Ari is in a wheelchair, obviously unhappy with that. She has been searching for many months for some sort of cure. The thought of not being able to do what she used to be able to do, is so painful.  Ari had been a track and field star and an archery wizard. Being confined to a wheelchair is a slow torture.  Things go awry when she considers homeopathic and non-traditional cures. You need to think of yourself in a position like that and what you would do to change it. Maybe as an adult the answer would vary, for Ari, it is a tough choice to make.

So it come to the choice between good and evil for Ari. It was a very different subject matter. I know you will be captivated by the story-line and very unique subject. Being almost eighteen, having to be confined to a wheelchair, and choosing between things she never knew existed, will challenge Ari. I say BRAVO a really interesting book! I know this will appeal to a very broad range of readers. Grab it up and ENJOY it

Author Bio:

Once upon a time, long, long ago, Victoria was born in sunny Florida, except it wasn’t sunny; it was the middle of the night. Midnight actually, well, two minutes past, but she tried really hard for midnight.

Victoria has been to twenty one schools in her lifetime. With all the continual switching around, she’s relied on her imagination for friends and books for close companions. In high school she remained apart from the whole and spent most of her time in the library either reading or writing.

Currently, Victoria has set down roots in New York with her family. She still reads and writes every day. She finished her debut novel Of Gaea in the winter of 2012 and is working on the sequel and many other projects.

Links:

ENTER TO WIN A COPY HERE

When the book opens we meet Alexandra Riley who is in her first year at NYU with her sights to the future on pediatric medicine. From the beginning the picture of Alexandra and her family is painted as bold as a Do Not Enter sign! She was VERY sheltered and comes from a family that is built on wealth. Everything her parents and sister have lived for is wealth and status. That was Alexandra too. When she goes away she leaves her boyfriend behind and gets settled into college life. I think he was her best friend, but they were both expected to become a couple. While she is going through the start of her transformation she takes one art class. She has always liked painting and allows herself this one enjoyable class. In the class she meets Dane Wright. He is the one that turns her planets upside down and causes her extreme cosmic blowout!

This is the first part in the Plastic Hearts Series (secretly hoping to have 3 books or more) The story follows Alexandra, who quickly changes her life path and transforms to Alex.  This is the first novel for Lisa. I found that reader, blogger and reviewer makes a wonderful author. Aside from the fact that I read a lot of what this author does, we agree on a lot of it too. The book had a really good balance of angst and drama. The best part for me was the actual situations presented in the book. They were totally believable. I have read a lot of books that were good but the situations presented were just too “out there”. The love of art shared between Alex and Dane was believable. The way Alexandra grew up and the raw emotional fear she felt about explaining Dane.

The story-lines, the characters, and especially the background were spot on. As a New Yorker I love to read about anything East Coast that is accurate. New York and Connecticut have very many exclusive areas where The Riley type of family dwells. So when Alex is thinking about what her future holds and what her sister Gwenn’s future will be, it is the most real part. I know that Gwenn’s fiance and her upcoming wedding are getting Alex to see the light. She wonders but never asks Gwenn if she is in love. That is basically all I will say about the plot. I reads tons of reviews and I really don’t like when there is an outline, so I am not doing that.   I will just say that these families exist! Think of Donald Trump for a minute. Maybe Donald Junior, for instance, comes home with a girl who does ear piercings at a kiosk by Bryant Park. How do you think Mr Trump would react? Bingo!!  This is my girl and she works at a pizza place and is putting herself through school to become an artist. Dad can we take her to Regis Philbin’s house for lunch?  I could go on but I think I made my point.

Grab it up or enter to win a copy. You know I am doing a BIG giveaway!  Rave reviews and dripping with anticipation for book 2. On another note the editing was great. I never ever pick if I see an indie author who has a typos, this was perfect.

On another note, the cover girl is so Alexandra Riley to me, but the guy needs more edge. Recommended for mature readers due to sexual content and language. (this was so pg to me I didn’t need a warning, but I do love when I see those, I hurry and read them faster.

A quote:

I’d completed thirty-seven paintings over the last several months. If I placed them in order of when I painted them, they showed my rise, fall and eventual rebirth. -Alex

I follow a lot of blogs and subscribe to many via email. I was reading up on what I missed and I was just shocked that I reads a review that was in poor taste. If you feel the need to completely slam an ARC, that is SO not cool. If I read something that is awful (lucky for me I don’t have that a lot) it is better to just not post. Maybe you are not in your preferred genre or just not up for that type of book when you get it. Stop reading and remove the thought that would compel you to write something that is hurtful.

Think before you write! Maybe consider how the law of averages work and how many 5 star reviews you need to combat a bad review. Just saying, be KIND and read on

Synopsis from this romantic suspense novel:

Dr. Anne Jamison, brilliant neuropsychiatrist , living the concrete jungle life in Minneapolis with her fiancé, prominent attorney, Adam Whitney. The mysterious death of Carter Leeds, her former boyfriend, haunts her to this day. After three years of unanswered questions, a secretive note finds its way to Anne, revealing the possibility that Carter may in fact be alive, and that her very own fiancé may have had a hand in his attempted demise.

Who really is Adam Whitney? Can Anne trust the man she pledged forever with? As deadly secrets begin to unravel, so does her trust. A dark, twisted game of cat and mouse ensues, who will run out of lives and who will walk away, to only be deceived, once again.

***Excerpt Chapter 1***

Anne stretched her neck muscles as they tightened at just the thought of Victoria. Her attempts to shake the green-eyed monster were ineffective, so she turned her attention to the mystery envelope waving its secretive arms, enticing her to open it. She picked it up and walked over to her mission-style desk to locate an envelope opener. Anne took the silver blade and ran it through the glued seal. The contents trickled out and onto her desk. Colored photographs fanned out in front of her and a white note with red hue writing stared at her.

For My Anneliese

“No!”

She gasped, feeling her hands begin to numb. Her veins were flooded with fresh fretful blood that burned her chest and pulsated into her ears as the thumping of her heart pounded deep within her. The one person in the entire universe who ever called her by her given birth name was Carter. The room was losing all focus and was quickly becoming dim. But then Carter’s face became clearer, like a luminous apparition pulling her subconscious in deeper.

Author Info:

Between homeschool awesomeness, domestic goddess duties, city upheaval, extra-curricular craziness, it has been a challenge to tidy the book up and slap a red bow on it. With the help of some amazing editors it’s ready with a red bow on top. 

Author Contact Links:

 Goodreads Link

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Eighty-Eight Keys

By Catherine Lavender

Blurb

Leah is a young woman who is trying to break free from a strict religious background and pursue her dream as a pianist in the world of show business. While trying to find her independence her heart is held captive by Jason Rowe a local basketball star who established an organization to help troubled youth. When Jason is found murdered in his home, Leah is determined to get answers from a closed investigation. During her state of emotional turmoil, Leah finds comfort not only in the melody of her music, but in the arms of a married man named Calvin. With her dreams at her fingertips, Leah is tangled in a web of lies and deceit. Despite the fear of learning the truth, Leah has to realize that only the truth can set her free.

A dead lover, with a trail of broken hearts…

A married man, with a double-life…

A dream chaser, with a killer at her heels…

A piano, with eighty-eight keys…

Excerpt

The jarring ring of the telephone pulled Leah back into the present. It took her a couple of rings to find the buried cell

phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Leah, it’s Quincy. I was just calling to check up on you.”

She settled back into a small section of the couch. “Hi, Quincy. I’m doing okay.”

“You sure?” She could hear the concern in his voice. “You sound a little sad.”

The picture of her and Jason crumpled in her fist. “Well, you know how it is. I’m surrounded by ghosts at every turn.”

Her inner voice urged her to change the subject quickly. “How are you doing?”

“Well, that kind of brings me to the second purpose of this call. Would you mind coming in this afternoon? There is still

so much to do for the gala, and we can use all the help we can get.”

Leah looked at her watch, then at the mess in her living room. “Yep, I can be there in a couple of hours.”

Saying her goodbyes, Leah hung up the phone and made a mental note to pick up, packing boxes along the way.

When her lease was up, she was moving to her neon oasis—Las Vegas. Leah was going to be a pianist.

Running thirty minutes late, Leah pulled into the parking lot of Bright Horizons Youth Group. She didn’t see Mrs.

Turner and Rosa until she almost collided into them.

“Oh, oops, sorry,” Leah said, fumbling with her purse and notebook. “I, um, didn’t see you there.” The look on Rosa’s

face was pure anger.

“Well, we are certainly glad you’re here,” Mrs. Turner said with an airy smile. “There is just so much that needs to be

done, and well, it is your business to know how to do this.”

Leah smiled, situating her purse on her shoulder, and avoided eye contact with Rosa in case one of the thousand

daggers thrown from her eyes would penetrate. “You know, I am just happy to help,” she said to the older woman.

Leah cringed at the overly eager sound of her own voice.

“And we are so glad you are helping, swallowing your pride for the good of Bright Horizons.” Mrs. Turner wore her

Armani dress like it was a second skin, her makeup and hair flawless as always. Her smile was etched, and didn’t quite

spread to the rest of her face.

“I don’t understand why…” Rosa said. Her hostility spoke volumes.

Leah braced herself for a very vocal confrontation.

“No, dear.” Mrs. Turner put a beautifully manicured hand on Rosa’s forearm. “You don’t understand, and you never

will if you don’t check your attitude.”

A car horn caused all three women to look around. “Ah, that’s for me.” Mrs. Turner pulled a sheet of paper from her

book, not acknowledging the impatient student honking.

Leah didn’t want to know why the University’s current basketball star was sitting in Mrs. Turner’s car.

“If you both will excuse me, I have more important mat-ters to attend to.” She handed Leah a long list, “Be a dear and

see if you can crank this out.”

The two women eyed each other warily.

Rosa brushed past Leah. “Don’t you dare screw this up,” she hissed.

“Why would you think that?” Leah usually kept to herself as far as Rosa was concerned, but the implication bothered

her.

Rosa slid on a pair of sunglasses. “Because you screw everything up.”

Author Bio and Links

Catherine Lavender is from Baltimore, Maryland but now resides in Tampa, Florida with her miniature schnauzer name Ripken. She is an animal activist, as well as a supporter of the organization First Book which helps supply literature for underprivileged children. In her spare time, Catherine enjoys reading classic literature and playing the acoustic guitar.

Links:

Website: http://www.catherinelavender.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Catherine-Lavender/186543831472093

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lavenderpages

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6641425-catherine-lavender

Buy Links:

Barnes & Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eighty-eight-keys-catherine-lavender/1114281705?ean=9781936167838

Books-A-Million
http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Eighty-Eight-Keys/Catherine-Lavender/9781936167838?id=5491362841818

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Eighty-Eight-Keys-ebook/dp/B00BB0MZ06/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1360124072&sr=8-13&keywords=Eighty-Eight+Keys

Addicted to Ansley

By: Linda Kage

Through all the years that passed, the memory of their love never faded.

Motivational speaker and drug rehab counselor Ward Gemmell can hold an audience in the palm of his hand-because he knows what it’s like to have everything he loved slip through his fingers. When a particularly heartfelt speech reunites him with the daughter he never knew he had, suddenly the love of his life is back within his grasp. What could a guy like him do to earn a second chance?

 Good girl Ansley Marlow was heartbroken the day Ward revealed his hidden life-the kind of secret that would tear anyone apart. But so many years have passed and so much has changed that it isn’t as hard now for her to believe in fate and redemption, even when those around her are unforgiving. All she needs is the strength to reach out and reclaim the beautiful life she should have had so long ago.

Author Information:

Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, toddler daughter, and their nine cuckoo clocks. She works a day job in the acquisitions department of a university library and feels her life has been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing’s always been a major part her world, and she’s thrilled to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.

You can find Linda on the web at:

Website – http://www.lindakage.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/linda.kage

FB Fan Page – http://www.facebook.com/authorlindakage

I read this and yes it was FAB!! I have to clear the decks a little to give a few great books proper credit.

Book synopsis:

Rick and Liam are two small-time con artists who live in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles–Rick is addicted to internet porn and dangerous women, while Liam is a functioning alcoholic who loves the New England Patriots as much as life itself.

The partners push their luck one time too many, and while Rick is recovering from a life-altering beatdown he received at a casino, he falls in love with a mystery woman online, a webcam-girl known as Amethyst. When Rick learns that she lives across the city, where she has been forced into prostitution by a gang of Russian sex-traffickers, he sets out to save her.

In order to do that, however, he must betray his longtime partner and steal their savings, which Liam has built up with a series of shrewdly-placed sports bets. Rick makes his move, just as Liam places the mother of all wagers, on his beloved Patriots.

Things go horribly wrong, and the two friends find themselves scrambling for cash to stave off their leg-breaking Korean bookies. With only three days to raise all the money, the partners hatch a desperate scheme to blackmail a philandering US congressman. At the same time, their friendship is threatened by Rick’s wild, unpredictable new girlfriend.

Can the three of them pull it together and pull off their audacious plan? Will jealousy and suspicion tear them apart? Finally, what is Amethyst’s dark secret, and can these two screw-ups survive long enough to learn the terrible truth?

It’s all-in for Rick and Liam, in this sexy, fast-paced crime thriller – the debut novel from Mycroft Magnusson

Ethan Parker is a sort of loner. When he comes to hear a girl crying night after night next door, he finally does the right thing. They form a friendship and bond that is really sweet. He has a bad past that is scarred him. As for Emily, her growing up is equally as bad. What I liked about the book was the potential. I know it was a novella, but it could rival some best sellers. I hope somewhere there is an extended version that would fill in the missing parts. I sincerely liked the book and felt like it was more of an outline to something that can be huge.

Author:

She’s written short stories since childhood but only recently began exercising her real writing muscles. While she does not consider herself a professional writer in any sense of the word, she continues to polish her craft and hopes for success in her writing ventures, even if they are just as a hobby.

After moving to St. Louis to attend college, she earned a degree in Education. During her Master’s program, Evelyn discovered her fascination with behavior and psychology.

Her first professional job experience was as a juvenile counselor, which led her to venture into other human sciences, eventually making a career with Behavior Analysis. While writing is a hobby for Evelyn, she often uses her experiences with human behavior to guide her characters.

After moving to St. Louis to attend college, she earned a degree in Education. During her Master’s program, Evelyn discovered her fascination with behavior and psychology.

Her first professional job experience was as a juvenile counselor, which led her to venture into other human sciences, eventually making a career with Behavior Analysis. While writing is a hobby for Evelyn, she often uses her experiences with human behavior to guide her characters.

@EvelynRBaldwin

Goodreads

Web Site

Book Description
Publication Date: January 31, 2013
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Tattoo artist Ronnie Clark is counting the days until Valentine’s Day is over. Ronnie doesn’t do romance. She doesn’t do flowers or dates, and she sure as hell doesn’t do love–not anymore. After her fiancé cheated on her while deployed, she has vowed never to fall in love again, especially with a soldier.

Sergeant First Class Kale Emerson is home on his mid-tour leave from Iraq, but he can’t wait to return to finish leading his soldiers on their mission. He’s got no time for a relationship…but casual sex, that’s a different story. And when he meets Ronnie, a snarky, gorgeous, take-no-prisoners kind of woman, a fast fling is all he can think about. But when Kale realizes he’s met his match with a bombshell woman who is hell bent against love, will just sex be enough? And will winning her over both body and soul be the toughest battle he ever fought?

First of all this is the perfect book for me. LOVED it! The two main characters Ronnie and Kale are dreamy. She is the tattoo artist with the attitude and he is Sergeant First Class Kale Emerson. Home from Iraq for a few weeks and excited about the return. He isn’t interested in relationships, she was cheated on. He goes to get his first tatoo being a memorial piece for his Iraq brothers. First and secondary characters were well developed and likable.

The book is written between the characters and a third person’s POV. So overall if you like chicklit and romance with an edge this is for you. Lots of drama, feelings, past and future dreams with a little bit of stalker fear. The story line was very entertaining. No lie, I was hooked the minute Kale came in to get a tatoo.

So I was swooning and can not  wait to see what Kelsie Leverich comes out with next. Bravo on a wonderful debut

The video trailer

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