#Spotlight Wayne, the Nerd From Arizona by Wayne Rankin

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Wayne is a good kid but has always had a hard time making friends. His dad is an air force master sergeant. He travels a lot, even overseas. Now, Wayne is in a new school and feels unsure of himself. He has pimples on his forehead, crooked teeth, and mended glasses.

 Wayne, the nerd, has to deal with his appearance and the challenge of being a wanderer. However, he is not alone; there are others just like him!

 

Join Wayne on his adventure from Luke AFB Phoenix, Arizona, to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, and see his transformation from an ugly caterpillar to an amazing and beautiful butterfly!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Wayne Rankin is an Air Force Service Disabled Veteran, and was a Lockheed Martin Deputy Site Manager for the 3rd Space Surveillance Squadron at Misawa Japan. He was the 73rd Space Group, Chief of Logistics providing support to geographical separated units overseeing operations of the Air Force Space Command’s $360M, Space Surveillance projects. He was a Shipley Associates Proposal Manager for ITT Systems Division, Lockheed Martin, URS, Lear Siegler, ACS State-Local Solutions and GTE Government Systems. While at ACS State-Local Solutions with a win rate of 80% .He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate from Colorado Christian University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management well as a Master of Arts degree in Procurement and Acquisition Management and Human Resources Development from Webster University…

Contact  Link

Website: https://www.waynethenerdfromarizona.com/

Purchase Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Nerd-Arizona-Rankin-ebook/dp/B0BLBK99XP/

The Hidden Treasure: Secrets of Cleopatra's Gold by Hep Aldridge #giveaway #spotlight #bookseries #CountdowntoHalloween2023 #ActionAdventure

 

History, mystery, danger and treasure...

Egypt beckons the Risky Business team to a heart pounding new adventure. 

Cleopatra: Rich, powerful, seductive, cunning. She is perhaps the most historically recognized ancient Egyptian ruler, but to this day, Cleopatra’s tomb has yet to be found.

In this adventure, Colten Burnett’s Risky Business team takes on the daunting and dangerous challenge of recovering stolen statues that may hold the secrets to the famous pharaoh’s life, death and fortune.

Criss-crossing the middle East, the adventurous team of highly skilled men and women encounter antiquity smugglers and dealers, looters and even otherworldly beings as they race to uncover one of history’s most enigmatic mysteries.

Amazon * Goodreads

**Don't miss the rest of the series!**

Sunken Treasure, Lost Worlds

The Risky Business Chronicles Book 1

Sunken Treasure, Lost Worlds: Revelations

The Risky Business Chronicles Book 2

Sunken Treasure, Lost Worlds: Encounter

The Risky Business Chronicles Book 3

Buried Treasure,Lost Worlds: A Search For Aztec Treasure

The Risky Business Chronicles Book 4

Hep Aldridge is a certified scuba diver, cave diver amateur archaeologist, and retired college administrator whose main area of interest in Pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas has expanded to mysteries of ancient civilizations worldwide. He has led or been part of archaeological expeditions to Mexico and Honduras, making discoveries that have been reported in National Geographic Magazine. Hep’s related interest in space and “things unknown” was fueled by his time living in New Mexico as a teenager when he began to question the many strange and unexplained things he saw in the the night sky in the mid 60’s. Some years later, chance meetings in Florida with well-known treasure hunters, Art McKee and Kip Wagner developed his interest in salvage operations for lost undersea treasure. The combination of these interests led to the genesis of the Risky Business Chronicles, a series of books which now spans five distinct sagas with a recurring memorable cast of characters. Hep is an Air Force veteran and resides on Florida’s Space Coast.

Website 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$20 Amazon

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Tales of Ale and Chainmail by Multi-Authors #anthology #spotlight #giveaway #CountdowntoHalloween2023

 

Eight magical objects. Eight adventurers. Eight stories.

Volume 1

A Fantasy Anthology

with stories by

Dave Deickman, Kate Longstone, Jonathan Maloney, Alan Kent,

Thomas D Moore, Ashley Bravington, Crystal Roles, Lucina Nyx 

The simplest of choices are often the most necessary.

Eight magical objects. Eight adventurers. Eight stories.

Across the world of the Western Shield, long hidden artefacts are found by those who adventure into the forgotten corners of history. From the boiling volcanoes of Holfursland, to the booming industrial port of Helvenica, to the dwarven city of Ironvale, the adventurers are drawn together to tell their stories, and how they came into possession of their particular item, in the Glass Dagger Corner Club.

Featuring stories from Dave Deickman, Kate Longstone, Jonathan Maloney, Alan Kent, Thomas D Moore, Ashley Bravington, Crystal Roles, and Lucina Nyx, Tales of Ale and Chainmail (Vol 1) explores the dungeons, temples, and societies of the Western Shield world in pursuit of knowledge, answers, and lost family members.

 Amazon * Goodreads

Started in 2021, SkyNation Publishing is based in Brisbane, Australia. Specialising in fantasy fiction, SNP revels in bringing a change to traditional publishing, through different mediums, and partnering with other small businesses to add an extra spark to their title releases.

Under the sunny Queensland skies, the team works diligently to bring you not just good stories - but also, a new way of exploring the realms created by authors from around the world!

Website 

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Paperback copy – 5 winners, WW! ,

$20 Amazon – 1 winner

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It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schultz #review #snoopy #countdowntoHalloween2023

Seriously, who does not like Snoopy and the gang? If you know me at all, I love Snoopy! This book is one of my favorites based on the cartoon. The funny thing to me is I have never reviewed the book before. The copy I picked up is the 35th anniversary.

One of the best things about this book is Linus mistaking Snoopy for the Great Pumpkin. Yet, I love his sincerity that such a being exist and his hope for it. I also love that even though his sister thinks he is an idiot, she eventually feels for her brother.

Isn't that what hope is about?

As always, the author did a great job drawing all the characters that I have come to know and love over the years. Snoopy will always remain my favorite with the Halloween one being at one of the top best.

I of course have to give this book 5 GreatPumpkins, if nothing else, for Linus!

Disclosure:Although I picked this copy up from my local library, I also own a copy for my own collection. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle, Reading Authors Network

Timothy Gets Stuck by Mark Lawrence #bookseries #spotlight #CountdowntoHalloween #childrensbooks

                                                        Date Published: August 29, 2023

Publisher: Tellwell Talent 

Tales of Timothy Tip Truck is a series of short, fun stories that are based on real-life experiences by the author. They relate to the workings of trucks and earthmoving machinery as told to his two young boys at the time. The stories combine fun with learning some old-fashioned values including honesty, respect, caring for animals and those less fortunate, friendship, manners and the environment. 

         

Purchase Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Timothy-Gets-Stuck-Mark-Lawrence/dp/0228888328/

Jeoffry's Halloween by Mary Bryant Bailey #review #countdowntohalloween2023 #animals

What a wonderful story told from the perspective of the farmer's cat. He follows semi-spooky characters who have found themselves in the woods out back.  The book is all done in poetic style and done so well that what seems to be a picture book could very well be a book for the emergent reader. I seriously loved the story so much! I could picture the details in my mind.

The illustrations are bold and every single page is done in oranges and browns of every hue possible. Touches of greens add to already lovely pictures.

This is a book that should be on all shelves to add to the Halloween season.

I give this book 5 pumpkins!

Disclosure: I picked up this book from my local library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle, Reading Authors Network

THe Bones of Fred McFee by Eve Bunting #Review #countdowntohalloween2023 #picturebooks

 

Here I go again with yet another Halloween book by author, Eve Bunting. I truly love her story telling and this one tells the tale of a plastic skeleton hung in a tree. Or is it alive? Hmm?

The story is fantastically laid out as two kids put the skeleton in their tree but things start happening and disappearing. Could it be? AH, but I won't tell you that my readers or the twist at the end. Read it yourself to know. Bwa ha ha ha!

The illustrations are awesome as usual with blues, blacks, yellows, whites, and some oranges all mixed together to form spooky pages. These same pages are drawn in large proportion to give an even spookier feel but to also allow children to point out specific things for each. Children are also given the opportunity to look for Fred McFee as he is not always in plain sight.

Awesome book and a winner to me. I give it 5 pumpkins!

Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book at my local library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle, Reading Authors Network

Pumpkin Heads by Wendell Minor #review #CountdowntoHalloween2023

When I picked up this book, the title humored me. I was thinking about the trend that has happened the last couple of years of people photographing themselves with pumpkins on their heads.  I am very wrong!

If you have a little one that loves the pumpkin patch or Halloween, then this is the book for them. This mostly picture book has very few words. It takes the "reader" on a little ride and shows different pumpkins in all of their glorious designs.  Here you will see pumpkins on hay rides or peeking out of a haunted house.

Although, my reaction to it initially was wrong, it is still cute. I am sure really young kids would love talking and pointing at each page. Mostly that is the whole point of this book. 

I can only give it though, 2 pumpkins and that is probably being generous. I think the author could have done much better in the writing part of the book.

Disclosure: I picked this book up from my local library. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle, Reading Authors Network

Head Case by Bonnie Traymore #giveaway #spotlight #CountdowntoHalloween2023 #thriller

 

A workplace rivalry. An isolated campus. A tragic death.

"Traymore masterfully created a sinister, atmospheric setting that perfectly suited the plot."

Readers' Favorite, 5 stars

A workplace rivalry. An isolated campus. A tragic death.

Never make a major life decision in the wake of emotional turmoil . Cassie Romano learned this the hard way, leaving sunny San Diego for a teaching position at a private school in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York after a painful break-up left her heart-broken and in need of a change.

It all seemed so perfect in June when she came to interview. But now it’s December, and she’s stranded on top of a mountain surrounded by snow, ice, and acres of wilderness, lonelier than ever and bored out of her mind.

When a fellow teacher turns up dead and Cassie receives a cryptic letter from her a few days later, it’s clear to Cassie that something strange is going on at Falcon Ridge Academy. Everyone seems to be writing the death off as a tragic accident, but she’s not so sure.

Cassie has secrets of her own, though, so she’s initially reluctant to get involved. Torn between the urge to protect herself and the desire to investigate further, she decides on the latter.

And the consequences could be deadly.

Amazon * Goodreads

Bonnie Traymore is an author, educator, and consultant. A world traveler, she loves to include vivid settings in her novels. She is also an accomplished non-fiction writer, historian, and educator with a doctorate in United States History. She has taught at top independent schools in Honolulu, Silicon Valley, and New York City for over 20 years, and she has taught history courses at Columbia University and the University of Hawaii. Originally from the New York City area, she resides in Honolulu with her husband but frequents the Hudson Valley and New York City areas.

 

Website 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$10 Amazon giftcard,

ebook of The Stepfamily by Bonnie Traymore

- 1 winner each!

 

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Mortice-Justice Mort Style by AJ Wilton #Giveaway #spotlight #thriller #CountdowntoHalloween2023 #bookseries

 

Crime / Thriller Fiction

Date Published: 10-01-2023

Publisher: Shawline Publishing

 

In this thrilling sequel to You Killed My Wife, Mort’s hunt for his wife’s killer takes a huge U-turn, forcing Mort and Pig to question everything they thought they knew…

 

They face unsolved data theft, an armed militia, a school bullying ring and the trauma of a victim of domestic violence…Never wavering in their pursuit of justice, for Mort and Pig their search will culminate in a lethal battle spread across suburban Brisbane.

With their unique skills learnt from the Australian army, combined with their unique computer hacking skills, Mort and Pig venture through many dangerous paths, creating an action thriller full of intrigue and suspense for readers to delve into and enjoy!

About the Author

A J Wilton is an Australian small businessman with two thriving businesses who turned to writing through the quieter times brought on by Covid. He describes himself as a ‘Hobby Author’ fitting this into his already time-poor days. To date he has written two novels in his series about Mort and Pig in what is planned to be a series of five.

He lives in the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland. He and his wife, both inveterate travellers, look forward to exploring somewhere new, with A J able to indulge his other hobby of landscape photography. He has three adult children and three grandchildren.

 

Contact Links

Website

Purchase Link

Amazon

 

 

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Prime Suspect by Lauren Carr #giveaway #spotlight #thriller #CountdowntoHalloween2023

Book Description: ​Two murders with one common denominator. Both victims betrayed Bryce Greyson. How could she not be the prime suspect? Four years after Bryce’s cheating husband is gunned down, her boyfriend-stealing former roommate’s remains are found buried under a statue at her alma mater. Declared the prime suspect by both detectives and the media, Bryce has no choice but to hire someone to clear her name. Enter Sam MacKade, private eye. ​ To solve two murders, the former police K-9 officer and his canine partners must sift through the clues and the lies to reveal the true prime suspect. Buy the Book: (available for pre-order) Amazon  Meet the Author: ​Selling over half a million books worldwide, Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Thorny Rose, Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries, and Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries—thirty titles across five fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns! Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.  The owner of Acorn Book Services and iRead Book Tours, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, and virtual book tour coordinator for independent authors.   Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and author panels at conventions.  She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.  connect with the author:  website  ​

THE PRIME SUSPECT by Lauren Carr Spotlight Tour Giveaway

The Whiskered Witness by Laura Ball #giveaway #spotlight #bookseries #animals #cozymysteries #CoundowntoHalloween2023

 

Olivia Swann is at it again in the second book in the Whiskers & Tails Mysteries series. 

In this whodunnit where nothing is what it seems, 

Olivia faces challenges and twists and turns she can’t seem to figure out.

Olivia Swann is at it again in the second book in the Whiskers & Tails Mysteries series. Olivia loves to help people and her patients, but when a stranger asks for her help with a mystery, she can't resist! With the help of local newspaper reporter Randy Seaver, Olivia delves into finding a mystery that is decades in the making and uncovers more than she bargained for. In this whodunnit where nothing is what it seems, Olivia faces challenges and twists and turns she can’t seem to figure out.

Tom Barnaby and her herd of animals are back to help Olivia and protect her from harm when she gets too close to the truth. Will Olivia be able to solve the stranger’s mystery? Will she uncover a possible killer during her search? Will she find love amongst the chaos and danger? Olivia is more determined than ever to uncover the truth no matter what. But will the cost of learning the truth be too high a price to pay in the end for her and her friends?

Amazon     Goodreads

Whiskers in Trouble

A Whiskers & Tails Mystery #1

Olivia Swann has returned to her hometown after college and realized her dream of opening an animal hospital - the Whiskers and Tails Vet and Boarding Hospital. When she hires a friend at her college reunion to join as partner at the hospital, things take a dangerous turn as suspicions of stolen cats begin to emerge. More than just her business is threatened when her new partner begins to ask questions about the wealthiest and most well-known family in the county. Are cats really being stolen from their owners and sold to other owners for a high profit? Olivia has a mystery on her hands while she deals with her loveable parents and a smitten love interest she doesn't quite know how to handle. With the help of her friends--her two cats, Fiona and Wilson, an old Beagle named Barnabus and his owner Tom Barnaby--Olivia must try to solve a mystery that hits a little too close to home.

Olivia is a reluctant heroine in this whodunnit as she is determined to find her friend’s killer no matter the cost. How will she juggle work, crime solving and an admirer all at one time? Find out in this fun and fast-paced mystery from Laura Ball.

Laura Ball is a life-long Ohio native who found her love for writing at a young age. Since she was a young child, she has enjoyed writing stories and has had several poems published over the years in poetry anthologies. She hopes to bring to life characters that are relatable and storylines that keep a reader’s attention and stay in their thoughts long after they’ve put the book down. She has a two-year old Cavapoo named Eddie who provides plenty of inspiration!

Website  

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Review: Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes #multicultural #CountdowntoHalloween2023 #animals #childrensbooks #picture books

 

This larger than life picture book for children tells the tale of all the spooks that come out for a huge Halloween party. The book starts off with black cats who screech. The ending is fun and unexpected as all these creatures come from all over. But who is it that breaks up the party?

The book is written in full rhyme. Each page features large pictures with all of the colors that one would expect at Halloween. The illustrator did a fantastic job of this. That in itself is awesome, but what makes this book even more cool is that it is in English and Spanish to describe all of the characters. A glossary in the back is a nice addition to help those whose first language is not Spanish.

I seriously love this book and it would be a good edition for the Halloween season shelf. Don't believe me? This book was given an award for excellence.

I give this book 5 pumpkins.

Disclosure: I borrowed a copy of this book to read and review from my local library. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

~Michelle, Reading Authors Network