2014/05/01

Abiding Flame - Cover Reveal and Book Giveaway

abiding flame banner



Abiding Flame_ebooklgAbiding Flame Cover Reveal

Darkness can be overcome…

Terminally ill Lynette Lamb is forced to reunite her wayward son and grandson. Her options are as limited as her strength and mobility. Through a fateful series of events, the rejoined pair will leave Earth to become part of a colony orbiting a new planet. Sam Austin and his wife mourn the loss of their only child and decide to make a fresh start at the space station. The same ship holds the one who will fulfill the dark planet’s prophecy, but a demonic force boards to stop the vessel. The demon’s obedient but unwilling servant is sent on a suicide mission to keep the ship from reaching its destination.

Expected Release Date: June 24, 2014




Author Bio:

In simple language, Pauline Creeden creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long. Pauline is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy.
Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been a #1 Bestseller in Christian Fantasy and been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine.

Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and is now available as an audiobook. #1 Bestseller on Amazon in Christian Sci/Fi and Fantasy (October 2013)

One of Pauline's short stories has won the CCW Short Story contest. Other short stories have been published in Fear & Trembling Magazine, Obsidian River and Avenir Eclectia. An urban fantasy short will appear in The Book of Sylvari: An Anthology of Elves from Port Yonder Press, and a vampire short will appear in Monsters! from Diminished Media Group.




Excerpt:
“Freak,” a boy in green yelled, drawing Lynette Lamb’s attention from her second story window. Three boys caught up with her eleven-year-old grandson, Jeremy, and blocked his path. “Why you look so weird?”
“Do–” Jeremy clenched a pharmacy bag. “Why do I look so weird?”
The green one laughed. “That’s what I asked. See, he doesn’t even know.” Snickering, two of the boys punched each other in the shoulders.
Lynette could smell their bloodlust on the breeze. Like rough burlap, her tired lungs scratched against her rib cage, but she ignored the pain and watched the three boys who harassed her grandson. One wore red, one blue, and one green. Otherwise only a modicum of disparity existed among them. That was the problem with normalization. In an effort to make everyone look the same, society succeeded in taking away individuality. She could hardly tell the kids apart anymore. She coughed, and splatters of blood stained the washcloth she gripped in her weak fingers.
“Is your doctor blind or sumthin’? ’Cuz I can almost see through you, white boy.” Green smacked Jeremy in the chest to punctuate his words. “And what’s with those teeth? Was yo’ momma a horse?”
“No.” Jeremy attempted to cross the street.
The boy in red pushed him and knocked the pharmacy bag to the sidewalk. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
The one in blue giggled like a hyena. “Yeah. Unless it’s to a doctor. It’s called normalizing. Ain’t you never heard of it?”
“Shut it.” The one in red smacked Blue in the back of the head. Blue cowered, nearly falling backwards as he stepped off the curb.
Jeremy focused on the bag at his feet and stood still. His tall, lanky frame and pale skin made him an anomaly to the normalized, olive-skinned children his age. Because of his recent growth spurt, he seemed to be more knees and elbows than his limbs accounted for. Next to the other children, he stood like an awkward, leafless cedar.
Lynette clenched her teeth, hoping none of the young brutes held a weapon. If only she had the strength and wind in her lungs to yell at them! Tears filled her eyes. It crushed her that she could no longer take care of her grandson like he needed.
Green poked Jeremy in the chest to emphasize each word. “Why. You. Look. So. Weird.”
“I look the way God made me.”
Lynette’s heart swelled. But the primary colors doubled over and slapped each other on the backs. Green barked laughter, but stopped, spit on the ground, and said, “You one of those religion freaks, ain’t you? I knew it.”
Blue giggled, hand over his mouth, and pointed at Jeremy. “My dad said you was extinct!”
Red gripped the front of Jeremy’s shirt and growled, “Well, I says we make you extinct.”
He rammed his fist into Jeremy’s stomach. The other two boys jumped into the fray, arms thumping in a wild rhythm.



Goodreads Book Giveaway

Abiding Flame by Pauline Creeden

Abiding Flame

by Pauline Creeden


Giveaway ends July 01, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win



**Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links and/or links to outside sites. By clicking on an affiliate link it is at no cost to you and helps run/maintain this blog. Posts for reviews are my own opinions and no additional compensation is given unless otherwise stated. Giveaways on this blog are under the discretion of the host of the giveaway.

2014/04/30

Being Courageous


I am very fortunate to live near a wonderful lady who has started planning trips just for women.  I went on my first trip this past Sunday.  I am also blessed to live very near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It is a spectacular park!  One area of the park is Cades Cove.  The cove was a community nestled in the mountains up until the government made the area into the park.  So yes, my very first one of these trips was in my own backyard.



Now this may not seem too exciting.  Yes, I've been to Cades Cove a bazillion times in my life.  Honestly I have never tired of going.  I do get aggravated with tourists, but that's a story for another time.  These trips she plans are secret adventures.  At least they're a secret for those of us who attend.   Though we went to a place I have been many times before, we stopped at places I didn't know existed until Sunday.


How can that happen you may ask...  It's really pretty easy to miss things in a place such as the cove.  It is an 11 mile loop with a couple cross-roads that cut across if you want to shorten your trip.  There are several churches and homesteads.  The national park was established just over 75 years ago.  When that happened, Cades Cove was all farmland.  Now it is mostly forested with some fields.  Many of the homesites are now hidden by the trees and undergrowth.  The families who lived in the cove were given time to leave.  The last residents were allowed to stay to keep cattle in the cove to maintain the fields.  Sadly, they are gone now too.  I'll date myself and tell you I can remember when the cows were there.



This particular trip was to show us how to look at things from a new or different perspective.  We were given a short crash-course on wildlife photography and then we were off.  Our instructor is a professor from Maryville College.  He teaches biology as well as wildlife photography.  He's all teacher!  He is definitely passionate about what he does and obviously loves to teach and share his knowledge.  He led us where he takes his students in Cades Cove.

I had an absolute blast on this little trip.  I met new people, learned new skills, found new places to explore in a place I thought I knew, and I stepped out of my comfort zone.  I'm fairly introverted so putting myself in a situation where I don't know anyone is not something I do often.  But it was a small group and we were in a place I adore.  So from this experience I would encourage you all to step out into your own backyard, be it literally your backyard or somewhere close by like a park, and see if you can find a fresh perspective.



The lady who puts these trips together is named Wendy Pitts Reeves.  She's a licensed social worker.  She does some counseling and has started business and life coaching.  This is the place to read more about her Secret Adventures for Courageous Women.



**Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links and/or links to outside sites. By clicking on an affiliate link it is at no cost to you and helps run/maintain this blog. Posts for reviews are my own opinions and no additional compensation is given unless otherwise stated. Giveaways on this blog are under the discretion of the host of the giveaway.

2014/04/28

Minecraft Tees on sale at Crazy 8

FTC Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.



Minecraft themed tees at Crazy 8 only $14.88!

Minecraft is the hottest kids game out there, and now, the much anticipated tees are available at Crazy 8 for just $14.88! These tees are sure to be a favorite and on the top of our kid's summer wardrobe list. Don't let this amazing deal creep by!



 




















 

**Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links and/or links to outside sites. By clicking on an affiliate link it is at no cost to you and helps run/maintain this blog. Posts for reviews are my own opinions and no additional compensation is given unless otherwise stated. Giveaways on this blog are under the discretion of the host of the giveaway.

Fighting to Forget - Book Review

PBT banner FTF


FightingtoForgetFighting to Forget

Every fighter is drawn to the violence, the release that a perfect hit can bring.

But very few are drawn to the pain.

Rex Carter lives behind a wall of indifference. The demons from his childhood act as an anesthetic, keeping him distant from emotional connections. Only the ache from a knock to the jaw, the sting of a tattoo needle, or the heat from a piercing can jolt him back from the numbness. The fiery pain is all he can feel, and nothing compares to the burn.

Or so he thought.

Working in a Las Vegas bar isn't Georgia McIntyre's dream. But she hopes it'll be an end to the nightmare.

She's watched him, followed him and kept tabs, all in preparation for this moment: to make amends and share the secret she’s been carrying since she was a kid. But she didn't count on the feelings that seeing him again would stir up, the vacant look in his stormy-blue eyes, and his perfect body now mutilated by ink and metal.
And she knows why. She's lived his pain every single day, since the day he left.

Changed by time, Rex doesn't remember the girl from his past. If only she could do the same.

Will she get the absolution she's spent her life seeking?

Or will he continue Fighting to Forget?

Buy on Amazon | B&N Coming Soon

*****************
Fighting for Flight, Fighting to Forgive, and Fighting to Forget are the first three novels in the MMA romance series. Fighting the Fall is due to be released in October 2014.

Review:

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion. 

This is definitely an adult novel.  There is strong language and adult scenes.  Though I could do with less of the coarse language, the intimate scenes are not vulgar.  So you have been  warned.  I have not read the first two books in this series.  I will make a point to go back and read those.  This novel stands well enough on its own though.

I like the plot of the story.  It is easy to follow and flows nicely.  The characters are complex, their back stories are given to us a bit at a time, so it really keeps you engaged.  As I got into the story I found myself wanting to know more.  I had a hard time putting the book down after I got into it.


I enjoyed this book very much.  I really found myself pulling for Rex and Gia.  They're awesome characters!  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of action, romance, and finding your own place in the world.  I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 


**Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links and/or links to outside sites. By clicking on an affiliate link it is at no cost to you and helps run/maintain this blog. Posts for reviews are my own opinions and no additional compensation is given unless otherwise stated. Giveaways on this blog are under the discretion of the host of the giveaway.