It's Monday! What are you Reading July 12, 2010?

This meme starts at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books!

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I finished reading three books and one edit. I posted two reviews and have several to finalize for future posting.
I am working on the Blogoversary and Follower giveaways to be posted this week.
I visited a dozen or so blogs early in the week - i wish I could visit more.

These were last week's posts plus a couple of Winner posts not listed.

• Mailbox Monday July 5, 2010.

• Review of Risk No Secrets (Black Ops, Inc.)
by Cindy Gerard.

• BBAW Registration Entry Post.

• Guest Post by Kailin Gow author of Rise of the Fire Tamer: Wordwick Games Book 1.

• Martha's Bookshelf *** Friday Pick July 9.

• Participated on Pajama Chat Readers Blog Talk Radio chat of Risk No Secrets by Cindy Gerard.

• Review of Barely a Lady (The Drake's Rakes series) by Eileen Dreyer.

• Giveaway of Barely a Lady - Five Copies.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement July 11, 2010.

Finished: PB: The Wild Irish Sea: A windswept tale of love and magic by Loucinda McGary This was a good suspense with a paranormal element.  Reviewing for Sourcebooks to post in July. Watch for Author Guest Post on July 13!    

 


PB:  Barely a Lady (The Drake's Rakes series) by Eileen Dreyer. 4.75 Review posted.

 

PB:  Stand-in Groom (Brides of Bonneterre, Book 1) This was a fast read and I really liked it. Rating 4.25. The book discussion was postponed but I'll be working on the review later this week.

Kindle: ---------  

Audio CD: --------  

Line Edits: Completed line edits on Doble Kara by Anne Abad. This was a short sci fi and there are three more shorts in the collection ΕΞΙΣ: gods, ghosts, and battered cellphones which I will finish in the next day or so.

Currently reading: PB: Tempted by a Warrior by Amanda Scott.  I am at 30% and still have a lot to read before posting on Wednesday.

Watch for Hachette Blog Tour review, Giveaway and Author Guest Post on July 14, 2010.

Product Description Lady Fiona, wed in haste, has never known marital peace. When last she'd seen her cruel husband Will, he'd struck her - and she has no memory of what she did next - only that she woke later alone in her bedchamber. Will has gone missing, and Fiona fears that in her rage and terror she might somehow have killed him. When her husband's cousin Sir Richard comes to search for Will, Fiona is touched by his warm nature. A knight and warrior, Richard is drawn to Fiona's brave manner, quickly seeing in her an equal measure of inner courage. Confessing that she fears having killed Will, Fiona accepts Richard's offer to help her. Pursuing together the mystery of Will's disappearance, they fall in love. Meanwhile the English are reinforcing their garrison in the Scottish Borderlands, putting Fiona, Richard, and Scotland in peril....

PB & Kindle: (I downloaded this to help speed up the reading.) Still the One by Robin Wells. I hope to post the Giveaway this week and get to finish this after Wednesday.

Product Description Robin Wells takes us back to Chartreuse, Louisiana, for a deeply moving story of forgiveness and second chances. After Katie Charmaine's husband is killed in Iraq, all she has left is a closet full of his clothes, a few pictures, and fond memories. She not only lost her love, but her last chance to have the children she's always wanted. Until Zack Ferguson shows up in town . . . with the daughter Katie gave up for adoption nearly seventeen years ago. Zack Ferguson has never forgotten Katie, or the one magical night they spent together. Seeing her again brings up a tidal wave of emotions: regret over the way he left her, anger at the secret she kept, and desire he hasn't felt in years. But he's in town for Gracie. Their daughter is sixteen, angry at the world, and-worst of all-pregnant. She needs the love of her two parents now more than ever. Can these three forgive the hurts of the past and open their hearts to each other?

Audio CD: Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.  I did get this in for review and giveaway for Hachette. I hope to finish by the end of the week.

Product Description The police can't help you Former CIA agent Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily--and his staff of investigators uses the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases. The press will destroy you Jack is already deep into the investigation of a multi-million dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of 18 schoolgirls when he learns of a horrific murder close to home: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer. Only one place to turn: Private But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, Morgan has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans. With a plot that moves at death-defying speeds, Private is James Patterson sleekest, most exciting thriller ever. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Line Edits: Will be finishing Exis: Gods, Ghosts & Battered Cellphones by Anne Abad. Then I will start on the edits for Drinna by Jared Gullage.

Upcoming books: The Last Track: A Mike Brody Novel by Sam Hilliard - Blog Tour review to be posted for Pump Up Your Book on July 23, 2010. The Fire Lord's Lover (The Elven Lords) by Kathryne Kennedy. Reviewing for Sourcebooks; to post in July. The Brothers of Gwynedd: The Legend of the First True Prince of Wales by Edith Pargeter. Part Three - The Hounds of Sunset. Reviewing for Sourcebooks. Kindle: none in queue.

Sunday Words of Encouragement July 11, 2010

Our Pastor's message this morning was entitled He is Our Peace. Pastor pointed out that God wants to bring down walls that separate us from Him and each other. The devil wants to keep us separated behind walls.

I see those walls as fear, pride, shame, hate, bitterness - anything that keeps us separated in our relationships. We may think of the walls as protection but isn't it isolation? Think of Robert Frost's poem, The Mending Wall. Also, remember the Berlin Wall that separated East from West until the wall was torn down.  Now the wall is gone but there is still a mark where it stood that helps to remind us of the limitations that were once there.

The song reminds me of all God is including my Prince of Peace.

Verse for Today:

Ephesians 2:14 New Living Translation

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.

We prayed for walls to come down and for there to be peace for each individual.
I also prayed for comfort for a friend who lost her father this week.

NEWS FLASH - 1:00 PM est Today - Chat about Risk No Secrets

Call in and join us at One PM eastern time today to talk about Risk No Secrets (Black Ops, Inc.) by Cindy Gerard.
See my review for more details on the book.

I was having trouble getting the player with the right program to load but I will continue to try. If the player link is not working then use this link to listen to the Risk No Secrets Online Book Club show.


Internet radio with Terry Kate on Blog Talk RadioListen to internet radio with Terry Kate on Blog Talk Radio

Giveaway - Five Copies Barely a Lady by Eileen Dreyer

Five books available to win!  THANKS ONCE AGAIN TO HACHETTE AND ANNA for the opportunity to give away another wonderful book. 
Check out my review: "There are spies, secrets and mysteries from beginning to end that kept me glued to the book until I could finish it."

Friend Eileen on Facebook

Follow @EileenDreyer on Twitter

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY:

1. For your main entry make a comment on one of these two links a) - c). Make sure you leave your e-mail address!
a) Check out the Author's Website and tell me something you found interesting there.OR
b) You can visit five fun facts and comment on one of those.
c) Visit this interesting feature to learn more details about the characters and tell me something you learned about a character.

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 TWO extra entries comment on the review post.

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

* 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 July 30, 2010. The winners will be randomly selected from all entries.

Review - Barely a Lady by Eileen Dreyer

Who says she’s Barely a Lady? She’s a gutsy lady persecuted by lies and vicious society.
Barely a Lady (The Drake's Rakes series) by Eileen Dreyer

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Forever (July 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446542083
• ISBN-13: 978-0446542081

Rating: 4.75 of 5.0

Product Desciption:
Olivia Grace has secrets that could destroy her. One of the greatest of these is the Earl of Gracechurch, who married and divorced her five years earlier. Abandoned and disgraced, Grace has survived those years at the edge of respectability. Then she stumbles over Jack on the battlefield of Waterloo, and he becomes an even more dangerous secret. For not only is he unconscious, he is clad in an enemy uniform.

But worse, when Jack finally wakes in Olivia's care, he can't remember how he came to be on a battlefield in Belgium. In fact, he can remember nothing of the last five years. He thinks he and Olivia are still blissfully together. To keep him from being hanged for a traitor, Olivia must pretend she and Jack are still married.

To unearth the real traitors, Olivia and Jack must unravel the truth hidden within his faulty memory. To save themselves and the friends who have given them sanctuary, they must stand against their enemies, even as they both keep their secrets.

In the end, can they risk everything to help Jack recover his lost memories, even though the truth may destroy them both?

Review:  This story has spies, amnesia, twisted relatives and some lovely characters.

Olivia is a wonderful heroine as a vicar's daughter who married a wealthy son, John Gracechurch, and was then divorced and abandoned by him. She has obviously had several years of struggling to find employment for herself and to keep herself hidden from society’s vicious gossip. As the story unfolds you discover bit by bit what happened five years earlier and the betrayal she suffered.

Olivia first has to cope with having been recognized by her husband's cousin, Gervaise, whom she clearly detests and fears although it is not immediately revealed why. Then Olivia discovers her ex-husband in the middle of the battlefield at Waterloo wearing the enemies’ uniform and carrying dispatch papers. As much as she has been hurt by him she cannot abandon him in his injuries. Her difficulties continue when he awakens several days later with no memories of the last five years. Poor Olivia not only has to worry about his possible treason but he has spoken of his amorous adventures with another woman while he was delirious with fever.

John loved Olivia when they married but he believed lies rather than trusting her. She has no reason to trust him now. She also has to avoid contact with and exposure by the odious Gervaise. What will John do as his memory returns. Will he think twice about their history and possible mistakes he made in the past? John's anger, impulsiveness and thoughts of his mistress were the only areas that annoyed me in the book. It makes you want to say "Men!" in disgust.

There are other “Graces” in this story and I hope to read their stories in future books. Olivia is using the last name Grace. She is befriended by a young, feisty widow, “her grace” Duchess Catherine, known as Kate. Another friend is Grace, a too tall, thin, nondescript red headed daughter of one of the English Generals. Lady Kate’s companion, Lady Bea, is an older woman who has suffered a stroke and she speaks in her own code of one word allusions which were fun to decipher.

The characters are flawed and entertaining. The writing flows for very easy, fast reading. There are spies, secrets and mysteries from beginning to end that kept me glued to the book until I could finish it. This is another romance I devoured and highly recommend.

xxx

This book was supplied by Hachette for unbiased review and giveaway.