Category: iRead Book Tours

Twofer Murder Spotlight Tour

iRead Book Tours

Lauren Carr’s Twofer Murder is a 2-for-1—making it a must-read for any mystery fan!

Twofer Murder Book Spotlight

About Twofer Murder

Twofer murder? What’s a twofer murder?

Twofer Murder is a treat for fans of best-selling author Lauren Carr’s fast-paced mysteries! Lauren’s latest novel contains the main characters from her three successful series: Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose mysteries. The guys go away for a fishing weekend only to get caught up in the murder of a journalist investigating fraud at a timber company. Meanwhile, the ladies are spending the weekend in the presidential suite at a posh resort where Jessica Faraday is to accept a lifetime achievement award for her late grandmother at a murder mystery writers conference. But before they have time to get their facials, they get wrapped up in their own real mystery when an up and coming author ends up dead!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Book Trailer

About the Author

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Video Interview

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Disclosure: This is a spotlight post, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

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The Purple Turtle Graded Readers Boxed Set, Levels 1,2,3

iRead Book Tours

Purple Turtle is the world’s ‘cutest’ turtle. Purple Turtle started as a children’s book imprint of Aadarsh Pvt. Ltd. and was transformed to a gender neutral character for kids books, story books, colouring books, stencil books, activity books, puzzle books, dot to dot books, notebooks and games for children.

The Purple Turtle Graded Readers Boxed Set, Levels 1,2,3

About Purple Turtle Graded Readers Level 1

The first level of Purple Turtle Graded Readers includes a set of 12 books with interesting stories and activities and 150 word count. This level is exclusively for learners who have just started reading. It is based on ATOS and Lexile reading level system.

You can purchase this boxed set on Amazon.

The Purple Turtle Graded Readers Boxed Set, Levels 1,2,3

About Purple Turtle Graded Readers Level 2

The second level includes a set of 12 books with 12 interesting stories and several engaging activities that is likely to make learning an enjoyable experience. The book has a word count of 150-250 and is based on the ATOS and Lexile reading level system. This level is for readers who have just learned to read.

You can purchase this boxed set on Amazon.

The Purple Turtle Graded Readers Boxed Set, Levels 1,2,3

About Purple Turtle Graded Readers Level 3

The third level includes a set of 12 books with engaging stories and fun-filled activities. It is based on the Lexile and ATOS reading level system and has a word count of 250-350. This level is for learners who have started reading with confidence.

You can purchase this boxed set on Amazon.

My Thoughts

Reading is the best gift you can give your child. It can also be quite difficult for your child to learn to read and then to read independently. Starting them at a young age with an appropriate set of books is so important. That is why I love graded reading level books that are geared to an appropriate reading level. You want your child to feel a bit of a push to learn but also to increase their confidence.

These reading level boxed books are a great start for children as they begin to read. They are gender neutral with fantastic illustrations in bright, bold colours with friendly characters. The sight words are appropriate for each level and are repeated enough to help your child with word recall. I really liked that each book also taught a little lesson, one was about a broken arm, another about putting away clothes and so on. I love when a book does this and bonus so does our son. They also came with a part where you could mark off your level of reading success to help your child keep track of their progress.

These graded reading level books would make an excellent gift for a young reader starting out. They make excellent reading time and bed time books. It is so important to teach young children the love of reading by giving them appropriate level books that push and give them the confidence to succeed.

Rating: 5/5

Book Trailer

About the Publisher

Purple Turtle is India’s 1st International brand with its educational content in several languages sold in more than 30 countries including Russia, China, US and UK. The character of Purple Turtle has delighted children across the globe through beautifully created Purple Turtle books, rhymes and videos available on YouTube.

Purple Turtle was created with the idea to spread education through a wide range of innovative books for children. To give them the experience of convenient online learning, Purple Turtle also brings both learning and entertainment on a common platform to give a wholesome learning experience to young minds.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of these readers. All opinions expressed are my own.

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How to Turn Your Mom Into a Monster Book Review

iRead Book Tours

Guess what: Mom can be a monster too! It’s up to you to make your mom’s monster come out to play!

How to Turn Your Mom Into a Monster Book Review

About How to Turn Your Mom Into a Monster

Do you like smearing your lunch all over yourself? Do you fight with your sister just because she’s there? Do you find yourself unable to go to bed because mysterious ninjas keep stealing your pajamas? Then you’re a little monster! Guess what: Mom can be a monster too! It’s up to you to make your mom’s monster come out to play.

Our Thoughts

Have you ever read the title of a story and saw the front cover and knew that you were going to love it? Even better that your kids would love it too? This is that book!

We are forever teasing our boys that they have this special magic power that can turn us from nice, quiet parents into grumpy monsters. But it is way too hard to stay mad at them because they are so cute as they do naughty things. Or when they are driving us batty! Those sweet little smiles just can’t help but make us smile too.

This was an awesome book to read together as we could make silly voices and we would alternate turns reading the story. The plot of the story is fantastic and I am sure that both parents and children alike can relate to each page. For example, tooting in public and your child blaming you. Yup, we can definitely relate!

This is a laugh out loud book that is perfect for bed time and basically anytime during the day. Our boys were begging for more! Our youngest even added in his own suggestions for turning Mommy into a monster, boy were they good!

This book is in paperback format and done in bright colours, greens, oranges, purples and blues. The monsters were adorable (just like your child) and not scary at all which is great for all ages. The actual length of the book makes it great for reading any time of the day and the wording is perfect for reading out loud to your child or together. This book is a definite must have addition to your child’s personal library.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Aurora Whittet started out as a wild red-haired girl in Minnesota dreaming up stories for her friends to read. Today, she has completed Bloodmark, Bloodrealms, and Bloodmoon of the Bloodmark Saga trilogy, Mama’s Knight: A Cancer Story of Love, and How to Turn Your Mom into a Monster. She’s a national award-winning graphic designer in her day job. Aurora lives with her family in Minnesota.

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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First Crush, Last Love Book Review

iRead Book Tours

​Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel, First Crush, Last Love, will have you remembering the angst of high school, the grief of a failed relationship, and the happiness of true love.

First Crush, Last Love Book Review

About First Crush, Last Love

Remember your first crush? How your heart raced and your cheeks flushed whenever you saw him? Jessie Baxter does, and it’s happening again. Ten years ago, despite her best efforts, Lee Archer wanted to be just friends. Now, he wants more, but Jessie’s still recovering from a psycho ex-husband. Can she learn to trust again and make her first crush into her last love?

Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel will have you remembering the angst of high school, the grief of a failed relationship, and the happiness of true love.

My Thoughts

Do you remember your first crush? The way you felt and how you blushed and stammered? The way you felt that this person was going to be your forever love and that you couldn’t imagine your life without them. It truly is a magical and special feeling. Sometimes though that person can be your forever love and even when time separates you, when you meet them again – those feelings come rushing back.

This book touches on the crush and growing love that Jessie has for Lee. She loves and admires him but he is stuck in an unhealthy relationship with the most popular girl at school. He doesn’t allow himself to have a healthy relationship and I honestly feel this stems from his upbringing and childhood. Life was not easy for him growing up and I truly feel this is what causes him to make the decisions he does, to not have healthy relationships and to be afraid of one who would be healthy and positive for him. Instead he keeps Jessie as a best friend, close enough that he can count on her and have her in his life but never altering their dynamics.

Jessie on the other hand tries to move on from Lee but instead allows herself to enter into a hateful marriage. She wants so much to be love and doesn’t feel like she deserves it and doesn’t know what love feels like, that she accepts being treated awfully, physically, mentally and emotionally abused. Your heart breaks for her throughout the novel.

When the two have the chance to make things right between them, you can see them struggle with their own feelings of inadequacy, distrust and self-confidence. You want to make them give their heads a shake but also understand this is years of damage done to their esteem and self-love, that they need to move slowly and re-learn how to trust and have faith in another person. This is a truly beautiful story of hope, love and a second chance at first love again.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Elizabeth McKenna works as a full-time technical writer/editor for a large software company. Though her love of books reaches back to her childhood, she had never read romance novels until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene).

She had always wanted to write fiction, so she combined her love of history, romance and a happy ending to write Cera’s Place and Venice in the Moonlight. Her short story, The Gypsy Casts a Spell, is available for free on her site http://elizabethmckenna.com/. She hopes you will enjoy her first contemporary romance novel, First Crush Last Love, as much as others have enjoyed her historical romances.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband, two beautiful daughters, and a sassy Labrador. When she isn’t writing, working, or being a mom, she’s sleeping.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Beyond Believing Book Review

iRead Book Tours

Beyond Believing is a sweet, funny and romantic story that touches the heart, serves up delicious twists and turns, and shows the reader that there’s no such thing as “coincidence.” Author D.D Marx regards this book as her love letter to friendship.

Beyond Believing Book Review

About Beyond Believing

When Olivia gets news of her best friend Dan’s fatal car accident, her entire life is upended. Shattered with grief and struggling to find any meaning or purpose to life, she trudges along with a gaping void in her heart. Finally, when her frustration reaches its peak, Olivia decides to trust Dan’s eternal friendship. That trust allows him to break through to her from the beyond, and Dan guides Olivia through the twists and turns of her life into something new and entirely unexpected.

When Olivia exposes a gigantic internal scandal at work, her career implodes. With no job and no one to turn to, she escapes to Palm Springs for the sympathy and care of her beloved cousin, Garrett. He isn’t quite the comfort Olivia hoped for, but on that journey, meets someone who fills the void in her heart. She’s never experienced such a deep love. It heals her soul and rekindles her spirit – and just may have been the design of her dearly departed friend all along.

My Thoughts

I fell in love with this first book in the Beyond series. In this book we are introduced to Olivia and her past with her best friend Dan. I would say about the first half of the book is a look at their history and friendship and really helps to give a good insight into their history, their closeness and how his death affects her. The second half sets her story really into motion – a new career, losing her job and then moving to a new State.

Losing anyone is difficult no matter what. Losing your best friend, the one who knows so much about you, finishes your sentences and completes parts of you can be difficult to recover from. We watch Olivia struggle through his death and come to terms with a future without him there. I loved how she looks for signs that he is still with her and helping her make decisions. I know that sometimes when I see something that reminds me of someone I lost, it always seems to come at that perfect moment when I feel alone, scared and confused.

This is what that book explores – loss, hope, faith and friendship. Friendship can cross all boundaries and I truly believe the ones we have lost are still with us, looking out for us and working to protect us. This book is well written with an excellent plot line that keeps you reading long into the night. I felt close to Olivia, as though she was a good friend that you wanted to comfort and give a big hug to. This is a definite must read novel!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

D.D. marx came barreling into this world with the “gift of gab”. Her parents quickly identified a pattern forming when each teacher conference contained the words “she’s a little too social”. d.d.’s biggest life concern was identifying which boy she’d be chasing at recess rather than mastering math problems. She parlayed this gift into creating play dates on the playground. If friendship were a business, she would be a millionaire. She prides her life on maintaining friends from every walk of life in every corner of the country. This is the fuel that fills her tank.

Graduating with a Communication degree from the University of Dayton, she attempted to break into the world of Public Relations but was instead side-tracked with a J.O.B. At the strong encouragement of her friends and family, who dubbed her a “funny story teller”, she stretched her comfort zone by entering the Second City program in Chicago where her itch for entertainment was finally scratched. Determined to share her story and create a legacy, she decided to combine these talents and become a writer. She returned to her alma-mater to immerse herself in a 3-day writing course where this dream finally came to life. Asked to imagine if she was a super-hero, her task was to dig-deep to describe her special powers. Based on the real-life tragedy of one of her best friends, that answer came without hesitation. All she’s ever wanted was the power to visit with him one last time. This is the inspiration that catapulted her into her debut project titled, the Beyond Series. She dove into a world imagining that he never left.

Book Trailer

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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