Reawakened by Carrie Pulkinen

Title: Reawakened

Author: Carrie Pulkinen

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: November 18, 2016

 

About the Book:

Jules Hume
lives in a world where magic is a myth and supernatural creatures are
fiction—or so she thinks. As a strong, independent woman, a relationship is the
last thing she needs. Then she meets Ian Kincaid, a mysteriously sexy bachelor
with otherworldly charm. She’s instantly enamored of him, drawn by an
inexplicable magnetism. Ian awakens something magical inside her, opening her
mind to things she never thought possible. Things that shouldn’t be possible. But Ian has secrets Jules is better off not
knowing. The truth will tear her world apart, making her question everything
she once knew to be real.

 

“Who
is that?”

Beth
looked up to see who I was
talking about. “Oh. Umm…that’s just Ian. He owns the place…So, Mom. Have you
worked on any interesting cases at work?” She was trying to draw my attention
away from the gorgeous man.

“He’s beautiful.” I wasn’t interested in
talking about work. I wanted to know more about Ian. “Is he married?”

“No, but Mom. Seriously. Don’t waste your
time.”

“He doesn’t…date,” Cameron added.

“Is he gay?” I spared a glance for Cameron to
see his reaction but quickly fixed my gaze back on Ian.

“No. He’s definitely not gay.” Cameron
chuckled. “He’s just very…picky.”

“Picky. Hmm…”

And then it happened. Ian looked right at me.
Our eyes met, and something inside me burned. It started in my core, and a heat
pulsed out through me. My body ached to be close to him. I shivered, and he
smiled. I smiled back, then looked away; the intensity of the eye contact was
too much for me. If I believed in love at first sight, I would have said this
was it. But I didn’t…believe in love at first sight, that is.

“He’s coming over here,” I whispered to Beth.

“Uh-oh.” She looked at Cameron.

“Beth, Cameron, it is so good to see you,”
Ian said. He looked at each of them, and then his eyes focused on me as he
spoke. “You must introduce me to your friend, Beth.”

I felt electricity prickling my skin, and it
gave me goose bumps. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Even under the dress
shirt and tie, I could tell his body was exquisite. My fingers twitched with
the urge to touch him.

“This is my mom, Jules. Mom, this is Ian.”
She looked at him incredulously; then she looked at me and back at Ian again.

“May I join you?” Ian asked as he pulled out
the empty chair. He didn’t wait for an answer. “Is Jules short for another
name?”

“It’s Juliann, but everyone calls me Jules.”

“Juliann.” The syllables rolled off his
tongue like music. My heart melted when he said my name. “Cameron, will you
please go tell the kitchen to make two of whatever Juliann has ordered?”

“Of course,” Cameron said, and he hurried off
obediently.

“Beth, you did not tell me you had such a
beautiful mother. How could you keep such a secret from me?” He smiled
beautifully as he spoke, and I was enamored. Beth was shocked.

“Umm…Sorry?”

He laughed a deep, masculine laugh and
touched her shoulder. “Do not apologize, Beth. I’m only teasing you.” Then he
turned to me and took my hand. He raised it up to his mouth and gently kissed
it. “You are a vision of beauty, Juliann. I must get to know you better. Are
you free tomorrow night?”

I felt my eyes growing wide as I tried to
force myself to speak. I couldn’t get the words out; I was so flustered by the
magnificent man sitting next to me. Luckily, the waiter brought out our food,
so I had a little time to compose an answer…or at least to compose a coherent
sentence.

“Umm…Yeah, I think I’m available.”

“Wonderful,” he replied
with a dazzling smile.

 

 

     

About the Author:

Carrie
Pulkinen has always been fascinated with the paranormal. Of course, when you
grow up next door to a cemetery, the dead (and the undead) are hard to ignore.
Pair that with her passion for writing, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for
an exciting storyteller.

 

Carrie
spent the first part of her professional life as a high school journalism and
yearbook teacher. She loves red wine and chocolate, and in her free time, she
likes to read, take pictures, and play with her kids.

 

Connect with the Author:

Website   Twitter   Facebook   Amazon

 

Winter Song by Susan C. Muller

WINTER SONG

Book 1 of the SEASON PASS Series

 

by Susan C. Muller

 

Genre: Mystery/Suspense

 

I’m excited to announce Susan C. Muller’s new four book series: 

Seasons Pass: Murder is always in Season. 

Starting in November, and releasing one each month, enjoy Winter Song, Spring Shadow, Summer Storm, andAutumn Secrets.

 

 

Meet Homicide Detective Noah Daugherty and his partner, Conner Crawford. Follow them through four seasons worth of cases full of hit men, stalkers, vigilantes, and serial killers.

 

In Winter Song, homicide detective Noah Daugherty is on a mission: solve cases, lock up murderous scum, and get on with what’s left of his life. He’s on the clock, and his time is steadily ticking away. His path leads him to an icy Houston street, where a car has careened out-of-control and crashed, the driver, a beautiful young socialite, is dead. All the clues lead straight to her husband, but Noah’s intuition screams the case is more than meets the eye.

Not willing to give up until he solves this cold-blooded murder, he finds the unthinkable . . . a hitman no one saw coming, with a chilling personal agenda that now targets Noah.

 

Can he solve the case and save himself before winter is finished singing her song?

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan C. Muller is a fourth generation Texan. She attended Stephen F. Austin State University where she studied business administration but took creative writing classes on the side. She started her first novel at age eleven, but it wasn’t until after she had worked many years and raised a family that she returned to her first love, writing. 

She enjoys speaking to book clubs and writer’s groups. Susan lives in Spring, Texas with her rescue dog, Maggie. She loves to travel and has been fortunate to see much of the world. Her favorite places include Kenya, New Zealand, and the Galapagos Islands.

When not writing, she can be found doing volunteer work at a local hospital. Her hobbies include reading, traveling, snorkeling and taking long walks.

Connect with the author online:

 

Review: The Island of Lost Children by Kim Batchelor

THE ISLAND OF 

LOST CHILDREN

Book 1

REIMAGINING THE STORY OF 

PETER & WENDY

by

Kim Batchelor

 

Genre: Middle Grade / Fairy Tale / Fantasy

Publisher: Luna y Miel Publishing

Date of Publication: November 9, 2013

Number of Pages: 188

 

Scroll down for Giveaway!

Peter is still the boy who doesn’t grow up. Wendy is a girl who had to grow up too soon. And Wendy’s brother, Michael, has autism and a connection to The Island of Lost Children, a book for readers 8-12 and any fan of Peter Pan. When Peter leaves his island home, it’s to search for pick-up soccer games and mock sword fights. Wendy spends her evenings looking after her two brothers—sometimes bratty JJ as well as Michael—while her parents work nights. In the midst of several unusual events including the disappearance of her classmate, Lily, at odds with her adoptive mother, Wendy doesn’t realize that Peter’s pirate nemesis is keeping an eye on her. Everything changes for Wendy and her family when a peculiar fairy named Bellatresse helps Peter find the girl whose stories he once listened to outside her bedroom window. 

With its quirky humor and occasionally touching moments, The Island of Lost Children is about children creating their own stories, families, and communities, all while swashbuckling, navigating mystical rivers, riding child-made roller coasters, and, of course, sailing high through the open skies.

CLICK TO PURCHASE:
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There are so many great things about this book. Where to begin? First off, I LOVE reimaginings. Even when they’re not entirely successful, I still appreciate the creativity needed to see a different angle of such well-loved and well-known stories. Up until now, the only reimagining of Peter Pan that I’m familiar with, if you can call it that, is the movie Hook. So please excuse that some of the comparisons that I make are more with that movie than the original text; which I am ashamed to say that I don’t remember in great detail.

The cover is beautiful and the style of it gave me the impression that maybe the ethnicities of the characters would be played with. I don’t know if it’s the cocoa color of Peter’s skin and the dark hair, or maybe even just the style of the artwork that gave me that idea. As if to answer my unspoken question, the opening scene features a family praising their son Miguel as he plays soccer.

This is where I get confused for the first time. I knew that Wendy has two brothers, Michael and John. So I thought for a few pages that Miguel was Wendy’s brother, so there would be a Juan and whatever the Spanish equivalent of Wendy, right? Oops, I outed myself for stereotyping. Miguel is not Michael. The ethnicity of the family is ambiguous. I was a little let down by that, but the other types of diversity to be revealed made up for it.

The Darlings are a more realistic family in this version. The parents are quarreling over money and careers (hey, that’s sort of what happened in Hook, too), Wendy is having to play mom to her two younger brothers because their parents work all the time, and Michael has a cognitive disability. Also, poor Nana runs away when Mr. Darling tries to take her to an animal shelter. These Darling children have more reasons to want to run to Neverland than the originals, that’s for sure.

I don’t want to ruin the story but I will share that how Captain Hook enters the story is an interesting choice. His target for revenge didn’t make much sense to me though, and when everything gets more or less resolved, I don’t understand why someone isn’t arrested or interrogated at least. I guess because this is supposed to be a children’s story? Okay, I’ll chill.

I like the added dimensions to Lily (although I wonder if people would prefer she had stayed Native American), and not to mention the number of girls in Neverland! It always bothered me that Tiger Lily and Tink seemed to be the only girls in the original. Well, mermaids too if you count them (I didn’t). Batchelor topped Hook with that addition. However, the invisible feast and rollercoasters sounded a lot like Hook. Unless that stuff was in the original, too, and I just forgot. My apologies if they are.

I really liked the tender moments between Wendy and Michael, and how Michael had his peaceful spot in Neverland. I imagine this could open up dialogue about being sensitive to individual needs. Also, finding joy and hope in milestones reached. I closed this book feeling like I understood Wendy and Michael. Sadly, JJ fell by the wayside. Typical middle child, I guess.

What are my favorite moments? I think that Batchelor pokes fun at the Tinkerbell character, Bellatresse, by emphasizing her erratic behavior and thinking. Peter and Trudy pretty much say that the fairy does things for no apparent reason and that they’re not sure whether she really likes them or not. Maybe I’m wrong though. Maybe she’s just supposed to be bipolar. Or all the sugar just made her cray cray.

And Peter thinking he’ll miss Wendy because she’s like a sister? Pffft. Let’s not let our reimaginations run away now.

Kim Batchelor writes books for children and adults, stories both real and fantastical, foreign and domestic. She has been published in the Texas Observer, The Best of Friday Flash, and local literary journal, Contexas. She teaches creative writing to incarcerated women and lives in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas, with a spouse, two dogs, and way too many cats. One of her prized possessions is a busted tambourine given to her by Eddie Vedder. Okay, he tossed it to her in a dark stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, but the real story is never as interesting as the one she makes up.

 

  

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11/7 Excerpt 1 Hall Ways Blog 11/8 Review Syd Savvy 11/9 Author Interview #1 It’s a Jenn World 11/10 Guest Post Country Girl Bookaholic 11/11 Review Missus Gonzo 11/12 Excerpt 2 Kara The Redhead 11/13 Review The Page Unbound 11/14 Author Interview 2 Margie’s Must Reads 11/15 Excerpt 3 Forgotten Winds 11/16 Review Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books     blog tour services provided by: