Yes!!!!  It’s THAT Sandra Brown.  Sandra Brown, the renowned author, which I have been a fan of, for many years.  So when Caitlin, from The Hachette Book Group contacted me regarding reading, reviewing and hosting a showcase on Sandra Brown, it was an instant YES!!  It is my honor to have the opportunity of spotlighting Ms. Sandra Brown!!!!

SANDRA BROWN

Sandra Brown is the author of over sixty New York Times bestsellers, including, most recently, Lethal; Rainwater; Tough Customer; Smash Cut; Smoke Screen; Play Dirty; Ricochet; Chill Factor; White Hot; Hello, Darkness; The Crush; Envy; The Switch; The Alibi; Unspeakable; and Fat Tuesday, all of which jumped onto the New York Times list in the number one to five spots. There are over eighty million copies of Sandra Brown’s books in print worldwide and her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. In 2008, Brown was named Thriller Master by the International Thriller Writer’s Association, the organization’s top honor. She currently lives in Texas.
Visit Sandra Brown at her website here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sandra Brown is again at the top of her game with a fast-paced mystery set in the high profile world of publishing and tabloid media. LOW PRESSURE (Grand Central Publishing Hardcover; September 18, 2012; $26.99) combines all the key elements that make Sandra Brown’s books must-reads.  The Associated Press has said “no one is better in the genre than Brown” and LOW PRESSURE proves them right. Combining an insider’s knowledge of publishing with her trademark dead-on characters and plot, Sandra Brown’s LOW PRESSURE is “a winner.”

Bellamy Lyston was only twelve years old when her older sister, Susan, was killed on a stormy Memorial Day. Bellamy’s fear of storms is a legacy of the tornado that destroyed the crime scene along with her memory of what really happened during the day’s most devastating moments.

Now, eighteen years later, Bellamy has written a sensational, bestselling novel based on Susan’s murder. Because the book was inspired by the tragic event that still pains her family, she published it under a pseudonym to protect them from unwanted publicity. But when an opportunistic reporter discovers that the book is based on fact, Bellamy’s identity is exposed along with the family scandal.

Moreover, Bellamy becomes the target of an unnamed assailant who either wants the truth about Susan’s murder to remain unknown or, even more threatening, is determined to get vengeance for a man wrongfully accused and punished.

In order to identify her stalker, Bellamy must confront the ghosts of her past, including Dent Carter, Susan’s wayward and reckless boyfriend – and an original suspect in the murder case. Dent, with this and other stains on his past, is intent on clearing his name, and he needs Bellamy’s sealed memory to do it. But her safeguarded recollections – once unlocked – pose new, unforeseen dangers.

As Bellamy delves deeper into the mystery surrounding Susan’s slaying, she discovers disturbing elements of the crime that call into question the people she holds most dear. Through haunted by partial memories and conflicted over her feelings for Dent, she won’t stop until she reveals Susan’s killer. That is, unless her killer strikes first….
Watch for me review in the near future.

THANKS TO CAITLIN, AT THE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I HAVE
ONE (1) COPY TO GIVE AWAY.  OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affliate.
I am providing link(s) solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

If you are a frequent visitor, then you know that the ladies of WOW! Women On Writing, always have amazing female authors for us to meet.  Today is no exception.  So without further ado, Ms. Pamela King Cable!!

PAMELA KING CABLE

Pamela King Cable was born a coal miner’s granddaughter and raised by a tribe of wild Pentecostals and storytellers. She is an award-winning, multi-published author who loves to write about religion and spirituality with paranormal twists she unearths from her family’s history. Married to a megachurch ministry team member as a young adult, she attended years of megachurch services. Pamela studied creative writing at The University of Akron and Kent State University. She has taught at many writing conferences, and speaks to book clubs, women’s groups, national and local civic organizations, and at churches across the country. Nearly a decade in the writing, Televenge is her debut novel. She lives in Ohio with her husband, Michael, and is currently working on her next novel.
Visit Pamela at her Website, Blog, Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Andie Oliver is a faithful woman—to God, to husband Joe, and to televangelist Calvin Artury, a Godfather in a Mafia of holy men. Joe works limitless hours on the megachurch ministry team, falling deeper into debauchery, while Andie attempts to free him from the Reverend’s control and far-reaching influence. Uncovering long-hidden truths—even murder—she loses everything, including her children. Andie fights for redemption for her family and herself, confronting the very definition of sin, and shaking the Christian evangelical world to its core. Evading ruthless adversaries who will go to any lengths to protect Reverend Artury, Andie battles the dark side of televangelism.

THANKS TO THE AUTHOR, PAMELA KING CABLE, I HAVE
ONE (1) PB COPY TO GIVE AWAY. OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

If you visit often, then you know, the ladies of WOW always stop by with the most amazing female authors.  Well today is no different.  Robyn is going to introduce us to another talented writer.  So I ask that you help me give them a warm welcome to CMash Reads!

SONIA KORN-GRIMANI

Sonia Korn-Grimani earned her doctorate in French literature and the teaching of foreign languages, and directed a multi-cultural language program at UNESCO. With her husband John, and their children Anthony and Renee, Sonia traveled and lived all over the world. She taught foreign languages at the university level, and performed frequently to the delight of audiences worldwide. In her album Cantos al Amor, Sonia sings in 16 languages.

In 1989, Dr. Korn-Grimani was knighted Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, and in 1996 she was decorated Officier des Palmes Académiques. These decorations were awarded in recognition of her lifelong dedication to and promotion of French culture and language.

Sonia continues to sing regularly at UNESCO events inFrance, and is also frequently invited to share her Holocaust experiences as a guest speaker in high schools, universities, synagogues and churches.

GUEST POST

On the Power of Love and Forgiveness

 In the spring of 1961, shortly after we moved to Malaysia, UNESCO called my husband John to Paris. The prospect of visiting my mother, giving her time with baby Renee—her new grand-daughter, and sightseeing around Paris was too great a temptation to refuse. Those days in Paris are perhaps the happiest days of my life, walking around arm-in-arm with Mother.

We sit down at a café, and she tells me that she is planning to stay in Germany for a few months. Would Renee and I go with her? I want to be with her, but the thought of confronting our past of persecution and anguish, our lost youth, our lost family, makes me very anxious. So much is lost there—wouldn’t it be better to just leave it be?

Something in me wanted to go if only for mother’s sake. So we all went for a few days to Wuppertal-Elberfeld, the city from which we had to flee twenty-two years earlier, after my brother, mother and I were declared enemies of the German State. We walked the sunny streets and picnicked on potato-herring and meat salads in the parks, the parks which I remember well, before we were banned from them for being Jewish. We visit our street and our building—the last address in Germany before we were forced to leave. The building has aged, appearing grey and sad.

I have no desire to enter and do not wish to be confronted with our ex-Nazi neighbors, some of whom now remember their treatment of us altogether differently from how we experienced it. War and time have a way of altering memory. Some neighbors had now justified their treatment of Jews in general, and of us in particular to themselves, but now, twenty-two years later, the only person I would like to see is Frau Rohland, the only one of our neighbors who stayed friends with us until the end, who comforted us when mother was arrested; who had slipped us butter sandwiches that would sustain us all night long on our arduous journey on foot to the Belgian border. Alas, her family was away on vacation.

But we are close to Belgium, and I want to visit the orphanage where I had under a false identity for the second half of the war. Perhaps it was having my own children that made me want to revisit one more part of my past, to find closure with one more part of my life. I wanted to visit the one person whom I felt I could never forgive, Madame J.

She was the proprietress of the orphanage. I was 11 when I arrived with my brother at her doorstep, and Madame J took us in, but only after my mother had begged on her knees and agreed to have the resistance pay her twice times the amount she usually took in foodstuffs. Surely the separation from my mother was difficult, but Madame J.’s spartan guardianship of the children in her care did not make the adjustment any easier.

But there was another part of the story that I found out after almost two years of living at the orphanage. I had discovered that Madame J. hoarded food given to her by the resistance that was supposed to go for the orphan’s care—she was hiding the food in her bedroom and selling it on the black market, probably for a very hefty profit.

I remember when she coolly met my eyes after I had discovered her secret. Even though I was only thirteen at the time, I understood her game, and I also understood the dire consequences if I were to reveal her secret—all of us orphans hiding under her care would have been exposed. I concealed my anger and kept my emotions in check, but never in my life had I felt such revulsion, such sadness. We are all so hungry and some of us suffering from malnutrition, which we thought was because we were living during wartime, but there were boxes and boxes of food in her room, just sitting there!

All of these emotions were swirling in my head as baby Renee and I took the train to Ottignies, and made our way to the orphanage to see Madame J. I needed, more than anything, to find peace with what happened within myself, to find closure within my heart.

As I approach the orphanage, I remember my first arrival in 1942 as a young naive girl; I feel a similar anxiety, but for other reasons. All is too familiar. The sights of the past dredge up the feelings of the past.

I knock, just as I had knocked then, and am greeted by a smiling face and trembling hands. Madame J. sweeps me into her arms and seems truly moved to see me again.

“Come into my parlor, my darling Sonia. So nice that you have not forgotten me who was once your godmother! Come and sit down.”

I sit on the very same couch where my mother had sat during her first interview, that is, until she knelt to beg Madame J. to take my brother and me in and save our lives. I recoil at the thought and lean back into the couch for support.

“Would you like some tea or coffee?” Madame J. inquires pleasantly, oblivious to the pain I am feeling.

In a daze, I accept her offer; glad to have her occupied while I try to sort out my recollections, without being overpowered by their weight. Madame J. serves me on very delicate china. Her cakes are delicious.

She brings out photo albums and proudly shows me pictures of us. “How I enjoyed having you and the other Jewish children, all so refined, so bright, so obedient—particularly you, Sonia.”

I then remember how she had shown me albums of the Spanish War orphans who preceded us at Le Joli Coin, and how she had compared us unfavorably to them, offering them as intangible standard of an excellence we could not possibly attain.

I listen to her reluctantly. This is 1961! I feel like shouting. So much has happened in the intervening years and yet you are still fixated on the past. I remain mute.

She breaks into my reverie. “Would you like to visit the home? I am now taking care of a group of young delinquent, homeless boys.”

I follow her and see the familiar navy-blue uniformed, thin and pale bodies of her new charges. They look as forlorn as we had looked so many years before. Although the war is not even in their memories, it seems clear that Madame J. has not changed her tactics in dealing with this new group of children.

It took me years of reflection after this visit to come to terms with my desire to forgive her, and not being able to.  I remember watching Renee and my son Anthony, now an infant, as they played in the dappled sun of the coconut tree in our yard in Kuala Lumpur.

“She did save your life and at great personal risk, Sonia,” argued my husband John. “You might have perished during the war if it weren’t for her, so you need to recognize her for that.” And I do feel lucky to have survived the war at all.

When I think back to my discovery of the boxes in her room—I keenly remember my shock and certainty that she was hoarding food for her personal gain. As an adult, I cannot be certain. I try to be fair. Perhaps she used the contents, which were unavailable on the open market, to buy silence from people who would have otherwise exposed us.

And I try to live up to the nickname given to me at the orphanage: La Tourterelle Généreuse, the generous dove. “Yes, we went hungry. No, she was not a nurturing guardian. But she saved more than 20 children and several adults. Looking at it now, as an adult, I feel gratitude towards Madame J.”

I would never wish the experiences of living under her care in wartime, or the harrowing and constricted life we had before, on anyone. Yet Madame J. was an honorable person who despite the danger saved many lives. And just perhaps, the very trials of my youth forged that strength of character which has allowed me to sing—both literally and metaphorically—in my adult life.

And for the closure in my heart, I feel grateful. I watch Renee and Anthony giggle and play on the blanket in the warm sunshine, and I feel alive and happy in the present. Whatever has happened to you in your past for better or for worse, this has made you who are and gives you the strength to do what you are destined to do. When we harness the energy from love and not from anger and resentment or things we cannot change, we are capable of doing great things.

ABOUT THE BOOK

At the age of eight, little Sonia Korn is declared an enemy of theGermanState. She and her family are given a grim option; either find a way to disappear, or be rounded up and sent to certain death. After a perilous escape to the Belgian border, and becoming caught in the chaos and carnage of war-torn France and Belgium, Sonia finds that she must give up everything she knows and loves just to survive. This is the complex true story of one girl, who rises from war’s ashes to sing the songs of hope and love world-wide. A heart-wrenching and poignant memoir, by internationally renowned singer Sonia Korn-Grimani.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, SONIA KORN-GRIMANI, I HAVE ONE (1) SIGNED
COPY OF THIS MEMOIR TO GIVE AWAY.    INTERNATIONAL.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

So thrilled!! A very special day here at CMash Reads.  My good friend Lori, from Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book is stopping by today with her amazing friend and author, Kim Tews.!  So I ask that you help me in giving them a warm welcome!!

KIM TEWS

Kim Tews was raised in Madison, Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Economics. She and husband, Randy, pursued careers in real estate before beginning mission work together in Ecuador, South America in 2001. In 2005 they established the 501 (c) 3 non-profit Outreach for World Hope to save the lives of starving children in eastern Guatemala. The couple lives in Verona, Wisconsin with their three children, traveling back and forth to Guatemala frequently to facilitate the ongoing programs of Outreach for World Hope.
You can visit the author at her webpage, book page and Facebook.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Tears Water the Seeds of Hope is the inspiring true story of Kim and Randy Tews, a Midwest husband and wife that become disenchanted with the relentless pursuit of the “American Dream” and embark on a journey that spans six countries and redefines their hearts and lives. The story begins in a small town in America’s heartland and weaves its way through South and Central America as the couple gathers an army of supporters, and eventually establishes a 501(c) 3 organization to save the lives of children in the end stages of starvation in eastern Guatemala. The narrative is filled with action-packed adventure and heart-warming victories as the characters face incredible odds and seemingly hopeless situations, while hundreds of volunteers join mission teams to offer help and hope through the programs of the ministry. Readers of all ages will enjoy the roller coaster ride of emotions—from laughter, to tears, to sheer joy—as they realize that it is possible for ordinary people to make a difference, one life at a time.

Read an excerpt:

Purchase links:   Amazon   B&N    

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affliate.
I am providing link(s) solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

When author and friend, Melissa Foster, a frequent visitor here at CMash Reads, asks to showcase a fellow author, I always honor that request.  So today, we get to meet one of her peers as he stops by and visits.  So without further ado, Mr. Russell Blake!!

RUSSELL BLAKE 

Russell Blake is the acclaimed author of Fatal Exchange, The Geronimo Breach, Zero Sum,The Delphi Chronicle trilogy, Night of the Assassin, King of Swords, Revenge of the Assassin,Return of the Assassin, The Voynich Cypher, An Angel With Fur, How To Sell A Gazillion eBooks In No Time (even if drunk, high or incarcerated), Silver Justice and JET. He lives on the Pacific coast of Mexico and enjoys his dogs, writing, tequila and battling world domination by clowns. His thoughts, such as they are, can be found at his blog:http://RussellBlake.com  Follow Russell on Twitter: @Blakebooks

GUEST POST

JET – A Different Kind of Action Hero

 Thanks for having me – it’s a sincere pleasure.

I’m so excited about my new series, JET. I really can’t say enough about it. I am launching two books on Oct. 5 – JET, and JET II – Betrayal. Both are full-length novels, and feature the trials and tribulations of Jet, the twenty-eight year old ex-Mossad operative who faked her own death to get out of that life, but whose life has come back to haunt her in a big and ugly way.

Jet is a different kind of novel for me. It was inspired by a few simple ideas. First, I got to thinking, “Wouldn’t it be cool to write a female action lead that was a kind of a cross between James Bond and Jack Bauer, from 24?” From that, I next went to, “And wouldn’t it be even cooler if the books started with lightning action, and then accelerated from there? Like a literary version of a film like Kill Bill?”

That was the idea – a larger-than-life, overblown female heroine who kicked #ss and took no prisoners, but who did so reluctantly – she’d tried to end that existence, but then enemies from her past came after her, forcing her to put everything on the line.

I sort of had a mental image of Kate B in Underworld, but half Japanese, half Dominican – born in Israel, of those two ethnicities, but left a ward of the state early on. I wanted her to have had a painful, horrific past that she triumphed against, emerging stronger. That is sort of a recurring theme in the JET books. She’s like a Phoenix, rising from the ashes, and no matter what gets thrown at her, she comes through it better for the experience.

What’s truly exciting for me about the series is that, for whatever reason, it’s not just a shoot-em-up romp, although there’s enough of that to fill 10 books. No, what happened is that the writing turned out to be almost, and I hesitate to say this, literary fiction. Which was unintentional, but just what happened. So we have this Lamborghini on black ice, out of control roller-coaster of a book, with unexpected characterization, description and prose. I know it sounds odd, but I think it works pretty well. I honestly can’t think of another book like it. And with the number out there, that says something – either that I don’t read much, or that this is truly something different.

I think fans who are a little tired of the genre, and who think they’ve seen everything, should give JET a whirl. I think it will surprise at a number of levels. I know the character is overblown, but she’s overblown in an unapologetic way that is ultimately endearing – at least to me. It’s rare when I get done with a book and can’t wait to write the next one, but JET had that effect on me, so I immediately wrote JET II, which releases the same day. That’s unusual as well, but I don’t want readers to have to wait to find out what happens next, and the words were just waiting, so I figured might as well get em down on paper.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to come on and chat. I think my final thought would be that if you’ve never read anything by me before, just read JET. If you want to know what makes a Russell Blake book different, read JET, and there won’t be any more questions.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Jet. The code name of an ex-Mossad operative who faked her own death to get out of the game – but whose brutal past has come back to haunt her. When her new life on a tranquil island is shattered by an assassination team targeting her for execution, Jet must return to a savage life she’d thought she’d buried forever to save herself and those she loves. A gritty, unflinching roller-coaster of unexpected twists and shocking turns, Jet features a new kind of protagonist that breaks the mold. Fans of Lizbeth Sanders, SALT or the Bourne trilogy will find themselves carried along at Lamborghini speed by a story whose conclusion is as jarring and surprising as its heroine is unconventional.

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

I’ll admit, I am quite thrilled to have today’s guest visiting for a few reasons.  First, by now, you know that the ladies from WOW! Women On Writing, always stop by and introduces us to amazing female authors.  Today’s author may sound familiar to you since she had visited back in December 2011.  At that time, I had read and reviewed her first book, A Whisper To A Scream and thoroughly enjoyed it.  So much so, that at the time, I had asked Jodi, from WOW, if she would put me on the list for when Ms. Berner’s next novel went on tour.  And today’s the day!!  So I ask that you help me welcome back, Ms. Karen Berner!!

KAREN  WOJCIK BERNER

The ladies (and man) of the Bibliophiles Book Club are back!  This time the spotlight is on Catherine. Catherine Elbert has never been good at making decisions, whether it was choosing an ice cream flavor as a child or figuring out what she wanted to be when she grew up. The only thing Catherine knew for sure was there had to be more to her life than being stuck on her family’s farm.

So Catherine became enamored with the complete opposite of the flat farmlands of Burkesville, Wisconsin – the ocean, lobsters, and rugged coast of Portland, Oregon. Despite her parents’ threat to disown her and her brothers’ bets on how many days until she comes home Catherine heads for Peaks Island, off the coast of Portland.

She is finally free. Or so she thought. What Catherine forgot was that you can’t run away from yourself!

Watch for my review in the coming weeks.
Read my review of A Scream To A Whisper here.

THE SERIES

THANKS TO AUTHOR, KAREN WOJCIK BERNER,
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF UNTIL MY SOUL GET’S IT RIGHT TO GIVE AWAY.
EITHER A PRINT COPY (U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY)
OR EBOOK EDITION (OPEN TO ALL)

WANT A CHANCE TO WIN A WHISPER TO A SCREAM?
THEN HEAD ON OVER TO KAREN BERNER’S WEBSITE TO ENTER HERE

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,
in exchange for my honest review.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

When Nicole from Tribute Books contacted me about today’s guest and his book, I was intrigued,especially since the statistics of divorce rates are so high and it seems that long term relationships are a thing of the past.   So without further ado, please welcome Mr. Charles Johnson!

CHARLES JOHNSON

Surrounded by three sisters and eight female cousins, Charles Johnson had a significant female influence growing up. With the knowledge he gleaned from that experience, he spent the last 25 years coaching and mentoring hundreds of single professionals and up-and-coming, career-minded men and women — including his own four daughters.

He found himself providing guidance to help these otherwise successful individuals improve their personal confidence by updating their image, polishing their social skills and providing insight into the art of establishing and maintaining relationships. Charles has connected and helped hundreds of couples find marriage or committed partners and coaches them on how to make relationships last.

He has been married for more than 32 years and three of his four daughters are now married. Charles has found happiness and balance in his own life as well, pursuing his passions as an avid traveler, photography enthusiast, art collector and a supporter of various charitable causes. He enjoys basketball, football and tennis. His greatest passion is writing about hope and how people can achieve their dreams and still have a balanced and complete life.
Connect with the author at his website, Facebook, Twitter and GoodReads.

GUEST Q&A

 Please tell us about your current release.
For the millions of singles around the world who have struggled to find the right one or to maintain a lasting relationship, my book, “How to Find the Right One & Make it Last,” provides a tutorial on the lost art of dating.  “How to Find the Right One and Make it Last: Bring Love and Romance Back to Dating” offers practical advice for both men and women about how to initiate interaction as well as how to respond in various dating situations.

In addition to the book, I created a website,  http://www.AskCharlesJohnson.com, where my readers can have easy access to relationship advice and personal coaching at any time.

I have been officially and unofficially helping clients and colleagues find personal success. Over the years, I have developed a proven set of principles and concepts that have helped singles looking for love not only find their ideal life partner, but also to keep the relationship fresh and thriving.

Over the years, I have watched my colleagues work incredibly hard to achieve professional success, but often struggle to find that same level of success in their personal lives. By applying the same discipline from their professional development to fine-tuning their dating skills, these colleagues transformed their lives and found the personal fulfillment that had previously been so elusive.

My book provides step-by-step guidance starting with how an individual can make small changes in their personal style and appearance or to their daily routine to improve the odds of finding their ideal partner. I walk readers through the first call, planning the perfect date, and what to say and do on the date.  Everything first starts with a clear idea of what each individual is looking for – as well as what they’re not – to provide a guide along the way.

The principles don’t stop once a match has been made.  The book provides advice for nurturing relationships for the long run.  By walking readers through the seven phases of relationships, I explain how and why they change over time and how to keep them growing strong.

I draw on personal experience, primary research, and the stories of more than 500 singles I’ve connected and 118 who I’ve helped marry and continue to help. I’ve have peppered their stories throughout the book to highlight the principles in action.

Also included is a chapter to help unravel the mystery of Internet dating sites. I outline practical guidance on how to get the most out of the Internet dating site as well as what to be weary of when using the various sites.

Can you tell us about the journey that led you to write your book?
As a corporate senior executive I had the responsibility of taking new young talent and developing them into executives. For 15 years, I groomed hundreds of men and women in the boardroom and thought them the principals that would help them achieve all their professional and financial goals. I was honored and enjoyed mentoring them and watched their careers grow. But, I discovered, as my successful executives matured they would turn to me for guidance in their personal lives. Most of them who were in their early 30’s had achieved all their financial goals but lacked a personal life and wanted someone special with whom they could share their life. Many of them had been so focused on building their professional skills that they lacked the social and personal skills required to connect with someone special. That was the beginning of my unofficial matchmaking business. Over the years, I mentored my up and coming executives and helped them first determine what to look for in a partner and then helped them execute a plan of action. I would run social scenarios and conduct role-play to help them become more confident in social environments. I’ve worked with over 500 people and been able to connect and help marry 118 couples. And, to this day I continue to help the couples to keep their relationship alive and fresh.

When I left the corporate world five years ago, many of the people I mentored and their friends still called for guidance. I decided to write a book that would help everyone in similar situations to give them a starting point to change their personal life and give them a road-map to “How to Find the Right One & Make it Last.”

Can you tell us about the story behind your book cover?
I wanted to have the book cover to convey an emotion in people. We wanted the book cover to convey passion and we chose the burnt orange as the color for the cover of the book because it’s the color of fire.

What book on the market does yours compare to? How is your book different?
I cannot think of a book that is anything like the book I’ve written. In my years of mentoring and matchmaking I found that there was nothing in the market that gave single people practical tools and a step-by-step guide in how to find the right person and make their relationships last. I found that many professional adults needed to learn the skills and gain the confidence that would improve their dating prospects and I don’t believe there is anything in the market to help them. That’s part of the reason I decided to write the book. Finding the right person that will be a life partner is a process and no author has ever written about that process.

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I am a retired Air Force and senior vice president from the corporate world. My writing style and quirk is my ability to write in a very conversational and relatable manner.

Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening?
I’m on page 32 where I describe how one can meet quality people by taking a dance class. People always wonder where they can meet new people who can be potential partners. I always tell my clients to change their routine. One way to do that is to take a dance class in your local community college or dance studio.

Do you plan any subsequent books?
I am currently working on a workbook that will be an extension of “How to Find the Right One & Make it Last!”

I am also working on a teen book based on a similar topic.

Tell us what you’re reading at the moment and what you think of it?
I am re-reading “You Can Heal Your Life,” by Louise Hay. The book gives people great insight into how they can change their life and make it the life they always imagined. It helped me re-invent my life and myself after leaving corporate America. Using the principles in Hay’s book, I have been able to take my experience from my military and corporate life and show people how to be successful in their personal lives and relationships.

ABOUT THE BOOK

We all want that special someone in our lives. But isn’t it odd that one of life’s most important lessons tends to receive the least amount of focus. It’s no wonder why we have so little success attracting the love, passion, romance and fun that we all need and desire.

The problem for many busy and successful people is that they do not know where to find and meet the right partners, how to approach dating, or what it takes to build and sustain a healthy, loving relationship. To address these issues, I have taken a unique approach and have written this book about real people, like you, who struggle with finding love and the right companionship. Many who have used my techniques have been able to find happy rewarding relationships.

This book provides real world experiences and proven dating strategies and techniques. It’s a guide that can be used to change your life and bring you the romance and love you’ve always wanted.

READ AN EXCERPT:

Book Details:
Paperback
Price: $19.95
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
ISBN: 9781937928445
Pages: 272
Release: April 24, 2012
Purchase Links: Amazon   B&N   IndieBound

THANKS TO AUTHOR, CHARLES JOHNSON, I HAVE ONE (1) COPY
OF HIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY. U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affliate.
I am providing link(s) solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

You know if you visit, that I like my mysteries!!  So when Carissa from Attica Books contacted me about today’s  guest, and I read the synopsis, I had to invite the author to stop by, visit and tell us more.  Please help me in welcoming Marsali Taylor to CMash Reads!

MARSALI TAYLOR

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland’s scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland’s distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women’s suffrage in Shetland. She’s also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.
You can visit the author at Marsali’s Website, Facebook, Goodreads and Pinterest.

GUEST POST

Death on a Longship by Marsali Taylor

She was my longship.  She floated beside the boating club pontoon like a ghost from Shetland’s past, her red and ochre striped sail furled on her heavy yard half-way up the wooden mast, her painted shields mirrored on the early-morning calm water.

Okay, she belonged to Berg Productions Ltd, but I was her skipper.  Stormfugl, Stormbird.  She was 75 feet long, with a carved head snarling in a circle of teeth, a writhed tail, and a triangular log cabin on a half-deck in the stern.  Gulls were wheeling around her, bickering among themselves, as if one of them had dropped a fish.

I started Khalida’s engine and put-putted across the bay torwards the marina.  I wasn’t keen on gulls dismembering fish all over my clean decks.  I’d hosed them yesterday, after filming.  The cameramen, lighting operators, make-up, costume, best boys, grips and all the hundred people that seemed to be needed for even a simple shot had squelched the path from road to shore into dusty gravel, which had clung to the sheepskin boots of  my Viking oarsmen.  The shore had added a generous helping of sand-laden algae.  I didn’t intend to start the day re-scrubbing them.  I’d fire the gulls’ fish overboard, and let them squabble about it on the water.

It was amazing, too, that Anders hadn’t heard them.  Even someone who slept like the dead, as he did, must surely be woken by them perching on the cabin ridgepole to stretch their necks at each other.  I’d have thought he’d have been out to clear them by now.

As we entered the marina I realised that there was a white bundle lying on Stormfugl’s deck under the circle of snatching gulls.  I turned Khalida in a sharp curve and brought her up on the other side of the pontoon.  Damn the way Norwegians went for cheap British drink.  He’d obviously gone out and got blootered, staggered home and fallen, injured himself –

It wasn’t Anders.

I looked at the body lying on the half-deck, one hand stretched towards the prow and felt my newly-won promotion to skipper slipping away.  It was Maree Baker, one of the film lot, the stand-in for the star.

I was ashamed of myself for thinking first of me, but I couldn’t help Maree now.  She lay sprawled on the larch planks like a marionette washed up by the tide, the manicured nails still gleaming like shells in the bloody mess the gulls had made of the exposed hands.  There was mottled dirt on her cream silk trouser suit.  The red-gold hair falling across her face was stirring just a little in the breeze, as if at any moment she’d shake it out of her eyes and leap up.  I looked again at the back of her head, tilted up towards me, and saw the pool of blood spreading out from below her stand-in wig.  The gulls had left footprints in it, and across the deck.  I’m not squeamish about blood, but I felt sick then.  I yelled at the three that had only gone as far as the pier, orange eyes watching me, then looked back at Maree.  I didn’t want to touch her, but I had to.  I was the ship’s Master under God; captain, minister, doctor.  I curved my hand around the chilling neck and laid two fingers over the vein.  There was no flutter of pulse.

I withdrew my hand and reached into my back pocket for my mobile. 999.  No, here in Shetland, 999 would probably get me some Inverness call centre three hundred miles away, where I’d have to spell out every name twice.  I wanted Lerwick. I dived into the boating club for a phone book, and found the number.  There were two rings, then a voice.

‘Northern Constabulary, Sergeant Peterson here, can I help you?’

I took a deep breath and wished I was at sea, where the procedure was laid down.  Mayday three times, this is yacht name three times – ‘I’d like to report what looks like a fatal accident,’ I said.  ‘On board the longship Stormfugl, moored at Delting Boating Club.’

‘The film boat,’ she replied, briskly confident even at this hour of the morning. ‘Your name, madam?’

‘I’m Cass Lynch, the skipper of the boat.’

‘Remain with the body, please, Ms Lynch.  We’ll get a doctor to you as soon as possible.  Have you any idea of the casualty’s identity?’

ID was Ted’s problem.  ‘She’s lying face down.  I didn’t want to turn her over.’

‘We’ll be with you in about half an hour.  Until then, please ensure that nobody goes near the body.  And don’t call anyone.  We’ll do that.’

‘I’ll stay with the body,’ I said, but made no other promises.

I picked up a stone, and scattered the gulls with one vicious throw.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When she talks her way into a job skippering a Viking longship for a Hollywood film, Cass Lynch thinks her big break has finally arrived – even though it means returning home to the Shetland Islands, a place she hasn’t set foot on since she ran away as a teenager to pursue her dreams of sailing. When a dead woman turns up on the boat’s deck, Cass, her past and her family come under suspicion from the disturbingly shrewd Detective Inspector Macrae.

Cass must call on all her local knowledge of Shetland, the wisdom gained from years of sailing, and her glamorous, French opera singer mother to clear herself and her family of suspicion – and to catch the killer before Cass becomes the next victim.

GIVE AWAY GALORE, THANKS TO AUTHOR, MARSALI TAYLOR,
GIVEAWAY CRITERIA:

Giveaway Info
Marsali is giving away THREE prizes; a copy of Death on a Longship at each blog stop on her tour, a 1st place grand prize giveaway at the end of the tour of some silver Viking-inspired jewelry from the Shetland Islands, and a 2nd place $15 Amazon gift card.

1) To win a book:  (open internationally for ebook or the US, UK, and Canada for a print book). Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you’re the lucky winner. This giveaway ends five days after the post goes live.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO THE
CMASH READS GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE

2) To win Viking-inspired Jewelry OR a $15 Amazon gift card: Click the link to go to the contest’s website and enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the post. A first and second place lucky winner will be selected on October 1st. First place person gets to choose which grand prize he/she wants. The second place person gets the remaining grand prize. Open to every country.
Here’s the contest’s website >

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.