Book Review: Toby Gold and the Secret Fortune By Craig T Everett

 My Take:

 

Toby Gold and the Secret Fortune by Craig R Everett  is a fantastic middle grade book about a boy who has a special ability with money and numbers. He is a foster child and but has managed to make his life work out for him. I thought Toby Gold was a great book and an easy and fast read for anyone. It held my interest and pulled me into the adventure and made me want to know what would happen next.

 

What I loved about it was that Craig took the mysteries of the stock market and made it easy for anyone to understand it's basic workings. I personally have a deep interest in the stock market and love the way it works. It was fun to  see how Craig made it all kid friendly and there fore everyone friendly. He made the market seem less intimidating and down right intriguing. I loved the way he wrapped the markets workings into the story and made it a race to see if Toby could solve the problems set before him before it was too late and he was caught by those who would like to see him dead.

 

I also thought the fun and bit of magic that was part of the story made the story that much more wonderful and exciting to read. Toby Gold is a book I would highly recommend to everyone who wants to know how to manage their money and have fun and exciting basic introduction to the stock market. It is sure to get you wondering what else you can learn and how you can earn and keep your money always in a positive cash flow. Thanks Craig for writing a kid savvy fun adventure that incorporated a lot of learning disguised as a mystery to be solved.

 

"Unique children’s lit that cleverly tackles interest rates, endowments, fluctuating commodities, bullying and identity."

- Kirkus Reviews

Book Blurb:

An infant is discovered one night on a commuter train from New York City during a stop in the sleepy town of Wallingford, Connecticut. The local police are summoned, but are unable to locate the boy’s parents, despite painstakingly questioning each person on the train. For some strange reason, none of the passengers can remember seeing his mother falling from the train – after falling victim to an assassin’s bullet.

Assigned the name “Toby Gold” by social services, the mysterious child grows up in Wallingford, moving from foster home to foster home, not knowing who his real parents are - or why he was born with such freakish skills with math and money.

Now a teenager, Toby’s money skills are noticed by the wrong people, and thus he is unwittingly sucked into a high-stakes financial conspiracy that puts his life, and the lives of his two closest friends, in great peril. Ultimately, Toby solves the crime, saves his friends, and even saves his school—all in one harrowing afternoon.

"This fast-paced adventure weaves fundamental concepts in economics and finance seamlessly into the story. Toby Gold makes learning finance exciting."

- Francis A. Longstaff, PhD, Professor of Finance, UCLA - Anderson School of Management

About the Author: Craig Everett

Craig R. Everett was born and raised in Maine, spending his childhood summers digging along the shores of Bar Harbor for buried pirate treasure. Fortunately, he was able to remain blissfully unaware that pirates seldom, if ever, ventured that far north. He received his B.A. in Economics from Tufts University, an MBA from George Mason University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from Purdue University.

Dr. Everett is currently a finance professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where he teaches corporate and entrepreneurial finance. Dr. Everett also volunteers in public schools teaching financial literacy principles.

You can learn more about Craig here:
http://craigeverett.com/
http://tobygold.com/
FB http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craig-Everett-author/128980444347?ref=hl
Twitter:https://twitter.com/craig_everett

Toby Gold and the Secret FortuneReading Level: 9 and up
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Fiscal Press (October 18, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1-936-21495-2
Dimensions: 8.75 x 5.75 x 1.0 inches 
You can get your copy of this great book  

Book Review: Altercation By Tamara Hart Heiner

First of all, I have to say, Altercation is so much better then the cover leads you to believe. So in this case don't judge a book by it's cover.

Altercation picks up where Tamara's last book Perilous ends. Jaci and her friends  are safe for now, but there is trouble brewing ahead. 

summary :

  The FBI promises Jacinta Rivera and her friends that they are
safe. Jaci wants desperately to believe them but weeks of hiding from
their kidnapper, alias "The Hand", have left her wary. Hidden from the
public eye in an FBI safe house, Jaci must reconcile both the mysterious
disappearance of her father and the murder of her best friend.

A betrayal lands Jaci back in the grasp of The Hand, shattering her
ability to trust and leaving her to wonder if she will ever piece together
her broken life.

My take:

I felt Atlercation kept you intrigued, wondering what next, and where they all really safe? Jaci and her freinds are trying to come to terms with what happened to them with out the support of their families. As they work through what happened they are told they are to be separtated adn this creates greater anxiety in them. Jaci, Amanda and Sara won't be together and neither will Sara's brothers Neil and Ricky.

Thinking everything is safe they find that they are anything but. And soon they are in precarious circumstances again, and it takes new found friends  along with the reuniting of old ones to find unseen answers.

I felt Jaci was strong in the midst of great danger. That she was smart in protecting herself. It was great to see her brother Seth take action to find his sister along with the help of Megan, the daughter of an FBI agent.

I thought Altercation kept you wondering if time would run for Jaci and Amanda. You could feel the  terror and horror they felt at being forced into certain circumstances and the despartion that those left to look for them as well. It was a quick read that kept you turining pages.

Altercation is definitely a book where the bad guys are really really bad, and the good guys risk everything to see that they don't win.


To take part in Tamara's celebration of the release of Altercation check out her website here

Prizes: EVERY DAY she will randomly select one person who made a comment on
that day's blog. The winner will then get to decide if they would like an
ebook copy of PERILOUS or ALTERCATION. There's just one catch: there must
be AT LEAST ten comments on that day for her to do the giveaway.

But if that's not enough, leaving a comment also gets you entered into the
PRIZE DRAWINGS. This won't be random; it's cumulative. Every comment you
leave counts as 1 point. If you are a follower on her blog, you get 1
point. Every time you tweet or share on Facebook about the tour, it's one
point.She'll even add it up for you; just include her in on the tweet
@tamaraheiner or on Facebook @tamarahartheiner (unless you don't trust her
math, and then feel free to tally it up and send it to her).


THIRD PRIZE: 50-page critique of something of your choice (if you're not a
writer, a $5 amazon.com gift card)
SECOND PRIZE: lot of five YA books
FIRST PRIZE: $20 gift card to Amazon.com

(You may also offer a giveaway, if you wish!)

You can get your copy of Altercation and fall into the suspense and action too by clicking on one of the options below
Altercation $15.95 link on Amazon: click here

ebook for $4.99: click here

Book Review: Depth of Deceit by Betty Briggs

The Depth of Deceit by veteran author Betty Briggs is a dynamic story about Stephanie Saunders, a young attorney assigned to take on the indigent cases that come through courtroom and defend them. Stephanie has worked hard and long to garnish respect, but her beauty queen good looks, makes it hard for people to take her seriously as a legal representative.

She is assigned by the judge to handle the case of Josh Durrant, accused of assault. A man with long blond hair, a thick beard, a barbed wire tattoo across his bicep, and amazing green eyes, who seems to be following her all over town. She isn't sure whether to be annoyed with him or worried.

Not that it matters that much to her when she has Todd Saxton for her boyfriend looking out for her. He is loving , charming, handsome and sweet to her. But when devastating secrets are discovered, Stephanie's whole life tumbles out of control.

The only place she finds true comfort is at the stables with her horses. She finds a kindred soul in the battered and abused mare, Riskie Business whose gentle soul and sweet disposition is a balm to Stephanie's shattered soul.

There are difficult decisions that will affect the rest of Stephanie's life that must be made, and in turn Stephanie must learn how to save not only herself in the final showdown, but one who relies on her the most. There she must learn to trust those who can't be trusted and discover courage and strength she never knew she possessed. And find a way to make the ultimate decisions of what is right and what is not.

I was drawn instantly into the story and couldn't put it down once I got started. There were so many mysteries and questions I wanted to know as layer upon layer was uncovered to reveal the final answers at the end of the book. Depth of Deceit made me laugh out loud, it made me cry big tears, and it made me wonder what would happen next. I kept turning page after page to discover secret after secret. I felt as if I was right beside Stephanie Saunders the entire time. Her anxiety pulsed out of the pages, her love and compassion and even when snarky frustration rose with in her were so real and tangible. I knew how she felt about those she loved and those she was annoyed with. Her suspicious nature about everything that appeared to be truth leapt off the pages. It surprised me how deep those emotions became as they welling up inside of me.

Betty Briggs really knows how to pull the reader into the world of words she creates as it runs like a movie inside the readers head. I was held captive until the very last words and found myself surprised with the unexpected plot twists and turns through out the book.

The way the horses played such an important part in the dynamics of the story made me wish I was at the stabes right along with Stephanie. I loved how Betty wove the legal dynamics of being an up and rising attorney into the plot, and how Stephanie's struggles were so real to life as I wondered who, if anyone was trustworthy.

I completely loved reading Depth of Deceit. I loved the rich characters portrayed, from the rude secretary, to the little old man who lived in the mountains. I felt each character was well developed and helped propel the story along with their insite and lively conversation. I felt a deep connection with many of the characters, and was surprised by the culminating events in the end.

I completely enjoyed my journey into the Depth of Deceit. Get your copy of Depth of Deceit by Betty Briggs, here, you won't be disappointed. Take the time to stop by Betty's web site and learn more about her and her other books go to http://www.bettybriggs.com/ there you will find additional information on horses and other short stories as well.

Disclaimer: While I do at times receive copies of the books I review, my opinions are and will always remain my own.

Book Review: Intrinsical By Lani Woodland

Intrinsical by Lani Woodland is a new young adult paranormal romance that gives a new slant to what paranormal is all about. It is her debut novel and it is filled with everything that makes paranormal so exciting as she creates a new way of showing us how out of the ordinary life can really be. It is the perfect way to have a taste of Halloween anytime of the year. It delves into ghosts, curses, dark sinister mists, hauntings, and let's not forget a little romance along the way.

I loved this story from start to finish and it grabbed me and had me hanging on for dear life wondering what was going to happen next. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough as I devoured all the many unexpected twists that forced surprise from my mouth numerous times.

In addition to the amazing story-weaving talents Lani possess,where she easily casts the reader under the spell of her well-written, engaging characters; she also has an incredible eye for photography. She took the fabulous underwater picture that graces her cover.

In Intrinsical, Yara was looking forward to attending Pendrell boarding school with her best friend, Cherie. It was a chance to escape all the jokes about her crazy ghost-talking grandmother. She wanted to be normal and with relief thought that the dormant Waker gene that let her grandmother see and talk with ghosts might just have missed claiming her. But when she sees a dark mist trying to attack Brent, a gorgeous, popular athlete, and tries to kill him, she impulsively jumps in to save his life. But this causes her to draw the attention of the dark mist as it begins to stalk her as she learns about the curse that has haunted her new school with dark spirits, as it seeks to threaten her life. At the same time Brent turns his focus to Yara as he wants to know more about the girl who saved his life.

Then Yara's best-friend Cherie, excited to investigate all the stories of hauntings around the school, hopes to make contact with the ghosts of the curse. She drags her new boyfriend Steve along with Yara and Brent into the heart of the curse, but she doesn't have the ability to make contact, even though she studied with Yara's grandmother,the ways of the Wakers, strange things begin to happen around them.

Meanwhile, Yara learns that maybe the Waker gene didn't skip a generation after all. Fighting her heredity and her growing powers as a Waker she finds herself pulled further and further into the realm of ghosts and dark spirits as she and her friends delve deeper into finding out about the long standing curse and the mystery behind it the danger that lurks in the shadows as they learn that the deaths that occurred at the school and the sinister nature of them is may be more than what anyone ever realized.

Intrinsical held me spell-bound until the last amazing twist-filed page. I loved the characters and how they grew with each new discovery they made. The ties of friendship and loyalty are portrayed in a depth that shows the importance of courage, trust and always being there for each other. They changed as they learned that they could be more important in each other's lives than they ever imagined.

I loved how well each new surprise sprang out at me unexpectedly as incredible events where there was no turning back left you wondering how the characters could possibly overcome them and how unpredictable it all was in the end. It was refreshing to find this clean paranormal romance free of sex and swearing.

Lani's writing transported me to Pendrell where I felt the brush of the icy wind on my face and could smell the chlorine that permeated the air and hear the slopping wet foot prints as they appeared sinisterly as they drew closer and closer. I could even feel the chill go up my spine when a mysterious message appeared in a fogged up mirror. This is a book where you want to curl up in a under the covers with a flash light so you can chase away the shadows edging closer and closer.

You can learn more about the fascinating world of Intrinsical at http://www.intrinsicalthebook.com/ and you can purchase your own chilling ghost-filled copy of Intrinsical by clicking here or here.

Disclaimer: While I did receive a copy of the book from the author, my opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

you can check out my review at barnes and noble here, and my review at amazon here.