Category: Book Brief

Book Brief: Turning This Thing Around

Turning This Thing Around
by Keith Maginn
Genre: Nonfiction/memoir/self-help
Word count: 24,000

Turning This Thing Around is an inspiring memoir of overcoming personal struggles. This brutally honest, deeply personal account of redemption takes readers on a moving spiritual journey. Confronted with a myriad of obstacles–a debilitating arthritic disease, narcolepsy, anxiety and depression–the author was outwardly happy, but inwardly miserable.

Pushed to the lowest point of his life, Maginn shares how he gradually turned things around and used his experiences to grow as a person. Supplemented by heartfelt poetry by the author and with quotes from Gandhi to Dr. Wayne Dyer to Eckhart Tolle, Turning This Thing Around has universal themes that speak to nearly everyone, as we all must face challenges as part of being human. It is a self-help memoir of sorts: the author discusses not only what he overcame, but also how he did so–and how others can, too.

Unlike many popular memoirs on the market, this is a story that more people can relate to. Maginn was not raised in an eccentric family (Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle, memoirs by Augusten Burroughs), nor did he travel to Italy, India and Indonesia, as Elizabeth Gilbert did in Eat, Pray, Love. Rather, Turning This Thing Around is a story of a normal young man’s resiliency when battling extraordinary circumstances.

This book is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Continue reading “Book Brief: Turning This Thing Around”

Book Brief: The Gentle Man

The Gentle Man
by Michelle Mogil
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Word count: 84,000

Anastasia Trent was the first to admit it: she had crested the peak and was now in her downhill years. Middle-aged and worn out, she’s resigned herself to a life of drudgery and angst as she watches her marriage, job, house and body slowly but surely fall apart.

Enter a dark and compelling stranger who claims he’s running for his life and begs for her help. Against all reason, Ana lets him in. Soon, she’s questioning his sanity, her sanity, and reality itself. One thing’s for certain: life will never be dull or ordinary again.

This book is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble. Continue reading “Book Brief: The Gentle Man”

Book Brief: Fat Bodyguards

Fat Bodyguards
by Marita Fowler
Genre: Humor
Word Count: 75,000

Saucy calzones Shasta and Ulyssa have earned an honorary spot in the mafia with their wetwork, but the girls are ready to leave the crazy mob life behind and return to Nitro. They’ve got one foot out the door when a desperate Nicolo makes them an offer they can’t refuse.

A fat paycheck to take his daughter on a vacation far, far away from New Jersey.

Still skittish from their last job, the girls are reluctant to sign on until he promises – no killing required. They quickly learn that being assassins was a helluva lot easier than protecting the mobster’s spoiled teenage daughter, Princess.

Paranoia fueled situations keep the girls on their toes, but they’re caught flatfooted when attackers kidnap Princess and disappear without a trace.

The only thing worse than guarding Nicolo’s daughter…is losing her.

Not thrilled with the prospect of new designer concrete footwear, the girls scramble to find Princess and bring her home before anyone discovers she’s missing. Armed with plastic guns and southern charm, they set out on the most perilous adventure of their lives.

They may be the worst bodyguards in the world, but they’re planning the rescue mission of a lifetime.

This book is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. Continue reading “Book Brief: Fat Bodyguards”

Book Brief: Upon Your Return

Upon Your Return
by Marie Lavender
Genre: Historical Romance
Word count: 97,426

Fara Bellamont has been back in society for a year after leaving Cluny Abbey, where her uncle sent her long ago. When he chooses a suitor for her for marriage, she fears that she will be forced to marry a stranger and live a miserable life. But, Fara finds herself thrust into an adventure of a lifetime when unforeseen circumstances cause her to place her trust in a strange man for protection. His intervention not only saves her, but puts her in an even more compromising position. Grant Hill, a trading captain, is enchanted by the young heiress not only because of her beauty, but because she is hardly conventional. Underneath her ladylike exterior lies a tigress. Grant cannot help but offer his protection as she is in need and he is far from immune from her charms. Fara just never bargained on the passion that she feels for Grant Hill. As events unfold, she must decide whether her desires and the dictates of her heart should trump the rules of society…

This book is available from Amazon and CreateSpace. Continue reading “Book Brief: Upon Your Return”