Tag Archives: strong women

#STRONG #WOMEN – LOVE THEM – BE THEM

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Strength

By keeping their lives in order this means getting up, dressing up and showing up for life.

That includes going to work, caring for your children and your home and paying the bills. Doing all of this keeps you in charge of the things that are within your control, even when things that aren’t are knocking on your door.
Staying empowered by making good choices instead of excuses is what makes you strong.
Knowing you can count on yourself and that other people compliment you and don’t complete you is strength.
Giving a shit about what’s most important makes you strong.
Whining and complaining is not strength.
Neglecting your responsibilities is not strength.
Taking steps toward improvements, even small ones is strength.
Telling everyone how bad ass you are is not strength, that’s ego. Proving how bad ass you are by doing your best in all things is strength.
Finding joy where you are, wherever that is, is strength.
Asking for and graciously accepting help when you need it is strength. Pride, is not strength.

I’ve stood in the shower and cried my eyes out for fifteen minutes when I’m scared or feel like I can’t make it through another day of craziness. I’ve screamed at the top of my lungs in my truck while driving to work when I’m angry. Hell, I’ve even punched my pillows to death but giving up has never been an option for me. I have too many people depending on me, including myself.
Thankfully, I’ve learned just sitting quietly or getting lost in my writing helps me find my center and relieves any anxiety I’ve built up in the course of a day.

Ranting, raving and venting only release all of that negative energy into the world and keep the stresses close to you and just drag those around you down.
Yes, I still cry, scream and get angry. I’m human. I’m a work in progress and thankfully, I don’t do those things anywhere near as often as I used to out of frustration, even though some days I feel I’m provoked to the point of madness.
If I let go even a little bit, EVERYONE and EVERYTHING I’ve worked so hard my whole life for will unravel

Strength is believing in yourself. I believe.

#Reviews of Demons & Pearls – I Couldn’t Be Happier on This Mother’s Day!

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Here are some of the things readers are saying about Demons & Pearls!

FIVE STARS:

A fearless female pirate fueled by adrenaline rush, stakes her claim to the Captain-less ship filled with grubby buccaneers out to get her and her cousins. It’s chaos! It’s madness! It’s freakin’ awesome! And that’s just the beginning!

There’s no situation too precarious and no man too dangerous for Ivory Shepard. She’s just one hell of a character. She’s a total firecracker!

This prequel to “The Blue Diamond: The Razor’s Edge” is a pulse-pounding, beard-curling, action-packed story that has enough voltage to power up a Kindle device. It’s more than just a frenzied pirate tale. It brings to the fore controversial issues with tremendous passion, evident in the narrative style and tenor.

This is such a thrilling read; not encumbered by lengthy expositions and sappy romance talk. It just tells an electrifying story of love, murder, revenge, and survival – not necessarily in that order.

FIVE STARS:

You won’t want to miss this swashbuckling pirate tale! Always the family protector, Ivory has taken on the best of the best on the high seas as she and her cousins are kidnapped to be sold into slavery. She has also ticked off a few nasty pirates along the way and her life is in grave danger. Perhaps murdering a pirate captain, deserved or not won’t earn her the respect she craves as a force to be reckoned with. The rules of the sea clearly state she has won the right to be captain of her own ship, really, what young woman doesn’t want to be a pirate? Her first duty would be to stop the brutal manhandling of women, including rape, torture and the selling of their favors. Not so popular a mission in the dark corners of a pirate’s world, because aside from their own code, pirates are soooo honorable, right?

Ivory’s biggest mistake in killing the thieving pirate? He has a brother, who is equally as thieving, murderous and is hell-bent to exact revenge, which IS part of the pirate code. One pirate stands above the rest, literally as well as honorably and Ivory may have met her match in the love department. Will it be enough when the battle at sea begins? Ivory would die to keep her family safe, and it looks like she just may have to…

Action, adventure, strong women, equally strong men, smelly pirates and dirty minds, plus a sword fight or two, thanks to the imagination of P.S. Bartlett and Demons and Pearls. There is never a dull moment as we are settled deeply in the mind, thoughts and actions of Ivory, aka, the Razor! She is tiny, she is tough and she has a heart as big as the Pacific Ocean and she is creating a stir among all pirates, everywhere! Humor, horrendous deeds, heart and a mutiny or two, when will they learn to stay on the good side of The Razor? P.S. Bartlett has outdone herself with this tale! I almost cried when I hit THE END. This one is more than a gem in the treasure chest of reading!

I received this copy from P.S. Bartlett in exchange for my honest review.

FIVE STARS:

“… if you ever had a tender inch, you’ve buried it beneath the vines of bitterness you’ve wrapped yourself in. Tell me Ivory, who did this to you? Who plucked the rose and left the thorns?”
OH BOY!!!!! 6 stars!!
The author was wonderful enough to send me a copy of her book and I’m so thankful for her!
This book just left me speechless!! Why, oh why, did it have to end in a cliffhanger??
This book starts with a powerful bang and the punches keep coming so brace yourself! This is the first pirate book I’ve ever read and I don’t know what is wrong with me! My bookshelf should be overflowing with them! I will be sure to fix that hiccup because this book has it all!
Ivory wants to be a pirate despite being a woman but aboard a life full of rotten secrets (and a particular handsome captain) she not only has to manage to stay alive but keep her cousins from harm as well. There were tears shed with lots of laughs, violence laced with tenderness, suspense and intense battle scenes plus so much more! I have always been intrigued by the language of pirates and their sense of humor so I absolutely loved how it was interpreted in this book! I was kept at the edge of my seat for a good chunk of this story and I can’t wait to get my hands on Ivory’s next adventure! Water has an immense place in my heart and I related to Ivory in the sense that she wants make a living out of the ocean. I wanted to jump into her shoes more than any other character I’ve read about! She’s also a complete bad ass and who in their right mind wouldn’t want to be one as well?
Not to mention, I just met my book husband, not boyfriend, but husband!! Resmus is simply to die for. I need a man like him in my life! His relationship with Ivory is nothing short of intense and heart wrenching! They hold the #1 spot in my heart as of now!
A pirate’s life is definitely for me!

FIVE STARS:

I received Demons and Pearls from P.S. Bartlett in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Looking for a great beach book or high-spirited summer read? Demons and Pearls fits the bill perfectly! Set in the exotic Caribbean islands, the story starts out with a fierce pirate battle and the energy never lets up.
Kidnapped along with her cousins, Ivory is a strong heroine who won’t let anything, including being a girl, stop her from defending her family. Finding love with a handsome pirate captain was just icing on the cake. But even with his help, the cousins will face an uphill battle full of treachery and lies if they every want to be free again.

This was the first P.S. Bartlett book I’ve ever read and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing and storytelling. Can’t wait for Ivory’s next adventure!

So, if you like romance, historical adventure,

FIVE STARS:

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This is the first I have read anything from P.S. Bartlett. It will not be the last.
The reason I was eager to read this novel was my desire to re-acquaint myself with stories of the swashbuckling pirate adventures of my youth that I enjoyed both in print and in movies.
When younger I would read about Black Beard, Black Bart and Long John Silver for a few. I would watch movies starring Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks (not Jr.). I enjoyed them so much that I researched female pirates. I thought there had to be some. It brought me to women like Anne Bonny, Anne Dieu Le-Veut, Grace O, Jacquotte Delahaye, Grace O’Malley and Rachel Wall.
This novel did not disappoint.
It is the story of Ivory and her three cousins. They had a hard life and she was taught to fight, really fight, like pirates from an Uncle who told them tales of his seafaring days. She in turn taught them. They were kidnapped taken aboard a ship to be sold into slavery. They had to find a way out and made their plans to escape. As in all adventures things do not go according to plan.
This novel is filled with adventure, romance, violence, and murder. It is well written with characters that are well developed, as is the plot.
My only fault with this book, is one of my own making. I did not research well enough to realize that this book actually takes up from where “The Blue Diamond: The Razor’s Edge” ends. I wish I had realized that and read it first. I think this should be listed as a series. I know that I am going back to read The Blue Diamond and am wanting a squel to Demons and Pearls. i just have to know what happens to Ivory, her girls and Rasmus.
I would and will recommend this book to anyone who will listen. Grab your favorite beverage and make yourself comfortable. Open this book and go on an adventure. It is one you will not be able to put down.

FIVE STARS:

A Hoi maties! Meet 18 year old Ivory Shepard as she takes her first journey by ship, which will eventually lead her to become a female Pirate captain. “Demons and Pearls” is the prequel to very well written and entertaining Historical Romance “The Blue Diamond”.

Set in a world where Human flesh is worth much more than pearls and young woman get sold for their pureness, Ivory must fight her way from the clutches of the Demons of the Oceans who will have her very soul and that of her three cousins whom she has sworn to protect.

P.S Bartlett paints a story so believable, which captures your imagination in such a profound way; that at times you forget you are sitting there reading a book. At one point I felt the need to jump right into my kindle and join the fight, wheedling my own sword if the author had just given me one. Her characters jump to life, and you can practically smell the rum on their breaths as Ivory starts to figure out who is friend and who is foe. Needless to say Ivory (this book is written in first person perspective) really brings the oceans alive.

If I had to classify this tale I’d say it is a Historical Adventure Romance. Yes Romance, since we meet Ivory’s first love in this tale. I’d certainly like to read more tales of Ivory Shepard and her Big Red. I want to find out what happened between the two of them.

FOUR STARS:

Demons & Pearls: The Razor’s Adventures by P.S.Bartlett is a prequel to The Blue Diamond: The Razor’s Edge, a book I enjoyed tremendously. Demons & Pearls opens with a rip-roaring battle on the high seas, Ivory Shepard and her cousins fighting for their lives against pirates bent on doing them harm. The strong female lead characters make this series very appealing. Historical details lend authenticity to the narrative. If you’re a fan of adventure, romance, and historical fiction, you’ll like this book.