tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37636647197104581922024-03-23T06:14:59.690-04:00Books Are MagicWelcome to this blog. Books makes my day more enjoyable. Come, lets enjoy the feel of each book, by reading and discussing about it.Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.comBlogger928125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-8418374950529951772023-02-25T05:53:00.002-05:002023-02-25T05:58:41.722-05:00Review: Taming the Rake<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122912644"><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122912644"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZ4suTOjmSZ1yyRY80d-RaZkXWqzIP446IP9DP0pmMFXnP68qhdHQ3quA1-QF9ES1uLoCtB8KNy7dFgoKaEaUnDq2JjShNHjtmZucYxbNgfcouJzy_3bZl6fuKV8t6Wiqiq9jdcJv_qR6kmsfd8LTLEm2XE1JRl2EjCt_hXghNpnzSH7HmB3mzf93D" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZ4suTOjmSZ1yyRY80d-RaZkXWqzIP446IP9DP0pmMFXnP68qhdHQ3quA1-QF9ES1uLoCtB8KNy7dFgoKaEaUnDq2JjShNHjtmZucYxbNgfcouJzy_3bZl6fuKV8t6Wiqiq9jdcJv_qR6kmsfd8LTLEm2XE1JRl2EjCt_hXghNpnzSH7HmB3mzf93D" width="160" /></a></div>Taming the Rake by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3087787">Erica Ridley</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5371892343">5 of 5 stars</a>
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I am a big fan of historical fantasies.<br /><br />This recent read still surprised me so much, from one of the main characters being a selfish idiot to another thrown out in the streets by her own parents.<br /><br />Historical romances usually take on a softer version of romance on the female characters projecting the males as someone who is in pain or unworthy, but this one was tough. <br /><br />When I started reading, I didn't think I would like Gladys for some reason, but I started connecting with the character as I knew more about her. Same with Reuben too. I wish we had more information about other characters like Gladys' sister after she is married, whether Gladys' parents repented for what they have done, etc.<br /><br />It just felt the entire world revolved around Gladys and Reuben in this novel.<br /><br />One other thing - not a flaw - but illogical, is the mention of rockets in historical novels.. unless I am very wrong, I don't think rockets are even part of the century they are in.<br /><br />Overall, it is definitely a great read and I lost some sleep over it (and that's a good thing) because I needed to know what happens next. :)
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5371892343">View all my reviews</a>
Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-47815223580823034472016-08-17T00:00:00.000-04:002016-08-18T03:44:14.435-04:00Review & Giveaway: She Never Got to Say Goodbye by Ica Iova<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When Olivia trades her promising career for a more domestic lifestyle as a wife and mother, she expects many things but never to see ghosts much less be one.<br />
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Her life with her handsome husband, Brandon, a successful criminal lawyer, starts as a happy one, but following a tragedy, guilt, alcohol and drugs crush their blissful world in a hurry. One minute Olivia is planning to leave the marriage and the next she’s floating at the foot of her son’s bed. Dead. Murdered. And all evidence points to Brandon as the prime suspect.<br />
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She is angry and determined to make him pay, but soon, she learns that she if she wants justice, she must follow the clues that reach back into Brandon’s past.<br />
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Suspenseful, romantic and awash in the afterlife thrill, She Never Got To Say Goodbye captures the power of love and friendship.<br />
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REVIEW</h2>
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A book which gave me some unexpected surprises when I least expected it.<br />
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I read nothing from other reviews and go through Google ratings before I started reading. And I am happy for that decision.<br />
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It started off where Olivia and Brandon meet at a restaurant, become friends, falls in love, gets married and has a baby. Yeah, all these were said in the same pace in the book. No big ah's and oh's of romance and marriage. It just happened and then the tragedy hit the happy couple when Olivia was murdered. The spirit Olivia is on her way to getting revenge on... yeah, you have to go read the book, in order to know more.<br />
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It was not an easy read. I seriously didn't expect a paranormal plot. So many secrets and revelations - that will cause your mind spiral down to a complete mess. I was plastered in my chair with my Kindle until I completed this book. This is the first book for me from this author, but she made sure that I get her other books some serious attention.<br />
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4 STARS!<br />
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GIVEAWAY</div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-27211104141624716352016-07-04T00:00:00.000-04:002016-07-04T00:56:59.081-04:00Excerpt: Learning to Stutter by Sherm.Davis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to my tour stop of "Learning to Stutter" by Sherm Davis, presented by Elite Book Tours. To follow the full tour, please visit <a href="http://elitebooktours.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">LEARNING TO STUTTER IS FREE ON JULY 4, 5 AND 6!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>BUY NOW @ <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B28GZ84/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#nav-subnav" target="_blank">AMAZON</a>!</b></span></div>
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Kenneth Kocher seems to have it all - a good heart, a sense of humor, decent looks, and lots of money. What he doesn't have is something most of us take for granted - freedom of speech. Kenneth lives with a severe stutter which has wreaked havoc with his life since childhood.<br />
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After much embarrassment, pain and soul-searching, Kenneth realizes that to free his inner self he must accept the fact that he cannot be cured, and that he must learn to stutter with grace. Along the way he meets another stutterer and a young widow who are both dealing with the stumbling blocks in their own lives.<br />
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Using an experimental syntax to portray the neurological component of the syndrome, the novel gives the reader a unique view of stuttering from the inside out.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B28GZ84/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#nav-subnav" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.createspace.com/4239379" target="_blank">Createspace</a></b></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
PRAISES FOR "LEARNING TO STUTTER"</h3>
This is an extraordinary book. It’s the inside dope on stuttering. And if one person was born to tell the story, it’s David Sherman. And does he have a story to tell. The plot is consummate, the writing proficient, the pacing skillful, with a clarity of detail that renders it very realistic. After awhile, I found myself caring about all the characters, even (or particularly) the minor ones, oftentimes because they reminded me of myself, and were therefore incredible familiar. It is a reflection of the author’s versatility –as educator, in math and Language Arts, as musician and writer –and diversity –Jewish, New York born and bred, having resided all over the world –that some parts of the writing even speak to the Oriental in me. As each of the characters, stuttering and non-, go about their lives, problem-solving, adapting, you cannot help but see the parables at a universal level. Resonant, poignant, and ultimately elucidatory, this book get an A+ from me.<br />
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---- Ling T., Guatemala<br />
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In addition to those who struggle with dysfluency and their friends and family, I highly recommend this novel to educators and speech pathologists to ensure their understanding of the multi-faceted impact that this neurological syndrome can have on one’s identity.<br />
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---- Shari Mayerson, MS, CCC-SLP<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>EXCERPT FROM "LEARNING TO STUTTER"</b></span></h3>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: inherit; line-height: 21.45px;">Why is the name so difficult? Perhaps because there is no way to reach into the verbal bag of tricks which every person who stutters carries with him in a desperate attempt to seem normal. Word substitution (the favorite of all stutterers who block more on certain sounds than others) is impossible when the name is fixed and finite. Linking the end of one sound to the start of another to increase fluidity is impossible also, because the name begins with a specific sound, and most stuttering occurs on the initial syllable of a word.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But the great author, unaware of Kenneth Kocher’s internal trauma, was in a hurry, and only scribbled his name and gave a cursory nod before moving on to the next person in line. It was only as he was walking away that KK realized that he was fixating on his own name, and hadn’t said a single word to one of his personal heroes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the heels of this humiliation, he still had one more errand to run, and it was better to get it over with early in the day. When he entered the toy and game store, he really didn’t know what he was looking for. He walked up and down the aisles of the small shop, but couldn’t find anything that struck his fancy. Finally the shopkeeper, a jovial man in his fifties, horseshoe bald with a red pate and dramatic waxed moustache like the character from Monopoly, came over and played the part.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“What are you looking for, son?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“A gift for my six-year-old nephew,” was the sentence that formed itself with perfect clarity, sonority and resonance in his brain. But just after the sentence was formed, he scanned ahead and found a stutter reflex embedded in the /g/ in gift. Automatically, he sought to substitute a synonym, but in this case he couldn’t even substitute the word present, because the /p/ was his nemesis, the hardest sound in the lexicon and one to be avoided at almost any cost. So he got past the opening vowel and then hit the hard /g/ like an electric fence. His larynx locked and he started pushing against it with brute force, but it wouldn’t budge. His face and neck started twitching, and his left eye was blinking out of control. The harder he pushed, the harder he jerked and twitched.<a href="http://learningtostutter.com/one-prologue/#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d5c88; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><sup style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><sup style="border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[1]</sup></sup></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally he caught hold of himself and let go of his breath. Inhaling anew, he substituted one sound for another. “^Ssssssomething fffffor mmmmy nephew.” It was stilted and spasmodic, but got the point across, more or less.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He could see the surprise in the storekeeper’s face, but he was used to seeing this. All his life, he had been watching people try to figure out how to respond to his twisted speaking voice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well,” the man said, maintaining an amiable front, “what is your nephew like?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The second interaction of the day, and it wasn’t going well, either. He was floundering in a neurological rut, and he couldn’t make it stop. His larynx slammed shut on its own accord, his left arm shot into the air like it was connected to an invisible string, and the muscles in his face and neck began quivering under the strain. He pulled himself together and responded slowly, too slowly, “^~I…. ^d-d-don’t know. I nnnnnever see him.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hmm,” the shopkeeper tugged at his moustache. “That makes it a bit more difficult, but I’m sure we have something. Are you looking for something educational, mechanical, sports-oriented, or just plain fun?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He shrugged his shoulders. “Sssomething he ‡can ^g-grow into.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The paunchy man nodded sagely from behind his suspenders and his bowtie. “I’ve got just the thing,” he said, and went into the back roozm. The shopkeeper returned with a magnetic construction set, simple enough for a young boy but advanced enough for his father to enjoy as well, and handed him the box. “What do you think?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">KK nodded his appreciation and gave a thumbs-up, too taut to say anything. On other days, he might have made the effort to ask the man to gift-wrap the box, but when a day began like this, every word was precious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“This is a gift for a nephew who lives far away?” the man deduced. “Would you like me to wrap it for you?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Exhaling a sigh of relief for the man’s telepathy and compassion, KK nodded his head and handed him a credit card. Walking out of that toy store, he was unable to even thank the man. Cursing himself and vowing to never shop in a store again for as long as he lived – he’d shop online instead – he stuffed the gift in his backpack and started power walking through the streets.</span></div>
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OTHER BOOKS FROM SHERM DAVIS</h3>
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This bilingual English/Spanish collection contains pieces ranging from flash fiction to folktale. Set in New York, New & Old Mexico, Guatemala, Italy, and the future, eight morsels of Zap Fiction lead off the collection, and five longer stories close it out. The Spanish translations, the product of a team of professionals, are as true to the original English as possible. </div>
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<b>Buy NOW @ <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hair-Collector-Other-Stories-recolectora/dp/0989383113?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.createspace.com/5970430" target="_blank">Createspace</a></b></div>
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR</h3>
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David Howard Sherman Davis is a writer, musician and international educator who has taught in five countries on four continents. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on Long Island, he currently lives by Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. His journalism and fiction have appeared in the United States, Canada, Guatemala, and online. </div>
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<a href="http://learningtostutter.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shermdavis13" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/ShermDavis" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://soundcloud.com/eyebox" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a></div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-47615760710386268042016-06-10T00:00:00.000-04:002016-06-10T00:00:15.164-04:00Spotlight: Halendor by Lyoydd Marshall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Author: Lloydd Marshall</div>
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Title: Halendor: First Light</div>
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Genre: Urban/Sci-Fi/Fantasy</div>
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Release Date: 4/25/16</div>
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Buy Link: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Light-Halendor-Lloydd-Marshall-ebook/dp/B01EPHT702?ie=UTF8&keywords=halendor&qid=1463437245&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1">Amazon</a></div>
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<b>Synopsis </b></h3>
Aurora is the only daughter of two of Fredan’s most influential figures, but all of the money in the world can’t help her feel as if she belongs in that world. Gifted, or cursed, with telekinetic abilities that she hasn’t told her two best friends about, let alone her family, Aurora soon learns that she isn’t as unique, or out of place, as she had once believed.<br />
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The Elements have been hidden where no one would think to look, so Lisa has come to the backwater of the galaxy, Earth, to find them. She has a very specific mission: locate and inform five extraordinarily powered people that their lives are not what they thought. In fact, they have the ability to access vast planes of elemental magic and are known throughout the universe as the Elements.<br />
Together they will have to overcome seemingly insurmountable forces possessing potent abilities and even more dangerous goals. Throw in two federal agents tasked with keeping Earth from ever knowing anything about supernatural events, and Aurora is in for a wild ride.<br />
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<b>About the Author</b></h3>
I grew up all over southern California and Washington state, with a smattering of locations about Oregon, Nevada, and Hawaii, and with each move I learned about new cultures and ideas.Many people have interests in literature and fiction, but few people have ever thought themselves so ambitious that they would chose to write and publish a book every single week. This is the promise of Lloydd Marshall and BLGM Reserve Estates, with a new trilogy dropping weekly, while a new Halendor Arc will drop on the last Monday of each month.Writing has been a passion, and through my life moving has always been a constant which has exposed me to various people and ideas about the United States and has only increased my love of writing. With each book, I hope to reach new people who will enjoy what I create.<br />
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TWITTER: https://twitter.com/LloyddMarshall<br />
WEBSITE: lloyddmarshall.com<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com112tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-13096532322237567632016-05-31T00:00:00.000-04:002016-05-31T00:00:21.646-04:00Spotlight: Walton 2016 by Andrew Rickert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to the blog tour of "Walton 2016" by Andrew Rickert. The full schedule for the tour can be found <a href="http://elitebooktours.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1Stc7Az" target="_blank">THIS BOOK IS FREE ON JUNE 2ND IN AMAZON! GRAB YOUR COPY!</a></h3>
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1Stc7Az" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMqYRDc9-apHsf89nwPcunTTL3v91DsQSpDjOGMwsR1ObuECGbGeoKikey8Oe5DEbkpQFdPhRP0QXiO_3MkWT3eFun9bigKxfiTdS1RXj8nvcRhgNFlvSjrJNtS2dYX6BI8p6Ni5y5rg/s400/WALTON.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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BOOK DESCRIPTION</h3>
James P. Walton, the famed business tycoon, has been elected the 45th President of the United States. Construction of the first wall begins within months of his inauguration. The great American exodus soon follows.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Buy now @ <a href="http://amzn.to/1Stc7Az" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></h4>
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EXCERPT</h2>
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The cities, aptly named by President Walton “Los Mexicos 1”, “Los Mexicos 2” and so on, had been flattened by the combined might of 2 million pounds of weekly ordinance eight times since the program's inception. As part of his “Bring America Back” program, Walton had assured that 15,000 American workers had been hired to rebuild the city once every two months after 16 million pounds of American destruction. These workers were submitted to rigorous background checks to prove that they were, at least, 2nd generation Americans. Third generation, 4th generation, and so on were given far more opportunities for advancement within the program.<br />
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The program had employed 5,000 construction workers, 3,200 road workers, 2,500 plumbers, 2,000 electricians, 1,000 engineers, 700 network technicians, and 600 employees at a mannequin factory that produced all of the models for the slightly brown-colored mannequins that were to be the Super Shop Mart employees and customers. President Walton was proud of “Bring America Back.” Los Mexicos 9 promised to be even bigger than Los Mexicos 8 and was expected to hire as many as 20,000 Americans. It would come complete with roads, electricity, water, functioning internet, a working subway system, and two Super Shop Marts.</div>
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div>
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Andrew grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended the University of Kansas, where he studied History, and was one of the few people with a southern accent. He will defend the fact that Lawrence, KS is one of the great places of this earth to the death.<br />
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He is a proud lifelong computer nerd, as well as history geek. It is unconfirmed, but Andrew may also have the record for number of times watching Big Trouble in Little China.<br />
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His writing is influenced not only by imagination and love for exploring creativity, but also his experiences as a delivery driver, bouncer, competitive mixed martial artist, power lifter, and traveler.<br />
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Andrew was once robbed and semi-kidnapped in Vietnam. Ask him and he'll probably tell you the story.<br />
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<a href="https://andyrickert1.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> </div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-68339235137325275382016-05-25T00:00:00.000-04:002016-05-25T00:00:26.261-04:00Excerpt & Giveaway: Keeper of my Soul by Rebecca Norinne Caudill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Title: Keeper of my Soul: Book Two of the Macauley Vampire Series</div>
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Genre: Paranormal Romance</div>
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Page Count: 229 (per print version)</div>
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Release Date: May 18, 2016</div>
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<b>Synopsis</b></h3>
Olivia Donnelly never meant to fall in love with a hot, sexy vampire. But she did and, against all reason, now she’s been turned herself and is fast learning there’s more to William Macauley’s world than meets the eye. As Olivia struggles to adapt to her new life, an old madness – long dormant in their bloodline – re-emerges, bringing with it an unexplained power that courses through her veins unchecked. Faced with danger from old enemies, William and Olivia are forced to battle not only her internal demons, but other vampires that threaten their very lives. Can their immortal love conquer all, or will it lead to their destruction?<br />
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Buy Links 1: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DC6BHDM<br />
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29610380-keeper- of-my- soul<br />
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<b>Author Bio</b></h3>
Rebecca read her first novel when she was just four years old and has been hooked on books ever since. When she wasn&#39;t writing her own stories, she was sneaking copies of her mom's paperbacks to read late into the night. Fast forward a few years later, she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Journalism. After a stint working in radio, she embarked on a career in technology public relations in Silicon Valley, representing some of the country's hottest start-ups and publicly traded companies. After more than a decade in the business, she began writing full time, and has now published both contemporary and paranormal romance novels. When not creating fictional worlds inhabited by strong women and dashing heroes, she is reading about them, planning her next vacation, trying out new recipes, or drinking a dram of whiskey. Rebecca lives with her husband in Dublin, Ireland.<br />
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Website: http://www.rebeccancaudill.com<br />
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccancaudill<br />
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/rebecca_caudill<br />
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EXCERPT</h3>
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They drove past several men loitering in doorways or smoking outside of a pub, but nothing in their demeanor gave him pause. He didn’t approve of these types of men, but he wouldn’t condemn them either for the lives they had been born into but had failed to leave behind. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He maneuvered the car off the main street to roam darker, more secluded alleyways in search of the perfect opportunity. After driving in silence for several minutes, he turned them toward the deserted docklands area. Crawling stealthily up and down the relatively peaceful streets for a good hour, William considered moving their hunt elsewhere when he heard a faint scream off in the distance, one that wouldn’t have been discernible to the human ear. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The adrenaline rushed through Olivia’s alert body as William pulled the car over and stopped the engine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“You heard that, yes?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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She swallowed, her venom flowing in anticipation of what her body knew was to come. “Yes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I can’t tell how many. Three, maybe four. I wanted your first hunt to have as few distractions as possible. Fewer men would certainly be easier, but it won’t be difficult by any means. I could easily take on more, and wouldn’t be surprised to see you able to as well. That said, I leave the decision entirely up to you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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While Olivia searched her mind for answer to his unspoken question – <i>could she handle it?</i> – <o:p></o:p></div>
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they heard the scream again. Somewhere, maybe a thousand yards away, a group of thugs joyful in their violence. Olivia pictured the scene, focused her senses on the more muted sounds, listened for anything that would give her a reason to act – or not. There was definitely the sound of fists hitting exposed flesh. Cries of pain. Then laughter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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An older man was being beaten, she was sure, but she didn’t know anything about him. Maybe he deserved his violent punishment, but then again, maybe he didn’t. If he was blameless – innocent – she couldn’t let the assault continue unabated. In a split second, she decided the man needed her to intercede on his behalf, and then something deep inside of her quieted, the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach going silent. <o:p></o:p></div>
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William watched Olivia zero in on the sounds ahead. She closed her eyes, took two deep breaths, and went completely still. Moments later she cocked her head to the right and twitched her eyebrows ever so slightly, a scowl crossing her face. He could see she had picked up on both the verbal confrontation as well as the inner monologues of the ruffians, was searching their private thoughts for vindication for what he already knew was to come. Three, maybe four seconds later she heard what she was looking for. Olivia opened her eyes, exited the car soundlessly, and silently prowled the street, all lithe feline grace. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Olivia hadn’t spoken a word to William before taking her leave. She was sure he knew her intentions and that he’d be by her side in seconds should she require him. She was gratified to see her intuition hadn’t been wrong. This was her hunt and he wouldn’t interfere unless she needed him to, but he wouldn’t let her experience it for the first time alone. Nearing the group of men, William receded into the shadows, on watch, his senses alert should Olivia need his assistance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As she moved closer to the group she could hear the old man begging for his life, his cries becoming weaker and feebler with each menacing kick that was landed to his body. The situation was as she feared – it was a senseless act of violence, the old man having done nothing to deserve the pain he was being forced to endure. The realization made her angry and a deathly calm descended. This was the justification she needed to spill their blood. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She approached the group soundlessly. “Hello, gentleman.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The scumbag closest to her jumped in surprise at the interruption. Had he spared her more than a momentary glance he would have seen more than a harmless red-haired woman standing behind him. Instead, he barely looked her way before turning his back on her to cheer his friends on in their mistreatment of the man who now lay prone on the cold asphalt, his body unmoving.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Please stop kicking that poor man,” she requested in vain, knowing that even as she spoke her words fell on deaf ears. There would be no stopping their assault now that they had experienced their own version of blood lust. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Whaya looking at brasser?” hollered another, stopping his attack long enough to look her body up and down lecherously. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>I’ll give the feckin cunt a ride</i>. Olivia heard the words pass through his mind as clearly as if he had spoken them aloud. He would never get close enough to try. She’d given them their one chance to comply with her directive. Hell, she had even been polite! Now she could drain them dry and not feel a second of remorse. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When she didn’t respond, he screamed louder, “Feck off ye geebag!” as he kicked the dying man again, harder, while staring straight at her. It was then that Olivia realized she had arrived too late to save their victim as he was no longer moving or reacting to the assault being wrought on his body. She listened for his heartbeat but knew it had already died. The assholes assaulting him hadn’t even noticed. That made her even angrier. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>So be it. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Olivia closed her eyes, took a deep breath to settle her mind, let her power unfurl, and then she struck.<o:p></o:p></div>
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William had never seen anything like it. Olivia appeared for all the world a lethal killing machine and yet she was also full of grace and beauty, her body moving in perfect harmony with her mind as she glided from one action to the next. When she stopped moving, the man closest to her lay where he had stood, his neck broken, spinal cord severed, the bloody stump attached to his body by a single ligament. His cohort’s form was strewn next to him, heart ripped out of his chest, blood splattered over the front of his white polyester tracksuit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Meanwhile, the third thug – the one who had dealt the blow that had killed the old man – pulled out a large knife to defend himself against her deadly onslaught, but she was too quick, too determined to see the act through to the end. Unlike his friends, he had seen her coming, had witnessed her monstrosity unleashed, and as he stared at her bared fangs, Olivia’s eyes came alive with excitement over his paltry effort to defend himself. In less than a second she had him in her arms, neck stretched taut to the point of breaking. He had been unable to even attempt to use the blade against her. The man whined and begged Olivia to spare his life as he blathered on about his mum and sister and a whole host of nonsense she hadn’t cared to hear. <o:p></o:p></div>
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William watched her close her eyes against the noise and he knew it was her attempt to block out the sound of his obsequious sniveling. Briefly, he remembered back to a time when he’d had to consciously do the same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“You left me no choice,” she said, bracing herself for a wave of shame and disgust that never came. She captured the man’s gaze to ensure that in those few seconds before death he knew exactly who – <i>what</i> – had delivered retribution for his many crimes. By then he had ceased his whimpering and his eyes had gone vacant in fear. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She smiled cynically down at him and he pissed himself in response. “Oh god,” he whined as Olivia plunged her fangs into his neck, brutally ripping into the sweat soaked skin surrounding the arterial vein. The blood rushed into her mouth, a sloppy stream of hot, warm liquid that coated her throat as it worked its way into her body. She closed her mind to the force of his thoughts, twenty years of memories, as she drank him in. While she needed his blood flowing inside of her she did not need the knowledge of his life. She knew everything she needed to: he was a murderer and she was there to put an end to him. When his heart stopped beating and his blood ceased to flow, she threw his body to the side of the road like the garbage he had been. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Olivia’s eyes dispassionately moved over the men she had killed. She had left the castle tonight resolved to feed – yes, to kill even – but she hadn’t intended to leave a slew of maimed and mutilated bodies in her wake. Clearly the power thrumming inside her veins had had other ideas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Olivia couldn’t recall specifically what had been going through her head while she had been bloodily plowing her way through the men. Her mind had made its decision and then her body had followed suit, reacting almost of its own accord to the blatant disregard the men had shown both their victim and her presence. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She remembered asking them to stop hurting him but they had refused. That hadn’t been surprising. In fact, it had been expected. What had surprised her, however, was hearing the man in the red hoodie consider forcing himself on her once they finished roughing up the old man. They had had some beef with him but she was just a random woman who’d crossed their path. That his thoughts would immediately go to rape said enough about him and the company he kept to let her know they couldn’t continue living. It was then that the monster that dwelled within her had taken over and she unleased her rage on them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Olivia heard a subtle shift behind her and instinctively turned to attack. A human eye would never have been able to see her body make its move, but the man who stood before her was no human. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>William</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Olivia’s body was primed for a fight, her mind filled with the thrill of the kill, but at seeing her maker – the man who was her eternal lover – standing immobile before her she dropped her hands to her side and relaxed her posture. Despite the overwhelming energy coursing through her and the fight or flight response that firmly held her in its thrall, somewhere in the back of her mind Olivia knew he would not hurt her, that William was not her foe. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Never. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Likewise, she knew she could not hurt him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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William reached his hand out for Olivia to take. He was in awe of the speed with which she had moved and her deadly poise, but he didn’t want to risk her turning that lethal grace on him. He could see from the unholy light that filled her eyes she remained in the grips of something quite beyond a blood fever. He knew the symptoms well as he had often enough been a slave to it himself, but what he saw now went far beyond anything he had ever experienced.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Olivia.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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She stared at him for several long seconds, her body deathly still, and then the pulsing brilliance of her eyes began to fade to their normal emerald green. She blinked once and tilted her head, a slight shift to the right, and he saw from the recognition that crossed her face she had regained control of her faculties. Olivia turned in a wide circle, her hands hanging limp at her sides, as she took in her surroundings. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Oh my god, I’m a monster.” The admission was spoken on a stifled sob.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Yes, you are,” William agreed, a sad smile shaping his lips. “We both are.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>GIVEAWAY</b></h3>
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The author is offering $25 Amazon Gift Card to the winner of the below Rafflecopter.<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-20715826112702809322016-04-15T00:00:00.000-04:002016-04-15T00:00:00.166-04:00Excerpt: Hairy Tales by Clifford James Hayes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to my tour stop for "Hairy Tales" by Clifford James Hayes. Please refer the <a href="http://elitebooktours.com/" target="_blank">tour page</a> for the full list of bloggers who are participating in this tour.<br />
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Name: Hairy Tales: A Collection of Stories for Naughty Boys and Girls</div>
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Author: <span style="text-align: left;">Clifford James Hayes</span></div>
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Release Date: February 19, 2016<br />
Genre: Children's<br />
Paperback: 148 pages<br />
ISBN-10: 1530133785<br />
ISBN-13: 978-1530133789<br />
<b>Buy @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hairy-Tales-Collection-Stories-Naughty/dp/1530133785" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b></div>
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Fans of quirky humour will love these Hairy Tales! Eleven different stories full of rhymes, morals and wit - or just plain silliness and absurdity! Great fun for children and adults alike.<br />
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Join The Ugly Mermaid on her amazing undersea quest to discover why she’s so hideous, and find out why Veronica the Velociraptor has such very bad teeth! Discover Aubrey’s Smelly Adventure in the Land of Bernards, and learn that it can be cool to be different in Shipwreck'd Sarah and the Silly-Looking Pirates! Are you brave enough to meet the hideous, toad-fearing Grandma Grunt … and what dreadful fate awaits Horrid Horatia, the fearsome lady-slug? Baron Tuskogee pays a terrible price for his greed in The Walrus Story, stinky old Podge the pig revolts in more ways than one, and the dreaded Lurgatron threatens to take over the world!<br />
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All this (and a great deal more!) can be found in Hairy Tales! New, revised edition.<br />
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EXCERPT</h3>
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<span style="color: #222222;">GRANDMA GRUNT …</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">When you think of grandmas, you probably think of nice, scented old ladies - the kind of doddery old dears who drink endless cups of tea and spoil their grandchildren with sugary, stodgy home-made cakes. Your grannie is there to make you feel safe, warm and all gooey inside.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Grannies have cuddly, nursey mannerisms and a slightly bonkers too-old-to-care approach to life; they allow their grandchildren to get away with all manner of slightly naughty acts and misdemeanors. Eating too much cake? Breaking a china plate? Going to bed without cleaning your teeth? Such naughtiness may NEVER be allowed at home, but a grannie will usually find childish hijinks, tomfoolery and slovenliness to be quite acceptable when you stay at her place.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>All this talk of sweet old dears gurgling tea and baking bad-for-you sugary cakes may possibly remind you of enjoyable visits to your OWN grandmother - and as a consequence it may give you soft, fluffy memories of never being scolded, of endlessly eating candy until you felt queasy and of always being well looked after.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Unfortunately, these were NOT the memories of Edgar and Wilhelmina Grunt. The grandmother of Edgar and Wilhelmina Grunt was NOT a nice, scented old lady. The grandmother of Edgar and Wilhelmina Grunt was SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The grandmother of Edgar and Wilhelmina Grunt did not make sugary cakes, nor dish out too much candy. The grandmother of Edgar and Wilhelmina Grunt did NOT make you feel warm and squishy inside.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;">Imagine a grandma with a strong, lingering, rotten-vegetably smell - the kind of putrid stench that made you cough up a little bit of sick every time you got downwind of her! Imagine a grandma who spoke words so rude even a foul-mouthed football hooligan would be too embarrassed to repeat them. Imagine a grandma that liked to encourage spiders and other creepy-crawly things to live in every nook and cranny of her dilapidated, unclean home, and who fed her grandchildren food off plates that had never been washed in over forty years. Imagine a grandma with a mountain-range of lumps over every inch of exposed flesh, and with hairy moles on her skin that looked like baby tarantulas! Not to mention the coarse, bristly hair that grew in the strangest of places (even out of the gums between her blackened teeth)!</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>NOW you’re getting a picture of Edgar and Wilhelmina Grunt’s grandmother. To top it all, their grandmother was quite mad. An absolute fruitcake, in fact. Her favourite book was THE FROGS OF WAR - a woeful tale about pond-life taking over the world. Grandma Grunt was CONVINCED the book was a prophecy – and that one day the world would be taken over by frogs, toads, newts and salamanders. She read the bleak, miserable book again and again and again to her terrified grandchildren, filling their heads with images of the frog wars to come ...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">Soldier toads, and frogs of war,</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;">Built for fighting, blood and gore.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;">Hop o’er land, break down your door,</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;">Take it all, then take some more!</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;">We’re the toads and frogs of war,</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;">Croak and ribit, belch and roar!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">She called the book ‘The Froggy Scriptures’, and read terrifying chapters of it to Edgar and Wilhelmina every time they came to stay. Once satisfied she’d scared the living daylights out of her grandchildren, Grandma Grunt made them eat ‘GROT’ - a grey, semi-liquid concoction of her own design. Part-porridge, part-soup, and part whatever-was-found-in-the-backyard. Anything unfortunate enough to be slow and easy to catch often went into her vat of Grot - she had a particular fancy for snails and slugs, and even squeezed the ‘juice’ out of a dead seagull once, in order to add it to the putrid gruel.</span><br />
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR</h3>
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Clifford James Hayes is an occasional author and independent publisher, and has to date written and illustrated over a dozen books in different genres (childrens’ tales, historical fantasy, comedic science fiction and biographical). His ‘day job’ is running his graphic design business (www.hayesdesign.co.uk) where his specialism is the design of books and cd/albums. Inspirations for his books include Roald Dahl, Monty Python, Rik Mayall, Spike Milligan and (most importantly) the mad outpourings of his young daughter, Poppy, to whom all his books are dedicated. For more info please get in touch via www.hayesdesign.co.uk.<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-21240245803755409562016-04-14T00:00:00.000-04:002016-04-14T00:00:24.164-04:00Cover Reveal: On the Rebound by Jim Cangany<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Welcome to the cover reveal of <b><i>"The Sway"</i></b> by Ruby Knight. <i><b>The Sway</b></i> is a fantasy novel, releasing on 17 May 2016.<br />
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Title: The Sway</div>
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Author: Ruby Knight</div>
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Publisher: <a href="http://www.pennerpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Penner Publishing</a></div>
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Genre: Fantasy</div>
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Release Date: 17 May 2016</div>
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ABOUT THE BOOK:</h3>
<i>Her mission is to get close to him for inside information. </i><br />
<i>His mission is to kidnap her for a supernatural militant group. </i><br />
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Recruited in her teens for a life of espionage, Julia Caldwell, now 19, is theyoungest CIA agent on record. Her mission is simple: get close to Cole Thomas for intel on his father, a known and dangerous weapons dealer. As she grows closer to Cole, something is off. He might not be who she thinks he is. And worse, his mission will put an end to hers.<br />
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Always believing the government's story that her purpose in life was to keep the world safe, Julia doesn't know who to trust or who to believe. But now, THE SWAY has a different story—a different purpose for her—that goes well beyond all she ever imagined.<br />
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</h3>
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Ruby wrote her first book during her senior year of college and hasn’t stopped writing since. She graduated with a degree in History and a minor in Psychology. When she isn’t manically writing stories on her laptop, coaching a high school dance team and teaching high school history– You can find her playing with her adorable little boy. She is from San Diego but was raised in Northern Utah. Her dad nicknamed her Rube at a young age and it always stuck. She currently lives in Utah under the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains. Ruby loves to read all things New Adult and Young Adult. She is a wannabe yogi and shamelessly indulges in TV shows like Quantico, Scandal, and The Blacklist. You might find her with a Diet Dr Pepper with coconut flavor in it on most days, as this is what she considers to be water.<br />
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Connect with Ruby at her <a href="http://www.ruby-knight.com/" target="_blank">Website</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rubewrites/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/rubewrites" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.<br />
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This event is organized by <a href="http://www.penandinkbooktours.com/" target="_blank">Pen & Ink Book Tours</a>.</div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-6622669276100248052016-04-12T00:00:00.000-04:002016-04-12T00:00:00.972-04:00Release Event: Drawn to Her by Jenna Harte<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Welcome to the release event of <b style="font-style: italic;">Drawn to Her</b>, Book 1 of the Southern Heat series by Jenna Harte. This is a sweet contemporary romance, which will make you swoon. Read on to know more...<br />
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Title: Drawn to Her<br />
Serie: Southern Heat #1</div>
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Author: Jenna Harte</div>
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Genre: Contemporary Romance</div>
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Publisher: <a href="http://www.pennerpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Penner Publishing</a></div>
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Release Date: 12-April-2016<br />
<b>Buy NOW at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CIU18EQ" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://ebooks.buzz/dthbn" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/drawn-to-her" target="_blank">Kobo</a></b></div>
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ABOUT THE BOOK:</center>
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Feisty and outspoken, Lexie McKenna will do anything to protect her cantankerous and ailing patient—even if it means going up against his cold and calculating, but sexy and irresistible grandson. After all, as a nurse, her number one priority is her patient.</center>
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Drake Carmichael doesn’t trust the nurse who’s taking care of his grandfather—despite how adorable and compassionate she seems. He refuses to let her get her grips into their hard-earned money. But as the two square off and begin to battle about what is best for the dying man, Lexie and Drake realize they know very little about each other and that first impressions are deceiving. Once they finally give into their desires, the battle has only just begin.</center>
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With a fight between family and fortune, love and lust, will either one be able to find the southern comfort they both truly crave?</center>
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</center>
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Jenna Harte is a die-hard romantic writing about characters who are passionate about and committed to each other, and frequently getting into trouble. She is the author of the Valentine Mysteries, the first of which, “Deadly Valentine,” reached the quarter-finals in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award in 2013. She has a bundle of stories filled with romance, mystery and even time travel rattling around in her head and is eager for the day when a device is invented allowing her to download what’s in her brain onto her computer. When she’s not telling stories, she works by day as a freelance writer, author, blogger and online entrepreneur. She lives in central Virginia with her husband, two college-bound children and a fat cat.</center>
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Connect with Jenna on <a href="https://twitter.com/jenna_harte" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6456441.Jenna_Harte" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JennaHarteAuthor" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/jennaharteauthor/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> & <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/jennaharte/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>.</center>
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This event was organized by <a href="http://www.penandinkbooktours.com/" target="_blank">Pen & Ink Book Tours</a>.</center>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-52418542294291953392016-03-09T00:00:00.000-05:002016-03-09T00:00:10.474-05:00Excerpt: When I Grow Up by Matt Williams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Name: When I Grow Up</div>
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Author: Matt Williams</div>
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Illustrator: Elizabeth Collyer</div>
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Publisher: Vivid Publishing</div>
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When I grow up there's lots of things I'd like to be:<br />
But how am I supposed to know which job is right for me?<br />
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This delightful story will encourage children to use their imagination and dream about what their future holds.<br />
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The book comes with access to a worksheet for young readers to complete to reinforce the ideas raised in the story.<br />
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<b>Buy now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/When-Grow-Up-Matt-Williams/dp/1925209334" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.vividpublishing.com.au/whenigrowup/" target="_blank">Vivid Publishing</a></b></div>
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EXCERPT</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcGF1XUblNXL4A6RHRtMts5nuKiOg0vruPJX93IWCJ-o_PS-7BrTEmgG9De2T1kT3v5A6N-9bBu8Hsc8na2Uo_pRlcoMcE5e6-mkic7VsIyfcogToqucKoElfDVMPAuKjLwO0Xc5HAzU/s1600/Excerpt1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcGF1XUblNXL4A6RHRtMts5nuKiOg0vruPJX93IWCJ-o_PS-7BrTEmgG9De2T1kT3v5A6N-9bBu8Hsc8na2Uo_pRlcoMcE5e6-mkic7VsIyfcogToqucKoElfDVMPAuKjLwO0Xc5HAzU/s1600/Excerpt1.png" /></a></div>
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWf8YFzl91qTNZamEdzrPR65KsAInsh0oXVrzzeZ_zCPUUsLMbpGnbU_w5ZCzHFKhDj1RfibZ9gQzy7ni2bWfyJM1_odCgoJp2R2DfJcu9gMMKvpwSZWzQxchXjLU9T5V4FCm05SNx-8/s1600/MattWilliams.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWf8YFzl91qTNZamEdzrPR65KsAInsh0oXVrzzeZ_zCPUUsLMbpGnbU_w5ZCzHFKhDj1RfibZ9gQzy7ni2bWfyJM1_odCgoJp2R2DfJcu9gMMKvpwSZWzQxchXjLU9T5V4FCm05SNx-8/s320/MattWilliams.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Author Matt Williams resides in Newcastle, NSW and is the proud father of two gorgeous kids, Mikayla and Harry. He’s an Early Childhood educator with 15 years experience in the industry. Matt has a passion for encouraging children to read books as he’s seen firsthand the benefits it brings to a child’s development. Matt’s vision for this book is to create a story that provokes discussion and encourages children to dream about their possible future profession. The book comes with access to a worksheet available online to print and complete after reading the story. This worksheet is designed to be an engaging and productive way to reinforce the ideas from the book.<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-39568682896297545792015-12-14T00:00:00.000-05:002015-12-14T00:00:05.387-05:00Excerpt & Giveaway: The Viking's Curse by Xandra James<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;">Xandra James<br />
Release Date: 15<sup>th</sup> November 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tag Line: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He was
supposed to keep me alive after I was marked for death, but hiring the meanest
Viking shifter in town might just kill me...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;">Blurb</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;">Woodland Creek Series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://woodlandcreekseries.com/"><span style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;">http://woodlandcreekseries.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I'm cursed.
There's no cure for what ails me. I'm part man, part draugar; a Viking warrior
shifter who protects the dead. I'm a selfish bastard, numb to the world around
me, surviving only to avenge my wife and mother's murder. One emotion —anger—keeps me alive. At least,
it did until I met TJ Knight and my icy heart began to beat once more.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I was all
wrong for her yet I craved her in ways I never imagined. So making a deal with
her to save that cute ass from a death mark probably wasn't the smartest thing
I'd ever done. If I could manage to keep my hands off her, I might just stay in
one piece.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The other
thing? It turns out we have a mutual enemy. If we can work together, we might
be able to find and destroy him. Trouble is, now it seems I have to kill TJ to
give her a chance at living. Killing was my favourite thing but bringing her
back to life? Now that might prove a problem...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The smell that lingered in the air
from the absent dead body burnt my nostrils, but still I bent over the grave,
got up close and personal with the empty coffin, attempting to work out who—or
what—would want to be a body snatcher. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It hadn't been taken long; I could
still feel the buzz of bad energy. The stench wasn't from the rotting corpse.
Nope, it was due to the magic shifting around where the body had been. Yeah, I
said magic and it was normal for me to smell the stuff.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You see, my name's TJ Knight, and I
work for Battle Security and have done so for almost eighteen months after
being head-hunted while in the army. Battle Security was a department of the
Catholic Church. I work for God, you might say. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You might also say I am quite
unusual but I'm not really. There are a lot of people like me around if only
you open your eyes and take a look. And I've certainly seen some shit. Magical
beings—or wizards—are everywhere. Battle Security specialises in things that go
bump in the night, and it's all around you if you know where to look. And I
know where to look. Or where to stick my nose.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Which
is why I earn the big bucks for sniffing newly popped bodies, and get called
out in the middle of a date.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;">Xandra James</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "century gothic" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-68888918365219765702015-11-13T00:00:00.000-05:002015-11-13T00:00:00.392-05:00Quotes from Shielded Past by Patti Morelli<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to my tour stop of <i>Shielded Past</i> by Patti Morelli. The full tour schedule can be seen <a href="http://elitebooktours.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
ABOUT THE BOOK:</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIN1Mxy-qHoGGXVQpXv8hKQD6VGftttVqLaUXAi8vzz2S8limL4zMlhrZiNiLLJ0gD4BBKmfb7TGbftrm-hToA1v7WmEoKDaKt0y84tQ1or0nKyiT1WrbgOBO-EstSctFPKp_mig6NDM/s1600/ShieldedPast_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIN1Mxy-qHoGGXVQpXv8hKQD6VGftttVqLaUXAi8vzz2S8limL4zMlhrZiNiLLJ0gD4BBKmfb7TGbftrm-hToA1v7WmEoKDaKt0y84tQ1or0nKyiT1WrbgOBO-EstSctFPKp_mig6NDM/s320/ShieldedPast_Cover.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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Shielded Past is riveting and full of suspense. So many questions need to be answered. We find out about Kate’s life in foster care after being abandoned by her mother. We meet Annie Collins, her best friend since their high school days.<br />
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Kate meets her ideal man and they purchase their dream home. This home was restored to its magnificent grandeur by her husband Gregg, and it is here that the intrigue begins. There is a light that shines every evening from the adjacent abandoned Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey, and with this, the suspense commences. We journey with Kate and Annie as they seek answers to the source of the light.<br />
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It is not only the light they are seeking answers to, Kate’s past is also in question. Her seemingly bright future becomes more clouded by the unknown as the questions multiply. Kate wants to know who she is and finds out rather quickly that she was lucky to be shielded from her past. The forces that must be contended with are both dark and light. The two are not always distinguishable, and knowing who to trust is not always obvious. When Kate finds out her real surname, it connects her to a family she never knew existed. With the help of her new found family the past is unravelled and the truth about her parents is revealed.<br />
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Kate must now live with the memories of the horrors that were inflicted on her loved ones. Meet the man and learn his reasons for torturing so many innocent victims. The suspense does not end here.<br />
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There are questions that still remain. Was there a connection to her dream home and her past? Why does Kate and all those who love her feel that she is in danger?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Buy @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shielded-Past-Patti-Morelli-ebook/dp/B010PLNJ0G" target="_blank">Amazon</a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</h3>
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Patti's first book was written under a pen name because the personal contents. Her book was the first in 2014 to received the Gold Seal of Literacy Excellence through Trafford Publishing.<br />
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Patti Morelli was born in Manhattan, she previously lived in Staten Island, New York and Marlboro, New Jersey. Patti now resides in Oxford, Florida<br />
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Patti has achieved success in business, politics, marriage, motherhood as well as the challenges life has given her. She is a mother of three and now enjoys the moments shared with her children and her two grandchildren.<br />
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Patti's husband suffered a massive stroke in 2008, being his caretaker has open a world she had never known before. She finds peace in her writing, Patti has been writing for over 30 years, she now has the confidence to publish her work.<br />
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Shielded Past was written over ten years ago, after Patti viewed the grounds of the Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital. She said standing in the halls of the building, she felt an eeriness that could not be explained. Through her vivid imagination and her love for suspense novels, she conjured up the characters and then invented what could have happened in this hospital many years before.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.pattimorelli.com/" target="_blank">Website</a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
QUOTES FROM SHIELDED PAST</h3>
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Kate walked over to the window and saw the light also. When the light moved, Sam barked again.<br />
“You know something is out there, don’t you Sam, you’re a good boy.”<br />
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Annie walked over to one of the windows, exclaiming, “Look Kate you can see the side of your house from here. I can see your bedroom window. This must be the room that the light comes from and look, there is a staircase in the hallway.”<br />
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“A family has been reunited because of their faith in God. They have truly suffered in the past and are being rewarded by the Lord because of their strong faith. This is a day of rejoicing for this wonderful family and for all of us. This is a blessed day. Let us pray and praise the Lord for His mercy and kindness.”<br />
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“What a case. This man is like an onion, I peel one layer and another one appears. Where do I start?<br />
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One night, when I had gone to bed, he locked my door and then I heard the car leave. I looked out of my window towards the hospital and about ten minutes later I saw a light go on, it was on the second floor. I shuddered, remembering how he would go into Joshua’s room at night. Could that be Joshua’s room, I thought to myself?<br />
“I was not always this monster. I believed I was going to change the world for the better. I truly wanted to help people."<br />
<br />
“Are you kidding me? We are dealing with possibly two murderers out there and you are falling in love with me? Don’t you think there is something wrong with this picture?”<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-13975944077291913962015-11-10T00:00:00.000-05:002015-11-10T00:00:02.590-05:00Excerpts from Jo Barney’s Henlit Titles (Her Last Words, The Runaway, Never Too Late)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to the tour stop of for blog tour for the author Jo Barney for her three Henlit titles: Her Last Words, The Runaway and Never Too Late. The tour runs from November 9 – 13 and will consist of reviews, guest posts, interviews and excerpts. The full schedule can be seen <a href="http://www.penandinkbooktours.com/tour/tour-sign-up-jo-barneys-henlit-titles-her-last-words-the-runaway-never-too-late/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>ABOUT JO BARNEY'S BOOKS:</b></h3>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Lora, Georgia, serif; font-size: 0.9rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ABOUT HER LAST WORDS:</span></div>
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Every summer four old friends flock together at Madge’s seaside house to swap stories and sip wine. Throughout divorces, children, and new marriages, only the beach house and the sisterhood that comes with it, hold constant. This time, though, something is different</div>
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Madge, the writer friend who brought them all together, is acting strange. She asks them for a risky, unthinkable favor. And then one morning, she disappears.</div>
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In Madge’s absence, her friends discover the unfinished manuscript to what will be her final novel. It is the story of past forty years of their lives, a story that may reshape their futures.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Lora, Georgia, serif; font-size: 0.9rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://ebooks.buzz/hlwamz" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://ebooks.buzz/hlwbn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="http://ebooks.buzz/hlwkobo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kobo</a> | <a href="http://ebooks.buzz/hlwibooks" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">iBooks</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ABOUT THE RUNAWAY:</span></div>
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Ellie is in her sixties, gruff and independent. She doesn’t expect much from life; it’s broken enough promises to her. The only ugliness in the world Ellie can truly clean up is the graffiti marring mailboxes in her neighborhood, and she centers her days around this as one of the few acts that gives her a little peace.</div>
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When a fifteen-year-old goth girl appears offering to help, Ellie is surprised—and suspicious. Sarah has been shunted from house to house in the foster care system. Now she’s run away from a forest camp managed by a tyrannical, enigmatic man…. But escape is not that easy, and soon she finds her life in danger. And Ellie may be wrapped up in this more deeply than either imagined.</div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://ebooks.buzz/tramz" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://ebooks.buzz/trbn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="http://ebooks.buzz/trkobo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kobo</a> | <a href="http://ebooks.buzz/tribooks" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">iBooks</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ABOUT NEVER TOO LATE:</span></div>
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Decades ago, a shotgun wedding locked Edith into a life with a husband she’s not sure she ever loved. At sixty-five, she feels like a ghost in her own life, wondering where all this came from: the scornful husband, the mercenary brood of grandchildren, her well-meaning but controlling daughter-in-law. Then one Christmas morning Edith wakes to find her husband dead, and the role she played for so long crumbling. Gray-haired, but by no means done with life, Edith has a chance to discover the woman she could have been.</div>
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Soon questions arise about her husband’s death, and papers discovered in his pockets send Edith unraveling secrets of the man she thought she knew. Edith’s son Brian is the focus of her life, but he may not be as perfect as she thought. Revelations that he might be cheating shock her. As Edith investigates the mysteries of her family, she may just find who she truly is.</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
EXCERPT FROM 'HER LAST WORDS'</h3>
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Early Monday Morning: Flotsam</div>
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Lucius</div>
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“My God,” Lucius says, as close to praying as he has been in years. “We’re on Venus.” Monoliths rise ahead of him like black specters, their crags and angles cutting through the mist, jutting towards the high, bluing sky.</div>
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The others, silent, have dropped their handholds on the rope. Lucius bends to loop it over his arm, and as he does, he sees the man in the slicker, his bag over his shoulder, kneeling, rising, waving at them.</div>
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“That guy’s found something. Let’s go.”</div>
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He runs, slogs, really, his boots heavy with water. The women in their sneakers move faster, their arms reaching out to the dark figure and whatever lay at the foot of the rock he’s leaning against. Lucius cannot tell if it is the gulls or the women crying out.</div>
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Then they drop to their knees, a huddle of sorrow. They don’t look up as Lucius and the two firemen come up behind them. The mussel gatherer, his empty bag hanging from one grimy hand, a walking stick in the other, stands to one side, his eyes red and wild-looking, his sou’wester pulled down to his eyebrows. Hanks of wet, black hair drag over his eyes, drain down his cheeks like tears.</div>
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Madge Slocum lies wedged under an overhang, her face gray. Sand seeps from her mouth. A strand of seaweed wraps her out-flung hand like a bracelet, her bare feet seem ready to run, the toes spread, arched. An arm folds over her body, across a pack strapped to her waist. Several mussels have fallen from the pack and nestle at her throat.</div>
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“She came here for mussels,” Lou cries. “For us.” The women reach for her. They grapple with the iron until it falls, and they pull it away from her. Their fingers close her eyes, brush grit away from her lips. They remove the pack and empty it of its black shells. Joan crouches, takes a hand, massages it as if to warm it. Jackie closes the torn jacket, covers the white skin under it.</div>
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The ocean ripples as it awakens. White-edged swirls send the little birds skittering.</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
EXCERPT FROM 'THE RUNAWAY'</h3>
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Sarah</div>
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September 2009</div>
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I can remember every second of that last graffiti patrol with Ellie. Maybe it’s the meds they’re feeding me, or maybe I’m a little crazy right now. The nurse says I probably should be with all the stuff I’ve gone through in the past couple of weeks, Ellie at the center of it all.</div>
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It was chilly that morning, and we shivered a little as we headed toward the first mailbox, me, in my punk clothes, Ellie in her old lady sweatshirt and red sneakers. She had her supplies and towels in an old shopping bag, like usual, and I could tell she was still mad at me, at my knowing how the graffiti got on the boxes. I was thinking about that, too, but she didn’t know the whole story, not then.</div>
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“Spray!” Ellie ordered, and I stopped remembering and pointed the bottle at the mailbox in front of me. We scrubbed, Ellie not talking to me yet. After a couple of minutes, the black polish on my nails began to melt like the paint scrawls we were working on. Ellie muttered “Good” when she saw me rubbing at them. As soon as the box was as clean as Graffiti X could get it, we headed toward the next one. By the time we got to the street with the big trees, I was hot and glad for what little shade was left, the limbs above me almost bare. Leaves crunched under my boots.</div>
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Then I stumbled and heard the heel of my boot snap. Shit, my only shoes was my first thought. I had to walk like a cripple, one leg short, one long.</div>
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“Take ’em off!” Ellie said, shaking her gray head at me. “Stupid to wear boots like that; you look like a baby hooker.” I watched where I was going, hoping I wouldn’t step on dog poop or something yucky hidden under the leaves. That’s when I saw the white basketball shoe sticking up from a pile of debris at the curb. Someone must have lost it. Except that the shoe also had a sock in it. And in the sock, a leg.</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
EXCERPT FROM 'NEVER TOO LATE'</h3>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Christmas Morning, 1993</div>
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I poke a foot out from under a tangled sheet. Find some joy! yesterday’s horoscope had advised me. Right now, I’ll settle for coffee. The air is morning-warm, the furnace groaning somewhere under me. I push the covers to one side, turn toward Art’s flannelled back, the wall he builds between us when he comes to our bed. </div>
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I know I’m being mean-spirited, a disposition Christmas always delivers like a seasonal virus. Joy, I tell myself again and touch Art’s hump of a shoulder, give it a poke. If I have to get up, layer the cheese strata, set the table, pick up yesterday’s newspapers, he at least can help by turning on the tree lights and starting the fire in the fireplace. Shit! I’ve forgotten the stockings. They, and the stuff I’ve collected to fill them, are piled in a box in the closet. I shake him a little harder. “Get up!” </div>
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Art rolls over on his back. His blue eyes stare up at the ceiling fixture hanging above his head. His mouth is open, as if he’s about to snore, but he isn’t rasping, gurgling, even blinking. </div>
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I raise myself up on an elbow. I pat his arm, bring my hand up to touch his cheek. His skin feels like that of an unripe peach, hard under whiskery fuzz. Cold.</div>
<div>
“Art?” </div>
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My ear grazes his mouth as I listen for a breath. Silence. I press my hand against his chest, feel his pajama buttons with shaking fingers.</div>
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“Art?”</div>
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Art is dead.</div>
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It isn’t as if I never imagined him dying, leaving me to finish my life alone. At those times, the idea hadn’t been frightening, maybe even the opposite. A new life for me once he was gone, I envisioned, a better life, maybe. But this actual moment is not part of that scene. I drop my head back to my pillow and try to figure out what to do. My breath isn’t taking hold. I seem to be leaking at the seams, lungs empty, about to be as dead as Art.</div>
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Lora, Georgia, serif; font-size: 0.9rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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After graduating from Willamette University, Jo spent the most of next thirty years teaching, counseling, mothering, wifing, and of course, writing.</div>
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Her writing first appeared in small literary magazines and professional publications. Since retirement, she has had time to write four novels and two screenplays.</div>
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Her stories and essays, as well as the novels, reflect her observations of women’s lives and the people who inhabit them: the children, husbands, parents, friends, and strangers who happen by and change everything.</div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-82047561233785105142015-11-03T00:00:00.000-05:002015-11-03T00:00:04.451-05:00Happy Release Day: Love or Justice by Rachel Mannino<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: black;">Title: </span></strong><span style="color: black;">Love Or Justice (Protect And Serve #1)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><strong>Author: </strong>Rachel Mannino</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: black;">Genre: </span></strong><span style="color: black;">Romantic Suspense</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><strong>Release Date: </strong>November 3, 2015</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27255690-love-or-justice?from_search=true&search_version=service"><img alt="add-to-goodreads-button31" class="alignnone wp-image-498 size-full" src="http://betweenthesheetspr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/add-to-goodreads-button31.png" height="45" width="134" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><strong>Synopsis</strong></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><strong>Laurie Shelton is the only person alive who can identify Hawaii’s most notorious mob boss…</strong></span>
<span style="color: black;">After stumbling into a deadly kidnapping, Laurie’s life is in grave danger, and it falls to US Marshal Dante Stark to keep her safe until she testifies against Kaimi Quamboa—assuming he can be captured.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><strong>Dante knows he’ll lose his job if he becomes romantically involved with a witness…</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">But when he has to comfort her through constant nightmares, he finds it nearly impossible to fight his attraction to the beautiful, strong young woman he is sworn to protect. Laurie feels it too, but aware she’s in a high-stress situation and that when the danger is past she’ll never see Dante again, she tries to ignore his easygoing smile and the security he offers.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><strong>Laurie and Dante are forced to flee again…</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">When Kaimi’s men descend on their hideaway, they escape to a second safe house, only to be tracked down there as well. Dante now knows there’s a mole inside the US Marshal Service, and the only thing left to do is disappear.</span>
<span style="color: black;">Kaimi will never stop looking for Laurie, and if he’s caught, showing up to testify could be the last thing she ever does.</span>
<span style="color: black;">With each choice as dangerous as the next, Dante and Laurie must confront the boundaries of what they’re willing to sacrifice, and which is more important…</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><strong><em>Love or Justice.</em></strong></span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><b>Buy The Book</b></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://amzn.to/1GE2YD6" style="color: blue;">Amazon US </a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0170HJN62" style="color: blue;">Amazon UK</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><strong>Excerpt</strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: black;"><em>Laurie</em></span></strong> <br />
<span style="color: black;">Laurie glanced at the folded piece of paper in her hand. She made sure the penthouse suite was on the list of rooms ready for cleaning, then swerved her cleaning cart around, and backed up to the door. With practiced fluidity, she swiped her key card and opened the door wide, ready to prop it open, before she sensed the presence of another person. She looked up. What she saw stopped her cold.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> A man with salt and pepper hair stood there. Dressed in a trim, black suit, his long hair dangled to the crisp, white collar of his button-down shirt. His hair thinned on either side of a widow’s peak. Several deep pockmarks dotted each of his tanned and weathered cheeks, accentuating his prominent cheekbones. He looked like any other businessman on the islands, except that extending from his hand was a polished, silver gun, gleaming in the light streaming in from the open doorway.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> The man looked at Laurie with a mixture of shock and a little horror, as he waved his gun at her.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “Grab her.”</span>
<span style="color: black;"> A scream caught in Laurie’s throat. She didn’t have time to think before a man standing between her and the gunman ran forward and grabbed her arm. He kicked the door shut, wrapping one thick hand around Laurie’s mouth. He twisted her arm and sparks floated across her vision. The man dragged her into the living room. Laurie’s eyes widened. The closer she got to that gleaming gun, the more she struggled.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> The man with the gun stepped forward and pressed the cold metal of the barrel to her forehead.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> Laurie gasped, stiffening. Her heart thundered in her chest. She barely breathed. She thought each breath would be her last, and she wondered if it hurt to die.</span>
<span style="color: black;">“Do not scream. Do not move or I will kill you.” He pressed the gun more firmly against her skin.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> Laurie saw the coldness in his eyes. They were the color of granite, and just as unyielding. She looked down and away, standing perfectly still.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “What are you doing here? Who sent you?” His voice was like silk with underlying hints of gravel. Laurie said nothing, too terrified to speak.</span>
<span style="color: black;">“Answer him,” the man holding her instructed, twisting her arm.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> She cried out in pain.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “I work for the resort.” Her voice squeaked and popped. “The head housekeeper told me you checked out. They said you left, and I had to clean the room for the next guest. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”</span>
<span style="color: black;"> </span>
<span style="color: black;"> Laurie’s breath came in gasps now. She felt lightheaded. She continued to look down, but a movement beside her caught her attention. Laurie glanced over to see another woman kneeling on the floor. The woman had long, blonde hair, like Laurie’s, but longer, stretching halfway to her waist. Bruises crisscrossed her delicate features. She had a bloodied lip and a cut along her cheek. Her hair was dirty, tousled. There was a rip in her dress above the shoulder and all along the hem. The woman turned her head, casting Laurie a look of deep fear and pity from her hazel eyes.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “Obviously I haven’t checked out. Why would they send you up here?” He leaned forward until he was nose to nose with her, his granite eyes flashing. “I think you’re lying.”</span>
<span style="color: black;"> He pressed the gun into Laurie’s skull.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “No, please.” Laurie licked her dry lips and suppressed her urge to call for help. “They make mistakes sometimes. They have two new people at the front desk. They must have made a mistake and checked out the wrong room.”</span>
<span style="color: black;">There was a long pause.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “Please, I’m very sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Laurie directed her words of apology at the woman she had locked eyes with.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “Help us,” the woman mouthed to Laurie.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> Laurie blinked, not understanding. Then she noticed a thin arm circling the young woman’s waist, and two small hands clasped together. The child moved his head into view, resting it against the front of the woman’s waist to catch a glimpse of the new arrival. He was young, Laurie realized. Painfully young.</span>
<span style="color: black;">“I doubt you’re as sorry as you should be.” The man drew back, the unyielding presence of the gun receding. “Who knows you’re here?”</span>
<span style="color: black;"> Laurie bit her lip, staring at the little boy in horror. The boy had bruises on his arm and his face. He stared up at Laurie with a vacant expression. Laurie felt like he was staring straight through her. His short blond hair was also unkempt, and he was so thin his tiny wrist bones looked like they would crack if Laurie so much as reached over to take his hand.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “Who knows you’re here?” The gun was back at her temple.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> The man pulled the gun away and smacked Laurie hard across her cheek. Laurie cried out as pain exploded in her head. The man behind her grabbed her hair, jerking her face up to look at the man with the gun.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “I radioed that I was on my way up. So, um, my boss, the whole housekeeping staff, and security.” Laurie shivered as she lied, her heart racing. Her boss would know, perhaps some of the other housekeepers, but she hadn’t radioed anyone. Security wouldn’t have any idea where she was.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> There was a pause as the man before her thought that over. Laurie could feel his eyes pouring over her face, looking for any signs of a lie.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> “Should we take her with us, too?” asked the man holding her.</span>
<span style="color: black;"> </span>
<span style="color: black;"> “We’ve got enough baggage, I think.” The man waved his gun in the direction of the woman and child. Laurie trembled with the unspoken threat...</span> <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><strong>About The Author</strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://betweenthesheetspr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Rachel.jpg"><img alt="Rachel" class="alignnone wp-image-2173 size-thumbnail" src="http://betweenthesheetspr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Rachel-150x150.jpg" height="150" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;">Rachel Mannino is a passionate writer who creates characters and settings that allow readers to explore power dynamics in relationships, the empowerment of women, and the ethical and moral dilemmas love can create in our lives. Rachel also uses her writing skills to raise thousands of dollars for entities that enrich our lives and create community change around the world. She has worked for the Peace Corps; the Humanities Council of Washington, DC; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; and the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events in Boston, MA. Her first novel, <strong><em>Love or Justice</em></strong>, will be published by Limitless Press in 2016. Her second novel, <strong><em>Fractal</em></strong>, will be published by eTreasures publishing in the spring of 2016. Rachel has a BA in theatre studies and writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College, and she has used it every day since graduation. She lives with her husband, author Christopher Mannino (http://www.christophermannino.com/), and their adorable dog and cat in College Park, Maryland.</span>
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/authorrachelmannino" style="color: blue;">Facebook </a>| <a href="https://twitter.com/RachelMannino02" style="color: blue;">Twitter</a></span>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-69194459530059088802015-10-30T13:57:00.001-04:002015-10-30T13:57:48.955-04:00Spotlight: Never Surrender by Rosie Miles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Book Title: Never Surrender<a href="http://yougottaread.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Never-Surrender-500x750.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Never Surrender-500x750" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-35809" height="300" src="http://yougottaread.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Never-Surrender-500x750-200x300.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 3px; border-color: rgb(61, 14, 93); border-style: none none solid; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 4px 24px 12px 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 0.99; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" width="200" /></a></div>
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Author: Rosie Miles</div>
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Release Date: 10/19/2015</div>
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<b>About the book: </b> Police officer Maggie Sinclair prides herself on her independence. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her ex-lover. Working undercover to expose a prostitution ring, Maggie rescues two teenaged girls—but blows her cover in the process. Now she’s in deep, and the only person who can help her is the last man she wants to call…</div>
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Detective Quinn Keller remembers Maggie telling him Hell would freeze over before she needed him. He offered her everything, and she rejected him. Now he has the opportunity to show Maggie they’re stronger as a team—even as their attraction becomes increasingly hotter. But this passion won’t just bring them together or tear them apart…it could get them both killed.</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26082287-never-surrender" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Goodreads</a> * <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Never-Surrender-Entangled-Ignite-Rosie-ebook/dp/B0140PFN9I" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amazon</a> * <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/never-surrender-rosie-miles/1122539229" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Barnes & Noble</a> * <a href="http://www.entangledpublishing.com/never-surrender/" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Entangled</a></div>
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<b>About the Author: </b>Rosie Miles has always been fascinated by cops. If she didn’t hate guns with such passion, she would have joined the force. Instead she writes about the cop behind the badge and the loves that challenge them.</div>
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She enjoys overseas travel but relishes the road trips she takes with her forever man, to different destinations throughout Australia, looking for settings for her next story.</div>
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Married with three adult children, Rosie believes that: Life is to be lived, You never stop learning, and you never, ever, give up on your dreams.</div>
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<a href="http://www.rosiemileswriter.com/" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Website</a> *<a href="http://www.rosiemileswriter.com/-rosies-blog-of-crazy-thoughts--dreams" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Blog</a> * <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosie-Miles/383403558429516" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Facebook</a> * <a href="https://twitter.com/rosiemiles234" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Twitter</a></div>
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Tour Schedule: <a href="http://sizzlingpr.com/tour-never-surrender-by-rosie-miles/" style="border: 0px; color: purple; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://sizzlingpr.com/tour-never-surrender-by-rosie-miles/</a></div>
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<b>Excerpt</b></h3>
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He wanted to rise, meet her, but he was afraid, of what he wasn’t sure. She needed him, and that was what counted. She had sent for him, and like the fool he was where she was concerned, he’d come running. Maybe he should have handled it by the book and alerted his superiors. Maybe. Gut instinct had decided him against it.</div>
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The tip-tap of heels halted directly before him. Then the heartbeat of the street ceased, as though the world stopped breathing.</div>
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His gaze started at the four inch stiletto heels, slid up over well-shaped calves and thighs that stretched on until they met the hem of her short, short skirt. Heat crawled over his skin, and his breath caught. Beneath her open coat, welcoming hips and a tiny waist beckoned him. He scanned upward until his eyes feasted on full breasts failing to hide behind a slinky, black camisole. He didn’t need to look further. He knew.</div>
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“Maggie.” Her name sounded so good on his lips. For a mere second, the memory of their taste filled him with naked longing for another time, a happier time, but he pushed it away. She hadn’t called Quinn-her-ex, she’d called Quinn-the-cop.</div>
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“Maggie’s dead,” she snapped.</div>
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“Really?” He quirked a brow. “You look a hell of a lot like her.”</div>
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“I look like a two-bit whore. Trust me, Maggie’s long gone.”</div>
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Quinn pushed to his feet and stepped toward her. For a moment they stared at each other. Quinn’s breathing stalled as he gazed into her haunted eyes. Distance and time might have separated them physically, but she’d lived in his heart, his thoughts, constantly. Her face accompanied him to sleep most nights. Damn, he’d missed her. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and stepped back.</div>
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“Why did you contact me? It’s been over twelve months. Why now?”</div>
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Maggie closed the gap and linked her arms loosely around his neck. “Because I need your help,” she whispered against his cheek.</div>
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Quinn withdrew his hands from his pockets and tugged on her arms, wary that the familiar contact, any contact, would shred his resolve.</div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-88023631888882845902015-10-28T00:00:00.000-04:002015-10-28T00:00:03.019-04:00Spotlight & Giveaway: Earth by Caroline Allen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to my tour stop of <b>Earth</b> by Caroline Allen, a literary fiction novel. This is book 1 of the Elemental Journey series. The tour runs from October 26-30 and the full schedule can be seen <a href="http://www.penandinkbooktours.com/tour/tour-sign-up-earth-by-caroline-allen/">here</a>.<br />
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Print: $15.99<br />
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eBook: $4.99<br />
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ASIN: B00SUWJ5FQ<br />
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Apple ID: 962247664<br />
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ePub ISBN: 978-1-62015-665-0<br />
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-62015-651-3<br />
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Series Title: Elemental Journey series (Book One)<br />
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<b>Winner of the 2015 Independent Publishers’ Gold Medal for Best Midwest Fiction. </b><br />
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In rural Missouri in the 1970s, thirteen-year-old Pearl Swinton has just had her first mystical vision. There is no place for Pearl’s “gift” in the bloody reality of subsistence farming and rural poverty. As her visions unfold, she must find her way in a family and a community that react with fear and violence.<br />
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When Pearl discovers that her Aunt Nadine, the family shame, has a similar gift, she bicycles across the state to find her. That trip unexpectedly throws Pearl into a journey to save her runaway sister and sends her into a deep exploration of herself, her visions and her visceral relationship to the earth.<br />
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Told with fierce lyricism, Earth is a story about the importance of finding one’s own truth and sense of self in dire circumstances and against the odds. It is also a story about the link between understanding ourselves and our relationship with the earth.<br />
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In this first of the four-book Elemental Journey series that will follow Pearl across continents and into adulthood, Caroline Allen introduces a form of storytelling that is unflinching in its honesty, filled with compassion and underscored with originality.<br />
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Lora, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Elemental-Journey-Series-Volume/dp/1620156512">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24944335-earth">Goodreads</a></span></div>
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<b>EXCERPT</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That King James Bible and an
almanac were the only books we ever had in the house. Once, a hardbound
Reader’s Digest Father had found in the woods, some of the pages so speckled
with mold you could make out only sixty percent of the words. All my life I was
starving for books. Hungry for story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I’d already read the Old Testament. After
Meghan left, I’d locked myself in the bathroom and covered the begetting and
begatting, brother killing brother, being forced off the land, tossed off the
earth, ripped from the magic of the soil. Lobbing a rock, flailing a bit of a
plow, cracking a sibling over the head. Blood flowing and soaking. Forced to
roam. Some crazy, heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching universal plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> In my house, nobody ever told tales. It wasn’t
just my parents. My relatives were all shut up too. The silence of my kinfolk
wove core-deep. So few stories, you could fit them in the palm of your hand.
Poor folk didn’t talk about themselves, wary of what specters such stories
might invoke. I was surrounded by clenched jaws, thinned and bitter lips. My
story was a lack of story, a poverty of legend, a dearth of poetry. I wanted to
tell Mother that our being poor wasn’t just about food— we were starved for
legend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>ABOUT THE AUTHOR</b></div>
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Caroline Allen worked in newsrooms across Asia and in London. She is now a novelist and visual artist who lives in rural Oregon. She is the founder of Art of Storytelling, a coaching service for writers. This is her first novel. To learn more about Caroline and the upcoming novels in the Elemental Journey series, visit:<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.carolineallen.com/">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElementalJourneySeries">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/artofstory">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24944335-earth">Goodreads</a></b></div>
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<b>GIVEAWAY</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTR6j6zAQ8Cp73scP5g8FGSWpePKjdfwSQe3VMRQOTaIktkLNZCsdZGU0ExQDxdBPcc74aRZawmNI64YNqvTPf28ij_UfeMtAykvM5bY2QixWDPlaz3UFxEgURB7rCCXTyy8-d7pI8YQ/s1600/GiveawayRooster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTR6j6zAQ8Cp73scP5g8FGSWpePKjdfwSQe3VMRQOTaIktkLNZCsdZGU0ExQDxdBPcc74aRZawmNI64YNqvTPf28ij_UfeMtAykvM5bY2QixWDPlaz3UFxEgURB7rCCXTyy8-d7pI8YQ/s400/GiveawayRooster.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The prize will be a 9x12 original watercolor painting that was done as part of Op365, featured on www.carolineallen.com. It has a retail value of $125.<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-47105137688246247012015-10-26T00:00:00.000-04:002015-10-26T00:00:02.714-04:00Guest Post: A Gathering of Butterflies by Sean C. Wright<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to my tour stop for "A Gathering of Butterflies" by Sean C. Wright. The tour runs from October 26-30 and the full tour schedule can be found <a href="http://elitebooktours.com/">here</a>.<br />
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ABOUT THE BOOK</h4>
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Tales of steely but vulnerable women of color will melt your heart while lifting your spirits… A fierce grandmother keeps her grandson from the clutches of Old Scratch in Devil Does Dallas. An alien abduction transforms a large, miserable woman in Hazel Hogan. A country girl meets a city girl on her birthday, and struggles to decide if the girl’s heart is dark or light in Bubble Bath Twelve. And methodical Genie forms an unlikely relationship in Heaven’s Halfway House while in a coma.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/A-Gathering-Butterflies-Sean-Wright/dp/1512009938"><b>Amazon</b></a></div>
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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SEAN C. WRIGHT</h2>
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- GUEST POST</h2>
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It all started at the age of 8. I wrote a story about a girl who found a strawberry in the woods the size of a Volkswagen. It took 30 more years of writing and numerous rejection letters (I have a huge binder.) to get published. But I consider myself lucky; many writers’ works are published posthumously. It seems that once you get published, you are allowed to sit at the popular kids’ table. I entered an essay contest with Glamour magazine shortly after Devil Does Dallas was published and it was selected to be made into a film short by actress Jessica Biel. In between entering writing contests and sending off query letters, I’ve gone the self-publishing route, too.<br />
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Writing is like any other creative craft – music, art – in that it chooses you. Stories and characters come to me subconsciously all the time. They are a hodgepodge of people I’ve known, my experiences, things I’ve seen on the news. You feel naked to your readers, baring pieces of yourself in print, but I love doing it. I like to write the whole story, raw, with all its warts. Then I go back and cut and rearrange. Some stories go through five and six revisions. It really is like giving birth, all painful and beautiful and awesome at the end.<br />
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My Clark Kent job is a proofreader. I spend most of the day halting typos, over-printing, and poor grammar. Then I come home and do other writing in the evening. Creative writing isn’t the only writing on my plate. I also write copy for retail websites, make over resumes, and edit other documents for people. Some people enjoy crunching numbers, I enjoy crunching letters. My husband and I end the day watching television before bed. We like documentaries and horror TV, like American Horror Story or Sleepy Hollow.<br />
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR</h4>
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<a href="http://www.iwrightaway.com/">Sean C. Wright</a> is native to Dallas, TX, and earned a degree in English from University of North Texas. She is the author of the short story collection <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_26?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+gathering+of+butterflies&sprefix=a+gathering+of+butterflies%2Caps%2C255">A Gathering of Butterflies</a>, the novella <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=honey+riley">Honey Riley</a>. Actress Jessica Biel directed a short film based on her winning essay in 2010: <a href="http://youtu.be/ThKx0IYb3gU">Sodales</a> (18 minutes). For more information about her writing skills and how she can assist you with yours–for business or consumer needs–visit http://www.iwrightaway.com/.<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-54810379341697229772015-10-16T00:00:00.000-04:002015-10-16T00:00:06.594-04:00Cover Reveal: Love or Justice by Rachel Mannino<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to the cover reveal of "Love or Justice" by Rachel Mannino. Full tour schedule can be seen <a href="http://sizzlingpr.com/cover-reveal-love-or-justice-by-rachel-mannino-oct-16-17/">here</a>.<br />
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So, here is the amazing hot cover of LOVE OR JUSTICE.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WKPFc4CzZhyphenhyphenEPpbDX9ntJAlVAY2d-p8PPPeBks55YiBKKpvyzTiW9W5PuG6lDZ_WedeAxXtvEm9HLCZruD7Hhdhuxki9mKdsKYU66qQXOxE1c4ImN4DYrJ-MKw45on1EGC2yjlLD8QM/s1600/LoveorJustice_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WKPFc4CzZhyphenhyphenEPpbDX9ntJAlVAY2d-p8PPPeBks55YiBKKpvyzTiW9W5PuG6lDZ_WedeAxXtvEm9HLCZruD7Hhdhuxki9mKdsKYU66qQXOxE1c4ImN4DYrJ-MKw45on1EGC2yjlLD8QM/s640/LoveorJustice_Cover.jpg" width="396" /></a></div>
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ABOUT THE BOOK:</h4>
<b>Laurie Shelton is the only person alive who can identify Hawaii’s most notorious mob boss…</b><br />
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After stumbling into a deadly kidnapping, Laurie’s life is in grave danger, and it falls to US Marshal Dante Stark to keep her safe until she testifies against Kaimi Quamboa—assuming he can be captured.<br />
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<b>Dante knows he’ll lose his job if he becomes romantically involved with a witness…</b><br />
But when he has to comfort her through constant nightmares, he finds it nearly impossible to fight his attraction to the beautiful, strong young woman he is sworn to protect. Laurie feels it too, but aware she’s in a high-stress situation and that when the danger is past she’ll never see Dante again, she tries to ignore his easygoing smile and the security he offers.<br />
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<b>Laurie and Dante are forced to flee again…</b><br />
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When Kaimi’s men descend on their hideaway, they escape to a second safe house, only to be tracked down there as well. Dante now knows there’s a mole inside the US Marshal Service, and the only thing left to do is disappear.<br />
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Kaimi will never stop looking for Laurie, and if he’s caught, showing up to testify could be the last thing she ever does.<br />
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With each choice as dangerous as the next, Dante and Laurie must confront the boundaries of what they’re willing to sacrifice, and which is more important…<br />
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<b><i>Love or Justice.</i></b></div>
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<b>Tagline:</b><br />
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<b><i>“How do you hunt down a killer when he’s also hunting you?”</i></b></div>
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</h4>
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Rachel Mannino is a passionate writer who creates characters and settings that allow readers to explore power dynamics in relationships, the empowerment of women, and the ethical and moral dilemmas love can create in our lives. Rachel also uses her writing skills to raise thousands of dollars for entities that enrich our lives and create community change around the world. She has worked for the Peace Corps; the Humanities Council of Washington, DC; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; and the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events in Boston, MA. Her first novel, Love or Justice, will be published by Limitless Press in November, 2015. Her second novel, Fractal, will be published by eTreasures in the spring of 2016. Rachel has a BA in theatre studies and writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College, and she has used it every day since graduation. She lives with her husband, author Christopher Mannino (www.christophermannino.com), and their adorable dog and cat in College Park, Maryland.<br />
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<b>AUTHOR ONLINE: <a href="http://www.rachelmannino.com/">Website</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/authorrachelmannino">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/RachelMannino02">Twitter</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-9899625181370668642015-10-07T14:20:00.001-04:002015-10-07T14:20:56.220-04:00Excerpt: The Devil's Pawn by Marilyn Levinson<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to my tour stop for "The Devil's Pawn" by Marilyn Levinson. The full tour schedule can be seen <a href="http://www.penandinkbooktours.com/tour/tour-sign-up-the-devils-pawn-by-marilyn-levinson/">here</a>.<br />
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ABOUT THE DEVIL'S PAWN:</h3>
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Paperback price: $12.98<br />
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eBook price: $2.99<br />
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Publisher: Booktrope Editions<br />
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ISBN-13: 978-1-5137-0215-5<br />
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After fifteen-year-old Simon Porte’s family is killed in an automobile crash, his father’s brother whom he’s never met brings Simon to live with him and his wife in upstate New York. Simon doesn’t trust Uncle Raymond, and for good reason. Raymond is dying and using his powers to take over Simon’s body. Simon and his allies—his dotty great-aunt Lucinda, his sister whom he finds living with another relative, and a pair of odd twins—wage war against the evil Raymond and his cronies.<br />
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<a href="http://tinyurl.com/nwr4bsc"><b>Amazon</b></a><b> | </b><a href="http://tinyurl.com/n9d8emg"><b>Barnes&Noble</b></a><b> | </b><a href="http://tinyurl.com/p88qzwk"><b>iBooks</b></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYUcL3hPbk4hEU_brxO34a9YuA6A00iSemKUNSyndugxI8bgx6CSgmHTaY4AsnzEXQ3Bp-tHy7zHIPpoBUjFofhNMNOugL1PMUzXpbETCkBZhLsD2dz_sezel3vIHViSPWkmtraCImrM/s1600/Marilyn.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYUcL3hPbk4hEU_brxO34a9YuA6A00iSemKUNSyndugxI8bgx6CSgmHTaY4AsnzEXQ3Bp-tHy7zHIPpoBUjFofhNMNOugL1PMUzXpbETCkBZhLsD2dz_sezel3vIHViSPWkmtraCImrM/s200/Marilyn.png" width="200" /></a></div>
A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes novels for kids and mysteries for adults. Some of her books for young readers are AND DON’T BRING JEREMY, which was a nominee for six state awards, NO BOYS ALLOWED, and RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK, an International Reading Association-Children’s Book Council “Children’s Choice.” RUFUS AND THE WITCH’S SLAVE, will be out in the fall. Marilyn like traveling, foreign films, reading, knitting, Sudoku, dining out, and talking to her granddaughter Olivia on Face Time. She lives on Long Island.<br />
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<a href="http://www.marilynlevinson.com/"><b>Website</b></a><b> | </b><a href="http://amzn.to/K6Md1O"><b>Amazon</b></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
EXCERPT</h3>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>A witch!</i> I stared at my great-aunt’s front door, and told myself Lucinda wasn’t a witch. There were no such creatures, at least not in the fairy tale way! I pulled back my shoulders and, not seeing a bell, knocked.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>She stood in the doorway, her bright blue eyes raking me up and down like cat’s claws. “Clever boy, you found your way.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My heart leaped into my mouth, and I turned to run. My aunt’s cackle chased after me.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Don’t be afraid. I’m your great-aunt Lucinda, and I’ve things to tell you. Come along, Gregory.” She spun around and walked through the cozy sitting room, not waiting to see if I was following.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“My name’s Simon,” I said when we stopped in the kitchen at the back of the house. “Don’t call me Gregory.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“That’s what they named you when you were born,” Lucinda said. She pointed to the table against the kitchen wall, and I sat down. “I should know. I saw you when you were five minutes old.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“You did?”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I stared at Lucinda, but she was pulling a dish from the oven. I became aware of the delicious aroma wafting through the small house.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Apple crumb cake,” she announced, setting it on top of the stove. “I hope you’ve room for a piece or two, after everything you scarfed down at your friends’ house.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Well, sure. I’d love a piece, but how did you know—?”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“I know lots of things, Gregory, most of which I wish I could erase from my mind for the pain they cause.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Please don’t call me Gregory. He calls me that.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Your uncle Raymond.” Lucinda grimaced. “He’s some piece of work, isn’t he?”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“He took me in. I’m grateful for that.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“He did it for his sake, not yours.” She let loose a cackle of laughter. “Raymond only does what serves Raymond. He’s evil through and through.”<br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-1936831441536594402015-10-07T07:11:00.001-04:002015-10-07T07:11:21.928-04:00Happy Release Day: Poet Anderson...Of Nightmares by Tom DeLonge and Suzanne Young<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We are excited to announce that the young adult novel <i>Poet Anderson...Of Nightmares</i> by Tom DeLonge and Suzanne Young is now available in stores everywhere!<br />
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<b>From the critically acclaimed transmedia project Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker, comes one of the most anticipated collaborations in YA literature this year: a thrilling, edge of your seat story written by award-winning musician, producer and director Tom DeLonge and New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young. </b><br />
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Poet Anderson...Of Nightmares follows the epic journey of two orphan brothers, Jonas and Alan, who are Lucid Dreamers. After a tragic car accident lands Alan in a coma, Jonas sets out into the Dream World in an attempt to find his brother and wake him up. What he discovers instead is an entire shared consciousness where fear comes to life as a snarling beast called a Night Terror, and a creature named REM is bent on destruction and misery, devouring the souls of the strongest dreamers to get closer to the Waking World. With the help of a Dream Walker—a guardian of the dreamscape, Jonas must face his fears, save his brother, and become who he was always meant to be: <i>Poet Anderson</i>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25779243-poet-anderson-of-nightmares?ac=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://tothestars.media/collections/books" target="_blank">To The Stars</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poet-Anderson-Nightmares-Tom-DeLonge/dp/194327200X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443815161&sr=1-1&keywords=poet+anderson" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/poet-anderson-of-nightmares-tom-delonge/1122015547?ean=9781943272006" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Poet-Anderson----of-Nightmares/9781943272006" target="_blank">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781943272006" target="_blank">Indiebound</a></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roMGdRkl-ds" target="_blank">Animated Excerpt</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6-ziqNQDIM" target="_blank">Novel Teaser</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://tothestars.media/" target="_blank">To the Stars Website</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tothestarsinc" target="_blank">Facebook To the Stars</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/ToTheStarsInc" target="_blank">Twitter @ToTheStars</a> | <a href="https://instagram.com/tothestarsofficial/" target="_blank">Instagram @ToTheStarsOfficial</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">About the Authors:</span></b><br />
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<b>Tom DeLonge</b> is an award-winning American musician, producer and director best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the platinum selling rock bands Blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves. His home is San Diego, where he focuses on creating entertainment properties that bridge music, narrative and film through his multimedia company To The Stars. For the full experience of Tom’s work, visit <a href="http://poetanderson.tothestars.media/epk/www.tothestars.media">www.tothestars.media</a>.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/officialtomdelonge" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/tomdelonge" target="_blank">Twitter @TomDeLonge</a> | <a href="https://instagram.com/tomdelonge" target="_blank">Instagram @TomDeLonge</a></b></span></div>
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<b>Suzanne Young</b> is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order. Suzanne is the author of THE PROGRAM, THE TREATMENT, THE REMEDY, and HOTEL RUBY.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.suzanne-young.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blog</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/suzanne_young" target="_blank">Twitter @suzanne_young</a> | <a href="https://instagram.com/authorsuzanneyoung" target="_blank">Instagram @authorsuzanneyoung</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">GIVEAWAY:</span></b></div>
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Signed hardcover of <i>Poet Anderson...Of Nightmares </i></div>
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Open Worldwide</div>
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Ends October 21, 2015</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Prizing is provided by the publisher, hosts are not responsible.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Must be 13 or older and have parental permission if under 17. No purchase necessary to win. Void where prohibited by law.</span></i></div>
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This event was organized by <a href="http://www.cbbbookpromotions.com/" target="_blank">CBB Book Promotions</a>.</div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-45658066274142422342015-10-07T00:00:00.000-04:002015-10-07T00:00:10.641-04:00Excerpt: Your Invincible Power by Pamela Hamilton and W.T. Hamilton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to my tour stop for "Your Invincible Power: How to tame your ego and fuel your ambition" by Pamela Hamilton and W.T. Hamilton. You can see the full tour schedule <a href="http://elitebooktours.com/">here</a>.<br />
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How to Tame Your Ego and Fuel Your Ambition explores the ways ego plays a role in hindering your ambition. We give you ways to tame your ego and build the drive needed to fuel your ambition. </div>
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In this book you will see ways to: </div>
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Understand how your ego affects your decision process </div>
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Be a gift giver and receiver </div>
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Take your thoughts off of autopilot </div>
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You will discover: </div>
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Why some ambitious people fail </div>
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The key ingredients for ambition </div>
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How to bring what you deserve to you </div>
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How to Tame Your Ego and Fuel Your Ambition gives you the tools and techniques you can use to achieve your goals. In this book we reveal one of the biggest secrets of the Law of Attraction.Everyone claims to have the missing secret piece to the law of attraction. Many people say they know what it is but very few can really explain why it works so well for some people and not very well for others. </div>
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Discover how you can really bring the life that you deserve to you and turn your dreams into reality. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WX1G206"><b>Amazon</b></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-IN">ABOUT THE AUTHORS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Pamela and W.T Hamilton (a mother and son team) created a book series about taking responsibility for your life. How to Tame the Ego and Fuel your Ambition is about understanding the way the ego works within your everyday life. It is the part of us that creates those unwanted doubts.<br />
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The ego is that illogical part of our nature that gives us a false sense of self. The part of you which constantly says that you are not worthy. That you are not deserving and therefore you cannot reach your desires in life. It is all of these negative emotions that are buried in your subconscious mind. It is the residue of false ideas that were presented to you about you throughout your life. These thoughts that we reiterate contribute many obstacles to what otherwise would be an obvious pathway to ones life’s work. <br />
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The ego shows up in that negative part of us to remind us of past failures. It’s that little voice in your head that gives to you flawed ideas of who you are and who you can be. The ego mind is conditioned by fear. As long as you are fearful of change, of stepping out of the box, it is apt to keep you where you are. It is when we are aware of this hidden entity and understand the many ways it shows up in our lives that it loses its power over us.<br />
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How to Tame the Ego and Fuel your Ambition shows you how to defeat this hidden entity. The authors give the reader exercises and techniques in effective ways to dissociate from the ego, therefore disconnecting from unwanted people, situations and events taking place in one’s life. <br />
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<i>Pamela and W.T invite you to join them on this journey of self-empowerment and abundance. Please visit us at www.yourinvinciblepower.com </i><br />
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Pamela Hamilton and W.T. Hamilton are a Mother and Son team. They do not always share the same beliefs or viewpoints. Pamela follows the Law of Attraction from the spiritual perspective and W.T follows it from a practical point of view. They have been working and studying the Law of Attraction for the past few years and have written a series of books to teach how to use it in various aspects of daily life.<br />
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<b>EXCERPTS</b></div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-79172919387049739312015-10-03T00:00:00.000-04:002015-10-03T00:00:00.861-04:00Cover Reveal: Shanti and the Magic Mandala by F. T. Camargo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Shanti and the Magic Mandala is an adventure in which fantasy and reality are mingled. The book tells the story of six teenagers, from different religious and cultural origins and different parts of the world, who are mystically recruited to form two groups - one in the Northern Hemisphere, and one in the Southern. They eventually gather in Peru, and through a single alliance, begin a frantic chase for the sacred object that can stop the black magician's final plan.<br />
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shanti-Magic-Mandala-F-Camargo/dp/1782795006/" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a> I <a href="http://www.amazon.in/Shanti-Magic-Mandala-F-Camargo/dp/1782795006" target="_blank">Amazon.in</a> I <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shanti-Magic-Mandala-F-T-Camargo/dp/1782795006" target="_blank">Amazon.co.uk</a> I <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shanti-and-the-magic-mandala-f-t-camargo/1119968611?ean=9781782795001" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> I <a href="https://play.google.com/store/search?q=SHANTI%20AND%20THE%20MAGIC%20MANDALA&c=books" target="_blank">Google Play</a> </b></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: x-large;">Awards & Recognition for the Book</span></u></b></div>
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Winner of 2014 London Book Festival in the category “Young Adult”.<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2014 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards: Bronze Medal at “Young Adult Fiction – Spirituality” category<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2014 New England Book Festival in Boston: Honorable Mention in the category “Young Adult”.<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Winner of 2015 Paris Book Festival in the category “Young Adult”.<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Winner of 2015 International Book Awards in the category “Fiction / Young Adult”.<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Winner of 2015 New York Book Festival in the category “Young Adult”.<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2015 Los Angeles Book Festival – Runner-up in the category “Young Adult”.<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2015 San Francisco Book Festival – Runner-up in the category “Young Adult”.<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2015 DIY Book Festival in Los Angeles: Honorable Mention in the category “Young Adult”.<br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>About the Author</u></b></span></div>
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F. T. Camargo is an Italian Brazilian living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. An award winning architect and author, he also studied Arts and Media and has a post degree in Economics and MBA in e-commerce. He is a vegetarian because of his love for all animals and has been deeply involved in causes for their protection and freedom. He is a world traveler adventurer, outdoor sports lover, speaks 4 languages and has published a travel book “Rio, Maravilha!”<br />
For many years he has been practicing yoga and meditation and studying the Kabbalah. His exploration of spiritual teachings motivated a commitment to self-development which in turn created a new path and goal in life. Shanti and the Magic Mandala was born from his inner journey.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: x-large;"><u>Contact the Author</u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ftcamargo.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> I <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Fecatc" target="_blank">Facebook</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/camargo_ft" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></b></div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-32965276665783984952015-09-22T00:00:00.000-04:002015-09-22T00:00:01.104-04:00Excerpt & Giveaway: Ruby Iyer Series by Laxmi Hariharan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to the excerpt tour and release event for <i>The First Life of Vikram Roy</i> by Laxmi Hariharan! <em>The First Life of Vikram Roy</em> is book #1.5 of the Ruby Iyer Series, but can be read as a stand alone novella.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>An angry young girl, a sexy cop & a chance to WIN $30 Amazon gift voucher!</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimt43qoGvumarjUZ9zB8hdhp9UT18iE7C6blvv6Qci-uIh_7GzMtOaNf8d-QwvSO1JvOkboqmG9NxI5kxPqIftNOCNN8jhsePRE_MjG_EAly2x2axiZy-TqyPieONReYB5vVZe9APZ17Y/s1600/RubyIyerDiaries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimt43qoGvumarjUZ9zB8hdhp9UT18iE7C6blvv6Qci-uIh_7GzMtOaNf8d-QwvSO1JvOkboqmG9NxI5kxPqIftNOCNN8jhsePRE_MjG_EAly2x2axiZy-TqyPieONReYB5vVZe9APZ17Y/s320/RubyIyerDiaries.jpg" width="200" /></a><strong><span style="font-size: large;">About <i>Ruby Iyer Diaries </i>(Book #0.5):</span></strong><br />
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This novelette is a companion book to The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer. A peek into the soul of an angry, young girl, who will come of age in a city on the verge of total annihilation. Ruby kept a diary from the age of ten till she ran away from home at sixteen. It is from here that I picked out a few diary entries for The Ruby Iyer Diaries. This short series of vignettes from Ruby's life, tells you more a little more about the origins of Ruby Iyer.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Iyer-Diaries-Dystopian-Romance-ebook/dp/B00MXSLQFU">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23008376-the-ruby-iyer-diaries-ruby-iyer-series-0-5-companion-novelette-to-t">Goodreads</a></b><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">About<i> The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer</i> (Book #1):</span></strong></div>
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<b>With over 100, 5 and 4 star reviews across Amazon, Goodreads and Netgalley, don’t miss this chance to get your copy of THE MANY LIVES OF RUBY IYER. At 99p/c & Rs 69 for this week only. </b><br />
<a href="http://bornbookish.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ManyLivesOfRubyIyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://bornbookish.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ManyLivesOfRubyIyer.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><br />
This is BOOK 1 in the Ruby Iyer series. A YA ACTION THRILLER with strong dystopian undertones, and a kick-ass protagonist, taking you on a white knuckle ride through a disintegrating Bombay City. It's also placed as FINALIST Indie Excellence Awards 2015 & as YOUNG ADULT FINALIST in the 2015 IAN Book of the Year Awards.<br />
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A girl desperate to rescue her best friend. A cop willing to do anything to save the city he serves. A delusional doctor bent on annihilation. A terrifying encounter propels Ruby Iyer from her everyday commute into a battle for her own survival. Trusting her instincts, she fights for what she believes in, led on a mysterious path between life and death on the crowded roads of Bombay; and when her best friend is kidnapped by the despotic Dr Braganza, she will do anything to rescue him. Anything, including taking the help of the sexy Vikram Roy, a cop-turned-rogue, on a mission to save Bombay. The city needs all the help it can get, and these two are the only thing standing between its total destruction by Dr Braganza's teen army.<br />
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As Bombay falls apart, will Ruby be able to save her friend and the city? Will she finally discover her place in a city where she has never managed to fit in? And what about her growing feelings for Vikram?<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Many-Lives-Ruby-Dystopian-Romance-ebook/dp/B00NB3CP9C/">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26165215-the-many-lives-of-ruby-iyer">Goodreads</a></b></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">About <i>The First Life of Vikram Roy </i>(Book #1.5):</span></strong><br />
<a href="http://bornbookish.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/FirstLifeofVikramRoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://bornbookish.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/FirstLifeofVikramRoy.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><br />
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His family is being held to ransom by a deadly mastermind.<br />
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Vikram never should have left his family, but when Vikram's father bring his half-brother Vishal home, life will never be the same.<br />
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Vikram thinks things will be better now that he's gone. He's met the love of his life, his future looks bright and then everything is shattered.<br />
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Now, his family's life is hanging in the balance, and only Vikram can do what needs to be done to save them.<br />
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From the bestselling dystopian fiction author with over 200 reviews and ratings of her dystopia books across Goodreads, Amazon and other retailers.<br />
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"A killer ending and the pacing of the story and the build-up is really good. I related to Vikram, really liked it." Richard Sheehan, Author and editor<br />
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"I raced through the book... And the killer ending! Oh my God! It left me with a hangover, and makes me want to physically push the author to write the next book in the series faster." Ritesh Kala, Book reviewer & blogger<br />
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If you’re looking for books like Hunger Games, then this dystopia romance, The Ruby Iyer Series.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Life-Vikram-Dystopian-Romance-ebook/dp/B0127Z73IC">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26165084-the-first-life-of-vikram-roy-dystopian-romance-coming-of-age-thriller">Goodreads</a></b><br />
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<strong><strong><span style="font-size: large;">EXCERPT FROM <i>THE FIRST LIFE OF VIKRAM ROY</i></span></strong></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">When I begin to unbutton my shirt, Ash looks at me with raised eyebrows.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Really?" She smirks. "In such a hurry?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"It's not what you think." I bite out the words. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">Before she can ask any further questions, I wrap the shirt around my fist and use it to break off the jagged pieces of glass on the pane. Then, pushing my arm through the square, I open the lock of the window from inside. Opening it, I grab hold of the window ledge and heave myself over, falling over promptly on the other side. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">I am stunned, but bounce back on my feet quickly. Coughing out the dust which streams over my face, I tell Ash, "Come on to the front door." </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">Running to the front door, I pull at the old-fashioned wooden bar which is placed across it. Pleased when it comes away in my hand, I open the door, panting with the exertion of pulling at the heavy wood. Then, grinning, I bow to Ash, who is standing at the threshold. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Come in, your highness." I make a mock bow.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">Ash holds her nose in the air, playing her part, and walks past me. It's gloomy inside but the moon is bright enough to light up the way. Ash follows me as I walk past an overturned chair, a large settee covered in plastic, and take in the paintings on the wall. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"It's as if the family who lived here abandoned it without moving any of their possessions out," she says. Holding my hand, she drags me to the staircase.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Where are we going?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"On a tour, dummy. Don't you want to see what's upstairs?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">I follow her, our shoes making clattering noises on the wooden steps, then, I hear something. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Wait." I stop midway up the stairs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"What?" she says loud enough for her voice to echo around the building.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Did you hear that?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"No." In the silence that follows, she laughs nervously. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">Then she hears it too. A soft padding from upstairs, the unmistakeable noise of nails dragging on the wooden floor. We look at each other wide-eyed. A chill runs up my back, and the hairs on my forearms spring upright.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Come on, we have to find out what it is." Grinning wickedly, Ash leaps ahead and runs, dragging me along. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Ash, honestly," I mutter, more scared than I'd like to admit. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">We cross the landing of the first floor and walk towards the open door leading to the room on the far side. Once again, there's the sound of dragging footsteps. I swallow nervously in the darkness, but chivalry gets the better of me and I walk ahead, pushing Ash behind me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Stay quiet," I whisper. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">In the dark I see the white of her eyes, rounded in fear. She is not as unafraid as she makes out to be. We slip into the room. The shadows here are darker, and it takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. Then I hear a low growl and the padding sound comes towards me, a flash of black and yellow spots. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Ash!" I push her out of the way and jump, covering her with my body just as a leopard leaps past us, making for the door. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I swear. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">My heart is beating so hard it threatens to leap out of my chest. I look up to the door and am relieved to find there's no sign of the leopard. Ash's body is shaking below mine. Her heart, too, is thumping hard, slamming against me. I can't tell where her pulse stops and mine begins. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Goddammit, Ash!" I look down; worried she is having a seizure, or worse. Her face is scrunched up.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Oh my God, are you okay?" My voice comes out all high-pitched.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Yes. No," her voice quivers in reply. She opens her eyes finally and I realise she is laughing, silently. At me. Again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">Something snaps inside of me and I know there is no turning back. Not today.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"That was a-a—"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Leopard," I say </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Gho-st?" she asks at the same time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Yeah, that's our ghost," I say, nodding. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">I want to stay angry with her, but the sparks in her eyes draw me in completely.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">Her skin scrapes across mine. Her dress is around her waist and one of my legs is between hers. My thigh brushes against her frock-covered midriff. The heat rushes at me through the cloth. I am surrounded by her smell. Awareness comes into her eyes at the same time. Her laughter dies and the blue of her eyes dart fire at me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">"Don't go falling in love with me now." She tilts her head up.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;"> Her lips are curved. I want to taste them, slant my lips across her mouth. Bending down, I touch my lips to hers. Her breath tastes like oranges. And chocolate. She flings her arms around me and rams my body to her's with fierce strength. It feels as if she's vibrating, as if the shudders are running up her body and down mine.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 29.3333px;">Leopards are my favourite animals from now on.</span><br />
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<b><i><span lang="EN-GB">Want to find out what
happens next? Click </span></i></b><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://bit.ly/VikRoyAmzn"><b><i>here</i></b></a><b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<strong><strong><br /></strong></strong><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ABOUT THE AUTHOR</b></span><br />
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<strong><a href="http://bornbookish.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/LaxmiHariharan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://bornbookish.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/LaxmiHariharan.jpg" /></a></strong></div>
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She almost died. But when dystopia romance author Laxmi Hariharan had a near death experience, she was told to write. Laxmi is the creator of dystopian romance series, RUBY IYER SERIES (The MANY LIVES OF VIKRAM ROY - FINALIST Indie Excellence Awards, the bestselling The RUBY IYER DIARIES , The FIRST LIFE OF VIKRAM ROY, The SECOND LIFE OF RUBY IYER & VIKRAM ROY, PANKY's FIRST LIFE), and the Amazon bestselling, eLit Gold winner, The Destiny of Shaitan (Bombay Chronicles, 1). If you're looking for books like Divergent and Angelfall, you'll love the RUBY IYER SERIES.<br />
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Laxmi writes books similar to Hunger Games while listening to electronica & progressive rock, and downing innumerable cups of extra sweet ginger-chai. She is also an avid photographer of street art and believes she was a tree -- a redwood -- in her past life. London is where she creates. Bombay is what fires her imagination.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://instagram.com/laxmiwrites/%20/t%20_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Instagram</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> | </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/laxmihariharanauthor%20/t%20_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">FB</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> | </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.laxmihariharan.com/%20/t%20_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Blog</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> | </span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://twitter.com/laxmi%20/t%20_blank">@laxmi</a></span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></span>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">FROM THE AUTHOR</span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All SEPTEMBER earnings from the RUBY IYER SERIES will be donated to SAVE THE CHILDREN: SUPPORT CHILD REFUGEES OF SYRIA. All the RUBY IYER books with their brand new covers, are on SALE all this month at 99p/c & Rs 69/49. Click </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://laxmihariharan.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7f47195d0362fd1f1169c0c59&id=ba9240418f&e=ea13207b8f" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6dc6dd; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HERE</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> to buy them. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
</span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">YOU can also donate to SAVE THE CHILDREN directly </span></b><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://laxmihariharan.us5.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7f47195d0362fd1f1169c0c59&id=5040c3b8eb&e=ea13207b8f" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #6dc6dd; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HERE</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">GIVEAWAY</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The First Life of Vikram Roy, The THIRD book in the RUBY IYER Series, launches this month. <b>To celebrate the launch of the FIRST LIFE OF VIKRAM ROY, the author is giving away a $30 gift card. Enter </b></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://laxmihariharan.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7f47195d0362fd1f1169c0c59&id=e3a2881f43&e=ea13207b8f" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #6dc6dd; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HERE.</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> Winner will be drawn, Oct 1, 2015, and
announced in her next newsletter.</span></b></div>
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<i>Giveaway provided by the author, bloggers are not responsible in any way for the prizing.</i><br />
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-54289799923531883232015-09-17T00:00:00.001-04:002015-09-17T00:00:01.580-04:00Excerpt & Giveaway: Kissed by Fire by Danielle Annett<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/KbF-banner.jpg"><img alt="KbF banner" class="aligncenter wp-image-2394" src="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/KbF-banner-300x111.jpg" height="141" width="381" /></a>
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<strong>The Highly Anticipated Sequel to Cursed by Fire is HERE</strong></h3>
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We are thrilled to announce the release of Kissed by Fire by Danielle Annett, an action packed Urban Fantasy novel that will leave you wanting more with the turn of every page!</div>
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<a href="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kissed-by-Fire-high.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kissed by Fire-high" class="alignleft wp-image-2128 size-medium" src="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kissed-by-Fire-high-200x300.jpg" height="300" width="200" /></a><br />
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Title: Kissed by Fire<o:p></o:p></div>
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Author: Danielle Annett<o:p></o:p></div>
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Series: Blood &amp; Magic #2<o:p></o:p></div>
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Genre: Urban Fantasy<o:p></o:p></div>
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Release Date: September 15, 2015<o:p></o:p></div>
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As Friend of the Pack, Aria Naveed should be untouchable,
protected by the most influential group in the Pacific Northwest. But someone
is unleashing rogue vampires to hunt her down, and she is determined to find
out why.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When Aria gains command of Sanborn Place and takes on a case
involving a mysterious paranormal, her life is put in more peril than ever as
she finds herself bound to an influential power player. She doesn’t want to be
anyone’s puppet, but must tread carefully as she traverses the streets of
Spokane, WA, or risk being overwhelmed by the forces moving against her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the only known pyrokinetic in the area, Aria is in high
demand, but not for her services. It seems that to those in power, she’s worth
more dead than alive, and if a mysterious enemy has their way, she won’t live
long enough to find out why.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Goodreads:
</span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25236851-kissed-by-fire?from_search=true&search_version=service#other_reviews"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25236851-kissed-by-fire?from_search=true&search_version=service#other_reviews</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">AMAZON
BUY LINK: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kissed-Fire-Paranormal-Fantasy-Danielle-ebook/dp/B00YSYO906/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1434323598&sr=8-10&keywords=Kissed+by+Fire"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.amazon.com/Kissed-Fire-Paranormal-Fantasy-Danielle-ebook/dp/B00YSYO906/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1434323598&sr=8-10&keywords=Kissed+by+Fire</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/teaser.png"><img alt="teaser" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2214" src="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/teaser.png" height="93" width="161" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Fire
called to me, tempting me to bring it forth, to destroy my foe in one quick and
easy strike. It would be too easy. There was something very wrong about this,
about a newly made vampire walking the streets of downtown Spokane as if he
were on a leisurely stroll. The change had to have been recent. Blood soaked
his light-blue shirt, leaving a large stain over his chest and the left side of
his body. If I’d had to guess, he’d been changed within the last few hours. His
skin hadn’t turned the pale milky white associated with the undead yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Before
I could think further, he struck. In a split second, his once jerky movements
morphed into a flash of speed as he launched himself at me. I twisted out of
the way but was too slow to avoid his second strike. He grabbed me by the back
of the neck, flinging me across the road like a rag doll. My body collided with
a parking meter, the near frozen metal splitting my cheek and knocking the air
from my lungs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">I
exhaled a vicious curse before drawing my twin daggers from the thigh sheath
beneath my dress and jumping to my feet. My dress rode up, but I couldn’t have
cared less at the moment. I was just grateful that despite the dress, I’d
managed to wear the blades. Warm blood seeped from my cheek and my ribs ached
with my movements.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">He
charged again, and this time I was ready. I allowed my attacker to get close,
his hands brushing my shoulders right before I sank my first blade into the
soft flesh of his stomach. My second pierced his chest, but I missed the heart.
With my blades still imbedded, he squeezed my shoulder, the pain explosive. I
heard a distinct pop before my left arm went limp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Shit!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Latha; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">My brain took a
backseat as adrenaline flowed through my muscles</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">. I kicked out with my left foot, the heel in my shoe sinking
into his calf. His leg buckled under the assault and I pulled free, losing my
heel in the process but retaining one of my blades. The other remained in his
chest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">My
left arm hung loose at my side. My right lifted and was ready with my dagger,
dark-red blood dripping from its point. His eyes glowed an even deeper red,
fangs descending farther to cover his bottom lip. <i>You might as well put those back, mister. You won’t be making a meal
out of me.</i> </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Latha; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hot blood surged through my veins</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">. I hastily kicked off my remaining heel,
ignoring the discomfort of the snow and gravel beneath my feet. I needed to
move faster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">When
he struck again, I threw myself to the left, my right arm coming up and
slashing his throat in a swift motion. A gurgling sound emanated from his
throat, but I knew it wouldn’t last. He would begin healing almost immediately.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Damn vampire.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> I needed to disable him somehow without
killing him. My fire was calling to me and I shoved it down with everything I
had. I could not light him on fire. I was determined to find out who had turned
him and why he’d been set loose. I moved to deliver another blow, a deep stab
to his stomach once more, but just as I moved to strike, a deep growl echoed
through the streets. Another predator making itself known. Like an idiot, I
turned, and the moment of distraction cost me as I felt the vampire sink his
teeth into my raised forearm. A scream escaped me, and then the growl turned
into a thundering roar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">I
watched in suspended silence as Declan tackled the fledging vampire, bringing
him to the ground, the crunch of bone loud to my ears as his body hit the
pavement. He’d taken a mouthful of my flesh with him when he’d gone down, and
blood flowed freely from the wound, staining the ground red. I tried without
success to staunch the bleeding with my left hand but couldn’t get my arm to
corporate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Before
I could stop him, Declan brought his hands to the vampire’s neck and, in one
quick movement, snapped it. The sound made me cringe. He rose from the body and
kicked it once. He grunted in satisfaction when the body didn’t respond.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">As
though a switch had been flicked, I snapped out of my daze, fury and so much
frustration rising to the surface. “What the hell did you just do?” I yelled at
him. <i>Don’t light the Alpha on fire. Don’t
light the Alpha on fire. </i>I repeated the mantra over and over in my head. It
would not bode well for me to attack him right now. No matter how much he
deserved it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Declan
looked taken aback for a moment. “I saved your life,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Urgh. Moron!</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> “No, you didn’t. You ruined it. I cannot
believe you just snapped his neck like that, without any thought.” My
temperature rose and I had to take a calming breath to contain myself. It
didn’t help much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">“Why
would I think about it? He had his fangs buried in your arm. I’d expect a
little gratitude here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">I
stormed past him and crouched beside the vampire, tearing my blade from his
chest. I wiped the blade on the edge of my dress before sheathing it. It was
already ruined so a little more blood couldn't hurt it. I needed something else
to focus on aside from Declan’s stupidity or I was going to lose what little
control I had. I skimmed my hands over the now cold body, checking the pockets
of his shirt and pants to find anything that may provide me with some sort of
clue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">“What
are you doing?” Declan asked, obviously annoyed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .25in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Join the club, buddy</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">.
I was pretty damn annoyed myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">“I’m
looking for information,” I bit out. “It would have been much easier to just
question the vampire but no, you had to go and snap his neck and be all ‘I am
tiger, hear me roar.’” I threw my hands in the air in frustration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">He
snarled beside me. “I saved your life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">“No. You
interfered. I’m a pyrokinetic. Don’t you think if I’d wanted him dead, I’d have
lit his ass on fire as soon as he got close? I wasn’t trying to kill him. I was
trying to disable him, and then you had to come out here all hot-headed and
kill him.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/postdivider.png"><img alt="postdivider" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2211" src="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/postdivider.png" height="67" width="300" /></a>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><br /></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>ABOUT BOOK 1 in the series</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><br /></strong></div>
<a href="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Cursed-by-Fire_ebooklg.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cursed by Fire_ebooklg" class="alignleft wp-image-1672 size-medium" src="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Cursed-by-Fire_ebooklg-196x300.jpg" height="300" width="196" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif;">ABOUT
BOOK 1 in the series</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CURSED
by FIRE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Released:
Jan 28, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
has been six years since the Awakening and peace in Spokane, Washington is
still tenuous at best. The vampires and shifters are all vying for control of
the city and the humans seem to be the ones suffering the consequences, or so
it seems.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Aria Naveed has spent the last two years of her
life fighting to make the many wrongs of the world right, but soon finds out
that the humans aren’t as weak as they appear and may be a more terrifying foe
than any of the other races combined. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">When a stranger rolls into town with trouble on
his heels, Aria finds herself trapped in the middle of a battle that could cost
her more than she has bargained for as a fight for justice turns into an
unexpected fight for her life.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">AMAZON BUY LINK: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cursed-Fire-Paranormal-Fantasy-Danielle-ebook/dp/B00QKYB57M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434560617&sr=8-2&keywords=cursed+by+fire"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.amazon.com/Cursed-Fire-Paranormal-Fantasy-Danielle-ebook/dp/B00QKYB57M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434560617&sr=8-2&keywords=cursed+by+fire</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What Reviewers had to say about book 1:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I thought Cursed by Fire was an awesome read and a
great introduction to the series. I can't fault it in anyway and
thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to more." </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Book Passion for Life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Oh my GOODNESS! I completely devoured this book in one
siting it was THAT GOOD!" </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Cocktails and Books Blog<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/about-the-author.png"><img alt="about the author" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1829" src="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/about-the-author-300x78.png" height="78" width="300" /></a>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin: 0in 0in 12.75pt 0in;">
<a href="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/10247481_10203664436108711_5163031660130450692_n.jpg-copy.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="10247481_10203664436108711_5163031660130450692_n.jpg copy" class="alignleft wp-image-2393 " src="http://www.coffeeandcharacters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/10247481_10203664436108711_5163031660130450692_n.jpg-copy-258x300.jpg" height="236" width="203" /></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt;">Danielle Annett is a reader, writer, photographer, and the blogger behind Coffee and Characters. Born in the SF Bay area, she now resides in Spokane, WA, the primary location for her Blood & Magic series.
Addicted to coffee at an early age, she spends her restless nights putting pen to paper as she tries to get all of the stories out of her head before the dogs wake up the rest of the house and vye for her attention.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin: 0in 0in 12.75pt 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt;">You can learn more about Danielle on her website at <a href="http://www.danielle-annett.com/">Danielle-Annett.com</a> or follow her on facebook at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Danielle-Annett.com%20or%20follow%20her%20on%20facebook%20at%20https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDanielleAnnett">https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDanielleAnnett</a> and on twitter @Danielle_Annett</span></div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763664719710458192.post-56365012830425987462015-09-17T00:00:00.000-04:002015-09-18T06:56:02.979-04:00Excerpt: The Opposite of Love by T.A.Pace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgQbHNSXVWZU1Ky3iiCqQydyXC29W2Qr6p6DbylcbNYgqZAn33nU8o0mNBqdT3zln3CjDO0x3OHGACWKP6njvLxZIoZ5spoQOnls0IAB79gTLC_64goo6UAMXCrqUk7CcbuOXatbsHus/s1600/TheOppositeOfLove_Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgQbHNSXVWZU1Ky3iiCqQydyXC29W2Qr6p6DbylcbNYgqZAn33nU8o0mNBqdT3zln3CjDO0x3OHGACWKP6njvLxZIoZ5spoQOnls0IAB79gTLC_64goo6UAMXCrqUk7CcbuOXatbsHus/s320/TheOppositeOfLove_Banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Welcome to my tour stop of <i>The Opposite of Love</i> by T.A.Pace. The full tour schedule can be seen <a href="http://elitebooktours.com/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">ABOUT THE BOOK:</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1W0AzIxHFU2qNQR5_dIZHFv9WoJTAARyFn0xdWvEU0TMkEV63bSmOv5qFvX7VZDj0q9TMFArUiGNe9NDgYFV5HvD-jQGKBbmWmVkPuIb3U-BdY-HJi7rgyGl8sr8USNFOVZNYCQidOk/s1600/TheOppositeOfLove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1W0AzIxHFU2qNQR5_dIZHFv9WoJTAARyFn0xdWvEU0TMkEV63bSmOv5qFvX7VZDj0q9TMFArUiGNe9NDgYFV5HvD-jQGKBbmWmVkPuIb3U-BdY-HJi7rgyGl8sr8USNFOVZNYCQidOk/s320/TheOppositeOfLove.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
When 37-year-old Melanie is challenged to find a mate by her overbearing mother, she finds herself in a relationship that pushes her sexual boundaries, and in a place like Sin City, that can be a precarious ride.<br />
<br />
An homage to Erica Jong’s Any Woman’s Blues, The Opposite of Love is a psychological/sexual ride through Las Vegas and its local sex scene as experienced by two lovers who will test each other’s ability to accept them as they are, as well as their own ability to accept themselves. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Latha; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25955168-the-opposite-of-love"><b>Goodreads</b></a><b> | </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Opposite-Love-T-A-Pace-ebook/dp/B011EN6JMO"><b>Amazon</b></a></span></div>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</span></b><br />
<br />
T.A. Pace lives in Las Vegas, NV, where she is an editor and writer. She can be reached at SexyVegasTA@aol.com or follow her on twitter @SexyVegasTA.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">EXCERPT</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I don’t remember what kind of wine we were drinking that night, do you?” Melanie asked. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Around eleven, Derek texted and asked if she wanted to have a drink at the Artisan. A nostalgic pang made her smile. She assigned Jen to drive Sarah home. Now she and Derek were sitting at the bar in the same seats as the night they met. It was a minor miracle they’d found seats at all; the place was jumping and a DJ was set up in the corner playing hip-hop and top-40 music. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Some kind of chardonnay, I think,” said Derek. He ordered a bottle and they toasted the recovering Arts District. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It must be nice to have the extra income again,” Melanie said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You said it. A teacher’s salary is no way to live.” Derek laughed morosely, then brightened. “But if the gallery keeps up at this rate, I’ll be coming to you for investment advice.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I hope you do,” said Melanie, but she knew he was exaggerating. “What else has been going on? How are things with Sharon?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That didn’t go so well.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What happened?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We split. She was pushing for something serious. I couldn’t commit.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Really? Mr. Love-is-everything couldn’t commit? What’s the deal?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I can only commit to the right person. We didn’t have as much in common as I would’ve liked.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Like what?” Melanie asked. Anticipating that he’d be providing her with ammo she could use in a future debate, she turned in her chair to face him and give him her full attention. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t get all righteous on me.” Derek shook his head. “But we weren’t compatible in intellect. Or in bed.” He took a swig of his wine and Melanie thought she could see the color rise in his cheeks, although it was hard to tell for sure in the dim lighting. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’ll be damned.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What?” He still wouldn’t look at her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Compatibility, huh?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yep.” He nodded repeatedly. “It matters.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So then why am I dating a friggin’ cop with no advanced degree and no apparent limit to the kinkiness of his sexual preferences.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Derek choked on his wine, struggled valiantly to recover, and said, “Where to begin, Mel?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You tell me.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Does it bother you that he’s a cop?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Truth be told, it had at first. In fact, she’d pocketed it thinking it would make a nice exit strategy if nothing else worked. She could always say that his work was too dangerous, that she was afraid of him getting killed. But his job wasn’t even remotely dangerous. He’d only pulled his gun once since he’d been promoted to detective, and even then it was on a dog, and he hadn’t fired. She’d also thought that a blue-collar man was beneath her, but she found that he was smart—even without an advanced degree—smart enough to debate with her, and to occasionally be right. And she also found nobility in his reasons for becoming a cop in the first place. To want to make a difference on such a substantial scale, even in the face of bureaucracy and cutbacks and painfully incremental successes was admirable, and she could see the value in being with a man with that kind of moral virtue and determination. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Derek nodded as she explained her thoughts on James’ job. “What’s this about the kink?” he asked. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s been interesting,” Melanie said. And it was her turn to blush. She spared him the pooling, the spanking, and simply explained that he introduced her to things she’d never really explored before. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Like what?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well, have you ever been to the Green Door?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Actually, I have. It’s pretty cool if you’re open-minded about that kind of thing. Place is huge. Like the Disneyland of sex.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Melanie gaped at him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I had no idea you were so…” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So what?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Freaky.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Derek laughed. “Hardly. Went there once with a girl I was dating who liked to be tied up. Went another time on my own. That’s pretty much it.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Really? Tied up?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah. And choked. It was kind of weird. But I’d never done any of that before so I figured, what the hell. You never know what’s going to flip your switch ’til you try it.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Melanie thought about the spankings she’d been getting, how it turned her on so much that her juices wet the insides of her thighs before James even touched her there. She never would have thought it would be so hot to be the recipient of pain. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So what did you think of it? Tying her up and choking her?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Wasn’t really my thing.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I see.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Nothing.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Melanie was swirling her chardonnay, watching the legs crawl down the sides of the glass, deep in thought about this new side of Derek, the sexually experienced Derek. Perhaps kinky even. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So I take it you’ve either been already or you’re thinking about going,” he said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“He wants to go this weekend. I’m nervous. I worry about people seeing me and knowing who I am.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“If that’s all you’re worried about, definitely go. It’s wild. And if they can see you, you can see them too.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That’s what James said.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Smart guy. Can’t wait to meet him.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hah!” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Melanie finished her second glass of chardonnay she ordered water. It was almost one a.m. and she’d need to drive soon. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Have you been here much since we met?” Derek asked. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Once or twice I think. Still reminds me of that night though.” She smiled at him and he rubbed her upper arm. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Shall we end it the same way tonight?” he asked. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her smile disappeared. She had expected the invitation, but she hadn’t realized that there was a dilemma involved until it presented itself. She was dating James now, and they’d both established that they weren’t seeing other people. Semantically, she wasn’t “seeing” Derek, so there was a loophole there. But she knew she and James had both meant sex as well when they’d had the discussion. So in this moment, in the face of this invitation, Melanie was forced to decide what kind of relationship she wanted to have. If she wanted something casual, she could do whatever she wanted, as long as she gave James the same freedom. But if she wanted to have a serious relationship, she could no longer sleep with Derek. It seemed a surprisingly cruel loss to endure. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Let me guess,” he said, sparing her the explanation. “You and James are monogamous?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah,” she said, her tone full of regret. “We are.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hey, don’t be bummed about it. This is really great news,” he said. “That means things are going well, right?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She smiled at him. Ever the optimist. Silver linings and unicorns. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I would say things are going well so far, yes. Ask me again after the Green Door.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He laughed. “I will. Can’t wait to hear all about it.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They left the bar and headed toward the front door, but Derek pulled her into a small room to the back of the lobby. “Ever been in here?” he said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were four wooden pews on either side of a short aisle that led to an elevated platform. Six paintings hung on the wall of the tiny room. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No. What is this, a chapel?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yep. They do weddings here.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Drifting slowly around the room, Melanie studied the artwork. The paintings were in the style of 16th century Renaissance art, replete with wistful women and wise infants. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In one, a baby reached its hands greedily toward the mother, while looking at the viewer with knowing accusation; Melanie found herself a bit creeped out by it. In another, a mother held a child in her lap and a cherubic cupid stood on the floor to her right pulling her attention completely away from the infant. But the one that drew Melanie’s attention hung just inside the door of the chapel. A young woman, naked from the waist up, pushed an armed cupid forcefully away from her. The cupid held his arrow expertly, with the coordinated hand of a grown man, the tip of his forefinger against the shaft, aiming it at the woman’s heart. Her hands were on his shoulders, elbows locked out, fending him off. It seemed a strange choice for a chapel, but then they all did. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You like that one?” Derek asked. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s odd, don’t you think?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Derek shrugged. “Who do you think wins?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Tough to say, since the cupid has the advantage of not being real and therefore not held to the rules of reality.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So he’s got tricks?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Probably.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Derek laughed. He walked Melanie to her car in the self-parking area and hugged her close, not letting her go after the usual three seconds. “Just because you’re in a relationship now doesn’t mean you have to be a stranger, ok?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ok,” she said. “I’ll call. We’ll have lunch or something. Like normal people.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Derek laughed and kissed her on the forehead. She got into her SUV and waved to him as she pulled out. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He mouthed to her, “Be safe.”</div>
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Vidya Ravihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10878711066786253534noreply@blogger.com0