New York executive Julie Tate knows what it takes to win in the financial world, but her big-city success could never prepare her for her latest career move.
About A Jingle Valley Wedding
New York executive Julie Tate knows what it takes to win in the financial world, but her big-city success could never prepare her for her latest career move. When her brother abandons the failing family farm, Julie hopes its salvation lies in transforming it into western Massachusetts’s newest premier wedding venue. With her social-savvy friend Freddy in her corner, Julie feels infallible. But as their bank account dwindles and one obstacle after another crops up, the business partners wonder if their venture is doomed for failure before the first bride walks down the aisle. Maybe the best way to succeed in a business based on romance is to find one.
Martha Reynolds was raised in Rhode Island, spent a year of college in Switzerland, and is always planning a return visit. She completed an accomplished career as a fraud investigator and decided it was time to do something she really liked.
She now writes full-time and has set a personal goal of releasing a book a year until she dies. Her writing has appeared in Magnificat magazine and her very short poem was read by journalist Connie Schultz during NPR’s Tell Me More poetry challenge.
Her novel VILLA DEL SOL won the 2018 Book Award in Literary Fiction by the Independent Publishers of New England.
Three years ago, the nation gasped in horror when the President of the United States barely escaped an assassination attempt that left two dead—the vice president’s wife and the attempted assassin.
About The Nutcracker Conspiracy
Three years ago, the nation gasped in horror when the President of the United States barely escaped an assassination attempt that left two dead—the vice president’s wife and the attempted assassin. Even after numerous investigations proved otherwise, conspiracy theorists argue that the assassin was acting on orders from the CIA, FBI, and every federal agency within a hundred miles of the capital.
Aspiring Author Dean Conway is the last person Lieutenant Commander Murphy Thornton wants to spend his Saturday afternoon when they end up at the same wedding reception table. While their wives tend to bridesmaid duties, Murphy is trapped listening to Dean’s latest work-in-project—completing the manuscript of an investigative journalist who’d disappeared months earlier.
“She was number twelve,” Dean says.
“Twelve?” Murphy asks.
“Twelve witnesses connected to or investigating The Nutcracker shooting have died either in an accident or suicide.”
Two days later, Dean dies suddenly―but not before sending a text message to Murphy: “13”
My Thoughts
Wow – this is one INCREDIBLE novel that I could not put down. It had me on the edge of my seat and I can honestly say that I never saw the end coming. It was full of suspense, action but also humour (done in a way that only Lauren can accomplish).
The book starts off with the murder of the vice president’s wife which led to the Nutcracker Conspiracy – that someone wanted the President dead and somehow the CIA, FBI and law enforcement were all in on it. Following her murder, eleven additional people were murdered. Their murders or disappearances were never solved and were thought to be connected to the original murder. Dean, an aspiring author but not a nice person, gets his hands on a book around this conspiracy but is murdered before he can publish his book – which forces Murphy to begin to look into the murders much closer. What he uncovers, will blow your mind away.
What begins to unravel is an intense, well thought out plot – which definitely keeps you on your toes as you are introduced to new characters, new plot twists and history. The story takes off fast and keeps on moving, drawing you in deeper to the story and feeling a deeper connection to the characters. They solve the original crime but also keep good friends of theirs from being criminally punished for something they did not do.
I loved this book from start to finish and would say this is by far one of her best written works. It has a little bit of everything with some well planned humour to lighten the mood. It is well written, an excellent, never before read plot with lovable characters. The Nutcracker Conspiracy is a definite must read, that does not disappoint!
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Chris Matheson Cold Case, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty-five 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, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.
A popular speaker, Lauren is also the owner of Acorn Book Service, the umbrella under which falls iRead Book Tours. She lives with her husband and two spoiled rotten German Shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
The Permanent Weight Loss Plan encourages readers, with gentle humor and compassion, to embrace a paradigm shift and transform their lives for good.
About The Permanent Weight Loss Plan
Diets come and go, and the scale needle swings as you drop pounds and then gain them back. But what if there were a weight loss solution for forever? Not another fad diet based on deprivation and restriction, but a holistic system for shedding pounds and maintaining your weight?
In The Permanent Weight Loss Plan, Janice Asher, MD, and Fulbright Open Research Fellow, Jae Rivera, reveal (from their own first-hand experiences) that it’s not just about the food you eat or don’t eat—it’s about a mindset and lifestyle change. After collectively losing 170 pounds and maintaining their weight for years, Janice and Jae share scientific evidence, personal experiences, and practical insights on how you can successfully reframe your relationship with food.
It’s about stopping the shame associated with body size, recognizing instances of disordered eating, equipping yourself with the knowledge of what behaviors contribute to lasting weight loss, and making use of proven strategies. Get actionable tips on how to:
Overcome barriers like stress, shame, and emotional eating
Escape the comfort food circle of hell
Eat food that nourishes your intestinal microbiome and brain
Replace unhealthy habits with new ones that will treat your body well
Boost your metabolism by eating during the right times of the day
Commit to an exercise regime you can enjoy
Transform your kitchen from danger zone to a safe space
Survive potential landmines like holidays and parties
Develop strategies for not gaining back the weight you lose
Stop the cycle of fat-shaming and treat yourself with kindness
Complete with 26 recipes for cauliflower quinoa puttanesca, “umami bomb” roasted portabella mushrooms, blueberry breakfast smoothie, curried lentil salad, and more, The Permanent Weight Loss Plan encourages readers, with gentle humor and compassion, to embrace a paradigm shift and transform their lives for good.
Janice Asher is a gynecologist at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to being a clinician there, she began the MILE (mindful, intuitive living & eating) Program, and the PANDA (Physicians And Nurses Domestic Abuse) Program. She is a co-author and co-editor of a textbook on sexual assault.
Jae Rivera is a biological anthropologist specializing in human osteology. She received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and continued on to work at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Presently, she is living in Peru analyzing human remains with a Fulbright Open Research Grant. and will begin her PhD when she returns in 2018.
When a blizzard traps them with a murderer, who will be left to kiss at midnight?
About Killer Resolutions
In a remote lodge in northern Wisconsin, friends gather for a festive, New Year’s Eve weekend. When a blizzard traps them with a murderer, who will be left to kiss at midnight?
Five years ago, a tragedy shattered the friendship between Dani, her older brother, and their college pals. When her brother invites the old gang for a weekend of outdoor winter fun at a remote lodge, she sees it as a chance to reconnect and heal. But when her friends are murdered one-by-one, Dani must determine whom she can trust before she becomes the next victim.
Contains profanity, violence, and mild sexual content.
My Thoughts
The tragic death of one young woman comes back to haunt a group of friends and family in this fast paced novel.
The death of her older brother’s girlfriend has haunted Dani and their once close group of friends. A night of drinking got out of hand and instead of caring for their friend, Dani became side tracked by her brothers friend and Crystal choked and died on her own vomit.
Her death causes the group to draw away from each other and each individual deals with the death in their own way. That is why they were all shocked when they received an invitation to reunite at a remote lodge from Dani’s brother, Rob. The group has changed – some have gotten a bit wilder, some have grown apart and some have noticed their attraction to each other has only grown stronger! What they weren’t ready for was that Rob’s new girlfriend is identical to Crystal (although not as nice of a person!).
Things turn quickly sour, as one by one dead bodies start to appear. The remaining members of the group fear for their life but are not sure who to trust – is the murderer one of them? The weird owner? The group has to think quickly in order to stay alive – a hero emerges among them, an individual who has spent his last few years on quite the journey. I was definitely not expecting the ending and the discovery of the identity of the murder. This is a fast paced novel that is easy to follow and I enjoyed the suspense as the characters try to uncover the murder while staying alive.
Elizabeth McKenna’s love of books reaches back to her childhood, where her tastes ranged from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys to Stephen King’s horror stories. She had never read a romance novel 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). Her novels reflect her mercurial temperament and include historical romances, contemporary romances, cozy mysteries, and dark mysteries. With some being “clean” and some being “naughty,” she has a book for your every mood. 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.
What happens when an ordinary teenager has to turn into a warrior just to survive? And can the journey through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder really become an “adventure”? Such is the detour in life that Amy Oestreicher was forced to take.
About My Beautiful Detour
An estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives and up to 20 percent of these people go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. An estimated 5 percent of Americans—more than 13 million people—have PTSD at any given time.
Amy Oestreicher was one of them. So, what happens when an ordinary teenager has to turn into a warrior just to survive? And can the journey through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder really become an “adventure?”
Amy had ambitious plans for college and a Broadway career, until her stomach exploded the week before her senior prom. Months later, she awoke from a coma to learn that she might never be able to eat or drink again. After years on IV nutrition, her first bite of food awakened her senses to life’s ordinary miracles but also brought back memories of being sexually abused by a trusted mentor for months, just before the unexpected rush to the emergency room that fateful Passover night. With determination, imagination, relentless resilience, and an inner “hunger” for life, Amy created a roadmap where none existed. Her journey through life’s unthinkable detours is nothing short of miraculous, but the creative path to healing she forged is accessible to anyone. As a survivor—and “thriver”—of abuse and extensive medical trauma, Amy discovered sources of resilience she didn’t know she had but it turns out we all possess. In this book, she creates a tapestry made from each of each thread of her journey, empowering others to find gratitude in every setback and discover their own infinite inner strength. Amy’s search for “home” proves to be the greatest test of cultivating resilience after near-death, and reclaiming identity after both sexual assault and medical trauma. Amy’s journey is ultimately a celebration of ordinary and extraordinary challenges and miracles.
In this coming of age story, Amy shares her struggles and discoveries living with both visible and invisible illness, the tremendous gifts to be reaped from trauma, its lessons which have illuminated her path, and how these gifts can be discovered as a unique, yet universal way to navigate any kind of uncertainty.
My Beautiful Detour offers practical strategies for individuals and unexpected tools for the families of trauma survivors, helping communities build new, limitless futures. The book includes numerous “trauma insights,” and is enriched with humor, art, poetry, and useful takeaways for readers. Reading one woman’s heroic adventure through trauma, recovery, and discovery of new directions in healing the body and the mind is an empowering tale of not just getting through, but thriving.
AMY OESTREICHER is an international keynote speaker, Huffington Post columnist, actor, artist, songwriter, playwright, Audie Award-nominated PSTD peer-to-peer specialist, and author. A survivor of extensive medical trauma, including 27 surgeries, and sexual assault, she shares her life story and creative strategies with therapists, medical professionals, patients, sexual abuse victims, and general audiences nationwide. Creator of the #LoveMyDetour movement to inspire individuals to thrive because of, rather than in spite of, obstacles, she has been featured on the Today show, delivered three TEDx talks, and performed her one-woman musical, Gutless & Grateful, in more than 200 venues across the country. She is also a passionate voice in the ostomy community and presents narrative medicine workshops.
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