Introducing: Jess Sturman-Coombs

Today we're getting to know a little more about the author of Poker Face, Jess Sturman-Coombs. Read on to find our more about Jess!

"Jess Sturman-Coombs is a debut writer of fiction to include, but not limited to, sci-fi,
romance and thrillers. Poker Face is the first in a series of crossover fiction and the first novel
in her collection to be published.

Jess graduated from The University of Northampton with a degree in law and lives in
Northamptonshire with her son, daughter and husband. Working in law firms from the age of
eighteen provided the inspiration for Poker Face and a slightly obsessive personality provided
the fuel." 

Stay up to date on Jess's books on her blog and website. 

Poker Face is available now from Amazon US and Amazon UK. 

New Book: Poker Face

This week, I am welcoming to the blog, Jess Sturman-Coombs, author of Poker Face! Read on to find out a little more about Jess's new novel. 

"Sixteen year old Ruby Palmer is hot, feisty and out of control. She’s also about to walk into the most dangerous job imaginable; trainee office junior. 

Her inability to type and her very bad attitude keep her moving around the firm like a hot potato and eventually she finds herself under the strict rule of Mr Alessi – senior partner and successful criminal lawyer.  Ruby soon discovers that Mr Alessi isn’t quite what he seems when she accidently meets two of his very private clients. They come in through the backdoor, out of office hours, believing the building to be empty but Ruby is still there and now she’s seen too much. 

All the worst kind of people think Mr Alessi just employed himself an easy target. They intend to bully Ruby into retrieving an incriminating appeal file hidden somewhere in Mr Alessi’s building. What they don’t realise is that Ruby isn’t one to bow down to intimidation or pressure. 
She’s quick, she’s clever and she’s about to give them all a deadly run for their money. 

Book one in the POKERFACE series..." 

Stay up to date on Jess's books on her blog and website. 

Poker Face is available now from Amazon US and Amazon UK. 

Review: Six Degrees of Lost

Olive is lost. Not physically, mind you, but in just about every other way. Her mother is in jail, her brother in the military, and her dad in places unknown. When she shows up at her aunts house, she feels as if she has been dumped off on the only person left who hopefully cares about her. Olive struggles to find her way, and finds help in the unlikely friendship of the animals she meets and local boy, David, who is wading through his own troubles. 

The two main characters of this book are Olive and David. Both are struggling to maneuver their lives, but both face very different problems. Olive can hardly find a family member who seems interested in her life. David struggles to keep his overbearing parents from planning out his entire life regardless of what he wants. The juxtaposition of these two characters provided a nice contrast. 

The relationships that develop with the animals in this book, and the importance they play in the story is an interesting aspect. A runaway yellow lab brings David and Olive together. Their search for his owner gives them a common cause, and a reason to see each other. Olive also finds more purpose in her life when she begins helping care for the stray animals at her aunt's house and the animal shelter. The friendship Olive and David develop is very sweet.The addition of the animals was a lovely reminder of an animal's ability to lift spirits and provide comfort. 

My main issue with the characters was that I didn't feel as though I was able to get inside their heads very much. There was more "telling" the reader what they thought and felt than "showing."  Olive was a likable character who young readers will be able to relate to. I had a harder time with David because he whined frequently and despite the struggles he had, his life was not so terrible. He came off as rather spoiled at times. The characters are both fourteen, which would typically put this in the YA category, but their maturity level and the "all tell" style of the writing made it read more like a middle grade novel. 

The pacing of the first half of the book was also a bit of an issue for me. I felt the opening chapters didn't initially grab me and it took a while before I felt the main conflict of the story really developed and the interest level increased. The last half of the book was much faster paced and kept me interested. The editing in this book could have been better. It was a little distracting for me, but not a deal breaker. 

Would I recommend this book? This is one I wouldn't be able to recommend to everyone. It will have a select audience that the characters will appeal to. 

Who would I recommend this book to? Mainly to tweens, or the 9-12 age group, will be able to identify with these characters more than older teens. I think adults will struggle with the pacing and depth of character development. 

Six Degrees of Lost is available now from Amazon, B&N, and Musa Publishing. 

Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop!

Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop

Featuring Young Adult & Clean Adult Romance

February 8th to 14th 

Co-hosted by Rachael Anderson

As a part of the Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop, I'm am giving away a signed paperback copy of 

INQUEST 

the first book in The Destroyer Trilogy! 

Read more about Inquest!

"For Libby Sparks, turning sixteen means only one thing…death. Guardian rule demands she attend the ritualistic Inquest that will unveil her talents and secure her place in society. But that isn’t all that will be revealed in Libby’s case.

The more talents you have the better, at least to some degree. Four or five talents will guarantee you a life of luxury, but seven…that is the mark of the Destroyer. Libby knows her Inquest will reveal her to be the Guardians’ greatest enemy. Their law requires her death before her eighteenth birthday. If she lives, prophecy foretells that the world will fall into chaos and destruction.

Once her destiny is revealed, Libby is abandoned when her mother throws her out, her boyfriend tries to kill her, and her best friend shuts her out. Only Milo, a slightly grungy outcast, seems willing to be her friend—but Libby soon realizes he has secrets of his own. His secrets may very well have everything to do with her own destiny.

In order to make it to her eighteenth birthday, Libby must bury her talents and convince the world she is harmless. Her plan only lasts until Milo is put in danger and Libby is forced to choose. Abandon her friend to save her own life, or embrace her destiny and truly become the Destroyer.

ENTER TO WIN BELOW!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Favorites: Six Degrees of Lost

Not everyone is an animal lover, but you don't need to be in order to enjoy  Six Degrees of Lost. One of the aspects I enjoyed in this book was Benson's ability to blend animals and people so seamlessly. This book doesn't focus solely around the animals, but it does show how important they are to the characters' lives. 

The animals provide just what the characters need at various times during the story. When Olive is struggling to make friends, the yellow lab, and later the puppies, provide companionship and friendship. Finding the dog's owner not only distracts Olive and David from other problems, it unites them in a common cause. Olive even finds purpose in helping the shelter animals each day. The animals and their influence on the characters add depth and warmth to the story. 

Six Degrees of Lost is available now from Amazon, B&N, and Musa Publishing. 

Interview Linda Benson

Today I am welcoming to the bog, Linda Benson. Read on to find out more about Linda and her wonderful books!


1. What was your inspiration for "Six Degrees of Lost?" I enjoy reading books told from the viewpoints of alternating characters, and I wanted to see if I could write one. It was a challenge for me, and I think (hope) I succeeded.

2. The story focuses around two characters, Can you describe Olive's situation and how she ended up with her aunt? Olive is a thirteen-year-old girl with no likely place to land. Her father is a wanderer – whereabouts often unknown. Her mother was just arrested for credit card fraud, and sentenced to jail time. Her old brother Pendleton, the one steadying influence in her life, just joined the Army and is off to basic training. This leaves nowhere for Olive to go, except to rainy Washington state, where a kind aunt (who also takes in stray dogs, cats, and other homeless animals) provides a place for her to stay.

3. Can you tell us a little about David's home life and how that influences his actions? 
David’s family is fairly well-off. He lives in one of the “big houses” down by the river. Both of his older brothers have joined the military, and this is expected of David, also. More than that, he is expected to apply to the Air Force Academy, and his parents are planning every moment of his school and extra-curricular activities toward that goal. At fourteen, however, David barely knows what he wants to do with his life, and resents the pressure and high expectations placed upon him.

4. Olive finds a yellow lab in the beginning. How does this dog impact the story? The lost yellow lab provides a way for Olive and David to meet. Olive and her aunt take the dog house to house, looking for its owner, and this is how David and Olive originally connect. The dog also provides a theme for the story: on the one hand, he is lost and trying to find his way home, and on the other hand, he keeps breaking free and running loose, and becomes a symbol to David of the freedom he doesn’t have in life.

5. I would guess you have a soft spot for animals. How did you use animals to help tell this story? I do have a huge soft spot for animals – how did you guess? *grin* I love to use animals in stories, because you can tell so much about a person’s character by how they relate to animals. In Six Degrees of Lost, not only is there the lost yellow lab as the story begins, there is also an assortment of stray cats, abandoned puppies, and even ancient horses that all play a large part in the plot.

6. Olive is trying to figure out where she belongs in this story. How does David help her? Well, without giving too much away, David helps her from becoming even more lost. Besides that, they are both keeping secrets from each other, and in unraveling these secrets, they discover much about themselves.


7. How do expectations impact this story, both Olive and David's expectations for their lives and their families' expectations of their lives. Both Olive and David have not had much experience in life other than with the families with which they grew up. Olive has lived a life without much security, moving from one apartment to another and not having the best role models. David’s life has been so secure that he feels trapped and bored with his choices in life, and the expectations he shoulders. As Olive and David’s friendship deepens, they both start to regain some control over their lives, and learn to make some of their own choices.

8. Who are you favorite authors? Oh gosh, I have lots and lots. Katherine Paterson, Kate DiCamillo, Katherine Applegate, Patricia McCormick, Will Hobbs, Joseph Monninger, Gary Paulsen, Kathi Appelt, Sharon Creech, Molly Gloss, Sandra Alonzo, Sara Gruen, Laura Hillenbrand, and John Steinbeck. Shall I go on?

9. Do you have any interesting rituals or habits when you write? I love to be situated by a window so I can look outside. I’ve always lived in the country, so usually I can see trees and nature and birds and the sky, for starters. I can’t imagine it any other way.

10. Can you tell us about any future projects? I’m working on a sequel to The Girl Who Remembered Horses, my post-apocalyptic horse novel which has been very well-received. I have a brand new novel out from Musa Publishing called Walking the Dog. And I hope soon to get back into, and finish, a YA novel in verse, which deals with teen love and pregnancy.


Six Degrees of Lost is available now from Amazon, B&N, and Musa Publishing. 

Introducing: Linda Benson

Linda Benson has written several young adult and middle grade books, including The Girl Who Remembered Horses, Finding Chance, The Horse Jar, Six Degrees of Lost, and a new book available now called Walking the Dog. Her passion for nature and animals often finds its way into her writing. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and a variety of animals, and is hard at work on her next book.

To find out more -

Visit her website: http://www.lindabenson.net

Her blog: http://www.lindabenson.blogspot.com

Find her on Facebook: http://facebook.com/LindaBensonAuthor

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/LinBenson

On Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3421565.Linda_Benson

Six Degrees of Lost is available now from Amazon, B&N, and Musa Publishing.