Review- Pump Up Your Book – Cindy's Love Of Books

Blog Tour/ Budapest Romance

Posted on February 25, 2015February 23, 2015 by Cindy

Title: Budapest Romance
Author: Rozsa Gaston
Publisher: Rozsa Gaston
Pages: 266
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Paperback/Kindle/Audible

When Kati Dunai travels to Budapest to settle her father’s estate, the last thing on her mind is the pursuit of pleasure. She’s a busy international conference planner, her life rooted in Manhattan.

But from the moment she sets foot in the city of her father’s youth, it’s pleasure that pursues her. At the thermal bath spa hotel where she’s staying, she meets a Dutchman who reminds her of Béla Dunai, her Hungarian refugee father, who fled his homeland shortly after its 1956 revolution.

Jan Klassen is in Budapest to mend from a motorcycle accident. His scars have healed on the outside, but inside, he cannot forgive himself for the consequences his son now lives with forever.

Jan has never met a woman like Kati before. Her blend of New England restraint with gypsy spirit captivates him. While Jan introduces Kati to Budapest’s leisurely pace of life, Kati introduces Jan to her own leisurely pace of sensual exploration as their attraction to each other grows over six magical days.

When Kati returns to New York, their relationship continues. But it’s not just an ocean that separates them. Kati’s corporate job with frequent travel is the antithesis of the slow-paced pleasures she enjoyed in her father’s favorite city, one of Europe’s crown jewels.

Which will Kati put first—her new career or her new love; a man who reminds her of the father she never fully understood? And is it the Hungarian pleasure-loving side of herself that she really needs to understand before she can offer her heart to the man who has awakened her to who she truly is?

For More Information
Budapest Romance is available at Amazon.
Audio edition available at www.audible.com/BudapestRomance with actress Romy Nordlinger of All My Children, One Life to Live narrating.
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

Rozsa Gaston writes playful books on serious matters. Women getting what they want out of life is one of them. She studied European intellectual history at Yale, and then received her master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia. In between, she worked as a singer/pianist all over the world. She lives in Bronxville, NY with her family.

Her books include Budapest Romance, The Ava Series: ParisAdieu, Part I and Black is Not a Color, Part II, Running from Love, Dog Sitters and Lyric. Her upcoming novel is Sense of Touch, a fictionalized story of Anne of Brittany and Queen of France.

For More Information

Visit Rozsa Gaston’s website.
Connect with Rozsa on Facebook and Twitter.
Find out more about Rozsa at Goodreads.
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Review/ Drive Me Crazy

Posted on March 7, 2014April 14, 2014 by Cindy

Title: Drive Me Crazy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Tracy Wolff
Publisher: Entangled Brazen
Pages: 210
Language: English
Format: Ebook

Source: I was provided an ebook to review.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

His rival’s in his bed, and this rocker is ready to play.

Former rivals Quinn Bradford and Elise McKinney are not friends, at least not anymore. As teens, all they cared about was psyching each other out before concerts. But when Quinn—now the keyboardist for Shaken Dirty, the hottest rock band on the scene—returns to his hometown and hears about the car accident that shattered Elise’s career, he’s determined to make things right.

Elise wants nothing to do with an arrogant rock star, despite how bad she so clearly wants him, so Quinn kidnaps the stubborn little piano player and whisks her back to his mansion. A little seduction might be just the thing to keep Elise under his care…and in his bed. But amid pranks both childish and very adult, their past comes rearing back to haunt them. And it might be more than either of them can forget.

Since the new year I have decided to switch things up and I am starting to accept some ebooks for review. I downloaded the Kindle app onto my iPad which makes reading in bed a little easier. (Having the light on inconveniences some people.)

I have also started to read other genre of books as well. Its nice to step outside your comfort zone at times isn’t it?

As I was getting ready to write my review of the book I discovered that this was the second book in the Shaken Dirty series. The first book is Crash Into Me. The Shaken Dirty series is about the five rockers in the band Shaken Dirty and their lives. Your typical sex, drugs and rock n roll.

Tracy is also the author of the young adult series Tempest Unleashed, Tempest Rishing and Tempest Revealed. All of which I currently own but haven’t read. She writes under Tracy Deebs. Have you read this series?

Drive Me Crazy focuses on Quinn, the keyboardist of the band, Shaken Dirty. The book starts off with a little history of who Quinn was/is. We find out that Quinn was actually in his younger days a classical pianist. His rival was Elise. The both use to prank each other and were always looking to one up each other. I believe that they each had each others back. When they were 17 years old they took their relationship to the next level and sadly it ended like a one night stand. Elise never heard from Quinn again. Was Quinn just looking for that or is there more to the story then meets the eye?

Fast forward to ten years later. Elise was just in a major car accident. She has last her manager in the crash and pretty down when who talks into her hospital room but one Quinn. Elise notices the change in appearances right away.

The attraction between the two are very evident and they both know it. Quinn has always managed to keep track of Elise and her career and swears to be there for her because she has no one and nothing. Her musicial career is unsure due to her injuries she suffered from the car accident.

I loved both the characters and I truly believe that things happen for a reason. Perhaps it didn’t work ten years ago for them, nothing says it won’t happen this time around. I loved how playful they were around each other. They would prank each other and tease. It was just a sweet relationship to watch develop.

I have to say that you don’t need to read the books in order as I feel as though they are great stand alone books. Not once while I was reading this did I feel as though I was missing something. I will be buying the first book to read as I did enjoy reading this.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
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[Review] Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand

Posted on June 19, 2012April 14, 2014 by Cindy

Title: Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand
Author: Linda J. Ferguson
Pub Date: December 2011
Publisher: Balboa Press
Pages: 208

Source: I received a PDF of this book for review and my participation in the virtual book tour. The PDF was supplied via the author and from Pump Up Your Book tour.

About the book:
Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand provides insightful stories and ideas to support your spiritual journey and help you answer your soul’s calling. Inside you’ll read how to step fully into who you are as an awakened soul being. You’ll shift how you experience your world using the affirmations, meditations, and visualizations provided in each chapter. A new process called Transformational Empowerment shows five key steps for manifesting your heart’s desire and fulfilling your soul contracts. You’ve already signed up to be an agent for spiritual transformation, in your own life and in the world. Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand is a spiritual guidebook to help you navigate through your daily stresses, spiritual tests, and challenging relationships. It also is a celebration of the joy you are here to experience in earth-school. Each chapter has meaningful exercises for you to use immediately! Read more so you can live the magnificent expression of Divine Essence that you are.

This is not a typical book I would normally read but after reading the description I wanted to read it.

This was a pretty short book but not one you can just zip through it. I read this in about a week and taking two or three chapters at a time. Letting it all seep in.

What I like about the book was that after each chapter there was little exercises you had to do. The chapters weren’t long or complex. The exercises basically re enforced what you read and how you would apply to your life. A majority of these exercises made you sit back and really think.

There was quite a few times where I had those AHA moments and the light bulb went on.

I only had the PDF version but I am seriously thinking I want to get a physical copy of the book so that I can share it with others who I think could benefit from the book.

Another great thing was the quotes that were used through out the book and they were all relevant to the subject.

I think with so much going on in our lives that its hard to stay focused and true to ourselves because of the stress, and so much going on. We are in a rush and never stepping back. I enjoyed my week away from reality and once I got back I realized that I want to be like that all the time to be less stressed etc so this book was a good one to read at the time and I look forward to using what I learned in it.

Thanks Linda and Pump Up Your Book for allowing me to be a part of this tour.

(Review & Tour) Dark Side of Valor

Posted on June 4, 2012April 14, 2014 by Cindy

I am happy that I was able to get on the blog tour for Alicia Singleton’s book Dark Side of Valor. I am honored to be the first person to kick off this virtual tour and if you would like to follow the rest of the tour be sure to click on this . There is still room on the tour if you would like to take part.

About the book:
Child advocate Lelia Freeman saves children for a living. As the director of ChildSafe Shelters, she ventures to abandoned squats and crackhouses to rescue teens from the hellish streets of Los Angeles. When she is summoned to Washington to serve on a committee that aids the children of a war-torn African nation, Lelia is kidnapped and becomes a political pawn in a sinister conspiracy. Oceans away from everything she knows, she must trust a mercenary to save her life, or die in the clutches of a psychopath.

Hunting, combat and staying alive are Elijah Dune’s specialties. Vengeance is his passion. Haunted by past demons, he’s travels to the Motherland to collect a debt. A debt that demands one payment. Death.

Caught in the crosshairs of a madman, Lelia and Elijah must survive the jungles of Zaire and the horrors of their pasts or be forever consumed by the DARK SIDE OF VALOR.

About the author:
Born and raised in Philadelphia, the Howard University graduate embraced the written word at an early age. She credits this to her loving, older sister whom, while they were youngsters, made the author eat lotion on a regular basis. Realizing the need to sound-out the ingredients on the lotion label, Alicia stopped the lotion-eating practice, but continued to read the labels of the concoctions her sister brought for her to try. This early necessity to read flowered to a passion; hence, a writer was born.The award winning author resides in Maryland with her wonderful husband and son. Still an avid reader, label or otherwise, Alicia is hard at work completing her next suspense novel.Her latest book is the suspense novel, Dark Side of Valor.

Visit Alicia’s website at www.aliciasingleton.com.

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I should start off by saying that this book was released in February 2012 and this is Alicia’s debut novel.

One of the things I love about blogging is the chance to discover new authors and books. I really enjoy it if they are debut authors because you can’t compare their other books to this one.

When I first heard about the book I have to say the blurb got me. It sounded it look it would be a different read from my regular stuff and while I was reading it I was enjoying it. I think when you read certain kinds of books for a while a change is needed just to refresh you.

I didn’t read this one quickly although I wanted to because this was a great book filled with suspense and it was fast paced. The was just enough happening to not be over the top and as you were reading it you could actually see this being a true story.

Lelia is the main character and she is nick named Street Angel. Lelia grew up on the streets and you can tell she didn’t have an easy life growing up and even in her adult life she is being haunted by nightmares of the dark side.

Lelia decided when she was old enough that she would become a child advocate and be the voice for these children. Thankfully she got out before it was too late but that wasn’t the case for her best friend who fell victim to the street life.

Lelia works hard and her efforts and recognized and she is nominated to go to Africa to work with orphan children who lost their parents and loved ones to the civil war. Once getting to Africa Lelia quickly realizes that its not what it seems and this is dangerous for her and her life is in jeapordy.

I know once I got to this part I had a hard time putting the book down.

I think if you like suspense you will enjoy this book.

Thanks Pump Up Your Book for allowing me to kick off this tour.