The Masquerade Crew

The Domino Effect by Andrew Cotto Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis The Domino Effect is the story of Danny Rorro, a charismatic kid from Queens poisoned by the past. A series of painful defeats have left him scarred and isolated from his neighborhood, his parents, and, most significantly, the benevolent ways of his childhood when he was known as “Domino.” With great insight, imagery and wit, Danny recalls his past in Queens and his coming-of-age at Hamden Academy. This fast paced and powerful story is rich with conflict, humor, tenderness and music—just like life, especially when coming-of-age.

The Ideal Man by James Conrad Genre: Romance Book Synopsis Twenty-nine-year-old Grace Watts is feeling stifled in her marriage to David Watts, a successful real estate agent. He is financially secure, but is insensitive, unimaginative, sexually inept and sometimes cruel. As Grace seeks meaning in her life, David becomes annoyed at what he considers “erratic behavior” and frustrated that his wife refuses to let anybody dominate her. Furthermore, he is tempted by the affections of Lana Dyson, his colleague from the real estate agency who is waiting for his increasingly fragile marriage to disintegrate so that she can have him all to herself. However, Grace remains with him because she has a fear of being alone. Grace crosses paths with Anthony Parris, an artist who opts for one-night stands because of a fear of intimacy. She becomes disgusted when she sees him in the arms of many different women, but when she unwittingly attends one of his exhibitions, she becomes increa...

Strike Zone by John Scherber Genre: Mystery Book Synopsis When the Federales discover that wealthy San Miguel resident Barbara Watt has the legendary fifth Mayan codex, they offer her a deal. Give it up, or we’ll hound you through the courts for the rest of your life. When she comes up with an alternative scheme to furnish them instead with the long lost gold of the last days of the Aztec empire, cast in the form of a human skull, they accept. Now all she has to do is get her hands on it. The Zacher Agency springs into action in Oaxaca, where the skull was last seen in the possession of an old GI. When Paul and Cody cut a deal with him, they find there are several others interested as well, one of them the son of Hermann Goering, playing by his own rules. The usual mayhem follows in short order.

Someone Else's Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts Genre: Romance Book Synopsis Jason Vanderholt is the hottest actor in Hollywood. Chloe Winters hasn't gotten around to watching most of his movies. When they meet by chance, he is smitten and Chloe becomes the woman every other woman is dying to be, but it just isn't her fairytale.

The Cursed Man by Keith Rommel Genre: General Fiction Thriller Book Synopsis Alister Kunkle believes death is in love with him. A simple smile from friend or stranger is all it takes to encourage death to kill. With his family deceased and a path of destruction behind him, Alister sits inside a mental institution, sworn to silence and separated from the rest of the world, haunted by his inability to escape death’s preferential treatment. But when a beautiful psychologist arrives at the institution and starts offering him care, Alister braces himself for more killings. When none follow, he tries to figure out whether he truly is insane or if death has finally come to him in the form of a woman.

Kevin's Point of View by Del Shannon Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis Kevin Tobin is a relatively ordinary twelve-year-old dealing with the aftermath of his father’s death. To escape his emotional turmoil, Kevin has developed his imagination into a dangerous foil and powerful ally. After a mysterious package arrives at his door, Kevin and his best friend are hunted down by a ruthless villain determined to retrieve the package, unknowingly spinning Kevin into a battle for control over time itself. Set in Boulder, Colorado, this imaginative story, appreciation for the powers of family ties, the desire of young boys to both escape reality and prove themselves within it, and the fast-paced, adventure-filled storytelling style make this a book with wide appeal for readers of all ages.

The motivations behind this blog have shifted a few times in the past year. The original idea didn’t even include book reviews; that came later when I realized I knew little of self-publishing. There’s a novel, a work in progress, out there I helped write that I would love to see published one day, sitting proudly on my bookcase in my living room. There are a lot of steps before we get there, though. By learning to promote others, we will learn to promote ourselves—that’s the idea, anyway.

The following guest review was written by Marie Malyon (but all her friends call her Rie). Check out her website here . She describes herself as a "chatter-box, book-worm, computer-nerd." Sounds like our kind of person. There's still time to turn in your own review of The Hunger Games. See this page for more details. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis A fight to the death - on live TV. The game show where you kill or die, and where the winner's prize is survival. In District 12, where Katniss Everdeen lives, life is harsh and brutal, ruled from afar by the all-powerful leaders of the Capitol. The climax of each year is the savage Hunger Games - where twelve boys and twelve girls from each District face each other in a murderous showdown. When sixteen-year-old Katniss is chosen to represent her district in the Games, everyone thinks it's a death sentence. Only one person can survive the horrors of the arena. But plu...

The following guest review was written by Shannon M. Howell. Check out her website here where she has lots of interesting stuff on writing. For instance, check out this chilling flash fiction piece . There's still time to turn in your own review of The Hunger Games. See this page for more details. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis The story is set in post-apocalyptic North America where society is structured by regions. There is a Capitol, and 12 other districts, each with a specific function (mining, agriculture, etc). Every year, each of the 12 districts selects by lottery one boy and one girl from 12-18 years old to play in the Hunger Games. The game pits the 24 contestants against each other in some sort of wilderness arena. The last survivor wins. They enter the game with only the clothes on their backs and have to hunt each other while managing to stay alive. Oh, and there are booby-traps. The games are shown on TV...

The following guest review was written by Ruth Ellen Parlour. Check out her website here . She's looking to release her first novel, Earth Angel, this summer. Let's all give her some support and say, "Way to go!" There's still time to turn in your own review of The Hunger Games. See this page for more details. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

The following guest review was written by Deb Houdek Rule. Check out her website here , and I'm sure she'd be happy if you follow her on Twitter . There's still time to turn in your own review of The Hunger Games. See this page for more details. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

The ever-interesting Eric Sipple wrote the following guest review. Don't forget to visit his blog . He's also one of the authors of Hot Mess: speculative fiction about climate change , a new short story anthology. There's still time to turn in your own review of The Hunger Games. See this page for more details. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Genre: Young Adult Book Synopsis Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

Five Star Review Mega Giveaway

It isn't like I don't have enough to do already, but here's another way we are going to help promote authors. We want to collect some cool looking book trailers and feature them for our readers to enjoy. Although we are really interested in promoting amateur made videos, we will consider commercial videos as well.

Confessions of a PTA Mafia Mom by Elsie Love Genre: General Fiction, Chick Lit Book Synopsis Elaine Jackerson has found herself in quite a predicament. Her husband, Bob, is sleeping with his secretary, her daughter is experimenting in the backseat with random boys, and her eight year old wants nothing to do with her. In an attempt to get herself out of her midlife rut, Elaine joins the Herschel Grammar School PTA. Little does she know, Suni Calverson, the current president has handpicked her to be the newest member of the group. As soon as the ink is dry on the signup sheet, Elaine is thrust into a world that she never knew existed. A world where the PTA gets things done with blackmail, bribes, threats and quite possibly guns. After stumbling across her husband and his secretary humping in his office, Elaine turns to the only friends she has: Suni and her henchmen. They convince her to let them “take care” of Bob. Elaine agrees to the plan, as long as no one dies. Unf...

Undercurrent by Michelle Griep Genre: Romance, Time Travel Book Synopsis Professor Cassie Larson leads a life her undergrad students hope to attain, until she tumbles into the North Sea and is sucked into a vortex...and a different century. Alarik, son of a Viking chieftain, is blamed for a murder he didn't commit-or did he? He can't remember. On the run, saving a half-drowned foreign woman wasn't in his plan. Ragnar is a converted pagan shunned by many but determined to prove his Cousin Alarik's innocence. He didn't count on falling in love with Cassie or the deadly presence of evil that threatens his village in Alarik's absence.

This post reveals the writing prompt for the contest which I blogged about here . No special fanfare. Here's the prompt: In the spirit of H.G. Well's "The Time Machine," one character or a group of characters travel many years into the future. What do they find there? Are they able to come back home, or are they trapped? What has become of mankind? Is life better or worse? What's the political climate? The real climate? (IOW mother nature) The choices are up to you.

We are currently in the middle of our "The Hunger Games" review marathon. Have you read it? Would you like to review it for us? Have you already reviewed it? It's perfectly alright for you to offer us a review that you have already posted on your own site or on Amazon. We are simply interested in cross-promotion. In other words, we'll link to your blog. Simply submit a book review with the button on the left sidebar. The guest reviews for The Hunger Games started on March 21st, and will continue for a few days. Hurry if you want to be a part of this event. If you're interested in writing a guest post comparing the movie to the book or analyzing the book and/or series in more detail, please use this form . Multiple articles may be submitted if you have enough to share. These analyses will run after all the guest reviews. Note : The Analysis Form does not presently have a place to put your email or blog link. It's on my To-Do list. In the meantime,...

One of our ongoing goals is to help promote our reviewed authors by means of giveaways. We held our first giveaway in January. We saw decent success, though we could see much more. Instead of offering a giveaway to one author in particular, we’ve contacted the authors who received 5-star reviews from us, asking them if they would like to participate in a multi-book giveaway. Some have already responded, so now it’s time to see how many blogs we can gather together. But this isn’t just about promoting the books. We try to do what we can for anyone who helps us out. Hopefully you'll see a few more followers on Twitter and maybe some traffic out of this. Following you on Twitter will be just one way out of many for people to enter to win, and the participating blogs will be linked together, hopefully increasing everyone's traffic.

Blood Passage by Michael J. McCann Genre: Mystery, Crime Book Synopsis Four years ago Martin Liu was found dead in an alley and the physical evidence suggested it was a drug deal gone wrong. Homicide Lieutenant Hank Donaghue didn’t like the feel of it, but it wasn’t his case and it ended up going nowhere. Now Donaghue and Detective Karen Stainer are drawn into the Liu cold case when an out-of-town graduate student is beaten up by gang members after asking the wrong questions about the victim. Donaghue and Stainer discover that Martin Liu’s cousin, Triad enforcer Peter Mah, has taken an active interest and is tracking down suspects on his own to extract his own vengeance. As Donaghue and Stainer race to contain the violence sweeping their city, they must confront the troubling fact that new evidence, including the names of the men responsible for Martin's death four years ago, seems to be coming from the most unlikely of sources—a three-year-old boy!

Storm Riders by Karen Michelle Nutt Genre: Western/Steampunk Book Synopsis The day before his scheduled hanging, Ace McTavish is visited by an unusual, captivating woman who points a knife at his throat and then kisses him breathless. With a promise of rescue before the big event, Samantha Skelley reluctantly leaves her latest assignment in his jail cell. With her partner, Denny Randeli, she's been sent to 1879 in the boomtown of Bodie, California, not only to keep this man from hanging, but to make sure he stays alive afterward. However, Ace has an agenda of his own, and Sammy and Denny soon learn keeping him alive might not be as easy as it sounds.