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.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? December 26, 2011

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.

This was another good reading week and with the extra day off I finished one additional Audible book for a total of five books read.  I posted three reviews - just didn't get that fourth one up.  I posted  two ARC giveaways and one giveaway Hop.  As always I posted my regular Friday Pick Giveaway and Saturday Sharing Beyond Books but instead of the Sunday post I had several Christmas posts. 

I did get to visit about ten blogs last Sunday but I never got to go back later in the week for more visiting.
These were last week's posts plus Winner posts not listed.

• It's Monday What are You Reading? December 19, 2011.

• Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Demons Like it Hot by Sidney Ayers. Paranormal Romantic;  my Rating 3.75. Ends 12/30

• Book Review and ARC Giveaway:  Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson. Mystery; my Rating 4.5.  Ends 12/30.

• Mid-Winter's Eve Giveaway Hop. Ends 12/27.

• Book Review Holiday Kisses Anthology.  Contemporary Romance Anthology; my Rating 4.0. 

•  Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway December 23, 2011.  Open Worldwide. Ends 12/29.

• Sharing Beyond Books #28 Comment Giveaway.  Open Worldwide. Ends 12/30.

•  Thinking of One Special Holy Night.

•  Christmas Prayer.

•  Remembering WHO We Celebrate.

Finished Reading:

1. Audible

 

Divergent
by Veronica Roth

Wonderful dystopia story.

Read for TBR.

2. Print
 

Three Day Town

by Margaret Maron

Nice mystery.
Review to be posted this week.

Read for Grand Central Publishing.

3. Print (Kindle)
 

Carrie Goes Off the Map
by Phillipa Ashley

This is a fun read.

Read for Sourcebooks.

Review to be posted this week.
 

4. Audible
 

Perfect Shadow: A Night Angel Novella

• UNABRIDGED
• by Brent Weeks
• Narrated by James Langton

I decided to listen to this novella as the Trilogy has good ratings and I thought I might like to get it on sale. From My own TBR. In case I don't review - I'll rate it 4.0.

Publisher's Summary

Discover the origins of Durzo Blint in this original novella set in the world of Brent Weeks' New York Times best-selling Night Angel trilogy.

"I got a bit of prophecy," the old assassin said. "Not enough to be useful, you know. Just glimpses. My wife dead, things like that to keep me up late at night. I had this vision that I was going to be killed by forty men, all at once. But now that you're here, I see they're all you. Durzo Blint."

Durzo Blint? Gaelan had never even heard the name.

Gaelan Starfire is a farmer, happy to be a husband and a father; a careful, quiet, simple man. He's also an immortal, peerless in the arts of war. Over the centuries, he's worn many faces to hide his gift, but he is a man ill-fitted for obscurity, and all too often, he's become a hero, his very names passing into legend: Acaelus Thorne, Yric the Black, Hrothan Steelbender, Tal Drakkan, Rebus Nimble.

But when Gaelan must take a job hunting down the world's finest assassins for the beautiful courtesan - and crimelord - Gwinvere Kirena, what he finds may destroy everything he's ever believed in. 

5. Audible
 

Holiday in Death: In Death, Book 7

• UNABRIDGED
• by J. D. Robb
• Narrated by Susan Ericksen 

 I had time to fit in another Audible and 

this turned out to be a serial Santa set at Christmas.

From my own TBR.

Publisher's Summary

No one likes to be alone during the holidays. For New York's most posh dating service, Personally Yours, it is the season to bring lonely hearts together. But Lt. Eve Dallas, on the trail of a ritualistic serial killer, has made a disturbing discovery: all of the victims have been traced to Personally Yours. Eve soon enters an elite world of people searching for their one true love - and one killer searching for his next victim.

Line Edits/Releases: 

I uploaded the Christmas Novella release: Christmas Wish by Joy Brooks.

Katie Holston, raised in foster homes, wants nothing more than a family to call her own. She meets the man of her dreams in Ian Stokely. Being his five year old son’s teacher, she is in a position to make her dreams come true. Kyle Stokely confides in Katie his greatest wish for Christmas. He wants his widowed father to be happy again. Ian Stokely has a different view than Katie Holston and his son, Kyle. He wishes to be left alone. Can Katie and Kyle convince Ian to live life fully again?
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 67, Novella

Currently reading:

1. Audio
  

The Snow Angel

by Glenn Beck

I am enjoying this in the car.

On Disc 4 of 6.

Reading for Simon & Shuster 
and Audiobook Jukebox

Book Description
Publication Date: October 25, 2011
A heartwarming novel from Glenn Beck, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Sweater and phenomenally popular radio and television host.

Rachel Price’s one happy memory from her childhood is of playing outside with her father, Mitch, on a cold and snowy day. In that moment he took her hands in his and called her his angel. She felt safe, loved, and protected. Rachel’s mother dies in a car crash a few years later—a sudden and unresolved ending to a complicated relationship. Mitch’s reaction to certain realities surrounding the death pushes Rachel away and confirms her fear that Mitch never truly loved her at all.

Years later, Rachel’s daughter, Lily, is the only light in her dark life. Rachel is consumed by an abusive marriage but too afraid to escape. On Christmas Eve, Rachel’s husband raises a hand to Lily in a moment of aggression that finally snaps Rachel out of her docile state. She realizes immediately that she must protect her daughter in ways her own parents didn’t protect her and remove Lily from the situation. Through the help of an old and dear friend, Rachel has a safe place to go, but first, she must say goodbye to her father.

As the snow falls on this Christmas Eve, Rachel learns that it’s never too late to start over. The Snow Angel is a tale about family, forgiveness, and learning to treasure our memories while allowing ourselves to move forward.

2. Print
 

Help! For Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces [Hardcover]

by Roy Peter Clark

I am finding this very interesting.

Reading for Little Brown & Company, Div of Hachette.

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2011

The craft of writing offers countless potential problems: The story is too long; the story's too short; revising presents a huge hurdle; writer's block is rearing its ugly head.

In HELP! FOR WRITERS, Roy Peter Clark presents an "owner's manual" for writers, outlining the seven steps of the writing process, and addressing the 21 most urgent problems that writers face. In his trademark engaging and entertaining style, Clark offers ten short solutions to each problem. Out of ideas? Read posters, billboards, and graffiti. Can't bear to edit yourself? Watch the deleted scenes feature of a DVD, and ask yourself why those scenes were left on the cutting-room floor. HELP! FOR WRITERS offers 210 strategies to guide writers to success.

3. eBook/Kindle
 

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

by Karen Wiesner

I really enjoy this author. I am 75% through this.

Reading for the author.
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.

I am also listening to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean. 

I am at Malachi 1 and Revelations 19.

Line Edits: I am still finalizing one more Novella for release and continuing to work on Smashword and print releases.

December - I started out with 11 or so books to read for review. The reading has gone well but I have at least eight reviews from the past weeks left so it is pretty certain that a couple,  the TBR reviews most likely, might flow to the new year. 

Remaining Author Selections - I may not get this one complete until January.

Nathan Patrick Hardt - The Second Sonata

[To be posted - I am setting these up for January interview/feature days since I didn't get them in this year:
These were read and ready for reviews for Authors.
Quest for Magic by Jean Hart Stewart - Read; review to be posted with interview.
Seeing for the First Time (What You See is What You Get) and To See (What You See is What You Get) by Nicole Zoltack - Both Read; setting up author interview with reviews.
Steamrolled by Pauline Baird Jone. Read; review to be posted with author interview.]

Remembering WHO We Celebrate

Remembering the reason we celebrate CHRISTmas.
I hope you will watch to the end and give thanks for Immanuel, God with us.

May you have a BLESSED CHRISTMAS DAY and may the light of Christmas burn in your heart all year long!

Christmas Prayer

Tonight we lit the Candle of Light, signifying the Light that has come into the world.

John 1: 1-5

The Word Became Flesh   

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

² He was with God in the beginning.  

³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 

⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 

⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Christmas Prayer

by Robert Louis Stevenson
"Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake, Amen!"