Friday, October 30, 2015

Spotlighting Carolyn Arnold's Latest Novel...Deadly Impulse!

Just Stopped by? BRG is spotlighting Carolyn Arnold...


By Carolyn Arnold


#2 EXCERPT FROM DEADLY IMPULSE, Chapter 3: 

Chapter 3

Her phone vibrated, notifying her of a text message. It was from Cynthia. Richards booked the autopsy for first thing the next morning. Madison shared this information with Terry, and although he nodded, his eyes seemed distant—a common occurrence these days.
Doctors had told Terry and Annabelle that their baby could be born with spina bifida, but they strived to stay positive.
“Are you thinking about the baby?” Madison asked.
“I’m thinking of him, yes.” He gave her a slick smile. Despite ultrasounds not revealing the baby’s sex, Terry was convinced it was a boy.
“How is Annabelle these days?”
“She’s excited, nervous. She wants him out.” He laughed, but the expression quickly deflated.
“Good. And I bet.” Madison was thirty-five and didn’t have a mothering bone in her body. If she thought pregnancy through to birth—all the bodily fluids and the blood—it made her squeamish and just sealed the fact she would likely never have a family.
“So if you get to ask about my life…” he teased.
“Oh, no, you don’t. My relationship with Matthews is off the table.”
“Matthews? Sounds rather formal and cold.”
Troy Matthews was head of SWAT for Stiles PD. She’d known him for years, but it wasn’t until a recent case that their friendship had turned into something more. Despite her initial resistance, some things cannot be stopped. The draw she had to him was one such thing. He was an alpha male and, as such, attracted women in droves. He was into working out and ripped. But he was serious-minded and interested solely in her—or so he kept trying to convince her.
Madison took a deep breath thinking back to last night—their bodies entangled, moving together… She had to wish the images from her mind. At least for right now. They were on a case.
“I can tell by the flush of your cheeks, things are heating up.”
“Oh, shut up.” She punched him in the shoulder and then smirked. Her relationship with Terry would never change. He was like the younger brother she’d never had.
“By the way, you’re looking good these days,” he added.
She narrowed her eyes, tempted to punch him again.
“What?” He lifted his shoulders, hands palms out toward her. “I just noticed. I thought women liked this type of acknowledgment.”
But she wasn’t “most women.” She wasn’t worried about what men thought of her. After being betrayed by her fiancĂ© in her early twenties, she’d been somewhat bitter for the better part of a decade now. It didn’t help that he—Toby Sovereign—was also a detective and currently working with Stiles PD. The greatest tragedy was how she held what he had done to her against all men who had entered her life—up until now. She still dated, of course, but she never allowed anyone to get too close. No, her heart was hers and hers alone. With that state of mind, though, the loneliness was also hers alone. She had both Cynthia and Terry to thank for helping her to see that life was too short to sit around and mope. Even Troy deserved some of the credit.
“You must be working out,” Terry said, breaking her train of thought. “Does Troy have you on a program?” Terry snickered, evidently amused with his innuendo.
“Would you just—”
The elevator dinged, interrupting as it announced their arrival on the second floor.
She stepped out first. Not that she’d admit it to Terry, master of the treadmill, who ran ten miles every morning, but she was exercising. And eating healthier. Before her shifts, she’d walk Hershey, her chocolate lab, at a brisk pace for an hour. Thanks to the obedience classes she was able to fit in every other Saturday, he was a pleasure to walk. She had started with one block and kept building herself up.
She hated to concede that the new lifestyle had anything to do with Matthews—Troy. She still slipped sometimes, but it was beginning to get easier to refer to him by first name. She was doomed. Whenever she sensed the trepidation setting in, the hesitancy over accepting their relationship, she’d blurt out Matthews to establish focus again.
But life had taken her through a lot in recent months. She had almost died at the hands of the Russian Mafia and came close to being raped by one of them, too. Faced with the muzzle of a revolver to her head, she had promised herself that she would forgive past hurts and try to love again with a full heart. The latter was really tough. It equated to vulnerability, the very thing she always did her best to avoid.


~~~



#3 EXCERPT FROM DEADLY IMPULSE, Chapter 9: 

Chapter 9

I CAN’T MOVE MY WRISTS. The smell of blood is up my nose, in my mouth. The shadows looming in the corners shift and transform.
Anatolli emerges, holding a revolver.
My heart is beating like a piston, and my breath is labored as I struggle against the restraints.
He’s coming closer and there’s nothing I can do.
My head is locked in place, the clasp around my neck limiting my range of motion.
 
He’s pulling on my hair, yanking it so hard my vision goes to pinpricks of red with flashes of white.
“You are going to die.” His spittle mists my face, and he lowers to look me in the eye. But it is no longer Anatolli. It’s Constantine.

Madison jolted awake and bounded from her bed. Hershey let out a startled bark. He must have been dreaming, too. Madison hoped he’d been running through a field or eating a bone—something peaceful.
“Sorry, buddy.”
Hershey stretched out, worming his way to the edge of the mattress.
She rubbed his fur, waiting for her heartbeat to calm down. “It was a nightmare, that’s all.”
Was that all? It was so vivid. Her visceral reactions to the images were so real. She knew these men were dead, but Constantine was still alive, out there somewhere. And the simple fact remained that she had upset the Russians and there would be consequences.
Really, it was surprising that they had let her live as long as they had. Dimitre Petrov must have derived more pleasure from toying with and manipulating her than killing her.
She sat down on her bed, reality hitting her. The Russians would have tired of playing games. When they came for her next, they would be coming to kill her. Oddly, she found herself hoping they’d torture her first so she could find a window to escape. And if she got the chance, she’d shoot to kill this time.
Her breathing slowed. But would that be enough? The Russians would just substitute Constantine’s face for that of another hired killer—plenty volunteered their services for blood money.


And while Constantine was likely out of the country, this left her with another ally of the Russians—the former police chief, Patrick McAlexandar. The fact that he had relinquished his post at the police department and was staying out of the media spotlight these days did little to change her opinion of his guilt.
~~~


Thanks so much to Carolyn Arnold for sharing this week at Book Readers Heaven! If you've enjoyed meeting her in this way, get to know her and her books better on the following sites!





Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:


And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers at http://carolynarnold.net/newsletters.








Now Free on Amazon...

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Deadly Impulse - The Latest from the Detective Madison Knight Series is Out Today!

"Okay, so, the time of death would be
between six last night and midnight."
"That's quite the time span, but she
was likely placed in the wheelchair
within a couple hours of death...for
her neck to settle forward," Madison said.
~~~
You didn’t actually think it would be as easy as providing them a chair number and getting an ID, did you?”
 “I had hoped.” 
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. My, oh my…” A man in a white hospital gown was skipping down the hall, a few orderlies chasing after him. 
“It seems they found their missing psych patient.” Apparently, Terry had understood the code, as well. Madison rolled her eyes at his obvious statement. 
“Nothing escapes your grasp, does it?” She headed toward the elevator, hiding her smirk.
~~~








Deadly Impulse:
Detective Madison Knight Series

By Carolyn Arnold


Excuse me readers for starting the review of a mystery, suspense series with a totally irrelevant song, except to the one very minor character who happened to be singing it as he ran down the hospital hall happily singing, “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. My, oh my…” This is my absolutely number 1 children's song that I loved so as I was growing up--it was nice to see someone else still remembered it... And I hope the man singing was just as happily lovable as the beautiful Black man singing it in the original Disney movie...

Arnold takes care to have details surrounding her stories to completely take readers into the setting, content to be lost in the world she has created. For me, if I were not reviewing books, she would be one of my favorite authors who I would routinely follow, reading each of her works to keep up with those characters who've become important to each of her series. Because of the strong, intelligent, gutsy Madison Knight, this series is my favorite...

One main reason for me is that she routinely creates a mystery that totally keeps me interested, but which I am unable to get a good handle on who is the guilty killer! Everybody knows I especially love mysteries I can't solve, right? So if you're like me, I highly recommend you check out Arnold's books!

"On the count of three, pull the trigger."
The quick flashback made goose bumps
raise the hairs on her arms. As she
pulled herself back to the present, she
aligned eyes with Terry.
"Let's get this over with," she said, and
she and Terry entered the
sergeant's office.
~~~
I enjoy a cover that immediately attracts my attention as this one did-- the colors are eye- catching and the scene represents an important part of the story, which I appreciate as well...

So opening the book was a pleasure, but the story immediately grabbed me and didn't let go...For there she was...an old woman sitting in a wheelchair, on the side of a road--no one around or near her... and, yes, she was dead.

But why was she there, obviously placed there for some reason... Then they found a sign on the back of the chair, Put an End to Abortion" and, fortunately an ID tag on the wheelchair from a nearby hospital.

There begins the meticulous step-by-step police investigation that Carolyn Arnold is famous for--She is the only author with POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™. Readers who are particularly concerned that authors have well researched their books should be aware of this important designation, don't you think?  Her books are certainly complete in how the crime(s) is finally solved! In this particular story, there are three murders, all within a short period of time...

"I'm not justifying whoever did this at all,"
she said.
He remained silent, his gaze fixed on her...
"And since when do you try to justify a
crime?"
His question rendered her mute for a few
seconds. The judge within found her
guilty--she had just run through the
possibilities while trying to assign reason.
Some might not perceive that as
justification. But her drive had always been
to obtain justice for victims, not justify the
killer's actions.
Now, she'd be lying if she said she never
thought of exacting revenge...
~~~
Because while Madison, (played by Rizzoli, right?) and Terry, her partner, were working to determine who the old woman was, two more were killed in another part of town. One of them a vagrant. The other one a beautiful young woman. 

Still the toughest one in the trio seemed to be to  identified the woman sitting along the street in a wheelchair! Would you believe one of the first things they discovered was that she was one of the group regularly seen in that location who were marching against abortion! Yes, the woman did not need a wheelchair for she was quite an active older citizen!

I enjoyed the interplay between Madison and Terry, whose wife is soon to deliver a child who might have health problems and which takes him into depressive moods from time to time. But it is Madison who really caught my attention as she fought against flashbacks of both lost love and a dangerous time when the Russian Mafia had targeted her. I wondered whether she was really ready to go on with her work...but, at least, she was getting help along the way. Readers will see her drift off in a present, potential dangerous situation, while she flashbacks to just her memories... What a situation to be in and I immediately became protective of Madison, knowing my own flashbacks were a problem only for me, while she was placing herself in dangerous situations...

And that's just how it happens... I enjoyed meeting Madison Knight in the first book, Ties That Bind, of her series. By this time, I had grown to love and want to protect her... Isn't it wonderful to be able to become so close to characters?

Carolyn Arnold has that creative imagination, combined with a flawless writing style that helps create sympathetic characters at the same time they remain strong and dedicated to ensuring justice is found. Deadly Impulse is engrossing, compelling and suspenseful enough to ensure you'll be turning those pages until you arrive at the totally satisfying conclusion! This latest novel as well as the series is highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews



CAROLYN ARNOLD is the international bestselling and award-winning author of the Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher, and McKinley Mystery series. She is the only author with POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™
Carolyn was born in a small town, but that never kept her from dreaming big. On par with her large dreams is her overactive imagination that conjures up killers and cases to solve. She currently lives outside Toronto with her husband and two beagles, Max and Chelsea. She is also a member of Crime Writers of Canada
For more information and a FREE book offer, visit her website:
www.carolynarnold.net

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Announcing Latest Novel, Deadly Impulse, A Detective Madison Knight Series! Spotlight on Author Carolyn Arnold!


DEADLY IMPULSE 
(DETECTIVE MADISON KNIGHT SERIES)

by Carolyn Arnold

Published by: Hibbert & Stiles Publishing Inc.
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-988064-26-0
ISBN (print): 978-1-988064-27-7
ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-988064-29-1


BOOK OVERVIEW

Looks aren’t the only things that can be deceiving…

When a sixty-eight-year-old woman is found dead outside the hospital in a wheelchair with an anti-abortion sign strapped to its back, Detective Madison Knight expects it to be an open-and-shut case. On the surface, there are no signs of foul play, but the deeper she digs, the more convoluted the homicide becomes. And when two more bodies appear, including those of a girl just barely old enough to drink and a homeless man, the direct links between the three murders are anything but simple.

Without a consistent MO, Madison doesn’t buy that a serial killer is on the loose, despite the conviction with which her ex-fiancĂ© and fellow detective try to convince their superior. But Madison already has enough to juggle without having to defend her reputation. Debilitating flashbacks of being held hostage by the Russian Mafia mere months before haunt her on an almost daily basis, and the promises she made to herself while in captivity are becoming more and more difficult to keep. Learning to trust is hard enough without constant reminders of what destruction—fatal or otherwise—trusting the wrong person can cause.

Now, as both personal and professional friction within the department mounts, she and her partner, Terry, must figure out what motivation could span generations to cause someone to murder these people. But catching this killer is like grasping at straws, and grabbing the wrong one could mean losing not only her pride but also her boyfriend, her credibility, and her faith in humanity…

Also available for Kobo
~~~

 EXCERPT FROM DEADLY IMPULSE, Chapter 1: 

Chapter 1
APPARENTLY NOT EVEN A DEAD body could stop traffic.
Madison scanned the three-lane, westbound stream of cars. All of the drivers had somewhere to be. Even now, only a few braked to gawk at the investigation on the side of the road.
Squad cars with flashing lights cordoned off the right lane, and the officers were diverting traffic over. This was the busiest intersection in Stiles. With a population of about half a million, seventy-five thousand people passed through this section every hour. Shopping plazas with franchise restaurants and grocery stores occupied two of the four corners; the other two had health care buildings, including one of the city’s three hospitals, the largest of which was on the northeast side of the intersection.
Peace Liberty Hospital sat on acres of land with chain-link fencing running its perimeter. It was outside that fence that the deceased had been found.
Cole Richards, the medical examiner, was working over the body as Crime Scene Unit investigators Cynthia Baxter and Mark Andrews were busy taking pictures and collecting anything that might be evidence.
Cynthia headed up the crime lab. She was also Madison’s closest friend. Her strong genetics gave her the sexy librarian look, and she had wielded that power expertly over men until she got involved with Detective Lou Stanford of the Stiles PD. Now she was engaged. Three months had passed since the announcement, and Madison still hardly believed it some days.
Mark was the only man on the forensics team and the youngest of its four members. Both elements served to make him the target of blame and teasing. All in good fun, of course, even if he might not think so at times. He had long, dark hair that he tied back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. His hairstyle and other mannerisms had most of his colleagues curious about his sexual preference. To date, it remained an enigma.
Madison lowered her sunglasses and took in the scene. It was midday and mid-July, and the sun was beating down with nondiscriminatory heat.
The deceased was an elderly woman, her identity unknown and age estimated to be in her late sixties or early seventies. She had a short cut of gray hair and wore a T-shirt and a skirt. She sat in a wheelchair on the side of the road, her head dipped to her chest at an unnatural angle. That position alone would disclose to anyone paying enough attention that she was dead.
It was a sad state when people were too preoccupied with their busy lives to notice an elderly woman on the side of the road like that. As it was, people would have passed in good quantity before the jogger who had found her had come along.
His name was Erik Marsh, and he was sitting in the back of a squad car providing his statement to the officers who had arrived first on scene. She and Terry would talk to him shortly. The people who found a body were always the first suspects.
The woman’s chair was on the grass beside the sidewalk, placing her closer to the fence than the road. Based on her thin arms and frail frame, she would have needed help to get there. A wooden board strapped to the back of the chair read, PUT AN END TO ABORTION.
“Protesters in this area are not uncommon, but what makes an older lady come out and sit in the hot sun with a sign strapped to her?” She asked the rhetorical question of her partner, ruminating on what brought the woman to this point.
Her partner, Terry Grant, was three years younger than she was and her total opposite. He loved running, and his hair was always perfect—rarely were one of his blond hairs out of place. Madison, on the other hand, hated mornings, so she stuck with a wake-up-and-wear-it cut. While she had a hard time making commitments, Terry was married to his sweetheart of just over five years. Annabelle was pregnant with their first child and due any day.
Madison continued. “Not to mention, why would she get involved in such an issue? Her child-birthing days are behind her.”
“She could have faced this issue earlier in life, or maybe a family member had? She could have been trying to keep things the way they used to be.”
“When was abortion legalized?”
“In most states, 1973. That would make her somewhere in her late twenties, early thirties, if she faced the issue herself.” Terry pulled his phone out and poised a finger over the screen. Despite Madison’s desire that he take notes on a lined pad, like other cops, he was adamant about embracing technology. His hardheaded determination was paying off, though, as his texting speed was improving.
“There’s no way she came alone. Someone must’ve brought her here. But was she dead when they dropped her off, or did she die sitting in this heat? My grandmother always wore a hat on a hot day.” She paced a few steps and brainstormed aloud. “I don’t think this woman chose to come here.”
“Good deduction,” Cole Richards stated matter-of-factly.
It was the only way Richards talked to her these days. Madison’s friendship with him used to be one based upon mutual respect, but things had changed when she questioned his ruling on a prior case. From there, she had dug into his personal past. If she could go back and change things she would.
Richards continued. “Her forearms show bruising to indicate she was in a struggle, but the cause of death still needs to be determined.”
Madison’s gaze fell to the woman’s wrists, marred in hues of purple. Heat surged through her, the fire of adrenaline blending with rage.
Richards’s dark skin pinched around his eyes as he squinted in the bright sun. “Based on the coloring of the contusions, they happened around the time of death.”
“And when was that?”
“I estimate time of death between twelve and eighteen hours ago. Her body is in full rigor.”
“You can’t narrow it down any more than that?” Madison asked.
Richards shook his head. “Liver temp will be off given the heat. I’ll know more once I get her back to the morgue and conduct a full autopsy.”
“When will that be?”
He shrugged. “I’ll let you know.”
Madison nodded. “So you don’t think she died here?” She hoped his answer would instill some faith in humanity. Surely if she’d been here for that length of time, someone would have seen her before Marsh.
“Again, I’ll let you know.”
“What about lividity? Doesn’t it tell you anything?” Terry asked.
Lividity was the settlement, or pooling, of blood in the body after death. If it showed in the woman’s buttocks and the backs of her thighs, she would have died in a sitting position. But that would’ve only told them she’d died in her chair, not her actual location.
“I’ll let you know once I conduct the autopsy. As for where she died, I will leave that up to you to determine.” Richards signaled for his assistant, Milo, to come with the stretcher and body bag. Sadness always soured Madison’s gut when the black plastic came out, ready to wrap the dead in its dark cocoon.
~~~



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CAROLYN ARNOLD is the international best-selling and award-winning author of the Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher, and McKinley Mystery series. She is the only author with POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.™

Carolyn was born in a small town, but that doesn’t keep her from dreaming big. And on par with her large dreams is her overactive imagination that conjures up killers and cases to solve. She currently lives in a city near Toronto with her husband and two beagles, Max and Chelsea. She is also a member of Crime Writers of Canada.



Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:

And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers at http://carolynarnold.net/newsletters.







Check out my Review of First in Brandon Fisher FBI Series



Review of Deadly Impulse coming tomorrow!

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Adolfo Speaks of Love in Response to Don Quixote! The Impossible Dream...And Sophia Loren!




Don Quixote


Loren lips
haunt
every cell of my body--

eyes
translucent in mine
like images
passing through prisms
each a spear for a different torment
the stimulus of lust
awakened
to arrows that drive deeper
into the live flesh
in hunger

and you
are not here
to assuage the pain!
~~~

Adolph Caso
From Observations in Poetry and Pictures
Dante University Foundation





Provided for Those Interested in seeing more of the Film Adaptation...




And a little Fun Video to Complement our Author's Poetic Thoughts...
I almost feel the same about our Certainly Beautiful, Wonderful Actress Sophia!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Captain No Beard is Back with Story about A Flag for the Flying Dragon! Thanks to Carole P. Roman...

English: A Somali pirate ship.
He glances at the empty flag pole. He wished he had a
pirate flag for the Flying Dragon. He couldn't find one he
liked enough to put on his ship. It had to be perfect!
~~~
Wouldn't it be great to be a pirate and have a ship and crew where our imagination takes us all over the world? Well, Carole P. Roman has provided an exciting series--Captain No Beard Stories-- to help create the idea and build the children's interest in all things pirate!

Me, I've traveled more than once on a great big cruise ship on some of our oceans and seas and have found it one of my favorite things in my life...

Even since the first book, the prize-winning stories have continued to delight and amaze children of all ages...

Captain No Beard looked through his spyglass. There was nothing but calm waters and smooth sailing ahead of them...It was business as usual on the Flying Dragon. Everyone had chores to do. The captain turned around to watch all the pirates busy at work. Polly Parrot flew overhead, giving out pretzels to the hardworking crew.
~~~






A Flag for the Flying Dragon
A Captain No Beard Story

By Carole P. Roman

I think one of the best parts of this series is the addition of characters who become crew members...after they have first become part of the family unit, or new friends... It certainly is a subtle endorsement of working and playing together as children and exploring imaginative ideas as a group process... This latest book, showing a diapered child saluting to the captain as a new crew member is simply adorable, while at the same time, supporting the acceptance of an additional family member. Cool nonverbal display, don't you think?

Captain No Beard has been glancing over at the empty flag pole for quite some time. He knows that pirate ships always have a flag to identify the specific ship, but he wants it to be special--one that the whole crew will be honored to sail with...

With Halloween coming up, I figured they were probably looking forward to celebration, maybe even some guests coming for  a trick or treat party... all dressed as a pirate, maybe!

So for now all crew members were on deck cleaning, polishing and getting refreshments ready...

Matie the goat was cracking open coconuts for them to drink the sweet milk for their snack... 

To go with some sugar cookies made in pirate shapes, of course...

While all that was happening, the newest crew member decided to explore, straight up! Zachary has pulled himself up on the mast and Mongo, who was assigned to be the lookout, decided Zachary should be up there with him. Mongo argued that Zachary couldn't even report anything since he didn't talk yet--so there was no need for Zachary to help him... Hallie offered that he could yell loudly! But Fribbet thought he was too young and couldn't be given such a responsibility. Polly even pointed out that he could fall and get hurt...

But everybody always had a job to do on the crew--that was the rule. "Arrrgh," the crew agreed...

As you can guess it wasn't going to be easy to solve this problem since the baby had to be cared for and protected, even as a new crew member... Words like hurricane, typhoon, tornado all began to be thrown out to describe what Zachary tried to get into... Suddenly playing pirates was no longer fun...

The crew was all concerned but didn't have any more ideas... So, of course the Captain was called to find the solution!

And the Captain found something that also fulfilled his own wish... What do you think it was?

As Captain No Beard says, "being captain is hard work," and his leadership development over the years will serve him well as will the problem-solving that both he and the crew get involved in... But for now...

Let's pick out more music for the party! 





For a fun book that still is a learning instrument for kids, do check out this latest book in the Captain No Beard Story Series! Highly recommended...




GABixlerReviews
Free thinkers don't 
  charge for advice



Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012 for her first book, award winning author Carole P. Roman started writing as a dare from one of her sons. Using an imaginary game she played with her grandson as a base, Captain No Beard was born."Captain No Beard- An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life" has not only been named to Kirkus Best of 2012, it received the Star of Exceptional Merit, and won the Pinnacle Award for 2012. "Pepper Parrot's Problem with Patience" Book 2 in the series, received 5 Stars from The ForeWord Review The Clarion Review. Strangers on the High Seas has won second place in the Rebecca's Reads Choice Awards 2013. It has followed with six more books to the series.
Motivated by her love of yoga, Roman has written a book that not only teaches four poses, but shows how easy and accessible yoga can be. 
Her new non fiction series, "If You Were Me and Lived in..." combines her teaching past with her love of exploration and interest in the world around us. The debut book in the series, "If You Were Me and Lived in...Mexico" has won the Pinnacle Award for Best in Children's Non Fiction 2012. France, South Korea, and Norway. Rebecca's Reads has given If You Were Me and Lived in...Norway an honorable mention in the 2013 Choice Awards. If You Were Me and lived in ...France won second place. ForeWord Review has nominated If You Were Me and Lived in...France for best in children's non fiction literature 2013. They will be followed with Kenya, Turkey, India, and Australia. She plans to do Portugal, Greece, and Argentina next year.
Writing for children has opened up a whole second act for her. While she is still working in her family business, this has enabled her to share her sense of humor as well as love for history and culture with the audience she adores. Roman lives on Long Island with her husband and near her children.