Friday 1 April 2016

Spread Some Indie Love Blog Hop - Jordan Rivet



Duel of Fire
Steel and Fire Book 1

Dara Ruminor is a serious young duelist in the mountaintop kingdom of Vertigon, a land of dramatic cliffs and misty peaks where mysterious Fire magic runs through the stones like blood. The secluded kingdom has been peaceful for a hundred years. Swords are used for sport, and successful athletes live like kings as long as the crowds love them.
Eighteen-year-old Dara needs to find a wealthy patron in order to duel professionally and avoid a lifetime working in her parents’ Fire Lantern shop. Her efforts are disrupted when her coach asks her to train with Prince Siv, an infuriating—if handsome—young man who refuses to take the sport as seriously as she does. But the prince’s life may be in danger, and soon Dara will discover that Vertigon isn’t as peaceful as she thought.
As threats emerge from the shadows, Dara will have to raise her sword to protect Siv—if he doesn’t irritate her so much that she decides to run him through herself. 

From the author of the Seabound Chronicles comes a new fantasy series about sword fighting, cur-dragons, molten Fire magic, and one young woman’s effort to prove herself. 

Buy Links >   Amazon

Author Bio
Jordan Rivet is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. Originally from Arizona, she lives in Hong Kong with her husband. She is the author of the post-apocalyptic Seabound Chronicles and the new Steel and Fire fantasy adventure series.

Follow Jordan on Twitter @Jordan_Rivet



❤️ Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Click here to win an ebook by Linzé

Spread Some Indie Love Blog Hop - Amy Bovaird



Synopsis: 
Adventurous international teacher, Amy Bovaird, is diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease that will blind her. In spite of that, she manages to continue teaching overseas. Then her father’s final illness brings her back home for good. There, friends and acquaintances begin to notice that she doesn't always recognize them and sometimes stumbles…as if drunk! Insensitive students ridicule her in the classroom. Unwilling to accept that she is truly losing her eyesight, Amy resists when the Bureau of Blindness schedules a mobility specialist to begin training her to use a white cane. How can she, an independent world traveler, use something that screams ‘I am a blind person’? Will her faith prove strong enough to allow her to move forward and accept herself as she is?

Buy links > Amazon

About the Author
Amy Bovaird taught English as a Second Language in Latin America, South East Asia and the Middle East. She is one of one hundred thousand who lives with Usher Syndrome—the leading cause of progressive deafness and blindness. She is an author, educator and inspirational speaker. In her memoir, Mobility Matters, she steps out of denial and into faith as she chronicles her progress in cane training with a completely blind instructor and finds ways to cope with the initial stage of hearing loss. She’s currently penning her new memoir, Cane Confessions: The Lighter Side to Mobility. 

❤️ Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Click here to win an ebook by Linzé

A to Z Blog Challenge: A

A is for Aphorism - noun. A short clever phrase which makes a true point.

My example: The hourglass drops the seconds one grain at a time.

Perhaps not the cleverest. Can you think of a better example?

See what the other bloggers are writing about here.

Thursday 31 March 2016

Spread Some Indie Love Blog Hop - Linzé Brandon


STORM Volume I is a mix of fantasy, science fiction and dystopian stories where people's lives are influenced by the occurrence of a storm, physical, moral or magical.
Set in worlds apart from our own, authors of the Pretoria Writers' Group give life to characters who may not seem so far away from us after all.

Specially discounted to $0.99 until 7 April 2016. To get the benefit of the discount use coupon code  VY78L when you complete the transaction. Enjoy!



STORM Volume II is a mix of contemporary stories where people's lives are influenced by the occurrence of a storm: physical, moral or imaginary.
Set in a modern day setting, four authors of the Pretoria Writers' Group brings stories from real life, in sometimes difficult circumstances, to this anthology.

Specially discounted to $0.99 until 7 April 2016. To get the benefit of the discount use coupon code  ZY83E when you complete the transaction. Enjoy!




Enter the Giveaway and stand a chance to win an ebook copy of 
Linzé Brandon's latest novel, Michael's Mystery!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday 30 March 2016

A to Z Blog Challenge 2016

www.a-to-zchallenge.com
I didn't plan on doing another Blog Challenge at the same time as Camp NaNoWriMo, but alas here I am again, unable to resist the difficulties of blogging every day and writing a story every day, for a month. Although I try to write every day, I don't blog every day. Now I am going to do both. So April, here we come - the authors and bloggers...let the games begin!

For my challenge this year, I chose - words. Random words (that I didn't know) picked from my trusty Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus. Since I pride myself on wanting to learn something new each day, the words of the English language will find themselves to my brain, and my keyboard sometimes with a sarcastic twist.


When I registered I was no 1465 on the list. Just before posting this there were 1487 blogs registered to take part. Wow! If you like reading blogs here is a list you want to check out.  If you are a blogger and want to take part - this is the place to sign up.

If you missed any of my posts during the week, don't despair - there will be a link to each on my Sunday Linzé's Mischief post.

I will be back! On 1 April with this challenge and other exciting posts. 💙


Tuesday 29 March 2016

The Friendship Affair

The Friendship Affair by Linzé Brandon, blog serial
Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 12

She felt his chest vibrate with silent laughter. She had to smile too. For a moment.
“Yeah, he might not have been the best husband, but he was a smart businessman. Although he knew his decision could be contested due to the Alzheimers, he assembled a panel of people to attest to his state of mind, when he signed the papers. There were lawyers, psychiatrists, and medical doctors. I think he even had a tax consultant present. His family was livid, but there was nothing they could do about it.”
She fell silent and breathed him. There had been no judgment on his side. Had he always been this open minded? She couldn't remember and sighed.
He pulled back and looked down. “Hey, what was that for? I think your husband was a genius. Still an ass, but a genius. By giving you control, he made sure you would be financially secure and not have to worry about his family giving you any grief.”
“Except that the company was already in financial trouble, and I was not equipped to do anything about it.”
“Ouch.”
She stepped away and sat on the stool at the dressing table.
“I knew I had to do something since he had deteriorated by that time and had to be placed in special care.”
“So soon?”
“If he had gone for treatment sooner, the medication could have slowed down the process, but he had been too stubborn. They put him on meds, but the damage had been done. It still slowed down the progression, but he couldn't go back even a year to what he had.”
“If I understand this correctly, he had been in special care for what, fifteen years...”
“Sixteen,” she added quietly.
“...and you have been the one to pay for his care during all this time? With no support from his family?”


He was stunned. This woman was amazing.
“His family was ashamed of his illness. Since they couldn't contest his decision, they shunned me too. It was hard, but I coped.”
“What about the business?”
She shrugged and got up once more. “I asked an independent forensic accountant to check the books. They were sound, but the company had been bleeding money.”
“The family?”
“Yeah. Very expensive parasites they had turned out to be. Houses, cars, clothes, it was disgusting. I stopped all those payments and had the assets sold to recover some of the losses. By the end of that year, the company was back in the black and doing well, but his medical expenses were high and I couldn't afford them on my salary. I sold the house and the business as soon as I could to set up a trust to ensure that he would be taken care of for the rest of his life.”
“And to ensure that it happens you have to remain married to execute the power of attorney.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
She turned around and looked at him. “I am sorry. I never thought I would...,” she stopped and looked away.
“Don't worry about that now. Come here.”
She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist. He felt her fingers dig into his skin but didn't object. She was sacrificing so much of herself and her future, she had to love this guy.
Today they became lovers, but could they go back to being friends again? Or was he going to step away permanently?
He rubbed his cheek against her hair.
“We don't have to figure out everything right this minute,” he murmured. “I still want to see you, but it will be up to you how we are going to define this—”
“Affair?”
He grimaced. “I was going to say relationship.”
“Same thing.”
“Okay. Technically you are right, so let's not argue about semantics, shall we? What we need to do is get some sleep and think about this. What do you say?”
He knew what he wanted. What he had to figure out was how he was going to go forward and how he was going to stop his own secret from destroying that glimmer of hope?

Catch all the previous chapters on Wattpad

Monday 28 March 2016

Book Review: The Yoga of Max's Discontent by Karan Bajaj

I volunteered to review this book as a blog host as part of a blog tour. The tour was cancelled before it commenced.
I first need to clarify my views on the contents of the book before providing the details of my impression of it. I do not subscribe in any way to the spiritual philosophy associated with Yoga or Hinduism. I will not comment on any religious or spiritual aspect of the story.
I found the story to be long with an old-fashioned narrative style - mostly telling not showing, and limited dialogue especially towards the end. The ending seemed abrupt which didn't feel right given the length of the novel and the extensive descriptions in the narration.
The main character, Max was well developed. The reader gets deep insight into his inner turmoil, personal issues, his guilt and his journey to find himself. The way Max is portrayed as a selfish ambitious man on the road to becoming more caring and aware is exceptionally well done.
While his behaviour towards his fellow man rises to new heights, the increasing distance and disinterest in his own sister is a contradiction which I found disconcerting to some extent. How could he care more about other people and less about his own sibling?
Other characters in the story were likeable and remained in character throughout Max's interaction with them. I enjoyed these characters and Max's relationships with them - some fleeting, and others longer. The longer relationships were explored in more depth and they contributed towards Max's search and journey to find that higher level of existence he sought.
Despite the spiritual content, and my misgivings on some aspects of it, I mostly enjoyed reading the story.

My rating:

PRIME PLEDGE by Linzé Brandon (Book 8 in the Nations of Peace series)

PreSALE offer - get the book BEFORE its release on 1 December 2024!  Wolfgang Hauer is not just a businessman, he is the Prime Alpha, pri...