Review of Eternal Mixture

Author's Blurb:  If you had the chance to start your life over, would you take it? If you were told you would live for eternity, would you embrace it? If a stranger told you he was your soul mate, would you believe it?

Raina Richmond has played it safe her entire life. She has never broken the rules. That is, until Brent Alexander walked straight into her life, causing havoc. Turning her world upside down.

Brent is the new kid in town. He is every girl’s fantasy: adorable, charming, chiseled, and the typical boy Raina usually steers clear of. But there is just something about him she can’t seem to resist. Safe is no longer an option for her. For him, she breaks all the rules.

What she doesn’t realize is that he holds the key to her past, present, and future. Once he reveals the reasons behind their irrevocable connection, she will unlock the answers to all of her questions, and her life as she knows it will never be the same again.

What I thought:  While Eternal Mixture is a Young Adult Paranormal novel, there aren't any blood sucking vampires or werewolves in this tale.  Shevaun Delucia delivers a fresh take on eternal love.  

Raina is the main character in this story.  I felt the author did a great job capturing the conflicting emotions that Raina is experiencing.  Brent is the love interest - He's exactly what females dream of - tough and tender with a great big dose of sexy.  

The romance in this story is a bit steamier than some Young Adult fiction.  However, it doesn't cross the line.  Adult readers might enjoy a little sizzle and teens will relate to the raging hormones.  

There are a few grammatical errors and a couple of story inconsistancies but I enjoyed the author's writing style.  I thought the story flowed at a nice pace - nothing too rushed.  

**I received a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.**

BUY LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Mixture-Series-Volume/dp/0615828035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408147727&sr=8-1&keywords=eternal+mixture

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eternal-mixture-shevaun-delucia/1117194877?ean=9780615828039

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eternal-mixture/id839709955?mt=11

ETERNAL MIXTURE BLOG TOUR

Thanks for stopping by and participating in the Eternal Mixture Tour!

The author, Shevaun Delucia, is sharing an excerpt of her exciting new novel.

Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Date Published: 11/1/2013

   

If you had the chance to start your life over, would you take it? If you were told you would live for eternity, would you embrace it? If a stranger told you he was your soul mate, would you believe it?

Raina Richmond has played it safe her entire life. She has never broken the rules. That is, until Brent Alexander walked straight into her life, causing havoc. Turning her world upside down.

Brent is the new kid in town. He is every girl’s fantasy: adorable, charming, chiseled, and the typical boy Raina usually steers clear of. But there is just something about him she can’t seem to resist. Safe is no longer an option for her. For him, she breaks all the rules.

What she doesn’t realize is that he holds the key to her past, present, and future. Once he reveals the reasons behind their irrevocable connection, she will unlock the answers to all of her questions, and her life as she knows it will never be the same again.

EXCERPT

He puts the picture down and turns to look at me, face stern and serious, eyes full of hunger. I swallow, chest heaving, unable to break his gaze. “Why do you look at me like this?” I whisper, eyes still locked on his.

            “I just feel this amazing, erotic connection to you. I’ve never felt it before. I’ve met a million women throughout my years, and none of them have come close to touching me the way you do.”

            “Brent…” My voice drifts off as he slowly comes closer. His face is only inches from mine and our breathing is now in sync. Just as our lips are about to touch, my bedroom door slams open.

            “Hey, Rain—” Bailey turns towards the hall and then comes back in the room, obviously flabbergasted with what she almost just witnessed. “Whoa!”

            “Shit!” I say, jumping up from my bed and rushing over to close my door.

            “So you two, what is going on?” Bailey’s eyes glare between Brent and I, mouth grinning from ear to ear. This is the moment she was hoping for—to catch us in the act. She couldn’t stand the fact that I was keeping Brent from her, and now she’s standing here gleaming with satisfaction.

            “Bailey, this is Brent. Brent, this is my friend Bailey,” I introduce them, taking a seat back on my bed, leaning my head against my headboard.

            Brent already moved to the chair at my desk. “Hey, nice to meet you.”

            “And very nice to meet you, Brent,” Bailey responds, still glowing.

            Brent stands up, seeming uncomfortable, and says goodbye to both of us. As soon as we hear the front door close, Bailey immediately turns and faces me with accusing eyes.

            “What?”

            “What do you mean, ‘What?’ Raina, you’re my best friend, and you couldn’t even tell me?” Bailey asks angrily as she gets off my bed and paces across my floor.

            “Bailey, there’s nothing to tell!” I screech quietly.

            I grab my nightclothes out of my dresser drawers and rip off my pants and shirt, strewing them on my floor.

            “Bullshit, Raina! Were you not just here a minute ago when I walked in on you two?” Bailey shrieks in a whisper, throwing her hands in the air.

            “Fine. Yes, you walked in on us almost kissing. But that’s it! We are just friends. You probably just saved me from making a huge mistake,” I admit. “By tomorrow, he’ll probably realize it too.”

            Bailey takes a seat next to me on my bed. “Raina, why can’t you see how beautiful you are? And I don’t just mean physically. You’re a beautiful person inside and out. I wish you could just see what the rest of us see. It’s obvious Brent sees it too.”

Shevaun DeLucia

Shevaun DeLucia lives in upstate New York with her husband, four children, and two dogs. As a stay-at-home mom while her children were young, she fell in love with reading. She indulged in the small moments that took her away from the reality of her loud, overly rambunctious household, bringing her into a world of fantasy. When reading wasn’t enough to satisfy her, she turned to writing, determined to create the perfect ending of her own.

Website: http://shevaundelucia.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Shevaun-Delucia/563843076961083

Twitter: @shevaundelucia1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7375844.Shevaun_Delucia

BUY LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Mixture-Series-Volume/dp/0615828035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408147727&sr=8-1&keywords=eternal+mixture

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eternal-mixture-shevaun-delucia/1117194877?ean=9780615828039

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eternal-mixture/id839709955?mt=11

Blog Tour: Origin by Emailia I Rutigliano

Contemporary / Women's Fiction

Date Published:February 14, 2014

Alexandra Kamin is everywoman. At 42, she has a loving family, terrific children, a great career with a superlative income, a gorgeous face with a terrific figure, and a loving boyfriend. Most impressive is that she is in complete control of every ambit of her life.

Where do you go when you are at the top?

ORIGIN takes you back to the beginning… the beginning of Alexandra’s life in America, the beginning of the truest of love affairs, and the beginning of an entrepreneurial life. Through a series of flashbacks and conversations, Alexandra explains every nuance that made this beautiful family a dynasty that you want to root for.


Schooling, work, child rearing, and family affairs are all under Alexandra’s Order are all accounted for as the years go by.  GNO, love affairs and the truest of loyalties are best second time around.


Read an excerpt:

“NIIIIICCCCEEEE!”  Alexandra bellowed stepping into the “apartment.”  This was really something.

“You’re impressed?”  The svelte blonde laughed, allowing Alexandra to walk through and take it all in.

“Had I known it would be like this, I would have admitted myself into a psychiatric facility a long time ago!”  Alex was making conversation.  Her mind was too busy assessing the place.

She was standing in a two-story duplex.  It was a “New” building, on the West side of New York City overlooking the Hudson River.  The building was entirely made of glass.  Inside the apartment, everything was appointed in tones and textures of white.  

“It’s not too late you know.”  The blonde answered, using exactly the same tone.  “I have friends who run sanatoria and “well-centers” in Connecticut …  and in California, by the surf.  There’s one in Los Cabos too.  They are all luxurious.  Plenty of fancy things and gardens and pool-sides.  I could make arrangements.”

“I’m soooo in!”  Alexandra admitted.  “Where do I sign up, Doc!?  Do I lie on this couch?”   She asked, pointing toward a white, tufted, leather couch.  Alex was trying to analyze how someone was brilliant enough to design it.  It was definitely modern, but  it still had enough “old world” comfort that you could just lounge on it to read or watch TV.  And this leather... it was just... soft, and supple and inviting.  “Wait did we get a diagnosis on me already?”

“Well sure, didn’t your friends already decide that you are depressed and need to be cured?  Why else would you be seeing a psychiatrist?”  The blonde asked, laughing.  She came into the sitting area, and sat down in one of the white lounge chairs. 

“Right.”  Alex agreed.  She sat in the chair opposite her, although they were both facing the outside.  The Hudson River was playing with the sunlight and the water was bouncing the rays in such a way that it looked like it was generating the sparkles.  “So, uhm... how do we do this?”

“Cure you?”  The blonde was laughing, and Alex smirked at her, rolling her eyes. 

“Relax.  This is for you Alexandra. There is no pattern.  Want some water or iced tea or something?”

“Water would be great.”  Alexandra said, though her mind was more into photographing this room. 

The details were extraordinary.  The room was “albino”.  That seemed to be its strength.  Someone specifically made it -- not devoid of color, really -- but purposefully white. It was rich in its whiteness.  The walls, and there were many, although, technically, the whole place was “open”, were of different materials.  Some walls were Venetian or marbleized stucco.  Some were pure Carrera marble, with just the veining showing through.  Some were sueded, and some had mother-of-pearl wall coverings.  But everything was white.  Not cream... but white.  And nothing was in contrast with anything.  The hard and soft surfaces all melded. 

The ceiling-to-floor windows had no treatments. Large, ornate “boxes” that served as moldings (with mother-of-pearl textures) obviously held shades that could be let down by means of a remote control.  There was one, enormous, Chihuly chandelier.  It was white, too. 

“Do all psychiatrists’ offices look like this?”  Alexandra joked, sort of.

“No, actually.  I’m trying a new experiment with you.”  The good doctor said.

About the Author:

Emilia I. Rutigliano     

Emilia I. Rutigliano is an attorney who writes about people that she finds interesting.  Although her books are fiction, she weaves in a lot of the events of her own life, practice and travels.  She lives in New York City with her husband and three precocious teenagers (who occasionally acknowledge her existence when the internet is malfunctioning). 

ALEXANDRA’S ORDER is Emilia’s second book series, and is geared toward readers who enjoy a full story about multi-dimensional characters.  Because ORDER takes place in many locations with many different cultures, Emilia doesn’t write it unless she visits each location and meets the people who speak, think and act the same way as the characters in the book.  It’s a tough life, but she perseveres…

Connect with the author:

Website: www.alexandrasorder.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexandrasorderseries

BUY LINKS

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00IBQ5FV4

The Empress Chronicles' Release Day Blitz

Thanks for stopping by to celebrate the release of 

The Empress Chronicles!

Published by Diversion Books

Purchase on Amazon

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In this dazzling first book in the EMPRESS CHRONICLES series by the author of THE MOMENT BEFORE, one courageous girl seeks keys to the past to unlock the future…

When city girl Liz is banished to a rural goat farm on the outskirts of Portland, the 15-year-old feels her life spiraling out of control.  She can’t connect to her father or his young girlfriend, and past trauma adds to her sense of upheaval.  The only person who seems to keep her sane is a troubled boy who is fighting his own demons.  But all of this changes in one historical instant.

*

One-hundred fifty years earlier, Elisabeth of Bavaria has troubles of her own.  Her childhood is coming to a crashing end, and her destiny is written in the form of a soothsaying locket that has the ability to predict true love.  But evil is afoot in the form of a wicked enchantress who connives to wield the power of the locket for her own destructive ends.

*

When Liz finds a timeworn diary, and within it a locket, she discovers the secrets and desires of the young Bavarian princess who will one day grow up to be the legendary Empress of Austria. It is in the pages of the diary that these two heroines will meet, and it is through their interwoven story that Liz will discover she has the power to rewrite history—including her own…

Readers of books like Rachel Harris’s MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY will love THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES

About The Author

Suzy Vitello is a proud founding member of a critique group recently dubbed The Hottest Writing Group in Portland, and her short stories have won fellowships and prizes (including the Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Award, and an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship).

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/suzyvitello

website: http://www.suzyvitello.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuzyVitelloBooks

Twitter: @suzy_vitello

Flash Fiction: Because She Loves Me

I was searching for flash fiction prompts, when I came across "Write a story in the voice of an old person." The idea intrigued me...

Because She Loves Me

I open the window, allowing a light breeze and the neighborhood noises to come inside.  The curtains flutter, a horn sounds and I am reminded of another time.  Slowly, I make my way around the bed, stopping when I reach my chair.

"There was a time when I was just like our neighbors—always in a hurry, needing to be somewhere, trying to make a dollar.  Yep.  But that was a long time ago.  Back then, I thought I had it all figured out.  Work hard.  Pay the bills.  Take care of the family.  It's what my father did so that's what I did.  Hell, it's what I taught our boy, John, to do." 

My easel is situated by Martha's bed, across from the window, which offers a surprisingly wonderful view of a dogwood tree. Picking up the paintbrush, I dip the fine bristles into a dab of paint and smear it around on the pallet before gently adding the color to my canvas.  I pause long enough to look at Martha, hoping that maybe I'd see a glimmer in her eyes.  I don't. 

She was my high school sweetheart, the first girl I ever kissed.  As faithful as the day is long, that's my Martha.  I think she deserved better than me. 

"Remember how we always talked about going on that vacation?  You wanted to go to Paris and I wanted to see the pyramids…" I chuckle, patting Martha's leg with my free hand.  "I should have taken you to Paris…"

I continue to dabble paint onto the canvas.  "I called John, yesterday.  But he wasn't home.  Laura said something about him working overtime.  Said she'd have him call.  Maybe she forgot to give him the message…"

I glance at Martha, her eyes have become a window into the bleakness of Alzheimer's.  And once again, I feel the loss of her companionship, her quick wit, her constant support.  Tucking my hurt in a little box, I lock it away and focus on my painting.  "You know, Martha, sitting here with you, painting and all—I reckon I have time to wonder what our life would have been like if I had followed my dreams.  Who knows?  We could have lived in Paris—me painting and you learning to cook French cuisine...  Who am I kidding?  You probably would have taught the French a thing or two about cooking!" I smile to myself.  "You deserved Paris.  Instead you got me…"

I remember how pretty Martha looked, standing at the train station, waiting to welcome me home.  It was thoughts of her that got me through boot camp.  It was thoughts of her that accompanied me to Korea and it was thoughts of her that kept me going during my time in that frozen hell. 

Laying down my paintbrush, I turn to Martha, lifting her soft, delicate hand to my lips.  "I must be the luckiest man in the world, having you for my wife.  I don't know why a girl like you would have ever wanted someone like me." 

Clarity.  I see it in her eyes.  No matter how fleeting, I pray for these moments.  "Lo-ve you," her voice croaks.

"Martha," I cry as the spark fades away...  And this is why she deserved Paris—because she loves me.