Introducing The Young Ladies of Mystery Series by Stacy Juba!

I was delighted to learn recently that the award-winning author Stacy Juba is pulling together three of her most exciting mysteries and creating the Young Ladies of Mystery Series. This thrilling mystery collection has been referred to as the Nancy Drew Mysteries Series for grown-ups. Although each book can be read as a standalone mystery, the entire series features the common theme of strong young women thrust into a dangerous world of mystery and intrigue - all told from the settings of various towns throughout New England. I would advise you to go grab your own copies today!!!

Meet Stacy Juba 

Award-winning writer Stacy Juba loves to write about Characters at a Crossroads: individuals who are finding themselves and getting on the right life path after overcoming obstacles. Her goals are to entertain readers of all ages as well as inspire them. Stop by her website to browse her books, for some freebies and for information on her freelance editing service.

She recently launched the chick lit/sweet romance Storybook Valley Series with the book Fooling Around With Cinderella.

Her adult mystery titles with a touch of romance are Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim.

She is also the author of the young adult paranormal thriller Dark Before Dawn, the young adult family hockey novel Face-Off, the patriotic children's picture book The Flag Keeper, the Teddy Bear Town Children's Bundle, and the Young Ladies of Mystery Boxed Set. She is the editor of 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror: 52 Authors Look Back.

Twenty-Five Years Ago Today by Stacy Juba (2009)

Length: 262 pages 

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Twenty-Five Years Ago Today Blurb: 

Kris Langley has always been obsessed with murder. She blames herself for the violent death of her cousin when they were kids and has let guilt invade every corner of her existence. Now an editorial assistant and obit writer for a Massachusetts newspaper, Kris stumbles across an unsolved murder while compiling "25 Years Ago Today" items from the microfilm. 

She grows fascinated with the case of a young cocktail waitress who was bludgeoned to death and dumped in the woods. Determined to solve the case and atone for the death of her cousin, Kris immerses herself in the mystery of what happened to Diana Ferguson, a talented artist who expressed herself through haunting paintings of Greek mythology. Not only does Kris face resistance from her family and her managing editor, she also clashes with Diana's suspicious nephew, Eric Soares - until neither she nor Eric can deny the chemistry flaring between them. 

Kris soon learns that old news never leaves the morgue and that yesterday's headline is tomorrow's danger, for finding out the truth about that night twenty-five years ago may shatter Kris's present, costing her love, her career, and ultimately, her life.

Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba (2010)

Length: 248 pages 

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Sink or Swim Blurb:

When reality TV turns to murder, it's sink, swim or die. Ambitious personal trainer Cassidy Novak has gained national fame for starring on Sink or Swim, nicknamed SOS, a hit reality game show set aboard a Tall Ship. She hopes the prize money will help to launch her dream of owning a chain of fitness centers. 

Not only does she lose the competition and have to walk the plank in the finale, after the game show ends, the terror begins. Upon returning to her small Massachusetts hometown, Cassidy discovers she has attracted a stalker masterminding his own twisted game. She struggles to focus on her health club job and celebrity endorsement opportunities, but her stalker has other plans. As her former competitors get knocked off one-by-one, Cassidy refuses to play by his bizarre rules. 

She's also being shadowed by hunky photographer Zach Gallagher, who has been assigned to capture her personal moments for a spread in the local newspaper. She wants to trust Zach, but fears he may not be the nice guy that he seems. With or without Zach's help, when the stalker forces a showdown by threatening her family, Cassidy must once again walk the plank - this time for her life.

Dark Before Dawn by Stacy Juba (2011)
Length: 213 pages 

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Dark Before Dawn Blurb:

When teen psychic Dawn Christian gets involved with a fortuneteller mentor and two girls who share her mysterious talents, she finally belongs after years of being a misfit. When she learns her new friends may be tied to freak accidents in town, Dawn has an important choice to make - continue developing the talent that makes her special or challenge the only people who have ever accepted her.

This novel is aimed at young adults, and at adults who enjoy paranormal YA such as the Twilight Series, the House of Night Series and The Vampire Diaries series, Meg Cabot’s The Mediator series, or Lois Duncan books.

May you read well and often

Nichole Giles - Water so Deep

15. Water so Deep by Nichole Giles (2014)
The Water so Deep Series Book 1

Length: 269 pages 

Genre: Fantasy

Started: 22 March 2015

Finished: 2 April 2015

Where did it come from? Many thanks to Kathy at Ebooks For Review for sending me a copy of this book to read.

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 January 2015

Why do I have it? I like fantasy and Nichole Giles is a new author for me.

Seventeen-year-old Emma Harris feels like she is drowning on dry land. Not only is that feeling partly due to her slow recovery from a prom night assault perpetrated on her by her boyfriend; it is also beginning to encroach on Emma's life, stealthily creeping into her reality and into her routine. No one really understands what's happening to her, and as much as Emma loves her adoptive family and her friends, she wants to keep her secret to herself - for as long as she can.

For the past two years, Emma has been struggling with her evolution from human to mermaid. So far, she has been fairly successful in dealing with the various bizarre impulses, cravings and strange indentations that are suddenly appearing on her body - hiding what she can from her family, her friends, and most especially, the new guy in school, James Phelps. Yet, Emma is finding it increasingly difficult to continue her charade. The truth is beginning to come out, and even her Grandmother - who knows Emma's secret - just doesn't know how to help.

Emma's time in the ocean is spent dodging a possessive merman, and her time on land is split between caring for her fourteen-year-old brother Keith, who has special needs and squeezing in every last possible moment from her life as a human. Time is short for Emma, and as much as she tries to avoid it, she is becoming more attached to her life on land. But a normal life is something that Emma is beginning to realize she may never have.

Falling for the irresistible James is also unavoidable apparently, especially when it seems he's constantly coming to her rescue. James somehow sees through Emma's carefully constructed icy facade to the vulnerability she lives with every day. He makes her yearn for a life on land that she just can't have.

When her brother disappears on Emma's watch, James is the only person she trusts to help her save him. But even if they can save Keith, nothing can prevent Emma's return to the sea. Whether she likes it or not, Emma is changing - unable to breathe without yielding to the tide - and it's only a matter of time before she forced to surrender forever.

I absolutely loved reading this book - I really felt for Emma and the situation in which she finds herself. Despite it being a rather fantastic dilemma, I could certainly sympathize with Emma. I was also pleasantly surprised to 'meet' a character with special needs. I haven't read that many books featuring characters with disabilities - so that was refreshing. I give this book a definite A! I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

Reading Wrap-up For March at Emeraldfire's Bookmark

Hello everyone out there and I hope that you all had a terrific reading month for yourselves. I am known as Emeraldfire around the Internet and this is my new personal reading blog.

Anyway, I started out March with about two hundred unread books lying around the house and ended the month with...umm...uncountable amounts of books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from authors and Amazon.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Jezebel: A Horror Thriller Novel by Gordon A. Kessler
- Night Carnival by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
- Wintergarden by T. M. Wallace
- The Black Elf of Seaward Isle by Joni Parker
- ItGirl4Life: How to Bring Out Your Special Something and so Much More by Tamara Branch
- Tangled Omens by Joni Parker

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Guardians, Inc.: The Cypher by Julian Rosado-Machain
- Hellfire and Damnation III by Connie Corcoran Wilson
- The Jack of Souls by Stephen C. Merlino 
- Stonehill Downs: A Novel by Sarah Remy
- The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor by M. K. Theodoratus

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Jezebel: A Horror Thriller Novel by Gordon A. Kessler 
- Night Carnival by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
- ItGirl4Life: How to Bring Out Your Special Something and so Much More by Tamara Branch
- Tangled Omens by Joni Parker

Well, there it is...the breakdown! All in all, a very good reading month for me, considering. Here's a further breakdown:

Books Read: 6
Pages Read: 1,226
Grade Range: A+! to A!

So, there you go! The reading month that was March. I hope that you all had an equally good reading month; if not a little better. :) See you all next month! :)

May you read well and often

Introducing The Battle For Darracia Saga by Michael Phillip Cash!

Meet Michael Phillip Cash

Michael Phillip Cash is an award winning and best selling author of horror, paranormal, and science fiction novels. Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island, The Hanging Tree, and Schism: The Battle For Darracia have all been named to Foreword Review's Book of the Year Awards. Michael currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children.

Connect and Socialize with Michael!

Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter

Schism: The Battle For Darracia by Michael Phillip Cash (2013)

Length: 202 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Schism: The Battle For Darracia Blurb: 

On the planet Darracia, an ever-widening social gap between its inhabitants is causing turmoil that is fracturing a once peaceful world. Struggling with his identity, nineteen year old Prince V'sair must harness the power of the elusive Fireblade, the secret to a warrior's heart, in order to overcome his uncle Staf Nuen's lust for supremacy. Will the energy of the Elements guide the young prince to his true destiny or will Staf Nuen conquer Darracia? 

After the success of his first three books (Brood X, Stillwell, and The Hanging Tree) Michael is fulfilling a dream and creating his own epic fantasy world. Schism: The Battle For Darracia is the first book in a planned series.

Collision: The Battle For Darracia by Michael Phillip Cash (2014)

Length: 258 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Collision: The Battle For Darracia Blurb: 

The Darracia saga continues with all the key players spread out and searching for answers throughout the solar system. Prince V'sair struggles to hold his fractured kingdom together without help from his family. His stepbrother Zayden is on a vengeful hunt for his evil uncle Staf Nuen. 

Tulani navigates her two worlds trying to bring them together. Staf Nuen, the orchestrator of the original coup, is making unholy alliances with nefarious new allies. Like the comet zipping across the horizon, all the different factions are heading for a collision course that will test both their faith and power.

Risen: The Battle For Darracia by Michael Phillip Cash (2014)

Length: 272 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Risen: The Battle For Darracia Blurb: 

Imprisoned on the dead moon of Bina, trapped at the bottom of the cold Hixom Sea, locked in a cell in the flooded Desa and blinded & defeated in the Eastern Provinces, the ruling class of Darracia is defeated without hope. In the stunning conclusion of the Darracia saga, V’sair, Tulani, Zayden and Reminda must dig deep and find both strength and faith to rise from the depths of the impossible and restore order to their home planet from Lothen, Staf Nuen and the evil armies of Geva.

May you read well and often

Calling All Book Reviewers!

Hello Everyone! I was delighted to learn recently that The Ice Bridge and Blood Forge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith were recently released as audiobooks. I've had the pleasure of reading approximately eighteen of Ms. Griffith's twenty-two currently published books. Of those twenty-two books, twenty of them have been released as audiobooks distributed by Audible.

The two newest releases are, of course, The Ice Bridge and Blood Forge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. The Ice Bridge is narrated by Ashley Arnold and Blood Forge is narrated by Marilyn Ghigliotti. I haven't had the pleasure of reading either book as yet - although I hope to at some point in the very near future.

Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

The Ice Bridge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2011)

Length: 254 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

The Ice Bridge Blurb:

She’ll fall in love again…with a man and the island. Charlotte returns to her Aunt Bess and Mackinac Island, a quaint retreat that welcomes summer tourists and allows no cars to renew herself and write about the island’s ghosts.

She’s come to help Bess with her heartache, an ended love with Shaun, and to renew a friendship with neighbor Hannah.

In winter Mackinac closes down and everyone looks forward to the ice bridge that freezes across the Straits of Mackinac.

Until Hannah disappears into the icy waters crossing it.

Everyone says it’s an accident. But Charlotte and her admirer cop friend, Mac, don’t think so. Something isn’t right. Hannah was too smart to go off the path.

So it’s murder…but why…how…by whom? In the end, it’s Mac - and perhaps Hannah’s ghost - who saves Charlotte and Bess’s lives when the killer decides they’re too close to the truth and tries to kill them, too.

Blood Forge: Revised Author's Edition by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)

Length: 248 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Blood Forge: Revised Author's Edition Blurb:

This gun was forged in hell…and brings hell to anyone who touches it. An ancient evil is trapped in the bowels of darkness deep below ground, enduring an eternity of loneliness and torment. Then it discovers a way, an escape, back into the world of men…in the form of a seductively beautiful .357 Colt Python revolver.

Forged in the damned fires of the underworld, hammered from the strongest but cursed steel, the gun and the entity that inhabit it are capable of immeasurable destruction and insidious evil. Anyone who comes in contact with it, even touches it, will find themselves staring into the muzzle of a loaded and sinister gun…and into the mouth of hell.

May you read well and often

Joni Parker - Tangled Omens

14. Tangled Omens by Joni Parker (2012)
The Seaward Isle Saga Book 2
Length: 261 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Started: 18 March 2015
Finished: 25 March 2015
Where did it come from? I originally downloaded a copy of this book for free from Amazon, although many thanks to Dorothy at Pump up Your Book and Joni Parker for sending me a copy of this book to read as well.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 12 April 2014 as an ebook; Since 2 February 2015 as a physical book.
Why do I have it? I like fantasy and have read and enjoyed The Black Elf of Seaward Isle by the same author in the past.

Lady Alexin - the orphaned fifteen-year-old half-elfin girl, and descendant of the Titans - is back for another rollicking adventure. This time Alex, who goes by the code name 'The Black Elf' - is tasked with locating a spy called the Horseman who is in league with pirates to steal Elfin gold. In her new role as a Tracker, Alex travels to Riverton to watch her brother Beren compete in the sword competition which is being held there.

Arriving in Riverton two months before the competition starts, Alex is baffled to learn that she is so early. Although she is at a bit of a loose end, she decides to stay in town to deliver her brother's newest sword to him as a surprise. After all, Alex reasons with herself, Beren's competition would be the perfect cover story for her own mission. Soon Alex picks up the trail of the Horseman, but she just may have run into some serious trouble; it appears the Horseman has some pretty influential friends, and they're definitely not happy with all the sudden attention.

In this latest adventure, Alex continues to unravel the mysteries of Seaward Isle. As she attempts to complete her mission, Alex must contend with a code name that makes her increasingly uncomfortable; superiors who can't see past her youth; and several unexpected aspects to the new gifts bestowed on her by her Titan ancestors.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The story pulled me in right from the beginning and I avidly wanted to find out what would happen next. Tangled Omens by Joni Parker was fast-paced and enthralling, and I loved Alex and her interactions with many of the characters. I give this book a definite A! I can't wait to find out how this trilogy ends.

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

Tamara Branch - ItGirl4Life: How to Bring Out Your Special Something and So Much More

13. ItGirl4Life: How to Bring Out Your Special Something and so Much More by Tamara Branch (2014)
Length: 90 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 21 March 2015
Finished: 22 March 2015
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Dorothy at Pump up Your Book for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 24 December 2014
Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Tamara Branch is a new author for me.

The opening sentence of this book exhorts girls that they have 'IT'. 'IT' is defined as the greatness that all young women are born with, and the potential to dream big, do better, and to really own their lives. According to author, artist and motivational speaker, Tamara Branch, the true key to women living a successful life is to 'show up' in their life, and to take ownership of their situations in order to work towards what they want.

Packed with sage advice, life-changing insights and personal affirmations designed to help you soar, Tamara speaks to the heart of every girl. ItGirl4Life: How to Bring Out Your Special Something and so Much More is an empowering book, filled with the best ideas, tips, tools and principles that you can reference and build upon in order to begin creating a solid foundation which you can use to live up to your best potential. Get ready to fall in love with your own wisdom, beauty and strength.

I must say that I haven't really read that many personal motivational books before, perhaps one or two when I was a teenager, but that was about it. I honestly have never felt that I had poor self esteem, or many issues that I needed to work on. Yet reading Ms. Branch's book, I've learned that while I may have a very strong self esteem, and I have many of the positive traits which the author mentions in her book; it never hurts anyone to refresh their memories about what is good about themselves.

I realized after reading this book that I sometimes don't speak up as much as I probably should in certain situations. There's always something women can work on about themselves; to make themselves better people, stronger friends or indispensable bosses or employees. I would give this book an A!

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often