Archive for the ‘Blog Tour’ Category

Stabbing In The Senate ~ Cozy Mystery Showcase and Giveaway

Posted: January 16, 2016 in Blog Tour, Cozy Mystery, giveaways
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Stabbing in the Senate
by Colleen J. Shogan

I thought the book was well written and I did not suspect who the killer ended up being.
~Storeybook Reviews

It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel, but then Ms. Shogan has been a professor and works for the Library of Congress and obviously has some skill with a pen with a keyboard. Put her book on your shelf or ereader, and her future on your radar.
~Back Porchervations

This book was a very good start to a new series. I really enjoyed this author’s writing style.
~Griperang’s Bookmarks

This is a well-written debut novel. The author has been a part of the group of people she writes about, and her personal knowledge shows in her vivid descriptions of people and scenarios.
~Book Babble

This book grabs you right from the start and holds your attention to the end.
~Socrates’ Book Reviews…

…a murder mystery that will keep you guessing and keep you interested in the outcome of the story.
~3 Partners in Shopping; Nana, Mommy, &; Sissy too!

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Stabbing in the Senate
(A Washington Whodunit)
Cozy Mystery
A Brand New Series
Camel Press (November 15, 2015)
Paperback: 236 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1603813310
E-Book ASIN: B017CBHTOE

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Synopsis

Life is good for Kit Marshall. She’s a staffer in D.C. for a popular senator, and she lives with an adoring beagle and a brainy boyfriend with a trust fund. Then, one morning, Kit arrives at the office early and finds her boss, Senator Langsford, impaled by a stainless steel replica of an Army attack helicopter. Panicked, she pulls the weapon out of his chest and instantly becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Circumstances back Kit’s claim of innocence, but her photograph has gone viral, and the heat won’t be off until the killer is found. Well-loved though the senator was, suspects abound. Langsford had begun to vote with his conscience, which meant he was often at odds with his party. Not only had the senator decided to quash the ambitions of a major military contractor, but his likely successor is a congressman he trounced in the last election. Then there’s the suspiciously dry-eyed Widow Langsford. Kit’s tabloid infamy horrifies her boyfriend’s upper-crust family, and it could destroy her career. However, she and her free-spirited friend Meg have a more pressing reason to play sleuth. The police are clueless in more ways than one, and Kit worries that the next task on the killer’s agenda will be to end her life.

About The Author

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Colleen J. Shogan is the deputy director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress. She is a former Senate staffer who started reading mysteries at the age of six. A political scientist by training, Colleen has taught American government at George Mason University, Georgetown, and Penn. Stabbing in the Senate is her first novel.

Author Link

Webpage / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

 

Purchase Links
Amazon B&N

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Tour Participants

January 4 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review

January 5 – Omnimystery News – Interview

January 6 – Back Porchervations – Review

January 7 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – Spotlight

January 8 – Griperang’s Bookmarks – Review

January 9 – A Blue Million Books – Interview

January 10 – Book Babble – Review

January 11 – Queen of All She Reads – Review, Guest Post

January 12 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview

January 13 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review

January 14 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy,  &, Sissy, Too ! – Review

January 15 – Nadaness In Motion – Guest Post

January 16 – fuonlyknew – Spotlight

January 17 – Brooke Blogs – Review, Guest Post

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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Gigi Pandian’s The Masquerading Magician ~ Review and Giveaway

Posted: January 13, 2016 in Blog Tour, Fantasy, giveaways, reviews
Tags: , , , , , ,
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The Masquerading Magician

by Gigi Pandian

Masquerading Magician by Gigi Pandian COVER webres
The Masquerading Magician
(An Accidental Alchemist Mystery)
Mystery
2nd in Series
Midnight Ink (January 8, 2016)
Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738742359
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My Review

I had a fun read with the first book in this series so I was really looking forward to this next book.

Zoe is still trying to save Dorian, her suave, gourmet cooking gargoyle friend. He’s slowly turning to stone and will be trapped in his frozen body, eternally awake and unable to move.

Her house is still a wreck. The hole in the roof still waiting for repair. But Zoe is using all of her time and strength trying to decode the alchemist book in order to help Dorian.

Taking a time out for herself, Zoe goes to a magic show, which stirs memories from her past. Brixton, a teenage boy and the only one besides Zoe that knows about Dorian, discovers some disturbing facts about one of the performers, which draws all of them into a murder that takes them down a dangerous path.

I enjoyed this one even more than the first book. Partly because I already knew the characters and knew I was going to get answers to some of my questions.

There’s magic, murder, flashes to a mysterious past, strong characters, humor, and suspense. Enough going on to keep me flipping from page to page, waiting for the next big surprise and those answers I wanted.

I really like Zoe. She’s got a lot to handle and as much as she wants to settle into her new home, she pushes herself past exhaustion to help Dorian.

Dorian is as debonair and witty as usual. And his concern for Zoe is touching.

If we could all have such a friendship, how fortunate we would be.

I hope you give this series a try. And, while you can read this book without having read the first, I recommend you start at the beginning. You’ll have a lot of fun and get to meet the characters and watch them grow.

5 Stars

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Synopsis

Deciphering an ancient alchemy book is more difficult than Zoe Faust bargained for. She’d much rather be gardening and exploring her new home of Portland, Oregon—but time is running out for living gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin. If Zoe isn’t able to unlock the alchemy book’s secrets soon, the French gargoyle will remain awake but trapped in stone forever.

When Zoe gives herself a rare night out to attend a classic magic show that reminds her of her youth, she realizes the stage magicians are much more than they seem. A murder at the theater leads back to a string of unsolved robberies and murders in Portland’s past, and a mystery far more personal than Zoe and Dorian ever imagined.

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About The Author

USA Today bestselling author Gigi Pandian spent her childhood being dragged around the world by her cultural anthropologist parents, and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s the author of the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series (Artifact, Pirate Vishnu, and Quicksand) and the Accidental Alchemist mysteries (The Accidental Alchemist and The Masquerading Magician).

Gigi’s debut mystery was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant, the follow-up won the Left Coast Crime Rose Award, and her short fiction has been short-listed for Agatha and Macavity awards. A breast cancer diagnosis in her thirties taught her two important life lessons: healing foods can taste amazing, and life’s too short to waste a single moment. Find her online at www.gigipandian.com

Author Links

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Blog / Gargoyle Photography Blog

Purchase Links
Amazon / B&N

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A Book Excerpt

Persephone & Prometheus’s Phantasmagoria: A Classic Magic Show in the Modern World.

The giant poster was illustrated in the style of Victorian Era stage magic posters. Two figures faced each other from opposite sides of a stage, the larger one in a tuxedo and top hat, the smaller impish figure in a devilish red suit. The taller tuxedoed figure held a wand, pointed upward toward an ethereal floating figure. The devilish man held a ball of fire in his hand.

I smiled to myself as Max and I made our way through the lobby, my fingers looped through his. Some things had changed since the Victorian era. The tuxedo-clad magician in the poster was a woman. Prometheus and Persephone were a husband and wife magic act with equal billing.

Their style reminded me very much of posters of King-of-Cards Thurston and Carter the Great, both of whom used ghost and devil imagery in their posters and shows to illustrate the motif that they were magicians able to control the spirit world. The ambiance felt more like Paris in 1845, on the day Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin took to the stage at the newly-built Palais Royal theater with his ingenious mechanical inventions and masterful sleight-of-hand. But this was a small theater near Portland, Oregon’s Mt. Tabor, over 150 years later. Seeing that poster made me feel like I’d been transported back in time.

I should know. I attended Robert-Houdin’s show over a century ago.

Though I look outwardly like a woman in her late twenties with trendy dyed-white hair who’s named after her grandmother Zoe Faust, the truth is far different. Long before I bought a run-down house in Portland three months ago, I was born in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1676.

A shiver swept over me as a memory of a different time and place overtook me. Casually-dressed Oregonians with cell phones in their pockets became formally-attired members of society who would remember this performance for a lifetime.

Breathe, Zoe
.
I willed myself to remember it wasn’t a taut corset constricting my breathing, but my own nerves. I had thought tonight’s opening performance would be the perfect way to spend time with Max after he’d been away, but could I trust myself with him? I couldn’t tell him the truth about my past, no matter how much I wanted to.

Maybe this had been a terrible idea.

~~~~~

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Follow the tour for more fun posts.

January 8 – Back Porchervations – Review

January 9 – Queen of All She Reads – Review

January 10 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Review

January 11 – The Bookwyrm’s Hoard – Review

January 11 – Fantastic Feathers – Spotlight

January 12 – deal sharing aunt – Spotlight

January 12 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Spotlight

January 13 – fuonlyknew – Review

January 14 – The Girl with Book Lungs – Spotlight

January 15 – Mallory Heart Reviews – Review

January 16 – Brooke Blogs – Spotlight

January 17 – Teresa Trent Author – Review

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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A Beginner’s Guide To Invading Earth ~ Review and Giveaway

Posted: January 7, 2016 in Aliens, Blog Tour, giveaways, reviews, Science Fiction
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I’m very excited to share A Beginner’s Guide To Invading Earth with ya’ll.

  I have a an interview with the author, along with my review.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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Interview with Author Gerhard Gehrke

Thanks so much for taking time out from your busy tour to answer some questions. Let’s get started, shall we?

 

  1. How long did it take you to write A Beginner’s Guide To Invading Earth?

Two years before editing was complete. It still feels like I didn’t spend enough time on it but if I ever wanted to move on, I had to stop tinkering and let it go so people might actually read it.

  1. What is your target audience?

The book should be accessible to non-science fiction fans and be right up the alley of those comfortable with the genre. It is not overly grotesque or graphic and is appropriate for younger readers. There’s some disrespectful language and mild violence. Three aliens get accidentally impaled with a kite, so be warned.

  1. Could you share with us a favorite part you enjoyed writing?

My editor insisted on a new first chapter where the main character would be introduced and we just spend a few moments with him before the aliens show up. Here I got to reintroduce Jeff Abel to the story and was able to describe him in his mundane element working as kitchen help at a restaurant, while touching on the fact that he used to be a computer programmer who developed a distrust of technology, paranoia, and chronic bad luck.

  1. Where is your favorite place to write?

I have a messy desk with a desktop. Here I have room to adjust my keyboard, my multiple notebooks and Post-Its, and sit at ergonomically horrible angles while pecking away at the keys. Usually one of my wife’s cockatiels is sitting on a knee or foot.

  1. Are you currently working on anything new?

I have a follow-up to A Beginner’s Guide to Invading Earth that is now going through editing. Also I have a post-decline of civilization novel I’m writing where a young girl escapes from a secret sanctuary only to discover that the world outside is a much more complicated place than she had ever imagined.

Five fun shorts.

You are an alien on earth:

  1. Can I take your spaceship for a spin? If you’re telling me you can actually see our ship, then Zn’Fordell is going to get an earful about his ‘foolproof’ cloaking device.
  1. What is your reaction the first time you see a human? “Look, Gurgl’inada, these look just like the natives of Epsilon Eridani 4. Maybe we should be more careful this time.”
  1. Do you have a favorite TV show or movie? We do. Mostly our own shows. But to get good reception on this planet we will have to obliterate your moon as Zn’Fordell forgot to plug in the TiVo.
  1. Are you going to eat my cat? Well he did start it by eating my navigator. Unless by chance you’ve trained your cat in advanced astrogation?

What came first? The chicken or the egg? The egg enjoys deflecting attention to the chicken in order to obfuscate its true diabolical parentage which currently grows under your own city streets. Go ahead, eat the eggs. What doesn’t kill you makes you ours.

~~~~~

A Beginner’s Guide To Invading Earth

by Gerhard Gehrke

ABeginnersGuideToInvadingEarth book cover

Genre: Science Fiction

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My Review

I expected some humor in this story. The title sure suggests it. As does the fun cover art.

There’s a whole lot of laughs here. The author’s choice of casting his main protagonist as your average Joe makes it mysterious and fun.

And the aliens. What can I say. You’d expect them to be intelligent, right? They come from galaxies far, far away. They must be smart to be able to conquer space travel.

Well, that’s not the case here. They seem completely unaware of how scary they look to us humans.

The first few attempts at contact fail dismally. One alien gets run over by a truck, several get shot, and many more meet sticky ends. And when you see the story from their point of view, you’ll shake your head at just how inept and clueless they really are. I wish I could share some of their attempts with you, but don’t want to include spoilers. I may have a warped sense of humor, but I had to laugh, a lot, at how some of the aliens met their ends.

Jeff has no idea he’s been chosen as the person of first contact with the aliens. Why would he. He’s nobody special. When contact is made, he’s soon embroiled in alien politics and conspiracy. He has some help from an outcast alien and a woman with her own agenda. It’s crucial that he discover the reason behind all of the alien deaths before Earth and humanity becomes a target.

I laughed at the beginning, and the laughs just kept coming. The aliens were kind of gross, in a funny way. They smelled. I mean really smelled. And they acted more like children than intelligent beings.

An action/adventure science fiction story for all ages. With loads of laughs and fun characters, and plenty of adventure, this is one I’d recommend to all readers. It has something for everyone. Sure kept me entertained for a few hours.

4 Stars

~~~~~

Synopsis

What would you do if you found a dead alien on a lonely highway?

Was it an accident, sabotage, or murder? And why is everyone blaming Jeff?

The extraterrestrials aren’t waiting for answers. They want revenge. And Jeff isn’t ready for company.

His only hope is an outcast mechanic from another world and a woman who might do anything to get off planet, including selling out her own kind. Jeff has to get to the bottom of why there are so many alien bodies piling up and who is really responsible.

A science fiction adventure novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Invading Earth tells the story of a reclusive ex-computer programmer who is the unwitting central figure of a plot to keep humanity from ever making first contact.

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Enjoy this glimpse inside!

First contact with the humans wasn’t going as planned, as was obvious by the rank smells that choked the air of the alien visitorsʹ craft. But no one called them aliens where they came from.

Seven little Greys, short bipeds with large heads and big eyes and delicate limbs, sat in the flight seats of their ship’s crew compartments and listened as the Mission Commander lectured them from the Command Module. The harangue lingered in the air, not as words or even sounds but as a smell, a ripe one replete with pheromones and scent packets that the Greys used to speak with one another. A new string of curses from the Commander’s glands smelled of licorice. The Mission Commander composed itself. It wiped sticky sweat from its hairless frontal lobe.

The lights and displays in front of the seven crew members blinked and flashed. No one would so much as touch a button until the Commander was finished addressing the crew.

“I’ll hear no more of it,” the Commander said. “We’re on the human world. We go forward. Probability calculations for success show at 100%. The computer will be trusted.”

~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

ABeginnersGuideToInvadingEarth author pic

Gerhard Gehrke studied film at San Francisco State University. He wrote and produced several shows for community television. His Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror short stories have appeared in several publications, including an Editor’s Choice-winning short story at AnotheRealm.com. A Beginner’s Guide to Invading Earth is his first novel.

You can connect with him at these links

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Blog

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Click on the banner below to follow the tour and comment.

The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Goddess Fish Promotions

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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Protector by Vivian Lane ~ An Urban Fantasy ~ Excerpt and Giveaway

Posted: January 4, 2016 in Blog Tour, giveaways, urban fantasy
Tags: , , , , ,
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Protector Banner copy

I enjoy urban fantasy and I’m thrilled to share Protector with you.

It’s the first book in the Children Of Ossiria series.

I fell in love with the cover. So dark and mysterious, and those eyes!

Enjoy the glimpse inside the book.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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Protector

by Vivian Lane

Los Angeles cityscape

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Genre: Urban Fantasy

Synopsis

First in a new series!

Carys Taylor has her life perfectly under control. Equipped with a nice inheritance, she goes where she wants, when she wants, pursuing anything that interests her. So when her old professor asks her to come on a research trip for his thesis, she’s eager to tag along.

Until that ill-fated trip to the South American jungle changes her into a supernatural being. Now she’s sprouting claws and stronger and faster than any human being in existence. The reclusive tribe calls her their Protector – but from what? And why now? Why her?

Carys is pulled into a world she never knew existed. Is she up to the task?

~~~~~

Enjoy this glimpse inside the book!

A month later, it was my first day out doing something normal—shopping at the mall. Up to now, I’d avoided crowds, doing my grocery shopping when the stores were almost deserted. Walking to my car in the parking garage, my hands were full of bags, and a man walked behind me. At first, I didn’t think of hearing someone behind me, until his footsteps sped up to get close to me. He demanded my purse. I was willing to cooperate since I didn’t want to provoke him. Better my stuff than my life, right? That’s what the police tell you to do. So, I set down the bags, and the guy lunged for my purse.

I can’t tell you how I did what happened next.

Next thing I knew, I had the guy in a choke hold with claws pressed to his neck. Claws! The guy started freaking out, then, begging me not to hurt him. I tightened the hold until he blacked out, then called 911 on my cell phone. The police arrived, took my statement and the mugger, and I went home.

Shaking.

My fingernails turned into claws. That was NOT normal. Both hands? I stared at my left. Yep, both hands. Oh God.

And then the fight moves. What was that? This wasn’t The Matrix. I hadn’t been plugged into a machine for a kung fu download. Had I? What really happened in that village?

~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Writer of supernatural badasses.

Vivian Lane is an American author. Born a Gemini, her interests fall under a myriad of subjects including classical music, American and World History; fantasy books, TV shows, and movies; travel, marine biology, and fashion.

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

Protector Purchase Links

Apple / B&N / Amazon

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Click on the banner below to follow the tour and comment.

The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Goddess Fish Promotions

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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A missing ghost and a magic tree ~ The Reader by M. Pax ~ Excerpt & Giveaway

Posted: January 1, 2016 in Blog Tour, Excerpt, Fantasy, giveaways, Series
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The Reader Banner copy

I’m excited to share The Reader with you today.

This is the third book in The Rifters Series.

Come on in and check it out.

Enjoy the peek inside the story.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

~~~~

The Reader

The Rifters Series #3

by M. Pax

The Reader cover two

Genre: Fantasy

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Synopsis

With the rift closed for the season and no more monsters to fight, Daelin Long gets bored as librarian in the podunk town of Settler, Oregon. A job interview and her brother’s arrival present a tempting opportunity to escape, until her brother and her best friend, a ghost, disappear.

While Daelin searches for them, more mysteries pile up: dead people coming back to life, portraits of the town founders replaced with strange white trees, and people on the other side of the rift returning. It’s impossible. The portal that allows monsters from other universes to come to Earth is sealed until next summer.

The Rifters, a secret group protecting our world, believe the troubles are nothing more than the tantrums of an offended ghost. Daelin disagrees. If she’s right, the evil hell-bent on destroying Earth has new technology making the rift more deadly.

Before the monster summons the next apocalypse, Daelin must find it and destroy it.

Book 3 in the Rifter series.

~~~~~

Excerpt

Earl Blacke put on a pair of optilyzers. They resembled aviator goggles from the 1920’s but performed a very different function. They had no buttons, operating by feeding off the energy of auras. Earl peered at Dante. His aura was nonexistent except for a few deep violet spikes. “Why aren’t you glowing like a purple alien candle?”

Dante bordered on fidgeting.

“Does this embarrass you?” Earl asked. “You don’t like showing your non-Earthly colors?”

“I can conceal my aura, and for your safety I do.” Dante lifted his chin and surveyed the clearing carefully. “I’m not the issue. Why you’re seeing your girl is.”

“What if whatever brought her here is masking its aura? You may not be the only thing with such an ability.”

Dante stopped so short, Earl smacked into him hard enough he had to back pedal two steps to regain his balance.

“I’m not a thing. I’m a sentient being with rights. Just like you.” Dante spat then continued to investigate.

“Since you’re not human, you don’t have human rights. What kind of rights are you talking about? Alienable rights, I suppose.” Unable to help himself, Earl guffawed as if he had never laughed in his life. It had been awhile since the urge tickled him.

Dante whirled and smacked Earl on the nose. “Get to work. If something is afoot, you’ve scared it into the next universe by now.”

Gripping his stomach, Earl fought to settle down. “What are we hunting for? You seem to have something in mind.”

“A purple glow. When you find it, holler.” He wiggled his fingers to get Earl moving. “Scatter, and don’t all go searching in the same place.”

~~~~~

Author M. Pax

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  1. Pax is author of the space adventure series The Backworlds and the urban fantasy series The Rifters. Fantasy, science fiction, and the weird beckons to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless inspiration. She ghost hunts for fun with a group of curiosity seekers, docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers as a star guide, has a cat with a crush on Mr. Spock, and is slightly obsessed with Jane Austen.

Learn more at these links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook

See what inspires The Rifters on Pinterest : https://www.pinterest.com/mpaxauthor/the-rifters/

The first two books in the Rifters series can be read for free by becoming an M. Pax Reader. at – http://mpaxauthor.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=5e298cfbe42080a411dcdd9a3&id=c01a285202

Amazon

AmazonUK / AUS / CA / DE / FR / ES / IT / NL / JP / BR / MX / IN

Bookcessories

iBook / Nook / GooglePlay / Kobo / Smashwords / inktera / Scribd

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Click on the banner below to follow the tour and comment.

The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Goddess Fish Promotions

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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Held me book hostage ~ Bob by Tegon Maus ~ Review and Giveaway

Posted: December 29, 2015 in Blog Tour, giveaways, Science Fiction
Tags: , , , , ,
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BOB Banner copy

BOB

by Tegon Maus

BOB book cover

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Genre – Sci-fi (soft)

My Review

The star protagonist in this story is Peter Anderson. Or is he? He used to be a top reporter. Just needs that one great story to get back there. Maybe the piece about strange lights in the sky will do it for him.

It wasn’t long before I was thinking, “What about Bob?” The title is Bob. Who is Bob? I found out soon.

Peter gets his story when he discovers the girl, her hands nailed down to a table. With the help of the mysterious Bob, they rescue her, she quickly vanishes, and things go sideways.

Bob. What can I say about Bob. The easy things – he’s a Russian immigrant, now an American citizen (I think), and a taxi driver.

But there’s something fishy about Bob. He has these cousins. Different ones for different situations, from breaking and entering, to muscle, to aliens. He sure has a lot of “cousins.” And lots of connections.

Not only is Bob a mystery, so is his beat up taxi. To look at it, you’d think it was junk. That’s what Peter thinks when he gets in and the car won’t start. These two simply words from Bob, “Is Belt”, get them out of more than one sticky situation. Like Bob, the car is more than meets the eye.

When my brain wasn’t spinning trying to figure out who was what, I was laughing. There’s so much humor. Bob has some rituals that he uses repeatedly throughout the story, and they never get old. I found myself waiting for each one, and had some fits of giggles.

Aside from the humor, there’s a deep plot. It starts simply and soon develops into a fascinating mystery fraught with action and danger. There is a science fiction aspect to it, but nothing too complicated, and it adds to the intrigue.

There’s a mish mash of colorful characters to meet, plenty of humor, and lots of action and mystery. I was quickly drawn into the story and held hostage until the last page.  The end makes me think more books will be coming. I sure hope so, as I’m still wondering about Bob, and…..and so many other things.

5 Stars

~~~~~

Enjoy this Excerpt – This is one of those signature rituals that made me giggle every time.

“His English not so good,” Bob added, wiggling his hands dismissively.

“Sounded damn good to me,” I said honestly.

“Bob understands. Bob’s friend speak Spanish?” he asked with a little annoyance in his voice, threading his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Nope. Can’t say as I do,” I answered, folding my arms.

“How you say… no speak Spanish?” he asked, folding his arms as well.

“No habla Hispano.”

“AAAHHH, to Bob, Bob’s friend sound like native. Bob thought he smelled burritos, heard waves on beach. Very impressed. Bob’s friend has gift for language. Sure not speak Spanish?”

“Fred,” I said flatly, stepping directly in front of the little man. “Do you speak English?”

“Da. Fred speak no English,” he responded dully, tilting his head from side to side, his arms hung slack, swinging loosely as he spoke.

“Very sad, like Bob say. Fred’s parents live too close to nuclear plant. Sure, sure, rent very cheap but Fred… no brain for English,” Bob said, closing his eyes, shaking his head in a pretentious, melancholy way.

“Bob,” I started.

“Very late. No time for Fred’s story. Bob’s friend want to see house tonight or no?” he asked, pushing himself to stand between me and Fred.

“Alright, have it your way. Let’s go,” I demanded now irritated, angrily grabbing my coat off the back of the chair.

“Nyet, nyet. Bob’s friend almost forget,” he said, turning his back quickly, wriggling his fingers.

“Dear God. Money? Now?” I said, throwing my coat across the back of the chair again.

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Synopsis

After 27 years as a newspaper man, Peter Anderson’s career is slipping away, at least it was, until he stumbled upon the story of a lifetime. Sent to do a fluff piece about lights in the night sky over Arizona, he discovers far more than he ever expected when he comes upon a mysterious young woman held prisoner in a basement. After helping her to escape, she disappears before he can learn the truth about who she is or where she came from. His search for her leads him back to the lights in the sky and leaves him with more questions than answers. The only thing he knows for certain . . . the only thing he can count on are the two words offered repeatedly by his friend and guide . . . “IS BELT.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

BOB author

I was raised pretty much the same as everyone else… devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends I could conjure. Not that I wasn’t friendly, I just wasn’t “people orientated”. Maybe I lived in my head way more than I should have, maybe not. I liked machines more than people, at least I did until I met my wife.

The first thing I can remember writing was for her. For the life of me I can’t remember what it was about… something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married me shortly after that. I spent a good number of years after inventing games and prototypes for a variety of ideas before I got back to writing.

It wasn’t a deliberate conscious thought, it was more of a stepping stone. My wife and I had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. “Be as detailed as you can,” we were told.

I was thrilled. If there is one thing I enjoy it’s making people believe me and I like to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mine you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn’t be sure if it were true or not. When I write, I always write with the effort of “it could happen” very much in mind and nothing, I guarantee you, nothing, makes me happier.

Buy Links: (The Book is 0.99 cents during the tour)

Amazon / B&N

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The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Goddess Fish Promotions

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

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The Winemaker Detective: An Omnibus ~ New Release and Giveaway

Posted: December 16, 2015 in Blog Tour, giveaways, Mystery
Tags: , , , , ,
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Jean-Pierre ALAUX and Noël BALEN

on Tour

November 23-December 23

with

The Winemaker Detective

An Omnibus

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Genre: mystery

Release date: December 5, 2015
at Le French Book

309 pages

ISBN: 9781939474568

Website | Goodreads

SYNOPSIS

The ideal gift for mystery and wine lovers — An immersion in French countryside, gourmet attitude, and light-hearted mystery.

Two amateur sleuths gumshoe around French wine country, where money, deceit, jealousy, inheritance and greed are all the ingredients needed for crime. Master winemaker Benjamin Cooker and his sidekick Virgile Lanssien solve mysteries in vineyards with a dose of Epicurean enjoyment of fine food and beverage. Each story is a homage to wine and winemakers, as well as a mystery.

In Treachery in Bordeaux, barrels at the prestigious grand cru Moniales Haut-Brion wine estate in Bordeaux have been contaminated. Is it negligence or sabotage?

In Grand Cru Heist, Benjamin Cooker’s world gets turned upside down one night in Paris. He retreats to the region around Tours to recover. He and his assistant Virgile turn PI to solve two murders and a very particular heist.

In Nightmare in Burgundy, a dream wine tasting trip to Burgundy turns into a troubling nightmare when Cooker and his assistant stumble upon a mystery revolving around messages from another era.

This made-for-TV series is “difficult to forget and oddly addictive” (ForeWord Reviews).

About The Authors

Alaux-Balen

 

Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen,
wine lover and music lover respectively,
came up with the idea for the Winemaker Detective series
while sharing a meal,
with a bottle of Château Gaudou 1996,
a red wine from Cahors
with smooth tannins and a balanced nose.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS

Anne Trager loves France so much she has lived there for 27 years and just can’t seem to leave. What keeps her there is a uniquely French mix of pleasure seeking and creativity. Well, that and the wine. In 2011, she woke up one morning and said, “I just can’t stand it anymore. There are way too many good books being written in France not reaching a broader audience.” That’s when she founded Le French Book to translate some of those books into English. The company’s motto is “If we love it, we translate it,” and Anne loves crime fiction, mysteries and detective novels.
***
Sally Pane studied French at State University of New York Oswego and the Sorbonne before receiving her Masters Degree in French Literature from the University of Colorado where she wrote Camus and the Americas: A Thematic Analysis of Three Works Based on His Journaux de Voyage. Her career includes more than twenty years of translating and teaching French and Italian at Berlitz and at University of Colorado Boulder. She has worked in scientific, legal and literary translation; her literary translations include Operatic Arias; Singers Edition, and Reality and the Untheorizable by Clément Rosset, along with a number of titles in the Winemaker Detective series. She also served as the interpreter for the government cabinet of Rwanda and translated for Dian Fossey’s Digit Fund. In addition to her passion for French, she has studied Italian at Colorado University, in Rome and in Siena. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband.

 

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***

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Global giveaway open internationally:
5 participants will each win a copy of this book.

Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook,
for more chances to win

Visit each blogger on the tour:
tweeting about the giveaway everyday
of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time!
[just follow the directions on the entry-form]

***

CLICK ON THE BANNER

TO READ OTHER REVIEWS AND EXCERPTS

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Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!

The Traitor’s Trap ~ Excerpt and Giveaway

Posted: December 16, 2015 in Blog Tour, Fantasy, giveaways
Tags: , , , ,
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Traitor's Trap

Blog Tour Schedule

traitors trapThe Traitor’s Trap by Brendan Murphy

It’s tough being a thirteen-year old schoolboy, especially when you’re a coward and the big brother who stuck up for you is dead. Oh, and you’ve been thrust into a magical realm you’re expected to save single-handedly. Sebastian Duffy has to learn an awful lot of skills in a hurry if he is to defeat Phobitor by stealing the Spear of Lugh from the peace-loving Tuath. He’s been given some help of course–a mercurial sorceress, an orphaned druidess, a taciturn warrior, a snuff-sniffing leprechaun and a lovelorn poet– an outfit known as the Hibernauts, but can he really overcome a psychopathic, warmongering god when half the realm is bent on his destruction? If he is to have the remotest chance he will have to do deal with aiia, cluricaun, brigands, woodwose, undead warriors, speckled bats, spies, hunkypunks, traitors, skeletons and battle-swine first. And are those Tuath really so peaceable? If only he could find his courage.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

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Praise for The Traitor’s Trap

An imaginative epic…an intricate and fully realised fantasy world with a big cast of likeable characters that are charming, well drawn and endearing, with wonderfully apt names. The depth and breadth of the author’s high-voltage imagination, and the richness of the world created is very impressive.
~Sam Mills, author of Blackout, The Boys Who Saved the World, and The Quiddity of Will Self

I cannot say just how much I have enjoyed this book … a very accomplished writer with a wonderfully rich imagination and an incredibly inventive mind. Readers will come to love the many wonderful creations in this novel, it is jam-packed with the most wonderful and inventive characters; new, exciting and beautifully realized. ~Cherry Mosteshar, author of Unveiled: One Woman’s Nightmare in Iran.

Check Out This Exciting Excerpt

Static fizzed in his littlest fingers. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. He turned to Conall and pointed. Sparks flew from the tips, longer and longer ones that raced across the space separating them. Of a sudden, two streaks of light burst from his fingertips upending Conall who fell perilously close to the edge. Irritated at not finishing him off, Sebastian turned to Roisin and Blodwyn, raising his littlest fingers. Thinking better of it, he span back to Conall. Fearless of the slippery rocks, he sauntered over and delivered a fierce kick to Conall’s loins intending to roll him off the edge. The warrior barely moved. Raising his fingers, he pointed them downward, watching with satisfaction as the sparks crackled and kindled, building up to the killer crescendo. He playfully sent Conall’s prostate body this way and that, edging him ever closer to the precipice. It felt so good to be killing this insect. 

 

A renewed roar arose as the host of knights poured onto the battlefield. Sebastian let his spyglass fall, transfixed. A dreamlike veil began billowing at the edge of his vision, yet it dissolved rapidly and the scene sharpened into crystal clarity. Countless souls were being murdered before his eyes. His defenses breached, harrowing screams flooded his ears; an awful sound he could not bear. He forced his gaze upwards. 
Gobbleratches had arrived in droves and the sky was filled with twisting, plummeting forms. He sank to his knees. 
“I could have prevented this,” he wailed, curling into a ball. “Why did they do this to me? How could they expect me to kill thousands to save more? I’m just a boy.” 
He screwed his eyes shut and pressed his palms against his ears, trying to zone out. It did no good. The battle consumed his senses. He could taste it. 
“Are you alright?” asked Blodwyn, her voice appearing to come at him down a tunnel. 
“Why did you bring me here?” he cried angrily, his hands trembling uncontrollably. 
“I’m so sorry,” sobbed Blodwyn, dropping beside him. “I’m so, so sorry.” 
“I can’t get away,” he screamed. “I’m scared. I want to go away. I want to go home.” 
Feeling her hands on him, he pushed her roughly away, but when she persisted he found he had no fight left and he let her fold herself around him, opening his eyes to her hypnotic gaze. He saw her raise her arm and bring it toward him, felt the branch touch his brow, and as her lips brushed his lobes and her tears kissed his face, heard the words she whispered in his ear, knew, even as he dissolved into sleep, that he had never heard anything so wonderful in all his life. 
“Child of my heart,” she murmured. “Child of my heart.” 

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BrendanAuthor Brendan Murphy

Brendan Murphy was raised in Sheffield, England, with dreams of becoming a writer, and has written every day since he was nine years old. After reading medicine in London and psychiatry in Manchester, he moved to Australia in 1999. He is an Associate Professor at Monash University and has written widely on youth mental health. His nonfiction work on the development of football in Victorian society, From Sheffield with Love, was published in 2007. He is contracted to Assent Publishing for his six-book fantasy series, Sebastian and the Hibernauts. The first adventure, Beyond the Gloaming was published in 2014 and the sequel, The Traitor’s Trap, in 2015. He is a columnist for Aontacht magazine. He lives with his wife, Katrina, and their children, Sebastian and Violette, in a sprawling property built for the composer, Dorian Le Gallienne. They share their garden with a mob of kangaroos, a wombat, two possums, any number of creepy crawlies, and some very feisty kookaburras.

Website * Twitter * Facebook

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Blog Tour $25 Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 12/28/15

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!

Heartwarming stories by multiple authors ~ Sheltered Love Series ~ Excerpts & Giveaway

Posted: December 14, 2015 in Blog Tour, giveaways, Romance, Series
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Poet Anderson…Of Nightmares ~ Review and Giveaway

Posted: December 11, 2015 in Blog Tour, giveaways, horror, reviews, Science Fiction, YA
Tags: , , , , ,
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We are excited to announce that the young adult novel Poet Anderson…Of Nightmares by Tom DeLonge and Suzanne Young is now available for sale! Welcome to my tour stop, be sure to stop by the tour page for the full schedule.

From the critically acclaimed transmedia project Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker, comes one of the most anticipated collaborations in YA literature this year: a thrilling, edge of your seat story written by award-winning musician, producer and director Tom DeLonge and New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young.

Poet Anderson…Of Nightmares follows the epic journey of two orphan brothers, Jonas and Alan, who are Lucid Dreamers. After a tragic car accident lands Alan in a coma, Jonas sets out into the Dream World in an attempt to find his brother and wake him up. What he discovers instead is an entire shared consciousness where fear comes to life as a snarling beast called a Night Terror, and a creature named REM is bent on destruction and misery, devouring the souls of the strongest dreamers to get closer to the Waking World. With the help of a Dream Walker—a guardian of the dreamscape, Jonas must face his fears, save his brother, and become who he was always meant to be: Poet Anderson.

Poet Cover Sept 17 2016

 My Review

Alan and Jonas are brothers, orphans. They have only each other. They’re also Lucid Dreamers, able to move in dream worlds. When an accident lands Alan in a coma, Jonas must enter the dream world to find his brother and wake him up.

He’ll have to face a monstrous creature, his very own Night Terror, and REM, an evil being bent on entering the real world.

I enjoyed the names of some of the beings. Night Terrors and REM (rapid eye movement) are both sleep conditions and great choices. Caused some “I see” moments for me.

Jonas starts out fumbling in the dream world but catches on quick. Thrown into dangerous situations, he adapts. Save his brother, the girl he loves, the dream walkers, and the world, a heavy burden rests on his young shoulders.

At first glance the cover looks creepy. Take another look. See all of those images. I give five stars on the cover alone. So creative.

Action galore. It never slows down. Between the dream world and the waking one, you are pulled along at a face pace.

It feels a bit sci-fi, a bit horror, a bit action and adventure, and all thrilling. I can honestly say this story is something totally new for me. Not even sure how to tag it.

poet anderson and biloxi trip two 037

I have the hard cover edition and it is awesome. The cover art leaps out at you and the book comes with a music CD. I listened to it while reading and it really lent atmosphere and excitement.

A great collaboration brings you an amazing reading experience.

5 Stars

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About the Authors:


Tom DeLonge is an award-winning American musician, producer and director best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the platinum selling rock bands Blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves. His home is San Diego, where he focuses on creating entertainment properties that bridge music, narrative and film through his multimedia company To The Stars. For the full experience of Tom’s work, visit www.tothestars.media.

Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order. Suzanne is the author of THE PROGRAM, THE TREATMENT, THE REMEDY, and HOTEL RUBY.

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GIVEAWAY:
Poet Anderson Complete Music and Book Gift Box
Open Worldwide
Ends December 23, 2015
Prizing is provided by the publisher, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 17. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.

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This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

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Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!

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