Book Review - Don't Fear the Reaper

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Entertaining

Death

Teen

Original

 Chaos

Fantasy

Family

Description

The day Nick Ramsay’s eighth-grade teacher drops dead in his classroom, Nick sees his first reaper. When another cloaked figure appears at his grandmother’s bedside, Nick issues an order for the vile creature to leave her alone. 

This simple act of defiance creates a domino effect that brings Fate and Death to Nick’s door and reveals his true lineage, throwing his world into chaos. To make matters worse, a group of rogue reapers declares war on humanity and Nick is the only one who can stop them.

Guest Post - J.E. Taylor & William Houle - Don't Fear the Reaper

By J.E Taylor


Back in April, I found myself sitting in front of the television with my twelve-year-old son watching The Walking Dead.  Now we’ve watched Supernatural together for years, which sometimes isn’t appropriate for kids, but for the most part, he’s been okay with the scary scenes. I think I was a bit naïve on the graphic nature of The Walking Dead because after about ten minutes, I made the decision that this was not the show for him to be watching.

My son was very disappointed when I opted to change the channel and I was reminded of my innate curiosity as a young teen.  The Night Stalker on television was always a good fix and then the string of thrillers and slasher flicks.  I continued to enjoy twisted horror movies for most of my young adult life as well as books – both Stephen King and Dean Koontz really fed my morbid curiosity.

As I sat watching The Walking Dead, I realized I was right around the same age as my son when Halloween came out. And he’s got the same imagination, curiosity, and love for the twinge of fear that I do – that adrenaline rush you get when peeking at the screen over the blankets. I’m secretly ecstatic he has the same love for action and scary themes I do, thus I was beyond thrilled when he came to me last summer with a fantastic idea for a young adult series.

We started writing Don’t Fear The Reaper, the first book in The Death Chronicles series last summer and finished it in May of this year. It was definitely a learning experience for both of us and teaching a twelve-year-old the benefits of engaging all the senses when writing isn’t easy. However, the funniest moment we had writing together was an early scene in the book when the main character gets a kiss from his girlfriend.  I asked my son what she smelled like.

Of course he laughed and said, “I don’t know. I don’t go around smelling girls!”

After the laughter died down, I explained that good story telling was much deeper than just saying ‘this happened then that happened’, you have to create the whole picture with words. The feel of the fall air on your character’s skin, the thrill of a first kiss and the terror of a close call all had to be drawn with both what the character experiences inside and out and this includes engaging all the senses for the full effect.

The great thing about this whole experience is I learned just how alike we are and just how creative his imagination really is.

Check out Don’t Fear the Reaper if you get a chance…

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre - Middle Grade Fantasy
Rating - PG
More details about the author & the book

 Connect with William F Houle & JE Taylor on Twitter & Facebook

Website http://www.jetaylor75.com/

Book Review - The Astrologer's Daughter

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Well-written

Scandal

Drama

Revenge

Romance 

Astrology

Beach

Description

Joanna Halloran, a best selling writer and astrologer, lives in a beach house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. After a violent storm, she roams the beach, glances seaward and spots a man clinging to a piece of wreckage, being tossed helplessly. She dives in and pulls him safely onto the beach. 

Robert Zachary Harrison is from a wealthy, political family. As he slowly recovers from a private plane crash, he and Joanna fall in love and spend passionate and sequestered weeks together. But because of family duty, Robert makes the painful decision to leave her and return to his fiancée and political life. He departs, not knowing Joanna is pregnant.

Twenty five years later, Senator Robert Harrison is running for President of the United States. In the midst of a contentious presidential campaign, Joanna’s daughter, who has a passion to expose secrets, seeks revenge on her father. She is also falling in love with her father’s adopted son.

As secrets emerge, Joanna and Robert meet again and confront the past and present. Robert confesses a secret that Joanna had never known. Now, on the world stage, they struggle to keep their families and careers from destruction.

Vacation Reads Giveaway Hop

My giveaway is a $5 Amazon.com gift card.

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*Random winner will be picked and emailed on 30th July 2012

*This giveaway hop is hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer 
& The Bookish Mama

Book Review - The Memory Songbook

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Music

Touching

Family

Parenting

Self-Discovery 

Well-written

Memories

Description

At 17 … Frank didn’t think he had a past. 

Then he found himself chasing his forgetful, wandering grandfather into the 1950s, the 1940s and as far back as the days of gas lamps and folksinger Leadbelly. It was then, confronted with poignant family revelations and one great song, that young Frank began to realize who he really was. 

At 50 … Frank doesn’t believe he has a future.

Then, on the verge of restoring his singer-songwriter career, he is called home to assist his aging mother who suffers from memory loss and other ailments. Like many baby boomers, he wants to be there for his parent … and yet feels helpless. 

But while cleaning, he discovers a manuscript he wrote after one mind-bending day in the Summer of Love. It was the day he discovered the powerful music-memory connection: songs have the power to bring back the memories and feelings that have shaped the best moments of our lives.

Desperate to reach his mother before she slips away … and yearning for the awe music once inspired in him … Frank works through his own personal songbook in search of who he was — and who he still might become.

The Memory Songbook shifts between the winter and summer of singer-songwriter Frank Gosnell’s life. It is what Midwest Book Review contributor Shirley Priscilla Johnson calls “… a cry from one generation to another …” 

This pop-culture fiction is suitable for adult and Young Adult readers. It blends first love, Classic Rock, and poignant family revelations with … magic realism … guitar gods … Woodstock … and war.

God Loves You - Chester Blue

What if when you most needed help, a blue bear appeared with a note from God?

One night, Miss Millie of Blossom, Ohio turns her face to the stars and asks God for help. The next day, a package arrives on her doorstep containing a blue teddy bear and a very special note. 

Over the course of a year, this remarkable blue bear travels across the country, showing up just when he’s needed most. 
 
During his journey, Chester Blue helps a young girl trying to impress her big sisters; saves a sailor caught in a terrible storm; reunites two constantly fighting brothers; helps a cowboy become a rodeo clown; and aids a father and daughter in bonding after divorce. 

If you ever needed a message from God, it's here...


Buy Now @ Amazon 

Genre - Religious / Historical Fiction
Rating - PG
More details about the author 


Connect with Suzanne Anderson on
Twitter & Facebook & Pinterest

Transformative Travel

Kathmandu. Nepal. The Himalayas. An exotic area of the world that many people dream about visiting. Kate made that dream come true.

A casual phone call to a friend sparked the fulfillment of Kate’s lifelong dream of traveling to Nepal in order to trek in the Himalayas. She jokingly mentioned to her friend Kay who was planning to start a new exercise routine that they could get fit on a trip to the Himalayas.

Within just a few weeks, Kate and Kay found themselves on a plane on the way to the adventure of a lifetime:

– seeing the gorgeous snow-capped Himalayas in person so close that it seemed that Kate could just reach out her hand to touch them 

– trekking for days into areas that only the most adventurous travelers ever reach.

What Kate learned about herself during the challenging and sometimes excrutiating, but always stimulating, adventure of trekking at high altitude over rough terrain truly transformed her in ways that often did not become apparent until many years later.

Follow Kate as she learns more about how to expand her limits so that she can truly fulfill her dream. And maybe you will find yourself motivated to fulfill your dream as well.


Buy Now @ Amazon 

Genre - Travel
Rating - G
More details about the author 

Connect with Kate Benzin on Twitter & Facebook
Website http://www.katebenzin.com/

Book Review - Transformative Travel

Amazon Kindle

Travel

Memoir

Challenges

Himalayas

Fascinating 

Motivation

Change

Description

Kathmandu. Nepal. The Himalayas. An exotic area of the world that many people dream about visiting. Kate made that dream come true.

A casual phone call to a friend sparked the fulfillment of Kate’s lifelong dream of traveling to Nepal in order to trek in the Himalayas. She jokingly mentioned to her friend Kay who was planning to start a new exercise routine that they could get fit on a trip to the Himalayas.

Within just a few weeks, Kate and Kay found themselves on a plane on the way to the adventure of a lifetime:

– seeing the gorgeous snow-capped Himalayas in person so close that it seemed that Kate could just reach out her hand to touch them 

– trekking for days into areas that only the most adventurous travelers ever reach.

What Kate learned about herself during the challenging and sometimes excrutiating, but always stimulating, adventure of trekking at high altitude over rough terrain truly transformed her in ways that often did not become apparent until many years later.

Author Interview - Gregory G. Allen

How did you know you should become an author?

I was a story teller as an actor, director, producer, stage writer … I knew I needed to get these stories out of my head and share them.

What is your favorite Quote?

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that counts. It's the life in your years." - Abe Lincoln

Who are your favorite authors of all time?

At the risk of offending many female writers that I love - John Irving, Augusten Burroughs, Richard Matheson, Armistead Maupin, Tennessee Williams

What is your dream cast for your book?

I honestly try not to cast the book from Hollywood people. I'd prefer my readers to cast it in their head with people they've made up.

Can you see yourself in any of your characters?

Absolutely. Sometimes a piece of me lives in each…I just don't share which piece.

What's the craziest writing idea you've had?

A lot of mine are crazy in that I usually twist my stories in a way that people don't see something coming. So I think that 'crazy' works in my favor.

What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

There are rules…and there are times to bend them. Stay true to who you are.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.I write about real people, the way they really speak, and allow readers to discover things about themselves in the process. 

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?  I have a few other adult novels I'm working on, but also marketing my children's book right now. 

If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?

I love time travel books and movies so I would have to go back in time. Check out those periods before technology over took our worlds (he says writing on a computer).

If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?

Augusten Burroughs

Hilary Clinton

Barbra Streisand

Anderson Cooper

Anne Rice

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

Potatoes - my favorite food 

iPad - with a loaded kindle app

A bar a soap - I like to be clean, what can I say?

What is one book everyone should read? 

Such a loaded question because we all have different taste. I love the book Bid Time Return…but most know it as the movie Somewhere in Time

If you were a superhero what would your name be? 

Over-Achiever Man

If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose? 

Abraham Lincoln

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? 

Cereal. And I'm not picky about the kind: just love the stuff!

Buy Now @ Amazon 

Genre - Contemporary Women's Fiction
Rating - PG13
More details about the author & the book

Connect with Gregory Allen on Twitter & Facebook 
Website http://www.ggallen.net/#/

Saving Mary

If you’re a fan of supernatural fiction then you will be captivated by this true story about a spiritually sensitive girl and the path that led to her possession. Part one of a two-part series, Saving Mary is the story of a modern-day Mary Magdalene—the woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons. 

Deidre Daily is drawn to anything seemingly spiritual, desperately seeking a spiritual existence. But inside this vibrant girl hides a terrified child who sincerely believes she has married the devil. Through a series of spiritual encounters her fear turns into reality, and she ends up possessed.

Deidre’s fascinating memoir relays her story from childhood to adolescence: invisible eyes leering at her from the corner of her bedroom, horrible nightmares tormenting her, and her desperate attempt to find God—only to end up possessed. It is a candid account of possession from a first-person perspective. This dark memoir brings to light an intricate world of deceitful spirits hell-bent on manipulating and damaging an innocent girl’s life, not only through her dreams, but also through seemingly every-day encounters.

Travel with Deidre into the mysterious world of spirits, ghosts and demons. Awaken yourself to a world that isn’t supposed to exist; a world that’s as intriguing as it is sinister. And then emerge as a new person—invigorated, aware and intent on living in the light. Saving Mary; Not just another story about a girl and her exorcist.

Watch for book two, Saving Mary: The Deliverance

Buy Now @ Amazon

***Summer Special*** $0.99 for a limited time. 

Genre - Paranormal, Non-Fiction
Rating - PG13

Connect with Deidre Havrelock on Facebook
Blog http://deidrehavrelock.wordpress.com/
Website http://www.deidrehavrelock.com/

Summer Lovin Giveaway Hop

My giveaway is 2 copies of

Follow me on my Blog, Twitter or GoodReads

Leave me a comment so I'll know who you are.

*Random winner will be picked and emailed on 20th July 2012

*This giveaway hop is hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer 
& Tifferz Book Review

Book Review - Pandora's Reading Room #1

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Fantasy

Relationships

Quickie

Good

Horror

Romance

Death

Description

A glimmer of hope. A pinch of horror. A sprinkle of desire and a journey of mixed emotions. This is a compilation of short stories and additionally features a special selection of books and blogs for you to discover. 

Story 1 - Mirror Me Martha

Hawley Mansion was to have been the beginning of their lives together but a nasty accident leaves Martha moving into the mansion alone and desperately grieving. She gets off on the wrong foot with her service staff and starts to experience strange incidents. She even claims that a red robin is spying on her. Has grief swallowed Martha's sanity or does Hawley Mansion really have a secret?

Story 2 - Drive On Hope

Mary and Brian had it all planned out as they headed for the city of bright lights, London from the small coastal town of Scarborough. They had the drive to succeed, the will to be different and the brevity to move away from their past. Success was theirs and nothing or no one could stop them. But one year later and still living in their car would they ever be able to drive on hope? 

Story 3 - Jane Holden is like any other student at Pickering University. Away from home for the first time, she looks forward to having her social calendar packed with activities and to meeting new people. But an unexpected enemy changes all of this. She goes from scholarship recipient to social outcast. Will life be normal again? Will she ever recover from the cat that barked? 

Story 4 - Globetrotting With Cathy Dixon

Meet Cathy Dixon from Frequent Traveller. From the blue oceans of Antigua to the bustling streets of Vietnam, the racing adrenaline at the Green Hell, the devastating natural disaster in Japan and the stunning architecture in Germany, Cathy finds herself in a whirlwind of fine dining, plush clothes and sheer extravagance. But is perfection a mask for untold disaster?

(20% of royalties will be donated to Family Lives - Advice & Support for Mum and Dad)

Book Review - Dora's Essentials: Examining Anxiety

Amazon Kindle

Anxiety

Panic Attack

Guide

Well-written

Helpful

Natural Cure

How To

Description

What happens when you worry too much? Are you having an anxiety disorder or is worrying normal? How does anxiety affect you and your loved ones? A three part eBook that focuses on these questions and more. 

Part 1. Are you really having an anxiety disorder?

Part 2. Simple techniques to keep your panic attacks from getting the best of you

Part 3. The less addictive road to curing panic attacks

Author's Note - Please note that all information contained within this ebook is based on my personal experience and that of people who have shared their opinions with me. I am not a medical practitioner and none of this can be construed or substituted as medical advice or scientific opinion in any way. Kindly consult a licensed medical practitioner or therapist for your medical issues. I cannot and will not assume any responsibility for any consequences be it positive or negative that are allegedly caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this ebook.

Book Review - God Loves You, Chester Blue

Amazon Kindle

Christian

Soothing

Gentle

Well-written

Feel Good

Relationships

Family

Description

What if when you most needed help, a blue bear appeared with a note from God? One night, Miss Millie of Blossom, Ohio turns her face to the stars and asks God for help. The next day, a package arrives on her doorstep containing a blue teddy bear and a very special note. 

Over the course of a year, this remarkable blue bear travels across the country, showing up just when he’s needed most. During his journey, Chester Blue helps a young girl trying to impress her big sisters; saves a sailor caught in a terrible storm; reunites two constantly fighting brothers; helps a cowboy become a rodeo clown; and aids a father and daughter in bonding after divorce. If you ever needed a message from God, it's here...

Book Review - Sundered

Amazon Kindle

Zombie

Romance

Adventure

Well-written

Monsters

Series

Awesome

Description

A miracle drug, Nevermore, spreads like wildfire throughout the world allowing people to eat what they want, no matter how unhealthy it is and yet still lose weight. It is everything the human population has ever dreamed of and Mara is no different. Only a simple twist of fate stops her from taking the drug.

As the weeks roll by, it becomes apparent that Nevermore is not the miracle it claimed. A true to life nightmare, the drug steals the very essence that makes up humanity and unleashes a new and deadly species on the world, a species bent on filling its belly. Locked down within their small farm home, Mara and her husband Sebastian struggle against increasingly bad odds, fighting off marauders and monsters alike.

But Sebastian carries a dark secret, one that more than threatens to tear them apart, it threatens to destroy them both and the love they have for each other. 

The secret forces Mara to make the ultimate choice. Will she live for love, or will she live to survive?