Bernard Jan's Blog - Posts Tagged "book-review"
Without An Angel
Without An Angel by Mitchell BogatzMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Broken heart can cut like a knife, tear up your world and torture your body and mind as you drift between two realities. The old one you know, love and miss every minute of your life, and the new one in which you feel lost, abandoned and cannot accept it as your new life order.
Mitchell Bogatz wrote his poetry book titled Without An Angel during the hardest year of his young life, when he fell in love with an unavailable woman. His raw and beautiful poetry, devoid of any pathos, is filled with unrestrained lust and almost desperate yearning to be loved, cherished, needed and appreciated.
While going through his short, vivid poems and experiencing his emotional and somehow so familiar verses, we drink straight from the fountain of the author's personal, intimate life. We are reminded of our own passions, of our own struggle to get back on our feet and SURVIVE on the ruins of forbidden love, of our own longing to quit, just let go, disappear and be forgotten: Sometimes I wonder if I’d be happier on a beach somewhere, nothing in my pockets, with no one waiting for me to come home.
If you like poetry, it would be a shame to miss this powerful and honest collection of poems. Even if you are not too big a fan of the verse, do yourself a favor and spend some time with Bogatz's writing. His suffering and pain might surprise you with hope and strength it gives you when you are faced with going through life without your angel, or, even better, encourage you to swing your wings to go out and find it.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
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Without An Angel
Finders Keepers
Finders Keepers by Stephen KingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Upon reaching page 240 of Finders Keepers by Stephen King a thought stroke me. King cannot fail. What are the odds for that? Brilliant! This thought lingered and stayed with me until the very end of the book.
Finders Keepers, the second book in Bill Hodges Trilogy is a constant page-turner. A story about a vengeful reader obsessed with a retired writer spreads through 370 pages like fast and untamable fire. It burns its way to our hearts, brings us strong characters, lots of excitement and the fantastic plot! Again King has a surgically precise eye for the detail, which is a characteristic of his writing I probably like and admire most.
Brilliant! Five stars without much thinking!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
View all my reviews
Finders Keepers
The Nightmare Continues?!
Angel's Nightmare Adventure 2: The Nightmare Continues by Angel RamonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
We all had in our life a dream so real we couldn't distinguish it from reality when we woke up. We also had nightmarish days for which we just wanted to end so we could wake up and breathe a sigh of relief when they were over. Except...
... they didn't end; the nightmare continued.
This happened to Angel, who in a period of five years experienced two worst nightmares. He was only 17 when he was chased by zombies and monstrous creatures through the hospital in flight to save his life and the life of a girl Maria. They both survived because it was only a nightmare and Maria became his real life girlfriend.
But what are the odds the almost similar scenario happens again, only five years later, at his first day at job as an NYPD officer? It is a beautiful September morning when he leaves his apartment in Brooklyn and drops his girlfriend Maria at Brooklyn College before he drives on to the 75th precinct in East New York to report to his first day at work.
Little did he know his first day at the 75th precinct would turn into another nightmare from hell and his first and only assignment would be saving himself and his love Maria. Because New York was once again attacked by the fast-growing nation of zombies....
If you loved the #1 Amazon Best Seller horror short story Angel's Nightmare Adventure, don't miss the second installment! Angel's Nightmare Adventure 2: The Nightmare Continues is packed with the same dose of action, fright, living dead and other hybrid creatures!
You can read my review of Angel's Nightmare Adventure here.
At the moment of publishing this review Angel is cut off from the rest of the world because of the monster hurricane Maria hitting and devastating Puerto Rico. Please support him by purchasing, reading and reviewing his books. Thank you!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
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Bernard Jan
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Sever Review
Sever by Jesse GreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sever by Jesse Grey, writer, reader and music needer from Roanoke, Virginia, is a story I would like to see as a TV show!
The first book from a Slayer Society series is an intriguingly plotted thriller shrouded in the mystery revolving around the high school king Sumner Shadows who tried to kill his friends at the cemetery. Barely surviving their horrific death, they committed their own crime in the process and covered up what they did. With Sumner getting away, that was not the end for Alex, Abram, Bridge, and Mercer. When a new girl moves to Armor Falls, she brings the evidence that Sumner is back to finish what he started.
Sever is a young adult suspense and romance novel for teen, young adult, LGTB and adult readers. With its length, twists, interesting characters in unexpected romantic, emotional and turbulent situations, it deserves to be considered a serious read worthy of our time and attention.
That the author is giving it for free on Smashwords is yet another reason to warm ourselves for getting acquainted with the young members of the Slayer Society.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
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Bernard Jan
Review Me
I don't want to prejudge it, but there is a great chance—and hope!—that you've read A World Without Color, my first book I published this summer in English. And if you read it as an e-book or paperback, there is even greater hope you liked it! At least this is what I like to think, haha!
But did you share your thoughts about it with someone? There is a simple way for everyone to hear what you think of my true story of the last three days I spent with my cat. For that you need an Amazon or Goodreads account through which you can post your review that can range from a simple sentence to a small article, depending on how impressed you are and motivated to test your own writing skills!
Why are reviews so important to indie authors like me? Because many readers use them as a reference point whether to pursue with buying a book or skipping it altogether. The more reviews, the more people read your book. Cool, right? Sure, except getting there is not always so cool and easy.
This is why I ask you: if you loved my book, if it brought any emotion in you, please post your review. Don't be shy, a simple line or two will do. Anything more than that is a welcome bonus for me!
I want to show you with a few examples how easy it is. Below there are highlights of five authors and readers who read my book, their reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and their blogs. You can see their complete reviews in the Review A World Without Color page on my website or by following the links to their original posts on Amazon and Goodreads.
The tale is poetic, heartfelt and unique. I was pleased to read such a fine story by a talented, compassionate author. - Amazon Customer, Amazon
Bernard Jan describes the life of his beloved cat with such poignancy. His writing style is straightforward and emotionally moving. Happier times with Marcel brought a smile to my lips, while his deteriorating decline brought tears to my eyes. Most moving of all was the author’s profound love, devotion, and grief for his cat. - Leigh Holland, Amazon and Goodreads
Bernard Jan has taken a piece of his own heart and soul and put down in words, his feelings, his thoughts, and the utter devastation of the raw loss of his beloved pet. - Dianne, Tome Tender and Goodreads
If you're looking for a sad story then this is for you. (...) I felt that I was Bernard at the end of the book, I love books that pull me in and make me feel that I'm part of the book. You'll have to read it for yourself to experience this. - Angel Ramon Medina, indie author, The Hybrid Nation
In this book, the author tells his whole story about what his cat Marcel’s last 3 days were like interlaced with memories of the past. He writes about the effects of losing a best friend for himself and his family. (...) At multiple times I cried and could feel his emotions. He expresses what he’s feeling physically, his thoughts and emotions, everything so raw and real. Despite the sadness, I love the way this author writes. - Mischenko, ReadRantRock&Roll, Amazon and Goodreads
I hope those reviews won't discourage you; quite on the contrary, I wish they give you courage and determination to plow through my emotional and honest read and experience with me the last three days I spent with my Marcel.
You can purchase my e-book or paperback on Amazon or read it for free on KindleUnlimited. Either way, your review counts! And in either, both or any way, I will be grateful for your honest review because honest reviews are the only reviews I care about.
Once you post them contact me and I will repost them on my website and blog their highlights in one of my future posts here as motivation and encouragement for others, if you have nothing against it.
Thank you for purchasing, reading, reviewing and recommending my book by word of mouth! This is the best way to support me as an indie author and for making your voice and thoughts heard by many!
Thank you for your love because there is no greater joy than to share what you love with those who appreciate it!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Cover photo by Zach Singh; Cover design by Mario Kožar MKM Media
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
But did you share your thoughts about it with someone? There is a simple way for everyone to hear what you think of my true story of the last three days I spent with my cat. For that you need an Amazon or Goodreads account through which you can post your review that can range from a simple sentence to a small article, depending on how impressed you are and motivated to test your own writing skills!
Why are reviews so important to indie authors like me? Because many readers use them as a reference point whether to pursue with buying a book or skipping it altogether. The more reviews, the more people read your book. Cool, right? Sure, except getting there is not always so cool and easy.
This is why I ask you: if you loved my book, if it brought any emotion in you, please post your review. Don't be shy, a simple line or two will do. Anything more than that is a welcome bonus for me!
I want to show you with a few examples how easy it is. Below there are highlights of five authors and readers who read my book, their reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and their blogs. You can see their complete reviews in the Review A World Without Color page on my website or by following the links to their original posts on Amazon and Goodreads.
The tale is poetic, heartfelt and unique. I was pleased to read such a fine story by a talented, compassionate author. - Amazon Customer, Amazon
Bernard Jan describes the life of his beloved cat with such poignancy. His writing style is straightforward and emotionally moving. Happier times with Marcel brought a smile to my lips, while his deteriorating decline brought tears to my eyes. Most moving of all was the author’s profound love, devotion, and grief for his cat. - Leigh Holland, Amazon and Goodreads
Bernard Jan has taken a piece of his own heart and soul and put down in words, his feelings, his thoughts, and the utter devastation of the raw loss of his beloved pet. - Dianne, Tome Tender and Goodreads
If you're looking for a sad story then this is for you. (...) I felt that I was Bernard at the end of the book, I love books that pull me in and make me feel that I'm part of the book. You'll have to read it for yourself to experience this. - Angel Ramon Medina, indie author, The Hybrid Nation
In this book, the author tells his whole story about what his cat Marcel’s last 3 days were like interlaced with memories of the past. He writes about the effects of losing a best friend for himself and his family. (...) At multiple times I cried and could feel his emotions. He expresses what he’s feeling physically, his thoughts and emotions, everything so raw and real. Despite the sadness, I love the way this author writes. - Mischenko, ReadRantRock&Roll, Amazon and Goodreads
I hope those reviews won't discourage you; quite on the contrary, I wish they give you courage and determination to plow through my emotional and honest read and experience with me the last three days I spent with my Marcel.
You can purchase my e-book or paperback on Amazon or read it for free on KindleUnlimited. Either way, your review counts! And in either, both or any way, I will be grateful for your honest review because honest reviews are the only reviews I care about.
Once you post them contact me and I will repost them on my website and blog their highlights in one of my future posts here as motivation and encouragement for others, if you have nothing against it.
Thank you for purchasing, reading, reviewing and recommending my book by word of mouth! This is the best way to support me as an indie author and for making your voice and thoughts heard by many!
Thank you for your love because there is no greater joy than to share what you love with those who appreciate it!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Cover photo by Zach Singh; Cover design by Mario Kožar MKM Media
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
A Deadly Embrace of Suicide Forest
Suicide Forest by Jeremy BatesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Suicide Forest is as real as the remains of over a hundred of those who each year went to take their lives in silence or unheard screams in that "Sea of Trees".
When a group of friends ended up in Aokigahara just outside Tokyo, it wasn't because they wanted to commit a mass suicide or hunt the spirits who lingered between the branches of the trees. Bad weather prevented them from their original mission of climbing Mt. Fuji and nudged them into making a bad decision of spending the night camping in Aokigahara.
As the night closed over them, extinguishing every sign of life and light from the forest, their thrill of personally exploring Japanese legends turned into a bone-chilling experience when the first one of them went missing. The seemingly dead forest came alive with a face of terror that none of them wished to see as they wandered around in their frantic attempt to find a way back to civilization.
Jeremy Bates already bought me with his brilliant novella Black Canyon and he did it again with Suicide Forest, a gripping, chilling and full-blooded novel that leaves you no space to calm yourself as it tightens the rope around your neck and drags you up to its climax.
Suicide Forest is real, but if Aokigahara hadn't already existed as a beautiful creation and the final resting place for many, Jeremy Bates would have made it real.
Also read my review of Black Canyon by Jeremy Bates.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
Moon Zinc (Human Rights Matter!)
Moon Zinc by Bibiana KrallMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Although much shorter than The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Moon Zinc by Bibiana Krall resonates as loud and clear in our hearts and minds when we close our eyelids over its last full-stop.
Moon Zinc is a young woman working in a Chinese factory, enjoying her life and gradually losing her innocence as she unravels the truth of mysterious events happening in her factory. Moon Zinc is a brilliantly written and meticulously researched and told story of life of the poor and unimportant, created and generated by our greed and the system that holds no value of human life or the life of our planet.
It is a loud slap on the face which doesn't hysterically scream into our ears but rather gently squeezes our hearts until it makes our eyes bleed with tears of compassion and understanding. By appreciating and acknowledging Bibiana's short and engaging read we honor and acknowledge every enslaved, exploited and underpaid laborer and worker. We acknowledge that many things are not right with our world, that human rights and the rights of every creature and our planet matter, and we recognize Bibiana as a messenger of goodwill and empathy and the beacon of hope for a better today.
She did her job, and she did it greatly; let us do our part and spread her message: human rights matter!
Please read and review Moon Zinc for every person who you know is underpaid, exploited and struggling to survive. Please spread the message because silence is too long.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
Call Me By Your Name Review
Call Me by Your Name by André AcimanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have read many good books this year and even more in years before. But a book like Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman comes every five to ten years into your hands, if you are lucky to find it.
This book ravished my heart. It left me emotionally unstable. It's all I need to say. And then...
silence.
Not because it is appropriate, the silence, or because I don't have words in my fingers or little things, impressions and details in my mind I like, love and want to share with others, hoping someone appreciates them and approves of them worthy of the book I've read. The echoes of the summer still linger in my tissues, my bones, resounding with the thunder of the sea that spits its waves on the shores of one infatuated love when a teenage boy craves for a young man who willingly obliges.
They know they love on borrowed time and that the salty taste of summer won't last longer than the dried sweat on their skin. They know erotic moments of their feet touching in secrecy under the table won't have to be masked much longer by feigned ignorance in the presence of others. All these misunderstood and misinterpreted touches, expressions, actions and echoes of other's words will remain sealed between the walls of a bedroom as the countdown of the remaining days ticks away.
Yet, they embrace each other. With the force and the passion and the pleasure of a sunny moment in time, sufficient to create a new heaven and a new earth. In the blink of two hearts they are created when they call each other by their name; in the heat of a Roman night it will flutter away from existence as they enjoy each other and share a bed for the last time.
Elio and Oliver.
Transformed by a short romance which conceives their first glances with feigned indifference only to mature into a life-changing experience which will define them as a new person, as one, as they redefine one another. It is a new life, a new era, and everything else is measured and remembered as before and after Elio and Oliver time.
True happiness rarely comes without great sacrifices. Elio and Oliver know that while they gamble their love on the Italian Riviera with the high stake of spending their remaining lives with other people instead of being together. Rehearsing pain of departure and life of separation so it will hurt less later! is only effective until it threatens to disperse their love into tomorrow twenty years later devoid of romantic or any other memories.
With Call Me By Your Name André Aciman gave humankind a beautiful book of love that ought to be studied in schools. Yet who is competent enough to analyze the love that impregnates your veins with the boiling blood if they didn't scald their own insides with such tormenting heat first? Who is to judge the poetry and lyricism of painfully carved sentences which provoke us to admit that there is a perfection after all?
This brutally realistic love story is more convincing than some real-life true stories we may read, for it carries the weight of something magical, deep and personal, something buried, excavated and buried again under the layers of exquisite storytelling.
We all live on borrowed time and it would be such a shame to walk to the end of our lives without stopping for a few hours, or days, and dedicate them to this story. Even worse would it be not to learn something from it and fail to find someone willing, ready and glad to call us by their name. At least for one summer if not for the lifetime.
Bernard Jan
www.bernardjan.com
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
Magnetic Reverie Review
Magnetic Reverie by Nico J. GenesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
She is beautiful; she is young, and she is torn between two loves—a perfect husband who adores her and cannot live without her and a mysterious young and attractive woman in her dreams. As she travels on a super-fast reality-fantasy track from one continent to another and back, Lana discovers herself as a person, as a desirable woman and a lover, and as a mother.
Will one love die and discard its petals on the shores of unexpectedly discovered female attraction? Will the initial confusion give in to the emotional and physical yearnings and cravings that defy the set norms and rules of our society?
Magnetic Reverie by Nico J. Genes is a passionate and erotic novel, a cocktail of mixed emotions, things supposed to be logical and insatiable desires of the heart. Just as you think you've finished your drink and are ready to leave the bar and go, a hand appears in front of you and serves you another glass. Surprised, you realize the story is yet to unfold.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
Review Me Part 2
I wish and hope that this year has started in a grand style for you and that will carry on like that all the way through and even further!
No reason for me to complain, because I continue to get your reviews and that means you are reading my book A World Without Color, which is the greatest reward and a gift to any writer!
When I read books before I didn't realize how important reviews are. Even if it is just one sentence. As long as they are honest and you speak from the heart.
With your review you recommend the book you loved and enjoyed reading and you also help bring more readers through the complicated Amazon algorithm. Putting it simply, the more books you buy, the more reviews you write, the more you will help a book with its ranking.
Allow me to share with you a few more honest reviews which A World Without Color received at the beginning of this and during the last year.
This short powerful novella is a must read. It gave me permission to stop grieving in many ways, because Bernard Jan told me it was okay to feel like I did and it was okay to move on, despite suffering an emptiness that will never be filled. I would give this book to anyone who has pets, because it will give you an insight into what will happen one day. We’re telling you it is okay and that you aren’t alone. - Haley Jenkins, Selcouth Station and Goodreads
As someone who has worked with hospice, in hospital, health care centers, and survivor’s of loss and trauma, for close to 40 years, I must say that this is one of the most honest, compassionate, and understanding description of what grief can feel like that I have ever read – and I’ve read a lot of books about grief, loss, death and bereavement. - Gabriel Constans, Amazon and Gabriel Constans blog
A heart-wrenching memoir of a man's last three days in the life of his beloved cat. (...) The reader can truly feel the anguish Bernard felt watching his beloved feline's life be extinguished. (...) Thank you Bernard! - Stacy from Two Gals and a Book, Goodreads
When I started reading A World Without Color, from the very first few sentences I knew what it would be like and I was very emotional from beginning to end. (...) I am a cat owner and found myself identifying with the authors feelings and grieving process. I loved this book and I highly recommend it to all to read. - Starjustin, Goodreads
This book is incredibly well written the only reason i gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is purely down to how hard and upsetting it was to read which is just a credit to how well it was written. Unfortunately it was that upsetting to read i nearly struggled to sit and carry on which is why i had to knock it down a star. Well worth a read if you feel as though you are up to it. - Justin, Goodreads
Death never arrives easy. Here, Bernard Jan chronicles the final stage in the life of a cat named Marcel, as Bernard, his family, and Marcel face Marcel’s death. The capacity for the depth of bond in an interspecies way has always amazed me. This has been illustrated to me very recently with the death of my own cat, Poppy. She was the runt of the litter, not meant to survive, smaller than my undersized palm when she arrived, but she lived for just about twenty-five years. I relay my story because this short book reflects the dilemmas and conflicted emotions faced when dealing with, and having ultimate responsibility for, the final breath of a creature greatly loved. - Rebecca Gransden, Goodreads and Amazon UK
A special thanks to Mischenko and Starjustin. After reading both their deeply moving reviews- I wanted to purchase this book for our younger daughter who has two cats. (...) In this short story we are witness to a beautiful love story between a cat and his owner and the family they are a part of. Gut wrenching loss when death comes. Rest In Peace Marcel.... - Elyse, Goodreads
If you like these beautiful words of authors, readers and reviewers who honored my book with their honest reviews, please purchase A World Without Color as e-book or paperback, or read it for free with Kindle Unlimited. And don't forget to leave an honest review on Amazon, Amazon UK or Goodreads, or your personal website or blog, for I will feature your review on my website and my booklife profile, unless you wish otherwise. And I may even shout it out to my dear subscribers via my newsletter!
Thank you for all your wonderful support to A World Without Color and for spreading the word about it! You are the reason and my motivation to carry on.
Thank you and have a wonderful January!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
No reason for me to complain, because I continue to get your reviews and that means you are reading my book A World Without Color, which is the greatest reward and a gift to any writer!
When I read books before I didn't realize how important reviews are. Even if it is just one sentence. As long as they are honest and you speak from the heart.
With your review you recommend the book you loved and enjoyed reading and you also help bring more readers through the complicated Amazon algorithm. Putting it simply, the more books you buy, the more reviews you write, the more you will help a book with its ranking.
Allow me to share with you a few more honest reviews which A World Without Color received at the beginning of this and during the last year.
This short powerful novella is a must read. It gave me permission to stop grieving in many ways, because Bernard Jan told me it was okay to feel like I did and it was okay to move on, despite suffering an emptiness that will never be filled. I would give this book to anyone who has pets, because it will give you an insight into what will happen one day. We’re telling you it is okay and that you aren’t alone. - Haley Jenkins, Selcouth Station and Goodreads
As someone who has worked with hospice, in hospital, health care centers, and survivor’s of loss and trauma, for close to 40 years, I must say that this is one of the most honest, compassionate, and understanding description of what grief can feel like that I have ever read – and I’ve read a lot of books about grief, loss, death and bereavement. - Gabriel Constans, Amazon and Gabriel Constans blog
A heart-wrenching memoir of a man's last three days in the life of his beloved cat. (...) The reader can truly feel the anguish Bernard felt watching his beloved feline's life be extinguished. (...) Thank you Bernard! - Stacy from Two Gals and a Book, Goodreads
When I started reading A World Without Color, from the very first few sentences I knew what it would be like and I was very emotional from beginning to end. (...) I am a cat owner and found myself identifying with the authors feelings and grieving process. I loved this book and I highly recommend it to all to read. - Starjustin, Goodreads
This book is incredibly well written the only reason i gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is purely down to how hard and upsetting it was to read which is just a credit to how well it was written. Unfortunately it was that upsetting to read i nearly struggled to sit and carry on which is why i had to knock it down a star. Well worth a read if you feel as though you are up to it. - Justin, Goodreads
Death never arrives easy. Here, Bernard Jan chronicles the final stage in the life of a cat named Marcel, as Bernard, his family, and Marcel face Marcel’s death. The capacity for the depth of bond in an interspecies way has always amazed me. This has been illustrated to me very recently with the death of my own cat, Poppy. She was the runt of the litter, not meant to survive, smaller than my undersized palm when she arrived, but she lived for just about twenty-five years. I relay my story because this short book reflects the dilemmas and conflicted emotions faced when dealing with, and having ultimate responsibility for, the final breath of a creature greatly loved. - Rebecca Gransden, Goodreads and Amazon UK
A special thanks to Mischenko and Starjustin. After reading both their deeply moving reviews- I wanted to purchase this book for our younger daughter who has two cats. (...) In this short story we are witness to a beautiful love story between a cat and his owner and the family they are a part of. Gut wrenching loss when death comes. Rest In Peace Marcel.... - Elyse, Goodreads
If you like these beautiful words of authors, readers and reviewers who honored my book with their honest reviews, please purchase A World Without Color as e-book or paperback, or read it for free with Kindle Unlimited. And don't forget to leave an honest review on Amazon, Amazon UK or Goodreads, or your personal website or blog, for I will feature your review on my website and my booklife profile, unless you wish otherwise. And I may even shout it out to my dear subscribers via my newsletter!
Thank you for all your wonderful support to A World Without Color and for spreading the word about it! You are the reason and my motivation to carry on.
Thank you and have a wonderful January!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!
Bernard Jan
