One of the best books I have read this year! As this year is about to end a new one to begin that can go either way!
Allegra is a courtesan from England who has just arrived in Morocco, a woman so desired and lusted after, so coveted that it is SHE who chooses to be with. With a horrible childhood that haunts her still, she has become a somewhat powerful woman in her own right. No man will control her; she is the one in control, that is until a Sheikh Shaheen crosses her path. Not able to get the man out of her thoughts and immediately swept away by his presence alone Allegra is overcome with the most delicious lustful thoughts and all staring Shaheen.
Shaheen having fled England so many years ago, feeling unloved and shameful all at his father's hand he is now with the Amazigh. Once tempted and betrayed by a calculating courtesan resulting in the murder suicide by his brother there is nothing left back in England for him. A true inner struggle is evident from the beginning with Shaheed's carnal desires for Allegra, coming to the mad conclusion that he MUST have her, he WILL have her. So, what's a man to do?
Well, what’s a woman to do?? The strength of Allegra is evident from the beginning, having struggled for most her life to gain control she finally has it. Now comes this arrogant, aphrodisiacal and alluring man calls to every part of her, every carnal part of her appetite for him longs for his touch. Much to the disgust of her common sense to let this albeit beautiful, but very arrogant man in every true alpha male way....... win over all her senses and force the woman in her to offer herself up on a platter. So wounded from her last lover back in England, Charles betrayed her friendship and made a mockery out of her. How to trust again?
When Charles comes to Morocco to find his cousin and bring him back to England the secrets and lies start to unfold. So intriguing the suspense as Allegra is literally fighting for her life. Will she make it, at times I was sure she would not, at the hands of an evil Nassar he will take her head before he lets her escape with her life. At moments my heart broke with Sheheen's final rejection of Allegra, so abhorrent and apathetic that she cares not if she lives any longer, as her heart is already dead, but she is determined not to die at the hand of Nassar,
The imagery that Monica Burns paints of Moroccan and the people is mesmerizing. So captivating is the love story that is truly romance at its best, purest and most captivating that you will regret not absorbing every word on the page.
Allegra is a courtesan from England who has just arrived in Morocco, a woman so desired and lusted after, so coveted that it is SHE who chooses to be with. With a horrible childhood that haunts her still, she has become a somewhat powerful woman in her own right. No man will control her; she is the one in control, that is until a Sheikh Shaheen crosses her path. Not able to get the man out of her thoughts and immediately swept away by his presence alone Allegra is overcome with the most delicious lustful thoughts and all staring Shaheen.
Shaheen having fled England so many years ago, feeling unloved and shameful all at his father's hand he is now with the Amazigh. Once tempted and betrayed by a calculating courtesan resulting in the murder suicide by his brother there is nothing left back in England for him. A true inner struggle is evident from the beginning with Shaheed's carnal desires for Allegra, coming to the mad conclusion that he MUST have her, he WILL have her. So, what's a man to do?
Well, what’s a woman to do?? The strength of Allegra is evident from the beginning, having struggled for most her life to gain control she finally has it. Now comes this arrogant, aphrodisiacal and alluring man calls to every part of her, every carnal part of her appetite for him longs for his touch. Much to the disgust of her common sense to let this albeit beautiful, but very arrogant man in every true alpha male way....... win over all her senses and force the woman in her to offer herself up on a platter. So wounded from her last lover back in England, Charles betrayed her friendship and made a mockery out of her. How to trust again?
When Charles comes to Morocco to find his cousin and bring him back to England the secrets and lies start to unfold. So intriguing the suspense as Allegra is literally fighting for her life. Will she make it, at times I was sure she would not, at the hands of an evil Nassar he will take her head before he lets her escape with her life. At moments my heart broke with Sheheen's final rejection of Allegra, so abhorrent and apathetic that she cares not if she lives any longer, as her heart is already dead, but she is determined not to die at the hand of Nassar,
The imagery that Monica Burns paints of Moroccan and the people is mesmerizing. So captivating is the love story that is truly romance at its best, purest and most captivating that you will regret not absorbing every word on the page.
Synopsis: "It was a gamble she was born to make…
Raised in a brothel at a young age, Allegra Synnford quickly learned that survival meant taking charge of her destiny. Now, a renowned courtesan skilled in the pleasures of the flesh, she chooses her lovers carefully—vowing never to be vulnerable to any one man. Until a mesmerizing Sheikh strips that control from her…
With a man who wasn’t used to losing.
Sheikh Shaheen of the Amazigh has been hiding from his past for a long time, but not enough to forget how another courtesan made him abandon his life as the Viscount Newcastle. It’s why the yearnings this dangerous temptress ignites within him are so troubling. Worse, thoughts of Allegra pervade every fantasy, threatening to undermine his cover. With old enemies circling, experience tells him he must resist her charms at all cost. In fact, he’s betting on it. That’s a risky wager when it comes to a woman of pleasure. But Allegra has her own reasons for playing games…with a man who can’t afford to lose.
What happens between them is Kismet…"
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
If someone were writing a story about Gary Stelzer what would your blurb say?
Something like, “This man is seriously working to lend some cultural weight to understanding the social relations of humankind.”
How do you get started with writing a story (as in, how do you start developing the story, how do you get inspired for it)? Do you start with an outline, synopsis, characters; what is your writing process like?
I can only speak to the experience of doing the first book. For THE COST OF DREAMS, the story began with a deep feeling for the plight of a foreign born woman in my practice that I’d taken care of some years ago. She had been shot and dreadfully wounded by her brother-in-law in the southwestern US and hauled to the northern Midwest in the back of the family van. She had a very difficult time of survival, so I wanted to write a story involving something important of her character. We were visiting my wife’s relatives in the southwest not too far from I-10, and one day as I watched the many freight trains traversing the valley in front of their home, I thought, “what if…” Then I came home and wrote the tale.
As for the process, I kept a couple notebooks and wrote out some plot lines and individual character sketches and a general story line for the whole book. I wrote one very long draft, which I then submitted to my editor. Who wrote me a 13 page critique, essentially recommending that I rewrite the novel. Which I did, and then I purged the manuscript for as many errors as I could find. Then back to the publishing house for another two or three line edits.
Can you tell us a little about your newest release The Cost of Dreams ?
It is a fiction work of 287 pages, as tightly wound as I was capable at that stage of my writing development. I decided that I wanted to stress the reader quite a bit, even somewhat unrelentingly. To worry the reader all the time as to the fate of any number of characters, but principally Flora E. I think because Flora was compelled to worry about her fate every single minute of her life. So why should I let the reader, or even the other characters, off the hook.
What inspired you most in creating the story of Flora Enriquez?
I had traveled in Central America and Mexico enough to see that life, with much lower public health and general living standards, was much, much harder. With high unemployment, very low wages, and a desperate set of circumstances, including lots of hunger and malnutrition. Which provokes certain behaviors, like migration. So I wanted to write a story empathetic to struggling travelers. And because I really do detest the government policies of constantly sowing ill will about immigrants and foreigners. Always in an attempt to disorient the public as to our more pressing social problems, and blaming foreigners for those problems.
Do you usually cast your characters (a mental picture) before or after you have started writing? Does it help inspire you and take the story in a different direction?
I think I had a pretty good idea as to the population of characters in the book before I began. However, the first draft was terribly flawed. So lots of really basic changes were made. And, of course, lots of new ideas come along as one works. Endless little polishes happen. It is very, very enjoyable activity.
What was your favorite scene to write in The Cost of Dreams? What was the most challenging?
The surprise visit by the migrants to the El Paso apartment of a foreign born physician for assisting Flora in her terrible injuries was fun to concoct. And the indignity of the physician toward others that were pressing upon him crazy expectations, I found interesting to contemplate. And I had some sympathy for him.
The most difficult scene to write was the one deep in the wilderness of the Barranccas del Cobre of northern Mexico at the site of the waterfalls when the Vietnam veteran is hurt. The logistics of laying that out in an interesting, vivid, and very understandable way for the reader I really had to wrestle with for hours. And I never was really satisfied with the result.
Did you ever draw your characters from the personalities in your life?
Where else??
8. What is the most interesting thing you’ve done in the name of research?
Oh I read a lot. And then, if at all possible, I like to see first hand the sites and persons about which I am going to write.
Practicing Medicine for 30 years, what inspired you to make the jump from being a doctor to writer?
I had always wanted to save some of my life span for writing. Because I have a few tales I want to tell, and because I love the work of writing. I really do.
And I had been a physician for those decades, and certain elements of the doctoring were becoming impossible. For example, seeing patients with overwhelming needs for which there were no funds made available to meet their needs. Like asking students to write an essay, and then denying them paper and pencil and desks. When one sees this day after day for a number of years, an exasperating futility sets in. Not productive or healthy.
Do you have any current projects in the works?
I am doing background reading for a novel to be set in New Orleans at the time of Katrina. I’ve spent time there, and I will go back for a while until I find the thread of a story. Then something of the process I have already outlined above, until I’m done.
Then I’ll do a novel set in Detroit, the epicenter of America’s industrial collapse.
For you, what is the hardest part of writing a novel? Concept, Characterization, Plotting, Writing the story, Synopsis/Query letter writing, etc.
The hardest part of writing THE COST OF DREAMS was setting aside writing time. I was working full time as a physician, finishing the work about 18 months before my retirement from medical practice. But once I sat at my desk for a healthy block of time (say half a day), I did not find any of the work “hard.” I never once dreaded coming to the work. I was very, very drawn to it.
If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be?
Do you want to hear(or read) more tales of real people struggling for a dignified existence?? I hope so, because here they come!!
I am a huge Joan Johnston fan and have followed her Bitter Creek Series for some time and I have to say this is one of the best one's in the series thus far! There is a love triangle or square you could say with the four main characters; first we have Kate Grayhawk Pendleton whose missing and presumed husband is a bad, bad man. A Cheater, a liar and a thief to boot with his mama bailing him out time and time again just to keep his antics under wraps in hopes to save her political ambitions....oh and NOT the father of her twin eight year old boys. Believed by the world to be a war hero he is hiding out from the mob in South America until he is caught stealing from said mob 20 million dollars worth of heroin. A true winner! But who is the daddy? Finding out in the first two pages sets the stage for one of the most intriguing stories in the Bitter Creek Series. Kate admits that Wyatt Shaw, who happens to be the bastard son of Dante D'Amato (the mob boss), is the father. After walking in on JD, Kate's husband having sex with another woman, Kate picked Wyatt up in a bar not realizing exactly who he was. Wyatt is still madly in love with Kate after all these years and when he finds out that he has twin sons he seizes the opportunity to get Kate under his roof. He knows that his father will be after the boys as well as JD so it isn't a lie when he tells her that he wants move her to his compound for their protection. Feeling a little pissed about it, but helpless, Kate realizes that she has denied him 8 years with the boys and besides at this point she believes she is still in love with Jack but he moved back in with his wife and their son! So let’s fast forward 9 years and bam, her husband JD is back in the states and is planning on killing her and Wyatt, her mother in law she has now learned has ties to the mob, she wake from a 4 month coma to find out the man she has been in love with most of her life, Jack (a Texas Ranger), is moving back in with his wife. And the clincher there.... she's pregnant with his baby. Have I confused you yet?
I thought I would be, but one thing that Joan Johnston does is make the story flow like warm honey. And I ate it all up. Whew, the drama, it will capture you and suck you in, because all the details that happen in between are absolutely riveting! So many surprises I am keeping to myself (spoilers), which I thought were brilliant because frankly not everyone can have a happy ending! Now if you are unfamiliar with the other books in the series it is still easy to follow along because JJ does a wonderful job of tying in loose details about linage to help you along. A lot of details, but the book is 423 pages. I finished it in two days because I just had to find out what happened!
Synopsis: "From bestselling, award winning author Joan Johnston comes a tale of forbidden love and deadly secrets.
Nine years ago KATE GRAYHAWK PENDLETON walked into Wyatt Shaw's life—and out of it the next morning. Now Wyatt's back—and has the power to shatter Kate's future with the man she loves.
By reputation, WYATT SHAW is a brutal killer who always gets what he wants. And he wants Kate and her twin eight-year-old sons.
Texas Ranger JACK McKINLEY is hot on Wyatt Shaw's trail. The presumed heir to the D'Amato crime syndicate is threatening to steal the woman he loves.
HOLLY McKINLEY is fighting to keep Jack from leaving her for another woman. Now the secret she's kept for over twenty years may save their son's life, and cost her the only man she's ever loved."
SHATTERED
Bitter Creek Series Book #8
MIRA Books, Mass Market Original
January 2010
ISBN-13:978-0--7783-2829-2
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas Holiday. Please be safe and enjoy!!
Thank you to everyone for entering! I have 5 winners to announce. Three for Dear John Audio by Nicolas parks and one for A Jolly Good Fellow by Stephen Masse & one for Ningaloo Night by Tracy Cooper-Posey.
DEAR JOHN by Nicolas Sparks
- Sherry
- Tynga
- Virginia
A Jolly Good Fellow by Stephen Masse
Marilu
Ningaloo Nights by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Dor
Stuart Archer Cohen's The Army of the Republic is a high octane thriller that brings home the reality of what American could look like in the not so distant future! There are four major players told from the viewpoint of three as you walk through this turbulent time with them dealing with family struggles as well as dealing with their moral conscious beating down their door.
The Army of the Republic is a radical group that has been using violence to get their point across, although intentions are good, too many of their actions have gone array. They fight against a corrupted Corporate America that leads the country, still in war and with major outsourcing the corporation are the decision makers in this land and while controlling the media outlets and manipulated internet elections, unemployment is at an all time high!
Lando is a key member of the AOR and although he character I found very likable as a person, his intentions commendable, they are thru violence and disruption and using that as a tool to get your point across always leads to devastation. On the far end you have James, who is the CEO of Water Solutions the corporate company that controls all the water for America. Although he too seemed like a very likable guy he is blinded by his ambitions and has lost site of the consequences of his actions and the actions of his company. Lando is able to talk Emily, James' wife who herself, although loves her husband very much, finds her husbands career and actions unacceptable.
Lando eventually is able to talk Emily who is an attorney working for the DNN (Democracy Northwest Network), a political action group that fights against corrupt corporate America, to stage a peaceful protest that turns ugly resulting in all their lives affected.
So much tension between the characters is palpable and it was rather a scary thought that this could be America someday, but easily a free flowing story that burns up the pages with it's amusing and clever perspective.
SYNOPSIS: "In an America stretched by crisis to the breaking point, billionaire entrepreneur and government insider James Sands is riding high. Over the protests of civic groups and the increasing alienation of his wife, Anne, Sands is poised on the brink of an immensely risky and controversial deal that will give him control of all public water in the Pacific Northwest. But when his business partner is murdered by a radical group called The Army of the Republic, Sands finds himself losing control of his business and his life. Desperate, he turns to Whitehall Security, a private intelligence firm with far-reaching political connections. For a steep monthly fee, Whitehall will hunt down and eliminate any threats to Sands’ enterprise.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, a young guerrilla named Lando leads The Army of the Republic into a dangerous war of ideals. Charismatic and cunning, Lando is obsessed with the goal of saving the country from its corrupt ruling alliance by any means necessary. His reluctant ally is political organizer Emily Cortright, coordinator of a network of civil, religious, and labor groups. Bound together in a web of common aims and conflicting loyalties, the two plan a massive peaceful protest against a conference of national business leaders, which they hope will stagger the Regime.
Beyond his control, though, Lando’s Army of the Republic has already unleashed a chain of events that will electrify and frighten an uneasy nation. Hemmed in by their lethal compromises, Emily, Lando, James and Anne struggle to redeem or destroy those that they love most.
Thrilling and unforgettable, The Army of the Republic is a brilliant, provocative novel about what it means to live in a democracy."
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
There are some serous contest going on this week and even into Jan, so don't forget to hop on over to Book Junkie II where I list my contest and all those out there that I can find in Blogland! Good Luck and Happy Holidays to all!!!
In Tessa Radley's latest Silhouette Desire, Millionaire Under the Mistletoe, Miranda Owen was no longer a scrawny child who believed Callum Ironstone responsible for the death of her dad so many years ago. She believed that they Ireonstone's falsely accused her dad of a crime he did not commit thus ending his life. Callum is prideful and can be very arrogant and believes in his heart that her father was a thief! But guilt is all consuming and all these years Callum has made sure that her mother has a monthly allowance to survive, has given her brother a job and put here through culinary school. All unbeknownst to her. And must to her utter disgust when she finds out. She hate the man with a passion but the underlying attraction is just plane pissing her off.
In an effort to free his own conscious Callum offers for Miranda to cater a company party, this would be huge for her career and the money would be fantastic. But she too is a little prideful and it is all that hate she is not quite able to overcome!
Attraction outwits common sense and Miranda and Callum end up in bed together, ok so a little one nighter is forgivable in Miranda's eyes, but she knows in her heart she feels much much more! But when she finds out that Callum is to still propose to his girlfriend and has only used her to get her in bed. What comes next is a little cat and mouse with a lot of misunderstanding, forgiveness and wallowing. Makes for a good romance that warms your heart on these cold winter days!
Today I welcome Tessa Radley to Book Junkie in celeration of her release Millionaire Under the Mistletoe that is out this month Tessa as stopped by as my guest author to discuss ......
A Family Christmas Tree
One of the things I enjoy most about the evenings leading up to Christmas is sitting with my family around our Christmas Tree. We don't have a "real" tree—we have a battered artificial green tree that lives in a long box in the top of the cupboard for most of the year. Yet as darkness falls, the tree lights go on. There's Christmas carols (or at least cheerful music!) and we all soak up an all-too-rare slice of family time. The decorations on the tree don't match. They're not color coordinated. It's certainly no designer tree, but every decoration tells a story about our family and friends.
There's the Santa bootie that my eldest son wore when he was a baby. There's a white space alien with a red hat that was given to us by the mother of my first-day-at-kindergarten-bestfriend. There are decorations that were given to me as Christmas gifts growing up. There are hand-sewn decorations to each of my sons from their godmother. And decorations from my mum-in-law when she reduced the size of her own collection.
And, of course, we all spend a fair amount of time after dinner reading beside the tree with its flashing lights. (And here I have to add a note that I'm going to order myself a copy of According to Jane after reading the interview here with Marilyn Brant—it sounds fabulous!) So it should come as no surprise that on Christmas day, after too-much lunch, I always seem to end up reading one of the books from my Santa wishlist beside that tree. It's a real Family Tree. And to me that makes it simply wonderful…
What's your favorite way to spend your evenings during the festive season? Do you have any special memories you associate with this time of year?
___________________
Tessa Radley’s December 2009 Silhouette Desire release, Millionaire Under The Mistletoe, pits a struggling chef against a powerful millionaire…and yes, they even spend some time beside a Christmas tree!
Callum Ironstone didn't do guilt. Even so, the millionaire did feel responsible enough for struggling chef Miranda Owen to offer her a job. She could cater his holiday dinner party...an important affair where he planned to propose to the appropriate woman. Except somehow he'd ended up with Miranda in his bed. He tried to blame it on the mistletoe. But Callum knew Miranda's transformation from dowdy wallflower to sensual beauty had hit him right where it counted. Perhaps she could be made into the hostess his position demanded...provided Miranda forgave him for destroying her family...
___________
Callum halted at the threshold, his attention riveted on the woman pacing in front of the reception desk. The slanting rays from a lofty skylight caught her hair and turned it into a nimbus of glowing gold.
He took a step forward.
"Callum Ironstone demanded my presence here at three o'clock." She cocked her wrist and glanced at a serviceable watch. "It's already ten past. How much longer does he intend to keep me cooling my heels?" Her husky voice held an edge of impatience.
Callum stilled as her words penetrated. This was Miranda Owen?
Not possible.
His gaze tracked up from slender ankles encased in sheer black hose along the sleek lines of the narrow black, hip-hugging skirt. A black polo-neck sweater emphasized the indent of her waist and a saffron-colored coat hung over her arm.
Callum stared.
Digging deep into his memories produced an image of a plump teenager, more at home in a baggy sweatshirt, jeans and muddied yellow Wellingtons. The sunlit locks held no resemblance to the long, untidy ponytail. No doubt the braces were gone, too.
He cleared his throat.
She spun around. Wide caramel-brown eyes met his. His stomach tightened as he took in the lambent hostility.
One thing hadn't changed. Miranda Owen still blamed him for her father's death.
Callum didn't let the knowledge show as he crossed the marble tiles, toasty from the state-of-the-art under-floor heating system. "Miranda, thank you for coming in."
"Callum."
That one snapped-out word hinted at long-held resentments.
He stretched out a hand. For a moment he thought she was going to refuse to take it. Then with a small sigh she relented.
Her fingers were strong, her grip firm, yet her skin was soft against his. Before he could come to terms with the interesting dichotomy of her touch, she pulled away.
"Why did you want to see me?"
A woman who got straight to the point—he liked that. Callum shook himself free of the bemusement that this grown-up Miranda evoked. "Let's talk in my office. Would you like a cup of coffee?"
A picture flickered across his mind of a three-year-younger Miranda spooning several teaspoons of sugar into a cup of hot chocolate at her father's funeral.
"No, thanks." Her reply was clipped.
He glanced across to the receptionist. "Bring Ms. Owen a hot chocolate and I'll have coffee. Bring some extra sugar," he tacked on before placing his hand under Miranda's elbow and steering her along the corridor and into his spacious office.
"I'm not a child." She slanted him a look from beneath ridiculously long lashes, and a frisson of awareness startled Callum. "And I no longer drink chocolate."
"I can see you're not a child," Callum drawled, giving her a slow, sweeping perusal. "You've changed."
"You haven't." Miranda broke free of his hold and stepped away.
Still truculent. The heat of desire receded. "Maybe I'm mistaken," he mused. "I'd gotten the notion you'd grown up."
Chagrin filled her face. "I'm sorry."
Callum doubted she regretted her lack of courtesy. Yet when her gaze met his again, he read apprehension in the wide eyes. What was she frightened about? Even as he watched, she straightened her spine and the moment of vulnerability vanished.
He waved to the two boxy leather sofas facing each other under an immense wooden bookshelf packed with books. A tall Christmas tree covered with red bows and silver balls reminded Callum that it was the season of reconciliation. But Miranda's frozen face warned him that reconciliation was the last thing on her mind. And how could he blame her? Feeling carefully for words, he said, "Look, let's start over."
Ignoring him, Miranda passed the cozy seating arrangement heading for a round walnut conference table beside a wall of glass, where she slung her coat and black bag over the closest of the four chairs in a militant fashion.
Okay, so she was going to play this tough, all business. Callum gave a mental shrug and seated himself opposite her. "I asked you to come in because I have a proposition for you."
"A proposition?" Confusion clouded her features. "For me?"
He rocked his chair back. "You're a chef, right?" Hell, he knew she was—he'd paid for every cent of her exclusive training. Though he'd been surprised to learn she'd used her qualifications to gain employment at a popular pub chain rather than some fashionable, upmarket cafe or boutique hotel. Before she could question how he knew she was a chef, he added, "Adrian told me you work at one of The Golden Goose outlets."
He'd stopped to inquire how young Adrian was getting along as a temporary driver for the company. The young man had been grateful for the vacation job and had revealed that Miranda dreamed of one day starting her own catering business. That had given Callum the perfect solution... a way to wipe Miranda Owen from his conscience forever. He gave her his most charming grin.
She certainly wasn't blowing him away with an effusive response. Tipping his chair back to earth, he leaned forward and planted his elbows on the conference table. "Here's the deal. I plan to invite the outgoing chairman of a company Ironstone Insurance has recently taken over to a private dinner party at my home on Saturday night."
"He'll come?"
"Oh, yes. Gordon's staying on as a shareholder and I want to introduce him to the other directors. It's a celebration."
The melting brown eyes hardened. "I suppose that makes sense. Your brothers will want to get on side with a significant shareholder."
Callum stopped smiling. The merger had been his initiative—a successful one that would give Ironstone Insurance a strategic advantage over their competitors for years to come. And Gordon Harris had been even hungrier for the merger than the Ironstone family. Gordon wanted to retire, to take it easy. But Miranda's words stopped Callum from confessing that there was another, more celebratory reason for the dinner. That would only lead to a dig about protecting his assets.
Two fine lines furrowed her brow. "When you say Saturday...do you mean this week?" At his nod the lines deepened. "That doesn't leave much time."
He'd intended to railroad her into agreeing... and not leave any time for second thoughts.
"You don't think you can do it?" he challenged.
Angry fire kindled in the caramel eyes. "How many people?"
Hiding a grin of triumph, Callum rose to his feet and retrieved a manila folder from the polished expanse of his desk. Returning to the conference table, he dropped the file in front of her. "The details are all in there."
If he could start Miranda on the road to success, introduce her to some people, perhaps he'd be able to forget the hatred a pair of eighteen-year-old eyes had once held....
Or at least that had been the plan.
But having met Miranda again, he had a suspicion it wasn't going to be nearly that simple.
Standing behind her, all too conscious of the subtle fragrance of warm vanilla she exuded, Callum watched her elegant fingers flip the file open to the first page of the agreement his PA had prepared. Her shoulders stiffened as she read the figure he proposed to pay for a one-night job.
Satisfaction swept through him. She wouldn't refuse. His offer was too good. Helping Miranda get started in a business that must presently be nothing more than an impossible dream would be the perfect way to excise the disturbing memory of the wild accusations she'd flung at him.
You killed my father.
Of course he knew he hadn't, didn't he? Thomas Owen had killed himself once he realized there would be a trial—where he would almost certainly be found guilty on the overwhelming evidence against him. The courts showed no mercy against employees who stole from their employers. Thomas Owen would have known he was facing prison.
Yet Thomas's suicide had shaken Callum more than he cared to admit, leaving him haunted by a long shadow of guilt.
A legacy that he was determined to shake.
The black-and-white print on the paper in front of her blurred. Miranda was no longer aware of the maplewood furniture, or Callum's spacious office. Instead she experienced again the hot ball of misery that had burned constantly in her chest from the moment her father's PA had called with the news of her father's arrest.
Impossible.
But her father's assistant had insisted it was true: the police had been, and had taken her father away. Miranda needed to get hold of her mother urgently. Callum Ironstone would be issuing a press statement soon.
At barely eighteen, Miranda's first sighting of Callum Ironstone on television had swung rapidly from interest in the handsome devil with dark hair, a sensual mouth and eyes that held a mesmerizing intensity, to hatred when she'd heard what he had to say. The press statement had been brief but damning.
All of it lies. By the time it came to an end, Miranda was numb with disbelief.
There had been a mistake. Yet Callum Ironstone clearly didn't believe that. Rage had set in. Her father was not a thief.
Her father was granted bail, and emerged from the courthouse pale, shaken, but determined to clear his name. He had done nothing to justify the indignity the Ironstones had heaped upon him after two decades loyal service. Miranda had been confident it would all be sorted out.
But what followed had been traumatic. And, in the end, Thomas Owen simply gave up. Miranda could still remember the set, serious face of the policewoman who'd knocked on the door to break the news that her father was dead.
Then came the funeral. Miranda's hands grew clammy and nerves fluttered in her stomach at the memory of the last terrible occasion she'd seen Callum Ironstone—it still made her cringe. Devastated by her father's death, her white-hot hatred boiling over, she'd confronted him in the stone-walled forecourt of the church.
The men beside him moved to cut her off. But she barged past them. Standing in front of Callum, she inspected him with angry eyes. "How could you take a good man's life and destroy it?" she'd challenged.
His jaw had set, and his face had grown harder than the marble tombstones in the churchyard. "He stole money from me."
"So you decided to teach him a lesson and humiliate him?"
A flush seared his carved cheekbones.
A man who resembled Callum—a brother perhaps—stepped forward. "Wait a minute, young lady—"
She brushed him aside, focusing all her emotion on Callum. "You killed him. You know that?" Tears of rage and pain spilled onto her cheeks. "He worked for you for twenty years, you gave him a gold watch, yet you never gave him a chance?"
Her father had been given no opportunity to avow his innocence. Callum had relentlessly pushed the police to the conclusion he'd wanted.
"You're overwrought," he said dismissively.
That made the ball of anger swell inside her. "And what's going to happen to my mother, my brother?" Me? "Now that you've destroyed our family?"
Callum gave her a stony stare. He raised a dark, devilish eyebrow and asked sardonically, "Finished?"
She hadn't been. Not by a long shot. But before she could vent any more he'd cut her off, snapping "Grow up" in a supercilious, condescending way that made her feel childishly inadequate.
Callum's words had been unkindly prophetic. She'd had to grow up, and quickly. Much as Miranda loved her mother, she knew Flo could never be practical. Overnight Miranda had become the adult in the home. There'd been no choice.
And now that same man was trying offer her money. A bribe?
"No."
Miranda felt Callum Ironstone start as she spoke. The sensitive skin of her nape prickled. A moment later a pair of bright blue eyes glared down at her. She'd never noticed their color before.
"What do you mean 'No'?"
Closing the folder with a snap, Miranda slammed it down against the glossy wood. "I mean I have no intention of accepting your blood money."
"Blood money?" he said softly, dangerously, and his gaze narrowed to an intimidating glitter.
She refused to be cowed. "Yes, blood money for what you did to my father."
"Your father stole from Ironstone Insurance."
Miranda shook her head. "You got the wrong man."
"Give me strength." Callum made a sharp, impatient sound. "You're not a child anymore."
"Stop it!" She put her hands over her ears.
Blue eyes bored into hers.
With hard-won composure, Miranda said, "I'm sure being wealthy beyond belief means you've gotten used to throwing money around to make all your problems go away. But not this time. I won't take a cent."
His jaw had hardened. A shiver closely allied to fear feathered down her spine as he bit out, "Don't you think it's rather late for fine principles?"
Miranda stared at him blankly. "What do you mean?"
"You've conveniently forgotten?"
"Forgotten what?"
His lips compressed into an impatient line. "Taking money from me."
"That's a lie—I've never taken a cent from you." She'd die of starvation before she did that.
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Click to jump to Tessa’s website.
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
First and foremost I wanted to thank JennJ & Heather D who both recommended Land of the Falling Stars to me when I reviewed Keta Diablo's Decadent Deceptions! Then second a great many thanks to Keta for writing such a damn good book!
I couldn't wait after reading DD that I had to run over to Ravenous Romance to buy Land of the Falling Stars after I quickly read the blurb! And wow, blow me away, it was knock your socks off, better chug some Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla Coffee (XL), cause baby.... it's going to be an all-nighter.... again kind of book!
To say I loved this book is an understatement, so let me tell you a little about what I thought without (I hope), not giving away too many spoilers.
Sophia has been is the only one left, her brother and parents are killed in a fire during the Civil War just outside Fredericksburg, VA. Her heart longs for her betrothed and childhood friend Jesse who joined the south in their fight so long ago. Fighting to survive everyday for food and just another day on run down home of her childhood, she shoots a Yankee coming up the path to the house. Too far to see his face she fires her gun hopefully killing him. Or so she thought until she realizes it is Gavin, her other childhood friend and panic at possibly killing him sets in. Thus setting the wheels in motion for the turbulent months ahead that neither Sophia or Gavin could have seen coming. Gavin was only coming back to Sophia to tell her his terrible secret, Jesse isn't coming home. Through an emotional scene at the beginning of the story which without reservation captured my heart and squeezed it, we learn of Jesse's fate at the hands of his best friend Gavin. Knowing he must deliver the news and the last letter to Sophia, Gavin is startled when he wakes up in Sophia's home being mended back to health. A man of honor and so torn between his deep love for Sophia and the disparate need to honor Jesse's last wishes a friendship he can't fight the need he has for her. The bone crushing, heart on fire, passionate yet carnal need he has to rip Sophia dress off and throw her down on the best, spread her legs and make her his kind of need. Oh yes, he wanted her, ever since she was 10 and he 13 Gavin knew he was in love with the feisty girl when he saved her life all those many years ago! Now that girl was a lucius woman, to bad she was promised and in love with his best friend. Or so he believed.
Sophia WAS feisty, strong-willed to have survived on her own (w/the help of two ex-slaves), but she too is having a hard time with her feelings (a.k.a., wanton thoughts, desire) for Gavin. How can this be! She loves Jesse! No longer able to hold back Gavin takes Sophia in one of many smokin hot sex scenes I must admit I couldn't get enough of!
But hold on to your skirts because what happens next is the catalyst for my sleepless all-nighter! Sophia learns of Jesse's death and not in the best way. Oh how is she going to ever forgive Gavin. So lost in his own self pitting thoughts sometimes, poor Gavin, all hope for a happy ending feels so far fetched as new danger arises. Or rather one that has been there for some time. The murderous father-son duo that not only wants Sophia but her land. Before the end Sophia will lose everything she holds dear to her heart, unless she can get past her own fears and let Gavin in. She takes him for an emotional ride, so much guilt and sense of duty he will have to give her more than just a little tough love if he wants to get past the walls she has built up. So much pain for Sophia, truly loved her spirit, although at times I wanted to pinch her into submission, oh why did she have to be so stubborn and toss away Gavin's heart! Through circumstances beyond their control Gavin and Sophia must travel to Boston, only making it as far as Maryland, were ..... he leaves her. Yes, I said it, with a reluctant and heavy heart they part. Circumstances be damned! A love like theirs is once in a lifetime. What are they thinking!! Too stubborn those two!
The aphrodisiac is love, love with a heeping side of forgiveness and acceptance. Makes for one phenomenal read that will keep your heart pumping and the pages turning, not just from the delightfully sinful sex, oh no, the drama and suspense will carry you through till the end!
Sophia WAS feisty, strong-willed to have survived on her own (w/the help of two ex-slaves), but she too is having a hard time with her feelings (a.k.a., wanton thoughts, desire) for Gavin. How can this be! She loves Jesse! No longer able to hold back Gavin takes Sophia in one of many smokin hot sex scenes I must admit I couldn't get enough of!
But hold on to your skirts because what happens next is the catalyst for my sleepless all-nighter! Sophia learns of Jesse's death and not in the best way. Oh how is she going to ever forgive Gavin. So lost in his own self pitting thoughts sometimes, poor Gavin, all hope for a happy ending feels so far fetched as new danger arises. Or rather one that has been there for some time. The murderous father-son duo that not only wants Sophia but her land. Before the end Sophia will lose everything she holds dear to her heart, unless she can get past her own fears and let Gavin in. She takes him for an emotional ride, so much guilt and sense of duty he will have to give her more than just a little tough love if he wants to get past the walls she has built up. So much pain for Sophia, truly loved her spirit, although at times I wanted to pinch her into submission, oh why did she have to be so stubborn and toss away Gavin's heart! Through circumstances beyond their control Gavin and Sophia must travel to Boston, only making it as far as Maryland, were ..... he leaves her. Yes, I said it, with a reluctant and heavy heart they part. Circumstances be damned! A love like theirs is once in a lifetime. What are they thinking!! Too stubborn those two!
The aphrodisiac is love, love with a heeping side of forgiveness and acceptance. Makes for one phenomenal read that will keep your heart pumping and the pages turning, not just from the delightfully sinful sex, oh no, the drama and suspense will carry you through till the end!
5 out of 5! Keta Diablo has done it again!
Synopsis: "Penniless, her parents and brother dead, Sophia Whitfield struggles to save her beloved childhood home during the Civil War. Another bluecoat is staggering down the hill, but before Sophia allows him to rob and pilfer like the others, she shoots him. How was she to know it’s Gavin, the dark knight of her youth, carrying secrets too horrific to imagine and a passion that ignites her deepest desires?Sophia gradually discovers Gavin's secret and wages a personal war between right and wrong; love and hate. Can she survive in the Land of Falling Stars, or will she lose it all to the horrors of the war and its destructive aftermath? Will the Southern lady and the Yankee soldier ever recapture the bliss of their youth—this time in each other's arms?"
With many thanks to Sarah @ Pocket Books for this copy and a chance to review!
As a huge fan of Gena Showalter I couldn't pass this opportunity up! I have heard so much about Kresley Cole's books as well I thought a novella was as good as any place to start. So let's start with Gena's Tempt Me Eternally which is the story of Aleaha & Breean, which you met in Seduce the Darkness and frankly I liked this story better and found it easier to understand as a stand alone not having read the entire Alien Huntress Series. Breean is the leader of the Rakans a serious hot, fierce warrior who wants nothing more than to find another planet to call home. His has been destroyed by a virus and unlivable. And I said wants nothing more, well... until he comes across Aleaha. I found her a complete spite fire which I loved, I mean seriously, how cool would it be to assume another's identity (physically) by just coming into contact with them! Although she is the newest agent of the Alien Investigation Removal Team these two should be arch enemies, so why can't they keep their paws of each other. The scenes are hot, hot, hot and took me away for a couple of hours into a world of fantasy that I was sad had to end. Although I love novellas for their fast reads I could have taken a bit more of Aleaha & Breean!
Book Junkie Rating: 3.5/5
Untouchable by Kresely Cole wasn't too bad. I have never read about Valkyre's and this seems to be the last of the Wroth Brothers who has yet to find his mate. So needless to say I felt a little lost without having read the other stories. I must admit it is always hard for me to write a review when I am not that into a story. So let me just state the facts. Ice Queen of the Iceres with the alarming gift of pain to all she touches was a bit of a whiner to me. Feeling no real connection at all I was struggling to find a connection between her and Murdock. He is a Valkyrie and the last of the Wroth brothers who is a self described manwhore.Who frankly I thought deserved a better storyline. Their frustration in being attracted to one another was heartfelt and understandable as every touch of Dani inflicts pain, I myself felt pain in the struggle to complete this story. Now I have heard a lot of KC and would love to read her books, some are even on my TBR list, I didn't hate this book, just saddened a little at the fact that I feel that if this was a full length book there would have been more room for character development, I just felt rushed!
Book Junkie Rating: 2.0/5
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
KRESLEY COLE
delivers a breathtaking tale of a brutal vampire soldier about to know love for the first time...and a Valkyrie aching to be touched.
Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela the Ice Maiden -- the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can't be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Soon desperate for closeness, in an agony of frustration, Murdoch and Danii will do anything to have each other. Together, can they find the key that will finally allow them to slake the overwhelming desire burning between them?
NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
GENA SHOWALTER
puts a daring spin on a tale of huntress and hunted...and concocts a sensual chemistry that is positively explosive.
Aleaha Love can be anyone -- literally. With only skin-to-skin contact, she can change her appearance, assume any identity. Her newest identity switch has made her an AIR (alien investigation and removal) agent and sends her on a mission to capture a group of otherworldly warriors. Only she becomes the captured. Breean, a golden-skinned commander known for his iron will who is at once dangerous and soul-shatteringly seductive, threatens her new life. Because for the first time, Aleaha only wants to be herself....
READ THE FIRST 9 CHAPTERS!!!!!
Title: Deep Kiss of Winter
Author: Kresley Cole & Gena Showalter
ISBN-10: 1439159661ISBN-13: 9781439159668
Publisher: Pocket Books, 2009
From Kresley Cole there is a free novella called Warlord Wants Forever.
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
Jane is my Co-Pilot: The Fine Art of Making Sense and Sensibility Totally RidiculousBy Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters,Authors of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Since writing Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, I've gotten a ton of feedback about how nice it is that I've made Jane Austen appealing to certain readers -- meaning readers who previously suffered a persistent allergy to The Classics. I am complimented for taking the prim and decorous Jane Austen and making her, A) really violent, and B) really funny.
The first compliment I will gladly accept. Over the decades since Sense and Sensibility first appeared, it has been noted by scholars and casual readers alike that the book is sorely lacking in shipwrecks, shark attacks, and vividly described decapitations. I believe it was the poet and critic Thomas Chatterton who admired the novel's careful plotting and social critique, but lamented the total absence of vengeful ghost pirates.
But I can't take credit for making Jane Austen funny. As is well known by passionate fans of Austen -- I have yet to meet any other kind -- the old girl has always been funny. Take for example Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, a set of secondary characters in Sense and Sensibility. The periodic appearances of the Palmers comprise what any comedy writer will recognize as a running gag. Mrs. Palmer is chatty and trivial, while Mr. Palmer (a delightful Hugh Laurie in the Ang Lee version) is gruff and unaffectionate. What Mrs. Palmer labels "droll," the reader -- along with Elinor, our sensible heroine -- recognizes as plain distaste for his wife, her friends, and everybody else in the universe. Every time those Palmers show up, we know we're in for the next variation on the same great gag.
Note that Austen doesn't do to the Palmers what Charles Dickens would: Exaggerate their core traits to the point of absurdity. (Also, she doesn't name them something like Mr. and Mrs. Featherwit). The Palmers are funny, but they're plausible, and their primary function in the book is to provide not laughs, but a corrective to Marianne's rosy ideal of married life. So Austen makes them funny, but not ridiculous.
Making them ridiculous was my job. When the Palmers appear in my monsterfied Sensibility, I give Mr. Palmer's drollery a murky, weird-tales back story, part of the preposterously elaborate foreshadowing of my H.P. Lovecraft-inspired denouement.
I play the same game, of comically amplifying what's already there, in varying ways throughout the book. Colonel Brandon, stiff and formal and middle-aged, becomes a stiff and formal and middle-aged man-monster. Genial Sir John becomes genial adventurer/explorer Sir John. Had Austen made all her characters ridiculous in that Dickensian way, if she had been the kind of writer who is forever winking at her readers, my book would be (as they say in improv comedy) a hat on a hat. But because Sense and Sensibility is so eloquent and restrained, Sea Monsters gets to go way over the top.
This is true even on the simple level of vocabulary. Austen's precise early-19th century diction is the textual equivalent of Eustace Tilly, the top-hatted, monocled figure from the cover of the New Yorker: Her writing simply oozes good taste. The trick was to appropriate that ever-so-tasteful and old-timey Austenian style to describe things she never would have:
In the profound silence that followed, their ears were filled with a low thrashing sound, as the corpse of the bosun's mate was noisily consumed by devil fish. At length the captain drew upon his pipe, and spoke again. "Let us only pray that this is the worst such abomination you encounter in this benighted land; for such is but a minnow, when compared to the Devonshire Fang-Beast."
Even more fun to play with than Austen's eloquent vocabulary is her universe of enforced emotional rectitude. The Dashwood sisters live in a world where one's feelings are not blurted out -- or, at least, they're not meant to be, as sensible Elinor is continually reminding sensitive Marianne. It's a constant struggle to keep one's emotions hidden beneath the surface; all I did was literalize that metaphor in the most preposterous way, by adding deadly and dangerous monsters which appear literally from beneath the surface.
"The . . . what?"There was one factor above all that made Sense and Sensibility such a fun comic foil, and that is the place the book holds in the cultural firmament. One question I've heard a lot (or read a lot, as it's the sort of thing that comes up on blog comment-threads), is "Why didn't you do Persuasion? That's the Austen book that actually takes place on the water!"
The answer is simply that Persuasion, unlike Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice, may be a great book, but it is not a Great Book. It has not gathered around itself the unmistakable stink of importance.
Sense and Sensibility, on the other hand, stands in the literary tradition as Margaret Dumont stands before Groucho Marx, as the Chairman of the Reception Committee in Duck Soup: Prim and proper and radiating worthiness -- just waiting, in other words, for someone to hit it with a pie.
©2009 Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters, authors of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Author Bios
Jane Austen, coauthor of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, is coauthor of the New York Times best seller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which has been translated into 17 languages and optioned to become a major motion picture. She died in 1817.
Ben H. Winters, coauthor of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, is a writer based in Brooklyn.
For more information please visit www.BenHWinter.com and www.quirkclassics.com
The New York Times and international best seller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies captured the imaginations and braaaaains of readers worldwide and has been translated into 20 languages. Now, comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem! Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Quirk Books; September 15, 2009; $12.95) by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters expands the original text of Austen’s beloved novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, swashbuckling pirates, and other seaworthy creatures.
As a huge Jane Austin fan I was torn 50/50 about even picking Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters up in the first place. Having heard so much bashing of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last year and now that Natalie Portman is even starring as Elizabeth, I knew when I finally did read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, that I would only feel the same. And I did, I feel in love with it.
Secondly I just wanted to address all the negative reviews for this, as an Austin fan I appreciate the die hards who thought this was a true disgrace, I respect that, But I if you open your mind and like a little paranormal, sci-fi/mystical element with your books then too can laugh out loud with this comedic farce. And trust me, you will.
Taking on the story as is you have the three Dashwood sisters who have been evicted from their home with no dowery or fortune to be had. They are women after all and in British society and law at the time, they had no right or claim to their late fathers money. Thus being uprooted from their home and sent to live on a small island.
This isn't just any ole island where the ladies can waste away their days, oh no, they are already fighting for their lives. Not from some savage killer, well they are savage and disgusting and killers to boot. But they are also of the hideous variety, eight legs, or tentacles rather. Some have two heads some have giant claws of death, but all to the hysterical element as the ladies are rescued by their dashing young men.
Blending a classic Austin with a lot of angry sea monsters you can't help but find the humor. This one is for my keeper shelf!
You can check out the book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZVE5uF24Q
As a huge Jane Austin fan I was torn 50/50 about even picking Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters up in the first place. Having heard so much bashing of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last year and now that Natalie Portman is even starring as Elizabeth, I knew when I finally did read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, that I would only feel the same. And I did, I feel in love with it.
Secondly I just wanted to address all the negative reviews for this, as an Austin fan I appreciate the die hards who thought this was a true disgrace, I respect that, But I if you open your mind and like a little paranormal, sci-fi/mystical element with your books then too can laugh out loud with this comedic farce. And trust me, you will.
Taking on the story as is you have the three Dashwood sisters who have been evicted from their home with no dowery or fortune to be had. They are women after all and in British society and law at the time, they had no right or claim to their late fathers money. Thus being uprooted from their home and sent to live on a small island.
This isn't just any ole island where the ladies can waste away their days, oh no, they are already fighting for their lives. Not from some savage killer, well they are savage and disgusting and killers to boot. But they are also of the hideous variety, eight legs, or tentacles rather. Some have two heads some have giant claws of death, but all to the hysterical element as the ladies are rescued by their dashing young men.
Blending a classic Austin with a lot of angry sea monsters you can't help but find the humor. This one is for my keeper shelf!
You can check out the book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZVE5uF24Q
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
Do you ever read a book that just sucks you in and not only captures 100% of your attention but your heart as well. I don't think that I have ever held my breath so many times in reading a book as I did when I read The Cost of Dreams by Gary Stelzer. This is a story about survival and strength like I have never read before. The pure determination to live and find happiness is Flora's main objective as she flees her small Central American village for the US. After her parents are killed in a raid she knows that she too will end up like them if she doesn't change her life with her two brothers. Unfortunately for them they are captured and arrested and Flora is able to escape barely only to begin a new adventure. Survival in the US, alone and penniless.
Eventually Flora is hired as a nanny for a young boy and struggles to get her life together. So strong willed yet you would think she would be so beaten down from her past she meets Monte and they get married. But Monte has a pretty evil brother who is a drug dealer and when he comes around looking for some missing drugs and Monte Flora is the one who is shot in the neck and left for dead. Not just by her brother in law but by Monte her husband as well.
But Flora's story doesn't end there, gathering her will and all her fight she travels across the country to call on someone she considered a friend. Kate and her brother were aid workers in Central America before Flora fled, but Kate holds her own demons, he nephew has gone missing. Kate went home and he disappeared. Her guilt eats her alive and with the arrival of Flora and her persuasion to find out what happened to him they set out an mission for truth and reprieve.
I was captured from the moment I started this book and the pure heart of Flora, the hardship she endoured having to leave her family behind, losing them so tragically I was continually on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next!
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
I have two winners to announce. ........
RKCharron won Tracy Cooper-Posey's DARE TO RETURN
Armenia won Beth's Acceptance by Teal Ceagh
What a fun and sweet book this, A Highlander Christmas by Janet Chapman and just in time for the holidays too. Camry is having a bit of a mid life crisis if you will. She was fired from her job at NASA and has decided to work as a dog walker and tend bar. Hiding from her family she is afraid to face who she really is and scared that science and magic just don't mix. In comes Luke, who is a French Physicist who has been corresponding with Camry while she was at NADA and completely debunked some of her work, resulting in Camry getting fired.
Rightly so, their correspondence immediately stops and Luke just about freezes half to death trying to find her. Only to be taken in my her parents, much to her fathers chagrin. Confessing, albeit accidentally to her parents that she no longer works for NASA her mother sends him on the mission to find her and bring her home. Just in time for the Winter Solstice. This is more than some magical celebration, it is her birthday, as well as her sisters as well, a celebration she has yet to miss.
This book just made me smile and laugh at times since Camry and Luke were just so much alike that Camry is already half in love with Luke before she finds out who he really is. Completely heart warming and just in time for the holidays this is a true can't miss for one of those curl up on the couch lazy days. So many elements of magic and just good old fashioned romance you can't help but want to see Camry and Luke find their HEA.
This is actually book 7 in the series. I had no idea but now I can't wait to go back and read the others.
Synopsis: "Camry MacKeage has absolutely no intention of telling her parents that she left her job as a NASA physicist for the small-town life of a dog-sitter -- which is why she's spending the holidays alone in coastal Maine with her furry friends Tigger and Max. Unfortunately, her irresistibly handsome rival, scientist Luke Pascal, accidentally spilled the beans. Now he's on a mission from her mother to tempt Camry home for the family's annual winter solstice celebration. But Luke is hiding his own secret, and he'll need a little bit of magic to earn Camry's trust...and a whole lot of mistletoe to seduce his way into her heart."
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
Out of this world fantasy paranormal! OK, well technically they are considered Off-Worlders and boy are they hellish and heavenly. Coming from both heaven and hell and other off worlds & alternate dimensions you are immediately sucked into the world of our heroine Charlie who is an Atlanta cop and a single mom. Touch as nails, hard ass, kick your butt kind of woman who's temper can frighten even the strongest of men, yet so vulnerable and tender at times. Charlie has as inner strength that carries her through those tough times like the one she is going through now. She and her partner Hank, who BTW is a Siren are on a mission to find out who is behind the distribution of an possible off-world drug. What I thought was so cool about this book, well there were several things actually, was that I have never read a book with male Sirens like Hank. Don't forget all the Jinn (genies), and Goblins oh my so much evil in one book keeps your on the edge with some seriously nail biting scenes that has you turning the pages so fast before you know it you are finished with the book! I just couldn't put it down and had to stay up and read until I was completely finished. Mythological creatures galore with a bit of a twist, Kelly Gay has truly outdone herself and captured a new follower! YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! And guess what, ohhhh I am so excited... it is going to be a series!! What could more could a newly addicted follower ask for! The Darkest Edge of Dawn(Charlie Madigan, Book 2) Available now for pre-order!Street date: Aug. 31, 2010
Synopsis: "Divorced mother of one, Charlie Madigan, lives in a world where the beings of heaven and hell exist among us, and they aren't the things of Sunday school lessons and Hallmark figurines. In the years since the Revelation, they've become our co-workers, neighbors, and fellow citizens. Charlie works for ITF (Integration Task Force). It's her job to see that the continued integration of our new "friends" goes smoothly and everyone obeys the law, but when a new off-world drug is released in Underground Atlanta, her daughter is targeted, and her ex-husband makes a fateful bargain to win her back, there's nothing in heaven or earth (or hell for that matter) that Charlie won't do to set things right."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm just your average bookworm who likes to spend an embarrassing amount of time in make believe places.I've had many jobs from construction (I can drive a backhoe, tar and shingle a roof, and frame out a house) to waiting on tables, threading film through a projector, selling men's underwear (a talent, I tell you!), and managing horse farms.
In the writing world, I'm a three-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, and a recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship grant in Literature. I'm currently working on the sequel to my debut novel, and as 'Kelly Keaton', a new young adult series, debuting from Simon Pulse in Spring 2011.
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my HONEST review.
No items that I receive "in kind"
are ever sold...they are kept by me, donated to The Medford Public Library,
or given away on contests on this blog.
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