Required Reading

Life is complicated enough without getting into hotwater with federal agencies so: TAKE NOTE Many things I review I got at no charge in exchange for an honest review. Consider this as informing you that ALL things I review may have been gotten at no charge. Realistically about 60% but in order to keep things above board just assume that I got the stuff free. I do not collect information on my readers. If cookies or other tracking stuff is used on my blogs it is due to BLOGGER not ME. Apparently the European Union's new rules state I need to inform you if cookies are being use. If they are it isn't byu me, consider yourself INFORMED.
Words like, “sponsored,” “promotion,” “paid ad” or even just “ad” are clear ways to disclose that you’re being paid to share information and links so BE AWARE that some of what I write can be described as an AD by the government. BTW I will NEVER say a product is great, super or even acceptable if it isn't, whether I got it free or NOT!

Books I have authored.

Many times I receive books for FREE to give them an honest review. I do not get paid to give a good or bad review. Spotlights are promotional and should be regarded as advertising for the book spotlighted. Regardless of where or how I got a book, my review will be as honest as I can make it.

Friday, June 30, 2017

Spotlight on the Book of Judas by Linda Stasi




Sara Wigal, Publicist
JKS Communications sara@jkscommunications.com (615) 810-9697

Bestseller Linda Stasi with second Alessandra Russo Thriller

Stasi reveals the true story of Judas Iscariot, most beloved disciple of Jesus
 
NEW YORK, NEW YORK It all started when Linda Stasi noticed an old novel, I, Judas by Taylor Caldwell, on the bookshelf in her home. She hadn’t bought it, neither had anyone else in her family, and she certainly hadn’t placed it there. In fact, she’d never even seen it before, but nonetheless this 1977 tale about the imagined life of Judas Iscariot had somehow

mysteriously appeared. Then, three days later, while on a getaway weekend in Princeton with her daughter, she was shocked to see—right on the front display table in the Labyrinth Bookstore—another book about Judas. This one was about a recently re-discovered 2,000-year-old missing Gospel of Judas. Intrigued by the bizarre coincidence, she bought it—of course. But she sure wasn’t prepared for what she herself discovered within those pages.

The Judas codex, she learned, which had been found in a cave in Egypt four decades earlier, then lost on the European and Middle Eastern blackmarkets for years, had been found again—rotting in a Citibank box deposit box in Hicksville Long Island. Not only was that the very town where she’d grown up, but the codex had been hidden in the SAME Citibank branch where she’d had her first-ever account. What were the chances? A million to one? A billion to one? There were even rumors out there that some of the pages of Judas’s Gospel were missing.

The fix was in. Another Alessandra Russo mystery began—one that had to be solved.

From hard-hitting New York Daily News columnist Linda Stasi comes Book of Judas, a riveting religious thriller featuring beloved protagonist Alessandra Russo.

New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille says, “It will take your breath away.”

New York Times bestselling author, Lisa Scottoline says: Linda Stasi is a modern-day Damon Runyon, and her heroine, reporter Alessandra Russo, is a veritable force of nature, by turns witty, gutsy, and as a mother, surprisingly tender. You won't be able to put down Book of Judas, and you'll root for Russo through this gritty, breakneck thriller against a vivid backdrop worth of The Da Vinci Code.

www.JKSCommunications.com   237 Old Hickory Blvd., Suite 201  Nashville, TN 37221

Sara Wigal       (615) 810-9697       sara@jkscommunications.com




ABOUT THE BOOK

New York City reporter Alessandra Russo is pulled into yet another intrigue; this time her friend Roy inherits a strange religious manuscript, tightly protected in a mysteriously locked tube. Rumors run rampant that these are missing pages from a rotted codex, the heretical Gospel of Judas, which postulated that Judas was not the betrayer, but the beloved of Jesus. Alessandra’s interest in the manuscript is truly piqued when she is faced with tragedy no mother should experience, and must track down the missing pages of the Gospel to set things right.

Do the lost pages reveal a secret that will challenge Christianity's very belief about the creation of life, or even the power to unleash Armageddon? What if such explosive documents fell into the hands of modern-day terrorists, dictators, or religious fanatics? Can Alessandra crack the code and learn what the Gospel of Judas is truly saying to the faithful?

During her investigation, Alessandra is plunged into a dark world of murder, conspiracy, sexual depravity, and most importantly, a race against the clock to save her own child.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 
LINDA STASI, the popular and well-read columnist for the New York Daily News, and previously for the New York Post, has also been an on-camera TV co-host with Mark Simone for the past 18 years on NY 1 - Spectrum’s “What a Week!”

She was named “One of the Fifty Most Powerful Women in NYC” and has won numerous awards. She is a two-time winner of Best Column by the Newswomen’s Club of NY, Best Humor Columnist, and named Woman of the Year by the Boys Town of Italy for her charitable work such as driving a tractor-trailer in an 18-truck convoy from NYC to the
gulf states with hurricane relief supplies.

Stasi has appeared on TV talk shows and news channels such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, Hardball, Good Day New York, The O’Reilly Factor, and The View, as well as CNN, Fox News, MSNBC news shows, and many others. She has appeared several times on
“Coast to Coast” with George Noory and is a regular guest on I Radio’s nationally broadcast Mark Simone Show, and countless others around the country.
Brash, funny and opinionated, the acerbic Stasi’s first novel, The Sixth Station, published in January of 2013 by Forge Books was hailed as, “A helluva religious thriller,” by Nelson DeMille, while Steve Berry said, “You’ll be grabbing the pages so tight your knuckles will turn white!” Booklist said of the book, “Dan Brown and Steve Berry fans have another controversial novel in which to lose themselves.” For The Sixth Station, Stasi was selected as a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award.


www.JKSCommunications.com   237 Old Hickory Blvd., Suite 201  Nashville, TN 37221

Sara Wigal       (615) 810-9697       sara@jkscommunications.com


3


Stasi has also authored five non-fiction books – Looking Good Is the Best Revenge, A Field Guide to Impossible Men, Simply Beautiful, Boomer Babes, and Scotto Sunday Suppers.

Not afraid to say what’s on her mind in her popular Wednesdays and full-page Sunday columns in the New York Daily News, which has a print readership of more than 650,000 on Sundays, and millions of digital readers daily.

Linda Stasi’s husband, Sid Davidoff, has been named to City & State’s100 Most Powerful,” and they were the first couple ever married by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. Her daughter Jessica Rovello was named by INC Magazine as the top CEO of the Best Company to Work For in the USA, Arkadium.


Advance Praise from Bestselling Authors for Book of Judas:


An innovative masterpiece that left me gasping for air.―Sherrilyn Kenyon, New York Times bestselling author

“A stay-up-all-night page-turner.” ―Heather Graham, New York Times bestselling author

“Addictive, menacing, and thrilling.”―Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author

“Stunning.” ―Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author

“A dynamic, fast-moving page turner.”―William Martin, New York Times bestselling author



“Book of Judas”

Linda Stasi      September 19, 2017   Forge Books
ISBN-13: 978-0765378750

Price: $23.60 (Hardcover )


Thriller     Suspense

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Spotlight on GONE TO DUST by Liliana Hart Book 2 in The Gravediggers Series

Author Liliana Hart

About the book:
GONE TO DUST
Liliana Hart
Book 2 in The Gravediggers Series
Pocket Books
June 20, 2017
9781501150050
$7.99



Praise for Gone to Dust, Book 2:
“Modern Cliterature...Enjoy [this] lusty [passage] adapted from summer’s raciest reads…”
Cosmopolitan, July 2017

Praise for The Darkest Corner, Book 1:
“Gritty, deadly, and peppered with unexpected humor, this supersexy, adrenaline-charged story will keep readers on edge and breathless until the last page.”
—Library Journal

“Liliana Hart sets up a fascinating and intriguing premise of individual men forced into taking extreme steps. Her heroine’s reluctant immersion into this world allows readers to discover the treachery and danger looming all around…a thrilling series!”
—RT

“A cool blend of entertaining antics and suspenseful moments, with a slightly morbid sense of humor thrown in for good measure. (Our heroine was a mortician, after all!) I had a blast getting to know this cast of characters and can’t wait to see what exciting things Liliana Hart has in store for us next.”
—Harlequin Junkie

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Liliana Hart’s second book in her sexy, suspenseful Gravediggers series, GONE TO DUST, features an elite group of mysterious men who might be dead to the world, but are also tasked with saving it—and no one can ever know.

The Gravediggers aren’t exactly what they seem. They’re the most elite of the world’s fighting forces—and all they have in common is that they’ve been betrayed by the countries they’ve died for. Because they are dead. To their country, their military, and their families. Sometimes the dead do rise…

Miller Darling is one of the most popular romance novelists of her time. Not bad for a woman who doesn’t believe in romance. She’s as logical as they come, and she doesn’t believe in happily-ever-afters. What she does believe in is family, so when her brother disappears, she doesn’t think twice about packing her bag and her laptop and heading out to find him.

Elias Cole lived and breathed the live of a Navy SEAL. Now he’s “dead” and his hero’s honor tarnished. The only thing keeping him sane are the men who are like him—The Gravediggers—and the woman who makes his head spin. He’s never met anyone like Miller Darling. Her smart mouth and quick wit keep him on his toes, and damned if he doesn’t find that appealing.

When Miller receives a package from the brother who abandoned her asking for help, it’s clear she’s in over her head with the mess he’s gotten himself into. She needs a professional, and Elias is just the man for the job. Only her brother is a former SEAL—the man who left his team to die—and Elias is more interested in vengeance than saving his life.

About the author:
Liliana Hart is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than forty titles, including the Addison Holmes Whiskey and J.J. Graves Mystery series. Since self-publishing in June 2011, Liliana has sold more than four million ebooks. She’s hit the #1 spot on lists all over the world, and all three of her series have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Liliana is a sought-after speaker who’s given keynote speeches and self-publishing workshops to standing-room-only crowds from CA to NYC to London. Visit LilianaHart.com, facebook.com/lilianahartauthor, twitter.com/Liliana_Hart.

Gone to Dust blog tour:

June 20
RT Book Reviews – Gravedigger Giveaway Bundle (Book 1 and 2) drawing opens

June 21

June 22

June 23

June 24

June 26

June 27

June 28

June 29

June 30

July 5

July 7

July 9
RT Book Reviews – Gravedigger Giveaway Bundle (Book 1 and 2) drawing date  

September 25
Authors on the Air Global Radio Network – Gravediggers Series interview
 

Monday, June 19, 2017

The Eye of the North by Sinead O’Hart



I liked the book but initially, I was surprised a the sudden change in life for Emmeline.  That could be intense for the very young reader.  The book is very easy to read so it may garner a younger audience.  It has lots of adventure and excitement with Emmeline showing courage and ingenuity. Thinking more about the story, it is a good adventure and Thing is an interesting sidekick. There is steam punkish hardware and fantasy overtones.  This hopefully will be a series as I can certainly see giving it to my grand kids.

I recommend it.

Web: https://www.greenhouseliterary.com/authors/sinead-ohart/
 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Mirror Image by Tom Clancy

This is one of the Op-Center books.  You expect Clancy style and polish and you get something different than you expected.  My wife quit after 50 pages.  I stuck it out and finished it.  It is a détente type of book with electronic surveillance the center of the technology.   It’s set after the collapse of the Soviet Union and diehards are trying to resurrect it.

The plot wasn’t bad but the writing felt disjointed.  There was decent action and some good characters but they did not feel properly fleshed out.

Web: http://www.tomclancy.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Spotlight on ROYALLY ROMANOV by Teri Wilson

In this charming modern day retelling of the 1956 classic Anastasia, a museum curator falls for a mysterious man who may or may not be a long lost heir to Russia’s imperial Romanov dynasty.



Volume 2 in The Royals Series ROYALLY ROMANOV by Teri Wilson introduces Finley Abbot, who is organizing the most prestigious art exhibit of her career at the Louvre museum—a retrospective of art from the House of Romanov. But the sudden appearance of Maxim Romanov threatens to turn her into the biggest laughingstock of the art world. When she finds herself falling in love, she realizes there’s even more at stake than her career. How can she trust a man with her whole world when he can’t remember a thing about his past?

After suffering a violent blow to the head, Maxim’s only clue to his identity is a notebook containing carefully researched documentation in his own handwriting indicating that he is the sole surviving descendant of the Grand Duchess Anastasia, previously thought dead in the murder of her family during Russia’s Bolshevik revolution. His struggle to put the mysterious pieces of his past back together leads him to Finley. At first, she’s convinced Maxim is nothing but a con artist. But there’s something undeniably captivating about the beautiful, brooding man who claims to be searching for his identity—something Finley can’t quite bring herself to resist. When he reveals a secret about one of the imperial Fabergé eggs in the collection, she accepts he may actually be telling the truth. But as soon as Finley and Maxim act on their feelings for one another, Maxim is confronted with evidence that calls into question everything he’s begun to believe about himself.

Praise for Royally Roma, Volume 1 in The Royals Series:
“An all-work, no-play PhD student is moonlighting as a tour guide in Rome. She's almost too busy keeping it profesh to notice her client is bona fide royalty in this zippy e-book.”
—Cosmopolitan, April 2017

“Verdict Wilson’s (The Art of Us) series opener [Royally Roma] is a delightful romp that incorporates the culture of the Eternal city—a ripe environment for love—into this temperate romance. Readers will be just as enthralled with Rome as Nico and Julia are with each other.”
—Library Journal Starred Review

“A charmingly modern twist on a classic love story—loads of fun and all the feels.”
—Julia London, New York Times bestselling author of Suddenly in Love
About the author:
Teri Wilson’s novel Unleashing Mr. Darcy is now a Hallmark Channel Original Movie, and she currently has two other films in development with Hallmark. She’s also at HelloGiggles.com, a lifestyle and entertainment website founded by Zooey Deschanel. Teri loves books, travel, animals and dancing every day. Visit her at TeriWilson.net or on Twitter @TeriWilsonAuthr.


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Friday, June 2, 2017


On this National Donuts Day I wish to pay tribute to one of my favorite things.

My own donut machine!

Ode to Donuts   

Never did I see

A more perfect food for me!

So round, so firm so fully packed,

I must admit my brain is racked,

To come up with a better snack.

So well rounded as a treat,

The zero calorie center that can’t be beat.

Life’s paths are leaved so well,

With May’s donuts that were simply swell,

With First Street Bakery’s kind souls

Who filled our bags with glazes so gold,

With Ronnie’s Hilton Head knarly treat,

With Hornburger’s cream filled oh so sweet,

With Publix’s maple glaze dream,

Only beat by YumYum’s cruller of sour cream.

My life defined by donut’s sweet road.

Three exercise bikes worn to a nub,

In an effort to keep donut’s sweet love,

from making me a happy but lardy tub.

On this day celebrate the wonder

Of this wonderful, awesome treat

This ode’s to you oh donut delight,

Your ability to turn darkness to light,

To defeat depression and stifle blight,

There is no mental state so dire

That a donut can’t un-mire.

There is no treat so sweet

That the wonderful donut cannot beat.


 

recommendations.