Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf

Monday, September 27, 2010

Mailbox Monday September 27, 2010

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week.

This Meme started with Marcia at The Printed Page but is on blog tour and for September the host is Bermudaonian's Weblog.
Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I have not had a chance to do a Mailbox post since August so I have quite a number of "Won" books. Maybe next week I'll post the books I purchased this month.... I actually did purchase some!

In early September I received a signed copy of Loves Me, Loves Me Knot by Heidi Betts. I have been wanting to read a book from her knitting series! I got this from a win a AuthorIsland. I used to visit every day but have been too busy and some of the books are more erotic than I am interested in. I just happened to stop by on a day when this was featured! Thank you DeNita and Ms. Betts.

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I won books 1-5 of the 39 Clues series! Then I won books 1-6 and I also won 1-7 at different blogs! Since I had accepted the first announcement of 1-5 I relinquished the other two sets. I won this at HighTechDad Blog. Thank you Michael and Author Patrick! I am hoping that Zane is old enough to enjoy these now.

The 39 Clues Book 1:The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
The 39 Clues Book 2: One False Note by Gordon Korman
The 39 Clues Book 3: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis
The 39 Clues Book 4: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson
The 39 Clues Book 5: The Black Circle signed by Patrick Carman

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I won Today I Found God by Greg Long

at The Children's Book Review.

Thank you TCBR!

I look forward to reading this with the Grandkids.

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I won these items at Blogfest:I won an eBook copy of Ordeal by T.K. Varenko from Ex Libris.

Thank you T.K. and Stella.

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I also won a Blogfest package at Book of Secrets

where I got this Paranormal Romance Package:

These book covers are wonderful!

And Warrior Ascended: The Sons of the Zodiac looks pretty good too!

Thank you Diana!

I didn't win any Blogmania but I still had a good September. :)

Sunday, September 26, 2010

It's Monday! What are you Reading September 27, 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 had a good reading week: finished five good books and started some more good books.:)
I posted three reviews and two giveaways.
Also I had five Winner posts last week. I have one more closed that I'll get up on Monday night.
Still working on more overdue reviews now.

I didn't have much luck visiting last week as I hit the office early every day too jump into legal work and closings. I have more of the same busy week this week too. I will try again this week.

These were last week's posts plus five Winner posts not listed.

It's Monday What are You Reading? September 20, 2010

Review and Giveaway of One Fine Cowboy
by Joanne Kennedy

Renters Win - Guest Post by Tom Graneau

Review of
Renters Win, Home Owners Lose: Revealing the Biggest Scam in America
by Tom Graneau

Review and Giveaway of Never a Bride
by Amelia Grey

Finished Reading:

PB: Renters Win, Home Owners Lose: Revealing the Biggest Scam in America by Tom Graneau. I found this informative - a good read if you are thinking of buying a house. Author Guest Blog was posted on September 22 and my Review on September 23 for Pump up Your Book Promotion.

PB: A Hellion in Her Bed (Hellions of Halstead Hall) by Sabrina Jeffries. I really enjoyed the story and characters and read right through this! I will be posting the review and hosting the ARC giveaway with a pack of Hellion in Her Bed playing cards later this week. ARC and materials provided by Nancy Berland PR.

Kindle: Ræliksen: Book One of the Emerald Isle Trilogy by Renee Vincent. This Viking romance grabs your emotions. I will post the review later this week. Read and reviewing for the author and publisher.

Kindle: The Portrait by Hazel Statham. Another delightful Historical Romance from Hazel. The review will be posted in October since I have for reviews I will be posting this week.

Product Description
England 1812 Severely injured at the battle of Salamanca, Edward Thurston, the new Earl of Sinclair, returns home to his beloved Fly Hall. Determined not to present his prospective bride with the wreck he believes himself to have become, he decides to end his betrothal, unaware that Lady Jennifer, for vastly differing reasons, has reached the selfsame decision. Throughout the campaigns, Edward was often seen relying greatly on a miniature he carried, and it is to this token he clings upon his return. Will he eventually find happiness with the girl in the portrait, or will he remain firm in his resolve not to wed? Reason dictates one course, his heart another.

Audio: The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Lisa Marklund James. This was a really good serial murder mystery and good audio read. Hachette Giveaway to be posted with the review this week.

Line Edits: Working on final line edits for Love from the Ashes.

Currently reading:

PB: Two Lethal Lies by Annie Solomon. I am not too far along yet but this is reading really fast. Check back on September 29th for the Author guest post, review and Hachette giveaway.

Product Description
A love to die for...

On the run since his daughter was born, Mitch Turner has concealed a truth so dangerous, its discovery could jeopardize both their lives. But when a series of shocking murders hits their newfound home, the trail leads straight to Mitch. With the police out for blood and his daughter ripped from his arms, he has nowhere to turn--until a beautiful stranger offers her help.

Neesy Brown has made mistakes in her life, yet she refuses to believe this mysterious man is a killer. There's a strength in his broad shoulders that draws her to him and a weariness in his eyes that she longs to ease. As the murders tear her small town apart, she vows to help Mitch find his missing child. But a cunning predator is pulling them deeper and deeper into his fatal game. And the price of losing is the child--and the future--they could both share...

Kindle: First Flight: A Tor.Com Original by Mary Robinette Kowal. I grabbed this from my Kindle TBR for a quick short read. I am really enjoying it. Check it out as a free Kindle read.

Product Description

The past is another country, in Mary Robinette Kowal’s Tor.com tale of time travel and aviation history. "First Flight" is a finalist for the 2010 Locus Award.

The winner of the 2008 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of short fiction published in Strange Horizons, Cosmos, and Asimov's. Her first novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, will be published by Tor in 2010.

Audiobook: Whiteout by Ken Follett. I wanted an audio for the ride back from the airport on Friday. I got lucky to get this one a few months back at the thrift store. Good mystery and intensity so far in two of five discs.

Product Description
Jealousies, distrust , and hidden rivalries uncover dark secrets, then a dozen vials of a deadly virus go missing. As a blizzard whips out of the north on Christmas Eve, several people converge on a remote family house. Stanley Oxenford, director of a pharmaceutical research company, has everything riding on a drug he is developing to fight a lethal virus. Several others are interested in his success too: his children, at home for Christmas with their offspring, have their eyes on the money he will make; Toni Gallo, head of his security team and recently forced to resign from the police, is betting her career on keeping it safe; an ambitious local television reporter sniffs a story, even if he has to bend the facts to tell it; and a violent trio of thugs are on their way to steal it, with a client already waiting. As the storm worsens and the group is laid under siege by the elements, the emotional sparks crackle and dark secrets are revealed that threaten to drive Stanley and his family apart for ever. Filled with startling twists, "Whiteout" is the ultimate knife-edge drama from an international bestselling author who is in a class by himself.

Line Edits: Still have several more books to format for release.

Upcoming books:

PB: Just One Taste (Recipe for Love) by Louisa Edwards. Book giveaway with swag coming next week. ARC and swag provided by Nancy Berland PR.
PB: The Passionate Brood: A Novel of Richard the Lionheart and the Man Who Became Robin Hood by Margaret Campbell Barnes. Reading and reviewing for Sourcebooks

I have a dozen good Soursebook paperback books lined up for October, November and December with book giveaways. Plus several Hachettes and some blog tours for Pump up Your Book Promotion. More busy times ahead. :)

Review and Giveaway - Never a Bride by Amelia Grey

Can a woman trust a fiancé who has abandoned her for six years? Can a man trust a betrothed he finds kissing another man? Never a Bride by Amelia Grey.

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca; Reprint edition (September 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402239785
ISBN-13: 978-1402239786

Genre: Historical Romance

My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Her name is on everyone’s lips . . .
When he left for America six years ago, the handsome Viscount Stonehurst never suspected that he would return home to England to find his lovely fiancé embroiled in the scandal of the decade. The woman he planned on making his wife has been kissing every man in London . . . except him!

But scandal doesn’t matter in search of the truth . . .
Engaged and then abandoned, Mirabella Wittingham is determined to find the man who drove her cousin to suicide, even if it means ruining her reputation and disgracing herself in the process . . .

When her plans go awry, Mirabella has no choice but to turn to her long-lost fiancé for help. But can she trust the man who deserted her so many years ago, or is he destined to fail her yet again?

Review:
I really liked the concept of this story although I didn’t feel it quite made top of the line in execution. Still, a good paced, sensual, easy read historical romance.

Mirabella determined that the best way she can find the rouge who ruined her cousin is to allow certain men to kiss her while she checks for a telltale mark. I liked Mirabella’s character but she is almost too reckless and too flippant about her reputation as she tries to find the seducer she seeks. Perhaps she really thinks she is on the shelf since her fiancé, who never even met her, has been gone six years.

Viscount Camden Stonehurst set off to America not just to avoid an unwanted betrothal but to get away from a scandal from a prior betrothal and also to make his own fortune. He returns to a family summons with a threat that the engagement will be broken because of his delay. He would not particularly care until he discovers that his family desperately needs the marriage settlements. As a result of his first lost love Camden doesn’t trust women and is only looking for a biddable wife. He isn’t inclined to risk marriage with a strong-headed, independent young woman, no matter how enchanting. Particularly he isn’t going to go through with wedding a girl he catches kissing at the first social event he attends hoping to meet her.

The pair agree to pretend to continue the engagement for the sake of their families. The subterfuge creates an opportunity for some fun bantering and for friendship and romance to develop. I loved their first meeting which occurred before they knew who each other was. That created an air of mystery and an elemental attraction. Unfortunately, even there, Mirabella was reckless with her behavior.

The whole kissing and reputation scandal seemed to not ring right to me - maybe because it doesn't match the blurb. It would be bad enough that the young bucks were talking in the clubs about a girl they kissed in the garden but to get caught in such a situation by her chaperon and her fiancé seemed a bit too contrived. Her investigative kissing had only been going on for a few weeks before Camden’s return and it apparently never became a full blown scandal. Yet there were hints in the gossip sheets, the talk among the men and snubs by some of the respectable matrons. I suppose it was just on the brink of becoming exposed when Camden returned to put an end to her kissing forays. Although that didn’t end some of her other adventures.

The story moved along well with a lot of charm in the relationship. I liked how sweetly honest and open Mirabella is in her encounters with Camden and I really liked how Camden succumbed to the intelligence and natural innocence of Mirabella. All in all this is a solid romance read if not completely enchanting for me.

xxx

Thank you to Sourcebooks for this book to read and review.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THE BOOK:
1. Visit the author's website and tell me something you learned there.
Alternative comment: Comment on the review or tell me what you think is a reasonable length of time for an engagement in Regency times.
Please 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 open US and Canada only.
* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.
* This contest will close 10:00 PM (Central) on October 11, 2010. The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.

Sunday Words of Encouragement September 26, 2010

This morning our Pastor spoke on The Problem of Confusion. He referred us to verses in Habakkuk. God wants us to realize that we need to trust Him. We need to have faith that:
(1) God's Plan is Best. Gen 50:19 -20 (...God intended it for good...), Isaiah 55:8 (...for my thoughts are not your thoughts...), Jer 29:11 (...for I know the plans I have for you...)
and
(2) God's Timing is Best. Gal 4:4 (...when the fullness of time...) Psalm 90:4 (...a thousand years in your sight are like a day...)

You have a choice in your attitude. When God gives you a promise you need to activate your faith, trust Him and wait for His time. Hab 2:3 (...though it tarries, wait for it...).

I was looking for a video on God's faithfulness.

Instead I found this professional video of a song called
"I Trust You."

The words are awesome and fit times of confusion
and difficulties in our lives.

I think perhaps these words are for someone today.

A Verse for Today:

Habakkuk 2:4 (NIV)

Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

I haven't been feeling confused but I have been feeling overwhelmed by the work and tasks I need (or feel obligated) to get completed. This morning I prayed for God's help to complete the tasks and peace in the doing of the work. I also prayed for some internet friends who are recovering from heart failure and hospital visits.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Blog Tour: Two Lethal Lies by Annie Solomon - Starts 9/27

Blog Tour starts September 27, 2010 for Two Lethal Lies by Annie Solomon. Ms. Solomon will be doing a Guest Post here on September 29 so please come by to comment and check out my review and ...of course, enter the giveaway!