Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Dancing Naked in Dixie by Lauren Clark


Dancing Naked in Dixie
Lauren Clark

 Review Copy Provided by Author





Synopsis:

Travel writer Julia Sullivan lives life in fast-forward. She jet sets to Europe and the Caribbean with barely a moment to blink or sleep. But too many mishaps and missed deadlines have Julia on the verge of being fired. With a stern warning, and unemployment looming, she's offered one last chance to rescue her career. Julia embarks on an unlikely journey to the ‘Heart of Dixie’—Eufaula, Alabama—home to magnificent mansions, sweet tea, and the annual Pilgrimage. Julia arrives, soon charmed by the lovely city and her handsome host, but her stay is marred by a shocking discovery. Can Julia's story save her career, Eufaula, and the annual Pilgrimage?  
Buy Links:  Kindle /  Paperback / Nook / Apple 

Review: Lauren Clark is an excellent author. She knows exactly how to grab your attention and never let it go. Maybe I'm just prejudice toward the book because it is based so close to my home town- Red Level,AL- I don't think so though. The story that Lauren told is simply wonderful. I couldn't put it down. From the very first page I was stuck on this book.





About the Author:
The Deep South is the perfect setting for Lauren Clark’s novels; contemporary fiction sprinkled with secrets, sunshine, and surprises. Her heroines are real women with real obstacles in their lives; challenges that require strength, sacrifice, and personal growth. And while it’s convenient to have a prince charming on standby, Lauren’s heroines are capable of creating their own happily-ever afters–with brains, not beauty, saving the day.
A former TV anchor, Lauren is a reformed news junkie, non-reformed coffee drinker, and certified library geek. She loves the color pink, her Electra Townie bike, and any place she can see the ocean and stick her toes in the sand. Lauren adores her family, paying it forward, eight hours of sleep a night, homemade macaroni and cheese, and true-blue friends.
Excerpt 1:
I’m a travel writer at Getaways magazine. Paid for the glorious task of gathering up fascinating snippets of culture and piecing them into quirky little stories. Jet-setting to the Riviera, exploring the Great Barrier Reef, basking on Bermuda beaches. It’s as glamorous and exhilarating as I imagined.
Okay, it is a tad lonely, from time to time.
And quite exhausting.
Which is precisely why I have to get organized.
Today.
I sink into my chair and try to concentrate. What to tackle first? Think, think.   
“Julia Sullivan!”
Third reminder. Uh-oh.
Marietta rolls her eyes and jerks a thumb toward the inevitable. “Guess you better walk the plank,” she teases. “New guy’s waiting. Haven’t met him yet, but I’ve heard he’s the ‘take no prisoners’ sort. Hope you come back alive.”
I grope for something witty and casual to say, but all of a sudden, my head feels light and hollow.
I’ve been dying to find out about the new editor.
Every last gory detail.
Until now.
“I’m still in another time zone,” I offer up to Marietta with a weak smile. My insides toss from side to side as I slide out of my chair.
Marietta tosses me a wry look. “Nice try. Get going already, sport.”
I tilt my head toward the hallway and pretend to pout. When I look back, Marietta’s already disappeared. Smart girl.
“Fine, fine.” I tug a piece of rebellious auburn hair into place, smooth my wool suit, and begin to march toward the inevitable.
Our new editor.
My neck prickles.
I’m not going to worry. Not much anyway.
My pulse thuds.
Not going to worry about change. Or re-organization. Or pink slips.
Focus, Julia.

Excerpt 2:
“But, I have plans. Every night next week. Tickets to the Met, a fundraiser, a gallery opening, and I have book club on Monday.” I don’t mention the Filene’s trip I’d planned. Or the romantic date I’ve been promising Andrew, my neglected boyfriend of four years.
David waves a hand to dismiss it all. “Marietta can handle the magazine-related responsibilities.” From the top drawer of his desk he produces an airline ticket and a manila folder with my name on it. He sets them on the edge of his desk. Something I can’t decipher plays on his lips.
I keep my voice even. “What about Bali?” I had planned to leave for the South Pacific a week from Friday. “It’s on my calendar. It’s been on there…”     
David shakes his head. “Not anymore.”
The words wound me like a thousand bee stings.
“Alabama,” David repeats.
My face grows hot. He’s plucked me off a plum assignment without a thought to my ability and my schedule. My new boss is sending me to God knows where and he looks perfectly content.
“If that’s my next assignment,” I sputter, “I’d rather…I’d rather dance naked!”
The announcement comes out much louder than I intend and reverberates through the room. Dolores probably has her ear pressed to the door, but the phrase bounces off my boss like a cotton ball.
David smothers a chuckle. “Suit yourself.”

Excerpt 3:
The Best Butts in Alabama, the huge billboard above my head brags. A robust pink pig, dressed in blue overalls and a cowboy hat, winks down at me. Next to the hog’s turned up nose, royal blue letters read ‘Phil’s Bar-B-Q.’  
Phil certainly knows how to make a first impression. As does Mother Nature.
The sunshine beats down on my shoulder through the window. Is it always this muggy in December? I swipe at my forehead with the back of my hand and do quick surveillance.
Where is the historic, elegant city I was promised in the letter? There is a normal-looking church across the street, a run-of-the-mill real estate business to my right, and a tiny hole-in-the-wall place called The Donut King, which seems to be doing ten times more business than the Winn-Dixie grocery store I just passed.
So far, all I see of Eufaula, Alabama is more in-your-face commercial than traveler chic. Of course, I’m not in the best frame of mind to become one with my surroundings.
After a lousy Thursday morning of sulking and a rushed packing job, I sent an RSVP with regrets for the fundraiser, gave away my tickets to the Met, left a voice mail for Andrew, and changed my ticket to an earlier departure.
Hours later, after fighting through JFK security, surviving the cramped flight to Atlanta, I spent the night in Buckhead, Georgia, picked up my enormous rented SUV this morning (it was either that or a red minivan), and began driving the three-and-a-half hours to reach my pinhole-on-a-map destination.
All to save my job.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Soul Catcher by Vivi Dumas



Soul Catcher
Dueling with the Devil Book 1

Vivi Dumas

Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Publisher: VPG Publishing

ISBN:  978-0615662237
ASIN:  B008GX44RI

Number of pages:  377
Word Count: 98,000

Ebook  Paperback


Blurb/Book Description:

One of the top supermodels in the world, Angel, lives the life of the rich and fabulous, until a heinous car accident mars her face. After thirteen surgeries and losing everything she deemed important, she seeks out the dark forces to salvage her life. Angel decides to conjure the Devil for help, making a deal to recover her beauty. In exchange for his help, Lucifer forces her to hunt supernatural renegades, which have eluded the pits of Hell. In her quest to find beauty and get out of her contract with Lucifer, Angel stumbles upon love in the arms of a demon.

Review:

This book was really different. Good different most definitely. I absolutely love that not all of the demons in this book are "evil". We as people should not judge anyone by their race, nationality, or whatever. I love that Vivi showed the characters in her book to be open-minded. These characters were all different "species" but they didn't judge each other for what they are. Rather they judged by who they are. Two even fell in love :) I absolutely loved the story and I hope there is another book coming soon!


 Author Bio:

Vivi Dumas submerges herself in the dark underworld of the supernatural. To balance the analytical and logical confines of her day job, she unleashes the fiery passions of her imagination in her writing. Although she grew up an Army brat, she calls Louisiana home, but has endured the hot summers and cold winters of Maryland for the last 16 years.

http://vividumas.wordpress.com/

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745967-soul-catcher

http://www.facebook.com/#!/vivi.dumas.1

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Dueling-with-the-Devil-Series/140766029299050

https://twitter.com/vivi_dumas

Roxanne Rhoads
Author, Book Publicist, Owner Bewitching Book Tourswww.bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Mayageddon 2012 by Ken Baumbach



Mayageddon 2012 
by Ken Baumbach


Book provided by author 
for honest review






Synopsis: 

Mayageddon 2012 is a comedy with a liberal splash of political satire and a dash of spy thriller and science fiction. (Imagine Tom Clancy and Dan Brown meet Carl Hiaasen and Harlan Ellison in a bar for drinks and start brainstorming novel ideas). On December 21, 2012, the mysteriously abrupt ending date of the Mayan calendar, the earth is rocked by global seismic events as the earth and the sun line up with the center of the galaxy, an event that happens only once every 26,000 years. Dolly Roderick, ruler of the Roderickstan, the remnants of the ravaged USA, and Mary Ellen Martin, heir to the M-Mart fortune, are in a dangerously escalating struggle to become the most powerful woman in the torn post-Mayageddon world. CYA agent Ryan Jackson- The committee of Yenta Agents- (formerly the NSA)- uncovers the deadliest terrorist plot ever conceived and is convinced it is linked to Dolly and Mary Ellen’s battle for power. He must stop the plot before it wipes out the North American Eastern seaboard and kills tens of millions of people.

Review: 

I didn't think I was going to like this novel at all. I'm not really into politics much. To my surprise when I started reading it I just couldn't put it down. I absolutely love that Ken included lots of comedy in a very serious environment. I laughed out loud more than once while reading this wonderful novel. 



Sunday, September 9, 2012

Bared to You by Sylvia Day



Bared to You
by Sylvia Day

Book purchased by myself from Wal-Mart





Synopsis: Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness-beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily... 

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private wounds... and desires. 

The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart... 


Review: I simply loved the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy so of course I loved this novel as well. This book really reminded me a lot of Fifty, I mean, Sylvia has written her own story and she did a great job but the "gist" of the story is pretty close to Fifty Shades of Grey. I can't wait for Oct 2nd when the next book of this trilogy is released. 


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Chocolate Aftertaste by Liz Grace Davis


Chocolate Aftertaste
Liz Grace Davis

At her pre-wedding dinner, Nora Darkin, the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, discovers her fiancé is not the man she thought he was. As her father hoists his glass to toast them, she makes an announcement: there will be no wedding to her father's right-hand man.
Due to the fresh rift driven between her and her father, Nora escapes to the quaint town of Dreara. Determined to live her life her own way, she makes new friends and pursues her lifelong desire of becoming a chef. Ethan Danes, a neighbour with his own broken heart, helps soothe hers.
Just as Nora discovers what it means to be happy, and she begins to fall in love with Ethan, a woman from his past re-enters his life…
Buy Link: Amazon







Review:
The part I love most about this novel is the fact that it was written to be very realistic. Liz Grace didn't try to make it a fairy tale like love story. Instead she included real life relationship problems and made the characters strong enough to overcome them. I enjoyed all the unexpected plot twists as well as the fact that the novel was very well written. 

Excerpt:
Nora turned her attention back to the reality in front of her. She hated arguments; sometimes she wished she could hide somewhere, just wait them out. Unfortunately, life was not like that.
She lifted her eyes to meet Liam’s. The ice in his eyes had not melted. She dropped her gaze.
Instead of flirting with her appetite, the large marinated tiger prawns made her stomach queasy, and the oriental noodles looked like neglected yarn left out in the rain. From the way he dissected his steak, Liam’s appetite was just fine. She gritted her teeth as his knife scraped the porcelain plate.
Unable to bear the silence between them, she leaned forward and whispered, “I hate it when you ignore me.”
“What do you want me to say?” He chewed the last of his food and waved for the waiter. “We’re done.”
The waiter nodded and scuttled over to remove their plates.
When the waiter was out of earshot, Nora hissed through clenched teeth, “I wasn’t done.”
Liam took a swig of water, probably wishing it were something stronger. “You didn’t look like you were hungry.”
“Stop treating me like a child,” she snapped.
“Stop acting like one.”
Nora’s cheeks heated. She contained her anger with difficulty. “That’s really insensitive.”
“What do you want from me, Nora?” A vein pulsed in his neck. “What exactly do you want me to say?”
“Say you want me to be happy.” Her eyes brimmed. “Don’t ask me to get rid of my best friend.”
He loosened his tie—and then slammed his fist on the table, knocking over Nora’s glass of water. The silver stream raced straight for her lap.
The waiter appeared as if from nowhere to replace the white tablecloth with a new one. Nora forced a smile and whispered an apology. The waiter nodded, and a minute later he left.
Ignoring the curious looks they got from the other diners, she dabbed at the moisture on her black jeans. “You can’t always explode every time I refuse to do what you want.”
Liam ignored her. “Ask to pay. I want to leave.”
Nora flinched, but abided. Paying wasn’t so bad—so long as it was fair. On their first and second date, he paid. On their third and a few more after that, they went Dutch. After one year, he asked her to pay for an occasional meal until it became an unspoken arrangement between them. The only thing Liam had paid for himself in three years was her engagement ring.

About the Author:
Liz Grace Davis grew up in Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Germany. She now lives with her husband in Vienna, Austria.
Growing up, Liz spent most her days in libraries, diving into the world of books. In her spare time she reads a lot, travels, creates jewelry and designs digital scrapbooks. That's of course when she's not weaving stories. She's in her element whenever she is doing anything that requires creativity.
Liz is the author of a young adult fantasy novel, Tangi's Teardrops, and a romantic women's fiction novel, Chocolate Aftertaste.