Posts Tagged ‘fiction’

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I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the WILD ASSES OF THE MOJAVE DESERT & GOBBLEDY by Lis Anna-Langston Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar
Book Tours
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Check out my stop on the tour and make sure to enter the giveaway!

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Title: WILD ASSES OF THE MOJAVE DESERT

by Author: Lis Anna-Langston

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Pub. Date: October 20, 2023

Publisher: Mapleton Press

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 302

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Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/WILD-ASSES-OF-THE-MOJAVE-DESERT

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A modern girl caught in the chaos of
the modern world, Skye takes a drastic turn when she escapes a toxic
relationship. Driving across country she seeks solace at her sister’s house in
the low desert reuniting with her best friend Dylan, whose discovery of a
mysterious rock sparks a belief in its magical properties. With the help of a
psychic, her sister, her ex, a phantom dog and a little Ho’oponopono Skye
weathers the unexpected twists and turns during the course of a summer that
changes her life forever.

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…a journey away from the familiar and
into the desert of discovery…As relationship quandaries, marriage
possibilities, and good and harmful emotional connections emerge against the
backdrop of the desert environment, readers receive a multifaceted story that
connects via both emotional and landscape twists of perspective.

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“Wild Asses of the Mojave Desert is a
novel that pulls at heart and mind alike. Through Skye’s journey and process of
letting go everything she’s held tightly throughout her life, readers receive a
compelling saga…”-D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

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MY REVIEW

I’m going to start my review with the ending. I finished reading it and immediately thought, what did I just read? The answer was a book filled with mystery and every kind of character you could imagine. And that’s a big seller for me. I love character driven stories and here you have some young adults trying to look at the big picture. Answer those big questions. Why are we here? What does it all mean?

Skye returned home with a broken heart and mice living in her car. Hoping for the comfort of familiar surroundings and friends. She discovers things didn’t stand still while she was gone. People changed. The small town she remembered changed. And something in the desert will change her too. And my perspective on what I was reading changed. I thought the story was going one way. It went another. My focus deepened. The story changed again. My focus deepened again. And I could not stop reading until I got the big picture. I got the meaning. I got the answers.

And those characters I mentioned. Every kind you could imagine. How about a dead chinchilla living in a freezer. Or a ghost dog. The pink meteorite and the desert felt like characters too.

After reading the synopsis I had a feeling I would enjoy this voyage. Halfway through reading the book I knew for sure. And by the end, I loved it.

5 STARS

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GOBBLEDY

by Author: Lis Anna-Langston

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Pub. Date: October 20, 2023

Publisher: Mapleton Press

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 233

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Find it:Goodreads, https://books2read.com/GOBBLEDY-LANGSTON

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Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!

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Ever since eleven-year-old Dexter
Duckworth and his brother, Dougal, lost their mom, everything has been
different. But “different” takes on a whole new meaning when, one day just
before Christmas (or Kissmas, as they call it), Dexter finds a golden rock in
the forest that hatches into an adorable alien. Gobbledy is smarter than he
seems and is lost on planet Earth. Before long, Gobbledy takes Dexter, Dougal,
and their best friend Fi on an adventure of friendship, family, and loss—one
that requires them all to stay out of trouble, protect Gobbledy from a shadowy
group called the Planetary Society, and prepare for their school’s Winter
Extravaganza Play, where Dexter has to be a dreaded Gingerbread Man.

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Gobbledy is a fun-filled holiday story that adds up to two
brothers, three friends, unlimited jars of peanut butter, a ketchup factory,
and one little alien far, far from home.

“Hugely entertaining as well as
emotionally moving.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

“This charming alien-in-the-attic story boasts engaging characters, witty
storytelling, and a furry little beast that will eat anything, all wrapped up
in a warm holiday package.” ~ Booklife

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MY REVIEW

Gobbledy was much more than I bargained for. In such a fun, lovable way. Haven’t you looked to the stars at night and wondered what or who else might be out there? For two young brothers, the answer is out of this world. It comes with lots of toes, a long tail and tall, fluffy ears.

Dexter and his friend, Fi, discover a mysterious rock that hatches a cute alien they name Gobbledy. Needing help to protect their secret, they bring Dexter’s younger brother, Dougal, into the fold. And thus begins the adventure of all adventures.

While the story is about dealing with the loss of a loved one, there are many fun situations which, combined, brings a richness to the tale. The alien eats everything. I mean everything. Hence it’s name. Dexter, Dougal and Fi will make you laugh so hard. That deep bellied laugh that makes you bend over to catch your breath. The lengths they go through to hide Gobbledy are hilarious. And the clueless father. He doesn’t play a big part in the story, but he sure adds to the hilarity.

When I reached the end I felt a lightness of heart. And I was wearing a big silly grin.

5 STARS

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About Lis Anna-Langston:

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Lis
Anna-Langston was raised along the winding current of the Mississippi River on
a steady diet of dog-eared books. She attended a Creative and Performing Arts
School from middle school until graduation and went on to study Literature at
Webster University. Her novels have won the Parents’ Choice Gold, Moonbeam Book
Award, Independent Press Award, Benjamin Franklin Book Award and NYC Big Book
Awards. A three-time Pushcart award nominee and Finalist in the Brighthorse
Book Prize, William Faulkner Fiction Contest, George Garrett Fiction Prize and
Thomas Wolfe Fiction Award, her work has been published in The Literary Review,
Emerson Review, The Merrimack Review, Emrys Journal, The MacGuffin, Sand Hill
Review and dozens of other literary journals.

Hailed as
“an author with a genuine flair for originality” by Midwest Book Review and “a
loveable, engaging, original voice…” by Publishers Weekly, you can find her in
the wilds of South Carolina plucking stories out of thin air.
Sign up for Lis’s newsletter!

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

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Giveaway contest ribbon promo label prize. Vector giveaway banner badge design template

1 winner will win their choice of a finished copy of WILD ASSES OF THE MOJAVE DESERT or
GOBBLEDY, US Only.

Ends December 19th, midnight EST.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

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12/4/2023

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Blog Spotlight/IG Spotlight

12/4/2023

Writer of Wrongs

Excerpt

12/5/2023

@darkfantasyreviews

Excerpt/IG Spotlight

12/5/2023

@anitralovesbooksanddogs

IG Spotlight

12/6/2023

GryffindorBookishnerd

IG Review

12/6/2023

mythicmelancholy

IG Review

12/7/2023

@evergirl200

IG Review

12/7/2023

The Momma Spot

Review

12/8/2023

Country Mamas With Kids

Review/IG Post

12/8/2023

Confessions of the Perfect Mom

Review/IG Post

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Week Two:

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12/11/2023

@enjoyingbooksagain

IG Review

12/11/2023

FUONLYKNEW

Review

12/12/2023

A Blue Box Full of Books

IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post

12/12/2023

One More Exclamation

Review/IG Post

12/13/2023

paws.read.repeat

Review/IG Review/LFL Drop Pic

12/13/2023

@froggyreadteach

IG Review

12/14/2023

Locks, Hooks and Books

Review

12/14/2023

@pineshorelittlefreelibrary

IG Review/LFL Drop Pic

12/15/2023

@enthuse_reader

IG Review/TikTok Post

12/15/2023

@pagesforpaige

IG Review

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

 

This is a really fun meme!

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!

My 56 for this week is from

The Shade Under The Mango Tree

  by Evy Journey

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Genre:  Fiction / Coming Of Age

From page 56 in the paperback.

Wat amazing sensations I felt on the lawn that day.

For me, life is worth living for such moments alone, but too many people are too busy getting rich, caring only for material things.

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Synopsis

After two heartbreaking losses, Luna wants adventure. Something and somewhere very different from the affluent, sheltered home in California and Hawaii where she grew up. An adventure in which she can also make some difference. She travels to a foreign place where she gets more than she bargained for.

Lucien, a worldly, well-traveled young architect, finds a stranger’s journal at a café. He has qualms and pangs of guilt about reading it. But they don’t stop him. His decision to go on reading changes his life.

Months later, Luna and Lucien meet at a bookstore where Luna works and which Lucien frequents. Still hurting from her losses, Luna finds solace in Lucien’s company and his tales of world travel.

Inspired by Lucien, she goes to Cambodia. What she goes through in one of its rice-growing villages defies anything she could have imagined.

An epistolary tale of courage, love and loss, and the bonds that bring diverse people together.

Amazon

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Slightest In The House organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Barbara Casey will award a $20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Slightest In The House

by Barbara Casey

 

 

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis

On some level she was aware that an elderly woman had come out of the darkness and put her arms around her. Meredith heard her say that everything would be all right. But on another, more conscious level, the one where all of her senses saw, felt, processed and recorded what was happening, Meredith watched two black body bags being loaded into the back of an ambulance. Then she watched the ambulance turn around and drive off in the opposite direction. Her long, tumbling mass of blond curls hung loosely over her face, shielding it. For Beth, the reality of what had taken place would come later. But Meredith had seen what had happened and understood. That knowledge was now seeping through every pore of her body.

Seventeen-year-old Meredith and her four-year-old stepsister, Beth, face the numbing reality of suddenly losing their parents in a freak accident. With no other family, they are taken from their mobile home in Georgia to go live with a grandmother they have never met in a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. Beth soon adjusts to her new environment; but Meredith withdraws from everyone and everything, unable to blot out the image of the horrible crash that killed her parents. It is only when she reaches out to a homeless woman that Meredith is finally able to find herself and face her demons. With the help of her grandmother’s long-employed staff, a family doctor, a museum curator, an attorney who is more than just her grandmother’s legal advisor, and, of course, her conniving grandmother who is dealing with her own guilt for having been estranged from her son and his wife (Meredith’s and Beth’s parents), Meredith is able to pull herself from the depths of despair into a life filled with faith, hope, and generosity.

Slightest in the House is a contemporary novel with strong, interesting characters from different walks of life, brought together because of life’s difficult and often unexpected circumstances, and bonded together by their faith and belief that everything works out as it should.

Enjoy this peek inside:

Joseph had no trouble locating Mango Street or the apartments. The town of Palmetto was small, and all of the streets seemed to run north and south, and east and west. After parking next to the curb, Joseph waited by the car as Elizabeth walked up to the front door and knocked. A woman wearing jeans and a loose-fitting blouse opened the door.

“I’m Elizabeth Wallingford,” she said to the woman. “I understand my granddaughters are staying with you.”

The woman told Elizabeth her name was Anne Reynolds, “and this is my husband, Ron,” she said as she led Elizabeth into the dimly-lit living room. A man who had been seated across the room stood up. He was dressed in a policeman’s uniform, and the dark circles under his eyes indicated that he hadn’t slept in a while.

“We are terribly sorry for your loss,” he said putting his arm around his wife. “Ricky and Rachel were good friends of ours.”

“We are just so sorry,” repeated Anne.

Elizabeth nodded and then quickly glanced around the somewhat cluttered room. Her eyes paused on the young child who was curled up in a chair asleep.

“That’s our daughter, Christie,” said Ron.

Elizabeth continued to look around the room. Toys and games littered the floor. An old black and white Western movie was playing on the television, but the sound had been turned down. And then she saw them. A thin young girl—almost a young woman—with long blond hair and big blue eyes. So much like her mother. The jeans she wore were too short, even for her petite body. And the shoes on her feet looked as though they should be on someone else. Standing next to her was a much younger child holding some kind of stuffed toy with a ridiculous-looking bandage covering its rear end. A remnant of a tail hung limply over the bandage. Where the jeans on the older girl were too small, the dress on this child was much too large. The laces on her tennis shoes were frayed and knotted, and a rather large gaping hole in one of the shoes exposed the small bare toes within. Unlike her older half-sister, this child had short, dark hair, straight and fine, and her eyes were a golden brown. She was the image of her father, Elizabeth’s son. Elizabeth’s breathing quickened as the overwhelming sadness of the situation consumed her. Sensing the fear and uncertainty—and distrust—in these two young girls—her granddaughters, it was this that kept her own pain from being unbearable.

“Meredith . . . Beth, I’m your grandmother. I have come to take you to your new home.”

Beth put her small hand into Elizabeth’s jeweled one, and the three of them walked unspeaking out of the house. Ron carried what few belongings the girls had out to Joseph which he quickly loaded into the car—a brown tattered suitcase, a small wooden trunk with a brass lock in the middle, and a ripped paper shopping bag that contained a few books and toys. There was a smaller canvas bag with what looked like a computer in it. Meredith’s no doubt, Elizabeth thought as she watched Joseph put it in the back with the other things.

“We really didn’t know what to pack,” explained Anne apologetically. “Meredith and Beth picked out what they wanted.”

Elizabeth nodded. So paltry, she thought, noticing the shabbiness of everything. But she mustn’t allow herself to think about that. Somehow she would make it up to them and to their mother. Somehow she would make it up to her son. And she prayed that she would be forgiven.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Elizabeth said to Ron and Anne, her emotions just under the surface. She didn’t trust herself to say any more and she slipped into the backseat with Meredith and Beth. Once settled, the big car slowly drove away.

It was daybreak.

About Author Barbara Casey:

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https://i0.wp.com/blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRaWHvQiMXa9BdQNI-Xx8Zcq-14WXyJElz02UvvQx5GgalDCnysetFrg2Ixrrq2zSo32pV3KZWz_1JxjkyPDzxhDk0dX9ZZrac9aKnAbbhKFNuQ42etJ5MxNaE4P6HCjbFXr2OoCocPB9IC5pMGpx65Jdx5V7CmdKCy1Uy4bwSJLnW-INngr68mY8drY/s3872/author%20image.jpg?ssl=1

Barbara Casey is the author of over two dozen award-winning novels and book-length works of nonfiction for both adults and young adults, and numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Several of her books have been optioned for major films and television series.

In addition to her own writing, Barbara is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey Agency. Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan.

In 2018 Barbara received the prestigious Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Professional Award for her extensive experience and notable accomplishments in the field of publishing and other areas.

Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with three cats who adopted her: Homer, a Southern coon cat; Reese, a black cat; and Earl Gray, a gray cat and Reese’s best friend.

Author Links: Website / Blog / Goodreads 

Purchase Links: Amazon / B&N

Giveaway contest ribbon promo label prize. Vector giveaway banner badge design template

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for The Airs Of Tillie organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Barbara Casey will award a $20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Airs Of Tillie

by Barbara Casey

Genre: YA Fiction

Synopsis

The small town of Wellington, Florida, has the distinction of playing host to some of the wealthiest people in the world as well as the most prestigious equestrian events. King Charles comes from England to watch polo on the fields where he once played as Prince. The United States Olympics Equestrian team trains and competes there with teams from other countries. In sharp contrast, just down the road, due west, are some of the largest sugarcane fields in the world. The people who work these fields are for the most part poor. They come from many cultures and backgrounds, but they primarily come from Haiti, Jamaica, and the United States. This combination of horse owner and cane worker is an unusual dichotomy, and it is a blend of these things that makes up the world in which my story’s main character, Tillie, the 11-year-old daughter of a sugarcane field foreman, lives.

In The Airs of Tillie, Tillie Turpning lives in an imaginary world that is filled with beautiful horses, polite people, and luxurious homes. Her real world, however, includes living in a cane foreman’s small tenant house with her over-worked mother, an autistic sister, and a rebellious older brother who is searching for answers within a radical Muslim group. When Tillie is unexpectedly forced to assist in the difficult birth of a new foal, she proves that her determination and belief in herself will allow her to accomplish anything she sets out to do.

Enjoy this peek inside:

Matt struck hard at the cane stalk and continued moving down the row at a faster pace than normal. Meeting Abdullah had stirred up more questions. The fundamentals of the Muslim faith were good as far as he could tell. There was sahah, or daily prayer, ibadah, which was submission to Allah or God. Zalsah was paying 2.5 percent of his salary to a deserving fellow being—his parents called it tithing. There was fasting during the month of Ramadin or ninth month. And there was hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca. This was considered the biggest of all acts of worship. It was where Muslims from around the world were united into one international brotherhood. Mustafa talked a lot about the hajj. It was his hope to go some time in the next year. He had even suggested that Matt go with him—that is, if he decided to convert to Islam.

The prayer and worship and giving to others were all good things as far as Matt was concerned. He didn’t have much to give, but he wouldn’t mind sharing it. Abdullah had made a special point to single him out after the meeting, telling him that he had heard good things about him. That the “Brotherhood” needed good men like him. That was when Abdullah invited him to a special meeting they were having later in the week. Abdullah had actually called him a man. He had also told him that if he needed anything to let him know. “It is an honor,” Mustafa had told him later, “for Abdullah to take special notice.”

Matt felt good. He liked his new friends and he liked what he was learning about Islam. Abdullah was a leader. Matt noticed how much everyone looked up to him—respected him. That was what he wanted, too. Respect. But being the son of a cut foreman who worked in a cane field brought on more jokes than respect from the other workers.

Matt straightened up from his stooped position and wiped the sweat from his face. Behind him lay hundreds of long cane stalks neatly cut and piled in a row. The Brotherhood needs good men like you. He would attend the special meeting even if it did mean sneaking out of the house.

About Author Barbara Casey:

Barbara Casey

Barbara Casey is the author of over two dozen award-winning novels and book-length works of nonfiction for both adults and young adults, and numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Several of her books have been optioned for major films and television series.

In addition to her own writing, Barbara is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey Agency. Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan.

In 2018 Barbara received the prestigious Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Professional Award for her extensive experience and notable accomplishments in the field of publishing and other areas.

Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with three cats who adopted her: Homer, a Southern coon cat; Reese, a black cat; and Earl Gray, a gray cat and Reese’s best friend.

Website / Agency / Amazon / Goodreads

Giveaway contest ribbon promo label prize. Vector giveaway banner badge design template

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Nine Bear Lodge organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Keith A. Hamilton will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Nine Bear Lodge

by Keith A. Hamilton

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis

The beautiful Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia provides a dramatic backdrop in a story of two men who crossed paths years before, who meet again by chance. Taking his family on a bucket list vacation, a former smuggler confronts the former policeman who had arrested and tortured him many years before. The family enjoys the luxury setting and the variety of activities provided by the Nine Bear Lodge, while the two men come to grips with their shared past. Will one man take the ultimate revenge, or will they both find a path to redemption and reconciliation?

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Enjoy this exclusive excerpt:

…he heard the sound of a lock being opened, and someone approached through an opening door. He still couldn’t see much in the gloom, then suddenly all was white light. He hissed as the sudden brightness seared his eyes.

 

“Wolfgang Schnable,” said a voice he didn’t recognize.

 

“No one has called me that for a long time,” he replied, trying to keep his voice steady and trying to sound as calm as he was beginning to feel again.

 

“Yes, Wolfie, we know all about you. We’ve been watching you for some time.”

 

He let that go without a response. It had to be simple truth, and it told him quite a bit about who his adversary was. He tried a gambit.

 

“You’re not with a rival gang or I’d already be dead. You’re not with the Federal Police or I’d be in a different space, and my lawyer would be chewing out the ass of the arresting officer and his supervisor, following which I would get an apology from the local chief and a discount on my normal bribe rate. So that tells me there’s something bigger happening. Let me out of this ridiculous place and get me some dry clothing, a bottle of Reisling, and a cigarette. We should be comfortable when we start our negotiations.”

 

“Not so fast, I’m afraid, Wolfie old pal. We have enough on you to put you in a very uncomfortable place for a very long time. I don’t give a damn about you, and I’d be just as happy handing this thick file over to the local Bundesgrenzschutz. They would salivate at the prospect of getting you put away. And don’t think even your expensive lawyer and your extensive bribes would save your ass.”

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About Author Keith A. Hamilton

Since the early 1990s, Keith A. Hamilton has lived and worked in small remote Indigenous communities throughout Northern and Western Canada. He has made Bella Coola his home since 2016. He and his wife and their dog enjoy the beauty and serenity of the Central Coast region.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Giveaway contest ribbon promo label prize. Vector giveaway banner badge design template

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

 

This is a really fun meme!

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!

My 56 for this week is from:

Migrations

  by Charlotte McConaghy

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c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Fiction / Science Fiction

From page 56 in the hard cover.

When I was six years old my mother used to sit with me in our back garden to watch crows perch in the huge willow tree. In winter months the long hanging leaves would turn white like the snow on the ground, or like the wispy whiskers of an ancient man, and the crows hiding among them were stark spots of coal.

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Synopsis

Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool—a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime—it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny’s dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?

Epic and intimate, heartbreaking and galvanizing, Charlotte McConaghy’s Migrations is an ode to a disappearing world and a breathtaking page-turner about the possibility of hope against all odds.

Amazon

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

The author will be awarding a print copy of the book *US only* to a randomly drawn winner via the Rafflecopter at the end of the post. Don’t forget to enter.

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Pine Island Home

by Polly Horvath

Pine Island Home by [Polly Horvath]

Synopsis

Four sisters search for true family in this story of resilience by a Newbery Honor author.

When the McCready sisters’ parents are washed away in a tsunami, their Great Aunt Martha volunteers to have them live with her on her farm in British Columbia. But while they are traveling there, Martha dies unexpectedly, forcing Fiona, the eldest, to come up with a scheme to keep social services from separating the girls – a scheme that will only work if no one knows they are living on their own.

Fiona approaches their grouchy and indifferent neighbor Al and asks if he will pretend to be their live-in legal guardian should papers need to be signed or if anyone comes snooping around. He reluctantly agrees, under the condition that they bring him dinner every night.

As weeks pass, Fiona takes on more and more adult responsibilities, while each of the younger girls finds their own special role in their atypical family – But even if things seem to be falling into place, Fiona is sure it’s only a matter of time before they are caught.

Written in Polly Horvath’s inimitable style, gentle humor and tough obstacles are woven throughout this story about the bonds of sisterhood and what makes a family.

Read an Excerpt:

THE McCready sisters, Fiona, fourteen, Marlin, twelve, Natasha, ten, and Charlie, eight, were raised in a missionary family. They had been happily and safely moving from pillar to post all over the world when their parents, taking their first vacation ever, having come into a small sum of money from an aging uncle who “felt it strongly” that they had never had a honeymoon, invited them to Thailand, where he ran a small hotel. The three of them and the hotel were swept away in a tsunami. The four girls were, at the time, living in Borneo, in a small cottage far back in the jungle without benefit of internet or phone service, being seen after by a visiting church volunteer who couldn’t continue to take care of them as she had other plans. So the church had a Mrs. Weatherspoon from Australia come to stay with them until someone in their family could step forward. That took a year.

Mrs. Weatherspoon sent out appeals to all the relatives she and the girls could find except for a great- aunt, Martha McCready, who lived off the coast of British Columbia. The girls’ mother, when opening Martha’s annual Christmas card, called her “that peculiar woman hiding in the woods.” Mrs. Weatherspoon said they would save her as a last resort. But surely someone more suitable would respond first. There were aunts and uncles in Tampa, Florida; Lansing, Michigan; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Kingsport, Tennessee. That was the lot. It took a while for the responses to Mrs. Weatherspoon’s appeal to trickle in. The mail pickup and delivery in the jungle was unreliable and slow. After receiving the appeal, the relatives then had to think about it. These were their sister’s or brother’s children, it was true. But there were four of them. Fitting four children into an already- established household was no small matter. Some of them wrote to ask Mrs. Weatherspoon to write them if no one else had come forward. When Mrs. Weatherspoon did, they had to think about it all over again. This took time. And none of them had met the McCready children. Mr. and Mrs. McCready had become estranged from their brothers and sisters many years before when they had made what the siblings considered a “very weird choice,” joining a church that none of them had heard of and of which, for some reason never explained to the girls, they all disapproved.

About Author Polly Horvath:

Polly Horvath has written many books for children including Everything on a Waffle, a Newbery Honor Book; The Canning Season, a National Book Award winner; and The Trolls, a National Book Award finalist. She lives in British Columbia with her family. Visit her at www.PollyHorvath.com.

Author contacts: Website / Amazon

Buy Links: Publisher / Amazon / B&N

GIVEAWAY

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iRead Website new logo

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Free Pizza
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by G.C. McRae
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Category: Middle-Grade Fiction, 360 pages
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Publisher: MacDonald Warne Media
Release date: May 1, 2019
Tour dates: May 1 to 17, 2019
Content Rating: PG (No sex or drugs, just mild expletives such as “hell” and “damn”.)
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My Review
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This book took me back to when I was a youngster. Brought up a lot of fun memories and reminded of how the highs were high and the lows were low. All that excitement and angst.
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The story revolves around twelve year old Brian and events leading up to when he receives a birthday card for a free pizza. It’s also about how he deals with his older parents who, after adopting him, later had two young boys of their own. He questions his connection with all of them and turns to his best friend for companionship, which lands him in a few pickles.
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There’s plenty to make you chuckle and the book also has some depth to it. I was quickly caught up in it and had a really good time.
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The only real glitch was the use of cuss words. I didn’t expect that in a middle grade book. Sure, our kids swear when they can get away with it. Just a word of caution to those that are sensitive about this in their kids reading material.
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I’m glad I read Free Pizza and would be interested in other books by this author. The writing was strong, the characters were genuine and the scenes were very visual for me. Plus, I laughed out loud on more than one occasion.
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Synopsis
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Brian McSpadden is always hungry. Does he have a disease? Worms? Does it have something to do with his being adopted? He spends his days at his crazy friend Danny’s house, hoping for snacks, but nothing seems to fill the void.​Then Brian receives a mysterious birthday card that says, Free Pizza. He soon discovers the card has nothing to do with food and everything to do with the big questions in his life: where did I come from, why did my mother give me up and is there anyone out there who will like me the way I am?To read reviews, please visit G.C. McRae’s page on iRead Book Tours.
Buy the Book:
Meet the Author:
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​G.C. McRae is the bestselling author of two young adult novels, three illustrated children’s books and a collection of original fairy tales. His writing is fall-down funny, even when the theme is darker than a coal miner’s cough. McRae reads to anybody at any time, in person or online, for free, which probably explains why he meets so many people and sells so many books.

In his latest work, Free Pizza, McRae spins the highly emotional themes from his decidedly unfunny childhood into a brilliantly comic yarn. After being given up for adoption by his teenage mom back when single girls were forced to hide unplanned pregnancies, his adoptive parents didn’t exactly keep him under the stairs but, well, let’s just say, there were spiders.

A lot has changed since then. McRae’s own children have now grown and he runs a small farm with his wife, who is herself an award-winning writer.

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ LibraryThing

 

Enter the Giveaway!
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Ends May 25, 2019
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JOSEPHINE BAKER’S LAST DANCE

by Sherry Jones, Biography/Historical

304 pp., $11.00 (paperback) $11.99 (Kindle)

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JOSEPHINE BAKER’S LAST DANCE
by Sherry Jones
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 304
Genre: Biography/Historical
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My Review
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 I’d only known Josephine Baker as a famous Parisian singer and dancer. Then I happened to watch the movie which revealed her life from her desperate, dark beginning to her triumphant final scene, sharing her many romances, her fight for equal rights and the oppression of the Nazis, along with her drive to affect change, leaving me breathless and in tears. Sherry Jones managed to do the same in her novel, adding her own touches to make the story even more in depth and thrilling. You may know the singer and dancer, but this slightly fictional account of her life reveals insights into her thoughts and feelings and I found it fascinating.
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symbol,star,disjunct,shape,image,recycling,design,signsymbol,star,disjunct,shape,image,recycling,design,signsymbol,star,disjunct,shape,image,recycling,design,signsymbol,star,disjunct,shape,image,recycling,design,sign

From the author of The Jewel of Medina, a moving and insightful novel
based on the life of legendary performer and activist Josephine Baker,
perfect for fans of The Paris Wife and Hidden Figures.
Discover the fascinating and singular life story of Josephine Baker—actress, singer, dancer, Civil Rights activist, member of the
French Resistance during WWII, and a woman dedicated to erasing
prejudice and creating a more equitable world—in Josephine Baker’s Last
Dance.In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones brings to life
Josephine’s early years in servitude and poverty in America, her rise to
fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt, her activism against
discrimination, and her many loves and losses. From 1920s Paris to 1960s
Washington, to her final, triumphant performance, one of the most
extraordinary lives of the twentieth century comes to stunning life on
the page.

With intimate prose and comprehensive research, Sherry Jones brings
this remarkable and compelling public figure into focus for the first
time in a joyous celebration of a life lived in technicolor, a powerful
woman who continues to inspire today.

Purchase Josephine Baker’s Last Dance in paperback,  ebook,  and  audiobook  formats on  Simon and Schuster’s website (available on Amazon,  Barnes and Noble,  BooksAMillion,  Indiebound,  Kobo,  and  other sites). Learn more about Sherry’s books  at  www.authorsherryjones.com

Just before she entered the stage door, a
drop of rain hit her on the head. No, that was not a bad omen, only a
reminder to do her best, to shine like the star she was, or would be.
Wilsie came running up—Mr. Sissle was there, but Mr. Blake had yet to
arrive. “You’ll knock ’em dead, Tumpy. Just do your dancing and forget
the rest.” Josephine didn’t need to be told that. She was ready.
She flexed and stretched her arms as she
walked with Wilsie across the stage, past the musicians gathering,
trumpets and saxophones and drums and a clarinet, down into the
auditorium, where a slender man spoke to a white-haired man at his side.
He turned his head very slightly and looked her up and down from the
corners of his shrewd, hard eyes. His mouth pursed.
“How old are you?” he’d said before Wilsie
had even introduced them. The stage door opened, and a very
dark-skinned man with a bald head hurried in, talking about “the damned
rain,” scampering down the steps, striding up the aisle, shaking water
from his clothes.
“Eubie Blake,” he said, smiling, holding out his hand to her.
“This is Tumpy, Mr. Blake, the one I told you about,” Wilsie said. “She’s here to audition for Clara’s spot in the chorus.”
The man with Mr. Sissle—the stage
manager—motioned to her and she followed him up the stage steps. Did she
know the songs? Could she dance to “I’m Just Wild about Harry”?
Josephine wanted to jump for joy. She pretended to watch as Wilsie
showed her the steps, which she already knew as if she’d made them up
herself. Josephine stripped down to her dingy leotard, tossed her
clothes on a chair, then ran and leaped to the center of the stage. This
was it. She bent over to grasp her ankles, stretching her legs, then
stood and pulled her arms over her head.
“Ready?” Mr. Sissle barked. The music
started, and she began the dance, so simple she could have done it in
her sleep. Practicing in the Standard, she’d gotten bored with it and
had made up her own steps, throwing in a little Black Bottom, wiggling
her ass and kicking her legs twice as high as they wanted to go, taken
by the music, played by it, the instruments’ instrument, flapping her
hands, step and kick and spin and spin and squat and jump and down in a
split, up and jump and kick and spin—oops, the steps, she didn’t need no
damn steps, she had better ones—and kick and jump and wiggle and spin.
She looked out into the auditorium—a big mistake: Mr. Blake’s mouth was
open and Mr. Sissle’s eyes had narrowed to slits. Don’t be nervous, just
dance. Only the music remained now, her feet and the stage.
When she’d finished, panting, and pulled
on her dress and shoes, Wilsie came running over, her eyes shining. “You
made their heads spin, you better believe it,” she whispered, but when
they went down into the aisle Josephine heard Mr. Sissle muttering.
“Too young, too dark, too ugly,” he said.
The world stopped turning, then, the sun frozen in its arc, every clock
still, every breath caught in every throat. Mr. Blake turned to her,
smiling as if everything were normal, and congratulated her on “a
remarkable dance.”
“I can see that you are well qualified for our chorus, Tumpy,” he said, and on his lips, the name sounded like a little child’s.
“You have real talent, and spark, besides. How did you learn to do that at such a young age? You are—how old?”
“Fifteen,” she said.
Mr. Sissle snorted, and cut Wilsie a look.
“Wasting my time,” he said. Mr. Blake looked at her as if she’d just
wandered in from the orphanage.
“I’m very sorry, there’s been a mix-up,” he said. “You must be sixteen to dance professionally in New York State.”
“I’ll be sixteen in June,” Josephine said. Her voice sounded plaintive and faraway.
“We need someone now.” Mr. Sissle folded
his arms as if she were underage on purpose. Mr. Blake led her toward
the stage door, an apologetic Wilsie saying she hadn’t known. Mr. Sissle
followed, talking to Mr. Blake about adding some steps to “I’m Just
Wild about Harry,” saying they should put in some kicks, that he’d been
thinking about it for a while. Uh-huh.
“Come and see us in New York after your
birthday, doll,” Mr. Blake said. “You never know when we might have an
opening.” He opened the door and let the rain pour in before shutting it
again. He looked at Josephine’s thin, optimistic dress. Where was her
umbrella? She hung her head. He stepped over to retrieve a black
umbrella propped against the wall and handed it to her. She took it
without even knowing, her thoughts colliding like too many birds in a
cage. She would have to stay in Philadelphia, she had failed—too young,
too dark, too ugly—she should have lied about her age, what had gotten
into her? Showing off, that was what.
And now Mr. Sissle disliked her, and she
would never get into their show; it didn’t matter how many times she
went back. As she stepped out into the rain with that big umbrella in
her hands unopened and felt the rain pour down her face; she was glad,
for now they would think it was water instead of tears, but when she
looked back, Wilsie was crying, too, in the open doorway.
Seeing the men watching from a window, she
stopped. They wouldn’t forget her; she’d make them remember. She walked
slowly, her silk dress dripping, while Mr. Sissle gesticulated with
excitement as he stole her ideas—authentic Negro dancing were the last
words she’d heard—and Mr. Blake looking as if he wanted to run out
there, scoop her up, and carry her back inside.
( Continued… )
© 2018 All rights reserved. Book excerpt
reprinted by permission of the author, Sherry Jones. Do not reproduce,
copy or use without the author’s written permission. This excerpt is
used for promotional purposes only.

 

 

 

Author and journalist Sherry Jones is best known for her international bestseller The Jewel of Medina. She is also the author of The Sword of MedinaFour SistersAll QueensThe Sharp Hook of Love, and the novella White Heart.  Sherry lives
in Spokane, WA, where, like Josephine Baker, she enjoys dancing,
singing, eating, advocating for equality, and drinking champagne.Her latest novel is Josephine Baker’s Last Dance.Website: http://authorsherryjones.com
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http://www.pumpupyourbook.com

 

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If you’re like me, you have a pile of books beckoning to you from your lists. Carole hosts this fun feature where you can share some of those older books and perhaps nudge you to finally read them. If you want to join in on the fun, head over to Carole’s Random Life In Books and leave a link to your post.
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The Vineyard

  by Michael Hurley

23112185

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Genre: Fiction

Synopsis

Ten years after their college days together, three wounded and very different women reunite for a summer on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. As they come to grips with the challenges and crises in their lives, their encounter with a reclusive poacher, known only as “the fisherman,” threatens to change everything they believe about their world-and each other.

Amazon / B&N

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The synopsis is brief and mysterious and I’m very curious what the story is all about.

I added this book back in November of 2014 and I own a copy. I’ve now added it to my current reading list and hope to get to it soon.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.