Thursday, April 21, 2011

Book Review and Giveaway: Paper Woman by Suzanne Adair




Paper Woman by Suzanne Adair
Ebook 
Fiction, Historical
 ASIN: B002ZCYRDM







Today as I help a wonderful author, Suzanne Adair, to participate in the Blog Tour de Force Cage Match Edition.  I paticipate with my review on my blog along with some other bloggers and working to generate traffic on her blog.  So she needs your help.  Be sure and check out my review and then read about the giveaway and get your free ebook and enter to win a Historic Haversack goodie bag on Suzanne's Blog by commenting on my blog.  Let's help Suzanne win this!


My Review:
Why I read this: I haven't read much historical fiction from this time period (Revolutionary American) so when I was approached by the author, I was excited to branch out and I'm glad I did.


My thoughts:  I am simply amazed by this book.  While it is true that I pass on books that don't interest me, not all books that interest me stun me in the way that Paper Woman did.  The character of Sophie really spoke to me.  She's a woman ahead of her own time, yet still a woman while being tough when she has to be.  She still wants love and she still needs affection.  When her father is murdered her life is turned upside down and the people she thought she could trust seem to be after her.  So she turns to the Creek Indians in the area, especially one friend since childhood and together with others they embark on a journey of a lifetime fraught with rebels, redcoats, Spaniards and others.  I enjoyed the other characters as well, they weren't the focus as much as Sophie but they still had their time to shine or to be villians.  Ms. Adair's characterization in this novel is wonderful.

As for plot, this blew me away as well.  After about ten pages where I figured out who was who in the first few scenes and what was going on, the book flew by for me.  Ms. Adair can weave great description with a gripping plot so you can see each scene well but not be bogged down.  I felt like I was traveling with the group through the Georgia swamplands, like I was in Alton with Sophie at the beginning and in the other places the group goes to as well.  The plot never drags and weaves a very interesting suspense plot as Sophie strives to solve the murders and keep herself and her group alive in the meantime.

Do you want some romance, well, Paper Woman serves this up as well.  A great romance that will leave you sighing.  Until it was brought up in the book I didn't even see it coming and once it was brought up it made the most sense even though both characters were stubborn to see it at times.  I loved the romance plot line, it added so much to the book.

As for the historical element.  I really enjoyed seeing a taste of this time in America's history.  It is honestly not a time I am familiar with beyond school history classes and didn't truly think it was all that interesting until I read this book.  Now I am fascinated by the time period when the Revolutionary War wasn't really a war as much in the south and the uprisings were just starting in earnest.  I am not a history buff so I don't know about accuracies or things like that, but everything felt real for the time period, nothing seemed out-of-place.  I feel that Ms. Adair does her research and crafts a novel around the time period wonderfully.

So if you enjoy historical fiction, suspense and romance, I invite you to check out Paper Woman.  It's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon completely immersed in a world so alive that you feel you are part of it.

My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the Book:


She expected the redcoats to solve her father’s murder. The redcoats and her father had other plans.

In early June 1780, the village of Alton, Georgia, is rocked by the triple murder of the town printer and one of his associates, both outspoken patriots, and a Spanish assassin. Alton's redcoats are in no hurry to seek justice for the murdered men. The printer and his buddies have stirred up trouble for the garrison. But the printer's widowed daughter, Sophie Barton, wants justice for her father. Under suspicion from the redcoats, Sophie sets out on a harrowing journey to find the truth about her father — a journey that plunges her into a hornet's nest of terror, treachery, and international espionage.

About the Author: 

Suzanne Adair is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Historical Novel Society, and the North Carolina Writers Network. Paper Woman, the first book of her historical mystery/suspense series, received the Patrick D. Smith Literature Award. Camp Follower was nominated for the Daphne du Maurier and Sir Walter Raleigh awards. 


Giveaway:
As part of the Blog Tour de Force we are trying to generate as much traffic to Suzanne's blog.  So head over there visit Suzanne's blog (http://www.suzanneadair.typepad.com) today (April 21) before midnight ET. If you want a free copy of the ebook version of Paper Woman, read her post entitled, “Sex. Love. Death.” follow her instructions, and leave the requested information in a comment for her on her 21 April post.  She also has another giveaway going on her blog for her Historic Haversack goodie bag so check that out as well and come back and comment on my review for a chance to be entered.

FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher from the author for a honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.