Poughkeepsie Enhanced Collector’s Edition App Tour

Welcome to the Poughkeepsie Enhanced Collector’s Edition App Tour!

Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia has been a cult hit bestseller since 2011. A homeless guy counting the smiles of a kind train commuter spiraled into a novel that was nominated by the Rockstars of Romance as one of the most romantic stories ever and won 2^nd place!   It was a story that deserved getting a jumbo-sized enhancement. Extra scenes out the ying yang was, of course, a huge part of the fun. Getting to spend some of those previously undiscovered first moments with Blake and Livia or the moment he proposed was worth exploring. In Debra’s wildest dreams she imagined Poughkeepsie with its own soundtrack, anchored by her favorite musicians. When blockbuster talent Ron Pope signed on with fourteen songs and then Rustic Overtones agreed as well, she knew things were going to get crazy cool.

After almost two full years of development, the Enhanced Poughkeepsie is ready.  Debra lost count of the hours spent, as did the developer poured into this. It was beast, and more amazing than she could have ever imagined. This app became the most exceptional reading experience Debra could devise for her readers.

Check out what’s in store for you:

This app will be available for all kinds of devices!

It is available now as Enhanced Poughkeepsie for iPad. 

Website for Droid, iPhones, and Computers is coming soon! 

Visit http://www.DebraAnastasia.com

https://twitter.com/Debra_Anastasia

Debra’s Facebook Page

For more information. The website app (which is the same content as the iPad app) will be available this week.

For this tour, there is one HUGE giveaway that you totally should treat yourself to entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Rafflecopter direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/Y2U1YWJmZWJkNDA5ZWY5N2Y3ZWI5ZmE5ZGNkMzk4OjIz/

Summary

Immerse yourself in the world of Debra Anastasia’s Poughkeepsie.

Experience this bestselling novel for the first time…again as you break all the rules about books with Omnific Publishing and Debra Anastasia. In this enhanced version of the novel, you’ll enjoy insights from the author, music by Ron Pope and other artists to set the mood, and images and video that bring the scenes to life as you read. You’ll delve deeper into the world of Poughkeepsie through nearly 50,000 words of added scenes (more love, more drama, more romance!) and informative insights into how this marvelous story and its characters came to be.

Self-contained in this app (no wifi needed after downloading):

• complete novel Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia
• author/director’s pop-up commentary
• music by Ron Pope, Rustic Overtones, Monoxide G, Violet Winter, Bo Heart, and Jeff Epstein and the City Line Singers
• more than 100 images to enhance the story
• videos of your favorite characters in action
• special animation
• sound effects
• interviews with the characters, author, and more
• interactive games
• trailers for the Poughkeepsie Brotherhood series
• how-to knitting instructions
• how-to instructions for making a paper rose
• recipe for the dinner Livia makes for Blake

The Author

Debra’s Twitter https://twitter.com/Debra_Anastasia

Debra’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Debra-Anastasia/429939037076457

Debra’s website http://www.debraanastasia.com/

The Pixie Reader is also delighted that Debra has taken time off from her wonderfully crazy schedule to share with us some of her thoughts about the app

Omnific Publishing approached me to enhance Poughkeepsie I said yes immediately with no reservations. And then I realized there was no template for this. There is no guidebook about how to make an enhanced app from scratch. That realization started the journey that ended up with the Poughkeepsie Enhanced Collector’s Edition app. At first I didn't know how I was going to do it. I went into the first chapter and I tried to jam pack it with everything I wanted. I found myself backtracking over and over. So I had to scrap that method and put it on the cutting room floor. I realized that I needed to plan my enhancements and lay them out like layers. My first layer was the author’s commentary. I just reread the story and picked out little points that I wanted to share with the readers. I’d find a story and then I will link it to a comment about how that story involved from my real life or what it reminded me of, or who it honored. When that was finished, I went through the manuscript again and I added extra scenes to the tune of almost 50,000 extra words added to the story. It was like fanfiction of Poughkeepsie written by the original author. And from there I added the layers: games, images, videos sound effects, every enhancement had a layer. It was the only way I could keep track or understand what I was making. It took almost two years from the first phone call to the app appearing on iTunes. I had no idea when I first accepted the challenge how long it would take and what a large passion project it would be. I have absolutely no regrets because Enhanced  Poughkeepsie is my dream right now. It completely encapsulates the entire experience of writing it for the reader with the music and the images all the things that influence the story. 

Thank you so much to The Pixie Reader for allowing me to play on the blog today. XO

Review: On Best Behavior by Jennifer Lane

The CONduct series

A chance meeting outside a parole officer’s office. A supportive hug from a stranger. An attraction that blossomed into a beautiful romance amidst a backdrop of betrayal, complex family issues, redemption, and second chances.

Jennifer Lane has weaved an exciting tale of love between Grant Madsen and Sophie Taylor, two amazing and good-hearted individuals driven into bad situations.

In With Good Behavior (CONduct #1), we joined them as they began their journey in picking up the pieces of their lives after serving time in prison. In Bad Behavior (CONduct #2), we see their struggles in healing, moving forward, and taking control of their destinies which were taken away from them and landed them in prison. On Best Behavior (CONduct #3) is the culmination of Grant Madsen and Sophie Taylor’s story as they prepare to face their future together as husband and wife. That is, if they could stop the Russian mafia and Grant’s father from ruining their plans.   

Blurb for On Best Behavior

Planning a wedding is never easy—especially when the Russian Mafia wants you dead.

On Best Behavior—the third and final book in The Conduct Series—finds our favorite couple moving forward, despite the odds. Following a pardon by the Governor of Illinois, ex-cons Sophie Taylor and Grant Madsen are finally free to pursue their love and the life that lies ahead for them. Grant now fights the forces that have hurt his loved ones by working undercover for the FBI, and he has infiltrated the Russian Mafia in Chicago. Sophie dives into swimming with Grant’s nephew, Ben, and into her career as a psychology professor. Thankfully, now it’s Ben’s turn to heal through therapy sessions with Dr. Hunter Hayes.

With so many things going right for Grant and Sophie, it's too bad the Russians aren’t their only threat. When Grant’s father, Enzo Barberi, discovers his own son thwarted his plan to break out of prison, his overdeveloped sense of vengeance flares to life. As Sophie scrambles to save her fiancé, it's impossible to say who will kill Grant first—the Russians or his Italian family. Can love triumph over evil? Are hard work and a pledge to be on best behavior ever enough?

Once again, author Jennifer Lane brings a harrowing tale of romantic suspense with a psychological twist, and it's sure to leave readers breathless.

My review (based on an ARC provided by Omnific Publishing)

I have been a fan of the series since I discovered it in late 2012. It was such a refreshing read after surrounding myself with troubled billionaire alpha males. Grant, a beta hero, was a breath of fresh air and was so endearing that even I wanted to protect him from the big bad wolves, aka his family. Sophie, on the other hand, was very relatable that it’s easy for women like me to identify with her. Together, they were wonderful. You couldn’t help but just root for them and wish that they would ultimately get the happy life that they deserve.

Thankfully, it would only take me months to find out. It must be said, they felt like a year, especially because I was also itching to read more about one of my favorite supporting characters in the story, good ol’ Uncle Joe (ehem!)

The first third of the book was a little rough for me. There were scenes that seemed unconnected. I found myself going back and forth to see if I missed a page or a paragraph. It felt that some parts were cut in the editing process.

However, as the story progressed, the flow got smoother and I just enjoyed reading the increasingly complicated story.

Grant and Sophie were apart most of the time, though the reason they had to be away from each other was understandable and justified. Sophie’s doubts and insecurities felt very natural. On the other hand, Grant was too perfect. He was so considerate of Sophie’s feelings and almost always thought of her before he acts on anything. Surely, if a man like that exists, he deserves to have his own statue in a church!

I especially liked the therapy sessions and Sophie’s conversations with other psychologists. I learned a lot from them and was delighted to realize that their analyses are usually similar to mine. The frustrated psychologist in me really wish that Dr. Lane was my professor *wink*

The flashbacks were heartbreaking. There were moments I found myself tearing up for Grant, but there were also times that I couldn’t help but smile because Uncle Joe was in it. *sigh* Hey, who doesn’t like a kind-hearted man in uniform?!

Ben’s story arc was also a good addition. His emotions and reactions are typical of a teenager. I must commend the author for creating authentic characters and believable dialogues. I am crossing my fingers that there will be a spinoff for the young Barberi someday, with Grant, Sophie, and a married Uncle Joe (preferably to me) making cameos, of course. Hint! Hint!

Though he doesn’t deserve it, I’m devoting four sentences for Enzo Barberi. He has been a fairly one dimensional character to me in the previous books, which made it easy for me to plainly hate him. We see another side of him in this book. I admit I was surprised with how much I softened up, even a little for him here.

Fans of romantic suspense novels will definitely not be disappointed, there are enough scary Russians and creepy villains to keep you awake and reading until you find out that Sophie and Grant are safe.

On Best Behavior has been, over-all, an engaging read. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it scared me, it made my heart ache (in a good way), it made me feel giddy, and it left me with a smile on my face as I reached the final chapter of Grant and Sophie's heartwrenching and heartwarming story.

Recommended for book lovers searching for intelligent romance novels.