Giveaway & Review: The Corpse with the Diamond Hand @AceCathy

Posted on October 15, 2015 by fundinmental

Welcome to my stop for the Corpse with the Diamond Hand by Cathy ace.

Just looking at the cover made me want to book a cruise.

How about you? Have you ever been on a cruise?

The Corpse with the Diamond Hand
(A Cait Morgan Mystery)

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Series: A Cait Morgan Mystery (Book 6)
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: TouchWood Editions (October 13, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1771511445

Amazon / B&N

MY REVIEW

The Corpse with the Diamond Hand by Cathy Ace had so many elements that appealed to me, I had to have it and share it. I have cruised and I have been to Hawaii and loved them both, but I never crossed a dead body before.

Cait Morgan is a professor of criminal psychology and her husband, Bud, is a retired law enforcement officer. They have recently married and are on a cruise for their honeymoon, when Tommy Trussler collapses and dies while playing cards. They both know dead bodies and this was no natural death.

Cait has an eidetic memory and it comes in very handy as they are called upon to help solve the mystery. I love that she watches Hawaiii Five O. We both have watched the old and the new. And I love that Cait “doesn’t play well with others”. Neither do I.

I am really curious about Tommy, trying to figure him out for myself before Cathy Ace does it for me.

The Corpse with the Diamond Hand by Cathy Ace brought back so many wonderful memories of cruising and Hawaii, that I got lost in the pages. I felt like I was having a cocktail at Duke’s in the Outrigger Hotel and walking Waikiki Beach, with the sand between my toes and the salt air on my skin.

There are so many suspects and motives, so many possibilities. The ending caught me by surprise and that doesn’t happen often enough. I loved cruising down memory lane with Cait and Bud and I would recommend The Corpse with the Diamond Hand for all you readers who want to travel into the mystery of murder on the high seas.

Food for thought:

Experience all you can, to learn, to grow. Sometimes there will be disappointments, sometimes maybe sadness but to never take a chance?

I received a copy of The Corpse with the Diamond Hand by Cathy Ace in return for an honest and unbiased review.

4 Stars

About The Author –

Originally from Wales, now-Canadian Cathy Ace writes the Cait Morgan Mysteries. Her series has found her criminal psychologist, foodie sleuth stumbling upon Corpses with a Silver Tongue, a Golden Nose, an Emerald Thumb, Platinum Hair, Sapphire Eyes and, now, a Diamond Hand during her globetrotting. The winner of The Bony Blithe Award for Best Light Mystery in 2015, when not helping Cait solve traditional, closed-circle mysteries, Cathy’s a keen gardener, ably assisted by her green-pawed chocolate Labradors.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Twitter: @AceCathy / Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

3 PRINT COPIES – U.S. AND CANADA

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Skull and Crossbones (c) Sherry J Fundin

New Release: Glistening Swarm by Jill Cooper

Posted on October 15, 2015 by fundinmental

The cover for Glistening Swarm, along will all the rest of the covers of this shape shifting dystopian series by Jill Cooper are fantastic.

Jill has created a brand and these are some books I would love to add to my collection.

How about you?

Glistening Haven Poster

Man’s reign is over. Now fear the day of the dragon.

The human resistance bands together—to fight for their very survival. Staying ahead of the glistenings led by the savage Victor is their top priority, but as the children they have sought to protect fall ill, their days are numbered. Fighting is their only chance of survival and it’s one that the passive glistening, Jake Monroe, has been dreading for over a year. But, he will have no choice but to meet the dragons head on. No matter the cost, no matter the personal sacrifice.

What happens when a dragon first tastes blood?

Buy on Amazon (currently in pre-order)

Pre-order the box set | Glistening Haven: Book 1 | Glistening Rebellion: Book 2

Join us as we celebrate Glistening Swarm’s Release Day on October 26th at 10 am EST! There will be fun prizes and games.

Glistening Swarm’s Facebook Release Day Party

About the Author:

I could write this in the third person. I could tell you what I like, where I was born, and what my favorite things are.

But instead, I’ll say I don’t want to write like everyone else. I don’t want to craft stories you’ve read a thousand times before. I want my novels to be a cinematic experience, blending themes, genres, and situations unlike any you’ve ever read.

I want to break the rules. I want you to break out in a cold sweat as you read my books out of fear, love, and excitement. I want my books to be an experience. When you finish, I want you to feel something. Good or bad.

If you do, then I’ll have succeeded. If not, I’ll keep trying.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter | Literary Addicts | Goodreads | Tsu

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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

Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.

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Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway – Zombie Vacay – Wormfood Island by Ken La Salle

Posted on October 14, 2015 by fundinmental

This intriguing cover of Wormfood Island by Ken La Salle wasn’t the first thing that caught my attention, it was the title.

I can’t help but smile and think… bad things are a comin’.

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK

Wormfood Island is now $0.99 for the Kindle (for a limited time)!

Add me to Goodreads now.

Front cover art: Estevez

Cover design: Maggie Ward

MY REVIEW

Warning: Adult Zombie Erotica. LOL

Wormfood Island by Ken La Salle is an adult horror novel. The sex is not so much erotic, but savage as it feeds on the human bodies of these not-so-happy vacationers. The writing struck me as humorous horror. If there isn’t such a thing, I’m laying claim to the genre.

A beautiful tropical island…not so much.

Flawed characters that end up in a shitload of trouble, very much so.

Kevin Miller had turned into a couch potato, just waiting for death to claim him. Until…

He has everything riding on next week…the trip.

It started with a BITE.

The character chosen to set off the chain of events that will have the others in shock or sent running and screaming to their death, was a bit of a surprise, but when I think about it…perfect.

I love flawed characters and Kevin is a doozy. I sure hope he mans up.

As the story progresses, so does the contagion.

Zombies run wild, with the uninfected unable to believe what they are seeing.

Imagine, if you knew the changes you were going through, what you would become, unable to change the end result.

As an example of the humorous horror, I will share the head of securities comment while watching a woman bite off a man’s penis:

“Don’t you have any sense, you two? Can’t you see people are watching you?”

Wormfood Island is a fun and grisly adventure into Ken La Salle’s twisted mind.

There is tons of running, screaming, shock and awe, and blood and guts a plenty.

Half the time I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so I laughed. Sorry, perhaps I am a bit twisted myself. LOL

I received Wormfood Island by Ken La Salle in return for an honest and unbiased review and I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with next.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Wormfood Island is the story of a family on the verge of collapse. When they win a trip to a hedonism resort out of the country, Kevin Miller hopes this is the chance they need to save their marriage. But instead, they find themselves quickly facing a quest for survival against an infestation of parasitic worms that cause the infected to gain monstrous sexual appetites…which quickly turns to an appetite for living flesh.

ABOUT KEN LA SALLE (from his website)

“Novelist and Playwright, Ken La Salle grew up in Santa Ana, California and has remained in the surrounding area his entire life. He was raised with strong, blue collar roots, which have given him a progressive and environmentalist view. As a result, you’ll find many of his stories touching those areas both geographically and philosophically. He’s also very funny.”

Blog / Website / Twitter / Facebook / G+ / YouTube / Smashwords

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GIVEAWAY

Ken La Salle is giving away two ebooks of Wormfood Island. Entry is easy peasy. Leave your email and answer the question.

What would you do…if you knew you were turning into a zombie?

Giveaway ends October 29, 2015.

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.

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Teaser Tuesday # 51 – She by Anthony Renfro

Posted on October 13, 2015 by fundinmental

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of adailyrhythm.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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I have read a lot of Anthony Renfro’s work and I love this short story, SHe.

The Living Sand is included as a bonus short. Amazon: $1.00

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY REVIEW

Sara had expected so much more from life, as she lay in her bed, crying.

On alert, she grabbed her gun and approached the door.

The light brought her comfort…

SHe craved estrogen.

This may be morbid, especially if you read SHe, but I laughed. I was caught so off guard, never saw where this was going, and I love it.

If you are looking for something to keep you indoors, away from your door, cowering in your bed with the covers over your head, thinking you can hide from SHe, then grab this short story, open the pages and read it now.

4 Stars

MY REVIEW

Anthony Renfro has included another short story, The Living Sand.

I had read this when it was titled Evil Beach, but Anthony has been revamping his short stories and making new covers, so here is my review and rating.

Grandfather is sitting on the porch, entertaining the boys with stories.

As he told the true story of The Living Sand, the boys were spellbound.

Imagine, if you will, entering a portal and onto the most beautiful beach you have ever seen. Everything is so bright and vibrant, but where are the people?

I thought this would be the end, but it was only the beginning.

If you are tempted to go to the beach on the night of the full moon, you might want to think twice.

I was sucked in, misdirected and totally fooled by this wicked tale of daring or foolishness.

So, enter, if you dare and you decide.

SYNOPSIS

Goodreads Blurb: A short story about two boys who discover a hidden beach and the evil deadly secrets that lie within its soft white grains of sand.

4 Stars

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What are you reading?

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Is there such a thing as a GOOD zombie? Broken Hearted Ghoul by Joyce & Jim Lavene

Posted on October 13, 2015 by fundinmental

Just take a gander at the cover for Broken Hearted Ghoul and tell me you can resist this. I sure couldn’t!

Add me to Goodreads now.

Cover: Emmie Ane Studios

Sky Mertz’s husband died two years ago in the same car accident that killed her. She is now a zombie, but not your average, run of the mill zombie. She would do anything for her five year old daughter. She doesn’t run around eating brains and tearing people apart, limb by limb. She could be the girl next door, with her blond hair and blue eyes.

To have another twenty years with her daughter, she traded herself to Abe as a zombie bounty hunter – she hunts down those who’s twenty years are up.

Debbie is her human partner, who works to pay off the debt she took on to bring her husband back. She is too nice. Have you ever met a person like that. All milk and cookies with sugar on top?

Lucas is like a bad penny and keeps turning up. Why is he here and so determined to stay?

Some of the bounties begged and pleaded to be let go. Sky sure does realize how important every day is, her own clock is ticking . Do YOU?

Something is not right about Abe. Is he really giving out second chances or does he have ulterior motives?

We have zombies, sorcerers, ghosts, vampires, werewolves…all the supernatural creatures you could want in a horror story.

There is some new stuff and some predictable stuff, wrapped up in a nice package. I loved the zombie twist. They don’t all have to be savages…do they?

The pacing picks up for the last quarter of the book and races to an intriguing conclusion. I didn’t get all the answers and I did go on to read Dead Girl Blues. Sky won me over and there was no way I was going to miss out on her story.

I received Broken Hearted Ghoul by Joyce and Jim Lavene in return for an honest and unbiased review.

4 Stars

About The Authors

Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Amazon / Twitter

I read these out of order, but you will want to start at the beginning to enjoy the full ride in the Taxi for the Dead.

My review for Dead Girl Blues

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Super Middle Grade Mondays Blitz: Author Spotlight – Steve Bryant with Giveaway #SuperMGMondays

Posted on October 12, 2015 by fundinmental

MGMondays-Bannernew

Welcome to this week’s Super Middle Grade Mondays Book Blitz
presented by Tantrum Books/Month9books!

Today, we get up close and personal with

Steve Bryant

author of Lucas Mackenzie and the London Midnight Ghost Show
from Tantrum Books.

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Steve Bryant

Steve Bryant is a new novelist, but a veteran author of books of card tricks. He founded a 40+ page monthly internet magazine for magicians containing news, reviews, magic tricks, humor, and fiction; and he frequently contributes biographical cover articles to the country’s two leading magic journals (his most recent article was about the séance at Hollywood’s Magic Castle).

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Middle School Thoughts

What is your favorite memory from school?

My favorite memory from middle school days was spending time at Verble’s Café, a hangout run by a classmate’s mom. It had snacks and a juke box, and we learned to slow dance with the girls we had grown up with, to songs by Johnny Mathis and Jimmy Clanton.

What is something you know now that you wish you knew in middle school?

I know to have paid attention to everyone, especially the shy or quiet kids who often turned out to be special adults. The most important was that girl with the blond ponytail, a seventh grader when I was an eighth. I eventually married her, but I hate it that we wasted what might have been an amazing school year.

Tell us your favorite book when you were in middle school.

I loved all the so-called Robert A. Heinlein juveniles, such as Time for the Stars and Tunnel in the Sky. If you had asked me then, I would have said I liked them because I liked science fiction. Years later I realized that I liked them because Heinlein always pitted boys and girls together against formidable odds, and romance ensued. I have always remembered to make romance a key part of any stories I write.

What was your favorite subject in school?

I equally liked math, because I was good at it, and English, because I loved it. All those books and poems were written for our entertainment. My eighth-grade English teacher lived to be 103, and to the end she would admonish us for spelling or grammar errors.

Any advice for kids heading back to school?

Enjoy every day. Middle school was my favorite time ever. Keep a diary or journal, and write down each night what you appreciated about that day. Even better, use your iPhone and take lots of photos and videos. How I would love to have those from my school days!

Lucas-Cover

Lucas Mackenzie has got the best job of any 10 year old boy. He travels from city-to-city as part of the London Midnight Ghost Show, scaring unsuspecting show-goers year round. Performing comes naturally to Lucas and the rest of the troupe, who’ve been doing it for as long as Lucas can remember.

But there’s something Lucas doesn’t know.

Like the rest of Luca’s friends, he’s dead. And for some reason, Lucas can’t remember his former life, his parents or friends. Did he go to school? Have a dog? Brothers and sisters?

If only he could recall his former life, maybe even reach out to his parents, haunt them.

When a ghost hunter determines to shut the show down, Lucas realizes the life he has might soon be over. And without a connection to his family, he will have nothing. There’s little time and Lucas has much to do. Can he win the love of Columbine, the show’s enchanting fifteen-year-old mystic? Can he outwit the forces of life and death that thwart his efforts to find his family?

Keep the lights on! Lucas Mackenzie’s coming to town.

giveaway2

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s… Sharcano by Jose Prendes Review

Posted on October 10, 2015 by fundinmental

Flying flaming sharks star in this funfilled apocalyptic thriller, Sharcano by Jose Prendes

I love this cover. Talk about ACTION! I see a lot of it.

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY REVIEW

OMG! As soon as I saw this cover, I knew I had to have Sharcano by Jose Prendes, so I bought my very own copy. This has been the first book I bought this year.

I read Jose Prendes’ bio and it reads as if it is a short story and great for some laughs.

It all started with the amazing find of an 83′ megalodon beached, mauled and burnt.

I can see it all now. Coming soon to a theater near you…It’s lava sharks!

As soon as Mick Cathcart hears of it, he dumps his daughter at his exes and it’s off on the adventure of a lifetime. He thinks he is God’s gift to women, arrogant and self absorbed.

When Father MacKenzie hung himself in desolation, Father Cox stepped in, determined to change the outcome Father MacKenzie had foreseen.

Reading about Bao and his terrifying and sad, yet uplifting, trial by water was so detailed and realistic, my emotions ran AMOK, highs and lows and back again. He is such a kind hearted and loving child who is put to the test, his losses and sorrow mount. I kept thinking, please Jose, don’t leave him out there alone. His sacrifices deserve a reward.

We have Buck and Trigg, just a couple of good old boys out looking for Sasquatch. They are quite the characters and seem to pop up at just the right time. I can’t help but laugh at them, even though things don’t look so good to me, they don’t seem to understand how up a tree they are.

Volcanoes are popping up from the sea floor, spewing lava worldwide and it is alive.

I can see them, forming in the lava, jumping, flying, determined to find…US!

A plague, the Hell Virus, begins to spread. Humans are facing extinction.

The action is easy to visualize after watching all those Sharnadoes.

Funny, witty, sad, hopeful, uplifting.

The characters don’t all make it to the end, sometimes sacrificing themselves to save others. They grabbed at me, pulling me for and against them. I didn’t always like them, but they all had their contribution to make.

There is a twist that sets it apart from the B movies I love so much…spirituality.

I was hem hawing and telling myself, yeah I know that, then WTF, then, yeah I know that, then WTF.

Jose Prendes did a great job pushing my buttons at the end of Sharcano. I loved this novel and am looking forward to the next one.

5 Stars

ABOUT JOSE PRENDES (From Goodreads)

Jose Prendes, international man of mystery, was found swaddled in a basket among the reeds at the mouth of the Amazon. Raised by local shamans, Jose learned the magic of language and decided to dedicate his skills to the betterment of all mankind. He trekked to America at the age of 12, on foot no less, and made his home in Florida for a few years. After discovering a cure for the common cold, and losing it among his comic book collection, Prendes decided to abandon Florida for sunny Los Angeles.

Upon arriving in the city of angels, he was made the leader of a small group of cinephiles who believed he was the second coming of Shakespeare. Wielding immense power, and a ridiculously awesome dvd collection, Prendes continues his struggle to save the world from the coming peanut butter and jelly apocalypse.

Stalk him: Goodreads / Twitter

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

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If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Giveaway – One Hell of a Romance by Jennifer Felton

Posted on October 9, 2015 by fundinmental

Through Life & Death
Through Love & Hate

by Jennifer Felton

Series: One Hell of a Romance, Prequel & Companion

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Booktrope Publishing
Cover Designer: Scott Deyet

Release Date: November 13, 2015

Through Life & Death

One Hell of a Romance, Prequel

Even evil can have a second chance…

In Jennifer Felton’s debut, the reader is plunged into the paranormal world, circa 1885 England, in this compelling prequel to her new adult A Hell of a Romance Series.

Meet the most powerful and feared family in the paranormal world: the Helms family. Tobias is anything but a normal vampire, he’s also the King of Hell. At his side are his children, twins, Maya and Sebastian.

They may be the princess and prince of Hell, and despite being feared, they are far from respected, since they aren’t full vampire. Unlike the rest of their kind, they weren’t created, they were born of the unholy union between their father and the Goddess of Time, Katricne.

Desperate to find somewhere to fit in, Maya has made it her mission to create a world where humans no longer fear the things they don’t understand. With the formation of The Council, laws are being created in order to protect the humans, with the hopes that eventually their kind will be no more than mere superstition and stories told to misbehaving children.

Things had been going well for a while, but now there are hunters on their trail. They must move and flee the lands which they made their homes.The question remains though: No matter where they go, will it be safe? Is there a traitor amongst them?

Through Love & Hate

One Hell of a Romance, Companion

What would you sacrifice to save someone you love?

What happens when the life you’ve taken for granted disappears in the blink of an eye?

That’s what Megan Williamson wants to know now that her best friend, Anya Spanzer, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. They’ve been best friends since childhood. Now, Megan is determined to find Anya’s second chance. Anya’s family needs her.

So it seemed like an easy choice, she was willing to die in Anya’s place. Who needs a soul anyway? So why should selling it to the gorgeous vampire bother her?

It shouldn’t, right?

Wrong.

The moment she meets Anya’s doctor, she finds herself attracted to him. But this isn’t a social visit. There are more pressing matters at hand – like curing Anya.

Despite what appears to be a mutual attraction, Megan can’t afford to form any new attachments.

Little does Megan realize that what is meant to be will find a way.
Besides, it’s rare when things are all they seem to be.

An avid reader since childhood, Jennifer loved to read any book she could get her hands on. She especially enjoyed tales with paranormal or supernatural elements. Her love of words evolved as she grew older and later in life became someone her friends turned to when they wanted a school paper read and proofed.

After college, where she received a degree in Education, she reached out and networked with several authors and joined the ranks of ‘Editor”. There was nothing that could quite touch the thrill of being able to shape some unexplored world that would land in the hands of thousands – in the shape of a book.

All the books she had read throughout her life stoked her imagination, but she had never tried to put down on paper the characters she had in her own head. That was, until the characters began their rebellion. It seemed she no longer had a choice but to tell their tales.

Through Life and Death, is the first in her One Hell of a Romance series that is being published through Booktrope where Jennifer also serves not only as author – but also editor, proofreader, and book manager for their other authors!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Friday 56 #58 & BB #34 – Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz

Posted on October 9, 2015 by fundinmental

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

2015-10-07 23.35.50

As you can see, I am a huge fan of Dean Koontz, a prolific writer of horror and the unbelievable.

I found it hard to choose my favorite one, so I put them through random.org and it chose #13, Sole Survivor by Dean koontz.

Add me to Goodreads now.

MY FRIDAY 56

The three neatly typed sentences initially impressed him as a singularly cruel variation on the usual paranoid shriek: I have been trying to reach you, Joe My life depends on your discretion. I was aboard Flight 353.

(page 56 of hardcover, published by Alfred A Knopf, 1997)

MY BOOK BEGINNINGS

At two-thirty Saturday morning, in Los Angeles, Joe Carpenter woke,clutching a pillow close to his chest, calling his lost wife’s name in the darkness. The anguished and haunted quality of his own voice had shaken him from sleep. Dreams fell from him not all at once but in trembling veils, as attic dust falls off rafters when a house rolls with an earthquake.

GOODREADS BLURB

A catastrophic, unexplainable plane crash leaves three hundred and thirty dead–no survivors. Among the victims are the wife and two daughters of Joe Carpenter, a Los Angeles Post crime reporter.

A year after the crash, still gripped by an almost paralyzing grief, Joe encounters a woman named Rose, who claims to have survived the crash. She holds out the possibility of a secret that will bring Joe peace of mind. But before he can ask any questions, she slips away.

Driven now by rage (have the authorities withheld information?) and a hope almost as unbearable as his grief (if there is one survivor, are there others?), Joe sets out to find the mysterious woman. His search immediately leads him into the path of a powerful and shadowy organization hell-bent on stopping Rose before she can reveal what she knows about the crash.

Sole Survivor unfolds at a heart-stopping pace, as a desperate chase and a shattering emotional odyssey lead Joe to a truth that will force him to reassess everything he thought he knew about life and death–a truth that, given the chance, will rock the world and redefine the destiny of humanity

This is the cover for the hardback I have, which was published by Alfred A Knopf, 1997. The cost was $25.95.

Which cover do you like best?

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To see all my Reviews, go HERE.

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.

If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?

Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.

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Skull and Crossbones (c) Sherry J Fundin

Giveaway – 34 Seconds by Stella Samuel

Posted on October 8, 2015 by fundinmental

Welcome to the tour for the 34 Seconds Tour, a debut novel by Stella Samuel.

Stella Samuel is a debut author who reads multiple genres. Her first book, 34 Seconds, talks about the moments where life changes suddenly, and the choices we make in those moments where the people that hold parts of ourselves from the past meet. A literate and lyrical view at love, life and fate, this story is both uplifting and satisfying.

Stella is a debut author who loves nothing more than connecting with fans on social media. Her blog bio is:

Stella Samuel – Writer, Butterfly and Singer of Silly Songs. Smiles under sunshine but dances in warm rain. Silently wishes to winter in Phoenix.

Nikki and Will fell in love a lifetime ago in Deltaville, Virginia. Now living in Colorado with her family, Nikki is invited to attend Will’s wedding back in Virginia where she finds her past staring her in the face.

Will never wanted a wife, and he broke Nikki’s heart long ago. Nikki knew what she wanted: a strong, happy marriage and children, a future. She found those things when she married Chris, and she and Will managed to grow their friendship after heartbreak.

A year after the wedding, Nikki is faced with her painful past again. She soon discovers she must find the strength to help Will on his own personal journey. In thirty-four seconds, she sees him slip from her life forever. Watching Will cross over to his fate, her past collides with her present, and Nikki learns she’s never been in control of her own destiny. Her own journey back to her family in Colorado becomes one of self-discovery. With the help of Will’s voice to carry her across the country, Nikki must decide how she will move forward.

Buy 34 seconds here.

Oddly enough, I don’t read much romance. But I do like Nicholas Sparks and Colleen Hoover.

In no particular order, and they could change at the drop of a hat

Safe Haven – Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks

Hopeless – Colleen Hoover

Losing Hope – Colleen Hoover

Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

Shatter Me Series – Tahereh Mafi

—this is a dystopian YA series, but some call it a YA Romance

My Brother’s Battle – also not truly romance, but a fantastic love story

Beautiful Disaster – Jamie McGuire

Maybe Someday – Colleen Hoover

The Odyssey – Homer – yep, another great love story, but not romance

Our oldest daughter is named after an Elvish Princess that gave up eternal life for love, so my final love story has to be that of Aragorn and Arwen in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

– not a romance

So….number 11, a romance, would be Marie Force – Treading Water

You can follow Stella on various social media platforms and her blog.

Sunday October 4th – Book Launches!
Sunday October 4th – D Kai Wilson-Viola, Author Interrupted – Recipe – Deltaville Crabs
Monday 5th October – Shaun Allan – Guest Post
Tuesday 6th October – Rosa Storm – Top ten
Wednesday 7th October – Book in a Bag – Interview
Thursday 8th October -Sherry Fundin – Top ten

Friday 9th October – Kriss Morton – Guest Post/Excerpt

Saturday, 10th October – Room with Books – Interview

Monday 12th October – Cathy Brockman – Top ten.

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