Love, Courage and Survival... The Scent of a Storm (German Love Stories of WWII #3) by Annette Oppenlander

"Annette Oppenlander writes a touching, well-researched historical fiction story. [...]  Love and life find a way to survive from the horrors of war but people are forever changed by the awful tragedies they endured. [...] This book put her on my favorite author's list." - Christy M., Goodreads

The Other Vietnam War: A Helicopter Pilot's Life in Vietnam by Marc Cullison

This Book Triggered a Lot of Old Memories
... memoir to be an engaging read that does an excellent job in describing the physical reality of the Vietnam ...
Like No Other Book On the Subject!

very decision she makes will mean life or death - The Fortress by Madeleine Romeyer Dherbey

"The Fortress is a beautifully written “For Whom the Bell Tolls” love story set

A sensational page-turner of a tale told with all the passion of a novelist and all the sensitivity of an historian, honor bound to do justice to the conflicting truths of men, women, families, rivals, religions, collaborators, communists, nationalists and simple French patriots during the Nazi occupation of the author’s beloved mountains in southeast France."

One shot. One kill. - André (Uncompromising #3) by Sybil Bartel

18+ "Sybil Bartel has become a must read author! Not only does she bring us exciting stories that get your adrenaline pumping, she also knows how to write the best Dominant Alphas. I fall for each and every one of them and I’m always left asking for more. "
- Mindy, Goodreads

Surviving the Fatherland: A True Coming-of-age Love Story Set in WWII Germany by Annette Oppenlander

An IWIC Hall of Fame Novel Winner
2017 National Indie Excellence Award
"This book needs to join the ranks of the classic survivor stories of WWII such as "Diary of Anne Frank" and "Man's Search for Meaning". It is truly that amazing!" InD'taleMagazine

no room in her world for heroes - Harrison's Heart (Heroes for Hire #7) by Dale Mayer

"I have loved every single one of the Heroes for Hire books but this one is my favorite so far. [...]

A great great story with action, mystery, some suspense, lust/love and the main reason I really really enjoy these books is because there isn't any extra drama between the couples and this one is no exception." Di, Goodreads

Review - The Hooligans of Kandahar by Joseph J Kassabian

During the peak years of the Afghanistan War, a group of soldiers is dropped by helicopter into the remote mountains outside of Kandahar City. Mismanaged and overlooked by command, how they survive is largely up to them.

Liberty's Promise (Whispers of Liberty Book 2) by Heidi Sprouse

Ben and Charlotte become lost in the words of their son from the past as they learn about the torch that Jacob Cooper carried for his only love, and what it means to keep Liberty’s Promise.

Surviving the Fatherland: A True Coming-of-age Love Story Set in WWII Germany by Annette Oppenlander

An IWIC Hall of Fame Novel Winner
2017 National Indie Excellence Award
"This book needs to join the ranks of the classic survivor stories of WWII such as "Diary of Anne Frank" and "Man's Search for Meaning". It is truly that amazing!" InD'taleMagazine

Review - Guy's Odyssey by Seth Bleuer

Redemption…

In the search of lost happiness...

A second chance?

The Hooligans of Kandahar by Joseph J Kassabian

During the peak years of the Afghanistan War, a group of soldiers is dropped by helicopter into the remote mountains outside of Kandahar City. Mismanaged and overlooked by command, how they survive is largely up to them.

an even more serious threat - Commander Henry Gallant (The Henry Gallant Saga #4) by H. Peter Alesso

This is the fourth book of The Henry Gallant Saga, but it can be read as a standalone story.
He thought Alaina loved him, but now she’s found someone else. A tidal wave of loss and grief swept over Henry Gallant, leaving him undecided about what to do next, or how to move forward.

World War II Espionage trilogy by A.L. Sowards’

A.L. Sowards is a master at telling sides of stories from history that aren’t overdone or commonly shared. These books took me on an unexpected journey and they each brought up issues that I hadn’t really thought about before. I loved learning information about this time period, while being thoroughly entertained by the events happening to some beloved characters.~Katie, blogger at Katie’s Clean Book Collection - 

We Go On: Charity Anthology for Veterans

The poems and stories included in this anthology, written by various authors, tell of veterans outside of war, of how their sacrifice of service changed their lives long after the war was over. Although some of the messages of the sacrifices of war are sadly timeless, they speak of unsung heroes, and I say unsung because nothing we could ever do for them would ever be enough to say thank you for all they gave. 

Their love may be doomed - The Rules in Rome by A.L. Sowards

From Goodreads: "I'm a sucker for a good, clean romance and this one was exceptional! My socks were knocked off with that first kiss. I loved the way things naturally and gradually developed. As always, I'm looking forward to more of Ms. Sowards writing."

An electrifying high-tech thriller - Shadow Catcher by James R. Hannibal

Happy Re-Release Day!

Description:

From James R. Hannibal—a veteran combat pilot with Top Secret clearance from the U.S. government—comes an electrifying high-tech thriller in the great tradition of Tom Clancy…

Over ten years ago, Air Force major Nick Baron was part of a failed special ops mission that left a B-2 stealth bomber at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Now, leading his men—the Triple Seven Chase team—Baron must find the bomber and dispose of it for good before any unfriendly nation can steal the onboard technology for its own purposes. But as the team embarks on its mission, there are greater dangers waiting.

When the CIA intercepts a call signal from an operative in China long thought dead, the Triple Seven Chase team is given the perilous task of retrieving the lone soldier from deep within the Chinese wilderness. There is only one plane for such a dangerous mission: the Shadow Catcher, a plane with capabilities beyond anything that has ever flown.

What Baron and his men don’t know is that the enemy is already among them—and that the Shadow Catcher itself may be the ultimate prize. 

EXCERPT

Where am I?

Nick stood on a dirt road in thick darkness. He could not remember how he got there. On either side of the road, he saw the high mud walls common to desert villages. They seemed to be closing in on him. He could not feel the ground beneath his feet. The sound of his own breathing echoed in his ears. Then he saw the mosque, its distinctive dome with the worn crescent carved into the west side. Suddenly he knew where he was. He knew what he had to do.

He had to save Danny.

Nick found his teammate less than fifty yards ahead, crouched next to a gap in the wall surrounding the mosque’s small courtyard. Danny looked back at him. He stood up and waved as if they were meeting on a neighborhood street back home in Maryland, wearing that same ridiculous grin that he always wore.

“Get down, you idiot,” Nick whispered into his communications implant. “Stay there. Wait until I get to you.”

Danny did not respond. Instead, he disappeared through the gap in the wall like a ghost.

“Drake, I lost visual with Danny,” said Nick, rushing forward. “What’s going on in that courtyard? Where is the target?” He had to get to his friend, but no matter how hard he ran, the mosque stayed fifty yards ahead of him.

“You can see what I can,” replied Drake, his voice mechanical, distant. “Check the image on your handheld. I’ve got nothing on the thermal.”

Nick checked the faintly glowing monitor attached to his Falcon ROVER handheld. The receiver pulled real-time thermal video from an RQ-7 Shadow UAV flying overhead. He held the small screen up to his eyes, but he couldn’t focus his vision. He couldn’t make any sense of the hazy green image.

The target, Zaman Ramiz, had smuggled a nuclear weapon out of southern Russia. The Triple Seven had chased him from Azerbaijan, across northern Turkey and into Bazargan, just across the Iranian border. Drake had stayed behind to fly the Shadow. Nick and Danny had crossed the border in pursuit. Now the arms dealer’s men were dead, and Ramiz was holed up in the small mosque.

The whole village seemed to shift around him. Suddenly Nick was at the wall. Where was Danny? What a stupid question. He knew where Danny was. He was in that courtyard, and that courtyard was a deathtrap. He looked down at the handheld again. He still couldn’t see the video feed. He put the receiver away and cautiously leaned into the gap to get a look with his own eyes. A spray of bullets ricocheted off the wall beside his head, kicking brick fragments and dust into his face.

“He just shot at me,” Nick shouted as he pulled back behind the wall. He tried to rub the debris from his eyes. “I need to know where that’s coming from.”

Drake gave no response.

Nick had to keep the pressure on. He burst into the courtyard with his MP7 tucked into his shoulder, searching for a target, searching for his teammate. There, just ahead. Danny was lying motionless beside a wide, square fountain. The ancient stones were wet with blood.

Another burst of gunfire rang out from the shadows of the mosque. Nick felt two bullets slam into his vest. He dove into a prone position behind the fountain, shouting at Danny. But Danny did not answer.

Nick felt an icy grip crushing his chest. Pain radiated through his torso. He couldn’t breathe. He rolled over and tried to rip off his Kevlar vest, but there was no vest. He wore no protection over his cotton undershirt. The fabric felt warm and wet against his fingertips. He raised his hand to his eyes. It was covered in blood.

Footsteps. Ramiz stood over him, a blur at first and then slowly coming into focus. The arms dealer smiled down from behind the barrel of his Stechkin machine pistol.

He pulled the trigger.

“Okay, that’s really annoying.”

Nick fought to open his eyes. Drake’s hand was on his arm, shaking him.

“Seriously, how does Katy get any sleep when you’re home? You’re thrashing around in your bunk and moaning like a creature from a low-grade zombie movie.”

Nick blinked until his small berth on the Illustro came into focus. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. After taking a moment to gather his wits, he rolled onto his side and glowered across the tiny room at Drake. “I wasn’t moaning,” he said, trying to steady his voice. “And for the record, all zombie movies are low grade.”

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About the author:

James R. Hannibal is a former US Air Force Stealth Bomber pilot with over a thousand hours of combat experience including over-watch, close air support, and HVI captures. 

He graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1997 with a bachelors of science in Middle Eastern Studies and earned a masters of science from Central Missouri State University in Aviation Safety Sciences. His flying career included the A-10 Warthog, B-2 Stealth Bomber, MQ-1 Predator, T-38 Talon, T-37 Tweet, and the Boeing 737, 757, and 767.

When he is not flying or writing thrillers, James occasionally reviews for the New York Journal of Books.

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Giveaway: Kaplan's Quest by Richard Steinitz

Description:

Dedication: To my friend, editor and brother – Michael, without who's advice and assistance this book would not be what it is.

The disappearance of his great-uncle Samuel during World War II has shaped the life of the young university lecturer, Shmulik Kaplan. As part of his Master's Thesis on the history of Germany between the wars, he sets out to try and discover what happened to his uncle – an outstanding athlete who managed to leave Germany in 1935, and yet incomprehensibly, returned to Berlin, and then vanished without a trace.

From his book lined office at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to Berlin and to Mont St. Michel in France, and through the dusty WW II archives of the German army, the quest takes him on a rollercoaster journey of personal discovery and emotion. The search uncovers events and materials that no-one had ever heard of before, or seen, since the days of the German occupation of France. 

TOUR SCHEDULE

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About the author:

Born in New York City of German-Jewish immigrant parents, Richard Steinitz studied at the State University of NY at Buffalo, and has been living in Israel since 1968. When not writing novels, he reads them in great quantities, and works for a multi-national educational publisher. He and his wife Naomi are the parents of two grown children.

Though his own parents escaped the Holocaust, it has had an enduring effect on his life, and his writing.

Researching the background for his books is his favorite activity, after reading mysteries! Kaplan's Quest is his second novel.

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Excerpt and Giveaway: Inflame (Explosive #3) by Tessa Teevan

Description:

Easy going soldier Kale Montgomery, a self-proclaimed ladies man, has no plans of settling down, especially not with his best friend- the sexy, sassy schoolteacher Lucy Dawson. Their relationship, though unconventional, is mutually beneficial, and they wouldn't have it any other way. Friends with benefits? Casual lovers? Whatever you want to call it, they’re having fun, in and out of bed, and to them, that’s all that matters. At least that’s what they think, but how long can you spend in someone's bed before you find they're also infiltrating your heart?

As their casual fling with no strings attached progresses, it's not long before they realize they're both in way over their heads. One fateful night changes their lives forever in ways they could never have imagined, giving them the push to finally admit that maybe, just maybe they want more than they’ve let on. Their mutual attraction rapidly intensifies as it shifts from burning lust to unrelenting want, need, and possibly even love. Suddenly the idea of settling down doesn't seem so bad. In fact, it sounds pretty damn perfect.

Just when things seem to be falling into place, past pain and renewed insecurities rise to the surface and threaten to smother the flames of their passionate relationship, reminding them both why they’ve always kept the idea of love at arm's length. Will Kale and Lucy realize that what they've been waiting for is each other, or will the blazing whirlwind of their feelings burn out too quickly, causing it to all go up in smoke?

EXCERPT

She looks me over, and I love the fact that she’s checking me out. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to her, but I am, and I want to get to know her better, at least where the bedroom’s concerned. Eventually, she extends her hand, and I give a firm handshake, the kind she wanted when we first met. “Please, Kale, call me Lucy.”

Shaking her hand, I say it out loud. “Lucy. I like it.”

“That’s fortunate since I’m stuck with it. Okay, Montgomery. As much as I love flirting with a hot ass soldier in the parking lot of an elementary school, I’ve got to get going. Maybe I’ll see you around?” 

She starts to walk away, but I grab her hand, reeling her back in. I’m not ready for her to go, yet I don’t want to seem like some crazy stalker guy. 

“Can I see you again? You know, outside of an elementary school?” I ask, my eyes bearing down into hers, begging for her to say yes. 

She hesitates, and I’m afraid she’s about to say no when she finally responds. “I don’t date. I’m not looking for anything serious, so if that’s what you’re looking for, I’m the wrong girl.”

My cock practically sings at her words. A no strings attached relationship with a hot teacher right before I deploy? I couldn’t have asked for better luck. 

“I don’t do relationships, either, Lucy. I just want to get to know you and to have some fun. No feelings, no strings, no nothing,” I tell her, and watch as a look of relief washes over her. 

She starts digging in her purse and I watch as she scribbles something on a piece of paper before hanging it to me. “Number’s right there. Call me when you’re feeling adventurous,” she says. Before I can say anything, she spins around and swiftly walks away, leaving me to wonder just how adventurous she can be.

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About the author:

I'm a twenty six year old book junkie who is also obsessed with sports. Bengals, Buckeyes, Reds are my teams! I work for the government during the day, hang out with Air National Guard on the weekends, and have been married to my own book boyfriend for over seven years. We currently live right outside of Dayton, OH with our two cats. 

If I’m not writing or looking through tons of photos of hot men, all in the name of research, then you can probably find me curled up with my Kindle, ignoring the rest of the world. I love my sports almost as much as I love my books. My other obsessions include red wine, hot men, country music, and all things Grace Potter. My email: tessateevanauthor@gmail.com

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Author's Giveaway

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Review and Giveaway: Ghost Sniper: A World War II Thriller by David Healey

REVIEW

The story’s frame is clear from the moment you open the book or better said from the moment you see the cover, the subject being one as old as the one of the knight who saves the damsel in distress. Perhaps not as famous as that one, but certainly, I think, is coming in the second place in literature or in the visual art. You know what I mean, right? The duel. Yes, you could say that many stories with a damsel in distress will find their closure in a duel, or that in the more recent or not collective memory a duel inspires a medieval set or a life and death skirmish in front of a typical saloon in the Old West. But even such a dreadful carnage as WWII which had as result the deaths of tens of millions of people, combatants or not, can be the perfect setting for a duel of true warriors. So... leave aside the swords, the rapiers or the old Colt Model 1873 "the gun that won the West" and get acquainted with the sniper rifle. A perfect weapon for times less elegant that have nothing to do with chivalry, but that in the hands of professionals could cause more damage than an entire battalion.

Thus, let yourself be carried by the author into the story and live the moments of horror along with the book characters in the famous assault of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, or the allies’ terror that fought in the terrible bocage in the same French region. Do not worry, the author does not intend to throw in your arms a dull history book nor to torment you with dry data and statistics that might get you bored, because WWII is only the game set. As the rules of the game I can tell you that it is only one: there are no rules! I could use the well known comparison of the game of cat and mouse (I used it myself and I know sometimes it is suitable for certain situations), but in this case would be more appropriate E. Hemingway’s quote: "There is no hunting like the hunting of a man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter". Sounds good, right? Yes, but it is a sad truth, and represent the corollary for this book.

It is a novel in which the hunter and the hunted have similar type of weapons and where only the training, the wit and ... luck can make the difference. In fact, in such a clash of professionals it seems that luck becomes the main trump. A race of terror, of stone cold natures and twists. An adventure in which the distance between life and death is measured in fractions of a second, and I am not referring here to the extraordinary reflexes of a lone gunslinger, but to the hunter’s ambush who carefully choose the victim whose death can have a devastating effect on its comrades. The fear and the confusion were snipers’ advantage that had found their perfect playground in the region of Normandy in the summer of 1944.

The Ghost Sniper is an interesting, well written novel, in which the author will not abuse of all sorts of tactical or technical military description, but will focus on the feelings of the characters, on the characters’ confrontation. The Ghost Sniper is a story in which the guns caliber or the number of soldiers do not matter, but the sharp eye and the sly of the predator that lurks in the shadow. A book in which the focus will be on the action, where pointless descriptions and downtime will not exist and you will crave to know the denouement.

Happy reading and… stay frosty because everything can go FUBAR!

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About the author:

David Healey has been a journalist, librarian and teacher. He has written several novels, including the Civil War novel “Sharpshooter” and a mystery, “The House that Went Down with the Ship.” His nonfiction books include “Great Storms of the Chesapeake” and “1812: Rediscovering Chesapeake Bay's Forgotten War.” His articles and essays have been published in many magazines, including American History, The Washington Times, Blue & Gray, Running Times and Maryland Life. When not writing, he enjoys hiking, working on his old house, and driving his family crazy by pulling over to the side of the road to read historical markers.

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Review Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves (Shane Schofield series) by Matthew Reilly

Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves by Matthew Reilly is the last volume published (in 2011) of Shane Schofield series. In this sequel of the series, after Ice Station, Area 7 and Scarecrow, the author seems to lead to another level the electrifying adventures of the marines captain Shane Schofield. If in the previous was a burst of adrenaline from start to end, now the race for survival and the stopping of the villains break any barriers. As the stakes are high, nobody makes stop at nothing and Scarecrow found himself again unwittingly in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Inappropriate for him and his team, but luckily for the others, the captain is like a pitbull dog that is once unleashed will not stop until his opponent is not put down. By others meaning a good part of the population of the planet, as the author accustomed us, our hero is hardly himself if he doesn’t save the world again. Yes, it is again a race against time, against bad guys who want to change the world. An old topic you could say at first glance, but how well Reilly tell us about it!

About the topic? No, I’ll tell you nothing except that the weapons barrels will be red with use, fists will smack jaws everywhere, vehicles will be smashed into an alarming rate whether we talking about jeeps, large transport aircraft or nuclear submarines. I have said from the beginning that there will be no walk in the park on a sunny afternoon. Even in the other novels the action was at its peak, here all the rules are broken and everything is allowed. There is no place for old-fashioned chivalry or honor. Everything is laid aside by both sides and the violence, cruelty and massacre will dim the story. Stay calm, Reilly knows how to pack everything into an adventure story, so it will not skid any time into a horror story or some other mischief. Is tougher than the others, but given the stakes of the game could not be otherwise. The adventure is carried to the extreme, you might say at one point that the author exaggerates, but what the hell, just these extraordinary events will make the delight of the story. And this is why you read fiction books, to take you out of the everyday and let you carry by the author to new realms where men and women demonstrate their courage, heroism and self-sacrifice.

You’ll read the book breathless from the beginning to the end and you’ll not going to have time to complain about anything. The novel begins abruptly and all the madness doesn’t end until the last page. But even then the author will leave a small door open to new adventures of Captain Shane Schofield.

Matthew Reilly gives again the proof of his talent in this novel where he’ll amaze you with his creativity and imagination. The characters are well defined, the scenes are visual and excellent described and the author will take you to hell and back in a dizzying speed. It is a book that can be at any time subject to a good action movie.

In addition to the four volumes the series has a spin-off Hell Island which is not a novel itself, but rather is just a story that does not follow the series chronology of events.

Happy reading!

Română:

Scarecrow and the Army Of Thieves de Matthew Reilly este ultimul volum din seria Shane Schofield apărut în 2011. După Ice Station, Area 7 și Scarecrow, autorul pare să ducă la un alt nivel aventurile electrizante ale căpitanului de marines Shane Schofield. Dacă în precedentele a fost o explozie de adrenalină de la prima pagină la ultima, acum cursa pentru supraviețuire și oprirea ticăloșilor sparge orice bariere. Cum miza este mare, nimeni nu se dă în lături de la nimic și Scarecrow se regăsește din nou fără să vrea în locul și la momentul nepotrivit. Nepotrivit pentru el și echipa lui, dar spre norocul celorlalți căpitanul este precum un pitbull ce odată ce este dezlănțuit nu se va mai opri până ce adversarul nu este pus la pământ. Prin celorlalți înțelegem o bună parte a populației planetei căci după cum ne-a obișnuit autorul, eroului nostru nu-i stă bine dacă nu mai salvează lumea încă o dată. Da, este din nou o goană contra cronometru împotriva unor dezaxați ce vor să schimbe cursul lumii. Un subiect fumat ați putea spune la prima vedere, dar ce bine e povestit de Reilly!

Despre subiect n-o să vă spun nimic decât că țevile armelor se vor înroși de atâta folosire, pumnii vor stâlci fălci la tot pasul, mașinile vor fi făcute praf într-un ritm alarmant indiferent dacă sunt jeep-uri, avioane mari de transport sau submarine nucleare. V-am spus de la început că nu o să fie o plimbare prin parc într-o după amiază însorită. Chiar dacă și în celelalte acțiunea era la apogeu, aici toate regulile sunt încălcate și orice este permis. Nu este un loc pentru cavalerisme desuete sau pentru onoare. Totul este lăsat la o parte de către ambele tabere și violența, cruzimea și masacrul vor împânzi povestirea. Stați liniștiți, Reilly știe cum să împacheteze totul într-o povestire de aventuri, așa că nu va derapa niciun moment într-o povestire de groază sau vreo altă trăsnaie. Este mai dură decât celelalte, dar ținând cont de miza jocului nici nu putea să fie altfel. Aventura este dusă la extrem, s-ar putea spune la un moment dat că autorul exagerează, însă ce naiba, tocmai aceste întâmplări ieșite din comun vor face deliciul povestirii. Iar acesta este motivul pentru care citiți cărți de ficțiune, pentru a vă scoate din cotidian și a vă lăsa purtați de autor spre noi tărâmuri unde bărbați și femei dau dovadă de curaj, eroism și spirit de sacrificiu.

O să citiți cartea de la un capăt la celălalt pe nerăsuflate și nu o să mai aveți timp să vă plângeți de nimic. Romanul debutează abrupt și toată nebunia nu ia sfârșit decât cu ultima pagină. Însă chiar și atunci autorul va lăsa o mică portiță deschisă pentru noile peripeții ale căpitanului.

Matthew Reilly dă dovada talentului său și în acest roman unde vă va uimi cu creativitatea și imaginația sa. Personajele sunt bine conturate, scenele sunt vizuale și excelent descrise, iar autorul vă va duce până în iad și înapoi într-o viteză amețitoare. Este o carte ce poate fi în orice moment subiectul unui film bun de acțiune.

În afară de cele patru volume seria mai are și un spin-off Hell Island ce nu este un roman propriu zis, ci mai degrabă este doar o povestire ce nu urmează cronologia evenimentelor.

Acum pentru cititorii români: din păcate la noi nu a apărut decât primul roman Ice Station (Stația Polară). Pentru cei ce le-ar putea procura pe celelalte într-o limbă străină le-aș recomanda să încerce să le citească în original, în engleză. Ați beneficia așa direct de măiestria autorului, fără reinterpretările și adaptările traducătorului.

Lectură plăcută!