Center of Gravity by Laura McNeill is a twisted tale of a couple whose life is not what it seems. When Ava’s children come up missing, she will stop at nothing to get them back. How far would you go?
Her whole life, Ava Carson has been sure of one thing: she doesn’t measure up to her mother’s expectations. So when Mitchell Carson sweeps into her life with his adorable son, the ready-made family seems like a dream come true.
In the blink of an eye, she’s married, has a new baby, and life is grand.
Or is it?
When her picture-perfect marriage begins unraveling at the seams, Ava convinces herself she can fix it. It’s temporary. It’s the stress. It’s Mitchell’s tragic history of loss.
If only Ava could believe her own excuses.
Mitchell is no longer the charming, thoughtful man she married. He grows more controlling by the day, revealing a violent jealous streak. His behavior is recklessly erratic, and the unanswered questions about his past now hint at something far more sinister than Ava can stomach. Before she can fit the pieces together, Mitchell files for divorce and demands full custody of their boys.
Fueled by fierce love for her children and aided by Graham Thomas, a new attorney in town —Ava takes matters into her own hands, digging deep into the past. But will finding the truth be enough to beat Mitchell at his own game?
Center of Gravity weaves a chilling tale, revealing the unfailing and dangerous truth that things—and people—are not always what they seem.
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EXCERPT
When your children are stolen, the pain swallows you whole. Logic fades, reason retreats. Desperation permeates the tiniest crevices of your mind. Nothing soothes the ache in your wounded soul.
Right in front of me, my sweet, charmed life fell to pieces. Everything destroyed; a hailstorm’s wrath on a field of wildflowers. All I’d known—gone. Foolish me, I’d believed in magic, clung tight to false promises. The lies, spoken from tender lips, haunt me now, follow me, and whisper into my ear like a scorned lover.
What’s left is emptiness.
Give up, a voice urges. Let go.
No! I argue back. My children aren’t gone. Not yet. Precious and delicate, tiny fossils, they exist in glass-boxed isolation. Hidden. Protected.
And so tonight, I run. Blood pulses through my legs, my muscles protest; my lungs scream for more oxygen. Thick storm clouds brew in the distance. The rain falls in blinding sheets. The force of it pricks my skin like needles, but the pain only makes me push harder.
I will rescue them.
Lightning flashes across the wet driveway. The bulk of his truck looms large in the black night. I skid to a stop and catch my breath, pressing a hand to my heaving chest.
They’re here. My children are here.
Thunder booms and crashes, nearer now, the wind whips my hair. A gust tosses tree branches to the ground. Birds cry and flutter to safety. An escaped sandbox bucket spins, clattering on the blacktop.
I grasp the railing and pull myself up the steps. At the top, the door’s shiny-slick with water and humidity. Mother Nature howls and drowns out my knocking.
“Hello! Can you hear me?” With my palm open wide, I slap at the barrier, willing it to open. I will rescue my children. I will rescue them . . . or I will die trying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT LAURA McNEILL
After six years behind the anchor desk at two CBS affiliates, Laura moved to the Alabama Gulf Coast to raise her family. Her accolades in broadcasting include awards from the Associated Press, including Best News Anchor and Best Specialized Reporter.
Laura works at Spring Hill College as the school’s web content and social media manager and is active in her community—participating in fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, Ronald McDonald House, and Providence Hospital’s Festival of Flowers.
Laura was recently awarded a 2-book deal with Thomas Nelson Publishing, a division of HarperCollins. Her novel, Center of Gravity, set in Mobile, Ala., will be published in July of 2015. Laura is represented by Elizabeth Winick Rubenstein, president of McIntosh and Otis literary agency in New York. Her writing awards include those from William Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, Writer’s Digest, RWA, and the Eric Hoffer competition.
She holds a master’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in interactive technology from the University of Alabama. She is a native of Upstate New York and currently resides near the Alabama Gulf Coast with her two children.
Laura McNeill will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host.
**all images are linked to Amazon (I am an affiliate)**
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Been having a blast with family, so don’t have tons to share.
Hope you all have some fun things planned!!! Please feel free to share with us.
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FREE BOOKS
Sorry I don’t have any to share this week, but come back next week and I will see what goodies I can find.
NEW to fundinmental
I am never able to resist picking up a Katie Reus novel, so check out No One to Trust.
Claiming His Mate is a Crescent Moon Story Katie Reus, writing as Savannah Stuart.
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FOR REVIEW
Who doesn’t love a little blood sucking?
The Onyx Webb tag line:
Think life is precious now? Just wait until you’re dead
grabbed me and I had to check out Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz’s story.
Flesh and Bone by Jefferson Bass is a novel that I could not resist. An anthropologist, a body farm….nough said.
I picked up The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathon Kellerman through Net Galley. I have read a lot of his books and never pass up the chance to read another one.
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WINNINGS
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S STEAMPUNK by Scott Tarbet
I won this novel through a giveaway sponsored by Xchyler Publishing in the Steel and Bone giveaway.
An intriguing cover and thanks to Xchyler and Scott.
I won a $100 Amazon Gift Card through a Christina George Giveaway. Many thanks and I will be checking out her novel, Climax and the rest of the Publicist series.
In what once was Europe, the Dark Masters launch a fleet of ships filled with tens of thousands of their followers.
While in Nevaeh, charged with an epic journey by the eight sorceresses of ‘The Island’, Areenna and Mikaal must travel to the desolate and unchartered frozen mountains, armed only with their psychic abilities and their swords, where they must discover not just the legends, but the millennia old secret awaiting them in their fight to save Nevaeh from extermination.
Book 1: Born to Magic
I live and write in a small village about thirty miles upstate of NYC, and share my home with my wife, Bonnie and our dog Alfie, an apricot poodle.
When I began writing in 1980, I had no idea where I was headed. Since then, I’ve published thirty-five novels, thirty-three of them with traditional publishers, but I decided I wanted more freedom than the traditional publishers would allow and began a new phase in my life as an Independent Author.
Sci-Fi & fantasy has always been my most favorite genre. My first novel in the genre, Queen Of Knights was a medieval / historical fantasy and reached #2 on the Amazon.com bestseller lists for historical fantasy and medieval fantasy, and my sci-fi of parallel worlds, The Others, received wide acclaim.
My first Independent novel Angels In Mourning, was my ‘homage’ to the old time private detective books of the late 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. I used to love to sneak them from my parents’ night-tables and read them as a young boy. Angels, is a modern day take on the old style hardboiled detective. Angels In Mourning won the Amazon.com Book of the Month Reader’s Choice Award shortly after it was published.
My most current thriller, The Cured, was written with Terese Ramin.The idea for this Medical Thriller came shortly after the death of a close friend. I couldn’t help but wonder about the medication….
My previous suspense thrillers are The Hyte Maneuver, (a Literary guild alternate selection); As peace Lay Dying, Conspiracy of Mirrors, And Down will Come Baby, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep and Shadows.
The fantastic book trailer for Method 15/33 only gives you a glimpse of what is to come. As she sits on the bed and raises her head, I thought of Poltergeist. I expected her to reach out and…
Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk is an amazing, top shelf, must read suspense thriller that will have you wondering, will the prey become the predator. I can hardly believe Method 15/33 is a debut novel for Shannon Kirk, it is so damn good!
Winner Of 2015 National Indie Excellence Award For Suspense!
Finalist in the 2013 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition as novella 15/33. Method 15/33 is now a full-length novel coming from Oceanview Publishing.
I heard about Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk through a friend and reached out to her. The novel sounded like one of my favorite type of reads and I could hardly wait to pick it up. The suspense had me holding my breath, rooting for her, then afraid of her.
She is a pregnant teenager, abducted and held captive. Her mother had filled her with self esteem and confidence. Is she a sociopath? She is able to turn her feelings on and off, like a light switch. As Shannon describes her attempts to mimic feelings and doing the right thing, it makes me think of Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory.
The vivid detail of the trip to her cell makes me able to picture the wild daisies and devil’s paintbrush on the side of the road. I felt the breeze as she prepared to exit the van. I could smell his stale body odor and his sewer breath.
No matter, she loves her baby and will not give up. She has hope. Her hurt and rage would help her to do what is necessary to exact her revenge. Escape wasn’t enough. They would pay and pay dearly.
My first asset is terra firma…thus begins her plotting – Escape/Revenge Plan 15.
It had been 20 days, but she was constantly thinking, planning. As she runs through scenarios, it made me think of the computer in Person of Interest, going through scenarios, changing them, ruling one out and trying another. She knew she could outwit him.
Alone, locked in a cell, praying the butterfly in the window will calm her, save her. She doesn’t know what loneliness feels like, is this it?
Butterfly (c) Sherry Fundin
She may have her issues, but I love her. My empathy is such, that I want to wrap my arms around her and offer her comfort. She tries and means well…sometimes. Isn’t that what we all do? Even dysfunctional families have their moments of humor, love and togetherness.
Shannon Kirk’s words allow me to feel HER pain, HER loneliness, HER anger and HER rage. I want to scream, yell and cry with her.
FBI Special Agent Roger Lui and partner, Lola were assigned the case. They have been together for five years and know each other better than a spouse would. He is a flawed hero, carrying heavy baggage with his failure to find Dorothy Saluce, an abducted, pregnant teen, deja vu. Lola is someone I can relate to, a tough, no nonsense, one of the guys kind of woman.
She counts seconds, minutes, steps, inches, plotting, planning…a piece of elastic, a pail handle…She didn’t know what would be valuable, so she collected it all. I wonder if she used to watch MacGyver too.
The kidnappers…a fantastic surprise. Twisted. Evil.
She makes herself sick and Shannon Kirk’s mastery of words makes this so gross and disgusting it makes me want to puke too.
33 is water. You will be surprised at its use and importance.
They escape, but OMG, Shannon, you didn’t. My heart fell. I can’t believe it. What an awesome twist. I felt complete terror for her, wanted to yell, hurry, hurry, what the hell are you waiting for? As if it isn’t bad enough, Shannon makes it even worse. How can that be? It just keeps coming and coming, the badness rolling over me like a tsunami wave. Overwhelming, the pacing gripping me as if I’m on a runaway train and hanging on for dear life.
Method 15/33 keeps getting scarier and scarier, the badness goes on and on…out of the frying pan and into the fire.
I love the characters, right to the end, especially HER. This 16 year old sociopath stole my heart.
I don’t know what to say about the emotion roiling inside me as I reach the end. I can’t help but just sit…thinking…thinking…
Shannon wove an awesome story that has left me screaming for more.
To love someone so much you are heartbroken just to look at them.
This, is to have a child.
5+++++
I received a copy of Method 15/33 from Shannon Kirk in return for an honest review.
GUEST POST
I am so excited to have Shannon Kirk here today. I love her debut novel, Method 15/33 and I could not help but fall for the main character, Lisa Yyland. I also, would like to congratulate Shannon on Method 15/33 is being devloped for a feature film. How cool is that? I, for one, can hardly wait to see it!
LET’S TALK ABOUT PSYCHOPATHS
-By Shannon Kirk
Let’s talk about psychopaths. Or, maybe you prefer sociopaths. I’m no psychiatrist, so what I’m talking about are persons whose brains are physiologically wired in such a way that they do not experience emotions as others feel joy, fear, excitement, happiness, remorse, guilt. I’m not talking about people who may be deemed “sociopaths,” not from the physical construction of their brains, but because of environment, a traumatic childhood for example.
What I understood from reading the non-fiction book, The Sociopath Next Door, is there are persons who simply do not understand the sensation of effervescent bubbles rising in your chest when a baby giggles at you, and you giggle back. They might, however, understand the action of smiling in reaction to a baby smiling, the simple physical learned act of social parroting, which is very different from feeling the urge to giggle or smile because of that elusive thing called happiness.
As a lay person, far from being a licensed psychiatrist, I had to read articles and books of the very real medical condition of psychopathy so as to form some basis for the main character in Method 15/33. She holds the traits of a clinical psychopath; for example, she disassociates, lacks empathy, feels no remorse, and plans actions in a way to benefit herself and minimize risk. She’s exceptionally practical in all she does and thinks.
We see this type of character all over popular culture. Hollywood just loves the psychopath. But psychopaths are very real, and indeed, as suggested in The Sociopath Next Door, could be living right next door. The book suggests that some folks who seek out management and politics might hold the common traits of the psychopath or the sociopath. Is this any surprise? How could a billionaire business baron axe 25,000 jobs and the next day be golfing in Tahiti, a smile on his face, and a mai tai with umbrella in his hand? I’m not saying all bosses and all politicians are psychopaths, but when I’ve raised this premise to any group, someone always raises their hand and says, “Oh damn, that’s my boss. He totally fits those traits.”
What got me thinking after reading articles and books on psychopaths was how this condition can exist simply by how someone’s brain is constructed. And if that is so, what natural variations exist in our population? We know that not all psychopaths are “evil,” not all kill women for sport, and not all stalk and kill bad guys according to some “code” (Dexter). So is there a spectrum of psychopathy? On one end you would have Heath Ledger’s Joker or Christian Bale’s American Psycho, on the other you’d have Ms. Whiney Crybaby. You know, the girl who cries at every Kleenex commercial, who yells and stomps and throw pillows and jewelry if her man so much as looks at another woman. No emotion vs. Too much emotion. So what’s in the middle of the spectrum? Normalcy? There must be a middle and ripples from there. This idea, I got stuck on this idea.
I wanted to explore the idea of a spectrum of psychopathy in a fictional way. For example, what if a psychopath was wired in such a way that she could choose to feel emotions? If a person can be wired in a such a way that they physically cannot feel emotions, then why couldn’t a person exist who can control when they feel certain emotions? Also, what if there are people who sometimes slip into a form of psychopathy, while at other times are fully emotionally functional. Have you ever been so absorbed in a work project that you cannot understand why a person is crying in your doorway about the same work project until you stop what you’re doing, calibrate your mood, take a minute to absorb, and then when you take a breath or two, you finally empathize? If that is possible for most everyone, then what if such moments of disassociation are prolonged in certain people? I have to believe this is possible. In the very least, the idea, this spectrum of possibilities with psychopathy, is a breeding ground for fiction.
In my novel Method 15/33, I chose to contort the medical condition of psychopathy and create a character that controls emotions. She often chooses not to feel any emotions, and because of this, like true psychopaths, has had to “learn” appropriate social reactions. I then wanted to meld with this condition another condition in psychology having to do with “cross modal neuroplasticity”—essentially, how a person who loses one sense, gains a “super” sense in something else, such as how a deaf person might have exceptional eyesight. What I wanted to explore, again entirely on a theoretical fictional basis, basically I just made it up, was a psychopath character, who controls emotions, and her emotions are “senses”, such that since she often lacks them, her other senses are somewhat enhanced. For example, although she is blindfolded, because she is not experiencing fear or any other emotion, her smell of the air and her feel of the temperature, the precise weight of her steps on the ground, tell her the type of terrain she’s on, how long a stretch of forest is through which she is forced, what specific trees scrapes her arms, and what the nature, climate, look, and use of the land is where she is taken, as if she were seeing it with her very eyes.
So while any psychiatrist could probably poke a thousand million holes in my writer’s theory, I do actually believe that in our world, there is a wide spectrum of psychopathy, of cross-modal neuroplasticity, and that emotions just may be some form of “sense.” Who knows if we’ll ever crack the code to our brains, and frankly, I hope we don’t. It’s just too much fun to make up stories, twisting the boundaries of psychology we think we know.
SYNOPSIS
Kidnapped, pregnant teen turns the tables. Who is the victim and who is the aggressor?
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Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who’s just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped…
Alone…Terrified.
Now forget her…
Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn child and to exact merciless revenge.
She is methodical—calculating— scientific in her plotting. A clinical sociopath? Leaving nothing to chance, secure in her timing and practice, she waits—for the perfect moment to strike. Method 15/33 is what happens when the victim is just as cold as her abductors.
The agents searching for a kidnapped girl have their own frustrations and desires wrapped into this chilling drama. In the twists of intersecting stories, one is left to ponder. Who is the victim? Who is the aggressor?
Praise
“Method 15/33 is crowded with fascinating characters—even the spear carriers pop off the page—but the standout is the kidnapped pregnant teenager. Her captors want her baby. Little do they know they’ve brought an insanely brilliant, angry, vengeful, borderline sociopath under their roof. Somebody’s in big trouble… and it isn’t the teenager.” —F. Paul Wilson, New York Times best-selling author of Santa Jack
“Completely original and totally kick ass! Shannon Kirk pulls no punches in this adrenaline rush of a thriller where the victim is the one to watch, while the kidnappers learn to fear. Loved it!” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times best-selling author of Fear Nothing
“What happens when infant traffickers kidnap the wrong pregnant teen? You get Method 15/33, a cross between The Lovely Bones and Silence of the Lambs. Shannon Kirk’s debut thriller is a dark, literate page-turner, utterly compelling. I read it in one sitting.” —Leonard Rosen, Award-winning author of All Cry Chaos and The Tenth Witness
“Wow. Ridiculously good. Crazy good. Brilliantly heart-stoppingly nail-bitingly original, this is a true thriller tour de force. Shannon Kirk is an instant star.” —Hank Phillippi Ryan Agatha, Anthony winning author of Truth be Told
ABOUT SHANNON KIRK
Shannon Kirk is a practicing attorney and a law professor. She attended West Virginia Wesleyan and St. John’s Universities, is a graduate of Suffolk Law School, and was a trial lawyer in Chicago prior to moving to Massachusetts. She has been honored three times by the Faulkner Society in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, a physicist, and their son. Method 15/33 is her first novel.
ALERT: Due to illness, I was unable to promote this properly so I am extending the giveaway for another week. Be sure and enter know for your chance at a copy of Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk.
Shannon Kirk is offering a a print autographed copy of Method 15/33 to a US or Canadian resident. To enter, leave your email and answer the question:
What would be your first response if you were kidnapped?
I am so excited to be able to share Erin Hayes new novella, How To Be a Mermaid.
I have the option to share so many things, it was hard to choose. Everyone likes a bit of music, so I chose to share the song list. Here is a little something to listen to while you see the great things I have to share.
How to be a Mermaid Soundtrack:
Below is a list of songs that I listened to while writing How to be a Mermaid. Each of these songs helped to get me into the right mindset in order to pretend that I was a mermaid!
Go – Grimes featuring Blood Diamonds
Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Never Let Me Go – Florence and the Machine
What the Water Gave Me – Florence and the Machine
Start a Riot – Jetta
Believe – Mumford and Sons
I Will Wait – Mumford and Sons
Dirty Paws – Of Monsters and Men
Anything Could Happen – Ellie Goulding
Part of Your World – Jodi Benson from The Little Mermaid ß No mermaid soundtrack would be complete without that song!
Check out the beautiful cover, keep scrolling to check out more about the story and enter the awesome giveaway! I want to wish you good luck in the giveaway, but I want to win it too. LOL
So she takes a year off between high school and college to don a fake tail and tour aquariums across the country in a professional mermaid troupe.
Everything’s great until she meets a gorgeous real-life merman named Finn. Suddenly, what she thought was a dream turns out to be a nightmare — she’s turning into a mermaid herself. For real.
Yet when she returns to the sea to seek out Finn and reverse her transformation, she finds herself in the middle of an impending war between the land and sea. Tara may have always wanted to be a mermaid, but now it’s sink or swim. In order to survive, she has to learn how to be one, too.
Summer 2015, award-winning, and best-selling authors will bring you romantic tales of mermaids, sirens, sprites, and other creatures of the deep! Keep in touch as we reveal each title in our collection!
Sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, and wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes writes a lot of things. Sometimes she writes books, like the fantasy mystery novel Death is but a Dream, the sci-fi middle grade book Jacob Smith is Incredibly Average, and the Her Wolf paranormal series.She works as an advertising copywriter during the day, and she moonlights as an author. She has lived in New Zealand, Texas, and now in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, cat, and a growing collection of geek paraphernalia.You can reach her at erinhayesbooks@gmail.com and she’ll be happy to chat. Especially if you want to debate Star Wars.
For a change, the cover and title were not what made me want to share this book with you. It was the blurb. Imagine you are looking for someone, but he appears everywhere you look, as if cloned.
Legal investigator Kristina Andersen has been drugged.
It started when she came into work and was tasked with finding the firm’s biggest client: the intense, enigmatic pharmaceuticals billionaire Landon Tatum.
She’d just had a sexy encounter with him while working a birthday party undercover at a seedy strip club the previous night. Now he’s missing, and she needs to find him.
Problem: the drug coursing through her veins makes it so every man she sees looks like the man she’s looking for.
And that’s just the start of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Her last-night’s-self walked to the front of the room, balancing gracefully on very high heels as the first guest arrived. Then another bout of nausea washed over her, fogging her mind. Her eyes had to be lying.
Landon Tatum had just entered the room.
This was wrong. He’d come in later, she knew it. Fifteen minutes before the birthday boy, maybe twenty. There had been more than a dozen people there. Even Fordelli, the man she had come to watch, had arrived first. She’d been watching very carefully and this wasn’t the kind of thing she’d forget.
He wore a black suit, black shirt and a silver tie. That wasn’t right either. But the clean-cut, brown hair, the thin-lipped mouth, the dark eyes, they were as she’d remembered. The perfect, sharp cheek bones with a slightly crooked nose that looked like it had been broken in a fight once and never fixed. It was the kind of “blemish” she couldn’t take her eyes off of.
She breathed shallowly. This was wrong. When had she become this attracted to him? Until recently, she’d thought of him as an attractive guy. Not mouth-watering can’t-take-my-eyes-off. That hadn’t happened to her since high school.
She watched herself approach to offer him a drink. Then the next guest came in, to the right of where her eyes had been focused.
Another black suit, black shirt, but this time a blue tie. She flicked her eyes between the two of them. They were both there. She was seeing two of him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT C B SALEM
C.B. Salem lives, writes, and dreams in Chicago. When she isn’t reading or plotting the next scene in her book, she enjoys cooking new dishes and having quality cuddles with her two dogs: Murphy and Oliver.
Sally Ann Melia caught me totally off guard with this awesome story of two young boys lives, in the Guy Erma and the Son of Empire series.
I have read and reviewed the first book, Kidnap, and fell in love with it., so now I am sharing Hunter, Part II in the series. You can see my review for Kidnap HERE.
Spoiler Alert: Even though Hunter is Part Two of the Guy Erma and the Son of Empire series, I have tried to keep my comments general to keep from giving away any of the goodies contained between the pages.
Hunter is Part Two of the Guy Erma and the Son of Empire series. If you are a fan of action and adventure with some science fiction thrown in, this is a series for you. Each book picks up where the other left off. I loved Kidnap, Part One, so much, that I grabbed Hunter and started to read as soon as the package arrived.
I have watched movies that enable me to visualize the world Sally Ann Melia has created with her detailed and descriptive writing. Also, the artwork by Sally Dickson will help you see things as they really are, whether it be a character or one of the creatures.
We have a Dome, flying discs, fashion shows and models, cysects, poison pills, borgs and so much more.
There is political intrigue, betrayal, telepathy, thought control, even a telepathic shapeshifter that you better keep your eye on.
Sometimes your enemy will be your friend and ally, so do not be too quick to judge.
Would a romance among an unlikely pair save the Dome?
I love the world of Freyna that Sally Ann Melia has created. The characters, even though they are young, are brave and heroic. Even the bad ones are well developed and end up winning me over, except for the evil….well, I don’t want to spoil anything so I will leave it to you to find out.
Sally Ann Melia’s imaginative and descriptive writing describing the fight is amazing and I couldn’t put the book down until the last word was read. I have the next one, Part Three, Exile, and I want to pick it up right now, but it is late and tomorrow is another day.
My only complaint, Hunter seemed to start out a bit slow, but the ending was fantastic!
I received Hunter by Sally Ann Melia in return for an honest review.
4 Stars
SYNOPSIS
How dare you? How dare you hold me captive?
13-year-old Teodor was taken by the vicious Battle Borgs of Dome and now he must fight to survive.
13-year-old Guy Erma has been offered a chance to fight for his place in the Dome Elite. Only who will be his opponent? Will he face a Battle Borg of Dome?
Once they were heroes. These men died as heroes in battle. Now they have been reincarnated as the fearsome vanguard of the Dome Elite. They are the Battle Borgs of Dome.
Two boys as different as any two boys might be. They face the same enemy, the same danger, the same fear – dare they trust each other?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The author was born in Wallasey, England, in 1964, and moved to the South of France when she was eleven. She spent her teenage years living in the cosmopolitan city state of Monaco and became immersed in its many languages and cultures. An English girl in a French school, for three hours each week she would sit at the back of the class as her colleagues learnt English. To pass the time, she wrote stories. This led to a lifetime of writing novels, scripts, stories and articles.
In her working life, Sally writes marketing communications and manages large international websites.
In 2010, Sally joined the Hogs Back Writers, a club located on the outskirts of Guildford, and she set about turning an old manuscript into this novel: Guy Erma and the Son of Empire. Sally currently lives in Farnham, and she is married with two children.
How do you solve the ultimate mystery, where the murder victim has no identity and there’s no physical evidence? You go psychic—deep psychic—and hire Bruno X. Sure, you’re going to have to put up with some Yiddish trash talk and recycled borsht belt shtick. But he’s the only one who can who can stop the crime spree in the ordinarily placid Quaker community of Gardenfield, New Jersey.
Follow Bruno X in Michael Sheldon’s fictional debut, THE VIOLET CROW as he fends off rabid journalists and feckless politicians; untangles webs of deceit in Professor Littlejohn’s Deviant Behavior 101 class; reveals why the Quakers are still fighting over decades-old military medical experiments; and finally, uncovers the secrets of the biotechnology firm whose symbol is The Violet Crow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Introducing Gardenfield and Chief Buddy Black
The borough of Gardenfield is home to some 35,000 peaceful souls nestled in the friendly confines marked by Tiny’s Package Store to the north, the J. Kilmer Pub to the east, Lillian’s Tavern to the south, and the Tiki Lounge to the west. A Philadelphia suburb, it is a prosperous community with colonial roots and a variety of pretensions, including a prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages within Gardenfield proper. In fact, thirsty Gardenfielders simply have to drive past the town limits on any of the major roads, in order to enjoy a beer or a cocktail.
Buddy Black was not a drinking man by habit. Nor was he averse to dropping by a tavern from time to time, to see what the locals were up to and let off some steam after work. Tonight he made a beeline for Lillian’s. It had been a while. Lillian greeted him at the door. Rail thin and dyed blond, she appeared to be in her 60s and to subsist on nothing but whisky, cigarettes, and conversation. She welcomed Buddy with a hug. “Hi, hon. Nice to see you again. She’s expecting you.”
“How could she be expecting me? I only decided to come here 10 minutes ago.”
“We read the papers, too, y’know.”
“I’m that predictable…?” The Chief freed himself from Lil’s embrace and headed for the bar. “Daisy, did you really know I’d come here tonight?”
The woman behind the bar was dressed in tight jeans and a low-cut flower-print top. She was busy polishing a wine glass, and didn’t look up until she’d finished her task. Then she flashed a smile that was warmer than Lil’s rather spectral hug. “Buddy! I haven’t seen you since—what?—Bay of Pigs. It’s about time you came to see me.” Without asking she opened a bottle of Rolling Rock and set it down in front of the Chief.
ABOUT MICHAEL SHELDON
Michael was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Haddonfield, New Jersey. His father was a dentist, which accounts for his sense of humor. His mother, a Jewish mother without peer, instilled in him the idea that the world doesn’t owe you a living—and a love of raw oysters and dry martinis. His training in the craft of storytelling came from reading the masters beginning with Chaucer and Rabelais, through Sterne, to MacDonald and Westlake
**all images are linked to Amazon (I am an affiliate)**
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Happy Fourth of July
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FREE EBOOKS
***still free at time of posting. Check for the “0”***
Emily Kemilman has some of the most fun and colorful covers. I am unable to resist picking up a freebie, whenever I see it. Check out Inviting Fire and fuonlyknew.
More trees and Green Grow the Rashes by William Meikle sounds like a fun read. I got this free for following his newsletter. I was already going to follow, so this is just a bonus. Check it out and let me know what you think.
I found this for free from Choosy Bookworm. If you don’t know about them, check them out for deals and freebies. Thanks Maggie and Choosy Bookworm.
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NEW to fundinmental
I am a sucker for anything to do with trees, so all it took was the title, Puzzles Trees, and Thom Mark Shepard captured my interest. I found this through The Kindle Book Review. How much does what we watch affect us?
I normally try to stay away from trilogies because I rarely follow up on them, unless it is one of my favorite authors, and I miss the endings. All of these are out and available, so no waiting to read Dark Bayou by Nancy K Dupelchain and the Dark Trilogy.
P D Workman had Cynthia Has a secret free for his and Canada’s birthday. Very generous, PD and thanks a bunch.
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FOR REVIEW
I picked up another Kathy Reichs novel, Speaking in Bones, from Net Galley. I can never pass by her novels.
As soon as I read the opening page, I knew I made the right choice in grabbing this book!
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WINNINGS
I hope the book gods shined down on you and you were able to share in the winnings. 😀
After six years behind the anchor desk at two CBS affiliates, Laura moved to the Alabama Gulf Coast to raise her family. Her accolades in broadcasting include awards from the Associated Press, including Best News Anchor and Best Specialized Reporter.
5+++++
Sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, and wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes writes a lot of things. Sometimes she writes books, like the fantasy mystery novel Death is but a Dream, the sci-fi middle grade book Jacob Smith is Incredibly Average, and the Her Wolf paranormal series.She works as an advertising copywriter during the day, and she moonlights as an author. She has lived in New Zealand, Texas, and now in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, cat, and a growing collection of geek paraphernalia.You can reach her at 
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The author was born in Wallasey, England, in 1964, and moved to the South of France when she was eleven. She spent her teenage years living in the cosmopolitan city state of Monaco and became immersed in its many languages and cultures. An English girl in a French school, for three hours each week she would sit at the back of the class as her colleagues learnt English. To pass the time, she wrote stories. This led to a lifetime of writing novels, scripts, stories and articles.
Michael was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Haddonfield, New Jersey. His father was a dentist, which accounts for his sense of humor. His mother, a Jewish mother without peer, instilled in him the idea that the world doesn’t owe you a living—and a love of raw oysters and dry martinis. His training in the craft of storytelling came from reading the masters beginning with Chaucer and Rabelais, through Sterne, to MacDonald and Westlake
