Hosted by McGruffy’s Reader and 15 and Meowing

This week’s Fill-Ins:

1. I deserve a gold star for _________________ today.

2. Right now, I am loving _____________.

3. The best advice I’ve ever been given is _________.

4. If I had to choose a new first name, it would be _________.

My answers:

1. I deserve a gold star for staying awake after a night of insomnia today.

2. Right now, I am loving every second of the nice weather since I am not a fan of Winter.

3. The best advice I’ve ever been given is God never gives you more than you can handle.

4. If I had to choose a new first name, it would be Paige since I am an avid reader.

BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage
Genre: Horror
Published by St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: July 17, 2018
ISBN-10: 1250170753
ISBN-13: 978-1250170750
Pages: 320
Review Copy From: Won from The Book Diva’s Reads
Edition: ARC
My Rating: 4

Synopsis (via GR)

Sweetness can be deceptive.

Meet Hanna.

She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.

Meet Suzette.

She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette’s husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all.

My Thoughts

An intense, and at times, disturbing story of a family dealing with a child’s challenges.

Alex and Suzette had the perfect marriage. Suzette had a troubling childhood dealing with a severe case of Crohn’s disease resulting in multiple surgeries and resulting with some deformities and a mother who wasn’t attentive. Alex never made Suzette feel uncomfortable with her condition and was very supportive.

They had a beautiful little girl, Hanna. However, as time went by, they noticed her inability to speak. Many doctors and tests later, still no answer as to why. Then things got worse. Hanna, now age 7, has been expelled from multiple schools due to her disruptive behavior, so Suzette has no choice but to homeschool. But things begin to get even worse. Hanna has become very manipulative and violent. But only against her mother.

The story alternates between the POVs of Suzette and Hanna.

A chilling read! At times unnerving and difficult to read but needed to, to see how it all ends. The ending left this reader hoping there will be a sequel.

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book via a giveaway, 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 providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Mailbox Monday

 

Saturday:
ON BONE BRIDGE by Maria Hoey ~ eBook win via GR
A DEADLY BREW by Lynn Cahoon ~ eBook win via GR
THE DYING HOUR by Rick Mofina ~ eBook via Author/Amazon free d/l

Hosted by McGruffy’s Reader and 15 and Meowing

This week’s Fill-Ins:

1. I tried __________________ and I liked it.

2. Am I the only one who ___________________?

3. _________ is my hero/heroine.

4. If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be _______

My answers:

1. I tried going to the top of the Prudential building in Boston, which I thought I wouldn’t be able to do because I am afraid of heights and I liked it.

2. Am I the only one who hasn’t ever listened to an audible book?

3. Mother Teresa is my hero/heroine.

4. If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be ice cream sundaes, just wish they were non caloric.

Synopsis:

San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti never thought murder would be part of her practice, but now, Julia’s former boss and current client has asked for help. He has serious problems at his law firm. Two attorneys and a paralegal have received death threats and the only common denominator between all three is a case long settled — the highly publicized Bank of San Francisco fire. Julia’s convinced a woman is behind the threats, perhaps even the widow of the man who died in that same fire, but no one wants to listen — they can’t believe astrology could provide a clue. Before Julia can help her client, two lawyers are dead and her own life is threatened. Can she unmask the killer before he (or she) takes another life?

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery
Published by: Midnight Ink
Publication Date: August 8th 2018
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 0738751065 (ISBN13: 9780738751061)
Series: Zodiac Mystery #3
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

 

Read an excerpt:

 

Author Bio:

Connie di Marco is the author of the Zodiac Mysteries from Midnight Ink featuring San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti. Tail of the Dragon, third in the series, will be released on August 8, 2018.

Writing as Connie Archer, she is also the author of the national bestselling Soup Lover’s Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime. You can find her excerpts and recipes in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Connie is a member of MWA, Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers.

 

Guest Post

10 Things About Julia Bonatti You Didn’t Know

Ten things we don’t know about Julia Bonatti? Well, let me think. As the author of the Zodiac Mysteries, I’m not sure there’s anything my protagonist Julia hasn’t already revealed. I’ve tried to make her fairly open and honest about who she is and what motivates her. But maybe I can go further . . .

Let’s see . . . Julia’s a Sagittarian and because she’s an astrologer she lets everyone know that her Sun sign indicates optimism, generosity, a free spirit, one who isn’t afraid to take on challenges or tackle danger. But her birthday? So far, that’s been a secret. So here goes — Julia was born on December 3, 1981 at 11:51 a.m. PST in San Francisco.

You can see her chart below. Notice that her Sun, Mercury and Uranus are all clustered around her 10th house cusp (her career). Uranus always figures significantly in the charts of astrologers. Neptune is in the 10th as well. Her profession is linked to the mysterious, to the occult arts. Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn are clustered in her 8th house, a mysterious arena, the house of death. Her Ascendant is Aquarius. She’s eccentric, doesn’t really fit into the norm of a woman her age. And her Moon is in Pisces. She’s sensitive and a pushover for people in trouble.

We do know that her parents were killed in a car crash on the Bay Bridge when she was just a child. She really can’t remember them too well, just an occasional vague memory. And she’s an only child raised by her grandmother. What she doesn’t talk about very much is her sense of displacement, her sense of not belonging. Her grandmother is her only link to the past. Then of course there’s Kuan, her grandmother’s friend who lives in the first floor apartment of her grandmother’s house in Castle Alley and practices Chinese medicine. Kuan was a dear friend of Julia’s grandfather (now deceased). In fact, Kuan saved her grandfather’s life many years before, but that’s something I’m holding back for a future story. To Julia, he’s a surrogate grandfather.

With such a small family, her friends, Gale and Cheryl, are terribly important to her. Julia had hoped that when she and Michael married, that haunting sense of not belonging would be healed. Together they would start a family, but sadly that was taken away from her with Michael’s death.

But what does Julia not talk about in the Zodiac Mysteries? Her fears. None of us can talk very lightly about our deepest fears. Maybe we’re superstitious, as if talking about the things we fear will bring them about.

Julia fears her grandmother will die. After all, everyone else has left her. She knows logically that her grandmother will die someday, but it’s more than she can get her head around.

She fears she’ll be alone for the rest of her life.

She fears she’ll never fall in love again.

She fears she’ll make a terrible mistake with a client’s chart and make a wrong prediction. That would destroy her reputation and her practice.

She fears her skills as an astrologer won’t help her prevent another disaster, like the death of her fiancé.
And she fears if she keeps sticking her nose in crime, she’ll die young. Then she thinks, maybe that’s better than being alone and the last one left on earth.

She fears she’ll find out her parents weren’t the wonderful people her grandmother claims they were. And most of all, she is still terrified of driving across the Bay Bridge.

Is that 10? Oh, not quite. One more thing — she absolutely loves bitter-sweet dark chocolate!
I hope you’ll get to know Julia even better in the books of the Zodiac Mysteries and tag along with her on her crime-solving adventures. Don’t worry, she’s not going to talk about her fears, she’ll be following the clues and tracking down a murderer! And hopefully entertaining you.

 

Catch Up With Connie On:
Website, Goodreads, Twitter, & Facebook!

 

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

 

ENTER TO WIN:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Connie di Marco. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on July 16, 2018 and runs through September 1, 2018. Void where prohibited.

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

 

 

Synopsis:

Former Army helicopter pilot, Susan Turner is Selected as the next President of the United States. In order to avoid a nuclear war, she must overcome personal demons and learn to navigate the murky waters of international diplomacy.

Five years ago, the Dove Revolution changed the political structure of the United States. The President, Senate, and Congress are no longer elected by the public, they are Selected at random every two years. A shadow organization known only as The Board, advances their sinister agenda by taking advantage of their anonymity and Susan’s tendency to make brash decisions. Blackmail, espionage and murder are all in play as The Board manipulates geo-political events to spark a war between the Soviet Union and the United States.

With the help of her former Squadron Commander, General LeMae, Susan Turner attempts to lead the nation through these turbulent times while battling her own internal demons. Susan is a battle-hardened war veteran but she must learn what it takes to be a world leader. Nuclear war and the future of the human race hang in the balance.

 

**Check out my review HERE and enter the giveaway**

 

Book Details:

Genre: Political Thriller
Published by: Indie
Publication Date: December 28th 2017
Number of Pages: 326
ISBN: 1981498974 (ISBN13: 9781981498970)
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

 

Author Bio:

J. Allen Wolfrum is a fiction author and former Marine. He served four years as a Marine Corps Infantryman in the most decorated Regiment in Marine Corps history. During Operation Iraqi Freedom he led an infantry squad on missions spanning from the oil fields of Southern Iraq to the streets of Baghdad.

After the Marine Corps, he spent the next fifteen years exploring life from several perspectives: press operator in a plastics factory, warehouse stocker, confused college student, Certified Public Accountant, bearded graduate student, management consultant, and data analyst.

J. Allen Wolfrum’s writing career began in 2017 with his debut novel, Selected. He uses the unique combination of his Marine Corps, professional and life experience to create a realistic perspective on the political thriller genre. He lives in Southern California with his beautiful wife and two cats.

 

Q&A with J. Allen Wolfrum

Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?

For my debut novel, Selected, the original idea came from the 2016 election cycle. My wife and I were listening to the presidential debates and I made an off hand comment to her, ‘why don’t they just pick random people, it can’t be any worse’, the idea stuck with me. In writing the book I used a lot of personal experiences, I’m a former Marine so that helped with some of the Military jargon. As a form of self defense, I tried to make choices for the characters that were outside of my experiences. For example, Susan being an Army pilot and not a Marine Corps pilot was a conscious decision on my part. I was afraid of putting too many insider jokes and terms about the Marine Corps in the book.

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?

When I started writing Selected, I started with the premise and then plotted out the storyline to the best of my ability. Then majority of the credit goes to the Story Grid methodology developed by Shawn Coyne. Without his book and the accompanying podcast I would have never learned the storytelling techniques required to complete a full length novel. Don’t get me wrong, Selected, is nowhere near being perfect but I would have never made it past chapter one if I hadn’t stumbled upon Shawn’s Story Grid methodology. Shawn isn’t paying me, I promise. He doesn’t even know I exist. But I want to let people know that a methodology exists for learning story structure, you don’t have to toil away in agony, it helped me and I hope that others find it useful as well.

Are any of your characters based on you or people that you know?

Again this is another example of me trying to defend myself from being a cliche. I’m not sure if cliche is the right word, let me explain. I’ll be intentionally vague to protect the innocent. A few years ago I was given a rough draft manuscript that was written by someone I know. The author used his hometown and I assume name of people he knew in the manuscript and it had every cliche and stereotype of growing up in a small town. At the time I knew nothing about writing, stories or story structure but I knew that I did not want to do that. When I wrote Selected, I very intentionally did not use any characters or even character names of people that I know. There was one name that snuck in there, Claire the barista. I know a Claire and when she got to that part in the book, she asked me, “am I the barista?” Thankfully Claire the barista is nothing like the real Claire.

Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?

I have a red Tuff Shed in my backyard that serves as my writing sanctuary. I sit down with the intention of writing one scene at a time. I define ‘scene’ as 1,500 to 2,000 words with the following components; an inciting incident, progressive complications, a crisis (a decision that needs to be made), climax (the decision), and resolution. One scene at a time is how I break down the enormous task of writing a novel.

Tell us why we should read this book.

Toughest question of them all. I think it’s a compelling story about a woman who puts her personal well being aside and takes on the task of leading a nation through a turbulent time. It doesn’t always go well and she makes some mistakes. In the end she learns that in order for peace to occur, nations need to work together, they cannot be bullied into a decision.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey, Ken Follet, Larry McMurtry, Jim Harrison, Mark Twain, and Steven Pressfield are at the top of the list.

What are you reading now?

I’m reading The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. I’m working on a Western novel and have been devouring as much Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey as possible. Unfortunately I have had a hard time finding Westerns written in the past few years that I enjoy. If you have suggestions let me know, me@jallenwolfrum.com 🙂

Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?

I’m working hard on a Western novel set in 1880 Durango, Colorado.

Lane Shepherd had been through the mill. A veteran of the Yavapai wars in Arizona and a few rough cattle drives through the Indian Territory of Oklahoma, he was darn lucky to be alive and he knew it. A streak of bad luck at the poker table left him with nothing but his salty mule, Georgina and a mining claim of questionable validity. He drifted into Durango with the intention of keeping to himself, striking it rich, and living out the rest of his days in the fancy hotels and poker rooms of San Francisco. Before he knew what happened, he was stuck in the middle of a land war and head over heels for a curvy brunette that tortured him with every swing of her hips. Lane had seen his fair share of trouble, but this was more than he bargained for when he rode into Durango.

That’s the back cover description that I have written so far, it’s a work in progress. The tentative title is Under the Durango Sky.

Fun questions:
Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?

Emily Blunt as Susan Turner and Roger Slattery as General LeMae.

Favorite leisure activity/hobby?

I enjoy running and mountain biking.

Favorite meal?

Carne Asada burritos washed down with a cold IPA.

Thank you for stopping by CMash Reads and spending time with us.

 

Catch Up With Our Author On:
Website, Goodreads, Twitter, & Facebook!

 

Read an excerpt:

 

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

 

GIVEAWAY:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for J. Allen Wolfrum. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on July 1, 2018 and runs through September 1, 2018. Open to U.S. addresses only. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

SELECTED by J. Allen Wolfrum
Genre: Political Thriller
Published by Indie
Publication Date: Dec. 8, 2017
ISBN13: 9781981498970
ISBN: 1981498974
Pages: 326
Review Copy From: Author
Edition: TPB
My Rating: 5 stars

**Stop by tomorrow for Q&A with J. Allen Wolfrum**

Synopsis (via GR)

Former Army helicopter pilot, Susan Turner is Selected as the next President of the United States. In order to avoid a nuclear war, she must overcome personal demons and learn to navigate the murky waters of international diplomacy.

Five years ago, the Dove Revolution changed the political structure of the United States. The President, Senate, and Congress are no longer elected by the public, they are Selected at random every two years.

A shadow organization known only as The Board, advances their sinister agenda by taking advantage of their anonymity and Susan’s tendency to make brash decisions. Blackmail, espionage and murder are all in play as The Board manipulates geo-political events to spark a war between the Soviet Union and the United States.

With the help of her former Squadron Commander, General LeMae, Susan Turner attempts to lead the nation through these turbulent times while battling her own internal demons. Susan is a battle-hardened war veteran but she must learn what it takes to be a world leader. Nuclear war and the future of the human race hang in the balance.

Even when the President is selected at random, politics is still a dirty business. Opponents plan their attacks from the shadows, but you know what they say about the best laid plans.

My Thoughts

This hasn’t happened in a while:
Debut novel + 100% engrossing + read in one sitting = 5 stars!!

Democracy is no longer in America. It’s now The Dove Revolution, where the President, Senators and Congressmen are selected for a 2 year term. And Susan Hunter, former Army Lt. Col. has been selected to be the next President of the United States. A great honor but she is going to decline, that is, up to the last minute, when she accepts the position. However, The Board of Pacific International, a conglomerate of big companies interested in Eastern European manufacturing, raw material, and transportation have bigger plans and one of them is to use Susan Hunter as collateral damage without her knowledge.

The world is watching as the U.S. and the Soviet Union teeter on war as highly sensitive documents are leaked and attacks on U.S. soil are unleashed. Are the Soviets behind the bombings? Are the documents false? Can President Hunter prevent a nuclear war? Or are those that are behind the bombings succeed in their plan?

A riveting story that I could not put down! At times, I found myself holding my breath due to the heightened missions described! This book was one hell of an intense read! Powerful!

I am hoping, hint, hint Mr. Wofrum, that a sequel is on the horizon! I will be looking for more work by this author! Recommend? Absolutely!!! I’m sure, like me, you will be captivated!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for J. Allen Wolfrum. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on July 1, 2018 and runs through September 1, 2018. Open to U.S. addresses only. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW DISCLAIMER
This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.
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 providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Mailbox Monday

Monday: BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage ~ TPB win from The Book Diva’s Reads
Tuesday: ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL STRANGERS by Elizabeth Klehfoth ~ HC from Harper Collins via GR win
THursday: THE FIFTH TO DIE by J.D. Barker ~ ARC TPB via win GR win