Showing posts with label giveaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label giveaway. Show all posts

Giveaway and Excerpt for The Duke's Disaster by Grace Burrows

The Duke’s Disaster by Grace Burrowes was released on April 7, 2015. I posted a review a few days ago, but thought you might like a chance at winning a giveaway and to learn more about the book (which received 4 stars in my review!). 

Summary
Noah Winters, Duke of Anselm, exercises the pragmatism for which he's infamous when his preferred choice of bride cries off, and her companion, Lady Thea Collins, becomes his next choice for his duchess. Lady Thea's mature, sensible and even rather attractive-what could possibly go wrong?
As a lady fallen on hard times, Thea doesn't expect tender sentiments from His Grace, but she does wish Noah had courted her trust, lest her past turn their hastily arranged marriage into a life of shared regrets. Is His Grace courting a convenient wife, or a beautiful disaster?

Excerpt

The Duke and Duchess are having a rocky start to their marriage, also to their day…

“Your tea, Duchess.”

Noah had woken up beside his wife—again, despite all plans to the contrary—creating another first for him. Thea had risen several times during the night to tend to herself. He hadn’t realized that monthly courses caused a woman’s rest to be interrupted.

Crashingly bad planning, for a lady’s sleep to be disturbed when she most needed rest.

“You’re not about to steal my tea?” Thea held out the cup, her gaze shy as she sat propped against the headboard.

“Where’s the fun in stealing what’s freely offered?” Noah settled in beside her and filched a bite of her cinnamon toast. “Would you rather have chocolate this morning?”

“Because?”

“You’re”— Noah waved a hand in the direction of her middle—“indisposed.”

“I am not indisposed.” Thea set her teacup down with a little clink. “The discomfort has passed, as it always does. You needn’t be concerned.”

“I am not concerned, Thea.” Not greatly concerned, now that she’d stopped ordering him to go away and was ready for a proper spat. “I am attempting in my bumbling way to dote. You will allow it.”

Drat. He’d given another order.

“You couldn’t bumble if one gave you written instructions, Anselm,” Thea said, looking a little less peaked for having run up her flags. “That was my toast you appropriated.”

“Appropriation is what happens when one’s wife can’t appreciate a little doting. You’re being stingy with the tea, just as you were stingy with the covers. How long does this indisposition last?” 

Her chin came up. “I am the Duchess of Anselm. I am not stingy with anything, but you are a very presuming husband.”

“Doting.” Noah took Thea’s free hand to kiss her knuckles— lest she mistake his point. “Also in need of my duchess’s guidance on this one marital matter.”

“This is so personal.” Thea’s gaze was on their joined hands— for Noah would not have her haring off in a fit of mortification. “I didn’t think you’d be a personal sort of husband. You were supposed to appear in my dressing-room doorway a few nights a month, silently take a few marital liberties, and then leave me in peace. We’d trade sections of the Times over breakfast the next morning.”

“Prosaic.” Boring and exactly what Noah himself had envisioned. “Hard to see any doting going on, though.”

“Husband?” Thea’s tone was hesitant. “Thank you, for keeping me company last night. I would not have known how to ask.”

“I suppose that’s the definition of doting.” Noah lingered at the cart to assemble a plate. “It’s the little things you can’t bring yourself to ask for, that an attentive spouse will enjoy providing to you. Bacon or ham?”

“A little of both, please.”

“Feeling carnivorous?”

“I’m a trifle indisposed. I need the sustenance.”

Noah piled both ham and bacon on Thea’s plate, and stole better than half of it, because he needed the sustenance too.


Buy Links
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1xmRtvf


Author Biography
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes' bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish and Lady Eve's Indiscretion. The Heir was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010, The Soldier was a PW Best Spring Romance of 2011,Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish won Best Historical Romance of the Year in 2011 from RT Reviewers' Choice Awards, Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight was a Library Journal Best Book of 2012, and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid was a PW Best Book of 2012. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Grace is branching out into short stories and Scotland-set Victorian romance with Sourcebooks. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.

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Blog Tour with Giveaway and An Early Book Review: When a Rake Falls by Sally Orr

When a Rake Falls is the second book in The Rake's Handbook series by Sally Orr, and is scheduled for publication on  April 7 2015. To win a race to Paris, and hopefully his father's respect, Lord Boyce Parker hires a balloon. He expects to be crowned the victor and become famous for his courage and intelligence. Miss Eve Mountfloy makes a bargain she will fly the balloon during the dangerous crossing to France, if he helps her finish her scientific experiments to predict violent storms and thereby save lives. The experiments and a change of wind through them both off course, and open a new set of questions for them both.

When a Rake Falls might be the second book in a series, but aside from the joint publication of The Rakes Handbook that connects the main characters, they can stand alone. I was delightfully surprised to have a main character that is generally cheerful rather than dark and brooding. while i do enjoy my strong alpha males, having a hero that can laugh and sing for no good reason was a nice change of pace. Even better was that while he appeared shallow to fellow characters, he was really sweet and sensitive. Eve is very intelligent, though insecure. I was more than a little annoyed with her from time to time as she let her father, and in turn his assistant, run roughshod over her on several occasion. I really did like some of the secondary characters and enjoyed the story as a whole immensely. It was fun, and broke the mold with a different hero, adventure, and a wee bit of social commentary.

I would recommend When a Rake Falls to those that enjoy Orr’s work, and those looking for a fun historical romance that is a little different from the rest. It was read in almost a single day, only taking longer because of necessary obligations. It would be a great read for a quiet weekend or weekday escape. 



Buy the Book
The Rake’s Handbook: Including Field Guide (Book 1)
When a Rake Falls (Book 2)
About the Author
Sally Orr worked for thirty years in medical research, specializing in the discovery of gene function. After joining an English history message board, she posted many, many examples of absolute tomfoolery. As a result, a cyber-friend challenged her to write a novel. Since she is a hopeless Anglophile, it's not surprising that her first book is a Regency romance. Sally lives with her husband in San Diego, surrounded by too many nerdy books and not enough old English cars.
Connect with Sally Orr

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Early Book Review with Quiz, Excerpt, and Giveaway: Fairy Tale Reform School: Flunked by Jen Calonita


Fairy Tale Reform School: Flunked by Jen Calonita is the first book in a new young adult series. It is currently scheduled for release on March 3 2015.  The series starts with the premise that Cinderella's wicked stepmother, Flora, has founded the Fairy Tale Reform School with the mission of turning the wicked or criminally mischievous into upstanding members of Enchantasia. Gilly might only be 12, but she has a history of petty theft and she's not too sorry about it because she steals to help support and feed her family. When she lifts a hair clip, she gets tossed in reform school-for at least three months. Fellow students Jax and Kayla help her learn that there is more to this school than its advertised mission. There's a battle brewing and she starts to wonder: can a villain really change?
Fairy Tale Reform School: Flunked is a solid begin to a series that has promise. There are strong characters and many possible follow up story lines to keep people reading. Gilly is a thief with a good heart. She steal to put food on her family's table, and while she resents the wealthy for the way their choices have affected her family, she is not malicious.  When she enters the reform school is expecting the worst, but finds friends and some good intentions as well. Of course there is also a mean girl, because what school related novel can be without one? There is danger, mystery, and many layers of action to keep readers guessing. While some of the twists were not incredibly surprising, it was a fun and entertaining ride. The ending left me satisfied with a conclusion, but it also left enough room and interest for me to be curious enough to be on the lookout for the next book. 

Fairy Tale Reform School: Flunked was a solid middle grade to young adult book. There are many adults that will enjoy the book as well. Anyone that likes books with a hint of magic, twists on characters you think you know from fairy tales and nursery rhymes, and coming of ages stories will find something to interest them here. There is character growth and some fun adventure as well as moments of drama, mystery, and suspense. I look forward to seeing where this series will go from here.
Amazon | B&N | BAM |!ndigo | IndieBound

Jen Calonita is the author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series and other books like Sleepaway Girls and Summer State of Mind, but Fairy Tale Reform School is her first middle grade series. She rules Long Island, New York with husband Mike, princes Tyler and Dylan, and Chihuahua Captain Jack Sparrow, but the only castle she’d ever want to live in is Cinderella’s at Disney World. She’d love for you to drop her a line at jencalonitaonline.com or keep the fairy tale going at http://books.sourcebooks.com/enchantasia/


Excerpt from Flunked: Fairy Tale Reform School-
There’s a boy up there, standing on the crystal chandelier! He has slightly curly blond hair and is wearing a uniform—­a navy sweater vest over a white shirt with khaki pants—­but his boots are muddy. He’s stepping on priceless crystals with cruddy boots? Is he insane?
“Jax! What are you doing up there?” Kayla whispers heatedly.
“I’m cleaning the crystal for Flora,” Jax says and rolls his eyes. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m making
a break for it.”
Kayla applauds. “Yay! This time I know you can do it.”
I shade my eyes from the light bursting through the stained-­glass window next to the chandelier Jax is perched on. “Busting out? Why?” I ask Kayla. “I thought you said this place was cool.”
Jax laughs loudly and looks at me. I feel slightly stunned. I’ve never seen violet eyes before. “FTRS was fun for a while, but strange things have started happening and I don’t want to be here when something bad goes down.”
Strange things? What kind of strange things? Why does Kayla suddenly look pale?
“He’s exaggerating,” Kayla tells me, but she doesn’t sound convincing.
Drip. Whatever Jax is holding is leaking. Kayla and I move out of the way so we don’t get wet. “Grease,” Jax explains to me. “It lubes the window.” He swings the chandelier, and as it nears the window, he uses a fork to try to pry the window open. “A few more tries and I’ll have it.”
“Then what are you going to do, genius?” I ask. “You’re two stories up.”
Jax’s eyes gleam. “I’ve jumped from higher spots before.”
“It’s true,” Kayla says to me. “Jax once jumped from the gym to the dining hall turret. That was three stories up. We call him the Escape Artist. One time he even managed to break into Azalea and Dahlia’s rooms and borrowed their keys to the indoor pool so the whole dorm could take a midnight swim.”
“Impressive,” I tell him. “And I thought I was good at tricking obnoxious royals.”
“She stole a dragon’s tooth clip from one this morning,” Kayla fills him in.
“Nice,” Jax says. “Your first pull?”
“No, I’ve been doing it for a while,” I brag.
“Me too,” Jax says. “My father is a farmer. You can only get so far trading vegetables. I needed to kick things up a notch.”
For some reason, I don’t think any of us are going to make the transformation Headmistress Flora is looking for. “Why do you want to break out so bad?”
“I’ve got places to see, and Enchantasia isn’t one of them.” Jax swings the chandelier so hard the crystals clang together. The window latch pops open, and I watch Jax leap from the chandelier to the tiny window ledge. I’m in awe. Jax looks down at us smugly before pushing open the window. “Are you sure you two don’t want to join me?”
“There’s no time for us,” Kayla says. “Get out of here. Wait!” Her eyes widen. “You deactivated the alarm on the window, right?”
“There isn’t one,” Jax insists. “If there was, I wouldn’t be able to do this.” But when Jax lifts the window, we hear:
EEEEEE! EEEE! EEEE! Unauthorized exit! Unauthorized exit!
The shrieking sound is so intense that Kayla and I cover our ears. Within seconds, Flora is out of her office and running toward us.
Swoosh!
I feel something brush past me and I whirl around. When I look up at Jax again, a large, muscular man with a long mane of hair is hanging on to the window ledge, his furry hands pulling Jax back by his shirt. How did the man get up there without a ladder?
“Mr. Jax,” the man says in a low growl, “we really must stop meeting like this.”

Fairy Tale Reform School Quiz Link: Fairy Tale Reform School Quiz
If you get sentenced to Fairy Tale Reform School, it will help to have an ally. Take the quiz and find out who your mentor would be.


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Early Book Review and Giveaway: Jaguar Pride by Terry Spear

Read to the end of the review to enter a giveaway for my paper ARC copy of this book.

Jaguar Pride is the forth book in the Heart of the Jaguar series by Terry Spear. It is currently scheduled for release on February 3 2015. you do not have to have read the other books in the series to enjoy this book, they can each stand on their own. JAG Special Forces operatives like Melissa Overton and her partner, Huntley Anderson, are trained for the most dangerous missions in the harshest environments. They work well together, but try to keep it all business and get the job done as they protect their wild cousins. These jaguar shifters can handle any variable, but what about babies? When Huntley and Melissa find two jaguar shifter cubs snoozing in their jungle hut while on assignment, they have to keep the cubs and each other safe from ruthless poachers, bringing these partners closer in ways they never expected.

This description does not do Jaguar Pride justice. While Melissa and Huntley are jaguar shifters and elite special agents, they have even more complications to their lives than this little window into the story offers. They are both honorable people with intelligence and an affinity to the wild. They each start the story involved in other relationships, which adds a reluctance on both their parts to getting together. Professionalism and the addition to two little jaguar cubs while hunting poachers in the jungle makes things more complicated and potent for both of them.


Jaguar Pride is a solid and entertaining read. The characters are good and there is plenty of action and suspense to keep readers guessing. I think that there is an almost too easy acceptance of the relationship as long term by both Melissa and Huntley by the end of the book, especially considering the complications they encounter. However, since they did know each other for a time before the book picks up I can dismiss it and blame their previous friendship.


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Giveaway and Book Review: Full Throttle by Julie Ann Walker

Read to the end of the review to enter a giveaway for a paperback ARC of this book.

Full Throttle is the seventh book in the Black Knights Inc series by Julie Ann Walker. Like the other books in this series, there is an underlying story arch, but each book can also stand on its own. Abby Thompson didn’t sign up to be the daughter of the President of the United States. Preferring a quiet life, she’s content to leave the politics and the international intrigue to her father. However, she did not put others in danger everywhere she went. Carlos “Steady” Soto has taken part in his fair share of dangerous missions. But when he’s tasked with protecting the only woman he ever loved he faces tough decisions on several fronts. This are made harder for both when Abby is kidnapped by a group of trained terrorists. While ruthless enemies stalk them, they must learn to trust each other again. Even if they do make it out alive, will Abby turn her back on him again?

Full Throttle is on par with the rest of the series, so if you have read any of the other Black Knights books you will like this as well. I like that Abby and Carlos had a solid back story, not that you would know from the original book description. Also, for those that have been following the series there are small strides in the larger story arch, but that does not interfere or distract from the story of this particular story keeping is a satisfying read to those that have not read the earlier books. I liked Abby's character, while she is sweet she also has a backbone of steel and is very smart. Carlos is also very smart and strong willed, but they compliment each other nicely rather than clashing. I was disappointed that despite their combined smarts there were a few too stupid to live sexy moments, this holds true with a pair of side characters too. These are smart, and in most cases highly trained, individuals should be able to think a bit more with their heads than whats in their pants.

Full Throttle is a entertaining romance with suspense and some solid action. It was a good read, but moments of shaking my head at the character's choices kept it from being great. I liked the characters, and find myself interested to see where the possible romance between a pair of secondary characters goes in a future book. I am sticking with the series for the entertaining reads, but hope that the next book has characters able to think through their libidos a bit better. 
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Blog Tour with Excerpt: Purgatory Origins by Darryl Olsen

Purgatory Origins: Powers of Darkness
Publication date: October 21, 2014


SYNOPSIS
When Professor Harrison Standish, a bookish young archeologist inadvertently stumbles upon an ancient burial chamber in Egypt, he is baffled to find symbolism inside that would appear to date from two different historical periods, thousands of years apart. Suspecting the tomb had been tampered with at some point in the distant past, Professor Standish soon discovers the skeletons of ten half-human/half-canine creatures lying in a far corner of the chamber and his initial bafflement now turns to shock. What kind of ancient madman would be conducting such a horrific experiment?

As Dr. Standish endeavors to explain this mystery over the ensuing days, he happens upon a news report, suggesting that these same grotesque, half-human/half-canine creatures have come to life in the remote mountains of Wyoming and he is immediately on the next flight. By the time he arrives in Wyoming, a World War II Nazi bomber has materialized out of the sky and crashed off the coast of France and a Nazi general named Schmitz has stumbled into the 21st century, leaving behind evidence of his presence in Professor Standish's ancient burial chamber back in Egypt, all of which sets the stage for a rollicking, nonstop, modern day fantasy/sci-fi adventure.

The cast of characters in Purgatory: Origins includes Rachael, a pesky, auburn haired New York magazine correspondent, who is known equally for her ability to sink her teeth into a story and her unwillingness to let it go, Jason Kendall, an escaped rapist and killer who falls hard for Rachael when they cross paths and turns out to have a past with our half human creatures, and Harper, the ex-special forces FBI agent, whose primary goal is finding Jason Kendall, getting him back behind bars and keeping him there for the rest of his life but soon finds himself sucked into this mystery woven of ancient symbolism, old Nazi war criminals and otherworldly creatures.

 Excerpt:
“Sir, you’d best get up here. They’ve found something and according to the captain of the search boat, it’s very strange.”
Jacques got to his feet wearily.
“Please wait here,” he said to the father and son. “I will return soon.”
Back up on the Préfet Maritime vessel, the inspector grabbed the radio receiver.
“Yes, this is Inspector Mitterand. What it is you’ve found?”
“Sir, we have located a plane on the sea bed that fits the general description and dimensions that your two witnesses described. It’s in about 50 meters of water.”
“Very well, send your divers down and get back to me once they’ve had a closer look.”
Jacques had started to hang up but heard a voice coming through the receiver.
“Yes, what it is?”
“Sir, there is more.”
“There is more what?”
“The plane appears to be balancing on a deep ocean trench.”
“And your point is?”
“Sir, there is no deep ocean trench in this area. At least there should not be. I have worked the waters off this coast for many years and have never heard of such a thing. I can assure you it doesn’t exist on any of the ocean charts we have.”


Where to purchase Purgatory Origins
Amazon - Kindle   
*Free for Prime Members or on Kindle Unlimited*


The Author

Darryl's Website / Facebook / Twitter

Darryl Olsen is a writer who lives in Sydney, he was educated on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales and after leaving school joined the Australian Regular Army. Darryl Olsen now writes part time, and when he is not finishing off his latest novel, you can catch Darryl at the gym lifting heavy weights, but still avoiding all forms of leg work.
Darryl Olsen is the author of the Purgatory series with the first title, Purgatory, Soldiers of Misfortune- now available. Stay tuned for the second novel titled, "Purgatory Origins" He also wrote "Children of the Gods-The Talon Project"


For more information about Darryl and his upcoming books please go to www.darrylolsen.com or you can contact him on darryl@darrylolsen.com

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