Wednesday, January 29, 2014

REVIEW: "Children of the Knight" by Michael Bowler (Tribute Books)


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BLURB
"According to legend, King Arthur is supposed to return when Britain needs him most. So why does a man claiming to be the once and future king suddenly appear in modern-day Los Angeles?

This charismatic young Arthur creates a new Camelot within the City of Angels to lead a crusade of unwanted kids against an adult society that discards and ignores them. Under his banner of equality, every needy child is welcome, regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or gang affiliation.

With the help of his amazing First Knight, homeless fourteen-year-old Lance, Arthur transforms this ragtag band of rejected children and teens into a well-trained army—the Children of the Knight––where even gay boys and gangsters work side by side. Through his intervention, they win the hearts and minds of the populace at large, and gain a truer understanding of themselves and their worth to society. But seeking more rights for kids pits Arthur and his children squarely against the rich, the influential, and the self-satisfied politicians who want nothing more than to maintain the status quo.

Can right truly overcome might? Arthur’s hopeful young knights are about to find out, and the City of Angels will never be the same.

The Knight Cycle begins . . ."

Prices/Formats: $6.99 ebook, $17.99 paperback

Pages: 344
ISBN: 9781623806552
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Release: June 20, 2013

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR - MICHAEL BOWLER
Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of three novels - A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time, and Children of the Knight - who grew up in San Rafael, California.

He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.


He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.


He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.


He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state. He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.


He has already completed the two continuations of Children of the Knight that complete the trilogy - Running Through A Dark Place & And The Children Shall Lead. Both will likely be released in 2014.


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REVIEW

An English professor that I once had stated that what makes good fiction is "the unexpected".  Kids in unexpected circumstances.  Unexpected weather.  Historical figures doing unexpected things, etc.  We've all likely heard of King Arthur.  But what about when he unexpectedly shows up in present-day downtown L.A.?

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

I have interwebs back!!

Okay, so I've been MIA on this for awhile....or at least not posting NEARLY as frequently.  The reason?  My husband and I accepted new jobs in a new town (we are now both co-pastors at Lake City United Methodist Church in Lake City, MN) and moved to said new town.  We lacked internet until now, so I wasn't posting.  That doesn't mean I wasn't reading!  I'm reading an AWESOME book right now that I CAN'T WAIT to share with ya'll!!

That all said.  I'm baa-aaack!  :P

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

REVIEW: "Eyrie" - by Emma Michaels (Tribute Books Blog Tours)

I've reviewed Owlet (the prequel to this here book), and was simply delighted by this sequel!!  What would you do if your soul was part bird?  What bird would you want to be and why?  

Hey hey hey - as long as you are here, you might as well follow my blog as well.  : )  (Link to do so is on the side...)  :P



BLURB
"Somewhere between falling and flying…you will find the truth. 

The truth is being unveiled and Iris’ past is unlike anything she ever could have guessed. For Stryx, finding your missing half doesn’t always mean finding your mate. Iris has been missing a part of herself for so long that no one is sure she will be able to put the pieces back together and her ever reliable dreams may be forcing her astray. Coping with the death of someone she loved, she is forced to face the truth and break free from the lies that have caged her."


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eBook
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
ISBN: 9780985792244
Pages: 158
Release: October 13, 2012
Publisher: Tribute Books



ABOUT THE AUTHOR - EMMA MICHAELS


Emma Michaels is the author of the ‘A Sense of Truth’ and ‘Society of Feathers’ series. Her goal with her latest YA series the 'Society of Feathers' is to give others what she did not have growing up; a strong female protagonist with asthma.  While her previous aspiration was to be a lady knight she realized that not being able to run more than a few feet might become a hindrance so turned to writing instead. Her day jobs include being a cover artist, marketing consultant and silk screen designer.

As the founder of The Writers Voice blog (http://OurBooksOurVoice.Blogspot.com) she loves to connect authors and readers. As a book blogger turned author, she was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, until she moved at eighteen to Washington State. Suddenly, the world was a new place filled with tall green trees that reached further for the sky with every moment, making her want to do the same. Ever since, she has tried to make her life something new and different from what it was before, pursuing her future career, setting high goals and reaching for them. With the support of her fiancé, Chihuahua, and her amazing blog followers and fellow bloggers, she wants to prove to the world that anything is possible and help inspire fellow literary lovers to reach for their dreams.


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REVIEW
Revenge, a need for understanding, and learning to lean on others as necessary whilst figuring out who to trust appear to be common trends in much of today's fiction. What happens, however, when you throw in a secret society, love, twisted and tangled webs of deception, and a twist that may take your breath away? Eyrie.

Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5, and here is why:

The Good
Eyris is the beautiful sequel to Owlet, a story about a young lady who is trying to figure out who she is. Not an easy task for any young woman, but it turns out to be something especially difficult for Iris, as she discovers that she is the last of a precious bloodline for a secret society whose members are part human and part bird.

And she has asthma.

This asthma necessarily limits her physical mobility, despite her being an Owlet, but does not limit her in any other way. Now that she has embraced her Owlet side and is well on her way to fully realizing her abilities and talents, Iris has discovered a remarkable penchant for seeing to the truth of things...and for being able to enter the mind of another through touch.

Now, before I give away too much, know that much of what I said about the first book is also true here. Scrolly text would still describe Michaels' writing style very well. It feels scrolly and as though it would look perfect scribed into ancient parchment. The plot clips along at a reasonable pace that perfectly matches what is going on. Readers are not left hanging trying to figure out what happened and why – we are always clued in to others motivations and exactly what is going on. Of course, we see inside Iris' mind a little more than other characters, but that is to be expected.  The plot feels a little flat in places, but not sure how I'd fix it.

I must say, for trying to weave a work that blends birds and people, I think Michael did a pretty good job. I'm pretty picky about science fiction, being a real-life science lover as well as lover of anything to do with Star Trek, Stargate, BSG, Buffy, TVD, LOTR, etc (I keep telling my hubby that I really must make it to Comic-con at some point). Now that I sound like a sci-fi snob, let me say this: I really really like how Michael's has integrated human and bird aspects in the individuals within this work. It just works...and made me want to keep reading.

Eyrie continued the original story well and is consistent to the original plot (no small feat for sequels) while being interesting in its own right as its own book. Now, this is not a stand-alone book. There is a very clear cliff-hanger that nearly made me pounce out of my seat when I realized that is where the book ended, and it clearly is the continuation of a story. Michael's obviously assumes that anyone reading Eyrie has read Owlet, and this is not a bad thing (the Lord of the Rings books are not stand-alone either). Merely an observation.

The Bugly (bad/ugly)
I'm happy to report that one of my bugly's from the prequel to Eyrie didn't bug me nearly as much here, perhaps because my brain was a bit more used to the world that Iris inhabits. Regardless, the need for a glossary to keep bloodlines and such straight was somewhat lessened. It feels as though those are actually fairly clearly laid out here, though I did lose track of a few things and had to backtrack a bit.

That being said, the characters still sounded exactly like one another. They are not distinct enough for my liking. Yeah yeah, I gripe on this a lot. Yeah, I know how hard it is to keep voices distinct from one another (some day I'll be brave enough to show ya'll some of my fiction writing). But yeah, it distracts me when I feel as though I have to back up and figure out when the last “he said” was so I can figure out who is talking now.

Oh, and sentence structure falls apart at least once or twice per chapter. There were a few lines where I thought I was pretty sure what the idea was...but got lost in confused clauses.  Grammar is important, and this bugged me a lot (and frankly is why my score for the work is one point lower than it would be otherwise).  I'm not saying I'm a grammar queen - clearly, if you read this my grammar is off in places as well - but in an edited work it annoyed me.

OVERALL - I really liked this book.  It is a good, simple read that goes pretty quickly and is engaging on a level that engages the imagination in a pretty cool way.  It has its flaws...but so does Iris.  Are these flaws disguised strengths as they are for Iris?  You decide!




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Friday, January 10, 2014

PROMO: "Baby Bumps" - by Amy Sprenger (Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours)

As someone who was pregnant just recently (check out my other blog for some stuff on that: cheekypedanticferret.blogspot.com), I can bear witness to the fact that pregnancy isn't always...fun!  ;)  Blessed, but not always a barrel of laughs.  Or maybe...

BLURB
"From the author of the award-winning blog Snarky Mommy comes a book that will make every woman who has ever been pregnant pee with laughter (not that that's hard).

Wearing her highest heels and hottest pregnancy jeans, Amy Sprenger marched into her doctor's office, latte in hand, ready to finally see whether her baby was a boy or a girl. Sure, sure, this appointment was supposed to be about checking the health of the baby, but everyone who's ever been there knows it's really about looking for what lays, or doesn't lay, between the legs.

So when the doctor tells her she has an incompetent cervix, Amy does what any woman would do. She becomes immediately offended. Is that a politically correct way of saying her cervix sucks? Unfortunately, as she's soon to learn, it's a lot more than that. The only way to keep that baby from falling out on the sidewalk (probably in front of Starbucks) is for her doctor to stitch her cervix closed and for Amy to stay in bed for the next four months.

Four months that are carefully detailed in this "memoir." A memoir that, while basically true, has been embellished with Amy's signature brand of humor and hilarity.

With more time off than a castoff contestant on "The Bachelor," Amy took pen to paper and settled in for the ride. But instead of sitting around eating bonbons, she's popping hypertension drugs to stave off preterm labor. And complications? Oh, she's got your complications. She's gut-rehabbing her house. Her mother moves in to care for her. Her husband takes a "mancation" while she's stuck in the hospital. And every time she has a contraction, she's convinced it's The Big One.

Living by the adage that laughter is the best medicine, Amy fumbles her way through a series of sometimes serious and usually embarrassing situations. And just to be clear, using a bedpan qualifies as both serious and embarrassing."

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Baby Bumps - PROMO Blitz
By Amy Sprenger
Non-Fiction / Parenting / Humor
Date Published: 7/27/2013

THE AUTHOR - AMY SPRENGER





EXCERPT

(The set up for this is the main character, Annie, has been hospitalized with pregnancy complications and the nurse wants her to use a bedpan. Annie most definitely does NOT want to use a bedpan, her husband, Jake, is not being at all helpful, and hilarity ensues.)

     The nurse comes back an hour later and stares pointedly at my untouched water. I stare pointedly at the bedpan. It’s a pee standoff at the O.K. Corral. She adjusts the belts holding the monitors in place and hands me the glass. I take the tiniest sip I can possibly take and slam it down with a fake smile. She sighs and leaves.
     “Don’t forget to call Dr. Thornton!” I yell as she walks down the hall.
     Another hour goes by, and by this time, Jake has arrived and he finds the whole thing to be highly amusing. He keeps trying to get me to pee.
     “You know what I could go for right now?” he asks. “A swim in a cool mountain stream. You know what I’m thinking about right now? A crashing Hawaiian waterfall. And a lazy brook, bubbling along in the woods. All that cool, clear water. Would you mind if I let the water drip in the bathroom? I just love the sound of moving water.”
     “Can you kindly shut the h***up about water?” I snap. “I don’t know why you would even want me to have to pee. Because you would have to help me. And that wouldn’t be so funny anymore, would it? Just stop talking.”
     “But we haven’t even talked about the Trevi Fountain, Hoover Dam or Old Faithful. There are so many topics that I feel are really important to cover right now.”
     “Cut it out! I have been holding it for the last three hours and I really have to go.”
     “Then by all means, let me get you the bedpan.”
     “I can’t. I’m scared.”
     “There’s nothing to be scared of. Except getting it all over yourself. And smelling like pee for the next three months because you’re not allowed to shower. Oh, and me telling everyone we know that you’re incontinent.”
     At this point, I am jiggling my foot and trying to cross my legs because I have to go so bad. The pain in my bladder is unbearable. It would be way worse to pee myself seeing as there’s a bedpan an arm’s length away from me, so I admit defeat.
     “Just give me the damn thing and get out,” I snarl at Jake.
     “Your wish is my command. Now, where’s my camera? I need to get a picture of this,” he says, with too much enthusiasm. I grab the pink bowl from him and point to the door. I line the bowl up under my butt and somehow contort myself so my nether regions are somewhat inside the bowl and I wait. And I wait. And I wait some more. Of course, I couldn’t hold it before and now I have stage fright. My bladder is all “Give it up! Give it up!” and my brain is all “Does not compute, body not in the sitting-on-toilet position!” After a full minute of lying there thinking about peeing, I feel a first trickle, which quickly turns to a gush. I’m uneasy about the capacity of this thing, but figure it will serve the nurse right if she has to clean up a pee-soaked bed.
As soon as I finish, I feel immensely better. I buzz the nurse’s station and they ask what they can do for me.
     “I peed in the d*** bucket,” I reply. “Can you send someone in to dispose of the evidence?” A woman’s voice says my nurse is helping another patient right now, but she’ll be right in. Jake knocks on the door and asks, “Everything coming out okay in there?”
     “Shut up and come in,” I respond. “The deed is done. I am completely shamed and will never again make fun of Depends commercials because I’m pretty sure an adult diaper would be preferable to this. Get this thing out from under me, would ya? I can’t move it without spilling it.”
     “Are you kidding me? That’s a biohazard. I’m not coming anywhere near you. You can wait for the nurse.”
On cue, she strides in and smiles at me.
     “I’m glad to see you’re more comfortable now,” she says, motioning for me to raise my hips and sliding the bucket o’ pee out from under me with practiced ease. “Oh, and your doctor called. You were right, you didn’t need to use the bedpan. You have full bathroom privileges. Sorry for the confusion.”




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Monday, January 6, 2014

REVIEW: "Destiny Sets" - by Karen Fainges (Virtual Book Tour Cafe)

destiny-sets-medium
BLURB
"Destiny Sets is the first novel in the Shaytonian Chronicles.   Lightning sears a scene against the eye. Trapped between reality and death, every scrap of life is fighting for existence. To stop fighting is to die. Some precious moments of peace can be stolen from small pockets of calm. Life can take a breath and wonder at the harsh beauty. But only for a moment, then struggle resumes. And others watch.   The Shayton Chronicles begins in Destiny Sets, the story of one man. He is that drop of chaos that can spell success or failure.   Born from a vampiric race of slaves, genetically moulded to provide comfort for their masters, he alone decides to be truly free. Irreverent humour and a fierce need to know 'why', war within him and entire worlds are changed.   "The Stainless Steel Rat with fangs."


Book Genre: Scifi/Fantasy Vampire
Publisher: Writers Exchange


downloadABOUT THE AUTHOR - KAREN FAINGES
Karen Fainges works as a trainer in business and computing. A wife and mother, she started thinking up sci-fi stories at the age of 10. Editor of the K-tips business and computing ezine, she longed to present her fiction to the world. So she took those long ago stories, a love of the absurd and wrote about beings that were not humans. Sometimes you see a lot more about humanity and yourself when you are looking at someone else.

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REVIEW
Vampires have overtaken common lore.  Well, vampires and zombies (not sure which I would be more freaked by during a chance encounter....each in their own way...).  Just take a look at the recent popularity of shows and books dedicated to each.  But what if the vampires have more of a story than we realize....and what if they are from another dimension?

Overall, I give this book a 3 out of 5, and here is why.......

THE GOOD 
Given that vampire stuff has been done, and done and done and done, it can be hard to find anything truly original in the area of vampire lore.  Fainges, however, has here fashioned something truly original. 

Here we have a vampire who bleeds purple (kind of made me think of Vulcans and their green blood), loves passionately, defends vehemently, and Survives stubbornly.  Born under a shroud of conspiracy and secrecy, this vampire is determined to wrest his will out of life and not be used as a pawn.  If only he knew the true manipulation happening behind the scenes....

Fainges has here tended the character development of a very interesting vampire caught in very interesting circumstances.  We learn that he is from a planet that literally wrests itself to pieces and rebuilds constantly, uses the 'old power' (read: magic), is kind of related to a woman who was bred as a weapon against the "Enemy", and fights to control the vampire beast within who threatens to gain control and turn him into a "fear eater" (one who feeds on prey's fear...and loses control).  Doesn't that sound intriguing?

It is.  :)

I enjoyed the story here.  Vampires from alternate dimensions?  People used as pawns?  Science fiction presented in a way that is new and intriguing?  I definitely was hooked on the story and characters and found myself constantly reading away far past the time I intended to lay the book down. 

Characters are interesting, unique, distinct, have fairly clear motivations (well, most of them) and EACH HAVE THEIR OWN CLEAR VOICE!!  YAY!!  (okay, I'm over excited, but this is one of my sticking points as a reader, so there).  Settings are just as interesting.  Not only does Fainges have the vampires on Earth, but also in their own planet...as well as on a few others.  The plot is engaging, writing style is accessible, all in all a fairly nice read. 

Oh, and did I forget to mention that there are some really interesting philosophical/ethical questions raised in much the same kind of way as they appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation?  ("Nora, your geek is showing...") 

The Bugly (bad/ugly)
Now, I'm gonna be super nitpicky here.  Keep in mind that I do enjoy this story and this book.  Just...
  • While the plot is intensely original and interesting, it jumps around a bit and almost feels as fragmented in places as the constantly shifting soil of planet on which the vampires originate.  Transitions from various settings and time periods are rather unclear, and at times it was hard for me to figure out where/when the vampires were located.  Things did not flow real well.  
  • There were enough grammatical errors to distract me while reading.  Seriously, my editing fingers were itching.  :P
  • More more more....I wanted more!  While we are given lots about the characters and their motivations, it often felt as there was a back story that we needed in order to truly understand just what in the heck was going on.  Why was this vampire bred specifically?  Just who is the Enemy?  Huh what why?  Now, keep in mind that I've always been the pesky one constantly asking "why" about everything (I've driven a few employers and friends to distraction by doing so), but this made me ask "why" constantly.  Argh.  Rather than feeling like the first book in the series that this work is, it felt like a second book that was depending on the first book to fill in some gaps.
  • On that kind of note, how things work in this universe did not make sense to me in some places....just how could certain beings watch other beings?  How did things work?



GUEST POST
"The hardest part of character development for me has always been remembering what I said before. You need to keep all the details about your character somewhere where you can refer to it easily and make sure you get the basics right. You might think that you really don’t need this for your main character. Maybe not, though it is amazing how often I have to go back and check a fact. More likely you will need the reference sheets for supporting characters, those that wander on and off the page at intervals long enough that you forgot what you called them, or what colour their hair was.

One example of a sheet for keeping character details on is available http://dehydromon.deviantart.com/art/Blank-Character-Sheet-doc-Over-370-Questions-298561173. There are also less detailed sheets for minor characters.

Now you probably will not use even half of this in your story and definitely not for a minor character. ‘So why gather it’ I hear you asking. Good question.

You gather the information because the better you know the characters, the better your writing will be. First of all, the internal logic will be there. You won’t have consistency problems across the book or series.

You will never have to stop and think what a character would do in a given situation. You can also use small details to give reasons for your character’s actions. For example, I would rarely see the need to simply state that my character’s favourite colour is blue. If he met someone wearing the exact shade of blue that was the colour of his favourite jewel that his mother wore, that could influence his decisions and reactions.

The other area of character development that can be difficult is creating mannerisms that round out the character without being annoying (unless that is what you are going for). Here’s an example. In the Harry Potter books and movies, Harry would push his glasses up his nose if he was confused or embarrassed. Rowling didn’t have him do it in every scene, but it was often enough to see the habit of a young boy whose glasses never quite fit.

In contrast, Barty Crouch had that annoying thing he did with his mouth. It instantly told you that he was none too stable and more than a little bit creepy. The more he did it, the more I didn’t like him and I am sure that was intended.

So write down details so you stay consistent, give colour and depth to your characters and show their reasoning. Even if they don’t know why something is pushing their buttons, with the help of your sheet, you will."

Excerpt

Painting the mythic vampire

The deep royal blue sky of the Italian Riviera provided the perfect backdrop to the posed woman. She was an otherworldly figure set amongst the ancient columns. Her softly accented voice broke the stillness. "Are you sure about this?"
She watched as he added a daub more paint, "I am sure. You said it yourself, the best way to deny something it is to say it is true."
"And what if the Council finds out?"
Alfredo dabbed on a different colour. Going by the look on his face, he still did not have the skin colour the exactly right colour of purple. It had been frustrating him all evening. There was a timeline that neither one of them had mentioned, but it loomed in their thoughts. He was getting older, and no one lived forever. His words dragged her out of the wave of sadness that swept through her. "This mythical Council of yours, what if they do notice the paintings? They are just paintings."
"The Council is no myth. They rule our world."
"I thought the King ruled your homeworld?"
Lisa started to shrug but remembered in time not to move from the pose. "His rule is absolute, so long as he leaves all the day to day decisions, like whether to exile his daughter to Earth, to the Council."
"And you, as this poor exiled waif are concerned that one of those 'day to day' decisions may be objecting to this painting?"
Lisa snorted at the sarcasm in his voice, knowing it was meant more to chide her out of the doldrums than anything else. "They defend of the safety of Shayton. They hold dear her anonymity. It keeps her from being destroyed by those that fear the different, which, my dear, you must agree describes most humans remarkably well."
Alfredo nodded, "And trust me, the picture of a masked dancer with obviously fake wings..." Lisa snorted again at this description of her body, "will ensure that any little slip ups like the one in Venice, will be seen as a publicity stunt and nothing else. Your Council will thank us."


Karen-Faignes-Long


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Saturday, January 4, 2014

EXCERPT: "Nothing Personal" - by Rosalind James (Reading Addiction Blog Tours)

Answer this question in the comments: what do you do when love seems determined to make its mark, even if you want it to be "nothing personal"?  (Make sure you read the excerpt at the bottom of this post!"




BLURB
"Alec Kincaid has never met the obstacle he couldn’t overcome—or the woman who could resist him. And it’s not going to happen now, not with his star shining more brightly than ever in the high-stakes arena of San Francisco’s software industry.

Desiree Harlin doesn’t believe in fairy tales, and she doesn’t waste time wishing. She’s learned the hard way that dreams don’t come true. And with her reputation and hard-won security on the line, succumbing to temptation isn’t an option. 

But things aren’t always what they seem. And even stars sometimes fall."











Contemporary Romance
Date Published: 10/18/2013

The Kincaids Book #2
By the author of the bestselling Escape to New Zealand series--
When you wish upon a star . . . 





ABOUT THE AUTHOR - ROSALIND JAMES
Rosalind James is the author of the Kindle-bestselling "Escape to New Zealand" series (currently five titles strong), as well as the new U.S.-based "Kincaids" series. Her first book,"Just This Once," has sold tens of thousands of copies in the year since it was published, eventually reaching #85 in the Amazon store. A marketing professional and publishing industry veteran, Rosalind has lived all over the United States and in a number of other countries, traveling with her civil engineer husband. Most recently, she spent several years in Australia and New Zealand, where she fell in love with the people, the landscape, and the culture of both countries. She loves trying new things in her writing, most recently the mystery and suspense in "Nothing Personal."  Rosalind credits her rapid success to the fact that “lots of people would like to escape to New Zealand! I know I did!” 




EXCERPT
"She’d spooned up every bit of the rich broth, the chunks of beef and vegetables, had dipped a second and then a third piece of bread in olive oil. Alec had watched it all without comment, while dispatching his own dinner with an alacrity that confirmed to Desiree that he really hadn’t had dinner yet tonight.

And when they’d finished, he’d insisted, together with Giuseppe—of course the waiter’s name was Giuseppe, because this wasn’t romantic enough, the white tablecloth and the single red rose and the candle and the worn brick against her shoulder—he’d insisted that she order cannoli for dessert.

“Just one,” he coaxed. “If you don’t want it, you don’t have to eat a single bite. But I think you need to taste whipped cream tonight.”

“Don’t you think she needs some whipped cream?” he demanded of the waiter, who smiled back at him, sensing, Desiree thought through a satisfied haze of red wine, succulent beef, and way too much potent testosterone, a truly magnificent tip.

“Definitely, the signorina needs whipped cream,” Giuseppe agreed. “And we have the best.”
She wasn’t sure how you had better whipped cream than anyone else, but when the dessert arrived, she had to concede that this was the best.

Amaretto, one still-sane corner of her practical brain suggested, but that sensible voice was drowned out, oh so rapidly, by the sensation on her tongue, the silky smoothness of cream, the almond sweetness of the liqueur, the delicate drift of pastry and the deep dark pleasure of chocolate. And Alec, watching her as she allowed the rich concoction to drift between her lips, over her tongue, down her throat. Watching her, enjoying the sight of her enjoying herself, as if it were his tongue. His throat.

By the time he’d slapped a hand against the door of the cab that had again been waiting when they’d stepped out of the restaurant’s front door, leaped back onto the sidewalk and raised that same hand in farewell, she’d been so lost in fatigue, wine, and lust that she could only sit back against the scarred leather and thank heaven that she hadn’t actually kissed him. Or begged him."

Aw c'mon....that excerpt is such a tease!!!  I guess we'll just have to read the book to figure out context and what happens next (hey, that rhymed!)...