Linked :Book Tour: Book Review

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By:: Judy Serrano

Publisher:: Black Rose Writing 
Pages:: 264 
Price:: $17.95
ISBN:: 978-1612962177
Type:: Suspense/Thriller with a Twist
Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble


About the Book::

Daphne Foster is a substitute teacher stuck in an English class, waiting for that dreaded parent-teacher conference. With much preparation and anxiety, she encounters the unforgettable Charlie Cross. His charm and good looks, win her over but rumors of his involvement with organized crime make his continued disappearances disturbing.

In walks Heathcliff Vanderpool, creating a love triangle of unusual sorts. Unknown to Daphne, Heathcliff and Charlie are old friends: Older than she could have imagined. With Charlie away on business, Daphne and Heathcliff discover a passion between them lying beneath the surface. As their souls link, pulling away from Charlie becomes next to impossible. Will his involvement in organized crime consume them both before she’s able to get free? When you become “linked,” the choice may not be your own.

My Thoughts::
Charlie is a man that has lived many, many years - However he is not a man. Charlie is a Vampire that is sweet charming and is in love with Daphne a substitute teacher that is teaching English  He is a organized crime boss and she knows it but she is falling for the man at first. When Charlie leaves for a business trip, she meets Heathcliff and starts to fall in love with him more then Charlie. She does not know that the two guys because they are both from another world. Charlie being a vampire and Heathcliff being a werewolf they have crossed paths before in their life times. With Charlie loving Daphne, will he let her go so she can be with Heathcliff or will he fight for her? You have to check out link to find out what happens next. 

 

Author Bio:Judy Serrano graduated from Texas A&M University, Commerce with a BA in English. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and Dallas Area Romance Authors. She is a substitute teacher at the local school district and writes for various on-line publications. She is the author of Easter’s Lilly, Brother Number Three, Relatively Close andMemoirs of a Mobster, which are romantic thrillers and part of The Easter’s Lilly Series.

Judy currently resides in Texas with her husband, four children (all boys) and five dogs. She is also a singer/songwriter in her spare time.

Author web links:

WEBSITE: www.JudySerrano.com
BLOG : www.JudySerranoAuthor.com
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/#!/authorjserrano
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/JudySerranoAuthor?ref=ts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4792103.Judy_Serrano

FTC:: This post was written for CM Booktours, who provided the complimentary product in exchange for my honest review.

Legacy of a Dreamer :: Book Tour :: Review

Legacy of a Dreamer 

Series #1

by Allie Jean

Publisher::
Pages:: 170
Price:: $17.99
ISBN:: 978-1612130408
Type:: YA

About the Book::

Chantal Breelan is a ward of the state, living under the care of a woman who is cold and heartless. Her past is a mystery, and her future is even more uncertain. She can’t recall why she had been taken from her parents and so she’s left with nothing but an empty hole where her childhood should have been. When she awakens from her nightmares, she’s left with terrible, violent images, as well as a boy whose face is oddly familiar, yet can’t be placed.

Scared and alone, Chantal begins to confide in an imaginary friend – a shadow in the shape of a man who stands in the corner of her room. She is comforted when she believes he listens to her.

On her eighteenth birthday, Chantal is forced to leave her foster home. She moves to New York City, but the start of her new life doesn’t begin as smoothly as she’d hoped. In this environment, she faces a whole new set of challenges.

One night at a subway station, Chantal meets a young boy who runs away from her, and she’s compelled to follow him down into the tunnels. But this Rabbit Hole reveals a world where reality is a nightmare. Her dreams are clues to her future, and her life becomes twisted and dangerous when she learns that things that go bump in the night are not just in fairy tales and childhood stories.

Author Bio:

Allie Jean was born with an overactive imagination. She spent her childhood inventing stories and telling tales. Her mind never shut down, even while she slept. Vivid dreams containing extensive, elaborate plot lines of good overcoming evil villains captured her nightly visions, lingering into her waking hours and filling the pages of her well-loved bounded diaries. She was encouraged by her parents, even at a young age, to write down her tales, and it has remained a somewhat secret hobby. As a busy wife, mother and critical care nurse, Allie’s love of storytelling has been reborn through the adventures of her unforgettable characters.

Author Links:

Website: http://Alliejean.net

About.Me: http://about.me/allie.jean
TWCS: http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/authors/detail/35
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoralliejean

G+ https://plus.google.com/101294245386992637315/posts

Twitter: @AllieJeanDS

My Thoughts::

The Legacy of a Dreamer is about a young girls journey of finding out about herself and what she does not know. Chantal has been a foster care child since a young age, having nightmares for as long as she can remember. Chantal finds comfort in her long time friend that stands in the shadows that is a imaginary friend she has with her always. This imaginary friend that she has never came out of the shadows until she moved all the way to New York right before her 18th birthday. Chantal found out what the darkness holds and who she really is. As well as what the shadows that are around her.

Chantal find that her guardian-angle-imaginary-friend also can come out of the shadows and come to her aid when she misses the train and is in the face of danger. With Chantal being a very strong woman she finds her counter part Mathias a warrior that comes to her aid with feeling pure and is real. This is not something that comes along very often for him and is unsure what to do about them.

FTC:: This post was written for CM Books, who provided the complimentary product in exchange for my honest review.

(Book Tour) Epsilon A. R Book Review

Title: Epsilon A.R
Author: Zackery Alexander Humphreys
Genre: Sci-Fi

Buy Links:
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612961649/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d2_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0F5EP63TP56TBXB61S4G&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470939031&pf_rd_i=507846
Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/epsilon-ar-zackery-alexander-humphreys/1114171830?ean=9781612961644

Book Description:
Hundreds of years into the future mankind has gone under-ground to relocate to Epsilon; a beautiful city run by a strong, secretive government that keeps its citizens in check by subtle manipulation and strict schedules. No one questions the city's authority and no one is unhappy. ALN-896, an average man who is just trying to live a normal life, begins to have dreams; something strange and rare in Epsilon. In his dreams a man named Harry dies. ALN-896 shrugs this off as if nothing has happened. It was only a dream. The next day, however, he is suddenly arrested and sent to prison for killing Harry. Now inside prison, ALN-896 begins to learn about what the government of Epsilon has been doing and he plans on escaping. Not only from prison, but from Epsilon. This one decision turns him against everything he has ever known and forces him to face against centuries of lies. To escape means to live, but what will it cost?

Author Bio:
Zackery Humphreys is 21 years old and is currently attending the University of California, Santa Barbara studying Theater Acting. He has been writing for about seven years, mostly concentrating on poetry and novels. He has a love for books and for storytelling. Now, through his writing, he is hoping to bring those two worlds together.

Author Links:
Blog: http://www.zackeryhumphreys.blogspot.com
Facebook: (Author Page) http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zackery-Alexander-Humphreys/370275879738503
(Book Page): http://www.facebook.com/EpsilonAR
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Zhumphreys

My Thoughts:

This is a book I would like to see made as a movie, it had everything I enjoy from a book and a lot more. I liked Alan’s character, although at the start he was exactly the same as everybody else in Epsilon. He started being really likable in the prison, claiming his innocence but the after lots of epic dreams he starts doubting his innocence. I was glad the woman in the pink polka dot dress was explained and she wasn’t just a person that died in a fire.
The book was intense especially when the gruesome games of death at the prison happened and the prison officers would think nothing of killing a prisoner just because they could.

Fantastic book, well written and a joy to read.

4 stars out of 5

{Book Tour} Magic, Monsters, and Mischief: A guest post from fantasy author S. M. Boyce

Hey guys! I’m S. M. Boyce (call me Boyce)—fantasy author of the young adult Grimoire Saga. I’ve been invited over to chat about the top 5 creatures & artifacts from my series that I wish were real.

To start off, here’s the book description for Lichgates (Grimorie Saga #1). It’ll give you a feel for the series and its world, Ourea:

Cosmic Blast Giveaway Sign Ups

  Sign Ups end on Friday 15th February HTML sent 16th Feb (Copy & Paste)

$25 Amazon GC & 5 Kindle ebook copies Giveaway

 

Zoe & Zak and the Ghost Leopard

Imagine you're totally lost in a strange city with no idea where you are and no way home.

Now imagine that elephants and snake charmers start telling you that you've been chosen to save the world.  

Would you even believe them? What would you do?

{Book Tour} Dangerous Past - book excerpt

Dangerous Past By A. F. Ebbers  

About the book:

An airline captain and his wife are being stalked by professional assassins who have a deadline to kill him and make it look like an accident or suicide. The couple doesn’t know why they are being targeted. Little by little they are pulled into a dangerous web of intrigue by a murderous criminal network who offers the pilot his wife’s life if he will concede to their demands.  

Dangerous Past is a story of a man who must choose between doing what ought to be done or keeping his family alive by allowing a murderous and powerful VIP to escape his past.

Ruby's World by Karen Baldwin

 

Karen Baldwin's masterful memoir reads like a suspense thriller as this resolute American woman of "a certain age" journeys alone to South Africa to teach Zulu children. There she encounters a stunning resistance to change from those who invited her. Baldwin's writing is candid, taut and relentless, as waves of cultural tension build to an unforeseen crisis that tests her courage and strength. -Phaedra Greenwood, Award Winning Journalist Karen Baldwin, through raw, honest, and vibrant writing, shares her journey to teach children in South Africa. Her good intentions are met by strong traditions and a real Africa-not an illusion or romanticized world-where nothing is wasted and there is little personal space. Baldwin's journey reveals the similarities in Zulu and American families' joys, pain, deception and love. -Dr. Andrea M. Heckman, PhD, Cultural Anthropologist, University of New Mexico An extraordinary story, beautifully told. Baldwin's account of her adventure in Africa is honest, moving, frequently funny, sometimes startling, and always compelling. This is a journey of faith, and it carries the reader along every twist and turn in that journey with remarkable clarity and grace. -Sean Murphy, Author, The Time of New Weather

Buy your copy today at Amazon! 

My Review

Karen Baldwin has written a wonderful memoir of her trip to South Africa.  I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to review this remarkable story and not just enjoy it, but also glean so much knowledge about the cultural differences.  I had the opportunity to experience something I'd most likely never have gotten to otherwise even glimpse at.  You felt everything Karen went through, as her heart broke for the way the Zulu culture treated their women, I felt her pain and ached as well.  I can't say enough about this book, Ms. Baldwin you are a very talented writer, words cannot express how blessed I feel having been given a glimpse into your life.  May God continue to bless you! 

About the Author

  

The author and global volunteer Karen Baldwin recently was appointed the Ambassador for the Rural Women’s Movement of South Africa working to obtain basic human rights for the women and children of South Africa. She’ll be speaking to the United Nations Commission hearings on the Status of Women with Sizani Ngubane, the executive director and founder of RWM early next year. Karen was recently interviewed by NBC affiliate, KOB in Albuquerque, NM. Airing September 18 - Link:http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2767979.shtml?cat=11121

Karen is a breast cancer and heart attack survivor (October Breast Cancer Awareness Month). These are the two deadliest killers of women. Karen took her surviving as a sign to help women and children prompting her trip to Africa. Her story is inspirational. 

 

Review written by Simone

Healing in the Hurting Places - Excerpt

Title: Healing in the Hurting Places
Author: Karen F. Riley
Genre: Healing/ Christian Living/ Self-Help
 Length: 224 pages
Format: Paperback and eBook
Publisher: Destiny Image
Release Date: August 16, 2011

Excerpt:

I attended a meeting where I felt prompted to share a story I had written about my abuse. Even though the forum did not relate to abuse, I felt it was important to share part of my journey with these folks, even though I didn’t realize why at the time. It seemed that God had a plan for that evening.

This was the first time I had written and read my story aloud. God gave me the courage to get through the difficult passages because the wound had not yet begun to heal. There were five women and two men in the room the night I shared my story. When I finished reading, there was silence.

It was unnerving. I had no idea what these people were thinking and that unhinged me a bit. But I drew confidence from the strength that God had given me to share and now that I had spoken the truth aloud, there was nothing more I could do. I couldn’t take back what I said.

But strangely enough, I didn’t want to. Releasing that story was very freeing and empowering in a way. And then one of the women sitting at the table said in a halting voice, “Thank you for sharing that. I was raped by my half-brother when I was twelve and you just gave me the courage to speak out.”

Thank you, God, I whispered. So this is why you wanted me to share my story with these folks. Now this woman knows she is not alone and can begin to heal.

I barely had time to think these thoughts when another woman at the table said, “My grandfather started abusing me when I was three. I barely remember that part because I was so young, but I was afraid to go to his house. And the abuse continued for years.”

I told those gathered there that my therapist had told me that one out of every three women are sexually abused. I added, “And you can see, right in this room, there are three of us out of five.”

From the other side of the table, another woman, looking down to avoid our eyes, said, “Make that four.” And she didn’t utter another word.

(From Healing in the Hurting Places by Karen F. Riley)

Trailer:

You can purchase Healing in the Hurting places from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Spy Lover Review

Welcome to Ever After PR's stop for The Spy Lover book tour presented by Charisma Media

                                                          Book Description: 

Thrust into the savagery of the Civil War, a Chinese immigrant serving in the Union Army, a nurse doubling as a spy for the North, and a one-armed Confederate cavalryman find their lives inextricably entwined.

Fleeing drought and famine in China, Johnny Tom arrives in America with dreams of becoming a citizen. Having survived vigilantes hunting “yellow dogs” and slave auction- blocks, Johnny is kidnapped from his Mississippi village by Confederate soldiers, taken from his wife and daughter, and forced to fight for the South. Eventually defecting to the Union side, he is promised American citizenship in exchange for his loyal services. But first Johnny must survive the butchery of battles and the cruelties inflicted on non-white soldiers.

Desperate to find Johnny, his daughter, Era, is enlisted as a spy. She agrees to work as a nurse at Confederate camps while scouting for the North. Amidst the unspeakable carnage of wounded soldiers, she finds solace in Warren Petticomb, a cavalryman who lost an arm at Shiloh. As devastation mounts in both armies, Era must choose where her loyalties lie—with her beloved father in the North, or with the man who passionately sustains her in the South.

A novel of extraordinary scope that will stand as a defining work on the Chinese immigrant experience, The Spy Lover is a paean to the transcendence of love and the resilience of the human spirit.

Review:
I am a huge fan of Kiana Davenport's novels and this one just makes me praise her more. 
The Spy Lover is a well researched book about the Civil War, but it focused around three main characters, one of which was a Chinese immigrant.
 I found myself with a multitude of emotions throughout the book. It was graphical but the was not a happy time, with many soldiers in POW camps, the brutality etc it was graphic but  I think Kiana did a great job in writing it with the full on approach as it made the book more believable.
The Spy Lover although fiction was based partly on an ancestor of Kiana's. 

Very well written, well thought out book and I would recommend this. 5/5

“An epic feminine saga!  Davenport’s prose is sharp and shining as a sword.”

¾Isabel Allende on Shark Dialogues

“Deeply Moving.  You can’t read Kiana Davenport without being transformed.”

¾Alice Walker on Song of the Exile

“A powerful and moving experience.”

¾The Washington Post on House of Many Gods”

                                          About The Author: 

Kiana Davenport is descended from a full-blooded Native Hawaiian mother, and a Caucasian father from Talladega, Alabama. Her father, Braxton Bragg Davenport, was a sailor in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Pearl Harbor, when he fell in love with her mother, Emma Kealoha Awaawa Kanoho Houghtailing. On her mother's side, Kiana traces her ancestry back to the first Polynesian settlers to the Hawaiian Islands who arrived almost two thousand years ago from Tahiti and the Tuamotu's. On her father's side, she traces her ancestry to John Davenport, the puritan clergyman who co-founded the American colony of New Haven, Connecticut in 1638.

Kiana is the author of the internationally best-selling novels, Shark Dialogues, Song Of The Exile, and House Of Many Gods. She is also the author of the collections, House Of Skin Prize-Winning Stories, and Cannibal Nights, Pacific Stories Volume II. Both have been Kindle bestsellers. She has just published her third collection, Opium Dreams, Pacific Stories, Volume III.

A graduate of the University of Hawaii, Kiana has been a Bunting Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Writer at Wesleyan University, and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Her short stories have won numerous O. Henry Awards, Pushcart Prizes, and the Best American Short Story Award, 2000. Her novels and short stories have been translated into twenty-one languages. She lives in New York City and Hawaii.

Available to purchase at Amazon and Barnes & Noble