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Archive for August, 2017

Diomeres Exile

Diomere's Exile Tour Graphic
We are delighted to announce the PRE-ORDER AVAILABILITY of Diomere’s Exile by Sabrina A. Fish. Check it out and reserve your copy today.
Official release date: September 29, 2017.
Diomere's Exile
Series: The Gate Keeper Chronicles Book 1
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
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An exiled woman seeking redemption, and the man who distracts her from finding it.
Five Gates. Five Sisters. Five Very Different Men.
Once there were two worlds connected by five magical gates. Then the Gate Keepers closed the gates and disappeared. The Gate Keepers have returned.
Nadia de Quinones was exiled when her nephew, the crown-prince was abducted on her watch. She’ll let nothing stand in the way of her redemption, not even discovering her heartbonded and a connection to an ancient magical gate.
Lord Gregor Cyrene is sworn to protect his country’s royal heirs. After the youngest prince’s life is threatened, Gregor sets out to discover who is responsible and suspects the answer lies with Nadia.
When fate forces their competing goals to align, neither are prepared for the irresistible attraction between them. Can they see beyond their pasts and a millennia old hate between their people? Or will they continue to distrust, allowing those plotting against them to win?

Giveaway

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Prizes up for grabs:
$25 Gift Card (Winner’s choice: Amazon or Barnes & Noble)
2 Diomere’s Exile eBooks
3 Mystery Prizes
Contest runs from August 29 – October 16, 2017.

About Sabrina A. Fish

Sabrina A. Fish

Sabrina A. Fish lives in Oklahoma with her husband, son, and two cats, where she owns a trophy company and collects names for her novels from lists of award’s recipients. She loves all things chocolate and her husband is sweet enough to never let the candy dish near her computer become empty.
She loves and advocates being involved in the local writing community, and is President for the 2018 Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc (OWFI).
She is an annual featured speaker at The Rose State Writing Conference and has been a panelist at Wizard World Comic Con.
Born and raised in Oklahoma, she considers the three years she spent in a Texas high school to be a short trip down the rabbit hole that ended at graduation. She returned to Oklahoma where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma. BOOMER SOONER.
When she isn’t writing & promoting her novels or running her company, she can be found reading, scrapbooking, or spending quality time with her family.
To find out more about Sabrina and her books, visit her website https://www.SabrinaAFish.com
Connect with Sabrina A. Fish on social media:

About The Wild Rose Press

The Wild Rose Press

The Wild Rose Press has been publishing electronic and print titles of fiction for more than nine years. Our titles span the sub-genre spectrum from sweet to sensually erotic romance in all lengths to mainstream and womens fiction. To check out the latest and upcoming releases and more, visit https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com.
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Helena Hawthorn Series

Russian Roulette
Helena Hawthorn Series Book 1
by May Freighter
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Who could guess that one brush of a fingertip over a shimmering
soul-string could flip your world upside down and inside out?


Nineteen-year-old Helena’s life changes when her spirit enters the Angel Realm in
search of her father. But, things don’t go as planned. Against her
guardian angel’s warnings, she binds her soul to a vampire—a
creature she thought only existed in horror movies.
Lucious has spent his immortality looking for the monsters who killed his
sire. The last thing he needs is to be vulnerable because of a bond
with a reckless girl. Yet, he sees how he can turn this to his
advantage. Believing that Helena possesses great power, he plans to
use her against the Council as a bargaining chip.
When Helena meets the gorgeous and also terrifying vampire with whom she’s
now stuck sharing an emotional bond, she realises that her life will
never be the same. Despite fighting against Lucious’s manipulative
ways, she can’t deny their attraction.
As their desire for each other intensifies, she needs to know if she can
trust him. After all, her life and soul are on the line.
For readers who enjoyed The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith, Twilight
Series by Stephenie Meyer, or A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest
**.99 on Amazon!**

My Review

5 stars

Helena Hawthorn is no stranger to the paranormal. She has a guardian angel, Michael that tries to help protect her. But she goes against his warnings into another realm and manages to bind herself to a vampire. Lucious is on the hunt for the person that killed his sire when he finds himself bound to Helena. He does his best to try and protect her but now she is among vampires, demons, and so many other paranormal creatures.Helena is being tossed around in this paranormal world. One minute she is love, another she is abused, taken advantage of, and no longer the same person she started this journey. I loved following her journey. She doesn’t always have the best opinion of those around her but she sure learns quickly that everyone is out for themselves.

This is a huge world that quickly drew me into the story and didn’t let me go easily. I love how although Helena and Lucious are soul-bound it’s not the insta-love soulmate thing you see so often. This book has a fresh look at the paranormal and normal and has left me wanting to jump headlong into Demon Gates as soon as I am done with this review. This is a must read.

Demon Gates
Helena Hawthorn Series Book 2
Uncertain whether she is human or not, Helena is forced to undergo new
nightmares while her mental battle continues with a demon called
‘Lazarus’. Without her guardian angel to protect her, she is left to
rely on vampires who have their own reasons for everything.

The attraction between her and Lucious grows, whether it is a side effect
of the soul-bond they share or of their own volition. Yet, how can
they be certain?
With the help of her new friends, they must seek out a Demon Gate and
enter the Demon Realm to stop Lazarus from claiming her and Lucious’
souls. But, will they succeed or perish as the only weapon that can
kill a demon has been lost centuries ago.

 My Review

5 stars

Helena is up to her neck in trouble. Lazarus is intent on trying to claim Lucious and her bonded soul. Helena and Lucious are going to have to travel to the demon realm and fight him. But this is not going to be easy as Helena has learned that she may not be human and she starts doubting herself. She can’t really on Michael to help her and must accept the help from the vampires. But they have their own plans for her.Helena has some seriously tough challenges in front of her but she steps up and marches through them like a true hero. I loved Lucious and how he is falling more for Helena and finding it harder to just use her for his own gains. And have to say that Alexander drives me up the wall with his behavior sometimes but you can tell that Lucious and Alexander have had each other’s backs for a long time. The more you learn about the both of them the more I enjoyed reading about them.

This series is going strong with a great story, lots of twists and turns, and still not fully knowing who Helena can trust. I love it and strongly recommend it.

Crumbling Control
Helena Hawthorn Series Book 3
After attending a funeral in Aberdeen, Helena meets with a member of the
European Vampire Council. Vincent shares his concerns about the
imminent dangers local vampires are facing. After all, the hunters
are gathering in London, local packs of werewolves fight for
territory, and Eliza is up to something that will ‘save them all’.


Lucious is staying away from Helena. The hunters shot him full of tracking
bullets and every time he stops, they catch up to him. To prevent
those he cares about from being in danger, he ends up calling in a
favour from the man he never wished to see again.
Helena’s feelings for Lucious begin to waver as she cannot get in contact with
him. Andrew remains by her side and makes her laugh when everything
else is going to hell.
How will Helena and Lucious overcome their new trials once the hunters
come knocking on their door, demons escape through the Demon Gate,
and the Council begins to crumble?

My Review

5 stars

Helena has been through hell and back. But she is a strong woman and growing stronger. Lucious is coming to care for and protect Helena. He is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her safe, even staying away from her. Although this distance is hard on the two of them, this is the easiest part of the story. The vampire counsel is starting to crumble and Helena is going to have to start making some even harder decisions to try to save those she loves and herself and Lucious.This is an amazing series. Helena is clearly never going to get that break she has so clearly earned. You hit the ground running on page one and it doesn’t let up until the end, which was not expected. I have come to really like Alexander. He has hidden himself so deep that it has taken this long to finally fully warm up to him. He is there to help Helena when Lucious is gone.

I love how the main baddie is clearly batshit crazy yet seems to make sense. How can you really hate the bad guy when you can understand their motivation? Between this and making the tough decisions Helena has to make on who to save kept me flipping pages like crazy.

This is a great series and one that I strongly recommend. Although I would recommend starting it on the weekend because you are not going to get any sleep. Now I can’t wait to get my hands on Fated Origins.

I received Russian Roulette, Demon Gate, and Crumbing Control from Silver Dagger Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

Fated Origins
Helena Hawthorn Series Book 4
Helena’s life is back to normal. College, friends, family…everyone’s
happy. Yet, she can’t understand what is missing. No matter how
hard she tries to fake her excitement about a new movie or laugh over
a cup of coffee during lunch, it doesn’t feel right.


Peace doesn’t last long. A demon appears, claiming to be her friend and
lifts the memory block Lucious had put up. Outraged he had done this
to her, she decides to go against her family’s wishes and pursue
him in London. Only one problem remains: she’s losing control of
her body.
Lucious is unable to mend his broken heart. He grew complacent and cares
little about the proceedings of the Council while Kallias takes the
lead. With the hunter threat growing and the werewolves no longer
willing to help stabilise London, to unify the vampires all over the
world, Kallias believes it is time to awaken the one true
leader—Arthemis.
The full cycle comes to an end. Lilia and Helena are faced with the
original vampire. Despite their differences, a choice must be made
with grave sacrifices. Will they save humanity or let vampires rule
the world?
May Freighter is an internationally bestselling author from Dublin,
Ireland. She writes Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Sci-Fi
mysteries that will keep you entertained, mystified, and hopefully
craving more. Her only pets are cacti. They’re the only things that
survived. It may be too dangerous to entrust her with an animal while
she’s engrossed in writing.

On sunny, rainy, and overcast days, she spends her time with her
fictional friends, putting them through dangerous adventures while
wishing them the best of luck. Her hobbies are photography, drawing,
and plotting different ways of a characters’ demise.
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

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Fantasy
Date Published: September 5, 2017
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Hansel never asked to be a hero. He never wanted to fall in love with Rapunzel, Queen of the East. He didn’t ask to be raised by Gothel the Wretch, and he certainly never wanted to be credited for her arrest. But more than any of that, Hansel never wanted to lie: but he did. He lied about everything. He thought that he was done with it all when he and his sister Gretel retreated into the woods to reclaim their land, but he should have known better.
Years later, Rapunzel’s guards knock at his door, and they say the words he hoped that he would never hear: Gothel has escaped. As he and Gretel take refuge inside Rapunzel’s castle in the eastern capitol of Hildebrand, Hansel is thrust back into everything he never wanted in the first place: his lies, his legend, and his lust. In the wake of it all, he knows that Gothel has escaped to finish what she started. She is out to make sure that the Sleeping Beauty never wakes, and that Grimm suffocates under her blanket of thorn and vine. In order to find Gothel and save the kingdom, Hansel and Gretel must look for fact in a land of fairy-tale by following a trail of grisly murders, a girl in a red cape, and a powerful little man who can’t stand the sound of his own name.
As they search for answers, Hansel finds that he isn’t the only liar in Grimm, and that there may be a traitor among them of royal proportion.
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Excerpt
 
The winter storm began with a scream that split the trees. It echoed throughout the woods and birds fled into the sky, disappearing like smoke behind gray clouds. Hansel looked off in the direction of the disturbance—but it was silent again. There was something menacing about the renewed absence of life that hung over him. He strung his bow, keeping it close to his side, and surveyed the area around him. He was met only with the familiar stillness of the trees and dead foliage beneath.
“We should go,” he said, trying to disguise the urgency in his voice.
His sister, Gretel, hesitated. “Someone screamed.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s why we need to go.”
Gretel scanned the tree line and ran her fingers through her hair. Grabbing her hand, Hansel pulled her in the direction they’d come from. The woods were dangerous, especially on the cusp of winter. They were close to the Southern Thickets—the part of the forest overrun with briar and weed, where all of Grimm’s most dangerous creatures lived—and Hansel knew that if someone was screaming, they had a good reason.
They made their way back to The Path in silence. Hansel was wary of crunching leaves under his boot, afraid to wake the forest. Seconds after they turned around, he felt something whiz past him on both sides of his head. He hoped they were fireflies, bustling about the tops of trees, cutting through the coldness that crept over them. He followed the sparkling speckles with his eyes. They moved with purpose, cracking branches and creasing clouds, spinning wildly. Hansel was probably the only person in Grimm who was ever disappointed to see a flock of fairies, but fireflies meant it was summer, and he longed to see summer again.
Before they blinked out of sight, they spoke to him. Tens of wistful, unison whispers in his ears said: Help…the girl needs help. Hansel looked at Gretel, wondering if she heard them, too. He didn’t have to ask. She bounded back in the opposite direction and drew the skinning knife she kept sheathed at her waist. Hansel cursed, taking off after her. No sooner than he’d kicked off the ground, another mortifying scream shook the woods. He followed close behind Gretel, dodging trees and leaping over the underbrush. There was a third scream, and then a fourth; louder and closer than any before.
He didn’t know what to do. As they ran, the woods shrank around them until the sun no longer broke through the gaps between the trees. Hansel knew they were going to die. No one made it deep into the thickets and lived. It was home to godless monsters; giants, goblins—the creatures of the dark who scarcely bothered with humans, until they were crossed. Hansel struggled to keep up with his sister. Where he was cautious, she was fearless, and where she was cautious, he was safest. He looked up and was surprised to see hundreds of fairies lighting their path. Each second, more poured in from the sky until there was an army over them.
Gretel stopped abruptly, causing Hansel to trip and roll a few steps downhill. He didn’t think long enough to register pain. As he found his footing, Gretel climbed down the incline and stood beside him. His first instinct was to go back the way they’d come, but he was awestruck. They stood on the threshold of life and death, where the woods became the Southern Thickets. It was like a scar across the ground, stretching from one end of the world to the next, a final warning to those brave enough to pass into the curse. Even the fairies were still, their glow dimmed by the wicked magic ahead.
Hansel was relieved to see that there were no longer trees; they’d been replaced by a wall of bramble, too large and thick to allow passage. They were surrounded by the purplish-blue tint of twilight, thorns as sharp as daggers to their throats in front of them and crooked, mossy trees behind them. Once, when Hansel lived in the city, he’d visited his parents’ corpses in the graveyard. They were buried in a public sepulcher maintained by the city to ensure that if a family was unwilling or unable to buy a plot for their deceased, their corpses wouldn’t be left to rot and attract the attention of wildlife. Standing just before the thickets reminded Hansel of that day—the day when he stood at the maw of death and was so close he could feel himself slipping away.
Gretel looked behind them. Hansel hoped she’d given up, and maybe she had. He almost smiled. But one final, thankless cry echoed past the briar, stirring the fairies. Gretel squinted, determined. That scream, Hansel knew, was the epitaph on their gravestones. The fairies swarmed them, and he was swallowed in a rainbow of color, cascading like a waterfall upon him. He couldn’t see anything but the swirling light of the fairy flock, spinning faster and faster around him, tugging at his shirt and creating a whirlwind. He felt weightless. His stomach churned and he felt dizzy. When the fairies cleared, he could see why—he was high in the air, flying over the Southern Thickets.
For a moment, he forgot about the screams and that he was headed into danger. He was soaring. Gretel was flying just below him, her arms spread wide, her hair flailing. Seeing Grimm from the air was both breathtaking and appalling. He expected to see the land as it once was, alive and vibrant. Instead, it was a sickly beige with winter and the end of the curse. The world around them was devoid of life. Most of the animals had fled years earlier, knowing the world was about to change, and those that remained were tucked safely away somewhere beneath them.
The thickets looked exactly as he’d always imagined. From above, he saw nothing but briar and bramble etched across the uneven terrain. They gained speed, and the cold air blasted his cheeks. He was grateful to have the cold in that moment to waken his senses and remind him that he was still alive, that he and Gretel were in danger. He sucked in a breath as they flew farther away from home, and against the still-setting sun that formed the silhouette of a castle, jagged and broken. The Sleeping Castle—he knew it from legend—the home where the rightful royalty of Grimm still rested, dead to the world but not in definition, suffering eternally at the hands of a vengeful witch. All he could make out was one tower, freed from the clutches of the thorn like the arm of an old beggar, trying to hoist himself out of the darkness. The top of the tower stuck at a point against the sunlight like a bony finger fighting for liberation.
It felt like they were flying only moments before he felt himself descending. Hansel looked below. There was a tiny clearing in the briar—a hole in the patchwork—and inside that hole he saw a spot of red. His eyes widened when he realized what was happening; it was a little girl, and she was running for her life. Sooner than he anticipated, the fairies dropped him and he fell into the clearing. They placed Gretel gracefully on the ground next to him and charged back up into the sky in one harmonious motion, disappearing into the briar. The girl stared at them in wonder, Hansel standing close to Gretel. It was suddenly dark, and Hansel knew it was because they were in a place so sinister that even the sunlight refused to pass through. The girl Hansel had seen from the sky was covered in bloody scratches, as if she’d been running through the thorns. Her face was dirty and streaked in muddy tears. She tried to speak to them, but she was silenced by the rustling of the vines behind her.
She yelped, running to them for help. Gretel took her in her arms and cupped her hand over her mouth, quieting her. Hansel trembled, pulling the bowstring back so far he worried it would snap. The figure of a large man appeared on the other side of the curtain of briar, causing the girl to cry harder. He made his best attempt to look imposing, but he was frightened. The man stepped into the clearing, dressed all in black, his hood casting a shadow over his face so that all Hansel could see was a pair of dull, white eyes. At first, Hansel thought the red-orange coating on the figure’s machete was rust, but as the man moved closer, he recognized it as the color of dried blood.
“Who are you?” Hansel asked.
It was like standing in front of death itself—silent, ominous, and terrifying.
Hansel stood rigid, his arrow pointed at the man’s chest. He hated the idea of killing someone, but he knew that his bow would take action before his head did if it was given the opportunity. The man’s chest rose, fell, but didn’t rise again. That was when Hansel knew it was time to let go of the string. It was too late. The hooded figure leaped out of the way just before the arrow left the bow, and as Hansel went to re-string it, he disappeared back into the thickets. Hansel stretched his bow into a V and focused his aim, in case the man returned.
Gretel helped the girl to her feet. “Are you all right?”
She wore a bright cloak that canvassed her body like a suit of armor, bright yet all-concealing. Hansel didn’t know what to make of her. She embodied adolescence, but exuded effortless maturity as if at war with herself. Wine and wildflowers protruded from her basket, peeking surreptitiously back at him. She was a walking contradiction, and that made him anxious.
“I think so,” the girl replied, using her cloak, which was made of some sort of fabric that Hansel couldn’t name but knew was expensive, to wipe her face. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Who was that man?” Hansel asked.
The girl hesitated. She stepped beside Hansel and followed his gaze out into the thickets.
“He was no man,” she said. “He was a wolf.”
“A wolf?” Hansel asked.
She nodded. “He walks like a man, but he’s a wolf, I swear to it. He tackled me back there and started sniffing me and snarling like a beast. His breath smells like dung and whiskey. It frightened me, so I ran off.”
Hansel and Gretel exchanged looks. Gretel furrowed her brows, dumbstruck.
“But why did he come after you?” Gretel asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Hansel asked. “How do you not know? Do you find you’re often being chased by hooded man-wolves, or is today a special day?”
The girl seemed put off by the question. “Do you normally fly with the fairies?”
“Of course not,” Hansel said.
“So today must be special for all of us,” she said, slyly.
Gretel broke the tension. “What’s your name?”
“My name’s Ceara,” the girl replied with a smile that soured Hansel’s mood. She spoke to no one in particular. “But some people call me Little Red Cap because of my cape. It’s made of the finest silk in the East.” She offered the tail of her cape to them.
Gretel reached her hand out and felt the fabric, rubbing it between her fingers. “It’s lovely,” she mumbled.
“My gran made it for me when I was younger. I was always running about in the woods and she worried I would get lost. That’s why the cape is red…I’m easier to spot that way.”
Hansel dropped the bow to his side. It just so happened that he and Gretel knew quite a bit about being lost in the woods.
“Do you know how to get back to The Path from here?” he asked Ceara.
The Path was the clearest, safest route through the woods. It was a trail worn in the grass by the boots of travelers and kings alike; a clear, oppressive force that divided Grimm into four regions. The Path was the safest, most direct route to any place in the entire kingdom.
Ceara’s smile faded. She wiped the tears from her face, using her cloak to remove the dirt from her cheeks. “Of course I do,” she said, gesturing toward the vines. “It’s just a few steps this way.”
“You mean through the thorns?” Hansel asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Unless you plan on asking the fairies for another lift, there’s really no other way.”
“I thought it was impossible to pass through the thickets.” As he spoke, he stared at the thorns. He imagined slicing his leg open, or accidentally impaling himself. He squirmed.
Ceara giggled at him. “Just because the whole kingdom says it’s impossible, doesn’t mean it is.”
Gretel laughed at him as well, shrugging as she passed him. Ceara parted the vines carefully and let Gretel pass through. After Gretel disappeared into the thickets, Ceara held the vines apart for him. “Go on.”
Right then, Hansel knew he wasn’t going to like Ceara.


About the Author

Weston Sullivan lives and writes in Tampa, Florida. He spends his days splitting time between writing, a full time job, and studying for his degree in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida. He enjoys everything related to storytelling, including film and theater. He likes to read all genres, from contemporary fiction to classic favorites such as Faulkner and Woolf. After he finishes his undergraduate coursework and continues to build his career as an author, he plans to attend graduate school in New York City.
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Deadly Partnership

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Deadly Partnership: Murder, Blackmail and Voices from the Spirit World

By Richard Gardner

On his retirement, widower Paul Jenkins decides to live with his sister by the sea. But having moved in, the idyllic life that he has been hankering after is thrown into turmoil when he comes face to face with a burglar in the middle of the night.

His impulsive reaction to the intrusion has disturbing consequences when he is confronted with some unsavoury characters. However, it is the dead that he has far more to fear from.

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Author’s Bio

Born in Southampton, Richard Gardner has lived in South East London for many years. Married to a nurse, he has a daughter, son and at this moment in time – five grandchildren.

Having obtained a degree in Business Studies, he spent most of his working life in finance but never lost his desire to become a successful author. So far he has written three novels, Righteous Release, Iniquitous Lives and his latest Deadly Partnership, but he hopes to write many more.
Richard’s interests include, travel, history and literature. He also has a fascination for the paranormal which prompted him to write Deadly Partnership.

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My Review

5 stars

Paul Jenkins has retired but his son has asked him for a loan. Paul comes up with the idea to sell his house and move back into the family house with his sister Julie. He will give the money to Gary and Gary will work off the debt by working on the family home. But all is not well in Petermouth. Julie, Paul’s sister is interested spiritualism and invites a medium over. The medium gives a warning about keeping windows locked at night.

But one night Paul and Gary return home drunk and forget to lock the windows. They are woken up later by a noise, confront a burglar, and defend themselves. But this is not the first time that Paul has done something like this and it seems those that have disappeared are not completely gone from Paul’s life.

This book instantly drew me in. It seems innocent enough until an intruder meets Paul and Gary. From there we have strange occurrences in the house and a medium with a message. Paul has a dark past and it is going to come back and haunt him full force.

I really enjoyed this story. There is so much more than just a burglar breaking into a house and the residents defending themselves. The spirits are light and enough to add flavor to the story. Over all I really enjoyed this book and recommend thriller lovers to check it out. I’m excited to check out other books from Richard Gardner.

I received Deadly Partnership from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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The Fifth Letter

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The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty

A fun vacation game turns destructive, exposing dark secrets, deeply buried grudges, and a shocking betrayal in Nicola Moriarity’s intriguing debut.

Four friends . . .

Joni, Deb, Eden, and Trina have been best friends since high school, sharing a bond that has seen them through their teenage years and into adulthood. But now, time and circumstance is starting to pull them apart as careers, husbands, and babies get in the way. As their yearly vacation becomes less of a priority—at least for three of the women—how can Joni find a way to draw the four of them back together?

Four secrets . . .

During a laughter and wine-filled night, the women dare one another to write anonymous letters, spilling their deepest, darkest secrets. But the fun game turns devastating, exposing cracks in their lives and the friendships they share. Each letter is a dark confession revealing shocking information. A troubled marriage? A substance abuse problem? A secret pregnancy? A heartbreaking diagnosis?

Five letters . . .

Late on one of their last nights together, after the other three have gone to bed, Joni notices something in the fireplace—a burnt, crumpled, nearly destroyed, sheet of paper that holds the most shattering revelation of all. It is a fifth letter—a hate-filled rant that exposes a vicious, deeply hidden grudge that has festered for decades. But who wrote it? Which one of them has seethed with resentment all these years? What should Joni do?

Best friends are supposed to keep your darkest secrets. But the revelations Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina have shared will ripple through their lives with unforeseen consequences . . . and things will never be the same.

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 Nicola Moriarty

Author’s Bio

Nicola Moriarty lives in Sydney’s north west with her husband and two small daughters. She is the younger sister of bestselling authors Liane Moriarty and Jaclyn Moriarty. In between various career changes, becoming a mum and studying teaching at Macquarie University, she began to write. Now, she can’t seem to stop.

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My Review

4 stars

Joni, Deb, Eden, and Trina are now in their 30’s but have been friends since an incident in school, Joni is afraid that the group is drifting apart, especially since she is the only one that doesn’t have children. Joni rely believes that if everyone writes down a secret the rest can help them work through it and bring the women closer. But a surprise letter has a confession that could break up the group.

Confessing secrets about yourself to your friends? This is definitely a recipe for disaster. I understand how Joni is trying to get the group close again but they get more than they expect when the fifth letter is discovered. Each has their own personal issues but I do feel that they could have worked through them. But that last letter has to throw a wrench in the works.

This is a great story about the secrets we keep and how they can cause us more trouble bringing them up. The story flows well and was a quick read. I do think if you are a fan of contemporary stories that you will like this one. It has enough of a twist of a mystery to make it that much more entertaining.

I received The Fifth Letter from the publisher for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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Wrecking Balls

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Wrecking Balls by Joe Giambrone

Charleston and Gary are on the verge of comic greatness: broke, wasted, and floundering through life. As Charleston turns 30 he faces an existential crisis. His comedy career in the gutter, he considers leaving the life. That is until Gary pilfers one of his joke ideas. Then it’s comedy Jihad to the death, and there can be only one.

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Author’s Bio

Novelist and filmmaker Joe Giambrone is the author of TRANSFIXION from Solstice, HELL OF A DEAL: A SUPERNATURAL SATIRE, and his short story appears in the anthology LOVE MATTERS.

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My Review

4 stars

Comedy is an art form that is hit or miss, a lot of miss sometimes. The jokes, the location, the time of day, but mainly the crowd. A joke you tell in one place may be a hit but flop in another. And then there is just the simple task of getting a venue and being discovered. So many obstacles stand in the comedian’s way.

Follow along as Charleston and Gary try to fight their way against these obstacles to be famous. It’s been a long, hard road and Charleston is about ready to call it quits when Gary steals one of his jokes. The joke is what can make or break a career. How many comedians do you know that have that one joke that is their trademark? This theft creates and all-out war between the two former friends and it is about to be a battle to the death.

This is a great story following the battle to be top comedian. I really enjoyed it and recommend everyone checking it out. I really liked this story and will definitely be checking out other books from Joe Giambrone.

I received Wrecking Balls from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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Red Right Hand

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Red Right Hand (Michael Hendricks – 2) by Chris Holm

If the good guys can’t save you, call a bad guy.
When viral video of an explosive terrorist attack on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge reveals that a Federal witness long thought dead is still alive, the organization he’d agreed to testify against will stop at nothing to put him in the ground.

FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson is determined to protect him, but her hands are tied; the FBI’s sole priority is catching the terrorists before they strike again. So Charlie calls the only person on the planet who can keep her witness safe: Michael Hendricks.

Once a covert operative for the US military, Hendricks makes his living hitting hitmen… or he did, until the very organization hunting Charlie’s witness–the Council–caught wind and targeted the people he loves. Teaming up with a young but determined tech whiz, Cameron, on the condition she leave him alone after the case, Hendricks reluctantly takes the job.

Of course, finding a man desperate to stay hidden is challenging enough without deadly competition, let alone when the competition’s shadowy corporate backer is tangled in the terrorist conspiracy playing out around them. And now Hendricks is determined to take the Council down, even if that means wading into the center of a terror plot whose perpetrators are not what they seem.

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Chris  Holm 

Author’s Bio

Chris Holm is the author of the Collector trilogy, which blends crime and fantasy, and the Michael Hendricks thrillers. His first Hendricks novel, THE KILLING KIND, was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Boston Globe Best Book of 2015, and Strand Magazine’s #1 Book of 2015. It won the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel, and was also nominated for a Barry, a Lefty, and a Macavity. His second Hendricks novel, RED RIGHT HAND, is now available. Chris lives in Portland, Maine.

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My Review

4 stars

Seven years ago, Frank Segreti was a mob informant. He went to the FBI about an organization called The Counsel. Shortly thereafter he finds himself dead. Zip to present day and a family that it taking a photo at the Golden Gate Bridge when a tug boat full of explosives goes off. On review of the file, FBI agent Charlie Thompson is surprised to see Frank. But she can’t really investigate his appearance so she called in Michael Hendricks. Michael is still smarting after his last run around with The Counsel and has no problem fighting The Counsel.

This is a great, action filled story. Michael is not just the killer of killers. He will kill for an exorbitant amount of money. And after his last tangle with The Counsel, he has them in his sights. Michael teams up with Cameron to keep ahead of the FBI and mob bosses to get Frank Segreti. But The Counsel expects Michael and he is going to have a harder time fighting them this time around.

This is an action filled great story. It’s a great thriller that will have you cheering for Michael. I liked Cameron. She adds a bit of a fresh approach to the story and I hope she is around for the last book. If you like action packed thrillers you need to check this series out.

I received Red Right Hand from the publisher for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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Guardian Angel

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Guardian Angel by William McCauley

Thirteen-year-old Markus has good friends, loving parents, and a strong need for more in life. When the A-list kids in his social-studies class ask him to work with them on their Holocaust project, he jumps at the chance, but he suspects that they just want to exploit his German grandmother, who was in Auschwitz during the war. He wrestles with his grandmother’s reluctance to talk about the past, his mother’s strange behavior, and his friends’ and classmates’ demands. Then long hidden and mysterious secrets from the past begin to surface, and they turn his world upside down. Markus must come to a new understanding of the very concept of truth.

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Author’s Bio

I was born and grew up in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, in a delightful little town called Vienna. My B.A. in German and M.A. in English are from George Mason University, and at the ripe old age of 29 I “ran away from home” to do doctoral work in linguistics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. After two years, my Wanderlust attacked again, and I trekked on down to Miami, FL, where I did more doctoral work at the University of Miami. Then the powers that be at The German School Washington, where I had taught English for six years, tracked me down and asked me to come back. That brought me back to the DC area, where I taught at the German School for another eighteen years. I finished my career in education at the end of school year 14-15, retiring after ten years as a Gifted and Talented Education specialist with Howard County Public Schools in Maryland.

As a kid, I was a bookworm nerd – I was NEVER far from a pile of books! This led to my love of storytelling, and my longtime work as an English teacher helped me to recognize and value quality literature. Because I work at a middle school (grades 6-8), when I started writing, it was natural for me to concentrate on this age level.

I’m passionate about animals and animal rights. As a vegan, I don’t eat, drink, or wear anything that comes from animals. I won’t use products (shampoo, deodorant, etc.) that have been tested on animals. I would never go to a circus that features animal acts. I don’t believe that animals were put on earth for our entertainment, exploitation, or consumption.

I care deeply about nature. There is no doubt in my mind that all of nature is connected and interwoven, and one small change or act of damage done here can have rippling ramifications everywhere else. My love of nature was a natural precursor to my veganism.

Having grown up in the ’60s, I wear my liberal badge proudly. This means that I always have fought, and always will fight, for equality for all. I’ve marched for African-American rights, women’s rights, and LGBT rights. I admire the Wiccan rede: “An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will.” I also feel drawn to the eastern concept of ahimsa: refraining from doing harm.

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been obsessed with languages. The only one I speak pretty fluently besides English is German, but I’m happily conversational in French and Spanish, and I’m working on modern Greek. I also had two years of college Russian, and I’ve studied Dutch and Italian on my own.

Last but certainly not least, I care about my students. I remember navigating the turbulent waters of middle school, and I notice the metaphorical sea-sickness in many of their faces. If I, as a teacher and writer, can do anything to help them through this storm, I’m there for them.

I can’t imagine writing without weaving in some of my passions. My first book, Guardian Angel, deals with the struggle young people often have to understand that beast of a concept called “the truth.” My current project, Revenge, will draw heavily on my knowledge and activity in animal rights. But hopefully it will also be a page-turner!

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My Review

5 stars

Markus has been giving a school Holocaust project and it seems the cool kids want his help. Well, he knows that they really want his Grandma Oma’s help. Oma was in Auschwitz and could give a firsthand account of what happened but she is refusing to talk. Then it seems someone has recognized her as a guard and Markus has his world ripped apart. How could his Grandmother be a Nazi with everything that they did to the Jews? Now Markus is embarrassed and trying to cope with the news, but there are many more surprised to this story.

There are many books out there on the Holocaust geared to young adults. But I have to say that I really enjoyed this one. There is no much more to the Holocaust than just Nazi’s torturing and killing Jews. Guardian Angel explores the grey areas of the concentrations camps. That there is so much more to this history than we first see and it was refreshing to watch Markus go through the wide spectrum of emotions as he realizes there are many more truths than what we read in the history books.

This is a remarkable story and one that shows that there is so much more to history than we first see. I think this should be a required reading for mid-graders to adults. It is heartbreaking yet warming at the same time. I admit that I didn’t get through it without shedding some tears at a couple points.

I received Guardian Angel from Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

I couldn’t pry my eyes away from the wrinkled skin of her forearm.

It could have been somebody’s zip code, guiding letters, bills, and tons of junk mail to people’s houses. It could bring birthday greetings and Christmas cards, and sometimes it could deliver news that we just don’t want to hear. It might show where a lot of people live when it’s on an envelope, with a stamp parked neatly in the corner.

But this number wasn’t on an envelope. It didn’t delight anyone with news about a new baby or winning the lottery. It had nothing to do with where people lived. It’s tattooed on an old woman’s arm, and it’s from a camp of torture where a lot of people died. And like always, when I visited my grandmother at the nursing home this afternoon, the number hypnotized me.

Oma snored lightly, and my eyes lingered on those five digits on her translucent skin, almost transparent in the overhead industrial lighting. They told me more than she ever had about her time in Auschwitz. And I had tried. I’d ask her about the camps, she’d talk to me about tents. I’d mention Nazis, she’d bring up the National Guard. I’d say something about gas chambers, she’d talk about the rising prices at the gas pump.

So, I stood staring at the number on her arm and at the scar from a deep gash right in front of the “2.” Puddles formed under my arms when I thought about why I was there. Visiting was never fun – more like a grandson’s obligation. But today the stakes were high. My fingers played with the frayed edge of the pink blanket, and then my gaze wandered up to her face. She was staring at me with eyes like warm, blue ice. I almost peed myself.

“Jeez, Oma! You trying to scare me to death? When did you wake up?”

The eyes sparkled. “You’d prefer maybe that I did not?”

“Not funny. When you leave here, you should maybe be a stand-up comic.”

Her long fingers guided a wisp of white hair behind her ear, and the scar that stretched from the corner of her left eye down to her mouth glared at me. I looked away, and when Oma shifted in the bed, the strong smell of her gardenia-scented bath soap washed over me like a tidal wave. My sneakers squealed on the tile floor when I shifted from foot to foot.

I looked back at her face. She stared at me hard.

“Something on your mind, child. I can always see it. That crooked little grin gets even crookeder.”

The time had come – now or never. I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, actually, yes…” I heard – and hated – the squeak in my voice.

“Speak.” She took my hand in both of hers. They felt weak but warm.

“It’s like this, Oma. In social studies class we’re starting a unit on…well, on World War II…and I was wondering…”

Her gaze shifted to the window, and she dropped my hand. “You ever notice that window looks out on nothing?” I looked over at the window but didn’t answer. How could a window look out on nothing? The room grew quiet except for the humming of the fluorescent lights. Finally she sighed and said, “You mean you’re going to study the Jews.” She blinked rapid fire about five times.

“Yeah, well… I just wondered if I could ask you some questions, sort of interview you.” Her lunch tray with its remnants caught my eye. The lime Jell-O looked sort of like bright green puke. And the chicken…well, I appreciated the gardenia smell.

“Interview me? You think maybe I’m a movie star? This is a fancy spa I’m relaxing in instead of a place where old people come to finish out their days? With this broken-down junk they call furniture?” Her skinny hand

pointed across the room. “Look at that dresser with the drawer that won’t close, so it looks like it’s always sticking its tongue at me!”

I turned to the dresser and almost stuck my tongue back out at it. This wasn’t going exactly like I had hoped. I tried to get a grip. “You know, you could tell me some things about what it was like.”

“What it was like? Why a teacher would want kids today to know what it was like, I’ll never understand.” She looked back to me, but the eyes had stopped sparkling. “No, child. Some things are better left in the past.”

My stomach twisted and turned, and I pushed my sleeves up a little. Oma’s hands shook, and her scar jutted out like a welt against her pale skin. That couldn’t be good for her health. And I had done this why? Because some cool kids back at school were depending on me to come up with a killer project because I had a grandma who had

survived Auschwitz? Really? My hand reached for hers. It felt cold as snow. Her eyes – cloudy now – looked through me, and it sounded like she was breathing underwater. Little drops of drool spilled out of the corner of her mouth next to the scar.

“But, Oma…just a few questions…”

“No!” The thunder in her voice made me jump. First that she would shout at me and second that she was strong enough to shout at all. “No! For that you must look elsewhere.” She shook her head back and forth. “Oh, Markus, this has been my burden alone all these years. It would be a sin to unload it on my only grandchild now!” Her gaze dropped to her chest.

Oma, I didn’t mean…” I didn’t have a clue how to finish the sentence. What did I mean?

“Leave it alone, child! So many things you are better off never knowing about.” My skin prickled when I saw a tear run along her scar like a drop of water terrified of being consumed by the desert. “Please, leave it alone.”

Then she closed her eyes and turned away. I knew that the interview had ended. And her breath still came in rasps.

I tiptoed into the bathroom so I wouldn’t have to swing by the gas station on the way home, and I stopped at the mirror. The little kid peering back at me looked so different from Oma in her bed. I figured that someday I would have her white hair, but for now, I pushed the reddish-brown mess away from my face and hooked it behind my ears. I looked at my cheek. No scar there. And when I pictured Oma in the bed in the next room, I saw guilt in those ridiculous green eyes glaring back at me accusingly. I loosened my hair again and let it fall in my face.

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It’s a Waverly Life (The (Mis)Adventures of Waverly Bryson – 2) by Maria Murnane

Readers first met the irrepressible Waverly Bryson in Perfect on Paper, and now the woman dubbed by fans as “the American Bridget Jones” is back in a sequel packed with friendship, heartache, and romance. In It’s a Waverly Life, the formerly heartbroken singleton is now happily enmeshed in a new relationship, a new job, and a new decade. Her career as an advice columnist is taking off, and the future of her fledgling greeting-card line is bright. Of course, where Waverly goes, drama is sure to follow, and this time is no exception. Her broken engagement to former fiancé Aaron Vaughn has left her gun-shy when it comes to love, putting strain on her long-distance relationship with handsome Jake McIntyre. And when her best friends McKenna and Andie both make life-changing announcements, Waverly fears she is being left behind by the ones she loves most. In true Waverly fashion, things must get comically worse before they can get better. But in the end, she discovers that though life (before and after thirty) may be messy and unpredictable, friendship and love make it all worthwhile.

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Maria Murnane 

Author’s Bio

Maria’s road to becoming an author is a little crazy. She used to work in high-tech PR but hated it, so she quit and ended up playing semi-pro soccer in Argentina for a year. While she was down there she decided to write a novel, which was something she’d always dreamed of doing. Fast forward a few years and a LOT of perseverance, and she’s now the best-selling author of Perfect on Paper, It’s a Waverly Life, Honey on Your Mind, Chocolate for Two, Cassidy Lane, and Katwalk. Her next book, Wait for the Rain, will be released in Feb 2015. And yes, she still plays a lot of soccer!

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My Review

4 stars

Waverly Bryson is trying to recover from a horrible break up and her new career that was completely unexpected. She does have a new love interest in Jake McIntyre but they are on opposite coasts. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a morning news show interview goes into left field. Then she is spending time with her two best friends. They are on the next step in their lives and Waverly feels left behind again. Of course that means she puts her foot in her mouth, messes things up, and causes all kinds of problems for herself.

This is a great chick lit story. Waverly has everything going smoothly which usually means drama is going to rear its ugly head shortly. Having a long distance relationship doesn’t help especially after the breakup. Then her friends are easily moving to the next stage and she is jealous. If course she is going to say something that is going to hurt her friend. I just seems to go from bad to worse so quickly for her.

Overall Waverly is a great character with wit and humor and even though she starts out on the wrong foot she always seems to have things smooth out for her. I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait to read further adventures of Waverly.

I received It’s a Waverly Life from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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the Epiphany Machine

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The Epiphany Machine by David Burr Gerrard

A searing alternative history of New York city, from the 60s to the near future, in which a tattoo machine is rumored to inscribe insightful assessments on its users’ forearms—with irreversible consequences.

Everyone else knows the truth about you, now you can know it, too.

That’s the promise of Adam Lyon’s epiphany machine, or at least the headline of an original promotional flyer he uses in the 1960s. At that point, Adam is already hosting regular salon nights in his tiny New York City apartment, where his guests can offer up their forearms to his junky old contraption and receive important, personal revelations in the form of a tattoo.

Over the decades, Adam’s apparatus teaches John Lennon to love The Beatles, takes early blame for the spread of HIV, and predicts several violent crimes. But most significant to Adam may be the days on which he marks the arm of Venter Lowood’s mother, and then his father, and then Venter himself.

It’s Venter, a bright but lost young man, who becomes Adam’s protégé. It’s Venter who records the testimonials from epiphany machine users, who studies another writer’s history of the machine. And it’s Venter who reads Adam’s pamphlet, distributed into the 90s and aughts, that adds to his original oath:

There are absolutely no circumstances under which your epiphanies or any other personal information will be shared with law enforcement.

It’s Venter who will be forced to reconcile himself to this important caveat, when the government begins asking questions about a very specific tattoo that marks the arm of his best friend.

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David Burr Gerrard 

Author’s Bio

David Burr Gerrard is the author of THE EPIPHANY MACHINE (Putnam, July 2017) and SHORT CENTURY (Rare Bird, 2014). He teaches creative writing at the 92nd Street Y, The New School, and the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop.

Website

My Review

4 stars

Adam Lyon acquired a tattoo machine in the 1960’s that tattoos epiphanies on people. Usually it is the one thing that you don’t want to admit to yourself. The story is told by Venter Lowood who has become fascinated by the machine when his mother left him to help Adam. Venter begins chronicling people, their reactions to their tattoos, and how they change because of them along with how the world changes around them all.

This is an interesting look into ourselves. We all have that secret though that we don’t really want to admit but what happens when you have a truth tattooed on your skin in jest. How are you to live with that truth? What are you to do about it? How are you to change?

This book will having you thinking about yourself and if you were in the same position. But I have to say that the ending left things open for me. It was interesting the famous and regular people that get the tattoo.

This is a good story and I think that it will become popular although it has not really been advertised that much. It’s one to check out.

I received The Epiphany Machine from the publisher for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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