Thursday, March 12, 2015

Review: Concealed by Amber Lynn Natusch

Concealed
Release Date: March 9, 2015
Publisher: Self-Published
Caged Book #6.5
ASIN:   B00UGWZPSO
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Author
Our perceptions create our reality, even when they're wrong. Nobody understands this better than Gavin. Nobody.

To most, he is a shadowy agent of chaos. His motives are questionable, his methods bizarre. But his journey is one of both protection and redemption, and his story is yet untold. Until now. The past and present you think you know are about to change.

And you’ll never see Ruby, Gavin, or their relationship the same way again.

Not only does CONCEALED let us learn more about Gavin, but it was a great recap of all the events that have taken place in the Caged Series from a different point of view. 

It was nice to finally get an in-depth look at Gavin and learn about his motives and thoughts as the many events of the series passed. He was there in the shadows loving Ruby, keeping her safe and hating Sean before we even knew he existed. He answered a lot of the questions that have been in the back of my mind as well as put a few more in there to look forward to in the final book of the series, BETRAYED. I never disliked Gavin, after reading CONCEALED I am no longer indifferent to him and am excited to see what roles he will play moving forward as part of Ruby's team instead of on the sideline.

If you've been following Amber's books since CAGED you can't not read CONCEALED. I was left feeling that it was an important addition to the series and it got me hyped up for what will come next.

I gave it 5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Review: A Curse Unbroken by Cecy Robson

A Curse Unbroken
Author: Cecy Robson
Release Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Loveswept
Weird Girls Book #5
ISBN:   0553394592
ISBN13: 9780553394597
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: NetGalley

The preternatural world is changing. After a massive magical throwdown tore apart the established order, the dark elements are rebuilding their ranks unopposed. Celia Wird’s world is changing, too. She’s the mate of the pureblood were Aric, and his Warriors are honor-bound to protect her family as she and her sisters recover from unimaginable horrors.

Celia hesitates to reveal the true extent of the Wird sisters’ trauma, but they aren’t the only ones keeping secrets: Aric and the werewolf Elders are tracking a stone that grants limitless power. So is a tough coven of witches. Then Misha, a master vampire with his own plans for the stone, sends Celia after it. Can she and the vamps beat both the weres and the witches to the treasure before it falls into the wrong hands?

Fearing for Celia’s safety, Aric begs her to stay out of the hunt. What they don’t realize is that they’re the ones being hunted. But Celia’s ready to prove that she’s not easy prey.

A CURSED BLOODLINE left me depressed and heartbroken so I was excited to see a review copy for A CURSE UNBROKEN shortly after I was done reading it.

I'm not sure how Celia managed to get out and stay out of bed after the events of book four, but she did and she kicked butt. There are some pretty crazy events that take place and her and Aric's relationship isn't without drama and little spats, but it was great to see both of them in a good place and TOGETHER like they were meant to me. Aric had to work really hard to letting go of his huge need to protect Celia and watch her help take down the newest threat. She is right in the thick of things along with him for the most part and I think she did a great job.

Celie isn't the only one that has had a really hard time since the beginning of the series. Each sister has lost something along the way and has changed from the women we were introduced to. It was hard to witness their struggles and it was really hard to watch the impact it had on the sisters as a whole. I think each of them had something in A CURSE UNBROKEN that pushed them towards healing, but they all have a long way to go from here.

There was a lot of action and danger involved in book five and it all started off right away. Not a lot of breathing room before the next crisis is introduced (which I loved). I am a little iffy on how I feel about the ending of A CURSE UNBROKEN. I didn't realize that this was the last book of the series with Celia's POV so that makes my iffy-ness even worse. Even though I am happy with Celia and Aric's relationship, there is still so much left up in the air and things unanswered and I don't really feel like Celia's story arc is finished. I guess giving the other sisters their shot with their voice is only fair, but I am still really sad that Celia's voice is over.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Guest Blog: Let Me In by Christine Sutton


UFI welcomes Author Christine Sutton. Thanks for Joining us!!

Kayla Burkheart’s Fairy Tale Life

My name is Kayla Burkheart, and I have a very interesting life. I didn’t used to. I was your garden variety run of the mill alcoholic pill popper. I had no real direction in my life at all. I just wandered between crappy jobs and even crappier friends, looking for any way to dull the pain that I felt inside.

My world changed when I was in my twenties. I was at a bar with some friends that were not very good friends at all. We were celebrating something meaningless, any excuse to go out and get wasted, and I walked out to the alley to have a smoke.

Standing there in the dirty alley behind Smitty’s bar in Olympia, Washington, I had a sort of epiphany.

I had the sneaking suspicion that someone was watching me. When I turned to look down the alley, I saw what it was. A large grey wolf stood no more than fifty yards from me, but he made no move toward me. He just stared, cocking his head as if he was really interested in what I was doing.

What I was doing was resisting the urge to wet myself and run away screaming. Luckily, I managed on both counts. I stood perfectly still, watching the huge animal, ready to bolt at the slightest movement. He took a step toward me and I took a step back. A low, inquisitive mewl came from him and I thought I would die of fright.

After a minute or two of this standoff, my cigarette had burned down and was about to set my fingers on fire. I dropped the butt when the cherry burned my fingers. Immediately, I looked back up, expecting the wolf to be in mid run to eat my face off.

Instead of the wolf, a man stood in his place. He was casually slipping on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Within what seemed like no more than five seconds, he was standing next to me sniffing the air around my head. I was still like a statue waiting for him to try something even weirder than what he was already doing.

He smiled a large toothy grin at me and spoke.

“You had better get a move on girl. You need to change your life and you need to do it now. You got powerful enemies, and they are more than happy to see you piss drunk and helpless. You need to show them that that ain’t what you’re all about. You have power of your own and you need to let it out. Otherwise you’ll never be nothin’ but a drunk that could have been something special.”

“Who in the hell are you?” I asked him, scared out of my mind.

“I’m just a lone wolf that ain’t nothing like the rest of the pack. I’m a friend to you because we have a common enemy. I was like you once, and I let my vice overtake me. All that got me was cursed. Trust me, you don’t want that. Get right with yourself, Kayla.”

With that, he held out his hand, offering something to me. Against my better judgment I reached out and took it from his palm. I looked down and saw one small bean. When I looked up again, he was gone.

I stood there trying to catch my breath and deciding if any of what I saw had actually happened. When I got back inside the bar, hearing the hoots and hollers of my drunken friends, I just felt alone.

I looked at the bean in my hand and walked out of the bar. When I got home, I emptied my pockets, placing the bean on my nightstand. I went to sleep, wanting the day to just end.

When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t have the foggy hangover that I had grown so accustomed to. I felt good. As I rolled over to get out of bed, I saw that the bean had sprouted two small green leaves.

I made the call to the rehab center that morning, enrolling myself in the eight week program. I got myself sober, met David and fell in love. After I got out and moved back into my mother’s house, I took the now large plant that had sprouted from the single bean with me, setting it up on the kitchen table.

It was dead within a day. I should have known something wasn’t right.

Thus began my fairy tale life. Not the kind of fairy tales you are thinking of. Sometimes I get a happily ever after, well actually more like a happily for now. Something else always comes up. If it isn’t my psychotic family trying to kill me, it is some other fairy tale creature that wants to steal my powers.

I forgot to mention that. I’m a witch. A pretty powerful one at that. My mother and father were witches, my aunts and uncles were witches, and my kids will all be witches, etc. Quite a bit of information to find out about yourself, all the while battling werewolves, vampires, and every other evil monster you can think of.

So far though, I’m doing okay. I’m getting a handle on these powers, and I have a new family that loves me and I love them. So, I think overall I’m gonna be all right.

Continue to read all about my adventures. You’ll have a front row seat to my fairy tale life, and hopefully you’ll be able to see a few pretty good happily ever afters. Or at least a few good happy for nows.
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Christine Sutton is the author of more than fifteen short stories, novellas and novels. While she tends to cross genres within horror, she is always passionate about scaring the hell out of you.

Her passion would have to be serial killer fiction, but she also loves ghosts, ghouls, demons and monsters of all types. Christine's work ranges from modern day fairy tales to demonic soul eaters to ghostly children that just want to play. Her writing has been called passionate, realistic, gritty, fun, enthralling and tons of other cool adjectives.

You, too can pick up some of Christine's work and come up with some cool adjectives of your own. It won't be hard. I promise.

Find Christine and her books
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Let Me In
Buckheart Witch Saga #2
Amazon BN iTunes Smashwords
 Kayla has returned home to find that the fairy tale continues. She finds out some facts about her family history that may be her ultimate undoing.

With the help of a coven of witches, Kayla is tasked with defeating vampires, werewolves and evil witches that threaten to destroy her happiness and her very life!

Will she get her happily ever after, or will she fall victim to the evil that courses through her veins?
This novella will take you through a whirlwind as you join Kayla on another fairy tale adventure. Previously published as Kayla Enchanted.

Excerpt: 

He laughed, watching the little pigs scramble to clean up the message he had left. He didn't really believe in playing with his food, but this was so much fun!

He could tell that the bitch was terrified, and he loved it. Pigs tasted so much better when they were afraid.

While the bitch pig, the pussy pig, and the little pig in a blanket slept in their bed, he had ripped that rabbit's head off with his bare hands. As he smeared the blood all over the sidewalk to leave them a message, he hadn't been able to stop himself from taking a long drink from its mutilated little body. It tasted so good that he had almost marched into the house and ate all three of them right then.

Self-control had won out. He had simply left the message, knocked over the sad little straw hut and sat in the bushes to watch them scamper around. They had rushed in when they found the message and locked up the house as if that would do any damn good at all.

He had to admit that he had not liked the look on the woman's face. As she had walked into the house, there was a look that appeared to be defiance as she scanned the yard for danger.

He would rip that smug look off along with her lips, nose and eyes. He hadn't realized that the whole time watching them, he had been digging his now extended claws into his own thigh. The blood had partially soaked through his denim jeans and began to drip onto the well-manicured grass. He released the grip on his leg and wiped his hands on the dry part of his jeans.

He knew it would heal completely before nightfall. The mixture that his blood contained was great for self-healing, and even better for speed and strength. There would be no stopping him this time. Even that little witch's magic wouldn't do the trick. He had a few 'tricks' of his own to show her. Wouldn't that little pig be surprised?
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Promo: Concealed by Amber Lynn Natusch

Concealed Banner3
Concealed GR CoverOur perceptions create our reality, even when they're wrong. Nobody understands this better than Gavin. Nobody. To most, he is a shadowy agent of chaos. His motives are questionable, his methods bizarre. But his journey is one of both protection and redemption, and his story is yet untold. Until now. The past and present you think you know are about to change. And you’ll never see Ruby, Gavin, or their relationship the same way again.  
RELEASED TODAY!
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KEEP READING FOR MORE INFO ON THE BOOK!
  Concealed by Amber Lynn Natusch  
Series: Caged #6.5  
Genre: Urban Fantasy Paranormal Romance  
Publisher: Independent  
Publication Date: March 10, 2015 
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BOOKS IN THE CAGED SERIES: Click the image to be taken to the book's Goodreads page.
  caged 1 caged 2 caged 3 caged 4 caged 5 caged 5.5  caged 6    

PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE UNBORN SERIES: The Unborn series is a Caged spin-off series published with 47North. 

Click the image to be taken to the book's Goodreads page. Unborn  Unseen    

amber-plaqueABOUT THE AUTHOR Amber Lynn Natusch is the author of the bestselling Caged, as well as the Light and Shadow series with Shannon Morton. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, and speaks sarcasm fluently because of her Canadian roots. She loves to dance and sing in her kitchen—much to the detriment of those near her—but spends most of her time running a practice with her husband, raising two small children, and attempting to write when she can lock herself in the bathroom for ten minutes of peace and quiet. She has many hidden talents, most of which should not be mentioned but include putting her foot in her mouth, acting inappropriately when nervous, swearing like a sailor when provoked, and not listening when she should. She’s obsessed with home renovation shows, should never be caffeinated, and loves snow. Amber has a deep seeded fear of clowns and deep water…especially clowns swimming in deep water. To learn more about Amber and her books, visit www.amberlynnnatusch.com.

  AUTHOR LINKS
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New Releases: 3/8-3/14


Tue. March 10th


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Monday, March 9, 2015

Guest Blog: Earth Reclaimed Series by Ann Gimpel


UFI welcomes Ann Gimpel. Thanks for Joining us!!

Creating a Setting for Your Characters 

Thanks so much for inviting me back to your blog, Urban Fantasy Investigations. I appreciate the support for my books.

I’d love to say I use the same process for every book I write, but I don’t. Many of my books begin with an image, or series of images, that form the basis for the book. I occasionally begin with an empty world, and it tells me what kind of characters it needs. I’ve only rarely begun with a character and formed a world around them.

In the Earth Reclaimed Series, the world came first. It’s a dystopian landscape on an Earth that’s become a battlefield for alien gods and other dark creatures. I needed gutsy, self-contained characters to survive in such a challenging environment, and they came to me. Snort. More than came to me. They battered their way into my head and refused to leave until I told their story.

Aishlinn is a twenty-two year old woman, who’s lost so much she scarcely cares what happens to her next. Rune is a wolf, whose last human bondmate was killed by the enemy. Fionn MacCumhaill is a Celtic god. Like many of his kind, he withdrew from the world, waiting to see if the current mess would blow over. Bella, his raven bondmate could pass for a sharp-tongued harridan. She cares about Fionn, but not much else. The story arc reunites the characters with their basic humanity, but it’s a long, tough journey.

As an aside, this series required some serious research into the Celtic deities, many of whom I’d forgotten. And dragons. I researched them too!

One of the things I love about urban fantasy, as opposed to high fantasy, is it’s set in the “real” world. No odd names for things. No triple moons transiting the sky. My favorite urban fantasies feel so real, they could actually happen. That hunk living next door could be a closet Celtic god, who’s been alive for millennia.

I’m also wretchedly old-fashioned. I think we lost something when our lives got very easy. There’s not much challenge left anymore, unless we create it. That’s likely why I’ve had a lifelong love affair with traveling the backcountry with a pack, where I have to rely on my wits. I’ve been cold, lost, and out of food, but I feel ever so much more alive when I get back to civilization.

I give my characters similar challenges. They need wits, creativity, and courage to survive to the next chapter. That their worlds hold deadly surprises, ups the ante. Characters change and grow over the course of their story. Hell, so does the author, for that fact. I was pleased by how this series grew over the months I spent writing it and even more pleased I’m now the mistress of its fate as its publisher as well as its author.

How about the rest of you writers out there. Do you create characters first, or worlds? Or do they come to you as a unit that refuses to be separated? And for you readers. What draws you into a book, hooks you, and doesn’t let you go?
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Ann Gimpel is a national bestselling author. She’s also a clinical psychologist, with a Jungian bent and a vagabond at heart.  Avocations include mountaineering, skiing, wilderness photography and, of course, writing.  A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, she began writing speculative fiction a few years ago. Since then her short fiction has appeared in a number of webzines and anthologies. Her longer books run the gamut from urban fantasy to paranormal romance. She’s published over 25 books to date, with several more contracted for 2015 and beyond.

A husband, grown children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out her family.

Find Ann and her books
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Earth's Requiem 
Earth Reclaimed #1
Amazon

Resilient, kickass, and determined, Aislinn's walled herself off from anything that might make her feel again. Until a wolf picks her for a bond mate and a Celtic god rises out of legend to claim her for his own.

Aislinn Lenear lost her anthropologist father high in the Bolivian Andes. Her mother, crazy with grief that muted her magic, was marched into a radioactive vortex by dark creatures and killed. Three years later, stripped of every illusion that ever comforted her, twenty-two year old Aislinn is one resilient, kickass woman with a take no prisoners attitude. In a world turned upside down, where virtually nothing familiar is left, she’s conscripted to fight the dark gods responsible for her father’s death. Battling evil on her own terms, Aislinn walls herself off from anything that might make her feel again in this compelling dystopian urban fantasy.

Fionn MacCumhaill, Celtic god of wisdom, protection, and divination has been laying low since the dark gods stormed Earth. He and his fellow Celts decided to wait them out. After all, three years is nothing compared to their long lives. On a clear winter day, Aislinn walks into his life and suddenly all bets are off. Awed by her courage, he stakes his claim to her and to an Earth he's willing to fight for.

Aislinn’s not so easily convinced. Fionn’s one gorgeous man, but she has a world to save. Emotional entanglements will only get in her way. Letting a wolf into her life was hard. Letting love in may well prove impossible.

Earth's Blood
Earth Reclaimed #2
Amazon
Clinging to their courage in a crumbling world, Aislinn and Fionn vow to save Earth, no matter what it takes.

In a post-apocalyptic world where most people have been slaughtered, the Celtic gods and a few humans with magic are all that stand between survival and Earth falling into chaos. The combination of dark sorcery leveraged by the enemy is daunting. Destruction is all but certain if the small enclaves of humans who are left can’t get past their distrust of the Celts.

Captured by the enemy, Aislinn Lenear wonders if she’ll ever see her bond wolf or Fionn, a Celtic god, again. She’s had nothing but her wits to rely on for years. They haven’t failed her yet, but escape from her current predicament seems remote.

An enticing blend of dystopian urban fantasy and romance, this second volume of the Earth Reclaimed Series provides fertile ground for Aislinn and Fionn’s relationship to deepen. Headstrong and independent, the pair run up against each other’s demands time and time again. Fireworks spark. In the end, they learn to savor every moment in a bittersweet world where each day may well be the last.

Earth's Hope
Earth Reclaimed #3
Amazon
 Power so old, deep, and chilling it hurts to think about it will overrun Earth if nothing changes. Targeted, furious, and fighting back, Aislinn runs wide open, gathering allies and putting her life on the line.

Aislinn Lenear has traveled a long road since the dark gods invaded Earth better than three years ago. After seeing her father slaughtered in front of her, and her mother sink into madness, Aislinn built strong walls around her heart. First her bond wolf, and then Fionn MacCumhaill, changed all that, but she and Fionn are far from home free.

Four of the six dark gods are still sowing destruction, and they’ve joined forces with Lemurians, a desperate lot, running just ahead of the tide of their own mortality. In a bold move, they try to coopt a group of young dragons, and very nearly succeed. Dewi, the Celtic dragon god, and Nidhogg, the Norse dragon god, banish their brood to the dragons’ home world, but they refuse to stay put.

In a fast-paced, tension-riddled closure to this dystopian, urban fantasy series, Earth's Hope sweeps from Ireland to the Greek Islands to the Pacific Northwest to borderworlds where the dark gods live. Fionn’s and Aislinn’s relationship is strained to the breaking point as they struggle to work together without tearing one another to bits. Fionn is used to being obeyed without question, but Aislinn won’t dance to his tune. If they can find their way, there may be hope for a ravaged Earth.
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Promo & Giveaway: Captivated by Sarah Mäkelä


Captivated
Courts of Light and Darkness, #1
Amazon US  Amazon UK
After her family was killed by a dark elf, mercenary Honora Butler’s purpose is the disposal of wicked faeries, elves, and other Unseelie beings, but she’ll find herself questioning her mission when she meets Brennan, a dark elf who doesn’t conform to what she believed his kind were like.

Brennan O’Niall doesn’t know what it is about Honora that makes him crave her, but he wants to find out. However, when she’s charged with the murder of a friend, he’ll have to discover the truth and decide just how much she means to him.

Excerpt from Captivated: 

Gritting her teeth, Honora Butler sneaked farther into the dark, snowy forest. Danger lurked within the shadows, and she would kill or be killed. Death didn’t intimidate her anymore. She knew it too well.

Everyone she’d loved had been taken from her. The only thing she cared about now was destroying those who had ruined her life.

Snow crunched beneath the soles of her knee-high leather boots. The risks of killing those monsters were great, but she didn’t care. When she was young, the Mercenary Guild had taken her in. They’d seen her abilities and her determination. They’d trained her, given her a chance when she’d wanted only to die, and now she did what she bloody well could to make sure the dark beings of the Unseelie Court hurt no one else.

A horrified scream erupted ahead, beckoning her deeper into the forest. It had to have been caused by her prey. Picking up her pace, she pulled a throwing knife from its sheath. Her magic surged into the blade, filling it with power and making the metal white-hot.

The trees broke into a clearing. The cause of the cries stood in the dirt road. A woman cowered on the ground while a short, stocky man dressed in blood red with a matching hat sneered at her. He looked to be having far too good a time.

“I have a husband and kids. Please, don’t hurt me,” the woman whimpered. “My master...he’ll—”

The Fear Dearg snorted and crossed his arms in front of him. Stroking his bushy beard, he stared down his crooked nose at the terrified woman as if pondering what to do first.

Honora doubted the woman was in immediate danger. The Red Man mostly engaged in cruel pranks on those he sought, but that wouldn’t stop her from killing him. Her mission in life was to rid the world of malevolence. No matter what.

She slid from the trees, taking one quiet step after another. “Na dean maggadh fum,” she said. Those words, ‘Do not mock me,’ were the best chance she had to take him down without a problem.

The Fear Dearg jerked his gaze to Honora. His lips curled back into a snarl at the interruption. “So be it. Now go on. Get out of here. Can’t you see I’m busy?” He stared at her blankly, waiting. “What? You want my favor and prosperity? One of those bold adventurers? Wait for your turn.”

Just like that, he returned his focus to the woman, grabbing for her dress.

With a snap of her wrist, Honora sent the throwing knife sailing through the air. A wash of blood arced in a thick spray as the Fear Dearg collapsed, the knife lodged between his eyes.

Shrieking, the woman scurried backwards from the corpse. Her eyes were wide and horrified at the sight of the dead faerie. “What have you done?” she asked, glancing Honora’s way. Shaking her head, she reached for her large basket with foodstuffs that lay on its side. Most of the food had fallen out, but the woman didn’t bother gathering it. She just took the basket, then ran off down the dirt road.

What had that been about?

Honora watched the woman until she disappeared around the curve of the path. She walked over to the dead Red Man, then tugged her blade out of his skull. It came away easily, blood dripping off it in great crimson drops. She wiped it clean on his jacket before tucking the knife back in its sheath.

Her stomach rumbled. On the ground was an unsoiled loaf of bread from the woman’s fallen food. She stripped off her bloody gloves and crouched. After brushing off a few leaves, she tore a piece from it and lifted it to her lips.

In the distance, she heard a faint noise like that of a large flock of birds beating their wings. That couldn’t be right. Birds weren’t typically active at night there. Yet the sound grew louder.

The sudden realization of what it was punched her in the gut. She dropped the bread and raced after the woman. Honora needed to find the safety of shelter. She couldn’t be out here when the Sluagh—restless spirits of the dead—flew over. What they did was worse than death. They captured their victims’ souls.

Behind her, the cries became impossibly louder. She didn’t have much time at all. She had yet to spot any homes or places to hide and knew if she were spotted, she would be connected with the murder of the Fear Dearg. They’d hunt her down. She wouldn’t be safe unless she found somewhere soon.
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NYT & USA Today bestselling author Sarah Mäkelä loves her fiction dark, magical, and passionate. She is a paranormal romance author, but she’s written all over the romance spectrum with cyberpunk, sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy...even a sweet contemporary romance!

A life-long paranormal fan, she still sleeps with a night-light. In her spare time, she reads sexy books, watches scary movies (and Ghost Adventures), and plays computer games with her husband. When she gets the chance, she loves traveling the world too.

Find Sarah and her books
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