Author: CMash

An avid reader for many years. Married for 31 years with 2 fantastic adult sons who I am so very proud of with great gfs. Am disabled. Found this wonderful community of book blogging in approximately December 2009 and have loved every minute of it. Am now a reviewer for authors, publishers, publicists, etc. And am also a partner in a Virtual PR tour company, Partners In Crime Tours for authors of novels of mystery, suspense and crime (www.Partnersincrimetours.net)

GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE "THE ARRIVALS ENDED

MAY 25th to JUNE 8th, 2011
THE ARRIVALS
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by MEG MTCHELL MOORE
SYNOPSIS: 
  It’s early summer when Ginny and William’s peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt.

  First, their daughter Lillian arrives, with her two children in tow, to escape her crumbling marriage. Next, their son Stephen and his pregnant wife Jane show up for a weekend visit, which extends indefinitely when Jane ends up on bed rest. When their youngest daughter Rachel appears, fleeing her difficult life in New York, Ginny and William find themselves consumed again by the chaos of parenthood – only this time around, their children are facing adult problems.
  By summer’s end, the family gains new ideas of loyalty and responsibility, exposing the challenges of surviving the modern family – and the old adage, once a parent, always a parent, has never rung so true.

THANKS TO ANNA AND THE FANTASTIC
PEOPLE FROM THE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP
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I HAVE TWO (2) COPIES OF THIS
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.
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*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE*
AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: DO YOU BELIEVE THE ADAGE
“ONCE A PARENT, ALWAYS A PARENT?*
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*EXTRA ENTRIES*

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU PUBLICLY FOLLOW THIS
  BLOG (IF NOT, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT ON RIGHT SIDE).

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT TO LET ME KNOW THAT YOU THAT
  YOU RETWEETED THIS GIVEAWAY @ WHAT NAME.

*REMEMBER TO INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL ENTRIES.

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*U.S. AND CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY*
*NO P.O. BOXES*
**PER PUBLISHER**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.
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*GIVEAWAY ENDS JUNE 8th AT 6PM EST*
WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG
AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL AND WILL
AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN
Photobucket
DISCLAIMER / RULES

Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
agent and/or author. This blog hosts the giveaway on behalf of the
above. 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.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed

Review "The Arrivals" by Meg Mitchell Moore

THE ARRIVALS by Meg Mitchell Moore

Published by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company

The Hachette Book Group
ISBN 978-0-316-09771-0
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis:  It’s early summer when Ginny and William’s peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt.

  First, their daughter Lillian arrives, with her two children in tow, to escape her crumbling marriage. Next, their son Stephen and his pregnant wife Jane show up for a weekend visit, which extends indefinitely when Jane ends up on bed rest. When their youngest daughter Rachel appears, fleeing her difficult life in New York, Ginny and William find themselves consumed again by the chaos of parenthood – only this time around, their children are facing adult problems.
  By summer’s end, the family gains new ideas of loyalty and responsibility, exposing the challenges of surviving the modern family – and the old adage, once a parent, always a parent, has never rung so true.

  My Thoughts and Opinion: Having recently started my own chapter of being an empty nester, I was quite interested in the premise of this book. And along that line, I definitely could relate to the parental characters in the novel. It was very easy for me to, what I call being “transported”, into the story line and become part of this family. Which was quite surprising due to the fact that this was the debut novel by this author. There was a situation, where the patriarch character became so frustrated that he finally lost his patience, because his house had been so transformed into a mess. Another plight I could relate to. And how the parents attempted to treat their children as the adults that they were. Except these adult children, never took into consideration that they were giving their parents their responsibilities and problems instead of dealing with them as the adults they were. I felt that there were some family dynamics, and this is only my opinion, that did not resemble real life. The time frame occurred over a few months, and during that time, it was never stated to the parents why their children appeared “back home”. I enjoyed this book due to the story line of the novel, but also felt that it was predictable. No matter what the rating this book gets, like the synopsis states, “once a parent, always a parent”.

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.

W.W.W. Wednesdays

WEDNESDAY
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Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

And the winner is…….

……….of A WORLD I NEVER MADE by James Lepore
Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

11

Timestamp: 2011-05-24 23:02:31 UTC

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Due to Residency Rules, another winner needed to be chosen

Carol M said… 11 I follow on GFC

An email has been sent to the winner and she has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

And the winner is…….

……….of A WORLD I NEVER MADE by James Lepore
Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

11

Timestamp: 2011-05-24 23:02:31 UTC

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Due to Residency Rules, another winner needed to be chosen

Carol M said… 11 I follow on GFC

An email has been sent to the winner and she has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Guest Author Laina Turner-Molaski

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Are you ready for another treat today?    Stopping by to visit and tell us about her book is a very busy, talented, multi-tasker and self-proclaimed “supporter of shopping”, our type of woman!!!!  So please give Dr. Laina Turner-Molaski a big and warm welcome!!!

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ABOUT DR. LAINA TURNER-MOLASKI

Laina Turner-Molaski is  business woman, mom, author, Professor and a major supportr of shopping.  She has an undying love for shoes and coffee, which is why she created her min character and lter-ego Presley Thurman.

With a lot of letters after her name and a ton of student loan debt, she is always working to pay the bills.  While she enjoys her day job, her passion is writing, and she uses a lot of company time writing her fiction or working on her social website for women, Chiczogtrnic.com.  She us hopinhg to sell her book before she gets fired from her day job for goofing off.

Laina is currently living in Indianam with her family, and is always writing something, whether it’s blogs, articles, business, journals and books or ideas for her next novel.  She is cntinuously doing what she loves which is writing or drinking coffee.
You can visit her website here:  http://www.lainaturner.com/

GUEST POST
Bio 2011

Who am I? It kind of depends on the day. I am a human compendium of unrelated things. I used to think I was just weird, had shiny ball syndrome and couldn’t focus, scattered, you name it. Then I decided it was OK to be all over the place as long as each avenue I wanted to explore had meaning and purpose or was fun. So I embrace the fact I am a college professor (Go Capella), a writer of fiction and non-fiction, promoter of other authors, human resource professional, business consultant, and all around interesting person (according to my closest friends).

There is so much I want to accomplish before I die and it isn’t going to happen if I do things one at a time. In 2011 it’s my goal is to accomplish the following things:
1. My official iPhone app launch (that in itself has raised my coolness factor at least 20 points according to my kids)
2. Official release of Chiczofrenia – crazy is an art form
3. Release of But It’s my Business iPhone app and website
4. Get in shape and look hot for when I turn 40 in June
5. Go to Europe or Australia or Rio de Janeiro for my 40th birthday
6. Release of Fragments by Tracy Bull, the first book published by my publishing company, Five Seas Ink, that’s not mine.
7. Release of the Multiple Sclerosis awareness iPhone app, website, and book
8. Release of the novel, Don’t Write in my Notebook
9. Release of the 2nd Presley Thurman novel – title TBD
10. Meet Eminem
….and that’s just to name a few. It’s going to keep me busy and hopefully out of trouble. Well, maybe.

When I’m not working toward my goals I like, ok fine, LOVE wine, coffee, shopping, and books. I enjoy my kids, they are awesome. I hate the cold but yet live in the mid-west. Vegas is one of my favorite spots as I love to people watch and if I ever get married again it will definitely be in a drive through chapel by a fake Elvis.

Who was I last year

BIO 2010
Laina Turner-Molaski is a business woman, mom, author, Professor, and a major supporter of shopping. She has an undying love for shoes and coffee, which is why she created her main character and alter-ego Presley Thurman.

With a lot of letters after her name and a ton of student loan debt, she is always working to pay the bills. While she enjoys her day job, her passion is writing, and she uses a lot of company time writing her fiction or working on her social website for women, Chiczofrenic.com. She is hoping to sell her book before she gets fired from her day job for goofing off.

Laina is currently living in Indiana, with her family, and is always writing something, whether it’s blogs, articles, business journals and books or ideas for her next novel. She is continuously doing what she loves which is writing or drinking coffee.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Synopsis (borrowed from B&N)
Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn’t allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her – she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley is a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes. Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not “sweat the small stuff,” she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills). When her friend Trevor offered her a job with his online magazine to interview public figures, she jumped at the chance. However, the new job turned into something unexpected when the U.S. Senator she was slated to write about was murdered – in her home town! Presley was excited – she hadn’t seen so much buzz since the spring sample sale at Saks. She was ready for this adventure, even if it didn’t seem to fit neatly into her life. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be in the middle of the buzz. Presley was determined (not to mention curious) to find the killer and write her story. After all, she couldn’t afford her shoe habit without a job and she was certainly not one to shy away from danger. The only thing standing in her way was an old high school fling, Cooper Sands, head of the Senator’s security. He was not actually standing in her way, but because of his good looks, he was the biggest distraction and one she was having the hardest time overcoming. Cooper felt it was too dangerous for Presley to look for a killer and tried to distract her with reliving the past; which Presley found more dangerous than any killer. While she attempted to resist Cooper’s good looks and charm, Presley was able to discover the Senator’s wife, Helen, had been having an affair… with her best friend’s boyfriend! Did Helen kill the Senator? Or was it the Senator’s love of gambling that got him killed? And what was Cooper’s secret tie to the mob boss Garrison Palazzo? Presley was betting her favorite pair of Manolo’s she will find the killer… but will time run out!
DON’T MISS OUT:
Visit the secret Nurturz Tour Book Special page to get your paperback copy of Stilettos & Scoundrels for $5.00 or your Kindle copy for $1.90.

Don’t miss out on these fantastic savings!
Be sure to use secret access/key code: 134438
For the most recent updates in the book tour schedule, please visit the author’s book tour page at: http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/?p=317

THANKS TO BOBBIE AND THE WONDERFUL
PEOPLE FROM NURTURE YOUR BOOKS
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.
CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO THE
INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY PAGE
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DISCLAIMER
Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners
via publisher, agent and/or author. This blog hosts
the giveaway on behalf of the above.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE "STILLETOS & SCOUNDRELS" ENDED

MAY 24th to JUNE 7th, 2011
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STILLETOS & SCOUNDRELS
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by DR. LAINA TURNER-MOLASKI
SYNOPSIS (borrowed from B&N):
Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn’t allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her – she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley is a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes. Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not “sweat the small stuff,” she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills). When her friend Trevor offered her a job with his online magazine to interview public figures, she jumped at the chance. However, the new job turned into something unexpected when the U.S. Senator she was slated to write about was murdered – in her home town! Presley was excited – she hadn’t seen so much buzz since the spring sample sale at Saks. She was ready for this adventure, even if it didn’t seem to fit neatly into her life. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be in the middle of the buzz. Presley was determined (not to mention curious) to find the killer and write her story. After all, she couldn’t afford her shoe habit without a job and she was certainly not one to shy away from danger. The only thing standing in her way was an old high school fling, Cooper Sands, head of the Senator’s security. He was not actually standing in her way, but because of his good looks, he was the biggest distraction and one she was having the hardest time overcoming. Cooper felt it was too dangerous for Presley to look for a killer and tried to distract her with reliving the past; which Presley found more dangerous than any killer. While she attempted to resist Cooper’s good looks and charm, Presley was able to discover the Senator’s wife, Helen, had been having an affair… with her best friend’s boyfriend! Did Helen kill the Senator? Or was it the Senator’s love of gambling that got him killed? And what was Cooper’s secret tie to the mob boss Garrison Palazzo? Presley was betting her favorite pair of Manolo’s she will find the killer… but will time run out!
THANKS TO BOBBIE AND THE WONDERFUL
PEOPLE FROM NURTURE YOUR BOOKS
Photobucket
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF THIS
FANTASTIC BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.
Photobucket
*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE*
AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: DO YOU OWN A PAIR OF STILLETOS?*
Photobucket
*EXTRA ENTRIES*

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU PUBLICLY FOLLOW THIS
  BLOG (IF NOT, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT ON RIGHT SIDE).

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT TO LET ME KNOW THAT  YOU
  RETWEETED THIS GIVEAWAY @WHAT NAME .

*REMEMBER TO INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL ENTRIES.

Photobucket
*INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY*
*NO P.O. BOXES*
**HONOR SYSTEM**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.
Photobucket
*GIVEAWAY ENDS JUNE 7th AT 6PM EST*
WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG
AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL AND WILL
AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN
Photobucket

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DISCLAIMER / RULES

Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
agent and/or author. This blog hosts the giveaway on behalf of the
above. 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.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed

Teaser Tuesday

TUESDAY
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Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!


Children had always been powerless, but never more than now when, despite Merell’s intelligence, she possessed nothing with which to defend herself.
  “You’ll never be sent to a foster home, Merell, I promise you that.  You’re surrounded by people who love you.  Nothing bad will happen to you or your sisters.”

page 168