FF

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Alaskan Book Cafe! I am Cristi.  Today is Follow My Book Blog Friday, (or FF). FF is hosted by 2 wonderfully awesome blogs, Parajunkee.com and Alisoncanread.com. Every Friday they feature 2 new blog and today I am one of the featured blogs, the other is Alaiel at Librarianmouse.com! *The crowd roars!*  I am so excited!!  For those new to my blog I read a wide variety of genres so you probably never really know what you are going to find here. I also have my grandson, who lives with me and is on the autism spectrum, on here sometimes doing children's book reviews. You can see him by clicking on One Face of Autism in my tabs. I also have pictures of Alaska both on a tab and also on posts. Right now I am hosting a giveaway for Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite so I hope you will all enter that. It is an awesome book and there will be 2 winners. So I hope you look around and like watch you see. Have a super awesome weekend! As you all know there is a question each week. Today's question is:    It's that pesky magic book fairy again! She has another wish: What imaginary book world would you like to make a reality?
Omgosh! There are so many! I want to live in Storyland. A magical place where you move from one book world into another much the way we travel city to city. That's not too much to ask is it?  My first pick would have to be the world of Anne of Green Gables. I have loved that book since childhood. Others I would like to visit are the world of the Midnight Breed series. I would so love to be one of the women living in that world. A bit dangerous yes but I am sure I would be kept safe.  I would love to walk into the world of the book I review below, Pirates of Savannah. Also dangerous but who has not dreamed of being a pirate? The world of Sookie Stackhouse would be another awesome place to go. All the different breeds coming out, vampires, shifters, the fae. It makes me dizzy from excitement. Really I think there should be a Book World to rival Disney World. I know you all would join me for a vacation there.
Please visit my fellow bloggers in the hop!

Enter Here for the Ghost On Black Mountain Giveaway!

Jarred Into Being by Pat Lawrence

Jarred Into Being by Pat Lawrence

I received a copy of this book from the authors to review. No promise of a good review was made. The review is based solely upon my honest thoughts and feelings. No offer of compensation was made nor was there any compensation given. 

 On Sunday night after TrueBlood, I was sitting downstairs waiting for Junior and had decided to check out the first chapter. Junior came home - I was still reading.  Junior brushed his teeth  and changed into his pajamas and I was following him around with the book open. I tucked him in, reading. When I finally checked I discovered I was on chapter 10! That's the kind of book this is. I forced myself to stop there with the promise I would continue it the next day. I picked it back up the next day and read it straight through in a few hours. We meet Eva as a well behaved child of two very loving parents. Then her parents leave her with her aunt and fail to pick her up. We know this is because they died in a car accident on their way to pick her up. She ends up living with her aunt and the downward spiral begins. Eva's aunt gets pregnant; continuing her abuse of drugs and alcohol. By the time the child is born Eva has grown up quite a bit and takes on much of the responsibility of her baby cousin. By the time Eva is 16 and Tina is two things have gone from bad to worse. Loretta, Eva's aunt, is now a prostitute and her boyfriend Dwayne  has moved in. One night Dwayne decides it is time for Eva to earn him some money too. The next day Eva awakes to find a note from Loretta telling her she left and Eva needs to take care of herself and her cousin Tina. She makes the decision to leave with Tina. Realizing that at 16, with only $22 she took while Dwayne slept, she is unable to take care of Tina.  Eva makes a heart-wrenching decision. The decisions Eva make that follow lead her to make a good friend but also unto more violence and abuse. When she takes a bag of money from drug lords her life changes once more and leads up to an explosive end.


As you can guess I really enjoyed this book. I liked that Eva kept having both good and bad things happen - that is how life is. Some parts were a bit unbelievable but I was fine with that. I was reading a fictional book. If I wanted everything to be believable I would have chosen non-fiction. I thought the characters were well developed and I could easily follow how Eva reasoned things out. I was able to make the connections on how experiences in her life affected how she thought and felt. Some of her actions were not the most honorable but they were human responses. The romance, I thought, was both sad and happy but, most of all, her love for Rafael was beautiful. The authors, a husband and wife team, wrapped things up nicely.  I would give this book 4 stars and recommend it if you are looking for a fast read thriller. 


Jarred Into Being by Pat Lawrence can be purchased in both paperback and hardback copies as well as E Book. It is available at OUTSKIRTS PRESS.
An audio sample is also available free at the above link.


A couple of questions with the authors, husband and wife, Pat and Lawrence. 


What would you say your book is about?


After the tragic death of her parents, Eva Lange must battle for her freedom; indeed, her very life. Fleeing her aunt's abuser, she falls prey to a murderous drug lord and his wife in their luxurious lair of lust. Using her wits, beauty and sexuality to save herself and break the bonds of captivity and degradation, Eva struggles against corruption and powerful political forces to reclaim her independence and save the life of the man she loves.


Why did you decide to write it?


We wanted to write the type of novel that we ourselves enjoy reading: a taut, suspense-filled roller coaster of a read that keeps you turning pages until you reach The End.


Congratulations. You succeeded with that goal. What types of readers  do you imagine will be interested in your book?


Anyone who enjoys fast paced, exciting fiction with a strong protagonist and convincing  fully drawn supporting characters will enjoy this book.


I liked that you made Tina real for me. Since she was only two and not a major part of the book, many authors would have chosen to just let her be without a real personality. You chose to give her life and it made Eva's decision all the more heartbreaking to read. 
So tell us please, why should we choose your book over others in this genre? What do you believe makes it different?


Our main character's physical beauty is both a curse to her and her ultimate salvation. Eva is preyed upon because of her desirability, and she learns to use that same attribute unapologetically to free herself and assert her total independence.


What else have you written? Are you writing anything now?


We have previously penned Murder Mysteries and a two act comedy play, SQUIRRELS IN THE ATTIC. We do have plans to publish more novels;  in fact,  our second novel is already underway.

Thank you for answering a few questions for us. The authors webpage is the link to OUTSKIRTSPRESS.COM

Please leave your comments below. 

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. It is hosted by Readingbetweenpages Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  

This week's theme is FEELINGS

My snippet is from Jarred Into Being,  found on page 6:

The unthinkable nightmare of that morning was merciless to Eva. She repeatedly pictured her parents smiling, laughing, hugging her, joking with one another, and her eyes spontaneously welled up with tears that blurred her vision and streamed down her face when she curled up in the corner of her room, hugging her knees to her chin.

 

Enter the GHOST ON BLACK MOUNTAIN GIVEAWAY Here