5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom by Duane Harden: Review and Contest, Too!

About 5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom

If you hate your job and feel stuck in life, and believe that your skills, education, or lack of finances prevent you from taking a chance on something new, then you need to read 5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom: Do What You Love & Get Rich Doing It by Duane Harden.

Conversationally written, and peppered with humorous drawings, helpful worksheets, and key tips, 5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom: Do What You Love & Get Rich Doing It shows you to do nothing short of changing your life. Harden helps you figure out what your passions are and how to turn them into profitable businesses. When you love what you do, he says, it isn’t work and any business then becomes a real pleasure. Because attitude is everything, Harden demonstrates how to say yes to opportunity, yes to financial freedom and no to the naysayers who would pull you down while trying to elevate themselves (he calls this a crab pot mentality). Practice the Law of Attraction, he advises, by putting up vision boards around you that have photographs of the things you want in your life. If you imagine yourself rich and happy and doing what you love, you attract those things to you. Plus, you are more likely to go out and do the concrete things you need to do to make that life a reality.

Harden doesn’t just advise. He practices what he preaches. His 90-day action plan comes from Harden’s own reading, attending seminars, completing home-study courses, and pursuing a variety of his very own life experiences, including purchasing numerous real-estate properties. His “Life Assignments” can help you to begin to think and act differently. His “Keys” point out truths about learning to live a wealthier life style. Rich people are not afraid to take chances, he says, and those chances always pay off.

From putting your financial house in order to discovering what really makes you tick, 5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom will change your life and make you wealthy while doing it.

A chance to win $10,000 in prizes!

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2012/06/24/pump-up-your-book-presents-5-easy-steps-to-financial-freedom-virtual-book-publicity-tour-2012-10000-giveaway/

Duane Harden just doesn’t teach you theory but rather you learn through his very own life hands-on experiences that come along with building a strong portfolio of successful businesses, including residential and commercial real estate, a restaurant, a music company, and many more. He began with no financial education, but he was determined and inspired. Today he leads a Cash Flow Club where he mentors entrepreneurs on how to start and grow their business so they, too, can become financially free.

His latest book is 5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom: Do What You Love & Get Rich Doing It.

Visit Duane Harden’s website at http://www.duaneharden.com/.

To enter $10,000 Prize Giveaway:https://www.facebook.com/5EasyStepsToFinancialFreedom/app_208195102528120

To get your paperback copy of  5 EASY STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Duane Harden at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Steps-Financial-Freedom-Doing/dp/0984822704/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335047035&sr=8-1?books0df4-20

To get your ebook copy of 5 EASY STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Duane Harden for your Kindle:

To purchase a copy of 5 EASY STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Duane Harden at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/5-easy-steps-to-financial-freedom-duane-harden/1110871992?ean=9780984822706

Pick up your copy of 5 EASY STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM by Duane Harden on iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/5-easy-steps-to-financial/id519796307?mt=11

Like Duane Harden on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/5EasyStepsToFinancialFreedom

Follow Duane Harden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CEOeBooks

My Review:

As someone who lives on a fixed budget, I am constantly searching for ways to best utilize that budget while simultaneously pursuing my dreams. Just a small challenge in today's economy! Well, I think I have found just what I need in 5 Easy Steps to Financial Freedom. I have to say that this is a wonderful little nugget of a book written in a style that even someone as financially illiterate as myself can follow.

I have to say up front that I hate reading anything about finances. It's usually such a dry subject with all kinds of statistics and money-speak that usually goes over my head. Not because I lack intelligence, that is not the case (at least I hope not!), but because I don't have the head for figures. I am the creative type and in true creative type fashion, I like to make pretty and interesting things, not fuss with the business basics. So I need something written in a language I understand. This book fits all of my needs.

I love how it is broken down into easy to manage chapters, each step getting its own. Short, sweet, easy to read. That's how I like it. And there are Life Lessons sprinkled within that really get your mind thinking. I like that. I like a lot of things about this book and so I would recommend it to anyone who wants to gain control of their finances for whatever reason - to buy a house, start a business, or just stop worrying about debt. Whatever the case may be, this book is sure to suit your needs.

In the Moonlight with L.K. Below, author of Beauty in his Bed

Writing Past Insecurities

By L.K. Below

What made my recent release, Beauty in His Bed so challenging to write was the characters. Specifically, the heroine.

In any romance, the main characters will have to battle their insecurities in order to achieve their happily ending. However, in this book, I didn't realize what a Herculean task it would be to win Amy's heart. She's self-conscious about her weight, about her self-worth, and doesn't have a clue why Seb is interested in her. Because of this, I found it very difficult to write many of the scenes, particularly ones in which Seb had to crack Amy's heart-hardened shell to savor an intimate moment. After writing and rewriting the same scene, I realized that I needed a different plan of action if I was going to give these two characters their happily-ever-after.

First, I made a list of Amy's every single insecurity. I assure you, it was a long one. But once I knew where she would be tempted to back off, I was prepared. And I was determined that Seb would be, too. One by one, he crossed Amy's insecurities off the list. Verbally, and without words. Actions speak louder, after all.

Once I knew Amy's triggers, I could orchestrate their encounters. Too many at once and she was liable to back off. So I introduced them slowly, one at a time. Leaving Seb to confidently brush them aside and continue with his courtship. When they came up for a second time, Seb would show Amy in a different way how wrong she was to think of herself negatively. Over and over again, Seb did everything he could to wipe those thoughts from her mind.

And if all else failed, I switched to Seb's point of view. If an intimate moment was too tense from her point of view, his reactions would be enough to forge the intimacy so desperately needed. A simple formula, but one that proved invaluable in this case. The book came along slowly, but it did come.


Beauty in His Bed is now available from Lyrical Press, Inc. Read more or buy it at http://bit.ly/BeautyInHisBed. Visit L.K. Below online at www.lbelow.net.

BLURB:

Upon finding a gorgeous woman in his bed, Seb wakes her with a wicked kiss…and it just might lead to forever.

Devastated by a breakup, plus-sized Amy Somers retreats to New Orleans to visit her longtime friend. But when her friend delivers the key to her apartment and sends Amy on ahead, she doesn’t realize that the apartment belongs to someone else.

Upon coming home to find Amy asleep on his bed, Sebastien Babineaux entertains lusty thoughts. Bent on seducing her, he never expects to lose his heart -- or to work so hard to keep Amy by his side.


EXCERPT:

Damn.

Seb propped his shoulder against the door frame to keep from falling to his knees at the sight of the woman lying half-naked on his bed. Was he drooling? Faced with a sight as delectable as her, he didn’t know how his jaw wasn’t lying on the floor.

If only she’d been conscious.

His hands tingled with the urge to strip off the rest of her clothes. After the dry spell he’d been having, he would have considered himself delusional to be handed such a feast. That is, if Monique hadn’t warned him that she’d sent her friend over. Seb needed no help charming women, but with a beauty like the one sprawled out before him, how could he turn her away?

This woman--Amy, he’d been told was her name--had been crafted to fulfill his every  fantasy. She lay oblivious to his presence. Her blue baby doll clung to her large breasts, revealing miles of unconquered terrain. Her auburn hair draped over her chin and part of her plump mouth. One hand was tucked beneath her cheek; the other rested between her lush bare thighs. With her legs curled, he couldn’t tell how tall she would be, but one thing he was certain: before him lay a woman who he wouldn’t have to worry about crushing with his six-foot-tall frame. And one he shortly hoped to know very well.

One question held him rooted in place while his hormones urged him to join her.

Why would a goddess like her be lying half-dressed on his bed?

www.lbelow.net 

Abandon by Meg Cabot: A Review

About the Book:

After the accident, 17 year old Pierce tries to start over. But even after moving to a new town and starting a new school, he still keeps showing up — always when she least expects him, but exactly when she needs him most.

One thing she knows for certain: John Hayden may be irresistible, but he’s no angel. 

But if Pierce lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself spending all of eternity in the one place to which she swore she’d never return . . . .

. . . his world: The Underworld.


(from the Author's website)


My Review:


I think I'm like many people out there who have a fascination for Greek mythology, which would explain the resurgence of it in out culture lately (hello, Clash of the Titans!), no more so than in literature. Everywhere you look these days, there is some rendition or another of famous - and maybe not so famous - Greek myths. Of those, the tale of Hades and Persephone seems to be the most popular. There are many different renditions of it and I have read quite a few, but I have to say that, to me, the one who got it absolutely right is Meg Cabot. In her hands, this story becomes a masterful work that is both engaging and thrilling.


One of the issues I have with other retellings is with the heroine, the Persephone-ish character. In some cases, she comes off as too weak, in others as kind of whiney, and her interactions with the hero might leave the reader to wonder, Why does Hades love her so much? But in Abandon, the author strikes just the right balance with the character, here in the persona of Pierce Oliviera. From the very first, I was drawn to her, curious about her story and the aftermath of her accident. From the first, she was presented as an interesting character that I wanted to know more about. And the way she dealt with the Hades character seemed more natural and organic to the plot. I liked that she wasn't immediately awed or cowed by him. Yes, she was a little wary of him, but when she encountered him on the other side, she had no problem going toe to toe with him - but not in a I'm-a-princess-I-want-to-get-my-own-way kind of manner. It was more like she was calling him out to do the right thing. And she wasn't a wishy-washy type who just waited around for someone else to save her. She actually tried to do something for herself. All in all, she was just a more likable heroine than others before her.


As was the Hades character, in the form of John Hayden. The author strikes just the right balance of mystique, machismo, and angst with John. He is shown in some telling moments of humanity, whether they be tender or terrifying, as he wages a battle over his feelings for Pierce and the problems she presents to him. Whatever else is going on, he is always there when she needs him most - which is more than can be said about some of the people who profess to care about her, and the relationship progresses in a way that just seems right, natural. Not forced, as in some other renditions. This relationship just seems real, like it really could happen despite his role in life. I never once questioned why he was interested in Pierce or the fact that they were supposed to be together. I believed it to be true.


Aside from Pierce and John, Abandon is filled with interesting characters, a few of whom might seem stereotypical at first, but, boy, do they surprise you! Suffice to say, all is not quite as it seems at the outset. There are some interesting surprises, some of which will have you thinking, I didn't see that one coming. I know I did. The same with some of the plot twists. The way they were all woven together with the myth of Hades and Persephone was just masterful and I ate up this nugget of gold in less than a day. All I can say is - I need to get my hands on the sequel, Underworld, ASAP!


Final Verdict: Amazing book by an amazing author. Once again, Meg Cabot delivered and made this my favorite rendering of the Hades/Persephone myth. So if you want to read a modern take on the myth, this is the one to read. Highly recommended. 

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The Reluctant Matchmaker by Shobhan Bantwal: Spotlight and Review

The Reluctant Matchmaker

by

Shobhan Bantwal

My Thoughts:

I was intrigued by the blurb and couldn't wait to start this book. Unfortunately, issues with font made it hard for me to get into it, so I was unable to truly enjoy this story. Since it was a dnf for me, I'll let the blurb and video speak for itself.

Blurb:

In her thought-provoking, uplifting new novel, Shobhan Bantwal vividly blends the nuances of contemporary Indian-American culture with an unconventional romance...

It starts with a bizarre accident. Petite and successful Meena Shenoy's contented life turns upside down when she collides, literally, with her strikingly tall boss, Prajay Nayak, and suffers a nasty fall. But when she discovers that he's a bright, caring, family-oriented man, she's attracted to him. When he unexpectedly asks her to meet him in secret, she wonders whether he feels the same way about her. 

Meena walks into his office that evening with high romantic hopes. Imagine her shock when instead of declaring interest in her Prajay makes an astonishing request: He wants her to craft a personal ad that will help him find a suitable wife - a statuesque, sophisticated Indian-American woman who will complement his striking height.

Despite her feelings for Prajay and the complications of balancing work and her "marriage consultant" role, Meena can't refuse the assignment, or the generous fee attached to it. While she nurses her bruised heart, Meena comes to some surprising realizations about love, tradition, and the sacrifices she will—and won't—make to fight for the man she loves.









 Author bio:

Shobhan Bantwal is an award-winning author of six multicultural women's fiction books with romantic elements and numerous short stories, branded as "Bollywood in a Book." Her articles have appeared in The Writer magazine, Romantic Times, India Abroad, India Currents, and New Woman. The Reluctant Matchmaker is her latest novel. Shobhan lives with her husband in Arizona. Visit her online at www.shobhanbantwal.com to learn about her books, trailers, contests, photos, recipes, and more. Visit her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ShobhanBantwal.author

For more information: about The Reluctant Matchmaker and Shobhan Bantwal’s other books, visit http://www.shobhanbantwal.com or http://www.amazon.com/The-Reluctant-Matchmaker-Shobhan-Bantwal/dp/0758258852 to get your copy today. The full virtual tour schedule is available at: http://bookpromotionservices.com/2012/06/03/reluctant-matchmaker-tour  

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