Book Review: Assured Destruction: Script Kiddie

Katie August 31, 2013 2 Comments

Assured Destruction: Script Kiddie is the sequel to Assured Destruction which I reviewed in April.  In this book Jan needs to fulfill 2000 community service hours and ends up on the High Tech Crime Unit of the police force, in hopes she can use her skills to help solve crimes.  She is first put on a case about credit card numbers being stolen but after going a bit over the top with her “undercover” research she is instead given a laptop to profile a murderer.  When there is a mix up with the laptops she thinks that she will be serving at a soup kitchen instead because her “services” are no longer working out for the police.

Meanwhile, she tries to find out information from a hacker forum which leads to her school being hacked and of course, blame gets put on her.  One of her classmates also tries to get her to help because she met a guy online that won’t stop bugging her.  When the friend tells Jan to back off that everything is fine, Jan of course doesn’t believe her and hacks into his computer and web cam.  When she goes to retrieve the data, things get really, really crazy.

I really love the character Jan and how she just can’t help herself from getting into these wild situations.  She seems to have everyone’s best interests in mind, but no one else seems to think that is the case! She is learning how to use her skills as a hacker and since she is only 16, if she keeps at it, she will probably do something big!  Now if only she can manage to not miss any more school, so she doesn’t have to repeat!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to participate in the blog tour. I was not otherwise compensated.

Assured Destruction: Script Kiddie Book Summary:
Jan Rose no longer steals data from the old computers she recycles. She doesn’t need to. As the newest member of the police department’s High Tech Crime Unit, the laptop of a murderer has landed on her desk. Her job: to profile and expose a killer.

But that’s not all.

A creep lurks in the shadows, stalking a friend, and Jan must stop him before the hunt turns deadly. The clock counts down for Jan to save her friend, her job, her boyfriend—maybe even her life.

***

“A fun, fast-paced thriller guaranteed to distract teens from Facebook …”
—Kirkus Reviews, on Assured Destruction, book #1

Michael F. Stewart’s Bio:
After crewing ships in the Antarctic and the Baltic Sea and some fun in venture capital, Michael anchored himself (happily) to a marriage and a boatload of kids. Now he injects his adventurous spirit into his writing with brief respites for research into the jungles of Sumatra and Guatemala, the ruins of Egypt and Tik’al, paddling the Zambezi and diving whatever cave or ocean reef will have him. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and SF Canada, and the author of the Assured Destruction series, 24 Bones, The Sand Dragon, Hurakan, Ruination and several award winning graphic novels for young adults.

Book Review: Of Words and Water

Katie August 30, 2013 0 Comments

Of Words and Water is a compilation of various short stories, songs and poems from a group of authors.  This started as an idea on Good Reads and the various authors all donated their works to put this compilation together to help out WaterAid.  The common theme of everything in the book is water.  It is available for purchase on SmashWords  for FREE! and in return it is asked that you make a donation to WaterAid at http://www.justgiving.com/Of-Words-And-Water .  (Justgiving is a  a tried, tested and trusted site). Every penny helps 🙂

About the Book

Published in support of WaterAid, a delightful selection of varied short stories, poems, and song lyrics from an international group of top class authors, that features Peggy Seeger, noted singer and environmentalist. The cohesive theme is Water, something most of us take for granted. For millions of people clean drinking water is a luxury. Together we can change that.

Book Review: Island Dreams

Katie August 29, 2013 0 Comments

Island Dreams is a photo book with great images of different Islands. So beautiful.  It also has inspirational sayings with each photo to be motivational for you to make your life what you want to make of it.  I can certainly see myself going back to read this book time and time again when I just need to relax and take a moment to myself to think about my choices and where they are leading me and need a moment to center myself again.

It is a short book, under 30 pages so it is easy to read or flip through when you just need a moment to yourself and to pretend you are on a beautiful island!

About the Book

ISLAND DREAMS
is a Motivational Photography Book created for your inspiration and daily meditation.
DREAM about paradise! RELAX and INDULGE in the beauty of the island world of the Bahamas.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Book Review: Zebra Stripes go head to toe

Katie August 29, 2013 0 Comments

 Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe is a book about squared and stripes to teach young children. There are a lot of images in the book to help show what is a square and/or a stripe as well as some poems and key words to help children learn.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

This little book shows children / That squares are here and there. / And if they keep an eye out, / then stripes are everywhere.

A perfect companion to Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots, the fun, simple text and vibrant design of Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toeexplore the concept of squares and stripes. Using words such as “cube,” “block,” “line,” and “band,” short poems encourage readers to spot the similarities (and differences) between the shapes of the stripes on a zebra and a colored striped sock, for example, or between a square soda cracker and cubes of cheese.

Whether paired with Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots or read independently, this innovative book is a great way to introduce the concept of shapes to young children.

Book Review: Helen and Troy’s Epic Road Quest

Katie August 28, 2013 0 Comments

Helen and Troy are about to embark on an epic road trip.  They both worked together at a restaurant and after their boss tries to sacrifice Helen to a hamburger god, Helen saves herself.  In the process, herself and Troy get cursed and they now must go on an epic adventure across enchanted america and complete various quests.  If they don’t succeed, they will be killed.

Along the way they get a 3-legged dog that they name Achillies.  They have to battle a cyclops, they meet up with the Fates and buy some items from their store that they hope will help them, solve mysteries, deal with dragons and all sorts of other mystical creatures.  Did I mention that Helen is a minotaur?

They drive around America looking for really vague “you’ll know it when you see it” types of signs.  Honestly, how they find these things I don’t know.  I guess it seemed obvious to them but I can’t help but think that I would fail miserably!

Along the way, Troy starts falling for Helen but she is very self conscious (being a huge hairy girl, it makes sense) and doesn’t really want to be anything more than friends with him.

Will they end up together? Will they even survive the quest? Check out Helen and Troy’s Epic Road Quest to find out!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Witness the epic battle of the cyclops!

Visit the endangered dragon preserve! Please, no slaying.

Solve the mystery of The Mystery Cottage, if you dare!

Buy some knick knacks from The Fates! They might come in handy later.

On a road trip across an enchanted America, Helen and Troy will discover all this and more. If the curse placed upon them by an ancient god doesn’t kill them or the pack of reluctant orc assassins don’t catch up to them, Helen and Troy might reach the end their journey in one piece, where they might just end up destroying the world. Or at least a state or two.

A minotaur girl, an all-American boy, a three-legged dog, and a classic car are on the road to adventure, where every exit leads to adventure. Whether they like it or not.

Book Review: The Five Flirting Styles

Katie August 27, 2013 0 Comments

The Five Flirting Styles says that it is a game changer.  There are 5 actual flirting styles and you need to learn how to figure out what one works best for you and to use it, flirting is not a one size fits all type of thing.  The 5 styles are – Physical, Polite, Playful, Sincere and Traditional.  There is actually a website that will help you figure out your own flirting style (http://flirtingstyles.dept.ku.edu). It is recommended that you go to the website and get your report first before reading the book so that you know which is your style so you can choose to focus on specific chapters that focus on your style, if you so choose.

If you’re interested – my results are 30-40% Physical, 30-40% Traditional, 10-20% polite, 10-20% Sincere and 70-80% playful.  If I was going to pick one out before finding out my report – I probably would have guessed I’d have been considered Playful. Although, I don’t think I’d have considered myself not at all polite or sincere!

Each style is expanded upon in its own chapter with tips on how to spot each of the flirting styles and what demographic is most likely to be each of the styles.  After you learn about each of the styles and how they work, then there are some tips and hints in the following chapters so that you can figure out what styles work for what kind of a relationship you are looking for.

Certainly an interesting read and if you are single and not sure why your attempts at flirting just aren’t working out for you, you may want to find your style and read the book to find out a bit more about why it’s not working for you.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Flirt Smarter. Date Better. Love Happily Ever After. 
Do you always attract the wrong type? Have a hard time making relationships last? Or get stuck being friends instead of lovers?
There’s no one right way to flirt, but how you flirt says a lot about your chance at love. Dr. Jeffrey Hall’s groundbreaking survey, the Flirting Styles Inventory, caused a media sensation when it pinpointed five different flirting styles. First sampled exclusively with eHarmony members, it has since helped tens of thousands of people discover their flirting style and provided a wealth of information on how your style affects your love life.
Based on Dr. Hall’s cutting-edge research, The Five Flirting Styles shows you how to identify your natural flirting style—physical, playful, sincere, traditional or polite— and use it to flirt smarter and attract the love you really want. Discover:
• Where to look for love based on your style
• How to tell if someone is interested and avoid missed opportunities
• How to tell if someone wants a serious relationship or a quick fling
• If you’re sending all the wrong signals—and what to do instead

Book Review: Take Me Now

Katie August 26, 2013 0 Comments

Take Me Now is the first book in a trilogy by Faith Sullivan.  it centers around Ivy and Eric.  Ivy has just started an internship at the Gazette where her good friend’s Ryan’s stepsister is the boss.  Eric owns a landscaping shop and is a bit of a local celebrity because recently he lost his fiance and baby to cancer and he has kind of been in hiding since.  Ivy has to interview Eric as one of her assignments for the paper and they end up developing some sort of relationship.  But her boss Lauren will stop at nothing to keep them apart because Lauren wants Eric all for herself.

Meanwhile, Ivy is also talking with Will – a guy that she had a crush on that is back home working at the movie theater and setting up a screening.  She wants to help him too but does he have feelings for her as well or is he just using her to further his own agenda?  Ryan also tells Ivy some personal things he has been thinking about her and now it seems that she has too many guys interested in her and Lauren is of course trying to use this all to her advantage to keep Eric and Ivy apart.

Ivy knows if she continues things with Eric – she will lose her internship and possibly screw up her whole college career in the process because Lauren won’t be wanting her to stick around.

This was a relatively short book but it had a lot going on in it.  I really enjoyed it and I am interested to see how things continue in book 2 and what will happen with some of the “twists” that were revealed. (That I won’t reveal here because you need to check out the book for yourself!)

I received a free e-copy of this book from the author in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book