It’s A Gusher – A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr #GeneAmesJr

Posted on March 8, 2017 by fundinmental

A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr reads like a true story, told by a real oilman.

Think you know about the oil business, think again.

If you are a fan of the TV series, Dallas, A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr will fill in some of the blanks and show how much oil people really contribute to technology, education, the arts…

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I loved A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr, that tells a story of one man’s belief that life can be run on a handshake, that the next big one is just around the corner and a home is where the heart is.

The spirits said he would find a river of oil, but disaster and death will follow.

Jordan is driven to drill more and more oil wells.

As I learn about supply and demand, I am thinking he’s heading for trouble. Also, someone very close to him will betray him and I wonder if he will find out in time to divert the disasters that are heading his way.

A Wildcatter’s Trek makes me think of poker players, risk and reward. Rich, poor and rich again. Fortunes made and fortunes lost.

If you are a fan of the TV series, Dallas, like I am, this will sound familiar to you. A Wildcatter’s Trek is a down and dirty education of the oil world. Corruption, betrayal, revenge…Just like any business, personal or professional, everyone has their own agenda. You need to listen to those closest you, proven friends that are trustworthy, but sleep with one eye open.

Are you of the thought that all oil people are greedy, egotistical, selfish people, only out for themselves? My eyes were opened to the contributions they make to medicine, research, education, museums, libraries, technology…

I freaked out when I read…Oh no, it can’t be…But you will have to read it for yourself to find out what made my jaw drop, and kept me rapidly turning the pages to find out what happens next.

So…if you are looking for an eye opening glimpse into the world of oil and the people involved, A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr is a story you don’t want to miss.

I voluntarily reviewed A Wilcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

A Wildcatter’s Trek: Love, Money and Oil tells the harrowing tale of Jordan Phillips, a young pipe salesman who risks everything to drill for oil in East Texas and discovers the largest oil field in the world by accident. The breathtaking core of A Wildcatter’s Trek: Love, Money and Oil is fully exposed as Jordan Phillips is unwittingly thrust into the brutal, never-ending race of the oil wildcatter. Fraud, greed and danger abound. Will Jordan survive?

ABOUT GENE AMES JR (from inside the book)

Gene Ames Jr is fourth generation oil field. He is married to Ellen Rhett Young Ames, and they live in San Antonio, Texas. He was born in Gladewater, Texas in the East Texas Oil Boom where his father owned fractional working interests in producing oil wells and an interest in a gasoline plant. He and his family have been in the oil business starting back in Oklahoma, more than a hundred years ago.

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Giveaway – Mexican Hat Trick by T S O’Neil @tselliot3

Posted on January 25, 2017 by fundinmental

Mexican Hat Trick by T S O’Neil looks like so much fun, so I had to share it with you.

For some reason it made me think of Magnum PI.

I think, from looking at the cover, Eddie is in for TROUBLE.

Amazon / Goodreads

Mexican Hat Trick by T.S. O’Neil

GENRE: Contemporary, Action/Adventure

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MY REVIEW

Mexican Hat Trick by T S O’Neil far surpassed my expectations. I thought it would be a fun, sorta cozy murder mystery, but we go deeper and darker than the cover made me think we would.

Chewy was looking for a get rich quick scheme so he could retire in style. His solution…the sale of information. It cost him his life.

Michael Blackfox is an ex Marine, a beer drinking, tequila shooting, gun totin’ badass. He walks the wild and sometimes illegal side of the law. No surprise in that when you meet his parents.

He earns money as a bodyguard for his PI friend, which he dumps into his boat (Break Out Another Thousand). This time it will turn into a murder investigation in the wild and turbulent land of Mexico.

He gets shot at, blown up…travels by car, plane, horse and whatever other conveyance they come across…the death and destruction follows in his wake.

Mexican Hat Trick is an action packed thriller, with plenty of murder, blood and guts. To me, the more there is, the better the story.

His gang is a cast of characters that stand firmly at his side, just as determined as he is to find out What The Hell Is Going On…

Mexican Hat Trick proves that you can’t judge a book by its cover. What I thought would be a light and comical mystery is NOT. The villains will stop at nothing and the action reads as if this is taking place in the Wild West, no laws and no authorities to enforce them.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Mexican Hat Trick by T S O’Neil.

4 Stars

BLURB

Mexican Hat Trick reunites Retired Sheriff’s Department Detective turned Private Investigator, Eidetic Eddie Doyle with Former Force Recon Marine, Michael Blackfox, in a rollicking tale of murder, counterfeiting and kidnapping south of the border. A rogue’s gallery of new villains, including a pathological ex-French Foreign Legionnaire, a bloodthirsty drug kingpin, and a conniving corporate attorney, conspire to corner the counterfeit apparel market. Mexican Hat Trick is Florida Glare—south of the border.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT

Chapter 1 Chewy Mendelevich

Jesus Juan Carlo Rodriguez Mendelevich or Chewy for short was scared. The portly man sweated profusely in the noonday sun. His body generated rivulets of sweat that cascaded down his corpulent frame in continuous flows. Part of the cause was Torreon’s climate; the other was his nervousness. Chewy had scheduled the meeting at Casa Portofino, a restaurant in one of the more upscale and tranquil areas of the city. The neighborhood was a series of walled compounds, behind which sat multi-story villas protected by shotgun-toting security guards. Chewy waited under the blue canopy of the Mediterranean style white stucco building, hoping to see whether the man he was scheduled to meet arrived alone as was agreed. He was expecting a Gringo named Eddie Doyle, an emissary sent by the owner of the clothing company Chewy supplied.

Torreon was a dangerous place—there were over a thousand murders the previous year. Most were drug related as the Zeta cartel called it their territory and home—while other gangs disagreed. It was also the industrial heart of Mexico with much of the manufacturing scattered around the city in a series of walled and guarded industrial parks.

Chewy was the product of a May-September romance between a Jewish immigrant and a Mexican seamstress. His father, Isaac, a talented and well-connected tailor, had fled the Soviet Union in the early fifties. He had served many senior officials within the Communist Party ¬¬—a connection that would save his life. In the aftermath of Stalin’s death, a plot had been discovered to seize power by assassinating select high party officials. A group of Jewish doctors was implicated and vilified. Some were executed, others imprisoned—Isaac had been a non-practicing Jew, but nonetheless was swept up in the purge that followed. He escaped via a connection he had with a Mexican diplomat.

Over the remainder of his life, Isaac Mendelevich had grown a one tailor shop into a lucrative cut & sewn operation that employed over sixty seamstresses. Chewy had neither his father’s patience nor his virtue, but he did have higher aspirations.

For the past eleven years, Chewy’s company, Estrella de David S.A., had served as a foreign contractor of an American apparel manufacturer. The cloth was cut in El Paso and shipped to his Estrella Fabrica Una in Torreon—he only had one factory, but he could still dream big. His seamstresses rapidly turned the fabric into shirts and pants, he paid them poorly and reaped the reward. He had developed a pretty lucrative gig—the work was good, and Chewy prospered. He lived in a three level walled home outside of town, drove a late model Range Rover, and vacationed in a rented villa in Tuscany.

The Range Rover handled Torreon’s rough streets better than the Ferraris or Lamborghinis he saw in Italy—still, the Rover was not as stylish. He was originally pissed when he found out the Chinese had copied the storied vehicle and sold the counterfeit version, called the Landwind X7 for half the price of the original. But that anger gave way to grudging admiration after he involved himself in a similar pursuit.

Chewy dated the better-looking members of his staff—oblivious to the warning about fishing from the company pier—apparently, there is no similar expression in Spanish. The work was lucrative but limited. He often finished the entire consignment that the North American manufacturer shipped him in record time, which left him with an idle factory. He had plans for an early retirement to his own villa in Italy or along the Spanish Coast, and that took serious money.

Before his current girlfriend, Angelina, came to work for him—she had been employed for a short time in a factory stitching counterfeit shirts. The shirts were such good quality that they were often sold in the same retail shops that sold originals. She liked the work—the factory was in an old warehouse close to her home, the pay was in dollars, and they fed her lunch. Sure the work was hard—twelve hour days using old sewing machines, learning the strange stitching design and getting yelled at when she screwed something up, but they let her bring home the leftover tamales, and they paid her each day in currency.

On her one month anniversary a team from the Prosecutor’s Office arrived—all dressed in black military-style uniforms and carrying automatic weapons. The two Mexican Americans running the factory were summarily arrested—cuffed and stuffed as the gringos say, and carted off in a detention vehicle, not doubt to the infamous Gómez Palacio prison.

The gringos’ arrests left a vacuum in the market and after some subtle inquiries, Chewy filled it with a vigor. He now produced a regular run of clothing, in this case, a trademark known as Mountain Man (MM) and then produced a second line of high-quality fakes. The clothing line had a distinctive trademark—an inch high double M with crossed legs. The patterns were the same, and much of the output was repurposed seconds or new jeans made with locally bought denim. The quality of his counterfeits was high enough to fool the trademark inspectors and even some of the manufacturer’s investigators.

They filled a container of legitimate product for which Mountain Man’s in-country manager paid in cash a sum that was both gratifying and underwhelming. His shop floor otherwise idle, he would put his seamstresses to work with remnants and leftover sundries, to turn out another line of high-quality counterfeits. He knew others were doing the same. The fake jeans went straight into a shipping container that arrived on a regular basis—he assumed they were exported as he never saw them in the ‘Tianguis’ or local flea markets.

Chewy was initially happy. That together with what he was earning in regular work meant he was garnering over one-half million dollars a year. Still, it was not enough. The villa in Italy that he wanted costs over two and one-half million dollars and his prolific use of cocaine, 100% agave aged Tequila and high-class prostitutes, limited his ability to save. He needed, as the computer geeks say, a killer app—something lucrative enough to put him over the top. Two million dollars would get him there, and he figured that the information he had to share was well worth that price.

ABOUT T S O’NEIL

TS O’Neil graduated with Honors from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts with a Degree in Criminal Justice and graduated with High honors from the University of Phoenix with a Master’s in Business Administration in Technology Management. He served as a Rifleman with the Marine Corps Reserve, an Officer in the Military Police Corps of the United States Army, and retired from the Army of the United States (AUS) as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2012. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. TS is currently employed as a Senior Security Consultant, specializing in Information Security. He lives in Seminole, FL with his beautiful wife, Suzanne. He has written four books, Tampa Star, Starfish Prime, Mudd’s Luck and Mexican Hat Trick.

All are available on Amazon.com

Website / Amazon / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

GIVEAWAY

The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner and a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to another randomly drawn winner, both via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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One Sentence Review – Peace by Piece by Carol Fragale Brill @carol_brill

Posted on January 7, 2017 by fundinmental

One of my goals this year is to read through all the paperbacks I won that are stacked around the house. I won this signed paperback last year and it was a wonderful surprise when I finally got around to reading it.

I love this beautiful cover. Are you a beachy person?

Amazon / Goodreads

MY ONE SENTENCE REVIEW

Peace by Piece deals with some series issues…insecurities, eating disorders and settling for less, but Maggie is a wonderful character that makes the hard choices and the writing creates a rollercoaster ride of emotions that read as if this could be a true story.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: Peace by Piece deals with unshakable first love, family, relationships, the difficulties of being a stepparent—all shadowed by the curse of anorexia/bulimia.

Six years after fleeing college and Thomas’s betrayal, Maggie has nearly given up on love.
Enter Izzie, a motherless eight year old, and every maternal instinct kicks-in. With Donald, Izzie’s dad, Maggie waits for the thrill—for anything magic: a spark, a quickening, a quiver racing up her spine. The magic never comes, but it is precisely the ordinariness of his kisses and subsequent proposal that make her feel safe. She imagines that loving Izzie is enough to finally lock Thomas out of her heart.

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Teaser Tuesday #87 – Vampires and Zombies Christmas Reading by Anthony Renfro

Posted on December 20, 2016 by fundinmental

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

~~~~~~

Merry Christmas to you, but beware…

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Anthony Renfro’s short story, A Vampire at Christmas, features a hot and sexy vampire.

Talan had been coming home from seeing his fiance, when robbers attacked him and left him for dead. In turn, a vampire took out the robbers and left him with an alternative, immortality or death. He passed out before making the choice, so the vampire made it for him. His blood tasted sweet, while the robbers had tasted salty. MMMM

Ever meet a Parrothead vampire? How about a vampire who’s favorite time of year is Christmas? Do they decorate trees with lots of blinking, sparkling lights? He hung pictures of sunrises around the crypt to remind himself that he was once human. He wears work boots and a Jimmy Buffet concert shirt. He would have played music if he felt no one would hear. His favorite song is Margaritaville.

Discovering Christmas had changed his feeding pattern. Now he chose mostly those who deserved it. And had something special for those he felt worthy.

How would you like to see Talan coming down your chimney?

I love Talan and the humorous/horror writing of Anthony Renfro.

5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: Are you a Jimmy Buffett fan? Do you like Vampires? Do you like Christmas? This short story is about a Parrothead Vampire who uses his riches and Vampiric skills to bring joy to those in need during the holiday season.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The zombie tried to take off with Rudolf and he wasn’t going to allow it. It’s the little things that keep us sane and we all have a point in our lives, where enough is enough. A Zombie Christmas is comical and horrible at the same time. Can you picture zombie carolers singing Silent Night and Frosty? In times of trouble, there are those who stand up and give of themselves, expecting nothing in return.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: In a Zombie Apocalypse, three men risk life and limb to bring happiness to surviving kids on Christmas morning.

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The Horse Whisperer – Review for Blaze of Glory by M Garzon @mgarzonauthor

Posted on December 19, 2016 by fundinmental

Blaze of Glory by M Garzon has all the elements for a wonderful romance.

This is not my usual genre, but something about this book spoke to me.

When I was finished reading it, I knew why.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Blaze of Glory is a romance that will have you following this horse whisperer through the pages of her life, including all the angst and passion that a 17 year old girl carries with her. Her trials and tribulations kept me involved and wondering how everything was going to work out okay and become a happy ending.

I love horses and think they are magnificent creatures. I love to watch them in motion and imagine myself riding, with the wind blowing across my face and through my hair, my heart pounding with the hoofbeats, as we race across the ground. How exhilarating a feeling is that?

Tea is an independent, sassy, strong willed, hardworking girl that has a special affinity with horses. Her impulsiveness gets her in trouble over and over again.

Her parents had died and Tea and her brother are living with her stepfather. Jaden, her older “cousin” (by circumstance only, not a blood relation) gives her butterflies and sweaty palms, her heart throbs when she is near him. Her love for him could very well destroy her already dysfunctional relationship with her stepfather.

I am an action junkie, but I was not kept waiting for a murder, magic or adventure. I knew this was not that kind of story.

This is Tea’s story. M Garzon would lead me up to the moment of the kiss, then deny me. I felt it was going to happen, but when.

A clean romance that kept me hanging on, wishing and hoping that Tea would become the professional horse rider she wishes to be and capture the love of her heart’s desire.

I chose the book knowing it wasn’t an action-packed thriller. Tea’s story kept me involved and waiting for what would come next. The ending answers all the questions I had, yet leaves the book open to continue Tea’s story.

“Small as a kitten, brave as a tiger.”

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: Soon to be a major new TELEVISION SERIES!

Book 1 of the Blaze of Glory series – recommended on the USA TODAY website.

Last year, I had it all. Two jumpers on the show circuit, a lot of wins, and a lot of attention – the good kind. But now I have nothing. My life is circling the drain. The only spark of light that exists for me is my new, forbidden passion. If my stepfather finds out, he will kill me. My twin brother, my only blood relative in the world, has already begged me not to. But I can’t help myself. If it can’t be horses, it has to be this.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M. Garzon rode horses professionally for ten years, until an injury prompted a career change. She returned to school and completed a BSc; then, for good measure, an MBA. After several years of toiling as a business consultant, she turned to writing in a desperate bid to regain her sanity. A mom of two fabulous children, she lives in St-Lazare, QC and considers herself extremely fortunate to be a writer.

Author links: Website / Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook

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Giveaway & Review – Red Death by Jeff Altabef @JeffAltabef

Posted on December 15, 2016 by fundinmental

Welcome to a another Novel Publicity Review Tour! Today, we’re helping Author Jeff Altabef launch his new book Red Death!

We’ve been with Jeff from the start, and we love helping him launch his latest titles. He and his daughter just finished launching the last of The Chosen Series, Scorched Souls, and now it’s time for something new!

To celebrate, we’ve got prizes, sales and more! Check it all out below, and don’t forget to pick up your copy of Red Death. If you love action packed YA adventures, or Jeff’s other YA books like the Chosen Series, we know you’ll love this title too!

I love the cover for Red Death by Jeff Altabef.

It definitely hints at the story inside.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The cover for Red Death by Jeff Altabef is so appropriate for the story inside. There is an Eden, so, of course, there is an apple orchard.

The priests rule Eden and I immediately became suspicious. They hold tightly to the archaic rules. Why is that, do you think? Are they afraid?

The Soulless, well I have my thoughts about them too.

I have so many questions from the start. I am intrigued and I wonder how the characters will grow and change, because I feel it coming.

The writing is so descriptive, it brings the worlds, critters and characters to life on the pages.

We have a huge cast of characters, but by focusing on one in each Tribe, it wasn’t difficult to follow them as they struggle to survive. They all have their place in the story, some good and some bad and some just down right evil. In times of trouble, the best and worst come out. People show their true colors. Some rise to the occasion and some descend into the pits of Hell.

The evil oozed off the pages from the getgo, pissing me off, making me angry at some of the characters for their ignorance and their thirst for power. The suspense never let up.

Betrayal, brutality, loyalty, love…

I fretted, sweated, thinking…it can’t be…can it?

I felt good at the end, but the battle continues in Book II, The Ghost King. I can hardly wait to find out what happens next!

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Red Death by Jell Altabef.

4 Stars

ABOUT THE BOOK

What happens when everything you believed turns out to be a lie?

Every child of Eden fears the Red Death. All those afflicted with the plague die young, their souls stripped away as punishment for ancient sins long forgotten. For centuries, Guardians have protected Eden from the Red Death by killing outsiders who stray too close.

Seventeen-year-old Aaliss is a highly-trained Guardian, but when her rather odd thirteen-year-old brother, Wilky, discovers a cure to the plague, her world turns upside down. Branded as traitors by the corrupt High Priest, Aaliss and Wilky are forced to seek refuge in the last place Aaliss thought she’d ever go—beyond the boundaries of Eden and into the land of the Soulless. Here they must navigate a medieval world filled with witches, magic, and warrior kingdoms run by Elders only a few years older than her.

Aaliss yearns to return home, but when her heart tugs her deeper into the world of the Soulless, she questions everything she once believed. Has her soul been taken? Will she and Wilky fall victim to the Red Death, or might they die sooner in the center of a battle that threatens to tear apart the Soulless world? Or… might Aaliss finally find, against all odds, what her heart has yearned for all along?

Exclusive Blogger only Interview with the Author.

We asked author Jeff Altabef 3 questions you won’t see anywhere else besides our tour. They’re fun,

NP: Thanks for offering some extra questions for our bloggers Jeff! First, what’s your favorite meal and drink?

JA: Coffee and chocolate! I’m not sure what that says about me. My favorite time to write is in the morning so coffee is a no-brainer. My mind can’t start to function without my first cup of Joe. I also like to write in coffeehouses from time to time when I need a little more energy and can feed off of those around me. So when in Rome!

I have a pumpkin stuffed with tootsie rolls on my desk. It’s a terrible habit that I quit from time to time, but it keeps coming back. I just grabbed another one! I’d like to say my favorite writing food is something healthy like kale, but I won’t lie, and I hate kale!

NP: Some of our staff have a love hate relationship with chocolate and coffee too! I bet that’s pretty common with our bloggers too. Now, the next question is tough, but do your best! Who was your favorite Character to write in Red Death?

JA: This is such a hard question to answer. I really feel such a close connection to all of these characters, that choosing one is a bit of a “Sophie’s Choice.” I loved to write Piers. I thought he was such a deep character and certainly Aaliss was a lot of fun. She’s a really strong character that most people love. The Viper and the High Priest were also a lot of fun. I always love dwelling on the nasty characters, but my favorite character to write was probably Wilky. I did a bunch of research before starting to make sure I captured someone with his condition just right. In many ways, he’s the real hero of the series. Now I feel bad that I didn’t mention Eamon or P’mina. Argh!

NP For such a tough question you did a really good job of explaining why so many characters in Red Death are loveable. Last but not least, and it may be another head-banger…who are your favorite authors?

JA: This is a tough question too! I love a wide variety of genres. Really everything from thrillers (Dean Koontz), to historical fiction (Bernard Cornwell), to mysteries (Jonathan Kellerman) and even horror (Steven King). In the Young Adult genre I really like the characters Sarah J. Maas writes in the Glass Throne series. They come across as strong and memorable. I absolutely loved the End of Days series by Susan Ee. Her dystopian world and the use of angels was totally brilliant. I love the first person voice Joelle Charbonneau writes in the Testing Trilogy. She was a huge help when writing the Chosen Trilogy. Still, if I had one writing wish and could write like anyone, I’d choose Christopher Moore. He makes writing funny characters and situations seem effortless. I love his books!

Wow, those are some really interesting authors, and definitely diverse. I bet you’ve introduced our readers to some great new authors! Thanks again for doing our interview Jeff!

You can sign up to Jeff Altabef’s newselter and get a FREE short story at: http://www.jeffaltabef.com/

Exclusive Excerpt!

Chapter 5 – Eamon

Eamon studied the faces around the campfire, worry etched on his own as he wondered whether this would be the last time they would all gather together. He sat between his two older brothers, King Dermot and Prince Fintan. Dermot had lived six winters more than Eamon had, and Fintan one, yet he was the planner and worrier. Often he wished he could be more like them, but he never stopped fretting about tomorrow, the next season, the next winter. All the council members, twelve in total, joined them this night, forming a loose circle around a campfire that had started to lose its intensity. They met in the Courtyard, in the middle of the Stronghold, a small city protected by a sturdy stone wall. The Stronghold stood in the center of Dermot’s kingdom between the Outpost to the north and the Settlement to the south.

When Eamon realized everyone had stopped talking and were looking at him, he remembered what they had been discussing. “We’ll have to slaughter more cattle this year. The tribe’s grown since last winter.” The answer was obvious to him.

“The herd’s also added numbers this year, my Lord,” added Keenan, the Cattle Master. Built broad and strong like a steer, he had been Cattle Master for three years, and Dermot trusted him. “I reckon we could cull the herd by another twenty over last year and still maintain the size.”

All eyes turned toward Dermot. His reign had already lasted six years, almost an eternity. The Sword of Power lay across his lap, a long sword so heavy that it required two hands to wield it in battle. Its blade gleamed in the firelight, and the many rubies in the gold and silver hilt sparkled brilliantly. An inscription, written in a language no one understood, ran down both sides of the blade and glimmered in the firelight. The smithies could no longer make a weapon like the Sword of Power. That knowledge had been lost. They made other swords, fine ones, victorious ones, but none so grand. Only the King could wield the Sword of Power, the tribe’s finest.

Check out these great prizes from author Jeff Altabef, including a six month Kindle Unlimited Subscription! Did you know we offer exclusive reviewer prizes for tours just like this one? Want in on it? Sign up to Novel Publicity’s Newsletter for more great review opportunities!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Altabef is an award-winning author who lives in New York with his wife, two daughters, and Charlie the dog. He spends time volunteering at the writing center in the local community college. After years of being accused of “telling stories,” he thought he would make it official. He writes in both the thriller and young adult genres.

In the Young Adult genre, Jeff co-authored the Chosen Trilogy with his teenaged daughter, Erynn. The Chosen Series has won multiple awards including the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal for Best Coming of Age Novel, the 2015 Beverly HIlls Book Award for Best YA Fiction, and a Mom’s Choice Award.

As an avid Knicks fan, Jeff is prone to long periods of melancholy during hoops season. Jeff has a column on The Examiner focused on writing and a blog designed to encourage writing by those who like telling stories.

You can connect with Jeff on his website, Facebook, Twitter & Newsletter.

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
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The Extraordinary Journey of Vivenne Marshall by Shannon Kirk @ShannonCKirk

Posted on December 14, 2016 by fundinmental

Shannon Kirk’s award winning debut novel, Method 15/33, blew me away…so when I saw The Extraordinary Journey of Vivienne Marshall was available on Netgalley, I snagged it. Thank you Shannon Kirk and Reputation Books.

Such a gorgeous cover and I do hope I am walking on clouds when it’s over.

Book Design: Lisa Abellera

Ebook Design: Mary C Moore

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Be careful…when you are texting. Your inattention could be the death of you.

Vivienne lay hovering on the brink of death, one foot in the land of the living and one foot with the dead.

Noah, her dead, dream husband explains it to her. The scene made me think of a Supernatural episode, where Castielle says our Heaven is of our own making.

Is there a Heaven? Does our life pass before our eyes?

What would it look like? Who would you want there with you?

What secrets would be brought to light after your death?

And if there is a Heaven…what about Hell?

The lovely pics sprinkled throughout are a nice touch and I love it.

I am sitting in one of my favorite reading places, my patio and watering the lawn, even as the black clouds roll in, the thunder rumbling, and I am lost in Vivienne’s world, unable to quit reading.

Shannon’s descriptive words draw me into this novel from the opening pages, her poetic words bring to life fantasy worlds full of vibrant colors, beauty and love, but the flowery prose becomes onerous for me, having me starting, stopping and rereading, but that is me. I think there are many readers who will LOVE it and get lost in the story too.

This Heavenly love story is tragic, yet hopeful and very thought provoking.

I voluntarily reviewed a free ARC copy of The Extraordinary Journey of Vivienne Marshall from Shannon Kirk.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: What if you could choose your heaven now? Go on a celestial shopping trip of sorts? Thirty-five-year-old Vivienne does just that, as she lies dying in the ICU; a fatal walk into the path of a truck. In her final week of life, Vivienne treks through the Heavens of a priest, a best friend, a homeless child, and a lover who never was. Vivienne’s guardian angel, Noah, who may just be her soul mate, escorts her through selections of Heavens and through the confusion Vivienne experiences as she flounders between a doubt of life and the certainty of death. Although her visits to varied afterlives provide peace and beauty, choosing proves not so easy: Vivienne’s love for her young son and her earthly father pull her from her colorful journey—and from her divine love of Noah.

The nature of love, the variety and magic of life, unending hope, and the importance of saying goodbye are central to this uplifting tale.

ABOUT SHANNON KIRK

Shannon has been honored three times by the Faulkner Society in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition for her works The Extraordinary Journey of Vivienne Marshall (2012 finalist), Method 15/33 (2013 finalist), and Impossibility of Interplanetary Love (2014 short-list finalist). When not practicing law, Shannon writes in her free time. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.

Shannon writes in several genres: literary fiction, suspense/thriller, and young adult.

Shannon is a member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.

Website / Twitter

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My review for Method 15/33

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Teaser Tuesday #86 – Christmas Magic by Kathryn Meyer Griffith @KathrynG64

Posted on December 13, 2016 by fundinmental

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

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I come from a family of six children, so I can relate to Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s tale…to a degree…

I love her writing, so by sharing this with you at this time of year…I think it will show the power of love.

Such a sweet cover…

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Christmas Eve

You know Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s memories and feelings run deep, because her first novel, Evil Stalks The Night, is the story’s setting inspired by her family home.

Christmas Magic brought to mind many memories of my own. As child, I too was fascinated when I would awake in the morning and the world is blanketed in snow. I too loved visiting my Grandmother’s house, which was just down the road. It was like a mini vacation. I remember making paper and popcorn chains for the Christmas tree.

It is no surprise to me that Kathryn Meyer Griffith became a prolific writer, with her smarts, photographic memory and love of reading.

She may not have had much money, but she had lots of love.

What a vision…all nine of the family piling into the car and to Grandma’s house we go. They actually drove over the river and through the woods.

A heartwarming short story, with the highest highs and the lowest lows, love, happiness, sadness, giving and sharing…the human cycle.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: Have you ever wondered what a writer’s early years were like and how it affected their future writing and the stories they would tell later in their lives? Have you ever wondered what their childhood Christmases, their early holidays, were like? Well, wonder no longer. This story is about one of my most cherished childhood Christmases…in 1959 when I was nine years old. After my beloved musician/singer/songwriter brother Jim passed away in 2015 from cancer I felt an intense need to write this short story about that special Christmas Eve I shared with him, my other siblings, mother, father and grandparents, and put it out there for everyone to read as a tribute to him and my family. This is my story, part of my childhood, and some of my fondest memories. Note: in the late 1970’s I did a series of illustrated (by me, because I’m an artist, too) short stories for my local newspaper and I’ve used one of my old drawings from 1978 for the first page of this short story.

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A Holiday Murder Review – Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas by C L Bevill #CLBevill

Posted on December 12, 2016 by fundinmental

Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas by C L Bevill, is Book II of the Bubba Snoddy mystery series.

The fun looking covers make me smile every time I look at them. Be sure to scroll to the bottom and you will know what I mean.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas by C L Bevill is Book II in this 7 book Bubba Mystery Series. If I knew that before I grabbed the book and started reading, I doubt I would have picked it up, especially because I haven’t read Book I, Bubba and the Dead Woman. But I do have it, so…

Even though I read this before Book I, it did not affect my rating.

The characters in this series are so much fun with weird and laughable names, and big personalities that get them in all kinds of trouble. Bubba is a good ol’ boy and the sanest of the lot, but does his best not to let others get too close.

It seems like there is always danger afoot at the mansion and Bubba is in the middle of it. With his trusty sidekick, Precious, a basset hound that sticks to him like glue and will do her best to take down anyone who messes with her human, they will unravel the mystery and keep him out of jail…hopefully. Precious has become my favorite character and when you meet her, you will see why.

What do you call people what are afraid of Santa Claus.

Claustrophobic.

Why doesn’t Santa have any children?

Because he only comes once a yeeeaar and it’s down a chimney.

This hilarious romp through the twelve days of Christmas had me laughing and pondering the mystery throughout.

I love these characters, the fun writing and dialogue, their antics and quirkiness, and the mystery that keeps me guessing. I was tempted to mark it down because of the cliffhanger, but I enjoyed it too much and couldn’t do it.

OH MAN, there is a bleep, bleep, bleep cliffhanger!!!!

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: Bubba Snoddy’s got some problems. His family has descended for the Christmas holidays and not in a good way. His cousin wants to own the Snoddy Mansion, decrepit, falling down columns, termites, wood rot and all and isn’t above using manipulative behavior to achieve his ends. Miz Demetrice is up to nefarious and illegal activities while trying to entertain relatives. His cousin’s ten year old son is the personification of a demon and has hobbies of looking at medical photographs, making stun guns from scratch, and causing havoc wherever he roams. The woman of Bubba’s dreams, Deputy Willodean Gray, is still evading his romantic pursuits. Patients from the local mental institute are wandering over the town, ostensibly assisting with the Christmas Festival thanks to a program established by the mayor to cut costs. And Bubba has just found the dead body of a man dressed as Santa in the Christmas scene at City Hall. Oh, Pegramville, Texas is just the best place to be at Christmas if a fella has a bullet proof vest and a linebacker’s helmet. All the folks think Bubba might have done did it…again, even though it was proven that he didn’t done did it the first time, and Bubba has to move quickly in order to catch a murderer.

Book 2 of the Bubba series. This book has recently been revised.

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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Bubba and the Dead Woman, the first book, is FREE! The rest are $2.99 or less.

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One Sentence Review – After The Shock by Scott Nicholson @eScottNicholson

Posted on December 10, 2016 by fundinmental

After: The Shock is not my first Scott Nicholson story and it will not be my last.

The cover tells a lot about what’s inside.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I was so caught up in The Shock…An apocalypse brings out the best and worst in some people and Scott can make his characters shine as they step up and grow up after being thrown into turbulent and dangerous times…and I was pissed when it came to an end, leaving me needing the next book, and the next, to find out how it will end.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB: A massive solar storm erases the world’s technological infrastructure and kills billions. While the remaining humans are struggling to adapt and survive, they notice that some among them have…changed.

Rachel Wheeler finds herself alone in the city, where violent survivors known as “Zapheads” roam the streets, killing and destroying. Her only hope is to reach the mountains, where her grandfather, a legendary survivalist, established a compound in preparation for Doomsday.

Other survivors are fleeing the city, but Zapheads aren’t the only danger. Rogue bands of military soldiers want to impose their own order in the crumbling ruins of civilization. When Rachel discovers a 10-year-old boy, she vows to care for him even at the risk of her own life.

And the Zapheads are evolving, developing communal skills even as they lay waste to the society they will eventually replace.