Scion of The Sun Book Tour

Twin Flames Book Tour

Product Review: Immortal Sleep

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

DressFirst.com for Your Special Occasions!

sponsored post!

Are you looking for that perfect dress for the holidays? Or is there a special occasion coming up that you want to look perfect for? Then look no further! Dress First has everything you need. They offer dresses for your Prom, Sweet Sixteen, Quinceanera, Homecoming, Graduation, Wedding, and Holiday Events. There are beautiful evening gowns, little black dresses, cocktail dresses, and so much more.

There are some absolutely gorgeous Holiday Dresses at Dress First . They range from elegant and sophisticated to flirty and youthful. Here are some of my favorites from the site. I would love to wear any one of these beauties! 

Aren't they absolutely lovely! There are so many to choose from on the site that I had a hard time choosing the ones I wanted to show you. 

There are also Wedding Dresses for any of you that are shopping for the perfect dress for our big day. The dresses range from classic and so elegant to modern and chic. There are many styles and colors to choose from. I found quite a few dresses that are almost mind numbingly beautiful! If I could have worn one of these for my wedding I would have felt like a princess. Here is the one dress that I wish I had been wearing on my wedding day.

Dress First doesn't only supply beautiful dresses. They sell shoes and accessories as well.

They offer men's, women's and children's shoes on their site in almost any style that you can imagine. They have some gorgeous shoes that I would love to own just so I could sit and look at them every day. They make it easy to find what you are looking for on this site. For example are you looking for shoes for going out Salsa dancing? Would you like them to have heels, be the color black, have an ankle strap and be under $50? Then check the corresponding boxes and here is what you'll find. Perfect, right?

Check out all that they offer in the way of accessories that will help make your special day even more special. They have a section for each of these categories: Wedding Veils, Lingerie, Wraps, Shapewear, Wedding Shoes, Gloves, Headpieces, Sashes, Handbags, Wedding Umbrellas, Jewelry, Wedding Garment Bag, Wedding Flowers, Makeup Supply, Petticoats, Garters, Services, and they even offer Swatches.

The services they offer are customization to no train, customization to spaghetti straps, custom size, special customization like changing the neckline or adding sleeves, rush orders, and shipping upgrades.

I found that their site is easy to navigate and their pictures are beautiful. The prices are amazingly reasonable and affordable. I wish I had known about this site years ago! I recommend that you look at Dress First for all of your dress and accessory needs. 

Disclaimer: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers.

Treat Digital Cards and Photo Gifts Review and Giveaway.

Toy Review and Giveaway: BathBlocks Seaport Set

a day in the tangled skeins of my life received a set of BathBlocks free for review purposes. Regardless, all opinions in this review are my own. I received no other compensation for this post.

BathBlocks Seaport Set 

Letters From Santa Review

I received the opportunity to review the Letters From Santa Deluxe Package from santawillwrite.com recently and was very excited about this. My daughter still loves Santa and I thought that this would be a wonderful treat for her. I was right! When it arrived she was enchanted.  The shiny red envelope had a cute address label addressed to Serenity. The return address was from Santa Clause in the North Pole. There was a stamp in the corner from the North Pole. It was so cute.

Book Tour: Knowing Vera by Rachelle Ayala

Hidden Under Her Heart Book Review

Music Review: Hudson Lights

Tour Schedule

Easy Canvas Review and Giveaway

Easy Canvas Print Review and Giveaway

Hosted by a day in the tangled skeins of my life

Sponsored by Easy Canvas Prints

Product Review: Ozeri Precision Digital Bathroom Scale

Ozeri Precision Digital Bath Scale (400 lb Edition) with Widescreen LCD and Step-on Activation, in White

Do you need gift ideas? This might help!

http://christmasstockimages.com/

Are you trying to plan out your holiday shopping list? Are you having trouble coming up with gift ideas? Maybe some of these will help you. All are affiliate links. You do not have to click through if you don't want to :) You can go to their site in a new window. You will not hurt my feelings. 

I am just trying to help everyone out by doing this post. I am having trouble coming up with a gift list, so this subject was on my mind today. Here is a list of some of the places I am looking at to shop for my family this year. There are sites for clothes, toys, makeup, audiobooks, phones, and much more below! I will put a description or my thoughts on the place above each banner. Enjoy!

Not for Profit Book Tour

 

Shoulder Buddies Toy Review

Shoulder Buddies on Amazon.com

Is there anything cuter than a little troll-like creature that sits on your shoulder and keeps you company wherever you go? I found this toy to be adorable, and my children agree. It sits on their shoulders and makes them smile throughout the day. It is my son's buddy while playing a game and my daughter's confidant while writing in her journal. It hasn't fallen off yet, no matter how long they keep it sitting there, sometimes momentarily forgotten while they are absorbed in a movie or book. Then they turn their head and see that poof of color that is their buddy's hair and the smile returns.






I think this would make a great stocking stuffer for anyone that enjoys cute toys that make you smile. I recommend this to anyone with children that are
old enough to keep small things out of their mouths, as this comes with a coin that holds it in place.

About the Product:

Each Shoulder Buddy figurine is approximately 4 inches high with fuzzy fluffle hair and 1.5 inches wide. Contains inaccessible magnets. The Magical Coin is a covered metallic coin that attracts to the magnet. Manufactured under license by The Bridge Direct. Each sold separately, subject to availability. Colors and styles may vary as we continue to modify and improve our products. Made in China. The Bridge Direct products are safety tested and comply with ASTM F963. Ages 4 and up.



You can buy these at several stores like K-Mart and Toys R Us.
Also available by clicking this link: Shoulder Buddies on Amazon.com

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

This post contains affiliate links.

Scott Zavoda's Bobby (a short horror story) Review

Bobby [A Short Horror Story]

Review: Ageless Derma Clay Masque

Earth's Requiem Virtual Book Tour with Guest Post by Author

Earth’s Requiem

Earth Reclaimed, Book 1

By Ann Gimpel

Publisher: Musa

ISBN: 978-1-61937-652-6

Release Date: 10/4/13

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Romance

101,000 words

Resilient, kickass, and determined, Aislinn's walled herself off from anything that might make her feel again. Until a wolf picks her for a bond mate and a Celtic god rises out of legend to claim her for his own.

My Review:
★★★★☆

This book took me a little while to get into, but after I was into it I read it in no time flat. I really enjoyed the different types of magics that are used in the story and the bonds that are formed with the animals. I really felt for the characters, especially Rune. He made my heart ache, he was so sweet and sad.

Aislinn is pretty kick ass and I admired her strength and determination. She seems to take everything that is thrown at her in stride. I know I would never be able to adjust to the type of things she has to. Finding out my lover was a Celtic god would definitely throw me for a loop.

I felt myself really starting to hate the gods in this story and couldn't wait to see what would happen throughout the book. I can't imagine having to choose between two evils like the people of the world had to when the gods arose, arrived, or whatever it was they did. On one hand you have the evil beings that seem to take joy in killing and breeding and killing some more, and on the other hand you have their enemies who are not really much better. What would you choose to do, fight the darkness? Or just give in to it?

I recommend this book to anyone that likes a good action/adventure story that includes gods, fighting, magic, sex, and lots of violence.

 This book is definitely meant for adults. It contains crude language, violence and sex. Enjoy!

Book Description:

Aislinn Lenear lost her anthropologist father high in the Bolivian Andes. Her mother, crazy with grief that muted her magic, was marched into a radioactive vortex by alien creatures and killed. Three years later, stripped of every illusion that ever comforted her, twenty-two year old Aislinn is one resilient, kickass woman with a take no prisoners attitude. In a world turned upside down, where virtually nothing familiar is left, she’s conscripted to fight the dark gods responsible for her father’s death. Battling the dark on her own terms, Aislinn walls herself off from anything that might make her feel again.

Fionn MacCumhaill, Celtic god of wisdom, protection, and divination has been laying low since the dark gods stormed Earth. He and his fellow Celts decided to wait them out. After all, three years is nothing compared to their long lives. On a clear winter day, Aislinn walks into his life and suddenly all bets are off. Awed by her courage, he stakes his claim to her and to an Earth he's willing to fight for.

Aislinn’s not so easily convinced. Fionn’s one gorgeous man, but she has a world to save. Emotional entanglements will only get in her way. Letting a wolf into her life was hard. Letting love in may well prove impossible.

Guest Post:

What is POV and Why is it so Important?

Quite simply, POV stands for Point of View. For fictional authors, the POV character(s) is whose eyes the story is told through. Though it can be challenging to tell a story this way—because the reader can't know anything the POV character doesn't—it provides unparalleled opportunity to build a wonderful, three-dimensional protagonist that readers can bond with.

Characters are what make fiction. Readers take them to heart, live their stories with them and are sad when the book ends. POV is what accomplishes this. It's an author's primary vehicle to create effective storybook characters that jump off the page and into a reader's soul.

Long ago, I was taught you needed a minimum of 5,000 words between POV shifts. That standard has relaxed considerably over the years. It can be effective to have two or three pages of a POV shift to get another character's perspective into play. I've even done as little as a couple paragraphs tagged onto the end of a chapter if I needed to ratchet up the tension to help a reader want to move into the next chapter.

In my own writing, I've found it most effective to stick with three or four—or at the most five—POV characters in a hundred thousand word novel. While I haven't counted words between POV changes, I do try to have shifts between who's telling the story feel natural. Convenient plot twists tossed on the altar of an author's desperation to bring a particular outcome to bear stick out like a sore thumb.

I've been surprised at how many NYT Bestsellers I've picked up in the past couple of years where it's pretty clear either the author never learned about use of POV, or figures they've moved beyond the rules with their sales figures. Not sure about the rest of you, but I find it hard to read a novel when the POV bounces around. I feel like a spectator at a tennis match when I'm trying to determine whose head the author is in now. In one particular example that jumps into my mind, the author told the story from two first person POVs. It was nearly impossible to tell who the “I” referred to sometimes, which really detracted from the story.

Back in the late eighteen hundreds, early nineteen hundreds, omniscient narrator was popular. I've tried to write that way as an experiment, but it distances me from the story. So I assume it has the same effect of readers. Bottom line is I love writing from a specific POV. It bonds me to my characters. And that's where it all begins. If the characters aren't alive for me, they won't be alive for my readers, either.

How do you handle POV in your writing? What’s worked best for you?

About the Author

Short Bio:

Ann Gimpel is a clinical psychologist, with a Jungian bent.  Avocations include mountaineering, skiing, wilderness photography and, of course, writing.  A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, she began writing speculative fiction a few years ago. Since then her short fiction has appeared in a number of webzines and anthologies. Several paranormal romance novellas are available in e-format. Three novels, Psyche’s Prophecy, Psyche’s Search, and Psyche's Promise are small press publications available in e-format and paperback. Look for three more urban fantasy novels coming this summer and fall: To Love a Highland Dragon, Earth’s Requiem and Earth’s Blood.

A husband, grown children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out her family.

           

www.anngimpel.com

http://anngimpel.blogspot.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/anngimpel

http://www.facebook.com/anngimpel.author

@AnnGimpel (for Twitter)

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free for review purposes. Regardless, all opinions are my own and were in no way influenced. I was not required to write a positive review.

Book Review: Blown Circuit by Lars Guignard

Blown Circuit: Spy Action Adventure for Mystery Thriller Fans #2 (Circuit Series)

Product Review: Prevagen

Recently I had the opportunity to try out Prevagen. Unfortunately, I am having serious blood pressure issues, so was told not to take any new medications or anything that is not urgently needed until I get it under control. I cannot, therefore, give a detailed, in-depth review on this product. However, I still wanted to post about this product, so here are some facts about it instead.