Tagged: vacation
Book Blast: Stranger at Sunset by Eden Baylee
A vacation can be a killer.
Dr. Kate Hampton, a respected psychiatrist, gathers with a group of strangers at her favorite travel spot, Sunset Villa in Jamaica. Included in the mix are friends of the owners, a businessman with dubious credentials, and a couple who won the trip from a TV game show.
It is January 2013, following the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The luxury resort is struggling, not from the storm, but due to a scathing review from caustic travel writer, Matthew Kane. The owners have invited him back with hopes he will pen a more favorable review to restore their reputation.
Even though she is haunted by her own demons, Kate feels compelled to help. She sets out to discover the motivation behind Kane’s vitriol. Used to getting what he wants, has the reviewer met his match in Kate? Or has she met hers?
Stranger at Sunset is a slow-burning mystery/thriller as seen through the eyes of different narrators, each with their own murky sense of justice. As Kate’s own psychological past begins to unravel, a mysterious stranger at Sunset may be the only one who can save her.
Eden Baylee left a twenty-year banking career to become a full-time writer. She incorporates many of her favorite things into her writing such as: travel; humor; music; poetry; art; and much more.
Stranger at Sunset is her first mystery novel, on the heels of several books of erotic anthologies and short stories. She writes in multiple genres.
An introvert by nature and an extrovert by design, Eden is most comfortable at home with her laptop surrounded by books. She is an online Scrabble junkie and a social media enthusiast, but she really needs to get out more often!
To stay apprised of Eden’s book-related news, please add your name to her mailing list.
Post-Vacation Round Up
Yes, I know I’ve been horribly off-topic lately what with the blog awards and such, but since my photo/vacation posts seem to be popular I’ll stay off-topic for another day. As you may or may not know, I was in Costa Rica for two weeks on the Pacific side of the country. And because Andy begged me, here is a picture of the first excursion I did: ziplining.
Yes, I had an awesome time. 11 lines through a beautiful rainforest…what more could you ask for in an excursion? In addition to that, I met my match when it came to certain female competition: Continue reading
Working for a Vacation
This year I’m going away for two and a half weeks on vacation to Costa Rica! That means a lot of tanning, swimming, zip lining, snorkeling and even a little bit of shopping. But what does it mean for The Mad Reviewer?
Well, you’ll see very little changes while I’m gone because I’ve already scheduled enough posts to fill up my vacation time. Sure, there will be a lot of Royal Diaries books because, hey, they’re quick. But other than that, you will see virtually no changes in the quality or frequency of posting. I’m taking my laptop, so I’ll still be responding to comments and I’ll still be doing my regular guest posting commitments. I will also be (finally) getting to a lot of books on my In Progress list in the evenings when there’s not much to do. So expect a lot of indie/self-publishing reviews next month.
However, if there’s anyone who would like to guest post for me (especially because I make it a point to reciprocate) in March, please read this article. I don’t have much criteria for guest posting and in exchange for posting, you’ll not only get publicity, but a post on your blog from me. Since I can’t pay you and I don’t think it’s fair you have to work for free, my post trading policy seems pretty fair. It’s a better deal than you’ll get in lots of places.
Home Sweet Home
I’m back from a hectic week in Ottawa. Wow! The architecture was impressive, Question Period was a bunch of preschoolers arguing and the book shopping was great. But now I’m exhausted, so here are some pictures:
This is Notre Dame Cathedral in Gatineau, Quebec. Gatineau is right across the river from Ottawa, for those of you who don’t know. It was built by the Irish and French Canadians, which explains both the opulence and the shamrock over one of the doors leading into the cathedral. They built this in their spare time, which is rather depressing for us lesser mortals who like to read or watch TV in our spare time.
Also: No, there is no real gold. All of the carvings are actually wood with gold coloured paint. Still, this is a very impressive cathedral and my picture hardly does it justice.
And this, of course, is Parliament. I took the tour, drooled over the library and nearly slept through Question Period. Sometimes I think preschoolers are better behaved than our representatives, but I am quite the cynic.
I also went to the enormous Chapters bookstore near Rideau Hall (yes, it was amazing!), but I have no pictures of that. Needless to say I just finished my Christmas/birthday shopping for the year and have a lot of new reading material. More on that later, after I get a decent night’s sleep.
So what’s new with you guys?
Vacation
To put things bluntly: I’m exhausted. My personal life is hectic right now and my work life is just as bad. That’s why I will be taking today (Friday) and the weekend off. I need to catch up on reading the books authors have been sending me. Some of them have been waiting for months. I also need to catch up on my role as content editor for Mark of The Masquerade Crew’s anthology.
However, I will be coming back on Monday refreshed and with tons of new ideas for posts. To kick off the start of a new ‘era’ on The Mad Reviewer, I will be publishing only articles for the week (but will be returning to my usual daily reviews the next). These articles will be on a variety of topics. Some will be comparing books to their movies. Others will talk about the portrayals of historical figures in fiction. And of course there will be one of my classic rants. What else would you expect from The Mad Reviewer?
Thanks for your understanding and see you on Monday!