Thursday, March 7, 2013

Seven Year Itch & Kindle Fire GIVEAWAY Tour!

Welcome to 
The Seven Year Itch 
(A J.J. McCall Novel – the FBI Series)
by S. D. Skye
Book Tour & Kindle Fire Giveaway!

About The Seven Year Itch


Her Family Was Vexed With a Generational Curse. Now for Lie Detecting FBI Spy Catcher J.J. McCall, the Truth is in The Seven Year Itch.

FBI Special Agent J.J. McCall is a born lie detector who recruits foreign spies to catch American traitors. She and co-case agent Tony Donato have lost two of their most critical Russian sources in the past two years, and they may lose another in just a few short days if they don’t catch him, The ICE PHANTOM, a rumored insider spy more insidious and elusive than Ames and Hanssen combined. They suspect he might be burrowed deep inside FBI counterintelligence—and his body count is going up.

Drawn into an unsanctioned mole hunt, they have a week to catch him, save a key source’s life—and their own. While J.J.’s lie detecting ability helps them narrow down the list of suspects, the lie she tells to herself may help the ICE PHANTOM defect to Moscow and get away with the murder of the man she loves.

Skye's debut FBI Series, filled with mystery, espionage, romance, and suspense, will keep you burning through the pages until J.J. catches the very last spy.


Excerpt


J.J searched for serenity in bottom of a Belvedere bottle. The wait for his sugar-coated lies had dragged on for too long, and she’d lost patience. After glancing around the small reception area to ensure no one was watching, she removed from her purse a silver flask and smiled. It was filled to the brim with relief. One small gulp and the soothing burn slipped down her throat, calming her prickly nerves. Inside she felt on the brink of dissolution. The 10 am swallow was just a necessary evil. It would get her through the meeting, until time for her next dose of repose.



Another dead source. She couldn’t stomach the thought of his demise. Two had been more than her fair share. The unceasing cycle of loss had worn her resolve thin. She’d refused to let another family suffer that pain if she could in any way prevent it. J.J. wanted to tell the FBI where to stick her badge and gun, but she had promises to keep. Promises to Viktor. Promises to herself. No matter what Cartwright said, she’d see her case through until the end. And the end was as near as nightfall because the op was simple and would go off without a hitch.



J.J. stiffened her back and squared her shoulders as the elixir took effect. Her posture mirrored that of the powerful yet graceful eagle perched atop her FBI badge. She’d eyed it, waiting for the carefully choreographed denial and deception ritual to begin.

Meet Author S. D. Skye


S.D. Skye is a former FBI Russian Counterintelligence Program Intelligence Analyst and supported several key cases during her 12-year tenure at the Bureau. She has personally witnessed the blowback the Intelligence Community suffered due to the most significant compromises in U.S. history, including the arrests of former CIA Case Officer Aldrich Ames and two of the Bureau's own--FBI Agents Earl Pitts and Robert Hanssen. She has spent 20 years supporting counterintelligence, intelligence, and military missions in the U.S. Intelligence Community.



An award-winning author of romantic comedies in her other life, Skye is a member of the Maryland Writer's Association, Romance Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She's addicted to writing and chocolate--not necessarily in that order--and currently lives in the Washington D.C. area with her son. Skye is hard at work on the next installment of the series.

Connect with S. D. Skye



Where to Buy The Seven Year Itch

The Seven Year Itch, by S. D. Skye, is available at 
Amazon.com in Paperback and eBook.



~ GIVEAWAY~

Author S. D. Skye is giving away a KINDLE FIRE to one lucky commentor at the end of the tour. (US & Canada Only).

You can increase your chances of winning by following the tour and posting a new comment at each stop. You can view the tour schedule at Goddess Fish Promotions.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Review: A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learners By Jen Lilienstein


For all the mommies, daddies, teachers and other readers with children, I am going to share with you an excellent book that will teach you how to ‘teach’ your children in a way they will be more receptive and responsive to the techniques you use. The book is called A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learner.

About A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learner

This is a detailed, practical guide to help parents (and teachers) understand how different personality types learn best, and includes a personality quiz. The techniques parents learn in this book series will teach them specific, research-backed, actionable strategies amassed from nearly 100 reference texts with respect to how to create a learning environment that allows their kids to excel and develop confidence in their abilities, how to support and encourage their kids' education in ways that are best for him or her, and how to teach kids the strategies that help them each play to their individual learning strengths.

 The book reveals how each of the eight personality types naturally gets organized, gets motivated, approaches new concepts, Learns in groups, takes notes and files knowledge, tackles homework and test prep, and handles success and failure.                   {Blurb from Amazon.com}


 Stephanie's Review of A Parent’s Playbook for Learning

 Since I enjoy reviewing books of all genres I decided that as a mother, A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learners would be a great learning experience for myself aside from just posting a review. I expected the book to be a general ‘how-to’ book broken down into eight sections with different learning personalities and the proper techniques on how to teach your child accordingly. Boy, was I underestimating the resources in this book!

As expected, it does discuss the eight different personality profiles but the techniques and suggestions are very indepth and very resourceful.

So what are the eight personality profiles? 
  1. Extraverted Feeler
  2. Extraverted Intuitive
  3. Extraverted Sensor
  4. Extraverted Thinker
  5. Introverted Feeler
  6. Introverted Intuitive
  7. Introverted Sensor
  8. Introverted Thinker


So, which one is your child? Not sure? Don’t worry because A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learners breaks it down in a simple in a chart to help you decide which one best suites your child. I found this a great tool since some parents and teachers aren’t fully aware of what each personality profile consists of.  Selecting the right one is as simple as choosing your child’s personality characteristics from a list.

The next thing I really enjoyed about this A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learners and find very important to mention, is that it does not just discuss the profiles and the techniques. Instead, the book starts off helping you determine your child’s personality profile followed by techniques and tips for putting the techniques into action. It suggests that you start with only a few changes at the time to avoid turning your child’s world upside down all at once.

After explaining the personality profiles and how to make changes to your teaching techniques, the book then discusses various techniques for teaching each profile. Here are the subjects discussed for each profile:

Getting Organized
Approaching New Concepts
Note Taking & “Filing” Knowledge
Homework & Test Preparation
Group Learning
Enrichment Activities
Motivation and Underachievement
Handling Successes & Failures
Effective Teacher Communications

Each section is very thorough and includes tons of tips and techniques and even learning diagrams that you can use with your child.

I believe this book is a great resource for any parent or teacher, especially those dealing with children who have learning disabilities or don’t seem to be struggling. Those struggling may not actually have a problem with learning, but more so how they learn. If your child doesn’t seem to be ‘getting it’ consider a different approach based on their learning/personality profile. I can speak from personal experience with my sister who has a serious learning disability from a previous accident, that not all learning techniques are created equal! Knowing how to approach each child according to their learning abilities and personality profiles are the key to teaching them in a way that they will comprehend and retain the materials you are trying to teach.

Please Note: The Subjects/Chapter and the Profiles listed above were used with permission from the author. I felt that it was extremely important to list exactly what is published in A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learners in order for my readers to have a better idea on what the book teaches.


About the Author:  Jen Lilienstein

Jen Lilienstein is the Founder of Kidzmet.coma web site that analyzes kids’ personality types,  multiple intelligence preferences and predominant cognitive style to help parents understand how their kids learn best and help teachers connect better and faster with their students. Ms. Lilienstein’s work has been praised by both Parent Tested Parent Approved and The National Parenting Center. Ms. Lilienstein is also weekly contributor on the Total Education Network, which is syndicated on 80+ networks and heard by more than a million people in 180 countries around the world.


Connect with Jen Lilienstein


WHERE TO BUY: A Parent's Playbook for Learning

A Parent’s Playbook for Learning: 8 Types of Learners By Jen Lilienstein is available online at multiple book stores in both hard copy and ebook formats.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013


Summerset Abbey: A Bloom in Winter
by T. J. Brown
Book Tour & Giveaway



About Summerset Abbey: A Bloom in Winter

After Prudence’s desperate marriage and move to London, sisters Rowena and Victoria fear they have lost their beloved friend forever. Guilt-ridden and remorseful, Rowena seeks comfort from a daring flyboy and embraces the most dangerous activity the world has ever seen, and Victoria defies her family and her illness to make her own dream occupation as a botanist come true. As England and the world step closer to conflict, the two young women flout their family, their upbringing, and their heritage to seize a modern future of their own making.

Victoria Buxton

With her delicate constitution but strong, unflappable spirit, Victoria has never followed societal conventions, the rules of fashion, or the pursuit of a husband. Instead, she finds herself drawn to the controversial—and dangerous—fight for women’s suffrage. But her dream is compromised, and her heart divided, when her struggles for equal rights collide with unexpected love.

Rowena Buxton

After yearning to no avail for a certain young pilot to fly back into her life, Rowena fears her chances for happiness have been jeopardized by recklessness and scandal. Burdened with guilt for bringing her sister Prudence to Summerset Abbey as a lady’s maid while she herself led a life of privilege, Rowena hopes to one day make amends. But her desire to set things right is complicated by her passion for flight and a sudden engagement…to the wrong man.

Prudence Tate

Raised like a sister to Victoria and Rowena, then banished to the servants’ quarters when their father passed away, Prudence has seen both sides of life, upstairs and down. But once the truth about her parentage was revealed, Prudence forged a new life for herself, married to a penniless veterinary student. Living in poverty in a shabby London flat, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake—and there’s no turning back...

Buy Links


 Books-A-Million ~ INDIEBOUND

      


Excerpt from Summerset Abbey: A Bloom in Winter

The nurse got Victoria into bed and settled the covers over her. Victoria’s bones ached and even the roughness of the gray woolen blankets and the hard mattress felt wonderful. When the woman moved to leave, Victoria caught her arm. “Wait,” she pleaded. It seemed as if this woman was the only person between Victoria and unknown terrors. “When will I see a judge? When can I see my family?”

The woman shook her head and flicked a switch off. The only light now came from the open door, and long shadows spilled over Victoria’s bed “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell.”

“What’s your name?” Victoria pleaded. Anything to keep the door from shutting.

“Eleanor. I’ll check on you before my shift is up. Now try to get some sleep.”

The light slivered and then was gone. The darkness, once the door had closed, was absolute, and Victoria trembled. She’d never liked being alone at night, and for years she had slept with Prudence to keep the nightmares away.

There was no one to keep the nightmares away now. Of course, how could anything her mind conjured be worse than her current reality?

Tears rose and fell down her cheeks in the darkness. How did she get here? Why hadn’t she just ignored Mary’s note? The woman was mad. Victoria wondered where she was and then realized that Mary was no doubt locked in a cell in this very prison.

She wiped the tears with her hands. Her uncle would get her out if he could. He was an important man and a rich one to boot. Surely he could do something.

With a sinking heart, she remembered some of the newspaper articles she’d read over the preceding months. Public opinion might be mixed on the suffragettes, but the justice system was not. Most judges had no sympathy whatsoever, and they had been known to throw a suffragette in jail and toss the key at the same time. And if they really thought she had plotted to destroy the painting . . . Victoria shuddered.

Something dropped outside the door and she stilled. She could hear muffled voices for a bit as the nurses and orderlies worked their way from room to room, checking on patients, and she listened intently. At least she knew there were people out there and she wasn’t all alone. But the noises grew fainter and fainter and soon there was only the sound of her own ragged breathing. Then a soft moaning began and her heart leapt jaggedly in her chest. She screwed her eyes up tight against the darkness and began to recite:

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe. . . .

Victoria paused with a shudder. No. Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” was much too frightening
for this situation. Her father used to run his fingers through his hair and recite it while making
the most horrible faces. Father! She swallowed and began again. This time choosing Rudyard
Kipling’s, “The Bee Boy’s Song.”

Bees! Bees! Hark to your bees!

"Hide from your neighbors as much as you please,

But all that has happened, to us you must tell,

Or else we will give you no honey to sell!"

~ Giveaway ~

 T. J. will be awarding to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour a 4 piece Whimsical Butterfly Tea set. The tea set is handcrafted by artist April Cook of white stoneware slip and painted with a unique whimsical design of a butterfly in lime green and plum glaze. It is both dishwasher and microwave safe. The set includes a 32 oz. tea pot with lid, creamer and sugar bowl. (US ONLY)

 ~ POST A COMMENT below for a chance to WIN! ~

Follow the tour for more chances to win! You  can view the tour schedule at 


AUTHOR Bio and Links


TJ Brown is passionate about books, writing, history, dachshunds and mojitos. If she could go back in time, she would have traveled back to England, 1910, Paris, 1927 or Haight-Ashbury, 1967. She resides in the burbs of Portlandia, where she appreciates the weirdness, the microbreweries, hoodies, Voodoo Donuts and the rain.

Website 
 Twitter ~ Facebook


Buy Links



      



Monday, March 4, 2013

WANTED: Reviewers for Kindle Giveaway & Book Tour of Forbidden Angel



Forbidden Angel by Megan D. Martin
Book Tour & Giveaway!
April 1st - 30th 2013


~Now Scheduling ~

Reviews, Interviews & Guestposts
Plus, Megan will be giving away a KINDLE to one lucky winner via Rafflecopter!

About Forbidden Angel


When captured by the Nazis, Sarah finds herself in a concentration camp that not only brings her closer to death...but closer to love.

Sarah Brenner, a young Jewish woman, is terrified when she finds herself in the heat of a railcar bound for a work camp in Nazi Germany. For years she, along with her mother and sister, had hidden from the SS, but no one could hide forever. Her hatred for those who have enslaved them is ever-growing, especially when they arrive and she encounters the shockingly handsome Nazi doctor who can’t seem to keep his eyes—or hands—off her.

Aurel Rothstein is not your everyday concentration camp physician. The endless prisoners and lack of care he's allowed to give have made him numb to the work he so coveted. It isn’t until he comes face to face with a beautiful prisoner that his heart becomes involved with his job—a forbidden and fatal move to any Nazi.

When a vile soldier takes direct interest in Sarah, she will be forced to make a choice that will change her life forever: ignore the pull toward the handsome doctor or give in to the forbidden passion he awakens with only a look. Either way they both risk everything...



Sign Up to Host Forbidden Angel


If you would like to host Forbidden Angel please fill out the 
sign up form at:
or send an email to:

Please include your name, blog name, blog URL, a couple of dates your are available and the type of post you would like to host!

Available dates:

April 1st- 

April 3rd-
April 4th-
April 5th-
April 6th-
April 7th-
April 8th-
April 9th-
April 10th-
April 11th-
April 12th-
April 13th-
April 14th-
April 15th-
April 16th-
April 17th-

April 19th-

April 21st-
April 22nd- 
April 23rd-

April 25th-
April 26th-
April 27th-
April 28th-
April 29th-
April 30th-

GIVEAWAY: The Hot Bods Series by Lacey Wolfe

The Hot Bods Series By Lacey Wolfe

Book Tour & GIVEAWAY!

Fool Me Once

Book One in the Hot Bods Series

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

Drew is the last person Skylar wanted to see across from her at a local bar. A month ago he’d wined and dined her all weekend, leaving her feeling fully in love, but then she awoke alone in an empty hotel room and she hadn’t heard from him since.

The weekend Drew spent with Skylar was phenomenal. There had never been anyone who made him feel as complete as she did. He shouldn’t have disappeared, he should have called, but his feelings for her scared him, so he distanced himself. But when he saw her again, he knew he couldn’t stay away any longer.

Skylar’s determined not to give Drew another chance to hurt her, but he’s just as determined to win her back. Although it won’t be easy, he’s up to the challenge, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his goal.


BUY LINKS:  
Amazon ~ Nook ~ Beachwalk Press ~ AllRomance ~ Bookstrand


More Than Useful

Book Two in the Hot Bods Series

Can she settle for just a little fun?

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning Adam stops by Amy's bakery for one of her delicious muffins…and a little flirting. When he finally asks her out, Amy is thrilled.

Adam informs her from the beginning that he isn't looking for anything serious. Just a little fun. Amy agrees, even though she isn't entirely sure that's what she wants.

She does her best to play it cool, but Adam is sending so many mixed signals he's confusing her, which she finds incredibly frustrating.

Adam is terrified by the feelings he's developing for Amy. It would be so much easier if he just backed away from her. Then there's his sister, who is insisting that Amy is not the right girl for him.

Will Adam be able to figure out what his heart desires before it's too late and he loses his chance at true happiness?

BUY LINKS:



Accidental Love

Book Three in the Hot Bods Series




Has Jane accidentally fallen for the decoy?

Sometimes there is only one thing to do when you get dumped—make the ex jealous with someone new. Which is exactly what Jane plans to do with Ben, an older, handsome man who has agreed to act as her new love interest.

When Ben meets Toby, Jane's unruly dog, he offers to help her train him. But as Ben helps Jane gain control of her dog, he realizes he's lost control of his feelings, and he's beginning to fall for the much younger woman.

Suddenly, Jane can't seem to remember what she ever saw in her ex. All she can focus on is the way Ben makes her feel each time he kisses her. But now the ex has decided he wants her back, and he's willing to play dirty to make it happen.

Content Warning: Explicit sex

BUY LINKS
Amazon ~ Nook ~ Beachwalk Press ~ AllRomance ~ Bookstrand


Opposites Attract

Book Four in the Hot Bods Series

Francesca thought she knew what she wanted in life until one stormy night when she got a blast from the past.

When Randy receives a call at his auto shop one night from a woman whose car has broken down and needs a tow, he never imagined he'd be coming face-to-face with his high school sweetheart. Randy has never loved a woman the way he loved Francesca, but she broke his heart, claiming he could never provide the life she was determined to have. That was years ago, but he's still bitter about the way she tossed him aside.

Seeing Randy again, Francesca realizes what a mistake it was to breakup with him. She'd like to try to rekindle the old flame, and she can tell he's still attracted to her too, but every time they're together, all they do is argue. Can she convince Randy she isn't the girl he remembers and that she can settle for love even if it comes without money?

BUY LINKS:


~GIVEAWAY~ 




Follow the Rest of the Tour


Follow the rest of the tour for more information about The Hot Bods Series including guest posts and interviews with author Lacey Wolfe, reviews and more chances to win books from The Hot Bods Series!