Review: April's Kiss in the Moonlight by Jean Joachmin

How could anything bad happen to a young woman, fresh from graduate school, who strikes out on a new path rather than return to take a job with her father’s firm? April McKenna sets off for an escapade that ends in tragedy. Injured and alone she is taken in by a friend of her mother’s who lives in a small town in the Catskill Mountains in New York. 
During her recovery, April resolves to carve out an exotic life of travel and adventure. But she didn’t count on a sexy fireman upsetting her plans. Gavin Dailey has dated practically every woman in the county, but when he meets April, he knows he’s finally found the one he wants. Only a stubborn man like Gavin wouldn’t let April’s resistance to his charm and his small town change his plans. Determined to win her, he pulls out all the stops until he encounters one stumbling block he didn’t count on. Only a near-tragedy resurrected from the past gives April the tenacity she needs to make the right decision for her life in April’s Kiss in the Moonlight.

A very sweet romance book that has a great storyline to keep you hooked from the beginning.  There is the strong fireman, Gavin, who finds April in his town recovering from an accident.  Their attraction blooms, along with a few twists and turns.  The book is very well written.  I give it 4 stars.

Read Emily's Showcase with Jean HERE

Reviews: The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probst

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2012

To satisfy his late father’s wishes, hot and single billionaire Michael Conte must find a bride—someone who will fit into his traditional family back home in Italy—and fast, so his engaged sister will be allowed to wed. With no intention of being tied down, Michael “proposes” to fiery, free-spirited photographer Maggie Ryan: if she will play the part of his fiancée during her trip to Milan for a photo shoot, he will keep away from her married best friend, Alexa, and stop making Maggie nuts with their too-close-for- comfort flirtations.But once in Italy, sexual tension sparks the hottest no-strings- attached arrangement on any continent. Could marriage be the most enticing trap of all?

The things a man will do for his family, especially an Italian family.  I love this follow up to the Marriage Bargain.  This book is filled with humor, strong willed females, love, romance and not the usual story line of a “man-in-need-of-temporary-wife”.  The sparks definitely fly between Michael and Maggie to make this a book you will not want to put down.  This is a must read book.  I give it 5 stars and a heat warning of 3 flames.

Read my review of The Marriage Bargain (Book 1 in the series) HERE

Review: Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth

I'm sitting on my couch, watching the local news. There's Chloe's parents, the mayor, the hangers on, all grouped round the pond for the ceremony. It's ten years since Chloe and Carl drowned, and they've finally chosen a memorial-a stupid summerhouse. The mayor has a spade decked out in pink and white ribbon, and he's started to dig.

You can tell from their faces that something has gone wrong. But I'm the one who knows straightaway that the mayor has found a body. And I know who it is.

This is the tale of two fourteen-year-old girls, best friends, and one terrible summer when lies, secrets, jealousy, and perversion ended in tragedy more tangled and evil than a tight-knit community can possibly believe.

A dark tale with a surreal edge, Jenn Ashworth's gripping novel captures the intensity of girls' friendships and the dangers of a predatory adult world they are just grown up enough to think they can handle. And it shows just how far that world will go, sacrificing truth in the name of innocence.

A cold, dark mystery with real characters. A heavy read that will keep you thinking long after you are done reading it.  3.5 stars!

Blog Tour: Breaking the Code by Karen Fisher-Alaniz

On his 81st birthday, without explanation, Karen Alaniz's father placed two weathered notebooks on her lap. Inside were more than 400 pages of letters he'd written to his parents during WWII. She began reading them, and the more she read, the more she discovered about the man she never knew and the secret role he played in WWII.

They began to meet for lunch every week, for her to ask him questions, and him to provide the answers. And with painful memories now at the forefront of his thoughts, her father began to suffer, making their meetings as much about healing as discovery. Thus began an unintended journey--one taken by a father and daughter who thought they knew each other--as they became newly bound in ways that transcended age and time.
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I’m so glad you’re here. I’m just an ordinary woman who discovered an extraordinary story from the most unlikely of sources – my father.  He was in his 80′s when he gave me more than 400-pages of letters he wrote during WWII. After years of questions, research, and a lot of listening and mulling things over, I knew I had a story that the world needed to hear. Writing my father’s story resulted in my first published book. Breaking the Code: a Father’s Secret, a Daughter’s Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything was published on 11/1/11. It’s the story of the secrets my father swore to keep during WWII and what happened when he finally began to talk. Secrets have a way of taking a toll on their keeper. That’s what happened to my father. Shortly after 9/11/2001, he began having terrible nightmares and vivid flashbacks. And I simply wanted to help him, but first I had to know the truth. So we set out on an unintended journey.

Breaking the Code is available at bookstores near you, or you can order it online. Thank you for visiting my website. I’m so glad you’re here and I hope you come back often. If you’d like to know a little more about me, a good place to start is by clicking on the My Story tab. There you will learn more about the story-behind-the-story. You will also find a welcome video made especially with you in mind! ~Karen

Q.  What inspires your writing?

A. Inspiration is an interesting word. I'm a spiritual person, so belief in a power greater than me serves as an internal inspiration. The way that my memoir came about - my WWII father giving me letters he wrote during the war - definitely has a spiritual or "meant to be" sense to it. My next two books are the same. I feel like the stories I was meant to write, make themselves know in my life.

Q.  What is your favorite thing about being an author?

A. Taking a tiny grain of an idea, and feeling it take shape into something meaningful.

Q.  What is the toughest part of being an author?

A. The hardest part for me is not having a boss, not having someone who expects something by a certain time or day. It was so much easier working an 8 to 4 job. Being your own boss sounds wonderful but in reality, you really have to set your own deadlines, your own goals, and then get them done. That's hard for me - I'm getting better at it, but it's still hard. 

Q.  If you could not be author, what would you do/be?

A. If I had a choice, I'd go back to teaching special education. It was a job I loved. I only left because of health problems. And then way on the other end, I've thought how fun it would be to work in a little, independent bookstore, or a candy shop. What could be better than giving people candy? Everyone is happy in a candy store.

Q.  What would the story of your life be entitled?

A. My Life in Chapters. Before losing my beloved teaching job, I thought of my life as a book. I didn't realize that it was really a book of chapters. When one chapter (teaching) ended, there was another waiting for me (writing).

Q.  What is your favorite book of all time?

A. Oh boy! Of all time? That's almost impossible. Let me say this, as a child, I loved The Boxcar Children series - I imagined what I would do if I was suddenly on my own as a child. As a teen, books by special education teacher Mary McCracken touched me and were influential in steering my sites on a career in teaching. Tom Brokaw's, The Greatest Generation was important because my father took that book, pointed to a couple of paragraphs and had me read them, so he could tell me vicariously, how he was feeling about surviving the war, when so many didn't. Books have touched me differently at different times.

Q.  Which character from ANY book are you most like?

A.  I love memoir. It's really my favorite genre. I think the great thing about reading life stories is that no matter how far the experience is from your own, there is always something relate-able. We put ourselves in the story and imagine what we would do. We find something within us that connects with the author's experience.

Q.  What character from all of your book are you most like?

A.  Well, since my book is a memoir, I'd have to say, I'm most like myself. Ha! And believe me, that's a hard thing to share. It's actually the hardest part about writing a memoir. I couldn't make myself into a perfect person, because I'm not. I had to admit to things that aren't favorable. That was hard.

Q.  What is your favorite season?

A.  Autumn. School starts in the fall. My birthday is in the fall. I have always felt like it's more of a beginning than January 1st. I make my resolutions for my birthday year, rather than the calendar year. I also am lucky enough to live in Southeastern Washington state. It's absolutely a stunning time of year - just beautiful.

Q.  What inspired your book cover(s)?  Or what is your favorite book cover and why?

A. The design department at Sourcebooks did my cover art. I can't take any credit at all. I cried when I saw it. They took all of the pieces and put them together in a way that was just beautiful. They included my father's actual letter in the background, a bunch of letters tied together and a Plumeria, which represents his time stationed in Hawaii. It's just amazing!

Q.  Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.

A. I love my readers! I suppose every author says that, but I really mean it. I have the most interesting people come to events. They tend to be around my age (49) and up and have fascinating stories to tell. I'm going to tell you about a fascinating thing that happened - not really very funny. At one event, there was a woman at the back of the room. She used a walker, was nicely dressed, and from the comments she made and questions she asked, she was obviously well-educated. In fact, when she started asking about how exactly my father broke the Japanese code, she was over my head. Well, after the event, which was at a public library, she approached me. She said she didn't have a car and wondered if I could give her a ride home. I supposed it was OK, so after loading up my book event supplies, I folded her walker and put it in the trunk, and then got her settled in the front seat. I was on vacation, so didn't know the area. She directed me, and when she said to pull over, I kept stupidly saying, "What do you mean? Right here?" And, "Are you sure?" The thing is that this place looked more like a business than a home. I had imagined her cute little beach bungalow. But as I pulled up, and read the sign, I realized she lived at a homeless shelter. I felt so badly as I drove away. You just never know where people are from or where they're headed when you meet them.

Now for the funny story - I was at a book event at a tiny independent bookstore. Everyone who came in the store got a little card. In order to be entered into a raffle to win $20 of free books, they had to go to each of the five author tables and ask about the book. After telling about our own book, we stamped their card. When the card was full, they put it in the drawing box. Well, a woman brought a baby with her. She was probably about three months old and howling from the moment Mommy stepped in the door. Juggling the baby, a baby carrier, blankets and so forth, she bounced her while I tried to talk over the screaming baby.The woman was clearly running out of patience. She handed me the baby, and what was I supposed to do? I took the baby, swaying from side to side as I talked about my book. It was a ridiculous scene. But guess what? The baby quit crying! The woman got her card stamped. I handed the baby back and Baby Girl started howling again. She screamed all the way through the store and we all breathed a sigh of relief when they left. Oh my! What people will do for a free book or two. 

Q.  Are you working on something new?

A. Yes. I have two new books in the works. One is a humorous memoir about all those things we mothers swear we'll never do. When I had my son, who was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the rules changed drastically, and so did I. The second book is about an amazing man, a talented portrait artist and Vietnam Veteran, who gave up everything he worked so hard for; prestige, influence, money - in order to draw portraits of fallen soldiers for their families, at no charge and with no strings attached. Miracles abound! 

Q.  Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?

A.  The holidays are the perfect time to begin getting those family stories recorded. We all think we'll have more time - when the kids are grown, or when things settle down at work. But truth is, sometimes time just runs out and those stories are gone forever. I hear that a lot. So, take advantage of the holidays to learn something about your family. You'll be glad you did!

Thank you for stopping by. I truly appreciate it. If you'd like to ask questions or comment below, I'd be happy to come back and have a conversation with you. If you'd like more information, you can visit my website at http://www.storymatters2.com, or stop by my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/breakingthecode . 

Reviews: The Housewife Assassin Series: The Housewife Assassin's Handbook (book one) and The Housewife Assassin's Guide to Gracious Killing (book two) The Housewife Assassin's Killer Christmas Tips (book three)

Murder, suspense, sex-and some handy household tips.

Every desperate housewife would love an alias. Donna Stone has one, and it's government sanctioned. Oh sure, you need to be ruthless to take on Russian mafia bosses, rogue dictators, and terrorists set on destroying the world. But it takes real killer instincts to survive suburbia. Try juggling the fifth grade phone tree during a shootout with skinhead arms dealers, or driving carpool while being chased by Chinese double agents.

Donna's life wasn't always this complicated. Five years earlier she was just another woman with two preschoolers, a baby bump, and an adoring husband, Carl, with whom she lived happily ever after in a McMansion in the Orange County, California community of Hilldale. But Donna's life was changed forever the night she delivered her baby: 

Carl's car blew up on the way to the hospital.

Turns out Carl was a "hard man"-an assassin-for the black ops organization known as Acme Corporation. The hit on Alex was carried out by the Quorum, a terrorist cell he was tracking. The Quorum's motto: "Show me the money." Governments and corporations do as they're told-or suffer bloody consequences.

Carl left something behind that the Quorum wants badly. To protect herself and avenge Carl's death, Donna joined Acme. Whereas her hostessing skills rival Martha Stewart's, her marksmanship is second to none.

A good thing, too, because the Quorum has planted a sleeper cell in Hilldale. For Donna, that's too close for comfort. Will she be able to save her family before the Quorum blows up Los Angeles?

Acme's way of flushing out the Quorum is by "bringing Carl back from the dead." But terrorism makes strange bedfellows. Jack Craig, the wild card Acme operative paired with Donna brings, new meaning to that old adage "Honey, I'm home..."

EXCERPT
Chapter 1: Please Read and Follow Directions Carefully . . .

Any woman can be both the perfect housewife and an accomplished assassin, because both functions require the same qualities: creativity; a never-say-die attitude; and an attention to details, no matter how small . . .

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All I really needed to know about being a freelance assassin I learned before my youngest daughter, Trisha, started kindergarten.

I've come to that realization as I lay naked and handcuffed to the bed of my target du jour, a sleazebag by the name of Yuri Petrovich. Yuri has just downed a couple of Viagra with the last of his Starbucks venti-sized non-fat caramel macchiato. This is to ensure us both that his attempt to mount me will have all the gusto of a broncobuster breaking in the wildest filly in the corral before heading on into the sunset. (In truth, we are in a hillside suite at the Chateau Marmont. But considering Yuri's attitude toward women, the cowboyspeak sums things up quite nicely.) 

Believe it or not everything is going just as I planned, and right on schedule. At least that's what I tell myself as I watch him unzip his rock star-tight leather pants and squeeze out of them as quickly as he can because his erection, which seems to be growing by the nanosecond, has him wincing in pain. In Yuri's fantasy if anyone is going to get hurt, it's going to be me. The handcuffs are proof of that.

Like 88 percent of all my targets, this Russian mafia boss, who came here to unload a cache of AK-103s on some Idaho Neo-Nazis, has an obsessive-compulsive personality. In Yuri's case that means staying in the same suite at the Marmont every time he hits Los Angeles, although his Slavic accent and pockmarked greaser looks has hardly earned him an iota of the ass-kissing accorded aging rock stars, budding celebutantes, or out-of-town British actors; doing the down-and-dirty with some rent-a-whore before and after the arms sale; and drinking macchiatos nonstop, even during his favorite sex act, the Kama Sutra position euphemistically called “the ostrich’s tail.”

Acme Industries, one of the many new post-9/11 CIA-sanctioned subcontractors that handles any and all dirty tricks that won’t pass a Congressional panel sniff test, contracted me to be the honeypot who takes Yuri down. First, I was to stall on the sex until the skinheads showed up. Next, I was to plant a GPS system on one of them, so that ATF can track and apprehend them during the pick-up. And finally, as a show of tit-for-tat diplomacy with Uncle Sam’s publicly acknowledged new best friend Russia, I was to see to it that Yuri never left his hotel room alive.

Oh yeah, and all of this is supposed to happen before three o’clock, the time in which I have afternoon carpool...

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In Book 2 of THE HOUSEWIFE ASSASSIN series,a nuclear arms summit hosted by a politically-connected American billionaire industrialist provides the perfect opportunity for a rogue operative to assassinate of the newly-elected Russian president on US soil. Acme operative Donna Stone's mission: seek and exterminate, before all hell--and World War III--break loose. But first things first: file for divorce!

Read an excerpt at HousewifeAssassinsHandbook.com

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2012 (released early)

Murder, suspense, sex--and some handy household tips.

"Josie Brown writes with all the secrets, sex, money and scandal of an OK! Magazine cover...Truly entertaining reading." -- Jackie Collins

IN BOOK 3 OF THE HOUSEWIFE ASSASSIN SERIES:

- TIS THE SEASON: For murder, mayhem, and missing missiles!
- HOUSEWIFE ASSASSIN DONNA STONE'S MISSION: Stop a terrorist cell before it launches a heat-seeking missile at a plane landing in Los Angeles.
- AND NAUGHTY SANTA IS EVERYWHERE: It's hard to convince your child that Santa is so good, when everywhere you turn he's being very, very bad!

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Josie Brown writes books that are a bit of an adventure, never predictable and always fun!  Brown writes with balance, humor and danger; good verses bad; light and dark.  Her Housewife Assassin Series is a fun, crazy and wild ride!  You will remain interested throughout the novels and left craving more.  I recommend the series and rate it 4 stars!  

Review: I Am Me by G S McClellan and Erin McGill

5 stars!  As a mother and teacher I am always looking for books to teach my kids that being who you are is something to celebrate and I AM ME is all that and more.  Not only does the story teach children to embrace who they are, is also has some amazing illustrations   My boys, ages 4 and 5, loved this story and a great dialogue started after reading it.  I love books that bring me closer to my children and open up lines of communication.  This is a must for parents everywhere!

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2012

I Am Me is a story about being you! With only one or two words a page, this book is designed for children ages 0-3, but is relevant for all readers ages 0-99!

*Read my review of Don't Give The Dog Sugar With His Tea, another 5 star book!

Happy Thanksgiving!