Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond (Book Review)

Title: Forgive Me, Alex
Author: Lane Diamond
Publisher: Evolved Publishing

About the Book: Tony Hooper stands in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster’s release. Seventeen years after Mitchell Norton, “the devil,” terrorized Algonquin, Illinois on a spree of kidnapping, torture and murder, the authorities release the butcher from psychiatric prison.

Tony longs to charge across the street to destroy Norton—no remorse—as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents his doing so.

“The devil” walks the world again. What shall Tony do about it? Aye, what indeed.

After all, this is what he does. It’s who he is. “The devil” himself long ago made Tony into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that he may still, finally, administer justice.

Will FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe stop him? She owes him her life, so how can she possibly put an end to his?

Tony Hooper and Mitchell Norton battle for supremacy, with law enforcement always a step away, in this story of justice and vengeance, evil and redemption, fear and courage, love and loss.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE GIVEAWAY ON GOODREADS UNTIL AUG 31

My thoughts:  This book kept me riveted!  It is told through the eyes of both Tony Hooper and MItchell Norton.  It starts in 1995 as Mitchell is being released from prison and goes back and forth from that time frame to 1978, when all the tragedy occurs.  

I loved the way that the author draws you in to the story right away, and then slowly dishes you out the details.  You know the outcome, because Mitchell was in prison for 17 years - but you don't know everything that happens in 1978 and those are the details that you are spoon-fed through out the rest of the book.  

At the same time you struggle along with Tony as he wades through his memories as well as what he has become because of Mitchell.  Along with Linda, the FBI agent who cut her teeth on the Norton case, and has crossed paths with Tony over the years, you hope that he is able to overcome the wall he has put up to keep people from getting too close.  

I thought this was a great thriller and am looking forward to reading more by this author.  Please enjoy the excerpt below from Forgive Me, Alex

~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from Novel Publicity in exchange for my review.~

About the author:   I write fiction, long and short. My writings cross over many genres and focus on diverse subjects, ranging from the mysteries of the human mind, with its fragile psychological and emotional states, to the everyday joy and anguish of life on Earth. Ultimately, characters move me – as both a reader and an author. It’s all about the people. When not writing, I’m Publisher and Executive Editor at Evolved Publishing. Connect with me on my website, Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, or via Evolved Publishing.

Forgive Me, Alex: An Excerpt
Mitchell Norton, the man I've long considered the devil, smiles atop the courthouse steps and waves to the simmering crowd. He tilts his head back to soak in the sunshine and cool breeze of the late spring day, the tranquility of which stands in stark contrast to the circumstances of this event.
The mere sight of him pushes me to the dark edge of my mind, where sanity hangs like... like... like a balloon in a tornado!
I stand in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. As my face blazes, fists clench and teeth grind, I can easily imagine the onset of a stroke, an aneurism, a pulmonary embolism, a raging scream—
Control yourself, Tony!
I long to charge across the street to destroy him—no remorse—as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents my doing so.
For seventeen years, I assumed this day would never come. How could they even consider releasing this vile creature, this very personification of evil?
In 1978, Norton murdered innocent kids who'd barely tasted of life. He tortured two of them beyond the limits of rational imagination, for to imagine such deeds was to summon a devilry that we dared not face. Yet the jury held him not responsible, a victim himself to the ravages of an illness that drove him to insanity beyond our reckoning.
He thus resides forever in the darkest pit of my psyche, chained to me in perpetuity. Now only two choices remain: I must cast off those chains, or yank them tight around his neck. Yes, I must obtain satisfaction. The idiotic jury seventeen years ago, and today's flawed court system, has left little recourse. No one else seems willing to deliver him to justice.
I am willing. After all, this is what I do. It's who I am. Indeed, the devil himself made me into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that I may still, finally, administer justice.
He descends the stairs toward his waiting car with an arrogant swagger, watching the small group of protestors, the news reporters, and the police officers here to ensure a peaceful transition, as if to challenge them. His wicked grin never waivers.
Oh, that grin. For seventeen years it has taunted me, punished me for my indecision, my incompetence. I missed my chance to kill him in 1978, to remove his damned head—simple, as if cutting a sheet of paper. It would have been a fitting end for a monster.
Why did I let him live?
Like whispers in a storm, those memories only tease at me now, here at this obscene and maddening event. I'm trying not to relive every moment of 1978. Every time I do, I feel as if swimming in quicksand, anchored by my constant companions—sorrow and guilt. I'm too damned tired; can't shake the confusion, the dread. I fear surrendering to fear.
My life teems with just such wretched ironies.
As Norton vanishes inside a black sedan—looks like standard-issue law enforcement—I dash through the crowds to my van. Despite this call to action, my mind again zeroes-in on memories of 1978. I recall the court proceedings, particularly the devil's own twisted testimony, as though it were yesterday. I've only relived it ten thousand times.
Then twenty-six, Norton was a man-child who'd never quite grasped the nuance of adulthood. He continued to wash dishes at a restaurant, ten years into the only job he'd ever held. He found it comfortable and unchallenging—perfect. He harbored no great yearnings, nor imagined exciting possibilities, nor sought lucrative rewards.
Then everything changed. He said that was when his new life emerged, when he became more aware, even more intelligent. He better understood the world around him. He discovered what he called "The Purpose" in the spring of 1978, and it guided his every deed. He claimed he became a man that year.
I remember it quite clearly as the year he became the devil.
The words I wrote in my diary at the time return to me, a personal anthem more relevant than ever: Rage flows like lava through my veins. My soul slowly roasts upon the flames. How did I ever let it come to this?
Now mortality, as it did seventeen years ago, lingers above me like the hangman's noose. Yet it looms more ominous than ever, as if it will drop down around my neck at any moment. After all, I know the true Mitchell Norton. And whom shall I fear if not the devil, the grim torturer who conquered my aspirations and left me without a recognizable world of my own?
Or is it me that I fear? The man I've become? The man Norton made me?
Some fancy maneuvering is required to escape the crowds and the police at the courthouse. I manage to keep Norton in sight, zigzagging between lanes and keeping several vehicles between us, hanging back far enough to avoid detection without losing him. Uncertain emotions bubble up, some indecipherable combination of dread and anticipation, fear and excitement, vengeance and sorrow. I must know where he'll make his home, information that has been difficult to obtain, as the authorities are concerned with Norton's security.
Give me a break! They should express their security concerns not for the devil himself, but for his next victims.
Oh yes, I know Norton too well. He will torture, murder and dismember again. The temptation will be too great to resist.
I saw him up close in 1978, looked into the soul of the devil, as we waded through the blood and gore he'd spilled. I couldn't fathom his unrepentant pleasure, the sick thrill, his gleeful anticipation.
Now he's out of prison, again free to call up his demons, to torture the innocent, to waltz to what he once called his "symphony of screams."
The devil walks the world again.
What shall I do about it? Aye, what indeed.
Publisher/Publication Date: Evolved Publishing, March 2012 (1st published Nov 2011)
ISBN: 9781622539000
242 pages

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Foreign Identity by Becca Camptell (Book Review)

Title: Foreign Identity
Author: Becca J. Campbell
Publisher: Consortium Books


About the Book: Two nameless strangers, a man and a woman, find themselves imprisoned together. With no memories of their own identities, let alone their captor and tormentor, escape is the only option. The pair faces a bizarre labyrinth of rooms and clues that confuse more than they explain. Every discovery only brings more questions.

Who captured them? Why were they taken? What does their captor want from them? What can the riddles mean?

Who are they?

Lacking allies and options, the duo must learn to trust one another. Mazes, puzzles, and even strange, lurking creatures force them to rely on their wits--and each other--for survival. But survival isn’t enough. They need answers.

Will the answers be enough? Will the truth bring them closer together, or drive them forever apart? Will discovering their identities finally bring them home?


My thoughts: This book was definitely different from anything that I have previously read.   You have to read the entire book to figure out what is going on, why, and who is behind it - so I can't really tell you much about the book without giving away some of the secrets.  It was a very quick moving book though. 

Jax and Kel (what they think their names are) are the only two characters through out much of the book.  To me, their dialogue seemed forced and I didn't feel the connection between the two of them.  I understand that they couldn't be "fleshed out" better, as they have both lost their memory.  The ending wrapped up this story but at the same time left the option for another book.  

If you are into Science Fiction, then this one would probably be something you would enjoy - it was just a little too far out there for me though. It has some great reviews Goodreads so please check those out as well - I just think it wasn't my cup of tea. 

~I received a complimentary ebook from the author in exchange for my review.~   



Foreign Identity
Publisher/Publication Date: Consortium Books, May 2012
ISBN: 9781475217
244 pages

Sunday, July 15, 2012

It's Monday! What are you reading? (July 16, 2012)



What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too! 


Currently reading this week: 

Upcoming books:
Beach Season by Lisa Jackson
Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond
Knee Deep by Jolene Perry







Bathroom Book:


Books reviewed last week: 
Listening to Africa by Diana Raab




Books read and needing to be reviewed:
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline
Foreign Identity by Becca Campbell
Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce




Until next week ----  Ready - Set - Read!


Mailbox Monday (July 16, 2012)







Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in July by Mrs Q Book Addict.



A Girl Like You
by Maria Geraci

Every ugly duckling is a swan in waiting.

Emma Frazier is smart and hardworking, and loves her job as a journalist for a Florida lifestyle magazine.  Emma knows she's no great beauty, but she's pretty certain she has a shot with her handsome new boss, Ben Gallagher -- untiil Emma overhears a mutual acquaintance refer to her as the "ugly friend."  In an effort to reclaim her battered self-esteem, Emma decides to impress Ben at work by promising an exclusive interview with NASCAR legend Trip Monroe.

Emma and Trip went to high school together and although it's been fourteen years since they've spoken, Emma is sure she can score an interview with the elusive superstar.  But connecting with Trip turns out to be harder than Emma imagined.  Her quest for the interview leads her back to her tiny hometown of Catfish Cove, where old secrets and a new romantic interest shoake up Emma's views on life and teach her that maybe the key to finding true love is as simple as accepting yourself for the person you were always meant to be.







Saving June
by Hannah Harrington


Everyone's sorry.
But no one can explain why.


Harper Scott's older sister, June, took her own life a week before high school graduation, leaving Harper devastated.  So when her divorcing parents decide to split up June's ashes, Harper steals the urn and takes off cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going - California.


Enter Jake Tolan, a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession. . . and an unknown connection to June.  When he insists on joining them, Harper's just desperate enough to let him.  With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanor and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what Harper needs.  Except. . . Jake's keeping a secret that has the power to turn her life upside down -- again. 




Rainbow Colors
by Karen Szybalski


Everyday is a treasure hunt, when you're looking for rainbow colors.  This is a joyful, playful, romp which celebrates bright colors and bright ideas!


This illustrated poem and song can be enjoyed again and again!


Wonderful for children 4-7 years of age. 




What books came home to you this week?

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

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Release Day Promo: One Major Mistake by Starr Reina



 One Major Mistake
 Starr Reina
Publication Date: 7/10/12

Despite having brought down two major crime families, Pavel's life is still filled with problems. The two bright things in his world: Teresa Mancini, his fiancee, who, on a good day, has the ability to bring him to his knees and his daughter Rita Grace, a result of a whirlwind affair before he fell in love with Teresa.

Once again, murder is the prime evil propelling Pavel into his latest case.  After the murder of his partner and friend Nick Haxton's ex-wife Brenda, Pavel leads a team to dethrone Guillermo Diaz, the leader of a drug gang believed to be responsible for Brenda's death.  Detective Danni Stone joins the local agency.  Stone knows Diaz on the most intimate of levels, and wants to be present at his demise. 

During the investigations, not only does the team grieve with Nick over Brenda's death, they also deal with the loss of their long-time Assistant Director in Charge Steven Lazlo, who was gunned down in their own backyard.  Pavel has a particularly hard time dealing with Lazlo's death and is determined to hold everyone involved responsible.

As if Pavel can take anymore, Teresa receives a substantially large check from an anonymous benefactor, and insists that Pavel deal with it while she decides how to spend it.  But not before she uses her iron-willed determination to find out who the benefactor is even if it means breaking into her attorney's office looking for answers.  Being thrown in jail would stop any ordinary woman, but apparently not Teresa.

Join Pavel as he wades through harrowing situations, suspects aplenty and suspense in this third thrilling installment of the Ivanovich Series. 


Author Bio



A paralegal by day, she’s an author by night. Apart from being an award winning author for her short story "Cut", Reina has appeared in a blaze and made her mark on the literary world with her Ivanovich Series. The first is “In the Name of Revenge”, the second, “Deadly Decisions” and the third, "One Major Mistake" is to be released July 10, 2012. Having studied and obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Literature/Creative Writing, she has found her unique style and is known for her works' distinctive voice, making every character stand out.

 Reina is the artistic creator of the Ivanovich series featuring Pavel Ivanovich. Flanking Ivanovich's side in "Deadly Decisions" is Teresa Mancini, who vies with Ivanovich for readers' attention. According to J.M. LeDuc, who was "raised in an Italian family", Teresa "is perfect...like all your characters". Reina is also the author of young adult novella "Cruel Whispers" and its sequel novel "Cruel Past".

 Reina is an executive editor for Suspense Magazine. She has been interviewed in the newspaper and on the radio with relation to her fiction work. She has been a co-host on Suspense Radio.

 She has won three Best Speaker awards as well as Best Evaluator at the Voice Ambassadors chapter of Toastmasters. Reina is a member of Sisters in Crime, Los Angeles Chapter and nationally. She has always been active in events. As co-chair and main coordinator for the West Coast Author Premiere, she arranged the weekend-long event to help authors from all over network, learn and share their work with the public. Reina has also been instrumental in compiling authors and planning a local author event at Barnes and Noble in Ventura, California along with the store’s event manager.



You can connect with Starr on her website, Queen Writer; her blog - Queen Writer News, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Suspense Magazine.



Reading Addiction Blog Tours

Monday, July 9, 2012

It's Monday! What are you reading? July 9, 2012



What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too! 


Currently reading this week: 
Upcoming books:
Beach Season by Lisa Jackson
Foreign Identity by Becca Campbell
Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond







Bathroom Book:


Books reviewed last week: 




Books read and needing to be reviewed:
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline




Until next week ----  Ready - Set - Read!


Game of Secrets by Dawn Tripp (Book Review)

Title: Game of Secrets
Author: Dawn Tripp
Publisher: Random House


About the Book: Jane Weld was eleven years old when her father, Luce, disappeared in 1957.  His skiff was found drifting near a marsh, empty except for his hunting coat and a box of shotgun shells.  No one in their small New England town knew for sure what happened until, three years later, Luce's skull rolled out of a gravel pit, a bullet hole in the temple.  Rumors sprang up that he had been murdered by the jealous husband of his mistress, Ada Varick.


Now, half a century later, Jane is still searching for the truth of her father's death, a mystery made more urgent by the unexpected romance that her willful daughter, Marne, has struck up with one of Ada's sons.  As the love affair intensifies, Jane and Ada meet for their weekly Friday game of Scrabble, a pastime that soon transforms into a cat-and-mouse game of words long left unspoken, and dark secrets best left untold. 


My thoughts: This was a very quick read and beautifully written.  I like the way all the stories intertwined with these families.  How Jane is now friends with the woman who was her father's mistress 50 years before - and her daughter and Ada's son are flirting with an attraction that is growing between them.  The three women - Ada, Jane and Marne - play the larger roles in this story and while the men they love (or who love them) figure in to the story, it is the women who you learn the most about.  While the story could not happen without them, these men seem sometime incidental. It gives the impression that life, love, family, history is all moved forward or sometimes stilted based on the women.


A lot of the story is learned as Ada and Jane play their weekly game of Scrabble. The words played or changed hint as to what lies in the past.  As to the murder of Luce, it had never been solved, though the women each had their beliefs as to what happened. It isn't the only mystery/secret that is discovered through the course of the book though.  One secret was obvious to me - the other was a secret until the end!

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Sparkpoint Studio, LLC in exchange for my review.~






About the author: DAWN TRIPP graduated from Harvard and lives in Massachusetts with her husband and sons. Her essays have appeared on NPR and online at Psychology Today. She is the author of two previous novels: Moon Tide and The Season of Open Water, which won the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction.


You can connect with Dawn at her website - Dawn Tripp or on Twitter.








Game of Secrets
Publisher/Publication Date: Random House, June 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7148-4
272 pages

Cover Reveal! Empty Net by Toni Aleo


Photobucket




Empty Net (Assassins Series #3)
by Toni Aleo
Publication Date: Sept 10, 2012

Definition of an Empty Net: When a team pulls the goalie for an extra attacker, desperately seeking a goal.

Audrey Parker was in a horrible place.
She hated her job, her sister was getting married and moving out, but worst of all, she was in love with a total jerk.  No matter what she did, every guy she met hurt her.  All she wanted was her happily ever after.  Her Prince Charming.  Her Lucas Brooks!  She didn't know how to change her life but she knew she needed to. 
Feeling like she was about to hit rock bottom, Audrey wakes up next to Tate Odder. 

Tate Odder had lost everything.
After being brought up from the Assassins farm team, the Florida Rays to the Nashville Assassins, Tate hopes he'll forget everything he has lost.  He doesn't.  Each day gets harder to live in a place he doesn't know.  Even being the first rookie goalie to shut out an opposing team three times during the Lord Stanly Cup Finals, he still felt empty.  With the loss of his parents and sister still heavy on his heart, Tate isn't sure how to live like everything is okay.

But when he wakes up beside Audrey Parker, things start to change.  She turns his life upside down with her kooky sense of humor and her bright clothing.  She is intelligent and beautiful, and for once, he doesn't feel empty.  
Will Audrey be the person to fill the holes in Tate's heart, making him whole again?
Or will another player ruin everything, leaving him feeling forever like an empty net?

Get the first two books in the series!
Trying to Score - Amazon, Barnes and Noble
Taking Shots - Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Empty Net Book Trailer
  



And now for an excerpt from Empty Net:

“I have to tell you,” she said with a shy grin, “It’s usually not this easy.” 
He looked down at her questionably, “Easy how?” 
“This easy to pick me up. I usually make guys work for it.”
He grinned and her smiled grew more, “So you want me too?”
She eyed him, her face bright with excitement. He may have been a little too forward but he was a blunt person, and hardly ever hid his feelings from anyone.
She moved closer, her eyes bright with lust as she said, “I do and I don’t even know you’re name.”
“Do you want to know it?” he asked with a cocky grin.
She moved in close, her wide brown eyes locked with his, “All I want to know is when you can leave? I have a room not even a mile from here.” “I have to tell you,” she said with a shy grin, “It’s usually not this easy.” 
He looked down at her questionably, “Easy how?” 
“This easy to pick me up. I usually make guys work for it.”
He grinned and her smiled grew more, “So you want me too?”
She eyed him, her face bright with excitement. He may have been a little too forward but he was a blunt person, and hardly ever hid his feelings from anyone.
She moved closer, her eyes bright with lust as she said, “I do and I don’t even know you’re name.”
“Do you want to know it?” he asked with a cocky grin.
She moved in close, her wide brown eyes locked with his, “All I want to know is when you can leave? I have a room not even a mile from here.” 


Author Bio
I am a wife, mother, and hopeless romantic.
I have been told I have anger issues, but I think it’s cause of my intense love for hockey!
I am the biggest Shea Weber fan ever, and can be found during hockey season with my nose pressed against the Bridgestone Arena’s glass, watching my Nashville Predators play!
When my nose isn’t pressed against the glass, I enjoy going to my husband and son’s hockey games, my daughters dance competition, hanging with my best friends, taking pictures, and reading the latest romance novel.
I love things that sparkle, I love the color pink, and did I mention I love hockey?


You can find Tony Aleo on her website, Facebook, and on Twitter.





Mailbox Monday - July 9, 2012







Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in July by Mrs Q Book Addict.


The Zombie Generation
by Drake Vaughn

Warner is the sole survivor of a deathscape dominated by hordes of the undead.  Years of isolation and lack of any human contact has driven him to the brink of insanity.  Plagued with vivid hallucinations and shocking nightmares, he scours the deadlands for any signs of life.

While discovering a temporary cure for his creeping mental illness, Warner is attacked and infected with the deadly disease.  Switching between man and beast, he must decide on risking a desperate cure or attempting a suicidal quest to rescue a group of stranded survivors.  Worse, these survivors may only be a figment of his crumbling sanity.

The Zombie Generation is a terrifying tale, perfect for fans of horror and the flesh guzzling undead.




Schooled
by Tali Nay


"Do you have to have sex to have a baby?"


It's a question that ten-year-old Tali Nay asked the office assistant at her elementary school after the woman had done her best to explain how it all happened to a roomful of confused girls.  Or maybe Tali was the only one who was confused.  It's entirely possible, for if there's anything she knew at this point in her schooling, it was that she -- without fail -- was the last to know about anything interesting. Take her first day of kindergarten, where it turned out that every other kid already knew which letters were the vowels.  Her first lesson as a student was consequently one of humiliation, and her second -- only slightly less important -- was that puking in a classroom tends to start a chain reaction.  A refreshingly honest deep-dive into what we actually take away from a public education, this hilarious and heartfelt memoir captures the things we learn in school that are never part of any lesson plan yet somehow have the biggest impact upon the shaping of our perceptions over the years we spend in a classroom.  Things like competition, failure, scandal, popularity, disillusionment, triumph, guilt, and, of course, throwing up in public.  From the glorious to the gloriously awkward, this everyman tale is a story of growing up, one semester at a time. 




The Raven Boys
by Maggie Stiefvater

"There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve.  Either you're his true love. . . or you killed him."

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past.  Blue never sees them -- until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, and he's a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school.  Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys.  Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain.  He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys:  Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die.  She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem.  But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.



India's Summer
by therese


India Butler, single and about to turn forty, travels to LA in an attempt to reinvent her life in a world rarely illuminated by the flashbulbs of the paparazzi, she discovers the true meaning of "having it all."




Nightwoods
by Charles Frazier


Charles Frazier, the acclaimed author of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons, returns with a dazzling novel set in small-town North Carolina in the early 1960s. With his brilliant portrait of Luce, a young woman who inherits her murdered sister's troubled twins, Frazier has created his most memorable heroine.  Before the children, Luce was content with the reimbursements of the rich Appalachian landscape, choosing to live apart from the small coummunity around her.  But the coming of the children changes everything, cracking open her solitary life in difficult, hopeful, dangerous ways.  In a lean, tight narrative, Nightwoods resonates with the timelessness of a great work of art. 




Louder than Words
by Chelsey Shannon, Emily Smucker, Marni Bates
edited by Deborah Reber


Real Girls. Real Words. Real Life.


What do you get when you give talented teen girl writers a chance to share their life stories with the world?  The first-ever series of teen-authored memoirs:  Louder Than Words.  Each Louder Than Words book features a young author sharing her powerful story through unique prose, journal entries, and poetry.  Louder Than Words: The First Collection features three unique books written by three incredible teen authors in one riveting compilation.


In Marni: My True Story of Stress, Hair-Pulling, and Other Obsessions, Marni Bates brings us insider her secret world of "pulling" and the challenges of surviving high school while trying to hid an obscure stress disorder.


Then in Emily: My True Story of Chronic Illness and Mission Out on Life, Emily Smucker takes us through the senior year that wasn't when chronic illness forced her to miss out on one of the most important times of her life.


And finally in Chelsey: My True Story of Murder, Loss, and Starting Over, Chelsey Shannon uses writing as a way to recover from experiencing the unthinkable when her father was murdered the week before her fourteenth birthday. 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf (Book Review)

Title: One Breath Away
Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Publisher: MIRA/Harlequin


About the Book: In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom.  Outside the school, the town of Broken Branch watches and waits.


Officer Meg Barrett holds the responsibility for the town's children in her hands.  Will Thwaite, reluctantly entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren by the daughter who left home years earlier, stands by helplessly and wonders if he has failed his child again.  Trapped in her classroom, Evelyn Oliver watches for an opportunity to rescue the children in her care.  And thirteen-year-old Augie Baker, already struggling with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has brought her to Broken Branch, will risk her own safety to protect her little brother.


As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.


My thoughts: I liked the premise of this story and the way that it was told from five different points of view.  The narrators all came from different walks of life and are at different stages of life.  


Meg is a police officer with a child who attends Broken Branch school in Iowa.  On this day, however, her child is with her father for an early start to spring break. Even so, she feels close ties to the children still left inside.  


Will has two grandchildren at the school - grandchildren he just met for the first time weeks earlier.  He had an instant connection to P.J., and they have become very close.  However, P.J.'s sister Augie is a hard nut to crack.  She is much like her mother and Will has a hard time relating to her, in much the same way as his relationship with her mother, his daughter Holly, suffered.  


Augie has not given her grandpa much to work with though.  She grew up hearing her mother complain about her life on the farm and was prejudiced against him before she ever met him.  She would do anything for P.J. though and refuses to leave the school without him.


Holly is in a hospital bed thousands of miles away in Arizona.  She is suffering from burns that cover her hands, arms and part of her head.  Her mother and father flew out and it was the first time she had spoken to them in fifteen years. Her mother has stayed to take care of her and her father has flown home with her children. 


Mrs. Oliver is the third grade teacher whose class the gunman has entered.  It is through her that we learn what we can about the gunman and his motives.  She does her best to keep her class from harm, one of which is P.J.


These five narrators begin to paint a picture of Broken Branch and it's people.  The secrets that we choose not to see, the ones that we do.  Those that we are quick to blame when something goes wrong. I liked the way that secrets were revealed and tension was built.  Unfortunately I had figured out who the gunman was early on, just didn't have a clue to what his motive was.  


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


DON"T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY GIVEAWAY FOR A COPY OF THIS BOOK THAT ENDS ON JULY 16.


One Breath Away
Publisher/Publication Date: MIRA, July 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7783-1365-6
384 pages

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Summer Reads Giveaway Hop!




The Summer Reads Giveaway Hop is hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Rex Robot Reviews.  I am giving away one book for $10 or under from Book Depository - winners choice - but must have one of the following words in the title - Beach, Hot, Swim - or something that means one of those words (i.e. - Sand, Heat, Sizzle, etc).  Giveaway is open to any where that Book Depository will ship!

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Monday, July 2, 2012

One Breath Away (Scavenger Blog Tour and Giveaway)



One Breath Away
by Heather Gudenkauf

In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom.  Outside the school, the town of Broken Branch watches and waits.

Officer Meg Barrett holds the responsibility for the town's children in her hands.  Will Thwaite, reluctantly entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren by the daughter who left home years earlier, stands by helplessly and wonders if he has failed his child again. Trapped in her classroom, Evelyn Oliver watches for an opportunity to rescue the children in her care.  And thirteen-year-old Augie Baker, already struggling with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has brought her to Broken Branch, will risk her own safety to protect her little brother.

As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.

In her most emotionally charged novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf explores the unspoken events that shape a community, the ties between parents and their children and how the fragile normalcy of our everyday life is so easily shattered. 


One Breath Away is touring with a Scavenger Blog Tour Hunt!  My excerpt is below, but I am number 7 on the tour so please visit this link to read all the excerpts! You can also join the author, Heather Gudenkauf for a live chat on July 26!  Click the picture for more details!




(Excerpt from One Breath Away)
Not sounding like my daughter at all. Augie is confident, smart, a take-charge, no one is ever going to walk all over me kind of girl.
“Augie? What’s the matter?” I try to blink the fuzziness of the morphine away; my tongue is dry and sticks to the roof of my mouth.


Interview with Heather Gudenkauf
What draws you to write suspenseful women’s fiction? I’ve enjoyed writing since I was a child – yes, I was one of those kids who did a fist pump whenever the teacher assigned a writing project -but as is typical with most writers, I was and am, first and foremost an avid reader. As a child my favorite place in the world was our public library and I spent as much time as possible with my nose in a book. I loved mysteries and plowed my way through all the Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew Mystery books. One of my favorite mystery series growing up was The Boxcar Children which I recently learned was originally published in 1924. I read all the books that were available when I was a child, and again as an adult I read them to my own children with enthusiasm. Who can resist a story about a tight knit set of orphaned siblings, an abandoned boxcar, a dog, and the mystery surrounding a long lost grandfather?

As I got older, I continued to enjoy mystery and suspense novels but my interests expanded to a variety of genres, including books that explored the intricacies of the human heart: Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, Elizabeth Berg’s Pull of the Moon, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and so many moreI’ve always admired the way writers could take me away to different places and times through the written word. I knew I wanted to try my hand at writing but didn’t sit down and seriously begin until after I was married and had my children.  But when I did, I remembered all the stories and books I’ve read through the years, remembered how deftly authors could arrange the words on a page to be suspenseful, heart wrenching, or heart-warming – to evoke all varieties of emotion. My hope is to do the same for my readers.


And last but not least - please enter to win a paperback copy of One Breath Away!  Giveaway is open to U.S./Canada only and will end on July 16, 2012 at midnight.


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