Mia Bishop Waking up in Bedlam

This book sat in my kindle reader for several months before getting the chance to read.Once I started to read it I couldn't put it down! It was that good. I love this author's word choices and creativity. She creates a fantasy romance that's believable and entertaining. A new author every fantasy and/or romance fan needs on their TBR list!

My Review

Mia Bishop’s Waking up in Bedlam is an incredible read and had me glued! Jessa a fae and Ryder a Grimm are bonded. Jessa is trying to help save him from the wrath of her Light King and Ryder hasn’t a clue, at least not at first. The attraction between them is electric!


There is romance, mystery, and suspense! The fantasy story is woven well. Small details and clues are dropped from the start building into an eventful climax. I loved the conversation she created between the characters along with their expressions and mannerisms. It made them all unique. The creatures and probability of the fantasy world she creates is believable and fun.

Buy Here
Amazon. U.S
Amazon.co.uk

Cover Reveal Bite the Big Apple

Bite the Big Apple the fourth and final book in the Baby Girl Series. Cleo find's answers to the questions plaguing her existence!

Buy Links:
Amazon
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes and Noble

Excerpt:
I found myself in his room. My body fell back on his camel covered bed, rolling his comforter around me as if it were his arms and inhaled in the sweetness of his bed seeking any lingering Einstein scent. Instead, I smelled fabric softener. I bounced upwards from his bed like an alley cat being chased by a bulldog and ransacked his room, searching for clues, anything to tell me why he left.

I went through his drawers, tore books off his shelves one by one and found nothing. Then I remembered the hallways! Through his closet, I entered the passage and must have walked through each passage several times before a picture caught my attention. It was Einstein and a friend on what looked like a camping trip. They looked about ten or eleven. I pulled the picture off the wall and studied it. The light caught a small bump behind the picture, something was there. I took the back off and a newspaper article dropped to the ground.

On it a picture of the boy who was in the picture with Einstein. He disappeared, his dead body turning up on a hiking trail in Oregon. Stuck to the inside back of the picture frame was a map containing a list of names and addresses I remembered from my time running around the country with Einstein. Each person wealthy and of high importance, including the judge whose letter opener I stole by accident and returned by way of drunk bum.

I kept the map, the article and put the picture back, then checked every picture lining the passage ways - more newspaper articles. I laid them out and read. The court tried the person arrested as the boy’s killer, but with lack of evidence, they found him innocent. The judge on the case was letter-opener-judge. I read each article. They read almost the same - missing children, a few found dead. The list went on and the story swirled into clarity. Einstein’s mother told me he wanted to be an FBI agent, and his friend mysteriously kidnapped and murdered. Many of the homes and cities we visited contained the missing children. He searched for clues to his friend’s abduction and the other children. 

Einstein’s dated laptop called out to me. I plugged the cord into the wall and pressed the power button, it sputtered to life. I typed in Einstein as his password and it zoomed to the next screen. On a hunch I searched through every file, nothing, until I discovered an encrypted file. I felt the sides and back of the computer and bingo it had a USB drive, so I ran-tiptoed back to my room grabbed my flash drive then uploaded his documents to it.

My mind buzzed with activity, my body drained. I didn’t yet understand the connection between the children if one existed, but I’d figure it out for Einstein.

Who Am I? by Megan Cyrulewski book review

This is a book I deemed necessary to read this year. It's on my 12 must reads for the year and loved it!

My Review:

Who Am I? is a powerful account of one woman’s battle through abuse and post-partum depression. Kudos to Megan for having the intelligence and strength to make it through. I have no doubt she shed billions of tears to make it out. Her legal background comes out in the book as she sticks mostly to the facts. She rants every so often, but good for her. It’s therapeutic. She has hysterically sarcastic thoughts. I found myself remembering my own bad marriage and all the times I thought pretty much the same thoughts. I don’t read a lot of nonfiction but this book stood out as “I have to read it”. I think because I knew I could relate to it.

I want to point out that Megan had a support crew including her beautiful daughter Madelyne who helped her immensely. That’s key. A support group of loved ones give strength when the abusee can take no more – they are a backbone and lifeline. Abuse is difficult to heal from and escape it’s even more difficult if not nearly impossible alone. I recommend her book to anyone especially those who need strength to escape their situation.

Megan's Blog

Amazon U.S- Who Am I?: How My Daughter Taught Me to Let Go and Live Again
Amazon.co.uk 

Angel Mine by Barbara Chioffi Book Review

I recently found this author and immediately fell in love with her writing. My review is below. I highly suggest checking out her books.




Review:

Angel Mine is an exhilarating short romantic suspense. Jeza and Jackson form an automatic attraction and have been through the ringer with past relationships. However they can’t fight their attraction and grow closer with each page. Jeza starts receiving strange phone calls and someone pays her an unexpected visit. The nail biting starts here…

In eleven chapters Chioffi displays diverse talent – suspense, sizzling romance, and full characters. The novella is a quick, focused, and fast-paced read that left me wanting to read more of her work. 

Astounding new author! 

P.S. Already bought her second book!

Find Barbara's Books:

Amazon U.S. - Angel Mine
Amazon.co.uk
and other Amazon sites

Enlightenment second book in The Children of the Ankh series - review

This series has captured my attention from the start. I love action, paranormal, anything out of the ordinary and Children of the Ankh fits the bill.

 

Review: 
Enlightenment is the sequel to Sweet Sleep and picks up where it left off. Kayn is distraught as Kevin has been taken by the Triad, his memory wiped. She ponders their love that had just begin to blossom before the Triad got hold of him. Her life becomes consumed by how much she misses him, but as an Ankh there is no time to mourn. She and two others have to become enlightened. That is where the games begin.

Kayn, Melody, and Zach are sent into the crypt to be enlightened, meaning find their gifts. The crypt is an ever changing world of torture and death. The three along with members of the other clans must fight their way out. There are rules which they must learn to make it out and back to the real world. Throughout their experience death is relative and Cormack’s imagination came up with many interesting ways to die. They hop from one nightmare to the next is a seemly never-ending nightmare.

Enlightenment is a fast paced novel that had me cringing and nail biting. The action is non-stop and the characters jumped off the pages and came to life. The story never halts or slows but plows onward at high-speed culminating in a heck of a climax and opening the door for the next book in the series.


For fantasy/ paranormal/ horror/ action this series is a must!

Where to purchase:
Amazon
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes and Noble

Where to Find Kim:
Blog
Website
Facebook
Facebook/Children of the Ankh
Facebook/ The Hot Chick Diaries
Twitter
@kimcormack
@childrenofankh
@kimcormackweb
@sweetsleep
@hotchickdiaries
@hotchickblog
@frostofankh
@greyofankh
@kaynofankh
@lexyofankh
@AnkhJenna
@TriadTiberius

Moonlighting in Paris Cover Reveal and Re-release!

Moonlighting in Paris Baby Girl Book II is now available!

Excerpt:

I walked and walked ducking through alleys and shops attempting to confuse and lose him. When I no longer felt the sting of his bouncing eyes on my back I headed to the hotel. I spent so much mental energy evading him I’d gotten lost then I remembered the crude map Jean gave me; I unfolded it, checked street signs, and plotted the course. When I reached the hotel I wound my way up to my room, dropped on my bed and thought of my discoveries. 

Ring! Ring! The phone blasted and my body jumped in an involuntary lurch, falling off the bed. I scrambled to my feet, and picked up the phone, as if it would blow up in my hands. 

“Hello?”

“Miss Holmes, this is Didier. How is your stay?” His French accent melted the words off his tongue, and my anxiety disappeared. 

“I’m great, and yes, all my needs are met.”

“If there is anything more I can do to make your stay unforgettable, don’t hesitate to ask.” Is it customary for hotel owners to call their guests?

“Thank you.” I placed the phone on the receiver.  


Within minutes of hanging up the phone a knock rattled the door. Room service? I hadn’t placed an order. I grabbed a doll sized statue seated on a table, in case Mr. Dancy Eyes stood on the other side, and opened the door. To my thankful surprise it wasn’t Mr. Dancy Eyes, but a bottle of complimentary wine and a bouquet. The delivery boys’ eyes scanned the statue in my hands, and he pushed the gifts toward me as if to block my blow. With a sheepish grin I set the statue back on the table and took the vase and wine. A card on a stick hidden amongst the flowers read Invitation. I opened it and read, Join me at the restaurant downstairs for dinner under the stars tomorrow, Didier with a yes and no box underneath the print. The boy handed me a pen. I marked the yes box and gave it to him. After all, now I was glamorous Justine, and lived an exquisite life. He nodded as he caught it by the corner then scurried to the elevator.

Available at all these retailers:
Amazon
Amazon.co.uk
B & N
Smashwords
Apple iStore
Google Play
Kobo

City by the Bay New and Improved!

City by the Bay now available everywhere! I'm in love with the new covers. They embody Cleo's journey. Cleo's face is a 100% original design. You won't find it anywhere but Baby Girl books courtesy of Manuela Cardiga multi-talented author/ graphic artist!

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon.co.uk

B & N

Smashwords

Kobo

iBooks

Google Play

Genre: New Adult

Excerpts:The day she meets La Tige

Officer La Tige

My first order of business was getting a job, and I had my sights set on just the one: La Tige Investigative Services.  La Tige the ex-cop who worked Perdy’s, my kidnapper/mother’s, case while he was on the force when her battered and beaten body turned up in the river.
Etched into the frosted glass door read Detective La Tige Private Investigative Services. Inside, the office a small wooden desk covered in clutter sat in a corner. A large man with his back turned away from the door sat on the edge of a well-worn pleather chair talking on the phone. I waited. After several minutes he turned around and introduced himself. 

“Jim La Tige, may I help you?” He leaned further into the chair, resting his back.

“Yes, I’m inquiring about the receptionist position?”

“Yes, yes, my last receptionist left four weeks ago and as you can see,” he gestured to the scattered piles atop his desk, “I’m in need of another. Too many jobs going to keep the office neat. Any recent job experience?”

“No, but if you give me a chance I’ll organize this place and have it running smooth in no time.” I never worked a real job, except modeling as Justine, but I needed a job and specifically this job, so I turned on my charm and puckered out my chest.

“No experience. Can you answer a phone?” His eyes did a quick glance across my chest, then back to my face. Well, at least he wasn’t being picky, and from the condition of his office, he was in desperate need.

“Yes.” I flashed him a sweet smile.

“Can you file alphabetically and numerically?”

What kind of idiot couldn’t? I went to the row of filing cabinets, picked up a file marked with a blue colored dot then found the cabinet with blue dots and looked at the alphabetically filed drawers - A-G/ H-N/ O-Z. I opened the A-G drawer, flipped through until I got to the G’s, next Garcia’s, Gomez, Jose, Mary and Richard. 

“Impressive! The job is yours. I need to make a copy of your driver’s license and social security card. While I do that, fill out these papers.” A hint of rush in his voice.

“I don’t have a driver’s license, but I have a passport. Will that do?”

“That’ll work.” I pulled it out of my purse. He took it in his hand and eyeballed it. “Twenty two, how’s it you have no license?”
“Public transportation has always done me well and cars pollute, adding to ozone depletion and global warming.” A quick save which rolled off my tongue like melted butter.

“Humph… You’ll fit right in here in Frisco, lots of tree huggers.” A correct observation, although not in the way he assumed. San Francisco was a place of beauty and freaks - I blended. At night it sparkled with magic and glowed with excitement - everybody unique and every corner of the city its own world.

He pulled a chair up to his desk, grabbed his file piles placing them on the floor. Then he handed me a pen, a form, and shuffled his approximate six foot bulk to the copy machine, which made loud swooshing, kerchunking noises. I never filled out a tax form. My name I got, but exemptions. I filled in 0’s and signed. I handed it back to him, he shook my hand, gave me back my passport and social security card. He picked up the pile of files from the floor and shoved them into my hands. 

“I’ll return in an hour,” he grumbled, and with that disappeared out the door, which I found odd since he just hired me.

Now I could access more information than on the internet alone. Officer La Tige’s brain would be assistance to my investigation too. I wasn’t using him. After all, he desperately needed someone to keep things organized and under control, and I needed to solve my own mystery, so I thought it a fair trade. I found what I was looking for and tumbled head first into it.


Officer La Tige, or P.I. La Tige. - nah, officer, sounded more official - was a large man of few words. He stood six feet tall with a bulky, muscular build, and a slight but noticeable limp in his left leg. Thick tufts of dark brown hair infused with gray spirals framed his head accentuating his square shaped face. His eyes were a stunning blue, which offset his rhinoceros-like appearance. He was straight and to the point, and didn’t talk much about himself or anything else, rather he barked orders. He lacked social graces and was intimidating. I understood why he had a difficult time keeping a receptionist. The only way to get anything personal out of him would be to gain his trust. I came in every day and did my job - nothing less, but always more.

For Romance enthusiasts - Cleo's life is never short of lovers...

“You got moves.” Said a male voice behind me. His body heat radiated against my back. I contorted my body sideways to observe my admirer, his chest centimeters from my face. Tall, Dark, and Ever so Beautiful. In that second the world froze as my eyes traced the outline of his broad shoulders, cruised up his neck, over his Adam ’s apple, lingered on the five o’clock stubble that danced across his chin then rested on his silver bullet eyes. Our bodies coalesced into a single form undulating in waves of human lust. As the song wound down, he grabbed onto my hips, gyrating in sync towards the bar, a consuming, feverish wave drifted with us.

Always in trouble...

“Nu, you come up the front. Don’t go in. I’ll be going in from the back.” He said, laying a heck of a bombshell on me. At that moment I felt proud, like I was actually his partner, no, more than that. Since the day we met a connection formed, something more than friendship, but too unfamiliar yet to be discerned.

I waited at the front door, my back against the house with my ear molded to the siding. I heard an eerie, dead silence, so I slid the door open a smidge, enough to peer inside the home. The lights from the street illuminated a sliver that flowed over the tile floor and rested on a family picture of Mr. Nomes’ partner Fred and his wife Jeanne. The suspense wrenched at my guts, and I figured since I opened the door a smidge I might as well slip inside before she noticed the sliver of light. Inside I fumbled around blindly in the darkness with my hands outstretched attempting to avoid bumping into something that would crash and give away my position. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and a hallway appeared. I tip-toed down the hallway with the utmost caution.


A dim light shone from under a doorway. I drew closer and closer to the light as I eased towards it. From behind, a strong male hand wrapped around my mouth and forced me into him. Not a smart thing to do. I always got caught from behind so my self- defense moves kicked in and I elbowed his ribcage hard. 

Star Trails Compendium a must read for educators, fans, parents, and students!

I read the entire Star Trails Tetralogy and reviewed it on here but it's not complete with a review of the compendium.

Beyond the Hidden Sky, A Dark of Endless Days, A Psilent Place Below Reviews
Refractions of Frozen Time Review



My Review:
I love science so much that I’ve designated my career to teaching it in the public schools. I discovered Marcha Fox about a year ago and have been a fan since. I’ve read the Star Trails Tetralogy and found the science so sound that her stories are very plausible. They are fiction but she leaves the “what if” doors wide open for one’s imagination. The Compendium is a fantastic guide for the entire Star Trails enthusiast. It includes a glossary, wish I’d had it on hand when I read the books the first time. She includes maps, star facts, a Cyrarian Calmanac, character descriptions and more!

She also includes a section for teachers to work elements of the series into their lesson plans with great fantastic high level questions and explanations for each book and each chapter such as, “What do you think it would be like to be in a black hole?” In the series a black hole is used as a prison. Or, “What are some of the reasons that the habitable planets in an intergalactic society would employ space stations as points of entry?” Good brain questions. The type that get students synapses firing! 

She includes her website which has an entire parents and educators page.


For sci-fi fans, teachers, students, parents the Star Trails Tetralogy and Compendium are a must read!

Website - the link I discuss in the review. Lots of great stuff here!

Buy Links
Amazon
Amazon.co.uk
Smashwords
Kobo
Barnes and Noble

The moment I realized I was no longer the new kid on the block

Over a decade ago I began a career in teaching . The first year flew by. The only true memory I own of year one was the moment I looked at the children in the hallways, and started panicking. For a few minutes my mind reeled and said What are doing? Get out? Go home? Look at these kids? See that disrespectful one? I was about to head through my door, grab my purse and leave forever. The teacher next door spoke to me and I snapped out of my panic attack. 

I worked with a lot of old school teachers who had taught for decades. They seemed so confident in their skills as I floundered with mine. I longed to walk into my classroom and see obedient children who learned instead of goofballs who avoided learning. How do they do it? I asked myself that question at least a million times within my first two years of teaching.

At meetings they discussed all the remember whens... Of course I remembered none since I wasn't around when they happened. At the time I hoped for those memories as their descriptions were hilarious. The teachers I worked with weren't only old school but vibrant and colorful.

The memories and skills sneak up slowly. Like when I see my grown students at the liquor store ringing up my bottle of wine, or at the mall, or beauty shop. Suddenly I'm the one with the remember whens.How did that happen? When did that happen?

Suddenly new teachers are saying, "How do you get your kids to sit down and work?"
"How can you be that far in the curriculum already?"
"You run a tight ship."
"Johnny is an ass in my class. How come he's not an ass in yours?"

Suddenly I've been teaching longer than anyone else in my department? Where did the time go? Then 12 years of teaching rush swirling into an epiphany. I'm no longer the new kid on the block!

This realization happens when a student innocently says, "Next year you may teach... " Ahh! Brothers, sisters, cousins, friends. Next it will be children of my students then grandchildren. 

I panic but this time I consider I want to be the new kid again. The one with everything to learn, maybe it's time to seek a new career or mentor teachers instead of teach students. Either way I realize it's time to make a life-altering career changing decision. 

Life works that way. When we're young it's all fresh and new and heck we know it all. Then we grow up and realize we really knew nothing and should have maybe listened to our elders. Hmm... just a thought.

Life flies by faster then we know it or want it.

Taste Me by Candi Silk

Candi Silk has quickly become one of my favorite erotica authors. Her characters are so bad and good all at the same time.



My Review:

Candi Silk’s Taste Me is dripping sweet! The simplicity and ease of reading makes this book an enjoyable and highly entertaining read. The protagonist Kara is a successful career minded woman who has neglected her sex life. better put her sex life is in the gutter. Her current boyfriend Roger is a boring guy who really does nothing for her. I couldn’t figure out why she bothered with him. In walks exciting and mouth watering Jonah the produce guy she meets while shopping who slips a special gift inside her bag. Jonah is a man that anyone would have a difficult time refusing.

Candi’s books are not only lively but she has a sense of humor that makes them hard to put down. Her characters know how to have fun using all types of naughty and mischievous ways. 


Taste me will leave you licking the sugar off your lips!

Buy Links:

Amazon- Taste Me
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords

Where to find Candi Silk:
Facebook
A Taste of Candi
Candisilk.com
Goodreads
Google +
Twitter

The Naughty Wife by Candi Silk

As with Candi's many delicious titles The Naughty Wife is scrumptious!



My Review:

Candi Silk’s The Naughty Wife is an arousing novel with a slightly different feel than her others. Annie is a “happily married” woman. Truly, she is happy with her successful job, marriage, and beautiful children. But she’s feeling restless and rethinks her “happy” life realizing how mundane it is. Annie and husband Don have a good relationship and start to spice up their marriage which includes naughty escapades with others.

When I say a slightly different feel the story is written solely from Annie’s point of view and the reader gets a first hand glimpse into her personal thoughts and insecurities as she and Don embark on their adventures. As a married woman who has always been the good wife she has plenty of doubts, realistic doubts. There is also plenty of dialogue and action to drive the reader’s imagination into the other character’s heads.


As with Candi’s other books there is plenty of heated spice to awaken the reader and keep the pages turning.

Buy Links:
The Naughty Wife: Erotic Escapades
Amazon.co.uk

Sign up for Candi's mailing list and get Lust Driven Free! I did it myself and it's totally FREE!

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Newborn Nazi by Rhoda D'Ettore book review

Newborn Nazi is a book I will never forget. It's a literary masterpiece and Rhoda D'Ettore does a brilliant job bringing the realism of the times into a compelling, eventful story. 



My review

Newborn Nazi take place in the years leading up to and during WW2 in Germany. Young Hedwig’s husband is murdered at the hands of the Nazi’s while they rip her youngest brother from her hands and send him to a Hitler Youth Camp. A distraught Hedwig calls her brother in the U.S. and brother Jacob comes to her rescue and settles her husband’s estate putting the money into an account which she can use to live off.

Hedwig is my kind of woman. She is intelligent, conniving, and driven. She wants revenge for her husband’s murder. Her need for revenge and events put into action before her and her brother’s births takes Hedwig and Jacob on a wild ride through the world of espionage and double agents. Death and intrigue fill the pages of each chapter and left me hungry to find out what twist the story would take next.

The book and characters are fictional yet the story is realistic and compelling. War times are never pretty and Author D’Ettore does an amazing job digging into that world and bringing realities of the times front and center. 


Newborn Nazi is more than a story. It’s a piece of literary artwork.

For those of you who travel or like to give your eyes a rest every so often Newborn Nazi is also available in audio and I hear it's amazing!

Where to purchase
Amazon U.S. Newborn Nazi
Amazon U.K. 
Barnes and Noble
Audible

Where to find Rhoda
Twitter
Goodreads
Website

In the Beginning Cover Reveal!

For the past couple weeks I've had new covers for all Baby Girl Books and I've waited impatiently to show them off. Cover for In the Beginning Book I. Thanks to Manuela Cardiga for designing all the covers. It was a wonderful surprise!

In the Beginning not only has a brilliant new cover but a couple new scenes, additions to scenes, and another few rounds of editing. Book I will be available Monday May 4th. Each week another book in the series will be released. Start reading now from the beginning.

One night Star and Peewee followed us out and caught up to us as we finished hijacking items from the house. The second we stepped outside the house a familiar whisper, “Cleo” alerted me Star followed us. My body halted mid-stride as I caught sight of her and Peewee’s shadows standing against the wall of the house. Einstein motioned for them to edge their way to the back of the house where there were no light sensors. Star shuffled towards us, but Peewee stepped out too far and the lights went on brightening the entire side of the house. Oh crap! We fled in varying directions. I held the bag of loot in my hand and once I ran I didn’t turn my head to look behind me. I hastened my pace at the sounds of people. Several blocks away I cowered in an alley to catch my breath. Einstein was right behind me and ducked into the alley with me. 

“Star and Peewee, are they with you?” 

He shook his head as if to say ‘no’ and turned his eyes downward. “It’s time to leave” he said after a moment of silence. 

“OK, yeah, we need to get back.” 

He grasped my shoulders. “Leave - as in this city. There were too many lights, commotion, and sirens at the scene for Star and Peewee to slip away. They aren’t as savvy as we are. The police are gonna be looking for us next.”

My mind absorbed with escaping I missed the wailing sirens. He was right and my head reeled at the implications his words threw at me.

“You think they’ll tell on us?”

 The nod of his head told me ‘yes’.

 I couldn’t leave yet I needed my bag from its secret place. 

“We gotta go back to the warehouse. I have something hidden there that I need.” His eyes grew soft, and he agreed.

Back at the warehouse, I went straight to my secret place. Within minutes the sound of voices tickled our eardrums and lights flashing beneath us.

“Squish in beside me.”

Without a moment to spare Einstein squeezed in the cubby hole. Radios blared on the other side of the cubby and police scoured the building but came up empty. I whispered in Einstein’s ear, “Star and Peewee squealed quick.” 

“They did - or the police are here for something else.” ‘Something else’ was possible. Either way, neither of us wanted to get caught. Hours passed with Einstein and I scrunched on top of each other. Teenage hormones, close quarters, and our semi attraction to each other brought our relationship to a new level. Our hearts raced together from the excitement. Einstein held me flush against him.

Links for purchase - available by 5/4

All ebooks format

In the Beginning (Baby Girl Book 1) Amazon U.S.
Amazon.U.K.
Google Play