#BookReview: Reckless (Chestnut Springs #4) by Elsie Silver @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: He's scorching-hot trouble wrapped up in a drool-worthy package. And he's looking at her like she might be his next meal. Theo Silva. Rowdy bull rider. Notorious ladies' man. Winter Hamilton knows exactly what it means when he eyes her like that. But she's almost free of her toxic marriage and has sworn off men entirely. So all she sees when she looks back at Theo is temptation served up with a heaping side of heartbreak. The man is hard to trust―but, it turns out, even harder to resist. Make that impossible. Because Theo is persistent. And no matter how hard Winter tries to freeze him out, he melts her icy exterior and pulls apart all her defenses. Over a drink in a small-town bar, she finds herself blurting out her deepest, darkest secrets. Then, she spends the singular hottest night of her life with the man she never thought she'd say yes to. He worships her body. He makes her blush. She comes alive beneath his hands. Then she tells him to forget it ever happened. She wants simple, and with him it all feels complicated. It was supposed to be a one-time thing. A secret. But that little plus sign is going to make this secret impossible to keep.

#ReleaseBlitz for Wanting the Player by Heather Young-Nichols @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: Wanting the Player

Series: Rules of the Game #2

Author: Heather Young-Nichols

Genre: Contemporary Sports Romance

Tropes: Sworn Off Relationships/Afraid to Commit

Release Date: March 25, 2024

BLURB

Vowing to never sleep with a baseball player might’ve been a curse upon myself.

Given that I suck at relationships, I’m perfectly happy to never be in one again. Men can’t be trusted. Or maybe it’s my heart that can’t be trusted. I don’t know. Either way, especially after the epic fail of a hook up last year with a baseball player that won’t leave me alone, baseball players are no longer an option.

Then Urban Briggs tells me, a stranger, that he’s going to make sure his teammate leaves me alone. Great. I could use the help. Except that player doesn’t leave me alone, and Urban ends up volunteering at the summer camp I’m working at. Of course, he does. His family’s charity runs the camp. Now, I can’t avoid him, and he’s too hard to ignore.

At first, Urban is fine with our arrangement. After all, he’s leaving as soon as the season ends if he has his way. He doesn’t want to leave behind any attachments, either. Sounds perfect, right? Wrong. Can I risk my heart one last time, or am I going to let the best thing in my life walk away?

Wanting the Player is book two in the Rules of the Game series and features a broody baseball player and a woman who isn’t supposed to fall in love who happens to work at his family’s summer camp, where he’s volunteering a little of his time, a standoffish heroine, lots of steam, and it wasn’t supposed to be you vibes.

#BookReview: Tonight, I Burn (Thorn Witch #1) by Katharine J. Adams

Synopsis: A thorn witch with the power to walk between the realms of Life and Death finds herself at the center of a magical rebellion—and a dangerous romance—that could destroy her coven and her soul in this dark and decadent debut. 
 
Thorns, Tides, Embers, Storms, and Ores. All five covens are bound in servitude to the tyrant High Warden of Halstett. 

Penny Albright is a daughter of the thorn coven, forced to patrol the veil between the realms of Life and Death. Each night, one thorn witch—and only one—must cross the veil by burning at the stake. Each morning, that witch draws on their magic to return. Failure to follow the rules risks the veil and risks them all.

But one morning, Penny's favorite sister Ella doesn't return. And that night, determined to find her, Penny breaks the rules. She burns in secret. And she discovers that all isn’t as it seems in Life or Death. 
 
Her journey leads her to Malin, a devastating lord with too many secrets; to Alice, a mysterious captive prophet; and to a rebellion brewing in the shadows beneath the city. And as Penny's world splits, she’ll face a devastating choice. Because it’s not just her sister’s life that hangs in the balance. It’s the fate of all magic. 

All it takes is one witch—and one spark—to set the world ablaze.

#BookBlitz: The Heart Knows What the Mind Cannot See by @tobynegus @RABTBookTours #Giveaway

 

Self Help, Spiritual Inspiration

Date Published: 06-02-2021

 

This is a thought-provoking and enlightening exploration of spirituality and perception. The text functions as a guide to self-improvement, with a mixture of autobiographical elements and snippets of universal wisdom. The speaker provides accessible solutions to life's difficulties, and an outlook of optimism applicable to any circumstance. The illustrations and graphics are thoughtfully chosen, and the interactive textual elements give this work an originality that sets it apart. The speaker's own experiences and conclusions are at the heart of this fiction, and the first-person narrative voice creates a sense of proximity between author and reader. The text describes itself as 'a journey to the heart', and this truthful discovery of the self is reflected in the speaker's revelation of his whole self through the text. The narrative often presents a dichotomy between positive and negative outlooks or voices.

For example, the speaker includes sections in which his self-doubt speaks, 'you've got no proper education, you can't spell properly, you're dyslexic and your grammar is crap. You're not really a writer'. This negative voice directly opposes the sense of self-belief the speaker builds within the narrative. He uses examples such as this to remind readers that the journey to happiness is complex and that flaws or setbacks are natural. The negative separation or fragmentation of the self is prevalent in the lines, 'I do not love the grumpy me, the sad me, the hostile me, the parts of me that act as if I do not care'. The act of writing represents a unification of the self and an attempt to reframe the speaker's life into coherence. The frequent use of direct address and rhetorical questions promotes an active reading experience, in which the author opens up a dialogue with the reader. The text includes prompts and activities for the reader to engage with and learn from. Encouraging readers to take part in the text is emblematic of their journey to self-fulfillment and love, in which they must take responsibility for actively creating their own happiness.

The speaker depicts his process of enlightenment as a framework for others to emulate, and the format of the text demonstrates the transfer of agency to those who take part in the speaker's challenges at the end of each chapter. This work ultimately teaches us that 'we are the cause of what is' and thus sheds light on the crucial idea that every individual has the power to create themselves and their world positively.

#BookReview: Bridesmaid for Hire (Bridesmaid for Hire, #1) by @AuthorMegQuinn @Read_Bloom

Synopsis: Sometimes the wedding of the century calls for desperate measures.

And sometimes those desperate measures are to pretend the person you hate most is actually your boyfriend.

After years of working her tail off at her event-planning business, Maggie Mitchell is ready for a vacation. With nothing on her mind but R & R, she’s enjoying the warm weather of Bora Bora when in saunters Brody McFadden, her brother’s best friend and also her sworn enemy. Thanks to years of tension between the two—kicked off by a make-out session at her brother’s wedding that ended horribly—Maggie has sworn to stay away from the man. That is, until she finds out he’s in Bora Bora for his boss’s daughter’s wedding, hoping to use the trip to win a real future at the company.

Maggie promised herself she wouldn’t even think of work on the island, but as word spreads about the “wedding of the century” taking place in the midst of her vacation, she realizes offering her services as a bridesmaid and planner could bring her business to the next level. The only catch? She needs to pose as Brody’s girlfriend to get the job…while letting him stay in her peaceful bungalow.

Tensions rise, irritation flairs, and despite years’ worth of bickering behind closed doors, Maggie can’t quite squash the sparks building between her and her new fake boyfriend, especially when she learns the real reason their first kiss was cut short. But as the wedding day draws closer and everything starts to go wrong, it just might be Brody who sends Maggie’s business crashing down—and her heart along with it.

#BookTour: Think by Ivonne Kinser @RABTBookTours

The Manifesto for Creative and Critical Thinkers

Nonfiction / Self-Help

Date Published: December 21, 2023

Publisher: ‎Mindstir Media

 

This book is an exploration of original, critical, and creative thinking through the lens of my creative philosophy. It delves into the very essence of what it means to be human and provides a rational, abstract, and methodical examination of reality.

Philosophy, the love of wisdom, is the guiding principle behind this journey of reflection, self-expression, and enlightenment.

THINK is a bold and inspiring call to free our minds and embrace original thinking.

The philosophical approach that guides this book is designed to ignite a spark within us, to inspire and empower us to break free from the shackles of preconceived notions and legacy thinking that may hold us back. It is a call to embrace critical, original, and creative thinking on our own terms, so we can forge new paths forward. This is not just a book:

It is a revolution for the mind.

Innovation, disruptive creativity, and a nontraditional approach to marketing are hallmarks of Ivonne Kinser's work. As a result, she is widely recognized in the marketing industry as a thought leader on effective and disruptive marketing.

Each year, Ivonne delivers dozens of keynotes at marketing industry conferences where she addresses problem-solving, disruptive creativity, and innovation in the hope of inspiring creative change through the art of deep, strategic, and creative thinking.

As a seasoned marketing professional and accomplished author, Ivonne Kinser has dedicated over two decades to mastering the art of strategic, deep, critical, and creative thinking. Through her vast experience in both brand and agency settings, Ivonne has honed her skills to become a thought leader in innovative marketing.

Passionate about inspiring others, she shares her wealth of knowledge and expertise to encourage individuals to unlock their full potential and think in transformative ways. Her approach to problem-solving and disruptive creativity has captivated audiences at numerous marketing industry conferences and continues to spark change in the industry. By harnessing the power of strategic thinking, Ivonne empowers individuals and teams alike to reach new heights of success and innovation.

As a groundbreaking leader, Ivonne shattered glass ceilings by becoming the first Latina recipient of the DFW American Marketing Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.

She has also earned a spot on the "100 Most Influential Latinas in the United States" list for two consecutive years and was honored with the coveted Changing the Game Award in the Brainwave category by the She Runs It organization in 2018.

Recognized as one of the "20 Women to Watch in Dallas Advertising," Ivonne's brilliance also shined when she was awarded the Shining Star Award by the American Advertising Federation.

As the innovation lead for the Avocados From Mexico's brand, Ivonne led the innovation agenda that put Avocados From Mexico on Fast Company's list of Most Innovative Companies in the world, and at the top one in the branding category.

Overall, her work has received more than 30 accolades and awards for creativity, innovation and high performance.