An Upcoming Local Authors Event

Posted on by Cindy

This morning I got a pleasant surprise from a local author, Karen Avivi, she emailed me to tell me about her upcoming book signing along with another local author Alexa Nazzaro.

 
The book signing is taking place Saturday November 2nd from 12 noon to 4pm at the Chapters bookstore here in Pointe-Claire.
 
I love discovering new authors especially when they are local so you can count on me being there. What about you?
 
I have to say I have never heard of these books but after reading what they were about I have to say I am very curious. They are both debut authors.  

 If you asked Kye Penton what his greatest accomplishment is, he’d probably say surviving years of bullying with nothing but his only friend Anthony and movies like The Godfather and anything by Quentin Tarantino to get by. Sure, there are scars, like the social phobia he can’t seem to shake off despite the self-help books he stashes in his bedroom, but at fifteen, things are finally looking up. By some miracle, Claudia in English likes him, and Julian is both his new friend and a super cool guy in general. It looks like Kye’s days of being an outcast are ancient history – until Annie Cooper shows up: pregnant and claiming the baby is his. Kye’s life quickly unravels as he’s pulled into a nightmare bigger than any bullying he has ever survived. A young adult contemporary novel that tackles teen pregnancy, bullying and social anxiety head-on, The Pool Theory is an honest depiction of what it means to live out the so-called best years of your life when all you want to do is disappear off the face of the earth.
 
A contemporary young adult novel

Drop into the world of rule-breaking, gravity-defying girls who shred riding freestyle BMX
“I would have preferred handlebars in the gut.
At least when that happened I definitely saw it coming.”

Shredded by Karen Avivi is more than a girls’ sports book or a BMX biking book. The motivating push-your-limits story takes on feminism, friendship, sexism, and sibling rivalry.

Josie Peters thinks she’ll do anything to ride in the Ultimate BMX freestyle event the summer before her senior year. To hit the qualifying events in the Midwest, Josie and her friends take off on a summer road trip where late-night parties, an intimidating mega ramp, and the lure of sponsorships spark friction between the girls. When Josie’s best chance for success depends on her relationship with flashy rider R.T. Torres, she has to decide what she’s trying to win and how much she’ll sacrifice.

Even readers unfamiliar with BMX or extreme sports will be caught up in the adrenaline rush of Josie’s tricks, wipeouts, and wins. Hints of romance provide extra conflict without overtaking the main plot. Ideal for fans of realistic young adult fiction, Shredded features a strong female lead character who goes after what she wants by taking action.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
Chapter Reveal/ Hopefully Ever After

Chapter Reveal/ Hopefully Ever After

Posted on by Cindy

Chapter 1
And they lived hopefully ever after….
Tampa, Florida
Spring, 2012
A cancer diagnosis slams into you with the subtlety of a freight train. You can’t talk or breathe. You stare at familiar surroundings, but everything looks distorted. This isn’t real, you think. It’s just an out-of-body experience, and it is not happening to you.
 
Except it is. Breast cancer happened to me twice, but you don’t get any points for experience here. That freight train hit with the same ferocity the second time as it did the first.
 
After a decade of turbulence, however, I’ve now landed in a soft place. Outside the screened lanai where I’m sitting, a pair of sand hill cranes walks across the back yard, their bright red head feathers in brilliant contrast with the soft gray of their bodies. They are tall and majestic birds, deliberate in their steps, their posture exuding the confidence I’m lacking. 
 
“So much has happened since the first diagnosis,” I say to my husband, who’s nose-deep in a crossword puzzle. “I need to come up with the perfect starting point for this story.”
 
Mike lowered the newspaper and looked at me over his reading glasses. “You do know you’re always cranky when you begin a new book? But in the end, you figure out a good place to start.”
 
I must have looked doubtful because he glanced longingly at his paper before lifting his eyes to mine. “All right, all right. Here’s an idea: try starting with our current lives. We’re doing well. You’re healthy again. We’re finally living without holdings our breaths. Begin in the here and now.” With pen back in hand, he was once more engrossed in Across and Down.
 
Had I asked him to solve my problem?
 
No. I was just kvetching out loud. But Mike was being Mike, trying to find a solution. In our early days, long before cancer crept into our lives, I’d tease him about being my Knight in Shining Tin Foil. I’d expected him to share chores and didn’t want his head to swell because he shopped for groceries, cleaned the sink, or vacuumed the carpets. Tin foil seemed an appropriate garment.
 
More recently when the going got rough, he was at my side–sure, steady, and strong. A full-time job. I should replace his tin foil with armor now, but I’m holding off. He knows it and laughs; we laugh together. Gentle teasing is our way. After more than four decades as husband and wife, we understand each other very well. I know why he suggested I focus this story in the present. He prefers to live in the moment, enjoying the sunshine and the sand hill cranes. He prefers to leave the dark days behind us. I can’t blame him. 
 
Although I’m half of the Linda-and-Mike team, I am also a mother, grandmother and novelist with fourteen works of fiction in print. My stories are about ordinary people in crisis, struggling to reach their happy endings. In 2001, when breast cancer hit me for the first time, I had to fight for my own happy ending which I achieved and enjoyed for nine years.
 
Sitting on the screened porch today, I feel great, look pretty good, and am planning for a long future. Part of me doesn’t want to look back; I’m not that different from Mike. I should simply put the cancer experience behind me and, as we native New Yorkers say, fuhggedaboudit! The other part of me, however, wants to write about the turmoil and examine it for my own sake as well as for my children and grandchildren’s sakes, and for those families facing the same situation. There was a specific reason for my cancers; neither was a random hit, but I didn’t know that at the time.
 
On a sticky note taped to my computer is a quote I borrowed from Churchill: Never, never, never give up. Staring at those words got me through many a day.
Lab reports and medical records lay on the wrought iron table in front of me. Fact checking is a must for any book. I need no notes, however, to recall my feelings as a two-time rider on the breast cancer express. I need no cues to recall the complications the illness brought to my busy life and the heartache it brought to my family. And I need no reminders as to what I’d learned: in the fight to live, no decision is too extreme. They may be dramatic and scary, but if they work, so what?
 
Twelve years have passed since my first bout with the disease; two years since my second one. Fortunately, that tumor wasn’t a recurrence, but a brand new visitor. A good thing. Isn’t it weird that a malignant tumor can bring good news? My last appointment with my surgeon at Tampa General is long over, and I love my new oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center who will monitor me from now on. Since our recent move to Florida, I’ve had to search for new cancer specialists, a chore I hadn’t anticipated taking on while recuperating from a second bout of the disease.
 
The timing of our relocation couldn’t have been worse. I adored my original oncologist who practiced in Houston, Texas where I’d lived for sixteen years. I fought most of my cancer battles there and didn’t plan on a second assault when we decided to move to Florida during the fall of 2010. I certainly wouldn’t have left at that point had I known the future, but I didn’t. Sometimes life presents choices, and we deal with the decisions we make. 
 
Which brings me back to choosing this memoir’s starting point. I briefly considered Mike’s suggestion of Right Now. Now is important because it measures the time out from surgery: one year out, two years out, five years out. The more years, the better. Now is important because I am living in it. But…where’s the story? I’m an author in search of a story, and my daily routines don’t cut it. They’re boring. As for the future? Well, that’s the sticky one. Tomorrow doesn’t come with a hundred percent guarantee, so why think about it? Besides, tomorrow’s events haven’t happened yet, so where’s the story?
 
The story lies in Yesterday. Yesterday provides the yardstick to measure the journey since the original diagnosis. I must sift through Yesterday in order to pull up remembrances and mine for the truth. For that is the meaning of memoir. 
       
Sorry, honey.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
Book Spotlight/ Hopefully Ever After

Book Spotlight/ Hopefully Ever After

Posted on by Cindy

Title: Hopefully Ever After
Genre: Breast Cancer Memoir
Author: Linda Barrett
Publisher: Linda Barrett

Linda Barrett could be any one of us. She’s an ordinary woman living a wonderfully ordinary life – husband, kids, teaching, writing – totally unprepared for Murphy’s Law on steroids. In February 2001, everything goes wrong. She discovers her breast cancer exactly when she starts a brand new teaching job which is exactly the same time as the release of her very first published novel. Secrets must be kept to protect her fledging career as a writer. No secrets in the classroom however. Her adult students, preparing for the GED exam, out her in five minutes when they spot her wig!
Nine years later, Linda is fully recovered from her lumpectomy, chemo and radiation when breast cancer hits a second time. She is no longer a random one-in-eight woman who develops this disease. Blood tests show she’s a target of faulty genes, a carrier of the BRCA 1 gene mutation. Without drastic measures, she’d be susceptible to a third or fourth cancer hit. Murphy’s Law once again comes into play. This second time around coincides with a thousand mile relocation from Houston to Tampa. Putting a house on the market while handling a double mastectomy, implant prep, and six rounds of chemo is not for the faint of heart. Linda’s heart is not faint as she implores: “Do house hunters think we’re part of HGTV? Real homes aren’t perfect!”
At the heart of this memoir, however, is a love story. Cancer is merely the vehicle that exposes a mature marriage in full bloom. With her Knight-in-Shining-Tinfoil at her side, Linda and Michael Barrett meet the challenge of two enemies: cancer and fear. Their fight is hard won, but with cancer now in their rearview mirror, they are relaxed and laughing again. As Linda says, “Life is good. After all the turmoil, we’ve landed in a soft place. Friends and family are all around, and I expect to live out a natural lifespan however long that may be.”
Everyone deserves a Hopfully Ever After, and that’s what you’ll find here.
 
About the Author:
Linda Barrett is the author of 13 novels of contemporary romance. She’s earned many industry awards through Romance Writers of America, including the Holt Medallion, The Award of Excellence and the Write Touch Reader’s award. Family Interrupted is her first women’s fiction story. A graduate of Hunter College, Linda now lives in the Tampa area with her husband. They have three grown sons and the most adorable, intelligent, super-duper grandchildren ever!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Her latest book is Hopefully Ever After.
 
Visit her website at www.linda-barrett.com.
 
Connect & Socialize with Linda!
 
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Hopefully Ever After you can do so by CLICKING HERE
 
To see other stops on the tour be sure to CLICK HERE
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Product Review/ Colors For Your Every Mood Campaign

Posted on by Cindy

If you know me, you know one of my other obessions next to books is make up. I love make up. I love seeing all the pretty colors but I honestly have to say that no matter how pretty the colors are I always stick to my basic nude colors. Am I the only one?

I am very lucky and I have never broken out from make up in all my years of wearing make up. Its just skin care items that break me out.

As a make up lover I love trying new brands from high end to low end but budget wise its mostly low end I purchase enless I have gift cards or redeem points.

So imagine my surprise when I was contacted by Mia Mariu to review their mineral based cosmetic line. The cosmetics are made with all natural healthy ingredients. You can only purchase their cosmetics online or through an independant consultant.

I was sent the Uniquely You Deluxe Touch Up Kit, 3 Hydrating Stick Gloss and three skin care samples along with a brush a Petite Detail/Accent Eye Shadow Brush TBP18.

Sorry in advance for this post being loaded down with pictures.

The first thing I noticed when I took everything out of the packaging was how nice the compact looked. I love the top of the palette and its got a magnetic closer which is really nice and would make it perfect for traveling with as its small. Isn’t the compatc really nice?
 

The palette which retails for $46 consists of a Magic Satin Mineral Powder, Mineral Blushing Blush and three Mineral Shadows in the shades Sexy, Flirty and Savvy.
Here are the swatches of the eye shadows. Sorry for the poor lightening but it was an over cast day I took them. The swatches are the far left is without primer and the swatches closest to the shadows are with primer. You can see the difference already.
 
I loved the shadows and thought there were really pretty and pigmented as you can see. I have yet to wear them all together but have been wearing them daily alone.

Now for the swatches of the Magic Satin Mineral Powder and Mineral Blushing Brush. As you can see the Magic Satin Mineral Powder is really sheer and its a great finishing powder. The Mineral Blushing Blush is very buildable in my opinion and during the day I would just use a little bit to give me a rosy glow and when we would do something in the evening I would retouch with a little more.
 
One of my absolute favorites is the Hydrating Stick Glosses. This retails for $15 and I think its a really good price. There is 12 colors in this line.
 
 
I was so surprised when I put these on. They were very hydrating on the lips. It didn’t dry out at all and the wear was a few hours after eating and drinking. I loved the consistency of them as they went on smoothly and nice. I didn’t find there to be any bleeding.

 The colors are Capricho, Mia and Beso. They smell really nice.  I wish I had swatches of them on my lips but I am currently fighting back a cold sore and well that just ain’t pretty to see. The above photo is with natural lighting.

 This photos was taken away from the window. The colors are very pretty and I wear them all the time. They have a creamy texture to them.

I love the packaging of the Hydrating Stick Glosses very simple which I love. Don’t you?
 
I also got three sample pouches of the RestauraCel-C Mircodermabrasion Refinisher Cream, the Thermal Activator and Proteccion Hydrating Moisturizer with SPF 30. I have to say I was a little nervous in trying the samples out because I have sensitive skin that breaks out at the drop of a hat. I was truly impressed with the items. I had no reaction to them at all and I think this is somthing that would interest me. I honestly felt like it was working with my skin and not against it.
 
The Refinisher Cream (2 ounces) and Thermal Activator (1.9  oz) are sold together for $55. I’m not sure how much the Proteccion Hydrating Moisturizer is because I couldn’t find in in the catalog.
 
I almost forgot but I also got the Petite Detail/Accent Eye Shadow Brush TBP18 and it sells for $18. It was a cute little brush that worked perfectly to add a little bit of an accent color to your eye. I used it for the lower lash line.
 
I have to say that I have been using these for the past month and I love it. The colors of the eye shadows are very pigmented and with trial and error I discovered that using a primer made the colors pop more and last longer. I could actually go the whole day (8 hours +) without a touch up. I love that you can get many looks from them which makes this a fantastic little palette.
 
The stick glosses have to be my favorite. I love the colors I picked out. They are very me colors.
 
 
So, you my lucky readers I have something special to tell you. Mia Mariu is letting me give away one the Colors For Your Every Mood set. So what I got to review you will get to win. How generous is that?
 
Please note that Mia Mariu will be sending you the prize. The prize is valued at $109 and its valid only to Canadian and US mailing addresses.
 
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Book Spotlight/ Echoes of Angels: Sins of Angels Book 1

Posted on by Cindy

More than three thousand years ago Angels saved humanity from destruction, but Earth was lost. The Angels spread humanity across the stars and ruled the universe for twenty-five hundred years. Then they vanished.

Angelolist Rachel Jordan has come to the hellish world of Gehenna in search of a lost relic said to hold all the knowledge of the angels. But other factions seek it for themselves, and religious zealots will stop at nothing to keep it safe.

cover-echoes-of-angels

Echoes of Angels
Sins of Angels Book One
By Matt Larkin

Genre:
SciFi Fantasy

Publication Date:
September 14, 2013

272 Pages

Echoes of Angels on Goodreads

PURCHASE LINK
Amazon – $3.99 on Kindle

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt LarkinMatt was born and raised in Virginia, and graduated from the College of William and Mary there. His lifelong love of fantasy began with The Hobbit. This led him to start writing his own stories at a young age. His primary influences are mythology and history. He now lives in Florida with his wife.

AUTHOR LINKS
Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Book Spotlight/ Captivate

Posted on by Cindy

Ashlyn Doyle doesn’t trust the world.

Assistant to the famous romance author, Tamsin Archer, it falls to Ashlyn to find the perfect eye candy to grace the cover of Ender’s Betrayal, but when she bumps into Slade Collins on the streets of London, she gets far more than she bargained for.

Determined to make his mark in the world, Slade leaps at the opportunity to bring Ender James to life during a five city book tour. His sly smile and dashing British accent easily capture the attention of the fiery Tamsin Archer, and her assistant. The faster Slade moves into the spotlight, the more he begins to realize that fame isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

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Captivate
By Amy Miles

Genre:
Contemporary Romance

Publisher:
Amy Miles Books

Release Date:
September 26,2013

Captivate on Goodreads

PURCHASE LINK
Amazon Only $3.99

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Amy Miles is the author of Forbidden, Reckoning and Defiance Rising. When she’s not writing, Amy can be found traveling, cuddled up with a good book or beating her husband at Scrabble.

Amy is currently working to release five more books in 2013.

Redemption (Book III of the Arotas Trilogy)
Immortal Rose (Prequel to the Arotas Trilogy)
Relinquish (Book II of the Rising Trilogy)
Netherworld (Book I of the Hallowed Realms Trilogy)
And an NA contemporary romance that is still to be named

AUTHOR LINKS
Website/Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.