#BookReview: Done Running by Helen Bea Kirk #Giveaway

  The Lemere family is in shock. They are all packed up and moving away in disgrace. At one time they were wealthy - not now. Porsha gets hired as a waitress which further embarrasses Miralda. In her disgust, Miralda goes on the run with the boys. Porsha is left alone to deal with her depressed father. When she attends a frat party and experiences a magnificent kiss by a stranger, everything was fine, until his girlfriend opened the door.
The situation spiraled out of control when it appeared the mystery kisser man was running off with her purse. She attacked him... and hurt him...badly. Now he wants revenge and she knows it.
Read DONE RUNNING and follow Porsha and her family's trials as they suffer the results of their bad decisions... all the way from Alaska to Kansas!

#BookReview: Returned To Me by Helen Bea Kirk #Giveaway

  Sometimes to find something right, you have to live through something wrong. Very wrong.

Once upon a time, Janet and Doreen left their Amish sect in Lagrange County, Indiana to experience the world outside for the first time. One year later, Doreen returned to Lagrange with a baby girl she named, Melanie. The father, Mr. Bontrouver, was a wealthy, married man. 

When Mrs. Bontrouver hired detective Mike Garrison to investigate her husband’s activities, she learned of the child. In her rage, she forced him to return with her to France and abandon his heir.

Who could be behind the kidnapping of five-year-old Melanie when she is ripped from her mother and taken from her Amish community? 

When Melanie attends Washington State University, she goes partying and is drugged and betrayed by her “friends.” They abandon the delirious Melanie at a late-night tattoo parlor with instructions to tattoo a cross in a humiliating place on her, because she loves Jesus. That’s when Melanie meets Jake. Was it a good thing that Jake’s girlfriend was out of town that night? When the cat’s away…

Jake’s world is fraught with tension. His marijuana-growing parents have avoided police scrutiny for years, but the shop is Jake’s now and that’s where the dope is stored, and he is sick of it. Between his growing irritation toward Candy and the recent police surveillance, Jake wants out of that world before he’s behind bars or married to Candy.

A tale of love, faith, and redemption, Returned To Me will hold your imagination captive with its tale of good people trying to turn wrongs into something right.

Intense adult situations, for mature readers.

#BookReview: Colorless (Colorless #1) by Rita Stradling

  In Domengrad, there are rules all must live by: Fear the Gods. Worship the Magicians. Forsake the Iconoclasts. 

To Annabelle Klein, the rules laid down by the Magicians are the mere ramblings of stuffy old men. As far as she’s concerned, the historic Iconoclasts, heretics who nearly destroyed the Magicians so long ago, are nothing but myth. She has much more important matters to worry about. 

Heiress to a manor mortgaged down to its candlesticks and betrothed to her loathsome cousin, sixteen-year-old Annabelle doubts the gods could forsake her more. 

Then Annabelle is informed of her parents’ sudden and simultaneous deaths, and all of the pigment drips out of her skin and hair, leaving her colourless. Within moments, Annabelle is invisible and forgotten by all who know her. 

Living like a wraith in her own home, Annabelle discovers that to regain her color she must solve the mystery behind her parents’ murders and her strange transformation. 

Meanwhile, hundreds of the Magicians’ monks, with their all-black eyes and conjoined minds, have usurped control of Annabelle’s family manor. An Iconoclast is rumored to be about—a person who they claim goes unseen, unheard, and lost to memory, yet is the greatest threat to all of Domengrad. For the first time in a hundred years, the monks plan to unleash the dire wolves of old. 

Their only target: Annabelle.Put Stuff Here

#BookReview: The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle

  A contemporary romance inspired by Christina Rossetti's eerie, sensual poem, "Goblin Market." Four neighbors encounter sinister enchantments and a magical path to love in a small, modern-day Puget Sound town, where a fae realm hides in the woods and waters...

Most people have no idea goblins live in the woods around the small town of Bellwater, Washington. But some are about to find out. 

Skye, a young barista and artist, falls victim to a goblin curse in the forest one winter night, rendering her depressed and silenced, unable to speak of what happened. Her older sister, Livy, is at wit’s end trying to understand what’s wrong with her. Local mechanic Kit would know, but he doesn’t talk of such things: he’s the human liaison for the goblin tribe, a job he keeps secret and never wanted, thrust on him by an ancient family contract.

Unaware of what’s happened to Skye, Kit starts dating Livy, trying to keep it casual to protect her from the attention of the goblins. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Kit, Skye draws his cousin Grady into the spell through an enchanted kiss in the woods, dooming Grady and Skye both to become goblins and disappear from humankind forever.

It’s a midwinter night’s enchantment as Livy, the only one untainted by a spell, sets out to save them on a dangerous magical path of her own.

#NerdBlast: Autonomous by @Annaleen @JeanBookNerd

  Autonomous features a rakish female pharmaceutical pirate named Jack who traverses the world in her own submarine. A notorious anti-patent scientist who has styled herself as a Robin Hood heroine fighting to bring cheap drugs to the poor, Jack’s latest drug is leaving a trail of lethal overdoses across what used to be North America—a drug that compels people to become addicted to their work.

On Jack’s trail are an unlikely pair: an emotionally shut-down military agent and his partner, Paladin, a young military robot, who fall in love against all expectations. Autonomous alternates between the activities of Jack and her co-conspirators, and Joe and Paladin, as they all race to stop a bizarre drug epidemic that is tearing apart lives, causing trains to crash, and flooding New York City.

#BookReview: Anastasia's Book of Days by Cindy Maynard #Giveaway

  From the vestiges of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe to the creation of the nation we now know as Germany, the life of Anastasia Burkart reflects the momentous changes sweeping across her beloved Black Forest homeland. As the oldest of several children, Anastasia takes care of her younger siblings, particularly when her mother struggles. She must grow up quickly. At the age of nine, her parents give her a leather-bound book of days, in which she may write what she sees, thinks, and feels. And as time goes on, she tells the story of her life-that of a never-wed mother of three in a conservative Catholic society. Hers is a story filled with strife, hardships, and love, spanning most of the nineteenth century. Based on Anastasia's purported diaries, this novel presents her life story, turning a family genealogy into the flesh and bones of a real woman who passed the family name down through the generations.

#BookReview: The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey, Anne Wilson

  In this beautiful anthology of folktales, young readers will learn about the way different cultures around the world live in harmony with the rhythms and patterns of nature. They will discover how to tread lightly on our precious Earth by following the easy eco-tips and by trying out some of the fun and creative activities that accompany each story. Children will discover how the residents of the Kingdom of Benin deep within the Nigerian rainforest consume less and conserve more; how the Comanche Indians respect Mother Earth by giving more than they receive; among Bali s coral reefs and volcanic mountain peaks is the lesson that everything in nature is connected.

#BookReview: The Colors of Dawn: Secrets Within by Dawn Bowe

  “…The things that didn’t kill me didn’t necessarily make me stronger…instead, they made me colder to the world and the people in it.” 

A Heart-warming, moving, tranquilizing, true story of a young girl who felt abandoned at a young age due to her parents moving to the United States without her, in hopes of creating the ‘American Dream’. Following the move, she was subjected to years of child abuse from people who were trusted by other family members. Dawn lived her life in permeated fear, and was unable to fully trust anyone for years to come. Not only did she live in fear, but she also suffered through a roller-coaster of emotions in dealing with abandonment issues, low self-esteem, and an insurmountable amount of hurt so deep, that it would take what would seem like a lifetime to heal. 

Join Dawn as she takes you on her journey through her childhood obstacles, and share with her all the laughs and tears; as she tries to find ways to overcome her abuse, in this first of three-part harrowing memoir, “The Colors of Dawn: Secrets Within.” 

#BookReview: True Mercy by Idelle Kursman #Giveaway

  “In the midst of happy memories of licking the chocolate chip cookie batter . . . Adam
spotted a woman on the ground.”

Adam, an eighteen year-old with autism, unwittingly gets caught up in the evil network of human trafficking the day he finds Marina on the ground. Nursing fresh wounds from losing his mother, Adam is ecstatic to accept a new mother figure into his life. He longs for someone to take walks with and who will watch nature videos with him. He can't fathom, however, the horrific existence Marina has led prior to appearing in his neighborhood.

Marina, abducted from her country of Moldova, has landed in America and somehow managed to escape. Starving, filthy, and exhausted, she has nowhere to turn and desperately needs Adam's assistance. But what will Adam's father think of him allowing this emaciated refugee into their home?

Adam's father Bruce has his own troubles as the sole caregiver of Adam while trying to hold down a regular job. How will he take on the added responsibility of protecting Marina from the traffickers who are intent on recapturing her? Can he successfully protect both her and his childlike son?

#BookReview: Good Morning, Grumple by Victoria Allenby, Manon Gauthier

  Not every child greets the new day with enthusiasm. Those who don't are called Grumples, and they must be dealt with carefully. Sing very softly, tickle one pinky toe, kiss the scrunched-up forehead. And then a big hug and a singing rhyme to see in the day. Even Grumples cannot resist. There are many going-to-bed books, but Good Morning, Grumple is a unique look at the celebration of morning. Manon Gauthier's endearing collage illustrations capture the love between a mother and child, even in cranky moments. Parents will find Victoria Allenby's droll story in verse to be a perfect accompaniment to the beginning of the day, and a gentle way to turn their own Grumples into children again. 

#BookReview: The Dinosaur (Love #4) by Frédéric Brrémaud, Federico Bertolucci

  Life in the primordial swamps of prehistoric Earth was a daily trial of survival, especially for the smaller dinosaurs just trying to get by without being trampled, attacked, or eaten. Not even the biggest beasts were safe, as there always seemed to be an even bigger threat looming on the horizon. This exciting tale, written by Frederic Brremaud, is told without narration or dialogue, conveyed entirely through the beautiful illustrations of Federico Bertolucci. A beautiful, powerful tale of survival in the animal kingdom that explores the all-too-identifiable, universal concepts of Life, Courage, Aging, and ultimately Love. 
The fourth volume in the lavishly illustrated series of wildlife graphic novels, each following a single central animal through an adventurous day in their natural environment. Each tale depicts genuine natural behavior through the dramatic lens of Disney-esque storytelling, like a nature documentary in illustration.

#BookReview: Bad Machinery Volume 7: The Case of the Forked Road by John Allison

  Time is a fickle creature, especially when there's wormhole in the science cupboard. When a strange boy who seems far too entranced by cell phones appears, it's up to Lottie, Shauna, and Mildred to figure out his strange purposes. 
The Case of the Forked Road, the seventh book in John Allison's award-winning Bad Machinery series, finds our young sleuths facing the intricacies of time and space itself. What is their science teacher hiding? Who is the mysterious Calvin, why is he dressed like it s 1960, and why is he obsessed with Communists? And another thing: just what is going on with Jack, Sonny, and Linton?"