Monday, January 20, 2020

The Thief of Lanwyn Manor by Sarah E. Ladd (The Cornwall Novels Book 2)

About the Book

Book: The Thief of Lanwyn Manor

Author: Sarah E. Ladd

Genre: Regency Romance

Release Date: January 7, 2020

In this sweet Regency romance, Julia knows Matthew Blake, copper mine owner and very eligible bachelor, is the gentleman she should set her eyes upon. But why can’t she steal her gaze away from his younger brother, Isaac?

Cornwall, England 1818—Julia Twethewey needs a diversion to mend her broken heart, so when her cousin invites her to Lanwyn Manor, Julia eagerly accepts. Lanwyn Manor is at the heart of Cornwall’s mining industry, and as a guest Julia is swept into its intricate world. It’s not long, though, before she realizes something dark lurks in the home’s ancient halls.

As a respected mine owner’s younger son, Isaac Blake is determined to keep his late father’s legacy alive through the family business, despite his brother’s careless attitude. In order to save their livelihood—and the livelihood of those around them—the brothers approach the master of Lanwyn Manor with plans to bolster the floundering local industry. Isaac can’t deny his attraction to the man’s charming niece, but his brother has made his intentions to court the lovely guest clear. And Isaac knows his place.

When tragedy strikes, mysteries arise, and items go missing, Julia and Isaac find they are pulled together in a swirl of strange circumstances, but despite their own best efforts to bow to social expectations, their hearts aren’t so keen to surrender.

Click here to buy your copy.

My Review:

Ladd is making me a happy reader. I'm becoming a fan. I love mysteries, even if I do solve it before the end of the book, or the show. As long as it's a fun adventure, or a gripping one, I'm happy. This book is a fun adventure. Drama and romance are highly featured along with a mystery in a historical setting. I like that it's both clean and faith based. I figure this book and this series will be a best seller in no time, and for good reason. I'm highly anticipating the next book in this series.

5 Stars

About the Author

Sarah E. Ladd received the 2011 Genesis Award in historical romance for The Heiress of Winterwood. She is a graduate of Ball State University and has more than ten years of marketing experience. Sarah lives in Indiana with her amazing family and spunky golden retriever. Visit her online at SarahLadd.com; Facebook: SarahLaddAuthor; Twitter: @SarahLaddAuthor.

Read an Excerpt

Click here to read an excerpt from the book.

Blog Stops

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 13

Genesis 5020, January 13

A Baker’s Perspective, January 13

For Him and My Family, January 14

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 14

Inklings and notions, January 14

Bigreadersite, January 15

For the Love of Literature, January 15

Texas Book-aholic, January 15

Through the Fire Blogs, January 16

Pause for Tales, January 16

Wishful Endings, January 16

deb’s Book Review, January 16

Betti Mace, January 17

KarenSueHadley, January 17

The Meanderings of a Bookworm, January 17

Robin’s Nest, January 18

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 18

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 18

The Christian Fiction Girl, January 19

Remembrancy, January 19

Books, Life, and Christ, January 19

Christian Chick’s Thoughts, January 20

My Devotional Thoughts, January 20

Hallie Reads, January 20

Blogging With Carol, January 20

Kat’s Corner Books, January 21

Life of Literature, January 21

Danielle Lozada, January 21

She Lives to Read, January 22

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, January 22

Jeanette’s Thoughts, January 22

By The Book, January 23

Blossoms and Blessings, January 23

SPLASHES of Joy, January 23

My Precious Bits and Musings, January 24

Mary Hake, January 24

Back Porch Reads, January 24

Daysong Reflections, January 24

Tell Tale Book Reviews, January 25

Mamma Loves Books, January 25

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, January 25

Hookmeinabook, January 26

Stephanie’s Life of Determination, January 26

Simple Harvest Reads, January 26 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)

*No Giveaway for this Celebration Tour

Damaged by Daniel Scottow

A Bloodhound Book

About the Book:

Do you believe everything you’re told?

Journalist Emily Blake is sent back to her hometown to investigate the disappearance of a young girl called Becky Clarke. Emily takes the assignment willingly as the case echoes the disappearance of her childhood friend, Alice Abbott, twenty-five years earlier.

Returning to the village, Emily renews old acquaintances and rivalries. She reconnects with her estranged brother Adam, who has never quite recovered from tragic events from their past.

While she looks into the disappearance of Becky Clarke, Emily revisits Alice’s case but not everyone welcomes her investigation.

As lies that have been told for twenty-five years surrounding Alice’s disappearance begin to unravel, Emily is drawn deeper into the mystery.

What happened to Alice?

Will Becky ever be found?

And do the answers lie closer to home than anyone ever imagined?

My Review:

This story opens with a woman in a horrible situation. Just a few pages in I'm already rooting for her to survive this. How did she get where she is, and how can she resolve this life threatening situation? As the story pulls me in deeper, it's easy to get hooked.

Back before the world went crazier, in a time when you could leave your doors unlocked and the kids sleeping while you went and did a few close by things, this is when the unthinkable happened in Pear Tree Close.

Written in first person, with strong descriptions as seen through Emily's eyes, I joined the search that she'd been on for the last 25 years regarding Alice's disappearance. Why? For starters Alice was Emily's BFF. She became a famous unsolved cold case, and now, another girl has vanished. As a journalist with personal connections to the story, Emily has to have answers, no matter the cost.

This book is gripping and fascinating. I liked the famous case set up from the start. It's well written and easy to read. For a debut, it's a very sound one. You have to read it and find out if the ending is one that you expected, or if you're stunned by it. Either way, it's a case worth risking Emily's life to finally have answers.

5 Stars

About the Author:

Dan grew up in Hertfordshire before moving to London in his early twenties. After more than ten years living there, he decided enough was enough, and packed his bags for Scotland in search of a more peaceful life.

Dan works as a graphic designer, but dreams of the day he can give it up and write full time.

Besides writing, he enjoys painting, watching a good scary film, travelling the world, good food, long walks on the beach with his dogs, and of course, reading.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

No Space Like Home by Dell Tunicliff

About the Book

Book: No Space Like Home

Author: Dell Tunnicliff

Genre: Fiction/YA/Science Fiction

Release Date: September 4, 2019

If life were only as simple as following a yellow brick road. Gail’s quiet life among the Kansa Station turbines ends with a hug, a prayer, and a shove… into space.

She thinks she knows who she is, but she’s wrong. Who is she really? She’s about to find out.

Of course, landing on the wrong planet is complicated enough without crashing into things. Add to that spybots, waspbots, and cyberwolves and it’s no wonder Gail just wants to go home. Back to a life without this interplanetary circus and its flying monkeys.

Intrigue, secrets, and more than a little danger turn a “simple mission” into a hair-raising adventure as Gail—and three friends she meets along the way—accept a mission to save O-Zoras.

In the end, Gail wants nothing more to go home. She’s just not sure where that is anymore. “I’ve decided that home is more about who than where.” Well, that’s a good thing, Gail, because you’re not on Kansa anymore. It’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz meets Firefly in this fresh, a little zarbi, but totally licit YA space adventure. Grab your copy today and see what ALL that even means!

Click here to get your copy!

My Review:

For starters, The Wizard of Oz was not a film I liked, for the most part. Firefly, now that, I liked. How would this author mix those two story lines? For starters, Gail took her best book her Bible with her though her galactic adventures. The flying monkeys different to me now, or maybe in this book than the ones from when I was a child. Those things gave me nightmares. I enjoyed the tech. Tech is fun, and space was a great backdrop for this story. I think I like it better than the original, for many reasons. The biggest ones are that it's clean, and it has scripture worked into it, additional morals than just who or what is behind the classic "curtain." I think this book would be enjoyed by many teens and adults alike.

4 Stars

About the Author

Dell lives on the windswept Wyoming plains with her husband, six children, a cardigan corgi dog, a calico cat, and a flock of chickens.

A lifelong reader, and lover of words, she also loves the Word; God’s good news to us.

She takes the path less traveled, and that has made all the difference.

More from Dell

We are our heavenly father’s children, created to create.

When I set out to write this novel, I craved challenge—something that would stretch my own imagination. The wild, otherworldly, frontier of science-fiction winked at me like a distant star in the night-sky of possibility. I admire teens and young-adults for their eagerness to seize the wonder of “What if.” So, young-adult sci-fi it is!

Creating an entire fictional solar system was every bit of the creative rush I hoped. Orchestrating a dance of stars and planets, designing a space ship, imaging cultures, people-groups, values, and linguistic quirks provided ample opportunities to stretch my creative muscles.

And then there was the naming! Names are yet another way we reflect our divine author. Our loving and personal God spoke each star into being and calls each by name. In No Space Like Home, I named the four-sun solar system, “Hiraeth.” It’s a Welsh word for that vague, yet poignant yearning for a place to which you can never return, have never been, or even that never was. It’s a deep, inborn longing for someone, something or somewhere just out of reach of our plane of existence. As Christians, we feel this keenly. This world isn’t our eternal home. We thirst for Jesus. We hunger for heaven. We long for a garden—unmarred by thorns and thistles of the fall. We ache to know ourselves and our loved ones as God designed– in perfect relationship with Him, unfettered by sin.

As part of this longing, we create and we name. We are all world-builders, designing with the materials around us, and bringing order to our sphere in small ways and large. We are image-bearers of our holy Author and Creator.

Whether we paint (like my No Space Like Home heroine, Gail), design software (like George), weld parts (like Nic), or develop strategies (like Leo), we are all inventors and designers. Create today. Spin a bit of beauty, order, and identity from the nameless, swirling, chaos.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, December 26

Inklings and notions, December 27

Book of Ruth Ann, December 27

A Reader’s Brain, December 28

janicesbookreviews, December 29

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, December 30

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 31

April Hayman, Author, January 1

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 2

For Him and My Family, January 2

For the Love of Literature, January 3

Emily Yager, January 4

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 5

Texas Book-aholic, January 6

Artistic Nobody, January 7

Aryn The Libraryan 📚, January 8

Blogging With Carol, January 8

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Dell is giving away the grand prize package of a copy of Gail’s Bible: ESV Illuminated Bible (Art Journaling Edition), a paperback copy of No Space Like Home, and Frang Bingham’s Ard Ri game!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/f37f/no-space-like-home-celebration-tour-giveaway

Friday, January 3, 2020

Seconds To Live by Susan Sleeman (Homeland Heros #1)

About The Book:

The Seconds Are Ticking Down before Someone Dies
When cybercriminals hack into the U.S. Marshals' Witness Protection database and auction off witnesses' personal details to the highest bidders, the RED Team, led by FBI Agent Sean Nichols, begins a high-stakes chase to find the hacker. But before he can even get started, the first witness is targeted and barely escapes with her life. Sean believes Phantom, an obsessed hacker who previously outwitted the top minds in the field, is behind the attack, and Sean needs this witness's help, as she's the person who has come closest to discovering Phantom's identity.

Trouble is, she's under the care of U.S. Marshal Taylor Mills, and Sean is reluctant to work with the captivating Marshal who knows his deepest secrets. But Phantom seems to be one step ahead at every turn and will stop at nothing to kill the witness. To stop the hacker, Sean and Taylor must learn to trust each other as danger draws ever closer.

My Review:

This book delivered what it promised. It's packed with suspense, action, and romance. We have the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and major hackers. The Red Cyber Team was so well written! Sean and Taylor are easy to like, awesome as friends. They are not without flaws, and Taylor winds up with some large ones. The main them is God's still in control, just keep trusting and listening. The Phantom, the villain was all too real, as is the dark web.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

5 Stars

About the Author:

Susan Sleeman (www.susansleeman.com) is the bestselling author of more than 35 romantic suspense novels with more than 1 million books sold. She has won several awards, including the ACFW Carol Award for Suspense for Fatal Mistake and the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Thread of Suspicion. In addition to writing, Susan also hosts www.thesuspensezone.com. She has lived in nine states but now calls Portland, Oregon, home.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Focused Backstory by Carol Alwood

About the Book

Book: Focused Backstory

Author: Carol Alwood

Genre: Non-fiction, writing resource

Release Date: June 26, 2019

Learn how to write characters readers will love.

Has an industry professional told you not to dump character history at the beginning of your story? If so, you aren’t alone. But what’s the solution to this common advice? Most writers take the time to design interesting characters with troubled pasts. They long for readers to care about the characters’ lives. However, the sad truth is on page one, readers don’t care—yet. That’s why industry gurus tell writers to stop overusing character history, also called backstory, at the beginning of stories. Have you ever wondered… How to use backstory correctly? What are the ways other writers successfully incorporate backstory into their work? Do tools exist to help writers better plan stories so the backstory isn’t such a problem? In Focused Backstory: The Key to Writing Deep Character Journeys, you’ll find answers to these questions and more. You’ll learn how to avoid the dreaded info-dump and instead, harness curiosity so readers keep turning pages. This resource breaks down focused backstory into simple pieces to use flexibly in any story no matter what genre or length. Worksheets, tables, questionnaires, and templates will help you plan an engaging story with deep characters. Examples from popular stories will help you understand this method.

You’ll learn how to

• design a character around a troubled past.

• create additional characters around the main character.

• weave interesting sub-plots within a characters’ journey toward healing.

• design proper obstacles which interfere with characters’ goals.

• guide readers’ emotions so they have a satisfying reading experience.

No matter what kind of writer you are, if you take the time to analyze the use of backstory, it will enhance your style. Focused Backstory: The Key to Writing Deep Character Journeys is the missing gadget in your writing tool kit.

Click here to get your copy.

My Review:

I have read so many "help" books. Many are far less than helpful. This book is full of thoughts, ideas, worksheets, things to make authors think about what they are doing with characters and their stories. I was shocked at the front, I had never heard of putting the backstory at the front of the book. That was unheard of to me and yet, very interesting as I learned from this author's prior mistakes.

The first chapter alone could have been a book, but it just keeps going. It's a very resourceful guide for writing, one that I will need to read more than once to absorb it all. I do love the stick figure drawings, and the correlations to movies or other books, even if some are the ones I don't care for.

5 Stars

About the Author

Carol Alwood has an unending passion for fiction, and she can’t think of a better way to spend her life than writing books for young adults and teaching about techniques she has learned along the way. With a Master of Education, experience as a content editor, and over a decade of establishing and working with critique groups, she is an excellent resource. An award-winning author, Carol finds joy in helping writers find the right tools to plan, draft and revise their novels so they can achieve excellence in storytelling.

More from Carol

Focused Backstory resulted from a personal quest to please industry critics who suggested I keep character history out of the first pages of my novels. My initial questions to this advice were: What? Why? I searched for resources to figure out how to write a more powerful beginning without relying on the past but found little help. On a mission to find answers, I studied popular books, television and movies to abstract what made stories work and — boom! I found it! We can break down backstory into simple pieces to use flexibly in any story without compromising artistry. This book provides definitions, examples, worksheets, templates, and comics to help writers study the art of using powerful character histories to keep readers turning pages. I’m so excited to offer this resource and hope it will empower your writing as it has mine.