Synopsis

 

After seven years of faithfully following her spiritual teacher, Renee Linnell finally realized she was in a cult and had been severely brainwashed. But how did that happen to someone like her? She had graduated magna cum laude with a double degree. She had traveled to nearly fifty countries alone before she turned thirty-five. She was a surf model and a professional Argentine tango dancer. She had started five different companies and had an MBA from NYU. How could someone like her end up brainwashed and in a cult?

The Burn Zone is an exploration of how we give up our power―how what started out as a need to heal from the loss of her parents and to understand the big questions in life could leave a young woman fighting for her sanity and her sense of self. In the years following her departure from the cult, Linnell struggled to reclaim herself, to stand in her truth, and to rebuild her life. And eventually, after battling depression and isolation, she found a way to come out the other side stronger than ever. Part inspirational story, part cautionary tale, this is a memoir for spiritual seekers and those who feel lost in a world that makes them feel less than perfect.

 

 

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Guest Post

 

Why I Wrote The Burn Zone

by Renee Linnell

 

I wrote The Burn Zone as a catharsis; I had to get the story out of me. Dr. Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I believe she is right. The story was consuming me. It was tearing me apart from within. I was filled with anger and hatred and confusion and I had to let it go. So I wrote. And wrote and wrote and wrote. I vomited all of it onto paper. Over and over and over again. The same scenarios, the same pain, the same periods of my life. I wrote hate letters that I never sent. I screamed into pillows. I wrote letters to God. Over 700 pages I wrote. And it helped. The heaviness began to lift. The anger began to abate. The fits of rage dissipated. The overwhelming sadness turned to hope.

 

As this happened I began to speak bits of my story to loved ones. I began to share what I went through, what I signed up for. People were shocked, amazed, and . . . impressed. I began to realize my story had worth. I began to realize it was a story of strength; a story of the fight of the human spirit; a story of uncovering my True Self from deep within the shattered pile of a whole lifetime’s worth of rubble. As I spoke my story I began to get a consistent similar response, “You have to write a book.” It was then that I realized I had been writing a book; it was then that I made the decision to publish what I had written.

 

But, it wasn’t easy. Reading through my journals was painful. Reliving those stories, those states of mind, was sickening. However, I kept doing it. Because as I did it I realized I had inscribed a map. It was a description of what so many of us (I may even venture to say all of us) do as we create a life to please others. And it was a map, a stepping stone path, out, back to authenticity. I realized I had to print and share my story; even if it helped only one other person.

 

I suppose my background as a seeker and as a Buddhist monk influenced my writing in that I felt safe being raw. Vulnerable. “In my defenselessness, my safety lies,” says The Course in Miracles. I took it to heart. And it has been liberating. Publishing my whole story is so freeing because I get to just be me. And it turns out I’m really good at being me. I sucked at being the versions of me I thought I was supposed to be to please my parents, my teachers, my friends, the rest of the world; but it’s actually not much effort at all to just be me. I had a great writing teacher in high school who taught us all the rules of grammar, but then encouraged us to break them. So, you will notice I break a lot of writing rules, but I write the way I would tell a story. Thought by thought, sentence by sentence. Again, authenticity. This is the way I would tell you a story if we were face to face in my living room; why should I write it any other way?

 

It is my sincere desire that readers would feel liberated after reading my book. I love to imagine the little child within them smiling, finally feeling like s/he gets to call the shots. I love the idea of my readers making the commitment to love and nurture themselves; to treat themselves to the little joys in life that they love. I would love for my readers to finally let go of shame; to start claiming and even celebrating their stories. Especially the “skeletons in the closet.” I imagine shackles around the soul being removed; the shackles of shame, the shackles of not-forgiving, the shackles of wishing this or that never happened. I love imagining the spirits of my readers dancing around in the joy and wonder of their Earth Walk. Changing their mental paradigms to believing their life has been a wild adventure instead of lugging around the baggage of regret. I love imagining the flames within their hearts, the light within, igniting. And I would love for my readers to pull up to the surface, and feel safe in the exposing of, the parts of them that make them different. I would love for them to put my book down knowing their difference is their destiny and feeling ready to show and tell the world about their story, their fight of the human spirit, all that they have gone through, all that they have learned. I would love for them to discover the exhilarating freedom that comes with forgiving all of it, embracing their battle scars, and using those scars to go out in the world and fulfill their true Divine Purpose.

 

About the Author

 

Renee Linnell is the author of The Burn Zone: A Memoir, now available on Audible. She is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and co-founded five companies and has an Executive Masters in Business Administration from New York University. Currently, she is working on starting a publishing company to give people from diverse walks of life an opportunity to tell their stories. She divides her time between Colorado and Southern California.

 

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Giveaway

 

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An essential addition to every cook’s bookshelf, The Modern Cook’s Year will show you how to make the most of seasonal produce, using simple, hugely inventive flavours and ingredients.

Divided into six seasons, Anna Jones’s long-awaited new cook book contains over 250 delicious vegetarian recipes interspersed with tips on everything from seasonal music playlists to flowers to look out for in each month of the year.

The Modern Cook’s Year includes:

Start of the Year: Spelt with pickled pears and pink leaves and Chocolate and blood orange freezer cake; First Warm Days of Spring: Elderflower dressed broad beans and leaves with burrata and Chickpea farinata with slow cooked courgettes; Herald of Spring: Spring chickpea soup with salted lemons and Rhubarb and rose geranium frozen yoghurt; Summer: Smoked aubergine flatbreads and Beetroot tops tart; Autumn: Orzo with tomatoes and feta and Honey, lemon and coriander seed cake; Winter: Velvet squash broth with miso and soba and Chocolate rye porridge with quick honey pears.

Guiding you through the year, from the coldest winter days to the long light summer evenings, The Modern Cook’s Year is set to become a contemporary classic.

 

Review

This colorful cookbook is chock full of recipes that incorporates vegetables that are in season by the season.  There are six sections including each season, start of the year, herald of spring, first warm days, and basics.  There are even Flavor Maps which give you a place to start whether it is soups, flatbreads, fritters, or other dishes.  Then it walks you through each step of deciding what to add from other vegetables, spices, to what to serve the dish with at mealtime.  For a newer cook these are invaluable as it isn’t a recipe to follow per se, but a guide to trying different spices or vegetables in the same basic recipe.

I like that this cookbook focuses each section based on what is in season because we all know that is when those fruits and vegetables taste the best.  There are 250 recipes in this cookbook and you could make something different every day and not repeat any recipe for nearly a year.  I’m sure you will find some favorites that will become a staple in your home.

The recipe that I am going to try first (because I have a picky husband) is Tomatoes with Whipped Feta.  This is in the summer section and while not quite summer, close enough for me! Plus I love tomatoes and this looks like an easy side dish to make.

I have several other recipes tagged including Orzo with spiced tomato sauce and feta, Mini squash and chive dumplings, and Sea-salted chocolate and lemon mousse.  There are so many delicious recipes I can’t wait to try them all and see what my family thinks.

Overall I give this 4 1/2 paws up only because some of the ingredients are not common and might be harder to find in the store.  The author is from the UK so some things may be easier for her to find than me without running around to multiple stores or shopping online for some of the less common ingredients.

 

About the Author

Anna Jones is a cook, writer, and stylist, the voice of modern vegetarian cooking, and the author of several cookbooks.  The Modern Cook’s Year won the Guild of Food Writers Cookery Book Award 2018 and Observer Food Monthly’s Best Cookbook 2018.  Anna’s books have been translated into six languages.  She writes a weekly column for the Guardian.  She believes in putting vegetables at the center of the table and the unbridled joy of cooking and eating.  She lives in Hackney, East London, with her husband and son.

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For a Good Paws (A Barkery & Biscuits Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Midnight Ink (May 8, 2019)
Paperback: 288 pages

Synopsis

Barkery owner Carrie Kennersly follows the scent of murder to find the true culprit . . .

When Carrie Kennersley, owner of a two-part bakery that serves tasty treats to both dogs and humans, learns that a local killer is being paroled, she worries that danger will come barking at her door.

Ten years ago, Mike Holpurn was convicted of murdering the first female mayor of Knobcone Heights. Now, shortly after his release, Holpurn puts the whole town on edge by yelling at the former mayor’s husband, Henry Schulzer. After Schulzer is found dead, everyone assumes Holpurn is the culprit. But Carrie thinks there’s more to the story, especially since Holpurn claims Schulzer was the one who really killed the mayor. Carrie is determined to uncover the truth, even if it means things will get ruff.

Includes recipes!

Amazon – B&N – BooksAMillion – IndieBound

 

Guest Post

BARKERY AND BISCUITS AND MORE

by Linda O. Johnston

Hard to believe it, but my Barkery & Biscuits Mystery Series is now in its fifth and final year.  The last book in the series, FOR A GOOD PAWS, is a May 2019 release.   Why is it the last?  The publisher, Midnight Ink, is closing.

In the series, protagonist Carrie Kennersly is a veterinary technician who dreamed of becoming her own boss.  At the beginning of BITE THE BISCUIT, the first book in the series, her friend Brenda Anesco had to sell her bakery, Icing on the Cake, and move away from Knobcone Heights, California, to care for her ailing mother.  Carrie bought it and converted half of Icing into Barkery and Biscuits, a store that sells handmade dog treats made from healthy recipes Carrie developed for patients as a vet tech.  She also maintained the other half, Icing on the Cake, to sell fresh baked goods for people.

I realized when I began the Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries that I was combining two popular cozy mystery themes: pets and cooking.  I even include recipes in the stories–one for a dog treat and one for a people treat.

I first came up with the hint of an idea for this series quite a few years ago, when I recognized  the emerging industry of small shops that catered to home-cooked meals and treats for pets but it wasn’t very popular–then.

By the time BITE THE BISCUIT was published, that was already a different story.  In my area of Los Angeles, for example, there are quite a few shops like that.  Some are even small chain stores.

Of course I have to visit them, and I buy samples most places I visit.  I have to be a little careful about what I buy, since my older Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Mystie has tummy issues and is on a prescription food diet, although I’m able to give her some new treats if I’m careful.  Our other Cavalier, Cari, is now two years old and eats everything.  I’m sure both dogs consider it fun that I’m doing this kind of research for my Barkery series.

The books in the Barkery series are cozy mysteries, which means there are murders in them.  They take place in the fictional town of Knobcone Heights, California.  Carrie holds adoption events in the Barkery, and one of her closest friends is Councilwoman Billi Matlock, who also owns a day spa and Mountaintop Rescue, a very special animal shelter.

Plus, Carrie’s dog Biscuit gets to hang out in the Barkery and sample all the wonderful dog treats.  They both also go to the Knobcone Veterinary Clinic, where Carrie has maintained her part-time job as a veterinary technician. Plus, she has a relationship going with one of the vets there, Dr. Reed Storme.   And, yes, Carrie does keep solving murders.

And it’s certainly been fun to write these stories.  I hope you enjoy reading them!

 

About the Author

Linda O. Johnston, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, writes the Barkery & Biscuits Mystery Series for Midnight Ink.  Her fifth and final book in the series, For a Good Paws, is a May 2019 release.  She has also written Superstition Mysteries for Midnight Ink, and the Pet Rescue Mystery Series and Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime.  Linda also writes for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, and nearly all her current stories involve dogs.

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Title: THE DESIRE CARD
Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg
Publisher: Fahrenheit Press
Genre: Crime/Suspense

Synopsis

Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That’s the promise the Desire Card gives to its elite clients. But if the Card doesn’t feel like they’ve been justly compensated, the “price” will be more menacing than the clients could ever imagine.

Harrison Stockton learns this lesson all too well. Harrison has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street along with a fondness for alcohol and pills, and a family he adores, yet has no time for. All of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his executive job and discovers he has liver cirrhosis with mere months left to live.

After finding himself far down on the donor list, Harrison takes matters into his own hands. This decision sparks a gritty and gripping quest that takes him to the slums of Mumbai in search of a black market organ and forces him under the Desire Card’s thumb. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what’s right and put a stop to the Card.

THE DESIRE CARD is a taut international thriller that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn’t always enough to get everything he desires. It’s the first book in a series followed by PREY NO MORE that focuses on other people indebted to this sinister organization, where the actual price is the cost of one’s soul.

Praise

“Careful what you wish for, especially from a nefarious shadow organization, in this gripping start to Lee Matthew Goldberg’s fast-paced, highly compelling, buzz worthy new series. If you love characters morally compromised, richly drawn, and constantly surprising, you’ll love The Desire Card. I burned through the first book and can’t wait to get my hands on PREY NO MORE to see where this endlessly exciting story takes me next! Loved it!” – Daniel Palmer, critically acclaimed suspense author

Amazon

Review

I think the author summed it up nicely in his notes at the end of the book – the main character is a terrible guy that thinks money will buy him whatever he needs with no thought for anyone but himself.  I have to agree, Harrison is a very unlikable character.  He is self absorbed, drinks too much, ignores his family, and works himself to gain more money.  “Money becomes the source of evil for the characters.” (from the author’s notes)  It is mind boggling what people will do for money and how they will harm others.  We see that in society today with those that scam or steal and this is no different.

This book takes us on a journey of Harrison – who is fired/let go from his job, discovers he has cirrhosis of the liver, is in a loveless marriage, and has two children that don’t know him since he was always absent from their lives.  I was pretty disgusted with Harrison’s actions and thought process throughout most of the book, it was like watching a train wreck – hard to look away because you know it isn’t going to end well.  In the end he tried to redeem himself but it was too little too late IMHO.  He had so many opportunities to stop the cycle he was on but he couldn’t see the forest through the trees as they say.  I did appreciate that when he found a new job near the end of the book that it took him down another path.  Harrison did learn something from this whole experience and hopefully it will stay with him going forward.

I did wonder who was behind The Desire Card and wasn’t too surprised when that was revealed.  While I didn’t figure it out until near the end it made sense.

Overall a good book that will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what could possibly happen next.  There is so much more to this book that I didn’t touch on because I don’t want to give away too much of the story.  We give it 4 paws up.

Excerpt

HARRISON STUMBLED INTO CENTRAL PARK CLUTCHING THE SILVER BRIEFCASE, HIS BODY SHAKING FROM BEING HUNTED. Clouds clogged the sky. The trees seemed like creatures towering over him. He turned around to see the man in the Humphrey Bogart mask running toward the entrance, a gun bulging from the guy’s inside pocket. The man’s cold eyes scanned the park, zeroing in. Harrison took off down a dirt path until he was alone with only the wind ringing in his ears.

He wanted to collapse; he begged himself to just give in. Nature would destroy him soon anyway, and his shins were starting to feel like they’d been repeatedly stabbed. He coughed up an excess of blood and mucus that spilled down a rock. Now he’d gone so far down the trail that he couldn’t see where he entered. The sound of footsteps came from all directions. A distorted laugh caused all the nearby pigeons to shoot toward the sky. The laugh was followed by an eerie whistle that became louder and louder as he spun around expecting to see his pursuer.

A shadow passed behind a tree, bigger than any animal. He propped himself up against a rock, too exhausted to move any farther, closing his eyes and waiting to die. He could see tomorrow’s headlines declaring his death as a mugging gone wrong.

“Gracie,” he cried, trembling. “Brent, my boy…oh God.”

He had pissed himself now, the urine hot and sticky as it trickled down his pants leg. He still held the silver briefcase close to his chest, resolving not to let it go without a fight.

The man in the Bogart mask emerged from behind a tree holding a gun.

“Just hand it over, Mr. Stockton,” the man said. The voice box attached to his mouth made him sound robotic, weirdly calm. “You don’t want this to get any more complicated than it already has.”

The man made a grab for the briefcase, but Harrison held on tight.

“You’ll kill me anyway,” Harrison yelled, spooking any pigeons that hadn’t already flown away.

“Only if you force me to do so.”

The man kicked Harrison in the shin, causing him to nearly buckle over. Harrison was thrown to the ground, the man pinning him down. He still managed to hold onto the briefcase as if it was fused to his hand.

“The Boss doesn’t know about what you’ve done yet,” the man said, hitting Harrison’s head against the hard dirt. “Do you understand what that means? That means you can still live. And he’ll never find out as long as we get what we’re owed.”

“Why would you do that for me?” he asked, seeing four masked men spinning around.

The man stepped back and pointed the gun between Harrison’s eyes.

“The Boss doesn’t like when things don’t go according to plan. I could be in as much trouble as you for letting this slip-up happen. So let’s make this easy for both of us.”

Harrison got on one elbow and hoisted himself up.

“Do I have your word?”

The man nodded.

“And my family? My wife…my kids? I wouldn’t have to worry about them being hurt?”

“As much as you might think that you are our sole concern, we have an entire organization to run beyond your pithy life. Now I will count to ten and if you don’t hand over the briefcase, I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.”

Harrison thought about what his life had really amounted to. All the hours he’d slaved at Sanford & Co., making rich people boatloads richer. Getting into the office before dawn and often heading home in the middle of the night. Sacrificing his family, his youth, his sanity. How it had made him into a drinker, a serial gorger of all vices, just so he could forget about what he was losing. After all of that, what did he have left to show?

“…8…9…10,” the man said, about to pull the trigger.

“All right, all right.”

Harrison handed over the briefcase. The man opened it up and appeared to be satisfied, a smirking grin visible through his mask.

“I’ll leave you with this nugget of wisdom,” he said, without putting the gun away. “If what you did manages to compromise us in any way, if there are any rippling after-effects, be prepared to come across the Boss. He’s known to wear a Clark Gable mask.” The man’s smirk had disappeared. “He only appears when he’s ready to bloody his hands. Good day, Mr. Stockton.”

“Who are you people? Under the masks…who are you really?”

The man raised the gun over Harrison’s head.

“I doubt you’ll ever find out,” he said, and struck Harrison on the forehead with the handle.

A trickle of blood spilled down Harrison’s nose and felt cold on his tongue. He slunk down and rested his cheek against the dirt, watching the man in the mask take off through the trees, the silver briefcase shining like a beam of light snaking through the leaves. And then the man finally disappeared—as if he was nothing more than a nightmare brought to life and extinguished once the fitful dreamer finally woke.

Harrison pressed against his rib cage and felt for his engorged liver. Cursed at it. Wanted to tear it from his stomach. He’d been poisoned from within for too long, his unending punishment for all of his crimes. Blood zigzagged into his eyes as the wound on his forehead opened up even more. With his other hand he reached into his pocket and removed his wallet. A thin metallic card fell from out of a sleeve and sat in a puddle of blood that had collected in the dirt.

He crumpled it up in his fist since it was responsible for letting these psychopaths into his life. He knew he’d never feel completely settled again, always worried that they might come after him and his family. The Desire Card had caused him to seek out gruesome and despicable wishes. From the instant this devil’s temptation had been placed in his hands, his moral compass never stood a chance. So he chucked it into the air and watched it sail over the rocks for some other fool to find.

“I’m sorry, Helene,” he mumbled to the wind. He knew he’d have to come clean about everything. His head throbbed, and he recalled a memory from twenty-five years ago. Spying her in the quad at Chilton College drinking a cherry Coke, tan and shapely from field hockey, the entire campus becoming muted except for her. He took a chance by flirting miserably and changing the course of their lives.

She would’ve been better off if they had never met. In such a short amount of time, he’d fallen so far. Now because of him people had been sliced up, left for dead, and soon he’d follow them to his own grave. As he drifted off into unconsciousness, he remembered that it all began to spiral out of control on his last day at Sanford & Co. over a month ago, this treacherous path he embarked on, his dark and dried-up destiny.

About the Author

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of SLOW DOWN and THE MENTOR (St. Martin’s Press), which was acquired by Macmillan Entertainment with the film in development. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. The first two books in a thriller series, The Desire Card and PREY NO MORE, are forthcoming from Fahrenheit Press in winter 2019. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series.  He lives in New York City.

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Book Title: Robot, Take the Wheel: The Road to Autonomous Cars and the Lost Art of Driving

Author: Jason Torchinsky

Category: Adult Non-Fiction, 207 pages

Genre: Automobile Technology, Car enthusiasts

Publisher: Apollo Publishers

Synopsis

From the witty senior editor of Jalopnik, Gizmodo Media’s acclaimed website devoted to cars, technology, and more, comes a revealing, savvy, and humorous look at self-driving cars.

Self-driving cars sound fantastical and futuristic and yet they’ll soon be on every street in America. Whether it’s Tesla’s Autopilot, Google’s Waymo, Mercedes’s Distronic, or Uber’s 24,000 modified Volvos, companies across industries and throughout the world are developing autonomous cars. Even Apple, not to be outdone, is rumored to be creating its own technology too.

In Robot, Take the Wheel, Jason Torchinsky explores the state of the automotive industry. Through wit and wisdom, he explains why autonomous cars are being made and what the future of automated cars is. Torchinsky encourages us to consider autonomous cars as an entirely new machine, something beyond cars as we understand them today. He considers how we’ll get along with these robots that will take over our cars’ jobs, what they will look like, what sorts of jobs they may do, what we can expect of them, how they should act, ethically, how we can have fun with them, and how we can make sure there’s still a place for those of us who love to drive with manual or automatic transmission.

This unique and highly readable volume is brimming with industry insider information and destined to be a conversation starter. It’s a must-have for car lovers, technology geeks, and everyone who wants to know what’s on the road ahead.

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Indiebound ~ Book Depository

About the Author

JASON TORCHINSKY is senior editor of Jalopnik, a website devoted to news and opinions about all things automotive. As a writer and artist, he is known for his articles, artworks, talks, and videos about cars, technology, and culture. He has raced cars, wrecked cars, and driven possibly one of the most dangerous cars ever made with the King of Cars on the Emmy-winning Jay Leno’s Garage. He lives in North Carolina.

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Giveaway

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(ends May 31, 2019)

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Welcome to my monthly #Giveaway coordinated to my friend over at BookHounds.

 

As always, I’ll be giving away a book.  I try to send something from one of your favorite genres whenever possible.

 

Several ways to enter and be sure to visit the other blogs participating in this Hop listed below.

 

 

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Synopsis

Emma Lovett leaves her philandering husband and crosses the country to begin her teaching career at a high school in Pinewood, Colorado.There, she meets Leslie Parker, a fellow teacher given to quoting Shakespeare to fit all situations, and the two become fast friends.

Arriving at work early one morning, Emma discovers the body of the school custodian, a man who reminds her of her late father. When the police struggle to find the killer, the ladies decide to help solve the murder. Their efforts lead them to a myriad of suspects: the schizophrenic librarian, the crude football coach, the mysterious social studies teacher, and even Emma’s new love interest.

As Emma Lovett discovers the perils of teaching high school, she and Leslie learn more than they ever wanted to know about the reasons people kill.

 

Review

Teachers never have it easy but to be a first time teacher and find a dead body, well that could make anyone question their career choice!

This is the first in a new series set in Colorado and featuring a transplanted Southern woman named Emma and her new found friend and fellow teacher, Leslie, who quotes Shakespeare at every turn.  I found their interactions witty but also had to shake my head at some of their actions since it put them into danger more often than not.  There is a budding romance for Emma with a coach from the school, Hunter.  Leslie has something happening romantically in her life but we don’t know much about the other party yet.

The mystery is very well written and I never suspected the killer.  I honestly didn’t know who to suspect and looking back I don’t recall any clues that just stood out that pointed one direction or another.

There is also a little bit of sadness when we learn who Melvin (the murder victim) left behind and didn’t know how close he was to the love of his life.  I enjoyed how this story unfolded, sadly after the fact.  But it explains so much!

The only thing I didn’t like was using “ahm” or something similar to represent Emma’s southern drawl.  After the first few times to illustrate her drawl I think it could have been left out since I was putting the accent in my head anyway!

We give this first in a new series 4 paws up.

About the Author

“Kelley Kaye” taught High School English and Drama since 1992 in California, then Colorado and now Cali again, but her love for storytelling dates back to creating captions in her high school yearbook. Maybe back to the tales she created for her Barbie and Ken—whatever the case, the love’s been around a long time. She’s married to an amazing man who cooks for her, and they have two funny and wonderful sons.

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Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Lindsey McKay’s biggest dream is to be a famous ballerina. But after moving to New York, she ends up at the Community Center with a teacher who’s a burly bear in tights.

When she meets Madame Destinée, the teacher of a top dance school who offers her classes for free, Lindsey can’t believe her luck. In exchange, she must perform in the school’s exclusive midnight shows, ones sure to make her a star. But something’s not right…

One by one, the other dancers disappear. Each time they do, a music box with a figurine just like the missing ballerina joins Madame Destinée’s growing collection. If Lindsey doesn’t discover the truth about the dance school, she might end up a tiny figurine herself.

Amazon (US) * Amazon (UK) * B&N * Kobo

 

Excerpt

Everything beyond the front edge of the stage sat in a black void. Still, the audience was there, waiting. Lindsey could feel their anticipation dripping down her neck like icky ooze.

Finally, the music played.

The stage and the audience disappeared.  Lindsey spun and danced, gliding across the stage. The music embraced her like a warm hug and invited her to fly.

One pirouette.

Two.

She bounded high into the air until a pair of arms caught her and steadied her before swishing away into a joint spin.

Then, the music stopped. Lights beamed down from all directions.

“Ready to come down?” Robert stared up at her. He held her high in the air; her body stretched out above him in a lift. Lindsey sucked in air. She was going to fall! She had no idea how she got up there. His quivering arms made her wish she hadn’t. “If you drop me, I swear I’ll pour that whole bottle of perfume over your head. You’ll stink like your grandma for weeks.”

He laughed, which didn’t exactly help things. The muscles in his arms tightened against his sleeves as he lowered her. Her weight shifted one way and then the other. When her feet hit solid floor, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Bravo! Bravo!” The theatre shook.

The audience! Lindsey turned to face the crowd. It was impossible to see them past the bright stage lights, but their cheers made it clear they were there.

“Bravo! Bravo!”

The other dancers lined up on either side of them, all falling into a wave of bows and curtseys. Robert took her hand, and together they stepped forward and accepted the applause.

“Ruf. Ruf. Ruf.”

“Broussard?” Squinting, Lindsey finally made out the first row of chairs. The red velvet cushions were puffed up and lined with golden cord. And every single one of them was empty. She couldn’t see past the first row to the rest of the theatre. Not that it mattered. Telling by the cheers, the rest of the seats were full.

“Smile and wave,” Robert ordered as he pulled her behind him and followed the rest of the dancers off the stage.

And she did smile and wave, as big and thankful as she could. She didn’t know how the music had made her dance, but she didn’t care. The audience loved the show, and she loved dancing for them. This was what it was like to dance on a real stage. It was better than she’d dreamed. She belonged on a stage. She was born for it.

 

About the Author

Tonja Drecker is a writer, blogger, children’s book reviewer and freelance translator. After spending years in Germany exploring forgotten castles, she currently resides in the Ozarks with her family of six. When she’s not tending her chickens and cows, she’s discovering new adventures, nibbling chocolate and sipping a cup of tea.

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The Little Teashop on Main

by

Jodi Thomas

Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction / Coming of Age

Publisher: HQN

Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Number of Pages: 336 pages

Scroll down for the giveaway!

 

A rainy-day ritual—a tea party between three little girls—becomes the framework of not only their friendship, but their lives.

Blonde, curly-haired Zoe is openhearted, kind and free-spirited, and dreams of becoming a famous actor in New York City. Shy Emily struggles with mental health but has the heart and soul of a writer. And Shannon—tall, athletic, strong—has a deep sense of loyalty that will serve her well when she heads off to military college.

As Zoe, Emily, and Shannon grow into women—forging careers, following dreams, and finding love—they’ll learn that life doesn’t always unfold the way they want it to, but through it all, the one constant is each other and their regular tea parties. And when the unthinkable happens, the girls must come together to face the greatest test of all.

A deeply moving novel about the family that raises us, the hearts that nurture us, and the great friendships that define our lives.

Harlequin┃  Amazon ┃ Barnes & Noble  ┃ Google Books

Praise

“Heart-wrenching as well as heartwarming, the book reflects the experiences of these seven multifaceted and compelling characters as they journey through challenging years together.” — NY Journal of Books

“A comforting treasure for regular Thomas readers who enjoy the easy flow of her writing, a little steamy romance to spice things up, and the development of vulnerable, realistic characters.” — Booklist

 

 

This excerpt is from the beginning of the book and sets the tone for the rest of the story.  Enjoy!

 

Zoe O’Flaherty danced on the tile floor of the sunroom as if it were a grand stage. Her sun-streaked red hair floated like a cape as it brushed against multicolored geraniums in full late summer bloom.

In her five-year-old mind, today was a perfect day, even if it was raining outside. The best day in her life. Better than Christmas or even Halloween.

Today, Zoe was having her first real tea party. Mommy, or Alex as grownups called her, had decorated with paper stars hanging from the ceiling fan, and she’d bought a Cinderella tea set. They’d made heart-shaped peanut butter sandwiches and tiny cupcakes with a cherry on top of each one. Choco¬late kisses sprinkled across the short table with three child sized plastic chairs. A small box sat on each plate filled with diamond rings as big as suckers and plastic necklaces.

“Now, Zoe, settle down,” Mommy said for the magillianth time. “You’ve got to welcome both girls when they arrive. You’re the hostess today. I’ll be in the kitchen with the mothers.”

“I know. I know.” She twirled. When she was a dancer someday, she’d never stop twirling.

The doorbell rang. Zoe squealed and darted to the door, her pink princess dress flying around her so lightly she could almost believe it was made of cotton candy.

“Hi,” she said, as a princess dressed in purple floated one step inside the house.

The mother behind her pushed the thin little girl forward. “You must be Zoe. I’m Mrs. Waters and this is my daughter Emily. She’s going to be in your kindergarten class. And I, for one, thank your mother for putting this party together so it won’t be too frightening for you girls next week. Emily will have two friends she knows in that petrifying environment.”

Zoe leaned down when Emily didn’t look up. This new princess had long brown braids and fear in her chocolate eyes.

Princess Emily sniffled, hugging herself as if she were cold.

Zoe had never thought about being afraid to go to kindergarten. Or that there would be someone who didn’t want to come to a tea party, but this purple princess did not look happy. “I’ve never had a tea party with anything but dolls. Have you?”

Brown braids slapped against Emily’s wet cheeks as she shook her head.

“I like your dress,” Zoe whispered. The new princess still didn’t look up, but her mother stretched her neck and looked around their room as if she were inspecting the small home.

“Interesting house,” Mrs. Waters said, her face wrinkling as if she smelled something unpleasant.

Emily finally raised her head and smiled a tiny bit. “I like your dress too, Zoe.”

Mommy came out of the kitchen and took Mrs. Waters away. Zoe was glad. She was probably nice, but if she’d brought a basket of apples like the queen in Snow White, Zoe wouldn’t have eaten one.

She took Emily’s hand and pulled her to the play table that was set for tea. “Do you like peanut butter sandwiches?”

“Yes, but I don’t like my crown. It’s too big.” Emily leaned sideways and it fell off. “My mommy says I’ll never find a prince if I don’t keep my crown on.”

“Mine’s too small.” Zoe shook her red curls and the crown bounced atop her head. “And I don’t want to find a prince. My mommy says I don’t have to find one if I don’t want to. She told me sometimes you have to kiss a frog to get one.”

Both girls giggled and switched crowns as Zoe’s mommy answered the doorbell.

 

 

This book has all the emotions running through it – from happiness to sorrow and everything in between.  It also speaks to friendships and how important they are in our lives.

I may have thought this was going to be a light read but the book surprised me as it was so much more.  I think what engaged me the most was the friendship of Zoe, Emma, and Shannon.  They were fast friends from kindergarten on and celebrated milestones in their lives by having a tea party.  I loved the tradition especially when they would have the tea party before leaving for college, when they came home, and for all milestones in between.  I marveled at how no matter what was going on in their lives they always found time for each other which is so very important.

Beyond the friendship aspect, this book also tied in mental health, illness, family, and that love can be right around the corner if you just take a peek and let it into your life.  It is also about chasing your dreams and living up to your potential.  Each woman’s personal story is woven beautifully within the whole story and there is even a storyline regarding Zoe’s mother and Shannon’s father.

This is probably one of the most heartwarming and heart-wrenching books I have read so far this year.  We give it 5 paws up and highly suggest you read this book!

 

 

With millions of books in print, Jodi Thomas is both a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 45 novels and 14 short story collections. Her stories travel through the past and present days of Texas and draw readers from around the world.

In July 2006, Jodi was the 11^th writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. With five RITA’s to her credit, along with National Readers’ Choice Awards and Booksellers’ Best Awards, Thomas has proven her skill as a master storyteller.

Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, Thomas enjoys interacting with students at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence.

When not working on a novel, or inspiring students to pursue writing careers, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, renovating a historic home, and “checking up” on their grown sons and four grandchildren.

 

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ONE PRINT COPY OF MORNINGS ON MAIN,

THE FIRST LAUREL SPRINGS BOOK

May 8-18, 2019

(US ONLY)

 

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Check out the other blogs on this tour

5/8/19	Notable Quotable	Texas Book Lover
5/8/19	Notable Quotable	Reading by Moonlight
5/9/19	Review	Missus Gonzo
5/10/19	BONUS Stop	Hall Ways Blog
5/10/19	Guest Post	Chapter Break Book Blog
5/11/19	Review	Momma on the Rocks
5/12/19	Review	Book Fidelity
5/13/19	Excerpt	StoreyBook Reviews
5/13/19	Author Interview	Kelly Well Read
5/14/19	Review	All the Ups and Downs
5/15/19	Excerpt	Rainy Days with Amanda
5/15/19	Review	Bibliotica
5/16/19	Excerpt	#Bookish
5/16/19	Excerpt	Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
5/17/19	Review	That’s What She’s Reading
5/17/19	Review	Carpe Diem Chronicles

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A Deadly Feast: A Key West Food Critic Mystery
Cozy Mystery
9th in Series
Crooked Lane Books (May 7, 2019)
Hardcover: 272 pages

Synopsis

National bestselling author Lucy Burdette’s intrepid food critic Hayley Snow must sniff out a killer in the ninth Key West Food Critic mystery.

Key West food critic Hayley Snow scents-es something fishy when a customer falls stone-crab cold dead on a seafood tasting tour.

Thanksgiving is nearly here, and Key West food critic Hayley Snow has just one more assignment to put to bed for Key Zest magazine before she gets to celebrate with her family and her police officer fiancé, Nathan Bransford. Then, just days later, wedding bells will ring—if death doesn’t toll first.

The sweet potatoes and stuffing will have to wait when Hayley picks up a distraught phone call from her friend, Analise Smith. On the last stop of a seafood tasting tour run by Analise, one of the customers collapsed—dead. With the police on the verge of shutting down the tour—and ruining Analise’s business—Hayley can hardly refuse her friend’s entreaties to investigate.

As if wedding jitters and family strife weren’t enough for Hayley to worry about, there’s crusty pastry chef Martha Hubbard, whose key lime pie may have been the murder weapon—but did she poison her own pie or was she framed? As the hours to Turkey Day tick away, the pressure cooker is on for Hayley to serve up the culprit on a silver platter in A Deadly Feast, national bestselling author Lucy Burdette’s taste-tempting ninth Key West Food Critic mystery.

About the Author

Clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) has published 16 mysteries, including the latest in the Key West food critic series, DEATH ON THE MENU (Crooked Lane Books, August 2018.) Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and a past president of Sisters in Crime. She blogs at Jungle Red Writers and shares her love for food with the culinary writers at Mystery Lovers Kitchen She lives in Madison CT and Key West FL.

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Check out the other blogs on this tour – some have giveaways!

May 2 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY

May 2 – Mystery Lovers Kitchen – RECIPE, GIVEAWAY

May 3 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT

May 3 – Killer Characters – CHARACTER GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY

May 4 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW, GIVEAWAY

May 5 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

May 6 – Elizabeth McKenna Romance Author – SPOTLIGHT

May 6 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY

May 7 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY

May 7 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

May 8 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

May 8 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

May 8 – The Conscious Cat – CHICKS ON THE CAST, GIVEAWAY

May 9 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT

May 9 – Carstairs Considers – REVIEW

May 10 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

May 10 – Wicked Cozy Authors – GUEST POST

May 11 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW

May 11 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW

May 12 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

May 12 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 13 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 14 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT

May 14 – Cinnamon and Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder – RECIPE, GIVEAWAY

May 15 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY

May 15 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

May 16 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

May 16 – View from the Birdhouse – SPOTLIGHT

May 17 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 17 – Drinks with Reads (Mystery Playground) – RECIPE