Saturday, May 14, 2011

Saturday Giveaway #10 winner

Saturday giveaway is going on hiatus this week, but will be back next week.  It's been a busy week around here and the blogger problems haven't helped.  I haven't felt well, each of my boys has had 2 baseball practices and 3 ball games this week so it has been crazy.  So forgive me for this week.

However I do have the winner of last week's giveaway:


I will be contacting Cheryl over the weekend for her choice of two books from here.

Stay tuned - there are more giveaways going on, be sure and check the sidebar and I'll be back with the Saturday giveaway next week!



Friday, May 13, 2011

Book Review: The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett and Amanda Pressner




The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World.The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner
Publisher: Harper Perennial (Reprint edition)
Publish Date: April 26, 2011
Paperback, 560 pages 
Non-fiction
ISBN:
978-0061689079


My Review:
Why I read this: The premise sounded fascinating and I seem to really be enjoying travel memoirs lately.



My thoughts:  A fun book to read, while these women do face some serious issues in their lives, I admire them for following their dreams and sharing them in this book.


I really enjoyed reading this book.  It is told in alternating chapters by each of the women on the journey as they travel from country to country on their around-the-world in one year trip they planned.  The stories told from each country are fascinating and heart-felt.  I truly believe each of the women learned something about themselves from each journey taken and sometimes in just the little things on the trip.  I like the fact that they don't sugarcoat things.  For the most part the friends get along, but there are issues and hurt feelings along the way and they don't gloss over the situations and make you feel like this is three wonderful friends who face no problems when spending a year together in some third-world countries.

Another thing I like is what I just mentioned.  These aren't bored women touring the known places, they set out to achieve goals they wanted and most of them are in what are considered to be third world countries.  I admire the women for setting the goals, leaving their lives and going after them.  It is just amazing what they did and the careers they gave up to find themselves and learn about different groups of people as well.

The Lost Girls is a fascinating book.  I think it is a great read for just about any woman (men too).  I can live vicariously through their adventures and examine my life for changes I want to make (though I don't plan on traveling anytime soon since I have two school-age children).  But there are lessons to be learned through this book and enjoyed them and the travel stories and think they went hand-in-hand very well.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:
With their thirtieth birthdays looming, Jen, Holly, and Amanda are feeling the pressure to hit certain milestones—score the big promotion, find a soul mate, have 2.2 kids. Instead, they make a pact to quit their jobs, leave behind everything familiar, and embark on a yearlong round-the-world search for inspiration and direction.
Traveling 60,000 miles across four continents, Jen, Holly, and Amanda push themselves far outside their comfort zones to embrace every adventure. Ultimately, theirs is a story of true friendship—a bond forged by sharing beds and backpacks, enduring exotic illnesses, trekking across mountains, and standing by one another through heartaches, whirlwind romances, and everything in the world in between.

About the Authors: 
Jennifer Baggett is currently pursuing a freelance writing career and conspiring with her fellow Lost Girls on their next great travel and business adventures. Most recently she served as a Marketing Manager in the Branded Entertainment and Sponsorships Department at the Sundance Channel. She held the position of Integrated Marketing Manager for Vh1, Vh1.com and Vh1 Classic, and she worked in the Marketing/Ad Sales department at NBC Universal. She hails from Bowie, MD, and lives in New York City.

Amanda Pressner is a travel and lifestyle journalist and has served as Senior Nutrition Editor at Shape magazine and assistant editor at Self. She has contributed to national publications, including USA Today, Travel + Leisure, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Prevention, Woman’s Day, First for Women, Seventeen, and Brides. She is a native of Tampa, FL, and lives in New York City.

Holly C. Corbett is a freelance writer who worked as an editor in the “Happiness” department of Self and served as the service and travel editor at Woman’s Day magazine. Her work has appeared in other publications such as Women’s Health, Prevention, Shape, Fitness, Seventeen, and Newsday. She lives in Syracuse, NY.

Find out more about Jennifer, Amanda, and Holly at The Lost Girls website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.


FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher through TLC Book Tours for an 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.




Thursday, May 12, 2011

Author Interview & Giveaway: Spencer Seidel (Dead of Wynter)

Today I welcome Spencer Seidel, author of Dead of Wynter which I reviewed on Tuesday.  Please join us for this interview and make sure you enter the giveaway as well.


Dead of Wynter

1. Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer.

12-word synopsis: small town, Maine, murder, family, alcoholism, love, secrets, revenge, rage, blizzard, redemption

2. What inspired you to write Dead of Wynter?

My own family. My mother's side of the family has a troubled history. In the 1940's, an ugly rumor about a murder among cousins at a Michigan campsite surfaced. In a moment of dementia, my grandmother inadvertently revealed to my mother that there may have been some truth to the stories. Then, when my
heavy-drinking uncle died (my mother's brother), I decided to combine the two tragedies into a novel. Dead of Wynter is a kind of fermented, concentrated version of those events with plenty of made-up things thrown
in.

3. Where do you do most of your writing?

When I'm planning a novel, the less it seems like work the better. The creative rocket sauce is more potent that way. So, I usually sit on my sofa under my headphones with my iPad. Then, once I start my drafts, I sit at big bare desk my father built for me writing on a laptop. Unlike many other writers, I can't write in public spaces. I need to cocoon myself, preferably in the dark under headphones.

4. What is your favorite book?

Honestly, I consume and like so many books that my "favorite" is usually one I've read in the last year or so. Joe Hill is in that category currently. I loved Horns and Heart Shaped Box, both of which I read this past year. A few years ago, I fell in love with Caleb Carr's The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. Before that, I might have said Stephen King's The Shining. Ken Follett, Jack Ketchum, and Peter Straub have also written favorites for me at one time or another.

5. Which part of Dead of Wynter was the most enjoyable to write?

When I was about halfway through the second draft, I happened to be at my parents' house on Cape Cod. This was in the summer of 2009. There was something about the plot as it was then that had been bugging me for several weeks. One afternoon, I stepped out of the shower and out of nowhere came a new, better idea for the second half. I rushed for a pad and pen and felt incredibly happy even though I knew I would have to go back and shuffle some things around to make it work. After that, the second half of the book was a
thrill to write.

Thank you Spencer for the great insight into you and your writing life.

Giveaway:
Thanks to Erin McNichols and Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, I have one copy of Dead of Wynter to give away.  Simply fill out the form below.  Open to US/Canada only.  Ends 5/19/2011.

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




Book Tour: The Lost Girls



The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner
Publisher: Harper Perennial (Reprint edition)
Publish Date: April 26, 2011
Paperback, 560 pages 
Non-fiction
ISBN:
978-0061689079

***My review is coming later today***



About the Book:

With their thirtieth birthdays looming, Jen, Holly, and Amanda are feeling the pressure to hit certain milestones—score the big promotion, find a soul mate, have 2.2 kids. Instead, they make a pact to quit their jobs, leave behind everything familiar, and embark on a yearlong round-the-world search for inspiration and direction.
Traveling 60,000 miles across four continents, Jen, Holly, and Amanda push themselves far outside their comfort zones to embrace every adventure. Ultimately, theirs is a story of true friendship—a bond forged by sharing beds and backpacks, enduring exotic illnesses, trekking across mountains, and standing by one another through heartaches, whirlwind romances, and everything in the world in between.
About the Authors:

Jennifer Baggett is currently pursuing a freelance writing career and conspiring with her fellow Lost Girls on their next great travel and business adventures. Most recently she served as a Marketing Manager in the Branded Entertainment and Sponsorships Department at the Sundance Channel. She held the position of Integrated Marketing Manager for Vh1, Vh1.com and Vh1 Classic, and she worked in the Marketing/Ad Sales department at NBC Universal. She hails from Bowie, MD, and lives in New York City.

Amanda Pressner is a travel and lifestyle journalist and has served as Senior Nutrition Editor at Shape magazine and assistant editor at Self. She has contributed to national publications, including USA Today, Travel + Leisure, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Prevention, Woman’s Day, First for Women, Seventeen, and Brides. She is a native of Tampa, FL, and lives in New York City.

Holly C. Corbett is a freelance writer who worked as an editor in the “Happiness” department of Self and served as the service and travel editor at Woman’s Day magazine. Her work has appeared in other publications such as Women’s Health, Prevention, Shape, Fitness, Seventeen, and Newsday. She lives in Syracuse, NY.

Find out more about Jennifer, Amanda, and Holly at The Lost Girls website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Jennifer, Amanda, and Holly’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, April 26th: Book Journey
Wednesday, April 27th: A Bookish Way of Life
Monday, May 2nd: Book Club Classics!
Wednesday, May 4th: Reading on a Rainy Day
Thursday, May 5th: Write Meg
Tuesday, May 10th: 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
Tuesday, May 10th: Books in the City
Wednesday, May 11th: Good Girl Gone Redneck
Thursday, May 12th: My Reading Room
Friday, May 13th: Amused By Books
Monday, May 16th: The House of the Seven Tails
Tuesday, May 17th: Books Like Breathing
Wednesday, May 18th: Steph and Tony Investigate

 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Book Review and Giveaway: When You Dare by Lori Foster





When You Dare by Lori Foster
Publisher: HQN Books
Publish Date: April 26, 2011
Paperback, 448 pages 
Fiction, Romantic Suspense
Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor #1
 ISBN: 978-0373775712



My Review:
Why I read this: I like Lori Foster books and haven't been reading romance as much as I once did so I really wanted to read this one.



My thoughts:  A great book, good romance, amazing hero, strong heroine and great plot make this a great summer read.

I don't think Lori Foster has ever disappointed me and she does not start now.  When You Dare is a great book setting up her new Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series and introducing us to Dare Macintosh.  Dare is just amazing, his sex appeal oozes off of the pages and his honor shows through strong.  I love the fact that Molly is one of the first to really get through his defenses and he doesn't know what to do with that.  Strong and vulnerable in a good way make a man an amazing hero in the book.

Molly is a great heroine too.  She's strong even after what she's been through, but she has her moments of weakness and that weakness is Dare, so who can blame her.  I loved getting to know her as much as I enjoyed getting to know Dare.   They made a great pair for this book and as I was reading I hated to put the book down.

The plot moves quickly from the opening scenes when Dare is just trying to figure out what to do with Molly through the whole book.  I loved every minute.  The suspense plot is great, the romance is amazing and I loved the secondary characters as well as the hero and heroine.  Chris, Dare's best friend and assistant is funny at times and serious at others.  I also look forward to Trace's story in the next book.

All-in-all When You Dare is a very strong start to this new series by Ms. Foster and I look forward to reading each of the following books.  Ms. Foster is amazing with the creation of her characters, strong, hunky men with vulnerable sides towards the women that somewhat tame them, along with strong women who melt at the sight of the man of their dreams.  If you love your romance with some suspense, then Ms. Foster is for you.  Try out When You Dare and I bet you will be clamoring for Trace of Fever (out May 31) as well.  Then you can finish it out with Savor the Danger on June 28.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:
Professional mercenary Dare Macintosh lives by one hard and fast rule: business should never be personal. If a cause appeals to him and the price is right, he'll take the mission he's offered. But then the lovely Molly Alexander asks him to help her track down the men who'd had her kidnapped—and for the first time, Dare's tempted to combine work with pleasure.

Fiercely independent, Molly vows to trust no one until she's uncovered the truth. Could the enemy be her powerful estranged father? The ex-fiancé who still holds a grudge? Or the not-so-shy fan of her bestselling novels? As the danger heats up around them, the only anchor Molly has is Dare himself. But what she feels for him just might be the most frightening thing of all….

About the Author: 
Lori Foster first published with Harlequin in January 1996. Her second book launched Temptation Blaze and her 25th book launched Temptation Heat. Since those early days, Lori has routinely had 6 to 10 releases a year. She's a Waldenbooks, USA Today, Publisher's Weekly and New York Times bestselling author with over 50 titles published through a variety of houses, including Berkley/Jove, Kensington, St. Martins, Harlequin and Silhouette.
Website
Twitter
Facebook



Giveaway:
Thanks to Tricia Carr and Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, I have one copy of When You Dare by Lori Foster up for grabs.  US/Canada only, must be 13 or older to enter and the giveaway ends 5/18/2011.  Simply fill out the form below.


If you cannot see the form, you can find it here.
 



FTC Information: I received this book from Tricia Carr at Media Muscle (Meryl L. Moss Media Relations) for an 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.