REVIEW: The Art of Mingling by Jeanne Martinet

Title: The Art of Mingling

Author: Jeanne Martinet
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: October 20/2015

Acquired: Print copy sent by publisher

Goodreads: ADD

Purchase: Amazon/Indigo

Fully revised and updated—with Jeanne Martinet’s trademark wit and practicality, The Art of Mingling hands you the keys to feeling at ease in any social situation.

Does the idea of going to a large party make your mouth go dry? Are you more comfortable on Facebook than face-to-face? You’re not alone: Ninety percent of the world suffers from minglephobia. Jeanne Martinet has developed a cure—a sure-fire system for overcoming fears and having a great time at any type of business or social gathering. Filled with simple techniques, tricks, tips, lines and maneuvers, and illustrated with entertaining examples, The Art of Mingling teaches you:

- Basic survival strategies for the Truly Terrified
- Opening lines that really work
- Tools and rules for keeping the conversation going in the right direction
- The all-important etiquette of escape
- Faux pas recovery techniques
- How to avoid the dumb use of smartphones
- The secret to being a good listener
- The right way to follow up online
- and much, much more!

TLC BLOG TOUR: Trigger Warning (Short Fictions and Disturbances) by Neil Gaiman

Title: Trigger Warning

Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Short Stories - Various Genres
Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: February 3/2015

Acquired: Print copy sent by publisher

Goodreads: ADD

Purchase: Amazon/Indigo/Book Depository

Multiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things--which includes a never-before published American Gods story, "Black Dog," written exclusively for this volume.

In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction--stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013--as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.

Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In "Adventure Story"--a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane--Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience "A Calendar of Tales" are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year--stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother's Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale "The Case of Death and Honey". And "Click-Clack the Rattlebag" explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we're all alone in the darkness.

A sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday incandescent. Full of wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul from one of the most unique and popular literary artists of our day.

TLC BLOG TOUR: The Raven Room (#1) by Ana Medeiros

Title: The Raven Room (#1)

Author: Ana Medeiros
Genre: Erotic Thriller
Publisher: Diversion Books

Release Date: November 3/2015

Acquired: E-copy copy sent by publisher

Goodreads: ADD

Purchase: Amazon/Indigo/Book Depository

A searing erotic thriller perfect for those tantalized by A.R. Torre's Deanna Madden series.

Anything you can imagine. Everything you crave. For the members of The Raven Room, it’s every fantasy fulfilled. But for some, that desire is a matter of life and death.

Drawn by needs he cannot control, Julian ventures to The Raven Room, a secret and exclusive sex club in the underbelly of Chicago. It goes beyond sex. It goes beyond kink. The Raven Room is the only place where Julian finds release from the dangerous urges that threaten to destroy the successful life he’s worked so hard to build.

When the police link The Raven Room to the death of a young woman, it threatens to expose a number of powerful people—people who would kill to stay anonymous...

Meredith’s body can’t get enough of Julian. He has opened her sexual horizons to tempting new possibilities. But out of bed she’s an aspiring journalist, and The Raven Room is the story she’s been looking for. By writing an exposé on the club and its elite clientele, she plans to launch her career.

As Meredith embarks on a sexual journey into the forbidden world that Julian inhabits, questions emerge, and dark appetites threaten to swallow her whole. How much can she trust the man who has laid bare her erotic nature and how much will she sacrifice in order to protect him?