A.F. Ebbers - Dangerous Past - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Senior Airline Captain Frank Braden is being stalked in his home town of Austin, Texas, by unknown assailants who must arrange his death to look like a suicide or an accident before a specific deadline. The assassins almost succeed several times, in the air and on the ground. In fact, Braden’s surgeon wife, Nicole, saves his life twice from ground assailants. Both of them don’t know why people are trying to kill him.

Later, he receives a message warning him not to attend a forthcoming Senate hearing in Washington. If he agrees he will receive a million dollars and his wife’s life. When Braden turns to the FBI and local police for help, they doubt his stories since they have been led to believe he is schizophrenic and suicidal, exactly what his assailants want the authorities to think.

Dangerous Past is a story of a man who must choose between doing what ought to be done or keeping his family alive by allowing a murderous and powerful Washington VIP to escape his past.

My Review

Location, location, location. For a good thriller, you have to have movement. And A.F. Ebbers goes backwards and forwards in time, journeying to many different locales. The Vietnam War era shifts to the present. An affluent Texan housing development is visited before traveling to the corridors of power in Washington DC. Buckle your seatbelt and turn on your time travel devices because you're in for one heck of a thrill ride.

The novel kicks off with a shady murder and wartime coverup that happened nearly half a century ago. Then you're instantly transported forward in time to the current day inside the cockpit of a plane as a flight crew desperately tries to save their doomed aircraft after it was ripped apart in midair by a bomb. The shift from a jungle assassination to a plane in mayday is meant to be disconcerting. You can tell the author wants the reader to feel just as upended and confused as the main character, Frank.

Why was it so important to start off with that Vietnam murder scene? Because it shows just how long Frank's been living with the mystery surrounding his brother's death. He's been replaying it over and over again in his head, nearly all his life and he's no closer to finding closure until his plane is ripped out of the sky. After all these years, the trail is no longer running cold. Instead, it's heating up in a hurry.

Ebbers does an admirable job in engaging the reader. You can't help but root for Frank to figure it out and finally get some vengeance for his brother's death. It's been a long time coming and while the going gets tough, now he can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. He's able to uncover the identity of his brother's killer before going head to head with him in a battle of survival.

It's always good to see the underdog trounce those in power, especially when they're as corrupt as the criminals that Frank's up against. It's not easy for a regular guy to seek justice and clear his name when the deck is so clearly stacked against him. His enemy even kidnaps his dog and stuffs the bomb in its dead body before putting it on Frank's flight. Why? To frame the incident as a suicide attempt on account his unexpected financial difficulties. How sick and twisted is that? These people are ruthless and they'll stop at nothing to silence Frank. But he refuses to stay quiet, and you have to admire him for that.

I don't know too many people who would risk it all in order to right a wrong. But Ebbers creates a character willing to go the extra mile for those he loves. And that's a heartening and uplifting concept for any novel, much less a suspense thriller. Kudos to A.F. Ebbers for deftly infusing such a powerful message in the guise of a mystery novel. It made me like it even more.

***

Dangerous Past can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, Nook

Prices/Formats: $0.99 ebook, $10.00 hardcover
Pages: 240
ISBN: 9780978948238
Publisher: SilverHawk Books
Release: May 1, 2007
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About the Author

A. F. Ebbers, a journalism graduate of Ohio University was a reporter/writer for major newspapers, ad agencies, and in public relations for Cessna Aircraft Company. He also graduated from Army Flight School and flew for the Ohio and Kansas Army National Guards. Later he was called to active duty and served two flying tours in Vietnam. After retirement from the military, he flew for corporations and for regional airlines. A dual rated ATP pilot, he has written for numerous national magazines, Sunday supplements and trade and travel magazines and has written screenplays and short stories. Today he lives with his wife in the Austin, Texas area and, when not writing, enjoys tennis, flying and piano. Dangerous Past is his debut novel.

Links to connect with A.F.:
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Jerome Charyn - I Am Abraham - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Narrated in Lincoln’s own voice, the tragicomic I Am Abraham promises to be the masterwork of Jerome Charyn’s remarkable career.

Since publishing his first novel in 1964, Jerome Charyn has established himself as one of the most inventive and prolific literary chroniclers of the American landscape. Here in I Am Abraham, Charyn returns with an unforgettable portrait of Lincoln and the Civil War. Narrated boldly in the first person, I Am Abraham effortlessly mixes humor with Shakespearean-like tragedy, in the process creating an achingly human portrait of our sixteenth President.

Tracing the historic arc of Lincoln's life from his picaresque days as a gangly young lawyer in Sangamon County, Illinois, through his improbable marriage to Kentucky belle Mary Todd, to his 1865 visit to war-shattered Richmond only days before his assassination, I Am Abraham hews closely to the familiar Lincoln saga. Charyn seamlessly braids historical figures such as Mrs. Keckley—the former slave, who became the First Lady's dressmaker and confidante—and the swaggering and almost treasonous General McClellan with a parade of fictional extras: wise-cracking knaves, conniving hangers-on, speculators, scheming Senators, and even patriotic whores.

We encounter the renegade Rebel soldiers who flanked the District in tattered uniforms and cardboard shoes, living in a no-man's-land between North and South; as well as the Northern deserters, young men all, with sunken, hollowed faces, sitting in the punishing sun, waiting for their rendezvous with the firing squad; and the black recruits, whom Lincoln’s own generals wanted to discard, but who play a pivotal role in winning the Civil War. At the center of this grand pageant is always Lincoln himself, clad in a green shawl, pacing the White House halls in the darkest hours of America’s bloodiest war.

Using biblically cadenced prose, cornpone nineteenth-century humor, and Lincoln’s own letters and speeches, Charyn concocts a profoundly moral but troubled commander in chief, whose relationship with his Ophelia-like wife and sons—Robert, Willie, and Tad—is explored with penetrating psychological insight and the utmost compassion. Seized by melancholy and imbued with an unfaltering sense of human worth, Charyn’s President Lincoln comes to vibrant, three-dimensional life in a haunting portrait we have rarely seen in historical fiction.

My Review

Period pieces are tricky. There are so many little details an author needs to get right. The diction. The etiquette. The mood. A lot of times authors fudge their way through, looking to Hollywood for inspiration. Not so with I AM ABRAHAM. Jerome Charyn provides the real deal.

This is an author who certainly did his homework. He visited the battlefield at Gettysburg. He walked through the Confederate White House in Richmond. He spent time at Lincoln's summer cottage in Washington, DC. He talked with experts and chatted with National Park rangers. Retracing Lincoln's footprints, he put in the legwork. Charyn goes the extra mile to get inside Lincoln's head, and boy, does it show on the page.

Nineteenth century life wasn't easy and Charyn captures that essence especially when it comes to hygiene. People walk around with blackened, decaying teeth and pockmarked faces. Women are confined to a secluded room filled with rags for their menses, even the First Lady. Breathing in the fumes of rotting bodies at Gettysburg causes the president to fall ill after delivering his famed address. Playing in the unsanitary conditions of a nearby swamp brings about the death of his son, Willie.

And that's not even taking into consideration the dangers of the battlefield. In the beginning, civilians journey out to Manassas for a picnic lunch in order to watch men being slaughtered at Bull Run. The idea of war as a means of entertainment quickly vanishes as the reality holds the nation in its grip for four long years. Confederate troops don Union uniforms to confuse the enemy. Prisoners of war are either left out in the elements or assigned to rot in a glorified whore house. Southern cities are burned and looted, allowing bands of derelicts and marauders to harass widows, children and the newly freed slaves. In an era where even Lincoln rescinds habeas corpus, no one can depend on the rule of law to keep them safe.

By granting Lincoln a second term, the American public sends him a definitive message to end the madness. And by naming Ulysses S. Grant the first three-star general since George Washington, Lincoln employs a killer to do it. He knows Grant has a penchant for butchery and he realizes that's what it's going to take to prevent Southern troops from fleeing to Florida and prolonging the war. Grant doesn't feel comfortable in the ballrooms and posh hotels of the Capitol. He's a man used to sleeping on the ground and crafting his dispatches amid cannon fire. He gets the job done and nothing sways the public like winning.

The dramatic tension is thick between what Lincoln wants and what Lincoln needs. He's a Christian man of values, but he's also a veteran of the Black Hawk Indian War. He's an orator, as well as a warrior. He liberates the slaves with his pen, and brings the South to its knees with Sherman's March to the Sea. Using both tactics, he stems the bloodshed albeit sacrificing his own life in the process as the blood offering for the Confederacy's surrender. He didn't cause Dixie's suffering, nor did he prevent it. He's a martyr to the cause of preserving the nation, even if he approved any means necessary in order to bring it back together.

Charyn fittingly has him walk through the aftermath of such destruction in the book's final chapter, before he's so brutally gunned down at Ford's Theater. Abandoning Richmond to its fate, the South sets it ablaze, leaving Lincoln with nothing more than a charred conglomeration of blacks and whites, women and children. It's a surreal scene to end a book steeped in the figments of Lincoln's imagination. He was no doubt tortured over the question if the ends justified the means. But being mortal at the time, he had no choice. Being immortal now, he's rarely second guessed. Thank you, Jerome Charyn, for reopening the argument and removing the hero lens when looking at ordinary politician placed in extraordinary circumstances.

***

Excerpt

Click this link to read an excerpt.

***

I Am Abraham can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Prices/Formats: $12.99-$14.99 ebook, $26.95 hardcover
Pages: 464
ISBN: 9780871404275
Publisher: Liveright
Release: February 3, 2014
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Jerome Charyn is an award-winning American author. With nearly 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life. Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac,"and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers." Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published 30 novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year. Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn was Distinguished Professor of Film Studies at the American University of Paris until he left teaching in 2009. In addition to his writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top 10 percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong." Charyn lives in Paris and New York City.

Links to connect with Jerome:
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Michael J. McCann - The Rainy Day Killer - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

A man in a business suit offers the protection of his umbrella to an unsuspecting woman, and several days later she turns up dead on a river bank, raped and strangled. The terrifying serial killer known in the press as the Rainy Day Killer is now hunting new victims in the city of Glendale ... whenever it rains.

Homicide Lieutenant Hank Donaghue leads the investigation as the killer begins to communicate directly to him through phone calls and grisly packages containing body parts of his victims. Assisted by FBI profiler Ed Griffin, Donaghue and Detective Karen Stainer pursue an elusive predator who leaves no physical evidence behind.

The timing couldn't be worse, however, as Karen Stainer's attention is divided between the investigation and preparations for her upcoming wedding. Distracted and uncertain about her future, Stainer is furious when she learns that the Rainy Day Killer has followed her to Virginia, where the wedding will take place, and that he intends to make her his next victim!

My Review

It's always a treat to read a novel set in an area that I'm familiar with. I've visited the 'Baltimore - Washington, DC - northern Virginia' region several times and Michael J. McCann got it right with his depiction of it. The coastal atmosphere of the Chesapeake Bay. The congested six-lane traffic around the Capitol. The rolling farmland of the landed Southern gentry. I could picture these locations in my mind and see McCann's characters moving through these environments.

But the most prominent aspect of the book's setting is its proximity to our nation's seat of power - both politically and militarily. The first murder victim's body is dumped under a bridge outside of Quantico, home of the U.S. Marine Corps. And as it turns out, all of the players involved in his capture are engaged in some kind of battle for supremacy of their own. Hank, the lead investigator, is gunning for the captain's chair, but an incompetent upstart might yank it out from under him. When the local police department finds out they're dealing with a serial killer, the FBI takes over the collection of evidence, ruffling more than few feathers in the process. When the murderer strikes twice in a two-month span, the case is turned over to a federal Special Ops task force, wresting control away from those originally assigned to the case. Firmly placing the novel in the context of both literal and figurative survival.

Everyone is looking to gain some kind of advantage over an opponent. Careers are made or broken on these high profile investigations. One mistake is all it takes to land at the bottom of the food chain. Some are gunning to catch the killer for the praise and accolades afforded to the victor. While others who work the daily grind with their heads down and their ears open, just want him off the streets and away from any future victims.

Their motives may be mixed, but they're all after the same result. How they get there is another matter entirely. From high end boutiques to abandoned warehouses, the killer leads them on a wild goose chase. He brazenly makes appearances from yuppie supermarkets to shopping malls in the midst of retail decline. He crosses the economic spectrum in search of his next target from suburban apartment complexes to Civil War era farmhouses.

He's elusive. He's smart. And he thinks he's the one in control, no matter where he goes and what adversaries he comes across. He makes it personal. Surveilling his targets. Reaching out to the lead investigators. And so far, he always been able to get away, ready to terrorize yet another town with his brand of brutality and fear. But even the best criminal masterminds make mistakes. And this time he may have gotten a little too close for comfort.

***

The Rainy Day Killer can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, Smashwords, Powells, Amazon UK, Amazon CAN, Fishpond AUS, Fishpond NZ

Prices/Formats: $8.99 ebook, $19.99 paperback
Pages: 290
ISBN: 9780987708786
Publisher: Plaid Raccoon Press
Release: August 30, 2013
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About the Author

Michael J. McCann was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. He earned a B.A. (Hons.) in English from Trent University and an M.A. in English from Queen's University. He has worked as an editor and a project and training consultant and manager with the federal government. He is an author of crime fiction and supernatural thrillers. His Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel series includes Blood Passage, Marcie's Murder, The Fregoli Delusion, and The Rainy Day Killer. He is also the author of the supernatural thriller The Ghost Man and is currently working on another supernatural novel.

Links to connect with Michael:
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Michael J. Bowler - Children of the Knight - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

According to legend, King Arthur is supposed to return when Britain needs him most. So why does a man claiming to be the once and future king suddenly appear in modern-day Los Angeles?

This charismatic young Arthur creates a new Camelot within the City of Angels to lead a crusade of unwanted kids against an adult society that discards and ignores them. Under his banner of equality, every needy child is welcome, regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or gang affiliation.

With the help of his amazing First Knight, homeless fourteen-year-old Lance, Arthur transforms this ragtag band of rejected children and teens into a well-trained army—the Children of the Knight––where even gay boys and gangsters work side by side. Through his intervention, they win the hearts and minds of the populace at large, and gain a truer understanding of themselves and their worth to society. But seeking more rights for kids pits Arthur and his children squarely against the rich, the influential, and the self-satisfied politicians who want nothing more than to maintain the status quo.

Can right truly overcome might? Arthur’s hopeful young knights are about to find out, and the City of Angels will never be the same.

The Knight Cycle begins . . .

My Review

Hollywood. The first thing that usually comes to mind is the glamor and decadence of the red carpet. Movie stars bedecked in diamonds waving to adoring crowds. However, the reality is quite different. The streets lined with the handprints of famous celebrities are where children abandoned by society are forced to make a living, hustling drugs or selling their bodies. It's a bleak scene, lacking hope and in need of a champion. Michael J. Bowler answers the call by heralding King Arthur from the mists of history to fight for these neglected teens in CHILDREN OF THE KNIGHT.

Arthur is oblivious to the culture of instant fame and America's obsession with reality TV. He magically wakes up in twenty-first century California, but he doesn't know how. Is it the working of Merlin? Legend has it that he would return when Britain needed him most ... but would one of her former colonies count when it comes to summoning him from the beyond? He has Excalibur. He has his throne. He has a trusty steed. All he requires are the knights he can lead into battle against poverty and despair.

But parading through the barrio to combat crime and corruption with a bunch of delinquent teens, gets him noticed. Soon the whole world is aware of his campaign through viral videos and internet postings. The media can't get enough as they follow him around, reclaiming one poor neighborhood after another. Ratings soar. Interest is high. His knights become household names. People can't get enough, hounding them for autographs and asking them to pose for cell phone pics. In a town where everyone's looking to catch a glimpse of a famous person, King Arthur and his new and improved Knights of the Round Table become the hottest stars around.

But there's a mysterious quality surrounding the whole production. Is it really King Arthur or a lunatic with delusions of grandeur or even a well-meaning person acting out one of the world's greatest hero roles? No one really knows for sure. And even though Arthur recruits over a thousand teenagers to train and fight with him, his underground lair remains a secret. He travels stealthily through the city, using the drains and grates of the sewer system. He emerges to right the wrongs of urban decay and child abuse, empowering the weak to take their city back from the corrupt politicians and dangerous criminals who think they are running the show. He gives the people the choice whether or not they wish to help him in his mission, having them reclaim ownership over the place they call home.

Maybe in a day and age where celebrities wield the most influence, Hollywood is exactly the place where King Arthur needs to reign. In spreading the message of right over might, it's no wonder he's such an intoxicating figure. Long live the ideals of King Arthur today and everyday!

***

Children of the Knight can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $6.99 ebook, $17.99 paperback
Pages: 344
ISBN: 9781623806552
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Release: June 20, 2013
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of three novels - A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time, and Children of the Knight - who grew up in San Rafael, California.

He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.

He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state. He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He has already completed the two continuations of Children of the Knight that complete the trilogy - Running Through A Dark Place & And The Children Shall Lead. Both will likely be released in 2014.

Links to connect with Michael:
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Scott A. Lerner - Ruler of Demons - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Only eleven shopping days till Christmas. And less than a week to save the world.

Three nuns—in Chicago, Paris, and Jerusalem—have been killed in a religious ritual. The choice of victims and the macabre details of their deaths indicate that someone is following a recipe provided on an ancient text—a recipe to unleash the forces of hell on earth. The final sacrifice must occur on the Winter Solstice.

Samuel Roberts, a small-town attorney in Urbana, Illinois, knows a bit about the supernatural, having triumphed at least once over the forces of evil. Thanks to a friend who is aware of Sam’s little known previous efforts on behalf of mankind, Sam is hired by a big Chicago law firm to take on a sensitive case. His mission? Nothing less than halting the impending apocalypse.

Sam and his good buddy Bob travel first to Jerusalem then Paris in a desperate race to save mankind.

Link to read an excerpt.

My Review

Why go away this Christmas season when you can travel the world with Sam Roberts in RULER OF DEMONS? The international flavor this mystery employs sets it apart from the pack, giving the reader first class access to Israeli archeological digs and sumptuous Parisian hotels. Author Scott A. Lerner records every nuance like a world traveler from the long, boring plane rides to the erratic driving behavior of taxicab drivers. He establishes the local color of each locale, making each one stand out as guideposts as the story moves along.

The action starts in Sam's suburban hometown of Urbana, Illinois. He lives in a small ranch-style home where trees line the distinctive brick streets. He has a garden he has to defend against squirrels and rabbits. Nothing too exciting, until he's summoned to Chicago by a friend in a prestigious law firm on Michigan Avenue, part of the city's famed Magnificent Mile. The art deco building screams wealth and sophistication with its marble floor and brass revolving door. Sam is wined and dined with a hearty portion of filet mignon until he agrees to help Palmer, Gotha and Smart solve a case involving the Catholic Church.

He then boards a plane to Jerusalem. The landscape of Israel shifts from fields to deserts to skyscrapers. Sam refers to his arrival saying, "The city was literally and spiritually golden. As in most ancient cities, Israel is a strange mix of historical and modern. I found it fascinating rather than unsettling." Visiting Hebrew University and haggling in the bustling marketplace, the Old City is a labyrinth of winding paths. Sam ponders his Jewish heritage at the Wailing Wall and seeks out a shady antiquities shop to purchase protection from the evil forces that are out to get him.

He's then summoned to Paris by a priest. But despite a roasted rack of lamb and carafe of red wine, he spends an unpleasant interval in cozy yet creepy farmhouse before escaping to the luxury of the city. From his hotel room window, Sam reports, "It was like peering into another time. The cobblestone square was surrounded by ageless buildings from history." The accommodations are posh from the Louis XV gilt-wood mirror to the mahogany desk and chair. He checks out the Louvre, dines atop the Eiffel Tower and faces the scene of his recurring nightmare, Notre Dame Cathedral.

Leaving the twinkling lights of Paris behind, Sam returns to Chicago where a limo driver awaits at O'Hare airport. He's quickly transported back to the art deco office building, but this time to the rooftop on the sixty-sixth floor overlooking Lake Michigan. The topiary he viewed the last time around takes on a sinister significance as things start to unravel. There are no shrimp puffs waiting for him, only danger as the wind picks up and the clouds descend.

RULER OF DEMONS gives a nice snapshot of all aspects of life from a rabbi in the Holy Land to a sexy double agent in the City of Love. It's definitely a mystery to pick up in order to sightsee and read at the same time. Lerner delivers an exciting global expedition without the need for a passport.

***

Ruler of Demons can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Pages: 202
Publisher: Camel Press
Release: December 15, 2013
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Author and attorney Scott A. Lerner resides in Champaign, Illinois. He obtained his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and went on to obtain his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. He is currently a sole practitioner in Champaign, Illinois. The majority of his law practice focuses on the fields of criminal law and family law. Mr. Lerner lives with his wife, their two children, and their cat Fern. Lerner collects unusual antiques and enjoys gardening, traveling, reading fiction, and going to the movies. His first novel, Cocaine Zombies, won a bronze medal in the mystery/cozy/noir category of the 2013 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Awards.

Links to connect with Scott:
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April Bostic - The Howling Heart - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Paige Donovan is an ambitious college graduate who aspires to reach the top of the corporate ladder. She’s climbing fast when given the promotion of a lifetime at a prestigious fashion magazine in New York City. Her bright future comes to an unexpected halt after news of her father’s death. She inherits his old cabin in the Colorado Rockies, and just when she thinks her luck couldn’t get any worse, she has a car accident in the mountains and awakens in the small, remote community of Black River.



Soon, she’s engulfed in the mystical world of Varulv---wolves descended from 13th century Scandinavia and blessed by Norse gods with the ability to appear human. Paige is desperate to return home, but never expects to fall for her rescuer, Riley Gray, a charming young werewolf from England who offers her an alternate future with his pack.

Now, she must choose between the career she’s always wanted and the love she’s always dreamed.

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My Review

The tension in this novel is created in the battle between Manhattan and Mother Nature. Paige Donovan wants to have it all. But in order to be happy, she's going to have to choose her love life over her skyrocketing career. Even though she's worked her butt off for the last five years to secure her dream job at Elle magazine, she considers giving it all up in order to be with the man she loves, Riley Gray. So why can't Riley just move to New York? Because he lives in an isolated, mountainous community of paranormal wolves that are able to take human form.

Paige doesn't want to deprive Riley of his need to hunt and the position of authority he holds in the pack as beta wolf. Since childhood, he's never ventured outside of the remote town of Black River, Colorado nestled within the rugged landscape of the Rocky Mountains. He's never been to the big city because he knows he wouldn't fit in there. He belongs in the wild where he can roam free and shift into a wolf whenever he feels the urge. He doesn't have to keep his true identity hidden. He can live at one with nature by remaining on the fringes of society and staying away from humans.

The verdant forests and lush mountain streams soon work there magic on Paige. Once Riley takes her to the site of a picturesque waterfall hidden deep within the woods, her desire to return to a teeming metropolis begins to wane. She might feel scared at times living by herself in her father's rustic cabin, but she begins to embrace her new habitat once she's able to see it through Riley's eyes. Paige knows that he'll be able to keep her safe in an environment that seems dangerous and unfamiliar. As she gets to know him, she learns to appreciate the beauty of the natural world around her while falling for a man who considers it his home.

***

The Howling Heart can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBookstore, Books a Million

Prices/Formats: $6.95 ebook, $17.62 paperback
Pages: 234
Publisher: Eternal Press
Release: August 8, 2013
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

April Bostic is a New Jersey-based, Adult Romance author who enjoys unleashing her creativity and letting her imagination run wild. Her love of romance books inspired her to become not just a reader, but also a writer. In December 2008, she self-published her first novel, a contemporary romance with a supernatural twist entitled "A Rose to the Fallen".



Her first short story, "Right Here, Right Now", released in January 2012, is an erotic romance with a dash of S&M. The following year, she released two more short stories: a romantic urban fantasy inspired by the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche entitled "Eros, My Love", and a sexy romantic comedy entitled "Love Addiction".



After five years, she released her second novel, "The Howling Heart" in August 2013, a paranormal romance that delves into the mystical world of werewolves and Norse gods. To end her busiest year in publishing, April will release her fourth short story in December 2013, an 18th century paranormal romance entitled "A Dark Scandal".

Links to connect with April:
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Joyce Zeller - Maddie's Choice - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Romance writer Maddie Taylor is fed up with New York City. She is getting nowhere with her latest manuscript and does not believe true love exists outside of her imagination. When a friend, Jonah Spartman, dies and wills her half of his Arkansas cattle ranch, she sees the chance for a new beginning. Jonah has also left behind two orphaned great-grandsons desperate for affection and an accounting book in the red.

The other half of the failing ranch belongs to Gideon Spartman, Jonah’s grandson, who believes all capacity for love was torn from him during his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Rugged and sexy, Gideon is the enthralling physical manifestation of the hero in Maddie’s current manuscript. He is far from happy to be sharing an inheritance that is rightfully his. As she senses the need behind Gideon’s rough and unwelcoming exterior, Maddie acknowledges her own yearning for love and family.

Jonah’s will requires Maddie to stay on the ranch for three months. When that time is up, will she return to her comfortable but emotionally barren existence or embrace the challenges of her new life, which include cattle rustlers and drug dealers? Maddie’s choice proves to be far from simple.

My Review

Sometimes a cover really doesn't do a book justice. When I first saw the one for "Maddie's Choice," I immediately thought of those TV commercials for FarmersOnly.com. So boy was I mistaken, when chapter one started things off in a posh Manhattan restaurant. The juxtaposition was a little jarring, but I went with it and I'm so glad I did because the novel was great.

Zeller made a creative move by turning her setting into a personality trait. In New York, Maddie's mind is rushed, cluttered and confused. She puts up with a lot of crap, thinking she has to deal with it, when she really doesn't. The limp fish boyfriend. The endless waiting in line. The incessant city noise. No wonder the girl has writer's block.

Once she escapes to rural Arkansas, her life doesn't necessarily slow down. She's still busy planning barbecues for the whole town, and turning the ranch into a bed and breakfast, but she's happy doing these things and it shows. Plus it doesn't hurt that the rancher/soldier she's sharing a roof with is providing her with plenty of material for her new novel about a special ops hero. Yes, life is good until it's invaded by the violence of the outside world.

Men are shot. Women are beaten. War is revisited. The bucolic nature of this isolated setting is interrupted by drug deals, domestic violence and motorcycle gangs. Maddie thought she was safe in a place far from the reach of urban decay, but instead she finds a whole new level of criminal activity that's intermingled beneath the croaking frogs and dusty cowboy boots. From overdue bank debts to mental disorders, reality infiltrates Maddie's little slice of heaven.

Zeller creates a nice balance between the fiction Maddie formulates in her mind versus the tumultuous events occurring outside of her head. One inspires the other so to speak. She draws on what's happening around her to enhance her storytelling abilities, adding a flourish here and a dash of excitement there. But when her own life is in danger, she suddenly wishes these types of things only existed on the page and not in real life. She'd rather keep them trapped inside of her imagination than experience them for herself.

On the whole, Zeller expertly makes use of all the details her setting provides in order to sell her story. From the small town diner to the indistinguishable dirt roads, the book's sense of place really anchors it allowing the characters room to breathe and grow. The wide open fields, the lofty barn, the studio apartment - all add up in seducing the reader into taking an authentic jaunt through rural America.

***

Maddie's Choice can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $14.95 paperback
Pages: 274
Publisher: Camel Press
Release: September 1, 2013
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About the Author

Joyce Zeller has written articles for a magazine and a cooking column for a chain of suburban newspapers north of Chicago. She has written five books and published two, The Hidden History of Eureka Springs, and Accidental Alien, a work of science fiction, both available on Amazon. Her short story, “Love is a Seed,” is featured in Embrace: A Romance Collection, (2012 Goldmine Press). Joyce has served in the United States Army. As a professional perfumer (School of Perfumery, London, England) and an aroma-therapist, she made custom fragrances in her store. Her creation, Mountain Air, was declared the Arkansas Sesquicentennial Fragrance in 1965. Her latest achievement was getting elected as Alderman to the Eureka Springs City Council. Maddie’s Choice is a romance with her favorite theme, that being human is a lonely business, but for everyone there is somebody to love. It’s a matter of finding them. There will always be kids and animals in her books, and always, humor, “because life without humor is unthinkable.”

Links to connect with Joyce:
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