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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Book Review with eBook Giveaway: In Bed With The Opposition by Stephanie Draven

This is an engaging, easy, sexy, and fun romance.
In Bed With the Opposition
by Stephanie Draven

File Size: 408 KB
Print Length: 165 pages

Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Indulgence) (August 22, 2012)

Language: English
ASIN: B0091GYTRY
Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: August 22, 2012
Armed with a sassy haircut, a sharp wit, and a personal list of rules for all life's exigencies, Grace Santiago has everything under control. At least until Ethan Castle walks back into her life. Grace hasn't forgotten their disastrous affair in law school, but she can't resist his bad boy charm.

When Grace learns that Ethan has been hired by the other side, her loyalties—and her heart—are torn in two. Though their sexual chemistry can't be denied, they find themselves deadlocked. Ethan believes that all is fair in love and war, but he won't give up the fight—not even to win Grace's heart. So what can a good girl like Grace do, but learn to play dirty?


Review:
Grace Santiago has trust issues about men. Her father left when she was a little girl and she was blackmailed by a male student which resulted in her flunking out of law school. On top of those issues, her child, teen, and present ‘crush’, Blain, isn’t responding as favorably to her as she would like.

Now the man with whom she had a wild college fling, Ethan Castle, shows up to upset her well-ordered, controlled with rules life.  The chemistry between them is as hot, if not hotter, than it was in college. She thinks it is in her best interest-politically, career wise and personally-to stay away from him. But he is just too handsome and sexy to resist for long.

Ethan is a successful and confident campaign manager who travels all over the country. He is the sort of man who has no trouble finding women. He has never understood why Grace disappeared from college and refused to answer any of his emails or phone calls. Now that he sees her he not only wants answers, he wants her in his bed.

Ethan isn’t willing to take on the campaign for Grace’s boss, Senator Holliwell. Instead, so he can stay in the area and pursue Grace, he takes on the campaign of an obscure candidate who has one major issue to promote. Grace is reluctant to get involved with the enemy camp but even her Senator approves.

The romance heats up as does the campaign. Building their relationship through the cold, calculated, ruthless world of politics is difficult enough. But can it survive the threat of disclosure of past secrets?

These are very interesting characters with good strengths and some unpleasant traits as well. I was frustrated by Grace’s lack of confidence and her clinging to a young girl’s love interest that clearly didn’t exist for the guy. Fortunately, being with Ethan brings out the strength in Grace to be confident being herself.  Ethan is almost too arrogant at first but Ms. Draven gives him just enough vulnerability to make him likeable after a bit.

The writing flows well in an easy, light read with good pacing. The romantic relationship is sexy and fun without being lewd or uncomfortable in any way.  I liked the plot with the realistic, but unusual, conflicts that the characters face and I enjoyed their final reconciliation. Altogether this is an engaging, easy, fun, sexy romance and I would enjoy reading more books by this author.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ethan falls for Grace:
She was a maddening, kooky, frustrating woman...and he was falling in love with her. Location 1895.
Grace acknowledges her love for Ethan:
In the movies, love was always sudden and certain.  With Ethan it was fits and starts, very emotionally untidy. Could love possibly be this messy, and if so, how was she going to cope?  Location 2122.
I received this from Entangled Publishing for and honest Review.
This is set in Maryland for my Where Are You Reading Challenge. I will also add it to ARC and New Author Challenge lists.

About Stephanie Draven:

Stephanie Draven is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.

Stephanie has always been a storyteller. In elementary school, she channeled Scheherazade, weaving a series of stories to charm children into sitting with her each day at the lunch table. When she was a little older, Stephanie scared all the girls at her sleepovers with ghost stories.
She should have known she was born to hold an audience in her thrall, but Stephanie resisted her writerly urges and graduated from college with a B.A. in Government. Then she went to Law School, where she learned how to convincingly tell the tallest tales of all!

A longtime lover of ancient lore, Stephanie enjoys re-imagining myths for the modern age. She doesn’t believe that true love is ever simple or without struggle so her work tends to explore the sacred within the profane, the light under the loss and the virtue hidden in vice. She counts it amongst her greatest pleasures when, from her books, her readers learn something new about the world or about themselves.

Stephanie also writes historical fiction as Stephanie Dray and has a series of forthcoming novels from Berkley Books featuring Cleopatra’s daughter.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for an eBook Copy:


For 3 Extra Bonus entries Visit the Author's Website and tell me something you find of interest.

* This contest is open WORLDWIDE.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on December 21, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED on December 22, 2012.
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Book Review: First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch

This is a truly superb time travel that makes one ponder possibilities!
First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch
By Samuel Ben White

  • File Size: 618 KB
  • Print Length: 407 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1591094658
  • Publisher: Cottage & CO Press; 1 edition (July 22, 2008)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B001D2Z5LS
Genre: Time Travel
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0


Book Description
Publication Date: July 22, 2008
"What if history didn't happen that way ... the first time?"

Garison Fitch was a scientist and something of a celebrity in the Soviet Americas in the early 21st century until dropping off the map to pursue his theories in the remote La Plata Canyon. Living in a log home he built himself (which was too close to the Empire of Japan (30 miles to the west) and the Republic of Texas (15 miles to the south), Garison began to experiment with interdimensional travel.

An experiment with such travel surprised him when he landed him in 1744. There he discovered a primitive world of somewhat suspicious people, but a freedom he had never experienced before--which may have been most frightening of all. As he was trying to discover how to return to the future, he met and fell in love with Sarah, a beautiful young woman who is an outcast due to the fact that it was never known who her father was. They married and had three children and he decided to stay in the past and raise his children with the woman he loved.

When he tried to rid himself of his time machine by sending it into the future, however, it took him with it. Now, he finds himself back in the twenty-first century where a woman (Heather) he has never met claims to be his wife and the country he grew up in is gone, replaced by something called “The United States of America”. He quickly realizes that something he did in the past has changed the future but he doesn't know what until he stumbles across a strange item in Heather's purse.

Should he live in this new world, or try to travel once more through time and return the world to “normal”? As he becomes convinced he can’t return to Sarah, he’s not really sure if he can live in this new world he created, either.


Review:
The book blurb does a good job of summarizing the story so I won’t repeat that. This is a fascinating story just filled with time travel anomalies and paradox. There is a wonderful portrayal of the differences between Colonial living, with it’s harsh yet simpler times of freedom, and modern life in America with it’s societal laws, regulations and complexities. Added to those two is the contrasting world of communism where Garison was living in Russia America.

The courtship between Garison and Sarah is old-fashioned, sweet and innocent, fitting into the Colonial time frame. The actions of the characters, like playful romance interaction, are completely natural and realistic.

I loved the discussions of faith and accepting belief in God. I especially liked how the story shows that not all of life is within our control...thus we have to rely on faith. The author also explores several  philosophical thoughts of life. I noted that there is so much jammed into this story that made me think. This is excellent entertainment and well worth the read!  I recommend this to anyone and especially those who like time travel paradox stories.


Tour Schedule

Check out the BookBlast giveaway.

Gift Card Giveaway Hop Dec 11 - 17th

Thanks to Kathy at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Mary from Sweeping Me for co-hosting this hop.
This hop will be just in time to help with some last minute holiday shopping!

This years Gift Card Giveaway Hop will run from December 11th to 17th.

My Giveaway: TWO WINNERS will win Winner's choice of Gift Card valued at $15.00.  It can be a gift card to anywhere a reader, blogger or author might enjoy purchasing something... amazon, walmart, target, a restaurant or coffee shop, etc.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Happy Holidays and Happy Hopping!


Monday, December 10, 2012

Book Review and Feature: The Old Man & The Monkey by George Polley

This is a delightful read!
The Old Man and the Monkey
by George Polley  

  • Paperback: 60 pages
  • Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 25, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1451543778
  • ISBN-13: 978-1451543773
Genre: Adventure, Inspirational, Legend
My Rating: 5.0


The Old Man and The Monkey is about a village elder in Japan and the large monkey who became his friend over the last five years of his life. Since the villagers don't like monkeys, none of them approve of the friendship between the old man Genjiro Yamada and Yukitaro ("snow monkey" in Japanese).
But Genjiro refuses to give up the friendship, even when his wife objects to it. After all, monkeys are nuisances and thieves. But over time, both Genjiro’s wife and the villagers come to grudgingly accept him, especially when, on several occasions, they receive a special blessing from him.

'The Old Man & The Monkey' is a stunningly beautiful story of a relationship which develops between an old man and a creature which is regarded as a dangerous pest in Japan, a snow monkey, in George Polley's moving allegory of dignity in the face of prejudice and racism.


Review:
This is such a lovely little story. It is so short that it reads in one sitting. It is sweet, peaceful and charming.  The development of the friendship is the focus of the story. The writing is gentle and I was quickly wrapped into the beauty of the friendship. I like how the tender feelings ripple out beyond the old man when they spread to his wife and children. I also like how the relationship breaks down some of the bigotry and antipathy of the community. The example of the quiet acceptance shows others that they can overcome their fears of those they don’t really know or trust. I recommend this for a quick, sweet read to help remind you how beautiful friendship and companionship can be; how it enriches our lives, at any age.

SEE GIVEAWAY BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WINA COPY - Print and Ebook!

About the Author:
George Polley was born in Santa Barbara, California and raised in Seattle, Washington. He has lived in California (Berkeley and Stockton), Illinois (Cooks Mills  and Villa Grove), Minnesota (Luverne, Marshal and Minneapolis), and from 1984 until early in 2008, in Seattle, when he and his wife moved to Sapporo, Japan so that she could fulfill her dream of returning to the land of her birth.

His work has appeared in the South Dakota Review, Crow's Nest, Expanding Horizons, The Enchanted Self, Community Mental Health Journal, Maturing, The Lyon County (Minnesota) Review  Wine Rings, North Country Anvil, North American Mentor Magazine, the McLean County (Illinois) Poetry Review, River Bottom, Tower Talks and Foundations.

He has also authored several booklets in the mental health field, two of them co-authored with Ana Dvoredsky, M.D. in 2007.

George's e-book 'The Old Man & The Monkey' poses one of the most elegant and powerful arguments against racism of all time, and his 'Grandfather & The Raven' argues equally compellingly against violence in all its forms.
web  blog   twitter amazon.com

Tour Wide Giveaway
5 paperbacks no shipping restrictions and 5 Ebooks
(Ends 12/24)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Sunday, December 9, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? December 9, 2012

This meme starts at Book Journey!

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 four books but only got two reviews posted because of traveling.  I posted two book giveaways and a Bookblast Giveaway. I posted the regular Friday Pick Giveaway, Saturday Snapshot, and Sunday Words.

I didn't get to visit hardly at all last week and will have little internet time again this week as I am on a cruise in Hawaii! So I hope everyone will understand my absence.
Thanks again to all the nice people who visit me, especially when I don't get to visit back.

These were last week's posts:
  • Book Review and Giveaway: Love Endures Forever by Beth Wiseman; Christian Inspirational Romance; my rating 4.75. Ends 12/15.
    Finished Reading:
    1. Print



    Deliver Me From Temptation: A Novel of the Paladin Warriors
    Tes Hilaire
    Fast-paced paranormal romance.
    Review with ARC Giveaway are linked above.




    2. Audio-Theatre



    The Man Who Murdered His Mother-in-Law
    by Steve Hendrickson
    This is very entertaining!  I may not be able to post a review until we return as this week is full of scheduled items.
    Reviewing for Audio-Visceral Productions through Audiobook Jukebox.



    3. eBook/Kindle



    The Old Man & the Monkey
    by George Polley  
    This is beautiful!
    Review to post 12/10 as part of Bewitching Blog tour.



    4. eBook/Kindle



    First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch
    by Samuel Ben White
    This is very interesting!
    Review to post 12/11 as part of BookBlast Tour.

    Book Description
    Publication Date: July 22, 2008
    "What if history didn't happen that way ... the first time?"
    Garison Fitch was one of the most revered scientists in the Soviet Americas until he left fame behind to work on a secret project in his log cabin in the mountains of Marx.
    But something went wrong. Instead of traveling interdimentionally, Garison has traveled through time ... twice.
    Now, he's in something called "The United States of America" and a woman he's never met before is calling herself his wife. It it a hoax? Or, has he somehow changed history?
    If so, can he return the world to what he believes is "normal", or must he live in this strange world he created?



    Line Edits: I am working on formats a bit this week with hopes to release two next week.


    Currently reading:
    1. eBook/Kindle



    In Bed With the Opposition
    by Stephanie Draven
    I am enjoying this fun conflict.
    Review and Giveaway to post  12/12.
    Book Description
    Publication Date: August 22, 2012
    Armed with a sassy haircut, a sharp wit, and a personal list of rules for all life's exigencies, Grace Santiago has everything under control. At least until Ethan Castle walks back into her life. Grace hasn't forgotten their disastrous affair in law school, but she can't resist his bad boy charm.

    When Grace learns that Ethan has been hired by the other side, her loyalties—and her heart—are torn in two. Though their sexual chemistry can't be denied, they find themselves deadlocked. Ethan believes that all is fair in love and war, but he won't give up the fight—not even to win Grace's heart. So what can a good girl like Grace do, but learn to play dirty?



    2. eBook/Kindle

    ALL I WANT Anthology
    THREE STORIES. THREE COUPLES. ONE HOLIDAY.
    All I Want Anthology
    by Jolene Perry, Kaylee Baldwin and Rachael Anderson
    I have to get to this for Review post due 12/14!
    Author Guest Post too.

    Reviewing as part of BookBlast Tour.
    Book Description
    Publication Date: October 14, 2012
    Pretty Near Perfect by Jolene Perry
    The last thing Norah needs is to be attracted to anyone – especially in her deceased fiancé's parents' home. Collin’s starting a new career, and has no business getting involved – especially while staying with his roommate’s family, who very kindly offered to take him in for the holidays. Unfortunately, you just don’t always pick the most convenient time and place to fall for someone.

    Six Days of Christmas by Kaylee Baldwin
    When Natalie goes home with her best friend for Christmas, she expects plenty of quiet time to work on a winning ad so she can turn her dream internship into her dream job. Instead, she gets time-consuming Christmas festivities, a house full of children, and Jimmy, her best friend’s brother - someone who makes her question everything she’s always thought she wanted.

    Twist of Fate by Rachael Anderson
    When a postcard meant for Kenzie winds up in Ty's mailbox, Ty's faced with a decision. Should he tell her that her fiancé is breaking up with her and let it ruin her favorite holiday, or should he do what he’s wanted to do since he met her - make a move and hope that he can win her over before she discovers there won’t be a wedding after all?


    3. Audio MP3


    Colony
    by Scott Reeves
        UNABRIDGED
        by Scott Reeves
        Narrated by Martin Scott
    This went on hold to finish review titles for this week.

    I am about an hour into this.
    There is conflict I am interested to follow.
    Reviewing for the author through Audiobook Jukebox.



    I hope to pick Godspeed: A Love Story up again by the end of the week.


    I am again listening to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean. [Reading and listening on my new MP3.]
    Instead of studying with the Tyndall One Year Bible this year I am studying with Through the Bible in One Year by Alan B. Stringfellow. It is a Study that I used for teaching back in around 1989 so I will enjoy it again. The reading this week is 1 John.

    Line Edits: I have three books that I am completing formats on this week.



    I have 15 books set for December with one done and two nearly completed. I hope to read some extra Christmas titles too.

    Reviews carried forward to post this in December.
    Kamra's Law

    Scheduled for December
    12/10 Review: The Old Man and the Monkey (Bewitching Blog Tours)
    12/11 Review: First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch by Samuel Ben White (BookBlast)
    12/11 Gift Card Giveaway Hop Dec 11-17
    12/12 Review: In Bed With the Opposition by Stephanie Draven (Entangled)
    12/14  Review + Guest Post: All I Want by Rachael Anderson, Jolene Perry & Kaylee Baldwin (BookBlast)
    12/14 End of World Hop Dec 14- 21
    12/18 Review: Christmas Magic by Linda Carroll-Bradd, Lindsay McFarrin, Terri Rochenski
    12/27 BookBlast: Dead Running
    12/29 Blitz and Review: Perfection Unleashed (Bewitching Blog Tours)

    Sourcebooks:

    Hachette
    Double Danger (An A-Tac Novel) by Dee Davis
    Hunk for the Holidays by Katie Lane
    Last Chance Christmas by Hope Ramsay

    Audiobook Jukebox
    Colony by Scott Reeves
    Agenda 21 by Glenn Beck
    (expecting two more soon)

    NetGalley
    Uninvited by Heather Graham - I started it but need to try again.
    Christmas Promises Anthology

    Authors
    The Blessed and the Damned (Righteous Series #4) by Michael Wallace

    I'd like to read at least one "Won"/TBR book and one free Kindle book.:-)
    Older Won Book:  TBD
    Kindle Read - TBD

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