The Beginning, Again

Hey Everyone,

I'm over at Heart-Shaped Glasses, talking about series books. 

Come on over and tell us about your favorite series!

Cheers!

Are You Ready for Luck?

Today is my day at Through Heart-Shaped Glasses and I'm talking about what it takes to be lucky.



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Think you've got what it takes? Come on over and tell us about it.

Traveling Romance

It's Monday, and I'm over at Through Heart-Shaped Glasses talking about travel and romance.

 

 

 

If you're looking for another way to procrastinate around the interwebs, come on over and check it out. Don't forget, every comment is entered in a monthly drawing to win some cool swag!

 

The First Line

It's Sunday! Woo-hoo, I love me some weekend. I'm over at Throught Heart-Shaped Glasses talking about first lines in books.

Why don't you come join me, and tell me, what's your favorite first line?

Forbidden Angel by Megan D. Martin

Hello there faithful followers. It's been a busy week here at Fox Tales. Today, we're honored to feature author Megan D. Martin and her latest release, Forbidden Angel. Stay tuned for my review and a chance to win an awesome prize. So let's get to it.

Blurb:

When captured by the Nazis, Sarah finds herself in a concentration camp that not only brings her closer to death...but closer to love.

Sarah Brenner, a young Jewish woman, is terrified when she finds herself in the heat of a railcar bound for a work camp in Nazi Germany. For years she, along with her mother and sister, had hidden from the SS, but no one could hide forever. Her hatred for those who have enslaved them is ever-growing, especially when they arrive and she encounters the shockingly handsome Nazi doctor who can’t seem to keep his eyes—or hands—off her.

Aurel Rothstein is not your everyday concentration camp physician. The endless prisoners and lack of care he's allowed to give have made him numb to the work he so coveted. It isn’t until he comes face to face with a beautiful prisoner that his heart becomes involved with his job—a forbidden and fatal move to any Nazi.

 When a vile soldier takes direct interest in Sarah, she will be forced to make a choice that will change her life forever: ignore the pull toward the handsome doctor or give in to the forbidden passion he awakens with only a look. Either way they both risk everything...
 

Buy Links:

Breathless Press         Amazon         Bookstrand       ARe
 

My Review:

Honestly, I admit to being taken aback by the setting of this book. As a long time romance reader, I’ve not read anything set in a concentration camp. Not to say they don’t exist, just that perhaps I’ve steered clear of them due to the abject pain and horror of the subject matter.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Ms. Martin did her research, and created characters that fit the setting perfectly. For a short novel, the pace is fast and the storyline is packed with action that will keep you wondering what will happen next.

Sarah finds herself, her mother and her sister incarcerated in a concentration camp at the end of WWII. She bravely fights for their safety, as well as her own. Although things don’t always go her way, her world really turns upside down when she meets Aurel. Who would have thought she’d find love under these conditions?

Aurel, the head physician for the camp, has realized what he has done over the last few years is horrid, but that doesn’t erase the horrors he’s committed. With Sarah he’s able to forget, however briefly, that he’s lost any chance he might have for happiness or a normal life after the war.

I wasn’t too sure there would be a believable HEA, but this author pulled it off brilliantly.

The only thing I would change about this book, would be to make it true novel length so we could explore the characters and setting with greater depth. 

A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for my honest review.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Bio:                                                                                         Megan D. Martin is a multi-published author, mother, student and editor. In her spare time she enjoys decorating her house with strange things that do not match, playing her old school Nintendo Entertainment System, and buying fish for her many fish tanks. To learn more about Megan, check her out on these social networking sites.

Blog: http://www.MeganDMartin.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authormegandmartin

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Megan_D_Martin

Google+:https://plus.google.com/115096823539939478098/posts 

Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6656963.Megan_D_Martin

Thanks for being here with us today, Megan. We wish you much success with your new release!

 

Want

Welcome! Today it's my pleasure to host Upper YA author, Stephanie Lawton. Stephanie is touring her new release, Want. Isn't the cover just gorgeous? Check out the deets below, along with my review.

 Blurb:

Julianne counts the days until she can pack her bags and leave her old-money, tradition-bound Southern town where appearance is everything and secrecy is a way of life. A piano virtuoso, she dreams of attending a prestigious music school in Boston. Failure is not an option, so she enlists the help of New England Conservatory graduate Isaac Laroche to help her.

She can’t understand why he suddenly gave up Boston’s music scene to return to the South. He doesn’t know her life depends on escaping it. Julianne must face down madness from without, just as it threatens from within. Isaac must resist an inappropriate attraction, but an indiscretion at a Mardi Gras ball—the pinnacle event for Mobile’s elite—forces their present wants and needs to collide with sins of the past.

My Review:

Ms. Lawton has my admiration. I’m not from the south, but after spending several years there, I believe she’s done a fabulous job of capturing the intricacies of southern life and how it shapes the people who live it.

Julianne is a young woman trapped by societal mores who is determined to break free of them, and everything they represent. She yearns for acceptance, and love, yet feels unlovable. Her talent is huge, her dreams beckon, and yet her everyday life threatens to not only thwart her dreams, but crush them into dust.

Isaac is the wunderkind who has it all. He’s lived the life Julianne craves. And it didn’t work out exactly as he believed it would, due to circumstances beyond his control. With Julianne he may have another chance to live his dreams, but only if he’s willing to change.

Before I realized it, I was enmeshed in Julianne’s struggle. This story is a roller coaster ride, filled with twists you won’t see coming. By turns, it angered me, shocked me, and took me into dark emotional places I didn’t want to go. But I’m glad I did. Even days after reading it, the characters are still with me. If didn’t know better, I’d swear I’ve met some of these people. For fans of Upper YA, this story is a must read.

Author Bio:

After collecting a couple English degrees in the Midwest, Stephanie Lawton suddenly awoke in the deepest reaches of the Deep South. Culture shock inspired her to write about Mobile, Alabama, her adopted city, and all the ways Southern culture, history and attitudes seduce the unsuspecting.

A lover of all things gothic, she can often be spotted photographing old cemeteries, historic buildings and, ironically, the beautiful beaches of the Gulf Coast. She also has a tendency to psychoanalyze people, which comes in handy when creating character profiles.

On her thirtieth birthday, she mourned (okay bawled) the fact that in no way could she still be considered a “young adult,” so she rebelled by picking up Twilight and promptly fell in love with Young Adult literature.

She has a love/hate relationship with Mardi Gras –where does all that money come from?–and can sneeze 18 times in a row.

Links:

Blog: http://stephanielawton.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Lawton-author/192796874113180
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Steph_Lawton

Pre-order Want: http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/4/post/2012/02/want-by-stephanie-lawton.html


Thank you for letting Fox Tales review your book. Congratulations on your new release. Wishing you much success!!

No Sweeter Love

It’s my pleasure to celebrate the success of one of my wonderful CP’s, Tina Vaughn. Today is the release day of her very first book! Congratulations, my friend. Wishing you every happiness on this special day.

Welcome to Union

Population: 994

Town motto: Where no secret goes untold

His father’s death forces Dr. Ryan Williams to return to the home—and the woman—he’d left behind ten years earlier. Ryan knows it’s best to avoid Union sweetheart and police officer Emily Winters during his visit. But how? Stuck in this small town, fighting an attraction that hasn’t diminished over time, the sparks are unavoidable—and so are the rumors. The same rumors that made him leave Union in the first place…

Experience taught Emily to keep her guard—and her panties—up. Until Ryan returns as suddenly as he left, tempting her with promises she already knows he can’t keep. Or so she thinks. This new adult Ryan is one capable of forever and, God-willing, forgiveness. Because even as they learn to trust and love each other again, Emily knows once she reveals her secret, heartbreak is inevitable.

Buy It Here

Here's to celebrating many more release days, and to amazing success. Cheers!

Talkin' Tuesday

I've been lucky enough to score an interview over at fabulous Rebecca Rose's blog for Talkin' Tuesday.

I'll be giving away a copy of Christmas Holly to get you started thinking about your Christmas list, and chatting about my next release, Christmas Knight.

And if you're the curious type, you might find out a thing or two you didn't know about me. So stop on by!

Paradise 21

Happy Monday, everyone! I thought we’d start this week off with a bang.

I’ve been lucky enough to interview a fabulous author and friend, Aubrie Dionne. We'll chat about her writing, and her new release which I've been lucky enough to review. And without further ado, let’s get to the good stuff.

1.   What has surprised you the most about being a published author?

Oh boy, that’s a good question! I didn’t realize how many friends I would make along the way, (like you!), and how supportive they would be. I love my critique partners and my beta readers, and I never feel alone in the process.
 
I really enjoy reading other people’s works (Like Christmas Holly- an awesome ebook!), and it’s so neat I get to talk to the authors behind them. J 

2. Do you need to be in a specific place or atmosphere before you can write?
      
I used to, but now that I have to write to meet deadlines, not so much anymore! Was it Stephen King that said something like, “amateurs wait for inspiration, while the rest of us get up and go to work!” ?
 
3. Are you a plotter or a pantser?
 
A little of both. I know the beginning and the end, and certain key elements in the middle, and then I “pants it” the rest of the way!

4. Since your day job involves music, do you prefer music or quiet when you write?

 
I prefer quiet, relaxing music (like new age) without words. I listen to Itunes radio. My favorite station is radio Gaia. J They speak in some other language, so I have no idea what the announcer is saying!
 
5. When not working or writing, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I love to watch movies! Fantasy and sci fi are my favorites (no surprise there, right?). I also spend a lot of time with my family because all of my three siblings and both my parents live about ten to twenty minutes away. I have a new nephew, Evan, about to turn one this month!
 
6. Most authors are avid readers. Which author is at the top of your auto-buy list?
 
I love Patricia McKillip. My favorite book of hers in Winter Rose. It reads like a fairytale, which each sentence flowing like music to my ears.
 
7. Would you tell us about your latest release?
 
Paradise 21 is inspired by the global population food shortage crisis going on today. I wondered what would happen when the Earth becomes uninhabitable, and came up with a series based on colony ships seeking alternate worlds.

8. What inspired this particular book?

Ummmm….I have to say Star Wars, and the planet of Tatooine. I grew up watching the old Star Wars movies over and over again, so I think it’s been reconstituted into my DNA. J (Not a totally bad thing, heh?)

9. What’s next in Author Aubrie’s world?

I just finished the sequel to Paradise 21 titled Tundra 37. It’s about another colony ship that is forced to land on an ice planet to survive. I’m working on a tie in novella to the series called A Hero Rising. This novella will chronicle the fall of Earth as the colony ships leave and the start of the space pirates! (And there’s even zombies!!!)

10. Where can we find you?

My website:
www.authoraubrie.com
My Blog:
http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com
Twitter:
@authoraubrie

Thank you for this awesome interview, Sutton! Everyone needs to go out and by Christmas Holly by Sutton Fox. You’ll see my review for it on Amazon. It is amazing!

*Grin* I didn't expect the plugs, but thanks, Aubrie! I've enjoyed having you today. Now let's take a look at Paradise 21. Don't you just love that name? It's like after twenty tries, they finally got it right. And the cover is stunning, it just grabs you and insists you come along for the ride.

BUY IT HERE

Here's the blurb:

Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.

But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.

Here's the review:

Aries is a spunky, strong-minded young woman who had me cheering for her from the first page. She’s determined to carve out her own destiny, no matter the odds. And the challenges she faces are steep. Escaping from the New Dawn is one thing, surviving that escape is another thing entirely.

Although labeled a pirate, Striker is pure hero material through and through. He’ll do what’s necessary, and he’s not afraid to make difficult choices when needed. A soft spot for the underdogs and a hard edge for those who’d take advantage kept me reading to the end just to see if he’d attain his heart’s desire.

Three cheers for Ms. Dionne. She’s created an engaging cast of characters, each desperately struggling to live their lives and find happiness in a universe where living things have all but become extinct. Her skillfully drawn characterizations are captivating. The world building is believable from the first page and enables you to sit back and enjoy the thrill ride that is Paradise 21. A tightly woven plot and a masterfully developed sub-plot will keep you turning pages.

If you are sci-fi romance fan, I highly recommend this book. It’s a fast paced adventure that’s hard to put down. So hard in fact, that I read it in one sitting! I’m glad this is a series. I can’t wait for the next book.