Wednesday, December 30, 2015

#MMBBR Blog Tour Host: PUT A RING ON IT BY BETH KENDRICK #FRC @booksparks @BKendrickBooks

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51CZBXIZhML._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_PUT A RING ON IT BY BETH KENDRICK

Course Title: Commitment Crash Course
Department: Chick-lit
Course Date: December 14
Description: Before jumping into your next relationship, take this course and study up on quickie marriages, one night stands (or not!) and marital law.
http://amzn.to/1Uer5K6


The author of New Uses for Old Boyfriends returns to the Delaware seashore town of Black Dog Bay, where one woman learns to put passion before practicality…

Brighton Smith doesn’t do outrageous. As an insurance actuary, it’s her job to assess risk and avoid bad investments. But when her fiancĂ© calls to confess he’s married someone else on a whim (“I looked at her and I just knew!”), she snaps…

That night, at a local bar, Jake Sorensen—hot, rich, and way out of her league—buys Brighton a cocktail. At midnight, she kisses him. And by dawn, they’re exchanging vows at a drive-through chapel.

Brighton knows Jake is a bad bet, but she doesn’t care. After a lifetime of playing it safe, she’s finally having fun. Until the whirlwind romance gives way to painful reality...and Brighton finds out the truth about why a guy like Jake married a girl like her. With her heart on the line and the odds stacked against them, Brighton must decide whether to cut her losses or take a leap of faith that this love affair is one in a million.
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beth-kendrick-headshotBeth Kendrick is the author of The Week Before the Wedding, The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service, and Nearlyweds, which was turned into a Hallmark Channel original movie. She lives in Arizona with her two rescue dogs, but she loves to vacation at the Delaware shore, where she goes to Funland, eats boardwalk fries, and wishes that the Whinery really existed.


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This is another hit by Kendrick.  There is so much to love in this novel.  It makes you feel.  It makes you want to savor every single word because it is one of those reads that has characters you care about.  It is fun, with mystery elements and tons of emotions.  I laughed, cried and felt like I was on the journey with everyone within the pages!  What a fun read, a great book for a book club and a great read to snuggle under the blankets with!  Plus, look at that cover...are you kidding me!!  It is way too cute and I adore looking at it!!!  It also pulls at your heart strings.  4.5 stars


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Wednesday, December 23, 2015

#MMBBR Review: Doodle Art Alley Books: 2016 Coloring Quote Calendar and My Coloring Journal @DoodleArtAlley


Color Your Way to an Inspiring 2016!
The 2016 Coloring Quote Calendar is a great way to stay organized each and every month. Beautiful doodle art images of quotes for each month along with monthly calendars and “to do” seasonal themes—from hearts, leaves, and snowflakes to stars, sunshine, and waves—provide plenty of fun, inspiration, and relaxation. Quotes from famous authors include Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, and more. At the end of the year, you will have a gorgeous gallery of your very own to share and enjoy.
Colored pencils recommended.
Explore the Magic of Doodle Art

MY REVIEW:
I have already started coloring my calendar!  I cannot wait to keep track of my workouts, diet, exercise and activity in 2016!  I love the monthly quotes, and places to write your notes, goals, events, to do list and there is also a place to make your own doodles!  This calendar is a MUST for lovers of coloring and those that want to keep track of their daily activity!!  I just love this calendar and think this quote (featured for January) sums up the wonder each new year brings:  A New Heart For A New Year, Always: Charles Dickens!  5 stars!


Color, Doodle, and Journal Your Way to Fun, Inspiration, and Relaxation
My Coloring Journal--Live, Laugh, Love shares 60 beautiful doodle art images of inspiring sayings and words from A New Day, Believe, and Dream Big to Life’s a Journey, Live Your Dream, and Work Hard. Also included are beautiful doodle themes of flowers, shapes, and stars as well as pages to create your own doodles, record things you are thankful for, and list your favorite things. The journal is designed so that you begin and finish each and every entry with plenty of enjoyment, inspiration, and relaxation.

MY REVIEW: 
This is the best companion to the calendar.  I love that is a smaller and simpler coloring option. You can keep it in your purse and color and journal when time allows while out and about.  It has all the great details of the larger books and the great quotes, but in a smaller size!  I cannot wait to expand the things I would keep track of in my calendar in this amazing journal!  The journal and calendar match and are perfect together!  I just adore this journal and cannot wait to fill it with all the adventures that lie ahead in 2016!!!  5 huge stars! 

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#MMBBR: Sneak Peek: Match Me If You Can by Michele Gorman @MicheleGormanUK


From the USA TODAY and Sunday Times International Bestseller comes the romantic comedy for every woman who's ever suspected that it really isn't her... it's him 
"Michele's writing is so engaging and witty." Sophie Kinsella 

Book Description


Ever thought about recycling your Ex? 

Best friends Catherine, Rachel & Sarah are fun, smart, successful and single - just like millions of women with a low tolerance for idiocy in their dates. 

Mr. Right hasn't turned up yet, and Mr. Right-Now isn't worth booking a wax appointment for. So when Catherine, London’s finest matchmaker, gets Rachel and Sarah to join her dating site where they can recycle their ex-boyfriends in exchange for an upgrade, they soon realize that anything could happen . . . 

Three best friends, proving that sometimes it really isn't you... it's him.




http://amzn.to/1NLCq0f

Monday, December 21, 2015

#MMBBR Showcase: Absolute Truth, For Beginners by Katarina West @WestKatarina



Elisa Mancini is a Nobody. Painfully insecure, more at ease with books than with people, at twenty-three she’s a university dropout living at her aunt’s, drifting from one day to another, and waiting for something big to happen. 
Judith Shapiro is a Somebody. Arrogant and eccentric, she’s a superstar of mathematics, the subject of scientific articles, and the undisputed ruler of the world around her. 
In a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, Elisa falls madly in love with Judith Shapiro. For sixty-eight days she is the mistress of an internationally acclaimed mathematician. 
But loving Judith Shapiro is like running a marathon in a war zone. As days pass, Elisa’s wild infatuation takes on a suicidal bent, and the world around her starts to go to pieces. Just as everything is about to blow up, the moment of truth comes. 
Absolute Truth, For Beginners is a story about truth, time and love. Or about identity, positive nursing, degrees of happiness, Baroque art, scientific theories, homosexual lovemaking, arrogant television producers, and becoming who you really are.

Katarina West

Katarina West was born in Helsinki, Finland, into a bilingual family that in addition to humans consisted of dogs, cats, horses, guinea pigs, canaries, rabbits and - thanks to her biology teacher mother - stuffed owls and squirrels.

She spent time travelling in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and went on to study at Queen Mary and Westfield College in London and the European University Institute in Florence, where she completed a PhD in political science and published a book based on it, Agents of Altruism. During those student years she started work as a journalist, and continued writing for various Finnish magazines and newspapers for over ten years, writing on various topics from current events and humanitarian issues to celebrity interviews and short stories. She also briefly worked as a university lecturer on humanitarian issues in Northern Italy.

Katarina lives in an old farmhouse in Chianti with her husband and son and when not writing, she is fully immersed in Tuscan country life, from jam-making and olive-picking to tractor maintenance.

Witchcraft Couture is her first novel and, unlike the unearthly clothes in its pages, her outfits are not shining.

You can visit her website at http://www.katarinawest.com, read her blog at http://www.katarinawest.com/things_I_know_about_life and follow her on Goodreads, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter @WestKatarina



What inspires your writing?
Anything and everything. Books, concerts, music, exhibitions, ideas.

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
Writing! There is nothing quite like it.

What is the toughest part of being a writer?
Like so many other writers, I am one of those people who would love to spend days in the company of fictional people, and forget about the rest. But nowadays that just isn’t possible, not any more.

If you could not be writer, what would you do/be?
I was trained to become an aid worker – I even have a PhD in humanitarian studies.

What would the story of your life be entitled?
Gone with the Wind?

What is your favorite book of all time?
A tricky question. You need a lifetime to answer it.

Which character from ANY book are you most like?
To my great misfortune, I have rarely, if ever, identified myself with fictional characters. They say that fictional characters are like us, only more – more dramatic, more passionate, more emotional. So maybe I’m not just, you know… enough.

What character from all of your book are you most like?
There’s something of me in many of my characters, like Oscar from Witchcraft Couture, or Elisa from Absolute Truth, For Beginners.

Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?
As we’re living in the digital age, I just take my Kindle, and that’s it. It’s a wonderful feeling of liberty and lightness, to carry an entire bookshelf with you, wherever you go.

What is your favorite season?
Autumn. Summer. Spring… Oh well, I really love them all!

What inspired your book covers? 
I have the great privilege to work with Andrew Brown at Design for Writers. He has designed my book covers. We exchange ideas about my books, and in the end he has free hands to do whatever he wants. The results have been wonderful – he is just so creative.

Tell me something funny that happened while promoting your book.
OK, so there is one peculiar thing... Because ever since I started to prepare my December book launch in late-September, I noticed that my chocolate intake has risen to record levels. I began to keep ‘Book Launch Chocolate Diary’, only to realise that there is a real correlation between Toblerone and a successful book campaign. So my message to all authors is: yes, you need reviewers, and you need interviews, and you need giveaways. But to make it all happen, you need a lot of chocolate!

Are you working on something new?
Yes, it’s a story about angels and destiny and having it all – in your second life. It is called The Thousand Tiny Miracles of Living Twice, and it’s coming out in December 2016.

Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?
Thanks for reading this interview! I wish you lots of joy, and lots of love, and lots of well-written stories. Because in the end that’s all that matters, right?



#MMBBR Showcase THE LITTLE TREE by Muon Van @muon_van

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When the Little Tree sees the world around her narrowing, she worries about what life will be like for her Little Seed. She decides to take the biggest risk of all, and let Little Seed find a richer life on her own.




A NEW FAVORITE!!!! I adored Muon Van's other book The Village by the Sea and when the chance arose to read The Little Tree I was so excited!! I was not disappointed by the new book by the brilliant story teller Muon Van. The Little Tree is so brilliant because the story has so many interpretations. I feel that every readers will take something different away from the story, but all readers will be moved by this heart warming story. To me, this was a story about a mother letting her children go so that the child has a better life than she did. That the mother knew that the deed was destined to greater things. That as a mother we want our children to succeed and grow to their full potential. To others, this story may be so very different. All I am certain of is that I LOVED it. Not only was the story brilliant , but the illustrations were also amazing. So much vibrant colors and creatures within the pages. It is one of those books that I want to hop into and sit beneath the tress. I want to listen to the animals moving about the forest. I want to smell the smells of nature surrounding me! This book is a must have for your child's home library! 5 stars!!! 


Muon Van

Muon Van is a critically-acclaimed picture book author, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie baker and cordless vacuum operator. She lives in Northern California with a family that makes her earn her keep by telling two original stories every other night. The storytelling is sometimes followed by sensational singing.



Q.  What inspires your writing?
A. Currently, my four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son inspire my writing the most, although life, conversations and other books also provide quite a bit of inspiration.

Q.  What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
A. Having someone enjoy--and remember--my stories! I love reading and speaking with young readers especially!

Q.  What is the toughest part of being a writer?
A. To continue persevering when the output is not as great as you'd hoped, or the feedback not as positive or immediate.

Q. If you could not be writer, what would you do/be?
A. A squirrel, a tech entrepreneur, or an illustrator. Or a ninja, if my daughter will allow me into her clan, since she's an expert on ninjas once she dressed in black and tied a purple headband on her forehead this morning (who knew that's all it took?!)

Q.  What would the story of your life be entitled?
A. When Joy and Happiness Collide

Q.  What is your favorite book of all time?
A. One that I discovered really late but absolutely love is Winnie-the-Pooh.

Q.  Which character from ANY book are you most like?
A. Hm, I definitely empathize with a lot of characters but I don't know if I can pinpoint one exactly.

Q.  What character from all of your book are you most like?
A. I'd like to think there's a bit of me in all of them.

Q.  Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?
A. Great question! Definitely expands my notion of vacations. At first, I thought maybe something like Invisible Cities but I think I may prefer a big bedtime vacation like Goodnight Moon even more.

Q.  What is your favorite season?
A. In Chicago, it's winter, in New York, it's spring, in California, it's summer. So summer.

Q.  What inspired your book cover(s)?  Or what is your favorite book cover and why?
A. Never had a favorite book cover...

Q.  Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.
A. During one book reading, my daughter raised her hand to ask a question, but it turned out to be an announcement to everyone that she was going to get a lollipop after the book reading.

Q.  Are you working on something new?
A. Yes, I have a couple of stories in progress and another book coming out in the not-too-distant future, about a disgruntled, clever witch!

Q.  Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?
Thank you for your time--it's been a pleasure!


#MMBBR Review/Showcase Round-Up!!!!





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Sparkle In The Snow Leads To So Much More 

Celeste Nichols has always preferred to keep to herself in her hometown of Pine Gulch, Idaho…until she becomes an instant celebrity! When one of her children's stories becomes a major success, she's suddenly the talk of the town. Celeste should be gloriously happy…but something, someone, special is still missing from her life. Could the return of her childhood crush be the answer?  

Flynn Delaney has moved back home for his daughter's sake. Yet all the millionaire's resources can't help the little girl heal from the tragic loss of her mother. Shy librarian Celeste and her stories do hold some indefinable magic, though. Flynn came home looking for support—can he find that, and true love, in the one who got away?

MY REVIEW:
What a beautiful Christmas story!  What is better?  Two great books in one!!!  This book contains: A Cold Creek Christmas Story and Christmas in Cold Creek.  Both are heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking, but always a delight to read!  What a great read for the holiday season and a book I recommend to all lovers of romance!  4.5 stars


For 15-year-old Emma Wilson, everything is changing. Uncomfortable at home and in school, Emma’s growing up, and feels isolated from her friends and family. Things go from bad to unfathomably worse when Emma inadvertently causes an accident that kills her increasingly distant father on a spring break canoe trip meant to bring them closer together.
Suddenly, Emma's efforts to reconcile with her father as a parent and a person have to happen without him, and she must confront her guilt and her grief to begin moving forward. With the help of river rats, ranch hands, and her horse, Magic, Emma finds strength in herself as she and her family navigate their reentry into “normal” life.

MY REVIEW:
This is a YA book with depth, heart and authenticity that some YA lacks.  The voice that Treichel gives to his characters is fresh and real.  The story is gripping and emotional and one I will not soon forget!  What a great read! 4.5 stars 


In her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.
In a heartbeat, everything changes…
Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.  
Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.
As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.
Where is Ben? The clock is ticking...

 MY REVIEW:
I am going to be honest when I say that I am still reading this.  Why????  Because, it is so stressful, good stressful, engaging stressful, but oh so stressful.  As a mother, I am heartbroken by the story line and I cannot help but put myself in Rachel's place and it breaks my heart!  The story follows Rachel and Jim, an officer working the case.  It is such emotional read and I cannot wait to see how it end, but truth be told I can only read a little bit at a time. I am invested in the story and intend to finish it over the holiday!  So far the book is a solid 4.5 stars!


Twenty-nine Indiana authors write about their love of books, bookstores, and reading. Proceeds from the book support Indianapolis adult literacy program, Indy Reads.
The collection features bestselling authors John Green, Will Shortz, Dan Wakefield, Cathy Day and John David Anderson, Victoria Barrett, Frank Bill, Ray Boomhower, Mary Susan Buhner, Lorene Burkhart, Michael Dahlie, Cathy Day, Carol Faenzi, Terence Faherty, Lou Harry, Liza Hyatt, Angela Jackson-Brown, Lyn Jones, Jeff Knurek & David Hoyt, Karen Kovacik, Norbert Krapf, Bonnie Maurer, Susan Neville, Barb Shoup, Amy Sorrells, Gordon Strain & Dianne Moneypenny, Larry Sweazy, and Ben Winters. It was edited by M. Travis DiNicola and Zach Roth.
Television variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show used to offer audiences a little of this and a little of that, introducing them to a range of styles in an unintimidating way, making it easy to shake off a dud while continuing to mine for gold. That is what a good anthology such as Indy Writes Books does as well.
Lou Harry, Indianapolis Business Journal
Indy Writes Books: A Book Lover's Anthology. Published by Indy Reads Books and benefiting the adult-literacy nonprofit Indy Reads, the book features 27 authors, poets, and even puzzle-makers with significant Indiana connections. The publisher nailed the book's physical appearance clever visual play on the cover makes it a handsome collection. But is it any good? Yes quite good, actually.
Matt Gonzales, Indianapolis Monthly

MY REVIEW:
What a stunning set of stories!  This is a book that can be cherished over time.  You can sit down and read one story or make your way through many!  There are so many voices contained in this book that there is certainly something for everyone!   I took my time working my way through and had a delightful time doing so!  4 stars


SHOWCASING

Sometimes there are not enough hours in the day to read all the books that are sent.  Very sad indeed, right??? But I want to feature them, so you can become aware of them and read them yourself!  ENJOY!!!  


"The problem with cutting your own hair is that once you start, you just keep cutting, trying to fix it, and the truth is, some things can never be fixed. The day of my daddy's funeral, I cut my bangs until they were the length of those little paintbrushes that come with dime-store watercolor sets. I was nine years old. People asked me why I did it, but I was too young then to know I was changing my hair because I wanted to change my life."

In 1983, on her nineteenth birthday, Zora Adams finally says goodbye to her alcoholic mother and their tiny town in the mountains of South Carolina. Living with a woman who dresses like Judy Garland and brings home a different man each night is not a pretty existence, and Zora is ready for life to be beautiful.

With the help of a beloved teacher, she moves to a coastal town and enrolls in the Davenport School of Beauty. Under the tutelage of Mrs. Cathcart, she learns the art of fixing hair, and becomes fast friends with the lively Sara Jane Farquhar, a natural hair stylist. She also falls hard for handsome young widower Winston Sawyer, who is drowning his grief in bourbon. She couldn't save Mama, but maybe she can save him.

As Zora practices finger waves, updos, and spit curls, she also comes to learn that few things are permanent in this life--except real love, lasting friendship, and, ultimately... forgiveness.


Second Chance Ranch with First-Rate Cowboy  

Kimberly Lee isn't sure what she'll find when she comes to Forever, Texas, to do a story on a groundbreaking program that could put this small town on the map. It certainly isn't the warm, friendly community that makes the roving reporter feel instantly at home. Or the accident that lays her up at Garrett White Eagle's ranch, where the blue-eyed rancher awakens feelings she long ago gave up. 

Giving people hope again is the goal of the healing ranch Garrett started with his brother. And the lovely, hardworking writer is no exception. Doesn't Kim realize how much good they can do—together? Her future is here with him. If she's willing to trust in a love that could fulfill the promise of forever.


An Amish Homecoming 

Luke Bowman's homecoming is turning Emma Swartzentruber's carefully ordered world upside down. Gone is her rebellious girlhood crush, and in his place is a handsome man who seems committed to serving the community. Luke's even agreed to work for Emma's ill father, whose last wish is to see his daughter wedded to a stable, loving man. But Luke—a man who flirted with the outside world with disastrous consequences—is hardly marriage material for a good Amish woman. Yet this Christmas, when her family is flung into crisis, Emma finds that he may just be the one to capture her heart for good.


Grey Haward has always detested the Chemists, the magicians-come-scientists who rule her small western town. But she has always followed the rules, taking the potion the Chemists ration out that helps the town’s people survive. A potion that Grey suspects she—like her grandfather and father—may not actually need.
By working at her grandfather’s repair shop, sorting the small gears and dusting the curio cabinet inside, Grey has tried to stay unnoticed—or as unnoticed as a tall, strong girl can in a town of diminutive, underdeveloped citizens. Then her best friend, Whit, is caught by the Chemists’ enforcers after trying to protect Grey one night, and after seeing the extent of his punishment, suddenly taking risks seems the only decision she can make.
But with the risk comes the reality that the Chemists know her family’s secret, and the Chemists soon decide to use her for their own purposes. Panicked, Grey retreats to the only safe place she knows—her grandfather’s shop. There, however, a larger secret confronts her when her touch unlocks the old curio cabinet in the corner and reveals a world where porcelain and clockwork people are real. There, she could find the key that may save Whit’s life and also end the Chemists’ dark rule forever.


"Radziwill's delicious debut novel… is a poignant tale of love and loss." ―Publishers Weekly
"One of the richest, most deeply satisfying stories I've read in a long time." ―BookPage
"Carole Radziwill writes like a cross between Sophie Kinsella and Christopher Buckley. Cautiously romantic, unexpectedly moving, and funny!" ―Susan Sarandon
The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating is Carole Radziwill's deliciously smart comedy about a famously widowed young New Yorker hell-bent on recapturing a kind of passionate love she never really had
Claire Byrne is a quirky and glamorous 34-year-old Manhattanite and the wife of a famous, slightly older man. Her husband, Charlie, is a renowned sexologist and writer. Equal parts Alfred Kinsey and Warren Beatty, Charlie is pompous yet charming, supportive yet unfaithful; he's a firm believer that sex and love can't coexist for long, and he does little to hide his affairs. Claire's life with Charlie is an always interesting if not deeply devoted one, until Charlie is struck dead one day on the sidewalk by a falling sculpture ... a Giacometti, no less!
Once a promising young writer, Claire had buried her ambitions to make room for Charlie's. After his death, she must reinvent herself. Over the course of a year, she sees a shrink (or two), visits an oracle, hires a "botanomanist," enjoys an erotic interlude (or ten), eats too little, drinks too much, dates a hockey player, dates a billionaire, dates an actor (not any actor either, but the handsome movie star every woman in the world fantasizes about dating). As she grieves for Charlie and searches for herself, she comes to realize that she has an opportunity to find something bigger than she had before―maybe even, possibly, love.


Years ago, family loyalty caused Fain Hauk to give up everything he loved: His military career. His planet. His fiancée. Even his name.
Now decades later, everything has changed. He's built a new life out of the ashes of his old, and he's vowed to never let anything threaten his loved ones again.
But when old enemies align themselves with new ones, he's caught in the middle of a brutal war. And when fate throws his former fiancée back into his world and she has her own agenda that includes taking his head for what he did to her years ago, more than just his life is at stake. The fate of the Ichidian universe and that of his brothers-in-arms hangs in the balance. Winner take all.
It's kill or be killed, and never has the battle been more fierce...
Or more fun, in Born of Betrayal, the next League: Nemesis Rising novel from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon!


Welcome to Monsterland – the scariest place on Earth. All guests can interact with real vampires in Vampire Village, be chased by an actual werewolf on the River Run, and walk among the dead in Zombieville. Wyatt Baldwin, a high school student and life-long movie buff is staring bleakly at a future of flipping burgers. Due to a fortuitous circumstance, Wyatt and his friends are invited to the star-studded opening of Monsterland. In a theme park full of real vampires, werewolves and zombies, what could possibly go wrong?


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