Reviewing Indie Authors One Book at a Time

Posts tagged ‘Blog Tour’

You Can’t Get Blood Out of Shag Carpet by Juliette Harper

Welcome to the blog tour of You Can’t Get Blood Out of Shag Carpet by Juliette Harper! This is the first book in A Study Club Mystery series and it’s now available for sale on Amazon and Smashwords for only .99 cents!

This tour runs June 15-26 with reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts. Check out the tour page for the full schedule.

Guest Post:

It’s always fun to get a chance to write a guest post, so many thanks to Writerbee for giving me the space today to talk about You Can’t Get Blood Out of Shag Carpet, the debut novel in my new cozy “Study Club” mystery series.

The idea for this book really came out of the closing chapters of the third book of The Lockwood Legacy, Alice’s Portrait. The four old women who dominate the end of that story are the major characters in Shag Carpet, but with the clock turned back to 1968.

Clara Wyler, Mae Ella Gormley, Sugar Watson, and Wilma Schneider are the officers and leading members of “the” local Study Club. They band together when one of their own, Wanda Jean Milton, is accused of murdering her husband with an Old Hickory carving knife. Local law enforcement is not stepping up to find the real killer, and the women have no idea how much local dirt they’re about to uncover.

The time period and small town setting gave me the canvas to play with big bouffants and feminism Texas style. I was even able to throw in a signature orange lava lamp at Sugar’s Style and Spray, the town’s leading beauty parlor and ground zero for much of the sleuthing action.

It would be almost impossible to describe how much fun it was to write this book, an energy I hope is evident on the page. As some of you may know, I’m actually two people, the combination of a creative team that both remember the 1960s. They spent a lot of their “work” time on this manuscript giggling over old TV commercials on YouTube and looking at the era’s fashions with the attitude of, “what were we thinking?”

As a result, this book is full of a lot of loving nostalgia tinged with good-natured irreverence and coated with Aqua Net hairspray. There just happens to be a tidy little murder right in the middle of it all, complete with a ruined shag carpet. The only thing that’s missing is a Tupperware party!

One of my favorite reviews of this book to date began like this, “No one is quite sure what the ladies in the Study Club study, but I’ll tell you one thing: I sure want to be a member of the club.” All I can say to that is, “Me too!”

Part of the fun of being a writer is that for me, and for the ladies of the Study Club, the 1960s never have to end. I assure you, the little town in this book is about to enjoy a crime wave courtesy of my pen.

The next book is already in the works. I hope you have fun meeting the Study Club women, and that you’ll look forward to joining them for their next mystery in You Can’t Put a Corpse in a Parade.

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About the Book:

Wanda Jean Milton discovers her husband, local exterminator Hilton Milton, dead on her new shag carpet with an Old Hickory carving knife sticking out of his chest. Beside herself over how she’ll remove the stain, and grief-stricken over Hilton’s demise, Wanda Jean finds herself the prime suspect in the case. But she is also a member of “the” local Study Club, a bastion of independent Texas feminism 1960s style. Club President Clara Wyler has no intention of allowing a member to be a murder suspect during her administration. Aided by her younger sister and County Clerk, Mae Ella Gormley; Sugar Watson, the proprietress of Sugar’s Style and Spray; and Wilma Schneider, Army MASH veteran and local RN, the Club women set out to clear Wanda Jean’s name — never guessing the local dirt they’ll uncover in the process.

Only .99 cents at
Add it to your Goodreads!

 

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About the author:

Juliette Harper is the pen name used by the writing team of Patricia Pauletti and Rana K. Williamson. You Can’t Get Blood Out of Shag Carpet is the first installment of Harper’s debut cozy Study Club Mysteries, an hilariously funny look at the often absurd eccentricities of small town life. The second book, to be released in coming months, is called You Can’t Put a Corpse in a Parade.The droll series, set in the 1960s, is a light-hearted spinoff of Harper’s Lockwood Legacy a nine-book chronicle of the lives of three sisters who inherit a ranch in Central Texas following their father’s suicide. Three of the novels are currently available: Langston’s Daughters, Baxter’s Draw, and Alice’s Portrait. The fourth book, Mandy’s Father, will appear in Summer 2015.And don’t miss Harper’s first foray into the world of the supernatural, Descendants of the Rose, Book 1 in the Selby Jensen Paranormal Mystery series. The second Selby Jensen book, Lost in Room 636 is also scheduled for a Summer 2015 release.Pauletti, an Easterner of Italian descent, is an accomplished musician with an eye for art and design. Williamson, a Texan, worked as a journalist and university history instructor before becoming a full-time freelance writer in 2002.

Giveaway:One (1) winner gets a $50 Amazon Gift Card (INT), one (1) winner gets Langston’s Daughters, Baxter’s Draw and Alice’s Portrait in paperback (US) and one (1) winner gets Descendants of the Rose in paperback (US)
Ends June 29th

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

 

Category:

blog tour, Guest Post, Promo/Cover Reveal

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Chronicles from Chateau Moines-Blog Tour

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Welcome to my tour stop for Chronicles from Chateau Moines by Evelyne Holingue, a middle grade historical fiction. From March 2-13, join the tour laden with reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts. Check out the tour page for the full schedule.

About the Book:

September 1970: Scott’s mother has recently died and his father gets the crazy idea to move his family from California to Normandy. Now Scott has to learn to live without his mom while adjusting to France. In his seventh grade class there is only Ibrahim who comes from another country. Scott doesn’t even want to play his guitar anymore. Why does his father think that life will be better so far from home?

Scott has no idea that his arrival is also a challenge to Sylvie. While her best friend is excited to have an American boy at school, Sylvie cannot say one word to Scott. She can’t even write good songs in her notebook anymore. Why is life so different since Scott moved to Château Moines?

Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War protest era and told from the perspectives of twelve-year old Scott and Sylvie, this is a story about loss and friendship, music and peace, and also about secrets.

Although this is a work of fiction, the cultural, social, and historical background of the early 1970s in France and the United States inspired the writing. At the end of the book the reader will find a list of the songs, the names of singers, and bands mentioned through the novel as well as some elements about fashion, immigration in France, the Vietnam War, and other cultural, social, and historical facts relevant to the period of time.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Excerpt:

Brigitte Has a Costumed Party for Mardi Gras (page 208-210)

 

He (Scott) smells of his usual mix of patchouli and shampoo, a smell that I’ve come to recognize without even thinking. He’s quiet, but it’s perfect with me. We just sit next to each other, watching our entire class dance. Someone has cranked the volume up. The disco balls flash, and since everyone is costumed, it’s hard to know who is who. Scott’s funny guesses make me laugh.

“Is that Brigitte dancing?” He points at a couple.

The girl wears a feather boa and high heels. “Definitely Brigitte,” I say. “But the boy? No clue. You know what? It’s cool that everyone came.”

“Everyone didn’t come.” Scott’s voice doesn’t hide his disappointment.

“I think we are all here,” I say, straining my eyes. “Wait, where is Ibrahim?”

“Told you.”

“Maybe he wasn’t allowed.” I catch Scott’s glare. “You know, being from another country. I mean religion and everything.”

“Has nothing to do with him being Muslim.” Scott taps his foot to the beat of the music. “Right now, he’s playing soccer.”

“He only plays at school.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“Look, there is one soccer field in town, and the Arabs don’t use it.”
“That figures,” Scott says.
“They kept fighting.” I realize how stupid and unfair the idea is, since nobody knows who started the fight. In the end the Arabs gave up the field. “So, where is he playing?”

“You don’t want to know.” He stands up and offers me his hand. “You dance?”

I’ve never danced with a boy in my entire life. In a flash, my heart morphs into a bird trapped inside a cage. Panicked, the bird flutters his wings to escape. Scott and I stand at least thirty centimeters away from each other.

“Can someone put on “Bridge Over Trouble Water,” please?” he calls.

As soon as the guitars, harmonicas, and voices of Simon and Garfunkel fill the basement, he wraps his arms around my waist, and I bring mine to his neck, as if I knew what to do. I watch my step so I won’t crush his sandaled feet. We aren’t really dancing, so it’s easy. I’m starting to get the hang of it when Brigitte waves her arms up in the air like an octopus.

“My parents! My parents are home!” She switches the disco balls off.

Scott is the fastest to reach for the record player. But he’s still holding onto my waist, and I trip on the long hem of my dress. He catches me just before I fall flat on the ground and drags me to my feet. When I’m up, our faces are so close to each other that I can almost taste the gum he has been chewing.

“It was my first slow dance with a girl,” he says, his breath sweet and light in my ear. At the same second, someone turns the lights on.

 

About the Author:

evelyne0115I was born and raised in Normandy, France, where I spent most of my childhood reading.
My first published piece of writing was a poem about a man spending Christmas behind bars. I was eleven years old and wasn’t paid for my work, but I was hooked.
I studied French Literature at the Université de Caen and at the Sorbonne in Paris and worked in a publishing house before moving to California, following my husband.
It was a challenging time in my life as I was leaving my own career, my family, my friends and my beloved Paris behind.  But how could I say no to the dreams of the man I love?
Readers enjoy escaping the familiar for the unknown.  Being a foreigner is discovering the unknown day after day, not only for the time of a book. However, since most things in life come with a silver lining, I credit this move for giving me the opportunity to write. Through my words, I share my affection for my native and adoptive countries that I love equally.

http://www.evelyneholingue.com 

Giveaway: 
Two (2) kindle copies of Chronicles from Chateau Moines (INT)
Ends March 18th

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

 

Category:

blog tour, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade

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A Tangles of Fates-Blog Tour

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Welcome to my tour stop for A Tangle of Fates by Leslie Ann Moore. This tour runs Feb. 2-13 with reviews, interviews, guest post & excerpts. Check out the tour page for more information.

About the Book:

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The fates of three women. The fates of two peoples. The fate of one planet.

On Nuetierra, four hundred years have passed since the Great War. A new society has arisen on the ashes of the old.

Deanna Hernaan, daughter of Eduard, the former Alcalde of Nue Bayona, spends her days attending university and caring for her mentally damaged sister, Ceilia. Six years ago, her stepmother Lourdessa deposed her father, and now, as Alcalde, rules the city through patronage and oppression. Deanna remains apolitical, fearing Lourdessa’s power. Threatened by Deanna’s popularity with the common people, the Alcalde arranges for her assassination. Deanna survives, but is cast adrift in a hostile wilderness. She is rescued by a band of diminutive hunters—the Tiqui—members of a slave race she has only read about in history books. The hunters bring Deanna to their village, where she meets the Tiqui chieftess Yellow Bird. A remarkable woman, the ithani possesses the shamanic gift of foresight. Her visions have revealed to her that a young woman of the tall folk would come, one whose fate is inextricably entwined with that of the Tiqui—one who would bring disaster or salvation for all of Nuetierra.

Goodreads | Muse Harbor | Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Leslie Ann MooreAbout the Author:

Leslie Ann Moore was born in Los Angeles, California at the tail-end of the baby boom and fell in love with the works of Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Andre Norton, and J.R.R. Tolkien at an early age.

A practicing veterinarian since 1988, Leslie put her dreams of writing fiction aside until she attended the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in 2000. There, bestselling fantasy author Terry Brooks told her, “Don’t ever give up. Keep writing, no matter what.” Those words changed her life.

She published the first volume of her Griffin’s Daughter trilogy in 2012. A Tangle of Fates is the first volume of The Vox Machina trilogy, and is published by Muse Harbor.

 

Giveaway:$25 Gift Card (INT)Ends 2/18/15

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Writerbee’s Review of A Tangle of Fates

Moore does an amazing job of building a world of complex politics, conspiracy, and intrigue from a platform of a human colony hundreds of years in the future of human kind. The reader is quickly wrapped into the political struggles of a city-state leader hell-bent on grabbing and maintaining power by reincarnating the Annihilator, the ancient war machine that brought down the colony’s advanced civilization over 400 years past. No one is going to stand in her way. The Alcalde tightens her tyrannical grip on her own city and attempts to capture control of the entire continent.

As the story unfolds, we are shown cultural events that have been maintained since the colonists left Old Earth, as well as new practices. The planet is rich with exotic flora and fauna described in exquisite detail, including predatory sky jellies, a breed of which were at one time domesticated to serve as airships.

There are several major characters followed throughout the development, each with a unique voice and purpose, but the most important character is Deanna Hernaan, whose life seems to intersect and impact the fates of hundreds of others, despite her perception that she has little to offer and nowhere near enough courage to act when necessary. As she gains a new understanding of her world and discovers that many things are not as she was led to believe, Deanna must come to terms with her destiny.

If you enjoy epic tales and rich tapestries of detail, I recommend A Tangle of Fates. You will find the pitch battle between the selfish, amoral palace-dwellers and the struggling, oppressed peoples a compelling story to read.

5 Stars

 

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

Category:

5 Star, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Speculative

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Origin of Angels

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Thanks for stopping by my tour stop for Origin of Angels, Book One in the Elemental Legacy series by Christie Rich. This is a New Adult Fantasy. This is a review tour that runs Jan. 12-16. Check out the tour page for the full schedule.

About the book:

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Origin of Angels by Christie Rich
A man searches for the woman he loves. A woman fights to survive.As the first male Elemental, Travis is a wanted man. Women fawn all over him, both fae and Elemental alike, but he only has one female on is mind—the woman who captured his heart when he was sure he’d lost it. Travis is not only determined to find her, he’s willing to go through his meddling sister, Ralya, to do it. He doesn’t care if she’s queen of the fae, if war is brewing, or if there is a price on his head. He needs to find his mystery woman before it’s too late—before he loses her to the Order or worse, to the evil Valen, who has made a bargain of his own to win back his kingdom.
Emily will do anything it takes to save her son from the Order, no matter the cost. Her heart yearns for the man who gifted her the only joy she has in her dreary world, yet the odds she will ever see Travis again are slim to none. Emily has a single desire: to raise her child. Love is beyond her reach, or so she thinks. As evil draws near, Emily must guard her heart or lose her soul to the fae who wants her to fulfill his wicked purposes.
Will Travis find Emily before she gives up, or will she fall into the hands of his enemy and be forever out of his reach? In this gripping sequel to Elemental Enmity, the stakes for control of Earth have been raised. Evil has taken hold of the mortal realm and won’t relinquish it easily. The forces of Elemental and fae must unite against the dark court if they have any chance at all of overcoming the gloom overtaking the human realm.

 Amazon | Goodreads

Christie Rich

About the author:

I grew up daydreaming about fairytales, and my love for discovering new worlds has never died. I am not one of those writers who always knew I would write. I thought that was what other people did until one day, a few years ago, I took a challenge from a friend and typed my first words. My journey has been wonderful, and I cannot imagine a day where I would ever give up writing. My love for reading is what fueled my imagination in the first place and still does. When I am not writing or reading, I enjoy family time with my husband and two children. My family and I live in a quiet community in Northern Utah, and I am so thankful for the rich life I have been blessed with.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

 Writerbee’s Review of Origin of Angels:

4 Stars

A man is gathering Elementals for the purpose to destroying the Fae. The Order is experimenting with the supernatural beings to find the greatest amount of power. Nigel Lambert will do anything to gain control, including experimenting on his own daughter. There are many supernatural powers at work throughout this novel, and a great battle is coming that may mean the end of the human race.

“The origin of angels is not what humans believe. We are not benevolent beings eager to serve mortals.”

There is a rich world supporting this new adventure for Rayla, Travis, and company. The subtleties of belonging to the world of the fae and elementals are expressed through the internal conversations of the characters, each in turn. The sense of urgency builds up throughout the work, culminating in the cliff-hanger moment where you find yourself suddenly fumbling to express your outrage at having to wait for the next installment.

This book is written in a very young style, giving the characters – most of whom seem to be in their early 20s (relatively speaking since some of them are indeed immortal) – a deep sense of current vernacular and relationship styles. Writing in the first person from the point of view of many of the different characters is a tricky art, and I felt that some characters lacked unique individual voices, making it difficult to remember which character’s mind I was in at the time. Travis was most set apart by his tone and intentions. These voices will appeal to new adult audience.

“We must rescue the girl. She is the key”

 

 

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Giveaway:
$15 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Full ebook set of the Elemental Enmity series by Christie Rich (INT)
Ends January 21, 2015
a Rafflecopter giveawayThis event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

Category:

4 Star, Fantasy, New Adult, Supernatural

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