Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Tribute Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tribute Books. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Release Day Blitz! - A Privilege (Book 3 - The Angel Chronicles) by Amy Lignor



A Privilege:

The Angel Chronicles, Book 3

The beloved Angel/Warrior team face pure evil in their final climactic story!

The first time they were sent down, Irish lives were led. Emily, the angel, ended up embedded in murder and lost in the realm of true love. While Matthew, the warrior, took over a life that left blood on his hands and anger in his soul.

With their second coming, Emily found herself facing an oncoming war that brought her to the shores of America. While Matthew tried desperately to unveil the evil character of a young man who was intent on locking his partner in a ‘gilded’ cage.

Now...Emily and Matthew find that their lives are all their own. Yet, all the memories, hatred, longing and regret have come hand-in-hand with this newfound freedom.

In small town U.S.A., Matthew finds himself loving his new life. From his military school existence to a new, ‘odd’ friend who’s arrived in town, Matthew’s looking forward to graduation and heading off into a brilliant future with Emily by his side.

Emily wants nothing more than to hide. Although doing her best to fit in, she lives a life on the edge, wondering when her past love with reappear to either forgive or seek revenge on the angel who let him down. Battling the shadows that seem to be breaking her soul in two, Emily soon discovers that her small, quiet town has a secret that’s beyond dangerous...

As she and Matthew join forces to help a ‘haunted’ victim, they open the door on a mystery neither of them can believe. A true villain has returned from the past, and not even their heavenly family will be able to save them. This time they’re on their own, as they face a fight that could lead them straight to Hell…and end the angel/warrior team forever.







Excerpt




Without a word, Matthew reached out, took Emily by the hand and pulled her down beside him. He looked into her eyes and smiled. “I knew my Emily was still in there.”



Out of the blue, the room became incredibly hot, as if Gabriel had entered in order to give a lesson to his favorite students. “What?”



“That spark.” He pulled Emily’s face closer before she could push herself away. “You’ve been acting all this time like you’re just here to sit and wait it out until you’re lucky enough to go Home. But you’re still in there, Emily. You still have all that energy and belief in there and you want to do something. That’s the partner I know.”



Shaking her head, Emily listened to her own breathing intensify as she stared at his full lips and wondered why she felt so completely and utterly strange...vulnerable even. “I want to help this girl. This is a job, maybe my only job down here. She saw a ghost and she wants me to help her out, that’s all.”



“And you will.” Matthew captured Emily’s lips, and she could no longer feel the breath in her lungs. Completely different than the one kiss they’d shared up above so long ago, this one was far more demanding, as if Matthew was a young man determined to kiss his human love for the very first time.



Sitting back, Emily practically jumped off the bed.



“I’m sorry,” she heard him whisper behind her. “I guess I was just excited to see you again.”



Not trusting her voice, she remained silent.



“We have jobs, but we also have a life to live. Our own lives this time around. Maybe you should think about adding that into your angelic plans.” Matthew continued softly, “Jason isn’t here, Emily.”



The name being said out loud sent a chill down Emily’s spine. It reminded her of the vow she’d made a long time ago—a vow that an angel couldn’t break.



She cleared her throat. “It doesn’t matter if he’s here. We were sent to do a job, and maybe helping this little girl prove her story is what I need to begin.”



Standing up, Matthew looked as if he was a man who wanted nothing more than to turn back the clock and erase the name he’d spoken aloud. He walked to the open window. “Well, I hope the job goes well. Good luck with it.”



“Matthew,” Emily took a step toward him. “Don’t leave like this.”



He nodded at the book on the bed. “You have your mission, Emily...your job. Ghosts, goblins, lost souls—knock yourself out.” He took a deep breath. “I wonder when you’re going to figure out that the living souls around you would like some of your attention as well.”



Closing her eyes, Emily shed silent tears as she heard his feet hit the ground beneath her window. A friend, a partner, the one who actually listened, was now just an angry young man racing back to The Armory—a place where warriors reigned.



Emily sighed. She’d done it again. No matter how hard she tried to be good, her mouth always got her into trouble. She needed Matthew to understand. She’d made a promise to a young man a long time ago; a promise that was supposed to last for eternity. How was she to know at the time that their eternity would include death by her hand?
Had the second time around broken their vow? Emily had no idea. But whatever happened she could not and would not offer Matthew her heart if payment was still due for her past sins. Above all, Matthew was the last person who deserved to be punished for her mistakes.




Author Amy Lignor

Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.

Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller, Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13.

She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer.

Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico.










Books 1 and 2 are now 99 cents on Kindle!

   










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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

War Stories by Elisabeth Doyle (Book Review)







Title: War Stories
Author: Elisabeth Doyle
Publisher:  Two Harbors Press

About the Book: We all carry our own battle scars. 

This is the premise of War Stories, a rich collection of short fiction that draws upon both the literal and figurative meaning of its title.  Through a diverse array of characters, settings, and circumstances, War Stories delivers a series of powerful tales from the home front of war: the stories of parents, siblings, and spouses of those who have fought, as well as those who have returned from battle.

Set against the backdrop of contemporary conflicts, War Stories’ compelling nine narratives tell of a wounded veteran who seeks renewal through an imagined relationship with a neighborhood girl, a grieving father who finds peace and reconciliation at the site of a disastrous bus crash, a young woman who searches for identity and meaning in the wake of her husband’s injury, and an urban teenager engaged in a fateful standoff with local recruiters. Interspersed with these tales are powerful, non-traditional “war stories” – of youth, unexpected loss, and heartbreaking love. 

War Stories’ thoughtful and beautifully crafted tales, which range in style from deceptively simple to rich and complex, tell of people young and old, male and female, who share two things: humanity and resilience. These diverse and deftly written stories are joined through Elisabeth Doyle’s remarkable style and ease in creating a universe full of despair, hope, and dreams. At turns tender and harsh, tragic and yearning, these stories will leave you wanting more.


My thoughts:  I am usually not a fan of short stories, but I couldn't put this little book down.  In each of these stories, there is something so real about the characters that you can't help but connect with them.  The initial impression, and as the title implies, is that these are going to be tragic stories, and yet in each of them, there is a glimmer that there is something more - something not yet seen just waiting to happen. The stories leave you with that impression, so while being tragic, they are also hopeful.  

I think the reason that I generally don't like short stories is that I can't get vested in them - the characters seem shallow to me - Not so with this book.  She does a great job of giving you enough information about the characters so that you feel you really know something about them, or how they were feeling in the sliver of their life that you are seeing.   The stories in this book are going to stay with me for a long time.  

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tribute Books Blog Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author: Elisabeth Doyle is a writer and attorney living in Washington, D.C. She studied fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and the University at Albany, and is completing a Masters of Laws Degree at Georgetown University Law Center.  Ms. Doyle’s short fiction was published in the literary journal Nadir and was awarded the University at Albany’s Lovenheim Prize for best short fiction. Her first short film, Hard Hearted One, was admitted into the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema and the Street Films Film Festival, and was shown on Public Television and Manhattan Cable. War Stories is her first collection of short fiction.

You can find out more about War Stories and this blog tour at the following places:

War Stories
Publisher/Publication Date: Two Harbors Press, Aug 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937928-40-7
111 pages

Friday, July 27, 2012

Knee Deep by Jolene Perry (Book Review)




Title: Knee Deep
Author: Jolene Perry
Publisher: Tribute Books


About the Book: You’re a girl, he says, and are probably seeing things that aren’t there.


Shawn is the guy Ronnie Bird promised her life to at the age of fourteen. He's her soul mate. He's more uptight every day, but it's not his fault. His family life is stressful, and she's adding to it. She just needs to be more understanding, and he'll start to be the boy she fell in love with. She won’t give up on someone she’s loved for so long.

Luke is her best friend, and the guy she hangs with to watch girlie movies in her large blanketopias. He's the guy she can confide in before she even goes to her girlfriends, and the guy who she's playing opposite in Romeo and Juliet. Now her chest flutters every time he gets too close. This is new. Is Ronnie falling for him? Or is Juliet? The lines are getting blurry, but leaving one guy for another is not something that a girl like Ronnie does.

Shawn’s outbursts are starting to give her bruises, and Luke’s heart breaks as Ronnie remains torn. While her thoughts and feelings swirl around the lines between friendship and forever, she’s about to lose them both.

My thoughts:  For me, this book started out slow, but I was quickly immersed in Ronnie's story.  I think that every young girl thinks her first love will be her only love, and the author does a great job of capturing those feelings for the reader. But there is more than just first love going on here. Shawn has started to change and Ronnie is convinced that if she just gives him more time, he will be the boy she fell in love with again - regardless of the consequences. 

And then there is Luke.  Who remembers all those feelings you get when the boy of your dreams walks in the room?  Ronnie begins to have those feelings for Luke, but she convinces herself that these are not her feelings, but those of Juliet for her Romeo - the characters the two of them are playing in the school play.  She is sure that once the play is over she will be able to let those feelings go and that the problems Shawn is having will have begun to ease by then and that relationship will get back on track.  

Jolene Perry does a great job of dealing with the sensitive issue of abusive relationships and how women, especially teens, can make exceptions to excuse the behavior in the one they love - and who loves them.  I have already told my daughter that I want her to read this book - because I want her to see how no abuse is okay, and there is no reason good enough to make it okay.   

~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author: Jolene grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in political science and French, which she used to teach math to middle schoolers.

After living in Washington, Utah and Las Vegas, she now resides in Alaska with her husband, and two children. Aside from writing, Jolene sews, plays the guitar, sings when forced, and spends as much time outside as possible.

She is also the author of Night Sky and The Next Door Boys.



You can find out more about the book and connect with the author at the following locations: 

Knee Deep web site:
http://knee-deep-book.blogspot.com/
  
Knee Deep Twitter hashtag:
#KneeDeep
Knee Deep GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12987551-knee-deep
Jolene Perry's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002038196677

Jolene Perry's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/JoleneBPerry

Jolene Perry's Website:
http://www.jolenebperry.com/

Jolene Perry's Blog:
http://www.jolenesbeenwriting.blogspot.com/

Jolene Perry's GoodReads:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4944599.Jolene_B_Perry


Tribute Books website:
http://www.tribute-books.com


Tribute Books Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archbald-PA/Tribute-Books/171628704176


Tribute Books Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/TributeBooks


Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186


Publisher/Publication Date: Tribute Books, May 2012
ISBN: 9780983741886
ISBN: 9781476060316
240 pages

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Listening to Africa by Diana Raab (Book Review)







Title: Listening to Africa
Author: Diana M. Raab
Publisher: Antrim House


About the Book: Poet Diana M. Raab travels to the heart of Africa with her family to experience the beauty and fascination of another world. During her safari, she observes the distress, the delight, and the dignity of the humans and animals who live there and parallels them with her own quest for health.


Listening to Africa's Reviews
“Diana M. Raab makes a pilgrimage from the 'familiar neon of home’ in America to Africa, bringing her family, her passion and her pen. Her moving words carry us with her in narrative poems re-plete with vision, humor and irony. In her inner and outer journey, the poet transforms fear and sadness into beauty and love as her heart opens 'in this place which will remind you of your reason for living.’”
- Susan Wooldridge
author of poemcrazy: freeing your life with words


“Diana M. Raab takes us on a joyous poetic journey of words and photos. She juxtaposes her wisdom, essential wellness and depth of feeling in exploring four-legged friends, illness, and hope, making this an extremely powerful collection."
- Cara Nusinov
author of Unrequited Loves and Other French Kisses

My thoughts: I am not sure how to review a poem book, but I will do my best.  I did enjoy reading these - they are very quick - about a page each.  She has the book divided according to where she traveled in Africa as I am guessing she wrote as she traveled.  She has a way of taking what is everyday for the people in Africa and making it a one-of-a-kind event for the reader.  She weaves into these poems thoughts on her own health, her family, memories of her father and in this way connects her experiences with her home.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my review.~

Diana Raab's Bio:
Diana M. Raab is a memoirist, essayist and poet. She has a B.S. in Health Administration and Journalism, and an RN degree from Vanier College in Montreal, in addition to an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Spalding University’s Low-Residency Program.

Diana has been writing from an early age. As a child of two working parents, she spent a lot of time crafting letters and keeping a daily journal. A journaling advocate and educator, Diana teaches creative journaling and memoir in workshops around the country. She frequently speaks and writes about the healing powers of writing.

She’s the award-winning author of eight books, and the author of over 500 articles and poems. Her release is Writers on the Edge: 22 Writers Speak About Addiction and Depression, co-edited with James Brown, which is a compilation of essays by renowned writers discussing how addiction has influenced their literary lives. She is also editor of Writers and Their Notebooks, a collection of essays written by well-known writers who keep journals.

Raab is the author of two memoirs, Regina's Closet: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal, winner of the 2008 National Indie Excellence Award for Memoir and Healing With Words, the 2011 Mom's Choice Award Winner for Adult Nonfiction.

She is also a registered nurse who teaches in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and at various writing workshops across the country. She is the author of four poetry collections, My Muse Undresses Me (2007); Dear Anais: My Life in Poems for You (2008), winner of The Reader Views Award and an Allbooks Review Editor's Choice Award; The Guilt Gene (2009); and Listening to Africa (2012).

Her poetry and prose have appeared in national journals and anthologies such as Rattle, Rosebud, Litchfield Review, Tonopah Review, Writers' Journal, A Cafe in Space, the Toronto Quarterly, Common Ground Review, The Smoking Poet, Snail Mail Review, New Mirage Journal, Lucidity, Blood and Thunder, Jet Fuel Review, Ascent, and The Huffington Post.

You can connect with her in the following places:
Diana Raab's Web Site:
http://dianaraab.com/

Diana Raab's Blog:
http://dianaraab.com/blog/

Listening to Africa's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ListeningToAfrica

Diana Raab's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/dianaraab

Diana Raab's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/512931.Diana_Raab

Listening to Africa's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13579750-listening-to-africa

Diana Raab's Red Room:
http://redroom.com/member/diana-raab/blog
Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186


Listening to Africa
 blog tour site:
http://listeningtoafrica.blogspot.com

Listening to Africa
Publisher/Publication Date: Antrim House, March 2012
ISBN: 978-1-936482-18-4
80 pages

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Spectral by Shannon Duffy (Book Review)




Title: Spectral
Author: Shannon Duffy
Publisher: Tribute Books


About the book: Convinced she’s a part of the witness protection program, sixteen-year-old Jewel Rose is shuffled around the globe with her family like a pack of traveling gypsies. After arriving at lucky home twenty-seven, she stumbles upon a mysterious boy with magical powers claiming to be her guardian . . . and warning of imminent danger. Despite the obvious sparks between them, Jewel discovers a relationship is forbidden, and the more she learns about dark, brooding Roman, she begins to question who she can even believe — the family who raised her, or the supposed sworn protector who claims they’ve been lying to her all along.



As she struggles to uncover who her family has really been running from, she is forced to hide her birthmark that reveals who she is. With new realities surfacing, unexplained powers appearing, and two tempting boys vying for her heart, Jewel battles to learn who she can trust in an ever growing sea of lies, hoping she’ll make it through her seventeenth birthday alive.



My thoughts: I found this a fun book to read.  It has the teenage angst, first romances, rival teenage girls, and magic!  I immediately felt sorry for Jewel as she had to move and change schools every single year - can you imagine?  She also felt a real love for her younger brother so that endeared her to me as well.  

With the latest move, her family ends up in Pomona Park, Florida - a very small town with a very small high school.  But it doesn't matter how big or little, there were still cliques, and while she does make her first real friend - the "popular" girl seems to be set on making her life miserable!  But this is just a blip on her radar as she begins to discover secrets that her family has been hiding.

To make things even more complicated, as she begins the journey to discovering who she really is and why her family has been on the run, Roman and Chase seem to be battling for her affection.  Never having been kissed, now she has two really cute guys lining up to kiss her!

Seriously though, as she nears her seventeenth birthday, she is not sure if she can even trust her own family.  She is hoping she just survives!

I did enjoy this book, as I like the YA Paranormal genre.  I am hoping that this one might be the beginning of a series, as there were some loose ends that didn't quite get wrapped up and I would love to know what happens to them!

~I received a complimentary ebook copy of Spectral from Tribute Books in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author: Shannon Duffy writes young adult and middle grade fiction. She grew up on the beautiful east coast of Canada and now lives in Ontario, Canada. She is the mom of one boy, Gabriel, her angel. She loves writing, reading, working out, soccer, and the sport of champions-shopping.. Her upcoming middle grade fantasy novel, GABRIEL STONE AND THE DIVINITY OF VALTA is scheduled for a January 2013 release.






You can find Shannon at the following places:

For more information about the book - please visit any (or all!) of the following:


Spectral web site:http://spectralwitch.blogspot.com/
  
Spectral 
Twitter hashtag:
#Spectral

Spectral GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13319632-spectral
 





Spectral
Publishing/Publication Date: April 2012
ISBN: 9780983741879
242 pages

Friday, May 4, 2012

Night Sky by Jolene Perry (Book Review)

Title: Night Sky
Author: Jolene Perry
Publisher: Tribute Books


About the book: Girl I’ve loved, girl I’m falling for. Now that they’re both in view, the problem is clear.

After losing Sarah, the friend he’s loved, to some other guy, Jameson meets Sky. Her Native American roots, fluid movements, and need for brutal honesty become addictive fast. This is good. Jameson needs distraction – his dad leaves for another woman, his mom’s walking around like a zombie, and Sarah’s new boyfriend can’t keep his hands off of her.

As he spends time with Sky and learns about her village, her totems, and her friends with drums - she's way more than distraction. Jameson's falling for her fast.

But Sky’s need for honesty somehow doesn’t extend to her life story – and Jameson just may need more than his new girl to keep him distracted from the disaster of his senior year.

About the author: Jolene grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in political science and French, which she used to teach math to middle schoolers.

After living in Washington, Utah and Las Vegas, she now resides in Alaska with her husband, and two children. Aside from writing, Jolene sews, plays the guitar, sings when forced, and spends as much time outside as possible.

She is also the author of The Next Door Boys and the upcoming Knee Deep.

You can connect with Jolene on Facebook, Twitter, her website, her blog, and on Goodreads.






My thoughts:  This was a very gentle coming-of-age story for Jameson, or Jay, as most of his friends called him.  Now I don't mean gentle in the way that means there was no conflict.  I don't think you can really have a  coming-of-age story without conflict, and some of the things that Jay deals with are some pretty weighty issues.  I mean gentle in that it flowed smoothly from the beginning of the story.  I became invested in the characters pretty quickly, and liked the interaction between Jay and Sky.

What really made Night Sky interesting for me though, was that it was a romance, from a guy's perspective. Jameson was actually able to be sensitive and have real feelings without being too sappy. I liked the way that he stepped up for his mom when she was hurting, and recognized that she might need some extra help with his dad gone. He also tried to be loyal to his friend Sarah, even when she and her new boyfriend Eric were practically in his face a lot. 

And then there was Sky.  She is a neighbor's granddaughter from Alaska, whom Jay meets quite by chance.  She is a freshman at the local college, but hits it off almost immediately with Jameson.  The only things she asks of him is for complete honesty.  The problem with complete honesty is that it means you have to be completely honest with yourself as well.  

I enjoyed this book.  It wasn't a heavy read even though it dealt with some heavy subjects. I think the focus though was on how we get through the bad stuff and come out on the other end, which gave it a very positive spin. 


~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my unbiased review.~



Publisher/Publication Date: Tribute Books, March 2012
ISBN: 9780983741862
ISBN: 9781466052338
247 pages

Buy Night Sky for:


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Until Next Time by Amy Lignor (Book Review)

Title: Until Next Time (Angel Chronicles #1)
Author: Amy Lignor
Publisher: Tribute Books


About the Book: How does a girl choose between the one who steals her heart and the one who owns her soul? 

Matt and Emily were created for a specific job. Raised and trained as the ultimate angel/warrior team, they are sent down to save, defend, judge and forgive, depending on the 'life' they've been assigned. What they don't realize is that the power of human emotions, such as love, anger, passion and fear can take over even the best of souls, causing them to make mistakes and follow paths that lead to confusion and heartache. 

When the reason for their training is finally revealed, the angel/warrior team find themselves thrust into a world they know nothing about. Matt takes over the life of Daniel, a young man with a great deal of baggage. Emily becomes Liz, a girl living in a remote village who relies on nothing more than her own strength to survive. A violent storm erupts one night, and framed in the window of Liz's establishment is a frightening face. Let in by the soul of a Good Samaritan, the two visitors bring with them a past full of secrets that could literally change an angel's path and a warrior's plans. 

From murder to redemption, this angel/warrior team must find a way to keep the faith they have in each other in a world that's ripping them apart. 


My thoughts:  When I first started this book, I didn't think that I was going to like it.  It starts with Emily and Matt in the author's view of Heaven engaging in a battle that was meant as both punishment and training.  The whole Heaven scenario in the beginning just felt contrived and unrealistic.  

But then we start to get a little more information as Emily starts to reread her and Matt's first story about their first journey down to earth.  She becomes Liz and Matt becomes Daniel.  They are 2 people living in 19th century Ireland and this is where I started to lose myself in the story. 

I really liked Liz's character as well as that of her friend Faith.  They were two strong, independent women who were not afraid to speak their minds.  I am surprised that they hadn't gotten into more trouble than they had because of this quality.  I think the fact that they lived in a small remote village, where the villagers had "adopted" them as their own daughters, that kept them safe. 

While on Earth, Emily and Matt are not aware of their angelic lives.  They know that there are things about them that are different, but do not know why.  Emily goes back to her trainers in Heaven when she falls asleep, or sometimes passes out because she needs to speak with them.  In Heaven, she is aware of the life she is leading on Earth as Liz, and brings back with her the conflict of emotions that Liz carries.   She does not remember these visits when she awakens though sometimes she has memories that she believes are just dreams.

The book is told from Emily's viewpoint and we only know what is going on with Matt/Daniel as it relates to Emily/Liz.  I believe there could be another whole book from his viewpoint.  

This is the first book in the series and I can see how there could be many books taking you through out history and all over the world.  At some point in the book it stated that for the most part, the souls that you are surrounded by are usually the same ones through out time -- or something to that effect.  I would be interested to see how they all meet up again in other times.

~I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my unbiased review.



About the author: Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.

Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller, Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13.

She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer.

Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico. 

You can connect with Amy at the following sites:

Publisher/Publication Date: Tribute Books, Jan 24, 2012
ASIN:  B0071LLL2M
221 pages

To purchase:



Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Shore Excursion by Marie Moore (Book Review)

Shore Excursion 
(Sidney Marsh Mystery #1)
Marie Moore
Camel Press

Travel agents are a vanishing breed, but Sidney Marsh, a New York transplant from Mississippi, is holding her ground--at least on land. She is the tour leader on a cruise through Scandinavia for a group of eccentric senior citizens who call themselves the High Steppers. Sidney expects her days to be filled with long meals, shopping expeditions and visits to museums, churches and fjords. But this cruise is anything but routine. There is a killer on board, targeting the High Steppers and quite possibly herself.

After the first suspicious death, the captain and his crew are grimly determined to carry on as usual. Disgusted with their inaction, Sidney decides to take matters into her own hands and launch her own investigation. She enlists the halfhearted help of her friend and business partner, the flamboyant and fun-loving Jay Wilson. Suspects abound. What about those two handsome young men who stay mysteriously aloof? One of them has his eye on Sidney. So does another passenger, far too charming and again too young to fit the "High Stepper" mold. Then there's Captain Vargos, the arrogant ladies' man whose plans to thwart Sidney's investigation might include seduction.

Who is that crew member shadowing Sidney? Is the theater really haunted? Even the High Steppers themselves are not as predictable or harmless as they seem. The closer Sydney gets to the truth, the less she understands. Shore Excursion is the first book in a new mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Sidney Marsh.


Marie Moore Bio:
Shore Excursion is Marie Moore’s first novel, but not her first writing experience, and like Sidney Marsh, she is a native Mississippian. She graduated from Ole Miss, married a lawyer in her hometown, taught junior high science, raised a family, and worked for a small weekly newspaper, first as a writer and later as Managing Editor. She wrote hard news, features and a weekly column, sold ads, did interviews, took photos, and won a couple of MS Press Association awards for some of her stories.

In 1985, Marie left the newspaper to open a retail travel agency. She completed agency and computer training with Airlines Reporting Corporation, Delta Airlines and TWA, earned her CTC (Certified Travel Counselor) designation, and joined the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). For the next 15 years, she managed her agency, sold travel, escorted group tours, sailed on 19 cruises, and visited over 60 countries. Much of the background of Shore Excursion comes from that experience.

Marie also did location scouting and worked as the local contact for several feature films, including Heart of Dixie, The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag, and Robert Altman’s Cookie’s Fortune.

In mid-1999, because of her husband's work, Marie sold the travel agency and moved to Jackson, MS, then New York City, Anna Maria Island, FL, and Arlington, VA. She and her husband now live in Memphis, TN and Holly Springs, MS.

Marie is a member of Sisters in Crime. 

You can find her at her website: http://www.mariemooremysteries.com/

~I received a complimentary ebook from Tribute Books in exchange for my review.~

My thoughts: This was a fun cozy mystery to read and you got to learn a little about a lot of foreign places on the way.  You know how when you first start to read a book you begin to picture the characters in your head?  For some reason, I was never able to do this with Sydney.  She didn't seem to be hung up on her looks at all, but seemed to get her share of attention from the opposite sex and evidently cleaned up nicely.  I just could never get a picture of her in my head!  

At first there were a lot of characters because of all the High Steppers, but I quickly sorted out who was who.  They seemed like they would be an interesting lot to travel with, with all of their quirkiness.      

I thought that I had it all figured out and that it was taking Sydney, with Jay's on again, off again help, an awfully long time to catch up to what was going on.  But, as usual, I was wrong.  I liked Sydney and the fact that she didn't really take herself too seriously.  She enjoys her work as a travel agent and gets along well with the High Steppers, even though the majority of them are much older than herself. She trusts her instincts when it comes to men, and this usually lands her in hot water as her instincts are pretty fallible.  I think this makes her a little less confident in her professional life than she should be.  What she should do is trust her business instincts and question her personal ones!  

All in all it was an enjoyable read and I would definitely read another Sydney Marsh mystery!

Publisher/Publication Date: Camel Press, April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60381-874-2
230 pages


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Priest and the Peaches (Book Review)


by Larry Peterson
Blog Tour Jan 2 - Mar 31

Historical fiction novel set in the Bronx in the mid-1960s

Take a seven day journey with the five, newly orphaned Peach kids, as they begin their struggle to remain a family while planning their dad's funeral.

They find an ally in the local parish priest, Father Tim Sullivan, who tries his best to guide them through the strange, unchartered and turbulent waters of "grown-up world." A story that is sad, funny, and inspiring as it shows how the power of family love and faith can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.



Larry Peterson's Bio: Larry Peterson was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. A former Metal Lather/Reinforcing Iron-worker, he left that business after coming down with MS. He, his wife and three kids moved to Florida 30 years ago. Larry began doing freelance newspaper commentary after graduating from Tampa College in 1984.

His first children's picture book, Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes was published in 2011. In 2012, his full length novel, The Priest and the Peaches was released and he is presently working on the sequel.

He also has a blog (http://www.ThePriestandthePeaches.com) where he posts weekly commentary. He lives in Pinellas Park, Florida and his kids and six grandchildren all live within three miles of each other. 

You can also find the author on Facebook and Twitter.
Something really weird - It has been a year and 1 day since I reviewed Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes.  What a coincidence!


My thoughts:  I am only halfway through this book, but wanted to get my post up today for the blog tour.  I am loving this book.  These five kids are dealing with a tragedy with the loss of their father within years after losing their mother to leukemia and their grandmother to a stroke. 

Teddy is the oldest and is just barely out of high school. Together with Joanie, his 17 year old sister, they are trying to help their three younger brothers, Dancer, Beeker and Joey deal with their father's death.  While they saw their absentee father as an alcoholic, they are finding out that in the neighborhood he was much loved.  He had a saying that he used as a greeting, L-Y-N, Love Your Neighbor, and they are finding out that he was known for doing exactly that.

I can't wait to finish up this book and will post a recap when it is done.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Tribute Books can be found online at their website, Facebook and Twitter
The Priest and the Peaches
Publisher/Publication Date:  Tribute Books, Jan 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9837418-4-8
285 Pages

Buy it now for your Kindle or Nook!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

A Place to Die by Dorothy James (Book Review and Blog Tour)


Title: A Place to Die
Author: Dorothy James
Publisher: Author Solutions

About the book: Eleanor and Franz Fabian arrive from New York to spend Christmas with Franzs mother in her sedate retirement home in the Vienna Woods. Their expectations are low: at best, boredom, at worst, run-of-the-mill family friction. But when the wealthy, charming Herr Graf is found dead in his apartment with an ugly head wound, the Fabians are thrust into a homicide investigation.

Some residents and staff have surprising connections to the dead man, but who would have wanted to kill him? Inspector Buchner tracks down the murderer against a backdrop of Viennese history from the Nazi years to the present day. Witty, suspenseful, lyrical, this is a literary whodunit that will keep you guessing till the last page.



My thoughts: This was just not a good week for me to read this book.  I had numerous interuptions to my normal schedule so did not get a lot of good reading "chunks" of time.  Because of that, this book started out confusing to me with the cast of characters.  It was set at the Haus im Wald in Austria, basically on old folks home - or, as the title implies, A Place to Die.  In addition to the inhabitants of the home, there was also some visitors and the staff that all were pulled into the investigation. 

Once I was able to start to sort out the characters, the story started to move along for me.  I really liked Eleanor Fabian. She had really only come a long with her husband out of a sense of duty that she felt toward her own parents.  There was no love left between her and her husband and neither one of them could probably tell you why they were still together.  She develops a little crush on the Inspector and insinuates herself into helping with the investigation. 

There is also more than one mystery going on, and lots of buried relationships and secrets.  It was more like a Peyton Place than a retirement home! Regardless of age, passions and jealousies can still run strong.  I would read another Inspector Buchner mystery, but would prefer less personal distractions until I get immersed in the story! 

About the author:  Dorothy James was born in Wales and grew up in the South Wales Valleys. Writer, editor, and translator, she has published short stories as well as books and articles on German and Austrian literature. She has taught at universities in the U.S., England, and Germany, makes her home now in Brooklyn and often spends time in Vienna and Berlin.

She wrote A Place to Die in her attic apartment on the edge of the Vienna Woods. She has travelled far from Wales, but has not lost the Welsh love of playing with language; she writes poems for pleasure as does Chief Inspector Büchner, the whimsical Viennese detective who unravels the first mystery in this new series of novels.



~I was provided a complimentary e-copy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my honest review.~



There are all sorts of places where you can find out more about A Place to Die and Dorothy James.

Dorothy James' web site:
http://www.viennamysteries.com/

Dorothy James' blog:
http://www.myplaceformystery.com/

A Place to Die Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vienna-Mysteries/114871195254205?sk=wall

Dorothy James' Twitter:
http://twitter.com/valleyvoice

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

A Place to Die blog tour site:
http://aplacetodieblogtour.blogspot.com/

Publisher/Publication Date: Author Solutions, April 2010
ISBN: 9781450082709
436 pages


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