January 18, 2016
Mermaid Moon Book Review
In Mermaid Moon, Mallory’s Mom may have died fifteen years ago but her Father’s last words to her were, “find your Mother”.
About Mermaid Moon
Shame and confusion have kept Mallory Davis from her home for the last fifteen years, but when her dad mysteriously dies on his mail boat route, she doesn’t have any choice but to go back to Mermaid Point.
Mallory believes her father was murdered and childhood sweetheart Kevin O’Connor, game warden in Downeast Maine, confirms her suspicions. But Kevin is wary of helping Mallory in her search. She broke his heart and left without a word, years ago.
When Mallory begins receiving threats on her own life and her beloved teenage daughter, Haylie, their search intensifies. There’s a tangled web within the supposed murder, and it involves much more than what meets the eye.
As answers begin to fall into place, Mallory realizes her search is about more than finding her father’s killer, it is also about finding herself again and possibly about healing what was broken so long ago with Kevin. She just has to stay alive long enough to put all the pieces together.
My Thoughts
Exciting and spine tingling adventure awaits you in Mermaid Moon! I could not put this book down once I started reading it because I did not want to miss anything!
The novel starts off slower as we find out about Mallory’s Dads passing and how her relationship was somewhat strained between Mallory and Kevin as well as her family. Mallory had left Mermaid Point with no intention of ever coming back. Her Father’s death opens up almost a can of worms! Some were so shocking that I couldn’t stop reading because I just couldn’t believe how the story was developing. Every turn of the page was exciting and adventure full! This novel does not disappoint at all. It is full of suspense, adventure, romance and more.
You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog Tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Colleen Coble has written several romantic suspense novels including Tidewater Inn, Rosemary Cottage, and the Mercy Falls, Lonestar, and Rock Harbor series. Her books have sold more than 3 million copies.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
January 14, 2016
A New Year, Time to Focus on Me and New Goals#StreamTeam
The new year has begun and with it I am sure many of you had made New Years resolutions, or as I like to call them ‘new goals’. I find that whenever I label them as ‘resolutions’ I give up that much quicker on my goals! So this year, I am writing these goals down and sharing them with all of you. I hope you can keep me on track and in turn I can motivate you to keep up with your own goals.
Since writing a goal down helps you keep on track, here are my goals for the New Year:
Focus on a healthy lifestyle which includes loosing weight, dealing with stress in a better manner and be active every day for thirty minutes. This is an extremely important goal for me as they recently found my liver to be enlarged and I am currently in the process of having this worked up. Talk about a health scare to wake me up! I know that I need to get healthy for not only myself but my kids too. Stress always plays a huge role in this and has at times led to a worsening of my depression. CBT has helped a lot but I can always do better.
Family times matters. This year I want to focus that much more time on my family, maybe more movie nights (yay for Netflix!), more travel, more experiences and even more story times at night. I want my children to know just how important they are to me and feel my love every moment.
Become more environmentally friendly. I want my children to grow up and live in a world that has not been ruined by pollution. I want us to start using environmentally friendly options, grow more of our own vegetables and volunteer more of our time to clean up outdoor space.
Now that I have shared my goals with you, I want to hear about you! What are your goals this year? What would you like to accomplish?
Disclosure: I am a #StreamTeam member and receive perks associated with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.
January 12, 2016
Jump Down The Rabbit Hole with Alice in Wonderland at The Shaw Festival
The magical story of Alice in Wonderland comes to life on the stage at The Shaw Festival through plot, music, magic and stunning visuals.
About Alice in Wonderland at The Shaw Festival
On a summer day in 1862, ten-year old Alice and her two sisters were told a story about a little girl named Alice who longed for adventure, a white rabbit and a trip down a hole into an astonishing world that leads her to adventure and more. This wonderful tale became one of the best-selling books of all time (and I am sure you enjoyed it as a child too!) and this beloved story has been brought to life in a new adaptation, written especially for the Shaw Festival. In the play we will meet the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Mock Turtle and the Queen of Hearts and watch Alice try to make sense of this world of grown-up nonsense.
The process of adapting this childhood favourite book into a play at the Shaw Festival began five years ago when artistic director Jackie Maxwell and director Peter Hinton began a conversation about a play at The Shaw that would be inclusive of children and at the same time that adults would equally enjoy (yay!). As Alice in Wonderland is the second most published book in all languages after the Bible, this story clearly fit the bill!
In a story where a girl grows and shrinks from 28 feet to 8 or 9 inches, cries a pool of tears that both she and animals must swim in, and a huge game of croquet is played with flamingo mallets and hedgehog balls, a top design team had to be involved in the making of the production from the start – this is no small feat to tackle. Designers Eo Sharp (set), William Schmuck (costumes) Kevin Lamotte (lighting) and Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson (projections), together with Peter Hinton (who both wrote the adaptation and will direct the production) have been working to tackle these challenges and design what kind of world Alice’s adventures will take place in on stage. Staying true to the Victorian world the story was originally set is central to the production while blending with modern technology to create a unique theatrical act.
Alice in Wonderland Trailer
If you are to anxious to see what Alice in Wonderland holds, check out this trailer from the Shaw Festival:
Enter to Win Tickets!
My Canadian residents can now enter to win a four pack of tickets to see Alice in Wonderland live at the Shaw Festival. While there are no restrictions to location in Canada, as transportation and accommodation is not provided, please ensure you can make it to the play when entering. Good luck!
Disclosure: I received four tickets to attend Alice in Wonderland. All opinions expressed are my own.
January 8, 2016
Make Bedtime Memorable with Lost My Name
Books take us on an adventure, teach us valuable lessons and sometimes they can create memories that last a lifetime. With a personalized story tailored to your child’s name, Lost My Name, makes bedtime stories fun, memorable and precious.
The Story Behind Lost My Name
This is one of the best parts about the Lost My Name books, they were developed by a group of Dads and an Uncle who wanted better books for their kids. This simple dream started back in 2012 and with the help of their understanding families, they grew and eventually they began to sell their books. They rocked The Dragons Den, they gained investment and have continued to grow. But the heart of their company still lays in bringing magical moments to bedtime.
The Little Boy Who Lost His Name
Creating a personalized story for our youngest son was beyond easy. We visited their site, entered his name and the magic began behind the scenes. We were quickly able to flip through the images that would accompany his story. One of the neatest parts of this process is that the story is developed using the letters of your child’s name. This means that each child’s name creates a unique story from over three hundred variants, awesome right?
Our book arrived in under a week (just in time to read Christmas eve!) and our son was delighted that his book had an extra special message written to him inside the front cover. The illustrations were bright, colourful and adorable. They almost reminded me of a hand painted water-colour story. The story line was fantastic and had us giggling and guessing the whole way through. It was a beautiful story even more so knowing how much thought and time goes into each and every story. We have read The Little Boy Who Lost His Name every night for the last two weeks! It has become a huge hit in our home. The book also makes a fantastic keepsake for our son and an even better gift if you are attending a birthday party, shower or just because you want to spoil that special person in your life!
Interesting Facts
- Over 500,000 copies sold in over 150 countries.
- 2014 top-selling children’s book in the UK and Australia.
- The books are available in seven languages.
- Lost My Name is one of the world’s first full stack publishers based in Hackney, east London.
Make sure you follow Lost My Name on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest to keep up to date on titles and more.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
January 8, 2016
Framed and Burning
Lisa Brunette is gearing up for her new release of Framed and Burning: Book Two in the Dreamslippers Series.
Framed and Burning, Book Two in the Dreamslippers Series
Published by Sky Harbor LLC
November 27, 2015 pub date
Genre: Mystery
Book Synopsis:
The Dreamslippers are a family of private investigators who have the ability to “slip” into your dreams. The first book in the series, Cat in the Flock, was published to critical acclaim and is trending at 4.5 stars on Amazon with 35 reviews. In Framed and Burning, someone sets fire to Mick Travers’s art studio, killing his assistant, and Mick won’t give an alibi. His dreamslipping sister–the eccentric Amazing Grace–is convinced he’s innocent, but her granddaughter and the police aren’t so sure. Was it Mick, or is something darker behind the fire?
ADVANCED PRAISE
“Lisa Brunette continues to develop vibrant characters in a stunning story that will keep you reading well past your bedtime!” – On My Kindle
PRE-ORDER ON EBOOK NOW FOR $1 OFF!
Only $2.99 if you order before November 27, 2015 – price goes to $3.99 afterward.
In the U.S. – Amazon – Apple iBookstore – for all iOS devices – Barnes & Noble – for the Nook – Kobo – numerous devices – Smashwords – for Kindle, Android, and most other formats
Outside the U.S. – pricing and discount varies – Amazon Australia – Amazon Canada – Amazon UK – Nook UK – Kobo International
About the Author:
Lisa Brunette is the author of the Dreamslippers mystery series. Book One, Cat in the Flock, is an indieBRAG honoree title that has been praised by Kirkus Reviews, Midwest Book Review, Readers Lane, and others.
Brunette is a career writer/editor whose work has appeared in major daily newspapers and magazines, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Woman, and Poets & Writers. She’s interviewed a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a sex expert, homeless women, and the designer of the Batmobile, among others.
She has story design and writing credits in hundreds of bestselling video games, including the Mystery Case Files, Mystery Trackers, and Dark Tales series for Big Fish and AAA games for Nintendo and Microsoft platforms.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from University of Miami, where she was a Michener Fellow. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in Bellingham Review, The Comstock Review, Icarus International, and elsewhere.
She’s also received many honors for her writing, including a major grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission, the William Stafford Award, and the Associated Writing Programs Intro Journals Project Award.
She blogs at www.catintheflock.com and has been a guest-blogger for Author magazine and Dr. Chris Michaels’s blog.
Brunette is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.
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Book Excerpt
Chapter 11
While her grandmother was puzzling over Ernesto’s dream that morning, Cat was trapped in a hoarder’s house with a battalion of beagles underfoot.
Maysie Ray Duncan had thirty-three of her great-uncle’s paintings. That is, if you could find them under the detritus accumulated over however many decades Maysie had occupied the cinderblock home. It was set down on a canal in a quiet section of Miami suburbia. The beagles, which seemed to number at least twenty, had the run of the place, and judging by the odor that hit the back of Cat’s palate the minute she set foot inside, the dogs had quite possibly never been bathed.
Unable to shake the feeling that they’d missed something about that first fire at Mick’s place, Cat was still investigating. Sure, maybe crazy Candace did set both fires. It was hard to argue with a confession. But Cat felt she owed it to her uncle to make sure.
She’d combed through a digital catalogue of Mick’s art and decided she needed to talk to some of his regular buyers, people who made a point of collecting his paintings. One of them could have a grudge against him, she reasoned, or maybe they only wanted to destroy some of his work so the pieces they owned would go up in value.
Which is how she got to Maysie Ray Duncan, apparently one of her uncle’s biggest fans.
Behind a tower of newspapers dating back to the Sixties, Cat found a piece with Mick’s tell-tale signature on it—a wide M followed by a scribble followed by a cursive T followed by more scribble.
“Oh, that’s Blue Shift Number Seven,” said Maysie with delight. “One of my favorites! Number Nine must be nearby. I wanted to get Number Eight, but I was outbid. Imagine that.”
Maysie wore a velvet housecoat over a long silk dress. Her arthritic feet were stuffed into velvet-trimmed slippers. Her face was made up as if she were about to do a curtain call. Her hair was wrapped in a silk scarf tied above her painted-on eyebrows, the fringe falling down over her forehead.
“When was the last time you purchased one of Mick’s pieces?” Cat asked, trying not to topple a tower of washed-out dog food cans.
“Let me see… I attend so many of the gallery openings, you know,” she said, as if wanting credit for her society status. “I suppose it was three or four years ago. I like to get them before they really make it big.”
Cat had to hand it to her; that was some shrewd collecting. If Maysie put Mick’s work out to a gallery or auction house now, she’d surely see a huge profit.
“Do you sell the work you acquire?”
“Oh, heavens, no!” Maysie shrieked, reaching out to stroke Blue Shift Number Seven. “They’re my babies. Even more than you guys, eh, Melvin?” She picked up one of the beagles and kissed him square on the mouth. Melvin seemed unfazed by the gesture.
“So you’ve kept them all.”
“Of course!”
Cat told Maysie about the fires in Mick’s studio and beach house, and the woman broke down and wept, clutching her chest. “It’s horrible, my dear! That poor man. His precious things.”
Cat left Maysie’s house gasping for fresh air. That had been a bust, but at least her mental picture of who collects art these days got more rounded out.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by LegitLit Books. I did not receive compensation for this post.