The Tome Traveller's Weblog

Review: The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner

2011-02-24T17:26:00.001-08:00

Brendan Prescott never knew his parents, or even who his parents were. He was raised by a servant of the powerful Dudley family, Mistress Alice, alongside the four Dudley sons. At the age of twenty, he is sent to the court of young Edward VI to serve Robert Dudley.

In the waning days of Edward's short life the political plots are roiling. Court is a dangerous place to be and within days of his arrival Brendan is plunged into the complex webs that are being woven by both William Cecil, Princess Elizabeth's closest advisor, and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who controls the fate of Edward VI.

Cecil, in fact, sees something worthwhile in Brendan and recruits him as part of his extensive spy network. Cecil's instructions put Brendan at odds with his duties to Robert, making him a double agent. In spite of that, Brendan puts his wits and natural intelligence to work in support of the woman who wins his loyalty the first minute he sees her, Princess Elizabeth.

As Brendan is drawn further into the tumultuous reality of the court, he will be tested in multiple ways. His very survival will require all of his concentration, quick thinking and courage.

This novel has a fast pace and a thrilling plot that will keep you turning pages as fast as you can. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of twenty year old Elizabeth, already forced to use all of her abilities to stay alive, biding her time until the throne of England is rightfully hers. For those of you who might be having a little Tudor burnout let me just say that you will not be disappointed in C.W. Gortner...a historical novelist who blows a breath of fresh air into the vast Tudor genre with his latest novel.

For more information about the author and his books, please visit his website. For my review of his first book, The Last Queen, click here.

The Tudor Secret (The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles) is published by St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 978-0-312-65850-2.

This novel has been getting great reviews all over the blogosphere....check some of them out!

Booking Mama
CelticLady's Reviews
Historically Obsessed
My Friend Amy
Passages to the Past
Peeking Between the Pages
The Burton Review

Have you met Maisie Dobbs yet?

2011-01-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

No? Well, now's the time to join Book Club Girl's Read-Along! She will post questions according to the following schedule:

January 14th - Maisie Dobbs
January 31st - Birds of a Feather
February 14th - Pardonable Lies
February 22nd - Paperback edition of The Mapping of Love and Death goes on sale
February 28th - Messenger of Truth
March 14th - An Incomplete Revenge
March 22nd - Hardcover of A Lesson in Secrets goes on sale
March 28th- Among the Mad
April 11th- The Mapping of Love and Death
April 25th - A Lesson in Secrets

Find all information about the Read-Along here. I'm excited to join, I have read one book in the middle of this series and this gives me the perfect reason to go back and read them the right way...in order (yes, I have a little OCD about reading series books in order...I admit it!).

Visit Jacqueline Winspear's website for info about Maisie and the whole series and find the Jacqueline Winspear page on Facebook.

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-24T20:52:00.001-08:00

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Review & Giveaway: Dining With Joy by Rachel Hauck

2010-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Joy Ballard fell into television by accident. Well, sort of. Her dad had a local cooking show, Dining with Charles. But when he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 56, his last wish was that Joy take over. There was just one problem with that, Joy is a total klutz in the kitchen. She can't cook, if it was possible to burn water, she would find a way.

But, for her dad and the crew who made their living from the show, Joy stepped in. And she turned out to be great on television. Funny, smart, full of ideas that made the show a success, taking it out of the kitchen making it more about the viewers and their experiences. For three years, everything was fine.

Then, disaster. The owner of the show sells to a big reality show production company. They love Joy, love the show, and are going to take it national. She has hit the big time...but that secret of hers just keeps getting bigger.

Luke Redmond looks like he might be her way out of the lie that threatens to ruin everything. He recently moved to Joy's hometown of Beaufort, SC after his New York restaurant failed. He's a great chef but a bad businessman. They hit it off from the start and soon Luke is the new co-host of Dining With Joy.

Unfortunately life is never so simple and lies as big as Joy's have a way of blowing up spectacularly.

Dining with Joy is published by Thomas Nelson, ISBN 978-1-59554-339-4. I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour, for a complete blog tour list, click here. For more information about Rachel Hauck and her books, visit her website.

Up for grabs is my gently read copy of Dining With Joy. To enter just leave a comment that includes your email address. Open to anyone with a US or Canada mailing address. You can enter until midnight eastern time on December 9. Thanks for visiting and entering!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a lovely holiday!!

Review: The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick

2010-11-18T19:02:00.001-08:00

In the year 1002 thirteen year old Emma of Normandy is taken to England and given in marriage to AEthelred the king, who is an old man of thirty four. Like women down the ages, she had no choice in the matter and she instantly dislikes her new husband, a weak man with violent tendencies. She herself is distrusted from the start for her blood ties to the Vikings that habitually raid the English coast.

But Emma surprises herself, the stress of her situation results is something she didn't expect...turns out she is strong, feisty, brave in the face of her husband and the yes-men he surrounds himself with. While she can't quite bring herself to care even for her children, she grows to love the English people and they love her in return.

A weak king can only hold out for so long, especially against a strong, determined enemy like the Scandinavian king, Swein Forkbeard. With the Viking victory comes another sweeping change for Emma, her life and her future. She is equal to the challenge.

Helen Hollick

Those of you who have long been readers of this blog will know that Helen is one of my very favorite authors (and it isn't because she sends me Christmas cards, though I will say that receiving hers is the highlight of my holiday cards!!!). I picked up The Kingmaking in London in the early 1990's and that trilogy is still right at the top of my favorite books list. (Click on the titles for my reviews: The Kingmaking, Pendragon's Banner, Shadow of the King.) The Forever Queen is another fantastic historical fiction novel. It is classic Helen: meticulously researched, beautifully written, and with the intricacies of ancient politics simply and fascinatingly related so the reader feels completely at home in that time period. If you love historical fiction and have never read a Helen Hollick book, pick up The Forever Queen! By the time you finish you will be putting all the rest of them on your wishlist!

The Forever Queen is published by Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-4068-3

For more information about Helen and all of her wonderful books, please visit her website and blog. She was recently featured in an interesting BBC radio program about Harold, the last Saxon king, you can listen to that here (but the site says it will only be up for four more days, so hurry!)

Here's a list of blogs participating in the Sourcebooks Fall Reading Club event for The Forever Queen:

1-Nov

http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/

http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/

2-Nov

http://www.passagestothepast.com/

http://lifeinthethumb.blogspot.com/

3-Nov

http://www.luxuryreading.com/

4-Nov

http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/

http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/

5-Nov

http://booksbythewillowtree.blogspot.com/

http://www.historyandwomen.com/

8-Nov

http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/

http://www.bookwormsdinner.blogspot.com/

9-Nov

http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/

http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

10-Nov

http://literatehousewife.com/

http://carpelibrisreviews.com/

11-Nov

http://web.me.com/quirion/Bookaddict/Welcome.html

http://bookslikebreathing.blogspot.com/

12-Nov

http://www.brokenteepee.blogspot.com/

http://www.read-all-over.net

15-Nov

http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://celticladysramblings.blogspot.com/

16-Nov

http://www.jennylovestoread.blogspot.com/

http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

17-Nov

http://bookalicio.us/

http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/

18-Nov

http://pushersink.blogspot.com/

http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/

19-Nov

http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/

22-Nov

Book Club Chat on http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/

2010-11-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Trick or Treat!!

2010-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Review: Wicked Company by Ciji Ware

2010-10-30T06:57:00.001-07:00

Sixteen year old Sophie McGann is the only child of a widowed Edinburgh printer and bookseller. Since Mr. McGann had no son he taught his daughter all that a printer's apprentice should know. She is bright, quick and eager to prove that she is a good assistant.

One day while out on a delivery Sophie happens to pass a small traveling minstrel family: a blind grandfather, worn mother and handsome son. Hunter Robertson instantly captures Sophie's interest. Her dainty stature make her seem younger that her years, so while Hunter is drawn to Sophie it is more as a brotherly protector. And she needs one, her tendency completely disregard diplomacy and speak her mind get her into one scrape after another.

When Sophie's sharp tongue brings her into serious peril, she is forced to escape to London in search of an elderly Aunt and Uncle, who also own a print and book shop. Unfortunately her relatives have had their share of hardship and Sophie must use all of her vivid imagination to earn her daily bread. Eventually her talent leads her to write plays for the lively London theater, making her one of a small circle of successful female playwrights. Hunter finds his way to London too, though it will take years for them to untangle their complex relationship.

Wicked Company is chock full of interesting characters like James Boswell and David Garrick and I absolutely loved the descriptions of the Drury Lane theater community with their squabbles and rivalries. It is very much Sophie's story, there were times when I wished for a little more from Hunter's story and a bit less from Sophie's. And it was just a tiny bit long...it did seem that there was not one more thing that could possibly have happened to keep these two apart. But overall I really enjoyed this lively tale, I liked it just as much as the author's earlier book, Island of the Swans, which I reviewed in February (click the title for my review).

I will definitely be reading the rest of Ciji Ware's books, they are very detailed and well researched. I'm especially looking forward to A Race to Splendor, set in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. It will be published by Sourcebooks in April 2011. For more information about Ciji Ware and all of her books, please visit her website. Many thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks for sending me Wicked Company for review!

Wicked Company is published by Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-2271-9

Halloween Giveaway! A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness!

2010-10-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Halloween is the perfect time for a giveaway of one of 2011's most anticipated novels, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness! Here's a little about the book:

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

~Synopsis from Amazon.com

So, this is the scoop. The winner of this giveaway will receive a set of the very cool buttons you see below. Then, when the book is released in February they will receive a hot-off-the-press copy of the book! How cool is that? Winner will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Enter thru midnight eastern on Nov. 5. To enter just leave me a comment here telling me what you are doing this year for Halloween or relating your favorite Halloween. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. Many thanks to Langan at Viking for providing the buttons and book! Happy Halloween everyone! Thanks for visiting and entering!

Review & Blog Tour: The Art of Disappearing by Ivy Pochoda

2010-10-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

While sitting in the Old Stand Saloon in the tiny, lonely town of Tonopah, Nevada, Mel Snow meets a fascinating stranger. His name is Toby Warring and he is a magician. An enchanting, intriguing magician. Within two days they are married in a Las Vegas wedding chapel.

The thing is, Toby really IS a magician. His tricks are not illusions but actual magic that he has spent his life learning how to control. When he sleeps, objects appear that are conjured out of his dreams. But since he did one disastrous trick where he made his assistant disappear and couldn't bring her back, he has been afraid to perform anything but the most basic magic. Meeting Mel breathes new life into Toby's magic and his life.

Ivy Pochoda

Falling in love with Toby changes Mel, too. Her life has been largely a lonely, wandering one. Her job as a textile expert takes her from hotel to hotel, arranging carpets and fabrics that will endure harsh wear and tear. She has spent the most recent years in the desert, as far from the sea that claimed her brother's life as it is possible to be.

Things start to look up for both of them almost immediately. Toby's dream has always been to do a Vegas show and he is offered one the day after they are married. Mel is hired as a textile consultant at a huge new hotel. As Toby's success builds, the temptation to try another big trick becomes too much. Unfortunately, his worst fears are realized, challenging both Toby's confidence and their very new marriage.

This unique and absorbing novel reminded me strongly of The Time Traveler's Wife. I really enjoyed the complex and interesting characters and the inventive story that blurs the lines between reality and illusion.

I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour. For a complete list of tour stops, click here. You can read more about the author at her website.

The Art of Disappearing is published by St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-0-312-65099-5.

Review: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

2010-09-30T20:13:00.001-07:00

Every single week I get a bunch of books in my mailbox or on my doorstep. Some of them I have agreed to review but most are just sent on the off chance that I might choose to review them. It is a little like Christmas every day, which is fantastic. Some of the books I receive are not books in genres that I like or about subjects that interest me, so they go into the "giveaway or read when I have nothing else left (HA HA!) pile. Many are historical fiction, which I love, or other types of fiction that I might muster up an interest for eventually...they go into the ever expanding to-be-read piles that clutter up my house.

Very, very rarely does a book come in that I did not ask for, have never heard of before, but that catches my attention immediately. For me to take it out of the package, sit down and start to read it? Seriously, it has happened maybe two or three times in the last two plus years. This one, happily, was one. By page seven I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face. Here's the dedication:

Mom and Dad,

I could never have done this without your faith, support, and constant encouragement. Thank you for teaching me to believe in myself, in God, and in my dreams.

This book....aside from the nine F-words, thirteen Sh-words, four A-holes, page 257, and the entire Warren Beatty chapter....is dedicated to you.

You might want to avoid chapters twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, anything I quote Mom saying, and most of the end as well.

Sorry. Am I still cute as a button?

Love,

Elna

How, I ask you, could you resist reading on after an opening like that? In her first book, Elna Baker takes you along with her on her life since she moved to New York at age eighteen. She grapples with big questions: religion, faith, sex, love and life in an endearingly honest and frequently hilarious way. I think she's cute as a button, too. And I loved this book!

But don't take my word for it...here are some clips of the author herself, telling some of the stories that are included in the book. Bet you'll be hooked, too.

You can visit Elna's webpage and blog for more information about her! The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance is published by Plume/Penguin, ISBN 978-0-452-29649-7. Many thanks to Penguin for randomly sending me a wonderful book!!

Review: The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart

2010-09-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

A job that includes living at the Tower of London would seem like a dream to most people. Or maybe just to most history buffs. For Beefeater Balthazar Jones and his wife Hebe life is not quite dreamlike. Their home is damp, the walls are round, the fellow employees are a mixed bag of quirky and irritating characters. But their problems go far beyond where they live. The deep sadness and grief of the loss of their only son have permeated their existence, the gloom of the Tower fits perfectly with their emotional pain.

The Tower

Soon Balthazar is tapped to be in charge of the creation of a Zoo at the Tower to house animals that the Queen has been gifted by other countries. He is reluctant to share this great news with his wife or anyone else that resides in the Tower. Change is never a welcome thing in their small society.

But the arrival of the animals creates a few unexpected results. Who would have guessed that Balthazar would find, in his wounded heart, great affection for a bearded pig? And the residents may be annoying but who knew they would band together for the sake of one of their own?

This is Julia Stuart's second novel. I reviewed her first, The Matchmaker of Perigord, about two years ago. I was won over by her gentle and charming style, the warmth that comes through in her writing, and her wonderfully quirky characters. So I was thrilled to receive The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise, an equally lovely book. I was not disappointed!

Julia Stuart

The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise is published by Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-53328-7

Nine years ago and it feels like yesterday....

2010-09-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Review & Giveaway: The Red Queen: The Cousins' War, Book Two by Philippa Gregory

2010-09-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

A question for all of you: can you really enjoy a book if you don't like the protagonist?

The Red Queen is Philippa Gregory's second book in The Cousins' War series. The first was The White Queen , which was told from Elizabeth Woodville's point of view (see my review from about a year ago). Elizabeth is one of the most hated English queens, but in The White Queen she gained my sympathy and some of my understanding.

In this one, we get the story of Margaret Beaufort Stanley, mother of Henry Tudor and creator of the Tudor line, told from her point of view. Born into the powerful Lancaster family, Margaret is used as a pawn to further her family's political and dynastic endeavors. She is a pious girl who wants nothing more than to serve God, or so she claims. Her most proud achievement is her "saint's knees," red and calloused from kneeling for hours in prayer where she has visions and imagines herself to be Joan of Arc.

Once married and mother of the first Tudor, Henry, Margaret becomes singularly obsessed with his becoming king of England. Her schemes and plotting know no bounds, she doesn't care who she tramples on the way. Worst of all, she does it all in the name of God:

"You want power, Margaret, power and wealth; and so do I. Nothing matters as much as this to either of us, and we will sacrifice anything for it."

"I am guided by God!" I protest.

"Yes, because you think God wants your son to be King of England. I don't think your God has ever advised you otherwise. You hear only what you want. He only ever commands your preferences."

I sway as if he has hit me. "How dare you! I have lived my life in His service!"

"He always tells you to strive for power and wealth. Are you quite sure it is not your own voice that you hear, speaking through the earthquake, wind, and fire?"

Margaret Beaufort

She was so insufferable that I was wishing that the entire history of England could be changed just to thwart her. But the thing is, the author could not really have written this book any other way. Margaret was the way she was (doesn't it look like she is sucking on a lemon?), she was not likable. So it is no surprise when we don't. It does say something about Philippa Gregory that she would set out to write a novel based on a character who has so few redeeming qualities.

This is not my favorite Philippa Gregory book. (Come to think of it, none of her more recent books are among my favorites, though I always enjoy them.) But I understand why she wrote it and appreciate where it fits into the network of her other novels. For die hard Philippa Gregory fans and historical fiction readers in general, The Red Queen is a must read. As to whether or not a book can be enjoyed if you don't like the protagonist, I think the answer must be yes. Where would we be without characters we love to hate?

The Red Queen is published by Touchstone. ISBN 978-1-4165-6372-3.
For more information about the author and all of her books, please visit her website.

Check out some other reviews!

Thanks to the generous publishers, I have one brand-spanking-new hardback copy (it's a first edition, too!) to give away. For one entry just leave me your email address in the comments with your favorite Philippa Gregory title. If you have never read a PG book then tell me why you would like to start with this one. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on September 17.. The winners will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address.

+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment
+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did

Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!

Giveaway: I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman

2010-08-24T14:42:00.001-07:00

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author returns with a new stand-alone novel—a powerful and utterly riveting tale that skillfully moves between past and present to explore the lasting effects of crime on a victim's life....I'd Know You Anywhere

Eliza Benedict cherishes her peaceful, ordinary suburban life with her successful husband and children, thirteen-year-old Iso and eight-year-old Albie. But her tranquillity is shattered when she receives a letter from the last person she ever expects—or wants—to hear from: Walter Bowman. There was your photo, in a magazine. Of course, you are older now. Still, I'd know you anywhere.

In the summer of 1985, when she was fifteen, Eliza was kidnapped by Walter and held hostage for almost six weeks. He had killed at least one girl and Eliza always suspected he had other victims as well. Now on death row in Virginia for the rape and murder of his final victim, Walter seems to be making a heartfelt act of contrition as his execution nears. Though Eliza wants nothing to do with him, she's never forgotten that Walter was most unpredictable when ignored. Desperate to shelter her children from this undisclosed trauma in her past, she cautiously makes contact with Walter. She's always wondered why Walter let her live, and perhaps now he'll tell her—and share the truth about his other victims.

Yet as Walter presses her for more and deeper contact, it becomes clear that he is after something greater than forgiveness. He wants Eliza to remember what really happened that long-ago summer. He wants her to save his life. And Eliza, who has worked hard for her comfortable, cocooned life, will do anything to protect it—even if it means finally facing the events of that horrifying summer and the terrible truth she's kept buried inside.

An edgy, utterly gripping tale of psychological manipulation that will leave readers racing to the final page, I'd Know You Anywhere is a virtuoso performance from acclaimed, award-winning author Laura Lippman that is sure to be her biggest hit yet.

~Book description courtesy of the publisher

Once again I am wayyyy behind in my reading. Too many books, too little time is certainly true in my case! So my review will be upcoming but I'm going to go ahead and post the giveaway!

I have two copies of I'd Know You Anywhere to give away. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on September 6.. The winners will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Many thanks to Megan at Harper Collins for sponsoring this giveaway!

+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment
+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did

Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!

Review & Giveaway: Holly's Inbox, Scandal in the City by Holly Denham

2010-08-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost over (maybe for some it is already over) but I always think of the end of summer as Labor Day weekend...and we have a couple of weeks to go before then. So, if you need a last summer reading book, or even two, consider Holly's Inbox and its sequel, Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City. Both are very fast, light reads thanks to their inventive email format.

Scandal in the City picks up a few months after the events of the first book. Holly is doing well at work, despite the presence of a co-worker or two out to sabotage any success she might have. She has finally found a great guy in Toby, someone who loves her despite her flaws. And she does have some flaws. On the plus side she is sharp and funny but she tends to drink a bit too much when out with her friends and then does stupid things which she usually can't remember but regrets when she learns about them. A little bit self destructive, but she is incredibly loyal to her friends, a quality that goes a long way to making up for her shortcomings.

Many of you will be surprised to learn that this series is written by a man, Bill Surie, who owns a placement service in London for receptionists and secretaries. He had real life inspiration for this book, which started out as a website. There is a great interview with him, originally published in the New York Post, on the Sourcebooks website, click here to read about how it all started!

I loved both of these books, they are so entertaining and fun! And you could easily read them in a quiet weekend. I do recommend that you read them in order. If you haven't read the first book, head on over to Holly's Inbox and read the first half of the book online. I bet you'll be completely hooked!

Up for grabs is my gently read Advanced Reading Copy of Scandal in the City! If you would like to enter just leave me your email address in the comments. Winner will be picked at random, you must have a US or Canada mailing address (sorry, can't afford to ship internationally). Enter until midnight eastern time on September 5. Good luck everyone and thanks so much for visiting and entering!

Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-4114-7

Want a few more opinions? Check out some other blog reviews!!

A Bookworm's World
Bermudaonion
Booking Mama
Cafe of Dreams
Peeking Between the Pages
Pudgy Penguin Perusals
Rundpinne
S. Krishna's Books

Review & Blog Tour: The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose

2010-08-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

FBI agent Lucian Glass has been investigating the co-director of the Phoenix Foundation, Malachi Samuels, for well over a year. The man is suspected in the death of at least one person in his quest to obtain the ancient memory tools that he thinks will allow him to remember his previous lives. Nothing is more important to him, he is single minded but very, very careful. Thus far, Lucian has been unable to find anything more than circumstantial evidence of Malachi's guilt.

Meanwhile, Lucian is battling his own demons. Twenty years ago, when he was an art student in college, his girlfriend Solange was brutally murdered in her father's art framing shop. Lucian arrived in time to find her body and become the second victim. He actually died for a minute and a half in the back of the ambulance. He physically recovered but put all his artistic abilities behind him and devoted himself solely to his job in the Art Crime Team unit of the FBI, tracking down the theft and fraud of priceless antiquities.

He had been able to perform his job very well, until a recent event in Vienna (covered in the author's previous book, The Memorist). Lucian heard a ancient melody played on a specific instrument, as many others did. Since then he has been plagued by nightmares and visions of the faces of people he's never met. He is compelled to draw the people that he sees nightly in his dreams.

When the Metropolitan Museum of Art receives a destroyed Matisse painting that had been stolen years before, Lucian is called in. The painting was delivered with a note, the sender wants a recently rediscovered ancient statue of the Greek god Hypnos that the Met owns. And he's not the only one that wants it. Iran and Greece want it too, both claiming that it originated in their countries and should be returned.

At first the case against Malachi Samuels and the one involving the Matisse and Hypnos don't seem to be related, though gut instinct tells Lucian that they must be. And then he realizes that the Matisse was one of the paintings stolen the day he was attacked, that long ago day when Solange died. As the pieces of his life circle in upon themselves, Lucian struggles to solve both cases as well as his own history, both in this life and beyond.

I really enjoyed this entire trilogy: The Reincarnationist, The Memorist and The Hypnotist. It is a bit hard to summarize this one, there are many interwoven characters who are all integral to the outcome. Each book is an intriguing thriller with satisfying ancient mysteries and intricately woven plots...they do keep you guessing and are a fast paced, wild ride! I think each one could be easily understood on their own but there are overlapping characters, so my recommendation is to read them in order if you can.

This book was sent to me as part of the TLC Book Tour. For a complete list of participating blogs, click here. For more information about M.J. Rose and her books, please visit her website.

The Hypnotist is published by Mira, ISBN 978-0-7783-2675-5.

LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THE CAPTAIN HAS TURNED ON THE FASTEN SEATBELT SIGN...

2010-08-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I just couldn't let the big news about the Jetblue flight attendant who quit his job the other day after cussing everyone out, blowing the emergency slide and jumping out (beer in hand) go by without a comment. Did you hear about it? He did this after a female passenger stood up, got into the overhead bin while the plane was still taxiing, told him to *f* off when he asked her to sit down and then hit him in the head. Most of you know this already, but for those who don't: I'm a flight attendant myself, for a major airline, and have been for over twenty years. There is not one of us, NOT ONE, who hasn't dreamed of what outrageous thing they would love to do or say on their very last day. Any flight attendant who says they haven't is telling you a big, fat lie.

You see, like many professions where you deal with the public, we spend the majority of our time smiling and nodding. You really don't want to know what we are thinking. Luckily, most passengers are perfectly nice, reasonable people. And I enjoy them, I really do. You're probably one of them and I'm always glad to see you on one of my flights. For you, my smile will be totally sincere. But unfortunately there is at least one bad apple in every single bunch. These are the folks that think the rules, for some reason, DO NOT APPLY TO THEM! They are SPECIAL, of course they are. Why should they have to remain seated while taxiing?? So what if the plane comes to a sudden stop and they are thrown to the floor or onto some other poor, rule abiding, seated passenger? So what if the ridiculously heavy stuff in the overhead bin then falls out and hits someone on the head? What do they care?

I'm afraid that is just the problem, they don't care. Not about me, you or anyone else that is not THEMSELVES. A lack of manners and thought for others is widespread and one of the things I like least about dealing with the public. Is asking someone to use basic manners, be polite and follow the rules just too much to ask? The rules are there for the safety and protection of everyone, crew included. That is why we follow them and ask you all to follow them too. Yes, you paid for that seat, but when you did so you agreed to the Federal Aviation Administration rules set for airline travel and you are required to abide by them.

I am constantly amazed by the total disregard for the seat belt sign. If it is turned on it is because it is not safe for passengers to be out of their seats. Often it is not even safe for crew to be out of their seats. I can't tell you how many times I am sitting in my jumpseat, strapped in, we are bouncing all over the place in the midst of turbulence and some idiot pops up and starts digging around in the overhead bin or heads for the bathroom. When I tell them they have to be seated there is almost always an argument. For some reason they think I am deliberately and arbitrarily infringing on their personal rights. Happens all the time.

I am honestly not complaining, I'm sure every profession has its issues, but the job I do is not easy. These days the hours are very long, rest very short, since 9-11 any glamour that ever existed has gone for good. We all have a breaking point and obviously that Jetblue flight attendant reached his. He could probably have handled the situation better. But I tell you what: he did something we all wish we could do and that is why he is receiving such widespread attention.

I know this problem is not confined to the airline industry, I see poor manners and people being selfish and unkind all over the place. If we could all just be polite to each other, the world would be a much nicer place!

The photo above is the latest from Donkey Tees , they have lots of silly, cute, funny shirts on their website. Even one for booklovers like us!

Thanks for listening to my rant! I could go on, but that is definitely enough for one day. It is not often that I let my real job seep into my blogging, but sometimes the temptation is just too great! If you missed my post about airplane bathrooms from a little over a year ago, you can find it here.

Review & Giveaway: The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese & Laura Morowitz

2010-08-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Prato, Italy 1456. Twenty year old Lucrezia Buti arrives at the Convent Santa Margherita, along with her younger sister, Spinetta. The sisters lives have completely changed since the death of their father, a successful cloth merchant. They find themselves suddenly destitute, with no choice but to enter the convent. For Spinetta, who was always promised to the church, the transition is not difficult. But this is not the case for her beautiful sister. Lucrezia's future husband had been selected, she was planning to be married. With the sudden lack of a dowry all her plans are destroyed and she feels the loss keenly. She is not comfortable with the stark life of a nun, though she tries her best to adjust to the life fate has chosen for her.

Lucrezia Buti was the model for Lippi's Madonna

Fate is still at work, though. Renowned but dissolute painter Filippo Lippi has been given the job of chaplain at Santa Margherita by his patrons, the powerful Medicis. He is at a low point, lacking inspiration, when he suddenly meets Lucrezia and her beauty inspires both his painting and his heart. Lucrezia is drawn to him in return, though any relationship between a monk and a novice nun is of course completely forbidden.

The Cathedral of Santo Stefano, Prato Italy

Beauty can be a blessing and a curse, as Lucrezia discovers when the powerful Prior General begins to force himself upon her. In desperation, she uses the uproar on the day of The Feast of the Sacred Belt to escape the convent and hide in the house of a wealthy family. But she meets Lippi on the way and ends up taking refuge in his home, instead. When the worst happens anyway, Lippi is willing to give up everything to protect her and keep her from further harm.

Filippo Lippi

Human nature never changes, that is what makes stories like this one resonate down through the years. Don't we always want most what we can't have? Centuries have gone by and this still remains true. And there will always be those who can't resist greed, self importance, power...the villains then are not so very different from the villains now. This is the aspect of historical fiction that I most enjoy, that a dusty old story that has had the personality and emotion eroded from it by time can be renewed and made relevant by the imagination of an author (or authors, in this case). Now I wish I'd paid more attention in the single art history class I took in college...I remember it being boring, boring, boring. Too bad the professor didn't have a little of the talent of these authors, if he had added the stories behind the paintings...well, who knows where I'd be now! If you enjoy historical fiction you'll definitely want to read The Miracles of Prato !

The Miracles of Prato is published by Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-155835-1

I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour. For a complete list of blogs on the tour, click here.

Up for grabs is my gently read trade paperback copy! If you would like to enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. You can enter until midnight eastern on August 25th and the giveaway is open to anyone with a US or Canada mailing address. Thank you for visiting and entering!!

Review & Giveaway: 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan

2010-07-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

Amidst a horrendous winter storm in February, 1857, prominent New York dentist Harvey Burdell is violently murdered in his room at his home. The doors and windows were all locked and suspicion immediately falls on Emma Cunningham, a pretty widow with two teen aged daughters who had recently become Dr. Burdell's housekeeper. When she produces a marriage certificate dated two weeks prior to the murder which shows that she secretly became Dr. Burdell's wife, the suspicion is only heightened.

As the coroner begins what seems to be a completely biased inquest, Emma finds an ally in defense attorney Henry Clinton. He is inspired to help Emma when he sees that the powerful district attorney is set upon prosecuting Mrs. Cunningham despite nothing but circumstantial evidence.

However, nothing and no one is what they seem in this complicated case. Dr. Burdell is far from the upstanding citizen that he appeared to be and practically everyone involved has an ulterior motive of some kind. Unravelling the tangle reveals an exciting and absorbing tale.

The detail of nineteenth century New York and the excellent trial depiction made this one of the most enjoyable crime novels that I have read. Ellen Horan does an superb job of capturing the flavor and turmoil of the years just before the beginning of the Civil War.

Ellen Horan

I read 31 Bond Street as part of the TLC Book Tour. For the full schedule of participating blogs, click here. And for more information about the author and her book, please visit her website.

31 Bond Street is published by Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-177396-9

I am giving away my gently read paperback advanced reading copy! If you would like to enter, just leave your email here in the comments. An extra entry is available for anyone who becomes a follower or follows already (on Google, Feedburner, etc). Leave a separate comment if you do. US and Canada mailing addresses only, please. You can enter until midnight eastern on August 15. Thank you for visiting and entering!!

Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin

2010-07-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

In a complete departure from my usual reading material, I just read Justin Cronin's The Passage. A word of warning...it IS a vampire book, to a degree. Okay, I see some of you rolling your eyes. Yes, vampires are all the rage right now and some of you have had it with them. But this summer's very buzzed about novel is as far from Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse as it is possible to be. Closer to Stephen King (The Stand) and Michael Crichton (The Andromeda Strain). I have to admit that I was a huge Stephen King fan when I was in college....I read just about all of his books. The Stand was easily my favorite. I loved the premise...it's about a virus that wipes out the vast majority of the earth's population with the survivors pulled into two groups (good & evil, of course.) It's just a fantastic story, told in a way that keeps you spellbound throughout. And so I can see why The Passage is being compared to The Stand...it is another spellbinding story about the survivors of a devastating virus that changes every aspect of our world.

We begin a little bit in our future, ten or fifteen years maybe. The war on terror has progressed, we now have border crossings at state lines and security cameras and staff just about everywhere. The government is desperate to find a new weapon (how many great stories start with a colossal government screw-up???) and the idea of the moment is to turn humans into killing machines.

For that, they have experimented with twelve death row inmates. They have found a way to turn back on the thymus gland, a gland everyone has in their neck that basically begins to atrophy once adulthood is reached. In childhood the gland produces cells integral to the immune system. The effect on the inmates is to turn them into creatures remarkably like vampires. Only one tiny hitch: they are not controllable. The head scientist then decides he needs a child to test it on and six year old Amy is chosen and brought to the lab.

At this point, all hell breaks loose when all twelve inmates escape and begin a process that will kill the majority of the population while turning the remainder into the same vampirish creatures who never seem to age and are difficult to kill. Mass chaos is the result and the army attempts to take the children and sequester them, sending them to camps via train.

Fast forward 92 years. The residents of one camp are still there, have been for a few generations now, sustained by the huge banks of lights that come on every night to repel the creatures, which they call "smokes" or "virals". Few of the residents have ever seen the stars in the night sky.

"His whole life Peter had thought of the world of the Time Before as something gone. It was as if a blade had fallen onto time itself, cleaving it into halves, that which came before and that which came after. Between these halves there was no bridge; the war had been lost, the Army was no more, the world beyond the Colony was an open grave of a history no one even remembered. Peter, in fact, had never given much thought to what his father had actually been looking for, out there in the dark. He supposed this was because it had seemed so obvious: people, other survivors. But holding one of his father's rifles - and even now, lying in the barracks while his ankle mended and remembering the feel of it - he sensed something more, how the past and all its powers seemed to have flowed into him. So maybe that was what his father had been doing all along.....He'd been trying to remember the world."

The Colony, as they refer to themselves, have a simple government system set up, everyone has a role they have been trained to fulfill. The point of it all is simply their own survival. Except that the lights that come on every night run on battery power. And batteries were never designed to last for 92 years. The lights will be going out and when they do, there will be carnage. Everyone has seen the effects of those taken by the "smokes". Death is hoped for, the alternative is unthinkable.

As the residents are deciding what to do an incredible thing happens. A "walker" arrives. Walkers are legends, none have been seen in living memory. A walker is an uninfected survivor from the outside. And the walker is Amy, the final subject of that long ago experiment. She is not a smoke but was not unaffected by what was done to her. For one thing she doesn't age, or doesn't age normally. After 92 years she has aged no more than 10. And she heals at an incredible, unbelievable rate. Plus she can hear the thoughts of all those infected souls. They don't have any way to know that she is the key, the answer, the way to the salvation of the human race.

But they know that she is special in some way. When they uncover a cryptic radio transmission that has been broadcast for nearly a century a group is formed to take Amy back to where she began. The message?

"If you found her, bring her here."

Not much to go on, perhaps, but enough. A beginning, for them and for us.

Seldom have I been so captivated by a story, I spent an entire weekend completely absorbed in its nearly 800 pages. Normally I am captured by recreations of the past, historical fiction makes those long gone worlds live and breathe. With this book I have renewed appreciation for those authors who create possible futures, building up the effects and repercussions of decisions made in the present into the world that might be. This book is imaginative and vivid with fully developed, interesting characters. You will miss them when it is over...good thing this is the first in a planned trilogy.

In short, I can't recommend this book highly enough. I just loved it. Not you usual thing? Mine either but it is easily one of my favorite books of the year. How's that for an endorsement? But don't take my word for it, here are a few more reviews from some of my favorite bloggers:

A Reader's Respite

The Book Smugglers

The Boston Bibliophile

S. Krishna's Books

Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?

The Passage is published by Ballantine, ISBN 978-0-345-50496-8. You can visit the website here.

****An interesting side note....last year I received The Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan. The first of a trilogy about a vampire virus...from the back of the book "a bold, epic novel about a horrifying battle between man and vampire that threatens all humanity..." Hmmm. Of course I haven't read it yet. Yes, I admit to being over a year behind (ugh). But it sounds interesting and similiar to The Passage. Gonna have to read it so I can compare!!! Has anyone out there read them both??****

Huge Historical Fiction Summer Reading Giveaway!

2010-07-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Need some great summer reading material? Help me clear some space! I am buried in books...okay, there are worse fates, but I have to make some room! I've put together seven great historical fiction books, all are paperback, five are advance reading copies. The winner will receive all seven! This will be US only (sorry, I can't afford to ship a heavy box internationally) and you can enter thru midnight eastern on August 10. For one entry just leave your email address in the comments. If you would like additional entries you can leave a comment on any of my reviews for these titles. I have reviews up for all of them except for The Constant Princess, just click on the cover to go to the review. I won't be counting comments on the reviews that say only "please enter me"...any thoughtful comment about the book or review will be counted. Best of luck and many thanks for helping me reduce my stacks of books!!!

Review and Giveaway: The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri

2010-07-05T18:02:00.001-07:00

Life has seemed to be all about heartbreak lately for Kate Robinson. First the death of her mother, then the painful breakup with her boyfriend and finally the demise of her fashion line...they all conspire to make her want to escape. She and her Mom had long planned a trip to Ireland, a trip her Mom was not able to make but she encouraged Kate to take on her own. That is how she finds herself backpacking alone down a lonely Irish country lane, drenched to the skin with the constant rain.

Stumbling into the small coastal town of Glenmara, Kate encounters in insulated group of villagers in the midst of a small festival. Widowed Bernie and her lifelong friend Aileen are manning the lace booth, selling the items their circle of friends have created. Kate is captivated by the lovely lace pieces...they remind her of her mother, who taught her to sew.

Bernie takes one look at bedraggled Kate and invites her to stay. Kate's presence in the village affects people in different ways, some are thrilled to have someone new around, others resent the intrusion. When she joins the circle of lace makers, Kate is inspired by the idea of adding Irish lace to the ladies' bras and underwear. What starts as a way to inject something beautiful and positive into the lives of the women, who all have had problems and challenges, ends up becoming a business opportunity that is much needed in the village and in Kate's life, too. Unfortunately, not everyone is thrilled about this new venture. There will be obstacles to overcome and problems to solve before they can look into that promising future.

Heather Barbieri

In this lovely novel the author deftly crafts a touching story about women, friendship and life. She beautifully tells what binds them together, the threads and stitching that make up ordinary lives...sometimes embroidering them into the extraordinary and sometimes tearing them apart. If you are looking for a great summer read that will take you away, don't miss The Lace Makers of Glenmara.

The Lace Makers of Glenmara is published by Harper Perennial, ISBN 978-0-06-177246-7. For more information about Heather Barbieri and her books, please visit her website. I received this book as part of a TLC Book Tour (thanks Trish & Lisa, you ladies are the best!!), for a complete list of tour stops, click here.

I have two paperback copies of this book to give away! One is an advanced reading copy, the other is the trade paperback, gently read. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address. To enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. This giveaway will be open until midnight eastern time on July 26. If you would like an extra entry you can follow any way you like (Google, Feedburner, email, etc) or tweet the giveaway on Twitter. Please leave me a comment to let me know that you did--if you already follow, that counts too, just let me know in your comment. Thank you all so much for visiting and entering. Good luck!

Review & Giveaway: The Great Lover by Jill Dawson

2010-06-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

"Rupert's true heart beats only on paper."

April, 1982. Ninety year old Nell Golightly receives a surprising letter from Tahiti. A 67 year old woman would like to know something of her father, whom she never met. Somehow her letter finds its way to Nell, who worked as a maid, many years ago, at the Orchard House in Grantchester where the lady's father lived for a time. The man she is inquiring about is the English poet, Rupert Brooke.

~Rupert Brooke ~

This letter forms the basis for Nell's story. Beginning in 1909, she relates her life as a young woman working to support her brothers & sisters after their parents have died, and her meeting and infatuation with the young Cambridge student who comes to live at the Orchard. Rupert Brooke (his picture is above, beautiful isn't he?) is charismatic, charming, talented, even slightly wicked. Nell watches his interactions with women (and men) and despite both she finds herself romantically captivated and intellectually challenged by this fascinating man:

"Here we stop...and I acknowledge to myself the one hard fact that, despite my nature, it has taken me so long to face. There is no request Rupert could make of me that I would refuse. Whatever the pledge between me and God, this is the truth."

The Orchard House, Grantchester

As a counterpoint to Nell's story, we get Rupert's own, told from his perspective in alternating sequences. Here it is revealed how much of his outer persona is a sham. He is terribly unsure of himself, sexually inexperienced, not confident of himself as a lover or a writer. He longs for peace, time to think and be alone with his thoughts, though he is constantly and almost randomly infatuated with different people.

"...There are only two ways of approaching relationships. One is only to allow love on the supposition that it may lead to marriage-the other is- the wandering way. And there are people made for the first way and perhaps people made for the second. But to introduce those made for the first to people made for the second is to invite pain and endless trouble....I'm a wanderer."

~Rupert Brooke, in a letter to Phyllis Gardner, 1913

The impetus to escape leads him to the Orchard House and eventually to Tahiti, where some of his best poems were written.

"I think I've always been a sucker for a sexy, brilliant, impossible man."~Jill Dawson

I love the above quote from the author's essay at the back of the book about how she came to write The Great Lover, "The First Tiny Throb: How a Novel Begins." I found her portrayal of Rupert Brooke fascinating, as the man himself must have been. I loved Nell, her intelligence and courage, her ability to look past her social class, her gentle confidence. Rupert was interesting but Nell was the star of this beautifully written novel.

The Great Lover is published by Harper Perennial, ISBN 978-0-06-192436-1. For more information about the author, please visit her website. I received this book as part of a TLC Book Tour, you can see a list of the rest of the tour stops here.

I ended up with two copies of this book since I came home with one from BEA. So, I have two paperback copies to give away! One is unread, the other is my own gently read copy. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address. To enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. This giveaway will be open until midnight eastern time on July 14. Thank you all so much for visiting and entering.

~The Soldier~ Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Joining the 2010 EW Summer Books Challenge

2010-06-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

For some reason I never seem to be able to complete challenges. I don't know if it is because I get too busy or if I need a spreadsheet or what, I just stink at them! But Julie over at Booking Mama has one that I think I can handle, The 2010 EW Summer Books Challenge. Click on the title for all the details....I am definitely reading The Passage by Justin Cronin and This Body of Death by Elizabeth George, so I should at least be able to achieve Polliwog level. Thanks for thinking up a great (and manageable) challenge, Julie!!

Historical Fiction finds at BEA!

2010-06-16T16:24:00.001-07:00

I got a lot of great books at BEA this year! There weren't as many historical fiction titles this year as there were last year, but I still managed to snag quite a few. Thought you might like to see a sampling of the ones I am most looking forward to!

By Fire, By Water

by Mitchell James Kaplan (already out)

The Dead Travel Fast
by Deanna Raybourn (already out)

The King's Mistress
by Emma Campion (July)

Juliet
by Anne Fortier (August)

Revolution
by Jennifer Donnelly (October)

A Secret Kept
by Tatiana de Rosnay (September)

The Wolves of Andover
by Kathleen Kent (November)

Most of the reviews for these will post in or near the month that they are due out and I will do giveaways for most of them. Great titles on this list, can't wait to get started!

Long Overdue BEA Wrap-up!

2010-06-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am way behind! Had a family emergency that has occupied all of my time since returning from BEA. Things are going better now, for which I am profoundly grateful! Anyway, I was in New York from May 24 thru the 29th for Book Expo America. Last year was so much fun, I didn't think it could be more fun or exciting this year, but it was! There were so many bloggers there, old friends and new, and it was exciting to see everyone. Plus, on Friday I attended the first ever Book Blogger Convention! Michelle, Trish, Natasha, Nicole, Amy, Rebecca and everyone involved in the organization of it did a fantastic job. It was interesting, educational and the keynote speaker, author Maureen Johnson, was an inspired choice. She was hilarious and so much fun to listen to! I don't buy very many books but she completely won me over, I'll be going out to buy all of hers!

Show Floor

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first exhibit day was Wednesday, it was crazy! So many people everywhere...not to mention the books! I had more than I could carry within the first hour. Time to start being more selective! It is very hard to limit yourself when fantastic books are being thrust at you from every direction. I admit, BEA is heaven for someone like me. Nothing but books, authors, book publicists, book publishers, book lovers, book bloggers....very fun and exciting. So, Wednesday was great. But it was Thursday that was fantastic!

Me and Clinton Kelly

You'll think I'm very silly, but I was so excited to meet Clinton Kelly from TLC's show What Not to Wear. I love the show, have been watching it for ages and learning from it! (I put a LOT of thought into what I would wear on Thursday!) He was signing at 10am and I got in line early. He was so nice! Even complimented me on my outfit (whew!)...you know I couldn't meet him and have him thinking "Wow, YOU need to be on my show..."!! What is a fashion guru doing at BEA? He has a book coming out, not until October, called Oh No She Didn't. We didn't actually get the book, it was a little preview pamphlet which he signed for me.

As you walk down the aisles at BEA one of the things that you notice immediately is the lines that form around the booths. There is a separate autographing area where authors sign at scheduled times, but many publisher booths have authors signing, too. So, as you walk by a line you get curious and lean in to ask who everyone is waiting to see. This happens over and over again during the course of BEA (at least for me, I'm always curious to know who is causing all the excitement at the moment). Now, I make up a schedule before I go of who I want to see, so I usually don't stop. But early afternoon on Thursday I walked by a line that had just started to form...only about 15 people in it. When I asked who it is for I was told Kathryn Stockett would be signing copies of her bestseller, The Help ! This was completely unannounced, probably for crowd control reasons, but I was thrilled. The Help has been out well over a year and is still at the top of bestseller lists (#11 right now on Amazon). And I had yet to get a copy, let alone a signed one. And then I got to meet the author, too! I tried to get a picture but the one I manged to take was horribly blurry...to many people jostling around to get a second shot.

Me and Tim Gunn

At 1 pm Thursday, Tim Gunn (he has had a long career in the fashion world but is best known for Project Runway) was scheduled to sign his new book Gunn's Golden Rules, which will be out in September. I got in line at noon because I knew that the line would get incredibly long. The signing started exactly on time but the line moved extremely slowly. Tim is so friendly and nice, he chatted with each person, called them by name, asked about them, taking 2-3 minutes for each of us. Which translated to a long wait in line that was completely worth it! What a gracious man. I was probably about 40th in line and it was a bit after two when I finally got to meet him (the goofy picture of me is above). He was only scheduled to sign for ONE HOUR, from 1-2. After I saw him there were still hundreds of people in line behind me. When I left the room at 4:15 pm he was still there, looking like he had just stepped out there, smiling and generous with each and every person. He stood there for as long as it took to see everyone who wanted to meet him. I was very impressed.

A night out with Caitlin and the crew from Unbridled Books was a perfect way to end a perfect day! We all had a great time at Hudson Bar & Books, an appropriate spot for us!

After Friday's Book Blogger Convention we decided dinner was in order. Allie (Hist-Fic Chick) and Nicole (Linus' Blanket), our resident New Yorkers, led the way to Dos Caminos where we had twenty something bloggers all together for some great mexican food and, of course, margaritas. I wish I had time to chat with everyone but the conversation was non-stop. It was a great evening. The bill was well over $1,000! So much fun, a perfect end to a perfect trip!

Jen (Devourer of Books), Allie (Hist-Fic Chick) and Me

And there you have it, a fantastic BEA! Can't wait for next year! (Thanks for sharing the above photo, Allie!)

Review and Giveaway: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

2010-05-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Meet twelve year old CeeCee. She's an only child and, even worse, her mother Camille is well on her way to being unhinged. She is the talk of their small Ohio town. Since CeeCee's father has chosen to escape the entire situation by spending all of his time traveling for work, she is left to try to rein in her mother's increasingly bizarre behavior all on her own.

You see, Camille's finest hour was when she was the Vidalia Onion Queen in 1951, complete with tiara, sash and fancy gown. Now she spends her days reliving that long ago day, becoming the bane of CeeCee's existence in the process. The constant embarrassment coupled with the responsibility put upon her causes CeeCee to have to grow up far before her time. And she does, she is an amazing young girl, funny and bright.

Beth Hoffman

When tragedy strikes, CeeCee's fragile world collapses like a house of cards. But rescue is at hand in the form of her great aunt Tootie. CeeCee has never even met her but Tootie swoops in and changes her life. Before she knows it, she has been whisked away to live in Savannah, Georgia, where the trees are green, the days are warm and the women are STRONG!

Though she suddenly finds herself with good friends and more mothers figures than any girl could wish for, she is still dealing with the difficult aftermath of her past. Time and loving advice from the disparate group of women who become her family are all CeeCee needs to blossom into the beautiful young woman she is sure to be.

It is hard for me to put into words how much I enjoyed this novel. It captures perfectly the strength and wisdom that lies at the core of southern women. I was strongly reminded of my Grandmother, born and raised in Tennessee, she was what we used to call 'salt of the earth'. Without women like her and the women you will find in this book, surely the world would cease to spin. It is a lovely, lovely book, charming, sweet, honest. Can't recommend it highly enough, it's a gem.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is published by Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-02139-0. For more information about Beth Hoffman and her writing, please visit her website.

Okay, now you want to read it, right? Of course you do! And I have three copies to give away!! (Thank you Allie & Shannon!) So, to enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. Instructions for extra entries are below. Giveaway is open those with a US or Canada mailing address and you can enter thru midnight eastern time on June 12.

+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment

+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did

Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!

BEA Week Giveaway: My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

2010-05-23T15:49:00.001-07:00

An enthralling historical novel about a young woman's struggle to become a doctor during the Civil War

In this stunning first novel, Mary Sutter is a brilliant, headstrong midwife from Albany, New York, who dreams of becoming a surgeon. Determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine-and eager to run away from her recent heartbreak- Mary leaves home and travels to Washington, D.C. to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Under the guidance of William Stipp and James Blevens-two surgeons who fall unwittingly in love with Mary's courage, will, and stubbornness in the face of suffering-and resisting her mother's pleas to return home to help with the birth of her twin sister's baby, Mary pursues her medical career in the desperately overwhelmed hospitals of the capital.

Like Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain and Robert Hicks's The Widow of the South, My Name Is Mary Sutter powerfully evokes the atmosphere of the period. Rich with historical detail (including marvelous depictions of Lincoln, Dorothea Dix, General McClellan, and John Hay among others), and full of the tragedies and challenges of wartime, My Name Is Mary Sutter is an exceptional novel. And in Mary herself, Robin Oliveira has created a truly unforgettable heroine whose unwavering determination and vulnerability will resonate with readers everywhere.

~Synopsis courtesy of the publisher

My Name Is Mary Sutter is published by Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-02167-3 Visit the author's website here.

I admit I'm running behind in my review of this one, but I have one copy to give away courtesy of the publisher. Winner will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on June 4.

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Review and Giveaway: Band of Angels by Julia Gregson

2010-05-18T17:16:00.001-07:00

Catherine Carreg grew up in Wales, racing horses down the beach with her neighbor, Deio Jones. Though her father, a gentleman farmer, considered their family far above the Jones family in social status, her mother's frail health created the opportunity for Catherine to spend quite a lot of time with them. The Jones family was a haven for Catherine and she developed a deep love for Deio.

As they grew older, the talk began. A young woman should not be spending time alone with a young man, especially one below her in society. So, Catherine's father forbid her to see or spend time with Deio. Her life became a boring round of domestic duties that she absolutely hated. The only saving grace was time spent with her slightly eccentric mother.

And then tragedy struck. Catherine's mother, pregnant in her forties, went into early labor. Curtly ordered by her father to take care of the situation, Catherine found herself with absolutely no idea of what to do. When the inevitable happened and her mother died, Catherine felt responsible, as if she should have been able to save her.

Julia Gregson

She bravely forms a plan. With Deio's help Catherine disguises herself as a boy on a cattle drive in order to get to London. Once there, she secures a position with Florence Nightingale to learn how to nurse. This means giving up Deio, her family and all that is safe and familiar to her. But she is driven to find a way to a life that contains more meaning than the one she left behind.

Julia Gregson brings to life the difficult struggle that was the infancy of the nursing profession. Before Florence Nightingale, most nurses were considered little better than prostitutes and treated accordingly. Many were alcoholics and most came from the lowest levels of society. This was an interesting, absorbing novel with vivid characters and a sense of realism that made it hard to put down.

Band of Angels is published by Touchstone, ISBN 978-1-4391-0113-1. Visit Julia's website here.

Thanks to the very generous publisher (thank you, Kelly!), I have four copies to give away! Winners will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on June 1.

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Review & Giveaway: Claude & Camille, A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell

2010-05-05T18:18:00.001-07:00

"Sometimes he dreamt he held her; that he would turn in bed and she would be there. But she was gone, and he was old...."

This is one of the most powerful lines in this novel, and one of my favorites, right at the beginning, as an elderly Claude Monet remembers his first wife, his love, his muse, the beautiful but fragile Camille.

They met when he was a young painter, impoverished, full of hope and dreams and possessing fantastic friends, who are also fellow artists. But Claude had no money and little support from the father who had expected his son to take over the family business.

Camille came from a sheltered and well off family who were appalled when she took up with an artist, lived with him and had a child before they were even married. Her family cut her off and Claude was never able to provide for her in the way that she was accustomed to, try as he might. And he did try, but his art was a harsh taskmaster and they gave up much so that he could devote his time and energy to painting.

Claude Monet, age 25 (oh boy, he DOES look like Johnny Depp!)

Claude's close circle of artist friends encompassed all those who would become known as the Impressionists: Aususte Renoir, Frederic Bazille, Camille Pissarro, Edouard Manet. They were all very close and this novel does a brilliant job of bringing them all to life, so you feel the comradeship, hunger, suffering and joy of their early days in Paris.

Camille Monet

Eventually, the strain of their haphazard existence began to tell on Camille, revealing tendencies toward depression and melancholy that had first appeared in her childhood. Though she and Claude truly loved each other, they struggle in their lives together. Again and again, they are saved by their caring friends.

The Monet Family, 1874, painted by Edouard Manet

This is a brilliant historical novel, clearly written by an author that has a deep appreciation and understanding of art in general and impressionism in particular. I know nothing at all about art but came away from this book with such admiration for those that can look at a scene and see the play of light and color...and be able to translate that to canvas. An utterly breathtaking book, I loved it and highly recommend it!

Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet is published by Crown, ISBN 978-0-307-46321-0

I have one copy available to give away. Winner will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on May 19th.

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Guest Post: The Surprises of the Real Claude Monet by Stephanie Cowell, author of Claude & Camille

2010-05-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today The Tome Traveller's Weblog is pleased to welcome Stephanie Cowell! Stephanie is the author of the new historical fiction novel Claude & Camille, which tells the story of Claude Monet and his beloved wife, Camille. Since Stephanie has a background in art, I wondered if she had uncovered anything in her research for this novel that really surprised her about the life of Monet, or changed her previous feelings about him and his art.

Stephanie Cowell

Well, yes, I was utterly surprised through a great deal of my research.

I think most people have generalized conceptions of the great artists of history. Shakespeare looked like a marble bust. The Bronte sisters ran around the moors. Van Gogh loved sunflowers and cut off his ear. Monet was always old, pot-bellied, bearded and painted water lilies….and so on. We don’t have time to really know things in depth; life is just too vast. We pass a lovely engagement calendar with a Japanese bridge and we think “Monet!” We suppose he might have married someone. But until we know more he is a lovely coffee mug or a mouse pad.

I first encountered the person I began to think of rather intimately as Claude in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum called The Origins of Impressionism. This exhibition had gathered together paintings of the 1860s by the several young men who would be known years later as impressionists. Most were in their twenties. I was struck how very young Claude was and, when I decided to write about him, I began to collect what books I could on his life. At the same time I found a portrait of him by a friend when he was twenty-five and was very startled. This was no pot-bellied old fellow; this was a hot-headed, impatient, drop-dead gorgeous young guy. He might have been a gypsy. He reminded me of Johnny Depp when young.

And so I became fascinated with the young man who would become the old man. But what was he like? Each writer saw him differently. He was very poor then and some people saw him as cold and opportunistic, and others as charming and the best friend in the world. Fortunately, a diary recently discovered written by one of his older friends portrayed him as very charming. I could not make a hero from a man I could not love. (And no, he was not easy to be married to, as tender and caring as he could be; the painting always was first. It was in his blood like something wild in him.)

What I realized in studying his very difficult, impoverished life on his 20s and 30s was what a long road it was to the water lily paintings. He did not begin those really until his 60s and he was chasing light with his paintbrush for a long time before that. To many people these garden paintings of bridges and flowers and willows are blissfully serene and we suppose the man who created them was serene as well. That is not true. He was serene only when he felt his painting went well. It was his endless restless search for light and color which created the serenity he left us in his garden and his works. “The work sometimes knows more than the artist,” my mentor Madeleine L’Engle used to tell us.

In his very last months of life, old and sick and sitting in his garden chair, having finished his great water lily panels which now hang in the Paris Orangerie, I think he knew serenity. I think then he knew he had accomplished the reason of his life, that he had fulfilled his purpose. It was a journey of almost seventy years. I am quite awed to consider how faithfully he pursued his vision of painting air and light no matter what his difficulties and how much of it he left to us.

Thank you so much for a fascinating guest post, Stephanie! I am so glad you decided to explore the early life of Monet, your utterly absorbing novel was the result!

For more information, be sure to visit Stephanie's website. And come back tomorrow to read my review of Claude & Camille!

Review and Giveaway: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

2010-04-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Bess Southerns lived all of her eighty plus years in Pendle Forest, a wise woman and herbalist who used old Latin prayers to bless and heal the sick. The Catholic rites and feast days had melded with the ancient pagan traditions and the two were inextricably entwined in Bess. She could not tell for sure where her power came from, the Virgin Mary or the Queen of Elfhame. But she vowed early on to use her ability only for good and never to delve into the dark side of her gift.

Such a promise proved hard to adhere to. The lives of the poor were very hard in the Puritan England of Elizabeth I. With the dissolution of the monasteries and convents went the aid to the poor that those houses provided. When power mad landlords oppressed and even abused their tenants, Bess was unable to refuse to help her lifelong friends, even if it meant delving into the black magic that shook her very soul.

Still, she and her family and friends were left alone for many years. She wielded her own sort of power, so that most were afraid to cross her. As her granddaughter Alizon grew, Bess was thrilled to see the family power passed down. Alizon was not, she wanted nothing to do with the family "gift". She only wanted a normal life.

With Queen Elizabeth's death came King James...and he was far less tolerant of Catholics than Elizabeth had been. Catholics became nearly synonymous with witches, making it easy for those in control to rid themselves of those that were unwanted or troublesome. And so, finally, Bess and her family and friends found themselves accused and imprisoned.

Pendle Hill

What a fantastically woven tale this is, hung on the threads of reality and brought to life by the wonderful imagination of Mary Sharratt. While the facts of this particular case are well documented, it takes a historical novel like this to allow the casual reader to appreciate the atmosphere of time and place, to understand the political and social undercurrents that have long been lost. This is where a historical novelist truly shines, as the author certainly does with Daughters of the Witching Hill.

Daughters of the Witching Hill is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ISBN 978-0-547-06967-8

Visit Mary's website for more information about the author and all of her books!

I have an extra copy that will go to the randomly drawn winner! For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on May 9th. The winner must have a US or Canada mailing address.

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Guest Post: In the Shadow of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt, author of Daughters of the Witching Hill

2010-04-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Mary Sharratt, author of the excellent historical novel Daughters of the Witching Hill. I'm curious to know how being an American living abroad has shaped her writing and her choice of subject material. Welcome, Mary, and thank you so much for joining us!

People always tell aspiring writers to write what they know. What I know is travel: from landscape to landscape, country to county. The experience of otherness and strange homecomings in unfamiliar places. My writing has been shaped indelibly by my life as an eternal expat. Wanderlust infected me from an early age. I have been a traveler—and a foreigner—nearly my entire adult life.

Born and raised in Minnesota, I studied German in college. Later I married a Belgian. From the age of twenty-three onward I have lived in Belgium, Austria, and Germany. Then in 2002 we moved to the Pendle region in Lancashire, Northern England. It wasn’t long before the wild moorland cast its spell on me.

The back of our house looks out on Pendle Hill, famous throughout the world as the place where George Fox received his ecstatic vision that moved him to find the Quaker religion in 1652. Fewer people know that this region is also steeped in its lore of the Pendle Witches of 1612, the real people at the heart of my novel, Daughters of the Witching Hill.

When I moved to the region, I knew nothing of these Lancashire witches but was haunted by the images of witches I saw everywhere I went: on pub signs, private houses, sign posts, and even an entire fleet of commuter buses going into Manchester. At first I assumed that these witches were creatures of folklore and fairy tale. But then I became spellbound by their true and heartbreaking story.

In 1612, seven women and two men from Pendle Forest were hanged for witchcraft at Lancaster. But the most notorious of the accused, Elizabeth Southerns, aka Old Demdike, cheated the hangman by dying in prison before she came to trial.

This is what the court clerk, Thomas Potts, had to say about her in A Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster:

She was a very old woman, about the age of Foure-score yeares, and had been a Witch for fiftie yeares. Shee dwelt in the Forrest of Pendle, a vast place, fitte for her profession: What shee committed in her time, no man knowes. . . . Shee was a generall agent for the Devill in all these partes: no man escaped her, or her Furies.

Mary Sharratt

Bess was a cunning woman and healer of longstanding repute and had practiced her craft for decades before anyone dared to interfere with her or stand in her way. I believe she was so frightening to her enemies because she was a woman who embraced her power wholeheartedly.

Once I learned her story, I had to write a novel about her. Other novels have been written about the Pendle Witches, but the ones I’ve read don’t portray the witches in a very good light. I wanted to give the story back to Bess, give this woman what her world denied her—her own voice.

It meant a great deal to me to inhabit the same landscape as my heroine—her saga unfolded almost literally in my backyard. Researching this book wasn’t a mere exercise of reading books, then typing sentences into my computer. To do justice to these real people, I had to go out into the land—literally walk in my characters’ footsteps. Using the Ordinance Survey Map, I located the site of Malkin Tower, once home to Bess and her family. Now only the foundations remain. I board my horse near Read Hall, once home to Roger Nowell, the witchfinder and prosecuting magistrate responsible for sending the Pendle Witches to their deaths. Every weekend, I walked or rode my chestnut mare down the tracks of Pendle Forest. Quietening myself, I learned to listen, to allow Bess’s voice to well up from the land. Her passion, her tale enveloped me.

As a writer, I am obsessed with history and place, how the true stories of our ancestors haunt the living landscape. No one in Pendle can remain untouched by the witches’ legacy. I hope you will be as moved by their story as I am.

Be sure to come back Tuesday for my review of Daughters of the Witching Hill and to enter the drawing to win your own copy! And visit Mary's website for more information about her and all of her books.

Giveaway: This Body of Death by Elizabeth George

2010-04-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

I'm always very excited to get my hands on a new installment in one of my favorite mystery series, the Thomas Lynley series by Elizabeth George. This is a writer that looks into the minds and motivations of nearly all of her characters, not just the principal ones, and it gives the entire series a depth that you will be hard pressed to find elsewhere. Here's a synopsis of the latest, from the publisher:

On compassionate leave after the murder of his wife, Thomas Lynley is called back to Scotland Yard when the body of a woman is found stabbed and abandoned in an isolated London cemetery. His former team doesn't trust the leadership of their new department chief, Isabelle Ardery, whose management style seems to rub everyone the wrong way. In fact, Lynley may be the sole person who can see beneath his superior officer's hard-as-nails exterior to a hidden—and possibly attractive—vulnerability.

While Lynley works in London, his former colleagues Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata follow the murder trail south to the New Forest. There they discover a beautiful and strange place where animals roam free, the long-lost art of thatching is very much alive, and outsiders are not entirely welcome. What they don't know is that more than one dark secret lurks among the trees, and that their investigation will lead them to an outcome that is both tragic and shocking.

A multilayered jigsaw puzzle of a story skillfully structured to keep readers guessing until the very end, This Body of Death is a magnificent achievement from a writer at the peak of her powers.

Thanks to Kyle at Harper Collins, I have one copy to give away. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on May 5th. The winner will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address, no PO Boxes.

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Giveaway: The Queen's Pawn by Christy English

2010-04-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

This is turning out to be quite a year for new historical fiction authors! The Queen's Pawn is Christy English's first book (her second will be out in April of 2011...check out her website). Would you like to win a copy? I thought you might!

A historical novel of the legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine and the one person she loved more than power—her rival for the throne.

At only nine, Princess Alais of France is sent to live in England until she is of age to wed Prince Richard, son of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Alais is an innocent pawn on the chessboard of dynastic marriage, her betrothal intended to broker an uneasy truce between the nations.

Estranged from her husband, Eleanor sees a kindred spirit in this determined young girl. She embraces Alais as a daughter, teaching the princess what it takes to be a woman of power in a world of men. But as Alais grows to maturity and develops ambitions of her own, Eleanor begins to see her as a threat—and their love for each other becomes overshadowed by their bitter rivalry, dark betrayals, conflicting passions, and a battle for revenge over the throne of England itself.

-Synopsis courtesy of the publisher

I have one copy of The Queen's Pawn to give away. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on April 22nd. The winner will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Many thanks to Kaitlyn at Penguin for sponsoring this giveaway!

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Giveaway: Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

2010-04-06T18:36:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited to have a copy of Mistress of Rome, Kate Quinn's debut novel, to give away! Here is the synopsis from the publisher:

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, passionate, musical, and guarded. Purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea will become her mistress's rival for the love of Arius the Barbarian, Rome's newest and most savage gladiator. His love brings Thea the first happiness of her life-that is quickly ended when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

As Lepida goes on to wreak havoc in the life of a new husband and his family, Thea remakes herself as a polished singer for Rome's aristocrats. Unwittingly, she attracts another admirer in the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But Domitian's games have a darker side, and Thea finds herself fighting for both soul and sanity. Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of the brilliant and paranoid Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the Emperor's mistress.

Doesn't it sound fantastic? Can't wait to read it myself! For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on April 21st. The winner will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Many thanks to Kaitlyn at Penguin for sponsoring this giveaway!

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Review & Blog Tour: The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees

2010-04-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

"One cannot judge things by the way they end."

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was, in many ways, a woman way ahead of her time. Her formative years were spent in physical labor and poverty, yet her mind was nurtured by conversations between her philosophical father and some of America's most literate men...the likes of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Don't you wonder what she saw with those dark eyes and what she is thinking of behind them?

I do, too. And so did author Kelly O'Connor McNees. In fact, that is one of the things that drove her to create this debut novel. With imagination, insight and tons of research, she tells the story of twenty two year old Louisa, caught between duty to her family and her intense desire to support herself with what she felt was her God given talent...writing.

Love and marriage were not part of her plans. A woman's place in the home in 1855 was a harsh one, filled with the never ending tasks of cleaning, cooking and child rearing. Louisa realizes that marriage to anyone will inevitably drop these tasks onto her shoulders and, while she is no stranger to hard work, she knows such work will sap her ability to write. If she marries she will never live her dream of being a published author.

Her faith in herself and her strength of will is tested when she meets Joseph Singer, a young man who is able to touch her mind and tempt her away from her long awaited goal. Through the author's weaving of this fictional relationship, we come a little closer to understanding the Louisa of the photograph, a woman whose abilities cut through the gender and class restraints of her time and made her one of the most beloved authors in literature.

This is a lovely novel, well written, smart and most of all true to the spirit of Louisa May Alcott and her books. I devoured this one, loved every minute of it and will be eagerly anticipating the author's next book!!

Kelly O'Connor McNees

Kelly has a fantastic website with info about the book, Louisa May Alcott and more (click here). She is going to be at the River Run Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH on April 27th at 7 pm...I can't wait! I'll be there with my galley clutched in my hand. For a complete list of Kelly's appearances, click here.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is published by Amy Einhorn Books, ISBN 978-0-399-15652-6. Click here for a complete list of blog tour stops, hosted by TLC Book Tours.

Review: Shadow of the King by Helen Hollick (Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, Book Three)

2010-04-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

Though it has been a struggle, Arthur and Gwenhwyfar have somehow managed to put their lives back together after the deaths of all three of their sons. Their small daughter and sole surviving child, Archfedd, is their joy and the kingdom of Britain their solace and responsibility. But they never can seem to agree when it comes to Arthur's decisions about the ruling of it.

An urgent summons for assistance from across the sea in Gaul arrives and Arthur, against Gwenhwyfar's pleading, cannot resist the promise of action. Despite the fact that his absence will leave Britain without a leader, he is restless and drawn to the excitement that battle brings.

The summons is a trap. After prolonged delays the battle is finally fought and Arthur is killed, as was intended by the plotters all along. Chaos and despair reign across Britain, there will never be another King like Arthur. As the fate of an entire nation hangs in the balance, those who loved him must try to pull together to save the island nation from being torn to pieces by those hungry for wealth and power.

As I've said before, this series is one of my very favorites. I read it years ago, in the 1990s, it played a large part in the development of my love for historical fiction. It doesn't get done any better than this! If you like historical fiction that comes alive, is thoroughly researched, smart and intricate, this is the series for you. Helen Hollick is, in a word, excellent. I can't recommend her or her novels any higher, they are simply the best. If you haven't read them yet, you are MISSING OUT!!!

Check out my reviews for the first book, The Kingmaking and the second, Pendragon's Banner. And click here for a wonderful guest post that Helen wrote for me during the blog tour for The Kingmaking.

You can find Helen's website here. Many thanks to Sourcebooks for providing my review copy (and for re-releasing this fantastic series!).

Shadow of the King is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-1890-3.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

2010-03-17T11:21:00.001-07:00

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

Review & Blog Tour: The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen

2010-03-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

"Will I ever understand the workings of the human heart? Will I ever know why we so often love those whom we cannot possess, and why we do not cherish those whose love we do possess? We are as thistledown twitching and turning in the current, captives to feelings we cannot control. How are we to understand those persons who mean the most to us when we cannot truly understand our own blind and hapless selves?"

Sofonisba Anguissola

Lynn Cullen's novel, The Creation of Eve, tells the story of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first gifted female painter of the Renaissance. She studied with Michelangelo and her work was noted in her own time in The Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari, but she has largely been forgotten by the modern world.

Early in her life, Sofi displayed a talent for drawing. Her father, a printer and bookseller, defied convention and encouraged her to develop her gift. Painting, at the time, was a pastime for men, like most other activities. So his support was crucial for her success. She was invited by renowned artist Michelangelo to study with him after he saw one of her sketches. While in Rome, she meets Tiberio Calcogni, another student of Michelangelo's. She falls in love with him but their single assignation is discovered. She flees for her home in Cremona, fearing the consequences.

She hopes to hear an offer of marriage from Tiberio, but none is made. In order to save her own reputation and that of her family, Sofi accepts a position as lady-in-waiting to King Philip of Spain's third wife, Elisabeth of Valois. Doing so requires her to give up her dream of becoming a master painter. (Employees of the king are not allowed to sign their work. Sofi's portraits done after her arrival in Spain are unsigned, resulting in confusion and mis-attribution of her work to contemporary male artists.)

King Philip had been married twice before (most notably to Mary Tudor of England) and widowed twice. His ambition to marry Elizabeth I of England after the death of her sister has come to nothing. So, he is in his early thirties when he marries Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of Catherine de Medici of France. She is just fourteen years old.

Elisabeth of Valois

Sofi grows to love the young, impetuous Queen. But she is increasingly troubled by Elisabeth's developing interest in the King's half brother, Don Juan. The relationship between the King and Queen is often strained. He is saddled with the enormous task of running an empire that spreads over most of Europe. He does not have the youth or glamour of Don Juan and can't take the time to try to truly win the heart of his wife. The result is a love triangle that can never result in a happy ending. Sofi can only be there for the Queen and do her best to lessen the friction that exists between the three.

King Philip II of Spain

When Sofi eventually hears the fate of Michelangelo and her beloved Tiberio, she is devastated. But she cannot afford to show her pain and grief, the inquisition is in full swing. And though she is only a lady-in-waiting, she has developed enemies. She will have to tread carefully to emerge successfully from the embroiled court of Philip II.

Lynn Cullen

This is historical fiction at its best! Fascinating real life characters with life breathed into them by a talented writer with a gift for imagining the possibilities so well that the story feels not only possible, but probable. I loved Sofi and her story and appreciated a look at Philip of Spain that was not through the eyes of any of the Tudors. A lovely book, vividly imagined, full of rich history. I loved it and highly recommend it!

All of the paintings displayed on this page were painted by Sofonisba Anguissola.

For more information about the author and her books, please visit her website. You can also see more of Sofi's paintings at Lynn's website, click here.

The Creation of Eve is published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, ISBN 978-0-399-15510-6.

Many thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing my review copy! You can see all the other stops on the blog tour here.

Review & Giveaway: Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein

2010-03-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

For the past two years, Jenna Rosen's life has been in a tailspin. A terrible accident while on a family vacation to Alaska resulted in the drowning of Jenna's only child, six year old Bobby. Though Jenna's husband, Robert, seems to have gotten past the grief and pain, she has not been able to do the same. Therapy, medication, alcohol...she has tried them all and is still in a fog.

Enduring another boring party business party of Robert's is the last straw, Jenna has to get away. She takes the car and leaves, driving north from Seattle, and finds herself unable to stop. When she reaches Bellingham she finds herself at the Alaska ferry station. Impulsively, she buys a ticket, deciding to visit Wrangell, the town where her Native American grandmother lived and died. She pushes from her mind the fact that Wrangell is only a few miles from where Bobby drowned.

From the moment she arrives in Wrangell, strange things start to happen to Jenna. As she teases out the meaning of her strange dreams and odd happenings, an unbelievable story starts to emerge. The Kushtaka, spirits of the local Native American tribe, the Tlingit, are legendary for their collection of human souls, usually those who have drowned. The soul is then trapped with the Kushtaka and cannot rest. The more Jenna hears about this story, the more convinced she is that Bobby has been taken and must be helped to escape the Kushtaka so that he can be at peace. For help she turns to Eddie, a wounded fisherman who takes Jenna into his home and David, a Shaman who has had previous experience with the Kushtaka. They are all skeptical, it is a leap of faith for all concerned.

This is a story with a familiar theme, the loss of a child and the path of the parent to survival afterward. But the mystical quality of Garth Stein's tale makes it unique and special, bringing centuries old myth into the modern world. At times chilling, haunting and touching, Raven Stole the Moon is an emotional journey readers won't want to miss.

Garth Stein is also the author of the widely acclaimed novel,The Art of Racing in the Rain. For more information about all of his books, please visit his website.

Raven Stole the Moon is published by Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-180638-4

I really enjoyed this unconventional novel, would you like to win a copy? Just leave me a comment here with your email address. You must enter by midnight eastern time on March 20 and you must have a US or Canada mailing address. Winner will be drawn at random and notified via email. Many thanks to Sarah at Terra Communications for providing my review copy and the one for the giveaway!!

Review: Catch of a Lifetime by Judi Fennell

2010-02-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Angel Tritone has always been fascinated with humans. As a mermaid, and a princess of the Mer family who rule the undersea world, she is the one that studies human ways, collects human items, wears human clothes. And she would like to put that accumulated knowledge to good use with a job as head of the new conservation coalition that is being discussed among the High Council. Not that the council is eager to consider her for the position, but she is determined to convince them that she is the Mer for the job.

To that end, Angel decides to do some close observation. Unfortunately her plans go awry when when she is chased by Harry the shark and ends up stranded on the deck of a boat where she befriends six year old Michael. He is a sweet, smart kid with a gorgeous dad, Logan, and soon Angel is falling for both of them. She tells herself that the time she spends with them on land is excellent research....

Logan can't believe that he has found a beautiful, kind woman who seems to care for both him and his son. But Angel can't bring herself to tell him the truth about herself and Logan is understandably furious when he finds out. He pushes Angel away and she leaves...but when Michael tries to find her the results are disastrous.

Catch of a Lifetime is the third book in Judi Fennell's fun, sexy under-the-sea series, the first two books are In Over Her Head and Wild Blue Under. All of them are witty and wonderful, full of interesting characters of all types: humans, mers, birds, reptiles, sharks, sea monsters. Well, one sea monster...Ceto is in a class by herself.

Have the winter blues, need some escape from the snow/rain/wind/cold? (I know I do!) Pick up these books, they will take you away to a sandy beach with warm blue water...what could be better than that? For more information about all three books, visit Judi Fennell's website.

Catch of a Lifetime is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-2428-7. My review copy was provided by the publisher.

Review: Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware

2010-02-27T17:00:00.001-08:00

***Well, I've had a good long break...let's see if I can get back to it!***

Jane Maxwell was always a wild child. Growing up in Edinburgh, the daughter of impoverished aristocrats, she led her sisters and her best friend Thomas Fraser in adventure after adventure, each more outrageous than the last. At the age of eleven she lost part of a finger after riding a pig through the town, earning her mother's anger and displeasure for damaging her most valuable child. Jane was the one beautiful daughter her mother possessed and she was determined to shore up the family's failing finances by marrying Jane off to a wealthy man.

Unfortunately, Thomas was Jane's choice. And Thomas' parents had lost their land and their lives in the Highland clearances. His only hope of getting any of their ancestral lands back was to join the army and sail for America to fight for England in the Revolution. Jane begged him to consider eloping before he left, both her mother and Thomas' guardian were against them. Though they promise themselves to each other, they do not marry before Thomas leaves.

When word comes that Thomas has been killed by Indians, she is completely devastated. For months she is unable to function at all. Eventually, though, she finds a little bit of comfort in her friendship with Alexander, who happens to be the Duke of Gordon. He seems to understand Jane's pain, he recently lost his beloved mistress in childbirth. The more she gets to know Alex, the more comfortable she is with him. Soon it is apparent that Alex wants to marry her and Jane is unable to resist her mother's constant pressure to accept his proposal.

Of course, Thomas isn't dead at all. His return will tear Jane apart and shape the rest of her life. As she attempts to live with the jealous man that she married, bearing children and outwardly fulfilling her role as Duchess, she throws herself into the tumult of politics and social issues. She advises King George and becomes a patroness of Robert Burns. She assuages the pain in her heart by cultivating her brain, earning a position in eighteenth century Europe that few women achieved.

Island of the Swans is a fantastic historical novel, rich with the lush scenery of Scotland, the glitter of London and lively, interesting characters. The whole reason that I love this genre is the opportunity to learn about historical figures that you might never know about otherwise, like Jane Maxwell, the fourth Duchess of Gordon. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more books by Ciji Ware.

Island of the Swans is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-2268-9. My review copy was provided by Sourcebooks.

Giveaway: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

2010-01-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, I am still AWOL. All I can say is, when it rains, it pours. One of these days (soon, I hope!) I am going to get my concentration back enough to finish a book and write a coherent review about it. In the meantime, how about a giveaway?

On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever...

On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound...

At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency...

These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls "an absolute must-read." - Synopsis courtesy of the publisher

This one would be a great choice for your book group, you will find an excellent reading group guide here.

Thanks to Valerie at Hachette, I have two copies to give away. To enter, just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. You can enter thru midnight eastern on January 30. Winner must have a US or Canada mailing address, no PO Boxes. Many thanks for visiting & entering!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

New Years Widget by Widgia

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous 2010!!

Giveaway: Small Wars by Sadie Jones

2009-12-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

The prizewinning author of The Outcast delivers the emotionally searing story of a marriage in crisis, an unflinching look at lives irrevocably altered by one of history's "small wars."

Hal Treherne is a major in the British Army, a young and dedicated soldier on the brink of a brilliant career. When he is transferred to the British colony of Cyprus in 1956, Hal is joined by Clara, his beautiful and supportive wife, and their baby daughters. The Trehernes quickly learn that the Mediterranean is no "sunshine posting," however, and soon Hal is caught up in the battle to defend the island against Cypriots seeking enosis, union with Greece.

Leading his men in difficult and bloody skirmishes, after years of peaceful service, Hal at last tastes triumph. But his confidence and pride quickly fade: traumatized by the brutality he witnesses—and thwarted again in his attempts to do the right thing—Hal finds himself well trained in duty but ill equipped for moral battle.

A seasoned army wife, Clara shares her husband's sense of obligation. She knows to settle in quickly, make no fuss, smile. But as she struggles to trust her own maternal instincts and resist the anxiety that surges with Hal's frequent absences, Clara grows fearful of her increasingly distant husband. When she needs him most, Clara finds the once-tender Hal a changed man—a betrayal that is only part of the shocking personal crisis to come.

What place is there for honor amid cruelty, and what becomes of intimacy in the grinding gears of empire? A passionate and brilliantly researched novel about the effects of war on the men who wage it and the families they leave behind, Small Wars raises important questions that resonate for our own time.

-Synopsis courtesy of the publisher

Harper Collins has generously provided two copies for this giveaway! For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on January 20. The winner will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address.

+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment
+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did

Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!

Giveaway: The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell

2009-12-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

In a clash of heroes, the kingdom is born.

At the end of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in ill health; his heir, an untested youth. His enemy, the Danes, having failed to conquer Wessex, now see their chance for victory. Led by the sword of savage warrior Harald Bloodhair, the Viking hordes attack. But Uhtred, Alfred's reluctant warlord, proves his worth, outwitting Harald and handing the Vikings one of their greatest defeats.

For Uhtred, the sweetness of victory is soon overshadowed by tragedy. Breaking with Alfred, he joins the Vikings, swearing never again to serve the Saxon king. Instead, he will reclaim his ancestral fortress on the Northumbrian coast. Allied with his old friend Ragnar—and his old foe Haesten—he aims to invade and conquer Wessex itself.

Yet fate has different plans. The Danes of East Anglia and the Vikings of Northumbria are plotting the conquest of all Britain. When Alfred's daughter pleads with Uhtred for help, he cannot refuse her request. In a desperate gamble, he takes command of a demoralized Mercian army, leading them in an unforgettable battle on a blood-soaked field beside the Thames.

In The Burning Land, Bernard Cornwell, "the reigning king of historical fiction" (USA Today), delivers a rousing saga of Anglo-Saxon England—an irresistible new chapter in his thrilling Saxon Tales, the epic story of the birth of England and the legendary king who made it possible.

-Synopsis courtesy of the publisher

Harper Collins has generously provided two copies for this giveaway! For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on January 18. The winner will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address.

+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment
+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did

Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

2009-12-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen—and kissed me there.

~Mistletoe by Walter de la Mare

Wishing everyone the happiest of holiday seasons!

Guest Post: Karen White, author of The Girl on Legare Street

2009-12-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

Today The Tome Traveller's Weblog welcomes author Karen White! I enjoy Karen's books so much (see my review of The Lost Hours here). Her most recent book is The Girl on Legare Street, sequel to The House on Tradd Street. Thank you for joining us, Karen!

People are surprised when I tell them that my life isn’t glamorous. Sure, my eleventh novel hit bookstores in November and even managed to reach the New York Times extended list, and my publisher is already working on a major book tour for the release of book #12 in May, and I just bought the cutest, most impractical yet expensive shoes just to wear on TV interviews. But at the moment, I’m dressed like a homeless woman because I’m in “just finished a book and now I’ve got to get into the holidays” mode, I’ve been yelled at twice by each resident teenager (not including the one “You can’t make me!” from the 16-year-old male child regarding his haircut appointment later this afternoon), I’m sitting on a bed covered with three loads of unfolded laundry and umpteen unwrapped presents and wrapping paper, and I’m thinking I need to take the dog to the vet tomorrow because he’s chewing on his leg which means he has another skin infection.

See what I mean?

Sure, I get lots of fan mail—my favorite part of this job—but all I have to do is glance up at the sticky kitchen counters, the shoes, text books, and sports apparatus scattered liberally around the house like pepper on scrambled eggs, and I’m back to the reality of my non-glamorous life.
I don’t want to burst anybody’s fantasy bubble, but I feel a dire need to set the record straight. I recently signed a two-book contract for the continuation of my Tradd Street mystery series, but the books are going to come out two years apart because I simply couldn’t fathom keeping up with writing two books a year and having a life, glamorous or otherwise. When I mentioned this at a book club, the readers—and I love them all!—were up in arms that they would have to wait so long between installments. I told them if I could get the two teenagers, husband, guinea pig and dog to move in with them for a year, I might be able to write a bit faster. Oddly enough, I didn’t have any takers.

Yesterday, as I was cleaning dog vomit from the back seat of my car, I found myself wondering why I make my life so crazy. Why do I have to write? Couldn’t I just keep to a leisurely schedule of a book every five years or so? The answer is easy: no. Writing isn’t just something I do—it’s who I am. When I get a story snagged in my brain, I’m compelled to write it—even if it means carting my laptop to the carpool line, the horse barn, the football field or the laundry room to get it written.

In my November book, The Girl on Legare Street, the protagonist, Melanie Middleton, is forced to reunite with her mother 33 years after her mother abandoned her. There are so many hurts and misunderstandings in their relationship until Melanie discovers the real reason why her mother left her all those years ago. But that’s more than three decades lost to both of them, decades of stories Melanie and her mother never shared with each other. And in all that time, Melanie relegated her mother to her past, as if she’d never existed and her stories didn’t matter.
I don’t want to be like Melanie; I want to experience life and all its stories—good and bad—then put them down onto the pages of books to share with others. Even if it means getting less sleep than I should, and sometimes picking my children up from school at 3:30 in the afternoon still wearing the pajamas I wore when I dropped them off.

My life might not be glamorous, but it’s mine, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Besides, my children won’t be teenagers forever, and before long I’ll have a quiet, orderly life and house, and they’ll be calling me and telling me how wonderful I am and asking for my advice about life. And if that doesn’t happen, then I’ll just have to write them into my books so I can bend them to my will. Hey, I’m the writer and in my world, fantasies happen.

For more information about Karen and all of her books, please visit her website. Merry Christmas!

Review & Blog Tour: Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan

2009-12-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

After surviving three painful miscarriages and a devastating divorce, Anna O'Shea has given up her draining law practice and tried to put the scattered pieces of her life back together. A trip with a girlfriend to the British Isles is part of her healing process, including a quick one day stopover in Ireland on the way home. They have time to visit just one castle. As she is leaving, Anna meets an elderly Irish woman who says that she has been waiting for her. She gives Anna a small wrapped package, which gets tossed unopened into her luggage.

And there the package lies, forgotten. Once home in Massachusetts, Anna falls into a jet lagged sleep, only to be awoken abruptly by the telephone. Her mother is calling to tell her that her only sibling, her brother Patrick, has been in a horrible car accident. He was on his way to New Jersey to pick up his son, Anna's sixteen year old nephew Joseph, who had been arrested.

Eventually Anna is the one who springs the boy from jail. She has always tried to be there for Joseph, just as she always tried to be there for Patrick. She knows first hand the awful pain of child whose father is given to sudden rage. Her father had been volatile and she can see the same trait repeated in her brother.

They arrive home late, too late to visit the hospital. During the night, Joseph has a dream that sends him, almost still dreaming, out to the living room to go through his aunt's baggage. Just as he picks up the mysterious package from Ireland, Anna walks in and assumes the worst. As she angrily grabs at what he holds in his hands, both are sucked into a violent vortex and pulled apart...

When Anna awakens she is on a cold beach, battered and bloody, with a serious wound in her leg. Joseph is nowhere to be found, though she searches with the last of her strength. The people who find her and save her life are kind and generous with what little they have. But as she heals, she begins to realize that she is not in 2009. It is a shock to learn that it is the year 1844 and she is in Ireland. The Ireland of her own ancestors.

At first she is so weak and sick, it takes weeks to recover the strength just to walk. Her focus every day is to find a way to locate Joseph and figure out a way to get back to their own time. But it is impossible not to become entwined in the lives of the Irish people and it is a constant struggle for Anna to maintain a plausible story and refrain from mentioning anything that might color future events. She has no way of knowing if their very presence in the past will change their own future.

Time travel books have a special place in my heart and I am always drawn to them. I remember reading Ray Bradbury's short story "A Sound of Thunder" as a teenager, I think that is where it started. Next came the fantastic novel Time and Again by Jack Finney and I was a convert. Since then, I have been fascinated by the process and the possibilities...or maybe I should say possible repercussions. I liked that Ms. Sheehan's mode of time travel was a dangerous, bloody business. It seems so much more plausible than the fall asleep in one time, wake up in another that is usually used in novels. She even mentions string theory (my Dad would love that)! She knits together the lives of the characters in a subtle but magical way, and presents them with enough drama to draw in any reader. This is an absorbing story that I truly enjoyed.

For more information about Jacqueline Sheehan and her books, please visit her website.

I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour. For a complete list of tour stops, click here.

Now & Then is published by Avon, ISBN 978-0-06-154778-2

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

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:

+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment
+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did

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

2009-11-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-02T13:41:00.001-08:00

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

Review: The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes (plus a Giveaway!)

2009-10-31T17:49:00.001-07:00

From her happy and carefree childhood to her loveless marriage, Elizabeth Plantagenet always did her duty. Born the oldest daughter of Edward IV and his hated Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, she grew up in a world of privilege. Except for the months spent in sanctuary while her father was fighting to keep his crown.

She was a loving daughter and sister, there to support her family through the dark times that were to come. After their father's sudden death, the entire family once again sought the protection of the church, but to no avail. Elizabeth's two brothers, both heirs to the throne, were taken away and never seen again. Like so many others in a turbulent world, they were sacrificed to a powerful man's ambition.

Through all of the twisting, swirling political currents, Elizabeth maintained her poise and grace, trying desperately to avoid the type of machinations that her mother excelled at. And for the most part, she succeeded.

Just once, though, she took a great chance to change her own future. When she was sure that her uncle, Richard III, had murdered her brothers, she conspired to support another claimant to the throne. She took steps to invite young Henry Tudor, who had royal blood, to both overthrow King Richard and marry her to cement his claim. As a beautiful young woman, she wove dreams of love around the handsome Henry and waited with longing to meet him after his victory.

Her dreams were destined to be smashed, though their enterprise was wholly successful. Elizabeth and Henry founded a dynasty, the Tudors ruled England for many peaceful years. But Henry turned out to be cold and unloving...she never found the companion she had hoped for, though she found joy in her children.

Margaret Campbell Barnes first published this fascinating look at Elizabeth Plantagenet in 1953, bringing to life the world of a woman who had been largely forgotten, or at least overshadowed completely by her wildly famous son, Henry VIII and granddaughter, Elizabeth I. She was far ahead of her time, considering how popular historical fiction in general, and Tudor historical fiction in particular, has become in the past few years.

Elizabeth's world is lovingly created by this author, so that it comes to life with all the color and vibrance that are the hallmarks of excellent historical fiction. The story is fast paced and interesting (which is quite a compliment, because I already knew the facts and was still intrigued). If you are looking for the next Philippa Gregory or Sharon Kay Penman, give Margaret Campbell Barnes a try...she was writing what we want to read today fifty years ago!

The Tudor Rose is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-2468-3

Sourcebooks is providing one copy for a giveaway! To enter, just leave a comment here letting me know who your favorite Plantagenet or Tudor is. Winner must have a US or Canada mailing address and will be drawn at random. Enter until midnight eastern time on November 7. Thank you and good luck everyone!

Blog Tour: A Land Beyond Ravens by Kathleen Cunningham Guler (and an Apology)

2009-10-28T14:36:00.001-07:00

First, the apology. I have had some medical issues come up suddenly about two weeks ago and it has really affected my reading. Basically, I haven't been doing any. It has been very hard to concentrate and so I am extremely behind. There are several reviews that need to go up but I won't be able to get to them when I was supposed to. I am going to work hard to catch up, but if I owe a review for your book it is going to be late. I am very, very sorry and I promise to get caught up as soon as possible!

One of the books I haven't read yet is A Land Beyond Ravens. The author was kind enough to send me all four books, since this one is the fourth in the series. I did read the first one, Into the Path of Gods, and I really enjoyed it. It is wonderful, complex historical fiction that reminded me of Helen Hollick's books (you all know how much I love her work!). I am so looking forward to reading the remaining books and will post reviews as I get to them.

I do want to point out that all of these books have some of the nicest bindings that I have ever seen. They have sturdy covers that feel wonderful under your fingers and are of much higher quality than most of the big publishers hardbacks.

Kathleen Cunningham Guler has a fantastic website here and several wonderful blogs: Lighting Up Britain's Dark Ages, Macsen's Treasure, Can't, I'm Booked, and Early Medieval Britain. If you love a good historical fiction series, give this one a try!

Review: The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns by Elizabeth Leiknes

2009-10-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Who would have the nastiness, the evil, the just plain meanness to take advantage of a ten year old kid's plea for help? Satan would, that's who!

When Lucy's sister, Ellen, has a terrible accident, Lucy turns to their playhouse mailbox. She leaves a note, a plea really, for the survival of her sister. Her only mistake was a certain vagueness in addressing it: "To Whom it May Concern" is not very exact, unfortunately. But it got a reply, and her sister recovered.

As the years went by, Lucy managed to forget about that reply, and the creepy "I'll be in touch" included within it. She even managed to overlook the birthday phone calls that she received thereafter, the ones that asked what she wished for and somehow granted those wishes, even when the wishes were for a prettier face and bigger boobs.

Then, in her first year of college, the Devil came to collect his due. Lucy was placed in his ranks as a "facilitator." There are some high points: she never ages, can eat anything she wants without gaining a pound. And she gets to do away with the some really evil humans, sending them down her basement stairs to hell. But the drawbacks are huge. She has to sever her link with her family, for fear of causing them harm. And she is not allowed to have a close relationship with a man, no boyfriends, husband, children, nothing like that. She is lonely.

After years of serving as Satan's minion, Lucy's luck turns one day when she learns that there is a way out. A loophole. By fulfilling three tasks, she can return to her normal life and be free of the job, and the boss, that she hates. But, of course, the tasks are not easy. They take ingenuity and courage, will Lucy have enough of both to break the bargain that she made when she was just a kid?

This book was such fun! It is well written, has some hilarious scenes and a truly likable heroine. The story moves along at a brisk pace, it is a short book that just speeds by. The whole thing is charming and quirky, it even contains some nods to classic literature. Try not to like this book...go ahead, try. I'll bet you won't be able to. It is lovable. I, for one, will be fascinated to see where Elizabeth Leiknes takes us next.

Halloween is coming up, this is a great book (and a quick read) to get you in the mood!

This review was originally published at Curled Up With a Good Book

Review & Blog Tour: The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl (plus a Giveaway!)

2009-10-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

In 1870 American publishing firms raced to obtain copies of new European books. The copyright laws did not stretch to international works, so there was no regulation prohibiting a competing firm from printing any book. There was great competition amongst the big publishing firms to be the first to print popular new works.

When Charles Dickens died suddenly on June 9, 1870 he was only half finished with the book that would be his last: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His American publishing house, the Boston firm of Fields, Osgood & Co, is anxiously awaiting the first half of the book to be delivered by ship. Young Daniel Sand, the assistant who was sent to the dock to pick up the pages, is killed on his way back to the offices. His death looks like an opium overdose, though his sister Rebecca, who also works at the company, knows that he was no addict.

The pages are replaced fairly easily, but Fields and Osgood both know that rival firm Harper & Brothers is breathing down their necks and will publish the first half of the book themselves as soon as the six installments comprising the first half of the book are published. The author's death means that the final six installments will never be written. Then they are inspired by a fantastic idea. If they go to England perhaps they can learn something about what the ending of the novel would have been. Armed with this information, Fields, Osgood & Co. would be in the enviable position of having exclusive content and would be assured of a bestseller, something their struggling firm badly needs.

The Great Charles Dickens, aka Chief, Inimitable, Boz

Originally, Fields was to have made the trip as senior partner. But he decides to send young James Osgood instead, along with Rebecca Sand as secretary. James is attacked on the ship going to London. The culprit, a swarthy fellow with a deadly walking stick, is captured and held in the ship's hold. Before they dock in England, though, the fellow has inexplicably escaped.

They have not seen the last of him. James and Rebecca take rooms at the inn across from Dickens' home, Gadshill Place. They have permission from the family to execute a search of the author's papers, though no one has any idea what the author's plans were for the last half of the novel. They find a few tiny clues, but not even the Queen of England was told how the book would end (Dickens offered to tell her, but she preferred to wait and read the installments with the rest of the British public).

As their search widens, they encounter more strange and eccentric people while following the twisting trail of Edwin Drood. Their time is running out, the last of the six installments will soon be published and they will have nothing to add to the final published book. Desperate to succeed, James accompanies a lunatic into London's violent opium dens, hoping to find more information...if he survives.

I really loved this fascinating mystery. It has everything, from a eye-opening look at the publishing industry of the period, both in America and England, to an equally hair raising lesson in the opium industry. I had no idea that whole areas of India were commanded by the ruling British government to grow nothing but poppies for the development of opium. Nothing else could be grown, not even food, so whole villages starved as a result.

The characters in the book are equally interesting (many of them were, of course, actual people), vividly drawn and so true to life that I sometimes felt I was reading non-fiction - though real life is seldom as action-packed as this book! Matthew Pearl has all his historical facts right and he blends them artfully into an absorbing, fast-paced thriller of a tale. Go and get The Last Dickens...you won't be disappointed!

I received this book courtesy of the publisher as part of the TLC Book Tour. To see the rest of the stops on the tour, click here. For more information about Matthew Pearl and his fantastic historical novels, please visit his website.

The Last Dickens is published by Random House, ISBN 978-1-4000-6656-8

The publisher has provided an extra copy for this giveaway! 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 October 30th. 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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+1 go to Matthew's website here and either sign the guestbook or sign up for the newsletter - make sure to let me know that you did in your comment!

Review & Blog Tour: The Return by Victoria Hislop

2009-10-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

Sonia's life in London is full, but not full of joy. She has a high stress job and a crumbling marriage. A chance stop at a dance studio and the resulting dance classes she enrolls in become the one area of her life that brings her happiness. So when her longtime friend Maggie decides to celebrate her birthday with a trip to Granada, Spain and asks Sonia to come, she jumps at the chance.

In Granada, the women decide to take dance classes and while Sonia is thrilled with the fun of the Salsa, Maggie is intrigued by the passion of the Flamenco dancers. While Maggie dances until dawn and sleeps all morning, Sonia is up early to enjoy the city.

On her first morning, she wanders to a small cafe, El Barril. She makes an unlikely friend there, her waiter Miguel, when she expresses an interest in the history of Granada and Spain. He turns out to be the owner of the cafe. When she goes inside, she is struck by the multitude of posters pasted on the wall, all showing one bullfighter or one flamenco dancer.

Their few days fly by and all too soon they are back in London. When Sonia goes to visit her elderly father she comes away with some surprising information. Her mother, who died from a degenerative disease when Sonia was a teenager, was from Granada. And her parents loved to dance when they were young, winning many competitions. But, as her father tells her, it was the fifties and everyone danced. She can't help but think that this is where her own love for dancing comes from.

As the weeks pass and Sonia's marriage becomes still worse, she thinks often of her time in Spain. Then, Maggie calls with the surprising news that she is going to live in Granada. She loved it there and can't stop thinking about it. As soon as she is settled, Sonia is invited to visit.

The first person Sonia wants to see after her arrival is Miguel. She has brought along a photo of her mother when she was young. She wants to know more about the history of her mother's birthplace. Miguel is the right one to ask. He tells her about the family who lived at and ran El Barril in the 1930's.

The Spanish Civil War was horrendous, bloody conflict. Miguel describes the war through the eyes of the Ramirez family, who owned the cafe. Pablo and Concha had four children: Antonio, a teacher; Ignacio, a bullfighter -and the man on the posters; Mercedes, a flamenco dancer -and the girl in the posters; and Emilio, a guitarist. Though they try to remain neutral, before long everyone is on one side or the other. The war turns brother against brother, even in the Ramirez family.

Mercedes is a talented young dancer and she is in love with a guitarist, a rising star named Javier Montero. The war separates the young couple as lines of communication are cut. Through the grief and tragedy Mercedes supports her family as best she can. But the day comes when she can wait no longer. If she is to have any chance at happiness in the war torn, hellish world she lives in, she must find Javier. She goes on foot, alone, walking from town to town, heartbroken by the violence and destruction everywhere but always searching.

When I was in London last April, The Return was out there and I saw it in every bookstore. So I was very excited to be able to read it for this tour. It is part modern novel with a bit of a mystery and part historical fiction. The author did a good job of describing the details of the Spanish Civil War, which I knew nothing at all about until I read this book. I did get a little confused about which political party was on what side at times, but that is probably due to my lack of education in this area. Which is why I love to read historical fiction! You gain some knowledge about a period while being totally entertained by a fantastic story. It is a vivid portrait of a turbulent time period. I really enjoyed it.

For more information about the author and her books, visit her website.

I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour. For a list of all the tour stops, click here.

The Return is published by Harper, ISBN 978-0-06-171541-9

Giveaway: Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby

2009-10-13T18:21:00.001-07:00

Another wonderful book that I reviewed last year, Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby, is out this month in paperback. I really enjoyed this one! (Click here for my review). And I have five copies to give away!

Theodore Mead Fegley has always been the smartest person he knows. By age 12, he was in high school, and by 15 he was attending a top-ranking university. And now, at the tender age of 18, he's on the verge of proving the Riemann Hypothesis, a mathematical equation that has mystified academics for almost 150 years. But only days before graduation, Mead suddenly packs his bags and flees home to rural Illinois. What has caused him to flee remains a mystery to all but Mead and a classmate whose quest for success has turned into a dangerous obsession.

At home, Mead finds little solace. His past ghosts haunt him; his parents don't understand the agony his genius has caused him, nor his desire to be a normal kid, and his dreams seem crushed forever. He embarks on a new life's journey -- learning the family business of selling furniture and embalming the dead--that disappoints and surprises all who knew him as "the young Fegley genius."

Equal parts academic thriller and poignant coming-of-age story, LIFE AFTER GENIUS follows the remarkable journey of a young man who must discover that the heart may know what the head hasn't yet learned.

~Synopsis from the publisher

The Reading Group Guide will soon be available here and find out more about the book and the author at her website.

Valerie at Hachette Book Group has provided five copies for me to give away (Thank you, Valerie)!! To enter, leave me a comment here. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address (no PO Boxes) and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on October 28th. 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: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

2009-10-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite books from last year is out in paperback... (you can read my review here)...and I have five copies to give away, courtesy of Valerie at Hachette Book Group! I was thrilled that I got to participate in the Blog Talk Radio interview that Miriam did with the author, Kathleen Kent. It was fascinating and I'm so looking forward to her next book! If you want to listen to the interview, you'll find it here.

This book is such a great autumn choice for your book group! There is an excellent reading group guide available from the publisher here.

Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live.

Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft.

This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived.

Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.

~Synopsis from the publisher

I have five copies for this giveaway. To enter, leave me a comment here. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address (no PO Boxes) and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on October 28th. 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
+1 leave a comment on my review

Review: Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick (Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, Book Two)

2009-10-12T13:31:00.001-07:00

It has only been a few years that Arthur has been Supreme King of Britain, and they have been hard ones. Constant battles with the Saxons and other enemies, frequently moving to new locations, living a nomadic life in tents, all have taken their toll on Queen Gwenhwyfar and their relationship. Add to that Arthur's inability to remain physically faithful to his wife, it has all strained the love they have for one another.

The world is a dangerous place and the strength of their relationship is tested time and again. Through heartbreaking grief and constant malicious attacks, they strive to maintain the happiness that they had when they were young. But at times, that seems impossible.

When Arthur finally founds his own hall at Caer Cadan, the peace and security that Gwenhwyfar has been longing for finally seem within reach. And for a few months it does seem as if the outside world has stopped its relentless interference and slumbered quietly.

It doesn't last long. Beset on every side by the vengeful and greedy, including Arthur's ex-wife Winifred and the witch Morgause, Arthur desperately tries to maintain the peace treaties that are in place. He finds how impossible it is to be two men at once, loving husband and ruling King.

Once again, the author delivers a vividly alive portrait of England in the Middle Ages, complete with the complex political struggles of a tribal nation. This is one of my favorite Historical Fiction series, it is filled with excitement and drama, human heroes and truly wicked villains. Highly, highly recommended. You can read my review of the first book, The Kingmaking, here.

For more information about Helen Hollick and all of her wonderful books, visit her website. Many thanks to Sourcebooks for providing my copy for review.

Pendragon's Banner: Book Two of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy is published by Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-1889-7

Review: A Marquis to Marry by Amelia Grey

2009-10-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

When the Dowager Duchess of Blooming drops by to see Alexander Raceworth during his big party, he is seriously annoyed. He keeps her waiting for quite a while, what on earth could the old biddy want that justifies dropping by unannounced? Imagine his surprise to find that the dowager is far from elderly. She is, in fact, his own age, thirty, very beautiful, and a widow.

Alexander's Grandmother has recently died and left him a fantastic string of valuable pearls, called The Talbot Pearls. The necklace has five perfectly matched strands of pearls, each thirty two inches long. They are stunning. And locked up safely. There has been quite a bit of interest in them lately, since his inheritance was mentioned in the society column of the papers. Already, three different men have approached him offering to buy the pearls.

Susannah, the Dowager Duchess of Blooming, wants them too. But she doesn't want to buy them! She claims that they belong to her own grandmother and were stolen. She even has the paperwork to prove it. There's no way that Alexander is going to hand over his Grandmother's pearls, papers or no papers. He is instantly intrigued, though, with Susannah. She won't leave without that necklace, so she rents the house behind his, settling in and planning to convince him to at least take a fair look at her evidence.

Of course, romance blossoms between Susannah and Alexander. When the pearls are stolen from the safe they are kept in, their budding relationship is ripped apart. They both have the same goal, to get the pearls back from whoever has stolen them. Though they start out separately, the course of their investigations will throw them together and give them the opportunity to try to repair the damage.

This book reminded me a little of the great Georgette Heyer novels. The characters have a snappy and witty dialogue, it is such fun to see them spar with each other! It is a fast, fun read that sparkles with humor. The London scene is vivid and interesting. It is sure to please fans of Historical Romance!

A Marquis to Marry: The Rogues' Dynasty is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1402217609

Review (& Blog Tour): Betsy's Wedding by Maud Hart Lovelace

2009-10-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

The tenth and final Betsy-Tacy book begins with Betsy's return from her travels in Europe as the first World War starts. Her ship is overcrowded, a very different experience from her trip over. But she is elated that Joe will be waiting for her at the dock in New York.

And waiting he is! He wants to make up for lost time and be married right away. Betsy travels back to her beloved family and friends in Minneapolis to break the news that Joe will follow her within a week and he doesn't want to wait for planning a wedding. Betsy despairs of getting her parents to agree, but Joe is persuasive. Before they know it they are man and wife, living in their own small apartment and socializing with "the Crowd," which hasn't really changed all that much since high school.

Like any newly married couple, there are adjustments to make for both of them, and a few hurdles, too. Betsy has never been very domestic and keeping house is a challenge. Even worse, she has no cooking skills! She sets out to be the best wife she can be, learning to cook as best she can, though she still puts aside time for her life's passion, writing. Soon, the outside world intrudes in the form of Joe's Aunt Ruth, and then the looming American involvement in the war becomes a certainty.

Maud Hart Lovelace

I have always been a reader, my entire life, for as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary school the school librarian would gently tease me when I came in: "Are you back again, haven't you already read everything we have?" My early favorites were indeed "Betsy books"...but they were a different series, written by Carolyn Haywood. I vaguely recall some confusion about some "other" Betsy books, but somehow I never got my hands on them.

Now, I can't believe that I missed them. I just read the entire series, all ten books, and I loved them. I can see why they are so beloved, spawning Betsy-Tacy Societies and clubs of grown women who just adore the books and the author, Maud Hart Lovelace. This series has taken its place with my other childhood favorites: the Little House books, the Anne of Green Gables books, the Narnia series. They are enchanting.

Betsy is, to this day and maybe even more importantly these days, a role model that any girl would profit from. She is smart, full of imagination, ambitious, honest, able to learn from her mistakes, a faithful friend, a loving sister (most of the time). It is truly astonishing that this character stands the test of time this way, but she is as refreshing and easy to relate to as she must have been in the 1940's when she first arrived on the scene.

All of the Betsy-Tacy books are more than a little autobiographical. Maud used her childhood, her family, her friends and her experiences to build the world in her stories. Most of the characters have real life counterparts and my favorite part of these books is the bit at the end that shows old photos of the real life people who inspired the characters.

There are some upcoming events celebrating the re-release of the Betsy-Tacy books:

10/23 Bainbridge Island, WA at the Library http://www.krl.org/index.php/bainbridge-island 11/7 Highland Village, TX Barnes and Noblehttp://storelocator.barnesandnoble.com/event/3010339-8
11/8 St. Paul, MN at the Red Balloon Bookshop http://www.redballoonbookshop.com/
4/17/10 Dallas, TX, Dallas Heritage Museum http://www.dallasheritagevillage.org/

I received this book as part of a TLC Book Tour. For reviews of the other books in the series, and all the other tour stops, click here.

Saturday Suggestions: Gillian Bradshaw

2009-10-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I posted a Saturday Suggestion (Saturday Suggestions are to highlight a book, series, or author that I have read in the past, before I started blogging). This week I want to share with you a fantastic historical fiction author, Gillian Bradshaw. I started reading her books years ago when I discovered her Arthurian Trilogy:

Hawk of May, Kingdom of Summer and In Winter's Shadow

Hawk of May was her first book, published in 1980, and she finished the first draft of that novel when she was only seventeen!

She also has written a number of novels set in Ancient Rome or the Ancient World. I've enjoyed all of them but I think Island of Ghosts is my favorite:

Island of Ghosts: A Novel of Roman Britain
The Sand-Reckoner
Alchemy of Fire
Horses of Heaven
Render Unto Caesar
Cleopatra's Heir
Imperial Purple
The Beacon at Alexandria
The Bearkeeper's Daughter
The Wolf Hunt

There are several newer titles that I haven't read yet (but can't wait to get my hands on!):

London in Chains: An English Civil War Novel
Dark North
The Sun's Bride

If you love historical fiction and are looking for something new, give one of these novels a try. I recommend them! You will find Gillian Bradshaw's website here.

Read the book BEFORE you see the movie Giveaway: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

2009-10-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

It is time for another read the book before you see the movie giveaway! Have you seen the trailer for the film, due out December 11th? It has the lush and beautiful look that all Peter Jackson's films have, while dealing with heartbreak and evil.

Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book -- a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world.

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

The major motion picture version of THE LOVELY BONES, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and Saoirse Ronan is scheduled for release on December 11, 2009.

Alice Sebold is the author of three #1 bestselling books, the novels The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon and the memoir Lucky. She lives in California with her husband, the novelist Glen David Gold.

~Synopsis courtesy of the publisher

Have you read the book yet? How about reading it with your book group, then you can all get together and go see the movie! (That's my plan -- you'll find the reading group guide here.) As I have confessed before, I can't see movies made from books unless I have read the book first! So, if you haven't read it, here is your chance. Valerie at Hachette Book Group has provided five copies for me to give away (Thank you, Valerie)!! To enter, leave me a comment here. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address (no PO Boxes) and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on October 23rd. 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!

Giveaway: The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton

2009-10-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Preston Clearwater has been a criminal since stealing two chain saws and 1,600 pairs of aviator sunglasses from the army during the Second World War. Back on the road in postwar North Carolina, now a member of a car-theft ring, he picks up hitchhiking Henry Dampier, an innocent twenty-year-old Bible salesman. Clearwater immediately recognizes Henry as smart but gullible, just the associate he needs--one who will believe Clearwater is working undercover for the F.B.I.; one who will drive the cars Clearwater steals as Clearwater follows along in his own car at a safe distance. Henry joyfully sees a chance to lead a dual life as a Bible salesman and a G-man.

During his hilarious and scary adventures, Henry grapples with doubts about the Bible's accuracy, and we learn of his fundamentalist upbringing, an upbringing that doesn't prepared him for his new life. As he falls in love with the captivating Marleen Green and questions his religious training, Henry begins to see he's being used--that he is on his own in a way he never imagined.

~Synopsis from the publisher

For more information, please visit the author's website, he has several events planned for October in North Carolina that sound like fun! Check it out if you are nearby. This one would be a great choice for your book group! The reading group guide is here.

Valerie at Hachette Book Group has provided five copies for me to give away (Thank you, Valerie)!! To enter, leave me a comment here. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address (no PO Boxes) and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on October 26th. 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

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R.F. Delderfield Giveaway: God is an Englishman & To Serve Them All My Days

2009-10-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

I love Sourcebooks! They are re-releasing some out of print classics that deserve space on any shelf. In celebration of their publication of R.F. Delderfield's wonderful novels, Danielle at Sourcebooks has provided one copy each of the following for this giveaway. These are lovely trade paperbacks, I have read both and provided links to my reviews.

To Serve Them All My Days: see my review here!

God is an Englishman: see my review here!

To enter, leave me a comment here telling me which book you would prefer to win. You can enter for both books but please leave a separate comment for each title. Two winners will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. Enter through midnight eastern on October 25th. 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 leave a comment on either of my reviews for the above books

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Review: To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield

2009-09-30T05:25:00.000-07:00

After three years in the bloody trenches of World War I France, David Powlett-Jones is sent to an English hospital to recover from his injuries. He was born and raised in a Welsh mining town, where his father and two brothers were killed in a mining accident when he was a boy. He was accustomed to loss but nothing could have prepared him for the devastation he witnessed in the war. The injuries heal but the shell-shock requires a more creative treatment.

David's doctor has a remedy. He sends him on a job interview for a position teaching history at Bamfylde School, a boys' school in isolated Exmoor. At Bamfylde, David finds something special: a father figure, a surrogate family and a place to begin to forget the horrors of his war experiences.

And he does. The doctor has somehow hit on David's calling. He is young for a teacher, at only twenty one, but he has a gift for it and a passion for teaching history. He earns his degree along the way and becomes part of the fabric of the Bamfylde world, indeed one of the most important pieces of it. In a saga that stretches over more than twenty years, David's life has the same tragedies and triumphs as anyone else, but his are enriched by the students and the school that seem to cushion the bad times and magnify the joys of his life.

This is a rich and complex story. Though I found parts of it a little slow, there can be few books that describe so clearly the point of view of a dedicated teacher as they watch successive generations come and go. And I'm glad that I read through until the end, because the author brings the story full circle in a charming way.

It is also a wonderful historical novel of England between the wars, the author does an excellent job relaying the shock and dismay of ordinary people watching yet another deadly conflict building. I enjoyed this novel and I think anyone interested in English history, teaching or historical fiction would enjoy it, too.

To Serve Them All My Days is published by Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-1824-8

Giveaway: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

2009-09-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known-and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out....

Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe - in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world.

~Synopsis from the publisher

Here's your chance to win a copy of one of my favorite books! The Historian was an instant success when it was published in 2005, and for good reason. It is part mystery, part classic Gothic novel and all fascinating, intriguing fiction. And now is a great time to spread the word about The Historian. Halloween is coming up and everyone needs a good spooky read for our favorite haunted holiday! This book would make an excellent choice for book clubs (lively discussion awaits), you will find the reading group guide here. Plus, Elizabeth Kostova's eagerly awaited second novel, The Swan Thieves, will be out in January. It has been VERY eagerly awaited...I can't wait to get started on it!

Valerie at Hachette Book Group has provided five copies for me to give away (Thank you, Valerie)!! To enter, leave me a comment here telling me what you favorite Halloween memory is. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address and will be drawn at random. Enter through midnight eastern on October 21st. 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!

Review: The Shimmer by David Morrell

2009-09-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

Santa Fe, New Mexico police officer Dan Page tries hard to forget the violence that he sees in his everyday life, keeping as much of it from his wife, Tori, as he can. It is a total surprise to him when he returns home one day to find her gone, a note she left says that she is going to visit her mother, who lives 800 miles away. She never said a word about the trip to him, why she would abruptly leave like that is a mystery.

He tries not to worry about it, but after two days she still hasn't arrived at her mother's and no one has heard from her. He is beginning to be frantic and files a missing persons report. When a Sheriff from the small Texas town of Rostov calls, Dan fears the worst. But he says that Tori is fine, though he won't give any other information. He insists that Dan must come to Rostov and see for himself what is going on.

When Dan arrives in Rostov, he is confronted with a mystery that has intrigued and frightened people for hundreds of years. The strange Rostov Lights are a phenomenon that occur out over the badlands, on the mesa towards the Mexico border. They appear at night, hover and shine, changing colors and size, merging into one another and breaking apart again. But not everyone can see them. Those that can are transfixed, caught by their beauty, like Tori. Those that can't see them are either disgusted or annoyed, sure that the viewers are making it all up. Sometimes reactions are completely unexpected.

While Dan talks to Tori and begins to unravel the reasons that she left and why she stopped in Rostov, outside events overtake the couple and they are swept into a violent maelstrom, which is caused by the lights. Putting their own problems aside, they join forces with the local police to try to uncover the source of the lights and the reason they sometimes incite uncontrollable behavior or worse in the people who see them.

This book is non-stop action from the first page, I couldn't put it down. I was intrigued by the premise, the author based the story on lights seen in the real life town of Marfa, Texas. They occur in other places in the world, too: Norway, Thailand and Australia all have areas where similar lights are seen. The phenomenon has never been explained, though there are lots of theories. David Morrell took the fact of the lights and built an intriguing story around them. Part action, part suspense, part mystery, and a taut thriller, The Shimmer has it all. I really enjoyed this fast-paced book!

David Morrell has been called the father of the modern action novel (he created Rambo, after all). You can find out more about him and his books at his website and more about The Shimmer at http://www.shimmerbook.com/ .

The Shimmer is published by Vanguard Press, ISBN 978-1-59315-537-7

Review and Blog Tour: The Promised World by Lisa Tucker

2009-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Fraternal twins Billy and Lila have always had a very close relationship. Since losing their parents when they were teenagers, they have built independent lives but remain devoted to each other. They live close to each other and see each other regularly. Since Lila can't really remember anything about their past, she relies on Billy to hold the memories for the both of them. And he has, weaving elaborate stories that fill in all of her blank spaces and create the happy reality he promised her years ago.

When Billy is dies violently, Lila's world is torn apart. She is unable to function without him, her compass for interpreting the world has been lost. She loves her husband of eleven years, Patrick, very much, but she can't seem to break out of the spiraling grief that has engulfed her. The fragmented memories that start to surface totally confuse her, as they are at odds to all she has believed to be true. She desperately wants custody of Billy's three children, he and his wife had been going through a bitter divorce, but Lila's mentally fragile state make such an attempt impossible.

So, Lila turns to sleeping pills to numb her pain. Patrick can't seem to get through to her or do anything that helps to life her out of the despair that she is in. He goes to see Billy's wife, Ashley, hoping to find some way to help Lila. Instead, Ashley shows him a sympathy card...from Billy & Lila's mother. He is shocked but thinks it must be some sort of prank. His wife couldn't have lied to him about a thing like this for so many years, could she?

Why would two adolescents claim that their parents were dead, when one of them at least is very much alive? What could have happened to cause them to construct a fictitious past and cut all ties to home and family? These are questions that they must all find the answers to, for the sake of the entire family. When Lila's splintered memories finally begin to emerge, will she be strong enough to accept what they contain?

I was completely riveted to the pages of this story. It is a fascinating psychological look at the lengths the mind will go to in order to protect the self. The relationships between Billy and Lila, their spouses and children, were intricate and interesting. The author explores the adult difficulties that result from the psychological abuse of children, the kind of abuse that doesn't leave any marks but twists and destroys just the same. A moving story with a depth of seriousness, I truly enjoyed this novel.

I received this book as part of the Blog Tour hosted by TLC Book Tours. For a complete list of the blog stops, please click here. For more information about the author and her novels, please visit her website.

The Promised World is published by Atria Books, ISBN 978-1-4165-7538-

Review: The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

2009-09-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

As a five year old child, William Marshal was sent by his father to the court of King Stephen...as a hostage. His father must have expected to never see his son again, with the bloody civil war that was raging it was likely that little William would be executed. But King Stephen took a liking to the brave little boy and couldn't bring himself to kill him. From that experience, William learned the loyalty and sense of duty that he would live by for his entire life.

During his training as a knight, William was a bit of an outsider. Soon though, his talent with horses, plus a bit of luck, bring him to the attention of the new royal family. Henry I and Eleanor of Aquitaine take notice of the young knight and when William saves Eleanor's life during a surprise raid, he earns her lasting goodwill. He is placed with the heir to the throne, Prince Henry, and given the responsibility for his training and instruction.

As the young Prince and his brothers grow, turmoil begins to boil and the relationship between the brothers and their father sours. During the strife that pits each of them against the other, William steadfastly stands beside Prince Henry, even though he agrees with almost nothing that the young man decides to do. Despite many terrible actions on the Prince's part, William is there to support him and help him, he is loyal almost to a fault.

When the unthinkable happens, William is shattered. He departs on a two year pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he tries to reconcile his past and find a way to move forward with his life. After his return, all his service is eventually rewarded when he is given the hand of Isabelle de Clare, a rich but lonely young heiress. Despite the fact that William is years older than Isabel, the two form a surprisingly happy and supportive marriage.

William Marshal's Tomb

Once again, Elizabeth Chadwick has given us a rich and detailed historical fiction novel, filled with excellent research and lively characters. William is a complex man: loyal, committed, giving, but with a sore spot in his heart that keeps him from a close bond with his family. He is definitely his own man but his is a lonely life. He had quite a view of the volatile Plantagenet clan, Ms. Chadwick's envisioning of his experiences there make for a fascinating read.

As I finished this book, I marvelled at how one man could fit so much into one lifetime. But it turns out that The Greatest Knight is not the end of the Marshal story! It will be continued in her next book, The Scarlet Lion, which should be released in the Spring of 2010.

For more information on Elizabeth Chadwick and all of her fantastic books, visit her website. She also has a wonderful blog, Living the History, where you will find all sorts of interesting historical information and photos. Her blog is one of my favorites! She recently posted twenty of her favorite historical fiction novels (from her "Keeper" shelf...I have one of those, too! Do you?). About half of them were new to me, so I was thrilled to add them to my wish list. I always love discovering new (to me) historical fiction!

The Greatest Knight is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-2518-5

Review: God Is An Englishman by R.F. Delderfield

2009-09-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

It is 1857 and British soldier Adam Swann has been in the service of England for years, serving in numerous countries of the empire. But the battle that leads him to break free of the Army, and his family's long service in it, occurs in India. When a wild horde of natives attacks his troop, knocking him senseless and off of his horse, he begins to see the futility of his life as a career soldier. There was one small thing that helped him to decide, though. When he awoke briefly in the dust of the road after being knocked out, he happened to see a necklace of large rubies that had been in the lead attacker's possession. Through the daze he is in, he manages to slip the necklace into his pack before losing consciousness once more.

That necklace is the key to Adam's future. He resigns his commission and returns to England, where the germ of an enterprising idea is born during a trek on horseback through the country he has been away from for so long. He wants to create a delivery company that will haul goods in the areas that the railway doesn't reach. On the same trip he encounters a young woman, Henrietta, who has run away from her father and his plans to marry her off for his own personal gain.

Henrietta turns out to be unlike the women that Adam has previously known. She is bright and has an unusual way of looking at the world. She even dreams up the logo for his yet-to-be company. They are soon married and then Adam is off to make his commercial dreams a reality. He seems to have either an extraordinarily clear eye for business or the devil's own luck, because he succeeds and founds an empire in the booming world of Victorian England.

This book is a grand family saga, the first in a trilogy that is followed by Theirs Was the Kingdomand Give Us This Day. I thought it was fantastic: a big, meaty, complex book that delves into the lives of the main characters and numerous side characters, as well. It vividly paints the world of Victorian England, the effects of the industrial revolution and arrival of the railway. It is intricate and interesting, with enough technical detail to please male readers and enough romance to keep women happy. A fine balance.

For some reason, though I have long known about R.F. Delderfield books, I have never read one before. It is always such a pleasure to discover a new (to me) historical fiction author, especially one who wrote close to twenty books....a whole list of promising reads for me to discover. If you love historical fiction, R.F. Delderfield is an author you won't want to miss!

R.F. Delderfield

I came across an old 1971 Pocket paperback copy of God is an Englishman and I thought the "About the Author" section was so interesting, I wanted to share it with you (the author died in 1972):

R.F. Delderfield was born in London but has lived much of his life in Devon, where he started writing as a reporter on his father's newspaper, the Exmouth Chronicle. During World War II and immediately thereafter he achieved quite a success as a West End playwright (one of his plays ran five and a half years). Then, at the age of forty, he stopped to take stock of his life. "What I really wanted was to be a novelist," he told one interviewer, "to project the English way of life in the tradition of Hardy and Galsworthy." Out of that resolve have come his great family sagas- The Avenue, A Horseman Riding By and its sequel, The Green Gauntlet, and now his latest and most ambitious saga which begins with God Is An Englishman.

In preparing himself to write one of his vast family chronicles, Mr. Delderfield draws a detailed map of the territory, county or city that he will cover, placing the houses where his characters will live and adding the place names and details that will build up into a rich and convincing background. Then he steps back and lets inspiration take over. He writes regularly in the morning, averaging about 4,000 words a day, then takes the afternoons off to go strolling over the moors.

God Is an Englishman is published by Sourcebooks, ISBN 978-1-4022-1821-7

You will find some other reviews at Books are my only friends and Bookfoolery and babble.