Collision Course by Marie Harte
Amazon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you are looking for a book that features the typically tattooed bad boy then you'll be surprised when you read Collision Course. This book isn't your average gritty book about hard core alpha males covered in ink and full of attitude. Oh, don't get me wrong, this book has all that but there is so much more to the men who inhabit the pages!
Book four is about Lou. Lou turns the heads of women no matter where he goes – well….most women. You see, Lou has a problem catching the eye of one Ms. Joey Reeves. She goes out of her way to steer clear of Lou and he just doesn’t understand why. Well, Joey has her own reasons from avoided the tattooed Adonis trying to slide his way into her life. She’s not looking for short term – actually, she’s not sure she’s looking for anything right now. Joey isn’t the only person she has to consider.
While Joey and Lou are wonderful characters full of vibrant personality, I didn’t enjoy their storyline as much I as did the first three books. Part of it was some of Lou’s approaches/verbal exchanges with Joey. They weren’t altogether put-offish but didn’t seem like they were appropriate for someone who lived with a family full of women. I’m not a prude or even close to being a saint (let’s just say that Friday and food are my second and third favorite F words) but his mannerisms, demeaner, and vocab were a bit inappropriate at times. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lou and Joey but there was just something that rubbed me the wrong way during parts of the book.
Joey is a strong woman who has put up with a lot of condescension from her parents – the main people on this earth that are supposed to love, support, and protect her. Instead they put her down, don’t appreciate her, and remind her of what she could be and should be doing right now. They have taken her accidental pregnancy and tortured her with it for the past nine years. Joey, on the other hand, has fought tooth and nail to build a life for her and her child.
Even though I had issues with some of the way Lou’s character was written, this book was still worth the read. Lou is a supportive person and takes care of all the women in family. He knows how to treat people, not just women, and he’s a hard worker. His story is engaging and kept me captivated. The plot was well thought out and organized. The story was perfectly paced; not too fast or too slow.
View all my reviews
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Saturday, June 30, 2018
Friday, June 29, 2018
Book Review: Zero to Sixty (Body Shop Bad Boys #3) by Marie Harte @SourceBooksCasa
Book Details:
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: February 7, 2017
ASIN: B01KMISK1A
About the Book:
Bad boy Sam + Good girl Ivy + Stray puppy = Damaged hearts learning to love again
After her last relationship bombed, Ivy Stephens is doing her best to put her life back together. She's enjoying her job, her apartment-and the cute little puppy she's seen hanging around. When she goes looking for him, she finds the stray in the arms of a big, burly, devastatingly handsome man.
Sam Hamilton is lonelier than he's ever been after his best friend's engagement. To give himself a sense of purpose, he takes in a puppy that keeps showing up around the garage where he works. The puppy has another suitor though-one who happens to be blond and beautiful.
If you are looking for a book that features the typically tattooed bad boy then you'll be surprised when you read Zero to Sixty. This book isn't your average gritty book about hard core alpha males covered in ink and full of attitude. Oh, don't get me wrong, this book has all that but there is so much more to the men who inhabit the pages!
Book three is all about Sam - Foley's brother from another mother and current roommate. When Foley meets his other half, Sam is left feeling alone and unwanted. In an effort to feel better, Sam takes in a stray puppy. The stray puppy, however, has another human rescuer named Ivy.
Ivy and Sam are wonderful characters. Moody and broody, Sam has a hard time connecting with people, yet the instant he laid eyes on Ivy he was struck. I enjoyed their interactions - Sam coming off gruff and potentially scaring Ivy. Ivy trying to work through the chaos of the her previous relationship while trying to dig through Sam's tough exterior. Their's isn't an easy relationship at first and the author does a great job building it up. They are sweet together and Ivy and Sam are exactly what each other needed. The secondary characters add different aspects to the book that help support Ivy and Sam.
We learn a lot about Sam's past in this book. He had a pretty hard childhood that could have ended with horrific adulthood. His meeting of Foley and Foley's mom is probably what single-handedly saved Sam. He's not exactly all straightened up as an adult and harbors some serious emotional baggage. His pain and suffering at the hands of something beyond his control is heart-wrenching. The author wrote this book full of emotional content that the reader will feel, connect with, and understand.
Sam's story is amazing! The story is engaging from the beginning and kept me captivated. The plot was well thought out and organized. The story was perfectly paced; not too fast or too slow. I loved reading about the emotionally scarred bad boy who finds his match.
I was provided a copy of this book to read.
My Rating:
Series Spotlight & #Giveaway ~ The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles by Lady Ellen ~ YA Urban Fantasy
The Cimurata
Persephane Pendrake Chronicles Book 1
by Lady Ellen
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
A young 13-year-old witch and wizard. A quest for 9 Magical Objects - Winner Takes All. An evil sorceress, determined to beat them and rule the planet.
Enter a magical world of mystery and wonder, where fantasy reigns supreme and casual chatter sparkles green. Meet Persephane (or Persy as she prefers), Thaddeus, Benson and P-C as they embark on their enchanted adventures to thwart the evil, black witch Melanthios...
Push the outer boundaries of your imagination into a world where Persy (a very talented almost 13 year old witch, magic her 'modus operandi') and her close friend Thaddeus (a 13 year old wizard) with their familiars –Benson (a very cheeky dragonfly) and P-C (a far from brave dragon) pit magic, bravery, skill and allegiances from a swarm of magical creatures against the tall, dark and malevolent Melanthios. "Best new fantasy series books" one reader claims….
Follow them as they wind through periods in time, to discover ancient magic from cultures all throughout the history of the world in this best fantasy book in a long time.
Success for Melanthios means that the entirety of this planet will fall under her control. Our world will become dark, bleak, cold and lorded over by her demons – forever.
Pull up a chair, sit back, and join them in their quest as Persy and her friends race against fate and time, to stop Melanthios from her evil plot to collect nine mystical objects of power scattered throughout the world to become the –All Powerful One.–
Persy, Thaddeus, Benson and P-C are assisted by a highly adept, scrying gypsy named Vadoma, a vampire with a rather warped sense of humor - Count Pseudomorphius the Sanguine who is known as Murph...for obvious reasons.
Not to be forgotten is the twelve member Magical Governing Council, which Persy's grandmother Laurel is one of the lead members. Each member specializes in a particular area of magic and all have a gift to give our heroes to further enhance their chances against Melanthios.
But is it enough? Melanthios is evil and heartless....and VERY powerful...
As if she isn't enough to worry about...also on the dark side is a slippery, loathsome Chinese Sorcerer...aiming to usurp Melanthios and beat her at her own game..and along the way...dispose of Persy and her crew!
Will this ever end? What chance does our team stand? You'll see...
**Only .99 cents!**
The Cauldron of Ceridwen
Persephane Pendrake Chronicles Book 2
Krak Ling’s Ring calls to Persy and she, Thad, Benson and P-C rush into an unauthorized trip to retrieve it, narrowly missing being killed by guards, when P-C unleashes a power no one knew he possessed or could use, even him.
As expected, Krak Ling hunts them down to take his ring back, but in the negotiations, he reveals the next Magic Object which Melanthios is about to attempt to capture…The Cauldron of Ceridwen. Why this cauldron? The best person to explain that is Lady Druanna, the resident authority on all things Celtic Magic.
They make their way to Killarney, an area in Ireland, where Lady Druanna's manor is located and there she tells them the tale of The Cauldron. It's not the vessel which is so important to all Magicals but the first three drops of the Brew it creates. But their visit to Lady Dru's is violently interrupted, resulting in severe injury to the Lady and the kidnapping of Thaddeus by the malevolent Melanthios.
Persy is beside herself with grief and worry, both for the survival of Lady Druanna and the whereabouts and safety of Thad.
And so her journey begins. Of course, things get worse…much worse before even the haze of a solution appears:
- Persy has lost he comrade in arms and so much face this quest alone.
- She ultimately finds out that Thad has been tossed into a multiverse. Where? When? Can she ever get him back?
- There is another Dark organization, supporting Melanthios in her evil quest.
- Someone at school has found out who and what she is and is trying to expose her. Good-bye privacy and Hello World Lab Rat!
- There is someone who Persy always believed to be a mundane…normal human who is about to 'come out' as a Magical. Who knew?
- Romance sparks from unexpected corners
Who will possess Magical Object 2 at the end of this tantalizing escapade? The only way to find out is to read: The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles - Two- The Cauldron of Ceridwen.
Lapis Draconis
Persephane Pendrake Chronicles Book 3
A powerful magical stone embedded in the tooth of a Fire Dragon. Being tossed into a Multiverse. All before starting college at The Illuminary Incantorium.
Persephane, Thaddeus, Rix, Sniv and Darson are on the trail of the third Magical Object - The Lapis Draconis. The malicious Melanthios is calling up Demon help to capture the stone before they do. And death. Death comes too soon to one of them. Who?
The fast-paced, no-holds-barred quest continues in Book 3 - Lapis Draconis. Get Your Copy Now!
GET THE COMPLETE BOX SET HERE!
Weaving and scribing of the eight remaining tomes continues in Lady Ellen's remote witch's hut…on her tiny piece of Ontario's Cambrian Shield" …and indeed that's where the series began.
After more than 3 decades as an alternative health care practitioner, I finally managed to start devoting some serious time to my secret love--fantasy fiction.
I've always loved fantasy, magic and mythical kingdoms. We home-schooled our kids and lived on a 100 acre farm..which had about twenty-five acres in forest.
We'd make up stories and adventures..lots of fairies, witches, wizards, etc.
Now, all these years later, I've started on my nine-book, three trilogy magical series...The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles and have released Books 1, 2 and 3... The Cimaruta, The Cauldron of Ceridwen and Lapis Draconis.
Promo Blitz ~ The Obsession of Doctor Pendergrass by John David Buchanan ~ Historical Fiction @ JDBuchanan1 @RABTBookTours
The Obsession of Doctor Pendergrass
John David Buchanan
Historical Fiction
John David Buchanan
Historical Fiction
Date Published: June 2018
About the Book:
Pendergrass loved the city of London. But the economic success of the late 1800s had a dark side. London attracted criminals like a magnet. They immigrated to England from everywhere on earth to feed on the innocent, the naïve, and the desperate. Doctor Pendergrass knew their handiwork - stabbings, beatings, and maimings – they filled as many hospital beds as cholera and dysentery.
Pendergrass loved the city of London. But the economic success of the late 1800s had a dark side. London attracted criminals like a magnet. They immigrated to England from everywhere on earth to feed on the innocent, the naïve, and the desperate. Doctor Pendergrass knew their handiwork - stabbings, beatings, and maimings – they filled as many hospital beds as cholera and dysentery.
World commerce had set upon England like a stiff wind from the sea that utterly refused to cease. It brought wealth, prosperity, business, banking, and, to some of its citizens, all the accoutrements of success. But, all was not good, and Pendergrass was all too aware of the city’s underbelly. London herself was blessed beyond measure. Like the finest lady in waiting, she attended the needs of a great nation. Yet, she was cursed by the very blessings that made her mistress great.
That played hard in the minds of those who struggled to make ends meet, during what they were told were the best times in England’s history. Those on the fringes of wealth and success, just beyond its welcome grasp, pressed on, hoping for the best, as the best played out all around them, and without them.
It was on the fringes of the hard-working classes that another element carved its niche in London’s great financial success. An element that was drawn to the great boom in industry, the rise in population, and the raging influx of money. Like moths to a flame they crawled out of their hiding places in England, on the continent, and from all other parts of the world, to see how they might profit from the furious growth and commerce that beset the businesses of London.
But these elements had no aristocratic connections, and regarded hard work, any real work, with contempt. Their mantra was, "let the mindless fools play out their lives in stress and backbreaking labor."They thought they had a more clever way to riches. Their devices were thievery and robbery, mischief and mayhem, deceit, larceny, blackmail and murder.
Pendergrass was not happy about the decay of law and order. He was not happy about it in the least. He and his associates at Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital were working grueling days, and it seemed no matter how hard they worked, or how innovative they were, the flow of brutalized Londoners through their front doors was endless. Pendergrass mulled over the city’s plight.
"There is a mean element at work in our beloved London. An element that knows no bounds and is unfettered by decency. Left unchecked, it will be the ruin of us all." He pondered the problem often, almost daily, as he read his morning paper.
The situation seemed to be getting worse, in spite of Howard Vincent’s appointment as Scotland Yard’s Director of Criminal Investigations. If 10,000 bobbies couldn’t stop the crime wave, what could be done? What could the individual citizens of London do to make a difference?
Pendergrass was seething mad. He had no idea what others might do, but he knew exactly what he intended to do.
About the Author
John David Buchanan grew up in San Antonio, Texas in a military family, went to Southwest Texas University, and upon graduating with a Masters Degree in Science, worked as an environmental specialist for 26 years. He started and ran his own firm, Buchanan Environmental Associates, for 18 years. Now, he's a writer and musician, and also the chef, yard boy, pool boy and handyman at his home in Humble, Texas.
Buchanan published three science fiction books as part of his Jump Starting the Universe Series, and while working on book three of that series, got the idea for his new book, The Obsession of Dr. Pendergrass. He never enjoyed history in school, but then, he made a trip to England with his wife and visited Hastings. He's been interested in history ever since. He's traveled to London several times, and loved it every time he went. So, using it as the location of this story seemed perfect.
Contact Links:
Purchase Link:
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Book Spotlight & #Review ~ Date Night Dinners (Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening) by Sloane Taylor #Cookbook @SloaneTaylor2
Book Details:
Publisher: Toque & Dagger
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
ASIN: B07DD5HDVL
Page Count: 136 pages
Genre: Cookbook
Follow the tour to read reviews and recipe teaser lists and to view spotlights.
About Date Night Dinners:
Ready to ignite that old flame? Or perhaps spark a new one? Take your partner by the hand and turn on your stove. A true romantic, award-winning author Sloane Taylor brings her creativity to the kitchen with easy-to-make meals sure to spark the intimacy and quality time you want with your special someone. Cooking together is only the start of the fun!
Create 45 complete dinners for two or flavor your evenings with a new dish. These 80 recipes use everyday foods already on most kitchen shelves. The recipes are easily increased for those fun times friends or family join your table.
Date Night Dinners, Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening, is an ideal gift for engagements, bridal showers, anniversaries, or for anyone who wants to spice things up.
Read My Review Here:
https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/2018/06/book-review-date-night-dinners-meals-to.html
Meet the Author:
Book #Review ~ Date Night Dinners (Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening) by Sloane Taylor #Cookbook @SloaneTaylor2
Book Details:
Publisher: Toque & Dagger
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
ASIN: B07DD5HDVL
Page Count: 136 pages
Genre: Cookbook
This cookbook is currently on a virtual book tour. Follow the tour via the following link to read reviews and recipe teaser lists and to view spotlights.
About Date Night Dinners:
Ready to ignite that old flame? Or perhaps spark a new one? Take your partner by the hand and turn on your stove. A true romantic, award-winning author Sloane Taylor brings her creativity to the kitchen with easy-to-make meals sure to spark the intimacy and quality time you want with your special someone. Cooking together is only the start of the fun!
Create 45 complete dinners for two or flavor your evenings with a new dish. These 80 recipes use everyday foods already on most kitchen shelves. The recipes are easily increased for those fun times friends or family join your table.
Date Night Dinners, Meals to Make Together for a Romantic Evening, is an ideal gift for engagements, bridal showers, anniversaries, or for anyone who wants to spice things up.
Date Night Dinners is a wonderful collection of recipes. Many of the recipes use ingredients commonly found in your pantry. Whether you're in the mood for beef, pork, chicken, fish, veggies, or salad, this cookbook has a little bit of everything. You can even try your hand at international dishes from Russia, Poland, Italy, China, and other countries.
I enjoy the simplicity of the delicious sounding recipes and will be preparing some of them soon. The author also makes sure to discuss pairing the perfect side dishes, also found in the cookbook, and adult beverages with some of the meals. There are several sections in the book, each food category broken down into its own heading.
Even those with food sensitivities will find value in this cookbook. One of the best parts of a cookbook, besides the food you prepare, is the ability to customize a recipe to your own liking or necessity. For example, those with gluten allergies will be able to substitute wheat pasta for gluten free. I'm excited to try Sloane Taylor's cookbook out with my family. I'm always looking for something new and different. Date Night Dinners will help spice up those same ole-same ole meals.
Rating:
Guest Blog ~ Growing Up in England in the 60's by Dr. Nat Tanoh, Author of The Day of the Orphan ~ #Fiction ~ #Excerpt @drnattanoh
Growing up as a child in exile in England in the 1960s was an enriching and alienating experience all at once. As a child with very underdeveloped perspectives on life, the initial result of such contrasting yet simultaneous experience is often confusion.
The backdrop for me was a very exciting London of the Sixties, when you would wake up to the radio blaring uplifting, energetic and assured Beatles songs such as ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘All You Need is Love.’ These were interspersed with equally wonderful and energising hits from groups like the Monkees with ‘Daydream Believer’ and ‘I Am A Believer.’
It was a London struggling to find itself and hesitantly dipping its toes in the unfamiliar waters of what was then the birthing of a cosmopolitan, multi-racial society. The Windrush migrants had landed. The Asians and Africans were landing. Vietnam was raging and on TV. And so you had your other big hits, such as Procol Harum’s ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ or Marmalade’s ‘Reflections of My Life,’ which blasted more sombre, confusing and less energising tunes out of the radio, as though representing the other end of a less-assured spectrum.
Imagine being a child growing up in a sea of black faces and suddenly being uprooted and catapulted into a sea of white faces for reasons that were quite incomprehensible at the time. Children can be adaptive and resilient, so I somehow managed to gingerly meander my way through such uncharted territory with the instinctive aim to acclimatise.
School was fun and I loved it. I loved morning assembly and the songs we sang. As other cultures and religions were yet to assert themselves, England was then unapologetically Christian and was quite happy to instruct school children in some of the ways of the Bible. ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ was a favourite of mine as a child because it gave one hope that ultimately all would indeed become bright and beautiful in merry England. ‘When a Knight Won His Spurs’ which waxed – “…And let me set free with the sword of my youth, from the castle of darkness, the power of truth…” – was another favourite. It also reassured that, eventually, good would triumph over the not-so-good in my then youthful meanderings through life.
And I needed such assurances; since some experiences at the time were quite harrowing. My first school was Anson Primary in Willesden in north-west London and my first impressionable memory was my elder brother being sent home from school. And what was his ‘nefarious’ crime to warrant such punishment? One of the boys in my brother’s senior class found it impossible to desist from mercilessly harassing my older sister with racial slurs. This went on for some time. The staff at the time, of course, did naught about it. He would single her out on the playground and studiously assault her racially, often ending up with my sister in a flurry of tears, throughout the day. One day he assembled a group of kids to take turns to physically poke at my sister’s beleaguered head in an effort to confirm that her threaded hair strands were indeed comparable to train tracks. For my brother that was the last straw. His efforts to defend my sister from the boy’s train tracks-ascertaining mission ended up in a fight, hence his being sent home.
One does not require an unduly sophisticated mind to be able to imagine how such incidents can impact the young mind. Whether you liked it or not you were made to know, at some level, that you were different and that you didn’t really belong.
Much later, another memorable occurrence, which could have proved harrowing, was when I was at Hogarth Primary in Chiswick, London (incidentally Hugh Grant was there with me around the same time). I had a friend called Mark whose dad was headmaster of Acton High School. His dad would often pick me up to go over to Acton High to play. And that was when I would unwittingly provide some of the High School boys with the high point of their day. They would mount this wall and start their frenzied screaming at me, “Golliwog,” “black Sambo” and of course, the universal and not very nice ‘n’ word.
What strikes me with hindsight is that by that stage, even as a child, I was more amused than offended. Mark’s dad, the headmaster, would go livid, chase the boys away, screaming blue murder, apologise endlessly to me and then drown us in sweets, as probably what he perceived to be some form of compensation.
But overall there was a lot more fun and happiness than some of these harrowing incidents might suggest. So, the questions I would later ask myself include: how did I get to a point where direct racial attacks on me generated some sense of wry amusement rather than rendering me alarmed, angry and petrified? How was my very young mind able to process and view such decided unpleasantness with childlike equanimity? Was it not the kind of experiences that tend to generate destructive alienation and debilitating hostility towards society?
Our experiences in life and how we react to them are oftentimes unique. In this light I can think of a few answers, also in the form of questions. Was it a situation in which I had actually believed the underlying promises that songs such as - “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and “When a Knight Won His Spurs” - made? Did such beliefs give me a backbone that made such assaults appear to me as mere water off a duck’s back? Or was I already a product of a tolerant, multicultural upbringing in which I was becoming sufficiently knowledgeable to understand that such attacks simply sprang from some people simply not knowing any better? Or was it an amalgamation of both?
At the tail end of it all, my conclusion is that growing up as a child exile in England was wonderfully beneficial. The good outweighed the not-so-good. I love that the experience made me into a tolerant person. I love that it makes me feel at ease everywhere and with everyone. I love that it gave me broad and embracing perspectives in life in a discerning manner. Above all, I love that it made me into a person who always wishes to help cure injustices and to come to the fundamental understanding that given the proper, nurturing circumstances, most people have huge reserves of goodness in them.
In my novel ‘The Day Of The Orphan,’ a privileged youngster, Saga, sets out with the help of friends and family to right so many wrongs at great risk to themselves and without any thought of material or personal gain. He was raised not to be a friend of injustice, intolerance, discrimination or any form of oppression. I developed this Saga character as a reflection of some of the good things I have tried to accomplish in my life and some of which I can attribute to growing up in England.
It is perspectives, as those instilled in me as a child growing up in England, which ultimately generate occurrences in society such as the amazing and absolutely glorious marriage of the wonderful Prince Harry to the resplendent Duchess of Sussex, Her Royal Highness Meghan Markle. What a sight and what a people to so loving and warmly embrace it all!
All I can say is, Long Live the British People and long live ALL People. And given the chance, I would re-grow up in England all over again. And for the record, I thoroughly enjoyed playing the black king in the Christmas Nativity plays at school.
~Dr. Nat Tanoh
The backdrop for me was a very exciting London of the Sixties, when you would wake up to the radio blaring uplifting, energetic and assured Beatles songs such as ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘All You Need is Love.’ These were interspersed with equally wonderful and energising hits from groups like the Monkees with ‘Daydream Believer’ and ‘I Am A Believer.’
It was a London struggling to find itself and hesitantly dipping its toes in the unfamiliar waters of what was then the birthing of a cosmopolitan, multi-racial society. The Windrush migrants had landed. The Asians and Africans were landing. Vietnam was raging and on TV. And so you had your other big hits, such as Procol Harum’s ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ or Marmalade’s ‘Reflections of My Life,’ which blasted more sombre, confusing and less energising tunes out of the radio, as though representing the other end of a less-assured spectrum.
Imagine being a child growing up in a sea of black faces and suddenly being uprooted and catapulted into a sea of white faces for reasons that were quite incomprehensible at the time. Children can be adaptive and resilient, so I somehow managed to gingerly meander my way through such uncharted territory with the instinctive aim to acclimatise.
School was fun and I loved it. I loved morning assembly and the songs we sang. As other cultures and religions were yet to assert themselves, England was then unapologetically Christian and was quite happy to instruct school children in some of the ways of the Bible. ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ was a favourite of mine as a child because it gave one hope that ultimately all would indeed become bright and beautiful in merry England. ‘When a Knight Won His Spurs’ which waxed – “…And let me set free with the sword of my youth, from the castle of darkness, the power of truth…” – was another favourite. It also reassured that, eventually, good would triumph over the not-so-good in my then youthful meanderings through life.
And I needed such assurances; since some experiences at the time were quite harrowing. My first school was Anson Primary in Willesden in north-west London and my first impressionable memory was my elder brother being sent home from school. And what was his ‘nefarious’ crime to warrant such punishment? One of the boys in my brother’s senior class found it impossible to desist from mercilessly harassing my older sister with racial slurs. This went on for some time. The staff at the time, of course, did naught about it. He would single her out on the playground and studiously assault her racially, often ending up with my sister in a flurry of tears, throughout the day. One day he assembled a group of kids to take turns to physically poke at my sister’s beleaguered head in an effort to confirm that her threaded hair strands were indeed comparable to train tracks. For my brother that was the last straw. His efforts to defend my sister from the boy’s train tracks-ascertaining mission ended up in a fight, hence his being sent home.
One does not require an unduly sophisticated mind to be able to imagine how such incidents can impact the young mind. Whether you liked it or not you were made to know, at some level, that you were different and that you didn’t really belong.
Much later, another memorable occurrence, which could have proved harrowing, was when I was at Hogarth Primary in Chiswick, London (incidentally Hugh Grant was there with me around the same time). I had a friend called Mark whose dad was headmaster of Acton High School. His dad would often pick me up to go over to Acton High to play. And that was when I would unwittingly provide some of the High School boys with the high point of their day. They would mount this wall and start their frenzied screaming at me, “Golliwog,” “black Sambo” and of course, the universal and not very nice ‘n’ word.
What strikes me with hindsight is that by that stage, even as a child, I was more amused than offended. Mark’s dad, the headmaster, would go livid, chase the boys away, screaming blue murder, apologise endlessly to me and then drown us in sweets, as probably what he perceived to be some form of compensation.
But overall there was a lot more fun and happiness than some of these harrowing incidents might suggest. So, the questions I would later ask myself include: how did I get to a point where direct racial attacks on me generated some sense of wry amusement rather than rendering me alarmed, angry and petrified? How was my very young mind able to process and view such decided unpleasantness with childlike equanimity? Was it not the kind of experiences that tend to generate destructive alienation and debilitating hostility towards society?
Our experiences in life and how we react to them are oftentimes unique. In this light I can think of a few answers, also in the form of questions. Was it a situation in which I had actually believed the underlying promises that songs such as - “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and “When a Knight Won His Spurs” - made? Did such beliefs give me a backbone that made such assaults appear to me as mere water off a duck’s back? Or was I already a product of a tolerant, multicultural upbringing in which I was becoming sufficiently knowledgeable to understand that such attacks simply sprang from some people simply not knowing any better? Or was it an amalgamation of both?
At the tail end of it all, my conclusion is that growing up as a child exile in England was wonderfully beneficial. The good outweighed the not-so-good. I love that the experience made me into a tolerant person. I love that it makes me feel at ease everywhere and with everyone. I love that it gave me broad and embracing perspectives in life in a discerning manner. Above all, I love that it made me into a person who always wishes to help cure injustices and to come to the fundamental understanding that given the proper, nurturing circumstances, most people have huge reserves of goodness in them.
In my novel ‘The Day Of The Orphan,’ a privileged youngster, Saga, sets out with the help of friends and family to right so many wrongs at great risk to themselves and without any thought of material or personal gain. He was raised not to be a friend of injustice, intolerance, discrimination or any form of oppression. I developed this Saga character as a reflection of some of the good things I have tried to accomplish in my life and some of which I can attribute to growing up in England.
It is perspectives, as those instilled in me as a child growing up in England, which ultimately generate occurrences in society such as the amazing and absolutely glorious marriage of the wonderful Prince Harry to the resplendent Duchess of Sussex, Her Royal Highness Meghan Markle. What a sight and what a people to so loving and warmly embrace it all!
All I can say is, Long Live the British People and long live ALL People. And given the chance, I would re-grow up in England all over again. And for the record, I thoroughly enjoyed playing the black king in the Christmas Nativity plays at school.
~Dr. Nat Tanoh
The
Day of the Orphan
Dr
Nat Tanoh
Genre: Fiction, General Fiction
Publisher: Acorn
Publication Date: May 25 2018
ISBN: 9781912145560
About the Book:
Like many eighteen-year-old boys,
Saga’s prime concerns are: listening to music his mum calls “hop-hip”, learning
about girls from his suave best mate Ibrahim, and making sure his considerable
tummy is well-fed. In his affluent, liberal and relatively protected suburb
life is pretty good, especially when his mum’s special peanut soup is on the
table.
However, in Africa, childhoods
can be snatched in an instant, especially when you live in a dictatorship. When
his friends and family are dragged into the conflict, he is given no choice.
Chubby Saga becomes an unlikely revolutionary, but these are very dangerous
times. Their violent President Brewman has built their country on fear and even
he, himself, is terrified. Spies, traps and double-dealings lie everywhere. Can
one happy-go-lucky schoolboy really stand up to a murderous regime? How long
can he stay one step ahead of the Zombie soldiers that will do anything to stop
him?
This thought-provoking coming of
age story touches on many of Africa’s biggest problems today.
Watch the Book
Trailer: https://youtu.be/NH3ahDkO2sU
Available at Amazon
Read an Excerpt:
After the
quasi-formal welcome, the headmaster and form master hastily stood aside,
moving backwards towards the blackboard so the Deputy Minister could take over
by posing his questions directly to the students as part of his verification
process. The bodyguards also placed themselves at the two front corners of the
classroom behind the Minister, and commenced an inexplicable process of
touching their earpieces with equally inexplicable regularity.
Mr Com, who now
had the floor, asked if anyone would volunteer to go first, and a still very
annoyed Saga impulsively raised his hand before any of the others could. The
New Patriotism issue was indeed a very sore point with Saga. He was still
plagued with guilt that he had not been present to defend his bosom friend,
Ibrahim, when he was beaten up badly by New Patriotism fanatics who happened to
be students in their own school. Subconsciously, it was as though he thus felt
the urge to be the one to face any New Patriotism ‘onslaught’ from officialdom
within their school. As to how he would deflect such an onslaught, he had
absolutely no idea. It was a subconsciously inspired impulsiveness so he simply
had to wing it.
‘Well, well – I
see we have an eager beaver in our midst,’ he smiled at Saga, who did not
return the smile. The headmaster, and the form master, and all the five men and
one woman who made up the Minister’s entourage, however, giggled rather
obsequiously at this sally. They truly understood the meaning of grovelling to
those on high. The Deputy Minister turned and rewarded them all with an openly
condescending smile.
‘Okay mister
serious young man, let’s start. So, tell me, who is your mother under our New
Patriotism?’ Mr Com boomed out his question.
Saga knew the
answer he was to give and did so correctly. ‘My mother is the Great South Party
of President Brewman!’
Mr Com was
pleased. ‘Not bad, not bad,’ he said, and nodded happily towards the
headmaster, who gave an equally satisfied beam in response.
‘And who is your
father?’ Mr Com boomed yet again.
Saga again
answered correctly. ‘My father is the Great Leader of our nation, His Supreme
Excellency and President-For-Life-Until-Further-Notice Field Marshal Brewman.’
Both Messrs Com
and Money now beamed in unison. The entourage and form master were not far
behind in this beaming effort.
‘Well done my
boy, well done.’ Mr Com smiled a vastly complacent smile at Saga.
‘Tell me, my
bright, young friend – so what would you like to be when you grow up?’
This was far
from being a question about future careers such as wanting to be a doctor or
lawyer or pilot. Saga knew he should answer something along the lines of
wanting to grow up to be a dedicated follower of the President or the Party.
However, Saga inhaled and dropped his bombshell. ‘I would like to be an ORPHAN
when I grow up,’ he said with utmost seriousness.
About
the Author:
Dr Nat Tanoh comes from Ghana but
grew up in exile, as a child, in England due to his parents’ opposition to the
installation of a one-party state. Today he divides his time between England
(London) and Ghana. He has a rich history of involvement in student and workers
movements, which originally emerged from struggles against the
institutionalisation of military rule in Ghana. Dr Nat has since worked as a
consultant on development projects in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. He also
continues to uphold a passion for democratic social development.
The Day of the Orphan is Dr Nat
Tanoh’s debut novel.
Book Spotlight & #Giveaway ~ Embracing the Demon (Dale Highland, Book 2) by Beth Woodward ~ Urban Fantasy @beththewoodward
Embracing the Demon
Dale Highland
Book 2
Beth Woodward
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: California Coldblood Books
Date of Publication: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-1945572845
ASIN: B07D788DVM
Number of pages: 360
Word Count: 80,000
Cover Artist: Leonard Philbrick
Tagline: Dale Highland never wanted to be a demon…but now she may be the only one who can save them all…
About the Book:
Dale Highland never wanted to be a demon, never wanted to go back to the supernatural world, but now she has no choice.
A militant anti-supernatural group called the Zeta Coalition is trying to kill Dale, and a mysterious illness ravages angels and demons throughout the world. As the death toll rises, and the Zetas get closer and closer to Dale, she starts to realize the two things are connected.
To save them all, Dale will have to team up with John Goodwin, the man she once loved. The man who destroyed her.
But by the time Dale and John figure out the Zetas’ real intentions, it may be too late…
Read an Excerpt:
He wore a gray
suit with a dark shirt and a blue tie that fit him so perfectly I knew it must
have been custom made for him. His dark blond hair had been combed and gelled
into submission. Normally, it stood up in random spikes around his head—not as
a stylistic choice, but because he had the tendency to run his fingers through
it nervously until it went in about 14 different directions.
Until that
moment, I hadn’t been convinced he’d survived the fall off the roof of Amara’s
estate. Every night in my dreams, I stared at his broken body, tears running
down my face. I wasn’t sure why I cried: because I had killed him, or because
he had destroyed me.
But here was
John, very much alive, looking like the fantasy of some billionaire boss about
to have hot monkey sex with his secretary on the desk. He didn’t look like the
John I remembered, who’d spent most of our time together wearing blood-covered
t-shirts. Which one was the real John, I wondered, the suave businessman or the
urban warrior? And then I noticed the pin on his lapel: a flaming angel that
matched the ones on the others’ pendants. John had declared his allegiance, and
it wasn’t to me.
“My apologies
for the mess,” he said. “Ephraim, Leah, please clean that up. Make sure you
dispose of the body well. I don’t want him coming back to haunt us one of these
days.” A man and a woman jumped out of their seats and scooped up the body,
leaving just a puddle of blood behind. Guess they’d be getting that later.
John turned to
the rest of the group. “Let’s not forget why we’re here. This illness is
already devastating our community, and it’s getting worse. The Zeta Coalition
created it with the intent of wiping out supernaturals—angels and demons. And
if we can’t cooperate, they will succeed.”
“She’s the
daughter of our worst enemy!” someone shouted.
“Amara is dead.
And Dale is not Amara.” He paused. “Covington is right. We need more
information if we’re going to survive this, and Dale is our best hope of
gaining access to their records containment facility.”
“What about
taking an army and storming the compound, like we talked about a few weeks
ago?” someone asked.
To my surprise,
it was Tina who answered. “The compound is too heavily fortified, and its
underground architecture would make it difficult to strong-arm. We’ve run the
scenario many times, accounting for the different variables. The most likely
outcome is that we’d end up trapped down there while the Zetas pick us off.”
“There must be
another way,” a woman said.
“Maybe, but this
is the best way,” John replied. “We all know Dale can do things that no one
else can. Her return may have been a coincidence, but we should use that to our
advantage.”
“I haven’t
agreed to anything yet,” I managed to get out through gritted teeth.
About the Author:
Beth Woodward has always had a love for the dark, the mysterious, and all things macabre. She blames her mother for this one: while other kids were watching cartoons, Beth and her mother were watching Unsolved Mysteries together every week. She was doomed from the beginning. At 12, she discovered the wonders of science fiction and fantasy when she read A Wrinkle in Time, which remains the most influential book of her life. Growing up, she was Meg Murray with a dash of Oscar the Grouch. She’s been writing fiction since she was six years old; as a cantankerous kid whose family moved often, the fictional characters she created became her friends. As an adult, she’s slightly more well adjusted, but she still withdraws into her head more often than is probably healthy.
When she’s not writing, Beth volunteers at her local animal shelter, attends as many sci-fi/fantasy conventions as she can, and travels as much as time and money will allow. She lives in the Washington, DC, area with her husband and their three cats.
Website: http://beth-woodward.com
Twitter: @beththewoodward