Book Review Love for Two Lifetimes

Title: Love for Two Lifetimes
Author: Martina Boone
Genre: Coming of Age / Young Adult

 Two generations, two great loves, one devastating lie . . . 

When Izzy unexpectedly loses her mother in a car accident, her world shatters. Their relationship has always been so close that Izzy can’t imagine life without her. Nor can she begin to understand when she finds a secret box of love letters that her mother wrote but never sent. The idea of her mother hiding such intense feelings for more than twenty years without so much as a hint makes Izzy question everything she thought she knew–including the identity of her father.

Following a trail of clues overseas, Izzy steps into a world of glamour and English royalty, one which years ago forced her mother to choose between her obligation to her musical gift and her lover’s obligations to his family, title, and estate. It’s a world of secrets and masquerades, of heartache and betrayal. And in the midst of this world, Izzy finds a young man who feels as broken as she does herself. The two are drawn to each other–only to find that their parents’ lies may present an insurmountable obstacle between them.

Thrown together on a coming of age journey of discovery that spans two lifetimes and takes them from a grand estate in the Cotswolds to a hospital bedside in India and ultimately to the Taj Mahal, Izzy and Malcolm try desperately not to fall in love. But some things are impossible…

And some loves are worth any sacrifice… 

Uplifting, funny, tragic, and unforgettably, luminously romantic, Love for Two Lifetimes is a tale of two generations of love, a lifetime of friendship, a history of sacrifice, and one last, heartbreaking and hopeful choice revealed in prose, texts, and love letters. Written for young adults and grown-up romantics, if you love the romance of the royal weddings or any story by Nicholas Sparks, Love for Two Lifetimes will have you turning pages late into the night.

“Heartwarming, lyrical, soulful, and with just the right amount of humor: this book sparkles with authentic, layered characters and beautiful, thoughtful prose.” — Jodi Meadows, NYT bestselling co-author of My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane

Review

This is my first time read a book by Martina Boone, but I'll definitely check out other books by the author now. This was simply amazing.

When Izzy suddenly loses her mother in a car accident, everything she ever knew changes, and Izzy can't imagine a life without her mom. But then Izzy discovers a secret box of love letters her mother wrote but never sent, all of them written to a mysterious man overseas. Could this man be Izzy's father? Why did she never tell Izzy about her feelings for this man?

Izzy goes to search for this mystery man, and the search teaches her a lot more about her mother and her family history than she could've ever imagined. But the search also leads her to find love of her own, in faraway lands she never even expected to end up in.

This is such an emotional rollercoaster of a story. I needed tissues, I'll be honest. It's just so heartbreaking, the emotional turmoil poor Izzy goes through. And Malcolm, the love interest, has so much weighing on him as well, it really made me feel for him.

This is an amazing love story but keep the tissues close!

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Guest Post and Giveaway Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity

Guest Post

RAINBOWS ARE ROUND

By LeNae Goolsby

“When you change the way you look at things,

the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

“It is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.”

-                     Adept to Neo from The Matrix

These quotes sounded cool but meant very little to me.  Until one day, I happened across a picture of a rainbow that had been taken by someone who had a larger perspective than I did.

The rainbow was perfectly round. Until that moment it never occurred me that rainbows could be round.  All I had ever seen were arcs, or glimpses of colors peeking through the clouds. 

When I saw this picture, all of a sudden it made perfect sense that a rainbows are round, or at least can be round, and that it had been my limited perspective that kept me from seeing the whole picture.

Consider traffic jams.

We’re sitting in traffic, running late for wherever it is we are supposed to be, at whatever time it was we were supposed to be there.  All we care about in the jam is how utterly inconvenient and annoying it is to be stuck in between these cars, and contemplating the risk and reward of flying by everyone on the shoulder (I know you’ve thought about it).

Here is another perfect example of us getting caught up in our own limited perspective. I mean, we can’t see ahead to know what the reason for the delay is – is it construction, an accident, did someone have a heart attack at the wheel?

Or, are we stuck here because if we were going any faster we would have been the one t-boned by a random drug induced drive. We don’t know, we probably won’t ever know. And that’s okay.

The point here is to realize that often times when we react, when we make fraction-reaction decisions, we do so based upon the information we have in the moment.  Sometimes we do not always have all of the information. Sometimes our perspective is limited. In fact, much of the time we are operating out of a limited perspective.

Personal Case Study:

When my husband’s community oncology medical practice was in significant debt and I did not have the money to pay the bills on time, I would literally drive myself into a mascara running, anxiety ridden, panic attack induced ball of frenzy and stress – because somehow that was going to solve everything (not). 

Then one bill paying Tuesday, I sat down and mentally went through the worse case scenario of not being able to pay the lenders and the vendors what they were due, when they were due.  And then I kept asking myself, “Okay, what is wore than that? And worse than that?

My envisioning exercise ended up at having to file business bankruptcy and losing the office building as being the potentially worse thing I could think of. So, then what?

Well, we would lose the stuff and that would suck, but we still had the ability to work, to make an income and life would move forward…without a bunch of debt, actaully.

Once I was able to realize that life will go on after the worse case scenario, I was able to respond to what was effectively a temporary cash-flow crunch, pay who I could when I could and just keep moving forward in faith (faith – there’s that word again).

Once I was able to release my persistent worse case scenario what-ifs I was able to respond from the space of calm because I was able to shift my perspective.

It took about a year, but cash flow did increase, and now profits are high enough to not only pay the bills with ease, but we are now actually in a period of amazing growth and expansion – never even came close to having file bankruptcy, btw.

Okay, so now you know that chances are whatever is showing up in your reality is only showing up as a portion of whole, right? We have but glimpses of puzzle pieces at varying moments.

For the rest of the week, whenever something shows up that is stressful, annoying, makes your shoulders tense up and your blood pressure rise, bite your lip (a/k/a catch yourself BEFORE you go into fraction-reaction mode), take a deep breath in, hold to the count of a slow 4 and release to a count of a slow 4, and ask yourself the following questions:

•      “How does even this serve my highest good?”

•      What might be happening here that I am not seeing in this moment?

•      If I imagine myself taking a higher perspective of this issue, what is really going on here?

###

LeNae Goolsby is the author of Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity - How to cultivate the calm even in the midst of the crazy chaos, the co-author of the soon to be released, “Empowered Medicine – Harnessing the infinite laws of the universe for optimized health.”  She is also the Founder/Owner of www.LeNaeGoolsby.com, where she offers intuitive empowerment life coach and pragmatic oracle services, as well as the Practice Administrator/Director of New Business Development for Infinite Health Integrative Medicine Center in Louisiana.

LeNae received her certificate from the Duke University Integrative Medicine Center Leadership Development Program in February 2017, and her law degree from Tulane University Law School in 2010. And somewhere between Tulane and Duke she completed her universal laws-centric life coaching studies and honed her intuitive abilities.

About the Book

Title: Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity
Author: LeNae Goolsby
Genre: Nonfiction (Body, Mind & Spirit)
Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity provides an experiential journey where mental and emotional vibrations rise and conscious awareness expands. Personal power is reclaimed and peace restored with each chapter and each sweet serenity tip.

Author Bio

LeNae Goolsby is the Founder/Owner of www.LeNaeGoolsby.com, the host of Empowered Living with LeNae which is syndicated on 50 global networks, as well as the Practice Administrator/Director of New Business Development for www.YourInfiniteHealth.com
In addition to running these successful ventures, LeNae is a wife, mother, artist, writer, oracle of the pragmatic persuasion, calm cultivator and energy healer.
LeNae received her certificate from the Duke University Integrative Medicine Center Leadership Development Program in February 2017, and her law degree from Tulane University Law School in 2010. And somewhere between Tulane and Duke she completed her universal law-centric coaching studies and honed her intuitive abilities.
LeNae is also an expert and writer for www.YourTango.com. She is the author of Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity, and is on the cusp of releasing “Empowered Medicine – Harnessing the Infinite Laws of the Universe for Optimized Health,” which she co-wrote with her husband. She is also working on her next book, Seven Sundays to Money Manifesting Mastery.

Links

Website: www.LeNaeGoolsby.com
Where to Purchase: https://books.pronoun.com/seven-sundays-to-sweet-inner-serenity/

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Book Excerpt and Giveaway

Book Excerpt

The woman was hysterical, sobbing so much I couldn’t understand her. As I pressed my cell harder against my ear, the wind sprouted claws and slashed at my meager sweater until I shivered. Phone calls used to be rare, but I’d been getting more and more since Jackson and I had gone public with what had happened to us in China. Now everyone in Vermont seemed to know my name, and they all needed help.

            “Hello? This is Kate, please talk to me.”

            The crying increased in volume, blistering my ears. I would have hung up if not for the wind. Its power intensified, churning the dead leaves and other debris from the sidewalk around my feet. There was something strange about its sudden force, which drove me against the brick facing of Hildy’s Fine China & Sundries. (Hildy’d had an ampersand before it was trendy.)

            “Hello?” The single word contained the edge of my fear. Both my voice and hands were shaking. Something did not want me to talk to this woman. Something did not want me to help her. I’d taken hundreds of similar calls over the past few years, but had never felt anything like this. “Please say something. I’m afraid we’re going to lose our connection.”

            Clutching at my sweater to keep it from being blown away, I ducked my head, shielding my face as my hair whipped around in a furious tangle. I huddled against Hildy’s shop, wondering if I should go in, but the older woman wouldn’t be impressed to see me on my phone. Her establishment was a temple, a library. The loyal customers who kept her in business spoke in whispers and walked on tiptoes. By bursting in like this and continuing my shouted, one-sided conversation, I’d have become the proverbial bull. Not good.

            “Miss Carlsson? Kate Carlsson?” The woman had regained her composure enough to gasp my name. The grip around my heart tightened, even though I’d known all along the call was meant for me.

            “Yes, speaking. What’s wrong?” There was no point wasting time with idle chitchat. Obviously something was wrong—very wrong. Another gust of wind knocked my skull against the side of the building and pain jolted through my brain.

            The caller was silent for so long I ordinarily would have assumed she’d hung up, lost her nerve. It happened. It wasn’t easy for people to admit they needed my help. It was a leap of faith, a willingness to open their minds to the possibility that something they’d spent their entire lives denying could be real after all.

            But the wind told me otherwise. I waited for her to speak again, raising one arm between my face and the building to protect my head. The chill had seeped into my bones, and what I wanted more than anything was to run home and immerse myself in a steaming hot bath while I drank a cup of the pumpkin spice tea I’d just purchased. I didn’t want to talk to this woman. I didn’t want to hear about what terrible things were happening at her home, for surely terrible things were happening. But I’d learned long ago that my gift was bigger than me, and if this woman needed it, I wasn’t going to turn away from her.

            Finally she spoke. I could barely hear her over the gale, which shrieked like a tortured soul. “My mother is attacking my child.” Her voice trembled with fresh tears. “I can’t believe it, haven’t wanted to believe it, but it’s true. I’ve seen it.”

            “Is your mother dead, Mrs…”

            “Walkins. My name is Walkins. Yes, she died last year. But she was such a good woman. She loved Lily. I can’t believe she would do these things. Why would she do these things?”

            I could feel curious eyes burning into me, watching me struggle to stay on my feet. Pushing my hair away from my face, I risked a glimpse and was immediately sorry I had. The leaves around my feet had arranged themselves in the form of a girl, a girl not much shorter than me. As I stared, my pulse throbbing behind my temples, the terrifying apparition raised a rustling arm toward me before collapsing onto the sidewalk.

            “Whatever is hurting Lily isn’t your mother, Mrs. Walkins. What’s your address? I’ll be right there.”

About the Books

City of Ghosts

On the day the villagers were forced to flee Hensu, not everyone got out alive.
Jackson Stone is touring the abandoned Chinese city when he slips away from the group to spend the night, determined to publish an account of his ghostly experiences there.
Then he meets Yuèhai, a strange, soft-spoken woman who can tell him the city’s secrets—secrets the Chinese government would kill to keep hidden.
As Jackson uncovers the truth about Yuèhai and the ghost city, he’s drawn into a web of conspiracy, betrayal, and murder. He must risk everything to save himself and bring honor back to Yuèhai and her family.

The Girl Who Talks to Ghosts

Would you risk everything to save a stranger?
 Off the coast of Venice lurks Poveglia, the world’s most haunted isle, steeped in centuries of innocent blood. A deranged doctor who took great joy in torturing his patients in life continues to rule his abandoned asylum after death.
Few go to Poveglia willingly, but medium Kate Carlsson has no choice. It’s her job.
While struggling to retrieve a young girl’s soul, Kate uncovers some shocking truths about the evil on the island that challenges her own convictions and morals—and even her life.
Is saving Lily worth making a deal with the infamous Doctor of Death, or is the price too high to pay?

Author Bio

J.H. Moncrieff’s work has been described as early Gillian Flynn with a little Ray Bradbury and Stephen King thrown in for good measure.
She won Harlequin’s search for the next Gillian Flynn in 2016.
Her first published novella, The Bear Who Wouldn’t Leave, was featured in Samhain’s Childhood Fears collection and stayed on its horror bestsellers list for over a year.
When not writing, she loves exploring the world’s most haunted places, advocating for animal rights, and summoning her inner ninja in muay thai class.
To get free eBooks and a new spooky story every week, go to http://bit.ly/MoncrieffLibrary .

Connect with J.H.: Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Book Excerpt Dreamwalkers

Book Excerpt

“Remember your training,” Agent Knight says when we’re all in our pods, our heads lifted from the water so we can hear her, game faces on. “Stick together. Work as a team,” she continues. “Captain Evans and his team are counting on you to keep the girl safe long enough for them to get to her and extract her to physical safety.”

We all nod our heads. “Yes, ma’am,” Jamie says. “Fifty Euros says I’ll take down more Tantibus freaks than you, Ciso.”

I laugh. “You’re on, muscle man!”

“It’s the muscles that’ll make sure I get fifty bucks,” he says and I hear him kissing his arms.

“Boys! Always competing,” Leah says letting out a chuckle. “Besides, there’s no use really. I’ll be taking down most of those goons for you. Might as well give me the fifty now, Jamie.”

“This just got more interesting, hey Ciso,” Jamie says. “Now me and a girl will beat you.”

“Ready to initiate Dreamwalk,” Agent Knight interrupts our antics. “In three…”

I ready myself. Take a breath. Try to calm the sudden burst of chill in my stomach. The pod closes. Darkness. Silence.

“Two..”

Trust in yourself Ciso.

 “One,” Agent Knight’s voice says. “Good luck team.” There’s a pause. “Initiate.” And then I’m enveloped, drifting into nothingness, into a place where reality has no hold and even the unimagined runs wild. 

It doesn’t take long for us to get through the mist and reach the first door. I take the lead this time and the others ready themselves for anything, because that’s exactly what could be on the other side of the door. Anything. The knob turns in my hand and the door eagerly clips open. At the last second, the suspense gets the best of me and I burst through it. A zinging sound whirs towards my face. I turn my head just in time. A knife is dug into the doorframe right in front of my nose, the merciless blade grazing its tip. I look to where the sound came from. A short girl stands ready with another knife in her hand. Jamie and the others push me forward to get into the room. They all freeze at the sight of the little girl.

About the Book

Title: Dreamwalkrs

Author: Tiaan Lubbe

Genre: YA Fantasy / Adventure

“You walk the bridges between two worlds, between reality and dreams, Ciso.”

“You are a Dreamwalker”

Narciso di Angelo, a sixteen-year-old boy, living on the streets of Rome thinks he is the only one that can walk in other’s dreams.

He’s not.

When a mysterious and dark woman makes her appearance in one of his dreamwalks, he is rescued from her clutches by Project Somnus, a secret underground United Nations organisation, that recruits and trains children with his gifts, using them to fight against and prevent worldwide terrorist threats.

Here Narciso learns more of his abilities and where they come from as well as what it means to be part of a family and a home.

But, as the threat of the mysterious woman and the terrorist organisation Tantibus increases, he also learns what it is like to lose this.

“In dreams we live. In reality we dream.”

Author Bio

Tiaan Lubbe lives in Pretoria, South Africa where he spends his time teaching little monsters, directing
plays, doing what he calls writing and dreaming up the future. Mostly all at once.

Links

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Amazon Author Page

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Book Excerpt Sweet

Book Excerpt

A sharp knock sounded on the door, and Cat wondered who had come to complain to Simon about the part they’d been given. She’d been doing exactly that for six, long years.

Before Simon could respond, Dmitri Fedorov stepped into the room with a commanding presence and walked right past Cat as if she wasn’t even there. Normally, she’d be worried if the artistic director entered a room and didn’t acknowledge her. But this time, she wasn’t so concerned. It gave her the perfect opportunity to gawk at his tight ass in his worn jeans.

“How did everything go?” he asked in a deep, gravelly voice, forgoing a formal greeting and any pleasantries.

“Well enough.” Simon sat up straighter in his chair. A ballet god like Dmitri Fedorov wasn’t someone to be casual with, even if you were an assistant artistic director with a decent career of your own, like Simon. “They are pleased to have you on board, and they are anxious to start their season.”

Dmitri rested his cane against his leg and rubbed his palms together. “Hopefully they’re as eager to start as I am.”

“I’m sure they are.” Simon motioned to where Cat stood behind him. “In fact, Catherine came by to tell me how excited she is to tackle the role of Clara.”

At the mention of her name, Cat pried her eyes away from her new boss’s derriere just in time for him to turn around and face her. While she was careful to hide her appraisal of his body, Dmitri was not as shy. His gaze raked over her, examining her from the blunt tips of her pointe shoes to her brown hair wound into a neat bun. Self-consciously, she tugged at her powder blue wrap sweater.

She swallowed hard, feeling faint under his intense perusal.

“This Nutcracker is a very important show for me. It’s the start of my new career and my chance to prove myself.” He took a few steps toward her, stopping only a few inches from where she stood. “I’m counting on you.”

With that, he turned and left the room. Cat pulled her eyebrows together as she stared into his wake. Had Dmitri been sizing her up as a dancer or appreciating the way she looked in a leotard and tights? Was he trying to intimidate her with his “I’m counting on you” remark, or was he expressing the faith he had in her abilities?

About the Book

Title: Sweet

Author: Lisa Hahn

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cat Brown spends the first six years of her career as one of the lowest-ranking members of the Bretton Falls Ballet. Despite the dancer’s undisputable talent, artistic director Lillian Smith insists Cat is too short for a leading role. When Lillian is forced to retire, world-renowned ballet dancer Dmitri Fedorov takes over and casts Cat as the premier performer in his first production with the company. Cat struggles to fend off a host of distractions as she prepares for the most important role of her career: the most insurmountable of which is her instant attraction to the new boss.

Dmitri, once known for his theatrical performances and womanizing proclivities, disappears into seclusion after a horrific car accident shatters his knee and renders him unable to dance. Looking to escape the constant reminders of how far he’s fallen, Dmitri escapes to Bretton Falls in hopes of elevating the small ballet company there to international prestige. The task proves to be more challenging than Dmitri had bargained for when his surprising interest in Cat Brown becomes fodder for gossip among the company.

Cat and Dmitri both have a lot riding on their upcoming production of The Nutcracker, knowing that their careers depend upon the outcome. However, the biggest challenge they face will be staying away from one another.

Author Bio

Lisa Hahn writes romance novels across multiple sub-genres. She’s interested in stories that take place in either small towns or strange worlds, and she strives to create honest, passionate characters her readers can relate to.

Currently, Lisa and her husband live in northern New Jersey with their two dogs (Jonas and Cassie) and their cat (Blueberry). When she’s not writing, Lisa can be found reading, practicing yoga, working out, watching professional wrestling, stitching a piece of embroidery, making/eating vegan food, and rooting for the Seattle Seahawks.

Links

www.bylisahahn.com

www.twitter.com/bylisahahn

www.facebook.com/bylisahahn

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Book Promo and Giveaway

About the Book

Title: Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job

Author: Heidi Siefkas

Genre: Travelogue

In this introspective travelogue, author, speaker and adventurer Heidi Siefkas shares her transition out of the corporate world’s Cubicle Land to life on the road in Cuba and beyond. Heidi highlights another side of Cuba as well as perspective gained from years of travel to the once-forbidden island. Along the way, she seizes opportunities for adventure in Kauai, Italy, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, and other far-flung places, but always returning to Cuba for more.

Not unlike her previous books When All Balls Drop and With New Eyes, Heidi tells this story with a good dose of sass and humor in her signature down-to-earth vignettes.

Cubicle to Cuba will teach you about Cuba, but it will also inspire you to think outside the cubicle, travel more, and embark on your own Life 2.0 full of adventure.

About Heidi Siefkas

Heidi Siefkas is an author, speaker and adventurer.

Originally from small–‐town Wisconsin, Heidi hangs her hat in South Florida.

However, as an adventurer, she’s rarely home for long. The author of two inspirational books When All Balls Drop and With New Eyes, she has created the mantra

Look Up and speaks to groups worldwide. You can connect with Heidi at www.heidisiefkas.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

Links

Amazon

Facebook

Twitter

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