LOVE UNDER THE BUBBLE WRAP – A NOVELETTE

by Donna J. Shepherd

Publisher: Lilliput Press

Published: February 1, 2012

Format: ebook (Novelette – 41 pages)

Origin: Author

***Though the author provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

With a pressure filled life, a recently disabled husband, and the shine dulled on her fifteen-year marriage, a mysterious package arrives to provide a pleasing distraction from Debi’s problems.

However, the item laying under the bubble wrap is something she couldn’t imagine and she doesn’t know who would send it. Debi believes it a fake stone, but she brings it to someone she trusts for evaluation.  Her friend, Jenny, works at a local jeweler and she determines the diamond is real!  

Jenny’s taking the ring for an appraisal and Debi is dying to know its worth.

These two start hatching a plan to uncover the sender.  Could it be Debi’s husband?  No. Jeff knew about the ring and even doubted it was real. Nope. Besides, he’s a tightwad with money, but she knew they can not even afford a gem like this.  Their list is short even minus Jeff.  Joe is a neighbor who is always staring at her, an old boyfriend who was more a friend than beau, and a coworker who always seems to be around.  

Jenny takes the lead and starts contacting their suspects, while Debi starts wondering if she should be doing this at all.  Soon, Debi finds she needs to do this and cannot even explain to herself why.   

My Take:

LOVE UNDER THE BUBBLE WRAP-A NOVELETTE by Donna J. Shepherd isn’t a chick lit read. However, this hen lit title shines a spotlight on the middle of a marriage through a woman in the middle of a life where things haven’t gone as planned.

Anyone in a relationship who has ever hit upon one of life’s snags will relate to Debi and will laugh at the lengths she goes to solve her personal mystery.  Debi’s a woman on the hunt— who doesn’t always see the forest through the trees—but she learns in the process, when she meets a Christian counselor.  This man has given her a few things to think about and explains why the need to find the giver even exists inside her.   

Donna J. Shepherd gives us a “real life” love story! Though short, this novelette provides a fleshed out story with curious characters and a satisfying ending.   Her other works include devotionals, children’s stories, and poems.  You can find more about Donna and her books at donnajshepherd.com. 

SUMMER OF SECRETS BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!

by: Charlotte Hubbard             

Publisher: Zebra (Kensington)  

Published: February 1, 2012        

Format: Paperback (320 pages)      

ISBN: 9781420121698            

Series: Seasons of the Heart

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Widow Miriam Lantz, her twin daughters, and family friend Naomi Brenneman operate Sweet Seasons Bakery Cafe but their world is about to falter, faith will get a test, and sweethearts come undone.  

When Rachel Lantz meets a ghoulish girl, she introduces Sweet Seasons and prepares to take down the food order, until this Englisher’s eyes call to mind her twin sister, Rhoda.  Shocked, Rachel runs into the kitchen and her mother runs out.  Though her eyes see and heart knows, it’s not until the girl with tattoos produces a dress that Miriam knows what’s so.  

Her daughter is alive!   This child’s tragic death left Miriam the mother of twins instead of triplets.  

Rachel Lantz doesn’t believe the story, until her mother confirms it, but another problem develops for Rachel with this new sibling.  

Her fiancée, Micah Brenneman, can’t stop talking about Tiffany, who is understood to be Rebecca, after he couldn’t stop staring at the Englisher woman, first.   However, when Rachel’s betrothed calls upon Tiffany, he puts obstacles into their path of a fragile, yet to be created union and adds layers of doubt in her heart.  

Meanwhile, Bishop Hiram Knepp arrives at the eatery claiming a need to diffuse Willow Ridge’s community buzz over Miriam’s lost child with fancy, provocative ways.  A measure of scandal rocked her community, when a preacher’s wife ran off with an English man, and surely, he felt concern about Micah’s soul.  These were powerful reasons for his visit.  The Bishop’s entrapment of Miriam inside her kitchen, pinning her to the counter with his body with talk about how she was not fulfilling God’s plan for her life, showed less than pure motivations.  

Meeting her resistance, Bishop Knepp threatens to close down Sweet Seasons, and his status would allow his unfair punishment to go forth, leaving Miriam without income.

   

My Take:

Charlotte Hubbard seamlessly blends romance and family drama in a faith filled read encompassing building and rebuilding trusts, reconciling past mistakes, and forgiveness of oneself and others in SUMMER OF SECRETS!

Independent women living an Amish life, where oftentimes submission is a requirement, provides engaging characters who readers will rally behind while they fall in love with the men who enjoy their strong spirit.

I recommend Charlotte Hubbard’s SUMMER OF SECRETS!  With many recipes to busy yourself and a sneak peek into the next Season of the Heart title, AUTUMN WINDS, the summer will fly by.   September 2012, you can revisit Willow Ridge, Missouri and meet other characters living in faith inside Amish country. 

NOW, HERE’S THE GIVEAWAY NEWS!

For readers of this blog, throughout the United States and Canada, you can enter a random drawing for a free physical book of SUMMER OF SECRETS just by leaving a comment!  

The comment form will require an email address.  However, your email address will not be published.

I will announce the winner on a future blog post.

So, you stay tuned and check back often!  I just may have more giveaways coming to you in the future.

The voting hours have ended. I thank you for all of your votes! 

http ://www.goodreads.com/book_blogger_award/entry/156

WOODROSE MOUNTAIN

by RaeAnne Thayne

Publisher: HQN Books

Published: March 27, 2012

Format: Paperback (352 pages)

ISBN: 9780373776375

Origin: Publisher through netGalley (egalley)

***Though the publisher provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Evie Blanchard flees Los Angeles and moves to Hope’s Crossing, looking to heal.  Death stole her best friend first and then her daughter, while overwhelming grief took her career and life. 

Through the mountains, fresh air, new friends, and String Fever, Evie finds more than a home. She finds peace, healing, and a lifestyle that fits her—until a tragic accident. One teen dies. Another teenager clings to life in a coma. Evie’s friend loses a child while another one hopes her granddaughter will live, and another friend plus her children survive their injuries.  

The whole town is grieving, hoping, and praying.  Through the grief, happiness shows up as Taryn Thorn wakes from the coma, but soon Evie faces Brodie Thorn.  

Brodie Thorn never really liked Evaline Blanchard; in fact, he does’t trust her. Who gives up a life in LA to come here? She cozies-up to his mother, Katherine, and he needs to know why. However, he also has many other reasons to dislike her.  

She fights everything he wants to do in this town and acts as if she’s a life-long resident. Meanwhile, he’s grown up in Hope’s Crossing and is raising his daughter here. Suddenly, the newcomer seems to think she knows what is best for this town. She sits at meetings and hearings running her mouth against whatever project he is pitching, no matter how great it is for the town. His town.  

Now, Brodie really needs Evaline on his side, and it’s not for the latest development or project. His brain-injured daughter is coming home, and he needs a physical therapy manager.

Unfortunately, his mother suggested this woman and did her research, but he easily expected to shoot the idea down. It did not work out that way.  This woman’s dossier couldn’t be matched. Ms. Blanchard is the best in the business, and she lives right in his backyard.  

Overlooking her extreme dislike for him, he goes, hat-in-hand, asking her to be Taryn’s therapist.  

Just like every other time they’d been on the wrong side of each other, she turns him down. Did her dislike of him mean his daughter should suffer?  Couldn’t she help a child in need? Not only was he furious, Brodie was not taking no for her answer.  

Taryn needs the best, and she is the best. No, if he had to do it with guns blazing, Evaline Blanchard was going to help Taryn, whether she wants to or not.  

My Take:

I recommend WOODROSE MOUNTAIN by RaeAnne Thayne! 

The author brings two unlikely characters together, for a common goal, and they each discover the other isn’t whom they thought. However, questions remain for them.  

Is Evie over her losses enough? Can Brodie trust her? What these two find out is something that will change their lives, forever.

In WOODROSE MOUNTAIN, RaeAnne Thayne adds flesh to the supporting cast of characters, especially Taryn and Charlie. With a hint of mystery surrounding the accident, you’ll need to know what Taryn knows, and you will want to find out what happens between Evie and Brodie.    

After reading this title, you’ll decide to read A COLD CREEK REUNION (Harlequin Special Edition, March 2012) plus more of this author’s many titles.

   

The voting hours have ended. I thank you for all of your votes! 

http ://www.goodreads.com/book_blogger_award/entry/156

MY WICKED LITTLE LIES BOOK REVIEW and GIVEAWAY!

by Victoria Alexander

Publisher: Zebra (Kensington)

Published: January 31, 2012

Format: Paperback (352 pages)

ISBN: 9781420117066

Series: Sinful Family Secrets

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Even during Victorian times, intrigue ran through rich, hollow facades with dangerous escapades, mysterious alliances, and sinful secrets.

Evelyn Hadley-Attwater knows the true goal of the department; she’s worked there. However, that life was far behind her now.  She is and has been The Countess of Waterston and a happily married woman these two years, but Evelyn has been summoned to her old headquarters and worries why.

At first, she politely turns down the job. However, Evelyn is then literally blackmailed into it. Her old supervisor, with good reason, is forcing her to partake.  

Sir Maxwell Osgood is trying to protect the names of operatives and their lives; although, it does seem that he lost this file with many names by someone’s hand, and that hand has Maxwell in his grasp too. 

All told, it does seem to be a simple assignment.  

She must attend a party to which she and the Earl had already been invited and responded to in a favorable fashion. However, they really were not planning to attend.  No matter, she’d attend. 

Adrian Hadley-Attwater senses his wife is distracted or maybe preoccupied.  Now, it is known that some married spouses, after a time, desire someone else. Although their time has been just two years, Adrian begins wondering about what is on her mind.  He was never the jealous cad, but his Evie could make any man take leave of his senses, he well knew.

Talking himself out of those thoughts, for a short time, Adrian does decide to follow her.

Much to his dismay, Evie left out a trip to the museum from her itinerary, not that actually means anything.   However, he does remember meeting with her at that place.  Commonsense reigns, as he begins to imagine scenarios of her spotting him trailing her.  What would she do? How would she react to his distrust, when she’s never given him any reason for such a thing?  

Before Evelyn exits the building, he leaves.  

However, soon, she is insisting on actually attending the event they had decided to skip. Maybe someone’s attending that she is to see.  

When another calls him away from his wife, at the event, Adrian cannot help but feel it was a choreographed interruption, but the brief interruption is over much quicker than was supposed. As a result, he finds his wife sneaking away.  

Why?  He just has to know the answer to that question.  Could his instincts have been right all along?  Is there someone else?

Adrian follows Evie, only to find his wife rifling through the manly desk in the library.  

My Take:

Victoria Alexander’s MY WICKED LITTLE LIES is a fun read with an enticing premise and an ending you’ll just love! 

Evelyn Hadley-Attwater isn’t at all stuffy. She’s confident and knows how not to be a lady, while her husband, Adrian Hadley-Attwater, is a reformed—by circumstance—former bad boy who can’t seem to keep his adventurous side tame.  However, these two together are the perfect match in more ways than you will imagine.

In MY WICKED LITTLE LIES, Victoria Alexander creates a believable but not a boring, married couple romance and laces it with spies, mystery, and humor.

This is a standalone novel, but you will certainly want to read the first book of the Sinful Family Secrets series titled, HIS MISTRESS BY CHRISTMAS (September 2011).  

NOW, HERE’S THE GIVEAWAY NEWS!

For readers of this blog, throughout the United States and Canada, you can enter a random drawing for a free physical book of MY WICKED LITTLE LIES just by leaving a comment!  

The comment form will require an email address.  However, your email address will not be published.

I will announce the winner on a future blog post.

So, you stay tuned and check back often!  I just may have more giveaways coming to you in the future.

CHOCOLICIOUS

by Geraldine Solon

Publisher: Solstice Publishing

Published: July 8, 2011

Format: ebook

File Size: 335 KB

Origin: Recommendation

***This read comes from a recommendation to my private library, but as always, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Blair Nightingale was not supposed to be alone, let alone raising a child on her own, but soon, after her husband’s funeral, Blair cannot help but wonder, whom exactly had she married?  

Larry Nightingale wasn’t a criminal—at least at first.  

Now, she’s finding out the man whom said marriage vows to her wasn’t the same man in the end. All she really knew was that her husband started their marriage as a fun-loving, romantic, adventurous, ambitious man, but she’s not really sure how it ended up that she was very much alone long before he died.  At some point, Larry thought of her as little more than a trophy wife and her husband was always at work or going away for work.  

However, the wreck her life just became was something she never saw coming, but she knew Larry’s best friend, George, just told her she was about to lose everything and then went on to deliver her daughter, Rebecca.  

Not too long after she gave birth, another man that she knows through Larry’s business parties shows up at her door, with her immediate eviction order and a moving van.  Without mercy, he tells Blair of Larry’s theft and blames Larry’s lack of life insurance for her current situation. No doubt about it, he wants what is coming to him and he has no problem telling Blair that what happens to her is not his worry or care.  

Now, with a daughter who is only weeks old, Blair is homeless.

With the array of her limited choices threatening to cripple Blair, her sister wants her to move back to their hometown, but Blair sees that as not an option. She left that boring, small town life long ago, and she’s not going backward.  

Deciding to stay poses many other problems; she needs a job but has limited work experience and that dates back years ago.  

Meanwhile, George Withrop can’t help but feel responsible for Blair. After all, his best friend asked George to watch over his wife.

Larry should have thought about them before he stole all that money.  Now, Larry is dead. Moreover, he left nothing for his wife and soon-to-be daughter but grief and debt, and George failed them too. George tried to reason with Reinhart and his attorney, but they would not listen. George didn’t want Larry’s wife and daughter to pay for Larry’s deception, but it seemed he could do very little about it.  

Calling her constantly to have the will read was like probing her fresh wounds, he knew, but it was the only hope he had left to save her from destruction.  Unfortunately, this only increased Blair’s hatred for him, leaving him without anymore options.  He would have to deliver the news himself to a woman who could give birth any day that she is going to lose everything.

However, the best-laid plans can never happen without complications.  Only minutes after receiving his devastating news, Blair’s labor begins, but judging by her agonizing pain, this wasn’t going to a slow birth.

Before the paramedics arrive, George has to deliver this baby and absorb the face slaps that he’s received in the process from the hysterical woman.  With the help of an emergency operator, via telephone, George delivers Rebecca and falls in love at the same time.  

Although they shared a brief respite from her hatred of him, it doesn’t last long.  While she had slapped him silly, Blair yelled the reason for her hatred.  

Blair believes that he was the reason her husband had left her alone, and she resents him for being with Larry at death, essentially keeping her from being by his side in death.  These things were not entirely accurate.  George was Larry’s best friend and was indeed with him on many nights, but George had no idea that he was leaving his wife to be with his friend.  He simply figured, as a married couple, both had been involved with outside activities and thought that Larry was spending free time with George. Yes, he was present when Larry died, but it wasn’t the way she visions it.  These two best friends had not always been close; in fact, they’d been distant.  

Blair Nightingale does have every right to hate him, but she doesn’t yet know those reasons. All he can do is hope she never finds out that George was the reason Larry died.

The day Rebecca was born changed both of their lives and he wants nothing more than to be by her side and help raise Becky as his own. Nevertheless, he needs to overcome her hatred and his guilt, and, most importantly, she needs to fall in love with him too.  

My Take:

Geraldine Salon provides us readers with a romance that will keep you engaged and invested to the end.  Her characters are both flawed and have made their share of mistakes, assumptions, and judgments, but they are both able to redeem themselves to themselves and others.  

Blair realizes her marriage had been over long before her husband died but that she stayed in the imperfect union.  Now, she’s out to prove to herself that she can make it on her own.  In the meantime, while George falls in love with the family that’s not his own, I was able to fall in love with him.  George isn’t bad, but he became a fast friend with Larry maybe for all the wrong reasons.  However, keeping his secret erodes George from the inside, but if he tells, he could lose everything.  

I have no doubt that when you finish CHOCOLICIOUS that you want to read Geraldine Solon’s LOVE LETTERS (Solstice Publishing January 2011). 

SO DAMN LUCKY

by Deborah Coonts

Publisher: Forge Books 

Published: February 28, 2012

Format: Hardcover (384 pages)

ISBN: 9780765330062

Series: Lucky O’Toole

Origin: Publisher through netGalley – eGalley

***Though the publisher provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Lucky O’Toole was not the only one to receive the death threats.  The magician, Dimitri Fortunoff, received a few scary ones, while tonight’s had been the worse thus far.

Right now, Lucky is kind of running the show at The Babylon, a mega-resort, and she’s made an executive decision to close down the recently acquired Athena.  However, in closing down the casino, she was putting the entertainment and staff out of a job; her death threats could be warranted.  However, in Dimitri Fortunoff’s case, these threats all begin from a rumor.

Dimitri is said to be the Masked Houdini; he’s the guy who tells then shows the tricks of the trade to the world, proving magicians to be just the same as you and me. That masked man is hated even by Star Trek aliens, apparently.

With the illusion of magic gone, the fans, crowds, and monies also disappear, and the rest of the casino suffers without the income.

Consequently, Dimitri protests the claim, but Lucky doesn’t actually buy that.  It’s not a case of thou doth protest too much as much as it is a case of not protesting loud enough. Nevertheless, what the man does is his business.  Lucky can’t get her own life right, who is she to say what another should do?

Tonight is the last night of shows at the casino, and Dimitri steps on stage with bravado, in front of an audience that includes the members of the Magic Ring—a secret authoritative society in the magic arts community.  But Lucky knows there is a whole cast of other entertainers who could believe he’s the Masked Houdini, the one to blame the lackluster casino’s closing on.

Lucky’s stomach knots when Dimitri announces he is going to perform a special escape, just for tonight’s performance.

The Great Dimitri Fortunoff is going to escape from Harry Houdini’s Chinese Water Torture Cell. With his legs padlocked in stocks and his wrists handcuffed, he is lowered inside the water-filled box head first, but it doesn’t take as long as it felt for someone to scream Dimitri is dead!

The ambulance arrives much too late and takes the dead illusionist to the nearest hospital, but that doesn’t end Lucky’s problems.

Dimitri Fortunoff never arrives. Who took his body, and why?

My Take:

Deborah Coonts give us readers quite a mysterious and funny performance in SO DAMN LUCKY, with a special backstage pass inside Lucky O’Toole’s unusual life.

Her lineage is a hoot, while Lucky’s souring romance, need for love, and mystery to solve make her a loveable and endearing character.  Filled with a cast of characters that you’d love to spend more time with, Deborah Coonts gives us a promising romance, laughs, and a true mystery to solve.

While SO DAMN LUCKY is a standalone title, you’ll want to read the other novels in the series, WANNA GET LUCKY (May 2010) and LUCKY STIFF (February 2011).

THE SCENT OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS

by: Cindy Woodsmall

Publisher: WaterBrook Press

Published: February 21, 2012

Format: Hardcover (208 pages)

ISBN: 9780307446558

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

THE SCENT OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS pits Plain against Plain in a battle of love.  

Annie Martin is Plain Order Mennonite while Aden Zook is Plain Order Amish, but when childhood friendship springs into something more, they are worlds apart.

Annie finds herself back at her Daadi Moses house, whether she’d wanted to be there or not. She did, but this time her visit wasn’t due to Daadi’s illness; Annie’s mother nearly kicked her out of the house without any information on when she’d be welcomed back.   Having a petrified relationship with her mother, Annie just doesn’t understand how she let the family unit go to dysfunction, after her father left them.   This worldliness is the main source of contention between Mamm and her daughter, especially since her brothers’ alarming new turn into things not permitted in their faith.  Her brothers drink and play games of cards and take a lackadaisical approach to their job.  Annie knew she should’ve kept her mouth shut, but she didn’t.  Annie worried for her younger siblings who seemed to be favoring their eldest brothers’ bad habits.

Back working in the Zook’s diner, Annie realizes Aden is all grown now.

Aden Zook enjoys sketching, but he must work too.  A long work schedule is hard but not as monstrous to him as his stutter seems to be; he just wants to be more like his brother, Roman Zook.

However, Roman hasn’t been Roman in what feels like a lifetime.

An accident bound Roman to his wheelchair and almost killed their Daed, but everyone is alive and well. However, Roman depends on Aden to assist in everyday tasks while his Daed cannot do anything near what he used to. Daed’s muscles and pain restrict him so.  Nevertheless, this family still runs the best diner anyone ever had, but when their Uncle Ernie needs Roman’s help to fix a generator, he convinces Roman to go.

But what maybe good for Roman’s confidence will push Aden’s work schedule beyond what any man can be can aspire to handle, with a wedding party to feed and a diner to manage.

It’s Roman who has the business mind out of the two brothers, and he impresses on Aden how important this wedding can be in the future of the diner.  If they can manage to service the Plain relatives of the happy couple, it would open future opportunities, but Roman is not here to help manage this task.  How can Aden and Mamm do this while being almost alone?

Blessings reign on the Zooks in the form of a Plain Mennonite named Annie Martin.

Aden always remembers their time working together as young kids while she worked in his family’s diner.  Aden’s truth is that he’s always felt fondness for Annie.  However, he acted shy and not very responsive to hide his impediment, freely allowing his brother Roman to do the talking.

Now, they will be working side by side, again, but Aden has only his own voice for Annie. Moreover, she has a way of making him open up, perhaps more than he should, and she might begin to realize just how much he cares for Annie.

Now while caring for a woman is not a sin, a relationship with this woman will cost them both, dearly.

My Take:

I recommend THE SCENT OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS by Cindy Woodsmall!

Cindy Woodsmall writes a love story that is full and complete and you’ll meet more characters plus learn their stories.  However, you will not be ready for this novella to end as her writing is engaging enough to make you want more.

Through WaterBrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books Program, I received this book for free in exchange my honest review.

LAST CHANCE BEAUTY QUEEN

by Hope Ramsay

Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group)

Published: February 1, 2012

Format: Paperback (368 pages)

ISBN: 9780446576086

Series: Last Chance

Origin: Publisher through netGalley – eGalley

***Though the publisher provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

What happens when a United States Senator wants a British baron to buy land in his state that isn’t for sale?

The land deal problem falls on Caroline Rhodes.

She’s a small town, ex-beauty queen who can’t seem to forget her not so famous but infamous background, where her name is Rocky, despite her professional ties working for Senator Rupert Warren.  However, her boss expects Caroline to help get a landowner to sell property to a foreigner.  His view is that, after all, the baron wants to build a factory and give the locals jobs, but Caroline sees no easy deal.  In fact, she knows this task is impossible.

Spotting this English aristocrat, Hugh deBracy, didn’t take skill.  His suit and accent is like a scent to a hound dog, and although he is the handsome sort with a sexy voice, Caroline Rhodes needs to forget her addiction to romance novels and concentrate on her job.  This whole Senator and British love affair with state and family land could toss her career out like yesterday’s trash. Consequently, when she mistakenly adds the title lord to his sir name, Caroline takes her first step toward the Dumpster.

Lord Woolham, a.k.a. Hugh deBracy had just insulted her father, but he had not known she is related to the man who spoke to angels.

This woman had taken his unintended insult with class that rivals ladies in Woolham, and she didn’t seem flustered by him at all.  Nevertheless, knowing of her background and all the things that he’d been told about her father, why did Senator Rupert Warren send her on this task?  And why did she accept it?

Dismissing those questions right out of hand is Caroline Rhodes, she is insisting her father will not sell.  Moreover, she is trying to get him to choose an alternate site. The problem here is that he needs that parcel of land, thanks to his partner, George Penn.  Woolham House already owns real estate beside this tract.

A matter of fact, he owes more money than he has, and the former owner of the other owned plot will not take it back.  This British businessman had better soon buy that particular parcel or loose everything.  In desperation, lord Woolham almost demands to go to Last Chance over her objections, but when she finally agrees, Hugh knows that he is in real trouble.  Despite those beautiful eyes and that long graceful neck, Hugh knows she’s up to something.

My Take:

I recommend Hope Ramsay’s LAST CHANCE BEAUTY QUEEN!

Her quirky characters continue to endure, and the new ones you’ll meet work their way right into your heart.  In this book, Last Chance comes alive with Rocky’s friends and neighbors but visiting with the Rhodes family still makes you want to stay.  In addition, you will get a glimpse into Hugh’s background, his relatives, and into their way of life. 

Hope Ramsay’s writes a Southerner meets stranger romance that is chock full of laughs, and she even gives an unexpected twist with a hint of mystery with land and chicken.

LAST CHANCE BEAUTY QUEEN is title that stands alone.  However, I haven’t a doubt that you”ll want to read the other books in the Last Chance series, WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE (Forever March 2011) and HOME AT LAST CHANCE  (Forever September 2011), and then you’ll be waiting for another! 

SWEET STUFF REVIEW WITH A SUGAR RUSH GIVEAWAY!

by Donna Kauffman

Publisher: Brava (Kensington)

Published: January 31, 2012

Format: Paperback (336 pages)

ISBN: 9780758266361

Series: Cupcake Club

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

“Klutz Extraordinaire” Riley Brown ran away from her former life and left her career as a food stylist in Chicago.  The career wasn’t the problem.  Riley left to escape her cheating bridegroom, Jeremy.

Now, she lives in a houseboat on Georgia’s Sugarberry Island.  She hasn’t exactly gotten the total independent woman thing nailed down yet, as she lives a houseboat loaned to her, but she moors the boat in a fishing village to live within her means.  For just little more than a year, she enjoyed the island and her cupcake club friendships, but Riley Brown has sworn off men.  Yep.  For sure.  Riley has a lot of work to do on Riley.

Tripping into decent employment, she’s a stagehand, of sorts.

Riley’s staging properties.  Using her former career as a step stone, she took a leap into showcasing properties, and her pay is decent, even if she was working for Scary Lois Grinkmeyer-Hington-Smythe.

Meanwhile, Quinn Brannigan is on this island to come to grips with a not so easy to plan issue, but he’d have to go it alone. Without the advice of buddies or his professional community, he needs to contemplate some hefty career decisions.

He’s come here to concentrate on work, without distraction.

At this point in his career, Quinn should be on top of his game.  He is not, and Quinn knows it’s only a matter of time before his agent, editor, and publisher realize this. The books people have read made him famous, and this is what his writing and publishing communities are happy with.  However, Quinn wishes for writer’s block.

His problem is lack of want for the expected, and with a head full of steam and desire for a story that is different, his mind is occupied.

Consequently, when Riley and Quinn meet, it is a disaster.  Literally.

His early arrival meets Riley on the treadmill ride from hell and his sneaking up provides them both a head full of surprises.  But when her hands leave the side grips long enough to launch her past him into the garden, Quinn’s concern launches him into a state of confusion over the kind of woman he’s never met before.

Nevertheless, Riley and Quinn keep seem to finding each other in one disastrous way or another.

My Take:

SWEET STUFF is a book I recommend, completely!  

Donna Kauffman creates a loveable character in Riley who believes herself a misfit, but Riley will have all your attention with her take on things.  In addition, the way these two meet sets the tone for this great read.  

From the beginning, Quinn Brannigan’s introduction is the funniest romance entrance that I’ve read, so far.   

Although humor plays a big part in SWEET STUFF, the romance is complete, and a few other themes are part of the whole.  From dealing with change to overcoming fears and from learning to trust and learning to love, Donna Kauffman brings it all into this romance.

NOW, HERE’S THE GIVEAWAY NEWS!

For readers of this blog, throughout the United States and Canada, you can enter a random drawing for a free physical book of  SUGAR RUSH (Brava December 2011) just by leaving a comment!  

The comment form will require an email address.  However, your email address will not be published.

I will announce the winner on a future blog post.

So, you stay tuned and check back often!  I just may have more giveaways coming to you in the future.

THE HARVEST OF GRACE: BOOK 3

by: Cindy Woodsmall

Publisher: WaterBrook Press

Published: August 9, 2011

Format: Paperback (352 pages)

ISBN: 9781400073986

SERIES: Ada’s House Series

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

The betrayal of a sister who marries the man Sylvia Fisher loved gets even more complicated. Years later, Sylvia indulges her sister’s husband in an adulterer’s kiss, and she must give up her family. She takes a job on a farm, the Blank’s farm.

Cara Moore is discovered living with her daughter in Ephraim’s barn. Alone with her daughter, Cara’s background is heartbreaking; her mother died and her father left her alone at a bus station. She’s an abandoned child whom Social Services takes into foster care. After knowing her plight, Ephraim Mast takes care of them and endures a shunning for refusing to make her seek help elsewhere. Now, she’s in love with Ephraim and dedicated to become an accepted member of the Amish community. However, her father comes back.

Meanwhile, Aaron Blank’s parents will not answer his letters from rehab, but that’s not going to stop him from going home. He’s going to take care of his parents, and Aaron has a plan. Putting money down on business, he goes home intending to do the right thing for them. Can he make amends? Aaron wants to take care of his parents, but it was only months earlier that he had left them alone on a dairy farm.

Lena Kauffman is in love with Grey Graber, but she’s prepared to wait for his official mourning period to end. Grey is a widower and wants to do right by his first wife’s family. How would they feel having their daughter replaced too soon? Will time do more than keep them these two apart?

THE HARVEST OF GRACE delves into the lives of these and others characters. However, the most central theme is the family struggles and rejection is a large part of these stories.

Cindy Woodsmall demonstrates that hurt begets hurt and forgiveness needs to follow. She does not concentrate on the Amish themes; she zeros into the characters, their flaws, and the many human emotions that we all share.

My Take:

I recommend THE HARVEST OF GRACE!

Cindy Woodsmall writes from a background with a strong Amish connection, but she writes about non-traditional Amish issues in this book and will keep you turning pages.

She provides more than just a love story and does more than teach you about the Amish traditions, Cindy Woodsmall writes about issues that face all of us and shows us all forgiveness is possible.

This is a stand-alone novel, but is part of a series. You will want to catch up with the other titles in the Ada’s House series. They are THE HOPE OF REFUGE: ADA’S HOUSE BOOK 1 (August 2009), THE BRIDGE OF PEACE: ADA’S HOUSE BOOK 2 (August 2010), and THE CHRISTMAS SINGING (October 2011).

Through WaterBrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books Program, I received this book for free in exchange my honest review.