By the Book Editing and Reviews: January 2015

Wednesday 7 January 2015

Release Blitz for Noel's Hart

Author: Katie Mettner

A Snowberry Christmas Book 3 (A Snowberry Valentine)

Published: January 6, 2015

Synopsis

Psalm 61:4: “You are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings.”

Savannah Hart grew up in the school of hard knocks and as an adult wants everything in her life to be perfect. She’s poured blood, sweat and tears into her home and her business to make that happen. Suddenly faced with choosing between her home, her shop, or her health, she discovers an added complication, Noel Kiss.

Noel Kiss is determined to stay in Snowberry and get to know his twin, December, again. He buys the local family restaurant, only to discover his new neighbor is Savannah’s Flower Emporium, run by none other than the mysterious Savannah Hart.

Desperate for relief Savannah agrees to Noel’s crazy proposal. She tells herself when her life is perfect again she will tell him goodbye, but Noel knows his life is perfect with her in it. Can Noel convince her that his arms are the shelter she’s been looking for or will he be holding a broken heart on Valentine’s Day?

Purchase Link: http://tinyurl.com/k7yuxhr

Excerpt

I hopped out of the truck and helped her down out of the big F150 that made her seem even smaller than she was. She leaned the right side of her face on my shoulder as we walked in the front doors, and I knew it was so no one would see her eye. The hospital was bustling and I walked her to the elevator quickly, so no one would stop us. I didn’t mind having her arm around my waist and her stocking cap clad head tucked under my chin. It felt nice to be needed, and not just to solve a problem at the café. To really be needed on an emotional level was something I hadn’t felt often in my life. Mostly it was my own doing, having distanced myself from everyone after my mom died. I was so busy running the cafes I didn’t realize how much I needed to feel love until December wrapped her arms around me last month. Now it was like I was making up for lost time.

“What floor is she on?” I asked and she punched the button for the third floor without speaking. We rode up in silence. I would like to say she felt relaxed in my arms, but she was stiff as a board. When the doors slid open I had to encourage her to come out, but she walked begrudgingly down the hall to Snow’s office.

I raised my arm to knock and heard, “come in” instead. “She’s a Jedi.” I whispered into Savannah’s ear and I was rewarded with a snicker.

When I pushed the door open Snow was behind her desk, its imposing cherry wood making her look even smaller than her usual pixie size, so I was glad when she wheeled her wheelchair, MAC, around it. She took Savannah’s hand, immediately directing her to a chair without saying a word. Savannah sat and Snow pulled her hat off, letting it fall to her lap.

“Oh Savan.” She sighed and Savannah threw her arms around Snow and cried.

“I’ll be outside.” I motioned and Snow was patting Savannah’s back and looked at me.

“There is a room four doors down with a fridge. Would you grab water for her?” She asked and I nodded slipping from the room to give them some privacy. I found the room and grabbed a bottle of water from the small dorm size fridge, taking a moment and a deep breath, before I went back to her office.

What am I doing here? A few weeks ago I didn’t know any of this even existed. Now I’ve bought a restaurant and moved in with a woman I’ve met twice. A beautiful and hurting woman. What am I doing here, Lord? I asked, my eyes closed and my head bowed.

“You are here to be her fortress. She will live forever in your arms. You will be her sanctuary appointed by me. Do you understand?”

I heard the words inside my head, and I felt a decrease in my anxiety, as though He was taking it from my heart and giving me strength for whatever it was He had planned for me. I should be freaked out, but instead I felt comforted and less anxious than when I walked in the door. I opened my eyes and said the words out loud that I had heard. Something was familiar about them. I set the bottle down on the table and pulled out my phone, Googling the phrase. The first thing that came up was a link to Bible Gateway and the beginning of Psalm 61. I read the psalm and then dropped the phone back in my pocket, vibrantly aware that spiritually I would never be the same.

My Review

First of all, I need to say that I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series, but I had no trouble reading this book. Well, maybe a little bit, but that was more to do with my impatience. It wasn’t long before all my questions were answered.

This is a very emotional story, but I’m not talking about only one or two emotions. There were times when I was angry and sad (all right, I got teary) but there were also times when I smiled and simply said “Awwwww” in my head.

There were so many characters to love and some I just wanted to hug, Savannah, in particular. Savannah’s life did not have a happy beginning and the trauma of a difficult life put in her in a very dark place, but even though she doubted her own self-worth she still managed to find the time to make other people’s lives happier.

But then along came, Noel Kiss, the twin brother of December, a friend of Savannah’s. He met Savannah in the second book of this series and felt an instant connection. (This is the part where I remind you that I haven’t read the previous books in this series and I was able to get this information from this book.)

This book is Noel and Savannah’s story. Will Noel be able to save Savannah from a life of physical and mental pain? I won’t tell you if he does, but I can tell you that I finished this book with a smile on my face and I’m going to make sure I read the next book in the Snowberry Series.

I gave Noel’s Hart 5 stars.

About the Author

Katie Mettner writes inspirational romance from a little house in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. She's the author of the four part epic family saga, The Sugar Series, Sugar's Song being runner up for sweet romance in the eFestival of Words contest. Her other romance series, The Northern Lights Series and the Snowberry Holiday Series, are both set in Minnesota and are a mix of new adult and romantic suspense.

Read about more of Katie's adventures as an amputee writer at http://katiemettnerbooks.blogspot.com/
Follow Katie on Twitter
https://twitter.com/KatieMettner
Come chat with Katie on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-Mettner-Author
Katie would love to see you on TSU
https://www.tsu.co/Sugarlips
Are you a Pinner? Pin with Katie at Sugarsballroom
http://www.pinterest.com/sugarsballroom/

Katie lives with her soulmate, whom she met online at Thanksgiving and married in April. Together they share their lives with their three children and two leopard geckos. After suffering an especially bad spill on the bunny hill in 1989, Katie became an amputee in 2011, giving her the much needed time to pen her first novel, Sugar's Dance. With the release of Sugar's story, Katie discovered the unfilled need for disabled heroes and heroines! Her stories are about empowering people with special circumstances to find the one person who will love them because of their abilities, not their inabilities. Katie has a slight addiction to Twitter and blogging, with a lessening aversion to Pinterest now that she quit trying to make the things she pinned.

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Release Day Blitz for Tryst

Author: Arie Lane

Release Date: January 6th 2015

Synopsis

Bentley Celeste has everything to lose, literally. On a night she should have been celebrating, her world came crashing down. Left with no other choice, she ran for her life and has been hiding ever since.

The day Tristan turned into a teenager his whole life changed. Faced with the reality that his father was more of a child than he was, Tristan chose to forego the rest of his childhood and become an adult.

Both have secrets that could destroy the fragile foundation that Tristan fights hard to build. But what happens when the very secrets you are hiding are the very ties that will either bind or break you? Can Bentley stop running long enough to let someone in? Can Tristan start believing that not everyone he loves is destined to abandon him?

***WARNING*** This book is intended for 18+ due to strong language, violent scenarios, and sexual content.

Goodreads Link - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23555249-tryst

Buy Links -
Amazon.com - http://amzn.com/B00PJK646A
Amazon.co.uk - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PJK646A

Prologue
I have been through a living hell. I lost my sister to a stalker who to this day, refuses to say where she is buried. I lost my father to his best friend Jim Beam, and my mother, well I never had her. Sure she was there. My darling mommy created the hell I endured every day.

For as long as I can remember the woman hated me. She enjoyed finding new ways to try and break me. The earliest recollection I have of the woman is her humiliating me.

My twin Cora and I were celebrating our fourth birthday. Cora insisted she had to have a Cinderella party. I wasn’t much into princesses but my opinion hardly mattered when it came to Cora’s demands. So of course my mother thought this idea was brilliant. There was a small consolation though. Mom said we could both be Cinderella. Cora threw such a fit at the idea she wasn’t going to be the only princess. That is until she saw our outfits. Cora’s was a beautiful blue dress, a Swarovski crystal crown, and mother even had glass slippers custom made for her. When it came time for me to put on my dress, turned out it wasn’t a dress at all. It was rags, dirty filthy rags. I was the standing joke of the party. That was the start to a long painful childhood.

I tried to avoid my mother’s wrath as much as possible, even if Cora made it her life’s mission to see me miserable. I guess she didn’t like having a twin any more than my mother liked having a second daughter. My mother’s temper hit a boiling point when I was six. We were at a fair and Cora had kicked the dirty water from a mud puddle up at me. It was the first time my mother didn’t scream at me and Cora wasn’t too thrilled she hadn’t succeeded. She always went out of her way to make sure I got in trouble, so since her antics didn’t get the reaction she wanted, she tripped me. I landed face first in the mud puddle destroying my Sunday dress. When I stood back up, our mother was furious. It was the first time she’d hit me hard enough to leave a mark. I had her hand imprinted across my cheek until the next morning.

After demanding that I bathe as soon as we got home, she ran a bath for me. I thought maybe her anger had lessened. She seemed calmer during the trip home. That was until I realized she ran the bath with water that was just a few degrees shy of boiling. She pushed me and the ruined dress I was still wearing into the water. I thought she had left me alone, so I tried to add some cold water to the tub. I never got the chance before she came back in and poured some kind of cleaner into the bath water and told me to scrub. The cleaner was harsh and it left my body covered in blisters.

Once she left the room again I thought it was safe to wash the mud from my hair. Lying back in the tub to try and wash the mud away, I opened my eyes to my mother hovering above me. The next thing I knew she was holding me under the water, trying to drown me. I must have had a guardian angel that night because somehow I slipped out of her grip and bolted through the door leaving water everywhere.

I don’t recall what I was spanked with that night, but I remember I could hardly walk for two days. That was around the same time I started shutting myself away. It was when I came to the conclusion, I was the only person who I would ever be able to rely on. The only person who would ever know the full truth of what my mother was capable of. Many nights I suffered her wrath, both verbally and physically. This became the pattern of my life, abuse and degradation.

Teachers often saw marks, but usually overlooked them. Even when they did ask, nothing ever came of it, aside from making my mother even angrier. Because of that, I learned early on not to tattle. No one ever believed me over her, especially not when Cora was standing by her side, the image of perfection. Everyone began to believe I was hurting myself for attention. The fucked up part was the more she hated me, the harder I tried to make her love me.

I was never good enough though. It didn’t matter that I had perfect grades. It didn’t matter how many people congratulated her on what a bright, well-mannered daughter she had. No, the only thing that mattered was that I couldn’t bring her into the limelight. That’s what she had Cora for. Beautiful spell-binding Cora who could spin a web of the most beautiful lies and you would become entrapped in every one of them. Cora was the only person I think Darla Celeste ever gave a shit about, other than herself. But then Cora was her ticket to stardom. She planned to ride the heels of Cora’s modeling career straight to the top, while I continued to live my life in solitude, consumed by my studies.

October 25, 2007, the day my life officially came to an end. Cora had been missing for several months, and any hope of finding her or her body had dwindled to nothing. The police charged a man that had been seen following her around, and who later was identified as her stalker. She had never mentioned a stalker to me. For the first time in my life I had my sister, we had grown close during my final year in school and the months thereafter. It was nice to have her there, even for that short while. The police questioned the man extensively, but he refused to admit to killing her. He was charged with kidnapping, obstruction and aggravated stalking. He took a plea deal to serve out a five year sentence.

The day we laid my sister’s empty coffin into the ground something inside my mother broke. She had always been abusive and hostile. But her obsession with me had turned to something brutal and deadly. Standing in the kitchen after the funeral cleaning up the mess created by all of the comings and goings of people giving condolences, my mother’s sanity snapped. It could be it was never there in the first place. To this day, I can still taste the chemicals she laced the plastic bag with, although they never found the object she used to try knocking me out with. Whatever it was it left me with a small concussion, and a fractured skull.

If my best friend, Dante, hadn’t talked me into taking self-defense classes with him, I’d likely be dead. Darla Celeste has a good seven inches on my frame, so getting the bag over my head was the easy part. I fought back like hell though as she tried to tighten the bag around my neck hoping if she couldn’t suffocate me, she’d be able to strangle me instead.

It was the first time I ever filed a police report against my mother for her abuse. Even that didn’t accomplish anything other than building her rage. She convinced a psychiatrist she was suffering from P.T.S.D. because of my sister’s disappearance and she couldn’t recognize me in that moment and was trying to defend herself. It was complete bullshit, but just like every other time, they bought the lies as if she was incapable of telling anything other than the truth.

It was in those moments my mother prepared me for a life of misery. It was in those moments I felt I would either live my life hidden away or die in whatever heinous fashion my mother would deem most appropriate to garner the most media attention. Darla had decided if she didn’t have Cora’s coattails to ride her claim to fame, that the loss of her surviving daughter would be devastating enough to garner her enough media attention and sympathy to throw her into the spotlight. But she didn’t just want my disappearance and death, she wanted it in a media frenzied circus. She wanted a horrific spectacle that would launch her to the top of her social circle, no matter what the cost. My mother was nothing if not a whore, and she was willing to trade my life for her 15 minutes of fame.

I chose to hide away from everyone. My only solace the knowledge that if I was alone, no one could ever hurt me. If nothing else, my life had prepared me for pain and misery. It had prepared me for all the great disappointments I endured.

Nothing in my life though, could have prepared me for him. I was at a loss when it came to the man who would wreck the safe little life I had built for myself. Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever conjured up a man like Tristan.

People say there is nothing in life that comes your way that you can’t handle. Well I call bullshit, because those people have never met Tristan Reece, with his sexy smirk and hotter than hell body. No one could ever be prepared for the confidence and sexual prowess that man oozes. Of course by no one I mean me, an average in every kind of way woman, who somehow becomes the bulls-eye on his target.

Book Trailer -
Direct link - http://youtu.be/G7d46M8i_x8

About This Author -

Arie Lane is an avid reader and stay at home mom to two beautiful little boys. When not writing or chasing them around she is usually catching up with other Indie authors and constantly keeping up with new blogs.

She loves to connect with people and is proud that she finally had the courage to put some of her crazy thoughts into written words. From the time she started reading her nose was always stuck in a book and she's couldn't be happier that now she's encouraging others to get their noses stuck also. Even if her readers are of the +18 variety.

Author Links -

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9850637.Arie_Lane

Amazon author Page - http://www.amazon.com/Arie-Lane/e/B00PMNMHRO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arie-Lane/1559450517600148?fref=ts

Cover Reveal for Look After Me

Release date – February 24^th 2015

Series: Look After You #2

Author: Elena Matthews

Cover Designed by: Okay Creations

Hosted By: Francessca’s Romance Reviews

Synopsis

The moment Sebastian Gilbert watches his fiancée declare her undying love to another man, his entire life changes.

Forever.

Unable to cope with the loss of his fiancée, his job … his life, he turns to the one thing that will help ease the pain.

Cocaine.

Seven long months later…

Sebastian has checked out of rehab, but after three months locked behind those doors, away from the outside world, he’s struggling to adapt to his new life. His thoughts are clouded with anger … bitterness…

Cravings.

When he reaches out to his drug counselor from rehab, his one and only lifeline, he begins to find hope.

Addison Scott is sweet, smart, and understands him in a way that no one else does. As she helps Sebastian rebuild his life, their friendship grows.

But lines become blurred…

Sebastian’s broken heart is slowly mending, but will letting Addison in shatter it once more?

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23263979-look-after-me?from_search=true

About The Author

Receptionist by day, author by night, Elena Matthews is from Manchester, United Kingdom, the home of Manchester United, Media city and of course, Coronation Street. When Elena isn’t writing, she can be found with her nose in a book or watching guilty pleasures such as Gossip Girl, developing a rather unusual liking to Chuck Bass. And when she isn’t doing any of those things, you can often find her on Facebook, obsessing over Kellan Kyle, book boyfriend extraordinaire

Elena spent three years of her life at Salford University studying media production, to decide she no longer wanted to pursue a career in the media. Instead, it took her another two and half years to realise her calling. Writing. Now she lives and breathes her writing. She even had to tell her colleagues at work whenever she is found daydreaming at her desk, it’s because she is conversing with her characters.

Stalker Links

Website: http://www.authorelenamatthews.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorElenaMatthews?fref=ts

Twitter: @Authorelenamatt

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7558160.Elena_Matthews

TSU: https://www.tsu.co/Authorelenamatthews