September Again by Hunter S. Jones

AMAZON

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Once again this author manages to capture and hold my attention the full 97 pages with a story of love, despair, hope, and joy.

In this second September story we continue to follow the life of Liz and her daughter after the death of the great poet Jack O. Savage. Things aren’t easy and the author has managed to bring all the struggles alive in a way that makes the reader root for the characters. The fine details show that the author has either done her research really well of writes what she knows from experience. Either way, it makes for a book with real living characters and scenes.

Her dialogues are never once contrived or stilted and each character speaks how you would expect a person from that age, gender, or social group would.

There is enough detail to the scenes to make them more than just a stage for the characters to play on, but never so much that it drowns out the story. A perfect balance between setting a scene and telling the story from within the character’s point of view.

The only downside to this great story is that I read it way too fast, or it was too short. On the other hand, it was complete. Had the author written more detail in it, or added scenes to make it longer that would probably have ruined what is now a perfect story.

Would I recommend this book? The answer to that is a big, fat YES! And I cannot wait to read the prequel to this all.

Featured Author – Merry Farmer

Hi Merry, thanks for taking the time to answer a few of my questions.

I’m curious. If you had to choose, history or future, what would it be and why?

Ooo, tough call! There’s something so exciting about the future, about all of the possibilities of what could happen with our civilization and where things might be going. I know I’d love to be on an early interplanetary colonization mission, for example, whenever humanity gets around to exploring again. But in the end I think I’m going to have to say history. There is as much to explore in the way things used to be as there is in the unknown future. Plus, you have to admit, the clothes were excellent! Although I’m not so sure about the layers and layers of Victorian underwear women had to wear.

Knowing this, I wonder if us modern women would still think the clothes were that great if we had to haul all those layers around every day. 🙂

But to skip to a different matter, is there any food or beverage that is a constant factor in either your books or life? And how does that tie in with the choice you made in the previous question?

Call me crazy, but I’m actually a huge fan of British food! Most people think it’s bland and boring, but give me a good, filling pasty or a really excellent shepherd’s pie any day! And there’s nothing quite like British high tea. I actually order special British tea online to drink in the mornings.

I think I would love to go back in time to just about anywhere in England in the 18^th or 19^th century to have high tea. It would be wonderful, just for a day, to dress to the nines in fine silks and a corset, with a lady’s maid to style my hair, and then to go visit the fine ladies of Mayfair to sip freshly imported tea and eat expertly prepared petit fours. … Okay, that sounds a lot more posh than I really am. I’d be just as content to sit and eat meat pies with the working class while asking them all about the realities of their lives. It’s amazing how the food people eat and the way they eat it tells you so much about people’s characters.

What is your favourite dish and can you give me the recipe?

Since I generally don’t have the time to make things like pasties and shepherd’s pie for myself (and boy do I wish I did!), my favorite dish that I eat several times a week is broiled salmon with pesto. I confess, I use store-bought pesto, but I learned a trick about cooking salmon from the chef at my day job for getting restaurant-quality results that I’d like to share with you.

The trick to cooking salmon is to broil it. It’s simple, easy, and leaves the fish tender and not overcooked or dry. I cook in a toaster oven because I’m usually just cooking for one. Make sure that the broiler is up to full heat. Starting with the salmon skin side up (although I usually have the skin removed), broil on one side for roughly 4 minutes. Then turn it over and broil right side up for 4 minutes. Voila! It’s as simple as that! When the middle is just a teensy bit pink, I take it out and slather it with pesto. It’s the most delicious thing ever, and depending on what sides I’m making, I can have a healthy, delicious dinner ready in 15 minutes or less.

What is the title of the book you would like to talk about, and can you give us a small taster of it?

I love talking about the third full-length novel in my Montana Romance series, In Your Arms.

AMAZON | SMASHWORDS | B&N | iTUNES

All of the books in this series can stand alone, but I particularly love this one because I’ve gone with an unconventional heroine. Let me share the back cover blurb with you, because it says it all….

Lily Singer has never belonged. Taken from her tribe as a child and raised in a white man’s school, she no longer has a place in either world. Teaching has become her life. When that life is threatened by rumors and prejudice after a string of robberies, she must turn for help to the one man who spells disaster for her carefully ordered existence. Will he save her or steal her heart?

Christian Avery, Justice of the Peace, is used to having things his way. Cold Springs is his responsibility, and when its citizens blame the local Indian population for the mysterious robberies, it’s up to him to restore order and maintain calm. The one person who refuses to follow his lead is the beautiful, native-born Lily. Her defiance turns his life upside down and ravages his heart.

But when town gossip shifts from robberies to romance after a foolish indiscretion, Lily’s job and reputation are on the line. She must choose between the only life she has ever known and the only place she has ever felt at home, in Christian’s arms.

One thing I really enjoyed about writing this book was taking conventional western characters—the schoolmarm and the justice of the peace—and giving them a whole new spin. It’s so much fun to start with the known and take it off into new territory.

Did you have difficulty coming up with the title?

For this one, I kind of did. I either know the title before I’ve even written the book (like with The Indomitable Eve) or I struggled and struggle for weeks to come up with something that works. I do a lot of playing with words and song lyrics and things to find titles while I’m driving around. Driving is a great way to knock your brain into dear!

And finally, can you tell me something no one has ever heard before from you?

Hmmm…. That’s easier said than done, because I tend to blab just about everything that comes to my mind! I learned a long time ago that there’s no point in keeping things to yourself or in keeping secrets. But I suppose I could confess that the sleepier I get, the more I talk and the less I actually pay attention to what I’m saying.

Hahaha, I seem to ‘suffer’ from the same affliction. So, I guess we’re both just very chatty persons. Nothing wrong with that I would say. 🙂

Thank you for being here Merry and good luck with the book, the entire series I should say.  Let me just finish with telling the readers that they can stalk, erm I mean follow, yes follow you online at her website, Facebook, on Twitter as @MerryFarmer20, and on her Amazon Author Page.

Release Event and Giveaway – Lost In Me by Lexi Ryan

Are you ready? The first novel in the series, LOST IN ME by NYT Bestselling Author Lexi Ryan is a sexy New Adult contemporary romance.

It is a new series Here and Now!

And it had been released this April 7^th!

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

LOST IN ME is on SALE for just .99 cents the first week of release as a fan appreciation from the author! 

LOST IN ME is the first book in the Here and Now series, a spin-off of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Hope series. This sexy amnesia love triangle is intended for mature readers.

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The last thing I remember is having drinks at Brady’s and trying to avoid eye-contact with my life-long crush—the gorgeous, unattainable Maximilian Hallowell. They tell me that was a year ago, but I have no memories of anything since then. What I do have is this ring on my finger that Max says he gave me, and this much-thinner body I’ve dreamed of most of my life. Aside from a case of retrograde amnesia, everything seems almost…perfect.

But the deeper I immerse myself into this new world of mine—planning a wedding to a man I don’t remember dating, attempting to run a business I don’t remember starting—the clearer it becomes that nothing is as it seems. Do I have the life I’ve always wanted or is it a facade propped up by secrets I don’t even know I have?

I need answers before I marry Max, and the only person who seems to have them is the angry, tatted, sexy-as-sin rocker Nate Crane. And Nate wants me for himself.

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LOST IN ME is not a standalone novel, as the story continues in Here and Now book two, FALL TO YOU, releasing in June.

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About the Author

Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids–a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I’m really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry, I’m always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Don’t forget! There is a Rafflecopter giveaway. Click HERE to enter and win!

Cover Reveal and Giveaway – Here and Now by Lexi Ryan

A new series from New York Times Bestselling Author Lexi Ryan, Here and Now is a sexy New Adult Contemporary Romance series that fans are sure to love.

Covers designed by Okay Creations

Torn between the man she’s always wanted and the man she can’t remember…and yet can’t let go.

LOST IN ME

(Book #1)

Releasing April 7, 2014

The last thing I remember is having drinks at Brady’s and trying to avoid eye-contact with my life-long crush—the gorgeous, unattainable Maximilian Hallowell. They tell me that was a year ago, but I have no memories of anything since then. What I do have is this ring on my finger that Max says he gave me, and this much-thinner body I’ve dreamed of most of my life. Aside from a case of retrograde amnesia, everything seems almost…perfect.

But the deeper I immerse myself into this new world of mine—planning a wedding to a man I don’t remember dating, attempting to run a business I don’t remember starting—the clearer it becomes that nothing is as it seems. Do I have the life I’ve always wanted or is it a facade propped up by secrets I don’t even know I have?

I need answers before I marry Max, and the only person who seems to have them is the angry, tatted, sexy-as-sin rocker Nate Crane. And Nate wants me for himself.

FALL TO YOU (Here and Now, #2)

Expected release June 2014

ALL FOR THIS (Here and Now, #3)

Expected release August 2014

About the Author

Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids–a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I’m really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry, I’m always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway

Life First by R.J. Crayton

AMAZON | AUTHOR SITE | B&N | GOOGLE PLAY | iTUNES

 Strong-willed Kelsey Reed must escape tonight or tomorrow her government will take her kidney and give it to someone else.

In this future forged by survivors of pandemics that wiped out 80 percent of the world’s population, life is valued above all else. The mentally ill are sterilized, abortions are illegal and those who refuse to donate an organ when told are sentenced to death.

Determined not to give up her kidney or die, Kelsey enlists the help of her boyfriend Luke and a dodgy doctor to escape. The trio must disable the tracking chip in her arm for her to flee undetected. If they fail, Kelsey will be stripped of everything.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

R.J. Crayton grew up in Illinois and now lives in a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC. She is a fiction writer by day and a ninja mom by night (What is a ninja mom, you ask? It’s the same as a regular mom, only by adding the word ninja, it explicitly reveals the stealth and awesomeness required for the job of mom). Before having children, Crayton was a journalist. She’s worked at big publications like theWichita Eagle and the Kansas City Star, and little publications like Solid Waste Report and Education Technology News. Her first novels, Life First and Second Life, were published in 2013. The third novel in the series will be released in 2014.

Find RJ on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and her site