Meridian Magazine Published My Review!

I was so thrilled to be asked to review Jennie Hansen's new book, By the River. She is a great suspense novelist and I've loved many of her books over the years. It's been a while since she's had anything new, so I was really looking forward to this one.

There are so many thrills and chills and I was kept guessing who the killer was until the very end. There's a really nice romance in the book as well, but if you want to read all my thoughts about the book, you can see my review in Meridian Magazine! Yay! Just click here!

Then, come back and buy your copy here

Here's the back copy:

It was supposed to be a relaxing early-morning run,but the path along the river trail quickly turns into the scene of a nightmare for recent college graduate Kira Paxton. An unintended exploration of a secluded riverbank leads to a gruesome discovery that sets her on a collision course with danger: it is the body of a young woman. In shock, all Kira can manage to do is scream . . .

From the moment Ford Kettering hears cries for help along the trail, he is drawn irrevocably into a mystery in which he plays a shocking role. Ford, a local high school teacher, had a recent classroom clash with the victim-now, he's a person of interest. As Ford and Kira bond over their shared ordeal, they work together to prove Ford's innocence and soon, their attraction is undeniable. But it seems that Kira's nightmare is far from over. What begins as a series of close calls and acts of vandalism soon escalates, putting Kira's own life in jeopardy. It appears that Kira saw something that day along the trail, something that has made her a target. With Ford's help, she is determined to track down the killer before she becomes the next victim.

The Band James---I Love These Guys!

My son and his friend made a video to his friend's original song Lemonade and I loved it so much I wanted to share it with you today! It's silly and fun and just the thing to put you in a good mood.

You can check out The Band James on Youtube for a few more of their awesome songs.

Castle Review: The Last Seduction

It was Castle and Beckett's first anniversary and well, it wasn't a great one. *sigh* But, the boys definitely stole the show tonight and made it worth watching.

We start out with a darkened apartment and a guy realizing that a knife is missing out of his knife block. He goes toward a closed door with a baseball bat and throws open the door, but the killer is behind him and he gets stabbed. A lot. (Lesson learned: turn on some lights! Don't turn your back on open doorways when you're trying to find a killer in your apartment!)

Cut to Ryan and Espo in counseling and it's not going well. The therapist says they need a buffer and when Castle shows up to the murder scene to ask them to distract Beckett so he can prepare an anniversary surprise, they take him on as their buffer. Which also means he goes to the murder scene with them and helps to solve the murder. (And once again makes the "time out" with Beckett nonsensical.) But, anyway, they get a hit on some fingerprints at the crime scene and bring the guy in. He tells them that he was friends with the murder victim, Scott, and they ran a scam to get women. One would get aggressive, the other would "save" the lady.  He was Scott's wingman. Vikram finds out that Scott was getting $5000 each time he seduced someone and they find blackmail photos at Scott's secret apartment. One of the photos shows a tattoo on a woman's lower back and the team thinks they can find her. (They also have sketches of the possible women from Scott's wingman.) At a spa. Hailey and Beckett go into the steam room with four of the prime suspects and the women recognize Beckett so they won't show their tattoos, but a woman gets scared and runs away so a chase ensues. Of course she's the woman in the blackmail picture and is caught and questioned. She tells them she was with Scott, but she didn't kill him and in fact, he was apologetic to her and seemed to be having a crisis of conscience. Her alibi is confirmed and the team is back to square one.

They do find a common connection, though, in that the same divorce lawyer, Lindsey Trent, seems to be the one setting up Scott's liaisons. The boys ask Castle to go in undercover to get a look at the lawyer log so they can see what Scott's last job was, which he reluctantly does, while they watch live stream.  Beckett catches them, though, and takes it to her office to watch. The divorce lawyer asks Castle if there's any hope for his marriage and he hesitates (I would, too!) and Beckett seems oddly surprised. (What did she expect? She's shutting him out with no explanation and no reason. But I digress. ) The lawyer does catch Castle before he can look at her lawyer log and he's escorted out by security, only Alexis gets in the office and takes pics of the lawyer log. They get a name and bring in a billionaire playboy for questioning. His lawyer, Lindsey, saves him, and he's let go. (But he's so slimy!) The team is going to investigate him further, though, because it's obvious he's hiding something.

Castle has been trying to set up a dinner for his first anniversary with Beckett. He has a surprise for her in her office that is adorable (confetti and everything) and she agrees to go out with him on a time out from their time out. He's so earnest and I hate that he's trying so hard and she's not really that sad about it from all appearances.  Before they can go out, though, the boys start fighting again and they separate to go and help them---Beckett to Espo and Castle to Ryan. Their sacrifice doesn't seem to do much good, though, since they both ask for new partners. Sad!

In a weird twist, the team finds out that Scott was hired to seduce the billionaire's mom to destroy her reputation because he wanted to take over the company and outsource its employees and the mom wanted to keep it in the country and employ people who were like family. Ryan and Espo go to Lindsey's office to bring her in for questioning, but she pulls a gun. Just as she's about to shoot Espo, Ryan lunges and takes the bullet for him. His notepad saves his life, though, but not before Espo is terrified that Ryan has been seriously wounded. It's a really good scene and definitely the highlight of the show. They catch Lindsey and then hug out their issues. *sniff* So so sweet.

Beckett goes over to Castle's house and they're intimate. It feels shallow, though, since it doesn't solve anything and Beckett is pretty much just leaving right after. She does get a text from Vikram saying he's found something and to contact him ASAP and Castle reads it. It makes Castle wonder, but when he asks Beckett if everything is okay, she says yep and leaves it at that. Secrets are never good and their relationship falls further and further down this really bizarre rabbit hole. 

So, lots of mixed feelings on this episode.  Ryan and Espo made me laugh and played the emotions so well through the entire episode of therapy, anger, and then concern and love. If I'm going to end on a positive note, I'll end with that!

Did you watch? What did you think?

Book Review: The Mariposa Hotel

The Mariposa Hotel is the third installment of the Tangerine Street Romance series and it is probably my favorite one.  

This novel revolves around the Mariposa Hotel and the first story is The Ghost of 913.  Mari is such a strong character and she's been through some difficult things in life already.  She's specifically asked by her boss to take care of Room 913 and when she goes in, it doesn't look like anyone's really stayed there. When she looks closer, however, she sees that the pillows are arranged differently, or the lamp is skewed, just little things like that. It becomes a little game between her and Grant, the U.S. Marshal who is actually staying there. Things get complicated, though, when Grant and Mari get closer and his job gets in the way. A sweet story of misunderstandings on the road to love.

The second one was Butterfly Kisses.  Ridley is a world-renowned surfing photographer, but he pinch-hits as a hotel concierge for his friend who is the Mariposa hotel manager in a bind. During his concierge time, he meets up with the beautiful woman he'd seen car-dancing on the way to the Mariposa Hotel. She's a bundle of contradictions, (a do-gooder plastic surgeon. Those are hard to find!) and he wants to get to know her better, but misunderstandings abound when he doesn't tell her he's not exactly a concierge. It was a cute story with an underlying spread good in the world theme that I really enjoyed.

The last one was Dreams Come True.  For a short story this one had a lot of depth. Reagan is the events coordinator at the hotel and she is dreading having a famous film producer come and stay, but he's sponsoring a big event so she's put up with his obnoxious personal assistant. When she meets Kevin, she has no idea who he is and is stunned to find out he's the guy she was dreading having to deal with. So many misunderstandings that ultimately lead to a fun and sweet love story.

I thought all the stories had very relatable characters, a great setting, and a fun theme. There were sigh-worthy kisses and just enough romance to leave you with a smile.

You can download your Kindle copy here for $4.99

Here's the back copy:  

The Mariposa Hotel: A Tangerine Street Romance
(a novel in three parts)

Welcome to Tangerine Street

Tangerine Street is a must-see tourist stop with a colorful mix of one-of-a-kind boutiques, unique restaurants, eclectic museums, quaint bookstores, and exclusive bed-and-breakfasts. The Mariposa Hotel, a new resort, has revitalized Seashell Beach, bringing new life to the sleepy beach town. In the charming gardens of the hotel sits a three-hundred-year-old wishing well transported from Mexico. One toss of the coin, a sincere wish, and lives are changed forever…

Other books in the Tangerine Street Romance series:
The Fortune Café
The Boardwalk Antiques Shop

Nearly Free Friday

I just noticed that A.L. Sowards has several books that are currently reduced in price to only $1.99! That is a huge deal for this amazing historical fiction writer.  Espionage was one I really loved and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a well told story.

Here's the back copy:

France, 1944: Nobody expects Peter Eddy to survive his first commando mission—to retrieve a code book stolen by the Nazis—so when he does come back alive, his success is rewarded with an even more daunting assignment. Partnered with the French Resistence leader Jacques Olivier, Eddy must identify which of three Allied contacts in Calais is a double agent and use the traitor to help implement a strategic Allied diversion that might win the war. Eddy and Olivier secretly cross the English Channel to confront their suspects one at a time, but what appears to be a clean assignment soon turns disastrous, and a shocking betrayal leaves Eddy in the grip of the Gestapo. With the courageous aid of Olivier and his sister, Genevieve, Eddy evades his captors with a dangerous escape plan. But as the Allied invasion approaches, treachery in the least likely places leads to fresh graves in the bloodied European soil—and only the power of loyalty and love can transform tragic endings into new beginnings.

You can download your copy herefor only $1.99!

Using An Author Tagline

I gave a marketing presentation this evening and one of the things I talked about was how having an author tagline can be part of the foundation of your marketing plan. An author tagline is the free publicity that keeps on giving and I believe that. It's also a great starting point if you're just starting to build your marketing plan.

What is an author tagline you ask? An author tagline is three to seven words that describe your writing.  For example, my author tagline is Action-packed suspense with a touch of romance. Jordan McCollum's is Love, Lies, Secrets, and Spies. A tagline is just something short and catchy that leaves a memorable impression of what you write.

How do you come up with one? Brainstorm some words that you would want a reader to think of when they stumble over your books. Are they sassy? Funny? Fantasy with a twist?  What's unique about your love stories? Are they edgy historicals? Is there a running theme throughout your work? Once you have a pretty good brainstorm cloud of description words, pick the ones that jump out at you, the ones that will leave an impression on your writing and create the tagline that best describes your writing.

Once you have come up with your author tagline, you can pair it with an image (if you look at the header of my blog, author webpage, Twitter and Facebook cover pics, you'll see my tagline with my cover image. I also use it on my tote bags, t-shirts, and all my book swag) and voila! By combining a tagline with your image, you are creating a great foundation for name recognition and an author brand.

It is important to use your newly created tagline wherever you can and definitely on all your social media sites. Be consistent with it so that when readers hear it/see it they'll remember you. Make yourself memorable by focusing your readers in on what kind of experience they'll get when they pick up one of your books.  Like knowing that whenever someone picks up a Julie Coulter Bellon book, they're going to get a lot of action and a little romance, you know?

Having an author tagline is another way to connect with your audience---which, as we all know, is the heart of true marketing. So get brainstorming the amazing tagline that best describes your work and if you come up with something amazing, I hope you'll tell us about it in the comments!

Writer Goal Wednesday

photo credit: plnaugle via photopin cc 

Well, my word count has been slow and steady because I'm editing. I'm cheering on all my NanoWriMo friends, though, who are doing amazing work!

One thing I wanted to remind you all of, however, is that I will be giving a marketing presentation at the Provo Library tomorrow night at 7 PM in the Young Special Events room.(#201) I'll be talking about how authors can build a marketing plan and how to make it work. (There will also be three other authors there talking about the changing landscape of publishing and what it takes to create a stellar book.)

I'd love to see you if you're in the area!

Back to writing!