- Mimi Cross’ Before Goodbye Book Blitz
- Cheryl Carpinello’s Tutankhamen Speaks Book Blitz
- Sunny Kincaid by Penelope Kahler Swan
- Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix by Rachel R. Smith (Records of the Ohanzee, #2)
- Four by Zack Scott (Their Dead Lives #1)
- The Winners of Shannyn Leah’s Lakeshore Candy Giveaway are:
| Mimi Cross’ Before Goodbye Book Blitz
Posted: 05 Jan 2016 09:01 PM PST
  Before Goodbye Mimi Cross Published by: Skyscape Publication date: January 1st 2016 Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
EXCERPT:
CONNECTION
CATE
The sheet music perches on the black metal stand, a stack of white flags begging for surrender. But I will not. The music itself looks like a war zone: Pencil strikes are everywhere, the pages filled with casualties—discarded fingerings, interpretive markings. Added, then savagely crossed out. I am trying desperately to get the changes right, Cal’s changes.
The upcoming concert is my inspiration to get up in the morning. Making these changes is my homage to Cal, my connection to him. But the Brooklyn gig . . . that show was for us. I need to cancel, yet can’t make the call. There are so many people I can’t seem to call, my friends in the city—some who knew Cal. A few have called me, but I’m not sure that it matters. They all seem a lifetime away. Besides the addition and blackened subtraction of musical direction, there are comments written in my music: maybe I’m just a crazy person with this boy in my head. Cal Woods is not the only guy on my mind. When Mr. Close finally showed today, he acted like he didn’t know why David and I were there. He probably just didn’t want to punish David for something everyone wanted to do, and he didn’t want to punish me because he doesn’t even know who I am. Half the time in PE I’m like a ghost. Or maybe Close knew I didn’t deserve a detention. Yes, I served a volleyball at the back of Dee’s head, but it couldn’t have hit her that hard, I can’t spike for shit. Of course the volleyball incident was right after I went off on her for telling me not to call Laurel. That was a big deal—to me, but not to her. So neither of these things should have sent her crying to Close. I think she was just pissed at me because of that guy she was talking to earlier. I haven’t been able to go into the cafeteria for lunch since the accident—too many people, too many eyes on me. Hardly anyone at school knew Cal, but the fact that I was in the car with someone who died in an accident on Chapel Hill Road means that now everybody knows me. So I’ve been going to the library with my lunch, when I remember to bring it, but I didn’t quite make it today. I couldn’t. Couldn’t stop crying. Laurel heard I was having a meltdown in the girls’ room and came looking for me. We’d just taken seats outside on the stone wall surrounding the patio when Dee appeared at the far end. “Dee.” Her name was a small noise escaping my lips, a sound not at all like Laurel’s secret sharing whisper-hiss, but more like choking. Dee was the last person I needed to see. Laurel waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about her. You’re all pale. I’m going to get you some food.” I nodded, then glanced back at Dee. But she’d already turned away, calling to a tall boy with dark hair standing at the edge of the woods that border the closest playing field. Even with everything I was feeling, as the boy approached the patio, I was struck by his looks—he had that kind of face. Plus, he seemed familiar for some reason. But it wasn’t his face or the odd feeling of familiarity that got my attention. He was carrying a guitar case. I watched him, watched Dee bum a cigarette. But when she started using it to gesticulate, jabbing it angrily in his direction as she spoke, he appeared to stop listening. His eyes flitted from face to face—Till they landed on mine. One summer the Ridgeways took me to Montana, to a dude ranch called Triangle X where we rode horses all day. Out West the sky is somehow higher and wider, bluer. Even from where I sat on the wall, I could see the boy’s blue eyes. They reminded me so much of that sky . . . I couldn’t look away. Dee followed his gaze and shot me a cyanide smile, then tugged on his arm. But even as they were walking away, the dark-haired boy’s eyes held mine, his head swiveling to keep the connection. There was a slow-motion feel to everything as my head turned, too— But then Laurel returned, plopping down on the wall, and time snapped back to its normal tempo. A minute later, I’d forgotten all about the boy. But maybe Dee hadn’t. She’s with Laurel now, but who knows. Maybe she had a thing with this guy. I picture her jabbing her cigarette in his direction. Obviously, she knows him well. So, right, I bet that’s what it is. Not the volleyball, the boy. Then again, Dee would find a way to hate me no matter what. No one has ever really hated me before, except . . . That night, the night David insisted on talking about. Wasn’t what happened just another kind of hate? My left hand travels automatically up and down the fretboard, fingertips splayed like spider legs, running scales again and again. The fingers of my right hand dutifully hop from string to string— but these exercises don’t absorb me, not fully, not now. Closing my eyes, I concentrate harder. Hammer-ons, pull-offs, be stiller than still. Classical musicians must not move, must not let our bodies express. The music expresses. We are merely the vehicles for the composers. For Saint Cecilia, for the Muses. Maybe, even, for God. I do not play an instrument; I am the instrument. I serve. My fingers move up and down the fretboard, skip, skip, skip across the strings . . . Silently, a window in my attention span slides open. At first I notice nothing, too busy playing . . . But then a dark intruder—a recent memory—slips over the sill like vapor. 
 5 Hard Copies of
BEFORE GOODBYE
-ends Jan. 14, 2016
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| Cheryl Carpinello’s Tutankhamen Speaks Book Blitz
Posted: 05 Jan 2016 09:00 PM PST
 BOOK INFORMATION
TITLE – Tutankhamen Speaks SERIES – The Quest Books Companion to Sons of the Sphinx AUTHOR – Cheryl Carpinello GENRE – Historical Fiction Ancient CivilizationsPUBLICATION DATE –Jan. 2014 LENGTH – 80 pages PUBLISHER – Beyond Today Educator COVER ARTIST– Rita Toews
 BOOK SYNOPSIS
2014 EVVY Merit Award for Historical Fiction from CIPA (Colorado Independent Publishers Assoc.)
Long ago the old texts of ancient Egypt alluded to scrolls in which King Tut spoke to the people from beyond the tomb. Many archeologists put this down to an incorrect translation of the ancient Egyptian texts. Others swore to the accuracy of the translation. None of that mattered because the scrolls in question could not be found. Scholars labeled it a hoax, something that never existed. It was ludicrous to imagine someone speaking from the grave. They were wrong on both accounts.
BUY & TBR LINKS
AMAZON KINDLE USAMAZON KINDLE CAAMAZON KINDLE UKAMAZON PAPERBACKBARNES & NOBLESBARNES & NOBLES PAPERBACKSMASHWORDSITUNESGOODREADSSHELFARI
EXCERPT
Some afternoons when the palace guards relaxed their vigil and most of the people napped out of the heat, Ankhesenpaaten and I would climb the stairs up to the windows. Looking out, we could see over the tops of buildings far to the East where the Aten appeared each morning. “Where would you go, Ankhesenpaaten, if you could leave Egypt?” I asked one afternoon. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile widened. I watched as she rested her chin on her arms, her eyes drawn beyond the eastern horizon. “I would travel beyond the beginnings of our land,” she said. I looked at her questioningly. “In the women’s quarters, one hears stories,” she explains. “A few of the women are from there. The tales they have told are wonderful!” She turned to me then. “Imagine Tutankhaten, pools of sparkling water surrounded by lush, green bushes and trees, flowers of pink, orange, white, and even black!” “How is that different from here?” I asked. “Here it is only along the Nile where the bushes, reeds, and flowers grow. There in the land they call Persia exists a city where gardens hang from cliffs and mountain sides! I would love to see such a sight.” A few years later, I remembered her wish. After we were married, I had a section of our palace in Thebes reconstructed to resemble those hanging gardens that she so wished to see. Had we been given more time, I would have ventured outside of Egypt’s borders and taken Ankhesenpaaten to the gardens in person.
 AUTHOR BIO
I am a retired high school English teacher. A devourer of books growing up, my profession introduced me to writings and authors from times long past. Through my studies and teaching, I fell in love with the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Now, I hope to inspire young readers and those Young-at-Heart to read more through my Quest Books set in these worlds.
AUTHOR FOLLOW LINKS
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| Sunny Kincaid by Penelope Kahler Swan
Posted: 05 Jan 2016 07:17 PM PST
Sunny Kincaid
by Penelope Kahler Swan
My rating: 3 stars
Publication Date: October 15, 2014
Publisher: Penelope Kahler Swan
ISBN-13: 9780988301931
Print Length: 222 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
SUNNY KINCAID (DRAMA/THRILLER) WINNER HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM PROFESSIONAL COMMENTS CRAIG KELLEM: (Former Development Exec Universal and Fox Studios) “SUNNY KINCAID is a terrific thriller, rich with sinister, scary, and funny characters. The story started out as a screenplay that garnered a lot of interest in both the project and the writer. SUNNY KINCAID is a deep, relatable, and often tragic character study, while at the same time offering a terrific thriller thru-line, eclectic dialogue, and an ironic mix of humor and violence. It is one of the very best projects we’ve ever seen! SUNNY KINCAID is a winner. This book will knock you out, and the film will surely follow.”
Sunny Kincaid by Penelope Kahler Swan
 Clearly there is more to Sunny Kincaid and her past than we are aware of. Sunny is a deputy, a lifetime resident of a small town that seems caught in a time warp somewhere between the dark ages and modern times. She has her own demons from her past, the demons that changed her from the soft and pliable young woman she was to the hardened person she has become today. Instead of a trusty partner to help free the town of evil, Sunny also has a ghost, or a vision or a little insanity in her life as her deceased husband, Jeeper seems to pop up whenever things are getting interesting.
Sunny is always looking out for the underdogs in town, doing all she can to finally give them a taste of freedom from being beaten, cheated on or any other nasty little evils crawling around. Think of Sunny’s town as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah where morals ebb with the outgoing tide and Sunny knows how to play that game all too well. From the pastor to the judge to the richest man in town, everyone has a dirty little secret, an evil plot to play out or death on the mind, not to mention that brutal attacks on women are not out of the question.
Follow the twisted tale of an officer of the law with enough baggage to never wear the same clothes twice in a year. Meet the citizens of the town she calls home, and expect a quirky, group of misfits playing a role for the rest of the town. Part ghost story, part suspense, one wonders who is doing who and who doesn’t care, as well as why stay in a town that is too twisted to draw a straight line?
Penelope Kahler Swan’s Sunny Kincaid is unique in its plot, its characters, its unexpected twists and a main character that seems to straddle the line between good and not so good.
I received this copy from Penelope Kahler Swan in exchange for my honest review.  |
| Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix by Rachel R. Smith (Records of the Ohanzee, #2)
Posted: 05 Jan 2016 05:15 PM PST
Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix
by Rachel R. Smith
My rating: 5 stars
Series: Records of the Ohanzee – Book 2
Publication Date: September 28, 2015
Publisher: Rachel R. Smith
Genre: Young Adult Scifi | Fantasy
Print Length: 220 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
The masquerade is over and the masks have been removed. But not everyone’s true face has been revealed…
King Casimer of Marise has assassinated the Royal Family of Chiyo and usurped the throne. He doesn’t know that the Heiress of Chiyo, Nerissa, is still alive and has joined the Ohanzee, a group of guardians who have secretly protected the country for generations. Disguising herself as a young man, Nerissa seeks a way to depose Casimer and restore her country’s independence. An uncanny stroke of luck leads her to the mysterious seer Shae, who has discovered a fragment of an ancient prophecy warning of events that will bring about the end of civilization. And Casimer has already set some of those events into motion.
With the future of not only Chiyo, but all of Renatus at stake, Nerissa and her six Ohanzee companions set out on a journey in search of the remaining fragments, where they will find unlikely allies and uncover new enemies.
Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix by Rachel R. Smith (Records of the Ohanzee, #2)
 The usurper to the throne of Chiyo has assassinated the Royal family, but is unaware that one rebellious action by the Princess Nerissa has saved her life, allowing her to be whisked away to safety and a new life, as she plans her moves to re-take what is rightfully hers, freeing her people from the treachery of King Casimer. Disguised as a young soldier, her quest begins and fate lends a helping hand in the form of a mysterious seer who has uncovered part of an ancient prophecy that will mean the end of humanity. Nerissa knows that the events that will bring the prophecy to fruition have begun at the bloodied hands of Casimer and time is running short to find the other missing pieces of the prophecy to save the world. The journey will be fraught with peril, intrigue and one can never know who can be trusted and who will see her demise for a few gold coins.
Within the pages of Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix Rachel R. Smith delivers us back to the world of the Ohanzee, the secret guardians of Chiyo and the brave young princess, Nerissa as she comes of age during the worst of times, discovers young love and finds she is clueless to what really goes on in the streets and villages of the land. Ms. Smith details each scene so well, I felt chills at the thought of bathing in an icy river, riding through storms and having to watch my every move as well as the moves of those around me. Wonderful fantasy reading in a land far, far away.
I received this copy from Rachel R. Smith in exchange for my honest review.
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| Four by Zack Scott (Their Dead Lives #1)
Posted: 05 Jan 2016 04:09 PM PST
Four
by Zack Scott
My rating: 5 stars
Series: Their Dead Lives – Book 1
Publication Date: December 1, 2013
Publisher: Zack Scott
ISBN: 0983750939
Print Length: 523 pages
Available from: Amazon
A tragic past. A destined reunion. A decaying hope.
In Southern California, four friends must face a haunting nightmare from high school in order to save the future of humanity. But will their personal conflicts get in the way? Battling for survival, these fated four will choose whether to follow a destined path or continue their dead lives, while the zombie apocalypse feeds them one cliche after another.
Four by Zack Scott (Their Dead Lives #1)
 …And we thought it couldn’t be done. There is no way an author can come up with a truly amazing twist to a zombie apocalypse, right? Have you met Zack Scott? Have you noticed his novel, Four from his series Their Dead Lives? Zack Scott does more than give us lumbering zombies feasting on guts and gore, he gives a pretty good mystery as to where they came from, but not quite the how they came to be! Another dastardly government experiment? End of times radicals? The fact is, they are here and have been freed by a clueless Vault Tactical Force acting on orders. Unfortunately it happened when four longtime frenemies were to get together years after a high school nightmare threw them together in a fight for their lives. The one thing they never want to talk about, but carry as an uncomfortable bond between them. Now the past will rear its ugly head just in time for their present to become a battle to survive against the growing hordes of the undead. Will the answers to survival and to saving the human race lie back in the haunting memories of what happened in high school? Are they meant to settle their differences and move on towards a future that is looking bleaker every hour?
Follow Alec, Kale, Scott and Jeff as these divergent personalities and lifestyles must come together with an unlikely ragtag group of misfits on the run to find answers before it is too late to stop the undead. Who can be trusted? Who will live? Who will die? Who will want to live? Who would rather die than go on? Heroes come from all places, but must start within one’s soul, is there a hero among them to be had or is it time for breakfast to be served, zombie style?
Dark, intriguing and as twisted as coiled barbed wire, they may not be the cheeriest group to run with, but I’m all for going with those who have learned how to survive. Zack Scott has an adult version of the zombie apocalypse in all of its ghoulish glory. Great writing, detailed scenes and brutal action scenes, loved it!
I received this copy from Zack Scott in exchange for my honest review.
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| The Winners of Shannyn Leah’s Lakeshore Candy Giveaway are:
Posted: 05 Jan 2016 08:02 AM PST
Will the sweetness of their love erase the pain of their pasts?
Congratulations to:
Elisa D
Debra G
Midge F
Happy Reading!
Lakeshore Candy
By Shannyn Leah
Amazon Average Review Rating: 5 Stars
Series: By the Lake – Book 4
Publication Date: September 2, 2015
Publisher: Shannyn Leah
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Print Length: 266 pages
Available from: Amazon
Abby McAdams can’t sleep. She keeps having nightmares about her grandmother. Cuddling up beside her friend, Riley, helps to ease some of the fears. Well, cuddling and the candy she keeps hidden around his apartment. She can’t help but feel an attraction to Riley too, but they are just friends…right?
Riley has his own past that haunts him, but she thinks he might want to get to know Abby on a deeper level too. As they fight their own desires to be together, the past comes back to slap them in the face.
When they finally give in to their lustful cravings, will their love be enough to erase their pasts or will it be just another broken heart for both of them?
“Lakeshore Candy” is the fourth in the “By The Lake” series, about the McAdams sisters, from author Shannyn Leah.
This book can be read as a stand alone, but for more enjoyment read them in the order of the series, as all the characters appear in future books.
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Abby’s Glycerin Lilac Soap with Shea Butter
Let’s dip into the tub with Abby and Riley, and a wonderful scented, all-natural homemade soap.
Ingredients:
-1 cup glycerin soap base
-1 tablespoon melted shea butter
-3 drops of lilac essential oil (you can also use orange essential oil or lavender essential oil)
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly together. Pour into your molds. You can use silicone or metal molds.
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Shannyn Leah lives in London Ontario, Canada. She comes from an entrepreneurial family, who all have a passion for developing new and exciting business ideas. When she’s not writing contemporary romance books, into the early hours of the morning, she’s antiquing with her two favorite people, her momma and her sister.Shannyn has published five books in her series, By the Lake, including, Lakeshore Secrets, Lakeshore Legend, Lakeshore Love, Lakeshore Candy, and Lakeshore Lyrics. She is excited to be currently working on the Caliendo Resort, a new series for 2015/2016.
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By The Lake Series
    
Caliendo Resort Series
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