Lore by Alexandra Bracken (Coming Jan 5th, 2021)

 

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

Publisher: Disney Hyperion (January 5, 2021)

Year Published: 2021

Genre: Young Adult, Greek Mythology, Fantasy 

Started: November 25th

Finished: December 28th

Rating: A+/5 Stars

Seriously when you look at this cover, it screams butt-kicking heroine!

A Gorgon! Medusa in all her glory! This cover alone would be putting in my request to get my hands on Reader's Copy. 

I was given a copy through Netgalley for my honest opinion. Here comes my honest opinion. GET THE BOOK!

Lore is a girl, who grew up knowing she was destined for something great, and all that was taken from her. As we follow Lore and her crew, we find out what happened on the worse night of her life. Who is playing who? Who will come out the victor? 

I think my favorite part of this book, was when Lore called out a goddess on her B.S. For favoritism for the other sex. Her punishments she doled out, to those who should have been protected. Her reply to it all. 

Lore is an entertaining read, I highly recommend reading it at any age. My Youngest teenager is looking forward to the audiobook when it releases.  

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family's sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man--now a god--responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to bind her fate to Athena's and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost--and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

Teaser Reveal: Reputation By Adriana Locke

 REPUTATION by Adriana Locke

Release Date: January 5th

Goodreads & Preorder

Coy Mason is a jerk.

If there is one truth that Bellamy Davenport knows, it’s that. Hands-down. (Well, that and the fact that she didn’t mean to hurt him. Physically. Coy can’t be hurt emotionally because he doesn’t have a heart.)
Coy is not just the small-town, literal boy-next-door. He’s a heartbreaking, womanizing, mischief-making (and delicious) man and was all of those things well before he became a hot-shot country music sensation.

He’s a dream standing in her doorway with no shirt, messy hair, and a ‘Do you wanna?’ grin. But he’s also a nightmare for her heart and she knows it.
Their enemies-to-lovers relationship always ends the same way—heavy on the enemies, light on the lovers.

So why is she still standing there?

USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own.

She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.

Website:  https://adrianalocke.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoradrianalocke

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/booksbyadrianalocke

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authoralocke

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoradrianalocke

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8379774.Adriana_Locke

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3mSvZkb

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-locke

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Pretty Monsters by Kimberly Carrillo

 

Pretty Monsters by Kimberly Carrillo

Publisher: Kimberly Carrillo

Year Published: December 1, 2020

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Started: December 1st, 2020

Finished: December 12th, 2020

Rating: A+/5 Stars

When this book dropped in my emails for me to read before release.  I had not noticed it until after it had released.  I had completely forgotten that Carrillo was releasing a book soon. With getting back into the swing of work after being home quarantined with COVID-19. I was not sure if I was going to get it to read it. So, I reached out to Carrillo and let her know what was going on. She was super awesome and still was interested in my review.  (I love when an author says this, it is my crack) 

Now the true test was my brain up for the challenge.  I gave myself to the 11th of December to read and review it. I was just a day off…….Many more at getting my review up. 

With the first chapter, I felt I might have overstated my ability to read this by said date. Before I knew it, I had a couple of days left on my time frame. So, I started putting 30 minutes before work to read it. Then I realized I was reading longer than my so-called 30 minutes.  Sneaking pages in between getting home, dinner, and bed. I was curious about how this would go. 

We get to a point in the books that Raven gets to show off that she did something else besides sit around in private schools. I enjoyed that a lot. More so when she tried something different for her, and not available at her private school, she had to practice and work at being better. I felt this did great for her character development had kept me progressing in the book. 

The relationships and discoveries that are made, has me itching to get my hands on the second book in the series. One happy reader, I highly recommend this book and author. 

Book in 5 Words: DAMN, Hot, Yass, Suspenseful, Dark

Welcome to Devil’s Crossing, where monsters dwell. Here we don't hide in the shadows.

I am vengeance wrapped in a pretty package, but you can call me Sin, everyone else does.

I’m a weapon and as such I live for one thing only, to bring death where I’m aimed. That is until the night she walks into the moonlight.

Raven Blackthorne taunts me with her beauty and innocence. She doesn’t belong in my world, even if it is her father who’s trapped me here. I’m not good for her, but maybe I’m exactly who she needs to help her escape it.

Unless I break her first.

Getting to Know Becky Andersen

Becky Andersen is the oldest of six children in a close-knit and fun-loving family. She never went to one school two years in a row until her junior and senior years in high school, and then ended up marrying her high school sweetheart at age 20. For thirty-seven years they lived a life full of fun and laughter with two daughters until the sudden and unexpected death of her husband.

Fast forward several years later: She survived widowhood, was put on an online dating site by her children, married her cyber sweetheart, and has now published two books. "We're Not Sixteen Anymore" is the true-life, laugh-out-loud account of dating as a senior citizen - when the last time Andersen had dated, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were first walking on the moon.

Her second novel is a fiction book about widowed sisters who take a bus tour to try to "find themselves" while finding something to do other than to sit around and grieve. It's called "The Widsters" and is a sometimes funny, sometimes tearful, compelling and engaging read. While fiction, Andersen again uses some of her own experiences to provide a true-to-life glimpse into the lives of older, but young-at-heart women.

Becky is now the grandmother of nine wonderful children. She enjoys reading, writing stories for her grands, gardening, walking, tennis, traveling, and is currently trying to figure out where all the free time disappears that was supposed to come with retirement.

We asked Becky Andersen 10 Questions, that we the readers love to know. She was lovely enough to join in on the fun and answer them.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

    In 4th grade, I had a teacher write on a paper I’d turned in “You should be a writer someday.”  Uh, right! Not gonna happen. And yet that stayed with me for years and years (I’m 68!!). One job I had almost 40 years ago, I was the “editor” of a Farm Bureau page that went out to the Iowa division of Farm Bureau members. “Editor” meant writer, and after I managed to get my first page out, I got a lot of positive feedback for my tongue-in-cheek writing. From then on, I loved to write articles, stories, and finally a book!

How long does it take you to write a book?

     I don’t have a definitive answer for you. I’m not one of those authors who can churn out book after book. I wish I were! Not Sixteen was a story that ended itself naturally. I didn’t have any type of deadline, but I think I worked on it for two or three months – NOT every day, nor long periods of time. But I’ve also written a fictional novel and it took me about six months to complete because I did research and then let the story tell itself. 

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

    Schedule?  Are we supposed to have a schedule??? Eek!  Maybe it’s because I’m retired I haven’t had much of a schedule, but I AM definitely a morning person, so when I am writing, I try to get up, showered, dressed, and then down to my computer for about 4-5 hours. I confess that may not be every day in a row!

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

    Besides having to have a can of Diet Mountain Dew available at all times, I guess my quirk is that I would rather write long-hand on paper – at least to begin with. There’s a fantastic satisfaction after about three or four pages of written work in a spiral notebook, ripping them out, wadding them up and trying to see if I have high school girls basketball skills left when I throw them into a garbage can! Plus if I don’t end up throwing them away to start over, I make notes on the side, number and circle  paragraphs and draw arrows up to a blank spot I think might be a better place, and maybe use different colored ink to write different things. In other words, I waste time doing what I could do just the same on the computer, only faster.  I never thought that was a quirk. Now I do. Jeepers!  I better change!!!

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

    In my case, it’s LIFE. My own experiences, although I’ve written three books just for my grandchildren, and they were total imagination, which I loved – and fortunately, they did, too!

When did you write your first book?

    My first book, We’re Not Sixteen Anymore, was written shortly after I married my second husband. He was still working, and I was retired. We both had been widowed, and our kids put us on Match.com. I’d posted on Facebook about some of my dates and very naive attempts at navigating cyberdating since it had been 40 years since I’d last dated. I had so many people wanting me to expand my stories that I decided to write.  BQB/WriteLife Publishing accepted my story in 2015 and it was published June 2016.

hat do you like to do when you’re not writing?

    I love to take walks, garden, read, and see family and friends. During this pandemic, the last two have been almost non-existent (I have kids who live in Europe and Florida – both places foreign to this native Iowan!!!) SO I’m now into genealogy! And scanning the thousands, and I’m not kidding about that number, of photographs of my childhood, youth, marriage, motherhood and now old age. Thank heaven for photoshop when it comes to whitening teeth and erasing wrinkles!!!

What does your family think of your writing?

    What any good, loving family thinks: I’m brilliant, talented and funny. Oh, and I need to mention my family is also well-trained not to hurt my feelings….  ;

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

    You know, I’ve told so many people this, but it took me writing a book to realize that I never once - in all the years of being read to as a baby and reading as soon as I could for over 60 years now – never once did I stop to think how an idea in someone’s mind got from inside their head to the shelves of a library or bookstore! Talk about it takes a village.  What an education in creating, editing and publishing a book this has been!

Which book that you have written is your favorite?

    I’d have to say my first one. It was like having a baby!  I enjoyed writing “We’re Not Sixteen Anymore” and even more so, I enjoy the feedback I get from readers. I am thrilled to death when someone reviews Not Sixteen and says they laughed out loud while reading it. Life can be very serious and sad sometimes. Laughter is good for the mind and the soul – and I know this for a fact!

Thank you Becky for all your wonderful answers, they sure put a smile on my face. 

If you like to know about Becky Andersen please follow her on Facebook or Instagram. Don't forget to stop by her site https://www.beckyandersen.com/ and take a stroll through all the blog posts. I promise you won't regret it :)

Getting to Know Harriet Hodgson

 A freelancer for 39 years, Harriet Hodgson is the author of thousands of articles and 44 books. She loves writing so much she even writes in her sleep! Her work focuses on a variety of topics: nutrition, sexual harassment, Alzheimer's disease, aging, grief reconciliation/recovery, and caregiving.

We asked Harriet 10 questions that we the readers would love to know. She was kind enough to answer these. So let's get to know Harriet a bit more!

      

  

 When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

When I was about 8 or 9 years old and handmade books for friends. (Now that is a GIFT)

 

How long does it take you to write a book?

I worked on one book for a dozen years and just wrote a book in a week.

 

What is your work schedule like when you are writing? 

I start early, around 5 a.m., write all morning, and revise in the afternoon.

 

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

I love writing so much I write in my sleep. When I wake up, I immediately go to the computer and make corrections or new copy.

 

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

Most of my books come from my life and have lengthy resource lists. As a nonfiction writer, I am always in research mode.

 

When did you write your first book?  1979

 

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I do Japanese Enso painting (circles), Doodle Art (I illustrated my latest book), read a variety of books, and cook.

 

What does your family think of your writing?

My husband is my biggest fan. All family members think of me as an experienced author. Today, I’m the author of 42 published books.

 

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

I learned I am stronger than I realized. (I love this so much!)

 

Which book, that you have written, is your favorite?

I have many favorites, including Affirmations for Family Caregivers, So, You’re Raising Your Grandkids!, The Grandma Force, and my two forthcoming books, Ready, Set, Lead! and Grief Doodling: Bringing Back Your Smiles.

You can Follow Harriet on Facebook and Twitter. Don't forget to check out her other amazing books on Amazon.