Books

A Cure For Deceit by Margie Miklas

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Audiobookworm 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.

A Cure For Deceit by Margie Miklas was a fantastic book.  I enjoyed everything about this audiobook.  I don’t know that I can even come up with anything bad because I loved this book that much.  I also really enjoyed the narrator of this audiobook.  I felt like her voice fit the characters in this book.  I wouldn’t recommend this book to you if you get grossed out by medical things because this book is full of that.  I loved that about this book because medical stuff has always interested me.  This book combined the two things that I love in books a great medical story and suspense that kept me listening.  I can’t wait to read other books by this author in the future because if her other books are anything like this one, I know I will love them.  The author did a great job explaining things that were happening, but she didn’t include so many details that you get bogged down.  The author also made the characters come to life as I was listening as well.  This book made me wonder if things like this happen in the real world.  I love when an author makes me stop and think about things that happen in the book and wonder if they have ever occurred in the real world.  If you love a good medical thriller, then I am sure you will love this book.

About The Book

Author: Margie Miklas

Narrator: Blair Seibert

Length: 7 hours 16 minutes

Publisher: Margie Miklas⎮2021

Genre: Medical Thriller

Release date: Apr. 28, 2021

Synopsis: What happens when a top surgeon begins to crack under the strain of his personal life and patients start to die? A sudden spike in patient deaths drives an impassioned ICU nurse to launch a clandestine investigation, targeting a powerful cardiac surgeon whose corrupt connections could destroy her career. 

Allison Jamison, an experienced intensive care nurse, becomes suspicious when a recent wave of major surgical complications results in unnecessary patient deaths. She enlists the professional expertise of her friend, Detective Mark Derning, whose interests include more than an investigative role. When her probe targets Dr. Gary Tamarino, the powerful, narcissistic chief of cardiothoracic surgery at San Francisco Bay Hospital, she encounters a staggering level of deceit and revenge while delving deep into his far-reaching web of corruption. 

Abuse of power, manipulation, callousness, and desperation drive the dark side of a man who also saves lives on a daily basis. Will he destroy her career before she can do anything to stop him?

About The Author

An award-winning author, Margie Miklas writes medical thrillers and travel memoirs about Italy. Creator and owner of the travel blog, Margie in Italy, and a contributing writer for an Italian-American newspaper, she is a member of the Florida Writers Association and makes her home in Florida.

In her medical thrillers, Margie’s years of experience as a critical care nurse provide the foundation for the realistic storylines inside a hospital. Her characteristic conversational, storytelling approach in her travel memoirs makes readers feel as if they are traveling beside her.

Margie has won numerous awards, including two from the Florida Writers Association, Readers Favorite, and Book Excellence awards. A Cure for Deceit won the Silver Award in the thriller genre in the 2020 Royal Palm Literary Competition from the Florida Writers Association, along with the Bronze Award in the 2020 Reader’s Favorite Competition in the thriller category.

Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Instagram

About The Narrator

Blair is a full-time voice actor living in Los Angeles, CA with 20+ previous years’ experience as a green building architect. That experience draws her to books that offer the listener new knowledge about things of interest to her: relationships, women’s issues, medicine, psychology, and environmental issues, while also being entertained.  

Blair recently completed a ten-hour non-fiction book for Penguin Random House called “New Women In The Old West”. Genres she narrates are: romance, Rom-Com, cozy mystery and non-fiction.

When Blair is not narrating, she’s gardening, cooking, recycling, biking or quilting (the skill she learned during the COVID shutdown). She’s passionate about books and is typically listening to one fiction and one non-fiction at a time while also reading a non-fiction book.  

Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Instagram

Buy A Copy

Amazon⎮Audible⎮iTunes

Let’s Be Friends

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2021 Margaret Margaret

The Academy Saga II: Cadet-In-Training by CJ Daly

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from iRead Book Tours 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 Academy Saga II: Cadet-In-Training by CJ Daly was an exciting read.  Parts of this book made me think of the Divergent series of books.  This is the second book in the Academy Saga series, and you need to read the books in order because each of the books builds on the previous one.  There is a third book in this series, and I went out to buy it because I have to know what happens next in this series.  I would get so wrapped up in what was happening in this book that I would stay up way too late reading because I never wanted to put it down.  You will be lost if you don’t read them in order.  Kate got on my nerves because of the stupid things that she did and how she acted.  This book kept me on the edge of my seat as I was reading it, and I loved that about it.  This author did a great job of making all of the characters come to life as I was reading.  If you are looking for a different type of book to read this year, I would check out this series because I am sure that you will love it.  If you enjoyed the Divergent series, I think you would also enjoy this story.

About The Book

Book Title:  The Academy Saga: Cadet-in-Training by C.J. Daly
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 yrs +),  441 pages
Genre: Suspense Romance
Publisher:  BrandyLight Ink
Release date:   July 2020
Format available for review:  ebook (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF)
Tour dates: July 12 to August 6
Content Rating:  PG-13. My book has some adult themes, language, and a few slow-burn romance scenes.

Another Readers’ Favorite 5-STAR Suspense Romance. Begin the journey today.

Kate’s destiny has been determined for her.

Hidden out in the country for most her life, Kate Connelly suddenly wakes up, handcuffed to a hospital bed, in the psyche ward of The Academy. Her crime? Being “gifted.” And it’s Officer “Ranger” Nealson’s job to make her adhere to The Academy’s agenda for her. Even though he’s the one who drugged and dragged her in. Kate’s hate for Ranger, and his academy, is at an all-time high. Ranger has his work cut out for him . . . and Kate does too. She has to fight through the rigors of the Cadet-in-Training program, and quickly. If not, she’ll lose the one privilege she’s been given at The Academy—access to her precious little brother.

And until she graduates from the CIT program, Officer Nealson is banned from Missions. When General Weston finally offers a juicy recon to Ranger, he wants to jump at the chance to prove himself again. After all, catching bad guys is his thing. Almost all pros for doing it. One con—Cadet Connelly has to ride along.

The hardened officer finds he’s slowly been growing a soft spot for his mentee. But he’s determined not to end up like his father, and former Elite Cadet Pete Davenport—throwing away their career for a girl (not even a woman). And Kate has lingering feelings for Pete, who risked his life to warn her, and conflicting feelings for Ranger. She has to set both aside to focus on completing her first mission.

When the dust settles, old alliances are broken and new ones are formed. But one thing remains the same: Kate’s destiny has been determined for her by The Academy. Ready or not . . . she’s set for Missions. Will one of the former elite cadets step in to help change her fate, or will she be left to fight the Academy’s agenda alone?

About The Author

CJ Daly grew up on the scrabbly plains of Eastern New Mexico. When she was supposed to be helping her six siblings with chores on the family ranch, she was really sneaking behind dusty haystacks to read. And dreaming about becoming a writer.

After graduating high school, CJ moved to Big D, where she quickly put herself through college while trying to rid herself of her country accent. She had better luck with college, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in English literature. After teaching a few years and pausing to have back-to-back boys, she began writing in earnest.

A few years later, “The Academy Saga” was born. It instantly earned a Readers’ Favorite 5-STAR seal of approval and became an Amazon best seller.

connect with the author:  website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ pinterest ~ instagram ~ goodread

Buy A Copy

Amazon
B&N ~ Walmart

Add To Your TBR List

Let’s Be Friends

Enter To Win

THE ACADEMY SAGA Book Tour Giveaway

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2021 Margaret Margaret

Loser Baby by Jason Bovberg

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Partners In Crime Book Tours 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.

Loser Baby by Jason Bovberg was an interesting book.  I did have a hard time keeping track of who was talking, and I am sure that is because there were quite a few characters who were similarly acting.  I did think that this book was well written.  I didn’t find that this book was super suspenseful, and because of that, it did take me a little while to finish this book.  This is one where I would read it for an hour or so, and then I would walk away and come back to it later.  I enjoyed the plot of this book, and I wouldn’t mind reading other books by this author in the future, even though I am not the biggest fan of this book.  The author did do a great job of making the characters come to life as I was reading.  I can say that he did a great job of making me hate several of the characters.  If you are looking for a different type of book to read this fall, I would pick up a copy and check it out.

About The Book

Genre: Suspense
Published by: Dark Highway Press
Publication Date: August 2nd 2021
Number of Pages: 322
ISBN: 9780966262988
Series: This is not a part of a series.

Jasmine Frank is missing.

It’s a humid summer morning in Santa Ana, California, and her twin brother Jordan abruptly finds himself on a desperate search—fearing the worst. The party last night got way out of hand, and his brain is still chemically fried. But this is Jasmine’s story. She’s awakened far from home to her own mystery: She’s unwittingly stolen something from the most dangerous person she’s ever known. Tommy Strafe. And now Tommy is raging through the sunbaked streets, gathering illicit forces to seek brutal retribution. But all Jasmine really wants is to get out of Orange County, escape her past, and find a measure of redemption.

Loser Baby is a propulsive blast through the streets of the SoCal melting pot, a breakneck dark-comic neo-noir populated by misfits and malefactors, criminals and innocents, down-and-outers and spun-out dreamers. Prepare yourself for an adrenaline rush of rat-a-tat he-said-she-said narrative twists—all in service of a giddily slam-bang shock ending.

Book Praise:

“Jason Bovberg’s Loser Baby is a beautiful noir novel for the 21st century! It’s a wild, frantic ride through shady Southern California, a desperate drug-fueled search for a girl who only wants to escape a sordid life.”
—Scott Phillips, author of THE ICE HARVEST and THAT LEFT TURN AT ALBUQUERQUE

“Loser Babyis the real deal for hardcore crime fiction fans. This one grinds with the engine over the red line all the way. Hang on tight!”
—Eric Beetner, author of ALL THE WAY DOWN

“Loser Baby is one cool book! Bovberg writes characters who get into your head and under your skin. You won’t shake this one easily: It’ll stay with you long after you read it!”
—Terrill Lee Lankford, author of SHOOTERS and ANGRY MOON

“Jason Bovberg’s Loser Baby is a high-octane thriller that moves like greased lightning! The beauty of this book is its motley collection of despicable characters whom you come to love by the end. Loser Baby is Bovberg’s greatest book and one of the best of the year.
—Gary Phillips, author of BLOOD AND ASPHALT and BIRDS OF FIRE

About The Author

Jason Bovberg is the author of the Blood trilogy—Blood Red, Draw Blood, and Blood Dawn—as well as The Naked Dame, a throwback pulp noir novel. His forthcoming books include Tessa Goes Down, a border noir, and A Small Poisonous Act, a suburban crime novel. He is editor/publisher of Dark Highway Press, which published the controversial, erotic fairy tale Santa Steps Out and the weird western anthology Skull Full of Spurs.

He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his wife Barb, his daughters Harper and Sophie, and his canines Rocky and Rango. You can find him online at http://www.jasonbovberg.com.

Catch Up With Our Author:
JasonBovberg.com
Goodreads
BookBub
Instagram – @jasonbovbergauthor
Twitter – @JasonBovberg
Facebook – @CriminalVintage

Buy A Copy

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Let’s Be Friends

Enter To Win

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jason Bovberg. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card (U.S. ONLY). The giveaway runs August 1st through September 2, 2021. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read An Excerpt

(more…)

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2021 Margaret Margaret

Black Label by James L’Etoile

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Partners In Crime Book Tours 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.

Black Label by James L’Etoile was an exciting book.  I love that there were medical aspects in this book because those always interest me.  There wasn’t a ton of medical things going on, so if that is something that you don’t like, then I would still check this one out. This book did have quite a bit of suspense running throughout most of the book, which I loved.  The more tension that book has, the more I am going to enjoy the story.  The author did a great job of making the characters and the story come alive as I was reading.  I read this book in just a couple of days.  This book had just about everything that I love in an excellent psychological thriller.  This book kept me on the edge as I was reading, and I was sad when the story ended because I wasn’t ready to move on from these characters or this story.  If you love super suspenseful books, then I know you will love this book like I do.

About The Book

Genre: Thriller
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: July 20, 2021
Number of Pages: 300
ISBN: 978-1-953789-14-3

Sanity is something you don’t miss until it’s gone. Hard charging pharmaceutical executive Jillian Cooper fears she’d destined to inherit her mother’s history of mental illness when she finds herself accused of murdering her boss. All the evidence tells her she’s either a murderer, or insane. When Jillian struggles to find the truth, she uncovers a web of black market pharmaceuticals, prison gangs, and greed. She begins to believe she may have killed to cover up the off-the-books drug operation.

Can she discover the truth before she’s condemned to life in prison, or a mental hospital?

Praise

“Tight, terrific, terrifying. BLACK LABEL delves into the murky world of pharmaceuticals where profit is prioritized above all else. L’Etoile creates a strong female lead in Jillian Cooper, a woman who faces obstacle after obstacle, but still charges into the abyss. More unnerving than a fistful of amphetamines. Unputdownable.”
—K.J. Howe, international bestselling author of SKYJACK

“James L’Etoile’s BLACK LABEL is a delightfully complex and twisty thriller with a ripped-from-the-headlines plot that will make you think long and hard before you swallow your next dose of medication. Add in an intrepid heroine willing to do whatever it takes to uncover the truth no matter the cost, and L’Etoile’s newest offering is a winner!”
— Karen Dionne, author of the #1 international bestseller THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER and THE WICKED SISTER

“Relentlessly fast-paced and compellingly twisty! The talented James L’Etoile sets up an irresistibly high-stakes situation: a woman is certain to be charged with murder and doesn’t remember a thing. Can she prove her innocence before she’s silenced forever? A dark journey through the world of big Pharma and big money—you will turn the pages as fast as you can.”
— Hank Phillippi Ryan USA Today Bestselling author of THE FIRST TO LIE

“If this book had a tag, it would say ‘proceed with caution’ because nothing is what it seems. Told with a vivid and visceral style, this is le Carré’s Constant Gardener meets The Fugitive. As the title suggests, BLACK LABEL is a top of the line thriller.”
— Gabriel Valjan, Agatha & Anthony Award nominated author

About The Author

James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an influence in his novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, facility captain, and director of California’s state parole system. He is a nationally recognized expert witness on prison and jail operations. He has been nominated for the Silver Falchion for Best Procedural Mystery, and The Bill Crider Award for short fiction. His published novels include: At What Cost, Bury the Past, and Little River -The Other Side of Paradise.

Catch Up With James L’Etoile:
http://www.JamesLEtoile.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @jimletoile
Instagram – @AuthorJamesLEtoile
Twitter – @JamesLEtoile
Facebook – @james.letoile

Buy A Copy

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Let’s Be Friends

Enter To Win

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for James L’Etoile. There will be Seven (7) winners for this tour. Two (2) winners will each receive a $20 Amazon.com gift card; Three (3) winners will each receive a $10 Amazon.com gift card; and Two (2) winners will each receive 1 signed print edition of At What Cost and Bury the Past by James L’Etoile. The giveaway begins on July 12 and runs through August 10, 2021. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read An Excerpt

(more…)

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2021 Margaret Margaret

One

One

I chose another prompt from the Daily Post blog and the one I chose this time is:

If you could have a guarantee that one, specific person was reading your blog, who would you want that person to be? Why? What do you want to say to them?

When I read this prompt I knew I wanted to write about it but I wasn’t sure who I would want the one person to be.  I have sat and thought about it and I know who I wouldn’t want to read my blog but as for someone who would I am not so sure.

I don’t think I could just pick one person so I am going to change it to a group of people.  Even as I try and have it be a group of people I still have more than one so I guess I am totally breaking all the rules and just going to list 2 groups of people.

  • I wish young people who are getting diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at a young age like I did would read this blog.  I know when I was diagnosed it sucked that there was no one around me that was my age.  When we would go to events I was always the youngest person and I wish I would have had someone I could relate to.  It is hard to be 16 years old and be diagnosed with a disease that can’t be cured.
  • I would want book-worms to read my blog because I know before I got into reviewing books I had a really hard time figuring out what to read next and things like that.  I wish I would have had a blog or place to go where I would read reviews of books and a place to read about different types of books.

Those are the two groups of people I would like to read my blog because I think it would be interesting for them.  I am sure there are other groups that would like to read my blog but those are the 2 main groups that I would like to read it.

Who would you want to read your blog?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Margaret Margaret

8 Books Everyone Should Read

8 Books

When I saw this was one of the prompts for the writers workshop I knew I had to write about it.  The prompt I chose this time is 5.) List 8 books you’ve read that you think everyone should read in their lifetime.  I have read tons of  books in my lifetime and I am going to list 8 of the ones that I have read so far that I think everyone needs to read.  I chose all these books for different reasons and I will write that next to the title & author of the books.

  1. 1984 by George Orwell– I read this book when I was in high school and I find it crazy how some of the things that happened in this book are happening in our country now.  I think that everyone needs to read this book because it is an amazing book and it is an eye opener.
  2. Fearless by Eric Blehm-This is about one of the Navy Seals from Seal Team 6 that went in and killed Osama Bin Laden.  He was shot during the firefight and this is a story written about his life.  I cried through parts of this book because he had an amazing story and I feel so bad for his wife and children who lost him way too soon.
  3. The Milestone Tapes by Ashley Mackler-Paternostro– I am not sure if I can even tell you how much I loved this book.  I cried through a lot of this book and I still loved it.  It is an amazing story and something I think I would do if I had young children and knew I was going to pass away from cancer before they children had grown to be an adult.  She basically makes tapes for her daughter for all the big things she knows her daughter will go through as she is growing up without her.
  4. Stress Test by Richard L. Mabry– I put this one on here because I love a good medical thriller and this one delivered on that.  If you lost suspense/thrillers than I know you will love this one.  (If you click on the title you will be directed to my review on this book)
  5. Anomaly by Krista McGee– I think everyone should read this one because it is about a dystopian society but it brings God into the story and I loved that about this book.  The next book in the series comes out in January and I can’t wait to read it.
  6. The Beloved Daughter by Alana Terry-I just read this book recently and I have to say that I loved everything about it.  I loved learning about what was going on during this book and I also had to wonder how many people really lived this story.  It take place in North Korea and it broke my heart to read and I was also sad because you don’t know what really happens at the end.
  7. The Girl In The Box by Sheila Dalton– I read this book a few years ago and I really enjoyed it because like the book The Beloved Daughter I have to wonder how many people really live like this and how many times things like this happen to people.
  8. Defending Jacob by William Landay– I loved this one because you get to see how some people think and you also get to see what some people will do for their children.  I don’t know if my child did something like his does I am not sure how I would handle it and what I would do.

Do you have any suggestions for books that I should read?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Margaret Margaret