Saturday Giveaway #6

First off, last week's giveaway winner is:  

Laceyinthesky

 Laceyinthesky will be contacted today to make her selection (or Lacey if you see this before I contact you, email me at crystalfulcher(at)ec.rr.com - I'm at my kids' ballgames all day today).

Let's continue another week with the giveaway.  Help me get some great books out of my house and into yours.  It's simple, fill out the form and you are entered.  Open to US/Canada only due to lack of funds. Following is not required, nor is tweeting or anything like that but if you would like to, I would be thrilled.

It was a good reading week, but I am sharing The Face of God with my husband, so it's not up today, but it will probably show up here in a few weeks. The choices for this week are:

     

   

 

or these from week 2 and 4 are back in as choices:

 

           

Please note that Stilettos and Scoundrels, Wickham's Diary, Between Shades of Grey, Patchwork Dreams and A Creed in Stone Creek are ARCs

 Giveaway open through next Friday, April 15 at 11:00pm so I can draw the winner and announce with my new Saturday giveaway next week.  A little something for everyone.  If you win, I'll email and ask your choice.  It's simple.

If you can't see the form, you can find it here.

Book Review: Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner-Molaski

Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner-Molaski

Publisher: Laina Turner-Molaski

Publish Date: February 23, 2010

Paperback, 326 pages  (also available as ebook)
Fiction, Mystery
ISBN: 978-0982607893

My Review:

Why I read this book:  The premise sounded interesting and the cover is eye-catching along with the title.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed Stilettos and Scoundrels, it's chicklit-ish mixed with mystery and a lot of fun.


I think one of my favorite things about this book was Presley's going back to her home town when she hasn't seen a lot of her high school friends in years.  Seeing them again after all this time has passed was really interesting.  Who doesn't have a bad-boy friend that has turned police officer (I have had several) and the high school hunk who isn't quite as hunky anymore - these are all fun things to witness.  I think the chicklit element of the book shone through with Presley's fascination bordering on obsession with name-brands and of course shoes.  So if you enjoy chicklit books, this one will be enjoyable to you.  If you don't there is enough else going on in the book to entice readers of just about any genre.


I enjoyed the small town element and realizing small-town Illinois is just like small-town North Carolina.  I could relate to so many things about the town of Alkon.  I loved it.  I'm not a big-city girl so while I read lots of books featuring the big cities, I love the ones that focus on small towns.  And let's face it, a small town where everyone knows everyone makes a great setting for a murder.


I had a lot of fun with the murder plot.  It seems like just about everyone had a motive or a secret and that made the book great for me.  It moved along at an interesting pace and I liked Presley's involvement in it.  Plus the added interest of Dirt, the former bad-boy now turned sheriff and the other bad-boy, Cooper who has a brief history with Presley who is in charge of security for the Senator and you have some interesting sparks flying.

Reading Stilettos and Scoundrels was like siting down with your best friend after you had been apart and catching up on all the gossip.  It is just that fun.  I think this book would make an amazing beach/lake read for the summer, it's engaging, it's fun, it has entertaining characters and a great mystery all rolled into one pretty pink package.  So give Dr. Turner-Molaski a try, I don't think you will regret it.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

About Laina Turner-Molaski (from her website)

Who am I? It kind of depends on the day. I am a human compendium of unrelated things. I used to think I was just weird, had shiny ball syndrome and couldn’t focus, scattered, you name it. Then I decided it was OK to be all over the place as long as each avenue I wanted to explore had meaning and purpose or was fun. So I embrace the fact I am a college professor (Go Capella), a writer of fiction and non-fiction,
promoter of other authors, human resource professional, business consultant, and all around interesting person (according to my closest friends).

 

About Stilettos and Scoundrels

Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn't allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her - she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley is a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes. Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not "sweat the small stuff," she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills). When her friend Trevor offered her a job with his online magazine to interview public figures, she jumped at the chance. However, the new job turned into something unexpected when the U.S. Senator she was slated to write about was murdered - in her home town! Presley was excited - she hadn't seen so much buzz since the spring sample sale at Saks. She was ready for this adventure, even if it didn't seem to fit neatly into her life. She couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in the middle of the buzz. Presley was determined (not to mention curious) to find the killer and write her story. After all, she couldn't afford her shoe habit without a job and she was certainly not one to shy away from danger. The only thing standing in her way was an old high school fling, Cooper Sands, head of the Senator's security. He was not actually standing in her way, but because of his good looks, he was the biggest distraction and one she was having the hardest time overcoming. Cooper felt it was too dangerous for Presley to look for a killer and tried to distract her with reliving the past; which Presley found more dangerous than any killer. While she attempted to resist Cooper's good looks and charm, Presley was able to discover the Senator's wife, Helen, had been having an affair... with her best friend's boyfriend! Did Helen kill the Senator? Or was it the Senator's love of gambling that got him killed? And what was Cooper's secret tie to the mob boss Garrison Palazzo? Presley was betting her favorite pair of Manolo's she will find the killer... but will time run out! 


FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher through Pump Up Your Book Promotions 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.

Guest Post: Author Laina Turner-Molaski (Stilettos and Scoundrels)

 Today I welcome author, Laina Turner-Molaski whose book , Stilettos and Scoundrels is touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion through March and April and I am currently reading it.  It's great so far and I can't wait to share my review tomorrow, but for now, enjoy a great guest post with Laina.

 

Lazy Days by Laina Turner-Molaski

Do you ever have those days when you just don’t want to get out of bed? I know I do, my friends have and it’s ok, we have all been there. Wouldn’t it be nice to actually be able to do that at least every once in a while? There of course would have to be some sort of rules put in place or some people would take advantage and stay in bed all day every day. But let’s say that twice a year you could just ditch everything and not do anything. If you had kids someone would come and get them ready for school and take them there. Someone would take care of all your work for that day. Get all your housework and laundry done so you didn’t have to work twice as hard to catch up after your time off.

Someone would make sure there were some good snacks and fun DVD’s for you (or a pile of books for me) to enjoy while laying in bed or on the couch so you would have to put forth no effort you didn’t want to. So if this could really happen how long do you think you could lie there before starting to wonder what was going on in the outside world?

Would you feel compelled to call your friends or co-workers and see what was happening? Would you decide to get up and go outside in to the world anyways? Or would you really relax all day without worrying about anything more than pausing the TV in order to go to the bathroom and if you wanted chips and guacamole or twizzlers and diet coke?

It’s fun to think about but could you actually do it?

Laina

Laina Turner-Molaski is a businesswoman, mom, author, Professor, and a major supporter of shopping. She has an undying love for shoes and coffee, which is why she created her main character and alter ego Presley Thurman.

With a lot of letters after her name and a ton of student loan debt, she is always working to pay the bills. While she enjoys her day job, her passion is writing, and she uses a lot of company time writing her fiction or working on her social website for women, Chiczofrenic.com. She is hoping to sell her book before she gets fired from her day job for goofing off.

Laina is currently living in Indiana, with her family, and is always writing something, whether it’s blogs, articles, business journals and books or ideas for her next novel. She is continuously doing what she loves which is writing or drinking coffee.

www.lainaturner.com


Great post Laina - I really wish I could get a day like that especially since we are in the heart of Little League baseball season with our two boys right now!  I think I could just get away and do it, but I know life would start to creep in and I would have to help the boys or find something for the husband.  But it's a nice dream :)

Book Tour: Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner-Molaski

Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner-Molaski

Publisher: Laina Turner-Molaski

Publish Date: February 23, 2010

Paperback, 326 pages  (also available as ebook)
Fiction, Mystery
ISBN: 978-0982607893

*** My review will be coming tomorrow, stay tuned for a guest post with Laina later today. ***

About Laina Turner-Molaski (from her website)

Who am I? It kind of depends on the day. I am a human compendium of unrelated things. I used to think I was just weird, had shiny ball syndrome and couldn’t focus, scattered, you name it. Then I decided it was OK to be all over the place as long as each avenue I wanted to explore had meaning and purpose or was fun. So I embrace the fact I am a college professor (Go Capella), a writer of fiction and non-fiction,
promoter of other authors, human resource professional, business consultant, and all around interesting person (according to my closest friends).

 

About Stilettos and Scoundrels

Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn't allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her - she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley is a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes. Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not "sweat the small stuff," she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills). When her friend Trevor offered her a job with his online magazine to interview public figures, she jumped at the chance. However, the new job turned into something unexpected when the U.S. Senator she was slated to write about was murdered - in her home town! Presley was excited - she hadn't seen so much buzz since the spring sample sale at Saks. She was ready for this adventure, even if it didn't seem to fit neatly into her life. She couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in the middle of the buzz. Presley was determined (not to mention curious) to find the killer and write her story. After all, she couldn't afford her shoe habit without a job and she was certainly not one to shy away from danger. The only thing standing in her way was an old high school fling, Cooper Sands, head of the Senator's security. He was not actually standing in her way, but because of his good looks, he was the biggest distraction and one she was having the hardest time overcoming. Cooper felt it was too dangerous for Presley to look for a killer and tried to distract her with reliving the past; which Presley found more dangerous than any killer. While she attempted to resist Cooper's good looks and charm, Presley was able to discover the Senator's wife, Helen, had been having an affair... with her best friend's boyfriend! Did Helen kill the Senator? Or was it the Senator's love of gambling that got him killed? And what was Cooper's secret tie to the mob boss Garrison Palazzo? Presley was betting her favorite pair of Manolo's she will find the killer... but will time run out! 


FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher through Pump Up Your Book Promotions 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.