Final 2011 FLASH GIVAWAY!

I promised one more FLASH GIVEAWAY before the end of the year so here it is!

UPDATE regarding the Facebook link which several people have noted isn't working properly. I guess I am not sure how to capture the right link for my facebook page. You can click on the box midway down on my right sidebar, here is the networked blog link:  
http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog/reviews_by_marthas_bookshelf  
where you can follow or look up Martha Eskuchen.  I hope that will get you there. If you still can't Like the FB link then follow the network blog and let me know in the comments so I can count credit.

My ARC box still overflows so I am going to have TWO more Winners for ARC books.
The giveaway is for ANY book on my Review and ARC giveaway list!
US or Canada winner - get book choice.
International winner gets $10.00 GC or book of $10.00 value from the Book Depository.

TO ENTER:

•  Check out the available books, make a choice and enter through the Rafflecopter!

This is the first Rafflecopter I set up on my own so I hope it works properly! :-) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Open Worldwide. Opens 12:01 am EST on December 29 and closes 12:01 am EST January 1, 2012
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Book Review of Souls on (B)oring Street [Denim Blues Mysteries Book 3]

This mystery story includes warm characters, realistic scenarios and interesting life issues.

Souls on (B)oring Street [Denim Blues Mysteries Book 3]  

by Karen Wiesner 

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 483 KB
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press LLC (June 15, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0058OCJZC

    Genre:  Inspirational Romance, Mystery
    My Rating:  4.0 of 5.0

 

Product Description
Erin Shanley, a hospice nurse, turns amateur sleuth when she realizes that some of her patients are being swindled out of their life savings by the new “psychic” fortunetellers in Briar’s Point. She confides in her neighbor, Detective Tyler Shaw, whom she grew up alongside and considers her best friend.

Tough guy Ty has been in love with Erin since their disastrous first attempt at a romantic relationship when they were teenagers. Erin has been skittish about love since she discovered her father was cheating on her mother—and Ty is so much like her father. How can she risk loving a reckless, restless adventurer when her mother’s loyalty to a man like that brought her so much pain? But when Erin’s bumbling sleuthing attempts arouse someone’s wrath, she realizes her heart isn’t the only thing in danger.

Review:

Erin is a caring, nurturing person both at home and in her work. She is a homemaker who cans fruits and vegetables from her own garden, cooks wonderful meals and stays close to home with her two younger sisters. At work she is a warm compassionate hospice nurse.

Erin and her neighbor, Ty, were sweethearts in high school. But she felt betrayed because Ty and his family knew of her father’s infidelities but they didn’t tell Erin or her mother. Erin hasn’t forgiven her father and doesn’t trust any man, including Ty.

Ty grew up with restless parents who were eager to go off to the woods to hunt. Ty does enjoy hunting but he loves to be home and views Erin as the perfect homemaker.  Although Ty made a mistake getting involved with the wrong woman when in his early twenties, he has since realized that the only woman he wants is Erin.  He is a steady and reliable police detective and a good neighbor who helps Erin and her sisters whenever he can.  He wants to do whatever is necessary to prove to Erin that he is not like her father.

Erin allows her life to be controlled, almost consumed, by worry and fear. She is distressed when a couple move into a vacant house on the block and put out a sign that they are spiritualists and fortunetellers.  One of Erin’s patients thinks that her jewelry has been stolen. When Erin and Ty discuss the investigation they realize that the spiritualists are visiting the elderly patients and getting them to sign over assets.

I really liked Ty’s strong and reliable character.  I also liked Erin’s warm personality but her worry and distrust were too much. The book is full of interesting discussions. There are arguments on the pros and cons of recreational hunting, the pros and cons of celebrating Halloween and how to react to spiritualists. Also the story reveals difficulties in proving criminal cases of coercion.

Unfortunately I feel that the first part is bogged down with repetition of Erin’s distrust and worry. This became frustrating for me.  I think the story would have been improved by shortening that portion and still could get across the valid point that worry can cause us to live in cocoons instead of living a full life. Once the story moved into the mystery it was on more solid footing, was very engaging and moved quickly. I appreciate Ms. Wiesner’s smoothly descriptive writing that reveals realistic characters in real life mystery scenarios.  I also enjoy the faith based messages that are not preached but are woven into the story.

I liked that the characters from Retired and on the Rocks and Love is Blind...And It Don't Pay the Bills Either, books 1 and 2 in the Denim Blues series, were included in this story. This was a nice addition to the series but I would recommend reading them in order.

Find more wonderful and award winning books at Karen's Website.

Book Review and Giveaway: Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron

This is a solid, entertaining, mystery read.
Three Day Town
by Margaret Maron

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (November 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446555789
• ISBN-13: 978-0446555784

    Genre: Mystery
    My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

 

Book Description

Series: Deborah Knott Mysteries | Publication Date: November 21, 2011

Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant are on a train to New York, finally on a honeymoon after a year of marriage. January in New York might not be the perfect time to visit, but they'll take it. The trip is a Christmas present from Dwight's sister-in-law, who arranged for them to stay in an Upper West Side apartment for one week. While in New York, Deborah has been asked to deliver a package to Lt. Sigrid Harald of the NYPD. Sigrid offers to swing by the apartment to pick up the box, but when they reach the apartment, they discover that it is missing and the doorman has been murdered. Despite their best efforts to enjoy a blissful getaway, Deborah and Dwight soon find that they've teamed up with Sigrid and her team to catch the killer before he strikes again.

Review:
Deborah Knott and her “new” husband, Dwight Bryant, are a Judge and Deputy Sheriff, respectively, from North Carolina.  They head to New York for a January honeymoon, carrying with them a package to deliver for a distant relative.  They soon meet up with some artsy and theatrical people in the apartment building where they are staying as guests. They are invited across the hall to a party and during the event they discover the very scandalous package has been taken from their unit.  And unfortunately something else has been left behind.

I liked the main characters, Deborah, Dwight and Lt. Sigrid Harald.  They each have strengths and weaknesses that reflect realism. Deborah might have been the most surprising to me as she seems pretty laid back for a Judge, even for a Southerner. But I am glad she wasn’t an arrogant character as she wouldn’t have been as enjoyable.

Sigrid is the most aloof of the main characters but she has to maintain a certain persona to maintain authority and respect.  She is brusque and efficient. There didn't seem to be a great report between Sigrid and Dwight but that doesn't seem unusual since this wasn't Dwight's jurisdiction. Other characters and suspects are quirky and/or fit as interesting additions to the layout of the story.

I liked how the clues and suspects developed with each day bringing a little more information and another suspect to consider.  Things were going really well until Deborah did what no self-respecting law enforcement officer (or protagonist) should do... she goes out alone... without her phone... and without waking her husband. WHAT! We all know you don’t go check on a noise or go to the basement alone when two bodies have been found, one person is missing and there is a murderer on the loose! Something bad will happen... and of course it does.

Other than that obvious “don’t go there” moment the mystery had a very easy and enjoyable flow. Deborah helps her nephew back home with his own little mystery through email and phone contact that adds to the action of the story. There is a light, maybe not so subtle, humor. For example - I got a kick out of this passage (p 36.):

Elliott Buntrock crossed the room in long strides and tried to close it [open French doors].
“Somehing’s caught in the hinge,” he said and pulled the door toward him to see what it was.
A shoe.
With a foot in it.
Connected to the leg of someone slumped against the railing of the icy marble balcony.

This is the first time I have read this author and I am sure I would enjoy more mysteries from this series.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing division of Hachette for this book to read and review.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the ARC Copy:
1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there.  This is required for entry.

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

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

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

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on January 6, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on January 7. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Carrie Goes Off the Map by Phillipa Ashley

This is a fun and easy read.

Carrie Goes Off the Map
by Phillipa Ashley

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark; Reprint edition (December 1, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1402241453

ISBN-13: 978-1402241451

     Genre: Contemporary Romance

     My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0
 

Book Description
Publication Date: December 1, 2011
"Wonderfully romantic and funny... fulfills all the best fantasies, including a gorgeous, humanitarian hero and a camper van!"
-Katie Fforde, UK Best Selling Author of Love Letters

Carrie lets her best friend talk her into a scenic European road trip as the perfect getaway from a nasty breakup. Unexpectedly along for the ride is the gorgeous Matt Landor, MD, who sorely tests Carrie's determination to give up men altogether. Careening through the English countryside, these two mismatched but perfectly attuned lonely hearts find themselves in hot pursuit of adventure and in entirely uncharted territory.

Review:

Carrie is a vibrant and likeable character. She has lived with her boyfriend, Huw, for ten years, since they became sweethearts in college.  She gave up her own career dreams to help him on his family farm.  She becomes understandably depressed when Huw tells her a few days before their wedding that he doesn’t want to marry her.  She is still trying to recover four months later when she accidently learns he is marrying his accountant. That sends her off on “crazy” mode!  She rushes off to the wedding with the intent to make a scene.

Matt is a handsome, single doctor who has dedicated his efforts working in a medical clinic in the jungles of Tuman. He hasn't made any plans on settling down and enjoys carefree, no-strings, relationships. He happens to be home in Oxford for a forced leave and is serving as an usher for his old college friend, Huw. He sees Carrie at not such a good moment and tries to keep her from really making a fool of herself.

Carrie and her best friend Rowena decide to get away by taking a European tour in a 1967 VW Splitter Van nicknamed Dolly.  At the last minute Rowena gets a job offer and Matt gets substituted as the trip companion. Carrie objects but doesn’t want to give up the trip.

Matt and Carrie spend time with other friends as they try to deny any attraction between them.  It takes a while before they acknowledge and act on that attraction. Carrie has some issues of trust to overcome before she can accept that there might be a relationship for her with someone like Matt.

There is a lot of British humor in this story. I really enjoyed the VW camper van and the various sites visited along the way. I don't really think about beaches and surfing as part of England but obviously they are. The author has a light touch to her writing yet manages to express painful and confused emotions. There is also open use of weed and a bit of casual sex, more so for Matt than Carrie. As long as you don’t let these issues bother you the characters and story are fun and the read is light and easy.

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

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the ARC Copy:
1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there.  This is required for entry.

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

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

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

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on January 6, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on January 7. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Recognizing WHY We Celebrate

While we celebrate with joy the birth of Jesus, it is important to recognize Why it is so important.
It may not be easy to understand God's plan, but I give thanks that Jesus was ... Born to Die.