 The cover is here for To Say Goodbye! It's releasing September 24th with Hot Tree Publishing. Add it to your Goodreads list today. Feisty Sophia never shies away from life. Playful, romantic, connected—her marriage was the thing of fairy tales. But when tragedy strikes, Sophia is left to pick up the pieces of her life. After leaving the army, Jackson is ready to start afresh. But when he returns home, his life spirals out of control.As Sophia and Jackson find themselves in each other, they start to see redemption is possible. Trying to piece together a new life, they must answer the question: Should they forge a life together and say goodbye to their pasts completely, or should they loyally go their separate ways to avoid heartache? 
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School started today, so it's good-bye summer and hello hectic days of grading papers, lesson plans, and general back-to-school chaos. It's been a great summer mostly because it's been a simple one. We didn't go anywhere exotic this summer or anywhere new. In fact, this is the first summer in a while we don't have tons of pictures of roadtrips and daytrips and new adventures. The thing is, I'm okay with that. It was a wonderful summer of lazy days and lemonade; of Netflix and cuddling with Henry. We spent days in his sprinkler in the yard, days reading books, and days writing new books. We spent afternoons strolling around our hometown, evenings eating ice cream, and plenty of time sipping coffee. We relaxed, we slept in, and we lounged around in yoga pants most days. We did have some milestone moments, too. We went to our 10-year high school reunion. I edited two novels and one story for an anthology. I wrote the draft of another book and started writing for The Huffington Post. We went to Ocean City, and we did some small activities around town. We went to a frisbee dog show at the beginning of summer, and Henry got to go swimming for the first time ever last weekend. Mostly, though, we just spent our days soaking in extra time with each other. Sometimes the best summers aren't about jamming them full of activities and wild times. Sometimes the best summers are the summers we spend in our familiar surroundings, doing the familiar, being with the familiar people (and pets) in our lives. So summer of 2016, I'll always be thankful for the simple moments we enjoyed.  It's the best day of the month!
Petit Vour Box! This month has an interesting mix of things. To be honest, I liked last month's box better, but I'm still anxious to give these products a try. This month includes: A full size Sculpt & Glow Contour Duo by Lily Lolo Body Polish by Formulary 55 Lavender Facial Oil by True Morning Luxe Towelettes by Box Naturals Petit Vour is only $15 a month including shipping. You get four great products each month, and the best part is it is all cruelty-free!  It Ends with Us by Colleen HooverMy rating: 5 of 5 stars "Life is a funny thing. We only get so many years to live it, so we have to do everything we can to make sure those years are as full as they can be." It Ends With Us is the first book by Colleen Hoover I've read...and it won't be the last. She is truly an amazing storyteller, weaving masterful webs of emotions from words on a page. This book made me feel every single emotion known to humanity--I felt sorrow, love, anxiety, fear, anger, and happiness in the span of the pages. I really can't tell you a lot about the plot without spoiling it. There are so many twists and turns in this book, which kept me flipping the pages. I love the main character, Lily. I really felt connected to her and loved the fact she wasn't a perfect character. She made flawed choices, which made me frustrated sometimes. But it also made me see her as a real human being. None of us are perfect, especially when it comes to love. I loved details in Hoover's writing. She did an amazing job at tying everything together and creating some really beautiful symbols throughout the book. This book is in some ways a love story, but it's also about so much more. It's about finding what you want in life, about moving on, and about figuring out the right answers in this crazy thing called life. Most of all, it's about making decisions that will affect you for life. I loved the depth of this book, the beauty, and the raw emotion it stirred. Hoover did a beautiful job at portraying a side of major issues that few get a chance to understand. View all my reviews 
Author: Lindsay Detwiler
Title: Where Love Went
Series: Sequel to Then Comes Love
Genre: ChickLit
Release Date: August 13, 2016
Sometimes unexpected miracles can shift your life off course.
A year ago, Amelia, Annie, and Charlotte found second loves in unexpected places. Now, everyone’s life seems to have fallen into place… until a late night knock on Charlotte’s door shakes up everything. Love rarely goes as planned… Unexpected news leaves Amelia confused and worried. She loves Owen but is not sure what her future holds, especially with them living the tour life. As the months pass by and Amelia begins to question everything, she wonders if her relationship with Owen can truly last forever. Sometimes a first love creeps back in… While helping Amelia sort out her life, Annie finds new problems of her own. A visitor from her past threatens to overturn her relationship with Joe. Annie must make some difficult choices. As the three women face new complexities in the sequel to Then Comes Love, they learn the fairy tale can fade, leaving you to question everything you thought you knew. However, family and friendship can sometimes be the link you need to find what you want. 
On sale for 99 cents
Then Comes Love
(book 1)
Half-price SALE
An high school English teacher, an author, and a fan of anything pink and/or glittery, Lindsay's the English teacher cliché; she love cats, reading, Shakespeare, and Poe.
She currently lives in her hometown with her husband, Chad (her junior high sweetheart); their cats, Arya, Amelia, Alice, and Bob; and their Mastiff, Henry.
Lindsay's goal with her writing is to show the power of love and the beauty of life while also instilling a true sense of realism in her work. Some reviewers have noted that her books are not the “typical romance.” With her novels coming from a place of honesty, Lindsay examines the difficult questions, looks at the tough emotions, and paints the pictures that are sometimes difficult to look at. She wants her fiction to resonate with readers as realistic, poetic, and powerful. Lindsay wants women readers to be able to say, “I see myself in that novel.” She wants to speak to the modern woman’s experience while also bringing a twist of something new and exciting. Her aim is for readers to say, “That could happen,” or “I feel like the characters are real.” That’s how she knows she's done her job.
Lindsay's hope is that by becoming a published author, she can inspire some of her students and other aspiring writers to pursue their own passions. She wants them to see that any dream can be attained and publishing a novel isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
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Facebook https://www.facebook.com/richard.foley.3511 Twitter https://twitter.com/richardfoleyrfi LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardfoley Pinterest https://pinterest.com/richard_foley/books/ Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/106518902065845878147 Medium https://medium.com/@richardfoley Social network cut'n'paste for the books, cover and images, below. You may also use the authoritative URL to share directly from the blog and subsidiary pages: http://pub.rfi.net/romance-scam-diary Romance Scam Diary by Brigitte Schmid @richardfoleyrfi http://pub.rfi.net/romance-scam-diary During her search to find a partner, the 56 year old Brigitte Schmid signed up to an online dating web portal, hoping she might meet a nice man there. Following several unsuccessful chats and meetings with various men, she found the interesting profile from a Phillip M., a Canadian, who was enlisted in the US-Army and currently posted in Afghanistan. Brigitte felt herself to be head-over-heels in love with this man and did not realize she was being taken in by a professional Romance Scammer, a criminal conman from the West African state of Ghana… This is the true story from her own diary. http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Scam-Diary-Likelihood-Accra/dp/095724326X 
 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom RiggsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars "To have endured all the horrors he did, to have seen the worst of humanity and have your life made unrecognizable by it, to come out of all that the honorable and good and brave person I knew him to be--that was magical." Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is probably best described by one word: peculiar. I mean that in the best sense of the word. Ransom Riggs' novel is stunning in its perfect melding of pictures and text into a creepy, memorable, oddly believable story. Jacob's grandfather's death sparks an adventure that will forever change what he believes to be true. He's always heard stories from his grandfather about peculiar things...but when Jacob starts to research his grandfather's past, he begins to realize even the most unbelievable stories can turn out to be true. He also learns that what he believes is an ordinary life is anything but. As he begins to explore Miss Peregrine and her peculiar ward, he starts to question if he is made for something more. I liked Ransom Riggs' interesting writing style. He has an eclectic mix of flowing and straightforward descriptions. The vocabulary, the analogies, and the dialogue worked seamlessly to truly create a new world. I loved how he also incorporated WWII into the book, making the book feel more believable. Riggs did a great job at suspending disbelief and really immersing the reader into a believable, logical, yet wonderfully peculiar place. Riggs also did a great job at building the imperfections of the seemingly perfect world created by Peregrine. I like the lack of perfection because it kept it interesting. I also adored the incorporation of actual vintage photographs with the story. It is eerie how the pictures seem to have been made for the story. I found myself reading more than I planned because I wanted to get to the next picture every time I sat down with this book. It was innovative and something I've never seen in a book of this caliber. I do think the first hundred pages of the book are a bit slow moving. It took me about a hundred pages to really get absorbed in the book. I understand there was some necessary background that needed to be told, but I wanted Jacob to meet the peculiar children earlier. Riggs has a talent for storytelling that shines through in this novel. I definitely recommend this book because it opens your mind up to new possibilities while forcing you to explore the question: What does ordinary actually mean? View all my reviews  ANNOUNCING TWO CONTESTS FOR AMAZON GIFT CARDS AND AN EXCLUSIVE ANTHOLOGY BOTH CONTESTS END ON AUGUST 31 Only Newsletter Subscribers are eligible to enter Subscribe at https://debbiedelouise.com or email [email protected] with your address to ask to be subscribed. Prizes will only be awarded if a minimum of 10 people enter. PHOTO CONTEST FOR a $10 AMAZON GIFT CARD Submit a photo of you, a friend, or even a pet with my book, A Stone's Throw. All photos submitted to me by email at [email protected] by August 31st. will be entered in a random drawing for the $10 Amazon gift card. Those who submit photos agree that they may be used on social media.  PURCHASE LINKS FOR A STONE'S THROW Amazon U.S.: http://amzn.to/1MjaJgN Amazon Australia: http://bit.ly/1Sdh82D Amazon Canada: http://amzn.to/1SdheHi Amazon U.K.: http://amzn.to/1QutXBW Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1nQPyv4 Kobo: http://bit.ly/1KGYHep Also available on iTunes and Ingram Anthology Contest + $5 AMAZON GIFT CARD For a $5 Amazon gift card and an anthology of romances written by 16 authors including myself, read the excerpt below and answer this question: What magical power did the stone have? Send your reply by August 31st. to [email protected]. Only newsletter subscribers are eligible to win, and this contest is not sponsored by Mailchimp or Yahoo. The winner will be announced in the September 1st. newsletter.   Excerpt from The Seashell and the Stone by Debbie De Louise (c) 2016 Debbie De Louise
As Virginia and Stephen made their way toward the end of the boardwalk, the merry-go-round music that drifted along their path changed to a loud cacophony of whistles and horn blasts announcing “the greatest show on earth.” A man on stilts came hobbling toward them, his wide yellow polka-dotted pants flapping in the breeze off the ocean. “Good day, Ma’am. Good day, Sir,” he greeted them. “Right this way to the midway.” He chuckled at his use of words. Up ahead, Virginia spotted the circus tents lined on the beach and the acrobatic high-wire strung high across two tall poles. “I guess you need to find the person in charge to ask about selling here.” Mr. Granger was scanning the crowd seated on folding chairs by the first tent where a magician was performing some tricks to the rapt audience. “Let’s look around first. Would you like to sit and watch the show?” Virginia was pleased that he seemed more interested in her company than the business that brought him there. “No, but I would enjoy going there.” She pointed toward a tent that displayed the sign, “Madame Marie, Fortune Teller.” “Are you serious? You know these carnival mystics are not worth the money.” Virginia felt her anger flare again as it had when he had criticized her for feeding Seashell table scraps. “It’s my money to spend and that’s how I wish to spend it.” Her father had given her a $1 note as well as a few silver coins for carnival expenses. “Very well.” Mr. Granger followed her reluctantly toward Madame Marie’s tent. The psychic sat behind a round table covered in red velvet. She wore a matching red kerchief in her long dark curly hair. Several rings graced her hands as she sat turning over tarot cards and gazing into a crystal ball. At their approach, she lay down the cards and beckoned them with a smile missing several teeth. Virginia could smell the lady’s foul breath, onions mixed with garlic. She lay down one of her coins, but the woman pushed it away. “For you, I will tell a fortune for free. Please have a seat.” Mr. Granger stood waiting by the side of the tent as Virginia took the chair opposite Marie. “Why are you not charging me?” Marie shuffled the cards and placed them face down in a pile. “Direct your energy on the cards and then choose one,” the woman instructed ignoring Virginia’s question. Virginia followed her directions while Mr. Granger stood with a bored look on his face shuffling from foot to foot. “Ah,” Marie said as she turned over the card Virginia picked to reveal a man and woman with an angel above them. “The Lovers. How appropriate.” “Does it mean I’ll be wed soon?” Virginia asked. “Yes, my dear. There is a special gentleman in your life or will be soon.” She placed the card at the bottom of the deck and tapped the glass ball in front of her. “If you’d like to know more or ask a question, it will be 1 greenback, please.” “Wait one moment,” Mr. Granger interrupted. “You told the lady your predictions were free.” The psychic smiled showing her missing teeth again. “The tarot reading is free. There’s a charge for the crystal ball.” “I guess you have to make money somehow. Come on, Miss Vance, let us move on.” “Wait.” Virginia did not like being ordered around, and she was curious as to what Madame Marie would see in her crystal ball. She had her fortune told at the circus last year but by a gypsy man. Marie seemed to be new to the troop. “I told you I’ll spend my money the way I wish.” A fire flared in Mr. Granger’s blue eyes. “You mean your father’s money, but, go ahead. She will only tell you what you wish to hear and what she observes from your reactions. I am sure the Tarot card was planted too. Most young women are looking for love. You don’t have to be a psychic to know that.” Virginia stood up. As much as she disliked his words, she knew he had a point. None of the predictions made for her last year proved to come true. “Thank you, Madame Marie, but I may return after seeing more of the circus.” “As you wish.” Marie glared after Stephen as he walked away with Virginia. “If you really want to know your future,” he said as they passed several more tents, “I have something that can help.” “Whatever do you mean?” “I was not exactly honest with you about my occupation.” Virginia felt excitement flood through her at the thought that Mr. Granger was about to share the information she sought without her having to resort to any of her tricks to pry it out of him. “Let’s sit on a bench for a moment,” he suggested guiding her away from the crowd. He seemed to hesitate briefly as if he regretted his haste in revealing what he was about to say. Then he reached into his trouser pocket and retrieved a translucent stone. For a second she thought it was a Cape May diamond, the crystals that resembled the real jewels that Cape May residents and visitors searched for along the beach. However, they had not spent any time on the sand, and he had just arrived in town. “You may have wondered why I did not bring along my merchandise to show the circus leader.” Her eyes were focused on the glittery stone. “I thought they were too heavy to carry on our walk.” “I would’ve at least brought a sample.” “But what is that you have in your hand?” “This is the reason I’m here. I’ve been following carnivals and circuses along the East Coast to offer my services, and this stone is one of my tools.” “Your services?” This was more intriguing than she expected. “What exactly are your services?” He smiled and, unlike Madame Marie, exhibited perfect white teeth. “I’m a psychic. A genuine one, but I need the stone to aid me. It was passed down to me from my father who received it from his own father. I believe it was originally found by my great grandfather.” Virginia was not convinced. “Are you saying that rock guides you in telling the future?” His smile deepened, and she saw a dimple appear in his cheek. “I guess that’s a way of putting it. If I rub the rock and ask a question, the answer appears in my mind.”  NOW LIVE! GET YOUR COPY TODAY AT https://amzn.com/B01H5KGNUS
What Goodreads reviewers are already saying about Erin Lee’s latest release, When I’m Dead: This book is worthy of so much more then 5 stars!!! I have never read a book that has touched me and made me feel things that I had a hard time believing were out there....hope, faith, redemption. I was overwhelmed with emotion and left speechless. BLURB: Violet Hoffman is a planner. She’s had more than enough time—especially on holidays—to think this through. There’s really no point in turning back. Now, armed with a plan, Violet only needs to pull the trigger. She runs through her list of essentials: Motel room, check. Bottle of pills, check. Razor blades, check. Knife, yup. Purpose, check. Voice ready to be heard. Got it. Revenge, coming right up. Violet is ready. After all, she decides, everyone is born for a reason. For most of her life, she’s been different. Since she was nine years old, she’s carried a secret that made it impossible for her to be normal. For a decade, she’s been torn between loyalties and healing. But now, finally an adult, Violet can let it all out. And it isn’t going to be pretty. But then again, being ‘pretty’ and ‘special’ really aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. When I’m Dead is the story of an eighteen-year-old abuse victim alienated by her family. Ignored by a faulty system and shuffled from placement to placement, Violet is finally old enough to be heard. Sometimes, the best messages are given without words. And Violet’s always been a person of action. Where will Violet’s plan and actions take her? Will she finally get her message across? What will they think of her, when she’s dead? Will they even notice? ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Erin Lee is a hybrid author and therapist chasing a crazy dream one story at a time. She lives with her family in southern New Hampshire. She is the author of Crazy Like Me, a novel published in 2015 by Savant Books and Publications, LLC, reprinted as Her Kinda Crazy in 2016, Wave to Papa, 2015, by Limitless Publishing and Nine Lives (2016). She’s also author of the “Lola, Party of 8 Series,” When I’m Dead and 99 Bottles. Lee has published numerous magazine articles, particularly on the topic of mental illness. She recently contributed to the Anonymous anthology, in support of the Semi Colon Project with her short story “One Good Reason.” She holds a master’s degree in psychology and works with at-risk families and as a court appointed special advocate. |
 
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