Today Beth Bowland and Month9Books are revealing the trailer for POLARIS, which releases August 16, 2016! Check out the gorgeous trailer and enter to win a paperback of the book!!
A quick note from the author:
When I first watched the trailer I was in awe, tears formed in my eyes, and I was frozen in my seat. I tried to say “OMG”, but only the “O” came out and “MG” got stuck, because at that moment I watched as my story literally took a breath and came to life.
I had such a great time writing Polaris, it combined my love for creating stories and conspiracy theories. I love “What Ifs” What if there is life on other planets? What if they’re really not so different than we are? The big ticket question, what if they’re already among us. Polaris takes a quirky but fun spin on an old conspiracy theory, but what if the conspiracy is not a theory…
Bixie, Montana is in the middle of nowhere, not connected to any place, and not needed to get to any destination.
But one snowy evening, a lone visitor walking down an old country road changes thirteen-year-old Aaron Martin’s life forever. Aaron thinks he’s being a Good Samaritan by inviting the nearly-frozen visitor into his home, but he’s unwittingly initiated “The Game.”
A group of Elders, known as the Council of the Legend, come together from time to time to enjoy a rousing event they playfully call “The Game.” Now, Aaron’s town is the playing board and he and his fellow townspeople are the players.
The rules are simple. Win. Because if Aaron loses, he won’t just lose his family. He’ll lose his very identity.
Beth Bowland, a native Ohioan, has always enjoyed reading and creating stories of her own. As a child she devoured every book she could get her hands on and spent numerous hours at the library each week. She loves writing stories for tweens and young teens and her characters are often described as quirky and fun, but always relatable. When she’s not writing, she loves watching HGTV. She has one daughter and resides in Arlington, Texas with her husband, Phillip.
Welcome to the blog tour for Falling for Sarah and Saving Sophie by Cate Beauman! The tour runs July 1-29 with reviews, excerpts, interviews and guest posts. Check out the tour page for the full schedule.
Falling for Sarah is only 0.99 cents for a limited time!
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About SAVING SOPHIE:
Jewelry designer Sophie Burke has fled Maine for the anonymity of the big city. She’s starting over with a job she tolerates and a grungy motel room she calls home on the wrong side of town, but anything is better than the nightmare she left behind.
Stone McCabe is Ethan Cooke Security’s brooding bad boy more interested in keeping to himself than anything else—until the gorgeous blond with haunted violet eyes catches his attention late one rainy night.
Stone reluctantly gives Sophie a hand only to quickly realize that the shy beauty with the soft voice and pretty smile has something to hide. Tangled up in her secrets, Stone offers Sophie a solution that has the potential to free her from her problems once and for all—or jeopardize both of their lives.
MY REVIEW
WOW, on the edge of my seat, white knuckled reading. Action from the beginning to the end for Saving Sophie by Cate Beauman. This is the seventh book in the stand alone series and I didn’t find anything lacking by reading out of order, though now that I have read it I would have loved to have started at the beginning.
Eric is a wife beating bully…worse than the scum on the bottom of the pond. He knows just how to beat Sophie without it showing. I was only 7% in and ready to jump into my Kindle and beat the crap out of him myself! I love a book that gets my blood pumping and my emotions raging.
With the help of her only friend, Dylan, Sophie’s making a run for it.
The storyline is predictable…a damsel in distress and a hunky hero meet and fall in love. Sophie finds a janitor job at Cooke Security where Stone works. Of course, they will hook up, but the twists and turns, with the wonderful peripheral characters bring the story to life in a fantastic way that keep me reading…and reading…and reading…
Being with Stone, Sophie began to feel safe, able to trust a man again. Even though they are quickly thrown together, their relationship develops slowly, each enjoying the small things they learn about each other and do for each other. There will be some communication issues, but isn’t that real life?
A sense of danger and suspense lurks in the back of my mind, even as I get all warm and fuzzy with Sophie and Stone. Sometimes I almost forgot about HIM, though I know they will meet again, because Eric is pissed and he wants Sophie to pay. I can hardly wait until Stone meets him. LOL
At 39%, Cate threw a twist in there I didn’t see coming. Great job. I can hardly wait to see what other surprises are in store for me. All the juicy details and pacing kept the suspense at a high level, whether dealing with their relationship or the upcoming face to face meeting with Eric.
When Stone asked Sophie to kiss him, I almost melted into my lounger. So sweet and sexy.
My eyes teared up when I came to the happy ever after, even though I knew it was coming. That just shows me how fantastic the writing is and Cate Beauman’s ability to bring her characters to life make me totally invested in their outcome.
Saving Sophie by Cate Beauman contains everything required for a top of the line romantic suspense novel: passion, love, danger and death.
I received a copy of Saving Sophie by Cate Beauman in return for an honest review.
Widow Sarah Johnson struggled to pick up the pieces after her life was ripped apart. After two years of grieving, she’s found contentment in her thriving business as photographer to Hollywood’s A-list and in raising her angel-faced daughter, Kylee… until bodyguard and long-time friend Ethan Cooke changes everything with a searing moonlight kiss.
Sarah’s world turns upside down as she struggles with her unexpected attraction to Ethan and the guilt of betraying her husband’s memory. But when blue roses and disturbing notes start appearing on her doorstep, she has no choice but to lean on Ethan as he fights to save her from a stalker that won’t stop until he has what he prizes most.
International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County. Her novels have been nominated for the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Golden Quill Award, Writers Touch Award, and have been named Readers Favorite Five Star books. In 2015, JUSTICE FOR ABBY was selected as the Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist, while SAVING SOPHIE took the Silver Medal. SAVING SOPHIE was also selected as the 2015 Readers Crown Award winner for Romantic Suspense and FALLING FOR SARAH received the silver medal for the 2014 Readers’ Favorite Awards.Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack.
Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack. Currently Cate is working on Deceiving Bella, the eleventh novel in her popular Bodyguards series.
Ends August 3rd Prizing is provided by the authors, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 18. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.
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To read in order:
While reading the series in order is recommended, it is not necessary. Each story is a stand alone title featuring new primary characters with limited overlapping secondary characters. Click the highlighted link below to check them out:
Hidden Truths & Lies by Fran Lewis are short stories, where the dead speak from the grave. Did they get what they deserve? Did Karma come knocking on their door demanding payment?
Each story left me wondering what lurks around the corner. This compilation of short stories had me cringing, wondering what I would do in their shoes. Who’s good? Who’s bad? By whose definition?
Murder, vengeance, greed, negligence…evil of many shades.
Once I picked up Hidden Truths & Lies by Fran Lewis, I couldn’t put it down. Fran has plenty of surprised and I loved when some of the stories didn’t play out quite like I thought they would. It’s not easy to pack so much punch into such short stories, but Fran Lewis’s great writing showed creativity for her worlds and characters.
I received a copy of Hidden Truths & Lies by Fran Lewis in return for an honest review.
4 Stars
ABOUT THE BOOK
Each story in this series teaches a lesson the person behind the stone should have learned before committing crime, hurting someone else, or generally failing at life.
We’re about to enter Golden Stone Cemetery, where these unfortunate people are buried so deep you can barely find their markers. Their crimes are so heinous and their deeds so cruel that family members buried them here because they want to forget they ever existed.
Enter at your own risk.
Reviews:
“The stories in this collection by Fran Lewis are gripping in suspense and demonstrate a vivid imagination. I picked them up planning to read for a few minutes and couldn’t stop until I had finished the last story. Fran understands well and expresses the dark side that many people have. Motivated by greed or self-interest, some in these stories who seem like people we encounter every day are willing to undertake terrifying actions. It makes for an excellent read.” — Allan Topol, author of !e Italian Divide and The Washington Lawyer
“Hidden Truths and Lies is a compilation of stories told from beyond the grave each one filled with terror as the character faces his or her own fate. The final two stories are pure science fiction and will hopefully allow readers to see the magnitude of this talented writer.” — Susan Ross, Board Of Education, NYC
Book Details:
Genre: Horror; Paranormal Suspense Published by: Fideli Publishing Inc. Publication Date: April 7th 2016 Number of Pages: 98 ISBN: 1604149124 (ISBN13: 9781604149128) Series: Hidden Truths and Lies is the 4th book in Fran Lewis’s FACES BEHIND THE STONES series of stand alone novellas. Purchase Links:
Read an excerpt:
Introduction
Each story in this series teaches a lesson the person behind the stone should have learned before committing crime, hurting someone else, or generally failing at life. We’re about to enter Golden Stone Cemetery, where these unfortunate people are buried so deep you can barely find their markers. Their crimes are so heinous and their deeds so cruel that family members buried them here because they want to forget they ever existed.
Welcome to Golden Stone Cemetery, where the voices of these unfortunates can be heard loud and clear. Learning what they did and what their fates became will make you shudder. When you find out just how cruel they were in life, you’ll be glad they’re gone. You’ll be relieved that their families made sure the spirits of each of these nefarious characters will never rise again.
Who lies behind these unmarked stones? Let their stories unfold…
Fran Lewis: Fran worked in the NYC Public Schools as the Reading and Writing Staff Developer for over 36 years. She has three masters Degrees and a PD in Supervision and Administration. Currently, she is a member of Who’s Who of America’s Teachers and Who’s Who of America’s Executives from Cambridge. In addition, she is the author of three children’s books and a fourth that has just been published on Alzheimer’s disease in order to honor her mom and help create more awareness for a cure. The title of my new Alzheimer’s book is Memories are Precious: Alzheimer’s Journey; Ruth’s story and Sharp as a Tack and Scrambled Eggs Which Describes Your Brain? Fran is the author of 13 titles.
Catch Up:
Tour Participants:
MY GIVEAWAY
Along with the rafflecopter tour giveaway, I will be offering one (1) print copy of Hidden Truths & Lies by Fran lewis. Entry is for US only, sorry. All you need to do is answer the question:
Have you ever had a scary experince in a graveyard?
Don’t Miss Your Chance to Win!
This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for Fran Lewis. There will be 3 US winners of one (1) eBook copy of Hidden Truths and Lies by Fran Lewis. The giveaway begins on June 13th and runs through July 31st, 2016.
Forgetting Jane by C J Warrant starts out with one of my worst nightmares…being buried alive…and I hold my breath until…
WOW, what an opening scene for a fantastic novel.
YAY, two mysteries in one. Who buried Jane Doe and who is she? She has amnesia and I cannot imagine the terror as she struggles to tell the difference between the real and the unreal. I too am wondering what is going on. Who is the girl in the yellow dress?
The sick son of a bitch stalking her is determined to finish what he started. Who is he? Why is he so bold?
Small town cop, Elias McAvoy, knew HIS visit to Jane was a message. The stalker must be local. Imagine knowing it’s someone you live with, someone you talk to day in and day out. I was scared for her at every turn…every time a chapter started, her hospital door opened, her eyes opened…a constant state of suspense at a steady pace created a feeling of terror.
Elias and Jane are so hurt and damaged, lost. Would they be drawn together? Could they heal each other’s wounds…if given the chance? Finally, he did something to…maybe…get through to her. Or is she just crazy?
I was so waiting for Caroline to SHUT THE HELL up.
Harold…is he just misunderstood and harmless? I think he has an important part to play.
I have two very strong suspects…among the many. Okay, I can rule him out, but he was too obvious anyway.Another suspect is proven innocent. Who is it? Every time I “turn the page”, I expect him to jump out at me…again! My first thought was right, but C J Warrant sure had me going. Yes, no, yes, no.
Suspense…WOW…off the charts from the beginning to the end. This adult romantic paranormal suspense novel leaves me “panting” for more. If you like fast paced nonstop suspense causing the hair to rise on the back of your neck and shivers to run up and down your spine, you MUST READ Forgetting Jane by C J Warrant.
I received a copy of Forgetting Jane by C J Warrant in return for an honest review.
5 Stars
ABOUT THE BOOK
Amnesia and an unspeakable crime have stolen everything from Jane Doe except the haunting image of a girl in a yellow dress, which replays itself over and over in her mind.
Small town cop Elias McAvoy is haunted as well, by the crushing guilt he feels over the deaths of two women, one by his own hand. He can’t-he won’t-let Jane down too.
Together they delve deeper into Jane’s case, battling against her memory loss, and an increasingly tangled web of lies and murder that span forty years-and ties Elias and Jane together in ways they never imagined. As the mystery of the girl in the yellow dress unfold, so does Elias and Jane’s love for each other. However, when the killer reappears, intent on finishing what he started, Elias must face his demons in order to save the woman he loves or lose her forever.
CJ Warrant is an Award Winning Author for dark romantic suspense and thrillers that pulls at your heart, makes you shiver with fear, and hope for a happy ending. A lover of coffee, baking and family, but not in that order—She’s a wife, a loving mother of three and a cosmetologist by trade. Drawing her experiences from her Korean Italian heritage and growing up as an Army brat, her stories stir in dark plots with addictive flawed characters you will fall in love with.
I won The Days of Tao by Wesley Chu in the black and white scifi/fantasy/horror novella surprise giveaway at Little Red Reviewer. Thank you Andrea for some fun reading.
The Days of Tao is a science fiction novella that reminds me of The Host by Stephanie Meyer and the TV show Person of Interest.
Cameron is a college student and an agent of Prophus. He gets caught up in a war between Prophus and Genjix and is given the task of extracting Nazar who has vital information. He struggles to make the right decisions and save his college friends at the same time. He is courageous, though naive and learns some valuable lessons.
The Days of Tao is a coming of age story and Wesley Chu’s writing brings Cameron to life within the pages. The action is fast paced and the adventure makes the characters shine, some of them surprising me by their actions. I am still not sure of who the traitor was, but I see why Cameron he made the difficult choice he did. We have to live with the decisions we make and so does Cameron. After all…no one can ask us to do more than our best.
GOODREADS BLURB: Cameron Tan wouldn’t have even been in Greece if he hadn’t gotten a ‘D’ in Art History.
Instead of spending the summer after college completing his training as a Prophus operative, he’s doing a study abroad program in Greece, enjoying a normal life – spending time with friends and getting teased about his crush on a classmate.
Then the emergency notification comes in: a Prophus agent with vital information needs immediate extraction, and Cameron is the only agent on the ground, responsible for getting the other agent and data out of the country. The Prophus are relying on him to uncomplicate things.
Easy.
Easy, except the rival Genjix have declared all-out war against the Prophus, which means Greece is about to be a very dangerous place. And the agent isn’t the only person relying on Cameron to get them safely out of the country – his friends from the study abroad program are, too. Cameron knows a good agent would leave them to fend for themselves. He also knows a good person wouldn’t. Suddenly, things aren’t easy at all.
The Days of Tao is the latest in the popular Tao series from award-winning author, Wesley Chu. Following after The Rebirths of Tao, this novella carries on the fast-moving and fun tone of the series.
I first became familiar with Ken La Salle when I read his hilarious tale of Cookies: Sluts of the Snack World. As I read more of his work, I think there is no genre that he cannot conquer.
Now…I would like to share his latest: Once Removed by Ken La Salle.
The cover makes me curious, but also I begin to wonder…why were the letters hidden? Why were they never sent?
Let’s investigate further, shall we?
BLURB
You never really know a man… until he’s dead.
After Terence Montez dies in a seemingly incomprehensible suicide, his family is left to sort out the emptiness he leaves behind. Terry’s wife, Isabelle, however, wants nothing more than to return to her normal life. She wants to see her daughter, Iris, back to school and lose herself in her work.
And then, they find the first letter, a love letter Terry has left behind, stashed away with no apparent intention to be found.
One letter turns into two and three and more, each one a seemingly innocuous expression of love, each one hidden away in nooks and corners around the Montez home.
Once Isabelle and Iris see patterns in the letters, they begin to suspect a disturbing intention behind them all. Each new letter fuels the fire of mystery leading Isabelle and Iris across the suburbs and shopping malls of Orange County, California, where they uncover one incredible secret after another.
As the mystery slowly builds to its fiery conclusion, Isabelle discovers the horrible truth about a life she never knew and a death she could never fathom.
ABOUT KEN LA SALLE (From Amazon)
Author and Playwright, Ken La Salle grew up in Santa Ana, California and has remained in the surrounding area his entire life. He was raised with strong, blue collar roots, which have given him a progressive and environmentalist view. As a result, you’ll find many of his stories touching those areas both geographically and philosophically. His passion is intense humor, meaningful drama, and finding answers to the questions that define our lives.
The cover for Rising Tides by Katy Hate is simple, yet captivating and makes me so curious about what is inside. If you want to know, be sure and check out my review below.
I couldn’t resist the alluring cover for Rising Tide by Katy Haye. I am a “cover girl” and can be drawn in by the cover alone. BUT when a story includes water…I dive in with a smille on my face, wanting to get the lowdown.
The world building for Rising Tide is so creative and original that I was caught offguard. I love Katy Haye’s ability to bring it to life through words. For example, their meals are mostly algae, with occasional scavenged goods from the ocean floor. What are they doing on the ocean floor, you ask? Well…you will have to read Rising Tide to find out.
Libby is a doctor trainee, raised by her father, and naive to the real world. Her life is planned, but things happen and she will need to grow up fast.
Cosimo wants to be a Nautilus man and when they meet, trouble arises. What is a Nautilus man? Did Cosimo bring the danger? Why is her father being so secretive?
Libby’s world opens up to her and she and Cosimo vow to save the reapers, and by doing so save themselves.
I cannot help but stress Katy Haye’s ability to make the world in Rising Tide come to life. I do not want to elaborate, because it is so unique and creative, I feel anyone that cares about our ocean and seas, the mountains of trash being built and global warming, will love learning about it on their own.
The characters are the privileged and the downtrodden…sound familiar?
Rising Tide by Katy Haye is a wild adventure of survival, sacrifice and young love. Give me more Katy.
I received a copy of Rising Tide by Katy Haye in return for an honest review.
4 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
When everything you know is washed away, who can you trust?
Life is precarious on City, the last civilised place left on a drowned Earth. Some might think Libby Marchmont’s safe life there is boring, but she likes it – until her father is murdered and her certainties are swept away.
Stranded in the middle of the sea with someone she’s always considered an enemy, can Libby learn to trust Cosimo? And can they both survive long enough to share the truth her father was killed for: the seas are rising again and City lies on the brink of destruction.
Katy Haye spends most of her time in imaginary worlds – her own or someone else’s. She has a fearsome green tea habit, a partiality for dark chocolate brazils and a fascination with the science of storytelling.
Still recovering from the traumatic events of the past year, newlyweds Aggie Malone, police chief of Dogleg Island, and Deputy Sheriff Ryan Grady are looking forward to a carefree day of picnics, pirates and buried treasure with their precocious—and uncannily perceptive– border collie, Flash. But when Flash discovers a body in a shallow grave on the deserted Wild Horse Island Nature Preserve, a tangled knot of conspiracy, murder and deception begins to unfold, revealing that the things that are buried are often the most dangerous and the only pirates you have to fear are the ones that live next door.
Fifteen hundred miles away, an ex-con and a fifteen year old girl embark upon a crime spree that will earn them the nicknames “Bonnie and Clyde”. As they make their way inexorably south, Aggie, Grady and Flash are thrust into the middle of a murder investigation that leads to the arrest of one of their neighbors and the attempted suicide of another. When a search of the dead girl’s belongings reveals a priceless emerald bracelet and two of the islands most popular residents go missing, the puzzle becomes even more complicated. Grady and Aggie struggle to put all the pieces into place while Flash, ever obsessed with understanding the human condition, wrestles with a more painful dilemma: how do you tell the good guys from the bad guys when they are so often the same person?
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EXCERPT
Finding things, for Flash, was not difficult. Sometimes the things he found were useful to Aggie, like car keys or missing socks or a stick with blood on it. Sometimes they were not so useful, like broken beer bottles in the sand or bad-smelling toads in the back yard. But for the most part he liked finding things—except for the things that were buried. The bad things were almost always buried. And finding them never made anyone happy.
He pawed at the wet, loose sand until he found what he knew was there, then stepped back, waiting for Aggie, feeling unhappy. When she got there she looked down, and he heard her catch her breath with a choked, wet sound. The weight of the unhappiness was so heavy then that Flash sank to the ground, his head between his paws. Aggie knelt beside him, resting a hand on his fur, her breath coming fast and shallow.
“Oh, Flash,” she whispered.
Grady demanded from the telephone, “What? Is Flash okay? What happened?”
Flash had uncovered a scrap of fabric, too dirty now to determine its original color or purpose. And attached to the fabric, also black with dirt and the beginning of deterioration, was a human hand.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links
Donna Ball is the author of over a hundred novels under several different pseudonyms in a variety of genres that include romance, mystery, suspense, paranormal, western adventure, historical and women’s fiction. Recent popular series include the Ladybug Farm series by Berkley Books and the Raine Stockton Dog Mystery series. Donna is an avid dog lover and her dogs have won numerous titles for agility, obedience and canine musical freestyle. She divides her time between the Blue Ridge mountains and the east coast of Florida, where she lives with a variety of four-footed companions. You can contact her at http://www.donnaball.net
The Sound of Running Horses, Book Two in the Dogleg Island Mystery series, is available July 15 2016 in paperback, and for Kindle and Nook. Buy it from Amazon.com here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GOLP4FE
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GIVEAWAY
Donna will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
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The Blue Angels are back in town and gearing up for the beach show this weekend. Mr Wonderful snuck off to practice without me and this is what he came home with.
Check it out!
Fat Albert is their support plane and starts off the show.
Flying over Pensacola Pier.
In Formation. I love that you can see them inside the jets.
I love the vapor running over the plane.
If you would like to see them in action, visit Fundimonium for more.
What have you been up to this week?
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Are you a dragon lover?
I don’t think there is anyone that hasn’t heard of Stephen King, but have you read this epic fantasy of dragons, princes and evil wizards?
MY FRIDAY 56
In Peter’s cool gaze he saw the very possible derailment of all his plans and careful work. More and more Flagg came to believe that getting rid of Peter was a necessity.
(page65 in paperback)
MY BOOK BEGINNINGS
Once, in a kingdom called Delain, there was a King with two sons.