Mailbox Monday - January 25

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. To see this weeks list of participants go here.  I had another good week, check out what I received and feel free to leave your links so I can see what you received also and add to my wishlist.

ARC/Review Copies of:

Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Release Date: March 9, 2010

There once was a girl who liked to pretend she was lost. . . .

Meg Rosenthal is driving toward the next chapter in her life. Winding along a wooded roadway, her car moves through a dense forest setting not unlike one in the bedtime stories Meg used to read to her daughter, Sally. But the girl riding beside Meg is a teenager now, and has exchanged the land of make-believe for an iPod and some personal space. Too much space, it seems, as the chasm between them has grown since the sudden, unexpected death of Meg’s husband.

    Dire financial straits and a desire for a fresh start take Meg and Sally from a comfortable life on Long Island to a tucked-away hamlet in upstate New York: Arcadia Falls, where Meg has accepted a teaching position at a boarding school. The creaky, neglected cottage Meg and Sally are to call home feels like an ill portent of things to come, but Meg is determined to make the best of it—and to make a good impression on the school’s dean, the diminutive, elegant Ivy St. Clare.

St. Claire, however, is distracted by a shocking crisis: During Arcadia’s First Night bonfire, one of Meg’s folklore students, Isabel Cheney, plunges to her death in a campus gorge. Sheriff Callum Reade finds Isabel’s death suspicious, but then, he is a man with secrets and a dark past himself.

Meg is unnerved by Reade’s interest in the girl’s death, and as long-buried secrets emerge, she must face down her own demons and the danger threatening to envelop Sally. As the past clings tight to the present, the shadows, as if in a terrifying fairy tale, grow longer and deadlier.

In Arcadia Falls, award-winning author Carol Goodman deftly weaves a mesmerizing narrative of passion: for revenge, for art, for love.

 

Then Came the Evening by Brian Hart

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Release: December 22, 2009

A riveting, psychologically rich family drama set in the American West, from a writer who has been compared to Cormac McCarthy.

Bandy Dorner, home from Vietnam, awakes with his car mired in a canal, his cabin reduced to ashes, and his pregnant wife preparing to leave town with her lover. Within moments, a cop lies bleeding on the road.

Eighteen years later, Bandy is released from prison. His parents are gone, but on the derelict family ranch, Bandy faces a different reunion. Tracy, his now teenaged son, has come to claim the father he’s never known. Iona, Bandy’s ex-wife, has returned on the heels of her son. All three are damaged, hardened, haunted. But warily, desperately, they move in a slow dance around each other, trying to piece back together a family that never was; trying to discover if they belong together at all.

With unflinching honesty and restrained beauty, Brian Hart explores the possibilities and limitations of his characters as they struggle toward a shared future. Like a traditional Greek tragedy, suffused with the mud, ice, and rock of the raw I daho landscape, Then Came the Evening is tautly plotted and emotionally complex—a stunning debut.

Desert Fire by Shannon Van Roekel 

Publisher: Kregel Publications

Release: September 22, 2009

For FIRST Wild Card Tours

Personal turmoil amid horrific conflict-these are the elements of a career-making headline. . . and a journey toward healing

On assignment in Darfur, journalist Julia Keegan is determined to open the eyes of average Americans to the atrocities taking place there-and to distance herself from the dark shadow cast by her father, a man she's never really known. So when Joel Maartens, her father's young lawyer, shows up in Sudan, Julia is completely unprepared to respond. She has steeled herself against the horrors of genocide, but she isn't prepared to face her own past.

As Joel's and Julia's lives are redefined by the injustice and violence around them, both are forced to face truths they would rather leave concealed. Fighting for justice is no easy task, but learning to forgive in the face of hatred may be the resolution that Joel and Julia both desperately need.

The Imposter?  How a Juvenile Criminal Succeeded in Business and Life by Kip Kreiling

Publisher:  Brigham Distributing

Release: September 30, 2009

received from the author - I will also be having a giveaway for this book in the next few weeks

LEARN the secret to Benjamin Franklin's success

DISCOVER how Abraham Lincoln turned enemies into friends

SEE the evidence that proves human beings are not primarily driven by instincts - that we can chance

LEARN how Hernan Cortez launched one of the most successful military conquests in history and how that insight can help you

DISCOVER the real reason why the Iron Curtain fell

SEE why rats weaned themselves off of heroine - on their own!

FIND out how a hardened, modern-day Juvenile Criminal found lasting happiness

Am I dead? I watch from above as my abused body lay motionless on the shoddy bed below me. My mind does not want to face the truth . . . As a result of a drug overdose the author experienced an epiphany on how people can beat addiction, which he describes in chapter Two.

Each chapter is filled with visceral accounts of modern day challenges, both personal and professional, and how you can overcome them. From the slums of Georgia to the castles of Europe, be entertained and inspired at the same time.

Is someone you love struggling with the challenges of our modern times: addiction, weight control, a troubled child, or an overwhelming business challenge? Do you need to change something in your life but don t know how to start or how to finish? Have you wondered if people can really change? If they can, are there steps or methods that can propel the change? If so, The Imposter will inspire you.

The Imposter describes how the author, Kip Kreiling, transformed from a hardened juvenile criminal to a highly successful corporate executive, husband, and father. Through his journey, he discovered 8 principles of human transformation that will help anyone achieve their aspirations.

 

A Mom's Ultimate Book of Lists by Michelle LaRowe

Publisher:  Revell

Release: January 1, 2010

For a Revell Book Tour

Grocery lists. Checklists. To-do lists. Lots of people love--and live by--lists. And parents are no exception. Today's families are busier than ever, and moms don't have the time or energy to search and scramble for the parenting information they are desperately seeking: How much should my child be sleeping at this age? What toys will most benefit my child? What items are truly essential in furnishing a nursery? What questions should I ask a potential caregiver? What are the signs of a family-friendly restaurant? The answers to these questions and more than a hundred others are at a mom's fingertips with A Mom's Ultimate Book of Lists. This handy, practical reference guide will save time, money, and sanity for today's busy women.

A Mom's Ultimate Book of Lists is your one-stop resource for more than 100 lists to live by, including: When to Call the Doctor Questions to Ask before Choosing a Pediatrician Sleep Training Your Baby Top Toys for the First Year Terrific Activities Toddlers Love Easy Steps for Taming Tantrums Feeding a Picky Eater Signs of a Family-Friendly Restaurant Common Childhood Allergies and Illnesses Instant Pick-Me-Ups and so much more Start saving your time, money, and sanity today!

Michelle LaRowe is a national speaker, parenting consultant, and author of the Nanny to the Rescue! series and Working Mom's 411. She is the 2004 International Nanny Association "Nanny of the Year" and a credentialed career nanny with more than fifteen years of experience. LaRowe is often featured on television and in print as a nanny expert and has been lauded for her dedication to improving the quality of in-home child care. To learn more, visit www.michellelarowe.com.

Swinging on a Star by Janice Thompson

Publisher: Revell

Release:  January 1, 2010

For a Revell Book Tour on February 15

Bella Rossi's life is nearing perfection. She's got the perfect guy, she's running a successful business, and she's about to plan her most ambitious wedding yet, a Renaissance-themed fairy tale come true, complete with period costumes and foods, horse-drawn carriages, and even a castle. There's just one hitch. The best man just happens to be Brock Benson, Hollywood's hottest and most eligible bachelor. Oh, and did we mention he's staying at the Rossi house to avoid the paparazzi? With all the pressure surrounding this wedding, Bella's not sure she's going to make it through. Add her starstruck sister, her feuding aunt and uncle, and a trio of large, sequined church ladies with even bigger personalities, and you've got a recipe for disaster--and a lot of laughs. This hilarious romantic comedy is sure to delight both fans and new readers alike.