Expiation

Author: Greg Messel
ISBN: 978-1-4269-2855-0
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Purchase Link: Expiation
Source: Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour

About the Book:

In 1968, Dan and Katie are one of the hottest couples at Ballard High School in Seattle. He is the hero football player, and she is the beautiful cheerleader. These high school sweethearts believe theirs is a love that will never die.

Life changes when Dan leaves Washington to start college at the University of California Berkeley and pursue his dream of working for a big time newspaper in the glamorous city of San Francisco. The quest for his dream occurs against the turbulent background of Berkeley and San Francisco in the 1970s as Dan and Katie go their separate ways.

Now, thirty years later, Dan is back in his hometown of Seattle attending his mother’s funeral. He’s never stopped thinking about Katie, his long-lost love. But the two former high school sweethearts reconnect in a most unexpected way as the rest of the world grows more fearful of Y2K and the dawn of the twenty-first century. They are hoping that their love, once lost, can now be reclaimed.

Review:

Expiation is a beautiful story of life in the rawest of forms. This romance is one of young love, dreams and aspirations, along fears and insecurities that awaken hope and reality. The story starts off in the present and then alternates between past and present as the story unfolds. I appreciated the chapter headings which gave a date and a beautiful quote. This story is believable and natural with an author whose writing style flows smoothly and steadily. It was addicting to read. I found myself wanting to know more about the characters past as well as their present life. It is a touching and relatable story. After all, who hasn’t had a first love?

I really enjoyed the characters in this novel. Both Dan and Katie are everyday people. I could easily imagine them coming to life and living the ordinary yet complex lives we all do. After going their separate ways and living life, they find themselves together again after a chance meeting. Their story is not impossible. It made me think of the numerous times I have run into people from my past. I felt drawn to them and hoped they would be able to re-discover each other. While reading this novel I couldn’t help but think of my first love. I also had to laugh at my Y2K memories. I think this is the first book, I have read that deals with Y2K. If I have read others it hasn’t been in quite some time. I actually had to wonder how many people will read this novel and say “What’s Y2K?” Could I be that old already? Do they teach about the event in history classes? I also enjoyed the other historical aspects in this book. The author sites the sources he uses for true events in the back of the book. I appreciated this because it helped me realize what was fiction based on fact and what was just fictional.

Overall I enjoyed this novel. It’s steady pace, heartwarming story, likeable characters and smooth writing made it a pleasure to read. In addition I always enjoy novels set in the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle setting made this book enjoyable for me. I would recommend this novel and based off it I will read his first novel, Sunbreaks.

About the Author:

Greg Messel has spent much of his life in the Pacific Northwest living in Portland, Oregon and in the Seattle area since 2008. He has been married to his wife, Carol, for 40 years. Greg and Carol were high school sweethearts just like the couple in “Expiation.” He has lived in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah and Wyoming. Greg grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from high school there and also attended a year of junior college. Greg went to Brigham Young University with Carol and then began a newspaper career in rough and tumble Wyoming town of Rock Springs. Greg and Carol have three married children and nine grandchildren.

Greg has always loved writing. He worked as the news editor and sports editors of the Daily Rocket-Miner newspaper. He won a Wyoming Press Association award for his column. He also submitted and had published articles in various sports magazines. He left the newspaper business in 1981 and began a 27 year career with Pacific Power. Greg retired in 2008 and moved to Seattle.

It was there that he returned to his first love of writing. He has written two unpublished memoirs and published his first novel with Trafford in September 2009. His first novel was called “Sunbreaks.” The second novel “Expiation” was published in the spring of 2010 with Trafford. A third novel is in the works.

Currently, Greg and Carol live on the Puget Sound in Edmonds, Washington, just north of downtown Seattle. They have three adult children who are all married and have nine grandchildren. He also enjoys running, he has been in several races and half marathons. Visit his website at http://www.gregmessel.com/.

Connect with him at Twitter at www.twitter.com/gregmessel and Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.messel.

Read the Excerpt!

All's Fair in Love and Seduction

Alert!  Alert!  All's Fair in Love and Seduction is out and on sale for $0.99 for a limited time!

I bought mine at regular price!  haha... didn't wait to see if it would be cheaper.... It's okay it was worth it! 

About the Book

With her seduction she hopes to gain his affections...

For Miss Elizabeth Smith, sharing her first kiss with the charming Lord Derek Creswell is nothing short of a dream come true...that is, until she is spotted by one of the most influential gossips of the ton. With scandal nipping at her heels, to avoid total social ruin, Elizabeth must present a fiancé by the end of the Season. But when the viscount proves reluctant, Elizabeth is forced to employ a seduction of a different sort...

With his seduction he is determined to ruin her...

Viscount Derek Creswell believes Elizabeth set out to trap him into marriage. After all, her sister attempted the very same thing with his brother six years before. Now the delectable Miss Smith expects a betrothal and a ring, while Derek finds her ruination infinitely more appealing...

But as Derek sets out to seduce only her body, Elizabeth is intent on claiming his jaded heart.

Where to Buy

Amazon (Kindle)

BN (Nook)

Season (all e-formats)

Enjoy!  Hope you take advantage while its $.99!!!



Short Story about Publishing

Guest Post by Graham Parke author of No Hope for Gomez

Is It Like Listening To You Talk?

As you probably know, to become an internationally best-selling author, you need to sell three books. This is not an easy task, but once you’ve managed to rack up these three sales, the rest is more or less a done deal.

Now, these sales themselves will not put you on the best-seller lists. They won’t even put you within a million spots of the bottom of the lists, but what they will do, and what they do every time, is spark a slowly growing buying frenzy that will get you there.

These three people will love your book, they will tell another five people, who in turn tell another seven. Within roughly four-and-a-half weeks, you finally make your first million.
That’s how it happens. Every single time.

But, how does an author tackle this monumental task? Where does he find these three readers?

I myself was quite lucky. When my novel appeared on Amazon I already knew over five people! What’s more, some of these people even liked me... somewhat. So I set out to become an internationally best-selling author by convincing at least three of these five people to buy my novel.

I started with my mother. Of all the five people I knew, I probably knew her the longest. I showed her my Amazon page and she nodded approvingly. She did not, however, make any attempts to buy a copy. So I logged on for her, navigated back to my novel’s page, and left the mouse pointer conveniently positioned over the BUY button.

She read the novel description again, searched-inside-this-book, and nodded some more. When I asked her if she’d like to buy a copy, she scrunched up her nose and said;

‘But what if I don’t like it?’
I told her not to worry. ‘It’s a really good book,’ I said. ‘I should know. I’ve re-written it like 50 times. It’s really funny and interesting.’
My mother wasn’t convinced. ‘I’m not really into comedy writing, though,’ she said.
‘It’s not just a comedy,’ I pointed out. ‘It has a real story; it’s a mystery. And it has twists and turns and believable characters.’
My mother hesitated. ‘Maybe I should just play it safe and buy another Stephen King novel…’

I ended up having to offer a personal money-back guarantee, and purchase a copy using my own credit card for the time being, but she finally cracked. I’d made my first sale!

Next, I prodded my wife. Although she did like words in general, she wasn’t sure she was up for reading and entire book full of them. ‘Is this like your usual stuff?’ she wanted to know.
‘What usual stuff?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Is it like listening to you talk?’
‘What’s wrong with they way I talk?’
‘Nothing. It’s just, well, sometimes you talk a lot of nonsense.’
I waved it away. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I am much more interesting and ‘telligible’ on paper.’

Long story short; my second sale is almost in the bag. Now I just need to find one more person to buy my novel, and I’ll be set for life!


Check out the Summer of Gomez!


Get free books and win a Kindle or iPod.

As reviewers have been calling “No Hope for Gomez!” the perfect summer read - light, fast, fun - I decided to give this summer's Gomez readers some exclusive content and the chance to win prizes.

The Art of Saying Goodbye

Author: Ellyn Bache
ISBN: 978-0-06-203368-0
Publisher: HarperCollins
Purchase Link: The Art of Saying Goodbye: A Novel
Source: TLC Book Tours
Follow the Tour

About the Book:
She was the thread that wove their tapestry together.

With a group of women as diverse as the ladies from Brightwood Trace, you might not think them to be close. There’s Julianne, a nurse with an unsettling psychic ability that allows her to literally feel what her patients feel, Andrea, a strong fortress sheltering a faltering core, Ginger, a mother torn between being a stay-at-home mom or following her career aspirations, and Iona, the oldest, whose feisty, no-nonsense attitude disarms even toughest of the tough. Not exactly the ingredients for the most cohesive cocktail . . . Until you add Paisely, the liveliest and friendliest of the clan, who breathed life into them all.

But when their glowing leader falls ill with cancer, it’s up to these women to do what Paisely has done for them since the beginning: lift her up. Overcoming and accepting the inevitability of loss, the women draw closer than ever; finding together the strength to embrace and cherish their lives with acceptance, gratitude and most importantly, love. Finally living with the vigor that Paisely has shown them from the start, they are able to see their lives in a new light, while learning to say goodbye to the brightest star they’ve ever known. Over the course of just three months, these four women will undergo a magnificent transformation that leaves nobody unchanged.

Review:
I absolutely loved this novel! Ellyn Bache captivated me from the moment I started reading. The characters are truly realistic, I was able to relate to each one in various ways. They are well developed in a story is simple yet complex. I couldn’t put this one down. I was very impressed with the authors writing. She keeps the story intriguing, relatable and heart breaking. The novel flows smoothly and is easy to read. At no point while reading this novel was I distracted by other things. I actually couldn’t read it unless my kids were asleep because I was getting frustrated with the constant disruptions. The novel is simply one of the most heartfelt, truly poignant and emotionally captivating books that I have read in a long time. I enjoyed each and every character, I felt as if I knew them by the time I was finished. I will, without hesitation, purchase Ellyn’s two other novels.

While I must apologize for this short review, I really can’t say more. I am still in awe. I totally enjoyed this book and it was a simply wonderful read. As you probably know, I hate spoilers! I don’t feel like I can say much about the actual content in this book aside from the synopsis above because it would spoil it. I hope you’ll add this to your “to be read” list, its most definitely worth it.  Even the cover is great! 


About the Author:

A native of Washington, DC, Ellyn Bache studied English at the Universities of North Carolina and Maryland, but didn’t begin writing seriously until the first two of her four children were born and she knew, for sanity’s sake, she’d better find an “adult” activity to do at home during the children’s naps. She began as a freelance newspaper journalist while teaching herself to write fiction. After nearly six years of rejection slips, her short stories began to be published in both commercial magazines like Good Housekeeping and Seventeen, and literary magazines ranging from Shenandoah to the Carolina Quarterly. A collection of sixteen of her stories, The Value of Kindness, won the Willa Cather Fiction Prize.

After more than twenty years in Wilmington, NC, Ellyn now divides her time between the Carolinas and Pennsylvania. Find out more about Ellyn at her website, and connect with her on Facebook.

Bitter Bitch

Author: Maria Svelend
ISBN: 978-1616083038
Skyhorse Publishing
Purchase Link: Bitter Bitch: A Novel
Source: BookPleasures

Bitter Bitch is a novel of honest anger, genuine sadness and hurtful betrayal. The novel, which promotes thinking outside the box, tells the story of Sarah, a wife and mother, who has an awakening while seated on a plane bound for Teherite, Spain. Sarah, who is by herself on a one week vacation, realizes she is thirty and completely unsatisfied with life. She is angry with her family, her choices and herself. As a result Sarah realizes she is becoming a bitter bitch.

The title of this novel certainly gives a reader a certain level of insight in regards to the content they can expect from this book. Though a certain level of criticism and complaining was suspected in this story, the bitter ranting and complaining is fluid throughout the book. As a result the novel lacks a plot or any real storyline. I didn’t expect the bitterness of the main character to be the story. In essence not much happens in this book. While the reader is given topics to ponder and issues to contemplate, the lack of story doesn’t give this book the feel of a novel.

While it is true that I had a hard time relating to Sarah, I did understand her as a wife and mother. Though I don’t have the angry and bitter views the main character displays, I can certainly understand how worn out a woman can get with the daily issues of life that we deal with. My thought was who doesn’t? I had a difficult time with the feminist viewpoints in this novel since I lack interest in them. However, the book does bring up many issues, viewpoints and thoughts that could easily spark discussion since it’s highly unlikely everyone would agree with everything offered forth in this book.

I am inclined to think this book was written years too late. I don’t think the book would have presented itself as ranting or complaining if it was written in the 50’s or 60’s when equality of women and equal rights were a big focus and change. I personally feel our society, at least in America, is much more an equal society rather than a “man’s world”. Regardless of personal opinions on the subjects in this novel, be prepared for language, bitterness, un-satisfaction, an occasional laugh and not a whole lot of story to surround it all. I wish the author could have found a better plot to deliver her message with. Maybe this title simply needs to be published as something other than a novel? Though it was easy to read, it lacked in interest. I wasn’t drawn to it.

Laurel Osterkamp on Favorite Books & Authors

Guest Post by Laurel Osterkamp

Author of Starring in the Movie of My Life

Read my review by clicking HERE.

Welcome Laurel.... Please tell us about your favorite book or author and why.... 

Has the book or author influenced your writing or goals in writing?

I’m not good at committing to one favorite book or author; I’ve loved so many books and authors over the years, all for unique reasons. I guess I’m something of a book whore. However, when it comes to what influenced me while writing Starring in the Movie of My Life, one book comes immediately to mind. I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb, is not my usual type of read. It’s a little too dark and edgy to fit my tastes. It was given to me by husband’s cousin. He used to work in publishing, so he had access to tons of free books and he strongly recommended it.I decided to give it a whirl. Early on I wasn’t sure I would stick with it. The story was a little slow, and the characters weren’t very likeable, and it was pretty dark. Then I took my car in to be serviced and I brought it along to read.I held it when I went to the counter to pay, and the girl who was working there commented. “Oh my God,” she said. “I Know This Much is True is one of my all-time favorite books! By the end I couldn’t put it down!”So I’ll admit it, my reaction was a little snobby. I thought, “If the girl who works at the Saturn dealership can finish this book, I can finish this book. I do teach English, after all.” I committed to finishing it. It took a little while, but halfway through this 891 page book I was hooked, and like the girl at the Saturn dealership, towards the end I could not put it down. This was before I had kids, and I remember coming home on a Friday afternoon, sitting on the couch and reading well into the evening. Then I resumed reading Saturday morning, and I didn’t stop until the late afternoon when I was done.I cried at the ending: partly because of the beauty of the writing. Lamb somehow managed to incorporate all the themes and meaning of his brilliant book into one final paragraph, and he ends with the title. It’s not at all forced; instead it’s organic and complete. I can say that of all the books I’ve ever read, I Know This Much is True has the most well written, satisfying ending.I also cried when I finished it because it was over. You know that feeling when you’re dying to know what happens but you don’t want to be done? Lamb switched back and forth between sub-plots and created such marvelous suspense that every time I finished one chapter I was compelled to begin the next. Eventually these stories converged, and when they did, it was amazing.So that’s what I attempted to do with Starring in the Movie of My Life.  There are two storylines, Melody’s and Samantha’s, and I tried to end each chapter at a high point of interest, urging the reader to continue on until Melody and Samantha finally join together at the end of the book. I also chose to make redemption a major theme. Wally Lamb’s main character, Dominick, endures heartbreak and loss. He makes mistakes and becomes bitter. Yet by the end he finds redemption and closure, in a way where he can move on with his life. I wanted that for Melody and Samantha.I’m not implying that Starring in the Movie of My Life is in any way equal to I Know This Much is True. Ultimately, these two books are very, very different, and I realize I have a lot to learn before I can even approach being the writer that Lamb is. However, if there is one book that has inspired me as a writer, one book I modeled my own book after, it is his.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Laurel is also the author of Following My Toes and Looking For Ward, which is free for the Kindle right now!  Click the title to read more about these books!

Starring in the Movie of My Life

Author: Laurel Osterkamp
ISBN: 978-1-933826-677
Publisher: PMI Books
Purchase Link: Starring in the Movie of My Life
Source: CLP Blog Tours

Twenty – five year old Nathan is caught between two women who are both fighting for his love and attention. Samantha, Nathans thirty-five year old wife, is adjusting to her new marriage. Sam dreams of making her own movies and has recently set her attention on creating a documentary of her surrogate pregnancy. Nathan, who wants children of his own, has a difficult time with Sams pregnancy and lack of interest in being a mother. Sam, who isn't quite ready for a child of her own, struggles with her feelings over ex-boyfriend Collin, who also happens to manage their apartment building. In addition, Sam has secrets she's been hiding from Nathan.

Eighteen year old Melody is cold and manipulative. Her one desire is to make her life better, to change her circumstances, to escape. When Nathan, her teacher, saves her from being raped at a school dance, Melody turns her attention to him. This develops into a dangerous crush, especially since Melody has met Sam and is willing to dig for dirt on Sam in order to gain Nathans affection.

The story, a character study of Samantha and Melody, dives deep into the lives and thoughts of these two vastly different women. Each of them are years apart in age, yet both also have an age difference to Nathan. The story is told in alternating chapters between the two women. The author does a wonderful job giving relevant information from the past to help the reader understand the present. She also does a wonderful job bringing the details of their lives and decisions along with their age into the story to give the reader an understanding of why these characters think the way they do. It also helped me to understand how they arrived at being the person they have become and will become. The story is told in alternating chapters by Sam and Melody. The only thing missing from the story is Nathans perspective. I wondered what he thought and was feeling through all this. Insight is given from the views of the two women, but I would have enjoyed an occasional chapter from Nathan.

Overall, I enjoyed this dramatic tale. It weaves heartache, confusion, deception and self-discovery into one story that is hard to put down! I was sucked into it from the first page. The characters are well developed. Both women have issues and hang ups in their lives. Melody is manipulative and her actions are unlikable, yet I understood where she was coming from and how she became who she is. I wanted her to be happy and rooted for her to find happiness of her own. Sam is a character that is happy with the status quo but she is confused about what she wants because she never gives herself a second thought. She deeply underestimates her potential and doesn't see her own self worth. Though they both have hang ups that make them unique, I wanted the best for both and really rooted for them to find themselves. The story is simply a tale of life. It's one of making the best decision based off what you're given. Both women had plans, both plans fell apart. Both of them had to take a look inward to see what they truly wanted and re-group. The novel is a page turner. The author has a wonderful writing style. It's easy to read and I was instantly drawn to both women and their stories. I would recommend this versatile book to fiction lovers. YA, Chick-lit, women's fiction or general fiction!

A Little Bit of Passion

Author: Beate Boeker
ISBN: 978-0-8034-7650-9
Publisher: Avalon Books
Purchase Link: A Little Bit of Passion
Source: Author review request

Synopsis:

Karen Larsen calls herself a modern gypsy because she has split her life into two perfect halves. In winter, she's a skiing instructor in the Teton Mountain Range; in summer, she works at the bookstore she owns on Long Island, New York. But one Easter holiday, John Bermett and his son Gerry join her skiing group, and her perfectly balanced universe is shaken. John is the owner and CEO of ON!, the largest electronic equipment company in America. Though there is an intense mutual attraction, Karen feels that dating John would disrupt her free-spirited lifestyle. She works through her internal struggle in e-mail correspondence with her best friend, Leslie Carter, co-owner of the bookstore.

Can she overcome her need for independence and find a compromise between her single life and the man who might be the love of it?

Review:

I enjoyed this book immensely! Aside from a few minor caveats the novel was wonderful. Here’s the skinny on A Little Bit of Passion.

Writing Style: I loved the unique set up of this romance. The author writes the story in letter style between the two main characters, Karen and Leslie. Karen tells most of the story since it is hers' to tell. I enjoyed reading this book due to the different set up. It made me feel like I had a pen pal.

Characters: The characters are extremely likeable in this story. Though each of them have their unique oddities they are characters you grow to love and wish the best for even if you want to knock some sense into a few of them. Their personalities vibrant add a special touch to this book.

Setting: I loved the setting of this novel. It takes place in the snowy Tenton Mountains, Seattle and Long Island, NY. For a 186 page novel this is a fair amount of setting changes. It keeps the novel fresh and exciting.

Pace: A Little Bit of Passion is extremely easy to read and has a quick pace! I read this novel in just a few sittings.

Caveats: Towards the end of the novel, Karen writes from NY while Leslie is in Seattle. This section was slightly confusing to be because Karen goes a little crazy. I didn’t realize she wasn’t actually sending all the letters she was writing. I also thought this part of the novel was very immature. It annoyed me.

Overall, the novel has a great story delivered in an interesting way! It’s most definitely worth the read. “After all, what’s life if you never risk anything?” ~Leslie from A Little Bit of Passion

Other titles by Beate Boeker:
Take my Place: 978-0-8034-9942-3
Wings to Fly: 978-0-8034-9902-7

Visit Beate @ http://www.happybooks.de/