Comment Tuesday 3/30 Winner!

Thank you to everyone who commented on the review of Hearts of Compassion or shared your story regarding homelessness.  It shows how close to home this issue can be!

I am especially pleased to announce the winner is:

Virginia - please e-mail me with your address and a book choice!

The Sweetest Romance Authors Chat TODAY April 8!

Thursday, April 8, the Sweetest Romance Authors will chat all day in their forum at Coffee Time Romance Forum's Java Junction. Make plans to join in the fun as these lovely authors share news about their latest works, WIP's, contracts (or not), videos, EVERYTHING that pertains to getting out those sweet romance stories you love!
The list of Sweetest Romance Authors is growing which is very wonderful too.
It starts at 10 a.m. EST. Hope you get a chance to stop by and say hi to these very nice authors!

Giveaway - Three Copies of God Never Blinks

God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours
Author: Regina Brett

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446556521
• ISBN-13: 978-0446556521

Product Description

Already an internet phenomenon, these wise and insightful lessons by popular newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Regina Brett will make you see the possibilities in your life in a whole new way.

When Regina Brett turned 50, she wrote a column on the 50 lessons life had taught her. She reflected on all she had learned through becoming a single parent, looking for love in all the wrong places, working on her relationship with God, battling cancer and making peace with a difficult childhood. It became one of the most popular columns ever published in the newspaper, and since then the 50 lessons have been emailed to hundreds of thousands of people.
Brett now takes the 50 lessons and expounds on them in essays that are deeply personal. From "Don't take yourself too seriously-Nobody else does" to "Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift," these lessons will strike a chord with anyone who has ever gone through tough times--and haven't we all?

I have only skimmed this and will start reading it on Friday.  I already love the 1st and 3rd Lesson titles:
Lesson 1: Life Isn't Fair but it's Still Good and Lesson 3: Life is Too Short to Waste Time Hating Anyone
I say AMEN to both of those!

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the Book:

1.a) Check out the Author's Website and tell me something you found interesting there.OR
b) You can browse the book here and comment on what you see.

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.

I may add an extra entry for commenting on the review but that won't be done till next week!

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)  MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR E-MAIL!

THERE WILL BE THREE WINNERS!

THANKS ONCE AGAIN TO HACHETTE AND VALERIE!

* 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 April 28, 2010. The winners will be randomly selected from all entries.

Who Wants to Read Along ??

I noticed several other book bloggers are reading 8th Confession or have it TBR.  I just started and I'd love to do a Twitter read along if anyone wants to join.  Have you ever done a read along?  It's easy.

Note comments with #8thConfession and look for my Twitter account as MSEREADS. 

If you see other books on my What are you Reading Monday or Monday Mailbox lists that you want to do as a read along just make a comment on the post or e-mail me. It's fun to share comments, without sharing spoilers, as you read along.

Review and Giveaway - Death Mill Mansion by Will Hartzell-Baird

Title: Death Mill Mansion
Author: Will Hartzell-Baird
Publisher: CreateSpace (March 10, 2009)
Buy Link
ISBN-10: 1441482458
ISBN-13: 978-1441482457
Paperback: 400 pages
Author's Website 

Rating: 4.0

Product Description
As has been documented in any number of movies and books, there is a particular class of mansion that, through some indescribable means, bestows unanticipated engine/tire difficulty upon passing cars, forcing the unsuspecting occupants to knock on the door, asking to use the phone, never to be seen or heard from again. Countless motorists have been lost to these devious abodes, as well as to the mysterious mansion's close relatives, the darkened gas station and the eerily silent farm community looming unassumingly in the distance. Coincidentally, on a dark, stormy night while driving on an unfamiliar country road, Robbie inexplicably experiences car trouble...

Review: This was one bizarre story - and a fun change of pace!

I was chuckling from the first page. My first thoughts as I read the back blurb and started reading this was that it seemed like a cross between The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Shining! As you read more you may think of Frankenstein, Dracula, werewolves, The Body Snatchers, The Night of the Living Dead, Tremmors, The Exorsist, Saw...and more.  I am sure I can’t think of them all but the story doesn’t miss too many horrors.  It even includes its own version of a time warp.

Robbie is not a likely warrior or hero, but someone had to serve as a catalyst to upset the status quo in the mansion that is seemingly controlled by robots.  There are conspiracies and surprises around every corner, through secret passages ways and behind every door.  And don’t you think you’d learn NOT to open every door when you are apt to find a new monster in the next room??!! It is fun that Robbie finds allies in unexpected friends: a rather nonchalant tour guide, a ghostly school chum, a couple who were separated in the mansion but find each other again, a paperclip man (he is really sort of sweet) and a renegade robot (he’s sweet too!)

I really liked the footnote style that the author used to explain a situation or capture an aside thought.  I thought that was a very interesting technique. (You can see a sample of that by checking the link to the author's website.)

There was a point about one third or mid way in the book where I struggled with “how long can this go on and what is the purpose?”  That feeling passed - and the purpose was clearly to entertain.  I returned to the anticipation of wanting to know what other crazy things would happen, how it all turned out and which characters would make it out alive if there was an escape from the house.  I wasn’t disappointed! It was a bizarre and twisted ride but a fun one - good for a real change of pace from romance or serious reading.

Thank you to the author, Will Hartzell-Baird, for providing the book for me to read and providing THREE other books for lucky winners!
Also- I will give my book to the first person who says they are willing to read the book and post a review on their blog or on Amazon or Goodreads.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THIS BOOK:

1. Tell me if you have a favorite horror movie or monster! 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.

4. For another entry, visit the author's blog and tell me something of interest you find there! Go ahead - it will be fun - they won't bite!
(Four 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 April 23, 2010. The winners will be randomly selected from all entries.