What We're About To Do (August 1, 2016 - August 5, 2016)

(Book Review) The Thing Is by:Kathleen Gerard

Ever since the death of her fiancé, Meredith Mancuso has shrunk from the world. Even with her successful writing career, she's not motivated to work. When her sister, Monica, begs for a favor, Meredith wants nothing more than to say no. But she's ultimately roped into pet-sitting an orphaned Yorkshire terrier named Prozac.

Blessed with spiritual wisdom and a high IQ, Prozac is an active pet therapy dog. To heal broken-hearted Meredith, he rallies his fan club at Evergreen Gardens, an independent living facility, where he visits each week.

Prozac and the community of resilient older folks challenged by losses of their own propel Meredith, often against her will, back into the land of the living. Meredith learns that most people carry some sort of burden, but it's still possible to find meaning, purpose, and joy--and sometimes, even love--along the way.

(Book Review) A Dream of Lilies by: Petra March

Nicholas Baudin lives in Toulouse, France, where he owns a small coffee place, Le Petit Café. His life is apparently tranquil, and made of small joys and simple habits. In truth, though, this young man's soul is troubled with memories of a painful event.

Then, on a bright spring day, Nicholas meets a strange, enchanting young woman with white hair, and pale blue eyes. Her name is Lily Brightwell. She is an actress who captivates crowds with her talent and her stories.

As Nicholas begins to fall for the young artist, his life turns into something unexpected and lovely.

(Book Review) The Demon Inside by: M.L. Sparrow

Darcy was a perfectly normal teenage girl, enjoying the summer after completing her A Levels with her boyfriend Alec. Until the night strange creatures begin falling from the sky, infecting people and transforming them into crazed, animalistic cannibals. 
Having lost everything in one foul swoop - her parents, her home and all future plans - all Darcy can do is try to protect the people she does have left. Together, she and Alec, along with her younger sister, sarcastic best-friend, Alec's alcoholic father and the family dog, set off on a journey to find somewhere safe in a world where everything is different. 
However, when they do finally discover a haven, a place to call home again, can they remain? And who will survive?

(Guest Post) Rival Gates on "Being An Author Today"

(Book Review) Riker's Calling by:Rico Lamoureux

From school bullies to the crime-ridden streets of his hometown of Los Angeles, Jeremy Riker has always felt the need to do something about the injustice surrounding him. Just as he sets out on his journey as an urban warrior, he unknowingly gives rise to an obsessive adversary, who ends up becoming one of the most notorious serial killers the city has ever known. Dubbed by the news media as The Spyderco Killer, the methodical psychopath roots himself deep into Riker's life for the long haul, until his own madness propels everything into an intense climax.

(Book Review) The Slave Planet by:Seven Steps

Love is the ultimate crime. 

On a planet where women are born to rule, Empress Nadira's secret affair with her slave threatens to rip her family apart. When she joins the highest council in the land, her secret is revealed. Will Nadira go against everything she believes in to protect her family, or will she choose her heart and doom everyone she loves to death? 

Empress Eva thinks she has it all: wealth, power and a mother who adores her. That is, until she meets Lex, a handsome alien imprisoned in a slave market. His red hair and crimson eyes intrigue her. His touch sets her on fire. When the beautiful alien captures her heart, Eva is forced to make a life changing decision: pursue the career of her dreams, or give it all up for the love of a slave? 

The Slave Planet is a clean, science fiction, interracial romance. It is a thrilling journey into an alternate future where women rule the world. 

This is the first book in THE SLAVE PLANET trilogy.

What We're About To Do (July 25, 2016 ~ July 30, 2016)

(Book Review) Trust Me by: Earl Javorsky

Jeff Fenner’s life is out of control. At the nadir of a rocky, sometimes-up-usually-down career, he has finally come face-to-face with his demons: he’s being investigated by the police, he owes money to the wrong people, and he sees an empty future shutting down in front of him.

When Jeff hears that his sister Marilyn has committed suicide, he refuses to believe she killed herself and he embarks on a tortuous journey toward self-discovery and redemption . . . and toward the beautiful but troubled Holly Barnes. Holly’s own demons have led her to a self-help cult in Beverly Hills called Saving Our Lives (or, perhaps more appropriately, SOL). Through Holly, Jeff learns of a string of apparent suicides eerily similar to his sister’s—and that Holly is the next target.

A fresh, bracing, surprising novel of suspense, TRUST ME further establishes Earl Javorsky as a thriller voice that demands to be heard.

(Book Review) Falter by: Haven Cage

In FALTER, a dark New Adult/Adult Urban Fantasy novel, Nevaeh Richards thinks she has found a chance to leave her homeless life behind. When the spirit of the only father she knows is wrongfully taken to Hell, Nevaeh is hurled into a world haunted by monstrous demons, rogue Guardian angels, love that is beyond her control, and a soul-threatening choice between the inherent evil inside her and the faltering faith she is struggling to grasp.
Nevaeh and George have lived on the streets as father and daughter since he found her, alone and unconscious, many years ago. When they start a new life employed at Joe's cafe, Nevaeh experiences debilitating visions and frightening apparitions. Adding to the troubling path her life has taken, George suddenly becomes ill and an Animus demon takes his soul hostage in Hell. Unfortunately, the ransom may be more than Nevaeh can afford.
As Nevaeh spirals into this supernatural world, Gavyn—the handsome café-owner—tries to convince her that she belongs to a hidden race of people with God-given gifts known as Celatum, and she may be a key player in the Celestial war. However, even after all the otherworldly events she experiences, Nevaeh continues to deny her part in it all.
Meanwhile, Archard—a stranger she feels undeniably bonded to—mysteriously wanders in and out of her life, offering none of the answers she suspects he holds.
Will Nevaeh attain the faith it requires to fulfill her fate as a Celata and take part in the Celestial fight? Or will she give into the darkness that calls to her for the sake of George's soul and damn herself to Hell?

(Book Review) Love's Long Road by: G.D. Harper

Glasgow, 1975. How do you cope when your boyfriend kills himself because of you? 

When Bobbie Sinclair’s boyfriend commits suicide and blames her, she vows never to love again. Instead she chooses to lead a double existence, kind-hearted by day and promiscuous by night. She increasingly struggles to maintain the balance between light and dark and soon finds herself sucked into the world of a controlling and ruthless crime lord from which she must escape.

Set against a vibrant but seedy 1970s Glasgow backdrop, Love’s Long Road plots Bobbie’s desperate plight. Starting a new life but constantly afraid of her past catching up with her, she battles danger, adversity and drug addiction on the long and perilous road back to love. 

Love’s Long Road is about dealing with the guilt of terrible events in your past and the risk of being corrupted by the world around you; it is a story that captures to perfection what it was like to be young and single in the 1970s.

(Book Review) The Ballad of Allyn-a-Dale by: Danielle E. Shipley

Welcome to Avalon, a Renaissance Faire where heroes of legend never die. Where the Robin Hood walking the streets is truly the noble outlaw himself. Where the knightly and wizardly players of King Arthur’s court are in fact who they profess to be. Where the sense of enchantment in the air is not mere feeling, but the Fey magic of a paradise hidden in plain sight.

Enter Allyn-a-Dale. The grief of his father’s death still fresh and the doom of his own world looming, swirling realities leave the young minstrel marooned in an immortal Sherwood Forest, where he is recruited as a member of Robin Hood’s infamous outlaw band. But Allyn’s new life may reach its end before it’s scarcely begun. Their existence under threat, the Merry Men are called upon to embark on a journey to the dangerous world Outside – ours – on a quest which must be achieved without delay, or eternity in Avalon will not amount to very long at all.

(Book Review) The Thing Is by:Kathleen Gerard

Ever since the death of her fiancé, Meredith Mancuso has shrunk from the world. Even with her successful writing career, she's not motivated to work. When her sister, Monica, begs for a favor, Meredith wants nothing more than to say no. But she's ultimately roped into pet-sitting an orphaned Yorkshire terrier named Prozac.

Blessed with spiritual wisdom and a high IQ, Prozac is an active pet therapy dog. To heal broken-hearted Meredith, he rallies his fan club at Evergreen Gardens, an independent living facility, where he visits each week.

Prozac and the community of resilient older folks challenged by losses of their own propel Meredith, often against her will, back into the land of the living. Meredith learns that most people carry some sort of burden, but it's still possible to find meaning, purpose, and joy--and sometimes, even love--along the way.

What We're About To Do (July 18 - July 22 2016)

(Book Review) Missed Chances by: M.R. Nelson

A collection of classic love stories featuring "the one that got away:" light-hearted, with undertones of tragedy and a lingering comic finish. 

The flight includes: 

Aunt Philippa and the Men, by L.M. Montgomery 
The Kiss, by Kate Chopin 
The Victory, by Rabindranath Tagore 
The Mystery of Wilhelm Rütter, by Helen Hunt Jackson 
A Florentine Experiment, by Constance Fenimore Woolson

(Book Review) Amelia's Children by: Greta Cribbs

In 1985 Amelia Davis is brutally murdered in the woods outside of Laurel Hill. Her killer is never caught. Thirty years later, David Jenson comes to town on what he calls “personal business”, though he won’t tell anyone what that business is. Could he have some connection to the town’s most infamous cold case? Sarah Hathaway has just returned to her hometown in the wake of a failed acting career. When she meets David she is immediately drawn to him, but it is the mystery of what exactly brought him to Laurel Hill that keeps her up at night. Determined to find the answer, she embarks on a journey into the unknown that will change her life forever. Along the way she discovers truths about Amelia’s death that prove more sinister than anyone ever could have imagined.

 

(Book Review) Trust Me by: Earl Javorsky

Jeff Fenner’s life is out of control. At the nadir of a rocky, sometimes-up-usually-down career, he has finally come face-to-face with his demons: he’s being investigated by the police, he owes money to the wrong people, and he sees an empty future shutting down in front of him.

When Jeff hears that his sister Marilyn has committed suicide, he refuses to believe she killed herself and he embarks on a tortuous journey toward self-discovery and redemption . . . and toward the beautiful but troubled Holly Barnes. Holly’s own demons have led her to a self-help cult in Beverly Hills called Saving Our Lives (or, perhaps more appropriately, SOL). Through Holly, Jeff learns of a string of apparent suicides eerily similar to his sister’s—and that Holly is the next target.

A fresh, bracing, surprising novel of suspense, TRUST ME further establishes Earl Javorsky as a thriller voice that demands to be heard.

(Book Review) The Tree of Souls by: Katrina Archer

A murky past. A forbidden love. A deathly power.

When the river spits Umbra onto its bank, naked and shivering, the only clue to her identity is the arcane brand seared into her skin. A brand hunted by both a murderous necromancer and a handsome stranger. A brand that thrusts Umbra into a simmering conflict between the ascendant Clans and the nomadic Gherza. A brand that may make her the key to averting all-out war.

The Tree of Souls weaves an intimate tale of dark sorcery, doomed love, and implacable revenge, amid an age-old clash of nations, with all the souls of the living hanging in the balance.

(Book Review) Confessions by: L.M. Mountford

What is the measure of love? How far would you go to save the one you want but know you can never truly have?

Mina Carring is a woman that has given up on love. A rising star in the bright lights of Hollywood, men come and go from her life, passing like ships in the night, yet there is only one for her, the one she’d let slip away. However, when Mark, her stepbrother, is filmed in a compromising position that could lead to a scandal which would ruin his life, Mina must step in. Now, powerless to escape this dark path of lust and desire, torn between the dark delights of a handsome rogue and the one person who has always been there for her, she must confront the truth she has long tried to bury...

A full length, 40,000+ word novel, Confessions is the stand-alone erotic drama from the Author of the sinfully delicious, Sweet Temptations Trilogy. It contains adult themes, harsh language, and graphic content.

What We're About To Do (July 4, 2016 - July 8, 2016)

Due to the fact that the fourth of July is an American holiday, we've decided to take the day off and just hang out at home. Sorry this is late, yesterday we were invited to a lake house for fireworks and food (I mean, free food? Psft yes) and then today we were invited to the lake (same lake) to grill out for lunch. Very American, we know. So we woke up VERY VERY late and didn't have this post ready (We're never ahead), so by the time I woke up Shell was like "Get ready to go" so I'm here now setting this up while she's watching Netflix.......this post is supposed to be her job lol. SHE DOES IT BETTER!

(Review) Dark Guardian by Ammar Habib

It has been four years since Ethan Daniels stepped foot in Crown City. Four long years that he allowed everyone to believe he was dead and gone. But now he's back, and with a vengeance. 

After the gruesome death of his adopted sister at the hands of a merciless gang, there is nothing he wants more than revenge. He can't sleep, he can't think; all he hears are her cries in his ears and all he sees is her death in his mind. 

Ethan comes home to take on one of the world's most notorious crime lords in his bid for revenge, but he doesn't expect a reunion with Katrina, the girl he loved as a boy. After multiple re-encounters with her, Ethan's resolve begins to waver as he is forced to realize that he can't have both love and vengeance. Retribution exacts a price, and fate—well, she has plans of her own. 

(Review) When Night Falls by R'lee R. Coffey
My family’s secrets are like dead corpses shoved into cupboards, abandoned to rot and stew. To be forgotten.
All it took was a freak accident, the death of my best friend, to loosen the lock and let all those secrets waft out, ripe with the smell of betrayal.
In order to tell a story, you have to go back to the beginning; before things get out of control, before the cupboard door breaks open. 

And I, Lucien Kinkaid, am going to do just that.

(Review) Player by M.L. Sparrow

Let the game begin… 

After a tragic accident which leaves her tormented by guilt, Chloe Newman accepts a scholarship to study a St. Joseph’s University. Traveling from England to Texas, the last thing she expects is to meet the schools charming quarterback on her first night. However, Parker Mitchell is a player both on and off the field. 

Parker is immediately fascinated by Chloe and, after a rocky start, they manage to find a way to make their relationship work despite interference from others on campus, including Parkers jealous ex, and the ghosts that haunt Chloe’s conscience. But, the real test comes when they visit Parker’s family over Christmas break and he finds himself being pulled back into their lifestyle... 

(Review) The Spectra Unearthed by Christie Valentine Powell

Keita thought that being a princess was nothing but trouble even before the power-hungry Stygians took over the Spectra kingdoms. Now she’s on the run, hunted at every turn, and able to trust only a few other royal exiles. Of course she’d like to make her life safe again, but standing up to the Stygians means confronting Jasper Smelt. A former friend, Jasper insists he wants nothing more to keep her safe, but his pitch-black dungeon and fiery threats suggest otherwise. 


With help from her friends, Keita escapes, but there is no safe place for former princesses. Banding together despite their different cultures, the girls head into Jasper’s desert kingdom. They soon find themselves in the middle of a conflict between the Stygians and a small rebel group. Hanging in the balance is a colony of children abandoned for having abilities different than their families. Keita wants to help, and she hates feeling helpless. But how can she face Jasper, someone with abilities she couldn’t begin to fight, someone constantly seeking her out, someone who fears everything…except her?

What We're About To Do (June 27, 2016 ~ July 1, 2016)

**Our 100th review!!**

(Review) Ukiyo by Mela CianoArchaeology professor by day, backup shooter by night… 

On a routine assignment, Ukiyo finds herself dragged into a world of danger and deception when she is forced to pull the trigger and kill a man. Torn between the agency that funds her research and a man she knows nothing about, she has to choose sides in a secret war that dates back hundreds of years.

Guardian, protector, and her own personal demon… 

Burislav vowed to watch over her, but hiding his cursed birth right ends up being a secret that could cost Ukiyo her life. When he’s forced out of the shadows after more than twenty years, keeping her safe isn’t as easy as he thinks. 

(Review) The Marijuana Project by Brian Laslow

THE MARIJUANA PROJECT a novel about medicine and morality aka "a security expert’s journey through the ethical weeds."Sam Burnett, a savvy security expert, is hiding in the catwalk of a medical marijuana production facility he has been hired to protect, caught in a surveillance plan he never thought he’d face.

In fact, Sam, a conservative family man who travels the country as a highly sought after security expert, doesn’t even approve of marijuana and wonders why he’s still working there.

Does he favor using medical marijuana to relieve a variety of physical symptoms, easing anxiety and providing pleasure? Over the course of two years designing, implementing and operating the entire security program for MedLeaf, Sam faces one moral conflict after another.

Or does he see it as an invitation to more serious drug use, mental instability and irresponsible, even dangerous behavior?

But even the positive things Sam learns about medical marijuana are at odds with his religious upbringing and his conservative views about drug use, legal or otherwise.

You could call it a security expert’s journey through the ethical weeds.

At first, Sam realizes that medical marijuana needs to be protected from ending up in the wrong hands and that taking the job means he can be home much more than before.

In the end, he must decide if he can personally continue to participate in the protection and perpetuation of this industry. Sam Burnett’s dilemma is similar to that of millions of Americans. His story will resonate for all those struggling to make sense of this changing landscape in our society. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were suddenly transported from your world into another, with no way of every getting home

again? When his son’s best friend is killed in a car accident caused by a driver under the influence of medical marijuana, Sam reaches his breaking point and takes matters into his own hands, which leads to a potentially dangerous confrontation with his employers and a group of unknown provocateurs.

Author Spotlight: P.S. Malcolm

(Review) Daddy's Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark

Ellie Cavanaugh was only seven years old when her fifteen-year-old sister, Andrea, was murdered near their home in Oldham-on-the-Hudson, a rural village in New York's Westchester County. There were three suspects: Rob Westerfield, nineteen-year-old scion of a wealthy, prominent family, whom Andrea has been secretly dating; Paul Stroebel, a sixteen-year-old schoolmate, who had a crush on Andrea; and Will Nebels, a local handyman in his forties.

It was Ellie who had led her parents to a hideout in which Andrea's body was found -- a secret hideaway in which she met her friends. And it was Ellie who was blamed by her parents for her sister's death for not telling them about this place the night Andrea was missing. It was also Ellie's testimony that led to the conviction of the man she was firmly convinced was the killer. Steadfastly denying his guilt, he spent the next twenty-two years in prison.

When he comes up for parole, Ellie, now an investigative reporter for an Atlanta newspaper, protests his release. Nonetheless, the convicted killer is set free and returns to Oldham. Determined to thwart his attempts to whitewash his reputation, Ellie also returns to Oldham, intent on creating a Website and writing a book that will conclusively prove his guilt. As she delves deeper into her research, however, she uncovers horrifying and heretofore unknown facts that shed new light on her sister's murder. With each discovery, she comes closer to a confrontation with a desperate killer.

Gripping and relentlessly compelling, Daddy's Little Girl, a portrayal of a family shattered by crime, reflects Mary Higgins Clark's uncanny insight into the twisted mind of a killer and is further evidence of why she is America's favorite author of suspense.

(Review) Pedal by Louis K. Lowy

Forty-nine and single. Fired from her lifelong passion: teaching music. Stripped of her self-worth. Can she reclaim her life through bicycle racing? Joanne Brick's thirty years as an elementary school music teacher evaporated into the rising sea of layoffs. A lifetime of dedication gone. At forty-nine, single with an ailing mom and bitter divorced sister, the future looked bleak. Family relationships soured as conversations moved to "the lettuce zone"-cold and crisp. Then one day, while cleaning out the garage for a yard sale, inspiration struck as she dusted off an old long-forgotten bicycle. And when she took her first ride she knew it was time to sink or pedal. "Onward! That was the answer that had eluded her earlier. There was dignity in that word. There was hope." Never a sports fanatic and sorely out of shape, Joanne was barely able to ride straight, but she took up bicycle racing because it added purpose to her life. "Joanne increased her own speed. The wind whipped her face. The whirring of the spinning spokes and chains rose in pitch as she spun faster. She was flying again, beyond failed careers, spurned lovers, regrets, and mistakes. She spun even quicker. Her breath came in swift, hard grunts." She pedaled past unemployment, failed relationships, family drama, and career loss. Her life began to fill with new friends, an inspirational Desert Storm vet turned cycling coach, and a sleek new physique from all the training. Then she ran into a brick wall in the form of Sheila Dominary, a women's bike racing adversary. Will Joanne regain her confidence as she pedals toward redemption, romance, adventure, and life beyond unemployment? Pedal is an inspirational journey. It is a contemporary story that deals not only with family relationships, but also with life's turning points and how ordinary people handle them.

(Review) I'll Be Damned by Casey Keen
A sister kidnapped.

An impending war between Heaven and Hell looming around the corner.

A Grand Witch who has no idea what she is.

The Prince of Darkness’s obsession in claiming her.

Two sinfully gorgeous men pulling her in two different directions.

As the owner of the coffee shop Déjà Brew in Savannah, Georgia, Anna thought her life was ordinary. That is until her sister is kidnapped by a demon, prompting two handsome men to march into her life unexpectedly. Valen, the sinfully gorgeous, overprotective werewolf who is Anna’s sworn guardian and Roman, the most handsome and powerful Warlock in the entire Netherworld. 

Suddenly, her world is stripped of everything she knows and replaced with frightening news about who she really is - a powerful Grand Witch. Now, it’s up to her to draw out her dormant magic, rescue her sister and stop an impending heavenly war threatening to eradicate the human race all while staying alive.

This is our line up for this week! We hope you guys enjoy this week's reviews and posts!! <3