Saturday 28 June 2014

Book Review: DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE BY LARISSA REINHART On Tour & Giveaway!


I'm really pleased to be a part of Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for Death in Perspective by Larissa Reinhart.



A Cherry Tucker Mystery #4
Cozy Mystery

Synopsis
In Cherry Tucker’s fourth mystery, the curtain rises on Cherry’s debut as a High School set designer at the posh, private Peerless Day Academy. Cherry’s been hired to design scenery for an avant garde adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, but the theater teacher’s hoping Cherry can also turn the spotlight on a malicious bully who’s sending poisonous texts to the faculty. The director’s got his own drama to hide, and the phantom texter seems eager to spill school secrets. When a school secretary’s death is ruled a suicide, Cherry suspects foul play. The phantom bully may be using blackmail to rid the school of unwanted staff, urging a Montague-Capulet styled showdown.
With Deputy Luke Harper wanting to return as Cherry’s leading man, he’s eager to assist her efforts in fingering the phantom culprit, but Cherry fears family secrets may doom them to the role of star-crossed lovers. Offstage, Cherry’s searching for her missing brother who’s fixed on a vendetta against Luke’s stepfamily, so she instead turns to the local, foreign racketeer, Max Avtaikin, for assistance. With the bully waiting for a murderous encore and her own family skeletons to hide, Cherry scrambles to find her brother and the mysterious texter before the phantom decides its curtains for Cherry and forces her to take a final bow.
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My Thoughts:
Death in Perspective is a fun cozy mystery that I really loved reading.  Cherry is funny and crazy and I warmed to her instantly.

She is employed as a set designer in a high school but, of course, nothing goes smoothly as Cherry is drawn into a world of blackmail, anonymous texting, a mysterious death, intrigue and twists and turns aplenty.

The plot was at a steady pace, easy to follow, lots of suspects, quirky characters, all adding up to a suspenseful mystery that I loved!

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larissa
About The Author
After teaching in the US and Japan, Larissa enjoys writing, particularly sassy female characters with a penchant for trouble. She lives near Atlanta with her family and Cairn Terrier, Biscuit. Visit her website or find her chatting on Facebook. Death in Perspective is the fourth book in the best selling Cherry Tucker Mystery series. The first, Portrait of a Dead Guy, is a Daphne du Maurier finalist, Emily finalist, and Dixie Kane Memorial winner.

Author Links:
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1qMwr29
Purchase Links
Amazon B&N
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Follow the Tour
June 24 – Mommasez… - Review, Interview, Giveaway
June 25 – readalot blog - Review, Giveaway
June 26 – Chloe Gets A Clue – Interview
June 27 – Shelley’s Book Case - Review, Giveaway
June 28 – Carole’s Book Corner – Review
June 29 – off
June 30 – deal sharing aunt – Interview, Giveaway
July 1 – Traci Andrighetti’s blog – Review
July 2 – A Chick Who Reads – Review
July 3 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle – Review, Interview
July 4 – off
July 5 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review, Interview, Giveaway
July 6 – Back Porchervations – Review
July 7 – Traveling With T – Review, Interview, Giveaway
July 8 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review, Giveaway
July 9 – Community Bookstop – Review






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Wednesday 25 June 2014

Excerpt from THE NEW ME BY MARY MARCUS Virtual Book Tour


I'm delighted to be bringing you an excerpt of The New Me by Mary Marcus Virtual Book Tour.




THE NEW ME
BY
MARY MARCUS

Publication Date: May 20, 2014
  Number of Pages: 219
  Purchase Links: Amazon - Barnes and Noble - iBooks - Kobo - Sony - Chapters/Indigo - IndieBound


Synopsis:

Harriet is floundering. She`s in her early forties, her kids have gone to college, her marriage feels empty, her cable TV cooking show has lost its sense of inspiration, and she longs to leave the West Coast for New York. Then one day she meets Lydia, a gorgeous woman in her late twenties. Lydia reminds her so much of herself a decade or so past, and her husband, who hardly likes anything, likes Lydia as well. It slowly dawns on Harriet that Lydia could be the answer to everything that`s ailing her. All she needs to do is turn Lydia into "the new me."

Reminiscent of the work of Susan Isaacs and Nora Ephron, THE NEW ME is a witty, poignant, perceptive, and beautifully written novel about change and the price of becoming who you want to be.
 


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EXCERPT


It’s not surprising that I met Lydia at yoga. It was the only place I went regularly other than work and the farmer’s market. She put her mat down next to mine and we smiled at each other, the way yoga people do.
I took up practicing in the summer before the boys entered their senior year of high school. I heard it helped you sleep and if I hung around the house at the dinner hour cooking and serving, the boys and I would invariably start shrieking at each other. That year, Jules was working thirty miles away on some show shot on a horse ranch mostly at night. Wednesday night he was home and he generally spent it in bed with a tray and the remote control. Once in a while, he and the boys went out to this revolting Mexican restaurant they all love and I won’t go near. Otherwise, he was gone except on the weekends when he slept, being understandably exhausted from the night shoots. Three mornings a week before dawn, Jules and I would cross paths in the kitchen: me with my commuter’s mug of café au lait on my way to the cable studio for Healthy Harriet. Jules on his way to the kitchen for his Irish oatmeal before hitting the sack. (The oatmeal everybody loved was made the night before in the crockpot by Healthy Harriet.) Looking back it is remarkable how often Jules landed gigs that either sent him on location or put him in an entire other stratosphere schedule-wise from the rest of us.

Once I started yoga, I was hooked almost right away and began going into down dogs in the kitchen and soon handstands against the door that led to the laundry room. When I took the boys for their college tours, I remember Googling yoga studios in the towns we visited. Like cooking, it kept me sane. And gave me something to look forward to. And it wasn’t solitary like running. I liked the chanting. The bowing and the “Namaste”—I particularly loved the one chant we repeated three times: Loca Samasta Sukihino Bhvantu. May all beings everywhere be happy and free from suffering.

By that point I must have begun to realize subconsciously at least, that much as I loved him, I was much happier and the boys acted better when Jules wasn’t around. What a revelation! For years I had been in the habit of thinking the problem was that Jules was gone most of the time and we all missed him. Granted we did miss him, especially in those first few years in LA when they were young and I didn’t know a soul and I had to start all over again work-wise. Though I do remember sort of putting it together that the horrible pains that tightened my neck muscles and sent me to the chiropractor for adjustments only happened when Jules was at home. When he was around, I not only felt sort of queasy, I could literally feel the chords of my neck tightening like the reins of a workhorse. The Jules effect wasn’t a whole lot more salubrious on the boys. In fact Sam started having the same neck problems I did. Maybe it was his violin, maybe not. I’m not trying to say things were perfect between the boys and me. Especially Dan and me. Certainly we fought when I hung around serving them dinner and when I fussed like they were ten-year-olds. However, when I stopped doing that we were much better. I say all this because the combination – of just leaving them food and not fussing over them realizing I didn’t miss Jules, realizing they didn’t miss Jules, doing yoga and finally when they left home and the coast was clear, meeting Lydia – was like finding the essential fixings for a good stock, and the basis for what I cooked up. The spontaneous orgasm at yoga probably didn’t hurt either. A little giftie from the universe, a sort of hey, look, it can happen again, maybe not in the way you think but it can happen.

Dinnertime yoga in LA – and probably everywhere else too – is primarily practiced by single and/or divorced women. If I were a guy on the make, that’s the first place I’d go. Women who do a lot of yoga have great bodies and I even stopped shouting (except in the shower) when I got hooked. But the men at yoga are usually few and far between and often gay. That or AA. It didn’t take me long to discover not only was I one of the least limber in class, I was also the only woman there who actually lived with her husband and kids. Certainly my role at home was quite different than it had been before – the real change had come when they got their drivers licenses. However, I still considered myself a mom. And I did what moms do everywhere whether their day jobs are over or not. I planned the meals, did the shopping, cooked what they liked, ran the house, showed up at school functions and bought them things, tried to get them to talk to me . . . and now that they were older watched for signs of drugs, though I generally avoided signs of sex. A far cry from the old days when there was all this plus driving, plus organized sports, music lessons and the rest of it. Since I’m trying to tell it like it was, did I mind that I wasn’t so fucking central anymore? Not really. Sometimes I felt wistful for the early years, particularly when I looked at the lines around my face. But like a lot of women, I was dead-tired from too many years of doing too much cooking/managing/scheduling. Yoga gave me a place to go and something to get good at, though I’ll never be really good at it in the way I would have been had I started in my twenties.

Randy, who was teaching the night I met Lydia, was a mixed race hunk, twenty-four years old with blond dreadlocks, golden skin and shoulders that stretched from east to west.

“Supta Badda Konasana. Lie flat on your back. Put the soles of your feet together and let your knees relax and sink toward the floor. Good. Bring your awareness to your groin. And breathe. Breathe!”

I suspect Randy must have had that effect on others because unless you got there early and put your mat down, you couldn’t get a place. And too, after it happened to me, I figured it was probably happening at yoga centers all over the country, and was at least in part responsible for the huge surge in popularity.

It makes perfect sense, when you’re lying there, soles of the feet together, thighs spread, breathing into the sex organs that once in a while someone will get off.

OMMMMMMM!

When the class rang out with the chorus of OM, I’m almost sure I came forth with an AHHHM. Just for the record, the big O during the big OM has never happened since then, though I have gotten close a few times. And I still do yoga almost every day. And I’ll never know whether Lydia knew what was happening on the mat next to her.

“How often do you come?” she asked in her melodious English voice. Not of course what she meant, still strangely apposite for the first thing she said to me.

“Every day if I can. I’m hooked. How about you?”

“I’m a rank beginner.” I’m Lydia, by the way.

“I’m Harriet.”

We didn’t shake hands. We were schlepping our mats and navigating down the stairs and onto the street. When we hit the lit sidewalk she did a little start.

“Healthy Harriet!”

I smiled.

“You taught me to make brown rice with mung beans, carrots, ginger and ghee.”

“I’m so pleased!” I told her, and it was true. It wasn’t that she recognized my dubious status as a food network host. It’s the feeling that right away, this beautiful obviously highly intelligent creature with the gorgeous English accent seemed to approve of me and get me. And the feeling was mutual.

“Good old mung!” I replied. “I’ve got that cooking at home in the rice cooker.”
  
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Meet the Author





Mary Marcus was born and raised in Louisiana but left for New York after graduating from Tulane. She worked for many years in the advertising and fashion industries for Neiman Marcus, Vogue, Lancôme, Faberge, and San Rio Toys where she worked on the Hello Kitty brand. Marcus’ short fiction has appeared in North Atlantic Review, Karamu, Fiction, Jewish Women’s Literary Journal and The New Delta Review among others. She lives in Los Angeles and the East End of Long Island.






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Praise for Mary Marcus and The New Me

“The New Me by Mary Marcus is a revelation. Like Joan Didion she brings to life the nuance and emotion of a sometimes-dysfunctional family life in Southern California with a jaundiced view of Hollywood in her peripheral vision. Like Williams Carlos Williams she knows that precise observation of details can illuminate great depth. Part baby-boom prose poem, part woman’s rebirth, The New Me is alternately hilarious and heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful. What a cool first novel!”
– Danny Goldberg, author of Bumping Into Geniuses

“The New Me is funny, poignant and deftly written. It is a relatable story that beats with a pulse of a modern marriage paradigm and provides cringe-worthy moments that simultaneously delight and distress. This book made me uncomfortable in all the best ways. I couldn’t put it down.”
– Moira Walley-Beckett, Writer/Co-Executive Producer of Breaking Bad  


“So you think it’s all sun, surf and smiles. Mary Marcus shows you the dark side of the California dream. A sadly eloquent, painfully honest account of how a mystery woman intrudes on a marriage growing melancholy. Reader beware: you might find yourself in these pages.”
– Heywood Gould, author of Cocktail, Fort Apache The Bronx, Greenlight For Murder


“Mary Marcus expertly illuminates the world of a lived marriage in this inspired novel. With careful nuance and dark humor in her back pocket, she raises questions women might not dare ask themselves. The New Me will give the old you something to think about. A real treat.” – Rachel Eddey, author of Running of the Bride 

“This well-written, poignant story is totally intriguing.”
Chicklit Club

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Saturday 21 June 2014

Book Review: THE BAFFLED BEATLEMANIAC CAPER BY SALLY CARPENTER: On Tour


My stop today is a review for The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper, a fun cozy mystery featuring an amateur male sleuth.  I hope you enjoy it!




The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper
by
Sally Carpenter

Self-Published
  Cozy Mystery
  ASIN: B00J5MJL1S

 
Synopsis:
 
In the 1970s, teen idol Sandy Fairfax recorded 10 gold records and starred in the hit TV show Buddy Brave, Boy Sleuth. Now he’s a 38-year-old recovering alcoholic with dead bodies getting in the way of his comeback! An easy gig as the guest celebrity at a Midwest Beatles fan convention turns deadly when a member of the tribute band is murdered. When the police finger Sandy as the prime suspect, the boy sleuth is back in action to interpret the “Beatle-ly” clues and find the killer.

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My Thoughts:

Set in 1993 Sandy Fairfax hasn't made a public appearance in 5 years, a former 1970's TV show boy sleuth and teen idol.  Now 38 and divorced, his wife has issued him with an ultimatum -- he can't see his two children until he's sober and working, he jumps at the chance to attend a Beatles Convention as a guest speaker and decides to quit drinking once and for all and thinks to himself --

"This gig sounds easy enough.  How much trouble can I get into at a fan convention?"

If I had known the answer to that question, I'd have run inside, locked the doors, and never left the house again.

When a member of the tribute band is murdered, in Sandy's arms, leaving a spoken clue behind, Sandy just can't forget his days as a boy sleuth on his TV show and starts digging for clues to the murderer and digs himself into trouble with the local police.

This is a really enjoyable mystery, some of Sandy's tales from his teen idol days sounded so realistic that I found myself starting to believe them!  Fabulous story-telling from Sally Carpenter.  There are plenty of Beatles references, to songs, albums, concerts.  You don't have to be a Beatles fan to enjoy this but I think if you are you'll love it.  

It had it all, funny, likeable protagonist with flaws, original and clever storyline, some oddball characters, entertaining writing that made be laugh.  A fab read!


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About The Author


 Sally Carpenter is native Hoosier now living in Moorpark, Calif.

She has a master’s degree in theater from Indiana State University. While in school her plays “Star Collector” and “Common Ground” were finalists in the American College Theater Festival One-Act Playwrighting Competition. “Common Ground” also earned a college creative writing award and “Star Collector” was produced in New York City.

Carpenter also has a master’s degree in theology and a black belt in tae kwon do.

She’s worked as an actress, college writing instructor, theater critic, jail chaplain and tour guide/page for Paramount Pictures. She’s now employed at a community newspaper.

“The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper,” was a 2012 Eureka! Award finalist for best first mystery novel.

“The Sinister Sitcom Caper,” the second in the Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series, is published by Cozy Cat Press. The third book, “The Cunning Cruise Ship Caper,” is due in 2015.
Her short story, “Dark Nights at the Deluxe Drive-in,” appears in the 2013 anthology “Last Exit to Murder.”
“Faster Than a Speeding Bullet” was published in the “Plan B: Vol. 2” e-book anthology.
Her short story “The Pie-eyed Spy” appeared in the Nov. 23, 2013, issue of Kings River Life ezine.
She’s a member of Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles and “mom” to two black cats.
Webpage: http://sandyfairfaxauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sally.carpenter.54
GoodReads: (kindle version not on GR yet)
Email: scwriter@earthlink.net
Purchase Links  Amazon B&N

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  Follow The Tour

June17 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review, Giveaway  
June 18 – Mommasez… – Review, Guest Post  
June 19 – Back Porchervations – Review  
June 20 – Kelly P’s Blog – Interview  
June 21 – Carole’s Book Corner – Review  
June 22 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Guest Post  
June 23 – readalot blog – Review  
June 24 – Christa Reads and Writes – Review  
June 25 – deal sharing aunt – Interview, Giveaway  
June 26 – Brooke Blogs – Guest Post  
June 27 – Michele Lynn Seigfried’s Blog – Spotlight  
June 28 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Review  
June 29 – Cicero’s Children - Interview  
June 30 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review

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Tuesday 17 June 2014

Guest Post by Amy Saunders - Author of Drive Bye


I'm delighted to be a part of Amy Saunders Drive Bye Virtual Book Tour and today I'm bringing you a wonderful Guest Post by Amy written for Carole's Book Corner.



Drive Bye
by
Amy Saunders

The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book 3

Cozy Mystery File Size: 1321 KB Print Length: 174 pages ASIN: B00J47HT0O

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Synopsis:

Belinda’s recent blunders have come back to bite her – and Bennett – in the monster cupcake. But they’re not the only ones with problems.
A car crash uncovers the body of an unlikely murder victim. But the more they learn about her, the more the answer to her death seems to lie in issues that reach far beyond Portside.
As the truth comes out, and Belinda’s personal life teeters on the breaking point, she takes life by the maraschino cherries, and finds help in very unexpected places.

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The 10 Best Things About Writing A Book Series 
Like a lot of readers, I've always enjoyed a good book series. Yet I hesitated at writing one of my own. I said I liked writing stand-alone books because each one is completely different. But once I found the right series idea, all my concerns disappeared. Now that I'm three down in my first series and well into book four, I've realized writing a series is just as exciting as reading one. Here's why.  
1. You have time to explore lots of aspects of the characters. You can only learn so much about your characters in one book. But a series gives you time - as both a writer and reader - to learn about them. 
 2. You get a chance to use ideas that won't work in one book in another book. One of my pet peeves about writing is that you can't cram every idea into a single novel. But with a series, you can simply save ideas for the next book, or one down the line.  
3. You can save personal story lines for later instead of having to pass them over completely. Similar to plot ideas, you have to pass over personal story lines sometimes. Since the personal aspect of story writing is my favorite, it's a relief to get to use most of the personal subplots eventually.  
4. You grow as a writer. Writing a series has pushed my boundaries. I don't want my storylines or characters to grow stale. It takes a lot of thought not to just repeat what you've already done. But I consider 
 it a challenge that makes the process more exciting.

 20130826_163233  

5. You develop a rapport with readers. With a series, you get to grow with your audience, which I'm really enjoying. They're excited to see what happens next, and that in turn makes you excited to write on.  
6. You get to carry out themes across more than one book. This has been one of the most exciting parts for me - and one of the more challenging. Each book in this series does stand by itself on some level, but I've liked getting to develop themes through more than one novel.  
7. You get to watch your characters and story lines mature and grow. My characters and stories are not the same going into book four as they were when I started. I can take Belinda into situations now that wouldn't have made any sense in the first book. I think I love that the most.  
8. You can explore the relationships between characters. I love that I have the chance to deepen certain relationships, and show different sides to relationships as well. Different circumstances bring out new things about people and how they interact. And in a series, you have a chance to fully explore that.  
9. You can delve into more character backstories. In one book, you don't have time to show that much about a character's history. But in a series, new stories mean new reveals, which is exciting.  
10. You see more areas in the setting. I like varying the setting so my characters aren't always in someone's house or at the same hangout spot, but it's not always easy. On the other hand, I've had the chance to show a lot more of my fictional town of Portside this way. So writing a series can be challenging, but I've discovered the rewards outweigh the difficulties. And I'm glad that my passion as a book series reader carried over into my writing life.

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About This Author  
Amy Saunders is a mystery lover with a soft spot for humor and romance–and the ocean. She lives in Massachusetts, and loves to bake and watch movies. She’s the author of one mystery series and three standalone mysteries. Learn more about Amy and her books at her website.

Links:

Websitehttp://amysaundersauthor.com
Twitterhttp://twitter.com/amy_saunders
Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/bandbmysteries
GoodReadshttp://www.goodreads.com/amydsaunders

Purchase Links AMAZON B&N

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Follow the Tour

June 16 – Queen of All She Reads – Review, Giveaway  
June 17 – Carole’s Book Corner – Guest Post  
June 18 – Kelly P’s Blog – Interview  
June 20 – Cicero’s Children – Interview  
June 21 – readalot blog – Review  
June 23 – Back Porchervations – Review, Interview  
June 24 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review, Giveaway  
June 24 – Victoria’s Pages of Romance – Guest Post  
June 25 – Community Bookstop – Review, Giveaway  
June 26 – Chloe Gets A Clue – Interview  
June 27 – deal sharing aunt – Guest Post, Giveaway
June 28 – LibriAmoriMiei – Review  
June 29 – Omnimystery News – Interview






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Thursday 12 June 2014

Book Review: ONCE UPON A WAGER BY JULIE LEMENSE


I'm delighted to be a part of the Once Upon a Wager Book Tour and today I'm bringing you my thoughts on this fabulous read, together with an excerpt!



Once Upon a Wager
by
Julie Lemense

Crimson Romance

Published:  12 May 2014
Genre:  Historical



Synopsis: 
When Lord Alec Carstairs returns from war, hailed as a hero, only Annabelle Layton knows the sort of man he really is. They’d been friends before a passionate kiss changed everything, before a reckless wager left her broken and bloodied, and he abandoned her.
Hardly the actions of a hero.
But shocking lies have distorted the past. Can Alec uncover its painful truths, and still keep his distance? Can he deny his forbidden desire, even as it flares hotter than ever?

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Excerpt:

Just as evening fell, Alec walked up the crushed stone drive to Astley Castle. Despite its rather grandiose name, it was more accurately a fortified manor house, although it did have a moat. Briefly the home of Lady Jane Grey, England’s unfortunate Nine Days Queen, it had also served as a garrison for Cromwell’s forces during the Civil War before passing into the Layton family. Tonight, however, the house gave no hint of its troubled history. Japanese lanterns were strung, not only in the trees leading up the drive, but also in those surrounding the house, and the effect was magical. In the early dusk, a gentle light bathed the grounds, softening the lines of the old home, coloring it with pale pinks and darker purples. Alec heard strains of music and conversation. In fact, it appeared to be a remarkably conventional party, which was something of a surprise. Surely, circus animals were lurking somewhere.
The oversized front door was open to the evening air, and dozens of people were assembled in the Great Hall, which was brightly lit with wall lanterns. Chandeliers decked with wax candles flickered high above as Gareth’s parents received their guests. Sir Frederick, who often panicked in crowds, was hiding his misgivings well, and Lady Layton was radiant beside him. Gareth stood next to her, dressed in a colorful approximation of evening attire, but he seemed distracted. His eyes were darting the crowd and looking for someone. A footman with the champagne tray, no doubt. Alec did not see Annabelle.

But then familiar, melodious laughter washed over him, and he turned. A willowy, honey-tressed blonde stood at the center of a crowd of adoring men. Her face was hidden from view, but her gown—the color of moonlight—caressed her curves like a lover. Alec braced himself, every nerve taut. As if sensing his presence, she looked over her shoulder and smiled.
God in Heaven, he should never have come here tonight.
Annabelle had been only four years old the first time he saw her. He’d joined his mother on a neighborly visit to Astley Castle, and the little girl had utterly charmed him, struggling to sit still while Lady Layton served tea to her guests. Delicate, soft, and pink, like a rosy-cheeked doll, she’d roused all his protective instincts before kicking him in the shins to gain his attention.
If only he could see the girl she’d once been in the woman standing before him. Even two years ago, there had been hints of her, hiding in the body of a goddess. But there was nothing childlike about Annabelle now. She was spectacularly lovely, with arched brows, high cheekbones, and cornflower blue eyes that took his breath away.
Excusing herself from her admirers, she walked toward him with a slow smile. Then again, walking was not the right word. Swaying was the better choice, and all he could do was stand there, heart slamming in his chest as she approached, the gossamer silk gown caressing her curves. Were it dampened—as was the fashion with London’s faster set—it would be almost transparent. Just like that morning when she had gone swimming in the fountain, casting a spell over him like a sorceress.

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My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed reading this Regency Romance, the first of this genre that I've ever read

The "impossibly beautiful" Annabelle Layton was undisciplined and did as she pleased, she was confident and flirty, especially with the most handsome man she had ever seen -- Alec Carstairs.

But after a tragic incident involving her brother Gareth, Alec is banished from her life and Annabelle believes he has abandoned her and misunderstandings abound.

Julie Lemense has created two engaging main characters who were very real, together with Annabelle's very sharp and clever Aunt Sophia who I think was my favourite character!  

The writing flowed, I was entertained, the storyline was fresh, all the characters were memorable, there were good guys and bad guys or should I say there were cads and there were gentlemen.

A thoroughly enjoyable and not too soppy read.

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About the Author

© William Donlin of Studio D, Berwick PA
© William Donlin of Studio D, Berwick PA
A Georgetown University graduate with a degree in English Literature, I have been a Regency romance addict since I read my first deliciously bad Barbara Cartland novel. These days, I prefer the complex characterizations and plotting of Julie Anne Long, Sherry Thomas and Meredith Duran. A member of the Romance Writers Association of America, I am currently working on my next two novels, as the ghosts who live in my haunted, gilded age-era home try to sneak their way into my stories.

Author Links


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Monday 9 June 2014

Book Review: A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT BY ANNA LOAN-WILSEY Book Tour & Giveaways


I am delighted to be a part of Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours and today my stop is for A Sense of Entitlement by Anna Loan-Wilsey.




A Sense of Entitlement
by
Anna Loan-Wilsey

A Hatte Davish Mystery, Book 3

Publisher:  Kensington
Published:  24 June 2014
Genre:  Historical Mystery
Pages:  336




Synopsis: 
Travelling secretary and dilettante detective Hattie Davish is bringing her talents to a small New England town whose wealthy residents have more secrets than they do money. . .



When Hattie Davish’s job takes her to Newport, Rhode Island, she welcomes the opportunity for a semi-vacation, and perhaps even a summer romance. But her hopes for relaxation are dashed when she learns that members of the local labor unions are at odds with Newport’s gentry. Amidst flaring tensions, an explosion rocks the wharf. In the ensuing turmoil, Mr. Harland Whitwell, one of Newport’s most eminent citizens, is found stabbed to death, his hands clutching a strike pamphlet.



All signs point to a vengeful union member bent on taking down the aristocracy, but Hattie starts digging and finds a few skeletons in the closets of the impeccable Whitwell mansion. As she strikes down the whispers spilling out of Newport’s rumor mill, she’ll uncover a truth more scandalous than anyone imagined–and a killer with a rapacious sense of entitlement. . .


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My Thoughts:

A Sense of Entitlement is a delightfully entertaining read set in the 1890's with amateur sleuth and travelling secretary Hattie Davish who is a smart and practical young woman.

I found it very slow going at first but when it picked up I really enjoyed the story as Hattie digs into the world of the unions and social climbers in Rhode Island.

This is the third in the series and although some characters reappear in this book it still felt like a stand alone novel.

I was eagerly turning the pages to discover the killer's identity.  This is the kind of mystery that I really enjoy, interesting characters, a clever and engaging heroine and a plot that's easy to follow.

I'll definitely be looking out for more Hattie Davish adventures to come in the future.


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Loan_Wilsey_headshot

About The Author
Hardin-Baylor, Texas A&M University-Commerce and most recently, Iowa State University, publishing in several scientific peer-reviewed journals. A Lack of Temperance, her first novel and first in the Hattie Davish Mysteries series, was the #1 bestselling historical mystery on Amazon.com. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. A Sense of Entitlement, the third in the series, is due out in June. Anna lives in a Victorian farmhouse near Ames, Iowa with her inquisitive four year old, her old yellow dog and her very funny, very patient husband, where she is happily working on Hattie’s next adventure.
Author Links:
www.annaloanwilsey.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Anna-Loan-Wilsey-Author/226850674036259
www.goodreads.com/author/show/5810152.Anna_Loan_Wilsey
www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/26131


Purchase Links
Amazon             B&N


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Follow the Tour

June 2 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review, Interview, Giveaway

June 3 – Carstairs Considers – Review, Giveaway

June 4 – Queen of All She Reads - Review, Guest Post, Giveaway

June 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Spotlight, Giveaway

June 5 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review, Giveaway

June 6 – Back Porchervations – Review

June 7 – Books-n-Kisses – Review, Guest Post, Giveaway

June 8 –  Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview

June 9 – Carole’s Book Corner – Review

June 10 – Celticlady’s Reviews – Review

June 11 – Mystery Playground – Interview, Giveaway

June 12 – A Chick Who Reads – Review

June 13 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review, Giveaway

June 14 – Deal Sharing AuntReview, Guest Post, Giveaway

June 15The Reading Room – Review

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GIVEAWAYS

If you would like to receive a print copy of A Sense of Entitlement please leave a comment below *with your email address* and I will pick a winner at random 
Ends 15 June 2014
US/Canada only

ALSO

Giveaway for 1 set of autographed books of the entire Hattie Davish Mystery Series. 
U.S./Canada only


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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