Blog Tour | Incognito Ex by Geri Krotow | Review

August 3, 2020August 3, 2020 DeAnneLeave a comment

When she is targeted by a vicious mobster, a past love is her only hope.

When a Russian gangster targets Coral Staufer, she is desperate for help. Coral stumbles across an undercover agent none other than the man she loved and lost, Trevor Stone. Trevor will risk anything to stop her from becoming a mob casualty…even risk his career to protect Coral. But when their past love reignites, their entire mission—and very lives—are at stake.

Even though this is the 8th book in a series I was excited to jump into it as the synopsis sounded like a really great read and I was not disappointed. I loved the writing and pacing and it made the story flow wonderfully. The story was full of action and just enough tension between Coral and Trevor. Seeing them grow and learn from their past actions as well as be accepting of their own and each others flaws made for a great second chance relationship. I especially liked Coral as a character, even if there were some questionable moments that were perhaps a little unbelievable – it didn’t matter since I was caught up in the story itself.

I really enjoyed the story itself and how it progressed. I would definitely check out more of this series in the future and it doesn’t seem like you have to read them in order to enjoy them.

Geri Krotow is a Naval Academy graduate and Navy veteran. She has traveled to and lived in many places abroad, including South America, Italy and Russia. Her family has finally settled down in Central Pennsylvannia but Geri still writes about all the places she’s been. An award–winning author, Geri writes the Silver Valley PD for Harlequin Romantic Suspense http://www.gerikrotow.com

Happy reading!

Review | Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

August 2, 2020August 2, 2020 DeAnneLeave a comment

Award-winning poet Danez Smith is a groundbreaking force, celebrated for deft lyrics, urgent subjects, and performative power. Don’t Call Us Dead opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police, a place where suspicion, violence, and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love, and longevity they deserved here on earth. Smith turns then to desire, mortality the dangers experienced in skin and body and blood and a diagnosis of HIV positive. “Some of us are killed / in pieces,” Smith writes, some of us all at once. Don’t Call Us Dead is an astonishing and ambitious collection, one that confronts, praises, and rebukes America–“Dear White America”–where every day is too often a funeral and not often enough a miracle.

With current events I’ve been hearing more and more about this poetry collection, so I knew I had to check it out. Be forewarned, this collection is not for the faint of heart. Smith’s use of language and the raw imagery created is amazing, heart wrenching and very in your face real. The collections takes on a lot of current and continuing issues in society regarding racism and prejudices. The collection in and of itself is beautiful, but at times hard to read emotionally – which I think it should be. This is the type of writing where you should slow down and actually absorb what is being said. All in all it’s an amazing collection of poems that definitely shouldn’t be missed.

Happy reading!

August Reading and Life Plans

August 1, 2020August 1, 2020 DeAnneLeave a comment

So anyone who follows my content may have noticed that for the last couple months I have been more loose about my planning because mentally I acknowledge I’ve been struggling. I’ve admittedly been in a bit of a reading slump and if you’ve read my NaNoWriMo posts, a writing slump as well. I’m determined to break this cycle and get back in my groove with some planning.

So what is the plan I’ve come up with? I’m not going to be super strict with myself and I am going to simply work on getting back on track. My day job responsibilities have ramped up even though I’m working remotely, so that is a priority and I have to recognize my own limits.

So in short, the goals I am setting for myself are as follows:

-Read more of my backlist books, and get back to listening to more audiobooks like I was doing previously.
-Try to carve actual writing time out, and decide on a project instead of floating between a few different ones.
-Really do some preparation for November’s round of NaNoWriMo so that I’m ready to hit the ground running.
-Get better about my daily tracking. I have a reading bullet journal set up, but in the last couple months I’ve gone from updating every day, to updating maybe once a week.

That being said, this might not happen. I have to concentrate on self care and taking care of my mental health – so if I can’t accomplish all of these things, then that’s ok.

Take care of yourselves and happy reading!