Cari Bella Reads

She-Wulf: Author Interview

2012-09-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy this interview with Sheryl Steines, author of the action-packed urban fantasy, She Wulf. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $550 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of She Wulf, and 5 copies of its companion, The Day of First Sun.

1. When you start a book do you know how it will end or do you create the ending as you go along?

I have a rough idea of what the book will be about and I have some scene ideas and a rough ending. When I wrote The Day of First Sun, I knew that a high profile, non-magical person was going to be murdered by magic. I wrote out a paragraph of things that I wanted to see in the story and began writing. I didn’t look at the paragraph again until after the book was published and realized that I didn’t keep to my original thoughts at all. I tend to work without an outline because I feel tied to the story as if I’m trying to make everything fit. I prefer to let it flow and change. I like the freedom and the discovery. Sometimes I’m wildly surprised.

2. Do your book characters ever visit you in your dreams?

Yes and no. Not as much when I’m sleeping, but I daydream about them all the time. It’s how I work out characters and storylines. It’s almost as if a movie is playing in my head and I can change and add to storylines.

3. What are your favorite authors as either an adult or a child?

When I was a kid, I loved Nancy Drew. I read every one of them, but I didn’t just want to read them, I wished I had wrote them and started to write my own detective stories when I was seven. As I grew older, I read Judy Blume and Stephen King. Both made me feel something and from that I wanted to keep writing. I still read Stephen King and was very inspired by his autobiography On Writing. It was J.K. Rowling though, that reminded me of what I loved to read and that’s what inspired me to write my own fantasy novel.

4. How do you go about finishing a chapter when you can’t get it right?

I skip it…Just kidding. No, actually I’m not. Sometimes, I make a note in all caps reminding me I haven’t finished the chapter and other notes that I might be thinking about for the chapter and start the next one. Sometimes you just need to move on. The answer will eventually hit you upside the head when you least expect it.

5. Describe your reaction when you saw and held your first book?

I think I was numb when The Day of First Sun was published. Almost as if I had only done it to satisfy a selfish desire. It didn’t seem real. It was when I held She Wulf in my hands for the first time that I was overcome with emotion. This book consumed me for so long and I was so amazed by the final product and it seemed more than just a fantasy.

6. What is your biggest achievement to date?

Writing my first book. I always wanted to and never gave myself the opportunity. One day I decided it was time. It changed my life, gave me confidence. I lost the extra baby weight, changed my wardrobe, straightened my hair and gave my girls a role model, an example of taking control of one’s life and being the best person you can be.

7. What’s your favorite color?

Pink. I’ve always been a girly girl. As much as I’d like to be a sporty girl, I’m just not. It’s all about the pink, purses and shoes.

8. Favorite sound?

I love the sound of rain on the roof. Not during the sunlight hours, but early in the morning when it’s still dark out. I snuggle under the covers. It makes me happy.

9. If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?

An interior decorator. I love being creative and crafty and picking paint colors and getting lost in a fabric store. It’s almost as good as getting lost in a bookstore.

10. Worst fear?

I fear the alligators under the bed. Since I was a kid I can’t sleep without something covering my feet incase they come and get me. Don’t laugh, Stephen King admitted the same thing in an interview once.

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the She Wulf eBook edition is just 99 cents this week–and so is the price of its companion, The Day of First Sun. What’s more, by purchasing either of these fantastic books at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $550 in Amazon gift cards, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes isRIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment–easy to enter; easy to win!

To win the prizes:

Purchase your copy of She Wulf for just 99 cents
Purchase your copy of Day of First Sun for just 99 cents
Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
Visit today’s featured social media event

About She Wulf: Annie is sent through an ancient time portal with only a prophecy to guide her; she struggles with a new destiny as she tries to figure out a way to destroy an un-killable demon and return home. Get it on Amazon.

About The Day of First Sun: A vampire, a rogue wizard and an army of soulless zombies are par for the course for Annie Pearce and Bobby “Cham” Chamsky of the Wizard’s Guard. But when the non-magical princess, Amelie of Amborix, is murdered by magical means, a deeper plot unfolds. Get it on Amazon.

About the author: Behind the wheel of her ’66 Mustang Convertible, Sheryl is a constant surprise, using her sense of humor and relatable style make her books something everyone can enjoy. Visit Sheryl on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

She-Wulf: Guest Post

2012-09-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy this guest post by Sheryl Steines, author of the action-packed urban fantasy, She Wulf. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $550 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of She Wulf, and 5 copies of its companion, The Day of First Sun.

If you could go anywhere, meet any person, in any period of time, where would you go, what would you do, who would you meet? I know this is all hypothetical, but hey, I write in the pretend–in the fantasy. So suspend your disbelief, and come play with me for a moment.

Not such an easy question to answer, is it? One option would be to go and meet someone long dead–perhaps Elvis circa 1959 makes your heart swoon. Would you take the opportunity to meet a favorite entertainer, or maybe you want your trip to count for something meaningful? But what if you made a change, saved a life, corrected a wrong, how would your alterations affect the future? An interesting notion, don’t you think?

As I wrote She Wulf, my time travel adventure, I developed the idea of changing the past and how that might lead to the future you are trying to change. Maybe our interference might just be a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s when The Terminator movie struck me as so relevant and important in how I shaped my ideas of time travel.

For those who don’t know, The Terminator is a science fiction adventure where machines take over the world. The machines are human like cyborgs, ruled by an artificial intelligence program called Skynet, whose sole mission is to annihilate humanity. In opposition, the resistance was created by John Connor and they are winning the war. In an effort to prevent the resistance from being founded, the cyborgs send back one of their own, to murder John’s mother Sarah, before he’s born. To protect her and ensure he is even conceived, he sends back one of his soldiers (his father), to protect her. Got all that. So finally to my point, and I realize this all imaginary and takes place on celluloid but really, had the cyborgs never sent back the terminator, John Connor never would have sent back his father and he wouldn’t have been born. But what can you expect from a bunch of cyborgs anyway?

For me, in She Wulf, you couldn’t just decide one day to go to the past unless you found yourself there when the past was actually the present. Huh? Picture it this way. It’s 2012 and you want to go to the past, let’s say to the year 1900. You can’t go unless during the year 1900, you actually showed up. I know, it’s all theory, but that’s how it happened when Annie Pearce finds herself falling through a time portal, back to eleventh century England. She understands the concept of time travel, of altering the past and how it can affect the future which makes her reluctant to get involved. But she realizes that she had already been there, in the year 1075, had already altered time and whatever she touched or changed or created, was meant to be touched, changed or created.

So still think time travel is cool? I know sometimes we’d like a do-over, the ability to change a decision, to not have to live through pain and despair. But sometimes, these things make us who we are. Each experience shapes us, each tear, each laugh, adds to our self. We gain something. All those things that I’ve experienced, including the loss of a child, made me who I am. Without that, could I have writtenShe Wulf?

So time travel–can you see it? What if it was real and I could look at it from a purely joyful perspective, without those darned consequences hanging over my head. Maybe an afternoon with Elvis would be fun.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes isRIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment–easy to enter; easy to win!

To win the prizes:

Purchase your copy of She Wulf for just 99 cents
Purchase your copy of Day of First Sun for just 99 cents
Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
Visit today’s featured social media event

Fiction Freak: Breathless Reads Week Wrap Up! + Giveaway!

2012-09-08T17:35:00.001-07:00

Fiction Freak: Breathless Reads Week Wrap Up! + Giveaway!: So here's the overview of BR Week... Interview with Lili Peloquin Interview with Morgan Rhodes Interview with Jessica Khoury Intervie...

Inbetween Blog Tour and Giveaway!

2012-08-22T03:30:00.001-07:00

TARA FULLER INBETWEEN BLOG TOUR

Blurb

Since the car crash that took her father’s life two years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left...his soul.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Release date: August 28, 2012

Author Bio (Spotlight)

Tara Fuller writes novels; some about grim reapers and some about witches. All of course are delightfully full of teen angst and kissing. Tara grew up in a one stop light town in Oklahoma where once upon a time she stayed up with a flash light reading RL Stine novels and only dreamed of becoming a writer. She has a slight obsession with music and a shameless addiction for zombie fiction, Mystery Science Theater, and black and white mochas. Tara no longer lives in a one stop light town. Now she lives with her family in a slightly larger town in North Carolina where they have at least three stoplights.

www.tarafuller.com | @Tara25Fuller

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Dominion Blog Tour

2012-08-16T03:30:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to get to introduce you to Melody Manful and her terrific new book, Dominion.

Excerpt:
I should have called the police the moment I woke up, but what was I going to say: “Hello. 911. Help. I think I’m going to die because I had a dream that I died?” Yeah, even in my head I sounded ridiculous.

What happened to me was horrifying. It still is. But you won’t read about it in the newspapers, because it never happened.

“It was only a dream.” That was what everyone kept telling me. Nevertheless, they were wrong. What happened to me wasn’t a dream. I was living it. I died that night. I was murdered in a firestorm.

Yet, where I am, I’m alive.

One single white lie isn’t supposed to bring with it a lifetime of obstacles, right?

Wrong!

I lied. I said ‘Yes,’ when I was supposed to say ‘No’, and that was how I got here.

I committed a crime. Handcuff me. Sentence me to life. Execute me. Trust me, death will be a vacation compared to the punishment I’m serving.

“You’re such a terrible liar, Abigail.” This is what everyone I know says whenever I try to key up a lie. Then again, what does everyone I know, know for sure? Nothing!

I wasn’t crazy. No, honestly, before I found myself in ‘wackoland’ I was a walking ray of sunshine. Everything in my over-idolized life was perfect.

Until he came.

First, I thought. Finally. Someone to chase away the monsters underneath my bed, but as it turned out, he didn’t come to chase them away. He was it.

My guardian angel.

And, checkout the cover! I think its gorgeous. I especially love her pink dress with the red hand prints splattered around. Do we think those are bloody hand prints? Love it! What do you think?

Bout of Books Goals

2012-08-13T17:48:00.001-07:00

I'm participating in Bout of Books. My goal for the week is 5 books! I've spent about 3 hrs reading today and I'm 1/2 way through Insurgent. I'll try to finish it tomorrow. I go back to school for in-service on Wednesday and my next day off will be Monday. I hope to be able to read at least 2 hrs every day during B.o.B.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mostly YA Book Obsessed: Book Review and Giveaway: Biting Cold by Chloe Nei...

2012-08-13T17:32:00.001-07:00

Mostly YA Book Obsessed: Book Review and Giveaway: Biting Cold by Chloe Nei...: Biting Cold: Chicagoland Vampires #6 By Chloe Neill Release Date: 08/07/12 Paperback/e-book 337 pages Book Description from ...

Alluring Reads: The Hallowed Ones Tour Stop

2012-08-11T21:52:00.001-07:00

Alluring Reads: The Hallowed Ones Tour Stop: Today I have The Hallowed Ones blog tour stopping by Alluring Reads and I'm excited to share a great excerpt with you. But first, a litt...

Mostly YA Book Obsessed: Book Suggestion and Giveaway!

2012-08-10T18:07:00.001-07:00

Mostly YA Book Obsessed: Book Suggestion and Giveaway!: Since the Fifty Shades of Grey craze is still going full swing, I thought I would suggest a book/series to you guys. Now, I have not ...

The Official Blog of author Jennifer L. Armentrout: Official Onyx Trailer and contest

2012-08-10T17:50:00.001-07:00

The Official Blog of author Jennifer L. Armentrout: Official Onyx Trailer and contest: I am so excited to share the Official Onyx Trailer with the world today! The trailer debuted on USA Today. You can view it HERE or ...

New Fun Website

2012-08-10T11:35:00.001-07:00

Guys, I just found www.Freemakeupandbeautysamples.com. It's a great site. I usually only share bookish things with you, but this was too good to keep to myself!

Go check it out!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Last Day of The Praise of Motherhood Tour

2012-08-10T03:30:00.000-07:00

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Praise of Motherhood eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

Purchase your copy of Praise of Motherhood for just 99 cents
Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
Visit today’s featured social media event

About the book: Praise of Motherhood is a son's tribute to the woman who not only gave him life, but helped him live: through various psychotic breakdowns, tumultuous teenage years, and years of feeling out of place in the world. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. About the author: Phil Jourdan fronts the lit-rock band Paris and the Hiltons, runs the fiction press Perfect Edge Books, and occasionally works on a PhD. Visit Phil on his blog, music site, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

If you haven't entered the Rafflecopter giveaway, do it now - today is the last day!

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The Praise of Motherhood Tour - excerpt

2012-08-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy this excerpt from Praise of Motherhood, a touching memoir by Phil Jourdan. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book.

It was Veterans Day; the Pope spoke into a microphone so the thousands around him could hear his weary voice. And in the airport lounge my sister and I waited for our flight to take off, trying not to listen to the televised broadcast of the Pope’s solemn speech. I held my sister’s hand and heard her say fuck for the first time. “fuck, do you think she’s going to be okay” and I said “I don’t know” and she said “but why aren’t they telling us what’s going on” “I don’t know” “I don’t want mom to die” “I know” “I’m so scared” “I know” and the Pope went on, speaking of the dead, the men whose lives had been lost in a terrible war, and he praised them, their families, for the courage they’d shown. He spoke of Christ, but not much. Sometimes he closed his eyes and paused. From the airport lounge, sitting in front of the television screens, I had to rely on the cameras for a sense of what being there was like. Safe and comfortable and mourning out of patriotic or humanistic duty, in a spirit of contemplation. The Pope did not know that my mother was dying in a little hospital in Portugal. Neither did the lady who announced, on the intercom at the airport, that out of respect for the men who had lost their lives during the war however many decades ago now, we were all invited to stand for two minutes of silence. Everyone else in the lounge stood up, but my sister and I remained in our seats and hugged each other. As far as I knew, my mother was dying or dead, a small, tanned Portuguese woman with curly dark hair and two dogs, two kids, a lovely loving wonderful lady, all of that sob-story stuff. It turned out that when we were waiting for our flight, she was still alive. She would only die in the evening, after the Pope was done speaking and everyone was having dinner and no longer thinking about the veterans. But nobody had warned me. Nobody had warned anyone. Everybody was on the way to Portugal, my uncle, my grandfather, me and my sister, all of us trying to protect someone. They didn’t tell me what had happened until I arrived in Portugal. I didn’t tell my sister everything I knew, which was next to nothing, because I wanted to think I could protect her. I spoke to my father on the phone and he was in tears: “I will be there when you land,” he said, and I said: “but why, what’s going on” “I’m not sure, I’m not sure, but if I were you… oh, Jesus, if I were you I would brace myself for the worst” And he broke into tears and hung up. They had been separated fifteen years. On the plane my sister and I spoke little. I told her it’d be okay. I told her even if the worst happened, I’d be around for her. You’re my little sister. Tell me about Denver. How are classes going? She gave short, bored answers, and she asked me about my life. I told her I’d been about to take the train to Paris from London with a friend when I found out something was wrong with our mom. “but what’s wrong with her” my sister said “I don’t know” “why don’t they just tell us” “because they’re trying to keep us sane” “how can I be sane when my mom is dying all of a sudden” “I really don’t know” When we arrived in Portugal, and I saw my family standing together waiting for us — my grandparents, my father, my aunt — I knew at once there was no hope.

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Praise of Motherhood eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

Purchase your copy of Praise of Motherhood for just 99 cents
Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
Visit today’s featured social media event

The Praise of Motherhood Tour - Interview

2012-08-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy this interview with Phil Jourdan, author of the touching memoir, Praise of Motherhood. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book.
1. Who was your mother? Hey, perhaps the obvious thing is that she was the single greatest person in my life--a woman who set everything aside to help me when I went through a few rocky years, a lover of animals and nature, a professor of mathematics and computer science who worked because she needed something to do… She was that lady who'd bring clothes out to the homeless people in the streets when it was cold. She spoke Portuguese, French, English, and Russian fluently. She took people into her life and made them stronger, happier. She drove very carefully. She was one person among many to die from something as trivial and terrible as an aneurysm; just one out of all the people who died on November 11th, 2009, for no reason, and without saying goodbye to any of us. And, now, she's the subject of my book.

2. Who are you? I'm a bearded, forever-anxious guy in his mid-twenties living in the UK. I'm working on a PhD in Literature and Religion. I have a band, I run a press, I write articles for various publications, and I pace around a lot when I talk about things that interest me.

3. Why did you write Praise of Motherhood? Because I couldn't bear the idea that my mother's death might be just another sad event in the lives of a few people. I wanted my mother to be remembered somehow — not just by those who knew her, but by those who could end up wishing they had known her. It's not easy losing a parent, and I wanted to write my way out of some dark places. To focus on the good things. To remember with gratitude the way she did everything she could to make her children feel okay.

4. Were you a mama's boy? Of course, I was. She was worth the teasing from my young classmates. I loved her even when I was furiously angry with her.

5. When were you furiously angry? From the age of 14 to 16, I was so psychologically unstable that I had to leave school for a while to stay in a private clinic and "recover" — which means they pumped me full of medication and made me sleep for a few weeks. This happened twice. My mother's support was crucial back then, because I was a mess. I hallucinated, I was paranoid, and I wanted to die. Of course, like any screwed up kid, I took it out on my mom. I'd get so angry that I couldn't breathe. Everything seemed to hurt me--physically and emotionally. Because I trusted my mother so much, I took her for granted, too. I knew she wouldn't abandon me if I broke down or lashed out. She was a saint about my outbursts.

6. Is that what Praise of Motherhood is about? In part. What you'll find in Praise of Motherhood is a series of short chapters on various ways I related to my mother. Let me be clear that it's not a book about mothers in general. It's a memoir about my relationship with my mother, before and after her death. It deals with my weird adolescence, then it moves on to questions about her private life that I'll never be able to answer, and then it turns toward fiction. I imagine a world in which mother didn't die on that day. I try to reconstruct conversations I had with her and my father. Then I end the book because I could go on forever and I think it's best to be brief.

7. What was it like to show the book to your family? It was less terrible than I'd anticipated. My great fear was that someone might object to the way I'd written it. It's not "conventional" — there's a scene in which I imagine my mother breaking into pieces and my sister and I have to tape her back together before she accuses me of having killed her. That scene worried me: what if my sister hated it? I'm happy to say it all went well. My sister found that chapter moving, and my grandparents each expressed their support. My father, who hadn't been married to my mother for over a decade, was equally moved and helped me through the various drafts.

8. Is everything you write in Praise of Motherhood true? If you read it, you'll see that some of it is obviously fiction. I don't think the right distinction here is between fiction and nonfiction; it's between truthfulness and untruthfulness. The book is certainly truthful: if I make things up, as in the chapter where I imagine what my mother's "secret life" as an occasional spy might have been like, it's to show what I think about when I wonder about her as a private person. I paint myself pretty much as I was back then: irritable, self-involved, afraid. I paint my mother just as she was: patient, terrified of losing her child, and often helpless but willing to do anything. The events that I depict in the more "conventional" chapters are true. The dialogue is obviously not going to represent exactly what was said, but the spirit of the past is contained within it.

9. Who is this book for? It's for people who have lost someone they loved and want to know how someone else handled their pain. It's for parents who need a reminder that their children can and will end up appreciating all the sacrifices, all the patience, all the secret suffering. And it's for anyone who is interested in teenage depression, psychosis and anxiety, and wants to read a memoir about how those conditions affect family relationships.

10. What's next? A novel that begins with a mother's funeral… and then goes in a totally new direction. I started it just as I was wrapping up Praise of Motherhood, and I was ready to let go of those memories for a while, but the image of my mother's coffin going into the earth has stayed with me so vividly that I had to begin a work of fiction with it. But beyond that, it's an entirely different thing.
As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Praise of Motherhood eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

Purchase your copy of Praise of Motherhood for just 99 cents
Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
Visit today’s featured social media event

The Praise of Motherhood Tour - Guest Post and Giveaway

2012-08-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy this guest post by Phil Jourdan, author of the touching memoir, Praise of Motherhood. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book.

The Story behind this Real-Life Story by Phil Jourdan

Back in late 2009, when I began working on Praise of Motherhood, I had envisioned a book very different from what I ended up submitting to my publisher. I'd just lost the woman who'd raised me, and when I wasn't sitting around numb and brooding, I was frantically trying to contain the universe of loss and suffering in a single Word document on my laptop. I wanted to write a book that expressed the impossibility of letting go. We're often told, when someone close to us dies, that we have to move on, that things will get better. I couldn't accept this back then: I didn't think it was possible to let go of my mother, who had been so patient and kind during my weird teenage years. The first two versions were entirely different from each other in form and tone, but they did have a certain delight in chaos in common. I was mourning the only way I knew how: by adopting a hundred different voices, each trying to say something about my mother that the others couldn't say. One chapter was pure dialogue; another was a series of letters; for a while I wrote in breathless page-long paragraphs because it was the only way I could feel "honest" about what I felt. I'd swing from rage to self-pity to sadness to bliss to sheer bafflement. It was only when I decided to turn this book into something that others could actually read without going insane that I figured out how to structure a book like this. I cut a great number chapters because they were "honest" but unhelpful. I tried to make myself a sort of antagonist, so my mother's qualities as a human being could be emphasized. I left things relatively ambiguous instead of offering anything like words of wisdom to my readers. I tried to leave the book as open as the wound that stayed after my mother died. This has irritated some people. They ask why I don't provide a real sense of what my mother was like on a day-to-day basis, or why I focused so much on how she affected my life instead of just writing about her, as a person in her own right. Fair questions — but I never set out to just "write about my mom". I wanted to write about the struggle of losing her, and what made losing her so painful. That's why I ask questions in the book that I never really answer: because I was never able to answer them myself. They are questions that will remain. Praise of Motherhood isn't a book praising all mothers across all ages. It's not meant to praise the idea of "motherhood" itself as some glorious ideal. I wrote this book because I wanted to transmit something of my mother to those who didn't know her; those who, perhaps, need to hear that it's okay to say you love your mommy and you wish she could still be here when you feel like crying.
As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Praise of Motherhood eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

Purchase your copy of Praise of Motherhood for just 99 cents
Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
Visit today’s featured social media event

A Giveaway!

2012-08-06T17:11:00.001-07:00

Im sharing another giveaway that I'm entering. YA scifi fans! Enter the giveaway for a cool 2012 dystopian/post-apocalyptic prize pack over @ The Midnight Garden: bit.ly/R9velw

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

What I Plan to Read This Week (Plan is the operative word)

2012-08-06T13:11:00.002-07:00

I'm finding that while I love to make these great plans, they rarely work out the way I expect. So, don't hold me to this - it's just a plan. :) All covers and synopsis from Goodreads.

To Finish:
The Eighth Witch (provided by publisher)
Four centuries ago witch hunters killed the seven Yardley sisters.

Now Department 18 must battle…the eighth witch!

Four hundred years ago six of the seven Yardley sisters—all witches—were hunted down and killed. The seventh lived long enough to give birth to a daughter. Now, centuries later, that daughter has resurfaced in the town of Ravensbridge, more powerful than her mother or aunts ever were. She has honed her powers, can change shape at will, and has only one ambition—to bring her family back from the dead to seek vengeance against the descendants of all who slaughtered them. Ravensbridge once lived in fear of the seven Yardley sisters, but they have yet to experience the terror of…the Eighth Witch.

Never Seduce a Scot (Netgalley)
Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her “touched.” Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn’t speak. No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.

Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.
Picked up at the Library TBR:
Deadly Pursuit by Irene Hannon
As a social worker, Alison Taylor has a passion for protecting children and seeing that justice is served on their behalf. But when she starts getting harassing phone calls and bizarre "gifts," it seems she may be the one in need of protection. When her tormentor's attentions take a violent turn, her brother Cole comes to her aid, along with his new partner, an ex-Navy SEAL, Detective Mitch Morgan. As her relentless stalker turns up the heat, Mitch takes a personal interest in the case. Protecting Alison has become more than just a job--because his own happiness now depends on keeping her safe.
Chock full of nail-biting suspense and heart-melting romance, "Deadly Pursuit" is Irene Hannon's storytelling at its very best. Fans old and new will not want to miss the next story in this series starring siblings fighting for justice.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

"New York Times" bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian "Divergent" series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain (my husband and I are interested since hearing about Paleo dieting from friends)
Healthy, delicious, and simple, the Paleo Diet is the diet you were designed to eat. If you want to lose weight-up to 75 pounds in six months-or if you want to attain optimal health, The Paleo Diet will do wonders for you. The world's leading expert on Paleolithic (Stone Age) nutrition, Dr. Loren Cordain demonstrates how, by eating all the lean meats and fish, fresh fruits, and nonstarchy vegetables you want, you can lose weight and prevent and treat heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, Syndrome X, and many other illnesses. Over 100 delicious Paleo recipes provide enough flavor and variety to satisfy anyone, and the six weeks of Paleo meal plans get you started on a healthy and enjoyable new way of eating. Start reading and following The Paleo Diet today and eat your way to weight loss, weight control, increased energy, and lifelong health-while enjoying every delicious bite.

Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart (I'm a fan of her Death on Demand series)
It's getting to look a lot like Christmas on the sea island of Broward's Rock, South Carolina. At the popular Death on Demand mystery bookstore, owner Annie Darling's energetic Yuletide preparations have to be put on hold thanks to several rather inconvenient distractions including a slew of family woes ... and murder.

Annie's mother-in-law Laurel, not normally the straightest of arrows anyway, has taken to chatting up ghosts in the local graveyard. Across the island in a spacious, spooky mansion, ancient onetime movie star Marguerite Dumaney Ladson has called together all her living kin and their multitude of exes for her gala combination Xmas/birthday bash. Among the honored guests are two that Annie could well do without: her errant father, whom she hasn't seen in twenty five years, and Dr. Emory Swanson, Laurel's guide down "The Golden Path."

Like Laurel, wealthy old Rita Dumaney Ladson has fallen for Swanson's new-age-pseudo-occult gobbledygook. The question is: how are the gathered relatives going to react to the grande dame's announcement that she's leaving her fortune to the charismatic charlatan's Evermore Foundation? Not well, apparently,since a murder follows right on the heels of Rita's shocking revelation. And the finger of suspicion seems to be pointing straight at Annie Darling's recently arrived deadbeat dad.

Annie can feel no loyalty toward the father she's never really known, but she doesn't believe for a minute he's guilty. And when a second murder puts her conflicted emotions into an even more chaotic tailspin, Annie realizes that she will need all the help her easy-going PI. husband Max can offer to solve a related pair of homicides. Because, in this season of giving, fate is giving her more major headaches and a killer is giving her more corpses than even the normally unflappable Annie Darling may be able to handle.

A Little Class on Murder by Carolyn Hart,
  When mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance is invited to teach "The Three Great Ladies of the Mystery" class at Chastain Community College, the sometime sleuth discovers that all is not strictly academic in Chastain's hallowed halls of learning. And when a shocking scandal in the school newspaper erupts in a suicide and two violent deaths, Professor Laurance enlists the talents of her new hubby, private eye Max Darling, and dons her thinking cap to probe intrigue and vengeance among Chastain's faculty.

A Dangerous Thing

Max and Annie, with dubious help from three of their own great ladies of the mystery -- Annie's pixilated mother-in-law, a batty local dowager, and a Christie crime fanatic -- learn that just about everyone at the school had means, motive, and access to the murder weapons. From the secretly boozing professor of advertising to the muscle-bound campus cad who barters passing grades for a little extracurricular activity, anyone on the faculty is a possible killer -- waiting to strike again!

Meljean Brook's Demon Forged (since reading Iron Duke, I wanted to read more by Brook)
Acclaimed author Meljean Brook returns to the darkly sensual world of the Guardians with the tale of a prophecy, a devilish bargain, and a doomed love...

Four centuries ago, Guardians Irena and Alejandro would have succumbed to the need burning between them -- if a demon and a monstrous bargain hadn't shattered the possibility of love. Torn apart by her shame, Irena avoided Alejandro for centuries -- until a vampire's call for help threw her into his arms again.

Alejandro can control fire, but he's never been able to control -- or quench -- the flames between him and Irena. And he knows that Irena, hardened by her hatred for demonkind, will never accept that he now works at a demon's behest. But even as he fights for a second chance, a shocking betrayal and a deadly prophecy shake the foundations of the Guardian universe, and all Hell threatens to break loose..

Through the Veil by Shiloh Walker (my first Walker book)
Found wandering in a field as a child, Lee Ross was given a name by the state and put in a foster home—without anyone realizing she wasn’t entirely human. All her life, she’s tried to forget the odd dreams that have plagued her, of monsters creeping through the night and a man fighting demons by her side. But the bruises she wakes with are all too real to ignore… Then the man from her dreams appears—in the flesh. His name is Kalen—and he insists that her destiny lies in his world, the world of her dreams. To save their people, he must convince Lee to give up everything she knows, follow her heart, and cross over into the Under Realm—even though once she does, she’ll never be able to return…

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
  In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.
Contest Winnings and Other Goodies:
Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer

  Gigi, Bea, and Neerja are best friends and total overachievers. Even if they aren't the most popular girls in school, they aren't too worried. They know their "real" lives will begin once they get to their Ivy League colleges. There will be ivy, and there will be cute guys in the libraries (hopefully with English accents) But when an unexpected event shows them they're missing out on the full high school experience, it's time to come out of the honors lounge and into the spotlight. They make a pact: They will each take on their greatest challenge--and they will totally "rock" it.

Gigi decides to run for student rep, but she'll have to get over her fear of public speaking--and go head-to-head with gorgeous California Will. Bea used to be one of the best skiers around, until she was derailed. It could be time for her to take the plunge again. And Neerja loves the drama club but has always stayed behind the scenes--until now.

These friends are determined to show the world that smart girls really can get what they want--but that could mean getting way more attention than they ever bargained for. . .

Midnight Promises by Sheryl Woods
When Elliott Cruz first courted struggling single mom Karen Ames, it it was a romance worthy of any Sweet Magnolia fantasy. The sexy personal trainer made it his mission to restore Karen's strength--physical and emotional--and to charm her children.Now, a few years into the marriage, colliding dreams threaten to tear a few years into the marriage, colliding dreams threaten to tear them them apart. Elliott's desire to finance the business opportunity of a lifetime with their hard-earned "baby money" stirs Karen's deep-rooted financial insecurities. It's the discovery that their brother-in-law is cheating on Elliott's sister--and thinks it's justified--that puts their irreconcilable differences into perspective. Will their own loving fidelity be a bond so strong they can triumph against all odds?

Highland Surrender by Dawn Halliday
Determined to put his roguish past behind him, the Earl of Camdonn arranges to marry the proper Lady Elizabeth. But when an accident lands the Earl in the expert hands of a beautiful Highland medicine woman, all well-laid plans are thrown to the wind- and, just as in the old days, his passions run high...

Ceana MacNab has terrible luck with men. Resigning herself to the healing arts, she has steeled her heart against love. Then fate sends Cam her way. Even though he's a well-bred Earl-and Ceana a low-born Highlander-their all-consuming passion may lead the way to lasting bliss.

Okay, that's it for this week's TBR list. Have you read any of these? What did you think? What's on your list for this week?

More Giveaways!

2012-08-06T09:16:00.001-07:00

Mostly YA Book Obsessed has another giveaway that you should enter!
One winner will receive the Breathless Reads Fall 2012 Bo of 5 ARC's which includes: Origin, Falling Kingdoms, Venom, Black City and The Innocents!

Click here to go to Mostly YA Book Obsessed to enter: http://www.mostlyyabookobsessed.com/2012/08/author-interview-and-another-epic.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MostlyYaBookObsessed+%28Mostly+YA+Book+Obsessed%29

Another Giveaway Link!

2012-08-06T07:28:00.003-07:00

Hey guys, I wanted to share another giveaway with you. Mostly YA Book Obsessed is giving away two books that sound pretty interesting: Succubus Blues and Succubus On Top by Richelle Mead. Check it out here: http://www.mostlyyabookobsessed.com/2012/08/book-suggestion-and-giveaway.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MostlyYaBookObsessed+%28Mostly+YA+Book+Obsessed%29

If you win or if you've read these books, let me know what you think!

I'm a Steampunk Fan!

2012-08-06T07:08:00.005-07:00

I recently finished reading my first Steampunk novel - Meljean Brook's The Iron Duke. I really enjoyed it! The inclusion of all the neat devices and cool vehicles really added to the story and I want more!

From Goodreads: After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

The heroin, Mina, is believable, smart, and strong. She is my favorite type of main character - one that I would actually want to be friends with! She is by no means perfect, but she is willing to learn and adapt. Brook mentions Mina's backstory of life under the Horde control. I would like to know more about that and I may have (ok, I did) asked Brook to write more about Mina and Rhys. Sadly, Brook does not have another book about Mina, but I would LOVE it if she did! Mina can stand on her own, but she loves her family dearly and is strengthened by her family bonds. She does not need a man, thankfully, but Rhys is just too delicious to pass up.

Rhys is a mixture of pirate, hero, rebel, and benefactor. He does not want to be the "good guy," but it is in his blood to do what is right. He can be infuriatingly controlling. Mina tries to walk away several times, but all of Rhys' charm and intelligence keep her from leaving. I liked Rhys the first time he appeared on the page.

The setting and the plot are fascinating and kept me glued to the book until I finished it. It's been a while since I've liked a book enough to read it in one sitting. If you haven't read a Steampunk novel, I would highly suggest starting with Iron Duke. If you have read Steampunk and you're a fan, you will LOVE Iron Duke. I will be recommending it to all of my friends. It won't change your life, but it will entertain you and make you a Meljean Brook fan.

Iron Duke: 5 out of 5 stars

Giveaway You Should Check Out

2012-07-31T14:54:00.001-07:00

Guys, I just entered a great giveaway to get some great books to read and review and then add to my classroom library. Since I'm switching schools, I don't have many books for my students to read in class. I'm entering as many contests as possible to get books for my students!
You should enter too! http://www.mostlyyabookobsessed.com/2012/07/epic-breathless-reads-fall-2012.html

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A Hero's Blog Hop

2012-07-27T07:08:00.001-07:00

Ok, here are a few things to remember before you continue reading:
1. Be sure to comment on this post to be entered for the awesome swag pack shown below.
2. Be sure to enter through Rafflecopter (below) to win a copy of Meljean Brook's The Iron Duke, a fascinating steampunk romance. I just finished reading it and I LOVE the Inspector and the Iron Duke. So fun!
3. Last, but not least, be sure to check out all the other blogs involved in the hop! You will find some great giveaways, amazing authors, and new books to run out and buy! http://carrieannbloghops.blogspot.com/p/heros-blog-hop-hop.html.

Now, onto my favorite heroes. I started reading early thanks to my mom who is a kindergarten teacher. She started me out with children's books, but I quickly followed my brother's lead and started reading comic books. Mom would take us to the comic book store almost every Saturday so we could find some new comics to read. I began reading the Archie comic books and then transitioned to X-Men at the recommendation of the store owner. I fell in love with Storm, Rogue, and Wolverine. I loved their powers, their intelligence, and their friendships.
After our trips to the comic book store, Mom would take us to the Half Price Bookstore on the TWU campus. I LOVED that store. It was small, dingy, and full of books. Books were everywhere - on the stairs, on top of the bookshelves, under the racks, on desks, EVERYWHERE. It was greatness. I read the usual teen books (even though I was in elementary school) like Sweet Valley High and Nancy Drew. But, I also read every Agatha Christie novel I could get my hands on. Miss Marple was my favorite. She was so smart, independent, and sassy. I wanted to investigate mysteries with her.
In third grade, I read Gone With the Wind for the first time. I was overwhelmed with the world Margaret Mitchell created for her readers. Scarlet was my hero. I wanted to be feisty and independent. I didn't quite understand how manipulative and shallow she could be, but I was young. After reading Gone With the Wind every year until I was in high school, I started realizing that while Scarlet was great, it was Rhett that was the true hero. Oh, how I wanted to marry him. He was dangerous, dark, smarter, witty, and an odd version of a gentleman. He shaped my opinion of men and was my fantasy guy for years.
What hero shaped your early reading years? Who was your fantasy hero?

Alright, now on to the Giveaway! Don't forget to comment on this post for the swag pack as well as entering this Rafflecopter for Iron Duke!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

To check out all the blogs with giveaways, author interviews, and new books, check out the host website: http://carrieannbloghops.blogspot.com/p/heros-blog-hop-hop.html. Check out the ULTIMATE swag up for grabs if you COMMENT on this post!

A Hero's Blog Hop

2012-07-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

Are you ready to hear what your favorite romance heroes have to say? Well, we authors are ready to share our hunky heroes! Starting on Friday and ending on July 31st, over 100 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about romance heroes, a character post from them, and what we love about romance and men in general.

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 100 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that's not all....

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 100 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!

Yep. ALL of that! Whoot! Be sure to come back here on Friday and over the weekend to enjoy some stories and facts about our favorite Romance Heroes and enter to win!

I'm Finally DIVERGENT!

2012-07-18T03:30:00.000-07:00

I may be the last person in the world to read Divergent, but I finally did! And, I LOVED it! I was so enthralled by it that I read it in one day and now I can't wait to read the next book. Veronica Roth has created a believable, entertaining, intriguing world with characters that I like and hate as needed. For those of you that might have missed the fanfare of Divergent, here is the summary from Amazon:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the YA scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Seriously, you need to read this book. I am going to recommend it to all of my friends, family, and students. I liked that Tris is a strong, independent character with intelligence, humor, and a few misgivings. She isn't perfect, but she is very likable. Four (the male protagonist) is great and I can't wait to learn more about him and understand his quirks. Since there are a bazillion raving reviews for Divergent, I will keep mine short. This is a great book and you need to read it TODAY.

I give Divergent 5 out of 5 stars.

Since I read Divergent so quickly, I needed another book to entertain me when I couldn't sleep. Surgery recovery is going well but I wake up in pain and can't sleep. It's getting better, but I'm ready for the pain to be gone! Anyway, I picked up Lori Wilde's The Welcome Home Garden Club next. Wilde is a New York Times bestselling author, but this is my first novel to read of hers. Since I'm a Texan, I was excited to find a novel based in Texas that sounded light and fun without a lot of cheese.

Summary from Amazon: Traditional meaning of Pink and White Roses: I love you still and always will.

Caitlyn Marsh stopped believing in happily-ever-after when high-school sweetheart, Gideon Garza, left for Iraq. Now she raises her small son while her matchmaking gardening club members drive her crazy. Then Caitlyn's world turns upside-down when Gideon swaggers back to Twilight.

Gideon had left town in the middle of night with threats ringing in his ears. A lot of things have changed since then. This bad boy-turned-Green Beret bears scars from the war, the timid girl he loved is an independent mother, and the father who refused to recognize his son in life has, in death, left him a vast cattle ranch.

He still aches for Caitlyn, and now there's a dark-haired boy who looks exactly like Gideon did at that age. Could the child be his? And can this war-weary soldier overcome the scars of the past to claim the family he so richly deserves?

While this book does seem delightful, it did not keep my attention. Perhaps it was because I had just read the intriguing, fast paced Divergent. I needed the story to move a bit faster. Wilde tells us quite often that Caitlyn is still hot for Gideon and he still wants her. We are told often that Gideon is not the same person now and is too damaged to love completely. I understand that the war changed Gideon, but why won't he let himself try? Why won't Caitlyn try? The will he/will she conflict was frustrating to me. Another conflict is Gideon's estranged family. Gideon inherits great wealth and land, but his half-brothers want nothing to do with him and contest the will. When the brothers threaten to kill Gideon and any of his heirs, I completely lost interest. The conflict does not seem real - it's too much. I was prepared for the love conflict, but I couldn't buy the life-or-death situation. I did not finish the book, but I know that many of my friends would enjoy it. I will try reading another of Wilde's novels. The Welcome Home Garden Club just wasn't for me.

Two Books from the Past

2012-07-17T03:30:00.000-07:00

I was trying to organize my bookshelves the other day and I found two books that I hadn't read in a few years, but I remember how much I loved them. I have recommended them to my friends and family, and now I want to share them with you. Have you read them? If so, what did you think?

Angel at Troublesome Creek by Mignon F. Ballard
Ballard (Final Curtain, etc.) begins a new series with a most unusual protagonist. Augusta Goodnight, who drew her last mortal breath during WWII, comes back to the living as a guardian angel, appearing just in time to help Mary George Murphy figure out the problems in her life. Mary George has been having a rough time: her beloved Aunt Caroline, her adoptive mother, has died recently under odd circumstances; she has been fired from her job; and her jerk of a fianc? has dumped her ("Three weeks after that hussy aerobics instructor moved in next door to him, his mind turned to tofu"). With the unpredictable assistance of Augusta, Mary George begins rebuilding her life, while she tries to sort out what could have happened to Aunt Caroline. At the center of the mystery is a missing Bible that contains an important secret. Mary George's efforts to get at the truth lead her on an important journey of self-discovery. Along the way she is reunited with a childhood friend, who just may be an important part of her future. Ballard writes with great warmth and sassy humor. The puzzle, however, is far less important than Mary George's progress, spurred by the brash Augusta, toward happiness and self-reliance.
I have read all of the Augusta Goodnight novels and I just love them. If you have not experienced the fun, engaging Augusta and the world Ballard creates, you need to RUN to the bookstore right now!

A Crazy Little Thing Called Death by Nancy Martin
Impoverished Philadelphia heiress Nora Blackbird has agreed to wed Mick Abruzzo, son of New Jersey's most notorious mobster, leaving the city's bluebloods in shock. Then Nora and her sisters get some ominous news-Sweet Penny Devine, ex-Hollywood starlet and daughter of the Philadelphia Devines, has mysteriously disappeared. Even stranger, her family wants her declared dead pronto. Could someone have plotted her final act? Now it's up to the Blackbird sisters to snoop among the snooty-until they uncover the truth.
This is the sixth in the Blackbird series. The Blackbird sisters are great fun. I love this series and have read all of the novels so far. I can't wait for the next one!

What books have you recently found in your bookshelves that you love?