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Giveaway – Ginger Snapped by Gail Oust #GailOust @dollycas

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Ginger Snapped: A Spice Shop Mystery
by Gail Oust

This mystery is nicely seasoned with plenty of humor. Small town life lends well to that as does small-town politics. . . Then you add in the Southern ways and charm, and you have a perfect cozy mystery.
~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

I adore Piper and her spice shop, the community of friends and foes, along with wonderful mysteries.
~Bibliophile Reviews

In GINGER SNAPPED, Oust has penned another top-notch mystery filled with secrets, murder, and fun! Once started on this story, I couldn’t set my book down.
~Lisa Ks Book Reviews

The Spice Shop Mysteries are my some of my favorites. This is book 5 in the series and it just keeps getting better and better.
~A Chick Who Reads

A wonderful stand-alone cozy mystery that is part of an addictive series.
~Laura’s Interests

This book is one of those mysteries that you just have a blast reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it . . . I can’t get enough of the awesome characters, witty dialogue, perfect setting, and top-notch mysteries in this series.
~Brooke Blogs

This had been a fun and quick read, Piper and her best friend Reba Mae friendship is what adds some spice to this book, be prepared to have a few laughs.
~Varietats

Ginger Snapped was a fun cozy read.
~My Reading Journeys


Ginger Snapped: A Spice Shop Mystery
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Minotaur Books (December 12, 2017)
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1250081261
Kindle ASIN: B071LM71RR

Piper Prescott and Police Chief Wyatt McBride might have gotten off on the wrong foot but, over the past year, their interactions have evolved into a friendship of sorts. And when the body of Shirley Randolph is found floating in a fishing hole, their relationship reaches entirely new territory.

Shirley, the town’s Realtor of the Year, was also Wyatt’s suspected romantic interest, and now the residents of Brandywine Creek are speculating that Wyatt is responsible for her death. As the town council moves to suspend the handsome lawman, Piper springs into action to save his reputation and possibly his freedom. She enlists the aid of her BFF, Reba Mae Johnson, along with Wyatt himself, to help solve the puzzle and find Shirley’s real killer.

Pointing them toward high-powered real estate tactics and possible affairs, the investigation soon becomes personal when Piper’s shop, Spice It Up!, is burglarized, and she’s forced off the road late one night, narrowly escaping serious injury. Realizing that she must be close to uncovering the truth, and that the evidence against Wyatt is no longer circumstantial, Piper resorts to drastic measures to prevent a grave miscarriage of justice.

Friends often accuse Gail Oust of flunking retirement.  While working as a nurse/vascular technologist, Gail penned nine historical romances under the pseudonym Elizabeth Turner for Avon, Pocket, Berkley, and Kensington.  It wasn’t until she and her husband retired to South Carolina that inspiration struck for a mystery.  Hearing the words, “maybe it’s a dead body,” while golfing with friends fired her imagination for the Bunco Babe Mystery series originally published by NAL.  In conjunction with Beyond the Page Publishing, the Bunco Babe series has  been republished in digital format as the Kate McCall Mysteries  complete with new titles and a whole new look.  Gail has written five Spice Shop Mysteries for Minotaur/St. Martin’s.  Her favorite pastimes are reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends.

 Author Links

Webpage – www.gailoust.com, Gail Oust Author on Facebook, and Goodreads.

Purchase Links:  Amazon   B&N  kobo  Google Play  BAM

  

Tour Participants

January 3 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

January 3 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – COZY WEDNESDAY (REVIEW, GUEST POST)

January 4 – Valerie’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

January 4 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW  

January 5 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – INTERVIEW

January 5 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST WITH RECIPE

January 5 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW

January 6 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

January 6 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW

January 6 – The Montana Bookaholic – SPOTLIGHT

January 7 – Varietats – REVIEW

January 7 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT

January 8 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT

January 8 – View from the Birdhouse – SPOTLIGHT

January 8 – Island Confidential – INTERVIEW

January 9 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST

January 9 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

January 9 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 10 – The Self-Rescue Princess – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

January 10 – Book Babble – REVIEW

January 11 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW

January 11 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW

January 12 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW

January 12 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

January 12 – Community Bookstop -REVIEW

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Wrestling With Words in Wrestle Maniacs by Adam Howe @Adam_G_Howe

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Fresh off the press…Wrestle Maniacs

It’s the first title Adam Howe has published under his new Honey Badger Press label and some of the Indie writers may be familiar to you.

There’s a great variety of stories – crime, horror, black comedy – something for everyone! Adam Howe has even written a new Reggie Levine story (from Damn Dirty Apes).

Wrestle ManiacsGoodreads  /  Amazon

GOODREADS BLURB

A dozen dark fiction masters bring their twisted vision to the world of professional wrestling. Twelve original stories of crime, horror, humor, and taboo. Ohhh, yeahhh! This ain’t no kayfabe, baby. This is hard-hitting wrestling fiction that grips like a Camel Clutch, and pins the reader to the page for the count of one, two…THREE!

Includes a confrontational foreword by ring legend ‘Pulverizing’ Pat McCrunch (as told to Jeff Strand)… An all-new story starring Nick ‘The Widowmaker’ Bullman from James Newman’s wrestling noir, “Ugly as Sin”… And ex-boxer turned strip club bouncer Reggie Levine (“Tijuana Donkey Showdown,” “Damn Dirty Apes”) returns for another action-packed misadventure.

ORIGINAL FICTION BY:

Jeff Strand
Tom Leins
James Newman
Eryk Pruitt
Adam Howe
Ed Kurtz
Hector Acosta
Joseph Hirsch
Duncan P. Bradshaw
David James Keaton
Gabino Iglesias
Patrick Lacey
and Jason Parent

Wooooo!!!

SmackDown! Action, Dayton, OH
November 16, 2004
Photo: Rich Freeda
PR Shot Retouched

MY ADAM HOWE REVIEWS

MY JASON PARENT REVIEWS

 

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Giveaway – Piercing the Veil by Guy Riessen @GuyRiessen @SDSXXTours

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Piercing the Veil
by Guy Riessen
Genre: Horror, Supernatural Occult Thriller
 

What do flesh-eating cell phones, brain-enhancing tacos, and a real live
dead foot have in common?

They’re all tools in the destruction of our world, and a weapons-grade team
of heavily-armed Miskatonic University nerds may be humanity’s last hope.

Something is ripping holes in the Veil of energy that separates our world from
that of the ancient evils writhing just beyond what we think is
reality. Time is running out for Professors Derrick LeStrand, Howard
Strauss and their team of researchers as they race to hunt down a
mysterious Frenchman who wields Necromantic Death Magic unlike
anything they’ve seen before.
 
Tearing open psychological wounds from Derrick’s past, the cabalistic
sorcerer is gathering ancient icons of power to pierce the Veil and
bring down the only thing shielding mankind from the relentless
horrors beyond.
 
If they fail, the only questions that will remain are who will live in
servitude to the Great Old Ones and who will die…and who will
supply Derrick with tacos?
 
Set against the backdrop of a world where H.P. Lovecraft was not a
fiction writer, but a Sweep, a special operative trained to protect
the collective sanity of the human race with misinformative blends of
fact and fiction … where the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual is
little more than a slightly skewed Audubon Field Guide, and the
monster movies you grew up with are more documentary than not.

 

It’s Nerdthulhu Lethal Weapon cranked to eleven.

 
 
**Release sale- only .99 cents!!**
 
 
 
 
 
 
Guy Riessen is an American author of contemporary dark fiction spanning
the science fiction, horror, fantasy and crime genres. Born in South
Dakota, he grew up in the Southern California beach town of
Huntington Beach. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, graduated
with a degree in English from UC Berkeley, and has been living in the
wild lands north of San Francisco ever since. After nearly two
decades of creating artwork in the visual effects industry for
feature films, he returned to his first passion: writing speculative fiction.
 
He’s been published on Under the Bed, Near to the Knuckle and Shotgun
Honey, and in the anthologies Urban Temples of Cthulhu, Dreams of the
Miskatonic and It’s All Trumped Up.
 
 
 
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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Skeletons in the Closet – Blood Loss by Ashley Fontainne @AshleyFontainne

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Bloss Loss by Ashley Fontainne has one of those covers that makes me realize…I must go into the forest. I love covers with trees, forests, and woods, so this makes me want to enter another of Ashley’s fantastic stories, jumping and skipping down the trail. I must follow that path, no matter that I am alone and there is danger.

Ashley has been writing this series with her mother Lillian Hansen. It is the second Magnolia novel and it is based on a true story. You can see my review for the first story by following the Blood Ties link at the end of the post.

Cover and Interior book design by One of a Kind Covers

Blood Loss - A Magnolia NovelGoodreads  /  Amazon

MY REVIEW

I am so happy to be back with some familiar friends and am looking for another mystery to solve. Blood Loss by Ashley Fontainne and her mother, Lillian Hansen, is the second Magnolia story, based on a true one, and I don’t want to miss a thing.

We pick up where Blood Ties ended, but I believe you can read this as a stand alone. If this is your first foray into the Magnolia series, I do recommend starting at the beginning.

The Magnolia has become Karina’s home. She and her mother inherited the home for the elderly and it seems like mysteries and danger arise from the house itself.

Karina’s nightmare awakens her, but it’s nice having her hunkie boyfriend at her side. Bo tells her the nightmares will pass.

“They’re all dead thanks to you, so that makes you the predator, not the prey.”

Karina is a strong, determined ex cop, as is her mother. They have put that behind them, but it’s a good thing they have those skills to draw on.

She’s tough, snarky and has a potty mouth. Pull a gun on her and she’ll blow your head off, but she has a big heart and guards it well.

Death by dick wouldn’t fly anyway, though it would be a memorable obituary for sure, going viral in hours. (Karina’s thoughts about Bo’s insatiable libido).

I laughed out loud when I read her version of the song You Don’t Own Me.

Karina has me cracking up throughout the pages and I love being inside her head.

It is that kind of writing that gives Ashley’s stories a fun and humorous bent and keeps me coming back for more. I think humor goes hand in hand with romance and mystery.

My first big surprise I never saw coming. No warning, but at least it’s all good.

“Like the Good Book says, the love of money is the root of all evil. And it’s a thick root that runs deep into bloodstained dirt.”

Government conspiracies? Never underestimate the power of greed. Some will stop at nothing. 

A home for old folks…not surprising there are skeletons in the closet and secrets hidden. In 1957 two women vanished without a trace and the game is afoot.

Karina misses the rush of the hunt, so when the mystery appears, she jumps on it, regardless of being warned off. It’s just not in her nature. She cannot resist the mystery and I know she will find danger.

I’m onto you Ashley. The second surprise is about Karina. I didn’t see this one either and I love when the author can surprise me. Ashley Fontainne has that ability, and so much more. She draws me into the story quickly and easily. The characters become my friends. I worry about them, want the best for them, and if I could climb into the pages of the book, I would help them. As it is, all I can do is read…

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Blood Loss by Ashley Fontainne.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Karina and LiAnn worked hard to put the awful memories behind them of the nightmare they walked into at The Magnolia and all the death and destruction caused by the former owners. As they settled into their new roles as managers of the upscale independent living facility, LiAnn reconnects with her true love and Karina continues to explore the new relationship with a sexy cowboy named Bo.

Each are haunted by the atrocities committed at The Magnolia and how close Karina came to dying at the hands of mafia monsters. With the help of her mother, beloved grandparents, new job, an enormous dog, and a hunky, younger man to keep her mind occupied, Karina lets her guard down, naively assuming the worst is over for her family.

Unfortunately, she’s wrong.

When one of the elderly residents of The Magnolia reveals the truth about a shady past, the entire Tuck family find themselves embroiled in one of Arkansas’s most notorious mysteries from 1957. The disappearance of a beloved attorney and her young charge was never solved, bodies never found, and even after over 60 years, Karina and LiAnn discover there are still those who intend to keep it that way.

ABOUT ASHLEY FONTAINNE (from her website)

Award-winning and International bestselling author Ashley Fontainne is an avid reader of mostly the classics. Ashley became a fan of the written word in her youth, starting with the Nancy Drew mystery series. Stories that immerse the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters that lurk within us are her favorite reads.

Her muse for penning the Eviscerating the Snake series was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Ashley’s love for this book is what sparked her desire to write her debut novel, Accountable to None, the first book in the trilogy. With a modern setting to the tale, Ashley delves into just what lengths a person is willing to go when they seek personal justice for heinous acts perpetrated upon them. The second novel in the series, Zero Balance. focuses on the cost and reciprocal cycle that obtaining revenge has on the seeker. For once the cycle starts, where does it end? How far will the tendrils of revenge expand? Adjusting Journal Entries answered that question: far and wide.

Her short thriller entitled Number Seventy-Five, touches upon the sometimes dangerous world of online dating. Number Seventy-Five took home the BRONZE medal in fiction/suspense at the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards contest and is currently in production for a feature film.

Her paranormal thriller entitled The Lie, won the GOLD medal in the 2013 Illumination Book Awards for fiction/suspense and is also in production for a feature film entitled Foreseen.

Ashley’s decided to delve into the paranormal with a Southern Gothic horror/suspense novel, Growl, which released in January of 2015. The suspenseful mystery Empty Shell, released in September of 2014. Ashley will be teaming up with Lillian Hansen (Ashley calls her mom!) to pen a three-part murder mystery/suspense series entitled The Magnolia Series. The first book, Blood Ties, is due out the Summer of 2015.

Ashley also hosts The WriteStuff, a popular BlogTalk Radio show, each Friday night at 10 p.m. CST.

Website  /  Twitter  Facebook  /  Pinterest  /  G+  /  LinkedIn  /  Instagram

Ashley Fontainne’s writing is so spectacular, I am always anticipating the next book I will read of hers. Here are my reviews…so far:

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Flowers Have Meaning – Blue Violet by Abigail Owen @AOwenBooks

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Abigail Owen can spin a supernatural tale with the best of them and Blue Violet, Book I of the Svatura Series only whets my appetite for more.

The covers of the series are done by Debbie Taylor. Fabulous job, Debbie.

Blue Violet (Svatura, #1)

Goodreads  /  Amazon

MY REVIEW

Abigail Owen can spin a fantastic tale of the supernatural world and I was quickly drawn in by the characters of Blue Violet, wondering…

Eillie and her twin, Griffin were the only two left from the Darane Svatura tribe. It had been just the two of them for more than a century, but her desire to be a  part of a family again was leading her to another group with abilities she had dreamed about.

Ellie is a perpetual student, because she looks so young what else could she do, even though she is more than a century old. Her world titled and she actually swooned when she met Alex on her first day of school. He was there to pick up the kids of the family after school. He had come home, because there is danger afoot, and his family sought safety in numbers.

Ellie is a metamorph. She can shift into different animals, a wolf, a falcon and a dragon. Oh yeah! Griffin is a telepath and they speak mentally to each other.

Her feisty and humorous personality comes through in the verbal banter. She supplied me with plenty of chuckles throughout the story.

When the showdown came and family was on the line, Ellie stood tall against the wolf pack. She would protect the ones she thought would be her new family at all costs.

The characters are to die for and Ellie and Griffin will do just that to protect the others. If I were ever in a battle and I needed someone I trusted and knew would give their all to protect me and mine, I would want this Svatura clan at my side. The world Abigail Owen has created is one I want to continue to follow and I will be doing so in Book II of the Svatura series, Hyacinth.

I read the Shadowcat nation series by Abigail Owen and loved it. The Svatura series is definitely Young Adult, with sweet clean romance. This is Ellie’s story and from the ending, I think Hyacinth may be Griffin’s. So…let’s find out.

If you like clean romance with a supernatural battle for your life, then the Svatura Series is for you and I would highly recommend it.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Blue Violet by Abigail Owen.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos  4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Book #1 of the Svatura Series

Ellie Aubrey is a centuries-old gypsy princess whose extraordinary abilities once inspired her Roma ancestors’ fairytales (or nightmares). Along with her twin-brother, Griffin, Ellie has spent most of her life hiding from the Vyusher, a rival tribe who destroyed their entire powerful family. But after a mysterious dream, Ellie risks discovery in order to find and watch over the Jenners, another group of similarly gifted people. She refuses to let them suffer the same fate.
 
Alex Jenner has come home to protect his family. His adopted mother can sense danger coming, but not who or when. Suspicious of the new girl in town, Alex challenges Ellie in ways that will spark one of two possible outcomes: they’ll spontaneously combust, or she’ll lose control of the one power she’s fought so hard to contain.
 
When the Vyusher once again threaten everything she holds dear, Ellie will have to face her worst fear, and Alex will have to face an impossible decision. In this fairytale, the dragon that the prince must slay is also the princess who holds his heart.

ABOUT ABIGAIL OWEN

AbigailOwenAward-winning paranormal and contemporary romance author, Abigail Owen was born in Greeley, Colorado, and raised in Austin, Texas. She now resides in Northern California with her husband and two adorable children who are the center of her universe.

Abigail grew up consuming books and exploring the world through her writing. A fourth generation graduate of Texas A&M University, she attempted to find a practical career related to her favorite pastime by earning a degree in English Rhetoric (Technical Writing). However, she swiftly discovered that writing without imagination is not nearly as fun as writing with it.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | YouTube

MY REVIEWS FOR ABIGAIL OWEN

The Shadowcat Nation

 
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Giveaway – Dead Corpse by Nuzo Onoh @Nuzoonoh @GoddessFish

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Just in time for Halloween, I am sharing this lovely story, Dead Corpse by Nuzo Onoh.

Such a pretty cover, don’t you think? 😈 

The book will be $0.99.

 

 

Goodreads  /  Amazon

Dead Corpse by Nuzo Onoh

GENRE:   Horror

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB 

When the only child of a humble medicine woman is murdered for ritual magic, she will call on all the awesome powers of her deity, the Earth goddess, and exact a terrifying vengeance on an entire village. The angry dead shall rise again and a dark cloud of terror will shroud both the guilty and the innocent in a deadly supernatural curse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT

There were three doors leading off the living room. He paused again, uncertain which door to try first. The last thing he wanted was for the witch to hear him trying out the wrong door.

That was when the light came on in the room to his right, seeping out from the high gap underneath the shut door. Fucking witch had wakened. Eze cursed and reached for the light switch on the nearest wall, flooding the living room with light from the single dusty bulb overhead. There was no time anymore for caution or delay. He rushed to the door, his movement surprisingly swift, adrenalin fuelled. He turned the knob and pushed the door in with a loud shout, intent on shrieking terror into the heart of his opponent.

His shout caught in his throat. Hot piss gushed out of his bladder, washing his trousers with terror ammonia. A tight band gripped his heart, squeezing the breath out of his lungs. He stumbled back, backwards to the door through which he’d crashed into the room. His eyes, horror-wide, starred at the apparition before him, the albino girl he had last seen inside a secret shrine, drenched in her own blood, her warm heart pulsating inside the witch-doctor’s bowl. Eze moaned, his lips quivering like a child deprived of food. Her cackle hit him like a bullet, sending chills right through his veins to every nerve in his body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Nuzo is an author of horror fiction from the African continent. She has featured on numerous media platforms, spearheading this new and unexplored horror subgenre.

A British writer of African descent, Nuzo Onoh lived through the Biafran/Nigerian civil war as a child refugee, an experience that has continued to influence some of her works. She attended Queen’s School, Enugu before proceeding to the Quaker boarding school, The Mount School York, England and St Andrew’s Tutorial College, Cambridge, from where she obtained her A’ Levels.

Nuzo holds both a Law degree and a Masters degree in Writing from The University of Warwick, England. Her published works include, The Reluctant Dead (2014), Unhallowed Graves (2015) The Sleepless (2016), as well as featuring in some anthologies. Nuzo enjoys playing the guitar and the piano as well as taking long walks, haunting cemeteries and ancient gravestones. She is a strong believer of The Law of Attraction.                   

Website: www.nuzoonoh.co.uk

Twitter: @Nuzoonoh

Read the latest review of Dead Corpse by the horror writer, Perry Lake – https://www.perrylakeproductions.com/single-post/2017/09/28/The-Wrath-of-Xikora

In preparation for her latest release, Nuzo has written a blog for Female First Magazine – http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/books/nuzo-onoh-dead-corpse-1095720.html

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found HERE.

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How to Get a Millennial to Clean a Toilet – Permission To Screw Up by Kristen Hadeed @KristenHadeed

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If you want to know how to get a millennial to clean a toilet, try reading Kristen Hadeed’s Permission To Screw Up.

Have some laughs and learn how she succeeded, regardless of the mistakes she made along the way.

Permission to Screw Up: Learning to Lead by Doing (Almost) Everything WrongGoodreads  /  Amazon

MY REVIEW

First off, I want to say I enjoyed Permission To Screw Up by Kristen Hadeed and had my share of laughs and chuckles while reading it and shaking my head. BUT, I would not classify this as a guide to success.  It reads more like a biography than a How To Succeed story. I feel Kristen Hadeed had a great idea and stumbled her way into success, but many others would fail if they followed her path.

It all started with a pair of $100 jeans, that her parents wouldn’t buy for her, and an ad on Craig’s list to clean houses. Just goes to show, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I tossed most of the notes I took as I sat here trying to write this review. Like any nonfiction book, you take the information that works for you and you leave the stuff that doesn’t.

Millennials – 1982 to 2004. I like that Kristen was upfront about her mistakes and her feelings about millennials. It’s just like any generalization, it doesn’t apply to everyone.

When she blew off checking into her trademark before using it, I thought that about summed up my opinion of some of the pitfalls of millennials. They can be lazy. They are handicapped, only have one hand available, because they have their phone in the other one. They think Google has all the answers and their parents will take care of everything for them. But, again, this is only a generalization and doesn’t apply to all millennials.

I like that she wasn’t too proud to ask for help, and find the place to get the answers she needed, though it’s not like she didn’t try to have someone do it for her…at times.

I like that she talks about the Participation Generation, where you get rewards just for showing up. Helicopter parents – parents who hover, overprotective, over involved, and over indulging their children.  How can a person like that accept criticism. Kristen learned that there is “a time for pep talks and a time for reality checks.”

I like that at the end of each chapter is a quick summary that hits the highlights.

I do look at this as her story, not so much a business book. She does share some helpful hints and reminds us that even the most experienced leader can learn something new and improve their leadership style. She does share her thoughts about the value of employees being happy, even while mopping floors or cleaning toilets.

Would I recommend Permission To Screw Up? Yes, especially for the younger generation and the beginning entrepreneur, to show that mistakes are not failures, just learning experiences. Also, for anyone who likes to read biographies, Kristen Hadeed does have a fun and interesting story to tell.

I borrowed a copy of Permission To Screw Up by Kristen Hadeed from a friend.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

The inspiring, unlikely, laugh-out-loud story of how one woman learned to lead–and how she ultimately succeeded, not despite her many mistakes, but because of them.

This is the story of how Kristen Hadeed built Student Maid, a cleaning company where people are happy, loyal, productive, and empowered, even while they’re mopping floors and scrubbing toilets. It’s the story of how she went from being an almost comically inept leader to a sought-after CEO who teaches others how to lead.
 
Hadeed unintentionally launched Student Maid while attending college ten years ago. Since then, Student Maid has employed hundreds of students and is widely recognized for its industry-leading retention rate and its culture of trust and accountability. But Kristen and her company were no overnight sensa­tion. In fact, they were almost nothing at all.

Along the way, Kristen got it wrong almost as often as she got it right. Giving out hugs instead of feed­back, fixing errors instead of enforcing accountability, and hosting parties instead of cultivating meaning­ful relationships were just a few of her many mistakes. But Kristen’s willingness to admit and learn from those mistakes helped her give her people the chance to learn from their own screwups too.

Permission to Screw Up dismisses the idea that leaders and orga­nizations should try to be perfect. It encourages people of all ages to go for it and learn to lead by acting, rather than waiting or thinking. Through a brutally honest and often hilarious account of her own strug­gles, Kristen encourages us to embrace our failures and proves that we’ll be better leaders when we do.

ABOUT KRISTEN HADEED

Kristen Hadeed is the founder and CEO of Student Maid, a cleaning company that hires students. She spends much of her time helping organizations across the country improve their own workplace cultures.

Website  /  Twitter  / Facebook

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
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Giveaway – Deadspeak 2 by Ruth Bainbridge @Ruth_Mysteries @GoddessFish

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DEADSPEAK 2 by Ruth Bainbridge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Mystery/thriller

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB

DEADSPEAK2. The chilling new entry in the Deadspeak Mystery Series

Things look different when you’re dead.

It’s Halloween and a group of teens throw a party at Harbinger Falls’ most celebrated haunted estate. It’s all fun and games until a session with a Ouija board guides the partygoers to the body of a young girl hidden in the attic.

Detective Kimberly Trent is assigned the case and quickly discovers that all is not as it seems. First, there’s the connection between the death and a string of petnappings terrorizing the neighborhood. Then there’s the suicide note that only leaves more questions than answers. A visit from Kimberly’s ghostly friend Griff Lindon sheds an unwelcome light. It seems she’s had a run in with the newly deceased who tells her she’s been murdered.

This is the second in The Deadspeak Mysteries. The entries are meant to be read in sequential order and do not standalone. In each book, you’ll find a new murder for Kimberly Trent to solve. You’ll also find the continuing search for who murdered Kim’s sister Elizabeth. Each book will take you closer and closer to finding out the identity of The Hex Killer, the serial killer who ended Elizabeth’s short life. It will also bring you to the heart of the evil that’s come back to life to wreak revenge.

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EXCERPT

“This reminds me of when I was in summer camp and stayed up all night trying to contact the dead,” Julie Welch commented.

Mia or no Mia, the time had arrived and the Ouija board was placed in the center of one of the folding tables.

“You did that, Mrs. Welch?” Angie asked.

“Of course,” Julie confessed with a giggle. “I lived for those summers, and the camp counselors had no idea what we were up to. They only wondered why we were all so tired in the mornings.”

The atmosphere of the Halloween Party had changed. Ever since the announcement, things went from Party Central, to an eerie, expectant quiet. The music was turned off and the food lined up on the rented tables was bereft of pawing hands.

The six rested their fingers lightly on the planchette. “Remember: no cheating! Understood?” Mrs. Welch warned.

The participants nodded in agreement as the woman with the highlighted blonde hair inhaled deeply.

“Hello? Is there anyone with us?” Julie asked, starting off the questioning.

A soft scrape… and … movement! Infinitesimal at first, the planchette picked up speed.

Yes.

“What the—” Gen started. A loud moan interrupted the moment.

“Yes, I’m here,” a deep voice bellowed.

Fear spread quickly as attendees sprang up from their chairs and readied to run. Another unearthly groan penetrated the air. Angie latched on to Glenn’s hand.

Footsteps.

Someone was climbing the basement stairs.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born in the idyllic, sleepy town of Ithaca, NY, Ruth Bainbridge has been a lover of mysteries for her entire life.

Ever since a child, she has consumed detective stories at regular intervals, becoming enamored with all the superstars of crime. She loved nothing more than to match wits with the likes of Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Thomas Pitt, Lord Peter Wimsey, Richard Jury, and Edward X Delaney, becoming inspired by their brilliance. Hoping to emulate her writing idol’s achievements in dreaming up such characters, she started composing her own short stories.

However, life interfered with her plans of becoming the next hopeful to try a life of crime—on paper at least. Devoting herself to her marriage and the raising of four children, the empty nest syndrome gave her the impetus to return to her first love—murder.

Amazon Author Page: bit.ly/bainbridgeauthorpage
Website: http://tinyurl.com/ruthbainbridgenewsletter-com
Twitter: @Ruth_Mysteries
Website: http://ruthbainbridgemysteries.blogspot.com/

 


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Giveaway – I Stole His Car by Jessica Frances #JessicaFrances @SDSXXTours

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I Stole His Car
Love At First Crime #1
by Jessica Frances
Genre: Adult Romantic Suspense
 
 
She stole his car, so he stole her heart…

 
I saw something I never should have seen.
I took something they wanted back.
I was desperate.
Alone.
Hunted.
So, I did something I never would have normally done.
I stole a car.
Not just any car.
His car.
Now I have no choice but to trust him.
Only he can help me get out of this mess.
Then, when we both become hunted,
And when feelings begin to complicate things,
Can I still count on his protection?
Can I trust what is happening between us to be real?
Because, as some people say: there is nothing quite like love at first …
crime.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jessica Frances is an Australian author who currently resides in South
Australia. She is an avid reader and loves to write. She works
full-time as a baker, so writing is her hobby done when she has the
time. When she is not writing, you can find her reading, napping or
watching excessive amounts of TV.
 
 
 
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for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!
 
 
 
 
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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Sherry’s Shelves #136

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Sherry’s Shelves #136 is my weekly update from September 17– September 23, 2017.

Sunday Post #201 Countdown to Spring..

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Hello everyone and it’s good to ‘see’ you. I hope you are having weather as good as we are. Sunny and hot and I am loving every minute of it. Enjoying as much outdoor time as I can. Messing around the yard and playing some golf…but today is College Game Day and the TV and my favorite lounger has my name on it and my butt in in. So far, my Michigan Wolverines beat Purdue and Mr Wonderful’s Alabama Roll Tide trounced Vanderbilt. It’s almost 8 on Saturday night and I can hear the cars racing at Six Flags across the street. All is right with the world. Hope you are having a great weekend.

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LAST WEEK ON fundinmental

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THIS WEEK ON fundinmental

  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Review – Remote Viewing & The CIA – Vicki’s Key by P M Terrell
  • Pets In Space Anthology
  • Review – When Stalking Turns To Murder – Sunrise Awakening by Amanda Siegrist
  • Book Blast – Murder and Mayhem
  • Giveaway – One Shade of Gray by Monica Corwin
  • Review – Cannabis Extracts in Medicine
  • Review – The Pool Boy’s Beatitude by D W Swykert
  • One Sentence Review – Why The Titanic Really Sank – Infected Waters by Alathia Paris Morgan

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What are you doing for fun this weekend?

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  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!