The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!
My 56 for this week is from:
The Roanoke Girls
by Amy Engel
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
My 56 from the hardcover.
Sharon laughs, a hoarse little cackle, when she sees my face. “What? Did I hurt your feelings? Are you going to tell on me?
I couldn’t believe it when I won this book. It’s so my kind of story and I’m itching to get started on it. Hey….. it’s supposed to rain this weekend, so guess what I’ll be doing! LOL
~~~~~
Read on if you want to know more.
Synopsis
Roanoke girls never last long around here. In the end, we either run or we die.
After her mother’s suicide, fifteen year-old Lane Roanoke came to live with her grandparents and fireball cousin, Allegra, on their vast estate in rural Kansas. Lane knew little of her mother’s mysterious family, but she quickly embraced life as one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But when she discovered the dark truth at the heart of the family, she ran fast and far away.
Eleven years later, Lane is adrift in Los Angeles when her grandfather calls to tell her Allegra has gone missing. Did she run too? Or something worse? Unable to resist his pleas, Lane returns to help search, and to ease her guilt at having left Allegra behind. Her homecoming may mean a second chance with the boyfriend whose heart she broke that long ago summer. But it also means facing the devastating secret that made her flee, one she may not be strong enough to run from again.
As it weaves between Lane’s first Roanoke summer and her return, The Roanoke Girls shocks and tantalizes, twisting its way through revelation after mesmerizing revelation, exploring the secrets families keep and the fierce and terrible love that both binds them together and rips them apart.
The Monster Upstairs Elle Klass
(Bloodseeker, #2)
Publication date: March 7th 2017
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
A mysterious blinding white light followed by a vision haunts Mandy until something unthinkable happens. She comes home from school to find her mother badly injured. On instinct, through her tears, forces from within her surge through her fingertips into her mother, giving her a second wind. She urges Mandy to take a note and leave but she can’t, not yet.
Her hot dark haired, muscle-bound neighbor Joel finds her and drags her crying towards the door. What awaits them on the other side sends them back into the house where she learns Joel isn’t who she thought. Her entire life gets turned upside down as her destiny sends her and Joel deep into the world of supernatural creatures and Bloodseekers.
Before she finished her thought he grabbed her hands. Energy excited her molecules and zipped through her body. She recognized the feeling and wasn’t shocked when he let go of her hands and they were behind the stadium in the field where she first learned Veronica was a witch.
“It’s more private here. We don’t need people listening to us. And your friend is on her way,” he said with grin.
“What?” she said before she remembered witches were telepathic. “Never mind,” she followed up with.
“I’m Cody.”
“Alison.”
Within a few minutes Lacey joined them, jumping right into it and getting to the point. “I’m so happy you found us. We could use you on our side.”
He smiled. “My parents are powerful witches. As their offspring, I have a collection of all their powers; telekinesis, telepathy, lighting balls and bolts, teleportation, and pretty much anything. Anyone in a witch bloodline has magic, but it has to be practiced.”
Lacey stomped her foot and folded her arms over her chest. “You’ve known about us. You see our glow, so why didn’t you come to us sooner?”
He chuckled. “I’m a witch. I know this is new to you, but we don’t get involved unless you need us. We created Slayers. One person, every other generation in a witch of the light bloodline, that the spelled amulets call to and who can use the magic inside the amulet.”
Alison rolled the idea around in her head. That wasn’t news, but she grasped again at the light witch bloodline thing. A thought clung to her brain and manifested. They didn’t derive all their power from the amulets. They each had magic inside them that accentuated the magic in the amulet.
Lacey twisted her face. “You can help us?
“I can help you draw on your own magic that makes the magic in the amulets stronger. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t be able to share each other’s magic unless you are connected by touch but you can strengthen the spelled magic in the amulets and do most anything with it,” he paused.
“I don’t know if you’ve felt it, but there’s disturbance in our energy field. Something big is happening, coming our way. We need to be prepared and ready and you need to tap into powers that other Slayers naturally tap into overtime. You don’t have that time,” he said, his face and voice grave.
Author Elle Klass
Elle was born in Redwood City, California and spent her childhood growing in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in education. For fun she reads, spends time at the beach, travels, and enjoys time with her favorite friends, and family. She is night-owl and gets the majority of her creative writing done during the dark hours.
I appreciate watching the characters grow and their relationships develop. ~Laura’s Interests
I LOVE this series, and this book only serves to illustrate why…I couldn’t stop reading. ~Book Babble
It’s another big hit for this very talented author as A Ghostly Mortality brings us laughs, heartwarming moments and a mystery that is sure to intrigue you. ~Texas Book-aholic!
A Ghostly Mortality: A Ghostly Southern Mystery Paranormal Cozy Mystery 6th in Series Witness (February 28, 2017) Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages ISBN-13: 978-0062466976 E-Book ASIN: B01GONIFFI
My Review
Having followed this series from the beginning, it’s good to be back with these characters.
Emma Lee still suffers from what the town folk refer to as Funeral Trauma. They think she’s a bit off her rocker. I’m surprised she isn’t after having to deal with problems from beyond the grave. She’s a Betweener. She’s sees the ghosts of murder victims. It used to be confined to the ones whose last stop is her funeral home. But that appears to be changing. Also, it may not be confined to just deceased humans.
Her ability hits too close to home when the ghost of her sister comes to her for help. Now, Emma Lee is having to cope with her grief and trying to mend the fences of a sibling relationship that was on the rocks, while also solving her murder.
This was fun and had some new twists. Reading the book was fast. And I really enjoyed the interactions between Emma Lee and her sister, Charlotte Rae. I’m the youngest of four sisters and, even though we’re all very different and have our share of disagreements, we still love each other. A couple of brief scenes was all it took to make me weepy.
I was quite happy with the surprises and the mystery involved in this one. Visiting with the colorful and sometimes wacky characters in this series felt like coming home again and you can bet I’ll be waiting for the next book, and the next….
4 Stars
~~~~~
Synopsis
That ghost sure looks . . . familiar
Only a handful of people know that Emma Lee Raines, proprietor of a small-town Kentucky funeral home, is a “Betweener.” She helps ghosts stuck between here and the ever-after—murdered ghosts. Once Emma Lee gets them justice they can cross over to the great beyond.
But Emma Lee’s own sister refuses to believe in her special ability. In fact, the Raines sisters have barely gotten along since Charlotte Rae left the family business for the competition. After a doozy of an argument, Emma Lee is relieved to see Charlotte Rae back home to make nice. Until she realizes her usually snorting, sarcastic, family-ditching sister is a . . . ghost.
Charlotte Rae has no earthly idea who murdered her or why. With her heart in tatters, Emma Lee relies more than ever on her sexy beau, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross…because this time, catching a killer means the Raines sisters will have to make peace with each other first.
For years, USA Today bestselling author Tonya Kappes has been self-publishing her numerous mystery and romance titles with unprecedented success. She is famous not only for her hilarious plotlines and quirky characters, but her tremendous marketing efforts that have earned her thousands of followers and a devoted street team of fans. Be sure to check out Tonya’s website for upcoming events and news and to sign up for her newsletter! Tonyakappes.com
~~~~~
Tonya Kappes is offering a free audio book for one lucky person who comments PER blog stop. It will be a book she chooses from her previous released books. Be sure to visit the other stops in the tour links at the end of the post for more reviews and chances to win.
To enter, please leave an email so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:
Poor Billy. After spending time with him, no one wants to be his friend. He hasn’t a clue why. It can’t be because he’s poisonous. He’s never bite anyone. What could it be, then?
Such a charming story. It takes Billy a while to figure out what he’s doing wrong. A fun way to teach your youngsters to pay attention. I bet they get what he’s doing wrong right away.
There’s lots of colorful pictures of Billy and his friends. Fun for early readers or reading together.
4 Stars
~~~~~
Synopsis
Billy the coral snake wanted a friend, but no matter how hard he tried, he never could find one. What was so wrong with Billy?
2k words, 10 illustrations, full color, best suited for 2nd to 3rd graders.
What an adorable story. I love turtles and these tiny hatchlings begging Grandpa Joe Joe to tell them a story are too cute.
Joe Joe spins some tall tales for the young turtles. There’s the time he saved his friends from killer seagulls. And the time he took on a Great White Shark. Joe Joe’s sister, Margaret, is fit to be tied by his exaggerations. But the little ones eat it up. Scared and excited at the same time.
Don’t we all feel like we want to be seen as more than we are? This story is a delightful way to show young readers that sometimes being you is enough.
The illustrations are so colorful and the turtles so adorable. I’m sure kids will be as captivated as I was.
4 Stars
~~~~~
Synopsis
Joe Joe has a lot of tall tales to tell about his childhood, but his sister has a story about Joe Joe that just might show the kind of turtle Joe Joe truly is.
1k words, 6 illustrations, color, perfect for 2nd-4th graders.
Raina loved performing upon the London stage, but one night she found herself dancing for only HIM. She froze, and looked to the balcony where the gaslights flickered dimly over his shadowy form. If only she had known that this beautiful monster would soon rip her away from everything in the world SHE EVER LOVED, perhaps she wouldn’t have lingered so long.
Marcus loved being a blood thirsty predator, but one night his gallivanting brought him to his knees in front of HER. If only he’d known what would happen when she danced, that she would remind him of someone who was everything in the world HE EVER LOVED, Perhaps he would’ve turned away.
As he drags her deeper and deeper into his depraved world of torture and violence, she begins fighting with her own darkness that threatens to consume her everyday. And oh, how it begs to be released. And though she knows it’s wrong, she desires her captor anyway.
Until she begins falling for someone else…
Meanwhile, prostitutes are being butchered in the streets and she begins to wonder: Is her dark lover, the one she is bound to, The Ripper?
With an accurate account of the creepy gaslit times of London and real Jack the Ripper crime scenes, Loved By A Killer is an exciting read from start to finish.
I RACE UPSTAIRS AND TURN THE GASLIGHT ON to its brightest setting and listen to every sound in the house, for anything unusual and for Marcus’ return. My mind spins over this turn of events. The mutilated girl in the picture. The monster that takes pleasure in her horrific murder. The kind of monster that stole my mother away in the darkness leaving our lives wrecked. But now I have power: speed, strength, senses that are out of this world, and an affinity for the night. And somewhere, this monster lurks in the night- that I NOW OWN.
I’m going to destroy him. Jack the Ripper, Marcus, whoever he is- he’s dead. I don’t believe it will cost me what’s left of my humanity, but even if my soul disintegrates to pieces, he must be stopped.
“Fascinated…captivated… Throw me to the devil for I am painfully in love with you.” Marcus appears in the doorway. His face gleams happily and he throws his hat onto the dresser.
I force a smile. “What have you been up to?”
“Oh, baby, I have my own vampire things to tend to.” He extends his hand toward my face and I flinch. “Have you eaten?” My muscles feel weak and my chest burns a little. “No? Let me fix that. Tom!”
“Please don’t let me hurt him,” I say. He nods. I drink from the young servant’s wrist as my mind swims with horrid thoughts. After ten gulps, I force my mouth away and it doesn’t hurt as much, being far more interested in Marcus’ bloody affairs. I pull up a sleeve to wipe the blood away and Tom lies back on the bed.
“Guess what happened tonight?” Marcus flings messy hair out of his face and plops down on the bed beside me.
“What happened?”
“There was another murder on the East side.”
My breath catches. “And?” I flutter my eyelids up at my beaming vampire. “How do you know that?”
“While I was… out, the town was a-buzz with the sad murmurings of a new victim.”
“You seem so torn up.”
“Of course not. But she was.”
Tom’s hand lands on my leg. “Can I be yours? Like, your personal blood boy?”
Marcus scoffs. “She’s likely to kill you, chap.”
“Go ahead Marcus, tell me what happened,” I say, unable to keep my voice steady.
“They say it was a bangtail called Dark Annie. The doctor had to scoop her intestines and organs out of the dirt and put them back into her stomach.”
“I see.” My mind unveils all the mutilated women in the artwork I just discovered in Marcus’ study. What a painting this new murder would make. “He’s not going to stop, is he?” I stare pointedly into those dark pools of hypnotizing evil.
“Doubtful.” He cocks his head to the side and grins.
Well, hell.
~~~~~
About Author Charity Rabbiosi
Charity lives in the University town of Columbia, MO with her husband and three girls. She holds degrees in Science and Registered Nursing, but found her true passion in writing.
Her stories are inspired by Interview with the Vampire, The Last Vampire, Buffy and True Blood and finds herself on most days living and writing in her own fantasy world- when she’s not chasing after her kids.
Member of Writers Digest, Writers Café, and Word Press.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My Teaser for this week is from
House Of Seven Days
by Juniper Ellis
Genre: Mystery
My teaser from 10% in the eBook.
“I’m dangerously close to being thoughtful right now. At least it doesn’t require me to do much of anything.”
This tickled my funny bone. LOL
~~~~~
Read on if you want to know more.
Synopsis
An inheritance with a twist… A wanderer and confirmed loner, Francine Pond is not thrilled to inherit her great-aunt True’s sprawling mansion. She’s even less pleased to learn she is required to solve a mystery involving a series of clues contained in True’s will. And she only has seven days to complete the task. Complicated by life-sized games, ghosts, and a cast of improbable tenants… Pond is not alone in this house of oddities. In addition to a teenaged storyteller and an enigmatic chimney sweep, she is joined by Ferdinand, a mysterious man who wants to help her in her mission for reasons known only to himself and his beloved dog. Unsure who to trust… Between a rogue circus performer and her elephant, a vengeful ringmaster, meddling neighbors, and a bewildering series of quests, Pond begins to doubt if she’ll ever solve the twisted-and sometimes deadly-puzzles and regain her freedom. But is there anywhere to go if the apocalypse really has already come to Baltimore? Or will she have to stay, no matter the cost, to save herself and the misfits who might have become her friends?
Dreaming Sophia is a magical look into Italy, language, art, and culture. It is a story about turning dreams into reality and learning to walk the fine line between fact and fantasy. When tragedy strikes, Sophia finds herself alone in the world, without direction and fearful of loving again. With only her vivid imagination to guide her, she begins a journey that will take her from the vineyards in Sonoma, California to a grad school in Philadelphia and, eventually, to Italy: Florence, Lucca, Rome, Verona, Venice, and Val d’Orcia.
Through dreamlike encounters, Sophia meets Italian personalities—princes, poets, duchesses, artists, and film stars— who give her advice to help put her life back together. Following a path that takes her from grief to joy, she discovers the source of her creativity and learns to love again, turning her dreams into reality.
Melissa Muldoon is the Studentessa Matta-the crazy linguist! In Italian, “matta” means “crazy” or “impassioned”. Melissa has a B.A. in fine arts, art history and European history from Knox College, a liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, as well as a master’s degree in art history from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She has also studied painting and art history in Florence.
Melissa promotes the study of Italian language and culture through her dual-language blog, Studentessa Matta (studentessamatta.com). Melissa began the Matta blog to improve her command of the language and to connect with other language learners. It has since grown to include a podcast, “Tutti Matti per l’Italiano” and the Studentessa Matta YouTube channel. Melissa also created Matta Italian Language Immersion Tours, which she co-leads with Italian partners in Italy.
Dreaming Sophia is Melissa’s first novel. It is a fanciful look at art history and Italian language and culture, but it is also the culmination of personal stories and insights resulting from her experiences living in Italy, as well as her involvement and familiarity with the Italian language, painting, and art history.
As a student, Melissa lived in Florence with an Italian family. She studied art history and painting and took beginner Italian classes. When she returned home, she threw away her Italian dictionary, assuming she’d never need it again but after launching a successful design career and starting a family, she realized something was missing in her life. That “thing” was the connection she had made with Italy and the friends who live there. Living in Florence was indeed a life-changing event! Wanting to reconnect with Italy, she decided to start learning the language again from scratch. As if indeed possessed by an Italian muse, she bought a new Italian dictionary and began her journey to fluency-a path that has led her back to Italy many times and enriched her life in countless ways.
Now, many dictionaries and grammar books later, she dedicates her time to promoting Italian language studies, further travels in Italy, and sharing her stories and insights about Italy with others. When Melissa is not traveling in Italy, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is married and has three boys and two beagles.
Melissa designed and illustrated the cover art for Dreaming Sophia. She also designed the Dreaming Sophia website and created the character illustrations that can be found in the book and on the Dreaming Sophia websites.
Welcome to My Monday Minis Reviews where I share short reviews of books I’ve read. For today I’ll be sharing my thoughts about Sweet lake by Christine Nolfi, the first book in the Sweet Lake Series.
Sweet Lake
Sweet Lake #1
by Christine Nolfi
Genre: Romance
My Review
There’s something about stories that are written around inns and bed & breakfasts that draws me in. I like to read about the daily running of them and the guests and other characters that reside there.
There’s no lack of colorful characters at the Wayfair Inn. There’s Linnie, daughter and owner of the inn, struggling to bring it back to it’s former glory after her black sheep of a brother, Freddy, nearly put it in bankruptcy. She’s tough in business but soft where the human condition figures into things.
You’ve got her two close friends, Jada and Cat, who constantly pull Linnie’s head out of the sand when she tries to hide from confrontations and personal decisions. Friends like that are handy indeed.
There’s the Sweet Lake Sirens. Among my favorites. A group of older ladies who mind the P’s and Q’s of everyone else. They remind of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and such a hoot.
And there’s local attorney and hottie, Daniel Kittering. He’s carried a torch for Linnie for a long time and things are starting to heat up.
Plus, now Freddy is back in town. So you can imagine the tongues wagging as everyone wonders what the devil he could want. He’s got some nerve as he’s done things to make most everyone angry with him.
I’m very much into character driven stories and this book has a plethora to engage with. And the author has you wishing for happiness for all, even the brother who lost his way.
It all flows fast and furious, keeping the reader immersed in the story, eager for the conclusion, and crossing fingers for a happy ending.
An enjoyable read and great beginning to a fun series. This is the perfect read to enjoy at the beach, or any time, anywhere.
5 Stars
~~~~~
Synopsis
Linnie Wayfair knows just how many people are counting on her. But knowing doesn’t make doing any easier.
Everyone in Sweet Lake, Ohio, wants her to muster all her business sense and return the Wayfair Inn to its former glory. Her parents hope she’ll forgive her scoundrel of a brother and reconcile the family. The eccentric Sweet Lake Sirens want her to open the inn—and her heart—to new possibilities. And her hilarious lifelong friends Jada and Cat are dropping none-too-subtle hints for her to ignite a romance with Daniel Kettering, the sexy attorney who’s been pining for her for years…
Now a shocking turn of events will open old wounds and upend the world Linnie has carefully built. She has to make changes quickly—and the results, though not entirely what she expected, might be what she’s been yearning for all along.
Here we are again. Another Sunday. Hmm….what should I talk about? LOL
Have you ever found that you use things you’ve heard from a show in your everyday life? I find that I use lots of quotes and slang from Big Bang Theory. I watch this show almost every day and never get tired of the reruns. They still crack me up.
I even have some board shorts that say Bazinga! LOL What show bleeds over into your life? I know it can’t happen to just little old me.
*****
My new books this week.
Young reader’s books.
Adult books.
*****
And here are some freebies for ya. Click on the covers to get your copies. Remember to make sure they’re still free before you hit that buy button.
*****
Books I reviewed this week. Click on the covers to read my reviews.
Today’s review is for a book filled with creatures of the night. It’s free right now too! So, if you want a copy, click on the cover or the link at after the synopsis to grab a copy.
~~~~~
Ancient Awakening
by Matthew Bryan Laube
Genre: Horror / Action
My Review
I love books with demons, vamps, werewolves, and other scary creatures that come creeping and oozing out of the dark to strike fear and mayhem on us innocent, puny humans.
You get a whole bunch of that when these monsters take over a hospital and start eating or turning people. It appears the deadly ancient ones, seven monsters of legend, are back to do what they do best.
A young lady seeking her absent boyfriend lands right in the middle of this mess. Along with an injured cop, and a strange little man who happens to be “THE” master monster hunter.
The author wastes no time stirring up trouble for these characters and keeps monsters and humans busy: running, dying, the usual stuff.
I did like the creatures, the human characters, and the plot. But it felt a bit rushed at times, and the story didn’t always flow smoothly. And I wanted to know more about the monster hunter and the young woman’s connection with monsters. I suspect that’s the authors plan as I learned at the ending, which was an ending and a cliff hanger, that there’s more to come in this tale.
While this first book didn’t completely wow me, it certainly showed promise and I will be reading the next book. You see, the author has me very curious about one particular monster. I have a feeling I’ll be getting some of the answers I seek and plenty more action.
4 Stars
~~~~~
Synopsis
Hell comes home to Jersey.
Seven ancient demons known as the Fallen have awakened in New Jersey after a hundred years. Fortunately for Mike and Ann, so has the one man who can stop them, Joseph Miller. Trapped in a hospital filled with mythical monsters, only together can they unravel the mystery of the Cursed and escape with not only their lives but also their very humanity.
Ancient Awakening is a Horror/Action novel with just the right touch of comedy. It is the first book in the series The Ancient which follows the adventures of eccentric demon hunter Joseph Miller. His job is to defend the human race against seven mythical demons and their offspring. Unfortunately for us, he has been dead for the last hundred years. Ancient Awakening is followed by Ancient Enemies.
The all-new second edition of Ancient Awakening is professionally edited, 57,000 words, and includes a free preview chapter of Ancient Enemies.
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