Blog Tour Review + Giveaway- ELEMENTALS: The Property of Shadows Bk 1 by Michelle Madow

About Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows:

Title: Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows

Author: Michelle Madow

Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing

Release Date: January 26, 2016

Series: Elementals #1

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Format: eBook and paperback

ISBN: 2940152448849

Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows is the first in a new series that fans of Percy Jackson and The Secret Circle will love!

When Nicole Cassidy moves from sunny Georgia to gloomy New England, the last thing she expects is to learn that her homeroom is a cover for a secret coven of witches. Even more surprisingly … she’s apparently a witch herself. Despite doubts about her newfound abilities, Nicole is welcomed into this ancient circle of witches and is bedazzled by their powers—and, to her dismay, by Blake—the school’s notorious bad-boy.

Girls who get close to Blake wind up hurt. His girlfriend Danielle will do anything to keep them away, even if she must resort to using dark magic. But the chemistry between Blake and Nicole is undeniable, and despite wanting to protect Nicole from Danielle’s wrath, he finds it impossible to keep his distance.

When the Olympian Comet shoots through the sky for the first time in three thousand years, Nicole, Blake, Danielle, and two others in their homeroom are gifted with mysterious powers. But the comet has another effect—it opens the portal to the prison world that has contained the Titans for centuries. After an ancient monster escapes and attacks Nicole and Blake, it’s up to them and the others to follow the clues from a cryptic prophecy so that they can save their town … and possibly the world.

Review:

Michelle Madow has been an author that I've followed since her first book, Remembrance. Her writing has always been one that I know will give me the escape I so desire for. The first book in the Elementals series certainly wasn't my favorite but I still liked it. Sure, there were some things that truly bugged the living crap outta me. Cliches, anyone? Anyways, for the most part I was interested and entertained. That's really what it's all about. 

Nicole, our protagonist, is in for a huge surprise when she and her family move from Georgia to Salem. New state. New school. New classes. All this means somethings up. This is when it starts getting kind of predictable a cliché. Nicole finds out that she's not human, the boy she likes has a girlfriend, who just so happens to be a bitch, and of course Nicole, can pretty much do no wrong. I like for there to be character growth and slow burn when it comes to romance. 

I'm not one for insta-love and I feel like we got that with this story. But, it's okay because I think the book shows lots of promise and the only way to go is up from here. I truly think readers will flock to this story and fall in love. Some readers, like me, can be overly picky at times. Alas, I do look forward to reading the second book to see where Nicole and gang end up. I can definitely learn to love them. 

*Thank you to the author for providing a copy for an honest review.*

Buy Links:  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  iBooks

Add to your TBR List:  Goodreads

About Michelle Madow:

Michelle Madow grew up in Baltimore, graduated Rollins College in Orlando, and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida. She wrote her first book in her junior year of college, and has been writing novels since. Some of her favorite things are: reading, pizza, traveling, shopping, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Michelle has toured across America to promote her books and to encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship.

To get instant updates about Michelle's new books, subscribe to her newsletter and follow her on Amazon!

Connect with Michelle:  Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Goodreads

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Review: Midnight at St. Petersburg by Vanora Bennett

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Pub. Date: January 19, 2016

Genre: Historical fiction

Source: Print ARC

Rating: 1 Star

GOODREADS

Blurb:
St. Petersburg, 1911: Inna Feldman has fled the pogroms of the south to take refuge with distant relatives in Russia's capital city. Welcomed by the flamboyant Leman family, she is apprenticed into their violin-making workshop. She feels instantly at home in their bohemian circle, but revolution is in the air, and as society begins to fracture, she is forced to choose between her heart and her head. She loves her brooding cousin, Yasha, but he is wild, destructive and devoted to revolution; Horace Wallick, an Englishman who makes precious Faberge creations, is older and promises security and respectability. And, like many others, she is drawn to the mysterious, charismatic figure beginning to make a name for himself in the city: Rasputin.

As the rebellion descends into anarchy and bloodshed, a commission to repair a priceless Stradivarius violin offers Inna a means of escape. But which man will she choose to take with her? And is it already too late? A magical and passionate story steeped in history and intrigue, Midnight in St. Petersburg is an extraordinary novel of music, politics, and the toll that revolution exacts on the human heart.

Review:
Do you ever read a book and at the end of it, all you can find yourself saying is wow? Well, this story has the opposite effect. Instead, I found myself saying, "thank goodness it's over!" because this was just way too long and way too boring. I seriously thought I would love this because of the time period: pre-revolutionary Russia. I don't read many books involving Russia, so I jumped at the chance to read Midnight in St. Petersburg.

The story started off very strong with our female lead, Inna, a Jewish girl on the run to find refuge with a distant relative. It's through this relative, Yasha, that she meets and ends up staying with, the Lemans. A very interesting family that owns a workshop making violins and the place that Inna becomes an apprentice at. And that's where it stops for me. As I stated before, it was long and boring. I think the book could have been cut down a lot; maybe then, I wouldn't have felt as bored.

Aside from that, I don't quite think this is historical fiction, it's more of a romance novel. There's nothing wrong with that but I know some people in the historical fiction genre expect it to stay that way. I was okay with the romance, it may have been the only upside for me. I really would wish to read a book from this timeline and one a little more interesting.  

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Buy the Book!

Amazon

Amazon UK  

About the Author:
I became a journalist almost by accident. Having learned Russian and been hired after university by Reuters (to my own surprise and the slight dismay of traditionally-minded editors who weren’t sure a Guardian-reading blonde female would be tough enough for the job), I was then catapulted into the adrenaline-charged realm of conflict reporting. While on a trainee assignment in Paris, I fell in with the Cambodian émigré community and ended up reporting in Cambodia myself, a decade after the Khmer Rouge regime ended, as well as covering Cambodian peace talks in places as far apart as Indonesia and Paris. That led to a conflict reporting job in Africa, commuting between Angola and Mozambique and writing about death, destruction, diamonds and disease, and later to a posting in a country that stopped being the Soviet Union three months after I arrived. I spent much of the early 1990s in smoky taxis in the Caucasus mountains, covering a series of small post-Soviet conflicts that built up to the war in Chechnya.

My fascination with the cultural and religious differences between Russians and the many peoples once ruled by Moscow grew into a book on the Chechen war (Crying Wolf: The Return of War to Chechnya). A second, more light-hearted book followed, about post-Soviet Russia’s illegal caviar trade, once I’d got homesick for London and moved back to writer leaders on foreign affairs for The Times. This book was The Taste of Dreams: An Obsession with Russia and Caviar.

I now lead a more sedate life in North London with my husband and two small sons, enjoying the reading, research, writing and metropolitan leisure activities that I grew up expecting adult life to involve. I’ve found that writing books is much of a surprise, a pleasure and an adventure of the mind as it was to become a foreign correspondent.

As a journalist I’ve written for, among others, The Times and its website, TimesOnline, the Los Angeles Times, Prospect, The Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian Saturday magazine, the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, Eve magazine, The Observer Food Monthlyand The Erotic Review.

Website

http://www.vanorabennett.com/

Release Day Blitz Review + Giveaway: Sin & Suffer by Pepper Winters

About SIN & SUFFER

"Some say the past is in the past. That vengeance will hurt both innocent and guilty. I never believed those lies. Once my lust for revenge is sated, I'll say goodbye to hatred. I'll find a new beginning."

She came from a past Arthur "Kill" Killian never forgot. She made him sin and made him suffer. She tugged him from the shadows and showed him he wasn't as dead as he thought. And with her resurrection came betrayal, deceit, and war.

But then they took her. Stole her. Imprisoned her.

Now Kill's carefully laid plans for vengeance are complete. He craves action, retribution-the blood of his enemies. War has begun. War is all they'll know until they've paid their penance. He will get her back-and rewrite their destiny . . .

Review:

Pepper Winters, you can do no wrong! The series is fresh, edgy, and full of delicious action and romance. I was hanging by the edge of my seat for much of the book, pretty much like all of Pepper's books. Her writing has a way of bringing you in, until you're hanging by a thread wondering what will happen next. 

In order to Sin & Suffer, you'd have to have read the first book, Ruin & Rule. The story picks up where the first book left off. That cliffhanger... It was brutal! So I'm mighty glad to have finally had these wonderful characters in my hand. I needed to see where Kill and Chloe's story went. Would it end in happily ever after? Would I be happy with the results? 

I shouldn't ever have worried. This surpassed anything and everything I would have though possible. Revenge. Kill is going to take revenge on those that took what was his. Vengeance. Justice will most definitely be served once Kill has made the men that took Cleo, suffer. There are so many twists, so many turns, that my mind was in overdrive throughout the book!

Pepper will always be an author that I automatically drop everything and read. The books are real, they're raw, and they have the perfect amount of sexiness that no author can convey. I highly recommend picking up this series (and any other books) because it's dark and gritty but also romantic in its own special way. 

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Tm7TKI  

B&N: http://bit.ly/1S9pqDv
iBooks: http://apple.co/1ZHuBOY
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1MfyF3l
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1Rl9GCh

 

About Pepper Winters

Pepper Winters is a New York Times and USA Todayinternational bestseller. She loves dark romance, star-crossed lovers, as well as the forbidden and taboo. She strives to write a story that makes readers crave what they shouldn't, and delivers complex plots and unforgettable characters that keep readers talking long after the last page is turned.

On a personal note she loves to travel, has an addiction to creme brulee, and is married to an incredible Canadian who puts up with her endless work hours and accompanies her on signings. She's also a firm believer that the impossible can become possible.

http://pepperwinters.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Pepper-Winters-539976006062848/

https://twitter.com/pepperwinters

https://www.pinterest.com/pepperwinters/

Blog Tour feat Review and Giveaway:The Baller by Vi Keeland!!!

Title: The Baller Author: Vi Keeland Genre: Contemporary Romance Release Date: January 18, 2016

Buy Beat

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Synopsis:

The first time I met Brody Easton was in the men’s locker room.
It was my first interview as a professional sportscaster.
The famed quarterback decided to bare all.
And by all, I don’t mean he told me any of his secrets.
No. The arrogant ass decided to drop his towel, just as I asked the first question. On camera.
The Super Bowl MVP quickly adopted a new hobby—screwing with me.
When I pushed back, he shifted from wanting to screw with me, to wanting to screw me.
But I don’t date players.
And it’s not because I’m one of the few women working in the world of professional football.
I’d date an athlete.
It’s the other kind of player I don’t date.
You know the type. Good looking, strong, cocky, always looking to get laid.

Brody Easton was the ultimate player.
Every woman wanted to be the one to change him.
But the truth was, all he needed was a girl worth changing for.
Turned out, I was that girl.
Simple right?
Let’s face it. It never is.
There’s a story between once upon a time and happily ever after…
And this one is ours.

My Review:

If you’re looking for a quick, highly entertaining read then I recommend picking up your copy of The Baller today!

Brody Easton is cocky, smooth, and oh so delicious. I loved him from the very first moment he was introduced in all of his towel dropping glory. His dedication to those he considers family is endearing and he always goes for what he wants. I honestly think it’s impossible to walk away from this book without falling madly in love with him.

Delilah Maddox is a woman trying to make it in a man’s world. And she does a damn fine job of it, too. She’s intelligent, driven, and witty. She holds her own and never backs down from a challenge. She’s been through a lot and has to learn to let go of the past in order to embrace her future.

The two of them as individuals are great, but when they come together … they’re unstoppable. There’s definitely no denying their chemistry and the banter between the two had me constantly laughing.

About half way into the story we do start to get chapters from a third POV. It works, but honestly, I could have done without being inside of this person’s head. I don’t feel that it actually added anything to the story itself, and it could have easily been covered on Brody’s end. But that’s just my opinion.

This is my third book by Vi Keeland, and she’s definitely become a one-click author for me. She’s consistent in delivering solid, entertaining stories that I end up devouring from start to finish. And The Baller was no different. This book gets 4.5 stars and will definitely be something that I’ll go back and re-read over and over again.

Excerpt:

A new song had just started, and I was enjoying his company when a voice behind me said, “Can I cut in?”

My head whipped around, even though I had no doubt whom the gravelly voice belonged to.

Michael was gracious. “I hate to share. But I suppose I have been hogging the most beautiful woman at the event.” He let go of my hand and stepped back with a gentlemanly nod.

“Thank you for the dance, Delilah.”

Again Brody Easton had caught me off guard. Before I knew it, I was dancing with the arrogant jerk. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my body tight against his. Way tighter than Michael had held me.

“Good to see you again, Lois Lane.”

The man had balls; I had to give him that. I looked him straight in the eyes. “Nice to see you with clothes on, Easton.”

“Do you prefer me without?”

“I prefer you on the other side of the room.”

He chuckled. It was a hearty laugh. “That’s what happens sometimes when you decide you want to hang out in the men’s locker room.”

I tried to pull back, but he tightened his grip and held me in place. I craned my neck. “Let go of me.”

“No.”

“No?”

“That’s right. No.”

“I can scream at the top of my lungs.”

“I’d like to hear you scream.” His tone made it clear he meant he wanted me underneath him while I was doing the screaming.

“You’re an asshole. You know that?”

“I do. You asked me that yesterday. For a reporter, you should really try changing up your questions more frequently.”

My eyes bulged.

Easton shifted his hand down to the small of my back before twirling us around the dance floor. Figures the prick can dance.

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“You can’t be serious?”

He ignored my comment. “Would you like to have dinner tonight?”

“We just ate.”

“Dessert at my place, then?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you hit your head at the game yesterday?”

“On a diet, huh?”

“Yeah. That’s it. I don’t want to go to your place for dessert because I’m on a diet.”

“Well, that’s just a shame.”

About the Author:

Vi Keeland is a native New Yorker with three children that occupy most of her free time, which she complains about often, but wouldn't change for the world. She is a bookworm and has been known to read her kindle at stop lights, while styling her hair, cleaning, walking, during sporting events, and frequently while pretending to work. She is a boring attorney by day, and an exciting smut author by night!

Follow Her Here: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

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Blog Tour Review- THE DIRT ON NINTH GRAVE (Charley Davidson, #9) by Darynda Jones

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Pub. Date: January 12, 2016

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Source: Print ARC

Rating: 5

GOODREADS

Blurb:
 In a small village in New York lives Jane Doe, a girl with no memory of who she is or where she came from. So when she is working at a diner and slowly begins to realize she can see dead people, she's more than a little taken aback. Stranger still are the people entering her life. They seem to know things about her. Things they hide with lies and half-truths. Soon, she senses something far darker. A force that wants to cause her harm, she is sure of it. Her saving grace comes in the form of a new friend she feels she can confide in and the fry cook, a devastatingly handsome man whose smile is breathtaking and touch is scalding. He stays close, and she almost feels safe with him around.

But no one can outrun their past, and the more lies that swirl around her—even from her new and trusted friends—the more disoriented she becomes, until she is confronted by a man who claims to have been sent to kill her. Sent by the darkest force in the universe. A force that absolutely will not stop until she is dead. Thankfully, she has a Rottweiler. But that doesn't help in her quest to find her identity and recover what she's lost. That will take all her courage and a touch of the power she feels flowing like electricity through her veins. She almost feels sorry for him. The devil in blue jeans. The disarming fry cook who lies with every breath he takes. She will get to the bottom of what he knows if it kills her. Or him. Either way.

Review:
The Charley Davidson books are funny, sarcastic, sexy, and mysterious all rolled up into one. When I first started the series, I thought I would be getting a light-hearted paranormal romance book. The first book took my by surprise with how laugh out loud funny it was and I took an instant infatuation with Charley. Even though I love the books and we gone in it, I wouldn't have said the books were my favorite. There were times that I felt it was repetitive and at times a bit boring.

Well, I retract everything I said because after reading Eighth Grave After Dark, I realize that I haven't been giving Charley and gang enough credit. How could these books not be my fave? It has a kick-ass heroine who doesn't take things too seriously, which is partly why I love her; a sexy ass man by the name of Reyes; the most wonderful sidekick/best friend any girl could ask for, Cookie; and a supporting cast of characters who mean just as much to me as Charley.

This story starts off where the eighth ended...Charley has ended up on New York and now has amnesia. She goes by Janey Doerr and works at a diner. Basically the whole book our beloved Charley spends clueless as to everything. Including her family and friends, who ate with her every step of the way but never push her to try and remember who she is. Charley needs to be able to come to all on her own.

When she wakes up in an alley in New York with no clue as to who she is, she starts noticing things. Things such being able to see dead people. Of course as readers we already know she's the grim reaper and a God. But she doesn't, and I loved being able to be there every step of the way as 'Janey' starting slowly realizing that not everything was what it seemed. The interaction between her and Reyes (and everyone else) was heartbreaking. It was still the same ole' Charley but at the same time it was a complete stranger.

As with the other books, there's a small mystery that Charley feels she has to help solve. But she doesn't know how. Why would she feel compelled to investigate something that doesn't even pertain to her, right? With the help of Ubie and a departed teenage gangbanger, Charley will do what she does best. Even if she doesn't know that she's good at it.

Overall, I think this is the first time in this series that I have felt so emotionally connected to the story. I really feel like these guys are family now. I think the author did beautifully in developing such a beautiful and complex storyline. With the way the book ended, well let's just say I'm just a little bit anxious to get my hands on the next book. And to Darynda Jones and whoever else is listening; please, please, please write a series surrounded by Osh!! And make sure Garrett has a lot of face time in that series too!

Oh, and maybe write a series surrounding Quentin and Amber as well! Alright, that's all the demands I have...for now.

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Buy the Book!

Amazon

Amazon UK

About the Author:
For reasons known only to the Big Guy upstairs, NYTimes and USA Today Best Selling author Darynda Jones won both a Golden Heart and a RITA for her manuscript FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT. But even before that, she couldn’t remember a time she wasn’t putting pen to paper. When she was five, she would pick up a pencil and notepad, scribble utter chaos onto the page and ask her mom to read her masterpiece aloud. Thankfully, her mother would play along.  Later she wrote plays for the neighborhood kids, made up stories for her brother as he played cars, and fell in love with Captain Kirk. Those raging, seven-year-old hormones only fueled her imagination, prompting her to create fantastical stories for Barbie and Ken to enact. Ken was such a bad boy back then.

After years of being repeatedly sent to the principal’s office for daydreaming in class, she managed to make it to high school where she almost finished her first manuscript. Sitting with her BFF in a corner booth at the local Tastee Freeze for hours at a time, she wrote a post-apocalyptic story about a group of teens who bore a remarkable resemblance to the members of Van Halen and were trying to escape the tunnels of a huge government fallout facility decades after World War III had destroyed the surface of the earth. It was a science fiction version of The Warriors and destined to be a classic.

Life was good. Writing was good. Then she graduated and the real world came crashing through. She forced the dream aside in favor of sustenance and shelter, got married to a local rock star, and had at least two kids that she can think of, the oldest of whom was born Deaf, probably to spite her. When he was five, she packed up her boys and moved to Albuquerque to put him in a Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing program. The rock star stayed behind with the business, and they took turns going back and forth on the weekends to see each other for seven really long years.

While in Albuquerque, Darynda decided to see the cup half full and go back to college while she still had enough brain cells to make it worth her while. After graduating Summa cum Laude from the University of New Mexico with a degree in Sign Language Interpreting, she moved back to her hometown and got a real job. Several in fact, mostly teaching at a local college and interpreting pretty much everywhere. Based on personal experience, she does not recommend having more than three jobs at any given time.

But bit by bit, the desire to write needled its way back to the surface. Unable to squelch it any longer, she started writing seriously again in 2002 with one goal in mind: A publishing contract. Unfortunately, she sucked. Thank goodness practice makes almost-perfect and three complete manuscripts later, she won that Golden Heart, landed an amazing agent and sold to St. Martin’s Press in a three-book deal.

She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press, the Charley Davidson series and the Darklight Trilogy. She hopes you enjoy reading them as much as she enjoys writing them.

Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of almost 30 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.

Author website: http://www.daryndajones.com/

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darynda.jones.official

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/darynda

Goodreads Fan Group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/160729-the-official-darynda-jones-fan-group (Tons of discussions, giveaways, and Q&As in here!)

Book Blitz feat Excerpt: Forbidden by Lauren Smith

About FORBIDDEN

He's her first. He's her everything. He's her . . . stepbrother.

Kat has always been a good girl. She studies hard and never stays out too late. But when sitting in a pub on her birthday, she realizes she's a nineteen-year-old virgin who's never really lived. And she wants tonight to be the night that changes.

Then she sees him walk in. He's tall, dark, handsome, and straight out of her deepest fantasies. His voice makes her knees feel weak, and when he smiles, she imagines him doing wicked things to her in bed. From the look in his eyes, she knows he's imagining it too. So when he asks if he can walk her home, she hears herself whisper yes . . .

 

Excerpt:

“I find you fascinating,” Tristan said. Their faces were so close, his lips a mere breath from hers, and it made her head spin a little with a strange, excited dizziness. His gaze dropped to her lips as his voice softened to a low murmur. “I made a promise tonight, and I won’t break it, even it if bloody well kills me.”

Kat shivered and when she spoke her voice was husky. “But after tonight?”

With a curve of his lips, Tristan leaned in half an inch closer. “After tonight…I could fuck you here, in this bed and leave you so sated you’d wouldn’t want to get up for days. The things I could do to you to make you purr, make you moan and beg… After being with me, no other man would satisfy you.” The tips of their noses brushed as he leaned a tiny bit closer. Every muscle in her body tensed in heady anticipation, and her heart thudded against her ribs so hard it hurt.

Those images his words created, his body on top of hers, his weight trapping her while he owned her in every way…why did it sound so wonderful and frightening all at the same time?

Kat’s lips parted, but no words came out at first.  He seemed like a man who before now got everything he ever wanted. She didn’t want to be another thing he got simply because he wanted it. She was a woman worth fighting for, and Kat wanted him to earn it. Her father used to say “a good man will climb to the highest branch for the ripest apple, rather than pluck the low hanging fruit.” She deserved a man who was willing to work for her.

“But not tonight,” she replied softly, almost teasing. Her heart pounded at a wild pace and her hands shook as she clenched them together.

As though it were the most natural thing in the world, he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her into his body. Her hands came up on instinct, settling on his chest, but she didn’t push him away.

 “Not tonight,” he agreed. “But that one kiss at the Pickerel? It was only the beginning.” His arm around her waist tightened.

His words, so determined and confidant, made her shiver. There was no denying his confidence was appealing, but this was her sex life they were talking about. She had never been the type of girl to just give in to a guy, so why was saying yes so tempting?

  

Buy the Book!

Amazon: amzn.to/1RoELou
B&N: bit.ly/1VHfjcu
iBooks: apple.co/1O9Re9h
Kobo: bit.ly/1Z7n3dc
Google Play: bit.ly/1MXgP3c

About Lauren Smith

LAUREN SMITH, winner of the 2014 Historical International Digital Award, attended Oklahoma State University, where she earned a B.A. in both history and political science. Drawn to paintings and museums, Lauren is obsessed with antiques and satisfies her fascination with history by writing and exploring exotic, ancient lands. She is currently an attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

You can learn more at:
LaurenSmithBooks.com
Twitter @ldsmith1818
Facebook.com/LaurenDianaSmith