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Archive for January 5th, 2018

Busted

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Busted by Michele Khoury

Impacted by the recession, twenty-four-year-old artist Gina McKenna is down to her last few dollars and days away from living in her car when a successful businessman buys a painting and commissions another. As their relationship evolves, she’s seduced by his charm and mesmerized by his luxurious lifestyle until she discovers he’s a drug kingpin. As her world turns upside down, she struggles to survive vicious brutality.

Miguel Lopez is a cocaine supplier with a weightlifter’s physique and “the rules do not apply to me” attitude. Maniacal and ruthless, he has no qualms about killing anyone who interferes with his distribution network, including Gina.

Dedicated to eradicating illegal drugs, DEA Special Agent Bobby Garcia spent months and hundreds of thousands of dollars working undercover to buy his way up a dealer chain to identify the moneyman. When his fourteen-year-old daughter overdoses on cocaine, he traces the blow to Lopez. As Bobby’s mission becomes personal, he makes emotional decisions, which negatively impact civilians and his job. Unable to let go, he risks his career to orchestrate the biggest drug sting in Southern California. What happens isn’t what he expected.

When a deputy district attorney meets Gina at a party, he is smitten. As his attraction grows, so does Gina’s involvement with the DEA’s case, of which he is the designated prosecutor. Mindful of his professional ethics, he tries to stifle his feelings.

Sex and violence permeate the twists and turns of this cautionary tale about choosing one’s friends well.

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Michele I. Khoury 

Author’s Bio

Michele I. Khoury, an award-winning entrepreneur in the technology industry, lives in Orange County, California with her husband and two dogs, Bubbles and Thriller. While attending the University of California Irvine’s Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Novel Writing program, she created “Busted.” BUSTED is her debut novel, and she is writing her second book, which is about domestic violence and abuse.

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My Review

5 stars

Gina McKenna is a starving artist. She is trying to sell her paintings to get by. Once day she sees two men and one buys her painting and requests her to paint another for him. This leads to Gina being swept off her feet by rich Jason Cavalieri. Unfortunately Jason’s money comes from drug trafficking with his partner Miguel Lopez. Miguel has reservations about Gina and thinks that she is a weak link in their business. Then Jason and Gina are arrested at dinner, processed, and find themselves in prison. There Gina has to fight for her life since Miguel is determined to keep her quiet.

Enter DEA agent Bobby Garcia. Bobby lost his 14 year old daughter to an over dose of cocaine from Miguel. If that didn’t make this case tough enough, he also finds himself drawn to Gina. Although he is trying to approach this case with an open mind, he finds it getting harder and harder by the day. And poor Gina wants nothing more to get through this and start her life fresh.

This is a great story. Gina is just trying to make ends meet when she finds herself deep in trouble. There is a lot of action and I was hoping that everything would work out in the end. I really enjoyed this story and will be looking for more books from Michele Khoury.

I received Busted from Author Marketing Experts for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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Legally Yours

Legally Yours by Nichole French

is FREE at Amazon until January 7th

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Legally Yours by Nicole French

Skylar Ellen Crosby is a typical redhead: blunt, passionate, with a bit of a temper. Okay, so maybe she’s a little neurotic too. She just can’t afford to be distracted these days, especially not by the immature boys that keep asking her out. At the end of her third year at Harvard Law, all Skylar wants is to figure out her next steps: ones that will hopefully include a job, an apartment, and enough money to help her father stop getting into trouble. She simply has no room for romance, especially the kind that might break your heart. But on a dark, snowy night, when she’s stranded in the living room of the notorious CEO of Sterling Ventures and one of the best attorneys in Boston, all of those boundaries are about to be knocked down.

Brandon Sterling never believed in fate. A man of his own making, he firmly credits his successes to hard work. How else could you explain his rise from the poorest of backgrounds in South Boston to becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Boston? Living in the lap of luxury, it never mattered to him that increasing success meant increased isolation in his big house on Beacon Street. After all, when you have everything, everyone else always wants something. That he walks in to find a gorgeous redhead sitting on his windowsill. Suddenly, the idea of love at first sight seems like the most plausible thing in the world…if only the one person he wants to give his heart to would actually take it.

Together, Skylar and Brandon have the kind of passion few hope to find, but things keep getting in their way. Between school, business, her father’s gambling troubles and Brandon’s history of personal struggle, will their complicated lives prevent them from making it work together? Or, as they both suspect somewhere deep down, have they finally met their match in each other’s hearts?

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Nicole French

Author’s Bio

Nicole French is a East Coast/West Coast hybrid creature, Springsteen fanatic, hopeless romantic, and total bookworm. When not writing fiction or teaching writing classes, she is hanging out with her family, playing soccer with the rest of the thirty-plus crowd in Seattle, or going on dates with her husband. In her spare time, she likes to go running with her dog, Greta, or practice the piano, but never seems to do either one of these things as much as she should.

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Kingdom of Havan

Kingdom of Haven Series

By Freddie Silva

Genre: Fantasy

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 The Order of the Wolf: Kingdom of Haven Book 1

The Order of the Wolf is set in the Seven Kingdoms, where the rulers are greedy and mercenary companies known as the Free Orders are paid to settle their disputes.

As a member of The Order of the Wolf, Olaf never questioned his path until his mates were killed. What is a mercenary to do without his Order mates?

Wielding a death wish and his poleaxe, Olaf must confront haunting memories on a long journey to avenge the honor of his lost comrades and heal from his relentless grief.  Along the way, he will try to die in battle, fight old foes and new, meet the love of his life, and come face-to-face with the man he most fears.

Before he is finished, Olaf must stop hiding behind his axe and find a life for himself.

Who says a mid-life crisis has to be about fast cars?

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Stenson Blues: The Kingdom of Haven Book 2

Olaf wasn’t sure when his luck went bad. Most said it was the day he fell and twisted his leg out of shape, but that was just the final straw on his unhappy slide from favor.  Even though he was a member of one of the most powerful families in the Seven Kingdoms, after the accident, he was relegated to herding pigs.

Olaf had accepted his fate until his long-lost uncle and namesake suddenly appeared with a kingdom.  Olaf, as the closest living relative, is sent with the family delegation to persuade his uncle to share his good fortune.

To succeed, Olaf must overcome his own feelings of inadequacy, vie against his dirty-dealing cousin, and persuade his suspicious uncle that he can be trusted.  Along the way, he gets caught up in his uncle’s political schemes, and may even meet the love of his life.  In the end, can Olaf prevail, make his uncle proud, and change his own luck?

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The Eastern Factor: Kingdom of Haven Book 3

After being shattered by the death of his lady love, Olaf is sent east by his namesake Uncle to recover in the relative safety of the Eastern Confederation.  Even here, he cannot rest.  The Empire of Jewel is marching against his uncle’s fledgling Kingdom of Haven, and Olaf is tasked with finding a way to aid his uncle.

Suffering from his own internal demons of self-doubt and grief, he attacks his mission with as much gusto as he can manage, but has he learned from his previous mistakes?  In order to succeed, he must form odd alliances and thread the needle of daunting Eastern politics.  Has he learned enough to recognize friends from enemies, and, above all, keep his own dark impulses from destroying his efforts?

The fate of the Kingdom of Haven is depending upon his success.

​Coming of age is tougher when you’re a Stenson.

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About The Author

Freddie Silva lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.  He has a passion for history, religion, and mythology.  He strives to use elements from these interests in his writing.  He has published stories in a variety of venues including: Catfish Stew: A South Carolina anthology of literature; Triangulation; The Alchemist Review, and Short & Twisted Christmas Tales.  The first two novels in his Kingdom of Haven series, The Order of the Wolf and Stenson Blues, are available on Amazon and Kobo.  The third book, The Eastern Factor, will be released in January 2018.  He can be found at http://www.freddiesilva.com.

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Interview with Author

 Tell us about your genre.  How did you come to choose it?  Why does it appeal to you?

I write speculative fiction, primarily novels in the fantasy genre.  I’ve been an avid reader in the genre since I was a child. I also love history and most fantasy stories are based upon past historical periods.

It wasn’t until I was in my late-twenties when I decided to write.  I chose the fantasy genre because it is what I’ve always read and because it is a genre where you can let your imagination soar.

What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?

I started out as a pantser.  I had a story in my head and just let it spew out on the page.  The more I’ve learned about writing, the more structured my writing has become.  While I still don’t follow a formal outline, trying to find the right balance between planning and writing is my greatest challenge.  I’m still working out my own unique process.

When and where do you do your writing?

I have an office in my home.  Most of my writing is done there on the computer.  I am a routine kinda guy, so I do have a hard time writing in other places.  Although, I do attend local write-ins and have gotta better at writing in other locations.

My best writing time is in the morning before noon, but because I have a full-time job I end up doing most of my writing in the evening.  I do get to write in the mornings on the weekend.

What have you learned about promoting your books?

I am currently promoting my first series, The Kingdom of Haven.  I waited until the series was completed before doing any major promotion so I can’t speak on this too much.

I have done some local promotions at bookstores and such.  These went well, but you have to approach a book signing with low expectations because it’s hard to draw a crowd when your unknown.

Online promotion is a lot of work and can cost you a few dollars.  From what I can tell you either pay to have someone else do your promotion or put in the hours and do it yourself.  I’m shooting for something in the middle.

What are you most proud of as a writer?

I think publishing your first book is probably every author’s proudest moment.  It is a great accomplishment and future books just don’t have the same impact.

Having a reader like your work is probably even better.  Positive comments and feedback from readers, especially in person, cannot be beaten.

If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?

Wow, this is a tough question.  I’m an avid reader and like to read a variety of genres.  Still, I have been a sci-fi geek my whole life.  I would choose Robert A. Heinlein.

He was probably my favorite author in my youth, and his writing touched on some many topics.  Stranger in a Strange Land is one of those books that makes you think about our world and humankind.  Yep, some of his stuff is weird, but it was all entertaining and made you think.

Of course, we would talk about whatever he wanted, and hopefully about his writing and world view.  I’m sure it would be a stimulating conversation.

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