I thought at first about doing an extra post to let you know I’ve managed the mammoth task of uploading the 6 books (3 in English and 3 in Spanish) or Angelic Business everywhere and then do a standard post, but some of my brain seemed to die in the process, so I thought I’d do an official post, share the covers of the other two books with you, thank you all who’re taking part in the tour, and hope it might be temporary…
So, now officially:
The three books in the Angelic Business collection are now available for pre-order at the special price of $0.99 each. It’s a bargain price and they’ll go up shortly after publication.
Don’t worry. My writing is slightly better than my video-creating skills, but as I’d been taking all those pictures of angels, I thought I might as well.
Angelic Business 1. Pink Matters
Angelic Business 1. Pink Matters
You are Pink, not the prettiest girl, but smart and with plenty of resources. What do you do when your best male friend offers to have sex with you, because he thinks you’re a lost cause? You plot your revenge with your two best female friends, of course!
It seems you’re in luck when a new and mysterious student appears. And, to top it all, he seems interested in you too. He could take part in the plan. But then, he seems to have a plan of his own… He insists he’s not just an ordinary boy. And what seemed so easy to begin with, gets more and more complicated when Heaven and Hell come knocking at Pink’s door.
Pink Matters is the story of Pink, a 17 year old girl, good student, articulate and smart. What she has never been the centre of attention or made the top ten of the most popular and attractive girls at school. When two guys, both claiming to be angels, insist that she is, indeed, ‘special’, fight for her attention and help and tell her she is the key to the future of the universe, she can’t help but ask: Why me?
And a snippet:
“Who are you?” Lorna asked. Before she could say anything else, she froze as if paralysed. And the same happened to Sylvia.
“Oh no, not again” I said.
“Hi Pink. I’m Azrael. I’m…”
“Let me guess…You’re an angel.”
I could say he smiled but it was more like a white light radiating from between his lips. His voice also seemed slightly “otherworldly”. He was nothing like G. Flesh and blood didn’t seem to be his priority.
“Yes. I am.”
“O…K….And…to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? If you are going to make an announcement of some sort…I could have done with some notice.”
The light now seemed to radiate from his whole “body” if that was what it was. Somehow his show was much more believable than G’s. And scarier.
“It’s not an announcement as such. But you should know…G…”
“Yes?”
“I know he told you he’s an angel.”
I looked at him. Maybe he was different to G but he could be as annoying as him. And interfering.
“Yes. I also “know” things…In my case it is because “I” am an angel. He has not been truthful about his identity.”
Pink Matters is currently available for pre-order and will be published on the 26th of June 2015 (Amazon time). So, if you’re reading this post after the 26th of June, you’re in luck and can get the book straight away! (I’m also publishing it in other platforms although as their processing speed is different the dates might vary. Do check there or in my website, that I regularly update).
In case you’re intrigued, I leave you the cover (reveal!), snippet and links to the other two books:
Angelic Business 2. Shapes of Greg
Angelic Business 2. Shapes of Greg
What more could happen after the death and resurrection of your mother? What could Heaven and Hell toss at Pink to top that? Well, to start with, she gets a new hellish babysitter, who is seriously hot. And although everybody likes him, he only has eyes for her. When she learns what the price was for the ‘miracle’ of saving her mother, she realises that she must be careful, as Hell doesn’t lose gracefully.
One of her friends wants to find the perfect man, the other one gets into a relationship she refuses to talk about, there’s a demon who doesn’t know when to give up and an angel who seems to have his own agenda. What on Earth, Hell or Heaven is going on?
Snippet:
“So… Have you come to just be sitting there like a lemon? What has been happening since we last talked?”
“Well… things…”
This was getting a bit silly. I hadn’t called him. Surely if he had come there must have been something he wanted to tell me, ask me, or whatever. Was he going through a crisis, or what? It wasn’t as if he’d ever had any problems talking to me before. OK, a lot of what he’d told me was lies, but it was still talking. Maybe if I distracted him with something else…
“As I saw you out there, I was wondering… Do you really need to do that?”
“What? Do you mean, “hover”, as you put it? No, I guess not. It’s a good way of attracting someone’s attention, I find.”
“Well, yes, I guess, but I didn’t mean that. I meant, just waiting out there. Is it like with vampires? Do you have to be invited before you can come in?”
G looked at me with an expression I’d never seen before. I wasn’t sure if it was disbelief, disappointment, or sheer disdain.
“Vampires? Are we like vampires? Vampires don’t exist. We can’t be like them. Just silly stories. You’re an intelligent girl. How can you believe in such stupidity?”
“I don’t believe in it. But I didn’t think demons existed. I’m not sure I had much of an opinion on angels before. And look at you!”
“So now you think all that paranormal rubbish is true? Werewolves, fairies, ghosts…”
“Witches…” I added.
“Now, witches are a slightly different matter. Lucifer has always had followers.”
Shapes of Greg is available for pre-order and will be published on the 15th of July.
OK, OK, OK. Pink gets it. She’s the Elected, whether she likes it or no. Heaven and Hell are closing in, and their envois are closer home than ever. So close she can’t ignore them. And she’ll do everything but.
However long she has, she’s determined to make it count. She’ll sort her friends out, she’ll help her family and, she’ll live a bit. And then, she’ll take charge. Because no one will say that Pink went down without a fight. However big and bad the enemy.
Gender benders, romances, old loves that come to fruition, new challenges, divine interventions, tears, laughter and magic. All of that and more. Because, if you‘re gonna go, you might as well go with a bang.
Snippet:
He looked at me so fixed that I felt as if he was reaching inside of me.
“No. I don’t have a girlfriend. I’ve never found somebody I felt that close to…until now.”
And then he leaned towards me and kissed me. And although I didn’t hear bells ringing and saw no fireworks, it was amazing. It was crazy, it was messed up, wrong, he wasn’t my type. For crying out loud! He wasn’t even a human being! But still, I didn’t want it to end. And we might still have been there now if it wasn’t because Jackson started coughing behind us, evidently to alert us to his presence.
***
“Will you kill me?”
“I already told you…”
“No, this time it’s me who’s asking. Will you kill me? I don’t want you to try and be nice or not upset me. I just need to know. I think I deserve to know. If, as you say, you care for me. I won’t be upset, I won’t go mad. Of course I won’t like it if you tell me you will, but I’ll cope. I just need to know the cards I’m playing with. To plan my game.”
She closed her eyes for a few seconds. Then she opened them and stared right into mine.
Pink, Angel or Demon? is available for pre-order and will be published on the 30th July.
Como sabéis hace tiempo os estoy dando la lata con mi nueva serie juvenil‘Asuntos Angélicos’ y he estado preguntándole a la gente sobre marketing para intentar organizar un plan para su lanzamiento. No sé si lo que tengo es un gran plan, pero en fin… Como tengo escritas las tres novelas, he decidido que usaré el sistema de pre-venta en Amazon para así tener las tres en la cola, listas para ser publicadas, con un mes entre la publicación de cada una de ellas (así también puedo incluir los enlaces a las otras al final). Durante la etapa de pre-venta las pondré en oferta y luego subiré el precio. Me estoy planteando lo de poner la primera gratis (sea una temporada o permanentemente), cuando haya publicado las tres, pero ya veremos). Aún no he decidido si iré a por el KDP Select o no. Puede que lo pruebe para empezar (hace tiempo que no tengo ninguna de mis novelas en Select) pero…
Después de los posts y las discusiones sobre marketing, me gustaría probar a contratar los servicios de alguien para organizar un blog tour (al menos para la versión inglesa, en español no he visto que se lleve), pero creo que será mejor hacerlo cuando alguna de las novelas ya esté a la venta. Así que, después de ver a gente que organiza tours para sus propios libros, he pensado que probaría a hacer lo mismo. Si alguien puede compartir un post sobre ‘Asuntos Angélicos 1. Alerta Pink’ en Junio, os estaría muy agradecida. Aunque no he puesto una fecha en firme para el lanzamiento (lo haré este fin de semana) será sobre el 24 o el 25 de Junio. Yo crearé un post en html que solo hará falta copiarlo al blog, usando la función de texto. No será muy largo o complicado. Si consigo crear un book trailer quizás lo incluya, pero si no, será la portada, la descripción, una muestra y el enlace.
Por supuesto si a alguien le apetece, o tiene tiempo, de leerse el libro y quieren hablar de él por experiencia propia, con mucho gusto. Lo puedo enviar en cualquier formato, aunque la conversión es mía y será la versión borrador del libro. Pero desde luego, si podéis encontarle un huequecito al post…
Ah, la versión en inglés de la portada ya la he compartido en un post, pero esto es exclusiva. Gracias a mi amiga Lourdes Vidal por su creación.
Asuntos Angélicos 1. Alerta Pink
Y aquí la nueva descripción:
Tú eres Pink, no la más guapa de las chicas, pero lista y con grandes recursos. ¿Qué haces cuando tu mejor amigo se ofrece a tener sexo contigo, porque cree que no tienes ninguna otra oportunidad? ¡Planeas cómo vengarte con tus dos mejores amigas, por supuesto!
Parece que has tenido suerte cuando un nuevo y misterioso estudiante se presenta en la escuela. Y por si fuera poco, parece estar interesado en ti. Podría participar en el plan. Pero, parece que tiene un plan propio… Insiste en decir que no es un chico corriente. Y lo que parecía fácil al principio, se complica más y más cuando el Cielo y el Infierno llaman a su puerta.
ALERTA PINK es la historia de Pink, una chica de 17 años, buena estudiante, elocuente y lista. Nunca ha sido el centro de atención ni ha estado entre las diez chicas más populares o atractivas de la escuela. Cuando dos tíos, ambos diciendo que son ángeles, insisten en decir que ella es ‘especial’, se pelean por conseguir su atención y cooperación y le dicen que ella es la clave del futuro del universo, no puede evitar preguntarse: ¿por qué yo?
Y por lo de pedir ayuda tantas veces, pensé que os dejaría un regalito:
Muchas gracias a todos por leer, y si podéis echarme una mano, dejadme un comentario, poneos en contacto conmigo donde sea, y hablamos. Y dadle al like, compartid, comentad, y que los angelitos os acompañen.
You know I’ve been pestering you all about my new YA series‘Angelic Business’ and asking questions about marketing to try and put a plan together. OK, I’m not sure it’s a fully-fledged plan, but I’ve decided a few things. As I’ve written already the three novels, I will put them in Amazon in pre-order this weekend (with about a month in between the releases of each part), at low prices to begin with and then they’ll go up. I might later on make the first one free (either temporarily or permanently, but we shall see). I haven’t yet decided on the KDP Select thing. Might try initially (I haven’t had any of my novels in Select for a while) but…
I want to give a go at having somebody organise a blog tour for me at some point, but I think it’s probably best to wait until the first novel is out already. So here it goes. I’ve seen people organise an unofficial tour for their books, and I thought I’d ask if any of you could share a post about ‘Angelic Business 1. Pink Matters’ some time in June. I haven’t set a date for the release yet (I’ll do this weekend) but it should be around the 24th or 25th of June. I will create an html post that just needs to be copied into the blog. I am not planning on making it too long or elaborate. If I can manage to get my wits about me I might try and create a book trailer of sorts, but otherwise it will be the cover, description, link, and perhaps a bit of a sample…
I had already asked if anybody would want to have a look at the book and had a couple of replies. If anybody has the time and feels up to it, do let me know and I can provide it in any format (although it will be a draft version and home conversion so…). But if you can just fit the post somewhere…
I’ve been saving a few appearances in blogs to try and time them up with the release, so I’ll be a bit busy but…
Oh, the cover of the first book was featured in this guest post, by the wonderful Sally Emberbut of course, I also had to share it with you. Thanks to my friend Lourdes Vidal for her creation.
Angelic Business 1. Pink Matters
I’ve updated the description so…
You are Pink, not the prettiest girl, but smart and with plenty of resources. What do you do when your best male friend offers to have sex with you, because he thinks you’re a lost cause? You plot your revenge with your two best female friends, of course!
It seems you’re in luck when a new and mysterious student appears. And, to top it all, he seems interested in you too. He could take part in the plan. But then, he seems to have a plan of his own… He insists he’s not just an ordinary boy. And what seemed so easy to begin with, gets more and more complicated when Heaven and Hell come knocking at Pink’s door.
PINK MATTERS is the story of Pink, a 17 year old girl, good student, articulate and smart. What she has never been the centre of attention or made the top ten of the most popular and attractive girls at school. When two guys, both claiming to be angels, insist that she is, indeed, ‘special’, fight for her attention and help and tell her she is the key to the future of the universe, she can’t help but ask: Why me?
And now, as a treat, I thought I’d leave you this:
Thanks so much for reading, if you’re interested in featuring a post, I’d be eternally grateful, so please, just leave me a comment and contact me here or wherever, and of course, if you’d like the book, let me know, and share, like, comment… and may the angels be with you!
I must explain the background to this post. I saw that author Hans Hirschi (whom I had met through Twitter and Triberr) was seeking blogs for a blog tour just around Christmas time last year. Having heard about the book and being keen on reading it, I thought the tour would give me the perfect excuse (if I needed one). I signed in (the process was via a Google form. I must confess I don’t like them very much as I’m never sure they’ve gone. With the majority of blog tours I get an e-mail with the possible blog tours, I reply and I receive an answer directly from the organiser. That allows me to contact back if I haven’t heard anything in a while, but with the forms you have nobody to contact. End of my rant about Google forms.). I did tell the writer that I had signed for the tour, but never received anything from the tour organiser and assumed they must have had too many offers. When later the author told me he hadn’t seen my post I explained that I never received the book for review or the information. I suspect I must have entered the wrong e-mail address but…So, better late than never I decided to read the book and have included the rest of the material in the original tour in this post. (Thanks Hans and sorry again).
First, the post as it was meant to be:
Enjoy Happy Geek Media’s debut virtual tour of The Fallen Angels of Karnataka
The Fallen Angels of Karnataka by:
Hans M. Hirschi
Published by:
Yaree AB
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, Social Awareness, Literary, Travel
264 pages
Release Date: September 15, 2014
In an isolated mountain town in Norway, Haakon dreams of traveling the world, pursuing adventure, seeing great cities, finding love. His very first trip to London with friends from university offers much promise, yet soon after tragedy strikes. Still young, and mourning the loss of his lover, Haakon is not ready to give up on his dream, so when a rich Englishman offers him the chance to join him on a tour of the world, Haakon takes it, daring to believe that his dream is finally coming true…but at what price?
The Fallen Angels of Karnataka is a novel filled with adventure, life’s hard-learned lessons, loss, despicable evil, and finally, love and redemption. See what others are saying about The Fallen Angels of Karnataka on the author’s media page here.
The Fallen Angels of Karnataka is discounted to $5.99 right now, so grab a copy. The novel will not disappoint!
Author Hans M. Hirschi
Hans M Hirschi (b. 1967) has been writing stories ever since he was a child. Adulthood and the demands of corporate life efficiently put an end to his fictional writing for over twenty years.
A global executive in training and channel development, Hans has traveled the world and had previously published non-fictional titles.
The birth of his son and the subsequent parental leave provided him with the opportunity to unleash his creative writing once again. With little influence over his brain’s creative workings, he indulges it, going with the flow.
A deeply rooted passion for, faith in a better world, in love, tolerance and diversity are a red thread throughout both his creative and non-fictional work. His novels might best be described as “literary romance, engaging characters and relevant stories that won’t leave you untouched, but hopeful.”
Hans is a proud member of the Swedish Writers’ Union, the Writers’ Center in Sweden and serves as chair of the Swedish Federation of Self- & Independent Publishers.
I have removed the links to the giveaway and the tour as those are not live any longer. Sorry again about that!
Now, my review:
The Fallen Angels of Karnataka by Hans M. Hirschi. A dark fairy-tale treating a terrifying but all too real and difficult subject.
The Fallen Angels of Karnataka is a novel that reminded me of a variety of genres. It’s a bildungsroman. Haakon, the protagonist, is a young man from a small Norwegian farm, naïve and not knowledgeable in the ways of life. The book shows us the process of his sexual awakening, how he discovers he is gay, his first experiences, his first rejection and heartbreak, his first love, and his first loss.
At a time when he’s lost everything and he’s been given what he thinks is a death sentence, an Englishman steps in, Charles, and makes him an offer that seems too good to be true. (Yes, we know all about it, but…) Haakon has always dreamt of travelling, and Charles offers him a dream contract to be his travelling companion, acting as a fairy godmother (or godfather) of sorts. He solves all the problems (including finding him medication for his newly diagnosed HIV infection) and does not seem to want anything back other than company and organisational skills. Of course, things aren’t quite as they seem, and the fairy tale turns much seedier and darker later in the book.
We follow Haakon and Charles in their travels, and the book could have become a travelogue. But although the novel provides beautiful vignettes and interesting observations and reflections about the places visited, their travel is described more in terms of an emotional and spiritual experience than a guide book. The journey our hero embarks on allows the readers to follow how the character grows, loses his —at times terribly annoying, at least to me— naïveté and manages to find not only a partner (gorgeous, good and who has suffered too, one of the fallen angels of the title), but also a worthy mission.
Hans Hirschi tackles a difficult subject in this book. One of the most difficult subjects. Paedophilia. The fallen angels of the book title are not really fallen, but rather dragged down by adults who either aid and abate others or are themselves abusers. The author shines a light on some of the least tasteful aspects of an already difficult to deal with topic, by highlighting the plight of children who are abused because they are seen as dispensable. We’ve all heard of sexual tourism and this is an extreme example of it. Although the topic is distasteful and something that plenty of readers would much rather not read about, the author manages to build credible characters that do not completely lose their humanity, even though some of their behaviours might be abhorrent. Haakon acts, in a way, as a foil and reflects the attitude of most readers, who would find it difficult to reconcile how somebody who seems so kind, educated, sophisticated and helpful could also abuse children. It is also a cautionary tale that reminds us appearances can be very deceptive.
The ending is positive, in keeping with the fairy-tale aspect of it, and although not perfect, the hero’s journey shares on universal themes and shows character development and a well-constructed plot and structure. We can’t help but hope that in real life all these kids will find a place and there will be no more fallen angels.
The book is beautifully written and the omniscient narrator allows us to see and understand things from different characters’ point of view (mainly Haakon’s but not exclusively). That helps up share in his experiences but at times puts us in a very uncomfortable position, being party to thoughts or desires and impulses of deeply flawed characters.
I would recommend this book to readers who dare to explore darker subjects. It will be quite a ride but the rewards will be plenty. I don’t know if the writer has thought about revisiting any of the characters again, but I for one would love to hear more of Mahender’s story (hard as it would be). And I will put other works by the author in my list of future reads.
Thanks to the author for kindly allowing me to take part, even if well past the date, on the tour, thanks to all of you for reading, and please, like, share, comment and CLICK!
As you know I bring you guest authors and new books on Fridays. When I saw this book tour advertised just before Valentine’s I thought it was meant to be. And here it is…I leave you with Hanna Fielding and her novel ‘Echoes of Love‘. Romance and Venice, what else could you want? But if you want more, I also include my review and there’s a great giveaway.
Hannah Fielding bio
Hannah Fielding is a novelist, a dreamer, a traveller, a mother, a wife and an incurable romantic. The seeds for her writing career were sown in early childhood, spent in Egypt, when she came to an agreement with her governess Zula: for each fairy story Zula told, Hannah would invent and relate one of her own. Years later – following a degree in French literature, several years of travelling in Europe, falling in love with an Englishman, the arrival of two beautiful children and a career in property development – Hannah decided after so many years of yearning to write that the time was now. Today, she lives the dream: she writes full time, splitting her time between her homes in Kent, England, and the South of France, where she dreams up romances overlooking breathtaking views of the Mediterranean.
Her first novel, Burning Embers, is a vivid, evocative love story set against the backdrop of tempestuous and wild Kenya of the 1970s, reviewed by one newspaper as ‘romance like Hollywood used to make’. Her new novel, The Echoes of Love, is a story of passion, betrayal and intrigue set in the romantic and mysterious city of Venice and the beautiful landscape of Tuscany.
The clock struck midnight just as Venetia went past the grand eighteenth-century mirror hanging over the mantelpiece in the hall. Instinctively she looked into it and her heart skipped a beat. In the firelight she noticed that he was there again, an almost illusory figure, leaning against the wall at the far end of the shadowy room, steady eyes intense, watching her from behind his black mask. An illusory figure indeed, because when Venetia turned around he was gone.
Venetia shivered. Nanny Horren’s voice resounded through her head, reminding her of the strange Celtic superstitions that the Scottish governess used to tell her. One in particular came to mind. ‘Turn off the light and look into the mirror by firelight at midnight on Shrove Tuesday,’ the old woman would whisper to the impressionable and imaginative teenage Venetia, ‘and if you see a face reflected behind your own, it’ll be the face of the love of your life, the man you will marry someday.’
Was this what had just happened to Venetia? Was this stranger the love of her life?
Rubbish, she remonstrated, laughing uneasily into her own eyes, you’re mad! Haven’t you learnt your lesson? Venetia had indulged in such fantasies several years ago and had only managed to get hurt. Now, she knew better. Still, she did not move away. Venetia leant closer to the mirror that reflected her pale, startled face in the flickering light, as tremors of the warm feelings of yester love suddenly flooded her being. For a few moments she seemed to lose all sense of where she was and felt as though she stood inside a globe, watching the wheel of time turning back ten years.
Gareth Jordan Carter. ‘Judd’. It was a diminutive of Jordan, chosen by Venetia who hated the name Gareth and didn’t care much for the name Jordan either. Judd had been her first love, and as far as Venetia was concerned, her last. She had been young and innocent then; only eighteen. Today, at twenty-eight, she liked to think she was a woman of the world, who would not allow herself to be trapped by the treacherous illusions of passion, however appealing they might seem. She had paid a high price for her naivety and impetuosity.
Venetia tried to shake herself clear of those haunting phantasms and her thoughts ambled back to the masked stranger – well, almost a stranger.
Their brief encounter had occurred the evening of the first night of Il Carnevale di Venezia, ten days before Shrove Tuesday …
***
It was nearly seven-thirty and the shops were beginning to shut down for the night. The wind that had blown all day had dropped, and a slight haze veiled the trees, as if gauze had been hung in front of everything that was more than a few feet away. The damp air was soaked with silence.
Venetia tightened the belt of her coat around her slim waist and lifted the fur collar snugly about her neck. The sound of her footsteps echoed off the pavement as she hurried towards the Rialto Bridge from Piazza San Marco, a solitary figure in an almost deserted street. She was on her way to catch thevaporetto water bus, which would drop her off at Palazzo Mendicoli where she had an apartment. A few huddled pedestrians could be seen on the opposite pavement, and there was not much traffic on the great inky stretch of water of the Grand Canal.
Suddenly Venetia saw two figures spring out in front of her from the surrounding darkness. They were enveloped in carnevale cloaks, with no visible faces, only a spooky blackness where they should have been. A hand materialised from under the all-encompassing wrap of one of the sinister creatures and grabbed at her bag. Chilled to the bone, Venetia tried to scream but the sound froze in her throat. Struggling, she hung onto the leather pouch which was looped over her shoulder and across her front as she tried to lift her knee to kick him in the groin, but her aggressors were prepared. An arm was thrown around her throat from the back and the second figure produced a knife.
Just as he was going to slash at the strap of her bag, an imposing silhouette emerged from nowhere and with startling speed its owner swung at Venetia’s attacker with his fist, knocking him off balance. With a grunt of pain the man fell backwards, tripping over his accomplice who gave a curse, and they both tumbled to the ground. Then, picking themselves up in a flash, they took to their heels and fled into the hazy gloom.
‘Va tutto bene, are you alright?’ The stranger’s light baritone voice broke through Venetia’s disoriented awareness, and he looked down anxiously into her large amber eyes.
‘Yes, yes, I think so,’ she panted, her hands going to her throat.
‘Are you hurt at all?’
‘No, no just a little shaken, thank you.’
‘You’re shivering. You’ve had a bad shock and you need a warm drink. Come. There’s a caffeteria that serves the best hot chocolate in Venice, just a few steps from here. It’ll do you good.’ Without waiting for a response, he took Venetia’s arm and led the way down the narrow street.
Venetia’s knees felt like jelly and her teeth were chattering. ‘Thanks,’ she murmured, still trying to catch her breath, her heart pounding, and let herself be guided by her tall, broad-shouldered rescuer, who seemed to have taken the situation into his hands.
Thus does Fate cast her thunderbolts into our lives, letting them fall with a feather-like touch, dulling our senses to the storm they would cause should we realise their devastating powers.
They sat in silence at a table in a far-off corner of the crowded caffeteria. There was too much noise to talk and Venetia was exhausted, so she concentrated on appraising the man sitting opposite her as she listened to the music playing: Mina’s nostalgic 1960 love song, ‘Il Cielo in una Stanza’, the unashamedly romantic hit that was so Italian, and which was therefore still frequently played as a classic all over the country.
Venetia’s guardian angel looked more like Lucifer than a celestial being, with his tempestuous blue eyes, curiously bright against the warm tan of his skin, which slanted a fraction upwards under heavy, dark brows when he smiled. They were staring intently at her now with an emotion which puzzled her, and for a few seconds she found herself helplessly staring back into them. It was like gazing into shimmering water.
Strong, masculine features graced his nut-brown face beneath a thick crop of raven-black hair, sleek and shining, swept back from a wide forehead. He wasn’t good-looking in the classical sense, his face was too craggy for that immediate impact, but he was a striking man who emanated controlled power, someone used to making decisions who would not be swayed by any argument or sentiment; a hard man. Still, his steeliness was tempered by the enigmatic curve that lifted the corners of his generous mouth into a promise of laughter; this, coupled with the deep cleft in the centre of his chin, gave him a roguish expression that Venetia found appealing.
The waiter brought over a cup of hot chocolate, a double espresso and a plate of biscotti which he said were offered con i complimenti della casa. Her rescuer was obviously a regular customer.
Venetia took a few sips of the thick, warm brew. She felt herself revive as it trickled down her throat, becoming a warm glow in her stomach which reflected on her cheeks.
The stranger smiled at her. ‘Feeling better?’
She nodded. ‘Thank you, you’ve been so very kind.’
His smile broadened. ‘You are welcome, signorina. It is always a pleasure to come to the rescue of a beautiful lady. My name is Paolo Barone, at your service.’
Venetia had been working in Italy for over three years as an architect cum interior designer in her godmother’s architect firm, and was used to the gallant ways and the charm of Italian men. She found their smooth repartee refreshing, and sometimes even amusing, but never took them too seriously. Paolo Barone was different. Maybe it was because she was in shock and felt vulnerable, but nevertheless her heart warmed to this man, who, although not that young, was still in his prime – middle to late thirties perhaps – and she relaxed. Still, even though the circumstances in this case were unusual, Venetia was not used to accepting invitations from strangers, so she deliberately made no conversation; and to her surprise neither did he.
As she raised the warm cup to her lips with both hands, she was aware of him looking at her directly with unabashed interest. Was he trying to decipher her, she wondered? Relieved that the hot drink’s effect on her cheeks was hiding the slight confusion she felt beneath, she sipped a little too quickly and cooled her lip with the tip of her tongue. Then realising what she had done, she glanced up to see his expression deepen into something else, which made her instantly lower her eyes.
When she had finished her chocolate, Paolo smiled at her. ‘Andiamo? Shall we go?’ he asked, cocking his head to one side and looking at Venetia with curiosity.
Sparkling hazel eyes flecked with gold smiled back at him through long black lashes that somehow did not belong with her chestnut hair. ‘Yes. Thank you for the hot chocolate. It is really the best chocolate I’ve had in Venice.’
He helped her with her coat, lifting her glorious long locks over the fur collar. At five foot seven inches, Venetia was tall but as he faced her and began buttoning the garment himself, she noticed again how he towered over her. His hands were strong and masculine; she had a curious sensation of warm familiarity, as though he had performed this act with her several times before. Yet mingled with that feeling came one of embarrassment; his touch seemed a rather intimate gesture instead of the impersonal indifference of a stranger, and she drew away with a little nervous laugh.
‘Thank you, that won’t be necessary.’
He held her gaze intently for a moment, as if surprised at what she had said, and she looked down again, for some reason unable to meet those midnight-blue eyes and their burning intensity. Then he smiled and held the door open.
‘By the way, I don’t know your name,’ Paolo said as they stepped out into the misty night and began walking towards the Grand Canal.
‘Venetia. Venetia Aston-Montagu.’
He quirked a black eyebrow. ‘A very romantic name, Venetia, like our beautiful city. But you’re not Italian? You speak Italian like a native.’
She laughed. ‘Thank you for the compliment. No, I’m actually English, but I was named by my godmother, who is Venetian. She was my mother’s best friend and she insisted I learn Italian.’
‘So you’re on holiday here?’
‘No, I live here.’
‘Nearby?’
‘No, in the Dorsoduro district. I need to catch the vaporetto, as the entrance to the building where I live is on the Grand Canal.’
‘My launch is moored across the street. Dorsoduro is on my way. It would be a pleasure for me to drop you off.’
‘No, thank you. You’ve already been very kind.’
‘It’s late and snow has been forecast for tonight. The vaporetto is bound to be almost empty. I wouldn’t want you to come to any harm, signorina. I will give you a lift.’ He spoke quietly with an air of command, his hand coming up to her elbow, but she avoided it hastily.
It was very tempting to accept, but Venetia would not let herself. This stranger was a little too attentive, she thought, and though she had been grateful for his kind invitation to a hot chocolate when she was in distress, and could still recall the feel of his hands buttoning up her coat, she was not in the habit of being picked up by men.
‘No really, thank you very much. I’m used to travelling by vaporetto. It’s quite safe.’
Paolo did not insist, and for the rest of the way they walked in silence through the narrow, tortuous alleys, Venetia conscious of his nearness in every fibre of her being.
It was bitterly cold. The wind was whistling and a bank of threatening cloud hung over Venice like a white cloak. As they arrived at the waterbus stop, a few snowflakes started to come down. A couple of gondolas, their great steel blades looming dangerously out of the soft velvety mist, glided by swiftly over the gently lapping waters.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to change your mind? It looks as though there’ll be a blizzard and the vaporetto may be delayed.’ He looked at her with a polite, but guarded smile and she felt a momentary pang of regret at her determination to escape him.
Paolo’s pride was spared a new refusal as they heard the croaky purr of thevaporetto announcing its lazy approach.
‘Here comes my bus,’ Venetia said cheerfully. ‘I’ll be home in no time.’
The boat appeared and presently drew up at the small station, bumping the landing stage as it did so.
‘Thanks again for all your help, signore,’ she went on, smiling as she held out her small, perfectly manicured hand to say goodbye. The young man took it in his own, which was large and warm, and held it a trifle longer than would be usual. Venetia stood there with waves of heat passing over her, her senses suddenly heightened at this contact. She abruptly withdrew her hand.
His blue hawk eyes gazed down at her, intent though unfathomable, and he paused uncertainly. ‘Will you dine with me tomorrow night?’ he uttered in a low voice.
It would be exciting to dine with Paolo, she thought, but you must run from him, urged the echo of an insistent voice within her; this man has the power to hurt you.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she replied stiffly. ‘I’m afraid I’m busy.’
‘That’s a pity.’ He sounded as if he meant it, but did not insist, leaving her feeling curiously disappointed. He held out his hand again, silently, and she took it, also without a word. There was nothing lax or vague in his firm grasp. Like many people, Venetia was swift to gauge character by the quality of a handclasp and had known many apparently vigorous men whose fingers were like limp fish. Once more, she was aware that Paolo’s large, sensitive hands held a strength and vitality that stirred her deeply.
She hurried onto the vaporetto, suddenly eager to flee, but as the waterbus pulled away from the quay, she watched him go up the stairs and disappear into the snow-white night with a strange sinking of the heart, wondering if she would ever see him again.
What the reviewers are saying
‘The book makes the reader want to visit Italy, as the descriptions of the sights and sounds evoked such beautiful images.’ – Associated Press
‘A very well written, and different kind of romance… an exceptionally riveting romance… I would certainly recommend this to fans of the intelligent and suspenseful romance.’ – Amazon review
‘Classic romance fiction… with all the right “s” ingredients – seduction, shall-we/shan’t-we, secrets, steaminess.’ – Amazon review
‘A haunting, poignant romance… immerses you in a truly heartwarming and stirring tale of deep passion, love, forgiveness, and healing.’ – Book Bag Lady
‘A beautifully crafted book, the echoes of which will remain with you for a long time.’ – Amazon review
‘I absolutely adored the depth of the love story… It reads like a film, indeed I can totally imagine it as a Baz Luhrman epic with glorious costumes and elaborate settings.’ – Books with Bunny
Message from the author
I first visited Venice as a young child. Then, as now, I was wide-eyed and enchanted by the beauty of the city. I distinctly remember standing in the main square, the Piazza St Marco, gazing up at the stunning architecture of Saint Mark’s Basilica, and feeling I had somehow entered another world – a fairytale world. Then I looked down, at the square itself, which was overrun by hordes of pigeons. There was nothing beautiful about those birds. They were quite spoiling the place. And it struck me then that Venice is a city of two faces: that which the tourists flock to admire, that makes the city the capital of romance, that breathes new life into the imagination and leaves a permanent, inspirational impression. And the other side, the darker side, that which is concealed in what Erica Jong called ‘the city of mirrors, the city of mirages’.
When I returned to the city as an adult, I became quite fascinated by the concept of Venice – what it means to be Venetian; what the city really is beneath the layers of history and grandeur and legend. Frida Giannini wrote ‘Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.’ I understand this quote – there is something fairytale about the place, and with that comes some reluctance, perhaps, to see the realism beyond.
Venice so captured my imagination that I knew some day I would write a romance novel set in this most elegant and fascinating of cities. But it had to be the right story to fit the place. For me, that meant a story that reflected the two faces of Venice – the mask she wears, and the true form beneath.
I very much hope that readers will enjoy my new novel, and will fall in love with its romantic Italian setting, as I did.
Echoes of Love by Hanna Fielding. A luscious and passionate Italian romance with a touch of suspense.
As much as I enjoy taking part in blog tours I don’t always participate, even when I’m interested in the books, because of constraints with regards to time for reviewing. But when I received the information for this blog tour I was in the mood for a read that would take me away and wrap me in a story. A romantic story.
Romance is not my first choice for genre but I enjoy reading it, although more recently my preference has been for contemporaneous, light and humorous takes on the matter, and chick-lit. ‘Echoes of Love’ isn’t that kind of book. The story of Venezia, an English young woman whose godmother is Italian (and therefore her name), and Paolo, the man he meets in Italy and feels irresistible attracted to from the very beginning, is a story of star-crossed love, fate, damaged and wounded lovers, in the setting of Italy (mostly Venice, but also parts of Tuscany and Sardinia). There is also an element of intrigue that I must confess I guessed from very early on in the story, but was curious as to how the writer would build into the story. It is one of these books where readers and those around the main characters have more insight and can see more clearly what is going on than the couple at the centre of the action, and where the “will they, won’t they” tension is a driving force for the narrative.
The author surrounds the story with luscious and detailed descriptions of everything, from architecture and interior design, clothing, characters’ looks, to food and landscape. I’m not usually a big fan of descriptions and prefer to leave some space to imagination, but I enjoyed the use of quotations, settings and the local stories and customs that illustrate the characters’ journey. Sardinia in particular, although only occupies a short part of the story, is beautifully depicted, and it seems visiting it during Easter would be a great experience.
The story is well-written, it picks up the pace in the last third of the book, all details of the plot are important (there are no clues given for no reason). We get to follow the inner thoughts of the main characters, although not only them but also many of the secondary characters seem ruled more by their passions than by their heads. Their very luxurious life-styles and lack of “real-life” problems (they have high flying professions, drive Ferraris and Porsches, and money is never a consideration), require a degree of suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader but also give the story the dream/wish-fulfilment quality that is one of the attractions of the genre.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for a story rich in details, that will make you feel as if you’re sharing the total experience and getting under the skin of characters that live a life of luxury surrounded by beauty, and you fancy a romance in Italy with a touch of darkness and intrigue, this is your book.
Thanks so much for reading and if you’ve enjoyed, please like, share, comment, and of course, CLICK!
As you know on Fridays I usually bring you guest authors or new books, and today I could not pass the chance to take part in this blog tour. First, because Jody A. Kessler had never visited my blog yet and I thought it was long due. Second, because she has a new book in her series An Angel Falls, Angel Dreams. If you’ve caught a few of my posts you’ll know I’m at the moment working on a NA/YA series called ‘Angelic Business’ and that has turned books with angels on them as irresistible as anything else with angels (or owls, but that owls thing is nothing to do with my writing. I just love them. Maybe….). Now, I leave you with Jody. And don’t miss the huge promo of the two books in the series and the fabulous giveaway!
New Release from Jody A. Kessler – Blog Tour & Giveaway! Both novels in this award-winning series will be on sale for only .99 cents for a limited time.
Supernatural boundaries will be crossed as Angel of Death, Nathaniel Evans, risks his eternal soul to save the one he loves, the paranormally gifted and nature-loving, Juliana Crowson.
While working with a new client, Nathaniel finds out that pissing off a demon-wielding warlock in order to help a suicidal teen with misplaced sexual tendencies may be the last thing he ever does as an angel. Unable to stand aside, Juliana’s involvement in Nathaniel’s new case quickly develops into a misadventure with gun-toting bikers, table dancing, and a shamanic exorcism performed by her temperamental Native American friend, Chris Abeyta.
Can Nathaniel and Juliana’s love endure blood-letting rituals in the forest while helping a terrified teen find the will to live, or will fate and the rules of the afterlife tear them eternally apart?
I reach for her left hand and she lets me take it. “I only want to keep you safe. Is that all right?”
She bites her lower lip and then looks up at me. “You can’t be everywhere all the time, can you?”
“No. But for you, I wish I could be.”
“Certain things are out of our control.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it, but I know. You asked me what the matter was earlier. This is it. I realized anything could happen to you and I can’t control it. We have just started to know each other. It terrified me, and now this.” I glance down at her red finger.
“Nathan. I, you…we just have to stay in the moment. This,” She holds up her index finger showing me the swollen side and the drying blood, “is a perk of my job. Not a deadly accident. If anything does happen to me, or you, at least we knew each other. Even for a short time. Right?”
“Getting injured on the job is not a perk, it’s a hazard,” I argue.
Our relationship is just starting, so no. A short time is not good enough for me. When I’m with Juliana I can only imagine eternity together, not minutes. The way she stares at me, with caring eyes, and her kissable mouth, it’s so innocent and alive. It makes me want to lock her away in a cell with both of us inside and never see any threat or harm come near her again.
“I want you, Juliana. I want to know you. I want to see your face in the morning light and be with you until you fall asleep at night. I want to hold your hand as we walk in these woods, not just today, but always. What I don’t want, what I can’t live with, is a collection of fading memories and a well full of regret.” I watch her closely looking for any shift of uneasiness as I pour out my soul to her.
She looks up at me. Her face is open and the honesty I see echoes my own.
“We will know each other,” she assures me, and then she seals her words by leaning forward on her tiptoes and brushing her perfect pink lips over mine.
About the Author
When Jody isn’t navigating the terrain of her imagination and writing it down, she can be found exploring the wilderness of Colorado with her family, or in the kitchen baking cookies & brownies – and then trying not to eat them all. She’s passionate about continuing to learn and reads anything and everything that catches her interest. Jody is a full time mom, a Reiki Master, and has taught Hatha yoga for over a decade.
Jody’s debut novel, Death Lies Between Us, is the winner of RomCon’s Readers’ Crown award for best Paranormal Romance in 2014. She is currently working on a historical time travel series set in Montana in the 1860’s. The first book in the series, The Night Medicine, will be published in March 2015.
Thanks to Jody for bringing us her book and all the perks, thanks to all of you for reading, and you know what to do, share, like, comment and don’t forget to CLICK!
The Nightlife Series is violent, sexy, and occasionally violently sexy.
Vampires Aaron and Michelle prowl the dark, gritty, strip
clubs and back alleys of London on the hunt for Michael Jamison, the man who
stole Michelle’s blood and left her for dead. To assist them, Aaron’s new
master, Urvashi, calls in favors from her friends, Russian mercenary
werewolves.
Wolves Katya and Ivan, hunters adept at killing rogue
vampires, set aside their animosity for Aaron and Michelle to stop Jamison from
murdering another woman – he already has one bloodless victim lying in the
morgue.
Jamison, ex-special forces, feels his enemies closing in,
but he won’t go down without a fight –and like Aaron and Michelle, he also has
powerful friends.
Experience the violent, sensual underbelly of Nightlife
London, as Aaron and Michelle mix up a wicked blend of sex, chaos, mayhem, and
vengeance.
The Nightlife Series novels are Adult Paranormal Romance ~
Urban Fantasy Thriller:
The Nightlife London by Travis Luedke. Of vampires, fallen angels, werewolves, nightlife and…love? (5 STARS)
What is love? When thinking about writing the review for Mr Luedke’s novel (the fourth on the series of the Nightlife, following on from New York, Las Vegas and Paris) I came to the conclusion that most fictional novels are about love, in one way or another. Of course romantic novels make love their central theme, but other genres and even literary fiction orbit around love. Be it family love, love for art, love of animals, love for nature and the world, love of travelling, love of power and success, love of money, love of beauty, love of justice, love of revenge, love of God, love of science, love of philosophy, love of sex…I won’t push it further and say that even non-fiction is about love (although be it love of information, of exploring one’s life or that of others, or passion for a particular hobby or skill form the basis of a fair amount of other types of books) but I think you get my gist.
‘The Nightlife London’ is an urban paranormal novel with plenty of action, excitement, dangers, seedy locations, Afghan and Colombian gangs, criminals, prostitution, drugs, blood, sex…and vampires, werewolves, fallen angels, all within our contemporary world, but not as we know it. Mr Luedke has woven a net of complicated relationships, rewriting the folklore of vampires and the paranormal, giving the vampires’ bite and their venom wondrous and sensuous properties, mixing healing and life-giving properties with enslavement and extreme dependency. Like the Greek Gods, Mr Luedke’s vampires are much more than human, but at the same time very human, with their emotions, their weaknesses, their hatreds, their needs…and their love.
From the first novel, where he becomes a vampire, Aaron has tried to maintain his own sense of self (despite owing loyalty to Michelle and being connected, first to her and now to Urvashi, and able to read other people’s thoughts) and morality, and he’s been challenged by powers that are difficult to master, relationships that keep changing, and more than anything, by his human emotions. He’s still in love with Michelle, has a not fully-understood relationship with Urvashi (a fallen angel full of mystery and surprises), still mourns his wife Anastasia and to the mix is added Katia, one of the Russian wolves/allies sent by Urvashi. Would you be able to love somebody who smells of wet-dog? More to the point…Is it really love? Are any of the relationships in the book love? I guess that depends on your definition of love. I think although some of the relationships in the book are pretty alternative, dependent, predatory…they would still qualify as some kind of love.
I personally like the two new characters, Katia and Ivan and their loyalty to the pack. The clashes of personalities between vampires and wolves at the beginning of the novel make for some very humorous situations but things get more serious as the plot progresses and their mission to find Michael Jamison doesn’t go quite according to plan.
If you’re looking for thrilling action, passionate sex scenes (a word of warning, it’s an adult novel), urban underbelly settings, gore, paranormal, vampires, werewolves…you’ll find it all in the new novel of the Nightlife series. The writing is fast-paced; the plot is exciting and the characters well-drawn and very human. And as a bonus you might find yourself thinking about what is love, like I did. Maybe we’ll get the answer in the next novel. I was looking forward to Moscow but I have just heard that the series makes a detour through San Antonio (Texas) to warm up a bit after the cold winter in London. I sympathise although worry that if it gets any hotter it could burst into flames, not terribly good for vampires (or the rest of the nightlife). Saying that, I’m really looking forward to the San Antonio visit. I hope you do too.
Enter to Win – A Progressive Giveaway!
For every 50 Adds of THE NIGHTLIFE LONDON to the Goodreads “To Read” Shelf, there will be a winner and a new prize level will be opened!
The Nightlife San
Antonio is violent, sexy, and occasionally violently sexy.
All she wanted was to escape the police.
All he wanted was to get laid. They both got more than they bargained for.
EMT on call, Adrian Faulkner
resuscitates a beautiful woman after a Mexican mafia shootout. He can’t explain
why he picks her up in the hospital parking lot three days later and then ducks
the San Antonio police and the Feds. Well, the hot sex might have something to
do with it.
She needed to hide. With no memory of
even her name, she didn’t know from who. She only knew she wasn’t safe.
Adrian soon learns she is much more than
a damsel in distress, and he’s stuck with her. It isn’t long before the past
she cannot remember begins to catch up with them both…
THE NIGHTLIFE SAN ANTONIO is a non-stop
thrill ride through the shadowy borderworld of mafia politics and vampires –
and sex.
About the Author:
Travis
Luedke is a husband, father, and author of Urban Fantasy Thriller, Paranormal
Romance, Contemporary Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, and Sci-fi. He is currently
catching a 3rd degree sunburn in San Antonio, Texas, and loving every minute of
it.
As
the author of the Nightlife Series novels, Travis lives very vicariously
through his writings. He invites you to enjoy his macabre flights of fancy, but
be warned: The Nightlife Series is
violent, sexy, and occasionally violently sexy.
I usually blog my own content on Tuesdays, but on some occasions I make an exception, and today is one of them. When I heard about this book, I thought I had to read it, and once I read it, I decided to take part in the blog tour and also review it. I’m hoping to have Marquita, the author, come for an interview and bring me some of her other books soon. Ah, and pay attention, as there is a giveaway to go with the tour!
First, a bit abut Marquita:
Marquita Herald
Author Profile
Marquita Herald is an author, blogger, trainer in personal resilience and founder of Emotionally Resilient Living and Owner of Resilient Living Publications.
Her professional background includes a successful 20 year career in international sales and marketing, followed by a decade as an award winning life and small business coach.
Marquita is an avid reader, loves to take spur of the moment road trips, and enjoys the occasional game of golf. She is a lover of all dogs (especially her adopted pal Lucy), and a passionate advocate of grassroots volunteer movements and community service. She is also a world-traveler and her trip of a lifetime is Machu Picchu via Orient Express.
Cover of Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience by Marquita Herald
Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience A Guide to Embracing Your Inner Strength by Marquita Herald
You don’t need to be facing a crisis to decide you want to become stronger and more resilient.
Trials will always be a part of life … a lost set of keys, financial stressors, overloaded schedules, relationship or health crisis. Even the most longed for changes such as marriage and the birth of a child require adaptability and emotional resilience.
Consider this … how it is that two people can be faced with the same obstacle and while one becomes mired in a web of negativity and feelings of helplessness, the other is able to overcome the challenge and bounce back stronger than ever?
Emotional Resilience is the Key
When we make the choice to look at all experiences as stepping stones for growth and greater long-term resilience, we are able to approach life on a whole new level, and in the process realign ourselves with what is truly important in our lives.
Stepping Stones answers the questions …
* What emotional resilience is and why it matters.
* Is resilience a gene reserved for the lucky few or can it ever be developed?
* Is the value of emotional resilience limited to crisis management or can it improve the quality of everyday living in any meaningful way?
* Is it ever too late to begin cultivating the habits of emotional resilience?
* How does one go about changing behaviors and strengthening the capacity for resilience?
“Unlike so many other books that wander in the vagaries of self-empowerment and self-motivation, I found “Resilience” to be not only practical, but applicable to literally every day of life. Stepping Stones is an uplifting and easy read, with some especially poignant quotes. Well done!”~M. Hanks
And here, my own review:
Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience. A Guide to Embracing Your Inner Strength (2nd Edition) by Marquita Herald
Common-sense advice on how to empower yourself to live the good life (or as good a life as possible)
As a psychiatrist I read plenty of professional publications on mental disorders. One of the many issues with much of the professional writing about the subject of health and mental well being is that it is written with a very specific public in mind: other professionals. Readability is not always the priority and some can be dry and not particularly engaging (although there are many good writers in the field). When recommending books or articles to patients and service-users it is important to keep in mind who the books are addressed to and how much common ground they cover.
On the other hand there are books that are very personal accounts and can be inspirational but not always easy to generalize to other cases. And some of the books containing advice make no reference to any theoretical approaches and lack firm evidence to back-up their suggestions.
I was pleased when I read Marquita Herald’s book ‘Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience’ (2nd Ed) to note that it does not fall into either of those categories. It is neither a dry professional book, nor a personal account lacking research and good evidence behind it. The author gives credit where credit is due, clearly stating where her ideas come from, and also acknowledging the lack of research in some areas (like the effects of Spirituality on resilience).
The concept of resilience fits in well with the “stress-vulnerability” model that many patients seem to find helpful in understanding their mental health difficulties. In brief it’s the idea that we are all born with a certain vulnerability to stress (sometimes we use the metaphor of a bucket of a certain size, with some people having a bigger bucket, and therefore being more resistant to stress, whilst others are born with a smaller one and a lesser degree of stress might topple them over the edge) and if stresses accumulate over our level of tolerance we’re bound to become mentally unwell. There are a number of techniques that can help (not make the inborn bucket larger, but make escape valves or holes on it that would allow relief and make it possible to handle more stress), including medication, enhancing coping strategies and a variety of therapies. Ms. Herald’s book points at ways of building up resilience, that she notes is like a muscle and can be trained. She also emphasizes the importance of knowing oneself, as that is the first step towards being able to build on our strengths and find mechanisms to overcome our weaknesses.
Despite the references and research behind the concepts, the book is written in a common-sense easy-to-follow manner, highlighting the main concepts in bold, adding summaries that go over the ideas of each chapter, and it is written with the theories of how we best learn in mind. That makes it a good book for a large variety of audiences, those with a good basis on mental health issues and also people looking for good tips and advice to improve their life.
‘Stepping Stones’ is enhanced by examples, not only the personal account of the writer, but also many inspiring stories, from heroic feats to smaller but important achievements, that pepper the chapters and keep the momentum going. There are also a number of brief accounts and reminders of famous figures who had in common their perseverance, learning from experiences and indeed resilience. They illustrate further that good things are worth working for and also that it is not all down to talent and inspiration. Keeping at it also plays a very important part.
I recommend ‘Stepping Stones’ as a user-friendly self-help book based on sound concepts, containing easy to follow ideas, that does not promise life will be happy and fluffy if you read it, but if you work hard and never give up you’ll be better prepared to cope with whatever might come your way. Are you ready to give it a go?
I hope you are, and here there is further information and links to the book:
Thanks to you all for reading, to Marquita and Making Connections for inviting me to take part in the tour and you know, if you’ve enjoyed it, like, share, comment, take part in the giveaway and of course, don’t forget to CLICK! You’ll be inspired! Oh, and the author just reminded me that for this week of the tour, you can get her book for $0.99, so take the chance!
Today I bring you a treat. I’m taking part in a blog tour. Today I bring you Taking Back Sunday by Cristy Moran.
After five years on the run, Sunday has finally settled into a seemingly normal life in Columbia, South Carolina. What her two best friends don’t know is that Sunday has a secret past. She is the Incarnate, a conduit of mystical energy transcendent of the mundane and the divine. For most of her life, she served under Bernadette, the most powerful witch in the Northwest. Her power is terrifying, and what she remembers of her past—and what she doesn’t—haunts her. In the year that she’s been attempting to be anything but the Incarnate, Sunday has fought her abilities tooth and nail, but it’s been worth it. When Sunday joins her friends’ coven for an innocent gathering, Sunday discovers a darkness hidden beneath the blanket of the coven’s magic and she is determined to find out who is behind it and what she has planned.
For the last four years, Cyrus has been the point man on the contract to recapture the Incarnate and deliver her to the Pastophori of Iset. A gifted tracker and a fearless werewolf, he harbors a wild, inexplicable passion for the Incarnate that has driven him to hunt her. He was one of the original captors that brought her to Bernadette when his obsession with her began. Having found her, Cyrus and his pack find themselves torn between two objectives: take her by force and deliver her to yet another group of fanatics, or help her uncover the traitor among her coven.
Excerpt 1 – from Chapter Four (haunted by memories of her past)
Sunday’s eyes shot open, and she jolted upright in bed. Her body was covered in sweat, and her heart was racing. Gripping the sheets in a white-knuckled fist, she scanned the room frantically to make sure that it was only a dream.
Curtains veiled the room from the early morning sun outside. When her eyes landed on the photo on the nightstand, she drew in a hard breath and slowly blew it out. She was in her room in Columbia, not a stone basement beneath Bernadette’s once-sprawling Washington estate. She ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face.
“When will this be over?” she muttered to her reflection.
Black and blue bags tugged at her bloodshot eyes, and worry lined her forehead. Hair mussed and tangled from tossing relentlessly in bed stood at all ends.
Half a decade earlier, nightmares like the one last night had been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. They had tipped Sunday off to the world hidden behind the veil of Bernadette’s sorcery. Until that time, Sunday couldn’t remember anything before her life at the right hand of the powerful witch. She didn’t even remember thinking that there was a time before then.
Her first real memory, at the time, had been waking as an amnesiac to the first thirteen years of her life. Through slits for eyes, Sunday made out the blurred shape of a man carrying her down a dim hallway. He radiated heat. Cradled in his arms, Sunday remembered thinking that she had never felt so warm in her life. Teeth chattering and freezing, her body shook uncontrollably against his chest. When her body jerked, he tightened his arms around her and held her closer. Her head fell against his chest, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Mind as blank as a newborn’s, Sunday had known no comfort in her life but this. As she closed her eyes again, she fell asleep.
For the first few weeks, her body healed. Open wounds turned to scabs and later scarred. Bruises turned green, and then yellow until they disappeared. During the weeks of her recovery, Bernadette visited Sunday regularly. She sat on the edge of Sunday’s bed and lay the girl’s head on her lap.
“My little girl,” she cooed as she petted Sunday’s head and caressed her gently. “I will teach you all the ways of the Incarnate, and you will shine as a star shines, only brighter. Yours will be the light of the sun, and we will be strong together.”
Under the witch’s hand, Sunday’s spirit relinquished itself and its authority to Bernadette. The witch had burned her, but the witch had saved her.
“I will show you the world that most do not see because they cannot see. I will show you of our kind’s dominion over the world of man and the world of magic. I will teach you of your power and of the power we hold over all that we can see, all that we can touch, which is so much more than that which other men can see, be they human or beast.”
As Bernadette lulled her to sleep, every cell in Sunday’s body tingled. Little by little, her life before the witch drifted further and further away until it all but disappeared. There was nothing then, nothing but Bernadette.
1. One time, I was offered a job at the White House. But I was in middle school then, and I couldn’t take it. True story.
2. Neil Diamond called me on the phone one time and woke me up from a nap. Yes. That Neil Diamond. And I cried because, seriously, it was amazing and I was overwhelmed.
3. I know all the words to Wayne’s World by memory and can recite the entire script at the drop of a hat.
4. My favorite fictional character of all time is Dr. John “Trapper John” McIntyre from the novel and movie MASH.
5. I am tall: 5’11”, and I’ve been this height since I was thirteen years old.
6. I did a two-week-long Shakespeare study abroad at Stratford Upon Avon in England when I was in college.
7. I absolutely love going to the dentist.
8. Technically, I was once in a high-speed police car chase. I wasn’t the felon, nor was I the cop. I was somewhere in the middle when my friend who was driving at the time said, “Wanna be in a high-speed car chase?” to which I answered, “Gun it!” and we did.
9. Of all the colors I’ve dyed my hair, I prefer washed out blue the most.
10. My cat is named after a comic book character of a little girl who doesn’t realize that she is dead, Lenore, and my dog is named after Indiana Jones and Sherlock (Henry Holmes).
Excerpt 2 – from Chapter Seven (Sunday and Cyrus meet)
As Cyrus and Sunday’s eyes met, the world shifted. The stale stench of cigarette and pungent clove smoke lifted. The penetrating music and the muffled shouting that passed for conversation at the club quieted. In less than a second, Cyrus was utterly changed. Cyrus’ soul settled. In the place of the consuming hate he’d nursed for over a decade, he knew peace. His entire body relaxed, and his mind quieted. His heart froze. The breath caught in his chest.
Sunday’s body swayed as her friend tugged to keep her moving forward, but she stood her ground. Even after Cyrus released her arm, her eyes remained locked with his while her friend asked what the matter was. Her cheeks flushed. As soon as she smiled, her eyes followed suit shimmering like honey.
Another handful of seconds passed when she finally looked away, bent her head slightly, and lowered her chin. She was blushing. Smiling. Tilting her face up, she wrinkled her nose coyly and batted her eyelashes.
“Do I know you?” When Sunday spoke, her voice drowned out every other sound in the room. She smiled again, awaiting his response.
His chest tightened.
All those years he obsessively chased her, and she didn’t even know he existed. Now, she looked up at him sheepishly and more adorable than he ever imagined. She wasn’t rushing to leave. She wasn’t running away. Minutes ago, he was dead-set on tearing her to pieces. It had occurred to him in the past that he would be unable to turn her over to his contractors alive. He considered the very real possibility that, when he eventually found her, she would inspire such blind fury that he might unleash his wolf and tear out her throat. Now, however, confronted with her in the flesh, his anger melted.
“No,” he painfully responded. For such a small word, it took a mountain of effort to say it. It was all he could do to keep from choking on the lie. She looked at him for another long moment.
“Too bad.”
She turned and walked away. Seconds later, Cyrus remained, staring at the gaping hole left by her absence. Her words echoed as she left him standing there feeling more lost and confused than ever in his life.
“What was that about, Cy?”
Cyrus didn’t have an answer. Not allowing his thoughts to delve into their momentary encounter any longer, Cyrus focused on the task at hand. The wolf couldn’t afford to let his prey on too loose a leash. Now, more than ever, she couldn’t get away.
About the Author
Cristy Moranlives in Miami, FL. She is a college librarian some of the time, a reader and writer most of the time, and a knitter much less of the time than she was six months before she took up writing again. She’s also a nerd and a geek, and proud to be.
Cristy writes the books that she likes to read. Her women are strong and out-spoken and her men run the gamut. Love stories abound in Cristy’s work because, really, aren’t love stories the best? There’s always a killer soundtrack running in the background of her novels – all you need to do is turn to the playlist to know what’s up.
Today is Tuesday and as usual it’s guest author day. I could not resist but take part in Melissa Rolke’s ‘The Perfect Emotion’ Book 2 of ‘The Perfect Series’ blog tour. I you keep on reading (and look at the cover!) you’ll see why. And you have a chance to get the first book at a discounted price. What more could you ask for?
The story of Kate, Kyle and Reed continues in this second novel of The Perfect Series.
Kate (Katherine) Monroe is finally coming to heads with the decisions she’s made in the past to keep herself distracted at any cost. Learning to move on and forward with the conflicts in her life is harder than she expects though. With Kyle continuing to attempt reconciliation and Kate’s mom back at home, avoiding and running are no longer an option.
All along Kate’s mind and heart are consumed with Reed, but she fights to push her feelings and desires to the side. Despite the obvious pull and connection she has with Reed she finds it difficult to let him in… and trust in herself. However, Reed’s perseverance and patience never wavers and eventually he uses the one thing that had always brought them together… tennis.
As Reed and Kate begin to embark on a new relationship they face the past and the present head on. Along the way, new challenges and emotions arise testing the direction of their future together.
Can Kate forgive herself and trust Reed in order to latch onto the one emotion she needs most… love?
“Jesus, Katherine,” he mumbles as I kiss my way across his jaw and over to his ear. “What are you doing to me?”
“Kissing you,” I whisper in his ear and brush my lips against his ear lobe.
“Mmmmmhmmmm.” His hands move to my waist and guide me onto him. I’m straddling his lap and his fingers dig into my hips. I rush my hands into his hair and his head presses all the way against the couch, the leather giving in to my demands. Our tongues clash against each other exploring as if it’s our first kiss, yet knowingly anticipating our next ridge or groove. My heart races in ways I never knew possible. My hands run down to the hem of his button down shirt and to the top of his pants. I start to pull at his shirt to un-tuck it, but his hands come around and lock around my wrists restraining me from pulling anymore. I whine into his mouth.
“Why?” I mumble against the softness of his lips and smile.
“This is the first time I’m in your house and I just met your parents… maybe the second time,” he jokes and then nibbles on my bottom lip.
“Grrrrr,” I grumble in his mouth. “You are always being too good.” His eyes narrow at me and he let’s out a rough chuckle.
“Katherine, I think you know that’s not true and I’ll show you just how bad I am when we are back up at school.” His hands snake up to my shoulders wrapping around the back of my neck. Pulling me towards him and his lips find mine again. Softly he kisses me across my jaw to my ear. “Patience,” he whispers.
“I don’t want to be patient,” I pout as I push my body into him. He laughs into me and un-straddles me from his lap. We face each other and I smile shyly at him feeling a little funny by my boldness.
“Stop,” he says, and his hand latches onto my pinky finger gently rubbing it. “Don’t be embarrassed. I don’t like you having to be patient either,” he says, just before he plants a firm kiss to my forehead. I lean myself against him and rest my head on his chest. His arms wrap around me tightly making my insecurities fade. As I take in his familiar pine and masculine scent he shifts us back against the arm of the couch allowing me to snuggle myself even closer.
I leave you a couple of teasers, but don’t want to reveal too much…
WE ALSO HAVE A VOTING GAME. This one is something else…
SOOOO Melissa has a really cool idea!! Wanna know what it is??? Well she is going to let you vote on who gets the novella in the series!! YUP!! The fans will pick which side character she will write about!! All you gotta do is go click on the link below to participate!!
Melissa Rolka grew up in the Chicagoland area all of her childhood and has always had a love of writing. She started by keeping a journal at a young age and then in high school she started writing poetry. A couple poems were published anonymously. Then in college she majored in Philosophy, which required lots and lots of writing. After graduating from Marquette University she traveled west to Los Angeles. There she worked for the Writers Guild of America and found herself submerged in the writers world. She worked on small writings, but never pursued them. On the side she became involved with a small theater group. Eventually she made her way back to the Midwest, where her heart belongs, and worked in business for several years. She found love, got married and has two beautiful children. Being at home has allowed her to keep following her love of reading and writing.The Perfect Distraction is her first full length novel. The second one is ‘The Perfect Emotion’ and she hopes for a third. When Melissa is not writing she is caring for, playing with and loving her two kids. In between taking care of her family and writing she almost always has her nose buried in her Kindle.
.jpg)
Just Olga 