Hi Shannon, welcome to the blog. Please tell us about yourself.

(cc) AmericanVirus

Hi, Tina, thanks so much for having me here today! Besides being born and raised in Delaware and having such a wonderful supportive family, I'm a freak for the paranormal. Seriously, I could stay up all night telling and listening to ghost stories, which is why I love to write the paranormal genre.

“Crap,” Angelle said, relaxing her stance slightly. “It’s coming from the kitchen. This can’t be good.” She shot Amelia a frazzled look and then dashed up the steps of the porch. At the glass double doors, she turned back and waved, gesturing for Amelia to follow. “Come on, honey,” she called, before rushing into the house.

The screaming grew louder and another clatter echoed through the doorway. Amelia rushed after Angelle, jogging over the inter-locking stone, dazed, as if she had stumbled into an alternate universe. She climbed the three steps of the stone-covered porch and peeked through the open door, trying to stay out of the way of whatever chaos had been unleashed.

A faint smell of smoke washed out, followed by a man’s agonized yell. Amelia glanced around, realizing she was walking into the kitchen.“Ouch,” he groaned, sounding a bit amused. His arms were raised in an attempt to protect himself from the blows of a broom swishing furiously at him. “It was an accident!” he cried out.

On the other end of the broom was an elderly woman who looked to Amelia like she was made of circles, with a round pudgy face and plump round body. She had on a flowery apron splattered with some kind of yellowy goo and she was screaming unintelligible utterances at the man as she continued to beat him relentlessly.

Suddenly, Amelia saw the stove light up, fire crackling and blazing. Forgetting the scene in front of her, she dropped her bag and rushed in. What had her mother said about grease fires? Baking soda, use baking soda, Amelia thought, that was it. She whipped open the fridge, frantically searching and grabbed a box of baking soda from the door. She dumped it on the burning grease-lit frying pan. The fire extinguished in a billowing cloud of smoke and she coughed when she sucked in a breath.

“What the hell is going on?” Angelle yelled, jumping in between them. She snatched the broom out of the woman’s hands and tossed it out of reach. It flew across the room, and slammed into the wall before clattering to the marble floor. “That’s enough.” She grabbed the man by the shoulders and shoved him away.“He’s ruining my kitchen. Look at this mess,” the elderly woman said in a tizzy, surveying the mess. Amelia followed her gaze and noticed that the yellowy goo was splattered everywhere, smeared across the large cherry island, globbed on the weathered black wall cabinets, dripping from the ceiling, as if a bomb of stickiness had gone off.

The man was rubbing his shoulders, looking at Angelle as if she had really hurt him. Amelia stood back and watched, trying to stay out of the way. He was just as tall as Angelle, and bulky with muscles like a football player, a really hot football player. “I was just trying to make pancakes for Amelia,” he said, smiling bashfully at Amelia. Then he looked back over at Angelle, “And in case you missed it, she was hitting me. Why did you shove me like that?”Angelle rolled her eyes in a dramatic show of annoyance, “I’m sure you deserved it Eric. You usually do.” She looked over at the woman, who was now scurrying around the kitchen trying to clean up the mess. “What did he do, Mabel?” That’s Eric, Amelia realized. She giggled. He really was looking green. That’s what the guard had been talking about. His shaggy, uneven, punk style haircut was dyed in a vibrant, bright green. Hot, she thought. Green hair, hot? Well, on him, yes, it was really hot. He was covered in the same sticky goo—pancake batter?
“He used a blender without the lid,” Mabel said. Her voice was stern and a touch motherly and she had a soft accent, maybe English, Amelia thought. And she looked absolutely fit to be tied. He just shrugged. “Stirring was taking too long.” “You’re such a dork—and what’s with the hair?” Angelle laughed. “You look like a little punk.” “Don’t knock the hair,” Eric said, leaning back against the island, arms folded across his chest. “You can’t go to the office like that,” Angelle said. “Don’t have to. I’ve been promoted to personal chauffeur. And I think it looks great. I thought you would appreciate it.” He batted his eyes and struck a pose. “It totally matches my eyes.” He looked Amelia over and then pushed off from the counter, strolling towards her with a mischievous grin on his face.Amelia had hoped they had forgotten about her and she really hoped she wasn’t drooling, because man, he was sexy, like head to toe sexy. He stopped about a foot away from her and she met his eyes, which indeed matched his new hair color. Eric dropped into a gallant bow and she giggled like a little schoolgirl. He took her hand in his, and kissed it lightly.

“Welcome my lady,” he said playfully. Angelle groaned. “You are such a moron.”




​​​​March 25: Bl​ack Lion Tours Blog: Introduction​.
March 26: MK McClintock Blog: Promo.
​March 27: Le Vanity Victorienne: Promo.​
Lindsay's Scribblings: Promo.
March 28: Tina's Book Reviews: Promo.
​March 29: Clean Romance Reviews: Promo.
March 30: Vanilla Moon Blog: Promo.
March 31: Paranormal Book Reviews: Promo​
April 1: Marked by books: Review.
April 2: Laurie's Paranormal Reviews: Promo.
April 3: Kimberly Lewis: Promo.

Hi Christi! Welcome to the blog. What inspired you to write A Fine Romance? 

When I lived in Chicago and saw the vibrant downtown neighborhoods open with every sort of retail day and night, I got the idea for a romance store. At the time, I was a wedding planner, and thought it would be terrific to have a place people could duck into to grab a picnic basket full of treats, a card, and a heart shaped blanket to turn a ho-hum Wednesday into a special date night. I even came up with a name for it: A Fine Romance. Creating the store in my book required a lot less start-up capital than creating it for real. So when I decided to turn Planning for Love into a four book series, I knew I had to find a way to work the store into it.

Oh my gosh, a romance store? I would totally shop there! I can imagine all the fun romance movies and songs you could play to set the tone. So.....if you could pick a song to encapsulate the mood of your book what would it be and why?

Christi Barth earned a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage. A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning. Ultimately she succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes contemporary romance. Christi is President of the Maryland Romance Writers and lives in Maryland with her husband.

Writing a Convincing Historical Romance 
by Ashley Christman-2013 writing as Charlotte Davila

As a writer, it’s easy to get stuck in a genre rut—writing in one familiar genre over and over again. Who doesn't want to stay with what they know they do well ? I decided recently to try my hand at other genres, specifically I wanted to write a historical romance.

Let me start by saying, it wasn't easy. I have a knew found respect for writers who make this their main genre. The research alone is daunting.

The Lady and the Highwayman takes place in Georgian England on a country estate. Most aristocratic families of the period lived outside of London for most of the year and had social seasons where they’d visit. There were also seasons for going to take the waters at Bath and anyone fashionable was conscientious of this.

In doing research for this book (which takes part in the latter part of the Georgian era), I found a lot of interesting information on fashion, history, politics, language, popular foods, art, etc. It was difficult to not just stick it all in (but then it’d be a text book, not a novella). Instead, I had to figure out how these details worked into the story, if at all.

What I did was this: I applied the same world-building skills I've learned from writing in the paranormal/urban fantasy genres. I didn't have to regurgitate every stitch of information I’d learned, but rather, my characters had to know it—because they would—and it would be a part of how they interacted with the world around them.

In creating the characters of Will and Elizabeth, I still managed to make them unique in their society of friends because they’d made it a point to be well-learned, and therefore, more open to other possibilities. This plays a huge role in the decisions they make throughout the course of the lives, including their engagement and romance.

It was a fun experience trying my hand at historical romance and I hope people enjoy it. Will I do it again? Probably, unless another genre catches me first.

As a child, Ashley M. Christman spent many hours in imaginary worlds, exploring the depths of mythology and immersing herself in a breadth of classics. After spending so much time reading, she decided to try her hand at writing. An avid fan of film noir, she combines fantasy, noir style heroes and heroines, and the paranormal in a modern day setting in a way that hopefully would make even Bogie proud. When not writing, she can be found in the wilds of Minnesota enjoying great cuisine, avoiding the gym, and being walked by the dog with her partner, Tom.

March 1, 2013 by Tyndale House
Paperback, 384 Pages
Contemporary-Inspirational
Review Copy (Blog Tour/Cfba)

When Penny meets Trent its love at first sight. He's the first man to give her attention, the first man to make her feel alive and the first man to punch her in the face. Of course the punching didn't come until after they eloped and ran off together,  cutting off her parents and everything that tied her to her old life. Trent's charm reeled her in and kept her there for years to come as his Jekyll and Hyde persona controlled every aspect of the marriage. Depressed, isolated and alone, Penny can't seem to get out of bed most days, let alone attempt to be the quintessential housewife. At the end of her rope, Penny almost wants to die, but fate has other plans for Penny and a door opens that changes the course of everything after Trent is hurt in a working accident and is temporally blinded.

Disabled and unable to provide financially a bitter and mopey Trent allows Penny to get a cleaning job and grants her a little freedom to have a life outside the home. The abuse stops during his recovery and Penny discovers shes pregnant, between making a few friends and Trent trying to be a better husband, its really the most peace shes had in all their married years. The dynamic of the two women she gets close to changes her perspective on life, love and what it means to really live, Penny is feeling excited about her future for the first time, but deep down she knows this balloon of happiness could not last forever, and as Trent regains his eyesight, the abuse and control follows. As the balloon pops, her friends will go to lengths to help, but Penny always a prisoner of Trent's dominance wont let go, she doesn't know how and doesn't want to. With a baby weeks away and a man hell bent on destruction Penny will have to make the hardest decisions in her life.

Wings of Glass is Gina Holmes third novel and while not my favorite of hers, an overall solid read. Most of the abuse in Wings of Glass is told and not shown, which of course is beneficial to those who are sensitive readers or prefer less graphic details when reading about touchy subjects. Besides the abuse, drinking, drugs and infidelity are all used to signify who Trent's character is, but the full force of his personality is somewhat dulled because obviously Holmes was not going to use graphic language or scenes, she still managed to confirm that he was a man lost in his own battle, and not so much making him out to be the top dog of evil, but one we almost feel sorry for. I had a hard time with that, it was a powerful question to ask- the ultimate forgiveness scenario- I myself would say beat him on the head with a frying pan, but mercy is extended to people like him everyday, especially in Gods eyes. While forgiveness is a command not to be taken lightly, there are also consequences for our actions and forgiveness should never enable a person to continue in evil, which for the better half of the book Penny allowed Trent to do. I didn't want to see a path taken in this novel to say that as a Christian woman Penny had to condone her husbands abuse and infidelity and while I did like the outcome of Penny's future, I didn't agree with the issue of divorce presented in the story, and by that I mean the almost too easy way out for Penny. It can be said God works in mysterious ways, but I felt Penny had every right to divorce and press charges had Holmes decided to take her character in that direction.

At the end I had very mixed feelings about Penny, I was frustrated with her and didn't understand her decisions, yet I knew I couldn't relate to her fully due to never experiencing spousal abuse, so that in itself softened me towards her. It intrigued me that at the end of the book, Gina Holmes addresses this very question in her acknowledgments, I believe she wanted us to see not so much the detailed accounts of beating after beating but the physiological warfare going on inside of Penny's mind. Her reactions are illogical to a reader who has never been abused, that I can understand, but trying to see why she protected him and used God hating divorce as her crutch was hard for me to look past.

I think Holmes created a beneficial story and as much as I liked the more personal feel and loved that Holmes made her characters everyday like, the faith aspect was very thick and the time setting never felt right to me, sometimes it felt like the early 60's, others times current day, Penny used unfamiliar settings and slang that felt off for modern day, and her personality only hit me at surface level, it was hard to connect to any of the characters without knowing what time frame I was in. Little things like that will probably pass most readers by, but as a reviewer they stuck out like a sore thumb to me. In the end though, it comes down to minor glitches in an all around moving story.

Rating

Recommended to adult readers and contains: Domestic abuse violence, references to murder, non-graphic sexuality, drinking, smoking and drugs.

3/5- Thanks to Tyndale for Review Copy

Strength in Females
by Lara Ashley-2013

Rhonda Campbell is no ordinary teenage girl. She has a special gift – or curse, as she calls it. She has visions of the future, but only when terrible things are about to happen….

The Hunger Games-Lionsgate

I have always been a fan of young adult fiction. Being a lover of words and creating interesting characters, it was only a matter of time before I wrote a young adult novel. Flee! is my first young adult novel and the first book in the Nitridia Saga.

I live with my husband and small daughter in Maui, Hawaii so the locale where the Nitridia Saga takes place is my backyard. Hawaii is a beautiful place in which to work and live —but you can trust me on this — there is no Nitridia Farm here on our island. Flee! is purely a work of fiction from my fertile imagination.

March 1, 2013 by Tyndale House

Athol Dickson's mystery, suspense, and literary novels have won three Christy Awards and an Audie Award. Suspense fans who enjoyed Athol's They Shall See God will love his latest novel, January Justice, the first installment in a new mystery series called The Malcolm Cutter Memoirs. The second and third novels in the series, Free Fall in February, and A March Murder, are coming in 2013. Critics have favorably compared Athol's work to such diverse authors as Octavia Butler (Publisher's Weekly), Hermann Hesse (The New York Journal of Books) and Flannery O'Connor (The New York Times). Athol lives with his wife in southern California

Check out the post below for links and tour dates and an expert from Athol's book January Justice!

Release Date: November 29th, 2012.
​Genre: Murder Mystery.​
Formats Available for Purchase: Paperback, Kindle, PDF The book is PG 13. Very little sex and nothing explicit in any way. There is some violence but again nothing graphic: gun shots, etc…


I was looking forward to reading this book especially when I discovered the author was returning to the mystery thriller genre. No one can weave a story, create real live characters and make someone enjoy the English language as much as Athol Dickson can. From page one I was hooked. The story was intense and deep. The plot was complex but I never felt lost. We stayed right with the main character Malcolm Cutter as he deals with his wife's death, re-cooperates from a near death experience and tries to get his life back together while undergoing a deep international plot to clear a terrorist organization of wrong-doing.

Never before in a book have I ever become so well-acquainted with a person who was never in the book but only mentioned in a past tense. It could only have been pulled off by an author that understands human nature and how we think deep inside.
- Steve Taylor-


​​One of the strangest things about the city was the sudden way it disappeared around the edges. One minute you were down on Sunset Boulevard surrounded by glass and concrete, and the next thing you knew you were up on Mulholland Drive, alone in the rough country. From a high window or a rooftop almost anywhere in Los Angeles you could see the mountains, and there was always something ravenous up there looking down.

I was up among the hungry creatures, standing at the edge of a cliff, with Hollywood and Santa Monica far below me in the distance. One step forward and I would be in midair. I was looking down and wondering if Haley had considered how suddenly you could go from city to wilderness. Then I wondered if it was a distinction without a difference, if the city might be the wilderness and the wilderness the city, and maybe Los Angeles’s edges seemed to disappear so suddenly because there really was no separation between sidewalks and mountain paths, buildings and boulders. Up in the mountains or down in the city, either way the carnivores were in control.

I am the underdog, not the old dog and I do learn new tricks.

(CC)-Doug8's

I’ve been asked many times about what inspired my new book, Bring Me Back. To that, I answer that it was a dream about my teenage rock star crush. It happened at the age of thirty-two, years after I’d had a single thought about him and yet, somehow, he managed to pop into my subconscious and give me an idea. What if a woman met and fell in love with the rock star crush of her youth, only later in life? I didn't realize it at the time, but that idea would change my life.

Bring Me Back is the first book I wrote, although it was the fourth to be published. Although I've always loved to write, I never set out to write fiction. It just happened. I realize how absurd that sounds. Ask any person at the grocery store or in line at the bank if they have an idea for a novel. Most will say “yes”. Most will never get around to writing it. Why? Because it’s really, really hard.

I was at a dinner party a few weeks ago and a dear friend of mine, Jim, went on about how proud he is of me for being able to not only start books, but actually finish them. My face instantly became flushed, and not just from the several glasses of wine I’d had at that point in the evening. It meant a lot coming from him—Jim’s absurdly well-read and so smart that virtually everything that comes out of his mouth is either fascinating or hilarious. He’s an excellent dinner-party guest. But there he was, legitimately in awe of something I did. Wow.

Jim asked me how I did it, what made me not only start the book, but finish it. The first part of the answer is easy. My family and I lost our house to a fire in the summer of 2008. As you can imagine, it was an enormous amount of upheaval—dealing with insurance, finding a place to live, getting our house rebuilt, and going about the business of replacing everything we’d lost. Our children were nine and seven at the time. It was really, really hard on them. I devoted my entire existence into showing them that when bad stuff happens, we hold on to each other and get through it. And that’s what we did.

But once the (construction) dust had settled and we were back in our house, with furniture and clothing and everything else we supposedly need, I realized that my job as crisis manager had come to an end. I’d done pretty well for myself. The kids were settled, my husband got up and went to work every day just as he had before the fire. But I’d put my at-home job and personal needs on hold to see our family through this. It was time to do something for myself.

That’s where we get back to the dream I had about my teenage crush. (For those of you keeping score, it was John Taylor from Duran Duran.) At this point, after the fire, the dream was nearly eight years behind me but still alive and kicking in my head. I’d had years to think about what might happen and since I’d decided to do something for myself, why not write a book? Finally get it out of my system, right? Seemed like a relatively sane idea.

I sat down at my computer and started to write, fully expecting that I would quit after twenty pages or so. My dear friend, Jim, told me he has the beginning of four different books on his computer. I expect that’s the way it goes for most people. For whatever reason, the stars seemed to align and Bring Me Back was quickly a snowball barreling down a hill with me in hot pursuit. It got bigger as it went, took on a life of its own, and became my obsession. I slept very little, ate even less (this is not the medically approved way to lose the baby weight, but it does work), and could do little more than write, write, write. I had my first completed draft in six months.

Of course, it took nearly a year to revise the damn thing, with the help of Karen Stivali, my critique partner and now one of my closest friends. The finished version of Bring Me Back is something I take great pride in, but a close second is the journey that brought me to this point.

But let’s get back to the dinner party and my talk with Jim. He enjoyed the story you just heard, but then he said that he was equally in awe of the fact that I've since finished four other books. I don’t really think that much about it any more, it’s just what I do, but I wondered, aloud and to him, what if Bring Me Back hadn't been the first book I’d sat down to write? I’m not entirely sure any other story would have consumed me in the way that one did. And perhaps I've only been able to write the other books because I had proven to myself that I could do it in the first place. Of course there’s no way to know, and the question will always be there for me, but I do know this much: it certainly changed my life.

Karen Booth is a Midwestern girl transplanted in the South, raised on 80s music, Judy Blume, and the films of John Hughes. An early preoccupation with rock ‘n’ roll led her to spend her twenties working her way from intern to executive in the music industry. Much of her writing revolves around the world of backstage passes and band dynamics. When she isn't creating fictional musicians, she's listening to music with her kids, honing her Southern cooking skills or sweet-talking her astoundingly supportive husband into whipping up a batch of cocktails.