Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Kingdom of Summer by Gillian Bradshaw

I would like to read more by this author.
Kingdom of Summer by Gillian Bradshaw

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (September 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402240724
• ISBN-13: 978-1402240720   

     Genre: Historical Fantasy
     My Rating 4.5 0f 5.0

Product Description:
On the path toward greatness, even a hero makes mistakes.

Armed with his magical sword and otherworldly horse, Gwalchmai proves himself the most feared and faithful warrior of Arthur's noble followers. But while defending the kingdom, he commits a grave offense against the woman he loves, leading her to disappear from his life and haunt his memories.

With his trusted servant, Rhys, a commonsense peasant, Gwalchmai tries to find her in the Kingdom of Summer, where Arthur has sent him. But an unexpected and most malevolent force of evil and darkness is loose-that of his mother, the witch-queen Morgawse-and Gwalchmai finds that the secrets of his past may deny him peace...

In the second book of Gillian Bradshaw's critically acclaimed trilogy, Sir Gawain comes to life as Gwalchmai, startlingly human yet fantastically heroic.

Review: I really enjoyed the tone and compelling story.

This story is told by Rhys, a young farmer in the lands south west of Camlann - known to most of us as Camelot. On a cold winter day a weary and injured stranger arrives with a beautiful warhorse and shining sword.  Rhys soon learns this is Gwalchmai, a famous warrior in King Arthur’s “family.” As Gwalchmai takes a few days to heal he enchants the family with a tale of sorrow and mistake from his youth.  Gwalchmai is traveling the countryside, even in winter, seeking a young noblewoman so that he might ask her forgiveness for the wrongs he committed against her.

Rhys is drawn to what he sees as the nobility and perhaps glamor of serving the great King. He offers to go with Gwalchmai as his servant.  Traveling with the determined warrior is hard going even though Gwalchmai is kind and undemanding. In fact Rhys begins to bargain for their lodgings and supplies when he realizes that Gwalchmai is too distracted by his ponderings to take a care for basics.

After a month or so at Camlann, Arthur sends Gwalchmai north as an emissary to an enemy King. Rhys and another warrior, Rhuawn, travel with him.  They pass through the beautiful lands of the Kingdom of Summer, the otherworldly place where Gwalchmai got his magical and deadly sword.

When they arrive at the enemy fortress Gwalchmai is startled to discover that his father, a weakened leader, his sorceress mother, Morgawse, and his half brother, Medraut, are visiting. Apparently Queen Morgawse is plotting with the enemy, King Maelgwn.  Gwalchmai is civil but it is clear that the relationship with his mother and brother is strained. 

Medraut uses charm and subtle lies to confuse Rhuawn into thinking Gwalchmai is mad. Rhys’ fierce loyalty to Gwalchmai keeps him from falling to Medraut’s deception. Rhys is captured and tortured by the sorceress but escapes with the help of a serving maid he had befriended. He is re-captured and returned to the evil Queen where he witnesses a mystical battle between the Light of Gwalchmai and the Darkness of Morgawse. 

ARC Cover

There is a distinctly “otherworldly” tone to the writing and story. I felt sorrow for Gwalchmai’s tortured character and I liked how Rhys displayed his own nobility and honor through his unshakable loyalty. The story was slightly slow at the beginning but the desire to know what happened compelled me to keep reading. I was sorry when it ended and I hope the third book tells more about these characters. This was fine as a stand alone as I had not read the first book in the trilogy.

A favorite quote - Rhys contemplating the state of the world beyond his home:
"A complicated world, where to act might be to act wrongly, and not to act even worse."

 ~~~~~

I received this book from Sourcebooks for an honest 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.
 1982 Cover

2.  For and extra entry, tell me which cover you like best: the Amazon cover shown at the top of the post, the ARC cover to the right just above or the 1982 cover to the left.

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

4. 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.
(Five total entries possible.)

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

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on September 30, 2011. (This month's book giveaways will all end on the 30th except for Friday Picks, SBB or other special posts.)
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED between October 1 and 3. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review: Love is Blind...And It Don't Pay the Bills Either by Karen Wiesner

Real characters, mystery with suspense and sweet romance are a good combination.

My Rating:  4.25 of 5.0

LOVE IS BLIND...AND IT DON'T PAY THE BILLS EITHER
Book 2 of the Denim Blues Mysteries Trilogy
Inspirational Romantic Mystery (Police Procedural)
by Karen Wiesner
978-1-61160-001-8 (trade paperback); 978-1-61160-000-1 (electronic) Available now from Whiskey Creek Press
Click here for a printable order form
The paperback may be available at a significant discount with this special order form
Download from Fictionwise
Paperback from Amazon.com
Download from Amazon.com

2010 CAPA Award winner (inspirational romance category)!
5 hearts and winner of the Award from The Romance Studio!
2nd Place winner in the Mainstream/Single Title/Romantic Suspense category of the 2010 Lories Best Published contest!

Product Review:

Working with local private investigators Den McHart and Sylvia Price, Briar's Point Police Department Detective Orlando Bateman solves a missing person case. Keeya Nilsen, visually impaired from the plane crash that took her parents' lives, comes to him and has a justifiably bad attitude about love, since all the men she's ever loved have cheated on her and robbed her...including the last one, who absconded with her most prized possession - her grandfather's unpublished Blues compositions - when he flew the coop. As together they search for her last boyfriend and her missing legacy, Orlando reminds Keeya of the faith she'd had before the plane crash that changed her life and makes her see love as God intends.

Review: This is a lovely story of renewal of faith and virtue and the sorrow of bitterness.

Detective Orlando Bateman is more than happy to stay busy investigating cases especially to help him forget the lose of the woman he has loved for so many years.  Sylvia (see Retired and on the Rocks (Denim Blues Mysteries, Book 1) cherishes Orlando as a friend but she is soon to marry Den.  We discover as the book proceeds that Orlando has not dated as he believes that intimacy should only take place in marriage.

Orlando meets Keeya when Den brings her into the station to report the theft of money, credit cards and, more importantly, her grandfather’s unpublished music compositions. Orlando is a big Blues fans and recognizes Keeya’s grandfather’s name and music. He is immediately drawn to Keeya’s beauty even as he is mindful of her visual difficulties.

Keeya lost her full sight when she was injured in the plane crash that killed her parents. She lived with her grandfather and another crash victim, Blair.  Blair suffered severe damage to her face and in spite of reconstructive surgery her face is still disfigured. Blair has taken care of Keeya for years, being her eyes and helping to guide her. Keeya was betrayed by her first husband and a second boyfriend too. Now she has to report to the police that her latest boyfriend has stolen from her.  She is embarrassed and ashamed that she has made very bad choices with men.

Orlando and Keeya draw close as they search the clues and confront the thief.  They share their pasts and Orlando helps Keeya to see that God did not abandon her but she has stepped away from Him and His loving guidance.

The mystery includes some red herrings in suspects and some evil that Keeya didn’t recognize. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense as well as learning more about the visually impaired. I especially liked the message that the freedom that God gives comes with consequences for the choices we make. I enjoy this author who writes wonderfully real characters and life-like stories. I’ll be reading the third book in this series, Souls on (B)oring Street [Denim Blues Mysteries Book 3], soon.

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Midnight on Julia Street by Ciji Ware

This is a good story with lots of interesting historical details.

Midnight on Julia Street by Ciji Ware

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark; Reprint edition (August 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402222726
• ISBN-13: 978-1402222726

    Genre:  Time Travel, Historical Fiction
    My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Product Description:
This “stand-alone” prequel to A Light on the VerandaA Light on the Veranda is a romantic novel of intrigue and suspense set in modern-day New Orleans with echoes of nineteenth century Louisiana, when Cotton was King.  Corlis McCullough, a take-no-prisoners TV journalist, late of Los Angeles, and her former UCLA nemesis, King Duvallon, an historic preservationist with deep roots in the Crescent City, are an unlikely pair to join forces to save a beautiful Greek Revival building with origins linked mysteriously to those of their own ancestors during the Golden Age in the Big Easy   Both must grapple with the unlikely concept of “genetic memory,” a force that appears to be intruding on their lives and thwarting any chance for ultimate happiness.

Review: There is a wealth of history mingled with a good contemporary romance.

Corlis is a truth reporting journalist.  She has come to New Orleans after losing her position in Los Angeles for exposing too much in her reporting.  She is about to report a big society wedding but ends up reporting the couple’s devastating break up instead. While at the wedding she runs into her college nemesis, King Duvallon.

King is an historic preservationist activist who isn’t afraid to step out for his cause even though it might endanger his bid for tenure as a history professor. He is intrigued to find Corlis reporting in his city. When Corlis once again loses her job King helps her get another position with a station that isn’t afraid to report the truth.

King and Corlis have a rough history but that doesn’t stop the attraction and chemistry between them. Corlis has to keep in mind that he is a news source and she wants to keep her journalistic integrity.  King doesn’t always understand Corlis’ position and their relationship is a struggle while he is battling the greedy developer who wants to tear down some historic buildings to build a modern hotel.

Meanwhile Corlis is getting some real historic data on the block of buildings from an unusual research source. She is being transported back in time to her name sake’s historic events in the 1840s.  On different visits she sees a Southern society wedding, a quadroon mistress, a funeral, a plantation ball and other settings that are described with wonderful detail.  Although the trances are frightening, they are also fascinating. Can she find documentary proof to support her visions and reveal the important historical background of the buildings?

My undergrad work was in journalism so I liked that the heroine is a strong investigative reporter who insists on reporting the facts and the truth. I also enjoyed the rich historical descriptions, and some surprising details, of the buildings and society that encompass the entwined lives of the whites and blacks in New Orleans.

I really like time travel stories and I liked the trigger that the author uses in this story. There is also a character who helps Corlis to cleanse her home from built up energy of past lives. That was new to me and I found it to be an interesting concept.

The writing flowed well although I felt there were some minor editing errors which hopefully were caught before the final release. The romance is warm and lovely as just one aspect of the overall story.  The book is on the long side but the richness in detail made this okay for me.  If you enjoy historical fiction, especially history of New Orleans, I recommend this as an enjoyable read.

 ~~~~~

I received this book from Sourcebooks for an honest 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. Maybe tell me which cover you like best of her books or which one you would most like to read.

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 September 30, 2011. (This month's book giveaways will all end on the 30th except for Friday Picks, SBB or other special posts.)
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED between October 1 and 3. Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

The Last Rising Release Day Blitz and Twitter Party

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Author Isobel Carr on Blog Talk Radio September 7, 2011

Mark Your Calendars!

ISOBEL CARR's live discussion on BlogTalkRadio

Wednesday Sept. 7th at 1pm ET.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hachettebookgroupfeatures/2011/09/07/l...

Please join Hachette Forever for a live discussion with Forever's first erotic historical author, ISOBEL CARR. She'll discuss RIPE FOR SCANDAL, the second book in her super-sexy series: The League of Second Sons. They'll also delve into the ever-popular topic of fashion and her expertise in historical clothing. 

The Wall Street Journal article, How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance, features Isobel: "Isobel Carr, a historical re-enactor who writes Georgian romance novels, has given a dozen demonstrations for romance writers in the past six years. Her "underwear through the ages" seminar covers the Tudor, Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras."

Whether you're a romance book lover or a fashionista, you won't want to miss this interview!

Call-in or join the live chat to ask Isobel questions. Feel free to email brianne.beersAThbgusa.com if you'd like me to include questions for Isobel in our discussion.