Book Title: The Love Fool: A Rome-antic Comedy by Lorenzo Petruzziello Category: Adult Fiction, 314 pages Genre: Romantic Comedy Publisher: Quill (Inkshares) Release date: March 13, 2018 Content Rating: PG
Synopsis
Set in Rome. Follow the whirlwind antics of a publicist as he struggles to manage his first TV chef client, his new life, and an unexpected visit from his ex-girlfriend.
Alex recently moved to Italy for an opportunity at a PR firm in Rome. His first client is the beautiful Danish chef Pernille Bjørn, a popular model, TV personality, and cookbook author just entering the booming televised cooking show market in Italy.
Alex’s single-minded career focus is soon thwarted by Emily, an ex-girlfriend he hasn’t heard from in almost a decade.
Italy’s modern culture and enchanting sights set the backdrop to this Rome-antic comedy.
I’m a part-time writer – working fulltime and writing when I can in the evenings or weekends. As one can imagine, it is not an easy feat. Being in the office all day, analyzing this, figuring out that, solving problems here, and making mistakes there. Not to mention the occasional stress of not losing the income that allows you to eat and live. It’s a lot for a person; especially for a writer – a person who is typically dramatic, sensitive, observant and imaginative has the problem of letting their minds go wild with ideas that can be productive and unnecessarily stressful.
Are you stressed reading this? You should be. I purposefully wrote it to make you uncomfortable. This is how a writer usually feels when they go home from a hard day’s work and spot their computer, and story notes, staring back at him/her collecting dust. Failure. That’s the first thing that comes to the mind. Sit down and write – just write, you keep telling yourself. So you sit there, switch on computer and stare at the last few paragraphs you had written maybe a month ago. You read and reread those words and wonder: What the hell you could have been thinking typing that junk? Stop. You have to stop yourself. You sit back and tell yourself: Relax, you can do this. But how?
Stop. Just stop. Sit back and let your mind relax. You have to allow it to turn off that business-focused thinking and let the creative juices flow. It’s not easy, but it needs to happen. Some suggest to go for a walk. Or cook a nice meal. Something to let your mind just relax and switch into the creative mindset. And of course, always strive to make that something healthy and positive.
What is your method to fuel your creative mind?
Trailer
About the Author
Lorenzo Petruzziello holds an MBA in global marketing from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. His background includes publicity and marketing for many of public television’s popular cooking and travel shows. He lives in Massachusetts focusing on his writing. THE LOVE FOOL is his first novel.
In 2005, Ted W. Baxter was at the top of his game. He was a successful, globe-trotting businessman with a resume that would impress the best of the best. In peak physical condition, Ted worked out nearly every day of the week. And then, on April 21, 2005, all that came to an end. He had a massive ischemic stroke. Doctors feared he wouldn’t make it, or if he did make it, he would be in a vegetative state in a hospital bed for the rest of his life.
But miraculously, that’s not what happened . . .
In Relentless, Ted W. Baxter describes his remarkable recovery. Not only did he live, but he’s walking and talking again. He moves through life almost as easily as he did before the stroke; only now, his life is better. He’s learned that having a successful career is maybe not the most important thing. He’s learned to appreciate life more. He’s learned that he wants to help people—and that’s what he does. He gives back, volunteering his time and effort to help other stroke victims.
Relentless is a wonderful resource for stroke survivors, caregivers, and their loved ones, but it is also an inspiring and motivating read for anyone who is facing struggles in their own life.
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Four Days, Four Flights
I was at the top of the totem pole.
I had surpassed all others on my globe-trotting climb to the top of the financial industry. I was a man on a mission—a constant blur of motion as I steadfastly pursued my career goals.
I have a resume that would impress the best of the best. I spent years devoting nearly every waking moment to the Price Waterhouse financial services consulting group. I started and grew their Tokyo division, which led to my designation as partner.
When that challenge was no longer enough, I left Price Waterhouse and joined Credit Suisse First Boston as the regional financial controller for Asia Pacific. When they moved me back to Manhattan to serve as American financial controller and then on to global managing director of financial systems and strategy, I found myself bored once again. I needed an even greater challenge. I had to keep moving. So my wife and I relocated, yet again, to Chicago, so I could take the position of global controller at Citadel, one of the most successful hedge fund companies in the world. At forty-one, at the peak of my game, I was the go-to guy in the financial services arena.
I have an impressive resume, but it didn’t come without a great deal of effort.
And in an instant, it was all gone.
I remember bits and pieces of the weeks leading up to my collapse.
For instance, I remember being impressed by the view as my wife and I landed on Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa, en route to an all-inclusive resort. As would be expected, we were dressed for relaxation when we walked out of the airport into the bright sunshine, with sunglasses in place and shorts showing off our untanned skin. Winter in Chicago had, as usual, been brutally long. Things were starting to thaw there, but it would be another month, at least, before we had day-to-day nice weather. We were in major need of a warm getaway, and I remember the sun feeling exceptionally good, despite my wandering mind.
I was, as always, thinking about work, wondering if the last presentation had sealed the deal with a stubborn international client. Those concerns had me checking my email, via BlackBerry, as often as possible.
“What are you doing?” Kelly asked as someone had to weave around me, my nose pointed directly at the mobile screen.
“Just checking my email,” I mumbled in reply, too busy absorbing what I was reading to meet her eyes.
“Don’t worry about your email, Ted. Look! This place is beautiful.” Though the words were true, her voice lacked its usual conviction, and that did make me take notice. I placed an arm around her shoulders, thinking that she really could use the sun. Her face was quite pale.
Then my BlackBerry beeped an alert, and my eyes were back on the small screen.
When we climbed into the back of the car that would take us the rest of the way to the resort, I looked up at Kelly again. She was resting her head against the black leather seat. I poured a drink from the decanter beside me and offered her one. She shook her head ever so slightly, turning the drink down.
“Is there a gym at the resort?” I asked, believing that conversation would help her perk up.
“Yes. You aren’t going to work out this week, are you?” she replied.
“Of course I am. I always do,” I answered. It was an argument that she couldn’t win, so she just shook her head at me, as she often did.
“Try to enjoy the vacation, Ted.”
I chuckled and slid in closer to her. “I will.”
She smiled but still didn’t lift her head.
“Are you okay?” I asked, feeling the warmth of the back of her head seeping into my arm.
“I’m okay. I think I must have gotten motion sickness on the plane.”
I knew that wasn’t the case, and so did she. We had been together for years, and in all the time I knew her, she’d never suffered from motion sickness. A fever took hold of her later that day, and she spent the majority of our time in Mauritius in bed with the flu.
Without my wife to keep me from it, I worked. That’s how I was and what I did. I spent most of our trip using the resort’s Wi-Fi to keep in contact with my colleagues and clients. Many were all too happy to take a trip to the African island to meet with me in person. After all, Kelly was right; the place was beautiful.
A week later, with Kelly feeling much closer to her normal self, though without the tan that she had so hoped for, we boarded a flight headed back to Chicago.
“When do you leave?” she asked as we buckled into our seats.
After taking the requested pillow from the stewardess, I turned to Kelly. “I leave Sunday. Shouldn’t be gone more than four or five days.” I went to Europe on business about every six to eight weeks.
“What time?”
“I’ll have to check the itinerary. Overnight, though. Ten-hour direct flight to London, then on to Luxembourg . . . and I think that’ll be the only other stop this time.”
“That’s good,” she said, accepting a cocktail from the stewardess. A devious grin tugged at her lips as she looked up at me and sank deeper into the airline chair. I watched her take a sip of her drink, and then she set her hand on my arm. “It’s not all bad, you know. Comfy pillows, drinks, snacks. I could get used to flying all of the time.”
I laughed. “Well, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, you know,” I responded, leaning back a little farther in my own chair.
—
That flight to London on the Sunday after we returned from Mauritius was the first of four international flights that I would take in a matter of four days. The final flight of the four was the return trip from London to Chicago on Thursday. On this flight, I was exhausted, which wasn’t like me, and I figured it was just the lack of sleep, jet lag, and being away from home for so long.
“Can I get you anything else, sir?” the stewardess asked after handing me the pillow.
“No, thank you. This’ll be fine. Can you just wake me ten minutes before we land for a cup of coffee, please?” I said.
“Of course, sir. Sleep well.” Whether or not her words had anything to do with it, I can’t say, but I do know that I slept that entire flight. I didn’t wake for the meal, a drink of water, or a trip to the bathroom. “Sir, it’s time to wake up. Sir? I have a cup of coffee for you,” she said in a sweet voice. I smiled in thanks and took a sip of the coffee. I never sleep through an entire flight.
It was Thursday afternoon, and I was checking the incoming emails on my BlackBerry on my way out of the airport when my limo driver called out to me.
“Good afternoon, sir. How was your flight?”
It was then that I noticed that I wasn’t walking right. I found myself limping every four or five steps as I walked over to the limo. “It was fine, thank you.”
“Are you all right, sir?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Just tired from the flight,” I answered, further baffled at the fact that, despite the hours of uninterrupted sleep, it was a true statement.
The driver glanced at my leg as I got in. I guess my limp was more obvious than I thought. “Leg is bothering me. Too much time sitting on the plane, I guess,” I said, rubbing it a bit as I sat in the soft leather seat.
The driver didn’t say anything more, and I promptly put the thought out of my mind. There was work to do, and besides, this wasn’t the first time I’d had trouble with my legs. I had long since given up on the idea of having legs free of varicose veins. I had asked several doctors about them and was always told that the noticeable veins in my legs were superficial and not the dangerous kind. Even if I had them stripped, for cosmetic reasons, varicose veins like mine usually come back anyway. Genetics at its finest.
When I arrived home, Kelly greeted me as soon as I walked in the door. “Welcome home,” she said and then gave me a small kiss on my cheek before quickly returning to what she had been doing before I walked in. I watched her make her way to the kitchen. She had laid a stack of my mail on the entry table, like usual, so I grabbed it on my way to my office.
“You’re not going out, are you?” she called from the other room.
“No, I’m going to get these bills paid and get stuff ready for work tomorrow.”
“Do you need help getting unpacked?” she asked, sticking her head into the doorway.
I smiled and shook my head. Even though traveling was part of my routine, she always seemed excited to see me come home. “No, I’ll do it. I’ve got to get my gym bag packed anyway.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away. I knew that most people didn’t work out like I did, but it was a part of my routine that I wasn’t willing to part with. So the next day, like every day, I would wake up by five so I could be in the city by six. That gave me an hour to work out and a few minutes to get cleaned up before I had to be at the office. Kelly laughed at me, but she was health conscious too. We both maintained a healthy diet, didn’t smoke or take recreational drugs, and drank infrequently, in moderation. Physical fitness was a priority for us in life. And for me, not only did it allow me to feel good, but it didn’t hurt my image in business either. I was the picture of good health.
Except, my leg hurt.
The Stroke
When we walked out of our home an hour or so later to get some dinner, Kelly asked me about my leg. “Why are you limping?”
“I’m not limping. My leg . . . it’s just a little sore.” I rubbed it and made a conscious effort to walk naturally. “What do you want to eat?’’
“Sushi okay?”
“Sounds great,” I answered, opening the front door for her.
We arrived at our favorite local sushi restaurant in the next town over and were seated in the dining room.
“Don’t you want a drink?” Kelly asked after the waiter came to take our drink order and I declined anything other than water. Typically, I would have ordered a large hot sake and enjoyed every warming sip with our sushi, as I had done when I lived in Tokyo.
“Not tonight. Just water is fine,” I said.
She looked at me with a funny expression but let it go and told me about how she’d spent her time while I was away, saying once again how much she wished that she hadn’t been sick on our trip. I was happy to keep up the usual stream of conversation, happy to be seated across from her eating the delicious meal, but when the bill came, I quickly pulled out my card and handed it to the waiter. I was ready to go home.
“Would you do me a favor tomorrow?” I asked Kelly as we walked through the front door of our home. “Can you call and schedule me an appointment with my doctor? Just sometime later this month, after your appointment.”
“Are you all right?” she asked. Concern covered her face. “I can try to get you in sooner.” “I’m fine. It’s just that my leg is sore, and sometimes it feels like I’m experiencing growing pains. The doctor will just say the same thing he always does, I’m sure. ‘Don’t worry about the pain. It’s no big deal.’ But it feels worse than usual.” I rubbed my hand over it, and she agreed to make the call for me.
I made my way to our bedroom and sighed as I sank into the couch in the sitting room of our master suite. Kelly laughed and fell back in the chair beside me.
“You’re not going to sleep already, are you? It’s only eight o’clock.”
“Nah. Not yet,” I said groggily, picking up a Men’s Health magazine. I really was tired, but I flipped a few pages until I came to an article of interest. “Look, maybe I should start taking this supplement,” I said, showing her the article.
“You already take a few different ones,” she answered. I pointed to the list of the four supplements men should be taking. I was already taking three of the four
The Apprentice was on, and a few minutes into the show, Kelly asked, “Did you see that commercial?” I picked up the remote and rewound it, thinking again how wonderful TiVo was. I watched the commercial but didn’t respond.
“Did you see that?” she asked again, looking to me, surprised that I didn’t have a comment to make about it. “What’s wrong? Don’t you think that’s funny?”
I didn’t respond. I realized I couldn’t respond. Suddenly, I couldn’t get my mouth to form any words. I was extremely light-headed, and I began to shiver. I felt pain in my head like a really bad migraine but something I had never experienced before. I couldn’t say anything, and nothing made any sense.
“C’mon, Ted. It was funny, and you know it. It wasn’t that bad.”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. I was too busy almost dying.
Used with permission from Greenleaf Book Group Press.
Trailer
About the Author
After spending 22 years in the financial industry, Ted W. Baxter retired as a global finance executive with a large hedge investment firm based in Chicago. Prior to that, Ted was a managing director for a global investment bank and he was a Price Waterhouse partner and a consultant concentrated on banks and securities, risk management, financial products, and strategic planning. Internationally, he spent 6 years working and living in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Ted now resides in Newport Beach, CA where he volunteers at several health related institutions and hospitals in Orange County, leading groups in a stroke-related communication recovery program, and is a member of the Board of Directors at the American Heart and Stroke Association.
It’s been two years since the night that changed Ashley’s life. Two years since she was raped by her brother’s teammate. And a year since she sat in a court and watched as he was given a slap on the wrist sentence. But the years have done nothing to stop the pain.
It’s been two years of hell for Derek. His family is totally messed up and he and his sister are barely speaking. He knows he handled it all wrong. Now at college, he has to come to terms with what happened, and the rape culture that he was inadvertently a part of that destroyed his sister’s life.
When it all comes to a head at Thanksgiving, Derek and Ashley have to decide if their relationship is able to be saved. And if their family can ever be whole again.
This is a powerful book that takes a look into the life of a victim and her family after a rape. We all may know someone that has been a victim (or perhaps it is you?) and that we could never fully understand what that person went through before, during, or after the incident. And it doesn’t just affect the victim, it affects the family as they help the victim work out their fears regarding the incident.
There are so many good things to write about this book it is hard to know where to start. I think the biggest impact this book had on me was taking a look into how being a victim of rape or sexual assault can affect the victim for years after the event. It can be the smallest thing that triggers a reaction and memory of the event. I never really understood what a person might go through but this book really opened my eyes. Ashley is 14/15 when this happened to her and many of her reactions, while valid, also reflect her age. She is angry at everyone, even those trying to help her. Some comments made by friends and family were misunderstood and instead of asking for clarification, she just shuts that person out of her life. At the same time, she doesn’t understand the guilt that her family feels about the situation and not being able to protect her. There are many situations that she has to work her way through to understand and accept how others feel or their reactions in the past. She does grow over the two years that this book spans and realizes that she doesn’t have to let this event traumatize her at every turn. No she won’t forget the incident, but she can take control back and move forward.
Ashley’s brothers, Justin & Derek, also have their own battles to fight regarding the incident. They are not handling it as well and they might have thought, but it turns into character building for them, especially Derek since he feels the most responsible. His POV was sometimes hard to read only because of the guilt you could feel in his words especially when attending a rally on his college campus. Ashley’s parents are also trying to balance protecting Ashley without smothering her.
I appreciated all of the links to organizations that support victims and families of sexual assault. The author even recommends searching the hashtag #MeToo to read stories by those assaulted.
I would have liked to have a bit more development of Sebastian and Brittany since these characters play a pivotal role in Ashley and Derek’s lives.
Overall a book that made a huge impact on my thought process and view of victims of assault.
We give this 5 paws up
Excerpt
This novel is a companion story to my award-winning SOME BOYS. In this scene, Ian Russell, one of the main characters in Some Boys, meets Derek Lawrence in SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW.
~*~
Derek
A knot forms in my gut, a thick and oily clot of guilt. I sink on to the first bench I spot, clutching my middle and trying like hell not to puke. Damn it, I wish to hell I’d beaten the snot out of Victor Patton.
Came close to it.
“Hey, man.”
I twitch and find some guy sitting beside me. No idea where he came from. He’s older than I am, but not by much. Mid-twenties, maybe? Dark hair, dark eyes, some serious muscle.
I nod and shift away, willing my stomach to settle down.
“I’m gonna say something to you,” the guy says. “And you can tell me to buzz off, or you can listen. I see you sitting here, green around the gills, gripping one of those rally flyers, and see a look on your face I know well.”
I shift back to study him. He meets my gaze without flinching, and there’s something in his tone that tells me he’s not kidding.
“Somebody you love got assaulted,” he says, and before I can say anything—before I can even think of something to say—he adds, “Me too.”
I stare at him in disbelief. Are we supposed to do some kind of male bonding over rape…some sort of weird bro hug and then share our feelings? That kink in my gut unclenches, and my breakfast comes up and out. I manage to turn away before I ruin this guy’s day and spew into the bushes behind the bench. It takes a few minutes. When I’m finally empty and want to crawl into the gutter to die, the guy shoves a bottle of water into my field of vision.
“Take it. Keep it.”
Grateful, I crack the seal, chug, and rinse out my mouth. Then I take a nice gulp, sit back on the bench, and wipe my mouth. “Thanks,” I offer a few minutes later, when I’m sure I’m not dying.
“Yeah, no big.”
There’s a long pause. “Girlfriend?” he asks after a minute. And it takes me another minute to figure out he’s asking who I know that got raped. I shake my head.
“Sister.”
“Oh, man. I’m sorry.”
I only nod. What else is there to say? In silence, we watch the perky girl with the clipboard chase down two guys on Rollerblades to sign up for the rally.
He snorts out a laugh. “That girl has some serious fun attitude.”
I laugh, too. “That’s an oxymoron, no?”
Shrugging, he says, “Maybe. Never could keep those lit terms straight.”
That makes me wonder about him. “You’re not a student?”
“No,” he admits. “I graduated a few years ago. Degree in engineering. I work in the city now.”
“So what are you doing here?”
He sighs and looks back to the quad where Perky Girl’s got another pair of guys on the hook for rally duty. “Over there. Under the Rock Stock tent. Black boots.”
I scan the area, find the tent, and see a bunch of people under it. But the black boots do it for me. The girl is hot, like off-the- charts hot. Long wild hair, dark sunglasses, jeans, and a black shirt that’s held together with a series of metal rings. She looks like the lead singer from some hard rock band.
“Oh! I’m sorry. Was she—”
“Yeah. Back in high school. By my friend. At a party she only went to because she hoped I’d be there.”
“I’m sorry.” I sigh.
“I came over here to talk to you because you looked like— well, like a guy about to puke.”
My face gets hot. I swallow another gulp of water and look away. But I can’t deny I’m curious. “How do you…” Deal with it? Avoid killing the guy who did it? I wave my hand, trying to fill in that blank but coming up empty.
He angles his head, studying me. “Get over my guilt?”
Okay. That works, too.
He takes another look at the girl in the black boots and shrugs.
“Still working on it. Being here is part of it. She’s doing the keynote speech at the rally. Took me a while, but I finally figured out that therapy’s not so bad, either.”
My parents wanted us all to go to therapy, but I said no way. Maybe that was a mistake. “Can I ask you something?”
The guy nods.
I swallow more water. “You ever say something you can’t take back? Something that made her hate you.”
He grins and rolls his eyes. “God, yes. I can’t watch a Star Wars movie without wanting to kick my own ass.”
“Huh?”
He waves a hand. “Long story. I was a real dick to her, embarrassing her in front of my friends so they wouldn’t turn on me. She forgave me. Somewhere along the line, I figured out how to forgive myself so I could be the man she deserves.”
Forgive myself. That’s exactly what Brittany said. I consider that for a couple of minutes and then shake my head. “I gotta go.” I stand up. “Thanks for the water and for—” I wave a hand. “You know.”
“Yeah. No problem. Hope we see you at the rally. Trust me, she’s something.” He jerks a thumb toward the girl in the black boots, and I don’t doubt him for a second.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
He extends a hand. “Ian.”
I shake it. “Derek,” I say. “Thanks again.”
“Here.” He fishes through his pockets and comes out with a business card. “My cell number. I can help. If you want.”
I take off, tucking the card into my pocket along with the blue-and-white flyer. I don’t even know why I’m keeping them. It’s not like there’s any way Ashley’s gonna forgive me. I’m not even sure I can forgive myself. I’ll never be the hero again in her eyes.
Trailer
About the Author
Patty Blount grew up quiet and somewhat invisible in Queens, NY, but found her voice writing smart and strong characters willing to fight for what’s right. Today, she’s the award-winning author of edgy, realistic, gut-wrenching contemporary and young adult romance. Still a bit introverted, she gets lost often, eats way too much chocolate, and tends to develop mad, passionate crushes on fictional characters…and actors like Gilles Marini….and Sam Heughan. Okay, so Patty’s not nearly as cool as her characters, but she is a solid supporter of women’s rights and loves delivering school presentations.
Patty is best known for her internet issues novels, including SOME BOYS, a 2015 CLMP Firecracker winner and RWA Rita Finalist, and SEND, a 2012 Junior Library Guild Fall Pick. Her upcoming release, SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW, has already been selected as a 2018 Junior Library Guild Fall Pick. She blogs at YA Outside the Lines and is also active on Twitter and Facebook. When she’s not writing, Patty loves to watch bad sci-fi movies, live tweeting the hilarity, and scour Pinterest for ideas on awesome bookcases. Patty lives on Long Island with her family in a house that, sadly, lacks bookcases. She loves hearing from readers, especially when they tell her she’s cool (even though she knows it’s not true), and is easily bribed with chocolate. Never underestimate the power of chocolate.
Patty is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a paperback copy of Someone I Used to Know, plus three (3) Runner-Up winners a $5 Amazon Gift Card. To enter for your chance to win one of these exciting prizes, please fill out the Rafflecopter link below:
Book Title: Boy on the Beach by R.D. Maddux Category: Adult Fiction; 304 pages Genre: Mystery / Thriller Publisher: Ezekiel 12 Publications Release date: March 11, 2017
Synopsis
Andrew Foster, a real estate developer in San Diego, is a man suddenly haunted by his past. Memories, like specters from his former life of sex, drugs and rock and roll have come crashing into his current world of business in this sunny coastal city. The ominous, repeated appearance of a black SUV at the beach where he meets his sister each week, has triggered fears that it’s payback time for a bad choice he made years ago.
To add to his frustrations, his hopes of a big breakthrough in the San Diego real estate market haven’t come to pass. He’s starting to wonder if his visions of success will ever come true when an investor offers to finance his dream project. Soon things start to fall into place for Andrew in business, life, and even love. He starts dating the beautiful and business-savvy Nicole but even with her at his side he can’t seem to shake the ghosts of his past. As the relationship with Nicole deepens, Andrew opens up to her about the many loves and adventures that have taken him from the crazy days of living in Big Sur and Joshua Tree to business success in San Diego. Her wise insights help him face the character flaws that have caused him to fail in his past relationships.
Rounding out his social life is his once-a-week task of assisting his sister with her nanny job watching a young boy named Chandler. They build sand castles on the beach and enjoy the beauty of nature together. But the now ominous weekly appearance of a strange car at the beach has awakened Andrew’s fears. Is the boy in danger? Or worse, has an enemy from Andrew’s past come seeking revenge and now Chandler’s caught in the middle?
A strange twist of events threatens to destroy Andrew’s dreams, but as he searches for answers, a sudden revelation offers hope of a future he never imagined.
I had mixed feelings while reading this book – some of the time I felt for Andrew and what was he was going through as we flipped back and forth in this life (37 years in the past, age 20) and the present (57), and some of the time I thought he deserved what was happening to him. He is rather arrogant when it comes to women. He is fast approaching 60 but was negative towards women just hitting 40, like they weren’t worth being around. But that sort of behavior is expected in shallow men that expect a trophy to hang on their arm.
Andrew aside, the story was a slower pace until the end when the events were coming to a head. While I sort of suspected different pieces of the story, I was very surprised at how the story ended. There are some questions I have that were left unanswered, but it wrapped up a few things. There was some misdirection regarding Andrew’s development and the financial partner. I couldn’t quite figure out why Donovan would tell Landon why he was doing what he was doing to Andrew. The years didn’t quite match up so I couldn’t figure out the truth.
I’m not 100% sure what years the past encompassed. My guess is the 60’s based on comments of free love and the number of drugs that were present. Plus the characters were living in communes and referred to as hippies. It was an interesting look into this part of the past and the author’s vision for that time frame.
Overall a decent story that is wrapped up somewhat nicely at the end (most questions are answered). I would have liked a faster pace, but that is my preference.
We give it 4 paws up.
About the Author
R.D. Maddux has story telling in his blood. Since he was young he’s always loved a good tale. He’s been writing seriously since he was in high school and college. His novels range from Mystery and Intrigue to Sci-fi/fantasy. With Boy On The Beach he’s set the story in modern America, to be exact, on the West Coast of California. He’s a native of the golden state and has been a resident of San Diego since 1987. Before that he grew up in northern California and lived in the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area with sojourns in some of the beautiful parts of our state.
Living in California for over 60 years he couldn’t help but watch the way things have changed in our culture and the impact this coast makes on the rest of America and the world. So even though Boy On The Beach is fiction, like most serious novels, it is not without a context and comment on issues we all face in our changing world. It takes place in real locations that are very familiar to him and its characters, which are fictional, no doubt have their counterparts in the real world. Boy On The Beach is a story of intrigue, suspense, revenge, love and redemption with flashbacks to the era when sex, drugs and rock and roll set our culture on it’s inevitable journey to our present day. This idea has been rattling around in his heart and mind for a decade and it’s finally coming to the page.
Book Title: Love Beneath the Mighty Dome: Volume 1 by Ronald J. Wichers Category: Adult Fiction, 332 pages Genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery and Suspense Publisher: Outskirts Press Release date: September 21, 2017 Content Rating: PG-13
Synopsis
What if you felt that Almighty God had called you personally to devote your life exclusively to His service only to discover that those in charge of your training were people not worthy of your respect? Would you stubbornly stick to your path? Would you rebel and try to change the institution from within? Would you begin to doubt yourself and your own integrity? Or would you question whether the institution itself was actually what its founder, Jesus of Nazareth, had intended so many hundreds of generations before you?
Turn the pages of Love Beneath the Mighty Dome and discover what happens to those confronted by just this dilemma, how it affects their lives, their ability to function, their ability to love.
Ronald J. Wichers was born in Lake Ronkonkoma New York in 1947. He attended Catholic School until 1965, studied History and literature at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas until being drafted into the United States Army in 1970. He was assigned to a rifle company in the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam and, after sustaining severe wounds in a gun battle, including the loss of his left arm, was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Army Commendation Medal for Heroism and the Bronze Star Medal.
He later studied theology full time at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley California. He has published several short stories about the Vietnam war. The Fear of Being Eaten: A Biography of the Heart is his fifth novel.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Revell
Date of Publication: July 3, 2018
Number of Pages: 384
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The captivating sequel to the award-winning The Day the Angels Fell
Abra Miller carries a secret and a responsibility she never expected.
Before the Tree of Life, everything in Abra Miller’s life had been predictable. Safe. Normal. But after the Tree, everything has felt fragile . . . like holding a soap bubble in the palm of her hand. After years of fruitless searching for the next Tree, she begins to wonder if it was nothing more than a vivid dream.
Now sixteen, Abra finds a clue to the whereabouts of the next Tree of Life when an ominous woman—who looks exactly like a ghost from her past—compels her to travel to New Orleans where she’ll find one of seven gateways between this world and Over There. But she’s not the only one interested in finding the gateway. There’s also a young man searching for his father and sister, who escaped through it years before. As Abra enters the Edge of Over There and begins her pursuit of the Tree once more, she doesn’t know whom to fear or whom to trust.
She’s also starting to think that some doorways should never be opened.
“Blending Biblical elements and urban myths, Smucker creates an enthralling story of supernatural battles between the forces of good and evil.” — Publishers Weekly
“The Edge of Over There is a mesmerizing, menacing fantasy. Shawn Smucker fuses New Orleans lore, Christian themes, and dystopian landscapes in a thorough exploration of love and its unintended results.” — Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)
Shawn Smucker lives with his wife and six children in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Day the Angels Fell is his first novel.
Her sister Celine has recently been murdered and her parents are on the brink of divorce. Now she’s lead on a multiple murder investigation.
Six months after Lily’s sister’s death, the bodies of two young women are discovered. One look at the way the bodies have been posed and Lily knows her sister’s killer is back.
And she’s determined to get him.
When Lily visits the family of victim Tanya O’Neal, she learns the woman had arranged to meet a man going by the handle CtryGeek23 on the social networking site Scatter.
Lily thinks finding the man behind the account is key to solving the case.
But CtryGeek23 is very clever, and Lily has her work cut out for her. As she digs around, clues point her to a local brewery where she discovers the body of another young woman.
The more Lily digs, the more she thinks there is more than one murderer at work, and CtryGeek23 is the mastermind.
But who is he?
And how will they catch him?
As the investigation comes to life, death hits closer to home, and Lily discovers she may not be who she thinks she is at all.
Filled with plot turns, suspense and mystery, Promised Lies will leave you wondering how well anybody knows anyone…
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Synopsis
Speaking second-hand truths can be deadly …
Detective Lily Blanchette will stop at nothing to solve a murder. Her current case involves the killing of an undercover cop working to bring down the mob for prostitution and drugs.
But Lily’s usual laser-like focus on the case has been disrupted.
Two weeks earlier, she learned she was pregnant by her murderous husband whom she’d killed in self-defense. Unsure whether to keep her baby or place the child of this cruel man up for adoption, Lily keeps the pregnancy a secret from her colleagues.
Under mounting pressure to solve the case, Lily arranges a sit-down with a local mob boss only to find out her suspect is also wanted by them. But before Lily can warn her team, she and her new partner, Jeremiah, are shot at, and another body is found.
When she discovers Jeremiah has a connection with the underworld, she is pulled into a conflict that swirls around the boss’s son who’s hell-bent on revenge.
To add to the complexity of the situation, Lily learns that her victim might still be alive if it wasn’t for opportunistic Assistant District Attorney, Ibee Walters, who has a twisted vision of justice.
As Lily gets closer to finding the killer, she unravels ugly secrets that point to Ibee and Jeremiah – placing Lily’s life and her unborn child in danger.
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About the Author
When Marguerite Ashton was in her twenties, she took up acting but realized she preferred to work behind the camera, writing crime fiction. A few years later, she married an IT Geek and settled down with her role as wife, mom, and writer. Five kids later, she founded the Crime Writer’s Panel and began working with former law enforcement investigators to create; Criminal Lines Blog, an online library for crime writers who need help with their book research.
She’s a workaholic who hides in her writer’s attic, plotting out her next book and stalking Pinterest for the next avocado recipe.
A member of Sisters in Crime, Marguerite grew up in Colorado, but is now happily living in Wisconsin and playing as much golf as possible. She can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Colonel Mac McKenna’s Fourth Cavalry recaptures white captive August Shiltz from the Comanche, only to find August is determined to return to the Indians. McKenna attempts to civilize August to nineteenth century American standards and becomes the boy’s foster father. But when August kills another boy in a fight, McKenna rejects him, and August escapes from Fort Richards (Texas). When war with the Comanche breaks out, McKenna discovers August is a war leader – and his greatest enemy.
Praise For The Captive Boy
“THE CAPTIVE BOY by Julia Robb is a story told in a unique way – through journal entries by several different characters, and a novel within the novel. Robb is masterful in her depiction of each character, bringing to life an intriguing tale of the Old West.” —Writer’s Digest competition judge
“It will capture you and keep you engaged from the beginning all the way through the end and also give you insights into the difficulties faced by those who fought on both sides of the Indian Wars in Texas after the Civil War. Buy this book. You will not be disappointed.” — Steve Mathisen
“Ms. Robb’s research is evident on every page. Without becoming bogged down in detail, she employs just enough of it to paint an accurate picture of a dangerous and unforgiving time.” — Samuel L. Robinson
“The Captive Boy and Me”
Guest Post by Julia Robb
Readers usually ask me why I wrote the novel, and that’s an easy question to answer because two things happened at the same time. I became interested in the greatest (unknown) general of the Indian Wars: Ronald Mackenzie; and I was enthralled by The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier, a nonfiction history by Scott Zesch.
Mackenzie (who his men nicknamed “Three Finger Jack” and who the Indians nicknamed “Bad Hand”) was a Union veteran who ended up whipping the Comanche and Kiowa. Soldiers and Indians tagged Gen. Mackenzie with nicknames because he had only three fingers on his right hand. During the Civil War, Confederate artillery shot off two fingers — minor wounds compared to his other six.
Then, I read Scott’s book, which was compelling. Although captive children have been romanticized, they were not happy or healthy people. After they were either traded back to their families, or recaptured, they couldn’t stay married, they couldn’t keep a job, some of them never learned to read and write, they couldn’t stay in one place, and they had a hard time communicating. (Interestingly enough, bipolar disorder also causes some of these same symptoms). One returned captive, Adolf Zorn, ending up living in a cave until a short time before his death.
In my opinion, immersing yourself in a very different culture is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have, but it comes at a cost, and that cost is usually a sense of rootlessness, of never completely belonging to one place or one people.
Reading Scott’s answer, I was upset on the children’s behalf. Believe what you want about the Indian Wars, the kids were innocent victims. Their parents (many of them German immigrants) settled where it was not safe to settle, the kids were captured, and their lives were subsequently ruined.
I wanted to explore that tragedy through fictional story, and August Shiltz jumped into my mind.
And he wouldn’t leave.
At the same time, Mackenzie, a real life historical figure, was earning my admiration; and I knew he was a lonely man. It wasn’t a big jump to wonder what would happen if August was recaptured and a fictional Mackenzie (who I renamed Mac McKenna) became his guardian and foster father.
In context, the Comanches were mostly kind to white captive children, but they were the adults’ mortal enemies. (There was a big exception to this. In 1840, after a fight between Comanches and Texans, Comanches murdered dozens of white captive children. They burned them to death.)
Here’s a question and answer with Scott Zesch that readers will find enlightening.
ME: It’s difficult … to understand how a people can rape women (and they almost always did before killing them, as well as keeping them as sex slaves in camp), and practice lengthy torture, both on the trail and in camp, but at the same time love their own children, as well as adopted children. Do you have any thoughts on this?
SCOTT: Julia, the closest analogy I can draw is wartime atrocities. And, of course, what was happening in Texas at that time was war. There seems to be something in the human character that provokes people to brutalize and dehumanize ‘the enemy’ in that situation (including civilians), but I’m afraid I can’t explain it.”
Side Note: Cynthia Ann Parker was captured in 1836 in Texas, when she was nine or ten years old, and recaptured by Texas Rangers in 1860. At the time she was recaptured, Cynthia Ann was married to a Comanche warrior and had three children, one of whom was the famous Quanah Parker.
Julia grew up on the lower Great Plains of Texas, eventually became a reporter, and lived in every corner of the Lone Star State, from the Rio Grande to the East Texas swamps. She couldn’t shake images and experiences and began writing them down.
A priest once disappeared on the Mexican border and that inspired parts of Saint of the Burning Heart. She discovered a hypnotic seducer, who she turned into Ray Cortez, the bad guy in Del Norte. Reading about child Comanche captives and their fates made her want to write about a cavalry colonel who attempts to heal a rescued boy, and that turned into The Captive Boy. Finally, what happens to a man who is in love with another man, in a time and place where the only answer is death? That became Scalp Mountain.
Book Title: Out of Time (A Ray Lafayette Novel) by Thomas William Lowrie
Category: Adult Fiction, 264 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, Military and War
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Release date: December 4, 2017
Synopsis
Well, here I go again. All alone except for this suitcase of mine. I’m headed for a new place with new people. Not so bad considering it’s 1944. Lots of guys are in my shoes. We’re in the middle of World War II. Still not so bad. I’m a fireman in the Army Air Corps whatever they’re calling themselves these days. Once again, not bad at all. But I was born in 1963. There’s the bad part.
I was not born with the name Ray Lafayette, but that’s what they call me. I didn’t have kids or smoke a pipe. Hell, I didn’t even like coffee. I do now.
I was born into a different life than this, one with a lot of attachments. Now I carry my life in one bag. One really important bag.
In this time, people call me pal or buddy or sir, good lord they call me sir all the time.
I have friends in this time, and they are the best but do they know me like they think they do? Simply put, NO! Would they die for me? Every bit as much as I would die for them.
To say these folks are tough or strong is an understatement. Superhumans? I don’t think so. They were ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. I didn’t have heroes before this. I didn’t understand them until now.
Since this event has started, I have experienced many things I can’t explain. There is only one other person who has any knowledge of my situation, and I can’t find him. The last words from him were vos non unum, you are not alone.
There was a time I missed all the things that made my life easier as I thought. Here I have no cell phone, no internet, no rock music, no almost anything. As bad as that sounds, I’m not sure if I want to leave here.
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About the Author
Thomas William Lowrie is a WWII writer and author who has published two military novels, He Was and Out of Time.
He has lived outside of Las Vegas most of his life, but his best memories are of the days fishing in South Texas. Summer vacations were the best. That is also where he found his best friend and wife, Tina. He could not have done any of this without her. Of course, Ray pecking at his brain for years had something to do with it too.
Book Title: The Boy Who Dreamt of Fire Trucks by Alvita Mack
Category: Children’s Fiction (Ages 3-7), 26 pages
Genre: Children’s Books, Cars, Trains & Things That Go, Cars & Trucks
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Release date: September 26, 2016
Synopsis
This story is about a little boy who is fascinated by fire trucks. Throughout his early life, he has dreams about the adventures at the station and the exciting life of a firefighter. The little boy holds his dreams close until one day they become a reality.
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Interview
Today we sit down with Alvita and ask her about some of her rituals around her writing. Thanks for joining us today!
Do you snack while writing? Favorite snack? I snack sometimes when I am writing. My favorite snack would have to be pita chips.
Where do you write? I write in bed. If an idea comes to me sporadically then I will jot it down but I love being in a comfy bed to relax and write.
Do you write every day? I do not write every day but I do write often.
What is your writing schedule? My writing schedule can be inconsistent because I have so many responsibilities but if I am working on a project I try to carve out a specific schedule to stick to.
Is there a specific ritualistic thing you do during your writing time? There isn’t anything I do ritualistic wise to write but I like to meditate and read up on some things to motivate me.
In today’s tech-savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper? I actually write all my books on paper first and then I type them up. I guess I am old school in that sense but I have to write it down first.
If you’re a mom writer, how do you balance your time? I am a mom writer and balancing everything can be a challenge, it helps that my books are centered on children because I can find a way to incorporate my son in the process. I am a mom first, so I have to be strategic and prioritize what’s most important. I am lucky to have a supportive husband that picks ups the pieces when I fall short at times.
About the Author
Alvita is a lover of writing, a teacher, and most importantly, a mom. Writing has always provided a creative outlet for which she finds sensible solutions. Having a son with developmental delays was very challenging for her. However, she used books and original stories to help him overcome the obstacles he faced at an early age. Alvita believes that the imagination is truly a key that unlocks the doors to an endless journey.
About the Author
About the Author
R.D. Maddux has story telling in his blood. Since he was young he’s always loved a good tale. He’s been writing seriously since he was in high school and college. His novels range from Mystery and Intrigue to Sci-fi/fantasy. With Boy On The Beach he’s set the story in modern America, to be exact, on the West Coast of California. He’s a native of the golden state and has been a resident of San Diego since 1987. Before that he grew up in northern California and lived in the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area with sojourns in some of the beautiful parts of our state.
About the Author
The captivating sequel to the award-winning The Day the Angels Fell
Shawn Smucker lives with his wife and six children in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Day the Angels Fell is his first novel.
About the Author
Colonel Mac McKenna’s Fourth Cavalry recaptures white captive August Shiltz from the Comanche, only to find August is determined to return to the Indians. McKenna attempts to civilize August to nineteenth century American standards and becomes the boy’s foster father. But when August kills another boy in a fight, McKenna rejects him, and August escapes from Fort Richards (Texas). When war with the Comanche breaks out, McKenna discovers August is a war leader – and his greatest enemy.
Julia grew up on the lower Great Plains of Texas, eventually became a reporter, and lived in every corner of the Lone Star State, from the Rio Grande to the East Texas swamps. She couldn’t shake images and experiences and began writing them down.
About the Author
About the Author
