itsjoysworld.net

synopsis….Two people from completely different worlds are about to be thrown together…

In more ways than one.

She wants to keep her scholarship. He wants to stay on the team. An awkward alliance doesn’t even begin to cover Rimmel and Romeo’s relationship.

But that’s about to change.

It starts with a dare. An initiation. A challenge.

Quickly, it turns into more. But when you’re a victim of your status, there is no room for anything real. The rules are clear and simple.

Stick to your circle.

And never fall in love with anyone on the outside.

synopsis….Book two in the Hashtag Series!
It started with unspoken animosity. The bitter bite of jealousy. And now its full blown hate.

It was during my first football game that I first felt the first chill of hate. I looked it right in the eyes and felt its sticky tentacles reach out for me. I’d never experienced something so cold and empty before.

The effect of that look lingered, like an unspoken promise, long after it was gone.

Becoming a couple – becoming the other half of a campus celebrity wasn’t easy. I let down walls guarding my heart and he looked past my glasses and accident prone tendencies. Romeo and I are an unlikely match, a #nerd and a jock. But we made it.

And we’re happy.

Zach doesn’t want us to be happy. He wants Romeo to pay for getting him kicked out of Omega and for the night he spent in jail. He’s going to use anything and everything he can to get his revenge. Including me.

As the weather on campus grows cold and the days become dark, revenge becomes the center of someone’s life and the happiness Romeo and I worked so hard for is threatened.

I can’t help but worry that our love is going to be overshadowed by hate.

My review….

I can’t do my review for these books individually, because as soon as I finished #Nerd I was diving into #Hater. I adored this series. The chemistry between the two main characters Romeo and Rimmel is nuclear. The first story gives you the beginning of Romeo and Rimmel’s love story. It unfolds at a pace that has your finger swiping quickly in order to devour the next page. I became invested in the characters immediately. I found myself breaking out into spontaneous smiling when the two were together. The next installment in the #Hashtag series is coming out soon (Yay!) You still have time to catch up with Romeo and Rimmel just in time for #Player.

The synopsis…..

Laura Dantonville is shocked to learn her strange genetic mutation,
is linked to a dark family secret—a centuries-old curse that turned her Roman ancestor into a vampire. Now that she has come of age, she is the key to breaking that curse. But she’s also the prey of rogue vampires who inhabit the city’s frightening and violent underworld, as her blood gives them the ability to daywalk. For her protection she’s assigned a guardian—the handsome, sexy and dangerous Alec Munro.

Former military doctor and current leader of the Brethren, Alec Munro has no intention of being responsible for Laura. After all, it was her damned family who was responsible for his untimely death and subsequent transformation. He owes them nothing, yet he also knows his own fated role in breaking the curse, and the unthinkable consequences should he not accept.

To the Brethren, the ending of the curse spells disaster. Among a powerful few malice grows…

My Review…

This book was extremely well written. Tima deftly wove the history of the characters throughout the book. As a reader, I was immersed in the background. I found myself on the edge of my seat when reading how the main characters became inducted into the vampire world. The history brought a edge of intimacy between the reader and the characters. In knowing how they manifested into their now, it made me as a reader more invested into their current story.
This story gave readers a new facet to the vampire story. Tima created her own rules and regulations for the characters. I will admit some did not like the restraint put upon them and flexed their super natural powers to get out of Tima’s grasp. Tima did a fantastic job keeping her characters in check, but allowing them to grow into someone the readers connected with. I am very excited to read the next installment of this series.

Yay!!! It is official I just booked my hotel for The Novel Experience in April.

This is a list of all of the authors that will be in attendance.

http://novelexperienceevent.org/pages/authors.html

I have started looking at all of their profiles so I can get a feel of what I am getting into. This will be Rebecca Fisher’s first big signing, and I am so proud of her.

I am nervous to meet people who have done the very thing I want to do. Anxiety will surface.

When I get anxious, nervous, or overwhelmed I go into what I refer to as the squid defense. What is the squid defense you ask? Basically I start spouting off curse words in the hopes the people around me will walk away. Living in SoCal I have added gluten to my list of bad words. Women in their tiny work out clothes flee faster when that word comes out of my mouth than when the Fuck’s start flying. Awkward, yes, that is me in a nut shell. After releasing my tirade the people who are still near me become my friends. They get it. Thankfully alcohol will be readily available, because that list of authors is pretty big.

I am also excited because I will get at least one blog out of this sucker. Last time I was in Vegas…well, here you can read about it.

https://itsjoysworld.net/2014/06/23/just-say-no/

Side note: I have been absent in the social media universe lately. I promised myself I would publish Breaking Faith this year. I have been editing it, and trying to get it to a decent word count (that isn’t going to happen.) Lilo Abernathy steered me toward an editing program that has saved my life. (Thank you Lilo 🙂

I am terrified, and excited that the world will be introduced to Faith and Kill some time this year. A mysterious voice told me this day would come, and I couldn’t hold onto it forever. Seems he was right. Damn.

The synopsis….

In Books I and II of The Sanctum Trilogy, Madhuri Blaylock took readers on a treacherous journey full of intrigue and corruption, horror and despair, as she wove the tale of Dev and Wyatt, the hybrid demon created to destroy The Sanctum and her lover, once a warrior for The Sanctum, now a member of the mysterious sect of Magicals known as the Ramyan.

Their tale continues in Book Three: THE PROPHECY as battles wage, loved ones are lost, and the world seems on the brink of madness.

Culminating in explosive horror, one is forced to ask: after all of the blood and torture and pain and death, can there be any room for hope and wonder and life and love?

MY REVIEW.

I can only imagine that Madhuri’s keyboard was molded out of some top secret material. This is the only way it could withstand the words pouring from her fingers, and luckily for us, landing on her computer screen. Madhuri wrote a blog post (I will hopefully find the link one day) where her mom asked about the author of the poetry in the beginning of the book. Madhuri explained to her mom she wrote it, but never realized it was poetry as she isn’t the biggest connoisseur (my words not Madhuri’s.)

It surprised me that she wouldn’t think of it as poetry. In my humble opinion all of her books are poetic. The connection between one sentence to another is more than just the makings of a paragraph.

Madhuri is a story architect. She strings words together to make sentences that make the foundation of an epic story. I feel wrong just calling it a book, because it was so much more. The flow of the paragraphs was flawless the story she built is exactly like the house Wyatt builds for Dev. (Sorry teeny tiny spoiler.)

I normally read on my elliptical. Everyday I hop on my trusty NordicTrack, and for an hour I immerse myself into somebody else’s world. I was unable to do that with The Prophecy. I found myself slowing down just so I could concentrate on the flow of the words. It felt like the book was one long sentence, the current like a river that ran together creating a beautiful story. I actually put notes in my Kindle on pages that blew my mind marking them as perfect.

I am sad and happy that this trilogy is over. It makes sense that it would end with The Prophecy. The Prophecy is what brought The Girl, and The Boy together. The beginning of their bond. I’m not saying that once this perfect union was together The Prophecy didn’t get a little jealous and tried to pull them apart (hey, no one is perfect. We have set friends up, and then lost them to the new relationship. It sucks.) This book had me laughing, and crying in certain places I did both at the same time. The bond between the characters gave me hope that the world will get it right one of these days. As long as good keep edging above evil, and love can conquer all we all have a chance. This story is a story of hope, love, and some freaking hot sex scenes. I can not recommend it enough.

I had every intention of writing a new blog every Friday. Yes, I know it’s Monday. I was in the clutches of an epic cold. The only way I can describe this sucker is it was the Rock Star of all colds.

If I’m stuck in bed this is my idea of a Rock Star…Matt DiRito

He  looked at me, threw me into bed, and didn’t let me emerge for the rest of the day sweaty and weak. Was he done with me? Oh, hell no not this Rock Star. He pulled me back into bed days afterwards for a quickie (most people call them naps.) He discarded me just as quickly as he took me. Being the stellar guy  he was he left me with a lingering cough (the colds equivalent of an STD.) I am hopeful  a couple shots of NyQuil will fix me from my indiscretions.

The other day I received two gifts from my fabulous clients. It wasn’t even my birthday, but you won’t hear this girl complain. (Just hacking in the background. Fucking Rock Star.)

I should explain that I no longer watch the news. Making my perspective of people skewed, or maybe not. I live in a naive bubble where unicorns fart rainbows out of their glittered asses, and people want others to be happy. Don’t burst my bubble. I have my jaded moments, I have lived with a monster, but I refuse to let that ruin my rose tented glasses. The news is not conducive to my lens making the rose tent look warped.

I’ve had people tell me I am ignorant and blind by not acknowledging the world’s problems. They are right.

Watching the news didn’t make me feel empowered to change the world for the better it made me feel overwhelmed and helpless. Since that wasn’t helping the world, or me I stopped. My news now comes in the form of the nakeds. I also receive my movie reviews, and weather reports. How much I take their information to heart obviously depends on the naked on my bed.

Last Saturday I had two clients bring me gifts for no reason except they wanted to. It made my heart happy. The first  a paper bag containing a bottle of Boone’s Farm.

Yes, I totally just threw you back into your teenage rebel years. You’re welcome.

My client and I were talking about Boone’s Farm before Christmas. I was laughing remembering my first and only experience with the stuff. I was a sophomore in High School.  My friend Michelle and I went to her house, and her boyfriend and his older hotter brother (not sure if he was cute, or it was the Boone’s talking) procured a bottle of Boone’s and a bottle of Old English (OE) I really didn’t like to bend the rules when I was younger. I was more of a rule polisher. Not wanting to look like a complete fool (we all know the only way to get rid of peer pressure is to give in. KIDDiNG) I took a couple sips of OE (yuck. I think my insides are still boiling from those couple of sips)  and some of the Boone’s. My lightweight status was put to the test, and after a while I was telling a certain older brother (who may or may not have the same name as the infamous unabomber) that he was adorable. (SMH. Even drunk my awkwardness penetrated my flirting.) When my client came in and handed me the bottle of awkward memories I couldn’t stop laughing.

My next client came in telling me she had a present for me. I don’t know what was with that day. Maybe the moon was in retrograde or Jupiter got a hold of a bottle of Boone’s. I wasn’t going to question it. My client had bought us tickets to go see Fifty Shades of Gray next Friday .

I have to admit I am curious to see how they made that book into a movie. I read all three of them. Clients were raving about them, and they wanted to discus them with me. I took longer than normal to get through them. In my head I was constantly urging them to go out and eat. I mean honestly that was a lot of sex crammed  in that book. (see what I did there?)

I’m not a fan of pain with my pleasure. Some spanking, and hair tugging is all you are going to get away with before I kick the crap out of you. The book wasn’t really my style. Being how many people have read it, and the numerous books that cover the same subject I’m in the minority. This wouldn’t be the first time. I am not mocking E.L. James. Really good for her. She found a niche and blew that sucker like a candy flavored uhmmm…yeah. She wrote something and people bought it. I have recommended it to many clients who I knew would enjoy it. I am a firm believer that everyone’s art has an admirer, and even if I am not into it doesn’t mean I have any right to criticize it.

I actually wrote a post about this subject.

https://itsjoysworld.net/2014/09/28/cant-we-all-just-get-along/

For me the pleasure pain thing brings up memories that don’t put a smile on my face. Maybe that is why I can’t enjoy the books. I don’t want to assume people that enjoy these books have never been in a violent relationship maybe they are trying to take the power back by allowing people to hurt them on their terms, I’m not sure. For me I cringed every time flesh collided with flesh. We will see how I feel about the movie.

Enough of my weird thoughts on Fifty Shades. The convoluted message of this post is that there are good people. People who don’t have an agenda, but actually want you to succeed. These are my favorite people, and my favorite stories to listen to. I am very lucky to have clients, and friends who have endless stories that put a smile on my face.

keep your rose tinted glasses firmly in place. It makes it easier to spot the glitter.

Rebecca is hosting a giveaway on Goodreads for 10 free copies of her book All The Wrong Places. This will be the first of many events to get her beautiful new cover noticed. Rebecca will be attending a author signing event in Vegas held on the first weekend of April with tons of other talented authors. I am trying to find a hotel room so I can go see her in all of her glory. Well…not all of her glory as that has already happened. Before we became friends and she started helping me with my book she was my client. So…. all of her clothed author glory will be in full force in April.

This is a fantastic book, and a great way to get your hands on it for FREE.

I will give you more details on the Vegas signing when it is available to me. She is an amazing person, and her book reflects the hardships she has persevered through her own life.The swag that she is offering at the signing will be as unique as the author herself, and I strongly suggest stopping by if you have the chance. My weird awkward self will hopefully be there walking around promoting her fabulousness.

10 FREE books are available to you if you go onto

All The Wrong Places on Goodreads. Make sure you tell her that Joy sent you. 😉

Synopsis:

Driving aimlessly through the stormy suburbs of San Francisco, Casey Wheeler is fleeing from her abusive and unfaithful husband with her five year old daughter Maddy asleep in the backseat. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Casey loses control of her emotions and her car, crashing into a hillside below a mortuary. Desperately seeking shelter, and more so independence, she finds herself taken in by the mortuary director who apprehensively offers her a job and a place to live. As she stumbles through the ins and outs of her new and morbid surroundings, Casey is forced into a hostile custody battle with her relentless and increasingly violent husband. In the midst of all the chaos, she finds a new family and even love in the eccentric and protective people of Golden Oaks Funeral Home. But just when she has found all she could hope for, she will have to fight to the death to protect it. This semi-autobiographical story of a single-mother and her journey to self-discovery, independence and a true understanding of love will keep readers captivated and yearning for more.

Today my neurotic awkward ass went out on an adventure. The library was hosting a local author event. My friend/editor/ inspiration Rebecca Fisher was invited to attend and promote her book “All The Wrong Places.

https://twitter.com/rfisherbooks

https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.fisher.900?fref=ts

I went to support her. I wasn’t going to venture beyond her booth that would require me to have to act normal (my anxiety keeps a short leash on normalcy and I am very inappropriate.)
Rebecca urged me to go check out the romance section of the event. I am glad I did. I met some incredible ladies. Here they were in flesh and blood women in my genre that had the balls to press publish. It was inspiring. Not inspiring enough to have my index finger hovering over the mouse that is poised over the publish button inspiring, but inspiring none the less.
I shouldn’t have surprised me at how nice and supportive they were. I would like to give a shout out to all the women I met today. Unfortunately, I was unable to talk to all of them as the nakeds would have rebelled. Even my perverted imagination does not want to conjure up that image.
Catherine Bybee’s books are on the kindle daily deal today. (Sorry for the late notice. I blame it on the nakeds)

https://twitter.com/catherinebybee

https://www.facebook.com/catherine.bybee.3?fref=ts

Laura T. Emery’s book will be on sale 1/18/2015

https://twitter.com/LauraTEmery

https://www.facebook.com/laurahunziker21?fref=ts

Lee Souleles

https://www.facebook.com/leeannsouleles?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/LeeSouleles

Kimi Flores her first book in this series is currently free

https://twitter.com/KimiFloresReads

https://www.facebook.com/author.kimi.flores?fref=ts

Patricia Leever

https://twitter.com/Patricia_Leever

https://www.facebook.com/patty.leever?fref=ts

T.K. Leigh

https://twitter.com/TK_Leigh

https://www.facebook.com/tkleigh?fref=ts

Margaret Brownley

https://twitter.com/margaretbrownly

https://www.facebook.com/MargaretBrownleyAuthor

Anne Carter (my long lost client)

https://twitter.com/PamAnneCarter

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAnneCarter

I won’t lie I enjoyed meeting these women. (I don’t want to say fellow authors as my neurotic ass will procrastinate with Breaking Faith for as long as I can 😉 )
I will read their books soon. (Like my TBR needed to be longer.) Reviews will follow. Another list that I need to work on.

On another note for those that know me you will be proud to note that I only uttered the word “fuck” once or twice. I will not go into how many times I used the word “vagina.”  All in all I would call that a good outing.

I was telling a client about my last trip to the Comedy Store. I told him that Rob Schneider went up on stage after Pauly Shore. My client asked me if he was funny. I responded that he was funny, but I was surprised how short he was.
Client, “Oh yeah?”
Me, “Yep, he was like nipple height.”
Astonished client “Seriously Joy is that how you measure people?”
Me (realizing that maybe I’m the only person that measures people with body parts)
“Well, yeah. I mean a table could be measured as vagina height. “Its about Vag high.” If you are offended I can change genders. He is small enough that your balls would rest comfortably on the top of his head.”
Client silently laughs.
“I wonder if that is why Europeans use the term stones as measurements. One stone could mean the person is the height of a mans feet to his balls (testicles if you want to be politically correct.) Two stones? Obviously you would double it.”
Yes. I know. This is not the first or the last time I will realize I am not the most professional massage therapist out there. Yet, I am booked weeks in advance. I must be doing something right.
Have a fantabulous week.

Noticing that February is fast approaching, I figured I should put my bloggers boots back on and come back to reality. Christmas was whirlwind of wrapping paper and sugar filled treats. I lumber jacked the tree right after Christmas. I have a very tiny house and having a tree in the middle of my living room for a longer period of time than necessary is asking for disaster. My house being uber rambunctious I would be tempting the fates good will with my breakable decorations.

Friends came to visit from North Carolina, and I happily set aside my workouts and editing exchanging it for laughter and way too much food. My Christmas present to myself was a bright and shiny tattoo. It is healing nicely. My friend got one as well coincidentally we got them in the same place.

New Years Eve wasn’t much. We were still recovering from Christmas. This year I had little to drink so the girls stayed inside my shirt. If I have never mentioned it I have a trigger where I flash my boobs when I drink too much. When this happens family and friends know that I have had enough. Being a total lightweight it doesn’t take long to get me to that point. Whenever I go to Vegas or Laughlin I have a rule….one part alcoholic beverage one part bottle of water. My boobs and alcohol have a rocky past. Don’t believe me? Read this story.

Embarrassing Drunken Night in Laughlin

https://wordpress.com/post/70243679/12/

The house slowly got back to normal after they left. Quiet settled around the compound telling everybody with no chance of a misunderstanding the holidays are over. January is a difficult month.  The holiday spirit is removed, and we are left with the in the clutches of the bitter cold (Thanks to the sweets inhaled during the holidays, we have the extra holiday weight to keep us warm.)

Having my friends leave, and the decorations with my name on it packed away for December I feel into a funk. I also ended up getting a sinus headache that had me miserable for three days. This is my excuse for not working on Breaking Faith.

To get my spirit back up I went to the world famous Comedy Store in Hollywood on Saturday. The Comedy Store lifts my spirits as soon as I walk through the doors. Having been to many comedy clubs, the Comedy Store is my home. I laughed from 9pm to 2am, it was wonderful. Rick Ingraham was my favorite. I have seen him preform four times, and every time I have tears in my eyes from laughter. He has a twitter @RickIngraham that I now follow. Sunday I went for a hike. I had never been hiking with the person I went hiking with. It was an experience. I was scrambling up rocks and pulling myself up by tree roots. It was different, and besides the huge bruise on my ass I had fun.

I am now determined to work on Breaking Faith. I took time off, and it’s time for my bruised ass to get to work. My resolution for this year is to have Breaking Faith published.

I hope everyone had a fantastic, and safe holiday. Let’s rock 2015 🙂