Winners of The Trouble With Cowboys and Holdiay Affair

CONGRATULATIONS

to Winners


Giveaway The Trouble With Cowboys

Dena

Giveaway eBook Holiday Affair 

Martha L

Dena and Martha Please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me at mesreads AT gmail.com to confirm the win and I will arrange the mailing and download.  Please reply within 72 hours!
Thank you to all who entered these giveaways. 

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Untamed (The Amoveo Legend) by Sara Humphreys

This is another warm, fast-paced installment in the entertaining Amoveo series!
Untamed (The Amoveo Legend)
by Sara Humphreys

Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (November 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402258496
ISBN-13: 978-1402258497Product Details
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0
   

Book Description
Release Date: November 6, 2012 | Series: The Amoveo Legend
An ancient race of shapeshifters has lived secretly among humans for thousands of years...they are...the Amoveo

HER WORST NIGHTMARE IS COMING TRUE...
Layla Nickelsen has spent years hiding from her Amoveo mate and guarding a devastating secret. But Layla's worst fear is realized when the man who haunts her dreams shows up in person ...

HE HAS FINALLY FOUND HER...
William Fleury is as stoic as they come, until he finds Layla and his feelings overwhelm him. She won't let him get close, but then an unknown enemy erupts in violence and threatens everything Layla holds dear...

Review:
William Fleury, an Amoveo from the Gryfalcon clan, is a straight-laced, stoic man and attorney for the Amoveo Counsel. He has watched his friends find their mates in half-breeds and he looks with longing and envy on their affectionate, and passionate, relationships. He had almost given up hope of finding a mate for himself. Then he saw Layla and knew he must pursue her.

Layla is a half-breed who has known about her nature for years as she was raised with twin half-breeds on a farm with their ‘foster’ mother, Rosie.  She is able to share telepathically with her foster siblings and she can read of auras through her photography. She can also dream in her cheetah form but she has never been able to shift in the real world. She is freakish in the human world and feels substandard in the shifter world-- what little she knows of it.

Layla saw the pain of abandonment and destruction of other females, including her own mother,  who loved Amoveo mates. Layla is fiercely independent and intent on never falling in love or being controlled by another. When Will begins to pursue her in the dream realm, she wants nothing to do with him. When Will shows up in person she considers him a stalker.

Will doesn’t really know how to woe Layla but he is insistent on making her give him a chance. He is also determined to protect her from the Purist threat especially after there is an attack that puts Rosie in a coma.

Will loosens up around Layla and she begins to fall for his gentle and almost bumbling charm. Rather than wait for an attack she decides that the half-breed ladies should confront the Council to force the hand of the Purists. The confrontation will have a greater impact than anyone realized.

I love the great, underlying warmth that Sara imparts in this romance series. Once again she created interesting characters and drew me into their story immediately.  Their slowly growing relationship is the primary story but there is also good suspense building up to the later part of the book when there are new and alarming developments in the Amoveo loyalties.  This changes the character of the Council and sets the stage for civil war among the clans.  I look forward to the next book!

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

William's reaction to Layla

    That day in the bayou, Layla’s energy signature had slammed into him with a voracious intensity that took him completely by surprise... and William was not accustomed to being surprised. He prided himself on his innate ability to alwys remain calm, keep a cook head, and maintain a sense of order.
    All of that changed the second he found her.  Location 489.

    Put him in the heat of battle, in a courtroom, or in the sights of the Caedo, and no one could shake him, but put his brokenhearted mate in front of him, and he truned into a fumbling oaf without the slightest clue how to help her. Location 3457.

I received this from Sourcebooks for an honest review.

A good portion of this takes place in rural Marylanda.
If you haven't read this awesome series yet you can try a taste with the free Novella: Undenied .

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the ARC Copy.

ENTRY FORM HERE

For 3 Extra Bonus entries tell me if you know any of the songs or artists that Sara thought of while writing this book:

Here's the soundtrack I created when I was writing William and Layla's story. Enjoy!
    "Promise's Demise"--Amy Petty *this song is used in the book trailer
    "Paris (ooh lala)"--Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
    "I Run to You"--Lady Antebellum
    "Can't Be Tamed"--Miley Cyrus
    "The Edge of Glory"--Lady Gaga
    "I Go to Extremes"--Billy Joel
    "Going Under"--Evanescence

* This contest is open US and Canada.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on November 30, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED on December 1, 2012.
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Saturday Snapshot (Nov 17, 2012) Our Seattle Visit Days 1&2

We spent three days in Seattle after we disembarked from our lovely cruise. We stayed at the Paramount Hotel near downtown which was very nice and had a delightful and very helpful concierge! The first day we took a tour coach around the city with a fun driver pointing out the sites. We continued to have good weather and we were able to see Mount Rainier in the distance each day of our visit. That was the day I went to the Jayne Krentz Book Signing too.

Day 2 we road the Ferris Wheel and I got some good pictures.  

I love the postcard appearance of the Space Needle skyline from the Ferris Wheel.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway November 16, 2012

[** If you are new to Friday Pick Giveaway - Welcome!  Scroll down a bit (below book group #19) for instructions on how to enter.]

Happy Friday! Counting Down! - 38 days to Christmas... days to Hawaii trip! Only 6 days to Thanksgiving, 5 till company arrives. Nope. Not yet ready!

Thank you to all who entered the November 9 Pick. There was one automatic winner this week (the first and last comments :-( (those who requested the book four times and I did not note other people asking for that book during those weeks). Once again 50% of the non-GC entries were blocked picks this week.  :-( Both 'won titles' were from the "blocked" titles.
Faith Hope and Cherrytea choose A Delicate Deception.

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from November 9 Pick:

Miki won (through the block) A Regency Christmas Anthology

and
Ana Death Duarte gets One For the Money if postage permits OR Gift Certificate

All winners please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me to confirm your win, send your snail mail address information and let me know if you would like bookmarks - sensual or sexy and I have a new supply of sweet bookmarks.

Image found at SEPTA
Safe traveling and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating this coming Thursday!

New Book Group #33 October 27, 2012
*asterisks indicate lighter, smaller books possibly suitable for international mailing

 PAIRS:
Gena Showalter:
     The Darkest Kiss and the Darkest Night
Mary Balogh:
     Simply Perfect and A Summer to Remember
Tami Hoag:
     Ashes to Ashes and A Thin Dark Line (Both have spine creasing)
Dick Francis:
     10 LB Penalty and Risk
Tom Clancy:
     Op-Center State of Siege and Op-Center Mission of Honor
SINGLES - CHRISTMAS TITLES (Better sizes for international) 
*A Gift of Murder by M.D. Lake  (slight spine creasing)
*The Mistletoe Wager by Christine Merrill
*Deck the Halls by Arlene James (slight spine creasing)
*A Holiday Prayer by Deb Kastner  (slight spine creasing)
*A Family for Christmas by Kate Welsh  (slight spine creasing)
*A Regency Christmas Anthology - Lyn Stone, Carla Kelly and Gail Rainstorm


New Book Group #32 October 5, 2012

 Demon's Fire by Emma Holly
- Oops upside down book! NOTE This book has dog bite damage; it is missing half back cover and the edges of pages in the back third of the book... it does not effect the text but I will understand if no one wants this one - A Courtesans Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan and Celeste Bradley
The Gift by Constance O'Day-Flannery
The Days of Summer by Jill Barnett
Tangled by Mary Balogh
Please Remember This by Katleen Giles Seidel
Twice Upon Time by Nina Beaumont
Angel of Midnight  by JoAnn Power
Heart of the Hawk by Justine Dare
[One for the Money by Janet Evanovich] WON - subject to postage check
Touchstone by Linda Hilton
Restless Hearts by Marta Perry
Rogue Stallion by Diana Palmer
The Boy's Tale (Sister Frevisse Medieval Mysteries) by Margaret Frazer
Calculated Revenge by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
A Delecate Deception by Jenna Jones


New Book Group #31 August 31, 2012
I pulled some more books from several of my boxes.

In the Presence of Enemies by William J. Coughlin
Shattered by Dick Francis
Shadow Fires by Dean Koontz
Hard News by Jeffrey Deavers
Palindrome by Stuart Woods (spine creases)
Afterimage by Jay Brandon
Tall, Dark and Cajun by Sandra Hill
Hot Streak by Susan Johnson
When Lightning Strikes Twice by Barbara Boswell
Ice Blue by Anne Stuart
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
Thunder Creek by Jill Gregory
His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls
The Body They May Kill by Audrey Stallsmith
Beautiful Dreamer by Elizabeth Lowell
Summer Light by Luanne Rice

New Book Group #30 July 27, 2012
This time I pulled some books from one of my older boxes.
*asterisks indicate lighter, smaller books possibly suitable for international mailing

The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)

A Dangerous Devotion by Barbara Kyle

An Independent Woman by Candace Camp

Wild Escapade by Lisa Bingham

Dancing on Snowflakes by Jane Bonander

Mistress by Amanda Quick - Audio Cassettes

*Long Time Coming by Sandra Brown

New Book Group #29 June 29, 2012
*asterisks indicate lighter, smaller books possibly suitable for international mailing

 

Magic: The Gathering Distant Planes, An Anthology

Winning Ways by Barbara Boswell

Gifts from the Heart by Jillian Hart

*One is the Lonliest Number - Tom Clancey's Net Force

*Close to Home by Carolyne Aarsen

New Book Group #28 May 18, 2012
*asterisks indicate lighter, smaller books suitable for international

Wanna Get Lucky? by Deborah Coonts

Sleeping Alone by Barbara Bretton

*Love and Other Four Letter Words by Caroline Mackler

*The Carousel by Rosamund Pilcher

New book Group #27 April 13, 2012
Some of the books on the right end are smaller and suitable for overseas mailing. :-)

Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris (spine damage)

*The Dream Horse by Virginia Campbell Scott

New book Group #26 March 2, 2012--- (All gone)

These are Paired sets - two per author.

Four are parts of series the others are just singles by the same author.

Winners get both books if you pick these.

New Group #25 January 12, 2012---(All gone)

*Smaller books on the right would be okay for most international mailing.

*Shadow Rider: Apache Sundown by Jory Sherman

New Group #24 Pick Books November 25, 2011---(All gone)

(The only Thanksgiving title I found is a Harlequin I'd like to read someday so no Thanksgiving titles for November.)

New Group #23 Pick Books October 14, 2011

I tried to pick some books that would be good for October -

Halloween or dark minded.

Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser

Emily's Good Nightmare by Cosmic Debris Cosmic

New Group #22 Pick Books September 2, 2011---(All gone)

New Group #21 of Pick Books July 29, 2011

There are eight mysteries and I have asterisked nine books that are smaller and would be good for oversea choices if so desired.

Mallory's Oracle (Kathleen Mallory Novels) by Carol O'Connell

Stand by Me Anthology with Dallas Schulze, Roberta Leigh and Linda Randall Wisdom (spine creased)

May, 2011 New Group of Pick books

Group #20

Singles

Luciano's Luck by Jack Higgins - Audio Cassettes

3/25/11 I did get to set up a new group of books:

Group #19

Singles

Primary Colors - audio tapes

*Note of Peril (black strip on cover)

2/19/11 Book Group #18- Pairs!---(All gone).

I have finally updated the intro and Entry paragraphs here:

If you saw the pictures posted of my bookshelves and boxes you know I do have lots of books! And that doesn't include the other eight or so boxes at my office!! And more books as I find deals too good to pass up! I am sharing my book bounty by these Friday Pick Giveaways. 

I started Friday Pick in November 27, 2009 and in two years I  posted 26 groups of 16 books to find new homes! (March 2012)

I have periodically update the lists - deleting those won. You can still go to the Friday Pick list link to see older posts and the older lists book pictures if you want! I am happy to say that so far about 429 books have found new homes! YAY. I have to update my print out to check the exact number sent out - a few were never claimed.

Note rules here regarding international entries.

Because postage to overseas can be prohibitive I am willing to give a $5.00 book certificate to international winners - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, ARe, TWRP, ClassAct Books, eTreasures, Desert Breeze, etc....you tell me where and I'll set it up. So for my overseas visitors your comment may indicate a smaller book and I'll check postage or note your choice of gift card.

I learned that The Book Depository does not ship to everywhere. The postage for some of the books to far away places runs between $5.00 and $6.00 and up. Since I would award $5.00 for The Book Depository to an international winner, as an alternative you may choose a smaller book and we will hope the postage will not exceed $6.00. If the postage is more, or if you want to pick a larger book and you are willing to pay any extra postage beyond the $6.00 I will work with you on that. This may not make a difference to many but if it helps one or two of you to give one of my books a home that will make me happy too. :o)

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment and tell me WHICH BOOK you would like to get from the Friday Pick lists.
CUT OFF TIME IS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 10:00 PM CENTRAL so I do not have to stay up past midnight to do the winner post!
I will randomly pick two winners to announce Friday mornings with the next Pick post.
Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times and I did not note other people asking for that book during those weeks.

WINNERS PLEASE CHECK THE WIN POST ON FRIDAYS AND fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me at mesreads@gmail.com. [I will confirm receipt of the addresses- well I realize I haven't always done this. But if you filled out the form and don't get the book within two weeks nudge me with an email please!] If I have the winners e-mail I will send a reminder in a week or so....

Thanks for helping these books find new homes!!

Repeating this helpful blog tip: You can right click on a link and you will be given the choice to open the link in a new window or tab so you do not navigate away from the screen you are on!! I use this all the time!

1/14/11 New List
#17--- (All gone)

12/3/10 Book Set:

#16

Sleight of Hand by Robin Hathaway

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

List #15---(All gone)

List #14---(All gone)

Here is set #13 of Used books!

Pearl Beyond Price by Claire Delacroix

This is a group of books I have had for several years but not gotten to read. Since it doesn't look like I will get to read them for another year (or more!) I am passing them on. Although as I type them part of me still says "But you may want to read that some day!" Yes, yes; along with the other 700 books I am housing! Must Let goooooo.....

Group #12---(All gone)

Group #11

Cat's Eyewitness by Rita Mae Brown

Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester

Snow in April by Rosamunde Pilcher

Looking Back by Belva Plain

List #1
Circle of Stars by Anna Lee Waldo

Pick #2---(All gone)

Pick #3---(All gone)

Pick #4

Talking God by Tony Kellerman

Everything to Gain by Barbara Taylor Bradford

The Shadow by Shelley Munro (PA)

Pick #5

See Jane Lead by Lois P. Frankel

Misfortune by Nancy Geary

Cold Hit by Linda Fairstein - Audio Tapes

Pick #6---(All gone)

Pick #7

Prey by Michael Crichton - Audio Tape

Princess Charming by Jane Heller (slightly creased)

Pick #8

(sc) = slightly creased on binding otherwise all in good shape

The Jury by Steve Martini - Audio Tapes

No Safe Place by Richard North Patterson - Audio Tapes

Pick #9

On Treacherous Ground by Earl Murray

Guardian by Dee Henderson - Audio Tapes

Time to Hunt by Stephen Hunter - Audio Tapes

Pick #10---(All Gone)

Book Review: Secrets of the Red Box by Vickie Hall

There are secrets, tension and emotional intensity from beginning to end in this story. 

Secrets of the Red Box

by Vickie Hall

• File Size: 480 KB
• Print Length: 318 pages
• Publisher: Vickie Hall; 1 edition (September 15, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B009BURX3M

Genre: Suspense

My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2012

Bonnie has secrets to keep - secrets with the potential to destroy lives, including her own. Running from her destructive and pain filled past, she recreates herself, believing she has escaped the damning evidence hidden in the red box. When her former life is revealed by a cruel twist of fate, Bonnie faces losing everything, including Glen, the only man she’s ever loved. But is Bonnie the woman he thinks she is? Set against the backdrop of the 1940s, Secrets of the Red Box is filled with intrigue and suspense - sure to keep you guessing to the very end!

Review:
In 1945 Bonnie escapes from San Diego on the first bus she can get to. She lands in Omaha to start a new life. She is running from some terrible deeds but that is kept as secrets in her red leather box.  As she starts in a new job Bonnie makes friends and begins dating but she isn’t honest with them and isn’t really sincere in her relationships. Clearly she is a liar and a user of others. There are flash backs to her painfully abusive childhood that begin to give depth to Bonnie’s character making the reader wonder the influences that have contributed to her personality along with wondering what did Bonnie do that she is running from?

On the other side of the world in Italy, Corporal Glen Taggart is struggling to keep his young friend, Charlie Larkin, alive to get home to his wife, Amy. The 25 year old Glen has taken on the  responsibility to care for 20 year old Charlie because Glen seems to need to redeem himself from the death of his mother when he was a boy. Glen is a good man with a warm heart who tries to help stray dogs as well as young soldiers. I felt sorrow for the pain and tragedy he may face.

When the war ends, Glen returns to Omaha and meets Bonnie through his Aunt Irene. Bonnie has been working along side Irene and rooming in their basement. Although Bonnie has always sought to remain apart and not get involved with others she has slowly begun to feel that Irene and Don are a family she wished she could have grown up with. After a slightly antagonistic start, it isn’t long before Glen and Bonnie acknowledge they have fallen in love.

Bonnie takes the risk of marrying Glen and to her surprise and great joy they have children. All seems to be happiness until the day Glen uncovers the secrets in the red box. Bonnie’s greatest fears are realized as she has to face the consequences of her past.

The author manages to pull the reader’s interest in right from the beginning wondering what  crime or dreadful secret Bonnie is running from. There is emotional depth skillfully developed along with the tension of suspense. Bonnie isn’t immediately likeable but Ms. Hall manages to build a sympathetic view for her. I found myself feeling trepidation each time she pulled out the red box and pain at the betrayals that must follow the disclosure as I began to suspect what the secrets would reveal. Although there was some minor editing roughness the story is well written and strongly emotional. The ending is not a fairy tell HEA but rather a realistic possibility of a future. This is a different read but I do recommend it.

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

Bonnie’s longing for family and love:

She envied the woman for parents who loved her, for a home with walls papered in sanity.  Location 380

Irene tries to convince Bonnie she can have a better future in spite of her painful past.

“But life is what you make of it, Bonnie, and there’s no reason in the world why you can’t have a lived in home of your own someday.”
   How Bonnie wished that were true. But she’d sealed her fate back in San Diego, hadn’t she?  Location 3579.

I recieved this title for an honest review through participation in BookBlast tours.

This is set in Omaha, Nebraska for the Where Are You Reading Challenge. I will Also add it to my New Author and Suspense Challenge Lists.

Visit my BookBlast Post for chance to enter the Author's Giveaway for $50.00.

Author Vickie Hall
Vickie is a native of Utah, but growing up, lived in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska. When she's not writing, she's composing music, or shopping with her sister. She loves animals of all kinds and camping with her family. Her favorite pastime is watching old movies on TCM, and unashamedly has a crush on Cary Grant.

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