Saturday, September 19, 2015

Second Hand Jane by Michelle Vernal Book Blitz


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Book Blitz

9781495218415

Book Title: Second Hand Jane 
Author: Michelle Vernal 
Genre: Romantic Comedy 
Release Date: February 24, 2015 
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

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Book Blurb

With her love of all things vintage, Jessica Jane Baré is known as Second-hand Jane to her friends. Life would be sweet if it weren’t for her meddling mother, Marian who views Jess’s life as a newspaper columnist in Dublin as nothing more than a stop-gap until she meets Mr Right. When Jess meets the delectable Nick, he ticks all of Marian’s boxes.

In the meantime, Jess’s latest second-hand collectible–a children’s book—gives her an idea and deciding to track down the girl whose name is scribbled inside the cover of that book, she uncovers more than she expected. “Amy was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The girl’s taciturn brother, Owen informs her. Intrigued Jess travels to the family pig farm in County Down. With a little help from a rather cute runt of the litter she names Wilbur, Jess is about to help put the past to rest and learn that appearances can be deceptive.

Then Marian announces she is coming to Dublin to sort her daughter’s increasingly tangled love life out and Jess’s chance of a happy ending like those in the story books she collects looks about as likely as Wilbur flying.

excerpt

“Shopping is surprisingly hard work, isn’t it?” Brianna said, not really expecting an answer as she flopped down into her chair.

Jess nodded, laying out their well-earned sandwiches and coffee. “It is when you are looking for something in particular. That’s what I like about op-shopping—I just happen across really cool stuff. Do you know what I was thinking earlier when I was busy getting dressed and undressed?”

“What?”

“That I wish to God someone would open a shop with fitting rooms that are dimly lit. I hate those horrible fluorescent lights that show every lump and bump. It’s not good for one’s psyche.”

“What lumps and bumps?” Brianna was indignant. “You wait until you have a baby—then you’ll know all about lumps and bumps, my girl! You want to see the muffins Harry’s left me with?” She reached around the back of her jeans and squeezed two imaginary pockets of fat. “It doesn’t matter what size I get down to; the only way I’ll get rid of these blueberry babies is by lipo.” Picking up her rather delicious-looking gourmet sandwich, she took a greedy chomp out of it.

Jess looked glumly down at her own meagre low-fat bean sprout veggie sarnie and silently cursed all dressing room mirrors.

“Don’t you have that Cajun cooking class tonight?” Brianna mumbled through her full mouth.

“I do. I’m looking forward to it. Apparently we will be making jambalaya, which sounds vaguely familiar and very exotic.” She frowned. “It also sounds calorific, which is why I am on the bean sprout sanger. Next week, I’m doing a cod fish casserole, which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. It’s a Portuguese class and I know nothing about Portuguese cuisine apart from the fact they eat a lot of fish.”

“Well, I can’t help you there. We’re having Gran’s bangers and mash for dinner because I’ve got a PTA meeting tonight—good old plain, hearty tucker; you can’t beat it. My Gran says all men need a good serving of potatoes on their plate each night in order to fill them up.”

“So that’s what you do to keep your Pete happy, is it? Serve him up loads of spuds. Anyway, it’s alright for you and Granny Dierdre to advocate bangers and mash because you’re both built like whippets. It sucks—I so much as sniff mash spud and it goes to my waistline, whereas you eat what you like and never put a pound on.”

“It’s running around after Harry. Have a baby, Jess, and you’ll never have to worry about your figure again except for the post-birth muffin overhang, of course, and the sagging boobs and stretched stomach skin,” she lamented.

Jess subconsciously crossed her legs under the table. She was fairly sure Brianna wouldn’t be getting a job as a Weight Watchers advocate in the near future if that was the best dietary advice she could dole out.

“Have you had any more thoughts on your column? What you’re going to write about once you have finished the cooking school series and had enough of stuffing yourself silly on jumbaywotsit and Portuguese cat fish casserole?”

“Cod fish, not cat, and I have had a couple of ideas, as it happens. I thought I could write about the celebrity lifestyle in Dublin now that one of my best friends is dating a Hollywood Hottie. Actually, it was you who gave me the inspiration.”

Brianna looked pleased. “When I told you to write about the blind date you were doubling on?”

“Yeah, except we didn’t know then that the other half of the double date was a major celebrity, did we?”

“I know and I still can’t get my head around the fact Nora kept it quiet and that our best friend is actually dating Ewan Reid.” She pulled a face. “It’s not fair you get to meet him first.”

“Yes, but we don’t know at what cost yet, do we? I may have to suffer through an evening with a Gollom clone.”

“Or—ha-ha,” Brianna snorted, “he could be one of those weird Trekkie guys in a giant nylon baby-gro.” She giggled, giving Jess a Vulcan two-fingered salute.

Jess gave her a two-fingered salute of a different kind back. “Yeah, thanks, that’s not helping. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I had another idea as well I wanted to run past you. It’s to do with a name in a book.”

“You’ve lost me. What name in what book?”

“Well, remember the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs book I bought for my collection not long ago?”

“Yes. That reminds me—Harry’s right into all those traditional fairy stories at the moment. I made the mistake of reading him Hansel and Gretel the other night and managed to give myself nightmares. I’d hate to think what my poor son made of it. Though, to be honest, I don’t know what disturbed me more about the story: the abandoning of children in the forest, the wicked witch putting Hansel in a cage in order to fatten him up, or the fact that Harry didn’t seem at all fazed by it! I’d forgotten how horrible some of those old tales actually are.”

“Yeah, you’d have to wonder what was going through the mind of the Brothers Grimm when they penned that one. They wrote Little Red Riding Hood, too. Please don’t read that to Harry just yet. I had a phobia about wolves for years thanks to that little minx.”

“Don’t worry—we’re sticking with good old Hop on Pop, Dr Seuss for the foreseeable future. But, come on then, spill—what’s this idea of yours?”

“Okay, you know how one of the things I find intriguing about second-hand things is the thought of the life they have lived before they come to me?”

Brianna nodded. “That and the thrill of a good bargain.”

“Yeah, well there is that too. But books, especially children’s ones, are really special.”

“Because of the illustrations, right?”

“Definitely that yes but it is more than just the pictures. Children love to mark their territory and every book in my collection has its original owner’s name scrawled inside the cover.”

“I don’t get it—you told me once that decreases the book’s value.”

“It does but I don’t collect them for their monetary value. It’s hard to explain it properly but there’s just something about the idea of another child having loved that book the same way I loved it and I often wonder who they were or are now. Does that sound weird?”

Brianna grinned. “If I was Nora, I would say it definitely sounds weird but since it’s me you are talking to, I think I get it. You’d like to know the story behind the name in the book, is that it?”

“That’s it exactly! Who was that child? Did he or she pore over the stories and the pictures like I did? Were they daydreamers too? Who did they grow up to be?”

“Jaysus, you are such a romantic, Jessica Baré. Where are you going with this?”

“I am going to find her.”

“You’ve lost me again—who exactly are you off to find? And please don’t say yourself because you’re far too young for a mid-life crisis.”

Jess laughed. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to do an Eat, Pray, Love and frolic round Bali. I am going to find out what became of Amy Aherne from Ballymcguinness. She was six years old when her brother Owen gave her Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for Christmas in 1973. So I am going to write about my journey to find the forty-six-year old Amy. I will do the detective work to find out who she is now, what she went on to do with her life and what that book meant to her. What do you think?”
Praise

'Oh what a unique and amazing love story this turned out to be.' Terry reviewer for Chicklit Plus
'The book not only tells an amazing love story, but also the story of a tragedy that lives on in those left behind. The author is amazing with her humour and writes that side very well.' Terry reviewer for Chicklit Plus

Meet the Author

Michelle Vernal lives in the pretty little town of Oxford, in New Zealand’s South Island. Writing is something she has always used as a way of expressing herself. Her first foray into the romantic and humorous world of her style of women’s fiction is recorded in her thirteen-year-old self’s compulsory school journal. In it, much to the delight of her English teacher, she described in minutiae the heartbreak of being dumped after her first school disco. Thankfully she has moved on since then and is now married with two boys.

After her first son was born, she attended a creative writing course at Canterbury University, and the first piece she ever penned was published by a New Zealand parenting magazine. She went on to write humorous; opinion styled pieces of her take on parenting but when the necessity for being politically correct got too much, she set herself the challenge of writing a novel. To date, she is penning book number five. Second Hand Jane is her third novel and was inspired by an inscription in the second-hand children’s books she collects. All her books are written with her trademark warmth and humour.

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There are five stages of grief.


Denial.

Bargaining.

Anger.
Depression.
Acceptance.


Losing the love of your life is one of the hardest things anyone would ever have to face. Especially when your life with them was just beginning.

When tragedy strikes on what should be the happiest time of your life, how are you supposed to pick up the pieces of your life and move on without them?

Two strangers who happen to share a life changing event, come to find solace in each other to help deal with their pain. One of them feels the guilt of being the reason that a life was lost. The other guilty for making a last second choice.


Both of them, guilty that they survived.


But what happens when a bond that surfaces from tragedy brings these two strangers together? Finding comfort in each other as they both deal with the same pain, was never the plan. Can they look beyond the guilt of the past in order stop themselves dying along with their loved ones, but instead live and learn to love again?


What happens when losing your first love becomes the reason for meeting your one true love?




Emotions play an important role in how we think and behave. Our emotions are composed by how we experience them, how our bodies react to them, and how we act in response to them.

Nicola Forbes was born with a condition that leaves her with the inability to express or recognize emotions. It is only through countless years of therapy and repetition, that she can acknowledge some signs of emotions in other people.

Being an emotional blank canvas has Nicola seeking out the only thing she does feel—pleasure. One of the highest paid escorts in New York City, she seeks solace through physical intimacy with her clients like it is a drug that she needs to survive.

Andris Gunn, a psychiatrist with his own mental issues, lives a secret life in order to deal with his inner demons. Unbeknownst to him, he engages one of his patients into his secret world of ecstasy, desire, and physical pleasure that is the only thing to placate his own inner turmoil.

The trigger that Nicola and her doctors have been searching for nearly her whole life—the catalyst to ignite feelings within her— has sparked.

VOID is an erotic romance novel about seeking emotional barriers and tearing them down. It is a tale of deceit, betrayal, and lies, but even in the darkest of times, love will find a way.

I AM AN ESCORT.

I screw men and get screwed for money,
living my life everyday as Jericho Lane.
My clientele list is immaculate.
I am sought out, demanded
and damn good at my job.
I don’t care that these men have families at home,
or that they are important people.
I do it for the money.
to survive.

There is nothing that could make me
feel a bit of remorse or
concern about what I do because
I was born with the inability
to experience or feel emotions...

I don’t feel PAIN
I don’t feel SORROW.
I don’t feel extreme HAPPINESS or LOVE

I am VOID.

A blank canvas of emotions.
An empty hole in an endless sea of
circumstances, moods and relationships.

Until one client changes EVERYTHING.

 


Two short months before graduating high school, Kendall Jones’ world is ripped apart at the seams. A stranger rescues her from a near brutal attack, but is unable to save her parents from death. Eight years later, Kendall moves to New York, hoping to put her past behind her, and once again finds herself in need of rescue.


Tristan Price saves the life of a young woman, who then haunts his dreams for eight long years. When she literally falls at his feet, Tristan decides that he will protect her, no matter what the cost. When her past comes back to threaten her, his plan to keep her close could cost his heart.
Can Tristan save Kendall a second time, and at what cost? Can the price of love overshadow the darkness of her past?





Ashley’s Bend-a knot used to securely join the ends of two ropes together.



Ashley Carter thought she had the perfect life as the loving and supportive wife to her upcoming attorney husband. Marrying her high school sweetheart and moving to Chicago to start a life with him seemed perfect, until she ends up walking in on him with another woman.



Determined to start her life over after always sacrificing herself, she attends the grand opening of a new club in town with her best friend. She went expecting to have a good time, what she didn’t expect was to meet Dominic Michaels.



Dominic Michaels is the owner operator of a string of BDSM clubs, The Celtic Knot. He displays control and power over everything in his life, especially his women. Having suffered through a tragic event at a young age, he never allows a woman to remain a part of his life beyond the bedroom, that is until he meets Ashley Carter.



Can the love of a woman loosen the knots of control that Dominic securely holds on to?



Sometimes it is hard to make the shift from control to surrender.





Figure Eight- A strong, secure knot that jams under pressure.


He was betrayed by the one person to loosen the knots of his control.

She sacrificed her love to protect him.

Blackmailed into destroying the man she desperately fell in love with, Ashley (Carter) Woodson tries desperately to cling to hope that Dominic will one day understand her reasons for her betrayal and stop the one person determined to keep them apart.

False accusations send Dominic Michaels into a legal battle involving The Celtic Knot and emotional turmoil from the devastation that Ashley caused him. The battle between his head and his heart makes picking up the pieces of his life difficult while he fights to escape the haunting memories of the only woman to break his control.

When outside forces conspire against them, will Dominic be able to unravel the ropes on his heart to trust Ashley again?

What happens when love exists on the edge between finished and infinity?





Triquetra—a Celtic Trinity Knot made of three interlocked pieces, often used to represent groups of three.


Dominic has survived falling in love for the first time, having his world shattered, and then finding that love again. What happens, though, when that love also loves someone else?

Ashley finally fought and won against the people keeping her and Dominic apart, but what she soon learns is that she now has to fight her own heart when feelings for another man have developed during her time apart from Dominic.

With a baby on the way, will Dominic be able to show Ashley they are meant to be or will she choose the man to which she owes her life?

What happens when you have to watch the person you love, love someone else?





Kelly Harris is feisty and her strong nature can probably rival that of most men. She isn’t one to take crap from anyone and has a tendency to challenge those who challenge her. A painful childhood left Kelly with a need for control in all things that she is unwilling to relinquish. Being known to dump men after just one date or one time in the sack is her usual style, until she meets Knoxville Tanner.


Knoxville Tanner is the co-owner of the BDSM club, The Celtic Knot. Having had his heart trampled on has left him jaded. The club gave him the ability to satisfy his sexual needs without the risk of commitment. On the night of the club’s grand opening, however, after meeting Kelly…that all went out the window.

Will Knox be able to concede control in order to give the one he loves what she desperately needs; and will Kelly be able to accept the sacrifice and in return give Knox the one thing that she has guarded the most…her heart?





Lilian Monroe and Jason Castle have been inseperable nearly their whole lives. Having formed the deepest of friendships at an early age, they created a bond that no one was able to break. 

Both being offered amazing job opportunities after college, they had to come to terms with the distance those opportunities would create. 

Deciding to take a vacation with a few of their closest friends was their way of saying goodbye to each other before their lives would be altered forever. 

Two weeks of sun, sand, and bonding was all they planned on, but faced with the realization they wouldn’t be together in the same way again, both began to wonder if their relationship ran deeper than just friendship. 

Will Lilian and Jason be able to let go of each other to chase their dreams? Or is what they have always dreamed of right in front of them?

 

Cassy is a fitness goddess by day and romance author by night. When she isn't writing furiously on her next novel, she's making books look beautiful inside and out as a graphic designer or capturing beautiful images with her camera. She has an unhealthy obsession with peanut butter, pedicures, and all things Les Mills group fitness. She has on occasion been seen purchasing clothes that aren’t athletic apparel (although rare).



She released her debut novel, The Price of Love, in March of 2014. The Celtic Knot Novels are her first erotic romance series. Books 1 and 2, Ashley’s Bend and Figure Eight both reached #1 in Erotic Thrillers on Amazon. Book 3, Triquetra, released September 22, 2014 and book 4 the companion novel, Axel Hitch was released in December of 2014.

Her second standalone novel, Void was released in February of 2014. She is looking forward to bringing you more incredible stories in the future!





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