Author: cvegnad

August 15, 2016

Candidate For Murder Book Review

In Candidate for Murder, politics force Police Chief David O’Callaghan to nominate the most unlikely candidate for Mayor – Gnarly!

About Candidate for Murder

It’s election time in Spencer, Maryland, and the race for mayor is not a pretty one. In recent years, the small resort town has become divided between the local year-round residents who have enjoyed their rural way of life and the city dwellers moving into their mansions, taking over the town council, and proceeding to turn Deep Creek Lake into a closed gate community—complete with a host of regulations for everything from speed limits to clothes lines.

When the political parties force-feed two unsavory mayoral nominees on the town residents, Police Chief David O’Callaghan decides to make a statement—by nominating Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s German shepherd, to run as mayor of Spencer!

What starts out as a joke turns into a disaster when overnight Gnarly becomes the front runner—at which point his political enemies take a page straight out of Politics 101. What do you do when you’re behind in a race? Dig up dirt on the front runner, of course.

Seemingly, someone is not content to rest with simply embarrassing the front runner by publicizing his dishonorable discharge from the United States Army, but to throw in a murder for good measure. With murder on the ballot, Mac Faraday and the gang—including old friends from past cases—dive in to clear Gnarly’s name, catch a killer, and save Spencer!

My Thoughts

You can’t help but fall in love with Gnarly, who is one amazing dog that not only takes on crime but who is also now running for mayor?!!

Politics can be dirty and you sometimes find it hard to trust the individuals who are running, especially when they only seem out for their own best interests. In David O’Callaghan’s small country town, the people who have lived there their whole life have had enough of the big city candidates. What began as a joke about a dog running for mayor became a reality when Gnarly is not only nominated but becomes a front runner! Everyone can’t get enough of Gnarly.

The competition is fierce and very jealous of the attention Gnarly is getting and do whatever they can to ruin his reputation. They pull up his past, which is confidential and in turn this uncovers deadly secrets in the town of Spencer. A murder puts the whole race upside down and that is when the gang realizes there is more to this running then just a mayor’s position. Now they must solve quite a few mysteries.

Hilarious, mysterious and full of adventure, Gnarly and his human friends will have you on the edge of your seat unable to put your book down. Candidate for Murder is well written, played out and a story that you have just never heard before. I enjoyed every moment reading this book!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

Book Trailer

About the Author

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries. The twelfth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series, Candidate for Murder will be released June 2016.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV. You can connect with her on her website.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

August 12, 2016

Love Is All You Need with Beat Bugs #StreamTeam

Music from the Beatles has left a legacy and continues to influence music as we know it. Music has the power to bring people together, lift your spirits and calm the soul. It has the power to inspire and give hope, which is what the Beatles did and musicians continue to do. Not to mention it allows children to be silly, get active and have fun with their parents.

The Beat Bugs, an original Netflix series now playing, follows this inspiration with five friendly bugs who learn about the world around them together with music. Each episode is full of Beatles music played by famous musicians including P!nk, Sia and Eddie Vedder. These energetic bugs will get the whole family grooving, dancing and singing. It even had us inspired to make our own video clip singing “All You Need is Love”, check it out on Facebook.

If you are like me and love a behind the scenes look at the making of animations, from the inspiration to completion, you need to watch this video all about the behind the making of the Beat Bugs:

Now Netflix wants you to win your own 3 month subscription by sharing your own cover of “All You Need Is Love” on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You can share it on my pinned post on Facebook or by tagging me on Twitter or Instagram (@cvegnad). It doesn’t have to be a long video (or hey if you are shy post a photo of your little ones singing together) but show me how you and your family rock out and are silly together. Good luck – don’t forget this giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18 years of age and older, excluding Quebec. This giveaway closes September 1st, 2016.

Disclosure: I am a #StreamTeam member and receive perks associated with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

August 9, 2016

Awaken the Love of Reading with LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens

What happens when two major family favourites come together? You get hours of reading fun in LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens!

About LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens

A dark power is rising, and the galaxy is in danger in DK Readers L2: LEGO® Star Wars: The Force Awakens™!

Meet the brave new heroes who must battle to protect the galaxy. Join them in their fight against evil. Can they stop the First Order’s sinister plans?

About the DK Reader Levels

As children begin to grow in their confidence to read new words, Level 2 DK Readers become a great choice for them. The books are divided into manageable chapters for one reading session. Literacy experts encourage reading a little every day to an adult. Action-packed photographs bring to life the simple narrative, leading the reader to the text. To learn more about the DK readers and find out how to support your child’s reading, check out this great article.

Why We Love It

We are HUGE Star Wars fans in our house and couldn’t wait until The Force Awakens came out so we could enjoy it at home (Star Wars Marathon time woohoo). This book came at the perfect time for us and quickly became a bedtime story favourite.

I am a HUGE fan of the DK reader levels, they are geared to your child’s skill level and really helps to boost their confidence in their reading skills (so important). Reading can be frustrating for a child that is struggling and these reader levels help to eliminate that stress. This level two book has new words for your child but still includes an awesome story line and even better photographs to help bring the story to life. While we had to help him on some of the words, he had a great time reading the story to us and having his brother read the story to him (again and again – he can read this book several times a day literally!).

A fantastic, age appropriate Star Wars and LEGO themed book that your little reader will fall in love with. This book gives us hours of reading fun and is a reading confidence builder for our little man. A win win in our books! You can purchase this book on Amazon and Chapters.

Rating: 5+/5

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

August 9, 2016

Keep Up Printing Skills With Handwriting Made Easy Printed Writing

All kids look forward to the summer break. How can you blame them? No school, less routine and no homework. But it is so important to not stop practicing important skills even though a teacher isn’t assigning them. One of those skills is printing, especially with the junior grades. Handwriting Made Easy: Printed Writing allows your child to continue to build upon valuable skills learned at school during the summer months.

About Handwriting Made Easy Printed Writing

Developed with leading educational experts, this activity book is designed for children ages 6-7 and is full of exercises and activities to strengthen a child’s first skills in handwriting and reinforce the skills taught in school or at home.

This book helps kids learn to write in clear, easy-to-read print. Full of activities, exercises, and supportive illustrations that advance throughout the book from learning upper-case and lower-case letters to months and colours and finally to sentences and story writing, this workbook is perfect for kids who are learning to write.

Why We Love It

Keeping up with literacy skills is so important during the summer months. Although our children may want to skip practicing their printing skills and numbers, this is so important to make the transition back to school in the early fall easier for them. You don’t want them to forget all of those precious skills they learned in the preschool and primary grades! It will only make September harder for them which in turn is frustrating for us as parents.

As parents we fell in love with the simple instructions and the activities in Handwriting Made Easy Printing. We only had to give our son minimal instructions and he was able to work alone which helped to boost his confidence. The printing spaces had lots of room on the lines with dashed lines to help guide him on how tall he should be making his letters. He loved the work book and uses it for ten minutes a day and he enjoys every minute, we have never had to push him to do the work – he pulls it out on his own. He is very proud of his work and loves to show it off to family when they visit.

This is the perfect book for the month of August as you get your children back into school mode. You don’t need to spend hours each day on it but even five minutes a day will help your child get back into school mode and boost their confidence before heading back to school. You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Chapters.

Rating: 5/5

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

August 5, 2016

When Death Draws Near

In When Death Draws Near, death has always been part of Gwen Marcey’s job. But when faced with her own mortality, everything takes on a different hue.

About When Death Draws Near

Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is between jobs and homes when she accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky. The Eastern Kentucky town, located deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, has been plagued by a serial rapist and a series of unexplained deaths. Before Gwen can develop a composite drawing, the latest witness vanishes, just like all the previous victims.

Turning her attention to sketching the face of an unidentified body, she discovers a link between his death and a Pentecostal serpent-handling church. Serpent-handling is illegal in Kentucky, and the churches have gone underground to avoid the authorities and continue to worship as they believe. Gwen is offered a handsome reward to infiltrate the renegade members, a reward she desperately needs as it seems her breast cancer has returned.

Joined by her digitally obsessed, Generation Z daughter, Gwen goes undercover to a nineteenth century revival, planning to draw the faces of the snake handlers so they can be identified and arrested. Instead she uncovers a murderous plot and a festering evil.

My Thoughts

Gwen is a fighter, a cancer survivor and a loving Mother. She is employed in a very interesting line of work – forensic artistry, something I never even knew existed. Gwen is brought in for work in Pikeville, Kentucky where a mysterious string of rapes and deaths has occurred.

The plot is well thought out and built up, constantly keeping you guessing. The novel is full of characters and while you do need to pay attention, you will not get lost or have a hard time keeping up. I loved how the Pentecostal serpent-handling church was tied into this story. It definitely was not what I was expecting and how it was tied into the story was fascinating. We learn about their history, their beliefs and family values. While I think their beliefs are frightening at times, they have amazing family values which makes it harder to understand how they could even be associated with the rapes and deaths.

Along with her daughter, Gwen sets upon an impossible task of identifying a murderer, help to solve a case and keep them both alive. This novel was exciting and full of adventure that I just could not put down!

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

Carrie Stuart Parks is a Christy finalist as well as a Carol award-winning author. She has won numerous awards for her fine art as well. An internationally known forensic artist, she travels with her husband, Rick, across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement professionals. The author/illustrator of numerous books on drawing and painting, Carrie continues to create dramatic watercolors from her studio in the mountains of Idaho.

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