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Review – When Life Gives You Demons

Posted in Book Blogger

When Life Gives You Demons

by Jennifer Honeybourn

Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult, Demons
Release Date: July 17, 2018
Pages: 272
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Some people have school spirit.

Shelby Black has real ones.

Shelby Black has spent the past six months training to be an exorcist. Her great-uncle Roy―a Catholic priest―has put her through exorcist boot camp hell, hoping to develop her talent, but ohmygod, he still doesn’t trust her to do an exorcism on her own.

High school is hard enough without having to explain that you fight demons for a living, so Shelby keeps her extracurricular activity to herself. The last thing she wants is for her crush, Spencer, to find out what she does in her off time.

But Shelby knows how to keep a secret―even a big one. Like the fact that her mom left under mysterious circumstances and it’s all her fault. Shelby is hellbent on finding her mom, no matter what it costs her―even if what it ends up costing her is her soul AND a relationship with Spencer.

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People with Pens: Wendy Van Camp

Posted in Fountain Pens

Fountain Pens in the Creative Process

I love fountain pens. Sometimes I think I’m the ambassador for using these pens in life. I’ve introduced them to my friends, to my husband, and to many of the writers in my circle. Making converts everywhere I go. What is so great about them? Well, for me, they not only make the writing I do easier, but they help me when planning my short stories and novels.

I discovered the fountain pen back in 2013. At that time, fountain pens were not cool. To use one invited stares and derisive comments. The pens drew me because my cursive writing had fallen into disuse and was unreadable. I took up journaling to counteract this, reasoning that if I wrote one entry a day in cursive, my penmanship would improve. The more I wrote with the ballpoints, the more my hand cramped. I googled about writing and learned that fountain pens need not press onto the page as you write. You hold them at an angle that is more comfortable for the hand. You could write more words and for a longer time with a fountain pen than with a ballpoint. I had to try it.

The inexpensive Chinese model I bought to find out if I would like writing with a fountain pen was easy to write with. I loved the feel of the pen in my hand, the myriad of ink colors to choose from, and that I could select different nibs to change the way my words looked on the page. I went from using a standard medium nib to a fine nib and to an italic nib, which is a smoother version of a calligraphy stub nib. It was fun! I became hooked on the pens as a hobby.

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Review – Magic Born

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Magic Born

by Rayanne Haines

Series: The Guardian, Book 2
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy, Magic, Adult
Release Date: June 6, 2018
Pages: 258
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Maria Del Voscova is a powerful witch with a past. When she’s asked to become a member of the elite Guardians she knows she can’t risk sharing the truth about her messed-up family. But we don’t always get what we want. Sometimes, we don’t always know what we want.

Though Mar absolutely knows she doesn’t want Neeren, King of the Parthen. She alone sees the darkness in him and it reminds her too much of the past. She knows better than to fall for his stoic, tortured soul façade.

She’s training to be a Guardian, a shadow; tasked with keeping the balance between good and evil in the world. It’s what she wants—to be better than her family was.

But the past has a way of catching up to Mar and the future has a morbid sense of humor. On her first mission, she’s kidnapped by the enemy she’s been running from her entire life. Thankfully the guardians look after their own. As it turns out, so does Neeren.

As Mar finds herself caught between the past and the future; between blood and bond; between the light and the dark, she realizes her only chance at surviving may be in trusting a man who is the most dangerous of them all.

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Review – Wait, You Did What?

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Wait, You Did What?

by T.A. Moorman

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Adult
Release Date: July 8, 2018
Pages: 85
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Justine had the job of her dreams, the best parents in the world, and a brother she more than just tolerated. The one thing she gave up on was finding love. She didn’t need that to be happy, right? In helping her brother pull off his own last-minute wedding, Justine may be in for a surprise of her own, and find love had been right there in her face the entire time.

Chase has been in love with Justine for as long as he can remember. What started off as a boyhood crush only grew as she blossomed into the woman she is today. The problem? She’s his best friends sister, and he knows that’s not something she’ll be willing to look past. But with the right timing and more than a little bit of luck, he just might get the girl of his dreams.

Join in on Justine and Chase’s adventure of love, laughter, and limousines in a romantic comedy that will make you believe in love all over again.

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Book Blitz – Summer Heat

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Summer Heat Tour Banner

Summer Heat Charity Anthology

by Rachel de la Fuente, A. E. Gamrat, Sonya Jesus, Cam Johns, Linny Lawless, and Sophia Peony

Summer Heat Book Mockup

Benefitting Charity: Global Fund for Women
Genres: Anthology, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Adult
Release Date: July 6, 2018
Purchase From: Amazon

With temperatures rising, the sizzling stories of Summer Heat will have you needing a dip in the pool. We’re turning up the heat and you’re going to be damp in more ways than one.

Second chance romance, star crossed lovers, a sexy vampire, an irresistible bad boy, dark secrets, and then some? There’s a little bit of everything for everyone. Grab a cold drink, come get down and dirty, and make this summer extra hot with Summer Heat.

Summer Heat is dedicated to all the strong and sexy women around the world. Yes, you, too! The proceeds of this anthology will be donated to the Global Fund for Women.

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Fountain Pen 101: Stores

Posted in Stores

Welcome back to Fountain Pen 101, and happy Fountain Pen Friday. Sadly, this is the final issue. But fear not, pen enthusiasts! I’ll be back in a few weeks with Fountain Pen 201. If you missed any of the previous issues, you can check them out here:

Why Fountain Pens | Anatomy of a Pen | Where to Start | Nibs | Ink | Ink Reservoirs | Cleaning & Filling | Paper

For now, however, I’ll be discussing the benefits of brick and mortar stores. While online stores are fabulous, there are some things they simply can’t provide. To aid you in your brick and mortar store search, I’ve compiled a map of stores known to sell fountain pens. But before I get to that, let’s discuss brick and mortar store benefits.

Most important, in my mind, is the ability to handle a pen before you purchase it. You can see it from every angle and learn how it feels in your hand. Depending on the pen, and the store, you may be able to dip-test it, meaning you dip the nib in ink to test the writing quality. This is probably the only thing that is absolutely impossible for an online store to replicate, making it a HUGE point in a brick and mortar store’s favor.

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Review – Fire Born

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Fire Born

by Rayanne Haines

Series: The Guardian, Book 1
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy, Magic, Adult
Release Date: September, 13, 2017
Pages: 224
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My Rating: ★★★★★

When Alex Taleisin’s immortal DNA kicks in after a fight for her life against something not-quite-human in the YMCA parking lot, her Aunt finally lets her in on the family secret. They’re Immortal – Elementals to be precise. Only, Alex is a little something more, and until they discover what, her life is in danger.

Collum Thronus, Guardian of the Races and savage King of the Dragons has no choice but to protect Alex and find her father’s people. He made a promise and Collum always keeps his promises. Now, he needs to keep his hands of his charge.

Enter an insane grandfather, a shifter with a hidden agenda, and a witch with a shoe addiction and soon Alex is wishing for a quiet house in the hills with the dragon she’s falling for. But a battle is coming and Alex knows the only way to find her answers is to trust her powers and become the warrior she was destined to be.

Review – Pulse

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Pulse Vampire Series Omnibus Vol. 1

by Kailin Gow

Series: Pulse, Books 1-4
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Release Date: March 1st 2018
Pages: ~ 988
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My Rating: ★★★★☆ (First book only)

This Omnibus contains 4 Full-length Novels in the PULSE Vampire Series, now in development as a Film starting with its Prequel, Mysterious Teacher.

17 year-old Kalina didn’t know her boyfriend was a vampire until the night he died of a freak accident. She didn t know he came from a long line of vampires until the night she was visited by his half-brothers Jaegar and Stuart Greystone. There were a lot of secrets her boyfriend didn t tell her. Now she must discover them in order to keep alive. But having two half-brothers vampires around had just gotten interesting….

Coming Soon: Summer Heat

Posted in Book Blogger, and Exalted Bloodlines

Summer Heat

With temperatures rising, the sizzling stories of Summer Heat will have you needing a dip in the pool. We’re turning up the heat and you’re going to be damp in more ways than one.

Second chance romance, a sexy vampire, an irresistible bad boy, dark secrets, and then some? There’s a little bit of something for everyone. Grab a cold drink, come get down and dirty, and make this summer extra hot with Summer Heat.

Summer Heat is dedicated to all the strong and sexy women around the world. Yes, you, too! The proceeds of this anthology will be donated to the Global Fund for Women.

Pre-order on Amazon

Join our Facebook release party.

Fountain Pen 101: Paper

Posted in Paper

Welcome back to Fountain Pen 101. We’re down to the last two issues. This week I’m covering paper.

As a fountain pen user, you’ll have to give thought to what paper you use. You’ll want to make sure you use “good” paper, often referred to as “fountain pen friendly”. This term references paper that “behaves well” with fountain pens, and is, to some degree, personal preference.

In this particular case, it will be easiest to discuss various properties paper is judged on, rather than the paper itself. If you’re only interested in overviews of different paper and notebooks, then feel free to jump ahead to that section below.

Bleedthrough

Bleedthrough is considered a negative trait. As I mentioned before, this is how much an ink bleeds through paper. Particularly “bad” paper will cause bleed-through with nearly every ink, but some ink will bleed through on nearly every paper. Keep in mind that you can make virtually any paper bleedthrough if you lay down enough ink.

Examples of bleedthrough. — An example of minimal (left) and major (right) bleedthrough.

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Review – Death Island

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Death Island

by Kelsey Ketch

Genres: Historical Fantasy
Release Date: December 31, 2017
Pages: 512
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Smashwords
My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Her family name tainted by her great-grandfather’s crimes of piracy, Meriden Cummings is far from the typical 18th century woman. A social outcast, she works in a carpentry shop in a small village, where the people barely tolerate unconventional behavior.

However, her life takes a turn after a gang of pirates attack her village and her blood reveals an ancient map adorned with Mayan glyphs leading to Death Island. An island legends say is ruled by the Mayan god of the underworld, Ah Puch. Her great-grandfather had sought after the island before he vanished without a trace. Now, Meriden is about to journey across the sea to understand her family history.

There are only a few problems: her growing feelings toward a mysterious stranger linked to her great-grandfather’s past; a greedy band of pirates after her great-grandfather’s legendary treasure; and a contract she has unwittingly signed in blood with Ah Puch himself.

Fountain Pen 101: Cleaning & Filling

Posted in Fountain Pens

Welcome back to Fountain Pen 101 and happy Fountain Pen Friday. This week, I’ll be discussing cleaning and filling your pens. However, because videos can explain cleaning WAY better than words ever can, I’ll be linking to videos for a decent portion of this post. I’ll also provide you links to good pen cleaning supplies. NOTE: The prices listed below are in USD and don’t include tax or shipping.

Cleaning is one of the down sides to fountain pens, especially if you can’t disassemble the pen. However, it is vital to preserving the quality and prolonging the life of your fountain pen.

As a rule, you should thoroughly clean your pen every time you change inks or before you store your pen for an extended period of time (think more than 2 weeks without use). If you are simply refilling your pen with the same ink (some people always use the same ink in a specific pen), then you should clean your pen every 1-2 months.

Looking for something specific? Jump around this post with these links: Tap Water vs Distilled Water | Pen Flush | Ultrasonic Cleaner | Good Tools | Cleaning Instruction | Tips & Tricks

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Review – Raindrops on Roses

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Raindrops on Roses

by Millenia Black

Series: Favorite Things, book 1
Genres: Contemporary Romance,Romantic Suspense, Adult
Release Date: November 18, 2014
Pages: 182
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

What happens when his ex just won’t let go?

Mayfair Island, Florida. Grief-stricken after the sudden loss of her beloved grandmother, an enduring but reclusive Hollywood icon, young Priscilla Bauer finds herself adrift and looking to find solace in the arms of her vast inheritance, when she meets the kind and considerate corporate brand designer, Michael Frost—a drop dead gorgeous beacon of light in her all too dark night.

Falling hard and falling fast, Priscilla has no idea she’s stepped into dangerous territory… someone else has already branded Michael Frost her very own—with no intention of letting him go!

Love. Loss. Jealousy. Vengeance. Passions are high but bitter vengeance gets even higher in this razor-sharp love triangle you won’t forget!

With Raindrops on Roses, the captivating Favorite Things Trilogy takes flight!

Review – Princess of Draga

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Princess of Draga

by Emma Dean

Series: Draga Court, Book 1
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction
Release Date: October 17th 2017
Pages: 274
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★★☆

In the first book of the Draga Court series, Princess Adelina’s coming-of-age party will declare to the worlds she is finally eligible to wed. All she wants is to serve her people and the crown with honor, but when a dangerously attractive prince from another galaxy – one who they all thought was dead – arrives with warnings of monstrosities and war, will her feelings put her in a position where she has to choose between her people and love?

The Draga Court series is a beautiful combination of fantasy and space opera set in a faraway future where humans have altered their genetics to save their species from their destructive natures. Dominance and rank weave a complicated dance among the galaxy’s society where a true submissive has to find her place, and learn the true meaning of power and love.

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Regalia Writing Labs Semiflex Nib Review

Posted in Fountain Pens

If you’ve been reading my Fountain Pen 101 series, you’ve seen a couple of shout-outs to Regalia Writing Labs. Beyond being a genius with nibs, Ralph Reyes, the creator, is a really nice guy.

He offered a limited run of “Full-Flex” nibs a few months ago, and Jim was lucky enough to snag one. It was absolutely amazing. Check out this fabulous flexibility. I wasn’t even putting much pressure on it.

So when Ralph announced a Semiflex nib was coming, I turned on post and story notifications for his Instagram account and eagerly awaited the start of the sale. I was lucky. I got my hands on a nib, as did Jim. It took a while, but our nibs finally arrived on Monday.

Ralph did an amazing job with the packaging. I felt like I was getting a piece of jewelry. And I loved the custom seal.

Fountain Pen 101: Ink Reservoirs

Posted in Fountain Pens

Last week I covered ink, this week I’m covering it’s holders, namely ink reservoirs. The reservoir is what makes a fountain pen a fountain pen. Without one, it would be a dip pen. Essentially, there are two categories of ink reservoirs: removable and built-in.

The ratings you’ll find below are averages and based on my opinions. Each pen is different, and every person has different preferences, so don’t discount a pen just because of a rating; research it first. Ink capacity is rated ★☆☆☆☆ (least capacity) to ★★★★★ (most). Ease of cleaning is specifically for cleaning the reservoir itself, not the entire pen, and is assuming you do not disassemble the pen at all (e.g. removing the nib unit).

If you want video instructions or step-by-step photo instructions of how to utilize some of these ink reservoirs, check out these guides: JetPens | Goulet Pens

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Review – Sweet Obsession

Posted in Book Blogger

Sweet Obsession

by A.M. Salinger

Series: Night Series, Book 4
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance, Erotica
Release Date: April 17th 2018
Pages: 101
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★★★

He is the one person I love more than life itself. The one person I will do my utmost to protect. The one person I can never touch — Luke

He is the only one I have ever wanted. The only man I would ever need for as long as I breathe. But he doesn’t love me. No, he hates me —Ash

Ash Colby wants nothing more than to free himself of the man who broke his heart the night he turned seventeen. But when Luke Rutherford, his former guardian and heir of Rutherford Industries, forces him to move from his quiet college life in Stanford to the other side of the world, Ash snaps and decides to confront Luke about their past.

Luke has loved Ash since he was a child and been in love with him for over half a decade. Having protected Ash from the woman who wanted to hurt the young Colby heir in the past, Luke must act swiftly in order to keep Ash safe from harm once more. But when his bold move backfires on him, Luke must face the consequences of the decision he took on the night Ash turned seventeen.

Will Ash forgive Luke when he discovers the truth behind the terrible act he witnessed five years ago? And as the walls Luke had erected to protect Ash from his lust come crumbling down around him, will he overcome his guilty conscience and finally admit his true feelings for Ash?

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Mistakes Were Made: Book Blogging

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If you follow my blog, you’ve noticed a significant upswing in book blogging posts. This won’t be permanent. I’m actually planning to pare it down to one a week. But in diving into book blogging, I made mistakes. So I’m writing this to help anyone interested in diving into the world of book blogging. Okay, that’s getting annoying, let’s just call it BB.

Scheduling

The most important thing to keep in mind is scheduling. Keep track of EVERYTHING for which you sign up. And make sure you can keep track of what you have planned for any given week.

I use two separate schedules. I have single-month calendars in my notebook. It’s useful for me to see, at a glance, which days have something scheduled. I also keep a color-coded Google spreadsheet with relevant details that gives me a quick look at the status of various posts. My scheduling methods may be inadequate or over complicated for you, but make sure you have something to keep track of your post schedule. If you choose to have a written schedule, I highly suggest working in pencil or erasable ink.

When you’re scheduling BB content, keep in mind the amount of time it will take you to read the book (if you’re doing a review). Amazon has page counts listed, which can be helpful for planning. Don’t overbook yourself by falling into the “ooh! free books!” trap.

Assume you’ll get approved for everything, especially if you’re signing up for reviews. You MAY end up with less content than you planned on, but at least you won’t be stressed trying to manage everything.

Keep track of what has to be a top post. If you schedule more than one post a day, make sure they don’t both/all need to be the top post.

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Cover Reveal – Monster’s Best 2019

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Monster’s Best 2019

Anthology

Genres: Non-fiction, fiction, anthology
Release Date: August 6, 2019
Cover Design: Monster House Books
Pre-Order: Amazon

Monster House Books publishes a compilation of short stories featuring fierce females. Our 2019 edition includes new stories by best selling authors Christina Bauer, Genevieve Iseult Eldredge, and Majanka Verstraete! Plus, we’re searching through hundreds of new author submissions in order to select a handful of the most creative and compelling short stories to add in to the mix. To have your work considered for the 2019 edition of MONSTER’S BEST, please send your short story (50 pages or less) to info@monsterhousebooks.com.

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Rating System

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It occurs to me that I’ve never mentioned my rating system. So, here’s a rough idea of how I rate books. If I expand to…