Book Blast: The Howling Heart by April Bostic

The Howling Heart
Paige Donovan is an ambitious college graduate who aspires to reach the top of the corporate ladder. She’s climbing fast when given the promotion of a lifetime at a prestigious fashion magazine in New York City. Her bright future comes to an unexpected halt after news of her father’s death. She inherits his old cabin in the Colorado Rockies, and just when she thinks her luck couldn’t get any worse, she has a car accident in the mountains and awakens in the small, remote community of Black River.

Soon, she’s engulfed in the mystical world of Varulv---wolves descended from 13th century Scandinavia and blessed by Norse gods with the ability to appear human. Paige is desperate to return home, but never expects to fall for her rescuer, Riley Gray, a charming young werewolf from England who offers her an alternate future with his pack.

Now, she must choose between the career she’s always wanted and the love she’s always dreamed.

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author Bio
April Bostic is a New Jersey-based, Adult Romance author who enjoys unleashing her creativity and letting her imagination run wild. Her love of romance books inspired her to become not just a reader, but also a writer. In December 2008, she self-published her first novel, a contemporary romance with a supernatural twist entitled "A Rose to the Fallen".

Her first short story, "Right Here, Right Now", released in January 2012, is an erotic romance with a dash of S&M. The following year, she released two more short stories: a romantic urban fantasy inspired by the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche entitled "Eros, My Love", and a sexy romantic comedy entitled "Love Addiction".

After five years, she released her second novel, "The Howling Heart" in August 2013, a paranormal romance that delves into the mystical world of werewolves and Norse gods. To end her busiest year in publishing, April will release her fourth short story in December 2013, an 18^th century paranormal romance entitled "A Dark Scandal".

Website | Goodreads

 

Giveaway

One winner will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card plus The Howling Heart ebook in either epub or PDF format.

Open internationally.
Ends 27th October 2013

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-thon #WWReadathon

 

From the host, My Shelf Confessions:

The Wonderfully Wicked Read-A-Thon is a time when we all get together to dedicate the days of October 11-20 to as much reading as possible. You read as much as you can in order to get yourself a little further through that huge to-read pile! We know real life gets in the way and even if you can’t participate more than one day, you’re welcome to join in on the fun!

This sounds like lots of fun and I definitely haven't been reading as much as I should be lately. My reading list for the week:
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (just for fun)
Everlasting Hunger by Brandy Dorsch(for a review tour)

Book Tour: Sanctuary by Pauline Creeden

In a heart-racing thriller described as Falling Skies meets The Walking Dead, Jennie struggles to find a safe place for what’s left of her family. But it seems as though there is no place sacred, no place secure. First the aliens attacked the sun, making it dimmer, weaker, and half what it used to be. Then they attacked the water supply, killing one-third of Earth’s population with a bitter contaminate. And when they unleash a new terror on humankind, the victims will wish for death, but will not find it…
When the world shatters to pieces around her, will Jennie find the strength she needs to keep going? 

Find Sanctuary on

Smashwords

Goodreads

YouTube

Buy Sanctuary
 Amazon
Barnes & Noble 

Sanctuary follows the story of 19 year old Jennie after aliens arrive on Earth. Pauline does a wonderful job writing her characters, giving each of them flaws and strengths that are demonstrated through their actions - actions, I might add, that always advance the plot in thoughtful ways. Even the aliens are well-written; terrifying, evocatively described, and my brand-new recurring nightmare :) 
The only negative thing I have to say was that Sanctuary was a bit heavy on the Christian faith theme and seemed a bit preachy to me at times. That of course, is a personal preference of mine and those who share religious faith or enjoy reading religious themes will probably enjoy that aspect of the book.

Rating

Pauline Creeden is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy. In her fiction, she creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long.

Website    http://paulinecreeden.com 
Facebook http://facebook.com/paulinecreeden
Twitter     @P_Creeden

Follow the Rest of the Tour

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Macaroon Bible by Dan Cohen

I recently requested a copy of The Macaroon Bible by Dan Cohen through NetGalley because, well, who doesn't love macaroons? I was expecting something great - lots of unique recipes, really good results, beautiful pictures (a must for all cookbooks!). What I got was...not quite that. There was a picture for each recipe and they were beautiful. And every recipe I tried had good results. But the book did have some faults.

 

Chocolate and Original Macaroons

Pumpkin Spice Macaroons

A lot of the recipes were identical except for the addition of melted chocolate for dipping or caramel for drizzling. In addition, the recipes that were "different" more often than not just added a little flavouring, which even a novice baker could experiment with and still achieve excellent results in a cookie. This book has a price tag of almost $17 and I don't know about you, but if I'm going to part with my hard-earned money, I expect to get full value for it and repetitive recipes just don't seem like $17 worth of content to me.

Beyond that, I question some of the choices the author made. For example, the list of ingredients for every recipe calls for 1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. As you read the directions for mixing though, you find that you only need 10 ounces. To me, a list of ingredients is supposed to tell you exactly the quantity of something you will be adding to the recipe, not the size of the can the product comes in. If I was making cookies with 2% milk in them, would the ingredient list tell me I need a 2L carton? Nope.

All things considered, I give The Macaroon Bible a measly two cupcakes out of five.

It's time for the September Baking Challenge reveal! If you have read The Vacant Chair by Kaylea Cross, please feel free to discuss it in the comments below or on twitter (tag @paperbackpastry and #TheVacantChair). You can read my review here.

Now on to the reveal! First, here's a recap of this month's challenge:

In The Vacant Chair, Brianna sends Justin homemade cookies with her letter. What would you send to a soldier?

I've had a lot of practice baking cookies for soldiers. It has to be something that travels well (so nothing that molds quickly or crumbles easily because nobody wants to eat mold and crumbs). It's also nice to send a really big batch so your goodies can be shared with everyone. With those things in mind, I picked this recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies.

Big Batch Oatmeal Raisin Cookies 
2 cups butter
1.5 cups brown sugar
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
1.5 cups oats (any kind will work in this recipe)
4 cups raisins

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients, except oats and raisins. Mix into wet ingredients. Fold in oats. Stir in raisins.
Form into 1" balls and bake at 350F for about 15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown but still slightly soft in the centre.
Yield: 4-5 dozen cookies.

Book Tour: Finding Esta by Shah Wharton

Finding Esta is a paranormal mystery and they story of a woman's journey to find herself.

From Shah Wharton's blog:

Book 1 of The Supes Series: Finding Esta (Published)

Psychic flaws curse a fledgling journalist who seeks validation from loveless parents, and peace within her cruel world. When her investigation into child abduction leads her to the supernatural Cornish underworld, her sense of identity implodes as each incredible revelation steers her to a singularly mind-blowing question:

“What am I?”

I loved the plot and the personalities of the characters. The story really wasn't what I expected and I loved discovering it bit by bit (as you may have noticed, I hate predictable books). Paranormal and fantasy create such wonderful new worlds while still leaving so much room for the reader's imagination, and Finding Esta didn't disappoint on that front. I did think that the writing style left a bit to be desired though, so this one can only get 3 cupcakes out of 5. Do pick it up if you want an interesting, out-of-the-box read that lets your imagination run wild.

Buy Finding Esta

Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

 Barnes & Noble | KOBO | Sony| iBOOKS  SMASHWORDS

Cover Reveal: The Keepers Series by Rae Rivers

The Keepers:

Sienna, Archer, Declan, Ethan

By Rae Rivers

Published by Harper Impulse, Harper Collins

SIENNA available September 26th

The Keepers: SIENNA

Available for pre-order now! 

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

A full moon in Rapid Falls.
Sienna Beckham is a powerful witch, and along with her four fiercely protective Keepers, it is her destiny to maintain the balance of nature in this world.
Tonight, it's the town carnival and everyone will be there: Sienna's family, her friends, her protectors. Archer.
Laughter and flirtation await.
But in a few hours, Sienna's life will have changed forever and her powers stretched to their very limits.
For something is lurking in the forest…
Murder. Sorcery. Revenge.
And no one sees it coming.
Find out how it all began…
The FREE PREQUEL to Rae Rivers' magical new series, The Keepers. 

Also look for the other three books in the series, ARCHER, DECLAN and ETHAN 

 

Author Info
I’m an avid reader and writer with a passion for writing romance novels. I live in Cape Town, South Africa, with my gorgeous husband, two beautiful children and a zoo of house pets. Besides writing, I love family time, the outdoors, travelling, watching TV series, reading and chocolate. For more information about my books, or me, please visit www.raerivers.com

I can also be found here:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rae.rivers.180
Twitter: @raerivers1
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/rae_rivers 
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/raerivers