Musings of a Reader: June 2018

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

TS901: Dominion Cover Reveal

❃●❃#CoverReveal❃●❃

Title: TS901: DOMINION

Author: Stacey Rourke & Author Tish Thawer

Genre: NA Dystopian

Cover Designer: Qamber Designs

Publication Date: July 23rd, 2018

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:
Risen from their literal hole in the ground, Thia, Lance, and her ‘Maly’ brethren have escaped The Hive and now face a full-on war. Welcoming the distraction from her abysmal love life, Thia throws herself into training the troops and claiming Nary bases.

Grateful to be of service again, Evan focuses on maneuvering their forces while fighting to break the icy bonds of betrayal still clutching Thia’s heart.

After a startling vision by his mother, Lance learns that Gigi is alive and trapped within The Hill. Now, he will stop and nothing to save his favorite icy blonde.

Stuck deep in enemy territory, Giselle DuBeau isn’t waiting for anyone to rescue her. Following her growing abilities, she becomes a force far beyond what her friends knew her to be. Yet, when a threat greater than anything the team has faced arises, Gigi is left to wonder exactly who has Command Control.

Author Bio:

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012
Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Stacey Rourke is the author of the award winning YA Gryphon Series, the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga, and the romantic comedy Adapted for Film. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.

Visit her at www.staceyrourke.com
diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com
Facebook at www.facebook.com/staceyrourkeauthor
or on Twitter or instagram at Rourkewrites.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1OJcVNO

Author Bio:

Award Winning Author, Tish Thawer, writes paranormal romances for all ages. From her first paranormal cartoon, Isis, to the Twilight phenomenon, myth, magic, and superpowers have always held a special place in her heart.

Tish is known for her detailed world-building and magic-laced stories. Her work has been compared to Nora Roberts, Sam Cheever, and Charlaine Harris. She has received nominations for multiple RONE Awards (Reward of Novel Excellence), and Author of the Year (Fantasy, Dystopian, Mystery), as well as nominations and wins for Best Cover, and a Reader’s Choice Award.

Tish has worked as a computer consultant, photographer, and graphic designer, and is a columnist for Gliterary Girl Media and has bylines in RT Magazine and Literary Lunes Magazine. She resides in Colorado with her husband and three wonderful children and is represented by Gandolfo, Helin, and Fountain Literary Management.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.tishthawer.com/
Blog: http://tishthawer.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTishThawer/(Fan page)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TishThawersBookCoven/(Book group)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TishThawer/ | @TishThawer
IG: https://www.instagram.com/tishthawer/?hl=en | @TishThawer
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/tishthawer
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2rp0q8A
Newsletter: http://www.tishthawer.com/subscribe.html
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tish-thawer

Buy Links:
TS901: ANOMALY
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2uRlunC
Amazon UK- http://amzn.to/2eTfWVQ
Apple - http://apple.co/2v6oFtZ
Barnes & Noble - http://bit.ly/2tPLcf1
Inktera - http://bit.ly/2v48FsJ
Kobo - http://bit.ly/2uF8Z0h
Scribd - http://bit.ly/2u4OHK2

TS901: DOMINION
Amazon (Pre-Order): https://amzn.to/2MdzoIh

Valley Girl Wars by Cherime MacFarlane

VALLEY GIRL WARS

Southwest of Homer, Book 2
by Cherime MacFarlane

Young Adult Sci-fi

Date Published: 10/18/17

Publisher: YorubaBoy Books

It's the year 93 O.O., and Dara Adeleye is a student with a bright future and her life figured out. That is, until a chance encounter with a mysterious child changes everything.

Dara lives in a world shaped by the Miracle of Elegua, an intervention by the gods in the fate of an Earth on the brink of collapse decades before she was born. Exceptionally gifted as an artist, her day-to-day attentions are on excelling in school in order to rise above her lower-class upbringing and raise her friends and family out of the dreaded red vanes. But Earth is headed towards the brink again and it may just be the gift she doesn't know she has that can save it . . .

Kristano Arvelo is a trazer--the term used for the graffiti writers of Dara's time, a once-slang that originated in her home town of Todirb Wall. The aimless leader of a local group of trazers, he may hold a key to unlocking Dara's hidden gifts. But it will come at the cost of the destiny she believed was hers.

About the Author

JOSEPH OLUMIDE ADEGBOYEGA-EDUN was born in Lagos, the then-capital city of Nigeria. A great-grandson of the First-Secretary of the Egba United Government, he was brought to the United States at age two when his parents came to study. Increasing corruption in the Nigerian government followed by the return of military rule thwarted their plans to move back and America became home. They set roots in Brooklyn, New York, a vibrant environment colored with graffiti and steeped in elements of hip-hop that left an indelible mark on the future author's consciousness.

The cultural influences and experiences of his homeland and the city of his early youth have been a strong source of creative inspiration for the author. Trazer: Kids of Stolen Tomorrow is his debut novel, and the first entry in the Trazer Series. When not writing, Joe enjoys working on other projects with his creative partners LenStorm, 7Woundz and Soundz, and exploring the breathtaking wilderness of the Chesapeake.

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Sunday, June 24, 2018

Batiste; Cajun Devils; Book One by Victoria Danann

BATISTE

Cajun Devils, Book One
by Victoria Danann

Romance Between the Pages Podcast featuring Adrienne Bell

Listen on Itunes (Subscribe so you never miss an episode! It’s FREE!)

Ever wondered about the personalities behind your favorite books? Victoria Danann's new podcast with Riley J. Ford has an incredible lineup of authors booked through the spring. No question is out of bounds. Check it out!

THIS WEEK'S BEST SELLING AUTHOR...

ADRIENNE BELL!

I never learned how to walk in high heels. I fell in love with Converse instead. I wear them pretty much everywhere—to the grocery store, to parties, to formal occasions. Yeah, I know it’s strange way to start off a bio, but I think that one little detail gives you a pretty good image of me.

That, and apparently I can't keep a straight face if I know that someone is taking a picture of me.

I’m a wife and a mother of two. My older son has autism, so I might bring up ASD stuff every now and then. I’ve lived my whole life in Northern California. I have a deep, abiding love of all things Disneyland and Supernatural.

Sleep State Interrupt Promo Blitz

Science Fiction (Cyberpunk) / Thriller

Date Published: September 1, 2016

Publisher: See Sharp Press

Awards: 2017 Compton Crook Finalist for best first science fiction novel!

In Sleep State Interrupt, a giant media corporation has taken over the Internet, created an addictive virtual reality called BetterWorld, and controls nearly all information. Politicians do their bidding and a brainwashed humanity serves a privileged few.

Waylee Freid, an unemployed Baltimore journalist with ever-worsening bipolar disorder, is the only hope for a brighter future. She and her countercultural friends bust a notorious teenage hacker out of jail and sneak into a closed presidential fundraiser at the Smithsonian castle, where they hope to record incriminating admissions that will wake up the world. Hunted by Homeland Security, Waylee and her friends must reach a sufficient audience by broadcasting their video during the Super Bowl. But to do so, they'll have to break into one of the most secure facilities ever built.

Read the First Four chapters of Sleep State Interrupt, plus a lot more extras, free at http://savethereefs.wixsite.com/sleepstateinterrupt

About the Author

Ted Weber has pursued writing and music since childhood, and learned filmmaking and screenwriting in college, along with a little bit of physics. Trapped at home during the "Snowmageddon" of 2010, he transformed those interests into novel writing, and has completed four novels and a number of short stories since then. By day, Mr. Weber works as an ecologist for a non-profit organization and has had over twenty scientific papers and book chapters published. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife Karen. He enjoys traveling and has visited all seven continents.

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Thursday, June 21, 2018

Defining Riley by JJ Ellis

DEFINING RILEY

A Harper's Rock Legacy Series, Book 4
by JJ Ellis

DEADLY DISCOVERY

Nova Ladies Adventures, Book Three
by Alathia Paris Morgan

Celebrity Status by Angela Scavone

CELEBRITY STATUS

by Angela Scavone

FOREVER IN INK

Ink Series Book 4
by Jude Ouvrard

SWEET AND SASSY BRIDES

by Mimi Barbour, Jacquie Biggar, Alicia Street, Dani Haviland, Stephanie Queen, Stacy Eaton, Rachelle Ayala, Katy Walters, and Aileen Fish

As Right As Rain by J.M. Maurer

AS RIGHT AS RAIN

by J.M. Maurer

The Unholy Blog Tour; Paul DeBlassie III Author

It is a great honor to present the revamped Award winning book, The Unholy, by Author Paul DeBlassie III!

Butterflies and Flutterbyes; Dreaming in Words; Maggie Lowe Author

BUTTERFLIES AND FLUTTERBYES

Dreaming in Words
by Maggie Lowe

Dark Child of Forever; Dark Destinies, Book 3; S.K. Ryder Author

DARK CHILD OF FOREVER
Dark Destinies, Book 3
by S.K. Ryder

Not Always a Bridesmaid Collection; 4 Stories about Love, Laughter, and Disasters at Weddings

4 Stories about Love, Laughter, and

Disasters at weddings.

REVIEWS:

The plot kept me captivated as a budding romance develops between Chasen and Skye, who seem to have the same vision and goals in life. I found the dialog to be open, honest and heartwarming and a few lines to melt the heart. “It looks like your journey brought you love.” “If you dream together, then it’s a reality.

I enjoyed this fast pace wedding novella with interesting characters. The plot kept the pages turning, and the dialog was entertaining. What happens when the wedding planner and her fiancé have a difference of opinion? A wedding is a girls dream, and she knows what she wants, but what if the groom is trying to rush things?

The Professional Bridesmaid

To help three co-workers coordinate their weddings, Skye Wilson must act as a bridesmaid for them. Skye dreams of becoming a wedding planner and needs to start somewhere and reluctantly agrees. Just when the wedding arrangements and her plans started going wrong, she meets Chasen Dantrell, a handsome limousine driver.

Chasen has a growing limo business. He loves his job but the long hours of waiting by himself wear on him. That is until a cute, blue-eyed bridesmaid named Skye stumbles his way.

As their two worlds become more and more entwined with each wedding they work, Skye wonders if she'll ever be a bride and would it be Chasen at the end of the aisle with a ring?

The Undecided Bride

When Steven, the man of Bridgette North dreams, proposes she automatically says yes until her fiancé’s constant pressure for a speedy wedding has her questioning his motives and love. Now she is undecided whether she wants to marry him.

Mason is hired to trick Bridgette into marrying Steven quickly to ensure a promotion but ends up falling head-over-heels in love instead.

Can Mason explain his deceit and still win her heart?

And will Bridgette be willing to risk her heart one more time?

Red, White, and Bridesmaid

Jess Caldwell is the third in line to wear the mistletoe headband until she’s kissed. But it’s her best friend Kara’s wedding, Jess needs to keep her mind on designing the flowers and not on the fact that Kara’s older brother, Darrin, who she’s had a crush on for years will be there.

Darrin’s happy to be moving home, and what is even more of a pleasant surprise is seeing her again. Jess isn’t the geeky girl he remembered when he left. But after all the mean things he said in the past, will she give him another chance?

When things at the wedding go wrong, more than fireworks fly for this 4th of July wedding.

Will love be in the air?

The Reluctant Bride

Penelope Moore’s last boyfriend had no qualms about cheating even after he professed his undying love. As a wedding event planner Penelope has seen plenty of happily-ever-after. But with her terrible luck in the relationship department, she is reluctant to believe it will ever happen to her.

Ferguson enjoyed the freedom of bachelorhood until he met his last girlfriend. He considered her the love of his life until she betrayed him. Without his consent, she used his professional experience and knowledge as a private investigator to write and publish a best-selling novel. Ferguson couldn’t forgive her underhanded deceit and ended their relationship.

When Ferguson meets Penelope he is once again willing to risk his heart, but Penelope isn’t as trusting. Just when he is beginning to win the beautiful event planner’s heart, his ex-girlfriend arrives in town and causes heartache all over again.

Can Penelope and Ferguson trust each other and their hearts enough to get their happily-ever-after?

Available now on multiple platforms in eBook and paperback. Coming soon in audio and foreign language translations.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DKV63L9

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40494003-not-always-a-bridesmaid?from_search=true

Universal Link for other review sites: https://www.books2read.com/u/3L0pVJ

Summer Reads 2018; Win Your Summer Read

Summer Reads 2018

Angela Ford & Jennifer Conner

Win your summer read!

ENTER HERE

Time to bring out the flip flops!

Whether you head to the beach, the poolside,

or your favorite spot to soak up some sun-take a romance with you.

How about an Unforgettable Kiss, The Professional Bridesmaid,

or off to London with a Dare – Angela & Jennifer’s co-authored romance –

3 winners every month this summer!

Jennifer & Angela are giving 7 eBooks all summer long!

Escape with a romance this summer–besides the titles listed above,

they’re giving you 2 brothers from The Mac Brothers Series and

taking you to Sunset Beach in their Sunset Beach Romance Series

(each book in series can be read as stand-alone romances).

Perfect summer reads while you relax in the sun.

Good luck on the draws!

Have a fabulous summer–Happy Reading!

Ange & Jenni

Angela Ford's Website

Jennifer Conner's Website

Facebook - Angela Ford

Facebook - Jennifer Conner

Goodreads – Angela Ford

Goodreads – Jennifer Conner

Twitter – Angela Ford

Twitter – Jennifer Conner

Amazon – Angela Ford

Amazon – Jennifer Conner

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Sweet and Sassy Weddings Release Tour

SWEET AND SASSY WEDDINGS

Happily Ever After Romance

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Victimly Insane by George Kayer

True Crime Interview

Published: September 2017

Publisher: Freebird Publishing

In this book length interview an innocent Frank Atwood reveals from Death Row what the public and jurors have never heard and what the lynch mob media never wanted to print: how this sweet, rosy-cheeked, silver-spooned teen who went by Frankie J. arrived at perversity and at the crossroads of victim and victimizer.

About the Author

George Kayer was first published at age 14; gave up his God given talent for a life of crime and wound up on Arizona’s Death Row in 1997. The Pen Pal and Author Nancy Miars encouraged George to begin writing again – 20 years later he is America’s most published prisoner and Victimly Insane is his optimum work to date.

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Saturday, June 9, 2018

Enchanted Romances Magical Passion

ENCHANTED ROMANCES - Magical Passion

by Mimi Barbour, Jacquie Biggar, Rachelle Ayala, Suzanne Jenkins, Dani Haviland, Stacy S. Eaton, Katy Walters, Susan Jean Ricci

Romance Between the Pages Podcast featuing Alyssa Day

Listen on Itunes (Subscribe so you never miss an episode! It’s FREE!)

THIS WEEK'S BEST SELLING AUTHOR...

ALYSSA DAY!

Alyssa Day is the pen name (and dark and tortured alter ego) of author Alesia Holliday. As Alyssa, she is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, and she writes the Warriors of Poseidon and Cardinal Witches paranormal romance series and the Tiger’s Eye Mysteries, a paranormal mystery series. As Alesia, she writes comedies that make readers snort things out of their noses, and is the author of the award-winning memoir about military families during war-time deployments: Email to the Front. She has won many awards for her writing, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award for outstanding romance fiction and the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance novel of 2012.

Alyssa is a diehard Buckeye who graduated summa cum laude from Capital University Law School and practiced as a trial lawyer in multi-million dollar litigation for several years before coming to her senses and letting the voices in her head loose on paper. She has lived all over the country, including Florida, Mississippi, Washington state, Ohio, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Alaska, Michigan, Virginia—and she has lived all over the world: the Philippines, Turkey, and Japan. She loves to travel, and just got back from a cruise to Cozumel (lovely! Wine on our balcony!) and an adventure with a group of high school art students to London, Paris (my favorite city in the world!) and Rome. She currently lives somewhere near an ocean with her Navy Guy husband, two kids, and any number of rescue dogs.

Thursday, June 7, 2018

The Offspring by Bill Pinnell

Contemporary Fiction

Date Published: April 2018

Publisher: Page Publishing

The Offspring is a gripping narrative filled with convoluted schemes and a secret that destroyed so many lives.

Terrifying family secrets have plagued Hughie Decker for as long as he can remember. Now, just as his life and career have finally begun to make strides, a seemingly innocent story from his hometown newspaper leaves Decker with no choice. He must return to his boyhood home to confront the horrid truth that destroyed so many lives.

Excerpt

Prologue

He could not bring himself to open the door. It felt much safer to remain inside, even though the air was oppressively warm and cloying. He glanced through the windshield to that spot, to where he knew he must go. He took a deep breath. Steeling his resolve, he opened the door and stepped down to the ground. He took another deep breath then forced himself to walk through the trees to near the water’s edge. He looked around. Considering the years that had passed since he last stood on this spot, some things obviously had changed, and yet there was an eerie sameness to the place. Despite the heat, a shiver ran up his spine. He did not belong here, but remain he must, even though he felt like an intruder. Sutter’s Pool looked the worse for wear. Some trees had toppled over and lay barren. Twists of bark peeled from the trunks and only desiccated brown leaves clung to splintered branches. He looked up at the one exception to the ravages of time and neglect, the one unfortunate constant: that magnificent giant elm, towering before him, more majestic than ever, and still rooted firmly to that spot in a contrasting effusion of glorious green splendor. High above, a burst of sunlight illuminated a short length of rope. It was secured to the limb by a large slipknot, its dangling end tattered and worn. As he stared at it, memories, or what he imagined to be memories (for he was not here when that most tragic of events happened) swirled in his head like a swarm of wasps bent on revenge. Slowly, as the wind picked up, the dangling rope flicked in lazy circles, gaining momentum in the frenzy of its own macabre dance.

The sky, only a moment before the essence of cerulean blue, clouded over, not in portentous gray but hazy-like, as if seen through the gauze of time. The breeze slowed, but its effect could still be heard through the gently rustling leaves of the elm. As the man lost him- self in the hypnotic swing of the threads of dangling rope, suddenly a voice rang out. No, two voices. Two male voices. Their laughter trilled through the afternoon air, joyous in abandon, epitomizing all that is carefree youth. The sounds swayed back and forth overhead, like that piece of rope, as if tethered to a giant pendulum. Suddenly there came a loud splash—kuh-thunk-kuh!—and the man turned toward the pond just as a boy’s torso broke the surface with a powerful thrust. How he managed to laugh without swallowing mouthfuls of water was a wonder. The boy swept the waves of hair from his eyes and pointed to his left. “I bet you can’t beat that somersault, little brother!” The man turned to see another boy, this one a few years younger than the valiant swimmer, standing near the water’s edge. The younger boy was trying in vain to grab hold of the swinging rope. The man looked up to see a rope swing knotted to that same limb high above where moments before had hung only a remnant. In a desperate attempt to catch the rope swing, the younger boy lunged too far and awkwardly cartwheeled into the pond. He clumsily pulled himself onto the bank, while the older brother effortlessly treaded water and was laughing hysterically. “Oh, yeah?” cried the younger boy, picking up a clod of dirt. “Incoming torpedo! Fire one!” he yelled, whipping it at the cackling swimmer. But the older one was too fast and jackknifed below as the dirt bomb splattered harmlessly on the surface. The boy picked up another clod and waited for his brother to come up for air. But he didn’t. The boy waited. The seconds ticked by. “Come on, Tommy, quit it. Here. I’m throwing the dirt bomb away.” And he did. “Game’s over, okay?” Still nothing. He knew his brother was a strong swimmer, but the boy grew worried. “Tommy!”

Then, as if driven by a monstrous clap of thunder, the sky grew dark. Only there was no thunder, for it had become eerily quiet. The man called out to the young boy, who seemed not to hear. Suddenly, as if someone had opened a door to a wind tunnel, a mighty gust began to race around the perimeter of the pond. The man looked to the water’s surface, but still no sign of the swimmer. Fearing the worst, he called out again to the other boy. “Don’t worry, son, I’ll save your brother!” The man turned quickly toward the boy, but he had vanished. He was nowhere to be found. Just then, the water broke and the swimmer surfaced, desperately gasping for air. The man called to the swimmer, who, like his younger brother, seemed oblivious of the man. In a frightening instant, the entire pond began to churn, first swirling about in eddies then merging into a singular, violent whirlpool. The circle tightened around the struggling boy, closing ever so quickly in diameter as the rotation and froth gained momentum. It tightened further like the giant, unforgiving iris of a massive camera lens. The current escalated, engulfing the boy’s legs like so much quicksand, pulling him down, ever down. The man tried to run to the water’s edge to save the drowning boy, but he could not move. It was as if his feet were cemented into the soggy ground. He watched in sheer helplessness as the swimmer was sucked deep into the swirling abyss. The water closed over the brown curls of hair, swallowing its prey as the pond slowly returned to deceitful serenity.

And then he saw them, right where the younger boy had stood begging for his brother to break to the surface. The man’s mouth went dry as if filled with sand, his escalating pulse threatening to burst his throbbing heart. He squinted through the gauze of light to see lying on the ground a lifeless body—no, a dead body. A young black man knelt over the prostrate form, his hand cradling a rock splotched with gray pulp and dripping with blood. Both figures were drenched as if they had been tossed overboard into a turbulent sea or perhaps the raging pond that had swallowed the swimmer. Droplets of blood and gore fell from the rock onto the corpse as blotches of red spread over its clothes in a nightmarish version of a Jackson Pollock canvas. The black man slowly turned his head toward the intruder, his eyes seeming to glow like the fires of hell; he stood, never taking his eyes away yet tightening his hold on the bloody rock, which now resembled an oversize sticky softball. Slowly the black man (on closer look, was he merely a teenager?) began his approach, feet pulling from the ground’s suction in steady cadence. Stumbling backward, the intruder raised his hands in defense and croaked, “No, oh god, no. I couldn’t save him. I tried, but I couldn’t!” The man tripped, falling onto his back. He shut his eyes in an effort to escape the terror before him. There he lay, waiting for the rock to split his skull open when . . . nothing. No sound of approaching feet, no thudding of his own heartbeat. Nothing. He froze, afraid to open his eyes lest he see a hovering figure, the rock mercilessly poised to come crashing down. The smell of grass was unexpectedly sweet, powerfully sweet in fact, and oddly comforting. He slid a hand across his wet brow, fearing the moisture was his own blood. Slowly he opened his eyes. No blood. Lifting onto his elbows, he looked around. The black man (boy?) was gone. The dead body was gone. In its place the grass was dry, sparse blades waving gently in a reluctant breeze. Looking upward, the sky appeared to have returned to normal. Then he saw the dangling piece of rope lit softly once again by dappled sunlight. The man staggered to his feet.

“Well, there’s trouble,” he heard from behind. The startled man whirled to confront that voice from his past.

About the Author

While teaching in a university theatre department, Pinnell accumulated both local and national awards for teaching excellence. He was a theatre director, designer and scenic artist, and also authored three textbooks and two plays. THE OFFSPRING is his first novel.

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