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Did I Say Never?
![Did I Say Never?: A Stepparentâs Emotional Journey with her Special Needs Son by [Nugent, Kim]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51dubB2UikL.jpg)
Did I Say Never is the first-person account of one woman’s life as stepmother to a son with special needs and the many ways in which he has blessed her life. Kim Nugent’s open and honest recounting of Brooks’s struggles includes her introduction into his life, the battle to find facilities capable of meeting his needs, and her family’s own triumphs over even the smallest of Brooks’s accomplishments. Nugent writes poignantly regarding her stepson’s progress throughout the years and the dedication and persistence required to provide Brooks with the best possible carparee as he matures.
Life has a funny way of making us rethink all of our absolutes. Kim Nugent is no stranger to this phenomenon. Having declared she would never again marry and never needed to consider the ramifications of dating a man with children, Nugent finds herself falling headlong into a relationship with her soulmate–and his children. The author’s descriptions of her love for her stepchildren and the great lengths to which she has gone to fit successfully into the role of stepmother are raw and touching. Her experience is relatable, and she offers readers more than just a peek into the process which has dominated her life.
As a mother and a teacher, I can appreciate Nugent’s methodical approach to meeting her stepson’s needs and the joy experienced when he meets each milestone. The time, effort, and devotion she shows Brooks is astounding. Nugent shares with readers a step-by-step list of instructions for helping meet his needs. She, literally, leaves nothing unaddressed. From his most basic day-to-day needs to interpreting his attempts to communicate his feelings, Nugent takes into account any and every situation in which a caregiver or family member might need advice when dealing with her son. Her family’s pride and elation upon hearing Brooks’s first word is clear to the reader. You cannot help but smile as you read and feel the warmth emanating through Nugent’s words.
I highly recommend Did I Say Never to any parent of a child with special needs, any parent struggling to come to terms with a difficult diagnosis, or teachers seeking to better understand parents’ daily battles to maintain a daily routine while, at the same time, enriching their child’s life. Nugent offers something to readers most of us are incapable of imagining in regards to raising a child with special needs–the whole truth and nothing but. Parents and teachers alike will welcome the honest delivery and upbeat attitude from Nugent.
I am giving Did I Say Never, by Kim Nugent, 5 out of 5 stars. Watching Nugent on her journey of self-discovery and seeing her stepson overcome some truly overwhelming circumstances makes for a wonderful reading experience. Not to mention, Nugent provides readers with an extensive and meticulously detailed list of needs and behaviors helpful to any caregiver or family member.
Pages: 150 | ASIN: B071XDJZK6
A Covert Affair Book Trailer
A mole within the SEALs and I’m the one to find him. Simple for someone with my type of ability to read through lies. Everything was laid out, we had a plan. A good plan. Go in undercover as a reporter, gather intel, identify the mole and come home. But it didn’t turn out that way. Not even close. Of course, the Sr. Officer over the platoon in question is a former one night stand who became way too clingy. And to top it off his best friend, and my escort around the base is someone whom I desperately want clinging, without clothes would be preferred. The number of obstacles in this operation is too many to count but I have to find the mole, no matter what, my reputation within the CIA depends on it.
Who would have thought a quick-witted, hotshot CIA agent would be my kryptonite. But is she ever. From the moment, she walked into CO’s office I was hooked. She a drug and I’m the willing addict doing anything and everything just to get one more hit of her. She says we are a bad idea, that it would complicate things, what does she know. We could be great together. We will be great together. All I have to do is convince her we can play and get the job done too. I want the mole caught but I might want her just as bad.
A Covert Affair is a contemporary romantic suspense, standalone novel.
How We End Up
![How We End Up by [Wells, Douglas]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51lIbhLAtKL.jpg)
Douglas Wells’ new book, How We End Up, seeks to become even more intricate and complex then his debut book, The Secret of all Secrets. The reader follows three main characters as their lives come together, only to drift apart and come back together after 25 years. Jackson Levee is an ambitious college instructor when he manages to be in the right place at the right time and saves twin girls from drowning in the Gulf of Mexico. He goes on to write a poem about the event, which brings him acclaim and success. Hadley and Haley, the twins go on to become beautiful women. All three of them are then brought on their heels through various events and it is after two and half decades they meet again to suffer a devastating event together and discover who and what they are as human persons.
At this point, readers familiar with Wells’ more philosophically bent, literary stories and How We End Up is no exception. What has become more refined, is Wells style with incorporating all of these events into a cohesive story. His previous work seemed to have a lot going on, and while it still achieved a particular effect, it wasn’t as polished as this story. In some ways, he uses the layman’s philosophy to a decent effect, but it becomes even more pronounced as the themes of self-identity, purpose and life’s meaning takes center stage.
As much as this book is about Jackson, Haley, and Hadley, it is more about life and what happens to a person over the course of the years. Some readers may have mileage that may vary with this theme, but I believe it makes the novel resonate that much better. In fact, Wells’ inclusion of philosophy serves the novel all the better for serving this theme and given what he has written before he wants to focus on the human condition. We all ask the big questions and reflect on how our lives may have been formed otherwise, but with the intersection of these three lives, it brings this reality to the forefront.
All in all, Wells presents a literary novel that brings all the best sort of introspection and soul gazing that can be given in a reader’s experience. Fans of such fiction will be pleased with this, as are any who enjoy personal intimate stories that are full to the brim with drama. Students of philosophy will appreciate the small tributes and tid bits here and there as well.
Pages: 296 | ASIN: B079VCWS3S
How to Get Your Screen-Loving Kids to Read Books for Pleasure
![How to Get Your Screen-Loving Kids to Read Books for Pleasure by [Newton, Kaye]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41c1p6QkKeL.jpg)
How to Get Your Screen-Loving Kids to Read Books for Pleasure, written by Kaye Newton, will help you teach your children to find the joy in reading. We live in a digital age, and the art of reading is slowly fading away. Netflix, social media and the internet have taken over the entertainment sector, leaving teenagers and children disinterested with the magic of reading. Armed with exciting and informative facts, Kaye Newton will help all parents and caregivers find practical and engaging ways to help encourage your adolescents to read.
How to Get Your Screen-Loving Kids to Read Books for Pleasure is a valuable tool and learning resource for all parents who are trying to get their teens to read. With online distractions and the quick fix that screen time provides, this generation of children is sadly missing out on the benefits which reading a book provides.
The benefits of reading are far and wide and include how reading improves our concentration, memory, analytical skills and even help teens prepare for the workforce. And if you believe your child is just simply not a “born reader”, Newton also takes a look at how we all have the potential to read, and humans are innately drawn to storytelling and adventure. Sometimes it comes down to simply finding the right book for the right child.
How to Get Your Screen-Loving Kids to Read Books for Pleasure will also push you to question your own beliefs and interests in reading. One line that resonated with me was “I liked reading until I was forced to overthink every sentence”. As a child, we often read books to discover new worlds, uncover magical creatures and learn different cultures, but this changes when we become adolescents. At school we are often expected to look at the grammar and the concept of the story and then write hundreds and sometimes thousands of words about a plot line we may have not even enjoyed. Kaye Newton addresses this issue with some alarming statistics about how little we now read and the detrimental effects it can have when we take reading out of our lives.
Not only will How to Get Your Screen-Loving Kids to Read Books for Pleasure give you extensive and useful tools to help with supporting your teen to read, but the novel also provides lists of books that will suit your child and match their interests. For example, many parents often use the excuse that their child does not read due to being obsessed with video games. But there are books for even the most avid of gamers, and Newton will provide you with several examples to get you started. There is also a fantastic list of books ready for you to try that are sorted by ages and genres.
One segment of How to Get Your Screen-Loving Kids to Read Books for Pleasure also answers questions that parents may have, such as do graphic novels count as reading or what is considered “real reading”? These questions will help parents find out what type of reading will suit their teen and how reading can be found in places we least expect.
I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to encourage the children in their lives to discover the magic of reading!
Pages: 171 | ASIN: B0793MKDNP
The Congress of Rough Writers: Flash Fiction Anthology Vol. 1
![The Congress of Rough Writers: Flash Fiction Anthology Vol. 1 (Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology) by [Mills, Charli, Amore, Anthony, Bell, Georgia, Black, Sacha, Colvin, Norah, Fanning, Pete, Ferry, C. Jai, Glaessner, Rebecca, Goodwin, Anne]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51QwPRDy5zL.jpg)
The Congress of Rough Writers is an anthology; a collection of stories by different writers. Charli Mills is the the series editor and brings into light the work of a diverse range of polished literary gems, penned by both experienced and inexperienced writers alike.
The anthology is sectioned into 5 parts with each part having a distinctive touch from the others, but related in a rather unique way, with part 6 containing the acknowledgements.
Part 1: Best of show is twelve collections of ten 99-word stories. Each chapter has been titled according to the prompt given in the challenge – a topic on which the story is to be based. The stories have been arranged to make a greater statement, which highlights the magnitude of the task and accomplishment of the editors.
Part 2: A new flash fiction challenge contains a collection of ten 99 word stories written to fulfill a challenge to include 3 particular words in their story. The spirited effort springs to life fascinating characters and evocative ideas.
Part3. Expanded flash contains five of the original 99 words stories, expanded into longer versions, but still under 2000 words. This section shows how a flash fiction story can be the seed for a more developed and intriguing story.
Part 4: Essays from memoirists is yet another unconventional part of this project which makes the experience of the writers’ itself the subject. Each essay gives an account of the experience of the writers writing flash fiction while also noting differences and similarities. Anyone who is a writer, or enjoys a look behind the scenes (think movie extras) will appreciate this section as much as I did.
Part 5: Building community with flash fiction is where we get to know more about the project itself. Here we get to know what flash fiction is and how it can affect bigger changes to a writer’s perception towards writing in general. I felt the explanations were easy to follow and flowed easily from topic to topic.
Part 6: Acknowledgements introduces you to the key persons who have been involved in bringing this unconventional project to light, giving the chance to authors, writers and non-writers, that come from diverse backgrounds. I enjoyed the exposure and introduction to the writers especially when I found the ones that wrote my favorite pieces of flash fiction.
This anthology is meant to both encourage and inspire the next generation of writers and authors, so that the craft of storytelling is preserved and propagated. I felt like this book was geared more towards writers, or aspiring writers, but the average reader should not shy away. There is plenty to enjoy in this series. As with any piece of flash fiction, they are better consumed piecemeal and at your leisure. Don’t look for some overarching theme and take pleasure in the quick creation of thought-provoking ideas and compelling characters. If you like shows like The Twilight Zone, then you’ll like this collection. It was tough for me to review this book as it is a collection of stories that range in quality and appeal. Overall I really enjoyed it. And, I suppose, that is the benefit of an anthology, if you don’t like one story, then just move to the next. What a fun read!
Pages: 166 | ASIN: B078BWZ9MD
Donovan’s Bride Book Trailer
Lilly Donovan is ready to escape the misery of her abusive marriage to billionaire playboy Shane. His drinking and cheating convinced her that she has no choice but to leave. Before Lilly can get a divorce, Shane suddenly dies of a heart attack, leaving her a wealthy widow, with a tract of very expensive real estate as her nest egg. Owning the land means she’ll be financially well off…and most of all…free of all things Donovan. Until older brother Grant steps into the picture, threatening to awaken her damaged heart.
Grant Donovan fell in love with Lilly the moment he set eyes on her. Unfortunately, she was already his brother’s wife, so he had no choice but to keep his distance. Now that she’s a widow, he won’t lose her a second time. He pulls out all the stops to win Lilly’s love, but she has her own ideas about her future. She fears Grant only wants to marry her so he can get his hands on the property. Now, Grant must convince Lilly that she is the only treasure he wants. Can Lilly find love and healing in the arms of another Donovan brother, or will she turn her back on a chance at happiness?
Alterni
![Alterni (The Alt-World Chronicles Book 1) by [Somerville, Sunshine]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61uH8zTLkZL._SY346_.jpg)
Alterni follows Esme who finds herself in a world with different paranormal races and a secret order; all under the reign of a King. As an Alterni, Esme must join the King and use her powers to fight the Malevolenci demons from other worlds. Can Esme learn to wield her powers in time to save the world?
Alterni by Sunshine Somerville creates a situation where you’ll find yourself deeply connected to the characters because of how real the characters react to the ever present danger to their world. If you love thrilling adventures with beautiful depictions of an interesting world, this is the story for you. Especially if you want to be on the edge of your seat.
When I sat down to read this book, I was quite surprised. It’s not often that you love the experience of reading a book. With this beautifully descriptive world and intriguing cast of characters, it was hard to resist being sucked into the world. I found myself staying up way past my bed time to finish this story.
The characters were all multilayered and continued to develop as the story progressed. Complicated backgrounds allowed me to connect with the characters. Sunshine Somerville is able to create characters with the kind of depth it takes other authors a whole series to achieve. This book explores themes such as family, leadership, responsibility and loss; experienced through not only Esme, but also King Owen.
This book does not rely on big plot twists to keep you interested; although there is a big one that creeps up on you. The book is constantly engaging it’s characters in some rousing bit of mystery, suspense, or action involving one of many paranormal races inhabiting this strange world that Esme finds herself in. I always look for books that make me want to see what the characters do next. And when the world is invaded by inter-dimensional demons from another space and time, there is no shortage of nail biting action. One thing that makes me suspend disbelief when it comes to magical powers, is the authors ability to ground it in reality. I enjoyed watching Esme learn, understand, and use her Alterni powers.
This is book 1 in the Alt-World Chronicles and when I finished this book, I found that I was so glad there was a second book to continue this story. I enjoyed reading about the subtle differences that might exist in other realities. Overall, I loved this read, it was entertaining to say the least. I recommend you read this story if you’re looking for something innovative and gripping.
Pages: 282 | ASIN: B075MDGSPP
Drop Dead Gorgeous Book Trailer
1# Wished for High Tech Science Fiction Novel in Japan!
The Sensational #1 All-Star Bestselling Kindle Novel!
“Would you like to hear a story?”
The man couldn’t help himself. His captor was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her powerful eyes held his attention and made him forget that she had him confined in a basement; his hands and feet bound with duct tape. His heart raced as he meekly nodded his head ‘yes’ to the question.
After getting past the terror and discomfort, he reasoned that there was nothing to worry about. He would be missed. He had loved ones who would call the police. All he had to do was wait. Letting this woman tell him a story was as good a stall as any.
The mysterious woman weaved a tale of betrayed love and unwanted, unnatural experiments placed upon her. Of a loving wife, working on a top secret government program. Of a husband searching for love in all the wrong places. The prisoner couldn’t believe what he was being told. A descent into insanity, fueled by a jealous rage, ended with using the tools of science for torture and revenge.
With every blink of her lovely eyes, licking of her full lips, and heaving of her perfect breasts, the captor entertained a story most bizarre. Of a woman bent on teaching her cheating husband a lesson.
The prisoner wondered….”Am I next?”
LITERARY TITAN 