Sometimes what you think is normal, is anything but

 

Told in the vein of Susan Pfeiffer’s LIFE AS WE KNOW IT and Courtney Summers’ THIS IS NOT A TEST, this new YA novel will appeal to fans of Sci-Fi both young and old. END OF NORMAL is now available at Amazon and Champagne Books. Get to know more about Susan in this exclusive letter to readers…

 

Synopsis

16-year-old Olivia Richards’ last day of normal is simply that, normal. She spends her entire pre-school morning dressing to impress gorgeous guy Sawyer Rising, the hottest guy in high school. She argues with her mother about her skinny jeans being too tight, which Olivia considers ridiculous because isn’t that the point of skinny jeans? Sometimes her mother makes no sense. Olivia’s normal world also includes her gentle astrophysicist father and her twin brother Charlie, who is deaf. Despite proclaiming that his deafness is no big deal, deep inside Olivia feels it is a big deal and that it’s her duty to protect him.

Olivia’s normal ends that night when strange lights shoot out of the sky and turn into stinging drones, killing their parents, or at least they think their parents die, but do they? Forced to flee, the twins join forces with friends Axel, Clara, and Sawyer, to search for answers to the strange invasion. Discovering a conspiracy to hide the location of a second earth, they search for a way to stop the destruction of their world.

Excerpt

Stupid me, I’d forgotten about the world outside our house. There were all of our neighbors. They could help us. Help Mom. I squirmed away from Charlie and sprinted to the front door, flinging it open. The night was deadly calm, nothing moving, all of the houses shadowy and silent.

“Help us,” I shouted. “Mom needs help.”

Racing off our porch, I ran to the Anderson’s next door and hammered on their front door. “Help us, please, help us.”

My voice was loud enough to raise the dead, which was one of Mom’s stock phrases. When Clara and I got loud—not Charlie, never Charlie—Mom would come to our room, smiling, always smiling, and say those words. If it were possible, if my loudness could raise my dead mother, I’d scream until my lungs burst, dying myself if Mom would not be dead.

The Anderson’s house stayed dark. The door remained shut. I beat my fists against it, and still no one appeared. Defeated, I turned back to our house. Charlie loped across the lawn toward me, his arms flagging me down, his fingers signing, Dad.

We tore home, leaving our door open. I hoped someone would notice, and rush in to save us. I realized it was another one of my fantasies. After all what could anyone really do? This wasn’t a movie where dead people could be made whole again. This was the real world where real stuff happened.

Hollow and empty, I wandered into the living room where Dad still blew air into Mom’s mouth and struck her chest, again, and again, and again. Charlie and I reached for his arms, “Dad, stop. It won’t do any good, She’s dead.” His vacant stare stopped us. It was almost as if he was dead too. I threw myself at him. “Dad, stop. You’ve got to stop.”

I tried to tell him it would do no good. That. She. Was. Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

The words boomed inside me, echoing across the expanse of my skull and I crouched onto the floor sobbing. I wept until I ached and my cries sounded hoarse and dry and spent and I couldn’t stay still any longer. I stumbled around the house, dragging myself from room to room in a funk of misery and disbelief. In the bathroom, I somehow managed to twist on the faucet and with the water flowing fast and hot, I attempted to scrub the night off my skin. The soap stung, and I cherished the pain. Pain gave me clarity. It helped me understand nothing would change my mother’s dying.

I slumped against the sink, slowly slipping to the cold tile floor. Charlie squatted next to me and we leaned against each other.

Finally, he stood and lifted me up beside him.

I’m afraid, my fingers told him.

Me too, his replied.

About the Author

Susan worked as a high school teacher until she thought her head would explode from all the ideas and questions her students asked. Thinking it would be easier; she foolishly switched from teaching to the ridiculous job of professional fundraiser. After spending more years than she wants to admit begging strangers for money, she gathered what pride she had left and enrolled in Spalding University’s MFA program where she became blissfully happy working with other writers and improving her writing. She currently lives and writes in Seabrook, Texas with her husband Mike, Vlad the cat, and their deaf dog Chester.

Her first YA novel, END OF NORMAL, will be available October 6, 2014 by Champagne Books and can be purchased through any online bookstore. I am in the process of developing a new, and much better website, but until it’s ready, you can check out my current, rather pitiful site. It has my bi-weekly blog and books I’m working on. My new site will be much better, so bookmark my web address and check back in a few weeks.

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Giveaway

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Fit To Be Dead (An Aggie Mundeen Mystery Book 1)
E-Book File Size: 477 KB
Publisher: Henery Press (July 24, 2014)
ASIN: B00M4KIX44
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Henery Press(July 29, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1940976372

Synopsis

Aggie Mundeen, single and pushing forty, fears nothing but middle age. When she moves from Chicago to San Antonio, she decides she better shape up before anybody discovers she writes the column, “Stay Young with Aggie.” She takes Aspects of Aging at University of the Holy Trinity and plunges into exercise at Fit and Firm.

Rusty at flirting and mechanically inept, she irritates a slew of male exercisers, then stumbles into murder. She’d like to impress the attractive detective with her sleuthing skills. But when the killer comes after her, the health club evacuates semi-clad patrons, and the detective has to stall his investigation to save Aggie’s derriere.

Amazon  |  B&N Nook   |   Kobo   |   iTunes   |   Google Play

Review

This book has good potential to become a great series.  The main character, Aggie, is nearing 40 and isn’t model thin (many of us can relate!) with a proclivity for trouble.  She has gone back to school and is studying aging which tie in nicely with the column she writes and her desire to start working out.  Aggie has three close friends: Meredith, her neighbor Grace and Sam, who she has been good friends with since she lived in Chicago.  There is a LOT more to the Aggie and Sam story but I won’t share any of that.  You might be able to figure it out before it is disclosed about halfway through the book, but maybe not.  I didn’t guess!

Overall I enjoyed the book but felt a little lost in the beginning.  For the first book in a new series, I expected more of a character set up at the beginning versus the middle of the book.  I was also surprised to see Aggie jump into this mystery as to who killed Holly when she just met her.  I also didn’t realize that Aggie had that much of a desire to get involved in investigating homicides.  As with most cozy mysteries, Aggie puts herself in harms way many times and is lucky to not get herself killed…but then it wouldn’t be a series if she did die.  The author does a good job of throwing a lot of possible murderers at the reader and managed to keep me from guessing who the killer might be from the list of suspects.  I never suspected the killer.

We give this book 3 1/2 paws since I felt a little lost in the beginning and didn’t think the book gave a good background on the characters until further into the storyline.  I will be reading the second book and feel like now that I have a handle on the characters that it won’t be as hard to understand the back story of their lives.

About This Author

I’ve been writing since age seven: poems back and forth with my mom. I had a real poem published in the Library Journal, Pegasus, at age fifteen. At eighteen, I wanted to study journalism and English literature, but friends who chose that college route were making minimum wage or selling lingerie. Being practical, I earned a business degree. After marriage and two children, I decided I HAD to study literature and write. I wrote non-fiction articles, a biography, and a suspense novel in 2004. That’s when whimsical Aggie Mundeen cut through the suspense, popped into my head and demanded her own series. The Aggie Mundeen mystery capers were born. Aggie must have been right:FIT TO BE DEAD is a LEFTY FINALIST 2013 for best humorous mystery, nominated by Left Coast Crime.

Blog * Website * Henery Press * Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Participants

September 28 – The Gal in the Blue Mask – Review, Interview
September 29 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – Review
September 30 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review, Interview
October 1 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review
October 2 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review
October 3 – MysteriesEtc – Review
October 4 – My Recent Favorite Books – Review
October 5 – off 
October 6 – A Chick Who Reads – Review, Interview
October 7 – Back Porchervations – Review, Interview  
October 8 – Brooke Blogs – Review, Interview
October 9 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review
October 10 – Dalene’s Book Reviews – Review
October 11 – Christa Reads and Writes – Review
October 12 – deal sharing aunt – Interview

 

Synopsis

An epidemic strikes. The pox hit women hardest, so females are now rare. Healthy girls are worth a fortune. Most live in squalid basement harems. Jackie is the last free girl, chief of a gang of teen boys. To them, she’s the prize, infinitely desirable, the last woman on earth. Competition threatens to tear the crew apart. To make things worse, the boys are starting to think she’s crazy. Jackie is convinced that the same soul shines from the eyes of every infected person, slipping like a demon from one body to the next, stalking her. Is she losing her mind, or could an unseen enemy control the infected?

When rival gangs discover that their little band has one of the last surviving girls, Jackie must make a decision. Will she give herself up to save her crew, or take off alone through the streets?

Excerpt

A child’s high-pitched scream came from inside the store. A cloud of bats passed the big front window, so many that I couldn’t see beyond them. Gunfire thundered from the parking lot, making me flinch. I shrugged off my pack, dumped it on the sidewalk and tore through the contents. Lock picks and coils of rope got pushed aside. One bright yellow lighter lay at the bottom of the bag. I seized it, ripped open the door of the shoe store, and ran inside.

The heavy glass door swung closed behind me. The mob of bats had stopped circling. Their restless wings whispered from the shadows.

Caleb yelled from somewhere in the back of the store. “Help! I’m trapped in the storeroom!”

“Stay put, I’m coming!” I dove for one of the empty shoe boxes that littered the floor. Five seconds with the lighter, and one end of it burned brightly. Gripping the bottom of the box, I held it high.

The lone bat still sat on the top shelf. Flames reflected off her black button eyes. Maybe she was sick. Maybe the pox was eating her up inside, and she didn’t have the strength to fly. Somehow I doubted it.

She bared her teeth at me, revealing rows of miniscule, white needle teeth. One naked, semi-transparent wing arced forward, so I could see the outlines of the bones inside. Thousands of bats fluttered to the front of the store, clinging to the doorframe, the sale posters, to anything they could. Blocking my escape. Their massed bodies dimmed the room to a gray twilight.

The cardboard burned too close to my fingers, and I had to drop it. It glowed feebly from the tile floor as the fire died. I bent to snatch up another carton. The bat on the shelf leaned forward eagerly, eyeing the back of my neck. I spun to face her. Coughing from the smoke, I touched flame to new tinder.

The bat shifted anxiously, watching the flames, but she didn’t fly away. Both wings swept forward, so the pointy tips met. Her colony instantly left the window and swirled around me in a moving cloud. Though I stood near the front of the store, the living tornado completely blocked my path to the door.

I let out a panicked gasp and spun in place, waving fire. That one controls the rest! Normal bats don’t do that. They’re infected for sure. Oh my God, oh my God! What am I gonna do? When I threatened from one direction, more bats darted at me from the other side. Outside, gunfire raged. This can’t last. They’re going to take me!

A grim smile touched my lips. “Fine. We’ll all die together.” I let the flame lick the side of another shoebox. That one had shoes in it. I didn’t care. Black smoke rose around the boss bat’s head.

She snapped her wings open. The cloud of bats split, clearing my path.

“Not that easy. I’m taking my kid with me.” Holding the burning cartons over my head, I walked down the aisle toward the back. The room got darker as I moved farther from the big front window. “Caleb!” I yelled. “Where are you?”

His scared voice came from behind a door. “In here.”

I yanked open the door of the dark room. Caleb’s dirty-blonde head caught the faint light from my fire. He ran to me, a sob catching in his throat, and threw his arms around my waist.

“It’s okay, honey. Careful, take this.” I handed him a burning box. “Stay close. We’re walking out of here.”

“They’re poxy, aren’t they?” Caleb babbled. “The bats.”

I gave him a short nod. We strode to the front of the store. Bats covered the door.

“Clear the door now, or I’m gonna burn this place down,” I bellowed.

The press of dark bodies instantly split. Bats flapped in opposite directions and scattered.

Caleb was awestruck. “They understand English.”

“Only ’cause they’re infected,” I said, head swiveling, looking all around. “Caleb. Get that shopping bag. Take every last sock. We are damn well gettin’ what we came for.”

He held up his burning box, eyebrows raised in a silent question.

“Toss it,” I said.

Caleb hurled the smoldering carton onto a shelf and snatched up the shopping bag. We pounded toward the door as bats took flight. I pushed the kid through first. Then I threw my own burning box, ran out, and slammed the big glass door behind me. Inside the store, flames were already spreading.

The Jeep roared across the parking lot toward us, swerving around the grisly remains of the hunters. Ash slammed on the brakes, laying rubber. Keenan opened the passenger side door, dived out before the car stopped moving, and rolled to his feet in one fluid motion, shotgun ready. Staring open-mouthed at that epic move, I completely missed the hunter coming out of the food court.

A whisper of shoe on pavement alerted me. I leaped sideways, pulling Caleb with me. The hunter was a lot taller than us, with a tangled mat of dark, curly hair clinging to his skull. He was young, in his twenties, and he hadn’t been infected long. Those were the most dangerous kind, with speed and agility intact. I know it sounds crazy, but the pox inside him saw me, and I saw her, too. I recognized her, even disguised as she was in a male body. I’d seen that predatory expression before, behind different eyes. Behind my mother’s eyes.

“You,” I mouthed. No sound came out. “I know you.”

“Jacqueline,” the hunter moaned through lips wet with silver drool.

I’d never heard a hunter speak. I didn’t know they could. He knows my name. He knows my name! How?

I jumped between Caleb and the infected man. “Run! Run for the car!”

Caleb bolted without hesitation. The hunter let him go and came for me instead. I’d stupidly gotten myself trapped between the infected man and the burning shoe store. Plastic-laden smoke filled the air, making me sick. I was in trouble.

About the Author

Courtney Farrell is a biologist who turned her love of books into a career as an author. She has published fourteen nonfiction books and three exciting novels for young people. Courtney lives with her husband and sons on a Colorado ranch where they enjoy a menagerie of horses, dogs, cats, and chickens.

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Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Darcie Chan returns to the enchanting town of Mill River in a heartwarming novel of family, self-discovery, and forgiveness. Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy.

Josie DiSanti is starting over. Recently widowed, she has fled her New York City home with her two young daughters—spirited Rose and shy Emily—in tow. She takes refuge in Mill River, Vermont, to live with her only remaining relative, Ivy Collard, the local bookstore owner and a woman Josie barely knows. There, the young mother and her girls build a new life for themselves—until a shocking tragedy tears the sisters apart.

Years later, Josie’s still-estranged daughters return to the quiet town for the reading of their mother’s will, which stipulates that they must work together to locate a hidden key to a safe-deposit box containing their inheritance. Even from the great beyond, it seems Josie will do anything to bring about her daughters’ reconciliation. Having no choice but to go along with their mother’s final wishes, Rose and Emily move back to Mill River for the summer to begin the search—discovering that, in the close-knit community known for magic and miracles, an even greater treasure awaits them.

Review

A few years ago a friend lent me her copy of Mill River Recluse.  I posted a review of that book and Darcie even contacted me to thank me for the review.  How cool is that?!  Darcie even consented to a short interview for my blog about her book.  At the time, the book was self published and she sold over 700,000 copies of that book.  Obviously she made someone sit up and take notice!  Fast forward to September and I happened to be skimming an email listing new books and what do I see but Mill River Redemption by Darcie.  I immediately contacted her because I remembered enjoying the first book and wanted to wish her well with this one too.  She remembered me and put me in touch with her publisher for a copy of the book to review here.  So here we are with my thoughts on Mill River Redemption:

I enjoyed this book so much I stayed up until midnight to finish it! This is a story about family, forgiveness and trust.

MRR is a follow up to Mill River Recluse but they can be read separately and while some of the characters do make an appearance in this book, they are supporting characters. That is ok because it is very nice to see these characters and catch a glimpse into their life just a little into the future.

The two sisters, Emily and Rose, have some major issues with each other and act out in childish ways to “get at” each other. It is a shame that their past didn’t allow them to continue to be close to one another as family should be but then it wouldn’t be this book! Their mother tries to bring them back together to resolve their issues, which makes for an interesting story!  And then there is Alex, Rose’s son.  He is 9 and caught in the middle but wants to help his mom figure out the clues left behind by his grandmother.

The book is well written and I lost myself in the story and imagined myself in Mill River….made me want to move there!  Well other than the winters in Vermont.

We give this book 5 paws and hope that maybe Darcie will write a 3rd book about Mill River.  There are still so many characters that need their story told!

About the Author

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Giveaway

The publisher had kindly given me a copy of this book to give away to a lucky reader!  It is open to US Residents only

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TRUTH BE TOLD is another gripping tale featuring fan-favorite protagonists Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan. Set in Boston, the novel weaves a tale of financial manipulation, the terror of foreclosures, secrets from the past, murder, and the primal need for home, family and love.

Truth Be Told, part of the bestselling Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan series by Agatha, Anthony, Mary Higgins Clark, and Macavity Award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan, begins with tragedy: a middle-class family evicted from their suburban home. In digging up the facts on this heartbreaking story—and on other foreclosures— reporter Ryland soon learns the truth behind a big-bucks scheme and the surprising players who will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep their goal a secret. Turns out, there’s more than one way to rob a bank.

Boston police detective Jake Brogan has a liar on his hands. A man has just confessed to the famous twenty-year-old Lilac Sunday killing, and while Jake’s colleagues take him at his word, Jake is not so sure. But he has personal reasons for hoping they’ve finally solved the cold case.

Financial manipulation, the terror of foreclosures, the power of numbers, the primal need for home and family and love. What happens when what you believe is true turns out to be a lie?

Come to the LAUNCH PARTY to hear more and get your copy of TRUTH BE TOLD!

The celebratory evening is open to everyone and will include an introduction to TRUTH BE TOLD, a conversation about crime fiction and Hank’s career as an investigative TV reporter at WHDH, a book signing and refreshments.  MEDIA ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND AND HANK WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS.

If readers are unable to attend, but would like to order personally signed copies, they should call the Booksmith at (617) 566-6660 or order at brooklinebooksmith.com.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 7, 2014

7 p.m.

WHERE: BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH

279 Harvard St., Brookline, Mass.

About the Author

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s NBC affiliate. She’s won 32 EMMYs, 12 Edward R. Murrow awards and dozens of other honors for her ground-breaking journalism. A bestselling author of seven mystery novels, Ryan has won multiple prestigious awards for her crime fiction: three Agathas, the Anthony, Daphne, Macavity, and for THE OTHER WOMAN, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. National reviews have called her a “master at crafting suspenseful mysteries” and “a superb and gifted storyteller.” Her 2013 novel, THE WRONG GIRL, has the extraordinary honor of winning the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and the Daphne Award for Mainstream Mystery/Suspense, and is a seven-week Boston Globe bestseller.  Her newest hardcover, TRUTH BE TOLD, is a Library Journal Editor’s Pick and RT Book Reviews Top Pick, with starred reviews from Booklist and from Library Journal, which raves, “Drop everything and binge read!”  She’s a founding teacher at Mystery Writers of America University and 2013 president of national Sisters in Crime.

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Yesterday, our book club had the honor of having author Mary Malcolm come speak to us.  We love having so many local authors that we can pull from!  Mary was very engaging and such a bubbly personality!

Anyway, Mary writes some romance novels and now has a series that is New Adult (because of the age of the character) but leans more towards mystery.  The first book is called Trouble Comes Knocking. 

Synopsis

It’s hard not to answer when trouble comes knocking.

A girl who can’t forget…

Twenty-two-year-old Lucy Carver is like Sherlock Holmes in ballet flats, but her eidetic memory is more albatross than asset, and something she usually keeps hidden. When she notices that something’s amiss at her dead-end job, she jumps at the chance to finally use her ability for good. That is, until, a man is murdered, and she becomes the target of the killer.

A detective on his first case…

Detective Eli Reyes is overbearing, pompous, way too hot for Lucy’s own good, and seems as determined to ruin her relationship with her boyfriend, John, as finding the murderer. He brings Lucy in on the case, thinking she can help him get to the truth, only to cut her loose when he realizes he’s gotten far more than he ever bargained for.

A past that won’t go away…

When memories from her childhood invade her present, Lucy discovers a mystery bigger than she could have imagined. With the killer still after her, and Eli nowhere to be found, she takes things into her own hands, determined to expose the truth no matter what—before trouble comes knocking…again.

 

The book that I read for the meeting was called Accidentally a Bride and was a novella that was never meant to be published on its own according to Mary.  It was supposed to be part of a series but something happened and the rest weren’t published.  I have to say that the book has a LOT of potential but just let me flat overall.  Mary did say that she is doing some rewrites to the book (due out in Dec) and expanding it, so it will be interesting to see how she expands the book.

Here is a group shot of us…it was a rather warm day outside and we had to deal with crazies outside since we met at Panera which is very close to the Cowboy Stadium and they were playing there yesterday (still have no idea if they won or lost!).  Mary is in the center.

About Mary

Lost Under a Ladder (A Superstition Mystery)
Brand New Series
Cozy Mystery
Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK (October 8, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-0738740775

Synopsis

Is it luck or is it . . . Destiny?

Are superstitions real? Rory Chasen doesn’t think so–until her beloved fiance walks under a ladder and is killed by a car five minutes later. Needing closure, Rory takes her dog Pluckie to a town called Destiny, where superstitions are a way of life.

Rory’s visit to Destiny takes an unexpected turn when Pluckie saves the life of Martha, the owner of the Lucky Dog Boutique. To show her gratitude, Martha offers Rory a job at the pet store. But when Martha becomes the prime suspect in the murder of the local bookshop owner, Rory refuses to believe that she would do it. Rory is convinced the real killer still roams Destiny’s streets, and she must uncover the truth before Martha is hauled off to jail.

 

Review

An interesting concept for a new series – set in a town that thrives on superstition.  The shops are all tied to superstitions (Break a Mirror Bookstore, Apple a Day diner) and that is what the town is known for and thrives on that tourism.

Rory ends up in Destiny trying to find answers for her fiance’s death – he walked under a ladder and was killed by a car 5 minutes later.  She isn’t sure if she believe all of that and is what you might called a Superstition Agnostic.  However, she is willing to check out the town to see if there is anything to superstitions or is it just fate?

As with all cozies, Rory stumbles across a murder and feels inclined to help solve it even though she is just a visitor to this town.  She also befriends the owner of Lucky Dog Boutique, Martha, when she finds her in the storeroom of her shop thanks to Pluckie, Rory’s faithful companion.  Because Martha is out of commission, she asks Rory to manage her shop and she couldn’t ask a better person since Rory manages a large pet store in LA.  However, I thought this was a little unbelievable, but maybe it is just the small town way of thinking, but who asks a total stranger to manage their store?

I enjoyed the book but it took me a little bit to get into it, mostly because I had forgotten this was a new series and not part of the Pet Rescue series and I was lost with the characters.  duh!  The town is fun and whimsical and the characters endearing, definitely a small town and all that goes with that.  Definitely a new series to watch.

We give it 4 paws up!

About This Author

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year. Since then, Linda, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, has published more short stories, novellas, and 37 romance and mystery novels, including the Pet Rescue Mystery Series, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, plus Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne.

Her latest cozy mystery series, the Superstition Mysteries from Midnight Ink, kicks off in October 2014 with LOST UNDER A LADDER. Linda believes that reading the Superstition Mysteries will bring good luck!

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Giveaway

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Tour Participants

September 29 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – Review, Interview

September 30 – Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf – Guest Post

October 1 – The Bookwyrm’s Hoard – Review

October 2 – Books-n-Kisses – Review

October 3 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – Guest Post

October 3 – readalot blog – Review

October 4 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review, Guest Post

October 5 – deal sharing aunt – Interview

October 6 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review

October 7 – Brooke Blogs – Guest Post

October 7 – Kaisy Daisy’s Corner – Review

October 8 – Back Porchervations – Review, Interview

October 9 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review, Guest Post

October 10 – Chloe Gets A Clue – Interview

October 11 – Community Bookstop – Review

October 12 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review, Guest Post

Today, StoreyBook Reviews welcomes author Linda O. Johnston. She is the author of two wonderful series and has just started a third that is tied to superstitions…what an interesting idea!  There are many cozy series about witches and paranormal, but don’t think I have come across a town dedicated to superstition.

Who am I?

I’m Linda O. Johnston, and I write the new Superstition Mystery Series for Midnight Ink. The first one, LOST UNDER A LADDER, is an October release. It’s about Rory Chasen, who goes to the town of Destiny, California, with her lucky dog Pluckie to determine if superstitions are real. Why is she worried about them? Because her beloved fiance died only a few minutes after walking under a ladder. It’s a mystery series, so Rory finds herself not only learning about superstitions but also solving murders.

I also write the upcoming Barkery and Biscuits Mystery Series for Midnight Ink, about a woman who owns adjoining stores: a people bakery and a dog bakery. And yes, she solves murders, too.

I additionally write romances: the Alpha Force mini-series for Harlequin Nocturne, about a covert military unit of shapeshifters, as well as others for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

And I’ve written not only more romance, but also the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime as well as its spin-off series, the Pet Rescue Mysteries.

Why do I do all of that? Because my overactive imagination keeps telling me to!

I used to be a lawyer, but now I’m a full-time writer. I miss law the way I used to practice it, but don’t have time to do that these days even if I wanted to.

What else can I tell you about me? I live in Los Angeles with my husband and have for quite a while. Our sons are grown. The older one is married and we have two adorable grandsons. They don’t live in L.A., but I’m always thrilled when they visit or when we visit them.

We’re not entirely empty nesters, though. Our dogs, two adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, are like kids to us. They have me well trained, and I’m used to following their commands.

Right now, I’m focused on the Superstition Mysteries, wanting to make sure people are aware of them. I’m working on the manuscript for the second in the series, even as I’m promoting LOST UNDER A LADDER.

Hey, it’s lucky to read the Superstition Mysteries, or at least I hope so! No guarantees, but my fingers are crossed that every one of my readers not only enjoys the stories but also has good luck in whatever they do.

And thanks, Storeybook Reviews, for inviting me to blog here on my Great Escapes Virtual Tour!

About This Author

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year.   Since then, Linda, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, has published more short stories, novellas, and 37 romance and mystery novels, including the Pet Rescue Mystery Series, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, plus Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne.

Her latest cozy mystery series, the Superstition Mysteries from Midnight Ink, kicks off in October 2014 with LOST UNDER A LADDER.  Linda believes that reading the Superstition Mysteries will bring good luck!

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Rise of the Blood Masters

This is the continuation of the bestselling young adult fantasy series, the Dragon Stone Saga!

Over 100,000 copies of this series have been sold.

The brave dragon rider, Tallin Arai, continues his fight against the Balborites, a cult of religious fanatics and deadly mageborn assassins that have been wreaking havoc across the continent. In the east, the dwarf kingdom crumbles into chaos. The dwarf clans go deeper into civil war, while an even greater danger rises up to destroy the entire dwarf kingdom, once and for all. In desperation, the dragon riders and the dwarves must turn to the elves for help.

Can they set aside their differences long enough to save their homeland from the Balborite menace? Or will their kingdoms be destroyed?

AMAZON

 

About the Author

Kristian Alva was born into a family of writers and teachers. She worked as a staff writer and a ghostwriter before publishing her own manuscripts. She currently lives in the United States with her family. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading all genres, especially epic fantasy.

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BookBlast Giveaway

$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 10/26/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an iTunes Gift Code or River Street Sweets Gift Card. 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 and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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