A high-profile lawsuit erupts into chaos, revealing its place in a larger
Blog Tour
spree of violence in this scandalous tale of lust, lies, and vengeance. A brazen gunman is targeting prominent African American men on the streets of Los Angeles, and police are completely baffled. At the same time, savvy big-firm attorney Vernetta Henderson and her outrageous sidekick, Special, lead the charge for revenge against a man whose deceit caused his fianceé’s death. For Special, hauling the man into court and suing him for wrongful death just isn’t good enough. While she exacts her own brand of justice, a shocking revelation connects the contentious lawsuit and the puzzling murders.
Meet Pamela Samuels Young,
author of Murder on the Down Low
Pamela Samuels Young is a practicing attorney and author of the legal thrillers, Murder on the Down Low, In Firm Pursuit, Every Reasonable Doubt, and the forthcoming, Buying Time, A desire to see women and people of color represented in today’s legal fiction prompted Pamela to start writing despite a busy career as an attorney. The former journalist and Compton native is a graduate of USC, Northwestern University and UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. Pamela is the fiction writing expert for BizyMoms.com and is on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Master your craft! Take the time to study writing the same way you would study any other profession. Also, read like a writer. When you read a book you enjoy, study the author’s writing style and the book’s story structure. Ask yourself why the book was a great read. One of the most helpful things I did as a new writer was outline John Grisham’s The Firm and examine the story structure. It helped me tremendously in learning how to build suspense.
Pamela is the Fiction Writing Expert for BizyMoms.com. Her bi-monthly articles cover a range of topics on fiction writing. Here’s a link to Pamela’s article Keep your Readers Turning the Pages.
My thoughts: Not my normal style of read yet I dug in and found the book to quickly grab my attention and take me to a level of suspense that didnt really let go until the last page.
I enjoyed reading out of my genre style and found I was not disappointed.
Please leave a comment to be eligible to win an autographed book and a 25 dollar gift card from Pamela Samuels Young. One winner will be chosen each day of this Blog Tour for a total of FIVE winners.
(Be sure I have a way to email you if you are a winner and US entries only please)
I received this book from Tywebbin Creations
I would rate this book a PG13 rating for some sexual content
I began this book with a little knowledge about a Quinceanera… and ended with a much better understanding and appreciation of all that it means. ~ Sheila
All Ana Ruiz wanted was to have a traditional quinceañera for her daughter, Carmen. She wanted a nice way to mark this milestone year in her daughter’s life. But Carmen was not interested in celebrating. Hurt
and bitter over her father Esteban’s departure, she blamed Ana for destroying their happy family, as did everyone else. A good man is hard to find, especially at your age Ana was told. Why not forgive his one indiscretion? Despite everything, Ana didn’t want to tarnish Carmen’s childlike devotion to her beloved father. But Ana knows that growing up sometimes means facing hard truths. In the end, Ana discovers that if she’s going to teach Carmen anything about what it means to be a woman, it will take more than simply a fancy party to do it..
I struggled a bit in the beginning of the book with the Spanish words that were used in an otherwise english sentence. In many cases I did not know the words meaning or have a good guess so I had to skip over those parts. As the book moved forward and I became familiar with the characters and the rythym of the book it became easier not to be stumped by these words as I was already engrossed in the story line.
Author, Belinda Acosta puts together a wonderful read with a story of tradition that takes me out of my own corner of the world and places me in hers.
I have attended a Quinceanera in Honduras this past February, although until this book, I did not know that is what it was called. Ava had turned 15 and I was told that as Honduras customs this was a coming of age type event where a young girl steps out and is not introduced as a young woman and it is time to put away childish things. They dressed Ava up in a beautiful gown and did many of the things described in this book, such as replacing her flat shoes for high heels, taking away her teddy bed and replacing it with a beautiful necklace. It really was something to experience – maybe more so as Ava is a street kid – a child saved from abandonment of her own parents and brought to Manuelito (where I spend time each year) and has been given a life she would have never had.
For my story of Ava, this book had a special meaning for me and I am thankful that Belinda Acosta wrote of Quinceanera’s.
Me and Ava at her Quinceanera, Talanga Honduras, Feb. 2009
About the Author:
Belinda Acosta has written and published plays, short stories, and essays. As a journalist, her work has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman, The Austin Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News, The San Antonio Current, and AlterNet. Her short story Tortilla Dough appeared in Saguaro, a publication of the University of Arizona in 1992. In 1993, she produced, directed and performed in a multi-media dance-theater performance of La Llorona. National exposure came in 1995 when she read her personal essay Gran Baile, on Latino USA – the Radio Journal of News and Culture, carried on National Public Radio.
I was out of town this weekend and my Freebie Friday book giveaway for The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory ended on Friday. I used random.org from my hotel room and sent a message to the winner, but have not had time to post it until now.
So – with no further adieu – whatsoever…. I bring to you, the one and only winner of The Constant Princess:
Congratulations AMY!!!
** Freebie Fridays will resume this coming Friday! Be sure to stop back to see what book will be on the giveaway!
I was hoping to have this post up Sunday evening but as many of you know I was out of town this weekend and honestly I was just too tired to work on it last night. I am stepping into another crazy week with dinner with our oldest son tonight, a funeral tomorrow, tomorrow evening and Wednesday evening I stay overnight for our churches commitment to housing the homeless one week per quarter, Thursday is the fall Library book sale (YAY!) and on Thursday we move out youngest to Mankato for college (not so yay… sad, but will get easier I know)… by Friday I suspect there will be nothing left of me…LOL and Saturday if my cousin has his way I will be biking 50 miles in Bemidji.
ANYWAY- today it is about the books and I have lots of book things going on too so dont think this blog will be quiet this week as that is not true – I will have something new up every day!
Here is what was in my mailbox this past week:
1. The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni Halevy sent to me for review
2. The Blue Star by tony earley and The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser are both Hachette Book Group books sent to me to review as well as current giveaways. See the giveaway for The Blue Star here and The Lost Dog here.
3. It Happened in Minnesota by Tony Bridwell is a lovely book about my home state sent to me from Singing River Publications for review. Bruce the Sugarbuggy as well as the quite large and gorgeous book, The Mesisel Family Violin Makers were also sent from Singing River Publications for review.
4. Murder on the Down Low by Pamela Samuels Young is a Blog Tour I am on tomorrow (Tuesday). This book was given to me by Tywebbin Creations for review.
5. Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble is a blog tour in September. This book came from Source Books.
6. Girl Naw! by Lacricia A. Angelle is a Blog Tour by Tywebbin Creations. This tour is in September.
7. Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London is a Blog Tour for Pocketbook later this month
8. The Green Pear is a review sent to me by Authorhouse
9. The Curse of The Tahiera by Wendy Gillesen was sent ot me by the author for review and Wendy also sent along a giveaway copy!
10. On The Bluffs is a book sent to me by Miss Remmer’s Reviews in a recent contest she had.
11. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows book with 10 year anniversary pin is from a contest I won
12. The darling “Dream Big” angel was a prize I won from You 2.0. I have hung it up in my reading room so I can see it all the time!
13. Last but not least is my truly exciting find that I purchased at the Gold Rush Oronoco Flea Market I was at this weekend. They are 7 of the original Nancy Drew books. Now that I have a start to these I need to find the rest to complete this collection in this format.
Busy week ahead thats for sure and in the middle of all of it I will be reading and posting! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I just came back from a wonderful weekend adventure with two friends, Heidi and Sara, and a new buddy – Heidi’s daughter Camryn. We traveled about 4 hours from home to Rochester, MN to spend a couple nights in a hotel eating a lot of delicious (but not healthy) food and by day hanging out walking the 1500+ vendors with antiques.
Heidi purchased a beautiful pair of antique lamps that will wonderful in her home as well as a few other items, Sara and Camryn as well made some small purchases.
Me? I found seven Nancy Drew books (the originals) that I was excited about as I have wanted to start finding all of them as well as the original Hardy Boys. Two series I had spent much of my childhood with.
So pictured here are the seven books, I know I have many to find – but this gives me a good start!
The titles are:
The Secret of the Old Clock and The Hidden Staircase
The Sign of The Twisted Candle and Password to Larkspur Lane
The Bungalow Mystery and The Mystery at Lilac Inn
The Clue in the Jewel Box and The Secret in The Old Attic
The Clue in the Diary and Nancy’s Mysterious Letter
The Mystery of The Moss Covered Mansion and The Quest of the Missing Map
The Secret of Shadow Ranch and The Secret of Red Gate Farm
This morning I am in a hotel room in Rochester, MN. I am with two of my great friends, Heidi and Sara, and Heidi’s daughter Camryn. We are on our way to Oronoco Gold Rush Days. It is fun to browse the antiques and vendors, we will take in some sun (90 degrees – oh yeah!) and food that will cause me to have to up the work out routine this upcoming week.
Heidi and Sara did the Oronoco Gold Rush last year – I am the rookie. The book I am carrying with me today is: Dama’s Drama’s and Ana Ruiz which I am set for a blog tour with this Monday.
While doing a bit of research so I could be all hip and current like my friends… I found that there is a bloggers party today at 3 pm! If I can find this spot I may check it out… they are apparently antique and treasure hunter bloggers… but in the fine print there appears to be a book signing so that may be interesting. I’ll keep you informed!
We are off, camera, sunglasses and sun screen! Here we go!!!
… At first glance I would not have thought I would enjoy this …and then I opened the book… ~ Sheila
The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. With the murderer on the loose, the police desperately look for any clues to lead to his identity. Meanwhile, a psychiatrist in a nearby hospital is also in a desperate search to find the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings s devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya s parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope. When these two situations converge, they set off an alarming chain of events. In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.
I had a little road trip this weekend about a four hour drive from home in which my friend was the driver and I was designated reader. 🙂 Finally I had the time to pick up this book and dive in. And dive in I did as throughout the drive and then later in our hotel room I completed Preetham Grandhi’s book, A Circle of Souls.
While I admit I was a little nervous to what direction this book would take – I was impressed with Preetham’s writing which for a phychological thriller, drew me in to characters I enjoyed getting to know and a story line I fell right into and followed anxiously and excitedly to the very last page.
Most impressive I found was for this type of read, Preetham did not once use any foul language. In two occasions an obsenity is mentioned, but never verbalized. I was impressed that this route was taken as so often this is not the case and books of this nature can be overloaded with language that the authors must feel breathe more life into to their characters.
I have mentioned recently that I have been craving a good mystery/thriller. This book filled that hunger. I encourage readers who enjoy a good mystery/thriller to find your way to a copy of this book and make sure you have set aside several hours as you are not going to want to put it down.
Many books pass through my hands. I read I enjoy, I pass them on… few come in to my life and stay with me forever. This book is one of the few. ~ Sheila
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Talibans backyard Anyone who despairs of the individuals power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistans treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools especially for girlsthat offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortensons quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, “Three Cups of Tea” combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.
In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and
Korphe Bridge
disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.
While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time.
If you know me you know I love the idea of building schools for those in need in a impoverish country where things do not come as easy as they do for those us here. Of course, just because a book is about a mission does not necessarily make it a winner.
In Three cups of TeaI read about Greg Morenson’s climb of the k2. He was just another man with a lofty (no pun intended) goal. Yet due to circumstances that brought him to a small village in Pakistan, his life changed forever. I really enjoyed following Greg through his own impoverish life style of living in his car, bumming on friends couches – yet, trying to raise money for children, especially girls to have an education.
When the book ends, this man who should not have been a success except for the will of God – has built 25 schools so far. Tens of thousands of children have had an education because of this mans mission.
I will keep this book to refer to time and again. There were pieces I can take with me. Highly recommended read.
This book was purchased locally by me and it is part of my personal library
Recently I have received several Blogger Awards from my book blogger friends and I just have not had time to pass them on. I leave town this Friday at 4 a.m. for Oronoco Flea Market with a couple friends for the weekend. I am bringing my laptop but not sure how much I will have to stop in. Of course books are going with me so hopefully I can get a couple read and new reviews up!
ANYWAY…. what I am trying to say, is that I am going to try to get these passed on and I am going to start with the one that came my way today.
Just today Reagan at Miss Remers Reviews sent me this lovely award: The Lemonade Award…
The Lemonade Award is a feel good award that shows great attitude or gratitude.
I choose to pass this award on to Between the Bookendz. This blog has become a routine stop for me and I am grateful as to how many of the books being reviewed there are ones I would love to read! A great blog with many reviews of wonderful books! Stop over and check it out!
My second blog I wish to pass this on to is Ryan at Wordsmithonia. Ryan always has a great attitude in his posts and I love his comments! I find myself dropping by to see what he is up to and what is being read! Stop ove and see Ryans blog!
Here are the rules for accepting this award:
Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
Nominate blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
Link your nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.
I have more awards to give away but I must enter my nominations for BBAW and get to bed! 🙂 Down to 3 1/3 hours sleep if I get to bed in the next 15 minutes!
This giveaway is closed. The winner is DEBB 🙂 Thank you to all entrants!
Summary for The Friends We Keep
During a particularly painful time in her life, Sarah Zacharias Davis learned how delightful–and wounding–women can be in friendship. She saw how some friendships end badly, others die slow deaths, and how a chance acquaintance can become that enduring friend you need.
The Friends We Keep is Sarah’s thoughtful account of her own story and the stories of other women about navigating friendship. Her revealing discoveries tackle the questions every woman asks:
• Why do we long so for women friends?
• Do we need friends like we need air or food or water?
• What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships?
• Why do some friendships last forever and others only a season?
• How do I foster friendship?
• When is it time to let a friend go, and how do I do so?
With heartfelt, intelligent writing, Sarah explores these questions and more with personal stories, cultural references and history, faith, and grace. In the process, she delivers wisdom for navigating the challenges, mysteries, and delights of friendship: why we need friendships with other women, what it means to be safe in relationship, and how to embrace what a friend has to offer, whether meager or generous.
Summary for 40 Minute Bible Studies
The 40 MinuteBible Studyseries from beloved Bible teacher Kay Arthur and the teaching staff of Precept Ministries tackles important issues in brief, easy-to-grasp lessons you can use personally or for small-group discussion. Each book in the series includes six 40-minute studies designed to draw you into God’s Word through basic inductive Bible study. There are 16 titles in the series, with topics ranging from fasting and forgiveness to prayer and worship. With no homework required, everyone in the group can work through the lesson together at the same time. Let these respected Bible teachers lead you in a study that will transform your thinking—and your life.
Titles Include:
•The Essentials of Effective Prayer
•Being a Disciple: Counting the Cost
•Building a Marriage That Really Works
•Discovering What the Future Holds
•Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past
•Having a Real Relationship with God
•How Do You Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk?
•Living a Life of Real Worship
•How to Make Choices You Won’t Regret
•Living Victoriously in Difficult Times
•Money & Possessions: The Quest for Contentment
•Rising to the Call of Leadership
•How Do You Know God’s Your Father?
•Key Principles of Biblical Fasting
•A Man’s Strategy for Conquering Temptation
•What Does the Bible Say About Sex?
My Thoughts: Friends We Keep is the type of book that spoke to me. I love my women friendships. I have always cherished the coffee meet ups and occasional dinners that are just catch up time. In Sarah’s book she discusses how to be a better friend not only to other women but also to yourself.
The book is a light read with easy chapters that have topics like the roles we play (the different “friend types” in this section I could put names to!) This book is a wonderful read about friendships and would work well in a small group setting to be discussed. Discussion Guide in back of the book.
Author Bios:
Sarah Zacharias Davis is a senior advancement officer at Pepperdine University, having joined the university after working as vice president of marketing and development for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and in strategic marketing for CNN. The daughter of best-selling writer Ravi Zacharias, Davis is the author of the critically-acclaimed Confessions from an Honest Wife and Transparent: Getting Honest About Who We are and Who We Want to Be. She graduated from Covenant College with a degree in education and lives in Los Angeles, California.
Kay Arthur, executive vice president and cofounder of Precept Ministries International has worked with her teaching staff to create the powerful 40-Minute Bible Studies series. Kay is known around the world as a Bible teacher, author, conference speaker, and host of national radio and television programs.
Ashley Boyer from Random House has given me an extra copy of this book to give away. To enter:
1. Leave a comment here with the answer to what qualities do you appreciate most in a friend?
2. For a “Bonus” chance, tweet or blog about this giveaway and on a separate commment, leave the link here
3. Comment on any non giveaway post and receive a third chance
USA addresses only please. No PO box numbers. This giveaway will end September 1.
Good Luck!
This book and the giveaway were given to me for review by Ashely Boyer at Random House
A high-profile lawsuit erupts into chaos, revealing its place in a larger
on the Down Low, In Firm Pursuit, Every Reasonable Doubt, and the forthcoming, Buying Time, A desire to see women and people of color represented in today’s legal fiction prompted Pamela to start writing despite a busy career as an attorney. The former journalist and Compton native is a graduate of USC, Northwestern University and UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. Pamela is the fiction writing expert for BizyMoms.com and is on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
Book Journey 