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Friday, June 8, 2012

SINS OF THE MIND - REVIEW & INTERVIEW

"As the danger gets closer to Abby, so does Ethan. But can they get past his secrets before the killer gets to them? Sometimes the sins of the mind are more depraved than the sins of the heart."

Author: L.J. Garland & Debbie Gould
Pages: 248 pages
Publisher: Decadent Publishing on April 2012
Form: E-book (from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Romantic Suspense / Mystery
Series: Red River  #1
Amazon: Buy / $9.19 (Kindle)EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $5.99 (Nook)
All Romance E-books: Buy / $5.99 (E-book)

"Seven years ago, Abby Montgomery survived a brutal attack. Now she is ready to put her pain in the past and move on with her life. The problem is, one by one the men in her life are being viciously murdered.

The detective assigned to the case, Ethan Parker, has demons of his own to hide. As the danger gets closer to Abby, so does Ethan. But can they get past his secrets before the killer gets to them? Sometimes the sins of the mind are more depraved than the sins of the heart."


A truly creepy mystery with all the great spices of romantic suspense with the gory details of gruesome serial murders! Oh I really enjoyed this - I was peeved a little in the beginning as the romance wasn't moving at the normal romance speed but then the murders kept piling up and you begun to see they were all around Abby and that just got creepy.

A good mystery has you changing your mind about who the killer is, and Sins of the Mind had me guessing. Also I got really invested in the characters, I hated Mikey, respected Ethan and liked Abby and was annoyed at Elliott ( geez, seriously who talks about themselves in third person!? ).

I loved this novel, I've always been a fan of good serial killer mystery and with the romance aspect added I was sold! I can't talk too much about the plot without giving it away but you should know that while it takes while for the romance to get going it's yummy when it does blossom and the fact that the killer is stalking and brutalizing all the men who are in Abby's life is really creepy and creates wonderful setting for Ethan and Abby to realize they belong together.

I loved Ethan's secret from Abby, it truly was something that could easily break any relationship - and I loved it that it was told flat out in the beginning instead of the whole I got a secret but the reader doesn't know it that just pisses me off... I liked getting into Ethan's head and this one was massive secret to keep and I loved how it ate him when he was with Abby or her brother.

I highly recommend this for romance fans who love a good serial killer mystery!

Rating :




Niina : Welcome to For The Love of Reading, Debbie Gould and LJ Garland, glad to have you stop by!

Debbie Gould : Thanks for inviting us, I’m excited.
LJ Garland : Yes, thanks so much for having us today!

Niina : Let’s get started! Can you tell my readers here 4 fun unknown facts about writing this novel together so we can break the ice?

Debbie : 1. Laura drinks way to much coffee. 2. She’s the one who came up with Elliot! Yuck.
LJ : 3. It was the first novel we ever wrote together. 4. We hadn’t planned it to be a series to begin with, but we loved the town and so the Red River series was born…more murder and maybe to come! And as far as Elliot goes, you’re just mad cause he hit on you in a blog we did. LOL But hey, he knows a cutie when he sees one. Who could blame him?
Debbie: (shivers) Don’t even start with Elliot.

Niina : Tell us little about your novel, Sins of The Mind, how did it came to be?

LJ : Well, as I recall, we were both on the same Internet forum. We’d known each other for…what? Two years, Deb?
Debbie : Yup, about that. We had been brainstorming a plot in one of the books I was writing (still unfinished, lol) and I showed her the first chapter of another story that had been screaming in my brain at me. She liked it, and I asked her if she wanted to co-write it.
LJ : That’s right! And I was excited because the story was interesting. Romance and murder, what’s not to like? So, we started brainstorming ideas and things got pretty intense and…what’s the word I’m looking for?
Debbie: Twisted?
LJ : Yes. That’s a great descriptor. But we both loved it and voilà, Sins of the Mind!

Niina : What are three words each that would describe the hero the best?

Debbie : Brooding (in the beginning), HAWT, and intuitive.
LJ : Hmm…Debbie took all the really good ones. Protective. Shamed. Perseverance.

Niina : Which character did you most enjoy writing?

LJ : I loved writing Ethan and Abby…but the most fun were some of the secondary characters. They had some serious quirky issues. Two of my favs were Missy Perkins from Games Galore and (of course) Elliot Swanson, Attorney at Law. They are each completely different but possessed their own ways of getting themselves noticed and were a hoot to write.
Debbie : I love writing Ethan, Abby and Grant. They were great characters.

Niina : What do you think makes a story sexy?

Debbie : Emotion. The emotion and attraction have to be present in order for the sex to make sense and be hot.
LJ : Exactly. It’s the sexual tension between them. The build up to ‘the moment’.

Niina : What was the experience of writing together, would you do it again in the future?

LJ : Awesome! And yes! Actually, we’ve already finished a second story together and are starting the next book in the Red River series, so you’ll see Missy and Elliot again soon!
Debbie : Ugghh, Elliot. We’ve decided he has to be in all the Red River books. Just wait till you meet him, you’ll want to spit nails at him.
LJ : Careful though…he might take ya to court! LOL But seriously, even though he is kinda creepy, he’s sly, too. He knows how to work his agenda. And he’s handsome enough, works out, gets girls, too…though I don’t imagine they hang around too long.
Debbie : Umm…they don’t last through dinner, ewwww. He’s a creep, admit it!
LJ : Maybe. But he sure is memorable! lol

Niina : Now to more personal questions! Physically the closest book to you now?

Debbie : Kat Martin’s Against the Night.
LJ : Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins on my Android Pad. As far as a physical paperback? Hmm. (looks around) Hey, there’s my kid’s Cub Scout handbook. Wondered where that went.

Niina : Is there a natural wonder of the world you would like to visit?

LJ : Hmm…they’re all so cool. Well, I did manage to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis and I’ve been to the Grand Canyon. I would say the Great Barrier Reef would be amazing. Though Victoria Falls takes a close second.
Debbie : I’ve been to the Grand Canyon, forget Mount Everest, love the pics though, lol, but I have no interest in being frozen solid for the rest of all creation. Same with the Matterhorn, Disney Land was close enough. I guess I’d have to go with Ayers Rock.

Niina : What Disney princess/heroine would you be and why?

Debbie : Jasmine from Aladdin. She’s such a rebel.
LJ : Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean. She kicked booty.

Niina : What is your signature dish?

LJ : Devils food cupcakes with cream cheese icing and sprinkles. (I’ve got 3 boys under 10 at home and a bigger boy I’m married to…and they all love love love cupcakes! lol)
Debbie : Lasagna and Red Velvet cake.

Niina : What’s the biggest turn on in a guy?

Debbie : Attention. The fact that you’re holding his attention and he feels as though you’re the only one in the room. But the first THING I notice are eyes, the next would be his ass, lol.
LJ : I’d have to agree with that. I don’t want my guy leering at other women when his focus should be on me. The first thing I notice are faces, the next are hands…cause that’s what will be touching my body. ;-)

Niina : Your biggest author crush and character crush?

LJ : Right now? Wow…that would be a toss up for me. We just finished a paranormal romance with an amazing hero.
Debbie : Zane West.  He was the perfect combination of Alpha mixed with a teeny, tiny bit of Beta. And when he loved, he loved, heart and soul! Poor soul.
LJ : LOL Yeah. He was so hot and yet so tortured. LOL The other one who probably ties with Zane is the character we’re currently writing. Will Donovan.
Debbie : Ah, Will! A cute, good ole’ Irish boy. **sigh**
LJ : And I know we haven’t finished writing him yet, but I feel like we have a good sense of him from Sins of the Mind (yes, he has a couple scenes in there). He’s hot and slightly obsessive guy who – for some reason – believes it’s his duty to save the world. And I think he’ll be like Zane…when he loves, it will be heart and soul.
Debbie : Agreed!

Niina : Okay now, last question! Flirting with the idea of bringing a new mythological/paranormal creature to page, what would be exciting to write about?

Debbie : Well, in the paranormal series we are writing, we’re doing just that. There is a different creature in every book, but I’d be interested in seeing what someone could do with a shape-shifting cockroach.
LJ : What? A shape-shifting cockroach?
Debbie : Easy to make into a villain, but I’d love to see how someone could turn a cockroach into a hero, lol.
LJ : I would think it would have to be possible…I mean, look at Spiderman and Batman. Ones comes from an eight-legged ick and the other is a rat with wings…yet Hollywood made them both sexy. Maybe if you added an element of mystery and gave him a cool superpower and catchy name. Hey, maybe his wings could be his cape…and when he needed to, he could fly.
Debbie : Laura, he’s a cockroach!
LJ : Course, he and his heroine would have sex in the dark, cause you know how cockroaches skitter off in the light. Hmm…wonder if that means he wouldn’t stay the night with her unless she came to his layer?
Debbie : Oh yeah, I can see it now… “Sorry babe, we’ve got to have sex under the Fridge, it’s an awesome place to have all sorts of fun.”
LJ : LOL Yeah! “Don’t mind the stale Cheerios or dust bunnies.” Sooo, a name. He needs a cool name to take the ickiness out. But somehow, I don’t know if Cockman would work. Would readers believe it?
Debbie : Cockman?!? Good lord how much coffee have you had today? Laura, he’s a cockroach! He’s no hero.
LJ : Wait…you said a villain was easy. That you’d like to SEE him as a hero.
Debbie : Sorry. What’s his tag line?
LJ :  (:  Once you ditter with the critter, your heart will patter pitter.
Debbie :  Oh Good Gawd!!!!!!!!
LJ : Able to survive a nuclear holocaust with style.
Debbie : Let me guess, his nemesis is the Orkin Man?
LJ : You watch. Now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, someone will write this story. Seriously, who’s done a cockroach hero? It’ll be dark, the threat of crushing boot around every corner, insecticide lining the baseboards…and of course the story will be erotic! I mean, it is Cockman after all!
Debbie : Sorry, I just don’t see this one working, so if someone DOES write, please let me know. It’ll be a must read for me.

Niina : LOL! Thanks for visiting the For The Love of Reading, Debbie and LJ! Any news would you like to share with your readers, or websites they can check out?

LJ : Thank you so much for having us here today, Niina! We had an awesome time!
Debbie : Yes, thank you, Niina!

- We can be tracked down at http://www.garland-and-gould.blogspot.com/ where we blog, chat about stuff, and interview other authors.
- L.J. can be caught at www.lj-garland.com and emailed at mail@lj-garland.com
- Debbie can be found at http://www.authordebbiegould.com/ and emailed at mountecho2006@yahoo.com.
- We love hearing from people who have enjoyed our stories!
And you can find Sins of the Mind here!


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