Archive for the ‘giveaways’ Category

Partners In Crime Tours

Unleashed

A Kate Turner, DVM, Mystery

by Eileen Brady

24789385

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 4th 2015
Number of Pages: 272
Series: Kate Turner, DVM #2
ISBN: 9781464203947
Purchase Links:

Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Goodreads

My Review

What’s not to love. A fun cozy mystery, colorful characters, sweet cover art, and the book is full of critters. I knew I had to read Unleashed.

I had a good time and met some fun characters. Dr. Kate Turner came across as professional and spunky. I could feel the authors experience in her and loved the interaction between Kate and her patients.

There were some interesting cases with her patients. The one with the potbellied pig was so funny. It’s always wonderful to read how other people are with their precious furry family members. We all hold them so dear.

The case was a pickle too. Not easily solved and fun was had ‘sniffing’ out clues and following wrong ‘leads.’ Excuse the puns:)

Oak Falls reminds me a lot of my hometown. It’s small, most of us know each other, by sight if not by name. There’s a huge animal coalition and artist colony too. And many of our veterinarians make house calls. I felt quite at home in this town too.

As for romance. I think there’s something about to happen between Kate and Luke, the sexy police officer. They’re good friends but me thinks they are both denying a sexual attraction. Could get interesting.

Love animals, mysteries that lead you down winding roads, and lots of humor? You’ll enjoy Unleashed and I urge you to give it a read.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Dr. Kate Turner is happy with her new life in Oak Falls, upstate New York. Working as a relief veterinarian at a small house-call practice, she truly enjoys helping her patients.

All that changes when client Claire Birnham is found dead, an apparent suicide. A talented artist, Claire had everything to live for: new job, Manhattan apartment, her Cairn terrier Toto. As feisty as the Wizard of Oz Toto, he and Claire were devoted. Kate can’t imagine Claire simply abandoning her pet. Was her death murder?

Questions end in the police arresting young kennel helper Eugene. The fragile friendship between Kate and police officer Luke Gianetti frays as she ignores his advice and keeps asking questions. House calls provide gossip and clues, some helpful, some not so much, as she treats her animal patients. Did Claire’s recent insurance windfall prove too tempting for her hard working and hard drinking mother? What does trouble in the art gallery where Claire worked signal? How huge a grudge did heavy metal rocker A.J. hold against high-school sweetheart Claire after she dumped him? Was Claire a threat to AJ’s rich new girl?

Dr. Kate mixes real medicine with murder as she risks her life over Claire’s death, aided by insights from a former fire investigator, aka her Gramps. Unleashed is as irresistible as Muzzled.

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Author Eileen Brady

Eileen Brady

Eileen Brady is a veterinarian living in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a wife and mother of two daughters and often has to chase her six cats and two dogs away from her laptop keyboard. The Kate Turner, DVM Mysteries is her first series.

Website / Facebook / Goodreads

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for Eileen Brady & Poisoned Pen Press. There will be one US winner of 1 Box of Poisoned Pen Press books including Unleashed by Eileen Brady. The giveaway begins on September 1st, 2015 and runs through September 31st, 2015. For US residents only.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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

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Jean-Philippe Blondel

on Tour September 14-18

with

The 6:41 To Paris

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Genre: Adult Fiction

Release date: November 10, 2015
at New Vessel Press

153 pages

ISBN: 978-1939931269

Website | Goodreads

My Review

I can honestly say I’ve not read a book like this before. That said, I’ll do my best to intrigue you more.

Imagine you bump into a former lover, someone you’d trusted, hoped to spend the rest of your life with. And he betrayed you so deeply.

It’s been 30 years, but the pain still festers for Cecile, the wound freshly opened by a chance encounter with Philippe on a train.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?” This quote came to mind as I was privy to Cecile’s thoughts.

It’s one and a half hours until the train reaches their stop. Ride with them. Enter their minds. Hear what they are thinking.

Such a twisted tale. It’s one thing to imagine what someone is thinking. It’s something else entirely to read those thoughts, unguarded and almost vicious. I felt uncomfortable.  That’s when I realized how well this story worked. If the author could unsettle me with his story, then his characters came across as living, breathing people.

I read this in less time than the characters shared on their train ride. The story stayed with me a lot longer.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Cecile, a stylish 47-year-old, has spent the weekend visiting her parents in a provincial town southeast of Paris. By early Monday morning, she’s exhausted. These trips back home are always stressful and she settles into a train compartment with an empty seat beside her. But it’s soon occupied by a man she instantly recognizes: Philippe Leduc, with whom she had a passionate affair that ended in her brutal humiliation 30 years ago. In the fraught hour and a half that ensues, their express train hurtles towards the French capital. Cécile and Philippe undertake their own face to face journey—In silence? What could they possibly say to one another?—with the reader gaining entrée to the most private of thoughts. This is a brilliant psychological thriller, a high-wire act of emotions on rails, about past romance, with all its pain and promise.

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Check out this glimpse inside the book!

I love to hear the sound of the doors closing. It signals the beginning of an egocentric and self-indulgent interlude. For the next two hours, nothing can really happen to you. Everything is taken care of. You can decide to immerse yourself in a novel, or succumb to the trance of the music coming from your headphones. You can also vanish into the screen of your laptop, into emails, spreadsheets, numbers, reports, and establish a direct yet disembodied connection with the outside world.

I don’t do any of that. I daydream. Train journeys are rare opportunities to let go and lower my guard. Whereas in the Métro or the RER I can’t do that. I’m always on the alert.

             The seat next to me has not been taken.

It stays empty.

The train starts to move.

I’m of two minds.

On the one hand, I’m relieved. It’s true that it’s a bit weird, the closeness you get in a railroad car. You’re only a few inches away from another person, another story, and you know that in the event of a crash, your skin will mingle with theirs. And then, these SNCF seats aren’t comfortable. A little more room would be great. Room enough to stretch out and doze off, if you feel like it, all the way to the Gare de l’Est—and catch up on lost sleep. We’re all trying to catch up on lost sleep. When you’ve got a neighbor, you have to sit up straight, almost like at school, and when the conductor goes by, you almost feel like raising a finger and saying, “Present.”

But another side of me wants to protest. Why am I the only one without a temporary partner? Am I giving off the sort of body odor that immediately deters any hypothetical candidates? Am I that ugly? Do I frighten them? Intimidate them? So here I sit, the only person sitting alone in the whole car—isn’t there even some old lady who could come and keep my thoughts from going round in circles? Or some vague acquaintance I could chat with about the weather or the passage of time?

I wonder what the other passengers think when they look at me. They see a woman who is neither young nor old, fairly well preserved. A somewhat inscrutable expression, lips that could stand to be a little fuller, a deep line across her forehead, two others on either side of her mouth. Light makeup. Nicely tailored clothes. Discreet elegance. Relatively slim figure. Why isn’t she traveling first class?

For the simple reason that the 6:41 is a regional train, where the differences in comfort between first and second class are minimal. And besides, the number of first-class seats has been so drastically reduced that the half-car devoted to first is often jam-packed, while there are still empty seats in second class. Well, usually. Today the entire train is jammed. All that’s left is the orphaned seat next to me. A privilege I would not have enjoyed in first class, where I would probably be stuck next to some corpulent senior executive reeking of aftershave, who would spend the entire time calling his superiors or his underlings, in spite of the notice requesting cell phones in sleep mode.

And besides, I like to travel second class. I feel like this is where I belong. My accountant laughs at me. He reminds me that Pourpre et Lys is one the trendiest shops around. That with two stores in Paris, one in Bordeaux, one in Lyon, and projects to expand all over France, I should start getting used to the idea that I have become an entrepreneur. Someone who in the decade ahead will count for something in the business world. In spite of the crisis, or because of it, organic beauty products have a bright future—particularly when the prices are still reasonable and the emphasis is placed on respect for regional traditions and on protecting the environment. Soaps that you cut yourself. Shampoo sold in reusable bottles. Ads printed on recycled paper. Clear, concise labels on plain brown paper, with the name of the product in black, and the ingredients below. Chic and sober. My brand.

Valentine and Luc have begun to realize. Luc increasingly shuts himself away in his study. A sort of rivalry has arisen between us and he’s struggling, even though he’s known from the start that he’ll lose. Soon I’ll be earning much more money than him.

He’s been saying we have to move, we have to go back to Paris proper and leave our big house in the suburbs behind, the house with the garden where Valentine grew up. She couldn’t care less either way. She’s finishing her lycée and would rather stay with her friends for another year, but she’s already informed me that she intends to have her own studio in a lively neighborhood right in Paris next year. The forty-five minute commute to Sucy, no thanks. Luc also thinks I should stop taking the RER now, but it’s out of the question. My brand is also about reducing the executive personnel’s expenditure. Even if I know that sooner or later we’ll move back to the city; for the time being, the business is too precarious, and it could vanish in a puff of wind—poor management, competition, unrealistic ambitions. I don’t want to add private loans to professional ones. At heart I’m still a provincial banker. After all, that’s what I was trained to do. After two years of training in marketing techniques I found myself unemployed. So I got a vocational training certificate in banking. I pictured myself behind the counter in a branch in the town where I grew up. Sometimes life takes us a long way from the place we thought we were headed. Sometimes that’s a good thing.

It has taken me quite awhile.

That’s another of my character traits: I’m slow. But persevering. I thought about my project for years, when I was barely making ends meet as an administrative assistant in a financial analyst’s office, then in one of those multinationals that are all about new technologies, cell phones, computers, and consoles. I sat there watching while those gung-ho reps crushed their competitors. Then witnessed their fall a few years later. I learned how to be discreet and impeccable to a fault. To be the model employee. To serve whoever was boss: the aging ones who couldn’t keep up to speed and sat around dreaming of their retirement in the Sologne; the young ones who were working up to their first heart attack; they could be warm, icy, scathing, offhand. And I figured out how it all worked. I spent a lot of time reading, too. Books about business, accounting, marketing. Luc just laughed at me. He thought I was immersing myself in all that in order to get closer to him, to what he did every day. Because Luc is one of those aging, interchangeable, middle management execs—for a stationery company that is relocating by the hour. They don’t even have a production site in France anymore. Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland: it’s all concentrated in Eastern Europe.

Luc had his hour of glory when he was able to negotiate a schedule that would allow him to take Valentine to school every morning and pick her up in the evening, when she was small. He would chat with the other moms and with the primary school teachers. He was their darling, they were ecstatic to see a man looking after his kids. Those very same women who think it’s only natural for the mother to do it—that’s their role, after all, it’s only fair. I hate women like them—because they are mainly women; they’re the very reason clichés have such a long life.

And then, eight years ago now, everything changed. I came out with my plan. And I embellished it with an ultimatum to my husband: either you go along with it, or we split up. I let him call me every name in the book, but I knew he’d be there for me. Because he still loves me. Because he admires my combativeness. And because the project was unbeatable. The banks had already given their approval. The 2001 crisis was behind us, the 2008 crisis was still to come. And the banks felt like investing.

I have a good relationship with my husband.

Often difficult, but solid.

We’re a team.

We know each other inside out; we are perfectly acquainted with each other’s weaknesses and strengths. But we can still surprise one another. Last month, he suggested dropping everything in order to assist me if Pourpre et Lys really took off. That’s the verb he used, “assist.” With a smile, he pledged to be my vassal. I don’t know many men who are capable of doing that.

Well, by the looks of it I’m going to sit here by myself. I really don’t feel like consulting the latest figures or reading outstanding e-mails. I’ll go back to the book I bought at the station on Friday on the way down. Some sort of family saga set in northern Germany. Nothing great, but it’s restful. And that’s what I need this morning, rest. I’m on my way home from the weekend and I’m exhausted. It’s not a paradox. It’s my life.

Ah-hah, there’s a guy looking for somewhere to sit. He comes a bit closer. He stops. He glances at the seat. Hesitates. Keeps walking. Turns around again. I avoid looking at him. I can just detect his movement at the edge of my vision. For a moment I think I’ve won, that his desire for comfort is about to collide with the invisible wall of my indifference. No such luck. He clears his throat quietly, his voice is somewhat hoarse. “Excuse me, is this seat taken?” God, the idiotic phrases we say every day. I shake my head and sigh, just to let him know it really is a bother. I pull my bag out of the way and decide to look him in the face.

Oh. My. God.

About The Author

portrait de Jean-philippe Blondel

Jean-Philippe Blondel
was born in 1964 in Troyes, France
where he lives as an author and English teacher.
His novel The 6:41 to Paris
has been a bestseller in both France and Germany.

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About The Translator

Alison Anderson is a novelist and translator of literature from French. Among the authors she has translated are JMG Le Clézio, Christian Bobin, Muriel Barbery and Amélie Nothomb. She has lived in Northern California and currently lives in a village in Switzerland.
Follow New Vessel Press on Twitter | on Facebook
Sign up to receive their latest news and deals.

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You can enter the global giveaway here
or on any other book blogs participating in this tour.

Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook,
they are listed in the entry form below
.

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]

Global giveaway open to US residents only:
5 participants will each win an ARC print copy of this book.

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Click On The Banner To Read Other reviews and Excerpts

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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

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Threads of Evidence
by Lea Wait

This book was an attention getting, fast moving story that led to a reveal like none I have read.
~Lisa Ks Book Reviews

I love the blend of past and present in this series; it gives the town and the people a depth …
~The Bookwyrm’s Hoard

Ms. Wait is an accomplished storyteller. She has a wonderful talent for weaving friendship, mystery, and romance into her books, creating characters and situations which are realistic and enjoyable.
~Book Babble

Threads of Evidence
(A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery)

18938930
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Kensington (August 25, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1617730061

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My Review

There are several things I look for in a cozy. Let me break these down for you.

The cover. It must be colorful and fun and have something to do with the story. The cover for Threads Of Evidence is all of those things. It’s fun, colorful and a bit spooky. Showing the antiques, the needle point, and the candle gives it a haunted atmosphere.

The title. The title is quirky and leads right into the theme of this one.

The mystery. This has more than one. I had fun reading how they connected and didn’t have clue until near the end. Then, I was wrong. You have a cold case, the accidental death or murder of a young girl in the 70s. And the attempted murder of a new resident in the town of Haven Harbor, Maine.

The town. I like small towns. Haven Harbor, Maine is just that. The author painted a pretty picture with her words and I felt comfortable there, despite the dark deeds occurring.

The characters and their names.

I’ll talk about names first. I like it when names are used that are popular in the area the story takes place. Some are quite unusual and fun to try to pronounce in my head. You get plenty in this cast.

About those characters themselves. I’m huge on character driven stories and like to have several to love and loathe. There are so many in this book, I can’t possibly pick a favorite.

Angie’s return home is anything but uneventful. She lands a job appraising the contents of Aurora, a long abandoned and fallen to ruin mansion. Doesn’t every town have one of these? She’s quickly drawn into the cold case of a young girl’s possible murder. Her previous job working for a private investigator help her in this case. She’s good at sniffing out clues and handling the local police. Let’s just hope her curiosity, like a cat’s, doesn’t require she needs nine lives.

There’s the famous actress, Skye West, who along with her handsome son, Patrick,(possible love interest for Angie?) purchased the aging mansion and are fixing it up. I believe there is more to the purchase than that. Perhaps another mystery to explore?

I could go on, but then I’d be telling you half of the story.

I read this one fairly quickly. The writing flowed easily, the characters were engaging and distinct, and the mysteries had me hooked. I needed to solve them for myself.

I was also fascinated with the old mansion. I used to spend summers with my best friend at her father’s place. He had this small cabin in the middle of nowhere. We’d find these overgrown roads and drive down them to see where they went. We found many old houses in various states of decay. Being careful, we explored them. I found a lot of interesting stuff, and often wondered about the previous owners. Why did they abandon the house and leave their stuff behind? Did something tragic happen? I often thought I felt a presence lingering. Pretty sure it was my over active imagination.

What fun it must have been for these characters to go through that old mansion. Discovering it’s past, uncovering it’s secrets.

A fun cozy, with all the material to make me happy.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

It’s hard to imagine anything bad ever happening in picturesque Haven Harbor, Maine–until a famous face rolls into town and unthreads some very dark secrets. . .

Angie Curtis and the Mainely Needlepointers are all too familiar with the Gardener estate. The crumbling Victorian mansion, known as “Aurora,” has been sitting vacant for nearly twenty-five years–and some say it’s haunted by the ghost of Jasmine Gardener, the teenage girl who died there in 1970 under mysterious circumstances…

Harbor Haven is abuzz with excitement when Hollywood actress Skye West decides to buy Aurora and sell off its furnishings. And Angie is intrigued when Skye asks her to appraise the estate’s sizable collection of needlepoint pictures. But the more she examines the pieces, the more they seem to point toward Jasmine’s murder–and the murderer–and it’s up to her to stitch the clues together. . .

lea1

About This Author

Lea Wait lives on the coast of Maine. A fourth generation antique dealer, and author of the Agatha-nominated Shadows Antique Print mystery series, she loves all things antiques and Maine, and she’s learning to do needlepoint. She also writes historical novels for young people set in (where else?) nineteenth-century Maine. Lea adopted her four daughters when she was single; she’s now the grandmother of eight, and married to artist Bob Thomas.

http://www.leawait.com/

 

Purchase Links: Amazon        B&N             Shop Indie Bookstores

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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

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K9Blue Banner

This books sounds so thrilling.

I didn’t have time to read and review it for the tour, but I will be doing it later!

Cops, bad guys, and a magnificent K9 Police Dog. What’s not to love.

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K9 Blue

Ground Zero

by Matt McCredie

K9Blue Cover

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Police dog handler Mike Winters and his furry partner Falcon love a good chase. They’ll do anything to protect the streets of Sydney, whether it’s tracking a murderer through the woods or breaking up a bar brawl. To them, it’s all fun and games until the bad guy gets hurt. And then it’s just fun.

Lately though, it seems that violent incidents are on the rise. When Mike and Falcon’s beloved commander is killed in action, Mike is determined to bring the perpetrators to justice, but he has no idea just how deep this malevolent plot runs.

A terrorist organisation has devised a plan to attack the city from all sides, and they have taken over a refuelling ship in Sydney Harbour. Mike and Falcon must use all of their wit and courage to battle the killers, expose police corruption, and, if they’re lucky, save a city from obliteration.

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Check out this thrilling excerpt.

Falcon had forced a hole in the cheering crowd, persuading them to move with his loudest and most intimidating bark. A few quick snaps at the slower-moving buttocks and he was through. Mike was right behind him, and looking just as menacing with his leather-and-chain lead in one hand and a long baton in the other.

‘Jesus Christ’. One brother officer was lying under pot plants in a pool of his own blood, while the other was being strangled by one of the biggest Islanders he had ever seen, who was seemingly immune to the punches and kicks of the two door men on his back. The only damage and pain they were inflicting was on themselves as their blows bounced off his muscled exterior. It took about half a second before Mike pulled himself together.

‘Dog 26, signal one! Officer down, get everyone here now!’

The radio answered, but Mike wasn’t listening. He ran forward, which was relatively easy as Falcon was working all four legs at double overtime. He had targeted the massive Samoan and was going to take him on no matter what. Mike knew what was coming and yelled out to the bouncers.

‘Get off him, now!’

As soon as the two bouncers were clear of the action, Mike let go of the lead, releasing Falcon about five metres from his target. The Samoan looked up just in time to see a set of open jaws on a direct collision course with his face. He let go of the female cop, raising his fists in a vain attempt to punch the flying dog back to where it came from. All too late, he opened his mouth to yell. Falcon locked jaws with the Islander, driving his snout clean into the man’s mouth and clamping his jaws shut. The soft tissue inside the drunken cavity popped and tore as Falcon bit down even harder, using the strength in his powerful neck to shake the man left and right; he forced the Samoan to the ground. He couldn’t even scream in terror or pain as Falcon still filled his mouth. He moved his ham-sized hands to Falcon’s throat, not to try and force him off, but to strangle him.

Mike saw what was happening and, even though he knew Falcon could take care of himself, he took exception to this grub trying to throttle his mate. He raised his long baton up over his shoulder and swung the entire spun-aluminium shaft down as hard as he could, smashing it into the right elbow of the bulging arm. The devastating impact popped the joint, which forced his forearm down on an ugly, unnatural angle. Dislocated, it swung uselessly to his side. The blood sprayed harder from the corners of the Samoan’s mouth as he forced the deep red fluid out with his silent scream. His manic breathing forced air noisily between Falcon’s jowls and his own torn mouth.

‘Sorry, mate, just evening things up,’ Mike quipped as he saw other police wading into the crowd. They barged towards the front doors, pushing bodies aside in their frantic attempts to back up their mates.

‘I’ll take care of this idiot. You guys check on those two. And we’re going to need three ambulances.’

Mike directed the rest of the police around the scene as he leaned over Falcon and gave him his command to let go. Falcon’s broad chest and muscular front legs were splattered with a goryreminder of his emphatic victory. He stood next to Mike with his ears up and his chest stuck out with pride. His hackles were still up and massive paws firmly planted, daring anyone else to come near for the same treatment. He kept up a low, menacing growl, interrupted at intervals by a booming bark as he watched four other police officers handcuff and drag the Samoan over to a waiting ambulance. The layer of blood splattered over his chest and body only made him look crazier. Mike checked over Falcon’s body to make sure there were no injuries.

‘Jesus, mate, you really went to town on this one. Now you look like a prop from a bad horror movie.’

He took out a hose from behind the pot plants and washed the red stain away from Falcon’s black and tan fur. Satisfied with the quick rinse, he trotted him back over to their car. There was no need to yell at anyone or tell them to move. They had all seen it, and nobody wanted to take the chance of becoming the next bite bag.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Matt McCredie

Matt McCredie joined the New South Wales Police Force in 1992 working in Uniform and plain clothes before being accepted into the elite NSW Police Dog Squad where he spent 13 years as a dog handler. During his police service Matt was awarded two Commissioners Commendations for bravery. He has published two non fiction titles, Blue Paws (2009) and The Real Inspector Rex (2013). Matt is an accomplished public and corporate speaker and lives in Sydney with his wife and two children.

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Links

Facebook

Buy Link

Amazon

NOTE: The book is only $0.99.

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Matt will be awarding an eCopy of K9 Blue: Ground Zero to 3 randomly drawn winners.

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

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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

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This is my own version of a weekly book haul and all things new on fuonlyknew.

Another fun way to share your book news and enjoy others is The Sunday Post hosted by

Sunday Post

Kimberly the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Head on over and leave a link to your Sunday Post and hop around to visits others.

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Some chit chat.

Not much new happened in my life this week. Just lots of work. It’s been so hot and humid here. I work outside, detailing cars, and the heat just wore me down. I came home from work Friday and decided to take a nap. I went in my bedroom since my dog, Quigley, had taken up the couch. LOL

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I laid down at 4 P.M. and woke up at 8 P.M. I slept the sleep of the dead and never even changed position! That’s how wiped out I was.

I do look forward to an easing of the temperature but don’t want to give up my swimming. So, Fall, please hold off a while longer. I can wait!

I have lots of books to share. Some new review books, a few I grabbed just because, lots of reviews, and a bunch of freebies I scoured off Amazon for you to pick and choose from. It’s a good thing I don’t grab all those freebies or my Kindle would runneth over!

I leave you with a favorite song of mine by The Rascals. Happy Sunday ya’ll!

I’ll be hopping over to check out your Sunday posts so be sure to leave me your link!

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Here are my new books for review.

A new one from Joyce and Jim Lavene! How could I resist!

And….

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I’ll be reading and reviewing Reimburse the Universe and one other book by Lisa McDonald. I’ll share the cover when allowed.

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Some I grabbed just because, well, I wanted them!

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And here are some freebies for ya!

Click on the covers to get yours and remember to make sure they’re still free before you click that buy button.

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Books I reviewed this week. Click on the covers for my reviews.

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Books I’ll be reviewing next week.

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What I won.

eBooks

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I won Jeff Lindsay’s new book, Tropical Depression. You might recognize him by his awesome character, Dexter. The book and TV serial killer we all love!

And I won the first two books in The Preyfinder Series by Cari Silverwood. Boy, they look amazing!

Print Books

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Aoleon The Martian Girl is a series I reviewed earlier this year. The author sent me the complete set, signed! They are spectacular!

I finally received The Drafter. So excited. And now I can start by reading Sideswiped first.

Guarded, Forbidden, and Just Say Yes were some awesome wins too. I only enter giveaways if I really want to read the books and these sure fit the bill!

Huge thanks to the blog hosts, authors, and tour organizers for these wonderful prizes.

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Other Posts on my blog this week.

The Montmartre Mysteries Tour ~ Spotlight and Giveaway

Tag Team Review and Giveaway ~ Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation ~ They’re back and so very hungry!

Once Again, With Blood ~ A Vampire Satire by Larry Weiner

Can Ghosts Love? Onyx Webb ~ Review and Giveaway

Isolation ~ A Faye Longchamp Mystery ~ Review and Giveaway

A Zombie Thanksgiving by Anthony Renfro ~ A freebie for your holiday reading!

The Extraordinary Days by Polly Decks ~ Blast and Giveaway

It’s a deadly game ~ Hit ‘N Run by Lori Power ~ Guest Post and Giveaway

The Friday 56 #77 ~ Stillwater: A Jack McBride Mystery

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Have you joined TSU yet?

Click on the widget to friend and follow me!

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Fora list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free books updated daily go HERE

For all of my giveaways go HERE

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So, what did you get to read this week?

Got any recommendations?

I’d love to know and thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew.

HitNRun banner

Welcome to my stop on the tour for Hit And Run. I have a wonderful guest post from the author and a fun excerpt to share with you.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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Author Lori Power is here with a fascinating Guest Post about character creation.

When writing, for me, characters quickly take on a life of their own. In building the bones of the story, I may start with one idea of what I would like to see them do, but as I set their personality down on paper, this quickly changes to the point where the characters ‘lead’ me where they would actually go. The moment I try to force a scene—that is the time I block. The passage won’t work no matter how much I push for it to happen. As soon as I cut the problem, search the depths and examine the situation, often the characters will take me in the direction they need to go and flow resumes.

For instance, early in writing Mitch, his skanky behaviour was questioned by my beta readers. Did I really want him to be that blatant? Shouldn’t I tone it down a bit? One told me she just didn’t like him and wouldn’t read further.

Okay.

But as soon as I tried to ‘tone it down’ as it were, I lost of the essence of who he was. He was already a strong, tenacious, good-looking guy with a job he thrived in. His character flaw was his questionable relationships. As an established personality, he was who he was and made no excuses and in writing Mitch, I couldn’t do him justice without showing this side of him. As I moved through the story, he then carried himself potently into each scene, a well-rounded personality worthy of his devotion to the woman he loves. In allowing him to develop as he would, not forced by me, I feel the readers sees the vital changes in him, from his own point of view.

Lorna’s character developed from mesh of a lot of women I interviewed—every day, successful women—who had ‘encounters’ in their lives, which couldn’t help but shape them. But they never wore it on their sleeve. These incidents didn’t define them. It allowed them to face the struggle and tap into the resources of strength from within. These women all gave off the impression of seeming to glide through life effortlessly. Little would someone know from looking from the outside what they face on the inside to achieve this. The women are the proof of the saying everyone has a story to tell—and a good story at that!

Opposite to Mitch’s ‘love it or live with it’ attitude, Lorna presented a complicated mixture of privacy and perception. She’s layered and exposure will only happen over time. She’s a woman who finds herself often in situations despite her best efforts to steer clear. In writing Lorna, I had to always be aware of her private side and only reveal what she is comfortable revealing to this point.

~~~~~

Hit ‘N Run

Under Suspicion Book One

by Lori Power

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Synopsis

Determined to build a better life, and forget their past, a freak accident crashes Lorna Tymchuk and Mitch Morgan back into each other’s lives.

It’s more than a “Hit ’n Run” that needs to be taken care of at the police station. False identification, miscommunication and a past better left buried surface to plunge these recently reunited lovers into a deadly game of cat and mouse trying to figure out who the bad guys really are.

All threads pulled threaten the very fabric of their fragile relationship. Caught between desire suspicions, each must decide who to trust and how far to go to follow their instincts.

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Check out this glimpse inside the book!

“And the driver of the hearse just drove off?”

The question of why bother to complete a report if the officer was just going to recap every point, by point, blinked like a neon sign behind her lids. “No, as I wrote, right here.” She pointed to another neatly printed line on the statement. “The man got out to see if I was okay. . .”

The policeman rested an elbow on the counter and smirked. “Nice of him.”

“I guess,” she agreed, forcing a lift to her lips, putting on her best salesman face. “Listen, the man left me his driver’s license. Said an emergency called him away.”

“Emergencies can happen in the funeral business, I imagine.” He lifted his gaze to meet hers, brow furrowed. ‘so, a polite runner then?”

Inhaling deeply, Lorna forged on. “I want to talk to you about that, actually.”

The constable stared, barely blinking, so she blurted. “It’s a fake.”

“What’s a fake?”

“The driver’s license,” she confirmed through tight lips.

“How would you know?”

“I didn’t recognize him at first with the beard and everything.” Oh, God, she was rambling. Get a grip. Lorna took a shaky breath. “I know–once knew–the driver I hit. His name is Mitchell Morgan, not Michael Ward as is written here. The picture on this license,” she said moving her own hand to cover the license on the counter, “is him, but that’s not his name. This,” she paused to tap the document with her fingernail, “is a fake.”

“How can you be sure?” His murky brown eyes met hers, clearly skeptical.

She glanced at the picture again, the tips of her fingers still touching the edge of the laminated surface. How could she explain the fact she would never be able to forget Mitchell Morgan’s midnight-blue eyes? Those same expression-filled eyes with just a hint of mischief couldn’t be disguised. “I’m sure.”

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Author Lori Power

HitNRun author

Turning passion into words in print is a dream come true for Lori Power.

From Radio host (best job ever!), DJ, news reporter to newspaper journalist, like many author’s, Lori has been writing most of her life.

In writing, Lori has discovered a truism: everyone has a great story to tell. All you need to do is listen. Over the years, with all the people Lori has meet previously and daily, both professionally and personally, with an ear to the ground, readers can often find these ‘character’s’ fictionalized in Lori’s stories.

Lori’s first novel “Storms of Passion” was published by Wild Rose Press under their Champagne line, in 2014 and received a 5-star Author’s Favourite seal of approval in 2015.

Collaboration is important to improving one’s craft and as such, Lori is an active member of the Romance Writers of America, TransCanada Romance Writers, The Alberta Romance Writers Association and belongs to both a Critiquing group and a Beta Reading weekly group.

Lori looks forward to continuing to find the good story; hashing out a scene, having fun with a character and writing the story she would love to read.

Amazon Author Page

Amazon Buy Link

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Extraordinary Days new banner copy

I have a wonderful series to share with you today.

Polly Beck’s The Extraordinary Days Series.

Enjoy the excerpt.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Extraordinary Days new ThursdaysChild_Cover Large

Genre: Romance / Mystery / Thriller

NOTE: A percentage of the sales of this book will be donated to Children’s International, a not-for-profit organization very close to the author’s family’s heart. Past books in the series have benefited The American Red Cross, The American Cancer Society, Tuesday’s Children [a 9/11 charity], and The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

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Synopsis

A mystery is introduced in No Ordinary Day, the first book in the Extraordinary Days series that is carried through all eight volumes and solved in the last book, Sunday’s Child: Born on the Sabbath Day, due out in January of 2017.

In the late spring of 1991, a flood and fire of historic proportions tore through the pretty resort town of Obergrande, New York, in the central region of the Adirondack mountains.

The twin disasters destroyed a large part of the east side of the town that bordered the Hudson River and Lake Obergrande.

In the aftermath, a new dam was built, and that damaged part of the town “drowned,” covered by the new, larger lake.

During that terrible flood, five kindergarten girls were trapped in their drowning school, huddled together as the water rose higher, rescued just in the nick of time. The nightmare bonded them, and three others like them, to each other for life.

These are their stories.

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International attorney and human rights advocate Elisa Santiago believes she has life under control—an impressive career, a solid group of friends in Obergrande, and a handsome law partner for hot “car action” when she needs release. Little does she know that her entire world is about to burn down when she discovers that nothing she believes she knows about herself and

her past is true. Can the gorgeous former CIA operative, acting as her guide and guard as she returns to Colombia, the land of her birth, looking for answers, set her world on fire in a good way?

 

THURSDAY’S CHILD: Far to Go is the fifth book in the eight-book series The Extraordinary Days by breakthrough novelist Polly Becks. The first book, No Ordinary Day, tells the tale of an epic tragedy that changes life forever in a small town in the wild, mystic Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, and the mystery surrounding that tragedy.

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Enjoy this excerpt

Present day, Sunday, September 8th, 2:11 PM

Le Mille Neuf, 1009 Rue de Bleury, penthouse, Montreal

 

The young man at the front desk in the luxury apartment building looked up in surprise at the quartet of women making their way across the lobby, carrying what looked like a variety of flowers, sweets, and boxes, chatting happily amongst themselves as every male head in the lobby turned in their direction.

An older man in the uniform of a professional driver or chauffeur was following them, his arms piled high with packages, puffing slightly.

The women, who were carrying on an intense four-way conversation between them, did not notice the attention they were garnering like magnets. They ranged in height from just over five feet to just under six, with a variety of body types, hair and skin colors ranging from alabaster to ebony, and clothing styles, all of which had some sort of bright artistry to them.

They stopped in front of the desk.

The tallest of the group, a fair-skinned beauty with gray eyes and shoulder-length brown hair atop a tall, willowy figure, smiled down at him.

“Penthouse deux, s’il vous plait,” she said politely in a perfect French accent.

The young man slid his swivel chair quickly under the desk to shield his lap from view.

“Qui appelle?” he asked in a French-Canadian accent. “Er—whom shall I say is calling?” He picked up the phone.

“The—uhm—Fivesome,” Briony Windsor, known as Sarah to her friends, said.

The young man waited for an answer, requested permission for entry and, receiving it, directed the four women to the penthouse elevator, only to discover they had started across the back lobby while he was hanging up.

They already knew where they were going.

“Has anyone heard from Sloane’s father recently?” Dr. Corinne Byrnes, a veterinarian and the second-tallest member of the group asked the others as they entered the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.

“I spoke to him last night,” said Reverend Grace Fuller, the Associate Pastor of the Obergrande Community Church back in New York State. “He says she seems to be doing better, as long as she rests. Apparently he hasn’t been entirely successful at keeping her in bed.”

“Shocker,” mused Elisa Santiago, esq., a practicing attorney and civil rights advocate who divided her time between law on the international stage and a quiet practice back in Obergrande, the pretty Adirondack hometown of the four young women and the friend they had come to visit. At five-foot-three, she was petite, like Grace, and extraordinarily well put-together, every detail of her wardrobe perfect, just as every detail of her business and personal life seemed to be.

“Well, between us we have plenty of things to keep her amused in bed,” said Briony. “Although that’s like selling ice to penguins; Sloane has made of art of being kept amused in bed most of her life.”

“Truth,” mused Corinne as the elevator doors opened, providing a stunning view of downtown Montreal and its exquisite spires.

The four women hurried down the sunlit hallway of windows to the door where the number 2 was elegantly displayed.

Elisa pushed the doorbell.

A tall, strapping, dark-haired man with a finely-featured, neatly-bearded face opened the door a moment later.

All four women blinked in surprise.

“Dr. Marlowe?” Elisa’s voice broke the silence.

The man’s dark blue eyes blinked as well.

“Come in, ladies,” he said quickly.

The women looked at each other, then followed him into the penthouse.

“What’s he doing here?” Grace whispered to Briony. “Sloane told me they couldn’t stand each other.” Briony shrugged.

“Perhaps they’re working on the Quadricentennial?” Elisa suggested as they passed through the elegant central foyer into the open living area, a high-ceilinged room ringed with floor-to-ceiling windows.

She turned to Corinne, the only one not to have met Nathan Marlowe. “He’s a world-class history professor here at McGill and in New York at NYU, a specialist in the Adirondack Park

area and particularly in Obergrande. Sloane’s mother hired him to do the authentication and other research for the town’s four-hundredth anniversary next May.”

“Well, if her mother likes him, I can see why Sloane can’t stand him,” said Corinne. “Those two can’t agree on whether the sun is up or not.”

Dr. Marlowe was standing at the far left edge of the open sitting area, next to the door that led to Sloane’s bedroom suite.

The women and their driver, still lugging their packages, followed him.

A glorious spicy smell filled the air near the kitchen.

On their way past a recessed alcove in which a towering animal cage stood, Corinne paused and clicked softly at the sweet, melon-sized animal inside it.

“Hiya, Pfeffernusse,” she said. “You’re lookin’ good, gurrl.”

Ed Hillenbrandt, the driver, waited until she was following the other girls again, then paused in front of the cage himself.

“I still say you would make a nice hat,” he whispered.

Pfeffernusse just stared at him with her big black chinchilla eyes. Then she flicked her large ears and spun around, her white belly disappearing from view as she turned her gray-blue back to him.

“You’re not by any means the first female to give me the cold shoulder, ma’am,” Ed said as he went to join the women.

~~~~~

Author Polly Becks

Polly Becks has been making her living writing for more than twenty years, as well as working as an editor, curriculum developer, and teaching secondary-school Spanish. She has more than 350 books to her credit, mostly educational materials, as well as professionally published fiction in both the adult and YA market in a variety of genres, plus more than 30 Children’s books. She is excited about exploring the digital literature frontier and is honored to be the launch series for GMLTJoseph, LLC. – See more at: http://www.pollybecks.com/author/#sthash.pEZ6f3xO.dpuf

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Buy Polly’s Books

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Partners In Crime Tours

I do love a good mystery. And it’s even better when there’s a mystery inside a mystery. Lots to keep you guessing and on your toes in Isolation!

Enjoy my review.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

Isolation

A Faye Longchamp Mystery

by Mary Anna Evans

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Genre: Mystery, Women Sleuths
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Number of Pages: 284
Series: A Faye Longchamp Mystery, 9
ISBN: 9781464204029

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My Review

This has all the makings for a good mystery.

A family torn apart by tragedy, isolation on a private island, toxic spills, murder, stalkers, and all of this might possibly be connected to a mysterious history. I was hooked already!

Being a fan of character driven stories, this didn’t disappoint.

There’s Faye Longchamp – Mantooth. She’s coping the only way she knows how after a terrible loss. She spends every waking minute and most nights prowling the island and doing random digs. Not herself at all. Being a professional archaeologist, she knows better. You need to investigate, do the math, before digging. I think she’s just trying to stay numb.

Her husband, Joe Wolf Mantooth, is such a gentle soul. He loves his wife and patiently waits for her to come around, knowing she needs time to grieve and heal. In the meantime, he takes care of their young son, Michael, making sure he’s happy and loved.  When things go wiggy and bodies start adding up, he goes into alpha mode. I loved the gentle bear and the warrior spirit of Joe.

Joe’s father, Sly Mantooth, out after serving time in prison, shows up on their doorstep and they invite him to stay awhile. Faye hopes the two will stay out of her hair, and Joe’s looking to get reconnected with his father. I like Sly. He’s a diamond in the rough. He keeps his thoughts to himself, unless a pretty gal is around. Then the charmer, the ladies man, comes out to play. There was one particular lady I wanted him to get better acquainted with. I hoped the author would grant my wish.

Not just a murder mystery, there’s also the mystery of Faye’s ancestor. Some people want to prove her great-great-grandmother Cally was a murderer. Faye’s having none of it and launches her own investigation, keeping their relationship secret while she works to clear Cally’s name. Not so easy when you’re going back 150 years.

A strange toxic find on the island, chemical dumps in the gulf, murder and violent attacks. Could all of this be random events or do they all tie together? I couldn’t wait to find out.

Though this is the ninth book in the Faye Longchamp Mystery Series, it can easily be read as a stand alone. I’ve not the read the other books and with some short mentions of past events, had no trouble reading this first.

Good clean fun, with no sex scenes or foul language.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Archaeologist Faye Longchamp-Mantooth has dug herself a deep hole and she can’t make her way out of it. As she struggles to recover from a shattering personal loss, she sees that everyone she loves is trying to reach out to her. If only she could reach back. Instead she’s out digging holes all over her home, the Florida island of Joyeuse.

In their old plantation home, Joe Wolf Mantooth is surrounded by family—Faye, the wife he loves; their toddler son he adores; and his father, who hasn’t gotten around to telling him how long he’s been out of prison or how he got there—yet Joe has never felt so helpless or alone.

Then a close friend at the local marina is brutally murdered, the first in a string of crimes against women that rocks Micco County. Joe, desperate to help Faye, realizes she is in danger from both her inner demons and someone who has breached the island’s isolation. Local law and environmental officials say they want to help, but to Faye and Joe they feel more like invaders. A struggling Faye reaches back over a century into her family’s history for clues. And all the while, danger snakes further into their lives, threatening the people they love, their cherished home, even the very ground—some of it poisoned—beneath their feet.

Purchase Links

Amazon / B&N / Goodreads

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Author Mary Anna Evans

Mary Anna Evans

Mary Anna Evans is the author of the award-winning Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries–Artifacts, Relics, Effigies, Findings, Floodgates, Strangers, and Plunder. She has degrees in physics and chemical engineering. Her background includes stints in environmental consulting and university administration, as well as a summer spent working offshore in the oil fields. Writing lets her spend weeks indulging her passion for history, archeology, and architecture, and months making up stories. Mary Anna is preparing to move to Oklahoma since accepting an Associate Professor position with the University of Oklahoma.

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Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton

Onyx Webb

by Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton

25414725

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Publisher: Courage Crafters Inc. (March 17, 2015)
Category: Paranormal Suspense, Paranormal Romance, Supernatural Thriller
Tour Date: August & September, 2015
ISBN: 978-0990751816
ASIN: B00VIP8KLC
Available in: Print & ebook,  264 Pages

My Review

I loved everything about this book. From the different points of view to the different dates in time to the fantastic illustrations and the hair raising creepiness.

When I reached the end of this book, Onyx Webb was still an enigma to me. I know there are many more episodes to come and I’m sure I’ll figure her out. The jury is still out about her right now.

Ever wanted to know how it felt to be a ghost? From what I learned in this book, it’s no fun. Can’t taste, can’t feel, and can’t love. Why stick around? This story will tell you why.

Taking place in different time periods, all of the characters start their stories here and it’s promised by the authors that following episodes will reveal their full stories and bring all of the characters together.

For now, I’m just getting to know Onyx and her father Catfish, rich boy Koda Mulvaney and his best friend Dane, Quinn Cole and his missing sister Juniper, and a slew of secondary characters.

I’ve read other books written in episodes but not quite like this. The characters stories span many centuries but it’s easy to follow them as their voices speak clearly. And there are several mysteries happening at different times and I have no clue how they’ll all come together.

I also knew there wouldn’t be an ending in this book, so no surprise there. And that’s the ‘hook.’ I was hooked from the first chapter, compelled to keep reading, and in no hurry to finish.

The illustrations are spectacular and the writing is easy to follow. Not what you’d expect at all with the story occurring in several different time periods and told from many points of view.

Trying to label this, I’d call this a ghost story and a mystery. Maybe adding a dash of historical too. With lots of showing and some telling. Short chapters that make the read fly. And I believe I already mentioned the illustrations. They are all through the book and ‘tell’ a story too.

There are several more books to come, each containing three episodes. You can bet I’m off to grab the second book now and will be watching for others as they are released.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

The Onyx Webb series follows the unusual life of Onyx Webb along with a central group of characters in various locations and times. The billionaire Mulvaney family, piano prodigy Juniper Cole and her brother Quinn, paranormal show hosts Cryer and Fudge, and a few others make up the core of the series.

Written like a book version of a supernatural soap opera, each character’s story moves forward with most every episode. It may appear that the characters are entirely unrelated and yet episode by episode, the connections will become clearer. Like being an inch away from a spider web, with each book, the web will move further and further away revealing the full story of every character and most importantly, the stunning conclusion for Onyx Webb herself.

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Check out the excerpt!

Bruce Mulvaney had insisted that Koda’s mother would never have left them like that, that something had happened to her.

He went so far as to offer a $1 million reward to anyone who provided information that led to her safe return.

There were the calls from an array of crackpots, of course—nut jobs claiming they’d seen her, some even claiming they had taken her—but nothing ever panned out. And it never would.

His father had even gotten the FBI involved when it was discovered several weeks later that his mother’s Mercedes Benz was found parked at the curb outside a Savannah dive bar, a place called Pinkie Masters. But nothing ever came of it.

Eventually, everyone assumed nothing nefarious had happened to his mother, including the FBI. Bruce Mulvaney’s beautiful wife had just finally gotten fed up enough to leave the bastard.

Koda looked up at the mirror and remembered the one thing his mother did leave.

A photograph.

It was a picture his father had taken of Koda and his mother, sitting on a swing in Charleston, South Carolina, about a month before she’d left.

Just the two of them, sitting side by side—swinging back and forth on a beautiful sunny day—smiling, happy, together.

His mother had left the picture taped to the mirror in Koda’s bedroom, nothing written on it.

Without thinking, Koda reached toward the mirror—just as he’d reached out to take the photo off the mirror when he was six—and just as his finger touched the glass…

He saw her.

A girl.

She was standing opposite him as if a mirror image, her arm reaching out toward the mirror just as Koda’s was, her fingers touching the mirror in the exact place his fingers were touching.

Koda jumped back, shocked at what he was seeing.

But the girl didn’t move.

She just stood there looking at him as if fascinated at what she was seeing.

Then she simply faded away.

~~~~~

Praise for Onyx Webb by Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton

 “There isn’t a page that doesn’t hold our attention.“-Grady Harp, Amazon Reviewer Hall of Fame

“There’s only one problem with the book Onyx Webb – it was over too soon. When I finished the last word, I was ready for the next book, but it’s not out yet – bummer for me and all the other readers who enjoyed this story!
The authors’ writing style is descriptive and visual, which makes the story flow well, and the characters are interesting and well developed. The author does a good job of capturing the essence of each time period so that the reader knows where and more importantly when the characters are living. The story so far covers the 1900s, 1970s and 2000s, so there are marked differences in most aspects of the characters’ lives. Even with the different years represented it’s not confusing for the reader, possibly because each character is so distinct, which lets the reader identify character with time period.
While this is billed as a ghost story, it’s more than that since the characters are so interesting, and I think this will appeal to a wider reading audience than just ghost story lovers or mystery lovers.
I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment to this compelling story.”- Robin Surface, Amazon Reviewer

“I loved this book! Couldn’t put it down. Great writing and totally believable characters. The story lines move along so well and in some form or fashion begin to tie into each other. I am anxiously awaiting the next book.”-Alicia, Goodreads Reviewer

“Wow! That’s an understatement, though. Onyx Webb is one of those books that you just don’t want to put down because it grabs you from the beginning and keeps you wanting more. Not only do you get one story, you get three! And they are all told in different times, like the 1900s, 1970s, and in the current, 2000s. So you get three different points of view, and at first you’re thinking “What does this have to do with that?” But then you see it, and it’s like, WHOA! Of the three different story lines, they all connect in some way, and it’s pretty cool to see how it does.
This is such a good book!! You just have to read it. It’s really cool how authors Waltz and Fenton bring all of the story lines that span over time, together to all fit.
I highly recommend this book! And it’s just Book 1, so I’m really hoping Book 2 is already in the works because I am anxious to see what happens next!!”-Ella Marie, Reading Is a Way Of Life

Amazing! This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time!“-Melanie, Fang-Freakin-Tastic Reviews

About Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton:

Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton

Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz are best known as the authors of the #1 Amazon Sales & Selling book, Go for No!  They are professional speakers who travel internationally speaking to audiences about how to overcome fear of failure and rejection.  Although they have written several business books over the last fifteen years, Onyx Webb is their first fictional series.

They are married and manage to write to together while staying happily married, a fact they are very proud of. Richard and Andrea live in Central Florida along with their cat, Courage.

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Website / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Goodreads

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Buy Onyx Webb on AMAZON

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I have one print or one Ebook copy to give away.

Print is US Only

Entry is easy. Please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“What is it about supernatural or paranormal stories that you like the most?”

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Follow the Onyx Webb Tour

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Aug 4 Tour Kick Off & Giveaway

Rockin’ Book Reviews Aug 5 Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

SolaFide Self-Publishing and Book Blog Aug 6 Guest Post

Books, Books, and more Books Aug 8 Review

Mallory Heart Reviews Aug 10 Review

Elizabeth McKenna Romance Author Aug 11 Interview

What U Talking Bout Willis? Aug 14 Guest Post

Deal Sharing Aunt Aug 18 Review & Giveaway

Penny For Them… Aug 19 Review

Open Book Society Aug 21 Review

JBronder Book Reviews Sept 2 Review

Fundinmental Sept 3 Review

fuonlyknew Sept 8 Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

Infinite House of Books Sept 9 Interview & Excerpt

Totally Addicted to Reading Sept 10 Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

Room With Books Sept 18 Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

My Tangled Skeins Reviews Sept 21 Review & Guest Post

Sunshine book Promotions Sept 28 Review & Excerpt

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This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry.

 I have some exciting news to share with you about Dinosaur lake III.  Read on to learn how you can win some books!

After reading my review, head on over to Sherry’s blog at fundinmental for more and check out her review. Two chances to win!

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Dinosaur Lake III

Infestation

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

24284668

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My Review

The first book in this series had me on the edge of my seat. The action was intense and the scares were awesome.

The second book was just as, if not more, intense. And the bodies piled up.

Between those first two books, you lose some beloved characters and some not so loved.

So, now for the third book in the Dinosaur Lake series.

I started this book feeling a bit worried. After the first two, I wondered if the author could keep up the intense action and suspense. She didn’t disappoint. In fact, this may be the most nail biting of them all.

The dinosaurs are rampant with a capital R! They are everywhere, in many shapes and sizes. And, of course, they are very hungry.

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore and his wife, Ann, have made it through many dangerous encounters with these monsters over several years, losing friends and hope. They managed to triumph, but this time they might not be so lucky.

Dinosaurs are emerging again. So many, so hungry, so unstoppable. It’s not just the park and their town in danger anymore. The dinosaurs are popping up all over the US and Canada and who knows whether this will become a worldwide phenomenon. It may be the beginning of the age of dinosaurs again.

I have to applaud Kathryn. She gave me more dinosaurs. Bigger, meaner ones, and sneaky, littler ones. The scenes of carnage were bloody wild and so many of them. I got all the action I could ever want.

And the characters. Well, there are my favorites, mentions of loved ones lost, and some new ones. I was crossing fingers and toes that my favorites would survive. You never know with this author.

I sure hope there are more books coming in this series. Please let there be more!

While this is the third book in the series, you could easily pick up the story here. But, if you are a fan of action, intense suspense, and monsters, you’ll want to, need to, go back and read the other books.

5 Dynobite Stars

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Synopsis

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore has dealt with and fought real live dinosaurs at his beloved Crater Lake National Park for over six years. With the help of his rangers, a few brave FBI friends and army soldiers he’d been victorious over a prehistoric lake creature and years later some particularly fiendish, and clever, specimens of the flying variety. He and his newspaper publisher wife, Ann, thought their park was finally rid of the monsters and they could reclaim their tranquil life in a place they cherished. Not so. For suddenly across the park new and even more malevolent mutant species of dinosaur begin to appear and create havoc, attacking the park’s visitors and threatening its peace. And this time the primeval scourge isn’t confined to just their park. The creatures have moved into the nearby towns, across the western United States and up into Canada. They are so much more aggressive, smarter and hungrier than any that have come before and the infestation is spreading further and faster than Henry and Ann can even imagine. This time there’s no easy way to defeat the dinosaurs. There’s too many of them and they’re too devious. This time it’s full out war and the victor will someday claim Earth.

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Dinosaur Lake II

Dinosaurs Arising

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

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My Review

Here we go again. Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore thinks its over. They killed the dinosaur and he’s pretty sure they destroyed all of the eggs. But when strange things start happening in the park, when another ranger has to fight off a large creature to save some visitor’s, it looks like it’s not over.

Things go from bad, to horrific when one of the trolleys, full of tourists, is attacked by something huge, like the thing in the park, yet larger, and it has wings.

It looks like Henry will have to do battle with dinosaurs again, and he’ll have help from his rangers, along with some soldiers and his son-in-law.

Winged gargoyles, that’s what they look like, but much larger.

They are breeding. They fly and are no longer confined to Henry’s beloved park. They are hungry and they need food for their offspring. The park and surrounding towns become their feeding ground.

No one is safe.

I couldn’t wait to read this after finishing the first book. I love books and movies about dinosaurs, especially when they appear in modern times.

There’s so many things Kathryn does really well in her stories. Let me explain.

She gives you authentic characters. They have their flaws, foibles. You like them or you don’t.

When the town sheriff scoffed at the idea of dinosaurs, refused to believe they exist even after the town gets attacked, I could picture him. Standing there, shaking his head, a sneer on his lips, a posture of superiority. I figured he’d get eaten.

And this is my favorite thing she does. She kills off her characters. You don’t want to become too fond of them, but with some you will. And just because they may survive a first encounter, don’t count on them surviving a second one. I’m not saying the sheriff died. I’m not saying they all die. But I wouldn’t want to be in any of their shoes when the dust settles.

The author also doesn’t waste any time getting the carnage going. She quickly drops you in the middle of the mayhem and scares the bejesus out of you. The story never slows down. The suspense and dread builds and builds, and knocks you on your butt. You’ll want to look away, but you won’t be able to. You’ll have to keep reading, find out what happens.

Let’s get to the monsters now. They are just that, monsters. They may be dinosaurs, but they’re unlike the ones from history. They’ve evolved, are very different. I like that Kathryn chose to liken these dinosaurs to gargoyles. The first thing you think of when flying dinosaurs are mentioned is Pterodactyl’s. But not these. They are giant gargoyle like things. And they are blood thirsty, cunning, and relentless. They never stop coming for you.

Every book Kathryn writes is like this. She never lets you down. All of her characters, strong or weak, are genuinely written. We may scoff at their actions, but they are theirs not ours. It’s important to remember that.

And the action and suspense are almost immediate and it’s always a mad dash to the end. Usually with lots of people screaming. LOL

I loved this every bit as much as the first book. I missed some characters that didn’t survive the first one. Loved some of the new ones. I know I shouldn’t have. Lots of people die. But that’s what made this so good. It was unpredictable and the idea of where the creatures came from was plausible. That’s what really creeped me out.

This is everything I hoped for from the author and now I’ve just finished the third book. Holy hell, it’s awesome too!

5 Stars

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Synopsis

Prehistoric creatures have again invaded Crater Lake National Park
…and this time there’s more than one.

DINOSAUR LAKE II: Dinosaurs Arising
by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Henry Shore has been Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park for thirteen years now and thought the days when he’d had to fight a rogue dinosaur that lived in the caves below the lake were long over.
Until one of his park rangers, to save a visitor’s life, is in a deadly struggle out in the woods with a new breed of dinosaur worse than the last one. It’s as big as a man, but this one is a young one. And growing.
Then more of the creatures begin to show up everywhere, threatening people and destroying the tranquility and safety of his beloved park.
A tourist trolley filled with fifteen people is snatched up off the crater’s rim by another version of the younger one…but this one has grown into a giant with fangs, claws and a deadly tail.
And this one has wings.
Ugly Gargoyles, Henry calls them.
For this one isn’t alone.
They’re flying beyond the park’s boundaries into the neighboring towns.
So Henry, with the help of his son-in-law, a paleontologist named Justin, and a band of brave park rangers, and a few good soldiers, must not only protect his park and his people from monsters once more but find their lair and destroy it and them before the creatures kill again.

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 Dinosaur Lake

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith.

This book is free on Amazon right now! Click on the cover to grab a copy!

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My Review

Enter at your own risk. There be a huge freakin dinosaur here.

I love books with creatures in them. This one has a dinosaur. A dinosaur that tasted humans and put them at the top of its list. We may be noisy, what with all the screamin, but we’re oh so tasty.

Chief Ranger Henry Shore likes to get out from behind his desk. He enjoys taking out tours now and then. The park is his love and he jumps at any chance to get out there.

The threat of an earthquake has him concerned. It’s predicted they’ll be hit with a major one, and if the tremors he feels are any indication, it could be soon. The rumors of a giant creature seen in Crater Lake make him pause. Maybe the earlier earthquake released something from the caverns under the lake.

When a couple of the boat captains from the lake tours go missing and all that’s recovered are their shattered boats, Henry begins to believe in the rumors. And when a group of campers are attacked, people are missing, blood and bits of gore are strewn around, and a trail of shattered trees leaves a huge trail to the lake, Henry has no choice but to believe the witnesses testimonies of a gigantic monster, a dinosaur, that attacked and ate their friends.

The creature has come on land and is ranging further and further from the lake to find the tasty morsels he craves and needs. No one is safe and Henry wonders how far the evacuation should go.

Henry has big problems. Will it go into the towns? Where is its lair? When will it strike again and how the hell can he stop it? He wants his park back. With the help of fellow rangers and one strange ex- FBI agent who deals in the unusual, he takes the fight to the monster and many die.

Dinosaur Lake starts out tranquil and quickly becomes a nightmare. When the creature discovers how tasty we are, it wants more. It’s intelligent and cunning and likes to play with its food.

I can’t imagine what is scarier, knowing it’s going to eat you, or having it play cat and mouse with you before crunching you between its giant teeth. A couple of the munching scenes had me squirming, feeling so sad for the victims. I knew they were goners.

The author slowly builds the terror, lulling you and then springing out at you, just like the creature.

Some characters I liked got killed off. Some survived. I kept fearing the worst as the pages flew by. I know the author has to kill off some of the characters, but I wish I could’ve saved a couple. This definitely makes for emotional and suspenseful reading.

Great writing, an awesome creature, likeable and diverse characters, chaos and terror. Everything I require in a creature feature.

Five Stars for Dinosaur Lake

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About Author Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Photo_black_capSince childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-three years ago now, and have had twenty-two (nine romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance, two thrillers, and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last six novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels and Spookie Town Mysteries are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last VampireRevised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

*Click here to check out Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s.

Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:

Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forge, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire,

Witches, The Nameless One short story, The Calling, All Things Slip Away, Egyptian Heart,

Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, Before the End: A Time of Demons, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Four Spooky Short Stories Collection, Scraps of Paper, Dinosaur Lake, Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising and the just released Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation.

Kathryn’s Links

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kathryn-Meyer-Griffith/579206748758534  

http://www.authorsden.com/kathrynmeyergriffith

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/889499.Kathryn_Meyer_Griffith

 

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I have 3 eBook copies  of Dinosaur lake III to give away thanks to Kathryn!

This can be read without having read the first two books.

To enter, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“Which dinosaurs scare you the most, the huge ones who can squash you like a bug, or the sneaky little ones who can mass attack and devour you like a piranha?”

Giveaway ends September 21st .

This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry at fundinmental.

Now hop on over to fundinmental, check out Sherry’s review, and enter for another chance to win  HERE.

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