Posted in Blog tour, contest, Giveaway, mystery on December 31, 2012

 

 

Dead Running

Cassidy Christensen is running.
Running from the mercenaries who killed her parents.
Running from a scheming redhead intent on making her life miserable.
Running from painful memories that sabotage her dreams of happiness.
With two very tempting men competing for her attention, she hopes she’ll finally have someone to run to, but can she trust either of them? When secrets from her past threaten her family, Cassidy decides to stop running and fight for her future.

 

 

Dying to Run

Cassidy Christensen wants to run.
Captured by the traffickers who killed her mother, her only hope is Dr. Tattoo, a man she loves but nobody trusts. When she finally gets a chance to run, someone else she cares about is taken. Running might be her only chance at survival, but she won’t allow another family member to be killed in her place.
This must-read sequel to Dead Running will have you laughing, biting your nails, and hoping for more.

Purchase

About Cami:

Cami Checketts is married and the proud mother of four future WWF champions. Sometimes between being a human horse, cleaning up magic potions, and reading Bernstein Bears, she gets the chance to write fiction.

Cami graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Exercise Science. Cami teaches strength training classes at her local rec and shares healthy living tips on her fitness blog: http://fitnessformom.blogspot.com.

Cami and her family live in the beautiful Cache Valley of Northern Utah. During the two months of the year it isn’t snowing, she enjoys swimming, biking, running, and water-skiing.

Links
Review:
I enjoyed the book and the novella.  I loved how Cassidy decides to run a marathon and throws herself into training without a second thought!  I have two sisters that run and think that they are crazy for doing marathons and can’t imagine trying to train for one in 3-4 months!  There are several characters that you don’t know what to make of them and this is not a bad thing.  There are some good ones, some bad ones and some you just aren’t sure about until the end.  I really love how the novella picked up where the novel ended and wrapped up the story a little more.
I give these two stories 4 paws
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Giveaway:
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash from Author Cami Checketts
3 Sets of iFrogz Earbuds & ArmbandsEnds 1/31/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer  and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Posted in cooking, Cozy, Monday, mystery on December 31, 2012

I thought I would introduce you to a new author (to me) and the first book in a new series.  You have no doubt noticed that I look mysteries that center around food and this one is no exception!  Today’s highlight is A Spoonful of Murder by author Connie Archer.  The second book in this series is called A Broth of Betrayal.

 

spoonful

Synopsis:

Winter is big business in small town Snowflake, Vermont. Tourists arrive to hit the ski slopes – and what could be more satisfying after a chilly day of carving powder than a steaming bowl of soup?

When Lucky Jamieson inherits her parents’ soup shop, By the Spoonful, she realizes it’s time to take stock of her life. Should she sell her parents’ house or move in herself? Does she really want to run a restaurant business? And what about her grandfather Jack, who seems to be showing signs of Alzheimer’s?

But her life decisions are moved to the back burner after an icy blonde tourist is found frozen to death behind the soup shop. And Lucky is bowled over when her soup chef, Sage DuBois, is led out of the kitchen by the police. As suspicion and speculations snowball, Lucky decides that the only way to save her employee and her business is to find out herself who iced the tourist – and landed her chef in the soup.

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Posted in Book Blast on December 26, 2012


Faith – 4 Week Mini Bible Study

In this four week mini Bible Study you will examine your faith and what it means to have faith in God. He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 Our faith begins with what we know and believe about God. Our faith will carry us how far we are willing to let it take us. Faith is a choice and we need to begin by choosing to believe in Jesus and His power to move mountains, heal the sick, and save us from all our sins through His sacrifice on the cross. When we believe in God we then learn to walk in faith and trust God. But first we must believe, and it’s up to us, we can either choose to believe in Him or not. But faith will mean nothing until we believe with all our heart that God is who He says He is.
Praise for Faith

Don’t have time to read a long book on faith? This study will give you simple tools to understand faith and help you to develop a closer relationship with God. ~Lorilyn Roberts

This is a great book that allows you to start looking deeper into faith. I love the fact that there is a lot of scripture reference so one can look into the Bible and further study the word. ~Shraon

This study was a wonderful lift to my faith. I encourage others to take this short journey to an increased faith. ~Shirley Strait

Purchase
 
 

Author Heather Bixler

Heather is a Christian Stay at home homeschooling mom of three, married to a firefighter, and a writer. She is founder of www.CSAHM.com among other websites for Christian mothers, and women. Heather is passionate about sharing God’s word in a practical and loving way.

 

 

 

BookBlast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 1/3/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Posted in Cozy, Monday, mystery on December 24, 2012

Yes you have seen several books by this author lately….but what can I say, her books are good!  Deadly Patterns is the third book in the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series.  The first is Pleating for Mercy and the second is A Fitting End.

Synopsis:

Bliss, Texas, is gearing up for its annual Winter Wonderland festival, but when a mysterious Scrooge ends the merriment with murder, it’ll take more than a ghost from Christmas past to set things right.

Designing a holiday fashion show set in the town’s most prominent historic mansion seems like a job tailor made for dressmaker Harlow Jane Cassidy. But with the mansion’s restoration still in progress and threatening weather on the horizon, she’s feeling on pins and needles more than reveling in holiday cheer.
Having volunteered to play Santa in this year’s festival, Dan Lee Chrisson was ready to move on after his divorce—until Bliss became his final resting place. Discovering his body puts Harlow at the scene of the crime. She’ll need plenty of help from friends and even her late great-grandmother’s spirited sleuthing if she’s to have a ghost of a chance of catching a killer who’s just jumped to the top of the naughty list….
Posted in Cover Reveal, women on December 22, 2012

RunningOnEmpty_NEW_full
Title: Running On Empty
Author: L.B. Simmons
Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Age Group: Adult
Cover Designer and website: Okay Creations, www.okaycreations.net
Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours
Expected release date: Jan 9, 2013

goodreads-badge-add-plus

 

 

Book Description:
I had the perfect life.
Beautiful and loving husband.
Three gorgeous little girls.
Successful career.
The only thing missing was the white picket fence. I really wanted that fence.
Three years ago, I lost that life. I lost my husband. And I lost myself. But, eventually, I found my way through the darkness. I’ve made peace with my new life. I have my girls, and that’s all that matters. They are my world. I have no illusions of ever falling in love again or getting whisked away on a white horse.
But then he came back into my life. On a freakin’ motorcycle.
There’s no way I’ll let him turn my life completely upside down. Absolutely no way.
The question is…
How long can I keep pretending that I’m happy with my life being right-side up?

LBSimmonsPic

 

About the author:

L.B. Simmons is a graduate of Texas A&M University and holds a degree in Biomedical Science. She has been a practicing Chemist for the last 11 years. She lives with her husband and three daughters in Texas. Although they keep her busy, she writes every chance she gets.

L.B. Simmons | Twitter | Facebook

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Posted in Book Blast, Sale on December 21, 2012

These prices are available on Amazon only.

For a listing of books offered and to enter to win, click here!!

 

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Posted in e-books, Sale on December 19, 2012

Looking for some E-books at a good value?  Well look no further than Astor + Blue – they have all books at $0.99 to $1.99 right now…what a great price for the holidays!

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I have read and reviewed a few of their books such as Dead End Deal and Winning the City Redeux.  I also highlighted Extraordinary Rendition.  I think I’ll be checking out some more of Allen Wyler’s books such as Dead Ringer and Dead Wrong or maybe even Timeless Desire by Gwyn Cready.

You can click on the image above to get to their catalog or you can click on this link.  Books are available for your Kindle, Nook, Sony, Itunes and Kobo.  Bound to be a format you can use!

 

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Posted in e-books on December 19, 2012

 CEO of Astor + Blue, Tony Viardo, commented on the state of digital publishing…interesting reading!

So how many articles have we read about E-books and Digital Publishing this year? For anyone who generally follows the book world (rabid booklover, book-blogger, industry pro or casual reader), we’re literally inundated with the amazing numbers—“E-book sales up 125% (again) over the 175% they were up from last year’s 225% increase!”—and equally amazing technological announcements—“Next Fall, the new ZimWittyZoomDitty tablet not only updates your Facebook and Goodreads friends whenever you snort in disgust … it cooks dinner for you at the same time!”

This leads many to take at least casual stock of what’s going on/going to happen to the “Publishing World” as we know it.  And if your friends are like my friends (hardcore print book consumers), that stock is usually pretty morbid (sharp Greenwich Village angst not included): “Print books are doomed, so are brick-and-mortar stores.  Goodbye literary quality. Oh and some pajama-wearing techie living in a basement with a laptop is going to be the new Sulzburger; we’ll all have to bow down!”

If you (or that good friend of yours) fall into the mortified category, my take (for what it’s worth) may come as positive news:  E-books are not, and will not be, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas; in this case, the “Print World’s” bacon. Now, as the owner of a “Digital First” publishing house (Astor + Blue Editions, www.astorandblue.com) my opinions may easily be written off as self-serving and invalid.  But bear with me for a minute… these are fact-based observations and I might just make sense (Someone tell my mom and dad).

As someone who earns a living from publishing, I have to follow numbers and industry trends as closely as possible.  And while some see doom and gloom for Print, I see exciting developments for both Print and E-book formats.  What do the numbers show?  Digital book revenue is skyrocketing, print revenue is declining.  Natural conclusion?  E-books are killing print books. But not so fast.  Historically, Print revenue has always seemed to be declining (even before E-books were invented), but that doesn’t mean the book market is dying or shrinking.

We have to remember that in fact the book market is growing. Readership always grows because population always grows.  Every year, new readers enter the vast pool of the club that is “adult readership,” (despite Dancing with the Stars). And every year more readers are being born and theoretically being inspired by Ms. Crabtree’s elementary reading class.  **So why the decline?  Readership grows gradually, but the sheer number of books and book vendors grow exponentially, showing an investment loss almost every year. (Basic statistics: the widening universe makes it look like a shrinking pie when it isn’t).

So what does this mean?  If you look at the numbers (historically), revenue for print books may have declined, yes, but not more than “normal,” and not significantly more than it did when there were no E-books around. (This is arguable of course, but the long term numbers do not show a precipitous drop-off). The yearly revenue decline, if there is one, can just as easily be written off to economic conditions as to E-book competition.  Bottom line:  Any drop in print revenue that may be caused by E-books are not significantly sharp enough to declare that E-books are destroying print book sales.  (Hence no Grinch).

What may be happening, and what I believe is happening is that a whole new market for E-books is developing, while the print book market growth, like Publishing as a whole, is still growing at a historically gradual pace. (Boringly flat).  Come up with your pet anecdote here, but I believe that more new readers are entering the market (who otherwise wouldn’t have) because of E-readers; existing readers are consuming more books (both print and e-book) than they did before; and while it would seem that a certain print title is losing a sale whenever readers buy it in E-book format, this is offset, at least somewhat, by the fact that more print titles are being bought (that otherwise wouldn’t) because of the extra marketing buzz and added awareness produced by the E-book’s cyber presence.  All of it evens out in the end, and I believe, ultimately fosters growth industry-wide.

So take heart Print fans, E-books are not the dark villain you think they are.  And here, I should correct my earlier analogy—that E-books are not the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  They may actually be the Grinch…in as much as, at the end of the story, the pear-shaped green guy ended up not only giving all the presents back to the singing Who-villers, he created a flash mob and started a big party as well.

Astor+Blue

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Posted in Book Blast, contest, Giveaway on December 19, 2012
Welcome!Today we have a special guest post by authors S.A. Price! They are here to share an epic giveaway with everyone that you will not want to miss out on!And now over to S.A. Price! 

 

Happy release day to us!

So Audra and I have a new book out today called SOMETHING DARKER, and we are really excited about starting this new, sexy series!
The one thing Syrus Alcot, the God of Death Osiris in the Egyptian Pantheon, wants in all the worlds is the woman he loved and lost returned to him. When he gave up his powers, and freedom for a life of service he was promised her return.  That was over one thousand years ago. A member of a team of dark gods charged with keeping humanity safe, he leads a loveless existence in New York City, searching for the one thing that could bring his wife back to him, a lapis scarab that was lost to him ages before.
Gwen Stapleton, a mild mannered librarian, is unaware that she holds the key to not only Syrus’ happiness, but her own. Seemingly stuck in a hopeless relationship with a man she doesn’t love, she has no idea that a chance meeting in Alphabet City will start a landslide to her heart’s content. Because Gwen is the keeper of the scarab, and is everything Syrus has ever wanted… and he’s not the only one.
An Ancient evil is waking, and its servants will stop at nothing to see it seize its rightful place as the new pantheon of earth. And in order for Syrus and his team to save the world, Gwen is going to have to accept him, and show that love does make all the difference.
Sexy right? What’s not to like about strong gods and sassy librarians? Exactly!
So to celebrate this momentous occasion, we are having a HUGE contest, as we want YOU to enter!
$2.99 really CAN change a person’s life, and kick a career into high gear…
Want to win something awesome? What’s awesome? How about this: Registration to AAD(2013 or 2014 if you are already registered for 2013), a VIP package including VIP early seating and entry badge, and welcome goodies from the hotel, a gift basket fulla goodies and our backlist books and Breakfast with us on Tuesday morning.  Awesome right? We thought so.
So how do you win? Simple.
We have a new book available called Something Darker, the first in our Inferi Dii series. You can pick it up at Amazon on kindle and in print. Simply buy the book, and send us the receipt from Amazon. That will get you entered for the big prize.
What’s that you say? You want more entries? We have other ways of adding to your entries…
  • Going to Authorgraph.com and requesting we digitally sign your book will get you 3 extra entries.
  • Tweeting the contest will get you 2 more entries Facebooking the contest will get you 2 more entries
  • Liking the Book on Amazon will get you 3 more entries
  • Liking our other books on Amazon will get you 2 more entries per BOOK (and yes we are counting both print and e book likes!)
  • Posting a review before the end of the contest (a real review) will get you 5 entries per place you post (max of 10 entries for posting on Goodreads and Amazon.com)
  • Buying other books in our backlist will get you 10 entries PER BOOK you send a receipt for (sorry guys, has to be bought between December 18 and the end of the event and MUST NOT be returned! We will know if it has been!)
Now here is the kicker…. We have to hit a minimum of 200 sales before the big contest prize goes into play. Why? Because it’s a VERY expensive prize, and we cannot offer it and make it worth our while without a minimum of 200 receipts!
And if we get this book in the top 100 at Amazon, I will throw in the coup de grace, your hotel room for AAD from Tuesday-Sunday FREE OF CHARGE! This prize is already worth $1000! Add in the room and its worth almost $2000! Isn’t that
worth paying for a $2.99 book?
So you ready to win baby? Send your receipts to: everversestella@gmail.com with “SOMETHING DARKER CONTEST ENTRY” in the subject. (For other books put: SOMETHING DARKER CONTEST ENTRY—(NAME OF THE BOOK). Contest runs from December 18 to January 15th. Winner will be announced on January 18rd 2013!
Wanna join in on the release day fun? Join the Release day group at Facebook and hangout!
Print Link: Amazon
Kindle Link:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AOT77GWBook Blurb:

The one thing Syrus Alcot, the God of Death Osiris in the Egyptian Pantheon, wants in all the worlds is the woman he loved and lost returned to him. When he gave up his powers, and freedom for a life of service he was promised her return. That was over one thousand years ago. A member of a team of dark gods charged with keeping humanity safe, he leads a loveless existence in New York City, searching for the one thing that could bring his wife back to him, a lapis scarab that was lost to him ages before.

Gwen Stapleton, a mild mannered librarian, is unaware that she holds the key to not only Syrus’ happiness, but her own. Seemingly stuck in a hopeless relationship with a man she doesn’t love, she has no idea that a chance meeting in Alphabet City will start a landslide to her heart’s content. Because Gwen is the keeper of the scarab, and is everything Syrus has ever wanted… and hes not the only one.

An Ancient evil is waking, and its servants will stop at nothing to see it seize its rightful place as the new pantheon of earth. And in order for Syrus and his team to save the world, Gwen is going to have to accept him, and show that love does make all the difference.

 

*** Please note that borrowing the book from the kindle lending library will not be accepted as a “Buy Receipt”. In order to be entered to win the grand prize, you must purchase the book.***


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Posted in Cover Reveal, romance on December 18, 2012

 LennonsJinxGW-1

Title: Lennon’s Jinx

Author: Chris Myers

Expected release date: January 15, 2013

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Group: New Adult

Cover designer: Chris Myers ; Shutterstock photo by Coka

Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

goodreads-badge-add-plus

 

 

Book Description:

Sometimes, we don’t get to choose who we fall for.

Lennon spends most of his time raising his little sister Currie while trying to skate through his senior year of high school. He prefers groupies with no-strings attached but finds himself strangely attracted to Jinx, the straight-A student in his choir. Lennon’s curiosity overrules his good sense as he tries to peel away the layers to discover the reason for Jinx’s skittishness.

Jinx conceals the black truth about herself from her friends. She won’t admit to them that she screwed up big time, losing her first love and what she once held most precious.

When Lennon’s band holds auditions to replace their keyboard player, Jinx comes to tryout and almost leaves after seeing Lennon. Despite the fact she despises him, she joins the band to nurture her love of music that will hopefully ease the guilt gnawing away at her.

Like the rest of his band mates, Jinx soon witnesses Lennon battling his infamous father for the custody of Currie. While confronting his pent-up anger at his dad, Lennon exposes vulnerabilities he had no intention of letting any girl ever see, especially Jinx. Their reckless pasts may bring them together or further complicate their already messy lives.

 

About the author:

Chris Myers

Author link: Chris Myers

 

Chris Myers suffers from an overactive imagination. In second grade, Sister Bernice produced Chris’s first play about pumpkins mauling and eating children. Apparently, the nuns didn’t catch the underlying meaning. This instantly raised Chris to stardom amongst her peers for the several days off from schoolwork while in production. She spent her high school years writing torch songs for fantasy guys then moved onto writing thrillers and young adult. Chris lives in Colorado with her daughter, her better half, and BeBe, a rambunctious Bichon.

Chris literally has very few photos of herself, even though photography put her through college. Here she is with her sisters and daughter. Chris is the one with the vino.

Chris started out as an art major, then moved to bio-chem, hoping to play Victor Frankenstein as a genetic engineer or messing with people’s minds as a psychiatrist. Just as she was about to graduate, she decided being broke for another four to ten years wouldn’t work out for her adventurous spirt and traveling. She ended up with an electrical engineering degree then a masters. As it turns out, she should’ve finished her first novel twenty-five years ago and stuck in the make-believe world where she is happiest.

 

 

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