2015 Alphabet Challenge Information

It’s an alphabet challenge!!! The challenge is to read one book that has a title starting with every letter of the alphabet.

You can drop the A’s and The’s from the book titles as shown below. For those pesky Q, X AND Z titles the word with the challenge letter can be anywhere in the title.

So there are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z Reading Challenge.

A – Make a list on your blog from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

OR

B – Make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet. For example: A – All the President’s Menus by Julie Hyzy  B- Bushel Full of Murder by Paige Shelton  C – Criminal Confections by Collette London  D – Dark Chocolate Demise by Jenn McKinlay etc.

Books can be read in any order and all formats – print – e-book – audio – are acceptable for this challenge!

Ready to join??

SIGN UP HERE

Book Tour and Giveaway: Holiday Bliss

Holiday Bliss is book 2 in the Bliss series-- It comprises three romantic novellas by three different authors--set in different era's, in one home on the water called, Bliss.

Tending Her Heart by Kathleen Shoop 

Julie Peters' plans to modernize Waterside Hospital's labor and delivery protocols are thwarted by old school doctors and brown-nosing colleagues. But a handsome doctor who understands her point-of-view has a fine bedside manner and a way of Tending Her Heart that has forever-after attached to it. Can a Thanksgiving stay in the regal home called Bliss give her the space she needs to right her future and fall in love? 

The Christmas Miracle by Marcy Waldenville 
Brenan Brown has a terrible secret. One his beautiful wife doesn't know about. One that could destroy his happiness and his family. One he'd thought he buried along with his former identity in a grave in Ireland. But shady characters--terrorists really--from his past come to the stately mansion with blackmail and kidnapping on their minds. And with his family's after at risk, his future in peril, all Brenan can hope for is The Christmas Miracle. 

Holiday Wish by JD Wylde 

Vaughn Jennings has one rule he refuses to break. Not even for Chelsea Chathford, the curvaceous master carpenter he employs. With just reason. But with every day that goes by, it gets harder and harder to follow his rule. Can he follow his heart? Or forever wish he had? Because Christmas comes but once a year. And with it, the only chance to have his Holiday Wish come true.

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"Each story is vivid in historical and modern details and will certainly have you wanting to visit Bliss yourself. The characters come to life, making you fall in love with each and every couple, rooting for them to make it. I highly recommend this wonderful novel by five talented authors." 

- Kristine McCaffrey - Amazon Reader Review on Bliss Series Book 1

"Loved the book! It's my first anthology and I couldn't wait to get to the next story for the continuation. Can't wait to read these authors' next books." 
- review from Amazon on Bliss Series Book 1

My Review: All three of the stories included in this anthology were remarkably well-written. Each one had its own flavor, because of the different authors, but they all grabbed my attention right away and held it to the end.  I liked the fact that they were all tied together by the house called Bliss, even though they each took place in a different era.

The Christmas Miracle is full of suspense and mystery--terrorists, bombs, kidnapping and the FBI no less, as well as romance. The description of the huge Christmas party the Browns hosted was incredible. It was just what I would imagine such a party to be in the South in 1920.  The party didn't wind up quite the way anyone expected, but the family would definitely have a holiday story to tell for years to come.

Tending Her Heart is set in 1971, and is the only story in the group to revolve around Thanksgiving. I think Julie was my favorite character in the book. She is very strong willed and determined, and she's working for a cause that really struck a chord with me. She and Michael have a rocky relationship at first, due to several presumptions and misunderstandings....but in the end, they find their happily ever after!  I also enjoyed the subplots with other nurses and doctors throughout the story.

Holiday Wish is a modern day love story.  Chelsea works for Vaughn, and they have strong feelings for one another. Unfortunately, Vaughn has an incident in his past which has totally closed him off to the idea of dating someone from work. The more they try to fight their feelings, the more fate--and friends--seems to bring them together. This was the quickest, lightest read of the three, and it kept me smiling almost throughout.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more by all three of these authors.

I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

My Rating:  Four stars

Meet the Authors
Kathleen Shoop

Bestselling author Kathleen Shoop holds a PhD in reading education and has more than 20 years of experience in the classroom.  

Kathleen has been featured in USA Today and the Writer’s Guide to 2013. Her work has appeared in The Tribune-Review, four Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and Pittsburgh Parent magazine. She lives in Oakmont, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.

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Marcy Waldenville

Marcy Waldenville knew she wanted to write at an early age. A firm believer in anything-is-possible, she is happy to be following that dream. Born and raised in a small town in Western Pennsylvania. She lives in Southern Butler County with her husband, Ken.

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JD Wylde

A misplaced mountain child, J.D. lives in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania with her husband of more than thiry years (and yes, she was a kindergarten bride). Their sons and one beautiful daughter-in-law live nearby. Ozzie, their neurotic dog lives a lot closer. And yes, she still roams wild and free, whatever mountains are currently in her path.

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NOW FOR THE AUTHOR'S GIVEAWAY

Three lucky winners will win a $15 Amazon.com Giftcard

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Real Santa by William Hazelgrove

Synopsis: George Kronenfeldt is an unemployed engineer with one shot to keep his daughters belief in Santa intact. When Megan tells him the only way she will believe in Santa is if she can videotape him and then tells her fourth grade class she will prove the existence of Santa Claus by posting her video to YouTube, George realizes he must become the Real Santa. He devises a plan to land nine reindeer on his roof and go down his chimmney, hiring a broken down movie director who eventually has him funding a full scale production that bankrupts him and and threatens his marriage. When George goes to find the Real Santa to help him, the line between what is real and magic is crossed. Real Santa is a funny heartwarming story of parenthood gone wrong and illuminates what lengths parents will go to keep their children happy." 

Thoughts: This is an amazing book about a father's love for his children, and his determination to keep the magic in Christmas. His over the top plan to keep his young daughter believing in Santa provides plenty of humor, but it also causes serious problems with his wife as he puts their home and their future in jeopardy to pay for everything he needs. In the end, lots of lives are changed for the better as they are touched by the Christmas spirit. I would love to see this made into a movie, as I am sure it would become a must-watch yearly tradition in many homes.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

My rating: Four stars

Blog Tour: Who R U Really? by Margo Kelly

Who R U Really? by Margo Kelly 
 Thea's overprotective parents are driving her insane. They invade her privacy, ask too many questions, and restrict her online time so severely that Thea feels she has no life at all. When she discovers a new role-playing game online, Thea breaks the rules by staying up late to play. She's living a double life: on one hand, the obedient daughter; on the other, a girl slipping deeper into darkness. In the world of the game, Thea falls under the spell of Kit, an older boy whose smarts and savvy can't defeat his loneliness and near-suicidal despair. As Kit draws soft-hearted Thea into his drama, she creates a full plate of cover stories for her parents and then even her friends. Soon, Thea is all alone in the dark world with Kit, who worries her more and more, but also seems to be the only person who really "gets" her. Is he frightening, the way he seems sometimes, or only terribly sad? Should Thea fear Kit, or pity him? And now, Kit wants to come out of the screen and bring Thea into his real-life world. As much as she suspects that this is wrong, Thea is powerless to resist Kit's allure, and hurtles toward the same dark fate her parents feared most. Ripped from a true-life story of Internet stalking, Who R U Really? will excite you and scare you, as Thea's life spins out of control.

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Excerpt

When Tim’s eyes, bluer than an Idaho sky, met mine, my mind turned to mush. He towered

above everyone else at the bus stop, and on this cold January morning he looked cuter than ever

with his bomber hat and rosy cheeks. He shoved his sidekick, Josh, jokingly, and a cloud of

white air escaped Tim’s mouth.

My best friend, Janie, whacked me on the hip. “Omigosh, Thea. Here they come. Smile.”

Her words bounced in rhythm with her black ringlets. She adjusted her new fluffy snow white

parka, and even though it had a hood, she would never smash her perfect curls simply to stay

warm. The crisp air made the tip of her nose red, but the rest of her face remained alabaster

white. We’d been best friends for years, and at fourteen, having a friend made the ninth grade

bearable.

Janie hoped Josh and Tim would ask us to the Winter Solstice dance, but I just hoped to

speak to Tim without sounding like a complete idiot. Tim walked in our direction with Josh right

on his heels. They stopped in front of us, and everyone else hovered to watch the show.

“Thea,” Tim said. I wanted to reply, but no words came.

Josh approached Janie, and I fidgeted with my favorite fuzzy pink scarf.

“Jan-eee,” Josh said, dragging out the last syllable of her name. He eyed her up and

down. “You look like a giant fat marshmallow.” 

My Review: This was a tough book to read, because it is so realistic and current. The author's writing puts you right into Thea's emotions through the entire storyline, from her excitement at having Kit's attention, to her doubts, right through to her fear and terror as it plays out to the end. 
This is a remarkable cautionary tale about online relationships. Unless you actually meet someone in person, or at least video chat with them, you do NOT know who they are, and therefore they are still a stranger, not your friend. However, I did feel that one of the characters was a little too over the top in trying to make this point to Thea, yelling at her that people you only know online can not be real friends. In my personal experience, I have found that you can have VERY real friends online....as long as you are very careful who you trust. There are untrustworthy "friends" in person and online, and you have to learn to tell the difference.
I would highly recommend this book to teens and parents of teens as a way to open up a dialogue about internet safety.

My Rating:  Five stars

  Praise for the book: "Kelly's first novel is a suspenseful page-turner with multiple suspects, a little bit of romance, and a strong but not overbearing message." --Kirkus Reviews 

 "Suspenseful novel that's guaranteed to give readers goosebumps--particularly as events heat up toward the end. A good choice for families to read together." --School Library Journal 

 "Who R U Really? is a fantastically creepy book that is surprisingly realistic and totally engrossing.... Once I opened it, I couldn't close it. Who R U Really is a satisfyingly unique YA thriller that left me guessing up until almost the very last page.... This book is very realistic and I really enjoyed the writing style." --Tempest Books 

 "Based on actual events, the story should be required reading for all teens." --VOYA Magazine  

 

Blog Tour Schedule

Author Margo Kelly 
 Margo Kelly is a native of the Northwest and currently resides in Idaho. A veteran public speaker, she is now actively pursuing her love of writing. Who R U Really? is her first novel. Margo welcomes the opportunities to speak to youth groups, library groups, and book clubs.

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 1 print copy of Who R U Really?
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 Ends 1/12/15
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Book Tour and Giveaway: The Claus Boxed Set by Tony Bertauski

 
A themed tour through Prism Book Tours.

The Claus Box Set

Now you can purchase all three books in the Claus Series together!

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THE CLAUS UNIVERSE

Four years ago, we were visiting family for the holidays. My nephew, six years old, was telling us one evening (for no apparent reason, he was on a roll) about the secret ninja Christmas elves that visit his school every year. Intrigued, I interviewed him like a federal agent. His story, as most six year old’s stories go, was full of holes, but he refused to back off his claim: they were real and I couldn’t prove they weren’t.

Somewhere in the middle of his tale, an idea hit me so hard I looked stunned. I know this because my wife looked at me and whispered, “You’ve got a book, don’t you?”

The story of Santa has been told a billion, billion times on the screen and the television, the written page and the digital, in short form and long, in verse and song. He’s been animated and claymated, horrified and glorified. There’s not a single word left unwritten about the jolly old fat man.

Except, maybe, not that I recall, in science fiction.

Is there one? Is there a story that explains, within reason, how he hauls all those presents, flies around the world, and shimmies down every chimney in one night? How he lives on the North Pole without us seeing him? Where elvens come from? How a snowman can talk and a reindeer can fly? Can they be explained without, of course, just sweeping all those mysteries under the rug with the word “magic”?

Not that I recall.

So began the Claus series. It started with Claus: Legend of the Fat Man, a book that explained how Nicholas Santa had come to live on the North Pole. It was followed by Jack: The Tale of Frost, a book devoted to one of my favorite characters, a childish and irreverent and dangerous elven. And now comes Flury: Journey of a Snowman, the science behind walking, fighting and flying snowmen.

Each tale is written as a standalone novel, yet contains elements of each other that can be read in any order. They’re for children and adults. They can be comical, yet dark. Make-believe, yet real. Magical, but not really.

Because magic, as an elven says, ceases to be magic when we understand it.

More About the Series

Claus: Legend of the Fat Man

(Claus #1)
by Tony Bertauski

YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday
Paperback & ebook, 326 Pages
June 19th 2012

The Christmas story you never heard.

In the early 1800s, Nicholas, Jessica and Jon Santa attempt the first human trek to the North Pole and stumble upon an ancient race of people left over from the Ice Age. They are short, fat and hairy. They slide across the ice on scaly soles and carve their homes in the ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean. The elven are adapted to life in the extreme cold. They are as wise as they are ancient.

Their scientific advancements have yielded great inventions -- time-stopping devices and gravitational spheres that build living snowmen and genetically-modified reindeer that leap great distances. They’ve even unlocked the secrets to aging. For 40,000 years, they have lived in peace.

Until now.

An elven known as The Cold One has divided his people. He’s tired of their seclusion and wants to conquer the world. Only one elven stands between The Cold One and total chaos. He’s white-bearded and red-coated. The Santa family will help him stop The Cold One. They will come to the aid of a legendary elven
known as...Claus.

My Thoughts: Definitely not your typical "legend of Santa Claus" story. A lot of it leans toward the dark side, so I don't think I would share it with young children. But for preteens, teens and adults, it's one heck of a wild ride. One of my favorite lines from the book is this: "Magic is what you call something you don't understand. This is science, dear." And there are a lot of scientific explanations for things that we've always presumed were the "magic" of Santa and the elves.  :)
By the end of the book, I couldn't want to move on to the second one to find out what was going to happen next.

My Rating: Four stars

   

Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Jack: The Tale of Frost

(Claus #2)
by Tony Bertauski

YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday
Paperback & ebook, 290 Pages
October 17th 2013

Sura is sixteen years old when she meets Mr. Frost. He’s very short and very fat and he likes his room very, very cold. Some might say inhumanly cold. His first name isn’t Jack, she’s told. And that’s all she needed to know.

Mr. Frost’s love for Christmas is over-the-top and slightly psychotic. And why not? He’s made billions of dollars off the holiday he invented. Or so he claims. Rumor is he’s an elven, but that’s silly. Elven aren’t real. And if they were, they wouldn’t live in South Carolina. They wouldn’t hide in a tower and go to the basement to make…things.

Nonetheless, Sura will work for this odd little recluse. Frost Plantation is where she’ll meet the love of her life. It’s where she’ll finally feel like she belongs somewhere. And it’s where she’ll meet someone fatter, balder and stranger than Mr. Frost. It’s where she’ll meet Jack.

Jack hates Christmas.

My Thoughts: This book really took me on a wild ride. Every time I thought I had something figured out, the plot went in a completely different direction. I was left shaking my head in amazement at how it all fell into place at the end.  There was some carry over from the first book, but most of it was explained fully in this one, which means you could read this one even if you hadn't read Claus. There's even a love story in this book, just in case you need a little romance in your sci-fi.   :)

My Rating: Four stars

   

Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Flury: Journey of a Snowman

(Claus #3)
by Tony Bertauski

YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday
Paperback & ebook, 300 Pages
November 15th 2014

Life hasn’t been kind to Oliver Toye.

As if juvenile diabetes isn’t enough, he’s forced to live with his tyrannical grandmother in a snow-bound house. He spends his days doing chores and the nights listening to the forest rumble.

But when he discovers the first leather-bound journal, the family secrets begin to surface. The mystery of his great-grandfather’s voyage to the North Pole is revealed. That’s when the snowman appears.

Magical and mysterious, the snowman will save Oliver more than once. But when the time comes for Oliver to discover the truth, will he have the courage? When Flury needs him, will he have the strength? When believing isn’t enough, will he save the snowman from melting away?

Because sometimes even magic needs a little help.

My thoughts: This was my favorite book of the series. Oliver is an extremely likable character, and I found myself rooting him on as he found ways to circumvent his grandmother's rules and begin to learn the truth about "the property."  Once he finds out the secrets, the reader is off on another wild ride to the conclusion.
There is a great deal of humor in the story, and some really fun dialogue.  I fell in love with Oliver's friend, Molly, from the moment we were introduced to her and learned she was wearing a Doctor Who t-shirt.   :)

My rating: Four stars

   

Amazon - Barnes & Noble

About Tony Bertauski

During the day, I'm a horticulturist. While I've spent much of my career designing landscapes or diagnosing dying plants, I've always been a storyteller. My writing career began with magazine columns, landscape design textbooks, and a gardening column at the Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). However, I've always fancied fiction.

And I'm a big fan of plot twists.

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Tour Giveaway

   

$25 Amazon gift card and the Claus Box Set ebook

Open internationally
Ends December 21st

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Follow the Tour!

1 - Launch

2 - Mommabears Book Blog

3 - SBM Book Obsession

4 - Letters from Annie (Douglass) Lima

5 - Mythical Books & fuonlyknew

7 - Hope To Read

8- Beck Valley Books

9 - My Life Loves and Passion

10 - The Book Lovers' Lounge

11 - Dalene's Book Reviews

12 - The Review Notes & Book Babble

14 - Grand Finale

Meet Suspense Author Patricia Bradley

Former Clash Contestant Patricia Bradley is in the spotlight today! A popular romantic suspense author from Mississippi, her latest book "A Promise to Protect" released this fall and garnered high praise from readers. It's the second book in her Logan Point series, with the third releasing next summer.

A Promise to Protect:

In a steamy small town riddled with broken promises, one woman’s secret could change everything.

Acting Sheriff Ben Logan hasn’t heard from Leigh Somerall in a very long time, but it doesn’t mean he can get her—or their whirlwind romance of ten years ago—out of his head. When she calls out of the blue, it is with a strange request to protect her brother, Tony. But all too soon, Ben is charged with a different task—protecting Leigh from the people after her brother. With Leigh doing everything in her power to avoid Ben, it’s no easy task. And the secret she is keeping just may change their lives forever.

The Christian Manifesto says this about A Promise to Protect:

“Patricia Bradley definitely has a knack for creating mysteries that are tough to get to the bottom of. A Promise to Protect proves once again that Patricia Bradley has a knack for writing intriguing, complex mysteries that are difficult to solve. Fans of her first novel won’t be disappointed, and hopefully this book will endear some new readers to her as well.”

JoJo Sutis on Goodreads says:Wow! Wow! Wow! Once again Patricia Bradley has written another hit! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this one from the minute I finished the first Logan Point book. I was so excited to get to read more about Ben (a character from book 1). The interaction between the two main characters was awesome…I love when main characters have a past together. This is definitely an edge of your seat thriller, full of secrets and intrigue. I’m thrilled to have found a new fave suspense author…fans of Lynette Eason, Terri Blackstock, and Irene Hannon don’t miss Patricia Bradley!!!”

About Patricia:

Patricia Bradley lives in North Mississippi and is a former abstinence educator and co-author of RISE To Your Dreams, an abstinence curriculum. But her heart is tuned to suspense. Patricia’s romantic suspense books include the Logan Point series—Shadows of the Past and A Promise to Protect—and Matthew’s Choice a Heartwarming romance. Her workshops on writing include an online course with American Christian Fiction Writers and workshops at the Midsouth Christian Writer’s Conference in Collierville, TN. When she’s not writing, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.

Coming in July--the third book in the Logan Point series features Livy Reynolds and Robyn Martin’s story:

It's been more than two years since homicide detective Livy Reynolds's cousin disappeared from Logan Point. Unlike most people in her hometown, Livy has never believed that Robyn left voluntarily. When Dallas private investigator Alex Jennings contacts Livy concerning a missing senator's daughter who was last seen in Logan Point, she notices eerie similarities between the two disappearances. But with self-doubt plaguing her and an almost instant dislike of Jennings, Livy is finding this investigation an uphill battle. With her future in law enforcement on the line, can she find a way to work with a man who is her polar opposite?

COTT NEWS: Don't forget! Submissions for the Olympia are open through next Friday, December 12th, for all unpublished novelists! Get feedback from those who count most: READERS. For submission guidelines, visit us at http://www.clashofthetitles.com/p/the-olympia.html

Maya & Filippo See Impossible Things In The Garden City, by Alinka Rutkowska

Synopsis: Embark on an exciting adventure with Maya and Filippo as they travel around the globe on board the Fun Princess - a cruise ship full of surprises. Discover their fascinating ports of call, join them in activities at sea and explore the remarkable world they create for themselves through their thoughts and feelings.

The children dock in Christchurch. Before getting off the ship, at the youth club, they draw things they would like to see in the future. Their fellow passengers think Maya and Filippo are crazy until all of them see some things they had never expected.

Thoughts: **I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.**

Maya, Filippo, their parents, and their cat Otello live on a cruise ship called the Fun Princess. This is the story of their trip to Christchurch, New Zealand, also known as the Garden City. Part of the message of this book is to always believe that anything is possible.

Lots of good information provided in a fun way for young children. Every page has bright colorful illustrations to keep their attention as well. There is also a short quiz at the end of the book to promote comprehension, as well as some additional facts to encourage further learning.

This series of books is so fun, and so educational. 

My rating: Four stars