I am a certified bookaholic and am embracing my addiction. Here you will find my short book reviews and other wonderful information all about books. I will also share my love for animals and show you some of my knitting projects.
Thanks to Liz Kelsch of Sourcebooks, I am giving away one copy of Jack Absolute.
Book Description:
It’s 1777 when Captain Jack Absolute becomes a sensation throughout London. This news comes as a shock to the real Jack Absolute when he arrives in England after four months at sea. But there’s little time for outrage before he finds himself dueling for his life. Right when he thinks he’s finally won, he is forced to flee London by the quickest means possible, becoming a spy in the American Revolution.
From the streets of London, to the pivotal battle of Saratoga, to a hunt for a double agent in Philadelphia, Jack Absolute marks the exhilarating beginning of an epic historical series and a character you won’t soon forget.
About C.C. Humphreys:
C.C. Humphreys is a novelist, fight choreographer, and actor who played Jack Absolute in The Rivals for a six-month run in London in the mid-1980s. When he became a full-time writer a decade ago, he decided to transform his leading man into a title character. Humphreys has written seven historical fiction novels including The French Executioner, which was runner-up for the CWA Steel Dagger for Thrillers 2002. The Jack Absolute series will feature three books: Jack Absolute, The Blooding of Jack Absolute, and Absolute Honour.
This giveaway is open to the U.S. only. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
We found this motel on Hotwire.com and have gotten good deals and comfortable, clean Hotel rooms in the past through them. The disadvantage is that you have to pay when you book and there are no refunds. That said, when we drove to the motel, we were surprised to see it was a motel and not a hotel. Hotwire said 2 star hotel. The gentleman at the front desk who checked us in was quit nice. He also gave us a room that was farthest from the busy street it was on. It's a small place, so we could still hear the traffic. This is a alleged 2 star hotel, so we weren't expecting the Ritz. The walls are paper thin and we could hear everything. The hot water tap for the sink only was not even lukewarm, it was just as cold as the cold tap. The wwii fi was so slow,we ended up going to Starbucks to use my laptop and tablet.. The place was gungy looking and you could feel the springs in the mattress. The entire bed bounced and jiggled when either one of us so much as moved a muscle. Over all, a poor excuse for a motel. I would give it no stars if the was an option! To be fair, I need to say what was good about it. The price, $50 and the best part about it, leaving!!!! If we hadn't pre-booked the room with Hotwire and could have gotten a refund we would have left and found something better, perhaps a real 2 star or 3 star place. Verdict: Pay more, do not stay there! Avoid it at all costs!
We were in Seattle for a couple days and as always, scouted out vegan restaurants on the web before going. The one we were most looking forward to was Plum Bistro and it did not disappoint! Our waiter, Will was very attentive. We arrived early, because they don't take reservations for less than 6 people. It was still Happy Hour, so we got a 12oz. beer for $5. Coming from Canada, that is a bargain. The prices are a bit on the high side for the mains but the meal was so good. My husband and I are middle aged, so appetites aren't what they use to be, so we often split meals. We had the ravioli, stuffed with vegan ricotta. That was the best vegan ricotta and ravioli we have ever had! I have to say I expected more than 4 ravioli total but they were big. I would have preferred 6 for three each but know 4 would have been too many for me. Especially since I asked to see the desert menu first, my habit. So with room for desert, we shared the chocolate hazelnut beignets. To say that was the best chocolate desert I ever had, is an understatement! It actually brought tears to my eyes!
Thanks to Will and Plum for the memorable meal we will be back!
The food and service was 5 star but because of the pricing, I took a star off. We didn't expect it to be cheap but the portions should either be a bit bigger or the pasta should be under $20. Tweet
Thanks to Jocelyn Kelley of Kelley Hall Book Publicity, I am giving away two copies of Once Upon a Gypsy Moon.
Book Description:
This is the story of one man’s yearning for redemption and renewal aboard an aging, 32-foot sloop, the Gypsy Moon. From the acclaimed author of Letters from the Woods, Michael Hurley, a noted trial attorney who once worked as a professional sailor, returns to the sea in what can only be described as a real-life odyssey.
Hurley originally began documenting his experience through letters to family and friends. What resulted is a compelling, raw and true story of one man’s life at sea. Fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild will delight in this poignant and honest account of the perils we all face when our life has drifted off course.
Watching his world unravel following the end of his 25-year marriage, Hurley is short of
cash, out of a job and deeply in need of some perspective. He takes to the open ocean on an improbable sailing voyage that is part pilgrimage, part protest, and part penance. This is the story of the ensuing odyssey that spanned two years and 2,000 miles.
As the story leads to various ports of call, the author uses keen observations as touch points to reconcile events from his own past. Through these poignant, personal stories, he draws larger lessons for the reader on such diverse topics as faith, love, death and marriage.
Sorry, this giveaway is open to the U.S. and ends on May 2, 2013. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
*2012 Finalist International Book Awards for Historical
Publication Date: September 26, 2011
Raven's Wing Books
Paperback; 408p
ISBN-10: 1618070150
Rocamora, a novel of 17th century Spain, is based on the life of Vicente de Rocamora, who struggles to make his place in a Spain obsessed with limpieza de sangre, purity of blood untainted by Jew, Moor, or recent convert.
Poet, swordsman, and master of disguise, at the insistence of his family, Vicente enters the Dominican Order and is soon thrust into the scheming political and clerical hierarchies that at Court.
Vicente becomes Confessor and Spiritual Director for King Philip IV’s teenage sister, the beautiful Infanta Doña María, five years younger than he, protégé and possible successor of Inquisitor General Sotomayor, and an invaluable assistant to the King’s chief minister, the Count-Duke de Olivares.
Vicente needs all his skills and cunning to survive assassination by a growing list of ruthless foes in both Church and Court, solve a centuries-old riddle to quell rumors of his own impurity of blood, and above all suppress his love for the seemingly unattainable María.
Rocamora Book Trailer:
My Thoughts:
This book is a fictional account Vicente de Rocamora. He was a master of disguises, poet, Dominican Priest, among other things. The book opens with a bang and never lets go. Vincente's parents were both murdered and the starts off right away with him avenging their death, in disguise. It is 17th century Spain. At the age of 16 wants to be a solder but at the insistence of the remaining head of family, who vowed a oath of loyalty to, he becomes a Dominican priest.
Vincente move up the ranks rather quickly and becomes the confessor for the beautiful Infanta Doña María. The younger sister of King Phillip IV of Spain. Eventually it looks as if he will become the Inquisitor General.
Donald Michael Platt brings the time of the Spanish Inquisition to life. It is apparent he did a lot of research for this book. My only complaint, and it is a small one is I think there could have been tighter editing. Other than that, I loved this book and will certainly read the second book, House of Rocamora. Highly recommended!
4.5/5
I was given a copy of this book for my honest review.
About Donald Michael Platt:
Born and raised inside San Francisco, I graduated from Lowell High School and received my B.A. in History from the University of California at Berkeley and won a batch of literary cash awards while in graduate school at San Jose State.
When I moved to southern California, I began my professional writing career. I sold to the TV series, MR. NOVAK, ghosted YOUR HAIR AND YOUR DIET for health food guru, Dan Dale Alexander, and wrote for and with diverse producers, among them as Harry Joe Brown, Sig Schlager, Albert J. Cohen, and Al Ruddy as well as Paul Stader Sr., dean of Hollywood stuntman and stunt/2nd unit director. Also, options were taken on my unpublished WWII fighter ace novel and several treatments.
After living in Florianópolis, Brazil, setting of my horror novel A GATHERING OF VULTURES, Dark Hart 2007, Briona Glen 2012, I moved to Florida where I wrote as a with: VITAMIN ENRICHED, pub.1999, for Carl DeSantis, founder of Rexall Sundown Vitamins; and THE COUPLE’S DISEASE, Finding a Cure for Your Lost “Love” Life, pub. 2002, for Lawrence S. Hakim, MD, FACS, Head of Sexual Dysfunction Unit at the Cleveland Clinic.
Currently, I reside in Winter Haven, Florida. My magnum opus historical novel, ROCAMORA, set in 17th century Spain and Amsterdam during their Golden Ages, was released by RAVEN'S WING BOOKS at the end of December 2008. It has been republished by Briona Glen, September 2011. My completed sequel HOUSE OF ROCAMORA was published by Briona Glen November 2012, and I am polishing a completed novel set in the 9th century Carolingian Empire about another unusual historical character, Bodo, the Apostate.
Publisher: Bush Street Press (May, 2012)
Category: Self Help, Non-Fiction, Self Discovery, Happiness
Tour Dates: Mid April, 2013
Available in: Print and ebook 158 pages
#1 on Amazon Hot New Releases!
We arrive on this planet naked and without operating instructions. We live our lives and learn from trial and error (lots of errors) what works, what doesn’t work, what makes us happy and what pisses us off.
Each new person that comes into our lives gets no user’s manual and has to figure us out the hard way. But what if we changed the rules? What if we wrote our own user’s manual, The Happiness Handbook, about what makes us tick and gave it to the people we love most?
Imagine how that would change our interactions and our lives. People would begin to do what makes us happy and … we would be happy! If someone received our Happiness Handbook and chose not to follow it, well then, we could choose not to hang out with them more quickly.
The Happiness Handbook is about empowering the reader to discover their own unique ways of being that lead to unlocking their full potential and becomes their guide for leading the extraordinary life they were born to fulfill.
The Happiness Handbook is written in a warm, friendly and informal tone; as if a girl friend were guiding the reader through their process of self discovery. Peppered with humbling, humorous anecdotes and stories; the reader has a practical, seasoned guide and partner in crime as they work the exercises and use the tools to move from unhappy to happy!
My Thoughts:
You may have noticed that I don't really read many self help type books, in fact I don't think I have reviewed any here. However, when Jenn's assistant Linda approached me to put together a tour for The Happiness Handbook I took a look at it. I realized right away that it wasn't your regular self-help/relationship book. I tend to not read those for a reason, they aren't helpful to me.
The Happiness Handbook is so much more and for that reason, I decided to read it myself as well as set up a tour. First and foremost it is a tool to help you get at what truly makes you happy so you can have a happy relationship with yourself and others. At a young age, I was taught not to be selfish, strive to make others happy. Jenn gave me permission to delve deep inside and look at what makes me happy. She made me realize that I can help others even more by helping me discover myself.
I had never stopped to really think about what makes me happy. Written with witt and easy reading Jenn helped me discover what makes me truly happy. This book is packed with easy and fun exercises to complete. It is aimed at women but men would find it helpful to complete as well. Jenn also encourages you to share what you learn about yourself with your spouse or boyfriend, etc.
Highly Recommended!
5/5
I was sent a copy of this book for my honest review.
About Jennifer Flaa:
Serial entrepreneur with deep roots in technology and a passion for music. Jenn merges creativity and tech with fun and energy.
After starting her career as an engineer at NASA and a stint in Silicon Valley as a Quality Assurance Manager, Jenn started her first of four companies. Vettanna provides high tech resources and communications training on-camera.
Not content to use one side of her brain, Jenn is also the rock vocalist and song writer for the band Urban Fiction, the author of The Happiness Handbook and the Better Boyfriend blog.
You can find out more about Jenn and The Happiness Handbook in her interview on CBS:
Thanks to Jennifer Flaa, I am giving away one copy of the book. This giveaway is open worldwide. If you live in Canada or the U.S. the winner will have the choice of print, pdf or Kindle. If international the winner will receive pdf or Kindle. This giveaway ends on May 7, 2013. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcie at Mailbox Monday. In April, it is being hosted by Mari @ Mari Reads. Since I have slowed down on accepting ARCs I don't always receive books every week. Due to that and just being incredibly busy, I will not be doing Mailbox Monday on a weekly basis, at least for now. I will no longer be making a distinction between print copy or ebook, they are all books to me. Here's What I received since my last Mailbox Monday:
I enjoyed Red Azalea, so when I heard Anchhe Min wrote a sequel, I had to get it. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing!
When Robert Perry asked me if I wanted to read his new historical, I couldn't resist. Thanks Robert!
Little Brown and Company is making it harder to turn down ebooks. They pre-approved me to get 4 on Net Galley, without a request from myself. I want to read all 4 but I chose this one because it is not on order at my library, yet anyway.
The tour starts in the morning and I'm kick it off with a review and giveaway. Check it out!
I received this unsolicited, thanks to Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press
If you don't see yourself in the standings above, it is because you didn't leave a comment telling me how many books you read so far. You need to do this at the end of each month.
Please post the books you read in April for the challenge in Mr. Linky, below: If you forgot to post book in any previous months, please post them in Mr. Linky below as well. Please enter your name and the name of the book in this format: Name: (Your Name, Book Title and Author's Name) for example: (Teddy, Obsessive Reading by Helen Reader).
Thanks to Amy Bruno ofHistorical Fiction Virtual Book Toursand the author, Amanda Scott, I am giving away one winner's choice of one of the following ebooks.
DANGEROUS ILLUSIONS, BORDER BRIDE and HIGHLAND FLING.
Description for DANGEROUS ILLUSIONS:
The first book in Amanda Scott’s acclaimed Dangerous series journeys from the battlefields of Waterloo to the ballrooms and boudoirs of London, where a deadly deception unfolds . . .
Engaged by proxy to a man she’s never met, Lady Daintry Tarrant is dismayed when the war hero returns, introducing himself as her fiancé, Lord Penthorpe. She cherishes her independence and has turned away many suitors, but this one she must marry. Penthorpe is completely captivated by Lady Daintry—but he’s not who he claims to be.
Penthorpe and Lord Gideon Deverill fought together at the battle of Waterloo, and when Penthorpe fell, Gideon assumed his identity in order to see the beautiful Lady Daintry. Gideon knows there’s bad blood between Lady Daintry’s family and his own, but he’s smitten with Daintry and determined to reunite the bitterly feuding clans. When a ghost from Gideon’s past appears, he could lose everything—including Daintry’s love.
“Amanda Scott has an uncanny knack of picking up her readers and plunking them down right in the middle of her storyworld.” —Romance Reviews Today
Description of BORDER BRIDE:
Set in treacherous sixteenth-century Scotland, the first volume of Amanda Scott’s Border Trilogy tells the unforgettable story of a woman sworn to defy the knight she is forced to wed—only to discover a love she’ll do anything to claim
As Mary, Queen of Scots, languishes in the Tower of London as a prisoner of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, war tears Scotland apart. To save her beloved homeland, a proud Highland beauty named Mary Kate MacPherson must wage her own battle when she’s forced into wedlock with a knight, Sir Adam Douglas, from the barbaric borderland of Tornary.
Even as she succumbs to her seductive husband’s sensual demands, Mary Kate vows never to give him her heart. She will belong to no man. But Adam burns with something deeper than desire. Sworn to carry out a long-awaited revenge, he won’t rest until he has vanquished his enemies. Accused of treason, the last thing he expects is to lose his heart to the woman he’s determined to tame but never to love: his own wife.
“Hours of reading fun.” —Catherine Coulter, author of the Bride series
Description of HIGHLAND FLING:
Forbidden passion has never been more dangerous—or more irresistible—in the first novel of bestselling author Amanda Scott’s spellbinding Highland series
Scotland, 1750. In the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion, Maggie MacDrumin vows to keep fighting to liberate her people. But the intrepid Scotswoman is risking her life for a dangerous cause. When her latest mission lands her in a London courtroom on a trumped-up larceny charge, she has only one hope of survival. Enlisting the aid of Edward Carsley, the powerful fourth Earl of Rothwell, is a two-edged sword. The seductive aristocrat who awakens treacherous desire is her clan’s mortal enemy—a man she can never trust.
Edward will do whatever it takes to quell another bloody uprising. But how can he fight his passion for the rebellious Highland beauty in his safekeeping? As their lives come under siege, Maggie lays claim to the one thing Edward vowed never to surrender: his heart.
“[Scott is] a true master of the Scottish historical romance.” —Romance Reviews Today
About Amanda Scott:
A fourth-generation Californian of Scottish descent, Amanda Scott is the author of more than fifty romantic novels, many of which appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. Her Scottish heritage and love of history (she received undergraduate and graduate degrees in history at Mills College and California State University, San Jose, respectively) inspired her to write historical fiction. Credited by Library Journal with starting the Scottish romance subgenre, Scott has also won acclaim for her sparkling Regency romances. She is the recipient of the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award (for Lord Abberley’s Nemesis, 1986) and the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award. She lives in central California with her husband.
For more information on Amanda Scott and her novels, please visit the official website.
This ebook giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada only and ends on April 26, 2013. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
Thanks to Danielle Caravella of Wunderkind PR, I am giving away one copy of And Then I Found You.
Book Description:
Twenty-two years ago, New York Times bestselling author, Patti Callahan Henry’s sister placed a baby girl for adoption. Then in April 2010, a Facebook request put an end to all the waiting and wondering. Patti’s sister’s daughter had found her.
Henry’s latest novel, AND THEN I FOUND YOU, coming this April 2013, is a unique story inspired by Henry’s personal family history with adoption. The novel, much like the true story, is a compelling narrative of love lost, love found, and a miraculous reunion that changed everyone’s lives forever.
Told from the points of view of birth mother, Kate Vaughn, and her thirteen year-old daughter Emily, AND THEN I FOUND YOU (St. Martin’s Press; Hardcover; April 9, 2013; 272 pp.) spans over twenty years and follows the characters as they move through their lives in South Carolina, Arizona, Alabama and New York. Now thirty-four years old, Kate seems finally ready to begin her life with someone else, but memories keep holding her back. In her wish to conquer her painful past, Kate decides to visit Jack, the father of the baby she placed for adoption many years before. Their reunion and an unexpected Facebook request starts a chain reaction that will change not only Kate’s life, but that of her loved ones too. AND THEN I FOUND YOU is ultimately a story about brave choices, our yearning for certainty and the courage it takes to find our place in the world.
Patti Callahan Henry has written nine novels and has been hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction, appearing in numerous magazines including Good Housekeeping, Skirt, The South, Southern Living, and more. She has been short-listed for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and nominated four different times for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Fiction Novel of the Year. Two of her novels were OKRA picks and Coming Up For Air was an Indie Next choice. Patti Callahan Henry is a full time writer, wife and mother of three living in Alabama.
About Patti Callahan Henry:
Shawn Heifert Photography
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times Bestselling novelist. She has published nine novels (Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Betweeen the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets, and Driftwood Summer, The Perfect Love Song, Coming up for Air and the upcoming And Then I Found You --April 2013, St. Martins Press). Patti has been hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction, appearing in numerous magazines (Good Housekeeping; SKIRT; The South; Southern Living, etc..).
She has been short-listed for the Townsend Prize for Fiction. She has been nominated four different times for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Fiction Novel of the Year. Her work is published in five languages and all novels are on Brilliance Audio. Two of her novels were OKRA picks and Coming up For Air was an Indie Next choice. Patti is a a frequent speaker at fundraisers, library events and book festivals, discussing the importance of storytelling.
Patti Callahan Henry is a full time writer, wife and mother of three living in Mountain Brook, AL.
This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada only and ends on April 24, 2013. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
Thanks to Jessica Butler, Associate Publicist | Berkley/NAL, Penguin Group USA, I am giving away one copy of Next Stop.
Book Description:
“This is not a romance, or even just a heart-warmer. It’s a real love story, frank and particular. If you don’t like it, you don’t like love.” -—Roy Blount, Jr.
Next Stop is the universal story of how children grow up and parents learn to let go—no matter how difficult it may be for both of them. The summer David Finland was twenty-one, he and his mother rode the Washington, D.C., metro trains. Every day. The goal was that if David could learn the train lines, maybe David could get a job. And then maybe he could move out on his own. And then maybe his parents’ marriage could get the jump-start it craved. Maybe.
Next Stop is a candid portrait of a differently-abled young man poised at the entry to adulthood. It recounts the complex relationship between a child with autism and his family, as he steps out into the real world alone for the first time, and how his autism affects everyone who loves him.
About Glen Finland:
Glen Finland lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her husband, Bruce, and her son, David. A former reporter and a freelance writer, she received her MFA from AmericanUniversity where she has taught writing. Her website is http://www.glenfinland.com.
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