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Blog Tour: The Queen’s Lover by Vanora Bennett

[ 8 ] March 16, 2011

Please join Vanora Bennett, author of The Queen’s Lover, as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours!

Reviewed by Erin McKibbin

During the Hundred Year War, little Catherine de Valois had much to worry about. Her father, the King of France was mad; her mother an adulterer; her brothers, uncles, and cousins were destroying France with their infighting; England had invaded and won; and she and her brother Charlie were all but completely neglected by their parents and the palace staff. But, to make things worse, Catherine had fallen in love with a landless, title less Welshman. Promised in marriage to the conquering King Henry V of England, Catherine begins to understand her royal blood cannot save her from her fate or from a broken heart.

Owen Tudor, son of a Welsh insurgent, was sent to King Henry IV as a ward after his father fled the British Isles and his family was captured. Growing up in the royal household, he overlooked the lack of civil rights he and his fellow Welshmen suffered during the reigns of Henry IV and V (the Lancastrian kings). His loyalty to the English crown was so complete that he willingly accompanied Duke Thomas of Clarence to France on a mission to offer a marriage proposal to the youngest daughter of King Charles VI, the mentally disturbed and vanquished Lord in Paris. Little did Owen realize that this trip would inspire a love of the written word, the love of a beautiful princess, and a lifetime where his devotion to his king is tested.

Christine de Pizan, known as Europe’s First Feminist, grew up as a friend and companion to the Royal de Valois children in France. Her life-long companionship with Charles VI and her fame brought about by her published works of poetry won her the position of tutor to Catherine and Charles, the youngest (and most neglected) children of Charles VI and Isabeau. Christine loved France deeply and she truly believed in the sanctity of royal blood. When she heard that her student, Catherine, had been promised in marriage to the usurper Henry V of England, she turned her back on the would-be daughter and supported young Charles in his endless fight to wrest France from English rule.

Jehanne of Arc was a teenage girl who followed the voices she thought to be that of God. These voices told her that Charles de Valois was the true heir to the French thrown, not the son of English Henry V and Catherine de Valois. God told her to wear men’s clothing and to join Charles’ efforts. So deep was her belief that she successfully led Charles to many victories and even successfully had Charles coroneted in Reims. Despite her efforts, she was abandoned to the English, who promptly put her to death for heresy. Her efforts also won her the admiration of Christine de Pizan, whose last published works was an epic poem in Jehanne’s honor.

Vanora Bennett brings to life France and England at the end of the Hundred Year War and demonstrates how a couple of young impetuous lovers found one of the most famous English Dynasties that history has ever seen. The Queen’s Lover is a captivating story taking place in the landscape of a Europe in chaos as the ancient aristocracies crumbled and a new world order emerged.

Rating: 4.5/5

Erin fell in love with the written word as a small child and subsequently spent most of her life happily devouring literature. She works as a freelance news, marketing, and technical writer as well as a full-time researcher/investigator in the sign industry. Erin lives just outside of Cleveland, Ohio enjoying the beauty of life with her children and grandchildren.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Harper Paperbacks. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Night Season by Chelsea Cain

[ 4 ] March 14, 2011

Reviewed by Elizabeth Talbott

Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer, is finally safely locked up so Archie Sheridan can focus on other things. Their love-hate relationship is finally laid to rest and Archie has become much healthier. He no longer pops pills as if they were candy and attends his therapy sessions religiously.

There isn’t much time to relax as the torrential, heavy rains cause the Willamette River to rise to the cusp of flooding. As a result, drownings are becoming a more frequent occurrence; upon closer analysis, the drownings seem to be linked by a strange mark found on the palm of each victim. Archie is on the case with quirky, nosy, indomitable Susan Ward. The increasingly unruly weather makes it harder for them to do their job and easier for the killer to disguise his actions. Can Susan and Archie catch the killer before they become victims themselves?

When I found out that Gretchen Lowell wasn’t going to be featured in The Night Season, I was a bit wary of being bored or having the book not measure up to the rest of the series. Her presence is so magnetic and her and Archie’s relationship is as sick and twisted as they come. However, I found out that Chelsea Cain’s writing speaks for itself and doesn’t need Gretchen Lowell at all to be incredibly addictive. It still has the same fluidity and holds my interest until I’m staying up at all hours of the night just to find out what happens.

Gretchen’s absence also allowed Archie Sheridan and Susan Ward to develop without her corrupting influence. Archie stopped most of his self destructive behaviors and is as healthy as he can be with extensive liver damage, scars, and no spleen. Susan also has a larger role in the story than she has had in the past and together, they make an odd, yet strangely harmonious mystery-solving pair.

The new killer is interesting enough with a very strange mode of murder, but the real star of The Night Seasonis the threatening flood. It makes simple, inane things very difficult and fills each scene with tension that builds until the climax at the end of the novel. It’s almost as if the flood is a looming, silent character that is omnipresent and without human emotions.

I enjoyed The Night Season immensely and I highly recommend it to fans of mysteries or books about serial killers. This book could be read as a stand alone, but it’s better to read the rest of the series to fully understand the relationships and motivations of the characters.

Rating: 4.5/5

Elizabeth is a student at Cal State Long Beach. She laughs a lot, loves cats, and lives for music and books. You can read her blog here: http://titania86-fishmuffins.blogspot.com/.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by FSB Associates. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Confirmation by Ralph Reed

[ 4 ] March 5, 2011

Author Ralph Reed has decades of experience working with government officials.  He was an adviser for 88 Senate, Governor, and Congressmen campaigns and also worked on seven presidential campaigns. His extensive knowledge of how the political world works shows through in his novel, The Confirmation.

Iraqi terrorists have hijacked nuclear materials and are threatening to bomb a major city in the United States. With laws concerning issues like abortion and same-sex marriage on the docket, Supreme Court Justice Peter Corbin Franklin has a massive stroke. Bob Long, former governor of California, is now the newly elected president of the United States and is left with the weighing task of finding a replacement for Justice Franklin. His nominee, Marco Diaz, creates havoc for President Long when the media destroys him for his religious beliefs and with gossip from his past.

The Confirmation read like an earlier work of John Grisham’s as it was fast-paced and exciting. It captures you from the very first page and is hard to put down. Though it is filled with chaos, it gave an interesting view of what goes on in our nation’s capital and how the election process works. With each character we get to see exactly what running for office does to a person, on a mental as well as a physical level.

Although I enjoyed The Confirmation, it was also a difficult read in some aspects because there were too many characters to keep up with. When I read a book I like to get to know the characters, and that was hard to do here. I found myself turning back to the beginning pages to remind myself of each character and his role in the story. Nevertheless, I thought this was an exciting book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys political thrillers.

Rating: 4/5

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Fidelis Book. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Little Princes by Conor Grennan

[ 5 ] March 2, 2011

Reviewed by Alyssa K.

This week the furnace has clicked on every time the temperature dropped out of my comfort zone. Not once did our kiddos go with out three meals and a snack or two. We snuggled and read and I did not spend one minute worrying if a rebel army would come to our town and steal my babies. The thought of whether my kiddos would be safer with me, or if I should sell our belongings and borrow from relatives in order to pay to send them away with a stranger promising them safety, education and a future never crossed my mind. Sadly, there are parents in this world today who worry about all of those things on a daily basis.

For most of us, the realities of child trafficking are a world away. This was true for Conor Grennan, too. Then he set out on a yearlong world tour! He decided to start out by volunteering in a Nepali orphanage for three months. He didn’t know the first thing about kids, but he didn’t want the trip to look totally self centered. Those three months eventually lead to three more, which lead to the development of a new non-profit organization and even more adventures into the Himalayan mountains in hopes to find the families of children taken by child traffickers and to begin the process of reuniting them.

I have to admit, it was not my great love of children that caused me to pick up Little Princes (though that may have sealed the deal), but my curiosity about life in the country of Nepal. Grennan did not disappoint. He opens the door of Nepal to us and gives us a great peek inside, from daal bhat (lentils and rice) twice a day, to wearing every stitch of clothing you have in order to keep warm with no indoor heating. He writes of the children he lives and works with in such a way as to allow you to get to know them for yourself, and takes you on a tour of the mountain villages with all of its dangers, toils, and snares.

Little Princes is an inspiring true story that will take its reader half way around the world and prove that our greatest ambitions to make a difference in this world can be accomplished, no matter how inexperienced we are when we start out on the adventure! Not only that, but a portion of the proceeds of Little Princes will go to support Grennan’s non-profit organization, Next Generation Nepal, and give you the opportunity to take part in rescuing Nepal’s children from child trafficking and reuniting them with their families and communities.

Rating: 5/5

Alyssa is a wife and stay at home, homeschooling mother of five, with two boxers, two cats, a soft shelled turtle named after Bob the Builder, and 7 frogs (admittedly a homeschooling project gone froggy). In all her spare time, she loves to read and believes that there is no such thing as having too many books!

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by William Morrow. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Cookie Swap! by Lauren Chattman

[ 6 ] February 26, 2011

Reviewed by Jen K.

I’m always envious of people who take part in regular cookie swaps. According to Lauren Chattman, “There’s no better way to enjoy the cookie-friend combo than with a cookie swap.” I can certainly see her point – get together with your friends, enjoy some good conversation, and then you’re walking out the door with a big plate of cookies!

With Cookie Swap!, Lauren removes the guesswork and instills confidence by providing us with really excellent cookie recipes and guidelines on how to be well prepared. The very first chapter gives us the lowdown on the swap, explaining the best way to go about organizing a successful get together, how many cookies to bring for trading and sampling, and exactly what information should be included on the invitations. If you are planning to be the host, pay close attention to the checklist/time line provided as it is incredibly helpful.

Every cookie that made the cut in Cookie Swap! has an accompanying photo. I don’t know why that’s so important to me, because you would think by now that I could visualize a cookie based on the title. However, there’s just something about casually flipping through the pages and using the photos to make initial decisions about which seem most appealing. Honestly, I probably would have passed right by Flaky Pastry Pinwheels, but the photo nabbed my interest.

The recipes are organized by type: drop cookies, brownies & bars, icebox cookies, etc. I like when cookie books are organized like this, because chances are, I already have know they type of cookie I would like to make. When I’m ready to bake, I can gauge if I’m in the mood to roll out dough and bust out the cookie cutters or feel the need for the ease of a bar cookie. In addition to the traditional categories, Chattman also offers a few more unique chapters. The Savory Cookies seem so interesting to me; I can definitely get behind rich buttery cookies studded with nuts, cheese, olives and sea salt!

We tried holding a cookie swap one year at my office, with less than desirable results. After reading Lauren’s tips and hints, I am inspired to take another crack at it. I think she provides exactly the information I need to put together a super fun and successful swap.

Rating: 5/5

Jen lives in Michigan with her husband and six year old son. She writes reviews of children’s books on her blog, FIRR-Kids and loves filling her own shelves with cookbooks.

This book was provided free of any obligation by Workman Publishing. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Giveaway: Dance First. Think Later by Kathryn and Ross Petras

[ 121 ] February 25, 2011

I have a copy of “Dance First, Think Later” by Kathryn and Ross Petras for one lucky winner, courtesy of Workman Publishing!

About the book

The right quote at the right time can change everything-Steve Jobs once read “Stay hungry. Stay foolish” on the back cover of The Whole Earth Catalog, and those four words came to guide his life. Pithy but profound nuggets of big-picture wisdom can give anyone direction, courage, and inspiration.

Created by Kathryn and Ross Petras, whose books and calendars have over 5.6 million copies in print, “Dance First. Think Later” is a collection of the greatest life wisdom from an unexpected group of speakers, doers, and thinkers. There are 618 rules to live by-funny, thoughtful, offhanded, clever, and always profound:

  • “Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.”-Annie Dillard
  • “If everything is under control, you are going too slow.” -Mario Andretti
  • “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” -Julia Child
  • “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” ―Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
  • “Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity.” ―Ray Bradbury

“Dance First. Think Later” is the perfect timeless gift for recent graduates, newlyweds, new home owners, or anyone looking for a little uplift and direction.

Mandatory entry: Please comment on this post with your e-mail address.

Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
- Subscribe via e-mail, follow or subscribe to the feed. You must verify the subscriptions. (1 entry each)
- Enter another current giveaway (1 entry each)
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This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on March 11, 2011.

Giveaway copy is provided free of any obligation by Workman Publishing. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum

[ 4 ] February 23, 2011

Reviewed by Amelie L.

“Because truth is capricious. It may be hovering there all the while, but one moment you think you see it-it seems so clear, so well defined, as if you could catch it and hold it steady in your hand. But the next moemnt it’s gone, or at least so fast moving it’s a blur, at best. That’s the thing Africal taught me about truth. Your know it’s truth because it’s busy. Any seeming truth that’s idle? Well that’s just not truth.” – Amaryllis in Blueberry

I resisted choosing Amaryllis in Blueberry, worried that three characters sharing the same first name, “Mary’” would be too confusing. How would I remember which was which, who was who?

It doesn’t take long. These women are drawn so eloquently and with such atention to the finer details of their middle names-Grace, Tessa and Catherine, that it becomes as clear as the blueberry eyes of the single sister named Amaryllis, whose Mary hides inside her full name and is called Yllis. Their mother is Seena, short for Christina and their father, Dick.

In many ways Amaryllis in Blueberry is a book about strong, interesting women and the men who fall under their spell. The story winds its way through geography, morality, truth, beliefs, and finally, ultimately, love, with both a visceral beauty and spellbinding tension. It takes on life’s big questions and answers them by not, leaving us to ask and answer for ourselves, or maybe, more genuinely, just keep wondering.

The sense of place, whether it is the mirror lake of Danish Landing, Michigan or the dusty red clay of Avone, West Africa, is rich and vivid. Where one holds depression and predictability, the other brins joy-a constant surprise. America, the land of plenty, seems to miss the real point of life while West Africa, as poor as the dirt that creeps into every crevice, overflows with vibrant color and a pulsating appreciation for the gift that is walking the earth.

[amazonify]1439156891[/amazonify]The white bread boredom of one’s subruban predictability breeds almost scripted sinning and is powerfully juxtaposed against the other’s outrageous rituals that reek of danger. The contrast and foreigness goes deeper with every page and leads us, along with this family, into new insights and understandings. One is simple, black and white, rich and poor, the other a riot of color and culture that appears primitive but for that very reason leaves us questioning our values and judgements. What is right what is wrong, sacred or profane? We are initiated into a humbling understanding much as the girls and their parents are, left to embrace life for its mysteries. Africa is fascinating and dangerous, dark shot through with brilliant, wise light.

There is forbidden love here, one that tests faith and hides in plain sight. There is murder and proof of a mother’s love, powerful but also ambivalent, torn between what is and what could be. Reading this book I felt the pull was really between what we take for granted and Africa, or those things we may never be able to understand only sense. Like Yllis, we become sentient, drawn into the spell of color, form, sound.

I loved this book and couldn’t put it down which is, perhaps the highest praise for any piece of literature. It is beautifully written and fully realized, wrapped in spirituality but never preachy.

Rating: 5/5

Amelie lives and works on a pond in Cape Cod. She shares her home with her husband and two sons and both reads and writes whenever possible. Her ‘day job’ is in social services.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Gallery Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: The Bird House by Kelly Simmons

[ 221 ] February 21, 2011

Please join Kelly Simmons, author of The Bird House, as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours!

Reviewed by Claudia R.

“It wasn’t more complicated or mysterious than I have recalled. My entry didn’t offer much more detail than my memory, but there was enough. Enough that Theo wanted to erase it, to cut it out of my heart, to keep me from remembering what I remembered.” – The Bird House

Forty years ago, Ann’s daughter died, tragically, at the age of three. Now, her surviving son’s daughter, 8-year-old Ellie, is enlisting her help with a family history class project and Ann is forced back in to the darkness of her past. Determined to forge a bond, previously non-existant, with her precious granddaughter, Ann accepts the role of story-teller, despite, or in-spite, of her worsening Alzheimer’s, and together with Ellie and an attic full of memories, the two embark on a journey that will open old wounds, reveal shocking secrets and create a disturbance of epic proportions for everyone involved.

As the matriarch, Ann understands the importance of imparting the family legacy accurately, including tales of death, infidelity, despair, and family tragedy, but at what cost, will their revelations demand? When Ellie and Ann inadvertently discover Tinsley, her daughter-in-law, in the midst of a torrid affair, the past and future seem to be more parallel than anyone could have known, and whether she likes it or not, Ann’s hand is forced to show Ellie all the cards.

Along with the help of her best friend Betsy and past love, Peter, Ann manages to discover a few hidden truths of her own, secrets altered, covered and even created by a mind mottled by disease, that will, in the end, offer Ann the closure and healing she’s never admitted to needing.

Kelly Simmons writes with eloquence, passion and an intimacy that allows the reader to truly feel the story from the main character’s perspective. Ann’s pain, confusion and desire to scratch past the surface and find answers, becomes as personal a battle for the reader, as for Ann. Woven between two timelines, present and past, Kelly manages to seamlessly blend the two and create a poignant, breathtaking story of loss, disillusion, tenacity and brutal honesty that is scary-sweet, rough-tender exactly when and where it needs to be.

Every detail, every situation is written so perfectly, and with such eloquence, rendering The Bird House a definite must read, for anyone who understands, all to well, the danger of harboring one too many skeletons in the proverbial closet.

Rating: 5/5

Claudia lives on Cape Cod with her husband and two children. She entertains her passion for reading in between being a full-time Mom, aspiring writer, avid photographer & co-leader of the Cape Cod Community Angels, a non-profit organization for young girls involved in volunteering in their Community.

Giveaway:
I have 1 signed copy of The Bird House to give away, courtesy of Kelly Simmons!

Mandatory entry: Please comment here and include your e-mail address.

Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
- Subscribe via e-mail, follow or subscribe to the feed. You must verify the subscriptions. (1 entry each)
- Enter another current giveaway and tell me which one you entered (1 entry each)
- Share this giveaway on a social network of your choice. Click the “Share/Save” button at the bottom of this post (1 entry each)

This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on March 11, 2011.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Washington Square Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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