Tara Chevrestt's Blog, page 62

The Forgotten Pharaoh by Laura DeLuca Release Party #Giveaway

Purchase



Smashwords * OmniLit * Barnes &Noble 

Julie Gerber isn't thrilled to be pulled out of school her senior year to follow her parents halfway around the world to unearth a lost pyramid. However, when the cute British guy and the mysterious financier of their project both fight for her attention, things start to get interesting.

The pharaoh known as Djedefre was cursed for the murder of his eldest brother. The work of the archaeologists brings new secrets to light, ones that prove the fallen god-king wasn't the villain history had
painted him to be. Can they prove his innocence?

As the team digs deeper into the mystery, members of the party vanish or end up dead. Someone is determined to keep the truth hidden at all costs, even 4,500 years later.

 Be sure to add The Forgotten Pharaoh to your to-read list on Goodreads and check it out on Manic Readers!






 About the Author


Laura “Luna” DeLuca lives at the beautiful Jersey shore with her husband and four children.  In addition to writing fiction, Laura is also the editor of a popular review blog called New Age Mama.  Her works include
romantic thrillers, paranormal fiction, contemporary romance, and young adult.
  Follow the author
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Pinterest


The Giveaway

Author Laura DeLuca has put together a selection of prizes that go along with the story. All the prizes are Egyptian themed. Prize pack includes a decorative wall plague, oil diffuser, incense, book mark, collectible pens, necklace, scarab bead, real papyrus bookmark, pin, and ankh charms. ACV is around $100.




Our friends from Magical Monk Bags have also created a one-of-a-kind Egyptian style handbag depicting a scene of the Great Pyramids. The bag was hand-embroidered and is absolutely beautiful. AVC - $40.





Finally, The Whimsical Pixie has contributed a handmade dowsing board complete with blood stone pendulum valued at $45.99.




One lucky winner will walk away with all these prizes! Total value is over $180. To enter, simply fill out the rafflecopter form below. Giveaway will end on 4/29/14 and is open to the US only.

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Disclosure: Host blogs are not
responsible for prize delivery. Facebook, pinterest, and twitter are in no way associated with this giveaway.

10 Interesting Things About Shattered Embrace: Guest Post & Giveaway

1 – Author P.R. (Piper) Newton is an adoptive mother with a background in psychology, her experiences in both of these areas inspired the writing of this story.
2 – Shattered Embrace is told from the perspective of both the mother and daughter, which provides a special insight into the dynamic of adoption.
3 – Bethlehem Lily’s perspective is not shown through part of the story. This was done intentionally to reflect the fight or flight state that she was in during that time due to stress and trauma. Life for Bethlehem would have been so overwhelming during that transition, higher level processing would have been difficult.
4 – Many scenes throughout the book were inspired by real events in the adoption community, yes even the worm scene. Thankfully that one is not very common.
5 – Although this novel has been “in the works” for six years (from the very first idea of writing), the bulk of the story was actually written over a six week period. Once the words started flowing it was hard to stop them!
6 – After writing the story, it went into storage for over a year. That much time was needed before Piper could view it with fresh eyes.
7 – While writing the scenes about Ernest, Piper was in the public library and started crying. She saved the tougher scenes for private writing moments after that.
8 – The first chapter of Shattered Embrace was written on check out slips at the library while her kids played in the children’s section. Piper had to keep checking out more books to get more paper.
9 – As a devout geek mom, Piper slipped in references to two of her favourite shows, Doctor Who and Firefly.  She is curious to see how many readers find them.
10 – Shattered Embrace is written by a Canadian, about Canadians, so the story uses Canadian spellings and grammar. Canadians love the letter ‘u’!


***
Bethlehem took her first breath as her mother took her last.

Left to survive in overcrowded Ethiopian orphanages, she developed survival skills rivaling a warrior - a fierce, independent fighter before she could walk or talk. As she approached her second birthday, Bethlehem lived her days guided by two rules: everyone leaves and trust no one.

A world away in Canada, Tory Witcraft is trying to adopt from Ethiopia with her husband, Matt, when her adoption agency goes bankrupt, threatening her dreams of becoming a mother. Against the advice of many, including government officials threatening to revoke the adoption, she goes to Ethiopia, and her new daughter, Bethlehem.
When they finally meet, both mother and daughter struggle to connect, each trapped by their own fears and demons. Emotions and tempers run hot. Hearts and dreams collide, shattering a family before it could fully form.

The adoption journey was difficult, but no one expected the hardest part of the journey would begin once they met.
***
P.R. (Piper) Newton is a proud geek mom of two little boys, one through birth, one through adoption. She has a background in psychology and continues to take post-grad courses in childhood trauma and development. In her writings she loves to explore the human mind, putting her characters through unthinkable things, just to see how they react. She is a full-time author, who believes in the magical, creative inducing powers of arm warmers and stripy socks.Website: http://prnewton.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PRNewtonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PRNewtonwrites




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Strong is Sexy Heroine of the Week: Jet Tetsuo

Book: The Culling (Slave Girl Chronicles #1)
Author: JC Andrijeski
Heroine: Jet Tetsuo

Jet Tetsuo, the 19-year-old heroine of The Slave Girl Chronicles novels, grew up in a post-apocalyptic version of earth that's now being run by an alien species known as the Nirreth. Jet grew up protecting her mother and brother with her Japanese-style sword, Black, which she learned how to use after being trained by her ex-rebel uncle and his ex-rebel wife. She's spent the vast majority of her life hiding out underground from the Nirreth, in the skag pits outside of Vancouver, BC, which exist in the dead zone well away from the furthest edges of Nirreth society. From there, she and her friends and family hunt for food, grow what they can in the changed atmosphere, and fight off animals and human bandits, as well as the Nirreth themselves.

Jet's tough and sexy because she's totally her own person, self-reliant and unafraid to make her own way in the world, despite all of the obstacles in front of her. While she's a survivor and will cut corners when she has to, to protect the ones she loves, she never loses her sense of who she is...even after she gets picked up by one of the infamous "culling" ships of their Nirreth overlords. The Nirreth bring Jet to one of the Nirreth Green Zones to fight in the Rings, their version of the Colosseum, only populated mainly by human slaves, and while they try to wear her down and make her "obedient," they never truly succeed, even when she has to compromise with them to stay alive.

Blurb:
Jet is a 19-year-old skag, one of the humans still living free on Earth following an invasion of creatures called the Nirreth. Squatting in the ruins of Vancouver, Canada, Jet and her family eke out an existence underground, hiding from the culler ships. No one knows where the ships take the people they grab, but they never return. When a culler finds Jet, she may discover the truth the hard way.
Excerpt:Jet landed hard on a metal deck. It felt as if she’d been thrown there bodily by two large men, each holding one half of her arms and her legs.

For a long-seeming second, she sat on the ridged metal floor, panting, gripping the wall with one hand. She gripped the hilt of her sword in the other.

The instant she could focus her eyes, blinking back the tears from the wind and her screaming as she rose in the air, Jet lurched drunkenly to her feet, holding the sword in front of her. Both of her hands gripped the hilt as soon as Jet pushed off from the wall.

She could barely see the creature in front of her, but she heard a hiss as it backed off. She stepped towards the lit hatch door, moving sideways so that her eyes never left the tall, midnight blue-skinned shape in front of her. When she finally chanced a glance down, her heart sank. The hovercraft stood at around the fifth story of the nearest building.
If she jumped, she’d die. And she didn’t see a ladder, or even the vine-like rope they’d used to haul her up.

“Let me down!” she shouted, taking a step towards the creature with the sword.

He slid gracefully back, moving with an incredible lightness for such a tall creature.

“Let me down!” she insisted, louder. “I’ve broken no laws!

Which wasn’t true of course. Just living underground, squatting in caves and growing their own food was technically against the law. Much less the poaching they did, or the bartering with others, including black marketeers. Really, the only way to live outside the Nirreth cities and not break the law was to work for the Nirreth directly and live in their assigned settlements, what humans called the ‘Hamster Cage.’ Even those people starved unless they cut corners.

Jet knew that because her settlement traded with them for some of the staples they had no other way to get locally. Like rice. Flour. Even sugar on occasion.

But the laws were just an excuse. The Nirreth must know just like we did that everyone broke them, pretty much every day. They picked up skags because they could.

“Let me down!” Jet yelled again. “You have no right to keep me!”

She tensed when the creature met her gaze with its large, black eyes. It gestured towards her, in one of the few Nirreth signs she knew.

It was a peace gesture, an offering to parlay.

“No,” she said. “No parley! Let me down...right now!”

Purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Omnilit, Drivethru

Ten Questions from Tara: Interview with John A. Heldt, author of The Mine

Tara: You’re here to promote The Mine and the Northwest Passage series. What was the inspiration behind this story? How did it come to you?
John: I wrote The Mine shortly after reading and watching The Time Traveler's Wife in July 2011. Back to the Future was also an influence, as were A Walk in the Clouds, From Here to Eternity, The Time Machine, Racing with the Moon, The Notebook, and the short story, "A Sound of Thunder." I was also inspired by stories I had read about the attack on Pearl Harbor. One of my uncles, a construction worker in Honolulu who later served in the Army Air Corps, witnessed the whole thing from his car. The attack was, in my opinion, the most pivotal and defining event of the past hundred years. After watching many of the movies above, I wanted to write about 1941 but not in the usual way. I wanted to cover the months leading up to December 7 and do so from the perspective of a civilian time traveler who knew war was coming and wasn't all that thrilled about jumping into it. My protagonist wrestles with difficult decisions, the kind that can only confront someone with knowledge of things to come.
Tara: We focus a lot on heroines here on Book Babe. Tell me what makes your heroines strong.
John: There are several heroines in the Northwest Passage series, but none are more prominent than Grace Vandenberg Smith. As the protagonist of The Show and the girlfriend and mother of the protagonists of The Mine and The Mirror, respectively, Grace is the most important female character in the series and arguably the most sympathetic. She faces excruciating personal trials in three of the books after she is suddenly and unexpectedly separated from loved ones. In each instance, she adapts to her new circumstances and bravely carries on.
Tara: Did any particular woman in your family or life help inspire some of her traits?
John: Yes. Grace was inspired in part by my wife Cheryl.
Tara: What makes her sexy?
John: There are several things. Like most of the heroines in the Northwest Passage series, Grace is physically attractive. She is a slender platinum blonde, a classic 1940s beauty. She is also kind, compassionate, and extraordinarily resourceful. She's the shy young woman everyone underestimates in the beginning in the book but can't appreciate enough in the end.
Tara: Where do you see your heroine ten years from now? What will she be? What do you predict she’ll accomplish?
John: Grace will be what she's always wanted to be – the matriarch of a large family. She will also enjoy a second life as a public school teacher, a career she gave up when World War II intervened.
Tara: What kind of research did you do when you penned this novel? Did anything surprising come up in your search?
John: I did extensive research for four of the five books in the series. The exception was The Journey. I lived in eastern Oregon in 1979 and 1980, so I was well versed in the place and time. One thing I noticed in researching all of the novels is that young people in 1941, 1979, 1918, 1910, and 1964 behaved pretty much the same. Only the music, cars, and fashions changed.
Tara: What would you like readers to gain from reading your book? Is there a strong moral? Do you hope they will laugh, learn something, or ponder a point?
John: The Northwest Passage series is, in many respects, a collection of five morality plays. My protagonists travel to the times of their not-so-distant ancestors and constantly weigh the consequences of their actions. I want readers to ask what they would do if they faced similar challenges. Would they use their knowledge of the past to enrich themselves? Better the lives of others? Change fates? Or would they resist the temptation to mess with history and leave well enough alone? I want readers to laugh and cry – hopefully in the right places – but I also want them to think about things like courage, honor, and sacrifice.
Tara: Now let’s talk about your hero. What draws the heroine to him?
John: Grace is drawn to Joel Smith in The Mine not only because he is handsome and charming but also because he is different than the typical college guys from her time (1941). He is intelligent and confident. He talks about things she has never even thought about – like time travel – which is perfectly understandable for someone who has traveled from a high-tech future to a simpler past.
Tara: Your book takes place in Seattle. If I were a tourist, what would you recommend I see I would recommend that you see the Pike Place Market, a Mariners game, and the EMP Museum.
Tara: A more personal question. What’s the one thing you hope to accomplish before you die? Your main goal?
John: I can't narrow it down to one, buy I can whittle it down to three. I want to walk one of my daughters down the wedding aisle, hold a grandchild, and see one of my novels turned into a movie.
Tara: I’m a dog mom, so I always ask this. Do you have pets? If so, tell me about them and do provide pictures.

John: I'm a dog lover of the first order and have a mutt named Mocha. I also have a cat, Charlotte. Both are easy going and have a lot of personality.
***
About The Mine: In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing, and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

About John:
John A. Heldt is a reference librarian and the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage time-travel series. The former award-winning sportswriter and newspaper editor has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, he is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. When not sending contemporary characters to the not-so-distant past, he weighs in on literature and life at johnheldt.blogspot.com.

Hidden in Silence: A Movie About the Podgórski Sisters

I recently watched this gem from 1996. Many of you have probably seen it, but some of you may not have.. The sad thing is with every generation, WWII grows further and further away and fewer people are interested or don't care.

But if you forget history...you risk repeating it, and we certainly don't want a repeat of that time.

Hidden in Silence takes place in Poland during the war and it starts when Germany invades. We see it through the eyes of a Catholic friend of a Jewish family. She's also betrothed to their son. The movie shows us at first a gorgeous day in Poland, with girls dreaming of waltzes, and suddenly, it call comes to an end. The Germans invade, randomly shoot women walking their dogs, and the Jews are gathered and sent to the ghetto to await massacre.

This incredible woman, Fusia is her name in the movie, at first visits the ghetto nearly every day to sneak food. She even stands up and screams at a Nazi. It's amazing she doesn't get caught. I truly had my doubts and scoffed until I realized this was based on a true story. The real woman was only 16 at the time (I think the chick in the movie is older) and she not only cared for her sister but harbored 13 Jews for 2 and a half years (with German nurses and officers right there in the apartment!) while working in a munitions? factory.

Way to work it. LOL. I thought that was a cool twist--and it's true--her working for the Germans and taking their money home to buy food for the Jews. Very cool.

In the movie we see the cruelty of the Nazis, the conditions of the camps, and the insanity that can result from being cooped up in a dark room forced to be silent for so long.

But this is truly an amazing woman. Was an amazing woman and it makes for a great movie. I became very engrossed in this, to the point I was actually yelling at the screen. "No! Don't do that. What are you? Stupid??" My heart even stopped beating when an officer went to check the attic. The ending had tears in my eyes.

Great acting and I'm not even a fan of Kellie Martin. The movie does have that "nineties" look about it. No HD here, but we've gotten spoiled, haven't we?

I watched this on Amazon Prime.

Red Skies (Tales of the Scavenger's Daughters) by Kay Bratt

This is a story of three incredible brave strong heroines.

Mari, the adult, learns to stand on her own two feet when she doubts she can do so and struggles through loss and blame. An Ni, a pre-teen, has strength to survive all kinds of pain--both physical and emotional. Part of a street gang, she faces difficulties many of us can barely imagine, and never gives in to defeat. Mei, an even younger girl, despite the trauma she's been through, not only has the strength to carry on, but also to carry the other two emotionally and when An Ni needs help, Mei is there for her and shoulders responsibilities no little girl should.

They are so amazing and each one pulled on my heartstrings. We could all learn something from these heroines.

But something else I loved about this book....let me find the words. Okay, I thought at first from the blurb, that this would be a romance. Most blurbs tell you a little something about the heroine and then a little something about the hero and you know they'll get together in the end and live HEA, right?

I wondered how Ms. Bratt was going to go about this with the heroine being married.

Boy, was I surprised. First of all, it's not a romance. It's a story of amazing friendship--you could even call it life-saving friendship--between two people who have a common goal of doing right by two little girls. They don't know it, but they've been brought together for a reason, and together, they must also learn a few life lessons: don't blame yourself and let go of bitterness.

Through all this: Max's depression, Mari's shocking life changes, An Ni's pain and doubt, and Mei's struggle to keep it all together, we also learn about China and some of its culture--their funeral customs, the government's twisting of facts and manipulation of journalism, the tension foreigners face if they ask too many questions. More than one journalist had been detained or jailed and charged with illegal activity for simply interviewing everyday people.

I appreciate this. I recently watched a dance show called Shen Yun and the performers and their agenda made me aware that there are problems in China today, that it didn't stop with Mao's reign--I credit Ms. Bratt's stories for educating me on that as well.

With this tale taking place in the big city, I saw and felt the tension between the lines--people's reluctance to involve the authorities, the government trying to twist the trafficking facts, silencing Max when they could...

This story also reminded me more than once of all I have and take for granted.

It wasn't easy to watch people going by on their way to protective and loving homes as you scurried into a dark hole somewhere, searching for warmth never to be found.

And as odd as this will seem, after reading this, I vow to be a better tourist!

Most of the foreigners she dealt with got frustrated and short tempered when they couldn't be understood or things didn't go their way. She'd seen more than one stomp away, cursing to themselves that they'd ever come to China, reactions usually brought about after they'd become winded while walking along the wall, or when too many souvenir hawkers had pushed them past their limits. What some didn't understand was the difference between selling five postcard packets or none might mean the difference between feeding family that night or going hungry.

I also loved and appreciated the underground tunnel bits. Fascinating!

Long review short: This is probably Ms. Bratt's finest book to date and considering I loved every single one of the Scavenger Daughter stories thus far, that's a compliment. You'll smile, cry, chew your fingernails with worry, and walk away more educated and enlightened than when you first started.

"They do realize, don't they, that they wouldn't be here if not for some little girl that grew up to be their mother?"

I received this from the author in exchange for an honest review.

My Reading Radar 3/22/2014

Let's see...what hit the list this week...first of all, I have decided to finally read The Mine by John A. Heldt. I've seen many good reviews about it and its sequel, The Show. I'm told you can't read one without the other, so I'm going to read this one first. I'm interested in the fact it takes in Montana.


In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing, and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.
***
The New Colossus by Marshall Goldberg was spotted on Netgalley and found its way to my kindle. It's about Nellie Bly!
Greed. Corruption. Murder. New York in 1880 is a hell of a place to make your living.

Nellie Bly arrives at age 24 in Manhattan, lacking connections and money, but blessed with an abundance of courage and a skill for reportage. Within ten months she lands two front-page stories on the country’s most widely-read newspaper, Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World.

The pugnacious and voluble Pulitzer is so impressed that he assigns her to get to the bottom of a murder that has confounded the police—the untimely death of his friend Emma Lazarus, the controversial poet and activist. Her investigation leads to tense encounters with some of the most powerful and ruthless men of the time, in an era where elected officials are bought and sold, and where greed runs rampant on an unregulated Wall Street. Outgunned and ignoring her contemptuous all-male colleagues, Bly has only two real allies: a doctor who uses scientific techniques to establish criminal behavior, and a theater critic with unlimited access to underground New York. As the pieces fall into place Bly uncovers layer after layer of corruption, getting closer to a dangerous core—and to the truth.
***
It had me at bi-plane, stunt pilot, and well..just read the blurb. From NG and on my Kindle: Kindred Spirits by Beth Ciotta and Cynthia Valero.
Amazing Grace...What kind of paranormal prank is this, anyway?

Shoved from the tower of the haunted Van Buren mansion, 21st century chick magnet Rufus Sinclair wonders how in Hades he’s landed in Atlantic City in the Roaring Twenties. Why does he have to be the one to help wayward flapper Izzy Van Buren find redemption? Worse, why does he have to go and fall for flirtatious Izzy’s best friend, daredevil barnstormer Grace LaRue? Even in her tomboy togs and aviator goggles, needs-a-man-like-bees-need-knees Grace instantly kindles his erotic interest—then hijacks his love-proof heart. It’s almost as if he’s lived—and loved her—before. She Dubbed Him Ace . . .

Who is this sheik-sexy stranger who appears out of nowhere, claiming amnesia and wearing pilot’s wings? A gift from above, sent to help restore her stunt pilot reputation? Or a Federal agent intent on bringing down her scandalous friends? All Grace knows for sure is that the zing-zap electricity shooting between her and Ace threatens to short-circuit her self-control.

Kindred Spirits? . . . With the friction between them mounting, Rufus risks life and limb to wing-walk on Grace’s Word War I biplane . . . slow dances and swills bootleg hooch with her in an all-night speakeasy . . . and creates a media frenzy guaranteed to restore her rep as the East Coast’s best aviatrix. Together, they generate enough sexual heat to melt Grace’s fear-driven defenses and his no-strings-attached armor. But his panic grows by the hour. He dreads he’ll be blown back to the future, failing to save Izzy . . . and leaving his amazing Grace—and his heart—behind.

The White Queen Season One

You could say I'm a fan of Philippa Gregory. It was her The Other Boleyn Girl that introduced and hooked me on historical fiction. But this series, about the York wars, didn't interest me much. But I've been known to enjoy the movies made from books more than the books themselves at times, so I was eager to watch this. I also love a good period drama.

The costumes, the acting, the twists, did not disappoint.

The first two episodes, two or three hours, I think, tells about the Rivers woman of the Lancanshires. Old King Henry has been pushed aside and the throne taken by force by a York named Edward. Behind is Warwick, the "Kingmaker". These episodes chronicle his rather short reign. 'Cause let's be realistic here...once the throne is taken by force and the anointed king thrown in the tower...well, you've give people ideas and shown how very easy it is... As I said at the end of watching this bit, to the rather dumb Elizabeth, "What did you expect? Duh, lady."
E


After fending off her rapist, suddenly she's in love with this brute?What I hated about this: The sex. It was GROSS. And the romance between Edward and Elizabeth, while def better than what goes on between the Kingmaker's daughter and George, was yuck! Oh, they were passionate enough about each other later, but their first stages of "love" made me literary gag. He sees her ONCE and makes it clear, by saying it repeatedly, he must have her, that's he's desperate and even goes so far as to attempt to rape her.

EdwardSomething totally flew over my head here. I didn't get it. From that point on, every time I saw them embrace, kiss, couple--and the show made it quite often. We weren't ever to forget they wanted each other's bods, badly--I cringed.

Just YUCK.

But all that aside, the court intrigue, the moving around of lands to those Elizabeth favors, the witchcraftery, and then a young Henry's mother keeps the pace moving and kept me intrigued. 

Margaret, Henry's mother....what a horrid character. I liked her better in the book, whereas the Rivers women, I liked them better in the movie. The magic was cooler in the movie too, whereas it felt out of place in the novel. Especially liked the storm...

While Margaret is super irritating, her young Henry stole my heart. But then the show had to ruin that by impression by showing an older Henry "going at" a woman from behind. What's with all the sex and nudity? I think we can get the idea without it being so vulgar.


You either love the characters or hate them, with passion. Great acting. They really sucked me into the tale. Oh, I wanted to slap Anne Neville.

It seems to me, however, that they pretty much summed up all three of PG's books, so what's going to be covered in season two? Are they just going to continue until they cover her Tudor series too?

I liked it, didn't LOVE it, but liked it. I would watch season two if it came my way, but I don't think I'd pay for it.

I received the DVDs via Amazon Vine.

Strong is Sexy Heroine of the Week: Kammy Marlowe

Book: The Other Marlowe Girl
Author: Beth Fred
Heroine: Kammy Marlowe


Kammy Marlowe stands almost six feet tall and she works as a model or a ballerina when the mood takes. But what she’s really working at is moving on from her sordid past and growing up. As for what makes her strong? Well I thought it was best to show you in this excerpt:
                “Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you but your husband is a loser. Squeezing him ain’t gonna get me my money. Squeezing you might. And you wrote the check. After that diamond stunt, I should kill you. I want cash now.”             He reached into his pocket. Gun. That’s the only thing guys like Daniel pull out of their pocket. I had to do something and quick. I curled my foot around his leg and bit my bottom lip. “Maybe, we could work out some other arrangement?” I said as I moved the denim of his pant leg gently up and down with the tip of my sandal.            His laugh sounded more like a grunt. “After those chunks of plastic? Not if you were the last woman on Earth.”            Being cute was not going to get me out of this, and there was not much else to me. God, I wish I was smart like Tiffany. Then it hit me. I had one other asset. My eyes flashed down to where our legs were for a millisecond. I pushed my lower body forward a bit, so I’d be in a better position, sure the dumbass would just think I was still flirting with him. “Are you sure?” I asked.            I had no idea if he would consider it or not, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was distracting him for that fraction of a second gave me time to bring my knee up and pound it into the crotch of his jeans. Daniel folded at the waist, grabbing his crotch with both hands. I slid one foot and then the other slightly to the left to give myself more room. Time to practice my high kick for the first time in years. My stiletto heel caught Daniel’s jaw with enough force to knock him off balance. Daniel slapped the parking lot as a bike pulled up less than a foot from me.

Blurb:
When twenty-four-year-old dance school drop out Kammy Marlowe is evicted by her mother, she goes to her favorite bar. She finds an unlikely friend in the blunt eye candy, Enrique. But Kammy knows there is no way she and Enrique have a shot because he's her brother-in-law’s brother and has been privy to her wild past.

Enrique swears he’s only interested in the person she is today, but their relationship is tested when her ex-husband's drug dealer attacks her, looking for money. With no options and a money hungry drug dealer on her back, Kammy accepts a position as a dancer at a strip club. But when Enrique shows up at the club, their relationship is over. With no reason to stay in Texas anymore, Kammy auditions for the Bolshevik Ballet and gets the opportunity to go to Russia. Only Enrique is determined to stop her.

Will she give up the chance of a lifetime to stay with the man she still loves?

The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott

She would find a way. One foot in front of the other, that would be how she would do it.

1830. When you think of life approximately 30 years before the American Civil War, you think of spoiled southern belles who rarely leave their plantations, let alone work. This was a shock to me, this story. I had no idea women were actually working in mills during this time. But really, I feel silly now for not having realized it sooner. But what happened to the cotton after the slaves worked it on the plantations? It had to go somewhere.

The problem is that most novels during this time period focus on the southern belles and their slaves. So I love this book; I love it for being different and bringing to me a bit of history I did not know about, about the workings of the mills, about the boarding houses and the rules, about the town of Lowell, which truly did exist, and the murder of a girl.

I also love the heroine...or should I say heroines? Once again Kate Alcott delivers a book chock full of strong women. These women show strength every single day...by leaving their farms and families and all they know to work in a mill, to live with what at first is strangers. They rise at 4 in the morning and rush to work in appalling conditions just in hopes of making a better life for themselves. Sometimes...they die from this.

These women at some point stand up for themselves or their friends, from the super religious Jane to the sickly Tilda to the boarding house matron. All of them are brave in some way, even the little girl. I smiled ear-to-ear when she threw down her bobbin tray and announced she was leading a strike.

The main heroine, Alice, has not only a battle for justice for her friend, but while not lacking in bravery whilst defending others, must find bravery within herself to step into a world she doesn't feel comfortable in when the mill owner's son takes an avid interest in her. (That sentences was a mouthful, but I don't know how else to say it.)

This novel shows us mill life: the rules about mothers in the workplace, the accidents from unsafe equipment, the coughing up of cotton.

And I love me a good murder trial. I love reading the facts presented, the way the jury reacts, the underhandedness...the conclusion and how people come to that. This story does not disappoint.

Quite simply, I loved this story. This author's style really agrees with me and her stories grab me, hold me, and stay with me. Her heroines are unforgettable. I cannot wait for the next book.

I received this via Edelweiss.