Giveaway: The Brutal Telling ARC by Louise Penny

I have received an extra ARC of The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny and would love to send it to one of my readers. This book will out in hardback on October 1, 2009. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds very interesting and I am looking forward to reading and reviewing it.

Here's what Tara Cibelli the Marketing Manager had to say in the included letter:

Chaos is coming to the lovely, seemingly tranquil town of Three Pines, just over the Canadian border. It begins to show its face one morning when a murdered man is found lying on the old pine floor of the beloved bistro and antiques store run by Olivier and his partner, Gabri. No one has ever seen the man before--or admits to having seen him--until a mysterious cabin, filled with priceless treasures, is uncovered deep in the woods. Clearly the hermit must have lived there and died there, and someone has been bringing him fresh groceries--in exchange for what? And just how did Olivier make such a spectacular success of his antiques business?

Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in, and much as they personally like the man who has hosted so many wonderful meals, they must ask the uncomfortable questions. Meanwhile, the cabin yields up extraordinary pieces of evidence--from signed first editions of Charlotte's Web and Jane Eyre to a spider web with the word "WOE" in it--that will send Gamache to the remote Queen Charlotte ISlands in search of the hermit's secrets, then back to Three Pines to confront the brutal truth.

This giveaway is open to the US and Canada only. It will go through July 31, 2009. Please enter by:

1. Commenting on my blog, make sure I have a way to contact you. (+1)
   
2. Become a blog follower or let me know if you are already a follower (+1)
3. Tell me if you have read Louise Penny before and what you thought of her (+1)
4. Tweet about this review and giveaway, use @cfulcher in the tweet so I can find it (+1)
5. Follow me on Twitter (or let me know if you are a current follower) (+1)
6. Blog about this contest and let me know the link (sidebar or post is fine) (+1)

So there you go - 6 ways to get an entry into this contest. You can leave them in separate posts or one post, it doesn't matter, I will make sure you get your entries, just make sure to let me know what you do.

Giveaway Winners

Hi all - so sorry for the delay in announcing winners. I had surgery on the 26th of June, came home, felt fine and then all of a sudden felt horrible and was stuck in bed not feeling like doing anything. Found out I had an infection, started antibiotics and started feeling better. I'm now just experiencing the pain you expect to have after surgery and trying to build my strength up.

So for the giveaways - I had two giveaways that ended during my absence, so without further ado, here are the winners:

The winner of Ms. Taken Identity by Dan Begley is:

Mary

Mary has been contacted and when I receive her mailing address I will forward it to the generous Miriam Parker who made this giveaway possible.






The winner of The Texas Billionaire's Bride by Crystal Green is:

Lee

Lee has been contacted and as soon as I receive the mailing address I will forward it to Crystal Green who made this giveaway possible.







Thanks for all the entries, more contests coming soon!

Short Blog Hiatus

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know I haven't been ignoring the blog. I have had some setbacks after surgery and can't seem to spend too much time up and about everyday. Recovery just hasn't gone the way that I thought it would. Most days I don't even feel like reading (gasp with horror). So my blog is suffering. I am hoping all this will pass quickly and my recovery will be back to normal and I will be back to my blog.

For those waiting on contest wins and contest results. I will get to these as soon as possible. I can't go out of the house at the moment to mail and just can't sit up long to process the giveaway posts.

The wins will come though. I hope everyone understands.

Crystal

June Summary

In June, I read 20 books. It breaks down like this:

• 2 from the library
• 11 were from authors/publishers for review
• 2 were from my TBR mountain
  
• 4 from booksfree
• 1 from audible
  

• 13 were books (the kind you hold - paperback/hardback/trade)
• 6 were ARCs
• 1 was an audiobook

The books I read were:

1. Missing Pieces by Joy Fielding (library) - Review
   
2. A Morning Like This by Deborah Bedford - (review) - Review
   
3. I Like It Like That by Cecily Von Ziegesar (booksfree)
   
4. Flirting with Temptation by Kelley St. John (mine) - Review
   
5. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale (review) - Review
6. You're the One that I Want by Cecily Von Ziegesar (booksfree)
   
7. Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Lori Wilde (mine) - Review
8. Fragment by Warren Fahy (review) - Review
9. The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas (review) - Review
10. The Texas Billionaire's Bride by Crystal Green (review) - Review - Author Interview
11. The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner (review) - Review
12. Avalon High by Meg Cabot (library) - Review
13. Ms. Taken Identity by Dan Begley (review) - Review
14. Wake by Lisa McMann (booksfree) - Review
15. Nobody Does It Better by Cecily Von Ziegesar (booksfree) - Review
16. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (audiobook)
    
17. Gifts of War by Mackenzie Ford (review)
    
18. Swimsuit by James Patterson (review) - Review
19. All That Glitters by Nicole O'Dell (review)
    
20. Any Minute by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford (review)
    

Another great reading month and a pretty good review month. I have a few to catch up on, but I'm doing better at getting the books reviewed.

I also held 8 giveaways this month (2 are still going on) and that was a lot of fun too. I love being able to share my books with others.

So what did you read this month? Was it a good month for you?

Winner - Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

The Winner is: Linna! She's already been emailed and sent her address and is very excited about receiving Swimsuit. I hope she enjoys it - I surely did.

For everyone else - thanks so much for entering my giveaway. More giveaways to come, but for now Swimsuit is available for purchase, so go out and grab your copy of this great suspense/thriller.

Review: Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro





rating: 4.0/5.0






From Goodreads.com:

Kim, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a photo shoot in Hawaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror that awaits them.

LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own research into the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for his next bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering the kidnapper's identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets a shocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist deal with the devil.

A heart-pounding story of fear and desire, SWIMSUIT transports readers to a chilling new territory where the collision of beauty and murder transforms paradise into a hell of unspeakable horrors.

I am a big James Patterson fan. I have read his books since Along Came a Spider and kept up with the new releases and then went back and read his earlier books. I love the Alex Cross series and the Women's Murder Club and the standalones. So I was thrilled to get an early copy of his newest standalone - Swimsuit from Miriam Parker.

Swimsuit does not disappoint either. From the first page I was sucked into Ben's story of how he came across Henri and the missing swimsuit model Kim.

Ben is a very compassionate character as are Kim's parents and Ben's girlfriend Amanda. This is one of the things I really liked about the novel - Ben is the ordinary guy, the caring guy, he's not a tough guy, he's just a guy who wants to do what is right and help people. He just gets thrown into an insane set of circumstances.

The story moves along quickly and doesn't lose you as some have in the past. I was able to follow along, but not guess the next thing that happened. There were quite a few twists and turns and the usual James Patterson "evilness" in the serial killer. He just does serial killers the best. They are always twisted and egotistical and stand out against the good-guy, who is usually just an average guy, like Ben.

If you like the thriller genre then I encourage you to pick up Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Patreo - it will not disappoint, it may make you lose sleep from trying to finish it, but I don't think it will disappoint. You will find great suspense, evil bad guys, compassionate good guys and a great story to follow along with.


Binding: Hardcover
On-sale Date: June 30, 2009
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Pages: 400

Teaser Tuesday - June 30

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Charlie ordered a dessert wine and the entire dessert menu: zuccotto, pralines and milk, chocolate mousse, Lanai bananas carmelized by the waiter at the tble. The delicious fragrance of burnt sugar made him hungry all over again. He looked at the girl, and she was a girl now, sweet and vulnerable and available to him.

Four thousand dollars had been well spent, even if he stopped right now.

But he didn't.

From Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro which I should finish in a little while - it's a wild ride.