The War Queen

New Adult Fantasy Romance
Date Published: October 2016
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
 
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How do you dethrone a heart when its owner has stolen your kingdom?
Altarn is used to tolerating the biases of men. It comes with being the first female to secure the political State Head of Blindvar. But Kaelin, the State Head of Ruidenthall, crosses the line when he proposes a merger of their two states. Altarn has reason to believe this is Kaelin’s attempt to make himself king of both. Believing it’s her responsibility to “dethrone” him, she rides to her last ally to ask for aid.
While on the road, she’s kidnapped and taken to Ruidenthall. She wakes from a drug-induced sleep to hear about a foreign army marching upon Blindvar, and Kaelin capitalizing on her kidnap to make himself king. He threatens her life if she tells anyone, but she will suffer tyranny under a king if she does not.
When the final battle forces her hand, she has but one choice: to save Kaelin’s life or let him die. She never expected to dethrone his heart instead.

Review

This novel had a lot of great aspects. I really enjoyed the way the author put a lot of imagination into her story. I would have liked to see a bit more background, as I felt a little lost in the beginning, but once it got going I moved on.
I liked the characters for the most part. I think there were equal parts engaging and captivating characters and characters you want to strangle, which you honestly need in a novel.
The writing style is easy to follow. I didn’t feel like it jumped around or missed any elements and it was a steady flow throughout.
Overall a great debut.
About the Author

J.M. Robison is a fantasy historian who chronicles the events which force heroes to reveal their  mistakes, lead rebellions to dethrone tyranny, and unearth ancient secrets to free the oppressed. She’s quested over lands with the U.S. Army and now works for the king under the honorable title of Deputy Sheriff. She makes her own shampoo, lotions, laundry soap, face wash, and toothpaste. Some day she’ll pack the wagon and roam the mountains in search of dragons.
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Redemption Song

Science Fiction
Date Published: July 2017
Publisher: Archway Publishing
 
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Part Hero’s Journey, part Military Science Fiction, part Space Opera with just a touch of Fantasy thrown in for good measure.
A child of wealth and privilege, Small Snow Flower is a member of a highly intelligent spacefaring species called the Rynn. Although she is young and untested, she is given a trading ship to command by her father. But just months into her first voyage there is a mutiny, and Small Snow Flower finds herself marooned on a primitive planet, believing she will die alone.
Jeremy Blunt is a bitter old man. For fifty years, he’s mourned the death of his wife, cutting himself off from the world and living alone in a forest cabin, believing he will die alone.
But fate has other plans. It brings together these two lonely people in spite of their differences—age, experience, and species. Slowly but surely, the alien girl and the elderly human man find ways to work together. They must find the strength to change their destinies and those of their respective home worlds. This is the beginning of the Rynn-Human alliance.
In a story of fate, second chances, and redemption, an unlikely partnership forms between a young alien and an old human widower that will change the future of both their races.

 Excerpt
The passenger door opened and a diminutive figure walked around to the driver side. She wore a pink hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled over her face and a long skirt. She walked over to Dierdre. There was a chirping. “Your hair is beautiful.” Said a pleasant soprano voice.  “May I touch it?”
“You haven’t met too many black girls, have you, girl friend?” Dierdre replied. “We’re not fond of people touching our hair.”
There was a chirping. “You would be the first.” Came the voice. There was a chittering. “I propose a trade.” She said. “If you let me touch your hair, I’ll let you see my face.” There was another chittering. “I don’t think you’ve seen anyone like me before either.”
“That’s for sure.” Mel said under her breath. “If you do that, we’re gonna have to take them with us.”
Again there was a chirping. “I believe if I showed my face, they’d want to go with us.” The little figure said. “I believe they actually came out here to find us.”
Crystal looked at the tiny person and then the grainy image flashed through her mind. “If, if mind you, you are what I really, really, really hope you are, you’d have to shoot me to get rid of me.”
There was a chittering and then a chirping. Crystal felt as if she could almost make out, not meaning, but separate sounds in the apparent bird song. “We’d rather not shoot you.” The figure reached up and lowered her hood.
“Oh Lord Jesus.” DIerdre breathed
About the Author

Henry A. Burns has studied martial arts since he was 15, played in various Latin bands as a percussionist and just recently decided to retire and devote his energies toward writing. Redemption Song is his first novel in what is expected to be a multi book series.
 
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Bids of a Feather (5) Reaper

Birds of a Feather, Book 5
Paranormal Fantasy, Coming of Age
Date Published:  February 2018
Publisher: FAB Books
 
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Annie has secrets.
She takes a job as stable hand at Double H, but she’s really there to let her unusual abilities help the group around Hawker Johns in their search for the man responsible for death and destruction – Cameron Strachlan.
Abuse victim. Murderer. Lost boy. The devil. Annie has more reason than most to hate the man, but that is a secret too.
It’s a surprise to find Olly at Double H, and nothing about him is like she’d imagined. Olly is hard and angry, and his eyes almost as black as the tattoos on his neck. She knows immediately that she’s looking straight into the eyes of the Reaper.
As they spend time together, the Olly she thought he would be slowly begins to show again, but there are still doubts at the back of her mind… What will happen when he finds out? Can he handle her secrets?
Reaper is the fifth and final book in the Birds of a Feather series, a young adult/coming of age series with paranormal elements, full of laughter, mystery, and romance.
Other Books in the Birds of a Feather Series:
Wilder
Birds of a Feather, Book 1
Release Date: December 14, 2016
Wilder’s wonderful grandfather is dead, and so is her mother, but Grandpa Willy gives her one final gift in his will – the knowledge that her father is only her step-father.
Once she meets Hawker, the scary man who turns out to be her real dad, her life takes an unexpected turn. She finds out about a heritage she never knew she had, and secrets from the past are uncovered as she fights to save her part of the world from destruction.
And then there’s Mac, with his green eyes and a soft voice that flows through her like sweet honey. He’s there to help Wilder when she needs it the most, and as she struggles with how to fit into the group of people around her dad – having Mac in her life becomes more important with every bad thing that happens.
“Wilder” is the first in the Birds of a Feather series and a spin-off from the Dreughan trilogy. It’s set in modern time and can be read stand-alone.
Sweet Water
Birds of a Feather, Book 2
Published: March 2017
Jiminella “Jinx” Sweetwater is a genius. She’s a scholar, an inventor, hardworking and loyal, and well known in the scientific circles around the University in Prosper City.
Being smarter than everyone else might seem like a good thing, but it isn’t. At least, it isn’t to Jinx who has two friends, a small condo, and no life.
After a fight with her best friend Wilder, it just gets worse. Someone breaks into her home and when her parents show up in all their hippie-like glory, Jinx has had enough and escapes to a small village by the sea.
Suddenly, Jinx finds herself involved in village life, living with the unpleasant Mrs. Fratinelli and trying her best to juggle all the things that seem to end up on her plate. And then there’s calm, cool and gorgeous Dante – Snow’s boyfriend, who seems to see right through the shields Jinx has put up around herself, straight into her mind.
Picture This
Birds of a Feather, Book 3
Release Date: June 29, 2017
Life just keeps slapping Mary in the face.
She had it rough growing up, and when it finally looks like she’s getting her life firmly back on track, breaking up with her boyfriend starts a string of events that threatens to bring Mary to her knees.
Fortunately, there are good people in her life who will do everything in their powers to help her when she needs it. Mary’s girlfriends, Jinx and Wilder are there for her, and after she’s rescued from being kidnapped, Carson and Bo take her into their home, becoming the family she always wanted but never seemed to get to keep.
As the group around Hawker Johns hunt the men who wanted to trade Mary for the valuable crystal from the mountains, she slowly recovers. Then life throws her another few curveballs, and it looks like she’ll lose everything yet again.
Mary is resilient and used to restarting her life from nothing, but when it looks like she’ll also lose the man she loves, maybe the happy girl has just had enough?
Picture this is the third book in the Birds of a Feather series, a young adult/coming of age series with paranormal elements, full of laughter, mystery, and romance.
Black Snow
By Lena North
Release Date: October 24, 2017
Snow’s best friend is a bird. An osprey, to be specific.
Everyone knows Snow’s parents died a long time ago, and she has perfected her happy smile and girly giggle so no one suspects that she hides a darker side of herself deep inside. No one, except her bird – and Nick, who always seems to know how she feels.
Then Hawker Johns blackmails her into joining his covert group of protectors. The imposing sheriff from Norton sends Snow to the Islands to investigate Jamie Jamieson, one of her friends and a man she dates casually, and once the first fury has passed, she’s eager to go. Mostly so that she can come back and shove Hawker’s suspicions down his throat.
Things are not what they seem on the Islands, though, and when Snow has been shot at, almost drowned and fallen through the roof of a cave, she starts thinking about her life, and her past.
Then she suddenly finds herself in a situation where she has a tough choice to make. Will she follow her heart or the pull from her family and friends? And will she ever find peace with her past?
Black Snow is the fourth book in the Birds of a Feather series, a young adult/coming of age series with paranormal elements, full of laughter, mystery, and romance.
Excerpt
“Thanks for bringing lunch,” I whispered.
“Ma used to do stuff like this, all the time,” he replied.
I forced myself to keep breathing evenly and turned slowly.
“Yeah?” I said, hoping he would continue talking about her.
The others from Norton and the rest of his extended family were constantly chasing him to talk about what had happened, and I thought they were so incredibly stupid. The more they pushed, the deeper he dug in and refused, and I didn’t understand why they couldn’t see that. Snow and Jinx’ visit had been the last straw, and the huge fight they’d had in front of everyone ended in an impasse where they didn’t talk to each other at all. Now he’d brought his ma up himself, though.
Our gazes held, and slowly he relaxed.
“It hurts to talk about her,” he confessed.
“Of course, it does.”
“I miss her,” he murmured and closed his eyes.
“What was her name?” I asked.
When he opened his eyes again they were so full of pain that my own suddenly burned with tears, but he’d started talking and I pushed gently, hoping he’d be ready for it.
“I don’t know what you’re feeling. My parents are alive, Olly, so I can’t know what it’s like and I dread the day when I have to feel what you feel right now,” I said. Then I sighed, and went on, “But I lost my best friend a few years ago and I know what it felt like, so I know what grief is. And it’s not the same but –”
I cut myself off, remembering the feeling of helplessness and how afraid I’d been. My friend had been shot, and I’d feared I would be too. I’d been hiding since.
“It hurts,” he said.
“What was her name?” I asked again.
He didn’t say anything at all and kept looking at me with wide, pain-filled eyes.
“They say a person dies three times,” I whispered. “The time of her death, when you put her to ground, and when people stop saying her name. You can’t change the first parts but you have the power to keep a bit of her alive, Olly.”
“Byrd Anna Maria Harper,” he said quietly and closed his eyes. “Most people called her Bee. My father called her Bebe when he thought no one heard, but to me, she was just Ma.”
“Was she funny?”
His brows went up but his face softened, and I slid my hand gently over his cheek.
“Yeah,” he said. “How did you know?”
“You are,” I told him.
“Not really.”
“I think so.”
He chuckled and shifted until he was on his side. Then he told me about his mother, and how she’d had this theory that if you laughed at least once every day you would get fewer wrinkles and live longer. His father was a school teacher and had argued that there wasn’t any scientific evidence to support her theory, but she’d insisted, and made sure he and his taciturn father laughed every day. Sometimes it had been silly jokes or practical ones, and sometimes she’d made them dance in the kitchen after dinner, doing the funky chicken until they howled with laughter. I’d known things about her in the same way I did about all of them, but I realized I hadn’t known her at all, just as I hadn’t known all of Olly, not for real, until I came to Double H.
We laughed as he told me about that part of her, and when he was done, he leaned over me.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“You’re totally welcome,” I replied and he smiled like I knew he would.
His hand suddenly trailed up my side, in under both my jacket and long-sleeved tee, and the way his fingertips slid slowly over my ribs made me shiver a little.
“Um,” I said, knowing well what he was up to.
“Exactly,” he murmured against my neck as he moved his mouth up until he breathed softly into my ear. “You’re gonna be naked in a minute, Annie. Okay?”


About the Author


The proper way to put it here would probably be to describe how I love to play with our two big dogs, adore my fantastic daughters and how much I love to read.
Another way would be to use my imagination and then I would be a super powerful warrior woman, think Xena the warrior princess (though with less tacky clothes). Or when I think of it, maybe I’m actually more of a Hercule Poirot (sans the suit and moustache). Or maybe I’m like Aragorn, strong and cool and then I might get to meet Gandalf! Or I could be Bella’s pretty cousin and snap Jacob up in a second (yeah, I’m so not team Edward), or wait, maybe I could be like one of them  heroines in historical novels who swoon all the time. I’ve always wanted to swoon…
Well, I guess you get how my mind is working (or not working, some say).
Anyways, I like to write. Stories, adventures, romantic and happy stuff mixed up with sorrow and hardship, and bit of laughter here and there because the way I see it – life is way too short to go around feeling grumpy.
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Like a Dream

YA Romance
Date Published: June 14, 2015
Publisher: Writer’s Tree Publishing
After losing both of her parents through a horrible fight, fifteen-year-old Amelia Waters gets trapped into staying with her mysterious aunt Leona and two cousins. It is then where they completely dominate her life and force her to move away from her home in Stillwater, Oklahoma to Columbia, Missouri. This usually upbeat and witty teenager is now suicidal and depressed as she’s forced into their world of hatred. If she tries to flee or escape she has been reassured that her beloved grandparents will be killed immediately. The moment she settles into her petrifying reality, Amelia becomes bombarded with nightmares about the past that reveals a terrible crime. With her back against the wall and no way out, Amelia gains a few unexpected allies that help her overcome her worst enemy—her aunt Leona. They give her the strength she needs to fight and take back the life that was stolen from her. But what Amelia didn’t plan on was to fall in love with Aaron—a mesmerizing boy from her dreams. Every nerve in her body gravitates to him as they fall deeper in love. But slowly Amelia begins to realize that nothing was ever just a coincidence and there is something far greater and dangerous in store for her.
Review
 

When reading a new author for the first time I am always skeptical, but Shina James has really managed to meld my favorite aspects of a book. Young Adult (My Fave Genre) and A Kick Ass Heroine (My Fave). Add to that the smooth flowing story line and all of the characters being both compelling and flawed and I am a happy camper! I highly recommend this one to any YA junkies like me! 

 
About the Author
SHINA JAMES is a freelance writer, and poet from the great state of Texas. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and Writers’ League of Texas. When she’s not writing or reading life-changing novels, she loves traveling, listening to music, and spending time with her husband and two kids.
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London Spies

Historical Fiction
Date Published: May 2017
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London Spies is a book of historical fiction set in London, England at the end of World War II.
Phyllis Bowden, a secretary at the American Embassy, is catapulted into the limelight when the Military Attache, Lt. Col. Ronald Lawrence, is arrested for espionage and her boss, the Assistant Military Attache, assumes the position. The arrest throws suspicion on everyone at the Embassy, particularly Lawrence’s secretary whose attempted suicide convinces Phyllis to be more curious about what really happened. With bombs still falling on a devastated city, Phyllis begins asking questions but she never imagined the dark underbelly of diplomacy. Entering a shadowy world filled with cryptic messages and dangerous men, Phyllis learns quickly that a safety net doesn’t exist and if she wants to survive, she better figure out the game fast.
About the Author

SJ Slagle is a celebrated author of the Sherlock and Me series and the Phyllis Bowden series.
A teacher and nonfiction writer for part of her career, she taught in Florida, California and Nevada. She also writes western romances as Jeanne Harrell including these bestselling series: Rancher, the Westerners and These Nevada Boys with picturesque settings in the wild west of Nevada.
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Breaking Down My Walls

 




Contemporary Romance
Date Published: November 30, 2017
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After the torment of her childhood, Taya believes in love for everyone … except herself. Some things can’t be untaught.
Beautiful and tough, yet the most private woman anyone has ever met, Taya knows everyone has a past, yet she doesn’t share hers. Her past must remain behind her for her sanity and so the only man she has ever loved will move on with someone who hasn’t been destroyed by those who were supposed to protect her.
Then a threat has her past storming back in and taking over.
After looking into the big, baby blue eyes of the deranged little orphan who was dragged, kicking and screaming, into his home, Levi is determined to be the boy who will teach Taya that not every offered hand will betray her.
Playful and gorgeous, Levi’s first passion is the girl who consumes his heart. His second is serving his country, following in his father’s footsteps. When Levi is deployed overseas, he encourages Taya to spread her wings and pursue her dreams, hoping she will come back to her roots and the man who is waiting for her.
Levi is mistaken.
Taya can’t change who she is and has built a life for herself far away from the only man she will ever love.
Can Levi convince Taya their relationship is worth the fight? Can he force her to overcome her fears and let him in completely? Can Levi prove his love is the freedom she has been searching for?
Levi allowed Taya to control their relationship in the past, but now things have changed. He is taking control back, with or without her consent.

Review

What a fun, yet emotional Contemporary Romance.

I liked the history for both of these characters and how that gave a backdrop to the story. Sometimes you need a certain person to help you deal and move on, no matter how impossible that may seem at times.

This author really showed her characters. There is not one part that left me with a plot whole. Everything gets tied up in the end.

About the Author



Anne Marie Citro grew born and raised in the greater Toronto area of Ontario, Canada. She grew up in a large, loving family. Anne Marie is married to a very patient man. He is the love of her life. They have four very cool sons, and the girls they brought into their family that have become daughters of her heart. She has been blessed enough to finally have a beautiful granddaughter after four sons. She has her own personal gaggle of girlfriends, who enrich her life on a daily basis and make her laugh. Caesar Friday is her favourite day of the week. Caesars with the girls and date night with her hubby. She works with special-needs teenagers, that have taught her how to appreciate life and see it through gentler eyes. Anne Marie was encouraged by her husband to follow her lifelong dream to write. She loves the characters that take over imagination and haunts her dreams. She loves the arts and she has tried her hand at painting, wood sculpting, chainsaw carving, wood burning, metal and wire sculptures. Yes, her husband is a very patient man! Anne Marie is an avid reader and enjoys about three books per week. But nothing makes her happier then riding on the back of her husband’s Harley and throwing her arms out and feeling the wind race by. Anne Marie and her husband take a few weeks every year to travel to spectacular destination around the world. Anne Marie is excited and can’t wait to see what the next chapter holds for her life.
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Take Back the Memory

Womens Fiction w/ Romantic Suspense Elements
Date Published: December 7, 2017
Publisher: AuthorSuite Books
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Paige Lyman, an accomplished psychiatrist, is on the verge of madness but she doesn’t know it yet. The madness begins when she gets it into her head to write her memoirs. As her brilliant mind assembles bits and pieces of her life for the book, ugly skeletons, long forgotten in the closet, begin to rear their heads.
It had all begun with a simple act of love. And love, for her, was a blond-haired Irish boy named Bill, so when Bill abandoned her for priesthood the world around her collapsed. Seized by a different passion—vengeance—she seeks her proverbial pound of flesh in the beds of various priests…
But that is before she meets Stern W, a medical researcher, who sweeps into her life like a hurricane and marries her, and they live happily ever after until he dies in a helicopter crash and she discovers the startling truth about who he really was.
Take Back the Memory is the saga of her compelling backward journey through her own life on a psychotherapist’s couch.

 

About the Author


Augustine Sam is a journalist by profession, a novelist by choice, and a poet by chance. A bilingual writer and an award-winning poet, he writes, not only hard news but literary works as well.
Fascinated by the written word even as a kid, he fell in love with poetry the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once. He was the winner of the Editors’ Choice Award in the North America Open Poetry Contest & his complete poetry collection, Flashes of Emotion, was a Finalist in the International Book Award Gala. His poems have been published in international anthologies, including “Measures of the Heart” & “Sounds of Silence.”
Augustine is also the author of Black Gold and The Conspiracy of Silence which was awarded a Readers’ Favorite 5-star seal.
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Catching London

 

 

Title: Catching London
Author: MV Ellis

Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing

Genre: Rock Star Romance

 Release Date: February 17, 2018

Blurb

He’s not looking
to change his bad boy ways.

Arlo Jones is a badass millionaire rock star with the world at his
feet. He lives the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” lifestyle to the max, and
believes in working hard and playing harder. He’s a man who always gets what he
wants, especially when it comes to women. Until he meets London.
She’s a damaged
dancer not looking to fall.
All London Llwellyn wants is to rebuild her life following the tragic
car accident that robbed her of her fiancé, and ended her career as a
professional ballet dancer. She’s working two jobs to scrape together the cash
to set up her own studio, and reinvent herself as a photographer. The last
thing she wants is to get involved.
Arlo promises to always be there to catch her, but can London trust him
enough to let herself fall?

 

 

Purchase Links
$1.99 (half price!) for a limited time
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU 
Author Bio
MV ELLIS knows what it’s like to fall head over
heels in love with a badass musician. She followed her heart halfway around the
world to be with one. She moved from London to Sydney after a steamy holiday
romance with a sexy bass player in sultry Brazil.
Twelve years, two children and a dog later, and she’s still
smitten. All this with a guy she sat next to on a bus for 36 hours! She has
toured internationally as a “WAG,” and her experiences inspire her writing.



Ellis’s love of romance began when she was 11 years old,
after a summer spent secretly reading her auntie’s books. She’s been a sucker
for an alpha hero and strong heroine ever since.

An avid reader, Ellis always knew she’d write a book of her
own one day. She was right about that. Following a career spanning advertising,
marketing, and social media, she finally wrote Catching London in
2017.

 

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Overweight to Fighting Weight

Non-fiction. Weight loss and health
Date Published: 8 December 2017
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Looking to lose weight but everything has failed? Discover the physical and mental aspects of becoming a much healthier you, written by someone that dropped 80kg!
Get the weight loss system written by someone that went from zero exercise and over 175kg, to a multiple time Australian and Pan Pacific martial arts Champion.
AJ Watson has shed 80kg in his journey and for the first time shares how he did it, and what needed to change mentally and physically to achieve his goals.
This book will teach you how to:
·        understand weight loss issues
·        figure out nutrition labels
·        learn how to set goals
·        improve your motivation
·        boost your willpower
·        structure your exercise
·        become a better version of you.
AJ Watson’s approach tackles the issues from multiple angles giving a much greater level of success than diet alone. Treat yourself to a wealth of knowledge and kick those extra kilos goodbye.
AJ discusses his physical and mental states throughout his journey, and how he combated multiple challenges to attain results. Because he has been there, AJ understands the thought process of overeating, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and low self-esteem. His successes as a martial artist, coach and author are traced back to the struggle out of his lowest point.
Now you can benefit from that struggle as well.
Grab your copy today.
Excerpt
Introduction
My name is Tony and I started this journey at 175kgs.
Today I am 95kgs and hold multiple titles in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
This book details how I accomplished that, my mental outlook and changes, my failures and successes. It will show you a way to duplicate this yourself, breaking it into multiple small actions. Depending on where you are on your trek, you may have already accomplished some of the early steps; if so, fantastic. Congratulations on getting that far. This book will help you understand what you have already achieved, and show you how to take it further.
Chances are if you are reading this book then you have struggled with losing weight, or want to see a boost to your motivation in other areas of your life. As someone that has been where you are, and cut a path through the tangled mess that is the weight loss industry, I understand you. This is where my book is different than a lot of others out there. Many programs are great at using weight loss science, but are usually written by people already fit and healthy that have never been more than a few kilos overweight.
They don’t understand the mental state many people start with, especially when severely overweight as I was. They have never been fat, never been ridiculed for their obesity. Never avoided pools or the beach because they’d have to take off t-shirts and reveal the true extent of their girth. I am thankful that these health professionals spent time with their research so I could learn. But how could they help address my mental and social issues that contributed to my weight gain, when they couldn’t understand them?
A psychologist is needed in many cases. I don’t pretend to be one and I’ve never felt the need to utilise their services. I have known many people that have, and can see the positive impact it made on their lives. I have however researched psychology and as I’ve lived through it I know a lot about the thought process that goes with obesity. That insight drives many parts of this book.
I am also a certified life coach, a field of study that assists people moving their lives from point A to point B. Even if they are unaware of how to do so, or that point B is even within their reach. Many steps in this book work in unison with the tools and techniques utilised in coaching. They will work without it, though will be greatly enhanced with a life coach by your side.
What I aim to do here is not only show you my meal changes and exercise regime, but also show how my mental state altered. I’ll share how I overcame my negative thoughts and barrelled through plateaus.
I gained all of this knowledge through a thirst for understanding. As my wife will attest, I absolutely must know everything even if it doesn’t concern me. It’s my nature. I can blame and thank my parents for this. As a child I hungered for understanding and often asked questions of how and why. Before long I was asking things they didn’t know the answer to. Instead of dismissing it or making something up, my parents instilled in me a simple mantra: look it up.
This was long before the Internet became popular and ubiquitous so all I had was a dictionary, an odd assortment of encyclopaedias and the school library. The skills and knowledge gained were invaluable and formed my love of words and reading.
The Internet exploded my world and now the guys I train with often refer to me as Google, as I generally have the answer or insight required for the topic at hand.
So when I turned this skill to weight loss my bull-crap detector worked overtime. I tried several diets that I fully understood the science of, but ultimately they failed because they didn’t take into account the psychological impact. They also failed to understand the starting point that a lot of overweight people find themselves in.
My meals consisted of mostly eating take-out, snacking on chocolate and washing it down with litres of soft drinks and tubs of ice-cream. You can’t instantly go from that to fresh fruit and veggies, healthy snacks and controlled portions. That is why the majority of diets fail and are a waste of your time.
I want to mention right off the bat that this is not a diet book. To me, a diet is a short-term change to reach a desired goal in less than two months. This journey took me nearly a decade and I am still changing things to get better results. It took that long because of all the trial and error, the research required and figuring how to alter the mental conditioning I’d spent nearly three decades building.
I can guide you into doing this far quicker, though I expect it to take years, not months. Lasting change takes time but if you follow the ideas and plans in this book, then you will see some quick results.
I am not a medical professional so I implore you, if you have any conditions or food intolerances then seek their expert advice first. Everything in here works for me, but my body is not the same as yours. I am living proof that the process works, and should work for the majority, however your life is unique and nothing can take everything into account. Even so, everyone can gain some benefit from a lot of these pages.
I’m looking forward to helping you achieve your goals.
About the Author

AJ Watson (Tony to his friends) lives with his wife Barbara in the great state of Victoria, Australia.
AJ is a certified Life Coach and continues to expand his skills to assist others not only duplicate his successes but to clear any mental barriers people place upon themselves.
Tony has obtained a Bachelor of Computing and although he has a love of technology, he can’t help dreaming of worlds with vicious creatures and powerful metaphysics. He uses this imagination to write sci fi/fantasy novels.
Tony is an experienced martial artist competitor and instructor, having won multiple national gold medals and assisting others to do the same.
In his spare time, among other things, Tony dabbles in computer graphics and GMs many role play games with his family and friends.
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Hard Crush

 

 

Title: Hard Crush
Author: Mira Lyn Kelly
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 6, 2018

 

Blurb
HARD CRUSH is a sizzling standalone romance from
USA TODAY Bestselling author Mira Lyn Kelly.
A jaded billionaire.
The girl who got away.
A second chance has never been so sexy.
ABBY
Technology has it out for me. And I’m not
talking about my ever-ailing phone or the temperamental Smart Board in my
classroom. I’m talking about the internationally hailed “Tech Genius” formerly
known as the boy I used to love.
It was bad enough seeing that cocky smile
staring back at me from my newsfeeds, the gossip sites, and—fine—the
scorchingly hot men’s fitness magazine I bought in a moment of weakness. But
now he’s back home, teasing me with the memories I’ve tried to leave behind,
crowding into my space and taunting me with the kiss I can’t resist. I know
it’s only a matter of time before I lose him again. He’s already told me he
isn’t staying, warned me he’s changed. I know better than to let him get too
close, so why can’t I push him away?
HANK
They call me a visionary. An innovator. Hell,
last week a headline touted me as the billion-dollar geek keeping Silicon
Valley’s panties wet. Try living that down. Strip away the media BS, and I’m
just a tech-minded guy with my eyes on the future and no time for a past I
can’t change. So what am I doing following the sweet sound of its laugh back to
the woman who passed on our chance at forever?
I tell myself all I want is to say hello. To
see her smile. Just a few minutes to pretend we’re still the “us” I thought
would never end. But once I’ve had a taste of the too tempting woman she’s
become, a few minutes isn’t enough.
The man I am today is used to getting what he
wants, and I want her.
The problem? She wants the guy I used to be.
Ten years later, all that’s changed is… everything.
 

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Excerpt

I take her
hand and remember the thousands of times I’ve done it before. “I’m glad we got
to talk. It’s been too long.”
A few
strands of her hair catch in the breeze and I tuck them behind her ear. Only
just like with hearing my name and holding her hand, the tactile sensation from
the soft strands between my fingers stirs up memories I thought safely put to
bed. It gives me ideas I shouldn’t be considering.
“Hank?”
Abby whispers, quiet and confused. “What are you doing?”
Losing my
mind. “Giving us a better goodbye.”
My fingers
curl in so the backs of my knuckles stroke her soft cheek. This is so messed
up. I know what I’m doing is wrong, but she’s looking up into my eyes.
I kiss her.
By adult
standards, it isn’t much of a kiss. A single brush of my mouth against hers and
a lingering contact I’m not quite ready to give up. And yet that barely-there
kiss has my heart slamming against my ribs and fire racing through my veins.
It’s like
I’m fifteen again. Except instead of this being my first kiss with Abby, it’s
our last, and I don’t want it to end.
I’m not
talking about not wanting it to end like I didn’t want all the other Abby stuff
to end before.
No, this is
different.
I. Don’t.
Want. This. To. End.
But too
soon, that soft clinging contact is gone, leaving only the warmth of her breath
against my lips.
One breath.
Two.
Three.
I open my
eyes, realizing I’m not the only one still holding on. Abby’s free hand, the
one that isn’t still trapped in mine, is wrapped around my tie.
She hasn’t
let go.
A shadow
passes over her eyes. “You’re not in Chicago for good.”
She isn’t
really asking, but she wants to hear me say it anyway. She wants to remind us
both that fundamentally nothing has changed. That we need to stop this before
it goes too far, and hell, I know
she’s right.
“I’m not.
Tomorrow’s just a business trip, but all indications are I’ll be out of Chicago
in a few months if this deal goes through.” And even if it doesn’t, there will
be something else. There’s always something else.
It’s the
deal breaker that lost me this woman ten years ago. After the way Abby grew up,
she couldn’t watch me leave and she wouldn’t wait for me to come back. I didn’t
understand until it was too late the first time around, but now I do.
And with
her in my arms, it’s good that neither of us loses sight of the fact that this
fundamental difference between us hasn’t changed.
She nods
her understanding, and I wait for her to take a step back, for the shake of her
head and quiet laugh. Only it doesn’t come. Instead, her eyes drop back to my
mouth and the world around us starts to slow. Because I know that look. I fucking love that look.
But this
has to be a mistake. We aren’t teenagers. We aren’t starting something new.
So what am
I doing, uncurling my fist to sift my fingers into the dark silk behind her
ear? Using that hold to tip her head back? Waiting until her heavy-lidded stare
finds mine again?
What am I doing?
Only it
doesn’t matter what I’m doing,
because then Abby is the one tugging at my tie to bring me closer. She’s the
one murmuring her agreement that this is a much better goodbye a scant inch
from my mouth.
She’s the
one short-circuiting my brain, and now the only thing I’m thinking is that I
can do much, much better.
This time
when my lips meet hers, there’s nothing barely-there about it. I kiss her hard,
gathering her close, then closer still as she opens beneath me with a
shuddering gasp I feel all the way through me.
Her fingers
knot in my hair, then race over my shoulders and neck. Christ, her touch is
electric, building the charge in my chest by the second.
We’re
breathless and frantic. Devouring each other with a hot need that edges the
line of control.
Just
another minute and we’ll stop.
Just
another taste.
My hand
wraps in her hair and she moans around the thrust of my tongue.
Yes.
The part of
my brain that’s still functioning is rolling through the data… 
We’re in a
parking lot.
The press
is camped out on the other side of the school.
I don’t do
serious, and this is the girl I learned how to love with.
We should
stop. No maybe about it.
But Abby’s
breasts are pressing into my chest as she wraps her arms around my neck, and
now there’s another part of my brain speaking up… and this is the part I know
better than to listen to. It’s the part that dirty-talked me into climbing up
the old oak outside Abby’s bedroom window… when her parents were home. It’s the
part that swore up and down security wouldn’t notice if I let myself back into
the lab at MIT after hours just to finish my experiment. And right now, it’s
casually noting the parking lot is empty.
It’s asking
me why, if the press knew we were back here, they aren’t calling my name to
score a frontal face shot.
“Hank,” she
gasps, and there’s no more mental chatter. I press her against the car, pinning
her with the weight of my body.
Author Bio
Hard core
romantic, stress baker, and housekeeper non-extraordinaire, Mira Lyn Kelly is
the USA TODAY bestselling author of
more than a dozen sizzly love stories with over a million readers worldwide.
Growing up in the Chicago area, she earned her degree in Fine Arts from Loyola
University and met the love of her life while studying abroad in Rome, Italy…
only to discover he’d been living right around the corner from her back home.
Having spent her twenties working and playing in the Windy City, she’s now
settled with her husband in rural Minnesota, where their four amazing children
and two ridiculous dogs provide an excess of action and entertainment. When she
isn’t reading, writing, or running the kids around, she loves watching the
Chicago Blackhawks and action/adventure movies, blabbing with the girls, and
cooking with her family and friends.
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