Promotional Post: Killing Sarai

Title: KILLING SARAI

Author: J.A. Redmerski

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Publish date: June 20, 2013

Pages: 396

ISBN: 978-1490436524

Age Group : General adult 17 +

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Series: Killing Sarai

Other Books in Series: Reviving Izabel

Other Books by Author: The Darkwoods Trilogy, The Edge of Never series

Sarai was only fourteen when her mother uprooted her to live in Mexico with a notorious drug lord. Over time she forgot what it was like to live a normal life, but she never let go of her hope to escape the compound where she has been held for the past nine years.

Victor is a cold-blooded assassin who, like Sarai, has known only death and violence since he was a young boy. When Victor arrives at the compound to collect details and payment for a hit, Sarai sees him as her only opportunity for escape. But things don’t go as planned and instead of finding transport back to Tucson, she finds herself free from one dangerous man and caught in the clutches of another.

While on the run, Victor strays from his primal nature as he succumbs to his conscience and resolves to help Sarai. As they grow closer, he finds himself willing to risk everything to keep her alive; even his relationship with his devoted brother and liaison, Niklas, who now like everyone else wants Sarai dead.

As Victor and Sarai slowly build a trust, the differences between them seem to lessen, and an unlikely attraction intensifies. But Victor’s brutal skills and experience may not be enough in the end to save her, as the power she unknowingly holds over him may ultimately be what gets her killed.

This is their story…

•  Victor Faust speaks seven languages fluently: German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Hungarian, Arabic and English
• The book was partially inspired by my anger towards the movie Hitman when Agent 47 and Nika didn’t have a romantic relationship. I was so distraught over that! The woman and romance lover in me decided to take that secret love affair some of us have with deadly men and make it romantic.
• The other part of my inspiration for writing KILLING SARAI came from the song Father Figure by George Michael.
• While although Sarai didn’t get to finish school and had limited means of education while at the compound, she is very intelligent both book-wise and street-wise. And she is a fast learner.
• Sarai has spit in Izel’s food so many times she lost count.
• Victor and his younger brother, Niklas, are one in the same but entirely different. They are both fiercely loyal to each other and those they love and are both skilled killers, but Niklas is untamed and undisciplined, which creates a constant wedge between the two.
• Victor has never been in love. Ever. Niklas, on the other hand, although he preaches to Victor about avoiding relationships and how falling in love will only get him killed, secretly loved a woman once.
• The woman that Niklas once loved was secretly killed by none other than Victor.
• Sarai pulled one of her own wisdom teeth out with a pair of pliers because she had no way of getting dental care while in Mexico. And even though Javier would’ve made sure she got the care, Sarai refused to tell him for fear of Izel finding out and trying to remove the tooth for her.
• I molded Victor Faust’s character almost entirely from actor Michael Fassbender! 

Author of THE DARKWOODS TRILOGY, THE EDGE OF NEVER series and DIRTY EDEN, mother, werewolf & zombie fanatic, book addict and a happy hermit obsessed with the Universe. Oh,and AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.

Addictions: Starbucks every morning, trolling Barnes & Noble’s shelvesonce a week, detesting winter, shopping flea markets and preparing for thecollapse of society as we know it. Do I own a tin foil hat? Maybe. :-)

I was born in Arkansas and have lived here most of my life, except thecouple of times when I lived in Pennsylvania. I started my first novel at theage of thirteen and have been writing something ever since. Generally, Ilove characters in life and on paper. I pay attention to people, especially thosewhose personalities make them different from the rest of us: the drug addictroaming the Laundromat that talks to himself, the young, inattentive mother inthe park with the meanest kid on the playground – (the entire cast of ‘SwampPeople’) – characters fascinate me and I hope that it shows in my literarywork.

Guest Post: Meredith Towbin

Meredith Towbin is the author of Straightjacket.  Here is the synopsis of her book:

Eighteen-year-old Anna has lived her whole life in shame, losing herself in books to cope with crippling panic attacks triggered by her abusive parents. Forced into a psychiatric hospital, she can’t imagine a future that’s anything but bleak—until she meets Caleb, a gifted, 19-year-old artist who insists he’s an angel.

He swears his mission is to help Anna break free from her parents’ control and fulfill a destiny that she can only dream of. The doctors, however, are convinced that Caleb is delusional.

Anna doesn’t want to be that girl who’s in love with the crazy guy, but when she sees his stunning portraits of her and the way he risks everything to keep her safe, she can’t help but imagine a new future for both of them, filled with hope. But just when it seems they’ve created heaven on earth, Caleb’s past emerges full force, threatening to destroy their tiny, blissful world. And Anna has to decide if she should follow her heart, or if Caleb’s really as troubled as his doctors say…

I used to think that all writers were something like Henry David Thoreau. More specifically, I imagined that one day they would wake up and announce, “I’m going to write a really good book now,” and find themselves some nice little cabin by a beautiful lake. They would hole themselves up in there for a month or two, let the creative juices flow, and when they finally emerged, they’d be gripping the next Great American Novel in one hand and a nice cuppa joe in the other, pleased as punch with themselves.

Then I wrote a book. And it was so not like that.

This is what it’s really like to write a book:

1. You’re supposed to write about what you know, or at least that’s what I’ve been told, but what I know is boring and I want to know about other things. That’s where Google comes in. You find yourself searching things like, “What does it feel like to drown?” and “What’s the most humane way to kill a fish?” Unfortunately they’re kind of weird, crazy things. You hope that the police never have just cause to seize your computer and access your search history because then your biggest problem is no longer that you can’t find a in-depth-enough description of what bodies smell like when they’re burning.

2. I don’t have a cabin to write in. Heck, I don’t even have an office. I have a chair in my house. But I do a lot of my writing in random places. If I’m lucky, I can get myself to a bookstore café. A lot of the time I’m writing in a waiting room or sitting on bleachers during my kid’s soccer practice. As far as that last one goes, it’s super uncomfortable and super annoying because all these kids are screaming. But I power through nonetheless. Because I can’t drop everything and go to some random cabin. I kind of have responsibilities. Like keeping my kids alive.

3. Ah, writer’s block. It’s the worst. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. The absolute worst is the rare occasion when I have an entire day to devote to my writing, but I literally can’t think of anything to write. Well, that’s not exactly true. I can’t think of anything good to write. Sometimes the block just lasts a weekend. Sometimes a week or more. I try to keep my spirits up by being productive in other ways, which usually involves spending money at Costco or spending money at Target or spending money in any number of ways. Ugh. The. Worst.

So there you have it. Sorry to burst your bubble, but writing is very unglamorous. Unless you’re Jackie Collins. She seems like she has it going on.

 

Spotlight: Straightjacket

Title:  Straightjacket

Author: Meredith Towbin

Publisher: Etopia Press

Cover Artist: Annie Melton

Publish Date:  15 February 2013

Pages: 328

ASIN: B00BFYFWPI 

Genre:  YA, romance, dark contemporary

Series:  none

Sometimes a match made in heaven begins in hell.

Eighteen-year-old Anna has lived her whole life in shame, losing herself in books to cope with crippling panic attacks triggered by her abusive parents. Forced into a psychiatric hospital, she can’t imagine a future that’s anything but bleak—until she meets Caleb, a gifted, 19-year-old artist who insists he’s an angel.

He swears his mission is to help Anna break free from her parents’ control and fulfill a destiny she can only dream of. The doctors, however, are convinced that Caleb is delusional.

Anna doesn’t want to be that girl who’s in love with the guy “with issues,” but when she sees his stunning portraits of her and the way he risks everything to keep her safe, she can’t help but imagine a new future for the two of them, filled with hope. Then just as it seems they’ve created heaven on earth, Caleb’s past emerges full force, threatening to destroy their tiny, blissful world. And Anna has to decide if she should follow her heart, or if Caleb’s really as troubled as his doctors say…

Meredith Towbin grew up in Massachusetts and graduated with a degree in English from Wellesley College. She’s worked as a high school English teacher, a freelance writer, and a magazine editor. She writes whenever she has a free minute, usually when her kids are at school or after they’ve passed out for the night.

The rest of her time is spent driving her kids around, cooking, driving her kids around, listening to indie rock, watching movies and swooning over Cary Grant, and driving her kids around. She blogs about ridiculous things that happen to her at www.meredithtowbin.com. STRAIGHTJACKET is her first novel.

 

After Math

Title: After Math

Author: Denise Grover Swank

Publisher: Createaspace

Publish Date:  12 March 2013

Pages: 250

ISBN:  9781482658644

Source:  AToMR tours

Genre:  New Adult, romance

Series:  Off the Subject

Other books in series:  Redesigned (10 June 2013), Business As Usual (late summer/early fall 2013)

Other books by author:  Rose Gardner Mysteries series, On the Otherside series, The Chosen series, Twin River Falls

Rating: really liked

Scarlett Goodwin’s world is divided into Before and After.

Before she agreed to tutor Tucker price, college junior Scarlett was introvert, struggling with her social anxiety and determined to not end up living in a trailer park like her mother and her younger sister. A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.

After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him.Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.

But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?

What happens when you mix a socially introvert with the school’s most popular jock?  Scarlett never thought this would ever happen to her.  The only encounters she has had with Tucker, the college’s star soccer player, was running into him outside her class and occasionally seeing him on campus.  She was alright with that. 

Scarlett got anxious in social situations.  This happened when she was put in situations that were outside of the norm.  She was fine tutoring in the Math Lab.  Math equations calmed her.  Then one day, her world was turned upside down.  Tucker came into the lab needing to be tutored.  He had to do better in his Algebra class or he would risk losing his soccer scholarship. 

Scarlett didn’t want to help him as soon as he walked into the room.  She wasn’t that lucky, though.  He came to her station.  She helped him and thought that that was the end of it.  Then the director of the Math Lab informs her that the Chancellor of the college requested that she tutor Tucker on a regular basis.  Scarlett doesn’t want anything to do with this, but she is told that the math department is counting on this to get a program that they need.    Will Scarlett be able to get over her anxiety and tutor Tucker?  What will happen between Scarlett and Tucker?  Will Tucker be able to save his soccer scholarship?

When I heard that Swank had written this book, I was anxious to read it because I had participated in the blog tour of Here and it was well written.  I wasn’t disappointed in this book.  It seems that the New Adult category is just blossoming and there are a lot of books in this category.  The storyline starts out as the classic: the jock is being tutored by the “nerd” in order to stay on the [insert sport] team.  There are twists and turns in the book that make it worth the read.  Scarlett has some skeletons in her closet that have given her the anxiety disorder that she has.  She finds out that Tucker has some also.  I liked the way that Swank wrote in the discoveries of these skeletons.  As with a lot of books, I was disappointed that the book ended.  

There is an excerpt posted on Goodreads of After Math.  Here is the link: