The big birthday bash giveaway is here! Ends July 26th

Yay! It's my birthday! Some of my author friends have generously donated copies of their books for me to share with you, in addition to my gift card. Similar giveaways with different titles are happening on the other blogs at Andi's Kids Books (same contest on Andi's Chapter Books) and Andi's Young Adult Books.

Detailed here are all of the books being included. Click on a cover for more information or to purchase your own copy. Remember to enter the Rafflecopter below! And thanks for stopping by!

The Mark of the Witch by Jessica J. Gibson

Magic flows through Jillian Proctor's veins as surely as blood, but so far her life outside Boston has been peaceful. William Morgan blows into Jilly's life like a hurricane, unleashing her magic and sending her out of control. Unknowingly, William brings an enemy who only wants to posses the power of the witch. Jilly must learn to harness her magic before she loses it - and everything in her life is destroyed.




Jessica lives in California with her husband and young son. She loves to read, and that love helped her to branch out into writing. Aside from writing, she runs an online event planning business called the Release Day Diva. In addition to novels, Jessica writes and maintains the blog Book on the Bright Side. Keep up with Jessica and her latest releases and events on her blog.

Time for Death, Liz Baker series #1 by Christie Silvers

Liz Baker thought it would be a normal evening of sex in a cemetery with her beau, until she spotted someone in the distance and all normality in her world ceased to exist. After several murders in her small town, Liz comes to the realization that the murderer is coming after her, and he's more dangerous than any human could possibly be. With the help of her dead mother, bar bouncer, and cemetery lover, Liz learns that the murdering vampire was sent by her biological father to claim her as his own. Only then does she discover her real parentage and underlying special powers. Only death will release her from Marcus's powerful hold, but who will die first?

Christie has always loved books and the written language. She devours every book that crosses her path and begs for more. However, it wasn't until the age of twenty-nine that she discovered her love of writing. She started out with web content articles, before making her way on to a short, humorous parenting book (Toddler Logic: 50 Things That Your Toddler Wants You to Know).

After that, she decided to jump into a genre that she's always been in love with... the paranormal! That's when A Midnight Infatuation was born. It was soon followed by A Birth at Dawn and A Twilight Abduction--all in the Alex & Fiona series.

Christie has numerous projects in the works and has declared that she has enough book ideas to last her for several years to come. It appears that there will be many more paranormal stories in her future. Here's hoping that her imagination never wanes.

Christie has never hid the knowledge that she loves anything paranormal-related, with a particular interest in vampires and werewolves. She watches any vamp movie that catches her eye and devours new books by her favorite writers of the paranormal as soon as she gets her hands on them. This fascination has been long-lived and is expected to last until her last days on this earth.

Christie is very personable and has been more than happy to do any interview that has been requested of her. She loves her fans and thoroughly enjoys speaking with them whenever she gets the chance. She also enjoys writing her personal blog and conversing with fans and friends on numerous social networking sites.

Stop by her website anytime to see what she's up to. Don't forget to check out her blog while you're there. www.ChristieSilvers.com 

Summer in Martinstown by Jo Heroux

Follow a family in Martinstown, Georgia through one summer of their lives. They face pride, tragedy, recovery and the whole gambit of emotions. The Brady's are a family with friends we all have or wish we did.








A Collection of Dark Short Stories by Amy Browne


This collection of six short stories shows the darker side of those people around us. Sometimes we cause our own pain and misfortune but other times we are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. All of these are general fiction and each show just how random a victim is.


Amy Browne discovered her passion for writing as a teenager in Athens, Pennsylvania. The many twists and turns in her life have added more water to her writing wellspring. The same traits that make her a successful single mom- dedication, commitment, and organization shine through in her writing.

Ms. Browne writes for various online and print publications. Very much a family person, she enjoys writing fiction that speaks to your heart and soul.

A House Divided Against Itself

Period historians who have read about the Culp family and have knowledge of some of Bob OConnors characters will find this book intriguing and exciting. OConnor shows us how a familys inner struggle resembled our national conflict in a very readable fashion. James C. Price, Historian Laureate Town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Bob lives in Charles Town, West Virginia, close to most of the sites of his books. He is a well-respected member of the travel industry and a long time journalist and photographer. He initiated two of the areas most popular annual events, the Independence Concert at Antietam Battlefield in July and the Memorial Illumination at Antietam Battlefield in December. He lives close to his six grand children and his two children. His next historical novel follows two brothers who fought against each other in the Civil War. The book is called ""A House Divided Against Itself"". Contact him through his website www.boboconnorbooks.com. 

 

100 Matchstick Puzzles - an app by Grabarchuk Puzzles

*** Play 1st book in new Puzzlebook series for special introductory price! ***

Discover a new Puzzlebook series of hands-on puzzles. The first book embraces 100 matchstick puzzles which you can play anywhere using matchsticks, toothpicks, pencils, crayons, pretzel sticks....be creative!

History
Matchstick puzzles are incredibly compact puzzles first popularized in the 19th century. For the past fifteen years, we've been creating matchstick puzzles. They have appeared in printed books, periodicals, contests, on the Web, and even on the radio. Now it's time for a Kindle edition!

Novelty
All matchstick puzzles in this collection are original creations by the Grabarchuk Family. They are adapted to the Kindle book format with a special Hint system.

Interactivity
You can interactively choose any puzzle from the list and navigate between the puzzles, hints, and solutions.

Hints & Solutions
Need help? Use the hints, which provide useful tips on how to solve puzzles. If it is not enough - the detailed visual answers are provided for each puzzle.

Ranking
The collection is specially created for all kinds of solvers - beginners, skillful, and experts alike. The puzzles are arranged so that you start with the easy (*) puzzles and progress to the hard (*****) puzzles.

Enjoy it in Color Too!
The book is created in full-color. Enjoy a colorful experience playing it on Kindle Fire or in a Kindle app on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, etc.

Happy Puzzling!

About the Grabarchuk Family:

During many decades our family is working in the Puzzle World. We create various puzzles; make their designs and carefully test them; bring them to the market; compile and publish our puzzle creations in different books, magazines, newspapers, and on the Web; produce interactive puzzles; solve hundreds of puzzles a year; make puzzle researches and historical studies; and are involved into many other puzzle activities all over the World. 

Good luck to all who enter the giveaway and special thanks to all of the authors who donated!





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Meet Christie Silvers and the Liz Baker series

I have been Facebook friends with author Christie Silvers on Facebook for a couple of years now, but had never read any of her fiction. A couple of months ago, she asked for people to review her Liz Baker series, starting with A Time for Death. While vampires and paranormal had previously not been my genre of choice, I decided to give it a go. I was completely hooked. I stayed up late that first night devouring every word.

By the next day, she sent me the second book, Kill Me Next Week. I read it almost as quickly as I had the first one. Parent-teacher conference season got in my way, so I only just finished the third book in the series, Killer Intentions. I'm now sad that we all have to wait until this fall for the fourth installment.

Read on to learn a little bit more about all three books in the series. Learn a little bit about author Christie Silvers. Scroll to the bottom of the post for a giveaway in which you can receive print copies of all three books in the series!


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Liz Baker, a 32 year old small town bar owner, thought it would be a normal evening of sex in a cemetery with her longtime beau, until she spotted someone in the distance, and all normality in her world ceased to exist.

After several murders in her small town of Tremmel Crossing, Georgia, Liz comes to the realization that the murderer is coming after her, and he’s more dangerous than any human could possibly be.

With the help of her dead mother, bar bouncer, and cemetery lover, Liz learns that the murdering vampire was sent by her biological father to claim her as his own. Only then does she discover her real parentage and underlying special powers.

However, the vampire sent to claim her has powers of his own, most importantly the power to control her mind, emotions and desires. She wants him, needs him, her entire body aches for him, but she soon finds out that she must fight back to save the lives of her friends and loved ones. Only death will release her from Marcus’s powerful hold, but who will die first?

Read my full review of the book here. 

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I thought life would get back to normal after I offed Marcus. I wanted adventure, but not the kind that could kill me with the glimmer of an idea. Yeah, he was a god in bed, but what fun would that have been if I never felt my own feelings and thoughts again?

Now I'm surrounded by more monsters. I somehow knew there couldn't be just vampires in the world, but a girl can hope can't she? Oh well, that's not how it works in the real world.

Adele's estate is gorgeous, much bigger than I'm accustomed to, and it turns out to be an excellent headquarters once Cole McIntosh--Wendigo Extraordinaire--shows up and demands my services. Hell, I don't even know how to use the powers I supposedly have and this bastard wants me to reverse a gypsy curse. It's not my problem he's a dumb ass and got himself split in two. I happen to like his better half anyway. He makes a great sandwich!

Now Rick's pissed at me, Chad's looking as smoking hot as ever, and I have a handful of staff, friends, and my new high-class lawyer helping out...but will I be ready when Cole comes knocking at the front gate?

Read my full review here.

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 Saddled with the knowledge that she's not only a half-vampire, but also expected to be some kind of supernatural warrior to battle evil, Liz Baker--34 year old small town bar owner--would rather life went back to normal, choosing to ignore her destiny instead.

She survived murdering a vampire lover, being possessed by a spirit of her ancestor in order to destroy a wendigo, and even finding out that her ghostly mother is in love with the attorney in charge of her newly acquired fortune. But will she survive finding out that she has eleven half-vampire brothers and sisters?

Even with Chad at her back, and an ex-military werewolf pilot giving them defensive pointers, Liz simply wants to go back to normal. What ever normal is now. How will she ever find normal again though, what with a demon haunting her waking hours and a vampire trying to pull her into his paranormal army of offspring?

Chad didn't understand, nor would he. He didn't have this damn inner demon telling him things he shouldn't know, telling him to do things that he desired to do, but knew he should never do. She'd told me at the last second not to kill Gregory. The other children needed him. But was it true? Or just another guise in an attempt to lull me into complacency?

The demon side of me only wanted more evil, more control over my mind, my body, my actions. She had killer intentions, the kinds of intentions that would push me away from all the people I cared about and into the arms of a father I never wanted.

Read my full review here.

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Christie Silvers is a wife, mother, and writer of urban fantasy with a touch of naughtiness.  Creatures that go bump in the night inspire her.  From time to time those creatures turn to the saucy side of things and that's when Christie dabbles in the paranormal erotic side of writing.  She never knows what the characters will do until they're already doing it, which makes for some interesting late night writing sessions. 

Christie lives in north Georgia with her husband of forever, three daughters, four dogs, nine chickens, and numerous outside cats.  Aside from reading, writing, laundry, rushing her children to a variety of school functions and trying not to have a panic attack while teaching her 15 year old to drive, Christie spends her spare time wondering when she'll actually have spare time to spare.

Connect with Christie Silvers!

Website: http://www.christiesilvers.com  

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/authorchristiesilvers  

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/christiesilvers  

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/christiesilvers/ 

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/christiesilvers

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Review of Killer Intentions by Christie Silvers

Killer Intentions is the third book in the Liz Baker series by Christie Silvers. In this installment of the series, Liz gets some devastating news about her half sister, Jesika. Someone has already volunteered to help Liz and Jesika. Unfortunately, it's Gregory, Liz's vampire father. When Liz refuses his help, he sends her other siblings after her. At the same time, the nagging voice in Liz's head, which bears an uncanny resemblance to Dolly Parton, rears its ugly head and plagues her with self-doubt. Enter a werewolf whose job is to protect her and a visit from her mother with some surprising news and it's no wonder Liz's life feels like it has turned upside down.


I attempted to read this book in one sitting. Had life not gotten in the way, I would have done it! This third installment kept me flipping the virtual pages. Liz is an empowered, independent woman who is having a tough time right now. This book shows more of her fragility as she attempts to juggle all kinds of new revelations and to protect herself and her loved ones. As more of her layers are being stripped away, she is also blossoming into someone even more magnificent. Eventually she is going to come into her own; we are just here for the ride.

My only complaint with this book was that it ended too soon (with an appropriate cliffhanger) and the new installment isn't due out until later this fall. I can't wait to get my hands on it!


I received a complimentary copy of this book from author Christie Silvers in exchange for my honest review.

Enter to win a printed set of all three books in the Liz Baker series!

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Review of Kill Me Next Week by Christie Silvers

Kill Me Next Week is the second book in the Liz Baker series by author Christie Silvers. In this installment, Liz takes her hottie bar bouncer Chad with her to Atlanta, to collect her inheritance. Rick, her ex-sort-of-boyfriend whom she used to bang in the cemetery prior to being caught up in the vampire mess, isn't happy that she has left him behind for this trip. Liz is still reeling from the news that she is a Dhampiresa and the fact that she had killed her ex-vampire lover. He still creeps into her thoughts when she least expects it.


Jim, the estate lawyer, takes Liz and Chad to her new inheritance. There, she meets an interesting staff who run the place for her. Randall is a butler with a bad attitude. Identical twins are her maids. Hamish McIntosh is her plump Scottish chef who makes the best meals in the world. Only they aren't really what they seem.

A mystery package arrives, holding a pendant whose magical powers cause Liz and Chad to rush into what they've been fighting against doing. (And fulfills the fantasies of many readers who "met" Chad in the first book!) It was sent to her by Cole McIntosh, who is literally Hamish's other half. Cole needs Liz to have that pendant, supposedly for good, but actually to fulfill some of his evil plans, including being reunited with his better half. Liz is going to need some help to protect herself and essentially the world!

This second installment in the Liz Baker series was another quick and easy read for me. It flowed quite differently than the first book. It felt like it had a lot more background information being given in it. That makes it slightly less enjoyable than the first book, but at the same time a necessary read in order to continue the series. This book also has a much more fictional and supernatural feel to it than the first one. This is again a part of how the series is developing. It does not detract from the experience at all.

Scenes between Liz and Chad continue to be quite steamy, almost more so than anything she ever experienced with Marcus.

Liz continues to be a headstrong, independent woman, but she is softening as she continues to learn more about herself. She also realizes that she needs the help of others in her life and is more willing to accept it. I like her even better this time around.

When Kill Me Next Week ends, it is clear that another story is waiting to come along. Liz still has more to do for herself, for her family and for her friends. I can't wait to read the next installment!

I received a free ebook from the author, Christie Silvers, in exchange for my honest review.

Kill Me Next Week is also available for Kindle. Download your copy here.

Enter this giveaway (starting on June 1st) to win all three books in the Liz Baker series! First place wins them all in print. 2nd and 3rd place win e-book copies.

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Review of Time for Death by Christie Silvers

Christie Silvers and I have been Facebook friends for a few years now. In April of this year, she sent out a request for people to read and review her Liz Baker series. I have not really been a fan of vampire novels, but am slowly warming up to the idea. I was home sick, anyway, and decided to give it a shot. She sent me her first book, Time for Death, and I stayed up all night reading it.



Liz Baker is the owner of the bar Athena's Ambrosia and she likes to have a good time. In fact, she and her sort of boyfriend Rick have a thing about having sex in the cemetery. On this particular night, someone or something is watching them do the deed. As they are scrambling out of there, Liz accidentally crashes the car when something flies over the hood of the car, a la Mothman Prophecies. She ends up in the hospital with rib injuries; Rick is okay. While she is there, her nurse is mysteriously murdered.

She goes home to recuperate, under strict orders to have nothing to do with the bar until she is feeling better. Someone else close to her is murdered, presumably by the same man who killed her nurse, and she begins to suspect the mystery man in the cemetery.

When she goes to sleep again, she is entranced by a mystery man with long silvery hair, who is wearing a black cape. He brings her to climax before she feels a sharp pain in her neck. He comes to her again for an even more intense erotic session, leaving her wondering how much of it is real and how much is in her dreams.

Liz also receives a surprise inheritance, leading to questions about her parentage and world as she knew it. She also has to become stronger than she ever thought she would be, to protect herself and her loved ones from a murderous vampire.

What I loved about this book was how fast the pages kept on turning. The story caught my attention from the beginning. I remember joking at the time that you know a book is good if it can hold my interest while I am lying in bed, sick as a dog.

Liz maybe isn't who I would choose to be my best friend, but I can see myself hanging out with her to have a good time. She is strong in character and in personality. She is loyal to her friends and family and will do whatever she can to protect them. She doesn't take any crap from anyone - mortal or otherwise. And the men in her life are just absolutely delicious.

For those who can't stand sex scenes, don't bother with this book. I am not usually a fan of erotica, but these scenes didn't bother me. They were steamy enough to pique interest without going overboard and fit in well with the story. Violence is also at a minimum. It's a steamy, fast-paced book that left me wanting more. Good thing there are two more books in the series!




Time for Death is also available on Kindle. Click here for your own copy.