Giveaway: Apple TV – Ends 6/5

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

Welcome to the Apple TV Giveaway Event hosted by Famous Free Samples!

Famous Free Samples and an amazing group of bloggers is giving away an Apple TV, in the form of a $100 Apple gift card, to one lucky winner!

Not sure what Apple TV is? It’s a pretty neat device. Here’s how it works:

“Apple TV gives you access to the best 1080p HD content – including blockbuster movies, your music and photos, and more – right on your widescreen TV. You can even play content from your iOS devices on your TV using AirPlay.”

This giveaway run May 22nd through June 5th at 11:59pm EST. Open to residents of the US only, 18+.

Use the PromoSimple form to enter. Don’t forget to stop by every day to earn your daily entries. Good luck!

Win an Apple TV

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Review: New Wings by Donna Stanley

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Thank you to Glass Road for putting together this blog tour.

About the Book

Why is it that when we pray for the supernatural, we are surprised when it shows up?

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Stanton knows the Bible says guardian angels exist, but assumes they only show up when people are dying or need to be saved from some kind of sudden disaster…until her own guardian angel appears to her in the form of a handsome blonde-haired, blue-eyed guy her own age. As Olivia gets to know Mike, she begins to see angels—both good and evil—on a regular basis, and quickly learns how many misconceptions she had about the spiritual realm.
Will Mike be able to prepare Olivia for the daunting spiritual battle about to overtake her small town before it destroys her and everyone she cares about?

For more information about New Wings you can visit Donna Stanley’s blog or Like her on Facebook. You can purchase a copy of New Wings from my Amazon Store.

My Review

Before I get into the book itself I have to say that I love this cover. Something about it is so soothing to me. It’s so simple and yet the images that it invokes in my brain are very comforting. Why a wing has such strong emotions attached to it I’m not really sure but they’re there. So needless to say that even before I started reading this one I was already in love with it. I also love the quote that’s on the cover and in the book description. I think that one of the biggest failings we have with religion is that we’re not fully ready to accept what can be accomplished through faith. So when our prayers are answered we figure there has to be a different reason. Most people find it hard to believe that someone is truly listening to their prayers – large and small.

Olivia has been chosen to receive a gift. She can see angels – and demons and spirits. I think she handles her new abilities very well. I know that if I were in her shoes I would be much more freaked out about things for much longer than she seems to be freaked out by it. But maybe that’s part of the reason why she was given this gift – she was ready for handling it responsibly. As the story progresses and Olivia starts to use the power of prayer more often I started to relate to her a lot better. Even though I’m not a traditional “religious” person I pray regularly for all sorts of things big and small. It seems that at the beginning of the story Olivia only prays for the big things. Her realization that getting help with the small stuff is also an acceptable use of prayer is kind of refreshing for me. I think for many people prayer is seen as what you do when someone is sick, or someone is hurt, or something else big. Praying for someone to find the right words to say to someone who has been hurting isn’t really something most people pray about. So out of everything about Olivia I think that realization is my favorite part of her spiritual change. I do have to admit that I didn’t get a full image of who her friends and family were. Mike on the other hand is pretty well rounded. I had a good idea of what his reactions to certain situations would be, and I understood why he did the things he did – outside of protecting his charge, Olivia.

The premise of the story is great – being able to see the constant battle that is ensuing between good and evil. I think it was fairly well executed. My only issue with the story is that some things were just a little to convenient. I know that to keep the story from becoming War and Peace certain liberties have to be taken. There were just a couple of occasions where things almost felt out of place in the story because they were so obvious what was going to happen. Outside of those couple instances I can say that I really enjoyed reading this. It helped to reaffirm some of my beliefs about our lives and how we interact with the spiritual realm – or more so what kinds of affect we can have on the spiritual realm. Some of the topics dealt with are a little difficult to read about so I would have to say this is a book for older teens 15 and up. But I think that anyone who’s struggling to understand our part in the battle between good vs. evil should read it. Young adults who are just starting to truly look at their faith and beliefs could also benefit from reading this one.

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Giveaway: Amazon GC from author S.M. Blooding – Ends 5/26

May 22, 2013 By 2 Comments

Fall of Sky CityFall of Sky City

Genre: New Adult Fantasy, Steampunk Adventure

In a world governed by the opposing forces of the mystical House of Tarot and the tribal Great Families, Synn is caught in the crossfire. He witnesses the slaughter of innocent people, and the devastating murder of his father. This act awakens his Mark of power, a Mark greater than any the world has seen in a very long time.

Queen Nix thought she won a great prize when she destroyed Synn’s father, the leader of the strongest Great Families. She had no idea she’d be doubly blessed by capturing his son. However, before Synn can become her treasured weapon, before she can use him to bring the rest of the world to its knees, she must break him and bind his soul to hers.

She does her job with brutal brilliance. Synn’s mind is broken and his soul is seared to hers in an unbreakable bond.

That doesn’t stop him from wanting to be free. She may have broken his mind and claimed his soul, but he will find a way to destroy her.
Experience a world of ships that sail the clouds and cites buried beneath the ocean, and survive the fiery battle brought forth by those who control the forces of nature!

About Author SM Blooding

SM Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, Ms. Bird, the Chicken and SistaPITA. It’s quite the zoo. She’s taken a break from the piano, which Ms, Bird is quite happy about, and now knows more than one word in Arabic. Basically, she can say hello, good-bye, give it to me, and hurry up!

She’s dated vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, weapons smugglers and US Government assassins. Yes. She has stories.

Follow SM Blooding:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Follow the Tour!

http://www.promotionalbooktours.com/2013/04/fall-of-sky-city-book-tour/

You can check out my review here.

The Author is giving away a $50 Amazon GC. Fill out the form below to Enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Review: Fall of Sky City by S.M. Blooding

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Thanks to Promotional Book Tours for putting together this tour. Check out the rest of the tour here.

Fall of Sky City

About the Book

In a world governed by the opposing forces of the mystical House of Tarot and the tribal Great Families, Synn is caught in the crossfire. He witnesses the slaughter of innocent people, and the devastating murder of his father. This act awakens his Mark of power, a Mark greater than any the world has seen in a very long time.

Queen Nix thought she won a great prize when she destroyed Synn’s father, the leader of the strongest Great Families. She had no idea she’d be doubly blessed by capturing his son. However, before Synn can become her treasured weapon, before she can use him to bring the rest of the world to its knees, she must break him and bind his soul to hers.

She does her job with brutal brilliance. Synn’s mind is broken and his soul is seared to hers in an unbreakable bond.

That doesn’t stop him from wanting to be free. She may have broken his mind and claimed his soul, but he will find a way to destroy her.
Experience a world of ships that sail the clouds and cites buried beneath the ocean, and survive the fiery battle brought forth by those who control the forces of nature!

Follow SM Blooding:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

My Review

I have never read steampunk before, I’d heard of the genre I’d just never picked it up. So I wasn’t sure what kind of a story it was going to be, but the synopsis sounded good. I am so glad that I decided to try this one. The story was very entertaining. It was exciting, scary, suspenseful, emotional, and adventurous. Within the first 3 chapters I experienced all those emotions – along with awe at the world that was created by this story. I still can’t say that I’m a 100% sure what steampunk is but I will be looking for more in the genre. If the rest of the genre is even half as entertaining as this story was I think I might have found a new favorite genre.

Synn is a wonderful character. He goes through quite a few realizations and transformations through out the story. Fighting with him to make it home, learn what his abilities are, and how he uses them was enough of a story in itself. But there was so much more to this one than just Synn. Queen Nix was a crazy scary character. She is willing to do just about anything to make people break to her will. I would not want to meet her in a dark alley – in an open sky boat in mid air she’s scary enough, no more needs to be added to scare the crap out of me. Some of the things she did made me cringe and I was so engrossed in the story that I was having “sympathy pains”. It was a weird experience – but so well worth it. The rest of the characters are very well developed. Even ones that aren’t in the story very long are given enough background that I really did get a sense of who they were.

Outside of the exciting story and the wonderful characters was the world that Sky City takes place in. It was beautiful. Even in the dark parts of the story I loved this world so much that I didn’t want to put this one down. I used to say I’d love to live in Wonderland if I could live in any fictional place I wanted – but now I would have to say the sky boats and water lands would be a wonderful place to live. Well at least it would be beautiful – living in the same world as Nix is not something I would find enjoyable.

I loved the plot, the characters, the imagery, and the background. I will be checking out steampunk again soon and will absolutely be reading more S.M. Blooding. This was just an amazing story – can’t wait to read the next in the series.

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Review: Accidentally…Evil? by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

May 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Thanks to Julie with Grand Central Publishing for letting me be a part of this tour.

About the Book

When Maggie O’Hare hears those words she thinks she’s lost her mind. One minute she was traipsing around the Mayan jungle looking for her father’s excavation site; the next she’s accused of being immortal by a guy who swears he’s a god. And as for the making love part . . . well, the fact that it sounds like a very good idea is a sure sign she’s gone mad. But this guy who calls himself the God of Virility-he’s superhot. And every time he touches her, something crazy happens.

Backlum Chaam has waited seventy thousand years to meet the woman Fate has chosen for him, and now that she’s here, he can’t believe his luck. Maggie is brilliant and gorgeous and everything he could have dreamed of . . . except that she insists she’s human. But Chaam knows that’s impossible-a god could never love a human. And if he seduces one, their passion could have the power to destroy mankind . . .

For more information about Accidentally… Evil? or the rest of the Accidentally Yours series you can visit Mimi Jean’s website, Like her on Facebook, or Follow her on Twitter. You can also purchase a copy of Accidentally… Evil? from my Amazon Store.

My Review

Before I even started reading this book I could tell there was going to be a good amount of humor in it. The acknowledgments were infused with humor (albeit an inside joke with her social media fans.) So when I started to get into the book I was happy that the humor continued. It gave the book a fanciful feeling. I knew the story was going to be a fun read and it’s not meant to be a serious (as in not funny ha ha) romance novella. I tend to read lots of heavy and serious books, so I love when I get to change the pace a little bit and read something that is meant to be fun. And the humor in this one is similar to my sense of humor – a bit raunchy and sarcastic – so I was able to get into the story that much more.

The novella follows Maggie and Chaam. Maggie is a fairly well developed character – she’s got a story, a purpose, and morals. She did come off as a bit of a prude (even for 1934) at the begining of the story, but as she started to warm up to Chaam I started to warm up to her. The other characters – Chaam, Cimil, and grandpa – aren’t as well developed in this novella. After reading some of the excerpts from other books in the Accidentally Yours series I can tell that Chaam and Cimil’s characters are developed in other stories.

This novella made me want to read the rest of the series for two major reasons. 1 – there is such a build up and the story ends as a cliffhanger, so I have a need to find out what happens next. 2 – I think I could really like these characters. I don’t feel like I missed out not having fully read any of the other books, but I would like to know a bit more of the back story.

The story was humorous and it did live up to it’s warning: sexual content and naughty words. This was a nice change of pace for me and I enjoyed reading it. I would pick up more of Mimi Jean’s books in the future.

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Review: Ava: Princess of Fairy Grove by Brittany Weddle

May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Thank you to the author for sending me a ebook copy to read.

About the Book

Ava might be a princess, but she rather being doing just about anything else when it comes to her studies and even goes against her parents rules from time to time. When her parents learn that she’s hasn’t been showing up for her lessons, they’re shocked to find out what she’s really been up to.

Follow Ava along her journey to what it truly means to be a princess in book one in the Ava Chronicles.

For more information about the Ava Chronicles you can check out Brittany Weddle’s website, Like her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter. You can purchase a copy of Ava: Princess of Fairy Grove from my Amazon store.

My Review [Read more...]

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5/20/13 – Just Jennifer Weekly Recap

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Well I got a lot more done on the blog this week than last week. I still have TONS of stuff to post – and everything I posted this week barely cut a chunk into what I need to get up. But take the small victories where you can get them, right? So I’m just going to be happy with what I did get done :-)

I also got to go to the dentist this week. I am probably the only person in the world who is excited for going to the dentist. I haven’t had insurance for a very long time so I haven’t had my teeth cleaned in a very long time. I love the feeling of my teeth after a cleaning! Next week is going to be busy busy busy – I’ve got a ton of mystery shop assignments to get done. So I’m trying to get a bunch of reading done this weekend so I don’t miss getting any posts up.

So just in case you missed it – here’s what went on at Just Jennifer this week

I got to interview the amazing Chelsea Pitcher. She is the author of The S-Word. I really enjoyed reading her book and tweeting with her this week. I’m starting to catch on to the whole Twitter thing - I think :-)

Then I got to review a couple really good books.

Leif also did a guest post about writing, the adventures in his life, and living with a mental illness. It’s pretty interesting.

I posted a couple of giveaways:

Then I decided that I would try to do an awesome manicure - I don’t think it turned out horrible. You can at least tell that it’s the image from Dark Side of the Moon….

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I got an email letting me know I got selected to receive the next influenster box – can’t wait to get that! Plus I got coupons for a new BzzAgent mission. So more product reviews in the pipeline!

I also realized that my Alexa score dropped below 1,000,000 – that’s really exciting! And I realized that my Facebook fans are night owls just like me – as my late night posts seem to be the ones that get the most views. Or I’m just more interesting at night? I guess it could be either.

So that’s what happened this week. Anything exciting happen in your week? I’d love to hear about it.

Don’t forget there still some time left to enter these giveaways:

 

 

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Guest Post: Author Leif Gregersen

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

ThroughThe

Today I have the joy of bringing to you a guest post from the author of Through the Withering Storm: A Brief History of a Mental Illness, Leif Gregersen.

Check out my review here.

Through_The_Witherin_Cover_for_Kindle

A lot of people ask me about why I wrote my book, “Through The Withering Storm”, and to most I respond that I wanted to help people to better understand mental illness, whether they were going through it or if they had family members, or even to people in the general public. That answer is really only partly right. One of the reasons I wanted to get into writing was because I felt I would be good at it, and I mistakenly thought there was a lot of money in it. Actually, my book was abandoned a couple of times along the way because I was working from such a rough mental template that I was far from ever publishing it. In 15 years I made barely a cent off of the book, but I kept writing-poetry, short stories, I found that I loved to write and I even found that I loved to help other people write. Whether you are a security guard or a farmer, I feel that everyone has at least one good book in them and I like to say I am here for anyone who wants to ‘learn the trade’, because writing and distributing something can be the most rewarding thing a person can do. [Read more...]

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Review: Through the Withering Storm: A Brief History of a Mental Illness by Leif Gregersen

May 19, 2013 By 1 Comment

ThroughThe

Thanks to Sage’s Blog Tours for putting together this tour, and for letting me be a part of it!

Through_The_Witherin_Cover_for_Kindle

About the Book

This is a book written about my life growing up with bipolar disorder. It closely follows my extensive travels, my days as an Air Cadet, days as a pilot, and the horrible experiences of being locked up in a mental hospital. Richard Van Camp, author of ten books whose latest has been made into a movie, had this to say about “Through The Withering Storm”: Every once in a blessing while, a voice comes out of nowhere that astonishes you with its’ vulnerability and courage. Leif Gregersen is this voice for me. I pray “Through The Withering Storm” finds its’ way to those grappling with mental illness so they can see that they are not alone and that there is support out there, and I pray that this book finds its’ way into the homes of those families who are trying to find insight into what’s happening to someone they love who is battling a mental illness. This book is one I will return to time an time again for humility and empathy. Thank you Leif, for your courage, and for sharing your story. -Richard Van Camp, author of “The Lesser Blessed”

Check out Leif’s website.  If you’re interested you can purchase a copy of Through the Withering Storm from my Amazon store.

You can also check out the guest post he did for Just Jennifer.

See what other’s on the tour thought of the book here.

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My Review

Even before I started reading this book I was drawn to it. Being someone who suffers with depression I like to hear other’s stories. It makes me not feel so alone in the world. Even when you’re surrounded by family and friends when you’re dealing with depression you still feel very alone. So having these stories is somewhat therapeutic for me. It’s like the light at the end of the tunnel. Someone else has been there and look where they are now – you can get there too. It was comforting to see some of what I have experienced over the last few years also be a part of someone else’s life. So I have to thank Leif for sharing his story with the world. I hope that it brings about the awareness you are striving for.

While this book was therapeutic for me to read I think that it’s something the loved ones of a mentally ill person could benefit from. I think if you’ve never been the one to deal with depression it’s really hard to understand what it’s like. What kind of struggles occur on a daily basis. And those of us with depression can’t always explain what we’re going through, because in all honesty you don’t really know what’s going on sometimes. Now my depression has never gotten to the point of hallucinations, like Leif’s does, but I still have dealt with many of the things he has dealt with. He explains what he was going through so well. I think that’s the biggest benefit a mentally healthy person could get from this – he explains so well what depression is like.

The book is well written. Even though it’s a biography it doesn’t read like a biography. It’s easy to follow and isn’t monotonous. The adventures that Leif has in his life are the things that fiction is based on. There’s even a few times where he makes reference to “that’s how they did it in the movies.” And even though depression and Leif’s story are not happy topics, it’s not a heavy story. I don’t think I would have been able to make it to the end if it were a heavy book. Yes it’s great to read someone else’s story, but it really made me look at some of the things in my life that were similar to Leif’s.

So it’s an exciting book in that there’s a lot going on. It’s a learning tool in that it spells out pretty accurately what a depressed person is going through. And it’s also a comfort to someone with depression to be able to see in writing that they aren’t the only one. Given how common mental illness is becoming in the world I think this is one that just about anyone would benefit from reading. If it’s not you, it’s likely someone you know that is going through something similar.

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Painting My Nails: Dark Side of the Moon

May 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I was going to go really simple this week, because I’ve got a busy week and touching up a solid color manicure is much easier than touching up a “fancy” one. But I came across a pin that made me change my mind. It’s a pretty neat manicure, you can see it here. And since I couldn’t get it out of my head I decided to try it. It didn’t come out amazing or anything – but I don’t think it’s horrible.

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So other than using a TON of colors this one was much easier than I thought it was going to be. I couple of months ago I bought a set of paint brushes and this was the first time I’d gotten to use them. I started with the black and then did the prism and the stream of light. I figured starting with the bottom color and working my way up would be easier. So I used a really thin brush and did the rainbow in this order: Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red. And since my right hand looked pretty plain I decided (remember this was at 4:00 in the morning when I was finishing this manicure up) to spell out Pink Floyd on my nails. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to “fix” it or not. I think since I’m probably going to ruin it anyway within a few days that I’ll just leave it and as it chips I’ll just paint over the letters in black.

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See it’s pretty bad – but in my defense I was a bit delusional at 4am and I was trying to “write” with my left hand. I am by no means ambidextrous so the fact that you can almost tell what all the letters are is pretty amazing. [Read more...]

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