Monthly Archives: September 2012
TOUCHING ETERNITY SCAVENGER HUNT
Ready for a Scavenger Hunt? I am! I am hosting, along with other blogs, a chance to win kick ass prizes. This is a release party for Touching Eternity by Airicka Phoenix. You MUST read and follow the rules. If you have questions, please ask. Below is the rules and Airicka’s message to you all 🙂
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!
Welcome to The Hunt! This event will run for the entire length of October. The rules are simple. Airicka will post 3 blog links on her Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/airicka.phoenix ) every morning. Your job is to go through each one of the blogs and find the blog with the button (sample button provided below). Only one blog will have a button each day and it will be hidden in one of their 2012 posts. Each button has a letter that will, in the end, spell out a message. (You might want to save each letter to win a separate prize if you guess the message before the game is over). When you find the button, copy the link above and go to Airicka’s website (http://airickaphoenix.com/Author/?p=1967) and put the link into the raffle-copter. Easy right?
Don’t want to go searching through posts and blogs? Well, there is an app for that… no I’m kidding, but there is a free pass.
Follow each blog, leave your name and email address on their rule post in the comment box and the person who has the button will email you back with the link. Then, all you have to do is go to Airicka’s website (http://airickaphoenix.com/Author/?p=1967 ) and drop the link into the raffle-copter.
Now for the really important rules.
RULES
~ Everyone & anyone can participate.
~ The link MUST be put PRIVATELY into the raffle-copter on this page. Do Not publicly display anywhere else! if I find that people are sharing the buttons/letters/links, they will be disqualified from the games.
~ Do NOT share the link with anyone. Same as above.
~ Do NOT tell anyone which blog you found that day’s button on. I’m repeating myself? I know. This is the biggest deal breakers for me.
~ If you guess what the letters spell before the game is over, please do NOT share the answer. Privately message me (Airicka) and collect your prize!
~ Please DO tell others about The Hunt.
~ Please DO ask questions if you have any.
~ Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
SAMPLE LETTER
This is only a sample button.
The buttons you will be looking for look similar but will not have SAMPLE on them.
Nexus Blog Tour (CL Parker) Review/GIVEAWAY
Today we are hosting a blog tour review of Nexus by CL Parker: Review by Cassie Hoffman
Nexus is the final book in the Supernova Saga (it actually comes out TODAY) and I’m so glad I got the pleasure to read these books and I’m also quite sad that it is over. To know about Nexus, you should read the previous books first. Be aware that this book is the THIRD in a series and if you have not read the previous two books there will be some spoilers in this review.
Nexus is about the daughter of Kerrigan and Dominic Grayson, Victoria Milena Cruz-Grayson, better known as Tori. Tori are a 21 year old woman who is a carrier of a mixed bloodline. She carries the Guardian of light from the Cruz side and the Guardian Angel bloodline from her father’s side as well as blood of a demon incubus. The carrier of a mixed bloodline, she was the key. Foretold by her great-grandmother Availia Cruz, Tori’s destiny would be to carry out something monumental, something that might affect the future of mankind. She is the Guardian of Mankind. What does that mean? She has no clue, to what is in store for her. Will she stay light or will her dark peek its ugly head out?
The family along with uncle Colton and Aunt Gabe decided to go to London on summer vacation to stay with longtime friends Drew, Sinclair and Dante Dickens. Drew is also a Guardian of Light. Tori will soon find out the Dickens’s son is a Guardian of the Guardian which means he’s Tori’s Guardian. His job is to protect Tori no matter what so she can fulfill her destine, which is still unknown to what it entitles. While getting to know Dante, Tori and he feels a pull to each other, and their relationship starts to flourish. Could they be soul mates, are they destined to be together forever? While trying to figure out what is going on with the feelings she is having for Dante, she is keeping a huge secret from everyone she knows.
Tori has faced horrible nightmares all her life, but when she turned eighteen they got worse. Demons inhabit these dreams and wreak havoc and kill everyone in her dreams. Soon not only is she seeing these demons while she is sleeping, but also while she is awake. Is she going crazy, losing her mind? What is wrong with her? There is also another man in Tori’s life, which only she can see and has been seeing since she can remember. They have grown up together, but during all these years she still doesn’t know his name, he will not tell her. Who is this unnamed man and what is his motives? Soon Tori will have her questions answered about why he wants her so bad.
Tori is facing questions she has no answers to. What was right and what was wrong? Which way was she supposed to go? Which was the lesser evil and what would be best for all those involved? Will her dark side take over and will she lose her light and goodness? The final battle between light and dark wouldn’t be fought on earth, no light and dark resides inside Tori, and that is where it will make its final stand. Will she prevail and choose the right side? Will her love concur all? What is her future with Dante. What is her future period?
Nexus is an amazing read, full of secrets, horror, and romance. The relationship between Tori, Angle (as Dante calls her) and Dante is a whirlwind romance, full of ups and downs. I was rooting for them the whole time and wanting them to finally get the deed done, lol. While I started this series, I was thinking I would be reading a book for teens, well that wasn’t the case. These books are full of adult content and I loved it. The author keeps up the pace with this book just like the previous ones. I thought I would miss seeing the relationship with Kerrigan and Dominic, but I didn’t because the relationship with Dante and Angle was just as hot and sweet. You get little snippets into the other during the read as well and see their point of view. I got sucked into Nexus and I absolutely loved it. I laughed, got pissed, angry and even shed a few tears. I will warn you the ending is heart breaking, but there is also a BIG surprise you will not be expecting. I give this book 5 stars!
If you decide to pick up this book, please leave a review for the book where you bought it. Every review helps the author.
Quotes from the Book:
“I swear, I’m dealing with some geniuses. Cooter….it’s right next to your pooter, which sometimes doubles as a tooter, duh! Ha! Lookie, snookie! I’m a poet and didn’t know it. I can also connect the pooter and roto-rooter if you want me to.”-Aunt Gabe
“I’m the Guardian of the Guardian, Angel. I believe you’ve underestimated exactly what that means. Partly my fault, of course. I must have failed to mention that besides the circumstances of our births and our markings, there was another reason my father figured me to be your protector. I can do things no other Guardian can.”-Dante
“No, I don’t just care. I bloody love you! And I’m not about to give up on you or us. I intend to fight for you, not because I’m destined to, but because I believe in what we have.”-Dante
Links for the first two books in the Supernova series:
Supernova (Supernova Saga)
Cataclysm (Supernova Saga)
Link to buy Nexus (Supernova Saga)
Nexus (Supernova Saga)
Author Links:
Website: http://www.cl-parker.com/#!
Place to buy her books: http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/authors/detail/20
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4831114.C_L_Parker
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theclparker
THE GIVEAWAY!
Giveaway of one e-book of Nexus! To enter simply comment on this post telling why you want to read Nexus. This comment is MANDATORY! For extra entries please Friend CL Parker on Facebook or Fan/Friend her on Goodreads. Make sure you tell me what you do so that your entries can count. Ends 10/1
Click HERE to friend CL on Facebook
Click HERE to friend/fan CL on Goodreads
Pool of Crimson Review/GIVEAWAY
(giveaway details below…please read review first)
Pool of Crimson is an urban fantasy…and everything I like in my books! Suzanne M. Sabol really did it for me with this book. Dahlia is another one of those kick ass chicks that I enjoy to read about. A lone vampire hunter in Columbus, Ohio, Dahlia knows there are things that go bump in the night, even if she cannot spread the word to anyone else. Dahlia palms a talisman off of a vampire in a fight, not knowing that what she holds is the key to a huge plot contrived by the Ethan, the Master Vampire, to raise a demon…and take over the city. On the way to find out exactly what the talisman is and what it means, Dahlia meets Jade, a rich girl with the knowledge that Dahlia needs, but the naiveté that monsters don’t exist. Dahlia meets her match in Ethan’s second in command, Patrick. Dahlia wants nothing to do with a vampire, but Patrick wants her…and her body wants him. Throw in a werewolf hottie and his pack and you have the makings of a supernatural free-for-all. Not that Dahlia is an ordinary girl, she has a dark past, horrid childhood memories, and a well full of power that she does not know how to tap. Dahlia isn’t exactly human, but then again, she doesn’t know what she is.
Pool of Crimson rocked my world. It is as simple as that. I am a big fan of Kim Harrison and the like and I think Pool of Crimson and the rest of the series when it comes out has the potential to be right up there on my list of faves. I enjoy kick ass heriones and their sidekicks and you can’t beat a book full of the supernatural. The quirky characters and the sarcastic byplay between them just made the book. I love the character interaction and how the book almost feels real, because you feel like you have made new friends because you get to know and like them so much. Don’t forget the steamy sex and the give-me-shivers action between Dahlia and the male characters. Wow! I also liked that every vampire was not super sexy. It made it more real. I can’t wait for the next installment in this wonderful book. I am extremely curious to find out just what is going on in Dahlia’s world. All-in-all this book is not to be missed. I give this book 5 stars because I loved it…and it is my kinda book!
If I have talked you into reading this book, please leave a review for the author where you bought it. Every review helps the author.
Quotes from the book: (Or my favorite parts)
“Damn, you look good enough to fuck,” she said with a playful smile. “You know I’d let you but I don’t want you to get too attached,” I teased. (Byplay between Dahlia and one of her girl friends)
“I never knew how alluring a dangerous woman could be.”
“She was Hispanic, with dark penetrating eyes that met mine with a naughty smile, like she knew what I tasted like without my panties.” (I so know that is not a quote but I absolutely love stuff that I don’t expect and that line dropped my jaw and stuck with me!)
Amazon Buy Link: Pool of Crimson
Barnes and Noble Buy Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pool-of-crimson-suzanne-m-sabol/1112082041?ean=2940014595681
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SuzanneMSabolAuthor
Twitter: @suzannemsabol
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2889259.Suzanne_M_Sabol
THE GIVEAWAY:
Today I have one e-copy of Pool of Crimson, winners choice of kindle or nook format. To enter this giveaway all you have to do is tell me why you want to read this book or ask Suzanne a question. This comment is MANDATORY.
For extra entries you can LIKE, FOLLOW, or FAN/FRIEND her on all her social network sites. Make sure you tell me what you did in your comment so that your entries will count. Contest ends 9/29 at 8 am CST.
Click HERE to like her on Facebook.
Click HERE to follow her on Twitter.
Click HERE to fan/friend her on Goodreads.
Bitch Hollywood Review/GIVEAWAY
(Giveaway details below…please read review first!)
Bitch Hollywood by Robert and Jan Bryndza is a delightful read. The story starts off with the main character, Filip, moving to Hollywood from Europe, having gotten a chance at a green card to live and work in America. Filip is leaving behind everyone he knows, including his boyfriend David. They both had gotten their dream jobs, a continent away from each other. Instead of trying to work it long distance, they decide to go their seperate ways. Filip’s dream job was to be a Costume Designer for films and he makes his way alone to do just that. When he arrives in Hollywood, expecting to have a friend to help him settle in and show him around, he gets totally culture shocked, as that friend just leaves him hanging. In a strange new town, in a whole different country, Filip must try to make his way and makes his dreams come true. The first “friends” Filip meets is another gay couple, Hillary and Derek. Hillary is a show-stealer that you love to hate, seemingly manic-depressive and desperate to sell his beauty line. Filip lands his first job with Veronica, a washed up actress that is trying to get her career back. With a whole cast of quirky characters, Bitch Hollywood is a dark, gut-busting comedy about the trials of life and love in the city where dreams are supposed to come true.
Bitch Hollywood had me laughing and rooting for Filip from the get go. Filip is a memorable character whos whit and sarcastic attitude, that nobody in Hollywood seemed to get, had me whooping it up and cheering him on. Hillary was a piece of work, seeming to have loads of money but such a penny-pincher that he served chips and dips for dinner! Veronica was the straight up Bitch of Hollywood, having some moments of genuine niceness, but most of the time leading Filip around by a string. Filip admittedly got caught up in the Hollywood lifestyle, losing touch with himself and his family, but managed to bravely make it through people wiping dogs butts, manic-depressive friends, ass jet toilets, farting Frutarians, and dead dogs…not to mention crazy everyday living and jobs for Veronica. Filip finally finds himself in the end and what an ending it was! I highly recommend Bitch Hollywood to anyone who likes to laugh! I give it 5 stars for originality and the ability to make me laugh until I almost peed my pants! (LOL).
If I have talked you into reading this book, please leave a review for it where you bought it. Every review helps the author! Giveaway details and buy links below the cover picture.
Quotes from the Book:
“No, she was literally full of it. We had to use the high pressure pipe…”
“The ass jet water was a little cold.”
“If you are what it is to be successful in Hollywood then I’d rather fail and have a life.”
Amazon Buy Link: Bitch Hollywood
Amazon UK Buy Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bitch-Hollywood-ebook/dp/B0092FW64M
Author Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/teambryndza
Author Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5763380.Robert_Bryndza
Author Website: http://www.robertbryndza.com
Author Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertbryndza
THE GIVEAWAY!
Robert has been kind enough to offer up THREE Kindle e-books of Bitch Hollywood. To enter this giveaway simply comment on this post and tell me WHY you want to read Bitch Hollywood OR ask Robert a question OR tell him what you think about the cover. Or do all three LOL. The comment is MANDATORY to enter.
To earn EXTRA entries, LIKE, FOLLOW, and/or FAN Robert Bryndza on facebook, twitter, and goodreads. MAKE SURE you tell me what you do in a comment on this post so that I can count your entries. Contest ends September 27, 2012 at 8 am CST.
Click HERE to like on Facebook.
Click HERE to follow on Twitter.
Click HERE to fan/friend on Goodreads.
Apocalypse Writing Contest (Facebook) Open to EVERYONE (readers and authors)
This is a contest that I have going on Facebook right now. I would love to have more entries. Everyone is having such fun with it and I would love to see how creative everyone is. This contest is for ANYBODY, readers, authors, book bloggers, absolutely anyone can submit a story. The only stipulation is that you be a fan on my facebook page as that is where the contest is going on. You can become a fan HERE. I will post everybody’s stories on my facebook page for everyone else to read. Come check out the entries already submitted. The contest details are below.
CONTEST DETAILS:
*For this contest I want you to imagine that the world as we know it has ended. Total Apocalypse. You only have yourself and one other person you can rely on (your choice). There is no power, no water, and you are armed with only a backpack of supplies. In your backpack there are matches, 4 bottles of water, enough food to make it 3 days, and one weapon (your choice). Spin me a story, it can really be as long as you want, but at least 3 paragraphs, and tell me what you would do. Make it like a fiction book and spin a web of survival, danger, and conflict. Tell me why the world as you knew it ended, tell me your fears, make up a world in which nothing is the same and survival is hard, and the world is against you. Tell me what you would do, where you would go, how you would get food and water, how you would protect yourself, and how you would you make your life over again. You could even throw in some romance and meet some new people to help you on your journey.*
You can submit this story to me through my email cynthiashepp@yahoo.com or just send it to me in a message on Facebook. 2 Winners will get a handmade fabric bookmark from Monkeyface Boutique as well as a MYSTERY PRIZE. There will also be a few runner up prizes (depends on how many people enter)! Contest ends September 27th. Cassie and I will review the stories and pick the most creative. BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN!
Kim Strickland Guest Post/Paperback Giveaway
Kim Strickland, author of Down at the Golden Coin, joins us today talking about a subject that I think about all the time! Make her feel welcome, ask questions about her post or books, and be entered to win a PAPERBACK COPY of Down at the Golden Coin. Giveaway details at the bottom, please read post first.
Are book bloggers the equivalent of literary agents for the digital and self-publishing age?
Recently I’ve been querying book bloggers, including this one, for reviews of my latest novel, Down at the Golden Coin. The entire process is reminiscent of going through a very similar chain of events while querying literary agents for my first book, Wish Club: all the research and lurking on websites; personalizing the letter; proofreading; proofreading some more; and then with a prayer and crossed fingers, finally sending the query letter off.
Even the responses of the bloggers, while better than that of literary agents, have been comparable. More often than not, the long sucking silence is my “no thank you.” There’ve been a few, “Sorry, I’m swamped and can’t take you on at this time.” And fortunately, several who’ve agreed to give reviews.
With hundreds of thousands of titles published every single year, it’s hard to get notice for a self-published or small press book. Book blogs are a great way to do it, and of course, everyone has figured this out. Now, the trick is to get noticed by the book bloggers. (I’m open to suggestions!)
It’s no secret when a book is being considered by a large publishing house, by the time it gets to the final round with the editorial board, whether or not it is chosen has very little, if anything, to do with the writing and everything to do with how they believe they can market the book. Enter Snooki.
The shift to blogs as filters to readers is a terrific development. For one, the bloggers are probably not in it for the money, but for a love of books. You’d have to be, because as any blogger can tell you (myself included), it takes quite a while before those Google Ad sense payments are enough to buy you dinner, much less retire on. And unlike literary agents and publishers, since the bloggers have no vested interest in how a book sells or doesn’t sell, this would make them much more inclined to review a book based simply on their own perceptions and enjoyment of the story and the writing. What a concept.
The definition of an agent is “a person who acts on behalf of another.” If bloggers writing about and reviewing new books doesn’t fall under the definition of an author’s “literary agent” then I don’t know what does. The best part? I have yet to have one ask me for fifteen percent!
The love of a book is such a subjective thing—one person’s five star masterpiece is another person’s trash—yet, book bloggers are adding a fresh, non-monetary, objectivity to the rating process. Readers naturally align with bloggers whose tastes in books are similar to their own. The fact that book bloggers (read: book lovers) are now such a force to be reckoned with in getting new titles in front of more readers is a fantastic thing, for both writers and readers. That is of course, unless you want more novels from Snooki.
Author Bio:
Kim Strickland lives in Chicago with her husband, three children, two cats and one dog. She’s written two novels, Down at the Golden Coin and Wish Club, and blogs as A City Mom at ChicagoNow.com. When she’s not being a mom or a writer, she flies jets for a major airline, which means, every now and then, she gets to eat an entire meal sitting down.
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Down at the Golden Coin
Amazon synopsis:
During the horrible recession, former airline pilot Annie Mullard feels she has sunk to a new low when she’s forced to go to a run-down laundromat, the Golden Coin, after her washing machine breaks. But it’s here she meets a Messiah. Even though twenty-something, blue-haired Violet can read minds, send Annie into past lives and levitate Tide, she isn’t anyone’s idea of a Messiah. Yet she is equipped with the wisdom, love and humor to help Annie find a way to a more authentic life, one in which Annie is free to create her own reality and where money is not the key to happiness.
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Author Links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/acitymom
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/484265.Kim_Strickland
Website: http://www.kimstrickland.com/
Blog: http://www.chicagonow.com/a-city-mom
THE GIVEAWAY!
Kim has been so kind as to offer one PAPERBACK copy of Down at the Golden Coin. To enter to win all you have to do is comment on this post with a question for the author about her post or her book. The comment/question is MANDATORY!
For extra entries, Like her on Facebook and/or Follow her on Goodreads. Make sure you tell me what you did in your comment so that I can count it. Contest ends September 21, 2012 at midnight. Good Luck!
Click HERE to friend or suscribe to her on Facebook.
Click HERE to like the book on facebook.
Click HERE to follow her on Goodreads.
AUTHOR C.J. GRAVES GUEST POST/GIVEAWAY (Antichrist 16: The Becoming)
(giveaway detail at bottom…please read post first)
Ouch, Ugh, and OMG! A Good Writer Tortures Her Characters.
I am a writer. And as much as I’d like to pretend my stories emerge from living on the African plain or from getting beaten by my stepfather or from being left at the alter (twice) or from finding an alien implant in my right, big toe…
I can’t.
In truth, I grew up in a small town with a loving family, married a very nice man, and although I may’ve seen an alien spacecraft once (It could’ve been!), my life is pretty normal. Read: boring. I spend many days in my jammies, writing in between doing loads of laundry. Sometimes I stare inside the refrigerator, hoping a big piece of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting materializes. This is the extent of my pain.
But just because I don’t suffer much, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to make others suffer. I do and more importantly–I like it! What’s at the heart of any successful novel?
CONFLICT.
Conflict is to novels like cream cheese is to bagels. Mmm, yummy, yummy. (Do I seem to have a cream cheese obsession to you?) Conflict turns up the heat and provides the sizzle that makes pages seem to turn on their own. So, how does an author create this conflict? Simple. She tortures her characters.
Now torture can mean lots of things besides waterboarding and pulling someone’s fingernails out–although both of those would certainly work. Anything that gets in the way of what a character wants can qualify. Here are five of my favorite ways of inflicting pain and suffering on my make-believe friends:
1. Give your character flaws. Bad temper, poor motor skills, a sex addiction, narcolepsy, smelly feet… the list is endless. Nothing hurts more than our own inadequacies.
2. Put a loved one in danger. If you’re really hard-core–kill them.
3. Betrayal. The more loyal the person was supposed to be, the more it hurts to be kicked in the nads by them.
4. Take away physical comforts and the means to get them. If not having the latest iPhone sucks, try no job, no money, no home, no food…
5. Take away psychological comforts. Dumped by the loving girlfriend. Ostracized by the supportive parents. Ignored by the understanding friends. Make your character a pariah. Smelly feet will definitely help with this.
It’s amazing how difficult this can be. I mean, some writers love their characters and hate to hurt them, but readers don’t want blue skies and kittens. They want broken hearts and blood. It’s my job to be the one nasty bitch who gives it to them.
Am I up to the task? You betcha. Pass the cream cheese and get ready for some pain.
AMAZON SYNOPSIS FOR ANTICHRIST 16: THE BECOMING
It’s not like sixteen-year-old Nathan Terras wants to be evil. A bad boy, maybe—but not evil. Yeah, he can see auras but so what? He’d gladly trade that talent for, say, a new Mustang or a little skin time with Scarlett Johansson. That is until a near-death experience reveals he’s to become the Antichrist.
Forget vampires, werewolves, and zombies. They’re the lucky ones.
THE. ANTICHRIST.
And now his enemies are waking. They’re coming for him, and they’re not interested in a friendly game of Halo. But Nathan’s developing some frightening defenses of his own. A violent power grows inside him. He’d be thankful, if only the dark energy wasn’t so addictive.
When his little brother disappears, he’ll do anything to get him back. Embracing his new identity may save his brother’s life, but Nathan could lose his own in the process. The line between good and evil begins to blur, leaving Nathan wondering which side he’s on.
AUTHOR BIO:
C.J. Graves is NOT the Antichrist, but she thinks she babysat him once.
After growing up in NW Pennsylvania in the cold and snow, she moved to Japan to live in…more cold and snow, but she now resides in sunny North Carolina with her wonderful husband and swimming pool.
Having graduated from UNCG with a degree in Interior Architecture and Design, she soon realized she wasn’t cut out for the project management side of the business and turned to another creative love—writing. When she’s not writing or running a critique group, she enjoys beating up teenagers in her mixed martial arts class.
AUTHOR & BOOK LINKS:
AMAZON:
Antichrist 16: The Becoming (Antichrist 16 Trilogy)
SMASHWORDS:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/166779
BARNES & NOBLE:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/antichrist-16-cj-graves/1111648115?ean=2940033265244
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:
http://www.amazon.com/C.J.-Graves/e/B007TIV230/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
GOODREADS:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6453909.C_J_Graves
TWITTER:
http://www.twitter.com/authorCJGraves
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/authorcjgraves
THE GIVEAWAY!!!
(2) Smashwords Gift Coupons for the book “Antichrist 16: The Becoming” are up for grabs! To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment regarding the guest post or a question for the author. The comment/question is MANDATORY to enter.
For EXTRA entries, please like/follow the following pages…for each page that you like/follow you will get an extra entry. MAKE SURE to tell me how many pages you liked so that they will count. Contest ends 9/16 at midnight with winners announced the next day.
LIKE on Facebook: Click HERE
FOLLOW on Twitter: Click HERE
FAN/FRIEND on Goodreads: Click HERE
OTHER BOOKS BY C.J. GRAVES:
Crossed: A Jayden Morrow Mystery (Jayden Morrow Mysteries)
Review/GIVEAWAY of “Fluke” by Bart Hopkins and David Elliott
(Giveaway details at the end: Please read review first!)
Adam Fluke is your average nice guy that is a little too old to not know where his life is going. In his late twenties with a pizza delivery job, Adam Fluke is going nowhere fast. Then, he meets the girl of his dreams on a delivery. After she tells him to call her when he gets off, he takes off back to his job and ups and quits right then, leaving behind a girl at work who was a “possibility”, who also plays a big part in the book.
Now unemployed, and prone to what his friends call “The Fluke Factor”, which pretty much means whatever he can f*** up he will, even if he is just tripping over his own feet, Adam falls head over heels for a girl that seems perfect, though there are some things about her that give him pause. Such as the fact that she will go into her own head and be totally unresponsive when her name is called. Also the fact that she whispers at one time, “You just look so much like him…”
Sara and Fluke instantly become thick as thieves. Fluke revolves his whole life around her, and Sara seems to be a good influence on him. Sara is an assistant curator at a museum, and he feels inadequate up against her education and job. She encourages him to get a job and go back to college. They adopt a teddy bear and Sara names it Flukey.
But once again the “Fluke Factor” pops up and after a small scare and a terrifying possibility, brought on by one photograph, Sara and Fluke go on a trip that could change their lives…that does change their lives…forever.
Fluke is a wild ride that has SO many laugh-out-loud and WTF moments. The whole time I was reading the book I had that country song “Crazy Girl” going through my mind. Even though what I was expecting to happen never really came to fruition. I definitely did not have the storyline figured out like I thought I did though. I never would have guessed what happened. And now I have you all crazy wondering what happened, huh? LOL, well the only way to find that out is to read it. I will just say that Fluke was unexpected in a good way. I literally laughed and cried before I finished this book, with my emotional turmoil skyrocketing all the time. One minute you will be fine and the next minute your stomach will take a nosedive in disbelief. I refuse to tell you more of the storyline because all of the little tidbits are what make it…and if I tell you now I will ruin it for you. I totally related to all of the characters, they were believable and engaging. The storyline hooked me in and did not let me go. I was horrified at the ending. Bart, I just want to say that the ending was not fair…I was left wanting to know more(!), but I was satisfied overall with the ending. Oh, and Terri (Wonder-Woman) Kickner, thanks for the heads up to have tissues handy…I needed them! All-in-all, this is a read that is not to be missed. I give Fluke 5 stars.
Quotes from the Book:
“It doesn’t matter who the hell you are or what the hell she is, when the lights are out and you make the beast with two backs, it just doesn’t matter brother. All that matters is that moment.”
“You can’t polish a turd, son.”
“Fluke, you’re in love. And apparently someone’s in love with you at the same time.”
“Sometimes, not going on is the right thing.”
Once again if I have talked you into reading this book, please leave the author a review where you bought it. Every review helps the author. You can buy it on Amazon with the link below the cover.
AMAZON KINDLE FOR $3.99: Fluke (Bart Hopkins and David Elliot)
AMAZON PAPERBACK FOR $9.99: Fluke (paperback)
Author Links: (Please check out and LIKE on facebook)
www.facebook.com/flukethenovel
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-ebook/dp/B007Y4XDZE/
Bart’s Page/Blog
Bart’s Facebook:
www.facebook.com/barthopkinsauthor
GIVEAWAY!
(2) Amazon Gift Codes for the book “Fluke” are up for grabs! To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment on this post saying something about the review or why you want to read this book. The comment is MANDATORY to enter.
For EXTRA entries, please like the following Facebook pages…for each page that you like you will get an extra entry. MAKE SURE to tell me how many pages you liked…leave a comment on them saying I sent you if you want to 🙂
Bart’s Facebook: Click HERE
Fluke’s Facebook: Click HERE
Contest ends 9/14 at midnight with winners announced the next day!
Author Grace Mattioli Guest Post/Giveaway
Today we welcome Grace Mattioli, author of Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees, to the blog. Please make her feel welcome. She has been kind enough to offer a kindle e-book for giveaway! Giveaway details below…please read post first.
The Use of Humor in Serious Fiction
When I began writing Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees, I did not intend for it to be humorous, but when I read my first chapter to a group of fellow writers, I was delighted to find them laughing out loud. I was really delighted when various people read my novel and told me how funny they found it to be. Because I chose to write about the serious theme of peace, I think that the use of humor in my book was especially important. The use of humor in serious fiction is a great tool for driving a point home without sounding didactic or moralistic.
In terms of character development, it is the funny quirks about characters that make them more real, more believable, and more lovable. Vince believes that the recent preponderance of books about war is a government conspiracy. As a lawyer, Frank bartered with clients who could not make their whole legal fee. Angie is obsessed by the fact that she lives in the very same neighborhood as Bruce Springsteen and is determined to find his house. Donna is constantly plagued by some new self-diagnosed ailment that keeps her following one trend diet after the other.
Humor can really enhance dialogue. Cosmo tells Silvia that she would have better luck making peace in the Middle East than within their family. Frank finishes his monologue of complaints with the phrase “I can’t complain.” And last but not least, humor greatly adds to the fun of story. Silvia listens to her boss, a full grown man rant on about the importance of Gummy Bears. Donna is sexually harassed by the Three Little Pigs at Disney World. What fun!
Amazon Synopsis:
AUTHOR BIO:
I’m Grace Mattioli, the author of Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees. Originally from New Jersey, I currently work as a librarian in San Francisco, where I live with my husband and two cats. I started writing when I was ten years old. I knew then that I wanted to be a writer; that I wanted to tell stories and make people laugh and cry and think; that I wanted to use words to paint pictures and make music.
In college, I studied English literature, and gravitated towards contemporary fiction. Some of my favorite and most influential authors include Flannery O’Connor, Hemingway, Edward Abbey and Douglas Adams. I love beautifully written prose and humorous fiction. I have taken several writing workshops, including some in fiction writing and screenwriting, and have written several short stories and some flash fiction which can be found on The Short Humour site: http://www.short-humour.org.uk/. I always dreamed of writing a novel but was not sure I had it in me until recently. I thoroughly enjoyed writing “Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees” and plan on starting my next novel very soon.
Amazon Page:
Website:
http://olivebranchesdontgrowontrees.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/fixion4change
Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/olivebranchesdontgrowontrees
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13631313-olive-branches-don-t-grow-on-trees
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GIVEAWAY:
One KINDLE e-book of Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees is up for grabs. You know the drill. A comment about the post or question to the author is MANDATORY! For extra entries, please like her on Facebook and/or follow her on Twitter. Let me know in your comment/question that you did so that I can count it. Contest ends 9/12 at midnight CST.
To Like her on Facebook click HERE
To Follow her on Twitter click HERE
Review of Ariana Zamora’s ‘The Dreamer’
Review by Cassie Hoffman
Anjaleena, better known as Leena, is a seventeen year old young woman who has been plagued with horrible nightmares ever since she could remember. They aren’t just any nightmares, they are always the same, and almost every night she finds herself waking up the same way…terrified. Her parents have taken her to numerous doctors and therapists, and they say it is night terrors and try to put her on medicine, but she will soon find out that her nightmares have a real meaning to them. She has told her parents they have stopped, but they haven’t. The only person who knows the truth, and that she can confide in is her grandmother, Rose. Unbeknownst to Leena her grandmother has suffered from the same nightmares just like herself, but Rose will never be able to tell Leena herself, because she ends up passing away unexpectedly.
Leena and her whole family are shocked and distraught by the sudden passing of Grandma Rose. Leena soon finds out about the secret Rose was keeping. While at the funeral, Leena has a mysterious woman give her a letter from Rose and along with the letter is a key on a chain. Leena has no idea what it all means. Why would her grandmother give her such a strange thing?
The family packs up and moves to a different state for a new start. The family moves into the childhood home of Rose, which no one even knew existed. The Bennett Manor is a one hundred and fifty year old manor. Leena soon finds out there is more to the house then meets the eye. Leena meets Julian Bennett, a ghost who was the original owner of the manor when it was first built. Julian wants Leena’s help to find out how he died one hundred and fifty years ago. Leena agrees to help find out how he died. Julian has the ability to take Leena back into his time and while there he is in his human body and they are able to touch, to connect unlike when he is in his ghost form.
Julian isn’t the only ghost who resides in the Bennett Manor, Leena discovers. She finds the woman who has plagued her and her grandmothers’ dreams, haunts the manor, and is the reason her grandmother passed away. Evangeline is on her own quest, and needs Leena’s help just like Julian.
Leena has a few love interests, but she soon falls for Julian, but is her feelings for him truly hers? How could she ever have a relationship with a century and a half year old ghost? Leena will be tested; she finds her life crumbling all around her. Is she going crazy? Will she solve this century and half year old mystery? Can she get her life back, and be a normal seventeen year old girl? You’ll have to read The Dreamer to find out all the mysteries surrounding Bennett Manor.
While reading The Dreamer you will be taken into the historical past and feel like you’re going through this journey with Leena. The Dreamer is full of mystery, and a real page turner. You’ll take sides, but then question yourself if you’re on the right one. It keeps you guessing till the very end. The Dreamer was very well written, and the characters were loveable. I give it ***** stars.
Quotes from the Book:
“Save for one other, you’re the only living person I’ve been able to communicate with…On the other side.”-Juilian
“Screw you! I’ll say any damn thing I want to say while you’re using my body like this. I know you and Julian had a thing in the past. I don’t know how serious it was, and I don’t care.”- Leena
“I do not cherish the fact that I killed my own descendant, Anjaleena. But Rose had set into motion events that would have kept me from you. You are the one who will save us all, and I could not allow her to spoil a retribution that has been long overdue.”-Evangeline
Remember, if you have been talked into reading this book, please leave a review where you bought it. Every review helps the author. Buy Links Below…only .99 on Amazon!
Amazon: The Dreamer (The Dreamer Series)
Find Ariana Zamora on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thedreamerariannaz
Her Website: www.arianazamora.com
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