The Indie Express

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Virtual Book Tour - Brains and Beauty by @JeanetteAWatts #review #giveaway

Historic Fiction

2013 / 2015

Book Two (Brains & Beauty)

Girl meets boy, falls in love at first sight. Kind of unfortunate for a married woman. He becomes her best friend, the only man in her life that she can really count on. She wishes there could be more to it. There can't be, but she can dream, can't she...?

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Brains and Beauty

Barnes and Noble

Review

Pittsburgh... in the 1800's. 2 things about this. Number 1, I was not born in that era, obviously. Number 2, I've never even been to Pittsburgh in my own time.

1 important things after reading this novel... I felt like I knew what it was like to be in Pittsburgh in the 1800's. True testament of a Historical writers ability to convey the period she is writing about.

I was honestly engrossed in this novel. It was the perfect getaway from me and I could hardly put it down.

Jeanette Watts is a dance instructor and performer of many different kinds of dance, a costumer, a former television producer, and a big softie who can't learn to say no when people need help with their festivals. It makes it really difficult for her to get time to write.

Twitter: @JeanetteAWatts

Monday, March 28, 2016

PROMO: Never Trust a Skinny Cupcake Baker by @denaehaggerty #excerpt and #giveaway

Cozy Mystery

Date Published: April 11, 2016

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A cozy mystery with a heap of laughs, a generous portion of romance, and just a smidgeon of suspense.

Callie’s life is rather awesome. She owns a successful bakery and teaches German literature at the local university. There’s just one tiny problem. She has no self-confidence when it comes to her body. And then there’s the little matter of her being accused of murdering her pole dancing instructor. There’s no way Callie’s going to risk losing her teaching position and thus she embarks, with her best baker bud Anna, on a journey to discover the real killer. Between stripper auditions and a detective who insists Callie is the woman of his dreams, it’s a roller coast adventure. Cupcakes not included.

EXCERPT

I take a deep breath and walk into the club. It’s dark and smoky. No surprise there. The floors are covered in shag carpeting, the walls are painted a red so deep it looks black, and the chairs are red velour. Is strip club a euphemism for whore house? To the right is a shiny, black bar. Straight ahead is a stage in an M-shape with three stripper poles. Of course there are stripper poles. Dolly worked here after all.

“You next?” A man shouts, and I nearly jump out of my shoes. I look to my left to see two men in shiny suits sitting at a table in the middle of the room. “Come on, doll, are you the next dancer?”

“Dancer?”

The man rolls his eyes and talks to the man next to him. “Not the brightest one of the bunch is she?” He turns back to me. “Come on, sweetheart.” He looks me up and down, and I feel the sudden need to shower with bleach. “You’ve got the body for it. Show us what you can do.”

I’ve got the body for it? Have we landed on planet opposite? I’m still trying to figure out how to respond when Anna grabs my hand. “Where are the dressing rooms? She needs to change.”

The man points to a door on the right side of the stage behind the bar. “Hurry up. We ain’t got all day!”

Anna pulls me to the door. I stumble behind her unsure if I should follow her or get the heck out of Dodge. She pushes through the door and looks around before spotting a room filled with racks of clothing. She lets my hand go and starts pawing through the outfits.

“Anna, stop!” I say when my brain finally catches up. “I can’t go up there and dance. Let’s just get out of here and come back another time.”

I don’t even get a chance to stand up from the chair before Anna’s on me. Her tiny body boxes me in the chair. “I don’t want to hear it! You heard the man. You’ve got the perfect body for this because you’re… let’s say it together… sexy!” She turns back to the rack of clothes. “Besides, while you’re up there doing your thing, I can snoop around.” She pulls out an outfit and hands it to me.

I don’t have a choice but to take the hanger as she shoves it in my hand. There’s not enough fabric here. She’s got to be kidding me. “I can’t wear this,” I protest.

Anna’s having none of it. “You will wear it, and you will go up on that stage and totally rock! In the meantime, I’ll be doing some investigating so we can save your job. You know the one that you spent the last 10 years studying and preparing for?”

I want to scream and shout and fight her, but I don’t really see what other option we have. I suppose we can sneak out the back door, but then we’d have to come back at some point as this is our only lead. Mr. Creepy #1 and Mr. Creepy #2 might not recognize me – a chubby girl with boring brown hair. But a tiny pixie with bright pink hair? I shake my head and put on the darn outfit.

About the Author

I grew up reading everything I could get my hands on from my mom's Harlequin romances to Nancy Drew to Little Women. When I wasn't flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although I did manage every once in a while to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic after returning to the law. Another job change, this time from lawyer to B&B owner and I was again fed up and ready to scream I quit, which is incredibly difficult when you own the business. Thus, I shut the B&B during the week and in the off-season and started writing. Several books later I find myself in Istanbul writing full-time.

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Giveaway

$15 Amazon gift card

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Saturday, March 26, 2016

Blog Tour: Two Brothers: Species by @sofiadianagabel with a #review and #giveaway

YA Sc- Fi

The third and final book in the Ramtalan Triology brings Argus and Tai Dachel to a critical juncture in their lives. Struggling to maintain some sort of normalcy, the boys soon discover that they’ll never be the same and those around them, including Argus’s girlfriend Lola, are in danger from the Invaders and the government agency AURA. With enhanced abilities, Argus has to come to grips with being different from his brother, and being an enemy to the Ramtalans he thought were his friends. When hyper-intelligent, powerful Argustine Lenox and his sister, Galena, threaten to cleanse the Earth of humans and New Breeds, Argus and Tai have a difficult decision to make. Which side do they join? The Invaders accept him, while the Settler Ramtalans consider him dangerous. As if that’s not enough, Argus is on the brink of adulthood and must choose what sort of man he wants to be; defiant, compassionate, strong or all three. Nothing will matter though if he can’t save the Earth.

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Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Review

I have enjoyed this series. It definitely had its ups and downs for me. At times I loved some characters and at times I was extremely frustrated with them, but overall everyone had their part to play.

I enjoyed the action in this one. I liked how loose ends were tied up. There have been a lot of times when questions seemed unanswered and the guys seemed to be just trying to make it through and whatever information they had.

If you are a fan of Sci-Fi in general, I think that this entire series will appeal to you. Even though it is geared for Young Adults, I think that it will be a great read for Sci-Fi fans in general.

Born in Sydney, Australia, I moved with my family to the United States when I was only four. Home wasn’t settled for a long time and included living in Toronto, Canada; Henrietta and Buffalo, New York; Northridge, Southern California; a short stint back in Sydney, Australia; Reno, Nevada; Dallas, Texas; Daytona Beach, Florida, with an eventual semi-settled life in Ojai and Ventura, Southern California as a single parent to my three daughters.

Perhaps the unsettled partial nomadic lifestyle is the reason I love to travel. Moving around and travelling to different countries are adventures which serve as potential settings and plots for stories. I’m a multi-genre fiction writer, with degrees in environmental science and archaeology, and coursework in creative writing and criminal justice. This has all helped in developing stories

When not glued to my desk writing or researching, I love spending time with my family and hairless Sphynx cats. Writing is a true passion, born from a love of the written word and how those words can transport the reader to different places or worlds and deliver them back to reality, safe and sound.

Contact Information

Blog

Twitter: @sofiadianagabel

Friday, March 25, 2016

Blog Tour: Sophie and the Cowboy by @MystiParker #review

Erotic Romance

Date Published: February 1, 2016

Clint has been running a ranch by himself since his father’s death. It’s backbreaking work. He needs something to loosen up his sore, tense muscles before his wedding, though massages aren’t the manliest thing he’s ever done. Thanks to a gift card he got at the bachelor party, he decides to give it a shot. He doesn’t know what to expect, but once he meets Sophie, he realizes she’s a lot more than meets the eye. What she gives him is no ordinary massage, but a hefty dose of reality and a full-body feast of pleasures he never knew existed.

Review

This novel will not be for everyone. Please make sure you understand the themes and genre before reading.

That being said, are you a fan of dirty erotica? *raises hand* If so, you will be satisfied without a doubt.

Mysti manages to bring the heat with this novel and it does not let up. I loved every aspect of her writing style. The characters were likable and they really lept off the pages.

Mysti Parker is a wife, mother, and shameless chocoholic. While her first love is romance, including award-winning historical and fantasy romances, she enjoys writing flash fiction (the weirder the better) and children's stories. She resides in KY with her husband, three children and too many pets.

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Book #2 In the Series

Buy it from Amazon

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Blog Tour: What the Sea Wants by @KCtwitter

New Adult Contemporary Romance (with paranormal elements)

Date Published: January 29, 2016

Juliette Brewer can’t face the truth.

Ash Gordon can’t bear another lie.

A passion for surfing brings them together,

but will the sea, with all its sorrows, tear them apart?

“There’s something about me you need to know—something I’m not sure I can tell you.”

Juliette Brewer has always been different. From the age of four, she’s endured frequent premonitions of tragedy, but the one thing she never saw coming was the thing that would send her under. When she catches the ocean-coloured eyes of surf-lifesaving heartthrob Ash Gordon, Juliette’s life changes for the better … until a tragic accident destroys their dreams. Everyone else has given up, moved on, and put Ash's loss behind them, but Juliette can’t—and perhaps she shouldn’t. Not all who are missing are lost, but if she refuses to accept reality, will the sea claim her sanity as well as her lover’s life?

Purchase Links

 Paperback

REVIEW

This was a fun romantic read that had plenty of drama and heartache as well. It will lead you through a barrage of emotions. I loved that the characters both had to overcome things that had happened to them and their journey's led them closer together and stronger as a couple.

I loved the paranormal element although lite, it added and extra layer to the novel as a whole.

Karin Cox is the author of an Amazon #1 bestselling paranormal romance and dark fantasy series (DARK GUARDIANS), among other titles, and officially has too many words in her brain, usually all swimming around in wine. Often they come out in dribs and drabs, sometimes in poetic explosions, but mostly she has to coax them out one at a time and manually wrangle them into line.

She lives in sunny Queensland, Australia, where she occasionally hits the beach in an effort to avoid a vitamin D deficiency from shutting herself in a dark room to converse with fictional people. She comes with all the usual accessories: cat, dog, kid, full-grown man-child, several outfit changes, and shoes she can't seem to walk in (so swaps for thongs/flip-flops). She would also like a "dream house," a hot pink camper with a waterslide, and an unrealistically proportioned waist, but Barbie beat her to it.

She enjoys camping, bellydancing, folk music, poetry, writing, wine and Facebook.

Contact Information

Twitter: @KCtwitter

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Week Blitz: Back in My Life by @Mariecrauthor

Romance / Erotica

Date Published: February 27, 2016

Back in my Life is a story set in the beautiful cities of New York and Chicago. This story is not the typical and simple "boy meets girl, boy and girl get marry story." This story is a powerful story that shows how real and unselfish love truly looks like. The love between Ruby and Clyde is an amazing and genuine love that survived everything that came in between them—even the most painful experiences that destiny had planned for them.

During a college internship at a prestigious New York magazine, Ruby Sparks (a journalist graduate student from Chicago) meets Clyde Holt, (a fellow intern and a creative photography student from a London based college) whom from day one became Ruby's obsession and the new reason for her existence. After developing strong feelings for her emotionally unavailable friend, Ruby finds herself trapped in a whirlpool of emotions while trying to earn her friend's love. What Ruby doesn't know is that while she is looking for true love, Clyde's presence in her life came with a different purpose.

About the Author

I have been writing for pleasure for the past couple of years, but this is the first time I do a book tour so I am very excited for it. Writing is my passion, and I enjoy using real-life stories as the basis for my novels, but giving them a little twist to make them more melodramatic and breath-taking. I am also the author of Pamela's Confessions and Confesiones del Alma. I currently live in Florida with my husband and three children.

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Sunday, March 20, 2016

Blog Tour: A Gentleman's Surrender by @mariel_grey #review #giveaway

Historical Romance

Date Published: January 1, 2016

Call her a romantic—or a fool, Lady Monique Cathdon is determined to marry for love. After watching her parents tolerate an arranged betrothal, life seems too short to be wasted on keeping up appearances.

After all, what’s the point of having a heart if one refuses to follow it?

With a smile the devil himself might be proud of, James Stanton is not what her mother would call “a matrimonial prospect”. Still, there’s something about the young man that sends Lady Monique’s heart thumping around her chest, and silences her voice of reason.

Unfortunately for Lady Monique, the stakes are high, and young ladies of the ton make for very poor gamblers. Especially when James Stanton is on the hunt for revenge, and won’t let an innocent woman—or his own passionate desires—get in the way of righting past wrongs.

Purchase Links

Review

Historical Romance books really rely on the authors ability to make the reader feel like they are living in a different time. Mariel Grey manages to do this effortlessly.

Because this is dealing in a different time period, the multitude of themes throughout the book are quite different then those in your typical novel. Be prepared to be taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

I loved the development of Monique and James's relationship. Their chemistry was very believable and the relationship they build was a beautiful one.

From the moment she could put pen to paper, Mariel Grey knew she wanted to be a writer. Like all good adventures however, it didn’t happen overnight; it was after several decades of working in litigation that the desire to create dramatic worlds and characters became too great to ignore. Her first foray into historical romance, Surrender of Trust, explored the grime and glamour of regency horse racing, following the determined but impoverished Lucy Goodwin and upright Lord Chalifour. Her second novel, A Gentleman’s Surrender, released January 1, 2016 introduces the innocent Lady Monique and tortured Mr. Stanton, both struggling to find love in a world filled with deceit.

Though entirely at home in the ballrooms and street alleys of London past, Mariel Grey’s is currently working on a contemporary story set in Florida, a landscape dear to the author’s heart. When she isn’t conjuring words on her computer screen, Grey can be found on the water fishing, snorkeling, and enjoying the incredible natural beauty of her home.

Mariel has a wonderful husband (the hero of her own romantic story) as well as a mischievous cat (who seems happy to play the role of villain). In addition to being a dutiful wife and animal wrangler, Mariel is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Ancient City Romance Authors chapter.

Contact Information

Twitter: Twitter@mariel_grey

Goodreads Author Page

Novel on Goodreads