Michael J. Bowler - Once Upon a Time in America - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

With Lance leading the way, the Knights of the Round Table have set out to convince the American people that amending the Constitution to protect children is right and just and long overdue. As the team travels from state to state, they are met with acceptance, indifference, and even hostility. But Lance’s popularity and mystique as The Boy Who Came Back, coupled with his innate charm, gradually sway more and more of the populace, not to mention state legislators, to their cause.

The journey becomes a rite of passage that propels the young people into adulthood, and solidifies Lance’s status as an iconic and influential figure.

But he’s uneasy. He knows Arthur is hiding something from him, something that will bring him great sadness. After The Excalibur Incident in Las Vegas, Lance becomes more and more certain that the future is one he won’t like, despite his stunning success at winning over some of the most intractable states.

Then comes the attack, sudden and brutal.

Now the Round Table is in disarray, and Lance must confront a cold-blooded killer who’s luring him into an obvious trap. But if he refuses the challenge, more loved ones will die, and everything he’s fought for will die with them. Surrounded by the diverse young knights who have become his family, Lance sets out to battle his enemy with the knowledge deep in his heart that only one of them will survive. Is this the end of the Round Table?

The Knight Cycle concludes…

My Review

What Michael J. Bowler crafts across five books is a beautiful message about the saving power of adoption. When King Arthur takes a young orphan named Lance in off the streets, and proceeds to nurture a group of neglected children, he becomes a father to them all. He never forces them to do anything they don't want to do. He gives them a choice, and they in turn, come to honor and respect him for his wisdom and love.

Many of these kids come from broken homes, but Bowler states that their birth parents aren't bad because they're poor, they're bad because they view their children as property and nothing more. Bowler even addresses a possible contradiction in his novels when a politician questions Lance, "Well, it worked out pretty well for you, didn't it?" referring to Lance's status as a Latino boy whose circumstances were vastly improved by having a white guardian. But Lance is quick to fire back, "But I had a choice." Lance wasn't placed with Arthur by Social Services or some government agency who under normal circumstances would not have given him a say in his placement in the foster care system. Instead, Lance and Arthur were able to freely choose each other.

King Arthur also forms a powerful relationship with the ex-gang banger, Esteban. The tough as nails youth hasn't seen his father in years after he up and left, placing his loyalty to his gang over that of his family. When his father reappears after he becomes one of King Arthur's famous knights, Esteban has a hard time handling it. He considers Arthur to be his real father now, and Arthur counsels the troubled Esteban telling him, "His loss was my gain. You are a son any man would be proud of." After Esteban's father makes a tremendous sacrifice on behalf of his son in a last ditch attempt to show him just how much he loves him, Arthur reaffirms Esteban's worth by helping him see his father in a new light, one that he can live with and accept.

"Cherish the children. All of the children. For they are the hope." That is the essence of what Arthur believes in and what brought him to modern day Los Angeles in the first place. He wants to instill the core values of courtesy and dignity in a whole new generation of American youth. He tells his knights to pass down his beliefs, saying, "Do the same for your children and teach them to do the same for theirs. That is a true legacy."

Even when his work is over and his task is completed, the disciples of King Arthur are determined to raise the bar that he set for them. They intend to carry on his crusade, his lifelong work, because now they see that he was right—a nation's greatest natural resource is its children. They're living proof of that.

***

Once Upon a Time in America can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $14.95 paperback
Pages: 328
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Release: November 12, 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9780990871101
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of seven novels––A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), and The Knight Cycle, comprised of five books: Children of the Knight (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), Running Through A Dark Place, There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead, and Once Upon A Time In America.

His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

He grew up in San Rafael, California, and majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.

He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to eight different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.

He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”

Links to connect with Michael:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog
Tumblr
Pinterest
Instagram
Blog Tour Site


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Cristelle Comby - Danse Macabre - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Private investigators Alexandra Neve and Ashford Egan are hired to succeed where the police have failed, to safely return home a missing ballerina. With no lead to pursue and no idea who could be behind the young woman’s kidnapping, they soon find themselves at a loss as to what to do.

To make matters worse, the heart of England seems to be caught in the middle of a little Ice Age. With snow endlessly falling and Tube lines either too cramped up to use or out of service, it is a pain to do any legwork in the huge metropolis.

Oh, and because trouble never comes alone, there may also be a serial killer on the loose in the streets of East London...

My Review

When the identity of the killer in Cristelle Comby's DANSE MACABRE is revealed at the end of the novel, there's an interesting bit of reflection by one of the characters. Alexandra Neve, one half of the investigating duo of Neve & Egan, finds herself relating to the perpetrator, understanding how this person's mind worked. There are notes on the wall and pictures of the victims in the murderer's dwelling place, and Alex immediately compares that methodology to the whiteboard she uses while on a case filled with her own scribblings and photos. The thought makes "her insides coil," causing her to tell her partner, "I don't want this job to drive me mad."

When does dedication turn into fanaticism? When does "solving crimes, one sleepless night at a time" become an obsession instead of a profession? It's a fascinating way to frame a mystery novel when one of the "good guys" knows just how easily the divide can be crossed into "bad guy" territory. It's a dynamic that flows throughout the story when her partner Egan states, "Evil can wear many disguises."

By continually drawing closer to the depraved heart of humanity, the two of them know the risk they are taking by immersing themselves in this world. Their insatiable curiosity plays a big role in why they are able to solve case after case, but it also exposes them to elements that the rest of society remains unaware of. They crawl down into the closed-off lines of the London Underground, encountering vagrants whose living conditions they cannot even begin to comprehend amid such squalor. They learn about unspeakable acts whose details remain etched in their minds, bodies tied up and mutilated, fingers purposely broken to remain on a piano's keys long after death. Gruesome doesn't even begin to cover it.

Encountering such scenes on a regular basis has a way of changing a person, and not for the better. Comby voices this concern for her characters as they descend deeper and deeper into the corruption and immorality on both sides of the law. They learn to live by their own set of rules, following no procedures, heeding no mandates. When they want to get in somewhere, they pick the lock, they don't wait around for a search warrant. When they go on a stakeout, they don't bring backup, they go it alone.

But they're each on their own separate paths of self-discovery. Ashford Egan finds himself coming to terms with his blindness. He knows that he's been living on the fringe of society, caring about no one but himself. It's not until Alexandra enters his life that his soul begins to thaw. She breathes new life into him, getting him interested in the world outside his head. But the rush of emotions is a lot for him to deal with, he's not used to feeling so much, and it scares him. He knows he has to stop being so self-absorbed because it's not who he wants to be.

Over the course of their now twenty-four completed investigations, they've become a bit jaded, a tad cynical, and that scares Alex. As the book concludes on New Year's Eve, she looks back at her life over the past year, and she's not sure that she likes the person she's become. It's a difficult dilemma to solve. Their mission is to battle the negative elements in life, but a war like that usually has to be fought on enemy turf, and a person can't help being affected by that, and Alexandra and Ashford certainly are, each in their own way.

***

Danse Macabre can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $2.99 ebook, $11.99 paperback
Pages: 254
Genre: New Adult, Detective Mystery
Release: October 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9781502723772
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides.

Thanks to her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas, her English is fluent.

She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.

Danse Macabre is her third new-adult novel, and she’s hard at work on the next titles in the Neve & Egan series.

Links to connect with Cristelle:
Web Site
Twitter
Goodreads
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Blog Tour Site


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Michael J. Bowler - And The Children Shall Lead - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

The campaign to save California’s children was only the beginning. Now King Arthur and his Round Table of teenaged knights set their sights on fixing something even bigger – the entire country. How? By targeting America’s most sacred document – The Constitution.

Native American teens Kai and Dakota, despite harboring secrets of their own, join the team, and swear undying loyalty to Lance. They carry the hope of their people that the crusade will better the lives of Indian children, who are the most neglected by government. This new campaign will take the young people to The White House, the halls of Congress, and beyond in their quest to change the prevailing opinion that children are property, rather than human beings in their own right.

But an unseen nemesis stalks Lance and Arthur, and ratchets up the attacks on New Camelot, promising to kill them and destroy all that the king has put in place. Lance, Ricky, Kai, and Dakota become the enemy’s favorite targets, and barely escape with their lives on more than one occasion. Who is this mysterious stalker, and what is the motive for these attacks? Lance has no idea, especially since he’s never intentionally hurt anyone.

“You were right, little boy, death is coming for you, but slowly, and only after it takes out the people you love.” That chilling promise haunts Lance, but also strengthens his determination to protect the people he loves at all costs. Or die trying.

The Knight Cycle Continues…

My Review

For a teenage boy, Lance gives a lot of speeches—a lot. Whether he's addressing reporters in a press conference or standing before both houses of Congress as the only juvenile ever to do so, he tends to act more like an adult, even with the occasional "damn straight" and "fool" or "dumbass" comment thrown into mix. His nickname becomes "the young Mr. Lincoln" and fittingly so because he can command a soap box like nobody's business.

But sometimes, the effect is overused. His importance to the country, to the world for that matter, is at times over-exaggerated. He's unique. He's special. Crazy things happen to him. But is everyone on the planet waiting with bated breath, ready to hang on his every word? It's made to seem like everybody's life comes to a screeching halt whenever Lance speaks. Could anyone, anywhere really have that much power and influence, even in fiction?

Lance is a hero to kids everywhere as he tries to amend the United States Constitution to include a Children's Bill of Rights. A lofty ambition, but one he thinks he can convince two-thirds of Congress to accept. He marches ahead into the fray, arriving in Washington on Air Force Two before dining in the White House with the president and his family. He knows he's just a boy from the streets, and he appears humbled by all of the attention, but he's never reticent when it comes to speaking his mind, eager to put those above him in their place.

He's a ballsy kid, whether he's saving his boyfriend Ricky from being carried away in a helicopter to a frantic chase on horseback when masked pursuers try to gun him down, Lance knows what it's like to be in mortal danger and survive. He is the boy who came back from the dead, after all, so that swagger is always there when he needs it. He's comfortable with being the one in charge, the guy that everyone looks to, to call the shots.

But the pressure might be wearing on him, the strain becoming a little too much. He fears that his fate might mirror that of Abraham Lincoln and that he won't live long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor, that he might end up being a martyr for the cause. And he's okay with that, as long as it doesn't affect anyone else he cares about. He tells Ricky that he will lay down his life for him, before he'd let anything happen to him. Lance found the one thing worth living for (in his love for Ricky) and he's not going to let it go without a fight, regardless of whatever happens to him personally.

That's the Lance that gives the series its oomph. Not the little smartass standing at the pulpit endlessly pontificating about having all the answers to society's ills. That's all well and good, but the power of Lance's message is seeing it in action, watching him live the words he preaches. That's what makes him credible. That's what makes a reader want to invest in him as a character. He's at his best when he's just like us, not when he's posturing, thinking he's above us.

It's a heady thing for a teenager to have so much fame. For the most part, Lance handles it well. It's nice to see him as a prince, and not yet a king. There will be time for that because he's more than just a mouthpiece working an agenda and spewing rhetoric, he's a boy with a huge heart. Sure, he has towering—bordering on unrealistic—goals but that's because he's a dreamer. At the core he brings about positive change in people's lives just for being who he is, without all the pomp and circumstance.

With young adult literature, it's all about keeping it real, and the more Lance gets to do things like go to the prom and hang out with One Direction, he doesn't have to be so serious, at least not all the time. It's important to have a moral message, but kids want to read about kids having fun and the series thrives when Lance does just that.

***

And The Children Shall Lead can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $14.95 paperback
Pages: 302
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Release: September 25, 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9780990306368
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of seven novels––A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), and The Knight Cycle, comprised of five books: Children of the Knight (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), Running Through A Dark Place, There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead, and Once Upon A Time In America.

His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

He grew up in San Rafael, California, and majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.

He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to eight different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.

He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”

Links to connect with Michael:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog
Tumblr
Pinterest
Instagram
Blog Tour Site


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DJ Wilson - Ride to Restoration - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

In this second book, D learns that paying it forward is not without costs, toss in Candi Parker, the girl of D’s dreams gone rogue, along with vivacious Victoria Lawson, attorney at law, who willingly steps in to fill Candi’s thong, and D’s hilarious misadventures continue across Canada. Reality sets in and the bullets begin to fly just two days after he returns to the states.

D sends Victoria away to keep her out of harm’s way, before tackling his real life demons, aka A.J. Standford, the Ponzi scheming banker who has a bounty on D’s head, and Candi’s extended family, the Gambinos, who will profit from his demise.

The romantic side of the story poses multiple questions: Will D settle for Victoria after being royally screwed by Candi or will his feelings for Candi propel him back into her life and the crime family’s ongoing chaos? Will Candi take back her sleazy ex-husband Joseph or will she somehow manage to break with her powerful family and come crawling back to D’s loving arms?

With all of this going on, there’s bound to be hell to pay sooner rather than later. Like momma always said, “When you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned.”


My Review

It's interesting when an author bases a character so much on details that mirror the ones found in his biography. It makes the reader pause and wonder, "Did a lot of this stuff really happen, or is this guy just pulling my leg?" The author's name is DJ Wilson, and his character is D, full name Jon David. Coincidence? I think not. They both live in Tennessee at a place called Dale Hollow Lake, and they both have labra-doodle dogs. Their physical traits are also similar, middle-aged, greying hair, bearded faces. Are they one in the same? It's hard to say, not having a definitive answer from the author, but a strong case can be made that DJ borrows from a lot of his own life experiences when creating D's adventures.

That's one thing for a sports drama or maybe even a mystery, but it takes some serious guts when it comes to erotic fiction. D does things in the novel, that some women might find reprehensible (passing a vibrator around between two women, when most wouldn't even share a toothbrush) and others would find graphically pleasing (with plenty of mouth, lips and tongue references). As a writer, he's not shy in describing his sexual tastes and what turns him on between the sheets, and practically everywhere else—from hot tubs to tree stands. All he can think about is sex, which most men can probably identify with, but it can be a bit much at times, especially when he's hopping back and forth between the aforementioned two women.

But there are also parts that are sad, like when D sits down in his lakeside abode, maybe for the last time, and pens a heartfelt message to his sons. He hasn't seen them in a long time, not since he divorced their mom. He misses them deeply, even if he doesn't know how to go about reestablishing a relationship with them. The letter is by far the most touching moment in the series thus far, for its honesty and the knowledge that maybe DJ is including in the book to reach out to someone in real life as well.

The references to D writing a book chronicling his motorcycle adventures with Candi and Victoria are also sly mentions to what he's doing, as if he's winking at readers, letting us in on the joke. The allusions to Christian Grey from the FIFTY SHADES OF GREY trilogy are also quite humorous, especially when Candi teases D that he's not living up to his more dashing fictional counterpart.

The whole series begs the question, "What's real and what's not?" Are the other characters based on living, breathing individuals, too? Readers want to know. Will DJ reveal what's behind the curtain or will he deliberately keep everything shrouded in a hint of mystery, a dash of intrigue? Only time will tell.


***

Ride to Restoration can be purchased at:
Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Google Play

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $11.95 paperback
Pages: 318
Genre: Erotic Romance
Release: July 16, 2014
Publisher: Riscatto Publishing
ISBN: 9781604148022
Click to add to your Goodreads list.

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About the Author

Raised in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, I graduated from Cumberland University, located in a small town you've never heard just inside Kentucky quite a few years ago. At the present, we're living beside beautiful Dale Hollow Lake.

Blessed to travel, blessed with health, blessed with second chances, too numerous to list here.

As a blogger, featured on many sites, including the Huffington Post, I have been humbled beyond measure, more times than not, by all that life has thrown our way.

Successful, that's me, catastrophic failure, that's me too. We've been there, done that and have the life changing scars to prove it.

Our writings reflect life through the throes of heartache and loss, as well as through the joys redemption brings.

"Life is not waiting for the Storms to Pass, It's Learning to Dance in the Rain."

Links to connect with DJ:
Web Site
Twitter
Goodreads
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Richard H. Hardy - The Infinity Program - Author Interview & Giveaway

About the Book

Jon Graeme and Harry Sale are unlikely friends. Harry is a world-class programmer, but his abrasive personality alienates co-workers. In contrast, Jon is a handsome and easy-going technical writer, the low man on the IT totem pole.

Sharing a love of nature, the men set out together, planning to go their separate ways--Jon on a hike and Harry, fly fishing. Three days later, Jon arrives at the rendezvous point, but his friend is nowhere in sight. When Jon finds Harry unconscious on the floor of a cave, Harry claims to have been lying there the entire time. But he is neither cold nor hungry. What Jon doesn't know is that Harry fell into an underground cavern, where he came into contact with an alien quantum computer.

Back at work, Harry jettisons his regular tasks and concentrates exclusively on inventing new operating language to access the alien system. In the process he crashes his office's Super Computer and is fired. Jon convinces the company to give Harry a second chance, arguing that the system he has invented will make them millions.

Jon has no idea what havoc Harry is about to unleash.

Author Interview

1. Who is the plot based around?
Harry Sale, a world class systems programmer is the main character in the book. He is an irascible, difficult, but good-hearted person. His contact with an alien information system changes him forever and sends the rest of the world into turmoil.

2. What is the main idea of the plot?
Like so many stories in the Science Fiction genre, the basic plot hinges on “What if?” What if a programming genius discovered a tremendously advanced alien computer? Some people would use such a discovery to accumulate wealth or power. But Harry Sale is a different kind of guy. The story revolves about the choices he makes when the alien information system gives him the power to do anything he can imagine.

3. When does the plot take place?
Basically it is a fairly contemporary setting, circa 2010.

4. Where does the plot take place?
Most of the book takes place at a High Tech company called HTPS Industries. Harry Sale, a systems programmer, works on a 100 million dollar Hyper-Computer. The book takes an inside look at the quirky, Dilbertesque side of corporate culture in an IT environment.

5. Why did the plot develop the way it did?
I wish I could say I was some kind of genius and that the plot came to me all at once. But the reality is that idea was built on idea as the book progressed. I had a very broad notion of where I wanted to take the book, but I had to work out many details as I went along.

6. How did you come up with the idea for the plot?
The germ idea is: someone finds an alien computer that allows anything to be accomplished using nanotechnology. It took me a while to realize that I needed something else to make the idea work. The missing component was Harry Sale, the genius-level programmer who brings the alien information system back to life.

***

The Infinity Program can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords
iBooks
Kobo

Prices/Formats: $5.95 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Pages: 250
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
Release: April 1, 2014
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603819336
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Richard H. Hardy was born in Glasgow, Scotland, during a week of relentless bombing raids just before the close of World War II. The day he was born an incendiary bomb fell on the church across the street from where he lived, so he is fond of saying that he entered the world with a big adrenaline rush.

His family later moved to England and then on to America.

After college Richard bounced through a series of temporary jobs as he traveled around the country, wanting nothing more than to write fiction. A job driving a library van allowed him free time to write several short stories and work on a novel.

He and his wife moved to New Hampshire, where he took an entry level job at a software company. He was soon promoted to the technical writing department and ended up producing over 500,000 words of online documentation. After a few years he was promoted to the programming department and ended up as the Senior EDI Programmer, creating EDI maps and writing UNIX scripts and troubleshooting on AIX systems throughout the U.S. and Canada.

After he retired, he started writing fiction again. The Infinity Program is his first published novel.

Links to connect with Richard:
Web Site
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site


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Mia Kerick - The Red Sheet - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

One October morning, high school junior Bryan Dennison wakes up a different person—helpful, generous, and chivalrous—a person whose new admirable qualities he doesn’t recognize. Stranger still is the urge to tie a red sheet around his neck like a cape. Bryan soon realizes this compulsion to wear a red cape is accompanied by more unusual behavior. He can’t hold back from retrieving kittens from tall trees, helping little old ladies cross busy streets, and defending innocence anywhere he finds it.

Shockingly, at school, he realizes he used to be a bully. He’s attracted to the former victim of his bullying, Scott Beckett, though he has no memory of Scott from before “the change.” Where he’d been lazy in academics, overly aggressive in sports, and socially insecure, he’s a new person. And although he can recall behaving egotistically, he cannot remember his motivations.

Everyone, from his mother to his teachers to his “superjock” former pals, is shocked by his dramatic transformation. However, Scott Beckett is not impressed by Bryan’s newfound virtue. And convincing Scott he’s genuinely changed and improved, hopefully gaining Scott’s trust and maybe even his love, becomes Bryan’s obsession.

With a foreword by Cody Kennedy


My Review

Dropping into the middle of an ongoing story in the opening pages of a book is always an interesting tactic. Mia Kerick knows she has to bring you up to speed, and that you'll be playing a bit of catch up, but the way she does it, keeps you turning the pages at a lightning speed. If a writer commits to the journey and doesn't leave me hanging, then I'm with her all the way, and Kerick doesn't disappoint. She weaves her narrative together like the hands of fate stringing the threads of life through a loom. We don't know what Bryan did to Scott—for a reason. She wants us to find out when he does.

Collective memory loss is a common fictional device. Sometimes it's overused, but I think it works here. It's not simply inserted for plot purposes. There's a greater meaning behind why Bryan can't remember, you just have to wait for it. The explanation is as powerful as it is gut-wrenching, but to get to that point, we have to rebuild what happened to Scott along with Bryan, and it makes the emotional punch that much greater at the end.

Scott is delicate, blonde, blue-eyed. He's gay and everyone knows it. Bryan is insanely tall, the towering jock that nobody messes with. He's gay too—he just doesn't want anyone to find out about how he's been doing a lot more than kissing Scott behind closed doors. Sometimes gay romances are heavy on the self-hatred and the love scenes turn into crippled attempts at intimacy. Not so with THE RED SHEET. Kerick hits all the right notes. The love behind the gestures is what sold it for me. Bryan's not trying to use Scott's body to try to figure stuff out for himself. He genuinely cares about him. He wants to make him feel good and watch him experience the things he's doing to him. He's not self-absorbed, thinking about himself in these moments, he's thinking about Scott and that's what makes the whole sequence great. I bought their love story, even though I'm female, even though I'm straight, and to me that speaks to the talent of a great romance writer.

The shifts back and forth between the present and the past are easy to follow. I like how Kerick uses wads of rolled-up journal entries that Bryan finds in the wastepaper basket in his bedroom and how Scott lets him read the text exchanges they had. I like how literary means are employed to give Bryan a better picture of who he was and what his relationship with Scott meant to him. How sweet and cute they were together is juxtaposed with that arrogant side of Bryan when he was determined to keep things on the down low.

I judge a lot of books by how quickly I'm able to move through them. If the author hooks me. If the writing style flows, the syntax clear, the voice engaging. And I liked being inside Bryan's head because I tore through chapter after chapter, watching in amazement how my Kindle app said I was at the 30% then the 60% then the 90% mark. Young adult novels are at their best when they sweep you into the school year and I felt the weeks between Halloween and Valentine's Day fly by right along with Bryan and Scott. It shows that no matter how much things change, so much stays the same. Anyone who's been through high school experiences the same types of things. It's only in seeing them in a new way—like addressing male homosexuality in a modern day setting—that gives high school a fresh twist making it relevant for today's audience. Kerick's a young author to keep an eye on.

***

The Red Sheet can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Dreamspinner Press, All Romance Books

Prices/Formats: $6.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback
Pages: 190
Genre: Young Adult
Release: February 20, 2014
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781627987219
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—all named after saints—and five nonpedigreed cats—all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband of twenty years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young men and their relationships, and she believes that sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.

Mia is proud of her involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

My themes I always write about:
Sweetness. Unconventional love, tortured/damaged heroes- only love can save them

Links to connect with Mia:
Web Site
Facebook
Goodreads
Blog
YouTube
Blog Tour Site


About the Giveaway

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Michael J. Bowler - There Is No Fear - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

The most famous boy in the world is a prisoner. He’s been charged with a crime he didn’t commit, a crime that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. Languishing within The Compound, the most secure juvenile facility in California, while the district attorney vows to make an example of him because of his celebrity status, Lance must endure the daily indignities of the incarcerated.

New Camelot is fractured without him. Ricky and Chris are bereft, living for the weekly phone call that becomes their only lifeline to the brother they so desperately love, while Arthur and Jenny feel the loss of their son with a sadness that can’t be quelled. And what about Michael, the highly volatile teen who helped write the proposition that will change California forever? Could he really be the monster he says he is? His hatred of Ricky is palpable, and his instability may well threaten the lives of everyone at New Camelot.

As the election looms closer, Proposition 51 takes on an even greater significance in light of the pending trial of the century. The more harshly fifteen-year-old Lance is treated within the broken justice system, the more he contemplates the wisdom of his idea that children need more adult rights. If The Child Voter Act becomes law, won’t it simply allow adults to throw more kids into prison with impunity?

Whichever way the voters decide, his greatest fear remains the same: will he ever again be with the people he loves?

The Knight Cycle Continues…

My Review

Should children be treated like adults? That's the resonating theme that pulses through Michael J. Bowler's CHILDREN OF THE KNIGHT series. Now in its third installment, THERE IS NO FEAR, the consequences behind that decision couldn't be more dire. Bowler dives into the juvenile justice system headfirst when Lance gets arrested and thrown into prison.

It's a topic that Bowler knows a lot about. He's volunteered over thirty years of his life, helping children behind bars, providing them with a source of counseling and support. So he's the perfect man to explore the inner workings of a correctional facility, and show just how much needs to be changed in order to make things more humane for the youngest members of society.

The reader goes through every humiliating aspect of his incarceration right along with Lance. From the minute the officer tightens his handcuffs and bashes his head against the police cruiser, he knows he's in trouble. The D.A. is up for reelection and he's out to make an example out of him. Lance quickly learns that court proceedings don't hinge upon justice. Oh no, it's all about winning. Once Lance becomes the public face of the crime he's accused of, the cops stop looking for other suspects. Lance is their man, guilty until proven innocent.

The conditions in the high security wing for violent offenders—dubbed "The Compound"—are animalistic at best. Lance is shackled whenever he leaves lockdown. Guards trip and kick him in the stomach. Other inmates are out to pick a fight with him, judging where they're going to place him on the food chain. Since he's a celebrity they're ready to cut him down to size, show him where he belongs. Lance, for the most part, holds his own, but cowers when he has to strip naked and shower with other boys, reliving flashbacks of his past abuse. He's not even given privacy to use the toilet. His cell is bleak and harsh, and the only relief he finds during his captivity comes from a Catholic priest, who visits once a week as the prison chaplain.

However, Bowler makes a point to provide a fully nuanced account of prison life. Not all of the guards are bad, some of them feel terrible that a fine, young man like Lance is forced to suffer the indignity of being chained and poked and prodded. Some of the boys he's locked up with can't believe he's there because even they don't think he deserves to be. They believe in "The Boy Who Came Back" just as much as most kids their own age do. They're not all out to bully and torment him just because he's delicately handsome or rumored to be gay or the most famous person there. They know he didn't get a fair shake, just like most of them. He's Latino. He's originally from the street. He used to be from a bad part of town. So it's sad to say that in a way, they're not totally surprised that he ends up where they did.

And that's what Bowler ultimately attempts to show—it can happen to anyone. It doesn't matter how rich or famous or successful you are, one slip up is all it takes, and he doesn't want to see any young person have to end up in jail. The reader gets the impression that based on Bowler's firsthand experience he would do anything to stop that from happening, even write a series of books about it.

When an author writes so passionately about a cause that's so close to his heart, a reader can't help but respond to his message. The authenticity behind his words backs up his story. It makes it more believable and his characters more genuine. Everything has the tinge of reality to it. It's not some fantasy world shrouded in the mists of Avalon, it's what's going on right now in modern day Los Angeles. The fundamental human rights of children are being taken away and adults are standing back and letting it happen. Bowler's portrayal is a rousing call to arms to become a "Warrior of Light."

***

There Is No Fear can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Pages: 284
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Release: July 17, 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9780990306337
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of five novels––A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), Children of the Knight (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), Running Through A Dark Place, and There Is No Fear––who grew up in San Rafael, California. His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.

He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.

He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He has already written the two remaining books that complete The Children of the Knight Cycle and both will be released in 2014.

He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”

Links to connect with Michael:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog
Tumblr
Instagram
Blog Tour Site


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Cathi Stoler - The Hard Way - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Private Investigator Helen McCorkendale’s childhood friend, Jimmy Scanlan, has just opened January, the most lavish casino and hotel resort on the Las Vegas Strip. After attending the grand opening, Helen returns to New York and encourages her friend, Laurel Imperiole, Senior Editor at Women Now magazine, to create a get-away contest for readers offering a weekend at the hotel as the grand prize. The winner, Dawn Chapman, a jewelry store employee from Cincinnati, denies entering the contest and initially refuses the trip. Finally persuaded by Laurel to accept, she arrives at the hotel and nearly faints when she passes the hotel’s elite meeting rooms where the International Diamond Dealers Consortium is holding its annual meeting. She insists on returning home immediately.

Suspicious of her behavior, Jimmy visits her suite to encourage her to attend the Saturday afternoon pool party, saying she can leave on his private jet the next day. Later in the afternoon, he finds Chapman’s dead body by the pool. She’s been murdered—an unusual double poisoning by cyanide and diamond dust.

Dawn Chapman was not who she appeared to be, and therein lies a mystery. But to Helen and Laurel, the main task is to take Jimmy Scanlon off the suspect list and clear his name. Will their luck hold? Or will it be a crap shoot, as they roll the dice and do it ‘the hard way,’ going for doubles when the odds are against them. Losing may mean losing their lives.


My Review

Yes, this is first and foremost a mystery, but the multiple interwoven love stories are what kept me on the edge of my seat.

Helen and Jimmy. I thought these two had sparks flying out the wazoo but they were either too afraid or too oblivious to act on them. Helen has known Jimmy forever, ever since the third grade. She comes to the opening of his new casino in Vegas with her boyfriend in tow. Mike's a nice guy, but he doesn't seem to have the stomach to keep up with Helen's P.I. work. He's more of a security blanket to Jimmy's overprotective alpha male. Jimmy doesn't want Helen to get hurt either, and when she does, he takes care of her himself, carrying her in his arms and tucking her into his bed. There's something so deliciously swoon-worthy about that kind of man. The strong, take no prisoners type is such a turn on compared to the sturdy, dependable variety, at least in fiction.

From my perspective, I could see how much Jimmy wanted things between them to turn into more. His feelings for Helen were so apparent that his jealous personal assistant, Maddie, certainly picked up on them, no doubt wishing that Jimmy would look at her the way he looked at Helen. My heart went out to Jimmy because he can see Helen moving forward in her relationship with Mike, as she slowly starts to leave him behind and make room in her life for a man that's not him. Jimmy tries to come off as happy for her, but inside he's sad that he's probably going to end up alone.

For me, Jimmy and Helen just seemed to fit together so perfectly, and it's not by chance that they nicknamed each other, Mutt and Jeff. Helen's not used to sharing her life with someone else. She's afraid of having to be attentive to another person's wants and needs when she's so used to going it alone. When it comes to Mike, she doesn't know if she can do it. And to me, that's the red flag that she chooses to ignore. If Mike was the one, she wouldn't have to question her devotion or her ability to put him first. With Jimmy, it comes more easily, like second nature. She drops everything to defend him against a possible murder charge while she leaves Mike back home in New York, letting days go by between phone calls. Jimmy is clearly her first priority, I just wish she would realize that.

Laurel and Aaron. These two I could really relate to. They had something once, but Laurel screwed up big time and Aaron broke things off. Laurel was only helping Helen on a case, but she effectively damaged Aaron's trust in her and now she doesn't know if she can get it back, especially when Aaron almost lost his job on the NYPD because of it. He still loves her, but she just hurt him too much with her betrayal. To thicken the plot, Laurel happens to be Mike's daughter, and Helen will stop at nothing until she gets them back together.

The scene I enjoyed most in the book was the one where Aaron, against his better judgment, goes to Laurel's apartment on behalf of Helen's latest case. When he steps inside the door, Laurel can feel his presence and the way it used to fill her space. She misses him desperately, especially when he takes his usual place on her couch, just like he always did. When she agrees to accompany him to a black tie affair at the Museum of Natural History to help Helen nab her jewel thief, the chemistry between them is still there. He's speechless when he sees her in her black cocktail dress, and she can't take her eyes off him looking dashing in his dark suit. I couldn't resist cheering for them and hoping that they would give their romance another try.

Deirdre and Pieter. She's the victim of this murder mystery and he's her lover. The only evidence of their relationship are a series of photos that Laurel receives after Deirdre's employer snoops through the belongings in her apartment after her tragic demise. What's heart wrenching about the photos is that Deirdre appears head over heels in love with Pieter, but he looks at best disinterested in her. The one-sidedness of their relationship strikes all three of the women who view the images - her employer, Laurel and Helen. They feel the deceased's pain even if they never saw Deirdre and Pieter together in real life.

For me that speaks volumes about the kind of author that Stoler is. She's able to elicit sympathy for a character introduced briefly at the beginning and portrayed as haughty and posh, the typical reserve characteristic of all Brits, even if she was anything but. As Helen later uncovers, her father was a con man who taught her to always strive to act above her station in life in order to get ahead. She was scraping and clawing to get by, even if she looked elegant and poised on the outside.

Stoler spins an entertaining yarn full of suspense and thrills, but her asides into the realm of romance are what give the book its oomph factor. It's what allows the humanity to bleed through. There's no better way to connect with characters than through matters of the heart, and Stoler does that and then some.

***

The Hard Way can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $14.95 paperback
Pages: 280
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Release: April 15, 2014
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603819497
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Cathi Stoler’s mysteries feature PI Helen McCorkendale and magazine editor, Laurel Imperiole. The Hard Way is the third book in the series. The first, Telling Lies, took on the subject of stolen Nazi art. Book 2, Keeping Secrets, delved into the subject of hidden identity. Stoler’s short stories include: “Magda,” in the Criminal Element Anthology Malfeasance Occasional: Girl Trouble, “Out of Luck,” in the Anthology, Murder New York Style: Fresh Slices, “Fatal Flaw,” a finalist for the Derringer for Best Short Story and “Money Never Sleeps” both published at Beat to A Pulp. Cathi is working on a novella, Nick of Time, which features International gambler, Nick Donahue. She is also starting a new series, Bar None, A Murder On The Rocks Mystery, with female bar owner, Jude Dillane. Cathi is a member of the New York/Tri State chapter of Sisters In Crime. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America.

Links to connect with Cathi:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog
Blog Tour Site


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DJ Wilson - Ride to Redemption - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Righting another's wrong landed D in WITSEC, the witness protection program and cost him family, friends, and everything of substance in his life.

Loneliness is his constant companion until he meets Candi, the girl of his dreams. He and Candi embark on a three-week ride to redemption where they deal with mind-numbing deceit, perilous treachery, their overpowering lust for each other and their personal demons.

Nevertheless, new opportunities bring a chance to begin again. And, it doesn't hurt that he's got 200 pounds of illicit diamonds to use to ease the pain of those wronged. He will continue the redemption process by way of a well thought out plan involving a 5,000-mile adventure through the Western United States and Canada.

When D meets Candice, aka Candi, she captures his heart, mind and soul the instant she 'inadvertently' almost runs him down in the Starbucks drive-thru. Candi joins him on his three-week, two-wheeled ride to redemption, where they're forced to face their personal demons, while dealing with wanton lust, mind-numbing deceit and perilous treachery.

Spectacular scenery and a cast of unforgettable characters they meet along the way makes the journey memorable, but nothing prepares them for the sacrifices they must eventually make midway in the ride.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," sadly, does not ring true for Candice and D throughout this first of a two part series. Lust and greed are forever game-changers, even for those who desperately seek redemption.


My Review

A middle aged guy living by a lake with his dog bumps into a little hottie in Starbucks when she nearly runs him over in the parking lot. They go in, strike up a conversation—and bada boom, bada bing—fireworks. Is it simply a case of lust at first sight or are there darker forces at work here? D isn't sure, but for the time being he's not going to question Candi's sudden appearance in his life. He's going to take advantage of the opportunity like any hot-blooded male would.

Candi's young, naive, sheltered. She's just coming out of a controlling marriage and she wants the freedom of the open road that a cross country jaunt into Canada with D will give her. She's ready and willing to climb onto the back of his motorcycle and hit the highway, leaving her problems behind. She tells D that she can't resist falling for his warm, brown eyes, full of compassion and the promise of a new life. She's willing to take a chance on him, and she hopes he feels the same way about her.

D is also coming off a messy divorce after parting ways with his wife of many years, and the breakup of his marriage causes him to become estranged from his children. He's looking to make a fresh start after his home development business goes belly up. He's back at square one much later in life. Now  he's just looking for someone to build him up and get him back on track, instead of being subject to all of the forces outside his control that keep tearing him down.

He falls for Candi's promise of easy love, even while pining for something more, something deeper, a genuine connection. He's proud to have nailed a girl like her, and he's a little cocky to have her on his arm. He's a ladies man and old habits die hard. He's all about getting laid instead of keeping his eyes open for those who are eager to take him down.

It turns out D stole a mint worth of diamonds. His motorcycle trip is his way of covering his tracks as he sends them via anonymous mail drop to people in need. However, they weren't his diamonds to give away and the original owner isn't too happy about it, placing a hit on him from where he's languishing behind bars. When a beefy, menacing guy from Candi's family with a thick Italian accent unexpectedly joins their excursion, all bets are off when it comes to Candi's loyalty.

Is she using him to get to the diamonds? Or is she really into him? Wilson keeps things ominously iffy as the story roars along, leaving the reader white knuckled and clinging to D as this biker mystery heats up with plenty of romantic suspense. Be advised that the explicit sexual content is meant for a more erotic leaning audience, but if that sounds good, then get ready for scene after steamy scene as D delivers.

***

Ride to Redemption can be purchased at:
Amazon, Smashwords

Prices/Formats: $3.99 ebook, $10.95 paperback
Pages: 282
Genre: Erotic Romance
Release: December 2, 2013
Publisher: Fideli Publishing
ISBN: 9781604147773
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Raised in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, I graduated from Cumberland University, located in a small town you've never heard just inside Kentucky quite a few years ago. At the present, we're living beside beautiful Dale Hollow Lake.

Blessed to travel, blessed with health, blessed with second chances, too numerous to list here.

As a blogger, featured on many sites, including the Huffington Post, I have been humbled beyond measure, more times than not, by all that life has thrown our way.

Successful, that's me, catastrophic failure, that's me too. We've been there, done that and have the life changing scars to prove it.

Our writings reflect life through the throes of heartache and loss, as well as through the joys redemption brings.

"Life is not waiting for the Storms to Pass, It's Learning to Dance in the Rain."

Links to connect with DJ:
Web Site
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site


About the Giveaway

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Ken Dalton - Brother, can you spare a dime? - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Bear’s planned afternoon of beer and baseball is interrupted by a phone call from a man he hardly remembers from their years at Elko High. So begins the tale of a cold-blooded murder and the theft of a dime worth two million dollars!

Faced with bi-coastal murder suspects, Pinky hands Bear, and Flo the sweaty task of tracking down one of the suspects along the hot, humid North Carolina shoreline while he chooses to pursue the other on the Kona coast of Hawaii. But Pinky, after imbibing too many Mai Tai’s with a bevy of sky-goddesses, and a moved-up court date, is forced to return to Carson City, sans suspect.

Bear and Flo hit pay dirt and with the identity of the killer in hand they fly across the Pacific Ocean to the smoggy Beijing airport where they meet Joe, the uncle of Pinky’s Chinese secretary. The enigmatic Joe quotes Confucius and Shakespeare as he purposefully guides the dynamic duo to their final destination— oxygen sparse Lhasa, Tibet.


Cliff hanger contest

Brother, can you spare a dime? ends with a prize winning cliff hanger that defies all logic.

Let Ken know how you would answer the question and he will choose the two answers he likes the best. Both winners will receive a complete paperback set of his Pinky and Bear mystery series.

The Bloody Birthright
The Big Show Stopper
Death is a Cabernet
The Tartan Shroud
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Five books, each one personally inscribed!

Email your cliff hanger answer to ken@kendalton.com and in a couple of months Ken will post the winners' names on his Facebook page.


My Review

Sometimes a plot is driven by dialogue. When an author is as pitch perfect as Ken Dalton is with the voice of his characters, it is a pleasure to sit back and enjoy a master at work. Now that he's several books into writing this mystery series, it's clear that he's honed the back and forth banter down to a science. I love how it reads like a screenplay or an off Broadway theater production. I can definitely envision Bear, Pinky and Flo going through their verbal acrobatics onstage, leaving the audience in stitches. What fun that would be!

"The boss came up with a plan that worked? Damn that's a first."
- Bear, talking about Pinky

"The man's IQ is slightly below that of a three-toed sloth."
- Pinky, discussing Bear

"That man is the cheapest person I've ever run across."
- Flo, on Pinky

As you can see, Bear and Flo are firmly in one camp and Pinky's square in the other. It's a classic battle between the haves and the have nots. Pinky's the big shot lawyer with multiple condos and souped up cars. He has expensive tastes, and he doesn't like to share. He likes to lord it over his underlings, but Flo doesn't beg for her and Bear's fair share—she takes it. She makes sure they're booked in business class on long international flights. She finagles her way onto the payroll. She gets Pinky to give them a substantial raise, plus paid time off and benefits by getting Pinky's ex-wife to make them a counteroffer. She's shrewd. Pinky's definitely met his match when it comes to pulling one over on someone, too bad she's already with Bear.

But Bear's a lovable oaf, even if he can be quite dangerous when he gets violent. He's a criminal mastermind in his own right, knowing the ins and outs of security protocol even if he can't operate a computer. He's the muscle you want when facing a shady customer. He has a hilarious tendency to use the wrong vocabulary in a sentence, trying to sound smart, but his loyalty to Flo is tantamount. He'd do anything for her, as she would for him.

And that's the part of the book I liked the best. Pinky might have all of the material goods and trappings of wealth, but he's miserable and alone. He's messed up so many of his marriages, putting his job first that he drowning in regret. He's successful on the outside with a perfect acquittal record, but on the inside he feels like he's made one too many mistakes. He wants one of his ex-wives back, but she won't have him, leaving him with no one to share his good fortune with.

While Bear and Flo know how lucky they are. Flo even says to Bear, "Pinky talks like a gentleman, but he's a lot further from being cultured than you are." I really liked that statement. It shows how astute she is, and I think most readers would readily agree with her. Deep down, Bear is a pretty great guy. He has simple tastes, give him a beer and his Red Sox and he's all set. He comes to her rescue whenever she takes a risk on a case and gets in trouble. But most importantly, he thinks she's the hottest thing in the universe. What woman wouldn't want that?

But the scene that hooked me on these two was the one in their Tibetan hotel room when Bear develops a severe case of altitude sickness. It shows just how much Flo cares about him, and how much he means to her. It was a painful thing for Bear to have to endure, but it's a beautiful chapter that strengthens the bonds of their relationship. I know it made me root for them all the more, and I can't wait to see where Ken Dalton takes them next.

***

Brother, can you spare a dime? can be purchased at:
Amazon, KenDalton.com (personalized inscription and free shipping)

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $14.95 paperback
Pages: 310
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Release: April 9, 2014
Publisher: Different Drummer Press
ISBN: 9780578140391
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Ken was born in 1938 at Hollywood Hospital. He grew up in Los Angeles with his parents, his older sister and younger brother.

In a turn of bad luck, the dreaded Polio virus attacked Ken at the age of five. By the age of sixteen, after eleven years of operations, therapy, and braces to mitigate the effects of Polio, Ken’s luck changed when he met the girl of his dreams. A few years later they married, produced three wonderful children, and settled into a happy life in Southern California.

In 1966, Ken and his family moved to the green hills of Sonoma County where they bought a home surrounded with apple trees.

Some time later, Ken, designed, built, and operated a small winery that produced award winning Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

Then, in a moment of madness, Ken began writing. His first article was published in Golf Illustrated. Many more golf articles followed in national and regional magazines including Golf Magazine and Fairways and Greens. Eventually Ken felt the urge to write his first novel.

Now, after the publication of The Bloody Birthright, The Big Show Stopper, Death is a Cabernet, and The Tartan Shroud, Ken has published his latest Pinky and Bear mystery, Brother, can you spare a dime?

Links to connect with Ken:
Web Site
Facebook
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site


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Diane Daniels Manning - Almost Perfect - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

An old woman who has given up hope and a boy who believes the impossible wonder if life would be perfect at the Westminster Dog Show.

Seventy-year old Bess Rutledge has dreamed of winning the Westminster Dog Show all her life. Despite her decades-long career as one of America’s top Standard Poodle breeders, she has decided she’s too old to hold on to her foolish dream. She sells off all the dogs in her once famous kennel except for the aging champion McCreery and his mischievous, handsome son Breaker. Part of her senses they might have been the ones to take her to Westminster, if only she’d dared to try.

Bess meets Benny, a teenager with mild autism who attends a therapeutic special school, and learns he has a dream of his own: to impress his self-absorbed mother. Benny is drawn into the world of dog shows and becomes convinced he has found the perfect way to win his mother’s attention. If he can win Westminster with either McCreery or Breaker, he just knows she will finally be proud of him. Getting Bess to go along with his plan, however, is not going to be so easy. . .

Up to 100% of the author’s profits will be donated to charities serving animals and children.


Video Trailer




My Review

It's refreshing to see a pet themed book delve into more serious issues. Yes, there are adorable survival stories like a frozen pup revived after being born in a blizzard, as well as the requisite cute moments like a lost dog being found, but at the heart of the narrative lies an autistic boy and a champion breeder who believes her best days are behind her.

The old and the young come together to save each other from the same underlying problem, a lack of self-confidence. Bess thinks she's nothing without her dogs. She's bred poodles all her life, and not just any old poodles, but superstars of the breed. Her single-minded devotion has come at a cost, she can't relate to people, not even her own son. Her neighbor Benny is that lazy preteen who would rather watch TV than interact with the rest of the world. Whenever there's an easy way out, Benny takes it, until he falls in love with Bess's dogs. That's when he finally commits to something bigger than himself,  opening Bess's eyes to the plight of those around her.

However, Benny's a troubled youth. He goes to a special school for children with behavioral disabilities. His only friend is a girl who may or may not have Aspergers who switches identities like everyday is Halloween. The students are encouraged by head mistress Dr. Kate to make their own decisions and are encouraged to take responsibility for their choices. Sometimes Benny complies, sometimes he doesn't. He's a frustrating case, but Dr. Kate fears that Bess doesn't understand just how much he stands to lose if she ends up disappointing him.

You see Bess agrees to let Benny be one of the handlers of her dogs at some of the smaller dog shows in the New England area. When the pup he's training, Breaker, starts to separate himself from the pack, Bess gets scared. She's never won at Westminster at Madison Square Garden - sort of like the doggie World Series and the Oscars rolled into one. Nothing terrifies her like failure, and she'd rather not risk it. Her pride is too valuable to her.

But as she grows fond of Benny, she doesn't want to let him down either. Gradually, he pushes her toward the one thing that she swore she'd never do. His confidence increases as he builds up hers. It's a beautiful metaphor for how the young can benefit the old and vice versa, showing that it's never too late to go after one's dreams, while at the same time driving home the point that a person can discover what they're good at quite early in life too.

Either way, Bess and Benny form a winning combination. As a reader, you can't help rooting for them, and that's what Daniels Manning's book is all about, falling in love with "almost perfect" characters who in the end learn things about themselves that their furry friends knew all along - nothing buoys the spirit like living for another person.

***

Almost Perfect can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $3.99 ebook, $8.99 paperback
Pages: 330
Genre: Pet Fiction
Release: January 29, 2014
Publisher: Beltor
ISBN: 9780578136394
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About the Author

Diane Daniels Manning is the co-founder and director of The New School in the Heights, a therapeutic school in Houston, Texas which helps children dealing with social-emotional challenges find success in school and life. She has a Ph.D. in Education and a post-doctoral M.P.H from Harvard and is a practicing child psychoanalyst certified by the American Psychoanalytic Association. Formerly, she was the Director of the Reading and Learning Disabilities Clinic at Tufts University, Lecturer and Research Associate in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard, and Chair of the Department of Education at Tulane University. She learned the inner workings of dog show kennels by writing an authorized oral history of a lifetime President of the Poodle of Club of America. Her writing awards include the Faulkner-Wisdom Novella Prize and the Women in Film and Television Short Script Competition.

Links to connect with Diane:
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Michael J. Bowler - Running Through a Dark Place - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

King Arthur and his extraordinary young Knights used ‘might’ for ‘right’ to create a new Camelot in the City of Angels. They rallied the populace around their cause, while simultaneously putting the detached politicians in check. But now they must move forward to even greater heights, despite what appears to be an insurmountable tragedy.

Their new goal is lofty: give equality to kids fourteen and older who are presently considered adults only when they break the law. Arthur’s crusade seeks to give them real rights such as voting, driving, trading high school for work, and sitting as jurors for their peers charged with criminal behavior.

Understanding that the adults of California will likely be against them, Arthur and his Knights must determine how best to win them over.

However, before the king can even contemplate these matters, he finds himself face to face with an ally from the past, one who proves that everything isn’t always what it seems – even life and death.

The Knight Cycle Continues…

My Review

Merlin's magic.
A referendum on lowering the voting age to fourteen.
A teen unsure of his sexuality.

That in a nutshell is the three-pronged plot of Michael J. Bowler's continuing urban fantasy drama. King Arthur pretty much sits on the back burner for this one, becoming more of a figurehead than the more in-depth reincarnation he took in book one. The narrative emphasis takes a decidedly GLBT shift and while kids seeking basic human rights against the adults who have them trapped in a flawed system is still a major theme, it's now more of an undercurrent. Just as the symbolism of the new Round Table only has passing mentions of YouTube knightings and wardrobe choices instead of melding into the primary focus it had in the first book.

Instead, Bowler takes a risk in shifting the bulk of his creative energies toward addressing the sexual awakening of his young male protagonist, Lance. What was subtly hinted at in the series debut is explored in much greater detail, some of it fairly graphic. There's a rather explicit scene of Lance at a party where he gets liquored up with vodka and proceeds to make out with a girl before proceeding to lock lips with a boy. Their grinding on the dance floor turns rather risqué, delving into R-rated territory.

I'm completely fine with Bowler providing readers, who might be going through a similar identity crisis, with the message that they are not alone, that their urgings and longings are normal, and that they shouldn't be made to feel ashamed of them. However, I did feel uncomfortable in reading the chapter where Lance comes home hungover and then crawls into bed with not just a boy his own age, but also a boy no older than seven. For me, that's skimming a very fine line.

Lance doesn't make any overtures toward the seven year old, but he does hold the hand of the other boy and lean into him while the three of them are snuggling in the same bed. I guess I wanted more scenes like Lance's birthday party, the knighting of a young boy with cancer and all of the holidays that made the orphaned children feel like they were a part of a real family. These overtly sexual parts could have easily been omitted because the novel is strong enough on its own.

Since Lance is a prior victim of sexual abuse himself, as a reader, I couldn't help feeling that his motivation was off. I thought he'd be more sensitive to such matters, not wanting to confuse an impressionable child when he's still so traumatized himself. Basic human contact is a mantra repeated throughout, and while I'm okay with boys holding hands and being affectionate, I don't feel that two teenagers should be engaging in such activity while sharing a bed with a seven year old, but that's just me. I'm sure Bowler's intent was innocent and loving, but for me it just came across the wrong way.

I admire Bowler for what he's trying to do with this series. It's bold. It's daring. It's never been done before. But I hope in future installments, he can trim the sexual innuendo a bit. His vision is unique and has too much potential to end up becoming nothing more a titillating tease.

***

Running Through a Dark Place can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $15.95 paperback
Pages: 388
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Release: May 12, 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9780990306306
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About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of three novels - A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time, and Children of the Knight - who grew up in San Rafael, California.

He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.

He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state. He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He has already written the four continuations of Children of the Knight that complete The Knight Cycle and all will be released in 2014.

He is currently at work on a new novel.

Links to connect with Michael:
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About the Giveaway

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