PUYB

Hacking IT by Kimberly Dean

 

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Hacking IT by Kimberly Dean was a different book for me to read.  I love that the author made the main character a female hacker because not many authors do that.  I wish that more people would write books like this so that girls would do more of this stuff in the real world.  Anyway, let’s get back to my thoughts on this book.  This book was shorter than other books that I have read lately, and I loved that about this book because I was able to read it in about a day.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of Luke and I can’t really pin point what I didn’t like about him, but he was just a character that drove me insane.  I really like Kylie because like I said before I love to see women in tech jobs.  I thought this book was well written and I wouldn’t mind reading more books by this author in the future.  I think that anyone who likes chick lit with enjoy this book as much as I did.

About The Book

Title: HACKING IT
Author: Kimberly Dean
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 200
Genre: Romantic Suspense

Independent software developer Kylie Grant is on top of her game in the world of IT. She has loyal clients, a good reputation, and a prestigious membership in technology giant Afire Industries’ small business accelerator. Things are going well until she stumbles across an innocuous issue with the lighting in the building where she rents space. When she digs into the problem, she discovers something unexpected—a hack.

The incursion doesn’t affect her, but Kylie leaves enough clues to fix the problem. That earns her a visit from Luke McAllister, Afire’s chief security officer. Luke is handsome and rugged and everything that Kylie likes in a man, but she soon finds that he is blaming her for the security breach. Before long, the two are on a collision course, but also secretly looking at more than each other’s digital footprints.

When a fluke accident sends Kylie to the emergency room, Luke fears that the beautiful developer is in danger beyond the online world. Little does he know that she is also hiding a secret that threatens to jeopardize their now sizzling relationship.

Can Kylie fix Afire’s problems without falling victim to the hacker? And can Luke learn to trust her and keep her safe before their enemy strikes again?

About The Author

When taking the Myers-Briggs personality test in high school, Kimberly Dean was rated as an INFJ (Introverted-Intuitive-Feeling-Judging). This result sent her into a panic, because there were no career paths recommended for the personality type. Fortunately, it turned out to be well suited to a writing career. Since receiving that dismal outlook, Kimberly has become an award-winning author of romance and erotica. When not writing, she enjoys movies, sports, traveling, music, and sunshine.

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The Runaway Rock Star by Veronica Blade

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Runaway Rock Star by Veronica Blade was a sweet romance novel.  I feel in love with the Liam right from the start, and because of that, I was able to finish this book pretty fast.  I read this book in two days because I didn’t want to put it down.   I also loved Emma’s daughter because she reminded me so much of my nephew and kids that age always makes me smile.  I loved how hard working Emma was and how she was a great mother.  I knew how this book would end even though I didn’t know the exact way things would happen.  I loved that this book didn’t have over the top sex scenes in it. There weren’t any parts of this book that made me uncomfortable reading it, and I don’t think that it would really offend anyone else either.  If you don’t like super-explicit sex scenes than I know you will enjoy this book.  I loved the setting of this book as well.  I can’t wait to pick up more books by this author in the future.

About The Book

NOTE: As with all Veronica Blade books, this is a sweet, semi-clean romance.

An infamous bad-boy rocker falls for a small-town girl who has no idea who he is. Considering his reputation, that’s probably a good thing.

After his latest escapade splashes across the tabloids, Grammy-winning bad-boy Liam Blackwell questions his own choices. He alters his appearance, hits the road and drives until hunger forces him to stop at The Wagon Wheel. Mesmerized by the pretty bartender, he lingers and, with each passing moment, staying becomes easier to imagine. But he doesn’t do relationships and Emma isn’t a one-night kind of girl. And when this small-town girl learns all about his big city life, wouldn’t she dump him anyway?

When a stranger walks into The Wagon Wheel wearing leather and a sexy grin, Emma Taylor is instantly drawn to him. But raising a child alone is hard enough at twenty-one without adding his kind of trouble into the mix. Though Emma sees more in Liam beyond the bruised knuckles and tattoos, she can’t risk temptation again or allow herself to hope for love, because when he inevitably blows out of town, he’ll just be another guy who broke her heart.

About The Author

Brain candy. Cleansing your reading palate one book at a time.

Veronica Blade lives in Southern California with her husband and children. By day she runs the family business, but each night she slips away to spin her tales. She writes stories about young adults to relive her own childhood and to live vicariously through her characters. Except her heroes and heroines lead far more interesting lives — and they are always way hotter.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret

The Long Lost by Tom Nixon

 

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Long Lost by Tom Nixon was a book I struggled staying interested in while I was reading it.  I am not sure why this book was so hard for me to read because I did enjoy the plot and the characters in this book.  I think because the book was slow moving I just got bored and I found that I kept just wanting to just skim the pages and only really stop and read parts that caught my attention.  I also don’t like when books bounce back in forth between current time and the past.  I have a hard time keeping straight what is going on when authors writing like that.  This book wasn’t sure suspenseful for me because like I have said it just wasn’t the right fit for me, but I know that other people will probably enjoy it more than I did.

If you have read it what did you think of it?

About The Book

Title: THE LONG LOST
Author: Tom Nixon
Publisher: CreateSpace
Pages: 418
Genre: Suspense

The sudden and strange disappearance of Joel Thomas brings together his ex-wife and best friend in a search for answers. As Mary and Jason seek out the truth, their quest consistently turns up more questions than clues. In another time, the story of a long-time group of college friends plays out across 30 years of history, revealing the highs and lows of a group that vowed to maintain their friendship until death. Is the answer to Joel’s mysterious departure found in a simple note sent to Mary, or is it locked somewhere back in time? Told in alternating voices and timelines, Nixon’s The Long Lost tells a story of both intrigue and suspense — along with sentimentality and introspection — as he examines the painful discoveries realized when childhood friends grow up…and grow apart.

About The Author

Tom Nixon is an author and entrepreneur with writing credits to his name that span artistic genres. He has written multiple novels, two screenplays, several short stories, a children’s story, and has five music albums in his catalogue, for which he wrote both music and lyrics. He discovered his passion for writing and reading at an early age, going on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Michigan. He resides in Michigan with his wife and children, along with a couple of the canine variety.

His latest book is the suspense novel, The Long Lost.

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Stairway To Paradise by Nadia Natali

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Stairway To Paradise by Nadia Natali was an exciting book.  I did find that I was bored from time to time as I was reading this book because people’s lives aren’t always super exciting.  I did wish that the book went in chronological order instead of jumping around but that isn’t a huge deal, and I could see why they did it that way.  When I started reading this book, I had no idea who all the people were even though they had prominent family members, so I just went into thinking it was a fiction book.  I really enjoy the authors writing in this book, and after reading this book, I went and looked up more about this author and her family.  If you are looking for a well-written memoir to read in the coming year, I think you will enjoy this book just as much as I did.

About The Book

Title: STAIRWAY TO PARADISE: GROWING UP GERSHWIN
Author: Nadia Natali
Publisher: RareBird Books
Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir

Growing up as Frankie Gershwin’s daughter, the sister of George and Ira Gershwin, was quite a challenge. I didn’t have the perspective to realize that so much unhappiness in a family was out of the ordinary. But I knew something was off. My mother was often depressed and my father was tyrannical and scary, one never knew when he would blow up. I learned early on that I had to be the cheery one, the one to fix the problems. Both sides of my family were famous; the Gershwin side and my father who invented color film. But even though there was more than enough recognition, money and parties I understood that wasn’t what made people happy.

As a young adult adrift and depressed I broke from that unsatisfactory life by marrying Enrico Natali, a photographer, deeply immersed in his own questions about life. We moved into the wilderness away from what we considered as the dysfunction of society. That’s when we discovered that life had other kinds of challenges: flood, fire, rattlesnakes, mountain lions and bears. We lived in a teepee for more than four years while building a house. Curiously my mother never commented on my life choice. She must have realized on some level that her own life was less than satisfactory.

Enrico had developed a serious meditation practice that had become a kind of ground for him. As for me I danced. Understanding the somatic, the inner body experience, became my way to shift the inner story.

We raised and homeschooled our three children. I taught them to read, Enrico taught them math. The kids ran free, happy, always engaged, making things, and discovering. We were so sure we were doing the right thing. However, we didn’t have a clue how they would make the transition to the so-called ‘real world’. The children thrived until they became teenagers. They then wanted out. Everything fell apart for them and for Enrico and me. Our lives were turned upside down, our paradise lost. There was tragedy: our son lost his life while attempting to cross our river during a fierce storm. Later I was further challenged by advanced breast cancer.

It was during these times that I delved deeply into the somatic recesses of myself. I began to find my own voice, a long learning process. I emerged with a profound trust in my own authority. It became clear that everyone has to find his or her way through layers of inauthenticity, where a deep knowing can develop. And I came to see that is the best anyone can offer to the world.

Enrico and I still live in the wilds of the Lost Padres National Forest, a paradise with many steps going up and down, a life I would not change.

About The Author

Nadia Natali, author of the memoir, Stairway to Paradise: Growing Up Gershwin, published by Rare Bird, Los Angeles, 2015, and The Blue Heron Ranch Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Zen Retreat Center published by North Atlantic Books, Berkeley CA, 2008, is currently working on a second cookbook titled Zafu Kitchen Cookbook.            

Natali, a clinical psychotherapist and dance therapist, specializes in trauma release through somatic work. She earned a master’s degree from Hunter College in New York City in Dance/Movement Therapy and completed another masters degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in somatic psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. Nadia is a registered practitioner of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (RCST) and is also a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) who trained with Peter Levine.

DanceMedicine Workshops is Natali’s creation where participants move through their trauma with dialogue and dance. She also offers the Ojai community, DanceMedicine Journeys. In addition to her private practice, Nadia and her husband offer Zen Retreats at their center.

Born into a famous family that was riddled with dysfunction, Nadia Natali made the choice to turn her life inside out and step away from fame and fortune. Against her parents’ consent she married an artist and moved to the remote wilderness in California. It was there that she found grounding as she and her husband raised and homeschooled their three children and opened a retreat center. As she gathered her own momentum, she enrolled in a doctorate program finally becoming a clinical psychotherapist specializing in psychosomatic work. She and her husband live in Ojai California.

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Abuse of Discretion by Pamela Samuels Young

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Abuse of Discretion by Pamela Samuels Young was a fascinating book.  This wasn’t one of my favorites, but overall I did like the book.  I didn’t feel like I could connect with the characters, so I had a rough time reading it, but I did get through it.  It did have spots where I didn’t want to put the book down but those times always passed after a few chapters.  I did love getting a look at what the juvenile justice system might be like in the United States.  I felt terrible for Graylin throughout most of the book because he got caught up in something that I am sure most teenagers in this country do and deal with on a regular basis.  If you are looking for a book that takes place in current times than I think this book is the one for you.  I tend not to like books that take place in the world we are currently living in because I am so tired of always hearing about things like this happening.

About The Book

Title: ABUSE OF DISCRETION
Author: Pamela Samuels Young
Publisher: Goldman House Publishing
Pages: 352
Genre: Mystery

A Kid’s Curiosity … A Parent’s Nightmare

The award-winning author of “Anybody’s Daughter” is back with an addictive courtroom drama that gives readers a shocking look inside the juvenile criminal justice system.

Graylin Alexander is a model fourteen-year-old. When his adolescent curiosity gets the best of him, Graylin finds himself embroiled in a sexting scandal that threatens to ruin his life. Jenny Ungerman, the attorney hired to defend Graylin, is smart, confident and committed. She isn’t thrilled, however, when ex-prosecutor Angela Evans joins Graylin’s defense team. The two women instantly butt heads. Can they put aside their differences long enough to ensure Graylin gets justice?

Unbeknownst to Angela, her boyfriend Dre is wrestling with his own drama. Someone from his past wants him dead. For Dre, his response is simple—kill or be killed.

About The Author

Pamela Samuels Young has always abided by the philosophy that you create the change you want to see. She set giant-sized goals and used her talent, tenacity and positive outlook to accomplish them. Pamela consequently achieved success in both the corporate arena and literary world simultaneously.

An author, attorney and motivational speaker, Pamela spent fifteen years as Managing Counsel for Toyota, specializing in labor and employment law. While still practicing law, Pamela began moonlighting as a mystery writer because of the absence of women and people of color depicted in the legal thrillers she read. She is now an award-winning author of multiple legal thrillers, including Anybody’s Daughter, which won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction, and her new release, Abuse of Discretion, a shocking look at the juvenile justice system in the context of a troubling teen sexting case.

Prior to her legal career, spent several years as a television news writer and associate producer. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from USC and earned a master’s degree in broadcasting from Northwestern University and a law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of teen sexting, child sex trafficking, self-empowerment and fiction writing.

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The Solicitor by Sean Keefer

 

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Solicitor by Sean Keefer had me hooked right from the prologue, and I didn’t want to stop reading it until I was done with the book.  I can’t really pinpoint what I loved so much about this book, but I didn’t want to put it down while I was at work or when it was time to go to bed.  This book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout most of the book.  I really liked the characters in this book because I felt like they could have been real people.  I was kind of sad when the book was over because I feel like I was saying goodbye to friends.  I don’t know that there is anything wrong that I can say about this book.   This author has written one other book that I am hoping I will be able to read later.  If you like to read mystery books, I know you will enjoy this book as much as I do.

About The Book

Title: THE SOLICITOR
Author: Sean Keefer
Publisher: Four Hounds Creative
Pages: 386
Genre: Mystery

When you make your living fighting for justice, the last place you expect to wake up is behind bars.

Attorney Noah Parks has spent his life keeping people out of jail.  When he’s charged with the murder of a candidate for Charleston County Solicitor he finds himself on the wrong side of the law for a crime he says he didn’t commit.

No longer fighting for others and now relying on the help of the few people he does trust, Noah must fight to clear his name and find the real killer before it’s too late.

His search will lead him through a maze of deceptions, lies, family turmoil and treachery that spans generations.

The Solicitor is set in historic Charleston and the surrounding South Carolina Lowcountry where under the surface things are not always as genteel as they appear.

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About The Author

While growing up in South Carolina, Sean didn’t realize it, but he was absorbing the styles, mannerisms, idiosyncrasies, dialects and the culture of his home.   Add to this the time he spent traveling the other Carolina for school and then North America for work, he collected a vast array of experiences and observations from which to draw upon and bring together in his writing.

After studying law in North Carolina, Sean settled in Charleston, South Carolina and instantly became enamored with the people as well as the city.

One day he started writing and the words, generally, kept flowing. A page became a chapter which ultimately became a book known as The Trust.  After this the process started again and The Solicitor was the end result. Hopefully, if you are reading this you either have, or soon will have, your very own copy of one or both.

The experience of taking two novels from conceptualization to print has been one of frustration peppered with increasing amounts of reward.  Each step from the first words hitting the page to ultimately holding a book in hand has been a personal reward.

When Sean is not writing he practices Family Law and works as a Domestic Mediator and lives with his Wife and an ever-expanding pack of rescue canines – the current count is 4.  As well, Sean can frequently be found wandering the lowcountry of South Carolina with his camera, playing guitar in assorted venues around Charleston or exploring the underwater world of the southeast.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2017 Margaret Margaret