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 Captain’s Story: Book One, by Marie Cheryl Eddings

Blurb:

Doctor Robert Thomas Temple is a man of many parts. Born into poverty and violence, he works his way out of an urban combat zone to build personal prosperity. Finishing university as an engineer and inventor, he goes to war in Vietnam as an Air Force Lieutenant and intelligence analyst. He soon becomes known to grunts in the bush as “one scary dude” for his sniper skills and the speed of his martial arts movements. More than one Viet Cong partisan will have reason to call him “the Tall Assassin” in their own language.

Starting at an early age, Bob becomes a man who loves women—and more than one of them loves him. Lessons learned from his first intimate teacher will draw many to his bed, for good or ill. One ex-wife hates him, though her mother would happily give him references. His business partners call him “Colonel” or “Doctor,” but to the women who live with him he is “The Captain”... and they'll be more than happy to sail or serve under him.

Now, another young woman wants to enter the Captain's life. Having fallen for one of his lady lovers, Marie decides that if she's to be with Desiree, then she'd better meet the man who Desiree goes home to and adores. When Desiree and her co-mistress Renate propose to add an eighteen year-old Library Science major to the Captain's stable of eager mares, he lays down the law: Marie must first research and write his biography—without their help. She needs to know him as a person and a friend in all of his many parts, before playing bedtime games. “Sex with strangers may sound like thrills...but more often than not, it's a lonely business.”

The person who Marie discovers in her research and shared time will become one of her “life teachers,” shaping the person she becomes as an adult, even as she falls in love again. She will learn many things from the Captain and his women—and from others for whom she cares.

Set against a turbulent backdrop of fifty years, The Captain's Story is a journey through war and remembrance, love and loss, and learning the oldest lesson: “The more we love, the more we can love.”

The Captain's Story is intended for mature audiences.

Review by Julie Grimm:

I was asked by the author to give an honest review of this book. Thinking it was erotica, I was waiting to get to that part and realized I would be waiting a very long time for that to happen! This is actually a war story with quite a lot of erotica in it. I felt like the Captain’s erotic relationships unnecessarily lengthened the book.

I almost stopped reading it because the beginning was difficult to read due to the changing points of view and the air quotes. I found the numerous air quotes used by the author disconcerting, and I stumbled on them every time because they were not needed for the reader to understand what was being said.

I mostly enjoyed The Captain’s Story when his life starts being told from a narration point of view. Robert Temple, aka The Captain, was encouraged to read books by the school librarian, the junk yard guy gave him the opportunity to learn about electronics, and an older lady taught him about sex. The copious amounts of knowledge he gleaned in a short amount of time served him well as he began his career in the military and served in the Vietnam War.

It seemed to me that the war terminology was very precise and accurate, and the story from that point is very well written and the editing well done.

Length: 773 Pages

Prices:

Digital: $2.99

BuyLink:http://www.amazon.com/Captains-Story-Diaries-Trollop-Book-ebook/dp/B00U4IXWKS

Her Men by Ashley Ladd

Blurb:

Forty-four-year-old Julie Weston has loved Timmy and James since her college days twenty-something years ago. She’s fantasized about both men all these long years, never able to choose between them.

She attends their college marching band reunion, hoping Tim and James will go too. When both men show up, her dreams are answered. They’re sexier than she imagined and she prays that they won’t be disappointed by her older self.

It turns out both men came just to see her again and neither is happy about the other man’s presence. They fight over her, confusing her more than ever. It takes a hot ménage—or two—for her to decide which one she’s in love with.

Review by Julie Grimm:

I gave Her Men the first thorn for the plot line. Really? A college marching band reunion? The writer only uses this as an excuse for them to get together although I still don’t know what goes on at one of these reunions. I gave it the second thorn for the erotica. Julie Weston fantasizes about having sex with both men, and when she gets her wish, it happens just exactly as the fantasy is first written. There are no surprises there. The third thorn is for the ridiculous behavior of the two men. It’s so unbelievable.

Length:  90 Pages

Digital Price:  $3.50

BuyLink:  https://www.totallybound.com/her-men

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 cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.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 Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. You can download your books onto your computer using “Save As” to a “Books” file you create and sort them into sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to your Kindle. That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

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