Cry Me a River #review from @redheadedbooklovers #mustreadT

Woohoo! a great review just posted on https://Redheadedbooklovers.com Aimee Ann reviews books from all genres. Check out her blog to read them and also to support our troops. She's the proud wife of a marine and four beautiful redheads. (I have a special place in my heart for redheads, lol)

Cry Me a River, Livia Quinn

September 7, 2018 by Aimee Ann

Literature & Fiction, Romance, Supernatural & Paranormal

Welcome to Destiny, home to the Paramortals since…well, forever…where human neighbors and their new sheriff live alongside shifters, dragons, vampires and a family of djinn.
Just don’t tell the humans. 

Amid the strange goings on in his new hometown, Sheriff Jack Lang organizes a search for Tempest Pomeroy’s brother. Although Jack glimpsed her supposed supernatural talents in the form of lightning bolts aimed directly at him—special effects, had to be—nothing will keep him from doing his job to protect the town’s residents, his daughter, and even the trouble-making Tempe.
In the course of the investigation, lies and suspicions cloud their mutual attraction, but Storm Witch Tempe’s new ex-Navy pilot beau vows to learn everything about this quirky town. 

Everything? Like a massive rumble of thunder, her family secrets—including her brother’s djinn nature—shake things up. Sure, Jack may stick around to finish his investigation, but once he knows all about the supernatural aspects of the town…? Well, wouldn’t it be just like a man to exit a relationship when he finds out a woman has a few little secrets?

Because in the town of Destiny, the burgeoning, unpredictable supernatural whips up a massive whirlwind of everything.

Wow, Cry Me a River… where do I begin? Why don’t I start my review by writing that Cry Me a River is book two in the Destiny Paramortals Saga with book one being called Storm Crazy (which I reviewed a short while ago) and that Cry Me a River is a captivating novel that is not only worthy of being read by all readers but also a novel that needs to be a movie! When I read the description of Cry Me a River I was hooked, after all, I loved the first book and the author left me wanting more at the end of Storm Crazy. Now and then a reader will come across that one book that blows them away, it is a somewhat generic term, but that is Cry Me a River (as well as Storm Crazy) did to me… it blew me away and ever since completing it I have been thinking of its intricate and detailed story and how I need to re-read it! That is when you know book lovers that you have come across an incredible book when you are thinking of it when you have a million things to do. That is why I am already going to recommend Cry Me a River to you lovely readers, and yes, it may be early on in my review, but Cry Me a River is a novel not to be missed.

Cry Me a River is book two in the series and so I am going to be very careful when I discuss the plot of the book as I do not want to spoil the exceptional plot for you. So to get started on describing what the first book is about I have attached an excerpt of my review of Strom Crazy.

“Storm Crazy is a unique book with many plot avenues however the focus of the story is Tempest Pomeroy, Sheriff Jack Lang and a place called Destiny. Destiny is a unique place and home to Paramortals where beings such as vampires, shapeshifters, and even dragons live. The reader throughout Storm Crazy will be introduced to many characters and one of them is Sheriff Jack Lang who has decided to settle down in Destiny, after all, it seems like a quaint place with no drama but how wrong is he! It is here that the story picks up and here that the reader will be introduced to the female protagonist of the novel, Tempest Pomeroy, a red-haired woman who has Jack’s affection. Tempest, however, is hiding a secret, she is a Paramortal just like the rest of her family and throughout the book, the reader will follow her as much is unveiled and what is unveiled is shocking as well as thrilling.”

Now, how amazing does Strom Crazy sound?! Storm Crazy is an exceptional book and Cry Me a River is equally so. In book two the reader will once again be reunited with Sheriff Jack Lang and in the book, two more secrets are revealed. The secrets slowly come out during an investigation for Tempest’s missing brother, and during this investigation, Jack will learn a lot not only about Tempest but also the town in which he now lives. What follows is a fascinating paranormal story with a well-executed plot and unique characters so do not miss out book lovers!

Cry Me a River for me was thrilling, captivating and addictive right from the start and I felt this from beginning to end. Cry Me a River was captivating to me from the start thanks to the unique premise of the story and the bewitching literature courtesy of the author, Livia Quinn who hooked me with her unique story that was unlike anything I have read before. It is rare to find a paranormal novel that is refreshing, and it is even more challenging to discover a paranormal story that does not rely on gimmicks and ridiculous action sequences! Cry Me a River does have some action-packed moments however they are tasteful and in no way gimmicky which is always fantastic in a book!

Cry Me a River is a phenomenal writer who knows how to grasp her reader’s attention from the first page. Quinn instead of writing long, drawn-out builds up which are commonly found in novels, decides to ditch this approach and thrust her reader into the heart of the story straight away so that the reader is instantly captivated and immersed. I personally love this approach, what is the point of having a long build-up with little excitement? This is only necessary if the author in question can’t develop the characters in the story quickly but with Quinn, the reader will not encounter this issue because Quinn instantly develops her characters and makes the reader invest in not only them but also their journey.

Overall Cry Me a River is a thrilling, compelling and thought-provoking novel that will easily entertain readers for many days and nights and so, I, of course, have to award this stellar gem of a book five stars! If you are a reader who loves supernatural stories laced with romance and mystery then I implore you to read Cry Me a River; it is a fast-paced, action adventure that should not be missed so have a read of the preview below and get reading!

Thank you so much Aimee for the great review. 

Get it on all books stores by clicking here

#Journaling to beat tasks, #procrastination and #depression

They're known by many terms.

Art Journals - Travelers Notebook - Bullet Journals - Dot Journal...

A memory comes to me occasionally of my mother saying she found it curious that I always had a pen in my hand as if it was waiting for something to write… she never knew I became an author but I’ve journaled for many years. It did seem as if words just needed to flow from my fingers...

Last week I retired the planner I’ve used for the last six months and did an assessment of my new process as a management tool. I was actually amazed by how much I’d accomplished this year so far and I credit this particular notebook method.

Years ago, I used to carry a Day Runner Purse keeping everything in it with me - addresses, plans, to dos, finances, ideas - I called it my “bible to myself” so when I discovered bullet journals/travel notebooks and art journaling, I jumped into it whole hog.

After researching sizes, I decided on the most flexible one for me that will accommodate most 5x8” notebooks. I ordered a pretty forest green leather notebook cover (the basis for a travel notebook) from Galenleather.com. A bullet journal on the other hand can be created in any notebook that lies flat like some of the ones I show further down.

In my first attempt, I set up a travel notebook style planner with individual notebooks I made myself for various tasks, a separate one for finances, calendar, book notes, etc. The individual items are banded into the cover and can be removed for entry if needed or reordered. But after two months I ditched the many separate notebooks and went with a Popper and dollar store monthly calendar and this round, a bound daily journal.

I’ve included some images of some of my messy pages, some of my notebooks, supplies and calendar styles. One of my favorite calendars is the one with the circle calendar in the center and boxes for each month around it which allows me to put main focus in the center and more detail in the boxes. The detail book tasks page has been very helpful lately.

And I love my quote page which holds some of the quotes that inspire me. (Here’s one of my favorites, a quote my grandson shared with me when he was in the Navy.)

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”  Mark Twain

Don’t worry if you don’t want to decorate it, though there’s some real benefits to the creative energy that comes from it, or that your penmanship is well…ugly. That is not the point.

The core strength of these bullet journals/traveler’s notebooks/art journals/daily planners – whatever you choose to call them – is the intention that’s brought to the effort, the concentration on tasks, to dos, ideas, the tracking of daily life, goals set and met.

You identify a task or reminder, write down your intention to commit, to attend, achieve or remember, add goals or a date for that task – examples: pay off credit card by___, meals planned for one week, edits done for four books by June 30 at 8000 words per day, etc.

In Smart Journaling by Mackenzie Read, this expert says, “Distraction takes a heavy toll on productivity… Smart journaling gives the mind room to think.”

I was excited when I started this so I bought supplies – washi tape, rubber stamps, stencils, fancy card stock to make my own notebooks, a um, paper cutter, yeah… well, you don’t have to do that either. You can start with any style notebook that will open flat. I’ve shown a couple below. As you can see I could use just about any notebooks of that size as they fit into my cover. The important thing is to find one that opens flat to be the most useful and available (Something you like that’s practical so you will use it is essential).

Why it works! When I started the big revamp of my contemporary series in February I set goals in my planner each day. I had to have 2 books written and 5 books revised and edited by June 30. So, each day I place that item on the top of my planner page, total to be revised, number of pages to be edited for each day and a report of how many I’d accomplished. Now I have a new total to be transferred to the next day. I’ve included samples of my messy pages. The point is messy or not, this system works, because it’s customizable, personal, tuned to your personal needs to accommodate school, work, finances, writing, kids’ activities, whatever. You build it so you can follow it and as you can see I’ve tried many different styles of weekly, daily and monthly pages. It doesn’t cost me anything to try something new because I create it myself. This can all be accomplished with just a decent black pen like a sharpie fine line that doesn’t go through paper and a notebook.

This year, not only did I run my business during the day but in the mornings and between customers this system helped me to stay focused on my goals – personal, financial and writerly. I’ve used several different weekly and daily methods…

I finished rough drafts of two books, edited and completely revised 5 books, took three courses, learned how to create covers. If I stay on track I will have released 8 books by the end of the year and written three more. Because I’m focusing on it step by step, day by day, I don’t feel overwhelmed. Incorporating a spiritual meditation of some kind into each day helps tremendously. I leave a space using a little cloud with dots to jot down the most important thing I glean from these moments. It’s very calming and affirming.

My contemporary series will begin launching in September so I created a launch plan with tasks to be done each month for each book, release dates, promos, kind of a birds eye view.

Have you tried creating your own planner? I’d love to hear about it. If I’ve made you curious you can find dozens of books on the subject but here’s a rather inexpensive eBook I’ve found particularly helpful. Dot Journaling by Rachel Wilkerson Miller

Livia’s News! Livia Quinn is the author of a paranormal series, The Destiny Paramortals available on all eBook stores. The first book in the series, Storm Crazy, is free.

See all her books, and links for all stores here . On September 11th, she will be releasing the first book in her contemporary series, The Calloways of Rainbow Bayou. (Dates shown on the Calloways launch plan)

Find her on your preferred method of social media or her website or blog for the latest updates. If you’re a newsletter lover, sign up for her updates via email.

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