Sweet Fury by Michelle Congdon Release Day Blitz!

BOOK BLURB

I’m a cold-blooded killer.

Raised that way by a man named Ryuu after I was found unconscious on his doorstep when I was ten years old.

I have no recollection of my former past, only that Ryuu took me in, raised me like a daughter, and trained me to become what I am today: a silent and deadly predator.

Behind each seductive smile is a calculated plan on how I’m going to kill my next victim.

Deadly with a gun and even deadlier with a blade, I spared no one.

Except one man…

A man who made me question everything I’d ever been told. Whose past was as mysterious as mine, and made me feel things I shouldn’t.

Grady Tanner.

BOOK LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Fury-Black-Heart-Book-ebook/dp/B00U5N226M

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/sweet-fury/id980621369?mt=11

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sweet-fury-michelle-congdon/1121638227

REVIEW:

Well I can certainly say that Sweet Fury started out very differently and the characters were very different as well. Or at least several of them are. And there are certainly characters it's easy to dislike...very strongly.

The plot was action packed and kept you on the toes. I didn't even notice time passing as I read Sweet Fury. I was almost constantly asking what the heck was going on and what the characters were doing. and there are a few surprises that wow...I didn't expect and certainly were painful to discover.

Overall Sweet Fury was a good read, one that I would suggest to those who are looking for a different type of character. This is the first book in the Black Heart story and it will be very interesting to see what more is to come.

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AUTHOR BIO

Michelle Congdon resides in Sydney, Australia. She enjoys reading books of all sorts of genres, watching way too many movies and TV shows (and Disney cartoons), singing out aloud to her favourite tunes, and going on adventures involving food and travel. Michelle is loud, talks a lot and shares an ever-growing list of book husbands with a friend. She has an overactive imagination, and has tried to put it to good use by sharing stories with anyone willing to listen.

AUTHOR LINKS

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

Website: http://www.michellecongdon.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MichelleCongdon

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MishCongdon

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Shadows and Lies by Eden Butler Cover Reveal

Title: Shadows & Lies (Shadows, #1)

Author: Eden Butler

Genre: Romantic Suspense | Mystery

Expected Release Date: Late March 2015

Cover Designed by: Alleskelle @ http://www..alleskelle.com/

Synopsis

One lie can change your life.

A web of lies can destroy it.

Neil Ryan was a good Navy SEAL. He was an even better detective, but when an unmarked envelope lands on his desk, long-buried secrets are resurrected and Ryan questions everything he thought he knew about justice, including who killed his mother.

Alex Black is a distraction Ryan doesn’t need—she’s loud, obnoxious and a common thief, but her eyes are haunting, her lips irresistible and Ryan happens to love her filthy mouth.

Alex is also the only one able to help Ryan find the leads he's missing. She's the only one who can lead him to the one person who has the answers he seeks, but following her could cost Ryan everything. 

Secrets get told, lives get wrecked and in every shadow, the truth is hiding.

“I’ve been to hell, Alex.” My voice was low, but I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t ashamed. It was a misery no one should ever have to recall. It was one I thought Alex couldn’t never understand. Seeing those scars, seeing just how damn deep her wounds ran, I thought maybe I was wrong.

Those big eyes, dark as midnight, more haunted than any I’d seen in the desert, cut right into me, looking hard, maybe realizing that there had never been a Boy Scout. There had only ever been the fighter. I hated seeing that from her—the understanding that I wasn’t safe, I wasn’t completely whole. Finally, she blinked, moving toward the door with those wide, big eyes taking in my reaction, my worry. “Yeah, I guess you have. But that’s the difference between you and me, Ryan. I still live there.”

Eden Butler is an editor and writer of New Adult Romance and SciFi and Fantasy novels and the nine-times great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum. Her debut novel, a New Adult, Contemporary (no cliffie) Romance, “Chasing Serenity” launched in October 2013 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller.

When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.

She is currently living under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana. Please send help.

Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Pinterest | Tumblr | Amazon Page | Goodreads | Newsletter

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To the Swift by Missy Michaels

(Image found via Goodreads)

Monica grew up in a privileged but loving home. She's in love with her husband even though they have their ups and downs. She's got three children with him and she couldn't imagine life any different. But things change as strange incidents start happening. Find the official description on Goodreads.

While To The Swift was a good book with perspectives from multiple characters and great writing, it just didn't draw me in. I'm not sure if it was just not my thing or what but I just couldn't find myself diving into it as I do with some books. But don't let that discourage you, it's just likely that it's not my book.

The characters seemed typical of everything and Missy Michaels takes her time building them up in your mind and giving you a glimpse of normal before diving into the strange occurrences. Which was good and unique. 

The characters were dealing with ordinary problems for the first little bit and that was good to see. 

Overall, To the Swift was a good book that just wasn't my cup of tea and it didn't grab my attention for that reason. There is a bit of an abrupt ending just as a warning.

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Louisiana Fever by DJ Donaldson

Portly & Proud CSI Catches Louisiana Fever

Threat of Outbreak Drives Latest in Southern Suspense Series

“D.J. Donaldson is superb at spinning medical fact into gripping suspense.  With his in-depth knowledge of science and medicine, he is one of very few authors who can write with convincing authority.”

--Tess Gerritsen, NY Times best-selling author of the Rizzoli & Isles novels

Andy Broussard, the “Plump and Proud” New Orleans medical examiner, obviously loves food.  Less apparent to the casual observer is his hatred of murderers. Together with his gorgeous sidekick, psychologist Kit Franklyn, Broussard forms a powerful, although improbable, mystery solving duo.

Astor + Blue Editions is proud to release Louisiana Fever (ISBN: 978-1-938231-33-9; Fiction / Mystery & Suspense; $5.99 E-Book) the latest Broussard mystery by DJ Donaldson.

When Kit goes to meet an anonymous stranger—who’s been sending her roses—the man drops dead at her feet before she could even get his name. Game on.

Andy Broussard soon learns that the man carried a lethal pathogen similar to the deadly “Ebola”—a highly contagious virus, feared worldwide for killing its victims (grotesquely) in a matter of days. When another body turns up with the same bug, widespread panic becomes imminent. The danger is even more acute, because the carrier is mobile. The man knows he’s a walking weapon and… he’s targeting Broussard.

And when Kit Franklyn investigates her mystery suitor further, she runs afoul of a cold- blooded killer, every bit as deadly as the man searching for her partner.

Louisiana Fever is written in Donaldson’s unique style:  A hard-hitting, punchy, action-packed prose that’s dripping with a folksy, decidedly southern sense of irony.  Mix in Donaldson’s brilliant first-hand knowledge of forensics, along with the sultry flavor of New Orleans, and readers will be fully satisfied with this irresistibly delectable mystery.

Buy links:

Amazon

Barnes And Noble

Astor and Blue

###

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

D.J. Donaldson is a retired professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology.  His entire academic career was spent at the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, where he published dozens of papers on wound-healing and where he taught microscopic anatomy to thousands of medical and dental students.

He is also the author of seven published forensic mysteries and five medical thrillers. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife and two West Highland terriers. In the spring of most years he simply cannot stop buying new flowers and other plants for the couple’s prized backyard garden.

Louisiana Fever

By DJ Donaldson

ISBN: 978-1-938231-33-9

Fiction / Mystery & Suspense

301 Pages

Review:

Right from the beginning DJ Donaldson captures the readers interest. The writing quickly grabs you and makes you pay attention. Not to mention it's a different way to kill victims in a mystery/suspense novel. 

The descriptions, especially of the medical facts or the autopsies were very realistic and very detailed. This definitely adds to the book in such a way that you can imagine easily what an autopsy looks like even if you haven't seen something like it on TV. Sometimes it was scarily descriptive, especially after just having eaten. But as long as you have a strong stomach or don't read it after eating, you're good to go.

The big picture in Louisiana Fever is slowly unveiled but the danger of the situation is very real and always lurking under the surface. While the threat becomes clear, the danger also is revealed and it's definitely not the kind of danger that should be ignored.

The thing I think I loved most about Louisiana Fever other than the descriptions was the fact that DJ Donaldson personifies the killer. He presents it almost as if it's human and I found that a very interesting way to look at things. It added to the book and I enjoyed it.

Louisiana Fever gets your heart pumping, and along with the detailed descriptions, it keeps you coming back for more. If you would like to read Louisiana Fever or any other books by DJ Donaldson, they are on sale on Amazon for $0.99. The buy link for Louisiana Fever is above. If you're a fan of suspense and mysteries, than I strongly suggest you give Louisiana Fever a read. 

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Prey of Desire by J.C. Gatlin Blog Tour and Interview

Title: Prey of Desire

Author: JC Gatlin

Genre: Mystery-Suspense, New Adult

Published: February 2014

Book Description:

They said the disappearance of two high school students over 25 years ago was mystery that couldn't be solved. 

No one ever said it shouldn't be. 

Following the abrupt end of a relationship, college student Kimberly Bradford finds comfort in the friendship with her over-the-top neighbor, Mallory. And, Mallory encourages her to get back out there. She would of course if it weren't for the thrilling little love notes and gifts she's been receiving. 

Kim thinks they're from her ex-fiancee, not realizing he's been murdered. Worse, whoever is sending her all the extra attention is not only in her inner-circle, but has a connection to that unsolved murder some 25 years ago. That connection puts her life in danger, and exposes secrets better left buried around her closest friends and family.

Author Info:

JC Gatlin lives in Tampa, Florida. In addition to regular fishing trips, he wrote a monthly column for New Tampa Style Magazine, then began penning several mystery/suspense stories. He also maintains a blog about the art of spinning a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat mystery yarn.

Coming from a large family with five brothers, JC grew up in Grapevine -- a small Texas town just outside of Dallas. He moved to Tampa in 1999, and most of his stories feature the rich landscapes of Texas and Florida as backdrop.

Website

Amazon
Facebook

Don't forget to scroll further and check out my interview with J.C. Gatlin!

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Interview:

1. First off, let's get to know a little about you. What is one odd thing that not a lot of people know about you?

I like writing in the food court at the mall. I guess that's odd, isn't it? I'd say 85% of Prey of Desire was written during lunch hours. I spread out my laptop on a table and pounded the keys while eating a Chick Fil A sandwich.

2. What drew you to the Mystery-Suspense genre?

I've been reading mystery novels ever since I picked up my first Encyclopedia Brown book in the third grade. And I never looked back. It's my favorite genre -- always has been. I think it's the puzzle of a whodunit that sucks me in. I love unraveling the plot and looking for clues. I'm intrigued by motivation, especially motives for murder.

3.  How were you able to come up with the plot for Prey of Desire?

I was in college at the time I wrote my first draft. The girl  who lived in the apartment across the hall had a doberman, and talked non-stop about her ex-boyfriend. She was clearly still madly in love with him. She really inspired the main character, Kimberly. Mallory was inspired by a red headed girl who was in several of my classes. She made a good living by getting rear-ended by expensive cars and had no internal filter. She always said what everyone else was thinking. In fact, I scaled the character of Mallory back a few degrees because the girl in real life was so unbelievable.

4. Did you find it difficult to write Prey of Desire?

It wasn't difficult to write, but I did struggle with the murderer's identity. The original short story I wrote in college was very different. Most of the characters are the same, but someone else committed the murder. Then I rewrote the novel with another murderer in mind. Once I connected the mystery to the disappearance of two teenagers 25 years earlier, everything fell inline. The true murderer presented himself. 

5. Do you listen to music when you write? If so did you have a specific playlist you listened to while writing this novel?

Absolutely. Prey of Desire is set during New Year's Eve 1999, so I listened to a lot songs from that time period. I mention several in the book. There was a lot of fun music around that time.

6. What can we expect from you in the future?

I just got the edit red lines on my new murder mystery, "Hangman." It's about a woman who returns to her hometown to attend a childhood friend's funeral. It will be released in February 2015.

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When Historical Fact and Fiction Collide

When Historical Fact and Fiction Collide by R. M. Clark

While writing my mystery Center Point, I needed to link together some 300 years of local Southeastern Massachusetts history, including the use of Native American lore and a Revolutionary War battle. Each issue provided a unique dilemma when it came to historical accuracy.

I wasn't sure how to include Native American terms and legends into the narrative of the story and yet still have it sound somewhat authentic. I didn't want to use an existing tribe name or any known legends - too much of a chance of writing something foolish or possibly disrespectful to Native culture. Native legends weave real world, spiritual and metaphysical aspects together in a very unique way and they are an extremely important link to the past.

I decided to keep the story "tribeless" and made up Native warrior names (Komaket and Komagansett) and the legend that went with them. The same was true with with most of the terms, like shingala (the convergence of energy), shongo (a staff) and mahica (30 year cycle of the wolf). It was a generic, but safe, compromise.

Had I chosen to use, say, the Narragansett tribe, I would have been limited to that tribe's lore, customs, legends and other details which would open the door for historical inaccuracies.

My second issue was that there were no Revolutionary War battles of any note in the area. Sure, Massachusetts had the battles of Concord and Lexington and Bunker/Breeds Hill to the north, but none in Southeastern Mass. Moving the story to another location was out of the question; fictional New Dover was a keeper.

So what's a writer to do when confronted with mixing a clearly fictional story with factual events? My choice was easy. I made up a battle. The Battle of New Dover. Fictional town. Fictional battle. I even threw in Fort New Dover. No one (editors, reviewers, readers) ever made it a concern, probably because it was so obviously made up and because, as we say in New England, it was a wicked long time ago.

Had this been a Civil War reference, I may still have been able to get away with it. Many of those battle names and battle sites are familiar: Gettysburg, Yorktown, Bull Run, Antietam. But there were dozens of smaller, lesser known skirmishes and it would be okay to use the (made up) Battle of Gibson's Creek, since there were around twenty battle sites with "Creek" in the name.

Making up a WWII battle would probably be unwise, same with World War I, Korea or Vietnam. As an author, you are subject to real timelines and events of these wars. It's probably not a good idea to say that a character was in the 107th battalion in Vietnam when no such unit existed there (yes, someone would check the historical accuracy and let you know).

Take the movie Saving Private Ryan. It had factual information: Invasion of Normandy, Omaha Beach, right down to the 101st Airborne uniform and patch. Of course, there was no Captain John Miller of the 2nd Rangers or a Private Ryan. But you have to make up characters or there would be no story.

I recall one doozie of a historical inaccuracy from author David Baldacci in his book Stone Cold. When you get some muscle you can write this at the end of your book:

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed Stone Cold. One note so people won’t e-mail telling me I made a glaring mistake: I’ve played with the time-line, putting Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko in office as heads of the Soviet Union so it would match Oliver Stone’s career as a government assassin. As a fiction writer, I have full latitude to do so. It’s an entitlement actually granted to me by the Novelist’s Bill of Rights, under the subsection “Why Bother with the Truth When You Can Just Make It Up?” It was duly enacted by Congress, an august body that has enviable experience in same.

The rest of us should probably play it safe!

R. M. Clark's mystery Center Point is available from the Writers AMuse Me Publishing site (http://www.writersamuseme.com/rmclark.htm#903985084) as well as Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, iBooks and Kobo. Visit his author site: http://www.rmclarkauthor.com

(Also feel free to check out my(Aly's review of Center Point.)

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Center Point by R.M. Clark

(Image found on Goodreads)

"For once in your life, finish something." -R.M. Clark, Center Point

Dennis Kozma is shocked to receive a visit from his late father's lawyer delivering a package his father left with the lawyer ten years ago. He receives several documents, all interesting in their own way. But the most important is the drawing of Komaket. But when his curious nature crosses into the territory of a secret society will he survive to his twenty-sixth birthday? Find the official description on Goodreads.

The writing for this book was really well done. It was easy to follow the story and there weren't a bunch of stumbling points. If you didn't understand something than it was likely to be explained. The only thing that bothered me in the book is how the drawing filled itself in and then disappeared. I sort of think I understand the explanation but still it was slightly confusing to me. 

However Dennis was a great character. The "professional student" he seems almost afraid to finish his education and thus have to enter the real world(anyone else know that feeling? *raises hand*). But he was dealing with the hand he was dealt and he was actually dealing really well with the situations that arose. Dennis was a character that readers can get behind and enjoy. 

I especially enjoyed the mystery of the whole thing. Dennis' dad was a smart guy really to set all this up and know that his son would find both answers. And there were also characters that you had to sort of try and find out whether they were who they said they were and if they could be trusted. It was a fun ride, one that I couldn't really guess any of the major discoveries.

Center Point was a great read for those interested in mysteries. The characters and book itself was well written and it gives the reader plenty of information so they can work on their own sleuthing skills.

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Deadly Fantasies By Kelly Miller

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"Now it was time to repay the favor." -Kelly Miller, Deadly Fantasies

Detective Kate Springer knows that the early morning call can mean only one thing - a murder has taken place. But what she doesn't expect to hear is the voice of her psychologist confessing to her husband's murder. Loyal to a fault, Kate runs to the aid of Dr. Nina Grace. But is she truly just a victim in all of this? Or is she the murderer? Find the official description on Goodreads.

When I first got this book, I was a little nervous, but I was assured that it was meant to be a standalone as well as part of the series so it would not be difficult to read this book. It's the second in the Detective Kate Springer series. And I wasn't missing anything at all. If anything was mentioned about Kate's past, there was some kind of explanation. I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not having read the first book in the series before reading Deadly Fantasies. It was easy to slip into the book even without having read the first book.

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The Perfect Game by Stephen Paul

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"He'd crossed the line. And there was no turning back." -Stephen Paul, The Perfect Game

People are dying all over New York City. Nothing unusual in that. But what is unusual is that these are young people, in their twenties dying of brain aneurysms. And a young pitcher on the Yankees is suddenly playing an amazing game. Can there be a connection? And how are the people being killed? Find the official synopsis over at Goodreads.

From the very beginning this book had me hooked. The main character, Kyle Vine grabbed my attention from the very first. I found that Stephen Paul described him in such a way that I found myself sympathizing with him even as I felt that I should be saying that something was wrong there or just something against Kyle. But the way that Stephen Paul wrote him and his inner musings I found myself actually feeling that this guy was having a difficult time with what he was doing. And  I found myself getting into the killers head when chapters were written in his perspective. Just not enough that I could discover who it was.

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