#bookreview ~ Brand Yourself Royally in 8 Simple Steps @nancy_blanton

  Brand Yourself Royally

 in 8 Simple Steps:

Harness the secrets of kings and queens for a personal brand that rules

Who needs a personal brand? Anyone who realizes his or her success depends upon being likable and memorable to potential customers. And now you can build an effective personal brand without spending a fortune. Just take your inspiration from the first personal branders, kings and queens.

Combining historical research with corporate branding experience, Nancy Blanton offers authors, artists, consultants and others the gems of wisdom from savvy monarchs and leaders whose successful rule depended on the support of their people. Her simplified branding process and communications planning guide incorporate these time-honored techniques to help you create your own personal brand and then put it into action.

 

What did I make of the book?

There are many books out there which can tell you how to find your brand, how to stick out in a crowd — I know because I have read a fair few of them, but this one intrigued me right from the beginning.

Ms Blanton looks at a host of historical figures from the past and how their "brand" was used to their advantage. I found this fascinating. Blanton shows us what the brand was for these various historical figures and more importantly how they worked.

 The language Blanton uses is simple and not ostentatious. She explains everything very clearly and has a very authoritative voice on her subject. Blanton knows what she is talking about.

After being introduced to the historical figures, Blanton then goes on to show her readers how we can apply similar techniques to our businesses and more importantly how we can benefit from our own personal brand.

I loved the easy step-by-step instructions, and I enjoyed each "exercise."  I had never really thought about personal branding before, and Blanton's book really got me thinking, and I think I learnt one of two things about myself along the way as well. Bonus!

This book is a must read for newbie authors, or to anyone who wants to make an impact in their chosen career. This is one of those books that will have pride and place on my shelf, and I will certainly be coming back to it again and again.

I Highly Recommend.

Links for Purchase

Amazon US

Amazon UK

About the author

Nancy Blanton is the author of novels based primarily in Irish history. The Prince of Glencurragh (July 2016), her second novel, is set in 1634 prior to the great rebellion of 1641. Her first novel, Sharavogue, also set in 17th century Ireland, is winner of Florida’s Royal Palm Literary Award.

Her award-winning non-fiction book, Brand Yourself Royally in 8 Simple Steps, is a guide for authors, artists, and business consultants who need to establish presence and be memorable to potential customers. The book has become a basis for hands-on personal branding workshops.

She wrote and illustrated a children’s book, The Curious Adventure of Roodle Jones; co-authored the award-winning book Heaven on the Half Shell: the Story of the Pacific Northwest’s Love Affair with the Oyster; and spearheaded production of Rising Tides and Tailwinds, a corporate history book for the Port of Seattle centennial.

Her blog, My Lady’s Closet (WordPress), focuses on writing, books, book promotion, historical fiction, research and travel. Ms. Blanton has worked as a journalist, magazine editor, corporate communications leader and brand manager. She has won numerous awards for professional leadership, writing, advertising and public relations products. She lives in Florida.

Blog: nancyblanton.com
Facebook: Nancy Blanton.Author
Twitter: @nancy_blanton

#bookreview ~ The Shining City #HistFic @joan_fallon

THE SHINING CITY

The Al-Andalus Series Book 1

By

Joan Fallon

This is the story of a city, a city that is now in ruins: Madinat al Zahra.  The year is 947 AD, a time when southern Spain is under the rule of the Moors.  The ruler, Caliph al Rahman III is rich, powerful and cultured.  His lands are, at long last, at peace and the capital, Córdoba, is considered to be not only the most beautiful city in the civilised world but also the seat of learning and culture.  Against this background we meet the artisan Qasim - he and his family have moved to Madinat al Zahra to make their fortune as potters.

Qasim is a good husband and father.  He works hard, says his prayers and keeps out of trouble.  But Qasim has a secret; his past is not what it seems.  When a stranger arrives asking questions about him, he is worried that his secret will be discovered and everything he has worked for will be destroyed. He has to take action.

What did I make of the story?

An innocent question by a curious nephew unlocks the most vivid and painful memories of old Uncle Omar. Omar's memories take him back to the year 974 AD. That was the year where he met the love of his life, but unfortunately for him, she belonged to another. His forbidden love sets off a chain of events that he could never have foreseen, and it takes him on a journey that he never expected.

What an evocative and emotional read Book One of the Al-Andalus Series is. The Shining City is one of those rare gems, where the writing is exquisite, the story is captivating, and the protagonists are memorable.

Fallon caught my attention on the first page and continued to hold it throughout this beautiful story. I adored the characterisation of Isolde. She is so strong of spirit – despite witnessing her mother's brutal murder, as well as suffering the indignity and fear of captivity. Isolde survives the horror of the slave markets and ends up in the harem — life as she knows it is over. Isolde was so believable, so well crafted as a character that I don't think I will forget her in a hurry.

The Shining City reminded me greatly of Margaret Landon's, Anna and the King — albeit a Dark Age version — it has the same sense of grandeur and also despair. This book took my breath away. The descriptions were so vivid, and the history was so elegantly told that it was as if Fallon had opened a door and beckoned me into this world that she has created. I must say that Fallon is the most remarkable tour-guide for 10th Century Spain.

I can not praise this book enough, it is definitely on my repeat-to-read list.

I Highly Recommend.

Links to Purchase

Amazon US

Amazon UK

 

About the author

The Scottish author, Joan Fallon, began her career as a writer after moving to Spain at the start of the new millennium; her first published work was a social history, 'Daughters of Spain', inspired by the women she met in her new home. The research for this book in turn encouraged her to write the following two novels: 'Spanish Lavender', which is set in Malaga during the early years of the Civil War and 'The House on the Beach', the story of two young women growing up in Franco's Spain. Her subsequent novels have grown out of her experiences living and working in Spain.
She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors.
You can find out more about Joan and her books by going to her website www.joanfallon.co.uk or following her on Twitter @joan_fallon

#bookreview ~ Pirate Heiress #HistFic #Romance @flowers_chloe

Pirate Heiress

By 

Chloe Flowers

 

A beautiful pirate, a vengeful sea captain and a secret treasure…will love save them or destroy them?
"Brilliantly funny and full of action..."
A high seas, historical, pirate romance filled with action and adventure, mystery and intrigue, and a quest for hidden treasure!

Reluctant pirate Stevie Savauge is on a quest with her family to find a secret treasure hidden by her great-great-grandparents, the two notorious pirates Anne Bonny and Calico Jack Rackham. When her eight-year-old twin siblings are kidnapped and the ransom demand is a merchant ship called the Seeker, Stevie must find the courage to conquer her fears and fight for those she loves.

Italian-born, French privateer Drago Viteri Gamponetti (Gampo to his men) has coveted the Ahern merchant fleet for years, and sets a trap in Jamaica. Unfortunately, he has two small trouble makers aboard; a boy who wants to be just like him, and a girl that will either steal him blind or turn his black heart.

When Captain Conal O’Brien discovers that the pirates work for his sworn enemy, he doesn’t resist capture. What better way to locate Gampo’s secret stronghold than to sail right into it? But these nutty brigands aren’t who they seem to be, and if Conal’s not careful, he’s going to lose his heart as well as his ship to the woman determined to possess both.

What did I think of the book?

A fire, a kidnapping, a treasure hunt, a romance and pirates

— what was not to like about Pirate Heiress?

If it weren't for Stevie Savauge and the whole catching the kitchen and then the rest of the building on fire incident, her family would still have a home, and her family would not have gone on a quest to find a secret treasure hidden by her Great Great Grandparents — which subsequently led to the capture of her eight-year-old siblings. Now the kidnapper is demanding that they deliver him a ship called the Seeker or the children will die. 

Does Stevie's family have it in them to become pirates, save the children and find the treasure? Time will tell...

I was intrigued by the blurb, and by the time I had read the first chapter I knew this book was a keeper. With mesmerising prose and a storyline that I simply adored, Pirate Heiress has all the makings for a great read.

I loved the characterisation of Stevie. Stevie is thrown into a man's world — a pirates world— and she has to learn very quickly how to stay alive. What she did not expect to find was love with Captain Conal O’Brien, especially after she and her family took control of his ship! The romance between the two is a steady build which simmers and then explodes into one heck of a storm that neither Stevie or Conel will ever recover from! Totally believable and very romantic! Love, Love, Loved it!!

It seems a strange thing to say, but I really liked the antagonist of this novel. Drago Viteri Gamponetti has his own back story, which takes nothing away from the protagonists but kept me interested and turning those pages. I wanted to dislike him but found that I could not, for he is, despite the whole kidnapping incident, a nice man.

This storyline itself was well thought out and engaging. I have read a fair few "pirate romances," and I have to say that Pirate Heiress is up there with the best. FANTASTIC READ!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Pirates Heiress, and I look forward to reading more books from this author. Well done, Chloe Flowers!

I Highly Recommend.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley, and I chose to leave a review*

Links for Purchase

Amazon US

Amazon UK

 

About the author

 

A Parrothead at heart, Chloe’s love for pirates began with Peter Pan and continued with Pirates of the Caribbean and ghost stories about pirates from the Outer Banks. She listens to Celtic music while she writes. When life gets too serious, she reads Calvin and Hobbes comics. She lives in Ohio with her tall, dark and handsome husband, three children and two rambunctious dogs, Indiana and Luke, who are named after her two favorite action heroes.

Descended from a family of cooks and gourmet chefs, Chloe is a true foodie and along with working for fortune 500 companies in marketing and teaching MBA students strategic marketing, she also ran a gourmet cookie company. Cooking for a crowd runs in the blood, so her fridge is always full. She deals with stress by baking pies (just ask her college roommates what it was like for them around exam time).

Her idea of a perfect day? Sailing on the Caribbean with her family, sun in her face and wind at her back, and finishing the day in the kitchen making a fab gourmet meal and sipping a glass of wine.

New Release ~ The Thread That Binds Us #womensfiction @joan_fallon

The Thread That Binds Us

By

Joan Fallon

 

Have you ever had a secret that you cannot tell anyone - even your closest friend? Susan’s childhood was full of secrets - ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ was her mother’s favourite phrase. So when she discovers that her father had had an illegitimate child, called Michael, she instinctively knows she can’t tell anyone.

But Susan isn’t a child anymore - she is a middle-aged woman who is keeping secrets from her husband in her search to find her half-brother. The need to know more about Michael becomes an obsession and she soon becomes enmeshed in a web of lies and deceit as she tries to track him down.

When she and Michael finally meet, Susan is faced with a dilemma - she can walk away and forget about him or she can tell her family and face the consequences.

'...As for the plot - it is as exciting and page-turning as any Murder Mystery or Psychological Thriller. And just when you think you have sussed out everything - there is some new discovery or you are confronted by another viewpoint on a complicated situation…

A family secret can have as much impact as a dastardly crime and this one has many layers and unpredictable surprises.’

Sophie Meredith (author)

Links for Purchase

Amazon

Author’s Website

 

About the author

The Scottish author, Joan Fallon, began her career as a writer after moving to Spain at the start of the new millennium; her first published work was a social history, 'Daughters of Spain', inspired by the women she met in her new home. The research for this book in turn encouraged her to write the following two novels: 'Spanish Lavender', which is set in Malaga during the early years of the Civil War and 'The House on the Beach', the story of two young women growing up in Franco's Spain. Her subsequent novels have grown out of her experiences living and working in Spain.
She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Useful Links

Website

Twitter
Facebook

#bookreview ~ That Burning Summer #YA #histfic @LydiaSyson

That Burning Summer

By Lydia Syson

It’s July 1940 on the south coast of England. A plane crash-lands in the marsh, and sixteen-year-old Peggy finds its broken pilot—a young Polish airman named Henryk. Afraid and unwilling to return to the fight, Henryk needs a place to hide, and Peggy helps him find his way to a remote, abandoned church. Meanwhile, Peggy’s eleven-year-old brother Ernest is doing his best to try to understand the war happening around him. He’s reading all the pamphlets—he knows all the rules, he knows exactly what to do in every situation. He’s prepared, but not for Peggy’s hidden pilot. Told in alternating points of view, this is a beautifully written story about growing up in wartime and finding the difference between following the rules and following your heart.

 

What Did I Think Of The Book?

I was really looking forward to reading this book. The cover is beautiful, and the blurb made it sound like a great read. I couldn't wait to get started. I was quite taken back by how the book opened. I wasn't too sure what Ms Syson was trying to do initially, but it seemed as if I had stumbled onto some poorly written poetry that didn't make any sense. The prose were too lyrical, too short, and to sweetly sticky for my liking. It was difficult to read, let alone engage with.  But...it takes a great deal for me to give up on a book so I persevered, and in this instance, I am so glad I did.   As the book progressed, the writing became less flamboyant and began to have an easy to read flow to it. Ms Syson settles down to a very nice writing style, and the book blossomed. The story itself is beautiful, and it is set in a very realistic backdrop of WW2. It is very clear that Ms Syson has done her homework and researched the era in great depth, for she brought it back to life. I got completely lost in this book and time flew by because I was so absorbed in the story.  Ms Syson deals with a few controversial subjects in this book, which I thought she handled with a very delicate hand. From a child's anxiety to what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but what they would have called Shell Shock — which of course wasn't understood so well back then. She also deals with the contentious issue of those who would not bear arms against another, and she highlighted just how dreadful it was if you dared to refuse to go to war and fight. We often forget how barbaric the pacifists and their families were treated by the authorities and by their neighbours. There are three protagonists in this book, and I liked the changing Points of Views. We have young Earnest, who is terrified he is going to stumble upon a spy. There is sixteen-year-old Peggy, who is convinced life is going to pass her by because of the war. Lastly, there is Henryk, a young Polish pilot who has lost his nerve to get back into an aeroplane. This story is about them, and it is sublime. Despite the wobbly beginning, this book is really rather good. That Burning Summer is a very cleverly crafted piece of Young Adult Historical Fiction. It is worth checking out! I Highly Recommend.   *I received this book for free copy of this book via Netgalley for review consideration*

Links For Purchase

Amazon US

Amazon UK

About the author

Lydia Syson is a fifth-generation North Londoner who now lives south of the river with her partner and four children. After an early career as a BBC World Service Radio producer, she turned from the spoken to the written word, and developed an enduring obsession with history. Her PhD about poets, explorers and Timbuktu was followed by a biography of Britain’s first fertility guru, DOCTOR OF LOVE: JAMES GRAHAM AND HIS CELESTIAL BED, and then two YA novels for Hot Key Books set in the Spanish Civil War (A WORLD BETWEEN US) and World War Two (THAT BURNING SUMMER). LIBERTY’S FIRE, a passionate tale of the Paris Commune of 1871, is the third of her novels to be inspired, very loosely, by family history: Lydia’s anarchist great-great-grandmother moved in Co

#bookreview ~ Dragon Knight’s Ring @m_morganauthor #romance

Dragon Knight’s Ring

(Order of the Dragon Knights #5)

By

Mary Morgan

 

Crusader, Adam MacFhearguis is on one last quest to the standing stones in Scotland where he seeks to bury the past. However, a silent prayer sends him to an unknown future and to his beloved Meggie. When he uncovers a shocking revelation, Adam questions everything about the woman he thought he knew and loved. He may have traveled the veil of ages, but time is now his enemy.

Margaret MacKay lives a life in the future without the memories of her past—her death. When Adam arrives at her door confessing he knows her, she is confused and wary. With each passing day, she yearns to learn more from this stranger. Yet, when a truth is revealed, can she trust the man to unlock the chains from her mind and heart?

Will love free the bonds to unite the two lovers who were doomed centuries ago? Or will evil finally claim victory over the Dragon Knights?

 

What did I make of the book?

I was so looking forward to getting my hands on the last of The Dragon Knight's and reading Adam’s and Margaret’s story. As readers of the series will know, the series starts with Margaret's death, but what Adam thought was the end of their love, was in fact, only the beginning. I am pleased to say that Ms Morgan has surpassed herself with Dragon Knight Ring. It was awesome!!

Adams grief at losing his Meggie was heartbreaking. And his discovery that she is alive, although in another time, was one of immense joy but also terrible sorrow, for when they are reunited, she can remember nothing of what came before. He has to begin again. His courtship of her is wonderful, and I thought, beautifully written.

Meggie is this wonderfully strong woman who is desperate to know of her past and gets so frustrated with her inability to remember. Her journey of discovery is a very brave one. But she listens to her heart, and she follows where that leads.

The story itself is a brilliant conclusion to what has been the most fantastic journey. I am going to miss those Dragon Knights. I can not recommend this book, or this series enough.  A must read.

Where can I purchase the book?

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

 

 

About the author 

Scottish paranormal romance author, Mary Morgan resides in Northern California, with her own knight in shining armor. However, during her travels to Scotland, England, and Ireland, she left a part of her soul in one of these countries and vows to return. 
Mary's passion for books started at an early age along with an overactive imagination. She spent far too much time daydreaming and was told quite often to remove her head from the clouds. It wasn't until the closure of Borders Books where Mary worked that she found her true calling--writing romance. Now, the worlds she created in her mind are coming to life within her stories. 

Useful Links
Website 
Blog
Twitter

 

#bookreview ~ Ensnared @stradling_rita #fantasy #romance

Ensnared

by

Rita Stradling

A Near Future Retelling of Beauty and the Beast...

Alainn’s father is not a bad man. He’s a genius and an inventor. When he’s hired to create the robot Rose, Alainn knows taking the money is a mistake. Rose acts like a human. She looks exactly like Alainn. But something in her comes out wrong.

To save her father from a five-year prison sentence, Alainn takes Rose’s place. She says goodbye to the sun and goes to live in a tower no human is allowed to enter. She becomes the prisoner of a man no human is allowed to see.

Believing that a life of servitude lies ahead, Alainn finds a very different fate awaits her in the company of the strange, scarred recluse.

What did I think of the book?

I loved the premise of this book. A futuristic retelling of Beauty and the Beast — I couldn't wait to get started.

I had high hopes for this book, and it didn't disappoint. I adored the characterisation of Alainn — she will do anything to keep her father out of prison and if that means pretending to be a robot, then so be it!

Lorccan character was very complex, and Ms Stradling drew him with incredible skill — he was very real in the telling, and my heart did bleed for him. He is the modern day Beast, but instead of an enchantment locking him away, it was years of abuse — he has the scars on his face to prove it. He has never been outside, but now that he is alone he longs for human company, but fear keeps him a prisoner. For now, he will settle for a robot as a companion.

Ms Stradling, certainly likes to take her readers on a rollercoaster of emotions. One minute I found myself laughing out loud, the next I was in tears. I really came to care about the characters.

A lot happens in this book, and I don't want to give away any spoilers, but it is enough for me to say this is one super read. Although futuristic it is realistic. Ms Stradling is an exceptional storyteller with a gift for creating amazing imagery and characters you just can't help but love. I simply adored this new take on Beauty and the Beast.

Would I recommend? You bet ya!

*I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley for review consideration*