7” Kindle Fire Tablet and Exclusive Collapse Series Artwork Giveaway & State Of Destruction Book Blitz

Title: State of Destruction

Series: The Collapse Series

Installment: #7

Author: Summer Lane

Release Date: January 29th, 2016

Synopsis:

The destruction of California is at hand. 

Cassidy Hart and Chris Young have survived a dangerous mission into the heart of Sky City, a secret Omega base hidden deep in the mountains, but their vengeance has come with a price. The dark, ominous cloud of nuclear war threatens to destroy everything they love, and they are forced to make one final stand against Omega's western invasion force. 

San Francisco. 
Cassidy and her friends retreat to Alcatraz Island, regrouping with their lethal strike team, the Angels of Death. Their mission: infiltrate the most important Omega base on the west coast, and assassinate everyone they find there, including a new and dangerous enemy, the ruthless Omega leader Veronica Klaus. 

The clock is ticking. 
Ashes rain from the sky. Cassidy Hart must make a choice. 
What is more important? Victory, love or revenge?

Omega is the enemy's name. 
Survival of the fittest is their game. 

Cassidy Hart will not stop until she has saved California...

but will she be too late?

Excerpt:

The dark, dank smell of the cave seeps into my bones and chills my soul. Dim, flickering firelight crawls up the walls, throwing a shadow across my face. I hug my blanket tightly around my shoulders, shivering. It is painfully silent.

There are people everywhere—about thirty of us—but there is no talking. No whispering, no laughing. We are too tired to talk. Too cold. Small fires have been lit here in the cave, but it is hardly enough to remedy the cloying chill of the winter storm.

It is all sharp angles and rocky slopes in here. There is no soft surface, no privacy. Most people are asleep right now. It has become the only way to make the time pass quicker. Waiting, as we are, for the storms to end. For this harsh winter to be over.

But it is not getting better.

It is getting worse.

I cough and shudder. We have been trapped here for weeks. I feel as if the walls are falling down around me, devouring me. I close my eyes tightly, brushing my calloused fingers over the familiar, worn grip of my rifle.

Soon, this will all be over. 

Soon, we will all be dead.

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Summer Lane is the #1 Bestselling Author of The Collapse Series and the compelling tie-in novella books of The Zero Trilogy, as well as the upcoming Bravo Saga (releasing Spring 2016). She is also the author of Collapse: The Illustrated Guide, a #1 bestselling graphic companion to her phenomenal original series.

She is the owner of WB Publishing and Writing Belle, an online magazine. Summer is also an accomplished journalist and creative writing teacher. 

Summer lives in the Central Valley of California, where she spends her days writing, teaching, and writing some more. When she is not writing, she enjoys leisurely visits with friends at coffee shops, movie dates, reading and spending the day at the beach or mountains. 

http://writingbelle.com

http://www.summerlaneauthor.com/

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$25 Amazon Gift Card + Blog Tour of The Cave

The Cave by Michela Montgomery 
(The Wind Cave #1) 
Published by Post Hill Press
Publication date: April 7th, 2015
Genres: New Adult, Post-Apocalyptic

SYNOPSIS

When a nuclear war devastates the U.S., a four-day excursion quickly turns into a fight for survival in The Cave. Six Stanford students journey into one of the deepest and longest caves in North America. A day into their journey, a nuclear war begins from within the U.S. Unable to return to the surface, and unsure what they will find when they do, the Cave will test the strength and survival of each person differently – transforming six individuals into a team, and ultimately…a family.

REVIEW 

This book had the potential to be an excellent read. Six Stanford students go on a cave exploration trip that is to be only four days long and while they are down there the U.S.A comes under nuclear attack dreadfully trapping them all below for thirty days until the radiation subsides. In my opinion, instead of being a survival story the plot mostly consists of who is hooking up together, who likes who the most, a lot of petty high school drama. Also, there is not much depth to the characters except for the exemption of Kate who narrates the story. Yes, they do have struggles, grim occurrences do occur yet that felt overridden by the amount of lustfulness in the book. Why would Percy have a Geiger monitor for a four-day long cave exploration? That was weird.

The book does have positive points. Such as, the description of inside the different areas of the cave is exquisite. The author did a good job instilling humor into the dialogue. Therefore, like this hilarious quote from Kate:

“Honestly, I said, “If I had a patient that was as big a jackass as you, I’d go all out Kevorkian” 

I do not think this is a bad book. I think it is more of a young adult book which confuses the reader who is expecting a more mature read.

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The Expatriates Review + Special Copy Giveaway

SYNOPSIS

Mercy, a recent Columbia graduate without a safety net, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a lonely housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, takes every opportunity to escape from her life in the wake of a shattering loss. Chapter by chapter, the novel draws the reader into their stories and gives us glimpses of expatriate life’s surprising contradictions in Hong Kong, where these women are both insiders and outsiders, incredibly privileged but deeply unsatisfied, and attempting, above all, to connect with others and regain a sense of self that has slipped away. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all.

REVIEW

As the synopsis tells us this is a story of three dissimilar American women who live in the same small expat community in Hong Kong whose lives through unseen circumstances intertwine. Each woman telling her own story as she experiences it. The women explaining of the obstacles or pleasantries that are dictating their life as an expat. The author did a fascinating job of creating the deep inner feelings and the intimate personal lives of each woman. I found the expat life interesting yet bizarre for the families who are living in Hong Kong for jobs. Such as, you have a cook and housekeeper, and even a driver unlike your life back in the states. So as a housewife what is your new place in the home? Therefore, as the reader, you learn a great deal about the positives and negatives of Hong Kong. I did feel the story lagged at times and also thought that the ending is too abrupt. Whereas, it would have been more interesting for the women to have spent more time together. I found the book a likable read.  

This is the giveaway! A copy of the book, in a beautiful box with a magnetic closure!

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Janice Lee was born in Hong Kong to Korean parents and lived there until she was fifteen, attending the international school. She then left for boarding school in New Hampshire, where she learned the true meaning of winter.

From there, she moved south to Cambridge, MA, where she spent four years at Harvard, developing a taste for excellent coffee, Au Bon Pain pastries, and staying up all night, sometimes indulging in all three at the same time. She also pleased her parents by meeting, on the very first day of school, the man who would become her husband.

After graduating with a degree in English and American Literature and Language, she relocated down to New York where she got her first post-college job fetching coffee as an assistant to the beauty editor at Elle magazine. After a few months booking massages learning about the cosmetics industry, she heard about a job in the features section and was able to switch departments and return to her true roots, being happily inundated with books on a daily basis.

She was about to graduate with no definite plans when she received a letter from Yaddo, the artists’ colony, saying that her application for a summer residency had been approved. She also found out she was pregnant with her first child.

At Yaddo, she started to organize her thoughts into what would become THE PIANO TEACHER. After she had her first child, she put away the book for a year, adjusting to her new life as a mother. Then she had another child and picked it up again. Then she moved to Hong Kong. When she found out she was pregnant with her third and fourth (twins!) she had all the incentive she needed to finish the book, seeing as how she might not have any time to do anything ever again. Five years after she started it, she had a good first draft and sold THE PIANO TEACHER two months before she gave birth to the twins. When she told her mother she had sold her first novel, her mother asked whether Janice's husband had been the buyer. Really.

"Thank you Penguin Books for letting me do this review & Giveaway"

How did you feel about my review? Please leave your opinion so I know what to improve upon.

A COOKBOOK to KEEP YOUR MIND SHARP

SYNOPSIS

Depression, ADHD, memory loss, agitation: These may seem like inevitable byproducts of modern lives spent multitasking, not getting enough sleep, and operating on digital overload. But while much of the brain’s work still remains a mystery, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the food you eat directly affects how well your brain functions. Brain health also plays a significant role in staving off diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

In The Healthy Mind Cookbook, Rebecca Katz has harnessed the latest research on the brain to identify the foods that can improve the brain’s ability to control cognition, emotion, and physical function—all of which dictate memory and mood. She then translates the very best of brain science into the kitchen, using delicious nutrient-dense foods as a tool for promoting a healthy mind from childhood through the golden years.  

REVIEW

This is nothing like your mother's cookbook it is so much cooler. The uniqueness of the recipes are not only cooking with healthy foods but the use of a lot of herbs and spices and how they help you keep brain function top notch, increase your clarity and even reduce stress. Before you start to annihilate your clean kitchen by diving straight into the recipes the author wrote some very important and in-depth chapters regarding how to use ingredients properly, reducing recipe reading anxiety, developing your culinary mind and so much more. Such as FASS which acts like a culinary compass informing you the cook how to build taste and flavor in healthy foods. One of my favorite parts of the book is the Culinary Pharmacy which explains the connection between foods and the brain informing you of what brain healthy nutrients such as vitamins and nutrients in over eighty foods and spices.

The Healthy Mind Cookbook has recipes for any occasion. Soups, desserts, frittata, make your own dressing, bison, tonics and elixirs, this is an understated example of what is in store for you. Therefore, such a sizable selection of all ranges of food will never leave you in a pickle for what to cook. Last but not least the recipes are supplemented with witty insights from the author to sweeten up your mood. Such as, from the recipe Not Your Grampa’s Borscht:

“If you don’t want to look like a crime suspect, you may want to wear kitchen gloves while cutting up your beets”   

As the senior chef-in-residence and nutritional educator at one of the country's leading cancer wellness centers, REBECCA KATZ, MS, is the culinary link bringing together physicians and patients with a common goal: eating well to maximize cancer treatments, minimize side effects, and improve outcomes. She is the founder of the Inner Cook, a Bay Area culinary practice that specializes in meeting the specific nutritional and appetite needs of cancer patients, and a senior chef at Commonweal Cancer Help Program in Marin County, California. Katz has been a guest chef and lecturer at top academic medical centers throughout the country, including the annual Food As Medicine conference. 

http://www.rebeccakatz.com/

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

The Revelation of Beatrice Darby

SYNOPSIS

How much courage does it take to be yourself? In a decade when good girls conform to strict family and social expectations, Beatrice Darby is about to find out. After a harmless admiration for her older boss, sophisticated Abby Gill, blossoms into a full-blown crush, Beatrice is startled to discover why she’s never felt like other girls.

She soon learns the necessity of “passing,” the shame of secret “sin,” and the pressure to meet family expectations, all while suffering the angst of unrequited love and the disastrous end to her friendship with college roommate and future sister-in-law, Gwen Ridgeway. When Abby reappears years later, can Beatrice go against all she’s ever known to be happy? Will she have to choose between honesty and her family?

REVIEW

It is rare for me not to find some aspect of a book that I do not have an issue with so can you imagine how stunning a read this must be that I loved every single part of it. The story takes place in the late 1950’s and 60’s and the author reflected this era remarkably well from society's beliefs regarding women and gays down to the style of language used back then. Character development is outstanding for all the characters, even the minor ones. This book takes place around the main character Beatrice Darby, who is intelligent, resolute, and does not feel ashamed for being a lesbian. Even with her family, they could love her as who she is or not be a part of her life at all. Beatrice worked hard to have the life she wanted therefore not giving into the standards of that time or her mother pushing nonstop for her to wed due to the importance of her being true to herself. Through all of this, the author found ways to inject a great amount of humor.

While reading The Revelation of Beatrice Darby, I felt like I was actually living in that era through someone else’s eyes. As a lesbian in today's world, I am still not an equal, but it is not as dire as it was back then. Sadly, this read tells perfectly what the role of the woman during that time was to be and that was to get married, have children and keep your husband happy. Even if a woman got the opportunity to go to college it was to meet a man. This book will make you cry, it will make you laugh, and jump for joy while people fight for what is right. This is Jean Copeland's first book. I am waiting impatiently for her next.  

“Your father was a no-account who had me squeezing nickels

till Jefferson farted”

              ~Beatrice imitating her mother                     

Thank you Netgalley for letting me give an honest review