Welcome to Thursday Theatre
Here is where I’ll be posting video clips about books and movies and fun stuff.
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Pacific Rim. Have you seen the trailer yet? OMG! So spectacular!
Take a gander!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A85EtOalcsM]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5guMumPFBag
This is going to be so fun!
I’ll be ordering the Large popcorn and coke for this one!
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Freakin Fridays is my own little meme. I’ll be posting about books, movies, and all things scary.
Feel free to join in and do your own Freakin Fridays posts!
Tune in every Friday. Get your scare on!
Let’s have some fun!
Last week I needed some help choosing which book to review for this weeks Freakin Friday post.
I showed you some covers and descriptions and which ever book got the most votes, I’d post my review this Friday!
It looks like the winner is #4 ~ BEDBUGS by LA Taylor
SYNOPSIS OF ‘BEDBUGS – CAN YOU SEE THEM?’
‘NIGHT, NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT AND DON’T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE’ In 1977, an alien spaceship crashed down to earth, landing deep within the soil in a small County called ‘Lemonsville’. During the night people were slaughtered, but the next day the killers disappeared. In 2020, the area where the spaceship landed was levelled off and new houses were built over it. Many foreigners were now living in the UK, and so more houses needed building. A small earthquake shook Lemonsville in the year 2050. This was the opening needed for the new creatures of the night to attack the living. Deep, deep down beneath the ground, the alien queen had given birth to a new killer. The earth tremor had produced an escape route for her new babies to hunt for food. Human food…
My Review
I love horror and especially horror stories with creepy creatures.
Most horror stories have large, menacing monsters or creatures, which I do love.
With Bedbugs, you get these teeny-tiny critters that are almost invisible to the naked eye. But wait, there’s more. These aren’t your ordinary pesky bedbugs. These bugs are from outer space, alien sentient beings. They work like a fine-tuned military unit, going about their mission.
Their mission is to collect food, which is us, and take it back to their queen. Being so tiny, they can’t collect the food by themselves, so they attack us in numbers, silently plotting and attacking. They are vicious and determined, chewing our bodies into sizable pieces with the precision of a surgeon.
Take a close look at the cover art for Bedbugs. It doesn’t matter that these bugs are tiny. They are nasty and their very design is for the purpose of rending and eating.
I loved this story. What a great idea and well plotted out.
It starts with an atmosphere of anticipation and quickly captures your full attention.
The first chapter is grisly and horrifying. What’s great is, the author lays out the plot for the story throughout the first attack, giving you an idea of what and why the bugs are here.
A surprise is their mode of traveling from one scene of attack to another. Never would have expected it and it really made me take these bugs seriously.
It just keeps getting better and I only stopped reading for the night when my kindle fell in my lap and woke me up. I had drifted off as it was late. Glad I woke up and had to move around a bit. Maybe that’s what kept me from dreaming about these bugs!
5 Stars for BEDBUGS
I gave this my high rating because I know I will be reading it again. It also made me curious about our terrestrial bedbugs.
Some interesting facts
Bedbug feeding physiology
A bed bug pierces the skin of its host with what is called a stylet fascicle, rostrum, or “beak”. This is a unit composed of the maxillae and mandibles, which have been modified into elongated shapes from a basic, ancestral style. The right and left maxillary stylets are connected at their midline and a section at the centerline forms a large food canal and a smaller salivary canal. The entire maxillary and mandibular bundle penetrates the skin.[5]
The mandibular stylet tips have small teeth and through alternately moving these stylets back and forth, the insect cuts a path through tissue for the maxillary bundle to reach an appropriately sized blood vessel. Pressure from the blood vessel itself fills the insect with blood in three to five minutes. The bug then withdraws the stylet bundle from the feeding position and retracts it back into the labial groove, folds the entire unit back under the head, and returns to its hiding place.[5] It takes between five and ten minutes for a bed bug to become completely engorged with blood.[25] In all, the insect may have spent less than 20 minutes in physical contact with its host, and will not attempt to feed again until it has either completed a molt or, if an adult, has thoroughly digested the meal.
Pretty nasty, eh?
I was also reminded of an extended story from Outer Limits starring Beau Bridges.
Maybe you’ve seen it?
Sandkings
Check out this video.
Trailer from Sandkings – OuterLimits
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGmLOji73B0?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]
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About the author and where to find him.
My name is Lee Taylor, I was born on March 19th 1969, at ‘George Eliot Hospital’, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England…
I suppose I was always into writing from when I was a child. I remember writing children’s stories aged 10, which were read to younger children, & even at age 13-16, I would write school essays which were 10 pages longer than needed…..This would result in a no mark because of its length, but writer’s can’t help writing…
When I was 17 I bought a movie camera. I suppose I wanted to be the next ‘Spielberg’……lol….I would write ideas down & get the family over to make short films…
But it wasn’t until I was 24 that I dabbled in actual serious writing.
It was then that my first novel came to light – A story which I’m now re-writing for its 20th Anniversary release in 2013…
In 1999, my zombie novel idea came to light, but it took many, many years before it was passed around to the World. That novel has seen its title change 3 times in the past 10 years, but CLIFTON FALLS is now staying put as that name…..No more name changes……lol
I’ve now released 2 novels so far, with both available on amazon kindle…
http://www.amazon.com/CLIFTON-FALLS-e…
http://www.amazon.com/BEDBUGS-Can-you…
BEDBUGS (CAN YOU SEE THEM?) – Is based on man-eating insects from outer space…
My website gives more info on me, my stories, & what I am doing now..
Available Books and upcoming releases.
A zombie story! Available now.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THE TOWN YOU LIVED IN WAS INVADED BY FLESH EATING ZOMBIES?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF A LOVED ONE TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THEM?
An experimental fertilizer used to improve the food grown on a local farm in CLIFTON FALLS is now the reason behind why the dead are rising to feast on the living.
Within a day bodies are piling up, but no one can work out how it’s happened.
The police force struggle to maintain the horde of “blood crazed” killers as they
battle the un-dead in the local HOSPITAL.
Three months before the zombie outbreak the local bank was robbed, leaving one victim dead. The robbers worked at the hospital and so buried the cash inside the victim’s coffin. Now they are back to dig up the cash before the police snoop around.
Unknown to them, the living dead are rising from their graves, including the victim from the bank. Now the police have to fight the zombies before they cause havoc at the local holiday village.
Can the Chief Inspector find a way of eliminating them before the virus spreads into the CITY and BEYOND?
This novel contains strong language & graphic violence….
Coming later this year. Can’t wait.
Rampaging killer rats that cause havoc in the farming town of Aaronsville.
Sounds like another winner.
I hear the author is working on the next book about these Bedbugs!
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I love short stories and collections and was ecstatic when Donna published these! A Human Element still lingers with me and I’ve been waiting for a while now to read the sequel, A Hidden Element. The Dark Inside has me even more excited now. You get more of some of the old characters and are introduced to many new ones.
Check out the giveaway after my review.
The Dark Inside
These short stories contain characters from A Human Element and the soon to be released sequel, A Hidden Element.
The Well
It seems like no matter how hard he tries, Caleb can never be good enough in his father’s eyes. When he hears about the mission to the new world, he jumps at the chance to escape the dying planet and maybe get out from under his fathers disapproving control.
When his hopes are crushed, he’s devastated. And then his mother goes missing.
She’s disappeared without a trace.
The Well starts out being about Caleb and his conflicts with his father and his peers, and deepens into a mystery when his mother just vanishes. The author does a great job of misdirecting me, and I rushed to a wrong conclusion. This one is a deep, emotional read.
The First Time
X-10 is not going to give in. He’s not going to let the twisted Dr. Bjord control this experiment.
He’s scared of the human girl. Not for the usual reasons, but because he’s afraid he’ll give in to the rip, tear, kill, urges that are the base part of him.
It’s the first time X-10 has coupled with a female and he experiences some human emotions like nervousness, lust, and excitement. But can he control the monster inside, the one that needs to rend?
Donna, through her characters conversations, made the tentative bond between the monster and the prostitute endearing for me. I wanted things to be okay, wanted both of them to survive this experiment.
But she’s a prostitute, he’s a monster, and this is an experiment. A deadly one.
The Job
Felix is a Seeker. His partner, Maria, is all woman, all human.
He’s never felt attracted to her before, but he’s made a mistake. He’s let his guard down and things got messy. Now he has to clean it up.
I was surprised a couple of times with this one. Had a few, ‘what the???’ moments. This is twisted fun. Can’t help it. I sometimes laugh at the dark stuff.
Frat Night
Tara’s so excited. Tonight she’s going to do it with Jonah. She’s been lying to him, telling him she’s a virgin, so he’ll woo her, romance her. But she’s ready now. Tonight they’ll finally be together.
It was a beautiful spring night.
Kind of saw some of this coming, but still got a shock. I was grinning and thinking, yes!
The Tree of Sheltered Secrets
She was going to kill whoever did it. Whoever cut down her tree.
She’d spent her childhood hiding in that tree, escaping into her own world. It was the only happy memory in her miserable existence. And now someone had hacked it down. It felt like she’d been cut down too.
Someone had to pay.
I felt sorry for Hilary. She had a horrendous life and now the only thing good was gone. I felt her rage build and as I read on, I wanted someone to pay. Pay big!
The Beginning
They were seventy-five strong. Adrian and his crew silently entered the chosen town and quickly got what they needed with mind persuasion. No one realized the strangeness of these visitors.
But that wasn’t enough for Adrian. Oh no. He had to go and make it nasty, make two people do despicable things just for his pleasure.
He also made his son Caleb and the others watch. It was a warning and a lesson.
This one is so twisted. Adrian is a sick twist and I feel so sorry for Caleb. His hate for his father is changing him. Molding him. I hope he doesn’t follow in his fathers dark footsteps.
A Lucky Strike
Ben is all alone with his foster-father now. His foster-mother is now buried and Frank expects him to take over her duties. All of them.
As Ben fantasizes about ways to kill Frank, he knows it’s only a matter of time before things turn real ugly.
It’s time to flee, but has he waited too long?
I forgot this part in A Human Element. It’s disturbing and sad. You see where Ben came from, what he endured, what shaped him.
I’m surprised he survived at all.
Excerpt – A Human Element ~ Ben
This is an excerpt from A Human Element. It’s another short about Ben taking place later than in A Lucky Strike. I’ll give a tease and tell you what I got from it.
Ben had no business being in Hud’s Place.
“North of Hotel Street in Chinatown, or NoHo as it was called, carried its distinction as the known spot for prostitute action any time of the week. He swallowed the last of his beer and laughed to himself. SoHo could be a better name for the so-many-ho’s that could be had around here.”
He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t have got so drunk. And he definitely shouldn’t have stepped into it with the Marines.
If he thinks the ass-kicking he just got from them was bad, the locals that get a hold of him, set him straight.
If it weren’t for the tall man, the familiar looking stranger with the bright green eyes, he’d be totally screwed.
Ben just keeps putting himself in bad situation after bad situation. I hate seeing him in the self-destruct mode.
I’m curious about the tall man, why is he always showing up at the worst times? Why is he following Ben?
Seeing a character falter, make bad moves and stupid ones, helps me connect with them, makes them human for me. I’m connected with Ben.
I enjoyed all of these stories. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be…..Ha! Not gonna tell ya!
The Dark Inside gets Five Stars from me. Each story is distinct and wrings out my emotions.
Giveaway
For the giveaway I have five ebooks of The Dark Inside in any format.
This is International.
I also have one Paperback copy of A Human Element, Book #1 in the series to give away.
The paperback is for US/Canada Only. Sorry my International friends.
To enter, please leave your email address, state whether entering for e-book or paperback, and answer this question,
Why do you like short stories?
Giveaway ends March 28th.
Thank you for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!
About the author
Donna Galanti is an International Thriller Writers Debut Author of the paranormal suspense novel A HUMAN ELEMENT and the author of the short story collection, The Dark Inside.
If she couldn’t write she would bike, hike, and kayak every day. She was stationed in Pearl Harbor as a photographer in the U.S. Navy followed by a career in marketing. Donna dreamed of being a writer at seven years old when she fell in love with Narnia and Roald Dahl. She lived in England at the time, attending school in a magical castle where her imagination ran wild in an itchy uniform. (bowling hat and tie included). She now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and two crazy cats in an old farmhouse. It has lots of writing nooks, fireplaces, and stink bugs, but she’s still wishing for a castle again.
Her blog: http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DonnaGalantiAuthor?-ref+hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonnaGalanti
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5767306Donna_Galanti
Find all of her books here.
Starseed
Author: Liz Gruder
ISBN: 978-1937178291
Publisher: WiDo Publishing
Published: February 2013
SUMMARY
Kaila Guidry has always known she is different. When she meets Jordyn Stryker at school, she finds out just how different.
Jordyn was born and raised far from Earth, a starseed, one of six new students sent to Louisiana’s Bush High to learn human ways. But Jordyn didn’t count on meeting someone like Kaila.
When Kaila is pushed to her limit by high school bullying and cruelty, Jordyn awakens her to a new reality—and to love. But to prove herself, Kaila must look the other way as the real purposes of the starseeds unfold.
As the horrific plan behind the starseed visit to Earth moves inexorably forward, Kaila and Jordan, caught in an impossible love, must determine where their true loyalties lie.
Praise
“You know from the opening paragraph that something very strange is going on… We see Kaila try to live the life of a normal teen, and we see her “otherness” pull her back into an increasingly tangled web of questions, deceit, and hidden intentions. Liz really shines as a writer, lining the closets and drawers of everyday life with spine-chilling suspense that springs out at you when you least expect it. Starseed is an entertaining read. I highly recommend.”
–Patricia B. Smith. Author “What the Animals Tell Me” and “Fifty Shades of Santa” (clean romance fiction)
“Liz Gruder’s characters come alive through youthful, spunky narrative, and her headstrong heroine, Kaila Guidry, elicits a reader’s encouragement from the first page. Fans of Amanda Hocking will find themselves similarly transported into Gruder’s exploration of the dark sides of faith, love, higher dimensions, and, of course, high school.” –Jadie Jones, young-adult fantasy author
Author Liz Gruder
As a youth, Liz Gruder saw a series of UFOs with her best friend while riding bikes. Ever since, she’s held a fascination for the stars. An avid reader, she used to hide under her covers and read with a flashlight. She has degrees in English and Psychology from Tulane University, a nursing license and a yoga certification. After going through Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Liz realized how short life is and is now slowly fulfilling her bucket list: she’s been to the Egyptian pyramids (totally awesome and thought provoking) and is now teaching yoga and writing speculative fiction. Starseed is her debut novel.
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Book Blast Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 4/7/13
Click on the link below to enter.
Thank you and Good Luck Everybody!
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, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the
authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Welcome to my stop on the Dark Waltz Tour by A.M. Hargrove. I have lots of goodies for you. There’s a book excerpt, a description, my review, and a fantastic giveaway.
If you think the banner is pretty, check out the full cover of Dark Waltz.
A Praestani Novel
Category: ADULT Romance…NOT appropriate for young readers. (Caution: Major STEAM ahead)
Liasare checked out two more bars before she decided that the next would be her last for the night. She plopped down on the first available seat with an oomph and ordered yet another beer.
What an interesting night. Met a blonde girl who obviously knew Tommy, got bitten by a Xanthian, stabbed and killed a Xanthian, almost got myself killed by a Xanthian, was rescued by some awesomeness that then spoke into my mind, snagged an annihilator, got asked out on a date…what next?
The hairs on the back of her neck promptly stood at attention, followed by the rest of her body hair. The room seemed to take on an intense heated electrical charge. She wondered if it was just her, or did everyone else feel it? Her eyes gazed around the room, trying to locate the source of her discomfort. No one else appeared to be affected by this strange phenomenon. She gave her head a firm shake and turned her focus back to her beer. While beer had never been one of her favorite beverages, the iciness of it as it slid down her throat seemed to ease the discomfort caused by the strange sensations she was experiencing. The bottle was quickly emptied as she sought to put out the fire that had erupted within her.
The bartender raised his brows and she nodded, indicating her desire for another. Seconds later, another bottle was in her hands and its liquid contents were making their way down her parched throat.
Liasare began inspecting the patrons of the nightclub, hunting for whatever could possibly be making her feel so uncomfortable. As her eyes scanned the room, they came to rest on a man who was intently staring at her. He stood still as a marble statue, not so much as blinking an eye. Dressed in snug black leather pants that sat low on his hips, his chest was bare, with the exception of an unbuttoned black leather vest. He wore no shirt, nor did he need one; his sculpted muscles seemed to defy the presence of something so offensive. His arms bore a myriad of black tattoos, which were perfectly symmetrical in their swirling yet angular beauty. They looked perfectly delicious against his smooth tawny skin and Liasare had an irrepressible urge to touch and inspect them. His face wasn’t beautiful in the classical sense, though from her vantage point, she could see he was compellingly attractive, so much so that she found herself craning her neck to get a better look at him.
What the hell am I thinking? He could be a serial killer or something.
Jerking her gaze away from him, she forced herself to focus on drinking the rest of her beer.
As Liasare sat there, she couldn’t stop thinking about the strange man. Turning her bar stool to get another look at him, she was disappointed to see he had left his place against the wall. Her instincts and body told her he was still there. It was in the air…hot, electrifying. It wasn’t painful, yet it wasn’t comfortable either as she found herself squirming on her perch at the bar. She took another long pull off her beer.
“Looking for me?” his warm breath cascaded over her ear and down her neck, sending currents of heat throughout every molecule, centering on that very spot at the pinnacle of her thighs she didn’t want to think about. She choked on her beer and spit it out on the bar as she felt his lips leave of trail of molten kisses down the side of her neck.
The bartender, noticing her distress, immediately came to her aid with a towel. He mopped up the mess and handed her a bunch of napkins.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah, thanks,” she squeaked.
Her face was most likely the color of a tomato; it felt like it had gone up in flames when that husky voice whispered in her ear. She knew he was gone for her nerve endings told her so. She swiped her hand across her sweaty brow. In her twenty-seven years of life, never had a man affected her like this. It would be her luck, she thought, that something like this would happen on a night like tonight.
********
Jurek Herdekian leaned against the wall and eyed the chestnut haired human as she drank her beer. His mere presence affected her, which surprised him since he was always careful to mute his powers. The human’s extreme sensitivity to him was an aberration. He was also disturbed by the fact that he had felt her distress when she had been surrounded by the Xanthians earlier in the night. He had no doubt that they had planned to kill her. That she had managed to kill one of them, impressed him beyond measure. He must find out who she worked for and what she was after.
As she drank, she turned to examine the crowd. When her gaze landed on him, it wasn’t a quick look, but a thorough inspection. She liked what she saw and wanted to get a closer look. Had Jurek been in a different setting, he might have thrown his head back and laughed at her audacity. He opted for the next best thing.
Jurek moved stealthily through the crowd until he was directly behind her, whispered something, kissed her, and then left. He would keep her in his sights now that he knew her scent as well as her thoughts.
He waited outside the bar and watched as the sky lightened with the morning sun. The chestnut haired human left the bar and headed south toward the old Dillsworth area. Jurek followed her at a safe distance. When he found out where she was going, he would assign a man to her. She was fairly smart, this one. She took all kinds of turns and cut through yards, to lose anyone following her. She kept a constant check behind her; of course it would have been impossible to notice him, for he was traveling in his energy form which was undetectable to the human eye, or any eye for that matter.
She arrived at a garage and made her way inside. He followed her and saw where she was staying. Satisfied that she would be safe for the near future, he departed and headed back to Lare-Stell Base.
Now for my review!
What do I know? I know I’m lovin this series! It’s a waltz that takes you spinning through space before taking that final dip.
As I’ve already given you a description and an awesome excerpt, my review is going to be an emtotional one, more about how the story made me feel and how I connected with the characters. So, I’ll get started:)
The first thing that captured my attention was this story is about returning to Earth from another planet, not about venturing into space. The Earth of today is overrun with hostile, nasty beings and humans tread carefully when they venture out. We are no longer at the top of the food chain. In fact, we are now on the menu.
What really grabbed me with Dark Waltz was the characters. I love character driven novels and the stars of this novel are exceptional.
Lisare left Earth when she was a young teen and didn’t return for eighteen years. It’s so much worse now. She thinks she’s prepared for what awaits her as she searches for her missing brother, but she is very wrong. She’s going to need help, whether she likes it or not.
What I enjoyed about Lisare is her toughness along with her vulnerability. She’s taken huge risks just in coming to Earth. She’s run into some situations that left her trembling and doubting her resolve. And she now has a mysterious stranger, a magical being, whose magnetisium is becoming harder and harder to deny.
There’s a mental connection, but that’s now what has her worried. She fears her bodies yearning for Jurek, it’s demanding ache for his touch. An accident a long time ago left her physically and mentally scarred and she has no idea how to protect herself from these feelings.
This is what Jurek is up against as he becomes more and more drawn to Lisare. He’s never wanted anyone like he wants her, but she’ll have to be handled carefully, if she ever lets him handle her at all.
I enjoyed Jurek’s inner turmoil and frustration. He’s a powerful, demanding being and he’s not used to being snubbed and challenged, especially by a woman. He has his hands full with Lisare, trying to keep her safe and struggling to get past her tough exterior.
Jurek was a favorite character of mine in Determinant. It’s great to read his story here.
Jurek also felt the mental connection to Lisare, but his bodies lust for her comes as a surprise. He has no lack of female partners, but this girl has him feeling things he’s never experienced before. He knows it will be much more than a roll in the hay with her and that’s not all he has to consider.
Dark Waltz is exceptionally written, flowing smoothly and keeping you engaged from first page to last. I found myself wanting to race to the finish and forced myself to slow down. I didn’t want to miss a single thing.
The fight scenes are exciting, the creatures are hideous, the mysteries and secrets keep you guessing, and the sexual tension builds and builds. What a read.
Dark Waltz is a fantastic first chapter in The Praestani Novels. This adult series takes place several years after The YA Guardians of Vesturon Series. You don’t have to have read them, but I would recommend it. Guardians is where it all began. It makes me very happy to know it doesn’t end here.
And now for the giveaway.
First Prize winner (US/Canada Only) gets:
$15.00 gift card, Paperback of Dark Waltz, e-books of The Guardian’s of Vesturon Series, e-book of Edge of Disaster, Hale Maree by Misty Provencher & Mercy by Misty Provencher
Two Second Prize Winners (open worldwide) gets:
E-book of Dark Waltz, e-books of The Guardians’s of Vesturon Series, and an e-book of Edge of Disaster.
For a chance at these amazing prizes just click on the rafflecopter link.
Go here for the complete tour schedule. You don’t want to miss anything.
One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn’t do something soon, it would quickly be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So, she rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed out her leather briefcase. Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire was a dodgeball pro and had über quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting bashed in the head. Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what lap top out the window. She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her cell phone and hit #4 on her speed dial.
“Hello.”
“Boss, is that you?”
“Why yes, A. M., who else would be answering my phone?”
“Er… right. Well, I’m calling to let you know you can pick up my luxury Ford Focus at Starbucks near the interstate.”
“Why ever would I want to do that?”
“Because I quit you idiot!”
A.M. hit the end button and speed dialed her husband.
“Hi hubs, can you pick me up at Starbucks?”
“Sure… Having some car trouble?”
“Not at all. I don’t have a car to have trouble with because I just quit my job.”
“WHAT?!”
“It’s time for a new career and I am going to be a very famous novelist.”
So began A. M. Hargrove’s career as a young adult paranormal romance author of self-published ebooks. Her series, The Guardians of Vesturon, centers around a family of six siblings and is a mix of humor, mystery, suspense and of course, love.
If you’re wondering, it didn’t happen EXACTLY that way, but….
Author links:
Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/amhargrove1
Click on images to purchase the books
The Guardians of Vesturon Series
The Praestani Novels
More books by A. M. Hargrove
Other places to purchase.
I can’t believe how incredible the response has been! Huge thanks to everyone for your comments. I really enjoyed reading them. Also, I want to thank M. L. Ryan for allowing me to host this awesome giveaway and for a really good story.
The winners of Special Offers are:
Winner of Paperback: Christina
Winner of e-book: Stephanie Grego
Winner of e-book: Penumbra
Congratulations!
I have emailed the winners and forwarded their information to the author. She will contact you about your prizes!
You can purchase Special Offers by clicking on the image below or in the left hand sidebar.
In July I did a post asking for help with choosing the next books I should review. To view it you can go here: http://wp.me/p27ipo-cL . A Human Element was one of the books chosen for me to review next. The author kindly provided me with a copy of her book and I am so happy to tell you about it.
A Human Element
by Donna Galanti
Doesn’t this cover just grab you?
In my review of the first book on the list, I mentioned that I had received two books in the mail on the same day and thought I was reading the one about aliens. Nope, I was wrong. It turns out A Human Element was the book with aliens.
Before I start my review, I wanted to tell you that Donna has kindly offered 3 e-book copies for a giveaway. The details to enter will be after my review.
My Review of A Human Element by Donna Galanti
Ben is hiding from his parents on the shore of Coopersville Lake when it happens.
A meteorite crashes. What was once the sight of a dozen or so cabins, one of them containing his parents, is now only a huge crater of steam and fire. In one bright green flash, Ben’s life is forever changed and for another, it has just begun.
No one could know the long-reaching consequences of that fateful night. Or of the horrors to come.
9 months later.
A young girl struggles to bring her child into the world. She came to the doctor in secret. Not even the Armstrong’s, the kindly couple who took her in, know where she is. The doctor doesn’t know why the mysterious man waiting outside wants the baby, he just wants to get paid.
In a rush, the baby enters the world. Sadly, the young mother does not survive the delivery. But wait, another baby is fighting to be born, a twin, a beautiful baby girl.
An exchange is made. The mysterious man leaves with the thing, the baby boy, but the doctor doesn’t mention the girl. He will give her to the Armstrong’s to raise.
Many years later, the baby girl, Laura, is all grown up and back home to find out why the people closest to her are being slaughtered. The answer lies here. Laura has always had the headaches and nightmares and she knows things are coming together now – the monster chasing her in her nightmares, the mysterious man in black, who has always been on the periphery of her life, and whatever happened on the night of the meteorite. It is all connected.
Laura and Ben are thrown together as death races towards them. Both need answers about the night of the meteorite if they are to survive what is coming.
I want to keep telling you more. I’ve only scratched the surface of this story.
Two babies were born that night, Laura and the boy child called X-10. One looks human in every way and the other looks like a monster.
The many secondary characters made this story real for me.
Everybody should have a friend like Jim, a grumpy curmudgeon with a gentle soul and a fierce love and loyalty to Laura.
The Armstrong’s, Laura’s adoptive parents, who though they knew she was different, had special talents, loved her as their own.
The mysterious man in black, who has always been around, lurking in the shadows.
The cruel and sadistic Dr. Bjord, who thrills in tormenting X-10, his failed experiment.
And X-10, the monstrosity who’s only thought is getting out, finding Laura, and tearing her to pieces.
From the first page to the bitter-sweet end, I was totally immersed in this book. A story of wonder, love, humanity and absolute evil.
Donna Galanti’s debut novel has, at its core, an energy, an essence, that gives it life.
Superb writing and a thrilling all-out race to the end, A Human Element is an excellent read.
5 STARS
A bonus from Donna Galanti!
A Hidden Element (Book II)
When one family’s son is taken, they learn its by the same unearthly evil that brutalized them fifteen years ago. In a race to find her son’s kidnapper, they discover his horrifying mission that binds them all together. But the killer’s desire to own them – or destroy them – leads to a survival showdown that puts their son’s future, and their lives, at stake. They must sacrifice all again to defeat a new terrifying enemy – an enemy that wants to rule the world, with their son as his heir.
Tentative release date spring 2013.
Sounds like more thrilling reading from Donna Galanti.
The Giveaway 
I have 3 e-book copies Of A human Element to give away to 3 lucky winners. To enter is easy. Just leave a comment with your email address and please click on that tweet button. That’s it.
While it isn’t required, it would be much appreciated if you would follow my blog. Also show some appreciation to Donna for this awesome giveaway. Her links are provided below.
This giveaway ends on August 18th.
Good luck everyone!
For more about the author:
Her blog: http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DonnaGalantiAuthor?-ref+hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonnaGalanti
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5767306Donna_Galanti
A Human Element:
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/dg-the-Kindle
B&N: http://tinyurl.com/dg-he-Nook
Donna Galanti writes suspense and middle grade fiction. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Horror Writers Association, The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, and Pennwriters. If she couldn’t write she would bike, hike, and kayak every day. She’s lived from England to Hawaii, including owning a campground in New Hampshire and as a photographer in the U.S. Navy. She operated a resume writing service for years until she closed up shop to write novels. Donna dreamed of being a writer at seven years old when she fell in love with Narnia and Roald Dahl. She lived in England at the time, attending school in a magical castle where her imagination ran wild in an itchy uniform. (bowling hat and tie included). She now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and two crazy cats in an old farmhouse. It has lots of writing nooks, fireplaces, and stink bugs, but she’s still wishing for a castle again.
Thank you Donna for a thrilling and touching story and for allowing me to offer this giveaway. Keep wishing:)
