Review-- Everbound--Brodi Ashton. Guest blogger: Danielle Raymond.

My good friend Danielle loves to read, and she's incredibly opinionated (I love you, Danielle! :) ), so it's only right that I put her in charge of reviews on RBTL. So, here's one she gave me a while ago. Enjoy.

Everbound

By Brodi Ashton

358 pages

            Beneath our world lies another. It is the Underworld – but not as we know it. Instead, this is where the immortal live, and where they take their victims – their Forfeits – to feed on them for a hundred years.

            Welcome to the Everneath.

            It is an unforgiving world of madness and brutality – a living world that requires human sacrifice to fuel its existence. These sacrifices generally come in the form of used Forfeits, people who have no loved ones to say goodbye to, who willingly give themselves up to the Tunnels - the Everneath’s energy source. The Tunnels steal a body’s energy until there is none left. Those Forfeits who survive the Feed and return to the surface world only have a few months to make amends and say farewells before the Tunnels come for them.

            This is a world that Nikki Beckett is all too familiar with after being fed on by Cole, an Everliving who now refuses to leave her alone. He believes she is meant to rule as the new Queen of the Everneath, with him as her King.

            But Nikki wants nothing to do with Cole, and nothing to do with the Everneath. All she does want is Jack – the one who helped her survive the Feed by dreaming of her, and the only boy she’s ever loved.

            The whole process is happening again. Only difference is that now Nikki is the one keeping Jack alive by dreaming of him. Because when the Tunnels came, Jack took her place in the Everneath.

            And she’s not sure if she can live with the guilt and the crushing helplessness.

            Determined to get Jack back, Nikki forces Cole’s hand in helping her navigate the Everneath. Together, they go on an impossible mission to save Jack before it’s too late. But Cole has betrayed Nikki before, and she is in more danger than she realizes.

            I have to say, this sequel to Everneath is almost better than its predecessor. The emotions are just as intense in both of them, but it’s the ending of Everbound that really sold me on it. There are twists in this story that I never saw coming. And the cliffhanger Ashton leaves you with is so much worse than the first book. You will have a serious book hangover after this.

            Not only that, but I really appreciated the development of Nikki’s character. Before she seemed kind of flimsy, like a brisk wind might blow her over. In this book, we see her become determined, brave, angry. She is a heroine doing what she must to get back the boy she loves – forget the consequences. Nikki literally goes through Hell and back to rescue Jack. She is a modern day Orpheus – only, a bit more successful.

            And I would have to say that’s because she knows her stuff. Nikki proves her mettle by knowing more about the ways of the Everneath than even the Everliving do. I have to respect a girl who does her research. And there was a lot of research – not only the mythology of Ancient Greece and Egypt, but the writings of Dante as well. Elements of all these things can be seen in the series.

            Honestly, I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. The end of Everbound was awash in darkness, deceit, and promises of sweet revenge.

            And there’s nothing I love more than good old-fashioned revenge.

            4/5 stars

Find Everbound here: http://www.amazon.com/Everbound-Everneath-Novel-Brodi-Ashton/dp/0062071165/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378832545&sr=8-1&keywords=everbound

Deception of Devin Miller-- Kelly Martin

Welcome back, Kelly Martin. She'd like to tell you a little about her new book.

 Today is the release day for mynew book THE DECEPTION OF DEVIN MILLER! I’d love for you to check it out. It’s only 99 cents until Saturday as an early bird special and also as a thank you. On Saturday, it’ll go to its regular price, $2.99. Be sure to tell your friends and neighbors about Devin. Thanks for having me here on release day! Enjoy the excerpt from chapter one.

Who would you trust if you didn’t know anybody, but they all knew you?

Chapter One

I heard the voices but couldn't place them in the darkness.

Your prom dress is in! You'll look fab when your bruises disappear.

Cooper feels really bad, you know? Wake up so he can stop moping.

What were you thinking?

Come on, Sweetie. Open your eyes for me.

You got what you deserved. You get that, right?

I hate being here. Seriously? You couldn't have waited for my side of the story? Of all the people to be stuck with…

I couldn't move, couldn't answer any of them. I tried but everything felt so strange like I was at the bottom of a pool after diving from the board. Voices were muffled and came in and out. I didn't know how long I'd been in the darkness, but I knew I wanted out.

One day, the dark water started swirling around me. Like coming up after a dive, the current roared in my ears. Rising to the surface, I opened my eyes and gasped for air that didn't immediately come.

Everything was blurry. I had no idea where I was. All I knew was there was something shoved down my throat keeping me from breathing, and I fought to jerk it out. How in the world could I breathe better beneath the surface than I could with my head above water?

"Hey, calm down. Stop pulling it," a distorted male voice echoed in my ears. I felt pressure on my arms as if something was holding me down. Terrified that this thing was going to hurt me, I fought harder.

"Stop," the voice ordered more firmly. "Quit! Ugh… I'll go get the doctor."

Doctor!

Nothing made sense after that. People ran in with distorted eyes telling me not to freak out. They didn't look human with their twisted faces and larger than average foreheads. I'd been abducted by aliens?

"We're going to get this out of you, okay?" someone said, a man by the sound of his deep, raspy voice, while standing over me and holding the tube coming from my throat. It was uncomfortable to say the least, and I gagged as it slid out of my mouth. Thankfully once it was gone, I could breathe again. The weight lifted from my chest and my lungs filled with the air I put into them.

As I calmed down a bit, the people began taking more of a normal shape. I noticed they didn't have gigantic heads, and they were, in fact, dressed like medical personnel. I scanned the room and assumed from the dull walls, pain chart hanging across from me, and the wide door to my right that I was in the hospital, which made sense with the all the beeping and tubes.

What I didn't know at the moment was how I got there.

"And she just woke up?" A man with a graying beard and blue scrubs asked the young guy in black standing next to him.

"Yeah, just like that. Scared me to death — relatively speaking of course."

I remembered that voice. I'd heard it in the darkness. Not the scary voice that was too whispered to recognize. The unhappy one.

"Okay, you stay here and sit with her while I call her parents."

"Sit with her? Me? Why? I have other patients to see."

"You go to school with her, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Then the others can wait." The man in blue smacked the other guy on the back. "Don't look so sad. Maybe you'll even make a friend." I heard laughter in the man's voice as he left the room, leaving me there with this guy I didn't know at all though he told the doctor he knew me.

"Do you need anything? Anything at all," a female nurse, I guess it was a nurse, asked from my right side. I followed the sound of her voice until I saw her face then kept going until I saw a tall pole with a line coming out of it. Presumably my IV.

What in the world was I doing in the hospital?

I shook my head as an answer because my throat felt raw from the miserable tube that had been so rudely shoved down in it. The nurse lady patted me on the shoulder — they liked to pat here — and told the other guy she'd be back in a few minutes and to try to get me talking. What if I didn't want to talk? Did I want to talk? Talking seemed painful, and what in the world would I talk about to a stranger?

She handed me the nurse call button and left. The chaos had died down, and it was just me and the strange guy.

He seemed irritated and a little nervous as he pulled one of the little blue, uncomfortable-looking hospital chairs closer to my bed, but not close enough to touch which I appreciated. I clung to the nurse call button as tightly as I could just in case he started freaking me out.

As he sat there like a lump, I studied him. He seemed familiar and I felt like I should know him from somewhere, but I didn't. He had jet, more than likely unnaturally, black hair, cut short around his ears and longer and floppier on top. It was fixed with some sort of styling gel or maybe it just laid like that on its own. How he styled his hair wasn't exactly important in the scheme of things.

He had big beautiful blue eyes, the kind of blue that were so light you couldn't look away if you tried. The blue popped thanks to a trace amount of black liner around his eyes. It wasn't an ungodly amount: no raccoon eyes by any means. But it was enough make them stand out. I really liked it. It suited him. His nose was on the bigger side and had a rounder appearance, but he definitely wasn't unattractive. On the side of his neck, I saw something that looked like a hickey. Seemed a bit inappropriate to wear a hickey to a hospital.

 By the way his plump lips fell in a straight, stern line I could tell he definitely wasn't happy. I didn't know if it was me personally he wasn't happy with or the situation in general. It couldn't have been me. I didn't know him.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," he said finally with a hint of agitation in his voice. Was he always so bitter? "We were — they were worried about you."

What was I supposed to say to that? Um… "Thanks." My voice came out harsh and not feminine at all. It made me a bit embarrassed that this not so bad-looking guy had to hear me sound like a thirty year smoker, but it wasn't like I could help it. I didn't put the stupid tube down my own throat.

"I guess I should say that you gave everyone quite a scare." He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at me. It wasn't a happy stare.

"Sorry about that." And I was. I just wished I knew who everyone was or why I scared them.

His eyes squinted, and I felt my face flush. Why was he looking at me like that? He took a l-o-n-g deep breath before speaking again. When he did, he didn't sound as angry. "Are you okay?"

Want to read more? Find it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Deception-Devin-Miller-ebook/dp/B00E20WOHG/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374348562&sr=1-3

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-deception-of-devin-miller-kelly-martin/1116121655?ean=2940148477785

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/338946

Author Bio: Kelly Martin a southern girl who writes... a lot. She is the author of SAINT SLOAN and Grace Award winning, CROSSING THE DEEP. By day, she is a teacher. By night, she has her hair in a bun and her fingers on a keyboard. She loves God, is addicted to chocolate, and would rather write than sleep. Kelly loves a good mystery and believes in Sherlock Holmes.

You can find her at http://kellymartinbooks.blogspot.com/

She's also on twitter: https://twitter.com/martieKay

And on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-Martin-Author/136506059763138

Guest reviewer: Danielle-- The Wrap-Up List by Steve Arntson

The Wrap-Up List

By Steven Arntson

236 pages

OVERVIEW:

Gabriela Rivera is a modern sixteen-year-old girl living in contemporary America. But there are two very different things that separate her world from ours.

The first is that she lives in a country on the brink of war. Many of her fellow classmates have already been called in for the draft.

The second is that, in her reality, there are beings called Deaths – strange, tall, supernatural creatures – who come for members of the population at random for departure to the afterlife, and account for one percent of all fatalities.

            Unfortunately, this is where Gabriela’s story begins.

            Opening her mailbox one day, Gabriela finds a Death Letter addressed to her. These departures are much like having cancer; you are given a small amount of time to get your affairs in order, make peace with loved ones, and write a Wrap-Up List. This list contains things that you would like to see happen in your life before you die. You send it back to your Death, and they use what influence they have over the workings of the universe to make them happen as best they can.

            Departures are also like cancer in respect to the fact that they come like a hard, unexpected slap to the face.

            But there is always a small glimmer of hope for those who are taken before their natural time. Every Death has a Noble Weakness – something that, if guessed correctly and performed, will grant you a Pardon. That Pardon means that you get your life back.

            Gabriela has one week to make sure everything on her Wrap-Up List happens, and to guess the Noble Weakness of her Death, Hercule. Otherwise, there will be no turning back.

REVIEW:

            I have to say, this book went pretty fast. I managed to finish the better part of it within a day. Perhaps it was the style in which it was written, because the subject matter certainly wasn’t lighthearted (although there were some very funny moments). At the same time, it wasn’t dark, either.

            At first, I actually thought the odd alternate America where Deaths existed was a rather unattractively created world, and was a bit repulsed by it. After a while, however, it and its almost bureaucratic structure grew on me. The world crafted by Arntson is nothing intricate or over the top, but it gets the job done.

            The characters are nothing to write home about, either. They are neither awful, nor amazing. I did quite appreciate Hercule. He was very real in a way an eight foot tall gray man probably shouldn’t have been. I also liked his sense of humor.

            What made this book for me were the brief, scattered moments of poignant clarity and realization that Gabriela had once she saw her time was coming to a close. They allow her the privilege of looking at the world through eyes that pierce beneath the surface of everything, and take in and appreciate details that most of us would never notice, or simply take for granted.

            While there was some Deep And Meaningful going on, I wasn’t too overly impressed or blown away. The Wrap-Up List is decent light reading, but don’t exert yourself fighting someone for the last copy of it at the book store.

            I give it 3/5 stars.

Author Felicia Rogers-- Beyond a Doubt

Welcome author Felicia Rogers and her new book, Beyond A Doubt. If you like clean historical fiction, be sure to take a peek! 

Beyond A Doubt, The Renaissance Hearts Series, Book Four
The end is finally here…

The final chapter has been written for The Renaissance Hearts Series. What began with Sarra and Cedric in There Your Heart Will Be Also concludes with Bryce and Lucy in Beyond A Doubt. Set in the turbulent times of Mary I of England, or Bloody Mary, and Henry II of France, the fight for religious freedom abounds. Intrigue, loss of property, and loss of life rule the day. Follow the epic ending of a family’s struggle.

Buy it Now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/c285w6u
Buy it Now on B&N: http://tinyurl.com/d429lom

SUMMARY

Bryce Cameron is finally going home. Years spent away have him longing for the craggy landscapes from his childhood.

Lucy Lombard is on a mission. The mantel she carries was never meant for her possession yet it has been passed to her anyway. Alone and in danger, Lucy stumbles onto her greatest find.

Rescuing Bryce is either a blessing or a curse but regardless time is running out. With Bryce's help can Lucy fulfill her mission or will she be too late?

****

See what others have said about the Renaissance Hearts Series.

“I really enjoyed this book. I do not typically favor historical romance, but the romance was not too mushy, and the historical was not too heavy! This was an enjoyable, delightful read!!!.” Taken from Rachel’s Amazon review on There Your Heart Will Be Also, Book One.

“If you are in for a good mystery with plenty of adventure, suspense & romance, you have come to the right place for this recommended novel because "By God's Grace" will give it all to you.” Taken from Arlena’s Amazon review of By God’s Grace, Book Two.

“Okay have to say this is my fav book so far in The Renaissance Heart Series! Felicia Rogers just gets better!” Taken from Danielle William’s Amazon review of Labor of Love, Book Three.

Buy Beyond A Doubt on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/c285w6u
Buy Beyond A Doubt on B&N: http://tinyurl.com/d429lom

Don’t forget the other books in the series. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Astraea Press.

~There Your Heart Will Be Also, Book One

~By God’s Grace, Book Two

~Labor of Love, Book Three

ROMANCE AUTHOR

Felicia Rogers

Felicia Rogers is an author of six novels and three novellas. When she's not writing, Felicia volunteers with the Girl Scouts of America, teaches at a local homeschooling group, hikes, and spends time with her family.

To find out more information about Felicia Rogers visit the sites below. She loves hearing from readers.

Website: http://www.feliciarogersauthor.weebly.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FeliciaRogersAuthor

Email: feliciarogersauthor@yahoo.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4412925.Felicia_Rogers

Author Meg Mims

Please welcome back, Meg Mims and her newest release, DOUBLE OR NOTHING. Be sure to check out the books on Amazon by clicking on the images. 


BOOK BLURB:  A mysterious explosion. A man framed for murder. A strong woman determined to prove his innocence. 

October, 1869: Lily Granville, heiress to a considerable fortune, rebels against her uncle's strict rules. Ace Diamond, determined to win Lily, invests in a dynamite factory, but his success fails to impress her guardian. An explosion in San Francisco, mere hours before Lily elopes with Ace to avoid a forced marriage, sets off a chain of consequences.

When Ace is framed for murder before their wedding night, Lily must find proof to save him from a hangman's noose. Will she become a widow before a true wife?

EXCERPT:

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

I jumped at a screeching whistle. Men swarmed over the distant slope like bees over a wax honeycomb in a mad scramble. “Good heavens. What is that about?”

Uncle Harrison pulled me out of harm’s way. “They’re almost ready to begin the process of hydraulic mining,” he said and pulled his hat down to avoid the hot sun. “You’ll see. This is far better than panning for gold in a creek bed.”

“I can already see how destructive it is, given the run-off,” I said, eyeing the rivulets of dried mud that marked each treeless incline. “I’ve read about how the farmers can’t irrigate their fields and orchards due to the gravel and silt filling the rivers—”

Water suddenly gushed from two hydraulic nozzles in a wide, powerful stream. The men’s bulging arm muscles strained their shirts, their faces purple with the effort to control the water. I turned my gaze to the ravaged earth. Mud washed down into the wooden sluices, where other men worked at various points to spray quicksilver along the wide stretch. Others worked at a frantic pace to keep the earthy silt moving.

An older man with a grizzled goatee and worn overalls held out a canteen. “Have a sip while you’re waiting, miss,” he said. “A body gets mighty thirsty out here.”

“Thank you.”

I sipped the cold, refreshing ginger-flavored liquid that eased my parched throat. Dirt from the canteen streaked my gloves. Not that it mattered. At least the spatters of fresh mud wouldn’t show on my black mourning costume and riding boots. Two days of rain earlier in the week had not helped.

The kind man offered the canteen to Uncle Harrison, who brushed it aside with a curt shake of his head. Steaming, I bit back an apology. The man had already headed back to his position near the sluices.

Bored of watching the ongoing work, I wandered over to several horses that stood patient in the sun and patted their noses. A tooled leather saddle sat atop one gelding’s glossy brown hide, and the silver-studded bridle looked as rich. The horse gave a low whicker in greeting. If only I’d pocketed a few carrots or sugar lumps from breakfast.

“You’re a beauty. I wish I could ride you for a bit.”

The gelding’s ears dipped forward. One of the men left the knot of others in a huff. His dusty open coat swung around him as he stalked, spurs jingling, and closed the distance. He passed by me with a mere tip of his wide-brimmed hat and untied the reins. The horse pawed the ground, jittery, as if sensing the man’s foul mood while he mounted…

 I trudged toward the shack. The foreman held a large piece of blueprint paper between his hands while my uncle pointed at various sections. Two other men argued with them, their heated words carrying over the whooshing of hoses and creaks and jolts of skeleton wagons over the rutted ground. Most of their argument was peppered with technical jargon that didn’t make any sense. Even Chinese sounded more familiar.

“We haven’t made enough headway,” said a man in a tailored suit, whose gold watch chain glinted in the sun. “I say we dig out the ridge all the way.”

“You take that ridge down any more than we have and we’ll never get equipment to the furthest point of the claim, over here,” my uncle said and prodded the map. “That was Alvarez’s advice. He knows this land better than you, Williamson.”

“I agree, it’s too dangerous,” the foreman said.

 “I’m the engineer! Are you implying I don’t know my business?”

“I’m saying it’s stupid to undermine that ridge. You’re being a stubborn coot.”

“You’re a fine one to call me stubborn—”

Good heavens. I reversed direction and headed back toward the sluice. They were sure to argue for another few hours. I wanted to ride that horse, even if it meant hiking my skirts to my knees and baring my ankles. The poor animal looked like it a good run, or at least a trot over the rough ground. I had to do something productive or I’d go mad. Steering around the same boggy patch of mud, I cut close to the sluice. A blood-curdling yell halted everyone. I whirled to see the entire bank of earth, a huge avalanche of mud, rocks and two large trees root-first, rushing straight for me.

BIO:

Clocks and time play a big part in any late bloomer’s life. And time plays a vital part in every mystery.

Meg Mims is an award-winning author and artist. She writes blended genres – historical, western, adventure, romance, suspense and mystery. Her first book, Double Crossing, won the 2012 Spur Award for Best First Novel from Western Writers of America and  was named a Finalist in the Best Books of 2012 from USA Book News for Fiction: Western.

Meg also wrote two contemporary romance novellas, Santa Paws and The Key to Love. Her short story ‘Seafire‘ is included in the charity anthology Hazard Yet Forward to benefit a fellow writer battling breast cancer. She earned an M.A. from Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction program in 2010 and is a member of RWA, WWA, Women Writing the West, Western Fictioneers and Sisters in Crime. Born and raised in Michigan, Meg lives with her husband, a “Make My Day” white Malti-poo and a rescue Lhasa Apso, plus a drooling black cat. Her artistic work is in watercolor, acrylic and pen/ink media.

1.  I loooove coffee with French Vanilla now, and Harney & Sons tea, although I prefer a Jamaican Me Happy at night.

2.  I "pants" my contemp romance novellas, no outline, only photos and a few searches for cars, etc., but I spend weeks plotting characters, backgrounds, historical maps, vintage street and city photos, character photos from all kinds of sources, PLUS a huge outline of 14-20 pp. LOL

3. I'm going to publish a mystery series this year, I hope. Along with another contemporary romance "beach read" for summer and a Christmas novella, Santa Claws, in early November. 

Check out Meg's other books:

                                    

Broken Wings-- Shannon Dittemore Blog tour

Please welcome back Shannon Dittemore, author of the Angel Eyes trilogy. She's here to talk to us a little about the second in the series, Broken Wings, and to share with us ten fun facts about her. 

Broken Wings and Shannon Dittemore: Ten Facts

1.   The Angel Eyes trilogy is set in Stratus—a fictitious town in Central Oregon. The author, Shannon Dittemore, loosely modeled Stratus after several different small towns in the Pacific Northwest.

2.  The pianist at the little church in town is named after Shannon’s youngest sister, Stephanie, who is a musician in her own right.

3.   In the early chapters of Broken Wings we meet the Prince of Darkness. Shannon has played Satan in more than one church production. The first costume included a pair of fuzzy red mittens and red makeup that stained her face for days.

4.   Jake has hazel eyes—green with a russet flame bleeding from the center—just like Shannon’s husband, Matt.

5.   Early versions of Broken Wings had scenes that took place in South America. While those have all been cut, Kaylee’s obsession with Peru is a nod to those early drafts.

6.  The old men who’ve taken up court outside the Donut Factory were inspired by a collection of eclectic gentlemen who hung out at a local doughnut shop in Shannon’s hometown.

7.  Like Brielle, Shannon’s favorite musical is Les Miserables.

8. The first draft of Broken Wings was written during National Novel Writing Month. Not a single word of that draft was kept.

9.  There are a handful of Peter Pan references throughout the series. Shannon nurses a mild obsession with the tale.

10.  And finally, Jake visits the Evil Deeds tattoo parlor. Shannon has one tattoo. She’s a wuss and will not be getting any more. 

Broken Wings (Angel Eyes Trilogy #2)

By Shannon Dittemore 

Release Date: February 19, 2013

Paperback/e-book

320 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Giant angels with metal wings and visible song. A blind demon restored from the pit of darkness. And a girl who has never felt more broken.

Brielle sees the world as it really is: a place where the Celestial exists side by side with human reality. But in the aftermath of a supernatural showdown, her life begins to crumble. Her boyfriend, Jake, is keeping something from her—something important. Her overprotective father has started drinking again. He’s dating a much younger woman who makes Brielle’s skin crawl, and he’s downright hostile toward Jake. Haunting nightmares keep Brielle from sleeping, and flashes of Celestial vision keep her off kilter.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s been targeted. The Prince of Darkness himself has heard of the boy with healing in his hands and of the girl who sees through the Terrestrial Veil. When he plucks the blind demon, Damien, from the fiery chasm and sends him back to Earth with new eyes, the stage is set for a cataclysmic battle of good versus evil.

Then Brielle unearths the truth about her mother’s death and she must question everything she ever thought was true.

Brielle has no choice. She knows evil forces are converging and will soon rain their terror down upon the town of Stratus. She must master the weapons she’s been given. She must fight.

But can she fly with broken wings?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Be sure to check out Dittemore's first book: 

Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes Trilogy #1)

by Shannon Dittemore 

Release Date: May 29, 2012

Paperback/e-book

336 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .

ANGEL EYES

Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.

Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.

Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.

A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

For more information on the Angel Eyes trilogy, be sure to visit Shannon’s website: www.shannondittemore.com

About the Author

Shannon Dittemore has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. The daughter of one preacher and the wife of another, she spends her days imagining things unseen and chasing her two children around their home in Northern California. Angel Eyes is her first novel.

Website / Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook / Pinterest

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more on the Broken Wings YA Bound tour, check out this link, or click on the Broken Wings Banner to the right. http://yabound.blogspot.com/2012/11/blog-tour-schedule-broken-wings-angel.html

Top Ten Excuses-- Helen Dening

I'm excited to have my friend, Helen here today. Helen attends our weekly writer's group at the Sinclairville Free Library. Helen is a yet to be published children's book author, I say 'yet to be published' because it will be! Her stories are amazing! I can't wait to say, "I knew her when..." This is her top 10 list of excuses that made me laugh out loud. I hope you love it as much as I did. 

10 Reasons Why I Couldn’t (Can’t, Don’t, Didn’t) Write

1. I was traumatized by watching our new neighbors dance- our two neighbors, each weighing at least 350 lb, were dancing naked in the rain.

2. My brother asked me to watch his pet while he went on vacation. I didn’t hear the “s” on pets. As a pet rescuer, he currently has 2 beavers, 3 raccoons, 1 tiger, 7 flamingos, a potbelly pig, and grandma who showed up unexpectantly. 

3. I had no tea in the house. You need a good cup of sipping tea to calm and focus the savage thoughts.

4. I was participating in a clinical study conducted by the Harvard University psych dept. on the physiological and psychological ramifications of watching rain dancers.

5. I ran out of acetone… I needed to move the bookcase out of my son’s room and into the attic. While moving it, my cup of pencils and pens crashed to the floor, cracking the cup. I glued the crack with superglue and some dribbled on my fingers. I didn’t have acetone. I can’t write with stuck-up fingers.

6. I had to buy a blue horse, but books were blocking my way…

Two-yr. old granddaughter Meghan wants a blue horse for Christmas and the best place to look is either Clayton’s toy store or Puddle Duck, but I didn’t have gas in my car and I had no idea how to get to either toy store, so I had to wait for Niles to take me, except he was burning a bag of old papers and receipts saved since 1983 that was taking up too much space in the attic  and we no longer needed to keep. The attic needed to be turned back into bedroom space for family descending upon us for Thanksgiving. But Niles could only burn a few handfuls of paper at a time without smothering the fire so while I waited for him, I decided to finish moving the bookshelf to the attic, but the shelves was filled with books. When I emptied the shelves, books blocked the doorway and I needed to buy a blue horse. I just couldn’t write.

     

7. I couldn’t find the bag of potting soil. Before Niles could repair the leak in the shed’s roof, he had to move things so he’d have space to reach the rafters and I wasn’t sure where the potting soil was moved to and I needed to repot our indoor-outdoor plants that recently migrated back to the basement, but they couldn’t stay in the basement because 5 grandkids need the space for their Thanksgiving sleepover and everyone knows large plants, small children, and a sleepover are not a good combination. Although, Ali does call the plants her jungle and loves hiding amongst them. Still, the plants needed to be repotted and relocated out of the basement, but not to the dining room- no room there- so perhaps the attic- near the bookshelf, but first I needed to find the potting soil. I couldn’t write.

8. I was overcome with a deep sense of loss and sadness. Amanda came to claim and carry off my collection of classroom wall decorations. She was exuberantly ecstatic over Winnie-the Pooh characters, Mother Goose, Mercer Mayer’s Little Critters, Dalmatians, and more, while I was fought back symptoms of empty-nestitis. My 3 ft. paper creation of a smiling Pooh opened a floodgate of emotions and I recalled 4-yr olds hiding behind trees, pretending they were searching 100-acre wood for Pooh Bear’s honey pots.  I wondered if the trees I made were still in the attic. I hadn’t seen them when I hauled everything to the living room. Sadly, it all had to go. I needed space. A bed, bookshelf, and plants were destined to the attic. Family’s coming. For years, Winnie-the-Pooh had found a home on my walls and family in our world of pretend and imagination. Realities change. Yet, I didn’t want to loose this one. I couldn’t write.

9. Squirrels and superglue. Squirrels moved into the attic, chewed through the wires- no power for my computer. I couldn’t write longhand as all my pencils and pens were stuck in the super glued cup.

10. I couldn’t write, it was raining, time for dancing.

Blog Tour-- Elizabeth Seckman

Please welcome back, Elizabeth Seckman. She's on a blog tour for her awesome new book, Healing Summer. As part of the tour, I was asked to give her a question to answer here on my blog. I asked if she'd be willing to tell a few of her family traditions, you know, coming off the holiday and all. So, here's Elizabeth to tell us about birthdays with four boys. 

As I pack away the final boxes of the holiday season, I reflect on a year of family traditions  that I hope give my kids the roots they need for their wings to be strong.

Each new year begins with the cycle of birthdays. My husband and I started the tradition of the “Star Studded Birthday Weekend” when our boys were young.  We have four of them spaced closely together in age. As of right now, we have an eighteen, a sixteen, a fifteen, and a twelve-year-old.

We have an active, busy house most every day of the year, and we look for opportunities to slow down any chance we can. We also look for ways to separate the boys from the pack, to make them feel special. That’s important in a house where on most days, the boys are cared for in an assembly line from breakfast, to bath, to bedtime.

So, on the weekend closest to the birthday boy’s special day that guy rules the roost. He gets first dibs on the seat choice in the car, game or activity selection (and everyone has to play!), and of course the menu is all his too. We have some fun memories. The boys could get really creative in their planning. We’ve had whole weekends of video games like Halo, or back in the good old days, Gauntlet Dark Legacy challenges…and every now and then they unplug for a game of Monopoly or Pictionary.

In a house where our kids have been forced to share everything but underwear and toothbrushes, this is simply a nice way to celebrate and let a guy feel like a king!

Maybe Love, Not Time, Heals All Wounds

Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do? Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future? All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Has fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after or will it just break her heart?

“Healing Summer” is the second book in the Coulter Men Series.

Don't forget to check out the posts throughout the month and vote on your favorite by commenting on the page. http://eseckman.blogspot.com/p/healing-summer-blog-tour.html

Follow Elizabeth on Facebook,

on Goodreads,

and find all her books on Amazon.

Oh, and don't forget to try to win the $100 she's giving away. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Reasons Why NOT to Write--Catherine Bennett Lascow

Welcome back, everyone. Today, Catherine Bennett is here to share her list of excuses. Be sure to check out her book below. 

10 Reasons Why I Don’t Write by Catherine Bennett

 

1.     Fear of failure                                                                                                  

2.     Constant demands by my two Labradors

3.     Facebook

4.     Job

5.     Too busy reading other people’s books

6.     Bored husband who demands attention in the evening

7.     Pinterest

8.     Hours spent at Starbucks with compulsive coffee-drinking son

9.     Difficulty piecing together a compelling story

10.  Too much sleeping

Love. Desire. A psycho bent on revenge. But can Charlie Reynolds recognize the most dangerous of the three?

Since being out on her own at eighteen, Charlotte “Charlie” Reynolds is a street-smart “good” girl who hides her desire for love and security behind her feisty and independent personality. She just never expected a more noxious hero than wealthy, self-consumed Evan Gardner, the CEO and founder of Valley Tech., a successful software company in Los Angeles. From the moment Evan rescues her from an apparent random attack, their attraction for each other bubbles just below the surface of all-out passion.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Trouble-With-Charlie-ebook/dp/B00849AM9I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355848735&sr=8-2&keywords=the+trouble+with+charlie