Organ Reapers by Shay West

   Eli gets up most mornings hung over and grouchy.  He gets his coffee to keep him going and makes his way to work.  His outlook on life is a little cynical these days every since he and his wife divorced.  She was a cheater and he hadn't hesitated to file for divorce.  Now he was just married to his job as a detective.  No more fighting with her about him not putting her first.  When Ava comes into his life, things change.  They start chasing after the ghost of some crazed killer going around taking other's internal organs.  The thing is that they have no evidence and no leads.  As the bodies pile up, people get nervous and the chief is wanting answers.  But there are just none to give.  That is until Tani and Keena show up in jail.  They look like they are dressed for medieval times, and their food looks the same.  It seems that they know nothing of modern conveniences, but they say they know everything about the killings and how to stop it.  The only thing is that the ones murdering people are from a different world, and they used to be some of these killers.  Eli just can't wrap his head around the idea and thinks it's some kind of cult.  Ava is a little easier to convince.
   Tani and Keena were Harvesters in their world.  They went to Earth and killed people, taking their internal organs for whomever needed them in their world.  If someone's heart was failing them, then they would go retrieve a new heart that fit the person needing it.  The job was a very prestigious one and afforded both of their families a life of luxury that they never would have had otherwise.  After a while though, the job starts to wear on them and they no longer wish to be Harvesters.  But quitting isn't really an option so they run.  They end up finding Eli and Ava and hope that the two will help them stop Master Kehlar, the man behind it all.  To stop him they must destroy the machines that make the gateways to Earth.  First they have to convince Eli and Ava that they're telling the truth.  Then they must all come up with a good plan.  Two things that seem like an impossibility.


   The title of this book had me a little on edge about reading it.  It sounded like one of those super gory and bloody books about sadistic crimes.  Well it wasn't like that.  I actually really enjoyed reading the book and found in rather fascinating.  It is a convergence of two worlds in a way.  Tani and Keena are from a world that, although seems so different, is more like a less advanced version of our own when the steam engines were still around.  A time when it was inappropriate for a man and woman to be alone together if they weren't married.  Things in this world are much simpler.  It's quieter without cars and such passing by all of the time.  The people take the authority's word at face value no matter what he says almost always.  Tani and Keena's defection was unheard of and an act of treason.  Should they get caught, they would hang from the gallows for their crimes.  Master Kehlar is a prideful man who will do whatever he must to stop them.  An evil and darkness has seeped into him.  Pride is one of the big downfalls of man, even if they are from another world.

My questions about the book?
-Are there actually gods, demons, and such in Tani and Keena's world that were behind the visions and Master Kehlar's obsession with the gateways?
-Where did the modernized medical equipment come from in Tani and Keena's world?
-What happened to Satrick?
-Do Eli and Ava ever have a relationship?
-Who was now ruling Tani and Keena's world?

4.5 out of 5 stars!!

Love and Decay, Volume 1: Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) by Rachel Higginson

   The world used to be a normal place.  People lined up at the local coffee shops for their morning caffeine boost, while chatting or texting on their cell phones.  Reagan Willow was in high school, going to cheer practice while her nearly perfect boyfriend was the star football player on the team.  It was normal, nice even.  Now, two years later, Reagan and her best friend Haley were trying to make it the best that they know how.  They were living like homeless vagabonds, sleeping in abandoned places back-to-back so as to not be caught unaware by the flesh eaters roaming pretty much everywhere now.  It was the zombie apocalypse, and all because someone cured herpes.  The cure turned out to be the end of the world.  No more electricity, and no more fast food.  In fact, the two of them would go days at a time without eating and just hoped they would get through the night and then the next day.  One day they got into a situation that looked bad until the Parker family showed up.  The brothers get them out of harm's way and take them home where they meet Page, the little sister.  This is a very close family determined to survive this apocalypse together.  Not only do they survive, but they actually live.  Haley and Reagan had little hope of anything other than survival until they are grafted into the Parker family.  Women were in short supply these days so it was dangerous for them even traveling with a bunch of survivalists like the brothers.  These guys were armed to the teeth and had food!  The girls find much more than a measure of security with them.  Two of the brothers are interested in Reagan and one was interested in Haley.  They were all gentlemen who would never press a woman to do something she didn't want to.  Haley finds it easier to fall for Nelson, but Reagan fights it and is determined to not fall in love so her heart won't be broken when he gets killed by a zombie.  She felt like it was just impossible to find that kind of happiness in this kind of life.  But Hendrix is determined to show her otherwise.

   Wow.  I am stuck on this series now!  I love the occasional zombie apocalypse book, but this one could possibly beat all others.  I love the complexity of everything.  There are no modern conveniences anymore and everyone has basically been plunged back into the stone age.  There are still a few running vehicles and some gas, but for the most part Haley and Reagan are walking to South America where Reagan had a family member last she heard of.  It could be a much safer place for them, if they can get there in one piece.
   The Parkers are unlike anything the girls had yet to see in this dark and depressing world.  They lived with honor and love for their family.  They respected others.  And they protect those they love.  Falling in love with a zombie apocalypse going on turns out to be a challenge.  Haley can only fight her love for Nelson for so long.  But Reagan is unwilling to really let her heart go.  In fact, I don't think she ever really lets it go all of the way during this entire book.  It seems that she just can't yet.  She cares for Vaughan, and even more for Hendrix, but love is not yet in her vocabulary.  With the fact that any one of them could die at any moment, it keeps her heart in check.  This is painfully obvious when little eight-year-old Page becomes ill and most of them are captured by a colony of people who keep women like possessions.  Even after escaping one predicament, it seems like they just fall into another.  One has to ask themselves, is there ever any kind of peace in a world like this?
   A fantastic book!  Definitely 5 out of 5 stars!

Relics by Maer Wilson- Check out the link!

Check out Relics by Maer Wilson!!

http://www.amazon.com/Relics-Modern-Magics-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00NULK7PE/ref=asap_B00CDX29YW_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414346796&sr=1-1

Serpent on a Cross (Book 1) by Wendy C. Garfinkle

 Dennah grew up with the power to control the weather.  She was a weather magus, like her mother.  However, her power was much stronger than her mother's and because of that, they were both hidden away in a small village of Drovania for a very long time.  All the while, Tarkan Maksimov was gaining power and a black reputation while looking for his daughter and granddaughter (Althea and Dennah).  Althea hid Dennah's power from everyone, including herself.  It wasn't until the day Tarkan came and raided her village and kidnapped her mother that Dennah found out about her powers.  They were overwhelming and at the moment, hard to control.  It was important that she find Miraum (Baba Yaga) to help finish her training.  On her journey there she and Jeth run into trouble with Skallon, a Nemxes and captain of Tarkan's army.  He was unpredictable and ruthless, but enamored with Dennah and determined to have her as his own.  The journey they take is dangerous and Dennah must eventually go head-to-head with Tarkan to save her mother.  She is the only one able to stop him.  But among the anger she has for Tarkan, other emotions swirl for another.  While she loves Jeth and always pictured a quiet life with him, she is drawn to Skallon like a moth to a flame.  She doesn't understand it and doesn't have time for love while trying to exact her revenge.



   This medieval fantasy was different and cool in a way.  I liked how different it was.  At the same time, some of the differences also slightly hampered the story.  The fact that the author put in so many words in a different language kind of disrupted the flow of the story at times.  They were just kind of thrown out there it seemed.  However, the translation was usually right there after the word or phrase.  Otherwise, it was a lively and entertaining story with that witchy and Jewish element to it.  More importantly, it showed Dennah's struggle over self-control of her power and her temper.  Self-control is something that most of us struggle with.  It was important that she get a hold on herself unless she wants to destroy herself, or worse, become what she hates the most.
   There were some loose ends in this book that I am hoping to see explained in the next one.  Such as:
-What happened to Ivan?
-Who was the person behind Tarkan?  It is suggested that there was someone else funneling power to Tarkan.  If that is the case, then this fight is far from over.
-What about Skallon?  As much as he is a bad guy, you still have to wonder if there isn't some little bit of good in him.  You can see subtle shifts and change in him during the book.  Maybe there is more to this guy than we think.  He will probably turn out to be some weird exiled prince or something.
-Does Dennah choose to be with Jeth?  If Dennah thinks that she can have a normal life now, that's just not possible.  Her power is like none they have ever seen and Jeth seems to be quite afraid of it.  He would rather take her and hide her away, safe and secure.  Dennah is anything but like that.  She is untamed to say the least.  As much as she wanted a regular domestic life before, she can't have one.  Her future is that of Baba Yaga and it has its responsibilities.  Jeth doesn't and probably won't understand this.  I just don't see them having a future together unless something drastic happens and he suddenly has some kind of power.
   One other thing; while it doesn't seem immediately obvious why the book's title is Serpent on a Cross, you will find out about that later.  Those crosses are some dangerous stuff too!
I have had a hard time deciding exactly what stars to give this book because it's not quite a 4 but it seems better than a 3.5 so I will be sticking with the most in-between I can get and say that this book is a solid 3.75 out of 5!

Battle for the Afterlife Saga: Blue Courage by CJ Davis

   Reese is a highly trained Navy Seal who is good at what he does.  He has the strength and the guts to do what it takes to get the job done.  And it so happens, this job is going to Mexico and extracting a friend's daughter from a very dangerous cartel.  In the process he is wounded and taken hostage.  While being a prisoner, he meets the beautiful Kate.  He is instantly drawn to her, almost like they have met before.  But he would have remembered if they had.  Unfortunately he and Kate are killed during the rescue mission and Reese finds himself in the Afterlife.  Except this Afterlife is nothing like you would think.  It's not angels and cherubs with harps, and rainbows in clouds.  It's very much like Earth.  It has a city with a wall surrounding it, and guess what?  It comes complete with Lost Souls, or what we would think of as something like a zombie.  They stay outside the city gates waiting for unsuspecting prey.  Occasionally you will find one inside the city because they had recently turned into a Lost Soul.  Lose your focus in this world, become complacent, and you're done for.  Once you die in the Afterlife, there is nothing left of you.  You don't get to go back to Earth reincarnated or anything.  Despite having the ability to live forever, it's still a somewhat dangerous place at times with the Red and Blue factions against each other.  The Blues take a more peaceful approach to things and help others during their earthly lives.  The Reds are just the opposite.  The most powerful of them were some very bad people when they were alive on Earth.  And then there are the Greens who are neutral.  They don't want to get caught in the middle of the fighting, should it happen.
   This is the time when the Centennial happens during the Afterlife.  Every one hundred years is a race between the Reds and the Blues, and everyone watches.  If the Reds win again, there could be a tip in power and the truce between the two factions could be broken.  Reese finds out that he is a Blue and a very powerful one at that.  He will be a part of the small team participating in the Centennial.  It's a dangerous business because one can die from the Reds, large beasts, or Lost Souls in this race.  To make matters worse, Kate is in the race with him, and he must fight his instinct to continually keep her safe.  This race is even more important than his feelings for her.  The question is whether he could sacrifice her if it came down to it, so that the Reds won't win?

   This was a very different outlook on the Afterlife.  It was intriguing to thing that it's much like our lives here and now on Earth, but more dangerous in some ways because of the mighty beasts, Lost Souls, and the possibility of war between the Reds and the Blues.  While it seems a bit cut and dried to have two factions that seem like one is obviously good while the other obviously bad, Davis does a good job of weaving a story more complicated than it seems.  The farther you get into the book, the more you are able to see this.  I thought it was a particularly nice touch adding the Lost Souls to the book.  We would consider them to be zombies, but here they are lazy bums who lost their focus in the Afterlife and became complacent.  Never bettering themselves, they turned into something awful.  It is full of adventure, that's for sure.
   The very beginning I felt was a bit rushed and not everything was clear, but much of it became clearer as I read more of the book.  In fact, I felt like it became much more interesting once Reese entered the Afterlife.  After all, that's where all of the major action went down.  There were also quite a few grammatical errors.  It just needs a little more polish for it to be a really good book!
       I enjoyed how different this book was and hope to see more in CJ Davis's future novels!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Dark Secrets: Book 1 by A.M. Hudson

 

   Keeping secrets can hurt people, but most of all, it can hurt yourself.  No one knew this better than seventeen-year-old Ara.  Right now her life seemed like one big disaster.  A few months ago her mother, baby brother (Harry), and she were all in a car accident.  She was the only one that survived.  Her father came to get her in Australia to take her to America to live with him, his wife Vicki, and Sam.  It was a hard adjustment.
   Carrying the weight and guilt of her mother and Harry's death, Ara starts a new school that is right across the road from her house.  It's where her dad works as a teacher.  The first day she meets some new friends and a guy named David.  He has apparently never shown any real interest in any of the girls at school until she comes along.  Within a week she has fallen in love with him and it doesn't take long for him to tell her that he loves her.  But their relationship gets rocky when David tells Ara that he will be leaving soon and won't be coming back.  But that isn't even the half of it.  He also admits to being a vampire and she can't tell anyone.  It scares her at first, but then Ara gets more curious about it and tries to invite the beast within David to come out and play.  She doesn't always like the results.  And unfortunately she has a choice to make very soon.  Should she go away with David and become immortal?  Or stay and have a normal life?  Ara knows one thing and that is she is no murderer and never could be.  David has to kill to survive, and he is immortal.  Essentially he will never die.  It is killing her inside to think she will have to say goodbye to him after dealing with the death of her family members.  It's enough to make her somewhat suicidal.  To make matters worse in an already complicated situation, her best friend and former crush, Mike, has come to visit from Australia.  Turns out he's in love with her too and wants her to marry him.  Ara has no idea what to do now.  She had waited so long for Mike to say that he loved her, but now she was with David and she was deeply in love with him.  Could Mike help soften the blow to her broken heart when David leaves?  Perhaps she should "Let fate decide."  But fate can be funny in the way things play out.  Just as in this book.  David's twin brother, Jason, shows up and the coin is tossed for her.  Where it will land will leave you shocked!

   The one thing that absolutely irritated me the most was how Ara's vampire romeo tells her goodbye multiple times, only to show back up in her life, making it even more difficult to let go and move on.  He keeps spouting how it's better for her not to be in his world and all that mess but frankly I just don't think he can or wants to let her go, even though he knows he really can't have her.
   I am convinced that her best friend Emily knows more than she is letting on about Jason and David.  Perhaps she really knows that they are vampires?  But I also think that Emily is not always the best friend for Ara.  Then again, they are teenagers and drama is just something that happens.  Who knows?  Maybe the next book will enlighten the situation with Emily.
   After all of the teenage angst, depression, moodiness, and downright teenage drama in this book, I have to say that it was masterfully written.  I was never once bored even though this is a very long read.  And by that I mean you should prepare yourself.  But in all honesty I couldn't put the book down and don't regret spending so much time reading this because it was very good!  Do I think this girl was selfish beyond all reason at times and always wanting her way? Yes.  Do I think that she had good reason to be the way she is a lot of the time? Yes.  After all the suffering she has gone through, I can see why Ara acts out and has depressive mood swings so much in this book.  I can also relate to how tragic it would be to have to say goodbye to anyone you love very deeply, and she seemed to have to do that a lot.
   Honestly, I don't like David in the end.  We all know he's leaving, and he is giving her a choice, but no options for himself.  He seems kind of selfish too in a way.  But the way things fall in the end make me really root for Mike instead.  He seems the better, more balanced, choice.  If you read the book you will see why.  Mike was right when he told Ara that David was causing her more pain, just breaking her down more.  A love that tragic can't exactly be healthy.  We'v all seen Romeo and Juliet.  They ended up dead because of infatuation with each other.
   I have to say that I am loving the cover of this book.  It's great and ties in nicely.  In a way, it also shows the mask that she wears in front of everyone every single day since the accident happened.  She doesn't open up to anyone but David and I think that is one of the reasons why such a deep connection is forged between the two.  She keeps to herself the guilt of feeling responsible for her mother and brother's death.  It's all bottled up inside.  But you can never leave something bottled up forever.  It will eventually come out.  It always does.
   

SNEAK PEEK: Beggar Magic by H.L. Burke (being released in December!)

   Young Leilani Weaver loves the woods.  She goes out there often to play among the trees as the Strains sing to her.  She loves listening to them.  They are a part of every day life in Gelia.  Leilani couldn't imagine having to live without them.  The Strains are kind of like magic.  They can be used to help make bread and start fires, small things like that among the Common people like Leilani.  Her mother taught her never to take them for granted and never use them for things you could easily do yourself.  And you must never use them for evil because the Strains could leave you forever.
   When Leilani meets a Highmost girl about her age named Zebedy, she starts to see how they use the Strains for just about everything, but then again the Highmost are gifted with more magic than the Common people are.  Zebedy has lived a very different life than Leilani.  Zeb has lots of books.  Her family only had two and they were very important.  They weren't just novels to read for pleasure.  The two girls friendship grows and eventually Leilani becomes Zeb's aide.  She figures out though that being in the research manor changes things between she and Zeb.  She is treated more like an aide and her friend gets much more aggravated at Leilani than she ever did before.  And Leilani is suspicious of Zeb's mentor, Brash.  She thinks he is not to be trusted, but Zeb cannot be convinced.  When dead spots start showing up in the manor, the girls want to get to the bottom of it.  Brash won't allow them to, but Leilani is headstrong and doesn't trust him, so she starts investigating anyway.  What she uncovers will be hard for anyone to believe.  It will take everyone working together to stop the mad chain of events!

   Another fantastic book by H.L. Burke!  You can pre-order it right now on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Beggar-Magic-H-Burke-ebook/dp/B00NYSOVLO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413220697&sr=8-1&keywords=beggar+magic

Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) by Nancy Straight

I thought I knew who I was a week ago.  After contacting my long lost dad that my mom never talked about, now I have no idea who I am.  I do know this though:

-I am Camille, the daughter of Angela Benning and William Strayer
-I have five half-brothers, all older than me

-All of my family are Centaurs

-There is a blood debt on my head thanks to my mom

-I am supposed to have some magical powers

-Zandra Chiron is my grandmother and there's a reason my mom hid from her: she's ruthless and crazy.

-I have feelings for my best friend's fiance'
-I am not supposed to exist

What I realize more than anything is that I cannot communicate with my mom, even though I should have the ability to, and because of that I feel alone in all of these strange and scary changes going on in my life.  

Once in a great while I like to start a review from the character's point of view should that character be talking or thinking.  Camille's mother passed away and right before she did, she finally told her daughter who her father was.  It was a few weeks later that Camille sought out her father, only to find out he has 5 sons and a wife.  They all take her in just like she is one of the family.  William Strayer has a lot of money and it shows.  But they don't act like the normal rich people.  In fact, they act like a normal loving family.  All 5 sons still live at home although the oldest is closer to 30 than 20.  Camille soon finds out that the world they were brought up in was far different than her own.  In her world she was able to date whoever and whenever and be human.  In this world, she wasn't allowed to even go out somewhere alone.  Dates were frowned upon and you had to have a chaperon on dates or while you were with your chosen fiance'.  That's another thing.  In the world of the Centaurs, the women picked their husbands.  All of the men went for great jobs and tried their best to impress because to not be chosen by the time they were 30 would mean they would have to settle for a half-breed Centaur or a human.  This diluted the power in the blood lines so it was best to stay with their own kind.  However, Camille has her own ideas on the subject and won't be swayed.  Then she happens to meet Drake, Bianca's new fiance'.  He catches her before she can fall and saves her from a man's wrath at her brother's wedding.  They both have feelings for each other that neither of them understand or want because of circumstances.  The blood debt on Camille's head has put her in a dangerous situation with the man she owes it to.  And then there is her crazy grandmother that pops up.  Camille has no idea how much danger she is really in until reality hits her in the face.

Another fantastic read!  I highly recommend this one if you are looking for something fresh and different to read!

Beautiful Monster by Bella Forrest

  Amy is a senior in high school who is HIV positive.  She lives her life day in and day out knowing that eventually it will turn into AIDS and she will die from it.  While there is no cure for AIDS, there is medicine to help her condition.  Amy is home schooled, doing most of her work online.  She is an excellent student.  But Amy also gets tired of staying home and away from everyone all of the time.  It is for her own good, but she longs to do more with her life.  Her dad works at a school nearby that is very prestigious and regularly turns out students who go on to be famous in movies, ads, ballet, and more.  The headmaster there is now a 23-year-old retired movie star named Liam.  When Amy sneaks out of the house to go to the school one day, they are holding auditions for the next scholarship winner to the school.  Liam is presiding over it.  Amy ends up auditioning and winning.  She moves in to a room there and starts taking classes.  It doesn't take long for her to be labeled the teacher's pet.  It's obvious how Liam favors her.  But it soon turns into more than that and the two find themselves in a secret romance.  That is until one night when Amy finds out that he's a vampire.  She doesn't think she can handle anymore going on in her life so they stop seeing each other.  While all of this is going on, Amy has befriended Liam's good friend and shield, Porshe.  Porshe is HIV positive too, but much sicker than anyone realizes.  The sicker a shield is, the more powerful they are.  They can get to the point where vampires near them can no longer change at night.  But this is when they are on death's doorstep pretty much.  Liam has promised her immortality for helping shield him from other vampires, especially his sire, Selene.  She seems to pop up at the most inopportune times to check in on Liam and make sure he is doing what he's supposed to.  Right before their big production of Beauty and the Beast, Selene turns up again, watching and waiting.


    I don't know about how everyone else felt, but, while this was a decent read and all, it had some places where you were just sitting there saying "no way".  My main point?  The 18-year-old senior is dating the headmaster.  Where I live, that would be more than just frowned upon.  It doesn't matter that they are both consenting adults.  She is a senior and he is the headmaster of the entire school.  Period.  This hot-for-teacher stuff is not my cup of tea.  I realize at some point a lot of kids and teens have a crush on one of their teachers.  That doesn't mean you act on it.  It makes Liam look even more like the beast that he is.  Not to mention it bothers Amy so much that it looks like everything is being handed to her on a silver platter because of Liam.  Well, maybe she shouldn't have gotten involved with him to begin with.  Instead of squelching rumors, they give everyone something to talk about, especially when he is sneaking in and out of her room.
   Another thing was how in the world has Amy been sneaking into this school for so long and never gotten caught?  She's been sitting in on class and theater and getting the free education without the connections.  Yes her dad works there, but he has never come home early or sick to find that she wasn't there?  I am pretty sure she would have been barred inside her house if he had.  He seems very overprotective, but for good reason.
   On the other hand, the book did have some good qualities to it.  It was a very different kind of vampire novel with Liam only turning into a vamp after sunset.  Then he gets all blood-thirsty.  Also, alcohol seems to help dull the need for blood for him.  Then there is the whole shield thing that you will understand more of as you read the book.
   Porshe was an amazing character throughout the book.  She was kind and thoughtful, always taking care of others before herself, even though she was deathly ill.  I liked her much better as a heroine of this story than Amy.  Amy wasn't bad, but Porsche was the hidden heroine of the story.  Without her, Liam and Amy would not have been where they were.
I'm saying 3 out of 5 stars for this one, because there was some creativity in it.

A New Beginning (The Second Chance Series Book 1) by Christina Escue- Will be released October 18th!!

   On the day of her 14th birthday, Karla Hall is taken into police custody for shop-lifting.  She was starving and looking for something to eat in a smaller grocery store that didn't have the security bigger chains had.  An off-duty officer catches her and realizes that Karla is in more trouble than he originally thought.  Signs of abuse and neglect are obvious and the officer has to make some phone calls to the proper authorities.  Child services is called and Karla ends up giving statements about her condition, her mom and her mom's boyfriend, and has to go to the hospital for evaluation.  Cracked ribs and a cracked collar bone keep her in the hospital for a short while and gives the police time to figure out what to do with Karla.
   Kindness is not something that Karla had seen in many years, but once she was caught at the grocery store, people had been nothing but that to her.  Those around her recognize her need for a safe, stable environment where she can be loved and protected like any child should be.  The doctor on call at the hospital becomes Karla's foster parent, along with his wife.  Unable to have children of their own, they decide now is the time to take in a child.  They are the best foster parents she could ask for, but her future is still so very uncertain.  So many things happen that could change things, make them spiral out of control.  Like her peers at school.  Karla is desperate to be accepted and feel normal for once, but she isn't sure that will ever happen.



   A truly sad novel in some ways, this one brought tears to my eyes more than once.  Not sure if it is because I have children of my own, but the struggles this young girl goes through will get to you.  Karla Hall is one strong girl who has had a very hard life.  She sees things as they are, and not what she wants them to be.  Sometimes she's a bit on the negative side of things, but always determined to make the best of the situations that come upon her.  This is a good first book for this author.  Take a little time and check this book out!



Book Blurb:

For the first eight years of her life Karla Hall knew nothing but love, but when her beloved Grams and Pops died everything changed and she was forced upon a mother who never wanted her.

For the next six years she never knew what was going to happen next. Her mother moved her from town to town, following whatever loser boyfriend she had at the time and drinking away what little money she made in whatever dead-end job she could find. Her mother was a mean drunk and Karla was her favorite target. The boyfriends were worse.

On her fourteenth birthday Karla’s life takes a drastic turn. He mother is arrested for soliciting drugs, the current boyfriend takes off and Karla is all alone in a dump of an apartment with no food and no money. 

Caught shoplifting food, Karla is taken into the system and that’s where she meets The Peterson’s. Now she’s in a loving home, has a brother and sister she never knew about and has friends she’d never thought she’d have. 

This book will be released October 18th!!


About the Author:

 Hello everyone. I want to take a minute to introduce myself. I'm a 34 year old mother of two beautiful daughters, ages 11 and 7, and they are my life. I live in Lebanon, Tennessee, about 25 miles East of Nashville and have lived here most of my life. I love Tennessee.

I started reading when I was four years old and have always been an avid reader. In July of 2013 I started editing professionally and I love it. I always saw myself as a fixer, not a creator, until one day I was at work, not editing but my other job, and an idea for a story popped into my head and I couldn't get it out. That's how A New Beginning was born.