Tour Review: The More I See by Lisa Mondello

Title: The More I See
Series: Texas Hearts #3
Author: Lisa Mondello
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance Fiction
Publisher: Lisa Mondello
Format: 
ISBN: 9781476431666
Release Date: April 19, 2012
Source: Tour Host {Bewitching Book Tours}
Rating: 

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: As a top-notch cutting horse trainer, Cody Gentry was riding high until he lost his eyesight after a freak chemical accident. Unable to see the hand in front of his face, never mind the horse or cattle he trained, he knows his life is over and slips deep into depression. His whole future hinges on the success of an eye surgery that could give him his old life back.

When guide dog trainer, Lyssa McElhannon, arrives on his ranch like Florence Nightingale coming to save him, he wants no part of her or her guide dog. But something about Lyssa’s musical laugh coupled with her tenacity digs under his skin and won't let go. Having been blind most of her life, Lyssa understands the paralyzing fear Cody feels after losing his vision. But she refuses to let the stubborn cowboy waste his life away sitting in a chair when she knows first-hand that a good guide dog can change his world. She just needs one month to prove it to him.

Falling in love with Cody was not part of Lyssa’s plan, nor was having him open her eyes to see that there was a whole lot of living she’d been missing out on.

Amazon            BN               Smashwords         Kobo

Review:

REVIEW WILL BE POSTED LATE. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

EXCERPT The More I See

"I was told I could find Cody Gentry out here by the pool," she finally said.

The muscles on his face twitched slightly. "Who's looking?"

The timbre of his voice was deep, with a faintly ominous edge that reminded Lyssa of the voices she'd heard as a child when she and Kim would sneak downstairs in the middle of the night and watch old horror flicks on cable. She couldn't see the movies, she'd only heard the voices, and that added to the mystery, raised the level of anticipation, sending shivers racing up her spine.

 
Cody wasn't anything out of a horror flick. She ignored the swell of apprehension that had her confidence faltering.

She knew better than to extend her hand in a normal greeting for her introduction. It'd be rude since Cody couldn't see her. Instead, she hoped her voice sounded pleasant. "I'm Alyssandra McElhannon."

He didn't move. "What do you want?"

"I brought Otis," she said cheerfully.

"What's Otis?"

"Otis is a who, not a what."

Cody's whole body stiffened. His voice was controlled, but edgy enough to send shivers chasing over her skin. "I'm sorry you came all the way out here like this. Apparently someone failed to give you adequate information. I'm not training cuttin' horses anymore."

"Oh, Otis isn't a horse. He's a dog. Your guide dog. And I'm here to train the two of you to work as a team." Otis, like many dogs trained as seeing aids for the vision impaired, were a lifeline to independence.

He sat still, unaffected. It wasn't at all the reaction she'd been expecting.

"Not interested."

"And you would be Cody Gentry, I take it?" she asked already knowing he was.

"I just said I'm not interested."

"And I heard you. My job is to make you interested."

"Says who?"

Confused, she said, "Mike Gentry for one."

He groaned audibly and straightened up in his chair. "My father sent you, huh?"

"That's right. He didn't tell you I was coming?"

"Did he already pay you for your troubles?"

"Well, yes, a portion is—"

"Then you're fired. I'll make sure you get the rest of the money you're owed by mail. I'm sorry he wasted your time."

Cody was as difficult as Mike Gentry had warned but in a totally different way than Lyssa had been prepared for.

"In the first place, the school pays my salary. Second, training my dogs and students is never a waste of my time. Furthermore, you aren't the one who hired me, your father did. In fact, he asked me to stay on at the ranch until you and Otis were working well together. So, you can't fire me, no matter how much you squawk."

He made a face that almost made her laugh. "Squawk?"

Crossing her arms across her chest, she said, "I call it like I see it."

"Listen, Ms. McElfen er McEllaf… What's your name again?"

"McElhannon," she said slowly. "Alyssandra Orchid McElhannon."

Texas Hearts series includes: 

HER HEART FOR THE ASKING 

HIS HEART FOR THE TRUSTING 

THE MORE I SEE 

About this Author:

Lisa Mondello (a.k.a. LA Mondello) has held many jobs in her life but being a published authors is the last job she'll ever have. She's not retiring! She blames the creation of the personal computer for her leap into writing novels. Otherwise, she'd still be penning stories with paper and pen. Her first book, All I Want for Christmas is You, was the winner of the Golden Quill contest for Best First Book and to date has had over 350,000 downloads worldwide.

She is currently the author of 14 novels under the name Lisa Mondello and LA Mondello.

You can find more information about Lisa Mondello at http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com or chat on Twitter at @LisaMondello http://www.facebook.com/lisa.mondello.1

 Texas Hearts Promotion Hosted by Bewitching Book Tours

Tour Review: His Heart for the Trusting by Lisa Mondello

Title: His Heart for the Trusting
Series: Texas Hearts #2  
Author: Lisa Mondello
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance Fiction
Publisher: Lisa Mondello
Format:
ISBN: 9781466004849
Release Date: February 15, 2012 
Source: Tour Host {Bewitching Book Tours}
Rating:

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: Ever since Mitch Broader set foot in Texas, he dreamed of owning his own ranch. Now that he’s bought a share in the Double T Ranch, he’s one step closer to the dream. Then his past greets him in the form of a baby basket, complete with infant and birth certificate naming him as the father. He can’t change diapers and work toward his dream at the same time.

When Sara Lightfoot, “Miss Hollywood” in Mitch’s eyes, rescues him with her particular knack for handling his precocious son, he hires her on the spot as a temporary nanny. No matter how much Sara’s dark eyes and warm heart make this bachelor think of making their arrangement permanent, she’s made it perfectly clear she has other plans that don’t include him or his dreams.

Sara Lightfoot never thought she’d return to her home on the reservation. Now she plans to reclaim the life she left by going back to the reservation as a Native American storyteller, teaching the Apache children stories of their culture. She didn’t expect Mitch Broader’s sexy smile or job offer as a live-in nanny to derail those plans. After all she’s been through to come home, can she open up her heart once again to love?

Amazon     Smashwords      BN     Kobo     iTunes

Review:

REVIEW WILL BE POSTED LATE. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

 
EXCERPT His Heart for the Trusting 

Still dancing in circles, Midnight eyed Mitch, seemingly aware of his every move. Mitch turned his back to the mare and played with the bridle, as if ignoring the horse. Finally, Midnight stopped running and with cautious steps, she moved forward, stopping every so often and taking a side step, bobbing her head or giving a neigh, as if calling Mitch to pay attention. Eventually, she stepped up alongside him and gave him a quick nudge with her nose. Then another until she was settled alongside Mitch. 

Ever so softly, Mitch stroked her head and neck and front legs with long, easy strokes. He smiled his pleasure and crooned softly. 

Without even realizing how he'd done it, the bit was in Midnight's mouth and the bridle was around the mare’s head. Mitch let the reins fall and allowed Midnight to get use to the bit.

Such trust. 

“That's amazing,” Sara said quietly. 

“Not really,” Mitch said, glancing up at her as he kept his attention on the mare. She turned to him. Mitch was looking at her, his eyes filled with the same questions she’d seen in the kitchen. 

Then he said, “She still could bolt at any time.” 

Sara gripped the splintered rail. “But she hasn't. She came to you when she could have easily just kept running in circles.” 

“Trust isn't an easy thing for her. She still doesn't know what to think.” 

“She let you put the bridle on her. You didn't have to chase her. She came to you.” 

“I have to win her trust. And when I have it, I can't abuse it or she'll never give it up again.” 

Mitch carefully took the bridle off Midnight and took a few steps away. Midnight followed like a stray dog. 

“Does she trust you now? Enough to ride her?” 

Mitch shook his head. “We still need a little time together before she'll allow me put a saddle on her. Right now, she's letting me know her boundaries.” 

“She let you put a bridle on her as if she didn't even know you were doing it.” 

His face was bright with a smile. “Oh, she knew. But she's still making up her mind. She wants to trust me. I can tell. And maybe one day she will.” 

“Mitch?” 

He looked up at her again from across the corral. He was incredibly handsome. His dark hair was the color of mica in the fading light, and his eyes had turned from blue to a smoky gray. He stood tall, his weight shifted to one hip as he held the reins of the bridle. 

Such strength. 

Sara remembered all too well how it had felt earlier to be in Mitch's arms. Her heart still raced with the memory. 

“What if she's never ready to trust you?” 

Mitch's expression grew serious, pulling her into his gaze. He took a few steps closer, his boots kicking up dust from the ground as he walked. He stopped a good ten feet from where she was standing and said, “I can wait as long as it takes, Sara.” 

Texas Hearts series includes: 

HER HEART FOR THE ASKING 

HIS HEART FOR THE TRUSTING 

THE MORE I SEE 

About this Author:

Lisa Mondello (a.k.a. LA Mondello) has held many jobs in her life but being a published authors is the last job she'll ever have. She's not retiring! She blames the creation of the personal computer for her leap into writing novels. Otherwise, she'd still be penning stories with paper and pen. Her first book, All I Want for Christmas is You, was the winner of the Golden Quill contest for Best First Book and to date has had over 350,000 downloads worldwide.

She is currently the author of 14 novels under the name Lisa Mondello and LA Mondello.

You can find more information about Lisa Mondello at http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com or chat on Twitter at @LisaMondello http://www.facebook.com/lisa.mondello.1

 Texas Hearts Promotion Hosted by Bewitching Book Tours

Tour Review: Her Heart for the Asking by Lisa Mondello

Title: Her Heart for the Asking
Series: Texas Hearts #1
Author: Lisa Mondello
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance Fiction
Publisher: Lisa Mondello
Format:
ISBN: 9781465908490  
Release Date: February 8, 2012 
Source: Tour Host {Bewitching Book Tours}
Rating:

Tagline(s): Promises made...secrets kept...

Summary: Mandy Morgan swore she’d never step foot in Texas again after Beau Gentry left her for life on the rodeo circuit eight years before. He once promised he'd love her forever. But he'd abandoned their love for the rodeo and she hadn't seen him since. Now she's back in Texas. Her uncle’s heart is failing and Mandy has to convince him that surgery will save his life. She never dreamed the first thing she’d see when she stepped off the plane would be her biggest nightmare...the one man she’d never stopped loving.

Beau Gentry had the fever for two things: the rodeo and Mandy Morgan. But for Beau, loving Mandy was complicated by his father’s vendetta against her uncle and a promise he'd made to an old friend. Hank Promise, Mandy's uncle, was more like a father to Beau than his old man had been. The hardest thing Beau had ever done was leave Mandy behind for the rodeo. He can still see the bitterness and hurt on her face. It has killed him all these years to think Mandy had forgotten him...maybe even in the arms of another man. But now they’re both back in Texas, and Beau's going to do all he can to win back her love.

Amazon         Barnes and Noble   Smashwords    Sony

KOBO               iTunes

Review:

REVIEW WILL BE POSTED LATE. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

Excerpt HER HEART FOR THE ASKING 

 "What are you doing here?" Mandy Morgan asked, dropping her too-heavy overnight case on the sun-roasted tarmac. After a grueling forty-eight hour work stint and a five-hour flight from Philadelphia, she stood wilting under the brutal Texas sun, facing her biggest nightmare.

Beau Gentry.

She groaned inwardly, drinking Beau in with her eyes as if she hadn't had a drop of water in months. Eight years was more like it. If she were eight years smarter, she would be moving her aching feet as fast as she could in the opposite direction. But all she could do was stare at eyes so bright they rivaled the blazing sun. At lips so kissable she'd spent the better part of her adult life trying to wipe the memory clean from her mind.

She had expected Beau would have aged some. When she allowed herself to think about him at all, she reminded herself. The faint lines etched in the corners of his sleepy gray-blue eyes gave a hint of maturity, but most probably caused by long days in the cruel sun.

She fought the urge to take a closer look at his ruggedly handsome features, but failed. How could he have gotten better looking after being abused by every bronc-busting horse on the rodeo circuit? His angular jaw, strong and determined, was shaded with beard growth that was probably a day old, maybe more. Mandy suspected if Beau grew a full beard, it would grow in thick and be the smooth texture of his almost black head of hair. She forced aside past memories that gave her such knowledge with renewed irritation.

The man didn't even have the decency to have a crooked nose. What should have been bent and awkward from being broken a few too many times was instead long and straight, shaped perfectly between high cheek bones most women would swoon over, or kill to have themselves. But on Beau Gentry, it was just one thousand percent robust cowboy.

Damn him.

"I'm your ride out to the Double T," Beau said, gripping the edge of his white straw cowboy hat and tipping it in a cordial gesture.

She ground the heels of her low pumps into the soft tar to contain her growing irritation. Did he think she was an idiot? "No way."

"'Fraid so," he said, his expression slightly askew. "Hank didn't mention anything about you coming to get me when I spoke to him on the phone."

"I suspect he thought you would have found some excuse not to come if you knew I was picking you up."

"He would have been right. Why didn't one of the hands come get me?"

Settling his hand at the base of his neck, Beau replied, "You're looking at him. As of three weeks ago I am one of the ranch hands at the Double T."

Texas Hearts series includes: 

HER HEART FOR THE ASKING 

HIS HEART FOR THE TRUSTING 

THE MORE I SEE

 

About this Author:

Lisa Mondello (a.k.a. LA Mondello) has held many jobs in her life but being a published authors is the last job she'll ever have. She's not retiring! She blames the creation of the personal computer for her leap into writing novels. Otherwise, she'd still be penning stories with paper and pen. Her first book, All I Want for Christmas is You, was the winner of the Golden Quill contest for Best First Book and to date has had over 350,000 downloads worldwide.

She is currently the author of 14 novels under the name Lisa Mondello and LA Mondello.

You can find more information about Lisa Mondello at http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com or chat on Twitter at @LisaMondello http://www.facebook.com/lisa.mondello.1

 Texas Hearts Promotion Hosted by Bewitching Book Tours

Review: Finding My Faith by Carly Fall

Title: Finding My Faith
Series: Six Saviors #1
Author: Carly Fall
Genre: Science Fiction, Supernatural Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Romance Fiction
Elements: Aliens, Psychic Abilities, Spirits
Publisher: Westward Publishing
Format: eBook, 214 Pages
ASIN: B007E25F72
Release Date: February 27, 2012
Source: Tour Host {Bewitching Book Tours}
Rating: 5/5

Tagline(s): ~NONE~

Summary: Growing up in a small Northern Arizona town, Faith Cloudfoot’s life was spent playing in the forests surrounding her house under the protective eyes of her father, and learning about the legends of her Native American heritage.

Yearning for more out of her life, she moves to Phoenix, Arizona at the age of twenty-three where she is kidnapped and almost killed.

Rayner has a special ability, one that weighs on him like a curse. He can see spirits trapped in between life and their final resting place. Because he can’t do much to help them, he studiously ignores them. He concentrates, instead, on working with his fellow warriors to right the wrongs caused by the evil criminals from his home planet.

When Rayner sees Faith in her spirit form while investigating a lead in Phoenix, his attraction to her is immediate, yet he follows his own personal code and ignores her cry for attention. When he realizes that she may be a stepping stone to getting him home to his own universe, he engages Faith and begins to use her as a means to an end: going home.

As the attraction grows stronger, Rayner finds himself breaking all sorts of self-set rules, as well as the code of ethics set by him and his fellow warriors. When Faith nears death, Rayner realizes that he must do everything in his power to save her, because if he doesn’t, he may just lose himself.

Review:

Being someone who has not had the pleasure to read the first book in this series, The Light Within Me, I was glad that the author provided some background information. Because of this, one doesn't have to have read the first book to understand Finding My Faith. In fact, I became really curious about Noah and Abby's story when they were introduced in this book, and I can't wait to go back and read their story for myself. Because I have not read The Light Within Me, I can base this review solely on Finding My Faith, since I have nothing to compare it to.

I loved how Finding My Faith has a mix of genres; there's a little bit of something for everyone: sci-fi action, supernatural abilities, and sweet romance. All of this is blended so well together that this book can't be put into just one genre.

It might seem kind of cheesy, but I really liked how Rayner and Faith always seemed to have everything in common. Not only are their backgrounds similar (each grew up in the forests of their respective homelands), but they also just so happen to like the same foods and TV shows. Their both spiritual people and love nature and the outdoors. And both are free-spirits; although Rayner lost that when he came to Earth, meeting Faith made him want to live again instead of just floating along.

I love legends and folklore, so I really like the legend of The Woman With Fire for Hair and the Red-Eyed Wolf Warrior. The legend states the a woman of the Navajo with flaming red hair and an man with glowing red eyes will produce a son that will be able to harness the earth's energy. This son will only be born when the Earth needs him most, it could be a few years or hundreds of years until he's born. Until then, The Woman With Fire for Hair and the Red-Eyed Wolf Warrior will not age, the Warrior will not lose his wolf spirit, and only after then son is born will they begin to age as humans do. This legend really works in Rayner and Faith's favor. Neither of them will age until their son is born, and who knows how long that will be. And Rayner won't lose his SR44 form (though the legends says wolf spirit, for Rayner it's his SR44 form).

I was kind of disappointed that we never got to see the Colonist's demise. With how hyped up Hudson ans Cohen were to hunt him down, I was looking forward to seeing his downfall. Everyone likes seeing the bad guy lose in the end, but we just don't see it in Finding My Faith. Also, the Colonists are portrayed as these vicious killers, but the Colonist in this book just wasn't. It was just disappointing reading about how they are trying to catch and kill this Colonist and we never get to see it when they finally do.

Other than my issue with how weak I found the Colonist to be, I really loved Finding My Faith. I can't wait to see what's next for the Six Saviors.

About this Author: 

Carly Fall lives in Arizona with her incredibly supportive husband, their son and their dog.

She enjoys the weather in Arizona, and when she isn't writing, you can find her spending time with her family, or lazily floating in the pool.

Carly has spent twenty years writing business materials, and Shackled to the Night was her first foray into fiction.

For more information on upcoming books as well as freebies and giveaways, visit her website at www.CarlyFall.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carly-Fall/135934843166283

Twitter: CarlyFall1

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