Friday, July 31, 2020

The Uniform Of Leadership By Jason Romano

Timeless leadership lessons honed by nearly two decades behind the scenes at ESPN
Jason Romano learned incredible lessons during his seventeen years as a producer at ESPN--and these fundamentals for success on the field or court work just as well in other spheres of leadership, especially when you add God's direction to the playbook.
This collection of compelling, inspiring, and often funny stories challenges readers to ask themselves the hard questions. It draws them into introspection and then directs them into action so they can cultivate habits of service and excellence in themselves and in those around them. From Tony Dungy to Darryl Strawberry, Will Ferrell to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, readers will discover how to replicate the principles practiced by some of the most influential leaders in sports and entertainment. And in the end, they'll be able to construct thriving cultures where the people they lead can bloom where they're planted and serve one another.
For readers who want to lead meaningful lives--rooted in servant leadership, character, and integrity--and be entertained and inspired by personal, behind-the-scenes stories about athletes, coaches, and stars who spent the day with the author at ESPN, The Uniform of Leadership is a perfect guidebook.

Pick up your copy here...


Jason is a speaker, author, media consultant and church leader with 20 years of professional broadcasting experience on the regional and network level. For 17 years, Jason was a Senior Manager and Producer at ESPN. He has created and produced content for shows such as SportsCenter, Monday Night Football, Mike and Mike in the Morning, Sunday NFL Countdown, College Gameday, MLB’s All Star Game. During his time at ESPN, Jason produced content for ESPN Radio, helped lea and grow the talent producing department, building relationships with the biggest names in sports as well as create and manage the NFL on ESPN’s social media channels, growing them to over 6 million followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Jason is now the host and producer of the Sports Spectrum podcast where he interviews athletes, coaches, and other personalities on the intersection of sports and faith. He is also a contributor to the Sports Spectrum magazine and contributes articles daily to SportsSpectrum.com. Jason has spoken to thousands of people at conferences, colleges, companies and churches. He’s a big advocate of social media, having built up large followings both for ESPN’s social feeds as well as his own personal brand. You can reach him via email: JasonRomano22@gmail.com or on social media.


My Thoughts...
Jason did such a great job expressing all the qualities  of a great leader. If you are a leader I recommend this book.
Want to live a life of faith and leadership, Jason has got your back and has given you the steps to make it happen.
Grab a copy of his book and share it with your small group or close friends.
This is a book worth reading and rereading.
I gave this book 4 stars.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

The Silent Daughter by Claire Amarti

"Schoolgirl missing", the ticker reads, and the camera cuts to a girl's face. Blonde hair waterfalling over her shoulders, serious eyes, lips a little parted like she's about to speak. That's when I realize I've been holding my breath, because the gasp when I inhale almost chokes me.
Sadie Kelly has lost her job. Until last month, she was a teacher at Horton College - the same high school she went to ten years ago along with her best friend, Fiona. But Fiona died in an accident on their graduation night, in circumstances Sadie's spent the last ten years trying to forget, and since then nothing's been the same.
Now Sadie's jobless and living with Fiona's mother Jan, the woman who's watched over Sadie since she was a little girl, and the one person Sadie would do anything to protect. But when Sadie hears that Horton schoolgirl Devon Hundley has gone missing, everything changes. Devon is the daughter of Philip Hundley - wealthy school donor, local doctor, and a man Sadie knows all too well. And now Sadie can't help remembering the last time she saw Devon - and heard the whispered comment Sadie's been trying ever since to forget...
A gripping page-turner of family secrets and buried lies for fans of Adele Parks, Lisa Jewell, and Catherine Ryan Hyde. 

Pick up your copy here...

I’m Claire Amarti – thank you for dropping by! I write psychological suspense stories about ordinary women – women like the ones we all know and love – who find out that their ordinary lives may not be quite so ordinary after all! My hope is that you will root for them, fear for them, and find yourself holding your breath when the action starts to get a little hairy! If you'd like to hear about new release discounts from me, just click "Follow" on the tab above.

When I’m not writing, I can be found strolling the streets of Brooklyn, New York City, my adopted home, dodging pigeons and traffic. I moved here a little over eight years ago from Ireland, and never looked back. To me there’s nothing more wonderful than that feeling of finding – or making! – a new home: that mixture of excitement at finding a little piece of the world to claim as yours, and the comfort of being able to come back to it time and again. That’s what reading feels like for me… and for you too I suspect! And I get that same kick from writing. I hope my books can become a kind of home for you too: a place where you can trust that you’ll find a wonderful adventure, and then be deposited back on the ground again, safe and sound and ready to do it all again another day!

I do love to hear from readers, so I’d be thrilled for you to get in touch through my website, join my mailing list, or come and find me on Facebook. Happy reading!

My Thoughts...

I really wanted to love this book, being a fan of Lisa Jewell's and loving a great thriller. It was just okay to me. I felt like some of the time the author was writing in a fog. I did like the ending all though it was somewhat predictable. So after weighing the pros and cons I would give this book 3 stars.
There is another book in this series, I may give it a try and see what my thoughts are after reading it.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Inspired Mama By Sez Kristiansen


Inspired Mama is the ultimate mind, body, and lifestyle guide for women seeking to live their best life in motherhood. As mothers, women tend to give up on their personal dreams and emotional self-care in order to take care of their families. Too often, we end up giving in to social pressures and external expectations rather than living the life we dream about, a life of freedom and inspiration.The truth is freedom is the highest vibrational element that every woman must embody to live an extraordinary life, but it’s harder than ever to embody freedom as a mother. Inspired Mama empowers women to align with their best life through self-reflection, intentional manifestation, and wanderlust, so you can heal yourself and your family through your own spiritual self-care.In this book, you’ll discover how to free your mind, body, and spirit so you can live an authentic lifestyle customized for the amazing woman you are.
    You’ll discover:
  • How to replace old habits with nourishing new ones
  • Simple and practical actions that free you emotionally, physically, and financially
  • High vibrational living that gets you into alignment with your highest self
  • How to dive deep into adventures that break you out of your restricted comfort zone
You will be supported in making incremental, potent changes to your life that awaken you to the unbridled joy of inspired, intentional, and conscious living.After reading this book, you will re-discover yourself as a woman in motherhood and learn how to align with the infinite abundance of the Universe. You will also learn how to live by your own unique energetic blueprint, and start intentionally manifesting the life of your dreams. Motherhood is the ultimate balancing act, and freeing the woman within is essential to finding fulfillment and purpose with your family and beyond.

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Mama-Empowered-Mothers-Intentional/dp/1631610783/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Inspired+mama&qid=1595692958&sr=8-1

Sez is an internationally acclaimed poetess and best selling author, born in Southern Africa and under two generations from six different cultures. Sez has travelled extensively throughout her life, and lived in some of the remotest parts of the world, including many years spent in the Sri Lanka mountains, deepening her spiritual practice.

Her early childhood left the emotional marks of a country torn apart by enforced separation, and Sez has thus spent her life writing poetry and books that bring people together with the understanding of nonduality, consciousness and self-healing.

Sez now lives in a commune in Denmark with her Viking husband and two young children and continues to travel adventurously throughout the world with her young family. Sez empowers people with transformational mind, body and soul guides that inspire her readers to live truly unique, intentional and untethered lives, driven by their own blueprint of unconditional freedom.

Sez will awaken you to your own soul-guided and self-healing nature, which has the power to awaken you to a truly authentic and deeply nourishing life.

This is another way of belonging and being in the world. Read more at www.sezkristiansen.com

www.sezkristiansen.com
www.facebook.com/sezkristiansenauthor
@sezkristiansen

My Thoughts...
This was an easy read, well put together. It was some what different then what I am use to reading. The authors view points and spiritual  beliefs are much more different than mine being that she is Buddhist.
An interesting topic to say the least.
I gave this book 3 stars. 
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Daring and the Duke By Sarah Maclean

Grace Condry has spent a lifetime running from her past. Betrayed as a child by her only love and raised on the streets, she now hides in plain sight as queen of London's darkest corners. Grace has a sharp mind and a powerful right hook and has never met an enemy she could not best...until the man she once loved returns. 

Single-minded and ruthless, Ewan, Duke of Marwick, has spent a decade searching for the woman he never stopped loving. A long-ago gamble may have lost her forever, but Ewan will go to any lengths to win Grace back...and make her his duchess. 

Reconciliation is the last thing Grace desires. Unable to forgive the past, she vows to take her revenge. But revenge requires keeping Ewan close, and soon her enemy seems to be something else altogether--something she can't resist, even as he threatens the world she's built, the life she's claimed...and the heart she swore he'd never steal again.

Pick up your copy here...

New York Times, Washington Post & USA Today bestseller Sarah MacLean is the author of historical romance novels that have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Sarah is a leading advocate for the romance genre, speaking widely on its place at the nexus of gender and cultural studies. A romance columnist and co-host of the weekly romance novel podcast, Fated Mates, her work in support of romance and the women who read it earned her a place on Jezebel.com's Sheroes list and led Entertainment Weekly to call her "the elegantly fuming, utterly intoxicating queen of historical romance." Sarah is a graduate of Smith College & Harvard University. She lives in New York City.

My Thoughts...

Historical fans are going to love this one. Its  the third book in the series but it can be read as a stand alone. I was not lost and love the story line and characters. This was a great empowering love story.
I am a sucker for romances any way but, I could not wait to share this one with you all. Grab your copy today.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Monday, July 27, 2020

Raising Honor By Jill Lynn

Nothing will stop Ryker Hayes from giving his neglected five-year-old niece the stable home he never had. But to gain custody, he must move to Colorado…and prove to Honor’s wary foster mother, Charlie Brightwood, he’s more than just responsible. As his visits with Honor and Charlie begin to feel more like family time, might Charlie become another reason to stick around for good?

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Honor-Colorado-Grooms-Jill/dp/1335488316/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BN3OTGNPGS7N&dchild=1&keywords=raising+honor+jill+lynn&qid=1595683060&sprefix=Raising+Honor%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1

Welcome! I’m Jill. Award-winning author, hot mess, loud laugher and coffee addict. I write small-town stories filled with grace, humor and happily ever after. I also co-authored Just Show Up with Kara Tippetts—a book about how to support one another during hardships.

My books:
Texas Series
(Prequel) The Start of Us
1. Falling for Texas
2. Her Texas Family
3. Her Texas Cowboy

Colorado Grooms Series
1. The Rancher’s Surprise Daughter
2. The Rancher's Unexpected Baby
3. The Bull Rider's Secret
4. Her Hidden Hope
5. Raising Honor
6. Choosing His Family

Non-fiction:
Just Show Up with Kara Tippetts

Find out more at Jill-Lynn.com or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest: @JillLynnAuthor

My Thoughts...
 This book hit close to home on so many levels, I am the woman that wants a child so bad. I would open my doors to foster a house full.  This book touched my heart so much!
I love Lynn's books but this is by far my favorite book to date. A fast read and one you will be thinking about for a while.
5 Stars two times. I highly recommend this book.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

New Giveaways coming soon....



   Stay turned for this giveaway next month! Share the blog link and be sure that you are following @themaryreader on Instagram as well. there will be two chances to win the Obvi shakes.


I also have another L'ange hair straightener  and a few bottles of hair products  to GIVEAWAY. And of course you know a copy my sweet Candace Cameron's Book Staying Stylish is going to have to go to the person  who wins the L'ange giveaway.




 Be sure to share this blog and @themaryreader Instagram with your friends and family.

All 12 of you who left a comment are getting a tub of Super Collagen. Please email me your mailing address. 

Friday, July 24, 2020

A Week At Surfside Beach By Pierce Koslosky GIVEAWAY!

Thousands of families and individuals are attracted to the South Carolina coast each year, renting houses up and down the beach throughout the seasons. They bring their lives with them when they come to this magical place. In A Week at Surfside Beach, author Pierce Koslosky Jr. has crafted sixteen poignant short stories that paint a vivid portrait of the beach’s diverse, temporary inhabitants: those people attracted to a landscape both beautiful and overwhelming in its ability to force introspection and change. Set over the course of a single rental season that ends at Christmas, the book’s unrelated characters all have their stays in the blue beach house, yet each story has a distinct message at its core. Readers will follow people in every stage of life—from a six-year-old entering the imaginary world of crabs to an escapee from a retirement home—and witness their varied individual experiences. These are stories of hope and redemption, connection and detachment, and lessons taught and learned. Both original and contemplative, heartbreaking and inspirational, A Week at Surfside Beach brings together a collection of tales with seemingly ordinary, simple, and familiar details—yet underneath their calm, relatable surfaces exist the uncomfortable, extraordinary complexities of life.

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Week-Surfside-Beach-Collection-Stories/dp/1952019001/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1T755CVZ6Z72W&dchild=1&keywords=a+week+at+surfside+beach+book&qid=1595081463&sprefix=A+Week+at+Surfside+Beach%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-3



Pierce Koslosky Jr. worked for three years in a maximum-security prison in North Carolina. He escaped to Nebraska, and a mere four decades later is the chairman and CEO of a manufacturing company there. He lives in Omaha with Candy, his wife of thirty-five years, and with one very fortunate goldendoodle. They have four children who could not be less alike. Pierce and his family have gone to Surfside Beach, South Carolina, for over twenty-five years and have stayed in the house featured in A Week at Surfside Beach since it was built in 1992, shortly after Hurricane Hugo. In 2000 they bought the home and rent it out in the summer.

My Thoughts...

This book is full of short stories. they are positive and fast and fun reads.
If you have ever been to Myrtle Beach and made a stop at Surfside beach  You are going to enjoy this one even more.
This is a fun read when you are on the go  or are very busy and want to escape to the beach for a few minutes.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Black Mountain By Leanne Hardy

Ol’ Teg o’ the Hills, the witch who lives on Black Mountain, has the ancient olivewood cup that Colin Hay brought from Glastonbury Abbey when it was closed by King Henry VIII. Forced to flee her mountain retreat by the spiritual powers she has served all her life, Teg travels to Glastonbury and far beyond to learn more of this thing of power she pulled from the ashes of the fire that killed her daughter. Along the way she meets Colin’s fiancée Alice Thatcher, a group of people willing to risk their lives to read the words of a God she despises, and the Lord of the cup—the only One who can satisfy the thirst of her heart. But can she ever truly be free of her past?“You’re only a peasant masquerading as a lady,” the vindictive priest of Alice’s old parish tells her when she marries Colin Hay and moves to Honddu Vale. Alice misses her friend “Goody Tegwyn.” She tries to live up to all that is expected of a lady, supporting Colin as he struggles under his father’s debts, and following all her friend Catherine Price’s instructions on manners. But her womb is cursed, and she can’t perform even the most basic duty of a wife—give Colin a child. How far will Alice go to be a mother? When Goody Tegwyn returns to Honddu Vale, can Alice save her from her enemies?

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Mountain-Glastonbury-Grail-LeAnne/dp/1494938618/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1259KAR26YV80&dchild=1&keywords=black+mountain+leanne+hardy&qid=1594410122&s=books&sprefix=Black+Mountain+Leanne%2Cstripbooks%2C164&sr=1-1-catcorr

Although she grew up in the American Midwest in the 1950s and 60s, LeAnne Hardy has lived in six countries on four continents as a missionary librarian. She has sipped cream tea in Oxfordshire, eaten stewed goat at a Mozambican wedding, slid down rocks in a Mato Grosso river and shopped at Mall of America. Her books for children and young people come out of her cross-cultural experiences and her passion to use story to convey spiritual truths in a form that will permeate lives.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

The Time Of Jacob's Trouble By Donna Van Liere

A typical day at work turns into a nightmare for Emma Grady when her favorite patient and several colleagues vanish in front of her. Fear turns to chaos as Emma begins the frantic race from Brooklyn to Queens, anxious to discover if her boyfriend is safe. Subways are closed, graves are open, and countless people have inexplicably disappeared. Mayhem erupts as terror grips the residents of New York City.
What could make so many vanish in a moment? And not just in New York, but all over the globe? Emma wonders if this is the predicted end of the world and begins a desperate search for answers.
This page-turning story will take you on a riveting journey from New York City to Israel, and in the final chapters, Donna turns to the pages of the Bible, where you’ll learn that God has made known to us “the end from the beginning,” and that things aren’t spiraling downward but are actually looking up.

The bestselling author of The Christmas Shoes now explores a future world facing its final days in The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, weaving end-times prophecies into the lives of Emma and her friends as they struggle to survive and come face-to-face with the chilling truth about the disappearances. 

Pick up your copy here....
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Jacobs-Trouble-Donna-VanLiere/dp/0736978755/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1595080327&sr=1-1


Donna VanLiere is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author and gifted conference speaker. She has published ten titles including The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing, both of which were adapted into movies (starring Rob Lowe, Kimberly Williams-Perry and Neil Patrick Harris) and garnered big ratings for CBS television. LifetimeTelevision adapted The Christmas Hope (starring Madeline Stowe) and premiered it December 2009 to stellar ratings as well. Donna's non-seasonal novel, The Angels of Morgan Hill, has captured the same warmth as her Christmas books and continues to please loyal and new fans alike.

Donna is the recipient of a Retailer's Choice Award for Fiction, a Dove Award, a Silver Angel Award, an Audie Award for best inspirational fiction, a nominee for a Gold Medallion Book of the Year and was recently inducted into the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges Hall of Excellence joining such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, Hugh Downs, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Senator John Glenn. Donna is an in-demand conference speaker having appeared at countless women's and family events, including select Women of Faith and Extraordinary Women conferences.

The Library Journal says of Donna's latest book, "The Christmas Star“ (2018), "Second chances abound in this story, resulting in a Christmas gift worth waiting for... This sweet tale of love and overcoming obstacles offers a festive atmosphere readers will savor.”

Donna lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with her husband, Troy, and their children, Grace, Kate and David.

Learn more at www.DonnaVanLiere.com

My thoughts...
I am a super fan of VanLiere's Christmas books have read them ALL and own them ALL. This was a different book from her. However the writing was outstanding and the story was captivating. I read it so fast and was sad to see it come to an end. 
I gave this book 4 stars and I can't wait to see what she writes next.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

The Vacation By T.M. Logan


It was supposed to be the perfect getaway: Kate and her three best friends, spending a week with their families in a luxurious villa in the south of France. Through the decades they’ve stayed closer than ever, and seven days of drinking crisp French wine and laying out under the dazzling Mediterranean sun is the perfect celebration of their friendship. But soon after arriving, Kate discovers an incriminating text on her husband’s cell phone.

A text revealing that he’s having an affair.

And that the other woman is one of her best friends.

But which one?

Trapped in paradise with no one to trust, Kate is determined to find out who has put her marriage―and a lifelong friendship―in jeopardy. But as she closes in on the truth, she realizes that the stakes are higher than she ever imagined. Everyone on the trip has secrets…and someone may be prepared to kill to keep theirs hidden.

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Vacation-Novel-T-M-Logan/dp/1250270774/ref=sr_1_2?crid=CB46XSPJ9BLR&dchild=1&keywords=the+vacation+tm+logan&qid=1595079222&sprefix=the+Vac%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-2

Bestselling author TM Logan was a national newspaper journalist before turning to novel-writing full time. His thrillers have sold more than 750,000 copies in the UK and are published in 19 countries around the world including the USA, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Netherlands.
His debut thriller LIES was one of Amazon UK's biggest ebooks of 2017 - winning a Silver Award at the Nielsen Bestseller Awards - and was followed by his second standalone, 29 SECONDS (2018). THE HOLIDAY was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and spent ten weeks in the Sunday Times paperback Top 10, as well as hitting the #1 spots on Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks and Kobo.
His brand new thriller for 2020, THE CATCH, is about a father who becomes convinced his daughter is about to marry a man with terrible secrets. THE CATCH is out now in paperback, ebook and audio, published in the UK by Bonnier Books.
Tim lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and two children, and writes in a cabin at the bottom of his garden. You can find him at www.tmlogan.com.

My Thoughts...
My third book by Logan, You can say I am a huge fan. I love that I never see it coming. This one was perfectly written. I thought I had it figured out and then I was hit upside the head with something totally different. This is a MUST read, a 5 star mystery that will you have you shaking your head. The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Monday, July 20, 2020

What You Wish For By Katherine Center

From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel full of heart and hope.

Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living.
But she wasn’t always that way.
Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen.
But he wasn’t always that way.

And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before―at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him―but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. But when Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there, it feels like the best thing that could possibly happen to the school―and the worst thing that could possibly happen to Sam. Until the opposite turns out to be true. The lovable Duncan she’d known is now a suit-and-tie wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hell-bent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.

As the school community spirals into chaos, and danger from all corners looms large, Sam and Duncan must find their way to who they really are, what it means to be brave, and how to take a chance on love―which is the riskiest move of all.

With Katherine Center’s sparkling dialogue, unforgettable characters, heart, hope, and humanity, What You Wish For is the author at her most compelling best.

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Wish-Katherine-Center/dp/1250219361/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1595076752&sr=8-1

Katherine Center's new novel is WHAT YOU WISH FOR. She's the author of How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire—both instant New York Times bestsellers—as well as The Lost Husband (now a movie starring Josh Duhamel), and five other bittersweet comic novels. She writes laugh-and-cry books about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Her books have made countless Best-Of lists, including Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2019, Goodreads' Best Books of the Year 2019, BookBub's Best-Loved Books of 2019, the Indie Next Great Reads List, SheReads' Best Women's Fiction 2019, BookList's Top Ten Women's Fiction, and many, many more. Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two kids, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.

My Thoughts...
What can I say about this book, my feelings are all over the place. You are going to love to hate Duncan and I hope that you end up loving him. You are going to fall in love with the ending.  Center has done it again only this time you are going to be flipping pages so fast to find out what's happening next the book will be over before you know it.  Her books are never long enough for me.
I highly recommend  this 5 star read. You won't be able to put it down.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Friday, July 17, 2020

2020 Edition Book Blogger Directory

This Book Blogger Directory lists blog addresses, contact information, where reviews are posted, as well as standard turnaround time and book formats accepted. Indexes list bloggers by accepted genre so you can easily find bloggers amenable to your subject matter.
More than 200 blogs are included, all current as of June 2020. The index lists each genre linked to each blog that accepts books in that category.

Pick up your copy here...

Deena Rae was born and raised in Texas — home of bluebonnets, boots, beef and big hair — into a family that was in the printing and publishing industries. Her father was a computer programmer for major newspapers when the equipment took up whole rooms and her mother has been a publisher for almost 30 years — trying, unsuccessfully, to bring her into the family business.

She was happily living her life, having three third-generation genetically perfected super-nerds herself, but then through a series of events (unfortunate and fortunate), she officially joined The Book Connection — her mother's publishing and packaging company — as the Digital Director, to create the e-publishing division in 2011. Her computer skills, willingness to help authors, love of literature, no-nonsense attitude and quick wit has helped shepherd many authors through the maze of digital publishing.

Through her work with E-BookBuilders, Deena Rae has been able to meet authors and writers from all over the world and in every genre imaginable. She has a biting wit, obscure sense of humor, awareness of the absurd, and a love of literature all which led to the creation of Bluebonnets, Bagpipes and Books, the NSFW publishing discussion podcast she produced and hosted with Janet Wrenn and Peter Burnett. Her no-nonsense attitude made for some hilarious discussions and plenty of "Oh my God, did she really just say that?" moments. That podcast led to the audio/video podcasts for Badass Book Society - Badass Books & Booze as well as Badass Pub. Sometimes it is as if there is no filter between her brain and her mouth. But if she likes you she tries to be nice — sometimes. You can find her most hours of everyday attached to her computer either researching, coding e-books or flowing print books for her fabulous friends/clients or chasing after the 'world-famous' Wee Bossy Baby who is now Wee Bossy Tyrant-In-Training.

http://e-bookbuilders.com/


My Thoughts...

Why YES  The Mary Reader is included in this Directory. This is a great guide for authors and publicists to use for getting in front of great bloggers, influencers.
I hope that if you are in the market for some reviews that you will grab
your copy today.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

The Association By Sharon Ziegler

A YOUNG FEMALE ATTORNEY TAKES ON A POWERFUL HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION AND UNCOVERS FRAUD, MYSTERY, AND MURDER!
Champaign, Georgia, Davis County: A young attorney and her husband have relocated to the small, idyllic town for his new job, and she’s on an extended hiatus after becoming exhausted and weary of her profession. Yet she knows she needs to get back in the legal game, even though it won’t be easy. Now discouraged and out of practice, she must start fresh, with new determination and new clients.
Through an acquaintance, she meets the Wainrights, an older couple living in Covington Commons, a cluster of three neighborhoods advertised as a luxury lakeside community. In truth, though, such a description only applies to one neighborhood in Covington Commons: Eagle’s Nest. Both Mockingbird Heights and Peacock Plains have become sad displays of utter neglect, in awful disrepair after years of inattention. The Wainrights need her help to prove allegations as to the person—or persons—responsible for it. After painstaking research into claim after claim, she soon realizes the obviously guilty party.
At the forefront, is the Association—the board and committee members who oversee everything and every decision at Covington Commons. Its members have taken what was once a decent organization and turned it into an operation based entirely on corruption and dishonesty that operates according to the whims and greed of only a privileged few.
With prejudicial and biased purveyors of justice at the helm, prior lawsuits against the Association have been routinely dismissed early on. Our attorney heroine must find it within herself to navigate and succeed in a world where grossly confident men grandstand in gold jewelry, private investigators are always listening, and judges are not honorable—a world where people aren’t at all who they seem to be. 

Pick up your copy here...

Sharon is an attorney licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and her home state of Tennessee. She has been practicing law and writing legal briefs, motions, and appeals for more than 25 years. In addition, she has argued before a number of distinguished state and federal trial and appellate courts during her career. The Association is her debut novel.


My Thoughts...
Where are my fans of Legal thrillers? You are going to want to grab this one. John Grisham fans will really be happy that they found a new author to enjoy.
I hope that you will grab a copy of this one.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

The Swap By Robyn Harding

Low Morrison is not your average teen. You could blame her hippie parents or her looming height or her dreary, isolated hometown on an island in the Pacific Northwest. But whatever the reason, Low just doesn’t fit in—and neither does Freya, an ethereal beauty and once-famous social media influencer who now owns the local pottery studio.

After signing up for a class, Low quickly falls under Freya’s spell. And Freya, buoyed by Low’s adoration, is compelled to share her darkest secrets and deepest desires. Finally, both feel a sense of belonging...that is, until Jamie walks through the studio door. Desperate for a baby, she and her husband have moved to the island hoping that the healthy environment will result in a pregnancy. Freya and Jamie become fast friends, as do their husbands, leaving Low alone once again.

Then one night, after a boozy dinner party, Freya suggests swapping partners. It should have been a harmless fling between consenting adults, one night of debauchery that they would put behind them, but instead, it upends their lives. And provides Low the perfect opportunity to unleash her growing resentment.

Robyn Harding brings her acclaimed storytelling, lauded as “fast-paced, thrilling, gut-wrenching” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six, to this dark and suspenseful thriller for fans of Megan Miranda and Lisa Jewell.

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Swap-Robyn-Harding/dp/198214176X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=X8FCX7DITY8W&dchild=1&keywords=the+swap+robyn+harding&qid=1594407489&sprefix=The+Swap%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1

I am the internationally bestselling author of The ArrangementHer Pretty Face. and The Party which was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for best crime novel. I have also written four novels of contemporary women’s fiction, a young adult novel, and a comedic memoir with an environmental focus. I am the screenwriter and executive producer of the independent film, The Steps, which premiered at TIFF and was the closing gala film at the Miami International Film Festival. I live in Vancouver, BC with my family.

My Thoughts...
I have read a few of Harding's books and I must say this one was a real treat. I could not put it down.  I would define it as scandalous, entertaining and a must read. You will not see the end coming which makes it all the better.
5 stars by this reviewer and I HIGHLY recommend it.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.