Interview and giveaway with "Vogue"

Ace of Diamonds

Book III in The Diamond Collection

by Vogue

About The Author:

Vogue is the author of Diamonds in the Rough and Diamonds Are Forever. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, she is a graduate of Winthrop University, possessing a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and is a proud member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Vogue currently resides in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

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The Ace of Diamonds

Book III of The Diamond Collection

Genre: Urban Fiction

Publisher: Crown Jewel Publishing

Release Date: February 11, 2013

Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Book Description:

Since his release from prison, Brookstone’s most notorious drug lord, Jay Santiago, has been hard at work rebuilding his life and empire. With two businesses under his belt and one in the making, Jay is readily known as one of New York’s elite men.

While the root of his financial status lies in the newly rebuilt Santiago cartel, Jay is determined to expand his wealth. After reconnecting with an old comrade, he believes that he has found the one thing that could increase his fortune and allow him to leave behind the dangers of his criminal enterprise for good.

However, as Jay’s new business venture begins to come to fruition, he quickly learns that the one material object that he loves the most could lead to his biggest downfall yet. 

Excerpt from The Ace of Diamonds

Excerpt #1

Carmen stared out the window as Kane’s Jeep backed out of the driveway. She wanted to call him to come back, but she knew that he wouldn’t. While they had cleared the air on one issue, another one had surfaced. This one, though, she couldn’t fix. She was nine months pregnant and Nyla was coming regardless of how Kane felt. He might not have liked the idea, but he knew when they renewed their vows that she was pregnant. He seemed okay with it then, but obviously the whole thing was an act.

When his car disappeared out of the gates, Carmen began to think that her marriage wasn’t going to survive. If Kane was running out now then she knew it would be worse when Nyla came. Jay would be around more than ever and she would be forced to communicate with him. There might even be times when he had to come to the house. The distance between her and Kane would only grow.

Carmen pulled the curtains closed as she made her way back to the bed. She sat down, and tried to fight back her tears. She and Kane had been fine until Jay’s lawsuit, which sent them spiraling back into a place that neither one of them wanted to be. Carmen wanted to come up with an answer to fix everything, but she couldn’t. Softly crying, she did the only thing she knew how; she prayed to God for guidance and strength. She told herself that this would be the last time she would allow Kane to leave. After tonight, she would put her foot down. If she wanted to

save her marriage, she had to act like it, now or never. 

Diamonds Are Forever

Book II of The Diamond Collection

Genre: Urban Fiction

Publisher: Passionate Writer Publishing

Release Date: October 25, 2010

Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Book Description:

Eight months pregnant, Carmen Davenport is unsure of what is waiting for her outside of the Metropolitan Correctional Facility. For six grueling months, she sat in a cold cell with only the thought of her unborn son, keeping her sane. Now, she has returned to Brookstone to discover that Flame is now a multi-million dollar enterprise, all thanks to her best friend, Tiara. Diamonds Are Forever is a reunion with familiar characters and another look into the dramatic lives of Brookstone’s finest.

Diamonds in the Rough

Book I of The Diamond Collection

Genre: Urban Fiction

Publisher: Passionate Writers Publishing

Release Date: June 1, 2010

Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Book Description:

Carmen Davenport is living the American dream. Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she has anything that a twenty-one year old college student would want: supportive parents, a set of fly friends, and an inheritance to one of the most lucrative clothing companies in New York: Flame, Inc. The only thing missing is love, but that doesn’t seem to faze her until she lays eyes on Jay Santiago, a Puerto Rican drug lord who is destined to make Carmen his at any cost. Instantly, Carmen begins to fall for him despite his reign as the head of a multi-million dollar drug cartel.

After securing the rights to her inheritance, Carmen soon learns that Flame, Inc. is headed towards a downward spiral. Too ambitious to allow her dream to go down the drain, Carmen begins pulling at all lifelines to save her company. Putting aside everything she’s ever believed in, Carmen soon finds herself entangled in a web of lies, betrayal, and crime. However, Carmen knows that in order to achieve her goal, she must remain focused no matter how dangerous the road to success may get.

INTERVIEW:

     For people who haven’t heard of The Ace of Diamonds, make a brief description. Famous for its glitz and glamour, the city of Brookstone is also known as being the home of one of New York’s most notorious drug lords, Jay Santiago. The son of a famed politician and socialite, he spent the last seventeen years of his life in federal prison only to return to the city that took him captive. In true underdog fashion, Jay rises from the bottom and rebuilds an empire and cartel that is as powerful as its leader. After linking up with an old comrade, Jay believes he has found the one material object that will allow him to leave his criminal enterprise for good. However, his most prized possession could lead to his biggest downfall yet. 

   Which of your characters is your favorite and why? 

Currently, my favorite character is Jay Santiago, the book’s protagonist. Jay is a character who is viewed as being invincible, sometimes ruthless, but deep down, is really a gentle giant. He has a strong desire to have the traditional family and to become a legit businessman. What I love the most about his character is his protective nature. From the beginning of the series, he has always been a person who will do anything to keep his loved ones out of harm’s way.

 If you could have coffee with any character of any book, who would it be and why? 

Although this character is currently quite minor in my series, Silvas, who is Jay’s personal butler, is a character who I would want to chit-chat with. He has a wealth of knowledge about Jay’s family and also knows a lot of secrets. I actually had started a character interview with him for my blog, which you have now encouraged me to finish.

    If you could meet any person in the world who would it be and why? 

There are a number of people who I would like to meet, but if I had to narrow it down to one then my choice would be singer, Dawn Richard, formerly of Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty Money. Her drive and determination to continue her music career independently was the encouragement I needed to move forward and publish my third novel under my own imprint. I would love to meet her and simply tell her thank you for being an inspiration.    

  Would you like your book turned into a movie? Do you have any actors in mind? 

I have gotten this question numerous times and the answer is no. I wouldn’t want it to be a movie, but a television series, preferably a nighttime soap. In terms of the actors/actresses who would play each role, my readers have pretty much already picked Laz Alonso for the role of Jay Santiago. I am a huge fan of Gabrielle Union, so I would probably want her to play the female lead, Carmen Davenport and D.B. Woodside from Single Ladies to play Michael Kane, who is the federal agent responsible for sending Jay to prison.

What are you reading right now? 

I am reading two books at the same time, Power & Beauty by T.I. and The Climax by Sharee Beasley.

  Tell us about something crazy you’ve done. 

The craziest thing I’ve done thus far is the Cinnamon Challenge. I had watched the videos on YouTube, but didn’t know exactly what was going to happen once I had the cinnamon in my mouth. I learned fast and once I swallowed the cinnamon became lodged in my throat and I was literally motioning for my sorority sisters to give me water! I will never do that again because it was the worst feeling ever! I wish I had of recorded it so I could’ve posted it on my YouTube channel. I could’ve had a viral video!

 How do you react to a bad review? 

I am a person who will vent. I also have to stop myself from responding because I know my anger and rage will take me to a place that is very unprofessional. Negative reviews only hurt when the writer does not give constructive criticism. I received a three-star review on my first novel and to this day, it is one of the best reviews because the critique was very constructive. I used the criticism and tried to improve. The reviews, which get under my skin, are the ones written with malice. People love to voice their opinion in a destructive manner online because they are hiding behind a computer screen and believe they are invincible. After I’ve vented, I try to remember that good or bad, I have people talking.

Do you review others’ books? Are you nice or are you mean? :P 

I love to review books! I actually have started accepting book reviews for a page on my blog entitled Book Spotlight. I have not received any requests, however, I am currently only posting about books I feel confident about, and I feel others should read. 

 What are your favorite TV shows?

I am a reality TV show junkie and I have a regular line-up of shows I watch: Real Housewives of Atlanta, Mob Wives, Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Love & Hip-Hop, Black Ink Crew, Tia & Tamera, The Braxtons, and American Idol to name a few!

Favorite movies? 

My favorite movies are Belly and Bad Boys I and II. I have seen a ton of great movies since these films have come out, including Colombiana, but these are still my favorites!

  If someone made a movie of your life, which event MUST be included? 

The most tragic event was losing both of my parents before the age of 22. Their deaths were a major turning point in my life because I was forced to grow up somewhat faster than my peers. When I was in college and my friends were returning home for the summer, their concerns were totally different from mine. Some of them were planning a summer vacation while I was concerned about finding a job and making sure I had a place to live. While I wish my parents were still here, I have learned to be independent and the experience has only strengthened my faith as well as my determination to become bigger than what I am.  

Giveaway:

One Signed Copy of Ace of Diamonds

Open to US/Canada 

International Winners will receive an E-Book

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Promo: January Justice by Athol Dickson

Today we welcome author ATHOL DICKSON and another of his great books.

If you like suspense, you can't miss this one!

January Justice (The Malcolm Cutter Memoirs #1)

QUICK FACTS:

Release Date: November 29th, 2012.

​Genre: Murder Mystery.​

Formats Available for Purchase: Paperback, Kindle, PDF

    The book is PG 13. Very little sex and nothing explicit in any way. There is some violence but again nothing graphic: gun shots, etc…


Synopsis: 

Reeling from his wife’s unsolved murder, Malcolm Cutter is just going through the motions as a chauffeur and bodyguard for Hollywood’s rich and famous.

Then a pair of Guatemalan tough guys offer him a job. It’s an open question whether they’re patriotic revolutionaries or vicious terrorists. Either way, Cutter doesn’t much care until he gets a bomb through his window, a gangland beating on the streets of L.A., and three bullets in the chest.
Now there’s another murder on Cutter’s Mind.
His own.

​​

PRAISE FOR "JANUARY JUSTICE"

I was looking forward to reading this book especially when I discovered the author was returning to the mystery thriller genre. No one can weave a story, create real live characters and make someone enjoy the English language as much as Athol Dickson can. From page one I was hooked. The story was intense and deep. The plot was complex but I never felt lost. We stayed right with the main character Malcolm Cutter as he deals with his wife's death, re-cooperates from a near death experience and tries to get his life back together while undergoing a deep international plot to clear a terrorist organization of wrong-doing.

Never before in a book have I ever become so well-acquainted with a person who was never in the book but only mentioned in a past tense. It could only have been pulled off by an author that understands human nature and how we think deep inside.

- Steve Taylor-

  

GOODREADS   

AMAZON

Excerpt



Chapter 48:



​​One of the strangest things about the city was the sudden way it disappeared around the edges. One minute you were down on Sunset Boulevard surrounded by glass and concrete, and the next thing you knew you were up on Mulholland Drive, alone in the rough country. From a high window or a rooftop almost anywhere in Los Angeles you could see the mountains, and there was always something ravenous up there looking down.

I was up among the hungry creatures, standing at the edge of a cliff, with Hollywood and Santa Monica far below me in the distance. One step forward and I would be in midair. I was looking down and wondering if Haley had considered how suddenly you could go from city to wilderness. Then I wondered if it was a distinction without a difference, if the city might be the wilderness and the wilderness the city, and maybe Los Angeles’s edges seemed to disappear so suddenly because there really was no separation between sidewalks and mountain paths, buildings and boulders. Up in the mountains or down in the city, either way the carnivores were in control.
I imagined Haley, out of her mind, running full speed off the cliff. I wondered what it had been like, that final second or two before she hit. Had she realized what was happening? Did she recognize the city lights below for what they were, or did she really think she was flying toward the stars? And did she think of me?
Stepping closer to the edge, I slid the toes of my shoes into the air. I looked down two hundred feet, toward the spot where she had broken on the rocks. I stood one inch from eternity and tried to imagine life without her. I could not summon up a single reason why I shouldn’t take that final step, except for one. I thought about the kind of animal who would drive someone to do what my wife had done. Predators like that were everywhere. I should know. I had trained for half my life to be one of them. I was hungry, looking down on the city. If I was going to live, the hunger would have to be enough, for now. But I would sink my teeth into him, sooner or later. I would do that for Haley, and for myself, and then maybe it would be my turn to see if I could fly.
I stepped back from the edge. – Chapter 1

I paused to look at Simon and Teru, wishing there were some way to avoid it. I said, “The village we went back to on that second day was Laui Kalay.”
Neither of them reacted at first.
Then Teru said, “Oh no.”
Simon rose and carried his teacup to a sink. I watched as he carefully washed out the cup with a soapy cloth. He rinsed the cup, then placed it on a wooden rack beside the sink. When that was done, he didn’t return to the table. He stood still, looking down into the sink.
Teru said, “You were there? When they cut off all those fingers and knocked out all those teeth? You were really there?”
I said, “The court-martial found me guilty.”
“But I remember that video like it was yesterday. That marine with the knife, chopping off the corpses’ fingers for their rings. The others breaking out dead people’s teeth for gold. All those marines cracking jokes. They must have showed it a thousand times on television.” Teru looked at me. “You weren’t in it.”
Still staring down into the sink, Simon said, “If memory serves, the sergeant in command was convicted of filming the unpleasantness with his cell phone, so of course he was not shown in the video.”
“Holy mother of God,” said Teru. “You’re that guy?” – Chapter 8

Olivia screamed again, and a vision overwhelmed my thoughts. Suddenly, instead of the shack with its glowing window, I saw Haley’s face contorted with terror in the darkness up above, Haley screaming at a mirror on the wall in her trailer, Haley screaming that she saw Satan, Haley screaming out for Jesus as she slammed her fists against the mirror, breaking it, bloodying her hands and yet slamming on and on. I heard the screams and saw Haley in her final moments and knew that what I saw wasn’t a madman’s fantasy but was instead my true and final memory of our last moments together.
I shook my head. I wiped rain from my eyes. I told myself to think of what was noble, good, and true. The vision faded, but the screams remained. I had to stop the screams this time. I started up the trail, and with my first step out into the open, a strange sense of peace descended. This was what I had been created to do. This was who I was and who I would continue to be in whatever time was left to me without Haley. It wasn’t about a death wish. On the contrary, life at last had regained meaning, even if the end of life was imminent. Climbing that path, knowing bullets might slam into me at any instant, I was happy for the first time since I lost my wife. I still had a purpose, after all. I was useful. It felt like I was going home. 

The Author

A master of profound suspense.

Athol Dickson's mystery, suspense, and literary novels have won three Christy Awards and an Audie Award. Suspense fans who enjoyed Athol's They Shall See God will love his latest novel, January Justice, the first installment in a new mystery series called The Malcolm Cutter Memoirs. The second and third novels in the series, Free Fall in February, and A March Murder, are coming in 2013.

Critics have favorably compared Athol's work to such diverse authors as Octavia Butler (Publisher's Weekly), Hermann Hesse (The New York Journal of Books) and Flannery O'Connor (The New York Times). Athol lives with his wife in southern California.



Find more about Athol Dickson at: http://www.atholdickson.com

FOLLOW THE TOUR:

Tour Schedule 



First Part of the tour:

​

​​​​March 18: Bl​ack Lion Tour Blog: Introduction.

​​March 19: Cheryl's Book Nook: Guest Post.
March 20: Tina's Book Reviews: Guest Post.

                 Lindsay's Scribblings: Guest Post.
March 22: A Writer's Life: Caroline Clemmons: Guest Post
March 23: Laurie's Non Paranormal thoughts and Reviews: Interview.​
March 24: Makayla's Book Reviews: Guest Post

March 26: I know that Book:
March 27: My Devotional Thoughts: Review.
March 28:​ MK McClintock Blog: 





Second Part of the tour: 



​

April 3: Deal Sharing Aunt: Review.
April 4: Libby's Library: Review.
April 6: Books, Books the Magical Fruit: Guest Post.
April 7: Kimberly Lewis Blog: Guest Post.​

April 9: Marketing Cafe': Guest Post

April 12: Pure Jonel Blog: Review and Guest Post.​

April 13: Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer: Guest Post.​

April 14: ​BK Walker Books Etc.: Interview

April 15: Bookworm Babblings: Review.​

April 16: Bunny Reviews: Guest Post.​

April 17: Black Lion Tours Blog: Wrap- Up.​

​

Review: Kiss of Fire by R. Ethington

KISS OF FIRE by Rebecca Ethington

(Imdalind #1)

Blurb:

Joclyn Despain has a scar. In fact, it is almost like a brand on her skin. She doesn’t know why it appeared on her neck, but she doesn’t want anyone to see it, including her best friend Ryland, who knows everything else about her. The scar is the reason she hides herself behind baggy clothes, and won’t let the idea of kissing Ryland enter her mind, no matter how much she wants to.
The scar is the reason she is being hunted.
If only she knew that she was.
If only she had known that the cursed stone her estranged father sent for her 16th birthday would trigger a change in her. Now, she is being stalked by a tall blonde man, and is miraculously throwing her high school bully ten feet in the air.
Joclyn attempts to find some answers and the courage to follow her heart. When Ryland finds her scar; but he knows what it means, and who will kill her because of it.






Excerpt:

My stomach clenched in fear as his gaze bored into mine in a glance so intense I felt the blood drain from my face. All the times I had seen him, I had felt uncomfortable, like I was being stalked, and, this time was no different. Except, now I knew without a doubt that he was following me. My frantic heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest.
The man leaned forward, his back arching him forward. His eyes narrowed as he continued to stare into me. A shiver wound its way up my spine causing me to gasp for a breath I hadn’t remembered holding. At my sudden intake, a coy little half smile spread across his face as if he enjoyed it. My stomach clenched in even further terror, my mind casting away any thoughts of what that smile could mean. I didn’t want to know. He continued to stare into me before releasing me as he turned to walk out of the cafeteria.

About the Author


Rebecca Ethington has been telling stories since she was small. First, with writing crude scripts, and then on stage with years of theatrical performances. The Imdalind Series is her first stint into the world of literary writing. Rebecca is a mother to two, and wife to her best friend of 14 years. She was born and raised in the mountains of Salt Lake City, and hasn’t found the desire to leave yet. Her days are spent writing, running, and enjoying life with her amazing family.

Links:

Goodreads 

Amazon Author 

Amazon Buy link 

Barnes and Noble 

Website

Twitter 

Facebook

Book trailer: http://youtu.be/ZeKgbEwIzxU


My thoughts:

4.5 STARS!

As you might already know, I love YA and I love paranormal romance so, yes I was drawn to this book from the moment I received the invitation for the tour.

And I'm glad I chose to review it! Because I loved it!

It was predictable. Yes, absolutely. From page one you can see where the book is going but the way the author gets there, it's amazing.
A marvellous journey.

Ryland is delicious and I love every single interaction from him and Jos.
She is great, a little too reserved but a great character nonetheless.
Her personality, how she hid herself and the "hoody thingy" reminded me of Ever from "The Immortal Series" by Allyson Noel.

Wyn... my favorite character! Just perfect.
Joclyn's mom was utterly annoying! Definitely my least favorite of the book.


The plot is well built and the story is fast paced and very entertaining. The writing flows easily and smoothly. I liked it.
I would totally recommend this book. A pleasant read.

CAN'T WAIT TO READ BOOK 2!