I’m so excited to host a stop on the audio review tour for Greg Howard’s Blood Divine!

 

Click HERE to watch the book trailer!

 

Author: Greg Howard

Narrator: Gary Furlong

Length: 9 hours 6 minutes

Publisher: Anakim Press

Released: Aug. 1, 2017

Genre: Paranormal

Cooper Causey spent a lifetime eluding the demons of his youth and suppressing the destructive power inside him. But a disconcerting voicemail lures Cooper back home to the coast of South Carolina and to Warfield, the deserted plantation where his darkness first awakened. While searching for his missing grandmother, Cooper uncovers the truth about his ancestry and becomes a pawn in an ancient war between two supernatural races. In order to protect the only man he’s ever loved, Cooper must embrace the dark power threatening to consume him, and choose sides in a deadly war between the righteous and the fallen.

 

 

Review of Book:

Blood Divine is a fantastically creepy ghost story that kept me up all night and peeking around every corner! The author takes such care to set the reader firmly in the story with lush descriptions of this old Southern town and rich characterization of these lovable and sometimes kooky characters. While I rooted for Cooper, Randy, and Betsy, I squirmed and giggled over characters like the eccentric Eunice and Eudora. I’d love to read a whole book on just them!

Howard took me on a thrill ride, creeping me out and scaring the daylights out of me while making me sigh over the love story between Cooper and Randy. The action never stopped, and the pace kept me turning the page. Can’t wait to read more from this author. Five Stars!

 

Review of Narration:

I read Blood Divine first, so for me, this audio version was a way to hear these characters I’d grown to love burst alive. There were a lot of unique accents in this book, and I thought the narrator took great care with them. If you’re an audiobook freak like I am, you have your cringes and ticks that set you off while listening. My biggest pet peeve is a male narrator raising his voice to sound like a female *shivers up spine*, so I’m very pleased to report that this narrator took no part in that. His narration of Betsy, a strong Anakim (a vampire-like creature), was spot on, and he took care to not overdo the Southern accents on any of these ancient characters. As a Southerner myself, this is particularly appreciated! My favorite was the accent of a character, who as written, had a mishmash of dialect. Hats off to Gary Furlong for nailing that!

Just in time for Halloween, this audiobook will creep you out in the best possible way! Five Stars!

 

I wish I had this fabulous Phipps Family Tree when I was reading and listening!

 

 

Greg Howard grew up near the coast of South Carolina, or as he fondly refers to it, “the armpit of the American South.” His hometown of Georgetown, South Carolina is known as the “Ghost Capital of the South,” (seriously…there’s a sign), and was always a great source of material for his overactive imagination.

Raised in a staunchly religious home, Greg escaped into the arts: singing, playing piano, acting, writing songs, and making up stories. After running away to the bright lights and big city of Nashville, Tennessee with stars in his eyes and dreams of being the Dianne Warren of Music City, he took a job peddling CDs and has been a cog in the music business machine ever since.

Now an adult with a brain, Greg finds the South Carolina coast to be a perfectly magical place where he vacations yearly. Currently, Greg resides in Nashville, TN with his husband, Steve, and their three rescued fur babies. Molly, Toby, and Riley.

Greg’s debut adult paranormal novel, BLOOD DIVINE, was released by Wilde City Press in September 2016. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers acquired Greg’s debut young adult novel, SOCIAL INTERCOURSE, which will be released in Summer 2018.

Website⎮Facebook⎮Twitter⎮Goodreads

Gary Furlong grew up in Wexford, Ireland. Throughout his life he has worn many a hat: He has worked as a teacher in Niigata, Japan; a puppeteer in Prague; an improv artist in Memphis, Tennessee; and as a singer and actor all over Ireland. He started narrating audiobooks in late 2015 and hasn’t looked back.

Gary made his acting debut in the musical Godspell as a student. Since then he has pursued acting both on the amateur and professional circuits. Notable roles include Tom Collins in Bare Cheek’s production of Rent in 2010.

Over the course of his five years in Japan, he was an actor, director, and audio producer. It was during this time that he discovered his interest in audiobooks and voice-over.

He now works full-time as an audiobook narrator and voice actor from his home in Ireland.

Website⎮Twitter

Sep. 17th:

Dab of Darkness Book Reviews

Working Mommy Journal

Sep. 18th:

Notes from ‘Round the Bend

Sep. 19th:

Melissa Chambers, Crushworthy Contemporary Romance

Sep. 20th:

Lynn’s Romance Enthusiasm

The Literary Apothecary

Sep. 21st:

Turning Another Page

Sep. 22nd:

My Creatively Random Life

2 Girls & A Book

Sep. 23rd:

The Book Addict’s Reviews

Open Skye Book Reviews

 

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COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY!

 

FALLING FOR FOREVER

Before Forever Series: Book Two (Entangled Teen)

RELEASING JULY 3rd 2017

 Some boys get under your skin in the worst way. Others…in the best way.

 

The sun, the kiss, the swoon. *Le sigh*

The second Jenna Quigley turns eighteen, she’s headed to L.A. to extend the timer on her fifteen minutes of fame. Too bad her dad made her promise to graduate high school first. Silver lining? Her new school has a serious talent competition with a $25,000 cash prize, which would go a long way in L.A. Jenna’s got plenty of talent—she didn’t almost win America’s Newest Sensation for nothing. But it’ll take everything she’s got to bring down the music nerd with a stick up his butt…no matter how cute he is in those glasses.

Miles Cleveland needs to win that talent contest. When some hot girl stole his audition spot on America’s Newest Sensation, his chance to study music flounced off to New York with her. Now, not only can he win enough money to pay for his education, he can get revenge on that very same girl. He can’t start to question his plan, though…no matter how deep Jenna buries into his heart.

AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER ON AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Forever-Before-Melissa-Chambers-ebook/dp/B0721KNS1F

MARK “TO READ” ON GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35289079-falling-for-forever

 

Melissa Chambers writes contemporary novels for young, new, and actual adults. A Nashville native, she spends her days working in the music industry and her nights tapping away at her keyboard. While she’s slightly obsessed with alt rock, she leaves the guitar playing to her husband and kid. She never misses a chance to play a tennis match, listen to an audiobook, or eat a bowl of ice cream. (Rocky road, please!) She’s a member of RWA and serves as the president elect for the Music City Romance Writers. She is the author of The Summer Before Forever and Falling for Forever (Entangled Teen).

 

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www.amazon.com/Summer-Before-Forever-Melissa-Chambers-ebook/dp/B01JGMQDZ8

 

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I write this post today from the second floor of Whole Foods, my pulse racing, sweat beading on my brow.

Let’s just something straight. I’m into rules. I like them. They give me a structure to work within. Less questions for me to have to ask. I like to know them, and I like to follow them.

So when I got the email last night from the Whole Foods kids’ cooking class that said I needed to have my kid at class BEFORE 10:00 this morning, I thought, “Cake.” I thought wrong.

This particular Whole Foods is about 25 minutes from my house…20 if I sail through green lights. We leave the house at 9:30 and make it to the area the store is in at 9:45. I am golden. My child will be the first to arrive. Star pupil potential.

I sit relaxed at a red light and leisurely glance at my child in the back seat who smiles casually back at me. A sweet moment between us. He loves cooking. I’ve found this cooking class for him. I just can’t wait for him to experience it – he’s been wanting to do this for ages now. And the time is finally here. I hope he likes it because this will determine whether my friend and I attend adult classes, similar to these cooking classes nyc, that she’s found in our area or not. I would love to do it but if my kid doesn’t enjoy it, then I doubt I will too because he loves the activity more than me. I can’t wait for him to try something new. He’s going to make breakfast, and in honor of Mother’s Day, a “surprise guest” *ahem* will join him to eat the breakfast he has made.

My gaze averts to his flip-flopped feet propped up on the seat back, and a flashback from last night’s email from the cooking class folks fills my brain. I gasp. “I think you were supposed to wear closed-toed shoes!”

Now, most of you out there are going, “What’s the big deal? He’ll be fine in the flip flops.” This is where I remind you of “the rules.” I follow rules. I rarely break them. And I have a fear that he will not be permitted to the class without the closed-toed shoes on.

We happen to be right in front of Macy’s. A sign! I’ll run in here and buy him a pair of shoes. I wheel us into the parking lot and find a space right by the door. Another sign! However, it’s 9:45 in the morning, so probably not that karmic.

We do that nerdy looking fast walk (because we’d be breaking a rule if we ran) up to the boys’ department. As we frantically glance around, looking for anything resembling shoes, a sales clerk kindly stops helping the customer she is with and asks if she can help us, clearly sensing our frantic situation. She informs us that Macy’s doesn’t carry boys’ shoes (??) and that the best she could do is a size 7 in men’s. They would be big, but they would work! Luckily, my nine-year-old has huge feet.

We fast walk through the store, down two escalators, a poor guy moving aside so we could rush past him, and arrive at the men’s shoe department. No sales clerk. I finally get the attention of one in another department before I realize she’s helping another customer. What are all these people doing at Macy’s before 10:00 anyway? She proceeds to ditch the other customer and look up on her computer six different shoes, looking for a size seven or anything close. Nothing. The regular shoe department sales clerk shows up about this time and informs us that he has nothing smaller than an 8.5.

I decide we are screwed. I’m pretty sure I say as much to my kid. I ring my husband, thinking he could bring some shoes, knowing this is a Hail Mary, him being a half hour away and class starting in mere seconds. And then I see the women’s shoe department. I can surely find some women’s shoes that will work, can’t I?

We rush through the department, scanning the heels and loafers, and my gaze locks on the most perfect sight I have ever seen. Converse! Those are unisex, right? (Right? Please tell me that’s right.) I snatch up a white one and hold it up just when another precious, busy Macy’s employee says, “Can I get you a size?” Shout out to all the very helpful Macy’s employees who made this day possible!

While he’s in the back, I scan for socks and come up empty, but I do see something that I think may work – those footy things. You know, the little panty hose they keep for women to try on dress shoes? Score!

So I outfit my nine-year-old boy in the panty hose and women’s converse, and for the first time in my life, take a pair of shoes to the register not having a clue what they cost. I scan my card, and we are off.

I could keep going here with more about how the door was locked on cooking class, and we interrupted a very serious “classroom style” situation with way more people than I expected, and how mortified I was by that, being the rule follower I am. But I’m running long, so I’ll just sum up here.

As I realized we were going to be a good ten minutes late (good time considering what all we went through to get there), I thought and said out loud, “It’s not the end of the world if you are a few minutes late to cooking class.” And it wasn’t. He’s in there now, cracking eggs, stirring batter and learning how to cook a full breakfast. (Did I mention candied bacon is involved?) That’s what he’ll remember about today, not my panicked quest for closed-toed shoes.

So all you moms out there, give yourself a break. You have screwed up and you will keep screwing up. And thank God for it, because there is nothing worse in this world than a perfect mother.

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

SONG OF THE WEEK: Avid Dancer “I Want to See You Dance”

I’m constantly on the hunt for newly discovered authors. I will try just about anything. Generally, I have found that I can tell about ten minutes into an audiobook whether or not I’m going to want to devote another six to twenty hours of my life to it.

Usually, when I’ve tried about four or five books in a row with nothing special standing out, I’ll fall back on an old faithful series. There are certain ones that are failsafes. These aren’t necessarily ones I have devoured in a matter of days (Hunger Games, Twilight, Divergent, etc.), but ones that I have chosen not to be a greedy reader with and to allow to rest while I check out other books, knowing that I’ll eventually get to them.

Here are some of my favorites. Give any one of them a try for an easy but interesting read.

Body Movers series by Stephanie Bond. You’ve got to love the unique concept of a family in the dead body moving business. There’s also a love square — one lady with three possible suitors who continue their pursuits of Carlotta’s affection throughout the series.

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Knowing True Blood wouldn’t last forever, I intentionally saved this series for when I needed an Eric Northman fix. The books are different enough from the show that I feel just familiar enough with the characters to have a good visual but am usually taken off guard at just the right spots.

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. When I need to laugh really hard and often, I pick up one of these novels. The first book is the funniest, as that is when Stephanie is at her most clueless, but I doubt there’s a bad one in the bunch. With twenty-one books to date, this is the series that keeps on giving.

Stella Hardesty (A Bad Day for Sorry) series by Sophie Littlefield. Badass older woman anyone? Stella’s mission in life is to help abused women by dispensing her own unique brand of justice. She’s not a cop, so anything’s fair game.

Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. I’m convinced there has never been a more thorough writer than Lee Child. Settle in and be patient. The payoff is always worth it.