The contest has ended and the winner picked by a random number generator is: Darcie K. Darcie, I’ll email you for your addey so I can drop your book in the mail. Congrats!

Blood. Rivers of it.
The visions are overwhelming. They come every time Beth visits the scene of a murder. She lives the victim’s last moments, feels the pain, sees the perp. And it’s driving her mad.

A flat tire. A deserted country road. A man too hot to be true.
Trading life as a Chicago homicide detective for a job as a nomadic insurance inspector was supposed to keep her safe. Ty Malone is anything but. What isn’t he revealing about the missing person’s claim on his ‘runaway’ wife? What really happened to beautiful Lorilee Brubaker-Malone? And just how far will Ty take his seduction of the one woman whose gift can uncover the terrifying truth?

Want to win a copy of The Gift? Pick one review posted at Scooper Speaks (blog or website) and let me know what you think. Do you agree/disagree with my review? Then come back to this post and comment.

See simple.

One entry per person. All entries must be left here  before Dec. 14th when I randomly select a winner.

I’m spending bill money tomorrow. Stupid, yeah. But when can you go to a publisher’s website and purchase anything for 70 percent off? Apparently now. Dorchester Publishing sent me an email about an hour ago that said:

(The site is a little funky to navigate, but if you click on the categories button and select something a list of books will pop up.) 

I’m helpless to resist. What about you?

I spoke to soon. The girls are going back to live with their mother on Friday. I’m sad and bitter. My two girls are unhappy, one of the other girls is undecided (she wants her mom, but she loves me, the girls and her school) and the other child is excited. I’ve got to pack their stuff, put on a happy face and drop them off in two days.

I don’t feel like reading or writing, or for that matter anything. I want to lay on my bed and cry, but we all know there is no time for self-pity. Laundry still has to be washed. Dishes still need to be cleaned. Hair still has to be combed…Ok, I’m done wallowing. What’s up with you?

Obviously I’ve not been around lately. It seems that blogging and reading have fallen into the last slot on my ‘everyday must’ calendar. The four girls are doing quite well at school. One made honor roll, one received a medal for being a great kid, one isn’t getting into trouble anymore, and the last kid is at the top of her class for both reading and writing. My oldest child turned 10 on Saturday and my baby turned 7 on Sunday. Today I’ll take goodie bags to school.

Work, well…work is…work. I go there everyday. I also freelance writing articles on ehow and other sites. So it seems that there isn’t even time to breathe. I get the kids to school, work/run back and forth to school, clean, cook, wash laundry and calm irritated girls. That’s the daily routine.

I would like to say I’ll be back with a review tomorrow, but realistically it will be a few weeks. Hopefully I’ll be back with a review soon.

Maria Lima’s Matters of the Blood (click the link to read my review) was re-released recently and you can read the first 65 pages at the Simon and Schuster website. If you didn’t read the first book in the Keira Kelly series, now is the perfect time to check out the series.

Remember the werewolves of old stories and films, those bloodthirsty monsters that transformed under the full moon, reminding us of the terrible nature that lives within all of us? Today’s werewolves are much more suave and even sexy, and they moved from British moors to New York City lofts, shaved, and got jobs. But as the tales of these writers will show you, they remained no less wild and passionate, and they still tug at the part of our being where a wild animal used to be.

Running with the Pack includes stories from Carrie Vaughn, Laura Anne Gilman and C.E. Murphy, and they will convince you that despite their gentrification, werewolves remain as fascinating and terrifying as ever.

Amazon listed the release date as May, 29, 2010.

Sounds stupid, I know, but having a fire sucked big time. I’m going back inside the old place soon to sort through some junk, shred personal papers that are still inside, and hopefully salvage a few things.

The girls are adjusting. I’ve noticed them becoming very possessive of their personal possessions. They are all big on, “it’s mine.” I’m chalking it up to losing all their old stuff and wanting to hang on to the new stuff.

While bad, the fire did have a positive side. It’s pushed me to figure out how to go it alone and given me the encouragement I needed to finally separate my family, from my mama and brother. It’s also shown me what great friends I have online. People always say that you don’t know who you’re dealing with when you’re on the computer, but I can say, “yes I do.”

I know that when something bad happened, you all went out of your way to help me and mine. You sent gift cards, money, toys, books, and well wishes. You all asked how you could help and didn’t bash me for my stupid mistake. You understood and were patient with me. I don’t know how to thank you all enough.

The fire also made me realize that I don’t have the freedom I used to have. Before the fire and the arrival of two extra children, I could pretty much read whenever I wanted to. Now I sneak time. There are four heads of hair to braid, four mouths to feed, and four hearts to nurture. I’m not a patient person, but I’m learning. My freedom has been cut in half, but I don’t care.

I’m going to come back with a great website and blog. I’m planning on posting a new book review or highlight a different book every day. Will I mess up occassionally? Sure, but I’ve got a plan and desire to make a great online pressence. With folks like y’all, I know anything is possible.

I’ll just wrap it up with a huge

I’ve been inside of the burned out place I used to call home. It’s pretty bad, smell-wise, and everything is ruined. My books have been ruined. My Michelle Sagara, Patricia Briggs, Nalini Singh, Lilith Saintcrow, Christine Feehan, Ilona Andrews, Caitlyn Kittredge, Phaedra Weldon, Karen Chance, Debra Cooke, etc…all gone. Every book I’ve reviewed on this site, gone. It’s sickening. I want to cry. Very few books were saved.

My Sookie series was being borrowed so its fine. It’s going to be a while until I have a nice library and I miss it already.

Well, enough of my whining. I’ve moved into a new place with plans to stay for six months. Long enough to get my shit together and find a house for my girls and I. I’ve got to contact publishing houses about my change of address and hope they’ll understand why I need to change it twice in a year. (Once to where I am now, and again when I find a perm. home.)

Any suggestions? comments?

because I’ve gotten custody of my oldest child’s two sisters, ages 7 and 6. As most of you know, I have a 9- and 6-year-old. The girls came to live with me a week ago Sunday. Everything was going well until I blew up the stove trying to fumigate on Friday.

Yep, I blew the stove top off and the house caught on fire. So now I’m living in a hotel with four little girls as I figure out how to start over. People have been awesome. They’ve offered to donate and have donated many things.

Problem? I have no where to put anything yet. It’s really humbling to know that I might have to stay with a friend (with my four kids and her four kids) until I get the money together to move.

If it only could have happened at tax time. Unfortunately it didn’t. Everything is going to be alright.

In the meanwhile, don’t be surprised if I post sporadically as I try to figure out what to do.

See ya soon!

Favorite Lines: “Mothers–they have so much power. a few little words, and a few unthoughtful out actions, can nurture or destroy a child. It’s a power I always said I’d use wisely. I sometimes feel as if I’ve failed.” (ARC  p. 195)

Bonus Favorite Lines: “Grandpa Luke tried beating the babies from Grandma Faith at first. His fists made the first two children, a girl and a boy, come out strong jawed and ornery. He told her the third one was born dead, wrapped its twisted body in his oily flannel shirt, and buried it in the woods. But Grandma thought she heard a pitiful mewling as he left the room and that sound haunted her to her last thought. While Grandpa scraped the burial dirt from his fingernails, Grandma cried.” (p. ARC 9)

A woman returns to the Appalchian hollow where she was born and traces her family history through a journal and her memories from her parent’s first meeting to her mother’s death in an enthralling coming home tale.
Read the Review at Scooper Speaks or buy the book at Bell Bridge Books.