{Blast} Creation @ataviststrilogy

Book Cover and Blurb

Title: Creation
Author: Kat Mellon
Genre: Literary Fiction
Who owns what you create?
Creation is a provocative exploration of what it means to be free. Set in a dystopian future where creativity is exclusively harnessed for the greater good, two artistically talented individuals remind us all never to take for granted the product of our own work and imagination. 
Creation is inspired by Ayn Rand’s Anthem and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.

Author Bio

Kat is a young author living in Fort Collins, CO. She graduated cum laude from the University of New Mexico with a BA in English at age nineteen and is a master of procrastination and pizza eating.  She will soon query agents with her biggest and baddest novel, Flowers When You're Dead. 

Links

Main Website: katmellon.com
Blog: blog.katmellon.com
YA Trilogy Website: ataviststrilogy.com
Flowers When You're Dead: fwydbook.blogspot.com
Writing & Design Services: katmauvais.com
Facebook: facebook.com/katmellon
Twitter: @ataviststrilogy

Creation: http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Kat-Mellon/dp/0984947329

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/creation-kat-mellon/1109326650?ean=9780984947324

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13453289-creation

Book Excerpt

“Beautiful. Just beautiful, Jess,” says Janet. She’s one of the Dancers. We’re required to watch other Talent’s performances or observe their works for inspiration, so she and I became fast friends. Due to the organization of our leisure room, I am acquainted with many Creators whose names begin with J. “Just what I needed. You’ve taken such a turn from your last work. What a fantastical land you describe. I could dream up a ballet on the city alone.”
Janet is right. A City of Twine is my best work, but only because I did much pleading to be able to use the concept. I was supposed to be Creating on the subject of Churches, but the idea of a City—a thing almost taboo in nature—was just too alluring. I asked the Head of Focus, and he approved on the condition that Wessely was to paint the city I envisioned. Of course Wes said yes, so I got my writing Slab and began the inspiration process. I was allowed to look through all of the old manuscripts with the Old Artist’s projections of what a city might look like. It was thrilling.
“You should,” I say. “If the HOF approves, you could work with Kelly the Designer and Tim the Setter. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”
“Oh, of course!” she says. “That would be utterly Creative. Jess, you’re a shining star as always.” 
I smile.
“Stars sound so precious,” I say. “It’s a shame they don’t exist. Can you picture what life would be like with the things we’ve Created?”
“Like the permanent skin artwork,” she giggles. “Wessely would do a fine job. Did Turner say if it would hurt, or no?”
“It would hurt,” I say, “because it uses sharp objects called needles to put the ink under the skin.”
“How perfectly horrible,” she says. She clutches at her sides and makes a face. “Why would he dream up such an awful thing?”
“I’m not sure,” I admit. Janet twists her light blonde hair into a bun and knots it on the top of her head. “A world without pain is a dull one. You know that.”
“Quite,” she says as she pulls off her ballet shoes and points at her bruised and calloused feet. “But it’s worth it for Creativity. James did a portrait of my feet, did you know that? Just like this. It was wild. It has never been done before. The HOF was pleased and gave him an extension on the mountain moving piece.”
Oh, that mountain moving piece again. She’s gone on for days about it; how striking and innovative the idea is of having one made-up Creation move another made-up Creation.
I often wish mountains were real. A character of an earlier manuscript climbed up a mountain, one that was terribly steep. I hadn’t a solution to make the mountain any easier to climb, so the character never reached his destination. The idea of taking those things Steven painted—he calls them machines—and using them to modify such a huge mound of Creation seems quite absurd, now that I’ve been corrected. The HOF subdues the complexity of our Creations if our ideas get too out of the ordinary, such as when I wanted to split the mountain in half with a contraption called a saw. Some sort of sharp tool or whatnot. Apparently, Tyler’s idea of a saw was much too small to cut something so large down the middle, and by that time I had already devised an alternate solution.
“Will you and James have supper with Wessely and me tonight?” I ask. “I notice the two of you have sat yourselves off alone lately. Collaborating on something?”
“Oh, no,” she says with a laugh. “We just enjoy our alone time with one another. It’s hard to have a personal conversation when the rest of the Creators are around, you know? Funnily enough, I plan to coordinate a ballet with segments of silence. I’d like that. Silence. Time to just listen and dance and twirl without the voices of hundreds in your head.” 
She stands up and raises her arms in the air, then spins and smiles at the roof, her slightly crooked teeth exposed. It makes me think of something I’d seen during one of my viewings. Someone came up with the idea that if small metal squares were glued to one’s teeth and were connected by a metal wire, the teeth could be straightened. It was ingenious, and although we know nothing of the Technical realm, the concept seems like it should be real. Braces, that’s what they are.

Jessica's Birthday Bash! @CrossroadReview

So today I turn 31!  Yup not shy on telling people my age!  LOL!  I have two beautiful girls a wonderful husband and well more books than I will prob ever get to read!  So today is supposed to be my day but since I cant expect my readers/followers to send me gifts lol I will be doing a giveaway instead.  

So for this birthday bash I will be giving away the ARC's that I have gotten over this month. So right now it is about 20 books!  From Kids to Adult.  So if you want to win please enter below! 

This one is for the USA only thanks. Unless you wish to pay shipping than go ahead and enter! 

The only catch is that it is a one day giveaway!  

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{Review} The Hypothesis of Giants @kuchmelissa

For the past fifteen years no one questioned the Sacred Hour in the town of Candlewick. Until one night a mysterious conch shell sounds throughout the Sacred Hour, only to be heard by two young teenagers. Aurora Alvarez is a misfit amongst her peers, desperately trying to fit in but failing to live up to the expectations of her parents and society. She unexpectedly discovers she is fated to ally herself with none other than rebellious Boreas Stockington, who allegedly escaped from the impenetrable Candlewick Prison. These two young teenagers must embark on a perilous adventure where they need to help Otus, a thirty-foot giant, prevent a cataclysmic event from occurring—the Geometric Storm. The journey will take them far from the safety of Wishbone Avenue and into the depths of the unknown and the secrets of the past. However, nothing could prepare these unlikely heroes for facing their own inner demons and the realization that Aurora and Boreas are on this quest together, whether they want to be or not.

› Visit Amazon's Melissa Kuch Page

Biography

Melissa Kuch was born and raised on Long Island, New York. As the middle child of three girls, she always loved telling stories and writing poetry in birthday cards for both her family and friends, being called "the writer" at an early age. She first realized her passion for writing after her first short story was read before her third grade class. Since then, her work includes writing the one-act plays "Looks Like Me" (2005) and "Mulligans" (2006) which were performed in the St. John's University Bromidean Project (NYC). Two of her plays "Tea Under the Lilac Tree" (2008) and "Mismatched Socks" (2011) moved onto the Semi-Finals in the Strawberry One-Act Festival (NYC). She worked as co-lyricist for award winning singer/songwriter Erin Michele on the album "Beneath the Curtain" which was released in 2006. In 2010, Melissa helped establish the fundraising event Metal for a Cause that raised money for Pediatric Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. Her short stories "To Secure a Husband", "Name Change" and "Cloud Pictures in the Sky" are available on Amazon.com. She is currently working on her four-part YA series "The Hypothesis of Giants" with book one, "The Assumption", scheduled to be published by the beginning of 2013. She is happily married to her husband Michael and they both currently reside in Queens, NY.

Website | @kuchmelissa | Facebook | Author Bio

This one pulled me in and didnt let me go until the last page! I loved traveling along with the characters!  This was a wonderful book!  I cant wait for book two!

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own." 

{Review} A Clockwork Heart @LieselSchwarz

This title will be released on August 13, 2013.

FOR BETTER OR CURSE. That might as well have been the wedding vow of Elle Chance and her new husband, the ex-Warlock Hugh Marsh in the second book of this edgy new series that transforms elements of urban fantasy, historical adventure, and paranormal romance into storytelling magic.

As Elle devotes herself to her duties as the Oracle—who alone has the power to keep the dark designs of Shadow at bay—Marsh finds himself missing the excitement of his former life as a Warlock. So when Commissioner Willoughby of the London Metropolitan police seeks his help in solving a magical mystery, Marsh is only too happy to oblige. But in doing so, Marsh loses his heart . . . literally.

In place of the flesh-and-blood organ is a clockwork device—a device that makes Marsh a kind of zombie. Nor is he the only one. A plague of clockwork zombies is afflicting London, sowing panic and whispers of revolution. Now Elle must join forces with her husband’s old friend, the Nightwalker Loisa Beladodia, to track down Marsh’s heart and restore it to his chest before time runs out.

    About the Author

Liesel Schwarz, a lifelong fan of nineteenth-century Gothic literature, is a hopeless romantic who loves Victorians, steampunk, fairies, fantasy monsters, the fin de siècle, and knowing the correct way to drink absinthe. She also likes medieval things, pirates, zombies, space operas, and all subjects in between.

This is book 2 in The Chronicles of Light and Shadow series.  And I have to say that this one fails to make a good story.  I loved book one and couldnt wait to read book two.  But this one fell so flat that I just had to stop reading!  So as you could read this as a stand alone and fair just fine.  This story and plot doesnt really stand at all!  The characters fail to have real dialogue which makes them fail in their story! 

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Not all fairy tales end with Happy Ever After. Some begin that way.

The girl who casts no shadow has become a wife. The world once again has an Oracle and the realms of Light and Shadow are in harmony.

The pact between Alchemist and Nightwalker is no more. It has crumbled to dust and rests in the ruins of Constantinople. And a bargain has been struck. Those of the Council who would harm the girl have agreed to let her be for now.

But these are all matters that some say do not fall to the attentions of La Fée Verte. For the universe is vast and I am small. For what can one do but have regard for that tiny part of it which concerns one?

I have gained my freedom, but I sometimes find myself missing Paris and the absinthe-­green dreams I used to weave in return for sugar.

They have given me my own quarters in the glasshouse that leads off the breakfast room, and I have filled it with green. Angelica and anise blossom in large clay pots amongst the ferns and fancy moth orchids that were brought from far away. But beneath the wooden cladding and frames that allow me to pass unhindered, the glasshouse is still made of iron. And were it not for the stray bumblebees I invite in to stay with me, I would be completely alone in this vast gray city of smog and drizzle. It is a place I have grown to despise, despite my good fortune.

I digress. The sunrise is about to call upon the day and there is work to do. For such is the nature of the two realms that make up this world: as happiness and contentment grows in the Light, so from deep within the Shadow, the dark counterparts grow too.

Sometimes in the quiet hours of the day I sense it, and I grow very afraid.

My mistress is too immersed within her perfect happiness to sense what will come to pass and I do not have the heart to tell her. Yet.

Better to let her enjoy her newfound happiness a little longer. She will need thoughts of this happiness to sustain her. Because when the darkness comes, it will take everything.

Chapter 1

Amsterdam, 5 February 1904

The Water Lily creaked happily as she surged against the headwinds that heralded landfall. As she prepared for landing, Elle eased the airship to a lower altitude.

Below her, the canals and gingerbread buildings of the city came into view. Amsterdam was as pretty as a picture, but there was no time for sightseeing. Today was a day for business. The Greychester Flying Company was about to collect its first proper freight consignment. Strictly aboveboard and legitimate.

Elle smiled with pride. Her very own charter flight business. It was almost as if an invisible hand had granted every wish she had ever had in one magical sweep. She had so many ideas about what she wanted to do with her new venture that she could hardly sleep at night. She ran her gaze around the wood and glass interior of the cockpit. The repairs and improvements that had been made to the Water Lily were superb. Marsh had insisted on installing brand-­new navigational instruments and a state-­of-­the-­art balloon-­gas relay system. She had protested, but he had been adamant. She was secretly thrilled though. In fact, one would never have thought the Water Lily had been riddled with bullet holes and dangerously close to being scrapped just months before.

Bought with his money, not yours . . .  the voices whispered to her.

“Oh, do be quiet you old crones!” Elle spoke out loud. The voices who spoke were the Spirit of the Oracle. An amalgamation of fragments from the souls from each woman who had, over the centuries, held the position. Elle knew that when she died, a little part of her would rise up to join them too. And as much as she hated the fact that they were always watching her, it gave her comfort to know that somewhere within that patchwork of souls that made up the nebula she came to know as the voice of the Oracle, was a bit of the mother she never knew. It was just a pity that they were such a bunch of busybodies who always chose to interfere at the most inopportune times.

Never forget who you are, child, the voices said in answer to her thoughts.

“Yes, yes, I am the Oracle, the source of wisdom; the one with the gift of sight; the force that holds the many folds of the universe together; the one who channels power to those who are deserving,” she recited the mantra they had taught her in a bored singsong voice. “Trust me, if there is one thing I cannot do, it’s forget who I am. Now please leave me alone to enjoy this moment, would you? Today I am flying and I want none of this Oracle business spoiling it.”

As you wish . . .  the voices faded away.

Just then, the communications consul started rattling and spitting out a ribbon of tape, clearing her for landing.

Elle brought the airship round portside and lined her up, ready to dock at one of the platforms that lined the docks on the western district. With a shudder and hiss that sounded almost like a sigh of contentment, the Water Lily berthed.

“There you go, my dear,” Elle said to her ship as she turned the crank handle that released the tether ropes. “All safe and sound.”

Almost as if in answer to that, one of the boiler tank pressure release valves opened to release some engine pressure.

Elle opened the hatch and let the ladder rope drop to the ground. With practiced ease, she climbed down and stepped onto the wooden docking platform.

“Miss Chance, I presume!” A tall man with a shock of white-­blond hair that was thinning at the top waved at her.

“Ah, Mr. De Beer.” She smiled at him.

“Welcome to the fair city of Amsterdam.” He spoke in an accent that was a touch heavy and rounded on the vowels.

“Thank you. It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she said as she shook her new Dutch docking agent’s huge hand vigorously.

“And the same to you,” he said graciously. “It is an honor to be working with the famous Eleanor Chance.”

Elle didn’t have the heart to correct him on her new surname. Simply being Elle Chance for the day, not Lady Eleanor or Viscountess Greychester, was a bit of a relief, if she was honest with herself.

She loved her husband, Hugh, with all her heart, but the pomp and ceremony involved in becoming part of his world over the last few months had been more than a little overwhelming.

“I have the papers ready here to sign, if you will. Once it is completed, I will tell the men to start loading the freight. I have told them to be extra careful with our precious tulips.” Mr. De Beer pointed to the crates of bulbs that were stacked on wooden pallets and tied down with coarse rope. They were indeed ready to be loaded into the hull and destined to brighten the gardens and huge glasshouses of Kew this summer.

“My men shouldn’t take too long. Sign here, if you please,” he said as he handed her a wad of papers.

Elle felt a pang of sadness when she signed the docking papers and charter before handing them back to Mr. De Beer so he could tear off the counterparts. Patrice, her old agent, had been such fun.

In the old days, before Constantinople, Patrice would have taken her to some exotic disreputable bar or café for a drink while they waited for the freight to be loaded. He would have had her in fits of giggles with his lumbering charm and silly jokes. Despite his betrayal and all the terrible things he did, Elle found herself missing his massive moustache. She had been told afterward that very few bodies were ever recovered from the Constantinople earthquake that had killed almost every living alchemist and a large percentage of the Nightwalker population. They had all been gathered in an underground amphitheater when the vortex their leader, Sir Eustace Abercrombie, had created collapsed, bringing a large part of the city down with it. The last memory Elle had of Patrice was of him hanging on for dear life at the edge of a spinning vortex of complete darkness . . . 

She closed her eyes at the awful memory. Patrice had simply been sucked into oblivion, never to be seen again. She did not think that a funeral had been held for him and the thought of it made her sad. Such a wasteful and futile quest for absolute power . . . 

“Miss Chance, is everything all right?” Mr. De Beer asked. He looked concerned.

Elle blinked herself back to the present. “Yes, all is well. I was just remembering something. Silly really.”

She shrugged off her dark thoughts. Patrice had betrayed her, and he had betrayed her husband too, by working as a double agent. Even if he were alive today, she did not think she could forgive the fact that he had sold her to the alchemists as if she were nothing more than a means to gain a profit.

But this was the beginning of a new era and she wouldn’t allow dark thoughts to taint things. “Say, do you know where the pilots’ mess is?” she asked De Beer.

“Ah, yes, it’s just over there. Upstairs in that building with the green roof.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at De Beer. “Take off in three hours?”

He doffed his flat cap. “Will see you then, Miss Chance.”

The pilots’ mess room was exactly where Mr. De Beer had said it was, on the first floor of one of the administrative buildings adjacent to the landing docks. The smell of meat stew mingled with the odor of tired bodies hit her right in the nostrils halfway up the stairwell. It was a familiar smell that made her feel warm inside. It was the smell of freedom.

"Thanks to the publisher or author for sending me this copy!"

{Review} Mandatory Release @jessrileywrites

With appeal for fans of Jonathan Tropper, Tom Perrotta, and Laurie Notaro, this snarky mashup of Girls and Oz is so painfully honest you might think you’re reading a memoir—except the author isn’t a smart-ass guy in a wheelchair who works in a prison. 

Recently paralyzed in a car accident, thirty-year-old Graham Finch spends his days trying to rehabilitate a caseload of unruly inmates and his nights on one bad date after another, attempting to rehabilitate his heart—

—until his high school crush Drew Daniels walks through the prison gates one hot summer morning. On the run from a painful past that’s nearly crushed her faith in love, Drew is a new teacher at Lakeside Correctional. Graham, smitten all over again, tries to redirect his unrequited feelings. But when your heart keeps looking back, it's not easy to turn it forward.

Amidst escalating violence at work, Drew is forced to confront her secrets, find a way to forgive old sins, and learn how to listen to her heart and her head when it comes to men. Graham must also learn to make peace with his own past. Together they realize that if you’re going to save yourself, sometimes the best way to do it is by saving someone else first. If only finding their way to one another was easier than working with convicted felons.

Loaded with twisted humor and pathos, MANDATORY RELEASE is a darkly comic look at friendship, forgiveness, and love. A story about broken people putting themselves back together. People who learn that no matter what you lock up—a person, a secret, or your heart—sooner or later, everything must be released.

BUY THE BOOK BAM | BN | AMAZON

› Visit Amazon's Jess Riley Page

Biography

Wisconsin native Jess Riley spent much of her childhood being punished for lying and passing notes during class, both of which qualified her for a future as a novelist. She won her first short story contest in high school for a tale told through the point of view of a seven-year-old black boy living in Cabrini Green because as a middle-class white teenager, she knew a lot about that kind of life.

Jess has been a waitress, a blue cheese packager, and a grant writer. She worked at a toy store during the Tickle Me Elmo craze and lived to tell about it. She's also worked at a medium-security men's prison, which was much less stressful. She shares a drafty old house in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with her husband and a neurotic dog that despises public radio.

Her debut novel, DRIVING SIDEWAYS, was released by Random House in 2008. Selected as a Target Breakout Book, it returned to press four times within three months of release. Jess drank lots of wine to celebrate. Her second novel, ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE, was released in fall 2012; CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR, her first novella, is available now. For more about Jess and her books, visit jessriley.blogspot.com or find her on Facebook: facebook.com/jessrileywrites.

Well Jess Riley is a one of a kind!  This story was really different from anything I have ever read!  From the setting of a prison to a twist that was so twisted I didnt see it coming!  This book will have you wanting to peek at the end (DONT DO IT) I love that the characters felt real.  So many books dont do that anymore!  This is deff. an author that  I'm adding to favs.

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

"Thanks to the publisher or author for sending me this copy!"

#Review of The School for Good and Evil @SomanChainani #Published @HarperChildrens #Giveaway @NightOwlReviews

 “The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.”

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

{Reveal + Giveaway} Wings @theredpenofdoom

Today we are super excited to share the cover to WINGS, the third and final book in author's Elizabeth Richard's BLACK CITY series!

Check out this beauty! 

Wings (Black City #3) by Elizabeth Richards

Get the first two books in the series! 

OPEN INTERNATIONAL!!!

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{Blast + Giveaway} Saved @LEckhart

Saved by Lorhainne Eckhart
Genre: Adult romance
Published May 11, 2013

Growing up I had dreams that one day I'd fall in love, get married and start a family. Then one night I was taken. But I survived, I escaped and I was saved. Eric didn't see me as  damaged. He didn't see my baby as a monster. He protected me, he kept me safe ... he saved me.

BUY:

Amazon

     “Thank you, Captain,” was all she said, but he could feel her stiffen even though he was no longer touching her.
     “I’ll be back later to see how you’re doing.” He didn’t know why he did it when he reached down and smoothed back the stray wisps of hair that dangled in her face.
     “Remember what I said, Abby: You’re safe here. If you’re hungry, you say something. If you’re scared, tell me. If you’re hurting, you have to speak up. No one is going to hurt you here. I don’t know how to make you believe it.”
     She was staring at him now, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what was going on in her head. He let out a sigh because there was nothing more he could do here. His hand was on the door, and he was about to yank it open when she said, “Captain, could you do me a favor?” He turned around and faced her and was nearly undone by her eyes, swimming with a sheen of tears.
     “Could you keep telling me I’m safe? I think if I hear you tell me over and over, I’ll start to believe it. I think I will.”

2012 was an amazing year in the publishing world for me, and it started with The Forgotten Child, which landed on the Amazon bestseller list for western romance and romance series. With the publication of each novel and short story, each one made its way to the top ten for its respective genre. 2013 has seen me posted in the top 100 authors on Amazon for romantic suspense and mystery/thrillers, police procedural.

Where did it all begin? In 2008, I published my first novel, The Captain’s Lady, a contemporary military romance, through The Wild Rose Press. This year I have a crazy writing schedule with four books scheduled for release and six short stories.

I write three genres, edgy romantic suspense (Walk the Right Road Series), western romance (Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series), and young adult mystery, and I warn my readers to expect the unexpected. I’m the mother of three children, one a special needs child. We live on a small Island in the Pacific Northwest, where I advocate for the environment and the rights of special needs children. Somewhere in my busy schedule, I do find time to write. I encourage you to contact me by email; I do answer every email I receive.

Stay tuned. There is more to come from the Walk the Right Road Series and Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series. 

And to my readers and all of you who have shared my stories with your family and friends, a big heartfelt thank you.

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{Review} The Rockin' Chair @TheStoryPlant

Memories are the ultimate contradiction. They can warm us on our coldest days or they can freeze a loved one out of our lives forever. The McCarthy family has a trove of warm memories. Of innocent first kisses. Of sumptuous family meals. Of wondrous lessons learned at the foot of a rocking chair. But they also have had their share of icy ones. Of words that can never be unsaid. Of choices that can never be unmade. Of actions that can never be undone.

Following the death of his beloved wife, John McCarthy Grandpa John calls his family back home. It is time for them to face the memories they have made, both warm and cold. Only then can they move beyond them and into the future.

A rich portrait of a family at a crossroad, THE ROCKIN' CHAIR is Steven Manchester’s most heartfelt and emotionally engaging novel to date. If family matters to you, it is a story you must read
BUY THE BOOK BAM | BN | AMAZON

› Visit Amazon's Steven Manchester Page

Biography

Steven Manchester is the author of The Rockin' Chair (to be released June 18th), as well as the #1 best seller, Twelve Months (2013 San Francisco Book Festival award winner). He is also the author of A Christmas Wish (Kindle exclusive) and Goodnight, Brian. His work has appeared on NBC's Today Show, CBS's The Early Show, CNN's American Morning and BET's Nightly News. Recently, three of Steven's short stories were selected "101 Best" for Chicken Soup for the Soul series. When not spending time with his beautiful wife, Paula, or his four children, this Massachusetts author is promoting his works or writing. Visit: www.StevenManchester.com

I am not a new fan of Manchester!  And I am happy to report that this one did not disappoint.  The writing for this one was just as wonderful as the last book I read from him titled Twelve Months.  This one is very descriptive about the McCarthy family members!  So you really feel like you know the lives of the people in the story!  This book really reminds you on how short life is and if we keep things inside to long that before you know it, its to late to do anything about it.  Alzheimer's in my opinion is one of the worst possible things that a family member can get.  I wouldnt know what to do if I didnt know who my family was or in vis. if they didnt know who I was. 

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

"Thanks to the publisher or author for sending me this copy!"

{Review} {Release Day} Sweet Contradiction @peggysmartinez

 ***FAIR WARNING: If you are easily offended by books that happen to mention things concerning God, Religion, Etc., in a favorable or unfavorable light, then this book might not be for you.*** 

When Beth Michaels high tailed it out of the hole-in-the-road town she grew up in, she only had two goals. One—get as far away as quickly as possible, and two—never set foot in her parent’s home again. But when she receives a heart breaking call from her childhood best friend, Jen, she has no choice but to turn her ’56 Ford pickup back in the direction of Salem, Missouri to attend a funeral. 
There’s a new local in town when Beth arrives, and suddenly, it ain’t all that easy for her to remember her rules for dating. #1. Cookie-cutter-perfect guys ain’t her type. #2. Tie wearin’ and church frequentin’ is an automatic dismissal. #3. Most importantly, never date anyone from small minded, conservative, Bible-thumping towns like Salem. Unfortunately, Matthew Wright breaks all her rules and then some. 
Matt might be from a small town and have small town values, but that doesn’t mean he fits into a little slot of Beth’s preconceived notions. After all, ever so often good guys are good. Now if he could just convince Beth to let go of her past and give him a chance, he’s pretty sure there’s a whole lotta sweet under that prickly exterior. His own … Sweet Contradiction.


About The Author

My name is Peggy & I am happily married to my best friend, Omar, who loves me despite my penchant for spending too much money on books. I am a writer, book lover, sponge bob addicted, movie quoting freak & proud of it! 

   I have five wonderful children. David is my 11 year old son who loves all things fantasy like his momma...and unfortunately also shares my love of sarcasm. I have four beautiful girls; Olivia, Madelynn, Julianna, & Analise. All with their own personalities and quirks which make me love them all the more! We have been homeschooling for 3 years now & LOVE it. I hope you enjoy my blogging attempts! :)

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4 Stars

I really loved this book!  It really tells the story of when you allow your religion to run a muck!  This book really touched my heart as a story of love, friendship, and personal growth.  Everyone has to go through tough times during life and those experiences are what make us, US! But, you should always be free to choose your own path.  Like Beth who chose to rebel against her parents' lifestyle to find her own way in life.  But, from her lifestyle growing up she started to pass judgment on all religious people. and she needed to really understand that not all people are like her parents.  Matt really gave her the insight that she needed to learn this.  and with Jen she is given even more opportunities to grow.  I love that this is so not a love at first sight book.  So many people do that and I believe it really takes away from the book.

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

{Review} Criminal @TerraMcVoy

A searing and gripping read that explores the depths of desperation true love can inspire, from the author of Being Friends with Boys.

Nikki’s life is far from perfect, but at least she has Dee. Her friends tell her that Dee is no good, but Nikki can’t imagine herself without him. He’s hot, he’s dangerous, he has her initials tattooed over his heart, and she loves him more than anything. There’s nothing Nikki wouldn’t do for Dee. Absolutely nothing.

So when Dee pulls Nikki into a crime—a crime that ends in murder—Nikki tells herself that it’s all for true love. Nothing can break them apart. Not the police. Not the arrest that lands Nikki in jail. Not even the investigators who want her to testify against him.

But what if Dee had motives that Nikki knew nothing about? Nikki’s love for Dee is supposed to be unconditional…but even true love has a limit. And Nikki just might have reached hers.


BUY THE BOOK BAM | BN | AMAZON

About the Author:
Terra Elan McVoy has held a variety of jobs centered around reading and writing, from managing an independent childrens bookstore, to teaching writing classes, and even answering fan mail for Captain Underpants. Terra lives and works in the same Atlanta neighborhood where her novels After the Kiss, Being Friends with Boys, and Pure are set. She is also the author of The Summer of Firsts and Lasts and Criminal. To learn more, visit TerraElan.com and follow Terra on Twitter at @TerraMcVoy.

Criminal was a wonderful book about the issues of loving the wrong person.  This is a real to life story of the consequences of being blinded by love.  This story will addict you to the very last page!  It will take you on roller coster of emotions as well!  From anger to celebrating this author knows how to back a punch in her book! I really loved Nikki watching her grow as a character throughout the book.  And the side characters were even better!  So many books do not put in for the side characters and McVoy did a wonderful job with them!  I have read a few other reviews and then stating that they wish the author would have done something more with the ending.  Like give us an epilogue about Nikki's future.  But I really love the way that the book ended as the future is really what you make of it.  

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

"Thanks to the publisher or author for sending me this copy!"