THE ROYAL WULFF MURDERS: A NOVEL
by: Keith McCafferty
Publisher: Viking (Penguin Group)
Published: February 16, 2012
Format: Hardcover (352 pages)
ISBN: 9780670023264
Origin: Publisher through NetGalley (e-Galley)
***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***
My Look:
Taking time for himself, Sean Stranahan is looking to fish, find healing, and paint, but when a sexy singer arrives and a dead body is uncovered, he becomes involved in more than murder.
Sean’s art studio door lists his former occupation, although he’s not licensed in Montana and doesn’t practice here. The words are a ploy. Someone believes this fact could somehow make his background standout during an art auction, and to gain the hope of selling, he added the title. Thankfully, most folks in Montana barely notice the tag. He’s never been questioned, until a beautiful singer knocks on his door.
Velvet Lafayette needs a private investigator.
All she wants is for him to go fishing in memorial to her dad, scatter his ashes, and find her brother. A starving artist getting paid to fish is one thing and scattering the ashes in deceased family member isn’t to hard a task either but finding a brother that she barely claims is missing is something entirely different.
Had Sean knew that this job would intersect with a floater found in the river, a murder attempt on Rainbow Sam—who just happens to have the missing sibling’s marked fishing rod—he might not have taken the job. Especially after the purchaser of his painting calls wanting more canvases for his collection at a mountain retreat house. When he finds Sam’s dog hurt, Sean is convinced he’s into something he may not be able to retreat from.
Vareda Beaudreux a.k.a. Velvet Lafayette left town, leaving him a cryptically constructed answer letting him know where to find her, maybe. Sean believes the dead man with a fishhook in his mouth is the missing sibling; he is looking for the truth along with the victim identification.
My Take:
In THE ROYAL WULFF MURDERS, Keith McCafferty creates two likable characters in Sean Stranahan and Sheriff Martha Ettinger while weaving a mystery around his love of fishing and nature’s great outdoors.
Like the painter in his novel, he finely creates a picture of words giving this city born and bred reader wonderful details to fill in the knowledge gap left by inexperience. I learned about fishing, environmental dangers to fish and their waters, and types of fishing lures, but I delighted in a mystery that kept me turning pages too.
This story is not my usual reading material, but I looked for something different and found a great read.
I went on an adventure vacation, met cozy characters, and found a corpse leading to a satisfying mystery. Keith McCafferty’s next Sean Stranahan book already has a fan, and after you read THE ROYAL WULFF MURDERS, I’m sure you’ll join me.
The voting hours have ended. I thank you for all of your votes!
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PREVIEW: FEARLESS The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown
by: Eric Blehm
Publisher: WaterBrook Multnomah
Published: May 22, 2012
Format: Hardcover (272 pages)
ISBN: 9780307730695
***Courtesy of WaterBrook Multinomah’s website . . .
My Look:
Fearless takes you deep into SEAL Team SIX, straight to the heart of one of its most legendary operators.
When Navy SEAL Adam Brown woke up on March 17, 2010, he didn’t know he would die that night in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan—but he was ready: In a letter to his children, not meant to be seen unless the worst happened, he wrote, “I’m not afraid of anything that might happen to me on this earth, because I know no matter what, nothing can take my spirit from me.”
Long before Adam Brown became a member of the elite SEAL Team SIX—the counterterrorism unit that took down Osama bin Laden—he was a fun-loving country boy from Hot Springs, Arkansas, whose greatest goal had been to wear his high school’s football jersey. An undersized daredevil, prone to jumping off roofs into trees and off bridges into lakes, Adam was a kid who broke his own bones but would never break a promise to his parents.
But after high school, Adam fell in with the wrong crowd and his family watched as his appetite for risk dragged him into a downward spiral that eventually landed him in jail. Battling his inner demons on a last-chance road to redemption, Adam had one goal: to become the best of the best—a US Navy SEAL.
An absorbing chronicle of heroism and humanity, Fearless presents an indelible portrait of a highly trained warrior who would enter a village with weapons in hand to hunt terrorists, only to come back the next day with an armload of shoes and meals for local children. It is a deeply personal, revealing glimpse inside the SEAL Team SIX brotherhood that also shows how these elite operators live out the rest of their lives, away from danger, as husbands, fathers and friends.
Fearless is the story of a man of extremes, whose courage and determination was fueled by faith, family, and the love of a woman. It’s about a man who waged a war against his own worst impulses and persevered to reach the top tier of the US military. Always the first to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments, Adam’s final act of bravery led to the ultimate sacrifice.
Adam Brown was a devoted man who was an unlikely hero but a true warrior, described by all who knew him as fearless.
My Take:
I’m looking forward to the release date of FEARLESS , The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown by Eric Blehm!
Click this link below to visit the Publisher’s website and download the first chapter of FEARLESS! http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/blog/2012/04/03/sneak-peek-fearless-by-eric-blehm/
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INTERVIEW: BETH WISEMAN, author of NEED YOU NOW
Biography of Beth Wiseman, Author
When a personal crisis tested and strengthened her faith, award-winning journalist Beth Wiseman was advised by her agent to consider writing a Christian novel, particularly an Amish one. Encouraged by her agent’s urging, she began exploring the Amish lifestyle and soon developed a great appreciation for the more peaceful way of life. In 2008 Wiseman wrote her debut novel, Plain Perfect, featuring the Amish lifestyle within the context of a fictional love story. It was a bestseller, as have been all of the full-length novels and novellas she has written since.
While Need You Now is Wiseman’s first non-Amish novel, she is confident it will not be the last. She is already making plans to write a second contemporary novel in the near future. Like Need You Now, it will also be set in small-town Texas, a familiar background she thoroughly loves exploring and writing about.
Wiseman’s previous releases have held spots on the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) and the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) bestseller lists. In 2010, she received the INSPY Award for Amish Fiction (chosen by blog reviewers). In 2011, she received the Carol Award and was the Inspirational Readers Choice winner for her book Plain Paradise. Her novel Seek Me with All Your Heart was the 2011 Women of Faith Book of the Year.In addition, Wiseman has been a Retailers Choice Finalist, a Booksellers Best Finalist and a National Readers Choice Finalist. Prior to becoming a novelist she received many honors for her work as a journalist, including a prestigious First Place News Writing Award from the Texas Press Association.
Today, she and her husband are empty nest parents of two grown sons, enjoying the country lifestyle and living happily with two dogs, two cats, two pot-bellied pigs, two chickens and a single pygmy goat in a small community in South Central Texas. Along with writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, traveling and watching good movies. Her favorite pastime, however, is spending time with friends and family.
INTERVIEW: Beth Wiseman, Author of NEED YOU NOW
Q: As a former award-winning journalist, having received eleven honors including a prestigious First Place News Writing Award from the Texas Press Association, what inspired you to begin writing fiction?
Becoming a Christian novelist was a calling for me, and it came on the heels of a particularly rough time in my life. My son (then 15) had spent several weeks in the hospital, and when he finally came home to recover, my agent suggested Christian fiction to me, particularly Amish. She said she felt like I was in the right place spiritually. I’d always been a Christian, but when I thought my child might die, I was guided into a renewed, more “real” relationship with God. From the time I started writing my first book in the Daughters of the Promise series—Plain Perfect—I could feel God’s hand on it. And He has continued to bless me with stories to tell.
Q: What would you consider your biggest challenge as a writer of Christian adult fiction?
To make the messages loud and clear for those who need to hear them, but not be preachy. And to stay on the course God is leading me despite my own insecurities, fears and worries.
Q: One of the teenage characters in Need You Now practices an often misunderstood form of selfinjury. Why did you feel it important to showcase such a deeply personal issue?
I chose this form of self-injury because it IS so misunderstood. I’ve known of several teens who have coped in this destructive way, and I couldn’t understand it. So I set out to educate myself and others, hoping and praying that it would help a teen or family dealing with this issue.
Q: You also addressed high-functioning autism in your latest novel. What would you most like your readers to understand about children who have been diagnosed with this disorder?
I have a close friend who taught autistic children, and her experiences first sparked my interest in these very special children. I think it’s important to note that autism is diverse, and no child or diagnosis is the same. It’s very individual, from high-functioning autism to children who don’t speak at all. I believe that God places these children in the lives and on the hearts of people who can often reach them.
Q: What inspired you to write about such complex issues?
I usually don’t have a full-blown plot lined out before I start a book, but, in this case, I did know that I would write about self-injury. I also wanted to write about a married couple, as opposed to a “boy meets girl” romance. However, I didn’t set out to write about autism. I had already covered the subject in another book, Plain Promise, several years ago, but I felt God calling me to go a step further with an older child who was autistic. I also wanted to tell a very “real” story about the bond of marriage and the strength of family. And I think that anyone who has raised a teenager can attest to the fact that it is one of the hardest jobs on the planet.The rewards outweigh the hardships, but sometimes it’s hard to breathe when we are facing challenges with our kids.
Q: How much, if any, of the rural setting for Need You Now was drawn from your own experience?
Round Top, Texas, is one of the smallest towns in South Central Texas, and it’s right down the road from me, so there are lots of real places mentioned. I’m also a city girl who moved to the country later in life, and I’ve experienced a lot of the things I mention in the book. Not to give anything away, but when Darlene has an intruder in the first chapter—I’ve been there. It was a lot of fun writing about my area and incorporating familiar topics and descriptions, like coyote hunting and cow tipping.
Q: Several of your characters in Need You Now find themselves having to deal with forgiving past mistakes, their own and those of others. Do you believe that forgiving both ourselves and others is essential to individual and marital happiness and, if so, why?
I write a lot about forgiveness—another thing that I never set out to do, but it always finds its way into my books. I think that’s because I tend to carry my burdens from the past and have a hard time forgiving myself. I know in my heart that the inability to forgive—whether ourselves or others—hinders progress and can block the voice of God, but it’s still hard not to cart our baggage around with us. And if we can’t forgive ourselves, it’s even harder to accept that others are willing to forgive us.
Q: As a reader, it was very easy to fall in love with your main character and her family. Will you be bringing any of these characters back in future books?
Oh, I hope so. I guess it will be up to the readers…and my publisher. My characters are real to me, so I always hate to say goodbye to them.
Q: Will you be returning to the Amish background for your next book, or will it be non-Amish, as well?
The plan is to alternate between Amish and contemporary fiction. The next book to come out will be His Love Endures Forever, which is book #3 in the Land of Canaan series, scheduled for release in October 2012. Then from there I am going to write another contemporary, and it will be set in another small town near me.
Q: What would you most like your readers to take away from Need You Now?
Life can be a mess sometimes, and when that happens, our faith either gets stronger, or it takes a dive. I hope readers will close the book with a feeling of renewal and the certainty that there is no hardship that we can’t conquer with God on our side. I hope that this book will bring folks one step closer to Him.
by: Beth Wiseman
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: April 10, 2012
Format: Paperback (320 pages)
ISBN: 9781595548870
My Take:
My deepest thanks to Beth Wiseman for visiting my blog, graciously answering my questions, and introducing fans to her first contemporary work of fiction. Like many readers, I am already looking forward to Beth Wiseman’s new titles from inside and outside Amish country!
The voting hours have ended. I thank you for all of your votes!
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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!
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DEADLINE
by: Fern Michaels
Publisher: Kensington
Published: April 12, 2012
Format: Paperback (288 pages)
ISBN: 9780758266042
Series: The Godmothers
Origin: Publisher
***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***
My Look:
President, John F. Kennedy and the Godmothers—Toots, Sophie, Ida, and Mavis plus pooch, Coco—come together laying to rest the most debated, conspiracy driven mystery of modern history. Although the masses will never see a newspaper headline about it, for the first Lady of California it’s solved.
Back at the beach house, another mystery unfolds.
Toots’ “son” famous entertainment attorney, Chris Clay goes missing along with his client, Laura Leigh. Once a Hollywood auto-mechanic turns Chris’s car over to the police, Chris goes from wanted for questioning to suspect in no time.
Chris Clay’s stepsister is Toots’ daughter and she has an obligation to her gossip magazine to follow this story no matter how it turns out. However, Abby’s heart isn’t into this gossip. To live in a town where looks are everything is hard, but it’s not as hard as wondering, if the man you love lay helpless or worse or if he’s stepping out with the missing starlet.
Meanwhile, Toots knows Chris would not leave them to worry; he would’ve contacted them, if he were able. Without the spirits talking, Toots doesn’t wait until divine intervention reveals itself. She contacts Goebel Blevins.
Goebel is a former New York detective who didn’t flinch at following the advice of a spirit to find Toots’ husband’s murderer. Being more than friendly with Sophie these days, he is well aware of their spirit talking, corpse cosmetics, and body dressing ways. His thirty years experience may help whatever the spirits care to add.
Toots’ worry doesn’t end with Chris.
No matter how much her daughter tries to guard her heart, this mother knows Abby’s in love, and Toots suspects Chris is feeling something too. Though youth comes with perks, it also has its drawbacks. These two haven’t declared their feelings and Toots worries they may not get the chance.
My Take:
In Fern Michael’s DEADLINE, you’ll meet four seniors with curious quirks, a ton of paranormal experiences, deadly duties, and a whole lot of funny. Many Fern Michael’s fans know her suspense titles but the Godmother series is a major step in a new direction and Fern Michael’s pulls it off with mystery and panache.
The Godmother series is more like the Golden Girls in the dead and paranormal worlds. Instead of Blanche, you’ll meet Ida, and Mavis could surely pass for Rose. You will enjoy this cute read where corpses, mystery, and seances blend with normal life for the Godmothers.
Although this title stands alone, you will want to catch some of the other Godmother books including, EXCLUSIVE (Kensington -reprint- 2010), LATE EDITION (Kensington 2011), and THE SCOOP (Zebra -reprint- 2012) until BREAKING NEWS releases in May 2012 (Kensington).
The voting hours have ended. I thank you for all of your votes!
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KILLING TIME
by: Amy Beth Arkawy
Publisher: Hen House Press
Published: January 26, 2012
Format: Paperback (236 pages)
ISBN: 9781937890025
Series: An Eliza Gordon Mystery (Volume 1)
Origin: Publisher
***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***
My Look:
A crime decades old comes back to haunt Goodship, NY and death begins to stalk life-long residents, even one who moved away after college.
Eliza Gordon is a widow running the business she and her husband dreamed up, Soup Opera. She’s keeping herself busy by acting in a play and collecting the town’s juicy gossip in her eatery. Although she didn’t grow up here, the colorful folks of Goodship make her feel at home. After all, she married a well-to-do resident of their community who was on their championship team in his younger days, and she’s happy for the town’s winning past. However, the talk of her husband’s young life brings her loss closer to the surface, not that her tears require much of a catalyst, and as this town readies for Homecoming, she fights another onslaught of grief.
In the meantime, setting the town on fire is the untimely news of a Maine murder.
Eliza’s mind couldn’t help wonder about the other deceased sports hero. Why didn’t the legendary star return to be forever revered? Her friend, Midge, won’t discuss much about the man, only making Eliza more curious. However, when a young reporter visits Goodship interviewing only select residents, something or someone in the peaceful town becomes unstable and deadly.
Soon, Midge tells Eliza about an assault from twenty years ago, a suicide, a family who left town, and a reporter who is the ghostly image of the dead.
My Take:
Amy Beth Arkawy’s KILLING TIME, is a new cozy I recommend!
Eliza Gordon is a spunky sleuth who believes in her husband’s ghost and has no desire to return to her acting days. However, her hunt for a murderer gives her respite from tears.
Although, Goodship residents aren’t used to real crime and murder, they know every town has its secrets and every secret has a story. You’ll meet an assortment of personalities, from crotchety to quirky, in KILLING TIME, but you’ll fall in love with Eliza’s husband’s best friend. He can’t seem to conquer his feelings for the sole owner of Soup Opera, no matter how guilty he feels.
I’m sure, you’ll look forward to the next Eliza Gordon mystery!
The voting hours have ended. I thank you for all of your votes!
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Winner of the MY WICKED LITTLE LIES book giveaway!
On 03/12/12, I blogged a book review of MY WICKED LITTLE LIES by Victoria Alexander. This post featured a book giveaway courtesy of Kensington Books.
Picking the winner was a complicated process and not at all scientific.
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I printed out all eligible comments.
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I folded the printed sheets and attached each paper onto the back of leftover foil three-leaf clovers. To be fair, all clovers were the same color. Green.
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I placed all clovers into a plastic black kettle.
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Using the handle, I shook the kettle from side to side, up and down, while swooshing it around. I made four complete spins around the room. Yes, I almost tripped myself, but I rebounded without spilling a single clover! Whew.
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My giggling trusty assistant, who is now six years old, put her hand into the kettle and pulled out one.
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The assistant handed the foil clover to me.
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In front of three adult witnesses, I removed the paper and handed it to a witness for the official announcement . . .
And the winner is: KIKI W.!
Kiki W., you will receive an email providing instructions on how to collect your book.
****I feel obligated to impart that my assistant did receive payment for her services (a coloring book and crayons) but she was under no obligation to pick any one clover.****
Remember, come visit Books . . . Looks and Takes blog often. I’ll be having more giveaways coming soon!
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GRACE: BLOG POST BY T. GREENWOOD & MULTI-BOOK GIVEAWAY!
Publisher: Kensington
Published: March 27, 2012
Format: Paperback (352 pages)
ISBN: 9780758250926
Origin: Publisher
A special guest post by author, T. Greenwood . . .
Grace Blog
Late in 2009, I heard a story on the news about a man in suburban Detroit who, after making his teenage son strip naked, forced him out into a dirt lot near their home where he shot him execution style. It was the type of story that both horrified and fascinated me. As a parent, it seemed inconceivable. As a mother, it seemed unforgivable. And for the next several months, I couldn’t let go of this image, a modern day Abraham and Isaac story played out in a vacant lot.
Every novel I write begins with a question. Grace began with this one: What would bring a father to this? What would drive a man to the state of madness necessary to kill his own son? I wrote the opening scene first, conjuring Kurt Kennedy and his son, Trevor, in a similar situation (though not in Michigan but rural Vermont). I imagined what might be going through Kurt’s mind as he marched his son into a snowy field, a rifle aimed at the back of his head. Who are these people, and how did they get here? I asked myself. And then I spent the next year and a half (and nearly 400 pages) figuring out the answer to this question.
Initially I knew little about Kurt and Trevor. I only knew that Kurt had snapped, and that Trevor had done something horrific to trigger this fracture. Initially, I thought that something was wrong with Trevor, that he was somehow troubled. What I learned, however, by going with him to school and spending time with him as he wandered the woods behind his house with his camera, was he wasn’t troubled at all, but rather the victim of years of torment by his peers. He was a sensitive kid whose only friends in the whole world were his elderly art teacher and five year old sister. I fell in love with Trevor from the outset. And it was excruciating watching as the events that led up to this confrontation with his father unfolded.
But I also allowed myself into Kurt’s world, as well as Elsbeth’s (Trevor’s mother). And what I found were two parents each waging their own small wars in an effort to keep their family together, their lives together, despite having both sacrificed their dreams a long time ago. I also found Crystal, a store clerk with her own demons to exorcise, who becomes inextricably tied into the drama playing out in the Kennedys’ lives.
I never set out with a particular agenda with regard to theme; rather, themes slowly emerge as the characters begin to breathe on the page. The story of the Kennedy family began in an effort to answer the aforementioned question, but ultimately became a story about perception, about possession, and about the small moments of grace that can—and do—save us…sometimes even from ourselves.
My Take:
My thanks to T. Greenwood for visiting my blog and giving us readers a glimpse into GRACE, the real story behind her story.
NOW, HERE’S AMAZING MULTI-BOOK GIVEAWAY NEWS!
For readers of this blog, throughout the United States and Canada, you can enter a random drawing for free physical books of ALL T. Greenwood’s previous titles including:
TWO RIVERS
THE HUNGRY SEASON
UNDRESSING THE MOON
NEARER THAN THE SKY
THIS GLITTERING WORLD
You can enter this multi-book giveaway just by leaving a comment on this blog post!
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
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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!
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LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
by: Mark Gilleo
Publisher: The Story Plant
Published: March 27, 2012
Format: Paperback (438 pages)
ISBN: 9781611880342
Origin: Publisher through NetGalley (egalley)
***Though the publisher provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***
My Look:
In LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, those who help you can be the most deadly.
Clark Hayden is moving back home to help his forgetful mother, after her husband’s death. However, Clark’s dad has been gone for sometime, but Maria Hayden’s mental state has become increasingly worrisome.
Clarke was a late in life child, descending from parents who had been told they could not have a child, and they believed that to be true, until his mother’s pregnancy with him.
Nothing unusual really happens until Maria Hayden gets late night visitors. Although, Clark was home when the knocks exploded on her front door, he was in the basement and didn’t hear a thing. Middle Eastern men spoke words she didn’t understand, but she did not open the door.
Immediately, she telephones the CIA and reports these men, whom to her, seem to be terrorists.
The FBI investigates, somewhat, and determines this caller isn’t well. They weren’t wrong. Maria is not well, and she takes many medications. Even Clark doubts her suspicions.
Eventually, Clark’s neighbors call asking if he could keep an eye out on their house and water their plants. A sick relative passed in a foreign country, and they left immediately. Ariana and Nazim have helped his mother often enough, especially with him being away from home. He does as asked. A telephone call, at this residence, grabs his attention.
However, he gets himself in over his head, once he uses a voice recorder and this is captured on hidden cameras being monitored by the family who owns the home.
My Take:
Mark Gilleo provides a political suspense tale, in a suburbia setting (pre and post 9/11), where some people are not who and what they seem to be.
Although many people know something about their neighbors, in LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, Mark Gilleo shows nobody knows everything. The many point-of-view characters flesh out the means, the motives, and the opportunities of this plotting foursome. Terrorism. Kill as many as possible and die while doing it.
However, this former sleeper cell with one phone call becomes an active cell, and they don’t even trust each other.
