Bethany House; 414 pages; $14.99; Blog Tour; Buy Link

Now available from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, is the the historical romance The Mark of the King by author Jocelyn Green.

Typically, I prefer my historical romance reads to be set during the 1800s, but ever since I watched the "White Queen" mini-series on DVD last month, I've become interested in reading novels set in other historical periods.

Set during the 18-century, The Mark of the King centers on Julianne Chevalier, a 25-year-old midwife who is imprisoned and marked for death after her client dies. She ends up trading a life sentence in exchange for being exiled from France. With no where else to go, she heads to the French colony of Louisiana to join her brother, Benjamin.

Unfortunately, getting to New Orleans isn't an easy task, so she is forced to marry a convict to get passage from France to Louisiana. New Orleans is nothing like she imagined it would be, and despite her best efforts, she cannot locate her brother. She has no other choice, but to receive help from a military officer, Mar-Paul Girard, in finding her brother.

Jimmy Patterson; 331 pages; $13.99; Amazon

Even if you're a diehard fan of the bestselling author James Patterson, keeping up with his dozens of releases every year can be a bit difficult. Besides from his famous crime thrillers and his new Bookshots novellas, Mr. Patterson also writes (or co-writes) books for middle school readers.

Now available from Jimmy Patterson Books (a division of Little, Brown and Company) is House of Robots: Robot Revolution by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, along with illustrations by Juliana Neufeld.

House of Robots centers on Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez, a young boy who lives in a house full of robots! Yep, I said robots. His mother, Dr. Elizabeth Hayes, is an engineer and she has created many robots and gadgets for their home. His father, Noah Rodriguez, creates graphic novels (comic books). Sammy has a younger sister named Maddie, who has SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency d), which makes it hard for her to be around germs, so she is mostly isolated to her bedroom.

The last member of the Rodriguez family is E, a robotic brother who goes to school with Sammy. Dr. Hayes created E for Maddie, who can attend school without ever leaving her bedroom by using E's sight, hearing, and communication skills to interact with her classmates and teacher.

The Rodriguez's household is turned upside in down in "Robot Revolution" when Dr. Hayes begins working on a top secret new project and neglects all the routine maintenance for her robots. All the robots, including the new electric SUV, start malfunctioning; causing a bit of chaos in Sammy's life.

Revell; 336 pages; $14.99; Amazon

There's nothing better to do on a boring Thursday afternoon than to read a book, along with drinking a few cups of coffee.

What title did I read today?

Well, it's the third book in "The Bishop's Family" series, titled The Devoted. It's written by the award-winning & bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher.

Similar to the other two books (The Imposter, and The Quieting) in the series, The Devoted once again centers on the Stoltzfus family; though this time Ruthie Stolzfus is the main character, a young woman who is considering leaving her Amish heritage for the outside world. This is a romance story, so of course there is a love interest, Patrick Kelly, for Ruthie.

I'm not going to go any further into the actual plot as I don't want to spoil it for other readers.

Now available from Vesuvian Books is the paranormal thriller Blackwell, book one in the Magnus Blackwell Series, by Alexandrea Weis with Lucas Astor.


The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule for a Q&A about her newest novel.


When did you become interested in storytelling? 

From the time I was eight years old, I loved telling stories.

What was your first book/story published? 

To My Senses, Book 1 in The Nicci Beauvoir series was my first published book.

What inspired you to write Blackwell? 

I love ghost stories and it is one of my favorite genres, that this was a series with a ghost seeking redemption intrigued me.

What character in Blackwell is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Yeah, I know it's been awhile since I have posted a "Monday Morning Madness" post, so thought I would go ahead and at least write one post for 2017, but hopefully there will be more. Anyhow, my original plan was to review the Greens Super Food in this post, but I've changed my mind and I'll feature it as a "Late Night Fitness Review" later in the week.

I'll also be reviewing the Protein Energy Power, which I just received four sample flavors (Banana, Chocolate, Honey, Original) a few minutes ago in the mail. I'll try out one of them tomorrow after my workout.

Yes, I'm still working out, but it's not my New Year's Resolution. Actually, I started a new workout program (Core De Force) on Dec. 26th, so it doesn't count as a resolution. Actually, I don't have a resolution for this year, though I might attempt to stop procrastinating.

Core De Force is the new MMA-style core/cardio workout from Beachbody. I had purchased the basic program as an early Christmas present for myself. There's a lot of kicking and punching in it, which is just the kind of workout that I like. I won't record my weight again until after tomorrow's workout (Day 30, which is the last day of the program), but I believe I have lost around 4 or 5 pounds. It might not sound like a lot for month, but I have lost over two inches my waist.