The Moons of Barsk by: Lawrence M. Schoen Excerpt & Giveaway

SYNOPSIS

 

Years after the events of Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, the lonely young outcast and physically-challenged Fant, Pizlo, is now a teenager. He still believes he hears voices from the planet’s moons, imparting secret knowledge to him alone. And so embarks on a dangerous voyage to learn the truth behind the messages. His quest will catapult him offworld for second time is his short life, and reveal things the galaxy isn’t yet ready to know.

Elsewhere, Barsk’s Senator Jorl, who can speak with the dead, navigates galactic politics as Barsk’s unwelcome representative, and digs even deeper into the past than ever before to discover new truths of his own.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

 

Praise for THE MOONS OF BARSK

“Weird, wise, and worldly, Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard is a triumph.” —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues

“The second you encounter the arboreal uplifted elephants who speak with the dead, you know you’re reading a work of singular imaginative power. It’s a delight from beginning to end.” —Walter Jon Williams, Nebula Award-winning author of the Metropolitan series

“A captivating, heartwarming story in a unique and fantastic world… as rich and mysterious as Dune.” —James L. Cambias, author of A Darkling Sea

“A heartfelt and wonderfully weird book: a space opera about kindness and memory.” —Max Gladstone, author of the Craft Sequence

“A masterful, onion-layered tale of pariahdom, treachery, and genocide that ultimately reveals the true deathlessness of hope and love.” —Charles E. Gannon, author of Fire With Fire

“Combines excellent characters and a fascinating world. What really makes it work is how he deftly weaves together startling SFnal ideas with character-based intrigue. You’ll really care for these characters, even as you find them believably alien. I found it a compulsive page-turner and immensely enjoyable.” —Karl Schroeder, author of Lockstep

“Powerful. Grand in scope, yet deeply intimate. Schoen gives anthropomorphism some serious spirituality. It got inside my head in the way that only an exciting new idea can.” —Howard Tayler, Hugo Award-winning creator of Schlock Mercenary

EXCERPT:

THE MOONS OF BARSK

Lawrence M. Schoen

Tor Books

 

He strode further up the beach until the edge of the island’s forest became visible through the rain. Turning slowly, he took in everything that the storm allowed. For a moment it was as if the years fell away and he stood as at the height of his professorial power, poised once more behind a lectern at the front of a classroom. Beating his trunk against one outstretched hand for emphasis he asked his questions, genuinely wanting answers but knowing in his heart they were rhetorical. “Where are all the boats? The fragments of so many journeys? Where are the bones of all the people?” He bellowed into the wind and rain with the last strength remaining to him.

The weather offered no reply. The beach remained merely a beach. Ryne’s trunk drooped lax upon his chest. His upraised arm fell to his side. The years weighed heavily upon him again. It was over. He’d arrived at the last island, done with living.

And then a voice spoke from behind him.

“Really, Ryne, you might ask the same question of any other island. Or do the people of Taylr leave their possessions strewn upon their beaches? Do they eschew the proper rites and fail to bury such citizens as pass before their time? Surely you don’t find debris when you travel the points of either archipelago.”

He spun, swiftly, nearly falling but with a skip kept his feet. There at the forest’s edge, like an actor stepping onto a stage, a figure emerged from shadow and approached through the rain. It resolved into a person. A woman. An old woman. An Eleph. Here, on this island that existed on no map, that only the Dying could find, that made no sense when you thought about it and which no one ever thought about, here was someone walking toward him as nonchalantly as an aunt at a family gathering. And she’d called him by name.

“Ryne of Taylr,” she said, her voice hoarse with years but musical all the same. “I bid you welcome. I am Bernath, my mother’s name was Layne.”

Copyright © 2018 by Lawrence M. Schoen

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Lawrence M. Schoen holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, with a special focus in psycholinguistics. He spent ten years as a college professor, and has done extensive research in the areas of human memory and language. His background in the study of human behavior and the mind provide a principal metaphor for his fiction. He currently works as the director of research and chief compliance officer for a series of mental health and addiction recovery facilities in Philadelphia.

He’s also one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Klingon language, and since 1992 has championed the exploration of this constructed tongue and lectured on this unique topic throughout the world. In addition, he’s the publisher behind a speculative fiction small press, Paper Golem, aimed at serving the niche of up-and-coming new writers as well as providing a market for novellas.

In 2007, he was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He received a Hugo Award nomination for Best Short Story in 2010 and Nebula Award nomination for Best Novella in 2013, 2014, and 2015. In 2016 he won the Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award, and his book Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard was finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novel and went on to win the Coyotl Award. In 2017 he turned in the sequel to that work (codenamed: The BARSquel) as well as the fourth novella in his Amazing Conroy series, the ongoing adventures of ta stage hypnotist traveling the galaxy in the company of Reggie, an alien buffalito that can eat anything and farts oxygen. By the end of the year he anticipates completing the first book in a new series about lost cities and the advancement of human civilization.

Lawrence lives near Philadelphia with his wife, Valerie, who is neither a psychologist nor a Klingon speaker.

PHOTO CONTENT FROM LAWRENCE M. SCHOEN

WEBSITE: http://www.lawrencemschoen.com/
TWITTER:  @klingonguy
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/162810.Lawrence_M_Schoen
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/lawrencemschoen
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lawrencemschoen/

GIVEAWAY:

—Giveaway is open Internationally| Must be 13+ to Enter

–  5 Winners will receive a Copy of THE MOONS OF BARSK (Barsk #2) by Lawrence M. Schoen. 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e849f7751433/

ENDS: SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Check out the other blog stops for this book tour : http://www.jeanbooknerd.com/2018/07/the-moons-of-barsk-by-lawrence-m-schoen.html

 

 

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Nobody Said It’s Be Easy by:Patty Blount Nerd Blast & Giveaway

Visit all blog stops on this tour: http://www.jeanbooknerd.com/2018/07/nerd-blast-nobody-said-itd-be-easy-by.html

SYNOPSIS

 

This is Patty’s third contemporary romance with Tule Publishing Group, inspired by a TV commercial in which a Dad says, “With four daughters, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll always have nail polish on my fingers.”

It’s been two years since former engineer Gabriel Ivers lost his wife and accepted a job as a building superintendent to be home with his children. His focus is being both mom and dad to his girls, until the beautiful Amelia Blake moves next door and reminds him he’s a man as well as a dad. Just as he begins to hope that his life can once again hold more than homework, chores, and movie-and-manicure nights with his girls, he discovers the reason for the fragility beneath Lia’s warm smile.

Lia is trying to move on with her life after a miscarriage ends all hope for a baby, and a subsequent betrayal destroys her marriage. She’s charmed by her new neighbor with his sparkling manicure, multi-colored hair clips, and his brood of girls, but disturbed by the sexual tension that sizzles between them. Gabe and his daughters remind her of everything she’s always wanted and it would be so easy to take what he’s offering her. But is she ready to risk her heart again, especially when her heart isn’t the only one in play?

Falling in love is easy. Staying in love is hard. Good thing Gabe is a fighter who’s determined to prove to Lia he’s in this for the long haul…the rest of their lives.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | 

 

Praise for NOBODY SAID IT’D BE EASY

 

“Patty Blount creates a community you’ll want to visit in this heartfelt, realistic romance with a hero everyone will adore!” ―Jamie Beck, national bestselling author of Before I Knew and Unexpectedly Hers 
–
“Patty Blount’s Nobody Said It’d Be Easy is a sweet, heartwarming story with genuine emotion and a Single Dad To-Die-For!” ― New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra

Patty Blount grew up quiet and a bit invisible in Queens, NY, but found her voice in books. Today, she writes smart and strong characters willing to fight for what’s right. She’s the award-winning author of edgy, realistic, gut-wrenching contemporary and young adult romance. Still a bit introverted, she gets lost often, eats way too much chocolate, and tends to develop mad, passionate crushes on fictional characters. Let’s be real; Patty’s not nearly as cool as her characters, but she is a solid supporter of women’s rights and loves delivering school presentations.

Patty is best known for her internet issues novels, including SOME BOYS, a 2015 CLMP Firecracker winner and SEND, a 2012 Junior Library Guild Fall Pick. Visit her website at pattyblount.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter. She blogs at YA Outside the Lines and is also active online. She loves hearing from readers, especially when they tell her she’s cool (even though she knows it’s not true), and is easily bribed with chocolate. Never underestimate the power of chocolate.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: DAN DEMERIAD 

WEBSITE: https://www.pattyblount.com/
TWITTER:  @PattyBlount
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5344531.Patty_Blount
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/PattyBlountNovels
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/pattyblount3/

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

—Giveaway is open Internationally | Must be 13+ to Enter

 

– 2 Winners will receive a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card.  

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e849f7751430/

ENDS: SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

Wedding from Hell Part 2: The Reception by: J.R. Ward

  Out now on Kindle FREE

The Wedding from Hell, Part 2: The Rehearsal Dinner is the exciting second adventure in J.R. Ward’s three-part ebook serialization: The Wedding From Hell. This exclusive prequel to her upcoming standalone suspense, Consumed (available in Fall 2018) takes us back to the night steamy arson investigator Anne Ashburn and ‘bad boy’ firefighter Danny Maguire will never forget.

About the Book:

The Wedding From Hell, Part 2: The Reception: As the wedding from hell continues, Anne and Danny find themselves walking the delicate balance between professional distance and explosive attraction. Will the desire they feel last through the night and change their lives? Or are they doomed to part after one night of passion?

 

About the Author:

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

 

Purchase Link: http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Wedding-from-Hell-Part-2-The-Reception/J-R-Ward/9781982105372

 

Video from J.R. Ward:

Youtube: https://youtu.be/9SApaA9CrHA

Excerpt: 

Saturday, October 31

T minus 2 hours ’til blastoff

St. Mary’s Cathedral, New Brunswick, Massachusetts

 

Anne Ashburn had never had veil envy, as they called it. As a young girl, she had never pictured herself walking down an aisle in a white dress, ready to be rescued by a knight-in-shining-armor groom who was going to take charge and take care of her for the rest of her life.

Nope. Anne had wanted to fight fires like her father and then her brother. Even though she no longer respected the former, and had a strained relationship with the latter, she’d wanted to pull on turnouts and strap an air tank to her back and breathe canned air as she ran into open flames dragging hundreds of pounds of charged line with her. She’d wanted to rescue grandmothers, and children, and people who had succumbed to smoke inhalation. She’d been ready to cut open crumpled cars and drag broken bodies out of wreckage at the sides of highways. She’d been determined that the extremes of cold winter nights, hot summer days, physical exhaustion, and mental fatigue would never keep her from doing her job.

So, yup, the old fashioned Mrs. degree had never held any fascination for her. There was no way in hell she was going to be like her mother, living a derivative, nineteen-fifties version of life, nothing but a pretty blow-up doll that was expected to cook, clean, and cut the yapping.

On that note, as she pulled into St. Mary’s parking lot and looked up at the great cathedral’s stained glass windows and lofty spires, she decided it made sense that not only was she not the bride, she wasn’t even a bridesmaid.

Like the rest of the crew down at the 499 firehouse, she was a groomsmen in the impending nuptials of Robert “Moose” Miller and Deandra—what the hell was her last name anyway? Cox. That was it.

Anne was thinking groomsmen was a role she might as well get used to. Not that Duff, Emilio, Deshaun, or any of the other men she worked with were settling down anytime soon.

Especially not Dannyboy Maguire.

Right on cue, a Ford truck entered the parking lot, the late afternoon sun flashing across its windshield.

As Anne’s heart kicked in her chest, she was tempted to hustle in the side door of the church—but she had never been one to run from a challenge.

Danny was more than just a challenge, though.

And okay, fine. So maybe she had already run out of his way at least once: Last night, at the rehearsal dinner, she’d positively bolted after he’d made that speech of his.

I never believed in love . . . I thought it was just a word, a title folks gave to daydreams and misconceptions about destiny, a lie folks told to themselves to make them feel solid in this imperfect, unreliable, and mean-ass world.

Now I know it can happen between two people. And it doesn’t have to make sense because it’s not about logic. And it doesn’t have to have good timing because forever is like infinity, without beginning or end. And it doesn’t have to be defined because truth is like faith—it just is.

So, let’s toast to love.

He’d looked at her while he’d spoken. He had been talking . . . to her . . . in that slow, deep voice.

Everybody else had toasted Moose and Deandra. But Anne had known it hadn’t been about them. Danny, ever the ladies man, king of the one-night stand, he who shalt never be tied down . . . seemed to be suggesting not just that he’d had a change of heart.

But that he might have given his own to Anne.

Unless she was misreading everything? Then again, they had kissed the night before that. In her living room. While riding an adrenaline high after they’d saved a life in an alleyway.

And lips-to-lips had been better than good, the rare circumstance when reality had improved on a fantasy. After two years of attraction and sizzle and unacknowledged heat, that which had been pushed under the rug was exposed now. And there was no going back.

Especially as she felt the same way.

So hell yeah she had bolted out of that restaurant. The second she had been able to get up from her chair, she had hit the exit and left Danny without a ride home.

He’d called two hours later. He’d been in a bar, probably

Timeout where the crew always went, the noise in the background loud and raucous.

She had not answered. He had left a short message, but not called again.

Anne just wasn’t sure what to do. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There were plenty of things she wanted to do to him, with him, on him—all of which were naked and erotic and not necessarily only horizontal.

Refocusing, she watched Danny’s truck pass by. From behind the wheel, he looked over at her.

She waited for him to find a space and get out, and as he walked across to her, she tried—tried—not to go sixteen-year-old girl at the sight of him in a tuxedo.

#epicfail

He was very tall, over six feet five, and he was built hard and muscular, his shoulders so wide, his chest so broad, his waist the point of the inverted triangle of his torso. His jet-black hair was still damp, and what sunlight there was in the mostly cloudy sky flashed blue in its depths. He was freshly shaven—his cologne reaching her nose even before he stopped in front of her—and his eyes were that brilliant blue that had always arrested her. Irish eyes.

But they were not smiling.

For a man who was rarely serious, he looked positively grim, and she frowned.

“You okay?” Stupid question. “I mean—”

“Yeah, no. I’m fine.”

Standard answer for firefighters when they were in pain. And she wondered if it had to do with that speech of his, and what she could have sworn he had been telling her.

His eyes shifted off to the side and then his mouth got thinner.

“And here’s the blushing bride.”

A stretch limo entered the parking area and made a fat turn toward the back door of the cathedral. When it stopped, its driver got out and went to the rear door.

Seven all-in-pink, spray-tanned, body-glittered, and blond-streaked women got out one by one, a clown car of bridesmaids who were such carbon copies of each other, it was like they had been ordered out of a catalogue.

And then the white dress emerged.

Deandra, Moose’s intended, had her blond-streaked hair—natch—piled up on her head in an organized, sculpted waterfall of curls. Her veil was a gossamer fall over her tiny waist and her big skirt, and the shimmer of crystals across the bodice and down the front and sides of the gown made her look like a princess.

Provided you didn’t catch her expression.

She was sour as an old woman with gout and shingles. In spite of the fact that she was supposedly marrying her true love, she looked downright nasty as she snapped at the driver, glared at her maid of honor, and yanked her skirting up to march into the back of the church.

“Wow,” Anne muttered. “That’s a happy bride.”

“Whatever. They’re on their own with this dumbass idea.”

“Did you happen to talk to Moose last night?” she blurted.

“As in out of this? Or would that be considered tacky given it was less than twenty-four hours before the priest hit the altar with them.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “He’s bound and determined to ball-and-chain himself. Personally, I’d be running in the opposite direction.”

And then there was silence between them. Tension coiled up quick, and as Anne’s temples started to pound, she decided it was going to be a long night, just not for the reasons she’d assumed at the beginning of the weekend.

Stay Tuned…..

Wedding from Hell Part 1: The Rehearsal Dinner by: J.R. Ward

  Out Now on Kindle for FREE

Don’t miss #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward’s three-part ebook serialization: The Wedding From Hell. This exclusive prequel to her upcoming standalone suspense Consumed (available in Fall 2018) takes us back to where it all started between arson investigator Anne Ashburn and ‘bad boy’ firefighter Danny Maguire. The Wedding From Hell is a sexy standalone novella that sets up Consumed’s storyline, leaving fans hungry for more and dying to snatch it up.

About the Book:

It’s a classic recipe for disaster: Take one bridesmaid who thinks pink is the root of all evil, mix with a best man who’s hotter than a four-alarm fire, add in their explosive sexual attraction, a nightmare bridezilla, two cat fights, and an emergency call, and you have the wedding from hell.

Experience the sizzling start of Anne and Danny’s intense relationship. Is this the start of something good…or just an erotic one-night stand that rocks their world, but must never be repeated?

 

About the Author:

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

 

Purchase Link: http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Wedding-from-Hell-Part-1-The-Rehearsal-Dinner/J-R-Ward/9781982105365

 

Video from J.R. Ward:

Youtube: https://youtu.be/1vty_f_3hZs

Excerpt: 

Thursday, October 29

T minus 48 hours ’til blastoff

College Row, New Brunswick, Massachusetts

 

Because women are not frickin’ groomsmen! That’s why she can’t be in the goddamn wedding!”

As Anne Ashburn walked in the back door of the shotgun apartment, that happy little explosion was not only what she’d expected all along, it also offered her the out she’d been praying for. And it was probably the one and only time she was ever going to agree with the bride.

Not about the role of females in bridal parties, but that Anne wasn’t going to be in the “goddamn wedding.”

Everyone standing in the kitchen turned and looked at her: Deandra Cox, the impending wearer of the white dress; Robert “Moose” Miller, her exhausted fiancé and Anne’s fellow crew member down at the 499 fi rehouse; and . . . Dannyboy Maguire.

Who was the only one she really noticed and, for that reason, the person she refused to look at.

Too bad Danny always made an impression. Like most firefighters, he was in great physical shape, his big body thickly muscled and ready to snap into motion in an instant. With his heavy arms linked over that chest and his long legs crossed at the boots, he was leaning back against the chipped countertop, his too-blue stare missing nothing. He was fresh from a shower, his glossy black hair wet, and Anne tried not to picture him naked under the spray, his tattooed torso arching as he rinsed the shampoo out of his—

She put her hands up to stop herself as much as the argument. “Look, I don’t want to cause any problems. I’m happy to step aside—”

“And now I have one too many bridesmaids.” The bride-to-be refocused on her intended. “My count is wrong. You wait until two days before the wedding to tell me this when you know I’m not going to like it, and now my count is off!”

As the groom focused on the linoleum floor, it was impossible not to picture a wax version of the couple on a multi-tiered cake: Deandra in skinny jeans and that tight cashmere sweater, her dark hair streaked blond, her body cocked forward like she was going to throat-punch the man she was going to marry; Moose in his New Brunswick Fire Department T-shirt, all broad-shouldered and bearded around the face, easing back like someone with the flu was about to sneeze in his face.

Ah, true love.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Moose muttered. “Anne’s a member of the four-nine-nine crew, and everyone else is with me.”

“She’s a girl.” Deandra pointed at Anne. “It throws off everything.”

“I really don’t want to cause any problems.” Anne put her hands up again. “So I’ll just be in the congregation. It’s perfectly fine—”

Deandra’s glare swung Anne’s way. “The count is still wrong. And my friends have already paid for their dresses. They were a hundred and twenty dollars apiece.”

And that’s my cue to go, Anne thought. Moose may have volunteered for this, but no one else had or needed to—

“I think women can be whatever they want.”

As Danny spoke up, everyone looked at him—including Anne, who suddenly felt shades of what Deandra was throwing out.

Don’t you dare, she mouthed at him behind the bride’s back.

Danny just shrugged like he’d thrown on a pantsuit and was channeling Oprah, Michelle Obama, and Hillary Clinton all at once. “I mean, Deandra, you’re above all that sexism, aren’t you? No one’s going to tell you what’s right and wrong for your own wedding. You’re more secure than that.”

I am going to kill you, Anne vowed. “I think Deandra wants things done properly for her only wedding.”

Danny frowned in pseudo-confusion. “So you’re saying it’s okay to have a double standard for men and women? That’s a shocker given how you are at the station. I thought you believed in equality.”

“I do,” Anne snapped. “But this isn’t about equality.”

“You sure? I don’t know how you can support traditional gender roles when it comes to a wedding ceremony at the same time you defend the right for women to be firefighters, cops, and on the front lines in the military.”

“Spare me someone who’s never been in a dress having an opinion about women’s issues, okay?”

“I’m just pointing out that you don’t want women out of dresses.”

“It’s her wedding.” Anne jabbed a finger at Deandra. “She’s the bride. She gets to say what’s right and wrong for her, and she does not need some man telling her what to do.”

“Even if I’m defending the rights of women?”

“Until you grow a set of ovaries, you can shut the hell up about our rights!”

As Anne’s voice ricocheted around the kitchen, she realized that she’d marched right up to Danny—and that Deandra and Moose were watching the two of them in total stillness.

She cleared her throat and took a step back. “Anyway, Deandra’s made up her mind. And I support her decision.”

Deandra’s eyes narrowed on Danny, and something about the way the woman looked at him didn’t seem right.

“Actually,” the bride said, “maybe she should be in the wedding party.”

Anne prayed her expression stayed neutral. “Don’t compromise your vision on my account.”

“I won’t.” The woman stared at Danny. “Fine. Let’s put her in a tuxedo like the rest of the men. She can walk my sister down the aisle, just like a man should. Her shoulders are too big for a gown, anyway, and that way my count stays the way it should.”

Anne rolled her eyes. Let’s hear it for girl power.

“So it’s settled,” Deandra said with a tight smile. “You need a tux. Unless you already own one.”

For a moment, Anne waited for somebody to argue with the woman. Like Moose. But he was clearly done falling on swords over the wedding details, and Danny had just gotten what he wanted so he wasn’t going to say a damn thing.

And the truth was, after how many years of fighting fires with these men, they were her brothers in all but blood. Even though she thought Moose had lost his ever-loving mind marrying this beautiful but sour woman after knowing her for a matter of months, Anne was still going to stand up for the guy if he wanted her to—and he did. He’d asked her down at the stationhouse specifically.

“Where did you guys rent your suits?” Anne said to him.

“Tuxedoes,” Deandra corrected.

The groom blinked like he’d forgotten how to speak English. Then again, he’d been doing that a lot at the firehouse lately. “You’re actually going to wear one?”

“What the hell do I care?”

“Yes, she is wearing one,” Deandra cut in.

Danny spoke up. “I’ll go with you. I know where the place is.”

 

I’ve got my free Kindle edition and I will post an excerpt for Part 2 tomorrow.  I also have an E-ARC for Consumed, so look for that soon!

The Other Woman by: Sandie Jones

 Publication Date: August 21, 2018

Synopsis:

A deliciously disturbing, compulsively readable debut domestic suspense–prepare to meet The Other Woman: there’s nothing she won’t do to keep you away from her son …

Emily thinks Adam’s perfect; the man she thought she’d never meet. But lurking in the shadows is a rival; a woman who shares a deep bond with the man she loves.

Emily chose Adam, but she didn’t choose his mother Pammie. There’s nothing a mother wouldn’t do for her son, and now Emily is about to find out just how far Pammie will go to get what she wants: Emily gone forever.

The Other Woman is an addictive, fast-paced psychological thriller about the destructive relationship between Emily, her boyfriend Adam, and his manipulative mother Pammie.

My Review:

This was a fast-paced, well written thriller.  Everyone usually has horror stories to tell about their mother-in-law but Emily has the best story.  Her mother-in-law to-be, Pammie, is certifiable.  She does things to Pammie without anyone knowing and poor Emily is trying desperately to appease her fiance.  The hidden comments, the pictures of exes that appear in photo albums, the invite to Emily’s ex-best friend to her hen party; these are just a few of the things that Emily has to deal with.

How can Emily survive a relationship with her beloved fiance when his mother will do  everything she can to sabotage it?  This was an entertaining read and I had a hard time putting it down.

I gave this book 4 crowns.

 

The Fifth to Die by: J.D. Barker

Description from the Publishers through Netgalley

A 4MK Thriller

Detective Porter and the team have been pulled from the hunt for Anson Bishop, the Four Monkey Killer, by the feds. When the body of a young girl is found beneath the frozen waters of Jackson Park Lagoon, she is quickly identified as Ella Reynolds, missing three weeks. But how did she get there? The lagoon froze months earlier. More baffling? She’s found wearing the clothes of another girl, missing less than two days. While the detectives of Chicago Metro try to make sense of the quickly developing case, Porter secretly continues his pursuit of 4MK, knowing the best way to find Bishop is to track down his mother. When the captain finds out about Porter’s activities, he’s suspended, leaving his partners Clair and Nash to continue the search for the new killer alone.

Obsessed with catching Bishop, Porter follows a single grainy photograph from Chicago to the streets of New Orleans and stumbles into a world darker than he could have possibly imagined, where he quickly realizes that the only place more frightening than the mind of a serial killer is the mind of the mother from which he came.

My Review:

Last year, I read the first book in the 4MK Thriller series, The Fourth Monkey, and I loved it.  When I saw that the second book was about to be released, I requested it to review right away.  This is a stellar second book in a series.  I loved every, single page!  J.D. Barker has a way to transport the reader right into the story.   I was yelling out loud while reading this book, which made for some funny looks from my husband.  I would realize that I had my hands covering my head while I was reading at work.  I loved every second of this book.

I am so glad that there will be a third book to this series and I will definitely read anything Barker writes.

I gave this book 5 crowns.

 I received an E-ARC from the Publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Someone I Used to Know by: Patty Blount Nerd Blast & GIVEAWAY

SYNOPSIS

 

TRIGGER WARNING: Boys will be boys is never an excuse.

It’s been two years since the night that changed Ashley’s life. Two years since she was raped by her brother’s teammate. And a year since she sat in a court and watched as he was given a slap-on-the-wrist sentence. But the years have done nothing to stop the pain or lessen the crippling panic attacks that make her feel like she’s living a half-life.

It’s been two years of hell for Derek. His family is totally messed up and he and his sister are barely speaking. He knows she partially blames him for what happened, and totally blames him for how he handled the aftermath. Now at college, he has to come to terms with what happened, and the rape culture that he was inadvertently a part of that destroyed his sister’s life.

When it all comes to a head at Thanksgiving, Derek and Ashley have to decide if their relationship is able to be saved. And if their family can ever be whole again.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

 

Praise for SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW

“A beautifully crafted look at the complications of returning to ‘regular life’ after a devastating sexual assault. Fierce in its unapologetic dissection of rape culture, toxic masculinity, and athletic entitlement, Patty Blount does not hold her punches with respect to how difficult healing can be for an entire family. This book is thoughtful and thought-provoking, and ultimately very hopeful for survivors and those around them.” ―Christa Desir, author of FAULT LINE and BLEED LIKE ME

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Patty Blount grew up quiet and a bit invisible in Queens, NY, but found her voice in books. Today, she writes smart and strong characters willing to fight for what’s right. She’s the award-winning author of edgy, realistic, gut-wrenching contemporary and young adult romance. Still a bit introverted, she gets lost often, eats way too much chocolate, and tends to develop mad, passionate crushes on fictional characters. Let’s be real; Patty’s not nearly as cool as her characters, but she is a solid supporter of women’s rights and loves delivering school presentations.

Patty is best known for her internet issues novels, including SOME BOYS, a 2015 CLMP Firecracker winner and SEND, a 2012 Junior Library Guild Fall Pick. Visit her website at pattyblount.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter. She blogs at YA Outside the Lines and is also active online. She loves hearing from readers, especially when they tell her she’s cool (even though she knows it’s not true), and is easily bribed with chocolate. Never underestimate the power of chocolate.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: DAN DEMERIAD 

WEBSITE:https://www.pattyblount.com/
TWITTER:@PattyBlount
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5344531.Patty_Blount
FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/PattyBlountNovels
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/pattyblount3/

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

 

2 Winners will receive a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e849f7751423/ 

ENDS: AUGUST 31, 2018

Check out the other Nerd Blast posts: http://www.jeanbooknerd.com/2018/07/nerd-blast-someone-i-used-to-know-by.html