p>
<p>“He’s very frightening, and I’m painfully aware of what’s at stake. And of course I see how very dangerous he is and yes, that scares me.” He scowled. “But I have other feelings that are even stronger than my fear.”</p>
<p>“What does that mean?”</p>
<p>“What I’m afraid of, what keeps me up at night, is losing you. Nick wants to kill the person I love most in the world. That makes him my archenemy, my nemesis. What I feel for Nick is inexhaustible rage.” He tapped his pipe against the log, emptying it into the sand, then he carefully set it down. When he looked up, his expression had turned fierce. Abe took both of her hands. “Nick Season be damned!”</p>
<p>“You’re being crazy.” She had never seen Abe like this.</p>
<p>“No, I’m telling you how I feel. I want to marry you Corey. I want to live with you and Billy in Seattle. I want to go to parent night at Billy’s school. I want to take you guys to dinner at Tulio and for pizza at Via Tribunali. I want to fish at your favorite spots near Bainbridge —”</p>
<p>“He’ll kill us all.” And Abe was really scaring her.</p>
<p>“I have to keep that from happening.”</p>
<p>“This isn’t a storybook. Nick isn’t like anyone you know. And this isn’t an insight kind of deal. Look what happened the last time you tried to help. They almost got Billy, and I had to kill someone. Look what almost happened last night. This time you and Billy and I, we could all die. Do you understand that?”</p>
<p>“Yes, I do. But I won’t let that happen.”</p>
<p>“Won’t let that happen?”</p>
<p>“No, I won’t.”</p>
<p>“How?”</p>
<p>“I’m working on that. “</p>
<p>“Working on it? How? You’re going to comb your hair? Look this devil in his shiny black eyes? What is that about?”</p>
<p>Abe considered her question. “It’s a way of starting.”</p>
<p>Corey put her head in her hands. She didn’t know what to say.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Excerpt from <i>Inside Passage</i> by Burt Weissbourd. Copyright 2020 by Burt Weissbourd. Reproduced with permission from Burt Weissbourd. All rights reserved.</p>
</div>
<p> </p>
<h2>Author Bio:</h2>
<div style="float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 10px; width: 220px;"><img align="left" alt="Burt Weissbourd" border="0" height="240" src="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/pict/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/inside-passage-by-burt-weissbourd-author.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; margin: 5px;" width="193" /></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Burt Weissbourd is a novelist, screenwriter and producer of feature films. He was born in 1949 and graduated cum laude from Yale University, with honors in psychology. During his student years, he volunteered at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and taught English to college students in Thailand. After he graduated, he wrote, directed, and produced educational films for Gilbert Altschul Productions. He began a finance program at the Northwestern University Graduate School of Business, but left to start his own film production company in Los Angeles. He managed that company from 1977 until 1986, producing films including <i>Ghost Story</i> starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Patricia Neal, and <i>Raggedy Man</i> starring Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard, which The New York Times called "a movie of sweet, low-keyed charm." In 1987, he founded an investment business, which he still runs. Burt's novels include the thrillers <i><a href="https://bit.ly/30O8fFB" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Danger in Plain Sight</a></i>, The Corey Logan Trilogy (<i><a href="https://bit.ly/2GEtJOf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Inside Passage</a></i>, <i>Teaser</i> and <i>Minos</i>), and <i>In Velvet</i>, a thriller set in Yellowstone National Park.</p>
<h3>Catch Up With Burt Weissbourd:<br />
<a href="https://bit.ly/3jYQhXZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BurtWeissbourd.com</a>, <a href="https://bit.ly/3djEPnw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://bit.ly/2QQF8N9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BookBub</a>, <a href="https://bit.ly/2Un6lYy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://bit.ly/3bhuNBk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, & <a href="https://bit.ly/2UoELtW" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</h3>
<h2>Tour Participants:</h2>
<p>Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!</p>
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<h2>Enter To Win!:</h2>
<h5>This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Burt Weissbourd. There will be 5 winners of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card each. The giveaway begins on November 1, 2020 and runs through December 2, 2020. Void where prohibited.</h5>
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<h2><a href="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/">Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours</a></h2>
<h3> </h3>
Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-29364068873131316252020-11-22T18:23:00.001-05:002020-11-22T18:23:16.126-05:00Heart Bones, a review by Allyson<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-90hpRAY_fAo/X7ryc-djD4I/AAAAAAAAAEs/JI9MpjWORtwePZIPqqIPS_aIw726-Dr5gCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-90hpRAY_fAo/X7ryc-djD4I/AAAAAAAAAEs/JI9MpjWORtwePZIPqqIPS_aIw726-Dr5gCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="160" /></a></div><br />Heart bones<br />Colleen Hoover<br />Published August 19th, 2020 <br />Hoover Ink, Inc.<br />Kindle Edition, 338 pages<p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Colleen Hoover is my favorite romance author, I love that her books are quick and easy to read and often delve into deeper issues. Heart bones was no exception to that. This book had me feeling so many things and at the end, I was balling my eyes out. It had everything you would want from a good romance, mystery, intrigue, conflict, and a good back story.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the summer before she starts college, Beyahs world suddenly changes. She finds her mother, a drug addict, dead on the sofa of their trailer. With nowhere else to go, Beyah moves to Texas where her father, whom she hasn't seen in a while, currently lives with his new wife and step-daughter. That is where Beyah is introduced to Samson, and their relationship starts to build when they both recognize the brokenness in each other. Even as Beyah and Samson's relationship becomes deeper there are so many questions left to be answered. Samson is very secretive about his past and said he won't answer all of Beyah's questions till the end of summer before she leaves for college and he leaves for the Military. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">While the writing is simple, that is one of the things I love about it. I also loved the characters. The relationship that develops between Beyah and her new Step-sister, Sarah, is so sweet. Sarah seemed like a genuinely nice person with a big heart. I just love following these characters' lives and getting to see how they affect the people they meet. The story is beautiful, a tragic start with a plot that builds all the way up to the end. Even in the last chapter, you are wondering what's going to happen. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The way the title related to the book is great as well. It is truly a unique name that you don't understand the meaning of until you read it. If you are a fan of romance, I am sure you will love this book and anything else Colleen Hoover has written.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Allyson" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="930" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Bw8DQf083hA/X7rynxZtLFI/AAAAAAAAAEw/LjhbhGCAbUQ-MXp_j-Gr73jdDySt8ZpWwCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-58798282460715396572020-11-22T11:08:00.001-05:002020-11-23T16:49:43.336-05:00These Violent Delights, a buddy review by Allyson and Cat<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-liToiWtMplk/X6rTbzlSXWI/AAAAAAAAdMo/72w4iMRDlcU6ypRESGAXbRJhrnXvjQLRACPcBGAYYCw/s2048/BOTM%2Bfor%2BNovember%2B2020.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-liToiWtMplk/X6rTbzlSXWI/AAAAAAAAdMo/72w4iMRDlcU6ypRESGAXbRJhrnXvjQLRACPcBGAYYCw/s320/BOTM%2Bfor%2BNovember%2B2020.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These Violent Delights</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chloe Gong</div><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Young Adult Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: justify;">464 pages</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Published November 17th, 2020</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Margaret K. McElderry Books</div><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">Find on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50892212-these-violent-delights?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=j4oytU350O&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">These Violent Delights is a retelling
of Romeo and Juliette set in 1926 Shanghai. There is a blood feud
between the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers, splitting Shanghai
into two distinct territories. Juliette Cai, the heiress of the
Scarlett Gang, has just returned from New York where she spent the
last 4 years trying to get over her first love and heir to the White
Flowers, Roma Montagov. Suddenly a madness begins to spread through
Shanghai causing members of both factions to start clawing their own
necks out. Roma and Juliette must set aside their differences and
join together before the madness spreads and there are no people left
to rule.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YnXbdKHMqeQ/X7lJE-VWrhI/AAAAAAAAdc0/cpBtbKgExbkxmfBuDeHPny3DMoSiEKM7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/These%2BViolent%2BDelights.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YnXbdKHMqeQ/X7lJE-VWrhI/AAAAAAAAdc0/cpBtbKgExbkxmfBuDeHPny3DMoSiEKM7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/These%2BViolent%2BDelights.jpg" /></a>Allyson's Review - </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="16" name="graphics1" src="https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/tb4/1/16/2b50.png" width="16" /><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="16" name="graphics2" src="https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/tb4/1/16/2b50.png" width="16" /><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="16" name="graphics3" src="https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/tb4/1/16/2b50.png" width="16" />
<br /><br />The writing style of this book is just so good. I loved how the
sentences flowed and the lyrical/whimsical way Chloe Gong wrote. The
plot was intriguing although I did find it a bit slow in the
beginning. The introduction of the fantasy elements to the classic
Romeo and Juliette storyline worked well and was one of the most
enjoyable parts of reading this. I was really struggling with whether
to give it 3 or 4 stars, but the main thing holding me back was the
lack of character development. Also I had it in my head that there
would be more romance elements to the novel but they were few and far
between. It would have been great to know more about both Roma and
Juliette and their past but we only got a small glimpse into their
lives.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Allyson" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="786" height="134" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j3mFhTzJwZU/X7GzqSGOt-I/AAAAAAAAFLM/xLpAZdr9q8sLAQpWsilBjjXbB8ae-Vu6gCPcBGAYYCw/w273-h134/Allyson1.png" width="273" /></a></div><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HUWStbr4xYs/X6v8VKv1AtI/AAAAAAAAdNE/42lGEY3KWuQx9Jz5ntAn5LSv0aIY25sJgCPcBGAYYCw/s2048/These%2BViolent%2BDelights.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HUWStbr4xYs/X6v8VKv1AtI/AAAAAAAAdNE/42lGEY3KWuQx9Jz5ntAn5LSv0aIY25sJgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/These%2BViolent%2BDelights.png" /></a></div>Cat's Review - <p></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; margin-bottom: 0.6rem; margin-top: 0px; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">🌹🌹🌹🌹</span></h2><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">We've all seen our fair share of Romeo and Juliet retellings. With that in mind, I have to say that These Violent Delights is arguably the most dynamic and creative retelling I've seen to date. Chloe Gong infuses the story with many of her own twists, from a change in location to altering the backstories and motivations. All while adding some horror/fantasy elements on top. It made it impossible to predict what was going to happen next, which takes talent given the nature of the origin.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">There was a lot of creative word and character play that I found myself really enjoying. It's what raised this retelling from an average story to something a little bit more, at least in my mind.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d58Muuym1P8/X6qiUCB9-lI/AAAAAAAAdMc/duOHHFrIPjcrU-DAC48xUHKLPU5nzRBUACPcBGAYYCw/s939/Cat%2BWyatt.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="939" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d58Muuym1P8/X6qiUCB9-lI/AAAAAAAAdMc/duOHHFrIPjcrU-DAC48xUHKLPU5nzRBUACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Cat%2BWyatt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-47474780335157004382020-11-22T08:00:00.001-05:002020-11-22T08:00:03.343-05:00Blog Tour Showcase: Winter Witness<div style="text-align: center;">
<h2><a href="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/winter-witness-by-tina-debellegarde/"><img alt="Winter Witness by Tina deBellegarde Banner" class="aligncenter size-full" height="338" src="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/pict/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/winter-witness-by-tina-debellegarde-banner-1536x864.jpg" width="600" /></a></h2>
<h2> </h2>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Winter Witness</h2>
<h3>by Tina deBellegarde</h3>
<h4>on Tour November 1-30, 2020</h4>
</div>
<h2>Synopsis:</h2>
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; width: 210px;"><img alt="Winter Witness by Tina deBellegarde" border="0" height="309" src="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/pict/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/winter-witness-by-tina-debellegarde-cover-scaled.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px;" width="200" /></div>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">When a beloved nun is murdered in a sleepy Catskill Mountain town, a grieving young widow finds herself at the center of the turmoil. Bianca St. Denis is searching for a job and seeking acceptance in her new home of Batavia-on-Hudson. Agatha Miller, the nun’s closest friend and the ailing local historian everyone loves to hate, shares her painful personal history and long-buried village secrets with Bianca. Armed with this knowledge, Bianca unravels the mysteries surrounding the death while dealing with the suspicions of her eccentric neighbors.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">However, Bianca’s meddling complicates the sheriff’s investigation as well as his marriage. Can Sheriff Mike Riley escape his painful past in a town where murder and infighting over a new casino vie for his attention?</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Danger stalks Bianca as she gets closer to the truth. Can the sheriff solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? Can the town heal its wounds once the truth has been uncovered?</p>
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<blockquote class="details">
<h3>Book Details:</h3>
<p><b>Genre:</b> Traditional Mystery<br />
<b>Published by:</b> Level Best Books<br />
<b>Publication Date:</b> September 29, 2020<br />
<b>Number of Pages:</b> 282<br />
<b>ISBN:</b> 978-1-947915-76-3<br />
<b>Series:</b> Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery, #1<br />
<b>Purchase Links:</b> <a href="https://amzn.to/31GEM1j" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://apple.co/2GRLeKI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Books</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3dbikRY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3lykgah" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kobo</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3gOGodO" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/34EfCR7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oblong Books and Music</a></p>
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<h3>Read an excerpt:</h3>
<div class="excerpt" style="border-color: 800000; border-style: groove; border-width: 3px; height: 250px; overflow: auto;">
<h5>CHAPTER ONE</h5>
<p>Thursday, December 15</p>
<p>She could have been sleeping, were it not for the gaping gash in the back of her head and the bloody stone next to her limp body.</p>
<p>Sheriff Mike Riley stood alone on the shore of the near-frozen lake. At his feet, Sister Elaine Fisher lay face down, ice crystals forming around her body where it met the shoreline. The murmuring water of the nearby stream imparted a peacefulness at odds with the scene. In the waning winter light, he paused ankle deep in the snow illuminated by the beat of red strobe lights.</p>
<p>Murder seemed so extreme. The villagers would be baffled. Murder didn’t happen in sleepy Batavia-on-Hudson. An occasional stolen bicycle, some were paid off the books, but that was hardly worth mentioning. Lately, there had been a handful of amateur burglaries. Murder was another story altogether.</p>
<p>But there was no denying it. Elaine’s body was there before him, lifeless on a cushion of snow at the edge of the lake.</p>
<p>Sheriff Riley ran his chapped hands through his salt and pepper hair. A knowing person might have noticed that he used this motion to disguise a quick brush at his cheek, to eliminate the one tear that slipped through.</p>
<p>He feared this day, the day his lazy job would bring him face to face once again with the ugly underbelly he knew existed even in a quiet place like Batavia-on-Hudson. Mike Riley wasn’t afraid of death. He was afraid of the transformation a village like this was bound to go through after an act of murder.</p>
<p>He cried for Elaine; though he barely knew her. But also, he cried for the village that died with her that morning. A place where children still wandered freely. A village that didn’t lock doors, and trusted everyone, even the ones they gossiped about. Now, inevitably, the villagers would be guarded around each other, never quite sure anymore if someone could be trusted.</p>
<p>He thought he could already hear the locks snapping shut in cars and homes as word of the murder got out. Mothers yanking children indoors, hand-in-hand lovers escaping the once-romantic shadows of the wooded pathways, and old ladies turning into shut-ins instead of walking their dogs across the windy bluff.</p>
<p>Sheriff Riley steeled himself not just to confront the damaged body of the first murder victim of Batavia in over seventy years, but to confront the worried faces of mothers, the defeated faces of fathers and the vulnerable faces of the elderly.</p>
<p>He squatted in the slush, wincing as his bad knee rebelled, and laid his hands on Elaine’s rough canvas jacket, two-sizes too big—one of her thrift shop purchases, no doubt. As reverently as was possible in the muddy snow, Mike Riley turned over her body to examine the face of a changing village.</p>
<p>Sister Elaine had no one left, she had no known siblings and of course, no spouse or children. Only Agatha Miller, her childhood companion, could have been considered next of kin. How Elaine had tolerated her grumpy old friend was a mystery to everyone.</p>
<p>The sheriff knew that Elaine’s death would rock the community. Even a relative outsider like Mike understood that Elaine had been an anchor in Batavia. Her kindness had given the village heart, and her compassion had given it soul. No one would be prepared for this.</p>
<p>Mike knew from experience that preparation for death eases the grief. You start getting ready emotionally and psychologically. You make arrangements. You imagine your life without someone. But Mike also knew that when the time comes it still slaps you in the face, cold and bracing. And you realize you were only fooling yourself. Then somehow, in short order, work becomes demanding, bills need to be paid and something on the radio steals a chuckle right out of your throat. For a brief second you realize that there are moments of respite from your grief and perhaps someday those moments will expand and you may be able to experience joy once again.</p>
<p>But for now, Elaine’s death will be a shock. No one had prepared for her death, let alone her murder.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Excerpt from <i>Winter Witness</i> by Tina deBellegarde. Copyright 2020 by Tina deBellegarde. Reproduced with permission from Tina deBellegarde. All rights reserved.</p>
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<h2>Author Bio:</h2>
<div style="float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: px; margin-top: 5px; width: 220px;"><img align="left" alt="Tina deBellegarde" border="0" height="300" src="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/pict/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/winter-witness-by-tina-debellegarde-author-scaled.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: px; margin-top: 5px;" width="200" /></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Tina deBellegarde lives in Catskill, New York with her husband Denis and their cat Shelby. <em>Winter Witness</em> is the first book in the Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery Series. Tina also writes short stories and flash fiction. When she isn’t writing, she is helping Denis tend their beehives, harvest shiitake mushrooms, and cultivate their vegetable garden. She travels to Japan regularly to visit her son, Alessandro. Tina did her graduate studies in history. She is a former exporter, paralegal, teacher, and library clerk.</p>
<h3>Catch Up With Tina deBellegarde:<br />
<a href="https://bit.ly/3gKZgKq" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tinadebellegarde.com</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3gJ0G8a" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3hISLcy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BookBub</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3hISTsy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3bbP6S2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/3dmYzHq" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></h3>
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<h2>Tour Participants:</h2>
<p>Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!</p>
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<h2>Enter To Win!:</h2>
<h5 style="text-align: justify;">This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Tina deBellegarde. There will be 6 winners. Two (2) winners will each win one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card; two (2) winners will each win one (1) physical copy of <i>Winter Witness</i> by Tina deBellegarde (U.S. addresses only); and two (2) winners will each win one (1) eBook copy of <i>Winter Witness</i> by Tina deBellegarde The giveaway begins on November 1, 2020 and runs through December 2, 2020. Void where prohibited.</h5>
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<h2><a href="http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/">Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours</a></h2>
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Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-73003578288809275122020-11-21T22:05:00.005-05:002020-11-21T22:05:58.537-05:00The Girl in the Mirror, a review by Tanya<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z2uj2Im9x8w/X7nVQavqYpI/AAAAAAAAAPg/-XB1o8wYe9EyDH0xaVz-D201GcOYBXsCwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/the%2Bgirl%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bmirror.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1814" height="252" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z2uj2Im9x8w/X7nVQavqYpI/AAAAAAAAAPg/-XB1o8wYe9EyDH0xaVz-D201GcOYBXsCwCLcBGAsYHQ/w223-h252/the%2Bgirl%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bmirror.jpeg" width="223" /></a></div>⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵<p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">The Girl in the Mirror</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rose Carlyle</div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">304 pages</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Published Oct 20, 2020 by William Morrow</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I love the idea of Twins. Especially Identical Twins. Starting out so alike and continuing to look alike on the outside as they grow. But what happens on the inside? If they are raised in the same environment, it seems logical that they will have similar personalities, morals and beliefs. But we know that is not true.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is the basis for The Girl in the Mirror. Summer and Iris – twins that look identical but are very different people. Summer is sweet, kind, beautiful and beloved by everyone. Iris feels like she is the bad twin, never as good as Summer, not as pretty, not as beloved.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">These roles continue into adulthood with Summer and Iris living on different continents, living separate lives. Until one day, Summer reaches out to Iris to ask her a huge favor. Sailing the family boat across the Indian Ocean with just the twins as passengers. As Iris is an excellent sailor, this seems an innocent enough request. Though it will have deadly consequences for one of them.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I was so entertained by this story although it did take me a bit to get into the story as it unfolds piece by piece. To begin with, the author has to fill the reader in on bits and pieces of previous events that are important to setting the current scene. That made it a little choppy for me and was a bit confusing from time to time. But after the first few chapters, the story is well set up to move forward and it’s ‘smooth sailing’ from there!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Loved the events that transpired and how the MC moved forward. Obviously making bad decisions that make the story even better. 😊 </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There was a bit of a lull in the middle of the book but it soon picked back up again with a race to the finish line ending that was very satisfying! Perfect read for adventure/thriller lovers!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qmukJqkOvKU/X7nUZQDgOsI/AAAAAAAAAPY/qBTL5ZGOh18x9lSzIrjJu4Ku66f_6qfvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1125/Signature.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="1125" height="97" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qmukJqkOvKU/X7nUZQDgOsI/AAAAAAAAAPY/qBTL5ZGOh18x9lSzIrjJu4Ku66f_6qfvwCLcBGAsYHQ/w218-h97/Signature.JPG" width="218" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-36386633442357219122020-11-21T08:30:00.015-05:002020-11-21T14:33:48.292-05:00Across the Winding River, a review by Allison<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r84Dc3JB1nY/X7jF53cQ98I/AAAAAAAAThE/q172rd3T30AkR8a2_0YSF7EeBD1f9zAXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/51T7sAgi9XL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r84Dc3JB1nY/X7jF53cQ98I/AAAAAAAAThE/q172rd3T30AkR8a2_0YSF7EeBD1f9zAXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51T7sAgi9XL.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">👴👴👴👴👴</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Across the Winding River <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Historical Fiction</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">301 Pages <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Aimie K. Runyan</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Published August 1, 2020 by Lake Union Publishing</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back in March of 2019, my book club, Between the Covers, celebrated its 5th birthday. We were THRILLED when author Aimie K. Runyan joined us via Skype to discuss her book, “Girls on the Line”. Such an amazing author and a very warm person! We loved being able to take turns asking questions and she was so gracious to spend part of her Sunday afternoon with us!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Runyan’s latest beauty is told through three points of view: Max, a dual timeline story within itself, once a dentist-turned-medic in the second world war and now as a 90 year old in poor health; Johanna, a young woman living in Germany during the war, whose family is deeply affected by Hitler's reign; and present day through Beth, Max’s daughter.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When the story begins, we find ourselves in 2007 California, where Max is living in a private care home. When his declining health can no longer be ignored, he requests that Beth bring him his war memorabilia to get into order. While gathering these items, Beth finds an old picture of Max and a woman, who is NOT her mother. This ignites her curiosity, as the woman is visibly pregnant and looking very much in love. In the spirit of no spoilers, I will stop there.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The author does such a great job of describing the family relationships between characters. The present-day father-daughter relationship between Max and Beth is so sweet; Beth is understandably worried for her father’s health and the time they spend together allows her a glimpse into his life as a young soldier. Beth’s ex-husband also plays a small role, if nothing else to remind us that divorce does not necessarily mean a lack of love for one another.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back in 1940’s Germany, the relationships between Johanna and her husband, Harald, as well as her mother, brother and sister are explored. Dealing with loss, trust issues and Hitler himself are everyday occurrences. Harold having to go to war, younger brother Oskar joining the Hitler youth and younger sister Metta’s offer of marriage from an SS officer - all while a war rages- add to the terror of their everyday life.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Max’s experiences in the war and the choices he makes throughout his time in Germany show his strong and loyal character. It also puts him on a trajectory that affects everyone when he falls in love with a resistance fighter, Margarethe. Could she be the one in the photo? And if so, what happened to her? Sixty years later, questions are starting to be answered.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book was so, so good. Max’s beautiful heart, loyalty to his family and his country just made me fall head over heels for him.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I never felt as though any of the characters were secondary....I absolutely loved the premise of a dying man and his daughter, searching for someone from his past during WW2.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I always look to see how books resonate with me on a personal level. This one drew me in immediately, as I never had my dad with me as an adult. Sadly, he died when I was 21 and still in that phase where his past didn't interest me. I can only imagine if I were able to talk to him now- he would have been 80 this year- about his time in the Navy and his life before he met my mother. This story stayed with me for a long time and has encouraged me to ask more questions about my ancestors and listen to the stories I am told. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book was amazing and is definitely one I would recommend for anyone who enjoys WW2 stories, dual timelines and father-daughter-sister-brother relationships.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And friends. Family. And love.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Loyalty and redemption.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For fighting for what you believe in and forgiving yourself. And living your life to the fullest. </span></p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Allison" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="742" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ogT40wBgBs/X5ebsM5IiPI/AAAAAAAAEjc/i2PPOqGMWmsVhgZionOhKM34uBVUqex7QCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Allison%2B%25285%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-67591530174797073772020-11-20T16:33:00.006-05:002020-11-20T16:33:57.435-05:00Blog Tour Showcase: Bursting the Brass Ceiling<p><img alt="BustingTheBrassCeiling" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8508" height="237" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/bustingthebrassceiling.jpg" width="640" /></p>
<p><strong>Congratulations to author Linden Gross on the release of Fanchon Blake's fascinating story, <span style="color: maroon;">Busting the Brass Ceiling</span>!</strong></p>
<p><strong>Read on for more details and an exclusive excerpt from the book!</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><img alt="BustingBrassCeiling-eBook-Cover_for publication" class="wp-image-8286 alignleft" height="396" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/bustingbrassceiling-ebook-cover_for-publication.jpg" width="256" /></strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Busting the Brass Ceiling: How a Heroic Female Cop Changed the Face of Policing</strong></p>
<p><strong>Publication Date:</strong> November 20th, 2020</p>
<p><strong>Genre:</strong> Non-Fiction/ Police/ History/ Women in History</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">FANCHON BLAKE joined the LAPD in 1948 and walked a beat in a skirt and heels for three years. Her ambition to rise in the ranks would be curtailed by an increasingly discriminatory agenda, but her relentless tenacity finally led to a promotion to sergeant nineteen years later. When LAPD policy barred her from rising any further and threatened to eliminate women from the department, she sued. The historic case would change the face of policing around the country.</p>
<p><strong>Add to <span style="color: maroon;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55817163-busting-the-brass-ceiling?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=2uUP3CzdUl&rank=1" rel="noopener" style="color: maroon;" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Excerpt</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>The Cradle Will Rock</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Five months later, the transfer from street patrol still stung, even though the LAPD soon stopped assigning women to street patrol on the pretext that it was too dangerous for them. No woman had been hurt or killed walking beats, and female officers had done a superior job of fulfilling their mandate. Preventing women from walking a beat or going out on patrol not only deprived women of that kind of active duty, it deprived them of many job opportunities that required precisely that kind of experience.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>I began to quietly document how the women on the department, starting with myself, were routinely shunted aside. I quickly found that there were very few incentives for women in the LAPD. Qualified policewomen were never given top assignments, and only minimal advancement in rank was possible. In 1945, eight new sergeant positions had been created for women officers. The eight women who filled those positions weren’t about to leave since women were banned from promoting above the rank of sergeant. So the rest of us would have to wait until those eight retired or died. Although the institutional limits on women’s advancement meant that women officers’ talents and training were often wasted, few had challenged the inequity.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>In the LAPD, a secret was no longer a secret once shared, so I kept my research to myself and focused on learning how to perform as a police officer since the LAPD wasn’t anything like the Army. Despite the long odds, I had no problem sticking tough and waiting for change. I had never been a quitter. By all that was holy, I would stay to rise in rank. Unfortunately, my instincts didn’t always coincide with the LAPD way of doing business.</i></p>
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<p><strong>Available on <span style="color: maroon;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Busting-Brass-Ceiling-Changed-Policing/dp/0999858483" rel="noopener" style="color: maroon;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></strong></p>
<p><strong>About the Author</strong></p>
<p><img alt="linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white" class="alignnone wp-image-8294" data-attachment-id="8294" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white" data-large-file="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg?w=736" data-medium-file="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg" data-orig-size="3697,3697" data-permalink="https://rrbooktours.com/2020/11/10/busting-the-brass-ceiling/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white/" height="265" sizes="(max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg" srcset="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg?w=265&h=265 265w, https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg?w=530&h=530 530w, https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg?w=150&h=150 150w, https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/linden-gross-omeara-photography-square-crop-black-white.jpg?w=300&h=300 300w" width="265" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">LINDEN GROSS is a bestselling writer. She ghostwrote Julia “Butterfly” Hill’s <em>New York Times</em> bestseller <em>The Legacy of Luna </em>(HarperCollins, 2000). <em>Publishers Weekly</em> wrote that Hill’s “firsthand exposition of destructive forest practices … is extremely powerful, and her book, a remarkable inspirational document, records a courageous act of civil disobedience that places her squarely in the tradition of Thoreau.” Gross is also the writer behind Kathryn and Craig Hall’s national bestseller, <em>A Perfect Score: The Art, Soul, and Business of a 21st-Century Winery </em>(Center Street, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Gross has authored, co-authored, or ghostwritten an additional eight books, including <em>Ms. Cahill for Congress </em>(Ballantine, 2008), the stirring tale of public school teacher Tierney Cahill, who on a dare from her class ran for U.S. Congress, and <em>Surviving a Stalker: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Yourself Safe</em> (Incubation Press, 2013), a revised edition of <em>To Have Or To Harm </em>(Grand Central Publishing, 1994), the first book written about the stalking of ordinary people. Gross also functions as a writing coach and an editor, helping other people to write their nonfiction books and novels, several of which have gone on to become bestsellers.</p>
<p><span style="color: maroon;"><strong><a href="https://lindengross.com/" rel="noopener" style="color: maroon;" target="_blank">Linden Gross</a></strong></span></p>
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<p><strong>Book Blitz Organized By:</strong></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;"><strong><a href="http://rrbooktours.com" rel="noopener" style="color: #333333;" target="_blank">R&R Book Tours</a></strong></span></p>
<p> </p>
Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-37087473324984309142020-11-20T08:00:00.003-05:002020-11-20T08:00:00.279-05:00Feature Friday: DLG Foundation<p style="text-align: justify;">Hello everyone, we wanted to start a fun little feature where on Fridays we share something that is near and dear to us, it might not necessarily be book related but it will be a cause, charity, small/local business, event etc. that one of our members is particularly excited about. Today for our first feature Friday we're so grateful to have Allison sharing information about her charity, the DLG Foundation and the fall fundraiser event that is happening this weekend. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8d6X1dhq6I/X7dCJ0eUj7I/AAAAAAAAFRQ/9-jLm5h7BNMURMvQztoLEY9pptnXcwwFACNcBGAsYHQ/s1172/dlgholiday.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1172" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8d6X1dhq6I/X7dCJ0eUj7I/AAAAAAAAFRQ/9-jLm5h7BNMURMvQztoLEY9pptnXcwwFACNcBGAsYHQ/s320/dlgholiday.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.dlgfoundation.org/" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.dlgfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Website</a> <span style="text-align: justify;"> |</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dlgfoundation" target="_blank">Facebook</a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Hi Friends, </p><p style="text-align: justify;">2,098 days ago we lost a great guy. A smart, handsome, generous, funny guy. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I've created the DLG Foundation with a simple mission, to keep the unconditional love and beautiful spirit of our beloved Jason alive.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Each fall, we hold a fundraiser to help those in need over the holiday season. Part of our in-person event is a Toy Drive, where guests bring new, unwrapped toys to donate to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_3Y_r-ZnzA/X7dC37Odt1I/AAAAAAAAFRc/Fx2F49mZhPMivki-HITSdJ_OGNjTkL9mQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1775/80368922_10158357982206189_1348303458142257152_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1775" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P_3Y_r-ZnzA/X7dC37Odt1I/AAAAAAAAFRc/Fx2F49mZhPMivki-HITSdJ_OGNjTkL9mQCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/80368922_10158357982206189_1348303458142257152_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, we can't gather in person this year, due to Covid. I am - of course - very disappointed, but the show must go on. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And, because pediatric cancer doesn't stop for a pandemic, and because there are kids out there who will be spending the holidays in and out of hospitals for treatments, the DLG Foundation has decided we will still hold a fall fundraiser- it will just look a bit different this year.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We are asking for your help to raise money for the POTCF through a one day online fundraiser on Saturday, November 21st. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">November 21st would've been Jay's 47th birthday. (My amazing Scorpio 😉) What better way to honor our favorite DLG than by supporting a great cause? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The POTCF is a not-for-profit organization that provides comfort and distraction from painful procedures to children and teens undergoing treatment for cancer. They provide a toy, gift or gift card from a treasure chest/cabinet. The organization currently serves more than 14,400 children and teens monthly in 60 Children's Cancer Treatment Centers across the nation. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">14,400 children. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Per month. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Per.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Month. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The POTCF is dedicated to supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families by fully and continuously stocking a decorated treasure chest and large cabinet located in outpatient areas within cancer treatment centers. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Founder Colleen Kiesel has been running this Foundation for over 20 years, after her 7 year old son was diagnosed with leukemia in 1996. (He has since made a full recovery!!) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Please plan on joining us to help the POTCF continue their mission of helping kids with cancer. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="www.treasurechest.org/donations" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="820" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hNb6siV71PU/X7c_Hee6I-I/AAAAAAAAFRA/SWitZ93OlgcGuCjPdMWOyW6K7g9i34rTwCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/125223504_834574967111551_6438403472337332426_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">You can use this link: <a href="http://www.treasurechest.org/donations">www.treasurechest.org/donations</a> to log on and make a safe, secure donation. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Make sure to note the DLG Foundation Fall Fundraiser in the "in honor of" box. </b>Every donation gets entered into a raffle to win one of two $100 Visa gift cards! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">You can see the event on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/826875474519703/?notif_id=1605844096640897&notif_t=plan_edited&ref=notif" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and reach out to Allison <a href="mailto:dlgmemorial@gmail.com">here.</a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Thank you for helping us help others this holiday season! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Allison" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="742" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ogT40wBgBs/X5ebsM5IiPI/AAAAAAAAEjc/i2PPOqGMWmsVhgZionOhKM34uBVUqex7QCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Allison%2B%25285%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-31516928625676155532020-11-20T03:00:00.002-05:002020-11-20T14:02:05.445-05:00Blog Tour Showcase: Keep Walking Rhona Beech<p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep Walking</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Rhona Beech by Kate Tough </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u8DSCr2Kzus/X7G7uzxk2FI/AAAAAAAAFL0/J_p8a21n35M-RypwbZMNp-1C8l-MTqKuwCNcBGAsYHQ/Keep%2BWalking%2BRhona%2BBeech%2BP3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1920" height="168" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u8DSCr2Kzus/X7G7uzxk2FI/AAAAAAAAFL0/J_p8a21n35M-RypwbZMNp-1C8l-MTqKuwCNcBGAsYHQ/Keep%2BWalking%2BRhona%2BBeech%2BP3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Rhona's story comes to an end you will miss her. Her candid, raw, messy journey will make you laugh, cry and remember. Not a typical break-up book, it's much more profound. Nothing has turned out quite how Rhona imagined: she's been casually swapping one job for another while getting comfy in a long relationship which ends abruptly, and her efforts to adjust to that change are thrown by some unwelcome news...</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #201f1e; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flawed, relatable Rhona Beech narrates this beautifully written, pacey satire about female friendship, heartbreak, career change, conceiving and illness, which will appeal to fans of Fleabag. Join her on a laugh (and cry) out loud search for meaning amongst the bars, offices and clinics of Glasgow.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #201f1e; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will her friendships survive the changes and challenges? Will SHE survive? At once funny and tender, </span><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="marksuj67myuh" color="inherit" data-markjs="true" data-ogab="" data-ogac="" data-ogsb="" data-ogsc="" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Keep</span> <span class="mark169i1yy37" color="inherit" data-markjs="true" data-ogab="" data-ogac="" data-ogsb="" data-ogsc="" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Walking</span>, Rhona Beech</span><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a clear-sighted look at a generation of women that was told they could have it all. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44656113-keep-walking-rhona-beech?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=KXvShrE4S2&rank=1">Goodreads</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">|</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://amzn.to/2I8oJ4Q" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></p><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Author Bio</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1dOgdxsq4_s/X7G7z5qPouI/AAAAAAAAFL4/MRNyNW7MEMs2mgk05uESvzGTFIZiWXqFwCNcBGAsYHQ/Kate%2BTough%252C%2Bturned%2Bsideways%252C%2Bcredit%2BHerald%2526Times%252C%2BHIRES%2BCM%2B%25281%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1471" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1dOgdxsq4_s/X7G7z5qPouI/AAAAAAAAFL4/MRNyNW7MEMs2mgk05uESvzGTFIZiWXqFwCNcBGAsYHQ/Kate%2BTough%252C%2Bturned%2Bsideways%252C%2Bcredit%2BHerald%2526Times%252C%2BHIRES%2BCM%2B%25281%2529.JPG" width="172" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">Photographer: Howard Romero</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: justify;">In her fiction, Kate creates situations and people so recognizable that you'll wonder whether she's writing about you and your friends. She takes readers into the interior world of her character so fully, they'll forget where the character ends and the reader begins. Kate cares about dialogue and prose; she makes sure to provoke laughter and emotion from readers who spend time reading her work.</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #201f1e; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Tough has a brilliant way with everyday realism.” Mary Paulson-Ellis, author of 'The Other Mrs Walker'.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #201f1e; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Tough is a unique writer and not easily pigeonholed. Her work has a distinct, curious tone which elevates the stuff of everyday life (love, relationships, sex) and makes it very interesting." Laura Waddell, writer, reviewer & publisher.</span></p><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For occasional updates on new work, writing tips and audio clips subscribe via: <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="http://www.katetough.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">www.katetough.com</a></span></p><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-57891908781556961302020-11-19T19:57:00.006-05:002020-11-19T20:07:35.277-05:00How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow, a review by Lissa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61NLAi81YcL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="433" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61NLAi81YcL.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">🧙🧙🧙🧙<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow<br />Christine Schulz</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Urban Fantasy<br />338 Pages</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Published by Christine Schulz<br />June 16, 2020</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Hunt-Menacing-Magical-Shadow/dp/1735247405/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2BX39JAENXSIF&dchild=1&keywords=how+to+hunt+a+menacing+magical+shadow&qid=1605833793&sprefix=how+to+hunt+a+m%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Available on Amazon</a><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was my first time reading an urban fantasy novel, and I have to say I was a little unsure about it at first. But I was most definitely surprised. It was so good and I was hooked within the first chapter, I just had to learn more about the characters and the plot.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Magic rules society and magical items are now an everyday thing and are extremely commonplace. Pretty much anyone can use magic. Except for Adrian Cotter, he seems to be the only person who cannot use magical items. They typically tend to malfunction when he tries to use them, often ending up being super dangerous. He’s a cop and looked down upon by others in the precinct because of his inability to use magical items. He loves cupcakes, absolutely love ‘em, and only has one friend who also works at the precinct, Nolan. Adrian wants nothing more than to be a hero, but then weird things start to happen around him and then things take a turn for the absolute worst. Adrian’s once quiet life is anything but now.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are some great fight scenes in this book that I was definitely impressed with. One of the main things I loved about this book was the amount of different magical items and powers that the author came up with. It wasn’t just the stereotypical (but still extremely awesome) telekinesis and pyrokinesis. No, there were fun magical abilities. The author definitely put some creativity and thought into these powers. I thought they were amazing.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I did think the book got a little bit too complicated going on at one point, and there was definitely more stuff going on than there should have been. I think there could’ve been more details about certain aspects of the book and what Adrian was going through and his feelings in regards to the situations he was in. But overall, I was most definitely impressed with this. I highly recommend.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W037svt_oXc/X7cUHh2BQ4I/AAAAAAAAAK4/uIPhmuh08mUuhibIkLTTFsCYPk523Wh1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s832/5F0637DC-A654-41C7-87E2-D55F3B184CCA_4_5005_c.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="832" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W037svt_oXc/X7cUHh2BQ4I/AAAAAAAAAK4/uIPhmuh08mUuhibIkLTTFsCYPk523Wh1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/5F0637DC-A654-41C7-87E2-D55F3B184CCA_4_5005_c.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-69919079662117814952020-11-19T08:00:00.013-05:002020-11-19T08:00:00.593-05:00Blog Tour: Review + Showcase for Nothing Good Happens After Midnight<p><img alt="NothingGood" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7729" height="237" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/nothinggood.jpg" width="640" /></p>
<p><b>Thank you so much to R&R Tours for including us in this showcase of this great collection of suspenseful and intriguing short stories.</b></p>
<p><strong>Read on for details and a chance to win a print copy of <span style="color: #175e5e;">Nothing Good Happens After Midnight</span>!</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Nothing Good Happens After Midnight_Suspense Magazine Cover_Hi Res" class="alignnone wp-image-8393" height="573" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/nothing-good-happens-after-midnight_suspense-magazine-cover_hi-res.jpg" width="382" /></p>
<p><strong>Nothing Good Happens After Midnight</strong></p>
<p><strong>Publication Date:</strong> November 17th, 2020</p>
<p><strong>Genre:</strong> Thriller/ Suspense/ Sci-Fi/ Fantasy/ Anthology</p>
<p><strong>Publisher:</strong> <span style="color: #175e5e;"><a href="http://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/about-us/" rel="noopener" style="color: #175e5e;" target="_blank">Suspense Magazine</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The sun sets. The moon takes its place, illuminating the most evil corners of the planet. What twisted fear dwells in that blackness? What legends attach to those of sound mind and make them go crazy in the bright light of day? Only <em>Suspense Magazine</em> knows…</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Teaming up with <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, <em>Suspense Magazine</em> offers up a nail-biting anthology titled: “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight.” This thrilling collection consists of thirteen original short stories representing the genres of suspense/thriller, mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, and more.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Readers’ favorites come together to explore the mystery of midnight. The ‘best of the best’ presenting these memorable tales include: <strong>Joseph Badal, Linwood Barclay, Rhys Bowen, Heather Graham, Alan Jacobson, Paul Kemprecos, Shannon Kirk, Jon Land, John Lescroart, D. P. Lyle, Kevin O’Brien, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Take their hands…walk into their worlds…<em>but</em> be prepared to leave the light on when you’re through. After all, this incredible gathering of authors, who will delight fans of all genres, not only utilized their award-winning imaginations to answer that age-old question of why “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight”—they also made sure to pen stories that will leave you…speechless.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>My Review</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">As someone who is a night owl and that loves short stories I just knew I was going to enjoy this collection from the moment I saw the cover. Promising 13 original short stories that will be thrill and excite this book did not let me down. I picked up this book and read 1-2 stories every couple of days and couldn't wait to read the next one but also found myself pondering the stories I had read. I'm still thinking about a world where a cell phone zapper could exist like the one you'll find in Cell Phone Intolerant. Or about the eavesdropper in All Aboard and how one conversation can change your entire life. Or the fun and magical time that a group of teens can have in a cemetery one night, taunting the sprits, testing the small towns fables. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Each story offered it owns little world which I was happy to get lost in and will return to read again in the future. I was impressed with each author and enjoyed the writing styles from all of them. I'm so excited whenever I find a new wonderful collection of short stories! This one is at the top of my list doe 2020. I highly recommend this book for any thriller/mystery/sci fi fans who want a bite sized read in which to get lost from reality and enjoy the story for an afternoon.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Jenn" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="788" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qpbxnEmT3pQ/X5n6Nrrj9lI/AAAAAAAAEqY/jra5I0kCSGkf6wrIHmlaSSGo9g0znJi5ACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Jenn1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong style="text-align: left;">Excerpt</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">12:01 AM</p><p style="text-align: justify;">A Karen Vail Short Story</p><p style="text-align: justify;">By Alan Jacobson</p><p style="text-align: justify;">PHELPS CORRECTIONAL CENTER </p><p style="text-align: justify;">CULPEPER COUNTY, VIRGINIA</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Stephen Raye Vaughn—no relation to the famed musician—sat on the edge of his death row cot. His “music” was a tune of a different sort, his cauldron of creativity emanating from death and mayhem—and finding new ways to wreak havoc on a city.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">With his time remaining on this Earth melting away like a glacier in the throes of climate change, he was now reduced to digging out the dirt from under his fingernails. Why? He had no goddamn idea. He was due to die in 120 minutes and nothing really mattered anymore, did it? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Did it ever really matter?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yeah, it did. Back when he was hunting for his prey, he had to present himself as an upstanding, clean cut individual. He had to play the part. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to sit undisturbed in his van in parking lots while selecting the 16 women he would eventually murder.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">His van. He missed that thing. He didn’t know exactly where it was at this moment, but he knew who had it. Fortunately, he had disposed of it before the police caught him, so it could not be used as evidence against him. And man, was there a lot of evidence in it that could be used against him.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As it turned out, the one victim who got away went to the police and turned him in. It was very difficult to commit the perfect crime, although it did happen on occasion. People did get away with murder sometimes, but there was usually at least one major mistake a guy made that proved to be his undoing. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Stephen Raye Vaughn was no exception. For him it would be the mistake of a lifetime, one he could not take back. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But so be it. He was like a star in the nighttime sky, burning very brightly before going supernova. He had made peace with that. Not that he didn’t want to continue living, but sometimes you just had to accept your fortune. It took him a dozen years, but he had finally reached that point.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Time was short, and his lifespan was now shorter, but at least he had lived a helluva ride. And unlike 99% of the individuals populating this planet, he had made plans to ensure his legacy continued on, at least for the near future. If all played out the way he figured it would, he would be forever immortalized in movies, television, books, Internet memes, and American history.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Stevie Ray Vaughn may be famous, but Stephen Raye Vaughn…he was infamous.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Vaughn glanced over at the sterile black and white clock across the way and wondered: Was that enough?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">With so little time left to live, it would have to be.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Add to<span style="color: #175e5e;"> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54403381-nothing-good-happens-after-midnight?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=slO0djBWia&rank=1" rel="noopener" style="color: #175e5e;" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></b></p>
<p><strong>Available on<span style="color: #175e5e;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Good-Happens-After-Midnight-ebook/dp/B08BPDVM7C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=YTOZR6W02NQD&dchild=1&keywords=nothing+good+happens+after+midnight+deaver&qid=1605382603&sprefix=nothing+good+happen%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-1" rel="noopener" style="color: #175e5e;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> </span>&<span style="color: #175e5e;"> </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nothing-good-happens-after-midnight-jeffery-deaver/1137598105?ean=9780578724362" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Barnes & Noble</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong>About the Author</strong></p>
<p><img alt="Deaver-author-photo-2-c-recentGunner-Publications-821x1024" class="alignnone wp-image-7654" height="337" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/deaver-author-photo-2-c-recentgunner-publications-821x1024-1.jpg" width="270" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">JEFFERY DEAVER is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. He has served two terms as president of Mystery Writers of America.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The author of forty-three novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of a country-western album, he’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of awards. His THE BODIES LEFT BEHIND was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller THE BROKEN WINDOW and a stand-alone, EDGE, were also nominated for that prize. THE GARDEN OF BEASTS won the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers Association in England. He’s been nominated for eight Edgar Awards.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the Strand Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award in Italy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">His book A MAIDEN’S GRAVE was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel THE BONE COLLECTOR was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Lifetime aired an adaptation of his THE DEVIL’S TEARDROP. NBC television is airing the popular prime time series, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">His latest novel is THE GOODBYE MAN, a Colter Shaw thriller.</p>
<p><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong><a href="https://www.jefferydeaver.com/" rel="noopener" style="color: #175e5e;" target="_blank">Jeffery Deaver</a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Ad Nothing Good Happens After Midnight_Social Media Banner" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8400" height="281" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/ad-nothing-good-happens-after-midnight_social-media-banner.jpg" width="640" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“<strong><em>NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER MIDNIGHT</em></strong> i<strong>s a treat—dark, chilling, and delicious. Grab it.” —Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award-Winning Author of <em>The Dark Corners of the Night</em></strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>“Something <em>very</em> good happens after midnight…just pick up this brilliant book and be transported—and very afraid!” —Peter James, UK #1 Bestselling Author of the <em>Detective Superintendent Roy Grace</em> Series</strong></p><p><strong>Author Bios</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>JOSEPH BADAL</strong> grew up in a family where storytelling had been passed down from generation to generation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Prior to a long business career, Joe served for six years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army in critical, highly classified positions in the U.S. and overseas, including tours of duty in Greece and Vietnam, and earned numerous military decorations.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Joe is an Amazon #1 bestselling author, with 16 published suspense novels. He has been recognized as “One of The 50 Best Writers You Should Be Reading.” His books have received two Tony Hillerman Awards for Best Fiction Book of the Year, been top prize winners on multiple occasions in the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards competition, received gold medals from the Military Writers Society of America, the Eric Hoffer Award, and Finalist honors in the International Book Awards.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He writes a regular column titled “Inspired by Actual Events” in <em>Suspense Magazine</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">To learn more, visit his website at<span style="color: #175e5e;"> <u>www.JosephBadalBooks.com</u></span>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>LINWOOD BARCLAY</strong>, a <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author and with nearly twenty novels to his credit, spent three decades in newspapers before turning full time to writing thrillers. His books have been translated into more than two dozen language, sold millions of copies, and he counts Stephen King among his fans. Many of his books have been optioned for film and TV, a series has been made in France, and he wrote the screenplay for the film based on his novel <em>NEVER SAW IT COMING</em>. Born in the US, his parents moved to Canada just as he was turning four, and he’s lived there ever since. He lives near Toronto with his wife, Neetha. They have two grown children.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong> </strong><strong>RHYS BOWEN</strong> is the <em>New York Times</em>, <em>Wall Street Journal</em> and <em>USA Today</em> bestselling author of two historical mystery series, as well as three internationally bestselling standalone novels. Her books have won multiple awards and been translated into over twenty languages. A transplanted Brit, Rhys now divides her time between California and Arizona, where she escapes from those harsh California winters.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>New York Times</em> and <em>USA Today</em> bestselling author, <strong>HEATHER GRAHAM</strong>, majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over two hundred novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas family fare.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages. She has written over 200 novels and has 60 million books in print. She has been honored with awards from booksellers and writers’ organizations for excellence in her work, and she is also proud to be a recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers and was also awarded the prestigious Thriller Master in 2016. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as <em>The Nation</em>, <em>Redbook</em>, <em>Mystery Book Club</em>, <em>People</em> and <em>USA Today</em> and appeared on many newscasts including <em>Today</em>, <em>Entertainment Tonight</em> and local television.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention, raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society, and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf Region. She is also the founder of “The Slush Pile Players,” presenting something that’s “almost like entertainment” for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>ALAN JACOBSON</strong> is the award-winning, <em>USA Today</em> bestselling author of fourteen thrillers, including the FBI profiler <em>Karen Vail</em> series and the <em>OPSIG Team Black</em> novels. His books have been translated internationally and several have been optioned by Hollywood. Jacobson’s debut novel<em>, FALSE ACCUSATIONS</em>, was adapted to film by acclaimed Czech screenwriter Jirí Hubac.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Jacobson has spent over twenty-five years working with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, the DEA, the US Marshals Service, SWAT, the NYPD, Scotland Yard, local law enforcement, and the US military. This research and the breadth of his contacts help bring depth and realism to his characters and stories.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">For video interviews and a free personal safety eBook co-authored by Alan Jacobson and FBI Profiler Mark Safarik, please visit www.AlanJacobson.com. You can also connect with Jacobson on Facebook (Facebook.com/AlanJacobsonFans), Instagram (alan.jacobson), Twitter (@JacobsonAlan), and Goodreads (alan-jacobson).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>PAUL KEMPRECOS</strong> is the author of eight novels in the <em>Aristotle “Soc” Socarides</em> private detective series, including <em>COOL BLUE TOMB</em>, winner of a Shamus award from the Private Eye Writers of America for Best Paperback, and <em>SHARK BAIT</em>, nominated for a Shamus in the same category. Grandmaster of Adventure writer Clive Cussler blurbed: “There can be no better mystery writer in America than Paul Kemprecos.” Paul became the first fiction co-author to work with Cussler when they created and wrote the <em>New York Times</em> bestselling <em>NUMA Files</em> series. After collaborating with Cussler on the first eight books in the <em>NUMA Files</em>, Paul wrote two adventure novels including <em>THE MINOAN CIPHER</em>, nominated for a Thriller award by the International Thriller Writers. Paul lives on Cape Cod with his wife Christi, a financial advisor.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">To learn more about Paul Kemprecos, check out his website at <span style="color: #175e5e;"><u>www.paulkemprecos.com</u></span>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SHANNON KIRK</strong> is the international bestselling and award-winning author of <em>METHOD 15/33, THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY OF VIVIENNE MARSHALL, IN THE VINES, GRETCHEN, VIEBURY GROVE</em>, and short stories in four anthologies: <em>THE NIGHT OF THE FLOOD, NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER MIDNIGHT</em>, and <em>BORDER NOIR</em>. Shannon is also a contributor to the International Thriller Writers’ Murderers’ Row. Growing up in New Hampshire, Shannon and her brothers were encouraged by their parents to pursue the arts, which instilled in her a love for writing at a young age. A graduate of Suffolk Law School in Massachusetts, Shannon is a practicing litigation attorney and former adjunct law professor, specializing in electronic-evidence law. When she isn’t writing or practicing law, Shannon spends time with her husband, son, and two cats. To learn more about her, visit <span style="color: #175e5e;"><u>www.shannonkirkbooks.com</u></span>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>JON LAND</strong> is the <em>USA Today</em> bestselling author of more than 50 books, including the award-winning, critically acclaimed <em>Caitlin Strong</em> series, the most recent of which is <em>STRONG FROM THE HEART</em>. He has also penned six novels in the <em>MURDER, SHE WROTE</em> series and has recently taken over Margaret Truman’s <em>CAPITAL CRIMES</em> series as well. He’s a 1979 graduate of Brown University, lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and can be reached at <span style="color: #175e5e;"><u>jonlandbooks.com</u></span> or on Twitter @jondland.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>JOHN LESCROART</strong> is the author of twenty-nine novels, nineteen of which have been <em>New York Times</em> bestsellers. Libraries Unlimited places him among “The 100 Most Popular Thriller and Suspense Authors.” With sales of over twelve million copies, his books have been translated into twenty-two languages in more than seventy-five countries, and his short stories appear in many anthologies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">John’s first book, <em>SUNBURN</em>, won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award for Best Novel by a California author. <em>DEAD IRISH</em>, <em>THE 13<sup>TH</sup> JUROR</em>, and <em>THE KEEPER</em> were nominees for the Shamus, Anthony, and Silver Falchion Best Mystery Novel, respectively; additionally <em>THE 13<sup>TH</sup> JUROR</em> is included in the International Thriller Writers publication “100 Must-Read Thrillers of All Time.” <em>HARD EVIDENCE</em> made “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Ultimate Reading List.” <em>THE SUSPECT</em> was the American Author’s Association 2007 Book of the Year. <em>THE MOTIVE</em> was an Audie Finalist of the Audio Publishers Association. <em>THE MERCY RULE</em>, <em>NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH</em>, <em>THE SUSPECT</em>, <em>THE FALL,</em> and <em>THE RULE OF LAW</em> have been major market Book Club selections. John’s books have been Main Selections of one or more of the Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, and Book of the Month Club.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong> P. LYLE</strong> is the Amazon #1 Bestselling; Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Award-winning; and Edgar(2), Agatha, Anthony, Shamus, Scribe, and <em>USA Today</em> Best Book(2) Award-nominated author of 22 books, both non-fiction and fiction, including the <em>Samantha Cody</em>, <em>Dub Walker</em>, <em>Jake Longly</em> and <em>Cain/Harper</em> thriller series and the <em>Royal Pains</em> media tie-in novels. His essay on Jules Verne’s<em> THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND</em> appears in <em>THRILLERS: 100 MUST READS</em>, his short story “Even Steven” in ITW’s anthology <em>THRILLER 3: LOVE IS MURDER</em>, and his short story “Bottom Line” in <em>FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME</em>. He served as editor for and contributed the short story “Splash” to SCWA’s anthology <em>IT’S ALL IN THE STORY</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He hosts the Crime Fiction Writer’s Blog and the Criminal Mischief: The Art and Science of Crime Fiction podcast series. He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as <em>Law & Order</em>, <em>CSI: Miami</em>, <em>Diagnosis Murder</em>, <em>Monk</em>, <em>Judging Amy</em>, <em>Peacemakers</em>, <em>Cold Case</em>, <em>House</em>, <em>Medium</em>, <em>Women’s Murder Club</em>, <em>1-800-Missing</em>, <em>The Glades</em>, and <em>Pretty Little Liars</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Learn more at <span style="color: #175e5e;"><a href="http://www.dplylemd.com/" style="color: #175e5e;">http://www.dplylemd.com</a>.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Before his thrillers landed him on the <em>New York Times</em> bestseller list, <strong>KEVIN O’BRIEN</strong> was a railroad inspector. The author of 21 internationally-published thrillers, he won the Spotted Owl Award for Best Pacific Northwest Mystery, and is a core member of Seattle 7 Writers. <em>Press & Guide</em> said: “If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today and writing novels, his name would be Kevin O’Brien.” Kevin’s latest nail-biter is <em>THE BAD SISTER.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN</strong> is on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, winning 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. A <em>USA Today</em> bestselling author of 12 thrillers, Ryan’s also an award-winner in her second profession—with five Agathas, three Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. Critics call her “a master of suspense.” Her highly-acclaimed <em>TRUST ME</em> was an Agatha nominee and chosen for numerous prestigious “Best of 2018” lists. Hank’s book <em>THE MURDER LIST </em>is an Agatha, Anthony and Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee. Her newest standalone is <em>THE FIRST TO LIE</em> (Forge Books August 2020). The <em>Publishers Weekly starred </em>review calls it “Stellar.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>SUSPENSE MAGAZINE</em></strong> was founded in 2007 on the premise that every author in the genre needed a platform to have a voice. From that original concept, Suspense Publishing was born in 2010 to publish high quality books in the suspense/mystery/horror/thriller genre. Suspense Publishing’s goal is to be a leader in producing the highest quality books in the genre.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Giveaway: Print copy of the book! Click the link below!</strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong><a class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0e7c6a8f205/" id="rcwidget_mt5ul7jp" rel="nofollow" style="color: #175e5e;">a Rafflecopter <span style="color: #175e5e;">giveaway</span></a></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="NothingGood" class="alignnone wp-image-7729" height="198" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/nothinggood.jpg" width="534" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong>Blog Tour Schedule</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong>November 16<sup>th</sup></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Reads & Reels (Spotlight) <a href="http://readsandreels.com" style="color: #175e5e;">http://readsandreels.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">I Love Books & Stuff (Spotlight) <a href="https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com" style="color: #175e5e;">https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Cocktails & Fairy Tales (Review) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CocktailsFairytales" style="color: #175e5e;">https://www.facebook.com/CocktailsFairytales</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Sadie’s Spotlight (Review) <a href="http://sadiesspotlight.com/" style="color: #175e5e;">http://sadiesspotlight.com/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong>November 17<sup>th</sup></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Jessica Belmont (Review) <a href="https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Meli’s Book Reviews (Review) <a href="https://melisbokreviews.wordpress.com/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://melisbokreviews.wordpress.com/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">@the.b00kreadser (Review) <a href="https://www.instagram.com/the.b00kreader" style="color: #175e5e;">https://www.instagram.com/the.b00kreader</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Tranquil Dreams (Review) <a href="https://klling.wordpress.com/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://klling.wordpress.com/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong>November 18<sup>th</sup></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Horror Tree (Guest Post) <a href="https://www.horrortree.com" style="color: #175e5e;">https://www.horrortree.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Breakeven Books (Spotlight) <a href="https://breakevenbooks.com" style="color: #175e5e;">https://breakevenbooks.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Tsarina Press (Spotlight) <a href="https://www.tsarinapress.com" style="color: #175e5e;">https://www.tsarinapress.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">What Emma Did Next (Review) <a href="https://whatemmadidnext.com/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://whatemmadidnext.com/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong>November 19<sup>th</sup></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Rambling Mads (Spotlight) <a href="http://ramblingmads.com" style="color: #175e5e;">http://ramblingmads.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Bonnie Reads & Writes (Review) <a href="https://bonniereadsandwrites.wordpress.com" style="color: #175e5e;">https://bonniereadsandwrites.wordpress.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Book Review Crew (Review) <a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com" style="color: #175e5e;">https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">Stine Writing (Review) <a href="https://christinebialczak.com/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://christinebialczak.com/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;"><strong>November 20<sup>th</sup></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">@BrendaJeanCombs (Spotlight) <a href="https://www.instagram.com/brendajeancombs/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://www.instagram.com/brendajeancombs/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">@52weekswithbooks (Review) <a href="https://www.instagram.com/52weekswithbooks/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://www.instagram.com/52weekswithbooks/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">The Faerie Review (Review) <a href="http://www.thefaeriereview.com" style="color: #175e5e;">http://www.thefaeriereview.com</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #175e5e;">@thecrookedhouse (Review) <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecrookedhouse/" style="color: #175e5e;">https://www.instagram.com/thecrookedhouse/</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Blog Tour Organized By:</strong></p>
<p><img alt="R&amp;R Button" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7671" height="210" src="https://rrbooktoursblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/rr-button-1.jpg" width="200" /></p>
Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-48000702240121137722020-11-18T16:54:00.000-05:002020-11-18T16:54:02.791-05:00Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything, a review by Jenn<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-db1HDSTEWzQ/X7WW4E8wiZI/AAAAAAAAFOw/u-cHjq9g-_oWaYMrA5rvnMOA2YtlLrSVQCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/126248153_691269671788515_4243177117777149796_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2010" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-db1HDSTEWzQ/X7WW4E8wiZI/AAAAAAAAFOw/u-cHjq9g-_oWaYMrA5rvnMOA2YtlLrSVQCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/126248153_691269671788515_4243177117777149796_n.png" /></a></div>⭐⭐⭐⭐<br />Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything<br />Kristin Blair<p></p><p>Narrator: Soneela Nankani<br />10 hours 59 minutes<br />Published November 10, 2020 by Dreamscape Media</p><p>336 Pages<br />Published on November 10, 2020 by Alcove Press</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Agatha's life shatters when she finds her husband having an affair with the dog walker. She stumbles upon them in the middle of the afternoon, in her backyard, in her shed, steps away from her house where her children are having lunch. Agatha's reaction is of course what any of us would do - she takes a hatchet to the shed and destroys it down to a pile of wood. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>"Men don't want women to know the shed is the thing that scares them most, women rising up, women grabbing a hatchet and hollering nu uh, no more, ain't doing it"</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>What if all women raised up and did what Agatha did how many sheds would be ruined?" </i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This was quite an opening scene and from the first few pages I knew I was in for quite a ride. Agatha is then found alone, faced with everything that scares her. From the title of this book I thought Agatha might be a bit more of a recluse, a shy and timid woman. Boy was I wrong, while her list of fears is long, she is anything but timid and really has a unique personality. When Agatha is faced with a fear she often reacts by lashing out and being impulsive which inevitably gets her into some hot water.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Agatha uses many tactics to avoid letting anyone in and risk getting hurt again. She gets up to many wild things (most of which are boarder line crazy) in this quest to protecting her heart and her boys. Agatha turns into a full on spy, trying to purchase things to protect her from the world instead of facing her fears, for example her spy pants and car window smasher. The instances where she is clinging to these items for a sense of security really had me rooting for Agatha to overcome her fears and at times had me laughing, like when she decides these spy pants are the best and orders more, not one but ten more pairs then ends up getting herself entangled in the fishing line she keeps in a pocket of these spy pants and has to cut herself out, with the pocket knife she also keeps handy at all times. Oh Agatha. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The biggest question I had when reading was if Agatha would ever open up and face those fears head on, or get to a breaking point where her crazy was too much and most importantly, will Agatha stop being so creepy? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's a special thing when a book comes into your life at the exact moment you're in the mood for a story like this and you connect so well with the main character. I can't say I have a lot in common with Agatha and I can see to someone else she may not be quite so loveable but I just adored Agatha. I found her absolutely hilarious and her honest and harsh look at life was a refreshing new perspective for a main character. I enjoyed being with her on this journey of self discovery. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There are several chapters where she is talking to her shrink with this brutally harsh judgement of herself and her short comings. Her shrink is wonderful and helps guide Agatha in this journey. In fact I liked all of the supporting characters in this book. Some of which can be found in the neighbourhood moms Facebook group (with the one token dad) where it feels like the whole world is watching (and sometimes judging) Agatha and everyone else. If you've ever been in a neighbourhood fb group you will find a lot of this quite relatable and in my opinion rather hilarious. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I listened to this book and found the narrator did a great job and I easily got lost in the story but I did find there was a lot of texting, emjois and facebook comments and the way those are read in print are different from hearing them aloud and it was a touch annoying. Also while I loved the character development, the plot was a 3/5 for me, not a lot happened and we didn't really get anywhere fast but I still enjoyed the story and would happily read more about Agatha's life.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This book really look me on quite the journey and I loved watching Agatha grow. I will certainly be recommending it to many of my friends and may even pick up a print copy to compare to the audio. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Jenn" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="788" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qpbxnEmT3pQ/X5n6Nrrj9lI/AAAAAAAAEqY/jra5I0kCSGkf6wrIHmlaSSGo9g0znJi5ACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Jenn1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-11372633328605484242020-11-18T11:00:00.002-05:002020-11-18T11:31:20.626-05:00Blog Tour Showcase: The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson, a review by Tanya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsa4zTwjjek/X7R1JIK-SAI/AAAAAAAAANg/d05Olshwd2UeJ66kkyhAIuXVRHJ8cW_FQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1702/Marriage%2BBanner.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1702" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsa4zTwjjek/X7R1JIK-SAI/AAAAAAAAANg/d05Olshwd2UeJ66kkyhAIuXVRHJ8cW_FQCLcBGAsYHQ/w498-h198/Marriage%2BBanner.jpg" width="498" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Reviewer Tour with JustRead Tours</span></b></div><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: 14pt;">
Marriage of Innis Wilkinson</span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: 14pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Lauren
H. Brandenburg</span></div></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">272 pages</span></div><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Published Oct 23, 2020 by Lion Fiction</span></div></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We are delighted to be part of the
Review Tour for The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson, hosted by JustRead Tours!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Book Summary</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson takes
place in a quaint little town called Coraloo, and is chalk full of quirky, old-timey
characters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The story actually focused on the
impending<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>marriage of Roy Blackwell, the
town constable and Margarette Toft, a Coraloo school teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seems straightforward enough. Only…..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As far back as the beginning of Coraloo’s
history, the Toft’s and the Blackwell’s have been enemies!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Toft’s are a high society clan who’s lives
are run by superstition. The Blackwell’s are down to earth folks who live
simple lives full of traditional acts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can these two lovebirds from opposing
clans find their way to the altar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or
will their family’s superstitions, traditions and enemy mind-set get in the
way?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just who is Innis Wilkinson and
why is this book named after her and not Margarette?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>My Review</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eHFq3PFYPSc/X7R2yrbR51I/AAAAAAAAAN8/1QByOi_ApIkYeTgikpwVifOp4qCr2_bBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1170/the%2Bmarriage%2Bof%2Binnis%2Bwilkinson.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="757" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eHFq3PFYPSc/X7R2yrbR51I/AAAAAAAAAN8/1QByOi_ApIkYeTgikpwVifOp4qCr2_bBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/the%2Bmarriage%2Bof%2Binnis%2Bwilkinson.jpg" /></a></b></div><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #1d2228;">✂️</span></span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">✂️✂️</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The cover is so charming!</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It has that old-timey feel to it, is a beautiful
red color and display’s an interesting item that you may think is out of place.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It isn’t. But you have to read the story to hear
more about that.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson reminds
me a bit of a mash-up of The Gilmore Girls and Steel Magnolias, without all the
sadness and tears.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The characters are really the star of
this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the story unfolds and you
learn more about different characters, you find out how they are connected and
a bit about their history (in some cases) but there isn’t a significant amount
of character development throughout this story, other than the MC’s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The quirkiness of the characters and the
comical events they get involved with may bring a chuckle or two along the way
to the reader. This is really where the book had Gilmore Girls and Steel Magnolia
vibes for me. Of course, there are also some heartwarming moments in the book
as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bit of a mystery added in made
me want to keep reading to see how everything was going to come together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Overall this was a sweet, pleasant
read for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the 2nd book that takes place in the fictional town of Coraloo although this can be read as a stand-alone. A cute read for the cozy mystery crowd that would like to add some
sweetness to their coffee!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1PEaHCyHJCY/X7R43dtgoQI/AAAAAAAAAOY/4Esarbj_nsQmLhK_V4OfRoQOkpw8Qa0hQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1125/Signature.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="1125" height="110" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1PEaHCyHJCY/X7R43dtgoQI/AAAAAAAAAOY/4Esarbj_nsQmLhK_V4OfRoQOkpw8Qa0hQCLcBGAsYHQ/w249-h110/Signature.JPG" width="249" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>About the Author</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A3Tmcj1Db2E/X7R1q7CUP0I/AAAAAAAAANs/OuaVX1k8dwU7yj0woG731IcNdSRtmoc_QCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img alt="" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A3Tmcj1Db2E/X7R1q7CUP0I/AAAAAAAAANs/OuaVX1k8dwU7yj0woG731IcNdSRtmoc_QCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="246" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Lauren
H. Brandenburg is a mentor, speaker, and author who happily blurs the lines
between traditional genres in both middle grade and humorous family fiction.
She has currently written six of the ten books in The Books of the Gardener
Series--Orlo: The Chosen (#4) was a finalist for the Selah Award middle grade novel
of the year. The Death of Mungo Blackwell, a humorous family fiction (Lion
Hudson publishing) was recently longlisted for the People's Book Prize in the
United Kingdom. Lauren is a former junior high and high school English teacher
who stepped away from her profession to raise and homeschool her two children.
She currently lives with her husband, Jamie, and their children in a lovely
little town just south of Nashville, Tennessee where they eat and laugh a lot. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.laurenhbrandenburg.com/" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #00635d; text-decoration-line: none;">www.LaurenHBrandenburg.com</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> </span></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="background: white; color: #181818;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Book Links: </span></b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53120676-the-marriage-of-innis-wilkinson" target="_blank"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #196ad4; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Goodreads</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://amzn.to/3erT4HE" target="_blank"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #196ad4; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazon</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-marriage-of-innis-wilkinson-lauren-h-brandenburg/1134287170?ean=9781782643005" target="_blank"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #196ad4; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;">B&N</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> | </span><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-marriage-of-innis-wilkinson-by-lauren-h-brandenburg" target="_blank"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #196ad4; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%;">BookBub</span></a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-51527214132786007842020-11-18T09:30:00.001-05:002020-11-18T09:30:04.746-05:00Pretty Little Wife, a review by Cat<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOgX0HOSHW0/X7QFWhakG_I/AAAAAAAAdPQ/noUAp2I3jMIhPpZi9BziCwPDupxdEJE-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Pretty%2BLittle%2BWife.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOgX0HOSHW0/X7QFWhakG_I/AAAAAAAAdPQ/noUAp2I3jMIhPpZi9BziCwPDupxdEJE-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Pretty%2BLittle%2BWife.png" /></a></div>🔪🔪🔪🔪</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pretty Little Wife</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Darby Kane</div><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Published December 29<sup>th</sup>,
2020</div><div style="text-align: justify;">By William Morrow Paperbacks</div><div style="text-align: justify;">416 Pages</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">Find it on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53441185-pretty-little-wife" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> or <a href="https://www.mybotm.com/hby5srx4fm7psyvi?show_box=true" target="_blank">BOTM</a>.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> One of the things I love about BOTM is
that it brings new authors to my attention. New authors like Darby
Kane. Pretty Little Wife is Kane's debut novel, and it is a domestic
suspense novel of epic proportions.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> Lila Ridgefield lives a perfect life,
by all appearances. But appearances can be deceiving, as we all know.
Her life is far from perfect, a fact that is becoming abundantly
clear now that her husband has gone missing.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> Pretty Little Wife was a thrilling (no
pun intended) and fast-paced read. It seemed like every chapter had
something major going on, be it another intense revelation or
something deeply disturbing. It didn't feel like a book that was over
four hundred pages, especially not as I blitzed through them, eager
to see what happened next.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> This is a novel that handled a lot of
tense and difficult subjects, so it isn't going to be for every
reader. Still, I enjoyed the theme and especially the ethical
questions and debates it raised over the course of its telling. If
there is one thing I know, after having finished this read, it's that
Darby Kane is going to be a new author worth keeping an eye on.
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d58Muuym1P8/X6qiUCB9-lI/AAAAAAAAdMc/duOHHFrIPjcrU-DAC48xUHKLPU5nzRBUACPcBGAYYCw/s939/Cat%2BWyatt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="939" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d58Muuym1P8/X6qiUCB9-lI/AAAAAAAAdMc/duOHHFrIPjcrU-DAC48xUHKLPU5nzRBUACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Cat%2BWyatt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-48414257205761619542020-11-18T02:00:00.011-05:002020-11-18T02:00:00.259-05:00Sorry I Missed You, a Review by Vivian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T1oEfGWl3l4/X7GFz8uo-uI/AAAAAAAAVA8/R9myhWS9mgkxryKcIHfSwm0d9pOlIvb0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s218/817m%252BaZVtkL._AC_UY218_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T1oEfGWl3l4/X7GFz8uo-uI/AAAAAAAAVA8/R9myhWS9mgkxryKcIHfSwm0d9pOlIvb0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/817m%252BaZVtkL._AC_UY218_.jpg" /></a></div>⭐⭐⭐⭐<br />Sorry I Missed You<br />Suzy Krause<p>313 pages<br />Published June 1 2020 by Lake Union Publishing</p><p>Audiobook:<br />9 hours 17 minutes<br />Amanda Ronconi (Narrator) <br />Brilliance Audio</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Three strangers are brought together when they rent separate suites in the same house. The building is owned by a reclusive man who inherited the house after his aunt died. He refuses to live in the house himself, because he is well aware of past suicides in the attic, and the now presence of ghosts. Revealing this flaw would make his house unmarketable, and so he keeps it from his new tenants.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Maude, Mackenzie, and Sunna differ from one another in many ways, but they all share a common thread. Besides just moving into the same building, each one has been recently ghosted, and each woman has a desire to escape her former life. To anyone unfamiliar with the term “being ghosted,” it refers to a close relationship ending suddenly without explanation or communication. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">These three women, unwilling friends at first, set out to find the writer of a mysterious note left in their shared mailbox that said, “Sorry I missed you!” Each thinks it was meant for them, that the person who dumped them has remorse and wants them back.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">There is also a back story mystery to each of the three female characters, and as a reader I was drawn in to discover the truth behind each of them. The older woman, Maude, a cantankerous older woman who was left at the altar is annoying, but just the right woman to keep the humor going as she navigates the world of her two younger counterparts. The mystery of the youngest tenant, Mackenzie, will keep you guessing to the end.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I enjoyed Sorry I Missed You. It’s an easy read, filled with laugh out loud moments, but not without some silliness. All in all, it’s the perfect mix for readers who want something lighthearted, and for those who are willing to set aside seriousness for the sake of a few laughs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V1y_9VRSvfY/X7GuODKvBfI/AAAAAAAAFKc/gyMGRUOJBIAdzWeuO1Z9bDTKvhrNx1PVgCNcBGAsYHQ/s793/Allison.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="793" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V1y_9VRSvfY/X7GuODKvBfI/AAAAAAAAFKc/gyMGRUOJBIAdzWeuO1Z9bDTKvhrNx1PVgCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Allison.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-30283595203729641572020-11-17T22:12:00.002-05:002020-11-17T22:12:58.260-05:00Daylight, a review by Sherry<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9hqUR_DZ1y0/X7SPiK5vVmI/AAAAAAAAAqY/3RObpOw3OhoSXWbR5NByUqomsP9AM0E0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/68237618-6F05-472B-AD6E-DBC44FA228CA.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1530" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9hqUR_DZ1y0/X7SPiK5vVmI/AAAAAAAAAqY/3RObpOw3OhoSXWbR5NByUqomsP9AM0E0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/68237618-6F05-472B-AD6E-DBC44FA228CA.jpeg" /></a></div>🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪<br />Daylight<br />David Baldacci<p></p><p>Thriller <br />417 pages</p><p>Published November 17, 2020<br />Grand Central Publishing</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I’ve been reading the Atlee Pine series from the beginning and I’m so drawn to the mystery surrounding her sister and every book I keep wondering if this is when we get find out what happened. I don’t want to spoil it for you but her sister’s mystery is part of the story. Yay!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In this installment there is a crossover when FBI agent Atlee Pine teams up with John Pullover, Army CID. She stumbles across his investigation as she looks into a lead on what happened with her sister. If you aren’t familiar with the series, Atlee is a twin and her sister was abducted when she was six years old. The whereabouts of her sister is still unknown and the abduction understandingly has shaped her life.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Atlee and Pullover team up for a wild ride looking into a global crisis. And while that part of the story is fast paced with twists and turns, it was Atlee’s personal journey about her sister that I found most interesting. Baldacci is good at creating complex characters. While this series isn’t his most popular, I like it for the strong female lead and the compelling story. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Sherry" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="858" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y17-PqnShR4/X7SQMyG1vbI/AAAAAAAAAqg/qdOhKyw-RgcYr9Txmd1ulc9_maNjLX_fwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/330E7AC6-D491-4494-8FFB-0D777312B98E.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-33974225308653383282020-11-17T18:50:00.002-05:002020-11-17T18:50:28.097-05:00Alex Trebek, The Answer is... Reflections on My Life, a review by Di<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19dLtHDRk54/X7RhDo_p0LI/AAAAAAAAFNQ/ry7Ie_hGOqw3LNwaK1x6RsMSnFKqkNJogCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/810UVxpV4DL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19dLtHDRk54/X7RhDo_p0LI/AAAAAAAAFNQ/ry7Ie_hGOqw3LNwaK1x6RsMSnFKqkNJogCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/810UVxpV4DL.jpg" /></a></div>⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<br />The Answer Is... Reflections on My Life<br />Alex Trebek<p></p><p>Memoir<br />304 pages<br />Published on July 21 2020 by Simon and Shuster</p><p style="text-align: justify;">After watching Alex Trebek on Jeopardy for almost 40 years I felt like someone I knew had passed away the day he died. He was in our living room many, many nights. He helped me develop my love of trivia.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Right from the outset of the book, I knew I would enjoy it. His writing style is very conversational. I can almost hear his voice. The chapters are all short, he is reminiscing about individual occurrences in his life. He goes through his life sequentially. His dry humour comes through at all times. And sometimes he's corny. He is not afraid to laugh at himself. And, he is a humble man. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I love his stoicism. I love his thirst for knowledge and understanding in so many ways, he reminds me of my father.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Great photos throughout the book, of his wife, parents, and children. A view into the private lives of the Trebeks.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The subject matter of chapter is in the form of a question: What is...? It's a great tribute to the game. There are all sorts of interesting facts about the game. Naturally, there are chapters devoted to each, Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer. There are a couple chapters about other contestants also.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The last few chapters are less upbeat. He accepts that he is nearing the end of his life and is not afraid.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I'm not sure if this qualifies as a book review or my thoughts on Alex Trebek. I'm glad I read it and I believe I read it at the right point in time. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-labRSI4Ug5I/X7RhcEfAxMI/AAAAAAAAFNY/yPFbF7W7S3wtJmYo7U-i8qid4Vc3d3VZgCNcBGAsYHQ/s442/People-Alex_Trebek_70866-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="442" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-labRSI4Ug5I/X7RhcEfAxMI/AAAAAAAAFNY/yPFbF7W7S3wtJmYo7U-i8qid4Vc3d3VZgCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/People-Alex_Trebek_70866-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;">RIP Alex</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Finished: November 15, 2020</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Di" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="794" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v2phgI-mYT0/X5n7iFXtt4I/AAAAAAAAEqk/49VWAiTooAk2H4qa-fpbtaDvxUYi8XghwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Di1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-27675564017214275852020-11-17T18:32:00.001-05:002020-11-17T18:32:23.622-05:00Teaser Tuesday // Mr. Penumbras 24-Hour Book Store<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuYNUs2gjs4/X4YXCcqNVeI/AAAAAAAAENg/vkU7EcYcHOcnBmGko7PEU7B2SB5sd0p3wCPcBGAYYCw/s266/1602623240482980-0.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuYNUs2gjs4/X4YXCcqNVeI/AAAAAAAAENg/vkU7EcYcHOcnBmGko7PEU7B2SB5sd0p3wCPcBGAYYCw/s0/1602623240482980-0.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121; font-size: 15px;">First chapter, first paragraph intros, now hosted by <a href="https://socratesbookreviews.blogspot.com/?m=1" target="_blank">Yvonne at Socrates' Booknreviews</a>, where bloggers share excerpts from a book they have read, are currently reading, or are planning to read. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0fZdyPu7Zio/X7RdBtIUslI/AAAAAAAAFNE/MPBj7cx4JX0L61hA08urwmnUZILHismGQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1440/HMEFX4A2BEI6FBUP25CYESBXV4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="1440" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0fZdyPu7Zio/X7RdBtIUslI/AAAAAAAAFNE/MPBj7cx4JX0L61hA08urwmnUZILHismGQCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/HMEFX4A2BEI6FBUP25CYESBXV4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Mr. Penumbras 24-Hour Book Store a Novel by: Robin Sloan</span></span></div><p></p><p><b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">First chapter, first paragraph: </b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Lost in the shadows of the shelves, I almost fall off the ladder. I am exactly halfway up. The floor of the bookstore is far below me, the surface of a planet I've left behind. The tips of the shelves loom high above, and it's dark up there- the books are packed in close, and they don't let any light through. The air might be thinner, too. I think I see a bat.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">I am holding on for dear life, one hand on the ladder, the other on the lip of a shelf, fingers pressed white. My eyes trace a line above my knuckles, searching the spines - and there, I spot it. The book I'm looking for.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">But let back up.</span></span></p><p><b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Teaser:</b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"> </b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">"You have come to a very special place," he says, lowering himself into a chair. We sit, too, negotiating the folds of our new robes. His voice is very quiet, barely audible above the sun: "You must never speak of it, or reveal its location, to anyone."</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">We all nod together. Neel whispers, "This is amazing."</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">"Oh, it is not room that is special," Penumbra says. "It is old, certainly. But any vault is the same: a sturdy chamber, built belowground, cold and dry. Unremarkable." He pauses. "It is the room's contents that are remarkable indeed."</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;">What do you think, would you keep reading?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Jenn" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="788" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qpbxnEmT3pQ/X5n6Nrrj9lI/AAAAAAAAEqY/jra5I0kCSGkf6wrIHmlaSSGo9g0znJi5ACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Jenn1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><br /></b><p></p>Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-41370422431284433462020-11-17T09:30:00.001-05:002020-11-17T09:30:05.134-05:00The Way Back, a review by Cat<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l0gOsFHVNHA/X7LWwsL7LII/AAAAAAAAdPA/g2ayFPqm1jAfAF7mW4O_Rru6-HaLQLj8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/The%2BWay%2BBack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l0gOsFHVNHA/X7LWwsL7LII/AAAAAAAAdPA/g2ayFPqm1jAfAF7mW4O_Rru6-HaLQLj8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BWay%2BBack.png" /></a></div>💙💙💙💙</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Way Back</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gavriel Savit</div><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Published November 17<sup>th</sup>,
2020</div><div style="text-align: justify;">By Knopf Books for Young Readers</div><div style="text-align: justify;">368 Pages</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Find it on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52534722-the-way-back?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=SxgVp2Cc4L&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>.</div><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> Before The Way Back, I had never read
anything by Gavriel Savit. However, the description on Goodreads
(that it is perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman) was
really all I needed to tempt me into giving this read a try. It was a
worthwhile read, and I am so glad that I took a literary risk here.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> Demons are everywhere, that much is
known. While they have their own land, part of the world of the dead,
they love nothing more than to find their way into the land of the
living. So when a wedding occurs that invites everyone – no
exceptions, you better believe they're ready to take advantage of it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> Enter Yehuda Leib and Bluma. Two young
people from the same town, but with very different lives. Yet
somehow, they have found themselves in eerily similar situations. Now
they have to find a way back together – ideally while staying
alive.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> Honestly, I cannot get over how
enchanting this world was. Even after a few days, it feels like this world is stuck in my head. Or perhaps it is the other way around? Either way, it's a world and tale well worth diving into. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">The Way Back is so richly detailed and full of
folklore, while providing some truly unique insight and perspectives.
I really enjoyed both Yehuda Leib and Bluma's individual journeys. I can see why people have been talking
so much about this novel, and couldn't agree more. This is a novel
I'd recommend for any teenager or adult looking for a fantastical
world full of love, life, death, and so very much more.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d58Muuym1P8/X6qiUCB9-lI/AAAAAAAAdMc/duOHHFrIPjcrU-DAC48xUHKLPU5nzRBUACPcBGAYYCw/s939/Cat%2BWyatt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="939" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d58Muuym1P8/X6qiUCB9-lI/AAAAAAAAdMc/duOHHFrIPjcrU-DAC48xUHKLPU5nzRBUACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Cat%2BWyatt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-19869755989005944912020-11-16T11:00:00.001-05:002020-11-16T11:00:00.969-05:00The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a review by Tanya<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7ojK_1WdWE/X6Gw00S1j-I/AAAAAAAAAI8/FYkeB3UHOr0hyUGn1U4hzme6Gv9o21xfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Henrietta%2BLacks.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7ojK_1WdWE/X6Gw00S1j-I/AAAAAAAAAI8/FYkeB3UHOr0hyUGn1U4hzme6Gv9o21xfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Henrietta%2BLacks.jpeg" /></a></div><br />⚕️⚕️⚕️<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks<br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rebecca Skloot<br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Narrator Cassandra Campbell, Bahni Turpin</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">13 Hours<br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Published Feb 1, 2010 by Penguin Random House Audio</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I had heard
such great things about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks so I signed up for
the Audiobook from my Library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
narration for this book was really well done. In fact, the writing for the book
was so well done that it explained such difficult medical procedures and terms
in simple language that was so easy to understand. You don't have to have any
medical background to understand all of the different events that are covered.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Do you know
those people that faint at the littlest sight of blood?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, that's not me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having kids makes you a pro at cleaning up
scraped knees, bloody noses, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
when people start talking about medical procedures, tumors, biopsies - my
stomach feels like it's going on a roller coaster, even when I'm sitting
comfortably in my chair at home.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Part of this
story made me so uncomfortably squeamish that I wanted to stop several times.
But I continued on and was fascinated by the amount of work that Rebecca Skloot
underwent to put this book together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
much information to cover that it felt sometimes as if you were bouncing
around. A subject that was brought up once would be left until later and then
explained in a different section of the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I suppose that is appropriate, otherwise there would be just too many
sidebars and the story would become stagnant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">One thing
that I didn't understand about this entire book was that the author and the
family make John Hopkins out to be this horrible beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet they were simply studying cells and when
those cells were found to live and replicate as they had hoped for, they
continued to use them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is that bad?
I understand that perhaps that wasn't Henrietta expected to happen, but I don't
see it as a bad thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that her
cells have saved so many lives is amazing! Just as the fact that Henrietta and
her family have really received no credit is outrageous!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both of these facts can be true and the last
fact can be changed!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The worst
part of this whole story, in my opinion, is that the actual bad guy didn't get
the negative attention that he so deserved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Henrietta was consistently diagnosed with STD's from her husband's
extra-marital activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm guessing
the uterine cancer, if not directly caused by his activities, surely did not
help her experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If his actions
didn't directly lead to her severe pain and death, they surely made it worse
for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm baffled that the author
made no direct correlation of these events. I'm also frustrated that it seemed
to be downplayed in the book altogether.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Overall, the
hard work done by the author to bring this book together, the amazing medical
advances we all have to be thankful for and Henrietta and her family's struggle
were so interesting to read about. And my weak stomach will be better in a
couple of days.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Tanya" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="1125" height="80" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m5EYt-2Atyg/X6GxCjlSMvI/AAAAAAAAAJA/DLB0HRNgMzU70tUUSSTn8QR4EPD4Gqh8QCLcBGAsYHQ/w172-h80/Signature.JPG" width="172" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-70766130857797395122020-11-15T14:00:00.010-05:002020-11-15T17:45:55.690-05:00The Progeny, a review by Sara<p><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7x157uHnTBs/X7CCkNZsBiI/AAAAAAAAABc/yp8jY3iOV7MA9V-gUMcDXy-P_7fILL_DQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/4908CFF6-C5B3-4C94-899E-47880C4F25D6.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7x157uHnTBs/X7CCkNZsBiI/AAAAAAAAABc/yp8jY3iOV7MA9V-gUMcDXy-P_7fILL_DQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/4908CFF6-C5B3-4C94-899E-47880C4F25D6.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;">🧛♀️🧛♀️🧛♀️🧛♀️</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The Progeny</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Shelley Crowley</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Published April 2016</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">524 pages<br />Find it on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35824946-the-progeny" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">*DISCLAIMER: The author provided me with a copy of this book for the sole purpose of a review. However, the opinions below are my own, and are no way the result of prior compensation. Furthermore, the author has NOT been provided with a copy of this review prior to its posting.*</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Prior to reading The Progeny, I had not heard of Shelley Crowley’s work. However, I can confidently say that she is on my radar now.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The story opens in the year 2031, approximately 11 years after vampires were “outed” to the world. Scared for their lives, humans had been trying to find alternate feeding sources for the vampires. Unfortunately, the result is what can only be described as a “bloodbath”. In efforts to restore this violent world to its former glory, one doctor has taken it upon himself to find a cure for the vampiric “disease”. Consequences be damned… They’re not really people anyway, right?</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">While I enjoyed the premise of this book, I must be honest. I did not find myself making excuses to stay up late in hopes that some climactic bombshell awaited me on the next page. The journey resulted in what felt like a rush to get things wrapped up. However, I can say, this has left me with a hunger for more, which I feel is the purpose of a good novel anyways. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Reminiscent of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, the reader travels along in in-depth character development for each person encountered. This made the characters relatable, and easy to connect with. You will laugh with them, cry with them, and feel each aching loss they experience. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.1px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">With a score of 4 out of 5, I will be keeping an eye open for any further work from Shelley.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Until next time, happy reading everybody.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Sara" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z8eMW3pvEkQ/X7CapZ-GNrI/AAAAAAAAABo/PvLapoFHe7MX4hn2Xqt4BT1jJ1Nq7Lw1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/E64171DF-074A-494B-9EBD-83857E17E1DB.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-40201272091145400172020-11-15T11:00:00.069-05:002020-11-18T17:26:22.395-05:00Blog Tour Review: Empire of Blood<p> </p><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R1BXXGTk7uY/X5DiZqMExDI/AAAAAAAAAHw/rqa5vPappHIMv5v6rjYfHm44T8z0wTfiwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/BLOG%2BTOUR%2B%25282%2529.png" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is our showcase and review for <b>Empire of Blood</b>. We are so excited that Neverland Book Tours has included us in this book tour! We hope you enjoy and follow along.</div><div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">ABOUT THE BOOK</h3></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lilly Faine is tired of classmates dissing her family, and doesn’t care when she receives suspension for nearly punching the lights out of a classmate. Her father isn’t crazy, even if he does spout stories about a world full of magic, a cruel king who hunted him, and has a shattered amulet that tingles when Lilly touches it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When an old enemy appears under Chicago’s beloved Bean, Lilly and her brother Gabriel are shoved into the impossible world their father believed in. Alone on opposite ends of a war, they race to rescue each other. Lilly finds aid and friendship in a band of rebels, but she is also hunted by the emperor’s personal assassin. Gabriel gains the help of the emperor, but Gabriel’s choices to do good may lead him into dark shadows he can’t find his way out of.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Magic thrums within their reach, promising aid, and Lilly and Gabriel both must decide if the magic they seek – and the causes for which they now fight – is worth the risk of their souls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Content Warning: Two characters share a kiss. War/battle is a prominent element, so there are wounds and death, but no gore. One of the MC whips two characters. Language does contain a tiny amount of minor curses, such as “hell,” “damn,” and “bastard.”</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">MY REVIEW</h3></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s taken me a couple of days since finishing this book to actually sit down and write my review. I’ve had such a book hangover, it’s not even funny! Over the past several years I’ve been gravitating towards fantasy books. I do not claim to be an expert, but I know what I like. And I LOVED Empire of Blood!! (Adding an extra 2 !! for emphasis)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Empire of Blood began very slowly for me, even though there is an action scene almost immediately. It took me 4 tries to get through the first chapter. I think I must have been really tired each time I picked it up at the end of the day, so that didn’t help. But once I was able to get to the end of Chapter 2, I was hooked! All I wanted to do was read and read. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The plot to Empire of Blood is so much fun! Lilly and Gabriel are siblings living in Chicago. They have grown up with their father telling them stories of a magical world that they, of course, didn’t believe in. Until one day when their whole lives are turned upside down, sending them both to this magical world but separating them from each other. In this new world, both Lilly and Gabriel are met with completely different experiences and are exposed to opposing realities. One is living the truth, one a lie. What happens as they try to find and save each other? Well that’s where the magic happens my friends!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cornwell has an extraordinary talent for making the characters so real that they practically jump off the page! I feel like I personally know each of these many, many, many characters. Did I say many? Many! Because holy smokes there are a lot of characters in this book. I felt like I was reading Game of Thrones at times. Personally, I could have used a character chart alongside this book. At the end, I did find a character name pronunciation chart, also helpful as other than Lilly and Gabriel, all the other characters have non-traditional names and can be hard to remember and keep track of. But listen, the little bit of extra brain power I needed to expend on keeping track of said characters was TOTALLY WORTH IT!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My only grievance with this book is that it is a duology and I now have to wait for Book 2! But guess what? There will be dragons! How delightful!!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And I guess I have a second grievance (but not really). I am now the proud owner of the Empire of Blood paperback, even though I already have the e-book. I loved it so much that I just had to buy the book to keep with me forever and ever! So now I have (intentionally) two of the same book. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you like the Fantasy genre, Empire of Blood Book 1 of the Rebel Empire Duology is not to be missed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Tanya" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="874" height="89" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dzc_XlMPDA0/X7GxeJgyGcI/AAAAAAAAFK4/NfDYlg_fhZAgrPC61iFMx3TkFv3XDR6gwCPcBGAYYCw/w200-h89/Tanya1.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BOOK LINKS</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54704504-empire-of-blood?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Juv992kufb&rank=1">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Blood-Rebel-Book-ebook/dp/B08FF4YNX5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PFPPIPOBCKJJ&dchild=1&keywords=empire+of+blood+by+olivia+cornwell&qid=1604793709&sprefix=empire+of+blood+olivia+c%2Caps%2C253&sr=8-1">Amazon</a><br /><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">TOUR SCHEDULE</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">November 10</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Neverland Book Tours</a> - Tour Kickoff</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Lovely Whatsoevers</a> - Interview</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 11</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Imperial Scribis</a> - Review</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 12</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Adventurous Bookworm</a> - Excerpt</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 13</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">@libbylouguru</a> - Excerpt</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 14</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">@pirouettes.and.pages</a> - Review</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 15</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">@thebookreviewcrew</a> - Review</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 16</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Bookish Musings</a> - Review</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR</h3></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSRKy_LyKYI/X6c6EfZo0OI/AAAAAAAAAIg/rQjmyh0C1GUY7co21xua-Sry7CaHb6sVQCNcBGAsYHQ/s200/olivia%2Bauthor%2Bphoto.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSRKy_LyKYI/X6c6EfZo0OI/AAAAAAAAAIg/rQjmyh0C1GUY7co21xua-Sry7CaHb6sVQCNcBGAsYHQ/s0/olivia%2Bauthor%2Bphoto.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Olivia Cornwell is a storyteller with a love of dragons and magical worlds. She writes stories of hope and redemption and familial relationships, and far too many sarcastic characters. She writes to entertain her readers (and may or may not collect their tears along the way) and share the truth of her Creator. At least when she isn’t struggling to control her characters, drinking a lot of coffee, or hoarding chocolate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She hides out in Ohio, and in her spare time Olivia cuddles her niece and nephews, and yowls back at her cat (who is most likely her familiar). She also enjoys adopting the characters from her friends’ novels and keeping them safe from their own dangers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/livvy_cornwell">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/livvycornwell" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OliviaCornwellAuthor" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://orcornwell.wixsite.com/oliviacornwellauthor" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/user/livvycornwell" target="_blank">Wattpad</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="neverlandbooktours.blogspot.com" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NW7EA_MaAuw/X6c6dz87MVI/AAAAAAAAAIo/OvZYesA5cLoSl5JmnulIlG7ZNjYK_lDrgCNcBGAsYHQ/s0/neverland.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-49298987770011773072020-11-14T18:33:00.001-05:002020-11-15T17:45:26.925-05:00Breaking Up (With a Book) is Hard to Do<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HtkICsfmppc/X7BoK75BAuI/AAAAAAAATVI/1TAKvusgWCg-DBAVQhlaiLw-LiFy5hPtQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HtkICsfmppc/X7BoK75BAuI/AAAAAAAATVI/1TAKvusgWCg-DBAVQhlaiLw-LiFy5hPtQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />I broke up with a book this week. There was absolutely nothing
wrong with it but I couldn’t keep going. They say timing is everything, and so
it seems to be with books sometimes. Here are 5 reasons you may want to break
up with a book:<p></p><p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>It’s not
you, it’s me.</b> This is the most common reason that I will put down a book. For me,
this most often happens with nonfiction books. I love nonfiction in general,
and will often read a book description and get excited to read it, only to get
through a few chapters and realize it just doesn’t fit me right now. Most of the
time, I will go back to that book months or even years later and find it to be
an enjoyable read. This week, my breakup was just for that reason—the subject
matter wasn’t resonating with my circumstances right now.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>I </b></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>don’t
have room in my life for you right now.</b> Sometimes you really enjoy a book but
put it down because you can’t give it the attention it deserves. I find that
this happens when a book has a complex plot or many different characters. Case
in point-I am about 1/3 of the way finished with A Storm of Swords by George
R.R. Martin. (Game of Thrones book 3), and I have been for over a year. As with
the television series, there are many characters and many different plots
happening at the same time. It isn’t a series you can read casually. I breezed
through the first 2 books at a time when I had more mental energy. One-third of
the way through book 3, my life generally got busier and I wanted a book that
was fluffier and less dramatic. So back to the bookshelf it went. I will
revisit it someday, when my life is calmer, but now is not the time.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><b style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">My feelings
for you scare me.</b><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Have you ever been really getting into a book and then, out
of nowhere, it hits you--the emotional trigger you didn’t see coming. It could
be death, cancer, love, babies, or trauma, to name a few. For me, it’s the
death of a child or pet. Despite my daughters begging me to read The Hunger
Games, I never have. Spoiler alert—a child dies. Knowing that in advance keeps
me from reading the series. I appreciate a review or description that includes
trigger warnings.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><b style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">You have
changed too much since I met you. </b><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">This one is the hardest breakups for me.
Three books into a fantastic series, the author introduced a romantic pairing
that made no sense to me. It didn’t make sense for the characters—they would </span><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">never</i><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> get together, it’s just not right
for them, how could she?! I loved these characters and I was invested in them,
and nope, not going to keep reading this train wreck of (my) emotion. I do know
that they eventually break up and all is explained but I couldn’t keep going. Sadly,
this is probably a permanent breakup for me.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;"><b style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">You will
forget about me soon enough. </b><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Sometimes you just pick a bad book. Enough said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What makes you want to break up with a book?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Melanie" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="836" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2RkXu6ZJ_Mg/X7GvbvjlkmI/AAAAAAAAFKo/1ROUR4bB9BkZy-7wRv8SDPhI4cpfaKP2QCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Melanie.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-13904449001518180352020-11-14T15:22:00.002-05:002020-11-14T15:22:46.222-05:00Blog Tour Showcase: Pistols in Paradise<p> </p> <div style="margin: 0px auto 15px; text-align: center;">
<p>
<a href="http://xpressobooktours.com/" target="_blank">
<img alt="" src="http://www.xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/10/PistolsinParadiseBlitzBanner.png" style="height: auto; max-width: 100%;" />
</a>
</p>
</div>
<img alt="" src="http://www.xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/11/Kayne-Pistols-55x85-CV-FT.jpg" style="display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 0px 15px 15px 0px;" />
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Pistols in Paradise</strong></div><strong><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Katherine Kayne</strong></div></strong><div style="text-align: left;">Publication date: November 18th 2020</div><div style="text-align: left;">Genres: Romance, Women’s Fiction</div><p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Be swept away by the romance of old Hawaii.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">On the run for a crime she did not commit and abandoned by all who should cherish her, Agnes Todd has learned the hard way not to trust anyone. After finding refuge on a remote island ranch five thousand miles from her homeland, Agnes hopes for a new life free from fear and judgment—hard to come by for a single mother in 1905. Armed with only her wits and her grandmama’s pearl-handled pistols, she’s become rather skilled at protecting herself and her young son, Johnny.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But when her pursuers catch up with her, she must flee again—straight up the side of an ancient volcano and right into the arms of George Lang, a gentle giant of a man with a gift for fixing things. That is, everything but his own fractured heart. Will Agnes and her pistols blaze their way into his love?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A prequel to Katherine Kayne’s award-winning <em>Bound in Flame</em>, this sharpshooting novella revisits the early lives and hard-won romance of two beloved characters.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55690839-pistols-in-paradise" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> / <a href="https://books2read.com/u/mvn5Ez?store=amazon" target="_blank">Amazon</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>EXCERPT:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He settled her deeper against his chest, feeling the natural body heat building.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“I don’t think you can run forever.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“Running is the only way to keep Johnny safe.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“Are you sure?”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“No. But it’s all I have to go on.” She slumped against him as if in defeat. The braid of her hair fell to the side, exposing the pale nape of her neck. He leaned forward and kissed it. She tensed and then softened as he spoke again.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“Then you will do what you believe is best. That’s all you can do.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Just as he had done what he thought was best. Positioning the fire so that it might be seen. She would never forgive him. Never.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He should not care, but he did. Deeply.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Her chin rested on the arm encircling her. “Thank you for not telling me I’m an idiot female.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“You may be many things, Agnes, but a fool is not one of them.”</p>
<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">At that she twisted, looking up at him. Her features a soft pearly blur in the firelight. Inviting. He leaned in. It had been a long time since he’d kissed a woman in tenderness. But some things you don’t forget how to do. She settled back against him, truly relaxing for the first time. And slept. He did not.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>
<img alt="" src="http://www.xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/11/Katherine.jpg" style="display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 0px 15px 15px 0px; text-align: justify;" />
<blockquote style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">Author Bio:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Katherine Kayne now writes the romances she only dreamed of reading as a girl. With horses and magic and happily ever after . . . and heroes strong enough to follow their heroine's lead. Counting herself fortunate to live in Hawaii a part of each year, Katherine created the world of the Hawaiian Ladies' Riding Society to tell the stories of the fearless horsewomen of the islands' ranches. Because who doesn't love a suffragist on horseback? With a bullwhip? Wearing flowers? If you come along for the ride, be prepared for almost anything to happen. Katherine can promise you fiery kisses, charming cowboys, women who ride like the rainbow to save the day, and that rarest of beasts--handsome men who like to dance.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://katherinekayne.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> / <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19231806.Katherine_Kayne" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KatherineKayneAuthor/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/k2writesbooks" target="_blank">Twitter</a> / <a href="https://www.instagram.com/k2writesbooks/" target="_blank">Instagram</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><br class="blank" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>GIVEAWAY!</strong><br />
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<p style="text-align: center;">Hosted by:<br />
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Jennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17564027298567915949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4351181237330537124.post-39413706046554454592020-11-14T09:48:00.001-05:002020-11-15T17:46:43.639-05:00Dad is Fat, a review by Tanya<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkvDfkd8PPk/X6XooTxVzyI/AAAAAAAAALA/rin_xhA9hiUWU1gv2pbPqAZ0Of6_Xlr6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s865/Dad%2Bis%2Bfat.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="865" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkvDfkd8PPk/X6XooTxVzyI/AAAAAAAAALA/rin_xhA9hiUWU1gv2pbPqAZ0Of6_Xlr6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Dad%2Bis%2Bfat.jpeg" /></a></div><br />😂😂😂😂😂<br /><a name="DadIsFat" style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Dad is Fat</span></a><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 107%;"> </span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jim Gaffigan<br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;">Audiobook 5
hours<br /></span>Published
May 14<sup>th</sup>, 2013 by Penguin Random House<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Jim Gaffigan
is the perfect comedian for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><span style="line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Even though
he puts himself in the spotlight, I find him very self-effacing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He makes fun of himself just as much as he
makes fun of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He puts his wife on
a pedestal, as he should </span><span face=""Segoe UI Emoji", sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;">😊</span><span style="line-height: 107%;">, and tells stories that often make
him look completely ridiculous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in most
situations, I could put myself in his shoes, in that situation and so it’s
almost as if I’m laughing at myself in many cases.</span></div></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;">He is classified
as a family comedian but really, I think of him as a clean comedian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He uses language that I can play around my
kids without concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s refreshing
that I can listen to adult humor around my kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And at times, they even laugh as well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Jim and his
wife have 5 kids!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s got great
material for years and years to come.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;">I think audiobooks
are so much better than print books for comedians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can listen to their cadence and delivery
and often times that’s really what makes the jokes hit home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> </span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;">If you haven’t
yet listened to Jim Gaffigan on audiobook, I urge you to run out and pick-up a copy. He’s so, so funny!</div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookreviewcrew.blogspot.com/search/label/Tanya" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="1125" height="84" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tO0sDdtI9lA/X6XowNIVF-I/AAAAAAAAALE/ARkydufChPIH3SsSIE7kgOENTss9fr2ngCLcBGAsYHQ/w189-h84/Signature.JPG" width="189" /></a></div><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2