MBS 2013 Dreaming of Book Giveaway Hop January 18-24, 2013

WELCOME TO THE
3rd Annual Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop
January 18th to 24th

This hop was organized by the fabulous Kathy at I Am A Reader Not A Writer and I am pleased to be the co-host again this year!

The hop runs from Friday, January 18th through Thursday, January 24th.

Again - My Giveaway is for ANYONE who can get books from Amazon, Indie Presses, OR Book Depository. OR if Book Depository doesn't ship to you then I will do a PayPal or other gift card for that winner.  So hopefully this really does include EVERYONE.

There will be two winners: 
2 Winners get a Book or two from their own "DREAM LIST" Up to $15.00 Value towards books at The Book Depository or Books from a vendor of the winner's choice.

PLUS Each Winner will get a dream catcher or choice of bookmark or goodie from this collection from our 2010 visit to the Grand Canyon:

The only limitation on this is the magnet group in the middle can only be selected by a US winner as it is heavier to mail than the other items.  First selected Winner gets 1st pick then second winner.

Since books can be ordered from Book Depository with no shipping, I am applying the same rule at Amazon, B&N or other vendors so the winner must plan the choices to include shipping. The books can be any format: ebook, hardback, paperback or even audio for a total value of $15.00.

Rule #1 - You must be a follower of my blog in some form.
Rule #2 - ENTER USING THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM!
Giveaway closes 12:01 AM Eastern on January 25.  Winners to be chosen through the Rafflecopter system.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE A DREAMY TIME HOPPING!

Book Review and Giveaway: The Perfect Match by Janice Hanna

This is a humorous, light, easy read with some nice ‘life’ lessons.
And aren't you just drawn in by the puppy image?
The Perfect Match (Hometown Mysteries)
by Janice Hanna

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc. (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 160260262X

Gerne: Christian, Cozy Mystery
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description;
Publication Date: March 1, 2011 | Series: Hometown Mysteries
Join Annie Peterson as she follows the clues to discover who set fire to the local dating service, the Perfect Match. Is the arsonist the financially strapped widow who owns the matchmaking business, a mismatched newspaper editor, an unsatisfied and unmarried forty-something customer, or the new female investigator who, except for her suspicious past, seems the ideal mate for Annie’s son Devin? The race is on—to see whether or not Annie and her cohorts can solve the crime before another building is burned to the ground and before Devin becomes enamored of the woman who may be Ms. Wrong.

Review:
Annie Peterson is an amateur detective who is ready to investigate a fire that burned down The Perfect Match, a dating service business owned by Opal Lovelace. Opal, an elderly woman of 83, has no family and no where to go. Annie invites Opal to stay at her house so Opal and her nasty tabby cat, Don Quixote, move in and take over the bedroom left empty when their son Devin recently moved out.

Annie and Warren’s two miniature dachshunds try to be friendly but Don Quixote is too cantankerous. And speaking of cantankerous - Opal is bitter, demanding and opinionated, even complaining about the food Annie serves. Annie is wondering if she made a mistake inviting the woman and she is praying for patience...or deliverance. There is more concern after a candle is knocked over in Opal’s bedroom causing a small fire. Annie also begins to notice strange mood changes and forgetfulness exhibited by Opal.

The official fire investigators are reviewing the evidence but Annie comes up with some good clues. The problem is she has several suspects and nothing to pin down the arsonist. Opal might have burned the building for the insurance, especially since it needed renovations. There is a couple matched by Opal who are having marital problems but would the husband really torch her business for that? Then there is a disgruntled woman who demanded a refund because Opal couldn’t find her a suitable match. But the most difficult suspect is the town’s new police deputy with whom Annie’s son Devin has become smitten.

While mulling over the suspect list and the few clues, Annie is busy pulling together the details for her good friend’s wedding. But the bridal couple are experiencing last minute family interference from the groom’s brother who wants his older brother to move back to Greece, not marry a local American.

Can Annie find the right words to help Opal trust God with her problems? Can she salvage the wedding before her friend suffers a broken heart? Can she sort through the smoking clues to expose the true fire bug? Can she do all these things before the menagerie drives her husband away from home?

I really enjoyed the light, easy style of writing. This reads very quickly with plenty of smiles and chuckles. I liked the fire inspired chapter headings, like “Burn, Baby, Burn” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” I especially liked how Annie’s faith plays a day to day part of the story as she seeks the Lord’s wisdom and looks to Him for guidance. The characters are on the quirky side and the mystery has enough clues to make it interesting even though it wasn’t too hard to determine the culprit. I will remember the humor and bright attitude Ms. Hanna brings to the work as I would be glad to read more.  This is a good choice for readers who enjoy Christian fiction, cozy mysteries and are ready for a light read.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Annie’s good attitude is shown in her prayers:

Lord, You know better than any of us what Opal needs. Meet her where she is, Father. And help me be the kind of friend she needs—no more and no less.  Page 106.

I read this for Ladies Book Club meeting this Saturday.

This story is set in Clarksborough, PA for 2013 Where Are You Reading. This is also a New Author for me.
I have a couple extra copies to giveaway. I often buy the Ladies' Book Club titles from the Bargain selections at Christianbookstore.com.  This one is now even less ($1.49) than when I purchased it!
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for PRINT COPY - Two Winners:

ENTRY FORM HERE

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

* This contest is open INTERNATIONALLY.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on January 25, 2013.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on January 26, 2013.
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Audio Book Review: Cat Bearing Gifts by Shirley Rousseau

This a nice cozy mystery - good for mystery lovers and purrrrfect for cat lovers.

Cat Bearing Gifts: A Joe Grey Mystery, Book 18
by Shirley Rousseau Murphy (Author), 
Susan Boyce (Narrator)

• Audible Audio Edition
• Listening Length: 8 hours and 51 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: AudioGO
• Audible.com Release Date: November 20, 2012

Genre: Cozy Mystery
My Rating 4.0 of 5.0

A car crash, a missing treasure, a dead thief, and a suspicious blond divorcée have feline P.I. Joe Grey and his four-legged cohorts clawing for justice in this lively new entry in the beloved, award-winning series.
Kate Osborne, a divorcée, reappears with a fortune and a strange story about how she obtained it. Meanwhile, a terrible car crash involves tortoiseshell Kit and her elderly housemates, Lucinda and Pedric Greenlaw. The accident is terrifying enough, but then two mysterious men steal the car - and the secret treasure hidden inside its doors. When one of the thieves ends up dead, Joe must discover if the events are connected - and why. With the investigation in trouble, will they find the killer...or be left chasing their tails?

Review:
Kit, a small tortoiseshell cat, is one of five feline friends living with their people in Molina Point, CA. Her humans are Pedric and Lucinda Greenwald who have been given a small fortune by their friend, Kate. The Greenwalds and Kit are returning from San Francisco in a fairly new Lincoln town car with the treasure hidden in the door panels.  An accident occurs with a rock slide when a tracker trailer and pick-up truck jostle down the cliff road and bump them into the rocks.

The two men in the pick-up, Vic and Birely, are drifters and low level thieves.  They attack the elderly couple and steal the car. Birely happens to have a connection to the property of another of the cats’ human friends, Emmy Lou.  Vic and Birely have been secretly camping out in a stone building behind the house that Emmy Lou inherited from Birely’s murdered sister. Birely felt deprived of his inheritance and he is sure there is money hidden on the property.

Other friends are pulled in to rescue Kit and the Greenwalds. The cats are angry at the injuries suffered by Pedric and Lucinda and soon they are suspicious of the behavior of the men sneaking around Emmy Lou’s house. It is fun to listen as the cats are smuggled into the hospitals. The cats have all the pieces of the puzzle if only they can get the information together and to their humans to take action.

The story is told in third person, often from the view of the cats with many first person cat thoughts interspersed, creating a fun perspective. The reader/listener also gets to follow the thoughts and actions of criminals so we know what is going on and are waiting for the cats and humans to catch the bad guys before worse things happen. Since the author reveals the actions of the criminals as the story proceeds this is not so much a mystery to solve but for the reader to watch it being solved.  Joe Grey, the apparent star of the series, only plays a small role in solving this mystery.

I enjoyed the coincidences that tied all the characters together. I had a little trouble at first sorting out the cats and their connections but once I outlined them it was easy to follow the group of friends -- human and feline. There is also a relationship upheaval  between Kit and her true love, the red tom cat, Pan, that adds to the story. I enjoyed the mystery and the interactions.  I would listen to more from the series if I find time. This one works out fine as a stand alone.

Audio notes: I enjoyed the easy narration style. It fit well with the cozy genre of the story. It was fun to share the different cat and human attributes through their voices. I think the audio enhanced the story for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is an example of cute humor from one of the cats.

He was sure she thought the old place was as empty as a clean-licked tuna can.  Disc 7.

I received this to review for AudioGo through AudioBook Jukebox.

This story is set in California for 2013 Where Are You Reading. This is also a new author for me.

MBS January 2013 No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop

WELCOME TO MBS NO STRINGS ATTACHED GIVEAWAY HOP!
This hop is hosted by the fabulous Kathy at I Am A Reader Not A Writer.
The hop runs from January 15th through 21st.

This hop is for all the people who hate jumping through hoops to enter giveaways.
Most of my giveaways have some type of entry requirement. This one is an easy peasy entry!
The only requirement to enter is to leave your name and a way to contact you if you win. No extras permitted so all entries are equal!

Once again I see this giveaway as a THANK YOU to all of you who visit and support my blog and the publishers and authors who share their books through my reviews.  Thanks for visiting!!

My Giveaway is for ANYONE who can get books from Amazon, Indie Presses, OR Book Depository. OR if Book Depository doesn't ship to you then I will do a PayPal or other gift card for that winner.  So hopefully this really does include EVERYONE.

There will be two winners who can pick their choice of two prizes: 
Prize #1 $15.00 towards books at The Book Depository or Books from a vendor of the winner's choice.

Prize #2 Winner may choose any book of their choice from my 2012 reading list (218 books!). Value not to exceed $20.00. (This is to recognize support for the publishers and authors who contribute to MBS reading.) Choice to be made upon announcement of winner.

Since books can be ordered from Book Depository with no shipping, the same rule applies at Amazon, B&N or other vendors so the winner must plan the choice(s) to include shipping. The books can be any format: ebook, hardback, paperback or even audio for a total value of #1 choice $15.00 or #2 book from my list choice $20.00.

EASY ENTRY! JUST ENTER USING THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM!
Giveaway ends Midnight Eastern on January 21st.  Winners to be chosen through the Rafflecopter system.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Then hop along to enter more NO STRINGS GIVEAWAYS AT THESE FRIENDLY BLOGS:

Book Review and Giveaway: The Publicist by Christina George

This is well written and engaging but more romance than I expected.
The Publicist
by Christina George

• File Size: 362 KB
• Print Length: 227 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1478247525
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 3, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: December 3, 2012
Can one woman change an age-old institution like publishing? Probably not, but Kate Mitchell sure wants to try. As a publicist with a large, respected New York publishing house, Kate finds herself at the mercy of a broken publishing system, books that don’t sell, and author egos that are often, well, as big as the island of Manhattan.

Enter the star editor, MacDermott Ellis: Tall, handsome, charismatic, married, and ready to save the day. Then there’s Allan Lavigne, once a revered author—now as forgotten as last year’s bestsellers and his nephew Nick: Tall, gorgeous, sweet, single, and ready to sweep Kate off her feet. Kate wants to do the right thing but her hormones seem to be driving her decisions.

As Kate tries to navigate the landmine of publicity, over-the-top author expectations, and the careful dance of “I’m sorry, your book isn’t on the bestseller list this week,” she also finds authors who are painfully overlooked by a publisher wanting more sex, more celebrities, and more scandal.

Welcome to the world of publishing. The ego has landed.

Review:
Kate Mitchell has the dubious pleasure of being a publicist with a respected New York publisher. This includes launching some marvelous books as well as promoting and boosting some authors who are riding on prior successes. Some clients are lovely but many are demanding and unreasonable. Her job has become more challenging as the print industry has to compete with the rise of electronic publishing.

Kate hasn’t had much time for dating especially since no one has really caught her interest. There is her work associate, Mark, who is handsome and charismatic but also married. His marriage has been estranged for many years but he has maintained the relationship and honors family time so he can be with his sons as they have matured. Mark is accustomed to being with attractive women who understand that his commitment is limited. He has been interested in Kate and is glad to step in to rescue her at a last minute book event emergency. Their time together increases until Kate succumbs and they begin an intense relationship. Kate is enthralled with Mark even though she realizes their being together limits her future.

Then Kate meets Nick, the nephew of one of her favorite authors, Allan. Allan had a spectacular debut novel but has never produced a second book to the frustration of the Publisher. Finally the publisher finds a way to cancel the contract they had signed years before. Nick is immediately taken with Kate and clearly wants to see more of her even though he will be returning to California.

Kate struggles to choose between two handsome men, one who is distant by geography and the other who is distant by his own rules. Her life becomes more interesting when she inherits an unpublished manuscript that will clearly be a best seller.

This story is well written and interesting with complex characters and conflicts.  I was caught up in the story even though it did not proceed as I expected. I was hoping, based on the blurb, for more detail on the struggles of the publicist but the plot is more the romance conflicts. I don't like adultery and wasn’t inclined to like Mark. Ms. George does a good job of making him more likeable than just a cheating womanizer.  It appears that he uses his marital situation to avoid emotional commitment in any relationship but Kate has touched his life unexpectedly.

The book ends with lots of open questions that can only be answered by reading the sequel. What will Kate do with the manuscript and which man will she choose?

This is a story for those who like conflicted romance plus it has the bonus interest of being set in the publishing industry. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misconceptions on the job of a publicist:

Most people think that being a publicist means a series of exciting parties, rubbing elbows with celebrities, and trips to exotic places to promote whatever book they were working on. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Locations 126.

Kate asks Mac:

“I mean don’t you want ....A whole relationship instead of pieces of a life stolen here and there?” Location 1225.

Kate recognizes the limits of Mac’s love for her:

Only it wasn’t love. It was something else that masqueraded as love but came with an expiration date.  Location 1621.

I received this title from the Author for an honest review.

This book is set in New York for my 2013 Where Are You Reading list. This is also a New Author.

Thank you to Ms. George for offering books for Giveaway: 

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for PRINT COPY to US and eBook to Canada/International.

ENTRY FORM HERE

For 3 Extra Bonus entries comment on the review or Visit the Author's website and leave a comment telling something you find of interest.

 * This contest is open US -Print OR INTERNATIONAL - eBook.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on January 25, 2013.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on January 26, 2013.
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.