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Showing posts from March, 2009

Author Guest Post - Kathryn L Nelson

Today I'm pleased to welcome Kathryn L Nelson, author of Pemberley Manor . Her guest post here today is part of this book's virtual tour, courtesy Danielle of Sourcebooks . Pemberley Manor, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice continued… By Kathryn L Nelson Pemberley Manor: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice continues...  Kathryn L. Nelson 400 pages, Sourcebooks Elizabeth Bennet has gotten perhaps more credit than she deserves as a sensible young woman with unflappable principles. She certainly has given herself credit for those attributes. But if we are not so distracted by Darcy’s more flagrant displays of pride and prejudice, we might notice that Miss Elizabeth is perhaps equally likely to err on the side of overconfidence… "From Kathy Perschmann at Armchair Interviews : Nelson has created an excellent backstory for Darcy, and re-creates the feel of Jane Austen’s witty dialogue and deep characters with great success. If you love Austen, you will most certainly lo

Author Guest Post - Sheila Roberts

Love in Bloom Sheila Roberts 336 p, St.Martins Griffin, ISBN: 0312384815 Readers, please join me welcoming  Author Sheila Roberts who will be guest blogging here today! About the Book H ope Walker survived early breast cancer at just thirty-years-old, but a mastectomy left her with a lot of scarring—and some serious fears about dating. Hope owns Changing Seasons, Heart Lake’s most popular flower shop. When it comes to love and relationships, she’s able to work magic through her expert flower arranging…for everyone but herself. Then one day a handsome contractor starts coming into her shop, but Hope knows he’d rather have a whole woman than someone like her. When Hope stakes a plot of ground at Heart Lake’s community garden, she finds that a woman can grow all sorts of things there: flowers, herbs, vegetables and even friendship. As she gets to know the two women who share neighboring plots, they discover that they can learn a lot from each other—not just about gardening,

Review - Unseen by Nancy Bush

Unseen Nancy Bush 384 p, Kensington Books, April 2009 About the Book She woke up with no memories...She wakes up in a hospital room...bruised...bloody...confused. She knows her name is Gemma La Porte - but that's all. She doesn't remember smashing her car. She doesn't remember anything from the last three days. But a policeman, Deputy Will Tanninger, is waiting for answers and wants to know if she's responsible for a fatal hit-and-run. But remembering her past could kill her...Hoping to restore her shattered memory, Gemma has no choice but to put her trust in Will. But if it turns out she's guilty of murder, he has no choice but to arrest her. Torn by her growing feelings for Will, and haunted by her shadowy past, Gemma is determined to learn the truth. But, in this case, the darkest truths are unknowable - and the deadliest enemies are unseen. My Thoughts I was ready to be impressed with Nancy Bush having just finished reading '

Author Guest Post - Lin Wellford

The New Grandparents Name Book  Lin Wellford and Skye Pifer 64 p, ArtStone Press,  0977706524 About the Book When the first baby is born into a family, grandparents are also “born.” Just as parents take time to choose the name they will call their new arrival, grandparents-to-be will enjoy exploring the many options they have when it comes to selecting the name their grandchildren will call them. The New Grandparents Name Book is divided up into categories, including traditional names, heritage names, trendy names, and names that are playful, or that reflect some special interest or personality trait. There is a section on creating custom names, and suggestions for paired names. Quotes on grandparenting and anecdotes about how others got their unique names are also included. This attractive, small-format hardcover book makes a lovely gift and is also a fun way to announce the big news that a grandchild is on the way. About the Author Lin Wellford displayed a talent for art

Book Excerpt - Axe of Iron by J.A. Hunsinger

About the Book Axe of Iron: The Settlers J.A. Hunsinger 356 pages,  Vinland Publishing, ISBN-10: 0980160103 Axe of Iron: The Settlers is a tale of survival, strife, love, and the quest for a new home in the face of hostile opposition. The first novel of a continuing character-driven tale of a medieval people whose wanderlust and yearning for adventure cause them to leave the two established settlements on Greenland and sail west, to the unexplored land later referred to as Vinland. Eirik the Red established Eiriksfjord in 986 and later Lysufjord, 400-miles to the north. Just 22-years later, new settlers from the homelands found all the best land already occupied, the fragile Arctic environment strained by too many people and animals on too little arable land. Under the capable leadership of Halfdan Ingolfsson and his lieutenant, Gudbjartur Einarsson, 315 men, women, and children set sail from Greenland in the spring of 1008, bound for the unexplored continent across the

Author Guest Post - Donna Lea Simpson

Today I'm pleased to welcome Donna Lea Simpson , author of Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark . Her guest post here today is part of this book's virtual tour, courtesy Danielle of Sourcebooks. About the Author Donna Lea Simpson is a nationally bestselling romance and mystery novelist with over twenty titles published in the last ten years. An early love for the novels of Jane Austen and Agatha Christie was a portent of things to come; Donna believes that a dash of mystery adds piquancy to a romantic tale, and a hint of romance adds humanity to a mystery story. Donna lives in Canada. About the Book Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark Donna Simpson 416 p, Sourcebooks Casablanca, ISBN-10: 1402217919 England, 1786 Lady Anne, a smart, stubborn, and skeptical spinster, travels north to Yorkshire at the request of a newly married friend to try to figure out what is going on. A wolf—or werewolf—is roaming the countryside near Darkefell Castle, terrorizing the populace and har

Author Guest Post - Mary Margret Daughtridge

Today I'm pleased to welcome Mary Margret Daughtridge , author of SEALed with a Promise . Her guest post here today is part of this book's virtual tour, courtesy Danielle of Sourcebooks. About the Book SEALed with a Promise Mary Margret Daughtridge Can the strength of her love temper his need for revenge? Navy SEAL Caleb Delaude had a less-than-ideal childhood. His biological father abandoned his family at Caleb's birth and left them to a life of poverty, refusing to help even as his mother lay dying. So when he is assigned to protect the powerful senator who he suspects is his father, his vicious grudge turns into a strong urge for revenge. But then he meets biology professor Emmie Caddington, a close friend of the senator's daughter. He thinks he'll use her to spring the secret of his illegitimate birth on the senator's unsuspecting family, but his interest in Emmie begins to get complicated. He's a SEAL 24/7, and that doesn't leave much time

The Rose Variations by Marisha Chamberlain

The Rose Variations Marisha Chamberlain 352 p, Soho Press, 1569475385 About the Book The Rose Variations by Marisha Chamberlain, is garnering high praise from critics—“an enthralling first novel,” says James Wilcox in The New York Times Book Review. The Rose Variations is about finding that elusive balance between career and love, security and independence. In it, we meet 25-year-old Rose MacGregor, who, in 1975, takes a temporary professorship at a Midwestern college, convinced that an exciting career as a composer lies ahead. Determined to stay independent, she struggles with love, loneliness, ambition, and the perplexing question of happiness. The Author is frequently asked whether this book is autobiographical. Here’s her answer: THE ROSE BEHIND THE ROSE In my novel, The Rose Variations , from Soho Press, composer Rose MacGregor is viewed at an intimate distance. So naturally readers want to know whether the book is autobiographical. The answer is yes, of course .

Review - The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth

Review Contributor: Tanya of www.books4yourkids.com The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth illustrations by Lynd Ward and Jael, 74 pp, Reading Level 3  The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth and winner of the Newbery Award in 1931 is a jewel of a book. It may also be the shortest book to win the award since it was first given in 1922. At it's heart, this book is a collection of Jataka Tales (explanation to follow) woven together by the external story of a poor young artist who sends his housekeeper to the market to buy food with the last of his money. She returns not with food, but with a cat.  Angered at first, cats not always having the best reputation, the artist relents and says, "Sometimes it is good fortune to have even a devil in the household.  It keeps the other devils away."  And, upon finding that she is a tri-color cat, which is a sign of good luck, the artist agrees to allow the housekeeper to name her Good Fortune.  She proves t

Book Excerpt - The Saga of Beowulf by R. Scot Johns

The Saga of Beowulf R. Scot Johns About the Book The Saga of Beowulf is the first complete and accurate novelization of the epic Old English poem Beowulf, chronicling the tragic wars of the rising Nordic nations, the endless blood-feuds of their clans, battles with mythic creatures in an ancient heroic age, and the final, futile struggle of one man against the will of Fate that made of him a Legend. The story follows the young Norse warrior Beowulf as he embarks upon a fateful quest for vengeance against the creature that slew his father, setting in motion a sequence of events that will bring about the downfall of a nation, all the while fleeing from the woman he has sworn to love. Based on extensive historical research and steeped in Nordic myth and lore, the saga unfolds across the frozen fields of Sweden and the fetid fens of Denmark, ranging from the rocky heights of Geatland to the sprawling battlefields of ancient France, as our hero battles men and demons in a quest to conq

Author Guest Post - Matt Rees

The Samaritan's Secret (An Omar Yussef Mystery) Matt Beynon Rees 288 p, Soho Press, 1569475458 About The Book A member of the tiny but ancient Samaritan community has been murdered. The dead man controlled hundreds of millions of dollars of government money. If the World Bank cannot locate it within the next several days, all aid money to the Palestinians will be cut off. Visiting Nablus, Omar Yussef must solve the murder and find the money, or all Palestinians will suffer. About The Author Matt Beynon Rees was born in South Wales. He covered the Middle East as a journalist for over a decade and was Time magazine’s Jerusalem bureau chief for 2000 to 2006. He is the author of the nonfiction work Cain’s Field: Faith, Fratricide and Fear in the Middle East and three mysteries in the Omar Yussef series. The first book in the series, The Collaborator of Bethlehem, won the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger. *********************   Choosing a title – again, and again, and again

Book Tour - GALWAY BAY by Mary Pat Kelly

Galway Bay Mary Pat Kelly 576 pages, Grand Central Publishing, ISBN-10: 0446579009 About the Book In the bestselling tradition of Frank Delaney, Colleen McCullough, and Maeve Binchy comes a poignant historical family saga set against the Famine. Here at last is one Irish family's epic journey, capturing the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience. In a rousing tale that echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family, inhabiting a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations. Selling both their catch--and their crops--to survive, these people subsist on the potato crop--their only staple food. But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children wil