Broken and Damaged Love by T. L. Clarke

Blurb:

My name is Tina and this is my story.

In the fullness of time I have gone from victim to survivor of child abuse, but it was hard work getting there.

I am fortunate; I found good friends who helped me on my journey.

Read how my life was turned from one of horror to one of happiness.

Author’s note: This is a stand-alone work of fiction. It is a survivor story followed by a romance. It is different from my other books.

Without the darkness there is no light. So we go through the horrendous start to get to the happy ending. Tina eventually finds some lovely friends who have their own stories to tell.

I have written this to offer hope to survivors of child abuse, and to help inform the general public of the signs to watch out for. There is so much help out there; you can overcome your bad experiences.

Because it is for a good cause, this book will permanently be sold for 99c/99p (or equivalent in other currencies).

*My proceeds from the first month of Broken & Damaged Love’s sales will be donated to HAVOCA* **THIS WILL NOW BE EXTENDED; ALL MY PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THIS BOOK UNTIL THE END OF 2015 WILL BE DONATED TO HAVOCA**

***Please note that due to the theme of child abuse and sexually explicit scenes, this book is recommended for readers of 18+***

I have named the chapters, so if you’re sensitive to certain bits/have triggers you should at least have a warning and the option to avoid the parts you really can’t face yet.

About the Author:

Hi,

I'm an indie author of romance novels. Each of my books is stand alone, so don't worry about reading them in any particular order. Just choose a theme which appeals to you. I'm writing about love from lots of different angles.

I have a full time job, so my writing can only happen in my little leisure time. Fortunately, I have a very supportive loving husband who ensures I'm still fed.

I really, truly appreciate every review that I get, so please do comment once you've read my work.

Review by Rochelle:

Broken and Damaged Love is, indeed, a serious book about serious subjects. It delves into the mind of a pedophile, his wife, and his victim. Tina’s abuse starts when she’s quite small and her mother works nights leaving her home alone with her father, who turns to her for the comfort and relief he’s not receiving from his wife. Of course, Tina doesn’t realize there’s anything wrong with the attention she receives from her father until her teacher starts explaining sex in Health class in school. That’s when she finally asks if it’s wrong for a child to do those things with an adult. The teacher realizes Tina must be asking the question because she’s a victim of sex abuse and whisks her down to the principal’s office.

That’s when the real nightmare begins. The saying “Ignorance is bliss” unfortunately is true in some cases. Tina’s classmates call her names; she has to face her father in court and testify against him. Her mother blames her for his ensuing incarceration and the poverty that results from the loss of income when he’s no longer able to run his computer consulting business from home.

Unable to trust men, Tina feels like a freak. It’s not until she becomes friends with Frank, a gay artist in college that she begins to heal. They share the stigma of being different, of having been hated and abused by their families, and of having been ostracized by their peers. Frank’s roommate Peter, a psych major, finally has the patience to erode Tina’s walls and bring true, healthy love into her life.

It’s a shame such an important book was self-published. Once again I was dizzied by head-hops and dismayed by grammar errors. I was also somewhat distracted by author’s notes warning readers when the narrative was getting heavy, but I understood that was there for people who have lived through such abuse and may not be able to read those chapters at this time. Were I such a victim, I’m sure I’d have appreciated the heads’ ups.

I also believe that since the proceeds are going to charity, the author could raise the price. I’m sure people wouldn’t mind paying another dollar or two for a good cause.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TLClarkAuthor

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/tl.clark.775

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7359253.T_L_Clark

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/TL-Clark/e/B00JCYWQ48/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Heat Rating:  R+

Length:  207 Pages

Digital Price:  $0.99

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015ZWTHCE?keywords=Broken%20and%20Damaged%20Love&qid=1447794348&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Thanks for visiting. Donna, Julie, & Rochelle

The Clock Strikes Midnight by Joan Curtis

Blurb:

Janie Knox wants nothing more than to live her life quietly in Savannah, Georgia and never return to her hometown of Atlanta. At age seventeen, a week after a jury convicted her stepfather of killing her mother, she packed all her worldly possessions in a single duffle bag, hopped on a bus, and vowed never to return. But, when she learns that she’s got three months to live, she journeys back home to finish what she couldn’t do when she left--kill her stepfather.

As the clock ticks away, Janie’s uses the last days of her life to right the wrongs that have haunted her for twenty years. She faces more than she bargained for when she discovers her sister’s life in shambles. Meanwhile her stepfather, recently released from prison, blackmails the sisters and plots to extract millions from the state in retribution.

The Clock Strikes Midnight is a race against time in a quest for revenge and atonement. This is a story about unleashing the hidden truths that haunt a quiet Southern family.

Review by Rochelle:

When Janie left Atlanta, she didn’t say goodbye and everyone there thought she never looked back. That wasn’t true. While she led a quiet, successful life in Savannah, Janie never forgot the events leading up to the day her and her sister’s lives were shattered by their mother’s death—or the man responsible. When she finds she has only three months to live, she knows she has to exact her revenge, and repair the shattered relationships she left behind.

The Clock Strikes Midnight is the story of two generations of Atlanta women and the demons that drive them. It’s the tragedy of basing one’s self-esteem on being the prettiest girl in school, and what happens when your life peaks at sixteen—and crashes at seventeen. It’s the tragedy of losing a loving father at a young age, and of living with an abusive stepfather. And it’s a tale of revenge and of amends. Most importantly, it’s skillfully woven with deeply-drawn characters. Some will tug at your heart-strings, and others will make you want to wash your hands a couple of times when you put down the book. Hurry to the MuseItUp Publishing, Inc. bookstore and buy The Clock Strikes Midnight.

Length:  328 Pages

Digital Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/museitup/mainstream/the-clock-strikes-midnight-detail

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their royalties from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-BookPublisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. You can download your books onto your computer using “Save As” to a “Books” folder you create and sort them into sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to your e-reader. That way, if there’s a glitch with your e-reader, the books are on your computer. Once you’ve saved the book to your computer plug the larger USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder you created to your E-Reader/Documents/Books directory. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Julie, Donna, & Rochelle

Cracking Up by J. J. Reinhardt

Blurb:

Joe Robertson’s life never panned out. In college, he was a top draft pick until his knee blew-out in the NCAA Championship game on what he claimed, was a cheap shot by Drew Waters. Choosing a second career in construction, he clawed up the ranks, becoming the top Civil Project Manager in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. But that didn’t last. A scandal broke out; he was accused of offering bribes to state inspectors. The allegations were never proven; the damage was done. The only job he could obtain was a foreman’s position. But that wouldn’t last.

The only saving grace is his wife Julie, until she's involved in a horrific traffic accident that would launch them into a macabre dance of, betrayal, sex, murder and redemption.

WARNING! This book contains strong language and adult, erotic situations. Not recommended for ages under twenty-one.

Review by Rochelle Weber:

Cracking Up did not engage me at all. A book needs likeable people, or at least people with whom I can identify in order for me to get hooked into it. I also need believable situations, and finally, decent grammar. There is an editor listed on Amazon, but apparently she never learned that possessives are spelled with apostrophes, because not a single one included an apostrophe in the entire book. She also apparently never learned the difference between then and than. There was only one time a comparative was spelled “than”; the rest were all spelled “then.” That drove me nuts! Even the blurb has a superfluous comma. “This book contains strong language and adult, erotic situations.” There should not be a comma between the words “adult” and “erotic.”

To the plot. Joe is a whiny ne’er-do-well. When he blows out his knee, he drops out of college and gets a job in construction. Yeah, he works his way up, but when a scandal occurs, he doesn’t fight it; he quits, becomes a foreman and blows that job, too. When his wife is in a horrific accident, instead of being worried about her because he loves her, he’s worried about how soon she can get back to work. He finally gets a job, but has to work with a corrupt co-worker, who frames him for the problems on the project they oversee together. Instead of keeping track of the shortfalls and problems that result from his co-worker’s interference, Joe drinks and starts frequenting a local strip club. Of course he gets fired yet again, and gets angry when his wife, Julie, confronts him about the evidence of his lies and infidelity.

I’m not terribly fond of either erotica or BDSM, but if you’re going to write about it, do some research and get it right. I have friends who live that lifestyle, and before they initiate a new person into it, they discuss it with them. They talk about what the person likes, or thinks s/he might like; they establish parameters; and they establish a “safe word.” If, in the course of the play, the submissive person feels s/he is experiencing too much pain or is being injured, there is a word s/he can say and the dominator/trix will stop immediately. When Joe’s wife, Julie, gets involved with her chiropractor and his nurse, they make wonderful love to her. Then, without warning, they start calling her vile names, spanking her, having extremely rough sex, and twisting her breasts until they’re horribly bruised. That’s not “play;” it’s rape. Any real dom will tell you so. I was amazed they didn’t put her back into a wheel-chair, considering her injuries.

Part of me didn’t blame Joe for the solution he came up with, considering his state of mind by the end of the book. But I didn’t like him from the beginning, so I didn’t have much sympathy for him by the end.

I imagine there are 18 year-olds out there who could read Cracking Up, but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone at any age who is thinking of dabbling in BDSM play. J. J. Reinhardt doesn’t know enough about the subject to write such scenes. Before you try it, find someone who can explain how to play safely, without raping your partner.

Length:  124 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $5.27

Digital:  $2.77

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Up-J-J-Reinhardt-ebook/dp/B00KPKB2Y8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424625333&sr=1-1&keywords=J.J.+Reinhardt

Thanks for visiting. Rose, Julie, Donna, & Rochelle