Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway ~ Way to Go by Mandy Colton

WAY TO GO

by Mandy Colton

Veronica Lane works in the travel industry in her dream job when she experiences a hellish travel day ending in the loss of her job and stranded far from home. To make the situation even worse, she drowns her sorrows in the hotel bar, and wakes the next morning to a big surprise.

Gathering up the remains of her dignity along with her travel bags, she returns to her hometown in Peachtree City, Georgia. A community similar to a progressive Mayberry, except with golf cart paths and carts. A lot of them. Her family is kooky. The parents are sexually free and liberal, her brother is a golf cart cop with more good looks and brawn than brains. Her grandparents, one from each side, live in the same retirement community and maintain a constant battle while entertaining the other senior citizens. The Grandmother on her dad's side is stuck in the 1960’s, and the Grandfather on her mother's side served in WWII and thinks that the Japanese are still trying to kill him.

She calls inquiring about a job in the newspaper, a group escort for a small tour company in Atlanta. She is hired immediately and leaves the next day with her first group to Jamaica. First, she meets a handsome pilot with the charter airline they use, and then there is one unusual group participant that doesn’t seem to belong. He leaves the group for periods of time and when things happen, he uses MacGyver like skills to get them out of the situations. She is aggravated and knows something is fishy and the bad thing is, the man is very charismatic and she’s not just a little attracted to him.

Upon their return, she finds out that the man is friends with her rather unconventional boss and after a second unusual group excursion to Puerto Rico; she knows for sure that the little tour company in Atlanta is not really what it seems on the outside. When the truth is revealed, she finds herself unintentionally dropped into a new career that she can't exactly add to her resume.

Veronica finds herself in uncomfortable and hilarious situations, surrounded by crazy tour participants, family, friends, neighbors, and pets. After a long dry spell, she finds that there is suddenly an overabundance of romance, drama, and intrigue in her life. Her life is now a sometimes very bumpy, yet exciting ride.

One thing we Southerners liked was our red velvet cake. I even remembered a fierce battle over one between some of the female relatives at a couple of our family reunions. The rivalry had lasted for years. Aunt Darlene thought hers was better than Aunt Gerta’s, and she’d gotten caught trying to sabotage the other aunt’s cake. The next year, Aunt Gerta had just picked up Aunt Darlene’s cake and dumped it. That resulted in a catfight out in the yard and the family dog barfing up a piece of Gerta’s wig when all the kids were eating watermelon later that day. What a great memory.

Plowing through my warm plate of chocolaty red velvet pancakes had brought up that warm and fuzzy memory. I shoveled another bite of pancake with the cream cheese icing and powdered sugar on top and then took a bite of my bacon and looked at the table. It was covered with plates. I looked up at Wes, who shoveled his own mound of food into his mouth. He had pretty much ordered and eaten one of everything on the menu.

Wes could be a dimwit of a brother, but I guess he was considered handsome. His hair was brown with red highlights, and he had our dad’s chiseled good looks and Mom’s eyes. He was tall and muscular, and the girls seemed to like him a lot. He had also always been into sports; he’d played football and was on the track team in high school.

I knit my brows. “How the hell do you eat that way and look like you do?”

He burped and grinned, raising his arm to show me his bicep muscle. “I work out every day at the gym next to the station. We get a discount because we serve the community. Need to stay in tip-top shape, and the women really dig the muscles. I’m ready for anything. Bring it on, bad guys. Grrr!” He chuckled and went back to shoveling.

I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re a golf cart cop. When’s the last time you ran over a felon?”

Mandy Colton is from Louisville, KY, and lives a very quiet life with her husband and teenage son. She’s a fan of romance, fun adventure stories, and some occasional sci-fi or paranormal thrown in. Veronica Lane and the idea for her adventures came from her own experiences and career working in the travel industry.

She claims that working in the travel business could be horribly stressful but was equally laugh-out-loud funny at times. She enjoyed many priceless and comical experiences with groups, friends, and peers. Even her clients shared humorous adventures of their own. Her opinion is that there just are no better stories than those that involve true life.

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Release Blitz & Giveaway ~ FURY (Book Three of the Seven Deadly Series) by Fisher Amelie

We have been dying to bring you this Release Week Blitz for Fisher Amelie's FURY! FURY is a New Adult Contemporary Romance and the third book in Fisher Amelie’s The Seven Deadly Series!!   Grab your copy today and if you haven't had a chance to read the entire series yet, get on it IMMEDIATELY!

Revenge is an euphoric thing. Trust me on this. Nothing compares to the release you get when you ruin someone’s life. When they’ve stolen important things. Things that didn’t belong to them. Things I revel in making them pay for. What? Have I offended you? I’m not here to appeal to your delicate senses. I have no intention of placating your wishes or living within your personal belief system nor do I care if you hate me. And you will hate me. Because I’m a brutal, savage, cold-blooded murderer and I’m here for my revenge. I’m Ethan Moonsong...And this is the story about how I went from the world’s most sacrificing man to the most feared and why I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

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          The truck door slammed closed behind me as I reached for my hidden bottle, unscrewed the lid, and took a swig. It burned on its way down, alleviating that sick feeling in my stomach, albeit temporarily.

            Slowly, ever so slowly, I walked toward the bakery. I kept as close to the storefronts as possible. When I reached Ceres, I stopped and leaned against the brick beside the window, knowing they couldn’t see me. Carefully, I peered into the window and saw them. Their backs faced me as they ordered at the counter.

            “My God,” I breathed.

            There she was. It was the first time I’d seen either of them since the day in the forest when she chose him over me. It felt so surreal to me. Her hair had grown out a little and she’d gained weight, probably since the transplant went so well. I looked at Spencer. I bet the bastard was her hero. I couldn't help but think I could have just as easily been him. I could have been standing next to her in line at Ceres, waiting for our sweet potato sticky buns, laughing and feeling happy because I was with her.

            I thought about what Finley told me earlier that morning. I thought she was wrong. Cricket would have been just as happy with me as she was with Spencer.

I studied them together. She bounced on her heels, talking animatedly, her hair swishing around her shoulders. She used her hands a lot when she spoke. I wondered what she was talking about. I wondered if she thought about me at all, if she gave a shit that she broke my heart, shattered it into a million pieces. She smiled at Spencer and they started laughing. Apparently not.

God, I hated him. I mean really hated the guy. I looked back at my truck and remembered that I kept my hunting knives in the glove compartment in case my mom’s brother Akule, the only one willing to talk to me on her side of the family, wanted to go hunting. He gave them to me for my eleventh birthday. They were beautiful. Two Spartan short swords with leather handles, and I knew what I was doing with them.

Akule is Echo River Indian, as was my mother. She left the tribe when she converted to Catholicism right out of high school, and they didn’t approve but Akule was young when she did and he was close to my mom, so he didn’t care. He would sneak into town and they would watch movies together at her apartment.

He taught me how to hunt with my hands in Echo River style from a young age but when my mom died, he made it a weekly trip to the mountains. We would spend entire weekends up there up until I turned nineteen and Cricket got really sick.

I looked back at Cricket. She brought her hand up to Spencer’s back. He followed suit and tucked his hand into her back pocket, incensing me. Immediately, I walked to my truck and opened the passenger side door. The knives sat in their sheaths in the glove box. I hadn’t touched them in months, and my hands itched to hold them again.

I reached for them but paused a few inches from the handles. My hands shook and my heart pounded.

“What are you doing?” I asked myself.

I shut the glove box and sat on the bench of my truck, my booted foot resting on the concrete below. I ran my hands through my hair and rested against the back of the seat, shocked I’d been even contemplating what I’d been pondering.

“What were you going to do?” I asked myself. “Murder him?”

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx22kmwqGXo

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And don’t miss the first two books in the Seven Deadly series!

VAIN

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GREED

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Fisher Amelie resides in the South with her kick ace husband slash soul mate. She earned her first ‘mama’ patch in 2009. She also lives with her Weim, Jonah, and her Beta, Whale. All these living creatures keep the belly of her life full, sometimes to the point of gluttony, but she doesn’t mind all that much because life isn’t worth living if it isn’t entertaining, right?

Fisher is the author of The Seven Deadly Series, The Sleepless Series, and The Leaving Series, and was a semi-finalist in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award.

Find Fisher on Amazon! ** Find Fisher on Barnes & Noble! ** Find Fisher on Facebook! ** Find Fisher on Twitter! ** Add FURY to your Goodreads! ** Find Fisher on YouTube! ** Find Fisher on her website!

 

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Release Blitz & Giveaway ~ Cure of Diabetes ~ Sweet Talk, Sweet Dreams, Sweet Seduction Boxed Sets

Sweet Talk, Sweet Dreams, Sweet Seduction
Boxed Sets
Publication date: May 1st 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Thriller

Sweet Talk Boxed Set

Priced at only $9.99, this heart-warming, limited edition collection features ten BRAND NEW contemporary romances by New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors

Sweet Dreams Boxed Set

Priced at only $9.99, this fascinating limited edition collection features thirteen BRAND NEW thrillers by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors

Sweet Seduction Boxed Set

Priced at only 9.99, this stunning limited edition collection features thirteen BRAND NEW contemporary romances by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors.

From WANDERLUST by Roni Loren

When the song finished, Lex sauntered to the edge of the stage to address the audience. “How’s everyone doing tonight?”

Screams answered him. He gave an easy laugh, clearly comfortable being the center of attention.

 “I’m glad y’all are having a good time. We are, too. New Orleans definitely knows how to throw a party.” He put his hand against his brow to shield his eyes from the spotlights and squinted at the sea of people below him. “Turn up those house lights. I want to see these beautiful faces.”

Female voices reverberated off the walls as the lights above the crowd switched on. A redhead a few steps away from Aubrey lifted up her shirt as soon as Lex’s eyes traveled in that direction. Nice. What was this? Mardi Gras? Lex smiled and gave a little nod of acknowledgement to boob-job girl, but otherwise didn’t comment.

“You know, I’m feeling mighty thirsty, and I heard a rumor that New Orleans is home of the body shot,” Lex said, continuing to survey the audience with a sly smile. “So I’m thinking, that maybe I should try one tonight. What do you think?”

The shouting of the crowd increased.

“Now all I need is…a willing victim,” Lex continued. Bustier girl began her bouncing routine again and waved her hands frantically trying to catch his eye. Lex paced across the stage, taking his time, holding his finger up and preparing to point to the chosen one.

Aubrey put her money on Miss Augmentation, but he passed that section up without a glance. As he neared Aubrey’s end of the stage, his eyes landed on her exuberant neighbor. The girl’s scream turned shrill. “Pick me! Me! Me!”

Lex lowered his hand ready to point and then shifted his gaze, locking eyes with Aubrey. Her breath caught. Oh, shit. Seconds seemed to tick by, but she couldn’t pull away from the stare. She managed to wag her head slowly back and forth. No. No. No.

He smiled, lowered his finger, and pointed directly at her. “You. The sexy brunette in the black t-shirt.”

Her stomach took a nosedive.

“Come on, I won’t bite,” Lex said, waving her forward. “Unless you ask nicely, that is.”

The girl next to Aubrey shot her a glare that could have curdled milk. The sea of fans parted as if she’d suddenly morphed into royalty, and she forced her leaden feet to cross the few yards to the barricade. Her heart took up residence in her throat, threatening to jump out. This was a disaster. She silently cursed the bouncer from backstage. If she had met the band beforehand, she would’ve never ended up in this position. Building a professional relationship with the band after this was going to be next to impossible.

Hands patted her back and shoulders as the two bouncers flanking the stage helped her climb over the metal barrier. Lex squatted at the edge of the stage, all wicked grin and guyliner, and stuck his hand out. He cocked his head, beckoning her closer in a way that spoke without the words. Come on over, lamb, said the wolf. This will only take a minute.

You can make a difference while you read! All proceeds from the sales of these boxed sets will be donated to the Diabetes Research Institute via Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/show/142932-authors-to-benefit-diabetes-research

I’m a thriller writer, and a thriller reader, and hence a sucker for the classic thriller plot, where an ordinary man or an ordinary woman slowly becomes aware of a looming threat: someone or something is out there, close by, infinitely dangerous; or perhaps an intruder is already in the house, mocking, violating a sanctuary, or perhaps – really creepy – he’s been living in the attic for a couple of weeks already, camping out, undetected, silent, leaving odd nighttime disturbances … who moved that chair?

          Or perhaps, for added anguish, it’s not the ordinary man or woman under threat: it’s his or her son or daughter, their child, their responsibility, the intended victim, a helpless target.  What mother or father wouldn’t fight to the death?  And they do … 400 pages later, an investigation has been conducted, the bad guy has been identified, close scrapes have been survived, and finally the family is sitting together on the bottom stair, stunned but finally safe, as the bad guy is put in the cop car and driven away.  The end.

          Diabetes starts like that.  But it doesn’t finish like that.

          It’s a mysterious malfunction.  No one knows the cause.  Researchers suspect an element of genetic susceptibility, and in those susceptible it’s possible the Coxsackie B4 virus kicks things off.  Then a tiny balance among the human body’s billion moving parts goes slightly out of whack, and the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans (such an innocent name) inside the pancreas shut down and stop producing insulin, so the body can no longer deal with the kind of sugars we crave.

          The intruder is now in the house.

          Untreated, all kinds of complications will follow.  Cardiovascular disease, and stroke, and damage to the eyes, kidneys, and nerves.  And more.  Including death.  All in store, unbelievably, for the ordinary parent’s beautiful and vulnerable child.  No one’s fault.  Type 1 diabetes is unrelated to lifestyle.  Most victims are thin or normal, healthy, well fed, well loved.

          The fight back begins with maintenance.  Sometimes diet is enough; more often, insulin must be provided.  An endless round begins: testing and injecting, testing and injecting.  Most sufferers do OK for a long time, but only OK.  Quite apart from the social and organizational burdens of diet and injection, they can feel under the weather a lot of the time.  But in thriller terms, we can at least get them barricaded in a safe house, at least temporarily, doors and windows locked, guns drawn, with the bad guy lurking outside in the yard.

          But how do we get the bad guy in the cop car?

          Research is the answer, but it’s fantastically expensive.  All around the world, teams of biochemists are working hard, but they have to pay the rent.  And eat.  Their funding comes from governments and institutions and drug companies – but also from hundreds of thousands of concerned individuals.  Many of them are parents of diabetic children, and it’s easy to see why.  The primeval instinct that makes a mother or father fight to the death is a powerful one – perhaps the most powerful among our emotional inheritance.  But in the case of diabetes it’s frustrated.  There’s no identifiable antagonist, no role for a gun or a blade.  There’s no bar fight to be had.  If only it was that easy.  I know of no parent who wouldn’t gladly smash a long-neck bottle and join the fray.  But they can’t.  Such parents have to channel their natural aggression into a long, patient, endless struggle for progress.  They raise awareness and money any way they can.

          This anthology is an example.  It will help fund the search for a cure.  All good.  In fact better than good, because whatever else, there are some great authors and some great stories here to enjoy.  So if you buy it, you’ll get some excellent entertainment – but also you might just get the chance to be that mysterious character on page 297 of our notional thriller, who contributes the tiny but vital clue that eventually leads to the big reveal on page 397.  Your few cents could make the difference.  You could be the one.

Lee Child

New York

2015

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Sweet Seduction Boxed Set

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Sweet Seduction Boxed Set

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Sweet Talk Boxed Set
Sweet Dreams Boxed Set
Sweet Seduction Boxed Set

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Book Review ~ Sapient by Jerry Kaczmarowski

Sapient

by Jerry Kaczmarowski

Genres: Thriller / Young Adult 

Abandoned by her husband after the birth of their child, Jane Dixon’s world is defined by her autistic son and the research she does to find a cure for his condition. She knows her work on animal intelligence may hold the key. She also knows that the research will take decades to complete. None of it will ultimately benefit her son.

All that changes when a lab rat named Einstein demonstrates that he can read and write. Just as her research yields results, the U.S. government discovers her program. The army wants to harness her research for its military potential.  The CDC wants to shut her down completely.  The implications of animal intelligence are too dangerous, particularly when the previously inert virus proves to be highly contagious.

She steals the virus to cure her son, but the government discovers the theft. She must now escape to Canada before the authorities can replace her son’s mental prison with a physical one.

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The description pretty much sums up what this book is about and because of it, I knew that this one was a must read that I had to pick up immediately.  Was I glad that I did?  Heck yes!  This was money and time well spent for this kind of reading experience.

Sapient by Jerry Kaczmarowski had me hooked from page one and I could not put it down until I knew the outcome.  Now that I think about it,  'hooked' isn't really a strong enough word to describe my experience.   It consumed me and had a grip on me so bad, I was obsessed with it - needing to know more and frantically turning each page like my life depended on it.  It was paced really well and the characters were amazing - especially Einstein and Bear.   These two really steal the show and I fell in love with them instantly.  I mean how can you not like a sarcastic funny lab rat and German Sheppard dog with one eye?  The human characters weren't half bad either, but I really have a soft spot for the animal kingdom and Mr. Kaczmarowski really brought these characters to life.

This was not only a compelling and thought provoking read, it was Intriguing and original.   The story took many twists and turns, some I saw coming and others caught me totally off guard, which in my opinion make this not only a good read, but an awesome read.  I highly recommend this thrilling and spectacular book - so one click it now!  You won't be disappointed at all!

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Jerry Kaczmarowski lives in Seattle with his family. He writes techno-thrillers that explore the benefits and dangers of mankind's scientific advancement. His first book, Moon Rising, was released in June 2014.  His second book, Sapient, was published in April 2015.

Jerry spent the first twenty years of his professional life in the consulting industry on the West Coast. His fascination with technology is matched only by his love of stories. His books intertwine action with a keen insight into how technology will shape our lives in the coming years.

To learn more, go to http://www.jerrykaczmarowski.com/   

Connect with Jerry on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Nerd Blast & Giveaway ~ RED SKY DAWNING by Ian J. Malone

Red Sky Dawning

by Ian J. Malone

Publisher:  Sharflight Media

Five years after the historic Battle of Dulaston, Danny Tucker, Lee Summerston, and the Renegades have settled nicely into life on Aura — yet none more so than Tucker. Fueled by a rising career as an ASC staff sergeant and a love unlike any he’s ever known, Danny is in the prime of his life and at last free of the demons that have stalked him for years.

Some demons never die, though, and when an old enemy beckons to settle a personal score, Danny soon finds himself swept up in the backlash of a climaxing civil war, and straight into the crosshairs of a father’s bloodlust for revenge.

RED SKY DAWNING is the much-anticipated sequel to 2013’s MAKO, and the tale of one man’s quest to bury his past and protect those dearest to him as the fate of billions hangs in the balance. 

“Thematically speaking, this is very much a story about growing up,” says author Ian J. Malone, a native Floridian who now resides in Durham, North Carolina with his wife and step son. “Whereas book one was this plucky little tale about five bar-flies, rocking through hyperspace on the road trip of a lifetime, book two chronicles a lot of the unforeseen fallout stemming from decisions they made along the way. From an author’s standpoint, it was an intense story to write, but I think readers will really like where it leaves the saga entering the third and final book.”

Among the things readers can expect from RED SKY DAWNING are an array of new characters, a deeper look into the Alystierian Empire, and a healthy dose of political intrigue.

Still, Malone insists that MAKO fans will still find all of the action, humor, and pop-cultural charm that have since become the series’ calling card. “C’mon, guys. What’s a MAKO book without beer jokes and Funyuns?”

RED SKY DAWNING arrives on Amazon April 30, 2015. The audiobook will follow shortly thereafter on Audible and iTunes.

AMAZON

As a graduate of Florida State University, I’ve written in a number of arenas over the years ranging from public health to news and sports. When it comes to my fictional work, however, I’m a firm believer that nothing shapes an author’s writing like experience. That’s why I credit my tenures in radio, law enforcement, sport management, and the military for much of my thematic inspiration, plus the legion of family and friends who’ve stood with me along the way.

Beyond writing, I’m an avid fan of audiobooks and sports, though it’s also not uncommon to find me at a concert (LOVE music!), a movie, or somewhere out by a grill.

At present, I reside in Durham, North Carolina with my incredible wife, son, and our two dogs — but I’ll always be a “Florida boy” at heart. ;)

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