Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been a long month and I have been completely out of the loop...I'm embarrassed at my lack of posts! But I have several reviews that will be up soon and then I'll get everything back to normal.

Wishing you all a fantastic Thanksgiving (and good shopping on Friday)!!

Review & Giveaway: Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton

Peter Kendrick is a Cambridge geography professor, a widow, and the father of nine year old twin girls. His life is hectic, most days he is lucky just to get everyone fed, clothed and where they need to be on time. Romance is just about the last thing on his mind.

When the neighbor's cat darts out in front of his Land Rover, the result is just a minor dent. The young woman who answers the phone at the insurance call center is unexpectedly friendly and helpful, pleasant. He remembers her name, Mina, and imagines what she looks like. Not that he really has time to imagine things like that, but she made an impression somehow.

In an embarrassingly short amount of time, about a month, there was a second incident. Peter was playing charades with his daughters while driving and rear ended another car. No real damage to his big SUV but the smaller car lost its bumper. So, naturally, when he calls the insurance company, he asks for Mina.

Something clicks between the two. Mina is a single mom with a ten year old daughter and a complicated family life. But they find they can talk to each other about all kinds of things. There is warmth and humor, an easiness of communication that both of them are attracted to. Hashing over life's problems in that weekly Sunday night phone call becomes the highlight of the week.

Of course, no road to happiness ever runs smoothly. There are always obstacles and twists that you can't see coming. But that is what makes this book so charming. It is about real life, everyday drama, the little highs and lows of any ordinary person. No theatrics, no heroics, just people doing the best they can with what life has thrown at them.

This is a sweet and gently funny story, with realistic and honest characters who win over the reader. I really loved this heartwarming book and am now a big fan of Rosy Thornton. If you want a book that will just make you feel good, you won't go wrong with Crossed Wires.

Rosy Thornton teaches at Cambridge University, lives in Cambridgeshire (lucky girl) and didn't write her first novel until after she turned forty. For more information about her and all of her books, please visit her website.

Crossed Wires is published by Headline, ISBN 978-0-7553-4555-7.

Rosy has generously provided me with a signed copy to give away (thank you so much, Rosy)! For one entry, just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE and you can enter until midnight eastern on November 30. For extra entries:

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Giveaway: Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb

It's 1964 and ten-year-old Felix is sure of a few things: the birds and the bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he'll never forget.

LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade—easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy.

Back in his beloved fictional town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, with a new cast of endearing characters, Wally Lamb takes his readers straight into the halls of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School—where Mother Filomina's word is law and goody-two-shoes Rosalie Twerski is sure to be minding everyone's business. But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette, straight from Québec, and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova. While Felix learns the meaning of French kissing, cultural misunderstanding, and tableaux vivants, Wishin' and Hopin' barrels toward one outrageous Christmas.

From the Funicello family's bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin' and Hopin' is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we've been—and how far we've come.
~Synopsis from the publisher

Harper Collins has generously provided two copies for me to give away! To enter, leave me a comment here. The winner must have a US or Canada mailing address and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on November 20th. Below are some ways for you to earn extra entries. Please leave ONE comment for each thing you choose to do. You can combine your comments together if you like but please do not leave multiple comments for the same extra thing (for example, one comment if you fave at Technorati or subscribe via Feedburner, not three). Anyone who already follows, subscribes, or has faved at Technorati still gets the extras, just mention it in your comment! Thank you for visiting and entering!

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Giveaway: Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

From one of the best-loved authors of all time comes an irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates in the New World, a classic story of treasure and betrayal.

The Caribbean, 1665. A remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses.

In this steamy climate there's a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease—or by dagger. For Captain Charles Hunter, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking, and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it.

Word in port is that the galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in a nearby harbor. Heavily fortified, the impregnable harbor is guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commander of the Spanish king himself. With backing from a powerful ally, Hunter assembles a crew of ruffians to infiltrate the enemy outpost and commandeer El Trinidad, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloodiest tales of island legend, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he even sets foot on foreign shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry stand between him and the treasure. . . .

Pirate Latitudes is Michael Crichton at his best: a rollicking adventure tale pulsing with relentless action, crackling atmosphere, and heart-pounding suspense.

~Synopsis from the publisher

Harper Collins has generously provided two copies for me to give away! To enter, leave me a comment here. The winner must have a US or Canada mailing address and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on November 20th. Below are some ways for you to earn extra entries. Please leave ONE comment for each thing you choose to do. You can combine your comments together if you like but please do not leave multiple comments for the same extra thing (for example, one comment if you fave at Technorati or subscribe via Feedburner, not three). Anyone who already follows, subscribes, or has faved at Technorati still gets the extras, just mention it in your comment! Thank you for visiting and entering!

+1 become a follower
+1 tweet giveaway on twitter or blog about it (note that you did in your comment)
+3 fave this blog at Technorati (click on the little green box on the left sidebar)
+3 subscribe via Feedburner