Finding Ruby Draker by Marianne Scott

Genre: Mystery / Thriller

Publisher: Friesen Press

 

 

Synopsis

 

Kathleen Jones has lived a protected and typical suburban life, nothing unexpected in her carefully controlled and planned existence. She’s about to complete her college degree and is ready to start a successful career but after completing her last exam she comes home to find her world has been turned upside down. Her home has been torched and her parents and little brother killed.

If that’s not bad enough, she is kidnapped and drugged unconscious by strangers posing as a police officers. When she awakes she discovers that everything has changed – her face, her name, and everything she believed to be true.

But things get worse. Hardly recovered from surgery, she is whisked away under the cover of darkness as more men storm the clinic with guns. It seems that the men who abducted her are not her greatest threat. Now on a private charter on its way to Nice, France, her abductors are calling her Ruby – Ruby Draker!

Finding Ruby Draker is a novel about knowing yourself, accepting change, embracing danger, and taking risks. You never know what life is going to throw at you.

 

 

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Review

 

This action-packed thriller will keep you on the edge of your seats about what could possibly happen next for the Draker family. It moves at a pretty steady clip, so stay alert because you never know what curve might come next.

The book starts out and we discover Kathleen has been kidnapped after arriving back home to discover her home on fire and her family has perished. It takes quite some time for her to understand what is going on and why these people took her and gave her plastic surgery. I felt her frustration not getting answers or understanding about the situation. To top it off, once she is whisked away to another country, she still doesn’t get answers and there are these people that say they are her parents and siblings. They aren’t according to what Kathleen, now Ruby, remembers of her life. I thought it was odd that they took so long to fill her in on why she was there. In fact, she doesn’t learn the whole truth for quite some time. Perhaps it is a test, but if you take someone from their home surely you would provide them with some information.

Once Ruby is in the know, the story picks up speed because they are off to try and save some people from suffering the same fate as Ruby’s parents and the other residents of this estate. You won’t learn everyone’s situation right off the bat, some are not shared until near the end of the book. But the stories intertwine and the Draker’s pick up some others along the way that they knew from the past. Turns out this is a cold war situation that should have ended but one character continues the fight. This antagonist has a lot up his sleeve when it comes to this family and I kept wondering how he was able to stay one step ahead of them in most situations.

The story is long but there is not a lot of downtime for the characters and everything they do has a reason. I enjoyed the twists and turns and how prepared the Draker family was throughout the whole book. I can’t imagine trying to save others and protect your secret as well. And the story of how they have their estate was a nice little twist from what you might expect. There is even a potential love interest for Ruby with a very bizarre love triangle near the end with grave consequences.

While you might have to suspend reality in some places, this is a solid book and one that I enjoyed. I was sad that some of the family doesn’t survive, but it is what leads us to the next book and where life will take them next.

We give this book 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

Read the 2nd Book in this Series

 

 

 

Ruby Draker has found new strength and is ready to move on after Felix Szabo devastated the Draker estate in Nice, France. Three Drakers are dead leaving Ruby in grief and with thoughts of revenge. The Drakers are a family built of survivors; each rescued from Felix Szabo, a psychopath, who sought to murder his former agents at the CIA whom he believed betrayed him. The Drakers’ sole mission is to stop Szabo from adding more victims to his list, and although he also perished during the invasion, his legacy continues to haunt them. When the Drakers learn that Robert Draker, presumed dead since the shoot-out at Robert’s farmhouse, may be alive and at a rehab clinic in Portland, Maine, the Drakers know it could be a setup, but they have no choice but to try to nd him and bring Robert home.

​Shocked that Robert may be alive, the family head from France to America to find him. It’s only when they arrive in the west that they realize finding Robert won’t be as easy as they thought. Szabo has found a way to terrorize the Draker family, even after death. His outstanding debt with a Corsican crime family means the Drakers must now find and deliver a shipment of plutonium, which will likely be used by terrorists to create a nuclear bomb, to get Robert back. As Ruby struggles with the decision to save her brother or North America, she must also evade the CIA, who are trying to stop the Drakers from delivering the plutonium.

 

 

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About the Author

 

Marianne Scott is the Canadian author of four mystery thrillers and is currently finishing an edit on her fourth novel, a murder mystery. She has a BA and a Diploma in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, CA. She studied creative writing through Conestoga College and Humber College. She enjoys writing workshops such as those offered by Brian Henry, publisher of the blog, Quick Brown Fox, and One Lit Place, a writers’ hub by creator/editor Jenna Kalinsky. She has an author’s website and blog is the president of The Cambridge Writers’ Collective and is a member of the Guelph Genre Writers. In September of 2018, she completed a fourth-year course in Writing Fiction at the University of Guelph under the expert teaching of Lawrence Hill. Her novels, Finding Ruby Draker and Shadows in the Aftermath are self-published. She is actively seeking representation to break into the traditional publishing world with her third and fourth novels.

 

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Giveaway

 

Win paperback copies of both FINDING RUBY DRAKER and SHADOWS IN THE AFTERMATH (4 winners)

USA only. Ends July 8, 2022

 

FINDING RUBY DRAKER/SHADOWS IN THE AFTERMATH Book Tour Giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Brooke Turner has always had a complicated relationship with her father. But when his health takes a turn for the worse, she drops everything to care for him. He’s her dad, after all, and he needs her. What Brooke doesn’t anticipate is the unraveling of her long-term relationship and a cross-country move to San Diego’s Little Italy.

Luca D’Angelo is the oldest of three children and a single father to a young daughter. When his mother rents the top floor of their house to Brooke, he’s angry. Who is this beautiful stranger with no ties to the neighborhood? Can she be trusted in such close proximity to his family?

As Luca learns of Brooke’s difficult journey with her ailing father, his heart softens. And Brooke, who witnesses Luca’s struggle as a single parent, develops feelings for him, too. But when it all falls apart, will love heal their wounded hearts?

 

 

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Interview with Catherine

 

 

For anyone wondering the plot of your newest release, you give a great sneak peek with the title—When it Falls Apart. What is “falling apart” in this novel?

 

All the threads that hold my heroine, Brooke, together are crumbling down around her. When it Falls Apart begins with Brooke’s romantic relationship crashing and burning. At the same time, in a different state, her father is circling the drain in the ICU. And for the cherry on the top of her “falling apart life”, Brooke has found herself demoted at work. In short, everything in Brooke’s life is dissolving around her.

 

Like all of your books, When it Falls Apart has a beautiful romance, however, there is a rawness about Brooke’s story. How was writing this novel different from your others?

 

If you read my notes both in the front and the back of this novel, you’ll soon realize that the story was very personal to me. Rawness comes from experience. The relationship Brooke has with her father is hauntingly familiar to me and my dad. The emotions that the heroine experienced when taking care of him were easy for me to grasp onto and write about. Sadly, the love story with Luca was completely made up and I didn’t have the support of a strong Italian family to help deal with the struggles, but I digress.

Relationships with a parent who wasn’t there for you growing up are messy. When that parent ages and needs their child, sometimes that help comes with a bucketload of resentment, even if the child wishes they could stop those ugly feelings from creeping up on them. And THAT is the rawness you speak of.

 

Books, TV shows, and movies oftentimes glamorize what it means to care for a loved one. However, in When it Falls Apart you don’t sugar-coat anything about caregiving and the toll it takes on a person. How do you think readers who have been in similar situations will be affected by this story?

 

Justified. Validated. Accepted.

It’s a hard job taking care of an elderly family member. And if there aren’t other siblings to help, or won’t help, it’s made even more difficult. It’s difficult, gritty, dirty work that only has a bad ending…eventually. What I do hope my readers take away is that they’re not alone. That the struggle is very real and that if they don’t find balance (which is almost impossible at times) they will burn out completely and not be fit to help at all. I hope my readers are empowered to set boundaries and balance, so they come out on the other side of caring for an elderly loved one whole themselves.

 

Brooke gets virtually no support from her significant other, which has her reevaluating their relationship. She realizes she has settled and has to make some hard decisions. Do you think this happens too many times to women in real life?

 

100% Yes! There is a song by Taylor Swift with a line that says, and I’m paraphrasing here, I can be what you want for the weekend. But often that weekend ends up being a relationship that women hold on to or are convinced they can’t live without. Often it takes a huge shake-up to remove yourself from that situation. But once you’re away from the day to day dysfunctional relationship, the easier it is to see the dysfunction.

 

After her breakup and move, Brooke is not looking for a relationship. In fact, she tells her best friend: “I haven’t wiped off my smeared mascara from Marshall yet, the last thing I want is to jump into anything else.” Her crying over a man lasts all about two minutes when she meets Luca. Tell us about him.

 

Hmmm, Luca… he is the kind of man who doesn’t want a place on Brooke’s dance card…he wants to rip it up.

Luca is wired to help the people in his life. Brooke becomes a part of his inner circle simply by moving into the family building where he sees her every day.

Now, if Luca had flat out asked Brooke on a date, she would have run the other way…so no, he doesn’t go about it that way. He simply shows up and does not leave. Not when things get tough, or messy…or when his own past peeks its head in. Luca is a man who is right there at Brooke’s side without question or censor on why she does the things she does. His support and validation of her feelings is the part she was missing. Add in the hunky Italian single father and “Mamma Mia!”

 

At first, Luca is not thrilled that Brooke is renting a room in his family’s building. What changes his mind about her?

 

Her strength and vulnerability. I know that sounds contradicting, but some of the strongest women I know have a big vulnerable spot in their life that if you know them well enough, you see. The biggest smiles often hide the deepest pain. Luca sees her struggle and dedication to helping her elderly father and since family is first on Luca’s list, she passes his unconscious test.

 

Luca’s family, the D’Angelo’s, are incredibly close and share everything from ownership of the family restaurant to helping care for Luca’s daughter Franny. How is this different from Brooke’s relationship with her family?

 

Brooke doesn’t have that family. She has a father who abandoned her as a little girl that she carved out a relationship as an adult, and now she’s charged with caring for. Even her previous romantic relationship didn’t support her unconditionally the way the D’Angelo’s do for each other. She’s rather dumbfounded when they start treating her like family. It’s a wonderful thing to watch happen.

 

San Diego’s Little Italy plays a huge part in the story. The community, language, and food are in full display. Tell us about your own experiences in your adopted city.

 

I love Little Italy, the food, the pace… the people. There are many places in San Diego that are overrun with the college scene, San Diego is a college town. But Little Italy is more family friendly. Very touristy, but there isn’t a day you don’t see locals hanging out. I go to the farmer’s market often. Pick up authentic Italian ingredients for my own home cooking. I try new restaurants and take all my friends there when they are visiting from out of town. Not to mention it was the closest thing to the “real Italy” that I could go during the travel restrictions. So why not write about it and tell the world of this small island within San Diego that shouldn’t be missed?

 

There are two more siblings in the D’Angelo family. Where will you be taking readers next with the series?

 

Chloe is a yogi. Think Bali!

And Giovanni loves wine… think Tuscany, Italy.

I cannot wait to show you what I have in store for these two!

 

 

Excerpt

 

“Oh my God, Carmen. He was standing at his car first thing this morning. Like ‘hop in, bella, let’s get stuff done today.’ Who does that?”

Brooke had picked up the phone as soon as Luca was off in search of a dump guy.

“We’re talking about the single, hot, Italian dad, right?”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Yes. Luca.”

“Oy, oy, oy.”

“Stop it. I need advice. And I need it before he gets back.”

Carmen stopped teasing. “You don’t need advice. You need to relax. He sounds like one of the good ones. Let it happen.”

“Let it happen,” she mocked. “I don’t ‘let’ things happen. It happens to me and it’s never good.”

“You didn’t used to be such a pessimist.”

“Once upon a time the glass was half full. Not these days.”

“Okay, Debbie Downer. You want my advice . . . here it is. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything. Zero effort.”

“Really?” Carmen didn’t sound convinced. “Makeup . . . a nice dress?”

Brooke hesitated. “Maybe . . . a little last night, but that was it.”

Carmen chuckled.

“Carmen!”

“Sorry. Okay . . . any red flags?”

Brooke thought about that. “He loved his ex-wife.”

“That’s a red flag?”

“I guess not.”

“Is he good to his mom?”

Brooke looked back on the dinner the night before. “To the whole family. He takes being the oldest brother quite seriously.”

“And his daughter?”

All Brooke could do was smile. “Great dad. We should all be so lucky.”

“He’s Italian, does he smoke?”

“No.”

“A lot of Italians smoke,” Carmen pointed out.

“In Italy. The San Diego variety are less in that wheelhouse.”

“That’s good.” Carmen sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you, Brooke. How does he kiss?”

“He hasn’t kissed me,” Brooke nearly yelled.

“Now then . . . we have a problem.”

“There hasn’t been . . . I don’t even know if—”

“Stop right there. He did not drive your sorry ass all the way to Upland to do grunt work all day if he wasn’t interested in kissing you, bellllaaa. More than that, you want him to.”

Brooke closed her eyes, and even in her own head she couldn’t convince herself that Carmen was wrong.

“Let it happen. You deserve some happiness, Brooke.”

The van with the air conditioning repair guy pulled into the driveway.

“I gotta go.”

“I want a kissing update the next time we talk,” Carmen teased.

“Love you,” Brooke said with a laugh.

“Back at ya, boo.”

She hung up.

Her best friend was such a dork.

 

 

About the Author

 

Catherine is a #1 Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and Indie Reader bestselling author. In addition, her books have also graced The New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists. In total, she has written thirty-six beloved books that have collectively sold more than 8 million copies and have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full time and has penned The Not Quite series, The Weekday Brides series, The Most Likely To series, and The First Wives series.

 

 

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Giveaway

 

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Synopsis

 

What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, when one night out turns into a wedding that neither newlywed can remember, from New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton.

Wedding planner Honor Bellini is in Las Vegas for a work convention when she runs into her sister’s ex-fiance, Owen Stone, who’s also in town for his craft brewery business. They’re both glad to see a familiar face from home…until a night of drinking leads to waking up in bed together–and a marriage certificate from a wedding that neither of them can recall.

Horrified, Owen suggests an immediate annulment. Honor agrees, but when they spend the day together, their chemistry is overwhelming. Plus, Honor has a flash of memory of their steamy wedding night, and she definitely likes what she remembers. They decide to wait before canceling the whole marriage thing, though they both head back to Oklahoma determined not to tell anyone at home what happened in Vegas.

The problem is, Honor and Owen can’t seem to stay away from each other–or keep their hands off one another. The longer they keep their secret, the harder it gets to deny how they really feel. Even worse, this huge secret has the potential to hurt someone they both care about. They need to get an annulment before this accidental marriage turns into love.

 

 

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Review

 

This is the first book in this series that I have read and now I’m curious about the previous two and will have to go back and check them out. This light-hearted romance was filled with steamy scenes, family drama, and witty comments.

Honor and Owen have known each other for quite some time so it wasn’t unusual for them to hang out in Vegas when they realized they were both there. What they didn’t expect was to get married, but that is what too much tequila will do to you. Even though they can’t remember the ceremony, they both think that maybe something is there between them. Is it chemistry? Lust? Only time will tell.

We’ve all heard about people that get married in Vegas by mistake…well maybe not a mistake, but it is a drunken event and you have to wonder why they allow people to get marriage licenses if they are intoxicated? They did, and now they have to figure out how to handle everything because Owen was previously engaged to Honor’s sister, Erin, which could make for a sticky situation even though Erin was happily married now.

Honor and Owen do have chemistry so it begs the question, why are they trying to get an annulment or divorce? Wouldn’t it be better to try dating since they have hot for one another? Or maybe it is more fun sneaking around and not letting everyone know what happened until much later.

There are some family dynamics that come into play once the truth is out there which causes people to take sides. It is one hot mess and it takes some time and conversations between Owen and Honor to realize they should maybe stay together.

And let’s not forget the rescue dog! Dogs always make a story better.

We give this book 3 1/2 paws up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Jaci Burton is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Brotherhood by Fire series, the Hope series, and the Play-by-Play novels.

 

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Synopsis

 

As a young book lover with dyslexia, Barbara found the solution to her reading struggles in Miss Gluding, her first-grade teacher, who showed compassion for her student’s plight—and knew how to help her. From that time on, Barbara knew what she wanted to be: a teacher, just like Miss Gluding.

Unfortunately, Barbara also had some bad teachers in the years that ensued—including her sixth-grade teacher, an exacting woman who called attention to Barbara’s learning disabilities in front of classmates. Still wanting to follow in Miss Gluding’s footsteps in 1964, Barbara vowed she would be a better one than her sixth-grade teacher; instead, however, she became very much like her, with unattainable expectations for her students and herself. After seventeen years in the teaching profession, she realized she had to either change her teaching style or change careers. By providence, right as she stood at this crossroads, she was offered the opportunity to teach overseas at The Dragon School in Oxford, England, for a year—an opportunity she jumped at.

In the year that followed, Barbara would rely on her faith in God to give up a lot of what she knew about teaching and learn to do it differently—ways that wouldn’t have room for her perfectionism. In short, she would have to begin again.

 

 

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Advance Praise

 

“In this memoir, an English/dramatic arts teacher recounts a pivotal year at the Dragon School in Britain as part of an exchange program. . . . engaging and thought-provoking. . . . will be of special interest to aspiring as well as seasoned teachers. A well-crafted account about the search for greater flexibility when confronting life’s inevitable challenges.”—Kirkus Reviews

“ . . . engaging . . . This book is an endearing testament to the power of personal growth and reflection in one teacher’s incredibly rich professional life.”—StoryCircle Book Reviews

“In this memoir, Barbara Kennard so expertly captures the array of experiences that teachers encounter—the high and the low, the heartwarming and the hilarious. During her year teaching in Oxford, she comes to learn a new way of approaching both her classroom and her life that makes for an incredibly engaging read. Teachers everywhere will love this book.”—Nadine Kenney Johnstone, writing coach and award-winning author of Of This Much I’m Sure: A Memoir

“For any who struggle to distinguish between perfectionism and a yearning to grow into the fullest version of who God has created us to be, this book is a balm. Barbara Kennard writes candidly and compassionately about the people and places that taught her about self-acceptance and mercy. Her love of great writers and her appreciation for those she teaches and those who teach her shine through in vivid prose and engaging stories. Kennard is a lifelong educator. With humor, honesty, and self-awareness, this book invites readers to learn lessons alongside her about forgiveness, surrender, grace, and love.”—Dr. Jennifer Howe Peace, coeditor of My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation and Interreligious/Interfaith Studies: Defining a New Field

“The story of Barbara Kennard’s quest should inspire anyone who feels a calling to seek patiently for the best way to answer it and put it into play. This wise memoir should also remind us that although perfection can never be attained, we stand to have a lot of fun in the pursuit.”—David Smith, author of Be a Teacher: A Memoir in Ten Ideas

 

 

Guest Review by Nora

 

If you are a teacher, you will love this book! In fact, I would even go so far as to say, if you know a teacher, you should give this book to them as a gift. Even if you are not a teacher, you will love it.

Barbara Kennard’s memoir about her time teaching at the Dragon School in Oxford is as compelling as many other memoirs I’ve read, and twice as heartfelt. Kennard was a teacher in the eighties and nineties, and, after teaching at an all-boys school in Boston for several years, she decided that she needed a change of scenery.

The school that she was working at, Fessenden, was not providing her with enough support and the parents were making her feel attacked and underappreciated. But a co-worker at the school told Kennard about a teacher exchange program with the Dragon School that would mean Kennard would get to teach in Oxford, England for a year. This seemed like the perfect job for Kennard, who had begun to wonder if teaching was even the right path for her after all.

After moving to England and meeting the staff and children that attended the Dragon School, Kennard began to slowly acclimate to the differences in culture, curriculum, and what was expected of her as a teacher. The thirteen year-olds that she taught were as sneaky as any teenagers in the States and Kennard had to work to gain their trust and love– a process that she executes with as much grace and kindness as any favorite teacher would.

Reading about Kennard growing to love teaching again after a few hard years in the profession was as rewarding as watching a friend succeed at something. In fact, by the end of the book I almost felt like Kennard was a friend of mine, and I was glad to know her for the brief time that I spent reading her book. She made me think way back when I had a excellent teacher in my life.  I am sure my favorite teacher is long gone but not forgotten! I am sure Kennard’s students will always remember her as well!

 

 

About the Author

 

Barbara Kennard taught English and performing arts to elementary, middle, and high school students from 1980 to 2015 and has received two teaching awards: The Christa McAuliffe Award for Teaching Excellence and The Barbara Kennard Sixth Grade English Prize, established in her name at The Fessenden School by a Fessenden family.

Barbara lives in Texas with her husband, pianist Brady Millican, and their cat, Piper.

 

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Giveaway

 

This giveaway is for 3 print copies and is open to the U.S. only.

This giveaway ends on July 15, 2022 midnight, pacific time.

Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

 

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Synopsis

 

Evita Peron’s jewels are missing. Only three people know that they are in a vault in the Swiss Alps; Evita’s corrupt and brutal brother Juan, her bodyguard Pierre, and a teenaged girl Mona, her newest protegee. What happens if two of them team up?

Like Eva herself, Mona comes from a broken family and has to make her own way. Perhaps that’s why the two women feel close. Evita is at the pinnacle of success but already in the grip of a fatal illness. We see her life through the eyes of Mona and Pierre, two people she trusts — and who betray her in the end. Or can theft and murder be justified?

A story of love, adventure, and murder.

 

 

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Praise

 

“This is a fast paced page turner.  A suspenseful, thrilling roller coaster ride with lots of twisty, loopy sections.  Head Games is an apt title for this enthralling read. “- Joy Renee, Joy Story

“Identity’s a big theme in this work, so if you’ve ever felt you were someone other than yourself, if you thought you might like to try living in someone else’s skin, if you’ve wondered whether your friends and loved ones were not exactly who they claimed to be, then this psychological labyrinth might just be your winding road to a good read”.- Carole Giangrande, Words to Go

“This was a book that grabbed me from the start. It’s a period in history that offered much to the world but also had some of man’s darkest moments.  Due to that it does provide rich material for a novelist and Ms. Rummel does an excellent job of taking her reader on a dangerous journey through the twists and turns of what many faced during the time. The characters are well developed and defined. The scenes are well described and I found myself feeling like I was actually walking the streets with the characters of the book.”-Patty, Books Cooks Looks

“To live during such tumultuous times would be horrible. You would have to be careful of every word that came out of your mouth. That might be easy when you are alert, but what about when you are so tired that you can’t even think? This book made me thankful that I was born in America in the 20th century. Any fan of riveting historical fiction will get lost in this book from page one.”-Lisa, Lisa’s Writopia

 

Guest Review by Nora

 

Among some of history’s greatest public figures, Eva Peron stands tall.

Perhaps one of the best loved politicians in Argentinian history, Eva, nicknamed Evita, was the wife of Juan Peron, who was president in the late 1940’s to early 1950’s (and again in the 1970’s). Because of her openness with the Argentinian people, Evita became beloved by her country and, when she passed in 1952 from cancer, the country went into mourning.

‘Evita and Me,’ is a historical fiction novel about a teenage girl who meets Evita in the final years of the great woman’s life and quickly becomes a close confidant.

Mona Ford is a sixteen-year-old girl living in Toronto with her mother whom she does not get along with. In the Spring of 1947, Mona’s mother informs her that a friend of hers, Liliana, has asked for Mona to come and visit her in Argentina.

Although Mona is initially hesitant to agree, she eventually decides to take the trip. Living with Liliana has it’s perks, as the woman is friends with (and works for) Evita Peron.

When Mona meets Evita, she is instantly smitten, and falls hopelessly in love with the older woman, determining that she will do anything to stay in her presence. Soon, Evita asks Mona to travel with her to Europe on a presidential tour, and Mona agrees. But after the tour is suddenly cut short, Evita asks Mona to go to Switzerland, to hide some of her jewelry in a vault and accept one of the keys. Years later, when Mona hears of Evita’s death, she realizes that she is one of three people to know about the vault, and one of only three that has a key.

This is a gorgeous, immersive book that reads almost like you are watching a great film. I felt so enveloped in the world that Erika Rummel creates in this book that I found myself wishing it was longer. ‘Evita and Me,’ is a reading experience that is unmatched!

 

 

Excerpt

 

26 July 1952

 

I knew she was dying, but when I saw the obituary in the Globe and Mail, it triggered an inner quake. The print lines wavered so that I had a hard time reading the words. She made herself one of the most powerful women in the world. She founded charitable institutions. She battled on behalf of workers and women. The print lines steadied, but I still couldn’t make sense of the words. They sounded unfamiliar. I didn’t recognize the woman on the page. Of course, that was the official version of Evita, as opposed to my private memories. And I’m no longer sure about them either. If I knew anything about Evita once, I gave it up when we said goodbye in Madrid, five years ago. I could feel her retreating even earlier. During the last days of our togetherness, she took all the necessary steps, preparing to go away and vanish from my life. That’s why I stole her necklace. I needed a tangible connection, a solid piece made of precious metal and stone, with its own expensive light, something she had touched and I could touch in turn, something that was forever. It was theft, yes, but was it a crime? It’s not as if I had a choice. I didn’t weigh the pros and cons. I didn’t make a conscious decision to act. It was more like basic instinct, an overwhelming need that could not be denied. I can’t be blamed for doing what I had to do.

After I got back to Toronto, I pushed the memory of Evita to the back of my mind, but I couldn’t keep it shut up there entirely. It lay in ambush for me, waiting to stab me with the sudden recall of a personal detail – the perfect curve of Evita’s lips, for example, or the elegant movement of her hand waving to the people as we drove through the city in an open car, the sudden roughness in her voice when she was angry, the way she kissed Juan, carnal and angelic at once. I had these retro-glimpses of Evita, but I never looked at her life as a whole the way the obituary did. I couldn’t come up with a coherent story to explain who she was and how she lived and why I adored her. In fact, you can’t compose a person’s life story until they are dead and can no longer interfere with your imagination or the memories that have congealed into nostalgia. As long as people are alive, there is always a chance they might disappoint you. I mean, you think of them as young and beautiful, the way they were when you saw them last, and then you run into them again and they have become old and their faces have turned to dust, a sight from which you cannot recover. Or you remember them as brilliant, and the next time you see them, they talk about the weather or their allergies and bore you until you have no goodwill left.

But Evita was dead now. I felt a strange lightheadedness when I thought of her, a centrifugal pull to lose myself in the memory of her beauty and the beauty surrounding her, the presidential palace which must be hollow now without her, but with everything still intact, the white bedroom, the dressers full of lingerie and closets full of haute couture dresses, dozens of furs – an ermine bed jacket and an ostrich feather cloak, rows and rows of delicate high-heeled shoes and designer purses. Only Evita was missing, and I felt a longing for her ardent temper, her vivacious gestures, and electric intensity — a longing beyond adoration. I wanted to be like her.

I turned back to the obituary and the photo spread that went with it. There was a picture of people lining up to see Evita lying in state. They knelt in prayer on the rain-soaked pavement. A field kitchen had been set up for them, the article said. The queue was twenty blocks long, and they were standing four abreast. They were like pilgrims who had come to visit the shrine of a miracle-working saint. There was also a close-up of Evita lying in state in a mahogany coffin with a glass lid, surrounded by mauve and white orchids. She looked tranquil and beautiful. Her hands were folded in prayer, a rosary of silver and mother of pearl wound around them – a gift from the Pope, the article said. On the fingers of her left hand were the three rings she always wore: a large solitaire diamond, an eternity ring set with sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, and a simple band of gold – her wedding ring. But the bulk of her jewels, worth millions, was missing, the article said. Yes, and I wonder how long it will take Peron to catch up with us. I never told anyone about our night journey or the two steel caskets we deposited in the bank vault. Did the others keep their mouths shut as well?

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Award-winning author, Erika Rummel is the author of more than a dozen non-fiction books and seven novels. Her seventh novel, ‘Evita and Me’ is being published on May 24, 2022.

She won the Random House Creative Writing Award (2011) for a chapter from ‘The Effects of Isolation on the Brain’ and The Colorado Independent Publishers’ Association’s Award for Best Historical Novel, in 2018. She is the recipient of a Getty Fellowship and the Killam Award.

Erika grew up in Vienna, emigrated to Canada, and obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She taught at Wilfrid Laurier and U of Toronto.  She divides her time between Toronto and Los Angeles and has lived in Argentina, Romania, and Bulgaria.

 

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Giveaway

 

This giveaway is for 2 print copies and is open to Canada and the U.S. only.

This giveaway ends on July 23, 2022 midnight, pacific time.

Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

 

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Synopsis

 

Two women. Many aliases.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She’s a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she’s done, you’ve likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat’s long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg’s true target is.

The Lies I Tell is a twisted domestic thriller that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future.

 

 

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Review

 

Quite the tale which is told from the perspective of Meg (the grifter/con artist) and Kat (the journalist).

Everything is not as it seems and the way to truly con someone is to know them better than they know themselves. Both Meg and Kat have someone that they want to take down for horrible treatment in the past. How they approach those events is very different. Kat is crippled by emotions and inaction. Meg is a doer and is always thinking 3 steps ahead (if not more).

I didn’t want to like Meg, but she has more redeeming qualities than you might think. Kat needed to find her inner strength and it took her the whole book, but she does find it and I found it quite interesting the path she started down in order to right some wrongs in her life.

While the book is told mostly told in the present, there are some flashes to the past that help to round out the story and give us a deeper understanding of these women.

I think in the end that these two women might have actually formed a friendship, at least one of understanding that maybe they were more alike than they realized.

Worth the read and we give it 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ones We Choose and The Last Flight, which was also a #1 international bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her family and a golden doodle with poor impulse control.

 

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THE MISCHIEF SERIES

 

Mischief in the Mushroom Patch

 

A Fairy Match in the Mushroom Patch

 

Spider Web Scramble

 

Stranger in the Mushroom Patch

 

by

 

AMANDA M. THRASHER

 

 

Chapter Books / Fantasy / Action & Adventure / 2ND-4TH Grade

Publisher: Progressive Rising Phoenix Press

 

Scroll down for the Giveaway!

 

 

 

 

Mischief in the Mushroom Patch, 2/20/2013, 146 pages

 

Where do fairies get their magical fairy dust? After leaving the mushroom patch without permission, two mischievous fairies find themselves in more trouble than they can handle. Boris, with a broken ankle and a bent wing, is unable to walk or fly, and Lilly must devise a plan to escort him safely back to the mushroom patch. As with all actions, there are consequences! Lilly and Boris have broken colony rules and wasted precious fairy dust. Sentenced to work in the dust factory, the two learn a valuable lesson about the production of fairy dust, but can they survive the foreman?

 

 

Amazon│Progressive Rising Phoenix Press | Barnes and Noble | Author’s Website

 

 

A Fairy Match in the Mushroom Patch, 2/20/13, 162 pages

 

​Lilly, Boris, and Jack are back! The three friends are together again in this newest addition to the Mischief Series. A natural disaster has taken the elders by surprise, and the scientists are unprepared. Damage to the colony is inevitable! Can the Master Engineers devise a plan to save the colony before they lose their home? The fairies’ Kick-a-Berry Match has been postponed as well, and the fairies must find new ways to entertain themselves until the pitch dries up. Along the way, they make a new friend named Pearle, and though she cannot walk, she can fly with ease. Valuable lessons about friendship, teamwork, and perseverance will be learned as the fairies embark on their newest adventure.

 

 

Amazon│Progressive Rising Phoenix Press | Barnes and Noble | Author’s Website

 

 

Spider Web Scramble, 2/14/16, 170 pages

 

Every third year, on the fifth full moon, the Mushroom Patch holds a magical Spider Web Scramble. Excitement buzzes through the forest as the fairies prepare to scramble the magical webs in order to complete the course. As a special treat, the elders disclose that the stars will be coming down to join in and play. A wish will be granted for the fairies who are pure of heart and manage to beat the clock, locating the star that has their name etched on it. With the no-fly rule in place, teamwork is the only way Pearle can complete the course. But little do they know that possible danger is in their midst. Will the magical spider web scramble be postponed? Will the stars grant Lilly, Boris, and Jack their wishes? Find out in this delightful magical adventure.

 

 

 Amazon│Progressive Rising Phoenix Press | Barnes and Noble | Author’s Website

 

 

 

Stranger in the Mushroom Patch, 2/15/22; 212 pages

Gold Recipient of The Mom’s Choice Awards® (MCA)

 

Lilly, Boris, and Jack Are Back! Get Ready for a Human Attack!

Who knew a slimy moss bomb war between friends would lead to an adventure of a lifetime! From strategizing with the elders for their playful battle to, of all things, escaping the clutches of a human! It doesn’t take long to learn the fairies shockingly have more in common with the child than they ever could have imagined. Broderick, everyone’s favorite spider, provides the goodies, and Lilly supplies the fairy songs and games. Filled with twists and turns, adventure, and fun, find out if the fairies and the elders can help the stranger reunite with her family. Or will there be a human attack?!

 

 

Amazon│Progressive Rising Phoenix Press | Barnes and Noble | Author’s Website

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check Out The Mischief Series On YouTube!

 

 

 

 

 

What a delightful story for readers of all ages, especially middle-grade-aged children. This book/series would be perfect for my great-niece, 7, who loves to read.

I read the fourth book in the series, Stranger in the Mushroom Patch, but I feel that it can be read on its own without having read the first three. There are a few things that might be easier to understand sooner, but the author does a wonderful job of sharing bits and pieces from previous books so that we understand the different fairies better like Boris and a never-ending supply of moss bombs.

The story centers around a small group of fairies in training: Lilly, Boris, Jack, Rosie, Ivy, and Pearle. This group of fairies is lively and mischievous which would be expected from someone so young. But that doesn’t stop them from having fun and learning all at the same time. From a previous book, Boris won the right to have a continuous supply of moss bombs that are slimy and smelly and just what you would expect a boy fairy to enjoy. But he isn’t the only one that likes them, all of the fairies young and old enjoy a good moss bomb fight and a battle is declared which expands the young fairies’ knowledge and experience when they meet a human child. With the help of their elders, this group of fairies helps the human child back to her parents without revealing themselves to the parents or ending up clutched in the toddler’s hands.

This lighthearted story has a few lessons within the pages for young readers to grasp from compassion for those less fortunate to friendship with each other. The story is well written and would be easy for a younger reader to understand the words within. I can only imagine the adventures that this gang of fairies experienced in the first three books and will continue to explore in future books, including perhaps a fairy ball? It is how this book ends with discussions about it and let’s just say that Boris and Jack are not looking forward to wearing formalwear or learning how to dance.

I really liked Pearle. She doesn’t fly but has a chariot and I believe that this represents someone with challenges, but she meets them head-on. There is a game they play with her that has her spinning her chariot like a merry-go-round until they all fly off and green to the gills. I chuckled at this game because it is something I would have done when I was much younger.

This series will be perfect for any young reader and we give it 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda M. Thrasher was born in England, moved to Texas, and resides there still. She’s an award-winning author of Young Adult, General Fiction, Middle Grade, Early Reader Chapter, and Picture Books. Amanda is a multiple Gold Recipient of The Mom’s Choice Awards® (MCA), earning the award in multiple categories, including Young Adult, General Fiction, and Early Reader Chapter Books. She is also a multiple Gold Medal winner of the Readers’ Favorite International Book awards, a New Apple Literary Award, and has earned a first-place North Texas Book Festival award.

Amanda founded and is the CEO of Progressive Rising Phoenix Press, an independent publishing company. She shares her writing and publishing experience with others through school visits, book signings, trade conferences, and workshops for aspiring writers of all ages.

In addition, Amanda was contracted to write a graphic novel for the Driving on the Right Side of the Road Program. The publication is part of the Driving on the Right Side of the Road (DRSR) program, developed by the Law-Related Education Department of the State Bar of Texas Law Focused Education, Inc., and the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center with funding from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the Texas Department of Transportation. The program’s purpose is to offer a preventive educational program to encourage responsible decision-making when it comes to obeying traffic laws and following safe practices. The graphic novel titled What If … A Story of Shattered Lives was adapted into a reader’s theater for as few as five speakers or as many as twenty-six.

 

 

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—————————————–

 

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

 

 ONE WINNER!

 

$50 Starbucks gift card

 

+ signed copies of the Mischief books

 

+ a copy of Captain Fin.

 

(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 7/1/2022)

 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

 

 

 

Visit the Lone Star Literary Life Tour Page

For direct links to each post on this tour, updated daily, 

or visit the blogs directly:

 

 

 

6/21/22	Excerpts 1 & 2	Hall Ways Blog
6/21/22	Review Book 1	The Clueless Gent
6/22/22	Author Interview	All the Ups and Downs
6/22/22	Review Book 2	The Adventures of a Travelers Wife
6/22/22	BONUS Promo	LSBBT Blog
6/23/22	Excerpts 3	Shelf Life Blog
6/23/22	Review Book 3	Forgotten Winds
6/24/22	Excerpt 4	The Page Unbound
6/24/22	Review Book 4	Jennie Reads
6/25/22	Review Book 4	StoreyBook Reviews
6/26/22	Scrapbook Page	Sybrina’s Book Blog
6/27/22	Review Book 1	Rox Burkey Blog
6/28/22	Review Book 2	Reading by Moonlight
6/29/22	Review Book 3	Chapter Break Book Blog
6/30/22	Review Book 4	Writing and Music
6/30/22	Review Book 4	Jennifer Silverwood

 

 

 

 

blog tour services provided by

 

 

 

 

 

Five Belles Too Many (A Sarah Blair Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in the Series
Setting – Alabama
Kensington Cozies (June 28, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages

 

 

Synopsis

 

When Sarah Blair’s mother participates in a reality show competition for brides in Wheaton, Alabama, things get a little too real as a murderer crashes the wedding party . . .

 

Sometimes Sarah’s mother, Maybelle, can be higher maintenance than her Siamese cat RahRah. Maybelle and her friend, Mr. George Rogers, have been chosen to be one of five couples competing for a small-town “perfect” wedding and dream honeymoon on a Southern Belles reality show—and guess who has to be chaperone. Even more vexing, the producers have decided to put up the crew and participants at the restaurant/bed and breakfast owned by Sarah’s nemesis Jane Clark.

But when someone turns up dead with Jane kneeling by the body with blood on her hands, she goes from being Sarah’s chief rival to the police’s chief suspect. Neither Sarah nor her twin, Chef Emily Johnson, can stand Jane—still, they don’t think she’s a murderer. The producers vow the show must go on, but to protect their mother and the other contestants, Sarah vows to find the true killer before someone else gets eliminated . . .

Includes quick and easy recipes!

 

 

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This book releases on 6/28/22, pre-order today!

 

 

Guest Post

 

Helping Jane Against My Better Judgment by Sarah Blair (and Debra H. Goldstein)

 

I, Sarah Blair, hate kitchens! In fact, the thought of being in a kitchen is more frightening to me than murder. That’s why it’s ironic that I’m co-owner of the Southwind restaurant. It really belongs to my twin sister, Chef Emily, and her boyfriend, Chef Marcus, but they insist I’m an equal partner because I own the building the restaurant is in. Being a law firm receptionist is my real day job, but in the last year, I’ve also ended up solving several murders here in Wheaton, Alabama. Luckily, my boss Harlan Endicott not only puts up with my being distracted when I’m drawn into a murder, but he’s a saint at helping out my friends and family when they get into trouble.

In fact, he’s doing it again, but this time for my worst enemy in the world, Jane Clark. Jane, who I refer to under my breath as Bimbo, broke up my marriage. After my ex-husband’s death (but before they could be married), she tried to steal the only thing I came out of my marriage with, RahRah, my Siamese cat. Jane also repeatedly tried to beat Emily and Marcus in the restaurant business by opening Jane’s Place directly across the street from Southwind. Reinventing herself again, she recently converted Jane’s Place into a bed and breakfast. For the next week, she’s rented rooms to the television show sponsoring a Southern Belles competition for the perfect Southern wedding. My mother, Maybelle, is one of the five finalists. To my dismay, she roped me into being her chaperone.

I understand the television show wanting the other four twenty something finalists to be chaperoned, but my mother is over sixty! The producer explained there would be no exceptions. Because my twin works nights and Mother didn’t want to inconvenience any of her friends, she “enlisted” my help. It’s bad enough that I’m juggling my day job, caring for my furry pets, RahRah and Fluffy, but having to stay at Jane’s bed and breakfast is almost more than I can bear. Mother Maybelle reminded me that I’d be sleeping most of the time. In theory, that sounded good, but she didn’t consider that on the first night of the competition we’d find the producer dead in the entry way of Jane’s Place with Jane crouched over him, her hands covered in blood. Jane begged me to prove she didn’t do it.

Hating Jane ranks right up there with my aversion to kitchens and cooking, but I don’t think she’s a killer. That’s part of the reason I called Harlan to represent her while I look for clues to her innocence. That other reason I’m involved is that while I’m afraid of being scorched if I get too close to a stove, I’m afraid that without my help, my mother and some of the other contestants might be permanently eliminated.

 

 

About the Author

 

Many, Four Cuts Too Many, Three Treats Too Many, Two Bites Too Many, and One Taste Too Many). Her novels and short stories received an IPPY award and have been named Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Silver Falchion finalists. Debra served on the national boards of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and was president of the Guppy and SEMWA chapters.

 

 

Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn * Goodreads

 

 

Giveaway

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

It is the duty of the Vanguard to protect the world from unseen demonic forces.

But what if the organization falls to corruption? Their reformation is up to Cato, a disgraced former member who discovers many of the elite using their powerful positions and martial skills for ill-gotten gains rather than fulfilling their true purpose: aiding mankind in a secret war against their eternal foe.

Aldous is a Vanguard who fell from grace after being stricken with vampirism by a mysterious figure known as the White Lady. His increasingly vile appetites are tolerated because his knowledge as an alchemist is vital in the Vanguard’s battle against the demons. When those desires lead to the abduction of the woman Cato loves, Cato wages a one-man war against Aldous and his werewolf henchman.

 

 

Amazon * Barnes&Noble * IndieBound

 

 

Praise

 

“While This World of Love and Strife will reach horror audiences, it also should be included in fantasy and thriller library collections as a strong example of the strengths that can emerge from a story that embraces different genres with powerful characters and scenarios that are unpredictable and engrossing.- D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

“The thrills build and build and never let up. The characters feel like real people. Even the vampires and werewolf! Best of all was the protagonist. He starts as kind of an eccentric and a bit of a jerk, but by the end I couldn’t get enough of him. I highly recommend this book for people who don’t mind horror with a heaping dose of action.”- John Martin, Amazon

 

Guest Review by Nora

 

This book really intrigued me and kept me guessing! ‘This World of Love and Strife,’ by Shawn Mackey is a one-of-a-kind novel that takes all of the best elements of horror and combines them with a thriller.

The fictional world of Lumina City is such a powerful and vivid atmosphere that, as I was reading, I kept forgetting that it wasn’t a real place—despite the fact that it’s full of demons, vampires and werewolves, of course.

What a world that Mackey has created, and what an interesting plot to set these characters into! The story centers around Cato, a former member of an organization responsible for expelling demons. The organization is called the Vangaurd, and they have members in high political positions all over the world. The Vangaurd’s job is to stop demons from getting into people’s head and controlling their thoughts.

Cato left the organization after a civil war split them apart, and went into hiding, but he still has a bounty on his head from the Vangaurd. Which makes things difficult, because Cato has just received a vision from a disembodied voice that convinced him that humanity is in grave danger.

Further complicating things is the fact that the woman that Cato loves has recently been captured by a vampire. The vampire is another former Vanguard member named Aldous whom Cato has a personal vendetta against.

This book is a wild ride and one that has to be read to be believed. Mackey’s writing is superb and his grasp of plotting is everything a reader could want in a horror novel.

The different character perspectives kept the story fresh and provided a lot of insight into the story that might have otherwise been lost with something so ambitious. This is an incredible five star book in what might seem like an unassuming package. Don’t miss this one!

 

 

Excerpt

 

Maggie went inside, suppressing the urge to run up the stairs, her limbs jittering in anxiety. She stopped at the top floor, bracing for something terrible. Nancy was dead, and if her intuition proved true, Cato wouldn’t survive the night. She continued down the hall, dreading each step. At Cato’s door, she was about to knock, then reached for the knob instead. It was locked.

“Cato,” she said quietly, rapping her knuckles against the door. “It’s me, Maggie. Can you open up?”

After waiting a few minutes, she called his cell phone to see if he was actually home. From the other side of the door, she heard it vibrate against the hardwood floor.

“Hello?” he answered, so low she could only hear him over the phone.

“Open the door, Cato. I’m outside.”

Within a minute, he unlocked the door. Maggie waited for him to open up. A few seconds later, she heard a loud thump, prompting her to barrel inside the room. Cato lay in a heap, pale and trembling. She closed the door, locking it behind her, and then ran to his side.

“What happened?” she asked, feeling his forehead. It was cold.

“I saw it,” he mumbled. She grabbed him by the face and got in close.

“Open your eyes. Look at me!”

“Maggie?” he said, blinking heavily. He shot upward with a gag. She helped him to the toilet, where he continued to wretch, but didn’t vomit.

“Tell me what happened. What did you see? Was it Nancy?”

“Everyone,” he said. When he didn’t elaborate, she shook him.

“Come on, damn it!”

“You have no idea how dire things are. We’re all fucked.”

“Cato,” she screamed, shaking him harder. She slapped him lightly across the cheek. “Snap out of it.”

“How can I begin to explain it to you? You wouldn’t even believe me.”

“Say it in your own words. I’ll figure the rest out.”

“You were a nurse, right?” he asked with a grunt, leaning against the bathroom wall. She noticed a gash on his forehead.

“Almost. A nurse’s aide,” she said, looking through his medicine cabinet. It was filled with empty bottles of unlabeled pills. She tossed them one by one into the garbage, searching for disinfectant.

“You understand how prevalent bacteria are.”

“You certainly don’t. I found bandages. Got rubbing alcohol?”

“Not anymore.”

“Then this will have to do,” she said, sticking a bandage on his wounded head after a light wash with soap and water. It wasn’t very deep. “What about bacteria?”

“Evil seeps into this world as pervasively as bacteria. Like diseases, it takes on forms—”

“What are you babbling about?”

“I thought you wanted to listen?” he snapped. She lapsed into silence, and he continued: “As nurse, you’ve got plenty of protocols to adhere in order to prevent bacterial infections. The same goes for evil, only the procedures are much more difficult. It takes more than surgical gloves and disinfectant to stop Nergal. Plentiful food won’t save you from Pazuzu and frugality isn’t enough to fend off Mammon. These demons, billions of them, maybe trillions, are more pervasive than bacteria. Their influence can’t be understated. They squash human will to such a degree, I doubt we’re any more than golems for these creatures. I can’t even trust my own thoughts.”

“These creatures,” Maggie said, feigning calm. She was aghast by the nonsense he spewed, but the concern for him trumped it enough to humor him. “You call them creatures. Can you see them?”

“They manifest all over the world. I’ve killed some before. So has Reggie, unless he lied.”

“Reggie never told me about this.”

“He hasn’t seen what I’ve seen.”

“Explain.”

“I saw Hell,” he said, then after a long pause: “Human souls cling to the bottom like dead insects, and the ones with the courage to escape are battered down by a legion of demons. It’s going on right now and will continue for all eternity. I’ll never know a moment of peace ever again.”

“It sounds horrible. Do you remember what happened before this?”

“No.”

“I saw an ambulance and police cars at Nancy’s apartment. Do you know anything about it?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“The only thing I’m sure of is what I saw, and what I’m going to do from here on. There’s a spiritual sickness that needs curing. I won’t let my soul stay bound. I’m going to destroy Hell.”

“That’s a—” she started, but didn’t know how to finish. Cato closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. “Cato, are you okay?”

“No.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Save yourself. Don’t trust me to do it for you.”

“How?”

“To start, stop viewing things through the eyes of the world. Someone told me that a long time ago, and I didn’t listen. I’ll never do that again.”

“Who?” she asked. He covered his face with his hands and let out a groan. There was a sad tinge to it. Maggie considered probing further, but it was best not to agitate him. Nothing good ever came from questioning Cato’s past. She crawled forward and caressed his head. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“That’s a good idea,” Cato said, standing. He nearly stumbled into Maggie. She helped support him to his bed, tucking the blanket in and pulling it over him, then laying by his side.

“Will you tell me about Nancy in the morning?” she asked. He nestled his head on her shoulder and muttered something incoherent. Rather than ask him to clarify, Maggie closed her eyes. She was exhausted, and rather than linger in this maddening night, closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

 

 

About the Author

 

Living in New Jersey for all his life, Shawn Mackey has been writing since childhood. Though his favorite genre is horror, he has a deep appreciation for fantasy influenced by mythology and science fiction that questions the modern world and its future.

 

Website * Twitter * Facebook

 

 

 

Giveaway

 

This giveaway is for 1 print or ebook copy.

Print is open to the U.S. only. eBook is open worldwide.

This giveaway ends on July 23, 2022 midnight, pacific time.

Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Synopsis

 

‘It’s Titanic – aren’t you curious? No one alive today has seen it like that.’ Emmie & Jack are on a school trip with a difference.

Visiting Belfast to see where Titanic was built, they step back to 1912 and discover the great ship itself. All too soon, they find out that the way home is blocked, and Jack gets dragged off to work by one of the crew. Who is the mysterious stranger lurking in the shadows, and can they solve his time riddle to escape from the doomed ship before it is too late…?

 

 

Amazon

 

Read for Free via Kindle Unlimited

 

 

Review

 

This is the second book by this author that features a team of youth that end up time traveling and experiencing some moments of history. The first book was about the Blitz during the war, and this time it was about seeing the Titanic before it sank.

Jack and Emmie are a little mischievous when they sneak off from their class and enter a tunnel that lands them on the Titanic. They see it as a big adventure and the chance to let their teacher know some facts that may not be known. However, how will they get back to their time? Thankfully, there is a guide there that gives them hints and tells them what they must do to return to their time. It isn’t an easy task considering how people were evacuated on the ship, but they are successful in their mission.

While this book is written for middle-grade readers, anyone could enjoy this story. There are many facts peppered throughout about the Titanic, the passengers, and what it was like on the ship during the maiden voyage. I felt like the author did a good job researching the details to present an accurate representation of what might have happened in 1912. There is a lot of excitement for the characters and the author brings the reader into the story, and I felt like I was there on the ship with Jack and Emmie.

We give this book 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Glen Blackwell lives in Suffolk, England. He has a career in finance and The Titanic Tunnel is his third book. Inspired by bedtime reading with his 3 daughters, Glen loves to bring stories to life for young readers.

 

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