Tag Archives: Lone Star Literary Life

BNR The Sisters, Texas PNG

Review: Genny’s Ballad (The Sisters #5) by Becki Willis (with Giveaway!)

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About the book, Genny’s Ballad

  • Genre: Cozy Mystery / Romance / Women Sleuths
  • Publisher: Clear Creek Publishing
  • Date of Publication: October, 2017
  • Number of Pages: 258
  • Scroll down for giveaway!

Genny Cover2018 Best Mystery Series, Texas Association of Authors

By all accounts, everyone loves Genny.
So why does someone want her dead?

There’s something special about Genesis Baker, owner of The Sister’s popular New Beginnings Café. With her dimpled smile and twinkling blue eyes, Genny has practically the entire town eating from the palm of her hand. But Genny is hiding a secret. Despite her sunny disposition and golden touch, there is heartache in her past, and heartache, they say, comes in threes.

Heartache Number One: An unwelcomed customer shows up at New Beginnings. Apparently, the restraining order has lapsed.

Heartache Number Two: Genny’s arch nemesis from high school returns to town. Twenty years has done nothing to mellow the bitter feud between these two women.

Heartache Number Three: As Genny finally acknowledges her feelings for a younger man—sexy firefighter Cutter Montgomery—memories of her first love come back to haunt her.

On top of it all, someone is stalking Genny, determined to make her life miserable.

As it turns out, being kidnapped is only the beginning of her troubles… 

Book Five of the award winning The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series, voted Best Mystery Series by the Texas Association of Authors, three years in a row!

Buy, read, and discuss this book – and the whole series!

Buy the book on Amazon! $0.99 Kindle Countdown promotional pricing 6/22 – 6/28!

Buy all or part of The Sisters series from the author’s website | Check the series out on Goodreads

About the author, Becki Willis

LinkedIn ║ BookBub║ Amazon Author PageBecki Willis, best known for her popular The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series and Forgotten Boxes, always dreamed of being an author. In November of ’13, that dream became a reality.

Since that time, she has published numerous books, won first place honors for Best Mystery Series, Best Suspense Fiction, Best Women’s Detective Fiction, and Best Audio Book, won the 2018 RONE Award for Paranormal Fiction, and has introduced her imaginary friends to readers around the world.

An avid history buff, Becki likes to poke around in old places and learn about the past. Other addictions include reading, writing, junking, unraveling a good mystery, and coffee. She loves to travel but believes coming home to her family and her Texas ranch is the best part of any trip. Becki is a member of the Association of Texas Authors, Writer’s League of Texas, Sisters in Crime, the National Association of Professional Women, and the Brazos Writers organization. She attended Texas A&M University and majored in Journalism.

Connect with Becki

Website | Twitter | Goodreads  | Email | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube | LinkedIn  | BookBub | Amazon Author Page

My Thoughts

Melissa A. BartellCreepy ex-boyfriends, layers of mystery, hunky firefighters, supportive female friends, a cozy small-town setting, and apple turnovers – Genny’s Ballad, book five in Becki Willis’s The Sisters Texas Mysteries has all of that and more.

What more? How about a compelling plot that opens with bumps and grunts in the night and said hunky firefighter coming to the rescue. But while that’s a good beginning, a novel needs more than just an opening scene. Fortunately author Willis delivers. This is no ordinary cozy mystery. It’s got layered stories and nuanced characters, and it deals with the reality that the hopes, dreams, and loves we have when we’re young are not necessarily the hopes, dreams, and loves we get to keep, or choose to follow through with as we mature.

While I enjoyed that one of the many subplots involved the main character Genesis “Genny” Baker’s best friend Madison going through the joys and perils of her home (and life) being featured on a reality show about remodeling (and, by extension, Genny herself and many of their other friends) a scene I found particularly delicate and touching was one with an aging teacher who was clearly suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s. Working that into the story in a way that felt organic but still respectful of real people who live with such conditions speaks a lot to the author’s talent for writing believable characters.

I also  liked that Genny was flawed. She didn’t like asking for help, and that meant that she put herself in harm’s way. It’s easy to write a protagonist who is perfect. To write a character who is imperfect and still really likeable, someone we want to root for, takes real craft.

And I did root for Genny to resolve her issues, and for Madison to resolve her cases, just as wanted all of the various romances to end successfully, because in a cozy mystery you get to solve the crime and have the perfect kiss, if the author has done her job, and Becki Willis has absolutely done her job. (Similarly, I wanted the less savory characters to get their comeuppance. I’m looking at you in particular Pembroke. You really annoyed me.)

Of course, I have to mention that Genny’s Ballad  is book five in an ongoing series, in which book eight has just been released. While it’s completely satisfying as a stand-alone read, it would be even more enjoyable within the context of the series at large.

Cuddling, coziness, and creative crime solving by strong women characters – Genny’s Ballad has it all.

Goes well with apple turnovers and fresh coffee.

GIVEAWAY

GRAND PRIZE: Signed Copy of Wildflower Wedding + $20 Amazon Gift Card
2nd Prize: $10 Amazon Gift Card

June 20-30, 2019

(U.S. Only) 

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Check Out the Other Great Blogs on This Tour

6/20/19 Chicken Scratch, #1 StoreyBook Reviews
6/20/19 When the Stars Fall, #2 Tangled in Text
6/21/19 Stipulations & Complications, #3 Max Knight
6/22/19 Home Again: Starting Over, #4 Reading by Moonlight
6/23/19 Genny’s Ballad, #5 Bibliotica
6/24/19 Christmas in The Sisters, #6 The Clueless Gent
6/25/19 The Lilac Code, #7 Hall Ways Blog
6/26/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 Book Fidelity
6/26/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 Carpe Diem Chronicles
6/27/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 Chapter Break Book Blog
6/27/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 The Librarian Talks
6/28/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 Forgotten Winds
6/28/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 Nerd Narration
6/29/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 That’s What She’s Reading
6/29/19 Wildflower Wedding, #8 Sydney Young, Stories

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Little Teashop Giveaway

Review: The Little Teashop on Main by Jodi Thomas – with Giveaway

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Little Teashop Banner

About the book, The Little Teashop on Main

  • Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction / Coming of Age
  • Publisher: HQN
  • Publication Date: May 7, 2019
  • Number of Pages: 336 pages
  • Scroll down for the giveaway!

Little Teashop on Main - coverA rainy-day ritual—a tea party between three little girls—becomes the framework of not only their friendship, but their lives.

Blonde, curly-haired Zoe is openhearted, kind and free-spirited, and dreams of becoming a famous actor in New York City. Shy Emily struggles with mental health but has the heart and soul of a writer. And Shannon—tall, athletic, strong—has a deep sense of loyalty that will serve her well when she heads off to military college.

As Zoe, Emily, and Shannon grow into women—forging careers, following dreams, and finding love—they’ll learn that life doesn’t always unfold the way they want it to, but through it all, the one constant is each other and their regular tea parties. And when the unthinkable happens, the girls must come together to face the greatest test of all.

A deeply moving novel about the family that raises us, the hearts that nurture us, and the great friendships that define our lives.


Praise for The Little Teashop on Main:

“Heart-wrenching as well as heartwarming, the book reflects the experiences of these seven multifaceted and compelling characters as they journey through challenging years together.” — NY Journal of Books

“A comforting treasure for regular Thomas readers who enjoy the easy flow of her writing, a little steamy romance to spice things up, and the development of vulnerable, realistic characters.” — Booklist

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Harlequin | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Books | Goodreads

About the author, Jodi Thomas

Jodi Thomas, authorWith millions of books in print, Jodi Thomas is both a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 45 novels and 14 short story collections. Her stories travel through the past and present days of Texas and draw readers from around the world.

In July 2006, Jodi was the 11th writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. With five RITA’s to her credit, along with National Readers’ Choice Awards and Booksellers’ Best Awards, Thomas has proven her skill as a master storyteller.

Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, Thomas enjoys interacting with students at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence.

When not working on a novel, or inspiring students to pursue writing careers, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, renovating an historic home, and “checking up” on their grown sons and four grandchildren.

Connect with Jodi:

Website | Facebook | Twitter  | Instagram | Amazon  | BookBub | Pinterest | Goodreads

My Thoughts

Melissa A. BartellIn The Little Teashop on Main, Jodi Thomas invites us to visit Laurel Springs, Texas, where most people don’t bother to lock their doors, and three little girls who meet at a princess-themed tea party grow into lifelong friends.

Zoe, Emily, and Shannon each represent a different kind of femininity, but remain strong women as well. Zoe is wild and free-spirited, determined to pursue a stage career. Emily is quiet and shy, a voracious reader, with mental health issues that have her flirting with death a little too closely. Shannon is the only child of a single father – a military man who raises her to be fiercely independent. Separately, each woman is interesting and each has a compelling story, but together, they form a trio of friendship, loyalty, and chosen family that is inspiring.

With three primary characters, plus Zoe’s mother Alex, Shannon’s father Mack, the girls’ childhood friend Jack, and Emily’s newer friend Fuller, Thomas has a lot of perspectives to juggle, but she doesn’t just weave a colorful tapestry, she braids together a comfortable rag rug that makes you want to toss it on the floor in front of the fire, and sprawl on it with books and tea and a dog for hours on end.

What I really loved was that Alex’s bakery, which eventually morphs into the eponymous Teashop, is a character in its own right. The baked goods that come out of the ovens there – holiday pies, thumbprint cookies, scones, and even cookies shaped like books for a bookstore event – feature in the plot, adding a hint of sweetness and comfort just when they’re needed most.

If a cup of coffee or tea and a sweet treat is comfort for the stomach, this novel is comfort for the mind. Through all the family trials and drama associated with girls growing into women, and single parents learning to find their own lives after their children are grown, author Thomas never overwhelms us with angst, but keeps her story emotionally truthful.

This book is a charming, delightful read, and Laurel Springs is one of those fictional towns I’d love to visit again.

Goes well with Nepali Breakfast Tea (a chai blend) and almond sugar cookies.

Giveaway

Little Teashop Giveaway

ONE PRINT COPY OF MORNINGS ON MAIN,

THE FIRST LAUREL SPRINGS BOOK

May 8-18, 2019

(US ONLY)

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Tour Stops for The Little Teashop on Main

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5/13/19 Excerpt StoreyBook Reviews
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5/14/19 Review All the Ups and Downs
5/15/19 Excerpt Rainy Days with Amanda
5/15/19 Review Bibliotica
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5/16/19 Excerpt Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
5/17/19 Review That’s What She’s Reading
5/17/19 Promo Carpe Diem Chronicles

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cover hi res Shadow Writer

Review: The Shadow Writer by Eliza Maxwell – with Giveaway

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BNR Shadow Writer

About the book, The Shadow Writer

  • Genre:  Psychological Suspense / Domestic Thriller
  • Publisher: Lake Union Press
  • Date of Publication: May 1, 2019
  • Number of Pages: 348
  • Scroll down for the giveaway!

cover hi res Shadow WriterEvery writer has a story. Some are deadlier than others. 

Aspiring author Graye Templeton will do anything to escape the horrific childhood crime that haunts her. After a life lived in shadows, she’s accepted a new job as protégé to Laura West, influential book blogger and wife of an acclaimed novelist. Laura’s connections could make Graye’s publishing dreams a reality. But there’s more to Laura than meets the eye.

Behind the veneer of a charmed life, Laura’s marriage is collapsing. Her once-lauded husband is descending into alcoholism and ruin and bringing Laura nearer to the edge.

As the two women form a bond that seems meant to be, long-buried secrets claw their way into the present, and the line between friendship and obsession begins to blur, forcing each to decide where her loyalties lie. Running from the past is a dangerous game, and the loser could end up dead.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

AMAZON |  MURDER BY THE BOOK |  BARNES AND NOBLE | GOODREADS

filteredauthorphotojpgAbout the Author, Eliza Maxwell

Eliza Maxwell lives in Texas with her ever-patient husband and two kids. She’s an artist and writer, an introvert, and a British cop drama addict. She loves nothing more than to hear from readers.

Connect with Eliza:

Goodreads | Facebook | BookBub | Website

melysse2019.jpgx100My Thoughts

It’s been a stormy spring here in my part of Texas, and for me, nothing goes better with gray rainy days, or nights full of crashing thunder and flashing lightning than a compelling mystery or a good thriller. Eliza Maxwell’s The Shadow Writer gave me the perfect storm setting mystery and suspense against a literary background and giving me strong female protagonists, as well.

Much of the novel is told from the point of view of Graye Templeton, a young woman whom we initially meet when she accidentally spills coffee on the woman who later becomes the novel’s second lead, Laura West. The two women are a study in contrasts: Graye, a grad student who is also a TA for a successful author and visiting professor is (apparently) introverted, unassuming, quiet, and helpful.  Laura is warm, extroverted, has a successful career and has no trouble being assertive in her work, though her marriage is clearly not going well.

As the story progresses the third member of the novel’s core characters appears – David West – Graye’s boss, and Laura’s husband.

But relationships and truths shift and turn in this novel, and just when you think you understand the dynamics and desires of all the players another voice is added to the choir, another perspective is shown, and another buried truth is brought to the surface.

Maxwell handles all the plot twists with aplomb, weaving together Graye’s history, Laura’s marital woes, David’s inadequacies, and even the story-within-the-story – the novel that Gray is writing under a nom de plume. (I confess, I almost wish she would publish that book as a companion novel, because it intrigued me so.)

What I really liked what this novel was more than just a thriller or mystery, it also had two very strong themes: identity and voice. The first was much more literal – characters used pen names and masked who they were, but the other was present as a metaphor as well  as in a more literal form: Graye’s novel was her way of speaking her truth, but Laura’s ability to identify ‘talent’ was also a way of giving people their voices, and in the end, she also found a new timbre for her own.

Goes well with a steaming bowl of chili and a wedge of cornbread, stormy weather optional.

Giveaway

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TWO WINNERS: Signed Copy + $25 Amazon Gift Card

ONE WINNER: Signed Copy 

APRIL 30-MAY 10, 2019

(U.S. Only)

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Tour Stops for The Shadow Writer

4/30/19 Audio Review Hall Ways Blog
4/30/19 Review Reading by Moonlight
5/1/19 Review Momma on the Rocks
5/2/19 Review Tangled in Text
5/2/19 Review Bibliotica
5/3/19 Review Forgotten Winds
5/3/19 BONUS Post All the Ups and Downs
5/4/19 Review The Book Review
5/4/19 Audio Review Chapter Break Book Blog
5/5/19 Review Kelly Well Read
5/6/19 Review StoreyBook Reviews
5/7/19 Audio Review The Clueless Gent
5/7/19 Review The Love of a Bibliophile
5/8/19 Review That’s What She’s Reading
5/9/19 Review #Bookish
5/9/19 Review The Page Unbound

 

 

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Cover HIGH Res Driftwood Bay

Review: Driftwood Bay, by Irene Hannon – with Giveaway

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BNR Driftwood Bay

Cover HIGH Res Driftwood BayAbout the book Driftwood Bay

  • Series: Hope Harbor Novel, Book 5
  • Genre: Contemporary / Christian / Romance
  • Publisher: Revell, April 2, 2019
  • Number of Pages: 368
  • Scroll down for giveaway

After tragedy upends her world, Jeannette Mason retreats to the tiny Oregon seaside town of Hope Harbor to create a new life. Vowing to avoid emotional attachments, she focuses on running her lavender farm and tea-room—until a new neighbor with a destructive dog and a forlorn little girl invades her turf. But she needn’t worry. Dr. Logan West is too busy coping with an unexpected family, a radical lifestyle change, and an unruly pup to have any interest in his aloof and disagreeable neighbor.

Yet when both Jeanette and Logan find themselves pulled into the life of a tattered Christian family fleeing persecution in war-torn Syria, might they discover that love sometimes comes calling when it’s least expected?

Bestselling and award-winning author Irene Hannon invites readers back to the charming seaside town of Hope Harbor, where they are sure to find peace, healing, and a second chance at happiness.

Buy, read, and discuss Driftwood Bay:

Baker Book House  ┃  Amazon  ┃  Barnes & Noble ┃  Christianbook.com  ┃ Books-A-Million  ┃  Kobo  ┃ Get It Local Today | Goodreads

Author Pic SMALLAbout the Author, Irene Hannon

Irene Hannon is the bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including One Perfect Spring, Hope Harbor, Sea Rose Lane, Sandpiper Cove, and Pelican Point, as well as Dangerous Illusions and the Private Justice and Men of Valor suspense series. Her books have been honored with three coveted RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, and she is a member of that organization’s elite Hall of Fame. Her many other awards include National Readers’ Choice, Daphne du Maurier, Retailers’ Choice, Booksellers’ Best, Carols, and Reviewers’ Choice from RT Book Reviews magazine, which also honored her with a Career Achievement award for her entire body of work. In addition, she is a two-time Christy Award finalist.

Connect with Irene:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Melissa A. BartellMy Thoughts

Warmth, wisdom, hope, and fish tacos – that’s what you get from reading Irene Hannon’s latest Hope Harbor novel Driftwood Bay, and it’s a delightful combination that blends wholesome family drama, realistic life transitions and a cute small town with just enough romance to keep things interesting.

I must confess, I haven’t read the previous four installments in this series, and when I agreed to review this novel, I didn’t realize it was a Christian romance. In truth, I’m glad I didn’t notice that element because I’m not that into organized religion and it might have kept me from reading this novel. That would have been a big mistake, because Irene Hannon’s work is accessible to all, and while the characters in this story both mentioned and took strength from their faith, there was nothing preachy about the book. Faith was a character element and handled as such. The church community was also an integral part of the plot, acting the way the best faith communities should: taking in refugees, and otherwise helping people make useful connections to better their lives.

The other elements of the novel were equally well-crafted: lead characters Jeannette Mason (“the lavender lady”) and Logan West begin as neighbors brought together by the latter’s destructo-dog Toby, and watching their relationship evolve from somewhat prickly ‘just neighbors’ to an uncertain friendship, to more was both amusing and endearing. Each of these people had baggage in their backstory, but author Hannon managed to make their metaphorical luggage match in.  the best way.

Similarly, Hannon handled the Syrian refugee family, Mariam, Thomma, and Elisa, with great sensitivity, showing their struggles to overcome the loss of their home and family members, their struggles to learn English, and to acclimate to life in a fishing village rather than a mining town.

One thing I particularly appreciated, because I struggle with it in my own writing is the way Hannon depicted the child-characters Elisa and Molly (Logan’s young niece). It can be so easy to make little kids into caricatures rather than characters, but these two little girls are as real and dimensional as any of the adults, and the friendship they form is as special as any of the other relationships in the novel.

One side character I do want to mention is Charley who runs the taco truck (when he’s not off painting). I kept getting the feeling there was meant to be more to him than what we saw, but even if it was just the way I was reading him, I loved him as the person who tells you what you need you hear, when you most need to hear it, even if it’s sometimes a bit cryptic.

Overall, this is a wholesome, heartwarming novel that leaves you believing that communities can still come together and there is still hope in the world.

Goes well with fish tacos and a cold beer.

 

 

Giveaway MED Driftwood Bay

Grand Prize:  

A Copy of Driftwood Bay + Oregon Coast RainGlobe

1st Runner-Up:  

A Copy of Driftwood Bay + Book Lover’s Coffee Mug

2nd Runner-Up:  

A Copy of Driftwood Bay + $10 Starbucks Gift Card

April 2-12, 2019

(U.S. Only)

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4/2/19 Series Spotlight The Clueless Gent
4/2/19 Scrapbook Page Hall Ways Blog
4/3/19 Review Forgotten Winds
4/4/19 Review That’s What She’s Reading
4/5/19 Character Interview Sybrina’s Book Blog
4/6/19 Guest Post All the Ups and Downs
4/7/19 Review Carpe Diem Chronicles
4/8/19 Author Interview Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
4/9/19 Top Ten List Rainy Days with Amanda
4/10/19 Review Bibliotica
4/11/19 Review StoreyBook Reviews

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Giveaway Aransas Evening

Review: Aransas Evening, by Jeff Hampton – with Giveaway

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BNR Aransas Evening JPG

About the book, Aransas Evening

  • Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction
  • Publisher: Jeff Hampton, Writer
  • Publication Date: October 4, 2018
  • Number of Pages: 346 pages
  • Scroll down for giveaway

Cover hi res Aransas EveningLife in Port Aransas was looking breezy and bright for Sam and his friends at the Dream Bean coffee shop. Shelly and Dave were talking marriage, Allie and Bo were tightening their family ties, and Sam was welcoming newcomers to town and falling for a new singer at the Sea Garden. But storms are never far away on the Texas Gulf Coast, and there would be none more destructive than Hurricane Harvey. Would Sam and his friends survive Harvey’s awful fury? And would life in Port Aransas ever be the same again? Find out in Aransas Evening, the sequel to Aransas Morning by Jeff Hampton.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Author Website │ Amazon │ Etsy  | Goodreads

Praise for the Aransas series:

–    “Hampton’s characters pulled me in; hook, line, and sinker.”

–    “The pace of the book is slow and easy, and I slipped into its rhythm like the ebb and flow of the water lapping against the shoreline.”

–    “A lovely story about community, and how family isn’t always the one you are born into.

–    “Isak Dinesen once wrote, ‘The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.’  Jeff Hampton has illustrated that with grace, elegance, and excellent coffee.”

About the author, Jeff Hampton

Author Pic Jeff HamptonJeff Hampton has based his life and career in Texas writing for newspapers, magazines, businesses, and institutions. His interest in observing the people around him has led him to write essays, short stories, and novels that explore relationships and communities in their many forms.

Aransas Evening is his sixth book, following Aransas Morning, Grandpa Jack, Jonah Prophet, When the Light Returned to Main Street, and The Snowman Uprising on Hickory Lane.

Connect with Jeff:

Website ║ Goodreads ║ Twitter ║ Instagram ║ Amazon Author Page

My Thoughts

Melissa A. BartellWhen I read Jeff Hampton’s previous Aransas novel, Aransas Morning, I immediately fell in love with the setting, the people, and the theme of never being too old to discover who you truly are. It wasn’t a shock, then, that I jumped to read and review the sequel, and I’m glad I did, because returning to Port A was like coming home to a place I’d visited once, but only ever lived in my dreams.

The themes are a bit stronger in this novel, as is appropriate for a story that spans the days before and after Hurricane Harvey. (One could argue that we are still living in the ‘after,’ just not quite so close). We see Dave and Shelley’s relationship progressing toward marriage, albeit one built entirely on their terms, while we also see our beloved salty fisherman Bo and his daughter accept and try to handle his aging, and specifically his increasing memory loss/dementia/Alzheimer’s issues. For me, this story line hit particularly close to home, because as a young woman I watched my grandmother become diminished in that way, and also because in the time since August 2017, we’ve bid a permanent farewell to both of my in-laws, my stepfather (really my only father-figure) and my last great-uncle.

Death and loss and changing positions in life are part of growing older, and seeing characters in novels go through these very human changes is both revealing of who they are, and of who we are, as readers.

And then there is Sam. In the first novel, Sam was very much the central character; the major story line was his own escape from a previous life in Dallas and his evolution into the person he is by the end of the story. In Aransas Evening, while Sam is still a pivotal player, he’s more catalyst than protagonist at times, or maybe this novel is just more coherent as an ensemble piece.

Overall, Aransas Evening is a treat of a book, full of characters – old and new – who feel real enough to jump off the pages and share a mug of coffee while sitting with our toes in the sand. It’s a portrait of a place I wish I could visit in person, and a place I want to revisit in fiction over and over again.

Goes well with fresh-caught fish grilled over an open flame, and a cold beer.

Giveaway

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

Grand Prize Winner:

Signed Copies of all six of Jeff Hampton’s books

2 Winners:

Signed Copies of both Aransas books + Grandpa Jack + a pack of Texas Themed note cards

2 Winners:

Signed Copies of Aransas Evening & Grandpa Jack + a pack of Texas Themed note cards

JANUARY 17-26, 2019

(USA only)

Giveaway Aransas Evening

 

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Tour Stops for Aransas Evening

1/17/19 Author Interview StoreyBook Reviews
1/17/19 BONUS Promo Hall Ways Blog
1/18/19 Review Bibliotica
1/19/19 Excerpt Max Knight
1/20/19 Playlist Chapter Break Book Blog
1/21/19 Review That’s What She’s Reading
1/22/19 Guest Post All the Ups and Downs
1/23/19 Review The Clueless Gent
1/24/19 Review The Love of a Bibliophile
1/25/19 Scrapbook Reading by Moonlight
1/26/19 Review Forgotten Winds

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Janus Witch - cover

Review: The Janus Witch, by Michael Scott Clifton – with Giveaway

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Janus Witch - Banner

 About the book, The Janus Witch

  • Genre: Paranormal Urban Fantasy / Romance
  • Publisher: Book Liftoff
  • Publication Date: September 1, 2018
  • Number of Pages: 372 pages
  • Scroll down for giveaway.

Malice vs Love

A beautiful witch, a member of a murderous coven, is torn from her medieval world and transported to East Texas. The passage leaves her with no memory of her previous life. She falls in love with a young pediatrician, but her dark past threatens to reassert itself…and make her a threat.

Praise for The Janus Witch:

  • This book is filled with magic, intrigue, excitement, and fantasy. Michael Scott Clifton is a truly gifted author.  — Teresa Syms, Readers’ Favorite
  • This novel was an absolute page turner with action and great character development. I enjoyed every minute of it. I’m excited for the next work by Mike Clifton. — Bronwyn Pegues, Librarian, Longview Public Library
  • “Michael Scott Clifton weaves and casts a magical spell in his fantasy romance The Janus Witch. A must read for any Fantasy Romance, Urban Romance, or Paranormal Romance enthusiast!” — Ranay James, Author of The McKinnon Legends: A Time Travel Series
  • A continuous flow of witchery and energy that kept this reader captivated until the end. — The Electric Review, 5-Star Review

Watch the trailer for The Janus Witch:

Buy, read, and discuss, The Janus Witch:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Goodreads

About the author, Michael Scott Clifton Janus Witch - Author

Michael Scott Clifton, public educator for over 38 years as a teacher, coach, and administrator, currently lives in Mount Pleasant, Texas with his wife, Melanie, and family cat, Sadie. An avid gardener, he enjoys all kinds of book and movie genres. His books contain aspects of all the genres he enjoys…adventure, magic, fantasy, romance, and relationships. He has been a finalist in a number of short story contests. Clifton’s fantasy novel, The Conquest of the Veil, won a First Chapter Finalist award. Professional credits include articles published in the Texas Study of Secondary Education Magazine. Clifton’s latest book, The Janus Witch, the July Book Cover of the Month, is a featured book on the We Love Indie Books website. Currently, Clifton is completing Book I of The Conquest of the Veil, which will be released in March 2019. He can be reached at mike@michaelscottclifton.com.

Connect with Michael:

Website ║ Facebook ║ Twitter ║ Instagram ║ Goodreads ║ Amazon Author Page

Melissa A. BartellMy Thoughts:

The title of this novel, The Janus Witch, is really perfectly chosen. A Janus coin depicts a two-headed (or two-faced) Roman god. Like the image on the coin, the main character in this story, a medieval witch named Tressalayne who struggles with her own duality. On the one hand, she’s a witch from an ancient culture, and revels in dark deeds, on the other, she’s thrust into contemporary East Texas and falls in love with a pediatrician – the epitome of good works.

As much as I enjoyed the initial introduction to Tressalayne in her world, watching her try to navigate a more modern era was fascinating. Clifton did some great world building in both times and places, and I felt transported into the fabric of his story. I especially appreciated his use of language, both in specific word choices and in the way he used the differences in the way people speak to really mark Tressalayne as someone other.

I’m a sucker for time-travel stories of any kind, but this one incorporated magic, romance, and a real moral struggle, and it was the combination of those elements that, I feel, make this book a satisfying read. When you finish it, you know where the characters are going, but you want to follow their journey just a bit longer. That leave-the-audience-wanting-more tone is so difficult to capture, but Clifton has absolutely done so.

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12/4/18 Excerpt All the Ups and Downs
12/4/18 Book Trailer Books and Broomsticks
12/5/18 Review Bibliotica
12/6/18 Author Interview That’s What She’s Reading
12/6/18 Top 5 List StoreyBook Reviews
12/7/18 Review Momma on the Rocks
12/8/18 Excerpt Texas Book Lover
12/8/18 Promo The Book Review
12/9/18 Review Book Fidelity
12/10/18 Author Interview Rebecca R. Cahill, Author
12/10/18 Excerpt Chapter Break Book Blog
12/11/18 Review Nerd Narration
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12/13/18 Review The Clueless Gent
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CoveyJenks Banner

Spotlight on Covey Jenks, by Shelton L. Williams – With Excerpt

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About the book, Covey Jenks Covey Jenks Cover

  • Genre: Mystery / Social Thriller
  • Publisher: Southern Owl Publications, LLC
  • Publication Date: February 10, 2018
  • Number of Pages: 229 pages
  • Audio Book Length: 6 hours, 38 minutes
  • Audio Book Narrator: Kathy James
  • Scroll down for Giveaway

Covey Jencks is a murder mystery with a social conscience. Set in West Texas with a cast of colorful and humorous characters, it follows a young lawyer from Washington, DC back to his hometown of Odessa, Texas. He wants and needs to solve a murder case from 1979 in 1993. The problem is that the Odessa Police Department has already found its man, and no one wants to re-visit the case of a black prostitute whose life was seemingly of no consequence to anyone. But Freddie Mae Johnson’s death matters to Covey, and eventually he discovers an old flame, JayJay Qualls, who also knew and loved Freddie. Together they undertake an investigation that uncovers not only the truth about Freddie but also the secrets of Odessa’s south side, Mexican gangs, a Boston mobster, and the fallacy of unexamined assumptions. Finding out who killed Freddie is one thing, but preventing their own demise is quite another!

Praise for Covey Jenks:

Williams seamlessly braids a murder mystery with a love story and a drama about the pervasiveness of racism in the South… The author’s prose is buoyantly eccentric, both insightful and self-effacingly humorous. And the clues Covey and JayJay track down are meted out to readers with impressive judiciousness: The author never prematurely surrenders so much information that the conclusion is rendered foregone while the tale’s swift pace prevents it from becoming tedious. An engrossing crime drama that’s both entertaining and provocative. — Kirkus Indie

Read an Excerpt from Chapter 45 of Covey Jenks:

When I am in one place, I often think of what is happening at the same moment in another place I used to be. Like, when I walked to work in D.C., I often saw this seemingly homeless guy playing chess with multiple persons near the fountain in DuPont Circle. I saw countless persons get up and walk away from his games with defeated looks on their faces. Is that still going on? Or, is some freshman in my old dorm room at Luckett finally settling into the pace of college life? Or flunking out? Who is wearing number 63 for Permian this year? They are very good again and will soon play another powerhouse, Converse Judson, I think, for the state championship. Does that guy start? Is he a good student? Why do I care?

I think I care because I am fascinated by connections, my connections, in life. Our shared connections and shared patterns must result in similar outcomes and similar life lessons, no? Or not, I guess, depending on parents, experiences, and mental capacities. Useless thoughts really, but what about the Gladstone boys? We had so many connections and shared patterns, but we simply did not see the world in the same way. We grew up in the same town, played the same games, went to the same schools, had the same friends, had the same kind of uneducated, racist parents, and dated the same girls. The similarities no doubt did not end there, but in the end the differences became the defining connection.

Buy, read, and discuss Covey Jenks:

In Print | In Audio | Goodreads

About the author, Shelton L. Williams Shelton L Williams

Shelton L. Williams (Shelly) is founder and president of the Osgood Center for International Studies in Washington, DC. He holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and he taught for nearly 40 years at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He has served in the US Government on 4 occasions and he has written books and articles on nuclear proliferation. In 2004 he began a new career of writing books on crime and society. Those books are Washed in the Blood, Summer of 66, and now Covey Jencks. All firmly prove that he is still a Texan at heart.

Connect with Shelton:

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

About the Narrator, Kathy James

Kathy JamesMy first part time job while I was in high school was announcing at the local radio station, and I had fun being “on the air” and using my sarcastic sense of humor.  I worked in the radio business for more than twenty years. My favorite pastimes are teaching figure skating, getting lost in a great book, and watching movies.  I narrate and produce audio books in my home studio, and I truly enjoy bringing an author’s characters to life with an audio book. I currently reside in Minnesota with my slightly overweight cat and two childlike golden retrievers.

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11/27/18 Review Chapter Break Book Blog
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11/28/18 Audio Review Hall Ways Blog
11/29/18 Guest Post Max Knight
11/29/18 Playlist That’s What She’s Reading
11/30/18 Audio Review The Book Review
12/1/18 Author Interview Texas Book Lover
12/1/18 Character Interview The Clueless Gent
12/2/18 Review Reading by Moonlight
12/2/18 Scrapbook Page Book Fidelity
12/3/18 Review StoreyBook Reviews
12/4/18 Audio Review Missus Gonzo
12/5/18 Excerpt The Page Unbound
12/6/18 Audio Review Forgotten Winds
12/6/18 Review Rainy Days with Amanda

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cover HI RES Dam Nation

Spotlight: Dam Nation by Hays & McFall – with Giveaway

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About the book, Bonnie & Clyde: Dam Nation

  • Series: Bonnie & Clyde (Book 2)
  • Genre: Historical / Alternative History / Romance
  • Publisher:  Pumpjack Press on Facebook
  • Date of Publication: March 24, 2018
  • Number of Pages: 266

cover HI RES Dam NationBonnie and Clyde: Defending the working class from a river of greed.

The year is 1935 and the Great Depression has America in a death grip of poverty, unemployment and starvation. But the New Deal is rekindling hope, with federally funded infrastructure projects, like Hoover Dam, putting people back to work.  Set to harness the mighty Colorado River for electricity and irrigation, the dam is an engineering marvel and symbol of American can-do spirit.

So, why is someone trying to blow it up?

When an informant on the construction site is murdered, Bonnie and Clyde—spared from their gruesome deaths and forced into a covert life working for the government—are given their second assignment: stop the bomb and protect the thousands of laborers and families in the company town. It’s their most dangerous mission yet: working for a living.

Can the notorious lovers put aside their criminal ways long enough to find out who wants to extinguish the American dream, and hopefully reclaim a shred of redemption along the way?

The thrilling story cuts back and forth between the modern era where a reporter interviews the now-elderly Bonnie Parker, and the dangerous 1930s undercover exploits of Bonnie and Clyde, as they are thrust into a fight to defend the working class against corporate greed.

Dam Nation, a historical thriller with unsettling contemporary parallels, continues the explosive “what-if” series, started in Resurrection Road, about two unlikely heroes fighting to defend the working class during America’s Great Depression.

Praise for Dam Nation: GRAPHIC with Kirkus Review

Crisply written, well-researched, thoroughly entertaining. As in Resurrection Road, Hays and McFall evoke time and place well in this sequel. The story’s politics are fresh and timely. Readers will find Bonnie and Clyde to be great company, and the novel’s framing story (the widowed Bonnie’s 1984 recollections) gives their relationship an extra layer of poignancy. — Kirkus Reviews

“Dam Nation” highlights the real-life turmoil of the 1930s as only Hays and McFall can — shadowy intrigue, plenty of suspects and enough behind-the-scenes and under-the-covers action to keep the narrative sizzling along to the final page. — East Oregonian

A rollicking good read. The real history of the rise of unions and worker rights against the backdrop of a nation recovering from the Great Depression contributes an engrossing, realistic scenario; a vivid read that blends fiction with nonfiction elements in a way that makes the book hard to put down. — Midwest Book Review

Buy, read, and discuss Dam Nation:

Amazon | Goodreads

Check out a quote from Dam Nation:

Notable Quotable from Dam Nation

Watch the trailer for Resurrection Road (book one of Bonnie  & Clyde):

 

About the authors, Clark Hays & Kathleen McFall Authors Hays_Mcfall Photo

Clark and Kathleen wrote their first book together in 1999 as a test for marriage. They passed.

Dam Nation is their sixth co-authored book.

Connect with Hays & McFall:

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5/16/18 Excerpt Chapter Break Book Blog
5/17/18 Review Forgotten Winds
5/18/18 Author Interview StoreyBook Reviews
5/19/18 Notable Quotable Bibliotica
5/20/18 Review Missus Gonzo
5/21/18 Character Interview Texas Book Lover
5/22/18 Notable Quotable Tangled in Text
5/23/18 Review Hall Ways Blog
5/24/18 Guest Post Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
5/25/18 Review Momma on the Rocks

 

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Searching for Pilar

Review: Searching for Pilar by Patricia Hunt Holmes – with Giveaway

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Searching for Pilar

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About the book, Searching for Pilar Searching for Pilar

  • Genre: Contemporary Suspense / Thriller
  • Publisher: River Grove Books
  • Publication Date: April 10, 2018
  • Number of Pages: 320 pages

Pilar, an innocent young wife and mother, is abducted during a fake job interview in Mexico City and forced into sex slavery in Houston. Can she survive the horrors of a world—one which many good Americans don’t see or ignore—long enough for her brother Diego to find her?

Searching for Pilar breaks open the secretive and dangerous world of sex trafficking, while exploring human nature and our connections to each another. Diego’s guilt transforms him from a rudderless youth into a man of purpose, and courage. While he searches, Pilar finds a strength that could save herself and a young girl who needs her. The themes of family, love, faith and the law intertwine in this action-packed tale of the Bayou City.

Buy, read, and discuss Searching for Pilar:

Amazon | Goodreads

About the author, Patricia Hunt Holmes

Patricia Hunt HolmesPatricia Hunt Holmes spent 30 years as a public finance attorney with the international law firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP.   She was consistently listed in Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, Top Lawyers in Houston, and awarded the highest degree by her peers in Martindale Hubbell. She was a frequent speaker at national public finance and healthcare conferences.  Patricia has also served on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Tennessee, and University of Texas Health Science Center Houston. She has written and published in the fields of intellectual history and law.

Patricia has been a member and board member of social service organizations in Houston that focus on helping women, including the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast Women’s Initiative, Dress for Success Houston, and the American Heart Association’s Circle of Red.  She was a founding member and first board chair of Houston Justice for Our Neighbors, which provides free and low cost legal services to immigrants.  For the past five years, she has been taking writing workshops with Inprint, associated with the outstanding University of Houston Creative Writing Program.  She began to write Searching for Pilar in a workshop after learning that Houston is one of the biggest hubs for sex trafficking in the country.

Connect with Patricia:

Website  ║  Facebook ║ Twitter ║ Goodreads ║ LinkedIn

My Thoughts Melissa A. Bartell

With gritty subject matter – sex trafficking – at the heart of this novel, it was by no means an easy read, and I’m hesitant to say that I liked it, because, in terms of what Pilar suffered, I didn’t like it at all.

However, the fact that I even had to pause and think about what I was liking is testament to author Patricia Hunt Holmes’s talent as a storyteller. She create such a strong character in Pilar, and such a vibrant and rich (if often sinister and cold) world for her to occupy, that the story itself was gripping, and I stayed up far too late to read to the end, because I couldn’t let the story go unfinished.

What I really liked about Searching for Pilar was the author’s sense of place. Mexico scenes felt like Mexico, and Houston felt like Houston. That level of detail really made the novel feel real – too real, in places – but these are stories we need to hear, this is an awareness we need to have.

Author Holmes gives us a compelling, ultimately brilliant story about a horrible practice, but she does it with care and grace and considerable talent.

Goes well with a chicken quesadilla with mango salsa, and a margarita on the rocks.

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Searching for Pilar Blog Tour Stops

4/25/18 Excerpt Texas Book Lover
4/26/18 Review Momma on the Rocks
4/27/18 Author Interview Forgotten Winds
4/28/18 Review Tangled in Text
4/29/18 Guest Post The Page Unbound
4/30/18 Scrapbook Page That’s What She’s Reading
5/1/18 Review Bibliotica
5/2/18 Excerpt StoreyBook Reviews
5/3/18 Guest Post The Librarian Talks
5/4/18 Review Missus Gonzo

 

 

 

Giveaway El Paso RFGS

Review: The El Paso Red Flame Gas Station and Other Stories, by J. Reeder Archuleta – with Giveaway

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El Paso Red Flame Gas Station

About the book, The El Paso Red Flame Gas Station and Other Stories

El Paso Red Flame Gas Station

  • Genre: Fiction /Short Stories / Coming of Age
  • Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing, LLC
  • Date of Publication: December 8, 2017
  • Number of Pages: 132

These short stories are about coming of age in rural far West Texas.  The stories are about the people who have come to stay in a remote part of Texas with a climate that can be harsh and unpredictable and that is demanding and unforgiving.  The stories are told through the eyes of Josh, a young boy, who finds himself alone in a small farm and ranch community and who realizes that he will have to make his own way in this place.  Along the way he meets a group of characters with different takes on life.  Some try to help shield him from the chaos of the world, some try to add more chaos. But all of them, in their own distinct way, through jobs, advice, or actions, play a part in his life.

Praise for The El Paso Red Flame Gas Station:

“Punchy, plainspoken dialogue…colorful and charismatic characters…The result is an atmospheric Texas…reminiscent of Larry McMurtry’s “The Last Picture Show.” — Kirkus Reviews

“The universality of Josh’s journey gives it a timeless quality…a rich tapestry…The stories are conveyed in lean, elegant prose reminiscent of Annie Proulx and Cormac McCarthy” — Blue Ink Review

“Archuleta’s collection offers poignant and hopeful stories of determination in the face of need. Thoroughly engaging…narrated with passion and eloquence…” — The Clarion Review       

Buy, read, and discuss The El Paso Red Flame Gas Station:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, J. Reeder Archuleta J Reeder Archuleta

The author was raised in far West Texas and five generations of his family are in their final resting place there.  His great-grandfather is buried in Concordia Cemetery in El Paso within spitting distance of the grave of John Wesley Hardin.

Connect with J. Reeder:

Website | Amazon Author Page

My Thoughts

I love short stories. I love how much talent and skill it takes to tell a whole story in a relatively few words. I love the way they force writers to distill their ideas to the most important, the most vivid, the most visceral.

This collection of short stories by J. Reeder Archuleta, The El Paso Red Flame Gas Station and Other Stories, is one of the best representatives of this art that I’ve seen from a contemporary author. Archuleta is specific with regard to detail – brands of whisky, kinds of beer, types of toys. His use of language is earthy and real, as gritty as the air during a windstorm on the plains. His dialogue makes you really see his characters.

I liked the way the young boy Josh, whom we meet in the first selection in this book, becomes the POV character, the thread that ties all the stories together. From the first time we see him, scared and young, being pulled away from the life he knows by is desperate mother, through the entire collection, we seem grow and change, and yet, because this isn’t a novel, it’s possible that he isn’t exactly the same Josh, that rather, he’s reflections of the original, each incarnation slightly different from the previous and the next.

I’ve lived in Texas for nearly fourteen years, the longest I’ve lived anywhere, but I don’t really know Texas. There’s so much of it I haven’t seen, certainly, except for when we drove through to Dallas from California, I’ve never experienced West Texas, and yet, from time spent in Colorado as a child, and South Dakota as a young wife, I feel a kind of kinship with the landscape Archuleta describes.

I went into this book afraid I might be turned off, and was surprised to find that I really connected with the easy storytelling and honest portrayals of real-seeming people.

Archuleta is a modern Hemingway. A Texas treasure. And these stories? They should be shared as far and wide as possible.

Goes well with: barbecued brisket and cold beer.

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Visit the other great blogs on this tour

4/17/18 Promo The Page Unbound
4/17/18 Bonus Post Hall Ways Blog
4/18/18 Review Books and Broomsticks
4/19/18 Author Interview Texas Book Lover
4/20/18 Review Forgotten Winds
4/21/18 Excerpt Book Fidelity
4/22/18 Promo The Love of a Bibliophile
4/23/18 Review StoreyBook Reviews
4/24/18 Notable Quotable The Clueless Gent
4/25/18 Character Interview That’s What She’s Reading
4/26/18 Review Bibliotica