She Knows Your Secrets – Touching Death by Becky Johnson #Becky Johnson

Posted on September 30, 2016 by fundinmental

That hand…the Touching Death by Becky Johnson cover…reaching out…touching me.

Have to have it!

Today’s guest is Becky Johnson, author of the mystery suspense novel, TOUCHING DEATH. Please leave a comment or question for Becky below to let her know you stopped by!

About the Book:

Title: Touching Death
Author: Becky Johnson
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 209
Genre: Mystery/Suspense

Rachel Angeletti knows things. She always has. With one touch she sees secrets, emotions, lies. Her gift helps her to be the best museum curator in Chicago. It also makes her personal relationships difficult.

Her life is complicated enough when a run in with her ex and an unanticipated vision sends her reeling. One touch and she sees death. One touch and she is thrown into the midst of killer’s dark fantasy. Now Rachel is in a fight for her life against a killer she knows too little about.

With danger stalking her around every turn Rachel is in a thrilling race against the clock. Can she catch a killer before he catches her?

Touching Death will take you on a riveting, page-turning, journey into the mind of a killer and the heart of a survivor.

For More Information

Touching Death is available at Amazon.
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

Book Excerpt:

I was eleven the first time I saw someone die.

It was hot. The kind of hot where your shirt sticks to your back and every breath feels thick and heavy. The waistband of my plaid, pleated school uniform was itchy. It was always itchy, but in Chicago in early September with the temperature in the nineties, I could barely stand it.

“Look,” my best friend April gave my arm a sharp and eager tug, “I can’t believe he’s talking to her.”

I looked across the museum where she was pointing. Jonathan Adams. With his dark hair and blue eyes he was the cutest guy in our class. He was talking to Carol, the prettiest girl in our class and our sworn enemy. April had such an intense crush on Jonathan. She had already named their children and when we played the name game she always wanted to get him.

While April plotted revenge on her arch nemesis, I looked across the Ancients room in The Chicago Museum of Anthropology and Archeology to where Billy Masters stood by a glass display case. His hair was unruly and stuck up in odd peaks from his forehead in complete disregard of the rules. His white, button-down shirt hung out over his waistband. Technically, he was wearing the school tie; he just wore it tied around his belt loop, a bright red flag of rebellion. I never wanted to admit it, but when I daydreamed and played the name game, I was always looking for Billy Masters.

Our class slowly moved through the large room. My teacher, Ms. Daniels, stood at the front of our group lecturing on the Egyptian Empire. With her graying hair pulled back into a tight bun, her stockings sagging around her skinny legs, and her soft and squeaky voice the lecture didn’t keep my attention. Her high-pitched voice faded to the background as I gazed at the surrounding exhibits. They were all so beautiful and fascinating. My imagination ran wild with stories and images. I imagined hands cupping a bowl or pulling a comb through a child’s hair. In my mind’s eye a thousand stories and possibilities ran wild.

We walked through the center aisle of a room, clustered with pottery and remnants of houses. I felt the strangest urge, the almost all consuming desire to touch. My fingertips itched. The power of it drew me. The crumbled edges of the pottery bowl almost begged me to touch them. Only a velvet rope and a few feet separated me from that tantalizing edge.

One touch. No one will know.

I didn’t even realize I’d stepped forward until the velvet rope stopped me from going any further. Vaguely, I heard my teacher discussing social structure and family groups, but the pounding of my own heart overpowered all other noise.

Rachel, the past whispered, “come. See. Life and death.”

I reached my hand out and my fingers brushed the edge of the bowl.

Laughter.

Raised voices.

Yelling.

Screams.

Crying.

The images bombarded me — a woman sat in front of a fire pit making dinner for her family. A dispute nearby grabbed her attention. Two men were fighting. The crowd surged and pulsed with the energy of the fight. Screamed words sounded foreign to my ears, but the emotion made perfect sense — fear, anger, uncertainty.

Only the woman with the bowl saw the little boy standing too close to the fighters. Only the woman with the bowl saw the danger. She screamed his name. Her screams went unheard in the din. The crowd moved with the fight, their bodies cutting off her view.

The bowl was clutched tight in her fingers as she struggled forward, pushing people aside. It grew eerily quiet. The crowd slowed, then paused responding to a different energy. Shoulders and heads slumped as they parted before her. The little boy was on the ground. A bloody rock lay near him. She dropped the bowl as she surged forward, screaming.

I awoke on the ground in front the display my face wet and my throat raw with the echo of the screams still ringing in my ears.

About the Author

Books are Becky Johnson’s passion and always have been. She used to get in trouble in school for reading during class!

Becky has Master’s degrees in social work and history, and for her day job she is a social worker. In her writing she tries to answer a question that is important to both social work and history: Why? She always wants to know why people do the things they do or feel the way they feel.

When not reading or writing she enjoys yoga, photography, cooking, and makes a
pretty mean chili!

Her latest book is the mystery/suspense, Touching Death.

For More Information

Visit Becky Johnson’s blog.
Connect with Becky on Facebook and Goodreads.

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PRE-ORDER BLITZ for BLACK CAT BLUES by JO-ANN CARSON

Posted on January 3, 2016 by fundinmental

Black Cat Blues

by Jo-Ann Carson

Series: Vancouver Blues Suspense, #1

Genre: Mainstream Suspense, Strong Romantic Elements
Cover Designer: Steven Novak

Release Date: January 15, 2016

A nightmare waits in the alley…
Stabbed in an alley behind the Black Cat Blues bar, private investigator Jimmy Daniels clings to life just long enough to tell Maggy Malone a secret.
Maggy, a curvy, Blues singer with a sultry voice and a razor sharp mind is starting her life over after a lousy marriage. Reluctant at first to get involved with a murder, she tells no one the secret.
But when the murderer stalks her, she changes her mind.
Maggy teams up with Jimmy’s brother, Logan, a handsome suit with a tidy view of life. They figure out the killer is looking for gold buried on Gabriola Island by the notorious, cult-leader Brother XII.
As the murderer tracks down the gold, the body count rises. Will Maggy catch him? Or will she be his next victim?

And the lady sings the blues…

Black Cat Blues

An Award Winning Suspense set in the Pacific Northwest.

Vancouver Blues Suspense Series, Book 1

The opening…Walking through a dark alley at three-thirty in the morning wasn’t smart, but Maggy Malone didn’t have a choice, or at least not one she liked. A bone-numbing, cold wind off the Salish Sea hit her face as she opened the back door of the Black Cat Blues bar. Pulling her jacket close to her body with one hand, and holding her guitar case in the other, she descended the stairs into the inky darkness of the night. But her first step, she checked over her shoulder.

Vancouver in November—endless grey skies and drizzle. The waning moon slipped behind layers of dark clouds leaving her little light to help her on her way. She quickened her pace. A warm glow beckoned from the street lamp, just a hundred yards away. Her scalp tingled as if a dozen spiders slipped across it. She took a deep breath of the salty night air.

What the hell. She could handle a few minutes of fear. Singing in the best blues bar on the coast had been her life dream. If it meant getting up close and personal with the creepy, back alley on occasion, then so be it. Her shoulders tightened.

Stepping over dirty needles, used condoms and Micky D wrappers left behind by the people who shared the alley, the prostitutes, the addicts and the homeless, she tried not to let the sadness of their lives reach inside her. But the stagnant stench of rotting garbage and urine turned her stomach. If only it would really rain, then the city would be washed clean.

Where are the street people? Usually there’d be one or two around at this time of night, huddled against the cold brick walls with only a blanket to keep out the cold and misfortunes of the night. Something felt wrong. She couldn’t put her finger on it… but something. She looked over her shoulder again. No one.

A chill crawled slowly up her spine. She adjusted the weight of her canvas guitar case into her other hand, and prepared herself to run. She wasn’t sure what she would be running from, but just in case. A woman in an alley has to be ready.

It had been a long night. She should never have descended into this God forsaken alley. Friggen Frank. It was his fault. She took a deep breath, as her eyes darting in every direction. The feeling of darkness, much darker than the night around her kept picking at her senses. Her throat tightened and she couldn’t swallow.

I’m just scaring myself. The lights of the street were only a few yards away. Everything will be fine.

Then she saw the body lying still in a pool of blood. A silvery spike protruded from his chest. Her breath stopped. It was the handsome stranger she had seen in the bar an hour ago. Maggy ran to him.

She checked his breathing. It was shallow, but he was still alive.

She punched 911 into her cell phone.

Waiting for the connection, she yelled into the dark night, “Help.” But no one came running.

Alone with a dying man. Was his murderer close by? No one gets a spike in their chest by accident. Was the murderer watching her? Tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose.

“911. State your emergency.” The operator’s toneless voice cut into the night.

“There’s a man. He’s been stabbed…” Maggy took her scarf off and pressed it on top of his wound around the spike. Could she stop the flow of blood? “Hurry.”

“Where are you ma’am?”

“In the alley behind the…” Her own voice sounded dry and robotic. She needed to get the words out. “The Black Cat Blues bar on Fifth.”

“An ambulance is on the way.”

Maggy looked at the man. Would they make it in time?

“You need to apply pressure to the wound…”

I’m friggen doing that. Bright red blood oozed through the scarf and onto her hand. The man’s face paled as his life force drained out of him. She put down the phone, swallowed hard, and used both hands to apply steady pressure on her scarf. “Hang in there, buddy. Don’t die on me.”

His eyelids moved just a fraction. But they moved.

Swollen and cut, his face looked like it had taken a beaten. She leaned down to listen at his mouth. His breathing was faint and ragged. Seconds ticked by slowly.

Then his lips moved. Maggy leaned in.

“Tell Logan,” he rasped. She waited for him to say more. Pain flooded his eyes. His lips trembled, but no sound came out.

She could barely breathe herself. The man’s life was sliding away in front of her, and there was nothing she could damn well do to stop it. She pressed down anyway, and his blood seeped through her fingers.

“Tell Logan,” he repeated. She bent closer. “The Emer…old…”

He made a horrid gurgling sound and a gush of blood flowed from his mouth. His muscles jerked and quivered. He was fighting to live, as his organs shut down.

As the sound of sirens pierced the night, Maggy sat up and met his dead eyes. Shivers ran through her body. Tears streamed down her face.

“May you find peace,” she said. She closed his eyes and waited.

Jo-Ann Carson has lived most of her life on islands off the west coast of Canada, surrounded by snow covered mountains, lush rain forests and pristine beaches.

Growing up, she dreamed of traveling the world like James Bond, searching for relics like Indiana Jones, and finding true love, so it’s no surprise that in her Mata Hari Series she combines elements of adventure, danger and steamy romance.

In her Vancouver Blues Series she slides into the realm of Urban Noir and explores the dark side of the city. These books are mainstream suspense with strong romantic elements and are very-Vancouver.

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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Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Review: Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs

Posted on November 29, 2015 by fundinmental

Speaking in Bones is another Kathy Reichs winner for me. I am an avid fan and watch all the Bones shows on TV too. I just cannot get enough of Temperance Brennan.

Add me to Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I am a huge fan of Temperance Brennan and Kathy Reichs, so I am always eager for the next book, Speaking in Bones. How Kathy Reichs is able to come up with a fresh case of crime is always a pleasure for me to read about.

This time, we have some help, or do we?

Websleuths – amateurs compete online to solve cold cases.

Hazel (Lucky) Strike, one of the websleuths thinks she knows who the unidentified body is and calls Temperance to tell her. She thinks it is a woman by the name of Cora Teague. Little did Hazel realize, she should have kept a low profile.

Ryan and Temperance make a fantastic team, but are plagued with personal problems. He had walked away, but was back, proposing marriage. What answer will Temperance give him?

Temperance’s mother is alone, fighting cancer and loves a mystery. She’s an insomniac and deft at searching the internet. I love this strong and determined character. She does not dwell on the bad, but continues living. She discovers something and places a call to Temperance, early in the morning, jolting her into work mode.

The explanations for some of the technical aspects make it easy to follow along. Even if I don’t understand everything, I don’t feel it hurts the story in any way.

Speaking in Bones is another great mystery and I love following along with Temperance as she discovers the answers. Her relationship with Ryan keeps me wondering…when will they finally get together. I have always believed they would. They are perfect for each other..yin and yang.

Imagine never knowing where your loved one is, just gone. Thank goodness Temperance never gives up until she has the answers.

So much is going on that I struggle to predetermine the outcome. Not knowing what the ending will be keeps me waiting for her next book, her next unknown study in the evil that men/women do.

I received of copy of Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs in return for an honest review.

5 Stars

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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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I think I broke her – Perfectly Toxic by Kristine Mason with Giveaway, Review & Excerpt

Posted on November 2, 2015 by fundinmental

I am so excited to share Kristine Mason’s Perfectly Toxic.

For all you hardcore thriller lovers, this is a MUST READ!

Sooo, buckle your seatbelts because this will be a wild ride into the mind of one of the most wickedly evil villains I have ever had the “pleasure” of meeting.

Add me to Goodreads

Perfectly Toxic by Kristine Mason

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GENRE: Romantic Suspense

MY REVIEW

Perfectly Toxic by Kristine Mason is a thriller that stars Melanie Scarlet. I love the CORE and am so excited to finally read Mel’s story. The language and sex scenes are pivotal to the story and I think Kristine handled them well.

“I think I broke her.”

With a start like that, I knew I was in for a horrific ride into the twisted psyche of Adeline. I can hardly wait to dive into all the creepiness to come, and I know there will be plenty of it. As I read along, mini movies played in my head. When I was done reading, I felt like I needed to take a shower.

Well, what can I say about Perfectly Toxic. I had three pages of notes, but it just wasn’t working for me. So…I tossed them out and here I am, just telling you about my feelings about this, hmmm, horrifying thriller and the sadistic, psychopathic, crazy as a loon villain, Adeline and her cohort, Rodney.

I laugh at Frankenstein. that was a comedy compared to what these two were up to. What they were doing goes so far past that, I am finding it difficult to put into words the events in Perfectly Toxic. The lives lost and the torture suffered under their hands remind me of the evil men behind human testing during the holocaust. Both of them belong under the jail, not in it.

The most repulsive thing of all, Adeline revels in it. She loves to watch her toys squirm. There is nothing she won’t do to get what she wants. Feelings…what are those? She sure doesn’t have any warm and fuzzy ones. She is ice cold and beware, to be near her could be hazardous to your health. She is very smart, well educated, manipulative and broken. Something is very wrong with her. OMG, she is not just a psycho, she is bat shit crazy and evil beyond words.

I love all the CORE characters, but I can relate well to Mel, an ass kicking, swamp raised, don’t look at me cross eyed kind of gal. She is the Ice Cream lady. She is also a cleaner. You need something to disappear, just contact Mel. She hides her girlie girlness behind a really sharp knife. She’s the type to stab you with the knife, then cook dinner with it. She is married to Cash, but it doesn’t seem to be going so well. They are both stubborn and have strong personalities. She hangs with men more than women and I do that too. I love that she goes to the dock when she has heavy thinking to do. The water calms her and it has the same effect on me. I have spent many a day Sitting on the Dock of the Bay…wasting time.

Mel’s cousin, Bobby turns up missing and the mystery begins.

When Mel takes Harrison to meet Cash for help, the scenario could be hazardous to Harrison’s heath, but it is laughable. The who’s dick is bigger scenario had me cracking up. Cash’s mantra to control his anger is Unicorns are magical. Imagine seeing a huge hunk of a man repeating those words over and over. His therapist had called his and Mel’s relationship – TOXIC.

Cash buys Mel flowers from the gas station just because. I can relate to that. Mr Wonderful, my hubby, brings home flowers from the grocery store. The element of realism is coming through loud and clear. I love their snarky and sensual dialogue.

Cash’s housemate is a German Shepherd named Dolly. They served in the Army together and she is the one who came home in a wheelchair. I love dogs, so I had to mention her.

Kristine ramps up the suspense as the search for Adeline takes on new meaning. Each of Kristine Mason’s stories read as the most twisted Criminal Minds on steroids episode. They are unique and original.

I am totally engrossed in the love story and then Kristine shocked me, woke me up and the pacing reached a level of urgency I hadn’t felt before.

I would love to be one of her characters, kicking ass, fighting evil and having some hot and heavy sex with a stud. What an adventure and one I only live through in Kristine’s words, hanging on each one.

NOW, we get to the best part, the last quarter of the book. I know how the story will end, villain 0 vs good guys 1 and the guy gets the girl, but, man oh man, the rollercoaster ride to get there leaves me breathless. The nail-biting, rapid breathing, sitting on the edge of my seat is the suspense reading an armchair junkie like myself lives for. I read a lot of mystery and suspense thrillers and it is books like Toxic and authors like Kristine that feed my need for thrills.

I can’t believe that the story lasted only six days. So much happened, so many emotions ran AMOK as I read, my head was spinning. I had to turn around and read it again. I would apologize for rambling on and on, but eh, I can’t help myself.

I received a copy of Perfectly Toxic by Kristine Mason in return for an honest review.

5+++++ Stars

BLURB

What do you get when you mix a mad scientist, a psychopath, an ice cream lady and a repo man? Something perfectly toxic…

Melanie Scarlet is a knife-wielding badass who knows how to dispose of a body, and make evidence disappear. But Mel, a.k.a., the Ice Cream Lady, draws the line at one thing: she refuses to live with her husband, Cash Maddox, unless he quits the repo business that nearly got him killed—no matter how much she loves him.

To thaw Mel’s heart and convince her to leave the Everglades and move back home to Tallahassee, Cash is finally ready to retire from his adrenaline-fueled job…until homeless men begin vanishing. As Mel investigates the disappearances, Cash’s temper goes into overdrive when he realizes his wife has been keeping a dangerous secret from him. She’s been doing more than scooping ice cream—she’s a cleaner for the underground criminal investigation agency, Above the Law.

Mel isn’t the only one with a secret. A scientist has created a drug that will cure psychopaths by deadening the urge to dominate, hurt and murder. To prove his chemical combination works, he uses the homeless as test subjects. He breaks and scrambles their minds, turns them into killers, then tries to fix them. But what if the scientist creates a killer he can’t fix? A true psychopath he can’t control? As Cash joins Mel and the ATL crew, they learn firsthand, the results could be…toxic.

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EXCERPT

“You’re seriously not staying here?” Since she’d left him, there hadn’t been a time that she hadn’t stayed with him when she’d returned to Tallahassee. And those times had been great, until the topic of their marriage and his job had come into play. Then they’d fight, she’d leave and they wouldn’t speak for weeks. A vicious cycle, but one he’d become familiar with—until now. She was changing things up on him, and he didn’t know how to react. He did, but his therapist would likely have a frickin’ stroke.

“Well, you’re seriously not going to change and I seriously want a divorce. So, yeah. I think it’s best if I stay at a hotel.”

He pulled her close. “Stay with me.”

Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “No.”

He pressed his body against hers and slid his hand along her rear. “Give me a few days.”

“I’ve given you two years,” she said, breathless, her gaze shifting from his mouth to his eyes.

She had him there, and he had nothing to counter her argument. She had given him two years, and he arrogantly figured she’d eventually come back to him.

“You’re right,” he said honestly.

“I’m right?”

He nodded and walked her backward. “I don’t want a divorce, but we can’t keep going on the way we’ve been.” He pressed her against the foyer wall. “Give me the time you’re here to prove we can make this work.”

“I’m here to find Bobby, not deal with our marriage.”

“I know, baby. We’ll find him. I promise. I’ve already put word out on the street that we’re looking for him.” He leaned closer. “Just give us a chance.”

Her eyes filled with tears again. “I can’t keep doing this. It hurts too much.”

Knowing he was hurting her left him hollow and shameful. “I’m sorry.”

She punched him in the arm. “You’ve said you’re sorry more times than I can count. Do something about it.”

He kissed her.

She pushed him away. “Not with sex.”

“That’s right. You have your period.”

“I lied.”

“And I just want to kiss you.”

She stared at him, her eyes unreadable. “Sometimes I hate you,” she said, then shoved her hands through his hair and captured his lips.

His therapist would tell him to end the kiss, that they weren’t solving anything, only prolonging the hurt. His therapist could go fuck himself. He had his woman in his arms and she was kissing him. Running her hands through his hair in that possessive way he loved. Pressing her breasts against his chest as if she couldn’t get close enough. Skimming her tongue along his in a way that him hard and ready.

The damned horn beeped again. Mel tore her mouth away from his, then gave him a push. “I’m leaving.”

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ABOUT KRISTINE MASON

Kristine Mason is the bestselling author of the popular romantic suspense trilogies, C.O.R.E. Shadow and Ultimate C.O.R.E. She is currently working on her next trilogy, C.O.R.E. Above the Law, along with a series of Psychic C.O.R.E. novellas.

Although Kristine has published a few contemporary romance novels, she focuses most of her energy on her romantic suspense stories, which she loves for their blend of dark mystery/suspense and sexy romance. She is fascinated with what makes people afraid, and is famous for her depraved villains whose crimes present massive obstacles for her heroes and heroines to overcome.

Kristine has a degree in journalism from Ohio State University and lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, four kids, and two dogs. If she’s not writing, she’s chauffeuring kids, gardening, or collecting gnomes. Oh, and she makes a mean chocolate chip cookie!Connect with Kristine on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kristinemasonauthor, Twitter https://twitter.com/KristineMason7 or email her at authorkristinemason@gmail.com. You can also find out more about Kristine’s books at http://www.kristinemason.net

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GIVEAWAY

Kristine Mason will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN to two randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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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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Was this review helpful? If so, please consider voting for it on Amazon or like it on GoodReads

3 To Die 4 Novels 4 $.99 – Let’s Meet the Killers of the CORE trilogy by Kristine Mason

Posted on July 22, 2015 by fundinmental

You can grab them now – I know it is very tempting – or read on for more information.

C.O.R.E. Shadow Trilogy (Books 1-3 C.O.R.E. Series)—Kristine Mason

BUY NOW: Amazon / Nook / B&N / iBooks / Kobo / Google

I am so excited to be sharing this super sale of Kristine Mason’s Core Trilogy – the beginning creation of an thrilling selection of romantic suspense, with a paranormal twist, that you will want on you shelf, whether in the physical form or your ereader. They can all stand alone, but you won’t want to miss any of them, so let’s start at the beginning.

I have read all her books (look for my review links below) and became an immediate fan.

Kristine develops complex characters that you will want to revisit over and over again. They do meet the new characters in each of the continuing novels, so you can keep up with what’s going on in their life and what trouble has been seeking them out. Each novel has a dominate male and female that…may fall in love. The peripheral characters are almost as important in their contribution to the story.

It all starts with Celeste Risinski, a clairvoyant whose visions bring horror, fear and danger into her life. You will want to keep your eye on her because she has a lot to share. She is a strong and determined, loving and sacrificing woman who overcomes the terror that sometimes rules her life.

You will also meet many other characters to fall in love with and they too pop in and out of Kristine Mason’s other stories. These romantic suspense novels will have you feeling the characters are family.

ADD ME TO YOUR GOODREADS LIST NOW!

C.O.R.E. SHADOW TRILOGY

For a limited time…three romantic suspense novels—now for one low price! $.99

Get yours now! Amazon / Nook / B&N / iBooks / Kobo / Google

SHADOW OF DANGER — Book 1

My Review for Shadow of Danger

She sees too much…

Four women have been found dead in the outskirts of a small Wisconsin town. The only witness, clairvoyant Celeste Risinski, observes these brutal murders through her psychic visions. Called in by the local sheriff to help stop the killer, John Kain, former FBI agent turned investigator for the private agency, CORE, has no use for psychics. But as more dead bodies are discovered, the criminalist reluctantly turns to Celeste for help. Yet with each step closer to finding the killer, John finds himself one step closer to losing his heart.

SHADOW OF PERCEPTION — Book 2

My Review for Shadow of Perception

What happens when negligent plastic surgeons get a taste of their own medicine…?

When investigative reporter Eden Risk receives an unmarked envelope containing a postcard ordering her to watch the enclosed DVD or someone else dies, she turns to CORE for help. But that help comes with a catch. Her former lover Hudson Patterson is assigned to the case. And as more DVDs arrive, they not only find themselves knee-deep in a twisted investigation, but forced to deal with their past and the love they’d tried to deny.

SHADOW OF VENGEANCE — Book 3

My review for Shadow of Vengeance

Welcome to Hell Week. You have seven days to find him…

At Wexman University male students will do anything to join a top fraternity. They’ll prove their worth during Hell Week by participating in a variety of pranks. But those shenanigans aren’t so funny when pledges start disappearing. CORE agents Rachel Davis and Owen Malcolm are on the hunt for a killer who’s kidnapping and murdering pledges. Time is ticking. They have only seven days to find the latest missing pledge and catch a killer. Seven days before the body count rises with another victim. Seven days to fight their attraction for each other before one of them ends up hurt.

C.O.R.E. — Criminal Observance Resolution Evidence

When having the best is a matter of life and death…

C.O.R.E. Shadow Trilogy (Books 1-3 C.O.R.E. Series)—Kristine Mason

BUY NOW: Amazon / Nook / B&N / iBooks / Kobo / Google

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I didn’t pick up my first romance novel until I was in my late twenties. Immediately hooked, I read a bazillion books before deciding to write one of my own. After the birth of my first son I needed something to keep my mind from turning to mush, and Sesame Street wasn’t cutting it. While that first book will never see the light of day, something good came from writing it. I realized my passion and found a career I love.

When I’m not writing contemporary romances and dark, romantic suspense novels (or reading them!) I’m chasing after my four kids and two neurotic dogs.

Website / Email: authorkristinemason@gmail.com / Facebook / Twitter

MY REVIEWS FOR KRISTINE MASON’S NOVELS

Shadow of Danger / Shadow of Perception / Shadow of Vengeance

Ultimate Kill / Ultimate Fear / Ultimate Prey (read, review coming soon)

Perfectly Twisted (read, review coming soon)

Celeste Files: Unlocked / Celeste Files: Unjust (read, review coming soon)

All covers link to Amazon, I am an affiliate.

Thank you internet, blogging and bloggers, independent authors and publishers, Amazon (well, you know I had to give them kudos for being ahead of their time)…without you, I never would have read even one of her books…until it came to the library or the movie screen. LOL This way, I got in on the ground floor.

Haven’t we all come such a long way?

BUY NOW: Amazon / Nook / B&N / iBooks / Kobo / Google

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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?

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Paul Kersey Meet Justine Ford – Battle Not With Monsters by Overton Scott Review & Giveaway

Posted on July 9, 2014 by fundinmental

All I had to do was see the cover and know I wanted to tour and read Battle Not With Monsters by Overton Scott

I wonder what’s going through her mind.

What do you think?

You can read my review below and be sure to enter both giveaways!

MY REVIEW

Battle Not With Monsters by Overton Scott starts out with a SMACK of the bat against her head and the first one goes down. What the hell? My eyes popped wide open and I began to wonder how many would die in the first chapter alone.

Battle Not With Monster begins with a brutal and savage murder of a beautiful young woman and keeps going from there. When Ray goes down next, I am bummed. HUH – I didn’t even get to know him and I miss him. I grieve for him, along with Justine. She had acted without thinking in the defense of Ray, her coworker, but it had done nothing but make her a target, putting a bullseye on herself. There is an evil stalking her, intending her great harm.

Justine barely squeaks by. She has a ratty car and lives in an iffy neighborhood. She has learned to be very aware and observant of her surroundings, rarely missing anything in her immediate vicinity. She is an expert in the martial arts, a quick judge of character and situations. She is fit, working out is a routine part of her life and she is not afraid to fight. She felt she had failed Ray, felt he wasn’t the first.

Chert thought would it would be easy peasy to take her down. He had no idea what was in store for him. Would he live to regret it? Would he live? When Justine realized he was after her – she was determined to take the fight to him.

Chert does come after her. I can feel her anxiousness. We’re both frantic, trying to figure out what to do. There is no escape, she cannot avoid the confrontation. My heart pounds, as I wait for him to enter her bedroom. Rapid breathing. Is it hers, his or mine? Waiting….the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck are standing up. I believe the dry mouth, the eyes popping out of the head, the feeling of running through molasses is hers.

Justine knows she needs more than her physical strength, she needs a weapon, a gun. As the salesman runs a line of crap on her just because she is female and not familiar with weapons, she finds him. The one who can help her. Conrad J Dalton, III – Lone Star Risk Management.

Traffickers bring young women in from foreign countries. The women are desperately looking for a better life. They are then broken, starved, raped, isolated, their families are threatened and they are even killed. They are forced to work in strip clubs and worse. It is big business, even in the 21^st century. As long as there is a demand, I am sure there will be a supply. Whether they come willingly and are then duped or if they are taken forcefully, kidnapped, does it matter? It is a tragedy either way.

Justine goes through the process of trying out and buying a hand gun. How do you feel about guns? I have thought about buying one myself. Am I reading too many thrillers? Getting to know too many serial killers? Wondering when the apocalypse will hit – a flu pandemic seems the most likely event to me, but a catastrophic failure with our food supply would not surprise me? Does my imagination run wild, or do I just want to be prepared?

Battle Not With Monsters has me visualizing Justine as the female version of Paul Kersey in Death Wish. I love those movies and cannot remember how many times I have watched them – and will again. I love a weekend afternoon when they run a Death Wish marathan. Now, that’s what I’m talking about for some good TV.

Overton Scott has done a wonderful job of creating a fantastic story with some, at times, all too real characters. Battle Not With Monsters has all my requirements for a great suspense/thriller – a hero (doesn’t matter if it is female or male, but there is something a little extra special about the badass heroine), a storyline that creates a mission or a demand that the hero step up and take action and, of course, that feeling of tension and suspense……waiting for the next sentence to be read or the next page to be turned or the next chapter to begin.

I loved the book that I received for an honest and unbiased review and will eagerly continue the journey with Justine……and Conrad? After all, a little romance can only enhance a story. How about it Overton? What’s next?

4 Stars – Would Highly Recommend To Others

Battle Not With Monsters by Overton Scott

(A Neen Ford Thriller #1)

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Publication date: March 8th 2014

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Genres: Adult, Thriller

SYNOPSIS

Victim?

Neen Ford is a loner, drifting from town to town, working as a security guard and teaching martial arts. One hot night in Dallas, she witnesses the brutal murder of a Ukranian prostitute and becomes the killer’s next target. Neen’s never backed down from a fight, but she’s never tangled with a human trafficking ring before. Until now.

Hero?

Naïve young women are being trafficked into the United States by Russian criminals. Someone needs to help them. The police are trying, but they’re not moving fast enough for Neen, who is now being stalked by a man who enjoys inflicting pain.

Vigilante?

How far will Neen go to save herself? How far, to save three young women from a life of fear and despair? And what price will she pay for battling the monster? There’s a thin line between hero and vigilante – will she cross it?

AUTHOR BIO

Overton Scott is the pseudonym of a national bestselling author. Overton is interested in a lot of themes covered in the Neen Ford stories: martial arts, the warrior ethos, personal responsibility, and the concept of justice. Like Neen, Overton doesn’t think that the guilty should escape punishment on this earth. Unlike Neen, Overton prefers to write stories rather than take the law into his own hands. It’s just as morally satisfying, but less dangerous.

As you are reading this, Overton should be working on the next Neen Ford adventure. But he’s probably at the gym, shooting or wasting time looking at funny pictures on the internet. You can contact him at neenford@gmail.com, if you’d like to discuss any aspect of the Neen Ford stories.

Click on the cover below to get your Amazon copy of Battle Not With Monsters by Overton Scott.

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