Sunday, July 2, 2017

Sunday Post #172

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share new about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

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Happy Fourth of July to all in the United States. We remember all who fought for us. We always have obstacles to overcome as the future is always opening new doors, but we can celebrate and remember as one what many sacrificed for us.
Photo Credit: Melissa L. Hayden

Yep, that's one of my photos. I actually just took it when at a free concert a week and a half ago. I thought I could pull it out and share it today. I've gotten back to taking pictures out in public again, so if you are curious as to pictures, I will be posting once a week (at least because of time) at Spellbound in a Flash.

The week has flown by! Kiddo was away at the beach with friends and I had quiet time at home. I was getting through lots of stuff and got reading in too! Surprise!

Then we had a bit of a down fall this week. My cat, Bentley, started not doing so well. Not eating, or drinking. We got a little in him, but then he stopped and was shaky on his legs. By Friday, it wasn't good. I called and took him to the vet. He was almost gone and I couldn't see him suffer. We laid Bentley to rest Friday night. He was 14 years old and lived a very good life. We got him from a rescue shelter who guessed he was about 4 months old as he was a stray someone brought in. It was touchy with him and Jayda at first, but then they became the best of friends. Bentley went where Jayda was and did things with her - drank water with her, rolled on the floor with her as she scratched her back, and slept together. We lost Jayda about 7 years ago, so now Bentley is with his old friend.
Bentley as I pet him.

We were asked if we'd get another cat. At this time, no. These two dogs I have are costing me to much money to get a new cat and go through the process of shots and whatnot.

Athena goes back to the vet this week. I just can't seem to get her past this skin irritation/infection? and allergies. Surprisingly, Sheba is doing better. For now. lol.

I have a feeling this week is going to be a busy one. Kiddo wants me to help him learn his football routes and we have a few appointments this week. So, yeah, busy. lol.

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The Fit Booker:

Goal:  Workout in any form of exercise (or on Wii Fit) 2x's a week. (to feel better and hope to drop a few pants sizes)

How did I do last week... Okay. I'm trying. I did get 3 days in! Surprise! First is push mowing the grass. Then treadmill for 30 mins. Then! I did some free weights and treadmill for 30 mins each!


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What's Happening in Books:

Current Read:
I'll start a new book today.


Current Audiobook:
Perses by K.A. Finn

Current Podcast Book Listen:
Stonebriar Casefiles: Bad Alchemy by Laura Nicole Spencer (You can listen for free too!)


Finished Last Week: 
Exiled by Amanda Carlson


Audiobooks from Audible:
Steampunk Is Dead by Harmon Cooper



Finished Podcast Book Listen:
Nothing yet.


DNFed:

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Last Week on the Blog:


Cover Reveals: (click titles to go to post & learn more)
Posts:


Around the Internet...


Reviews:
Lucifer's Star by C.T. Phipps

"I found that the AI take in this book was very interesting. There is also cloning in this book. Biodroids were a neat creation. I know we haven't heard the last of these."



Podcast Review:




Mama Bitchstress Reviews:



GIVEAWAYS:


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This Week to Come on the Blog:


I have two reviews scheduled.



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Received Last Weeks:
(Note: Links to Amazon are buy links where I could earn commission, in case you are interested.)


For Review Consideration:
Assassin's Victim by A.F. Grappin
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Goodreads Synopsis:
In The Statford Chronicles, Luc Bertrand is known as the Head of the Assassin's Guild for the East Coast of the United States. But long before that, he was a young man in France. 

Luc is offered an induction into the Knights Templar. Luc's father is one of them, so he has a place in their secret society. It will open a path to greatness. But something doesn't feel quite right. Their reaction to his rejection is far more extreme than he could ever have expected. Suddenly, Luc has a target on his back and death looming over him. How will he escape being an assassin's victim?

Assassin's Rival by A.F. Grappin
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Luc Bertrand's old life as an orphan is long behind him. He's been adopted by the strange Auguste Fosse, who has promised Luc a special education. The academy trains assassins. Determined to get revenge on whoever killed his family, this school is the perfect place for him to train for his life's work. All isn't roses, though. The other students don't approve of Luc's arrival. He's too old, and the competition for Fosse's attention and tutelage is fierce. Having enemies who are being trained to kill can be dangerous, and Luc is years behind them in skills.

Assassin's Mark by A.F. Grappin
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Goodreads Synopsis:
For two years, Luc Bertrand studied the craft of assassination. His encyclopedic knowledge of poisons, weapons, anatomy, and stealth make him an expert at making a living body fail. But despite all his study, he has yet to take a life. This is his final test. His first assassination. 

His classmates' reactions to their final exam has left Luc wondering if he has what it takes. Can he handle the stress of taking a life? He is haunted by fragments of his family's murders. Hints of their deaths, while the memories themselves elude him. It doesn't help that his teachers seem to know more than they're telling. About the murders, and about Luc himself. The Assassin's Guild is never gentle when it comes to testing its members. How will Luc pass this test and still be himself afterwards?

Starsigns by A.F. Grappin
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Cair has waited his whole life for the Night Festival and the ceremony where his fate will be read. His family has a history of amazing fates, and Cair can barely contain his anticipation to have his future revealed at last. 

But fate is cruel. The stars reveal that Cair is among the Fateless, those doomed souls who bring disaster and ruin to all the lives they touch until a horrific death finally claims them. Unwilling to accept this destiny, Cair forms a plan. 

He's going to find a way to change his fate.

One Smoking Hot Fairy Tail by Kevin James Breaux
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Goodreads Synopsis:
America’s population is slowly dying due to an epidemic, and Alexander, an ancient, immortal shaman, has medicine that can heal people. It has one small side effect—Alexander’s able to control the minds of anyone taking the drug, nicknamed “dust.”

Alexander plans to take over the country once dust is released to the general public, crushing anyone who stands in the way. He needs just a little bit more of a certain magical ingredient to make the medication work properly: fairy wings.

An intelligent, stunning fairy, Sabrina was also America’s sweetheart—until a video of a crime she was involved in surfaces, nearly destroying her. A year later, she’s finally ready to step back into the spotlight. Together with her bodyguard, Mira, a water spirit in human form, Sabrina’s prepared to start over.

Things are starting to look up until she meets Alexander in a club and goes from social outcast to tortured captive in the blink of an eye. Will she be able to escape the evil shaman and his mind-controlled slaves in time to save herself and everyone she cares about?

Two Polluted Black-Heart Romances by Kevin James Breaux
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Welcome to Los Angeles—but not the LA you know. Here, humans coexist with vampires, mummies, fairies, and other nonhuman entities. Everyone’s just trying to get by for the most part—but some are having more difficulty than others.
A vampire named Cade, a fairy named Sabrina, and a mummy named Moselle are on the lam after exposing the existence of the Otherworldly Assembly, a shadowy organization of paranormal beings. The assembly has sent terrifying assassins called wraiths to exact revenge. The nonhuman trio is in for a real horror show, and they don’t know the half of it—another threat looms, and its destructive ambitions are vast.
Meanwhile, a human named Jackson is recovering from a near-death experience. Old memories and new loves flood his brain, and he’s having trouble finding an outlet for all these feelings—that’s when Sabrina the fairy catches his eye.
Two Polluted Black-Heart Romances, a fast-paced adventure filled with high stakes and unexpected twists, continues the action-packed saga that began with One Smoking Hot Fairy Tail. When unimaginable dangers threaten the planet they all share, humans and nonhumans find a common cause and must work together to prevent disaster.



Audio Books Requested for Review:



Purchased/Winnings/Gifts:
Book:
The Plague by Blake B. Rivers
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Appearing in the middle of a secret lab isn’t the best way to introduce yourself.

Stuck in the boring cycle of school, work, and sleep, Andi would call her life anything but exciting. That is, until she finds herself pulled into a video game adaptation of her favorite book series.

Now finding herself in an adventure spanning the high-tech galaxy, an insatiable force of blood-thirsty monsters continues to spread their plague, wreaking havoc across every living thing, including Andi’s mind.

Targeted by a mysterious adversary that wants her dead, and a government that wants to study her, Andi must race to find the scientist that summoned her before the clock runs out. With abilities she never thought possible, the redhead finds herself as the last bastion against the coming darkness.
 

Phoenix Awakens by Eliza Nolan
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Julia Long’s senior year is starting with an extra dose of crazy. First, there are the creepy dreams about bloody cult rituals. Then, her new classmate and crush, Southern charmer Graham, shows up in her nightmares as the sacrificial victim. And these dreams seem to be telling her she’s supposed to save him, when in real life she can barely talk to the guy.

One thing’s for sure, Graham is mysterious. He and his sister are tight-lipped about their time in the south, and Julia suspects they’re on the run from something or someone. As her dreams intensify, Julia begins to manifest strange abilities, and when Graham is near, they kick into overdrive.

There's no more denying it. Not only is Julia falling for Graham, but she has a magical connection to him. A connection that will put them both in mortal danger when Graham's dark past finally catches up with him.



Audio:




Free Ebooks:
(On my Kindle and Nook App) Links to books under title. They may or may not be free at this time.
Hidden Magic by Linsey Hall
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Cass, Nix, and Del are good at two things: finding treasure and killing demons. Lying low is a close third—but not because they want to be good at hiding. They’re FireSouls, some of the unlucky few to inherit a piece of the dragon’s soul. On the surface, the perks are sweet—they have the power to find and steal any type of magical treasure, including the powers of other supernaturals. But it doesn’t come without a price—stealing powers requires that they kill, and others would destroy them if they discover what they are. 

In a world full of magic, hiding their powers is the only way to survive. That's not too hard, except for the fact that they’re being blackmailed by a criminal overlord who holds their lives in his hands. He wants a pair or rare daggers hidden inside a deadly temple. If Cass, Nix, and Del don’t get him the daggers, they’re dead. But when they get’s into the temple, they realize that things are even worse than they’d imagined. What was supposed to be a normal job is decidedly…not. And surviving it might be impossible.

Born of Water by A.L. Knorr
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Everything you thought you knew about mermaids is wrong.

Life for a small-town high school kid in Saltford should be simple and straightforward - for 17-year-old Targa MacAuley, it's anything but. Navigating life with a supernatural mother is tricky enough, but dealing with the feelings of guilt that she's never been able to 'change', and confusion that she doesn't seem to be attracted to boys (or girls for that matter), Targa feels like she's got more demons than the average kid.

When the opportunity to salvage a mysterious wreck in the Baltic arises for her mom, a professional salvage diver by day, Targa jumps at the chance to go abroad for the summer. But it's when she meets Antoni Baranek, and a boating accident puts them both in danger, that Targa's world turns completely inside out in more ways than one.
 

Metal Flesh by Austin Dragon
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Goodreads Synopsis:
A Robot with glowing red digital eyes, and infested with--worms!

Metal Flesh: Tek-Fall (Episode I) is the companion novella in the After Eden science fiction and international thriller series by Austin Dragon.
The year is 2093! Before the events of Thy Kingdom Fall (After Eden Series #1) and during the events of Stars & Scorpions (After Eden Series #2).

Faithers and Pagans are both looking for the elusive “Man Made Out of String.” But who is this contract killer—or what is he?

From the tek-cities of America to the Outlands of the Middle East, the sci-fi adventure thriller continues.

Tek-World loves its artificial-intelligent mechanization, including robotic pets and ubiquitous drones. But humans have also created machines in their image—robots—using metal instead of flesh.

Metal Flesh is book one of the two-part Tek-Fall Duology in the epic After Eden series--a dramatic mix of politics, religion, technology, and intrigue set almost eighty years in the future.

The After Eden saga is leading to the explosion of World War Three, a hell we have never seen before.

Witch at Heart by Juliette Harper
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Jinx Hamilton has been minding her own business working as a waitress at Tom’s Cafe and keeping up with her four cats. Then she inherits her Aunt Fiona’s store in neighboring Briar Hollow, North Carolina and learns that her aunt has willed her some special “powers” as well. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step and Jinx has a major problem. She’s a brand new witch with no earthly clue what that means. Throw in a few homeless ghosts, a potential serial killer, and a resident rat and Jinx is almost at her wit's end. Thankfully she has the unfailing support of her life-long BFF, Tori and it doesn't hurt that there's a hot guy living right next door. 

Witch at Odds by Juliette Harper
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Resigned to her new life as a witch and determined to make a success of both that and her business, Jinx has a lot to learn. She sets out to both study her craft and get a real direction for her aunt’s haphazard approach to inventory. Not to mention the fact that she wouldn’t mind getting to know neighboring business owner Chase McGregor a lot better. Although Jinx can call on Aunt Fiona’s ghost for help, the old lady is far too busy living a jet set afterlife to be worried about her niece’s learning curve. That sets Jinx up to make a major mistake and to figure out how to set things right again.

Silence: Little Mermaid Retold by Demelza Carlton
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Goodreads Synopsis:
A little mermaid. A prince to save. Only silence can break the spell.

Once upon a time...The mermaid Margareta saved Prince Erik from a shipwreck. Wanting to see the prince again, Margareta strikes a bargain with the Master of Beacon Isle. If she saves his sons from a terrible curse, he will reunite her with Prince Erik. All she has to do is stay silent until the curse is broken. 

Silence is a virtue...until Prince Erik arrives early, searching for the mermaid who saved his life. 

Can two hearts speak louder than words?

Gray Card by Cassandra Chandler
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Goodreads Synopsis:
Is he after her heart or her planet? 

Evelyn Chambers is a nerdgirl and damned proud of it. When she finds out that her drop-dead gorgeous best friend is an alien general with only three days left of his shore leave on Earth, she has to wrap her head around too much at once. Aliens are real, and if she wants to keep hanging out with one, she’ll have to marry him! 

Adam Smith has never seen a planet as beautiful as Earth or a woman as enticing as Evelyn. His government wants him to re-enlist, but the stars seem cold and distant. When Evelyn suggests marriage to help him stay, Adam realizes that what he really wants is her, and he’ll sacrifice everything to be with her. 

Can he convince his government—and Evelyn—that he's looking for more than a Gray card? 

Queen Mab by Kate Danley
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Goodreads Synopsis:
"Oh then I see Queen Mab hath been with you..."

Everyone knows Romeo & Juliet, but what if it isn't the whole story? What if Queen Mab, mentioned in only one speech in the entire play, is actually responsible for all the tragedy about to strike the Houses of Montague and Capulet? And her love for Mercutio the key to everything...

Weaving Shakespeare's original text into a new story, fans of The Woodcutter will love this latest retelling by award-winning author Kate Danley. Experience the romance of Romeo & Juliet from a different point of view - through the eyes of the bringer of dreams... Queen Mab.



Free Audio Books/Stories:


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Reviews to Come:

Soulless by Skyla Dawn Cameron
The Sentinel by Chris Lester
The Muse by Chris Lester
Metamor City: Making the Cut by Chris Lester
Metamor City: Whispers in the Wood by Chris Lester
Lex Talionis by Starla Huchton
Spark by Starla Huchton
Heir to Kale by K.L. Bone
Tales from the Archives Vol 4 #5 - Old Sinner's Bones
The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan
The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit
The Society by Lilith Saintcrow
Steampunk Is Dead by Harmon Cooper
Exiled by Amanda Carlson

8 comments:

  1. WE miss them when they go away, but I too get tons more done and a lot more reading in when the peeps are gone. Have a Happy 4th. Love your pictures :)

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  2. So very sorry to hear about Bentley! I know it doesn't make the pain any less, but 14 years together is amazing. I'm sure you have many happy memories, so share stories with your family and keep his memory alive that way. We lost Mickey and Max over 20 years ago, but still talk about them. And like you said, at least he's with his old friend now while they're waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge.

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. Losing a beloved pet is heartbreaking.

    I read and enjoyed Ancient Magic a while back and plan to read the rest of the series and spinoffs.

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  4. I am so sorry for your loss! ((HUGS)). You know I just lost one of my babies and it is so hard. <3

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  5. So sorry for your loss Melissa *hugs*

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  6. So very sorry to hear about Bentley - thinking of you.xxx

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