VOLITION by Lee  Strauss
                 review and GIVEAWAY!!!!

courtesty of Orangeberry Book Tours

What doesn’t kill you …

Zoe Vanderveen is on the run with her captor turned rescuer, Noah Brody. They’re in love. Or at least that’s what he tells her. Her memories have returned but her feelings are dreamlike—thin and fleeting. Her heart can’t be trusted. Just look at what happened with Taylor Blake.

Senator Vanderveen’s new team of cyborg agents are in hot pursuit, and a reward for their capture is broadcast nationwide. Record breaking cold and snow hinder their escape. Someone dies helping them.

And their fight for survival has only begun.

my thoughts

Violition is the continuing saga of Zoe and Noah. They are on the run from Zoe's grandfather. He is far more ruthless in this installment of the series. 

Zoe is coping with her slowly returning memories, but she's not the Zoe of Perception. She and Noah aren't the great fit they once were. Of course, Zoe is remembering everything except her feeling for Noah.   

I liked the first book much better. I don't like the direction Zoe's character is taking, she's not the colorful character she was in Perception.  

 A huge cliffhanger ensures another book in the series. I will read the next book- want to find out how everything is resolved.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review

for more information about Lee Strauss

check out http://blog.orangeberrypromo.com/2013/02/orangeberry-book-of-the-day-perception-volition-by-lee-strauss/ 

To celebrate Lee Strauss is giving away a $200.00 Amazon, Nook or itunes gift card!

 http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d0101215/

the above link will take you to the rafflecopter giveaway site.

and don't miss Lee Strauss's first two stories in this stunning series.

AMBITION is a short story prequel (5K- approx 20 pages) to PERCEPTION, capturing the beginning of Noah and Zoe’s story from Noah’s POV.

Eighteen year old Noah Brody doesn’t like GAPs—Genetically Altered Persons. He’s taken up his dead father’s cause, speaking out and protesting against unfair GAP policies that are responsible for the massive social divide between wealthy GAPs and poorer naturals.

If only he could keep his mind off of perfect Zoe Vanderveen, daughter of the GAP family his mother works for. 

And can he really fill his father’s shoes?

AMBITION is free at Amazon.com

Eternal Life is To Die

For seventeen year old Zoe Vanderveen is a GAP—a genetically altered person. She lives in the security of a walled city on prime water-front property along side other equally beautiful people with extended life spans. Her brother Liam is missing.

 Noah Brody is a natural who lives on the outside. He leads protests against the GAPs and detests the widening chasm they’ve created between those who have

and those who don’t. He doesn’t like girls like Zoe and he has good reason not to like her specifically.

Zoe’s carefree life takes a traumatic turn. She’s in trouble and it turns out that Noah, the last guy on earth she should trust, is the only one who can help her.

Want to read PERCEPTION? It’s FREE on Kobo itunes B&N Smashwords  and on Amazon!

my thoughts

Fantastic story.   Action from the very beginning to the end, only it doesn't end.  This is book one of a series.

I love dystopian books.   Stories about what could possibly happen in our future.  

Zoe is a GAP.  A genetically altered person.  Only the very rich can be altered, telling us this is a story also about class structure.  The GAPs are well treated, pampered and have everything.  Those who can't afford to be GAPs live on the outskirts.   They are not so lucky.

Noah is not a GAP, in fact, he hate's GAPs...but he doesn't hate Zoe.   

Zoe goes on the run looking for her missing older brother Liam, Noah decides to help her.

This story just flows.  Even if you are not a fan of sci fi you should like this story.  Zoe and Noah are fantastic characters.  Despite their differences, they fit together.

Lee Strauss has me hooked.

about the book:

Chloe Masters life is in disarray. Her best friend Edgar Magnus has been kidnapped by her mother. The Detective Inspectors of the HVO have been compromised and appear to be helping in the crime. All but one that is, Declan Hardcastle, a young DI who is more than willing to help Chloe in her quest. But is he looking for more than just friendship?

Her friends are spread far and wide; Jess has begun her apprenticeship in Paris while Slade is working for the Impossible Engineers. Nightshade has returned but is he the same man? Can he truly be trusted?

When Chloe learns Edgar’s location it's a race against time. She needs to stop her mother’s pernicious plans and save Edgar while keeping everyone else she loves alive. But the question becomes... does Chloe plan on getting out alive?



MY THOUGHTS

WOW.. An action packed, bittersweet addition to the Doorknob Society Saga.   We see Chloe continue to grow and learn to exercise her immense polymorph powers.   

I'm happy NIghtshade is back, just love this character. 

The main focus of this book is getting Edgar free from the clutches of the evil ones.   Yup, we once again meet Chloe's mom.   We also meet up with some old characters and a few new ones.   

The book is named after the HOV because Edgar is locked within the ranks of the HVO prison.  

Without giving too much away,  I just want to say....WOW, this story gets better with each book.   Chloe and company are amazing characters, who do amazing things.   Nightshade is under the influence of a forget me not.  I felt Chloe's pain while she watched him hook up with another girl.    I literally yelled at the book- NO, NOT HER!!! NIGHTSHADE, THINK, REMEMBER!!!  I can't remember the last time I yelled at a character while reading a book...oh yea, it was while reading THE MAPMAKERS UNION.  Oh well..

The next volume in the series,  The Skeleton Key Guild is the the final installment.  We will see an end to the good vs evil battle.   I'm torn.  I want to read the book, but I don't want this series to end.  I've come to love these characters.   

M.J. Fletcher is an amazing author.   The imagination he's shown, the characters he's created.. I am in awe of his talent.   I look forward to the last book, and other works from Mr. Fletcher.

I give this book 5 stars because I can't rate books any higher, but believe me, this is one of the best series I've read in recent memory.

Thank you Mr. Fletcher for creating such a marvelous series.

                 COVER REVEAL!!!

Skeleton Key Guild

Her parents dead, her sister missing, and those she loves branded traitors to the Old Kind... Chloe Masters is on the run.

To fulfill a parent’s dying wish she will do anything to save the sister she has never met. Can she learn the secrets of the Artifacts before it’s too late? Surrounded by her friends; Slade, Edgar, Jess, Val and the man she loves James Nightshade, Chloe has never had so much to live for... but will her enemies let her?

About the Author

MJ Fletcher is the creator of the comic book series Adam Zero: The Last Man of Earth published by Ronin Studios. He’s also been published in Hope: The Hero Initiative and Digital Webbing Presents. The Doorknob Society series is his first book series and he’s thrilled about it. He lives near the beach with his wife, daughter, and dog.

Book Series Details:

Book Count: 5

Series Order: Book 1 The Doorknob Society Saga, Book 2 The Impossible Engineers, Book 3 The Mapmakers Union, Book 4 The Detective Inspectors, Book 5 The Skeleton Key Guild

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, Paranormal

Available From: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Contact Details:

Email: fletch312@gmail.com

Website: www.thedoorknobsociety.com, http://www.mjfletcher.net

Twitter: @fletch125

Facebook: doorknobsociety

Youtube: Doorknob Society Trailer

Review Snippets:

“I am SO GLAD that I said I’d review the book!! It had me interested from the first chapter, and HOOKED shortly after that!” Puretextuality.com

“Let me start by saying that I'm a pretty picky reader. I have to be captured by a story almost immediately in order to continue reading. Well, I was captured by The Doorknob Society...and I am hooked!” Amazon

“I couldn't put it down and read straight through and was so mad at

 myself for finishing it. I. CAN. NOT. WAIT. FOR. THE. NEXT. BOOK!” Goodreads

Today we welcome P.A. Staes, author of THE BRUGES TAPESTRY

The Bruges Tapestry


Guest Post

What does an art theft detail detective do?  Well, in The Bruges Tapestry she looks for clues to the provenance of a tapestry made in Belgium in 1520.  What do they do in the “real world”? For that, visit the website of the full time art theft detail in the United States located in Los Angeles, www.lapdonline.org/art_theft_detail.

Once I visited the site I realized it might be fun to create my own art theft detail, but it would be much easier to place my detectives in Newport Beach where the terrain was familiar. So far Detective DeMaere walks the real streets of Newport and Laguna Beach and her office is in a real, albeit empty, building across the street from the Newport Beach Library.  Claire’s apartment in Corona del Mar is a real place, where a friend of mine lived.  The rest of Claire’s life is utterly fictional, including her cavalier approach toward her boss and job responsibilities.

The plans for Detective DeMaere include world-wide travel as well as entering various time periods in order to understand the artworks she investigates.  Though I’d love to simply send her back in time through a stone crack in Northern Scotland, like author Diana Gabaldon, the plan is to introduce the reader to textile techniques in several different time periods, including Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque.

Though there are many stolen art treasures (see the Art Loss Register website), my focus for Detective DeMaere will be on textiles, often the domain of female artists.  Featuring textiles allows me to give attention to the undervalued work of women throughout centuries prior to modern times.  Ever wander a museum and wonder if all the works of art in the world were done by men?  Where are the works by women?  It seems a valid question, yet we are surrounded daily by stunning works of art by women.
So textiles will feature heavily in Claire’s future.  This gives this author and the reader a chance to explore the worlds of costume, lace, embroidery, needlepoint, basketry and so forth and the time periods in which they flourished.

In our world of machine-generated, rapidly-moving, technology-focused activities, the reader will be able to put down the smart phone and enter another time, a time when three inches of hand work might take a month to complete.  Readers will move out of a world where a car phone operates on voice command to a world where hand work by candlelight might make the difference between starvation and bread for the day.

While men were building cathedrals, which persist because they were composed of stone, women were feeding children making textiles, which have tended to decay due to the transitory nature of fabric and yarn.

Here’s to the invisible cathedrals built by women throughout time.

About the Author:
P.A. Staes is a California writer with an interest in textiles and with plans to continue the Claire DeMaere detective series, focusing her detective’s work on textiles of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque time periods.

Publication Date: August 29, 2012

CreateSpace

Paperback; 254p

ISBN-10: 1478155582 

about the book

Following a 500-year-old mystery concerning a Flemish tapestry is routine work for Detective Claire DeMaere, since she's employed by the Newport Beach Art Theft Detail. But, unlike past cases, this one involves arresting Paolo Campezzi, lover to her best friend Nora. Mr. Campezzi is a distant descendant of a Florentine Duke, who commissioned the tapestry in 1520 in Bruges, Belgium. Claire finds that she must explore the true provenance of the tapestry, free Mr. Campezzi in order to re-establish her friendship with Nora and depend on the expertise of a textile expert she doesn't know. All this must occur in 72 hours, before the Vatican takes the tapestry back. But Claire isn't the only one with the Vatican looking over her shoulder. Claire's story intertwines with a 1520 diary by Beatrice van Hecke, the tapestry-weaver's daughter. Only Claire can discover the secret that is woven in time.

my thoughts

Fabulous story. I started reading this story this morning and could not put the book down until I finished, yes- it was that good!! 

The author takes us between 1520 Bruges and present day California. She cleverly weaves a tale of horrific corruption and betrayal. Not just any corruption but church corruption and cover ups. Throughout this tale we learn about the art of tapestry creation. This story is told from the point of view of two strong women, one a 16 year old girl from Bruges, the other a young art theft detective from modern times. We see this amazing tapestry of lives unfold through their stories. I was intrigued with the authors ability to utilize her characters to show church corruption in the past and the present. Just remember this is a work of fiction.

I look forward to more by this author.

About the Author

P.A. Staes is the author of The Bruges Tapestry; the first of the Clare DeMaere series of historical mysteries. To lend veracity to The Bruges Tapestry Ms. Staes traveled to Stirling Castle in Scotland, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Cluny Museum and Gobelin Factory in Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters to bring alive the rich and romantic world of tapestry.   Ms. Staes lives in Southern California with her husband and two dogs. 

For more information,

visit P.A. Staes at

http://www.thebrugestapestry.com/

also check out

http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/thebrugestapestryvirtualtour/

http://www.passagestothepast.com/

Twitter Hashtag: #BrugesTapestryVirtualTour