A Little Goes A Long Way

here's a theme to this post that I'll share at the end...

I've got three recommendations, two books and a musical!

Byzantine Provocateur by Melissa Bradley

An ancient city sparks forbidden desire...
Thalia Burton arrives in Istanbul to relax and enjoy the company of her old friend. Hoping to forget the boring rut her life had become, she never imagines one encounter with Fadi's brother re-igniting the dim flame of passion inside her. Captivated by the heat in his golden eyes, Thalia finds herself tempted beyond reason...
Murat Bahar had only intended to meet Thalia as a courtesy to his family. One look at the lovely American incinerates his intentions. She is an exquisite morsel he longs to taste, a taboo treat enthralling him like a siren of myth. Perhaps just one night...
Once is not enough. Thalia and Murat embark on a fiery, secret affair that could burn them both, costing them friends and family.

Read an excerpt on Melissa's site.

I read this novel a while ago and loved it! I wrote a formal review for the One Hundred Romances site and looking back on it now, I've remembered how I first met Melissa - through Rach Harrie's Writers' Platform-Building Crusade. It's amazing how many different blogging events there have been! But back to Melissa -- I haven't read her other books yet but I just got Maxie Briscoe: Werewolf on my Kindle app and can't wait to start it!

I've blabbed about Outlander often enough around here. With the new miniseries on Starz (season two starts on 4 April!) I'd encourage those of you who haven't read it to start now!

But there's also an Outlander musical!

The stage production hasn't been organized yet, but the soundtrack is available, and it's lovely. The voice of Jamie is performed by actor Allan Scott-Douglas and...

...next month, Allan's going to be jumping out of a plane!

Yes, it's a charity skydive, to support St Columba's Hospice (cancer) in Edinburgh.

The second book I'd like to recommend is actually two books, Lunatic Heroes and Beloved Demons by Dr Anthony Martignetti. There are also new podcast stories on his website! I reviewed Lunatic Heroes a while ago, but hadn't included a blurb.

Lunatic Heroes

Dark, comic, raw, disturbing, and often redemptive, these fifteen tales will take you from the 1950s to the present, along with a repeating cast of heroes and lunatics. The characters span the breadth and the depths of human qualities and capacities. The same person, in one story, may materialize as a hero and a god, and in another, as a lunatic and a demon. While the author roughs up the people in his stories with the hand of terror, he simultaneously views them with the eyes of love. Martignetti spares no one, and to his credit, particularly not himself.

So many of the stories made me cry - and more than a few made me laugh at the same time!

Beloved Demons

In his follow-up to Lunatic Heroes, Martignetti sheds all defenses to reveal the viscera of a mind shaped by the dark and confusing forces of his childhood. This collection of memoirs and essays focuses mainly on Martignetti's adult years, and features the pivotal characters of his ever-entertaining personal narrative. From the cascade of memories and emotions triggered by an accidental butterfly killing in "Cocoon Talk," to the homicidal impulses prompted by a visit to his boyhood home in "Sign," from the heartbreaking to the hilarious musings inspired by beloved pets in "Mochajava" and "Dog," and throughout the uncensored sexcapades of "Mad," "The Wild," and "Feast of the Hungry Ghost," Martignetti's colloquial, humorous, and intimate style will keep you riveted, crack you open, enthrall and embrace you with an honesty normally reserved for not even the closest of friends.

Now we come to the reveal -- all three of these are recommended based on some difficult times, past and present. Allan's charity drive is in commemoration of a hospice that helped his family enormously while his uncle was undergoing cancer treatment. Melissa and Anthony are currently undergoing treatments. Sometimes when you're in the midst of things it's hard to ask for help. But every little bit counts!

If you know of others facing a difficult time,
who might need our support, please let us know in the comments!