Sage Nestler's Blog, page 23
March 18, 2018
Stand Up Against Bullying
I would like to take the time to get a little personal with you. I am banning together with Indie Authors Care to raise money for To Write Love On Her Arms in an anti-bullying campaign. This cause is very dear to my heart since I suffered from severe bullying early on in my life, and I am still suffering from PTSD due to what I went through.
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I don’t want to dump my past on you, but I will say that having suffered from bullying connected with sexual abuse, self-harm, and a suicide attempt, bullying almost ended my life. For years I have suffered from PTSD and panic attacks, and I have never been able to forget the things that were said to me or the threats that were made against me throughout middle school and high school. Bullying is something that one never forgets, and every little action counts. You never know what a person is going through, and it is more important each day that we take notice of how we are treating others. Bullying can end lives, and with the current political climate, it is more important than ever to stand up for ourselves and for others.
That being said, please take a look at this wonderful foundation and consider donating. If we all ban together, we can save lives.
Much love,
Ashley
Learn about To Write Love on Her Arms.
New Release: The Wings of Faith by R. Murray
I hope that you are having a relaxing day! I am happy to announce that R. Murray’s new novel The Wings of Faith is now live! This series incorporates fantasy and supernatural elements into the plot, and I love how escapist the writing style is. Enjoy!
Much love,
Ashley
*´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)…
(¸.•´ (¸.•` NOW LIVE
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TITLE : The Wings Of Faith 
March 17, 2018
Cover Reveal: Remedy by Stacey McCoy
It is time to reveal the cover for Stacey McCoy’s new novel, Remedy! McCoy’s Reanimation series is an excellent supernatural romance series, and I love her thrilling writing. Be sure to check it out!
Much love,
Ashley
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¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)…
(¸.•´ (¸.•` COVER REVEAL
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TITLE : Remedy
SERIES : Reanimation Trilogy #3
AUTHOR : Stacey McCoy
GENRE : New Adult PNR
COVER DESIGN : Nat Soulsby Graphic Design
RELEASE DATE : April 10th 2018
BLURB :
Sometimes life has a way of steering you in a direction you never expect it to go. This is the situation Kady finds herself in now.
A decision has been made for her, stripping her of her humanity and her soul.
Now Kady must fight to the death to protect her father’s work and save her family and friends from her finance, Rylan’s, ex-lover who everyone thought had been defeated.
Will the process of reanimating vampires continue into the future?
Will Kady & Rylan’s love survive the battle they now face?
Will Rylan’s ex-lover finally be vanquished?
ADD TO TBR :
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39300595-remedy
START THE SERIES HERE:
REANIMATION
ERADICATE
AUTHOR LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/StaceyMcCoyAuthor/
https://www.instagram.com/staceymccoyauthor/
March 15, 2018
Countdown to B2BCyCon: Roxanne Greening
Happy Thursday, Everyone!
It is now almost the weekend, and I hope that you have lots of bookish plans in store! 
Book Review: A Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Stephen W. Hines
Title: A Prairie Girl’s Faith – The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Author: Stephen W. Hines
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis:
A Prairie Girl’s Faith provides the first extended, in-depth discussion of the Christian faith of one of America’s most beloved pioneer women–Laura Ingalls Wilder. Although the faith of the Ingalls’ family pervades books in the Little House series, the more specific details of Laura’s faith have never been fully explored. It took extraordinary pluck for anyone to survive the harshness of frontier life–from the heartbreak of sudden crop losses to murderous storms to unrelenting loneliness. This book reveals how in surviving, the brave Laura drew not just on her character but found encouragement, strength, and hope in her relationship with God.
Short Review
A Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a gorgeous look at how faith and love carried the Wilder family through their struggles as an early pioneer family.
Full Review
I am a longtime fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her experience as an early pioneer woman. I devoured the Little House series as a child, and I have only grown closer to the novels as an adult. Laura’s faith and brilliance shine throughout her work, and I was so excited to get to know her more through A Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Stephen W. Hines brilliantly captures Laura’s family throughout his novel, and I couldn’t have asked for a more thoroughly researched story of early pioneer faith.
A Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder analyzes the Wilder family and how faith played a part in their strength and ability to create a homestead on the early American prairie. Despite the Wilder’s family hardships with housing, food, and farming, their faith connected them to one another and their mission to make a life for themselves on the American prairie. Hines’ book reads like a novel, and his use of pictures and explanations brought the Wilder’s story alive. Even though this novel focuses on Christianity and how the Wilder family’s religion and faith strengthened their experience as a cohesive unit, Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder doesn’t have an agenda, and it presents Christianity in a way that will appeal to believers and nonbelievers alike. I am a pioneer history buff, and I found enlightenment through Hines writing and his connection of faith to survival.
Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a must read for Wilder fans, as well as fans of pioneer history. I thoroughly enjoyed Hines’ explanation of faith and how it developed on the plains with pioneering settlers. Seeing how faith connected the Wilder family to each other, as well as the other pioneer families around them, made me believe in community and kinship again. I will be keeping Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder in my library forever, and I am so excited to have read more on Laura Ingalls Wilder and her amazing experience on the early American prairie.
*I received an ARC of this novel from Blogging for Books for review.
March 13, 2018
Book Review: Dining and Driving with Cats by Pat Patterson
Author: Pat Patterson
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis:
Dining and Driving With Cats – Alice Unplugged is a heartwarming and beguiling adventure of a couple who shares a love that most of us only imagine. Pat Patterson is a born storyteller and makes readers feel as if they are part of the road trip. This book is as much a story of sweet devotion as it is an exquisite example of discovering life’s hidden joys in the smallest of everyday experiences. Not since Michael Ondaatje’s hypnotic voice in The English Patient has a book spoken with such an allure for the reader. You might even spot a bit of Irish in the author and his spouse’s detailed arguments comparing a dish from one restaurant to the same of another restaurant.
They, along with the cats, dine frequently during a sometimes hilarious but always romantic auto trip across the South. As the miles flip the odometer, we are given insight into how this unusual relationship between the couple came to be, evolved, and gradually, at the end revealed in a secret, you didn’t see coming. What, you say? There is a twist in a dining dialogue? Yes! And you’ll just have to read it for yourself–no spoilers here. Dialogue is so natural between the two; you’ll swear he recorded the entire trip. Alice is revealed in the first pages as a real-life brainy, successful businesswoman enjoying life in San Miguel de Allende a small cathedral town high in the Central Mexican foothills. For over thirty years she lived in Washington D.C. When she was fresh out of grad school and managing her firm’s D.C. office she captured the heart of a young man who came in from the rain. He fell hard. He pursued her. She said no –she told him she had cats. What she didn’t tell him was that she also had a secret. Over thirty years have passed since Alice revealed her secret. The young man is no longer young but he still pursues her. She calls him hubby. This is their story of a shared love for travel and history, for food and for their sweet and wily cats Munchie and Tuffy.
You might also say the book is unusual in that it totally engages the reader from the first page without a hint of violence, bloodshed, graphic sex, drugs or language. The author’s main character (besides the two cats) Alice, does say “you bastards” once. Alice is supremely self-confident and comfortable in her own skin as we learn early on when she promises the author a vehicle of his dreams if he will join her in a multi-state road trip from Mexico across the South and help wrangle two cats into restaurants, diners, cafes, and hotels. He expects to find a Suburban or maybe an Escalade in the drive. Alice surprises with a Japanese sub-compact – a Honda Fit. She says it’s “flexible”. They drive – Scott La. & the Boudin War. They dine – New Orleans at Gautreau’s, Clancy’s, and Herbsaint. They laugh – the Carousel Bar. They cry – tragic death. If you come along on this moveable feast you will find yourself caught up in a romantic love story that involves the Other Woman and a secret that Alice cannot keep. You will dine on scrumptious creations from America’s most acclaimed chefs from Austin and New Orleans to the Procope and Odeon Relais at Buci Market in Paris. Along the way, you will laugh at cats stuck in boxes, fight with a Pirate, terrify a US Vice-President, discover cat smuggling, and learn how the Other Woman persuaded Alice to accept the author’s ring. So what’s keeping you? Hop in ‘cause these cats don’t bite. Besides, “The Get In Here and Eat” pop-up food truck is waiting just up the Austin highway.
Short Review
Dining and Driving with Cats – Alice Unplugged is an eclectic love story with vibrant imagery. Readers with wanderlust are sure to get a kick out of it!
Full Review
Dining and Driving with Cats – Alice Unplugged is a fun beach read with a hint of romance and a love for animals. I adore novels that incorporate animals into the storyline and being a cat lady, I thoroughly enjoyed Pat Patterson’s writing. He made a romance novel that appeals to both men and women, and that is very rare.
Dining and Driving with Cats – Alice Unplugged is a book that allows the reader to travel with a couple as they explore romance and cuisine in the South, along with some hilarious misadventures. I found Patterson’s writing easy to read and quick to hold onto as I flipped each page. I couldn’t put the book down, and I enjoyed the clean storytelling style that brought Alice and her misadventures to life.
Unfortunately, I did find that Patterson seemed to take himself a bit too seriously by priding himself on his “hypnotic voice” and “clean writing style”. Even though his story was enjoyable and his travel descriptions spectacular, I would have liked to see a smaller synopsis with less ego-pumping material. If you can put the synopsis distaste aside, you are sure to love Dining and Driving with Cats for its wanderlust hype and cutesy romantic tendencies.
March 11, 2018
Book Review: Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertalli
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
Incredibly funny and poignant, this twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story—wrapped in a geek romance—is a knockout of a debut novel by Becky Albertalli.
Short Review
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is one of the best YA novels ever written, and that comes from someone who pops YA novels like they do lemon poppyseed muffins. A lot.
Full Review
Going into Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, I have to admit that I was skeptical. I adore LGBTQ novels to death, but I feared that this novel might have been too stereotypical or cliche. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda shines through the cluttered sea of YA novels with a story that worms its way straight to your heart.
Author Becky Albertalli happens to be a clinical psychologist, and her knowledge of adolescents in just about every role is impeccable. As a social worker, I adored her representation of minority youth and the difficulties that adolescents face in high school. Each of her characters held a strong role, and they were all remarkably complex. Upon first meeting Simon I found myself drawn to his quirkiness, and I was so glad that Albertalli didn’t make him some sidekick to a female character in the novel, like so many authors do with gay characters. Simon was all his own, and by god, he won my heart.
I guess I assumed that Blue would be white. Which kind of makes me want to smack myself. White shouldn’t be the default any more than straight should be the default.
Simon is a junior in high school who happens to be gay but hasn’t come out yet. The story follows him as he emails with an anonymous student at his school who also happens to be gay, and they help each other come out to their families and friends while never admitting to who they are. However, Simon is also being blackmailed by another student and he is outed before he is ready, which causes his email friend to find out who he is. The plot follows Simon as he grapples with his identity, his friends, and his family while trying to become who he is meant to be. At times I found myself in tears as I struggled through Simon’s challenges with him, and I couldn’t help but root for him to find his love by the end of the novel. I was afraid halfway through that Simon wouldn’t be getting the happy ending that he deserved, but I was more than happy with what happened for him by the end.
Diversity is so important to me, and I was astounded by Albertalli’s flawless incorporation of characters from all different backgrounds. Her portrayals were real and flawed, and I found Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda to be the perfect mix of today’s youth. I enjoyed this novel as an adult, and I am sure that readers of all ages will enjoy it. Albertalli has a way of opening the eyes of even the most conservative individuals, and her story was all about acceptance. I believe that everyone needs to read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and you are sure to be changed by Albertalli’s flawless work just like I have.
March 10, 2018
Countdown to B2BCyCon: A.M. Nestler/N.M. Aaroones
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Happy Saturday!
I hope that you are all having a good weekend. 
March 9, 2018
Book Review: Telemachus by Peter Gray
Author: Peter Gray
Rating: 3/5
Synopsis:
Told through the medium of a colony of migrating birds, this is essentially a love story which explores the meaning of the word ‘love’ to different individuals.
It’s about pain and joy, illusion and reality. It’s also about the fragility of love and the way it can be destroyed so easily for some, while for others, it’s the immutable spine of their very existence.
Tom John-Mary has two contradictory anticipations in his early days, both about females who will have a future influence on his life. Daisy, an unwelcome intruder, and Sally, the love of his life.
Daisy inserts herself into his respected family and Tom’s belief that Sally is to be his gift from Aves, God of Birds, is shattered. Meantime, Sally becomes paired with Jacob who, at an early stage, mistreats her and absconds.
Telemachus is the big red eagle at the end of the northern valley and from whose talons none return. Tom doesn’t know if he’s real or an illusion, as none ever return to say they’ve seen him. He’s the threat that’s there in the face of all life, the danger that’s met around any corner. In some ways, he’s the existential response to illogical teaching and distorted reasoning.
Follow this incredible story and discover the storms, twists, turns, tragedies, and migrations that Tom and Sally have to endure before love can really start to soar.
Short Review
Telemachus is a brilliant idea of a novel; however, the writing itself has a few shortcomings.
Full Review
After reading Telemachus and looking at the book on Amazon, I was surprised to see how many high ratings it has. Unfortunately, my review is not as stellar. Telemachus is a beautiful premise for its story, but the writing fails to translate the message well.
Telemachus is an unusual love story mixed with tribal-esque spirituality and a sense of fate. I loved the way that Peter Gray made Tom and Sally fight for their love through an incredibly adventurous plot, and I thought that his twists and turns were intriguing. His vision of Tom and Sally as birds was also unique in the way that no racial issues were crossed. The love story between Tom and Sally was exciting and I think that it would satisfy a wide audience.
However, I was disappointed in Gray’s writing style. His spacing between dialogue and narration was odd and a chore to get through. I felt as though he was telling me the story instead of showing me, and I skipped a lot of his descriptions. The brilliance of his idea was lost in blocks of dull writing and had I not been interested in the idea of his story, I wouldn’t have finished Telemachus.
Due to the odd writing style, I have to give Telemachus 3/5 stars. I gave it three because I felt that the story redeemed the writing a bit. You might enjoy this book if you like fast-paced romances, but be aware that it is a slow reader.
Countdown to B2BCyCon: Tiffany Apan
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Happy Friday!
Today I am featuring my good friend, Tiffany Apan! Tiffany is one of our featured authors for Brain to Books Cyber Convention, and I just love her. Her dark romance is one of my favorites! Take a look at Tiffany’s work, and enjoy.
