'Bond of Love' by Amy Suzanne Book Tour Blast & Giveaway

As a picturesque mother and wife, forty-one year old Avery Richards seems to have it all. Married to a successful veterinarian named Noah and mother to a spunky daughter named Kara, her life is far from awful but she is stuck. With the recent move of their daughter, who has just flown the coop for college, this story examines the deep and often-tumultuous bond between mother and child and the lengths we are willing to go to, as mothers, to sacrifice our own happiness for the ones we love.

As we watch Avery walk through her ‘new’ way of daily life, without her ambitious and stubborn child around to mother any longer, we are given a very unique opportunity to tip toe in the front row of their lives, from three very separate views. We will see life as it plays out through her mature and motherly eyes, through Kara’s young and sheltered heart, and then through ‘someone else’s eyes’ that has a vested interest in them both.

As Avery’s well-hidden web of lies come crashing down in an unexpected way, her secrets that she’s safeguarded for years will threaten to rip her peaceful world apart, as well as the world of the ones she loves most. As readers, we will watch how ONE single choice can alter everything. Each character will then be forced to examine what the true meaning of love and forgiveness means to them.

Every gamut of emotion will be explored: humor, sadness, love, joy, betrayal, hate, and forgiveness. Bond of Love will leave you pondering the age-old question: How well do YOU actually know the ones you love most?

Buy on Paperback | Kindle | B&N | Kobo | Apple | Sony

Meet the Author:

This is Amy’s second published work, the first being a memoir written exclusively for her children. As a former second grade teacher, and long time professional photographer, she has been writing and filling journals since she was young enough to hold a pencil and form words. Although writing brings her to a place of solace and joy, her most ambitious and fulfilling job in life thus far has been being a mother. Married for nearly two decades now, she and her husband share four daughters, who fill their lives with amusement, love, and drama daily. It is her lifelong goal to preserve her family’s history through the written word, pictures, and the human touch of love.

Follow Amy on Facebook | Literary Addicts | Goodreads

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The Author is giving one lucky reader a $25 Amazon GC. Fill out the form below to enter and remember to pick up her book. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author J.P. Lantern talks about dystopia and 'Dust Bowl'

What was the inspiration behind this book?

I don’t know that there was one big “gotcha!” moment for me for this one. I think it was the culmination of a lot of things—I had been learning a lot about genocide at the time of writing the first draft, and I had unfortunately been doing a lot of first-hand research with alcoholism, and I’ve always been rather interested in dystopias.

I think the main plot element that brought it all together was imagining Ward, the main character, meeting Dummy, the girl in the third act. I think I outlined the general plot of leading up to that point on the back of a receipt from a Sears Outlet store where I was working at the time.

Will there be a follow-up book?

I think it’s possible—I think maybe every author envisions ways that the story can be picked up again—but I don’t have any specific plans for that right now. If it sells eighteen billion copies, though, I probably will not ever stop writing follow-ups.

What is it about dystopian books that is so appealing for readers? For authors?

For readers: I think that there’s a lot of cynicism that sort of pervades our culture. We see all the advances and all the work we’re trying to accomplish, and at the same time we have such an easy view of all the horrors and atrocities that we can commit on each other. So I think there’s this part of us that says, “Well, even if you do that good thing, which I don’t think you will, this’ll all still be screwed up over in this other place.” But at the same time, we have a lot of hope—we’re naturally, biologically really, pretty optimistic. If we didn’t think things would get better, we probably wouldn’t stick around. So when everything is completely ruined and terrible, but people can still find hope—that’s a powerful and compelling thing.

For authors, I don’t know. For me personally, it’s just because writing the exact nature of real life doesn’t let me make up as many concepts and scenarios. If I wrote about reality, I think I’d be compelled to write about, you know, real tax law and insurance and medical bills and traffic and all that sort of thing just for some verisimilitude. So writing speculative fiction is an easy way to get around that compulsion.

If you were one of the last humans on Earth, who would you want by your side?

Someone with more guns than the rest of the last humans, I suppose? Someone with more guns, who knew how to farm and to make rope and all that sort of thing, and who had a really killer voice to serenade me to sleep every night.

What would be your weapons of choice?

Oh god, that’s a grim question! I don’t know. Maybe a rattan fighting stick or something. A machine gun?
I mean, if it’s a choice at all, I would rather just be able to talk people into submission. If a lecture on the nature of the Transformers’ home planet of Cybertron could be a weapon? I would choose that.

What is your favorite dystopian novel that you have ever read?

The Parable Series (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents) by Octavia Butler. They’re both brilliant books. Something I’ve stolen from them (or tried to) is the sense of decay that’s felt. When the books start, everything is still in place, just a little crappier. There are neighborhoods, but they’re boarded up. There are police, but you have to pay them regularly to patrol. There are highways, but nobody drives on them because they’re full of scavengers. I wrote a lot of Dustbowl imagining some of the same conditions, but more in the Southwest and y’know, done my way.

What makes yours stand out from the crowd?

I think it has a pretty honest portrayal of an alcoholic trying to make his life work by making a ton of bad decisions—except in a horribly dystopian world, so the kinds of bad decisions he can make are magnified all the more. Obviously there are tons of addicts in all kinds of fiction, but I think portrayals—when they're not two-dimensional or played up for laughs—are more often focused on kind of less-heavily-plotted character studies. Those kinds of books and stories are great, and I definitely can enjoy them, but I really enjoy writing high drama moments and involving lots of exciting, dangerous scenes. I think it’s also for anybody that’s fascinated with the way we become evil—the indoctrination it requires for people to commit hugely horrific crimes—and how we still sympathize and empathize with a character even so, this is a book for you.

Please tell us about your other published works.

I’ve recently published an extended series of stories taking place on a sort of frontierish Mars that has the technology to terraform the planet, but very little in the way of other technology. So there’s no real modern medicine, or travel, or construction. Everything is focused on survival against the horrible conditions that the terraforming creates—changing the way women give birth (unmedicated births create monsters) and instigating incredibly violent thunderstorms with rain drops that can obliterate people.

Around The Martian Fringe is a collection of five stories exploring the lives of different people in the harsh and often violent environment in this factional, patriarchal society. The Red Country Trilogy, just released as a collection a little bit ago, is a novel in three parts, each part focusing on a different member of an extended family dealing with various forms of abuse and trying to make sense of a world that seems designed to be against them. It’s kind of like the Old West except the “Indians” are all sort of monstrous Martian natives and the cowboys are amoral rangers with plasma guns.

On what other projects are you currently working?

I don’t have too much going on at the moment! It’s driving me a little nuts. I’m taking some time off to rest my mind and dig into a bunch of reading. I really, really want to write a sort of prison escape tale, though, along the lines of Fortress or No Escape.

What is something readers may be surprised to learn about you?

All the stories I’ve published so far have a lot of people with issues with their parents—and I’m always just so certain that readers will take that to mean that I’ve got all these horrible problems with my own. But we get along great.

I think that kind of characterization fascinates me because a lot of where my characters come from is myself, but with certain elements changed. I think if I had been raised poorly, I would have wound up as a fairly terrible person (I’m not saying this is true of everyone, just myself)—so like Ward in Dust Bowl, for example, is a lot like how I’m afraid I would have turned out if I didn’t have a loving family.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

For anybody that’s interested, you can read my blog here, where I do movie reviews and book reviews and just a lot of general thoughts, and you can follow my Facebook page here.

Also, read my book! It is good and you will like it. Thanks for having me here.

Thank you so much for your time!

DUST BOWL
By J.P. Lantern
BLURB:

With the world ending around him, Ward flounders for purpose and survival. Resources are gone, disease is rampant, and governments have all but dissolved. The only way off the broken planet is with the Order. Obsessed with technology, the Order is a cult that has developed the means for faster-than-light travel. They claim they can populate the galaxy and save humanity.

Ward joins the Order, inspired by sudden and irrational love for a mysterious beauty named Kansas who saves his life. But quickly, he finds out Kansas and the Order want him to kill adults and kidnap children from across the country. With impressionable youth filling their starships, the Order hopes for their tenets to be spread to all future generations of humanity.

The Order is Ward’s only chance for survival in the wreck the earth has become. Worse than that, those in the Order come to accept him and value his skills for their nightmarish quest across the dystopian landscape of America. But, somewhere inside of him, still, is the strength to strike out on his own and protect whatever good he can find left in the world.

Read an excerpt:

“Would you be willing to kill a thousand parents so that there might be a thousand million more in the future? Would you orphan a thousand children just so they could foster thousands of their own? That is not a name put to courage. That is not something you don’t understand. That is something very simple to understand, you just don’t have the will to do it yourself. That is a name put to strength. To resolve. That’s what a set is.”

There was a light in the office behind the booth, flickering every so often and casting strange, tentacled shadows into the room. Joe looked at Ward and his face was sagging with fear. Maybe understanding had not quite dawned in the liquored canals of his mind but it showed in his eyes, and Ward felt satisfied for the first time all day.

Joe shook his head. “Why you telling me this?”

“I thought you should know what’s going to happen here.”

“Just what exactly is that gonna be,” asked Joe. “Or have you told me already?

Ward looked at him for a moment and took his gun out of its holster. He laid it on to the table with his hand resting on it, just in case he needed it. In his imaginings, usually people tried to run.

“Every adult here is going to die. One by one, mostly. Some of this will be done by me.”

The eyes of Joe stayed fixated on the gun on the table.

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

J.P. Lantern lives in the Midwestern US, though his heart and probably some essential parts of his liver and pancreas and whatnot live metaphorically in Texas. He writes speculative science fiction short stories, novellas, and novels which he has deemed "rugged," though he would also be fine with "roughhewn" because that is a terrific and wonderfully apt word. Full of adventure and discovery, these stories examine complex people in situations fraught with conflict as they search for truth in increasingly violent and complicated worlds.

Relevant links:
www.jplantern.com
www.facebook.com/jplanternbooks
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/J.P.-Lantern/e/B00E46H16C

J.P. will be awarding a grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and one commenter on each stop will receive a digital download of a backlist book. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

'The Lady of Corpsewood Manor (Craige Ingram Mystery Series #4)' by Hawk MacKinney Super Book Blast!

The Lady of Corpsewood Manor, Book 4 of the Craige Ingram Mystery Series
by Hawk MacKinney


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

In the spacious den of Moccasin Hollow, his ancestral South Carolina home, part-time PI, exNavy SEAL Craige Ingram examines a platinum brooch designed like a dragonfly inside a jeweler’s box that he has discovered at the crime scene of Corpsewood Manor. It is a remarkable piece of art…its wings and body worked in exceptional detail. Focusing toward the expected bulbous round eyes, his suspicions jar full throttle. Instead of a head, the empty sockets of a skull leer at him. His gut feelin’s tell him his SEAL buddy Grayson MacGerald’s investigation is considerably more than arson and a double murder trying to hide the theft of classic automobiles. The smoldering rubble of secluded Corpsewood Manor leads Ingram and another of their SEAL Team, Colorado Aspen ski buddy Spinner Krespinak, into a seedy tangle of smuggling crisscrossed and an unexpected encounter with a dead assassin from one of Spinner’s “closed” cases.

Read an excerpt:

“You been told to stay away from Corpsewood.”

Kenyon said, “Ain’t got no other place ‘cept them leaky sheds out behind the garage. They don’t leak much. Least before the fire I had a place to sleep. Got kicked out of my other place. They let me sleep here.”

“I’ll just bet they let your sweet cheeks sleep-over. You’re just the kind of meat they liked to sucker in.”

“Now I got no place, an’ nights are gettin’ colder.”

“They the ones that hooked you on crystal?”

“I told you. I don’t do drugs.”

“Cut the crap…I heard all the stories. Nothing out’a your mouth ever made sense—only a bunch of your twisted whining.” Somewhere between a snarl and a chuckle, “I’m suppose to believe you never done meth,” raven-black stab of a look. “Sure…you’re clean all right except for pushing crank or whatever up your nose or stoking it in your arms,” glanced at the needle tracks on both arms. “Got a problem? Run out’a veins in your arms? Using the ones in your ankles? Clean yourself up. Wash your greasy stringy hair and get it cut. Stop acting like some fool animal that needs to be caged. Take a bath. Get a job. Quit blowing your money, you’d have a place of your own.”

“I don’t snort crystal or Nazi dope,” Kenyon griped. “You’re like ever’body else, judging someone by the way we live.”

“I don’t care what you’re on, but anyone fool enough to supply you is askin’ for trouble. We got enough trouble with the Corpsewood fire and that goddamn homicide Lieutenant MacGerald nosing around with his friggin’ PI SEALmate Ingram helpin’ him dig.”

Buy links

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.

Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention. Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.

"Without question, Hawk is one of the most gifted and imaginative writers I have had the pleasure to represent. His reading fans have something special to look forward to in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Intrigue, murder, deception and conspiracy--these are the things that take Hawk's main character, Navy ex-SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram, from his South Carolina ancestral home of Moccasin Hollow to the dirty backrooms of the nation's capital and across Europe and the Middle East."

Barbara Casey, President
Barbara Casey Literary Agency

www.hawkmackinney.net

Hawk will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

'Through the Oracle's Mist (Vengelys Book 1)' by Aedan Byrnes Book Blast

Through the Oracle’s Mist
by Aedan Byrnes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

In the blackest night, with the moon and stars to guide him, she would always be there waiting…

Cyrenna thought she died the day she watched Tynan and his brothers jump through the banishment portal in an act of solidarity with Rigor. Little did she know, it would be the first of many deaths she would experience in her quest to claim his heart. She would surrender not only her immortal soul, but a mortal one repeatedly. Through a deal with the great Oracle, she has multiple mortal lifetimes to change the direction of her future and have a chance with Tynan.

Her journey spans the ages from the GenPei War in Japan and the Silk Road west, to Cromwell, the Three Kingdoms and modern times, bringing her one step closer to forever until she makes a misstep. Then, the burden falls to Tynan. The only thing that is absolute is her fervent hope that he will come, but there’s one big problem.

Through it all, he doesn’t so much as know her name.

Read an excerpt:

That single word coupled with the tangling and untangling fragrance of her, become a vortex in my mind. Rational thought collides with irrational thought, wants, and needs. All of them together, do battle with my better self. Standing up, my feet are unsteady; my head is a carnival ride of haphazard motion, and my inner wild is desperately cleaving for release. I can hear her heaving for breath as quietly as she is able and can smell the palatable desperation to remain in control and calm. I have to back away or it will be over before I can form a thought to stop it. I am too close to losing the battle with my other self and I have less ability to restrain him of late. I am not master of myself right now. I’m too close. Mistakes made years ago will not be repeated. It is a hard reminder in the back of my mind. I have to back away or risk destroying another who might finally, so many years after Ite, be worth the challenge to learn.

Backing up, I find myself stumbling backwards, the mad tumbling bramble in my mind cluttering all rational thoughts and abilities. Lights flash against darkness in my mind, leaving momentary blindness in their wake and confusion. Images slideshow with lightning quickness; her standing in the moonlight, then it isn’t her at all but another who looks at me with sorrow, courage and compassion. More images come of her shivering to maintain control as I stroked an ice cube down her cheek; back to the other her, shivering from a different kind of stroking. The back and forth are disorienting and I find myself ass-planted on the floor with a ‘whump’ grabbing for my temples to stop the onslaught of the ensuing madness. The back and forth comparisons will not be still.

Kneading my eyes with the heels of my hands I shake my head to clear the fog from my addled brain. I am aware that she is not able to see me and that is a small mercy, though as I settle I can smell the cloying damp earth smell of her sobbing in confusion. The smell of her tears is nearly my complete undoing as my other self surges forward to rage at memories. I clamp down hard on the past and the storming emotions to wait. I am rewarded with the low tone of her breath hitching across her vocal chords as she rights herself and regains her composure. Sadly, for both of us, it isn’t enough. I want more.

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

There is no simple description for Aedan Byrnes. Obsessive, dreamer, reclusive, compulsive, outdoorsman and wordsmith would be among the list if one were started. The displaced Gael lives in the upper Midwest with family between jaunts wherever the road takes him. A frequent traveler, he is as likely to be found rock climbing or spelunking as sitting fireside dreaming or aimlessly floating away.

A lifelong lover of words and writing, he claims a diverse reading appetite and his writing reflects the myriad influences. A self-proclaimed 'reader's writer', he looks for the emotional and the sensory in word combinations, not just the visceral comprehension of phrases in the stories he crafts and his love of all things literary shines through.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AedanByrnes

Twitter @AedanByrnes

http://www.cafepress.com/AuthorAedanByrnes

Aedan will be awarding one of two journals (with the winners' choice of covers) to two randomly drawn commenters and an Erian Crest necklace as a grand prize to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

'The Strong, Silent Type' by Lynn Kellan Super Book Blast!

The Strong, Silent Type
by Lynn Kellan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

If he breaks his silence about the scars marring his face, will the truth drive her away?

Tina Hudson's busy sales job is a welcome distraction from her empty house and memories of the husband she lost to cancer, but she's tired of running from her loneliness. Tina suspects her brawny neighbor has been leaving single red roses in her mailbox, but he's the strong, silent type-the kind that should come with a warning label.

Wade Scott felt dead inside over the loss of his son and the disintegration of his marriage. When Tina moves next door, Wade comes alive again. Problem is, she's a beautiful sales whiz and he's an ordinary plumber with a wicked scar along his temple. The truth of his past might drive her away. With little hope of attracting her attention, he showers her with anonymous acts of kindness.

When Tina realizes Wade is the guardian angel who's been watching over her for the past six months, she invites him to dinner. New Year's Eve is approaching, a perfect time to start over...but Wade's stoic silence drives a wedge in their burgeoning relationship. Should she take a new job that will put her on the run again, or take a chance the strong, silent type might fill her heart-and her home-with love?

Read an excerpt:

He set down the wine glass with a soft thump. “You invited me to dinner to get Austin off your back, right?”

Whoa. Nothing like a blunt question to ruin the mood. Tina’s spirits took a nosedive, crashing somewhere in the pit of her stomach. She wiped her mouth on a napkin, smoothing away the telltale quiver along her bottom lip.

“Not entirely. I’ve been meaning to invite you for dinner.” She regretted lighting the candle in the center of the polished dining room table. The obvious attempt at romance had gone unnoticed. Or ignored. “You’re always doing nice things for me. I wanted to reciprocate.”

“You already thanked me last night.” Wade’s thick forefinger tapped the opaque green bottle of Merlot. “Why the fifty dollar wine? The good china?” Hazel eyes skimmed up her burgundy sweater, targeting the loose brunette curl dangling from the elegant clip holding up the rest of her hair. “The way you look?”

Desire glimmered in his appraising gaze. Tina could tell he liked what he saw, but the rigid ligaments along his forearm indicated he would not reach for her.

Why wouldn’t Wade act on his impulses? She lowered her gaze, rubbing a thumb along the crisp crease of her gray slacks. Could he tell she was out of practice and a little scared?

Okay, she was terrified—but maybe a dose of honesty would boost her courage. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had dinner with someone. I wanted everything to be… nice.” Tina forced herself to give voice to what had been bouncing around in her mind for the past few weeks. “To tell you the truth, I’m tired of feeling empty and alone. I’m ready for something good to happen.”

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Lynn Kellan has fallen in love with bad boys, burly athletes, and battle-hardened Marines. All of that research produced a startling revelation: men and women aren’t that different. We both want to be with someone who will empty the dishwasher.

When Lynn Kellan isn't writing stories about men and women who adore each other, she loves to play tennis and golf - but not at the same time. Her books contain a hearty dose of love and humor, which are necessary ingredients for a happily ever after.

Find Lynn at http://LynnKellan.com


Lynn will be awarding eBook copies of The Strong, Silent Type and Anything You Ask to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. One randomly drawn host will win a $25 Amazon GC. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

Review of 'Addicted for Now (Addicted Series #2)' by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Addicted for Now (Addicted #2)
by Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie
Release Date: 11/30/13

Summary from Goodreads:

He's addicted to booze. She's addicted to sex...staying sober is only half the battle.

No. More. Sex.

Those are the three words Lily Calloway fears the most. But Loren Hale is determined to be with Lily without enabling her dangerous compulsions. With their new living situation—sleeping in the same bed, for real, together—Lily has new battles. Like not jumping Lo’s bones every night. Not being consumed by sex and his body.

Loren plans to stay sober, to right all of his wrongs. So when someone threatens to expose Lily’s secret to her family and the public, he promises that he’ll do anything to protect her. But with old enemies surfacing, Lo has more at stake than his sobriety.

They will torment Lily until Lo breaks.

And his worst fear isn’t relapsing. He hears the end. He sees it. The one thing that could change everything. Just three words.

No. More. Us.

New Adult Romance recommended for readers 18+ for mature content

**My thoughts**

Lo and Lily have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They are also completely codependent addicts who are struggling to rebuild their lives and to prove to the world, and to themselves, that they can work together. Whereas they used to support each other by covering for each other, they can now lift each other up to try to kick their addictions. Neither one knows how to survive without the other one. You can't see how they can possibly be good for each other, yet don't know how they can possibly survive apart. 

The strength that Lo finds within himself is a pleasant surprise. After all, he has always been the spoiled rich kid who drinks too much to mask his anger at his parents. He has some serious anger management issues. What I love is how we are inside of his head for some of the chapters, so that we can see and hear him working his way through his issues. By no means is he perfect, nor does he necessarily come to a perfectly happy ending. His struggles feel real and like you can relate, even if you have never struggled with an alcohol addiction. 

Lily takes a bit longer. She is definitely the weaker of the two. She hasn't had access to the same amount of support and therapy that Lo has, because she has a disease that is considered much more taboo. The stereotype of the rich and famous kid with problems is to be an alcohol and/or drug addict and to cause trouble. It's significantly worse to have a sex addiction. That just labels her a slut and a whore, which can easily tarnish the reputation of the family-friendly companies.

But Lily does have strength inside of her, that she never knew. I don't know that it would be possible for her to find it without Loren's help. She also has to learn to trust some friends and family members, when she has never trusted anyone before. That takes a lot of guts. And with someone threatening to ruin her reputation by letting spill all of her secrets, it is even more difficult to trust.

Both of these kids could easily be any of the spoiled rich kids you see all over today's tabloids and reality TV shows, both of which I absolutely despise. Yet I love these characters, because they are more. They feel more like real people to me. Sure, they get to spend ungodly amounts of money and fly on private jets to Cancun, but have some of the same problems that face so many young people. How many other teens are struggling with acceptance from peers and from family and have turned to any kind of negative means of coping? It is scary.

Lily and Lo take turns telling their story, each from their own point-of-view. As with the other books, their voices ring true. Each one stands out. The authors have delved so deeply into their characters' minds that you would think they are real people telling their own stories. I was unable to tear myself away from the Kindle, needing and craving more of the story, to find out what was going to happen. The pain became real. I laughed and I cried. I didn't want it to end. I am glad it appears that there will be a few more books to come in the series, to satiate my own addiction to it.



Read my review of Addicted to You, the first book in the series.

Read my review of Ricochet, the companion novel between books  1 and 2.

Buy links

About the Authors

Becca Ritchie is a carnivore of pop culture, television, film and of course YA and NA books. While in college, she worked at The CW television network and put her vampiric knowledge to good use, blogging about hit series and swooning over actors’ abs. When she’s not blogging, she writes novels and has teamed up with her twin sister for their New Adult novel ADDICTED TO YOU. Available July of 2013.

Krista Ritchie is the mind behind popular trading website YA Book Exchange and created Nawanda Files, a book blog that also features books into movies news. When not pouring over entertainment news and the newest releases, she spends her time conducting research in a genetics lab. She’s happy to join forces with her sister, harnessing their twin powers to produce the first in a New Adult series.

Author Website│Nawanda Files│YA Book Exchange

Becca’s Links:

Goodreads│Twitter

Krista’s Links:

Goodreads│Twitter

***GIVEAWAY***

1 - $25 Amazon Gift Card, Paperback copies of Addicted to You and Addicted for Now (Open Internationally)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review of 'Ricochet (Addicted Series #1.5) by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Blurb from Amazon:

**On sale for a limited time only**

Full-length New Adult Romance - Recommended for readers 18+ for mature content.

As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days.

Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he'll realize what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him.

Progress. That's what Lily's striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family--people who aren't aware of her addiction--she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows.

With Lily and Lo's dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to "touch" proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin.

Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

------

Includes the first chapter to the sequel Addicted for Now.

Companion to the Sequel: A full-length New Adult Romance that continues where Addicted to You left off. As a companion novel, it bridges the gap between the first and second book. It is highly recommended to be read before Addicted for Now.

**My thoughts**

I was completely devastated and immersed in the first book in this series, so when follow-ups became available, I was ecstatic to jump on the tour.

Ricochet tells the story of how Lily tries to survive for three months without Lo, as he undergoes rehab for his alcoholism. She is struggling through therapy for her sex addiction, trying to figure out how to live without sex in any way, shape, or form. She has made a promise to Lo to wait for him. She is being held accountable by their siblings. But she still doesn't want to let anyone in. She spirals through her pain, still lost in her own world. But at the same time, she is starting to see the impact of her life choices on her family. She is becoming more aware of the pain that her loved ones are going through and how it has impacted her over the years. She is finally understanding herself and her problems. Her voice continues to be heartwrenching as she expresses her struggles. Her story is also addictive. You want to help her and question some of her choices. You may not even understand her issues, especially if you have never dealt with your own addictions or those of loved ones. I admire her strength and how she is willing to do whatever it takes to remain true to the love of her life.

I find it interesting that this book has the voice of one character, but is written by two people. I didn't notice anything that would indicate that more than one person wrote this book. They did a great job sharing in Lily's voice. Perhaps it is the power of twins?

This may be a book that bridges two novels, but this one is a full novel and story in and of itself. A part of me would like to read one detailing Lo's experiences over those three months. You definitely need to read this before Addicted for Now. Some of the situations in that novel are fully explained in this companion novel. You will better appreciate it if you read this first.

Read my review of Addicted to You, the first book in the series.

Buy links

About the Authors

Becca Ritchie is a carnivore of pop culture, television, film and of course YA and NA books. While in college, she worked at The CW television network and put her vampiric knowledge to good use, blogging about hit series and swooning over actors’ abs. When she’s not blogging, she writes novels and has teamed up with her twin sister for their New Adult novel ADDICTED TO YOU. Available July of 2013.

Krista Ritchie is the mind behind popular trading website YA Book Exchange and created Nawanda Files, a book blog that also features books into movies news. When not pouring over entertainment news and the newest releases, she spends her time conducting research in a genetics lab. She’s happy to join forces with her sister, harnessing their twin powers to produce the first in a New Adult series.

Author Website│Nawanda Files│YA Book Exchange

Becca’s Links:

Goodreads│Twitter

Krista’s Links:

Goodreads│Twitter

***GIVEAWAY***

1 - $25 Amazon Gift Card, Paperback copies of Addicted to You and Addicted for Now (Open Internationally)

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Last chance to get 'All for Hope' by Olivia Hardin for $0.99

All for Hope

To protect her heart, he left her behind.

To protect her life, he’ll leave the life he's made behind.

Sometimes the safest distance between two hearts is no distance at all…

Kidnapping a baby wasn’t something Hope ever dreamed she would do. But she’s been burned by the legal system before, so when the court places her friend’s child into the custody of an abuser, she takes matters into her own hands. She steals the baby and fakes her death, hoping to make a clean getaway. She planned every detail, except one.

Her high school sweetheart and best friend, who left her years before, sees her at a gas station. Hope thinks all is lost, until he offers to help them.

Brennan had always been the love of Hope’s life, but he never wanted to be. She knows she cannot depend on him for long. However, as each day passes, it becomes painfully obvious that she is in way over her head. She goes with him, intending to keep him always an arm’s length away to protect her heart. But being on the run together sparks the old flames that once burned between Brennan and Hope.

Families, friends, and lovers must band together to save an innocent baby and a daring woman or both of their lives will be destroyed. Together, they’ll do it All for Hope…

Purchase on Amazon

Read my review here.

About the Author – 

Olivia Hardin realized early on how strange she was to have complete movie-like character dreams as a child. Eventually she began putting those vivid dreams to paper and was rarely without her spiral notebooks full of those mental ramblings. Her forgotten vision of becoming an author was realized when she connected with a group of amazingly talented and fabulous writers who gave her lots of direction and encouragement. With a little extra push from family and friends, she hunkered down to get lost in the words. She’s also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and is sometimes accused of being artistic, though she’s generally too much of a perfectionist to appreciate her own work. A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband and their puppy Bonnie.

Read an interview with her about All for Hope here.

Connect with her Online - Blog * Goodreads * Twitter* Facebook * Literary Addicts

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'Ridiculously Happy!: The Secret to Manifesting the Life & Body of Your Dreams' by Carol Whitaker' Book Tour Blast!

Ready to live your very best life? Actually, the secret to becoming absolutely, ridiculously happy is already being conveyed to you every moment of every day. And, it’s coming right from within you. Now, life transformation coach Carol Whitaker can teach you how to tap into the positive potential of your physical and emotional well-being, and by doing so, achieve your lifelong dreams.

Ridiculously Happy! The Secret to Manifesting the Life and Body of your Dreams is Whitaker’s groundbreaking, step-by-step approach to changing the course of your life. By empowering you to claim your God-given birthright to have a meaningful, blissful existence, the author encourages you to simply embrace your own unique magnificence to manifest dreams.

Placing equal emphasis on both mental and physical positive energy, this comprehensive book shares strategies to harness the power of the Law of Attraction. By letting go of negative energy and thinking intentionally about the way you live your life, you will not only set yourself on a road to vitality, abundance, and deep satisfaction, but you will become your own cheerleader to stay the course. If you believe you can be ridiculously happy, Carol Whitaker’s illuminating, actionable book will show you the way.

The road to becoming ridiculously happy begins right here. And, you already have what it takes to forge the life of your dreams. Life transformation coach Carol Whitaker is here to guide you through her proven process, so you can claim your divine right to utter joy. All you need to do is to embrace what you already possess.

Ridiculously Happy! The Secret to Manifesting the Life and Body of your Dreams will move you to accept nothing less than the exhilaration to which you are entitled. By offering you new insights and techniques to gain mastery over your emotional and physical health, this revolutionary method will help you retrain your own energy so that its positive influence can work to shape your destiny. For unbounded, lifelong happiness, simply open this book. It will open your world to a whole new way of being.

Buy on Amazon | B&N | Website | Audible

About the author:
Carol Whitaker is the author of Ridiculously Happy! The Secret to Manifesting the Life & Body of Your Dreams. Carol is a highly sought after Life Transformation Coach and Lifestyle Fitness Coach, she is well known for the amazing transformations she creates in her clients’ lives. Carol is dedicated to empowering women around the world to love and believe in themselves fully. Carol is a Motivational Speaker and is passionate about inspiring and motivating women to create and manifest the life and body of their dreams. Carol is an ongoing featured expert on national media and online websites. Carol is a happily married mother of 3.

Connect with Carol on Facebook to receive her health, fitness & happiness tips and by following her on Twitter.

Visit CarolWhitaker.com to learn more about her services along with tools and secrets to discover how to transform your life to be ridiculously happy & fit today.

See more about Carol on Linkedin.

Win an Autographed book and free 30 minute LivFit Coaching Call

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'She Likes It Rough' by GVR Corcillo

Blurb:

Can daring adventures with an outdoor extremist give a daydreaming pushover the courage she needs in order to make her life count for something?

After that humiliating freak fast-food accident, discombobulated scaredy-cat Lisa Flyte finally gets fed up with letting life walk all over her. Time to get a backbone and really start living life! But how is a shrinking violet like Lisa supposed to get tough all of a sudden after a lifetime of watching from the couch?

Jack Hawkins, that's how. When Lisa finds out that the adrenaline junkie from her MBA classes needs a clueless urbanite to test his top-secret line of beginner adventure gear, she gets the most daring idea of her life: she will be his undercover test dummy if he helps her to become brave on their adventures in the wild.

They strike a deal. But can Lisa use her outdoor moxie in the real world? Will she be bold enough to pursue a career she really wants or stand up to her bullying family?

And will she get gutsy enough to go after Jack? He's a man who's not afraid of anything...except maybe of falling for Lisa.

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Find out more about the book, and author GVR Corcillo, by reading this interview.

Buy it on Amazon

About the author:

GVR Corcillo’s Ivy League education, white-trash sensibility, and pop culture savvy come together rather eclectically in her romantic comedies. She writes about strong female characters who try not to trip as they valiantly march to their own bongo beat.

Corcillo hit the New York Times Best Sellers List with her short story, "Jane Austen Meets the New York Giants," in the Marlo Thomas anthology The Right Words at the Right Time: Volume 2. Her short story "All Summer on a Date" was chosen as the lead story in the 2012 anthology Romancing the Pages. She Likes It Rough is her debut novel soon to be followed by Queen of the Universe.

Originally from Scranton, PA, she lives with her husband Ron Corcillo in North Hollywood, CA, where she delves into all things Los Angeles: she’s co-hosted a syndicated radio show, acted in an award-winning short film, written a screenplay for Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures, picketed during the 2007 Hollywood writers strike, and taught high school in Watts and South Central. And while she loves her life on the west coast, she’s still a die-hard New York Giants fan.

Follow GVR Corcillo

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