Savvy Saturday: Five Amazing Covers (As Chosen by our Social Media Coordinator's Roommate)

So, our Social Media Coordinator asked her roommate to pick a few covers that she thought looked cool for our post today. Said cover-picker hasn't really looked at any of our books before, so with fresh eyes she selected five that met her standard of approval, and here they are.

Imagine
Roommate Says: I like the silhouette, it's really pretty.

The realm of Oren is about to change. Can two girls from Earth stop the rise of evil before it’s too late?

Available on Amazon, Kobo, at Barnes & Noble, and the Champagne Bookstore.










Heart of the Holiday
Roommate Says: I liked the simplicity of this cover, it left more to my imagination.

Five heartwarming tales of the season.

Available on Amazon, Kobo, at Barnes & Noble, and the Champagne Bookstore.

Alex in Wanderland
Roommate Says: This just looked like a really cool adventure book.

A strange new toy leads a married couple to an alternate universe and an ancient prophecy.

Available on Amazon, Kobo, at Barnes & Noble, and the Champagne Bookstore.

The Killing Hour

Roommate Says: I like the drama of this cover.

Midnight. A time for magic and a time for murder.

Available on Amazon, Kobo, and at the Champagne Bookstore.

The Piano Room
Roommate Says: I liked the piano and the butterfly. It looks different from other books I saw and I gravitate towards that.

A lovely co-ed is dragged into a police investigation of the ‘Vlad the Impaler’ serial killings. But even after a public arrest, Vlad is still out there and he has her in his sights.

Available on Amazon, Kobo, at Barnes & Noble, and the Champagne Bookstore.

Review of FDA by Kelli Keith

Name:

Kelli Keith

Date:

November 19, 2017

Book Title:

FDA

Book Author:

Rick Giernoth

Date of Publication:

September 1, 2009

Number of Pages:

255

Main Characters:

Jack Randolph (a.k.a. Ryan Bennett) a reporter for the Chicago Tribune that regularly reports on cover-ups, conspiracies, and is a general nuisance for the editor.

Martini (a.k.a. Josh Gibson and Jonathan Taylor) is Jack’s confidant, mentor, and a seemingly anti-establishment hippie.

Other Important Characters:
Chelsea, Zip (William), Peter, and Tim are a group of “rebels” out to prove the agencies’ wrongdoings.

Setting:

The mid-2000’s in multiple locations throughout Canada & the U.S.

Synopsis:

Jack Randolph is fired from the Chicago Tribune when “the board” pulls his latest conspiracy story about the government eliminating cures for major diseases.  With the help of his long-time friend, Martini, Jack delves further into the investigation.  It started as a simple pursuit of the truth evolved into a wicked web of lies that cost Jack his safety, security, and love of his life.

Key Points/Conflict:

Jack is summoned to his editor, Mike’s, office and once again lectured on his performance as a reporter.  Mike points out that Jack is not a team player and chooses to ignore employer commands to follow his own hunches/leads.  Jack’s current story on a government conspiracy to cover up cures for cancer is vetoed by the board of the Tribune.  Mike, hesitantly, fires Jack for using one to many chances to do the right thing.  

Jack immediately runs to his friend Josh Gibson, nicknamed Martini, to find a conspiracy hidden in his firing.  It doesn’t take long for the paranoid, anti-establishment Martini to convince Jack that the government owns the papers and is truly hiding the cure for cancer.  Jack decides he must continue to dig so he can expose the truth.  This digging leads Jack to a Dr. Lamb, living in Canada, former head of Starfish Labs and receipt of millions in cleverly hidden grant dollars.  

Upon arrival in Canada, Jack, who has now adopted the person of Ryan Bennett, approaches Dr. Lamb with a disturbing story about his (fictional) dying daughter.  When Dr. Lamb ignores his sob story, Jack hunkers down, planning to work on him over time.  It isn’t long before Jack realizes he is being watched.  

He finally gains an audience with Dr. Lamb, only to be interrupted by agents who swiftly shoot Dr. Lamb and his wife.  Jack jumps through a window and narrowly escapes.  In constant contact with Martini, Jack sets out to find another source for his article.  Ultimately, it is revealed that Martini is part of the agency and is attempting to eliminate Jack by exploiting the years of “friendship” they developed.

This devastating revelation leads Jack to become part of a rebel team devoted to exposing the agency for what it truly is. Peter, Zip, Tim, and Chelsea accept Jack into their group and plan to kidnap Martini for information.

Once the kidnapping is complete, the dark secrets of Martini’s past are revealed.  A plot twist ultimately lends Martini to the side of the rebels where he plans to use his remaining life to atone for his past sins.  Martini secretly kept documents that could bring every level of the agency to its knees.  The team has to retrieve the items and hope that time and luck are on their sides.

Further betrayal, death, and misfortune plague the group as they take on an unseen villain that has poisoned every aspect of the planet.

Analysis/Evaluation:

If you aren’t a paranoid, conspiracy theorist at the beginning of this book, you will be by the end! For the first half of the book, it seems like the main character is a paranoid schizophrenic chasing imaginary shadows in the comfort of his own brain. Jack, although highly intelligent, comes across as extremely self-centered and doggedly persistent.  In the beginning of the book, it is mentioned that Kate is the love of his life and he promises her that he will be home that evening for dinner. Instead of keeping his word, he goes to Martini’s house and stays for two days sorting through corporations for leads on his cure story.  The next time Kate is mentioned, she has been murdered. Jack’s reaction was typical but more so of someone who had lost a security blanket, instead of someone he loved.

The character flaw also reared its head when he posed as a father with a dying daughter to gain the trust of Dr. Lamb and his wife.  For the typical reader, everything else aside, it was this act of deceit that made Jack unlikable.  

Continuity throughout the book was pretty on point, minus an issue or two.  The most prevalent was when Martini’s nose was broken, “His nose snapped; the crack echoed through the cabin (location 38.7%)” it is never mentioned again.  No discussion of cleaning up the blood, splinting his nose, or any later references like, putting on his prosthetics to cover his misshapen nose.

During the house fire, the description of finding Zip’s hip confused this reader.  The house was supposed to incinerate at 5,000 degrees yet, Chelsea was able to go in and pick up a titanium hip replacement with her bare hands, not even three minutes after the blaze ignited.  However, at this point, the reader is so engrossed in what will happen next that they are probably reading too fast to care!

(The mention of Circuit City in chapter twenty-four dates the piece.  The company liquidated and closed the final store in early 2009.)

The ending… ah, the ending.  Mr. Giernoth seems to have left the story open to become a series OR he was unsure how to end this riveting tale.  This reader will err on the author’s side and say he is going to wow us with more adventures where Jack is the lead character.

FDA is available on Amazon, Kobo, at Barnes & Noble, and at the Champagne Bookstore. 

Review of Castles Burning by Linda Workman-Crider

Book Review: Castle’s Burning by Keith Wayne McCoy

Review by: Linda Workman-Crider

Castles Burning is a forty-four-page literary work of magical realism. Written in first person, this tale, if true, would be considered a memoir of Wil Warner, the son of Tom and Kat Warner. While there are some slightly horrific items in this story, it is mostly a story centered on family dysfunction. I would not classify it within the genre of horror myself. Mostly this is tale of an adult son coming to terms with the past and making the final cut of any ties still binding him to his mother. The final thing Kat Warner had to entice a reunion with her son was his father’s remains and the story begins as she lures Wil back to her prominent estate in hopes that he can collect his father’s ashes.

Though I had expected to be reading a work of horror, I knew almost immediately that I was reading a literary piece. There is difference in style, rhythm, and word choice than one would find in most mainstream novels where the literary leans more toward the poetic, and where word choice and sentence structures are as important, sometimes even more important, than the plot or point of telling the story. If I can liken the mainstream novel writer to classic rock, the literary writer would probably liken themselves to opera. These are, generally speaking, different camps of consumers. I would not have purchased this book had I known it was a literary work of fiction. I am story driven and, while the words flowed beautifully, there is not enough of a story here for my tastes. This book is for fans of the more literary works of fiction who will find Keith McCoy to be a very talented writer indeed.

Castles Burning is available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and the Champagne Bookstore.

Review of The Lesson by Linda Wrokman-Crider

Book Review: The Lesson by Joyce Ward

Book Review by: Linda Workman-Crider

A harsh lesson in learning to respect the dead, the funeral parlor, and maybe above all, the effort that goes into a funerary floral arrangement. The lesson? A trip the bathroom can easily turn into a descent into hell.

Pot heads, Pam and Kevin, show up to the funeral of her favorite uncle not only high, but also wearing t-shirts and jeans, a lack of respect which Pam’s mother makes perfectly clear, not only to Pam, but to everyone in the funeral parlor. Deciding to depart after a much-needed trip to the restroom, Pam stops to steal an orchid on the way. She is caught and berated by the funeral director’s grandson and redirected to use the restrooms located in the basement which is currently under construction. The story finds them trapped under the funeral parlor and the plot-line concentrates on their experiences in their efforts to escape.

Pam Tripp is a smart 23-year-old woman with spiked burgundy hair and who stands at five feet two inches tall. She became a pothead in an act of rebellion toward her cold-hearted mother who showed no signs of appreciation for Pam even after she graduated from college. Pam’s choice in her boyfriend, Kevin, may have stemmed from that same rebellion or from her overwhelming need for unconditional love after her father’s death years ago.

Aside from the actions and reactions of Pam as the story unfolds, we really don’t get much more information than this regarding her character. I did briefly wonder if her last name of Tripp was given by the author in some symbolic reference to Pam’s habit of getting high, but decided it was merely a coincidence since Pam didn’t seem to be into anything stronger than marijuana. Though we are told that Pam is college graduate, if there is any reference to her current career I missed it. I do think that her character displays some emotional roundedness, however, as we move through the plot. She displays several different emotions. So even while we may not know much detail about her personal life, we do become aware that she is as emotional capable as anyone would be in the given scenario.

Kevin, Pam’s boyfriend, is a six-foot two inch starving artist who enjoys getting high. He is a risk-taker to the point of looking to lace their joint with some embalming fluid. He is the curious catalyst of this story and Pam’s pillar of strength with his unconditional love.

We, again, aren’t given a whole lot more in detail regarding Kevin’s personal or professional life, but his personality is the driving force of the plot moving forward. And honestly, whether he works with paints or clay would make no difference in the storyline except to build his profile. Again, like Pam, we see a character who rounds by emotional and physical reactions even in the absence of solid personal details.

Joyce Ward does an amazing job setting the gloomy tone and suspense required for a horror story through description and character reactions. Unfortunately, with the focus of the writing in these types of details, many other key details were overlooked which pull the reader out of the story to contemplate the errors. Sometimes it was minute detail, such as the fact that you can’t “flick off” a Bic type of lighter. Other times it was larger, such as only minutes passing where the reactions were as if days had passed or, at the very least, a large number of hours, or including a hope to be found by workers when workers were never present or expected to be present before this.

I had chosen this book hoping to have a Horror novel to recommend as Halloween approaches. Unfortunately, while I might be able to recommend a revised version of this novel, I cannot recommend this book as it currently written. While I find Joyce Ward to be a talented writer whose work is easy to read and agree that it is easy to fall into the emotion and tone of this book, I am unforgiving when major details in the story-telling don’t add up. If the only issues had been a lighter type or person stumbling into and “bouncing off” a mound of dirt, I would still have recommended The Lesson.

The Lesson is available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and the Champagne Bookstore.

Publishers Choice: Shadows on Iron Mountain

Shadows on Iron Mountain
Chuck Walsh
$4.95 eBook
$13.95 Print
Mystery/Thriller

For sale on:
Amazon
Champagne Books Store
Kobo 

A big-city detective searches for a killer in the backwoods of Appalachia, discovering the elements and backwoods culture are every bit as dangerous as the killer himself

Thomas Jordan, a hardnosed detective from Knoxville, is called in to investigate the disappearance of Kara Lisle, who was abducted from a cabin in the remote backwoods of East Tennessee. As the search begins, local fishermen find the body of Patricia Darby floating in nearby Doe Creek.

As Jordan scours Iron Mountain to find Darby’s killer, as well as locate Kara, he finds himself immersed in a world where laws of another kind exist. He discovers a land cold and calloused, its inhabitants untrusting. As the body count rises, he finds the only way to bring the killer to justice is to enlist the services of one of Iron Mountain’s own.

Blood Under the Midnight Sun Excerpt

Blood Under The Midnight Sun

By Steven Ure

Mystery/Thriller/Action-Adventure

$4.99

Amazon: http://goo.gl/9iDc5a

Kobo: https://goo.gl/DUuoRx

 

When Julie’s twin brothers are declared MIA in Nazi-occupied Norway, Julie risks everything and heads over there from Scotland to find them.

 

Excerpt

“We have to move, girl,” her father said calmly. There was not a trace of fear in his eyes, and she wondered how that could be. “Hurry now,”he said in a hushed tone, and led Julie away from all the lights.

 

Together, they weaved through the forest, ducking under branches and jumping over bushes, but it never felt like they were going fast enough. The lights were always behind them. They looked to Julie like they might be catching up. Julie’s father looked back and his eyes went wide. The fear was getting to him and it was then Julie started to get really scared.

 

“Hurry, hurry!” he muttered and ran. They were making a terribly loud noise running, as twigs and leaves broke and crumpled underneath their feet, but when Julie looked back, the lights seemed to be getting farther away.

 

They had been running for fifteen minutes and Julie was winded and had to rest. She sat down on a rotten log covered with moss and tried to catch her breath.

 

“They won’t stop looking,” her father said, facing away from her, like he was talking to himself rather than Julie. “They saw the crash, and they can’t assume the people inside died with it. No, they’re not like that. They’re not going to stop looking. Not until they found us, that is.” He wasn’t even breathing hard, even after the hard run.

 

“What are we going to do?” Julie asked.

He turned to face her. His eyes darted back and forth and looked down to the ground. Julie could tell he was thinking about doing something dangerous.

 

“What?” she said. “What are you going to do?”

 

“Shhh, girl,” he whispered, and put his finger to his lips. “Or they’re going to hear us.”

 

“What are you going to do?” she said, this time in a whisper.

 

He sighed. “I have to draw them away. If the maps Mr. Ward lent me are correct, then there should be a large farm about a mile that way.” He pointed uphill and Julie followed where his finger pointed. It looked so desolate and lonely there. “Just follow the North Star—see there? And you’ll find it in no time. There are a lot of outbuildings to hide in at the farm and Ward says the owners are resistance, and I believe him. Hide in one of the outbuildings and wait till morning.”

 

“And where will you go?” she asked.

 

He unholstered a pistol. “I have to distract them and throw them off your trail.” He gulped and stared in Julie’s eyes. “You have to run now, girl. Run as fast as you can, and don’t look back.”

 

Julie hesitated and looked back at her father one last time.

 

“Go on now, girl. I told you not to look back.”

 

Julie turned tail and ran. She didn’t dare look back this time. She followed the North Star, going at a full sprint. When she couldn’t run anymore it only urged her to go even faster. Her nose was running, her heart beating so fast, and her legs ached beyond belief, but she carried on. She only stopped when she spotted the farm and all of its outbuildings. There was a brown barn some hundred yards away that looked to be deserted. She hobbled over to it, too tired to walk upright.

 

The barn had a bed of straw and some bags of oats piled up in the corner. There was a single pen in the corner with some animals inside. She sat down on one of the oat bags and waited for her father to return. She didn’t wait long before collapsing into a bed of straw. The straw poked into her face, but she was too tired to care and soon fell asleep.

 

Julie was stirred by the creaking of the barn door. She didn’t know how long she had slept, but it was still dark out, so it mustn’t have been for long. The barn door was wide open and a cold draft swept into the barn. A rustling came from the front of the barn, but it was too dark for her to see who was making it. She didn’t dare whisper to find out. Then again, she didn’t have to.

 

“Are you here, girl?” her father called out from the darkness. His voice was hoarse and thin, but she still recognized it.

 

“Yes,” Julie cried. “Yes, I am.” Her father staggered over to her and slumped down on one of the oat bags. He held his hands tight to his stomach and his back bent over almost to his knees.

 

“Are you hurt?” It was still too dark to see him completely. She couldn’t see what condition he was in. All she could see was his silhouette.

 

“I’m fine,” he groaned. “You should get some sleep. It’ll be morning soon.”

 

“I can’t. I am too excited—and scared.”

 

“Then that’s the best time to get some sleep. Please, go to sleep and we’ll speak in the morning.”

 

“Okay then,” she replied. She lay back down in the straw and used an oat bag for a pillow.

 

She heard her father wheezing as she tried to get to sleep. His breath came out in choking rasps and when he inhaled, he made this soft squeal. Despite her concern for her father, Julie fell asleep. It had been a long and tiring day after all. She was soon awoken by the morning sun peeking through the barn windows.

 

Her eyes fluttered open and she strained to get to her feet. The straw bed hadn’t been very comfortable and made her back stiff. She looked around the barn with no sign of her father. He couldn’t have gone missing again, she thought, frustrated. Then she spotted him in the opposite corner of the barn. He was behind a stack of square hay bales, only his drooping head was visible at the top. His eyes were closed, and he had dried saliva around his lips. He didn’t look...

 

“Father!” She raced over to him.

 

When she turned the corner around the bales, she saw he was dead. His body sat on a bale, his back leaned lazily against another, and his head hung unnaturally to the right. Dried blood stained the bottom of his blue shirt and ran down his trousers. His hands were still there by his stomach, trying to hold in the blood—even in death. But what troubled Julie the most was his eyes. They were still wide open. His brilliant blue eyes had turned gray and not a trace of light seemed to reflect from its dim surface.

 

TATTLE AND WRYE APRIL 2011

FROM THE DESK OF
DONA PENZA TATTLE, ESQ.
AND
ASSOCIATE WRYE BALDERDASH

Greetings,

"Are you ready?" Tattle inquires as she enters the office, preening prettily in her Easter finery.

"For the Easter Champagne Books Hunt?" Wrye grabs his cane and top hat.

"Better than a hunt for eggs."

The dashing duo immediately dive into their Love of Literature Leap."


Immediately after arriving, Tattle fans herself with her bonnet. "Why is it so hot?"

Wrye loosens his ascot. "We're in the deep south, y'all, home to SEX, DEAD DOGS AND ME by Ed Williams.

"Oh my he is a rascal, for shure! So are his book, I laughed so hard, I looked happier than a flea square dancing on a pudgy dog." Takes Wrye's arm and does a twirl for emphasis.

"And this book is a true characterization of his younger years, in the sixties, fictionalized."

"Really?"

"Maybe...with Williams it could all be the truth so help me thirty-minute grits," Wrye says, plucking an colorful egg out of his pocket, peeling it, and then devouring.

"Ummm...what's he doing over there?"

"Checking his tires," Wrye provides and grins.

Tattle delicately pinches her nose. "It appears he had little too much chili."

Large hands fall over Tattle's eyes. "Don't look."

She peers through fingers. "Oh my! He's golfing with his barn door open."

"Yup, lost a bet and had to play a round with much exposed!"

"Oh, I need to read more."

"Try this," Wrye points out the chapter where he cheats on his girlfriend just to watch a special show on the gal's large-screened TV. "He's a trippin' down ole memory lane."

"And he is fast becoming a scholar, compares himself to Einstein." Preferring chocolate eggs, Tattle indulges before adding, "He sought the Brotherhood's guidance on whether or not he should focus on more than just sex, and brilliantly deduced, he should, to quote, 'Sin and learn.'"

"When it comes to humor, this book is all over it like flies on sh**!"

"Wrye!"

"Just sayin'!"

Disclaimer: Our southern accent is not real, but we think our drawl is finer than frog's hair. You can hear it, can't you?


The two appear next to a fence and two of the main characters from the romantic comedy Love Life And Other Disasters by Bernadine Darcy. "Oh my, see those sparks," announces Tattle, stroking a stuffed long-eared bunny, "and it's not from Shawn's hammer hitting nails as she repairs that fence."

"There is something quite alluring about a woman in tight jeans and a tool belt," declares Wrye.

Tattle moves around the characters, just a tad away from Bryan, a cool hottie that has captured the heroine's interest. "You have just paraphrased what Bryan has said about Shawn. Me thinks that he's is a bit more attracted to her than she realizes."

Wrye adjusts his yellow rose boutonnière and says, "Probably why he bailed her out of jail. Tsk, tsk, on our little miss getting herself arrested."

"Shawn is no little miss, my friend, she's has a don't-mess-with-me personality and she can out man any macho maniac this side of a sizzling romance. Besides, getting arrested was worth taking a baseball bat to her ex-fiancé's brand new Mustang."

"Ah, the one who left her at the altar before disappearing for two years."

"And the reason her high school sweetheart, Adam, was forced to arrest her."

"Which brings us back to Bryan...who she thinks treats her too much like a little sister, and considering she already has three assertive older brothers, she doesn't need another one."

"What she needs," holds up a hand as she rephrases. "What she wants, plain and simply is Bryan!"

"The question is will she get him, especially after he overheard her and Adam discussing their special night together?"

"Ooooh, this is certainly a must read."

"Later, m'little chickadee. We're off!" Wrye says in perfect imitation of W. C. Fields.



Can't wait to dig into next month's fabulous books, CLOSURE by Rie McGaha, CHANCE'S GAME by Eve Langlais and LISTEN TO YOUR HEART by Cindy K. Green.

Until next time, keep reading!


HAPPY EASTER!

Dona Penza Rutabaga Tattle, Esq.
and Associate Wrye Balderdash
of Blather City, Wannachat

Created and written by
Angelica Hart and Zi

Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER DOLLS ~ SNAKE DANCE ~ CHASING YESTERDAY
www.champagnebooks.com

STEEL EMBRACE by Vixen Bright and Zachary Zane
August 2011 http://www.carnalpassions.com/

TATTLE AND WRYE MARCH 2011

FROM THE DESK OF
DONA PENZA TATTLE, ESQ.
AND
ASSOCIATE WRYE BALDERDASH

Greetings,

Dressed in ballroom regalia, already preparing for the awards event, Tattle announces, “We’re in for a treat. Our Love of Literature Leap is taking us into the books of three of the nominees for Champagne Books Author of the Year.”

Wearing his shamrock green suit and munching on Irish potatoes, Wrye grins, “Sounds tasty. Ready, m'Leprechaun-bud."

And they are off.


“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” quotes Tattle.

“Ummm, we never were in Kansas, and neither is Jared Bruin, the hero of the fantasy SHADOW FOX by Ashley Barnard. Although he was abandoned in St. Louis the story transcends from this world to another. Oh yeah, I’m likin’ it!” Wrye does a jig, in harmony to an Irish tune.

Tattle plucks cloverleaf, adding, “One can’t help but like Jared, despite that he’s a tortured soul, flawed, and an addict. There is simply something noble about him. He is lost in a world he doesn’t understand, unable to remember his early childhood, and driven to learn swordplay and old world combat skills.” Pretends the clover is a sword and attacks air.

Wrye jumps through chapters, urging Tattle along with him. “Then there is the lovely and mysterious Tarika.”

Tattle notices Wrye’s smitten look. “You’re starrrring.”

“Am not…well maybe…but look at her,” Wrye says, indicating the gorgeous woman. “However, she does have her secrets, many, mannnnny secrets, which in a strange way makes her perfect for Jared. They are kindred souls.”

“She also provides a link to Jared’s past. Maybe that is why his mentor told Jared about the opportunity to be her Master Swordman, well that and to put distance between Jared and his drug supplier.”

“Ah, see this lost journal,” Wrye points with a twisted cane, “it supplies many answers to Jared's past. He is from a different world, one that needs him to rise up and be a hero, but it is also a world that could destroy him.”

“Will he go to that world? Will Tarika follow him? And just what does she have to do with past? Is Tarika all she appears to be?”

That is what the reader will need to find out.



“I like the rain,” Tattle says, and swipes the wetness from her eyes much like Megan, a character who appears in the contemporary novel SHADOW OF GUILT by Michael Davis.

“I like umbrellas,” returns Wrye and opens a striped green and white golf umbrella to cover them both. “I also like weaving our way through Davis’ story. There’s Sean Paterson,” Wyre points out the hero as the duo suddenly find themselves in a café, “a man harboring hate, a need for vengeance, and across from him is Detective Christine Sheppy who’s coping with guilt, a guilt born from the simple need to survive.”

Tattle seeps further into the story. “Their lonely conscious ridden lives become entwined as they try to help an estranged teen and her child, who are lost and targeted.”

Wrye becomes lost in prose, his green carnation wilts as if agreeing with the sadness in Wrye’s tone. “The ache for something strong and loving between them becomes fragile and strained as the haunts of their past refuse to let go. Christine trusted with her heart once and ended up hurt. Dare she trust again? He believed in the magic of forever. Will he find his way back to that belief again?”

Sorrow furrows Tattle’s brow. “Sean knows he wants that sweetness of being with someone for a lifetime, but his hate, his need for vengeance and past shadows make him rash, ready to destroy possibilities.”

“Can either of them escape the endless grief? Can they win out over the depraved acts of malevolent men who prey on the helpless? Will their emerging love be enough to conquer all?”

“Read and find out!”


“Ah, you are in your element, Tattle, m’gal.” With a hand flourish, Wrye indicates the Castle Hamingur, the backdrop for Ciara Gold’s paranormal fantasy THE KEEPER OF MOON HAVEN.

“Oh yes, there is just something so appealing and romantic about castles, especially mysterious abandoned ones that could be haunted.”

“We’re not talking ghosts here,” Wrye says, “but fairies. Noreen Willshire, an impoverished daughter of an Earl refuses to marry for anything less than love and thereby is forced to be a governess. In this position she soon discovers a diary, an ancient book of fairytales that bridges her world to the world of fairies when she reads from the book to her charges.” Rubs his hands together, “This is getting interesting.”

“Especially so, when Villemore “Vil” a cynical wizard appears before her in his natural and quite hunky form.” Tattle fans herself.

“Tsk, tsk, m’voyeur lass.” Wrye covers her eyes. “Noreen decides it would be best if Vil takes the book back with him to the fairy world. But this can only be accomplished during the Hunter’s Blue Moon. In the meantime, Vil realizes that his world needs Noreen’s light, and that he just might need it, or more aptly expressed, her as well.”

“And she realizes that Vil is seeping into her heart. Yet danger haunts their paths, and barriers arise to keep the destined lovers apart.”

“Her promise to return the diary is soon at hand. She must decide on seeking a new life far from the fairy realm and Vil or to bridge the gap between Vil’s world and her own.”

“What will she do…what will she do…?”


Hope you enjoyed this month’s offerings! Next month, we'll journey to the land of romantic humor. MY LOVE LIFE AND OTHER DISASTERS by Bernadine Darcy and SEX, DEAD DOGS, AND ME by Ed Williams.

Top of the morning to you all!

Dona Penza Rutabaga Tattle, Esq.
and Associate Wrye Balderdash
of Blather City, Wannachat


We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us at angeliahartandzi@yahoo.com and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.

Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER DOLLS ~ SNAKE DANCE ~ CHASING YESTERDAY
Champagne Books can be purchased at http://www.champagnebooks.com

THE FABLE OF SIN-SIN-CINDERELLA SERIES
Books can be purchased at angelicahartandzi.com

TATTLE AND WRYE CELEBRATE CHAMPAGNE BOOK AUTHORS

FROM THE DESK OF
DONA PENZA TATTLE, ESQ.
AND
ASSOCIATE WRYE BALDERDASH

Greetings,

"I have only one New Year's resolution," states Tattle as she boxes up her tiara for the next New Year's Eve gala.

"And that is?" asks Wrye, placing his top hat in storage.

"To read more work from the Champagne Books authors, what else!"

"Ahh, then I say, let's get you started by seeing what's up with some of our favorite authors."

With a grin and a wink, Wrye leads the way into a Love of Literature Leap.



"This book certainly lives up to its title," states Wrye as he offers a bug-eyed look. "Olivia, the heroine, is oooh-la-la hot...hot...hot."

"And so is this contemporary romance, HOT COMMODITY by Linda Kage," agrees Tattle. "I really like how Olivia finally stands up to her mother, Vivian, and takes charge of her world."

Finding some left over hors d'oeuvres in his pocket, Wrye speaks between munching. "Only, it doesn't quite work out the way she expects."

Tattle skips through pages, her gown from the previous evening rustling as she moves. "Should we tell?"

"Oh do!"

"It appears while at a business convention in Las Vegas, Vivian had ordered Olivia to seduce Cameron Banks into marrying her. And, she's having none of it."

Wrye plucks a sparkling water directly out of the bar scene, and drinks thirstily. "So, she rebels, picking up the first hunka-hunka that she is certain mommy dearest will despise."

"Chutes and ladders she certainly chose a sizzling hottie," qualifies Tattle. "And he is also a little bit tipsy when she gives him the come-hither."

"But it's his quirky personality that gets her into his arms, and before you know it the two of them are more than an item."

"Take that mama Cruella!"

"Actually," Wrye explains, dapping his mouth with a handkerchief. "Remember things didn't work out as Oliva planned. The man that knocked her socks off, and, well, actually, her panties, too was none other than Cameron Banks!"

"No!"

"Yes."

"Ut oh!"

"Exactly. This is when the fun really begins."

"Gotta read this!"

"Later!"


Next, the duo find themselves in the romantic suspense LIAR, LIAR by J. L. McCale.

Wrye pops his Sherlock Holmes hat from a pocket and dons it as he gives his best impression of a gumshoe. "There is something afoot, and I'm not talking about sneakers, despite that we're sneaking around."

Ignoring Wrye, Tattle says, "Did you hear that? Whispers. Scrapings. Creaking."

"I hear nothiiiing, nothiiiiing," declares Wrye with a Sergeant Schultz accent, but then his voice becomes soft, serious. "Wait! Whatever it is, it has awakened Mia! It's the same sounds she had heard the night her husband had fallen to his death."

Tattle sighs elaborately. "Poor dear, she has stayed away from the mansion until now, the very place where her husband, Bill, had been murdered."

"Well, it doesn't help that the police don't believe he had been murdered."

"But now she is back, determined to find out the truth, why he had died."

"And, now, it is starting again. The sound of a door closing. A child's voice." Wrye pauses, head bent in the semblance of listening. "The same sounds she began to hear before he had died."

"Her husband had chided that she was insane."

"Was she?" Tattle asks, eyes bright and wide.

"She sometimes fears that. She tells herself that a house makes noises. It's just settling, but she doesn't really believe it. Yet, everything seems to be transpiring yet again."

"Then there is evidence of an intruder, and again a child whispers for her to run."

"She is all alone in her attempts to find the truth except for one detective who has a personal interest, and it's not just in her." Wrye says, wiggling his brows for emphasis.

"Wrye...?"

"Yes...."

"I think there is someone creeping up the stairs."

"I think it's time for us to say adios amigo!"


Hope you enjoyed! For the month of candy, flowers and hearts, we'll be visiting with the characters from FAKIN' IT by Dr. Kris Condi, Ph.D., LUCKY IN LOVE by Stacey Coverstone, and DANGEROUS DESIRE by Romona Hilliger.

Happy New Year!


Dona Penza Rutabaga Tattle, Esq.
and Associate Wrye Balderdash
of Blather City, Wannachat

Created and written by
Angelica Hart and Zi