Wish-List 5: Books by Stacy Green

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The first weekend of this month I was going through my Kindle looking for something to read other than book I needed to review. I was restless with worry on a personal matter and needed to distract myself and came upon, Skeleton’s Key (Delta Crossroads Trilogy, #2) by Stacy Green. I haven’t read any of her stories up to that point and even though Skeleton’s Key is the second book, I decided to read it anyways. I read the story in a day and a half! I couldn’t believe how fast I got through the story but it was that good and I love the author’s character development and-of course-southern stories are my cup of tea.

I will be heading to the beach this summer and have decided to take along, Tin God (Delta Crossroads Trilogy #1) and Ashes and Bone (Delta Crossroads Trilogy #3) to read for my beach reads. I can’t wait! It will be a treat! Be sure to check them out on Amazon. I do believe there are listed at a good price on the Kindle.

Now, after exploring Stacy Green’s other stories, I came across another new series she has with a character (Cage Foster) that is on the trilogy I told you about above. How neat! I like how she is writing series of books set in south and has created a world of great southern characters that you can really get to know and love. -Stephanie M. Hopkins

The Lies We BuryThe Lies We Bury: A gripping psychological thriller (Cage Foster Book 1) by Stacy Green

It’s the case that has tormented him for years…

Detective Cage Foster’s past has come back to haunt him. It’s been seven years since two girls disappeared because of his rookie mistake, and since then he’s lived under the weight of guilt. Now Annabeth, one of the girls, has been found, but with her comes more unanswered questions. Cage realizes this time there’s no room for error because the serial predator is still out there and still on the hunt.

Doubts plague Cage while he races to put the pieces together. Where has Annabeth been all these years? And why does believe she’s Lyric Gaudet, granddaughter of a powerful New Orleans voodoo priestess?

As Cage gets caught up in the mysterious black magic community of New Orleans, secrets are revealed, and he realizes it’s no coincidence Annabeth believes she’s Lyric. The girls’ pasts are somehow tied together—worse, the killer is watching and Annabeth is the target.

And Cage is running out of time.

Here are other books by Green that I am curious about and have added to my wish-list:

Killing JaneKilling Jane (Erin Prince #1) by Stacy Green

What If Everything You’ve Ever Heard About Jack The Ripper Is Wrong …

A young woman is brutally murdered in Washington D.C., and the killer leaves behind a calling card connected to some of the most infamous murders in history.

Jack The Ripper

Rookie homicide investigator Erin Prince instinctively knows the moment she sees the mutilated body that it’s only a matter of time before someone else dies.

She and her partner, Todd Beckett, are on the trail of a madman, and a third body sends them in the direction they feared most: a serial killer is walking the streets of D.C.

The Clock Is Ticking.

Erin must push past her mounting self-doubt in order to unravel a web of secrets filled with drugs, pornography, and a decades-old family skeleton before the next victim is sacrificed.

The Only Way To Stop A Killer Is To Beat Them At Their Own Game.

Into the Devil's UndergroundInto the Devil’s Underground by Stacy Green

Formerly published as Into the Dark, heavily edited with NEW SCENES.

“Why are you here?” Butterflies swarmed in her stomach. Sweat rolled down her forehead and stung her eyes.

Laugh lines appeared at the corners of the man’s eyes. “You don’t know, Miss Emilie?”

Her heart skidded to a stop. How does he know my name? Throat constricted, she shook her head.

“For you, Miss Emilie. I’m here for you.”

For Emilie Davis, it was business as usual in her job as bank manager of WestOne until two men storm in demanding cash. However, it doesn’t take long before Emilie learns one of the men isn’t there for money–he’s convinced they have a connection and has come to claim her. And he won’t give up.

When hostage negotiator Nathan Madigan and Las Vegas SWAT enter the bank on a rescue mission, Emilie’s captor makes a shocking escape into the abyss that lies beneath the city: the Las Vegas storm drains, a refuge for the downtrodden and the desperate.

Through the darkness of the Devil’s Underground and secrets from her past, Emilie finds there is no escape from her stalker. She turns to Nathan, who is determined to save her no matter what it takes.

Welcome To Las VegasWelcome To Las Vegas by Stacy Green

Tate is afraid of the dark. But his junkie sister has disappeared into the terrifying storm drains below Las Vegas. The tunnels stretch hundreds of miles beneath the city, housing the city’s homeless and criminal element. Armed with only his flashlight, Tate wades into the gritty depths of the storm drains to rescue his sister from her demons.

Every step into the smothering darkness challenges Tate’s resolve. With his sister’s life and his own sanity at stake, Tate must face his fears or risk fading into the dank oblivion of the Las Vegas tunnels.

 

 

All Good Deeds (Lucy Kendall #1)All Good Deeds (Lucy Kendall #1) by Stacy Green

She’s no killer. She’s just taking out the trash. 

Don’t call Lucy Kendall a serial killer. She’s fighting for the innocent, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring justice.

When a child disappears, Lucy quickly discovers the link to a predator she’s faced before–a man the state of Pennsylvania decided to turn loose on the streets. Determined to find the little girl and put a criminal behind bars for good, Lucy forces her way onto the case.

As the search for the kidnapped child pulls Lucy into a web of evil beyond her darkest imagination, she’ll have to face her own dark truths to save the little girl–and herself.

Friday Musings

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This week has been a tough week all around with work and personal life and I haven’t had a whole lot of time for my Presidential Reading Challenge. Which of course is bothering me but I shall rally on and pick it up back this weekend. Having said that, I have made progress in an audio book I have been listening too-The Last Mrs. Parish and an ARC by St, Martin Press called, “Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen.

I’m 54% done with Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen: This is a really good story! I’ve always wondered how the Union Army would be able to recruit ex-slaves-right after the civil war- to become Buffalo Soldiers knowing what they were going to do to the Indians. Or did they really have a clear picture in the beginning? It really had always baffled me. This story goes into that a little from what I’ve read so far and now I understand what the Union Army could have told the soldiers to make them fight the Indians. I’m kind-of dreading reading about what is going to happen once they get out west-already knowing its history. I shall prevail!

I’m almost done listening to The Last Mrs. Parish and boy oh boy there is a HUGE twist in the story. Not only that but the characters are disturbing to say the least! Wow! Good story though, really good. One of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while, I must say.

Have a wonderful weekend and see you on Monday!

Cheers!

Stephanie M. Hopkins

 

A Lovely Weekend To You

I’ve had a busy week and lots on my mind for new posts series starting soon at Layered Pages! As many of you know I posted about two giveaways and they are still open. Please don’t miss your chance to enter them. They are fabulous!

Gradie BirdieI’ve stared reading a southern story-Gradle Bird by J.C. Sassen- and I have fully embraced with the soulful sentiment in this story that reaches the core of a person’s heart. I am journaling passages that are making a profound impact on my journey reading this story. A story that touches you so…

So far, I am highly recommended this book. Hopefully I will be able to publish a review of the story soon. This will be part of my southern author’s series that I mentioned in a previous post. I was hoping to get a review up this week but yet again, it did not happen. I know my followers expect to see my book reviews and I need to be better at posting them. There is just not enough time in the day to get everything done!

Paper for book marksI’m also working on another project. I’ve got my paper selected for the 36 handmade bookmarks I’m making for a wonderful group of ladies. Can’t wait to see how they turn out! Bookmarks are so much fun to make. Normally I use scarp paper to make them but these I want to go all out. The ladies I am sending them to read Historical Fiction and I know these patterns are perfect for the genre.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend and thank you for visiting me today! See you on Monday.

Stephanie M. Hopkins

 

Art & Bookish Things

Me outside October 2017

Good morning or what’s left of it! I hope everyone had a great Monday. I was able to get a few things done yesterday and over the weekend I got some reading time in and an art project almost completed. I’m already outlining or planning-if you will- the next art project I’ve had in my mind for a while. I’ve always been fascinated with trees and drawing them. There is a tree on a farm that my daughter and I pass quite often right outside our neighborhood that has always drawn me in. The tree is a pine and the branches are uniquely curved and it gives a haunting look to the observer. I am going to do my best to capture its essence in the new art project. As for the other art projects I have been working on, you shall see those soon.

On September 17 I posted an excerpt review of Origin by Dan Brown. That was my first time writing that kind-of review for a book. Now I am currently listening to the whole novel on Audible. I can’t wait to share my final thoughts of the story to you all soon. Be on the lookout for it!

Thank you for visiting Layered Pages!

Stephanie M. Hopkins

OriginOrigin (Robert Langdon #5) by Dan Brown

Published October 3rd 2017 by Doubleday Books

Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to attend a major announcement—the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist whose dazzling high-tech inventions and audacious predictions have made him a renowned global figure. Kirsch, who was one of Langdon’s first students at Harvard two decades earlier, is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough . . . one that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence.

As the event begins, Langdon and several hundred guests find themselves captivated by an utterly original presentation, which Langdon realizes will be far more controversial than he ever imagined. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Reeling and facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch to stage the provocative event. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.

Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade a tormented enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain’s Royal Palace itself . . . and who will stop at nothing to silence Edmond Kirsch. On a trail marked by modern art and enigmatic symbols, Langdon and Vidal uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch’s shocking discovery . . . and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us.

 

A Weekend of Reading & Art

Fall reading display 2017

I am having a lot of fun with my Fall time displays this year. This is the first year I have really been proactive in sharing them with you all. I am hoping to do this on an ongoing basis as part as my blogging journey. One must explore their creativity and recording these mediums will heighten the cherish memories even more. This weekend I will be finishing a couple of art projects and I want to get some reading time in. Please feel free to share what you will be doing this weekend!

I hope you all have a lovely, creative weekend! See you on Monday!

Stephanie M. Hopkins

**Book Hangover **

book-open

Is there a definition for a book hangover? Though book enthusiast know exactly what it is. For the fun of it I decided to google the meaning and see if there was an official one. Low and behold there is a lot on this subject. Here is a blog I discovered who posts about the subject which pretty much sums it up.

“A book hangover is condition in which attachment to a book or series that has ended causes the reader traumatic emotional distress. It usually lasts for one to two weeks, or until a new book of higher-than-average quality enters the reader’s life.” –Epic Reads

While Epic Reads list great treatments for a book hangover, I have come up with my own. They are as follow:

  1. Though you probably have thousands of books on your shelf to read. Don’t let that stop you from heading to your local bookstore! I find browsing the shelves helps inspire fresh and new stories to read.
  2. Check out what your fellow readers or book bloggers are reading.
  3. Watch a TV series or movie in your area of interest and that might give you a light bulb moment as to what to read next! Netflix or Amazon Video is always helpful in that area.
  4. Pick five of your already owned books and read the first two chapters of each book. See what grabs you.
  5. A good rant to your bookish friends might do the trick.
  6. Eat large quantities of your favorite chocolate. How does this help, you ask? Well, it’s chocolate. It cures everything. Need I say more?

What are your remedies to cure a Book Hangover? Please share!

Stephanie M. Hopkins

Cover Crush: City of Glory by Beverly Swerling

City of GloryThis week I came across this author and book cover on social media and ever since, I have been drawn to it. The premise & hisory itself is something I am highly interested in and one I hope to read soon. The story takes place in Old New York and the cover shows a city of promise and thriving with life. I love the colors, design!

(This is the second book in the series: Old New York 2)

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Set against the dramatic backdrop of America’s second war for independence, Beverly Swerling’s gripping and intricately plotted sequel to the much-loved “City of Dreams” plunges deep into the crowded streets of old New York. Poised between the Manhattan woods and the sea that is her gateway to the world, the city of 1812 is vibrant but raw, a cauldron where the French accents of Creole pirates mingle with the brogues of Irish seamen, and shipments of rare teas and silks from Canton are sold at raucous Pearl Street auctions. Allegiances are more changeable than the tides, love and lust often indistinguishable, the bonds of country weak compared to the temptation of fabulous riches from the East, and only a few farseeing patriots recognize the need not only to protect the city from the redcoats, but to preserve the fragile Constitutional union forged in 1787.

Joyful Patrick Turner, dashing war hero and brilliant surgeon, loses his hand to a British shell, retreats to private life, and hopes to make his fortune in the China trade. To succeed he must run the British blockade; if he fails, he will lose not only a livelihood, but the beautiful Manon, daughter of a Huguenot jeweler who will not accept a pauper as a son-in-law. When stories of a lost treasure and a mysterious diamond draw him into a treacherous maze of deceit and double-cross, and the British set Washington ablaze, Joyful realizes that more than his personal future is at stake. His adversary, Gornt Blakeman, has a lust for power that will not be sated until he claims Joyful’s fiancee as his wife and half a nation as his personal fiefdom. Like the Turners before him, Joyful must choose: his dreams or hiscountry.

Swerling’s vividly drawn characters illuminate every aspect of the teeming metropolis: John Jacob Astor, the wealthiest man in America, brings the city’s first Chinese to staff his palatial Broadway mansion; Lucretia Carter, wife of a respectable craftsman, makes ends meet as an abortionist serving New York’s brothels; Thumbless Wu, a mysterious Cantonese stowaway, slinks about on a secret mission; and the bewitching Delight Higgins, proprietress of the town’s finest gambling club, lives in terror of the blackbirding gangs who prey on runaway slaves. They are all here, the butchers and shipwrights, the doctors and scriv-eners, the slum dwellers of Five Points and the money men of the infant stock exchange…conspiring by day and carousing by night, while the women must hide their loyalties and ambitions, their very wills, behind pretty sighs and silken skirts.

Cover Crush banner

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated with Erin at Flashlight Commentary. Be sure to check out these great cover crushes and bloggers this week. The Maiden’s CourtFlashlight CommentaryA Bookaholic Swede.

Confessions of A Book Blogger

Stay calm and support book bloggers

Book Bloggers are a unique breed of readers. Our passion for reading and sharing that passion runs deep within us. We have to express ourselves in this form of medium. We live a thousand lives through reading. We adore the written word. We not only do it for ourselves, but for other readers like us.

Book Blogging isn’t always easy and we need help from the authors we shine a light on. We want our favorite authors to succeed and reaching out to as many readers as possible. By doing this, it takes both the authors and bloggers to support each other. Often times I hear authors talk about on social media how they aren’t reaching the audience they want. So here is what I have to say about that.

Authors, you want to increase your audience on social media? There are several ways in doing that. Today, I’m going to talk about supporting the book blogger. You see, we are a major part of your social media success.

Check list for supporting book bloggers:

  1. Be patient: Book Bloggers have day jobs and families to take care of to.
  2. When you appear as a guest on their blogs, take note of it and save the post link(s). Share and tweet that post on a regular basis.
  3. Be sure to always thank a book blogger for their support. Maybe even send them a copy of your book or bookmarks. We love those and will most likely spread the word on social media when an author does this. Another great marketing tool.
  4. Book Bloggers are not your everyday reader. Most of us are book reviewers and professional readers. We are required to give an honest analyses of books we review. This is the norm. So it needs to be expected.
  5. Follow blogger’s websites, twitter profile and Facebook pages. See what they are up too on goodreads. Engage regularly with book bloggers.
  6. If you have a disagreement with a blogger, do not further engage or get on social media and smear their name. This will only hurt you and your book sales. Just move on. It’s only one person out of millions.
  7. When you appear as a guest on blogs or if they review as part of a tour, please comment on the post and thank them. Show to their audience you care and appreciate their hard work in hosting you.
  8. When others comment on the post, thank them as well. Engage.

There is that word again. Engage. Do it the right way and you will reap the rewards.

Next up on Confessions of a Book Blogger, I will be discussing how Bloggers should support authors. To be posted on February 16th.

Stephanie M. Hopkins