31st July And Why It's Such An Important Day For Me!

Hola Bookworms!

31st July is finally here! And there are so many reasons for me to celebrate this day!

It's the birthday of the author who first introduced me to the magical world of books, J.K. Rowling!


• It's the birthday of the character who drew me deeper into the Fantasyland, Harry Potter!


• It's the day I got my baby girl, Harry-Chan! (Hence the name 😉)


And the latest...

• Today's the day my very first book releases! That's right, Scattered Constellations is out today!





Genre: Young Adult, Poetry, Fiction.
Blurb:

Words tumble out, with no pause:
From the pen, my anelace,
That I hold so graciously,
(In awe of its majesty, its power)
In my hand.

They form thoughts, hopes, and musings;
Reflect my soul, my entire being,
And spread across the page,
Like scattered constellations
Across the sky.

Scattered Constellations is a collection of 50 YA Free Verse poems.

You can read the book for free through Kindle Unlimited or buy an eBook copy on Amazon.

If you'd like a paperback instead, you can buy it here:

For residents of India.

For US, UK, and other countries.

If you do decide to read the book, I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Also, if you'd like to stay updated about my coming books (Fantasy and YA anyone?) don't forget to subscribe to my Newsletter!


Keep reading, Keep writing!
Ankita.

Blitz & Giveaway: Unshackled




Author: Rachael Stewart.
Genre: Erotic Fiction.

Blurb:

Unshackled is a thrilling ride of sexual awakening, love, money and corruption…
Trying to escape the evil hold of her stepfather, Abigail becomes a player in a wildly debauched world that has her body hitting a plethora of sexual highs, while her heart clings to her new-found love and the desire to be free. But can she break away and keep it all—the money, her freedom and the girl?
Or will she lose everything?


Order Unshackled now:




About The Author:

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heart-warmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

Despite a degree in Business Studies and spending many years in the corporate world, the desire to become an author never waned and it's now her full-time pleasure, a dream come true. 

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she's not glued to her laptop, she's wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.


Giveaway:

Win an e-copy of Unshackled by Rachael Stewart (Open Internationally)

Terms and Conditions –

Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Guest Post: Tani Hanes Talks About A Character Based on a Real-life Person


Hey Bookworms!

Sorry I haven't been around since a couple of days! But I'm back now, and that too with a guest! 


I introduce you to Tani Hanes, author of Winter Flower! 


About The Author:



My name is Tani Hanes, and I am a 51 year old substitute teacher. I'm from central California and am a recent transplant to New York City. The most important things to know about me are that I'm punctual, I love grammar and sushi, and I'm very intolerant of intolerance. The least important things to know about me are that I like to knit and I couldn't spell "acoustic" for 40 years. I've wanted to write since I was ten, and I finally did it. If you want to write, don't wait as long as I did, it's pointless, and very frustrating!

Website |GoodreadsTwitterFacebook | Tumblr | Pinterest

Today, Tani is going to tell us about Pete, a character from her books who is actually based on a Real-life person she knew...



~~~

Winter Flowers is the second in the Flower Series. In the first book, Pete & Daisy, we met our couple, and hopefully grew to love them. Now, they’ve become a family, and fame and fortune have found Pete, and he’s on the brink of becoming wildly successful. Pete is one of the most popular characters I’ve ever created. You readers can’t seem to get enough of him, and I think I know the reason for this:

He’s one of the few characters in my books who’s based on a real person.

So I’m going to do what I swore I'd never, ever do, and tell you about the real life Pete.
So many people who read these days like to have face claims for the characters in the books. This post was originally going to be about a dream cast for The Flower Series. But as I started to write, I realized I was having trouble because I already had a real life face claim, for Pete, anyway, and he wasn’t an actor, he wasn’t famous.

For most of my stories, the guy is kind of loosely based on Harry Styles, who has to be one of the most attractive young men on the planet. But Pete wasn't. I mean, he kinda was, because I was in that groove, with the hair and him being a musician, but not really, and I think that's why he’s leapt off the page, and why so many beta readers had such a visceral response to him. I mean, he made so many laugh and cry, oh my god did he make them cry lol! Because he was so real to me. And that made him real to everyone.

But for the above reason, I didn't want to give a face claim for Pete. And there was another reason: He was mine, a real person in my memory, and I didn't want to share him with anyone.

When I was a teenager, back in the Dark Ages, I traveled through Italy on a very crowded train. A very crowded train. I mean, I don't know what Italians do during the day, but at night, a bunch of them get on trains and go places, it seems.

I was nineteen, and I met a twenty-one year old boy named Riccardo. We talked for that one night, for six and a half hours, while sitting on the floor of that train, outside the bathroom, I kid you not. Through the window to our left, a moon hung over the Adriatic, giving the whole floor-outside-the-bathroom thing just the right amount of romantic ambiance. It was sweltering, and I remember little trickles of sweat near his temples.
I have no real memory of what we talked about, isn't that weird?

All I remember is a feeling, of discovery, of beginning, of greed, of wanting to talk more, know more. And I remember not being able to look directly at his face because he was too handsome. The left side of my body, the side closest to him, was warm.

So we exchanged addresses when he got off the train, agreeing to keep in touch, and I went off to Greece, then to Japan for school, and I sent post cards to all the new friends I'd made in Europe, including the handsome, interesting Italian with the delicious accent. He wrote back, and we began a correspondence, like on paper, with pens. It was so fun!

Our letters got longer and longer, more and more personal. Three years later, when I was finishing school in Santa Cruz, California, we finally made plans to meet. Keep in mind that at no time was this friendship anything more than that, at least not officially. I had boyfriends during that time, and he had girlfriends. But wowza.

At the last minute, he couldn't come because he got a summer job that was too lucrative to pass up, in his home town, near where his mother lived. His parents were divorced, and he worried about his mom and was very close to her, so the chance to spend a summer with her was also a bonus (I know, right?).

Then, nothing.

This was before computers, cell phones, all that good stuff. I was worried, then irritated, then pissed off. I told my roommates he'd better be in a coma or dead, that no other excuse would do, and there would be hell to pay when I found out he was carousing at the beachside resort with his new girlfriend or whatever.

So you know what comes next, right?

After three months, I got a letter from Italy in a handwriting I didn't recognize, and when I opened it, a newspaper clipping fell out. It had Riccardo's picture, and I could tell, just from looking at the picture, that he was dead. The article described how he'd been in a car, driving his girlfriend home late at night, when a truck coming in the other direction had crossed the median and struck them head on (I'd begun taking Italian at school, for obvious, nebulous reasons). They'd needed the jaws of life to pry open the car to retrieve his body. His girlfriend had been thrown clear.

So my world got dimmer for a while, like someone turned down the sun.
I've kind of kept in touch with his mother, though it's difficult, given the language barrier. She's a lovely woman, though of course she'd have to be, to have produced such a marvelous son.

Anyway, all of Pete's mannerisms, habits, even his speech patterns, come from my brief physical memories of Riccardo during that six hour train ride, and from his long letters. I remember his voice, how he sounded, the way he moved his hands when he talked, the way his fingers felt when he touched my face (yeah, he did that 🤗).


So what I'm including down here is just a photograph of a photograph, because I'm technologically challenged, and I apologize for that, okay? This isn't the only picture I have of him, but it is the one that shows most clearly how I see him. I think this also explains why Pete is nearly always shirtless in the book!

I sent this photograph to the woman who drew my cover, and I think she did a good job of capturing him.

And I feel good that I’ve immortalized him in such a permanent way. Is Pete a lil bit perfect. Yeah. Because he was, you know?

~~~

Oh my God, that's so beautiful. And I agree with Tani. Pete sounds perfect, doesn't he?

About The Book:


Genre: New Adult, Romance.
Blurb:

What ever happened to Pete and Daisy? 

When we left them, their daughter had just been born, and some momentous decisions had been made.

It’s now four years later. Their family has grown, as has their love for each other. Clio is a rocky smart, precocious four year old, and she’s been joined by baby sister Francie. Pete’s career as a musician is finally taking off, and things should be rosy; however, fame and fortune bring their own pitfalls, and a voice from the past arrives in their lives, threatening to upset everything they’ve worked for.

Can they survive Pete’s success, and the long shadow cast by Daisy’s past? How will Pete deal with groupies, temptation, and prolonged separation from his family? And how far is Daisy willing to go to protect those she loves? 

Join the Santangelos on this rollicking roller coaster second installment of their journey.


Giveaway:

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Blog Tour Organized by:

Review: Seductive Affair


Author: Rishabh Puri.
Genre: Contemporary Romance Thriller.
Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

Prisha Khatri is a regular college graduate, focused on her career, desperate to finally move out of her parents’ house… and freshly dumped by her successful fiancé. When she lands a job at a prestigious media house, she’s glad to have something to take her mind off her heartbreak.
What she doesn’t expect is to be landed on a business trip with a famously fiery reporter Rajesh Lagheri. He’s travelling to a business conference for a story, and doesn’t seem impressed by her involvement. But as soon as they’re out of the office, things change, and it becomes clear that there is more to Rajesh’s trip than meets the eye.
As Prisha is drawn into the story he’s trying to hide from their editor, their hunt for the story grows more intense, and she finds herself growing closer to Rajesh. As their chemistry threatens to overwhelm them and Prisha is pulled deeper into the Seductive Affair, she must decide what matters most to her – matters of the head, or of the heart.

Cover Review:

The cover is simple and pretty, but not really intriguing. I love the title fonts though. 

Book Review:

Seductive Affair was a light and fun read, with just enough action to keep it interesting. 

I liked the characters, especially Prisha, for not backing down and sticking up for herself. I loved her dedication to her job, and her determination to keep going. 

Rajesh was an entertaining character too, though he was mostly the cliché arrogant guy/bad boy. 

There were a few things that irked me, like how she was called long and lanky on one page and short framed in another. 

But other than small things like that, it was a fairly enjoyable read. 


Order Seductive Affair now:







Review: Lifeline


Author: Abbey Lee Nash.
Genre: Young Adult. 
Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫🍬

Blurb:

Popular high school senior Eli Ross has the perfect life. He’s captain of the lacrosse team at LionsHeart Academy, and he’s dating Savannah, the hottest, most popular girl at school. But that life comes crashing down when he overdoses at a party and is sent to LakeShore Recovery Center, an inpatient substance abuse treatment program where he’ll spend the next twenty-eight days.
It's there that Eli meets Libby, the sharp-edged artist, whose freshly tattooed scars mirror the emotional scars Eli tries his best to ignore. Eli soon learns that if he's to have any chance at a future, he'll first have to confront his past.

Cover Review

I saw this book's cover on Twitter first, and I was like, "I need this book!" And when the publisher agreed to send me a review copy, I was ecstatic! 

Book Review:

Lifeline was, quite simply, beautiful. 

The story reminded me of Ned Vizzini's It's Kind Of A Funny Story. A lot.

Eli, lacrosse captain and star student ends up in rehab because of a drug overdose. And that's where his life changes for the better. 

Lifeline was an easy read, and yet it was just as beautiful and intense. It was funny, but it was serious too. 

The characters were well crafted, so were their struggles. Though I wish the author had written more about Libby. Because though Eli's story has a nice ending, we don't get to see what happens to Libby. 

Overall though, Lifeline was a sweet, intense and beautiful read. 


Order Lifeline now:



A Special Post & A Giveaway!


Hey Bookworms,

Today's post is a little special. 

As you all probably know, I recently decided publish my poetry collection. And those who know me know that I'm a pretty impatient person. And I'm also pretty impulsive. 

So, I'm at my grandparents', and my aunt tells me that I should think about getting my poems published. And I know that's what I'm going to do. 

The next day, I'm compiling the poems I think I should include in the collection. Impulsive, right? 

I didn't realize then just how difficult it is to publish your book, even when you're self-publishing. There's so much to do! 

Thankfully, I have the greatest friends ever, and my soul sister, Pravallika helped me with not just the book cover but also the editing of the book. We spent days and nights perfecting the book, making it readable and error free as possible. 

Then there was my best friend, Namita, who helped me with sorting all the poems into three beautiful sections. 

Though honestly speaking, the toughest part of the whole thing was formatting. I had to make separate copies for ebook and paperback. And both of them needed to be formatted differently. And I had to do it on my own, for once. 

It's done now, and the book is almost out there, and I've never been so excited, scared and nervous all at the same time. 

So, as a way to thank you, all of you who helped me in some way—all of the readers and authors and book bloggers, the people who inspired me to go ahead and put my work out there—I'm giving away 5 eBook copies of Scattered Constellations! I'll be doing a paperback to once it releases, but for now, I hope you will enjoy the eBook!



More about Scattered Constellations

Words tumble out, with no pause;
From the pen, my anelace,
That I hold so graciously,
(In awe of its majesty, its power)
In my hand.

They form thoughts, hopes and musings;
Reflect my soul, my entire being,
And spread across the page,
Like scattered constellations
Across the sky.
Scattered Constellations is a collection of 50 YA Free Verse poems.

Praise for Scattered Constellations:

Ankita's poetry is so well versed that you feel everything her words speak. From warm and fuzzy to ice cold, this is a book you will not want to put down!
-Sarah Kenney, Author of The Devil's Curse Novels.

Dark and beautifully heartrending in some places, Ankita's Scattered Constellations weaves a story that most people will experience in their lives but will never be able to fully explain using words. Surely a book of poetry that belongs on your bookshelf!
-K.G. Reuss, Author of The Emissary of The Devil Series.

Ankita's Scattered Constellations is a beautiful collection of short poems whose breadth of topics and ideas will captivate you. I was in love with this book and Ankita's words from cover to cover, and I know you will be too.
-Magnolia Robbins, Author of Forbidden Melody.

I think Ankita Singh is a very perceptive and talented young poet and definitely one to watch.
-Linda Hill, Blogger at Lindas Book Bag.

Interested? Enter the Giveaway now! 


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Thank you for entering! If you win, I'll email you for further details! 

Keep Reading, Keep Writing,
Ankita. 

Cover Reveal: Aftereffects


As a host to Xpresso Tours, I present to you the cover of Aftereffects by L.J. Greene!



Genre: Contemporary, Adult, Romance .


Blurb:


What could be more terrifying than falling in love with the person who is your good place? Maybe realizing just a smidge too late that there can be dire consequences to becoming your best friend’s lover.


The lives of Keir Stevens and Selene Georgiou serendipitously collide mid-span on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, one jarring step ahead of fate. He’s a temporary transplant from Seattle; she’s facing the biggest career opportunity of her life. They have no notion of the common thread that connects them.

As they come to discover they share a similar adversity, their relationship evolves from a fun and frivolous infatuation with nowhere to go into a true friendship with sincerity, humor, and respect at its heart.
It’s awfully hard not to fall in love with that – even if you’re pretty darn certain you shouldn’t.

But when love and friendship suffer their own devastating collision – their interests brutally conflicting – the consequences of blurring the lines between the two suddenly become real. In the end, which one will be the stronger? And more importantly, can either survive?

AFTER EFFECTS is a standalone dual POV adult contemporary romance about the things we choose in life out of all the things that are beyond our choosing – a tale of love and friendship, of time and how we spend it, and of the inner wars that ultimately show us what really matters.


About The Author:

Romance author, obsessive multi-tasker, California native, music lover with no apparent musical talent, travel enthusiast, and cheese connoisseur. 



Guest Post: Kirsten McKenzie talks about The Origin Of Doctor Perry


Hey Bookworms!

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Author Kirsten McKenzie as a guest on the blog. Her book, Doctor Perry releases soon!

She'll be introducing us to Doctor Perry soon! 

But before that, let's get to know her a bit better!

About the Author:

For many years Kirsten McKenzie worked in her family's antique store, where she went from being allowed to sell the 50c postcards as a child, to selling $5,000 Worcester vases and seventeenth century silverware, providing a unique insight into the world of antiques which touches every aspect of her writing.

Her historical fiction novels 'Fifteen Postcards' and it's sequel 'The Last Letter' have been described as 'Time Travellers Wife meets Far Pavilions', and 'Antiques Roadshow gone viral'. The third book in the series 'Telegram Home' will be released in November 2018 by Accent Press.

Her bestselling gothic horror novel 'Painted' was released in 2017, with her medical thriller 'Doctor Perry' following closely in April 2018.


She lives in New Zealand with her husband, her daughters, an SPCA rescue cat and a kitten found in the neighbour's shed, and can usually be found procrastinating on Twitter.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Now, let's hear (read?) the story of the origin of Doctor Perry!

~~~~

After my father died unexpectedly, my brother and I both quit our jobs with the New Zealand Customs Service to run the family antique store. I’ve always been in love with old things, so it wasn’t a hardship for me. I can recall a story from when I was younger, of my father buying a Lladro statue off a regular customer and some time later the police visiting the shop and telling Dad that the regular customer — a well dressed, middle aged woman, was stealing from the rest home she worked in, and selling the stolen belongings all around town, including selling Dad the Lladro statue. That story stayed with me and made me think how easy it must be to steal from the elderly, when ever-changing staff are in and out of their rooms, and perhaps the residents are a bit befuddled in their old age, and their families never visit to query the missing china statue or the gold watch or the pearl necklace? My grandmother suffered from Alzheimers, and her pearl necklace did go missing at some stage. Whether it was the staff, or whether she put it somewhere ‘safe' we’ll never know. 

I tend to store these little life snippets, and when I sit down to write, it’s a bit like opening a drawer, and rummaging through all the thoughts and memories and life experiences until just the right thing jumps out, and then I use that in my writing.

My mother is now at the stage of looking to move to a retirement village, so she and I have been touring all the rest homes, retirement resorts, and secure apartments for the older person in Auckland. And I can tell you, not all of them are created equal. 

There are some which do have an all pervasive scent of urine and cabbage. There are some which are more like hotels, and I’d be happy to move there in a heartbeat. There are some which are so old, the Fire Service are terrified of a fire breaking out there because they know they wouldn’t be able to save all the residents in time. 

Imagine that? Imagine going to a call out where you know the place is so old, and so unsafe, yet it’s still allowed to operate as a facility for the elderly? How can any government allow that?

My grandmother lived in her secure facility for ten years, and my mother visited her every week. I visited, taking my young children with me. At times my girls would get scared by some of the other residents. But what was scarier, and sadder, were the number of patients with dementia who never had any visitors — residents abandoned by their families. That alone was enough to sow the seeds for Doctor Perry. An unscrupulous nursing home, or doctor, could easily take advantage of a whole sector of society abandoned by their loved ones. My grandmother’s carers were an amazing group of people. And they loved her like she was a member of their own family. But not all elderly people are so lucky. Maybe the words between the pages of Doctor Perry will make some people question the facilities their loved ones live in, or maybe it will up the number of visits! Either way, in my heart I hope readers of Doctor Perry feel just as aghast at the treatment of the residents at the Rose Have Retirement Home as I did writing it, because it’s not that far removed from reality for some people. Fact is often scarier than fiction…

~~~~

I agree with Kirsten on that. Fact is almost always scarier than fiction!

Here's some info about Doctor Perry (the book!):


Under the Hippocratic Oath, a doctor swears to remember that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.

Doctor Perry assures his elderly patients at the Rose Haven Retirement Home that he can offer warmth, sympathy, and understanding. Doctor Perry is a liar.

Hiding from a traumatic past, Elijah Cone wants nothing to do with the other residents at the Rose Haven, content to sit at his window waiting to die. He’s about to learn that under Doctor Perry death is the easy option...

Add To Goodreads.





Review: The Word Is Murder



Author: Anthony Horowitz.
Genre: Mystery, Suspense. 
Rating: 🍫🍫🍬

Blurb:

She planned her own funeral--but did she arrange her murder?

A wealthy woman strangled six hours after she’s arranged her own funeral.
A very private detective uncovering secrets but hiding his own.
A reluctant author drawn into a story he can’t control.

What do they have in common?
Unexpected death, an unsolved mystery and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz's page-turning new thriller.

Cover Review

The cover is mysterious, but doesn't really relate with the story in any way. 

Book Review

I had high hopes for this book. I was so excited when my review request got approved on Edelweiss! And then I read the book. 

It wasn't bad, story wise. The storyline was pretty good, but I couldn't get into it. Unlike the Sherlock Holmes books by Anthony—that I absolutely loved, by the way—this one didn't have much thrill at all. It was very tedious. 

The lead character, Hawthorne, is kinda like Sherlock, but worse in all the bad qualities Sherlock had. I did not like Hawthorne one bit, and maybe that also affected my take on the book. 

I loved the way the author included himself in the story as a sidekick, and how he mixed facts with fiction. He's really good at that, to be honest. 

But overall, the book had just too much description and not enough action for my taste. I really wish I'd had liked it better, but I guess I'll have to wait for the author to write another Sherlock Holmes novel. 


Buy The Word Is Murder now:



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