Synopsis:

The killings began in May when the body of a young teacher was discovered in the bedroom of her historic Society Hill home of Philadelphia. The second victim was found seven days later. The number of victims grew incrementally during the uncomfortably wet and humid spring and summer. Each of the victims was surgically mutilated by a madman possessing the skills of a surgeon.

In a city renowned for its medical institutions and thousands of medically-trained professionals, one among them was a killer. For Captain Leo Gromski, of the Special Homicide Unit the pursuit of a phantom leads to the most shocking revelation a persistent investigator could conceptualize.

The identity of the killer leads Gromski down the path to the Roach Motel of conspiracies: its tentacles stretching from Philadelphia’s City Hall to the United State’s State Department.

Clarion Review:

Killers don’t get more cold-blooded than the murderer Lee Beck draws in his grim psychological thriller, From a Dark Place. Beck explores the psychology of the serial killer, offering a portrait of a psychopath that is at least as compelling as the pursuit.

Gromski and Kelly are a likable pair, and one of Beck’s strengths is his ease with dialogue among the police department team members. The playful banter feels natural and highlights the family-like relationships that can develop on a police force.

Beck also creates a convincing setting, with his knowledge of Philadelphia’s streets and neighborhoods evident throughout the story and echoed on the book’s cover.

Blue Ink Review:

A hardened Philadelphia detective and a dexterous serial killer face off in this fictional police procedural from former pediatric psychologist Lee Beck.

Gromski is an aging pugilist in the vein of Ian Rankin’s dour Inspector Rebus. He’s a well-seasoned detective and his stubbornness and the relentless investigations are starting to take their toll. Gromski must bring his detective skills to bear when a serial killer begins dismembering local Catholics. With each new murder performed with the same gruesome precision, the close-knit community falls into full-blown panic.

The novel may remind genre readers of other labyrinth behemoths like James Ellroy’s L.A. Confidential or Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games with its sprawling storyline and enormous cast of characters. With an abundant plot that reels in a medical conspiracy, the murky workings of the Catholic Church and its search for the slasher, From A Dark Place will give the reader more than enough to digest.  Also available.

About the Author

Baltimore native, Lee Beck is a former pediatric psychologist specializing in the care and treatment of chronically and terminally ill children and their families. This work is the second in a series, a third is currently being written. He and his wife Mary, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, reside in a Philadelphia suburb.

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Blurb:

Ever wonder if you made the right choice? What if you could go back and find out?

31-year-old Clara is in a steady relationship—with Facebook. Every night after her depressing bureaucratic job (so much for saving the world), after coming home to her empty apartment Clara settles down with a pint of ice cream for some good, old-fashioned Facebook stalking. It’s her college boyfriend, The One Who Got Away. He now has a perfect marriage, perfect house, perfect life—everything she could have had if she hadn’t been so, so stupid. 

But, wait. Jeanie from Facebook shows up at Clara’s job. There’s a new app they’re beta-testing and Clara’s perfect for it. That night she clicks on it and… nothing happens. But the next morning when Clara wakes up at noon, hung over, listening to her roommate blow-drying her hair and singing “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, she realizes she’s back in college. With the chance to do it all over again. 

Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right?

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About Me

I made my debut as an author at age 13 by rewriting the “Sweet Valley High” series. Despite copyright violations, I maintain that my rendition of Elisabeth and Jessica Wakefield as preteens in an British orphanage is a classic. Between then and now I went to some fancy schools, swapped out the East Coast for the West Coast, and had oodles of kids. Some of my favorite things in life include coffee, Aretha Franklin’s inauguration hat and the sleepwalking scene in “Step Brothers.”

My first romantic comedy, “Christmas in Wine Country,” won first prize in the single title division of the Romance Writers of America’s 2010 Stilletto Contest and spent six weeks on Amazon’s best seller list.

My next romantic comedy, “Facebook Jeanie,” will be released October 1, 2013.

A few quick, candid and very interesting questions with my friend and author of It’s A Crime, CE Hansen

Did you ever think you’d ever become an author? No. To this day I don’t believe it. I just can’t get over actually having such a profound dream of mine come true on such a personal level. I always wanted to write…I’m proud of myself for actually doing it. My house is littered with all the things I’ve started and never stuck with…My husband will tell you I’m certifiable, I guess he’s right. Smart people like authors for instance tend to be unorganized and eccentric. So, that is you, which in my book is awesome

If you could work with any author who would it be? Unfortunately, she died years ago, but I broke my ‘romance book’ cherry on Kathleen Woodiwiss. So I would have to say her. 

Who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to theirs? Again, Kathleen Woodiwiss and no I wish I could write like that!  I’d be I heaven!

Who is your target readers/audience? Anyone who likes their sex hot and their men hotter! OK so no knitting ladies or Jessica Fletcher types.  

not her but her right?? 

 What’s your favorite part of a book? I really enjoyed writing the sex scenes and the suspense…for some reason, blood, murder and crazy hot sex go together in my mind…sounds a bit odd doesn’t it? (I will sum it up SEX, Cole, Grace and the shower) I agree but the first major scene with Cole and Grace in the bar was my favorite. She stood up and had confidence. I loved the way she was not just ok, sort of wandering around saying “I’m too short, too chubby, why would he be looking at me” NOPE Grace was like “Im sexy and I know it” So the major theme is?  Suspense, sex, and more sex.  I also love developing characters.

Any recent works that you admire? Tangled – by Emma Chase. I love her sense of humor. Me too I think you and her have a similar style in that regard. You are both gifted debut authors too!

 How have your personal experiences affected your writing? I was always told you have to live it to write it. So, yeah, I guess a lot of my personal experiences come out in my writing. That does not seem to be a denial nor admission. I think you have had a lot of sex in your life and use that to draw on your characters. I should have asked for a picture of your shower.

Do you use facts and/or events from your own life? Of course…as I said before, you can only write what you know…and add a teaspoon of imagination… and you get the picture. At least I try to give you the picture…(please tell me you had sex like that at some time)

What genre of books do you like to read?   Oh I have many. I’m reading Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes right now, SHIT can that woman write scary suspense.  I love when I’m so invested I’m yelling…or laughing at the characters. I was invested in Cole myself. I can hear him singing Suit and Tie to me

Were you always good at writing?  I wouldn’t say good. I always wrote, short stories, songs for my guitar, but I don’t think I was really any good until I got to High School and began reading…oh my did I read.

How do you get started with writing a story? The people in my head start talking and literally keep me awake. I grab my phone and quickly record what they say and try to get back to sleep.  Sometimes, they chatter away into the wee hours…I really got to do something about them.

When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning? None at all. I always did love the name Grace though, almost named my daughter that.  

Any advice for people who have writer’s block? Look around you…there is always something to write about. It doesn’t have to be a happy story…as long as your writing, the creative juices will start to flow.

How did you come up with the plot? Good question. I really don’t give it too much thought. I talk out loud a lot which could really be annoying to the people sitting next to me, but **** it. When an idea hits me I got to talk to myself about it. Must be interesting to see you walk the NYC street babbling to yourself, you really fit in well I guess LOL Get on the F going to Coney Island babbling about sex in the shower with Cole, clang clang Belleview!  

Forever Broken Blurb:

Don’t forget to add Forever Broken on Goodreads Black heart (cards):http://goo.gl/deOUJ0

★★★SYNOPSIS of Forever Broken – October 7, 2013★★★

Can you ever escape darkness once it has touched your soul?

Natalie made a devastating decision five years ago that has haunted her ever since. It has been the secret she has kept from her family and friends. It has been the darkness that has shaped her life. It has been the moment that defines who she sees herself to be. And because of that decision, she believes that she is forever broken and undeserving of true happiness or love.

Dylan is looking for a broken soul to fall in love with. He is looking for someone he can fix and heal. He believes that only by fixing someone just as broken as he is, he will be able to finally fix himself and forgive himself for a past tragedy he had put into action.

When Natalie’s and Dylan’s paths collide, will Dylan be able to break through Natalie’s walls and show her the love she undoubtedly deserve? And will Natalie be just the person Dylan was looking for to fix himself?

Jessica Wood
Available Books: http://goo.gl/VPhpC1
Blog: http://jessicawoodauthor.com
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How to Post a Negative Review

in Book Review,Tamela with 23 Comments

Twice divorced, cynical Cindy Layton feels like a relic with prehistoric baggage, and doubts she can muster the courage to establish a new relationship, even if it’s on her own terms.

Her journey out of the Stone Age hits freaky, hilarious turbulence when she joins an Internet dating service. The scammers and weirdoes she meets in cyberspace make Cindy want to crawl back into her cave, until she receives an accidental email from Jay DeMatteo.

Jay has the dating blues, too, but after meeting Cindy, reconsiders his options. Now it’s up to him to convince her it’s never too late to pursue a meaningful relationship, even when a couple is struggling with midlife adolescence

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About this author

I’ve been writing since I was a wee child and learned crayons weren’t meant to be part of a food group.

My sometimes controversial rants have appeared in my local newspaper, the Asbury Park Press, and I’ve won several awards via the Writer’s Digest 78th Annual Writer’s Contest and the Philadelphia Writer’s Conference.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to publish in Parenting Teens Magazine, Good Dog Magazine, and Aim Intercultural Magazine. I’m currently revising a contemporary novel called Slick Trespass and penning the sequel to Dinosaurs and Cherry Stems, The Sugar Ticket. There aren’t enough minutes in a day to get everything I wish to accomplish with my prose! Maybe I’ll come back in another life as a literary octopus!

Dinosaurs & Cherry Stems, a humorous, contemporary romance about achieving mid-life adolescence, is launching September 17, 2012, so don’t miss out!

My eBook, Heart Marks the Spot: Three Short Stories, can also be found right now on Amazon for Kindle, as well as a cook book I contributed to called, Dine With Us: A Collection of Recipes from the Authors of Indie Writers Unite. Lot’s of yummy recipes and delicious stories can be found here, so don’t miss out!

My husband, Joseph, and I live in a lovely town in New Jersey near the sea. Together we have seven children and nine grandchildren

Thirty one year old Law student Sofia Koury thought she found a refuge from memories of her mother’s suicide and life with her controlling father. But when her mentor Alexander Quintis proposes her for an internship on his colleague’s yacht, events move into dangerous waters.

At first excited by the prospect of fieldwork, the attacks onboard make Sofia realize that someone she trusts is not as they seem. Caught in the whirlpool of antique cars, surveillance and defense training, Sofia struggles to uncover the deception ahead.

She must now rely on intuition and lessons from her painful past to complete her assignment and say alive. Sofia faces the challenge of her life navigating a budding relationship, self-discovery and uncertain future all under the sultry Cuban Sun

About the Authors

Ann Bauer has worked as an educational consultant, college professor and child wrangler to her young son and daughter. She is grateful to have a husband who can sleep with the lights on while she gets “just one more page” written. She can often be found travelling with her husband and kids.

Bryn Bauer is a trained historian and former history professor with a love of Latin America. She loves all education, learning and teaching. She is a lover of life and lives with her spunky cat Don Frijole. She can most often be found travelling, reading and researching. Ann and Bryn are sisters, living in North Carolina.

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I thought I had contained my tears, my emotions, but my body shakes and shudders. Whimpers escape, and the tears increase in frequency and volume. I rush through the door and collapse into the arms of the people who know exactly how much we’ve all just lost.

They say there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Not everyone will grieve in this order, nor will everyone go through every stage. It’s during the stage of denial when Alex Hart meets Andrew Foster. He takes her one-step closer to acceptance: the stage when new, meaningful relationships are formed. The stage when the realization occurs that this is now the new state of normal.

Just when Alex thinks she is on her way to healing, she enters the bargaining phase. That’s the phase where you wonder what you could have done differently. You wonder “what if?” Specifically, what if the ones you loved hadn’t left you?

Leaving…this is what makes heading off to war so difficult and frightening for Alex. She knows all too well what it’s like to be the one on the losing end of life, which is why she’s made it her personal mission in life to save as many lives as possible. The extreme high she gets from treating trauma victims turns into Alex’s own form of therapy, or so she thinks.

When faced with her world being turned upside down, Alex may just find that her true therapy is in the one who has always saved her

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6544571.J_B_McGee

website http://www.jbmcgee.com

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2013

“Fairy tales don’t exist. There are no knights in shining armor and for all I know there is no such thing as real, honest-to-God, Earth-shattering romance. There is only comfort and ease when it comes to real love. I should consider myself lucky to have found someone who I’m comfortable with. There are no waves, there are no bumps in the road… so why do I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin?”

Life for Gabriella had always been straightforward, albeit a bit boring, but a passionate, almost magical, encounter with an enigmatic stranger catapults her into evolving into stronger version of herself. Her evolution does not come without consequence, though. Gabriella learns the hard way that turning on the lights can reveal just as much ugly as it can beauty. She discovers that the comfortable relationship she’d been idling in for too long is, in fact, far more dangerous than she ever imagined and finds herself desperate for the inexplicable comfort she finds in the arms of a stranger.

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 “If every word I said, could make you laugh, I’d talk forever.  I asked the sky just what we had, Oooo… it shone forever.  If the song I sing to you, could fill your heart with joy, I’d sing forever.  Let the love I have for you, live in your heart and beat forever.” location 5543

I loved this book for all the richness it beholds. The ,main character and her family were like many I know and the one I grew up in. Gabriella was one of 5 children. She had 4 brothers who I really think need to have a book of their own, just adding in my two cents. It has every element of the perfect romantic suspense. The first if romance, then gotta have the hate, lust, greed and fear. All in all I adored it. It made me laugh, cry and become angst ridden over the handsome Jonathan.

So why do I feel like this?  Why do I feel like, given an ultimatum, I’d take the chance and give up everything for this man I’ve known for virtually no time at all? 

Sometimes you will do anything you can right or wrong for that one person. Ella did that, some things were unthinkable! Her ex boyfriend was the ultimate idiot. I hated him from day one. A certain episode begins the lies and deceit. A college graduation trip begin on the Amalfi Coast and I think Garbriella has an epiphany when she meets this masked man.

Upon returning back to New York. so she started her first nursing job at St Francis. I dont think it is a spoiler, but who shows up? Jonathan YES. Anyways there are a few witty things going on between Ella and Brittany. She is the gossip girl of that wing of the hospital. I loved how she was so nosy and how Ella was not at all forthcoming with information. This puts Brittany in stealth mode, she needs gossip. It is funny!

The only element that I think people will find issue with is the Catholic aspect. I grew up that way and do things like bring a rosary to my sons basketball game. I totally relate to that part and the deep religion and values that the Kelly clan share. I think especially being a product of Catholic School I found comfort in their ways.

A true must read for fans of Kristen Ashley and Pamela Clare. I am amazed at this authors ability to hit a home run on her debut novel!

She handed me a small black box and politely let herself out of the room.  Inside the box was an exquisite and ornate platinum rosary, lined with tiny diamonds.  It was the most beautiful example of a rosary I’d ever seen and my breath caught when I saw it.  location 4734