Q & A with Amy Rachiele

Silencing Joy
by Amy Rachiele

Book Description:  I scream. I couldn’t help it. I jump up and whack my head on the bottom of a bleacher. My hand flies immediately to the lump forming. I start running while bent in half. I try to get out.  I don’t.
Suddenly, my hair is yanked back. I shriek as my hands automatically go to the back of my head. My heart races in terror. I bend backwards from the yank and then fall to my knees.
~Joy, Silencing Joy

Joy is the type of person that goes about her business, stays out of people’s way, and keeps to herself. Everything changes one night at a football game.
Have you ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Follow Joy as she discovers what wrong place and wrong time actually mean.

Kara shifted in her seat and her foot slipped. Something pulled on it.
A hand came around her mouth and she was falling. Kara found herself flat on the ground in the dirt and trash under the bleachers.
A cloth was slipped over her mouth and tied behind her head. Someone flipped her over like a hog, tying and dressing it for a roast over a spit. Kara’s hands were yanked and bound behind her back with thick rope.

~Kara, Silencing Joy

Silencing Joy on Amazon

See my review on Goodreads!  5/5 stars!

Q & A with Amy Rachiele

Q: Tell us a little bit about Joy.
A: Joy struggles with self-confidence issues from how she was treated in H.S. mix that with being shy, she has created a little world for herself complete with one friend and pictures. Joy can live vicariously through her art. 

Q: Do you have a favorite scene from Silencing Joy?
A: My absolute favorite scene isn’t a pleasant one. It is the beginning when she finds Will beaten. The cold fear and surreal atmosphere are palpable.

Q: In your opinion, what makes a good, strong female character?
A: A good female character has to be willing to change. They need to be able to empower themselves and find inner strength. They need to be resilient.

Q: What do you see as influences on your writing style?
A: I am influenced by what I like to read. I am an avid reader. I enjoy romance, paranormal, sci-fi, historical romance, new adult themed works.

Q: What is the best advice you have been given?
A: Write for yourself. If others like it, that is great. You have to enjoy it and what you are writing because it is a long, time-consuming process to write.

Q: Hard/paperbacks or eBooks?
A: I love a shiny hardcopy book, my first one I received ever was SUPERFUDGE when I was about 12 years old.

Ebooks are great though because it is instant gratification. I can download a sequel at 1 am if I need to. (Yes, this has happened to me!) My most tragic reading episode was TWILIGHT. I finished New Moon and needed Eclipse. I raced to the bookstore to get it before they closed, I didn’t make it! I was crushed. I was up early the next morning to grab it. Ebooks alleviate that turmoil.

Q: If you could be on one reality TV show, what would it be?
A: Reality shows are not really my thing. I don’t watch any, but if I was recruited to be on one, I would like to be on craft wars on TLC.

Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I just finished Little Conversations by Sibylla Matilde. This is a great new novel just published. I was lucky enough to beta. I am starting Real by Katy Evans next.

About the Author:  Amy Rachiele is a military spouse who has spent many years in the family program sector of the National Guard and currently works for the Department of Veteran Affairs. She has worked previously with families facing deployment and separation issues as well as families of the Fallen. She holds a Master's degree from Rhode Island College in English and Secondary Education. Amy devoted 10 years to teaching at-risk students in the Providence School System. Besides writing, she enjoys scrapbooking, sewing and is learning to knit. Amy lives in Massachusetts with her son and husband.


 


Contact Links:  
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6150565.Amy_Rachiele

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mobster-Series/245610882223918

https://www.facebook.com/amyrachielebooks

https://squareup.com/market/tj-publishing

Daughter of NothingDaughter of Nothing by Eric Edstrom

Daughter of Nothing by Eric Edstrom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to start by saying this book was not at all what I was expecting, in a most delightful way. First off, I always worry a little bit when there is a male author writing a female character, a main character no less, because they many times end up falling short. It's happened quite often in books I've read…but, Jacey is done so well. Mr. Edstrom got inside Jacey's head and created a great character out of her. She was super easy to like, naive but not stupid, and had strong morals. She was trusting to a fault and, always seeing the good in people, never believed there was true evil in the world.

Secondly, the whole concept of this story was so unique, I actually did not see the twists and turns coming. More than once I found myself gasping out loud or saying 'oh my God, that did not just happen!'. Seriously though, the story is very well written and engrossing. You will want to keep reading to find out what happens next. I promise.

And last, the world Mr. Edstrom created for this story was beautiful and fascinating but at the same time a little bit chilling. He created this magnificent sanctuary peacefully tucked away safe from the rest of the world. He made us, and his characters, trust and believe in the power of kindness, honesty, and virtue, and then he slowly stripped it all away, leaving us with no one to believe in or trust. No one is as they seemed to be, or are they?

Though this book is just released, I am already looking for more from these characters. Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of his book.


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Tattoos: A Novel by Denise Mathew

Tattoos: A Novel  
by Denise Mathew
Published June 4th 2013
300 pages 

Book Description:  Seventeen-year-old Marilee Mackie has everything going for her, beauty, money and a bright future. But when she’s diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkins Lymphoma her world falls apart, and instead of finishing her senior year she begins the fight of her life.

Nineteen-year-old Jax, an enigmatic hospital orderly, lives on the Strip, the proverbial other side of the tracks. With his edgy attitude, sleeves of tattoos and rocker look, he’s the kind of bad boy that Marilee has always steered clear of.

But when Marilee’s cancer strips away every bit of her identity, leaving her a shadow of the person she once was, all the things that mattered to her before no longer hold any meaning. Determined to make a difference in the world before she dies, Marilee enlists Jax to help her with something she calls the Peace Project, a way to use her college fund money to help the people who need it the most on the Strip.
With Marilee’s money and Jax’s knowledge of the Strip, the teenagers embark on an unforgettable journey. Where two people from completely different worlds find that miracles do exist, and that the darkest cloud of your life may be lined with the brightest rainbow.

Tattoos is a story about love, hope and the preconceived notions and barriers that we put between us for no reason other than the way someone looks or where they live. It’s about letting go of all the things that we thought were important in the quest for our true purpose. And that sometimes the people you never thought you could love, may be exactly who you needed all along. 

Tattoos: A Novel by Denise Mathew
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Marilee had a perfect life. Everything was going her way until the day she was diagnosed with cancer. After losing not only her health but the emotional support from her family and friends, she turns to Jax, a hospital volunteer. Jax was everything Marilee would have stayed away from Before Cancer – he had the bad boy looks and the bad boy attitude. Together they work to try to make a difference in their small corner of the world.

So this book was pretty much awesome. I liked Marilee, though I suspect if I would have met her Before Cancer I might not have. She had the kind of perfect life everyone dreams of. She never gave a thought to anyone else. Not to say she was a bad person – I really can't say since we really didn't get to see her before – but she seemed like your typical teenage girl, worrying about clothes, parties, boys, etc. Along with her diagnosis Marilee's life was changed in the way that only cancer can. Her future became murky, her priorities shifted, and she began to wonder what she would be leaving behind should she not make it through the treatments.

Jax was a nobody in Marilee's world – a hospital orderly sent in to clean up the mess left behind. However, when she took a good look at him he became so much more. I loved that they met when Marilee was at her worst. It is in this that we realize how wonderful he truly is. I do wish we would have gotten more of them together in the hospital. All of Marilee's treatment/sickness and their reactions to such were glossed over. It felt to me as part of their relationship was missing that I would have loved to see.

While I loved the romance in this story, there is so much to it than that. We see both Marilee and Jax grow as individuals as they try to use the resources at their disposal to help others. The emotions the author was able to put into these pages was amazing – I laughed, I cried (consider this a warning if you are reading in public or just applied mascara), and at one memorable moment I wanted to stop reading altogether because I knew what was coming and I wanted to stop it. I couldn't stop it and I didn't stop reading, and the ending made it all worth it.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Q & A with Denise Mathew

Q:  Tell us a little bit about Marilee and Jax.

A:  Having grown up in a bubble of affluence, Marilee is quite naïve to the reality of human suffering and real life issues. For most of her life she has tried to be perfect in every way, but when her cancer brings her to her physical worst, she no longer lets life happen to her and instead actively seeks to find true connections. In the process she finds strength that she didn’t know she had. The best part of Marilee is how she’s more of a spitfire than even she knows.
 
Jax is a streetwise guy with a past that hasn’t been easy. Instead of being bitter about his plight in life he dedicates himself to trying to make a difference in the world, and to helping people who are ignored by society. Through his relationship with Marilee he comes to terms with his long held belief that people with money are inherently bad. After he falls in love with Marilee he realizes that at the core of every person is a human being just trying to be understood. I love how he’s nothing like everyone presumes. 

Q:  Do you have a favorite scene from Tattoos?
A:  There were quite a few scenes that I loved writing, but if I had to choose one I would have to say it was when Jax took Marilee out on their first real date. For me the scene showed that no matter what is going on in our life, good things can still happen.

Q:  What do you see as the biggest challenge for new authors and what have you been doing to overcome that?
A:  I feel the biggest challenge for new authors is standing out, and making their book visible in a sea of literature from both established and emerging writers. Reviews are your best friend and help to overcome the obstacles of obscurity, so you should get as many as you can. The ARR program has been immensely helpful for me because many potential readers rely on reviews to decide whether they want to read your work. Once people have read and reviewed your work, word of mouth can help to create a buzz. But the work doesn’t stop there, it’s extremely important to have a cover that visually pops from others in your genre followed by a fabulous hook (think book flap blurbs) to seal the deal.

Q:  Who do you see playing Marilee and Jax in a movie?
A:  I know readers will have their own ideas about who they visualize playing the characters, so I don’t like to sway their opinions, but if pressed I would say that Emma Roberts would be a great Marilee. I picture Marilee as very wholesome, cute and petite, and I think that Emma Roberts could deliver on those qualities. Jax would definitely be Avan Jogia, Avan isn’t a household name but he embodies everything I imagined about Jax, an edgy look and a heart of gold, not to mention that he’s gorgeous. A quick Google search will show you what I mean. 

Q:  What is the best advice you have been given?
A:  Don’t write to trends, it usually doesn’t work. Write a story that makes your heart sing and begs to be released. If something isn’t working change it up. No matter what obstacles you face never give up on your dream to be a writer. You’ll never know what the future might bring if you throw in the towel before you finish the race. As Dorie said in “Finding Nemo”, just keep swimming, just keep swimming…

Q:  Hard/paperbacks or eBooks?
A:  Tattoos: A Novel is already published in ebook form and is available on all Amazon websites and Kobo.com. It will be coming out in paperback by the middle of October 2013.
 
Q:  If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?
A:  Just like Gran I would love to be able to tell the future, know when good things were going to happen, though there might be the downside of knowing the bad stuff too. But sometimes what we may consider “bad” may teach us our biggest life lessons.

Q:  What book are you reading now?
A:  Right now I’m reading Inferno by Dan Brown, but last week I read Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins and Bared to You by Sylvia Day. My reading tastes are extremely varied just like my writing.

About the Author:  
Denise Mathew loves good chocolate, lots of coffee, her kids and husband, when they behave, and of course writing stories. She believes that housework should be banned and wishes that potato chips were the most healthy and nutritious food on the planet.

She worked as a pediatric nurse for eleven years, once owned an online jewelry business and even taught English in Thailand.

She plans on writing until the stories run out, something she hopes never happens.

Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Denise-Mathew/e/B00ARLSV76/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/tattoos-a-novel
https://twitter.com/DeniseMathew
https://www.facebook.com/denisemathewfans
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6869412.Denise_Mathew
http://denisemathew.com/Denisemathew.com/About_Me.html

Crimson Dawn by Amos Cassidy - Cover Reveal!

Crimson Dawn

Book 3 in the Crimson Series by Amos Cassidy

Coming October 25

All I can say is...wow!

Tragically Flawed by A.M. Hargrove + Giveaway

Tragically Flawed
by A.M. Hargrove

Book Description:  
Riviera Benson has a talent...one she discovered by accident. She’s a painter, but canvas isn’t her medium. She creates her lovely masterpieces on walls and ceilings of million dollar homes as murals and faux finishes. Her art is in high demand now, but life wasn’t always that way. Riviera has secrets from her past she intends to keep tightly locked away...terrifying secrets that keep her awake at night...that prevent her from getting close to anyone...anyone that is, until she meets Shan.

Benjamin Shandon, owner of Shandon Homes, works like a thousand demons are chasing him...because perhaps they are. His business has boomed, ever since the forest fire swept through the canyon and destroyed hundreds of million dollar homes. He demands excellence in everything...from his employees to his women. He slows down for nothing, keeping a schedule that no sane person would want. But Riviera interrupts everything, twisting his guts inside out, and wedging her way into his heart, destroying a promise he made to himself.

Will they let their pasts control their future, or will they decide to let go and allow their hearts to discover each other’s?
 
This book contains mature content and is not intended for younger readers.

Buy Links:  
Amazon: http://amzn.to/14wIgQ0
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/19qMpVb
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/18MPgf1



Tragically Flawed by A.M. Hargrove 
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tragically Flawed is another great novel from one of my favorite authors. Full of action, romance, tragedy, and incredibly steamy scenes, this book will toy with your emotions and make you fall in love with the characters.

Riviera's story is heartbreaking and tragic. After leaving an abusive relationship, Riviera (love that name!) moves away to start a new life for herself. Landing her dream job, things are beginning to look up. Through the story Riviera is vulnerable and scared, but definitely not weak or naive. She knows first-hand there is evil in the world, but she never once stops to feel sorry for herself for what she has gone through. She just picks up and moves on, doing what she has to in order to survive another day. I loved watching her transformation from a scared, anxious young woman into someone who is able to stand up for herself and for what she believes.

After Riviera comes to realize that first impressions aren't always what they seem, Shan, the incredibly sexy, incredibly single, incredibly intimidating owner of Shandon Homes, becomes someone she thinks she can learn to trust, but taking into consideration the men in her past she finds trusting might be too difficult. At the same time all of these exhilarating but terrifying changes are going on in her life, Riviera realizes that her new boss might actually be the devil incarnate.

Fast paced and fabulously sexy, this story has a dark side but also has its laugh out loud moments as well. The characters are great, and I hope the author decides to turn this book into a series. I would love, love, love to know more about Drexel (hint, hint), and I sense a story in Amie and Gray as well. Thank you to A.M. Hargrove for providing me with an ARC of your book!

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About the Author:
One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn't do something soon, it would quickly be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So, she rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed out her leather briefcase. Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire was a dodge ball pro and had über quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting bashed in the head. Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what laptop out the window. She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her cell phone, called her boss and quit her job. Grinning, she made another call to her hubs and told him of her new adventure (after making sure his heart was beating properly again).
 
So began A. M. Hargrove's career as a YA/NA and Adult Romance writer. Her books include the following: Edge of Disaster, Shattered Edge and Kissing Fire (The Edge Series); The Guardians of Vesturon series (Survival, Resurrection, Determinant, reEmergent and Beginnings); Dark Waltz and Tragically Flawed.
 
Other than being in love with writing about being in love, she loves chocolate, ice cream and coffee and is positive they should be added as part of the USDA food groups.

Author Links:
Blog: http://amhargrove.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amhargrove1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMHargroveAuthor
Author Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5338829.A_M_Hargrove
Tragically Flawed on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18271624-tragically-flawed
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/amhargrove1/

Wake Up Call by Victoria Ashley

Wake Up Call by Victoria Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Avery is a barely 19-year-old on her own and struggling day by day just to get by. Unable to find a job due to lack of experience, she has resorted to stripping to keep herself off the street. When she finds herself in a situation she cannot figure out how to get out of on her own, she relies on enigmatic and sexy Jace – though only because she really has no other choice. Avery does not trust easily, or at all, but Jace is determined to help her and will push until she cannot take it anymore.

As for the characters, Avery was really hard to like at first. Sure she had had a hard life, but when reading a book you want the character to have overcome the odds, to be different, to be kind and caring despite her past, but Avery was not like that. After the first couple of chapters I really did not like her much at all, and I was worried that her personality would bring the whole story down for me. However, she did grow on me. She was still hard and determined not to let anyone close, but she had her reasons, and she did try.

Jace was pretty awesome, though pushy at times, but I guess that's an admirable quality in an alpha male, which he definitely is. He's just really an overall nice guy, the kind of guy who when he sees someone in need he reaches out to them. This obsession with helping people has gotten him hurt in the past, but it does not stop him from helping Avery.

Overall the story was good and the writing was good, but there were many grammatical errors throughout the book, which I would not even mention if they were few and far between, but they were frequent, and having my eye catch on them and cause me to stop reading really took away from the story. There were also a couple of eye rolling moments for me in the story where I just thought, like that would really happen, and loose ends tied up too quickly or too neatly, but overall I enjoyed the story. Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of her book.


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The Last Strand by Van Krishna

The Last Strand by Van Krishna
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a really good story. The plot was different and fully of mystery and suspense, and I think it definitely has the potential to be great.

Overall, the characters were good. Nick was well developed and overall a likeable guy, not to mention downright sexy. We were able to get to know him well throughout the story, and I enjoyed the chapters told from his point of view the most. Liz's character was good, and I mostly liked what we saw of her. The one thing that I really did not like about her was her indecisiveness. She would tell Nick one thing, but then do another. Bipolar much? Though, there was some definite chemistry between Liz and Nick, and we love chemistry. Additionally their banter was quite fun. The only character I really did not like was Stacy. She was a horrible friend to Liz, though Liz just laughed it off like it was funny.

While I enjoyed the story, there were a couple of things that I have to mention that brought the rating down from a 4 to a 3 for me. First of all, there were too many grammatical errors not to mention them. One or two errors throughout the book I could overlook, but there were many consistently throughout. They were little things, 'I'm' instead of 'I am' (those two words cannot exclusively be used in place of one another), comma misuse or lack of commas, and semicolon misuse, but as I said it was enough to be noticeable, and that distracted my reading and ultimately detracted from the story. Additionally, the thought processes seemed very disjointed to me, especially in the beginning, to the point where I stopped at one point to check and see if the author was a native English speaker. It wasn't necessarily bad, per se, just…flighty, and I had the constant feeling that I was missing parts of the story. Plus, I kept wondering why everything was in italics? That was a bit distracting. Every page had some random thoughts thrown into italics without any rhyme or reason to it that I could discern.

The second thing that brought the rating down I had mentioned above – Liz's indecisiveness. This inconsistency in her personality was a major character flaw for her. For example, one second she was ignoring Nick and telling him she was 'not that kind of girl,' and the next second (literally) she was half naked with him in the front seat of his car. There was no in-between and no transition from one Liz to the next. In another scene she had not been speaking to him for a few days and the next thing you knew they were having sex like nothing had been wrong. Again like mentioned above, I just felt like something was missing from those scenes, possibly some inner dialogue that explained why she went from one extreme to the next.

Overall, the story was entertaining and could be really great with an editor with an eye for detail.

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