29 April, 2017

#SpecialFeature :: #Interview with Geoffrey Wells, #Author of Atone For The Ivory Cloud



About the Author:
Impressions on a South African farm, boarding school, a father who read from the classics to his children, and a storytelling mother, sparked Geoffrey Wells with a writer’s imagination. Though the piano and drum kits and Mozambique led to his first thriller, A Fado for the River, his career as Art Director in advertising led him to the American Film Institute, and an awe of digital technology propelled him to VP/CIO at Disney, ABC-TV stations and Fox. Wells wrote an award-winning animated film, has visited elephant reserves, and climbed to the tip of Kilimanjaro. He lives on Long Island where he swims the open water and runs a video and design company. He writes thrillers about imperfect characters who, always with a diverse band of allies, fight villains that devastate our natural and virtual ecosystems.

Atone for the Ivory Cloud is a compelling, fast-paced thriller with an exotic international flavor. Geoffrey Wells takes the reader on an enthralling ride, skillfully entwining cybercrime, music, and the fate of African elephants in a breathtaking tale of danger and romance.”
Pamela Burford, best-selling author of Undertaking Irene.

Contact the Author:
Website * Facebook * Twitter

Author Interview:

When do you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/storyteller?
My eighth birthday present was a bicycle. It became my imaginary Spitfire, shooting down enemy planes. After a while I got bored of this and made up new episodes, each one a development of the previous. I had started telling stories.

What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on Book Three of The Trilogy for Freedom. In this book subplots from Book One and Book Two are resolved.

Please share three interesting facts about the characters in your book.
Allison, my main character’s mission in life is music composition, which is a solitary activity. Her attitude is that if people can’t accept that, and accuse her of being anti-social and remote, that’s their problem, not hers. In the story, there are times when she is lost in the process of composing and will appear to be totally disconnected. However, she is aware of her role and sees the subtext of her situation. She just doesn’t openly emote, but the reader will admire her bravery and clear moral compass, regardless of how grumpy she might appear to be.

Sipho, Allison’s love interest, is a Tanzanian who works as a street vendor in New York City. However, he is a smart entrepreneur, educated, ambitious and creative in business. His goal is to be a success in the United States—the land of opportunity.

Rex, the villain in my story is quite honorable—he’s a patriot, a solid citizen and responsible, but he has a fatal flaw. This flaw—I won’t say what it is because it could be a spoiler—clouds his judgement. 

If you could pick any famous writer to review your book, who would you pick and why?
I would pick Jonathan Franzen. I have felt that he and I see things in the same way. This is particularly true in Purity, his novel that explores privacy.

What is the best piece of advice you have received, as a writer, till date?
Always show the moment of decision.

Name three things that you believe are important to character development.
Character arc: Show the reader the transformation from the start to the end.
Give the reader the opportunity to understand the motivations and inner conflicts of the character. The reader must take the emotional journey with the character.
Let the reader in on who the whole emotional landscape, so they can see how she reacts in her relationships as driven by her inner conflict and dilemma. 

Do you know the ending on the book before you finish it?
Yes, I usually know how the story will end, but I never know the specifics of the end scene—that is determined by the previous chapter.

Anything else that you would like to share with your readers?
I want to thank b00k r3vi3ws for the opportunity to talk about my book and give potential readers a glimpse into who I am as a writer and as a person. I welcome everyone to my mailing list at http://eepurl.com/cu9qc5 where I look forward to a dialog with my readers. Thank you!


About the Book:
A brilliant composer and coder goes undercover to trap a cybercrime syndicate that has hijacked her website—to traffic blood ivory. She must survive impossible physical, virtual and cultural obstacles and choose between the opposing forces of privacy and responsibility.

Allison is stunned when the CIA leaves her no option but to go undercover to surreptitiously modify the code she wrote to protect her symphony. She is deployed from New York with a savvy street vendor to Tanzania, where he is from—and where the cybercrime trail goes dead. Their guarded love affair is sidelined when they are abducted by a trafficker who poaches elephants on a massive scale. To avoid betraying each other they abandon their CIA handlers and return to New York City. Allison must find a way to bring down the syndicate knowing that she might have to sacrifice her symphony, her loved ones and her privacy—for a greater good.

Goodreads * Amazon




Giveaway
3 eBooks of Atone for the Ivory Clouds
a Rafflecopter giveaway

27 April, 2017

#GuestPost :: The More the Merrier! Spicing Up Romances with Ménage by Kelli A. Wilkins

The More the Merrier! Spicing Up Romances with Ménage
By Kelli A. Wilkins
www.amazon.com/author/kelliwilkins

Hi everyone,

As most people know, I write romances in nearly every genre – historical, gay, contemporary, and paranormal – and each book varies in heat level from mild to super-spicy. My erotic historical/fantasy trilogy (Midsummer Night’s Delights, Midwinter Night’s Delights, and Ultimate Night’s Delights) contains very intense ménage encounters.

When I got the idea for the Naughty Nobles trilogy I didn’t let the historical setting deter me from creating scorching-hot love scenes. Throughout history, people have loved and lusted after each other, regardless of social, political, or so-called “moral” rules. Forbidden romances and “kinky” behaviors aren’t anything new. Long ago, there were plenty of “sordid” affairs going on behind closed doors. People were having sex (in all sorts of combinations), but it wasn’t mentioned openly or discussed in proper social circles. 

I thought about this and decided to write a romance (Midsummer Night’s Delights) that addressed that “taboo” and eventually became the theme to the trilogy. (Basically, a respectable man in high society is running an invitation-only sex club for swingers.) These novellas gave readers who considered historical romances boring a real shock!

Midsummer Night’s Delights started out with a shy newlywed couple (Julian and Annabelle) exploring their hidden desires and soon blossomed into same-sex and ménage encounters. Why? They were ready to indulge in their wild fantasies. Over the course of the books, Julian and Annabelle get to experiment, be naughty, and break from the norm without any guilt or worries. The threesomes liberate the characters and everyone leaves satisfied. Of course, as the trilogy continues, things get complicated.

My ménage scenes are as varied as my characters. I write M/F/F, M/F/M, F/M/F, or any combination I can think of. The most common threesome I include is M/F/M. I often write these scenes from the female character’s point of view and show how she’s enjoying herself while being “taken” by two lovers. But everyone gets equal time in my books. Sometimes a hero wants to be dominated and ravaged by two eager ladies, or a man and a woman, or… you get the idea. 

As a writer, I can use ménage to explore my characters’ thoughts and motivations. A threesome can bring the hero and heroine closer together if it’s something they share as a couple (invite a friend over to “play”, or a wife gives her husband the gift of a threesome for his birthday). It can also give a single character a chance to break out of his or her shell and indulge in a secret fantasy, whether it’s a one-time thing or an ongoing activity. 

It’s important that writers understand why the ménage is in the story and not just drop it in there for a shocking effect. (Two young women are at home in their lingerie one night and the cute and horny pizza man shows up…) Why do the characters do it? For fun? To have crazy sex? Rebellion? Revenge? Or is their reasoning deeper? Maybe they have the urge to control or be controlled. Or maybe it’s something else… 

Ménage can also be used as a plot device. Suppose a character becomes jealous after a ménage encounter. What if he (or she) starts stalking a member of the threesome? Maybe one partner loved the experience and wants to do it again, but the other one has regrets or guilt. What if someone is being blackmailed? (I incorporated that idea into Ultimate Night’s Delights, book three of my trilogy.) Is the hero or heroine hiding a “shameful” threesome experience from a current lover who wouldn’t understand? Complications can arise, and authors can use ménage (whether it happened recently or in a character’s past) to add conflict and drama to the story.

Ménage adds a bit of spice and can heat up a love scene with something unexpected, but keep in mind that not every reader is willing to “go there” with the author and the characters. Some readers are completely turned off by the idea of threesomes, others may only read certain ménage combinations, and then there are those who read super-hot books and delight in the ménage when it comes along.

Whatever your preference is, enjoy!

Happy Reading,

Kelli A. Wilkins


About the Author:
Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author who has published more than 100 short stories, 19 romance novels, and 5 non-fiction books. Her romances span many genres and heat levels.
Her trilogy of erotic romance novellas, Midsummer Night’s Delights, Midwinter Night’s Delights, and Ultimate Night’s Delights was released in spring 2017.
Loving a Wild Stranger was published in January 2017. This historical/pioneer romance is set in the wilds of the Michigan Territory and blends tender romance with adventure.
Kelli's third Medallion Press romance, Lies, Love & Redemption was released in September 2016. This spicy historical western is set on the Nebraska prairie in 1877.

Her writing book, You Can Write—Really! A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Fiction is a fun and informative guide filled with writing exercises and helpful tips all authors can use.

Kelli posts on her Facebook Author Page and Twitter. She also writes a weekly Blog
Visit her Website to learn more about all of her writings, read book excerpts, reviews, and more. Readers can sign up for her newsletter HERE.

Catch Up with Kelli:

26 April, 2017

#BookReview :: Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) by Susan Dennard

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch. 


If you know about Sarah J Maas then it is impossible for you to not know Susan Dennard and vice-versa. They always appear in each other’s social feeds and they are even writing a story together on Tumblr. I am a huge fan of Sarah J Maas’s Throne of Glass series and so I ended up picking this one up as I wait for her next release.

Safiya and Iseult are thread sisters who, even with their very different backgrounds and personalities, are inseparable. When Safi’s secret puts their strength to test and life on the run, a reluctant ally is all they have to hold on to. As their magic are tested and bonds strained, will they be able to getaway and live a life of anonymity as they desire or will they embrace their true destiny?

Let’s go over the good things first. The first thing that catches a reader’s attention is the action. The book is fast paced and there is a lot of action going on throughout the book keeping the readers engaged. The characters of Safi, Iseult and Prince Merrik are quite well done. I love Iseult and Merrik as individuals, but it is Safi and Iseult’s relationship that attracts me the most in the book. Their friendship feels really special. The concept of thread-family sounds beautiful and intriguing at the same time. I hope the author will reveal more about it in the coming books and that Safi’s uncle will play a bigger role in them. I am really curious about him.

However, rest of the things was a bit up in the air. I cannot say that the world building was bad, but there wasn’t much of it. Usually in the first book of a series, any author concentrates on it the most so as to build up for the coming book. I missed that in this. I am not very sure about the line of power or the different heritages yet. Then there is the romance between Safiya and Merrik that did not really interest me. I mean just because I am told that Safiya affects Merrik’s magic doesn’t mean that I see the chemistry happening. 



 Review Copy received from Pan Macmillan India

24 April, 2017

#BookReview :: The Challenge by Tom Hoyle



Ben's been grieving for his best friend, Will, who suddenly disappeared from their tiny village a year ago. But when twins Sam and Jack begin at the school, things start to look up. Cool, good-looking and popular, they draw Ben into their world and introduce him to The Challenge. What first appears to be a fun internet game quickly turns sinister as Ben's tasks become wilder and more dangerous, starting to raise questions over Will's disappearance. But once you're involved with The Challenge, it's very hard to get out ...


Goodreads I Amazon





Sam and Jack are twins. They are also cool and popular almost instantly when they join Ben’s school. They kind of take Ben under their wings making life feel different for the better. Almost good enough to make Ben think much less about his friend Will’s disappearance. It is Sam and Jack who introduce him to ‘The Challenge’, an online game. Ben takes to it immediately as it seems like a fun and harmless game. But things soon turn dangerous… The game is more than it seems at a glance. What will happen to Ben and what has happened to Will? Will the book give you the answers? Well, read it to find out.

Ben is an interesting character. Like more adolescents, Ben has his share of flaws but, his strength of character not only pulls him through but also, in a way, pulls the story through. It takes some time to really know and understand Ben, but once you do, it is quite easy to warm up to him. The book also has other character who add to the story. They are varied and interesting. As for the plot, it intrigued me right from the moment I read the blurb of the story. It does have a few twists to offer to its readers. It takes a while for the plot to really take off, but once it does - the book is sprinkled with action and drama to keep the readers engaged.

The author has kept his language and narrative simple and so this book might appeal to much younger (teens) audience along with the not so young crowd like me. It is a complete entertainer that will make it difficult for you to put the book down.


 Review Copy received from Pan Macmillan India



22 April, 2017

#SpecialFeature :: #GuestPost - The Music of Science and the Science of Music.


*** Special Feature - April 2017 ***


About the Author:
Impressions on a South African farm, boarding school, a father who read from the classics to his children, and a storytelling mother, sparked Geoffrey Wells with a writer’s imagination. Though the piano and drum kits and Mozambique led to his first thriller, A Fado for the River, his career as Art Director in advertising led him to the American Film Institute, and an awe of digital technology propelled him to VP/CIO at Disney, ABC-TV stations and Fox. Wells wrote an award-winning animated film, has visited elephant reserves, and climbed to the tip of Kilimanjaro. He lives on Long Island where he swims the open water and runs a video and design company. He writes thrillers about imperfect characters who, always with a diverse band of allies, fight villains that devastate our natural and virtual ecosystems.

Atone for the Ivory Cloud is a compelling, fast-paced thriller with an exotic international flavor. Geoffrey Wells takes the reader on an enthralling ride, skillfully entwining cybercrime, music, and the fate of African elephants in a breathtaking tale of danger and romance.”
Pamela Burford, best-selling author of Undertaking Irene.

Contact the Author:
Website * Facebook * Twitter

The Music of Science and the Science of Music.
(Themes from Atone for the Ivory Cloud)

      When I set out to write a novel of contrasts—characters, ethnicity, countries, occupations—I also wanted to include problem solving techniques. Specifically, the dogged methods used by CIA Special Agent Garrett with the creative methods used by my main character, Allison. If you’ve been following this series, you’ll know that Allison composes music. The problem she must solve is the theft of her online music, which she has composed. Because of who she is: introverted, obsessed, focused, single-minded and (yes) selfish, the idea of having her music erased, or copied without crediting her, is even worse than the reality. Her only resource is to attempt to solve her problem with the only tool she knows—her music.

Her roommate, who tests code for a virtual currency wallet service, turns her onto a code-writing course. She is surprised by how easily she takes to it. When she realizes that the syntax of coding is similar to the syntax of music composition—the grammatical rules and structural patterns—she makes peace with this new discipline. Although she does not realize it, she has become a hacker, and she implements her own anti-piracy solution from code snippets she finds on the Internet. Problem solved. Except, Garret tells her that a cybercrime syndicate has found her code to be a useful proxy to hide behind for their ivory trafficking. And so she too—unwittingly—codes in the Dark Web.

As she gets deeper into the mission (while at the same time her music commission deadline looms), she can’t help noticing that even the development methodology is quite similar. The iterative process of music composition aligns almost seamlessly with the coding disciplines she has learned about—testing, modifying, and rerunning code. It is empowering to her. Suddenly going undercover to trap the syndicate seems almost possible.

This alignment is not a new discovery. In June 2003, Aniruddh D Patel published his paper, Language, Music, Syntax and the Brain in the journal Nature Neuroscience. It is a comparative study of music and language. He states that, “Like language, music is a human universal involving perceptually discrete elements organized into hierarchically structured sequences. Music and language can thus serve as foils for each other in the study of brain mechanisms underlying complex sound processing…”

If this is true, the techniques that Garrett and Allison use might be essentially the same, however what differentiates them is that Garrett works in a closed system, whereas Allison regards the worldwide web as her personal resource. This disparity reinforces their distinct points of view, which are poles apart. However, because they are both smart and emotionally intelligent people they recognize their commonality: Garret uses the science of criminology and applies it musically, whereas Allison uses the art of music composition and applies it scientifically to solve her problem. This is why Allison turns out to be such a valuable recruit for the CIA.

The common ground of art, music and science has always fascinated me. Music—especially since it became a digital medium—has had an adversarial relationship in the Internet, starting with illegal file sharing, then Napster and even now with Spotify and Apple and the on-going battles for artist rights, which Tyler Swift made into headlines. But there’s no denying that, despite the disintegration of the traditional music industry—a closed system—people have unprecedented access to music now—as they do with literature. Now, perhaps Garret and Allison can figure out how to pay artists for their work.

More on this is coming in my next thriller, Book Three of the Trilogy for Freedom.  To read Books One and Two, please see my landing page at: https://goo.gl/CB3xPI


About the Book:
A brilliant composer and coder goes undercover to trap a cybercrime syndicate that has hijacked her website—to traffic blood ivory. She must survive impossible physical, virtual and cultural obstacles and choose between the opposing forces of privacy and responsibility.

Allison is stunned when the CIA leaves her no option but to go undercover to surreptitiously modify the code she wrote to protect her symphony. She is deployed from New York with a savvy street vendor to Tanzania, where he is from—and where the cybercrime trail goes dead. Their guarded love affair is sidelined when they are abducted by a trafficker who poaches elephants on a massive scale. To avoid betraying each other they abandon their CIA handlers and return to New York City. Allison must find a way to bring down the syndicate knowing that she might have to sacrifice her symphony, her loved ones and her privacy—for a greater good.

Goodreads * Amazon




Giveaway
3 eBooks of Atone for the Ivory Clouds
a Rafflecopter giveaway

21 April, 2017

#CoverReveal :: Redemption (Living A Lie #3) by M.L.Kacy



Cover & Trailer Reveal:


Redemption


(Living A Lie Part Three)


by


M.L. Kacy



Apr 21st





 @MLKacyAuthor    @obsessiveppromo

#Redemption #M.L.Kacy #CoverReveal








Your life journey can change in a blink of an eye.
A new place, a new beginning, that’s what is in store for me.
Would I make better choices this time?
Mistakes will be made, some are for the better, some for the worse.
I have one saving grace, a redemption of sorts.
I created lives, ones that I would love unconditionally.
They would be the ones that would help me along.
Thoughts of them would always bring me back from the depths of darkness.

Join me in the final instalment of the Living A Lie series



















In your early adult years, you think that you know it all. Well that’s how I was looking back on my life. Nearly nineteen-years later, it’s true what they say, you always learn by your mistakes, mistakes make you into a stronger person. Boy, did I make a hell of a lot of mistakes. I never thought that my life would turn out the way that it did. There are only four things that I would never regret, my four beautiful children. They were, and still are, my saving grace, my redemption of sorts. When the darkness became too much, thoughts of them would pull me into the light.

This is my story, it’s not a story that is all sweetness and light. It’s a story of love, regret, devastation, darkness and maybe a little redemption.

So here we are, I shall start from the beginning.
Part One

***Disclaimer- Some of the content in this book can cause triggers for some. Also, contains profanity, erotic scenes and only suitable for readers 18+***
















                                           



Darkness Surrounds

(Part Two Living A Lie Series)












Darkness surrounds me, a dreary, cold, place with no escape.

Feeling lost, alone and confused I’m sucked deep into my own mind.

A place I soon became comfortable in, a place where I can hide.

The darkness becomes my respite, my shelter.

A buffer from the devastation of my own broken dreams.

Trapped in my own mind I search in circles for
answers.

Surviving but not living, my heart bleeding and broken from my loss.

Torn up by guilt, thoughts of being punished for some perceived fault.

Confusion and turmoil become my only companions.

I need to start living again they tell me - but could I?

Do I have the strength to crawl my way out of my own mind?

Then again, do I really want to?

If I do escape the void will I still be me and if not, can I accept the person I’ve become?

Follow my journey in part two of my Living A Lie Series.

***Disclaimer- Some of the content in this book can cause triggers for some. Also, contains profanity, erotic scenes and only suitable for readers 18+***






Available with Kindle Unlimited


















I have been involved in the indie community for several years and have always loved how everyone comes together in support of each other.
I love writing and reading, living life with my family, and always coming up with new ideas and putting then in to practice.

Words have a way of healing someone, so I will carry on writing, included events that have happened and taking you all on a journey with me.



 


 




 Hosted by
Obsessive Pimpettes Promotions













18 April, 2017

#BookReview :: The Escape Artist by Diane Chamberlain



A custody suit filed by her attorney ex-husband throws Susanna Millers life into chaos. Defying a court order to turn 11-month-old Tyler over to his father, Susanna flees. She changes her name, dyes her hair, and leaves Boulder, Colorado without a word to anyone not even her best friend Linc Sebastian. Two thousand miles from home, she seeks anonymity in Annapolis, Maryland. And as she tries to forget her past, Susanna discovers that starting a new life is more dangerous than shed ever imagined and that the unpredictable has an alarming way of insinuating itself into a life . . . 

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When Susanna loses custody of her eleven-month-old son Tyler to her ex-husband Jim, she feels that running away is the only solution left to her as she cannot bear the thought of being separated from her son. That is exactly what she does, pick up and move to a different city under a false identity in order to escape from the officials. She does this without telling anybody in her old life. As she starts a new life with a pre-owned computer, her only aim is to stay under the radar with her son. But she soon comes across some information that puts her in a dilemma of whether to act on the information and risk discovery. Or, ignore the information and continue to live under the radar even when Jim has the authorities looking for her and Tyler for a cash reward.

The book has a wide cast of character and each of them is different from the other. This varied cast bring together the plot that keeps you engaged. Susanna has a background that makes the reader question her choices at times. However, she finally pulls through her wits and determination.  Her character has been developed well. With shades of grey, she feels very human and real. The plot itself is interesting and makes you want to know what happens. The sub plot only adds to the intrigue of the original plot. Though things aren’t really a big mystery, it is just enough of intrigue to keep you glued to the pages.

Though this is not Diane Chamberlaine’s best, it is a well narrated and balanced story that had me engaged throughout. 


Review Copy received from Pan Macmillan India



17 April, 2017

#BookReview :: Starlet's Light (The Starlet #3) by Carla J. Hanna

I'm actress Liana Marie Michael and am dying. In my last two memoirs, I show how I'm the ideal Hollywood product. In writing Starlet's Web and Starlet's Run, I realized that the drama in our stories affects the lies in our real lives. The thin, young ideal of beauty is as much of a lie as the plot twists and dialogue we create to hide our insecurities.

In this memoir, I make a mess of my love life while shooting a film in Great Britain. I dump Manuel for his own good. I love him with all my heart. So how could I not when he has a bright future? My dad visits and puts my past in perspective. I spend weekends in the hospital. I learn to rely on Franz, Evan and Amelie. Yes, I hook up with my Swiss billionaire-heir friend Pierre even though I miss Manuel every minute. But it all makes sense, especially since I am so done with acting.

We are all flies and spiders in a web of stories. If I live a more authentic life, can love prevail despite my many faults? Can truth alter Hollywood's web?

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This is the third and final installment in the series and we are drawn back into the drama that Liana Marie Michael’s life is. With work taking her to Europe and meeting Pierre one would think that Liana has enough on her plate. Throw in Manuel and her mother’s failing health, Liana is kept on her toes throughout the book.

Liana is off to Wales to shoot for her next big project. This gives her a chance to meet her European friend, Pierre, with whom she has been corresponding for quite some time. It also gives her a chance to evaluate her feelings for both Manuel and Pierre as she comes to conclude that she cares quite a bit for Pierre. I finally see some chemistry in this book. Pierre and Liana have something that feels quite tangible. Manuel continues to be in Liana’s life in some way or the other and I dislike him more and more. He certainly doesn’t deserve Liana and Liana too, deserves someone much better than him. So, who does she finally end up with? Read the book to find out.

Throughout the series, I feel Liana’s dad is the only one who tries to bring some sense of normalcy in her life. For that I adored him. Liana’s Dad and step mom have a good perspective of her life and they continue to try and be there for her. Thankfully I felt the drama aspect of the book was much more controlled than the second book in the series. As such, it was easier to read the book in one sitting.

To round up the series, it is for those who like YA Dramas and quite an entertaining one at that.