BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Falling for the Stars by Lisa Loving Dalton + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

So, we're saying goodbye to November today...is anyone else looking around lost like a tourist in France to see where exactly the month went?  Whew!  I mean seriously, it seems like it was just October yesterday, and yet here we are about to greet the last month of the year.  Here's hoping you're making the best of it and getting in some fab reads during these final weeks too.  Speaking of which...

Today, we're turning our attention to another title courtesy of iRead Book Tours that's set to leave us with the stars in our eyes.  Yes, I said "the" stars.  Sounds awkward, but it fits the title you're about to set your sights on.  Ready or not, here comes today's title in the spotlight...

Falling for the Stars

by

Lisa Loving Dalton

About the book...

AMAZON #1 BESTSELLER!

This Behind-the-Scenes Tell-All About Doubling for Celebrity Superstars Also Reveals the Compelling Life Story of an Insecure Hollywood Arrival Who Rises to the Top of Her Field, But Pays a Hefty Price.

• Addiction
• Chauvinism 
• Big Egos collide with the surprising kindness of superstars.

Discover the magic and the tragic stories of many great films & TV shows through the eyes of a stuntwoman. Dalton reveals what it took to hang over cliffs, get hit by a moving car, drop from five stories up, dodge an avenue full of speeding cars--and to ignore the Universe's more gentle prompts that it was time to quit and follow her passion into acting full-time or teaching acting.

The resulting career-ending spinal injury has a story of its own, how she researched medical and alternative paths that form the heart of what she shares with the world today. "What stands out in this book is the indomitable spirit the author has, despite the extraordinary price she paid for her stellar career--including misogyny, a miscarriage, and a life-long back injury. And each juicy story she relays in her fascinating chronicle, brings home an important life lesson for the reader--one that she learned the hard way.

Stunt Gal Lisa Dalton tattles about humorous and harrowing tales culled from over 200 films, television shows and commercials including:

• Ghostbusters
• Money Pit
• Crocodile Dundee
• Married to the Mob
• FX
• Legal Eagles
• The Last Dragon
• Saturday Night Live
• Splash
• The Highlander
• World According To Garp

Working with or doubling such superstars as Meryl Streep, Cher, Madonna, Grace Jones, Robert Redford, Katherine Hepburn, Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, Ed O'Neill, Michelle Pfeiffer and more.

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About the author...

From a bullied, dyslexic, messy, freckle-faced, klutzy pixie, Lisa Loving Dalton grew into a statuesque and skillful stuntwoman, actor, director, teacher, author, filmmaker, leadership and life coach, and ceremonial minister. Always seeking and finding the silver lining, she has made the most of whatever life threw at her. She says, “I spill stuff, trip and drip all of the time so I made a career out of it. My advice: Embrace what is as perfect.”

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Dalton appeared in more than 200 films, television shows and commercials in New York, Hollywood and Texas, including work in Ghostbusters, Money Pit, Crocodile Dundee, Married to the Mob, FX, Legal Eagles, and Splash on the big screen and ER, HBO’s Carnivale, Dr. Quinn and Melrose Place among her many TV credits.

Connect with the author:

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Youtube ~ Instagram

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Special thanks to Cami at iRead Book Tours for the information/links provided above and the chance to bring this promotion to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, or those tours on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.

BEFORE YOU GO...

DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!

Grand Prize Package: one winner will receive:

1) a paperback copy of Falling For the Stars by Lisa Loving Dalton with autographed Last Dragon Pic

2) a paperback copy of A Balancing Act by Emmanuelle Chaulet

3) an e-copy of Murder of Talent

4) a 30-min video chat with author

2nd and 3rd Prize Packages: 2 winners will each get:

1) a Kindle copy of Falling for the Stars by Lisa Loving Dalton with an autographed Last Dragon pic

2) a paperback copy of A Balancing Act by Emmanuelle Chaulet

3) an e-copy of Murder of Talent

USA only

Giveaway ends Dec 17

JUST CLICK HERE AND FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!



BLOG TOUR: Road to Paradise by Paullina Simons

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

So, here we are with another day, another post, and another blog tour stop featuring a TLC Book Tours promotion!  Gotta love that team.  They've introduced me to some great reads over the years and with such a wide array of genres covered, you never know what you'll find next.  Bookmarks up to the TLC Book Tours team!  (YOU ROCK!)  Moving forward...

Today, we're helping to kick off the tour for a title celebrating its BOOK BIRTHDAY today via William Morrow Paperbacks.  It's a work of Fiction infused with the life force of experience straight from the author herself.  Now, that's not to say that she did everything in the book, heaven forbid, but she did actually embark on a SOLO road trip to gather firsthand experience of what it would be like to tackle the world one road at a time.  It definitely gave it an extra dose of authenticity, but that's just a small portion of the overall read.  Ladies and gents, grab your suitcases and make your funds as safe as you can, we're going on a road trip with today's blog tour guest...

Road to Paradise

by

Paullina Simons

William Morrow Paperbacks

About the book...

Love, passion, and friendship collide on the road trip of a lifetime in this breathtaking novel from Paullina Simons, internationally bestselling author of The Bronze Horseman and Tully.

There’s no telling where a journey will lead you…

Shelby Sloane has big plans for the summer of 1981. She’ll drive cross country in her graduation present—a classic yellow Mustang. In California, she hopes to find the mother who left her behind long ago, and then return East in time to start college. Her childhood friend Gina is desperate to reunite with her boyfriend in Bakersfield and has convinced Shelby to bring her along.

With Gina on board, Shelby’s carefully mapped-out itinerary is quickly abandoned. Soon, so is their “no hitchhikers” rule when Shelby picks up a mysterious girl named Candy Cane, who sets them all on a new and dangerous course. Streetwise beyond her years and decked out with tattoos, piercings, and spiky hair, Candy is on the run from a past darker than anything the two suburban girls have ever known. Candy draws Shelby and Gina into her terrifying world, where life as they know it is turned upside down and there is no place left to hide

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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An innocent road trip to rediscover her roots takes a turn for the worst and before you know it, spirals so far out of control, you'd never recognize it even if it was stamped with a "you-were-here" moniker with your picture superimposed on the image from the exact moment you began reading.

*blink blink*  I'm sorry, but for me, this just wasn't what I thought it was going to be.  I know the synopsis hints at darker times and "terrifying worlds", but really, there is so much DARK in here, it's almost impossible to see the light.  Let's review (since that's why we're here), shall we?

Shelby is a good kid with good intentions.  She longs to reconnect with a mother that she's not seen or heard from in most her lifetime before she makes the jump to college.  A simple request, no?  Eh, negative.  Enter one former best friend, Gina Reed.  Despite the "John-Jacob-Jingleheimer" moment I had upon reading about a character with my (first) name, I just couldn't stand the girl.  Her bad attitude and sniping at Shelby is explained further on in the story and while she has a right to some degree to be snotty, seriously...she invited herself, nay practically BEGGED to be on this road trip, that becomes more trippy by the moment, so forgive me if I can't really forgive her.  These two set off like oil and water on what promises to be a delightful ride (hahahahahaHA!) for them both, until after one too many setbacks and side trips lands them in trouble with a capital T...or perhaps it would be more prudent to say with a capital C.  Let's add another soul to this car ride from you-know-where by the name of Candy...Cane.  *blink*  Her actual name?  I think not, but are YOU going to argue with her, especially when things take a turn for the downright creepy and dangerous as we discover she's not exactly an innocent hitchhiker, and her "baggage" is about to become theirs as well...and this kind can get you killed.

You think you're getting a road trip and you wind up with a cross between a visit to that really warm place beneath purgatory and the movie Hitchhiker.  Seriously!  This is one roughed up ride in a spiffy car that goes pretty much EVERYWHERE and covers SO much rocky terrain, I don't even know where to begin.  We've got long lost mothers, cheating friends, cheating girlfriends, child pornography, snuff films, more than enough leery dudes for a lifetime, a glimpse at the true extent of the trucker network, the lengths to which a kind soul will go to help another, and the battering that same kind soul can take without truly breaking.  I was utterly surprised by the ending, and saddened to some degree, but the lessons learned were much to great to really have it any other way for our road weary gals.

In the end, it was much darker, more twisted, and intensely searching than I ever anticipated or was hinted at in the synopsis. I truly wasn't prepared for this road trip and while I made it through mostly unscathed, I can't say I'd necessarily do it again.  It was definitely a one way ticket for me, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend venturing out onto that literary road to discover all you can along the way.  Just go in with a word of caution on all that you'll uncover...you might be shocked and very surprised.  Recommended for older teens through adults due to content and concepts covered.

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About the author...

Paullina Simons is an internationally bestselling author whose novels include Bellagrand and The Bronze Horseman was born in Leningrad in 1963. As a child she immigrated to Queens, New York, and attended colleges in Long Island. Then she moved to England and attended Essex University, before returning to America. She lives in New York with her husband and children.

Find out more about Paullina at her website, follow her on Twitter, and connect with her on Facebook.

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Special thanks to Trish at TLC Book Tours and the folks at HarperCollins for the copy for review and chance to bring this promotion to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, THIS TOUR, or those forthcoming, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available TODAY via William Morrow Paperbacks, an imprint of HarperCollins, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

BLOG TOUR: Wallflower Blooming by Amy Rivers

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're playing host to a stop along the TLC Book Tours promotion for a work of Fiction that will call in some way or another to all introverts, and bookish folk in my reading audience.  So, that means pretty much you, and you, and YOU trying to hide over there in the corner with your nose in a book....HEY!  Hold off on the reading until after my post, okay?  Now that I have your attention, allow me to present today's blog tour guest and book of choice...

Wallflower Blooming

by

Amy Rivers

Wooden Pants Publishing

About the book...
Val Shakely is a list-maker. Daily routine. Check. Calm, quiet (but successful) business. Check. No drama. No excitement. Some might call it boring, but it’s precisely the way Val likes it. She loves her hometown of Cambria, nestled in the mountains of Colorado, and runs a fruitful PR firm. And that’s more than enough for Val. So what if she doesn’t have a social life?

Then, her cousin Gwen decides to take on the local political bully, the Mayor, in head-to-head combat for the Mayoral seat and Val takes her company reluctantly, and against her better judgment, into the fray. The minute Val takes on Gwen’s campaign, the safe world that she has carefully constructed begins to unravel. She feels the pressure of the campaign and the personal attacks by Gwen’s opponent.

And as if that wasn’t complicated enough, Val finds herself falling in love. Val’s desire to stay on the sidelines is put to the test and she’s forced to reexamine the life she’s built as she trudges toward a new and more exciting future.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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Right from the start, I thought that these two (Val and John) were potentially a match made in OCD-ish heaven...if they could only get past the blush factor and down to the "get to know" phase!  Does that ever happen...mum's the word on that but the perpetual tomato tinged coloring they wear around each other is certainly sweet.  It reminds us that there are good guys left in the game, they just might be harder to find, so don't be afraid to look up now and again.  *wink*

For a wallflower, Val was surprisingly take charge when in her own element.  Grant it, it wasn't hard to change her trajectory as she bent more often than a willow in the wind, but that's the point now isn't it...she would BEND but not BREAK...a point driven home when things really get dicey.  Good thing she has great friends (and perhaps someone even closer!) to depend on because seriously, she gets in pretty hot water through no fault of her own!  One of those by her side, the eye catching yet seemingly always single John Hatfield, who decides to make his stand against the injustice of their local political scene and a move on our lady of the hour.  Seriously, these two couldn't be cuter and yet there are so many misses versus connections you just want to lock them in a room and say will you just spit it out already?!  You like her; she likes you.  Now, get it together!   

In the end, it had its moments.  I can't say I fell in love, but I did find myself in like.  The story was more than just another romance and didn't leave us hanging like a chad for the final results in any aspect of the work.  The couple-potentially-to-be, as well as the rest of the cast, were endearing enough to allow me to turn the final page with a satisfying swish while still wishing everyone the very best on their fictional lives going forward.  Recommended read for the wallflowers among us as well as those go-getters out there because really, reading to type is fun but stepping outside our own box can provide great results as well.

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About the author...

Amy Rivers was born and raised in southern New Mexico and currently resides in Colorado. She had an idyllic childhood despite a severe visual impairment and, perhaps because of her disability, she learned a lot about compassion and empathy from a young age. Her keen interest in social issues and violence prevention led to a Master’s degree with concentrations in Psychology and Politics. She was the director of a sexual assault response program and remains an advocate for social justice. Amy has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Nurses, Novelty Bride Magazine, ESME.com and Splice Today. Wallflower Blooming is her first novel.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

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Special thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours for the copy for review and the chance to bring this tour to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, THIS TOUR, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now via Wooden Pants Publishing, so be on the lookout for it on a virtual shelf of your choosing.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!