10/22/17

Leave the Pieces Behind Book Tour & Giveaway

This morning, we are featuring a young adult romance novel in our book spotlight!  Check out Leave the Pieces Behind and enter for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!
Leave the Pieces Behind
by Shirley Anne Edwards
Genre: YA Romance

Bree Apollo is an average fifteen-year-old girl: she loves chocolate, baking cupcakes, and her neighbor, the hunky and all around popular seventeen-year-old Foster Quinn. Except Foster is clueless about her feelings for him, instead treating her like a kid sister and begging for her homemade desserts. As a fellow chocolate lover, he should be Bree’s for the taking, if it weren’t for his oh-so-perfect girlfriend.
After she overhears Foster making fun of her to his friends, she’s devastated. And not even chocolate can take away the pain. She intends to wallow in grief for a boy that was never hers to begin with, but Austen, her eccentric new neighbor has other ideas.
The strange boy down the street always wears a black fedora, walks barefoot, and focuses all his energy on building a treehouse in his backyard. For some reason, he’s elected Bree to help him. At first, she turns him down because he acts too awkward and takes everything she says literally. But after learning of his autism, she decides to help with his construction (forgiving him for not being a chocolate fan), even though she doesn’t know a think about power tools.
As Bree and Austen grow closer, Foster notices Bree no longer worships the ground he walks on. He wants her to go back to that doting version of Bree, but Austen has become more important to her than she’s ready to admit.
Austen may just be the one to help her move on from Foster.
Like two pieces of a puzzle, they fit together perfectly.



Shirley Anne Edwards is a Northeast girl who first found her love for books when she read Nancy Drew’s The Secret of the Old Clock Tower at thirteen. Shirley found her love for writing at a very young age, and since then has let her imagination run wild by creating quirky characters and vast worlds in her head. Shirley is also a brownie addict who loves to bake when she’s not busy writing. Shirley lives in New Jersey and works in the entertainment industry in New York City.




Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!

10/21/17

Can You Help With Your Kids Concentration Levels?


When you’re a parent, you have so many different responsibilities when it comes to your kids. So much so, that you can often feel overwhelmed. Not only do you have to be their primary caregiver and make sure that they’re happy and healthy, but you often have to make sure that they’re where they need to be on any given day, and that they’re developing as they should be. It can be exhausting. But you are the best person for the job. You know them better than anyone else, and you know what makes them tick. So, if you ever have a child that seems to struggle with concentration, you’re going to be the most qualified person to help them out.

Slow Things Down

First of all, you’re going to want to work on slowing things down. When you both get frustrated, getting them to concentrate will seem even harder. So, you have to approach this task with caution from the start. And this often means taking things slowly. Slow down, speak softly, work on your tasks together and in your own time. Rushing, shouting, and getting angry will never work and will often make things worst. So realize that it’s okay to take your time, because this will take as long as it takes.


Practice Makes Perfect

And remember, practice takes perfect. If you try to improve their concentration once, and it doesn’t work, don’t give up. Because you’re not likely to get it right on the first go anyway. Think about it. When you help your kids practice with sports or music, they don’t always get a new note or tactic on the first try. They have to work at it. And it will be the same with focusing their concentration skills. Practice makes perfect!

Choose The Right Tools

But you also need to think about the tools you need to do this. You can’t always just do it alone. Instead, you’ll find that working with something like a children foam puzzle or coloring can really tell. You need tasks and toys that are going to get them to concentrate, so you can allow them to work on their attention span and start committing to focusing better.


Use Their Interests

Next up, you should also think about working with their interests. If they love a certain character, then use them to help you to improve their concentration levels. Whether it’s coloring in the character, or going on a journey with them, you will often find that if you can get them to focus on something they’re interested in, they’ll develop the skills to apply to things that they’re not in the future!

Try A Rewards System

Finally, you could also look at working with a rewards system too. Because you don’t just have to use a sticker chart to promote good behavior. They can be really good incentives for your kids when you’re trying to take on a range of different things, especially if you want something to stick.

Petals Book Tour & Giveaway

This morning, we are featuring a young adult, contemporary fiction novel from author, Laurisa White Reyes.  Check out Petals, learn about the author and a heartfelt donation effort she has launched alongside her book tour--and enter for a chance to win  a $15 Amazon gift card in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!

Petals
by Laurisa White Reyes
Genre: YA Contemporary

On Christmas Eve, a horrific car accident leaves Carly Perez without a mom. After a year of surgeries and counseling, Carly’s life is nearly back to normal—except for the monsters—vague, twisted images from the accident that plague her dreams. When her father insists on spending their first Christmas alone in Guatemala with a slew of relatives Carly has never met, she is far from thrilled, but she reluctantly boards the plane anyway.


That’s where she first spots the man with the scarred face. She could swear she has seen him before. But when? Where?

In Reu, the Guatemalan town where her father grew up, Carly meets Miguel, her attractive step-cousin, and thinks maybe vacation won’t be a total waste after all. Though she is drawn to him, Carly’s past holds her back—memories that refuse to be forgotten, and a secret about the accident that remains buried in her subconscious. And everywhere she turns, the man with the scarred face is there, driving that unwelcome secret to the surface.





The author is running this tour alongside her fundraiser for Casa de Sion, an orphanage/charity in Guatemala, which is where the book is set. She is donating $1.00 for every book sold and also $1.00 for every review of Petals posted on Amazon or Goodreads throughout the month of November to Casa de Sion. Her goal is to raise $200. More specific details can be found here: 




What can $200 do?


...feed a mother and child for six months
...buy shoes for 15+ children
 ...educate a child for 1/2 a year 
 ...and more!



 
Laurisa White Reyes is the author of the 2016 Spark Award winning novel The Storytellers, as well as The Celestine Chronicles and The Crystal Keeper series. She lives in Southern California where she teaches English at College of the Canyons.



Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!

Mental Damnation Dream Book Spotlight and Giveaway

This morning, we are featuring books from Konn Lavery's Mental Damnation series.  Check out this dark, epic fantasy series and enter for a chance to win a signed copy of Mental Damnation: Dream in the book tour giveaway at the end of the post.

Dream
Mental Damnation Part 2
by Konn Lavery
Genre: Epic Dark Fantasy
Thought to be banished to the underworld by the humans, Krista mysteriously finds herself as the first of her kind to walk on the surface in centuries. This was caused by one of the underworld’s corrupt leaders, Danil, who uses her in an unholy ritual to set their people free. Danil’s infectious touch gives Krista the nightmarish disease known as Mental Damnation.


She becomes the key interest of two men, Paladin and Dr. Alsroc, who struggle to make sense of her sudden appearance and how it relates to Mental Damnation. Her friend back in the underworld, Darkwing, abandons his gang to begin his search for her.

Krista finds herself torn between two worlds, gaining acceptance among the humans while experiencing inner turmoil from hallucinations caused by her disease. These visions paint a hellish dream world known as Dreadweave Pass where the realm’s ruler, a corrupt god known as the Weaver, is on the hunt for her. Krista’s blood is believed to be a key component for the Weaver’s retribution against the Heavenly Kingdoms that once banished him!




Reality
Mental Damnation Part 1
Having her family murdered by the humans during her people’s banishment from the surface world, Krista and her only friend, Darkwing, struggle to remain alive. The pair of reptilian street scum live in their newfound home, the City of Renasence, dictated by a fascist military known as the Renasence Guard. The two find themselves at odds when Krista puts her faith in the Five Guardians’ goal of unification, while Darkwing chooses to stand with a notorious gang, the Blood Hounds, who are known for their anarchist views

This divide in their friendship forces Krista to persist on her own as the Five Guardians become crazed from an unknown disease - Mental Damnation. After their infection, the Guardians develop a bizarre interest in her, claiming they must reap her innocence for their newfound master, the Weaver.
With a military dictatorship, politically-driven gangs and their guardians infected and on a hunt for her, Krista has limited options for survival: Does she fend for her life in the City of Renascence, against menacing forces, or risk leaving everything behind and enter the uncharted realm of the underworld?



Konn Lavery is a Canadian horror and dark fantasy writer who is known for his Mental Damnation series. The second book, Dream, reached the Edmonton Journal’s top five selling fictional books list. He started writing fantasy stories at a very young age while being home schooled. It wasn’t until graduating college that he began professionally pursuing his work with his first release, Reality. Since then he has continued to write works of fiction ranging from fantasy to horror.


His literary work is done in the long hours of the night. By day, Konn runs his own graphic design and website development business under the title Reveal Design. These skills have been transcribed into the formatting and artwork found within his publications supporting his fascination of transmedia storytelling.

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

10/20/17

The Fabergé Entanglement Book Review and Giveaway

Book Title: The Fabergé Entanglement by Lesley Meryn & Elle Brookes
Category: Adult Fiction: 306 pages
Genre: Suspense/Action/Romance

About the Book

Sabinne ‘Saber’ Darrieux’s father, the billionaire CEO of Frontenac Global Security has been kidnapped. His ransom is not cash in a numbered offshore account, or a briefcase of Bearer Bonds but something utterly unique, incredibly valuable, and until recently, hidden away from the world.

The kidnapper seems to know Saber very well and knows that the next day, through her work as an elite translator, she will be in the same location as the Object. She must steal the Object and deliver it to the kidnapper to ransom her father.

Adrian Steele, a British Intelligence agent has just come off of two harrowing missions. Upon returning to London for a well-earned rest, he learns that his friend and fellow agent has been murdered in Moscow, but not before he made use of a unique Object as a mobile ‘drop site’ for the valuable intelligence he was carrying.

The drop site is traveling from Moscow to England. Steele insists on completing the mission to honor the death of his friend, Gerry Cornell.

At an ultra-chic quasi-diplomatic gathering in a mansion in Windsor, England, Saber and Steele meet and find themselves faced with a powerful, undeniable attraction. But at the moment, this compelling attraction is very inconvenient.

In reality, they are at the mansion to check out the security arrangements — for their own reasons — to steal the Object, a Fabergé egg worth thirty million dollars. But who will get to the egg first?

Fabergé eggs are very famous for their unique surprises. Saber and Steele are about to be very surprised, indeed.

And when Saber clashes with Steele; more than sparks will explode!

There is some, not much, bad language, sensuality, one alluded sex scene but not described, possible triggers for sexual abuse/non-consensual sex as a plot point, action-style violence)


My Review

Short chapters speed things along.  As I picked up the book, I raised an eyebrow at the number of chapters.  A book with over 100 chapters?  Yes. As I began to move through the chapters, I realized that each chapter ranged from only a couple of paragraphs to a few pages.    This made it difficult for me to settle into the story or feel that I knew the characters until well into the book--but, it certainly kept the action and adventure going quickly to keep me turning the pages.  I felt that I was constantly jumping from one character to another or from scene to scene; sometimes without really understanding where we were headed or how things connected until a few chapters later.  Everything always came together--but, not as quickly as the scenes evolved.

The authors create an entertaining blend of action and romance.   The authors created an entertaining mix of just enough romance and just enough spy-novel style adventure to interest a variety of readers.  There was also a little mystery and bits of the past to uncover. While I did not always feel that the romantic elements were the most realistic or true to my interpretations of the characters--the novel was balanced well to appeal to readers and fans of both genre.

Would I recommend The Fabergé Entanglement? The story and its subplots and fast pace kept me turning the pages to the end.  While I think the quick chapters left me feeling a little out of the loop at times, they also seemed to fill in the missing pieces for me later on as the book progressed. The plot was a well developed one--and the authors did create a surprisingly intricate story through their snapshot style chapters.  I think the book appeals well to fans of spy novels and adventure/romance novels.

To read more reviews, please visit the authors' page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book




Meet the Authors


LESLEY MERYN
Enjoyed an exotic, adventure-filled childhood, following her anthropologist father and travel writer mother to the farthest corners of the world. She later took inspiration from her Aunt Sophia Francesca and became the author of romantic adventure novels. She alternates her time between Los Angeles, and a family property located in Yorkshire England.

ELLE BROOKES
She is the author of the first two books of the Time Frame Series, LUST. MECHANICS. MINI COOPER. and SEX. COFFEE. TIME TRAVEL. Loves travel, discovering new foods to try, reading and writing. She currently lives in the central highlands of Costa Rica with her dog Pixie and her hedgehog Quiller.

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

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