New Release
16 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in books Tags: Desert Breeze Publishing, The Gambler, the Gambler's inheritance
Jillian has a new book out today called The Gambler. It’s book one of a trilogy and has mystery, murder and romance. Adventure at sea and even a bit of the Duke of Windsor and Cary Grant (fictionalized of course!). http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-286/Gambler’s-Inheritance-Book-One-cln-/Detail.bok
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Book Trailer for The Gambler
21 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in books Tags: April 15, Book Trailer, Desert Breeze Publishing, Jillian Chantal, The Gambler
“THE WOLF’S TORMENT”- A Review
03 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in books Tags: Desert Breeze Publishing, Stephanie Burkhart, The Wolf's Torment
I had the privilege of reading an ARC of The Wolf’s Torment for my friend, the author, Stephanie Burkhart. This book has a wonderful love story between Mihai and his bride to be. This book also has a lot of tragic circumstances in it. I laughed and cried as I read this story. Mihai is a prince as well as a witch. He returns home from abroad to wed. With him is his friend, Viktor. Viktor is a very appealing character and is immediately attracted to Mihai’s sister.
The story progresses along and tragedy strikes Viktor. Over and over. He fights against the awful things that happen to him but he’s ultimately changed by his circumstances. My heart hurt for this character that I was so attracted to. The author does an excellent job of making the reader really care about this man. And then she masterfully makes the reader feel the angst of the character and I was surprised at how very much I wanted things to be different for Viktor.
Once I finished the story, I couldn’t get it out of my head. The title of the book is quite appropriate. Torment is the word to describe what the poor man goes through. Mihai’s bride has her share of torment as well. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series but I’m very afraid of what the future has in store for Mihai, his wife and family.
Stephanie Burkhart knows what she’s doing in writing dark scenes. I admire her skill in making the reader feel so strongly about her characters. I also wonder how she could stand to write some of the scenes that were so painful.
I recommend this book highly. Here’s some pictures: The cover and Viktor: I’ve also included where to buy this awesome story!
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-163/Stephanie-Burkhart-Moldavian-Moon/Detail.bok
“Unwilling Accomplice” – a Book Review
03 Feb 2011 4 Comments
in books Tags: book review, Desert Breeze Publishing, Melanie Atkins, New Orleans, Pensacola, Unwilling Accomplice
Last night, I finished reading Unwilling Accomplice by Melanie Atkins. This was book five in a series called New Orleans Detectives. I haven’t read any of the other four but I will be doing so now. You can read this one without knowing what happened in the other four. I’m sure some of the other detectives that are in this story as minor characters had their own story in the earlier books but it’s not necessary to have read them in order.
I was attracted to this book because of the cover and the setting. Living here in Pensacola, I love to drive the 2.5 hours to New Orleans. It’s the most European city we have here in the USA and I love it. The cover of this book is perfect- it shows some of the awesome architecture of the city.
Here is the blurb for this book:
Marcy Moretti believes that anyone can be redeemed, until she witnesses a murder at the hands of her ex-husband and is forced to go on the run with her young son in order to survive. The only person who can help her is Joe Riso, her former brother-in-law, a detective staggered by the loss of his wife and daughter. If he’s going to protect both Marcy and her boy, he must first find a way to unfreeze his icy heart — and along the way find his own redemption.
This story starts out fast paced and keeps the momentum going. I found myself, in several places, holding my breath to see what would happen next. I read this on my kindle app on my I-Pod and couldn’t slide the page fast enough on some of the action scenes. This. to me, is the sign of an excellent story. To want to race through to see how it turns out is the best kind of suspense book.
The love scenes were well done as well. I was glad the author explained how Joe could still have a great, hard body when he’d been drinking himself into oblivion for a while. Seems he worked out a lot to ease some of his stress. I liked the hero and the heroine in this story a lot. I don’t usually like a book with a kid in it but I enjoyed this one.
I recommend this book. It can be ordered at the publisher http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-143/Melanie-Atkins-New-Orleans/Detail.bok or Amazon among other places.
“The Count’s Lair” The Review
26 Jan 2011 4 Comments
in books Tags: Budapest, Christmas, Desert Breeze Publishing, historical romance, Hungary, Stephanie Burkhart, The Count's Lair, The Hungarian
A bit over a week ago, I posted the trailer for this book and promised a review when I finished reading the story and closer to the day you can actually buy it (February 1, 2011) here: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/StoreFront.bok Stephanie Burkhart has written this second installment in her Hungarian series. The first book was called, fittingly enough, The Hungarian. This second installment is called The Count’s Lair. And lair is an appropriate word for his home.
I’m a huge history buff and have always been. I adore reading historical novels. I love the setting of this story. Budapest, Hungary is a beautiful city. Lots of old, gorgeous buildings and bridges. Ms. Burkhart does a great job in describing both sides of the city. On one side of the river is Buda and on the other is Pest and each has different characteristics. Ms. Burkhart also is quite good at descriptions of the foods and atmosphere of the city in 1901. I wanted to eat some goulash as I read this book and ride in a motor car complete with a driver (not at the same time).
The Count certainly comes across as a handsome, decent man, albeit a man with secrets and a past that makes him vulnerable. I truly liked this hero. He falls for the heroine, Amelia, a concert pianist. He’s afraid they can’t have a life together and offers her a series of clues to guess his secret.
The story moves along through the Christmas season and culminates in an interesting outdoor scene in the middle of winter. This hero truly has to work to win the day.
I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it. I’m now going to have to read the first one as my interest has been piqued to learn the history of The Hungarian. Pick both these up and enjoy! 
“THE COUNT’S LAIR”
17 Jan 2011 2 Comments
in books Tags: book review, Desert Breeze Publishing, Stephanie Burkhart, The Count's Lair
Just finished reading an advance reader copy of this book and I’ll be posting a review of it both on this blog and my alter-ego’s blog. I thought I’d share the beautiful book trailer with you all before I get the review done- whet your appetite so to speak. This book comes out in February from Desert Breeze Publishing http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/StoreFront.bok. The book is by Stephanie Burkhart. Enjoy the trailer!
My Greatest Accomplishment of 2010
31 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in Plinky prompts Tags: Desert Breeze Publishing, Redemption for the Devil, Siren Book Strand, solo honeymoon, Surfer Bride
My accomplishment: I sold three novels to two different publishers under my pseudonym. I had already sold quite a few short stories but selling the novels was BIG for me. I had validation that I can write. Someone besides my family and friends liked my work. That was a big deal to me. One of the books is already out and the other two will be out by July 2011- one releases in April and one in July.
