Monday, July 27, 2009

A Super Sizzling Summer Contest

You don't want to miss out on this great contest! It has several really great books up for grabs along with a $25 giftcard to B&N!! While you are entering into this awesome contest make sure to check out Kimberly Killion's upcoming release Highland Dragon... it sounds like it is going to be a winner!!
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You've got to check out Kimberly Killion's Summer Sizzler contest!

She is featuring a basket of "New to You Authors" which includes 16 autographed books + a $25 B&N giftcard.

Don't delay, go HERE to sign up for the giveaway.
The winner of the SUMMER SIZZLER will be announced on September 1.





Monday, July 20, 2009

Mailbox Monday

A trip to the post office is not always fun usually get a lot of junk mail, bills, more crap, and the occasional book. I did pretty well in the contests for June and July and have been anxiously awaiting several books. My son really enjoys it when I get books in the mail, almost as much as I do, he always asks if I got a little orange key. The key means I have a package and he always gets to open the second mail box. If ever you were to be in the post office at the same time you might think we won the lottery with the way he behaves! Well here's my loot for the week:

Courtesy of Alaine at Queen of Happy Endings. I won both Fever and Burning Wild by Christine Feehan in her June Contest. She was really great! Thank you Alaine!

I won The Grand Sophy last week at Anna's Book Blog
Thanks Anna!!



I won Lord of the Forest on Blanche's blog, There's No Such Thing as Too Many Books.
Thanks Blanche!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

And The Winner Is...



Using the list randomizer on Random.org, Our lucky winner is:



LEA


Lea, please email your information so that I may forward it on to Elizabeth Amber. Don't forget to choose between B&N and Amazon for your gift card!!

Congratulations!!!


There were 73 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

  1. Lea
  2. HODGEPODGESPV
  3. Sarabelle
  4. Joder
  5. The Book Queen
  6. Mandi
  7. LighthouseSandy
  8. Flchen1
  9. Dottie
  10. Pams00
  11. Afstone3
  12. Barbara
  13. LighthouseSandy
  14. Melissa
  15. Dag888888
  16. Malleycc
  17. Lea
  18. VampFanGirl
  19. Tetewa
  20. Dottie
  21. HODGEPODGESPV
  22. Lil
  23. Booklover1335
  24. Melissa
  25. Caffey
  26. Throuthehaze
  27. Ms. M
  28. Rebecca Knight
  29. Amy C
  30. Cathy M
  31. Rachie G
  32. Valorie
  33. Amy C
  34. Estella
  35. Blanche
  36. Cindy W
  37. Housemouse88
  38. Shawn
  39. Valorie
  40. Pams00
  41. I Heart Book Gossip
  42. Book Junkie
  43. Kim h
  44. Kytaira
  45. The Book Queen
  46. LadyVampire2U
  47. MarthaE
  48. Tami Winbush
  49. Blanche
  50. Cindy W
  51. I Heart Book Gossip
  52. Jeanette8042
  53. Flchen1
  54. Mariee
  55. Cybercliper
  56. Joder
  57. M-square
  58. Book Junkie
  59. Barbara
  60. CrystalGB
  61. Booklover1335
  62. MarthaE
  63. Amy S
  64. Armenia
  65. Budletsmom
  66. Chris
  67. LadyVampire2U
  68. Mari
  69. Leontine
  70. Miranda (Sweet Vernal Zephyr)
  71. Throuthehaze
  72. Etirv
  73. Mandi

Timestamp: 2009-07-15 13:13:32 UTC



Thank you everyone that came by and made my first guest blog experience such a great success!!

Ms. Amber thank you for being so gracious and willing to be on my blog!! Your books are truly awesome and I look forward to reading more!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

One Knight Only by Julia Latham

Julia Latham
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date: November 2007
ISBN-13: 9780061235160
384pp

She knew she would have to risk her life...

Daring and adventurous, Anne Kendall would give anything to join the secret band of warrior knights known as the League of the Blade, and she eagerly agrees to a perilous masquerade. But then Sir Phillip Clifford, a reckless, brutally handsome knight, joins their party, bringing back memories of stolen kisses, passionate longings, and one night when seh would have done anything to be his.

But not her heart...

Anne would prefer to concentrate on the dangerous mission at hand... but the glorious, savage passion that begisn to develop between her and this unruly warrior may prove him to be the knight of her dreams...and her fantasies.

My Thoughts:

Disguised as Lady Rosamond, Anne has embarked on a mission to save one woman’s life and thwart a plot to kill King Henry. When Phillip recognizes Anne in the disguise she has to find a way to protect her identity and the mission, and what better way than to have the Bladesmen protecting her invite him to help.

Anne and Phillip share a history that Anne would sooner forget, feeling the embarrassment of desiring a man she cannot have. Phillip becomes a distraction that could endanger the mission. They both must overcome their pasts and their background to find an end to the mission and eventual happiness in the lives that they both have chosen.

One Knight Only is a real cloak and dagger story set in the fifteenth century. Anne is a strong willed woman who is desperate to find a new life, one in which she chooses and has control of. Phillip is a daring Knight that is tired of living his life based on someone else’s dreams. He has finally decided that what he most out of life is not what he wants and is not that important any longer. What matters most is finding the love that only one woman can show him. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Anne and Phillip’s adventures and look forward to reading Thrill of the Knight and Secrets of the Knight; these books are not considered a series however they are linked by the characters in them.

4 stars



Monday, July 13, 2009

Mailbox Monday

This week has been a slow week with receiving books. Which is probably for the best. I am in a reading slump and it is taking me forever to get through my book. I did get quite a bit read last night after I woke up and could not for the life of me go back to sleep. My husband was complaining that it was hot... well he needs to try sleeping with himself and feel how much heat he puts off at night. Anyhoo here is my list!



Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Pub. Date: February 2006
384pp
Series: School for Heiresses Series, #1


Bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries's enticing new series introduces the spirited graduates of Mrs. Harris's School for Young Ladies — unconventional heiresses who are more than matches for society's most irresistible rogues....

"Be careful, Amelia — you know how reckless you can be!"

— Mrs. Charlotte Harris, headmistress

Lady Amelia Plume has many admirers — it's too bad they're all fortune hunters and fops who can't provide the exotic adventures she seeks. But the ballrooms of Mayfair have become much more appealing since the arrival of Major Lucas Winter, an American with a dark past and a dangerous air. Lucas is brash, arrogant — and scandalously tempting. Every thrilling kiss sparks hotter desire, yet Amelia suspects that Lucas has a hidden motive in wooing her. And she intends to discover it, by any means necessary....

I won the e-book version of Love Comes Blindly by Phyllis Campbell by commenting on her post at Emily Bryan's Blog.

If love isn’t blind to past indiscretions, can absence truly make the heart grow fonder?

Lord Gregory Fielding has been wounded when he travels to Scotland to find the next big story for his London newspaper. Now blinded, he relies on the soft, comforting touch of one of the nurses at St. Mary’s Abbey. He thinks she’s a novice, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to make her sigh in passion.

Madeline O’Neil cannot believe her misfortune. The man she had almost married three years ago is back in her life. Gregg doesn’t know who she is and she doesn’t dare tell him. Not until she makes him like the new Madeline. But as each day passes and her heart grows fonder, she fears he’ll hate her for certain once his eyesight returns. Especially when he discovers the secret she’s been keeping from him for three years…


And Ms. Campbell was so generous, she gave me the the book that comes before Love Comes Blindly. The H/H are only minor characters in Vows of Deception but she felt that I would enjoy reading Love Comes Blindly so much more if I read Vows of Deception first.



Champagne Books, December 2006

Judith O’Neil wants to keep her freedom – and her grandmother’s estate. But can she do both? Especially when her father demands she marry before he can give her an inheritance.

Andrew Dean is tired of being the stable help, and jumps at the chance of playing Lady Judith’s pretend husband. But he didn’t plan on falling in love … or discovering a secret that had been hidden in his memory for twenty years.


I am hoping that this week brings several other books that I am waiting on. Then again, they can take their time getting here so I can read the ones sitting on my dresser.

What did you receive this week? What are you looking for in your mailbox?

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Guest: Elizabeth Amber and The Lords of Satyr, and Giveaway

Good Morning Everyone!

Today is a very special day in my blogger life. The very sweet Elizabeth Amber has done me the great honor of being my very first guest author. Please help me give her a very warm welcome!

Elizabeth Amber's Nicholas was the very first book classified as erotic romance that I ever read. Elizabeth not only opened the door for me to the this genre but she kicked the darn thing down. There is no closing it now!

Elizabeth is responsible for the sexy historical paranormal romance series, The Lords of Satyr. This series is about half-human, half-satyr brothers who go in search of endangered half-faerie brides. The four titles in order are Nicholas, Raine, Lyon, Dominic , and Dane will be out in 2010. (click on the titles to read an excerpt)


Nicholas* Raine* Lyon* Dominic

In the heart of Tuscany's centuries-old wine country,
the satyr lords protect ancient secrets


Nicholas The Lords of Satyr by Elizabeth Amber bookpeek
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids....









Romantic Times said this of Nicholas: “The leading man is the sexiest one this reader has seen in a long time!” Nicholas has won, placed, or finaled in 9 RWA regional awards, including the National Readers Choice Award. Lyon and Raine are both currently finalists for numerous RWA regional awards, including the 2009 Booksellers Best award and Passionate Ink’s Passionate Plume. All the satyr novels have received numerous five-star reviews, and are in multiple printings.


Dominic (released March 2009) Blurb:
They are S
atyrs, men endowed with legendary carnal knowledge who demand total and complete control with their sexual prowess...

A Night Of Bliss


Emma anxiously awaits her husband's return home to Tuscany on Calling night. She hopes that the night-long copulation will draw them closer together for she questions whether they truly love one another. But when Carlo arrives, injured in battle and unable to perform, she learns she must mate instead with Dominic, a lusty, royal Satyr. It is a night of hedonistic passion that leaves her wanting much, much more...

A Moment Of Rapture

Like other Satyr lords, Vincent is driven to mate from dusk to dawn every Calling night. But as a bachelor, Vincent must conjure a female from the mist who will satisfy his sexual needs. While his brothers summon a different partner with each full moon, Vincent calls upon the same one time after time. He wants her to experience the same erotic pleasure he feels and one night she does the magic is real...

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Elizabeth has so generously agreed to answer some of my questions today!

Heather: Welcome, Elizabeth. Let’s get started with my first question: Why do you write alpha males?


Elizabeth Amber: Hi Heather. Thanks so much for having me! In answer to your question…

An editor once asked me, “What kind of man do most romance readers want?” My reply was, “an alpha male.” She countered with, “Women want a man who’ll commit.” I replied, “How about an alpha male who’ll commit?” She laughed, but I definitely meant it. That’s my idea of the perfect romance novel hero.

The satyr brothers are physically strong and dominating, but disguise this beneath civilized veneers that allow them to move in the highest social circles of 1800s Italy. They have enormous appetites for pleasures of the flesh, which are unleashed in a sacred gathering place ringed with statues of Bacchus, nymphs, dryads, and fauns. Yet each satyr lord is searching for the one woman meant for him.


Heather: I recently read that you are an Art Historian who specializes in Greco-Roman artifacts. Did this have any influence on The Lords of Satyr series? How much?


Elizabeth Amber: Yes, that’s what gave me the kernel of the idea for the series. According to Roman myth, satyrs are the male followers of the wine god, Bacchus. (Dionysus in Greek myth.) They were portrayed on ancient objects used in the consumption or storage of wine, such as amphorae and urns.

Because they are unapologetic in their relish of any number of sexual acts, they’re often depicted in pursuit of nymphs or maenads, and are usually shown in a blatantly aroused state. Who better to showcase as the hero of an erotic romance?

I updated this mythology to create The Lords of Satyr. This is a family of half-satyr half-human men who own an ancestral Italian vineyard, where they guard ancient secrets. A deathbed decree sends them on a quest for endangered brides in Rome, Paris, and Venice.

There was actually a blight that nearly destroyed all of Europe’s grapevines and the entire wine industry in the 1800s. That comes into play because this threat has will have dire repercussions for the satyr brothers and their families.


Heather: I read somewhere that some authors start their book simply with the hero or heroine. They allow the H/H to lead them in the right direction. Was this the case for you, or did the ideas come before the H/H?


Elizabeth Amber: I think the very first scene I thought of was the erotic one in chapter 22 of Nicholas, the first book. So right away I had the scene and the characters of Nicholas and Jane. I’m not sure if I thought of this first or thought of the whole satyr/vineyard idea that I described above. I think they sort of happened together.


Heather: Which Lord is your favorite? What about the wives, which heroine captured your heart?


Elizabeth Amber: Of course, I love them all. Each satyr lord harbors some sort of wound from the past. Raine was rejected by a human family and later by a human wife, but he’s determined to do the right thing. Lyon has a sense of humor and is beloved by the ladies. Dominic is the hero of his people, yet they fear and scorn him.

But I’d choose Nicholas from the first book as my favorite because he’s the eldest brother and has a strong sense of family duty. His goals are to sire an heir, safeguard ancient family secrets, and watch over his brothers. He’s charismatic and is a very creative lover. All the satyrs are inventive when it comes to lovemaking, but the sex scenes evolve organically from their characters and the plots.


My heroines are all strong, some more than others. Jordan, the heroine in Raine has garnered the most attention. She’s a hermaphrodite, who is living a lie. I didn’t write her to shock anyone. I wrote her because I had come across some information about the plight of hermaphrodites in the 1800s. I empathized with them and was driven to write an unapologetic hermaphrodite heroine. I love the fact that Raine’s love for her is truly complete and unconditional.


Heather: Did you model any of the heroes/heroines after anyone close to you?


Elizabeth Amber: No, I think all the characters I write are some sort of amalgam of character traits we all come across throughout our lives.


Heather: Nicholas and Lyon have both won in the Houston RWA’s Judge A Book By Its Cover contest and Raine finaled. The covers for this series are to die for. I did notice a slight change though. With Nicholas, Raine, and Lyon the face of the model is mostly hidden. Dominic, on the other hand, the entire face is visible. I know authors have very little say in the cover art, but do you know why they changed it?


Elizabeth Amber: I’m one of those authors who don’t see the covers until they’re printed and I’ve never discussed them in-depth with my editor. I’ve heard from many readers asking who the cover models are and jokingly pleading for them to “drop their drapes.” :o) I remember how thrilled I was when I saw the first one--the Nicholas cover. It’s gorgeous, sexy, and classy, and gave the series a boost right off the bat. Kensington made sure it got seen in bookstores and things took off well from there for the series. I have loved each cover, but I admit I prefer covers where the face isn’t seen. I like to imagine it.


Heather: Elizabeth, if you like, please tell us about your contest, which runs through December 2009.


Elizabeth: I haven't included a dedication in any of the satyr novels so far, but I'd like to dedicate DANE #5 to readers. So, I'll be giving away one dedication and a satyr novel--choose from Nicholas, Raine, Dominic. I'm out of Lyons. The monthly winners through December will be included as a group in the front matter of DANE, as in something like this:

This book is dedicated to my readers --

Heather Brewer, Mippy Carlson, Your Name Here . . .

~ Elizabeth Amber

To enter, join my enewsletter group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ElizabethAmber and email me at elizabethamber1@aol.com with Dane Contest in the subject line.


Thanks again for inviting me, Heather!
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Elizabeth thank you so much for stopping by and sharing so much with us! I have really enjoyed having you here.

If you would like to read more about the books in the Lord of Satyr series please take a stroll over to Elizabeth's website.

Thanks to Ms. Amber's generosity I have a copy of Dominic to give away to one lucky winner! And to celebrate my first ever guest blog, I am throwing in a $20 gift certificate to either Barnes and Noble or Amazon (winners choice)! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here about this post. If you would like an extra entry into the contest spread the word through your blog, Myspace, or Facebook; come back here and post the link where you have shared the news. The giveaway will be open until July 15. The winner will be posted that afternoon!
Open to U.S and Canada only.


Contest Closed!!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Save The School of Gallantry

Tuesday Sabrina at Cheeky Reads featured author Delilah Marvelle. I thought the letter below was a worth reposting. I have not read this author yet, but the series sounds really interesting and right up my alley. I am helping to spread the word by reposting the letter, who knows maybe this author will be able to save this series with enough of our support. There is also a great contest that will take place.


My Dearest Readers,

When I was in high school, I had a dream. I was going to be the next Stephen King. Heh. Yeah. Stay with me. Please. I knew my ideas were fabulous and I knew all it would take is for an editor to look at it and they would offer me up the moon and the stars and best of all, a contract. I had my girlfriends read everything I wrote. And they kept telling me, “This is fabulous! It's SO funny! Hilarious!” Seeing it really wasn't supposed to BE funny, I immediately changed course realizing I actually had a better handle on being funny than scary. I also figured adding a romance into it would even make it better since that is what I loved to read.

I then entered college as an English major. I was going to be teacher and write during the summers. Even then I was a smart girl who knew I wasn't going to make jack and that I needed a job to support the “creative” one. Throughout all of college I wrote historical romances. One right after another. And kept submitting. And submitting. And submitting. And kept getting rejected and rejected and rejected. In the meantime, I got married. I had two kids. I joined RWA. I got critique partners. I did honed and honed and honed the crap out of my writing. And kept writing and getting rejected. I eventually racked up over 200 rejections and had written over 40 books in those 11 years of trying to get published.

When I finally sold my first historical romance, MISTRESS OF PLEASURE, and my second book, LORD OF PLEASURE, I was beside myself. It didn't feel real. To FINALLY arrive at a destination I had been traveling toward for 11 long years seemed like a mirage. Which fortunately, I quickly snapped out of. Because after all, most of my friends are all published and unpublished writers and the stories they all have told me throughout the years made me realize I had to fight with fists up for myself every step of the way. I knew publishers did little to no promotion for their authors, so I spearheaded my own promo, ready to be more than just an author. And even though I was budgeting very well and spending countless hours networking and promoting on websites and blogs, doing tons for free, I still ended up spending $7,000 on my first book. Which was way more than my advance. But hey, every business starts in the red. Right?

Then the reviews started coming in about my series set in 1830 London England about a school that educates men on the topic of love and seduction. People loved it! Wow. It got nominated for awards. Wow. Readers are e-mailing me raving. Wow. Readers from France, Austria, Poland, South Africa and from all over the U.S and the world. Wow. It just kept getting better and better. I was beginning to feel as if every penny I spent was all worth it (even though my family and I weren't going on any vacations and were eating out of cans). Because all that mattered was that my publisher loved me and my readers loved my series.

Come contract time, I'm ready for whatever they wanna throw at me. Or so I thought. Mistress of Pleasure, though completely sold out and unavailable anywhere (unless it's a used copy, some going for a ridiculous amount of $40.00), hadn't done as well as my publisher had hoped. So without waiting for the second book to come out to see if the series was even worth saving, I get a rejection from my own editor citing lack of sales.

I have to say this rejection felt more personal than any of the other two hundred and some rejections I'd received. Because it was no longer “Your book isn't good enough” it became “Your sales aren't good enough.” Since when is an author supposed to be a market guru AND a fabulous writer? Eck.

I love this series. The men in it make me laugh and it broke my heart to think that my readers will never get a chance to read about Lord Brayton, my glorious male virgin. The only alpha virgin I ever plan to write about. Then I realized something, why I am letting a publisher decide what is worth holding on to? Shouldn't that be a reader's job?

Ah. Herein lies the purpose of my post. I am challenging everyone, be they readers or writers to help me do something that's never been done before. Save a series from a death sentence given by a publisher. Can it be done? Who knows. But I eat challenges for breakfast and I hope you do to.
Please join me in saving my series. Come August 4th, tell everyone you know (yes, even you're 72 year old grandfather) to buy the book, Lord of Pleasure. In doing so, you'll have a chance to win one of three $50 Visa Gift Cards. How? Check out my website for details at http://www.delilahmarvelle.com/

That said, thank you for all the support and love everyone has already shown me. Feel free to post and repost this to everyone under the moon and the stars. To all you readers out there, thank you for supporting us writers. To all you writers out there, don't ever give up on your writing. The moment you do, you give up on yourself. Which is why I'm not giving up on my series.

Cheers and much love,
Delilah Marvelle

The Canted Curse by Bliss Addison


Nothing ever goes right for Blossom McDougall. Three marriages and three divorces, two degrees and no career, and if it weren’t for bad luck, she’d have no luck at all.
The curse of Clara Teesdale, the woman who Blossom’s great-granny Aggie stole her husband from, is to blame.

As she approaches her thirtieth birthday, the day when she would follow in the footsteps of her great-granny Aggie, granny Winnie and her mother, Gladys, and take her own life as the curse decreed, God answers her prayers and sends her an angel named Fin.

The pair form a strange alliance, and together they fight the battles of the other.



Blossom McDougall is a sweet character strapped with the knowledge that her Great Grandmother committed an immoral act, sleeping with another woman’s husband. The wronged woman, Clara Teesdale, cast a curse on the women in Blossom’s family. The women are said to never find love and will ultimately take their own lives at the young age of thirty. It is a month prior to Blossom’s thirtieth birthday when we meet her. She has already been married and divorced three times, and has had as many careers. She lives a solitary life running a bookstore and taking care of three elderly tenants. Blossom is resigned to the idea that she will most likely be dead in a month and does what she does so often, prays for assistance.

Her assistance comes in the form of Fin, an angel in need of help. He must complete the task of helping Blossom get rid of the curse and finally find happiness in order to get his wings so he can be with his family in Heaven.

Together they embark on a journey to find out how to end the dreaded curse. In doing so they become involved with helping to solve the missing persons case. Four college students have come up missing in the last three years.

I was drawn into Blossom’s life from the very start. If it weren’t for bad luck Blossom wouldn’t have any luck at all. Her spirit seems broken by this curse. Having succumbed to the curse she still tries to keep a positive outlook on life.

Canted Curse is spell binding, full of love and mystery. The characters really draw you in. From Blossom’s pet mouse to her elderly friends you will find plenty to love about this book. Blossom and Fin are characters that I won’t soon forget. I laughed out loud with Blossom’s description of one particular man in the story, “rubbers man”. The continued use of this nickname kept a smile on my face.

***This review can also be found on You Gotta Read Reviews ***

Anna is running another Contest!!!

Anna is hosting a give away for Knight of Desire Blog tour.


Courtesy of Hachette Book Group & Forever Books
She has 5 copies of Margaret Mallory's Knight of Desire


FEARLESS IN BATTLE

His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn.

TENDER IN BED

Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she’s keeping secrets and dares not give him her heart. As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.


So head on over to Anna's Book Blog for your chance to win!!


Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Upcoming Event


I am really getting excited! If you have not noticed on my side bar I have a new slide show displaying the cover art for The Lords of Satyr series. On July 9 Ms. Amber will be stopping by to chat for a bit and will also be offering a giveaway! So please make sure you stop by and say hello and make this wonderful lady feel welcome!!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith



From Book:

Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture- leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin’s successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.


Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife, Raisa, adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo’s past career. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.


From the street of Moscow in the throes of political upheaval, to the Siberian gulags, and to the center of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest, THE SECRET SPEECH is a breathtaking, epic novel that confirms Tom Rob Smith as one of the most exciting new authors writing today.


Review:

Leo feels guilty for his past as an MGB officer under Stalin and in an attempt to right the wrongs that he has committed, at least in his own heart, he opens up shop as a private investigator. After the speech comes out all hell breaks loose so to say. His daughter is abducted, his wife his critically injured, and his youngest daughter is in denial. Several deaths have taken place, all with one common denominator. Now Leo must attempt to right this wrong he was ordered to commit in the face of these deaths and the danger to his family.


The Secret Speech is gripping and intriguing. I could not wait to get back on the road in order to finish listening to this audio book; if it were a print version I would say “a real page turner.” This is not normally a book that I would have picked up and read, but had it been a movie I would have been all over it though. It is intense with espionage and non-stop action. The characters are well developed and pull you into their lives. I was thoroughly shocked by how consumed I became while listening to the audio book.


Dennis Boutsikaris did an awesome job narrating this story; the dialect and accents of the characters that he portrayed (read) were very believable.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th!!!

Happy 4th everyone! I don't have any grand plans for today. My son and I will spend the day together doing whatever he wants and tonight we will shoot off some of our own fireworks in the street. For some reason my son doesn't want to go see the big ones, which is fine for me I won't have to fight with the traffic again.

I spent the entire week at my dad's house in Savannah. My plans had originally been to leave Monday or Tuesday, but ended up loading everything up Sunday afternoon and hitting the road. My thought process at the time was that if I left earlier then I could come home earlier and beat the holiday traffic. That didn't work out as well as I had planned either. My son decided he would rather stay longer and give up some stuff we were planning on doing here. So I finally got on the road yesterday. The drive started off great and it looked like I would be on the road for the normal allotted time. No such luck, I75 was completely blocked for miles. My normally 4 1/2 hr drive took 7 1/2. So today I am more than willing to just stay home and shoot the fireworks off in the street.

What are your plans for the wonderful day of celebration?

Contest Alert

Anna at Anna's Book Blog is hosting a giveaway for Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophie. I have so many wonderful things about this author. Anna will be picking the winner on July 10.


Barbara at Happily Forever After is having an awesome giveaway featuring Margaret Mallory's Knight of Desire!!! So head on over before July 8th to see how to enter!!!


Don't forget Book Junkie is running a month long contest. The winner for the first week will be announce July 5, which also starts the second week of her contest. So head over to see Book Junkie and enjoy the Hot Summer Nights!
 
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