Review – Ten Years Gone by H P Newquist @HPNewquist

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Ten Years Gone is my second book by H P Newquist and I have to admit, it has been lingering for far too long. It is not because I didn’t enjoy it, that’s for sure!

Ten Years Gone

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

In Kerrville, on the 21st of November, for nine years, someone is found murdered, hanging from a tree. One the tree is 1/10, 2/10, 3/10….It’s not like the police haven’t tried to solve the crimes, but there isn’t much to go on.

A reality show, looking for something interesting, decided they would come to Kerrville and find the killer before he/she can claim their tenth victim and vanish.

Then, Marcy gets wind of it. She is ex FBI with a chip on her shoulder. She has an investigation firm and pressures her ‘contacts’ to come up with a suspect…any suspect. She is a piece of work and as the story goes on, the worse she gets. She doesn’t instill any confidence in me. I would hate to be depending on her…for anything. If you read the book, you will understand why I want to reach into the Kindle and punch her lights out.

H P Newquist exposes the human frailty in Ten Years Gone. The state of mind of someone needing to right the wrong in his own way, no matter how twisted or monstrous the solution. IT doesn’t have a grotesque face, easily spotted. It can look like your neighbor, a friend, a coworker….hiding in plain sight.

Reality TV (cough, cough), a disgruntled FBI agent, a cop that never gives up, a town that struggles through ten years of terror..

There is suspense, but I wasn’t biting my nails. It was more mystery…ya know, IT’s gonna strike, ya know when, but not why, or who.

The ending…surprising…and I LOVE IT!

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Ten Years Gone by H P Newquist.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

The new thriller from award-winning author HP Newquist!

Every November for nearly a decade, a body has been found hanging from a tree outside the town of Kerrville. As the tenth year approaches, the killer leaves clues that indicate there will only be one more murder. A reality show and its celebrity host decide that this last murder could be the ratings they’ve always wanted–and they are determined to find the murderer before the police do. But the killer thinks that is a very, very bad idea.

TEN YEARS GONE is currently available free in ebook format from Newquist’s site at: newquist.net

ABOUT H P NEWQUIST

H.P.  Newquist

HP Newquist’s books and articles have been published all over the world, and his writing has been translated into languages from kanji to farsi.
All told, he has written more than two dozen books and hundreds of articles, along with numerous awards and citations.

His writing spans a vast array of interests and issues. In the late 1980s and 1990s he wrote extensively about artificial intelligence (AI), compiling a body of work that is arguably the most extensive coverage of the AI business created to date.

Newquist became an editorial columnist for Computerworld, and a contributor to Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, the Financial Technology Report, and Music Technology magazine. These led, perhaps not so naturally, to the Editor-In-Chief position at GUITAR magazine. He contributed to a host of other music magazines, including Billboard, Guitar Player, Guitar Shop, InTune, and Musician’s Planet.

Along the way, he wrote two documentary films–one of which was nominated for an Emmy Award–and created technology entries for Microsoft’s Encarta encyclopedia, while writing architecture and travel pieces for The New York Press.

Meanwhile, his work was cited and reviewed in the New York Times, the Economist, Variety, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and hundreds of other publications around the world. He won some awards in the process.

Newquist’s books cover the same array of topics as his magazine articles, from brain science and space exploration to legendary guitarists and the strangeness of the Internet. To date, he has written over two dozen books. And he’s already committed to writing many more.

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Sneaking Into His Heart – Protecting You by Amanda Siegrist @amanda_siegrist

Protecting You (McCord Family, #1)

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

As we meet Ava and Jimmy in the midst of their lively dialogue, I quickly become involved, but that’s because I know just enough about them from a couple of later books I read, and now I’ll be getting the details from the horses mouth.

Wow, Amanda Siegrist led me straight into the danger and action. I was way to comfortable, wondering why are we here, on a call, before the party? I got the answer I was looking for from the beginning, what happened to make Zane hate Ava so much.

Zane loved the farm and expected Jimmy and Austin to love it to. Jimmy had always dreamed about becoming a cop and living in New York City. That is how he met Ava, the head of the crime scene investigators. They became fast friends, family.

Zane is the ‘dad’ brother, feeling responsible for taking care of his brothers, even though they are grown men. Of course, they don’t discuss their feelings. Austin is the funny one, the ladies man.

People handle grief in their own way and Ava was swept away from New York to the farm…and Zane. Zane’s bark is worse than his bite. The first night had me in tears. I had to take a break to let my eyes clear.

Way to go Amanda. You have written a powerful, realistic, romance novel that settles around grief, loss, and healing. The romance may be predictable, familiar, but the road to healing is filled with tears, guilt, forgiveness, love…I am drawn into their world of loss and pain. It’s so real, it reads like real life. Their struggle is my struggle and I do look forward to us finding out way through the grief to the Happy Ever After Amanda Siegrist delivers.

Well, I was getting all mellowed out….lazily smiling…the Fourth of July parade…and BAM, in my face. I expected a meet up, but with someone else…and I love it!

MMM…a happy ever after that will take me directly into Book II, Trust In Love.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Protecting You by Amanda Siegrist.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

From USA Today bestselling author Amanda Siegrist comes a heartwarming series that will make you swoon…and maybe even shed a few tears.

He wanted to hate her. He just might fall in love instead.

Zane McCord might not say it often, but he loves his brothers no matter what, even when he’s acting like a jerk and he knows it. When his brother Jimmy dies with tension hanging between them, he turns all his hatred to the woman who deserves it—Ava Rainer, the one responsible for his death. He refuses to like her. He won’t help her. He wants her nowhere near him. Except she’s suddenly on his farm and sneaking her way into his heart with her own pain. The guilt is eating him alive, but maybe…just maybe…they can heal together.

The entire McCord Family Novel series: (Each book in this series can be read as a standalone.)

Protecting You (Book 1): Zane & Ava
Trust in Love (Book 2): Austin & Sophie
Deserving You (Book 3): Emmett & Deja
Always Kind of Love (Book 4): Ethan & Penelope
Finding You (Book 5): Gabe & Olivia

ABOUT AMANDA SIEGRIST

Amanda Siegrist

Love! Gimme some love and heaps of romance. I have a sappy heart that just loves two people meeting, going through the cycles of a relationship, and ultimately, falling in love. Give me a good book like that and I’m a happy camper:)

I write contemporary and romantic suspense, but I am partial to suspense. I just love a good mystery.

Besides writing, I love baking, crafts, and baseball…oh, and meeting new people. *smiles*

Website  /  Twitter  /  Facebook

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Unicorn Island: Secret Beneath the Sand by Donna Galanti @DonnaGalanti

I am loving the covers for the Unicorn Island series by Donna Galanti.

From Donna Galanti: It’s been a wonderful journey writing the Unicorn Island series and it all started with my publisher who said, “I’d like for you to write a book about a girl who has to take care of a unicorn.” And of course, I said YES to that because … unicorns! They are magical, wondrous, and mysterious. 🦄

Unicorn Island: Secret Beneath the Sand

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Unicorn Island is a magical story that has everything a young mind could want in an adventure, with plenty of fantasy and fact to inspire…the young and the old alike.

Foggy Harbor has begun to feel like home since Sam made a friend and discovered a magical island full of unicorns and other magical creatures. Now…their immortality is threatened and she searches for a cure, finding a secret from her past that links her to the future of the herd.

Sam had learned her Uncle Mitch’s legacy was to protect the herd and keep the secret of the island that was hidden by a fog bank. He was training Sam and her friend, Tuck, to be unicorn protectors.

When Donna Galanti mentioned elephants evolution and tusks (yes, I am talking real elephants), I had to check it out and see if it was real. I urge you to do the same.

Love. Selflessness. Devotion. Courage.

“…Science and magic together can create wondrous things…”

I loved this wonderful adventure into the magical world of Unicorn Island, with fabulous characters and magical creatures that work together to save the unicorns and the island. Not only does it have a gorgeous cover, but it holds factual tidbits at the end of the story to inspire young minds.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Unicorn Island: Secret Beneath The Sand by Donna Galanti.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

In Book 2 of the series, Sam and Tuck are on their way to becoming unicorn protectors when they discover new secrets about the island that threaten unicorns’ existence! From Epic! Originals, Unicorn Island  is a middle-grade illustrated novel series about a young girl who discovers a mysterious island full of mythical beasts.

Sam can’t believe how much her life and luck have changed since she came to Foggy Harbor: First, she discovered that unicorns are real, and now she’s on her way to becoming an actual unicorn protector! With her new friend, Tuck, by her side during Uncle Mitch’s lessons, Sam finally feels like she’s home.

But as the long-buried dangers of Unicorn Island begin to surface and a mysterious scourge spreads throughout the herd, Sam learns the truth behind Aunt Sylvie’s disappearance and her own connection to the island. With determination, courage, and fierce loyalty to one another—and to their code as unicorn protectors—the kids set out to protect the island’s secrecy and the unicorns’ very existence.

Download these fun Secret Beneath the Sand activities!

ABOUT DONNA GALANTI

Donna Galanti is the author of the bestselling paranormal suspense Element Trilogy and the children’s fantasy adventure Joshua and The Lightning Road series. Donna is a contributing editor for International Thriller Writers the Big Thrill magazine, a writing contest judge at nycmidnight.com, and regularly presents as a guest author at schools and teaches at writing conferences. She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. Donna also loves teaching writers about building author brand and platform through her free training series at yourawesomeauthorlife.com. Visit her at donnagalanti.com.

CONNECT WITH DONNA:

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WhoDunIt – A House of Ruin by Pamela Crane @MentalMommyPam

A House of Ruin

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I first visited Execution House in A Slow Ruin by Pamela Crane. Now, we are going to find out the history, the slaughter of the Eyler family….And, if you were to ask me, I’d say maybe Karma came to bit them in the ass.

Did anyone like the family? The more I got to know them, the more I could understand how such a tragedy came to pass. BUT…who did it? Was it the butler? Was it the maid? How about the mailman? Or…well you get the point. There are so many suspects and so many motives that I wonder how we can ever really know.

Derl comes forward forty years after the execution with, what he believes, to be the answer. Derl had been the one to find them and it had haunted him ever since.

I love books where secrets are exposed. Pamela Crane makes her characters suffer..and I suffer right along with them. She had me going, with all the suspects and all the motives. When people treat others so cruelly, I always wonder how far a person can be pushed before they break.

What about you? With each suspect I wondered what I would do in their situation. It’s some great writing when an author can make me do that.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A House of Ruin by Pamela Crane.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

A murder that stole 1982 national headlines: “Renowned Family Slayed in Home.” A case that remained cold for forty long years.

The Eyler family was anything but average. The father a top literary agent and the mother a duchess, they thrived in their prestigious Oakmont mansion surrounded by luxury…and secrets. Secrets that would eventually cost them their lives.

On a cold autumn night, their legacy ended with a grisly massacre in one of the most horrific scenes ever investigated. Soon details splashed across every newspaper of how the family of five lay slaughtered in their library, cursing the mansion as it became branded the Execution Estate. With no witnesses and no motives, the killer remained free. The case grew colder. Speculations grew darker. Answers grew dimmer.

Until now.

Former estate manager, Derl Newman, steps forward four decades later with a suspicion and a clue that could lead investigators to finally solve the puzzle of why a killer would murder a family yet leave the many priceless heirlooms behind. The gardener with a grudge? The bitter butler? The maid hiding her mischief? With insider knowledge of what happened that fateful night, Derl exposes everyone’s darkest secrets that brought this house to ruin.

A whodunnit mystery from the USA TODAY bestselling author of the hit psychological thriller A Slow Ruin.

ABOUT PAMELA CRANE

Pamela Crane

PAMELA CRANE is a USA TODAY best-selling author and professional juggler. Not one who can toss flaming torches in the air, but a juggler of four kids, a writing addiction, and a horse rescuer. She lives on the edge (her Arabian horse can tell you about their wild adventures while trying to train him) and she writes on the edge…where her sanity resides. Her thrillers unravel flawed women who aren’t always pretty. In fact, her characters are rarely pretty, which makes them interesting…and perfect for doing crazy things worth writing about. When she’s not cleaning horse stalls or changing diapers, she’s psychoanalyzing others.

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Frozen In Time – Girl In Ice by Erica Ferencik @EricaFerencik #GirlInIce #NetGalley

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LOVE LOVE LOVE that cover and the title is a perfect fit, or is it the other way around?

I wonder which came first, the title or the cover?

Girl in Ice

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

First off, I would like to thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Girl In Ice by Erica Ferencik. It blew me away. I loved everything about it, from the title, to the cover, to the story inside.

The Girl In Ice was thawed out by the research team studying climate change on an island off the coast of Greenland. The Arctic Circle…I can’t imagine being there at any time, let alone when danger lurks. Where will it come from? I figured it out pretty quick, but I could not be certain. Didn’t matter anyway. The writing kept me glued to the pages.

Valerie ‘Val’ Chesterfield was already somewhat acquainted with the research being carried out. Her brother, Andy, had been a part of it…until he was found outside, frozen. Well, that makes me very suspicious. When the Girl In Ice was found and no one could understand her, Val, being a linguist who specialized in Nordic languages, was called in to help. She didn’t believe the story about her brother, so now she can find out for herself what really happened.

The Girl In Ice is desperately trying to communicate with them.

I love when an author can include things that interest me, like climate change. It makes the story more believable, except for the girl in the ice coming to life. I don’t think I can believe that could happen, but hey, there are those that believe in cryogenics, so…….

I watched Val grow, change, develop into an strong, independent, loyal person that has yet to find her place in the world, but happy to be in it.

The world building was so realistically created that I almost believed I could feel the cold, hear the snow squeaking under my feet, and it made me wonder…about what research Erica Ferencik did. Her detailed descriptions allowed her to paint so vividly with words an environment so harsh, otherworldly…and I was lost in it.

A sense of danger arose early and hung on every page. I had a feeling about some things that come to pass, but Erica Ferencik supplied plenty of book surprises to keep me on my toes. I ignored everything around me, except coffee and restroom breaks. I read hundreds of books a year, so that is not any easy thing to do.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Girl In Ice by Erica Ferencik.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

From the author of The River at Night and Into the Jungle comes a harrowing new thriller set in the unforgiving landscape of the Arctic Circle, as a brilliant linguist struggling to understand the apparent suicide of her twin brother ventures hundreds of miles north to try to communicate with a young girl who has thawed from the ice alive.

Valerie “Val” Chesterfield is a linguist trained in the most esoteric of disciplines: dead Nordic languages. Despite her successful career, she leads a sheltered life and languishes in the shadow of her twin brother Andy, an accomplished climate scientist stationed on a remote island off Greenland’s barren coast. But Andy is gone: a victim of suicide, having willfully ventured unprotected into 50 degree below zero weather. Val is inconsolable—and disbelieving. She suspects foul play.

When Wyatt, Andy’s fellow researcher in the Arctic, discovers a scientific impossibility­—a young girl frozen in the ice who thaws out alive, speaking a language no one understands—Val is his first call. Will she travel to the frozen North and meet this girl, try to comprehend what she is so passionately trying to communicate? Under the auspices of helping Wyatt interpret the girl’s speech, Val musters every ounce of her courage and journeys to the Artic to solve the mystery of her brother’s death.

The moment she steps off the plane, her fear threatens to overwhelm her. The landscape is fierce, and Wyatt, brilliant but difficult, is an enigma. But the girl is special, and Val’s connection with her is profound. Only something is terribly wrong; the child is sick, maybe dying, and the key to saving her lies in discovering the truth about Wyatt’s research. Can his data be trusted? And does it have anything to do with how and why Val’s brother died? With time running out, Val embarks on an incredible frozen odyssey—led by the unlikeliest of guides—to rescue the new family she has found in the most unexpected of places.

ABOUT ERICA FERENCIK

Erica Ferencik

Oprah chose Erica Ferencik’s debut novel, The River at Night as a #1 Pick, calling the book “the page-turning novel you’ve been waiting for, a heart-pounding debut.” Entertainment Weekly named it a “Must Read,” and calls the novel “harrowing…a visceral, white knuckle rush.” Miramax has recently optioned the novel for a film.
Her new novel, Into the Jungle, one woman’s terrifying journey of survival in the Bolivian Amazon, will be released on May 28, 2019. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, calling it: “[A] ferocious fever dream of a thriller…Ferencik delivers an alternately terrifying and exhilarating tale.” Her work has appeared in Salon and The Boston Globe, as well as on National Public Radio.

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Giveaway & Review – From Caterpillars to Butterflies by Raynelda A. Calderon @iReadBookTours


 

Join Us for this Tour:  March 1 to March 21, 2022
Book Details:

Book Title:  The Mirabal Sisters: From Caterpillars to Butterflies by Raynelda A. Calderon
Category:  Children’s Non-Fiction (Ages 8-12)
Genre:  Children’s Book
Publisher:  Cayena Press, Inc., 48 pages
Release date:   March 2022
Content Rating:  G.  Suitable for all readers.

MY REVIEW

The Mirabel Sisters is a wonderfully illustrated look into a moment in time in the Dominican Republic during the rule of the dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Because of these sisters, November 25th was declared International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in their honor.

Kudos to these brave ladies, and those that supported them. I am happy to share their story and the courage they showed. The book and illustrations work together to tell their inspirational story.

The sisters were just people, people who loved to read, paint, worked in the family store, and, even though the youngest, Dede, was not killed, she was left to raise the children and tell their story. They are the true definition of heroes, which I feel is bandied around all too easily nowadays.

Recommended age group: Grades 4 – 6, Ages 8 – 12. The MIrabel Sisters would be a great addition to any library.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Mirabel Sisters by Raynelda A Calderon.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars
 
 

 

Book Description:

Born in a small town in the Dominican Republic, the Mirabal sisters lived at a time when the country was under the merciless rule of a dictatorship. Their deaths on November 25, 1960 (at ages 36, 34, and 25), have received international coverage. In their honor, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is observed annually on November 25.

 Buy the Book:
Amazon
add to goodreads

Meet the Author:

Raynelda A. Calderón, a Dominican native who lives in Queens, NY, is a children’s book author who has worked in public libraries for more than 15 years. She holds a doctorate in leadership in higher education, and she has taught Information Literacy at various colleges, most recently at Bronx Community College. As a librarian, working with children inspires Raynelda to write about the accomplishments of Hispanic women in history. She hopes to inspire young readers to follow their passions and never take no for an answer. Raynelda is the creator of the first Hispanic Heritage wall calendar that honors the accomplishments of Hispanic Americans in the United States. She lives with an untamed Shih Tzu, Toby, and a much attached Chihuahua, Maya. She spends her free time thinking (and drafting) about books to write, or painting, crocheting, or crying over abused dogs.

connect with the author: author’s website ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads 
 
Tour Schedule:

Mar 1 –
Cover Lover Book Review – book review / giveaway
Mar 1 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book review / guest post / giveaway
Mar 1 – Kam’s Place – book spotlight
Mar 2 – Bound 4 Escape – book review / giveaway
Mar 2 – Lynchburg Reads – book review / guest post / giveaway
Mar 3 – Splashes of Joy – book review / giveaway
Mar 3 – A Mama’s Corner of the World – book review / guest post / giveaway  
Mar 3 – Deborah-Zenha Adams – book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Mar 7 – Sefina Hawke’s Books – book spotlight
Mar 8 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book review / guest post / giveaway
Mar 9 – fundinmental – book review / giveaway
Mar 10 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review / giveaway
Mar 11 – Westveil Publishing – book spotlight /guest post / giveaway
Mar 14 – Books for Books – book spotlight
Mar 15 – bujos_n_books – book review / giveaway
Mar 16 – Pause for Tales – book review / giveaway
Mar 17 – @twilight_reader – book review
Mar 18 – Lamon Reviews – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Mar 21 – Literary Flits – book spotlight / giveaway

Enter the Giveaway:

The Mirabal Sisters: From Caterpillars to Butterflies Book Tour Giveaway

 


 

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True Crime – The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman #TheColdVanish #NetGalley

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The cover for The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman makes it easy to see why someone could go missing and never be found. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read and review The Cold Vanish.

The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I saw the title and cover, then read the blurb, and my interest was peaked. I had to know what Jon Billman had to say in this true story of the missing across the country.

To tell the story, Jon Billman did walk in Jacob Gray’s footsteps, to a point.

The Schrödinger’s cat experiment…I had never heard the entire experiment, but the fact that it is neither, dead or alive, or both, dead and alive, until you open the box. I imagine it is the same with a missing person. I cannot imagine how the not knowing could mess with someone’s mind.

I do believe some of the problem is with those who are doing the investigating. The process has come a long way, but I think investigators can still get stuck on one person, zeroing in on them, making the suspect fit the evidence. Not only has technology aided the investigators, the investigators have become more sophisticated.

Unfortunately, there are still those who are out to make a name for themselves, to get elected to office. or just inept and unqualified for the job at hand. And the wilderness…such a large area where bodies could be easily hidden, make findng them like a needle in a haystack.

Cold Vanish…here one minute, gone the next. Aliens? Bigfoot? The Supernatural?

The book was written like a TV episode, hopping from one case to another, coming back again and again. It was confusing at times, but I do like that so many missings were shared.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

For readers of Jon Krakauer and Douglas Preston, the critically acclaimed author and journalist Jon Billman’s fascinating, in-depth look at people who vanish in the wilderness without a trace and those eccentric, determined characters who try to find them.

These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidences, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers and law enforcement charged with Search & Rescue. The ones that baffle the volunteers who comb the mountains, woods and badlands. The stories that should give you pause every time you venture outdoors.
Through Jacob Gray’s disappearance in Olympic National Park, and his father Randy Gray who left his life to search for him, we will learn about what happens when someone goes missing. Braided around the core will be the stories of the characters who fill the vacuum created by a vanished human being. We’ll meet eccentric bloodhound-handler Duff and R.C., his flagship purebred, who began trailing with the family dog after his brother vanished in the San Gabriel Mountains. And there’s Michael Neiger North America’s foremost backcountry Search & Rescue expert and self-described “bushman” obsessed with missing persons. And top researcher of persons missing on public wildlands Ex-San Jose, California detective David Paulides who is also one of the world’s foremost Bigfoot researchers.

It’s a tricky thing to write about missing persons because the story is the absence of someone. A void. The person at the heart of the story is thinner than a smoke ring, invisible as someone else’s memory. The bones you dig up are most often metaphorical. While much of the book will embrace memory and faulty memory — history — The Cold Vanish is at its core a story of now and tomorrow. Someone will vanish in the wild tomorrow. These are the people who will go looking.

ABOUT JON BILLMAN (from Grand Central Publishing)

Jon Billman is a former wildland firefighter and high school teacher. He holds an MFA in Fiction from Eastern Washington University. He’s the author of the story collection When We Were Wolves (Random House, 1999). Billman is a regular contributor to Outside and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope: All-Story. He teaches fiction and journalism at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula, where he lives with his family in a log cabin along the Chocolay River.

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Texas Horror Writers – Road Kill edited by Madison Estes @madisonestes

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Road Kill by Madison Estes is one of those books with a cover that stopped me in my tracks. So colorful and fun looking, I had to check it out.

Road Kill Vol. 6: Texas Horror by Texas Writers

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The cover for Road Kill definitely caught my attention! All the stories were worth the read, but below are some favorites.

  • The Teeth by Jacklyn Baker: My fear of the dentist is totally justified.
  • Cemetery Days by Patrick C Harrison III: Powerful….and sad.
  • The Chickens That Are Not Her Chickens by Mario E Martinez: Gross and terrifying.
  • Doll 538 by Sonny Zae: Pretty creepy. I knew there was a reason I didn’t like dolls.
  • Winter’s Breath by Al Hagen: Glad I don’t live in the snow any more.
  • Getaway Car by Madison Estes: They went that away.
  • We’re All Weeds by Kevin Hollaway: Well, my yard isn’t perfect…
  • Caro Comes Home by Patrice Sarath: Nice finish to the anthology.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Road Kill by Madison Estes.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Diabolic chompers. A getaway gateway. A ghostly inheritance. A cemetery daze. A terrifying lovebug. A case of bizarre Big Bend bloodshed. Look both ways before you crack the cover. Road Kill is back with stories from Stephen Graham Jones, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, Patrick C. Harrison III, Lauran J. Campbell, Mario, E. Martinez, Bev Vincent, and many more.

ABOUT MADISON ESTES

Madison Estes

Madison Estes writes horror and fantasy. She has had work featured in the award-winning anthology “Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers Vol. 3” (HellBound Books), Mad Scientist Journal, Mojave Heart Review, and anthologies by Transmundane Press, Twisted Wing Productions, Soteira Press, and others. She will be editing the next installment in the Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers series.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, drawing, playing with her dogs, and running an authortube/booktube channel. She lives in southeast Texas.

Booktube/Authortube Channel / Instagram / Twitter / Website

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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New Release – When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry @NicoleAMabry @Steph_Mullin

.

YEAH! TODAY IS RELEASE DAY FOR WHEN SHE DISAPPEARED BY STEPH MULLING & NICOLE MABRY

I love suspense/thrillers in any way, shape and form, so when I saw Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry’s psychological thriller available on Net Galley, I had to have it. I mean, look at that enticing cover. Makes me wonder what’s inside the pages.

When She Disappeared

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I must confess, every once in a while I scroll through NetGalley to see what’s available. When I saw the cover and title for When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry, I thought OK. Then I read the blurb and I had to have it.

I love small towns, where everyone knows your name…and all the secrets. How can a killer hide in plain sight? I got curious to see if the author(s) could pull off the mystery of the culprit, or, at least, get and keep the suspense to a high level that would keep me flipping the virtual pages. No worries there. These ladies did that very well.

After her failed marriage, Margo put Wilmington in her rearview mirror and headed home, to Lake Moss and her ailing father. Memories flood her, and, as she pulled into the driveway, the radio announced that her best fried, who had been missing for many years, had been found. What a homecoming.

I wish Margo would confide in Austin about her fears. I would, and I fear it may be in her best interests if she does. I feel she is in danger, alone, vulnerable and by hanging her out there by herself, Steph and Nicole had me fretting more and more…every time there was a noise in the house, a light flickered, a dog barked, a bush rustled….

When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry was so much more than I expected. The book was long enough that I had to put it down, unable to finish it in one sitting. I fought the urge to know…to finish the twisty trail to the end.

Well done ladies. I LOVED it.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

‘On May 26, 2004, Jessie Germaine went to school as normal and cheered at the end of year rally. That evening, she rode her bike into the forest and disappeared…into thin air.’

Margo hasn’t been back to Lake Moss since her school friend went missing. But as she returns, running from a failed marriage, the news breaks. Her hometown’s swimming hole has been Jessie’s grave for fifteen years.

Digging out her old diary, and steeling herself to face unfriendly ghosts of the past, Margo sets out to help a documentary crew as they investigate the infamous case the police bungled.

In a town where everyone knows everyone – but they all have secrets – the killer is certain to be close to home…

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry met as co-workers in New York City in 2012, discovering a shared passion for writing and true crime. After Steph relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2018, they continued to collaborate creatively. Separated by 5 states, they spend countless hours scheming via Facetime and editing each other’s typos in real time on live Google docs. The Family Tree is the writing duo’s first co-authored crime novel. Their second novel, When She Disappeared, is set to release in 2022.

ABOUT STEPH MULLIN

Steph Mullin

Steph works by day as Creative Director for a Media, Entertainment and Digital Marketing Solutions company, using early mornings, nights, and weekends to write fiction. Steph’s dream of becoming a writer started at age 6, followed by winning scholastic writing awards and crafting articles for her university’s literary magazine. In her 20’s, she became engrossed in true crime podcasts and literature, which later became the perfect source of inspiration to launch her second career writing dark and twisty thrillers. In 2018, Steph relocated from NYC to Charlotte, North Carolina where she currently resides with her husband and her rescue puppy. Outside of reading, writing, and playing with her dog, you may find her sipping on a soy latte, watching a new movie, or trying out new recipes in the kitchen.

Follow Steph on Website / Twitter / Instagram

ABOUT NICOLE MABRY

Nicole Mabry

Nicole works in television as Senior Manager of Post Production in the photography department. She is the author of Past This Point (2019, Red Adept Publishing), an award winning apocalyptic women’s fiction novel. Past This Point was chosen as Best Book of the Year by Indies Today and won First Place in the Global Thriller division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards. For more information on Past This Point, click here.

Follow Nicole on Website / Twitter / Instagram

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway & Review – Lulu and the MIssing Tooth Fairy by S E Richey @jhonortizart @serichey @iReadBookTours


 

Join Us for This Tour:  February 15 to March 7, 2022
 
Book Details:

Book TitleLulu and the Missing Tooth Fairy by S.E. Richey
Category:  Children’s Fictions (ages 3-7), 38 pages
Genre:  Children’s Picture Book
PublisherBright Meadow Press
Release date:   Feb 28, 2022
Content Rating:  G -Suitable for everyone.
 
“A clever, humorous, and joyful tooth story” – Kirkus Review
 

MY REVIEW

Lulu and the MIssing Tooth Fairy by S E Richey and Jhon Ortiz (Illustrator) is a wonderfully illustrated fantasy. Add a little humor and a young girl’s determination and patience waiting…waiting…waiting for the tooth fairy to show up and your youngster will learn that hope and believing in something that can’t be seen will be rewarded. Also, Trixie will learn what it takes to become a tooth fairy. She never gives up, no matter how many mistakes she makes. Just because something doesn’t go right the first time, it doesn’t mean you won’t get it right the next time. Sure to delight your youngsters.

I love that S E Richey includes the traditions of the tooth fairy across the world.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Lulu and the Missing Tooth Fairy by S E Richey.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars
Book Description:


Lulu cannot wait for a visit from the Tooth Fairy and get a pony with her Tooth Fairy money. And Trixie cannot wait to finally become an official Tooth Fairy. Everything would be perfect, if only Trixie would show up!

Will Lulu get her pony? Will Trixie ever become an official Tooth Fairy? Find out in this humorous yet heartwarming tale that encourages us to never stop believing and that everything is possible with a little will power. And learn a thing or two about tooth traditions and tooth collectors of the world!
 
 
Pre-Order the Book:
S.E. Richey Books
add to goodreads
 
Meet the Author:

S. E. Richey was born in New York and moved to Puerto Rico with her family when she was four years old. She grew up in the mountains of La Cordillera Central of Puerto Rico. She spoke four-year-old English and Spanish, but soon forgot English. She loved running around her grandparents’ finca, picking wild strawberries, sucking on ripe coffee beans (so sweet!), sugar cane (so sweet!), and searching for cow pies with her siblings and cousins (not so sweet.).

At age eighteen, S. E. Richey swore she would never live in another small town in the country where she had to drive through a canyon with lots of curvy roads just to get to the city. Oh, how dizzy and nauseous those curves made her!

She moved to the United States where she attended college in a small town in Idaho, married and lived in a small town in California (her second home) with lots and lots of curves just to get to the city (yes, she got dizzy and nauseated), and now she lives in a small-ish town in Idaho with her husband and four children. Their two dogs, Roscoe and Cali, and Conan, the fat cat, complete the family. She loves to sing WAY too loudly in the car. She loves Dulce de Leche ice cream (even if it hurts her tummy). And she loves to read and write silly stories that make her giggle and stories that tug at the heartstrings.  

connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads
 
 
Meet the Illustrator:

Jhon Ortiz is a 3D character animator and a children’s book illustrator born in Caracas, Venezuela and based in Valencia, Spain. A plant keeper and a coffee lover, Jhon also likes the sound of vinyl records. From an early age, Jhon felt a passion for drawing and storytelling. He has worked as an animator for the films The Nutcracker and the Four, and Moomios. And he has illustrated several books, including The One Great Gnome, LillyBelle: A Damsel NOT in Distress, and Lulu and the Missing Tooth Fairy.  

connect with the illustrator: website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram


Tour Schedule:

Feb 15 – Cover Lover Book Review – book review / giveaway
Feb 16 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book review / guest post / giveaway
Feb 16 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book review / guest post / giveaway
Feb 16 –
 Literary Flits – book spotlight / giveaway
Feb 17 – Bound 4 Escape – book review / giveaway
Feb 17 – Splashes of Joy – book review / giveaway
Feb 18 – A Mama’s Corner of the World – book review / giveaway
Feb 22 – Reading is My Passion – book review
Feb 22 – Lynchburg Reads – book review / guest post / giveaway
Feb 23 – Sandra’s Book Club – book review / giveaway
Feb 23 – @twilight_reader – book review
Feb 24 – icefairy’s Treasure Chest – book review / giveaway
Feb 24 – The Phantom Paragrapher – book review / giveaway
Feb 25 – Writer with Wanderlust – book review / guest post / giveaway
Feb 28 – Faith and Books – book review / author interview / giveaway
Feb 28 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review / giveaway
Mar 1 – The Page Ladies – book review
Mar 2 – fundinmental – book review / giveaway
Mar 2 – Pause for Tales – book review / giveaway
Mar 3 – She Just Loves Books – book review / giveaway
Mar 4 – Kam’s Place – book review
Mar 4 – Westveil Publishing – book review / giveaway
Mar 7 – Lisa’s Reading – book review / giveaway
 
Enter the Giveaway:
 

LULU AND THE MISSING TOOTHFAIRY Book Tour Giveaway

 


 

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!