“The Darkest Hour” by Maya Banks

AmazonImageofTheDarkestHourbyMayaBanks
Ethan Kelly believed his wife had been killed a year earlier.  He’s broken by the loss due to his sense of guilt over how they had last parted and subsequent awakening to how much he loved and needed her in his life.  Then suddenly he receives an envelope with information that contains a photo of a woman that looks very much like his late wife.  Could it really be Rachel and if so, how will they find her?

Here’s some quotes from Maya Banks’ “The Darkest Hour” from the opening chapter:

“The FedEx package lay to the side,….”

“He dragged out a stack of papers….”

“It was a photo of a woman, obviously a prisoner in some … jungle camp.  If Ethan had to guess, he’d place odds on South America or maybe Asia….”

“The woman looked remarkably like Rachel.  His wife, Rachel who was dead.”

Ethan believes the woman in the photo is his wife so the KGI team are called together to go on a rescue mission to get Rachel back.  It will be a fight like none they’ve ever done in the past.  Ethan is in a hurry so they go in with limited help but they all believe that the woman, could it really be Rachel, has limited time.

The narrator of the audiobook, Harry Berkley, does an excellent job bringing out the depth of emotions that Ethan is experiencing. Listening, you feel like you’re in the jungle fighting for your life. Very well written and produced on the audiobook side.

Maya Banks really gets to the root of the consequences of drug abuse and the many layers that go into making a marriage.  No matter your age or gender this book is written for anyone living the human experience.

I must stress the writing in this book was superb, so much emotional depth was given to the characters I feel like I’d know them if they walked up on the street.  Keep on writing, Maya Banks you have a gift for storytelling few ever master.

I listened to the One Click Digital audiobook from my local library, Hennepin County Library.  Thank you @HCLIB for having the greatest selection of audio and e books of comparable libraries of your size. Keep on doing what you do.

You may also get this title on kindle at this link:

Or Audiobook at this link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/darkest-hour-kelly-group-international/id573395305

“Enticed by His Forgotten Lover” by Maya Banks

Rafael is at a very exclusive fund raiser that he’s throwing and bumps into a pregnant woman that claims to know him. He has no memory of her but is intrigued so tracks her down to her hotel room. She not only doesn’t back down but claims he fathered her unborn child as well.

Here’s a quote from Maya Banks’ “Enticed by His Forgotten Lover”, from beginning of the book, that sums up Rafael and Bryony’s relationship while giving us a  glimpse of the mystery that unfolds throughout the story:

“It was hard for him to discern why he was so arrested by her….
“….’Met? Have we met?’ Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he felt each word like the crack of a whip. ‘You sorry bastard!’
“Before he could process the shock of her outburst she nailed him with a right hook….”

I love Maya Banks dialog – it flows into the narration seamlessly. When the narrator, Harry Berkley reads the manuscript there’s no breaks with he said or she said type repetition its perfectly scripted for audio. Harry also gives Rafael’s character depth with the accent he chooses.

“Enticed by His Forgotten Lover” is a mystery romance that will keep you guessing to the end. I enjoy Maya Banks’ descriptive scenes and her ability to make up intriguing characters that I want to learn more about.

Maya is an engaging author, I want to know how it ends so I listen at every opportunity until the very last word. Thanks, Maya for delivering with “Enticed by His Forgotten Lover”.

Also thanks to my local library for providing this title on One Click Digital provided by Hennepin County Library – love this libraries selection of audio and e-books.

You may also purchase audiobook at the link below:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/enticed-by-his-forgotten-lover/id627801063

Or Kindle e-book at the link below:

Book Reviews – Melissa Style

Hi Everyone,

Hope where you are the weather is getting milder, frozen North is still frozen but we have hope – around 40 today so all things are possible.

This is a note on my philosophy on book reviews.  I’m not doing my reviews for money or any sort of compensation – such as free books or other give a ways.

I’m doing my reviews because a librarian once told me to read only what you like when its for entertainment. So I read for enjoyment and hope you’ll be able to pick out books you’ll like based on my reviews.

Since I’m doing this as a way to share my likes you won’t see critical reviews on this site.  Sometimes I wonder why, with our finite time on earth, some feel it necessary to be critical.  You’ll accomplish much more by promoting and supporting authors you like and you’ll feel better when you’re sharing positive energy.

I do the same with any reviews on Amazon or iTunes where my user name is MissMed51.  In those cases it will cover reviews not only on books, but movies, TV or equipment I may need to buy.

This is my soap box talk for tonight – won’t promise never to do another post like this one but will if needed.  A good rule of thumb is this, if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.  Don’t know who said that but have been hearing it in one form or another all my life and whenever I follow the advice my life goes very smoothly.

Also, one should always remember, each of us has a bias where anything is concerned.  Know the books you enjoy reading and review those. There are many styles – find one that makes you say, yes, this is something I like.

Authors are making their living based on book sales – your opinion matters – make the most of it.  My wish is to help out a few authors while sharing my joy in having shared an imaginary world with them for the length of the book.  Hope you find something in what I write that helps you find your favorite book type that will lead to your next arm chair trip into the jungles of South America or the Carpathian Mountains in Europe. Take some time to travel.

“Dark Witch,” Book One of the Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy by Nora Roberts

IMG_0228.JPG (2) IMG_0235.JPG (2)IMG_0229.JPG (2)Dark Witch Back Cover

I love this book and recommend to all who enjoy well written mystery romance with a little Magick thrown in.

The following quote from Dark Witch, gives us the keys to solve the mystery in Book One, Two and Three.

“Sorcha shook her head as Brannaugh started toward her.  ‘Not yet.  Magick is work.  It gives, and it takes.  It must be finished.’  She reached in the cauldron, drew out three copper amulets.  ‘To Brannaugh the hound, to Eamon the hawk, to Teagan the horse.’  She slipped an amulet over each child’s head.  ‘These are your signs and your shields. ….’” (Dark Witch, copyright 2013 Nora Roberts, written by Nora Roberts pages 14 and 15 published by The Berkley Publishing Group).

The modern story begins with Iona Sheehan.  She’s from Baltimore, Maryland but never felt a part of that place and time.  All of her life she’s heard stories about Ireland from her maternal Grandmother, Nan, and longed to go to County Mayo to live and work.

Iona sells all that she has to fund the trip that will begin her new life in Ireland.  She’s in search of her destiny.  Relying on a map from her Nan, her first stop is to find the Dark Witch, Branna, her cousin.  Branna gives her a place to live and knows of a stable where Iona may be able to find work.

Iona meets Alaster, the wild stallion, at the stable where she gets a job as stable hand.  Alaster is destined to be Iona’s protector.  He is a magnificent animal beautiful in how he yields to Iona’s will.

Boyle McGrath, her new boss, is a force to be reckoned with, big and tough, will he be Iona’s destiny as well?

Dark Witch is a mystery full of adventure, intrigue and the bonds of family both those formed by birth or by will.   The descriptive scenery, witty dialog and well written story bring Iona and her quest to life.  The plot is steadily building throughout the book and comes to fruition at the end.  The story doesn’t end there though, for the next cousin must fight the evil that is even now restoring itself to full strength.  The saga to follow your destiny to overcome evil continues with Shadow Spell Book Two of the Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy, by Nora Roberts, due for release on March 25th, 2014, I’ve got my signed copy coming in the mail soon.

I bought my autographed copy of Dark Witch and Shadow Spell from Turn The Page Bookstore TTPBooks.com 

Link

#Lets Move – get out and move for 30 minutes everyday.

#Lets Move – get out and move for 30 minutes everyday.

Start Now
56:59 30 min walk 10 bike 10 warm up & down
1857 steps
100 cal
2.8 km
3 km/ hr
Bike stats cumulative for overall use
15.9 distance
1:07:49 TM
14.1 avg km/hr
19.8 max km/hr

Fruit Fact: Grapefruits Fight Free Radicals

Thanks for sharing, OrganicReady – good facts to know:)

Things To Share

Image

Hi All,

The picture shows me with my new Spring hair cut (just got one today at boji hairstudio 612.781.1388 in Minneapolis MN)  – going to be warmer soon and I’m going to be ready for it.  The T-Shirt and necklace I got from TTPBooks.com (Turn the Page Bookstore Cafe).  On the back of the shirt is a stack of books – my favorite thing is reading – favorite author symbol NR (for newly released book and Nora Roberts).

Wanted to share with fellow bloggers I figured out what “Press This” option means – you can publish a link to that post then introduce it and you have a more recent post.  Saves retyping everything when you just want to draw attention to that post at a later date – like event is posted early and then reminder right before the event.

Also been learning the rules of the road for Twitter.  What fun that has been, while supporting my favorite TV show to date – #WhenCallsTheHeart on @HallmarkChannel.  You can get episodes on Amazon, & iTunes if you can’t get the show locally.  Otherwise its available On Demand by my cable provider.  Tweet with the hash tag tonight to help the #Hearties (#WhenCallsTheHeart fan tag) trend the show.

I think this program is special because it shows what it really means to be a person in society, with very little drama and more about living day to day.  This show is about a young woman starting at her first teaching position in a coal mining town in the wilds of Canada.   I’ve always loved my teachers – school was structured time to learn and grow.  My 3rd grade teacher used to read to the class from the book, The Mouse and the Motorcycleby  Beverly Cleary from URL:  Mouse and the Motorcycle  using Google search on Mouse and the Motorcycle on 3/22/14 at 4:45 p.m.  It was the first story I’d really heard at that level read to me.  My teacher realized I couldn’t read well when called upon because I was having trouble seeing.  This discovery really changed my life – I discovered the world of books and I wasn’t slow just unable to see.  The teacher in #WhenCallsTheHeart reminds me of my 3rd grade teacher in how much she cares about each of her students.

When Calls The Heart, a Hallmark Channel original series airing tonight at 9/8 Central time see this link for more information on the show: When Calls the Heart , portrays  the inner beauty of a teacher that cares for all her students.  The writing, costumes and sets/scenery on this show are truly magnificent to experience.  So I ask you to tune in and show your support on Facebook, twitter, whatever way you share what you like with social media.  Watch and decide for yourself.

Here’s some of the cool things I’ve learned about twitter in my pursuit of supporting #WhenCallsTheHeart.

1. Followers are not your goal – the goal of twitter is to give you information that’s of interest to you.  If you have something to share – great – but the real purpose is to find out things you didn’t know before or might never have found without tweets on the subject.

2. Twitter jail is a real thing – if you follow too many, or tweet too fast or with the same thing over and over you may be mistaken for spam – so you are suspended from using your account.  You can see tweets but are unable to tweet.  Twitter has specific guidelines on how to avoid tweet jail here:  Twitter Jail rules  – well worth the read – helps me decide on what I want to do with my account.  Remember RT count in the number of tweets you’ve done for the day so RT wisely.

3. Keep following to those you will be conversing with or direct messaging (DM).  I also follow public interest sites such as @letsmove or ‏@JohnEMichel check them out for some good motivational information.

4. Keep your tweets positive – no one wants to read a rant – on twitter especially – you only get 140 words make the most of them:)

5. Learn the twitter dictionary to get the most of out of tweets – here’s a link for a good source:  Twitter Dictionary

6. What you post on twitter doesn’t stay on twitter – I’ve found old profiles perfectly preserved on the internet.  I’m so glad the words aren’t something I’ll ever regret – keep this in mind when sharing on any social media platform.

7.Twitter has helped me cut out extras in my writing.  You really have to say what you mean on twitter or you will run out of room, so think through what you want to communicate and keep it simple.

Hope all of you will check out twitter and see what potential you might find using that service.  Everyone is welcome to comment on this article and give your tips or correct me where ever I may have gone wrong.

Have a beautiful Spring evening everyone in the Northern Hemisphere that is.  Keep on blogging, tweeting and posting.  See you on the internet:)

Sincerely,
Melissa Blanchard

Turn The Page Bookstore Cafe to Host Nora Roberts Book Signing

Turn The Page Bookstore Cafe to Host Nora Roberts Book Signing
Tomorrow March 22 from 12 – 2 pm Eastern time Click here to find out more information
.

Link

#LetsMove Me doing my 30 minutes

#LetsMove Me doing my 30 minutes

#LetsMove Me doing my 30 minutes: http://youtu.be/2GEwpVvclM4  via @YouTube http://www.marchforbabies.org/mbwork2011  #MarchforBabies @marchforBabies @LetsMove Do what you’re able and keep on moving:)

Link

http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/03/19/10-things-to-remember-when-you-feel-lost-and-alone/#more-724

http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/03/19/10-things-to-remember-when-you-feel-lost-and-alone/#more-724

Excellent blog on finding how to work with your alone time. Keep on believing in the positive power of the universe. Use your mantra or mantram whenever you need it to keep you mind focused on the healing energy all around you. Peace.