BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: TRIBAL AFFAIRS BY MATT DALLMANN + GIVEAWAY

Book Details

Book Title: Tribal Affairs by Matt Dallmann
Category: YA Fiction, 277 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Matt Dallmann
Release date: July 2017
Tour dates: August 6 to 24, 2018
Content Rating: G (No bad language or sex)

Book Description 

Dahlia, a centuries-old genie, lies hopelessly trapped in a damaged golden locket charm attached to an ankle bracelet. Its owner, sixteen-year-old Liana, wears it for the first time during her father Jamison’s opening night illusion spectacular. Not only does its presence cause Jamison to folly his performance, but it also starts a chain of bizarre events that lead to a showdown with Dahlia’s mortal enemy, Stefan, and an unsuspecting romance between Liana and his son.

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: WINDS OF TIME BY LILLY GAYLE, A TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE

The past is her future, the future, her past, but can she save an innocent man’s life before 

history repeats itself?

As long as Selena Tillman dreams of her ancestor, Mary, who disappeared without a trace in 1871, she’ll never find peace. As long as she dreams of the half-Native American army scout accused of killing Mary, she’ll never find love. Hoping to end the dreams and learn the truth, Selena goes to Texas where Mary and the scout died and sees more than ghosts. She sees a tornado kill Mary in real time before it jumps to the twenty-first century to pull Selena into its vortex and send her back to the nineteenth century. Selena believes she’s fated to prove Dylan’s innocence and save his life, but Dylan isn’t just the man of her dreams; he’s her destiny.

Fed up with the army, bigotry, and women—especially white women, Captain Dylan Casey dedicates himself to solving the mystery of Mary’s disappearance, proving his innocence, and trying to stop a war between the whites and the Indians. Then Mary’s cousin shows up, claiming a tornado killed Mary. Dylan doesn’t trust Selena, but she’s his only ally in Canyon Creek. Yet despite their common goal, growing mutual attraction, and a Comanche shaman’s prophecy of a white woman who will change his destiny and foretell the fate of the Indian Nation, Dylan refuses to take a chance on another spoiled, white woman—until fate changes his mind.

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: HOW TO CATCH A MAGICAL BY SAMUEL THEWS

How to Catch a Magical by Samuel  Thews 

 If you want to catch a Magical, you have to go about it the right way. You have to have the right tools, the right training, a certain disregard for danger and a flair for the dramatic. Oh, and it helps if you inherit your father’s wicked bounty hunter skills, which give you superhuman reflexes and senses. It’s really hard without the last one. Andromeda Nyx has all the skills to be a successful bounty hunter. But after five years of training and catching nothing but Flinks–the lowest-level Magicals, the kind that think it’s funny to steal just one sock from a pair and hide it somewhere in the garden–she’s itching for bigger game. When her mentor says going out on her own to catch a Sprite is too risky, she decides to freelance. When the Sprite she catches turns out to be a messenger, Nyx is chosen as an ambassador for the bounty hunters and must travel to the decrepit world of the Magicals, Himnara. While there, she is informed of a plot by Arcanus Emerson Kain—the leader of a rogue sect of Magicals—to invade Earth for a seemingly bizarre purpose: he wants to steal people. Along with her mentor Ridge, Nyx must find a way to stop Kain before his power becomes too great.

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: DEGREES OF LOVE BY LISA SLABACH

Book Details:

Book Title: Degrees of Love: A Novel by Lisa Slabach
Category: Adult Fiction, 344 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Publisher: Bookbaby
Release date: Dec 1, 2017
Tour dates: May 1 to 18, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (Adult themes including infidelity, occasional F-word, non-explicit sex scenes)

Book Description:

At thirty-six, Susan Sinclair has it all. She's just been promoted to Senior Vice President of Mobile Banking at her firm, a prestigious position bringing fresh creative challenges and a hefty salary increase. Like the shiny new BMW in the driveway of the Silicon Valley home she shares with her husband, Matt, and their two beautiful boys, Susan exudes confidence and style.

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: KEEPING KINLEY BY ANNETTE K. LARSEN

Keeping Kinley by Annette K. Larsen 

  He's noble. She's common. It's complicated. Kinley is content with her common life until a chance meeting with an old friend—a noble—brings the possibility of love. Though Rylan pursues her with a charming carelessness, she doesn’t dare hope that their relationship will be accepted. When Kinley’s livelihood is threatened, she is thrust into his world as a servant, but the Rylan she encounters there isn’t the quirky friend she thought she knew. Can she trust him, or will she be forced to accept that her dreams are only that—dreams?  

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: JACK WILD, IT'S A DODGER'S LIFE. INTERVIEW WITH CLAIRE HARDING-WILD.

The book

The book under the spotlight today is an autobiography coming out 10 years after the death of its protagonist, actor Jack Wild, whom many of us still remember for his unforgettable role as Dodger in Oliver! at age 15. It is not a sad and depressing memoir, but,  on the contrary, is the lively recount of a man who deeply loved life and acting. 

Many thanks to Ms Claire Harding Wild for finding the time to answer my questions about her beloved husband and about the book she completed. 

Propelled to stardom at the age of 15, until his tragic death from cancer at the age of 53, this is the story of actor Jack Wild, in his own words - published for the first time.

Jack was just an ordinary young boy, whose talent was spotted by chance by a theatrical agent, and propelled onto the world stage through his performance in the 1968 film musical Oliver! It brought him an Oscar nomination and international stardom.

As his fame grew, Jack also began to battle with alcoholism, which eventually dominated most accounts of his life. After the glittery highs of the 60’s and 70’s came the “lost decade” of the 80’s; the lows of debts and sectioning under the Mental Health Act. The real story of this is here, in Jack’s own words.

But this isn’t a memoir of pity and darkness. Jack loved life, and loved his life. In the 90’s, and fully sober, Jack returned to the screen in films such as Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. Even in the face of the tragic diagnosis of mouth cancer which eventually killed him, he remained resolutely optimistic about life.

His story contains vivid behind the scenes accounts of many great names he worked with, from British favourites such as Diana Dors and Ron Moody to international stars like Bing Crosby and Kevin Costner.

Completed by Jack's widow Claire, the book is in Jack’s unique narrative voice with honesty, roguish charm and a breath-taking lack of self-pity.

Order the book from Fantom

BOOKS UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

New books under the spotlight, ebooks to be more precise. The latest downloaded in my iPad and added to my TBR list. A book for each of my favourite genres. Number 1 is romance, number 2 historical fiction. 

1. The Full Brontë is a light-hearted novella set around a beautiful Yorkshire manor house which is being used to film the latest version of Jane Eyre. 

It’s a Kindle Single on Amazon. 

Gayle Hargreaves has never read a Brontë novel so, when a film crew descends on her small Yorkshire town and her life is thrown into disarray, she isn’t impressed. 

And she’s even less impressed when the handsome actor playing Mr Rochester starts flirting with her. But she can handle it, can’t she? After all, she just isn’t the sort to fall for a man in period costume... 

Set in the beautiful landscape so beloved of the Brontë sisters, The Full Brontë is a light-hearted novella. 

CAN'T DECIDE BETWEEN MR ROCHESTER AND MR DARCY? MR RUSHWOOD, THEN! SPOTLIGHT ON ...LORD BACHELOR BY TAMMY L. BAILEY + GREAT GIVEAWAY

“Damn. His perfect posture and arrogant smile had her so flustered, she’d forgotten why she was there. She knew after meeting him she’d imagine him as either Mr. Rochester— or worse, Mr. Darcy— while reading her English Lit assignment.” –Abby Forester, Lord Bachelor

Edmund Rushwood was born July 21, 1990 at Danwick Manor to Lord and Lady Rushwood, a privileged family outside of London, England. As an only child, Edmund spent most of his time “watering” his mother’s flower garden and torturing Danwick’s butler, Timmons.

Edmund also spent many days trying to obtain his father’s attention. Unfortunately, before his death, Lord Rushwood had little time for his son, except to read to him, on rare occasions, from Danwick’s vast library. This began Edmund’s love of books, and as he grew older, he gravitated towards the classics from Austen and Bronte. With them, he found some solace and a few romantic passages that he used to charm the opposite sex.

Well known by all, Edmund possessed Hollywood good looks and selfish tendencies. He obtained what he wanted without exerting much energy or caring about the opinions of others. It wasn’t until he was faced with an ultimatum that he was forced to care about someone besides himself.   

“It is in your father’s will, Edmund, that you must marry both wealthy and well, or, at least provide the name of the affluent bride before your twenty-sixth birthday, or everything you are determined to squander on women will be lost.”

BOOK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: PHAEDRA PATRICK, 'THE CURIOUS CHARMS OF ARTHUR PEPPER' + GIVEAWAY

Out today! A delightful and poignant debut that is poised to be a global sensation with foreign rights sold in 15 countries and 13 languages.

Perfect for fans of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

A Joyous celebration of life's infinite possibilities.

If you followed  Harold Fry on his unlikely pilgrimage or you shed a tear at the opening scene of the film Up, get ready to join Arthur Pepper on a search to know his wife and a journey to find himself. 

Sixty-nine year old Yorkshireman Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets up at 7.30 am, just as he did when his wife of 40 years, Miriam, was alive. He eats his breakfast, waters his plant, Frederica, and doesn’t speak to anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. But on the first anniversary of Miriam's death, something changes.

When he finally makes himself sort through Miriam's wardrobe Arthur finds an unfamiliar gold charm bracelet. Upon closer examination, he finds a telephone number on the underside of a gold elephant charm and on a whim, he picks up the phone. 

US RELEASE FOR LYNN SHEPHERD'S LITERARY MURDER MYSTERY, A FATAL LIKENESS - WIN A COPY!

(I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because time spent proofreading could be time spent reading good books or writing new interesting pieces!)

On occasion of its release for the USA market, with a slightly different title and a totally new cover, here's a novel I had the pleasure to read and review a while ago, Lynn Shepherd's latest novel in the Charles Maddox literary murder series: A Fatal Likeness.

Here's how it is presented on amazon.com:

With The Solitary House, award-winning author Lynn Shepherd introduced readers to Charles Maddox, a brilliant private detective plying his trade on the gaslit streets of Dickensian London. Now, in this mesmerizing new novel of historical suspense, a mystery strikes disturbingly close to home—and draws Maddox into a world of literary legends, tormented souls, and a legacy of terrible secrets.

GREENWOOD TREE BY B. LLOYD - BOOK COVER REVEALED

The book

1783 – and Lichfield society is enthralled by the arrival of dashing ex-officer Orville; he charms his way into the salons, grand houses and even a great inheritance from extrovert Sir Morton. 

1927 – and detective writer Julia Warren returns to her home in Lichfield to work on her next novel. Initially she hopes to find plot material from the past and set it in the present. Aunt Isobel, while making preparations for the annual midsummer ball, has managed to root out an old journal from 1783 which might prove a source of inspiration. Once Julia starts reading her ancestor’s journal she becomes absorbed in solving the mystery surrounding officer Orville. Detective fever takes over, and she moves from reality to legend as events from the past seem set to re-enact themselves in the present, and she finds herself unravelling more than just the one mystery. Who was Orville? Who was the agent, Oddman, set to spy on him? And who is helpful Mr Grenall ? 

Pagan gods don’t walk away just because you stop looking at them. The Gronny Patch sleeps. Perhaps it dreams. Or perhaps not …

A complex, multi-layered story unlike any other, full of whimsy, horror, and mystery, shifting between the centuries and from source to source, until all the threads are finally drawn together by the imperturbable Miss Warren.

The author: B. Lloyd

A Bustle attached to a keyboard, occasionally to be seen floating on a canal ...

After studying Early Music in Italy followed by a brief career in concert performance, the Bustle exchanged vocal parts for less vocal arts i.e. a Diploma from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia.