Blog Tour- A PART OF MY FAMILY FOREVER by Emily Belknap With Excerpts & A #Giveaway! @AmbassadorIntl

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the A PART OF MY FAMILY FOREVER by Emily Belknap Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: A PART OF MY FAMILY FOREVER

Author: Emily Belknap

Pub. Date: November 2, 2023

Publisher: Ambassador International

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook

Pages: 44

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/A-PART-OF-MY-FAMILY-FOREVER

“I recommend all adoptive families add A Part of My Family Forever to their library to read and re-read for years to come.” Ryan Hanlon President and CEO of National Council for Adoption (NCFA)

Isabel has a loving family—a mother, a father, and two brothers. And when she was younger, Isabel was adopted. One day, she starts noticing little things that make her feel different—her dad makes her sit in the middle seat; her brothers play soccer better than she does; her mom doesn't buy her favorite peanut butter. As Isabel focuses more and more on her differences, her emotions become too big for her to handle. Will Isabel ever feel like she belongs?

This book is the perfect book for foster and adoptive families to discuss the big emotions that come along with adoption and the differences that make each family unique. Written by an adoption counselor, this book will help children learn how to handle their big emotions and to see that they are loved for just who they are.

 

Excerpt Images:

 

About Emily Belknap:

Emily Belknap is an Adoption Competent Therapist who provides individual and family therapy to adoptive and foster families at her private practice, Bridgepointe Therapy in Charleston, SC. Throughout her career, she has worked with hundreds of families formed through international, infant, and foster care adoption. While working at the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.), she completed the Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) program. Prior to this, she conducted home studies, facilitated foster parent support groups, and served as a foster care and adoption case worker. She began her career working at the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) where she advocated for improvement to federal adoption policy, assisted in organizing public awareness campaigns including National Adoption Day and traveled internationally to Guatemala on a Congressional delegation to visit an orphanage and foster care program. Emily has a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She holds an LISW-CP license in South Carolina and an LCSW in Virginia which allow her to serve families throughout South Carolina and Virginia via telehealth. Outside of her work, Emily enjoys exploring the outdoors on her bike and kayak along with her husband, Alex, and their daughter, Everly.

Website | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of A PART OF MY FAMILY FOREVER, US Only.

Ends December 12th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/27/2023	YA Books Central	Excerpt or Guest Post/IG Post
11/27/2023	A Backwards Story	Excerpt or Guest Post/IG Post
11/28/2023	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Blog Spotlight
11/28/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt or Guest Post/IG Post
11/29/2023	@enthuse_reader	IG Review/TikTok Post
11/29/2023	Sandra's Book Club	Review
11/30/2023	@dharashahauthor	IG Post
11/30/2023	Rockstar Book Tours	Excerpt or Guest Post
12/1/2023	@allyluvsbooksalatte	IG Post
12/1/2023	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post

Week Two:

12/4/2023	A Moment With Mystee	Review/IG Post/TikTok Post
12/4/2023	@lfl_onhst	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic
12/5/2023	@pineshorelittlefreelibrary	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic
12/5/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post
12/6/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
12/6/2023	@anitralovesbooksanddogs	IG Review
12/7/2023	@froggyreadteach	IG Review
12/7/2023	Callisto’s calling	IG Review
12/8/2023	paws.read.repeat	Review/IG Post
12/8/2023	The Momma Spot	Review

Continue Reading >>

Blog Tour- DEJA VIEW by @dangerpeak With An Excerpt & #Giveaway!

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the DEJA VIEW by Michael Thomas Perone Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: DEJA VIEW

Author: Michael Thomas Perone

Pub. Date: October 6, 2023

Publisher: Wheatmark

Formats:  Paperback, eBook

Pages: 275

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/DEJA-VIEW  

Twelve-year-old Bobby Dalton doesn't want to grow up. All his life, he has relied on the imaginary games of childhood with his best friends Joe and Max to get him through the tough times. But this all changes when his Seventh-Grade class buries a time capsule to commemorate the end of the 1980s. Now Bobby is being haunted by visions: ghostly doppelgangers of himself, his friends, and others. He calls them "déjà view." Are these visions real, or has his imagination finally gotten away from him? And if they're real, what do they want? Bobby needs to figure this all out to survive his childhood…and his life.

From the author of the award-winning Danger Peak, Déjà View is a darkly funny coming-of-age dramedy with a sci-fi twist, cranked up to eleven. But even more, it's at once a pulse-pounding thrill ride and a haunting portrait of paranoia, mental illness, and the unbearable sadness of growing up.

 

 

Déjà View Excerpt

 

by Michael Thomas Perone

 

I picked the following excerpt from my new novel, Déjà View, because for one, I just think it’s funny, but also, it’s the first sign to the reader that things are not quite right in Bobby’s world, and it foreshadows the strangeness to come. Finally, this excerpt reinforces the major theme of my book, which is the death of childhood.

 

An hour later, Bobby’s guests were seated around a table in the party room, devouring towers of pizza. Bobby and his friends had a front-row seat to the stage of Chuck E. Cheese’s band, an assortment of animatronic animals: a chicken, a dog, some kind of purple monster that resembled McDonaldland’s Grimace, and, of course, Chuck E. himself. Bobby often wondered why anyone would make a rat the mascot for their kid-friendly pizza restaurant; it seemed unsanitary. It mattered little, though. He came for the food and games, not the dinner entertainment. Every year, these robotic animals would mortify him by crooning “Happy Birthday,” their voices becoming craggier as the robots got older, worn from singing over a thousand birthdays to over a thousand boys and girls.

 

“Mom,” he asked, leaning in conspiratorially so his friends couldn’t hear, “can we skip the Chuck E. song this year? I’m getting a little too old for it.”

 

“It’s tradition, sweetie,” she replied in a singsong voice to keep up appearances. Before he could respond, Chuck E. came alive, as if possessed by some ancient curse.

 

“Hey everyone!” it began. “I hear it’s somebody’s birthday!” Derrick and Joe, seated next to each other, offered sardonic, golfer’s applause. The twitchy robot tried reaching for its guitar as his “bandmates” grabbed their own respective instruments. But the twitching suddenly became a trembling as the robot’s arms flailed past his guitar and bonked the chicken, who in turn bumped into the dog. Now all four automatons were shaking as if caught in their own personal earthquake.

 

“Uh, is this part of the show?” Derrick asked Joe.

 

“Nah,” Joe replied. “I think Chuck E.’s had one too many birthdays.”

 

An announcement came over the loudspeaker that there were some “technical difficulties,” but the perverse show continued unbidden. At once, a comet of sparks burst out of the robotic rodent’s back; for a split second, it resembled a flame-spitting sprinkler. Bobby briefly wondered if the thick red curtain behind the performers would catch fire, but fate was kind, and the sparks receded. In the throes of its last herky-jerky movements, Chuck E. finally keeled over and died, its head collapsing onto the floor with a clunk to stare directly at Bobby with one glowing dead eye.

 

“Hep-pee...burth-dee...,” the mangled voice managed to eke out one final time. Bobby stared in horror as the beloved childhood mascot bit the big one. He was never a huge fan of these robot shows, but he never meant to attend Chuck E.’s funeral. Bobby turned to the end of his table to spy Derrick and Joe snickering to each other in a private conversation, and he felt an aloneness he had never experienced before.

 

 

About Michael Thomas Perone:

Michael Thomas Perone is an award-winning author who has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Long Island Voice (a spinoff of The Village Voice), and The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), among others. Online, he has written for Fatherly, Yahoo!, WhatCulture!, and other websites that don’t end with an exclamation mark. His articles for WhatCulture! covering the world of entertainment alone have been viewed over 374,000 times, and his expertise on critical writing in the music industry has been cited on Wikipedia and featured in national press kits. He currently works as a Senior Editor in Manhattan and lives on Long Island with his wife and two daughters. For more information, please visit www.michaelthomasperone.com.

Sign up for Michael’s newsletter!

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of DEJA VIEW, US Only.

Ends December 12th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/27/2023	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Blog Spotlight
11/27/2023	Rockstar Book Tours	Excerpt
11/28/2023	YA Books Central	Interview/IG Post
11/28/2023	@allyluvsbooksalatte	IG Post
11/29/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post
11/29/2023	A Backwards Story	Excerpt
11/30/2023	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
11/30/2023	@dharashahauthor	IG Post
12/1/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post
12/1/2023	GryffindorBookishNerd	IG Review

Week Two:

12/4/2023	Sandra's Book Club	Review/IG Post
12/4/2023	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
12/5/2023	Character Madness and Musings	Guest Post
12/5/2023	@enjoyingbooksagain	IG Review
12/6/2023	The Momma Spot	Review
12/6/2023	Callisto’s calling	IG Review
12/7/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
12/7/2023	@anitralovesbooksanddogs	IG Review
12/8/2023	@enthuse_reader	IG Review/TikTok Post
12/8/2023	@froggyreadteach	IG Review

Continue Reading >>

Blog Tour- BLADESTAY by @jaqsattack With An Excerpt & A #Giveaway! @CamCatBooks

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the BLADESTAY by Jackie Johnson Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: BLADESTAY

Author: Jackie Johnson

Pub. Date: November 28, 2023

Publisher: CamCat Books

Formats:  Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 304

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/BLADESTAY 

Be Careful Who You Root For

When a violent, decades-long feud between two powerful men comes to a head in the small settlement of Bladestay, Colorado, cunning resident Theo Creed must use her wits to stay alive. Disguising herself as a young boy, seventeen-year-old Theo bluffs her way into the inner circle of August Gaines, the magnetic leader of the ruthless gang that has descended on her town. But the deeper Theo gets into the con, the more she starts to question her loyalties. Complicating her subterfuge is a mysterious outlaw whose small moments of kindness contradict the blood he has on his hands, making Theo wonder who, exactly, is conning who. To save her town, Theo must parse façade from reality and choose between the barefaced malevolence she’s infiltrated and an evil she didn’t know lurked at home.

 

 

Excerpt:

It was two in the morning when the coyotes started hollering at each other, but by then Brody Boone had already slipped into wool trousers, a matching vest, and a buckskin jacket with copper rivets down the sleeve hems. The coyotes were a common nuisance; the crack of gunfire was not.

Relying on the silvery light of a fat moon, Brody strapped a ream of ammo over his hips and shoved pistols into the holsters hanging at his thighs. He thumbed shells into a wide-barreled shotgun as he quietly heeled the door shut on his way out.

Both his parents were heavy sleepers, but his little brother, Billy, was not. Brody’s feet had hardly left the porch when he heard padding footsteps behind him. He wheeled around, shotgun snug in the hollow of his shoulder, finger off the trigger.

He dropped his aim to the ground as soon as he saw his little brother at the end of the barrel.

Brody smiled calmly as he reached out and tapped a finger against Billy’s narrow chest, and when Billy looked down, Brody lightly flicked Billy’s nose. Billy swatted at him, but Brody danced away from the slower reflexes, grinning.

“Cabron,” Billy said.

“If you’re gonna curse, do it in English.”

Billy looked past Brody, hugging himself. “Adónde vas?”

“English, Bill.”

Billy crossed his arms. “No estoy usando grocerias.”

“Just you wait till your stubbornness costs your life.”

Billy repeated the question in exaggerated aristocratic English.

“Burro,” Brody said with a chuckle. “Hear the cows?”

They were lowing mournfully, and Billy nodded. “Wolves?”

“Coyotes,” Brody said. “I’m just gonna go give them a scare, okay?”

“Be careful.”

“Careful is for city folk and dandelions.” Brody winked. “Go back to bed.”

Billy began to protest, but Brody said, “How does coyote stew sound for breakfast?”

Billy wrinkled his nose. “Can’t be worse than the rattler Pa insisted would taste like chicken.”

Brody grinned again. “Go on now.”

Brody made his way to the southern gate, ducked between the wood panels, and crossed a large, vacant prairie. At the edge of the patch of grassland, the terrain grew jagged with granite as the slope steeped to the west, a conglomerate of ponderosa tightening together the higher he climbed. Rays of pearl seeped through the branches, guiding Brody’s steps to the plateau, hillsides he could likely hike blindfolded.

 

 

About Jackie Johnson:

Jackie Johnson is a San Diego born poet and novelist. Her background as a journalist, BA in history, and education in armed defense gives her a uniquely authentic voice within the historical genre. She’s been riding horses for over twenty years and had her own real-life cowboy love story when she fell in love with and married a horse trainer. Together, they established a ranch in Southern California where she spends her days writing, riding, and chasing after their dreams, their two children, four horses, six cats, and two dogs. Bladestay is her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of BLADESTAY, US Only.

Ends December 19th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/20/2023	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Spotlight Post/IG Post
11/21/2023	Writer of Wrongs	Guest Post
11/22/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Guest Post/IG Post
11/23/2023	YA Books Central	Interview/IG Post
11/24/2023	A Backwards Story	Guest Post
11/25/2023	Rockstar Book Tours	Excerpt

Week Two:

11/26/2023	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
11/27/2023	Locks, Hooks and Books	Review
11/28/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
11/29/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post
11/30/2023	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
12/1/2023	The Litt Librarian	Review/IG Post
12/2/2023	Callisto’s calling	IG Review

Week Three:

12/3/2023	@dreaminginpages	IG Review
12/4/2023	jlreadstoperpetuity	IG Review/TikTok Post
12/5/2023	@evergirl200	IG Review
12/6/2023	@allyluvsbooksalatte	IG Review
12/7/2023	The Momma Spot	Review
12/8/2023	Confessions of the Perfect Mom	Review/IG Post
12/9/2023	@enjoyingbooksagain	IG Review

Week Four:

12/10/2023	Lifestyle of Me	Review
12/11/2023	@froggyreadteach	IG Review
12/12/2023	One More Exclamation	Review/IG Post/LFL Drop Pic
12/13/2023	Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer	Review/IG Post
12/14/2023	Jaime_of_gryffindor	IG Review
12/15/2023	More Books Please blog	Review/IG Post

Continue Reading >>