A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke

The deeper the water, the darker the secrets

There were so many times I thought about telling you the truth, Eva. What stopped me was always the same thing…

When Eva’s husband Jackson tragically drowns, she longs to meet his estranged family. The journey takes her to Jackson’s brother’s doorstep on a remote Tasmanian island. As strange details about her husband’s past begin to emerge, memories of the man she married start slipping through her fingers like sand, as everything she ever knew and loved about him is thrown into question. Now she’s no longer sure whether it was Jackson she fell in love with – or someone else entirely…

The truth is, it was all a lie . . 

About The Author 

Lucy Clarke has a first class degree in English Literature, and is a passionate traveller and diarist.

She has worked as a presenter of social enterprise events and a creative writing workshop leader. Lucy is now a full-time novelist.
Her debut novel, The Sea Sisters (UK), was a Richard and Judy Summer 2013 Book Club choice, and was published in ten countries.
Lucy is married to James Cox, a professional windsurfer, and together they spend their winters travelling and their summers at their home on the south coast of England.

Lucy is represented by Greene & Heaton Literary Agency

http://www.lucy-clarke.com/

My Review:





I loved how this novel pulled me in, from the beginning to the end. I had to turn the page, read a little further, and know the answers! The setting of this book is first England, at the ragged coast, where you can feel the cold, and smell the freezing spray. Then a bit more exotic, we travel to Tasmania, where we do see the Dragon Horse Fish, which I’ve never heard of, but no Devils!
I can’t imagine all of the things that Eva, the main character in this story goes through, and we literally walk in her shoes. We travel on the plane and are there with her first meeting with Jackson, we are there with the frantic search of the coast, hoping beyond hope for his survival. Never expecting all that is about to come, and never remembering the old saying about deceiving and the tangled web we weave.
We go with Eva as she does her first and subsequent free dives, you’ll feel the water flowing by your body, and your breath about to explode, as it craves air. I could almost feel the peace she felt and she was down there in that magic world. Above on the land were all the hurts and unraveling secrets, dealing with death, and finding out more and more. How could you be so deceived? Easily?
As you go through this book you are not going to want to put it down, and when it ended, I still wanted more.

I received this book from the Publisher Touchstone Books, and was not required to give a positive review.

Pump Up Your Book Presents Startup Virtual Book Publicity Tour

Pump Up Your Book is pleased to bring you Glenn Ogura’s Startup virtual book tour April 7-18!

Title: Startup
Author: Glenn Ogura
Publisher: iUniverse
Pages: 486
Genre: Mytery/Thriller
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle
Set in California’s Silicon Valley, STARTUP follows a young idealist/entrepreneur, Zack Penny, as he strives to achieve his dream of creating a new company that will launch an international revolution in technology through the creation of wallpaper-thin displays that will completely surround a viewer. Zack works for a highly successful company called Display Technik, run by CEO Allen Henley, whose vision is based on a success-at-all-costs philosophy.  Zack sees Henley as a mentor, but Zack’s philosophy favors high morals and values over Henley’s ruthless, end-justifies-the-means model of doing business.
Zack’s dream takes root one morning when he discovers an important paper has been taken from his office. Someone has exposed Zack’s secret plan to break away from Display Technik and start his own company. Henley gives Zack another chance to pledge his loyalty to the firm, but Zack resigns instead, more determined than ever to realize his vision. Soon, the optimistic if naive Zack steps into his new facility with high hopes for success. Henley, however, has already launched a plan to destroy Zack, his company, and Zack’s relationship with Henley’s daughter, Mary Anne.

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE

Glenn Ogura earned a degree in electrical engineering from Queen’s University in Canada. He is currently the executive vice-president for a New Hampshire-based laser micromachining company. Glenn lives with his wife in California.  In addition to his love of writing and talking technology and the study of business ethics, he plays tennis. Startup is his first novel.
Visit his website at www.glennogura.com.

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Pump Up Your Book Presents The Landfill Virtual Book Publicity Tour

Pump Up Your Book is pleased to bring you Kevin Hopson’s The Landfill virtual book tour April 21-30!

Title: The Landfill
Author: Kevin Hopson
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
Pages: 53
Genre: YA Dark Fiction/Horror
Format: Kindle
Billy, a high school senior, has lost a lot in the past year, including his younger sister, Sara. Billy lacks excitement and purpose in life until his curiosity takes him and his best friend, Connor, to an old, abandoned landfill along the river. Connor would rather forget the experience, but Billy can’t help but feel invigorated by their findings. Taking it upon himself to uncover the mystery, Billy finds his life coming full circle – but is that a good or bad thing?

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE

Prior to hitting the fiction scene in 2009, Kevin Hopson was a freelance writer for several years, covering everything from finance to sports. His debut work, World of Ash, was released by MuseItUp Publishing in the fall of 2010. Kevin has released several other books through MuseItUp since then, and he has also been published in various magazines and anthology books. Kevin’s writing covers many genres, including dark fiction and horror, science fiction, and crime fiction.
His latest book is The Landfill.
You can visit Kevin’s blog at www.kevin-hopson.blogspot.com.

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A Beauty So Rare (Belmont Mansion, #2) by Tamera Alexander

Pink is not what Eleanor Braddock ordered, but maybe it would soften the tempered steel of a woman who came through a war--and still had one to fight.

Plain, practical Eleanor Braddock knows she will never marry, but with a dying soldier's last whisper, she believes her life can still have meaning and determines to find his widow. Impoverished and struggling to care for her ailing father, Eleanor arrives at Belmont Mansion, home of her aunt, Adelicia Acklen, the richest woman in America--and possibly the most demanding, as well. Adelicia insists on finding her niece a husband, but a simple act of kindness leads Eleanor down a far different path--building a home for destitute widows and fatherless children from the Civil War. While Eleanor knows her own heart, she also knows her aunt will never approve of this endeavor.

Archduke Marcus Gottfried has come to Nashville from Austria in search of a life he determines, instead of one determined for him. Hiding his royal heritage, Marcus longs to combine his passion for nature with his expertise in architecture, but his plans to incorporate natural beauty into the design of the widows' and children's home run contrary to Eleanor's wishes. As work on the home draws them closer together, Marcus and Eleanor find common ground--and a love neither of them expects. But Marcus is not the man Adelicia has chosen for Eleanor, and even if he were, someone who knows his secrets is about to reveal them all.


About The Author

Tamera Alexander

Tamera Alexander is a bestselling novelist whose works have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors, including the Christy Award, the RITA Award, and the Carol Award. After seventeen years in Colorado, Tamera and her husband have returned to their native South and live in Tennessee, where they enjoy spending time with their two grown children.

Tamera invites you visit her website, her blog, on Twitter, or Facebook.

More Info

Twitter

@tameraalexander

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/tamera.alexander

Website

http://www.tameraalexander.com 

My Review:

A Beauty So Rare, or a woman that feels she is ugly and out of options as far as marriage goes. How sad, and on top of all her brilliant lawyer father, is suffering from dementia. She is now forced to sell her family home, and place her father in a mental hospital, and this is breaking her heart. She was raised with the proverbial silver spoon, and comes from affluent society, and cultured up bringing. Her Aunt by marriage to a deceased Uncle, is coming to her rescue for a short time, and helping with her father. So we enter and now live in Belmont Mansion in Nashville, Tennessee, and here is splendor that we walk and enjoy with Eleanor Braddock. Through her I could almost smell the beauty of the flowers in the conservatory.
The War Between the States has just ended and people are trying hard to get back to some normalcy of life. We travel the streets here in Nashville, seeing the differences in the people with much and the people with nothing. We also meet Archduke Marcus Gottfried, or Marcus Geoffrey as he is know by all here in the States. He is described as one very handsome, easy on the eyes, fellow. He has a gift in building and designing and working as an architect and on a side note, his passion seems to be botany, which brings him to be working at Belmont.
Of course these two, Eleanor and Marcus are thrown together at various times, and you will love the compassion shown by both to various people, and unknown to one another some of the same people. Come and join them as they bicker and travel through the tunnel under the Conservatory, and although the book is rather long, you will hate for it to end. Not wanting to leave it, for real life, and wanting to know what is going to happen. Enjoy, I did!!

I received this book through the Publisher Bethany House, and was not required to give a positive review.

Pump Up Your Book Presents Hair of the Corn Dog Virtual Book Publicity Tour

Pump Up Your Book is pleased to bring you A.K. Turner’s Hair of the Corn Dog virtual book tour April 7-30!

Title: Hair of the Corn Dog
Genre: Humor
Author: A.K. Turner
Publisher: Fever Streak Press
Pages: 220
Format: Hardcover/Kindle
In the latest laugh-out-loud confessional from A.K. Turner’s “Tales of Imperfection” series, the author of This Little Piggy Went to the Liquor Store and Mommy Had a Little Flask relates her adventures on the Jersey Shore, at an Idaho drag show with her in-laws, and surviving the perils of an elementary school ice-cream social with equal parts wit and heart. The laughter pairs well with two parts cocktail.

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE

A.K. Turner is the author of This Little Piggy Went to the Liquor Store, Mommy Had a Little Flask, and Hair of the Corn Dog, as well as a coauthor of Drinking with Dead Women Writers and Drinking with Dead Drunks. Her work has been featured in various publications and anthologies, including Folio Literary Magazine, Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana, and I Just Want to Be Alone. A former writer-in-residence and creator of “The Writers’ Block” on Radio Boise, she lives in Idaho with her exceedingly tolerant husband and two daughters.
Learn more at AKTurner.com.

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Write Now LIiterary Book Tours Presents: Vanessa Miller, How Sweet The Sound

 Open to US only. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Title: How Sweet the Sound
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Abingdon Press (March 4, 2014)
ISBN-10: 1426749287 ISBN-13: 978-1426749285
Genre: Historical Gospel Fiction

About The Book   Shar Gracey wants nothing more than to sing the Lord’s praises, so she jumps at the chance to join a traveling choir led by the father of black gospel music, Thomas A. Dorsey. Better yet, the opportunity will give her money to pay for her ailing mother’s medical care. While on tour she falls under the tutelage of gospel great Mahalia Jackson—and falls for the handsome but not-so-great Nicoli James, whose desires for Shar are fueled by his own greed. Shar would do anything for Nicoli—and he knows it—so when his life is threatened after a night of gambling, Shar agrees to help pay Nicoli’s debt, only to have her faith and dreams shattered. Reeling from the betrayal, Shar loses her voice and she believes that she will never sing again. She has no place to run except back home to her seriously ill mother—and the man she left behind, who would move heaven and earth to make Shar’s pain go away. Even if it means he has to let her go . . . again.

About The Author: Vanessa Miller of Dayton, Ohio, is a best-selling author, playwright, and motivational speaker. Her stage productions include: Get You Some Business, Don’t Turn Your Back on God, and Can’t You Hear Them Crying. Vanessa is currently in the process of turning the novels in the Rain Series into stage productions. Vanessa has been writing since she was a young child. When she wasn’t writing poetry, short stories, stage plays and novels, reading great books consumed her free time. However, it wasn’t until she committed her life to the Lord in 1994 that she realized all gifts and anointing come from God. She then set out to write redemption stories that glorify God. To date, Vanessa has completed the Rain and Storm Series. She is currently working on the Forsaken series, Second Chance at Love series and a single title, Long Time Coming. Vanessa believes that each book will touch readers across the country in a special way. It is, after all, her God-given destiny to write and produce plays and novels that bring deliverance to God’s people. These books have received rave reviews, winning Best Christian Fiction Awards and topping numerous Bestseller’s lists.

Social Links: Email: vmiller-01@earthlink.net
Website: http://vanessamiller.com/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vanessamiller01 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vanessamiller01
Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/77899021863/ 
 Buy Links: Amazon paperback: http://www.amazon.com/How-Sweet-Sound-Vanessa-Miller/dp/1426749287/ref=vanessamil-20Ebook: http://www.amazon.com/How-Sweet-Sound-Book-ebook/dp/B00I11W3CS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid= 
Barnes & Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-sweet-the-sound-vanessa-miller/1118719005?ean=9781426749285&isbn=9781426749285
 Hosted by Write Now Literary www.wnlbooktours.com 
Tour page: http://wnlbooktours.com/vanessa-miller-how-sweet-the-sound/

Pump Up Your Book Presents A Comedy of Erinn Virtual Book Publicity Tour

Pump Up Your Book is pleased to bring you Celia Bonaduce’s A Comedy of Erinn virtual book tour April 7-30!

Title: A Comedy of Erinn
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Celia Bonaduce
Publisher: eKensington
Pages: 231
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Erinn Wolf needs to reinvent herself. A once celebrated playwright turned photographer, she’s almost broke, a little lonely, and tired of her sister’s constant worry. When a job on a reality TV show falls into her lap, she’s thrilled to be making a paycheck–and when a hot Italian actor named Massimo rents her guesthouse, she’s certain her life is getting a romantic subplot. But with the director, brash, gorgeous young Jude, dogging her every step, she can’t help but look at herself through his lens–and wonder if she’s been reading the wrong script all along…

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE

About The Author
Celia Bonaduce is an award-winning producer whose credits cover a lot of ground – everything from field-producing ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to writing for many of Nickelodeon’s animated series, including Hey, Arnold and Chalkzone. If Celia Bonaduce’s last name is any indication, she is proof that TV talent runs in the family.
An avid reader, entering the world of books has always been a lifelong ambition. The Merchant of Venice Beach is book one of her three-book deal with eKensington, a digital imprint of Kensington Publishing Corp. The follow up novel, A Comedy of Erinn, has also been released, and book three, Much Ado About Mother, will be coming out on May 14, 2014.
You can visit Celia Bonaduce’s website at http://celiabonaduce.com/.

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A Comedy of Erinn Tour Page:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2014/04/01/pump-up-your-book-presents-a-comedy-of-erinn-virtual-book-publicity-tour/

Book Spotlight

“You’ve made your point. Now let’s go,” Jude said, trying to take the camera case out of her hands.
“Oh? And exactly what is my point?”
“That you’re the teacher’s pet…the good little camera girl who won’t let a blizzard stop her. Now let’s get out of here!”
The wind picked up and Erinn almost lost her balance. She realized that the ground was starting to freeze underneath them. She admitted to herself that there was no point in being out – she’d never get a shot worth having, even if they didn’t freeze to death.
“When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield,” Erinn yelled to Jude.
“Whatever, dude. Let’s bounce.”
Jude threw the gear in the back and felt his way to the passenger side. They both got in and Erinn started the car. She hoped Jude would stay quiet. She was feeling so shaky.  Not from the cold, but from the realization that she was not being a good producer. To put it in Jude’s vernacular, she sucked!
Erinn tried to pull out onto the road, but the wheels just spun on the ice. Erinn and Jude looked at each other.
“Are we stuck?” Jude asked.
“We can’t be,” Erinn said. “This is an SUV. It must be four wheel drive.”
“Not necessarily,” Jude said. “Do you see any kind of lever or button or anything that would let you switch to four wheel drive?”
“No. There isn’t anything. Are we doomed?”
“Doomed? Jesus, Erinn. You are a glass empty kind of girl, aren’t ya?”
“Actually, I’m a “the glass is the wrong size” kind of girl…woman…but I think that’s beside the point right now. What should I do?”
“Start rocking the car. Put it in first, then reverse, then first, then reverse. Then give it a little gas and see if we can get out of this.”
Erinn started shifting gears and made a mental note. Next time, she wouldn’t settle for anything less than an SUV with four wheel drive.
Miraculously, the car shot forward. Erinn gasped and Jude slapped her on the shoulder approvingly. Erinn turned slightly towards what she hoped was the road…it was so covered in snow that she couldn’t actually see a road, but it must be there. Making sure no one was coming – fat chance, she thought – she started inching the Explorer through the ice and snow. She was creeping forward, when the car became completely unresponsive and started sliding towards the right. Pushing the gas did nothing. Turning the steering wheel did nothing.
“Oh, no,” Erinn said.
“What?”
“The car has lost traction. We’re skating on the ice.”
Erinn frantically turned the wheel to right and then to the left. The car continued to slide.
“Stay cool, Erinn. We’re on flat ground. Nothing can happen. Just chill.”
Erinn tried to relax, but the car kept sliding sideways, the weight of the vehicle causing it to pick up speed. Clearly, they weren’t on completely flat ground or the SUV wouldn’t be hurling itself sideways, but Erinn decided now was not the time to argue this point.
Erinn felt the vehicle tipping. She was jolted violently sideways and caught, suspended, by the seatbelt. She craned her neck to look at Jude, who was looking UP at her from the passenger seat. The SUV was completely on its side, like a gigantic dead beast.
“Now, we’re doomed,” he said.
Erinn tried without success to free herself from the seatbelt. With every gyration, the belt tightened around her neck. She tried to hold still. She craned her neck and watched Jude brace himself against the passenger door with his right arm. This gave his seatbelt some slack and he was able to release the lever. He thudded against the passenger door, but at least he was free. Erinn felt her breastbone pressing into the seatbelt as she hung sideways. She watched as Jude twisted himself around, crablike, and faced her. She looked into his eyes.
“The camera case,” she said.
Jude sat back on his heels.
“Dude,” he said. “Seriously? Forget the gear right now. We’re in deep shit.”
“The camera…” Erinn breathed heavily. “Check the camera…”
“What are you…one of those freaks who needs to record their own death?
“His or her own death,” Erinn corrected, gasping. “ ‘One freak’ is singular.”
“You are so pushing your luck, lady,” Jude said.
Erinn was running out of breath, and she hung limply forward.
“Come on, Tin Lizzy,” Jude said, wedging his back against her.
He must look like Atlas with me on his back instead of the world.
She had her eyes closed, but she vaguely sensed that he must be standing on the passenger window…or the passenger arm rest. What if he broke one of them? Would the rental company charge them? Did she buy the right insurance? Weren’t they in enough trouble having skidded into a ditch?
Erinn heard Jude’s voice through the fog. His back was to her.
“When I lift you up, you need to unhook your seatbelt. Come on, Erinn, you can do this.”
Jude gave the faintest of pushes, but not enough to lift her.
“Crap,” Jude said. “I can’t get enough traction with the console in the way.”
Jude turned around so that he was facing her. Their eyes met.
“The camera case,” she said.
Jude ignored her, and tried to lift her off the seat belt, but there was no way around the console.
“Shit! Crap!” Jude said.
“Jude…there’s a knife…” Erinn croaked.
“…in the camera case!” he said.
Erinn could hear him scramble to the back of the SUV and unlock the camera case. Erinn was reminded of sounds one hears when one is drifting off to sleep. Every noise sounds strangely amplified – and yet the sound is of no interest. She had the vague sensation of falling and when her head cleared, she was laying on Jude, up against the passenger window. Jude was panting for breath, knife held aloft. She could hear the slit seatbelt clanking behind her.
She reached around Jude’s neck. His expression changed, softening. She touched the passenger window behind his head.
“Thank God it’s not broken.”
“Lady, I have a knife.”
Erinn was suddenly very aware that she was pressed up against Jude. She tried to lift herself off him, but each time she thudded back against him.