Reading, Reviewing, Guest Authors, Giveaways and more.
From Samantha at JKS Communications:
Tune in for some great Holiday Reading/Gift Lists and Giveaways!
We have so many fantastic books, and with Christmas fast-approaching, we’ll be working with some of our wonderful bloggers to do 12 great days of book giveaways and holiday lists to help you with holiday gifts this year!
When Tsara Adelman leaves her husband and two young children for a weekend to visit her estranged uncle, she little dreams he is holding several local children captive on his
lavish estate. Mike Westbrook, father of one of the boys, kidnaps her to trade her life for the children’s. Soon Tsara and Mike are fleeing through New Hampshire’s mountain
wilderness pursued by two rogue cops with murder on their minds.
Nadal watches for weeks before he first approaches the boy. No matter what Maggie Brown says, he’s sure Matt is his son, and a boy should know his father. After their first confrontation, Maggie should have run. She should have hidden her child. But she underestimated the man who was once her lover. With self-righteous determination, Nadal goes to her house. He demands to spend time with the boy. When she refuses, he reaches for a knife.
By the time homicide detective Richard Christie arrives on the scene, all that remains of Maggie Brown is a bloodstain on the floor. The killer has vanished, and Matt is too scared to remember anything but his mother’s fear. As Christie looks for the killer and Maggie’s friends fight to keep Matt out of the hands of Child Services, Nadal watches the news and waits. A boy should be with his father. He’s going to get his son.
It’s 1980-something and all nine-year-old Jake Doyle wants for Christmas is a Nintendo Entertainment System. No Jose Canseco rookie card, no GI Joe hovercraft, no Teddy friggin’ Ruxpin—just Nintendo. But when a hyperactive Shih Tzu is accidentally crushed to death by a forty-two- inch television set and every parent in town blames Nintendo, it’s up to Jake to take matters into his own hands. The result is a Christmas quest of Super Mario Bros. proportions, filled with flaming wreaths, speeding minivans, lost retainers, fake Santas, hot teachers, snotty sisters, “Super Bowl Shuffles” and one very naked Cabbage Patch Kid. Told from a nostalgic adult perspective, 8-Bit Christmas is a hilarious and heartfelt look back at the kid pop culture of the 1980s.
Anybody who is familiar with the Civil Rights movement knows that 1964 was a pivotal year. And in Birmingham, Alabama – perhaps the epicenter of racial conflict – the Barons amazingly started their season with an integrated team.
Johnny “Blue Moon” Odom, a talented pitcher and Tommie Reynolds, an outfielder – both young black ballplayers with dreams of playing someday in the big leagues, along with Bert Campaneris, a dark-skinned shortstop from Cuba, all found themselves in this simmering cauldron of a minor league town, all playing for Heywood Sullivan, a white former major leaguer who grew up just down the road in Dothan, Alabama.
Colton traces the entire season, writing about the extraordinary relationships among these players with Sullivan, and Colton tells their story by capturing the essence of Birmingham and its citizens during this tumultuous year. (The infamous Bull Connor, for example, when not ordering blacks to be blasted by powerful water hoses, is a fervent follower of the Barons and served as a long-time broadcaster of their games.)
By all accounts, the racial jeers and taunts that rained down upon these Birmingham players were much worse than anything that Jackie Robinson ever endured.
More than a story about baseball, this is a true accounting of life in a different time and clearly a different place. Seventeen years after Jackie Robinson had broken the color line in the major leagues, Birmingham was exploding in race riots….and now, they were going to have their very first integrated sports team. This is a story that has never been told.
Captain Magigate, a legendary inventor and recluse who is equal parts Albert Einstein
and Don Quixote, confronts his own shadowy destiny when two adventurous teens
disrupt the status quo of his covert lab on Isla de Tiempo Muerto. When the captain’s
nemesis, the Prophet, who once had an iron grip over much of the world’s commerce,
escapes her island prison taking one of the teens hostage, Captain Magigate must face
not only his long-time foe and erstwhile lover but also the ambiguous legacy of his
inventions. “Glide” is a dark and quixotic look at what happens when invention reaches
beyond its pale to compensate for the shortcomings of heart and soul.
With North Korea rattling its saber again, Letters to Ann takes the reader back to the early years of the Korean War. Even in some of its darkest moments, Captain John Hughes finds and shares bits of humor about his daily military existence with his then four year-old daughter. It is a unique perspective of what so often is called “The Forgotten War.”
These novels are double romances: one love story is in historical time and produces long-term consequences; the other love story is in the present and is thoroughly enmeshed in those consequences.
Evolutionary linguistics – an approach to language study that takes into account our origins and development as a species – has rapidly developed in recent years. Informed by the latest findings in evolutionary theory, this book sets language within the context of human biology and development, taking ideas from fields such as psychology, neurology, biology, anthropology, genetics and cognitive science. By factoring an evolutionary and developmental perspective into the theoretical framework, the author replaces old questions – such as ‘what is language?’ – with new questions, such as ‘how do living beings become ‘languaging’ living beings?’ Linguistics and Evolution offers readers the first rethinking of an introductory approach to linguistics since Leonard Bloomfield’s 1933 Language. It will be of significant interest to advanced students and researchers in all subfields of linguistics, and the related fields of biology, anthropology, cognitive science and psychology.
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 affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
Shannon Richard grew up in the Panhandle of Florida as the baby sister of two overly protective, but loving brothers. She was raised by a somewhat eccentric mother who showed her how to get lost in a book, and a father who passed on his love for coffee and really loud music. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s in English Literature, and lives in Tallahassee. She’s still waiting for her Southern, scruffy, Mr. Darcy and in the meantime writes love stories to indulge her overactive imagination.
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Some things you don’t dare let go . . .
Melanie O’Bryan knows life is too short to be afraid of taking chances. And former Air Force sergeant Bennett Hart is certainly worth taking a chance on. He’s agreed to help her students with a school project, but she’s hoping the handsome handyman will offer her a whole lot more. Yet despite his heated glances and teasing touches, Mel senses there’s something holding him back . . .
Bennett Hart is grateful to be alive and back home in Mirabelle, Florida. Peaceful and uncomplicated-that’s all he’s looking for. Until a spunky, sexy-as-hell teacher turns his life upside down. After one smoldering kiss, Bennett feels like he’s falling without a parachute. But with memories of his past threatening to resurface, he’ll have to decide whether to keep playing it safe, or take the biggest risk of all.
BOOK DETAILS:
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: A Country Roads Novel
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Forever Yours
Publication Date: December 3, 2013
ISBN-10: 1455547433
ISBN-13: 978-1455547432PURCHASE LINKS:
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Nashin Sadeer was born in England and as a child moved with his mother to Paris. He was educated there until the age of seventeen, when he moved back to Epsom, Surrey where he would learn to speak English. Sadeer’s interests include film, martial arts and reading.
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Do you draw from personal experience and/or current event?
The book is based around the festive season purely for my love of Christmas! Many Christmas movies inspired my motivation to write and whilst many of the events in the story are based on my experiences, much of the story is fictional. I wanted to emphasise the fact that every dear person who has left the earth, will always remain in the hearts of many. Despite not physically being with us, they are in a place where they can guide us through life, to give us strength when we feel low, support us when we face difficulties in life. They are still amongst us in a different, but special way. A powerful message in the story is that it’s never too late to do good deeds and be a good person and that everyone has to enjoy each moment in life and spend precious time with loved ones.
Do you start with conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and where the line brings you?
I like to plan out the main structure, determining what will happen in each chapter and really distinguish the different character traits. Then I start writing and it pretty much moves in a linear motion, only going back to work on sections of the book once it’s complete.
Your routine?
I prefer to write at home, mainly because I love listening to music whilst doing so as it constantly inspires me and keeps me on track. At this time of year, I even like writing with the television on in the background as I love the Christmas adverts and music!
Is your writing what you do full time?
No, I’m currently in my final year of university, studying Business at London South Bank University. Writing is my passion that, at the moment, comes secondary.
What are you reading now?
My brother Naim is also a novelist, and I’m currently reading his debut, Regnum Vita 2. It’s very much Harry Potter inspired!
Are you working on your next novel?
Yes, I’m writing another romance. It follows the love story of Diana and Nick, who fall in love at first sight but are separated because of unforeseen circumstances and their relationship is left in the hands of fate.
Who are your favorites authors?
Joss Whedon, S. D Perry, J.K Rowling and Naim Sadeer
Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
Nathan Wyler: James Lafferty
Emily Barton: Emma Stone
Elizabeth Williams: Briana Evigan
Patrick: Neil Patrick Harris
Manuscript /Notes: handwriting or keyboard?
I usually always go straight to the computer, but I can’t leave the house without my notepad and pen in case ideas for the plot or character come to me on the commute or whilst I’m grabbing a coffee. I love to people watch and am endlessly inspired.
Activities?
I regularly practice martial arts with my brother and also love driving, writing, reading, playing video games, watching movies and spending time with my friends.
Favourite meal?
Fish and chips
When Nathan Wyler’s adored wife Emily dies tragically in a car accident in December his entire world collapses around him. He immerses himself in work, doing everything he can to escape the grief and ends-up neglecting his young son, Stefan, in the process – alienating himself from everybody he loves. Things are made worse still by Emily’s father, Xavier, who blames his son-in-law for the death of his brilliant young daughter.
As the years pass, Stefan is denied contact with his grandparents and starved of his father’s affections. As a result he becomes increasingly close to Kate, a substitute teacher at his school. An understanding and gentle woman, Kate is quick to identify the impact of Nathan’s selfish actions on his young son. As her bond with the Stefan flourishes, she visits Nathan at work in an attempt to make him aware of the emotional strain he’s been inflicting on the innocent boy. Preparing herself for a tempestuous encounter with Nathan, Kate is shocked to instead find a vulnerable, grief-stricken figure desperate to be saved, and a potent mutual attraction becomes clear to them both.
Nathan finds solace in the calming influence of this mysterious young woman, and, with her help, begins to reconcile his relationship with Stefan. Unbeknownst to him, Kate even brokers a successful meeting with Emily’s father and the two settle their differences over Christmas dinner. All may not be as it seems with Kate though, as Nathan slowly begins to piece together the feeling of familiarity he had experienced when they first met. As her good deeds continue and Christmas draws closer, the Wyler family begin to realise that she may not be who she claims to be. But who else could this ethereal samaritan be, and why does she seem so familiar to Nathan?
Inspired by the authors such as Joss Whedon and S.D Perry whose stories captivated him as a child, A Second Chance for Christmas is Nashin Sadeer’s poignant tale of love’s triumph over loss and grief. Set in Nashville, Tennessee, the young author charts the tribulations of the Wylers in an immersive, emotional and magic-tinged narrative reflecting his own passion for the festive season.
A Second Chance for Christmas is a must-read for fans of young adult fiction and contemporary romance, or for anyone who still believes that there’s a little magic in christmas.
BOOK DETAILS:
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Publication Date: December 1, 2013
Number of Pages: 312 pages
ISBN-10: 1783060247
ISBN-13: 978-1783060245PURCHASE LINKS:
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 affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
Leigh Russell studied at the University of Kent, gaining a Masters degree in English. For many years a secondary school English teacher, she is a creative writing tutor for adults. She is married, has two daughters, and lives in North West London. Her first novel, Cut Short, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award in 2010. This was followed by Road Closed, Dead End, Death Bed, Stop Dead and Fatal Act, in the Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel series. Cold Sacrifice is the first title in a spin off series featuring Geraldine Steel’s sergeant, Ian Peterson.
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Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
Each of my narratives spins out from a stray idea. The inspiration for my debut novel, Cut Short, occurred to me when I was crossing my local park. It was raining, so the park was deserted. As I approached a tangled copse of trees and shrubs, a man appeared around a bend in the path. I don’t know where the idea came from, but I wondered what I would do if I walked on and saw a body in the bushes. Having seen this man, I would be able to describe him to the police, and identify him as having been in the park that afternoon. The story of the killer, and the girl he had murdered in the park, took hold of me. Six weeks later the initial idea had spilled out into a draft of the first Geraldine Steel crime novel. Cut Short was shortlisted for a major award and went on to become an international bestseller. Completing the book took months of writing, researching and rewriting, but the idea for the story struck me in one brief instant. I suppose it arose from a personal experience, but a very mundane one – passing a stranger on the path in a park.
Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
When you write a book you are taking your readers on a journey. I always know where the journey starts and ends, but the route from one to the other evolves as the book develops. Something I had in mind at the start might not work, or I might have a brainwave along the way that changes everything.
Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?
I’m afraid I don’t have any routine, other than to write whenever I can. Recently I moved from a laptop to an ipad. I like it so much that I now carry an ipad mini with me wherever I go, which means I can write whenever I have any free time. But I would never claim to follow a routine. I’m not that organised! I do have a few personal idiosyncrasies but as far as writing is concerned, I just write.
Is writing your full time job? If not, may I ask what you do by day?
Until recently I taught English full-time in high school. Now that I am earning a living from my crime novels, I have resigned from teaching in school altogether. I simply don’t have time to carry on. That said, I am committed to occasionally teaching creative writing to adults. I am pleased the prestigious Writers Lab have invited me to return to the lovely Greek island of Skyros to run a two week creative writing course in August 2014. I can’t wait!
Who are some of your favorite authors?
I have to mention Jeffery Deaver, who is a fan of Geraldine Steel. His books are incredibly clever. As fans of one another’s work, we meet at various literary conventions, and he is not only brilliant, but truly charming, modest and unassuming, as is Lee Child, another author whose work I admire. One of the many perks of writing a popular series is that I meet many fellow authors on the circuit. As well as US crime authors like Tess Gerritsen and Harlan Coben, I have many favourites among British authors, like Peter James – and Conan Doyle, of course, although I’m not old enough to have met him!
What are you reading now?
I have just been reading an out of print author, Julian Cole, who writes about the English city of York where my spin off series for Geraldine Steel’s sergeant, Ian Peterson is set. It’s a historical city with medieval churches and cathedral, and shops dating back to the fourteenth century. Before that I was reading Edith Wharton. I don’t read crime exclusively although it us a genre that fascinates me.
Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?
In Geraldine Steel’s first three books, Cut Short, Road Closed and Dead End, she works with a male colleague, Ian Peterson. He now has his own spin off series which is also being published by Harper Collins in the US. With two series on the go, there are now two manuscripts to deliver each year. So yes, I am always working on my next novel! The sixth Geraldine Steel, Fatal Act, will be available to download in the UK next month. I have just finished writing the second Ian Peterson book, which starts with a death at the horse races in York. Now that is completed and ready for the editor, I have started on the seventh Geraldine Steel mystery, which sees her lose a colleague… no, I can’t tell you any more. You will have to wait and read the book for yourself!
Fun questions:
Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
It would have to be actors who are not only brilliant, and perfect for the roles of Geraldine Steel and Ian Peterson, but stars famous and popular enough to attract millions of viewers! They would also have to be available for many sequels, as I am planning to write about twenty books in the Geraldine Steel series, and fifteen in the spin off series for Ian Peterson. I have a few ideas for suitable actors but am not going to mention names as I’d hate to put anyone else off! You never know who might be looking at the books… hopefully a wealthy Hollywood director!
Manuscript/Notes: hand written or keyboard?
When I started, I wrote everything long hand in pencil before typing it up. The creative impulse didn’t seem to work so well for me when I was typing. After a while, I found I could create my stories directly on the keyboard, which made the writing process faster. I still sometimes jot down notes, but most of my writing is done on my keyboard these days. With two books to deliver each year, that’s probably just as well.
Favorite leisure activity/hobby?
Apart from spending time with my family, there is nothing I enjoy more than writing. There are lots of other activities I enjoy – reading, going to the theatre, listening to music… too many to list!
Favorite meal?
I am fortunate enough to live with three people who are all brilliant cooks – unlike me! Anything they make is good. I don’t eat meat, and prefer savoury to sweet, but apart from that I’m not fussy and will eat just about anything, and enjoy it.
The park – a place where children play, friends sit and gossip and people walk their dogs. But in the shadows, a predator watches, waits – and chooses his first victim. But someone has seen the killer and come forward as a witness – someone who the killer must stop at all costs. For detective Geraldine Steele it is a race against time to find the killer as two more bodies are found. A gripping psychological thriller introducing Geraldine Steel, a woman whose past is threatening to collide with her future.
He scrabbled at brittle leaves with clumsy gloved fingers then, crouching low, wriggled through the bushes. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching before he trudged away along the path. He’d been clever, careful to leave no clues. No one would find her in the park. It was his secret, his and hers, and she wouldn’t tell. He had no idea who she was, and that was clever too. It meant she didn’t know who he was.
He hadn’t chosen her because she was pretty. He hadn’t chosen her at all. She was just there. But she was pretty and he liked that. No woman had looked at him since school; she had stared into his eyes. She only said one word, ‘No!’ but she was speaking to him and he knew this was intimacy, just the two of them. It was a pity he wouldn’t see her again, but there would be others. It was raining hard. He sang softly, because you never knew who was listening.
‘Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven, like the first dew fall, on the first grass, praise for the sweetness of the wet garden…’
The rain would wash her clean.
BOOK DETAILS:
Genre: Mystery & Detective; Women Sleuths
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: Nov 26, 2013
Number of Pages: 300
ISBN: 9780062325594PURCHASE LINKS:
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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 affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
ROBERT LUDLUM was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 225 million of his books in print, and they have been translated into thirty-two languages. He is the author of The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Chancellor Manuscript, and the Jason Bourne series–The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum–among others. Mr. Ludlum passed away in March 2001. To learn more, visit www.Robert-Ludlum.com.
ERIC VAN LUSTBADER is the author of numerous bestselling novels including First Daughter, Blood Trust, The Ninja, and the international bestsellers featuring Jason Bourne: The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Betrayal, The Bourne Sanction, The Bourne Deception, The Bourne Objective, and The Bourne Dominion. For more information, you can visit www.EricVanLustbader.com. You can also follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Jason Bourne has been pursued by powerful governments–and escaped. Hunted by the most skilled assassins in the world–and outsmarted them. Targeted by terrorists–and defeated their plans for global chaos. But now, Bourne wants only one thing: retribution.
Bourne’s friend Eli Yadin, head of Mossad, learns that Ouyang Jidan, a senior member of China’s Politburo, and a major Mexican drug lord may have been trafficking in something far more deadly than drugs. Yadin needs Bourne to investigate. Bourne agrees, but only because he has a personal agenda: Ouyang Jidan is the man who ordered Rebeka–one of the only people Bourne has ever truly cared about–murdered. Bourne is determined to avenge her death, but in the process he becomes enmeshed in a monstrous world-wide scheme involving the Chinese, Mexicans, and Russians.
Bourne’s increasingly desperate search for Ouyang takes him from Tel Aviv to Shanghai, Mexico City, and, ultimately, a village on China’s coast where a clever trap has been laid for him. Bourne finds himself pursued on all sides and unsure whom he can trust. As he moves closer to Ouyang, closer to avenging the woman he loved, he also moves ever closer to his own death . . .
BOOK DETAILS:
Genre: Espionage/Intrigue
Series: Jason Bourne
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: December 3, 2013
Hardcover: 432 pages
ISBN-10: 1455550957
ISBN-13: 978-1455550951PURCHASE LINKS:
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