April 4, 2016
Playing the Part Book Review
In Playing the Part, can they accept who they are behind the parts they play in time to save the day?
About Playing the Part
Lucetta Plum is an actress on the rise in New York City, but is forced to abandon her starring role when a fan’s interest turns threatening. Lucetta’s widowed friend, Abigail Hart, is delighted at the opportunity to meddle in Lucetta’s life and promptly whisks her away to her grandson’s estate to hide out.
Bram Haverstein may appear to simply be a somewhat eccentric gentleman of means, but a mysterious career and a secret fascination with a certain actress mean there’s much more to him than society knows.
Lucetta, who has no interest in Abigail’s matchmaking machinations, has the best intentions of remaining cordial but coolly distant to Bram. But when she can’t ignore the strange and mysterious things going on in his house, it’ll take more than good intentions to keep her from trying to discover who Bram is behind the part he plays.
My Thoughts
Lucetta is an actress who is admired for her fragile nature that she plays on stage. Her true nature is as far from the characters she plays on stage as possibly can be. She is strong, independent and free willed. She does not need the men who adore her on stage character and want to take care of her, something she does not need.
Bram happens to be one of those men. He wants to pamper her with attention and pampering. When he finds out that she does not need nor want this attention, he is kind of lost with how to treat her and how to accept her. He also has a deep secret that he has been hiding from many people,including his aunt Abigail (who would love to see him with Lucetta!).
I loved our two main characters who are so perfect for each other but both were stubborn and hiding a secret that they were too afraid to share. They wanted romance but were both to scared to look for it. They have to learn to accept each other for who they are and open up to each other about their past and present in order to move forward.
Throw in some mysterious happenings in his home with Lucetta almost being hurt several times and we have a romance bubbling under mystery and suspense! Playing the Part was an excellent novel from start to finish. I wish I could have just a little bit more of their story, it is always sad when a good novel ends!
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
Jen Turano, author of the Ladies of Distinction series and the A Class of Their Own series, is a graduate of the University of Akron. She is a member of ACFW and lives in a suburb of Denver, Colorado.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
March 30, 2016
Coinman An Untold Conspiracy
Date Published: Nov 04, 2015
An Untold Conspiracy is a humorous account of a man with a quirk–and
the extraordinary measures his colleagues take to combat it!
Set in a small town in northern India, this story follows Coinman, his peculiar habit and the incredible animosity it provokes in everyone around him. He just wants to do his clerk’s job with colleagues who’ll treat him fairly. He just wants a wife who will treat him like a husband. He just wants a happy home life. Instead, what does he get?
His colleagues are planning his complete destruction.
His wife is an obsessed actress more than a little “off plumb.”
And there are enough shadows and secrets in his home for two lifetimes.
Can Coinman ever get what he wants? Or will that cost him his sanity?
Purchase a copy on Amazon.
Quotes from Coinman: “Isn’t life a collection of weird quizzes with no answers to half the questions?” “The only thing God is afraid of is a strong-willed human!”
“People say there are thousands of options we have in life. I say we have only two: we can either be happy or be unhappy.”
“Talented minds have always been stealthily targeted by mediocre ones.”
About the Author:
Mishra is a leader in the technology and finance industries. He
completed his education, including postgraduate work, at Indian
Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), India, in 1999. He
discovered his passion for storytelling, reading, and creative writing
during his early childhood. Originally from Aligarh, India, Pawan now
lives in Morrisville, North Carolina, with his wife Ritu and two
daughters, Mitali and Myra.
March 30, 2016
Moxie’s Problem Book Review
Title: Moxie’s Problem (Book #1)
Author: Hank Quense
Pages: 294
Genre: Fantasy
Book Description:
Do you enjoy atypical coming of age stories? Well Moxie’s Problem is just for you!
Moxie is an obnoxious princess who has never been outside of her father’s castle. Until now. The real world is quite different then she expects and she struggles to come to grips with this reality. Her story takes place in the backdrop of Camelot but it is a Camelot from a parallel universe.
My Thoughts
This book was definitely not what I was expecting. I had thought the story would set around Moxie mainly with other minor stories woven in. The novel is narrated from the views of a knight and Merlin. The novel goes back and forth between these characters. I found this made the story a bit chaotic at times as I tried to follow it. There were so many great ideas in the parallel universe but it made it hard to follow at times.
The plot line is very good and unique but it was overwhelming with so many different characters, view points and ideas (from soccer to battles and Merlin). It almost felt like each of these characters could have had their own novel to themselves so that way Moxie could shine in this story. I think there is so much more to Moxie and I would have loved to have seen that come out in this novel. We only had small glimpses of this throughout the novel. It would have been really interesting to see her character develop fuller throughout the novel.
While an interesting read and I loved the idea, I found the novel overwhelming at times and would have loved to see the focus on Moxie. I would like to see how his next novel with Moxie plays out as I feel there is so much more to her then we see.
Rating: 3/5
About the Author:
Hank Quense writes humorous and satiric sci fi and fantasy stories. He also writes about fiction writing and self-publishing. He has published 14 books and 50 short stories along with a few dozen articles. He often lectures on fiction writing and publishing and has a series of guides covering the basics on each subject. He is currently working on a series of two humorous novels that take place in the Camelot era.
He and his wife, Pat, usually vacation in another galaxy or parallel universe. They also time travel occasionally when Hank is searching for new story ideas.
Visit Hank’s websites: http://hank-quense.com/wp and http://strangeworldsonline.com/wp
Follow the Tour!
March 28 – Margaret Reviews Books
March 29 – Book Wormie Spot
March 30 – Working Mommy Journal
March 31 – Bound 2 Escape
April 1 – Donna Book Reviews
April 4 – Mels Shelves
April 5 – Deal Sharing Aunt
April 6 – Whispering Stories
April 7 – Genuine Jenn
April 8 – Pari and Books Blog & Fiction Dreams
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
March 29, 2016
The Ethical Coach Leader Book Review
Ethics are a growing concern in all sectors of American culture. From businesses to all levels of schooling, as well as nonprofit companies, the values that guide business and teaching criteria are under scrutiny. But, does it take a scholarly textbook to understand how to create an ethical culture? No, Dwight Johnson has delved into the problems and presents practical solutions in his easy to read book, The Ethical Coach Leader: Developing Honor and Integrity.
About The Ethical Coach Leader
A fiction book that has universal application, Johnson creates an intriguing story about a college coach who finds out that his star athlete failed a steroid test, putting the coach in the cross hairs of an ethical dilemma. During a couple of restless nights of sleep, Coach is visited by five ghosts: the Ghost of Example, the Ghost of Education, the Ghost of Experience, the Ghost of E-information, and the Ghost of Environment. Each has different advice for Coach on how to resolve his ethical dilemma. With the dreams haunting his every waking moment, Coach also seeks advice from two of his former mentors. The lessons Coach learns can be applied to any industry, business, school or individual life.
The Ethical Coach Leader challenges cultural mindsets and introduces new ideas on how to apply desperately needed teachings in ethics, integrity, honor and good character. This is a must read book for anyone who has influence on others or is in a leadership role.
My Thoughts
The Ethical Coach Leader was an interesting and different style of book then I would normally read. It took the topic of ethics (which can be overwhelming and difficult at times) and used a real world problem in the form of a story to teach the readers and give us advice on how to solve ethical problems.
In this story, a coach is faced with a positive drug test on one of his best players. He is faced with a difficult decision on what to do. He relies on “visits” from each of the ghosts to help him solve his problem and develop a unique solution to this specific problem. It was very interesting to see how the story played out and what the coach focused on and ignored in making a decision.
This would be an incredibly important book for any individual to read. We all struggle with ethical decisions, whether we realize it or not. It may not be sports related as it was in this example but we all play similar roles from parenting, to self and even into our work lives. We all need to learn how to look at the whole picture and pick out the important information and how to develop the honourable solution, which is not always the easiest solution.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Rating: 4/5
About the Author
Dwight Johnson resides in Colorado Springs where he works at the United States Air Force Academy. He is a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel who was a Squadron Commander three times and a Division Chief twice. He also served as the Department Head of Services at the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he taught Customer Service and Total Quality Service.
In 2012, Dwight was awarded the General Billy J Boles Mentorship Award for the Air Force Academy for mentoring cadets. You can connect with him online, Twitter and Facebook.
Book Trailer
The Giveaway
My US and Canadian readers can now enter to win one of five copies of The Ethical Coach Leader.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
March 28, 2016
The Power of LEGO #StreamTeam
LEGO has always given us hours of family fun and encouraged fine motor skill practicing for our children. LEGO is one of those toys that anyone can play with, age and gender doesn’t matter! Although they have some pretty cute new sets that are geared towards girls that I would have loved as a child.
I still remember as a child building farms, houses and castles with my brother and sister. We had huge boxes to play with and used our imagination to create our own master pieces. We didn’t have a lot of instructions to follow and would literally spend hours creating on the kitchen table.
While the LEGO has changed, the educational and creative benefits of the toys are undeniable. Children can literally build anything with their kits now, from Star Wars ships to boats and ambulances. Schools use them in kindergarten for math skills and social skills (my son’s personal favourite section at Kindergarten is this section, he comes home telling me all about what he has created on a daily basis).
Spring time is perfect to break out the LEGO kits and get those creative minds and hands working. The weather can be so unpredictable which cancels outdoor playtime, so it is important to keep your children entertained. We can do this through building model ships, cities, hosting battles and more.
Netflix understands the love children hold for LEGO and have brought the world alive with brand new shows. Their play list includes: Bionicle, Power of Friendship, Superheroes, City and Elves. There are so many different themes of LEGO to choose from, your child will love choosing the next inspired episode – they may even be able to reenact scenes with their figurines and worlds they have built.
Check out this Netflix clip from the new Bionicle Episode One: The Journey To One:
Looks awesome right? Don’t forget to check out the full episode on Netflix this month! What is your favourite LEGO themed show/kit?
Disclosure: I am affiliated with Netflix and receive perks with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.
