In My Mailbox - September 26

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. To see this weeks list of participants go here.

I had a great mailbox week - it was a slow start, but the end of the week kept my mail lady, the ups man and the fed-ex guy very busy and me very happy! This week to keep the post shorter I have added links to Goodreads if want the summary.

Heartstrings and Diamond Rings by Jane Graves 
From Publisher (Grand Central Publishing/Forever Romance)
Release: September 27, 2011
Review coming October 5
Goodreads

Home Sweet Home by Bella Riley (GCP, Forever)
From Publisher (Grand Central Publishing/Forever Romance)
Release: September 27, 2011
Goodreads

 Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliot
From Publisher (Grand Central Publishing/Forever Romance)
Release: October 25, 2011 
Review coming November 2
 Goodreads

Becoming Me (Diary of a Teenage Girl #1 Caitlin) by Melody Carlson
Glass Road PR tour - October 11
Goodreads

Wishes & Stitches by Rachael Herron
From Publisher (William Morrow)
Release: October 11, 2011

Goodreads

 Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos

 From Publisher (William Morrow)
Release: October 4, 2011
Goodreads

 REAMDE by Neal Stephenson

  From Publisher (William Morrow)Release: September 20, 2011
Goodreads

 The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
From Publisher (Tor Teen)
Release: September 27, 2011
Goodreads

 The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy
Litfuse Publicity Group Tour (October 24 - November 10)
Release: October 4, 2011
Goodreads

 Baby, It's Cold Outside by Susan May Warren
Litfuse Publicity Group Tour (October 14-28)
Release: October 1, 2011

Goodreads

The Last Blind Date by Linda Yellin
From Publisher (Gallery Books)
Release:  October 4, 2011
Review: October 3
Goodreads

 Survivors by James Wesley Rawles
From Publisher (Atria Books)
Release: October 4
Goodreads

 Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff

Won from Smexy Books

 Release: September 6, 2011

Goodreads

 What did you get in your mailbox this week?

BookTrib.com Best of the West Original Holiday Cookie Contest

Hi There,

Is there a ticket to Vegas sitting in your kitchen? BookTrib.com, Caesar’s Entertainment and Harlequin Publishing are sending one talented baker to Las Vegas with a friend! It could be you–we’re inviting EVERYONE to enter their original cookie recipe for a chance to win the Best of the West Original Holiday Cookie Contest…all of the information is below–but don’t wait too long! The contest only lasts from now through October 26.

Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Banned Books Week Hop here at My Reading Room.  This Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and I Read Banned Books.  This hop is all about Banned Books in honor of Banned Books Week which runs September 24 - October 1, 2011.  I'm a big proponent of not banning books and will make sure with my guidance and discussion that my sons read as many of the banned and challenged books that interest them at the appropriate ages.  I still wonder why To Kill A Mockingbird would be challenged.  I love that book - it was just about the only assigned book in high school I liked (I had already read it in middle school). 

We can move on to more recent books, Twenty Boy Summer, Speak, Crank, all of these have a place and talk to girls (and boys too) about issues that face them maybe in ways their parents didn't think too.  Maybe one of these books will speak to a teenager and stop a destructive behavior.  Maybe it won't, maybe it's just a book and that's fine too.  Okay off my soapbox now.

My giveaway is simple, it's $15 towards one book at The Book Depository, open Internationally if The Book Depository ships to your country for free.  The only catch, the book should be a banned or challenged book, some can be found on this page here, you can also google around for others.  That page is a listing of the top ten challenged books (or series) in the last 10 years.  Some examples are below.  To enter all you need to do is enter your name and email in the Rafflecopter below, all other entries are optional.  Thanks for stopping by, make sure you stop by the other blogs and enter their giveaways as well!

Book Review: A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher @suzannewfisher

A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Publisher: Revell

Publish Date: September 1, 2011

Hardcover, 208 pages 
Fiction, Amish Romance, Christian
 ISBN: 978-0800719951

My Review:
My thoughts:  Isn't the cover lovely - doesn't it look like a Christmas card you would send?


A Lancaster County Christmas is a charming, lovely Christmas story that warms the heart and gets you in the right mood for Christmas.  It's a nice romance that tells the story of a couple finding that love is still there for them even when one has almost given up on it.  But even beyond that there is so much more to the story.  While predictable, the story is still a wonderful and warming tale for these fall and winter evenings coming and a must-read for lovers of Amish fiction.  Even if you haven't read Amish fiction before, I recommend this one as one to get your feet wet with. It has exposure to the Amish culture, but an English (American) couple as well.  It has suspense, romance, family and an Amish teenager deciding between the faith and the outside world.  This book really packs it in to 200 pages.

Suzanne has a true way with Amish fiction, she really has a gift for telling their stories in a real way.  I loved the look into Mattie and Sol's life as well as Jaime and C.J.'s.  I like how Mattie and Jaime had things to teach each other even though they come from different cultures.  It's really a beautiful book that I truly took something away from.  I loved each character in their own way and though the book is short I feel I got to know something about each one of them and I like that.  The action and suspense was good also.  The plot moved the book along quickly and I didn't want to put it down and I hated it when it ended.  I wanted more of these characters, even though it ended properly.  The characters just stick with you and you wish you could see a continuation of their lives and that's a good quality of a book.

So if you enjoy a good Amish story or even if you haven't dipped your toes into the water of Amish fiction, A Lancaster County Christmas is a great book to warm your heart on a cool evening.  It's a great book to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa,  hot tea or coffee and a warm blanket and escape to Lancaster County for the evening.  You won't regret it.


My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the Book:
Jaime and C. J. Fitzpatrick began their married life as most couples do--in love and looking forward to a bright future together. But four years later they've drifted apart and are almost ready to call it quits. 


Mattie Riehl was hoping to give her husband Sol the Christmas gift they have both longed for--news that a baby was on the way. But as usual, she is disappointed. The holidays bring an acute awareness to Mattie that her dream of a big family isn't likely to become a reality.

Then a winter storm raging outside blows the Fitzpatricks into the Riehl home--and into a much slower pace of life. Can these two couples from different worlds help each other understand the true meaning of love this Christmas?

With her trademark plot twists and attention to detail, Suzanne Woods Fisher offers readers a beautiful Christmas story of love, forgiveness, and what truly matters in life.


Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

About the Author: 
Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, and The Search, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Benedict eventually became publisher of Christianity Today magazine. Suzanne is the host of a radio show called Amish Wisdom and her work has appeared in many magazines. She lives in California.

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It's Christmas in September - iPad Giveaway and Facebook Party!
Enter 9/7-9/26!

FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher for an honest review. 

Book Review: Sunset Bridge by Emilie Richards @EmilieRichards

Sunset Bridge by Emilie Richards

Publisher: Mira

Publish Date: June 21, 2011

Paperback, 512 pages 
Fiction, Women's Fiction
 ISBN: 978-0778312383
Happiness Key #3

My Review:
My thoughts:  A novel of friendship, love and perseverance, Sunset Bridge is a stunning look at how friends work together at life, love and in the face of danger and disaster.

Sunset Bridge is a long book, but it flies by.  It's also the third in the series, but I did not read the first two and although I feel I would have known the characters better in the first few pages if I had read the first two books, I feel that after those first few pages it really didn't matter.  Ms. Richards gives enough background and the characters fill themselves out enough that I never felt lost.  I got the gist of each character quickly.  From the very outspoken Wanda to her much more reserved daughter Maggie.  From the slightly addled older Alice to the not-quite-sure she's grown up Tracy.  And Janya, the Indian woman who is the pillar that seems to hold them all up, I loved her though she was only here and there in this book.  She is young but she is wise.  She is quiet but she notices everything and when she speaks she has something wise to say.  Each woman contributes something special to the group and makes the group whole.  I liked that.  I also liked that Ms. Richards stays true to females and makes it that they don't get along all the time.  They aren't cat-fighting and the book is not unpleasant, it's just real.

At the heart of this book are several things.  First Tracy is pregnant.  Second Maggie is trying to decide what to do since leaving the police force and the only love of her life behind.  Wanda has had the ultimate business proposition.  Janya and her husband have an unusual blessing fall into their laps, and Alice may have a second chance at love.  So as you can see the book is full of goings-on.  So that is why it speeds by.  But even though a lot is going on, the character building is never glossed over.  Maggie and Tracy are probably the characters that undergo the most change in this book and I really enjoyed watching it.  Ms. Richards is a master at character building and relationship building.  At it's heart, Sunset Bridge is really a relationship book.  Relationships between the women, and then romantic relationships as well.

Sunset Bridge really touched a chord in me.  It showed me the good of community.  It's something I have seen in the time after a hurricane and she demonstrates it here in this book.  I loved watching these women with each other and each woman with their private thoughts.  Sunset Bridge is a delightful novel to read on the waning days of summer and as we move into fall.  If you enjoy a good relationship story then this is just the book for you.  If you enjoy a character-driven story then this is the book for you.  As for me, I'm now going back to read the first two book and any of Ms. Richards' earlier books that I can get my hands on. I have a new auto-read author.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:
Former socialite Tracy Deloche has nothing to her name but five ramshackle beach cottages and the unlikely friendships she's formed with her tenants. Wanda, wise waitress turned popular pie-shop owner. Janya, the young Indian wife whose arranged marriage surprises her every day. Alice, a widow raising her complex tween-age granddaughter. And Maggie, Wanda's daughter, a former Miami cop with a love life as complicated as Tracy's own.


The new man in Tracy's life hasn't mentioned love or commitment— and Tracy has just discovered she's pregnant. Janya longs to be a mother—and suddenly has two young siblings in her care. Maggie helps out at Wanda's Wonderful Pies…but is the kitchen big enough for both Gray women? And Alice may lose her beloved granddaughter to someone no one expected….

As a tropical storm brews, the wind carries surprises and secrets over the bridge to Happiness Key. Now, more than ever, five friends will discover just how much they need one another.


About the Author: 
Emilie Richards is a USA Today bestselling author. She is a full-time writer, with over 60 published novels. Some of her novels are currently being filmed in New Zealand and will appear on German television. Though she has expanded her scope of writing to women’s fiction, Richards was awarded the RITA® Award, the Oscar® of the romance publishing world.

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FTC Information: I received this book from Eric Glover at Planned Television Arts for an honest review.