Ruby Heart by Cristelle Comby

Ruby Heart
The Neve & Egan cases - Volume 2
by Cristelle Comby

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Ruby Heart blog tour

GET your copy: Amazon
Just released: September 2013
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Genre: Mystery, New Adult
Paperback: 290 pages
Rating: 4.5

When elderly client Doris Hargrave informs private investigator Alexandra Neve that her beloved antique ruby heart necklace has gone missing for the second time in a period of over sixty years, Alexandra knows this is no ordinary jewelry theft. The ruby heart is a family heirloom and the only thing that connects an ailing Mrs Hargrave to her parents, who were murdered during the Holocaust.

To solve the case, Alexandra and her business partner, blind history professor Ashford Egan, must sift through obscure Holocaust documents to find out the truth. It’s that way that they learn of a secret World War II-era love affair which could hold the key to all the answers they are looking for. Meanwhile, Egan is under immense pressure from the university to quit his private investigating business, and Alexandra is afraid that a man she trusts will leave her. Again.

When Alexandra begins to receive anonymous threats and her flat is vandalised, this all becomes personal. Knowing that there is someone out there to hurt her, Alexandra vows to find that elusive ruby heart if it’s the last thing she ever does.

Series:
Russian Dolls
Ruby Heart
Danse Macabre - release in 2014

My two-bits:
A tough girl and a Mr. Nice guy team up in this mystery series that includes some history on WW2 and art. There are a couple action segments that add an element of danger.

I fell in love with this private investigation duo. Their interaction and respect for each other is a nice draw to continue to follow them. Also, the fact that one of the PI's is blind presents an extra challenge while on cases which puts an interesting twist on things. Actually, all the main characters are likable in a comfy way.

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About author:
Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides.

Thanks to her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas, her English is fluent.

She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.

Ruby Heart is her second new-adult novel, and she’s hard at work on the next titles in the Neve & Egan series.

--~ Giveaway courtesy of tour ~--
WIN $25 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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* if you would be interested in reading my review copy, leave a comment with your email by Dec 22, 2013
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Contest has ended - winner is here

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* review copy and giveaway courtesy of Ruby Heart tour - check out the other stops for more details on this book and goodies here.

Stocking Stuffer Giveaway: The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen

The Twelve Clues of Christmas
A Royal Spyness Mystery
by Rhys Bowen
She may be thirty-fifth in line for the throne, but Lady Georgiana Rannoch cannot wait to ring in the new year—before a Christmas killer wrings another neck…

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me—well, actually, my true love, Darcy O’Mara, is spending a feliz navidad tramping around South America. Meanwhile, Mummy is holed up in a tiny village called Tiddleton-under-Lovey with that droll Noel Coward! And I’m snowed in at Castle Rannoch with my bumbling brother, Binky, and sourpuss sister-in-law, Fig.

So it’s a miracle when I contrive to land a position as hostess to a posh holiday party in Tiddleton. The village is like something out of A Christmas Carol! But no sooner have I arrived than a neighborhood nuisance, a fellow named Freddie falls out of a tree, dead…. Dickensian, indeed.

Freddie’s merely a stocking stuffer. On my second day in town, another so-called accident turns up another mincemeat pie—and yet another on my third. The village is buzzing that a recent prison break could have something to do with it… that, or a long-standing witch’s curse. I’m not so sure. But after Darcy shows up beneath the mistletoe, anything could be possible in this wicked wonderland.

--~ eBook Giveaway ~--
WIN a Kindle version of this!

Open to all.

Offer ends: December 22, 2013

TO DO:

TELL me something you like about the holiday season.

OR

TELL me a christmas-related joke.

AND, leave your email

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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Life Is But A Dream by Brian James

Life Is But A Dream
by Brian James

Visit Brian:
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Published: 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genre: YA
Hardback: 240 pages
Rating: 5

Sabrina, an artist, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her parents check her into the Wellness Center. There she meets Alec, who is convinced it's the world that's crazy, not the two of them. They are meant to be together; they are special. But when Alec starts to convince Sabrina that her treatment will wipe out everything that makes her creative, she worries that she'll lose hold of her dreams and herself. Should she listen to her doctor? her decision may have fatal consequences.

Brian James calls Life is But a Dream "the most intense book I've written. Bringing this unique character to life and seeing the world through her eyes, with all its beauty and confusion, was an immense challenge that I hope is just as rewarding to read as it was to write." Intense--yes. Unforgettable--definitely.

Zombie sighting:
I shurg as the colored pencil glides easily over the paper. — You know why. They think people spend too much time with stuff like that. — I turn around and roll my eyes up in my head like a zombie and hold my hands up pretending to grab for Kayliegh. — It controls your mind and rots your brains. — I growl and we both crack up laughing.
-chapter 5, page 52

My two-bits:
This was a beautifully told story. It is told from the perspective of a young adult with a mental illness. The protagonist describes surreal scenes juxtaposed against her painful reality that made me empathize with her and her predicament.

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* review copy courtesy of author

* part of virtual book event: Night Night

The Ravens of Solemano by Eden Unger Bowditch

The Ravens of Solemano
or The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black
(The Young Inventors Guild)
by Eden Unger Bowditch

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Just released: September 2013
Publisher: Bancroft Press
Genre: Fantasy, Steampunk (a bit), Middle Grade
Hardback: 465 pages
Rating: 3.5

The Young Inventors Guild series:
The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black
The Ravens of Solemano or The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black
book 3 - tba

Amazon | BarnesNoble

It has been mere days since the brilliant children of the Young Inventors Guild escaped from the clutches of the horrible Komar Romak.

They've escaped with their lovely and caring schoolteacher, Miss Brett; with their long-absent parents; and with their bizarre captors, protectors, or both--the mysterious men in black. And now they travel by train, destined for parts unknown.

But a note torn from the hand of a dead man in a New York tunnel guarantees that safety is an illusion. When the children's world is blown apart, life will never be the same again.

Soon, the children--Jasper and little Lucy Modest, from London, England; Wallace Banneker, from New York, United States; Noah Canto-Sagas, from Toronto, Canada; and Faye Vigyanveta, from Delhi, India--find themselves in the ancient Italian village of Solemano, deep in a mystery that spans centuries. As they inch toward the truth of the men in black and the secrets they keep, one terrible fact remains:

Komar Romak is still out there. He's still after them, for reasons they can't even begin to imagine.

And he knows exactly where they are . . .

From the rolling plains of America to the wide-open waters of the Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibraltar to a remarkable village in the hills of Abruzzo, Italy, The Ravens of Solemano or The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black, the second book of Eden Unger Bowditch's Young Inventors Guild trilogy, is an adventure like no other, as the children draw ever closer to the answers to the mysteries that surround them.

My two-bits:
In-a-word(s):
You will experience some traveling, good eating and inventing in this second tale to this trilogy.

I found this to story to be slow-paced as the kids continue to bond while trying to remain safe from the baddie, Komar Romak.

However, the interesting draw to read book two was discovering the mystery behind the mysterious men in black as well as things about their past.

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* if you would like to read my arc copy, leave me a comment with your email address by Dec 22, 2013
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Contest has ended - winner is here

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* review copy courtesy of publisher

* part of virtual book event: TEA on The Filigree

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