Bobo The Apostate by Donald Michael Platt Spotlight!

Publication Date: September 29, 2014 Raven's Wing Books Formats: eBook, Paperback Genre: Historical Fiction

    
  
  “… in the meantime, a credible report caused all ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church to lament and weep.” Prudentius of Troyes, Annales Bertiniani, anno 839 On Ascension Day May 22, 838, Bishop Bodo, chaplain, confessor, and favorite of both his kin, Emperor Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, and Empress Judith, caused the greatest scandal of the Carolingian Empire and the 9th century Roman Church. Bodo, the novel, dramatizes the causes, motivations, and aftermath of Bodo’s astonishing cause célèbre that took place during an age of superstitions, a confused Roman Church, heterodoxies, lingering paganism, broken oaths, rebellions, and dissolution of the Carolingian Empire.

About the Author

Author of four other novels, ROCAMORA, HOUSE OF ROCAMORA, A GATHERING OF VULTURES, and CLOSE TO THE SUN, Donald Michael Platt was born and raised in San Francisco. Donald graduated from Lowell High School and received his B.A. in History from the University of California at Berkeley. After two years in the Army, Donald attended graduate school at San Jose State where he won a batch of literary awards in the annual SENATOR PHELAN LITERARY CONTEST. Donald moved to southern California to begin his professional writing career. He sold to the TV series, MR. NOVAK, ghosted for health food guru, Dan Dale Alexander, and wrote for and with diverse producers, among them as Harry Joe Brown, Sig Schlager, Albert J. Cohen, Al Ruddy plus Paul Stader Sr, Hollywood stuntman and stunt/2nd unit director. While in Hollywood, Donald taught Creative Writing and Advanced Placement European History at Fairfax High School where he was Social Studies Department Chairman. After living in Florianópolis, Brazil, setting of his horror novel A GATHERING OF VULTURES, pub. 2007 & 2011, he moved to Florida where he wrote as a with: VITAMIN ENRICHED, pub.1999, for Carl DeSantis, founder of Rexall Sundown Vitamins; and THE COUPLE’S DISEASE, Finding a Cure for Your Lost “Love” Life, pub. 2002, for Lawrence S. Hakim, MD, FACS, Head of Sexual Dysfunction Unit at the Cleveland Clinic. Currently, Donald resides in Winter Haven, Florida where he is polishing a dark novel and preparing to write a sequel to CLOSE TO THE SUN. For more information please visit Donald Michael Platt’s website. You can also connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Bodo, the Apostate Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, December 8 
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book 
Tuesday, December 9 
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book 
Wednesday, December 10 
Review at Back Porchervations 
Spotlight at CelticLady's Reviews 
Friday, December 12 
Guest Post at Back Porchervations 
Monday, December 15 
Spotlight at Boom Baby Reviews 
Monday, December 22 
Guest Post at Words and Peace 
Tuesday, December 23
Review at Book Nerd 
Monday, December 29 
Review at Next Chapter Book Reviews 
Monday, January 5 
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views 
Spotlight at The Literary Vacation  
Tuesday, January 6 
Review at Broken Teepee 
Thursday, January 7 
Review at A Bibliophile's Reverie 
Friday, January 8 
Review at Just One More Chapter 
Review at The Never Ending Book

A Murder Country by Brandon Daily Review!

Book Details Hardcover: 210 pages Publisher: Knox Robinson Publishing; 1 edition (September 9, 2014) Language: English ISBN-10: 1908483679 ISBN-13: 978-1908483676

The nineteenth century looms just a few years away, bringing with it the belief in progress and a new world. But for Josiah Fuller, William Corvin, and the Rider in the Appalachian backwoods and small towns of the late nineteenth century, there is nothing but a world where bloodshed is paid for in blood, and violence is the ultimate law of the land.

When seventeen-year-old Josiah Fuller comes home to find his parents hanged and mutilated and the family house burned to the ground, he sets off to find the man responsible for their murders and avenge their deaths. His journey takes him through new towns and wildernesses he has not seen before. He meets people who show him the realities of living in a violent world, forcing Josiah to decide what is most important to him: vengeance or grace.

Years after running away from home as a young boy, William Corvin returns with his new bride to take over the family's coal mining operation. Though he is haunted by the violence of his past, he sets out to live a peaceful life and start a family there. However, Corvin's hopes of peace are challenged when a horrible act of violence causes him to revert back to the man he once was.

After being visited by an angel in a dream years earlier, the Rider has become a man with violence in his blood, believing himself to be appointed by God to collect the souls of sinners. He travels around on his horse, killing whoever he feels is deserving of God's wrath and vengeance. These three men move along their own individual paths, their stories intersecting with one another, continually searching for an understanding of the violent world in which they live and their own actions within that world.

The novel examines the power and fragility of belief and conviction within humans, showing how one small act often leads to consequences that reach far beyond anyone's imagining.

About the Author

Brandon Daily was born and raised in southern California. In 2012, he and his wife moved to Central Georgia, where he now teaches high school English and Literature. He holds an M.A. in American Literature and has worked as an adjunct professor and freelance editor.

Brandon's short fiction has been published in several online and print magazines, and his one act play "South of Salvation" was performed and won first prize in the CAST Players One Act Play Festival in 2012.

A Murder Country (Knox Robinson, 2014) is his first novel, and tells the story of three violent men living in the late nineteenth century; each man is seeking an understanding of his life and his place within the larger realm of the world. The novel is inspired by Brandon's fascination with the tension between nature and man as well as the power and fragility of belief and conviction within humans.

Brandon is currently working on his second novel and several more short stories.

https://www.facebook.com/BrandonDaily38
https://twitter.com/BrandonDaily38

My Thoughts
How does one simple act affect those around you? It can have wonderful or devasting affects. That is what A Murder Country does. It takes place a in the latter part of the 1800's. The main characters Josiah Fuller is on a mission to find the person/s that killed his parents. A horrific act of violence has ruined the peaceful existence that William Corvin has worked so hard to maintain and lastly there is the Rider, a man who believes himself God and believes it is his duty to kill those he feels deserves it and collect their souls. 

This is a novel that is very dark and brooding a western only in the sense of the time it takes place in, each man's paths crossing in different ways that leads  each one of them to face consequences for their actions and change what they believe in. This is not a happily ever after story by any means but it does make the reader think a little. Will they get their revenge? This is a historical thriller that will have the reader eagerly turning the pages. A well written first novel for this author. I especially like the cover as I am a person who definitely judges a book by it's cover. It captures the bleakness and austerity of the time. Go give this book a try!

I received a copy for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review.

The Coming Woman by Karen J.Hicks Spotlight!

At a time when Hillary Clinton is considering another run for the presidency, it might be helpful to consider the first woman who ran for president—and at a time when women were prohibited from voting! 

"The Coming Woman" is a novel based on the life of feminist Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for U.S. President, 50 years before women could even vote!

Running for President wasn’t Victoria’s only first as a woman. She was also the first to own a successful Wall Street firm, the first to publish a successful national newspaper, and the first to head the two-million-member Spiritualist Association. She was the first woman to enter the Senate Judiciary Committee chambers to petition for woman's suffrage, her argument changing the entire focus of the suffragist movement by pointing out that the 14th and 15th Amendments already gave women the vote.

In her campaign for the Presidency, Victoria Woodhull boldly addressed many of the issues we still face today: equal pay for equal work; freedom in love; corporate greed and political corruption fueled by powerful lobbyists; and the increasing disparity between the rich and the poor, to name only a few. Her outspoken and common-sense ideas may shed a new perspective on the parallel conundrums of today’s world.

This bold, beautiful, and sexually progressive woman dared to take on society and religion. To make an example of the hypocrisy in what Mark Twain dubbed The Gilded Age, she exposed the extramarital affairs of the most popular religious figure of the day (Henry Ward Beecher). This led to her persecution and imprisonment and the longest, most infamous trial of the 19th century. But it did not stop her fight for equality.

Victoria’s epic story, set in the late 1800s, comes to life in a modern, fictional style, while staying true to the actual words and views of the many well-known characters. 

The Coming Woman, by Karen J. Hicks, is a novel based on the life of feminist Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for U.S. President, 50 years before women could even vote! 

Genres: Historical Fiction / Women’s Fiction

“What kind of confidence would it take for a woman to buck the old boy’s club of politics in 1872? More than 140 years pre-Hillary, there was Victoria Woodhull. This book takes you back with a breathtaking, present-tense bird’s eye view into a time when women’s liberation was primarily confined to one woman’s very capable, independent mind. I couldn’t put it down.” – Ruth Buzzi, Golden Globe Award winner and Television Hall of Fame inductee

“The Coming Woman is a great read and a long overdue biography written beautifully by Ms. Hicks. Victoria Woodhull comes alive in each and every paragraph; a vital strength and spirit in Woodhull propels her to run for president of the United States when women weren’t even allowed to vote! What a woman, what a book! An inspiring must read for every woman and any adventurous men! Thank you, Ms. Hicks for finally telling her colorful story.” – Jennifer Lee Pryor, author of Tarnished Angel: A Memoir and President, Indigo, Inc.

"Sadly, too many Americans have never heard of Victoria Woodhull, let alone learned of her story: her revolutionary campaign for the presidency at a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote, her support for worker’s rights, or her feminist commitment to equality, a century before the official battle over the Equal Rights Amendment. But in ‘The Coming Woman,’ Karen Hicks brings Woodhull’s efforts to life, and reminds us that some of our nation’s greatest figures aren’t always featured in the history books. It is a riveting account of an amazing woman and her struggle for justice and human dignity, told in an engaging and eminently readable style.” - Tim Wise, author, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

To learn more, go to http://bookpublicityservices.com/coming-woman-based-life-infamous-feminist-victoria-woodhull/

The Coming Woman was published by Sartoris Literary Group in August 2014 and is available for sale on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Genre: Women’s Fiction / Historical Fiction

About the Author:

Karen J. Hicks is retired and lives in Henderson, Nevada. She recently published her second novel, The Coming Woman, based on the life of the infamous feminist Victoria C. Woodhull, who was the first woman to run for U.S. President. Her first book was a self-help book titled The Tao of a Uncluttered Life. Karen served as in-house editor for author Steve Allen and has written several screenplays, as well as poetry, short stories, and essays. To learn more, go to Karen’s: Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Red by Jacqueline Noir Book Announcement!

 Author: Jacqueline Noir

 Series: VonRouge Book #1

 Expected Release Date: January 2015

Synopsis

The first time those gray eyes pinned her, they’d stared at her from the face of a creature that was supposed to only be a legend. A cliche.

The. Big. Bad. Black. Wolf.

A wolf that had changed into a man.

But it had all be a hallucination. Hadn’t it?

When Sadie VonRouge moves to Casterton, Oregon to live with her Grams, she expected a sleepy little town; the perfect backdrop for her to start piecing back together her life. She wants nothing more than a normal start to her freshman year of college.

Normal was the last thing she was going to get.

The night she was attacked, it’d been a wolf that chased her down. A wolf that tackled her to the ground. A wolf that began sniffing her.

Then she’d opened her eyes, and she’d come face-to-face with him.

But she was delusional. She knew this. After all, she had a nice, fresh wolf bite on her neck to prove it.

There’d been no man.

At least, that’s what she tells herself over and over, even while fighting back the memory of how sinfully gorgeous he’d been, or how viciously he’d growled out that one word:

Mine.

Sadie doesn’t know what the hell is happening to her, or why she’s beginning to exhibit odd symptoms after the attack. All she knows is that her world has been drastically changed.

She has no idea how much, or how serious that man’s claim was. Not until he comes back into her life, demanding the one thing that he owns above anything else.

Her.

Thrust into a new world, Sadie is going to be forced to deal with a reality she never expected.

And a dominating, scary, dangerous male that might just not give her any choice but to accept her new life . . . and the fact that he comes along with it.

When everything isn’t always black and white, it’s a little Red.

Giveaway

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Author Bio

Jacqueline Noir lives in Phoenix, AZ with her loving husband, three pups, and her 'small human'.

She loves everything paranormal from the movies, television, books, and adventures to haunted places. When she isn't dreaming of werewolves, witches, and all things that go bump in the night, she is busy creating hot and romantic stories that bring to life all these creatures in their most alpha form.

Her stories feature kick-butt female leads, hot dominate alphas and a whole lot of wicked trouble. Her love for books has taken from being an avid reader, to a book blogger and now an author.

Her debut novella, Red, is the first in the paranormal erotic VonRouge series.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.jacquelinenoir.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaEJacquelineNoir

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JacquelineNoir

Jesus Daily by Aaron Tabor, MD Review!

Book Details Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: FaithWords (October 7, 2014) Language: English ISBN-10: 1455577235 ISBN-13: 978-1455577231

Based on the major themes found on the most active Facebook page in history, JESUS DAILY is a 365-day interactive devotional that goes beyond even the fan page to create a deeper experience and cultural movement that celebrates your redemption in Christ. JESUS DAILY presents a devotional thought but also challenges you to respond to each daily reflection using a variety of social media tools. 

JESUS DAILY is a worldwide revolution in how you can connect, share, and worship the Father personally and with other believers.

Purchase Links
Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com, and Walmart

   About the Author

Aaron Tabor, MD, started the Jesus Daily Facebook page in 2009. He is the President of Gene Facelift, a gene therapy biotechnology company developing anti-aging and wound healing drugs. Dr. Tabor is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

My Thoughts

Jesus Daily is a 365 Day Interactive Devotional. As in any other devotional, this one starts on January 1st and goes through the end of the year so that it can be used for years. Each day has a scripture such as today, December 9th : 

   "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives and release them from darkness..."

Isaiah 61:1

The devotion for the day itself gives us an interpretation of the scripture to reflect on. Then there is a daily interaction that challenges us to interact online with other people. Today it said to "Shine the light of God's love on someone who may be struggling in darkness right now. Send them a favorite verse, e-Christmas card or an online gift card."

I think in our busy lives and schedules we often tend to forget what is really important and also forget that there are people out there who do need that little extra help and love. We need to reach out more!

I believe that this little book will help me to do just that, reach out to others, not necessarily for help but just to say, I am here for you. The pictures in the book are done very well and each devotion is easy to understand. Nothing complicated at all. This little book would be a perfect gift for that special someone in your life. I highly recommend it.

I received two copies of the book for review and was not monetarily compensated for said review.

Longing by Lilly Avalon Cover Reveal!

Title: Longing

Series: Resist #2

by: Lilly Avalon

Publication Date: January 27, 2015

Synopsis

It's been two months since Allegra walked out of Devlin's hotel room. Well, two months and five days, but she's not counting. She needs to move on, but before she can, Devlin shows up again...as her new coworker. Seeing him at work every day is enough to make her lose her mind. Allegra tries to stay away from Devlin, knowing the effect he has on her, but she can't. The more she's around him, the more she's tempted to have something more with him. After everything that's happened in the past, it's a slippery slope that may land her in a place she never wants to revisit. Something is happening to her heart, though. A longing is building up that isn't one-sided...and doesn't feel temporary. He wants her. She wants a forever. Is it possible to have it all? *Longing is a full-length erotica novel, and the sequel to Resist*

Purchase Links

Here All Along (Here All Along #1)

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Barnes & Noble 

Resist (Resist #1) Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Barnes & Noble 
More Than Words (More Than Words #1) Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Barnes & Noble

Meet the Author

Lilly Avalon is the author of the erotic romances Here All Along and Resist, and the upcoming novella More Than Words. 

She's somewhere in the midst of her twenties and lives mostly in the stories in her head. When she's not enveloped in the worlds she creates, she's out in the real world making stories happen. That or reading other romances. It's a toss-up.

Social Media Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7735191.Lilly_Avalon

Website: http://lillyavalon.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lilly-Avalon/822676841093473

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilly_avalon

Giveaway

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Peyote Fire by Mary S Black Blog Tour Spotlight!

Publication Date: October 25, 2014
Writers Press
Formats: Ebook, Trade Paperback
Pages: 350

Genre: Historical Fiction

Deer Cloud is painting the stories of the gods when tragedy changes his life. He is called to walk the shaman path and bring the buffalo through his visionary power. The evil Stone Face will do anything to thwart Deer Cloud’s growing strength. Jumping Rabbit, a lusty female shaman, decides to mentor him and ends up taking him to bed. She introduces him to a powerful spirit plant to counter the effects of the dangerous wolf flower. When buffalo are spotted, Stone Face challenges Deer Cloud to call the beasts with his new power. With Jumping Rabbit’s help, Deer Cloud changes Rain Bringer society forever.

This book brings to life people who lived over 4,000 years ago in the southwest Texas canyonlands known as the Lower Pecos, near the confluence of the Devils and Pecos rivers with the Rio Grande. These ancient people painted over 300 currently known rock art murals, some of which can be viewed today. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a huge bison jump in a small canyon in that region that points to a catastrophic event in the lives of these people so long ago. This book is based on extensive research and is the first novel to examine these events.

About the Author

Mary S. Black fell in love with the Lower Pecos more than twenty years ago. Since then she has studied the archaeology and related ethnography of the area with numerous scholars. She has an Ed.D. from Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology and lives in Austin with her husband, an archaeologist, and two cats.

For more information please visit Mary’s website. You can also connect with her onFacebook and Goodreads.

Peyote Fire Blog Tour Schedule

Thursday, November 13
Interview at Boom Baby Reviews

Monday, November 17
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Tuesday, November 18
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Monday, November 24
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Monday, December 8
Review at Broken Teepee
Spotlight at Book Nerd

Tuesday, December 9
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Wednesday, December 10
Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book
Spotlight at Just One More Chapter

Monday, December 15
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, December 16
Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, December 18
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

An Intimate Murder by Stacy Verdick Case Spotlight!

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Before The Fall Books (October 7, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0983713766
• ISBN-13: 978-0983713760

When Jonathan and Susan Luther are murder in their home, St. Paul homicide detective Catherine O’Brien and her partner Louise discover this isn’t the first time the Luther family has been visited by tragedy. Is it a case of bad family luck or is there something more?

Advance Praise for An Intimate Murder:

Kirkus Reviews:

… the book is elevated above the standard police procedural by Case’s sharp, engaging characters, particularly an abundance of strong, interesting women. … Spending time in Catherine’s world is plenty of fun, and hopefully Case has more novels in store.

Midwest Book Review:

… a spicy, fast-paced, first-person detective saga that produces winning characters and a satisfyingly-compelling mystery that will keep readers guessing to the end. – D. Donovan, eBook Reviewer, MBR

About the Author

Stacy Verdick Case was born in Willmar, Minnesota. After a brief stint as a military brat, where she lived in Fort Sill Oklahoma and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, her family moved back to Minnesota.

Stacy currently lives in a suburb of St. Paul with her husband and her daughter. Her 3rd Catherine O'Brien mystery An Intimate Murder will be released October 7th. 

Stacy is hard at work on her fourth book in the series.

Die I Will Not by S.K Rizzolo Blog Tour Spotlight!

Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Poisoned Pen Press
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback

Series: John Chase Mystery Series
Genre: Historical Mystery/Regency



Unhappy wife and young mother Penelope Wolfe fears scandal for her family and worse. A Tory newspaper editor has been stabbed while writing a reply to the latest round of letters penned by a firebrand calling himself Collatinus. Twenty years before, her father, the radical Eustace Sandford, wrote as Collatinus before he fled London just ahead of accusations of treason and murder. A mysterious beauty closely connected to Sandford and known only as N.D. had been brutally slain, her killer never punished. The seditious new Collatinus letters that attack the Prince Regent in the press also seek to avenge N.D.’s death and unmask her murderer. What did the journalist know that provoked his death?

Her artist husband Jeremy is no reliable ally, so Penelope turns anew to lawyer Edward Buckler and Bow Street Runner John Chase. As she battles public notoriety, Buckler and Chase put their careers at risk to stand behind her while pursuing various lines of inquiry aimed at N.D.’s murderer, a missing memoir, Royal scandal, and the dead editor’s missing wife. As they navigate the dark underbelly of Regency London among a cast driven by dirty politics and dark passions, as well as by decency and a desire for justice, past secrets and present criminals are exposed, upending Penelope’s life and the lives of others.

John Chase Mystery Series

Book One: The Rose in the Wheel
Book Two: Blood for Blood
Book Three: Die I Will Not

Buy the Book

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository

About the Author

S.K. Rizzolo is a longtime Anglophile and history enthusiast. Set in Regency England, The Rose in the Wheel and Blood for Blood are the first two novels in her series about a Bow Street Runner, an unconventional lady, and a melancholic barrister. An English teacher, Rizzolo has earned an M.A. in literature and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

For more information please visit S.K. Rizzolo's website. You can also find her on Facebook and Goodreads.

Die I Will Not Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, November 17
Review at Back Porchervations

Tuesday, November 18
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, November 19
Interview at Back Porchervations
Spotlight at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, November 20
Interview with Curling Up With a Good Book

Friday, November 21
Review at Book Nerd

Monday, November 24
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Tuesday, November 25
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, November 26
Review at Buried Under Books
Review at Book Babe (The Rose in the Wheel)
Spotlight at Layered Pages

Friday, November 28
Spotlight at Just One More Chapter

Monday, December 1
Review at WTF Are You Reading?

Tuesday, December 2
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Connection

Wednesday, December 3
Interview at Caroline Wilson Writes

Thursday, December 4
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Spotlight at What Is That Book About

Friday, December 5
Review at The True Book Addict

Monday, December 8
Review at CelticLady's Reviews

Tuesday, December 9
Review at A Bibliotaph's Reviews
Spotlight at Book Babe

Wednesday, December 10
Review at The Lit Bitch
Review at Griperang's Bookmarks

Thursday, December 11
Review at Jorie Loves a Story

Friday, December 12
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story