Down the Willow Tree by Elizabeth Robin - Book Review

Book Description:

Lizette's 18th birthday ends with the surprise of an arranged marriage she doesn't want. Her Father has promised her to a man she doesn't know and isn't sure she will ever love. In the late 1800's, Liz knows that not following through will put her family in jeopardy. She finds herself hopelessly tied to an aloof and cold stranger, William Hamilton. 

She arrives at her new home and is introduced to William's two closest friends and business associates Rendt and Jack. She finds herself trying desperately to resist the charm of Jack and only her guilty conscience stands in the way of the blooming feelings they have for each other.

When the very wealthy William Hamilton's obsession with an heir turns dangerous, Liz's on'y comfort in her strange new world is a relationship with Jack that could quickly become unforgivable. She soon finds out that William will stop at nothing to protect what is his and get what he wants.

Where to Purchase:

Amazon:

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Author Bio:
(Please note that I couldn't find an author picture.)
All about me!  I am a lover of books, reading them or writing them I can’t seem to get enough.  After my first day of kindergarten I came home crying because they hadn’t taught me to read that day.
That hasn’t changed since I became an adult, well maybe the crying part now that I can read.
I am married to a great guy and we have two sons. We live in the Midwest where we enjoy all four seasons to their fullest.  We are cottage and boat sport fans in the summer and die hard college football fans in the winter.
I write because I love to create stories and I hope that you will get to escape with me into these tales even if for just a little while.

Book Review by Carmen:
On thing I liked about this book was that it had a nice cover; and overall, the story was quite decent, even though there were occasional punctuation errors/problems. I ended up giving this book a three star rating and got a copy in exchange for an honest review.

*Please be sure to support the author by buying their books and connecting with them on social media.

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The British Frontlines by Thomas J. Eyre - Book Review

Book Description: 

Patrick Regan is a man on a mission. Expertly trained by the Royal Marines and with crack sniper skills, he's always taken the fight to the enemy, but now he realises that whilst he's been away Great Britain has been attacked. 

His parents are dead, his sister is missing and he's getting zero help from the authorities, Regan is forced to face the faceless: the insidious thugs of the invading Russian Mafia. With their sights set on the complete domination of Britain's organised crime, their toxic regime of bribery, intimidation and violence has even infiltrated to the very top of Britain's military intelligence. 

Once again Regan prepares to take the fight to the enemy, but this time, he's hunting them on home soil.

The British FrontLine is a violent roller coaster thriller and Patrick Regan will sink to any low to get the job done. Not afraid to get his hands dirty, he is more alpha male than Lee Child's, Jack Reacher, or Mark Dawson's, John Milton. 

Winner of the prestigious BooksGoSocial quality approval gold seal award.

Where to Purchase:

Amazon:

USA: USA Link

Australia: Australia Link

Brazil: Brazil Link

Canada: Canada Link

France: France Link

Germany: Germany Link

India: India Link

Italy: Italy Link

Japan: Japan Link

Mexico: Mexico Link

Netherlands: Netherlands Link

Spain: Spain Link

UK: UK Link

Connect with the Author:

Facebook: Facebook Link

Twitter: Twitter Link

Author Website: Author Website Link

Author Bio: 

Thomas J Eyre was born in Oxford and moved to Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire when his family relocated in 1969. He left school at the age of 15 and worked as a cook, waiter, plate collector and washer-up in his parents transport cafe before joining the Royal Navy in 1973. As an Aircraft Handler/Crash-Rescue Fireman he served on Great Britain's last true fixed wing aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal before she was scrapped in 1978. Yes he hears the cries of derision from serving and former members of the Fleet Air Arm who served in big ships since the "Big A" was scrapped, but even the Royal Navy called them through-deck cruisers and they didn't have catapults to launch them, nor aircraft landing at 250 knots. 

Since leaving the Royal Navy he has worked as a long distance class 1HGV driver, drayman, fettler and mechanical engineer. He worked on contract in Libya and in 1995 became a Bachelor of Science after graduating with a 2:1 honours degree from Bournemouth University. A motorcycle accident in 2000 left him with serious injuries, finished his engineering career and almost his life. He now lives in Poole in Dorset and after many years writing stories for his own amusement has been prompted by friends and family to publish some of them.

The Second of his books, The British FrontLine, follows Royal Marine Sergeant Patrick Regan who is repatriated from the fighting in Afghanistan to bury his mother and step father, after they are killed in an explosion that destroyed their yacht. On returning back to Great Britain, Regan finds out his half-sister, Susie, is missing and he sets about finding her. The body count begins to rise when he discovers that Susie has been abducted by Russian Mafia gangsters. 

Thomas is currently writing the Third in this series, which will be published around the middle to end of 2018.

Book Review by Carmen:

Even though this book didn't catch my attention in the beginning, it wasn't long before this book became quite interesting. One thing I wasn't too fond of is that there wasn't a lot of detail about the character Patrick Regan, there isn't a lot about him as a person. I ended up giving this book a three star rating and got a copy in exchange for an honest review. 

*Please be sure to support the author by buying their books and connecting with them on social media.

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My Health Journey Continues........

Over the last four years I have been on a health and fitness journey. I did great when I got serious about dropping weight and getting fit. Over the years I have also been working on my mental health, realizing a lot of things over the years really harmed my mental health which then wrecked havoc with my physical health. I started working out hardcore back in August of 2014. I started to decrease my calories in and started eating a cleaner diet. In March of 2015 I hit it hard and actually got super strict with my food intake and did some carb cycling. For the first time in my life I didn't really have love handles it was awesome. It also gave me more mental strength to leave my toxic relationship and realize I didn't need to stay in that situation any longer and my kids and I deserved so much better.  I went super determined to get my life together and get out. During 2016 was a really tough time, left my ex while trying to stay friends with him and keep things good for the kids, got my house together to put it on the real estate market and spent sometime finding myself and enjoying life. All this go go go wrecked more havoc on my physical and mental state and found myself becoming super tired and lacking the energy to continue. PTSD and anxiety was really holding on and I kept trying to fight back only to get more tired. I then decided that I needed to go to a naturopath and see what really was going on with my body. 

The "fit" Genuine Jenn in 2016! Starting my running back then and working out daily with HIIT workouts

The fall of 2016 and into 2017 I suffered with Adrenal Fatigue. I was put on a ton of supplements, given a diet plan to follow and told to rest whenever I needed to and that was A LOT.  Slowly I gained weight because I couldn't workout, I would have to force myself to get out and walk only to come back home to sleep. I started eating comfort food because I was stressed over being so tired and angry that I was tired and gaining weight. When I started to feel better I was now back eating junk, still eating clean more than 70% of the time but I was drinking wine and beer and eating complex carbs. My Dr and Naturopath both suggested I start eating a hunter-gatherer type diet. I tried to eat clean and did well for awhile then would eat out and fall off. 

Fast forward to now, June 2018 I am back mentally on getting healthy and fit. I am working on eating to fuel my body with clean food and healing my hormones and the pain that I have been experiencing. I have tendinitis in my right rotator cuff and have been experiencing extreme hip pain. I have a Dr. appointment later this month to see what is happening with my hip. 

After the Adrenal Fatigue, eating out and being happy. I can actually run longer than I could two years ago so to me I am more "fit" even with the added weight.

I have been running since last fall and working towards running a half marathon in a year. I have been getting real sleep! I actually sleep through the night most nights now. This was a huge thing in the past. I wouldn't sleep a full night and wouldn't feel rested in the am. I am slowly working in other workouts but they have been mainly cardio due to my shoulder. I will start adding in two weight training workouts a week very soon. One of my daily goals is to get 10,000 steps a day, a combo of walking and jogging. I don't run everyday but I am working back up to 3 to 4 times a week. 

My husband and I are on this journey together and I couldn't be happier with the support he has given me over the last two years. He has been there for me through it all, my good days and the really hard bad days. I will check in here with my workouts and eating to share how we are doing. 

Until then, be happy! 

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