Back to School with a Vengeance!

Are you ready for school season? I hear teachers groaning, parents cheering, and kids shrugging. (Wait, can you hear kids shrug? I guess if they're wearing noisy clothes...) Anyhow, I'm one of those people whose lives gets 500X more complicated during the school year (thank you home schooling!) so I thought maybe a few of us could use a laugh...like me. 

Source

Source

 

And now how about if we give away some awesomeness?

Last week Alexia Chamberlynn shared with us Black Magic and Mojitos, along with two truths and a lie. Those who guessed the lie correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win her eBook!  

Alexia's Game:

1. Alexia is an adept swordswoman and wishes she could carry her katana everywhere.
2. She is certified as an equine (horse) massage therapist.
3. She discovered she has a fear of heights while on the Eiffel Tower.

THE LIE: #1. Alexia doesn't own a sword, though she wishes she did. Owning and knowing how to use one is on her bucket list.

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Shannon Lawrence!!!

Congrats, Shannon! 

And now for this week's feature... 

Rachel Emerson is resigned to live as a spinster. Her parents keep her shameful secret, and her only brother, Seth, vanished mere days after witnessing her rape, taking her dishonor with him and giving them all an alibi for their grief. But none of that matters. Appearances are useless if she can’t bear the touch of a man.

Jacob Evans welcomes pain as much as he seeks to escape it. The graves of his wife and child remind him of his sins every day. When Lawrence Emerson offers him a job and a chance to move west, Jacob permits himself a fresh start. But letting go of his past is only an illusion. Lawrence’s sweet, shy daughter captures Jacob’s heart and provides him a perfect tool for self-torment. 

Despite painful lessons of the past, history soon threatens to repeat itself, and as Jacob’s love for Rachel grows, so does his agony. Giving his precious new wife the life she deserves might cost him the very thing he values most—her.

ON SALE, NOW THROUGH SEPTEMBER 17th for $0.99!

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author? 

Native Texan Melissa Maygrove is a wife, mother, nurse, freelance editor, and romance writer. When she's not busy caring for her tiny nursery patients or shuttling teenagers back and forth to after-school activities, she's hunched over her laptop, complicating the lives of her imaginary friends and playing matchmaker. Melissa loves books with unpretentious characters and unforgettable romance, and she strives to create those same kinds of stories for her readers.

You might run across Melissa eating warm mozzarella on pizza, or Brie on water crackers.

Melissa gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win a signed paperback copy of PRECIOUS ATONEMENT (US residents only), or an eBook (for international winners).  

You have until Tuesday, September 1 at 1 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on September 2.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. Melissa once met astronaut Alan Shepard.
2. She loves pan-fried cabbage.
3. She's been present at the birth of triplets, twice!

So sleuths, which is the lie?  Do you have a favorite back to school joke or meme? What does back to school mean for you? Freedom? Stress? Something else?

6 Reasons Why Women Wear Jewelry, IWSG

That's like the most random topic on the face of the planet, right?

But it's something I've been thinking about. My daughter LOVES jewelry. Me? I could take it or leave it. Most times I leave it, but I don't profess to be your average woman.

Some wear large, flashy things because they're fun loving.





Some wear earth-friendly adornment, showing they're aware of and value their environment.




Others wear classy or elegant pieces, calm individuals who place great value on traditional aspects.




One person might wear ONLY the best with the highest price tag or brand name, because value matters.




An OCD woman might wear matching sets or things that coordinate with her clothing perfectly.




And then there are people like me, who don't bother with jewelry unless it's a special occasion or sentimental. I'll wear my wedding ring, the family ring my father had made for us before his passing, a wedding anniversary necklace, a graduation bracelet from my grandmother...

So what am I getting at?

It's a big, wide earth, with every type of personality under the sun. If someone doesn't share preferences or place the same value on something (ahem, books), it doesn't mean the item/person is valueless. It means they're different, and that's okay.

Embrace your different. Find those who value you, your writing, your talents, your adorable face, and ignore the naysayers. Life is too short to get twisted up about the rest.

 

Speaking of, how about if we give away some of that awesomeness?

Last week Misha Gerieke shared with us The Vanished Knight and The Heir's Choice, along with two truths and a lie. Those who guessed the lie correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win both her books!  

Misha's Game:

1) Misha is theoretically able to speak four languages and understand at least three more well enough to find her way home if she got dropped in the middle of countries speaking them. 
2) Through her mother's side, her family is possibly the only one in existence to have two State Heads on two sides of the same war in their genes. One's Paul Kruger, the other is Queen Victoria. (The Anglo Boer War.)
3) She own two cats.

THE LIE: #3. She has 6 cats. Meow!

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Chry Fey!!!

Congrats, Chrys! 

And now for this week's feature... 

Zyan Star’s latest job is turning into a real nightmare.

When supernatural bounty hunter Zyan Star jets down to Rio to meet a prospective client, everything goes as planned initially. That is, until she finds out the person hiring her is Raoul Cabrera, the half demon/half faery supernatural overlord of Brazil, who rubs elbows with Lucifer himself. And that he’s hired another bounty hunter, Donovan McGregor, to work with her.

Their target is a herd of Nightmares, horse spirits that torment people with visions of their worst fears before devouring their flesh. Zy and Donovan head out on the hunt, but it quickly becomes apparent that their client hasn’t given them all the facts. There’s a pissed-off, powerful witch summoning the Nightmares, and she’s out to exact some serious revenge on Raoul. Zy soon realizes she’s caught in the middle of a lover’s spat between two immensely powerful supernaturals, and it’s not clear whose side she should stand on. As if that weren’t enough, pulling off this job is going to require her to relive her worst fears and summon her own long-suppressed magical powers. 

Let the supernatural Carnival begin.

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author? 

Alexia Chamberlynn lives in Florida. When she's not writing or reading, she can be found playing with horses, eating chocolate and other delicious things, drinking wine, traveling to the next place on her global wish list, or maybe doing yoga.

She believes SO many cheeses are earth-shattering in their deliciousness, but if she has to pick one, it's goat cheese. The soft, spreadable chevre kind, not feta. You might stumble across her eating it on crackers with some pepper jelly or other delicious topping.

Alexia gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win an eBook of BLACK MAGIC & MOJITOS.

You have until Tuesday, August 18 at 1 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on August 19.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. Alexia is an adept swordswoman and wishes she could carry her katana everywhere.
2. She is certified as an equine (horse) massage therapist.
3. She discovered she has a fear of heights while on the Eiffel Tower.

So sleuths, which is the lie?  Have you noticed jewelry wearing behaviors? Women--what kinds of jewelry do you love?