Book Review with Kindle Giveaway Link: Maelstrom (The Samsara Chronicles Book 6)

This series continues to be engaging. There is quite a bit of danger, exhaustion and meeting new friends packed into this small story.

Maelstrom (The Samsara Chronicles Book 6)

by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley

• File Size: 157 KB
• Print Length: 73 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: eXtasy Books (May 25, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0086FQOHO

Genre: Science Fiction
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2012

Relentlessly pursued by the military and forced to cross the mountains on foot, Aislinn and Dylan discover an ally in the form of a white wolf that guides them to safety.

Forced to abandon their vehicle, Aislinn and Dylan must cross the treacherous mountains on foot. Close behind is the military, whose corrupt leader must honor his pledge to the Eletarii to capture them. But as more guides appear to help Aislinn and Dylan, they are brought to the sanctuary of Emerald Lake.

Review:
This book 6 continues the flight of Aislinn and Dylan away from the enemies towards the mysterious portal.
Aislinn and Dylan awaken to discover that a battle took place while they slept but they were protected. The Antiquitas voices instruct Aislinn to use the tiny gold trumpet talisman as a weapon against the enemy. They proceed on their journey realizing that the life they knew is forever changed.

Their path is directed first by the eagle then later by a pack of silver wolves, led by a particular white wolf that is familiar to Aislinn. They are forced to abandon the jeep and proceed through the mountains on foot. Their “guides” are joined by a grizzly bear, an elk and other animals, several of which appear to be serving as guards as the journey continues. As their energy threatens to give way they come upon another ally on a dog sled who battles an enemy force to help them toward their destination.  Their journey finally brings them to Emerald Lake where they uncover another talisman. They proceed to a crystalline cavern that contains strange inscriptions and an altar that appears to be where the talismans will be inserted. But there is still one talisman to find.

As ‘the chosen ones’ flee, the dark shadows of evil are expanding. Several human foes are more developed in their backgrounds and motives, and lines of allegiance are blurred as spies and allies are revealed. Agent Woolley struggles to appear as one of the enemy while waiting for a chance to help Aislinn and Dylan. Aislinn and Dylan face horrible insectoid creatures who are shown as The Eletarii who want to take over earth.

I really enjoyed the authors’ use of the animals to guide and protect Aislinn and Dylan. There is a warmth to the companionship that is exciting and soothing. The suspense and tension are building in several areas of the story.  I am anxious now to see what happens with Woolley and I am anticipating the portal being opened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phraseology that I liked:

“You know, Dylan, as we’re driving it’s almost as if I can hear the whisper of time skipping by with the wind.” Location 159

Thank you to the authors and Pump Up Your Book for the book to review and for the - Kindle Giveaway.

~ ~ ~ KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY ~ ~ ~

Pump Up Your Book and The Samsara Chronicles are teaming up to give you a chance to win a Kindle Fire!

Here’s how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour.  If your blog isn’t set up to accept the form, we offer another way for you to participate by having people comment on your blog then directing them to where they can fill out the form to gain more entries.
This Kindle Fire promotion will run from June 1 – August 31. Winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on September 1, 2012.
Each blogger who participates in The Samsara Chronicles virtual book tour is eligible to enter and win.
Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour.
If you would like to participate, email Dorothy at thewriterslife(at)gmail.com. Last day to sign up is July 27. What a great way to not only win this fabulous prize, but to gain followers and comments too! Good luck everyone!

Click on the graphic below to find out how you can win!

[If the picture link doesn't work, go to this page].

~ ~ ~WIN $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE ~ ~ ~

One lucky person who comments the most on The Samsara Chronicles’ blog stops will receive a $50 gift certificate. The blog host who receives the most comments through the tour will also receive a $50 gift certificate!

Book Review and GC Giveaway Link: Dark Side of Valor by Alicia Singleton

Great Read - This is an engrossing and intense story that kept me turning pages.

Dark Side of Valor 

by Alicia Singleton

• File Size: 744 KB
• Print Length: 352 pages
• Publisher: Strebor Books; Original edition (February 7, 2012)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005GG0MM4

Genre: Christian Suspense

My Rating:  4.75 of 5.0

 

Book Description

 Publication Date: February 7, 2012

Child advocate Lelia Freeman saves children for a living. As the director of ChildSafe Shelters, she ventures to abandoned squats and crackhouses to rescue teens from the hellish streets of Los Angeles. When she is summoned to Washington to serve on a committee that aids the children of a war-torn African nation, Lelia is kidnapped and becomes a political pawn in a sinister conspiracy. Oceans away from everything she knows, she must trust a mercenary to save her life, or die in the clutches of a psychopath.

Hunting, combat and staying alive are Elijah Dune's specialties. Vengeance is his passion. Haunted by past demons, he travels to the Motherland to collect a debt. A debt that demands one payment. Death.

Caught in the crosshairs of a madman, Lelia and Elijah must survive the jungles of Zaire and the horrors of their pasts or be forever consumed by the DARK SIDE OF VALOR.

Review:
Lelia Freeman became a frightened teen on the streets of Los Angeles trying to stay out of the hands of the crack dealers and pimps.  She finally becomes desperate enough to seek help through a local church. But before she can lead the church brother to her sick young ‘street sister’, the local pimp and his thugs snatch Joella and threaten both girls. When Lelia wakes up in the hospital she finds the church family there to take care of her. Unfortunately all she has left of Joella is a half-heart pendant.

Lelia  returns to the streets to help others. Her fame and success as a valiant street warrior result in her being pulled onto a government task force to aid children of an African country devastated by civil war. She takes her role reluctantly but is determined to push for the protection of the children. Instead she is caught in the middle of a rebellious faction and the ruling government. She is kidnapped and wakes up in Africa.

Lelia remains stubborn and defiant to her kidnapper and one mysterious household servant comes to her aid. She is led out of the house in secret and placed under the care of two mercenaries.  One is a charming rogue and the other is a brooding, intense man with secrets of his own. Elijah's plans of revenge did not include rescue. Lelia survived the hood, the streets of Los Angeles, and a malicious kidnapper. But will she survive the unexpected dangers of revenge in the jungle?

Ms. Singleton does a great job of putting the reader in the setting of the hood, the streets and the jungle. She also pulled me into the lives of her characters so that I felt Lelia’s anguish, longings, fear and heartbreak of betrayal. I really liked Elijah’s dark, moody character. His secret creates a great twist and adds trauma and conflict to an already action packed story.

The faith aspects of the story are subtly established through the wonderful church family who adopt Lelia as one of their own. The underlying foundation they teach her brings strength to Lelia at her most dire and despairing moments.

I very much enjoyed the fast-paced action, the tension and the dangers described. I felt that the return of the kidnapper was a bit of a stretch although it made for good excitement. The first part of the book seemed so authentic but I was a bit disappointed that there was no clear resolution on the political and international entanglement that the kidnapping would have created. This was the story’s only weakness.

The story was even better than I anticipated. If you like stories with real-life settings, strong characters and lots of action you should like this one. I will definitely be glad to read more by this author.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lelia's emotions:

   Tears wouldn't come. She felt too numb to cry. After she'd lost Joella, she'd promised herself she'd never fell that much. Not again. Sometimes lies and promises share the same face. Page 69.

   The image of him looking over his wife and daughter's graves kept sentry in her brain. Her heart bled for him. A product of misery, the tragedy shaped the man, had destroyed him.
   She's see it before. Lives molded by pain. Each kid she's helped had his own terror-patterned existence. Page 293

A BIG thank you to Alicia Singleton for providing this book for review through Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour.

Join Alicia Singleton, author of the suspense novel, Dark Side of Valor (Simon &  Schuster/Strebor), as she virtually tours the blogosphere June 4 – August 24 2012 on her second virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!  Alicia has agreed to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card at the end of her tour and you could be the one!   Find out how you can win by scrolling down and enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  Stop off at all her blog stops for more entries.  Good luck!

ABOUT ALICIA SINGLETON

Born and raised in Philadelphia, the Howard University graduate embraced the written word at an early age. She credits this to her loving, older sister whom, while they were youngsters, made the author eat lotion on a regular basis. Realizing the need to sound-out the ingredients on the lotion label, Alicia stopped the lotion-eating practice, but continued to read the labels of the concoctions her sister brought for her to try. This early necessity to read flowered to a passion; hence, a writer was born.The award winning author resides in Maryland with her wonderful husband and son.  Still an avid reader, label or otherwise, Alicia is hard at work completing her next suspense novel.Her latest book is the suspense novel, Dark Side of Valor. Visit Alicia’s website at www.aliciasingleton.com.
Twitter | Facebook | Library Thing | Goodreads | Amazon | YouTube | LinkedIn | Powell’s Books | Simon & Schuster | BooksAMillion

~ ~ ~$100 VISA CARD GIVEAWAY ~ ~ ~

Pump Up Your Book and Alicia Singleton are teaming up to give you a chance to win a $100 Visa Card!

Here’s how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour.
This $100 Visa Gift Card promotion will run from June 4 – August 24. Winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on August 25, 2012.
Each blogger who participates in Dark Side of Valor virtual book tour is eligible to enter and win.
Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour.

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to visit

THIS LINK

for the full blog tour list for more chances to win!

Book Review and Giveaway Link: Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond

This is a gripping portrayal of a twisted serial killer and the man who hunts him.

Forgive Me Alex

by Lane Diamond

• File Size: 687 KB
• Print Length: 262 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1622539001
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Evolved Publishing (December 18, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006NTNQP8

Genre: Psychological suspense thriller

My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 

 

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 2011

Evolved Publishing presents an intimate look inside the mind of a killer, and of the man determined to end that killer, in "Forgive Me, Alex" by Lane Diamond. (Psychological Suspense Thriller)

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony Hooper stands in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. Seventeen years after Mitchell Norton, "the devil," terrorized Algonquin, Illinois on a spree of kidnapping, torture and murder, the authorities release the butcher from psychiatric prison.

Tony longs to charge across the street to destroy Norton—no remorse—as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents his doing so.

"The devil" walks the world again. What shall Tony do about it? Aye, what indeed.

After all, this is what Tony does. It's who he is. "The devil" himself long ago made Tony into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that he may still, finally, administer justice.

Will FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe stop him? She owes him her life, so how can she possibly put an end to his?

Tony Hooper and Mitchell Norton battle for supremacy, with law enforcement always a step away, in this story of justice and vengeance, evil and redemption, fear and courage, love and loss.

~~~~~~~~~~

.

Review:
This is a psychological suspense thriller that is told from the views of two characters: the ‘monster’ serial killer, Mitchell Norton, and the man who longs to kill him, Tony Hooper.  The book rocks between these characters and between past events of 1978 and the present in 1995, showing the connections weaving these lives together. In the present Mitchell has been released after serving 17 years in prison for the murders he committed in 1978.  Those murders included people that 18 year old Tony knew and the loss and trauma created a huge impact on his Tony’s life and future.

All other characters are shown through the narratives of the two main protagonists. Tony in 1978 has a younger brother who is his heart, a girl friend he is reluctant to leave behind as he plans for college, an emotionally absent father and an adoptive grandfather who is his main support.  Tony met FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe in 1978 during the investigation of the multiple killings. She appears again in the present scenes as a friend and reminder of ‘the law’ which Tony may not want to be reminded of. After all, Linda isn’t likely to condone vigilante acts. But Mitchell’s actions in 1978 ‘corrupted’ Tony’s mind causing Tony to become a hunter of serial killers.  Now Tony is just waiting for the chance to eliminate this personal evil from the world.

I really liked the technique used by the author in sharing the past and present circumstances. Also Mr. Diamond does a great job in portraying the thoughts of the twisted, evil mind of the killer and the tortured emotions of Tony.  There are quotes at the beginnings of chapters that are intriguing and fitting.

The writing is straight forward with surprising spots of dark, melancholy prose. There is some gritty language and some gruesome killing.  The intensity of the story moved so well that neither of those elements bothered me.  I found the story gripping from beginning to end.  At times I held my breath and at other points I blinked back tears.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you like this genre and aren’t intimidated by the twisted evil of a monster.  You might ask yourself: what would you do if you came face to face with the evil monster who killed someone you loved? Would you seek to kill the killer? Then ask the question that Tony asks himself: ‘Which would be worse for the criminal: a quick death, or a lifetime of wallowing in misery behind bars without hope of parole, knowing that his life was already over but that he must suffer it all the same?’ Location 1622

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Consider the opening lines of Tony’s thoughts:

I never expected to be a killer.
Who does? Location 161.

Mitchell’s initial thoughts of “the Reaper”:

Who was he, and why did he pursue me? Beat all hell outta me, but I recognized his pure evil. He was capable of hideous, unspeakable acts–no hesitation, no pity, no remorse. Location 592.

A peek at Tony’s turmoil:

Emotions tore at my mind until I could barely think, or stand, or breathe. One crept out of my psyche to overhadow all the others: anger–persistent, pernicious, persecuting. Location 1614.

I received this book for tour participation through Novel Publicity.

More about the Author, Lane Diamond

I write fiction, long and short. My writings cross over many genres and focus on diverse subjects, ranging from the mysteries of the human mind, with its fragile psychological and emotional states, to the everyday joy and anguish of life on Earth. Ultimately, characters move me – as both a reader and an author. It’s all about the people. When not writing, I’m Publisher and Executive Editor at Evolved Publishing.

Connect with me on my website,  Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, or via Evolved Publishing.

GIVEAWAY!

Novel Publicity Blog Tour Notes:

Wanna win a $50 gift card or an autographed copy of Forgive Me, Alex? Well, there are two ways to enter...

1. Leave a comment on my blog. One random commenter during this tour will win a $50 gift card. For the full list of participating blogs, visit the official Forgive Me, Alex tour page.
2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest! I've posted the contest form below, or you can enter on the tour page linked above.

Get Forgive Me, Alex on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mailbox Monday July 9, 2012

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.
FOR JULY: the Mailbox Monday Tour host is Mrs Q: Book Addict.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs.  This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) but is now hosted at Mailbox Monday and through various blog hosts.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. 

My book garden is still growing! How about yours?

Review Titles

I received two books and picked up two at NetGalley for review:

Severed Threads by Kaylin McFarren
Galley copy for Pump Up Your Book Tour Review and Guest Post July 25, 2012

The Perses Effect: Book 1: Root Causation

by R.E.Robinson Jr.

eBook for Bewitching Blog Tour

Review and Interview on 8/2/12

NetGalley Review choices:

Blackout by Annie Solomon (June Release)
 







Moonglow by Kristen Callihan (July 31 Release)

 Wins

I received more of the wins this week from the Coffee Anniversary Extravaganza hosted by Coffeetime and The Romance Studio.  I received three more (noted in green) so I got three ebooks and selected 3 books from  Inspired Reads and 3 from JMS as listed below.

Publisher Prizes (To go along with the ereaders)

Week 1 - received 7  in bold  

Week 2 - received 2 in gold

Week 4 - received 3 in green


Soul Mate Publishing –  $25 gift certificate - received, need to select
J. Taylor Publishing – 9 books recieved
Ellora’s Cave -    5 eBooks of the Winner’s Choice  - notice received, need to select
The Wild Rose Press - $25 gift certificate - received and 7 books selected
Books for a Buck – Gift Certificate for $11.97 - received, need to select
eXtasy Books - $5.00 gift certificate
Eternal Press/Damnation Books- ???
Untreed Reads - $15.00 gift certificate
Torquere Press - $15 gift certificate - received
Liquid Silver – 2 books
Changeling Press – Free books for a month at ChangelingPress.com (2 books a week for 4 weeks)
Total E-Bound – ???
Champagne Books – Gift Certificate
Carnal Passions – Gift Certificate
BURST - Gift Certificate
JMS Books - $25 gift certificate - 3 Selections below**
Inspired Romance Novels – 3 books, winners choice - 3 Selections below**
Red Rose Publishing - $25 gift certificate - received, need to select
Loose Id – $10 gift certificate to each - received, need to select
Beachwalk Press – 3 books received: eBooks of  Barely Dreaming by Stephanie Beck (Fantasy Romance), Soul Dancer by Aurora Rose Lynn (Science Fiction Romance/Interracial Romance) Fool Me Once by Lacey Wolfe (Erotic Contemporary Romance)
Gypsy Shadow Publishing – 50% off for the winners - discount received
Black Velvet Seduction – 3 eBooks (winner’s choice)  

**From Inspired Romance I chose these three books:

Sam's Treasure by Terri Crews

Her only Hope by Kat Jones

Desperate Dreams by Kim McMahill

**From JMS I chose these three books:

Cave Dweller by William Nikkel

            The Tale of Trapper Tommy by Belea T. Keeney

Bones of the Sea and Other Stories by J.T. Marie [Print]

Purchased

No purchases.

Free

I did download some free Kindle books during July 4 holiday.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? July 9, 2012

This meme starts at Book Journey!

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I am starting to feel less exhausted at night. The stress of my Dad's illness took it's toll on my energy and focus these past four weeks. Although we are sad at his passing on Tuesday it is a blessing that he did not linger in pain and illness. 
I am surprised how much reading I finished this week but there were several really good books that I devoured!  I finished six books and have moved well into several more. I posted four book reviews, two with giveaways and one with giveaway link.  As usual I  posted the regular Friday Pick Giveaway, Saturday Sharing Beyond Books Comment Giveaway and Sunday Words. 

I got to visit a dozen or so sites late in the week. 
Thanks as always to the nice people who visited me.

These were last week's posts plus Winner post not listed.

• It's Monday What are You Reading? July 2, 2012.

• Monday Mailbox July 2, 2012.

• Book Review and ARC Giveaway: The Most Improper Miss Sophie Valentine by Jayne Fresina; Historical Romance; my rating 4.25.  Ends 7/13.

• Happy Fourth of July Post.

• Book Review and Review Copy Giveaway: Flabbergasted: A Novel by Ray Blackstone; Christian Fiction; my rating 4.5. Ends 7/13.

• Book Review and Giveaway Link: Tempest (The Samsara Chronicles Book 5)  by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley; Science Fiction; my rating 4.25.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway July 6, 2012.  Open Worldwide.  Ends 7/12.

• Book Review: Thoroughly Kissed by Kristine Grayson; Fantasy Romance; my rating 4.5. 

• Sharing Beyond Books #56 Comment Giveaway.  Open Worldwide. Ends 7/13.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement July 8, 2012. 

Finished Reading:

 1. eBook/Kindle

 

Tempest (The Samsara Chronicles Book 5)

by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley

I'm enjoying this series.

Review is linked above.

2 eBook/Kindle (NetGalley)
 

Thoroughly Kissed 

by Kristine Grayson (NetGalley) 

This was delightful!

Review linked above.

3. eBook/Kindle

 

 

Forgive Me Alex

by Lane Diamond

Very gripping!

Tour review to post on 7/9,

with Giveaway through Novel Publicity.
Rated 4.5.

4. Print
 

 

Dark Side of Valor 

by Alicia Singleton

Really good suspense!

Review to post on 7/10 for Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour with $100 GC link.
Rated 4.75 

5. Audible

 

Timeless: The Parasol Protectorate, the Fifth

• UNABRIDGED
• by Gail Carriger
• Narrated by Emily Gray
• Series: Parasol Protectorate, Book 5

I really enjoyed this series from my Audible Library.
I will post a review later this week. Rated 4.25
    

6. eBook/Kindle 
 

Maelstrom (The Samsara Chronicles Book 6) 

by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley

The series is moving into more science fiction elements now.

Review to post on 7/11 for Pump Up Your Book - with Kindle Giveaway link

Rated 4.25

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2012

Relentlessly pursued by the military and forced to cross the mountains on foot, Aislinn and Dylan discover an ally in the form of a white wolf that guides them to safety.

Forced to abandon their vehicle, Aislinn and Dylan must cross the treacherous mountains on foot. Close behind is the military, whose corrupt leader must honor his pledge to the Eletarii to capture them. But as more guides appear to help Aislinn and Dylan, they are brought to the sanctuary of Emerald Lake.

Line Edits/Releases: I am behind in these and plan to take a day this week to work on only releases.

Currently reading:

1. Audio/MP3

 

No One Left to Tell

by Karen Rose

 Marguerite Gavin (Reader)

This has started out with a murder

and good suspense.

I am reviewing this for Blackstone Audio

through Audiobook Jukebox

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2012

The addictive Karen Rose serves up her most relentless thriller yet.

A woman is dead and her fiancé is serving a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit. Now PI Paige Holden holds the only piece of evidence that could see him freed, and she cannot take it to the police. With the help of disarming state attorney Grayson Smith, Paige is determined to avenge the murdered woman and set an innocent man free. But Paige has only scratched the surface of a cover-up far deadlier than she could ever imagine. A string of mysterious deaths of women with a shared past sets Paige on the trail of a ruthless killer. The problem is, the killer's on her trail too.

2. eBook/Kindle 
 

Queen in Exile

by Donna Hatch

I have started this and like the characters

and fantasy kingdom. 

Reviewing for the publisher, Walnut Springs Press.

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2011

Rumors of War hang over Princess Jeniah's peaceful country of Arden, a land that shuns both magic and warfare. Following a lifelong dream, Jeniah forms a telepahtic bond with a revered creature called a chayim, who is prophesied to save her kingdom. But when a Darborian knight comes upon Jeniah with her chayim, he sees only a vicious monster about to devour a maiden, and he slays the beast.

Devastated by the loss of her chayim, and fearing that her own magic is evil, Jeniah doubts her destiny. When an enemy invades Arden City, they slaughter the people, storm the castle, and execute the entire royal family except the princess. Rescued by the knight who slew her chayim, Jeniah is now heir to the throne of Arden and the only hope for freeing her people from tyranny.

On the run and hunted by enemy soldiers, Jeniah must place her life and the fate of her kingdom in the hands of this trained killer. Torn between embracing her destiny as queen af Arden, and her love for a mere knight, she must ultimately rely on her magic to save herself and her people from death and tyranny.

3. Print

Solid Soul

by Brenda Jackson

(The second story in the book)

Enjoyable romance.

Received from Harlequin 
 Book Description
Publication Date: May 18, 2009
In the real world there was no way flower shop owner Kylie Hagan would ever meet up with millionaire Chance Steele. But the world of single parents and teenage hormones brought them together the first time--and a simmering passion they both tried to deny wouldn't keep them apart for long.

Chance made her think of hot, sultry Southern nights. Kylie had him imagining satin sheets and soul-stirring kisses. But in the cold light of day, they had to resist each other. There was no way they'd let uncontrollable desire ignite their carefully protected hearts.

But some things they couldn't ignore....

4. eBook/Kindle (NetGalley)
 

The Bridge

by Karen Kingsbury

Reading from NetGalley and it is wonderful!

Book Description Publication Date: October 23, 2012

The New York Times bestselling author of Learning and Leaving shares a heartwarming Christmas story about a devastating flood, lost love, and the beauty of enduring friendships.

Molly Allen lives alone in Portland, but her heart is back in Franklin, Tennessee, where five years ago she walked away from a man she cannot forget, a rare sort of love she hasn’t found since.

     Ryan Kelly lives in Franklin and spends plenty of time at The Bridge—the oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin—remembering the long hours he and Kelly once spent there.

     Now, Ryan and Molly’s favorite bookstore is in trouble. For thirty years, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing the people of middle Tennessee with coffee, conversation, and shelves of good books—even through dismal book sales and the rise of eBooks. Then in May a flood tore through Franklin and destroyed nearly every book in the store. By Christmastime, the bank threatens to pull the lease on The Bridge and is about to take the Bartons’ house as well. Despondent, Charlie considers ending his life. And in the face of tragedy, miracles begin to unfold.

5. eBook/Kindle
 

Exodus (The Samsara Chronicles Book 7) 

by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley 

Review to post 7/18/12 for Pump Up Your Book

 with Kindle Giveaway link

Book Description
Publication Date: May 25, 2012
Sheltered at the Emerald lake beyond the reach of the dark forces, Aislinn and Dylan transition into their roles as the celestial portal opens.

Besieged by the Eletarii, humanity struggles in its final hour. Legions assemble by the lake where they descend into the basest depravity wait while Aislinn and Dylan prepare to open the gate at midnight, a portal through which only a chosen few will pass.

I am again listening to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean. 

[Reading and listening on my new MP3.]

Instead of studying with the Tyndall One Year Bible this year I am studying with Through the Bible in One Year by Alan B. Stringfellow. It is a Study that I used for teaching back in around 1989 so I will enjoy it again. Last week's reading was Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. This week the reading is the book of Mark.

Line Edits: I am behind in these too and hoping to train one of my assistants to upload conversions to Kindle and Smashwords.

I finally selected fewer titles for a month! I added two from netgalley to bring the committed number up to 14. I have finished reading 5 of those and expect to finish at least another 4 this week. 

Scheduled for July:

7/9 Forgive Me Alex by Lane Diamond - Review with $50.00 GC Giveaway link tour through Novel Publicity
7/10 Dark Side of Valor by Alicia Singleton - Review for Pump Up Your Book with $100.00 GC Giveaway link
7/11 Maelstrom (The Samsara Chronicles Book 6) by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley - Review for Pump Up Your Book - with Kindle Giveaway link
7/18 Exodus (The Samsara Chronicles Book 7) by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley - Review for Pump Up Your Book - with Kindle Giveaway link
7/24 Nirvana (The Samsara Chronicles Book 8) by Diana Kemp and Gabriella Bradley - Review for Pump Up Your Book - with Kindle Giveaway link
7/25 Severed Threads by Kaylin McFarren

July but Unscheduled: 
Sourcebooks- I've picked a few for August/September but none in July unless I pick up something at NG during the month.

Other NetGalley Review choices:
Blackout by Annie Solomon (June Release) (NG)
Moonglow by Kristen Callihan (July 30 Release) (NG)

Audiobook Jukebox:
No One Left to Tell by Karen Rose

Hachette
Grand Central Station
Lethal Rider by Larissa Ione

Other:
Queen in Exile by Donna Hatch
Glass Angels by Karen Wiesner

With some open time I really do hope to read a couple of Won books this month.:-)

[To be posted - I am setting these up for interview/feature days.
These were read and ready for reviews for Authors.
Quest for Magic by Jean Hart Stewart - Read; review to be posted with interview.
Seeing for the First Time (What You See is What You Get) and To See (What You See is What You Get) by Nicole Zoltack - Both Read; setting up author interview with reviews.]