Wednesday, August 26, 2015

PEANUTS ® Quilted Celebrations Paperback – Illustrated by Kathleen Shea






Happiness is a warm quilt! PEANUTS® characters come alive in these adorable applique designs. Celebrate the holidays and seasons with these much-loved icons from the pen of Charles M. Schulz. The book includes full-size quilts, wallhangings, table runners, and pillows featuring Snoopy, the Flying Ace, Woodstock, Lucy, Charlie Brown, and others from the lovable PEANUTS gang plus a quick and easy pattern for a quilt to donate to Project Linus.




About the Author

Kathleen's journey into quilting the Peanuts characters began when, at an early age, her mother taught her to sew. In the 1960s, Charles Schulz's Peanuts gang was becoming a part of everyone's world, and Snoopy was quickly becoming Kathleen's best friend! In 1984, Kathleen graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and later obtained a law degree from St. John's University. She has authored several articles in journals and periodicals.



My Review

I am thrilled to have received a copy of Kathleen Shea’s Peanuts Quilted Celebrations with a CD-ROM of patterns included.
When you open this brightly illustrated book you are greeted by a beautifully written forward by Jean Schultz, wife of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz. The author also has an introduction to tell you about her fascination with Peanuts characters and all the Peanuts-related goodies she collected.
She has put together a wonderful collection of patterns that you can incorporate into your quilts, pillows, flags, table runners, etc. Let your imagination go wild, and you will have a lot of great ideas while using the patterns and idea pictures included in this book.
I am currently working on a Christmas wall hanging, and my mind is spinning on which of these characters are going on my table runner. If you are thinking about trying applique, this would be a wonderful book to start with, and the Holiday ideas are flowing here.
I received this book through the Publisher American Quilter’s Society, and was not required to give a positive review.


Monday, August 24, 2015

I Am A Reader Not A Writer Presents: The Duality Bridge by Susan Kaye Quinn Blog Tour




Legacy Human Cover
     



The Legacy Human by Susan Kay Quinn What would you give to live forever? Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is. The Legacy Human is the first in Susan Kaye Quinn’s new young adult science fiction series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world… and how technology will challenge us to remember what it means to be human.






Praise for The Legacy Human “This book is Hunger Games (without the violence or controversy) meets Divergent.” “This story is so intense I felt I couldn’t get a proper breath.” “Science fiction with philosophical depth!”     Duality Bridge 





The Duality Bridge What does it mean to be human? Elijah Brighton is the face of the Human Resistance Movement. He’s the Olympic-level painter who refused an offer of immortality from the ascenders—the human/machine hybrids who run the world—in solidarity with the legacy humans who will never get a chance to live forever. Too bad it’s all a complicated web of lies. Worse, Eli’s not even entirely human. Few know about the ascenders’ genetic experiments that left him… different. Fewer know about the unearthly fugue state that creates his transcendent art—as well as a bridge that lets him speak to the dead. But the Resistance is the one place he can hide from the ascender who knows everything the fugue can do. Because if Marcus finds him, he’ll either use Eli for his own nefarious purposes… or destroy him once and for all. The Duality Bridge is the second book in the Singularity series and the sequel to The Legacy Human. This thrilling new young adult science fiction series explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world.


  Susan

Author Susan Kay Quinn Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the Singularity Series, the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy, and the Debt Collector serial, as well as other speculative fiction novels and short stories. Her work has appeared in the Synchronic anthology, the Telepath Chronicles, the AI Chronicles, and has been optioned for Virtual Reality by Immersive Entertainment. Former rocket scientist, now she invents mind powers, dabbles in steampunk, and dreams of the Singularity. Mostly she sits around in her PJs in awe that she gets to write full time.

 


Excerpt: 

Delphina is watching me from outside the holo matrix… along with Kamali, whose wide brown eyes hold silent judgment for the things she thinks I’ve done. Forbidden things, like being a love toy for my ex-patron and current-rebel-ascender, Lenora. Who happens to be standing right next to her. While Kamali’s graceful dancer body is hidden under the black military garb of the resistance, Lenora’s perfect bodyform is barely covered in scintillating ascender-tech fabric. The thing is, I’ve never so much as kissed Lenora. Except in my dreams, which really shouldn’t count against me. Any seventeen-year-old guy would have those kinds of thoughts. But the truth is Kamali’s not wrong to judge me.
My feelings for Lenora have always been… complicated.




     $25 Blog Tour giveaway


 $25 Blog Tour Giveaway $25 Amazon eGift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 9/6/15 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com eGift Card or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, August 21, 2015

A Heart's Home by Colleen Coble




Emmie’s hope for a life with Isaac is overshadowed by a tragic loss at Fort Phil Kearny.
Isaac Liddle is keen to marry Emmie, and she knows she shouldn’t hide her pregnancy from him any longer. But before she can tell him her secret, a widower friend asks the impossible of Emmie: Will she honor her promise to his dead wife by marrying him to care for the orphaned baby?
With the Sioux Wars threatening outside the fort, Emmie’s solemn vow threatens her happiness from within. Will she honor a promise sure to break her heart—and Isaac’s? Or is there another way to find a home for her heart?




Colleen is celebrating the final book release of her A Journey of the Heart series by giving away the entire series and the chance to host Colleen virtually at your book club, local library, or women’s group to talk about the series.


One grand prize winner will receive:
  • Books 1–6 of A Journey of the Heart series
  • A chat with Colleen via Skype or Google Hangout
  • A custom book-club kit PDF, featuring Colleen’s favorite recipes and group discussion questions
Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 31st. Winner will be announced September 1st on Colleen’s website.


heartshome-enterbanner




About The Author 


Colleen Coble is a USA Today bestselling author Colleen Coble has written several romantic suspense novels including “Tidewater Inn,” “Rosemary Cottage,” and the Mercy Falls, Lonestar, and Rock Harbor series.

Find out more about Colleen at http://www.colleencoble.com/.




My Review

This is the sixth and final book in this series, and although I wanted to find out the ending, I didn’t want to leave these dear folks. While reading this last edition, my heart was in my throat, so much sadness, and yet there is much to look forward to, with God’s help.
This is when we find out if Emmie will honor her friends wishes, and if all including Isaac will survive both the Indians and the harsh Wyoming weather. So many babies are on their way here, and with such conditions, and the solution for saving or not letting the Indians get them, made me cringe.
Pick up this entire series; you will not be disappointed, except that it ends.
I received this book through Litfuse Publicity book tours, and was not required to give a positive review.


Thursday, August 20, 2015

Daring Hearts Boxed Set for just 99 cents!! (Clean Romance)




DON'T MISS THIS SALE! On Sunday it's gone. **More than 2000 adventurous and romantic pages. CLEAN ROMANCE AT ITS FINEST- Let's propel it to the NY Times Bestseller list. To see clean make it to the top would be Awesome.
daring hearts
Daring Hearts: Fearless Fourteen Boxed Set ~ Nine All New Novels Plus Five Bonus Books for the Adventurous and the Romantic
 
ALL For One Low Price of .99Cents!

From gorgeous heroes that make us swoon to the super sleuths and feisty heroines that make us cheer, this exclusive collection has something for everyone. Nine clean, sassy and BRAND NEW novels--a delicious mixture of fun, addictively romantic, action-adventure stories -- each handpicked by an award-winning gathering of some of today's most popular YA/NA authors. PLUS five bonus books from Elana Johnson, Leigh Talbert Moore, Rachel Morgan, Katrina Abbott, and C.L. Stone!
Over 98% off retail for the individual books sold separately (a thirty dollar savings!) Hurry! Only available until September (so get your copy today).
 
REBECCA ETHINGTON ~ Monsters are real... Through Glass  
RASHELLE WORKMAN ~ Alice is half demon and totally kick ass! Blood and Snow 10.1 ~ The Dark Moth Society  
CINDY M. HOGAN ~ Some secrets are better left dead and buried. Kate Unmasked  
ELLE STRAUSS ~ Time traveling is wonky enough... and this time it's worse than ever. Counter Clockwise  
CHRISTINE KERSEY ~ College is murder... Witness J
ULI ALEXANDER ~ Solving mysteries is in her blood, but it might just get her killed. Paxton Private Investigations  
AMBER ARGYLE ~ A storm is raging and not everyone will survive. Of Ice And Snow  
WENDY KNIGHT ~ Her army of lost souls stand between us. The Soul's Agent LILA FELIX ~ Fasta is an artist, not by choice, but by force. Sketchy Love
  • PLUS FIVE BONUS NOVELS...
C.L. STONE ~ Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy. The Academy, ever vigilant. Introductions
ELANA JOHNSON ~ If a picture is worth a thousand words then Olivia's captured Trevor's whole story. Something About Love
LEIGH TALBERT MOORE ~ She did not expect to be kidnapped walking to work. And she never expected to be a hero. Behind the Stars  
RACHEL MORGAN ~ Stolen magical object? Check. Villainous faerie bad guys? Check. Complicated feelings for super hot, pain-in-the-ass assignment partner? Check. Not winding up dead? Working on that one. The Faerie Prince
 KATRINA ABBOTT ~ Brooklyn's new celebutante boarding school is missing one thing: boys! Taking the Reins

 
IF YOU BLINK TOO LONG, IT WILL BE GONE. GET YOUR COPY NOW.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Mind of her Own by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer







Who knew making dinner could change your life? Louisa Copeland certainly didn’t. But when the George Foreman grill falls out of the pantry onto her head, resulting in a bump and a mighty case of amnesia, Louisa’s life takes a turn for the unexpected. Who is this Collin fellow, claiming she is his wife? And whose kids are those? Her name can’t be Louisa. Why, she is the renowned romance writer Jazz Sweet, not a Midwestern mom of three. Struggling to put the pieces together of the life she’s told she had, Louisa/Jazz may realize that some memories are better left alone.


About The Author





Diana Lesire Brandmeyer, an accomplished author with a background in education and psychology, reflects on her experiences as a widowed mom with two sons who married a widowed dad with a so of his own. Now, with a few years of perspective, she uses the narrative of her experience to help others better navigate the issues that arise in a new family in the book We’re not Blended We’re Pureed, A Survivor’s Guide.
Brandmeyer’s inspirational romance writing often deals with abandonment issues and the struggle to believe you are not alone.


My Review




Louisa is closing a book cover when she goes to make dinner, but she ends up being hit in the head by her Forman Grill, and now she not the same person who originally went into the kitchen. When Lousia comes to, she is now Jazz Sweet, and she doesn’t know her husband or her children.
Now what a dilemma, she is now a Christian romance writer, only she doesn’t remember her agent, or her address or phone number, and finally goes home with the man claiming to be her husband, Collin Copeland. Nothing is familiar to Jazz, and her family recognizes her, but she is a completely different person. She doesn’t cook, where Louisa was obsessed with cooking, no laundry, no house cleaning, but then she lets her fingers do the walking, and things become tiptop shape! This mother, loves spending time with the children, she shops with her daughter and they have a blast, the family comes to love this new “Mom”.
Will the old Mom ever come home, will Laurie remember, and all the time in the back of my mind I had a feeling it had something to do with a reference to Mexico. Will Jazz figure out her identity? Will her best friend forgive her, and you will be laughing at why?
I found this book to be a fast read, and page-turner to find the answers, and the ending will be a surprise. Enjoy!!

I received this book through Tyndale Blog Network, and was not required to give a positive review. 

Silver Linings (Rose Harbor #4) by Debbie Macomber



Set in Cedar Cove’s charming Rose Harbor Inn, Debbie Macomber’s captivating new novel follows innkeeper Jo Marie and two new guests as they seek healing and comfort, revealing that every cloud has a silver lining, even when it seems difficult to find.

Since opening the Rose Harbor Inn, Jo Marie Rose has met fascinating people from all walks of life, but none have piqued her interest quite like handyman Mark Taylor. Jo Marie and Mark are good friends—and are becoming something more—yet he still won’t reveal anything about his past. When Mark tells her that he’s moving out of town, Jo Marie is baffled. Just when she is starting to open herself up again to love, she feels once more that she is losing the man she cares about. As she grapples with Mark’s decision and tries to convince him to stay, she welcomes two visitors also seeking their own answers.

Best friends Kellie Crenshaw and Katie Gilroy have returned to Cedar Cove for their ten-year high school reunion, looking to face down old hurts and find a sense of closure. Kellie, known as Coco, wants to finally confront the boy who callously broke her heart. Katie, however, wishes to reconnect with her old boyfriend, James—the man she still loves and the one who got away. As Katie hopes for a second chance, Coco discovers that people can change—and both look to the exciting possibilities ahead.

Heartwarming and uplifting, Silver Linings is a beautiful novel of letting go of the past and embracing the unexpected.



About The Author


Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 170 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, Macomber brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope. Macomber's novels have spent over 750 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Eight of these novels hit the number one spot.
In 2015, Macomber's all-new hardcover publications will include Last One Home (March), Silver Linings (August) and Dashing Through The Snow (October) and paperback editions of Blossom Street Brides (March) and her Christmas novel, Mr. Miracle (October).
In addition to fiction Macomber has also published two bestselling cookbooks; numerous inspirational and nonfiction works; and two acclaimed children’s books.
Macomber's beloved and bestselling Cedar Cove Series became Hallmark Channel’s first dramatic scripted television series, Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove, which was ranked as the top program on cable when it debuted in summer 2013. Hallmark is now filming a second season of Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove which will premiere this July 19.  In addition, Macomber’s upcoming Christmas novel, Mr. Miracle, will be made into an original movie premiering on Hallmark Channel in fall 2014. Previously, Hallmark Channel has produced three successful Christmas movies based on Macomber's bestselling Christmas novels, Mrs. Miracle, Call Me Mrs. Miracle and Trading Christmas.
Macomber owns her own tea room, Victorian Rose Tea Room & yarn store, A Good Yarn, named after the shop featured in her popular Blossom Street novels. She and her husband, Wayne, serve on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, and she is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative.
A devoted grandmother, Debbie and her husband Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington (the town on which her Cedar Cove novels are based) and winter in Florida.

My Review 

Oh how I love being back in Cedar Cover, and Debbie Macomber drew me in once again, and the only bad part was the books ending, when I wanted more. When I go to Jo Marie’s Rose Harbor Inn, I unpack my bag and never want to leave, and this book is no exception.
There are three separate romances going on here, one for Jo Marie and Mark the handyman, and two for guests visiting for their ten-year high school reunion. Mark declares his love for Jo Marie, and promptly moves away, what? The guests are Coco [Kellie] and Katie, one gave up her love because she loved him and the other had a disaster happen to her when she accepted a date to homecoming dance.
All three have hugs, kisses and tears involved, but you won’t see what is going to happen to them until the final page. Like the previous books we spend time in Cedar Cove, at the high school, restaurants and shops, should know my way around here by now. Am waiting, and not patiently for another book in this series, and don’t think patience is one of my virtues. Pick this one up, it is a page-turner, and you won’t be disappointed!
I won this book through Library Thing, and was not required to give a positive review.

Pump Up Your Book Presents Bigfoot Blues Virtual Book Publicity Tour






She eloped with Bigfoot. Or maybe Bigfoot kidnapped her. Either way, I've been hired to uncover the truth behind Cindy Funk's disappearance. Me? I'm Floyd, and I'm a PI living my life as Elvis would have wanted. Not just in sequined jumpsuits. With character.
Cindy's trail leads me to River City, Oregon—aka the Mythical Creature Capital of the World—where I catch Case #2. This one from an eccentric billionaire who's lost a priceless piece of "art." Enter one dead body and I end up deputized to solve Case #3, tracking down a man-eating mountain lion. Or maybe it's a chupacabra. Or just an ordinary murderer. Hard to say.
I've handled my fair share of crazy, but River City's secrets have me spooked. With an influx of tourists arriving for the town's annual Elvis tribute contest—what are the chances?—I've got to save the girl, solve the rich guy's problem and leash that chupacabra before a second body is discovered. It might just be mine.
Read more about Floyd's adventures in Elvis Sightings, available now!

For More Information


Title: Bigfoot Blues
Author: Ricardo Sanchez
Publisher: Carina Press
Pages: 251
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Kindle

About the Author





Ricardo Sanchez is a writer, toy buff, and lifelong comic book fan.

Elvis Sightings, the first novel in his Elvis Sightings Mysteries series, was released in September , 2014. Bigfoot Blues, the follow up, was released in May, 2015.

Ricardo has written several books for DC Comics, including Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Teen Titans Go! and Resident Evil among many others. His original project, A Hero’s Death, was a successful Kickstarter released in May, 2015.

In addition to writing, Ricardo is an Emmy award winning video and animation producer. When he’s not writing, Ricardo maintains a vintage toy blog, drives 70's muscle cars, and shops year round for Halloween decorations for his home in California.
For More Information



Book Excerpt:
It was ten past two on a Wednesday and I was sitting behind my desk in the office I share with Franklin, a chiropractor. His wife had sent me looking for him almost four years ago, but she was such a harridan that once I’d found him, I couldn’t bring myself to turn over his location. He’d let me use his place as an office, rent-free, ever since.
I checked my watch again.
Wanda was flying back to Kresge today. I resented being dragged away from her, even for just an hour, but the man on the phone had insisted. It had been more than a month since my last case, so while Wanda packed, I came into the office to meet Peter Funk. And he was late.
The clock hit 2:15. I was about to leave when a very lost-looking man in his fifties opened the door.
“You must be Floyd,” he said, taking off his well-worn Caterpillar cap. His bald head had the baked look of someone who spent a lot of time under the hot Idaho sun. “Your Elvis outfit kinda gives it away,” he added.
“You’re Mr. Funk?”
He smiled weakly and bobbed his head up and down in the affirmative.
I pointed him to a seat and sat back down at my desk.
“So what can I do for you?” I asked.
Funk looked down at the cap in his hands and worried at a loose thread with his callused fingers.
“I need you to find my daughter,” he said and looked up at me. “You’ve got to help me. I don’t know who else to turn to.”
“I’d be happy to help, Mr. Funk, but with missing children you’re much better off going to the police.”
Funk stood up and slapped his hat against his thigh. A small cloud of dirt erupted from the dull blue denim of his pants.
“Oh, the cops won’t help me. Cindy’s eighteen. They said they can’t go looking for her if she’s just run off,” he said. “Besides…”
“Besides what, Mr. Funk?”
He took his seat again before finally blurting out, “She ran off to elope with Bigfoot.”
I would have laughed if Funk hadn’t looked so worried.
“Bigfoot?” I said. “That’s a nickname?”
“No, sir.”
Funk pulled a postcard out of his jeans pocket and handed it to me.
On one side was a teenage boy holding up a plaster casting of a giant footprint nearly three feet long. Across the bottom it read “River City—The Home of Bigfoot.” I turned it over. The postmark was three weeks ago in River City, Oregon. The note on the card read:

Dear Daddy,
I’ve fallen in love with Bigfoot and we’ve decided to elope. I won’t be coming back to Pocatello. I’ll write again soon.
Cindy

She’d put a little heart in place of the dot above the is in both Bigfoot and Cindy.
River City… The name was familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.
“My girl, she’s a willful one she is, but Cindy’s never lied to me. Not once,” Funk said. “If Cindy says she’s eloped with Bigfoot, that’s exactly what she’s done.”
Why did I get all the weirdos? Was it the suit? Or the Lifestyle Elvis thing? Or maybe this was some sort of elaborate practical joke. I let out a low sigh.
A case is a case, I told myself. And this one was just too absurd to be someone shining me on.


 
 


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Clean Your Shelf Giveaway Hop: The Terror by Dan Simmons free copy


Winner is Judy! Congratulations!


I am cleaning out my books and I have up for grabs a copy of Dan Simmons The Terror. All you need to do is leave a comment with your contact information. Good luck!!




The men on board The HMS Terror - part of the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition - are entering a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, stranded in a nightmarish landscape of ice and desolation. Endlessly cold, they struggle to survive with poisonous rations and a dwindling coal supply. But their real enemy is even more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror clawing to get in.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Hugo-winner Simmons (Olympos) brings the horrific trials and tribulations of arctic exploration vividly to life in this beautifully written historical, which injects a note of supernatural horror into the 1840s Franklin expedition and its doomed search for the Northwest Passage. Sir John Franklin, the leader of the expedition and captain of the Erebus, is an aging fool. Francis Crozier, his second in command and captain of the Terror, is a competent sailor, but embittered after years of seeing lesser men with better connections given preferment over him. With their two ships quickly trapped in pack ice, their voyage is a disaster from start to finish. Some men perish from disease, others from the cold, still others from botulism traced to tinned food purchased from the lowest bidder. Madness, mutiny and cannibalism follow. And then there's the monstrous creature from the ice, the thing like a polar bear but many times larger, possessed of a dark and vicious intelligence. This complex tale should find many devoted readers and add significantly to Simmons's already considerable reputation. (Jan.)
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Monday, August 17, 2015

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer Presents: Blog Tour – Two by Tia Perkin (Board Book)

Two (1) 




Two


 Two by Tia Perkin "Two!" is a funny little rhyming book about what it's like to spend a day with a toddler - from food eaten off the floor to a child running out the door!
Purchase from Amazon



Praise for the Book "Tia does an awesome job in this book capturing the funny antics of a two year old and putting them on paper in a way that is funny for your child and even more funny for mom and dad!...If you want a cute book to read to your child(ren) and get a good laugh yourself (maybe cry a little because of your frustration? LOL!), this is a really cute one for the whole family. This book has made it to the frequently read shelf!" "It's a book I don't mind having to read to my daughter over and over and over and over again. Every toddler's library should include this book. Well done!" ""Two" is ingenious. Ostensibly a child's board book, it looks like one, feels like one, and reads like one with its primary vocabulary and rhyme. And yet anyone who's been a parent or sibling of a two-year-old will recognize the characteristic behaviors, grimace at the memories of them all, and then smile. You can't help but smile, perhaps in relief that you did survive this year."



 add to goodreads TiaAuthor Tia Perkin Tia Perkin is a three-time Emmy-Nominated Graphic Artist and Arizona native. She wrote this book for her now three-year-old twin sons. "Two!" is her first book.






$25 Blog Tour giveaway


$25 Blog Tour Giveaway $25 Amazon eGift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 9/2/15 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com eGift Card or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

   a Rafflecopter giveaway


My Review 



Read in August, 2015

Two a thick cardboard book for little hands to hold, with bright colors, and pictures of little ones trying to be grown up in an adult world. The little book is a page-turner for little ones to look at the colorful pictures, and see what their minds interpret in the pictures.
As an adult reading the book, I sure wouldn’t want my little one doing what the pictures portray, but the rhyming words and pictures made it a really cute read. Once in my little ones hands we had three straight reads, and many asks for more.
This is a new and treasured book in my home, and so glad we received it.
I received this book through Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tours, and was not required to give a positive review 

Pump Up Your Book Presents Below the Water Line Virtual Book Publicity Tour








Below the Water Line provides a gripping account of a family’s hurricane evacuation experiences and all that followed in the decade after Hurricane Katrina. The story begins in August 2005, when author Lisa Karlin, her husband, thirteen-year-old daughter, eleven-year-old son, and two dogs evacuated New Orleans for what they thought would be a two-day “hurrication.” The day-by-day account of the weeks that follow vividly chronicles the unprecedented displacement of thousands of Americans, and on a personal level, describes how her family makes the trifecta of major life decisions: where to live, where to work, and where to enroll their children in school. Below the Water Line provides a first-hand commentary on how everyday life has been impacted by Katrina’s aftermath and how, a decade later, there are still lingering effects of one of the most devastating events in American history.


About The Author





isa Karlin is the author of Below the Water Line: Getting Out, Going Back, and Moving Forward in the Decade After Hurricane Katrina. She is an oncology nurse who, unlike weather chasers who look for storms to track, has had the weather chase her, and these experiences are described in her memoir. Lisa lives in New Orleans, Louisiana with her husband, daughter, son, and Yellow Lab named Buddy.

For More Information


Book Excerpt

The pool water is bathtub warm, and the sky is postcard-perfect, clear and blue.
Thirteen-year-old Samantha floats on a raft near me. My daughter has carefully positioned herself with her arms extended by her sides and her chin tilted up toward the sun. Since school started last week, her tan has faded and she is determined to preserve it. She lies perfectly still; her only movement is the subtle rise and fall of her chest as she breathes.
A major hurricane named Katrina lurks just a few hundred miles away, out in the Gulf of Mexico, but we are not concerned. Landfall predictions are still uncertain, and I’m expecting that this hurricane will turn to the east or west and spare New Orleans, just like all of the hurricanes in the past forty years have done.
I take notice when I come in from the pool, turn on the television, and see the satellite image showing that Katrina has increased in intensity, and is now bigger than the state of Texas. Even so, the hurricane watch area extends all the way from western Louisiana to the eastern edge of the Florida panhandle. Anything can happen with this hurricane at this point.
Late in the afternoon, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calls for a voluntary evacuation. He says he’s adhering to the state's evacuation plan, and will not order a mandatory evacuation until thirty hours before Katrina’s expected landfall so that people living in low-lying surrounding areas can leave first and avoid gridlocked escape routes.
My eleven-year-old son calls and tells me he’s ready to be picked up from his friend Colin’s house. On the stoop outside their house, Colin’s father asks if we are evacuating, and I tell him my plan is to watch the news and The Weather Channel and then decide. If Jim Cantore shows up in New Orleans, then we’re going to skedaddle, since he always seems to broadcast from the bulls-eye of a storm. Colin’s father says he plans to see how things look in the morning. And I have jury duty on Tuesday, I tell him. Can’t miss that!
My son John and I make a quick stop at Breaux Mart on the way home. Cars circle the parking lot, competing for the few open spaces. The store is clogged with people, and many shelves already are bare. I dispatch John to see if there are any hamburger buns still on the shelf. He reports back that just a few packages remain and like a fisherman, proudly holds up his catch. I see a few scattered packages of ground beef lying in a refrigerator case, and speed up to get there before anyone else does.
There’s nervous chatter in the long checkout line as people debate hunkering down or getting on the road. Older folks recall evacuating in ’92 after Hurricane Andrew blasted across southern Florida, and then entered the Gulf of Mexico and headed toward Louisiana. Andrew made landfall as a category 3 hurricane a couple of hours west of New Orleans, so we dodged that bullet. Hurricane Alberto in ’94 looked like it was headed for New Orleans, but veered off to the Florida Panhandle. And no one could forget evacuating for Hurricane Ivan last year and the arduous, tortuous process that was.
With ample time in the checkout line, many evacuation stories are told, eliciting nods of recognition from the people standing in the adjacent lines. We know all too well what it was like to batten-down the house, creep north along the interstates, spend a sleepless night out, and return a day or two later to sunny, intact New Orleans to start reversing the process. “Here we go again,” another “hurrication,” seems to be the sentiment of many in line. A number of people say they’re waiting to see how things look in the morning.
It’s inconceivable that a major hurricane is headed this way. The sky is clear, the air is still, and the sunset is spectacular. Buddy, our 80-pound yellow Lab, takes a leisurely swim in our pool while we eat dinner on the patio. It’s just another ordinary day.
All evening long, we wear down the television remote jumping from station to station. We, too, have decided to see how things look in the morning, knowing that a lot can happen in twelve hours. I’m still predicting that fateful turn that hurricanes take at the last minute, the turn that produces a collective sigh of relief from the people in their initial path.
We watch evacuation footage and see that even with the contraflow on the interstate this year, it’s no better than last September when about half of the people in New Orleans evacuated for Hurricane Ivan. Despite six lanes of traffic all heading westward, the traffic on Interstate 10 does not move at all. People are standing beside their cars, an impromptu and odd social gathering of sorts. Good thing we didn’t leave tonight, I tell my husband, Rich. We’d be stuck out there on the highway in the dark. I can’t imagine our family—two adults, two kids, and two dogs—inching along the interstate all night.
John plops down on the couch and announces that it would be fun (fun?) to evacuate at night. He tells us he would bed-down in our car, tell the dogs goodnight, and go to sleep. Rich raises his eyebrows.  He knows our two kids would be squabbling before we back out of the driveway. And there’s no telling how Buddy and John’s 12-pound Jack Russell Terrier, which he named Jack, would handle a long car ride. We have trouble driving around the neighborhood with our dogs, and with our kids for that matter.
A news announcer casually mentions that Pat Sajak and Vanna White, who are in town taping New Orleans-themed episodes of Wheel of Fortune, have cut production short and are leaving. The “Wheelmobile” and eight tractor trailers of equipment are being readied for departure. It is the first time in its thirty-year history that the long-running game show cancels taping.
I silently pray that Katrina weakens and changes course, but the latest information indicates that this hurricane is strengthening and coming our way. Local weatherman Bob Breck pronounces that “the water will be so high that you’ll be on the roof with the cockroaches!”
Around 10 p.m., we are surprised to see Mayor Ray Nagin back on TV. He looks just as surprised to be on TV; earlier today, he said he would issue his next statement in the morning. The mayor says he received a phone call from Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, who in turn had received a call from the National Hurricane Center Director. The news is not good. As Nagin puts it, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal.”

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Friday, August 14, 2015

Not by Sight by Kate Breslin






Gripping Sophomore Novel from a Rising Historical Romance Talent

With Britain caught up in WWI, Jack Benningham, heir to the Earl of Stonebrooke, has declared himself a conscientious objector. Instead, he secretly works for the Crown by tracking down German spies on British soil, his wild reputation and society status serving as a foolproof cover.

Blinded by patriotism and concern for her brother on the front lines, wealthy suffragette Grace Mabry will do whatever it takes to assist her country's cause. When she sneaks into a posh London masquerade ball to hand out white feathers of cowardice, she never imagines the chain of events she'll set off when she hands a feather to Jack.

And neither of them could anticipate the extent of the danger and betrayal that follows them--or the faith they'll need to maintain hope.



About The Author 






Florida-born author Kate Breslin lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and family and a very spoiled cat named Coco. A former bookseller, Kate has also written for many years, including travel articles and award-winning poetry. Her debut novel, FOR SUCH A TIME, earned a starred review in The Library Journal and is both a Christy finalist and an RWA RITA award finalist. Her second book, NOT BY SIGHT, will release August 4, 2015. When she’s not writing, Kate loves to read or take long walks in Washington’s many beautiful forests. She also enjoys a bit of traveling—not only within the U. S. but to Rome, Greece, Turkey, and many parts of Western Europe. She’s always seeking new ideas for the next story! Please visit her website at www.katebreslin.com. She’d love to hear from you!
 CONTACT INFORMATION
www.katebreslin.com
https://twitter.com/Kate_Breslin
https://www.facebook.com/KateBreslinAuthor
http://www.pinterest.com/katelbreslin/


My Review 

love historical fiction and this story sure didn’t disappoint, we are in WWI and living in England. Grace Mabry’s father owns a successful teashop, and she has grown up not wanting for much, except loosing her mother at a young age. Now with the war on she wants to do her part, and her twin brother is fighting the Germans. As a prank, or to make them think, she crashes an elite society party and passes out white feathers, a sign of cowardness.
When her father and Aunt get word of this fiasco she is sent to the Woman’s Forage Corps, they work crops for the horses fighting for their country. You can guess at whose estate she ends up at, yes! Jack Benningham, or aka Earl of Stonebrooke, whose property is helping the cause, and whom she gifted with her feather.
What a twisted and intriguing story this is, and the pages turned so fast, I never wanted it to end. I felt I was living in this time period, and learned so much about what was going on during this era.
The author’s note at the end really shook me when she told of the famous spy Mata Hari and some relatively unknow facts. A must read, you won’t be disappointed in this one!

I received this book through Bethany House Book Blogger Program, and was not required to give a positive review.



Celebrate Lit Presents: Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing Author: Lisa R. Howeler

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