Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Visit Diane Craver for Chance to Win Historical eBook by Nicloe Zoltack!

Author Diane Craver is interviewing Nicole Zoltack today and a lucky commenter will win a choice of either of Nicole's books:

I just LOVE these covers and I want to read these books. So you all can enter but I hope I win! LOL

Enter by commenting at Diane's Blog. Winner to be drawn Friday night.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Review and Giveaway - SEALed with a Ring by Mary Margret Daughtridge

SEALed with a Ring by Mary Margret Daughtridge
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (March 2, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1402236980
ISBN-13: 978-1402236983
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Heat Rating: Spicy
Price: $7.99
Buy Link

Author Website

Rating 4.0

Product Description

She’s got it all…except the one thing she needs most
Smart, successful businesswoman JJ Caruthers has a year to land a husband or lose the empire she’s worked so hard to build. With time running out, romance is not an option, and a military husband who is always on the road begins to look like the perfect solution…

He’s a wounded hero with an agenda of his own
Even with the scars of battle, Navy SEAL medic Davy Graziano is gorgeous enough to land any woman he wants, and he’s never wanted to be tied down. Now Davy has ulterior motives for accepting JJ’s outrageous proposal of marriage, but he only has so long to figure out what JJ doesn’t want him to know…

Review: This is a good solid romance read!

JJ is the savvy boss lady who is responsible not only for the financial welfare of the family company, but for the welfare of the employees too. Although she couldn’t control her distant parents as a child, her grandfather encouraged her interest in the dealership and she learned that she could control the business and do so successfully. That is why it is a betrayal for her grandfather to issue an ultimatum: marry within a year or he will dismantle the company rather than letting her take over. He thinks he is doing the right thing to get her to have a relationship and realize that life is more than business success. But to JJ he has just become another relationship she can’t control.

Davy has a past that includes easily getting any woman he wants. He is a dedicated seal and willing to die if that’s what it takes. When he returns with an injury that causes amnesia he is not about to let anyone know! Problem is, he has forgotten having met JJ the previous year.

JJ figures he just has so many easy conquests, what was one more? She isn’t going to remind him of what was a total lapse of judgment, not to mention control, on her part! On the other hand, if she has to be married for a year maybe a fellow who will be away on mission or who doesn’t care what bed he’s in, as long as he is discreet, might do the trick. The problem for JJ is that Davy may be “easy” but he is not about to take commitment lightly. He is going to insist on a real marriage, not just a convenient,"name only" arrangement.

Thinking back on the “good time” JJ had with Davy that one night, it doesn’t take JJ long to decide she may as well have some fun benefits from the marriage! A quote on the author site sort of sums up this relationship: “Sometimes you get what you bargain for. Sometimes...you get a whole lot more.”

The two personalities are strong and can compliment each other if each will accept the strengths of the other. The dialogue is good and the sensual tension and bed scenes are spicy! The secondary characters, JJ's Grandfather and helper Ham, and Davy's Seal mates, all fit perfectly with the plot. It all wraps up to a charming and fun romance. This is part of a series with the Seal heroes and the other books look like fun too.

***************************************************

Thank you to Danielle at Sourcebook for this ARC which I am offering to a lucky winner!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THIS BOOK:
1. Comment on the review and leave your e-mail!

2. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For another entry, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

(Three total entries possible.)
It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.
* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons
* This contest will close Midnight (Central) on March 16, 2010. The winners will be randomly selected from all entries.

Read an E-Book Week!

This is a special week: Read an E-Book Week, March 7- 13. Check it out and follow on Twitter. There are lots of free E-Books for download this week!

Monday, March 8, 2010

What are you Reading Monday? March 8, 2010

This meme has been moved to

One Person's Journey Through A World of Books!

Thanks Shelia for carrying this forward from J. Kaye.

Got four reviews written but since I read that many books that didn't help me get ahead!

[Note re codes: YGR is You Gotta Read Reviews. MBS is this blog - Martha's BookShelf!]

Finished:

PB: SEALed With a Ring by Mary Margaret Daughtridge.
This is a very good book - charming and fun!
She’s got it all…except the one thing she needs most Smart, successful businesswoman JJ Caruthers has a year to land a husband or lose the empire she’s worked so hard to build. With time running out, romance is not an option, and a military husband who is always on the road begins to look like the perfect solution…
He’s a wounded hero with an agenda of his own Even with the scars of battle, Navy SEAL medic Davy Graziano is gorgeous enough to land any woman he wants, and he’s never wanted to be tied down. Now Davy has ulterior motives for accepting JJ’s outrageous proposal of marriage, but he only has so long to figure out what JJ doesn’t want him to know…
Book supplied by Sourcebooks for review here at MBS.

Kindle2: Girl Gone Nova by Pauline Baird Jones.

This is a WOW-WONDERFUL Sci-Fi, romance. The sequel to The Key. I am amazed at the depth of the world created and how well the author kept track of all the details!

***Don't miss the upcoming Giveaway, reviews and interview with Pauline Baird Jones.***

Doc--Delilah Oliver Clementyne’s—orders are simple: do the impossible and do it fast. A genius/bad ass, she does the impossible on a regular basis. But this time the impossible is complicated by an imminent war between the Earth expedition to the Garradian Galaxy and the Gadi, an encounter with some wife-hunting aliens, and not one but two bands of time travelers.
She could handle all that, but her biggest challenge—and the reason the impossible might be not possible this time—is that she’s fallen in love.
Wrong time, wrong man, wrong everything. So why does it feel so right?

Also Kindle2:

The Ghost Mirror by Jamieson Wolf. This YA, witch fantasy flowed really well. Hard to classify this as I didn't really think of it as horror even if there were some scary scenes.

This is an eTreasures book read from my own TBR for review here at MBS.

"Like Alice stepping through the looking glass or Dorothy finding herself in Oz, 13-year-old Mave wakes up in a run-down sort of house at the end of Water Street. But where is Water Street? And where are all the people you'd expect to see during the day? And how did she get from her grandmother's attic to here? Surely she didn't really step through the ghost mirror?"

The Return by Jan Bowles. This is a very nice, sensual romance read!
This book was supplied by the author for review here at MBS.

Whilst on assignment in Iraq, English TV presenter and journalist Robert Tremayne is captured by Islamic Jihadists and held hostage. His soul mate, Marielle, can barely come to terms with her loss but tries to move on with her life.
Two years later Robert is discovered alive. Marielle is overjoyed, but her life has changed beyond all recognition, and the man she loved is now very different. His time in Iraq has left him cold, emotionless and detached. There's much to tell, and each wants desperately to return to the way things once were.
With the past always there to come between them, will they be able to recapture their lost love? Will they ever be happy again?

Audio CD: --------------

**************************

Currently reading:

PB:

Once Upon a Nightmare by Lee Moylan. Now this one is horror!
Reading from my won TBR books! Review to be posted here at MBS.

On the night of October thirteenth, the Hunter's Moon descended upon the quiet town of White Chapel. As Sara Bishop drifted off to sleep under its soft illumination, the full moon seemed to have brought with it something far more sinister than a warm glow. At once, the nightmare started. But this wasn't any ordinary nightmare… This one seemed real ─ as if she could smell it, feel it, taste it....
....Will Sara Bishop have to experience death itself to stop this killer? Or will her nightmare never end?

Kindle2:
The Little Known by Janice Daugharty.
A good-hearted boy.
A segregated town.
A stolen fortune.
a coming-of-age story full of hope and forgiveness

Book supplied for review from Bell Bridge Books.

Audio CD: Absolute Power by David Baldacci. This was Baldacci's first book back in 1996 - Political thriller. Reviewing for Hachette - to be posted here at MBS.

I am finally on the very last disc! There are a trail of bodies now and great suspense as I wait for the downfall of the bad guys!

**************************

Coming up this week:

Next Audio CD and Hachette Giveaway to be posted: Marriage and Other Acts of Charity by Kate Braestrup

I'm not listing any other upcoming books for this week - again I am hoping to get time to write reviews!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sunday Words of Encouragment March 7, 2010

This morning our Pastor preached on "Recovering from Life's Disasters." The (very) brief highlights are:
1. Release your grief. Matt 5:4; Psalm 62:8. Remember that grief is a season, not a lifestyle.
2. Receive help from others. Gal 6:2. Do not withdraw. Instead reach out for help, encouragement and hope.
3. Refuse to be bitter. Heb 12:15; Job 11:13, 16; 1 Thes 5:18. Focus on what is left, not what was lost.
4. Remember what is important. Luke 12:15; 1 Tim 6:7. We brought nothing with us and we take nothing with us. What really matters is our relationships.
5. Rely on God. Phil 4:12-13. When you have tried everything else...try prayer! Although it should be the first thing we do, sometimes it is the last resort.

This was our choir song this morning!
I hope you will listen to the words - very powerful.
I couldn't find the lyrics to post.

I love the words: "I know His word is true for I've seen what He can do!"