So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

One sultry morning in Charleston, South Carolina, real estate magnate Palmer Kincaid's body washes ashore, the apparent victim of accidental drowning. Palmer's daughter calls Grove O'Rourke, stockbroker and hero of Top Producer, for help getting her family's affairs in order. Palmer was Grove's mentor and client, the guy who opened doors to a world beyond Charleston. Grove steps in as the interim head of the Palmetto Foundation, an organization Palmer created to encourage philanthropy.

For years Palmer showed great sensitivity to his donors, honoring their wishes to funnel funds into the charities of their choice-his unspoken pledge-and it was this largesse which made him a respected pillar of the Charleston community. But after Grove authorizes a $25 million transfer requested by a priest from the Catholic Fund, he discovers something is terribly wrong. He gets a call from Biscuit Hughes, a lawyer representing the people of Fayetteville, North Carolina, against a new sex superstore in their town. Biscuit has traced the store's funding to a most unlikely source: the Catholic Fund.

About Norb Vonnegut:

Norb built his wealth-management career with Morgan Stanley and other Wall Street institutions. A Harvard graduate, he splits his time between New York and Rhode Island and is a trustee with the American Foundation for the blind.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tweet

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:00 AM 16 comments    

Labels: My Past Giveaways

Thanks to Erin McNichols of Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc, I am giving away one copy of The Line Between Here and Gone.


Amanda Gleason was distraught when authorities declared her boyfriend, Southampton real estate developer Paul Everett, a no-body homicide. They discovered signs of a struggle around his abandoned, blood-spattered car but were unable to find a body after days of searching and dredging.  Amanda was even more crushed when she realized that she was pregnant with a child that Paul didn’t live to see. When she discovers that their newborn son, Justin, has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency and desperately requires a stem cell transplant, Amanda laments the fact that the best chance for Justin’s survival would’ve been Paul, if only he’d been alive.

 So when a friend emails her a photo of a man who looks identical to Paul, Amanda is stunned.  Angry and confused, she realizes that if Paul is somehow alive, he is Justin’s best hope. That’s when she turns to Forensic Instincts—a specialized team with a reputation for solving cases no one else can. 

Comprised of a behaviorist, a techno-wizard, an intuitive, a former navy SEAL, a retired FBI agent and a human-scent-evidence dog, the FI team tackles the case on two fronts—the murder/disappearance of Paul Everett and his apparent resurfacing in Washington, D.C.

However, powerful foes are aligned to make certain Paul Everett stays buried, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the FI members come up empty-handed. When the FI team members find themselves up against civic, underworld, political and government forces, they realize that not only must they be on the right track but that there is a whole lot more to Paul Everett than anyone could have suspected.

FI always gets its man, but will they find him in time to save his infant son?

Still operating on autopilot, Amanda reached for her BlackBerry and turned it on.

Q&A With Andrea Kane:

1. Q: Is there a specific element in your writing that you find most challenging?

A: Descriptions. I’m much more audial than visual, so I tend towards writing “she got dressed” rather than detailing her clothing. Whereas dialog comes naturally to me, so I concentrate hard on being more descriptive.

2. Q: Which author inspires you most?

A:It depends on when you catch me. There are so many talented authors, each mastering an element. I go back as far as Carolyn Keane, when I first started reading mystery novels as a kid. I was a big mystery reader, so later it was Agatha Christie and on to Robert Ludlum. Now I read all genres, and my most memorable ones are the ones that are character based.

3. Q: What, do you feel, is your biggest success?

A:From a professional standpoint, hitting the NY Times Bestseller list and hearing from my readers about how I’ve impacted their lives. But on a personal note, being a mother is the most rewarding role I fill.

4. Q: What are you in relation to your siblings? Are you the middle child? The baby of the family?

A:I’m the baby of the family. Establishing my own identity was the challenging part, but being referred to as “baby” when you’re an adult has its perks!

5. Q: Describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer.

A:A mother is desperately searching for the father of her newborn baby – hoping that he’s alive and is a donor match to save her critically ill son.

About Andrea Kane:

Andrea Kane’s psychological thrillerThe Girl Who Disappeared Twice became an instant New York Times bestseller, the latest in a long string of smash hits. It introduced Forensic Instincts, an eclectic team of maverick investigators, each with different personalities and talents, all with one common bond: a blatant disregard for authority.

The Line Between Here and Gone is the next exhilarating installment in the Forensic Instincts series. Armed with skills and talents honed by years in the FBI and Special Forces, and training in behavioral and forensic psychology, the team solves seemingly impossible cases while walking a fine line between assisting and enraging law enforcement.

With a worldwide following and novels published in more than twenty languages, Kane is also the author of eight romantic thrillers and fourteen historical romances. She lives in New Jersey with her family, where she is plotting new ways for Forensic Instincts to challenge the status quo. For more information, please check out Andrea’s website atAndreaKane.com.

This giveaway is for the U.S. and Canada and ends on July 31, 2012.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Tweet

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:00 AM 14 comments    

Labels: My Past Giveaways

Mailbox Monday now has it's very own blog, Mailbox Monday. It is also on tour and is being hosted by Mrs. Q Book Addict in July.

This is what I received last week:
I received this unsolicited from St. Martin's Press, it certainly sounds like a book I would enjoy.
I also received this unsolicited from St. Martin's Press.  It's not my cuppa but I will find a good home for it.

Tweet

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:23 PM 4 comments    

Labels: Mail Box Mondays

John of The Book Mine Set reviewed this story back in April, 2010.  I had added it to my TBR and finally read it last night.

The Yellow Eye is written like a type of urban legend. Willow, an 11 year old girl has been on the road all day with her father when they run out of gas.  Her father sees lights up ahead and tells Willow that he is going to walk there to try to get help.  She is afaid to stay in the car alone but he tells her to go to sleep and that he would be back soon.  Soon she spots a wolf that comes to try to get into the car through the windshield and then..

What happens seems to be a product of the girl's wild imagination, but is it?  Brayden Hirsch writes a creepy story that reminds me of stories we use to tell each other, as children at slumber parties.  You know the ones, where the flashlight comes out and you know it's time for scary stories. 

I can certainly see this story working for children at a slumber party but for me, there was too much suspension of belief involved to begin with. What responsible parent would leave his terrified 11 year old alone in a car, rather than bring her with him.  Also, he left the trunk open and didn't even tell her to lock the doors.  Other than that, Hirsch did a great job bulding up the tension to the climax.

Unfortunatly, the story doesn't appear to be available on the internet any longer.  The author's wordpress blog is gone.

Short Story Monday is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.
 

Tweet

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:12 PM 3 comments    

Labels: Short Story Read in 2012

Mailbox Monday now has it's very own blog, Mailbox Monday. It is also on tour and is being hosted by Mrs. Q Book Addict in July. 

This is what I received last week:
 I received this unsolicited by Harper Collins.  It's not my cuppa but I will find a good home for it.









My dear BIL renews this subscription for me every year.  Isn't he a sweetie?











Tweet

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:00 AM 10 comments    

Labels: Mail Box Mondays

Thanks to everyone who entered the following giveaways! Winners, please reply to the email I sent you today within 48 hours to claim your books. After 2 days you will be disqualified and a new winner will be picked. Rafflecopter picks all winners using Random.org.

Thanks again to author, Lloyd Lofthouse for making the giveaway of his book, The Concubine Saga possible.


Tweet

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:47 PM 7 comments    

Thanks to Jocelyn Kelley Kelley & Hall Book Publicity, I am giving away one print copy of  Once Upon a Gypsy Moon.

Book Description:

Michael Hurley’s first book, Letters from the Woods (2005 Ragbagger Publishing) was chosen by Foreword Magazine as a Finalist for Book of the Year. Michael returns with Once Upon a Gypsy Moon (August 1, 2012, Ragbagger Publishing) another brilliantly written real and philosophical voyage toward life’s forward horizons. Originally published as private correspondence for a small group of longtime devoted readers and friends in six installments under the title Letters from the Sea, the author chronicles his personal journey, which began when he took to the open sea aboard an aging 32-foot sloop called the Gypsy Moon after he had lost his job, was short of money, and his 25 year marriage had ended. Michael’s odyssey begins in Annapolis, Maryland, and heads south for two years to various ports of call including a 350-mile solo passage through the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” the Outer Banks of North Carolina storied for thousands of shipwrecks, as he searches for perspective in reconciling the events of his past. Seeking to salvage a “life that has foundered,” he recalls poignant personal episodes and draws larger lessons on topics such as faith and disbelief; love, marriage, and affairs; parenting; and the challenges faced by adult children of alcoholics.

When rough weather and mechanical problems force him to come ashore, his life takes a favorable tack when he meets Susan, his future wife. This course-correction provides the author a vehicle for describing his past failures in love and the foundation on which he has resolved to build again. Eight months later the two are married and the voyage continues until the Gypsy Moon encounters high winds off the coast of Haiti and is hit by a rogue wave. Hurley then faces a life-altering choice that brings this memoir to its exciting and unexpected conclusion.

Once Upon a Gypsy Moon will resonate with anyone who has had to pick up the pieces after personal failure and loss. 

About Michael C. Hurley:

 MICHAEL C. HURLEY Mike Hurley is a husband, father and lifelong sailor. Born in Baltimore in 1958, he received his undergraduate degree in English Education in 1981 from the University of Maryland at College Park and a law degree from St. Louis University School of Law in 1984. At age 34, Michael took a year off from practice to work as a professional sailboat-charter captain on the North Carolina coast. A member of the Bar in both North Carolina and Texas, he has also earned success and notoriety as a trial attorney and is listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers every year since 2006. Michael lives with his wife, Susan, and their four children. Please visit www.ragbagger.com or www.mchurley.com
 

This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. and ends on July 14, 2012.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tweet

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:00 AM 7 comments    

Labels: My Past Giveaways

Thanks to Kate Traynor of Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc., I am giving away one copy of An American Family. 

The sprawling narrative of five siblings, born in the 1940's, beginning on the day John Kennedy was shot and ending on 9/11. Between these two iconic dates, we follow the fortunes, love affairs, marriages, divorces, successes and failures of the Perls, an immigrant Polish-Jewish family, from the Lower East Side of New York, to Long Island and beyond.

The oldest, Jackie -- a charming, womanizing attorney -- drifts into politics with help from the Nassau County mob. His younger brother, Michael, a gambler and entrepreneur, makes and loses fortunes riding the ebb and flow of high-risk business decisions. Their sister, Elaine, marries young and raises two children before realizing that she wants more from life than being merely a wife and mother and embarking on a new life in her forties. Their sensitive and brilliant half-brother, Stephen, deals with the growing consciousness that he is gay in an era that was not gay friendly. Stephen goes to Vietnam as a medic, comes home, becomes a writer, and survives the AIDS epidemic of the eighties. The baby of the family, Bobbie, high-strung and rebellious, gets pregnant at Woodstock, moves to San Francisco as a single mother during the "Summer of Love," then winds up in Los Angeles as a highly-successful record producer.

In a larger sense this book is not merely the story of one family, but the story of most immigrant families - Jewish, Italian, Irish, African-American - as they enter the melting pot and emerge as a new generation, as well as the story of the tumultuous years of the second half of the twentieth century.

About Peter Lefcourt:

Peter Lefcourt is the author of seven previous novels: Eleven Karens, The Woody, Abbreviating Ernie, Di and I, The Dreyfus Affair,The Deal, and The Manhattan Beach Project. He is also an award-winning writer for film and television.
This giveaway is for Canada and the U.S. and ends on July 20th. Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted by Teddy Rose at 3:12 PM 7 comments    

Labels: My Past Giveaways

In June, we collectively read and reviewed 39 ARC's for a total of 295 ARC's so far in 2012!

Here are the standings so far:

Level Bronze (up to 12 Arcs):
Amodini 12
Jo-Jo 9
Tiffany 4

Working on Silver:
Heather 16
Teddy 15

Silver (24 ARCS):
Andrea 37
Book Loving Mommy 24

Working on Gold:
Kristi 27

Gold ( 30 ARCS):

Working on Platinum:

Platinum (35 ARCS):
Amber 47
Nicola 82

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 June for the challenge in Mr. Linky, below:

If you forgot to post book in any previous months, please post them in Mr. Link 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).

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:09 AM 11 comments    

Labels: 2012 Challenges Progress

The standings so far:

Honorable Mentions: Read 1-3 books won:
Darlene 2
Teddy 2
Tiffany 1

Silver: Read 7-9 Books you won:
Freda 7

Reminder: 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 in 2012. You need to do this at the end of each month in the comments.

Please post the books you read in July for the challenge in Mr. Linky, below:

If you forgot to post book in any previous months, please post them in Mr. Link 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).

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:54 AM 2 comments    

Labels: 2012 Challenges Progress