2015-12-29

Happy 5th Birthday, MyReadingLounge!


With more than 600 posts in 60 months and more than 130,000 visitors, there's a lot to be thankful for!
Thank you, dear friends. You made these last 5 years a great adventure for this little blog!


I wish I could invite you all to a great party! 

All the best and have a wonderful New Year!

- Raum 

2015-12-26


Yosemite National Park

2015-12-24


Merry Christmas Eve!

2015-12-23


Hard work

2015-12-21

Kandace is a special person, and special people deserve special gifts during the holiday season. So many people have gathered to support Kandace and her family.  
Kandace has always gone on about Bastian Stark.  I figured it was time to let her fantasy come true.
Proceeds will be donated to Kandace’s medical expenses.

- Shay Savage


Summary: Kandace has no idea how she came to be on the beach of a deserted tropical island with the book boyfriend of her dreams, Bastian Stark. He’s fierce and passionate. He’s rough yet protective. He’s ready to give her everything she wants and more. 
She doesn’t know how finds herself under Bastian’s spell, but she knows being with him is going to be an experience she will never forget. 

Get your copy! Amazon


2015-12-18

A delicious, sexy, laugh-out-loud modern romance about a newly single woman and her journey to find love again, from New York Times bestselling author Alice Clayton and debut author Nina Bocci.


Do you like the cover? Have you ever been to Rome?


Find more about this upcoming novel: Goodreads

2015-12-16


Places to see Manhattan at night

2015-12-15


Places to see - Winter in New York

2015-12-14


Places to see - Christmas in Prague

2015-12-13


Getting ready….

2015-12-08


Sweetheart Abbey ruins, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

2015-12-07


Getting ready….

2015-12-06


Emmett Cullen’s breakfast is crossing the road

2015-12-05


Places to see - Boston

2015-12-04


December

2015-12-03


Country Road and Fall Colors (by Kenneth Keifer)

2015-11-28

#TWCS Award Winning Book Blitz and Sale

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Sherri Hayes, Red Zone
Breeder-Hi-Res-Coverkb_hoyle
Release Date: February 11 , 2013
Genre: Fiction: Romance
ISBN e-book:   978-1-61213-306-5
Available from: AmazonKoboB&NiTunes and TWCS PH
SUMMARYAfter a case ended badly for Rebecca Carson, she’s losing her mind sitting around her apartment waiting on her superiors to allow her to return to work. Since she was a teenager, the only thing she’d ever wanted was to join the FBI. Now that dream was in danger.

Gage Daniels has made a pretty good life for himself. A nice house. A career he loves. As a professional football player, he’s used to getting almost everything he’d ever want with just the snap of his fingers. This includes women. A well-timed smile is usually all it takes to attract the opposite sex, especially in Nashville.
When a stalker threatens Gage, the team owner calls an old friend, Rebecca’s ex-partner Travis Hansen, to help protect his star quarterback and find the person responsible. Hansen offers Rebecca the job, and she jumps at the chance. It’s work, and it will get her out of her apartment. How bad can it be?
Posing as Gage’s girlfriend, however, isn’t as easy as it seems. The man is relentless. Rebecca must work to protect Gage while staving off his advances. She’s there to do a job, nothing more. The last thing she wants is to be another notch on a hotshot athlete’s belt.
As the stalker continues to up the ante, Rebecca finds it harder and harder to keep her distance from Nashville’s star quarterback. He isn’t what she expected in one of the city’s most notorious playboys. Now all she has to do is keep him safe until they can find his stalker, and hope she doesn’t lose her heart in the process.



Sherri Hayes spent most of her childhood detesting English class. It was one of her least favorite subjects because she never seemed to fit into the standard mold. She wasn't good at spelling, or following grammar rules, and outlines made her head spin. For that reason, Sherri never imagined becoming an author.

At the age of thirty, all of that changed. After getting frustrated with the direction a television show was taking two of its characters, Sherri decided to try her hand at writing an alternate ending, and give the characters their happily ever after. By the time the story finished, it was one of the top ten read stories on the site, and her readers were encouraging her to write more.
Six years later, Sherri is the author of six full-length novels, and one short story. Writing has become a creative outlet for Sherri that allows her to explore a wide range of emotions, while having fun taking her characters through all the twists and turns she can create. She is most well known for her Finding Anna Series about a young woman rescued from being a sex slave by a wealthy Dominant. The third book in that series, Truth, released July 25, 2013.

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Suzy Duffy, Wellesley Wives

Release Date: September 27 , 2012
Genre: Fiction: Romance
ISBN e-book:   978-1-61213-194-8
Available from: AmazonKoboB&N, iTunes and TWCS PH
SUMMARY Popsy Power is pretty, popular, and insanely rich. Her husband adores her, and her two daughters are busy producing babies and romping up the corporate ladder—like good little Wellesley Wives. However, what Popsy doesn’t know is that her husband and worldly wealth will soon be gone, and as for her daughters... Well, Lily’s romping is not restricted to the boardroom, and Rosie finds her pilot-husband flying more than his jet.

Sandra is Popsy’s best friend. She has the perfect body, bank balance, and palatial penthouse. As a second wife herself, she should know how husbands wander, but even she is shocked when she discovers where Jack has found his fun . . . When Lily’s nasty, little secrets suddenly go public and Rosie finds her husband flying a little too high, it’s time to escape.
Popsy and Sandra flee to beautiful, peaceful Ireland. Rosie heads to Mexico, and Lily seeks refuge in the arms of her man. The adventure continues for Popsy and Sandra. Within days, they’re almost arrested and killed before finding themselves in a boathouse in Banagher—with jobs! Meanwhile Rosie is diving off the back of a catamaran into the azure-blue of the Caribbean, but she’s not sure what’s worse—the sharks in the sea or the ones on the beach. Back in Boston, Lily discovers that getting what she wanted was not what she wanted, but unlike her scuba diving sister, surely she’s in too deep...
From Banagher to Boston and down to the Caribbean Sea, these four ladies are on a rollercoaster ride through life. Rich, poor, happy, sad, in or out of love—only one thing is certain. Things are is never dull when you’re with the Wellesley Wives.


Suzy Duffy is an international and #1 best-selling author. She writes laugh-out-loud, life-affirming stories about women from five to ninety-five. (Sometimes she writes about men too, but only for comedic purposes, and pets—if they’re funny.) Her debut US novel, Wellesley Wives became an instant best seller, won numerous awards and critical acclaim, and is due to be published in Norwegian, September 2013. She was a guest speaker at the Sydney Writer’s Festival

Newton Neighbors, her second US novel, will be published September 2013.
Other than this, Suzy was a national radio DJ and television presenter in Ireland before she started writing. She has also been an interpreter in the United Nations, Geneva, a water ski instructor in Crete, and a corn cutter in the south of France—from which she was fired!
She gives 10% of her royalties to WWW.FOBH.ORG because she believes in serendipity. (A serendipitist?) She plans to write a book a year for the next forty years, and then she’ll have a rethink.


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K. B. Hoyle, Breeder
Release Date: December 11 , 2014
Genre: Fiction: Dystopian
ISBN e-book:   978-1-61213-292-1
Available from: Amazon, Kobo, B&N, and TWCS PH
SUMMARY-Everything about Seventeen’s life is perfect, from her genetics, to her home in Sanctuary, to her status as a Breeder in the Unified World Order. But all that changes when she meets a rogue Enforcer named Pax, who infiltrates Sanctuary and targets her for extraction from the Controlled Repopulation Program. Pax seems to know a little too much about her, and he plants dangerous doubts in her mind that accuse Sanctuary of hiding a dark secret, and that cause Seventeen to question everything she’s ever known.
When Seventeen’s life is threatened, she has little choice but to run away from Sanctuary with Pax. But for Breeders, contact with men is forbidden by law, and even the simple act of taking Pax’s hand is treason.
Mired in confusion, Seventeen travels with Pax to the outside world and takes the name Pria, the identity of her childhood. But she is far from certain she’s made the right decision when they discover an entire community of people who should no longer exist.
Seventeen, now Pria, is thrust into a position as a key player in a dangerous bid to bring down the Unified World Order. Meanwhile, Pax’s attachment to her and her growing attraction to him contribute to the ever-growing mysteries in her life.
Pria’s journey from a sheltered, naïve Breeder to a rebel agent requires not only external transformation but self-discovery. As her world crumbles, Pria must decide who she is and what she really believes.
But the truth comes at a cost, and uncovering it will require a greater treason than she could ever have imagined.

K.B. Hoyle is a bestselling author, a public speaker, a creative writing instructor, and a classical history teacher who uses her knowledge of the ancient and medieval worlds to pen speculative and fantasy tales for people of all ages. She has been married since the age of twenty to the love of her life, with whom she has four wonderful children. Find out more about her at www.kbhoyle.com.

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2015-11-21


Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. by Nicolas Valentin

2015-11-14


Prayers for Paris

2015-11-08


Paris at night

2015-11-04


Places to see: Aurora Borealis - Lofoten

2015-10-29


Boundary Ranges, British Columbia Marc Adamus

2015-10-28


Archaeological Museum of Heraklion

2015-10-25


The Beautiful Jaguar by Lucian Teo on Flickr. Edward Cullen would like it. In many ways…

2015-10-24


Is it true for you?

2015-10-23


The land of ice and fire | ( by Iurie Belegurschi )

2015-10-21


Places to see, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milano - Italy

2015-10-18


Soft stone

2015-10-09

Do you write Dystopian fiction?
Would you like to set your next story in a post-apocalyptic world?

This is the right guide for you, courtesy of Lissa Bryan, author of The End of All Things Series.


Top Ten Most Useful Things in An Apocalypse
By Lissa Bryan

So, the world has ended, or you’ve been given the doleful news it’s about to end. Lucky for you, I’ve composed a shopping list to take along on your looting trips so you can be sure to grab the most useful stuff you can have during an apocalypse. These items are not only useful, they’ll be the most valuable trade goods out there.

1) Guns— even if you never need them for defense against zombies or home protection, you’re going to need them for hunting once the supply of cans of Spaghetti-Os is depleted. If you can’t get a gun, a crossbow or a powerful slingshot is another good choice. Don’t laugh at the slingshot: some of the modern models are as powerful as a .22 caliber handgun. And the best thing about crossbows and slingshots is you can make more ammo for them.

2) Liquor— As Justin says, “It’s a pain-killer, a disinfectant, and a good time, all rolled into one.” It’s going to be one of the most valuable trade goods. I once told a paranoid acquaintance that if they were really worried about a societal collapse, they shouldn’t invest in gold. They should buy cases of Jack Daniels, Marlboros, and ammo.

3) Medicines—Anti-diarrheal medication will be a life-saver, especially once people start getting exposed to non-purified water. Fever reducers such as aspirin will also be vital (become a wasteland doctor by learning to make it from willow bark!) Stronger pain killers would be great to have, but pharmacies tend to be the first places looted, so you’re probably not going to have much luck with that.

4) Condoms—STDs and accidental pregnancy are still issues in the post-apocalypse world. Come prepared, as they say. Condoms can also keep your matches/kindling dry, keep dirt out of your weapons, and in a pinch, the unlubricated types can even be used to transport water. You can even put ‘em over your feet to keep them dry temporarily while crossing a stream. (Wet feet are very dangerous in a world where the smallest cut can lead to deadly infection.) 

5) Tampons— Women will need these, obviously, but you can also use them for bandaging wounds, filtering water, and starting fires. 

6) Weight loss powder/protein shakes— Your diet probably isn’t going to be consisting of recommended daily servings from all the food groups, so if you can supplement with diet shakes or muscle-building powders, it will probably help keep your body replenished with vitamins and nutrients you’re missing. And some Flinstones Chewables probably wouldn’t go amiss.

7) Duct tape— An all-purpose repair kit in handy roll form. Or make a prom dress. Whatever the situation may call for.

8) Bleach/iodine/water purifier— Once society crumbles, there goes our safe, clean water, too. We’re so used to being able to get potable water at the touch of a tap, we don’t even think about it, but clean water is going to be one of the most precious resources you can have, and you’re going to need a lot of it. You’ll have to get used to chemically purifying, filtering, distilling, or boiling every drop you drink.

9) Sunscreen— Zombieland wasn’t joking. Who’s going to treat you for skin cancer? Wear sunscreen, cover up, and stay safe. Take care of yourself as best you can and prevent ailments before they start.

10) Salt— Another thing that so ubiquitous we don’t think about it. Modern food has tons of salt in it, but once the manufactured stuff goes, we’re going to need to find new sources of salt, not only for our dietary needs, but for preserving food.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Thank you, Lissa Bryan!

Dear Friends, happy Writing and Reading!
The End of All Things Series by Lissa Bryan


Giveaway
The End of All Things by Lissa Bryan
(Book 1)

Category: Dystopian
Publication Date: January 24, 2013
Available From: TWCS | B&N | iTunes | Amazon | Kobo

Summary


After a terrible virus ravages the planet, Carly Daniels, one of the few survivors, hides in her apartment in Juneau trying to survive the best she can with only occasional forays to gather food. With her is Sam, a wolf puppy she found starving on the streets. He becomes her companion and a reason to continue when giving up sometimes seems like the more attractive option. Still dazed with shock and grief, she hopes for the world to go back to normal soon.
She is discovered by Justin, an ex-soldier who is intent on making his way to Florida before the winter sets in. Justin coaxes her out of her hiding place and convinces her to join him on his journey, because a warmer climate will be their best chance  against the extremes of Mother Nature.
Together, they begin a perilous journey through a nation laid to waste by the disaster. Challenges abound along the way. The weather, injury, and shortage of supplies all help to slow them down. In time, they discover that they aren’t the only survivors. Some are friendly but some have had their minds destroyed by the high fever. Then there are those who simply take what they want, leaving Carly and Justin with no choice but to defend what is theirs.
But their journey is not without joy and love. Together, they face every struggle, including an unplanned pregnancy. Despite the perils of bringing a child into a world of chaos, their baby is a new beginning for themselves and a symbol of hope for the other survivors they find along the way.
This is the story of their journey to find a place to begin a new life, and a home in each other.
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Tales from the End by Lissa Bryan
(4 Short Stories / Companion Pieces)
Category: Dystopian
Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Available From: TWCS | B&N | iTunes | Amazon | Kobo

Summary
From the author of The End of All Things comes a collection of short stories about the Infection that swept around the globe, decimating the population, and leaving behind a small number of survivors, unprepared to deal with the brutal new world which had replaced the one they'd known.
The Horsemen
L.A.'s mayor has declared quarantine to try to halt the spread of the Infection. Pearl sets off across the city to buy supplies, but already the world is changing. Something strange is in the air. The Horsemen are coming ...
Veronica
When Veronica's mother doesn't come home from work and no one answers the phone when she calls for help, a nine-year-old girl is thrown into the chaos of a world coming to an end. Veronica decides it's up to her to find her family. "Veronica" is the story of a little girl's courage in the face of the end of all things.
"I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud"
They called her Shadowfax-- the mare Carly and Justin found on their travels. But before she was found by Carly, the retired dressage horse was known as Cloud. An unusual tale of the end, told through the eyes of a confused and lonely horse, left in her pasture.
Birthday
A previously-published bonus story. Carly knows Justin has never celebrated his birthday, and after society crumbled, no one knows what date it is, anyway. But she wants to do something special for him. Celebrating the little things helps them keep hope alive, and as a blizzard rages outside, a small gesture of love warms their home.
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The Land of the Shadow by Lissa Bryan
(Book 2)
Category: Dystopian
Publication Date: August 21, 2014
Available From: TWCS | B&N | iTunes | Amazon | Kobo

Summary
After surviving the Infection and a perilous journey through the wasteland that was once the United States, Carly and Justin have found a safe home in the isolated town of Colby.
Even so, balancing the duties of survival and a growing family isn’t easy. As they emerge as leaders, they face difficult questions about justice in a lawless land, basic human rights, and freedom in a world where strength defines worth. More than ever, they have to rely on one another for strength and support during the darkest of times.
The Crisis is far from over. Their fences won’t keep the world out forever, and a new threat is emerging—a gang of predators who see the town as easy pickings. When danger looms over Colby, Carly must decide how far she’ll go to protect those she loves.
It’s a journey down the long and broken road through The Land of the Shadow.
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Shadows Have Gone by Lissa Bryan
(Book 3)
Category: Dystopian
Publication Date: March 26, 2015
Available From: TWCSB&N | iTunes | Amazon | Kobo

Summary

Carly Daniels knows what it is to suffer loss. She knows what it is to sacrifice. In the two years since a pandemic virus—known only as the Infection—decimated humanity, she’s made choices she never could have imagined. She’s condoned violence in the name of peace and done the unthinkable in the name of mercy. But with Justin at her side, she’s also learned there’s nothing she can’t face and nothing she wouldn’t do to protect those she loves.
But now another threat has arrived in the form of a uniformed man driving an army truck, claiming to represent the remnant of the United States military. Someone has set their sights on their community . . . and on Justin. The struggle to defend their little homeland is far from over, and the visitors may have brought more danger with them than just their weapons.
The shadows are closing in. Carly has to find out whether she has the strength to stand on her own when all of her support has fallen away. What remains when the shadows have gone?

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Ghostwriter by Lissa Bryan
Category: Supernatural
Publication Date: October 11, 2012
Available From: TWCS | B&N | iTunes | Amazon | Kobo

Summary

Unemployed, with her savings dwindling, Sara Howell thinks things are looking up when she lands a ghostwriting job and rents the affordable island home of her favorite author, Seth Fortner, who mysteriously disappeared in 1925.
Strange things happen, making Sara wonder if Seth ever left. When she finds an old trunk of Seth’s letters, she delves into a world she never imagined, filled with love and a family curse it seems only she can break.
....................
Author Bio
Lissa Bryan is an astronaut, renowned Kabuki actress, Olympic pole vault gold medalist, Iron Chef champion, and scientist who recently discovered the cure for athlete's foot.... though only in her head.
Real life isn't so interesting, which is why she spends most of her time writing.
Follow me on Twitter!