Spring Break - Rest, Relax, Read


Let's celebrate the arrival of Spring with a book sale! Here's a nice selection of books for your Kindle. The best thing is… you can have them all without breaking your budget. Each book is being offered at a deep discount. Most are 99 cents. What are you waiting for? 
Start snapping them up and enjoying the 3 Rs of Spring Break!
Rest - Relax - READ

                   
                  
                    
                    

March Madness Blog Hop


March Madness: That time of year when women across the country are left to their own devices during the NCAA basketball playoff tournaments. Sure we could do some early spring cleaning, catch up on laundry, and organize closets, but… why? So, instead of work, we thought we'd host our version of March Madness: A prize-filled hop presented by some of the best names in romance. And we've made it easy for you to join in. Simply hop from blog to blog—the links are below—and “follow”, “Like”, “Friend” etc. the authors sites then leave a comment on their blog post. Each author is running their own giveaway as well as participating in the Rafflecopter Grand-Prize Giveaway of a Kindle Fire OR Nook Color, A $50 Amazon/B&N Gift Card, A $25 Amazon/B&N Gift Card, and 6 - $10 Amazon/B&N Gift Cards, as well as a “basket” of books. The event is live from March 5 – March 31st, 2013 to give you plenty of time to tour all the sites.

I'll be giving one lucky reader an e-copy of The Single Daddy Club Boxed Set – all three Single Daddy Club books: Derrick, Jason, and Reece. I can gift the set in these versions: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, or iBook. To honor the love these wonderful (and gorgeous!) single dads feel for their kids, the winner will also receive this cute, heart-shaped ornament.


So…what are you waiting for! Catch the March Madness now! Leave a comment, then enter via the Rafflecopter. Good luck, and most of all, have fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway








Rules: You must be 18 years or older as of 12:01AM March 5, 2013. No purchase Necessary. Avoid where prohibited. This event is open to worldwide participation (basket of books limited to US/Canada shipping address only)You are limited to one tweet, follow, like etc per day, however you can follow one blog, tweet about another, and like a 3rd's facebook page all on the same day. Be sure to follow the rules laid out by the individual authors about their respective giveaways, as they will vary form site to site. Rules and Terms are listed in the Rafflecopter. Grand-prizes will be announced on or about April 5th, 2013 on SnSreviews.blogspot.com. While we will make every effort to contact you, it is ultimately the winner's responsibility to check winning status and claim their prize. Posted winners will have 5 days, from the date of post to contact host and claim their respective prize. If the posted winner fails to contact host, prize may be forfeited and awarded to another randomly drawn entrant and distributed without further notice.

March Mayhem Days! The 19th and 20th!

You've heard of March Madness? Well, now we're into March Mayhem! 
Don't you dare miss out!
For two days only some very talented authors have come together to offer you great deals on ebooks for your Kindle ereader. All of the below Kindle books have been marked down to $0.99 for March 19 and March 20.

                                                    

The Tech Guy ~ Lia Fairchild ~ Emma Barton is a workaholic. Nothing is more important than becoming managing editor of the magazine she works for. And she has the perfect plan to achieve that goal. Then Guy Walker enters her office. Sexy, sweet, and super popular, the new tech guy takes the office by storm. Will he derail every strategy Emma has in place? If he discovers her secret, it could ruin Emma’s career and turn her life upside down.
Taking Love in Stride ~ Donna Fasano ~ Track coach Andrea O'Connor is fuming at the audacity of Ian Powers, the very attractive father of one of her students. He offered to buy school equipment only if Andrea agreed to train him for a half-marathon. Well, train him, she would. And not just in running. As a widower with a high-powered job, Ian needed some instruction in being a father to an active teenage daughter. Yet as this overbearing man opened up, Andrea found herself learning lessons--in loving. Ian knew that Andrea, with her assertive attitude and her penchant for stilettos, was some woman! But her vulnerable heart was on the run, so he'd have to prove that his love, unlike his running, had limitless endurance--and once he caught this swift beauty, he'd never let her go. 
Harvest ~ Faith Mortimer ~ Billy returns home and marries his love, while Richard has to make a decision between the two beautiful women in his life. Richard discovers he is torn between love and duty. In Sorrel he finds what he believes is his soul-mate, whereas sexy Miranda keeps Richard guessing. When Richard discovers an old war-torn photograph of a woman and two children he is shaken to the core. What was it his father did and never divulged to his wife and family?

                                                  

The Baby Trap ~ Sibel Hodge ~ When Gina turns thirty-three her body clock unexpectedly begins clanging in her ear with annoying persistence. The only problem is, having a baby isn't as easy as she thought. Whether she's feng shui-ing the house to death with fertility symbols, throwing out her husband's tight boxers in favour of baggies, swapping wine and chocolate for green tea and yams, popping fertility drugs like M&M's, or having sex so precision-timed it makes international warfare manoeuvres look unorganized, her life is turned upside down. And when nothing seems to be working, her quest for the B-word turns into an obsession. Can Gina stay sane, get pregnant, and keep her marriage together? Or will her baby trail become a baby trap?
Abigail ~ Heather Marie Adkins ~ When Abigail's supposedly immortal faery mother is found murdered, her human father sells her in to slavery. Bought by a young and wealthy landowner named William, she is whisked away to a Grecian island to play caretaker for his baby sister. However, the island has a deadly secret connected to Abigail's past. Her budding romance with William is shattered by Abigail's intimate, unwanted connection with the island's faery prince. Meanwhile, the Faery King is planning revenge upon the family. Abigail must join forces with the very race she's sought to deny, to save the humans she has learned to love.
Carpe Bead'em ~ Tonya Kappes ~ Orphaned at a young age, Hallie Mediate was raised by her (slightly) crazy Great Aunt Grace on the wrong side of the tracks in Cincinnati. Hallie dreamed of escaping her hometown and never looking back. After putting herself through college, landing her dream job in Chicago, and starting a romance with her handsome running partner Bo Pompillio, life is finally exactly as she wants it. That is, until she’s transferred back to the hometown. Not wanting her past to cross paths with her future, Hallie puts her relationship with Bo on hold.

                                                       

Cold Case Morphs ~ Barbara Silkstone ~ A wacky novella with a squirt of BEETLEJUICE, a squish of GHOSTBUSTERS, and a twist of the infamous. The newest detective agency in Asheville, North Carolina takes on their first case. The Cold Case Morphs enter the world of noir comedy as they rush to the aid of a lonely Victorian ghost. Warning… this is a soft-boiled detective romance with a Beetlejuice paranormal side.
The Time Contessa ~ Georgina Young-Ellis ~ The Time Contessa is an adventure to Siena, Italy, 500 years into the past and 100 years into the future. Something has gone wrong with an historical timeline, causing a famous painting to disappear from the world’s conscious memory, surfacing only in people’s dreams. Two members of MIT’s Chronology team, Dr. Cassandra Reilly and her colleague Jake, must go to Renaissance Siena to repair the timeline so the artist who painted the portrait of a beautiful woman known as Giuliana will ultimately live to complete it. However, the past holds many pitfalls, both dangerous and romantic.
Jealousy's Rage ~ Melissa A Smith ~ Forget everything you think you know about the Gods of Olympus and Atlantis. Both are real, and both are hidden in plain sight. Finally taking his long awaited vacation, Declan finds the one person who just might let him grow old. Although Ellie just might feel the same spark, she’s been mistreated one too many times in the past to trust. Seeing this challenge as one he knows he can win, Declan dives in head first.
But as in all things, his job gets in the way. It steals away his future and any hope at love.

                                                            

Cruxim ~ Karin Cox ~ Amedeo is Cruxim, a mysterious, immortal fallen angel. Destined to seek redemption as a vampire hunter, he quenches his insatiable hunger on vampire blood. But when the object of his passion, the novice nun Joslyn, is turned into a vampire and enters a vampire coven, Amedeo's worlds collide. Shattered by the loss of his beloved, he vows to rid the world of vampires once and for all, even if it means destroying Josyln in the process.

The Moon is No Place for a Ghost ~ Dea Lenihan ~ The ghosts on earth have a problem...they have no place to live, and the Goblin Police want to send them to Otherworld Jail!
Can Penelope the Witch figure out how to help them, or will the ghosts be running from Officer Splot forever? 

Book And Pals Nominee - Best Romance Category

UPDATE! VOTING HAS BEGUN! PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK, SIGN IN WITH YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT OR YOUR E-MAIL AND VOTE! THIS IS SO EXCITING!  
BIGAL'S BOOKS AND PALS REVIEWERS CHOICE AWARDS.


I received the following notice from Books And Pals review blog:

"In the twelve months ending February 28th, 2013, BigAl and the Pals received over 1,400 books to consider for review. Almost 300 of them were selected, read, and reviewed. From those we chose the books we felt stood out from the pack as exceptional examples of Indie (self-published and small press) writing and divided them into eleven categories.

Your book Her Fake Romance is nominated in the Romance category. Congratulations."

I am so happy just to be nominated! No, I'm not just happy, I'm also very honored!

The email went on:

"For two weeks, starting March 18th at 10:00 Eastern Time and ending at Midnight Eastern Time on April 1st, we'll be asking readers to vote for the winner in each category. Winners will be announced the morning of Wednesday, April 3rd. We'll also have a giveaway with various prizes for those who vote.

Winners and nominees of "BigAl's Books and Pals 2012 Readers' Choice Awards" will feature on a special Readers' Choice page at Books and Pals for the next twelve months, with emphasis on the winner in each category."

I hope all you'll head over to Books and Pals from March 18th through April 1st to vote for my book. Many thanks to Books and Pals, and the reviewers who nominated Her Fake Romance!

Quotes For YOU!

Feel free to cut, paste and use as you wish!



Meet Author Tonya Kappes




“Full of wit, humor and colorful characters, Tonya Kappes delivers a fun, fast-paced story that will leave you hooked!” ~Bestselling Author, Jane Porter

“Fun, fresh, and flirty, Carpe Bead ’Em is the perfect read on a hot summer day. Tonya Kappes’ voice shines in her debut novel.” ~Author Heather Webber

“Tonya Kappes strings together the perfect blend of family, friends, and fun.” ~Author Misa Ramirez

Tonya is an Amazon Movers and Shakers, and International bestselling author. She writes humorous cozy mystery and women’s fiction that involves quirky characters in quirky situations.

Splitsville.com, the first novel in the Olivia Davis Mystery Series, is a double finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Mystery and Humorous Categories. Carpe Bead ‘em is a finalist in Amazon’s eFestival of Words in the Women’s Fiction Category.

When not being the princess, queen, and jester of her family of three teenage boys, an adoring husband, and three fury kids, she travels to various writing groups as guest speaker on “How to Market and Promote Your Novels Effectively,” where she is known as a marketing guru.

Become a member of Tonya’s STREET TEAM! It’s a gathering place of readers who love Tonya Kappes novels and Tonya gives away monthly prizes! To sign up for Tonya’s STREET TEAM, newsletter, view book trailer, and upcoming news, check out Tonya’s website, Tonyakappes.com.

And be sure to stalk her on Facebook and Twitter!

Here's a sneak peek at Tonya's brand new release, available for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iBooks.

"Tonya Kappes' A Magical Cure Series, charmed me until the end!" ~Cozy Mystery Book Reviews

Bubble, Bubble. . .

It seems shop owner and newly appointed Whispering Falls Village President June Heal has it all: Beauty, wits, bewitching powers...Sheriff Oscar Park. Life is good. Because life in Whispering Falls is magical.

Cures and Trouble. . .

But when a member of the community is found dead on the steps of A Charming Cure, June's homeopathic cure shop, and her fingerprints show up at the scenes of local robberies, she is kicked off the village council and her powers fall under scrutiny. Until it's uncovered who is wreaking havoc on the town...June's magic is suspended.

Magic Stirs. . .

With the help of a rather obnoxious genie and Mr. Prince Charming, June's Fairy-God cat, June is determined to figure out who is framing her. Time is of the essence when it becomes clear that the true villain is trying to get rid of her...permanently!

And Trouble Doubles. . .

Oscar Park will do anything to protect June even if that means giving up all of his magical powers. . .or worse, his life.


Meet Author Sibel Hodge



Today, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Sibel Hodge. Sibel is writing a fabulous series of gluten-free cookbooks that I have enjoyed and that I highly recommend. Here's what Sibel has to say:

Hello! A big Soup Opera welcome to you…

For those who don’t know me, let me tell you a little bit about how this book was born. Well, for starters, I’ve been cooking since I was about ten years old. Under the watchful eye of my nan, who was a fabulous chef, I developed a love of food that has lasted…let’s see…ahem, at least eleven years (yes, I can still be twenty-one in my head), and she taught me how to make mouth-watering meals from scratch. Now I want to pass that knowledge on to you.
I’m the author of thirteen other fiction and non-fiction books for adults and children, and in my spare time, I’m Wonder Woman. When I’m not writing or saving the world from dastardly demons, you can find me in the kitchen, cooking up a storm.
Being half Turkish Cypriot and half British, I was introduced to exciting culinary delights from an early age. When the rest of my mates were eating plain meat-and-two-veg dinners, I was tucking into Mediterranean delights of mousaka, meze, and pilavs.
Turkish people love to eat, therefore they love to cook! In the first cookbook in my gluten free/wheat free series, A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey, I combine my knowledge of tasty, easy-to-cook recipes with nutritious and scrummy Turkish food.
My love of Mediterranean food and the healthy Mediterranean Diet went on to spark my interest into a vast wealth of international dishes. Increasing your recipe bank means you can travel all over the world, and sample all kinds of cuisine, without ever needing your passport!
I’m also a qualified health and fitness professional, with a special interest in nutrition. We all live busy lives these days, don’t we? But that doesn’t mean we have to swap healthy, easy-to-cook, delicious meals for junky fast food. We are what we eat, and if we put rubbish in, it won’t be long before we’re feeling rubbish, too. I firmly believe that our ever-increasing health problems, diseases, and allergies are due to the chemicals, pesticides, and hormones that are pumped into our food and environment. I want to show you that healthy meals can taste great and be easily prepared.
I’ve been cooking gluten/wheat free since I met my hubby over a decade ago. When he first told me he was coeliac, I had a panic attack. I’d never heard the word before, and my first thought was that it meant he had some peculiar sexual quirk that I wasn’t going to like very much. When I finally discovered it meant he couldn’t eat gluten, which is found in barley, oats, wheat, and rye, I had an even bigger panic attack. Trying to find something in the supermarkets back then that didn’t include those ingredients was a nightmare. As well as being blatantly advertised, it’s often cunningly disguised as “thickener”, “stabilizing agent”, “shortening”, and “Ricin”. OK, I made the last one up, but gluten can have severe side effects for people who are coeliac or intolerant/allergic to it.
Maybe now would be a good time to let you into my little secret (stands up and coughs)… I have a serious soup fetish! There, I confessed! Whether it’s summer, winter, or spring, you’ll find me eating the stuff (sometimes in secret). I’m a regular soup-a-holic, and I know that I’m not alone in this little culinary foible. I mean, how can you not love a little bowl of goodness that’s so versatile? Whether you’re looking for a simple starter, a light lunch, or a hearty dinner, soup is the perfect dish every time.
So will you need any specialist ingredients or equipment for this recipe book? No! There’s nothing worse than buying a cookbook, reading through the recipes, and then banging your head against the kitchen worktop because you’ve discovered you need a particular blend of this, or an obscure jar of that, and you just can’t get hold of it. You’ll probably find most of the ingredients used in this cookbook already lurking in your store cupboard or, failing that, your local supermarket. Unlike when I first started cooking gluten free all those years ago, you can now find so much choice in gluten/wheat free products in the shops that you shouldn’t have any trouble getting hold of everything you need to create my tasty, international delights. The only thing you may need to pick up (if you don’t already have one) is a hand blender, and these are both easily available and cheap.
If you’re not coeliac, or sensitive to gluten/wheat, should you eat a gluten free diet? Well, many people are turning to a gluten free/wheat free diet because it can have many health benefits, including an increase in energy, better digestion and elimination, improving cholesterol levels and auto-immune disorders, controlling weight and bloating, and making you super attractive to the opposite sex (yes, I made the last one up again – just checking you were still awake). Whereas twenty years ago, a gluten free diet would be bland and boring, today it can be eclectic, vibrant, and delicious, and these are the dishes that I wanted to share with you in A Gluten Free Soup Opera.
The recipes included in this book should be used as a guideline because you know your taste buds better than anyone else does. If you want to substitute one ingredient for another that you like more, then go for it. This is how great recipes are born, and it’s all about making the food work for you. Wherever you can, please try to use organic ingredients. It’s kinder to the environment and animals, and it’s healthier for you.
The most important thing in cooking is to have fun with it, so experiment, eat, and enjoy!

Moroccan Sweet and Sour Soup
Ingredients:

·    1 onion – chopped
·    1 carrot – diced
·    1 red pepper – diced
·    1 green pepper – diced
·    8 – 10 dried apricots – chopped
·    4 cloves of garlic – crushed and chopped
·    2 inch piece of fresh root ginger – peeled and chopped finely
·    400 gr (14 ounce) can of chopped tomatoes
·    400 gr (14 ounce) can of chickpeas – drained and rinsed
·    Juice of half a lemon
·    2 – 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
·    1 pint (approx. 2 ½ cups) of chicken stock/vegetable stock/water
·    ¼ teaspoon of dried cinnamon
·    1 tablespoon of ground coriander
·    1 teaspoon of ground cumin
·    ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
·    1 tablespoon of tumeric
·    1 tablespoon of paprika
·    ¼ – ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
·    ¼ teaspoon of black pepper
·    Salt to taste
·    Olive oil for frying

Method:

   1.  Fry the onions and peppers until soft.
   2.  Add the other ingredients, except for the fresh coriander, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 35 – 45 minutes.
   3.  Stir in the fresh coriander and serve.

Serves 4 – 6



Find this book:






Meet Author M.P. McDonald




Growing up the fifth child of eight, I was the quiet one in the family. Most of the time, I could be found curled up in a chair reading a book. I was never the most popular person in my classes, but I’ve always had one best friend and a couple of very good friends. It’s still that way today. In fact, I met my best friend during my freshman year of high school. Thirty-four years later, we are still best friends. That may not seem significant, but I think not focusing on popularity allows some freedom because I didn’t waste time worrying about what others thought of me. 

I became a respiratory therapist by pure chance because I had no clue that the ad in the paper for one meant the person had to be qualified. That one little phone call changed my life because I found a job I enjoyed doing. 

I stumbled into writing in a similar way. I started writing fanfiction in the mid-90s and eventually turned to writing original fiction in 2009. 

The idea for No Good Deed initially came to me after reading in the newspapers about the American enemy combatant, Jose Padilla, a.k.a. the Dirty Bomber. I found more information about American enemy combatants and wondered what would happen if someone completely innocent was caught up in a modern day witch hunt—substituting terrorist for witch. However, I didn’t write the story until someone posted a writing challenge as an informal-yet-intriguing contest on a website calling for writers to have our characters wake up in a padded room and wonder how they got there. I wrote the scene that ended up being the scene where Mark is in the cell in shackles when Jessie comes to see him shortly after his arrest. 

Sadly, the scene did not win the contest; although people liked it, it was too bleak as it ended with Mark just left there in the cell. (The scene that won the contest was my second entry, so it was all good! It was a fun, sexy scene about a couple waking up in a padded room. I’d love to expand that into a book someday too.) 

So, that is how No Good Deed was born. I turned the scene into a short story, and I kept getting requests from readers, asking for more. So I started the story over from scratch to make it flow better. I only kept the one scene with Jessie, and one other scene later when Mark is in prison. I didn’t expect the idea to become a whole series, but readers kept asking for more, so I continued telling Mark Taylor's story. I’m currently writing the fifth book in the series. 

The Mark Taylor 4-Book Omnibus is currently on sale for just $5.99 (£4.10). It is available:



March Madness Sale! Three Books Under a Buck!



It's March! Let's have a sale! I'm offering three of my sweet romance novels for under a dollar each (77p in the UK). Take advantage of the sale and enjoy these three happily-ever-afters.

Her Fake Romance

"The author's style was pure delight, fun and funky. Modern and very entertaining. I never would have thought that a fake romance could be so funny and emotional at the same time. HJ Top Pick!"  ~HarlequinJunkie.com








Take Me, I'm Yours




"Readers who enjoy Debbie Macomber's writing will feel right at home in a Fasano novel." ~Fredlet, an Amazon reviewer









Mountain Laurel

"… after kidnapping her over-the-top sister to a mountain cabin, Laurel suddenly found a life and man of her own in Michael, the sexy park ranger. This is a delightful story, with many heartfelt scenes that shows Laurel coming into her own. The perfect, page-turning romance to read at the beach, or the mountain cabin, or in my case in a hammock!" ~ebookluver, an Amazon reviewer