Archive for the ‘book lovers’ Category

Relationship of writing a book

Posted: February 5, 2019 in amazon, authors, book blast, book blog, book lovers, book release, book writing, editing, facebook, humor, love yourself, new business, writing, writing process
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I’ve been asked a couple times what my process is for writing a book, and this is the best way I can think of describing it.

Writing a book is like being in a relationship.

<The introduction>

The moment the book idea pops in your head. It’s exhilarating and new. You’re shy at first, afraid to tell many people about it because you’re unsure of what’s going to happen.

<Honeymoon stage>

Writing begins, the first draft. This is it. You’re committed and it’s shiny and new. Your book takes over your life. It’s all you think about, and you will ditch the 3 F’s, family, friends, and food to be with it. It brings a smile to your face. You want everyone to know about it. You’re proud and it’s yours.

<Middle of the relationship>

The first draft is done. You’ve reread it until you’re eyes have gone cross. You find annoying traits you’ve never noticed before. Words are repeated, and if you see it again you’ll pull your hair out. You attempt to change it to make it better, and you do, it’s just not the same as it was in the beginning. You’re both growing and learning about yourself. In truth you’re kind of over the whole thing, and there are times you hate it with a burning passion. But you stick with it. You try to recall the giddiness of used to elicit, and sometimes you do. You read a sentence or chapter that reminds of you why you loved it in the first place.

<Couple Counseling>

You need help. You need someone else with fresh eyes to take over. You send it to your editor (counselor) It’s nerve wracking. You’re letting someone else in your relationship, and you’re hoping they will tell you it’s salvageable.

<Break up>

It’s time to publish. You’ve done all you’ve can, and it’s time to release your book. You will always have fond memories of your time together, but you can’t do anymore. You’ll put it out, and hope someone will see the beauty in it you did. You helped create it so you’ll always be proud of it. It’s heartbreaking, and a relief at the same time. You may go immediately into another relationship, or wait a while before starting the whole exhausting process again.

<Rekindle>

Not all the time, but every once in a while you take your book back. Maybe you saw something else that would make it better. Whatever the reasons it is still going to end up in a breakup.

My advice is keep getting into relationships. Don’t stop writing, and be happy with every break up. Be proud.

Life is shorter than a little person standing in a hole. Even if you believe in heaven or reincarnation or any of that other nonsense, this is the only time you’ll be you. So make every day you’re you the best one you can. You’re only you once.

BOOK LINK

My cocky stance

Posted: May 11, 2018 in #Romance, amazon, authors, book blog, book lovers, branding, cocky, cockygate, facebook, goodreads, indies, rebel, venting
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So I waited. My two cents are mine, and really what the fuck can you buy with two cents?

At first I was going to write something awful and demeaning toward the cocky author. Something along the lines of…

Get me some syrup because I smell a major twat waffle. Mrs Cocky maybe you should stop writing and go teach victim 101. Where of course the space would limited as your ego would encompass most of the room.

But I didn’t write that. What good would that do? I mean it would make me feel better but this would just be another chapter in her victim text book.

So instead….

Let’s talk about branding. No let’s talk about books and specifically genres.

Stay with me there is a point to be made.

I will admit on my kindle there are way too many titles that include the words Highlander, Earl, Duke, pirate and many more historical romance verbiage. Historical romance is my jam. I love reading stories outside the genre’s I write.

The titles are a combination of those words. The earl highlander, the pirate Duke so on so on. I pick the books because they are in the genre I like to read. A lot of times it’s based on the title, because it lets me know what genre it’s in.

Now with the word cocky an image of an alpha male comes to mind. A cocky male who’s most likely is going to be a jerk. One who has slept with a ton of women and thinks he is Gods gift. He’ll meet a chick he fights with and in the end they will find they can’t be without each other. This is a genre MANY people like to read. The alpha male is one most women want to conquer. Why not read how others have done it.

Why stop at one book? Why not read them all?

When readers who enjoy the alpha male romance see the words ALPHA COCKY DICKSLINGER they know what they are in for. And if they enjoy them they want more

And this may come as a shock but readers can read more than one book. WHAT? NO! REALLY?

And readers will read what they like. I will admit I don’t just read historical romance I branch out, but I know what genres I like. And that’s what I spend my money on

I read more than one author. AND SURPRISE SUR-FUCKING-PRISE most readers do as well. Especially avid readers. So unless our favorite author is publishing a book a day, because let’s face it people can devour a shit ton of books readers will need to read other authors.

Why would you want to alienate authors from your genre? This doesn’t make sense.

I write rock’n’roll romances. My books are pretty far between each other (sorry. I promise Van and Jesse are coming) Why would I as an author not want my readers to read other rocknroll books?

Keep my readers immersed in the world of rockstars while waiting for the next JackholeSseries. Have them excited for my book by reading other rocknroll books and seeing what my characters get onto as opposed to other rockstars.

I don’t question my readers loyalty to the JackholeS if they read other rocknroll books. And I don’t think my readers are silly enough to buy a rockstar book and think it’s mine because of the title. I give my readers more mental credit. Also I don’t own them and would never think to tell them what they can and cannot read.

Also Amazon has this nifty little feature called the “read the sample”

This feature allows a potential reader free access to the first 10% of a book. At the end of the 10% the potential reader is given the option to pass the pay wall. They can decide if they want to pay and become a reader or they can pass and go onto another title. The reader has no loyalty to the book. And much to my chagrin Amazon also gives a reader an option to return the book for a refund before a specific amount of time with no questions asked.

With this any reader has the option to access a book. And just in case they did get confused because there was an innocuous word in the title. They can return it or not pass they pay wall.

This whole thing makes no sense. I’m not saying I don’t want my book to be the best rocknroll romance. Of course I want it to hit NYTBS list, but I’m not going to practice shady business to get there. I have enough faith in my books that they can make it there on there own without destroy anyone else in the process.

Also I would never talk bad about another book in my genre because different options are the spice of life. I wrote this post in 2016

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

And I still feel the same.

So Cocky author suck on this cocky post. I hope you get over yourself and eat crow. Or should I say cocky.

I’m alive??

Posted: October 6, 2016 in #Romance, amazon, authors, book blast, book blog, book boost, book lovers, book release, comedian, comedy, facebook live, giveaway, Halestorm, Hollywood, Hollywood Improv, humor, improv, indies, love yourself, new release, stand up comedy
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Hello,

Remember me?

Yeah, me neither.

I have been telling myself that I need to write a blog post. I guess I’m finally taking my advice and doing it. I’ve become rather bossy inside my head.

Life has decided to give me a big middle finger.

I’m going to try and make this short, and see where it gets me. My kids are also on fall break. What does that mean? It means I’m secretly writing this on my phone hoping to get through it before someone gets hungry or hurt.

Aug. 21st I went and preformed at the Hollywood Improv. I was trying to juggle everything so blogging kind of went on the back burner. Also I had a book coming out Sept. 13th that I was getting ready for.

How was your set, you ask…

https://youtu.be/TGEOSsFCo1k

It was amazing. The audience seemed receptive to my brand of Jackassness. I’m pretty sure I floated off the stage.

That was on a Sat. Three days later the foundation I was firmly standing on shook. I’m still trying to recover my footholds and feel secure in day to day life 

I received a text from my dad saying that my mom…MY MOM…had a stroke. If you have been one if my loyal followers you would know how special my mom is to me. She is the one I take to Halestorm. She is the one I word vomit all my problems to 

My dad is the worst at relaying information. Hell, he’s the worst at answering the phone. I’m pretty sure when he sent me the text he pressed send looked down at the electronic rectangle, shrugged, thought I don’t need this any longer, and chucked it into a magical ocean that appeared to take the only form of communication I had with him. Suffice it to say it was the longest three hour drive of my life.

When I got to the ER my mom could only say Hi and I love you. She kept repeating it over and over again, while internally I was begging myself not to have a complete break down.

In the ICU she was only allowed to have two visitors. I convinced my dad and brother to go get some rest. Here is the thing about ICU they don’t want you to stay. I had one hard chair and nothing else. It didn’t matter I wasn’t leaving her.

That night she was woke up every hour. I was with her throughout the whoke thing. It was also the night she looked at me and said, “I love you, Joy” then turned aroud and corrected herself to,  “I love you, Sissy.” Yeah, the tears flowed.

The second night they realized I wasn’t leaving and a nice nurse brought me a blanket and pillow. 

My mom had a stroke that was caused by a clot breaking free from an aneurysm. Aneurysms run in my family. My grandma and aunt had one both at 56. (in about 10 years I suppose I’ll go get checked) Her aneurysm didn’t bleed or burst. It just had a piece break off. Of course my mom doesn’t do anything half assed. She had a huge aneurysm in the front of her brain in the middle of where the artery branches. 

She had surgery where an amazing surgeon and team placed a coil in the aneurysm and two stints on each side. 

I’ve never understood people wearing sports jerseys, but I can tell you I would proudly wear a jersey with her surgeons name on the back. Also her PT, Norman. He was a PT god, I watched him use PNF stretching where she moved her leg for the first time. He also let me do the PNF on her. Yeah, always the teachers pet. Or at least my mom teased me of that. 

Keeping myself busy in the hospital

Every day my mom improved. She was in the hospital for a month. I’m so proud of her. She is now home. She can walk without her walker ( I named it, Paul) She still gets frustrated, but it is amazing to see her get better and stronger every day.

 

Also during that time I pushed my book release back to Sept. 27th. I worked my ass off to get everything done but I had a lot on my plate. 

I made teasers and banners of my beautiful book cover. I ordered paperbacks for the signing I have on Oct. 22nd. On my release date I was so damn excited. Until around 11 o’clock when I got a message asking if I meant to spell Survivng wrong.

Nope

No

I sure did not

I looked at that damn cover over a thousand times and not once did I recognize it was wrong. 

Ughhhh

I called my printer but it was too late to find out of theg had been printed yet. The awesome customer service lady said she would email me if she was able to pause the shipping. Imagine my hysterical laughter when she sent me my tracking number. 

I owned up to it live on Facebook. Explaining that Surviing Faith paperbacks will be at the signing because I didn’t have time to order another set.

Readers were supportive and understanding. Some even saying they wanted the misspelled cover. The cover is now fixed so any other books I order will be spelled correctly.

So that has been my life lately. I’m still crusing along. I have a paperback giveaway going on right now. To enter all you have to do is add a review of Surviving Faith to amazon. I’ll pick the winner live at the author by the beach signing Oct. 22Nd. Also keep an eye out for the costume I’ll be wearing. 

Hollywood Improv

Adventures in Ghost Writing

Posted: July 15, 2016 in authors, book blast, book blog, book boost, book lovers, customer service, facebook, ghost writing, goodreads, love yourself, new business, Uncategorized
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A friend of mine pulled me into the ghost writing business. It has been a big adventure and it has allowed me to explore more of my writing ability. I can’t go into details of the books we have been working on, but it has definitely yanked us out of our comfort zones.
The most surprising thing was how much I enjoyed it. We enjoyed it so much that we have decided to expand our ghost writing and create our own business. This is extremely exciting for both of us. We have already had some satisfied customers.
If you are interested, please check out our website.

http://theghostinggals.blogspot.com/p/hire-us_6.html

A Blizzard of Emotions #PerfectlyImperfect

Posted: May 9, 2016 in authors, book lovers, comedian, humor, love yourself, perfectly imperfect
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Normally I avoid conflict like the plague. I don’t really feel like my opinion matters. I’m just me. Confidence has always been an issue for me, and it is something I don’t see changing anytime soon.
A certain person’s comments has pulled me out of my non-conflict blanket fort. He wrote a statement basically telling a woman to, “To go eat their last Dairy
ueen Blizzard and then hang yourself in the closet.” He claims he doesn’t stand for any type of bullying. Yeah…..
This man states he is a personal trainer wanting to assist people in becoming more healthy. How is telling someone this healthy?
I was hoping he was just writing in the heat of the moment. I am not in anyway standing up for his statement, but most people are guilty of saying something they are not proud of when they are immersed in emotions. The sad thing is he seems to still be in this haze of anger and more awful things keeps spewing out of his fingers and onto his social media sites.

So I left this post for a couple of days. I wasn’t even sure I would come back to it. My body image has been the worst it has been in years. Harper Sloan has a challenge out today. The #perfectlyimperfect challenge post a selfie without wearing any make-up. And I can’t do it. I can’t even post a picture if me wearing make-up.
As an author I realize how powerful words are. They can knock the breath out of you. I try to remember (contradiction coming) words actually do not have power unless you give it the power to knock you over. You can disregard any words you here.
You. Do. Not. Have. To. Give. Them. Power.
I have said this many times, and I can’t seem to allow it to penetrate my brain. I allowed words and actions to take what little confidence I had away. I will believe a you’re funny compliment. I will not take a you are beautiful compliment. Honestly I feel like that person is a liar.
In my stand up class there was a girl who oozed confidence. She was incredible and I couldn’t understand how she was so comfortable being her. The funny thing was she couldn’t understand how I couldn’t stand being me.
I joke and tell people I have sidewalk written across my forehead. I will not stick up for myself. If someone does me wrong I will justify it in my head. Making them more important than my feelings.
I will say I get hurt when I’m taken advantage of. Even if it’s something as minute as being cut off in line. I feel that person is validating my thoughts that I am less important.
When I get ready in the morning I refuse to look in the mirror longer than it takes to make sure everything is in place. The mirror gets my middle finger more times than I would like to admit. Four years ago I lost 70lbs. The sad truth is I still didn’t feel comfortable in my skin. I still hated what I saw.
So for anyone to tell someone that they are not worthy of living the life they are living is disgusting to me. It shows they actually feel they feel they are more important than the other person.
I wish we could treat people with respect. Because most of us are fighting our own internal battle. We don’t need outside sources to influence our feelings in a negative way. Because from experience even if you lose weight you can still be just as unhappy as you were when you were carrying those extra pounds.
Think of others around you and try to be kind. They are most likely struggling. Telling someone what to do to make them feel better might not be what they need, so just be nice
Don’t be like me.
Feel important because you are important.
Make changes to better yourself, but love yourself as you are in this moment.
This post is going to have a ton of typos. If I re-read it I will not post this, and I’ve already been holding onto it long enough.

Do you know Kristen Hope Mazzola?

Posted: April 5, 2016 in #Romance, amazon, authors, book blast, book lovers, indies, Uncategorized
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So one year ago I went to Vegas. I went to support my friend Rebecca Fisher in her first author signing. This was also the trip that I met an amazing person(s). Rebecca’s table was across for Kristen, her PA Dayna, and next to them was Mary Catherine Gebhard.
The trip a year ago https://itsjoysworld.net/2015/04/14/vegas-or-bust/
We hit it off immediately. These were the girls that I ended up spending the rest of the week with.
Kristen was super supportive of Breaking Faith. This was before I was convinced that I was even going to publish Breaking Faith. Kristen felt that if I had a cover I would maybe be more inclined to publish.
She was amazing and I was a pain in the ass, but she found the cover for Breaking Faith. Honestly, she also made the covers for Surviving Faith and Becoming Faith. I know what those look like. Sorry had to rub that in.
Breaking Faith has been an adventure for me. Kristen helped me with everything. She was seriously as patient with me as a kindergarten teacher. She held my hand (through the phone) and helped me with everything.
Kristen gave me faith in humanity. Kristen along with all the other amazing indies helped me get through something very near and dear to me. She posted that this was around one year since we met. I wanted to write this post to tell her how much I appreciate everything she has done for me. If you loved Breaking Faith then you should be thanking Kristen, because if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have published.
So this is my Thank you, Kristen.
If you haven’t heard of Kristen her links are below. I highly suggest checking her out. You will not be disappointed.
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKristenHope/?fref=ts
http://www.amazon.com/Kristen-Hope-Mazzola/e/B00H85N5QQ/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1459828588&sr=8-1

Best of 2015: Rockstar Romance by a Debut Author

Posted: January 24, 2016 in authors, award, book blast, book blog, book boost, book lovers, facebook
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Breaking Faith was awarded Rockstar Romance Debut Author from Backstage Book Blog.
Thank you everyone for your support. Surviving Faith will be published shortly.

Backstage Books

The first of the year always brings about discussions and awards for all the best things of the previous year.   With 2015 being the debut year for Backstage Books, we decided it is a good time to begin another annual tradition, the Best of {Year} Awards.    And, being the first time out, there will be kinks to work out.   And being who we are, we don’t necessarily do things the way anyone else does.   So, the awards will be presented at the rate of one a day instead of just in a list – so we can take some time to talk about the award winner, and why it won.   The large majority of the books will have been published in 2015, but there will be a few exceptions where we just discovered them this year.   And yada, yada, yada – let’s let the awards begin!   (and one more yada…

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I Am Atlas by Ella Emerson Release

Posted: November 20, 2015 in amazon, authors, book blog, book boost, book lovers, book release, facebook, Uncategorized
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Title: I Am Atlas
Book: 1
Series: The Playing God Series
Author: Ella Emerson
Cover Designer: Redbird Designs
Book Manager: Olivia Howe
Publisher: Booktrope
Releases: November 20th

Blurb:

Powerful, wealthy, wildly handsome
Atlas has it all: successful company, stunning penthouse, and all the
women and fun he could want. But when he meets the brilliant,
graceful and mesmerizing Gwen, he is thunderstruck and wants to go to
great lengths to have her, even if it means breaking his own rules
and baring his secret soul.

When his livelihood is threatened by a
competing rival, he must prepare for a corporate battle. But, with
Gwen at his side he knows he will not lose.

But, what if she isn’t who he thought
she was? What if nothing is as it seems?

Will Atlas lose everything?
How far is one man willing to go for
the woman he loves?  

About The Author:

Ella Emerson lives in Florida with her husband and three wonderful children. When she isn’t writing you can find her watching movies or playing games with
her children. She loves to read, write and eat pizza. A true lover of the beach, she enjoys the sun, surf, sand and sea. She also is a huge fan of the
cinema and enjoys crazy 80’s chick flicks. She was raised a military brat, and has seen her fair share of the world. She loves using her own experiences
and turning them into lovely romantic tales.

In high school she discovered her love for reading, and even had one of her poems published in a national magazine. She continues to read, write, review
and hopefully she can become an inspiration to her own children, as well as others.

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Author Links:

Sign up for Ella Emerson’s newsletter: http://eepurl.com/1DTeX

Come and Follow her on Bloglovin:http://www.bloglovin.com/ellaemerson

Teasers:

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A December to Remember (A Christmas anthology)

Posted: November 2, 2015 in amazon, book blast, book blog, book boost, book lovers, facebook
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real anthology cover

Nine authors (including me) have got together and wrote nine short stories to get you in the holiday spirit. 100% of proceeds will be donated to To Write Love on Her Arms, a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.You ma donate if and when you choose by either sending a money order or check to:TWLOHA Inc.PO Box 2203Melbourne, FL 32902(Feel free to send a copy of the anthology if you’d like!)If you prefer to donate online, you may do so here.

You can add it to you TBR here

Of if you are a blog you can sign up for the release here

addison anthology

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ella anthology

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anthology teaser

Esmerelda Tussaud was born with the ability to talk to spirits.

Jake Delassixe loved her the moment he saw her sipping chocolate milk through a straw at his grandma’s bar.

Jake didn’t think anything could tear them apart, especially after they endured the cruelty of high school. Esmeralda proved him wrong when she left him, on the night of their graduation after his proposal. With nothing tethering him to New Orleans, Jake moved to New York to revamp an old bar his grandma gifted to him.

Now things are starting to happen in his bar. Things that only Esmeralda can help him with. As Esmeralda helps Jake rid his bar of unwanted specters, she also raises the love that Jake thought was dead.

Can Jake forgive her?

Will she be banished from his heart like the ghosts in his bar?

cj anthology
Being the center of attention isn’t exactly my favorite thing in the world. Being the center of attention at this holiday awards party, when the guy who royally screwed me over this past summer is in the room watching me ranks even lower than that.

My ideal month-long holiday break will be spent trying to avoid eye contact with the infuriatingly still-sexy Landon and all his pompous ass friends, while I instead seek out Finn. He seems nice, normal, and cute, and his parents own the best ski lodge around.

These are my intentions, but sometimes the best-laid plans become unraveled, and while I will try not to become too tangled up in drama on what is supposed to be a relaxing Christmas break, I just may end up unwrapped.

anthology casey

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree:
When Becca drags Felicity to the top of a mountain to celebrate Christmas, Felicity humors her. When Becca and her boyfriend Will include his pal Eric in the plans, Felicity still promises to make the best of it. Who would’ve figured that Felicity would meet somebody who’s actually kind of okay while there? Definitely not her.
Is Felicity really ready to let someone in?

anthology cj

Lights of Pemberley by Addison Kline

Jocelyn York is not prepared to celebrate the Christmas holidays. With many presents still to buy, a tree still to decorate and travel plans to make, Jocelyn’s to-do list in a mile long. Add to the top the seemingly insurmountable grief from learning that her husband Grant, an infantryman for Her Majesty’s Army, was killed in action just six months ago, you can safely guess that Jocelyn is not in a joyous spirit.

Andrew Barrington has been honorably discharged from the army, and is re-entering civilian life for the first time in seventeen years after a serious injury has rendered him unfit for active duty. Coming home with a promise from his best friend who was killed in action, Andrew has a task ahead of him: Return Grant York’s dog tags to his widow, Jocelyn, along with a final letter. Andrew considers this his final mission; a duty that he must fulfill. The last thing he expects is to fall for his best friend’s widow. As these two broken souls collide under the lights of Pemberley, their hearts must decide if their common bond with bring them together or tear them apart.

anthology ella

The Holiday Couple….by Ella Emerson The Holiday Couple
Gavin McDermott has had a rough couple of years. He met a girl, who ended up falling for his kid brother, and then his mother died. Things were not working out quite as Gavin had hoped for his future. With the holidays approaching, he is invited back to his childhood home to spend time with his brother, the girl that got away, and his new niece.
Not wanting to appear to be a failure in love, Gavin gets the idea to bring a “fake” girlfriend home, only problem…who?
Holly Mathis is having a rough time during the holidays. Her mother and step-father are on vacation and Holly is drowning in bills. Her sexy, neighbor stops by one evening and asks her to fake being his girlfriend for the holiday. Appalled, Holly refuses, but when Gavin offers her the one thing she most desperately needs, she finally relents. Only problem is, they hate each other and have hated each other for years.

anthology p

CHRISTMAS AT CROSS PURPOSES BY P.MATTERN
“A fierce fire of attraction rekindles from the embers to heat up the holidays”
Cami Blake and Reno Fortuna fell in love too fast and too young. Cami’s disapproving and wealthy family forced her to give up Reno and enter into an early and disastrous first marriage that ended in divorce.
Four years later a chance encounter reconnects the two and Cami realizes that she has never forgotten her ‘first’—but can she come to terms with the fact that Reno’s successful business goes against all her strongly held beliefs?

anthology olivia cover

anthology oliva

7 Days of Christmas: Alicia Hanson is a very single woman whose life revolves around her job at The National Gazette. Every day is like a broken record on repeat… Until she meets Cole Castello— a wealthy and handsome man who tries to restore Alicia’s holiday spirit. Can he pull her away from work long enough to enjoy the Christmas agenda? Can the holiday season bring two people together who are so utterly different?

anthology cait

anthology aj

E.B. Hood All Hallows’ Reads AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Posted: October 31, 2015 in amazon, authors, book blast, book blog, book boost, book lovers, facebook, giveaway, prizes
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eb hood

Melabeth

Melanie Dare is a teenage girl. Drugs and abuse by her parents change all that. She is raped and murdered and finds herself awake in a new decade. Melanie becomes Melabeth the vampire, and she is thrust into events outside of her control. Meeting a small circle of friends – not all who can be trusted – she finds herself obsessed with revenge against her killers… but along the way finds love. Her battle for revenge has terrible, unintended consequences, and she will question, who, and what she is. Can her love survive her need for revenge? This is the first part of a three part series about forgiveness.

E.B’s

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ALL HALLOWS’ READS

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