Review and Giveaway: Bloody Good by Georgia Evans

September, 1940. The plucky citizens of rural England have adapted to wartime life. Everyone uses blackout curtains, rides bicycles to save gasoline and takes in children from the cities or families whose homes have been damaged by bombings. Alice Doyle, the local doctor in the town of Brytewood, in Southeast England, administers what aid she can to the residents of her area. After having been up all night delivering twins, she comes across an injured man in Fletcher's Woods. She doesn't hesitate to bring him home with her, so she can care for him at her clinic.

Too bad the man she helps isn't a man at all, but one of four vampires employed by the Nazis and dropped into the English countryside to attack from the inside. When the ambulance that she has called finally arrives, the man has inexplicably disappeared. Alice's sweet Grandmother, who she lives with, invites the ambulance drivers in for a cup of tea. One of them is a nice young man named Peter Watson. Or he seems nice enough, but when Alice finds out that he is a Conscientious Objector she loses all respect for him. A healthy young man like him should be out there fighting, like her brothers are.

The disappearing man was the first odd occurrence, but there are soon more. Alice and her nurse, Gloria, have their hands full and desperately need some assistance. Their prayers are answered when a first aid assistant is assigned to them. It turns out to be none other than Peter Watson. Alice will have to find a way to work with the man, despite her personal feelings.

The vampires have their plans, and soon they are putting them in action. Fortunately for the citizens of Brytewood, there is some truth to the old folklore tales that everyone has been raised on. Magic still exists in England, though it has long since been dressed in a veil of normalcy. Take Alice's Gran, for instance. She is Pixie, a centuries old magical race and Alice is, too, though her rational mind refuses to believe it. And the old Sergeant in the village is a dragon. He rarely uses his dragon shape now, but he is still in command of his powers and is ready and willing to use them in defence of his beloved country.

If the Nazis think they have a monopoly on the supernatural, they are sadly mistaken. The vampires they have recruited are far from the only creatures in this war and they will find that their task is much harder than they had anticipated. The humans have far more help than they ever realized, but they will need every bit of it to defeat the greatest evil that the world has ever known.

This book is a wonderful combination of historical fiction, romance, fantasy and paranormal. I was immediately interested in the World War II setting and I loved the imaginative use of the folklore of England. I really enjoyed this one and am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series, Bloody Awful and Bloody Right. The only complaint I have is that the book should have been proofread more carefully. I received a finished copy and found quite a few typos and context errors that would have been caught by a good proofreader. Otherwise a very entertaining, delightful book!

Bloody Good is published by Kensington. ISBN 978-0-7582-3481-0

I have an extra paperback copy to give away! To enter, just leave me a comment here. This contest is open WORLDWIDE! The winner will be drawn at random, enter thru midnight eastern on August 31. 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). Thank you for visiting and entering!!

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Giveaway: The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock

The new Americana romance from bestselling author Dorothy Garlock, this time set against the backdrop of WWII.

Sophie Heller's family immigrated from Germany to Victory, a small town in Illinois, before WWII began. Now that the war has affected the town, the townspeople discriminate against Sophie and her family. When a train derails, it is an accident but the Heller family is blamed. Coming to Sophie's rescue is a teacher from the high school, and despite their cultural differences, a romance starts to bloom.

Visit Dorothy's website at http://www.dorothygarlock.com/

I think this one sounds so interesting, I am looking forward to reading it. Anna at Hachette is providing copies for five lucky winners (thanks, Anna!) who will be drawn at random. To enter, just leave me a comment here with the title of any book you have read that was set in World War II. If you haven't read any you can leave a comment about why you would like to read this book. I will give one additional entry to anyone who becomes a follower (current followers get this automatically), blogs about the giveaway or tweets it on twitter. Subscribe via Feedburner and receive three extra entries! If you do any of these, please leave a separate comment. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address (no PO Boxes) and you can enter until midnight eastern time on August 1. Please be sure to leave your email address if it is not part of your ID. Good luck everyone and thanks for visiting!

By the way, if you haven't entered my Mega Giveaway yet, please click on the link to the left and check it out. I am giving away boxes of ten books to as many as ten winners and I need more entries!!! Enter til midnight on July 21 and tell your friends!!

Giveaway: Soul Survivor by Bruce and Andrea Leninger with Ken Gross

This is the story of James Leininger, who-- a little more than two weeks after his second birthday-- began having blood-curdling nightmares that just would not stop. When James began screaming out recurring phrases like, "Plane on fire! Little man can't get out!" the Leiningers finally admitted that they truly had to take notice.

When details of planes and war tragedies no two-year-old boy could know continued-- even in stark daylight-- Bruce and Andrea Leininger began to realize that this was an incredible situation. SOUL SURVIVOR is the story of how the Leiningers pieced together what their son was communicating and eventually discovered that he was reliving the past life of World War II fighter pilot James Huston. As Bruce Leininger struggled to understand what was happening to his son, he also uncovered details of James Huston's life-- and death-- as a pilot that will fascinate military buffs everywhere.

In SOUL SURVIVOR, readers are taken for a gripping ride as the Leiningers' belief system is shaken to the core, and both of these families come to know a little boy who, against all odds and even in the face of true skeptics, harbors the soul of this man who died long ago.

Doesn't this book sound fascinating? I can't wait to read it! I have five copies to give away to five winners, who will be drawn at random. To enter, just leave a comment here. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. For an additional entry you can become a follower of this blog (if you follow already, you automatically will get this), blog about the giveaway or tweet it on twitter. Please leave a separate comment with your blog or twitter link for either of those options. Contest will be open until midnight eastern time on July 3, winners must have a US or Canada mailing address (no PO Boxes please). Many thanks to Kelly at Hachette for providing the books for this giveaway. Good luck and thanks for visiting!

Review: French Letters, Book One--Virginia's War: Tierra, Texas 1944 by Jack Woodville London

By 1944 the small town of Tierra, Texas was used to the war. The young boys played war games, arguing over who would be on the side of the Allies and who would be the Nazis for the day. The nearby air base added some excitement with their frequent air training exercises. And above all, Tierra, like every small town around the world, gossiped.

In early 1944 the gossip was all about Virginia Sullivan. In the seven years that she has been the sweetheart of Will Hastings, she has never made him any promises. Not to marry him, not even to wait for him while he was off at medical school. Now Will is a doctor, overseas with the Army, and Virginia is home in Tierra. And pregnant.

Now, Virginia's Dad just happens to run the town newspaper. Poppy Sullivan is a big man in town and he usually gets what he wants. He was able to fix his son Bart's medical records so that he was exempt from service. Then he managed to set Bart up in the cushy job of United States Postmaster. When he finds out Virginia is expecting, he solves the problem his own way and never stops to consult his daughter. The very next day he announces in the paper that the couple had eloped the previous Thanksgiving, when Will was home on leave.

Poor Virginia. Now she is trapped in her father's lie that she is a married woman. Her nasty brother, Bart, is hiding all of her mail from Will and she is becoming frantic as the months go by and she hears nothing from him. She doesn't know where he is and she watches the casualty lists carefully for any mention of his name.

Meanwhile, something else in Tierra is unravelling. Some folks in town have been doing rather well for themselves and don't seem to be suffering under the rationing program, as most of their neighbors are. When Government cars start to turn up in town it sure stirs up the talk. Changes are on the way in Tierra, many people will be affected and the town will have something to talk about for years to come.

I really enjoyed this novel about the homefront during World War II and the dynamics of a small town. There are many well-developed characters that together form the social and political nucleus of this community and I was fascinated with the way the author wove their stories together. Tierra felt like a real place to me and I was absorbed with the lives of its inhabitants. I will be eagerly awaiting the second installment in this interesting trilogy.

This book's website is: http://www.virepress.com/ and it will be published on February 13, 2009 by Vire Press, ISBN 978-0-9815975-0-8.

French Letters Book One: Virginia's War at Amazon