LORI'S READING CORNER

Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop

2011-05-25T05:46:00.000-04:00

The Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Page Turners.

Each of the 300+ blogs listed below is hosting their own giveaway. Hopefully you can find time during the few days that this hop runs to visit each blog and enter each giveaway.

A little HINT: To keep track of which giveaways you have entered you can print off the linky list and cross them off as you enter them.

Check out the main hop page HERE

I will be giving away a $25 Amazon Gift card to one lucky winner.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

This contest is open to residents of USA residents only!
Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.
One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.
The contest will end on May 31st at 11:59PM EST; 1 winners will be selected and contacted thereafter.
Once the winner is contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).
Gift card will be shipped directly from Amazon.

Make sure to visit all of the other blogs participating in the Splash into Summer Giveaway Hop

Book/Author Spotlight & Giveaway ~ Earlene Fowler - Spider Web

2011-05-25T00:05:00.002-04:00

About the author ~

Earlene Fowler was raised in La Puente, California, by a Southern mother and a Western father which is probably why her Benni Harper series features quilts, cattle, smart-mouthed women, cowboys and a sexy Latino cop.   She wrote literary and commercial short fiction for ten years with no publishing success when she decided to change gaits and write a mystery novel.

Earlene's first novel Fool’s Puzzle and two sequels were sold within a week of submission to Putnam-Berkley Publishing Group as one of three lead titles for their new hardcover Prime Crime Line.   Fool’s Puzzle was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Mystery of 1994.   Kansas Troubles, Goose in the Pond, and Dove in the Window were each nominated for an Agatha award for Best Novel. Earlene finally won the Agatha Award for her sixth book Mariner's Compass. It was followed by Seven Sisters, Arkansas Traveler, Steps to the Altar and Sunshine and Shadow, Broken Dishes. It was followed by Delectable Mountains, Tumbling Blocks, and State Fair. In March 2009, she published her second mainstream book, Love Mercy, which is set in Morro Bay, California, and stars a new set of San Celina County characters (Benni and family are minor characters and the book is set eleven years later than the Benni Harper books). Her fifteenth Benni Harper novel, Spider Web, comes out in May 2011. She is currently working on the sequel to The Saddlemaker's Wife.

The Benni Harper mystery series is set on the Central Coast of California in a town remarkably similar to San Luis Obispo.   Love Mercy is also set on California's central coast in the town of Morro Bay.

Earlene is an avid lover of quilts, folk art, horses, oral history, cowboy boots (she owns 25 pair), the Central California Coast and country/western music. She lives in Orange County, California, with her husband Allen and Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Boo.

Visit Earlene's website

Friend Earlene on Facebook

Email Earlene @ earlenefowler AT earlenefowler DOT com

Her latest book ~

Spider Web (Benni Harper Mystery)

Benni Harper is back in an unforgettable new mystery from national bestselling author Earlene Fowler.

The Memory Festival is a celebration of recollections and loved ones through crafts. But when a local cop is wounded by a mysterious sharpshooter who seems to have a vendetta against the police, Benni fears for her loved ones, especially her police chief husband. Benni is determined to make her hometown safe-before their peaceful street fair becomes a day to remember in the worst way.

Other books in the Benni Harper series ~

Thanks to the publicist, I have one (1) Spider Web (Benni Harper Mystery)copies of to give away.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on June 8th at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

Guest Post & Give away ~ Elaine Viets ~ Pumped Up For Murder

2011-05-24T06:20:00.000-04:00

I am pleased and honored to have Elaine visiting my Reading Corner today.

The Question
By Elaine Viets

“Which one of your books do you like best?”

That’s the question I hear most from readers.

I tell them, “That’s like asking which of your children you love the most.”

I love all my literary children, and each one of them has taught me an important lesson. Let me count the ways:
In my first Dead-End Job mystery, “Shop Till You Drop,” I studied that elusive creature, the blonde bimbo. Contrary to the way bimbos are portrayed in movies, these women are not stupid. They’re shrewd at getting what they want. It’s not the way I’d do it. They pay a terrible price as they head toward their 40s. The sort of man they want prefers impossibly young females.

For “Murder Between the Covers,” I worked at a bookstore and learned there are many dedicated readers – including a twelve-year-old boy who told me “Steinbeck rules.”

In “Dying to Call You” I was a telemarketer who sold septic tank cleaner. I worked with parolees, a junkie trying to go straight – and a fiftyish divorced woman, a single mom who brought her baby to work because she couldn’t afford daycare, and a former bank vice-president. Be gentle to telemarketers. Nobody ever says, “I want to be a telemarketer when I grow up.”

In “Just Murdered” I worked in a pricey bridal department. I saw the mother of the bride come out of the dressing room in an attractive blue dress cost.

“How much does that cost?” her husband demanded.

“It’s $500,” she said, her voice trembling.

“Don’t you try on another cheap dress,” he said. “I want you to spend at least $3,000.” After working there, I wondered why there weren’t more murders at weddings.

In “Murder Unleashed,” I worked at a dog store. As a cat lover, I thought small fluffy dogs were useless. Until a woman with a white bichon told me, “I have a husband and a teenage son. This dog is the only creature on earth who listens to me. She saves my sanity.” In “Murder Unleashed,” my paperback series was published as a hardcover. That book has a special place in my heart.

For “Murder With Reservations” I worked as a hotel housekeeper. I made 38 beds and cleaned 17 toilets a day. Most hotel housekeepers get small salaries and no benefits. “If everyone tipped me a dollar a day,” one said, “it would make a big difference in my life. I’m trying to stay off welfare. I want my daughter to be proud of me.” Now I tip $2 a day.

In “Clubbed to Death,” I went from the overworked to the under-employed in customer service at a snobbish country club. I solved the problems of people who have no problems. One man wanted an owners’ parking pass for his new Ferrari. “I have to give you a rental pass until the owners’ passes are ready in two weeks,” I told him.

His face turned red as his ride. “I paid cash for that car,” he shouted. “I don’t want people to think I rented it.”

“Killer Cuts” was a look at the heady world of expensive hair salons. I was a gopher in a salon where a color and cut were $300. One multi-millionaire tipped her stylist in Burger King coupons. “She amuses me,” he said. “And when she doesn’t, I shall dye her hair orange.”

For “Half-Price Homicide” I worked at a designer resale shop and met trophy wives. These women had married men who gave them unlimited shopping at the high-priced shops, but no cash. The women desperately wanted their own money. They would bring a $3,000 designer purse still in the box with the tags on it. The consignment store owner said he could sell it for $500. Once a fashion item leaves the store, its value drops like an anvil out a window.

If it sold, the trophy wife got $250. It cost her husband $3000, so she could pocket $250 in cash. I hope she spent it on the pool boy.

I loved “Half-Price Homicide” for another reason: Helen and Phil were married on the beach under a sky lit by lightning, then feasted with their friends. They deserved a dramatic wedding.

My tenth book, “Pumped for Murder,” is just out. Helen and Phil, back from their honeymoon, have opened their own private investigation agency. Helen still works those dead-end jobs, but now she’s undercover as a private eye. She follows a possibly cheating husband into the world of extreme bodybuilding. She and Phil also work a cold case from 1986, trying to prove that a suicide is really murder.

This novel marks a milestone in the series: Helen goes from amateur detective to private eye.

“Pumped for Murder” is my favorite book. Until I finish the next one.

***
“Pumped for Murder” is available as a hardcover and an ebook. To win a $50 gift certificate to your favorite bookseller online or on land, click on Contests at www.elaineviets.com

About the author ~

Elaine Viets writes two national bestselling mystery series. In her tenth Dead-End Job mystery, “Pumped for Murder,” Helen Hawthorne investigates extreme bodybuilding and a death from South Florida’s cocaine cowboy days.

Elaine’s second series features St. Louis mystery shopper Josie Marcus. “An Uplifting Murder” is the sixth book. Elaine has won the Agatha, Anthony and Lefty Awards and has been praised in the New York Times. She blogs for The Lipstick Chronicles and the Femmes Fatales.

Elaine lives in Fort Lauderdale with her husband, reporter Don Crinklaw.

Visit Elaine's website
Like Elaine on Facebook
Check out her posts at Femme Fatales & The Lipstick Chronicles
Email Elaine ~ EViets AT aol DOT com

Elaine's Latest Book ~

Pumped for Murder: A Dead-End Job Mystery

Helen Hawthorne and her new hubby Phil have opened their own P.I. agency and their very first client is Shelby, who thinks her husband is developing a killer body for another woman.

To keep track of the suspected cheater, Helen gets a dead-end job at Fantastic Fitness, where she has to pump iron to stay employed. Then the budding agency takes on a murder case, and Helen has to move her workouts to the early morning just to keep up. With so much weight on her aching shoulders, will Helen catch a killer-or just drop dead from exhaustion?

Click HERE to read the first chapter

Watch the trailer ~

Other books in the Dead-End Job Series ~

Thanks to the publicist, I have 2 copies of Pumped for Murder: A Dead-End Job Mystery to give away.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on June 7th at 11:59PM EST; 2 winners will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

Contest WINNERS!

2011-05-24T05:54:00.000-04:00

A Father's Love: One Man's Unrelenting Battle to Bring His Abducted Son Home

Liza L.

Hotel No Tell: A Novel

Bee P

Pearl B

Guest Post/Virtual Tour ~ Jean Henry Mead

2011-05-23T06:15:00.000-04:00

Jean Henry Mead writes mystery/suspense and historical novels. She’s also an award-winning photojournalist, former news reporter and editor. Her first book was published in 1982, and she now has 14 published, both novels and nonfiction. She writes two mystery series, the Logan & Cafferty mystery novels, and the Hamilton Kids’ mysteries. Her new releases are Murder on the Interstate, which features senior sleuths, and Mystery of Spider Mountain, an autobiographical children’s story.

Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty are feisty 60-year-olds, a mystery novel buff and private investigator’s widow, who sell their homes in a San Joaquin Valley retirement village to travel the country in a motorhome. Along the way they manage to stumble over dead bodies. In their latest adventure, they discover a beautiful young woman shot to death in her Mercedes convertible. When the killer returns to disable their RV, a woman trucker comes to their rescue. They chase after the killer in the produce truck to get his license number and later discover that the killer is stalking them.

While investigating the young woman’s death they encounter sulfuric acid spills as well as other terrorist activities. Dana Logan then calls in her journalist daughter to help in the investigation. When they compare notes they discover that Kerrie is also investigating the case for a story she’s writing for her news magazine in Denver. Kerrie later meets a handsome FBI agent who’s on the case and falls in love not long before the three women are kidnapped by terrorists.

Mead did considerable research about homegrown terrorists and those sneaking across the border with Mexican nationals. She also researched chemical spills that take place south of Phoenix, the kidnap capital of the nation where an average five murders are committed every week. She came up with the idea for the novel while driving her 36-foot motorhome along mountainous 1-40 in northern Arizona, the setting of the first murder. Along the way she listened to truckers on their CV radios, so the dialogue is both authentic and humorous.

At the other end of the literary spectrum, her first children’s book, Mystery of Spider Mountain, is autobiographical in that it takes place in Los Angeles, where the author grew up at the foot of a huge hill she and her four brothers called Spider Mountain. It was inhabited by trapdoor spiders and tarantulas that arrived from Central America on banana boats. At the top of the hill was a mysterious house with four vicious dogs. When the Hamilton kids climbed “Spider Mountain” to investigate, It changed their lives forever. The second novel in the series is the Ghost of Crimson Dawn, which will be released later this year.

About the author ~

Jean Henry Mead is a mystery/suspense and western historical novelist. She’s also an award-winning photojournalist. One of her fortes is interviewing writers, actors, politicians, artists and ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary things. She began her writing career as a California news reporter/editor/photographer, first in Central California and later in San Diego. Mead then transferred to Casper, Wyoming, to serve as a staff writer for the statewide newspaper. While there she served as editor of In Wyoming Magazine and two small presses. She also freelanced for other magazines, both domestically and abroad, among them the Denver Post’s Empire Magazine. Her first book was published in 1981. She’s since published thirteen novels and nonfiction books.

She currently writes the Hamilton Kids children’s mystery series as well as the Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series. Her latest release in the Logan & Cafferty series is Murder on the Interstate.

Visit Jean at her website

And her blog sites:

Mysterious Writers
Writers of the West:
Murderous Musings
Make Mine Mystery

Her latest book ~

Murder on the Interstate ~ A Logan & Cafferty Mystery

While traveling a northern Arizona highway, Senior Sleuths Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty watch in horror as a pick up truck chases a Mercedes convertible past their motorhome, ultimately forcing the car off the roadway and into a ravine. Dana applies the brakes and pulls over to offer aid. She discovers the body of a beautiful young woman in the Mercedes when gunshots ring out. Stunned, she and Sarah realize they're the targets! The bullets disable their motorhome and a long-haul driver comes to their rescue, giving them a lift into Flagstaff, where they can arrange for repairs to their RV. The idea of resuming their trip home is back-burnered, however, when the first person they spot at the truckstop is their shooter. Coincidence? Dana thinks not. Quickly, the women scheme to turn the tables on the woman's killer, and the chase is on... Sometimes hunters, sometimes the hunted, Dana and Sarah delve into the shooter s identity and activities. They find more than a few surprises, and soon realize they have stumbled into a plot that not only endangers them, but puts national security in the crosshairs.

Read an excerpt ~

Lulled by a lack of traffic and the steady beat of rain, Dana was in danger of nodding off when a convertible roared past, followed by a late model pickup. The heavy downpour obscured her view, but they appeared to be coupled like boxcars. Why were they driving that dangerously close, and why so fast in the rain?
An I-40 highway sign signaled an approaching curve so she clicked off the cruise control and slowed to forty-five. Taillights had vanished and she glanced in both side mirrors. The earlier truck traffic had also disappeared and no headlights were visible in either direction. Darkness was closing in on her.
Sarah groaned from the passenger seat, apparently still asleep. Must be the anchovies. Her friend had insisted on stopping for pizza at a Kingman roadside cafe. Dana groped for the Tums. As she rounded the curve, she noticed two sets of brake lights not far ahead. The motorhome swayed as she stepped into her own brakes and skidded on the pavement. Road signs had warned of animal crossings. The convertible might have swerved to avoid hitting a deer and gone off the mountain road. Dana pulled onto the shoulder as the pickup following the convertible screeched back on the pavement. Why hadn’t the driver stopped to help?
Bolting upright in the passenger seat, Sarah said, “What’s happening?” Her voice was thick with sleep.
“We’re about to find out.”
Headlights angled upward from somewhere off the road, illuminating a huge digger pine. It had to be the convertible. Dana opened her door and climbed down. The steps were slick with rain and she nearly lost her balance. She heard the passenger door slam as she started down the embankment. Chilled and miserably wet, she slipped and landed in a bed of pine needles. Why hadn’t she grabbed the flashlight? Dana glanced up at her friend, who stood shivering on the shoulder. “Sarah,” she yelled, “Call 911 and hurry.”
The smell of gasoline was strong, despite the heavy rain. The convertible had missed several pine trees but a boulder had stopped its forward motion. Both doors were locked. Peering through the driver’s window, she could see nothing more than shattered glass, a dime-sized hole centering the web design. She then heard several backfires and a ping of metal as though the convertible had been struck by a rock. Realizing it was a gunshot, she dropped to her knees in the mud.
Sarah!
Slipping and clawing her way up the slope, she crawled onto the shoulder. A pickup was parked behind the RV. The driver had a nervous foot. A moment later another set of headlights emerged from the curve down the road. Tires squealed as the pickup roared off. As it passed, the RV’s headlights caught a dark red truck, which appeared to be a newer model. When Dana glanced in the passenger window, Sarah was crouched between the seats, the cell phone clutched in her hand. She took her time unlocking the passenger door.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m not sure.” Sarah patted her chest, breathing heavily.
“What happened?”
“He shot up the motorhome.”
“Did he shoot at you?”
“I don’t think he saw me. He only seemed interested in wounding Matilda.”
Dana hated the name Sarah had christened the RV, but that was the least of her worries. Grabbing a flashlight, she climbed back down the steps. A quick inspection revealed inside tires still inflated but the outer ones in the back were flat. She heard an engine shift down and was caught in the glare of headlights. Signaling with her flashlight, she was relieved when the big truck slowed and pulled in behind the motorhome. The driver seemed to be endlessly checking gauges before descending from the cab. Once on the ground, a warm, plump hand gripped hers in greeting.
“The name’s McCurdy,” the husky voice said. ”Everybody calls me Big Ruby.”
At nearly six feet, she was Dana’s height although nearly twice her girth.

Check out Jean on the rest of her tour ~

May 23^rd
Guest blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner
Guest blogging at Straight from Hel
Book reviewed and guest blogging at Sheila Deeth’s Visit My Refracted Muse
May 24^th
Book reviewed at MysteriesEtc
Book reviewed at Another Draught
May 25^th
Book reviewed at Marilyn’s Musings
Guest blogging at Acme Authors Link
May 26^th
Book reviewed at Reviews by Molly
Book reviewed by June Shaw at Pump Up Your Book!
May 27^th
Guest blogging at Murder By 4
Book reviewed by Earl Staggs at Pump Up Your Book!
TBD:
Guest blogging at Monoblog
Guest blogging at Dog Blog

Guest Post & Give away ~ Mari McCarthy

2011-05-20T00:10:00.001-04:00

Journal Writing: Showing Me My Life

When I lost the use of my body's right side to Multiple Sclerosis several years ago, I was advised to learn how to write with my left hand. So I used daily journaling as a way to practice my handwriting.

At the same time, I read The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, a book about reconnecting with creativity. Part of the discipline that Cameron suggests is the 'Morning Pages:' three handwritten pages of daily stream of consciousness whatever. NO thinking, NO old English class rules.

I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. For weeks and weeks and weeks. And I began to realize, like a child comes to understand language, that this writing could reveal enormous amounts of new information to me, about me and my soul and my opportunities. I began to write poetry for the first time. I started remembering pieces of my childhood. Best of all, I developed a stronger affection for myself.

After a time, I modified my Morning Pages practice, making it more a dialogue and less a data dump. I asked questions: "Where does that feeling come from?" "Who told me that?" "What's the logic behind that fear?"
The writing practice naturally spilled over into my daily life, so that I began to notice answers to my questions not only in my notebook but while doing dishes, walking in the garden, going to the store.

I'm still writing every day, these many years later; still finding huge rewards in the practice. It used to be that when I suffered, I had nowhere to turn. When life was hard or whenever I just had the blues, there was no way to make sense of it.

Journaling gave me a way to deal with hard times or difficult emotions. But here's the amazing thing: eventually journaling also taught me how to go beyond the control my emotions held over me. No longer did I feel at the mercy of my emotions. My attention shifted and I became enthralled with my own creative potential. Through my journal, I started to build my own happiness.

Journaling shows me how my imaginings can become reality, and how my attitude makes all the difference. Journaling leads me like the gentle, patient teacher that it is, towards a far wiser, more hopeful and peaceful me.

Therapeutic Journaling helps us move out of our head with its highly critical over-thinking and return to living in and communicating (on a first name basis) with our body.

My journal is my number one health resource, my primary care provider, working hand-in-hand with me to achieve my goal of Perfect Health.

About the author ~

When a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) exacerbation kidnapped my body's right side, I needed some way to teach myself how to write with my left hand. So I started free writing (stream of consciousness) in a journal notebook. I got more than a functioning left hand! What I discovered (and the discoveries continue) was my true Self, buried under the old, negative, hypercritical baggage (I call it crazycrap) I've been carrying around since childhood.

Working daily with My Journal Therapist, I'm curing my spiritual, mental and psychophysical diseases, like Shingles which we healed in less than 3 weeks. And with lots and lots of daily Journaling, we’re making progress in curing my diseases to achieve my goal of Perfect Health!

My self-therapy journaling helps me revise my thoughts and determine what I want to be, do and have in my life. It guides me in adjusting my attitudes, modifying my behavior and creating a happier relationship with myself. And my Journal is teaching me how to write again with my right hand!

Do you want to stop your self-sabotage, make life changes, solve more problems and achieve your goals but are not sure how to get started? Do you want to stop your self-sabotage, make life changes, solve more problems and achieve your goals but are not sure how to get started? Let’s meet (no cost, no obligation) and talk about how ‘Journaling for the Health of It’ ™ helps you create a healthy, happy life write now!

Visit Mari's Blog

Like on Facebook

Follow on Twitter

Contact Mari

Email Mari ~ Mari AT CreateWriteNow DOT com

Mari's book ~

Peace of Mind and Body 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness: 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness

The Ultimate Journal Writing Therapy Workbook!

Face down those voices in your head that always hold you back!
Finally leave behind the negative beliefs about yourself you've been carrying around since childhood!
Stop overthinking things that just don't matter!
Explore your creativity
Discover your passions
Are there changes you want to make in your life, but you just don't know where to start? Do you want to be happier in your life, but you can't figure out how to change the way you feel? Do you have a hard time identifying your goals, let alone reaching them?!

Personal growth and development is hard work, but this book makes it seem easy.

The Peace of Mind & Body: 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness guide takes you on a step-by-step journey to identify exactly what it is you want -- and how to get there. In just 27 days, you'll find yourself on a clear path to achieving the peace of mind, health and happiness you want for your life.

Check out Mari's video on how to get started on journaling ~

Thanks to the publicist, I have one (1) copy of Peace of Mind and Body 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness: 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness to give away.

When filling out the form, please select if you would like the paper copy of the book or the e-copy of the book.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on June 3rd at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the author.

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Happy Release Day ~ Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

2011-05-19T10:10:00.000-04:00

BREAKING NEWS.......FLAT OUT LOVE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD TO YOUR
NOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click HERE to download your copy NOW!

Flat-Out Love

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

When Julie’s off-campus housing falls through, her mother’s old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side … and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there’s that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That’s because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie’s suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that … well … doesn’t quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.

Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

Click HERE to read a sample of Flat-Out Love

Click Flat-Out Love to order your copy today

About the author ~

Jessica Park is the author of the young adult novel RELATIVELY FAMOUS, five Gourmet Girl mysteries (written as Jessica Conant-Park) and the e-shorts FACEBOOKING RICK SPRINGFIELD and WHAT THE KID SAYS (Parts 1 & 2). She grew up in the Boston area and then went to Macalester College in frigid St. Paul, Minnesota. During her freshman year, there was a blizzard on Halloween, and she decided that she was not cut out for such torture. So she moved back to the east coast where, she'd forgotten, it still snows. Oops. She now lives in New Hampshire with her husband, son, bananas dog named Fritzy, and two selfish cats. When not writing, she is probably on Facebook , pining over 80s rock stars, or engaging in "Glee" activities. Or some combination of the three. Probably with a coffee in hand.

Visit the Flat-Out Love website

Visit the Relatively Famous website

Visit the Gourmet Girls website

Friend Jessica on Facebook

Follow Jessica on Twitter

Check out her What the Kid Says blog

Become a fan on Goodreads

Guest Post & Giveaway ~ Miranda James - Classified Murder

2011-05-19T00:10:00.001-04:00

I blame Nancy Drew for my life of crime. Reading it and writing it.

I was ten when I borrowed The Secret of Shadow Ranch from a cousin. It was the first mystery I ever read, and I was hooked. Then, to my delight, I discovered this was only one of a long series of adventures in which Nancy solved mystery after mystery. Just as exciting, I soon found other amateur mystery-solvers: the Hardy Boys, the Dana Girls, Judy Bolton, Trixie Belden, and many more. By the time I began reading adult mysteries, my love of the amateur detective was completely entrenched.

When I decided I wanted to write a mystery myself, I knew my main character would be an amateur. After all, I’m not a policeman, or a lawyer, or a private detective. But I do have a healthy dose of curiosity about the world around me and the people in it. Charlie Harris, the sleuth in my new “Cat in the Stacks” series, is just like me in that respect. He’s also about my age (fiftyish, if you must know), he’s a librarian, he grew up in Mississippi, and he has a Maine coon cat. That’s as far as it goes, however. (I have two cats, by the way, neither of which is a Maine coon.)

While my life is pretty predictable, Charlie’s is far more interesting. He finds himself involved in the occasional murder in his hometown of Athena, Mississippi. He also lives in a big old Southern house and has enough money so that he really doesn’t have to work in the library for a living; he just does it because he likes to stay busy. Plus he gets to take his cat, Diesel, with him everywhere he goes. (I can imagine how well that would go over if I took one of my cats to work with me. Diesel is so much better behaved than either of my two.)

But all this is part of the fun of having an amateur detective. I know a lot of mystery readers don’t think amateur detective stories are very realistic, but I’ll let you in on a big secret. I’m not writing realism – I’m writing escapism. I don’t know about you, but I read to get away from the “real” world. I have a lot more fun tagging along with an amateur than I would shadowing a homicide cop trailing a grisly serial killer.

I also have a lot of fun writing stories about amateur detectives, and I hope my readers will enjoy themselves as they tag along with Charlie and Diesel in Murder Past Due and their new adventure, Classified as Murder. The fun part about writing – and reading -- a series is finding out what’s going on with old friends every time a new book comes out. I know I feel like the characters in my favorite series are friends, and I hope my readers will feel that way about Charlie and Diesel, too.

About the author ~

Miranda James s is a mystery author who has lived in Houston, Texas for over twenty-five years, has two cats and thousands of books, and plays bridge as often as possible. He is the Manager of Murder by the Book in Houston, one of the nation's oldest and largest mystery bookstores. He has co-authored a number of works of mystery non-fiction and has won the Agatha and Macavity Awards and been twice nominated for the Edgar Award. Though born and reared in Mississippi, he has lived in Texas for over half his life. He holds a Ph. D. in medieval history from Rice University.

He also writes under the name Honor Hartman, Dean James & Jimmie Ruth Evans.

The latest book ~

Classified as Murder (Cat in the Stacks Mystery)

Aging eccentric James Delacorte asks Charlie the librarian to do an inventory of his rare book collection-but the job goes from tedious to terrifying when James turns up dead. Relying on his cat Diesel to paw around for clues, Charlie has to catch the killer before another victim checks out.

Thanks to the publicist, I have one (1) copy of Classified as Murder (Cat in the Stacks Mystery) to give away.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on June 2nd at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Other books by the author ~

TRAILER PARK MYSTERY Series ~ written as Jimmie Ruth Evans

Main Character: Wanda Nell Culpepper, Single Mother, Mississippi

CAT IN THE STACKS MYSTERY Series ~ written as Miranda James

Main Character: Charlie Harris, Librarian, & Diesel, Well-Behaved Cat, Mississippi

BRIDGE CLUB MYSTERY Series ~ written as Honor Hartman

Main character: Emma Diamond, Novice Bridge Player, Widow, Houston

SIMON KIRBY-JONES MYSTERY Series ~ written as Dean James

Main Character: Simon Kirby-Jones, Writer, Vampire, American, Gay, Snupperton Mumsley, England

Guest Post/Virtual Tour ~ Kathi Macias

2011-05-18T05:55:00.000-04:00

Avid Readers, Prolific Writers

Kathi Macias

Though not all children who are avid readers grow up to be prolific writers, there are few such writers who weren’t also lovers of words from an early age. And I am no exception.

I’ve authored/published more than thirty books of my own, plus ghostwritten/edited about 100 others. I’ve also published countless newspaper and magazine articles and stories, devotionals and poems, and I constantly get the question: How in the world do you produce so much on such a regular basis?

Though I give credit to my journalism training and experience, I always go back to my passion for words, which was evident even before I started school. My mom says I was reading the comics when I was three, and my favorite outing throughout my childhood was always a trip to the library. I read voraciously! And if I found myself without something to read, I immediately set out to write my own stories. One such story, which I wrote in the third grade, was turned into a play for the entire PTA—parents, teachers, and students. I was hooked!

I went on to write for the school newspapers and won writing contests throughout junior and senior high school, and even told my boyfriend (now husband) when we were about thirteen or fourteen that I was going to be a writer some day. To be honest, I can’t imagine being anything else.

Of course, the one thing I NEVER wanted to do was public speaking. Surprise! Little did I know that as I ventured out into the publishing world, I would begin to receive speaking invitations. Though I quickly declined, explaining that I did not do public speaking, I soon discovered that my book sales suffered because of it. Hmm… Seemed I had no choice but to get over that common fear of public speaking and just get out there and do it.

Now, amazingly, I enjoy public speaking nearly as much as I do writing, and I do both on a regular basis. But all of it goes back to my love of words and that inborn call to be a communicator. If you have ever sensed that same call—whether to writing or speaking—and you find yourself hesitant to answer, ask yourself if you have an innate love for reading. If the answer is yes, perhaps it’s time to consider the next step.

About Kathi ~

Kathi is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time riding their Harley.

Friend Kathi on Facebook

Visit her website

Visit her blog

Email Kathi ~ ezyrtr AT ca.rr DOT com

Her latest book ~

People of the Book (Extreme Devotion)

Farah lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with her family, and wants nothing more than to develop a deeper devotion to her Muslim faith. She sees the month of Ramadan as her chance to draw nearer to Allah, and pursues that goal. All goes well until the prophet Isa—Jesus—appears to her in a dream and calls her to Himself. Her brother, Kareem, who has never liked her, seeks to discredit her.

Farah’s cousin, an only child, frequents an online chat. She discovers former Muslims discussing their new belief that Isa is much more than a Muslim prophet—He is actually the Son of G-d. She becomes acquainted with an American girl of Muslim ancestry—now a devout Christian—Sara. Sara has problems of her own due to her brother Emir’s suspicious behavior.

Each finds their faith put to the test. Will they be true to their beliefs? Will G-d protect them, or will they pay the ultimate price for their faith?

Watch the Trailer ~

Read a excerpt ~

Prologue
Eighteen-year-old Farah Mohammed Al Otaibi lay bruised and bloody on the floor beside her bed. The image of her soft mattress floated in and out of her consciousness, but she had no strength to drag herself from her current position. Even the slightest movement brought stabs of excruciating pain, so she tried to remember to keep her breathing shallow and her body still.
How long had she been here? Hours, certainly. Days? She couldn’t be sure. Her father and brother had covered the windows with heavy, dark cloth, blocking out any light that might help her keep track of time.
Hunger wasn’t an issue, for who could think of food when the pain was so intense? But thirst? Oh, how she longed for just a sip of cool water! Surely her mother would sneak in soon and bring her some. She had always taken care of her before—
Before…
The memory was back, though she tried desperately to block it out. Impossible. She could never forget that moment in time, for it was the dividing line between the before and after of her life. Before the tragedy that led to her brother’s discovery. Before her father had flown into a rage over what he considered his daughter’s betrayal and treachery. Before they had threatened to kill her in order to preserve the family’s honor. Before her mother had tried to intervene…
Hot tears pricked the back of Farah’s eyelids, as the vision of her mother’s face before—and after—swam in front of her eyes. The pain in her heart at that moment far exceeded anything she felt in her body. Then suddenly, inexplicably, the meaning of her name—Farah, joy and cheerfulness—burst into her consciousness. Despite her agony and sorrow, Farah was unable to hold back the brief burst of laughter that exploded from her aching chest. How absurd that her parents had given her a name that implied happiness, and yet she now wondered if she had ever truly understood or experienced any of it in her not quite nineteen years of life.
But then she had met Isa, and everything—both good and bad—had changed forever….

Other books by Kathi ~

Red Ink (Extreme Devotion Series, Book 3)

No Greater Love (Extreme Devotion Series: South Africa #1)

More than Conquerors (Extreme Devotion Series: Mexico #2)

Valeria's Cross

Visit Kathi on the rest of her tour ~

Thursday, May 19
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Friday, May 20
Book reviewed and giveaway at The Book Connection
Monday, May 23
Book reviewed at Book Reviews by Molly
Tuesday, May 24
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Wednesday, May 25
Author interviewed at Linda Clare’s Writer’s Tips
Thursday, May 26
Book spotlight and interviewed at Pamela S. Thibodeaux – Blog
Friday, May 27
Book reviewed at Writing for Christ

Guest Post & Giveaway ~ Sally Goldenbaum

2011-05-17T14:53:00.001-04:00

Thanks so much for the invitation to drop by today, Lori. I feel a bit like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland—I’m late. I’m late, for a very important date! But the best part about readers (and those with wonderful blogs like Lori’s Reading Corner) is that they are kind and understanding.

And that’s one of the important reasons why I love to write…because of readers.

Okay, I know. That sounds simplistic. But it’s really more than the fact books need to be read. Readers are critical to my whole writing process. And here are four reasons why:

1. Readers keep me honest. I write about a group of friends who live on Cape Ann, north of Boston. I live in Kansas. And although I spend as much time as possible on Cape Ann, my readers fill in on the fine points I sometimes miss. For example, when I named a Seaside Harbor pier “Pelican Pier,” an astute reader quickly wrote that no self-respecting Pelican would dip into those chilly waters. They much prefer Florida. (To maintain my honor, I researched it and discovered there was a sighting of a brown pelican on Cape Ann years ago—so I wrote a scene in the next book that explained the naming of the pier—Birdie’s first husband had spotted the pelican, and thought it would add a touch of humor to name the pier after it.) Thank you, wonderful reader, not only for the correction, but for giving me a nice side story for Moon Spinners!

2. Readers remind me that I’m not alone. Big chunks of writing are in solitary confinement, and on days when I keep the aluminum siding salesmen on the phone because I am desperate for someone to talk to, readers provide a much-preferred alternative. Not that we necessarily talk. But emails fill that lonely gap and convince me that there are other living, breathing souls out there.

3. Readers HELP me, help my characters, and help my books. For example, I’ve received wonderful notes from generous reader-knitters who have shared the charities for which they knit. And the seaside knitters have jumped right in, providing hats for head huggers and blanket squares for knit-a-square. And readers share their projects with me, sending photos and tips to add into the Seaside Knitters’ Thursday night session.

In The Wedding Shawl, my most recent mystery, I had access to an amazing shawl pattern, knit by a talented PhD student who let me share it with everyone. It became Izzy’s wedding shawl, knit for her by her three closest friends.

And one more thing—at this very moment, one very talented designer is creating a beautiful pattern for Birdie’s granddaughter’s sweater. It will occupy Nell’s fingers throughout the next year’s Seaside Knitters mystery. Generous readers. Talented designers.

4. And last, but definitely not least, readers make me want to open up my computer every morning. They inspire me by letting me share in their amazing and unique lives. For example, Louise wrote that during a long convalescence from a serious illness, books became her companions during the long days in bed—the knitters helped her heal. And an Arizona grandmother who is helping raise her granddaughter, wrote that she shares the mysteries with her Mya, and then, together, they knit the patterns and send me photos of Mya modeling them.

And finally, there is my dear reader-friend in Florida who wrote: “The anniversary of my husband’s death will be in early June, and I’ll remember him in some special way with my family.

But one thing I know I’ll do, is that I’ll spend a bit of the day on my back porch or down at the seashore…thinking of my Johnny. And I’ll relish the rest of Moon Spinners while I’m there.”

And that’s why I love and need readers. Every single one of them. That’s why I write.

Thank you so much, Lori. And a thank you to all your readers!

Sally's Bio ~

I am quite inept at writing about my life--it's been a very nice one so far, but in the repeating it may sound a bit tedious. So I will hit the highlights and offer you a very speedy read.

I was born in Manitowoc, Wisc, a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan where my father was a shipbuilder. We spent summers baking on Lake Michigan (before the days of sun alerts) and enjoyed the perks that growing up in a small town provides. I went to high school in Green Bay, Wisc, a boarder in an all-girls academy, just like my sister, mother and her seven sisters before her had done.

College was Fontbonne in St. Louis, and graduate school (philosophy) was Indiana U in Bloomington where I met my husband. In between all of that I was a Catholic nun for several years. A checkered past, to be sure.

Writing...

has always been a part of my life, from fictionalizing my diary when I was a teen to working in public television in Pittsburgh, Pa, to teaching philosophy, to editing a bioethics journal. I always wrote. And in the back of my head was the novel I'd write someday. But it didn't happen until one day when I was sitting in a sandbox in a park, watching my children play. I was new to Kansas CIty, looking for company. There was another mother there, Adrienne Staff, a transplanted New Yorker. And as those things go, the ex-nun and nice Jewish girl from New York glommed on to each other and discovered we not only liked one other a lot, but we both had a burning desire to write. And so we did. Together. We found a wonderful agent and published (some together, some alone) 25 to 30 novels.

Though Adrienne went on to other things, I started writing mysteries some 10 years later, again inspired and helped along by a life-time friend, this time Nancy Pickard (See "Sally's Porch" for Nancy's mug shot).

My life today...

After lots of years of writing early in the morning before heading out to my editing job in a publishing house, I now have the wonderful luxury of writing full-time--sitting on my porch or in a coffee shop or library. Or tootling off to Cape Ann (where the seaside knitters series is set) to research new adventures for the knitters, and in between, to visit my daughter Aria, her husband John--and Luke and Ruby—who live in Gloucester on Cape Ann.

My son Todd lives in California with his wife, Laila, and Danny, our youngest, is here in Kansas City with Claudia and their two sons, Atticus and Julian. It's a lovely time of life for Don and me, filled with the joy four grandchildren bring.And their parents are pretty terrific people as well. Photos on the right are the lights of our life (from top to bottom): Atticus Sage, Ruby Jane, Luke Robert, and Julian James.

And that's all she wrote....for now....

Visit Sally's website

Like Sally on Facebook

Read Sally's Blog

Sally's latest book ~

The Wedding Shawl: A Seaside Knitters Mystery

Izzy Chambers is about to get married, but much remains to be done. Then the wedding plans get complicated when the wedding party's hair stylist begins missing appointments. When she's found dead, things really begin to unravel. Rumors circulate about the stylist's past and her connection to an unsolved murder years ago.

All the Seaside Knitters really know is they must rally to find some answers, so Izzy can don the wedding shawl they're surprising her with- and replace the whispers about town with wedding bells.

Thanks to the author, I have one (1) copy of The Wedding Shawl: A Seaside Knitters Mysteryto give away.

THIS GIVEAWAY WILL BE FOR THE KINDLE VERSION OF THE BOOK.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on May 31st at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winner is contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

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Other books by Sally ~

Mailbox Monday - May 16th

2011-05-16T11:22:00.001-04:00

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

Adrenalineby Jeff Abbott (Netgalley) ~ Sam Capra is living the life of his dreams. He's a brilliant young CIA agent, stationed in London. His wife Lucy is seven months pregnant with their first child. They have a wonderful home, and are deeply in love. They have everything they could hope for...until they lose it all in one horrifying moment.On a bright, sunny day, Sam receives a call from Lucy while he's at work. She tells him to leave the building immediately. He does...just before it explodes, killing everyone inside. Lucy vanishes, and Sam wakes up in a prison cell. As the lone survivor of the attack, he is branded by the CIA as a murderer and a traitor. Escaping from the agency, Sam launches into a desperate hunt to save his kidnapped wife and child, and to reveal the unknown enemy who has set him up and stolen his family. But the destruction of Sam's life was only step on in an extraordinary plot-and now Sam must become a new kind of hero. Release date ~ July 1st.

Heat Wave: A Novel by Nancy Thayer (ARC) ~ Unerringly perceptive, superbly written, every page packed with the warmth and compassionate wisdom that have become Nancy Thayer’s trademark, Heat Wave tells the moving story of a woman who, after her seemingly perfect life unravels, must find the strength to live and love again. Making the startling discovery that her family finances are in dire straits is only the latest shock endured by Carley Winsted after her husband’s sudden death from a heart attack. Resisting her in-laws’ well-meaning overtures to take in Carley and her two daughters, the young widow instead devises a plan to keep her family in their beloved home, a grand historic house on the island of Nantucket.The solution is right at Carley’s front door: transforming her expensive, expansive house into a bed-and-breakfast. Not everyone, however, thinks this plan prudent or quite respectable—especially not Carley’s mother-in-law. Further complicating a myriad of challenges, a friend forces Carley to keep a secret that, if revealed, will undo families and friendships. When her late husband’s former law partner keeps showing up at the most unexpected times, Carley must cope with an array of mixed feelings. And then, during a late-summer heat wave, the lives of Carley and her friends and family will be forever changed in entirely unexpected ways. Lyrical, emotional, dramatic, and ultimately wonderfully uplifting, Nancy Thayer’s latest novel is compelling from its first page to its last. Release date ~ June 21st.

You Belong to Me by Karen Rose (Review) ~ Baltimore city Homicide Detective J.D. Fitzpatrick has seen a lot of violence but nothing like the trail of tortured bodies that are turning up throughout the city. And now he's starting to suspect that his medical examiner, Dr. Lucy Trask, may be shielding a dark secret that could connect her to these vicious killings-and put her next on the killer's hit list...Release date ~ June 7th

Vision Impossible (Psychic Eye Mysteries, No. 9) by Victoria Laurie (ARC) ~ Abby Cooper's next mission may truly be impossible... Abby Cooper, the FBI's newest Civilian Profiler, is adding Spy to her resume. The military's digital photography software that captures one's aura- just like Abby can-sits in a drone aircraft that's been stolen. It's a major breach in security as every country's leader can be identified by their aura... Abby springs into action to stop the criminals before they set their diabolical plan into motion, while making herself a prime target. Release date ~ July 5th

First day of the Rest of My Life by Cathy Lamb (ARC) ~ Madeline O'Shea tells people what to do with their lives. A renowned life coach, she inspires thousands of women through her thriving practice - exuding enviable confidence along with her stylish suits and sleek hair. But her confidence, just like her fashionable demeanour, is all a front. For decades, Madeline has lived in fear of her traumatic past becoming public. Now a reporter is reinvestigating the notorious crime that put Madeline's mother behind bars, threatening to destroy her elaborate facade. Only Madeline's sister, Annie, and their frail grandparents know about her childhood - but lately Madeline has reason to wonder if her grandparents also have a history they've been keeping from her. As the demons of the past swirl around her, a tough, handsome judge with a gentle heart is urging Madeline to have faith in him - and in herself. And as she allows her resistance to thaw, the pain she expects pales in comparison to the surprises headed straight to her door. With one bold, unprecedented move, Madeline O'Shea may just wake up out of the sadness and guilt that have kept her sleepwalking through life for so long - and discover that the worst thing that can happen is sometimes the very thing we desperately need. Release date ~ August 1st.

Grace Interrupted (A Manor House Mystery) by Julie Hyzy (Review) ~ On the grounds of Marshfield Manor, Civil War re-enactors have set up camp. And what a dedicated troupe! One of them has really been killed...Release date ~ June 7th

Ink Flamingos: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen Olson (Review) ~ Dee Carmichael, lead singer of the pop sensation The Flamingoes, has been one of Brett Kavanaugh's most dedicated customers at her tattoo shop. When Dee is discovered dead surrounded by ink pots and needles, Brett is branded a suspect. It seems that someone is impersonating Brett. And if she doesn't act fast, the killer is sure to put the dye in dying once again...Release date ~ June 7th

Sentenced to Death (A Booktown Mystery) by Lorna Barrett (Review) ~

As the owner of Stoneham, New Hampshire's mystery bookstore Haven't Got a Clue, Tricia Miles can figure out whodunit in the latest bestseller long before she gets to the last page. But when her friend is killed in a freak accident, Tricia must use her sleuthing skills to solve a murder mystery that promises to be much more sinister than the books on her shelves. Release date ~ June 7th

Dire Threads (A Threadville Mystery) by Janet Bolin (Review) ~ Willow Vanderling's quaint new embroidery shop is not a hit with the local zoning commissioner. When he's murdered, the evidence is stacked against Willow. Release date ~ June 7th

Finger Lickin' Dead (A Memphis BBQ Mystery) by Riley Adams (Review) ~ own fatal review, the list of suspects is longer than the list of specials at the best BBQ place in Memphis. Release date ~ June 7th

Hexes and Hemlines: A Witchcraft Mystery by Juliet Blackwell (Review) ~ Lily gets called away from her vintage clothing store to give police a witch's take on how the leader of a rationalist society could be murdered, surrounded by superstitions he discredited. Evidence points to dark witchcraft. Lily's determined to use magic of her own to find the murderer, before everyone's luck runs out. Release date ~ June 7th

A Parfait Murder: A Mystery A La Mode by Wendy Lyn Watson (Review) ~ When Tally's cousin Bree spots her deadbeat ex-husband strolling the Lantana County Fair with a fat wallet and a vixen on his arm, she immediately files for back child support. But when his lawyer is found dead, things get a little sticky. Did Bree serve up a dish of cold, sweet revenge? Or is she another hapless victim of a parfait crime? Release date ~ June 7th

To Sketch a Thief (A Portrait of Crime Mystery) by Sharon Pape (Review) ~ After a stray dog named Hobo leads former police sketch artist-turned- paranormal private eye Rory McCain back to his owner's corpse, she finds herself involved in another homicide case-not to mention the new owner of a lovable pooch, which makes Rory's ghostly partner, Zeke, more than a little spooked. Release date ~ June 7th

Guest Post/Virtual Tour & Giveaway - Linda Hubalek - Trail of Thread

2011-05-16T00:10:00.004-04:00

Looking Towards the Past

When my husband was transferred to California for a two year project in 1990, I not only lost my job, I lost my identity. Simple as that. What I did defined who I was.

I’m an introvert, and I’ve always poured myself into my work…and then all of a sudden I didn’t have that when we moved. Plus life in California was sooo much different from the Midwest. From the weather, traffic, food— to the neighborhood— I was on another planet, lost in space…

Searching for what I wanted to do next with my life, I decided to look into my past as a project to work on. I started digging up information on my ancestors, which lead me not only the important dates of their lives, but also their stories.

What I realized is that all my ancestors traveled from other places to settle in Kansas when the territory opened up in 1854, or shortly after the Civil War when land was available to homestead.

They were from European countries, leaving family, community and the life they knew behind to start a new and hopefully better life In America.

As I absorbed my ancestors’ stories, I realized they could never go back, hear their parent’s voices again, see the faces of loved ones, or the scenery of their past. But I could call to talk to family, and fly home in this modern age. This realization cured my homesickness and helped me cope with the abrupt changes that cropped up on my path.

This time away from home and loved ones led me to my writing career, and finally back to living on the prairie when my family homesteaded.

Sharing my ancestors’ stories have helped others see what the pioneers did for all of us—a look at the past to appreciate what we have now. I hope you’ll read the Trail of Thread series to get an insight on your family’s history too.

About the author ~

In sixth grade we had to write a paper on what we wanted to do when we grew up. My mom had kept it and I found this paper while cleaning through my closet during my college days. According to my dreams back then, I wanted to be a farmer, but my last line was “but alas, girls can’t be farmers.”

Well, I got my Bachelors Degree in Agriculture/Horticulture from Kansas State University, did agronomy research for years before starting a wholesale horticulture business. My company, Prairie Flower Creations, grew and dried flowers, ornamental corn, and mini pumpkins for the florist trade.

In 1990 I was featured in Country Woman Magazine, but at the same time, my husband’s job was transferred to California. I sold my business and tried to cope, growing flowers and pumpkins in five-gallon buckets on our “cement lawn”.

I started writing about the family and farmland I was homesick for and started a new career, writing about pioneer women ancestors who had moved to the new state of Kansas and farmed its land.

We eventually moved back to Kansas, bought land next to my family, raised bison and have a garden again. So not only have I fulfilled my dream to be a farmer, I’ve written about past pioneer women that have also tilled the prairie land of Kansas.

Please read and enjoy my book series which are about the family that homestead our family farm, and my pioneer ancestors that homesteaded in Kansas in the 1800s.

Follow Linda on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/LindaHubalek)

Visit Linda’s Website (http://www.lindahubalek.com/)

Visit Linda on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/lindahubalekbooks)

Contact Linda (linda@lindahubalek.com)

The book!

Trail of Thread: A Woman's Westward Journey (Book 1 of Trail of Thread Series.)

In this first book of the Trail of Thread series, in the form of letters she wrote on the journey, Deborah Pieratt describes the scenery, the everyday events on the trail, and the task of taking care of her family. Stories of humor and despair, along with her ongoing remarks about camping, cooking, and quilting, make you feel as if you pulled up stakes and are traveling with the Pieratts, too. This series is based on author Linda K. Hubalek's ancestors that traveled from Kentucky to Kansas in 1854. Besides the history of the times, Hubalek weaves quilting facts and quilt pattern sketches in her book series.

Other books in the series ~

Thimble of Soil: A Womans Quest for Land (Book 2 in the Trail of Thread book series) (Trail of Thread Series)

Stitch of Courage: A Woman's Fight for Freedom (Book 3 in the Trail of Thread book series) (Trail of Thread Series)

Thanks to the author, I have one (1) copy of Trail of Thread: A Woman's Westward Journey (Book 1 of Trail of Thread Series.) to give away.

THIS GIVEAWAY WILL BE FOR THE KINDLE VERSION OF THE BOOK.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on May 30th at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winner is contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

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A message from Simon Wood

2011-05-14T13:56:00.000-04:00

Last year, Simon Wood’s wife suffered a cancer scare and in her honor, he’s raising money for cancer research. In addition to taking part in a 100-mile sponsored cycle ride, he’s donating all eBook royalties earned on his thriller PAYING THE PIPER for the weekend of May 14-15 when bought from Amazon, Amazon UK and Barnes & Noble.

You may buy the book here ~

Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Or you may donate directly to the charity HERE

Visit Simon's website HERE

Friend the author on Facebook

Follow Simon on Twitter

Paying the Piper (Leisure Fiction)

The Piper is the Bay Area’s infamous child kidnapper. When the Piper selected crime reporter, Scott Fleetwood, to report on his latest child kidnapping, Scott thought he had the world in his grasp, but he held nothing. Scott had been duped by a wannabe. By the time the FBI exposed the hoaxer, time had run out, leaving the real Piper only one course of action—to kill the child. With a murder added to his résumé, the Piper vanished leaving Scott to take blame from the public and the investigating FBI agent, Tom Sheils. But now, eight years later, the Piper’s back, with very specific targets in mind—Scott’s young children. Scott can have his children back as long as he can pay the ransom. The hard part is that ransom isn’t measured in dollars, but in blood.

Some debts can’t be repaid...

I hope you'll buy a copy of this fantastic book today and help Simon reach is goal.

Guest Post/Virtual Tour ~ Allison Moore

2011-05-13T13:37:00.000-04:00

Many people hold on to the expectation of prisoners being restored by some special class, some program, some psych doctor, or group therapy. A professional was to brief through an inmates file and decide what was necessary in order for the offender to be "changed or corrected."

I myself was labeled as a habitual offender with an arrest record dating back to 1988, and was given "the" intervention plan. None. How was I to be committed to prison for 1 1/2 to 7 years, expecting to be rehabilitated without a design for treatment? With Delaware prison systems managing about 8,000 inmates in 12 prisons and facilities, Community Corrections supervising about 17,000 probationers and 535 parolees and a budget of about $200 million dollars a year, you have to ask yourself if what they are doing is working. Better yet, what are they doing? The crime rate in Delaware is 8% above the national average and violent crimes are about 32% higher than other states. The rate of adults under correctional supervision, including prisons, jails, probation, and parole is about 40% higher than the national rate. I believe these statistics are the catalyst for a different approach.

I've asked quite a few about their perspective of criminals, their behavior and the idea of prison as punishment and reform, and what many fail to realize is that the overcrowding prison system itself serves as fuel to the cycle it is created to cease. It is merely a holding place with little hope of being effective standing alone. The life typically hardens inmates who often leave worse than they were when they were first committed. The prison population forces long waiting lists and inapt programs with a quick fix approach to deep rooted problems. There is little focus on core criminal behavior which resides in the criminal mind, no focus on real life skills or the tools to cope with life after confinement.

"Three hots and a cot" is the term for prison, which suggests a lax environment, a place to sleep and three hot meals a day. Although confined, prisoners have little responsibility; they don't wash their own clothes, cook their own meals and they take directions on what to do and when to do it., it is easier to live inside four prison walls than out in the community as a responsible citizen. It is training ground for dependence upon the system, while inside and upon release, that is why so many return. A prisoner released is no different at the end of the sentence without effective solutions during incarceration, pre-release, and post release.

What is needed is a comprehensive approach with more effective methods. The focus should be to put the $200 million where it counts, habilitating the offender. If rehabilitation means to restore formally to former capacity, standing, rank, rights or privileges, than habilitaion is what is needed. Most offenders have never lived a life desired to be restored. Habilitate-to equip, impart an ability, to qualify or entitle. They need vocational training, with job placement. They need employers to forgive them after their time has been served. I'm not sure that "Inmate at Cambridge Springs Correctional Institution" would impress an HR recruiter for any of the "Best Places To Work In America." In other words, they need to be empowered.

About the author ~

Allison Tammy Moore’s own rise from being labeled a habitual offender to prominence deems her an expert on personal success. Born to teenage parents and ending up being adopted, Allison lived a life plagued with abuse, addiction and crime. With a criminal history, low self esteem and no one to guide her, Allison went to prison and developed her own method of recovery by redefining success. Through persistence and determination, this ex-offender to extraordinary woman, immediately used her past to fuel her passions, became a published author, speaker and entrepreneur. Allison a certified Compass Life Coach, who combines extensive business skills with a faith based background. Allison has several certifications from her over 10 years involvement in the community. This self published author and entrepreneur teaches others how to balance life as she travels to share her personal story of tragedy to triumph.
Allison is a wife and an adoring mother, of three and is known as an over comer, inspiring all she comes in contact with.

Allison believes, together we can change lives, one woman at a time. Heal the life of a woman you change the direction of her family..change the family, you help the community..help the community you change the city, state and the nation....one woman at a time!!

Let Allison Moore start you on track to achieving your personal and professional success, even if you are starting from scratch. This highly acclaimed life coach raises the bar by teaching others that no matter where you are, or where you have been, you can create an extraordinary life.

Visit Allison's website

Friend Allison on Facebook

Follow Allison on Twitter

Click HERE if you'd like Allison to speak at your next event.

Email Allison ~ IwasIam AT allisontmoore DOT com

The book ~

I Was I Am: How To Move Beyond Your Past To Create An Extraordinary Life

One of the most difficult things for ex-offenders to accomplish when they are released from prison is finding employment and becoming a productive member of society. For many, the stigma of a criminal record is just too much to overcome. For others, like Allison, it is a matter of viewing obstacles as an opportunity. “I Was I Am…How to Move beyond Your Past to Create an Extraordinary Life” (http://www.allisontmoore.com), a book by motivational speaker, author and ex-inmate Allison Moore, provides an account of her prison experience as the catalyst for change and guidelines for those who struggle with being hindered by their past.

Moore wrote, “I Was I Am…How to Move beyond Your Past to Create an Extraordinary Life” (Allison T Moore Publishing, July 2010, $14.99) not just for individuals with a criminal record or who have been incarcerated, but for those who have past experiences that prevent them from living a full life. The book draws from her experiences in order to educate readers on the reality of the prison sentence, the lack of support systems and the perils of living a life unmanageable. Whether it is a physical prison experience or a prison in mental capacity, she shares her beliefs on how to become free. Her memoir is scheduled to be released on July 20, 2010.

Allison Tammy Moore’s own rise from being labeled a habitual offender to prominence deems her an expert on personal success. Allison went to prison and developed her own method of recovery by redefining success. Through persistence and determination, this ex-offender to extraordinary woman, immediately used her past to fuel her passions, became a published author, speaker and entrepreneur. She is dedicated to help educate people to new levels of involvement in the lives of ex-inmates, victims, and their families “I decided to share my experiences in the hope that my book will help readers remove the limitations to being successful” she says.

Read an excerpt ~

Chapter 10

“I can work for the Lord in or out of prison.”
Charles W. Colson
I AM Overpowered
by numbness throughout my entire body. Barely standing, I felt as though my legs would give out at any moment. My eyes were drawn to people who were moving like actors in an old fashioned silent movie. Their lips were moving but eerie silence was all that came out. A tug on my arm brought me partially out of my fog. The cold metal chilled my wrists and my feet shuffled along with a constant clicking sound that led me out of the courtroom.
Just a few hours earlier I had strutted in with confidence. Now I was being led away not so sure of myself. Now darkness and clouds of gloom surrounded me and surrounded everything in that courthouse. I should have sensed it. You know the way it smells just before a mid-summer rainstorm, how every one of your senses knows the storm is coming. Then the winds begin to blow strong and the thunder begins to roll. Well, I missed all the signs of the turbulence about to disrupt my life, and then, without delay, the roof cracked wide open right inside the Chester County Courthouse. I nodded slightly at my attorney. I knew what he was thinking. In his professional opinion, the plea offered to me for a 12-36 month was better than good. I should have accepted it when I had the chance. I gazed in disbelief at my pastor. I knew what he was thinking. In his professional opinion, the suggestion to contest the pre-sentence investigation may have been an opportunity to catch the prosecution off guard. I was confused.
I asked myself, “What did just happen?” I had no answer. Faith-the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not yet seen. Over and over a voice echoed in my head. Faith was what I had done; at least that is what I thought. Practice makes perfect right? I confessed and believed, prayed and stood. Faith told me that my parking spot right out front was only available because Faith was giving me easy access to quickly leave the High Street court and have my Trailblazer on Route 202 in 2.5 seconds. Then this would be all over. Faith said to refuse to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Faith assured me that those who trust in the Lord will never be put to shame, but in that horrible moment, I managed to find the irony of that statement funny. Shame is what was crushing me. Faith was dead wrong. My kids expected me to be waiting for them when they got in from school. My new boyfriend was at work expecting a text from me once I got out. USAir was expecting me to check in at curbside in approximately 24 hours, and a group of anxious trainees were expecting me, one of the companies top producing managers, to arrive for a week long training designed to increase sales at their Raleigh Durham location. Rent was due in 9 days and for once in my life it was going to be on time. The $5000 increase could not have come at a better time. What about my friends? All the people I had to call and share my miracle with?
A series of events occurring over the past year, since my offense, altered my life’s direction. Didn’t that count for anything? The voice in my head got louder and more dominant. “It’s too late……it didn’t work!” My faith was shattered immediately. Without it, where was I going? I thought I was going home. I wasn’t. Where I was, was in the basement if the courthouse, where my heels clicked distinctly against the cement floor. Cold, damp and stuffy best described the atmosphere. By this time my crisply pressed white blouse was wrinkled and stained with MAC. It was hard to wipe tears with handcuffs on. Placed in a holding cell, I curled up on the little wooden bench and stared at all the carvings. I can remember thinking….”why would anyone want people in lock up to know TAE WUZ HERE?” I could hear conversations outside the steel doors but I was unable to see through the tinted two way glass. No longer able to contain my cry to my eyes, I allowed my sniffles and whimper to convert to a full breakdown. “Why didn’t it work?” If faith was here I would probably need to be restrained to prevent myself from choking her to death.

Virtual Tour ~ Kai Strand

2011-05-12T06:48:00.000-04:00

Readers: Keep Your Favorite Author Writing!

You reluctantly close the back cover on the book. A sense of loss and longing washes over you. You don’t want to be finished. How can you walk away from the storyline or the characters who are so real, you think you’ve seen them downtown?

But wait. Maybe the author has more books. Maybe this is a series. You jump online and Google her name. You find her website and see that she doesn’t. WHY?????? Well, probably because her writing hasn’t taken off yet and she has to earn a living with a day job. You can’t do anything about that. You’ll just have to wait…and hope…

I’m here to tell you that you can make a difference!

Word of mouth is HUGE! Tell all of your friends about the book. If you can part with it, loan your copy to a trusted friend or family member. Donate a copy to a library, especially a school library. SPEAK out loud frequently using the book’s title, the author’s name.

Make it social. There are many, many ways through social media to “click” your author toward a fulltime writing career. Facebook the book’s link from Amazon and or Barnes & Noble. The book’s cover art will post with the link, which people will recognize and associate with ‘recommended’ even if they don’t read the blurb. Tweet it. Blog about it.

Write a book review and post it to Amazon, B & N, and/or Goodreads. You don’t have to be a professional book reviewer. An avid reader’s enthusiasm is often more persuasive than a professional reviewer.

“Like” the book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The Weaver received more than 25 likes on B & N in a weekend the sales ranking increased. That ROCKED my world.

Tag the books on Amazon. Near the bottom of the book’s page is a list of words that will help readers find the book when they are searching. Example: The Weaver has tags like, storytelling, gnome, fantasy, kai strand. Click on each tag there and add more you think might help it come up in a search such as, 9 – 12 years old, knitting.

Popularity has other ripple effects. If a publisher is considering purchasing a manuscript from your favorite author and they see that her current title is well liked and highly recommended, they are more likely to take the chance on partnering with her on her next book.

Last, but certainly not least, your public support of an author and her work goes a long, long way in encouraging her to write more. Writing is very subjective and often she’ll only hear when someone doesn’t like her work. Pat her on the virtual back and buoy her very real spirits by “liking,” “tagging,” “facebooking,” and reviewing her work. You’re more likely to see more from her then.

Your opinion really does matter! Now, let’s play tag!

About the author ~

Kai Strand is a children’s author of middle grade and young adult novels. She was born and raised in the mid-west, where she inherited a wholesome outlook on life. She lived in California long enough to become a (very lucky) wife and the mother of four amazing kids. They now live in Central Oregon where the most common sound in her household is laughter. The second most common is, “Do your dishes!”

Obviously, Kai likes to write. The Weaver is Kai’s debut book. She reads a lot as well and calls it research. Kai loves to garden, and is trying out a greenhouse for the first time this year. She loves to sing. You might find her singing in Latin while browsing at Target. Most of the time she isn’t aware she’s singing aloud. She and her family love to hike and geocache. Kai walks 45 miles a month for exercise.

Visit the author at her website

Visit her blog

Follow her on Twitter

Like her on Facebook

Email her at ~ kaistrand (at) yahoo (dot) com

Her debut book ~

The Weaver

In a town of word weavers, Mary suffers through her third year of Novice Word Weaving. Mary thinks her troubles are over when she meets a gnome-elf who grants her a wish. But instead of weaving a better story, she’s weaving strange yarn charms to accompany her still pathetic tales.

Read an excerpt ~

Chapter 1

A Mother’s Shadow

Given ample sun and water, a flower grows strong and blooms full But grown in shade it is spindly, weak, and off color

Tucked in a lush valley between two snow-capped mountains was the village of The Tales. Those who lived in the village were known as Weavers. Each person in The Tales could tell stories about anything at anytime, and they often did. Prose, poetry, limericks or yarns; they told stories of all types and styles.

On a balmy spring morning, Mary Wordsmith and her mother, Abigail, made their weekly visit to the produce market.

Thumping an acorn squash, Abigail said, “At last, here’s one that isn’t going soft.” She handed the squash to Mary who absently dropped it in the basket on her arm.

Visit Kai on the rest of her tour ~

Friday, May 13^th
Character interviewed at The Plot
Monday, May 16^th
Book reviewed at 4 the Love of Books
Guest blogging at Margaret Rose Writes
Tuesday, May 17^th
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Wednesday, May 18^th
Book reviewed at Si, se puede! Yes we can and YA Books Central
Thursday, May 19^th
Interviewed at Melange of Cultures’s Blog
Book reviewed at Ellis
Book reviewed at Stories a la Mode
Book reviewed at Janet Ann Collins: On Words
Friday, May 20^th
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Guest blogging at The Brain Fart Explosion

Author Spotlight & Giveaway - Laura Griffin - Unstoppable/Deadly Promises

2011-05-11T10:56:00.000-04:00

I Will Never Quit

Laura Griffin

Several years ago I stood knee-deep in the Pacific Ocean, teeth chattering, wondering what on earth would possess a sane man to join the Navy SEALs. I was on Coronado Island that day, and my mission was partly tourism and partly research. I had decided to write a SEAL character in my next book, and had spent the past few months researching what many would call the most elite fighting force in the world.

Coronado is a place where young men who aspire to be SEALs suffer through a ruthless training regimen that boggles the mind. For weeks on end, bands of SEAL trainees run with telephone poles, do five-mile ocean swims, undergo “drown-proofing,” endure sleep deprivation. They are systematically broken down—pushed beyond all limits, both physically and emotionally—and if they survive, they’re built back up again. Few make it through, and that is the point. Those who do come out stronger and more deeply committed to their jobs than most of us can imagine.

It takes a special sort of man to become a Navy SEAL, which is precisely why I had decided to write a SEAL character in my next story. I want my heroes to be, well, heroic. I had recently finished reading Lone Survivor, a book about Marcus Luttrell, the SEAL who managed to live through a deadly firefight in the mountains of Afghanistan. Three of his teammates died. After being blown off a mountain by a rocket-propelled grenade, Luttrell--severely injured--crawled and walked seven miles to a village where he was taken in by a local tribe.

How did he do this? The man is a SEAL. The word “impossible” is not part of the SEAL vocabulary. Men who become SEALs share a special vision of what it means to stand in the face of adversity.

I will never quit…If knocked down, I will get back up, every time…I am never out of the fight. Sound hardcore? It is. It’s straight from the SEAL creed.

A man such as this—one who is unwilling to give up under the most dire circumstances—was just the sort of hero I needed for my story, UNSTOPPABLE, which involves a terrorist plot on American soil. After months of research, I started writing about U.S. Navy SEAL Gage Brewer, and I’m still writing about him today.

I thought about the SEAL creed this week as I watched the news about Osama Bin Laden. I am never out of the fight. It seems fitting, and not altogether surprising, that SEALs were the ones to finally track down the world’s most wanted man. They risked their lives, in an operation that could have ended in disaster, in order to make the world a safer place. These guys are tough, they are committed, and they never give up—not even after ten years. They are heroes. And it’s a good thing we have them in real life, and not just in books.

Please consider donating books and care packages to our brave service men and women stationed overseas.

About the author ~

New York Times bestselling author LAURA GRIFFIN started her career in journalism before venturing into the world of romantic suspense. Her books have won numerous awards, including a 2010 RITA (Whisper of Warning) and a 2010 Daphne du Maurier Award (Untraceable). Her debut novel, One Last Breath, won the Booksellers Best Award for romantic suspense. Laura currently lives in Austin where she is working on the next book in her popular Tracers series

Follow Laura on Twitter

Visit Laura's website

Contact Laura

Deadly Promises

THESE HEROES ARE 100 PERCENT RAW, DANGEROUS, AND . . . UNDENIABLY SEXY.

New York Times bestselling authors Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love, and Cindy Gerard and rising romance star Laura Griffin mix seduction and suspense in three irresistible romantic adventures. From sultry international jungles to the rugged terrain of the American Southwest, join the larger-than-life, scorching-hot alpha heroes of the Bureau of American Defense, Black Ops, Inc., and the U.S. Navy SEALs for all the pulse-pounding, heart-racing, toe-curling excitement. They're cool under pressure, steamy under the sheets, and when the enemy strikes, there's not a lethal mission these gorgeous men can't handle. . . .

Thanks to the publishers, I have one (1) copy of Deadly Promisesto give away.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on May 25 at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher

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Other books by Laura

The Tracer Series

The Glass Sisters Series

The Borderline Series

Contest WINNERS

2011-05-11T06:27:00.000-04:00

Learn Something Every Day

Becker

Allen H

Lisa H

Sweet Revenge: A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery (Lady Arianna Hadley Mystery)

Jinky

Raelena P

Ten Beach Road

Randi O

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

Tina B

Colleen T

22 Britannia Road: A Novel

Daniel T

Cheryl S

All of the winners have been notified. They have 48 hrs to respond with their email addresses or other winners will be chosen.

Book/Author Spotlight ~ Dr. Labib Mikhail

2011-05-09T07:01:00.000-04:00

Dr. Labib Mikhail is a theologian, apologist, journalist, counselor, and television/radio, seminar, and evangelis- tic campaign speaker in the USA and around the world. Originally from Egypt, Dr. Mikhail is a former professor of homiletics, psychology, and journalism in Faith Mission Bible College in Cairo, where he founded and pastored churches for more than thirty years. He has a B.A., M.S., and Th.D. from the International Bible Institute and Seminary. The author is well acquainted and experienced in the teachings and practices of the traditional churches and has studied extensively the writings and theology of the famous fourth century theologian, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Egypt, who helped to clarify the early doctrines of the Christian church.

He is the author of eighty books in Arabic, English, and Spanish, several in their fifth printing.

You can read more about The Virgin Mary In the Light of the Word of Godand Dr. Mikhail at www.nordskogpublishing.com.

The book ~

The Virgin Mary In the Light of the Word of God

The Virgin Mary in the Light of the Word of God fills a tremendous need for a concise, elegant, Biblical treatment of Mary. Dr. Labib, as he is affectionately known, gives Mary her due full honor while fending off the many faith-damaging myths perpetuated about her.

For those not well acquainted with but interested in Christianity and its true historic beliefs, you will find a straight-forward declaration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel that leads to the eternal and abundant life our God always intended for mankind, through the saving and sanctifying work of Jesus Christ. For the committed Christian, you will find an edifying presentation of the true Gospel and of sound doctrine.

This book is full of truth. Please read, enjoy, and let this book minister to your heart for the glory of God and the furthering of His kingdom.

Read an excerpt ~

From Chapter 1, page 10:

All generations of true believers agree that Mary is blessed among women because she was the vessel that God the Father used to prepare the body of His Son, Jesus Christ, who would complete by His death on the cross God’s plan for man’s salvation. The Virgin Mary is blessed among women because she believed in the possibility of this most unprecedented event in all human history…that a virgin girl can give birth without being touched by a man.

Visit the rest of his tour ~

Tuesday, May 10^th
Book spotlighted at Divine Caroline
Wednesday, May 11^th
Book spotlighted at American Chronicle
Thursday, May 12^th
Book spotlighted at Literarily Speaking
Friday, May 13^th
Book spotlighted at Review from Here
Monday, May 16^th
Book spotlighted at Examiner
Tuesday, May 17^th
Book spotlighted at Writing Daze
Wednesday, May 18^th
Book reviewed at One Day At A Time
Thursday, May 19^th
Book spotlighted at Books, Products and More!
Friday, May 20^th
Book reviewed at Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering
Monday, May 23^rd
Book spotlighted at The Book Connection
Tuesday, May 24^th
Book spotlighted at Pump Up Your Books, Blurbs n’ Bytes
Thursday, May 26^th
Book spotlighted at Paperback Writer
Friday, May 27^th
Book spotlighted at Plug Your Book

Mailbox Monday ~ May 9th

2011-05-09T06:33:00.001-04:00

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

Paris, Baby! by Kristen Lobe (Review) ~Is it possible to maintain chic as a single-mom-to-be in a city where it’s all supposed to be effortless and breastfeeding is a horreur? Does one live by the Parisienne’s pregnancy plan of smoking, drinking, and cheese-eating avec vin blanc, but jamais jamais gain more than six kilos? And how to handle a pickup attempt by a married man in the baby department of Bon Marché when you’re eight months along? After all, American girls do things differently: Lamaze class and baby showers, sensible prenatal care and…family to watch you proudly grow more and more pregnant.Paris is full of delights for a new mom: the Luxembourg Gardens, baby boutiques too precious to be passed by, a petit brioche for a teething tot. But home exerts a powerful pull. Should your child grow up skipping by the Seine or scampering up a tree house? Should it be “Mommy” or “Maman”? And can a tall blonde with a taste for Veuve Cliquot and Vuitton ever make it in the land of mom jeans and Happy Meals?Paris, Baby! is novelist Kirsten Lobe’s warm, funny memoir about Paris, Frenchmen, friendship, babies, and making it on one’s own. Release date ~ May 24th

Bannon Brothers: Trust by Janet Dailey (ARC) ~ With relentless suspense and a deft feel for creating men of power and character, Janet Dailey introduces three unforgettable brothers: RJ, Linc, and Deke Bannon. Cold cases aren't RJ Bannon's usual line of work. But Ann Montgomery's long-ago abduction is too intriguing to pass up. Especially with a two-million-dollar reward for Ann's safe return about to expire. Ann was just three when she was taken in the night from her family's historic Virginia mansion more than twenty-five years ago. The Montgomerys, socially prominent descendants of horse-and-hounds Tidewater aristocracy, launched a heartbreaking search, but no trace of the missing girl was ever found. Bannon knows the chances of finding her now-alive or dead-are slim, yet he can't stop searching for answers. Especially once he meets Erin Randall. A beautiful, talented local artist, she seems to share some tantalizing connections with the vanished Ann. The deeper Bannon's investigation goes, the more convinced he is that Erin's tied to the case. But his quest for the truth will put her in mortal danger.Hugh Montgomery never stopped wondering what happened to his little girl. Now, as a legacy of lies and deception comes to a shocking climax, a hidden menace explodes. Who will live and who will die? On his own, Bannon vows to protect Erin at all costs...and puts his own life on the line... Release date ~ August 1st

The Friendship Fix: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Losing, and Keeping Up with Your Friends by Andrea Bonior (Review) ~ Had enough of that bridezilla? Feeling alone in a new city? Dealing with the trauma of the worst breakup ever—with someone you never even made out with?We’ve heard the path to fulfillment has much to do with relationships. But while it’s often thought that for young women, it's all about finding the right man, real women beg to differ: It's friendships that are at the heart of happiness. Unfortunately, they’re also at the heart of drama, stress, and sometimes not-so-great escapades after that fifth martini. And, technology, from texting to Facebook, has made all friendships more complicated than ever.At last comes The Friendship Fix, jam-packed with practical ways to improve your life by improving your circle. From dealing with friends-with-benefits to coworkers from the dark side, from feeling alone to being desperate to defriend a few dozen people, Andrea Bonior, Ph.D. helps you make the most of your friendships, whether they be old, new, online, or in person.

A Parfait Murder: A Mystery A La Mode by Wendy Lyn Watson (ARC) ~ When Tally's cousin Bree spots her deadbeat ex-husband strolling the Lantana County Fair with a fat wallet and a vixen on his arm, she immediately files for back child support. But when his lawyer is found dead, things get a little sticky. Did Bree serve up a dish of cold, sweet revenge? Or is she another hapless victim of a parfait crime? Release date ~ June 7th

Murder Under Cover: A Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle (Review) ~ When she receives an exquisite copy of the Kama Sutra from her best friend, Robin, to appraise and restore, Brooklyn Wainwright anticipates both recreating a beautiful book and spicing up her love life. But then Robin's apartment is ransacked, and the great guy she recently met is murdered in her bed. Now Robin is the #1 suspect. Obviously, exploring the Kama Sutra's bliss will have to wait until after Brooklyn finds the killer...

Pumped for Murder: A Dead-End Job Mystery Pumped for Murder: A Dead-End Job Mystery (Review) ~ Helen Hawthorne and her new hubby Phil have opened their own P.I. agency and their very first client is Shelby, who thinks her husband is developing a killer body for another woman. To keep track of the suspected cheater, Helen gets a dead-end job at Fantastic Fitness, where she has to pump iron to stay employed. Then the budding agency takes on a murder case, and Helen has to move her workouts tearly morning just to keep up. With so much weight on her aching shoulders, will Helen catch a killer-or just drop dead from exhaustion?

Shake, Murder, and Roll: A Bunco Babes Mystery by Gail Oust (Kindle) ~ Bunco is Kate McCall's game, not gardening. But it starts to grow on her when she's invited to Serenity Cove Estate's gardening club banquet. When renowned botanist and gardening celeb Shelia falls ill and her husband dies, the Bunco Babes have a landscape of suspects to weed through...

Alice Bliss: A Novel by Laura Harrington (Review) ~ When Alice Bliss learns that her father, Matt, is being deployed to Iraq, she's heartbroken. Alice idolizes her father, loves working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. When he ships out, Alice is faced with finding a way to fill the emptiness he has left behind. Matt will miss seeing his daughter blossom from a tomboy into a full-blown teenager. Alice will learn to drive, join the track team, go to her first dance, and fall in love, all while trying to be strong for her mother, Angie, and take care of her precocious little sister, Ellie. But the smell of Matt is starting to fade from his blue shirt that Alice wears everyday, and the phone calls are never long enough. Alice Bliss is a profoundly moving coming-of-age novel about love and its many variations--the support of a small town looking after its own; love between an absent father and his daughter; the complicated love between an adolescent girl and her mother; and an exploration of new love with the boy-next-door. These characters' struggles amidst uncertain times echo our own, lending the novel an immediacy and poignancy that is both relevant and real. At once universal and very personal, Alice Bliss is a transforming story about those who are left at home during wartime, and a teenage girl bravely facing the future. Release date ~ June 2nd

Black Magic Woman (Others Novels) by Christine Warren (Review) ~ Daphanie Carter is thrilled that her sister Danice finally found her Prince Charming—even though he’s not quite, well, human. Daphanie is trying to keep an open mind. Which is why she jumps at the chance to enter the hidden world of The Others when a friendly imp invites her to a non-human nightclub. Daphanie’s curious to see how the Other half lives—and parties—but soon, one handsome stranger has her bewitched, bothered, and beside herself…Enter Asher Grayson. As a Guardian, it’s his job to protect humans who get mixed up in the affairs of Others. When he spots Daphanie in a club, going head to head with a notorious witch doctor, he steps in to cool things off. Now the heat is on. Daphanie becomes the target of strange magical attacks, and Asher’s got to undo the voodoo before it’s too, too late. But soon he starts to wonder if this beautiful, beguiling mortal has put a spell on him—because every little thing she does is magic…

Watch Me Die by Erica Spindler (ARC) ~ Before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, stained-glass restoration artist Mira Gallier had it all: a thriving business doing work she loved and an idyllic marriage to the perfect man. But the devastating storm stole her beloved husband – his body swept away by floodwaters, never to be found. Now, after years of pain and turmoil, it looks as if Mira is finally on the verge of peace and emotional stability. But her life, like the magnificent windows blown to bits by Hurricane Katrina, is about to be shattered once again. And this time, it’s not a killer storm she faces, but a psychopath who will stop at nothing until he possesses her, body and soul… First, church windows that she restored are vandalized, and the priest who looked over them brutally murdered. Spray-painted across the glass are the words: He Will Come to Judge the Living and the Dead. Then, New Orleans is rocked by a terrifying chain of murders that all seem to be linked to Mira. The police, led by homicide detective Spencer Malone, are following a string of clues left by the killer on each victim – and beginning to wonder if the murderer isn’t Mira Gallier herself. As Mira begins to unravel under pressure from all sides – and fear for her life – it’s unclear whom she can trust. And when a man from her past appears out of nowhere, sparking something long forgotten in her heart, he quickly becomes the police’s new prime suspect. One by one, the people in Mira's life are targeted, until it’s clear that the killer has been saving her for last . . . and that there’s nowhere left to run. Release date ~ June 21st.

Show Me The Money Monday Giveaway ~ May 9th - 13th

2011-05-09T00:05:00.001-04:00

About Show Me The $$$$ Monday ~

Welcome back to Show Me The $$$ Monday. Each week I'll be giving away either a $10 Amazon Gift Card (if you're a resident of the US) or a book worth up to $10 from the Book Depository (if you live outside of the US).

The contest will run from Monday ~ Friday each week with the winner announced on Saturday. Then the following Monday a new contest will start.

The RULE for entering is simple ~

Enter your name & email address in the form below.

My interview with Hank Phillipi Ryan @ Jungle Red

2011-05-07T13:39:00.000-04:00

Reviewing the Situation

"Criticism should not be querulous and wasting, all knife and root-puller, but guiding, instructive, inspiring.
***Ralph Waldo Emerson

HANK: As our Hallie knows all too well---the rigors of book reviewing are endless and enormous. The responsibility! The authors' fragile egos! The fear of ..I don't know. Ruining someone's life. Okay, kidding. Kind of.

But are there any authors who seriously don't care what reviewers say? Weigh in, please. We'd love to hear about that. And meanwhile, meet the amazing and insightful Lori Gondelman--who has grown her incredibly popular site into a must-read for both authors and readers.

HANK: Book reviews! How did you get started with this? Who’s your audience?

LORI: I belonged to a book swapping site ~ www.paperbackswap.com. My friends started calling me “the book pimp” because my book recommendations would cause their wish lists to grow. Several of them started bugging me about doing a book blog. Eventually I gave in and it’s taken off. Now, I get thousands of hits a week.

HANK: What connections do you hope to make between readers and author?

LORI: When I started blogging I never imaged that I would have developed some amazing friendships with authors, publishers and publicists. I think authors are as excited to hear from readers as readers are to hear back from authors (at least that has been my experience). You get such a giddy feeling when an author comments on your post or responds to your email. I want to encourage my readers to reach out to the authors that they love, to email them, to friend them on facebook, to go and visit them at signings. I met two great people at a signing on a day I was in mourning. Jessica Conant Park (who I now consider one of my best friends) and Hank, a great source of encouragement and support. You never know when those little emails, FB comments, or signings will turn into something fantastic.

HANK: How do you decide what to review? Is it tough to cut through what must be an avalanche of publicity?

LORI: I’m pretty open to reviewing anything. I usually read a lot of mysteries, thrillers, suspense, cozies, and women’s fiction. But I’ve tried to push the boundaries of my reading comfort zone and have accepted reviews for books I would not normally read.

If it’s something I know I really will not be able to get into, I am upfront about it while at the same time offering to host a blog tour, guest post, giveaway or author spotlight for the author instead of the review. At times I can get 10-15 books in to review in one week (often a few weeks in a row). I want to please everyone and get their books read in a timely manner, but it's just not possible. It's so hard saying no. I don't want to offend anyone, but unfortunately there just isn't enough time in my day. And then I have to figure out how to choose what to read from everything that came in. How do I make sure everyone is happy with the work I'm doing? How do I not burn bridges by choosing to read book A from publisher XYZ before reading book B from author ABC? Finding the right balance can be very tricky.

HANK: I’m persistent. SO how do you decide?

LORI: I think at this point I just need to go with what I think I will really enjoy. With the amount of books/requests I receive each day I would to read and review as many as possible. With just a few hours to read a day, I want to make sure I'm going to read books that I like. I think it would be futile to choose a book I might not be fully into. I want to use my time wisely.

HANK: Do you read books differently now than you used to?

LORI: I try not to. I read for my own pleasure, as a way to "escape" real life and the stresses of every day. I don’t want to turn my love for reading into “work”. As soon as it becomes a chore, like anything else, it no longer becomes fun. But if there are key elements, a phrase or specific things I think those reading my reviews should be aware of, I’ll take the time to jot down some notes so that I make sure to include them in my review. I'm not one to write the more critical review, regarding character development and those types of elements, I prefer to just write about what I liked and didn't like about the books. I like to keep it as short and simple as possible. I want to give my readers what they want - my opinion on whether or not I liked the book.

HANK: Is it intimidating? Knowing that what you say about a book can make such a difference?

LORI: It's funny, when I first started blogging I didn't think anyone would care what I had to say. I did it more for my friends than anything else. A quick little summary and off you go. I think I've really matured and grown from the quick "you're going to love this", to the detailed, thought-provoking, I really need to think about what I'm trying to get across reviews that I write now. I want to be as honest as I can possibly be with what I'm saying. Readers may or may not buy a book based on what I'm telling them. I want them to be able to say that they trusted my review, that it was true to the book, that my opinion was what made them buy the book, and that they loved it as much as I did.

HANK: The “important” reviews have always been PW, Kirkus, Booklist and Library Journal. Do you think those boundaries are expanding now? What difficulties—if any—does that create for readers? And authors? On the other hand, what opportunities does it present?

LORI: Let me answer the second part of that question first because I just experienced what I think every book blogger strives for ~ one of their blurbs on the back cover (or inside a book). And in the future, someone could look that up on the website and then check out my other reviews, and maybe, just maybe another quote of mine will appear on the back of a book in a bookstore near you!

Now back to the first question. It's pretty ironic that I became a book blogger and hoping to influence my readers with my reviews of books, because way back when, I never read reviews of books to see what others thought of them. I read the description on the back cover, or on-line, and if it sounded good, I would buy and read it. I had never heard of PW, Kirkus, Library Thing, The Best Reviews, Midwest Reviews, etc. before. Of course I'm acutely aware of them now. And I think more and more readers are depending on them less and less as the number of book bloggers expands.

I do think that readers trust the reviews of these big name sources of reviews, but I think there are a lot of bloggers out there who have formed cliques (for lack of any other word), and they trust each other, they trust what they have to say, they trust their friends and they begin to rely on each other to help make their decision on what books to read or not read, versus the virtually anonymous voice behind the options mentioned above.

HANK: What do authors do that drives you crazy?

LORI: Well now that's a loaded question :) There actually isn't too much about working with authors that bothers me. I love emailing them my reviews and getting an email back with their excitement about how I felt. I will do whatever I can to help them promote their books. I love working with them on guest posts, virtual tours, author spotlights, and contests. I love being able to give them as much exposure as I can.

The only thing that really bothers me is the "pushy" author (and sometimes publicists too). I think I am pretty clear in both my review policy and responses to their emails that I have a lot of commitments and cannot make any promises as to when I will definitively get to their books. The majority of the authors I work with are completely fine with this. They know that I receive a lot of requests for review and are just happy to get their book out there at some point. But when they start emailing me a week or two later, and then another week or two later, asking when I will have the review up I get frustrated. I know they have a job to do, that they want to get the word out about their books, but they have to also realize that I'm not wonder woman. As much as I would love to be able to do it all, I just can't :)

HANK: Now that you’re on the reviewer side of the fence—what hints do you have for authors?

LORI: Be grateful, and nice to your reviewers. Recently an author committed what many are considering career suicide. She had provided review copies to readers and one person had reviewed the book on his blog. He said the story itself wasn't bad, but that there were a lot of spelling and grammatical errors. Instead of either not saying anything or politely thanking the person for reading the book, she went off on him. Even taking it so far as to use profane language. The situation went viral on Twitter and among the blogging world, causing a lot of people to download the free preview of the book then giving her 1 star reviews on Amazon. She really hurt herself and her career.

Also, have patience. As much as you want the word to spread about your amazing book, know that reviewers get bombarded with books and requests. Many of us also have full-time jobs and families, making our reading time limited. We do the best we can to get your books read and reviewed in a timely manner.

Author Hop-Type Giveaway Poll

2011-05-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

My good friend Jen over at Crazy-For-Books put this little bug in my ear and I thought I'd see if there was any interest.

I'm thinking about an Author Blog Hop. Any author that would like to contribute a book(s) may. I would be honored and pleased to have you all! Each book will be signed by the author and mailed to me. The titles of all of the books will be posted on my blog at the start of the hop. All of the blogs that are participating will post about the hop on their blog. I will have a sign-up linky before hand. Then each blog will post that linky on their blog. People can enter on EVERY blog that is hosting the hop. This way their chances are multiplied by the number of blogs they enter. At the end of the hop each host will choose one person and I'll have a form on my blog for them to enter the winner. Then I'll choose the one big winner from that list. Just to be clear - each blog will not be giving away a (hopefully) mega box of books, they'll just be hosting for a chance someone to win the box.

So I've created this form to fill out to see if there would be any interest in participating in this hop. I hope you'll all want to join in!

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Q & A and Giveaway ~ Hotel No Tell by Daphne Uviller

2011-05-06T06:04:00.000-04:00

Q&A with Daphne Uviller, author of Hotel No Tell

Q: You used to work for a New York City law enforcement agency. How much of Zephyr’s adventures in Hotel No Tell come from your actual experience?

A: I worked for a watchdog group that investigates crime and corruption in the public school system. None of the cases that the fictional SIC handles is identical to any real one I worked on. But, certainly, I drew on the hubris of our perps and the astounding ability of people to deny to themselves that they’re committing a crime. For instance, I make mention of a school principal taking kickbacks, which was the theme of more than a few of our cases. I also borrowed from the enormous and enormously entertaining personalities of my former colleagues. One thing that is completely true: most of the investigators were named Tommy.

Q: Zephyr’s investigative skills could use a little honing. Is this the right career for her?

A: She’s definitely not the smooth, gun-slinging, clear-thinking cop of so much popular fiction. She fails to catch last names, she can’t describe what people look like, she’s a little rash in a lot of her actions. But she’s nosy, genuinely curious, and innately caring. She gets people to talk to her. I wanted to capture the reality of people having unusual talents, not uniform ones, of showing how people can have skills that can’t be described on a resume. She’s learning on the job and I love that about her. She’s who a lot of us would be if we were thrown into her position.

Q: Zephyr is adamant about her decision not to have children, so much so that, at the beginning of the book, she and Gregory have broken up over it. You have two kids; are you worried what they’ll read into this?

A: First of all, I hope they’ll remember that I’m not Zephyr. Fiction is many things for a writer, including an outlet for exploring paths not taken. I felt very strongly that Zephyr not go the mommy route. I’m living it; I don’t want to read about it, let alone write about it. (That said, I shoveled some of my darkest feelings onto Lucy, and doubled it by saddling her with twins.) So I started there – my lack of interest in making her a mother – and then went further. Why not have her struggle to make peace with her child-free status be her personal challenge, as the quest for professional identity was in Super? Let’s examine the societal assumption that we’re all supposed to have kids, when the truth is that parenthood is tough, so tough that at some point, all parents wonder why they took it on. Without children there would be, as Zephyr says, more time, more money, less stress, more sleep, more growth of the mind. But by the end of the book I was more convinced than ever that I had made the right decision for myself and that Zephyr had made the right one for herself.

Q: Which is quite an accomplishment, given that Zephyr is often plagued by a lack of resolution to her problems.

A: One of Zephyr’s stumbling blocks is her belief that you need to tie up loose ends in order to move on to the next stage of life. By the end of Hotel, Zephyr is accepting the discomfiting fact that you can’t wait for certain unknowns to resolve – both in the criminal case she has mostly solved, and in her personal struggle with potential parenthood – in order to move forward. Wait forever and you’ll never grow up.

Q: But wouldn’t you say the book itself has an almost comical number of closures in the final chapter?

A: It’s true – in the plot itself, I love not only to tie up loose ends but to provide delicious and, I hope, funny and satisfying and surprising connections – perhaps as an antidote to those pesky loose ends. E.M. Forster’s directive [“only connect”] can be applied to storytelling as much as to real life.

Q: Right after Super in the City was published, you, like Lucy, were unwillingly transplanted to the suburbs. How has it been living away from the city while writing so intimately about it?

A: When we first moved away, I complained so much that a friend of mine who’s a lit professor rolled her eyes and promised to list me on her syllabus for Writers in Exile, right next to Salman Rushdie. Friends had lofty hopes for my situation, suggesting that it could be some deep new angle from which to view my city. It hasn’t been. What it has been is a great way to keep living there in my head, even as I live somewhere else. In fact, continuing to write about the city may contribute to my current identity problem: I still haven’t managed to say “I live in the Hudson Valley.” I say, “We’re living in the Hudson Valley, but we still own my childhood apartment in the Village.” It’s juvenile, I know.

Q:How did you come up with the idea of an egg donor scam?

A: Close friends were going through the process of selecting a donor and asked my opinion of the three finalists. It’s not like I didn’t know about egg donation, but watching people I loved go through the process -- and getting to have a small voice in selecting the seeds of my future niece or nephew -- really set my mind racing. I remembered seeing ads in my college newspaper recruiting egg donors, and I’ve always wondered why society treats it as a much bigger deal to give eggs than sperm.

Q:Other than the invasive process (and because of that, the money), why is it a bigger deal?

A: I don’t think it is. I think it’s all a huge deal. In fact, I wonder whether the boys I knew when I was nineteen who were donating to get some beer money now have any regrets. It has repercussions: imagine learning that your husband donated when he was younger, that your children have biological half-siblings you don’t know about.

Q: Zephyr’s newest friend, Macy St. John, is a lovable but cursed wedding planner whose company is called No Divas. Fess up: were you a bridal diva?

A: I can safely say I was not. I err in the other direction, which has caused my husband to declare me so low maintenance that I’m high maintenance. I came up with the idea for a business for no-frills clients after our caterer tried to schedule a two-hour meeting about our wedding cake. I declined and told him to make it white and make it taste good. A similarly non-diva friend who was planning her wedding at the same time came up with the name of the imaginary company that, years later, would find its way into this book.

Q: But you didn’t wear $13 sandals from Payless on your wedding day, the way Macy’s client does.

A: Yes, in fact. I did.

Q: Why a sequel?

A: I considered doing an entirely unrelated book, but suspected that any protagonist I created would be Zephyr again, with a different name. I was preoccupied with my recent exodus from the city and new status as mother of two. I inflicted both these states onto Zephyr’s good friend Lucy, which then freed me up to write about Zephyr and the life I was fantasizing about – still in the city and childless. It was clear to me that, if these were my preoccupations, it would be natural to keep writing about Zephyr. That said, it's definitely a stand-alone book, too -- you don't have to have read Super to enjoy Hotel.

Q: Will this be a trilogy?

A: I doubt I’m done with Zephyr, but I plan to take a break from her and first write something completely different. I’m toying with historical fiction, something I swore I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot cursor.

About the author ~

A former Books/Poetry editor at Time Out New York, Daphne's reviews, profiles, and articles have been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsday, The Forward, New York Magazine, Oxygen, Allure, and Self, for which she used to write an ethics column.

Super in the City, her debut novel, is available in paperback and Kindle editions, and still getting rave reviews! Click on the right side of the screen for more information.

Daphne also co-edited, with Deborah Siegel, the acclaimed anthology Only Child: Writers on the Singular Joys and Solitary Sorrows of Growing Up Solo. Available in paperback and Kindle editions.

A third-generation West Villager, Daphne lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and two children.

Visit Daphne's website

Like Daphne on Facebook

Follow Daphne on Twitter

Be her friend on Good Reads

Email ~ DaphneUviller AT gmail DOT com

The latest book ~

Hotel No Tell: A Novel

Hotel No Tell features the return of Super in the City's beloved Zephyr Zuckerman. On the verge of 31, Zephyr is now a junior investigator with New York City’s Special Investigations Commission (SIC). She’s undercover as a concierge at the Greenwich Village Hotel, trying – and failing – to track down a missing hundred grand. Her detective boyfriend has moved out because of their disagreement about reproducing (he wants kids, Zephyr doesn’t), and she’s left with her Holland Lop bunny named after a famous atheist, an old friend who’s married and miserable in suburban motherhood, and one new friend who’s a wedding planner in dire need of an exorcist.

It soon becomes clear that the trouble at the hotel goes much, much deeper than a little old-fashioned laundering. Before Zephyr can master the reservation system, she is yanking at the threads of a multi-million dollar egg donation scandal and re-examining her own motives for opting out of parenthood.

On sale NOW

Her other books ~

Super in the City

Only Child: Writers on the Singular Joys and Solitary Sorrows of Growing Up Solo

Thanks to the publicist, I have two (2) copies of Hotel No Tell: A Novel to give away.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on May 20th at 11:59PM EST; 2 winners will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

Book/Author Spotlight & Giveaway ~ A Father's Love: One Many's Unrelenting Battle To Bring His Abducted Son Home by David Goldman

2011-05-05T00:10:00.000-04:00

A Father's Love: One Man's Unrelenting Battle to Bring His Abducted Son Home
Author ~ David Goldman
Publisher ~ Viking Adult
Pages ~ 272
Publication date ~ May 5, 2011

About the book ~

The inspiring, heart-rending story of a father's unwavering love for his son.

David Goldman and his Brazilian wife, Bruna Bianchi, led what appeared to be a happy life in New Jersey. But in June 2004, Bianchi took their four-year-old son, Sean, to Brazil for what she said would be a two- week vacation. Once there, she informed Goldman that she was staying in Brazil-and keeping Sean, setting in motion an international controversy that would eventually reach the highest levels of the U.S. and Brazilian governments. It would be almost five years before David saw Sean again.

What kept David Goldman going when everything looked so hopeless? In A Father's Love, Goldman recounts his extraordinary battle, despite overwhelming odds, to bring his abducted son back home. It is a riveting story full of peculiar ironies, unfathomable elements, threats, and legal twists and turns. Goldman describes in detail the wrenching emotions he went through and how he relentlessly rallied support behind the scenes from both high-level U.S. government officials and national media organizations. Father and son were finally reunited in December 2009, and Goldman writes about the challenges he is now facing as he works to rebuild his relationship with his son, and the advocacy work he is doing on behalf of other children in similar circumstances.

Goldman's unusual story movingly celebrates an ordinary man's incredible love for and loyalty to his son, and his ability to overcome the unimaginable to keep them together. It is a testament to how connected any father and son can be.

About the author ~

David Goldman grew up in Ocean Township, New Jersey, the son of a charter boat captain. A graduate of Virginia Wesleyan College, Goldman found a career modeling and acting in television commercials. He now runs a charter boat business and does advocacy work on international child abduction

Visit the Bring Sean Home Foundation Website

Follow the foundation on Twitter

Be added to the mailing list

Read the Foundations's blog

Thanks to the publishers, I have one (1) copies of A Father's Love: One Man's Unrelenting Battle to Bring His Abducted Son Home to give away.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only.

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* One entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

* The contest will end on May 20th at 11:59PM EST; 1 winner will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winner is contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from the publisher.

Review ~ 10th Anniversary by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

2011-05-04T06:13:00.000-04:00

10th Anniversary (Women's Murder Club)
Author ~ James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
Publisher ~ Little, Brown & Co.
Publication date ~ May 2, 2011

About the book ~

For every secret
Detective Lindsay Boxer's long-awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a badly injured teenage girl is left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. Lindsay discovers that not only is there no trace of the criminals--but that the victim may be keeping secrets as well.

For every lie

At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life--a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of her two young children. Yuki's career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct?

There's a different way to die

Lindsay's every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby begins interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she'll ever be able to start a family. With James Patterson's white-hot speed and unquenchable action, 10th Anniversary is the most deliciously chilling Women's Murder Club book ever.

My thoughts ~

The time has finally come. Lindsay is marrying Joe Molinari, the love of her life. After taking some time off after the wedding she is a little hesitant about her return to work. Changes are all-around, including a new lieutenant to answer to, Jackson Brady. Her first case back is that of Avis Richardson. A 15-year-old girl found collapsed in the middle of the road, bleeding out. It appears that she has just given birth, but apparently has no recollection of what happened since the delivery, how she got where she is, or what happened to her baby. Lindsay isn’t so sure how honest Avis is being with her. She will have to push her hard in order to find out the truth. And hopefully find her baby alive.

Yuki has a make or break case on her hands. Dr. Candace Martin is charged with shooting her husband in cold blood. It appears to be an open and shut case, a sure, must-have win for Yuki. That is until Lindsay finds herself drawn into the case and starts poking around. Maybe things aren’t as perfect as they appear to be. And Yuki’s slam-dunk case may now be in jeopardy.

Cindy is basking in the glow of being head-over-heels in love with Rich, who just happens to be Lindsay’s partner. Working as the crime reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. She knows in this day and age - with internet news and bloggers - that she doesn’t have 100% job security. She needs to find that one big story that will make her stand out, and hopefully hold onto her job. She gets the inside scoop on reports of several women being found passed out near their homes, with no memory of the past several hours. Cindy uses her investigative skills and tracks down a lead that will put her in a very precarious position.

While each of the Murder Club women works her own case they offer their own brand of expertise to each other. They each have their own worries, both professional and personal. But they are always there to help and support each other. They are each others best friends.

My issues with 10^th Anniversary are relatively minor. Lindsay, Yuki, and Cindy each have strong, independent stories, but we get only glimpse of Claire. Yes, she had a baby not too long ago, and may be shying away from trouble for now, but I wish we had seen more of her. I also found it confusing that there was a second, albeit minor character, named Cyndi. Granted the spelling is different, but it can be confusing to the reader. I think with any character in a book, we develop a picture in our minds of what we think each character looks like. With the Women’s Murder Club having been a TV show, the images of Angie Harmon as Lindsay have stuck in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I love Angie Harmon, but now she is the only face I see. And she wasn’t necessarily what I pictured Lindsay to look like originally. This isn’t the authors doing, obviously, but those of you who watched the show may have a similar issue.

10^th Anniversary is typical James Patterson ~ short chapters, fast-paced storylines, familiar characters and cases that aren’t easily solved. He realizes that, at this point, everyone is probably familiar with the women of the Murder Club and doesn’t bother the reader with too much repetitive info on their pasts. James Patterson & Maxine Paetro do a great job of combining mystery, intensity, love, friendship, and suspense in this latest edition of the Murder Club series. While most may look at this book as a typical James Patterson mystery, I see beyond that, to what to me is the core of this story. The deep, unrelenting friendship that these four women share. A friendship that has survived death, kidnapping, dating your BFF’s boss, and whatever else gets thrown at them. Looking forward to when they celebrate their 20^th anniversary.

About the authors ~

James Patterson has had more New York Times
bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977, James Patterson's books have sold more than 205 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Mr. Patterson also writes the bestselling Women's Murder Club novels, set in San Francisco, and the top-selling New York detective series of all time, featuring Detective Michael Bennett. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Maxine Paetro is the author of three novels, two works of nonfiction, and the coauthor of seven books with James Patterson. She lives in New York with her husband.

Other books in the Women's Murder Club Series ~

FTC Full Disclosure ~ I received this book from the publisher in hopes of an honest review.

Virtual Tour ~ Therese Fowler

2011-05-03T06:26:00.000-04:00

In an early review of Exposure, the reviewer said I’d done a brave thing in writing a story that was inspired by my own son’s arrest for what the media have dubbed a sexting crime. That word, brave, took me by surprise. Writing the novel had been necessary. It had been frightening. I didn’t—and still don’t—feel I’d done anything brave.

I’d been working on a different book when my son, who had just turned nineteen, told me a warrant for his arrest was being issued. That book was under contract, so although life became very complicated very quickly, I felt bound to keep working and meet my deadline—but I struggled with it; the story just wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do.

A few months after my son’s arrest, months in which his lawyer had urged us to stay silent about what was going on, the idea for Exposure came to me. I’m certain it grew from my horror and frustration with what was going on, and the effects events had on my son and on our family. I asked my son what he thought about my writing a novel inspired by the situation, and he was fully supportive. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.

In some ways, the writing came easily because the scenario was so familiar and so close. In other ways it was hard, because even though Exposure is entirely fictional—the story inside the book is not my son’s, nor mine—I knew I was putting my son and myself in a position where we would be judged. All the while, though, I was telling myself, Think of what books can do.

I grew up being influenced by novels, and I fully believe in the power of story. Whether invented or true, stories have been the vehicles of lessons and warnings and inspiration for as long as humans have had the means to tell them.

So to craft a novel that might prevent even one person, one family, from having to face a similar or worse crisis was not, to me, a brave act. It was an opportunity to tell a story that reminds us all, “To err is human”--which is especially true when deep emotions are involved. I felt obligated to set aside the other book and write this one, to give you Anthony and Amelia and Harlan and Kim, all well-meaning people whose actions and choices add up to a cautionary tale that I hope will give you, at the very least, many hours of good reading.

Everyone in Exposure makes mistakes—as we all have done at times, and no doubt will do again. It’s what happens afterwards that makes all the difference.

About the author ~

Therese Fowler is the author of Souvenir and Reunion. She has worked in the U.S. Civil Service, managed a clothing store, lived in the Philippines, had children, sold real estate, earned a B.A. in sociology, sold used cars, returned to school for her M.F.A. in creative writing, and taught college undergrads about literature and fiction writing—roughly in that order. With books published in nine languages and sold worldwide, Fowler writes full-time from her home in Wake Forest, North Carolina, which she shares with her husband, four amiable cats, and four nearly grown-up sons.

Visit Therese's website

Like Therese on Facebook

Follow Therese on Twitter

Email her ~ therese.fowler AT gmail DOT com

Her latest book ~

Exposure: A Novel

In EXPOSURE, Therese Fowler has written her most gripping novel to date—a ripped-from-the-headlines story of intense young love and a nightmarish legal maelstrom that threatens to destroy two families.

Amelia Wilkes’ strict father does not allow her to date, but that doesn’t stop the talented, winsome high school senior from carrying on a secret romance with her classmate, Anthony Winter. Desperately in love, the two envision a life together and plan to tell Amelia’s parents when she turns eighteen and is legally an adult. Anthony’s mother, Kim Winter, who teaches at their school, knows—and keeps—their secret. But the couple’s passion is exposed sooner than planned: Amelia’s father, Harlan, is shocked and infuriated to find naked pictures of Anthony on his daughter’s computer. Just hours later, Anthony is arrested.

Despite Amelia’s frantic protests, Harlan uses his wealth and influence with local law enforcement and the media to label Anthony a deviant who preyed on his innocent daughter. Spearheaded by a zealous prosecutor anxious to turn the case into a public crusade against “sexting,” the investigation soon takes an even more disturbing and destructive turn.

As events spiral wildly out of control and the scandalous story makes national news, Amelia and Anthony risk everything in a bold and dangerous plan to clear their names and end the madness once and for all.

A captivating page-turner, Therese Fowler’s EXPOSURE is also a deftly crafted, provocative, and timely novel that serves as a haunting allegory of the consequences of love in the modern age.

Release date ~ TODAY!!!!!

Read an excerpt ~

Nine hours before the police arrived, Anthony Winter stood, barefooted and wild, on the narrow front porch of the house he shared with his mother. The painted wooden planks were damp and cool beneath his feet, but he hardly noticed. In his right hand he held a fallen maple leaf up to a sun that was just breaking the horizon. In his left he held his phone. He squinted at the leaf, marveling at its deep blood-orange color, amazed and happy that nature could make such a thing from what had, only a few weeks earlier, been emerald green, and before that, deep lime, and before that, a tight, tiny bundle of a bud on a spindly limb, waving in a North Carolina spring breeze. He’d always been an observant person; he hadn’t always been so romantic. It was Amelia. She brought it out in him. She brought it out in everybody.

Amelia’s voice, when she answered his call, was lazy with sleep. It was a Monday, her day to sleep a little later than she could the rest of the week. Tuesday through Friday, she rose at five to get homework done before her three-mile run, which came before the 8:50 start of their Ravenswood Academy school day. At 3:00 pm was dance—ballet, modern, jazz—then voice lessons twice a week at five; often there was some play’s rehearsal after that, and then, if her eyelids weren’t drooping like the dingy shades in her voice teacher’s living room, she might start on her homework. But more often she would sneak out of her astonishing house to spend a stolen hour with him. With Anthony. The man (she loved to call him that, now that he’d turned eighteen) with whom she intended to spend all of her future life, and then, if God was good to them, eternity to follow.

Seeing Amelia and Anthony together, you would never have guessed they were destined for anything other than a charmed future, and possibly greatness. Perhaps Amelia had, as her father was fond of saying, emerged from the womb coated in stardust. And maybe it was also true what Anthony’s mother claimed: that her son had been first prize in the Cosmic lottery, and she’d won. They were, separately, well-tended and adored. Together, they were a small but powerful force of nature. Love makes that of people, sometimes.
That morning, nine hours and perhaps five minutes before his arrest, Anthony stood on the narrow front porch with a leaf and a phone in his chilly hands. Amelia was saying, “I dreamt of us,” in a suggestive voice that stirred him, inside and out. He heard his mother coming downstairs, so he pulled the front door closed. Unlike the rest of his school’s faculty, she knew about Amelia and him; in her way, she approved. Still, he preferred to keep his conversations private. There were certain things even an approving mother wouldn’t want to hear. Certain things he absolutely did not want her to know.

Therese's other books ~

Souvenir: A novel by the author of Reunion

Reunion: A Novel

Visit Therese on the rest of her virtual tour ~

Wednesday, May 4
Book reviewed at My Reading Room
Thursday, May 5
Guest blogging at Review from Here
Monday, May 9
Book reviewed at A Musing Reviews
Tuesday, May 10
Interviewed at Paperback Writer
Wednesday, May 11
Book reviewed at Teresa’s Reading Corner
Thursday, May 12
Book spotlighted and giveaway at The Book Connection
Friday, May 13
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Book reviewed at Colloquium
Monday, May 16
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, May 17
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Book reviewed at Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, May 18
Book reviewed at WV Stitcher
Guest blogging and giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Thursday, May 19
Book reviewed at Bookworm Hollow
Book reviewed at Great Thoughts
Book reviewed at The Review Stew
Friday, May 20
Book reviewed at Reading Frenzy
Monday, May 23
Book reviewed at StephTheBookworm
Tuesday, May 24
Book reviewed by Ohio Girl Talks
Wednesday, May 25
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book!
Thursday, May 26
Book reviewed at Marianslibrary’s Blog
Friday, May 27
Book reviewed and giveaway at A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Mailbox Monday ~ May 2nd

2011-05-02T06:10:00.000-04:00

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci (Netgalley) ~ Edgar Roy-an alleged serial killer held in a secure, fortress-like Federal Supermax facility-is awaiting trial. He faces almost certain conviction. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in by Roy's attorney, Sean's old friend and mentor Ted Bergin, to help work the case. But their investigation is derailed before it begins-en route to their first meeting with Bergin, Sean and Michelle find him murdered. It is now up to them to ask the questions no one seems to want answered: Is Roy a killer? Who murdered Bergin? With help from some surprising allies, they continue to pursue the case. But the more they dig into Roy's past, the more they encounter obstacles, half-truths, dead-ends, false friends, and escalating threats from every direction. Their persistence puts them on a collision course with the highest levels of the government and the darkest corners of power. In a terrifying confrontation that will push Sean and Michelle to their limits, the duo may be permanently parted.

A Serving of Scandal. Prue Leith by Prue Leith (NetGalley) ~ Kate McKinnon is thirty-six and mother to five-year-old Toby. She has a small but thriving business catering for private clients. Her life is on an even keel. That is, until she gets a job cooking lunch at the Foreign Office and has her first fateful meeting with Oliver Stapler, Secretary of State. He's powerful and charismatic, but also married and a father and totally out of bounds, yet she falls for him. When a journalist spots them together, he alerts the gutter press. Who cares whether Kate's affair with Oliver is true or not? It's a great story and will shift a ton of newspapers - and destroy several lives in the process.

Guilty as Sin (A Jaywalker Case) by Joseph Teller (NetGalley) ~ Did career criminal Alonzo Barnett, in and out of prison since age fifteen, commit the latest drug deal he’s accused of? Yup, he’s guilty as charged. But is he guilty as sin? That‘s the question criminal defense attorney Harrison J. Walker, the maverick known as Jaywalker, has to answer as he takes the court-appointed case. As Jaywalker is well aware, one wrong move, even for the right reason, can derail your life— and land an otherwise redeemed ex-con back in the slammer for years. Up against a team of prosecutors—one a talented, ethical newcomer, the other a sleazy, tightfisted veteran—Jaywalker has almost nothing on his side. Except his unshakable belief in his client…and the very real possibility of redemption for them both. Release date ~ June 21st

Among the Departed: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery by Vicki Delaney (Review/ARC) ~

Fifteen years ago a young girl by the name of Moonlight Smith went to her best friend Nicky Nowak’s house for a sleepover. Moonlight joined the family for breakfast the following morning and was then picked up by her mother. Shortly after, Mr. Nowak went for a walk. He was never seen again. Autumn has arrived on the mountains above Trafalgar, B.C., and the promise of winter is in the air. Constable Molly Smith is cuddled by the fireplace with Adam Tocek of the RCMP when Tocek and his dog Norman are called to a wilderness camping ground to join the search for a little boy who snuck away from his family looking for bears. The child is found, dirty, terrified, weeping, but unharmed. Then the inquisitive Norman digs up something else: human bones. The ID isn’t positive, but it is enough to have Sergeant John Winters of the Trafalgar City Police pulling old boxes from the basement to re-open the Brian Nowak investigation. He finds a family shattered beyond recognition by the disappearance of their husband and father. Mrs. Nowak is an empty shell of a woman, dressed in pajamas, never leaving the house. Her son Kyle haunts the streets of Trafalgar at night and spends his days creating beautiful, but highly troubling, art. Nicky Nowak lives in Vancouver and has grown up to be gorgeous, charming, elegant. Yet behind that facade lies a woman whose heart has closed so tightly against human relationships she comes to Trafalgar trailing in her wake a terrifying threat to another innocent family. As the investigation into the life and disappearance of Brian Nowak grows, old secrets are brought to light and new ones struggle to remain hidden.

Eve by Iris Johansen (Kindle) ~ Eve Duncan's mission in life is to bring closure to the families who have experienced the agony of a missing child. As a forensic sculptor, she is able to piece together bones, create a face, and bring an identity to a child who would have otherwise gone unidentified...maybe forever. Eve is brilliant, and driven, and tormented--because her own daughter, Bonnie, was taken from her years ago. And Eve has never discovered what happened to her. But now a name from the past resurfaces, thanks to CIA agent Catherine Ling who knows all too well what it's like to lose a child. After teaming up with Agent Ling to find her missing son, Eve and Catherine share a bond forged by their mutual pain. Now, Catherine challenges Eve with a name: John Gallo. A man from Eve's past. A man, seemingly raised from the dead, whose whereabouts are unknown. Could Gallo be the missing piece to the puzzle that has haunted Eve for years? Why was he in Atlanta just before Bonnie's disappearance? With a brilliant narrative that goes back to Eve Duncan's early life, exploring her history and motivations like no other novel before, Eve reveals long-guarded secrets and is guaranteed to leave Johansen fans panting for more--soon to come in Quinn .

Evil Eclairs: A Donut Shop Mystery (Donut Shop Mysteries) by Jessica Beck (Review) ~

Donut shop owner Suzanne Hart admits her sweet treats don’t exactly qualify as health food. But does she really deserve to be labeled a “killer” by local radio jockey Lester Moorefield? The annoying host is urging citizens to boycott Suzanne’s “deadly dough” factory—until he’s found dead himself, stuffed with one of Suzanne’s éclairs…Everyone in April Springs knows about the feud between Lester and Suzanne, which makes her the number-one suspect. She tries to use the donut defense—donuts don’t kill people, people kill people—but that cream-filled éclair at the scene of the crime has the whole town filled with suspicion. If Suzanne can’t figure out who killed the radio star, she’ll soon be filling a prison cell instead of a pastry…

Disturbed by Kevin O'Brien (Kindle) ~ Deceptive The houses in Willow Tree Court are sleek and modern--the kind designed to harbor happy families and laughing children. No one would guess the secrets that lurk beyond the neat lawns and beautiful facades. Depraved Molly Dennehy is trying to fit in to her new surroundings, though her neighbors are clearly loyal to her husband's ex-wife. But that's the least of Molly's worries. Her stepson's school has been rocked by a brutal slaying, and a psychopath known as the Cul-de-Sac Killer is murdering families in Seattle homes. Homes just like Molly's. Disturbed With each passing day, Molly grows more convinced that someone is watching her family, someone consumed with rage and vengeance. On this quiet road, a nightmare has been unleashed, and the trail of terror will lead right to her door. . .

A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner (Review) ~ In this absorbing debut novel of suspense, a young and idealistic attorney’s gamble with the truth becomes a shattering game of secrets and lies. . . .
Alex Miller is a criminal defense attorney and, at thirty-five, the youngest partner in one of the most powerful law firms in New York City. He’s a man at the top of his game with the life he’s always dreamed of, complete with a loving wife, who remains patient with his long hours and high-stakes cases, and a beautiful young daughter. At his father’s funeral, Alex meets Michael Ohlig—a mysterious and nearly mythic figure in the Miller family history—who presents Alex with a surprising request: to represent him in a high-profile criminal investigation . . . an alleged brokerage scam that has lost hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. Wealthy beyond words, Ohlig insists he’s done nothing wrong, and Alex, who’s experienced enough to know that clients always lie, uncharacteristically believes him.But as the facts come out, shocking secrets are revealed that threaten everything Alex believes in—about the law, his family, and himself. But his desperate need for the truth propels Alex to unscrupulous depths, and to confront a past defined by deception and a future in jeopardy . . . with the realization that one false step could destroy everything Alex holds dear. In an electrifying debut, the likes of which legal thriller fans have not seen since Scott Turow’s pulse-pounding thriller Presumed Innocent, Adam Mitzner tells a stunning story of suspense that heralds a bold new voice in fiction. Release date ~ May 17th

Odd Jobs by Ben Lieberman (Review) ~ Ten years ago, Kevin Davenport's life was rocked after witnessing the murder of his father. It's tough enough growing up without a father, but now there's not enough money to support himself, his mother and college tuition. But Kevin doesn't give up so easily. He never gets the luxury of a "normal job" and is always on the hustle. And this time is no different. He finds himself working in the corrupt Kosher World Meat Factory, a gritty business controlled by a crime syndicate and filled with a bizarre cast of characters who start turning up dead. Things are never as they seem as Kevin begins to get a little too involved in the lives of hardened criminals. Soon enough, he finds himself in a battle for his life.

Burning Skies by Caris Roane (Review) ~ A vampire warrior in exile, Marcus Amargi resists the call to return to the ranks of the Guardians who fight the death vamp armies. Here on Mortal Earth, Marcus has another battle on his hands—the seductive lure of Havily Morgan. The woman meant for him. Whose blood he craves. The one who comes to him in dreams—and demands his surrender…A beautiful immortal with extraordinary powers, Havily lives in the realm of Second Earth but, in her fantasies, yearns for her winged lover Marcus. Soon, their bond will be put to the ultimate test. When their bloodthirsty enemies set the night on fire with sky-blazing weapons, Marcus and Havily must unite body and soul, to unleash the full power of their passion—and fight fire with fire…

Cloudy With A Chance Of Marriage (The Impossible Bachelors) by Kieran Kramer (Review) ~ Every woman dreams of saying “I do.” Jilly Jones did—and years of a deeply imperfect marriage followed. Now living in London and working in a charming bookshop, the free-spirited Jilly is perfectly content with her newfound independence…until she meets a dashing naval officer who sparks her longing for a real happily ever after.Captain Stephen Arrow is just home after years of service, and he’s in no hurry to give up his hard-won freedom. The meddlesome bluestocking Jilly Jones is exactly the kind of woman he doesn’t need…But there’s something about her that keeps drawing Stephen back to the bookshop. With her sparkling wit and understated beauty, she seems like a surprisingly real match for Stephen. But will a scandalous chapter in Jilly’s past stand in the way of their heated attraction? For this bachelor, nothing is impossible…

Untamed Highlander: A Dark Sword Novel by Donna Grant (Review) ~ Druid-born and magic-blessed, Isla is one of the deadliest she-devils ever to serve the forces of darkness. As an immortal Highland warrior, it’s up to Hayden Campbell to destroy her and her kind. But for Hayden, Isla is more than a sworn enemy. She is temptation…Taking Isla captive, Hayden hopes to avenge his kinsmen who died by Druid magic. But when he looks into Isla’s eyes, he sees the secrets of her past. When he touches her skin, he feels the passion in her soul. And soon Hayden comes to realize that this beautiful, beguiling woman is not his enemy at all—she is his destiny. And, even as the forces of darkness conspire against them, their love will conquer all…

Review ~ The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

2011-04-28T06:02:00.000-04:00

The Fifth Witness
Author ~ Michael Connelly
Publisher ~ Little, Brown & Co
Publication Date ~ April 5, 2011

About the book ~

In tough times, crime is one of the few things that still pays, but if defense attorney Mickey Haller was expecting an uptick in business during the economic downturn, the reality is a different story. Even people needing legal representation to keep them out of jail are having to make cutbacks, it seems. In fact, the most significant part of Mickey's business right now is not about keeping clients out of jail but about keeping a roof over their heads, as the foreclosure boom hits thousands of people who were granted unrealistic mortgages in the good times and now face being kicked to the curb in the bad times.

Lisa Trammel has been a client of Mickey's for eight months — his very first foreclosure case, in fact — and although so far he's managed to stop the bank from taking her house, the strain and sense of injustice have taken a toll. The bank recently got a restraining order to prevent her from protesting against their practices. Now, a high level bank employee, Mitchell Bondurant, has been found dead in the bank's parking lot and Lisa is about to be indicted for murder.

For Mickey, it's back to what he does best on the biggest stage of all, but if he thought defending Lisa Trammel was going to be a walk in the park, he'd be wrong. Not only is he about to learn some startling truths about his client, but also about himself, and by the time the verdict is in, Mickey's whole world will have been turned upside down.

My thoughts ~

Favorite line from the book ~ "I was thinking of going to Matthew McConaughey with this. He'd be excellent. But who do YOU think could play you?" -- A producer asking Mickey Haller

The criminal cases may have dried up, but there is no shortage of legal work for Mickey Haller. With the economy the way it is, handling foreclosure cases is where the business is these days. Although he has no shortage of clients, they aren’t the clients he would like to have. His heart still belongs in criminal law. But you have to work with what you have. The one good thing is, in traveling from client to client, he works out of his favorite office – the back of his Lincoln.

Lisa Trammel used to have it all: the beautiful home, the devoted husband, and the darling child. Now she is at her wits end. Her husband has left her, she is a single mother supporting her young son, and she is about to lose her beautiful house to foreclosure. She firmly believes that something is amiss and hires Mickey Haller to save her house, hoping he will find some sort of loop-hole, manipulation, or illegal action that can stop this insane action. In her anger, despair, and frustration Lisa starts a group to fight against the injustices of foreclosures. She pushes things a bit to far and ends up with a restraining order against her, barring her from going within one hundred feet of the bank that holds her mortgage.

Mitchell Bonderant is in charge of the mortgage department and deals with foreclosures on a daily basis. He certainly has his hands full, with thousands of people defaulting on their mortgages and facing the loss of their homes. But he also has his own demons to face, holes he has dug for himself that he needs to get out of quickly. Lisa Trammel is not the only one who has issue with Mitchell.

Then Mitchell is found dead in the parking garage of the bank, his head bashed in, and his briefcase open. Is this a random robbery/murder or has Mitchell crossed the wrong person? When eye-witness reports put Lisa within a block of the bank, she is soon arrested for his murder. She vehemently denies her innocence. However, there is some definitive evidence of her guilt and some circumstantial. The question is how reliable is any of it? Now Mickey goes from foreclosure lawyer to defense lawyer, returning him to the place he loves almost as much as the backseat of his Lincoln – the courtroom.

Mickey quickly puts his team to work: Cisco, the hard-hitting, investigator, Lorna, an ex and extremely efficient secretary, and Bullocks, his fresh-out-of-law-school associate. Together they work to wade through all of the evidence in an all-out effort to clear their client. It’s not an easy battle though. Mickey is up again a tough-as-nails prosecutor, an annoying, “manager-type” that seems to weasel his way into Lisa’s life and the case, and an every-growing mountain of evidence against his client. And there is nothing that will stand in his way from providing his client with the best defense possible, not even the threats, or the beat-down he takes.

Step by step, Mickey and his team work through the evidence. Disputing virtually everything the prosecution brings to the table taking us all the way to the stunning, didn’t-see-that-coming conclusion. Michael Connelly deals with an issue that is on the forefront of everyone’s mine today – foreclosures. With the economy struggling, this is something that millions of people are dealing with. He does a great job of explaining things in such a simple manner, that even those not completely familiar with how the process works will be able to understand. It’s great to see the struggles that Mickey continues to have in his relationships with his exes, the growth that Bullock shows as the new associate, and to have Mickey return to the back seat of his Lincoln. The Fifth Witness has more twists and turns than a Halloween maze. Michael Connellly will take you for a ride you will never forget.

Other books in the Mickey Haller series ~

The Lincoln Lawyer

The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Mickey Haller & Harry Bosch)

The Reversal (Mickey Haller & Harry Bosch)

About the author ~

     Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
     After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler,
had written.
     After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly followed up with three more Bosch books, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, and The Last Coyote, before publishing The Poet in 1996—a thriller with a newspaper reporter as a protagonist. In 1997, he went back to Bosch with Trunk Music, and in 1998 another non-series thriller, Blood Work, was published. It was inspired in part by a friend's receiving a heart transplant and the attendant "survivor's guilt" the friend experienced, knowing that someone died in order that he have the chance to live. Connelly had been interested and fascinated by those same feelings as expressed by the survivors of the plane crash he wrote about years before. The movie adaptation of Blood Work was released in 2002, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.
     Connelly's next book, Angels Flight, was released in 1999 and was another entry in the Harry Bosch series. The non-series novel Void Moon was released in 2000 and introduced a new character, Cassie Black, a high-stakes Las Vegas thief. His 2001 release, A Darkness More Than Night, united Harry Bosch with Terry McCaleb from Blood Work, and was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Los Angeles Times.
     In 2002, Connelly released two novels. The first, the Harry Bosch book City Of Bones, was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. The second release was a stand-alone thriller, Chasing The Dime, which was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Los Angeles Times.
     Lost Light was published in 2003 and named one of the Best Books of 2003 by the Los Angeles Times. It is another in the Harry Bosch series but the first written in first person. To celebrate its release, Michael produced the limited edition jazz CD, Dark Sacred Night, The Music Of Harry Bosch. This CD is a compilation of the jazz music mentioned in the Bosch novels and was given away to his readers on Michael's 2003 book tour.
     Connelly's 2004 novel, The Narrows, is the sequel to The Poet. It was named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Los Angeles Times. To accompany this Harry Bosch novel, Little, Brown and Company Publishers released a limited edition DVD, Blue Neon Night: Michael Connelly's Los Angeles. In this film, Michael Connelly provides an insider's tour of the places that give his stories and characters their spark and texture.
      His 11th Harry Bosch novel, The Closers, was published in May 2005, and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The Lincoln Lawyer, Connelly's first-ever legal thriller and his 16th novel, was published in October 2005 and also debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. This book introduced Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles defense attorney who works out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car. The movie adaptation, starring Matthew McConaughey as Haller, was released in 2011. This is the second film adapted from a Connelly novel.
     Crime Beat, a non-fiction collection of crime stories from Michael's days as a journalist, was released in 2006, as was the Harry Bosch novel, Echo Park, released in October 2006. The Overlook, Michael's 18th novel, was originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine. This Harry Bosch story was published as a book with additional material in May 2007.
     Michael's 19th novel, The Brass Verdict, was released in October 2008, and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It introduces Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller to LAPD Detective Harry Bosch in a fast-paced legal thriller. Michael's 20th novel, The Scarecrow, was first released in May 2009, and reunites reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI Agent Rachel Walling for the first time since The Poet. It too debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Michael released a second book in 2009, the 15th Harry Bosch novel, Nine Dragons. In this story, Bosch goes to Hong Kong to find his missing daughter. It is the most personal Bosch story since The Last Coyote.
     In October 2010, The Reversal was released and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. This book has Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch working together on the high-profile retrial of a brutal child murder. The Fifth Witness, a Mickey Haller novel, was released in April 2011.
     Connelly's books have been translated in 36 languages and have won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho award (Spain) .
     Michael was the President of the Mystery Writers of America organization in 2003 and 2004. In addition to his literary work, Michael was one of the creators, writers, and consulting producers of Level 9, a TV show about a task force fighting cyber crime, that ran on UPN in the Fall of 2000.
     Michael lives with his family in Florida.

FTC Full Disclosure ~ The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in the hopes I would review it.