BLOG TOUR!!! The Monster by Mandy Baker

Posted on August 7, 2014 by charmouabb

When Alex’s obsession
takes him to a strange town in South America, it is up to Liz and Bob to find him and bring him
home. What they find when they get there is more than any of them could have imagined. Bob,
still trying to wrap his head around all he learned about his friend and the world around him last
year, looks forward to a new adventure to take him deeper into this newly discovered
reality.

Alex quickly realizes that
nothing is as it seems, nor is it anything like he thought it would be.

He also soon learns that
even he was not what he thought he was and that there was more to Liz’s secret than she had
let on.

Will Liz be able to protect
the ones she loves the most?

Will they be able to find the answers and defeat the monster before
it’s too late?

Book
Page: On Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon eBook | Amazon paperback | Barnes & Noble

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Liz hugged herself and ran her hands up and down her arms. A deep chill ran through her entire body. Alex took off his hat and began to rub his temples. There was a deep thumping in his head and the pressure was almost enough to bring him to his knees.
The tension in the air was so thick that it was nearly suffocating. They all looked at each other and didn’t know what to think. They lit a fire and gathered close to it and each other. It was the longest time before any of them could find the words to break the tense silence.
“How’s your head there, mate?” Bob asked, motioning to Alex’s head which Alex was still rubbing just a little bit.
“It seems to be getting better.” Alex replied. It was the truth. The pressure had let up some and it no longer felt like his head would explode at any moment. But, he knew there was definitely something not right about what was going on. He scooted closer to Liz, put his arm around her and pulled her close. He breathed her in, using her familiar scent to help relax his muscles and hoping it would relax away the pressure behind his temples as well.
Liz leaned into him, letting the warmth from his body wash over her. She hoped his closeness might ease the chill that ran through her body. The air around them seemed to press against each of them and push them down. She knew this oppressive feeling had to be Armando. He was working on something, she could feel it like static. She had no way of knowing what he was up to, and that worried her. The stalemate they had been in for the past few days seemed to be coming to an end. Which meant that the time to fight was upon them. She just hoped they were ready, but she feared they would never be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87bcPisyTHs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U8C_XuE7wc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450p7goxZqg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj__jhmPMgI

https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:user:1214603062:playlist:3IQamCJP2yiTBWsUH9eFMJ

1.       She is a U.S. Coast

Guard wife

2.      She is addicted to coffee and

drinks 4 to 5 cups

a day (more when she is immersed in writing)

3.      She has a cat named Missy who

is her constant

companion and writing buddy

4.      She is almost finished with

her Bachelor’s in

English

5.      She has been writing since she

was in Jr. High.

6.      She has been married to her

husband for

eleven years

7.      Her favorite authors include

Stephen King,

Ernest Hemingway and Edgar Allen Poe

8.      She loves to travel and wants

to see the world.

9.      She is a part time

photographer.

10.   She has lived in

California,

New Jersey,

Alaska, Oregon, and Connecticut in the past eleven years.

11.    She loves horror movies and

action films and

does not really like chick flicks.

12.   She has a soft

spot for

animals.

13.   Her dream would

be to be on

Jimmy Fallon

and/or Ellen.

14.   She is obsessed

with the Food

Network and

watches it all the time.

15.   She love British

television

and is a total

Whovian.

16.   She loves Sushi

and always

eats it with her

hands because she can’t use chopsticks.

17.   She is a regular

contributor

to a military

website, Homefront United Network and is currently working on her

second novel.

18.   Her favorite actors

include

Jason Statham,

David Tennant, Alex O’Laughlin, and Gerard Butler.

19.   Her favorite music

is country

music, not limited

too but including, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Miranda

Lambert, and

Reba McEntire.

20.  She loves football

(mostly

college) and is a

fan of NASCAR as well.

A Day in My Life
Mandy Baker

When I first received the topic for this guest post, my first thought was well that’s going to be
boring! A normal day in my life is really not very exciting. I wake up early, send my husband off to work (if
he has duty that day), and then I spend the rest of the day doing school work, cleaning, and writing. I’m a
Coast Guard wife who is a full-time online student, a writer, and generally a housewife. I work from home
so I can be available for my husband when he has those precious days off.
As I sat down to write this and thought of how boring I generally see my days, I began to realize
that while an ordinary day of mine may seem boring to others, I love my life. I couldn’t be prouder to be a
Coast Guard wife. I love what my husband does and I am in awe of him and those who serve with him
every day. On top of that, he is supportive of me chasing my dreams. I get to spend my days lost the
worlds that I create, while I pursue my passion. What is boring about that?
As a writer, they say the cardinal sin is to not write every day. However, I have days that I choose
to not write. There are times I have to take a break and walk away from it all. Those are days that I might
spend running errands with my husband, or sitting and watching t.v. and just spending time with him. On
those days I also might choose to escape into somebody else’s world. I might spend the day reading a
book or watching a movie. Some days the world I create is too much and I have to take a step away from
it.
That’s my life in a nutshell. A typical day consists of being a wife, a student, and a writer. When I
need a break from any of it, I snuggle my baby girl; a calico, named Missy. She has been with us for our
entire marriage and has been there through thick and thin. She makes hard times better and is always
there to lick my hand or give me a purr when things get hard. My life may not seem exciting to someone
on the outside, but me, I wouldn’t change a thing!

I am a Coast Guard
wife. I have been living the Coast Guard life for a little more than a decade now. We have
travelled from one side of the country to the other more than once thanks to the Coast Guard. I
currently live in Connecticut with my husband and our kitty, a spoiled calico named Missy. I am
working towards my Bachelor’s in English. When I am not writing I can usually be found behind
my camera take pictures of my life and the world around me.

Facebook
Page | Twitter | Blog | Pinterest

Goodreads Author Page | Amazon Author Page

The Curse

Synopsis:

Alex was a
controversial treasure hunter.

Until the day Liz
came storming into his life and changed his world forever.

Now, an
archeologist on a dig in the California desert, everything goes terribly wrong and everyone,
including Liz, disappears.

It is up to Alex to
follow the clues and find the answers.

Will he be able
to trust his heart and rescue Liz?

Or will hard
headedness and self-doubt lose her to the curse for all eternity?

Book
Page: On Goodreads

Buy
Links: Amazon Paperback | Amazon e-book |
Barnes & Noble

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BLOG TOUR!!! Neanderthal Marries Human by Penny Reid

Posted on July 11, 2014 by charmouabb

The Tour:

Neanderthal Marries Human
by Penny Reid
Knitting in the City #3
Publication Date: June 24, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Contemporary Women, Humor, Humorous, Romance
Purchase from: Amazon • Nook • Kobo • iBooks •
Add to Goodreads.

Synopsis: There are three things you should know about Quinn Sullivan: 1) He is madly in love with Janie Morris, 2) He’s not above playing dirty to get what (or who) he wants, and 3) He doesn’t know how to knit.

After just five months of dating Janie, Quinn—former Wendell and unapologetic autocrat—is ready to propose marriage. In fact, he’s more than ready. If it were up to Quinn, he would efficiently propose, marry, and beget Janie with child all in the same day—thereby avoiding the drama and angst that accompanies the four stages of pre-matrimony: engagement, meeting the parents, bachelor/bachelorette party, and overblown, superfluous wedding day traditions. But Janie, much to Quinn’s dismay, tosses a wrench in his efficacious endeavors and challenges him to prove his devotion by going through the matrimonial motions, no matter how minute and mundane.

Will Quinn last until the wedding day? Or will he yield to his tyrant impulses?

Regardless, one thing is for certain, Quinn Sullivan will have to learn to expect the Spanish Inquisition (i.e. the unexpected) if he plans to have and keep Janie Morris as his wife.

This book is not a standalone. It is the sequel to ‘Neanderthal Seeks Human,’ it is book #1.5 in the ‘Knitting in the City’ series, and it is a full length, 100k word novel.

Again, you must read ‘Neanderthal Seeks Human’ first before reading this book.

This book is written in first person, alternating POV (Janie Morris AND Quinn Sullivan; but more Janie than Quinn).

About Penny Reid

SEX! It all started with sex, between my parents. Personally I don’t like thinking about it, but whatever works for you is a-ok with me. No judgment. The sex happened in California and much of my life also occurred in that state until I moved from the land of nuts (almonds), wine, silicon… boobs, and heavy traffic to the southeast US. Like most writers I like to write, but let’s get back to sex. Eventually I married and gave birth to 2 small people-children (boy-6, girl-4 as of this writing).

By day I’m a biomedical researcher with focus on rare diseases. By night I’m a knitter, sewer, lino block carver, fabric printer, soap maker, and general crafter. By the wee hours of the morning or when I’m intoxicated I love to listen to the voices in my head and let them tell me stories. I hope you enjoy their stories.

Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

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Review:

Sooooo you all knew after I read Neanderthal Seeks Human a few weeks back that I was DYING of anticipation to read Neanderthal Marries Human. And I had high hopes. High, high hopes! And I am happy to report this book was EVERYTHING I hoped it was going to be and more. This book is another slam dunk for Penny Reid and her writing genius and I just want to issue a disclaimer now: After reading these two books I can honestly say I will now read ANYTHING Penny Reid writes, literally anything. I am officially obsessed and I can’t hold it in. Sorry.

Ok so as the blurb says, Janie and Quinn are getting married. (Eeeep! Happy dance!) This timeline follows on pretty much directly from where we left them in NSH. Which is perfect really because I reeeeeally wanted to continue on the Janie/Quinn storyline and I didn’t want to miss a thing. And we don’t miss anything. Not a single thing. Thanks to NSH giving us a lot of background story it really felt like we could sit back and just focus on Janie and Quinn’s relationship.

Proposing is like giving someone your dick and a sharp knife, then waiting to see what they do next.

I really loved how in this book it we got to read from both Janie AND Quinn’s point of views. It was mostly Janie but the odd chapters where we got to hear the story from Quinn really made sure that this book was focussed on both characters. I LOVE when you get to get into the mind of multiple characters and in this book the split between the two telling the story is just right. I definitely still wanted mostly Janie because I just love her to bits and it is after all, her story that I started to follow so I didn’t want to share her page space too much. I love that she was still essentially the Janie we knew at the end of the last book, just this time we scratched beneath the surface even further. And Quinn, his voice was just spot on. He was so essentially Quinn-ish in his chapters it really bought variety and a certain edge that the story really benefited from. I also loved how between them they both didn’t just keep rehashing the story, each of them kept the pace going and the parts of the story that were assigned to Quinn to tell were perfectly selected. Only he could’ve narrated that Vegas scene (well ok, doubly so since I don’t think Janie was in any state to speak but still!)

Oh and I haven’t forgotten the other characters! I love that they are all back for this instalment and are just as awesome as ever. There were some very poignant family related developments on both sides and as far as the knitting girls go, the scene in Vegas at the beauticians has to be one of the best ‘girl talk’ moments in the book. Who knew there were so many creative terminologies for waxing ones lady garden? Also Dan was another favourite of mine and I’m so glad we got to see a bit more of him in this book

Some people say, “I can’t – I can’t even…” Some people say, “bitch, you crazy.” Some people say, “I have no words.” Dan just glances at the ceiling and takes a deep breath.

As you probably can tell from my above ramblings, this story was very character focussed. That doesn’t mean that there was little/no storyline because there definitely was. But I really feel that this book did exactly what it needed to do, it continued with the story of Janie and Quinn. After all I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that after NSH I desperately wanted more about these two characters and this book certainly delivered that. Both NSH and NMH have now been allocated to my ‘Best Books Ever’ list and I am DEFINITELY going to read them again because I know they won’t lose any of their charm no matter how well acquainted I become with them. Now please excuse me… I’m just off to add all of the other books in this series onto my wish list…

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BLOG TOUR – Reveiw of AfterLife (The Starbuck Chronicles #1) by Zoe Dawson

Posted on June 12, 2014 by charmouabb

Thanks to ATOMR for having OUBB participate in this blog tour and providing an ARC in return for an honest review

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I haven’t read anything by Zoe Dawson before so I wasn’t too sure what to expect, especially knowing that she doesn’t just write fantasy. But the synopsis intrigued me and I was keen to give it a go. And I’m really glad I did! I started and finished this book within a couple of nights, so it definitely caught my attention.

The world building was incredibly interesting, with the idea being that you are looking at the world after magic has caused the mortal and supernatural worlds to collide. The author has put a lot of detail and layering into this universe and I get a feeling that in this first book we only get a glimpse into its depths. I’ve read plenty of fantasy with witches, vampires, fae and werewolves but I’ve never read anything that includes monsters escaping games and anime characters becoming real… it sounds like there is a lot going on, because there is, but the world has been so cleverly built that it all works, the reasoning and explanations behind the magic, worlds and beings make this one very interesting and absorbing universe to be reading about.

Lily Starbuck had everything you like to see in a kick-butt heroine. She’s a bit sassy, a bit reckless and hell bent on justice. She’s come from nothing to build herself up and in a roundabout way finds herself with nothing again… But she doesn’t let anything hold her down and she does have a lot of things going wrong to contend with! That does have the side effect of her getting herself in some less than ideal situations but I guess that’s where the bonus of having some very hot male beings on her side is pretty darn handy. I loved how we weren’t just restricted to one possible love interest. They all had their merits. Gorgeous, strong, smart, supernatural. But I did definitely have my fav out of the bunch!

Overall I really enjoyed this first installment in Lily Starbucks saga. It was a good start to a story set in a very interesting universe and I’m really looking forward to where the story is heading and finding out more about Lily (I hope we find out more about Lily!)… Oh and reading more about all of those love interests too of course! My only gripes were minor things. Sometimes I think there can be a little too much of the ‘how convenient’ storylines, sometimes you just want things to not be resolved so easily and instantly. But like I said – that’s minor, especially looking at the story as a whole, which was very enjoyable and entertaining. Enjoyable and entertaining enough that I’m reading the next one for sure!

AfterLife (The Starbuck Chronicles Book 1)

By Zoe Dawson

Go HERE for a list of blogs and dates for this tour!

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THE
STARBUCK CHRONICLES, BOOK #1

An
Adult Urban Fantasy (with romantic elements)

Releases
May 19, 2014

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Series
Overview

The fine thread between reality and the fantastical has snapped. The mortal and
supernatural must learn to co-exist in post-reality Minneapolis/St. Paul where
video games leak monsters into the night, demons roam, thirsting for more than
just blood, people are not who or what they seem and a diabolical evil plots
and plans to devour the world.

AfterLife

Lily
Starbuck’s day doesn’t start well with blood on the horizon and a grumpy
werewolf who refuses to pay his catering bill. Her day only gets worse when she
finds out that her business partner in their catering company has embezzled all
their available cash.

Lily
can get no answers from her partner when she finds her dead. That’s the least
of her worries—her landlord is evicting her, she’s being hounded by the Fairy
Dust Administration (FDA) who suspects that her partner was dealing in illegal
dust, and Lily’s pissed off their werewolf supplier.

With
Lily’s very livelihood in jeopardy, she has no choice but to discover who
killed her partner and try to track down the cash. She has only Spocko, a
small, wizened gnome with just a bit of gremlin blood in him that makes him
cantankerous at best to depend on, but he often goes invisible on her. Clues
lead her to an open case being investigated by Otherworld Security (O.S.)
and the tough O.S. Warden, shapeshifter, Tam Darkwood. And, at the outset of
the investigation, a tiny, mythical fire-breathing, red dragon joins her as her
trusty (and opinionated) sidekick, Kindle.

It
seems a rogue mage has created a video game that is unwarded and game monsters
are being released to terrorize the citizens of the Twin Cities. Trouble is
Lily has reason to believe that this mage killed her partner.

The
investigation takes an unexpected turn when they are led to influential and powerful
Archmage Tarquin Wilding and somehow Lily finds herself embroiled in
a sinister shadow Fae plot. With her friends at her side, she tackles
dangerous and unpredictable supernaturals and monsters with an “all in a day’s
work” attitude.

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18324067-afterlife

About
the Author

Zoe
Dawson is the alter ego of Karen Anders, award winning, multi-published author.
Her writing journey started with poetry and branched out into fiction. With a
couple of college English courses under her belt, she penned a historical, then
moved onto contemporary romance fiction. Today, she is happy producing romantic
suspense, romantic mystery, urban fantasy and paranormal novels. The words feed
her soul and the happily ever afters feed her heart.